#makes sense they'd have crew on tour for that

[nanoa1foryou]

"Next to the catwalk there's lasers. If you stay om the catwalk, there's nothing to worry about. If you absolutely want to jump from there into the laser, please tell me"

[tavolgisvist]

Michael Lindsay-Hogg

about Let It Be and our lads

I showed the final cut to them and we all had dinner afterwards. Then we went down to a discotheque underneath the restaurant. Ringo was jiving 'til two in the morning, Paul said he liked the movie…It was all a very good experience until they broke up, which was only two months after they'd seen the picture ready to go.

And then, of course, there was so much going on to do with the breakup. First it was legal issues, but then legal issues became personal issues. By that point, Let It Be was kind of a little character in the corner saying, "Oh, remember me? Remember me?" They were not interested in it anymore, which they had been up until that point. There was just so much going on. … I didn't want the Beatles to lose their momentum. So when Paul came to me after the concert idea was off and said, “Should we stop filming?” And I said, “Well, no.” I thought, “Well, here's a chance to maybe do the documentary of the Beatles, which nobody has done before." Nobody had ever filmed them rehearsing. I didn't want to lose the chance, or risk the chance of their attention span going on to something else. So I was glad we stayed with them. … The Beatles were psychologically so interesting, having been together for such a long time. When they stopped touring in 1966, I think that had a very big effect on them because the other big bands kept touring. It makes bands more cohesive because they're stuck with each other. They're in a hotel room in Minneapolis and they can't leave the hotel because the crowd outside won't let them. So what are they going to do? They go down to the coffee shop, go get some breakfast and go back to their room. Nowadays they probably play video games, but back then they’d write a song. That's partly what changed for the Beatles, because they stopped touring and then they stopped living so closely and intimately with each other as they had in Liverpool, or performing in the Red Light District in Hamburg. Back then they were in the same hotel room, And then they stopped and they had to start to think, “What is my life?” I was always kind of aware in Let It Be that that's the point I got them at. I'd worked with them in ‘66, but by the time we were doing ‘69 they were asking the question that often people do ask: “What is my life and where am I? “ Even though they were so successful and so talented — they kind of had taken over the world — it still was the same questions: “Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?” … To get them on the roof was hard enough with the eleven cameras and the [camera crew] in the road and the two way mirror [with a camera] in the foyer [to film the police arrival]. But they got up there. And it was not a slam dunk even five minutes before we were supposed to be on the roof. There was still a sense of, “Well, do we want to do this…” I expected them to play the songs, but I didn't expect them to have so much joy in doing the songs. When I saw it the other night again, it's just so sweet. The way they look at each other, the way John looks over at Paul, and Paul and John. You know, they went to school together. They started writing songs when they were 16. And George embraced his part as the lead guitar player. You look at them and you go, “That's good, isn't it?” And that's the thing which is so miraculous about the picture: I didn't do it, they did it. The connection between them is so potent at the end that it almost breaks your heart to see…

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, May 2024, interview with Jordan Runtagh for People)

Q: There’s the infamous “argument,” between Paul and George, which now looks really tame. А: Well, that’s very interesting you say that, because whenever they saw it, they never mentioned the argument. They never said, ‘Boy, what are people going to think?” Once we turned it into a documentary, Paul said, “If you find there are things that we say to each other that show, ‘This is who we are now, it’s not the way it was a few years ago,’ let’s put them in.’ So that went in. But that’s really what you could look at as an artistic discussion between musicians. It’s the same in the theater, the same kind of things the actors say when they talk about a scene. “Are you really going to say the line that way? You can’t say it like that.’ ‘But if you say it like this, I can’t have my reply the way I want to do it.” And so that’s exactly like that. So for them it was business as usual. Q: Why did it look so shocking to people? А: It was shocking because they still thought of the Beatles as the mop-tops. People still saw them as the Ed Sullivan Beatles, the way they were when they started. People thought they were so cute and adorable. Well, they weren’t cute and adorable. They were four tough kids from Liverpool who’d learned their craft playing in hotel-cum-brothels in Hamburg. I mean, they were tough. They grew up in Liverpool, which was a tough city. It’s like growing up in Detroit or somewhere. Somewhere, that toughness always comes out. But when people went to see Let It Be, the Beatles had just broken up, and so people were watching the movie trying to discover the reasons why they’d broken up, looking for things that weren’t there, because it was such a big issue for a lot of people. Especially in America, because the Beatles represented so much here: President Kennedy in November ’63, all that grief, then the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, February ’64, and all the grief is overcome by joy. Everyone in America thought they were so cute, wearing badges that said “I love Paul” or “I love Ringo.” This is when they were 22, 23, 24 years old. But then they did change. That’s what you see in Let It Be—the boys we have known are becoming men. People hadn’t seen the men yet. They didn’t know the men. And that’s what I think Let It Be does show.

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, May 2024, interview with Rob Sheffield for Rolling Stones)

"Because the Beatles had been portrayed as the moptops, that they were just f***ing adorable. In real life, they were tough. This just goes back to where they came from. Liverpool is a tough town. I wouldn't particularly want to run into Paul McCartney in a dark alley, if he didn't like me."

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, May 2024, interview with Brian Hiatt for Rolling Stones)

As the TV concert had been cancelled, Michael felt he needed a new ending. ‘So I said, “Why don’t we do a concert on the roof?” Since then everyone has claimed credit for it*, including the ladies who cooked lunch!’ Before the event, he installed a two-way mirror in the lobby downstairs. ‘I did it in case the police showed up. I knew some people would complain about the noise and as an American who didn’t really have a work permit, I was afraid of being deported,’ he admits. As it turned out, he had bigger problems. In the anteroom underneath the roof, Paul was raring to go. ‘Ringo said, “It’s really cold up there” [he ended up wearing his wife Maureen’s coat while drumming] and George said, “What’s the point?” John hadn’t said anything yet and there was a pause where the whole thing was in the balance,’ says Michael. ‘Finally, John said, “F*** it, let’s do it” and they all walked up the ladder, onto the roof and into history.’

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, June 2020, Lina Das for The Weekend Magazine)

Q: You’ve said the rough cut had more of John and Yoko but that the other three members “didn’t want to have a lot of the dirty laundry” in there… A: I would not now call it ‘dirty laundry’. I would say that The Beatles didn’t want distraction. <…> Q: There’s one scene where Paul and George are arguing about what George is going to play… A: They never asked for that to be taken out of the movie… I think that, for them, that was a normal exchange between two musical artists who are thinking what’s best for the song. <…> Q: Who do you think was most invested in keeping the band together? A: Paul had the idea that they should maybe do a concert and the others more or less agreed. I mean, he’s a very strong personality. He’s incredibly smart… And I could completely see how that would focus them all. It seemed like a really good idea. So I would say Paul was the one who wanted that and it made a lot of sense. So that’s my answer to that question. Q: When George quit and then came back, he suggested moving to The Beatles’ Apple HQ to finish the album… A: Yes, he said, ‘let’s not worry about performing [the planned concert] and let’s just get out of Twickenham.’

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, May 2024, interview with Alex Flood for NME)

“There are moments of great sweetness,” he said. “No matter where you put the camera, no matter how you edited it, they loved each other. Anybody who sees ‘Let It Be’ again will find that.” … The film was a victim of bad timing, in his view. By the time of its May 1970 premiere, the Beatles had broken up. Traumatized fans saw it as “a breakup movie: ‘Mom and Dad are getting divorced!’” he said. … He has preserved much of what he went through with the Beatles in diaries, which he has kept since the “Ready Steady Go!” years. … He thumbed through the pages and landed on January 30, the blustery day in London when the Beatles played in public for the last time. As captured by Mr. Lindsay-Hogg and his team, their swan-song performance was the climax of both “Let It Be” and “Get Back.” The diary page was blank, except for one word scribbled in black ballpoint pen. Roof. “The busier you are,” Mr. Lindsay-Hogg said, “the less you write down.”

(Michael Lindsay-Hogg, July 2022, interview with Alex Williams for The New York Times)

*Jan 7th

gif by @sgt-paul

Also Jan 7th Paul's 'colossal' idea about ideal end of their show

@crepesuzette2023, your tag 'Michael Lindsay Hogg would not like to run into him in a dark alley when he was in a bad mood!' reminds me I forgot to publish this :)

[henrioo]

✦ ── ANYTHING FOR YOU: SHANKS

Part one — Parte two

Child! Shanks x Child! Reader ( x platonic! Edward Newgate)

Synopsis: "A confusing encounter with a red-haired child ends up changing his day completely."

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,6k

Notes: Pronouns should be neutral but because of automatic translation they are masculine, I'm sorry, it was written with a neutral reader in mind. Forgive the bad English too, Google is not one of the best

Revision: @waitingmydemons

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ• ────── ✦ ────── •

Today would definitely be your day! After weeks of trying to convince your brothers and especially your father, you had managed to get permission to take a tour all alone around the next island the ship stopped. It might seem silly, but living surrounded by men who saw danger in everything made your freedom being compared to one of a bird in a cage. Of course, you were more than grateful for all the effort they put into protecting you, but sometimes you just wanted to run around and play with other kids instead of being followed by famous pirates who scared anyone who came near.

That's why you couldn't hold back the anxiety of finally being able to live a little adventure completely alone! You've prepared very well, choosing fresh clothes that won't get in the way of playing or running, took a purse with a generous amount of money that you collected according to the days and choose the best and most resistant shoes! Everything was perfect, you couldn't even swallow your food during lunch. You were so busy, as soon as the meal was over, you said goodbye to everyone and ran towards the port, excited to explore the place.

Even if walking around and spending money on silly things wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world, just being able to experience all those new things by yourself and maybe even make a few friends was enough to get you excited. There weren't many young people in Whitebeard's crew, you ended up being the only child and the youngest member which left you a bit alone. Of course no one refused to play with you, Marco and Thatch would spend hours distracting you if that made you happy, the point was that they were adults and eventually needed to take care of their responsibilities, leaving you alone.

Your plan was to buy some candy and maybe find some kids your age to play with, you couldn't wait to get some attention from people who would also like to play. You walked carefree through the big city market, there were countless merchants, mothers, workers, all walking around in their own worlds and duties. You'd eventually stop and look at the fruit, jewelry, or anything else that looked like fun, but you weren't focused on shopping. You were humming absently around, not really caring about your surroundings when you started to hear footsteps approaching.

When you turned around to try to figure out what was going on it was too late, a person collided directly with you but before he could knock you to the ground, he pulled you by the arm away from the main road. You were dragged into an alley and soon a hand covered your mouth, when you regained your senses you could hear more and more footsteps approaching, a crowd running! You frowned in confusion as you listened to what people were saying. "Are you sure you lost them?" You tried to peek down the alley and you could guess they were sailors by their blue and white outfit. "Shit, those little brats! I can't believe they robbed us…" they argued among themselves "Let's keep looking, they can't have gone far".

So when the men walked away you decided to pay attention to the situation you were in. You looked to see who your captors were and came across two… children? The boy holding you had blue hair and a huge red nose, he was holding your mouth while his face had a terrified expression. Next to him was a boy with red hair and a nice hat, he was carrying what looked like a bag of coins and he also looked extremely nervous about being chased. Whoever they were, you knew they'd robbed the sailors, but that didn't mean they weren't a risk to you.

When you were sure the sailors were gone you used all your strength to step on the boy's foot and then bite his hand. You might be small but you weren't harmless, growing up with powerful pirates had taught you a trick or two.

"Ouch! You bit me!" The boy screamed as he held his own hand.

The redhead finally seemed to notice that they'd dragged someone else into the mess and looked at you confused.

"You kidnapped me!" You countered by crossing your arms.

"You kidnapped them?!" The redhead exclaimed looking at his friend in shock.

"They were in the way!" The other tried to defend himself "And you bit me! I was about to let you go!" He was still angry but you didn't care.

"Think before you kidnap me! You're lucky I only bit you, if I told my brothers they would do a lot worse!" You exclaimed proudly of your family.

"Sure, like I'm going to believe a snotty brat" the blue haired one rolled his eyes.

"You called me what?!" You exclaimed with fury as your cheeks burned.

"Snotty brat" he said again with a smirk, looking satisfied with having turned the tables.

The problem was that the boy had underestimated you, one thing you definitely lacked was patience. You learned very early that you shouldn't tolerate offenses against yourself or your family, so you let anger win that fight. You quickly punched the blue-haired boy in the middle of the face, the one who fell on his butt with a scream.

"Buggy!" The red-haired friend screamed and went to help him.

"I'm not snotty!" You said stomping your foot on the floor.

The red-haired boy looked between you and the companion, his gaze showing shock and… fascination? He looked at you like you were a bedtime story hero, someone amazing and you couldn't understand. Shouldn't he be angry? You had just hit his colleague and he seemed fascinated by it?

"Wow…" he exclaimed looking you up and down.

"Humpf! Idiot" you said without patience and then you turned to leave the alley "You're lucky I won't tell my brothers, Marco would finish you off" you said and then left the place ignoring the red haired boy who kept calling you .

You were nervous and frustrated that visit to the city had not gone as you planned, so you decided to go back to the ship earlier. Luckily you would stay a few days in that place, there would be other opportunities to explore and meet kind and fun children, no more children who irritated you. It wasn't long after returning to shore that the crew set up a small camp to store the new supplies while the ship was refueled. There, you found Marco fiddling with some papers and further away you could see his father giving orders to some other members.

You sat with a sulky face while eating a candy you bought in town, Marco looked at you curiously and approached with a characteristic smile.

"What's wrong birdie-yoi?" He smiled and sat down next to you.

"I… I met some annoying kids" you decided it was better to omit what had happened, as much as you wanted revenge, you understood that the confusion had been a misunderstanding and you didn't want your siblings worrying about something so silly.

"Wasn't that fun?" He nodded when he saw you deny it. "Don't worry, you can still meet other kids in the next few days" he smiled trying to calm you down "And if nobody wants to play with you, let's get Visa and Jozu and have a tea party, how about that?" He offered, knowing you were always happiest spending time with your brothers.

"Promise?" You looked at him sullenly.

"On my honor" he smiled as he saw you clearly getting more excited about the idea.

After a little chat, Marco had to get back to work and you decided not to bother him anymore. So to distract yourself until dinner time you decided to walk along the nearby beach and look for some shells to collect, you were still thinking about the boys from before, especially the redhead. He was looking at you with so much emotion that you couldn't help but feel your stomach churning, no one had ever looked at you like that… It was so weird and it made you so confused, what was that? Some noises in the nearby forest caught your attention, being curious that you were, so it didn't take long to approach and look for who was there.

"It 's you!" You said in recognition of seeing the red hair from before.

"Shhhh!" He asked for silence and you covered your mouth, looking around for any threat "Are your brothers here?" he asked quietly.

"They're over there…" you pointed into the distance and he seemed to agree silently "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you again" he admitted looking at the floor, his cheeks were slightly pink and you felt your body getting warm.

"Why?" You asked timidly.

"Because your punch was super cool!" His eyes sparkled "You hit Buggy right on!"

"Is he not your friend?" You asked confused.

"He is… But you were just defending yourself! He shouldn't have called you snotty… You're not snotty, you're too cute to be!" He confidently admitted.

"Do you think I'm cute?" Your cheeks were now on fire.

"I do…" he smiled shyly "I'm Shanks, what's your name?" He approached.

"(Y/n)" you smiled.

"Cool, I didn't know Whitebeard had someone in the crew with my age"

"How do you know I’m in the Whitebeard’s crew?”

"You said you had a brother named Marco, I know him! And my captain said Whitebeard was in town, so that had to be it," he said with pride in his little investigation.

"Your captain? Are you a pirate too?" You were curious now.

"Yes! I'm from the Roger Pirates!" he exclaimed with pride.

That's when your face became sad... You had heard about this crew countless times, all your life you grew up hearing that they were your father's main enemies and that you could not, under any circumstances, approach them.

"I shouldn't be talking to you!" You finally realized and tried to run, but Shanks was quick and grabbed you.

"Wait! Please! I don't want to hurt you!" He begged as he held her wrist gently but firmly.

"How can I trust you? You kidnapped me this morning! And we are sworn enemies!" You snorted.

"But I don't want to be your enemy…"

"You don't?" You let your emotions get the best of you.

"No… I… I want to be your boyfriend!" He declared with fire in his eyes.

"Boyfriend!?" You stuttered in shock, your face was hot and probably red, your eyes were wide in shock.

"Yes! You're super strong and cute!" He said without a care and then let go of your hand "Unless you didn't like me…"

"No! I did like you…!" You admitted with embarrassment "But… I never had a boyfriend… What do they do?"

"They… They" he stammered in embarrassment "They hold hands… Kiss on the cheek and go on dates!" He said with embarrassment.

"Oh!" You exclaimed with as much embarrassment as he was. You thought about holding Shanks hands and your stomach started to turn, it would also be really cool to be able to play with him.

"It's cool, isn't it? We can be sweethearts!" He tried to convince you.

"(Y/n)?! Where are you? It's getting dark and we should go back to the ship" You heard your father's voice approaching.

"Shanks?! Where are you?!" Another unknown voice came from the middle of the forest.

Before you could run away the fearsome encounter took place, behind you was your father and behind Shanks must have been the much talked about Roger, his captain. You both widened your eyes in terror when you realized what was happening, but you didn't dare open your mouth to try to explain.

"Roger"

"Newgate"

"Can you explain why your brat is talking to my child?" He quickly put a hand on your shoulder and pulled you back.

"Good question, what's up Shanks? Did you come here to talk to the old man?" The captain chuckled, he didn't seem to be mad at Shanks at all.

"I… Well…" the boy mumbled incoherently with embarrassment.

"Did he do something to you?" Your father asked, looking at you calmly, he didn't seem mad at you at all, which calmed you down a bit.

"No…" you mumbled shyly and grabbed his leg.

"Hm, maybe they just met and had a chat" Roger theorized "Or are they secretly flirting, huh Shanks? You naughty, came for the riskiest one" the man teased.

"Don't talk nonsense Roger, (y/n) can't date you, brat" His father said as if that was nonsense.

"I can't?" You asked with some sadness in your voice.

"They can’t?" It was Shanks's turn to look sadly at his captain.

The two men stared at each other in shock, they seemed to slowly understand what was going on between the two of you.

"Don't tell me… Did you like this piece of junk?" your father asked in shock and nervousness.

"Hey! No need to offend other people's children!" Roger defended "Shanks isn't that bad… He's just… He" the man shrugged.

"Like you understand" Edward rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we were young once!" Roger laughed "Let the kids date and have some fun, nothing bad will come of it"

"No" Edward gave the final verdict, but when he felt you pulling his pants and making your huge lost puppy eyes with tears threatening to fall he started to rethink the idea "(y/n)..."

"Please?" You asked "I promise I'll help more often in the kitchen if you let me..." you tried to bargain, you liked Shanks, you didn't want to be banned from dating him, even if you didn't know exactly what boyfriends did.

"Heavens… Who knew having kids would be like this…" He sighed tiredly "You guys can date" Shanks smiled "With some conditions!"

"Conditions? That's not fair!" He huffed angrily.

"Calm down little one, he's the father, he has the right to decide that, you have to earn trust and permission" Roger said quickly, Shanks seemed more resigned.

"First you need to grow up a bit, I can step on you now and I won't let such a small and young brat date my child!" he said quickly.

"Uhum!" The redhead's eyes sparkled.

"Second, you need to be strong! I will not tolerate a weakling having my child as a partner, you need to be able to face me without fear to have their hand"

"Yes! I'm going to be really strong!" He smiled looking at you and you looked away shyly.

"And finally, when you have those two things, the most important one" Shanks listened attentively "You need their acceptance" your father put his hand on your head "If you have both requirements and my child still loves you then I won't be the one going to stop you" he chuckled.

You smiled happily as you looked at Shanks who also looked confident.

"You'll see old man! I'm going to marry them!" He proclaimed with pride.

Roger just laughed praising his apprentice while your father looked frustrated and stroked your hair. You smiled thinking about how cool it would be to have Shanks as your boyfriend, you really didn't see the time to be able to be with him.

Continue...

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ• ────── ✦ ────── •

Notes: I hope you enjoyed! There will be a part two showing what happened to them as adults, if you can leave what you think it will motivate me a lot because I'm new here! If you want to ask for something feel free! I'll make the best imagines I can, thanks for the support and see you soon

[mercurygray]

Merc,

Could we get a glimpse of Kurt interacting with the MotA characters? Thanks! 🥺

We are shocked to report that as he is in all things, Kurt is being an ass.

If anyone had any ideas about what Captain Warren's boyfriend looked like, Kurt Havermeyer wasn't it.

They were stood down for the weekend, and Harding had been liberal with 48 hour passes, the whole base practically packing themselves off to points south. London felt like a stretch, but Cambridge was handier and the beer cheaper anyway, so they'd shined their shoes and polished their wings, and those among them with an inclination to misbehave made sure all the right tools were in all the right pockets.

"And how 'bout you, Captain?" Douglass had asked with a grin, as the train swayed and screamed out of the station, the flyboys packed into the cars and the corridors, hats cocked just so. "Any hot dates waiting for ya?"

"Meeting up with my boyfriend, actually." Joan had offered, cagily as they came, and glances were exchanged. The Ice Queen - a boyfriend? And just what did he look like? It wasn't like she'd been quick to make friends, the intelligence officer, fresh from OCS and a press tour that would have made a princess proud. That's what she was, wasn't it? A princess?

Well, a princess needed a prince, and here he was - blond and blue-eyed, he proverbial golden boy sunning himself under his own artfully crushed cap, fresh from fighter command and as cocky as they came. When they turned up at the same pub, him proud as a peacock, it came out that he'd shaken down Joan about meeting her freinds, that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"What is she, ashamed of us?" Bubbles asked Crosby, as Joan almost hid. But after a while, Crosby wasn't inclined to agree - it wasn't them Joan was ashamed of. It was him.

He was loud, Captain Havermeyer, loud and full of his own self importance, rattling on about his plane and his wing like they were only ones fighting the war. Rich, too - he'd been all too clear about that, buying a few rounds for the room like money was nothing. Not a single kind word for the crew, or the plotters - and nothing but noise for the bomber boys. All while Joan sank back quietly into her seat, her own beer untouched, and the men from Thorpe Abbotts fumed and tried to stay on thier best behavior, and not be the yokels from Nebraska he assumed them to be.

They tried to offer common ground - about the beer, and the weather, and the state of the army, and everyone was getting along fine until Kurt, laughing, made some pass about promotions for pretty faces and how they'd let anyone in if she had a good ass - just like Joan, right?

The next moment happened so fast that later on that evening several people were almost sure they'd imagined it - Major Cleven's fist, shooting out to connect with Captain Havermeyer's eye, Havermeyer staggering back with the force of the blow, and Joan's face, stunned behind the two of them shouting in horror, not for Kurt, but for Gale.

"Apologize to the lady." It was a command, not a suggestion, Cleven's voice a half-note lower than his usual gravel.

Kurt surged forward from the floor, quickly held back by the remaining pilots, straining at his coat, his collar. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"An officer and a gentleman," Cleven said, serious as a open grave. "Neither of which seem to apply to you."

Kurt snarled, trying to shrug back into his coat, but no one was letting him go just yet. "Joanie, we're leaving."

"No, you're leaving, buddy," Bucky said with a stare that could have spit bullets. "She's staying right here."

He took a step forward, blocking her in, and the others closed ranks around Joan, now very much part of the crowd and staggered a little by her inclusion in a group that until ten minutes ago she'd had never quite been sure she'd had a single friend in. Every man there looked ready to fight, and a couple of the women, too, and Kurt had the good sense, finally, to see that if he tried to start something else here he'd defintely lose.

"We're finished, Joan Warren!" His face was starting to redden and there was split flying when he spoke. "You hear me?"

"Good," some joker (Douglass?) roared from the back, "She can do better."

He sneered at the lot of them and made a quick exit for the door, and the minute he was gone the whole group burst into laughter, with slapped backs for Cleven and beers for everyone and appreciative pats, too, for Joan. "What an asshole." "We can find someone better." "-clean as a whistle and BAM, right in the kisser." "Fuckin' fighters, man. No sense of the team."

Joan made her way to Cleven's elbow, leaning once more against the bar with his cola. "That was…very gallant, of you, Major."

"No one ought to speak like that about a woman he claims to love," Gale said quietly, gently flexing his fingers and rubbing his hand. "You're very good at your job, Captain. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what he's talking about." He met her eye and gave her one of his rare small smiles, and she nodded, accepting the compliment as it had come.

[marybeatriceofmodena]

You seem to know so much about phantom and its history in general and this is probably such a stupid question I’m sorry but why the fuck have they closed it on Broadway and the west end? No matter how much I think about it it makes no sense to me that it’s not bringing in enough money bc if people aren’t seeing what are they seeing????? Just close all of NY and London down at this point like ? And now I’m feeling like I should have seen it at least one more time since the news came out but the first time was so perfect I didn’t want to ruin it. But I’ve just been feeling like it’s a publicity ploy? They’re gonna say they’re taking it off then bring it back in 5 years shinier… but no one else seems to think so. Now I’m feeling like an idiot for not seeing it 5 times in a row even though it’s in my back yard.

Anyway. I’m sorry just had to get that out somewhere I’m sorry it was to you

Okay, so, right off the bat - the West End production is technically still running. It's not exactly like the original, but it's still there (and it has a VERY solid cast as of now so I would still absolutely recommend to go and see it if you ever have the opportunity. If you're scared of getting the restaged tour, it's really not that). There are a few differences with staging, the wigs are different from what they used to be, the orchestra has been reduced, some of the choreography is a bit different - but it's largely the same show.

What *did* happen in the West End was that like all productions, it closed during COVID, the cast and crew waited to be able to go back, and Cameron Mackintosh (aka the producer, aka Satan) invited all of them to a Zoom call, where they learned that they were all fired and that they'd be replaced by a new cast and crew. That included people who worked in the orchestra for nearly 30 years, Philip Griffiths who played Reyer since, like... forever, and I'm skipping a bunch. The reason why CamMack did that was to reopen with a smaller orchestra, a few reductions here and there, and obviously, with a younger cast and crew working around, salaries will be lesser on the basis of experience. And understandably, a lot of people didn't want to come back and go through the whole hiring/auditioning process all over again. Philip Griffiths for instance basically went: "Fuck it, I played the role for 30 years and I shouldn't have to audition for it" (and he's correct).

Obviously, COVID has been tough on the arts industry in general, and there are several shows on Broadway who closed as a result of it (the whole deal with The Music Man revival with Hugh Jackman was to make as much money as possible to recoup for losts, because anything that has Hugh Jackman in it or The Music Man itself has always sold very well on Broadway). Phantom was not one of those shows that was struggling, because it's kind of like Wicked, Chicago, Hamilton, or any Disney show in the sense that it will reliably make money no matter what. It's expensive to set up and stage as opposed to, say, Six, but it still very much made a profit.

Cameron Mackintosh didn't really give a reason as to why he was closing it (at least none that I'm aware of, or if there is, it's probably PR fluff), but if I had to make a guess, it's probably going to reopen in a few years, just like the West End production did, but with the reductions I've mentioned above, with a cheaper orcheatra, cheaper crew, etc. and you get a nice little opportunity to have it get nominated at the Tony Awards for Best Revival.

So yeah anyway eat the rich

[youraveragecatastrophe]

I've been trying to articulate this for a week, to no avail, so have all my tangled thoughts about those delicious angsty bits in The Need for Speed caper.

This may be the worst Team Red has done so far (as far as we know). They've had trouble with their missions before, they've had setbacks, they've occasionally been bruised and beaten down, but now both the theft failed and Zack and Ivy are in prison.

Then there are those lines from Ivy and Zack throughout the episode... the ones that at make you think they're maybe not as sure about their relationship with Carmen as you'd think. Like - you've got Ivy in prison, no fight left in her, more concerned about Carmen's disappointment and reaction than anything else ("maybe you should worry about what Carmen's gonna do to us. We let her down."). Later, Zack shows he took Carmen's reproaches very emotionally ("especially since Carm hates us."). And you know, they're all alone in the world. If Carmen decided to throw them off her "never ending tour", what would they do? Where would they go? They'd be back to square one. Obviously Carmen wouldn't do that, but clearly the siblings are... worried.

And the thing is- Carmen's not the only one looking for her family. When they get out of prison and Zack asks Sterling "we're family?"... He and Ivy have been alone for at least a few years. It's explicitly said in the previous episode they have no other family than each other. Between that and their racing dreams, it's easy to understand how Sterling's proposal feels like a dream come true.

And of course, for hurtful scenes, you've got Carmen chewing Ivy and Zack out. That was painful to watch. Carmen is stressed, she's mad, which makes sense, and while she's frustrated with Ivy and Zack Shadowsan keeps bugging her about them being amateurs and her needing to find better crew members, so she says very hurtful things in the heat of the moment. When we know how bad Zack and Ivy felt about the whole situation just moments before, this really paints a sad picture of the whole scene.

And you know Carmen's not thinking about this entirely rationally either - see her bringing up the headquarters completely unprompted when Shadowsan calls her. She's pressured to change a lot at the same time about the way she works : adding Shadowsan to the team, getting a headquarters, finding 'better' help. This is probably taking a bigger toll on her than it seems.

(Also, speaking of Carmen... Her little smile to Zack and Ivy at the end of the episode when they're talking to daddy Sterling. The way it looks awkward and forced because of course she supports them and wants their happiness, but. that doesn't mean it's not painful for her to accept her friends may very well leave her.)

One conclusion I want to take from the episode (and, I suppose, sort of what this episode's ending scene did) is that no, Carmen doesn't need new, more experienced and professional crewmembers. She needs friends. Family. Because that's what's been missing for her. And Shadowsan's not the only one thinking she needs a more professional crew - see Ivy's "we may need to face the fact we are better racers than we are thieves". But Carmen's not asking for more than that, actually! Ivy and Zack have saved their missions, saved her, many times in the past. They have their rough days but they get past them together.

[stargazer-sims]

After the Show

Taiji: Anybody else think it's super weird that we did a Valentine's Day show in early December?

Haru: When does anything in our schedule ever make sense? Anyway, the fans who were there didn't seem to think it was weird.

Ryu: We couldn't do it closer to the actual day because we'll be on the road and the tour schedule's already set. Plus, they had to record it now so the production people can have plenty of time to edit it and do whatever for the TV show they're making.

Haru: So that's what all the stuff about people watching online was about? 'Cause I knew it wasn't being livestreamed.

Ryu: Yeah. They're doing that Love Day Special, and it's going to be broadcast online on SimFlix. Remember, Sarah was telling us about it?

Haru: I probably wasn't paying attention. I hardly ever listen to Sarah. That's your job.

Taiji: What'd she say they're calling it? 'Love Out Loud', like what we suggested our next album should be called?

Ryu: I think that's it, unless they change it. From what I understood, they're going to be doing interviews with all of us on the first leg of the tour, and they're going to be using some of the footage from all the days the video crew have been following us around.

Taiji: What are they going to be interviewing us about?

Ryu: I don't know all the questions they're going to ask, but Sarah mentioned something about them asking what love means to us.

Taiji: Well, that should be interesting.

Haru: I know what I'm going to say.

Ryu: It'd better be something clean.

Haru: Hey! Would I be inappropriate on TV?

Ryu: Yes.

Taiji: I can't wait to hear how Senjirō and Keigo handle the question. That should set off a media frenzy when it airs.

Haru: I don't think they'd say anything inappropriate on TV either. They know better. It'll be fine.

Taiji: Maybe.

Haru: What're you gonna say when they ask you the question?

Taiji: I don't know. I could probably tell them what love isn't.

Haru: Yeah? What would you say for that?

Taiji: It isn't what all those creepy stans say it is. You know the ones I mean. The 'marry me Haru' people, and all the ones writing cringey fanfiction and making up all those wild theories and rumours about us. What do they call themselves? The shippers?

Haru: I think that’s a general fanfiction term. It’s like, when you fantasize about two characters being together, even if it’s not actually that way in the movie or whatever.

Taiji: That’s messed up.

Haru: Facts, but I don’t make the rules.

Taiji: No, those freakishly obsessed people do, or they think they do. They're always the ones screaming 'I love you' the loudest, but they obviously don't respect us as actual humans. In my opinion, that's the farthest thing from love. That’s what I’d say.

Haru: I'm... not sure you should say that on a SimFlix show. That might literally be inappropriate.

Ryu: As surprised as I am to be admitting this, Haru's right. Regardless of how you actually feel about it, criticizing fans probably isn't the greatest idea, little brother.

Taiji: But, I want people to know I'm more than just a famous face. I'm not some object or a made-up character. I want them to know that all of us are real human beings with feelings, and that I don't like any of us being objectified. It's like, offensive and disgusting.

Haru: Then, maybe say it just like that. You don't have to call fans creepy or cringey to make your point.

Taiji: But, they are.

Haru: Not all of them. I mean, yeah, probably some of them are super stalkerish, but probably there are a lot who just don't realize. Like, me and Eden talked about this, and he apologized to me for being one of the 'marry me Haru' people.

Taiji: Really?

Haru: Yeah. Not that I minded at all. I think it's funny, and you know I love playing into it. But, Eden said he felt bad 'cause he felt like he wasn't treating me like a real person when he commented stuff like that online.

Ryu: That's insightful of him.

Haru: He's sensitive like that. I wasn’t mad, and it was really adorable how he was so upset thinking I would be. Not that I wanted him to be upset, but like… it was sweet that he was so concerned about my feelings once he realized.

Ryu: You two are really taking this whole relationship thing seriously, aren’t you?

Haru: I don’t understand why everybody’s so surprised.

Taiji: The real surprise is that you haven’t slept together yet.

Haru: We’re waiting for the right moment.

Taiji: So, you actually took my advice.

Haru: Yeah, and he thanked me for respecting him. We’ve had a couple of steamy video chats, but we’re both trying to be good and like, have boundaries and stuff.

Ryu: That’s commendable, Haru. Maybe you’re capable of maturity after all.

Haru: Let’s not jump to any hasty conclusions.

Taiji: I think the correct response is ‘thank you’, Haru.

Haru: Thank you, Haru.

Taiji: You’re such a dumbass.

Haru: *laughing*

Taiji: Real talk, though. You’re brave, trying to have a relationship with someone outside the industry while you’re still in it.

Haru: What do you mean?

Taiji: I mean, I wouldn’t want to subject anybody I cared about to this life. I can’t imagine a potential girlfriend of mine going from being relatively anonymous to being shoved into this situation with like, freakin' maniacal fans coming up with all kinds of wild shit, the media watching and analyzing literally everything, and virtually no privacy whatsoever.

Ryu: That's a good point. Haru, you should probably talk with Eden about that before things get any more serious between you. He should know what he’s in for if he decides to stay with you.

Haru: What do you mean, if? You think he’d leave me over that?

Taiji: I would, if it were me. Personally, if I’d known about this madness, I’d have gone with my original plan and I’d be in university right now, studying to be a music teacher. Maybe have a low key solo career or do some composing on the side. I could still be doing what I love, but with the added bonus of people actually taking me seriously.

Haru: You don't know Eden. He’s not like you.

Taiji: Just wait until the shippers get hold of him and start writing him into their dodgy little sex scenes and hurt-comfort plots or whatever. We’ll see if he lasts after that.

Haru: Okay, first of all, can you not say my boyfriend’s name in the same breath as ‘dodgy sex scene’? It's gross. Eden is a gentleman, and all his sex scenes would be classy. And second…

Taiji: Yeah?

Haru: No… actually, never mind. I guess you do have a point. I never considered that stuff because I was too caught up in being happy that somebody likes me for me, and not because I’m famous. But, I guess bring famous could wreck it.

Taiji: Might as well get used to being alone.

Haru: Oh.

Ryu: Taiji, that’s not very kind.

Taiji: Just telling it as I see it.

Ryu: Brutal honesty isn’t always the best approach. I think we already told you that tonight. Haru, as for you and Eden, I really do think the best thing to do is explain everything to him and let him decide for himself. If he decides to stay, he needs to be prepared.

Haru: Yeah. That's going to be a hard conversation, though. And what if the fame is a deal-breaker for him?

Ryu: Hopefully it won't be, but if it is, we'll help you get through the aftermath.

Taiji: Yeah. We still love you.

Haru: Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Taiji: Sorry. Does this make you feel better? A little affection?

Haru: Uhh... no.

Taiji: What? Why not?

Haru: 'Cause I know you're just here to fall asleep on me.

Taiji: Because you're softer. Ryu is too muscly.

Haru: I need new friends.

Ryu: Why don't the two of you go to your room and get in your beds? Both of you look like you're ready to fall asleep.

Haru: I'd rather stay here for a while. I'd just get in bed and worry about stuff and not sleep anyway.

Taiji: Me too.

Ryu: Is there anything else you need to talk about?

Haru: Truthfully, I think I'd rather be distracted from my problems right now.

Taiji: Same.

Haru: Ryu, maybe you can tell us about your love life. Since I spilled about mine, it's only fair.

Ryu: I don't have a love life.

Taiji: I think Ji-Soo might be annoyed to hear you say that.

Haru: Did you work up the nerve to tell her how you feel yet?

Ryu: I decided I'm not going to.

Haru: Why not?

Ryu: Because she'd get fired if we started anything. Unlike you and Eden, we have that pesky little dilemma of a conflict of interest.

Haru: I don't know what's worse, caring about somebody you might lose because of your work, or finding the perfect person but not even being able to get with them because of your work. This whole thing sucks, if you really wanna know.

Taiji: Maybe you should just do like I do, and avoid the idea of relationships altogether.

Ryu: Easier said than done.

Taiji: Dude, this job is hard enough without complicating it like that. It's already enough to make a person want to run away. Who'd want to make it worse by adding a partner whose expectations you'd have to manage along with managing everything else?

Haru: 'Speak for yourself. I personally can't wait till Eden and I get to a place where we start having expectations about our relationship. You know, if we make it that far.

Ryu: Try to think positively, Haru. He may turn out to love fame as much as you do and not have any issues with all the attention. You might have a long and happy partnership.

Haru: I'm guessing I probably shouldn't hold my breath just yet, but I really hope you're right.

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 115

The Third Man/The Waters of Mars

“The Third Man”

Plot Description: Investigating a case of biblical plagues, Sam and Dean call Castiel for help and learn that God’s weapons have been stolen

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: No. I would not survive having my skin, down to the muscle, peel off and then EXPLODING

And I continue to make the mistake of watching this on my lunch break…luckily I was spared the most gruesome parts by blocking it with my phone

Sam…I’m not saying that you have to be in a relationship to do that, but you can hook up with some one for free, you know. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would…is your personality that dogshit now that you have no soul??

Biblical plagues apparently say ACAB. Which is nice to see

“Were you…racing me?” “No…I was kicking your ass” I’ve missed these sibling moments when the stakes seem low

Um…I know this guy is goin through it but damn. Well, at least we were spared seeing … no we weren’t fucking spared watching locusts digging their way out of this dude’s skull

He gets there when DEAN calls him. Cas’s blatant favoritism and disdain for Sam is amazing. “You like him better or something?” will be so much funnier later

Don’t lie to yourself, Castiel. “You think I came because you called?”

“I think we can rule Moses out as a suspect” I love this show sometimes

“My ‘people skills’ are ‘rusty’” bitch, me too. Cheers. I keep forgetting I have a shirt with that on it that I bought in 2021 for if an occasion that I’d have to be around people would come up outside of work

Cas is that X Files kinda fed I guess. Sam and Dean are trying to play real federal agent and Cas is just asking where this guy has the Staff of Moses

Jesus, Cas. I guess I know this is a HUGE deal but maybe we go about it a little differently? No?

I’m sorry for being SUCH a Cas apologist. I can see that what he’s doing is not great to wrong, but I can see why he’s doing it. He’s not human, he doesn’t have QUITE the attachment to humanity he’ll eventually have

Oooo, I remember Balthazar being fun

Angel fiiiiiiight

You can’t start Who’s On First with Cas…he’s a millennia old baby when it comes to cultural references

Bestieeee, your people skills are not just rusty, they’re rusted, fallen off, and lying on the side of the road

Did we get Balthazar as a Gabriel replacement? “This morning I had a ménage a…what’s French for twelve?”

I’d love to be the kind of person who could hang with Balthazar, but I know I’m more of a sit quietly in a room with Castiel type

Damn, Cas. You are too good at throwing knives…and getting your shit wrecked by your older brothers

You LOT-ED RAPHAEL, Balthazar??

Hmmmm…gonna tuck away the “do you know what a human soul is worth” line for later. There’s some kind of power they hold. So, who’s got Sam’s and why

Sure. You had different hell experiences but…it would still affect you IF YOU HAD A SOUL, SAM

“Been On My Mind…”: does in Dean’s dreams count??? And…I guess there’s confirmation Sam did entirely off screen…

"The Waters of Mars"

Plot Description: In a Mars base the inhabitants are being infected by a mysterious water creature which takes over its victims. The Doctor is thrust into the middle of this catastrophe knowing a larger one is waiting around the corner.

Oh man...I'm trying to not get attached to these characters. I know, like, ONE of them makes it out, but some of them are just....you know?

Like these two in the garden...oop, one's already getting infected. GREAAAAAAT

As the Doctor remembers the crew members and their Great Value Wikipedia pages pop up...Adelaide was born in 1999. The deputy was born in 2008. HE'S FIFTEEN RIGHT NOW. THE TECHNICIAN WAS A COVID BABY

Ah, shit, EVERYONE DIES??

Yeah, I guess that makes sense that they'd link the Doctor's arrival to what's going on

I forgot how horrifying their faces get after they get infected. Ring Corrupted Bilbo Baggins lookin...giving Vincent D'Onofrio in Men In Black but worse and wetter...

I know any acting job's an acting job but the guy who controls the robot is just...he got the short end of the stick when it came to roles

"Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits[...]Water always wins." What a terrifying thing to hear

BUT. WHY. DOCTOR. WHY DO YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHAT MOMENTS ARE FIXED POINTS.

Captain, you WHAT.

GOD...imagine being told that the human race WILL travel to the furthest reaches of the universe, and it's because YOU inspired your granddaughter to continue your legacy, but it does mean you and everyone here with you HAS. TO. DIE.

Oh. She...she doesn't think that...she thinks they escape. I mean, of course she does. Doctor...

Stop...maybe stop going to fixed points in time. (I know you're not completely in charge of where the TARDIS takes you, but goddamn)

Imagine loving humanity so much but having to stand there and listen to them die on Mars, nothing you do can save them. Everything you do just causes it to happen anyway

The pressure equivalent of your bathroom shower hitting someone has never been so tragic

God...I forgot that he goes back and goes apeshit. "The laws of time are mine, and THEY WILL OBEY ME" gworl.

OK but how did that NOT kill everyone and destroy the TARDIS??

I hate the way she has to do it, but...he needed to be knocked down that peg. You'd think that he'd learn a thing or two after all the time he traveled with Donna, especially. She was asserting herself having an equally important say in what they were doing, how the people they were meeting would address her... You really would think that he wouldn't see his beliefs as absolute.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I’m curious though if the cropped/I cropped were the other way round, and all the highly visible positions and people on stage were white men and the majority of the behind-the-scenes crew were women/people of color, would that be better? Obviously the ideal scenario is diversity in all sectors but for me personally there would be more of a concern if the higher-paid, more recognizable employees were all white, as the implication might feel like women & people of color belong out of sight. That’s probably because that’s how my own workplace is though, where white men get promoted and there’s a high turnover rate among the lower ranks who tend to be minorities. I’m a black woman raised by white parents, for the record, so again my pov might be skewed.

That's a really important question anon. I don't think your perspective is skewed at all - or at least everyone's is. And dynamics of employment are super complicated - so no one person's experiences are going to are going to be enough - it's why it's important to listen to a wide range of experiences and also people who have had an opportunity to synthesise experiences.

And key to understanding the range of workplaces that exist is understanding that 'visible' is a different category from either wealth or power. In a lot of workplaces they're going to be the same. They certainly are in mine (and it sounds like in yours) the highest paid and most externally visible people are those in leadership positions. In those circumstances, visibility will correlate with the norms of organisations in capitalist societies - which is white men (or the men from the dominant ethnic group in non-white societies - all my examples from now on are going to assume we're in a country with a big enough white population for white people to dominate, but obviously that's not the case everywhere) get promoted and the further down an organisation you go the more people there are who aren't white men.

But in some places visibility doesn't exist in this way. Retail is actually really interesting as a site of segregation - and is an example where you get something like the opposite of what you're talking about. Within retail you have shop staff, where visibility is part of the job, and also distribution workers - warehouse people and drivers. There are certainly examples of retail operations where who was allowed to work on the shopfloor and who was allowed to work in distribution roles are very different. In general, in those cases what you'd have is segregated employment in parts of the organisation - where marginalised people are hired for some jobs and not for others. The jobs might not pay that differently, but some will be visible and others won't. But then on top of those roles you'd have the actual powerful roles in the organisation that were well paid and they'd be limited to white men.

Entertainment is another area where visibility doesn't necessarily equate to power. The other important things to understand about a tour is that musicians who are not part of the act aren't paid more than the rest of the crew. You say "higher-paid, more recognizable employees" - but musicians aren't higher paid than other parts of the touring company - everyone will be well-paid, but the band aren't on a different scale f. It's like retail in that sense - in that being visible doesn't mean you're being paid more (and unlike acting - lead actors do have pay structures that are on par with writers and directors - and more than other crew members).

In addition, we know who the higher paid people are when it comes to a popstar - it's the people who get a cut. For tour the people who are going to get a cut are Harry, his managers, and the people who wrote the songs. When thinking about Harry's business more broadly it's worth also including producers, who won't get a cut on the performance, but are making good money more widely. Almost everyone who has ever had any of those roles on Harry's teams are white men. You've got Amy Allen with a couple of writing credits, and Jeff Bhasker who worked with Harry on his first album. That's it - everyone else who is making really good money from Harry is a white man. And that's Harry's choice - Harry has chosen to discriminate in the roles with money and power.

And so to answer your question - if an organisation is segregated in most of its employment, desegregated in specific areas and also segregated in positions of power and real money - I don't think it matters if the desegregated part is visible or not. To come back to the retail example - what's really depressing is that there isn't that much difference between Harry's musical business (all put together in hte last 7 years) and a 1960s British department store that let black people work behind the scenes, but not out front. You have many segregated areas, a few desegregated ones, and a tight hand on who is allowed in positions of power.

That's why in fan discussions I have always concentrated on just two metrics - the first is the workforce as a whole, and the second is people with the most money and power. It doesn't matter where the small number of jobs that are open to non-white men are - if the vast majority of the work and all the positions of power are reserved for white men.

[314]

did bands ever leave stuff

oh yeah! if you're asking about the food, yes. it makes sense. there's no way they could take all the stuff they request on a tour bus. we'd take unopened stuff home. I'd come home with groceries for the week sometimes.

in terms of leaving gifts, it rarely happens. I have guitar picks and set lists that were left behind but not on purpose. one act left roses for all the staff one time. he really loved coming to our venue i guess.

sometimes clothes gets left behind (yuck). i've thrown shoes out. i've seen drugs left. I found a bag of weed. one of my coworkers took it home. i've found needles, unfortunately. i've seen coke residue. lmao. it doesn't phase you after a while. acts smoke in the dressing rooms even when they're not supposed to. tons of gross makeup wipes. dirty towels. tons of dirty plates/cups/silverware. they wouldn't take their free mugs/shirts home so i'd take them sometimes. sometimes they'd have fake merch being sold and it'd get confiscated. we'd take them home. tour shirts would get left from the roadies for our stage crew and us. i have some sweet luke bryan and Pentatonix ones.

ps. if you give a band something at a meet and greet or throw something at them on stage, they leave that shit behind 99% of the time or it gets left outside of the bus in a tied-up garbage bag. notable story: girl met this artist at a meet and greet and gave him a pair of crocs w. those charms. he threw them right in the trash. so just be weary of even doing that. pls dont waste ur money. lots of notes/letters/art get tossed too.

[officialtayley]

to clarify re buses (I know you know this but for anon), it’s not like it’s their own in the sense of they wanted one separate from everyone, they just have a big enough touring party that the band plus crew have to split up across two and naturally they chose to be on the same one

yeah like to me it makes sense the halfnoise guys (including zac) all chose to be on one together and then obvs that leaves tayley and everyone else on the other and so it makes sense they'd wanna be on the same bus.

[izzy-b-hands]

11V

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! Except just the last one actually, and eventually another sort of vehicle! but that isn't nearly as catchy unfortunately.

More travel, a new plan, questionable food, booze spiked blood, and a disappearing act that ends up a reappearing act.

TW for alcohol, in blood specifically, mentions of a very old and bad sandwich, and unsanitary truck stop restroom conditions.

---

Izzy wakes to cool water on his aching, burning temple.

"You're alright," Ed murmurs. "Bullet scraped up the side of your forehead. Might scar some, but it'll look fucking cool, so that's something."

Izzy smiles weakly. "You almost had to learn what to do without me."

Ed stares at him. "I almost did."

"You and Stede would be okay."

"No, we wouldn't," Stede's voice joins them as he crawls to sit beside them in the middle row of seats. "I'm not okay right now as it is. I'm so sorry-"

"Is the fucker dead?"

Stede blinks, then nods. "We took care of him."

"To shreds," Ed says dreamily. "He won't be coming back from that."

Izzy sighs. "Good. Ed, where are we-"

"Jack has a contact at the coast," Ed interrupts. "They need someone to crew a replica ship for night and 'ghost tour' type tourist excursions. I used to sail, and Olu and Jim say they did too. The three of us will train everyone else and..."

He hesitates. "I know how it sounds. But we can lay low there for as long as we need, and make some extra money for the hell of it. If someone does come after us again for everything that happened, we'll just sail the fuck away!"

"Everyone is on board with this?" Izzy asks, wincing as Ed daps the damp cool cloth on his injury again.

Stede nods. "My crew is going to be a real crew! In a more original sense of the word...what do you say, Iz? Can't be any worse than driving from place to place."

He considers it. It certainly isn't worse, and he's never had the chance to work on a ship of any kind.

Ed had told him once that being turned was like gaining another life. It gave him time to explore and learn and see things he might not have otherwise.

"We should get going before the sun comes up," Izzy sighs. "We've a ways to go, for the coast. Sure they'd like us there sooner rather than later."

--

Each set of miles is a mutually held breath. Each truck stop at night an exhale.

In between, they feed, sitting on the ground or at concrete tables outside each truckstop entrance.

"Okay," Jim sighs. "Slim pickings, but we have chips and drinks and a sandwich but-"

"That's not a sandwich anymore," Izzy winces.

The plastic wrapped item is sandwich-shaped, but that's about all that signals it as one.

"Well," Jim starts defensively, then sighs. "It might be edible in bits though."

"Babe, it's got mold on it," Olu frowns.

"So?"

"On the outside of the wrapping," Olu continues. "I don't know if it can come back from that."

Jim nods. "Save it as bait for our meal?"

"Seems mean, but yeah, we could," Olu says. "Speaking of-"

"I got us covered," Jack grins and holds out four small silver flasks. "I forgot I had extra on the inside pockets of my coat!"

"Hang on," Ed catches Olu's hand as he reaches for one. "Are they...plain?"

"Nah, they got booze in 'em."

"I'm fine with that," Jim says.

Olu nods. "Better than plain, even."

Stede perks up. "If I put it in blood, I can still drink?"

Izzy laughs, though it hurts the slow healing wound on his head. "Yeah, you can. Jack almost exclusively eats that way."

"I do sponsorship shit for a couple brands of booze," Jack protests. "And I happen to really like their products! I'm a dedicated working man, Izzy."

"You're already tipsy," Izzy giggles. "Fuck, hand one over. After the last few days, I need it."

"Now," Ed shushes him. "It hasn't been that bad, and no one needs it exactly-"

"Yeah, but sometimes it can make things feel a hell of a lot better," Jack interrupts.

Ed nods. "That's true. And it has been shit, hasn't it?"

"We've murdered a good few people now, so it's not ideal," Olu notes, passing one of the flasks to Jim first.

"Is this anyone else's first murder?" The Swede, previously part of the security team for his ability to yell frighteningly in Swedish, asks. "Because it's my second, but this one feels so different."

"No, I know what you mean," Ed says. "Maybe it's because so many people saw? Usually people don't see me, with that. Izzy brings them home and..."

A brief silence falls, broken by Stede clearing his throat.

"You've murdered someone before, Swede?"

"I mean, we've all done it," Wee John nods.

Frenchie shakes his head as he digs into a small bag of chips. "Only pyramid schemes for me, and you know it. Nearly did kill one guy in Reno-"

"Is that why you keep telling people you can't go there to elope?" Olu asks.

Frenchie nods.

"Congrats!" Ed smiles. "Did we leave your fiancé back in town?"

"We're saving up," John replies. "He can't do Reno, and I can't do Miami."

"Any destinations in mind you guys don't have warrants in?" Jack asks. "Not trying to be rude, because that would be a short list for me personally, just curious."

Frenchie blushes. "New Orleans would be nice."

"It's expensive," John notes.

"Yeah, but there's an aquarium," Frenchie says. "We could get married in the aquarium!"

John smiles. "We could maybe keep it on the list then."

Jack passes another flask to Ed, while his other hand rifles through one of his interior jacket pockets.

"Here," Jack tosses John a wad of rolled cash. "It's all real, I promise. I can't make a daylight wedding, but I will bring a present to a night reception on Bourbon Street."

"Seriously?" Frenchie asks, peering over to examine the bills. "We can pay you b-"

"Nope," Jack cuts him off. "Consider it a wedding shower gift from me and the other vamps here, since I'm the only one with a current steady cash flow."

"Hey!" Stede cries, then frowns. "Oh. Oh right. Never mind."

"You'll get back to it," Buttons says, tearing into a stick of beef jerky.

"Where did he get that?" Stede asks, with a curious look to Izzy.

All he can do is shrug. At least Buttons has food.

Buttons swallows. "In another town, near the coast. Work the ship for a few years, then buy up something cheap and The Revenge will live again!"

Jack laughs and hollers. "I like this guy! Where did you get that though, fella?"

"We wanted to share."

Izzy turns, and takes a long sip as he stares up at the two men looking down at them.

He turns back as the mold covered sandwich nearly lands on top of him. There sits Jim, ready to bounce up and run.

"Fuck. That was supposed to hit them," they hiss, then in a shout:

"Scatter!"

--

"So," Izzy whispers. "We could have all probably just run for the van."

"Yeah," Jim replies. "That's what I meant. I thought it would be implied, but-"

"It's okay," Izzy says. "We all panicked."

"Wish we had panicked into different hiding spots," Ed grumbles. "Can they see the light from outside? I want to know what I'm touching here; why is it sticky?!"

"I think they can, and shut it!" Jack hisses. "They saw us all run in the same fucking bathroom anyway!"

"I actually do have to use the bathroom," Black Pete, the other member of The Revenge's security team, mumbles. "Whose shoe am I near right now?"

"Mine, and don't you dare," Olu whispers.

"I'm not gonna piss on your fucking shoe, man! I'm gonna aim around it near the toilet instead-"

"Lucius!" Jim whispers fiercely. "Help him!"

Lucius, Black Pete's boyfriend and self described 'bar float that floats to whichever person is drowning at the time', scoffs.

"How am I supposed to help him piss?! Just look outside and see if they're gone!"

Izzy grimaces as he leans his face and ear against the sticky, peeling metal door. "Let me listen-"

"We can hear fucking everything!"

He backs awkwardly onto Stede, out of room in the entirely too small one room, unisex bathroom.

"Come out and let that one guy use the fucking bathroom!"

Izzy looks back and shrugs as he flips the light switch. "Not like we can escape. We'll be out of your way in a minute, Pete."

They trail out, except for Pete, and face the two men again.

"Can I say my piece now?" the first says. "Or are you gonna throw another fucking gross sandwich at me?"

Not a word, and Izzy feels that's probably for their overall best.

"Okay then," the man continues. "I'm Ivan. This is my partner, Fang. Say hi, Fang."

Fang smiles sweetly, then hisses at them loud enough to make them jump.

"We were given an assignment," Ivan continues. "The Badminton family wants all of you dead. Police found Nigel's body-"

"What was left," Fang snickers.

"Right," Ivan nods. "And the family felt the police were taking their sweet time finding you all. We're a resource they occasionally use in times like this."

"Good, steady work," Ed smiles. "Admirable, and a very particular niche too!"

"Would you like to know what we do?" Ivan asks, pushing past Izzy and Stede to lean in to Ed's face.

"Enlighten me," Ed replies evenly, but his voice is ice cold. Izzy knows that particular tone, and tries to recall how many potential witnesses might be inside the showers of the stop.

"We make people disappear," Ivan replies, just as icily.

The bathroom door creaks open, and Pete steps out slowly.

"Ah. It's not going well."

--

Ivan and Fang join them in Wee John's van, directing him down seemingly random roads until their headlights are the only light pollution to be seen.

Fang directs them out of the van and into a field, trudging through sharp long grass.

"You know, you don't have to kill us," Lucius says. "Seems like a lot more work."

"Keen point," Jack adds. "I don't know about you two, but I love having less work."

"Who doesn't?!" Lucius cries. "So, we can all agree then-"

"Holy fuck, both of you shut u-"

Ivan pauses mid-step. As do they all, to take in each peculiarity of the scene.

Stede, his fangs stuck into the back of Ivan's neck, but not in far enough to feed.

Ivan, struggling to stay upright with the awkward weight of Stede hanging off of him.

"Sneak attack?" Izzy leans in and asks Stede.

"Yeagh," Stede manages.

"Okay," Izzy pats his back. "Maybe we can do some compromising now."

"Why would we do that?" Ivan asks.

"If you don't, my boyfriend will drain you," Izzy replies. "He could now, if he wanted."

"I can tell he can't," Ivan protests bluntly.

"You're in shock already," Izzy talks over him. "Shhh, it'll be over soon."

Izzy can feel Fang's eyes on him as he tries to push Ivan down so Stede can properly bite in.

He doesn't move though. Not even when Izzy finds himself trying to kick out Ivan's knees.

"You know," Fang muses. "Technically we don't have to kill them. The Badminton's paid us upfront, so as long as we come back with like...a chunk of someone's hair or some blood on a shirt as 'proof'..."

"Will you get your boyfriend out of my neck if I agree with that?" Ivan asks Izzy. "We let you live, and you get him out of my fucking neck, seriously, every time he wiggles I can feel his teeth moving in my neck, and-"

Izzy nods, and Lucius and Jack gently help Stede pry himself out of Ivan's neck.

Ivan shivers violently after, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Don't do that again, or I will kill you."

"In my defense, I tripped," Stede says.

"You fucking did not," Ivan scoffs. "Whatever, this isn't even fun anymore. Fang's right; they always pay upfront so as long as you swear to never go back-"

"Consider it done," Izzy interrupts. "Can we please go back to our van now?"

They trundle back to the van, oddly comfortably. Fang and Ivan make casual conversation, and things could be worse.

"Oh fuck no," Izzy murmurs as they near it. A figure near the back of the van steps out, and he has the worst feeling-

"I thought I killed him?" Stede asks. "Izzy, you saw him. Chauncey was dead!"

"We should have mentioned that," Fang winces. "Nigel turned Chauncey after you guys bolted, but I don't think he expected it to take with how far gone Chauncey was. I guess it worked."

"Looks like," Izzy sighs. He wants to rest somewhere that isn't the back of a van. He wants a shower, and to cuddle with Ed and Stede.

For now, he'll settle for killing Chauncey. Certainly better than nothing.

[allsassnoclass]

i wish you’d write a famous musician and road crew tech fic! the pairing that comes to mind first would be muke since they both play guitars, one of them being the guitar tech for the other, but i could also see any of them being a tech for someone else. i really loved your mashton au you did about dancer michael and solo musician ashton and something i liked about it was that one of the characters, in this case ashton, was still existing within the music world, it brought this sense of realism that i really enjoyed while also having some cool elements that only an au can bring, in this case having michael as a choreographer! i’m thinking that this same idea could be translated into a techie fic, and i thought of it right away for this game for you because of that! what are your thoughts? is that something that could be of interest to you?

oooooo, this idea has a lot of elements that i like!!! i've always really liked famous/less-famous dynamics, and i really like that they'd be out on tour together. tour fics are so much fun with all of the different locations and the liminal feelings, plus the close quarters of the tour bus ensure that they spend time together. i also like the idea of this being a muke fic, simply because i haven't written much muke and i'd like to post more fics for them! however, i honestly am not sure i know enough about guitars to make one of them a guitar tech, but I definitely know enough to make one a sound or lighting technician! there are so many good options for tour crew jobs, and either way they get to watch the set every night (either from backstage of the back of the house).

so we have a solo musician (let's say luke, since he already has solo music) and a techie, and over the course of their tour (a north american tour? a world tour? a european tour? idk, there are options) they grow closer and closer. maybe this is michael's first time working with luke, since luke just switched labels/management teams and lots of his road crew switched as well, or maybe michael is new to the team for other reasons, but either way they both take a while to learn how to work with each other. a few late nights on the bus and backstage in dressing rooms let them warm up to each other, and *feelings* start to occur! there's be more to it than that, probably some sort of external conflict (luke last album wasn't well-received and he doesn't know how to continue making music that he enjoys, michael is running from something in his past and the road is his escape but the past is catching up to him, something else that they'll have to work through?), but that's the basic vision i have in my head!

send me “I wish you’d write a fic where…”

[yamis-ramblings]

So, I recently finished Crosscode, and I've bee thinking about doing these little reviews on my tumblr for a while.

So, why not start with Crosscode? This is gonna be a bit rough around the edges but here's my attempt at a mostly spoiler free crosscode review! There'll be spoilers for the first little bit of the game, but nothing else and nothing major.

---------

Intro

So, Crosscode is a game about an mmo named Crossworlds. This probably sounds stupid off the bat to you, right? Like some more SAO shit? Well you'd be very wrong.

First of all, Crossworlds isn't virtual. It takes place on a distant moon using something called "instant matter". There's a small section of this moon called "the playground", or "the croissant" due to it s shape, that the mmo takes place on. Now, you aren't traveling to this moon to play this game. You have a headset that lets you make an avatar out of instant matter and transports your conciousness into this new body, letting you control it and experience the game from its perspective. You can even turn on certain settings that allows you to feel what it feels.

There are however real flesh and blood people on the moon, but they don't normally enter the playground- at least they're not supposed to. They consist of mantience crews mostly from what we know, and they're the ones keeping the place running. Players however don't see them.

Now, the game isn't simply about this mmo. You're not playing a rpg to play an mmorpg. You've got goals, and you're experiencing a story, an adventure. Relationships and bonds. Throughout the game you'll experience joy and heartbreak, and the game goes into some really clever topics and is full of references and jokes. Its a very clever game, and this mmo setting doesn't hold it back- infact, it takes full advantage of it to tell a story that provides a fresh and progressive look at familiar ideas, ideas about the rules of robotics, freedom of people, anxiety and stress, trauma, and many more.

---------

Story

The story of Crosscode is very strong. It consists of ten chapters, and the only time it lags behind is chapter 8. However if you maintain your energy for the chapter it has a really large area for you to explore, and in my opinion it had one of the best end bosses out of all the chapters.

That aside, you play as Lea:

She's a smug, sassy, kind, caring, strong, soft, and brilliant protaganist. Oh, and she's mute. Lea's voice module is broken, meaning she can't communicate like other players. She does however become able say seven words throughout the game.

Now, Lea doesn't start out in the Playground. That's because she's not a normal player. Lea's lost her memory, and Crossworlds may be the only way to help her get it back. Lea's not alone in this, infact from the start, Sergey is at your side communicating as a sort of guide, but also companion:

Sergey is the one that believes Crossworld will help Lea regain her memories. Lea'll awaken in a cargo ship a fair bit aways from the Playground, greeted by not only Sergey, but Carla:

Carla is Lea's first friend in the game, and she'll effectively give you your tutorial. But by doing this she's making sure Lea's able to control her avatar and is alright. She's the ships mechanic, she's tough, she's got a sense of humour, and she's lovely. Skip a few minutes forward and you'll be introduced to Captain Jet:

Jet is the captain of the cargo ship, and wary of having an avatar on board. The backround we get for him hints towards an existence of community and civilization outside of these maintenance crews and crossworlds, as he's actually a previous tourney champion using VRP's. I cannot for the life of me remember exactly what that stands for, but to repeat the joke the game makes

Balls

Essentially the captain, and Lea, use instant matter balls as ranged weapons. (Lea also has melee attacks).

The captain will finish your tutorial, and after that some really cool stuff that I won't spoil will happen, and you'll be brought into the tutorial area where you meet three more lovely characters. To save your time however, let's just talk about the best character in the game

I love Emilie. I'm convinced that Lea and Emilie are a crushing on eachother, if not just incredibly good friends, due to the nature of their relationship's growth.

Emilie is spunky, peppy, a little airheaded, and ready to punch anything. She despises bugs, but she loves Lea. She's Lea's best friend, and they'd do anything for each other. Play the game, if only for Lea and Emilie.

You'll encounter a dungeon here that Emilie will race you through (its instanced, so you won't race in person). This will teach you the basics about dungeons.

After this, you're in the playground. Soon you meet a friend of Emilie's, he introduces you to the story, gives you a tour of the first town, and you're off on your own. The girls' dynamic is highlighted right away, and the game is great.

-----

Gameplay

This is where I get a little mixed. I think the game is excellent, I'm just too stupid. Thankfully the game has various difficulty/accessibility options to help.

The combat of the game is lovely. Its fast, fluid, creative, and the loop is wonderful. The bosses are intuitive and fun, and the fights get very creative in how they involve the elements (you get four elements throughout the game, each with different effects in combat and puzzles) ranged attacks, and melee attacks.

The puzzles are where I struggled. I can't say it struggled, because the puzzles were very smart! I just wasn't. Your ranged attack has a charged mode, where if you wait a second you'll throw a ball that will bounce off walls. This uses physics to do this, and it gets incredibly clever and hard. The puzzles are excellent, I enjoyed a lot of them, I just needed some help because I'm slow

----

Music

Absolutely

Amazingly

Beautiful

That is all

[crimsonxe]

No, when it comes to FACTS, CANON, and respect for characters/LiS1/DontNod there is no "agree to disagree". Just like if I say a pineapple pizza is a pizza; you can like or dislike the taste but it is FACTUALLY a pizza. Even the Amanda part cause do take a look over Decknine's history where they've shown that femme lipstick lesbian preference. Hell I'd even get more specific for Max and Chloe in that they're written as Rachel Amber NOT themselves. Rachel would leave Max NOT Chloe who showed that once someone gets behind her walls she goes into absolute loyalty to that person given her belief in Rachel reveal after reveal across LiS1 and how she is towards Max past the halfway point of that game too. Rachel would make threesome jokes about guys to her gf NOT Chloe. Rachel would be the party girl NOT Chloe. Rachel would pull trauma barbs against others both in her mind and in reality NOT Max. Rachel would be thirsty on main nonstop NOT Max. Rachel would give up on a relationship over fighting for it NOT Max.

Funnily enough I was onboard with TLoU2, because what it presented MADE SENSE given the full context of all characters in-character. DE does NOT and is OOC. TLoU2 is by the exact same crew as TLoU, while DE is Decknine's inept writers trying to step in and "one up" DontNod. TLoU2 actually full-dives into its core themes, DE is too busy playing romance sim and mystery novel to go into Max's trauma and too better than thou to have it naturally progressing into Max reaching a point to be able to reconnect with Chloe to progress forward TOGETHER. They'd rather shove lacking ass shitty characters into the story, where one is a disgusting slap in the fucking face to long-standing LGBT+ fans like myself by trying to act like OUR choice isn't valid/good. So Decknine should get to FORCE us to be with their more traditionally appealing option instead, afterall LGBT+ is all the same, right? Except that NO IT ISN'T and I don't give a single fuck about Amanda's knockoff ass. Doubly so with once again Michel stating that our Pricefield would ALWAYS come back together.

Yeah, you've made it very clear that your shitbag ass aren't a Chloe fan and I'd even say that you aren't an actual LiS fan; but I'll keep that side of things limited to I won't address your ass as one. Given you're clear ignoring of one of the two central fucking pillar characters of the franchise. The fact that you can sit there and state that Amanda is a knockoff Chloe, yet have no issue with it says plenty about your shittiness as a person and clear lack of giving a shit about LiS or about LGBT+.

I loved LiS2, so do take that little bullshit parade and shove it up your disgusting bitch ass. I've never had an issue with whatever direction LiS went, even under Decknine so long as it maintained RESPECT. DE does NOT respect jack fucking shit and would've been soooooooo damn much better WITHOUT Max or Chloe in it; which newsflash there still hasn't been a fucking thing that says this story had to bring Max back as the MC. Every damn bit of it could've been worked to a new character that left DONTNOD'S characters alone.

Miss me with the "I don't hate Chloe" bullshit, cause yes your fucking ass clearly does. Trying to say otherwise is just bullshit and if you think otherwise, then you're delusional.

Actually there's an entire fucking array of paths for Chloe alive and dead; where DontNod holds the MAIN CANON branch with green-haired Chloe happily still with Max touring galleries together living their best life. Which has been reinforced by Michel's statements about DE in which he directly states no one has to run with DE's ideas and can focus on other canons; then furthered by Emma (the comics writer) also clarifying her stance that everything is canon just differing branches within the multiverse. The one good thing that DE has done is emphasize how good the comics were due to the difference between a fan w/ respect to DontNod. And both respect and understanding of their characters vs. a shitty corpo company trying to "out progressive" the other cause they have their heads up their own asses. There is no "bold", just obnoxious better than thou inaccurate bullshit.

Okay so I started life is strange double exposure today and I gotta say it’s so good so far as I finished episode 3

The characters, dialogue and story is so good. I’m really loving the romance option of Amanda 🫶 she’s a whole vibe and honestly a breath of fresh air.

I honestly think Chloe being gone fits and makes sense plus I wouldn’t have cared if she was in the game or not🤷

The story is awesome and I do love a good murder mystery. I really love the dialogue as well. It’s not as held back and shoutout for there being a trans woman character ❤️🤘I love max’s relationship with Moses and Safi. Truly the sibling relationship

I’ll say it again Amanda as a love interest made me squeal. She’s funny, has a hell of a personality and is so sweet. I think she’s a breath of fresh air and I just love her so much

This is where apparently controversy is in this fandom. I stand with the people who don’t give a fuck whether Chloe is in the game or not. I personally think it was a good choice. Because not every game is about Chloe and I’m glad she’s not really apart of it besides the posts. I’m happy max is around different characters in a different environment entirely. Do I think how Chloe and max ended was stupid? Not really. But if you’re gonna trash the game over a character you need to grow up. I thought the fandom was better than this but apparently not🥱 give the game a chance and I promise it’ll be worth your time

[r3b3lgrrrrrrrl]

A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 85 Xs1)

"Day 12: Chicago"

@creatureofthen1ght-v3

@lovemythsworld

@crystalbaby12

Considering how intoxicated they got all day and night yesterday, it's surprising that Luna and Colson are awake before any kind of knock hits their hotel room door. It's probably because of the uncomfortable, tangled positions they'd found themselves in from last night.

Getting comfortable at the top of the bed, they snuggle together. Colson running his fingers through her golden hair as they talk about different things. He wants to fly his tattoo guy out to meet them in Kansas City on Thursday.

"Think it'll hurt?" Colson asks Luna about the head tattoo he wants.

"Hmmmmph...." Luna giggles to herself.

Remembering the pain, Luna touches the back of her head. Just above the divit that slopes into her neck, at the very base of her skull, about three fingers wide and long, she has the replica of an old CA license plate tattooed there. Instead of numbers, it has the word WARD, like a vanity plate. A registration sticker sits expiring in the bottom right corner on June of 1999. The hidden piece is the only ink Luna has for her mother.

-------------------------------------------------

Known as Lizard or Izzy. Patti and Robert never named their daughter. The forgotten baby was named by a nun in the orphanage she was raised in. Never being adopted and always a ward of the state, Luna's mother's name legally became Elizabeth Ann Ward. Patti feeling immense guilt when her daughter contacted her regarding her grandchild, she legally changed Luna's name as soon as she adopted her after Izzy's death. The marking being the first tattoo Luna ever got. Never forgetting her true home. Or that first sense of insatiable pain. Always keeping her hair long, only three other people know that she has it. One of them being the artist. Colson isn't one and neither is her grandmother. Having gotten it done the summer she turned 14yrs old with Jackson and Opie, the undercut grew out just enough by time she'd come home to NY. That wasn't the only first for Luna in The Summer of 2005. That same year, Jackson got his first bike, teaching her how to ride and handle a gun. It was also the first time Luna ever had sex. Popping her cherry with Jackson on a warm late July night. It had been a wild summer filled with surprises, love and rebellion. Luna gaining and losing many different things in those three months. Springing into action a long series of events.

-------------------------------------------------

"YEAH. On the back of your skull? You're gonna feel that vibration through your teeth, eyes, ears... It's gonna hurt like a Motherfucker." Luna says with a smile playing on her lips.

"Shit, I didn't think of it like that..." Colson admits, not noticing Luna's detail.

"You'll be fine. Don't act like you don't like a little pain." Luna lifts up, biting his lip.

"Mmm... " Colson pulls Luna into him.

Kissing her deeply, Luna feels her body flush. Pushing up and climbing on top of him, she pins him down against the bed. Lightly biting along his neck. Each one a little harder as she makes her way to his nipples. Making Colson laugh and squirm as she drags her hands down his body as she bites his tattooed sides and stomach.

Holding his hard dick and excited eyes, Luna licks the bottom of him from base to tip with her wide, sopping tongue. Keeping his eyes in place with her antagonizing blue, Colson groans out. She gives him a wicked smile and a devious look before she lightly squeezes his cock and sinks her teeth into the meat of his thigh. Hard but not too hard.

"Ahh!! You fucking bitch!" He jerks. Laughing, while grabbing her. Colson carefully lifting and flipping Luna on to her back. "I'm gonna fuck you up!" He claims as she giggles.

Holding her down, with one large hand planted in the middle of her chest with a long arm, Colson slips his tongue up through the warm folds of Luna's pussy. Tasting peaches, he smiles before biting her back on her thigh.

"Motherfucker!!" Luna shrieks

Colson throws both of her legs over his shoulders. Coming back up to her face, he presses his tongue into her mouth. Aggressively kissing her as he holds her down.

Enjoying his dominance, Luna finds his cock with her hands. Grabbing it, she shifts her hips as she guides him inside. Pulling his blonde hair back, making him groan out as he starts to fuck her.

"Jesus FUCKING Christ, Loons!!" Colson growls into her ear, as he pulls out of her grasp to gnaw on her neck.

Luna claws the tops his arms, keeping her left leg straight. Her right leg grips his neck, curve of her foot resting perfectly on the back of his head. Driving into her deeply. Colson and Luna buck against each other hard as their teeth nip and hands grab at each other's bodies.

"Fuck. Oh, Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, FUUUUCK MEEEE!!!" Luna cries as Colson happily follows directions.

Making them both cum. Dropping her legs from his shoulders, Colson stays between them. Laying on Luna's right collarbone. He can see the bandage for her gunshot wound.

"Fuck..." His stomach churns as he looks in the other direction. Hating everything about it.

"Do you need a dress?" Colson pops his head up after a moment.

"A dress?" Luna asks, confused.

"Yeah... For the wedding. Shit. I guess you need two, hunh? He moves off of her to lay on his side.

"Awww..." Luna kisses his sweet lips. "Yeah... I uh, I don't know yet. I have an idea of what I want... But... I don't know... You?" She asks.

They haven't made any solid plans regarding either event. The only thing in place is their word, a twisted guitar string, an already scheduled festival and an almost dual residency for one of them. All with the idea of being legally married sometime next month.

"Don't you dress me?" Colson honestly asks her.

"Are you fucking five?" Luna asks him with a gnarly look. "Am I supposed to dress you?" She gives him a terrified look.

Both of them laugh, neither knowing what the fuck they're doing. THIS is gonna be a hot mess, they agree.

"We need help." Luna admits. "At least for after TownHall... We can wing EstFest."

Colson agrees with her again. They want to have a gathering afterwards at The Cleveland House for those who attend the small ceremony.

Wrapping his arm around Luna, pulling her into his chest, Colson kisses her head.

"We're getten' married, Kitten." He hums into into the top of her head.

Luna smiles, resting deeper into him. A wave of euphoria washing over her. A happy Yup escaping her lips. Neither of them ever expecting this in their lifetime. Colson a forever player. Luna thinking her heart was broken.

Hearing the knock, they get up. Burning and banging it out again in the shower. Luna snorting Percocets as Colson rails his own Adderalls.

Passing joints back and forth as they get dressed. Colson in loose grey pants and a Metallica shirt. Luna in all black skinnies and a tank.

Sliding on her red Vans, she pulls on the red baseball hat and her leather. Colson slapping her ass as she yelps walking out the door.

--------------------------------------------------

Colson's playing a sold out show at the Aragon Ballroom tonight.

As The Crew and Tech finish setting up, Luna and everyone hangs out in the parking lot. Most of them boarding around. All of them burning.

Luna stops as she feels her phone ring. It's her grandmother. Leaning up against the wall, Luna takes it.

"Hey Mom-Mom..." She greets Patti.

Patti asks Luna how the tour's going. Luna telling her Wild, like any other. Her Mom-Mom always appreciating Luna's candidness. They go on to touch base that Luna spoke to her therapist, Kylie, last week. She reassures her grandma that she did and will this week also. With that Patti cuts to the chase. She wants Luna to do her a favor. Luna hates her grandmother's favors.

"Seriously, Mom-mom?" Luna sighs with annoyance.

Patti wants her to fly out to NY next Tuesday and appear on Ellen. Always thinking her connections are the right move for her granddaughter's career. It's exactly how Luna ended up on Riot Records.

"What if Ash isn't available?" Luna tries to wiggle out of it.

Her grandmother pisses her off when she tells her that's Just Fine, Ellen wants to interview her, not Ashley.

"What the FUCK, Mom-mom? You know I don't like doing interviews. And on fucking daytime TV. You gotta stop doing this shit to me, Man. Did I not just flip shit in my room over feeling too looked at.....? You fucking suck right now....." Luna complains.

Pressing on Patti tells her it's good exposure for Nightmare and her cause. That Luna knows Ellen as a family friend and that she won't cross any boundaries. Sometimes she can be an old dick.

"Yeah. Clearly you've never watched her show." Luna angrily retorts. "I'll do this one, but Mom-Mom, that's IT. DO NOT commit me to anything else before asking me first." Pressing it even further, Luna throws in a zinger. "What did you always tell me?... Hm? Not to ASSUME anything... because it makes an Ass outta You and Me.... Next time, I'm gonna say No and you're gonna be mad when you look like an Asshole." Luna tells the older woman.

Blowing Luna's threats off, her grandmother tells her to watch her for the producers phone call and that she'll see her when she gets home. They exchange I Love Yous and GoodByes before hanging up. Still leaning against the wall, Luna grabs her skateboard and looks down. Thinking about her conversation with her grandmother.

"This is fucking bullshit.... I don't wanna fucking go on TV.... Ahhhhh!!!" Her brain screams. "Ash better be able to fucking come."

Calling Ashley, she can't. She'll be in Europe somewhere with Dom. Luna zones out of the conversation once she doesn't hear what she wants.

"MOTHERFUCKER.." Is all she can think.

Colson had noticed when Luna had first stopped skating. Looking over at her again, he stops himself. Holding his board, he watches her. She seems irritated by whoever's on the phone.

"Nobody better be fucking with her." He thinks, dropping his deck to skate over to Luna. "And it better not be fucking Tommy.... Or Jackson..." Colson can feel a fire lighting in his belly.

"What's up, Kitten?" He asks.

Gliding up to her, as he stops. One foot on his board, the other on the ground. Letting her's rest against her leg as wraps his long arms around her body.

"My fucking grandmom booked me on Ellen next Tuesday and Ash can't go with me." Luna complains into his chest.

"Shit? Again without asking?" Colson pulls her out of his chest.

"Yeah..." Luna sighs.

"Come're." Colson tells her.

They both let their boards go as he lifts her up. Luna wraps her arms and legs around his naked upper body. Burying her face into his neck. Inhaling his sweet aroma. The mixture of coffee, weed and his deodorant makes her nipples hard.

"I fucking hate when she does this." She whines.

"I know, Kitten." Colson comforts her as he kisses the side of her hat. "You just performing or you gotta sit down too?" He asks.

"I gotta sit dooowwn..." Luna continues to pout.

Colson can't help but chuckle. Luna tells him to Shut Up as her phone rings again. It's another NY number.

Sliding off of him, she takes the call as he skates off. Giving her a minute. It's the producers from The Ellen Show. They want Luna to perform Nightmare and THAT Type along with an interview. Luna agrees to all but THAT Type. She refuses to continue fueling this Bleta flame. Guaranteeing she'll have something for two sets, Luna unhappily hangs up.

"And now I gotta write a whole new FUCKING song...." Luna thinks, annoyed.

Flipping her deck over she goes to find Sam. She's rail sliding, ollieing and skating around the parking lot with Colson, Rook and Baze. Luna decides against saying anything at the moment. Choosing to rip her emotions out using the trucks beneath her feet instead.

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Inside the ballroom, Colson goes over last minute specifics with Tech before he hits a light rehearsal with The Band.

They don't really need it, but they like to check the acoustics in new venues. Watching from SideStage, Colson asks Luna if she wants to try out What I Got.

"Yeah, why not? I wanna play lead on this one though." Luna says, tossing off her hat with her leather.

Walking over, she picks up a guitar and slides the strap over her shoulder. Striking it. She begins to play a different song with her own lyrics.

🎶Luna's 26yrs old🎶

🎶But Tuesday🎶

🎶She'll be a whore🎶

🎶Even though she already🎶

🎶Knows🎶

🎶It's fucking the wrong way🎶

Luna stares at Colson as she snarls at the next lyrics. She's still pissed at her grandmother.

🎶Don't be afraid🎶

🎶In the quickness🎶

🎶You get laid🎶

🎶For your family🎶

🎶Get paid🎶

🎶It's the Fucking wrong way🎶

Letting the guitar hang off of her, Luna sighs. Arms rests on the Fender. The 30s and time help Luna not notice the light pain in her shoulder. Colson walks over and kisses her forehead.

"I don't think that's really a duet, Kitty." He says with a small smile.

"I know..." Luna sighs again. "I'm just frustrated. I gotta come up with a second song by Tuesday."

Leaning the top of her her head into his chest as the instrument separates them. He rubs her back asking her Why. Understanding when she explains not wanting to use THAT Type.

"What about the one you sent me? Brooklyn Bitch?" He asks, lifting her face by the chin.

Looking up at him she says No, pulling away. Hands flittering in frustration. She'd have to change too many things and it's the complete opposite tone and message of Nightmare. Whatever it is, it needs to send it's own independent, strong musical statement. Another reason she doesn't want to use THAT Type, it's negative as all hell towards women and so far removed from Luna's platform. She needs something new. Something to hold hands with Nightmare. Sighing again, she places her head back against Colson's bare chest.

"Wanna put figuring out a cover on hold for a sec? So you can write this one?" He asks.

Looking up again, she asks If He Minds. Shaking his head, Colson leans down to kiss Luna. Lifting the guitar from around her neck.

"Come on... Lemme get you high, Baby Girl." He smirks.

Slapping her ass. He grabs one cheek, holding it tightly as they walk across stage.

Rolling her eyes, she feels her pussy swell from his grasp. Luna loves the way he man handles her sometimes, even distracted.

"I fucking hate when you call me that." She complains.

There is ONE person who calls Luna Baby Girl and they're the highest on her shit list.

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Sitting on one of the couches on The Bus, Colson fires Luna up a joint. Handing it to her, he lights his own. Slouching down, Luna hits it as she kicks off her Vans. Swinging herself around, Luna lays back on the couch as she places her legs across his lap.

Colson slips her socks off and starts rubbing her slender feet. Pressing his large thumbs into her balls and high arches. Both still getting high. Luna closes her eyes, running her left foot over Colson's semi until he can't stand it anymore. Fully hard, he looks over at her asking Yeah to her smirk and shrug.

"YEAH!!" Colson shouts as he pounces on her.

Tickling and kissing her all over, Luna wiggles and laughs as they try to undress each other. Scooching all over the couch. Colson pulls her skinny jeans off and throws them across The Bus.

"Was that really necessary?" Luna laughs.

"Yes." Colson confirms as he dives back on to her.

Kissing and teasing each other, they wrestle around on the couch. Luna squirms too far off it, taking them both down onto the floor with a THUD.

With more space to control her, Colson bites Luna's neck as he dips his cock inside of her. Luna thrusts her hips up into him as she moans out in pleasure. They're tongues play in each other's mouths as they move their bodies together. Pulling back, Colson grins down at Luna.

"Told you I'd fuck you on the floor." He smirks.

"You motherfucker!" Luna bursts.

Gripping his waist with the leg wrapped around it, Luna pushes off with her right. She rolls them over using her right arm as leverage and left for force. Popping his dick back inside of herself once she's on top, she pulls up her right knee to protect her new crab. Dropping her hips and left leg, Luna pushes Colson all the way inside of her. Pressing on his chest with her hands, she rocks her hips in a titled circle.

"Who's fucking who on the floor now, C!" Luna taunts his groans.

"You're such a fucking biitchh..." He growls, enjoying her pussy controlling his cock.

"Yeah. But you love this fucking BITCH, don't you?" Luna provokes Colson while riding him faster. "Don't you."

Colson grips her hips tighter with a loud Yes. Bucking hard against him, they're both on the verge of cumming.

"Say it." She demands.

"I FUCKING LOVE YOU, YOU FUCKING BITCH!!" Colson shouts as Luna fucks him with authority.

"FUCK YEAH, YOU DO!!" She cries out before they both cum. "Holy Fuck balls, Bunny...."

Luna pants, dangling her head backwards as she leans her hands on his thighs. Still grinding into him. Colson admires her heaving chest and enjoys her warm pussy and soft moans.

She's startled when he comes flying up, wrapping his arms around Luna's body when he hears The Bus doors open. Quickly tucking her inside of him, she's not sure what's going on until she hears his firm YO.

Next comes a "Bullet? What the fuck, DUDE? Why... You know what.... Get the fuck out, I'll be talk to you in a minute." Colson says to whomever walked onto The Bus.

"Who the hell was that?" Luna asks once he releases her.

Colson runs his hands through her hair. Pulling her in for another kiss.

"My boy, Bullet... Come on, let's get dressed. I'll introduce you." He tells her before he kisses her again.

-------------------------------------------------

"MY MAN!!" Colson exclaims dapping and hugging a large bald man.

The guy is HUGE. Benny and Colson are the same height but Benny's got an easy 150lbs on Colson. This dude that Luna's watching, has at least another three inches on them both. An easy fifty pounds if not more of solid muscle on Benny. He's not huge, this man is a mountain.

"Kitten!" Colson catches her attention. "This is Bullet. Bullet, meet Luna Smith, THAT Brooklyn Bitch. And as of next month my fucking WIFE." He grins with pride.

"Hi!" Luna gives the man a bright smile as she shakes his hand. "How do you guys know each other?" She asks.

Colson explains how Bullet is his other bodyguard.

"Ooohh... They called in you cause of OUR reckless asses." Luna calls him right out, putting two and two together.

"Naaahhhh..." Bullet shakes his head with a smirk.

"Mhhm... Well, at least we greeted you with a fucking bang-bang." She snarks, making Colson and Bullet erupt into laughter. "I gotta start working on this song. Catch you in a bit?" Luna asks as she kisses Colson.

He nods in agreement, kissing her back as she tells Bullet It's A Pleasure. Heading off to find Sam.

---------------------------------------------------

"Imma like this one..... She's a little pistol." Bullet thinks of his first impression of Luna. Noticing how Kells had stopped to cover her tattooed body when he walked in on them. He'd never done that before with any other female Bullet's walked in on him with. Just kept on fucking. "If she is what they say she is, I guess I'd wanna keep that ass to myself too." He muses to himself. Acknowledging that Kells's Girl is not only sassy but STACKED as he watches her walk away.

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🎶Did we ask//You for It//When we begged//Was it nice//While we were//Asking for It//Did we beg you twice🎶

Luna's in Colson's dressing room, sitting on the floor with her guitar, notebook, a joint and a pen. She's trying to write a new song. Wanting the same message as Nightmare, but melodic wise is trying to return to her roots. That raw energy. She doesn't want any mixing done. Just to run it straight through. That hard hitting garage feel.

"FUCK.... I'm so glad Sam's already here. I need a fucking bassist..... There's no way I'm pulling Tim in for this....." She thinks as a pain shoots through her heart.

--------------------------------------------------

Luna's original band, Dysfunctional Baggage consisted of four members. Luna on lead guitar and vocals. Justin on rhythm guitar and back up vocals. Sam, obviously being the drummer and Tim, Justin's bestfriend, their bassist. They had formed in 2011. Playing local NYC spots. Doing small East Coast tours. None of them wanting to be famous, having only the need to create music. And they did. A lot. The Band cut four albums on their own before they disbanded in 2015. Justin and Tim's addictions overshadowing their work. That's when Patti pushed Luna onto Riot Records as a solo artist. Locking her into a four year, three record contract. Sam had stuck with Luna as an unsigned artist, not wanting to be pigeonholed but still create with her friend. Having lost Justin within the first year of her contract, the three records sound nothing like Luna. They're very dark and bluesy instead of energetic and empowering. Justin's suicide never going public but Luna's words making it abundantly clear to their fans. It had wreaked her. Had she not been forced to create, she probably would've lost her music also.

--------------------------------------------------

Ashleigh pops her head in.

"You're on in 15, Loon." She informs her.

"FUCK! Okay. Thanks Ash." Luna responds.

Looking at her mess on the floor, she doesn't have time to clean it up. Pulling her clothes off, she dresses for The Stage. Throwing on a corset, booty shorts, thigh highs with a garter, a random flannel and knee high boots.

Keeping her hair loose, she pulls on her leather before heading out to perform with Colson.

-------------------------------------------------

"God DAMN!!!" Colson's mind flashes as he takes Luna's hand, leading her from the piano. "Imma fuck the shit outta that ass TONIGHT." He thinks as he raps to her.

Bouncing around the stage together, playing off one another, Colson feels his dick growing hard as Luna snakes around him. He pulls her into him. Poking her lower back with his raging cock. Reminding her of LA.

🎶Let me paint the picture. Counter in the kitchen. Taking all your clothes off. Findin' my religion. You're my pretty little vixen and I'm the voice inside your head. That keeps telling you to listen to all the bad things I say🎶

They hit the chorus together. How they want each other forever. Throwing their arms up as they laugh and sing about tattooing each other on their bodies to take each other wherever.

The Band exploding around them with lights and smoke. The crowd going wild when Luna grabs Colson's chin. Belting the last chords.

🎶I'm all in🎶

🎶There is no maybe🎶

Colson grabs her ass, pulling her into him for a strong kiss. Their bodies ripping chords on his guitar between them.

"I love you." Colson whispers to her, whipping her around to face the crowd, he holds her against him. Arm around her neck. "Give it up for my soon-to-be Bride, THAT BROOKLYN FUCKING BITCH!!!!" He screams.

Luna grins and shakes her head. Thanking the crowd as Colson kisses her cheek and releases her.

"Kill em, Bunny." She tells him before trotting OffStage.

That's exactly what he does for the next 45mins. Jumping into the crowd, climbing up random shit, performing his fucking heart out.

Luna doesn't bother to head back to the dressing room. Standing in between Sam and Ashleigh, she hits the bottle one hands her. Then a joint from the other. Singing along with them, enjoying the rest of the show.

"Thank you, Chicago!!! You were fucking sick!!!" Colson shouts before coming OffStage after encoring Sail.

Luna throws up a Bye to Ashleigh and a confused Sam as he tosses her over his shoulder. It's a scene her and Ashleigh know all to well.

--------------------------------------------------

"Get that shit off, NOW." Colson demands after setting Luna back down on her feet.

"What 'chou do before me?" She asks as she strips.

"There is no before YOU." He tells her as he scoops her up.

Sliding himself inside of her, Colson presses Luna up against the dressing room door. Sucking all over her neck as he bounces her off of his dick.

Luna cums for him easily with the way he talks to her and the way his cock treats her. Her walls gripping him tight, she makes him cum with her.

Sitting down on the couch, Colson's still inside Luna as she rests her head against his bare chest and neck. Quietly enjoying each other for a moment.

"What do you wanna do tonight?" He finally asks her.

Lifting up, she grins. "Same thing we do every night, Pinky.... Take over the fucking world."

Colson laughs out an I Love You before flipping her into her back and fucking her again on the couch.

-------------------------------------------------

With a school bag full of liquor, drugs and toys, that's exactly what they do. Take over the fucking world as Colson, Luna, Sam, Baze, Rook and Slim rip their boards around DownTown Chicago.

"I didn't know you grind!!!" Luna grins as Slim cruises beside her.

"Bitch, black men do everything!" He laughs.

"Shut the fuck up." Luna tells him with a grin and a shake of the head "Why your bitch ass never come out with us before then, hunh?"

"Cuz I do what I WANT!!!" He laughs mimicking Luna as he pushes off to gain more speed.

"Why wanna be like me???" She teases him, gaining her own speed and sailing past him.

Stopping abruptly, Luna yells "SAMMMMMYYYY!!!"

She's found a park. It may be gated but Luna found a park. The Boys watch as Luna tosses her board and bag over the fence. Next goes Sam's board. Luna's almost up the fence as she reaches down to help her girl.

"I guess we're going to the park..." Colson shrugs after watching The Girls disappear. "Heads up!!!" He yells before tossing his board over to them.

Following suit, Colson and The Boys hop the fence too.

Inside the park, Luna and Sam climb up the jungle gym. Sam finding and sliding down the slide first. Luna going down sideways calling for Squish The Lemon. Everyone one running towards her. Rook and Sam take one set of steps as Slim and Baze find others, running across the jungle gym to the slide. Colson beats them all when he climbs up the side. It only takes Colson's weight to knock Luna off.

Scrambling back up to the top, they hoot and holler as they slide and slam into each other. Knocking each of them to the ground. Luna's stuck between Baze and Rook as Slim comes tumbling down against Sam. It's Colson's force that sends Baze and Luna flying into the air. Both hit the ground laughing.

"YOU WIN!!!!" Luna calls out, not bothering to get up off of the warm summer ground.

"Lezzzzz goooo!!" Sam shouts, pulling her up and towards the swings.

Luna LOVES to swing. It's the ultimate childhood release for her. The six of them all grab a swing, pumping their legs hard as they breeze through the air. Flying high.

"On three, who can make it farthest!!" Baze shouts out the challenge.

Dipping into the air faster as they glide, Baze calls ONE! TWO! THREEEEEE!!!! Sending them all flying into the night sky. Surprisingly, they all land on their feet. Colson winning having lept the farthest. Slim a close second.

"Guess white men can jump." Luna sticks her tongue out at Slim before she grabs Sam's hands and runs off.

Jumping onto the Merry-Go-Round. She calls The Boys over. Slim and Rook jump on with them as Colson and Baze do the hard work of pushing. Running around full force multiple times, they jump on too. Colson grabbing ahold of Luna and a bar as The World spins around them. Laughing as the warm summer air whizzes by them.

All of them lay back, dizzy as the sky starts to move slower. Passing the bottle and multiple joints amongst them.

"Is this the shit you do when you guys disappear??" Slim asks as he hits a joint, enjoying the childishness of the night.

Colson, Luna, Rook and Baze erupt into laughter. Yes. Yes it is.

"I Cone-Fought Loons in Detroit!!" Rook laughs. "I bet I'm the only person in The World who's whooped her ass!!" He states to the others laughter and Luna's Fuck You.

"What fun shit you got in the bag tonight, Looney?" Colson asks.

"Ahhhh... Idk. I think I have a football!!" She pops up off the metal toy.

Digging through her bag, she pulls out a Nerf football to everyone's excitement.

"WORD!!" Slim shouts, jumping up as Luna tosses it to him. "Colson gets Luna so I get Sam..." He starts picking teams.

"Aight.... I get Rookie." Colson agrees, popping up too, pulling Luna up with him.

"What the fuck, yo!?" Baze asks as last pick.

"You wit me Truck, let's rock these Fools!!" Slim reassures him.

Picking goal lines, they can't agree on touch or tackle. The Boys calling touch while The Girls holler Fuck That, Tackle. Colson declaring tackle it is.

They run a couple plays. Luna and Sam displaying that not only can they catch a football but each can also spiral one. Running around competitively against each other, Luna tackles Sam with no thought. Stopping their fourth down.

"FUCKING LUNATIC!!!!" Rook screams in excitement.

If you haven't realized yet, Luna and Rook are tiny people best friends. Both adoring and finding each other hilarious.

They're in the middle of another play when they see lights and hear a Hey.. What Are You Kids Doin'!? Grabbing their boards and Luna's bag all six of them haul ass. Tossing their shit over the fence as they all escape.

Laughing hysterically as they shoot off into the Chicago night. Rounding a few blocks, they slow down. Colson firing up a joint as Baze does too. Luna pulling the bottle of whiskey back out of her bag. They cruise back to the Aragon as they continue to enjoy each other, passing joints and the bottle between them as they continue to get fucked up. Slim happy he came out.

------------------------------------------------

"Wait. We're outta fucking alcohol???" Luna asks once they're back on The Bus. "How is that possible!??"

It's 2A. There is NO WAY they're hitting the road dry.

"Hold The FUCKING Bus." She directs Colson. "Let's go." She states grabbing Ashleigh and Sam's hands.

Chicago is the joint you wanna be in if you need alcohol late night. After a short search, Ashleigh finds a package store only three blocks away. With the bottle of Jameson still in her bag, Luna demands Ashleigh down it. She needs to be on their level.

Always the responsible one, Ashleigh doesn't mind when Luna demands she cut loose. Pouring the last eighth of the bottle down her throat.

Linking arms, The Girls laugh as they burn a joint trying to follow Ashleigh's GPS. They only get lost for fifteen minutes.

Relieved, giddy and drunk, Ashleigh, Luna and Sam drop to their knees in the whiskey aisle. Praising the Liquor Gods. Not caring who's around.

Each grabbing three handles. Six whiskeys and three tequilas. They head to the counter. Sam and Luna losing their shit when Ashleigh mistakes a Captain Morgan cut out for a person. She's drunk.

"We gotta get you out more, Boo." Luna laughs, throwing her arm around her.

After paying, they stumble down the street. Ducking their heads together as they laugh.

"Take me with yooou next time... I'm so tired of being the Moooooommmm... I had so much fun just being fucked up with you the other day." Ashleigh slurs.

"I got you, Sugar." Luna beams, wrapping her arm around Ashleigh's swinging waist.

They're a block away from the venue, when they're approched by four men.

"What do we have here???" One asks as they circle The Girls.

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Word limit ( 1 of 2 )

To be continued......