#realizing where 'silhouetto of a man' was cracked me up

[snek-eyes]

So it turns out Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death plays Queen instrumentals, and after listening way too hard to the coffee date scene, I gotta share how well the part of the song they used fits.

Crowley gets a fantastically dramatic entrance to the section that makes everyone feel things:

Mama, ooh I don't wanna die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

Great for a snake having an existential crisis. Then we get the instrumental break, which builds until it drops off right in time to highlight the comedy of:

Until Aziraphale says:

I see a little silhouetto of a man

He sure did!

Thunderbolt and lightning very, very frightening me

Of course you are, bud.

(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo Galileo Figaro

History jokes!

Spare him his life from this monstrosity 🥲

And there's a reason beyond the dialogue why this part feels so stressful, because it gets the back and forth of:

Easy come, easy go, will you let me go? Bismillah! No, we will not let you go (Let him go!)

Bismillah! We will not let you go (Let him go!)

Go back and listen to the scene, it's a very subtle joke. 😄

[dan-vaverick]

Through the Sound Proof Glass (A Loud House Fanfiction) Chapter One

A Voice Reborn

"Catch you dudes later!" Luna exclaimed, waving back to her friends.

She grabbed her guitar from her locker and made her way to the music department of the school. Nothing like jamming on some sweet tunes after a long boring day of school. She was about halfway passed the choir room and halted to muffled keys hitting the piano followed by vocals just behind the doors. She peeked through the door's slim glass window to see who was inside.

Sitting at the grand piano and tapping at the keys was Jamie. A few inches shorter than her, he wore a grey hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, navy jeans and black sneakers. His hair was slightly tall and curly in a light brown shade. Over his eyes were a pair of dark orange glasses with light blue lenses. Luna knew him from their music class last semester. Most of the students who took music knew that he was exceptional at playing the piano. In fact, most of the music he played for everyone were covers of rock songs despite the teacher's more sophisticated taste in music. Luna admired that. She was good playing the keyboard, but she had to admit, she wasn't as good as him. She kept spying through the glass. He tapped the keys while his upper body shifted back and forth as if a demon of rock possessed him. He was playing with a deep passion.

Her eyes squinted. Hold on. Were his lips moving? Luna raised her brows with intrigue. Could he sing too? She reached for the knob and turned it carefully. She bit her lip, closed her eyes tight, and prayed that the door wouldn't make a sound. Once it was turned all the way, she pushed the door inward. Even a tiny crack of the door let out a blast of music in Luna's face. She slipped herself in, undetected by the high volume in the room. She hid behind the choir stands and watched Jamie. Inside, she recognized what he was playing. An old classic and one of her personal favorites; Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. He had his laptop on top of the piano, hooked to the main speakers of the room to play along.

Jamie softly hit the keys to the next part of the piano solo. His lips moved as the late Freddie Mercury's voice echoed from the speakers.

Luna sighed. I guess he's just lip-synching. She thought.

Next to his laptop was a microphone sitting in front of him. He was most likely pretending to sing into it. But looking at Jamie, Luna noticed the voice matched him perfectly, as if he was singing exactly like Freddie. But what were the chances of that happening?

Too late, my time has come...

Sends shivers down my spine…

Body's aching all the time…

Goodbye everybody, I've got to go…

Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth…

The legendary voice swooned many people, including Luna herself. She too felt herself lost in the song. Her hips swayed back and forth to Roger Taylor's steady beats on the drums and cymbals. Then came her favorite part. She took her hands and air guitared to Brain May's solo. He was one of her role models when it came to playing the guitar along with Slash and Eddie Van Halen. In her spare time, she would practice the solo in the garage. She struck the imaginary strings with a passion, imagining herself performing the solo on stage in front of a roaring crowd.

Then came the upcoming climax of the composition with the start of the piano, Jamie repeated hitting two keys just before he started to lip-synch again.

I see a little silhouetto of a man.

Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you do the fandango?

Thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening me!

The suspenseful operatic section drew Luna in. She wanted to join the fun. She approached Jamie from behind stealthily. In her luck, her footsteps were drowned out by the track. She ceased her steps just one foot away from him. He continued to hit the keys with the beat as Luna kept air guitaring. She joined in, lip-synching for the background vocals.

Easy come, easy go. Will you let me go?

Bismillah! No! We will not let you go! (Let him go!)

Bismillah! We will not let you go! (Let him go!)

Bismillah! We will not let you go! (Let me go!)

It was coming. The coup de gras of the composition. The flames of rock lit within the two, playing with a burning passion. Luna raised her arms high and rocked her head forward. She joined Jamie in the song's climax as he pounded the keys to follow.

Oh mama mia, mama mia!

Mama mia, let me go!

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me!

For me!

FOR ME!

To the last verse, Luna let her voice out, singing in a great falsetto with the background vocals.

A sudden chill ran up Jamie's spine as he heard a voice behind him. The burning passion became a frozen pick and struck him still. His piano playing and lip-synching came to an abrupt halt. The song went to it's jamming of the guitars and drums just as he turned around to find Luna behind him, whipping her hair. He let out a girlish yelp and jumped. Along with the bench, he fell on his back.

Luna heard a loud thud and stopped whipping her head. She gasped as she looked down to Jamie, staring up at her with startled eyes and panting heavily. "You okay, dude?!" she shouted over the music.

"W-what are you doing in here?!" he exclaimed.

"Just rockin' your jam session, bro!" She chuckled. She offered a hand.

Jamie went to reach for it, but his ears caught the song already to the point where the next verse should've been sung. Mercury's voice wasn't there. Looking at Luna, she noticed it also.

"Crap!" He bolted up from the floor and reached for his laptop, tripping on the bench and landed his chest on the piano keys. Music notes rang out of proportion. A finger pressed the touchpad and paused the video, silencing the room. He closed his laptop and sighed with exhaustion.

Luna tilted her head with puzzled eyes. "Hold on. Was that an instrumental?" she asked, pointing to his laptop.

Jamie's eyes widened as he stood up in front of his laptop. A wide and awkward smile grew on his face while a drop of sweat rolled down his cheek. "Uh, no! W-what makes you think that...?" He squeezed his hands tight behind his back, almost twisting his fingers off. Luna peeked over to his computer, but he leaned in to block it from her view.

She crossed her arms. "I've been rocking to that song since I was seven. I know an instrumental when I hear one."

More sweat rolled down Jamie's face. "Don't know what you're talking about…"

Luna raised a brow and smirked. "C'mon, Jamie. You can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying!"

"Dude, you got a smile so big, it's about to tear your face in half."

At that point, the bottom half of his face was straining to keep the smile up. His heart was about to burst from his chest. He was losing the fight, but he was determined to win the war.

"T-this is my normal smile." he replied. "Nothing happening here, so there's no need for you stay here any longer."

A more devious smirk grew on Luna's face. So that's how he wants to play it, huh? She thought. She reached for the knocked down bench and put it back up on its legs. She took a seat and crossed her arms, staring up at Jamie smugly.

"Sorry, brah. I ain't going nowhere. I'll stay as long as I want until you talk."

His smile finally broke and slumped over. His cheeks puffed. He let out a heavy sigh and opened his laptop. Luna looked over her shoulder to a YouTube video titled Bohemian Rhapsody (Instrumental). Jamie looked away, crossing his arms with a huff. He glanced back at Luna, who gestured him to sit next to her. He hesitated, but sat down anyways. His eyes faced the floor, fidgeting his thumbs. A silence filled the void between the two. He didn't know what to say next. Maybe she didn't either.

Luna took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "I just got one thing to ask."

The lack of emotion in her voice made him tremble, almost afraid to hear her question. He gulped nervously, unable to look at her. "And what's that…?" He suddenly felt his upper arms grabbed and pulled towards her. He was now faced with a pair of widened eyes and a big smile surrounded by freckles.

"Why didn't you say you could sing?!" she squealed excitedly, shaking him back and forth.

Once she stopped, Jamie composed himself, brushing off his arms. He took another look at her: did her eyes just get brighter? She held her hands up to her chest. She was jumping up and down in her seat. Jeez, it was like looking at a giddy schoolgirl. He cleared his throat. "I uh… I never bothered to..." he replied.

Her jaw dropped. "What?! Dude! Why would you hide such an amazing talent like this?! Do you realize how great it would be if you were to sing that well in front of people?!"

Jamie blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I don't think I want to even try…"

A small frown took over Luna's smile. "What's the matter with you? Did you suddenly get stage fright? You seem pretty confident playing the piano in front of the class last semester."

"I don't get stage fright." Jamie replied. "Look, playing the piano in front of people is no problem. I love entertaining people! But singing, it kinda goes deeper than that. Puberty kinda hit my voice pretty hard."

Luna winced slightly taking in a sharp inhale. "Did you voice crack a lot…?"

He nodded. "Before then, I could sing very well without any problems. But when my voice started cracking, a lot of people laughed at how I sounded. So I didn't want to imagine what they would think if I tried singing. It doesn't crack anymore, and I can sing much better than I did. Don't get me wrong, I love to sing, but I'd rather do it when no one's around."

Luna slowly wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Sorry, brah… I didn't know it was like that."

"Thanks. It kinda helped talking about it."

She smiled and stood up from her seat. "I'm always around if you need someone to talk to or play music with." She winked. "Oh, and sorry for scaring you earlier. I... never pass up a chance to listen to some Queen when it's convenient."

Jamie chuckled. "Who doesn't?"

"You know, you almost had me fooled." she said, grinning. "I thought you were just playing and lip-synching to the song."

"Sorry about that." He laughed.

"No no! Don't be sorry! I think it's great that you can sing so well! It's just... for a minute there, I could've sworn your singing sounded exactly like-"

The thought hit her hard like a wrecking ball to the face. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped once again, letting out a quiet long lasting gasp. She didn't have a reaction like that since she saw Mick Swagger at the Family Fun Fair last summer under his disguise.

Aaand now she knows the other thing… Jamie thought. He bit his lip with a shy smile, snickering at Luna's expression.

"You can sing like Freddie Mercury?!" Her voice echoing in the room. Luckily no one else heard it.

Jamie shrugged his head at her sudden use of her loud voice, rubbing his right upper arm. "M-maybe…?"

She was left dumbstruck to his response. "Maybe?! Maybe?!"

"W-what more do you want me to say…?!"

Luna remained speechless. Such a discovery would've left anyone in awe. But was it true? An occurrence like that was very rare. She needed to know. She was determined to find out. She wiped her stunned expression off from her face and cleared her throat.

"Sing."

A veil of confusion covered his face. "W-what?"

"I want you to sing. We need to find out right now." She was never more serious in her life. And her eyes were damn scary when she was serious. "Play and sing the last five verses of Bohemian Rhapsody."

Jamie's heart skipped a beat upon her request. He fidgeted with his fingers and looked away.

"I-I don't know if I can…" he whispered.

Luna sighed. "Come on, dude. This is big! If everyone knew you can sing like that, they would be blown away! No one would dare to laugh at you!" She saw doubt eating at his face. Perhaps a more gentle approach would get through to him. She took a knee before him. "Jamie, imagine this as the first step of getting over your fear of singing in front of others. Let me be the first step." Her voice was soft and nurturing. She cupped his hands into hers. "Will you sing for me? Please?"

Jamie eyes met with hers. Deep down, he could see his reflection in her dark brown irises. He saw himself trapped in a bubble of self-discontent. He wanted to sing, but his experience from puberty kept him from that. But then again, he saw himself in Luna's eyes. A girl who was all about expressing herself through music. He had seen her perform. Such confidence and passion. Nothing stopped her from doing what she loved. He used the piano to show his passion. Perhaps it was time to let his voice express it even further.

He took a deep breath, and returned the smile. "Okay. I'll sing."

"Attaboy, luv!" Luna replied, using her British accent.

Jamie turned around to face the piano keys. He reached to open his laptop, but Luna's hand covered it.

"Without the instrumental." she implied. This made Jamie swallow spit nervously. "Let the pianist within you finish the song. I take it you practiced it enough to remember?" He nodded. "If it'll help. I'll play the song with you too. Wait here."

She jogged off to the back of the choir stands and grabbed her guitar. She quickly set it up, plugging it into the closest amp she could find. She turned it on, strumming a few practice chords and a short solo. Jamie tapped on the microphone in front of him, hearing the echoed taps from the other speakers. Everything was in working order.

"Alright. I'm gonna pick it up right after the rock interlude and go into the ritardando and then the outro. Got it?"

Jamie nodded and took a deep breath. His fingers ready. It was the moment of truth.

"One, two! One, two, three, four!"

Luna took her pick and struck three ascending guitar runs. Jamie followed up with his right thumb and ring finger jumping around the keys, playing b-flats to the build up of the outro. Luna lent her voice to the next vocal section before Jamie would get to his.

Ooooooh!

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah!

Luna continued with a soft guitar melody while Jamie played gentle keys to his finale. A tightness grew in his chest, but he intended to push it out. His unique voice filled the room.

Nothing really matters

Anyone can see

Nothing really matters

Nothing really matters… to me

Jamie ended the vocals with a soft and fading vibrato. He concluded the song with softer taps on the keys with Luna strumming one last melody just before he sang out the last verse.

Any way the wind blows…

He struck one final chord, imagining a gong ringing in the background.

The room grew silent. There was a slight discomfort in Jamie's chest, but it was lighter than how it felt a minute ago. He stared down at the keys, exhaling softly. He did it. He sang in front of a person after a long while of vocal solitude. He licked his bottom lip, wondering what Luna's response would be now that she heard him.

"So Luna… how did I do?" He turned to her and let out a soft gasp.

Luna's eyes were flooding with tears. They ran down her cheeks mixed with her mascara. Her hands covered her mouth, but were too small to cover a smile so big, it looked like it hurt trying to keep it on. All that could be heard from her were soft whimpers and sniffles.

"Luna…?"

Out of nowhere, she let out a high-pitched squeal that echoed throughout the room. Jamie jumped in the bench with the crap scared out of him. Forget the schoolgirl remark. At that point, Luna was jumping and acting like a crazed fangirl. But based on her reaction, she loved every second of his performance. Jamie's cheeks turned red and he averted his eyes. Once the room was silent again, he looked back at her. She wiped her eyes clean, but her cheeks were left with faint smear marks of her mascara.

"Dude! Do you know what this means?!" She just locked eyes with him, her hands hanging out and trembling. "You can become the next Freddie Mercury!" She let out another loud but softer squeal. "We gotta tell everybody!"

Jamie bit his lip hard and shook his head fast.

"Oh no!" Jamie replied, gesturing the same answer with his hands. "Just because I sang to you, doesn't mean I'm ready to sing in front of everyone! I need time to adjust!"

Luna let out a disappointed groan. "Sorry, man! I'm just super-hyped about this! Think about it! With your voice, you'll be famous! Hell, you could be Queen's new frontman! You already play the piano, so it's like you're Freddie's reincarnation! Adam Lambert's got nothin' on you!"

Jamie smirked with a chuckle to follow up. "I know you're excited. I am too. But this is just a lot to take in right now. And I need to take it slow if I want to get over this anxiety. So now that I sang to you with no problems, what would be the next step?"

"The next step is to sing in front of a few more people." Luna replied. "We'll just keep adding more and more at a time until we get you to sing in front of maybe... a rock concert's worth of people. Is that a reasonable goal?"

Jamie looked down, pondering Luna's suggestion. She was no psychologist, but she certainly took the role as one for him, figuring out a treatment for his illness. He spent a minute before making a decision.

"Before I reply, let me ask you a question."

"Shoot." she said.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you putting so much effort into helping me?"

Luna grew a gentle smile. She put down her guitar and took a seat next to him.

"Because I know talent when I see it. You're so talented on the piano, and you're even more talented with that voice! But it bothers me to see you let that talent go to waste if you don't share it. Music means everything to me, and I can see that it means a lot to you too. I want to help you reach to your full potential as I let others did for me. And since we barely know each other, I'd like us to be friends."

Jamie returned the oral gesture. "I'd like that too. In that case, I should properly introduce myself." He offered a hand. "Jamie Maverick."

Luna chuckled and shook his hand. "Luna Loud, a pleasure ta meet ya, mate." she replied in a British accent. They exchanged quiet chuckles. "So... does that mean you're up to the challenge?"

He nodded. "I'm in."

"Great! Because I've got the perfect audience for the next step. Will twelve people be okay?."

"Sounds like a lot, but I'm up for it."

Luna smiled back and gave him a firm pat on his shoulder. "Perfect! If you're available, come to my place after school tomorrow and I'll have your audience put together." She tore a piece of paper and scribbled on it, handing it to Jamie. "Here's my address and my number." She put her guitar back in her case and made her way to the door. "I'm looking forward to our next jamming session, Jamie! Stay cool!"

With one door shut, she was gone. Jamie followed her example and slipped his laptop into his backpack. Throwing it over his shoulder, he looked down at the piece of paper one last time before slipping it into his pocket:

1216 Franklin Ave. Royal Woods, MI

(XXX) XXX-XXXX