#steve doing an interview later where the interviewer is like 'you two are kind of an odd pair'

[matchingbatbites]

Modern AU Popstar Steve Harrington posts a TikTok that has the text "paparazzi decided to crash our anniversary dinner so I guess this is me coming out before they can spoil it" overlaid on a video that shows a very amused looking Steve, before the camera flips to show equally famous frontman of metal band Corroded Coffin, Eddie Munson, standing on top of a car with a fancy camera in one hand, and the other flipping the bird to someone on the ground who is visibly screaming up at him. The audio is just "Bisexual Anthem" by Domo Wilson and that's how Steve comes out AND how their fans find out they're dating

[loguine-linguine]

Ok hear me out!!!

Steve is a musician who sings pop music and posts on TikTok. He’s kind of a C-ish list celebrity (definitely a bit of a nepo baby) and his music is poppy and catchy. It’s the kinda stuff that you can immediately tell is coming from someone who is actively holding things back/ isn’t writing from any truth. Mall music at its purest form. Then one day with no announcement Steve drops a double sided album that is like GOOD GOOD pop music. It’s also noted very quickly that the pronouns in all the songs have definitely switched to he/him. People freak out and he starts charting for the first time in his career. Kinda Chappell Roan-esque situation where he skyrockets to being a queer pop icon very very quickly.

He starts doing interviews. He shows up to these interviews in outfits aren’t dramatically changed from what he usually wore (polos, jeans, bomber jackets, 80s jock vibes) but it’s all just much more camp. The cropped shirts are shorter, the jeans are tighter, and the colors are all suddenly pastel. He has also started wearing makeup (not heavy makeup but it’s definitely a lipgloss, eyeliner, mascara, highlight/blush on the tip of his nose type situation). He shares that he dropped his old producer (who he had been set up with by his father) and that he’s now working with his best friend Robin. He comes out as gay, talks about his struggle with comp-het, and proudly shares that he is super excited to contribute to the growing movement of music that is being written by queer people, for queer people. His TikTok also blows up.

This is when Tommy Hagan first starts showing up. Tommy is an actor who is pretty well known for doing teen drama TV shows (like Riverdale type deals). He introduces himself to Steve at some sort of industry event right after Steve gets big and pretty quickly starts showing up in his TikTok videos. It comes out that the two are dating pretty quickly after that. They date off and on for about a year and a half. Tommy is a shitty enough boyfriend that even Steve’s fans don’t like him. He stands him up for dates, embarrasses him at events, says rude and dismissive things about his music, etc. Robin (who is also kinda famous by proxy/writes her own music now similar to Billie Eilish and Finneas) absolutely hates his guts. Publicly. They finally break up officially after Tommy cheats on Steve with an actress named Carol who is on a show with him. It gets exposed by the tabloids and Steve finds out by seeing a photo of them making out on one of those celebrity drama TikTok accounts.

Eddie is also getting famous around this same time. He’s the lead for Corroded Coffin and also starts acting occasionally in horror films. He doesn’t really pay much attention to other celebrities or the drama that goes on. He was never into that kind of thing before the band took off so he doesn’t see why he should now. Eddie and the rest of the band are at an awards show of some sort and the others make fun of him the whole time. He can’t stop staring at this absolutely beautiful man sitting at a table near them. “The guy is wearing a slutty little lace shirt, the tightest pants in existence, and has skin that looks like honey and caramel had a child Gareth you really can’t blame me honestly.” Steve and Eddie don’t officially meet until the after party where they immediately hit it off.

A few months later Steve announces a new album and releases a single. It’s just Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter but gay and clearly about Tommy.

The music video comes out and people loose their minds. It’s the same sort of video as what Sabrina Carpenter just released for Please Please Please with the stunning outfits and the whole bad boy thing. Steve spends the whole video in dresses and skirts. There’s even a corset at one point. The bigger freak out is the fact that the Barry Keoghan equivalent is Eddie and its a hard launch of their relationship that fans had absolutely zero clue was even a possibility because why would horror/metal man Eddie Munson even know Steve Harrington???? Robin and the Corroded Coffin guys think the whole thing is hilarious. Eddie and Steve are so so happy :)

[steddieas-shegoes]

it's not ever what it looks like

for @steddielovemonth prompt 'love is saying you're sorry'

rated m | 3,299 words | cw: language, implied sexual content | tags: angst with a happy ending, arguing, established relationship, hurt/comfort, rock star eddie munson, teacher steve harrington, modern au, steve thinks eddie is cheating on him but HE ISN'T I PROMISE, marriage proposal

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

It wasn't the first time Steve woke up to pictures and articles about Eddie being seen with some model or actor, but it was the first time he'd actually been worried.

Eddie had been distant lately. Usually, when he was on tour, he'd call Steve on his lunch break and text him when he got off of work, and he'd try to Facetime him after his show if it wasn't in a different time zone.

But for the past week or so, he had excuses. They sounded legitimate until one of the afternoons he said the band was caught up in an interview so he couldn't call and Jeff called him ten minutes later to ask where Eddie was. Even with that, Steve hadn't assumed he was cheating.

Steve figured maybe Eddie was just tired or his social battery had run out. Those kinds of things happened before occasionally.

But not daily for over a week.

He was barely even responding to texts, and the ones he did respond to were hours later and hardly adding to any conversation.

And now this article.

There was a picture of Eddie standing with his arm around some guy who was taller than him, both of them laughing, looking at each other like...well. Steve knew that look because it'd only ever been pointed at him, but now he was seeing it pointed at just some guy.

The headline read EDDIE MUNSON GIVING UP HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART FOR SUPERMODEL SUPERSTAR?

Steve decided the only way through this was to read the entire article. At least then he could probably convince himself they were wrong.

Except the article went on to explain how Eddie hadn't brough Steve to any shows yet this tour, and how he'd been flirting more with the crowd after the show instead of just during it, how he was seen at two bars over the last week when he usually doesn't go out after shows.

It went on to say that these pictures were taken shortly after they'd been seen sneaking away from a group of people they'd been hanging out with and that they seemed very close for the entire night. The article said the guy was a male lingerie model who made it big posing for Gucci last year. He'd just landed his first film role as a supporting actor and was looking to land a lead role soon.

Steve hated him. And he was getting a terrible feeling in his gut about what was going on.

He had 26 unread texts, most of them from Robin, Dustin, and Gareth.

All of them had said mostly the same things:

I can't get ahold of Eddie.

He wouldn't do this.

Something else is going on.

Call me when you can.

The last one was Gareth, and it's not that he and Gareth weren't close, but they never talked on the phone.

He tried not to think about he didn't have a single message or missed call from Eddie.

Steve called Gareth.

"Steve. Shit, I'm glad you called."

"What's going on?"

Gareth sighed. "Ed's kinda losing it. But before you call him-"

"Why would I call him? Shouldn't he be the one to call me? If he wants to be with some supermodel, he should probably be the one to break up with me, right?" Steve could feel tears gathering in his eyes, stinging the back of his throat. "I'm not sure why I have to be the one to hurt and do the breaking up."

"Steve-"

"Is there something you needed Gareth? Or were you just trying to defend your friend?"

"There's nothing to defend! I swear-"

"Yeah. Well. Tell him to call me if he wants to explain anything, I guess."

Steve hung up just before a sob ripped from his throat.

He never had to worry about Eddie being a famous rock star, spending 6-7 months of the year gone, meeting all kinds of flashy celebrities. Eddie loved him so much, he never had any doubt that he'd always be his first choice.

Until now.

It was a shitty feeling and he had to be at work in less than an hour.

No time to wallow.

He sent a quick text to Robin to let her know he was okay, but needed to focus on getting through work, then shut off his phone.

"Is everything okay?" the art teacher, Mrs. Phineas, asked him on their lunch break. "You seem out of it today."

"Just a migraine," Steve gave a half-smile, hoped it was enough to convince her to leave him alone. He still hadn't turned on his phone, and at this point, he didn't really want to.

She tilted her head to the side. "When are you off to see your man?"

"Don't know," he shrugged, ignoring the tug in his stomach, the sudden weight in his chest.

"Ah," she said, turning back to her soup. "Something happened."

"Nothing happened!"

"You look two seconds away from crying," she gave him a deadpan look. "Did he hurt you?"

Mrs. Phineas was a little older than Wayne, close to retirement, and had been his closest friend from the moment he started teaching at this school nearly six years ago. He'd told her everything about Eddie, their relationship, his hopes of Eddie taking a longer break after this tour so they could have some time just the two of them, maybe make a real plan for their future.

Steve nodded once.

Her hand covered his and she squeezed his fingers in her own. "I may not know him half as well as I know you, but I know that boy loves you. You two will get through this, whatever it is."

"I dunno if we will," Steve whispered, scared to speak louder and risk the tears falling. He'd been doing so well today.

She patted his hand and went back to eating, saying nothing else about it.

His students had caught on early that he wasn't quite his usual self, and the group of second graders had been on their best behavior because of it. As the dismissal bell rang and he started calling for bus riders to line up, someone walked through his door.

Eddie walked through his door.

He bit back the anger, knowing his students loved Eddie and wouldn't know he was here for any reason other than to say hello.

"Mr. Munson!" A few of them yelled as most of them ran up to him instead of getting in the line Steve asked them to.

"Hi kiddos!" Eddie was faking it, but luckily the students couldn't tell. "Sorry, but you guys have to listen to Mr. H right now. I promise I will come say hi again tomorrow."

The students grumbled about it and Steve took in his appearance.

He had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept the night before, his hair was in a messy bun instead of perfectly arranged to fall on his shoulders, and he was wearing Steve's hoodie that had suspiciously gone missing the last time he'd been home.

The fact that Steve's first thought was how badly he wanted to pull him into a hug was not a good sign.

He checked names off the list as they filtered out the door and then called the car riders to line up. He went through the list and made sure everyone made it into the hall where they'd be called when their parent pulled up before turning back to Eddie.

He closed his door and made his way to his desk, ignoring the way Eddie awkwardly stood by one of the student desks in the front.

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked, signing off of his work email and organizing tomorrow's lesson plan.

"I needed to explain-"

"Right."

"That article wasn't supposed to come out yet."

Steve's jaw dropped. So he wasn't going to deny it, he was just gonna act like it was the media's fault for releasing it before he could talk to Steve.

"Yeah. So you decided to come break up with me in person because you got caught cheating instead of doing it over the phone right before the article hit online. Got it."

Steve was not going to cry about this. Not in front of Eddie.

He was going to go home, shower, try to eat something, and then he was going to cry for the next 10 hours.

"No, Steve, you don't understand."

"You're right, I don't. I don't understand how you could throw away a 10 year relationship for a model who doesn't even know your middle name. I don't understand how you can fly all the way here and interrupt my day at my job to try to explain to me why you were so cozy with a guy who doesn't even know that you like your hot chocolate with Bailey's instead of regular milk. I really don't understand how you couldn't even bother to text or call me one single time since the article to even try to explain anything." Steve wiped his eyes furiously, angry that his tears were betraying him. "I don't understand why you would expect me to care for reasons."

Eddie wordlessly picked Steve's phone up off the desk and powered it on. He set it down in front of Steve and waited.

Texts and calls and emails came through all at once, hundreds of notifications lighting up his screen.

Many of them from Eddie himself.

"Go ahead. Open them," Eddie didn't sound mad, he just sounded resigned.

So Steve read through the texts, many of them different renditions of 'please Steve, call me' and 'I love you sweetheart I'm sorry.' Not promising.

But then he started playing the voicemails.

"Stevie, it's really not what it looks like. It's never what it looks like. You know that. Please call me as soon as you can. I love you."

"I can explain everything if you call me back. I promise you it isn't anything more than a business thing. Everyone in the band can tell you. I swear. Just. Please."

"I'm getting on a flight to you now. I'm gonna keep trying to call you even when I land. I need you to know what's going on."

"Just landed. I'm on my way to you. The guys are a little pissed, but you're more important than the show tonight. I'm not doing my own thing until I know you understand."

Steve looked up at him, tears still falling down his face.

"Well?" He asked, broken.

"His name is Wyatt. He's trying to make it in the acting world and he was pretty much told he was the top choice for playing lead in a movie that's in early stages of development," Eddie spoke quickly.

"Great for him."

"It's actually great for all of us. The movie is a biopic of Corroded Coffin. He's expected to play me."

At any other time, Steve would be proud, he'd be jumping up and down at this chance for them, and he'd be kissing Eddie without a care in the world.

But he still saw that picture and that article, and no matter how much "business" was going on, it was pretty clear that wasn't all that was going on.

"So you thought sleeping with him would help him get into the role? Or did you just wanna get into him?" Steve bit back.

"The article was wrong! The picture was just really conveniently timed! You know the media are vultures, Stevie. How many times have they written about us breaking up? How many times have they said Gareth and I have secretly been married for the last two years? How many times have they tried to post shitty things about your relationship before me to prove that you can't possibly be queer?" Eddie pulled Steve to his feet and cupped his face in his hands. "I've been spending the last two weeks talking with him and the producer and the guys to see what might work best for production. They want us involved in as much of the writing and filming part as possible. And he had time in his schedule to come to a show last night, so we all took him out after so he could get a taste of what it's like for us. He's really excited for the role and all of us are really excited for the movie."

Steve felt stupid. Well, maybe not stupid. His feelings were valid and he wasn't dramatic about what he'd seen.

But he did feel a little shitty about doubting Eddie.

Eddie, who had literally flown across the country to explain in person so that there was no way Steve could misunderstand him. Eddie, who once Doordashed him soup from his favorite restaurant when he was sick even though he was in Europe. Eddie, who sent letters to the kids in his class once a month to talk about how important music is and following your dreams. Eddie, who loved him for ten years and wouldn't have let anyone get in the way of what they'd built.

Steve fell against Eddie, buried his face in his neck and his hands in his shirt. Eddie's arms wrapped around him, his voice saying something against his shoulder. Steve couldn’t hear him, but he didn’t think he needed to.

He just needed to feel him.

“I’m sorry,” Steve said against his neck. Tears soaked the hoodie under him, and Steve could feel tears against his own button down. “I shouldn’t have- I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” Eddie shook his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone until the article hit, but I was still gonna call you and warn you but I didn’t and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. This is part of the whole lifestyle. I should be used to it,” Steve shuddered as Eddie’s hand scratched at his scalp. “I should’ve reacted better.”

“We both didn’t treat this the way we should’ve.”

Steve snorted, nodded as he found the spot Eddie had tattooed on his neck a couple years earlier. He pressed his lips over the tattoo of his lip print.

“You flew across the country over this,” Steve pulled away and looked at Eddie, vision blurred from crying. “Just to make things okay.”

“I needed you to know. I needed to hold you. I needed to have you in front of me. And I wanted to celebrate the fact that we’re getting a movie about our lives,” Eddie smirked. “I wonder who will play you. Someone with a nice ass is a must. Their hair will have to defy gravity. Don’t know if they’ll find anyone with that smile, though.”

“Me? Why would they need anyone to play me?” Steve played with the string of the hoodie. “That might be kinda boring.”

“How would they make a movie about me and not include you? You’re the reason I ever made it past Hawkins, sweet thing,” Eddie leaned in to kiss his bottom lip. “Maybe they’ll just cast you. No one else could pull it off.”

“Eds-“ Steve blushed. “Wait. Okay, I trust you, but what were you doing in the picture?”

Eddie laughed. “He had just finished telling me about his boyfriend who lives in Italy. He’s apparently just a regular guy in finance who has no interest in the whole fame thing. Sound familiar?”

“Sounds like you two have a lot in common.”

“The picture was me asking if we could crash at their home in Italy next summer on our honeymoon,” Eddie said casually.

Steve froze. “Honeymoon?”

“I’m open to other places, but you still haven’t been to Italy and I know how much you wanted to see Rome and Florence,” Eddie was smirking.

That bastard.

“You are ridiculous, you know that? I’m over here planning how I’ll survive a breakup with you and you fly across the country to propose with a honeymoon planned before I’ve even said yes! You know how crazy that sounds, right?” Steve shook his head. “You’re lucky I love you. You’re lucky I’m not interested in big romantic gestures.”

“Damn. Hold on, let me make a call,” Eddie reached into his pocket for his phone.

“What?”

“I gotta cancel the big romantic gesture,” Eddie explained as he typed furiously on his phone.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“It was a whole thing. Robin was involved. There may have been 500 flowers ordered. I think it’s too late to cancel the singing telegram though.”

“I genuinely can’t tell if you’re being serious,” Steve wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of that was true.

“Oh, I’m serious. The ring was being set on the bed in the middle of a heart made of rose petals. I didn’t half-ass a fucking thing, angel.”

Steve pulled his phone out of his hands and set it on his desk. “Don’t cancel anything. I changed my mind. I am very much into big romantic gestures when it’s you doing them.”

“It was a team effort. I mean, I had to move it all up unexpectedly, but this was all gonna happen next month when I came home." Eddie pulled Steve into a long kiss, tongue tracing his lips. He pulled away to rest their foreheads together. "I'm not doing this just because of what happened, but I need you to know you're it for me. You've stuck by me through failing senior year, through being broke trying to book gigs all over the midwest, through the stress of our first album being released and the unexpected overnight fame, every album and tour since then, every time I've had to miss things that matter to you because of the band, all of it. You love me anyway. I don't always deserve it, but I'm grateful."

Steve's lips pressed against Eddie's again. "I love the life we have. I love you."

"I'm not asking you without the ring. I made so many plans. Robin will murder me in my sleep if I don't go through with them," Eddie laughed. "So can we get out of your classroom before I do something inappropriate and get you fired?"

"I mean," Steve glanced at the clock. "Technically all the students should be gone. We could lock the door..."

"Steven Harrington! How dare you suggest I fuck you over your desk in a school! I can't believe you would tell me to unbutton your jeans," he said as he unbuttoned his jeans. "And get on my knees." He got on his knees. "And suck you until you can't stand anymore."

"Eddie!" Steve chuckled, shoving his hand in Eddie's hair. "We should at least lock the door."

"So you're not saying no?"

"Why would I say no?"

"That's what I'm saying!" Eddie got back up and ran to the door, flipping the lock and turning back to Steve with flushed cheeks. "This is like, maybe three of my biggest fantasies in one, so I may actually come in my pants."

"You're ridiculous."

"Baby boy, my hand is my only friend on tour, you know that. How can I possibly hold myself back when I've got your dick in my mouth?" Eddie dropped to his knees again, looking up at Steve with something close to reverence.

"It's not in your mouth yet," Steve smirked as he tugged his waistband down enough to free his cock.

"Oh, I missed you," Eddie said directly to Steve's hard cock. "Steve, I want you to fuck my mouth until I pass out."

"I'm not doing that."

"Okay, well I'll settle for until I have to tap out."

"Fine. But it's not gonna be long for me," Steve shook his head. "Missed you, too."

"The sooner the better, sweetheart."

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 8, Unexpected - Pt. 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, poorly translated Russian, bad jokes all around, Jade Carthage (she's a warning at this point), mentions of Bucky's sad past.

Word Count: 851

Previously On...: You and Bucky were enjoying some Thai makeout takeout in the common room, but you were rudely interrupted. Now you have to deliver Jade to her new room. And why is Steve acting like such a dick?

A/N: A short Part 2 for your 2sday! Feeling generous; might post Part 3 later today; idk. Just kidding; I'm going to do it, either on one of my breaks or when I get home from work, lol.

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917

Taglist: (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!) @jmeelee @cazellen @blackhawkfanatic @les-sel @marcswife21 @buckybarnessimpp @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @erelierraceala @hayjat @capswife @itsteambarnes @jupiter-107 @marygoddessofmischief @sebastians-love @learisa @lethallyprotected @rabbitrabbit12321 @buckybarnesandmarvel @fanfictiongirl77 @calwitch @fantasyfootballchampion @selella @jackiehollanderr @wintercrows

You were leaning against a couch and mindlessly scrolling through your social media feed when Jade walked back into the common room about twenty minutes later.

"Where's Sergeant Barnes?" she asked by way of greeting.

"Bathroom," you said, slipping your phone into your pocket. "Should be back in a minute."

Jade sighed and walked closer to you, her stiletto heels sending her towering above your head. "You know, you really don't have to come with us," she drawled, as if offering you a way out was doing you some kind of favor. "I'm sure Bucky can show me to my room all by himself. There's no need for you to inconvenience yourself to babysit him. Unless, of course, you don't trust him around me." She smirked at you, emerald eyes hard and cutting.

You chuckled, moving away from the couch and standing up straight, though you couldn't hope to match her height. "It's no trouble at all," you replied, your tone sickeningly saccharine. "I'd hardly call it an inconvenience to take a nanosecond to point to your door while my boyfriend and I are already on our way back to my room to fuck."

"You're a real bitch, you know that?" Jade seethed at you. Well. That took you aback.

"Excuse me?" you countered. "I'm a bitch?"

"It wasn't enough for you to humiliate me in front of Stark and Rogers during my interview, but you had to go and make a play for Bucky once you knew I was interested in him," Jade scoffed. "That was a real mature stunt you pulled at dinner, by the way, storming off like a baby, hoping he'd follow you."

You stared at her, at a loss for words. She couldn't be serious; no one suffered this heavily from Main Character Syndrome. "Look," you said after staring at her for a moment, "you're free to think whatever you want, but Bucky and I--"

"You and I what, Sweets?" Bucky returned from the bathroom, wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing his lips to your temple. "Hey, Vixen; ready to see your new home away from home?"

Jade battered her lashes up at him. "I can't wait, Sergeant," she purred at him.

"Uh, Bucky's just fine," he said, a slight blush creeping up the side of his neck. You couldn't help but wonder what that was all about. No, you reminded yourself. You two were in a good place. It wouldn't do you any good working yourself up over something that was most likely nothing. Instead, you took Bucky's hand.

"Ready to go, then?" you asked him. "The sooner we show Jade here her room, the sooner you and I can take advantage of my impromptu half day."

It was a tense trip from the common room down to your floor, though Bucky was doing his best to keep up a casual and friendly conversation.

Exiting the elevator onto your floor, Jade said: "Sorry if this is overstepping but, they kept you at the facility in Siberia, didn't they?" You froze in your steps, immediately squeezing Bucky's hand as you felt his entire body go rigid alongside you.

"Jade," you said, your voice almost pleading, "he doesn't really like to talk--"

"Yes," said Bucky, stiffly, as though his voice was coming on autopilot. "Yes, they did."

"They kept me there for a little while in the early 2000s," she said. "I wonder if our time there ever overlapped."

Bucky coughed into his hand. "I, uh... I wouldn't really be able to tell you. I was on cryo most of the time."

Jade gave a soft laugh. "Nu, dazhe ne nakhodyas' na l'du, etogo mesta bylo dostatochno, chtoby zastavit' menya nenavidet' kholod do kontsa moyey grebanoy zhizni." Well, even without being on ice, that place was enough to make me hate the cold for the rest of my fucking life.

Bucky's barked a short but genuine laugh, startling you. "Kholodneye, chem ved'minskaya sis'ka, ya prav?" Colder than a witch's tit, am I right?

"Vo vsyakom sluchaye, kholodneye, chem moi sis'ki." She said to him with a wink. Colder than my tits, anyway.

Bucky threw his head back and laughed aloud at that, and Jade shot you a side smirk. You rolled your eyes.

"If you want to stand here all day and make jokes about tits, Bucky, I may as well go back to work." Your voice was annoyed as you made to extract your hand from his and move away, but Bucky's grip on you tightened.

"What? No! You are not going back to work, Doll," he said as he pulled you into him, letting his arms envelop you. "Vix, your door's right over there," he pointed down the hall, "and please feel free to let us know if you need anything. But for now, if you'll excuse us," without warning, he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder like a goddamn caveman, "I have to fix it so work's the last thing on this one's mind." With a grin, he carried your shrieking self down the hall and into your room.

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[fizzigigsimmer]

Bake Off: A Harringrove Sim Story

Chapter 2

The small coastal town of Copperdale. Early Morning.

Morning News Anchor Nancy Wheeler stands outside the Harringrove Cafe - located in the old refurbished bed & breakfast on Shrike Hill.

Assistant: We're rolling!

Nancy: Hello, I'm Nancy Wheeler and this is 'Good Morning with Nancy'. We've got all of your local news, current events, and hot topics!

Nancy: Today's special topic is near and dear to my heart. Copperdale is known for its scenic beach, quaint railroad town, and most recently for the tragic accident at the local library involving a sink hole...

Nancy: But, it also the home of the Harringrove Cafe: which has boomed since its initial launch and brought many tourists to our shores, eager to try their delicious treats. Today, we'll be meeting the owners and getting a rare peek inside the operations at the cafe - along with some exciting news! In fact, here comes one of them now.

Steve joins Nancy at the door, in swim trunks and nothing else.

Nancy: Cut!

Steve: Hi Nancy. Thanks for coming! Are we -

Nancy: Steve! Did you forget the interview was today?

Steve: What? Of course not. Let's do this! I've been looking forward to it all week. Billy too.

Nancy: Steve, we can't do the interview! You're half naked.

Steve: Oh yeah, I woke up late and had to squeeze in my laps this morning. Didn't have time to change. Billy said it would be fine. Add a little sex appeal.

The door opens behind them.

Nancy: *groaning* This is a morning show Steve, a family friendly hour. We don't need sex appeal.

Billy leans in the door.

Billy: Speak for yourself Wheeler. All those grandmas who watch your show need something to wake them up.

Nancy: *sarcastic* Ha ha! You're not funny Billy.

Billy: You're right. I'm hilarious.

Jonathan: ... So are we shooting today or not?

Steve: Definitely shooting! Just give me a chance to go change.

Steve runs inside to get dressed and Nancy sighs.

Nancy: I should have known something like this would happen. He's always in that silly pool. Why does a bakery need a pool anyway?

Billy: I'd explain fun to you Wheeler, but I'm too busy running a business.

Nancy: This isn't a laughing matter Billy! This event is really important to Steve, but more importantly the town. The library helped so many people and bringing it back will do a lot of good. Don't you care what happens to this town?

Billy glowers. He doesn't appreciate being told off. But thankfully, before he can answer Steve's voice interrupts from inside as he rushes back.

Steve: I'm here! I'm ready! It's okay now.

Billy: Is that my shirt!

It most definitely is Billy's shirt. Nancy peers inside the door to see that Steve has grabbed Billy's old lifeguard top, from when he worked at the community pool. She sighs.

Nancy: Come on Jonathan. Let's get some more shots with me while these two figure themselves out.

Jonathan: Yeah let's get some B-roll. I can piece it together with Steve & Billy later.

The Segment:

Harringrove Cafe. This thriving business sits on a picturesque hill overlooking the beach. Once an abandoned Bed & Breakfast, co-owners Steve Harrington and partner Billy Hargrove have turned this local eyesore into a meca for the taste buds.

There's no end to the creativity of their rotating menu, which offers handcrafted treats and a personal delivery service to local residents along with cheerful hospitality!

But this summer, Billy and Steve are leaving the kitchen to undertake their biggest risk yet: A local backing competition! If you've been up on the hill lately you've probably seen the construction of the big tent.

This summer, Harringrove Cafe invites YOU and the whole family to join them in 'The Harringrove Bakeoff' where three teams will go head to head, in the battle of the baked goods! Proceeds from the ticket sales will go toward the Copperdale Library restoration project.

This competition is a big undertaking for the cafe, but it's certainly not the first of its kind. Billy & Steve are known for their creative collaborations with friends, and local artists in the community - many whose artworks can be found on sale in the cafe shop.

I'm Nancy Wheeler, and this has been Good Morning with Nancy. Join us next time: In the coming weeks I'll be revealing more about the competition, the competitors, and how you can help pick Copperdale's very first Best Amateur Baker!

This broadcast is in thanks to and collaboration with @harringrove-cafe

Community members and visitors may visit the cafe, or reach out to Steve & Billy directly with questions about the competition and upcoming menu changes. They ask that you please hold all questions regarding the strange noises heard coming from the cafe last night for their next Ask Harringrove session.

[starkstruck27]

One last little mermay fic because it's the last day and I thought it would be cute (also I may be posting on June 1st technically, but I wrote the bulk of it yesterday so...).

Steve hadn't been working at the aquarium for long, but he loved every second of it. He'd moved out to California a while ago and he'd been down on his luck when Dustin came out one time to visit, all jazzed up about marine life, since it was his latest obsession, and he'd suckered him into a trip to the place before he left again for Hawkins. Steve had never had much interest in undersea life before, but as Dustin dragged him through the exhibits, he found himself in awe of all the beautiful creatures. At the end of their tour, he was buying Dustin a souvenir in the gift shop, when a large "Help Wanted!" sign caught his eye.

"That, uh, that sign," he asked the girl who was scanning the barcode on Dustin's stuffed seahorse and new San Diego Aquarium cap, "Is that just for the gift shop or is it the aquarium in general?"

"No, it's for the whole place. We are looking for a few people to be cashiers in here and the food court, but we're also looking for tour guides and trainers. The trainers have to have some kind of prior experience working with animals though, so just keep that in mind. Would you like an application?" She asked, her smile bright as she handed the younger boy the bag.

"Yes, please," Steve smiled back, and the girl handed him a small packet of papers fill out before smiling and greeting the next customer.

By the time they left, Steve had already returned the packet, completely filled out, to the right box, and two days later, he got a call to come in for an interview. He went, and an hour later, walked out with a job as a tour guide and a date to come in for his first day of training.

By now, nearly two months later, he knew the ins and outs of the entire place, and he could spit facts about sharks or jellyfish or anemone or sea cucumbers like he was listing the days of the week. He was one of the favorites among the tour groups, since he often made stupid dad jokes and gave out aquatic themed stickers to the kids. It was a hands-on aquarium, and a lot of the parents liked the gentle encouragements he would give their kids if they were scared to touch a certain animal, and the kind ways he would explain how to do it properly so as not to hurt the animals so that everything went smoothly. He was often handed tips from appreciative parents, and even though he always tried to refuse them, they always insisted he take them for helping their young kids to have such a positive experience. His fridge in his apartment was running out of room on the front of it from the amount of drawings kids would do for him, and he had made a note to get himself a little scrapbook or binder or something to keep them in so that he didn't have to throw them away to make room for new ones.

So yeah, Steve absolutely loved his job.

And when his boss pulled him aside one day and said that he wanted him to be the one to help launch the newest attraction on May 1st, he was more than happy to do it. He was just supposed to lead the families into the amphitheater that faced the biggest tank in the aquarium and get them pumped up to see some kind of show involving mermaids. He had no idea what it was or how it was going to work, but he was excited to do it, so he did.

Finally, May 1st rolled around and Steve was about to do his first presentation for a packed theater. He scrounged up some of the old confidence he'd had in high school and put on a huge smile as he walked out in front of the tank with his notes, quieting the families and greeting them before asking if they were ready to see some mermaids.

That's what the whole thing was about. It was supposed to be like that one attraction in Weeki Wachee, Florida, where they had the actresses that dressed up like mermaids and entertained families in while swimming under water. It was pretty much the same as that, but while the actors and actresses were swimming around, Steve was supposed to give a presentation on some fun facts about mermaids and then, at the very end, the families would get to pose for pictures with the actors while they were still in the tank. They were going to be going down with air nozzles from oxygen tanks in their hands, so that they could make cool bubble effects, but also so they could still breathe as they were underwater. It was actually really cool, in Steve's opinion, and he was excited to be giving the presentation.

"Okay, so as long as you're ready to meet our merpeople, we have to try and call to them so that they'll come out to see us. Merpeople are king of shy, so we have to be really loud when we call their names, okay? We have a lot of merpeople here at our aquarium, but the ones you're going to see today are named Pearl and Nero, so on the count of three, we're all going to say really loudly 'Hi, Pearl and Nero!', okay?" Steve said as he continued his opening, smiling wide along with a lot of the kids. They all nodded as he counted to three, and they shouted out for the two actors, and they swam over from where they'd dropped into the tank, somewhere off to the side where the audience wouldn't see them going in.

The first 'mermaid', a girl with curly dark hair and tan skin, swam over, wearing a bright red shell bra and a shimmering red tail that caught the light beautifully. She pretended to be shy as she swam over, but she smiled as a manta ray came up to her, and she pet it gently as the kids all oohed and aahed.

"Everybody, this is Pearl," Steve said, gesturing at the tank, and the actress waved back at the audience, flicking her tail as she swam all around and did little tricks. She could hold her breath for an incredible amount of time, only having to use the breathing tube thing once or twice in the past couple of minutes.

"Now, Pearl is a little bit more brave than our other merman, so we have to call out for him again to get him to come out, okay?" Steve said, and the kids all called out for the guy again. The actress in the water even gestured over to someone with her hand as she swam around and played with the fish and other creatures in the tank with her. Finally, the kids all cheered as another actor swam over, looking more timid as he did.

"Everybody, this is Nero," Steve said, and he gestured at the tank, almost forgetting his next bit in the script when he saw the man. He had blonde hair that flowed around his face in ringlets. He had a tiny hint of a mustache on his top lip and the most striking blue eyes Steve had ever seen. His tail was also blue, probably to match his eyes, and as he waved to the audience and smiled, Steve nearly fainted. He was muscular, but not overly so, and his arms looked strong and sturdy, much like the rest of him. And his smile was bright enough to light up the entire ocean if he wanted to.

Steve made himself refocus on his presentation as the actors played under the water, swimming around and playing with both each other and the creatures in the tank with them. They interacted with the crowd as Steve gave his presentation, doing certain motions to go along with the fun facts Steve was spouting, and just seeming to have fun with it. Steve was too, once he got over the initial shock of that gorgeous man swimming around behind him, and when the presentation was over, he both happy and sad about it. The next show was going to be done by another one of his coworkers, and two other actors would be playing the merpeople, so Steve decided to head back to where he knew the actors would be taking their breaks to see if he could get a chance to talk to the guy.

He found him and the other girl laughing backstage as they ate lunch and gossiped, and he was almost afraid to go in and talk to them. They both had towels wrapped around their heads to keep their long, wet hair out of the way as they ate, and they both still had their tails on, since they had one more show to do before they got to leave for the day.

"Oh, speak of the devil," the girl said to the guy, and she gestured to the door that Steve was standing at, smiling widely. "You're our presenter, right? We were just talking about you. You did a great job hyping up the kids for us. Although, your jokes were absolutely terrible. I'm Heather."

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm Steve," the man said, walking further into the room with them and tucking some hair behind his ears nervously. "Sorry to interrupt, I just figured that I should probably introduce myself to you guys at some point since we'll be doing a lot of shows together. And I wanted to compliment you on your performance, it was really, really cool. I don't know how you can hold your breath for that long and keep your eyes open underwater and still to all those tricks and stuff. It was just really amazing."

"Thanks," Heather replied, taking another bite of her sandwich, "And to tell you the truth, it's really nothing special. Just lots and lots of practice."

"And the oxygen tanks help a lot," the man said, the first time he'd spoken since Steve first entered the room. He didn't seem like he'd be a quiet person, but Steve figured that maybe he just didn't really like new people. He could understand that. Still, he'd hoped that maybe he'd have more to say than just that. Heather seemed to notice this, because she looked between them for a second, rolled her eyes at the man, and then reached down to unzip a part of her tail and stick her feet out so that she could shuffle off into another part of the room, saying something about needing to use the bathroom and leaving the two alone.

"I meant what I said," Steve said, stepping closer to the other man, "Your performance was really good. I've never seen so many happy kids in one room before. And you didn't even seem like an actor half the time there. You actually seemed like you lived in the water for real. And I'll tell you, you got a set of balls on you, too. I'd never have the courage to swim straight up to a hammerhead and just start petting it like you did."

"Thank you," the man finally cracked a smile as a cute little blush rose to his cheeks. "Yeah, I've always loved the ocean and anything having to do with it. And normally, I wouldn't have the balls to swim right up to a shark, but we keep them pretty well fed here, so I had nothing to worry about. But still, thanks for the compliments." The man paused again, setting down his sandwich, wiping his hands on a napkin, and training those striking blue eyes on Steve while he stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Billy."

Steve shook his hand, and he could feel his own face lighting up with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," he said, his heart fluttering when the other man's face finally broke into a full grin.

"Likewise," he said, and they began to slip into a more casual conversation as Heather returned and she and Billy finished their lunches and got ready for the next performance. Steve would have to leave soon to get his microphone and his notes sheet again, but he stayed for as long as he could, quickly becoming friends with the two actors and making a few plans to make their next show an even bigger hit than the last one was. Finally, it was just a few minutes before Steve would have to start welcoming families back into the theater, and Billy went off somewhere to do one last thing before the show.

"Oh, and hey Steve, I have a quick question for you," Heather said, just before he left.

"Yeah?" Steve asked, stopping just short of the doorway.

"Can I get your number?" She asked, thrusting a napkin and pen into his hands. "It's not for me, though, it's for Billy. Y'know, just in case you were wondering. He nearly choked in the tank earlier when he first saw you through the glass, however blurry. And he said you had a nice voice. But he's too much of a wimp to ask you himself, so write a corny little note and leave him your number so that I don't have to hear about how out of his league you are for the next fifty years, because he will complain for that long."

Steve was taken aback at first, but he was flattered, and he liked the other guy, too, so he decided, why the heck not? He scribbled down a note and his phone number quickly, then high-tailed it out of the room to be in the theater for his cue, just as Billy came back over.

"Steve asked me to give this to you," Heather grinned like a shark, handing him the note. Billy took it, puzzled, and almost missed his own cue to get in the water as he read and reread it to make sure it sunk in.

Steve left him his number. And a terrible dad joke, but mostly his number, and said he wanted to go out with him sometime. He'd said he wanted to be 'part of his world', and as much as the pun made Billy roll his eyes, he couldn't help but find it cute. He could definitely arrange that. But first, he had to get back in the water, and hopefully nobody would notice as he stared at Steve's ass through the glass.

And if they did, he could just pass it off as a merman curious about how the humans walked around on their two large fins.

[a-b-riddle]

Pen Pals Chapter Four: First Day

C suggested that I go and get some clothes for my first week of work so the Saturday after my Friday interview. The dressing rooms were still closed which was a pain, but I kept the receipts in case I didn't like it or it didn't fit. I gave him a video call and was met with a black screen, as usual, as I tried on the outfits for him.

"Wear the first pair of black pants you showed me and the pink top." He was referring to the black straight leg slacks and the baby pink silk blouse with a chiffon tie. "Go get those boxes I sent you." He ordered. When I returned home from shopping I had two packages waiting for me on my doorstep.

They were both in standard brown shipping boxes, but after opening them I was met with utter shock.

"Oh my god." My mouth hung open as I opened it. "C. You shouldn't have." I didn't even open it all the way, but seeing the orange Louis Vuitton made me realize what he had done. When I finally did open it I found a beautiful beige purse.

"Every girl needs a new statement piece on their first day of work." He said. "It's the Lockme Ever MM. If you don't like it you can exchange it."

"I love it. And I can wear the pearls you gave me for graduation." I beamed still looking at the purse.

"Open the other one." He said almost as excited as I was. When I did I found a similar bag, but in black. "That one, I believe, is the Lockme Ever BB." I looked down at my gifts and didn't even know I had started crying. "What's wrong?" He asked, concern in his voice. "Do you not like them."

"There so nice." I pouted and wiped my eyes. "I love them." I cradled the purses to my chest as if a child who had gotten the exact toy they wanted on Christmas Day. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Good. You're welcome, baby." He said. "I got to get some things done before the end of the day, but I look forward to our video chat tonight."

"Me too."

"I'll see you in a bit, Love." I blew him a kiss and the call disconnected.

Holy-fucking-shit. These purses had to at least be at least $3,000 a piece. He spent what he gives me in an allowance on two bags. Holy shit. I had always bought my purses at Target, but this was... This was probably the most expensive thing I've ever owned beside my degrees that hung on the wall, but I couldn't carry those into work.

It's so funny to think a couple of months ago I sat in an empty apartment with nothing but a bed, crying about my life and now things had did a complete 180. My life had drastically changed in the best way possible. And it was because of C.

Monday couldn't get here soon enough. I was so excited to start my first day. I stopped and got a cup of coffee for myself, Mr. Stark as well as Mr. Rogers. When I got there security on the first floor got my badge and security access taken care of. I was essentially allowed to most of the 93 floors in Stark Tower.

I was then instructed to go to the same floor where I met Pepper. I was expecting to find her, but only found an empty desk and a folder with a sticky note on top of it.

Sorry I couldn't be there on your first day, something came up. Here is a basic outline of everything you need to know. Tony won't be down until later. If you need any help here is my cell. -Pepper.

I looked through the folder which would have been better put into a binder considering the amount of paper she put into it. I had barely started reviewing the documents when Steve walked up to my desk.

"Good morning, Mr. Rogers." I greeted. "I had time this morning so I did a coffee run." I handed him a medium black coffee from the coffee shop near my apartment.

"Good morning," he replied taking the coffee from my hands. "And please, just call me Steve." He insisted.

"I'll try." I assured him. "I grew up in Georgia so not referring to someone as Mr., Mrs., Sir. or Ma'am is kind of habit I'll have to break."

"You have manners?" He raised an eyebrow. "A shame. Tony tries to keep this place with a sense of impoliteness in the air. Thank you for the coffee."

"No problem. I hope plain black is okay."

"Do I seem like a plain black kind of guy?" He questioned tilting his head.

"I can go get some creamer." I went to stand when he broke into a smile.

"No, I take it black. I still like to keep some things simple." His attention broke away from me at someone coming through the lobby front doors. "Bucky," He greeted. A brunette with eyes just as blue and beautiful as Steve's walked over to my desk. "This is Bucky Barnes, we go way back."

"Stark's new assistant?" He asked and I smiled and nodded in response. "How you liking it so far?"

"First day: can't complain." I said. "Everyone is so nice."

"Plus Stark isn't up yet so he hasn't had the chance to ruin her day." Steve rolled his eyes. "Well, we will let you get to work and we'll see you around. Since it's your first day, I think Tony wanted to take you to lunch. Bucky will come around noon if he hasn't come yet and maybe we can steal you away instead."

"Oh," I said surprised. "Perfect. I'll see y'all later." I smiled at them as they left.

A few hours passed and I made myself busy with the list of things Pepper left me to do. Mr. Stark left his workshop and finally came down around 12.

"I hope you haven't had lunch yet." He said. "And sorry I haven't been down yet, I'm tinkering with a few things upstairs."

"Oh, no problem." I reassured. "Pepper left a very detailed list of instructions. So far nothing exciting except a few packages."

"So instead of apartment numbers, the floor is where it will need to be dropped off. Sometimes Steve and Bucky will get things in the mail too."

"Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes?" I asked.

"They live in the tower too." He said. "Makes things easier when we are all close together. How does Shawarma sound for lunch?"

"I was actually thinking Italian." Steve's voice came out of nowhere. When did he get back on this floor? I needed to find the stairs here at some point.

With his back still turned, he rolled his eyes. "Always has to be in charge." He whispered. "Italian it is."

Lunch was pleasant to say the least, even with the minimal banter between Steve and Tony. It was more like a sibling rivalry than a old married couple. Bucky had come along as well, mostly remaining quiet.

I asked if they always acted like this. He responded that it was when they were both quiet that it was more uncomfortable. He asked if I wanted to really wanted to start and argument was to ask who was in charge of the Avengers.

I shook my head and Bucky smiled. "So are you new to the city?" He asked.

"Sort of." I shrugged as Tony and Steve carried on their separate conversation. "I came here a couple of months ago before Covid hit and haven't really gotten out of my apartment."

"That blows." He said. "No friends in the city?"

I made a grimaced face and shook my head. "Not really." I said glumly. "I was supposed to start teaching when I moved, but covid made everything complicated."

"What were you wanting to teach?"

"History, but I specialized in World War II." I said before taking a bite of my Caprese salad with pesto sauce. C said I looked thinner and should be making sure to eat enough healthy carbs.

What he didn't know wouldn't hurt me. Or him.

However the saying went.

"Funny how the world works." He smiled before motioning his head toward Steve. "You're having lunch with two WW2 relics." I covered my mouth making sure none of my food showed as I smiled.

Steve and Tony eventually ceased their bantering long enough to join back into the conversation. They had asked me why I had gotten into studying history so extensively and very little personal information. Tony discussed a new prototype he was working on.

"Similar to how whales use echo location, the same will be done with this tracking device. Planes, vehicles, military equipment, but also testing out the device on animals to see if we can eventually use it on people."

The notion made my stomach drop. Mr. Stark quickly reassured the apparent qualm I had. "For willing parties only, I assure you. There was a missing persons report that came up when Pepper and I were watching TV. Young girl, about your age, man was convicted of rape and murder, but her remains were never found. And Pepper and I are trying to a family and I just thought 'that family will never know what happened to their daughter'."

The sentiment moved me. "So I thought, why not make it another tool for police to use? Cell phones and things like that can be destroyed, but even if it couldn't save them, it could at least give their family some closure."

"And even with tracking endangered species. Maybe even aquatic animals."

The idea didn't seem all that revolutionary in my opinion. Surely tracking devices like that have been proposed before...

When I got back there was a bouquet of daises and sunflowers sitting on my desk. "Was Pepper expecting a floral delivery?" I asked Tony setting my purse down on my desk.

"Not that I know of." He said stepping into the elevator with Bucky and Steve. "Unless she has a secret admirer I don't know about." The door closed and I was left alone with the floral arrangement.

I plucked the card from the top reading. 'Have a great first day - C.'

Only problem was, I never told him where I worked. Only that I would be working as a secretary for a tech company and that was the extent of it. He had watched me.

I'm glad Tony and the others had went up to their floors and did not see how ghostly pale my face had turned.

[abarbaricyalp]

Written for the @sambuckylibrary TFATWS Anniversary Event

3.3k words // CW: sports injury and discussion of recovery // AO3

(i mean baby) Do You Know The Game

The energy of a hard fought win was still thrumming in Bucky's veins as he collapsed into the press junket chair. His whole body hurt and he was irritated that it was a close game in the first place. They hadn't started strong and had only barely managed to claw their way back with a solid closer and a lucky series of errors to load up the bases before Steve got up to bat in the ninth.

This was going to be one of those days that the PR team regretted putting him in front of cameras. It was always a toss-up. He was either the most charming player the press could talk to or a walking storm cloud, complete with hail, lightning, and thunder. He was feeling particularly thunderous today.

Luckily, there was Barton to run interference. He was the kind of player the press loved because he could talk stats and numbers all day long. He was funny and a better actor than Bucky and he'd take the win at face value. No moping about a poor early performance.

Bucky half listened to Barton rattle off where Wilson's ERA was going to land after this game and how Steve's RBI numbers meant more than his base running and what kind of trades Fury would be looking for in the postseason. Bucky mumbled answers back about refocusing after the sixth and the momentum of a good inning and all the bullshit the papers always wanted to hear. And then...

"Is the feud between you and Wilson resolved?" a reporter for a magazine that was more lifestyle than sports asked.

Bucky's eyes narrowed warily. The feud everyone was so obsessed with was about as real as the conviction behind his answers this afternoon. Sure, it had been real at one point.  All the gossip rags were right: Sam was the hot new upshot. He'd joined the team while Bucky was out on medical suspension with the TBI and shattered shoulder. Bucky didn't get to play his first two seasons, only saw him at practice and team events. Sam was everything Bucky had been–fun and smart and confident and good. God, he was a good player. Knew the game like his own face. And that was all exactly the kind of thing Bucky didn't want to see in his replacement.

He wasn't sure how it got out to the press that there was some friction. He tried not to talk about anyone else in interviews but surely he'd been asked one too many times about the new guy and snapped out a mean answer once or twice. To be fair, Sam gave as good as he got. There was one interview where he said something to the effect of 'I won't talk about an injured teammate negatively, but ask me again later and I'll tell you he's probably past his prime.'

Which, thinking back on it, that sentence was probably what led to the beginning of the end of the feud, since it directly led to a really fantastic champagne-drunken night in a fancy hotel after the team formal that year. 

And once their relationship was on steadier ground and Bucky was in a better place mentally and physically and Sam was settled in with the team and the spotlight, it was fun to play with the rumors when he had the energy. Neither he nor Sam wanted to make the relationship public and they knew there was no real heat behind the occasional gentle ribbing in an interview. But Bucky didn't have any energy to spare right then. "All the good games he's had haven't ended it before. Why should this game change anything?"

"I wasn't referring to the game," she pressed. "Though you did seem to have a warm reaction when he got you guys out of the sixth. I was referring to the fact that you arrived today in his practice jersey."

Bucky looked down at his game jersey, as if it was the one he'd worn in for warmups. "I think you're mistaken," he said, even though there was a creeping dread that he probably had grabbed the wrong one while Sam was shoving him out of the door that morning. Bucky had done his laundry at Sam's and the jerseys all looked the same when he was in a rush.

The reporter turned her tablet around to show a very clear image of Bucky walking into the facility, head turned over his shoulder to show off his profile, with Sam's last name sprawled across his back just below his jaw. It was actually kind of an endearing photo. He liked how Sam's name looked on him.

"I guess it got confused with the team laundry after practice Monday," he said with a shrug. He could feel a traitorous blush climbing up his chest and neck and cheeks, all the way to his hairline. "I just grabbed the one nearest my bag. Don't you have something more interesting to write about?"

But judging by the way half the room's eyes were now lit up, he was assuming this was the most interesting thing to happen to them since the last season-ending injury they had to cover. 

"Does that happen often? Getting jerseys mixed up like that?"

Bucky glowered and crossed his arms in a pouty, telling-on-himself kind of way. "I was tired on Monday."

"Which does happen," Barton cut in. "Frankly, I think it's a little disappointing that you're making a scandalous story out of a TBI survivor's brain fog."

Now Bucky turned to glare at his teammate. He did not have brain fog. Usually. Bucky wasn't sure if Barton had become privy to his and Sam's relationship. All three of them were individually close and Barton was probably the most perceptive person in the room at any given time, but Bucky had never told him in so many words. And Barton was always up for messing with reporters. It could go either way. 

The reporter held up her hands with a placating smile. "Hoofbeats and horses-not-zebras," she suggested. "I just thought I'd ask."

The room chattered for a few seconds before someone else got them back on track with a question about the upcoming series and whether they thought their league standing would improve before their bye-week.

By the time Bucky got out of the junket, he felt like he needed ten aspirin. Three for his shoulder and seven for his head. Barton parted from him at the locker room door with a pat on his good shoulder and well wishes for the night. They got almost a full week break until the series started up next Friday and they said they didn't want to see each other until then.

Bucky waited for the door to shut behind Barton before he let himself into the locker room. He detoured to his locker, pulling off his game jersey as he went. He tossed it into his locker and dug out the practice jersey from the pile of sweaty clothes heaped in the bottom of it. Indeed, Sam's name greeted him. He ran his fingers over the screen printed letters and then brought the jersey up to his face to breathe in the remnants of the smell of Sam's detergent and apartment.

When the real thing surrounded him, along with arms around his waist and a strong body against his back, Bucky let the jersey fall away. He put his hands over Sam's forearm and leaned back into him.

"You could've mentioned I took the wrong one," he said.

He felt Sam shrug. "Too late now."

"You saw the interview?" Bucky surmised. As Sam shifted from his back, Bucky dropped his forehead against the locker in front of him. Sam sat on the bench beside him, shoulder resting against Bucky's hip.

"Don't worry about it, man. Shit happens. No one's gonna think twice about it. And if they do, Clint set you up a pretty solid excuse."

"No one is going to buy that." Mostly because it wasn't true. "And I'm not going to start some beef because you made me late."

"Oh, I made you late?" Sam asked with a teasing lilt to his voice. He shifted over in front of Bucky and dragged his eyes slowly down his body until they were level with Bucky's navel. His hands came up to Bucky's hips, strong and sure, tugged him forward just a little. "I remember you dragging me back into bed like this."

His nose brushed along Bucky's stomach and Bucky let himself enjoy it for a few seconds before he hooked a knuckle under Sam's jaw and lifted his face. "You kept me in the shower," he pointed out.

"You wash your hair wrong," Sam offered back with zero belief in his words. He rested his chin on Bucky’s belly and looked up at him with dark, glinting eyes. “Come on, lay down and let me rub out your shoulder so you can stop being so grumpy.”

“You could definitely rub something out, but I wouldn’t have picked my shoulder.”

Sam grinned and kissed just above Bucky’s belly button. “I bet I could. But we agreed: not in the locker room.”

“I remember the showers getting carved back out of that agreement.”

Sam pushed Bucky back from the lockers to the narrow bench that separated the two rows. “Lay down,” he ordered. “And relax.”

Continue on AO3

[schismusic]

The dark Age of love — Oneohtrix Point Never and the inexorable passage of time

Around the time that I stopped actively using this blog is when I started getting really into Oneohtrix Point Never. For reference Garden of Delete had been out for about three years at that point and it felt like the wait for Age of — then untitled — was endless. I remember accidentally coming across R Plus Seven in 2016 on a Telegram channel dedicated to vaporwave and downloading it almost on a whim, not exactly knowing what to expect (if I had to guess, retrospectively, what I expected lay very close to Andy Stott's Luxury Problems: a record, mind you, I only listened to for the first time three years ago!), and finding it somewhat impenetrable. It took me a full year of beating my head against its side to be able to make heads or tails of it and when it finally clicked it felt like translating hieroglyphics off of the Rosetta stone. Five years later than the rest of the world, but still.

As I type this I am listening to a live recording of some sort of reworked version of Zones Without People, title track from one of the very first OPN records I bought. I have almost all of the big releases, no compilations yet: the ones missing are Betrayed in the Octagon, Russian Mind and the last one. This new-OPN angle he approached it from makes it insanely compelling to me, it almost turns into a cut from Garden of Delete but not quite, it still has that kosmische sense of larger-than-life melody that his earlier records had but it gives it the Casio makeover (that fake-ass piano sequence doubling the main melody hits). And like most of OPN's later material it's a combination of previous elements, as tasteful as it is, but it's not necessarily retreading.

A while back I stumbled across R Plus Seven again and as I was listening to it, and for reference R Plus Seven is the kind of record I can listen to without it being on, I know the stop-and-go's and the breaks and the melody lines and all the weird shit going on so I'm pretty sure it was on in the background while I was doing something else and it was still that good, don't let anyone tell you otherwise — anyways as I was listening to it I remember thinking "holy shit, OPN is forty". It almost feels like yesterday to me — this guy being forty, using his Instagram profile like any tech-savvy millennial did, he even replied to an Instagram story where I played the guitar riff from Ezra to promote a live show my old band had to play. Lorenzo Senni did the same a couple times when I replied to his stories, I was lucky enough to meet him in real life when he played my city in 2018. Ironically enough Lorenzo Senni is also forty now. Not entirely sure as to what makes forty the exact age when I start to think of people as "getting old", considering I am going for twentyfive and I am closer to being forty than I am to the time I learned how to read and write, but something clicks in my head where someone like Steve Albini, RIP, was "still somewhat young" but at the same time I look at a picture of current-day Oneohtrix Point Never, then at the thumbnail for his VICE Motherboard interview (year of our Lord two-thousand-and-nine, Returnal had just come out, the quantum leap that was Replica yet to even appear in the corner of our eyes), and instinctively break out in cold sweat. What is it about aging that only fucks us up when the people aging are the ones closer to us, from a birth year point of view?

This conversation is even more topical considering the core gist of OPN's recorded output so far orbits around not aging, per se, as much as it does memory. And, of course, it's easy to think "oh right, memory, like Memory Vague", and that is absolutely correct: no surprise that exactly the Memory Vague DVD would include as liner notes such a stunningly articulate manifesto specifically on the main preoccupations of the project at that specific time:

Embedded in collective memory are unique instances of the personal

No commercial work is outside of the reach of artistic reclamation

Likewise no artistic project is outside the reach of commercial implications

Furthermore

It is in the weird stasis of in-between zones that this polarized system breaks down

This zone contains secrets that inform the future via exploding the past

[Nostalgia's failure is a decoding force]

Nostalgia is transformative because nostalgia is innately vague

A memory that desires to be total and sublime, but can never be

Hard to find anything more accomplished than this as far as an explanation goes: this puts OPN on a far more conceptual and performance-oriented level than, say, Autechre, with whom many stupid people like Demented Burrocacao (actually, in all seriousness, he's an excellent writer, but I simply cannot see what he sees in regards to OPN supposedly being a bad Autechre copycat. If you understand Italian, go read his Tony Levin interview on Rolling Stone: it's acute journalism and incredible writing rolled into one neatly-sized package) seem to find more than one tie. If anything, it might be closer to Boards of Canada, but then again OPN deals more in the uncanny than he does in outright "weird" or "eerie" à la Mark Fisher, like a secret third thing that sidesteps all inherent connotations of pleasure/displeasure and reaches directly into the distorted without any quality connotations. But most relevant for the purposes of this piece, the impossibility of totality appears surprisingly close to old age: ideally, the ripest point of our experiences, but in practice we are trapped within a body that simply will not do what we want it to.

In turn, this makes the existence of a record like Magic especially interesting. A project entirely dedicated to "inform the future via exploding the past" looks back and — well — keeps exploding the past, but in a slower, more focused manner. I'm assuming Abel Tesfaye gleefully putting his own money in the project might have had something to do with it? Not saying that it's a bad thing. It just feels like yet another detour in the project, one that seems to have come to full fruition with Again in the eyes of most listeners: self-portrait in audio form — and the phrase "self-portrait" openly emerges in the Rolling Stone Italia review of Again, but at the same time it's hard to watch the music video to Long Road Home and not see all of the references being made to previous OPN aesthetics (such as the name of the album being the project's first moniker, but also: what if we kissed in the R Plus Seven room? And what if we were the two creatures that blend into one another on the cover of Garden of Delete, one of whom looks suspiciously similar to Yves Tumor and the other to the creatures in the Black Snow music video? Do I need to start wearing a tinfoil hat?). At the time of its release, Age of felt like a bit of a misfire to me: something that squandered a potentially interesting concept to a surprising lack of focus, a blemish heretofore unprecedented in OPN. It might still be his weakest specifically because of that, unfortunately for the good tracks and great moments on there — Black Snow and Prurient hopping on a weirded-out post-trance banger, just to name one of each.

Point being: I miss Oneohtrix Point Never, or rather I miss his music hitting me from left field at every turn, or rather — possibly — I miss being able to feel that surprising punch in music. Or maybe all I really miss is not being closer to forty than I am to the age I learned how to read and write. Luckily, there is one thing I am still close to. I started listening to full records with attention and intention at age twelve, thirteen years ago. I started confronting records that I felt were way out of my league the very day I turned fifteen, when I received a copy of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and kept doing so with R Plus Seven and elseq 1-5, and keep doing so with Bitches Brew and Mingus Ah Um. Maybe as long as I keep the ability to be surprised, a sense of childlike wonder, I might still be able to not turn into a grumpy old motherfucker that yells at clouds; I might still be able to explode the past, for someone else to inform the future.

(Two days ago, this blog turned ten. I believe it's only fitting that I post this piece now)

[issahanko]

How to erase a bad bad weekend

How to erase a bad bad weekend, a bad memory, a bad experience, a bad conversation…

The memories keep flashing in my mind like a bad taste that keeps coming and going.

So many feelings, so hard to deal with and I feel so stupid not being able to just pass to the next thing. So here I am writing my heavy heart, I’m hoping it can maybe help.

As I start this text, I realize that maybe this could be a funny story, or maybe, my gentle reader will relate to me, and we could cry together.

I was urgently in need of a bit of money. I had just finished another diploma in December, and I found myself looking for an urgent job, it had been one month and a half and nothing.

Maybe because January and February are dead for job hunting… I told myself and everyone else around me to feel better, I have to be patient, I said in a very loud voice, maybe trying to convince myself to be patient, and it was not working…

My friend, which is in a similar situation calls me and says: Urgently! I have to know if you want a job! they pay cash! it’s from Friday to Sunday!

I said yes, of course! I trust her, she’s a hustler… I really need some money right now.

What we have to do in this modern world to have some money, in this economy, in this crisis, in this unemployed situation… could be called slavery, but let’s leave this subject for later.

I was supposed to sell bike clothes, plus triathlon and running clothes.

The guy made us come on Thursday to explain how this will be done during the weekend, although Thursday was not a paid time. My friend had to do 40 minutes of metro and 15 walking from her place to the job place, where we were going to work. But the guy wanted us to come on Thursday. He also wanted us to come an hour before the opening without being paid, although we said yes, it never happened.

So the guy’s name was Steve… Steve? What kind of name is that?

Hi, my name is Steve (pronounced Stif)… I wonder what you imagine with that name.

It was the opposite of the Steven Universe character. Zero charisma, he had a grim aura around him, when I remember him, I picture him wearing dirty clothes, a dirty face, dirty soul, Steve without an n.

This guy had a very bad looking silhouette, just imagine a bald, bad shaved, red eyed looking guy, with a beer belly and yellow teeth whenever he smiled, which was a rare occasion, or maybe he just smiled at moments when you are not supposed to smile, like a smile after a racist-mysoginist-homophobe comment…

This guy didn’t say hello…. As soon as he saw us, he said: do you go to the gym? Do you ride bikes? On the gym…?

Now, my friend and I are not fit at all, we have overweighted women bodies, but we take care of ourselves, we tidy ourselves, we love ourselves, we feel pretty most of the time. I admit, I got some kilos more during my degree, I did my last diploma in one year, one hell of a ride, and I’m a stress eater, so it was very easy to obtain my extra kilos. But of course, this guy didn’t see that. Maybe he wanted slim people, so the customers would feel more appealed or something. Although, he was not paying enough for a slim sales manager. He was not even paying enough for us to come on that Thursday, which we weren’t even paid.

So not a very good first start, right? I laughed it out, but my friend didn’t. I sometimes don’t understand a situation before it’s too late and my natural response is to laugh out everything. Whenever I’m nervous you will see me smiling.

Bla bla bla, biking clothes, bike accessories, biking glasses, how did you two meet?

- Oh, we were together at Uni, yeah, I was doing my ethnomusicology master at that time, oh! It’s like anthropology of music.

- So like when humans were hitting rocks one to the other and you call that music?

- jajajajaj…ja… yeah… something like that… Oh I actually have an interview in one hour, so I only have 15 minutes

Apparently, Steve didn’t like that, maybe he was planning on explaining every single item to us and take more of our free time, but I doubt it, the guy was not organized. Or maybe his natural face was of disgust…

I asked if he had business cards, he didn’t, also, the internet site that was announced on his business signs didn’t exist, he also didn’t have a special item he wanted to sell, and the sales signs advised discounts in a very so random way that it looked like a scam store.

So every time someone would ask where they could find the store… we just answered with the most vague phrase: oh! we are a mobile store… (you cannot find it anywhere) we move a lot between Ontario and Québec, oh sorry, the site doesn’t wok but you can send us an email with whatever you need, we will try our best to answer your request…

We? Well, I told myself that if maybe I got the appropriation of the store, people will believe that it was genuine, or like a family business, with Steve being our… uncle? I don’t’ know, I thought it was helpful, I was trying to help a human who didn’t deserve my trying.

Steve has a daughter though, 8 years old, she was on his 2000 model phone wallpaper. Poor girl with a father like that. Just, let me tell you the story. The guy hooked up with a woman 25 years younger than him, the problem is, he said it as if he was proud of it. He’s 62 yeas old… Steve is a 62-year-old father… of an 8 year old daughter. Oh! But her daughter is a flirt! She is in the boy’s hockey team, because she is too good to be in the girls’ hockey team and she likes to flirt with the boys…

I don’t know what is more disgusting, the fact that he thinks she flirts at that age, the fact that he is proud of his daughter being a flirt, or the fact that he is telling me this.

Pure disgust. Maybe I should add “rapist” to the list of adjectives I will describe him with. I know maybe some of you would feel sorry of him being so old and working in this hard work line, but my disgust is bigger than my sorrow.

And also, the conversation about his daughter started because he fucking asked me if I WAS SINGLE

FUCKING STEVE AND HIS FUCKING STORE

- Oh! Yeah, I have a partner and we are married.

- So like… are you lesbian?

(Shall I just send this guy to hell….?)

…..

- Well I consider myself bisexual and I’m married to a non-binary person. But you know this is really not important…

- You young people, your generation is so welcoming to this kind of stuff, I don’t know any of this things, so what is bisexual and what is non-binary

(Shall I just send this guy to hell….?)

-Well, bisexual is that you are attracted to a person regardless of their gender

- Well that is convenient

(Shall I just send this guy to hell….?)

-jajajaj… I am attracted to all the genders, not only one… and non-binary is that the person doesn’t feel like they belong to only one gender.

- so like a mix ?

- I mean there are people who are genderfluid, so they can feel one day one gender or non at all. And I feel that a bisexual with a non-binary is a perfect romantic alliance.

- So all that stuff exist, huh? Your generation is so different than mine

-oh! you have a costumer behind you

…..

The conditions to this job were just disastrous, we couldn’t sit (no chairs anywhere), we couldn’t just stand (because it is aggressive, the customer will not approach you if you just stand there, just try to scan the clothes, you can even check the tags so you can learn the technical terms… hey remember when I told to not just stand there…?), we couldn’t chat (I don’t want you to talk to each other, it shows to the customers you are not serious), and we only had 30 minutes of break to eat something, also we had bathroom breaks, which we tried to extend to the maximum and to distribute along the day. I really just wanted for this job to end.

But the worst of all was, that we had to deal with fucking Steve, not only his conversations were awful and the least interesting in the entire history of stories, but also he used to tap my back whenever there was a customer that he wanted me to attend. I wish to erase the memory of his fucking hand touching my back for those 2 seconds, he did it 6 times during the weekend. I wish to erase all of this, all this bad  bad weekend, but specially he touching my sacred body with his filthy hands. 

Every day that passed was harder than the previous one. Everyday Steve had to fucking complain that he was not making enough money, that his minimum was not attaint. Oh! He also had these stupid comments about us like:

- you are doing good… for beginners

- If you did some kind of sport, I’m sure you would have had more technical information to give to the clients, we would have made more sales

- It’s a shame you don’t know anything about bikes

And whenever we were letting a customer go, he would come and say: what was the problem, what did they wanted? (whatever answer you want to insert) ugh, next time send them to me. Or. Ugh you should have said this/that. You can also finish your sale with: what else are you looking for? Or what brought you to the Montreal’s Bike Convention?

Or whatever annoying phrase about any annoying sales topic or bike topic you could imagine.

Also, I forgot to mention, the main reason why he engaged us was so that we could speak in French to the clients. ‘Cause his sorry ass can only take one language in his stupid brain, the language of racist-mysoginist-homophobe-rapist white English. The frustrating part was when he started to explain to his customers:

- I engaged French girls so they can talk in French with the customers

First off, we are not in France you asshole, second, we are NOT FRENCH YOU FUCKING IDIOT, third, could you be more condescending you fucking pig?

And this is the whole point of this stupid experience. He did never ever said thank you, never, not even when we worked packing his stuff (that usually sales people don’t do) or pushing his merchandise on the cart to his truck, or when we worked for 30 extra minutes to help him pack his shit, or when his shit got all over the floor when he was pushing his cart down the ramp and was blocking the cart ramp and we helped him put his shit back to the cart and truck. And the more things went to hell, the more the guy was aggressive and screaming at us if we didn’t do things the way he wanted to be done…

Like: I didn’t tell you to do that! I asked you to put this thing in this box, not on that box!

- I told you first the wheels then the bars!

- No! Don’t put that there!

- oh… could you please push the cart to my truck?

And then, he almost didn’t pay us… or he was hoping we don’t do the math correctly so that he could pay us less than what he owed us…

- Girl, let’s count together because I’m getting stressed and can’t count

- No! Don’t count together, she’s already lost, gimme that… I’ll count for you!

Then… why am I saying he’s racist? My gentle reader may ask… Well, we had a black customer that asked if he could separate some clothes for him, he was going to do the convention tour and then get back to trying the clothes.

- you shouldn’t separate it for him, he’s not coming back, I know his kind

HIS WHAT NOW???

- Oh I meant that the convention is almost closing… I don’t think he will be back

And then he proceeded to tell me the most boring racist story of how one of his bosses in 1978 was racist, not like him. His boss didn’t believe a black successful woman was going to buy an expensive bag. Well fucking Steve didn’t believe a black customer was going to buy a fucking biking jersey that was so old as fucking Steve, all his clothes were shit actually. Well, the customer came and he bought the jersey.

A little girl was hanging around the convention during Saturday and Sunday and asked me and my friend if the clothes we were selling were used. It really felt like some kind of sport thrift store, all the clothes had the hangers sun marks, they were so old and used and so low quality that even with his fucking thin sales managers, he wouldn’t have attaint the fucking minimum that he wanted.

But lastly, we finished the job, we got our pay, we got out of that place, we left the old geezer behind, and my friend and I were left feeling miserable. We called our spouses, to reassure them we were alive, that we got paid, that we were going home. And then all the misery came to our bodies. My feet were hurting, but also my pride. And she started saying why should we go through this, why should anyone go through this. Why after all that we studied, after all that we travelled, after all that we have learnt, why do we have to take this kind of jobs, with this kind of guy in this kind of country. Why has the life treated us so unfairly… what have I done so wrong for me to be found in a situation like this. Why have all my studies done nothing for me. Why do I have to kill my feet and my pride to get a bit of cash… I’m an artist, I wish to create, to be happy, to give something to this cruel cruel world. But right now, I feel just miserable, as if my life had absolutely no meaning. As if I was born with the wrong feet, in the wrong time, the wrong place. Maybe if I was white, maybe if I was rich, maybe if I had picked fucking finance as my career. Just, maybe if I have had a bit more of luck.

But hélas, I’m here, right now, and the only thing that calms me down is writing and hoping to share this with you, my gentle reader.

Yesterday I had nightmares, and then I had a panic attack, and then I was all tears. But my partner was there, to tell me everything was going to be alright, that I will never see fucking Steve again in my life. And with the money I made, I can pay some bills.

Although the next day I still had flashes of this bad bad weekend, I still heard fucking Steve’s voice in my head… I had to pass to another thing, another project made with love, it was another day, a sunny one. And the problem is, I’m so desperate that I’m sure I will do it again, because I need the extra cash right now.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you never cross a fucking Steve in your life. And I hope you will be happy, even if it’s only for an hour during the day. I hope the struggling times will pass fast. I hope you get to do art in your life, it’s the only savior, in this chaotic world.

[denimbex1986]

'Though he’s worked with writer-director Christopher Nolan for over two decades, Cillian Murphy steps into his largest studio lead role to date in Nolan’s upcoming biopic, Oppenheimer. Starring as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man appointed to head the top-secret labs for the Manhattan Project, Murphy discusses with Collider’s Steve Weintraub the preparation for this role and what it was like to "experiment and explore" on set with Nolan.

With a uniquely penned screenplay unlike any Murphy’s received prior, Oppenheimer presented him with the opportunity to once again explore the existential themes Nolan films favor, this time as the leading man. Dubbing himself a “Nolan veteran,” Murphy has appeared as a supporting actor in many of the director’s most notable features, from his take on the Dark Knight in 2005’s Batman Begins to the Oscar-winning Inception. Now, he leads an ensemble cast alongside Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Josh Hartnett, and David Dastmalchian.

During this one-on-one interview, Murphy describes what it was like receiving that phone call from Nolan, how long he had to prepare for filming, and why this screenplay blew his mind. We also find out what kind of feedback Nolan gives on set, which Oppenheimer scene was the most challenging to shoot, and what it will take for Murphy to do a 28 Months Later sequel. For this and more, check out the full interview in the video or transcript below.

COLLIDER: I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time, but there are going to be people out there who have never seen anything you’ve done. Besides Oppenheimer, which is obviously incredible, what would be the thing you want people to watch first if they’ve never seen your work?

CILLIAN MURPHY: That’s a good question. I hate looking at my own films [laughs]. There’s a film that I have a great affection for that I made in Ireland called The Wind that Shakes the Barley, which is a film I’m very proud of. It’s a little insight into Irish history, but it’s a beautifully made film by Ken Loach.

Yeah, he’s okay.

MURPHY: He’s pretty good. [Laughs]

You’ve worked with [Christopher] Nolan before, but what was it actually like when he reached out to you and said, “I’m thinking about doing Oppenheimer. I want you to do the role?” As an actor, what is it like getting that call?

MURPHY: I think any actor in the world would, first of all, want to work with Chris, but second of all, do a lead for him. I can’t think of any better word than it’s a dream. It sounds like such a cliché, but it’s the truth. But I had no idea he was going to call me. He just called me out of the blue. That’s his MO; you never hear from him and then he calls. [Laughs] So he called me, and I genuinely didn’t know what it would be, and then he said, “I’m making this movie about Oppenheimer and I would like you to play Oppenheimer.” It’s a big shock, and a very pleasant one, but then you kind of go, “Okay, now I have a lot of work to do.”

Completely. You get off the phone with him, and are you immediately in your head, like, “I need to just start studying?”

MURPHY: Yes. Yes, exactly that. He told me the day we were starting to shoot, so I knew I had six months to really go in. I would have taken more, but six months was good. We just went straight at it from that day. We were just into it.

One of the things about this film is it was filmed with IMAX cameras, and it’s incredible, but as an actor, because it’s a huge camera, what is it like when it’s right there near you, and you know every shot is incredibly expensive, and it’s also incredibly loud?

MURPHY: You kind of get used to it. And I’m a bit of a Nolan veteran so I’m kind of used to the huge cameras and the racket they make. We have an amazing DP, Hoyte Van Hoytema, and an amazing camera team, so it doesn’t become a big deal after a while. If you started thinking, “Oh, this is gonna be my face 80 feet on the–” You just can’t think about it like that. Chris never talked about it like that. He just cares about the performances and what’s happening in the moment and the truth of the scene.

I’m sure when you looked at the schedule and saw everything you were going to be doing, you maybe had a day or two circled in terms of, “Oh, that might be a tough day.” What was that day or two that you had circled where you were in your head a little bit in terms of performance, or what was required of you that day?

MURPHY: To be honest with you, they were all like that. [Laughs] But the section of the movie that I loved working on the most was the section in the room, in 2022, when we were all in the hearing. We shot in this tiny, shitty little room. There weren’t any moveable walls or anything like that; it was just all of us in there with this huge camera. That felt almost like doing a play. We did that for two weeks, so all these incredible actors, Jason Clarke and everybody, would come in and do their piece. I found that very emotional and heavy, but in a brilliant way. It was a real challenge. So, that was my favorite chunk of the movie in terms of shooting.

What do you think would surprise Christopher Nolan fans to learn about making a Christopher Nolan movie?

MURPHY: He’s not that sympathetic to toilet breaks.

[Laughs] That’s not what I expected you to say, and it’s also very honest.

MURPHY: I’ll leave that there.

I’m fascinated by the way directors craft a performance. Clearly, Chris is looking for things in each take, and he knows exactly what he wants. What is he like to work with when he’s not getting exactly what he wants out of you? Can you talk a little bit about how he directed you?

MURPHY: He is brilliant with actors, understands actors, loves actors, really believes in actors and what they can bring to the story and to the character. So an awful lot of the time we’ll just find it. We’ll be shooting, but we’ll be finding the scene, and he’ll let us experiment and explore stuff. Then he may come in, and he’ll just whisper very quietly in your ear. Generally, the notes are very precise and succinct and brief, but they can totally spin the performance. That’s his genius. It also comes from the fact that he’s written it, so he has direct access to it, but he’s phenomenal, like really phenomenal.

I saw this last night in IMAX 70mm and it is amazing. First of all, the movie’s incredible, but seeing it in that presentation– Have you seen it in IMAX, 70mm?

MURPHY: I have not seen it in IMAX 70mm. I’m going to, I’m looking forward. I’ve seen Chris’ other movies in that format and I cannot wait to see it.

Is it going to tweak you a little bit in terms of when you see your face on that huge screen? Some actors I speak to, they really can’t watch themselves.

MURPHY: I don’t enjoy it. I don’t know many actors that do love looking at themselves. But I love watching it with an audience because that’s what cinema is, isn’t it? It’s a load of strangers in a dark room collectively invested in this thing, so watching it on your own in the screening room is not the same. I want to watch it with an audience.

100%. I’ve seen movies just like you in a small room with nobody, and it doesn’t have the same impact, the energy of everyone.

MURPHY: Exactly, yeah.

I’m curious, what was it like for you to read the script for the first time because he wrote the Oppenheimer stuff in a different way? Can you talk a little bit about that?

MURPHY: So he wrote the script in first-person, which I’d never encountered and never experienced. It blew my mind. Also, I realized that was a huge responsibility because everything is kind of subjectively through Oppenheimer’s eyes, except for the black and white bits which are objectively from [Lewis] Strauss’ (Robert Downey Jr.) point of view. It was one of the best screenplays I’ve ever read, without a shadow of a doubt. For example, he wouldn’t say, “Oppenheimer walks into the room and speaks to Strauss.” He would say, “I walk into the room,” and “I walk over and speak to Strauss.” That’s how it was written.

Christopher Nolan, Hoyte van Hoytema, and Cillian Murphy Oppenheimer on the set of OppenheimerImage via Universal I can’t imagine as an actor because you’ve read so many screenplays. It’s never like that.

MURPHY: Never. Well, not in my experience. I’m sure every script will be like this now. [Laughs] They’ll all be copying Chris.

That wouldn’t come as a surprise. If you were to do a Nolan double feature with Oppenheimer, what is the other movie you would watch with it?

MURPHY: That’s a good question. Do you think it should complement it, or can it be kind of random?

It could be anything.

MURPHY: If you wanted a science double bill, you’d probably go for Interstellar, right? Which, I absolutely adore that movie. If you wanted a complete palette cleanser you could watch The Prestige, which is also, I think, one of Chris’ undervalued but brilliant films. I don’t know. What do you think?

Inception would be an interesting one. As long as I could see it in an IMAX theater, it would be great.

MURPHY: Yeah, same.

So, there’s been talk of a 28 Months Later sequel, but you’re starting to reach the point where is it better to do 28 Years Later?

MURPHY: Totally. I was talking to Danny Boyle recently, and I said, “Danny, we shot the movie at the end of 2000.” So I think we’re definitely approaching the 28 Years Later. But like I’ve always said, I’m up for it. I’d love to do it. If Alex [Garland] thinks there’s a script in it and Danny wants to do it, I’d love to do it.

I think the 28 Years is way better because it would be a reflection of how you’ve aged.

MURPHY: How ancient I am. [Laughs]

I don’t think that’s the thing. [Laughs] My last thing for you, Oppenheimer is about three hours, but I’m assuming there were deleted scenes. Do you remember any deleted scenes or were there a lot of deleted scenes?

MURPHY: There’s no deleted scenes in Chris Nolan movies.

Really?

MURPHY: That’s why there are no DVD extras on his movies because the script is the movie. He knows exactly what’s going to end up– he’s not fiddling around with it trying to change the story. That is the movie.'

[lovelyrecs]

wowowow ari i won't lie i read through the entirety of this two days ago while i was half asleep in bed and i loved it so much. definitely seeing what captured me so very deeply with harmless and i enjoyed it SO much. now i will do what i was too sleep to and reblog PROPERLY. your memes btw. huge fan. huuuuge fan like i cannot, i slept and i dreamt some of them no joke

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

of course they do and of course he is. sam is kind and funny and would actually talk to his fans, nat is cool and scary and they like the intrigue and clint is insane

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

HELP ME the wittiest one liner he could come up with is a three-year old's snotty mumble. matches up.

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

this is very sad to me. however, the image of steve rogers hunched over a tiny laptop, angrily typing an email to the dmv is very very nice. but not nearly as nice as him later on going to the actual dmv, waiting in the long ass line with his arms crossed and then talking sternly to the clerks and etc while bucky stands behind him silently

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.” Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

THAT WOULD BE SO

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

scott!!! he WOULD and i would gobble it all up. i love that man. he's the people's princess and every time the interns get to work with him they let out a collective sigh of relief

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

THE BACKGROUND??? LIKE A CRYPTID?? the content he will give is my profile picture-esque. just a blurry very petulant small face

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

LMAOO i have to say, though, what works works

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

ari is that an actual thing that exists

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

THAT'S SO SWEET STOP IT I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIS LITTLE FIGURES

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

PUPPET HISTORY also imagine if he'd said yes to puppets

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

IMAGINE THE AUDIENCE CHEERING LIKE IN A SITCOM. SHE'S BACK OH MY GOD DEAR READER

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

HELP ME she's so me

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?”  “No.” “That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

I CANNOT THEY (you) MAKE MEMES OF HIM WHERE HE'S THE SKINWALKER LMAOO also like how she didn't expand at all like you get what you get suck it up you can use context clues “At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

she's right, you have to look at the bright side. skinwalker bucky boyfriend. small wins.

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?” “For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.” Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

i love her <3 also very clever way of leaving it open for readers ari u are a genius

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud.  He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

LMAO why is he such a problem child and then pretends he doesn't know that. bucky barnes you make a conscious effort to be a little shit

ari shurisneakers you have done it again. live in my brain.

unsolved (i)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or any shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, Very Loud reader, images and memes that all have alt texts.

A/N: yes this is literally harmless in a different font. do not ask me if anything doesn't make sense. i cannot explain. i resurface every 3 years to present you with ideas born from menty b's. ANYWAY shout out to my beloved ryan and shane. pls enjoy <3

Bucky doesn’t appeal to the youths.

Apparently. 

On God, he cannot fathom why.

He had definitely left the house in the last six months, maybe. Smiled in at least two pictures that existed on the internet. He even knew what Discord was. Sort of.  

By all accounts, he should be treated as the modern day icon that he was.  

“The youths?” he repeats, the word so foreign on his tongue it felt odd to even say it.

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

Bucky has the audacity to look offended. 

“Anything to say?” Their PR head, Maya, asks him, amused. 

He stares, formulating the wittiest one liner he could in three seconds.

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

Maya sighs. “Look, the team took the decision together. As far as I’m aware, you are still a member. You need some PR if you guys want to stay in the public’s good books.”

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

“That’s why it’s important to get them to like you,” Maya emphasizes. “Or the idea of you at least. A very sanitized, corporate friendly version.”

His eyebrow twitches unintentionally.  

“And also you signed the contract.”

Well. Shit. 

Truth be told– and he has openly and rather loudly stated this on numerous occasions even especially when no one asked– he doesn’t understand why they need a PR team. The world has calmed down significantly over the last few years. Bucky hadn’t really been out crime-fighting as much as he was people-watching. There hasn’t been an earth-shatteringly dystopian-level event in the longest time, and there seemed to be a group of spandex-clad teenagers who seemed to do a good job at taking care of them when they did threaten to occur. Go kids.

Even if they needed PR, he could arguably understand the appeal of Sam and Nat and why the people would want to see more of them. Bucky, on the other hand, looked like he crawled onto Earth most days of the week. 

“What do I have to do?” he asks ultimately, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Interviews?”

The intern shares a look with Maya. Bucky shares a look with the ceiling. 

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.”

Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

Maya stares at him.

Bucky stares back.

“So,” she says slowly, like he’s a moron, “you would–”

“No.” 

The intern sighs heavily like they discussed that this was going to happen. Bucky was getting predictable. This annoys him even further, for some reason.

“Only once a week, and it doesn’t have to be anything crazy–”

“I’m not doing videos,” he interjects. “I’ll tweet a few times. I’ll even go outside. But ’m not doin’ videos.”

A big step was to get the Avengers off Twitter after the regular shit-storm that occurs every time they’d quote-tweet another politician calling them shitheads. Getting them back on seems counterproductive. 

“Fine,” Maya relents, looking at the intern. “We'll work something out.”

Bucky leans back in his chair, and meditating on ways he can weasel his way out of those too.

So they stick him in a couple of interviews.

Bucky, as the recluse extraordinaire that he was, does unsurprisingly terrible at them.

Variety does a piece on him that was supposed to take up 2 pages. They send back half a page worth of usable material and Bucky gets a lecture on how monosyllables don't count as answers.

He grunts in return. Maya’s itch to smack his shoulder with the rolled up draft increases.

They set him up for pap walks. Just him getting fast food for the team, or sitting in the park.

They don’t take into account that Bucky was trained professionally for years on how to hide, sneak in and out of places without a soul knowing he was ever there. 

The paparazzi spend three hours waiting for him outside the pizza place, while he’s been home for two hours with two demolished pepperonis and an order of mozzarella sticks. 

They give him access to his Twitter. 

He tweets some dumb shit and gets shadow banned by that evening. 

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

“Play nice,” Sam tells Bucky one evening. 

It’s an off-hand comment, not even really looking at him while he says it. 

Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he’s referring to, but he thinks that maybe he has gone too far.

He begrudgingly agrees. 

Therefore, it begins. 

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

Then the jokes really start.

“I just don’t got anything to add,” Bucky tries, in a failure of an attempt to justify his lack of contribution. 

Maya only stares at him, but Bucky swears he can hear her curse quietly, even though her lips don’t move even a millimeter.  

He is not put in another video. 

And so he finds himself here. 

In a meeting room that he’s convinced is barricaded from the outside so he can’t slither out the door again. Another intern with pink-tinted glasses that took up half their face.

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

“Videos seem to be working,” she ties it together. “But we need more than you just standing silently behind Captain Rogers.”

“But it’s working,” Bucky objects. “I don’t see why it has to change.”

Maya sends him a glare. Bucky decides then it’s good to shut up. 

“Are you on the internet a significant amount?” the intern asks. The glasses on their face have changed colours to green. Bucky’s eyebrow furrows. 

“No.” 

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

“What do you like doing?” the intern enunciates, pulling up a spreadsheet of niches that had built a dedicated community around themselves over the years. “Makeup? Cleaning? Parkour?”

Bucky wonders if they’d really create a montage of him just micro cleaning the kitchen every week. It doesn’t sound half bad. 

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

“You really are dead silent,” the intern breaks his train of thought, tone almost that of wonder. “Guess the whole ‘ghost story for seventy years’ is more true than I thought.”

Bucky throws him a weary look, and works on unclenching the fist that tightened involuntarily. 

“Was that necessary?” Maya’s voice comes coldly. “Take fifteen. Go find the other one we were supposed to meet.”

While sheepish and somewhat apologetic, the kid still looks relieved to be out of there. To be honest, Bucky isn’t really offended– he’s grown a thick skin over the years. But he also thought the guy was a little shit now. 

Maya turns back to him, but Bucky finds that the table contains wonders far more interesting than the conversation at hand.

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

He wordlessly shakes his head. 

Been the former, seen too much of the latter.

Maya’s head tilts abruptly. “You like ghosts?”  

He wonders if the prior conversation had anything to do with this insightful question. 

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t exist.”

“Really,” Maya deadpans. “Aliens and multiversal baboons are fine, but no ghosts.”

“I’ve seen aliens and multiversal baboons. Never seen a ghost in my life,” Bucky argues right back.

“Other people have seen ghosts.”

“Good for other people.”

The door swings open right as Maya’s eyes narrow at him. Guess it wasn’t padlocked. 

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

Bucky had met you. The newest addition to the team that had made a grand entrance a couple of weeks ago. He thinks you stay on the floor below him, but he has nothing backing this hypothesis other than the disco funk music that had started appearing at odd hours of the night. 

“Please sit,” Maya cracks a smile at you that Bucky had yet to earn. “Sorry, I know our meeting is scheduled for later, but I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.”

You look between her and Bucky, who hasn’t moved an inch since you got here, much less even said hello.

“You must be really bad if Maya had to call me in,” you tell him outright. “I’m usually like, her last option.”

“Thanks,” Bucky replies dryly. 

“Look, here’s my final pitch.” Maya sighs, before turning to you. “You’re new, and we need something to introduce you slowly to the public.”

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

“And he needs… an upgrade.” Maya’s thumb juts out towards Bucky who simply rolls his eyes.

“Right.” Your sight lands on him from across the table. “I’ve seen the memes.”

“What memes?” he grunts, because while the team had definitely seen them, it didn't occur to anyone they should show it to him. He loves them. Really. So much. Die for them. 

You only look too happy to pull out your phone and start typing.

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?” 

“No.”

“That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

Bucky doesn’t look impressed. He can’t say he blames them either, which makes him inexplicably maddens him.  

“At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

“Right.” Maya clears her throat. “The both of you–” 

“Are getting paired together, I suppose,” you hum. 

Bucky’s eyebrows pull together. 

He barely knows you. Just a little bit on how you ended up here, that you enjoyed hanging out with the team, figuring out your place in the compound, and were seemingly doing a great job at it. 

You were… loud. And open. 

Bucky feels the compulsive need to compensate for that by doubling down on how silent he could get, as if the two of you couldn’t co-exist in the same space in equilibrium. 

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.”

Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

“Great.” Maya slams her laptop closed. “See you later.”

Bucky’s left staring as she exits, not even throwing the both of you another look.

“That was quick,” your voice cuts through the silence. “What was that all about?”

 “Don’ ask me,” he grumbles, with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was about to follow. 

“Ghost hunting?” Bucky echoes a week later, as expected.

“Yes,” Maya tells him simply. “Two of you. A series based on paranormal activity.”

“I don’t even believe in them,” he reiterates. 

“That’s the point,” she emphasises. “Skeptic and believer. It makes for a good contrast.”

“Why us both?” He hopes it doesn’t come off as offensive. He just doesn’t see why he can’t do this with Sam. Even Clint, if a gun was really pressed to his head. 

“I’m new, no one gives a shit about me,” you say brightly and full of promise. “Yet.”

“Exactly. It’ll be low key. Not an overwhelming number of viewers, no expectations. It’s perfect for launching one Avenger and re-launching another.”

“Sounds rad.” You grin, leaning back as your feet rest on the chair in front of you.

Maya looks relieved for a moment that at least one of you was on board. “No promises on anything. We shoot one video, and if it does well, we stick with it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky argues. 

“Then you have until tomorrow morning to give us another feasible idea,” Maya dishes back.

Bucky retreats into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. 

Truth be told, he considered himself to be the most boring person in the team and though he had made his peace with that, he was sure thar bringing that up now would entail Maya shooting him in the foot.

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud. 

He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

“Put her there, partner.” You stretch ungracefully over the large table, sticking out your hand.

Bucky eyes your hand. “Do you even believe in ghosts?” 

“I do now, yeah.” You nod seriously. “Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of them.”

“One video,” Maya reminds him as a balm. “And if it doesn’t work, you’re off the hook forever.”

Off the hook? Forever? For Bucky?

Yay. 

“One video,” he reiterates.

You roll your eyes before smiling when he leans forward to grab it. You yank it up and down clunkily. He blinks at you, letting go slowly. 

“Thank fuck,” Maya groans, head dropping onto the table. 

Your smile is wild. “Guess we’re doing this shit together.”

He doesn’t even have to look very deep in his soul. He already knows he’s going to suffer.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!

to keep up with updates for this fic and others, please follow @shurisneakersupdates and turn on post notifications!

also i'd absolutely love to make this a community led fic like how harmless was! if you have memes or any paranormal ideas or just any prompts in general, please please send them my way <3

Next part

[yessadirichards]

Billy Idol talks upcoming pre-Super Bowl show, recent Hoover Dam performance, working on a new album

LOS ANGELES

Billy Idol normally takes advantage of riding his motorcycle on the open road knowing there’s hardly any traffic because millions are usually glued to watching the Super Bowl.

But this year, Idol’s bike won’t be leaving his garage on game day. Instead, the legendary British rocker will be strolling on stage to headline a pre-game concert in Las Vegas ahead of the big game on Feb. 11 just outside Allegiant Stadium, where the NFL’s two best teams face off.

Idol, 68, is expected to perform some of his biggest hits including “Dancing with Myself” “Mony Mony” and “Rebel Yell” during a 35-minute set on two different stages at On Location's Club 67 and Touchdown Club in front of nearly 9,000 anticipated guests. It’s the second time the singer has taken part in a pre-Super Bowl show after he rocked out with Miley Cyrus three years ago outside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

In a recent interview, Idol exclusively chatted with The Associated Press about his Super Bowl halftime aspirations, the inspiration behind his Hoover Dam show, if he would ever consider doing Broadway and looking to soon release his first studio album in a decade.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: What will be your mentality heading into your show hours before the Super Bowl?

IDOL: It’s about adding excitement to the event. You’re pumping people up. That’s a fun feeling. You can tell the people are excited, what’s going to happen and you’re entertaining them in those moments before it really happens.

AP: Would you ever want to perform during Super Bowl halftime?

IDOL: That would be incredible. But I don’t know. It would be fantastic, but I cannot imagine me being asked to do it. It would be great. I’d love to do it. It would be amazing if it involved some other artists or a combination of people. That would be great. It would be one of the craziest things in the world to play. Everybody in the country watches it. Playing the pregame for me is good. Pumping people up before it and getting them ready is kind of a fun thought.

AP: You celebrated the 40th anniversary of your album “Rebel Yell” and had a five-night residency in Las Vegas last year. How does it feel to have your music still resonating today?

IDOL: When we were starting out, I couldn’t have imagined the effect of (our) music. We were living one day at a time. The songs were for that time period. They were just for that moment. You weren’t thinking about any long-term effects. You’re just thinking right now. But the songs have legs. It’s like “Wow, people have really embraced this crazy idea I had years ago.” They’re still enjoying it, and I am too. Who would have thought that 40 years later? I’m still pinching myself.

AP: You released a couple EPs and recently rereleased “Rebel Yell.” Will you drop any new music soon?

IDOL: We have a new album coming out in October this year. We’re still carrying on and enlarging what my music is about. I enjoy doing it. Me and (guitarist) Steve (Stevens) are still finding ways to excite ourselves. We’re not out there going through the motions. We’re actually out there taking prisoners. That’s how we feel.

AP: How far along are you in the process?

IDOL: We’ve got most of it recorded with just some finishing touches. We’re doing a cover. We’re thinking about videos and all the promotional things that go along with it. There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to be thinking about this year. But. .... playing at the Super Bowl, that’s pretty fantastic.

AP: You have a built-in fanbase. With your new album, have you taken a different approach musically with your upcoming project compared to past works?

IDOL: Not really. We’re bouncing off our last album “Kings & Queens of the Underground.” We did that in England and had strings on it. With this, we tried to make a lot more of an up-tempo album. There are nine songs and six of them are up-tempo. Three of them are kind of slower. It’s more of a youthful sounding record. I think it’ll allow our audience to have a lot of fun.

AP: What inspired you to perform at Hoover Dam?

IDOL: It was something like I would see in movies when I was a child. There was an Alfred Hitchcock movie (“Saboteur”) that referenced Hoover Dam. There was another film “711 Ocean Drive” that ended on the Hoover Dam. You know, it had a shootout. For someone like me, growing up in England, I saw this iconic place in movies then I got to play in front of it. Hoover Dam was right behind me with my logo on it, which was insane.

AP: Are there any other locations like Hoover Dam where you would like to perform?

IDOL: Mount Rushmore. I couldn’t have ever imagined Hoover Dam, so now the world is my oyster. There’s the incredible Crazy Horse statue that’s carved out in the Black Hills. We can play anywhere. Nothing can stop us.

AP: Have you ever thought about doing Broadway?

IDOL: Of course, we have. We haven’t quite worked out our direction. We’ve had several different ideas we’ve sort of fielded. Nothing has come to fruition yet. As you can see, they’re doing Prince’s “Purple Rain” on Broadway, so it’s not out of the question that we would do one. It’s just been sort of trying to work out how to do it. That’s what’s fun about having a catalog. It does resonate with a lot of people and there are possibilities like that in the future.

[reggieslocket]

prepare yourselves because i'm going to give you a bunch of reasons and hints that will show you the high chance of eddie being actually gay and him and steve becoming a thing >:)

1. "freak" as a queercoded word

let's start with the scene where dustin, robin, steve and max find eddie in the house where he was hiding and particularly on the dialogue between the five of them

there's this scene where eddie says something about how the people in town are getting ready to hunt him because they think he's guilty and he says "hunt the freak right?" and we see robin giving him an almost sad but understating look before replying "exactly" and i find it curios that they made her respond that out of everyone, i feel like it could be because she kind of relates to eddie's situation? she also would probably be considered a freak by people if they knew about her sexuality and that's why i believe the word has a queercoded meaning, if you think about it, "freak" was already used in the past seasons when bullies made fun of will, who also happens to be a queercoded character (even though we know he's coming out this season)

2. the handkerchief code

the handkerchief code gained popularity in the 70s and later on in the 80s and it was used especially by gay men to let others know their sexual preferences and fetishes. there were different and specific meanings depending on the color of your handkerchief and where you decided to put it (left pocket or right pocket)

now if you watch closely eddie can be seen wearing a black hanky in his left pocket throughout the seven episodes and of course these little details have their own meaning, in fact the black one was used to indicate S&M (sadomasochism) and as mentioned before the fact that it is placed in his left pocket isn't casual because that placement indicated that the person wearing it was a top (the dominant one in bed) while if you put it in your right pocket it meant you were a bottom (the submissive one)

this whole hanky thing made quite sense for me except for the fact that it was hard to believe that eddie is into sadomasochism but then rewatching the show a few days ago i noticed some handcuffs in his room and i found it weird because honestly what is a 20 year old man doing with those? he's not a cop or anything and so the fact that they are in his room is a bit strange for me... i just hope that the choice of making eddie wear the handkerchief isn't casual but a powerful move by the duffer brothers in order to hint at his sexuality

3. joe and joseph's interview

this interview really do be getting my hopes up. basically the interviewer asks joe what season one steve would think of his season four self and he replies with "surprised, approving... approval" WHILE looking and smiling at joseph who is also grinning, like there's no way they aren't hiding something and i hope it's the relationship between steve and eddie and steve's bisexuality. plus the fact that even maya is smiling while it seems like natalia is the only one able to be subtle about the whole thing lmao

then obviously there are steddie-antis saying that he would be approving of him and nancy getting back together but like... what should he be approving of? they were already a couple in season one so it wouldn't make much sense

4. gaten ships them as well

remember: if gaten ships it then it's canon

i love how the first couple that came to his mind is steddie and how proudly he says their names. he seemed so serious while saying it that it made me reflect on the fact that it's not that impossible seeing it happen and if not in season 4 maybe in season 5 since i read somewhere that luckily neither steve nor eddie are going to die in the last two episodes of this season (i don't know if it's true but let's hope so)

5. the chrissy-eddie thing

almost everyone who hates the fact that we headcanon eddie as gay will give the same explanation that he is clearly straight because he was flirting with chrissy and honestly i didn't see that as flirting at all, i just thought he was being really nice to her like he is to everyone. she was having a hard time and he was able to make her laugh and loosen up a little, i didn't find it as something romantic and furthermore who says that every interaction between a man a woman has to be romantic?

like friendship exists as well people?? and don't try and say "tHeRe cAn'T bE sO mAnY qUeEr cHaRaCtErS iN oNe sHoW, iT's nOt rEaLiStIc" like trust me it's more realistic having a group of only (or almost) queer people than one where everyone is straight and i know the show takes place in the 80s but gay people existed even then but they just couldn't openly say it so stfu

6. steve's attempts to find a girlfriend

we all know mama steve is trying his hardest to find a girlfriend but none of them really "suists" him right? what if eddie is the person that suits him? i mean it would be epic if he spent two seasons trying to find a girlfriend and then he ends up with a dude lol, i'd like to see bi steve happening so bad and i just know that robin would be super supportive of him and my boy dustin would be the happiest person on earth if his two dads got together

you can't tell me that they aren't developing a little crush on each other or that they don't care about each other, just look at eddie's face and his loving eyes in that scene and steve staring at eddie's lips for the whole time. i swear if they are really trying to get nancy and steve back together i'll start a riot because honestly they would be so forced, it wouldn't be good for both of their character development and also my boy jonathan doesn't deserve this, they made jancy dirty this season and i'm still pissed ugh

anyway if you read the whole thing ily and thanks for coming to my ted talk :)

[strawberryspence]

OKAY PAUSE!!! because a famous steddie AU with Musician!Steve and Rockstar!Eddie!

Steve's famous from Broadway and he starts transitioning to TV shows and Eddie's just a little rockstar that got his offered his first acting job and was like, "Why not?"

You know how Hollywood gets 25 year olds to play college students? Yeah, it's that kind of show. In my head it's like HSMTMTS plus New Girl. So there's the musical element, they're living on a dorm together and it's a mockumentary following their college life.

The premise is funny and every episode they get into new shenanigans together. Steve's the character that does the Jim Halpert thing that he looks at the camera and gives a look like "what the fuck?" Eddie's the quirky, theater kid that pulls Steve into a song and dance number every episode. There's other characters of course, maybe a dorm neighbor that joins them in the shenanigans.

And holy shit, the fans are just eating this shit up. Steddie's chemistry in the show is AMAZING and the slow burn with the pining is so good. It becomes the most watched series in Netflix in one day, the site crashes and two weeks later Netflix green lights two more seasons. The fans want the second season IMMEDIATELY because they still haven't kissed after 22 episodes!

People start looking up this two like. How the hell did they not know that Eddie Munson from Corroded Coffin can fucking act?! And Dear Evan Hansen's Steve can do comedy like that? One person on tiktok does this little edit of the two of them in one of the press interviews before the show goes viral and the tiktok goes viral.

The chemistry in the show is amazing but outside??? OH MY GOD HELL FUCKING YES. The interviews are amazing. Eddie is relentlessly flirting and Steve's always just a blushing mess. They had to do the Buzzfeed puppy interview and Eddie was too distracted with watching Steve play with the puppies. The whole comment section is just full with screaming people about "DO YOU SEE HOW EDDIE LOOKS AT STEVE OH MY GOOOOOD" They did one song collab that was uploaded on Steve's youtube channel and it becomes the highest watched video on the channel after a matter of days.

Everyone just ships them. In TikTok they're the hottest topic and you'll randomly get an analysis of one of their interviews on FYP. Maybe some edits of just them flirting with each other or edits of them looking at each other when the others not looking. They get coffee together once and it breaks twitter. They're trending #1 worldwide within 3 minutes. Even the darkest parts of facebook where it's your cousin's mom's sister's aunt's neighbor and they're sharing snippets of the show and they SHIP the two gay boys 😭

[buddiebeginz]

I'll never get over how over the top the hatred is for a teenage character who barely did anything while he was on the show.

All of the scenes regarding Lucas in relation to Billy are open for interpretation.

Billy tells his kid sister to stay away from a boy who makes her upset (who he literally watched fight with her) and who her dad probably wouldn't like her hanging with and would probably kick Billy's ass for.

Later in the season Billy grabs and pushes Lucas after he finds Max alone in a house with a bunch of boys. This was after Steve lied to him and not long after his dad had attacked him. Judging by Billy's behavior while fighting with Steve (i.e. sobbing while he was beating the shit out of Steve) he was likely in the middle of a ptsd episode from the earlier encounter with his dad.

I don't know why Billy antis like to use these two scenes as some kind of gotchu moment to point to Billy's alleged racism. In the first place nothing about any of these scenes is explicitly racist. They're all very much open for interpretation. And I know many people love to point to interviews where the Duffers have flat out said they intended for Billy to be racist but here's the thing what a creator intends does not always end up on the screen. Also watching media is a very subjective experience. Look at all the non canon ships people ship because that's how they interpreted two characters in a show/movie. Most importantly Dacre himself as said he didn't see Billy as racist and therefore didn't play him that way.

The thing is even if Billy had some racist ideas from being raised by an abusive homophobic (probably also racist) asshole of a father that shouldn't mean he deserved to die. He deserved to grow and change and have a better relationship with his sister which I truly believed he wanted. I get people disliking Billy if they see him as racist but I'll never get the complete vitriol that a lot have in the ST fandom to the point that to this day people still make posts celebrating the horrific way he died. Speaking as someone who grew up in a similar environment to Billy it hurts so much everytime I see people saying awful things about him. He was just a teenager and never really even got to experience life. I don't agree with everything he said and did but I do believe Billy had the ability to become a better version of himself and he deserved that chance.

The worst part of talking about all this in the main ST fandom is that it's impossible to have any kind of civil dialogue, like I see this scene/character one way and you see it another no big deal. A good portion of this fandom has decided that Billy is a racist and literally deserved to die and anyone who so much as tries to see the complexities of a fictional character is a racist bully sympathizer. It's honestly exhausting. Like if you dislike Billy and if you see him as racist fine you do that in your own spaces and allow us the same courtesy to see him how we want in ours.

howww do you not care billys literally racist bro 😭😭

the thing to me is like. it’s fiction.

i obviously don’t have the same beliefs as this fictional character and neither does the harringrove fandom. in fact, it’s full of beautiful people, just like the actors who play billy and steve.

i’ve seen people write fanfiction for worse “villains” and i keep scrolling bc it’s not that deep. some people ship hannigram and that fandom isn’t endorsing cannibalism by making art for those characters. fiction is meant to be played in, not policed.