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skzhocomments · 1 year ago

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Broken hearts can heal - Choi Minho SHINee Fanfic - Chapter XII - Company dinner

Story masterlist - please consult it for the summary of the story, trigger warnings etc.

Wattpad link

AO3 link

Chapter XI / Chapter XIII

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Chapter XII - Company dinner

word count: 3k words

Since your mother-in-law was spending time with Haru, you took the time you needed to relax, sleep in the afternoon, pack for the trip, then get ready for the dinner party.

It was the first time in a while when you went out, and you were really in need of socialising face-to-face with some adults.

You picked a knee-length dress and some black thighs, and you felt a bit self-conscious of your stomach that still didn't completely disappear after giving birth, but chose to ignore it and just go out and have fun.

"Ready?" Minho smiled at you. "You're really beautiful!"

"Thank you!" You smiled back. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He was wearing a casual black suit, and he looked like a model, as usual. His shirt had one too many opened buttons, and you took a peek at his chest shamelessly.

The ride to their company wasn't too long, and as soon as you arrived and Minho took you to one of the rooms upstairs. You were glad to see that the boys were already there.

"Da-Eun! I missed you sooooo much!" Taemin hugged you tightly, and you sat down next to him.

Onew waved at you over the table and mouthed a "Hey, beautiful", making you smile.

The drinks were pouring as you and Taemin were playing a funny would you rather game that consisted of dilemmas. You found a Facebook page about it and knew he would most definitely love it, but you didn't want to send it to him, even if you messaged almost daily.

Your messages mostly consisted of him sending pictures of his cat or food, and you sending back Haru's cute sleeping poses and little toes.

Well, you only sent toes once, actually, because Taemin shocked you by sending back a picture of his feet as well, so you figured that whatever you sent, he'd send back. This was indeed a weird power to have.

"So, the next one says: 'There's always a fog in your house' OR 'There is moss growing on your bed'. What would you choose?" You asked him, laughing.

"Would a moss bed be comfortable?" He contemplated, supporting his chin on his fist.

"To be honest, having fog in the house would be pretty fun. Like a concert or something." Jinki answered, making you raise your gaze and look at him. He must've been bored out of his mind to participate in your silly game.

You saw something in the eyes of the girl next to him, who was sitting directly in front of Minho, and you wondered if it was just your imagination. Why would she look annoyed at you?

You didn't pay it much mind at first.

"I think I'll go with moss." Taemin replied after careful consideration.

"I'm definitely picking the fog." Jinki laughed. "I mean, think about it, it's pretty cool."

"How's that cool? What if you can't see where you're walking?" Taemin scoffed.

"Or like, if you burn something up while cooking. Would it be fog, or smoke?" You added.

"Woah, you're thinking far!" Jinki exclaimed.

"What about you, Da-Eun?" Taemin asked. "Settle the debate."

"Hmmm. Depends how thick the fog is, but I'm not sure I'd like sleeping on moss."

"Come on, it would be fluffy!"

"You do have a point." You chuckled.

"So, you're on team Taemin then, or are you joining the dark side?" Jinki asked you with a grin.

"The fog side-" Taemin started.

"I'm team Fog." You shrugged.

"That means it's 2 vs 1, so we won." Jinki boasted.

"No way! Not fair. Minhooooo!" He shouted, but he didn't hear Taemin at first, being immersed in a conversation with the woman in front of him. You softly bumped your elbow into his side, making him give you attention.

"Yea?" He smiled. "Sorry Ji-an, just a sec." He excused himself and turned to the three of you. The girl rolled her eyes.

"We are having an intense debate," you explained, deciding to ignore what you just saw, "and wanted another opinion."

"Let's hear it."

"So, would you rather sleep on a bed where moss is always growing, or would you rather have fog in our house at all times?"

"Well, I can always cover moss with bed sheets." He shrugged. "So I guess moss is better."

"See?!" Taemin grinned. "Moss is the obvious choice."

"What idiots would pick the fog?" The girl next to Jinki and in front of Minho, who he was just talking to a moment ago – Ji-an, if you understood correctly, who rolled your eyes at you talking to your husband – intervened.

"Guess we're idiots." Jinki shook his head and looked at you.

"No, we're definitely smarter." You replied serious. "Minho, look-" You now turned completely to him, and his eyes stayed fixed on yours as you explained your rationing.

"Even if you cover the moss with bed sheets, moss means there's a lot of humidity. The bed sheets would always be damp and uncomfortable, and who knows, you might even have fog, since fog is normally formed where it's humid. The room would definitely be humid-"

"Yea, Minho! You can't pick moss and force Da-Eun to sleep on a damp bed! Ew." Jinki exclaimed, referencing the fact that you two are married so you probably sleep together.

That felt like a rock fell on your head, because you've never slept next to Minho, not even last night, when he didn't bother returning to the bed. Jinki's words made you over analyse. Minho was your husband, why did you never sleep next to him? Did he even like you romantically, or was he just caught up in the moment last night? You definitely started to have a thing for him. Heck, you sucked his dick and masturbated to the thoughts of him moaning your name.

Your gaze moved again around the table, and you saw Ji-an's cold eyes on you again, as Minho captured your hand and spoke. "You're right, you're right. I'll pick fog as well if my dear wife picked it." He tapped on your hand a few times soothingly, then resumed his conversation with the girl in front of him.

"Okay, let's just move on." Taemin waved his hand around. "You've cheated, Da-Eun!"

"I didn't! Oh God! Okay, the next one says: 'every time someone tries to sell you a membership, you say yes', or 'every time you want to dance, the music stops'. What would it be?"

"That's kinda unfair." Onew remarked. "We wouldn't be able to do our job if we picked the second option."

"We can just sing, though?!" Taemin exclaimed.

"Yea, imagine singing the instrumental parts." You laughed.

"Having to get every membership is a bit much, though." Jinki thought.

"I don't know how to dance, but imagine like going to the club with friends and the music stops everytime you move."

"Or at a concert. Fans would be so shocked!" Taemin burst out laughing.

"Do we all agree that the membership is the lesser devil?"

All the three of you nodded.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some air, I'll be back in a bit." Minho whispered in your ear, and you just nodded, getting back to playing with the guys.

"Just a question before we start again. What's with that girl? Maybe it's in my head, but it feels like she's been throwing daggers at me the whole evening." You asked, chuckling nervously, as soon as you noticed Ji-an getting up from her seat and leaving the table as well, following Minho.

"Oh, it's definitely not in your head." Taemin laughed.

"Yea, she and Minho had a thing a while back, but they broke it off due to very little time to see each other." Jinki clarified.

"She definitely still has a thing for him."

"Oh." Was all you could reply, while you let the information sink in. "Anyways, let's get back to our game. Next one is: 'every week, you have to send a detailed report of your week to your friends'-"

"Taemin already does that." Jinki laughed.

"OR 'you can flush the toilet only once a day'." You continued, ignoring the interruption.

"I don't send you detailed reports! There's so much more I could send!"

"Like what? At this point, I swear you're even texting me when you go to the bathroom."

"No, I'm not!" Taemin defended himself, and you raised a questioning brow.

He scoffed, and seeing the gaze you and Jinki threw at him, he finally admitted. "Okay, I am. I guess I'll pick this one since I'm already doing it!" He laughed. You loved Taemin's energy so much.

You continued playing for a while, the three of you having a lot of fun and getting drunker with each passing minute as you downed the 7th bottle of Soju together.

While Taemin contemplated on the answer to your latest question, you noticed it's been a while since Minho left the table. Ji-an wasn't back either.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Wait for me." You declared, while standing up with resolve. On your way to the bathroom, you turned a corner and saw Minho and Ji-an in a pretty compromising position. She was holding his collar, while his hands were on her wrists, but you couldn't tell if he was pushing her away or keeping her close.

You considered turning around and giving them privacy, but there was a sinking feeling in your stomach, and you didn't know if you actually wanted to give them any more privacy.

Minho was your husband.

Why should you let other women touch him?

If that's what he wants, he should tell you and you should just get divorced, then.

You shrugged and started walking towards them, slowly. They didn't notice you at first, so you overheard bits of their conversation.

"Look, I'm sure we could make this work. After I heard you got married-"

"Please let go." Minho replied with a sigh. "I really don't want to do this here."

"Let's go back to my place, then?" She asked, hopeful.

"Ji-an, that's not what I meant." He sounded tired. "I obviously don't want to get back together, I have a family-"

"A fake one." She intervened and tried pulling him closer by the collar, but he didn't budge.

You got fairly close to them, and as soon as he saw you, Minho's eyes grew wide.

"Sorry to interrupt." You showed them a smile that didn't reach your eyes.

"Da-Eun, I swear it's not what it looks like-" He pushed Ji-an's hands away and turned to you. "I didn't-"

"Come on, Minho, stop pretending! I know you still have feelings for me too!"

"We broke up ages ago, Ji-an..." He frowned.

"Bullshit! What, don't you think I know that you two don't love each other?" She shouted and looked at you, as if threatening you.

Ji-an was beautiful, undoubtedly so. You understood that Minho might have had a thing for her in the past. But you were his wife.

Why should you cower in front of her and let her disrespect your relationship like this, with no shame whatsoever?

"Look," you started calmly. "I don't care what was between you." You grabbed Minho's left hand and noticed the gold ring on his finger. Ever since you told him you liked seeing him wear it, he never took it off.

That gave you courage.

"But we are a family, and we have a child to raise, so I will say this respectfully only once: leave my husband alone. Yea? The past is the past." You continued smiling fakely, and Minho held your hand tighter.

"I won't have it. You're just taking advantage, having everything handed to you on a silver plate, and you preach 'family'?! Minho is just a cosy blanket for you to fall on, while he is my whole world!" She continued. This was a personal vendetta against you.

"Why did you break up, then?" You shrugged. "But you're right about that. He does hand me everything on a silver platter." You looked at him, noticing Minho's worried gaze on yours. "But you know what? That's not a problem, because... I'm willing to give him back a golden one instead." You glanced into his eyes, confessing the feelings you've been harbouring for a while now.

Going to therapy helped you understand that you shouldn't feel guilty for feeling love for someone else. You could start loving Minho while still being in love with Kibum and his memory, and that was okay. It took you a while to comprehend this, so you were glad you brought it up in therapy three months ago. It gave you plenty of time to adjust to the feeling growing in your chest and the happiness you felt whenever he was around you.

"You're such a whore, you know that? Your boyfriend died not even a year ago, and you already want someone else?!" She mocked you, but her words didn't even registered. They were empty, like all those comments you've been reading on the internet. "And the thing you said earlier about the child, you really think he could ever love some other man's baby?!" she pushed your buttons, but you didn't have to say anything in response, because Minho started ripping her ear off about how disrespectful she was. He seemed sick of staying silent and didn't want you to go through this battle alone, since it wasn't even your battle to begin with.

It was his fault that things escalated to this point.

"That was the dumbest shit you've ever said." Minho replied coldly. "Who are you to tell me who I can and cannot love?! Who do you think you are to speak like that about Da-eun when you don't even know her?!"

"Minho, I didn't-"

"Don't ever say something like that about my wife or my baby again. About me? Go and bullshit all you want. But don't you dare say that ever again about them, Ji-an. Got it?"

"But-"

"Got it?!" He repeated harshly.

Her face dropped as she realised that she said the wrong things. Minho continued on and on about how inappropriate she's been, he let her know there was never going to be anything between them again, and she should just leave the two of you be and stop trying to get between you, especially when it came to things she knows nothing about.

You were truly happy that he stuck to your side, and his hand tightly holding yours as you started to walk away from Ji-an amplified that growing love in your heart a million times.

Still, you unloaded all these feelings on Minho without actually knowing how he felt about you, so as you were walking through the hallways, you saw the door to the stairs and decided to suggest a small detour.

You nudged Minho towards the stairs, and as soon as you passed through the door, you looked at him.

"Da-Eun, I'm so sorry..." He started. "That was Ji-an, my ex-girlfriend. We dated for a while before... but you know I was away for a year during filming. We broke up, and I haven't spoken to her since, I swear."

"Minho, you don't have to explain." You shook your head. "There's nothing to apologise for, and I'm not mad at you."

"You aren't?"

"Why would I be?" You tilted your head with a frown.

"The way she was touching me... I would be upset if another man held you like this." He replied and grabbed your wrists, placing your hands on his neck, similar to the position he was in earlier with Ji-an. "She grabbed me, and I didn't want to outright smack her hands away, although I should have... I was just taken aback."

"That's okay."

"I'm serious!" He added, almost desperate.

"I appreciate you telling her off when she spoke like that about me and Haru."

"Of course. It's the truth. We are a family." He affirmed, and damn was it hard to not kiss him right then and there.

But you had to find out something first. To hear it from him.

"Minho, I... I need to know something." You glanced into his eyes, and you realised how much you loved how sparkling and alive they looked.

"Anything."

"But I'm fairly intoxicated, so bear with me."

"That's fine." He chuckled.

"I need to know where I stand. I mean, I prefer being rejected than being confused, so... Uhm, I'm having feelings for you, so if you don't feel the same way, please do me a favour, and reject me loud and clear-" You said, but before you managed to finish your rambling, Minho was already capturing your lips with his in a fevered kiss. Your hands moved to his nape as he started pushing you against the wall, and you couldn't get enough of his raw passion.

When your tongues made contact, you felt euphoric. You couldn't taste him enough. You wanted him closer, you needed him, but it was not the time, nor the place to have such an intimate encounter. The steps and voices that you started hearing from above told you as much, so, much to your dismay, Minho broke off the kiss and glanced into your eyes instead.

"I like you so much, Da-Eun. You have no idea."

The voices were getting closer.

"You are simply breathtaking. I can't get enough of you." He continued in a whisper, and despite your bodies creating distance, his eyes told you that he wanted you as much as you wanted him.

"Hey, if it's not Choi Minho!" A man you didn't recognise greeted him. Next to him was a woman that looked around your age. "And this must be your beautiful wife, right?" He continued, looking at you. You were sure your cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, so you just hoped the make-up was enough to cover it.

"Hey! Yes, this is Da-Eun. Love, these are our stylists, ..."

You continued chatting for a while before the pair excused themselves, and you decided to head back home as well. After you greeted Taemin and Onew goodbye, you hopped in your car and went to the apartment to rest before departing in the morning.

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(A/N) I'm back with another chapter.

We only have 3 left, so this feels a bit bittersweet hahah.

I hope you enjoyed it.

They finally confessed!

Let me know what you thought.

Love,

Storm

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Chapter XI / Chapter XIII

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9w1ft · 2 years ago

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thanks 9wing! i fully respect your interpretations of those songs as kaylor anthems - in fact, i'm reconsidering my stance on mastermind now 😅 it always felt like blank space 2.0 to me, but your analysis has helped me to see it in a different way. i am someone who is always open to multiple interpretations of the same song, so i hope our thoughts can co-exist if they're different or even contrary! instead of blown out analyses, let me share what parts of each song made me interpret it as bearding songs.

blank space -

"i can make the bad guys good for the weekend" — image control. taylor can make swifties hate or love anyone with the snap of a finger. her beards are benefitted from being with her by gaining popularity to support their works and/or to hide their own gay rumors too. once they're 'exes,' however, they're back to being the bad guys in swifties' eyes. (exceptions excluded)

the entire "cherry lips, crystal skies" verse, to me, feels as if she's trying to impress the general public with their theatrical relationship, and not quite her beau himself.

the main line "i've got a blank space baby and i'll write your name" itself, coupled with the typewriter beat, provokes imagery of bearding contracts. fun song!

cowboy like me -

her beardin' beau is hustling for the good life with stars in his eyes. "perched in the dark" makes me think that he's pretty much a very underground celebrity if we compare fame to light (another name goes up in lights - i can still make the whole lights shimmer - flashing lights). he doesn't want love, he wants a fancy car - a materialistic perk of being a well known entertainer or celebrity. taylor herself is also ambitious and she's at a point of her life where she wants to be taken seriously, so she really needs to display herself as someone with a stable love life. that's how they show 'forever' as their sweetest con.

"now you hang from my lips like the gardens of babylon" — i can't remember who, but another gaylor pointed out that this lyric provokes the imagery of a literal facial beard.

invisible string -

now this one's a bit sad, i always had a soft spot for this song and i hate to taint its innocence! anyway.

she pretty much shows how different their lives and motivations are in the industry - she wants love, he wants money. she thinks how pretty things could be if the universe aligned them, but really, she knows all too well that's very much not the case. all of this was arranged.

however, i like to interpret the "bad was the blood" verse could be a hint at karlie and their relationship, since karlie was the first person who heard 1989. although i do not know if it would make sense, but hey! that verse actually shows similarities, whereas the first verse did not.

lavender haze -

"staring at the ceiling with you" — business meeting, sitting in those formal black spinny chairs. they're both just kind of bored and staring at the ceiling, since they could technically have that employer-employee relationship.

"you don't ever say too much" — the interviews. they're sooooooo private. he's sooooo magnificently charismatic.

"you don't really read into my melancholia" / "you weren't even listening" — i could get how this could be interpreted positively, but i'm a negative nancy so i predominantly interpreted this as him not giving a shit 😅

"talk your talk and go viral, i just need this love spiral, get it off your chest, get it off my desk" — 'for the love of god, my dude, please say something a little bit more and be more convincing, i need us to be trending and to be seen as the industry titans. got it? cool, now go practise that smiling for photos exercise tree gave you and leave my office, i now need to combat the foot fetish allegations and wipe my desk clean before tree gets here.' i have a very wide imagination as you can see.

"no deal" sounds like her rejecting a (business) proposal. i also get the vibe that her team is shutting down the marriage rumors while his team is trying to boost them? not sure, just a hunch

thanks for this! i appreciate that songs can be interpreted in different ways. i vibe with a lot of what you wrote.

i did a little thinking and in my mind here are the lines i find kaylory about these songs, along with a few additional comments

invisible string

- i just want to add to what you’ve written by saying that to me the song sings like she’s listing up all this trivia that points to joe, some of which (the yogurt shop job) was cleverly planted in an interview of joe not long before folklore was released, and she sings in the chorus “isn’t it pretty to think” that there’s some connection between us that’s actually not there.

- by contrast when the music goes quiet, and she sings in a different pace and cadence, the part that begins with all the run ins, she mentions the dive bar from delicate, past mistakes and chains, changing weather, all of which is imagery that comes up in what we consider kaylor songs. plus, she closes off the line with one single thread of gold tied me to you which i believe is both in contrast to an invisible string, and illustrative of a color very often associated with karlie. this one section of the song feels like the truth hidden within the story.

cowboy like me

- eyes full of stars (this carries over from starry eyes sparking my darkest night, from the song call it what you want, where “call it” sounds like “karlie” a lot)

- the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up (this really feels applicable to taylor and karlie’s situation as we all have a sense of the skeletons in their closets, whereas i don’t really have a read on what skeletons joe could possibly have in his)

- that was all before i locked it down (there is a recurring theme of taylor and karlie putting their public relationship on lockdown starting in fall 2016, the thing with the gold heart locket, the love lock bridge in paris etc)

-idk man, the gardens of babylon line conjures up a… different kind of garden 🙈 in a sort of wear-you-like-a-necklace sorta way, if you catch my drift

lavender haze

- talk your talk and go viral (karlie has had more than a few viral moments in recent years, whereas i cant recall a single time joe has ever said anything memeable)

- i get the bearding interpretation of this song for sure because of lyrics like all they keep asking me is if i’m gonna be your bride which point to the you being who the public assumes taylor will marry. and the points you bring up work with this interpretation well, i think it’s a solid way to listen to the song and i’m not opposed to it,

-what makes it kaylory for me is taylor’s explanation of the song as a part of album promo. how she talks about how it’s been hard for her and her lover dodging weird rumors since 2016, and how lavender haze is about wanting to do anything to protect a love. she also references a mad men episode where john hamm’s character talks about wanting to have a relationship with ‘betty’ — a name kaylors have associated with karlie for some time now (karlie’s middle name is elizabeth). there are other things about the song that fit into a particularly kaylor interpretation i have but i get the feeling it’s my own little silly interpretation so i think i’ll keep to myself.

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moonlightperseus · 1 year ago

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I don't know what comic's you've read but I know my favourites are Birds of Prey. I know you're a fan of black canary so that might already be ticked off the list but If not it's a big one for me. So

- the 1999 - 2009 birds of prey run

- the 2010 birds of prey run

(with emphasis on Gail Simone's run in that)

- the more recent Batgirl and the birds of prey

The four issue 2007 mini Black Canary run is also very good, though a continuation of the birds run.

And I'm also a huge fan of the current BoP run but it's only one issue in.

Most of my comic recs are highly Black Canary based (evidently) but I can also recommend

- Injustice: Gods Among us (though I am biased, as it's what got me into comics and introduced me to Dinah)

- Batwoman (I personally prefer the new 52 to rebirth but enjoyed both)

- Gotham City garage is almost exclusively women

And if you wanted comics that weren't the superhero kind I'd also recommend The Wicked and The Divine from Image comics, I don't know how easy it is to find now but a large part of the cast is women and would be great if you liked mythology.

hey there nonny, thank you soooo much for the recs!

first off omg come off anon i want to be ur friend i love these recs!

second off love that most of ur recs are black canary based SO TRUE of you, i have read most of these im pretty sure, i definitely combed thru as much birds of prey content as i could find though i did not know there was a new run out ! so ill have to look into that for sure. and god reading the black canary 2007 short run was sooooo. (ive also read the green arrow & black canary run).

im pretty sure ive read both of the batwoman runs? i definitely read one of the runs if not both. i cannot tell based off of the random comic screenshots i have on my phone which one/or both for sure. okay wait no this one image is def from new52 and the batwoman rebirth cover looks familar but i have no idea if that means i read it or not

gotham city garage!! im not deep in the comics world but it feels like a very underrated run it was literally so much fun and SO women <3 (demon's head dinah?? hello?????) great comic run second probably only to bombshells in my heart

i will definitely have to give injustice gods among us a try bc clearly you have great taste, ive never been super interesting in the injustice universe mostly bc batman and superman fighting bores me (except for the iconic holy musical batman production by team starkid)

ive heard about wicked & the divine and its definitely one thats been like vaguely on my radar so i probably should look more into it bc it sounds really cool.even tho at the end of the day i might just be.a superhero bitch. i do love women and mythology

anyways sorry for the long ramble, i'm def gonna look into the new bop run, and wicked & the divine, and at least attempt the injustice:gods among us comics !! tysm nonny!

#i wasnt kidding about wanting to be ur friend btw #u can stay on anon if it makes u feel better #ive never had an anon friend before!!!#ive /been/ an anon friend before and it was soo fun i will say #comic recs #anon #abby replies #comics anon #<- giving u a little nickyname <333 #also sorry it took me a little bit to respond i wanted to dedicate the proper amount of time to responding

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thesoappope · 1 year ago

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Hawaii: Part II ✨️The Musical!✨️

Why haven't I heard of this till now! This is literally tits and ass! Fucking masterpiece! Contemporary composers are seething! Roger and Hammerstein who? Hamilton what? This shit do be bussin fr fr!

Um anyways...enough memeing and praising Hawaii: Part II. What I wanted to talk about is what if this were an actual musical. Like not just an album, a proper musical, performed in front of an audience, in a theatre (proscenium, black box, in the round, any style), scenic, costuming, lighting, instrumentalist, everything! Now you maybe thinking, bro how can you do that when-and yes I hear you, but it can be done! For one, ultimately it's up to the director and creative team to decide how to interpret this musical, because despite interviews and theories, the true story of Hawaii: Part II is unknown. So the team should figure out which idea to latch onto (rip the dramaturg). From their the real magic can happen!

Now another thing to consider is, where should intermission happen, should there be one? I think that depends on how much is added to the musical. Like dialouge or extra music exclusive to the live performance. If it's straight up no change, same music, then no. However if dialouge between songs, or additional songs (that function as transitions or maybe a new layer to the story) then there's a few options that come to mind. If heavy enough in added material, the intermission should be at after murders because that feels like the turning point of the whole album. Though if you like being 50/50, have it begin before magic electric, because the previous song could also be a turning point as well. But if none of those work towards the interpretation chosen, I'd say then choose a new song or dialouge to en act one at. Or say fuck it and have no intermission lol!

Personal Design Concept:

So, if I made this into a musical, it's going to be serealist and absurd af! I love absurdist theatre and this vibe fits sooooo well. Now the idea I had was the schizophrenia theory because it makes the most sense to me. Though a more literal version helps as well and doesn't diminish my design concept. Also I wouldn't afd too much dialogue and wouldn't have an intermission, rather a great pause between murders and the next song.

So for one I want this to be in a proscenium, second I want black and white monochrome tropical set peices, however the moon, I want it to change color as the musical progresses, ending on white but quickly becoming red. Oh and I want the black steps to be present, high but never reaching the moon. Also the beach should be snowy. Another thing I'd like is two boats on opposite sides of the stage. Oh and the backdrop with the moon should have stars that glitter throughout the play. Also for the proscenium I want it to look like a mix of space craft machinery and old religious (possible greek) depictions emdebed in it. Oh and last thing about scenic is there should be beach balls and sand buckets on the set, oh and the palm trees should leave during murders.

Oh costumes! I love the idea of only the narrator, main character, and lover being the only ones that match the aesthetic and every other character including the dancers don't necessarily have to match. Like during the song between murders and magic electric I want angles dancing. Also the murderer should dress exactly like the main character but colorful rather than monochrome. Which if I get bored enough I'll actually draw the designs. By the end of the musical, the main character should have the colored outfit and his love should have a wedding dress with bits of red. Also both characters will have the Stella Octongula by the end. Before that it's the murderer and sparse voices scattered throughout the musical. The narrator has one as well but theirs is black and white while everyone else's is rainbow. Also all characters (aside from those specified) are black and white. Also I want some performers to be in space suits, church choir outfits, nurse outfits. Also I still don't know why, but I really want circus clowns and performers outfits, feels right but I'll need to find a reason lol. Oh and I really want appollo to be a character that appears and then takes the main character and his lover to the after life.

Lights I want very little color, so that when color is added it stands out. Like I really want a rainbow project during black rainbows which at the end becomes black and white for a brief moment then the song ends. Also I want during the musical blood spots to appear till turning the scene red during murders. Also the murderer and main character will be in white light as needed. Oh and the lighting for every song before murders should be Cinderella or happy disney story. Then have that lighting again in the multi language song. But at mind electric it should feel like a prison. The last song should feel like disney but slowly be nothing but spot lights with the shadows being red, then once lights black out, the bright red moon should be shining.

End of 🎶 musical 🎶

Hope you enjoyed my rambling and brain vomit!

#hawaii part ii #hawaii part 2 #musicals #stella octangula #miracle musical #musical concept #theatrical design #hawaii part ii the musical

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petr1kov · 5 months ago

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Fr like f&b is written in the style of historical text and it was so interesting to see the show depict the nuances and moral greys of the war but I feel like the show is so. Other than boring the character motivations don’t really make sense. And they brought it back to a prophecy that isn’t even true

it was very clear even in since the first season of the show that hotd was not very interested on the political side of the conflict. it always seemed like they weren't fully interested in the way the feudal society of the story actually worked and wanted to reduce it to simpler, easier to get personal conflicts. i forgave it more on season 1 because i thought the characters and their dynamics with one another were done well, especially on the side of the greens -- but this was mostly because they were allowed to have flaws, unlike team black was for most of the time.

season 2 was less easy to forgive because the characterization got way more inconsistent. alicent was the prime example of this, but aemond also suffered significantly from jarring shifts in attitude that were not properly set up, and rhaenyra remained stagnant for way too long, refusing to act on a war, just to drive home what a nice person she is. it felt rather cheap.

also man, don't get me started on that fucking prophecy. having characters misinterpret visions and use them to justify their decisions is an asoiaf staple, so if they went with this route i would think it's fine enough, but it looks like they're playing it straight for the most part and it's so stupid 😭 i can't believe they keep bringing this shit up. that daenerys vision especially was sooooo corny and the way they keep hammering that rhaenyra needs to 'win' to make that come true is just. did they forget that it was arya that stabbed the ice zombie on the show canon or what

#ask #it's so silly and it's definitely used to prop up targaryen exceptionalism and show why they're the specialest little guys everrr

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monoful · 1 year ago

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SUPER (Seventeen) music video review that no one asked for :

The choreo and song is sooooo perfect but the set/background/wardrobe is way too underwhelming…

I get that the choreo is brilliant and energetic and it sort of makes up for all the lack of visual stimuli (along with the CRAZY camerawork) but the set design they ended up with feels mismatched because of how plain it is.

Details I would change if I were the creative director:

- I would have the background people move more. Even just marching in a certain direction would have made a difference as there’s so many of them. They had them move barely which makes them look like part of the set (which they may have been aiming for but then I would have made them in post production and if that lifted some extra budget I would be able to use that on more details for the set + wardrobe)

- If the aim was to have the background people be a part of the set and that decision was final, I would have made them hold battle flags/maybe some could be on horses/some kind of weapon for extra detail just to make the set more interesting.

- For wardrobe, they could’ve mixed different textured fabrics, esp for the later half. Maybe a bit of faux fur for some, some kind of long feather detail on others… just something that goes with Sonongu’s story.

- The wardrobe for the first half of the MV was just so out of my style that I wouldn’t have chosen ANY of that, esp not the half denim half black trousers😅 The black fabrics without shine just blended into the extra dancers and background people. I understand they were trying to make everyone seem like 1 (cuz ‘I luv my team, I luv my crew) but it just felt awkward and boring. The leather jacket/mesh top options were nice and I did like The8’s style (he always looks good in those drapey outfits and this time the wardrobe and his moves combined made him look like a snake in the coolest way). DK’s crewneck situation looked a little awkward too so it could’ve been looser.

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ya-girl-kitty · 4 months ago

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Omfg you’ve made my day!!!! So you can look up videos about vital reads for Deadpool because he’s a newer character compared to Wolverine and has been hyper popular for much less time so his character hasn’t been inserted into as much stuff. It’s a joke that Wolverine has probably been apart of every super team within the comic world!!!

He’s one of my favorite characters but he’s been in many teams with Deadpool.

There’s wolverine: Origins and wolverine: weapon X (both black covers) which are both foundational reads and should be highly accessible ( again, library, used copy, pirated off the internet) there’s also 5 graphic novels of a continuation of Wolverine:Origins, but they all have subtitles and come after and they don’t have the black cover.

There’s also ‘all new Wolverine’ (2016) which is his clone daughter. Deadpool shows up for an arc or an issue I can’t quite remember but he doesn’t really interact with Logan.

He also has a son named ‘Akihiro’ (formally Daken it’s a whole thing) who is half Japanese, with a Mohawk and arm tattoo, he’s kind of boring rn but he used to be a villain before and he was much more fun to read and I like their dynamic so you could also check out so that stuff from the 10’s is pretty good.

one thing with comics are that they bring back titles and do completely new team lineups and runs so they might be referred to by the year or by the name of the writer because there have been so many runs where the title was just called ‘wolverine’ or just ‘x-force’ with out a subtitle which confused me for the longest time.

Anyway uncanny X-men has both of them but I’m don’t think they really have a lot of interaction because their relationship isn’t the one that’s being focused on. I can’t actually think of one where it’s dedicated like the movie but it’s not something you’re going to want in large doses. That humor is a little more subdued and Deadpool is more down to earth (as much as he can be) but it’s such a good comic.

Again, I might look up videos on what to read for these characters and skip anything that feels too much like nerd homework and see if you can’t find it for free or very little. (Also the 80’s and 90’s era generally) Comics are sooooo expensive and you might be a little lost at first but after you begin to understand the medium a little more it’s so worth it! When you’re reading keep in mind that the average reader only spends 6 seconds and if you see a couple messed up look panels from time to time, no you didn’t ;3

oookay but now i really wanna watch/read the deadpool comics-

#deadpool #deadpool and wolverine #wolverine #x men comics #comics #marvel comics #ahhhhh foaming at the mouth getting to talk about thisssss #😭#:3

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nushy · 2 years ago

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i'm too depressed to think so here you go.

part 3 is up.

(you can find pt.1 here and pt.2 here)

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: you are the new girl in town and Eddie is seeing something he likes. And you too. (i am sooooo bad at summaries)

warnings: a lot of spelling and grammar errors (sorry, english is not my native language), i guess cursing and strong language??

idk it's kinda fluffy and sweet.

other than that, this is pretty boring part.

..............................................................................................................................

“I’m telling you, we spent the weekend together” Eddie tried to convince the other boys from the Hellfire club, but they were buying none of his shit.

“Eddie, yesterday you said you were sick and that this is why we won’t be playin’. Now you say that you were with a girl.” Gareth looked him in the eyes, waiting for the truth.

“Yeah, we know that you feel bad cause we have girlfriends and you don’t but you don’t have to lie to us. We are your friends.” Mike said, Eddie looked him with lightings in his eyes.

“I’m not lying. She is perfect, you will love her.”

“Yeah, if she even exists.’’ Jeff scoffed. At this point Eddie was ready to kill someone. Then he saw you, walking in the lunch room, heading straight to the Hellfire club’s table. On the way there you slowed down while walking past the basketball team, looking at the boy you punched and smiling at him. Truth is, you were pretty chill about the whole situation, cause you knew the guys like him – you’ve injured his ego, so he wouldn’t make it a big problem – he would never go to the principal and say that a girl almost broke his nose, what would the other boys think about him??

You got to the boys’ table and stood next to Eddie in your whole awesomeness – once again you were with a short black skirt and black band t-shirt, this time you wore and your favorite pair of fishnets. Everyone was watching you, some of the boys with open mouths.

“Hello, boys. I’m Y/N, and I’m almost sure that Eddie has already told you about me. Cause I’ve heard a lot about you.” You said with strong voice and sat between Dustin and Eddie. Eddie’s grin was so big that his cheeks were starting to hurt. He mouthed “told you” at the boys. Dustin was first to speak, but what he said was the stupidest shit he could come up with:

“So you are real and Eddie wasn’t lying?” you burst out laughing, and if looks could kill, Dustin would be already dead by Eddie’s glance.

“Yeah… last time I checked I was pretty real. But you never know.” you took a big bite of you sandwich and looked at all of the boys. “What? You’ve never seen a girl? Talk.” You laughed and that lightened the atmosphere. The boys at the table started talking between each other, still avoiding you. Not that you cared, you turned to Eddie and smiled. He looked you with his puppy eyes and said without any sound “thank you”, you nodded and grabbed his arm, playing with his rings. You were really starting to have a ring kink. Especially Eddie’s rings kink. You face-palmed yourself in your mind. Stop thinking about those things, you said to yourself. But you really couldn’t – you were feeling a bit horny lately, and the past two nights, after leaving Eddie’s trailer all you could think about was how he would look like on top of you. Did he think about you the same way? You could not guess – he was playful, he used every moment he could to touch you, to hug you, to look at you, but this could mean nothing. Ugh, you were going crazy. And even tho that you tried to look confident on the outside when you were among people, on the inside you were far from that. Especially when it came down to Eddie.

Lunch time was over so you said goodbye to the boys, staying a little bit longer with Eddie. He smiled at you shyly. You smiled back. What was this boy doing to you?

“I have a job interview in the afternoon, at the music store.” you said quietly.

“Cool. If you get the job, I will move to live there and listen to all of the new albums.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders as you walked to your next class. You chuckled.

“So, we will be living together?” the answer just jumped out of your mouth. You silently cursed yourself.

“Sounds good. At least I won’t be alone.” the boy said casually. Your heart started beating incredibly fast. Then he changed the topic. “You free tonight? My uncle is at the plant, and I don’t wanna watch scary movies all by myself. I need my knight in shining armor.” he squeezed your arm and looked you with his big eyes. How could you say no to that?

“Okay, but dinner’s on me. I’m making pasta.” you said and his eyes lit up. You knew it was his favorite, he said it sometime over the weekend and you remembered.

“Deal.” the two of you shook hands and parted as you had different classes.

tags: @babeyglo <3

#eddie munson x you #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things

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crunchyharold · 2 years ago

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right lads and non-lads here r my initial thoughts and predictions for the new td cast

i have nearly no thoughts on this guy. seems like a cool dude. maybe a soundcloud rapper or some shit because he got that bling . i guess. might be an asshole possibly an early boot

friendly. i enjoy him. want to ruffle his hair

im doing this in order but i’ll put the hockey (?) bros together lmao. this one is also friendly but he looks kinda nervous to me maybe its just the upturned eyebrows but like. i think he has a Problem of some sort

with these guys i think they’re going to redo the katie and sadie thing but better. so like i think they’re gonna come in together and be like whoa whoa we’re best bros (im imagining a geoff and brody type relationship) and they’ll be put on separate teams and at first it’ll suck and they’ll be damnn i miss my bro :// but then they’ll slowly grow and develop as individual people (i think one will have a romantic plotline) which will only strengthen the bond they have with each other. either that or they’ll grow apart. i also think they’ll probably have a fight at some point.

the bleach and jewellery is giving token gay but the face is giving loser nerd with a squeaky voice. maybe both? i do think he’s gonna have an annoying voice though. honestly not a fan of him

she doesnt look too much like an egirl but she’s gotta be an egirl. probably makes tiktoks. probably cosplays. probably thinks she’s sooooo weird. i like the design but i also think im going to hate her. probably going to last until at least halfway because her design is too interesting to throw away immediately and leave us with Total Normie Island

I LOVE HER she’s so friendly looking she’s plus size while still being represented as pretty and feminine and also she looks like the lesbian flag. preppy but a teensy bit nerdy she’s probably a bit of a dork. if she’s a pre-merge elimination i will be FUMING

that being said. i wouldn’t be too surprised if she was secretly really mean and bitchy. i hope she doesnt because i love characters that are just nice for the sake of being nice but like if she’s pretending to be nice to manipulate people i wouldn’t be surprised

first off the bat if he’s a noah type (which he probably is given the facial expression) he’s probably going to last a while since noah got eliminated in island early and ended up being a fan favourite. appearance wise i cannot discern his vibe at all. i think he’s gonna have a vaguely nerdy hobby that he’s really pretentious and annoying about. dont think im gonna like him i think he’s gonna piss me off

immediate thought was this is the mom friend, something about the expression and the way her hands are folded neatly in her lap. also looks very friendly but something about the size of her eyes are throwing me off. i dont think they need to be that big. will probably last til halfway ish. idk how i feel about her

i have almost no thoughts about her. she could have any personality and i’d be like yeah sounds about right. the eyes are giving stoner. the rest of the expression is also kind of giving stoner. probably makes tiktoks. either an early boot or stays til nearly the end

he’s like a combination of lighting and ryan. think he’s gonna be a cool guy maybe a bit of a heartbreaker also im noticing right now that nearly everyone has earrings is that weird idk. people have pointed out he seems to be looking at soundcloud rapper guy maybe they gay. anyway yeah jock guy he looks a bit smug maybe he’s an asshole actually idk. no idea at all if i like him i do and also dont

nice guy friendly guy! either a finalist or part of a romance plotline. maybe gay? seems similar to mike in a way i can’t pinpoint. he’s one of my favourites but also i have no thoughts about him

she’s one of the most interesting looking but also kinda boring at the same time. like the hair and the beads goes off but the outfit does not. i really hope she isn’t a token black friend but the possibility is undeniably there. i think she’ll last quite a while like post-merge probably

she’s probably the most normal looking and for that reason she’s almost definitely a protag/love interest. the posture and expression seems to me like she grew up in a strict household and will slowly let loose over the course of the show. also a possibility she’s secretly very weird.

as we can see total drama has not outgrown the yellow east asian characters. cringe. this one’s giving such heavy nonbinary vibes to me that i’m already using “they” in my head but like lets be real they would never do that this is a cis girl anyway she’s giving crusty vibes she probably lives in a sewer or something idk its something about the oversized coat and the shit colour coordination and the hat. quite friendly quite chill probably a bit weird. i enjoy.

dont talk to me.

also giving nonbinary vibes but maybe its the rat tail. hate the neck hate the face shape hopefully an early boot because i dont want to have to look at this more than necessary but knowing my luck he’ll be in the final 4. looks friendly but at what cost. also why do u have a drink. probably collects cans or some shit

very mixed feelings. on one hand i love her. the piercings the whole look im here for it. on the other hand how many mean jock girls do we need. maybe she isnt a jock idk but the outfit is giving me jock vibes. on the otherrr hand since eva had one personality trait (being mega fucking fuming) and jo had three personality traits (being mean and competitive and Not Like Other Girls) maybe we’ll get??? an actual well rounded character??? with a plotline and development??? come on give her feelings i dare u. probably final 4

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

i said before that they look quite bland and and i do still stand by that but that doesnt mean i hate them or anything. its just that total drama characters were always like The __ One and its understandable that theyd run out of stereotypes but it also means that half of these people blend together a bit, especially the guys. i rlly like most of the girls designs but the guys are just ,, some dudes yakno

also im autistic and i hate new things. theres that too

theyll grow on me probably they already have a little bit. ive never witnessed a new td season before so this will be interesting probably i think

#long post #very fuckem long post #but i havent seen anyone talk about them all individually yet #total drama #mine

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sunflowerim · 3 years ago

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I like shiny things but I'd marry you with paper rings

Wolfstar au. Word Count: 2104.

13th February,1976

On a usual Friday, they’d all be packed with classes, but courtesy of the exhaustingly long quidditch match yesterday, the classes had been suspended and the next day being Valentine’s Day plus Hogsmeade weekend, the Friday was very lazy for people like Sirius who didn’t have dates. Of course, a lot of people wanted to go out with him, but the one HE wanted to go out with was busy making enchanted origami with Lily. Remus John Lupin.

Sirius was still reeling from the kiss they’d shared on New Year’s. In the common room. In the presence of everyone. Whether or not anyone saw, Sirius didn’t know because the lights were dim and a lot of people were drunk and preoccupied. Even if they did, nobody questioned, more so because they were the marauders and it’s after all a tradition to kiss your loved ones when the clock strikes twelve, be it friends or more. But Sirius knew it was more than that. He knew from the way Remus’ lips lingered on his a tad bit longer than it should have, he knew from the way their eyes locked after the kiss, he knew from the way he’d wanted more. There was something in Remus’ eyes, an emotion Sirius couldn’t place, but before he could say anything the common room had burst into a loud cheer because James too had finally kissed Lily, and just like that their moment had broken. James. That idiot.

The worst thing about it was things went back to normal between them from the next moment. Neither of them acknowledged it, and just went on with their lives. As much as Sirius wanted to talk to Remus about it, he couldn’t. The fear of rejection was too real. And the possibility of Remus thinking it was just a friendly casual peck on New Year’s Eve was horrifying.

Sirius could feel the tension between them after that, but he wasn’t sure if it was real or all in his head. Sirius was so used to being asked out and swooned over by other people that being on the other end of the stick for the first time was overwhelming him. Remus had that effect on him. Sirius could be perfectly going about his day but if Remus would look at him for more than one second, he’d lose it. It didn’t help that they were roommates and they saw a lot of each other. Not that he was complaining. He would never. But the number of times Remus caused him to get flustered was getting embarrassing at this point.

He loved Remus. He’s been his best friend for years. So of course he loved him but it had been platonic all this time. This year things had felt a bit different. He felt insanely jealous when anyone tried to make a move on Remus and found himself wanting to spend more time with him to the extent of sitting at the library doing nothing because Remus wanted to work there. Remus was difficult to read and Sirius was determined to unravel that boy. So far he’d had no luck, which is why he’d be spending Valentine’s Day on his own.

Right now, Sirius was hanging out with Lily and Remus by the great lake as James served his detention at McGonagall’s office. The origami birds were perching themselves on Remus’ shoulders. Sirius brushed away a butterfly Lily had made that had flown and landed on his nose.

“How long are you guys gonna sit here it’s sooooo boring?” Sirius groaned at last.

“Would you rather be serving detention with James?” Lily arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, I would. Much less boring.”

“Then go and get yourself into trouble Black,” Lily retorted with a laugh.

“I would if I wasn’t feeling so drained. You wouldn’t understand Evans, because you weren’t playing Quidditch yesterday.”

“At least I wasn’t the one who failed to win.”

“Quidditch is a team sport,” Sirius started “and I–”

“Guys,” Remus interrupted, “it’s very peaceful out here. Can you not make me want to drown myself in the Great Lake?”

Lily punched Remus in the arm and went back to making more butterflies and Sirius went back to thinking about Remus. He didn’t notice when Remus left his spot and seated himself beside Sirius.

He was startled when Remus nudged him with his shoulder. He turned his head towards Remus who wasn’t meeting his eyes and Sirius’ eyes fell on Remus’ extended hand. A little piece of origami in blue paper lay on his palm. Sirius gingerly picked it up and almost dropped it out of surprise. A ring.

Remus still wasn’t meeting his eyes.

“Whoa wha-what is this Moony?”

“What does it look like?” Remus replied.

“Nicer,” Lily hummed from her place. It was then that Sirius noticed the soft smile playing on her lips. Whatever was happening, Lily was in on it too.

“Did you really think I was being casual on New Year’s?” Remus asked after a brief pause, finally looking at Sirius.

Sirius’ eyes widened. “But- then- you- if- hold up-,” Sirius stuttered before almost shouting,“ WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG THEN?”

Remus only smiled, “It was fun to watch you struggle.”

“Fun to watch me what?! What the fuck are you on about? Do you know how stressed I was?”

And Remus giggled, “I know.”

“Ohmygod Moony,” Sirius looked like he was about to rip his hair off, “since when did you become so insufferable?”

“Seriously guys, I really thought something like a confession would be more peaceful,” Lily said, packing up her stuff. “And I just lost a bet to James, thanks to you Black.” Lily got up and muttered something while pointing her wand at Sirius’ hand and the piece of origami was surrounded by a golden aura for 3 seconds. “That’ll protect it from external damage. Keep it safe Black.” She turned to smile at Remus, “All the best Remus.” With that, she made her way back to the school building.

This time Remus was equally stunned. “That was thoughtful, but did these two really bet on how our conversation would go?”

Sirius burst out laughing, “Totally a James thing to do. I’m surprised he got Lily to agree.”

“Oh trust me, she’s been excited. Not cause of the bet, but because of,” Remus paused, “you know, us.”

“Oh.”

“So I suppose it was easy for James to rope her into a bet.”

“So you guys have been discussing things? I feel so left out now, not to mention embarrassed.” Sirius pouted.

“Well, in my defense, I was embarrassed too. Do you think it was easy every time Lily or James whispered in my ears "Padfoot is staring at you” or “Padfoot looks so jealous”?“

"They did what?” Sirius groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. "Traitors."

Remus nudged him again, “It’s alright Pads.”

Sirius turned his whole body to face Remus. “Were you really serious that day?”

“I thought you were Sirius?” Remus stifled a laugh and Sirius looked like he was about to kill him.

“I can’t believe this,” Sirius sighed, exasperated.

“That you fell into your own usual trap?”

“That you chose this moment for the pun.”

“Sorry sorry, you’re right. We should talk. It’s been long overdue.” This time Remus turned to face Sirius too. “So to answer your question, yes I was serious that day. How could I not be Pads? You know I wouldn’t fool around with anyone, let alone you.”

Sirius sucked in a sharp breath at that.

Remus continued. “The reason I didn’t do anything before is because I thought it wasn’t a big deal to you. A lot of people wanted to be your New Year’s kiss, so I figured that you kissing me was just a way to get rid of that?”

Sirius could only scoff. For an academically brilliant student, Remus was really stupid.

“That is, until Lily talked to me about it and started pointing out your, umm, how do I put it, behavioral changes,” Remus smiled. Sirius was going red in the face.

“So here we are.” Remus finished, now a bit jittery, as he anticipated Sirius’ response.

Sirius felt like the temperature around them had dropped. This would probably be the first time he was about to be genuinely honest regarding his feelings. And he knew there would be no going back from here.

“So let me get this straight, you actually wanted to kiss me, and when you did, you chickened out and then teamed up with James and Lily to make fun of me?”

Remus scratched the back of his head, looking down. “When you say it like that–”

“Those little– never mind, I’ll deal with them later. As for you..”

Remus looked up, eyebrows raised. Sirius could tell that his heart was beating just as fast.

“For your information, I didn’t kiss you to shut everyone else out. I don’t really know what happened but at that moment that’s what I wanted. You already know what followed after, courtesy of my traitor friends, so I won’t emphasize that, but thank you for approaching me first because I clearly couldn’t muster the courage to do so.”

“Clearly,” Remus snorted.

“No interruptions Moony.” Sirius chided.

“Sorry, continue.”

“I– forgot what I was going to say.” Sirius slumped his shoulders. “But the bottom line is, I like you too Moony.” Sirius was looking anywhere but in Remus’ direction. That is until Remus opened his mouth.

“I never said I like you though,” Remus wondered out loud and Sirius jumped on him.

They scuffled for a while on the ground until Sirius managed to pin down Remus beneath him. He held Remus’ wrists tightly within his own, “Come again.”

“I said that I never said I like you but I WAS GOING TO,” Remus grunted, vigorously trying to shake off Sirius who held on.

“Were you now?” Sirius teased.

“Why else do you think I was here? Now please get off me before anyone sees and it gets embarrassing.”

“Are you embarrassed of me?”

Remus smiled, “To be honest, yes, a little.”

Sirius erupted into a series of laughter and easily slid off Remus who joined in on the laughter while brushing off the grass from his sweater.

“So, now what?” Sirius asked.

“Are you gonna take it or what?” Remus picked up the blue paper ring which had found its way to Remus' lap during their scuffle.

“Are you gonna put it on me or what?” Sirius teased again.

That effectively got Remus shy as he cautiously held Sirius’ hand and ever so carefully put the ring on.

Call Sirius the most dramatic bitch of Hogwarts, or even the whole Wizarding world, but in that moment he could actually see a future unfold with Remus. As the foundations were being laid, Sirius knew that he was in this for a long time. His family might disown him, but when has he ever cared about that? As long as Remus would be with him, everything would be fine. It was all he needed to be happy.

“You’ll not say anything?” Sirius urged.

“Would you like to be my boyfriend, Pads?”

Sirius’ face broke into a grin. Of course he’d say yes. The fact that Remus, who had a thin level of patience, had learnt origami for this, had touched Sirius more than he expressed. Years down the line, Remus could even propose to him for marriage with a paper ring and he’d say yes to that too. No is never an option with Remus.

“Hmm, let me think. Can I wear your sweaters now?” Sirius asked.

“You, already do that.”

“I know, just checking,” Sirius chuckled. “Are we going to go to Hogsmeade together tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“And can I cuddle you after?”

Remus’ breath hitched. A blush crept on his cheeks as he slowly replied, “I mean, yeah if you want.”

“Then, it’s a yes.” Sirius said, his face breaking into a wide smile.

“Sure?” Remus asked, worried Sirius was going to change his mind or regret this later.

Sirius looped his arms around Remus’ neck and grinned as if reading his thoughts, “Uh huh, you’re the one I want.”

Remus would have kissed Sirius again if they were not out in the open.

The stress finally leaving his chest also made him hungry. Sirius looked like he could do with some food too.

Remus got up and extended a hand to Sirius, “Shall we raid the kitchen to celebrate?”

Sirius could only smile as he took the offered hand and got up, “After you.”

A/N : Another addition to my song fic series which I'm really enjoying writing. This time it's 'Paper Rings'. Watch me make everything about wolfstar at this point.

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uas-fics · 3 years ago

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Chapter 1 - Chapter 2

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Title: How to Train A Champion and Keep Your Reputation Intact

Summary: Piers doesn’t want to coach Leon, but the last thing Piers needs is for everyone to know a cool punk like him used to perform in Pokemon Contests! If it means keeping his reputation intact, he’ll begrudgingly teach this ray of sunlight what he knows.

Fandom: Pokemon Sword and Shield

Ships: LeonxPiers | dnnz

Rating: T

Contest Warnings: N/A

Chapter 1: The Early Morning Visitor

----

Of the people Piers expected to be sitting across his kitchen table at eight in the morning, the former champion was not one of them. Leon wasn't even in the top ten, yet here he was, twiddling his thumbs behind a cup of tea with a peppy expression on his face.

Piers was barely a human being this early, yet Leon seemed to have the same energy as a particularly bushy-tailed skwovet.

"You have a nice kitchen," Leon commented, more to fill the silence than an actual compliment.

Piers glanced at the pile of take-out containers on the counter then the singular shoe that hadn't made it to his room with its partner the night before. His kitchen was nothing spectacular, and it didn't need to be. His home was a place to crash or bring a date, not some fancy townhouse. With only he and Marnie there, why should he bother fancying the place up?

"What do you want, Leon?" Piers took a sip of his tea.

Leon wrapped his fingers around his cup but didn't move to drink. If Leon would have preferred coffee, he could have said something before Piers poured him a cup. It'd be a waste to pour it down the drain.

"Well, it's a little silly, but I could use your help with something," Leon explained.

Piers narrowed his eyes.

Leon was the chairman of the Pokemon League. Piers gave his gym over to Marnie after the last Champion tournament. What could he want Piers to help with at this point? The only connection he had with the League was Marnie.

Unless...

"I swear if you're goin' to pull the same shit as Rose did and try to get me to make Marnie move the gym—"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Leon raised his hands, palms facing out. "It has nothing at all to do with Spikemuth or the gym."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Piers leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Uh, well, alright," Leon didn't meet his eyes, "it's about a rumor."

Piers' frown deepened. He always had rumors about him floating about. It came with his persona.

"I heard Piers beat a man to a pulp because he spilled his drink on him." or "I heard Piers took three girls back to his home and made them leave before the sun was even up." or he was a dealer of rare hallucinogenic flowers or that he used his pokemon to break into Rose's office and peed in a potted plant behind his desk.

There was rarely any truth to the rumors. He didn't care to squash them. He was a dark-type trainer, having everyone thinking he was a bigger badass than he already was could not hurt his reputation.

"C'mon, mate, aren't you a little old to be listenin' to rumors?" Piers cocked an eyebrow.

"It's not a bad rumor.”

"What's the rumor then?"

"Ah, well, I heard," He paused to clear his throat, "that you, ah, that you competed in pokemon contests when you were younger—and that you won."

Piers barely kept his face deadpan.

Where had Leon heard that? Those contests happened just before posting on the internet boomed, so it wasn't like the contests were live-streamed and archived. The only video that he knew existed of his contest days hid in a box in the back of a closet. Marnie captured it when she could barely see over the railings at the stadiums. Even then, the video quality was terrible and Marnie kept moving the camera around. He looked like a black and white blob in them.

He forced himself to calm down. He could easily deny this rumor. No one would believe he, Piers, former Spikemuth gym leader, head of Team Yell, the fierce trainer of powerful dark-types, would ever compete in a pokemon contest.

"Where did you hear that?" Piers reached for his tea just to have something in his hands.

What credibility did this rumor spreader have? Probably none. Denying this would be easy.

"Oh, I heard your sister mention it."

Piers nearly dropped his cup.

Shit.

He could not deny this, not without putting Marnie's credibility on the line. She was still a new gym leader. The last thing she needed was the chairman thinking she was a gossip.

He hissed out a breath. "Oh, did she?"

"Yeah, she was talking to Opal while Bede filled out some papers," Leon told him. "She said she remembered you used to be good at pokemon contests. That's why I'm here."

"So what?" Piers spat. "It isn't illegal, now is it?"

Why couldn't this have been about Malamar scaring passers-by on Route 7 when he was bored? Why could this have been about the rave Piers helped throw in an abandoned mine last month? Why could it have been about pissing in the potted plant? Why couldn't this have been about anything else?!

Leon frowned. "Of course not—"

"Then why are you askin' me about it?"

"Because I wanted your help to win one."

Piers' mouth gaped. Did he hear that right? Leon, the former champion, one of the strongest pokemon trainers in all of Galar, wanted to enter a pokemon contest.

He stuck a finger in his ear and twisted it.

"Sorry, say that again. I must have somethin' in my ear. I didn't just hear you ask for help in a pokemon contest."

"That is what I asked." Leon beamed. "There is one in Ballonlea in two weeks and I want to enter, but I don't know the first thing about them. If you know, you could help me—if you want to, that is."

"Why?" Piers held back from pinching himself. How was this not a dream? Maybe he was messing with hallucinogenic flowers after all.

Reaching into his pocket, Leon took out a folded piece of lavender paper. He laid it flat on the table, smoothing it with the side of his hand, before pushing it over. The faint scent of roses wafted from it.

"All are invited to the first Bellonlea Pokemon Contest!" It read in a flowing, elegant font. "Coordinators of all ages and skill levels are invited to the Bellonlea Stadium to participate in a Pokemon Contest. Please contact the Bellonlean Ladies' Society for more details and how to enter."

"Was this ‘ppose to explain somethin'?" Piers pushed the flyer back. "Why do you want to win a contest?"

"That prize, of course!" Leon took his phone from his pocket. He scrolled a moment then turned the screen to Piers.

A picture of a red and white hat with a black logo stared back. It honestly looked like something an overly-excited ten-year-old would win from a cereal box drawing.

"It's a hat." Piers peered over the top of the phone to look at the hat Leon already had on.

"It's not just a hat. It's a limited edition!" Leon pulled his phone back. "I had one when I was a little kid, but I lost it to an angry corvisquire. The first place in the beginner contest wins it."

"And you can't just, you know, buy one for yourself?" He rolled his hand. "I know you have sponsorships out your ass." Piers looked down pointedly at his Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce shirt for emphasis.

Leon shrugged. "What fun is that?"

Piers downed half his drink in one go. The burn on his throat reassured him he wasn't dreaming.

"Piers?" Leon leaned over the table, his face alight with a smile. "Can't I talk you into helping me out? Please? I promise to owe you one after this."

Piers groaned. What choice did he have? He couldn't deny it without hurting Marnie's reputation. Their reputation used to be the only valuable he and Marnie had to their names, besides each other. Lying to Leon to save his own skin was not an option.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Piers raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll do it, but," he held a finger up in Leon's face, "you have to swear on your life that you won't tell a soul about it. I don't need anyone thinkin’ I ever put any of my pokemon in a frilly suit or made them dance around like pretty ballerinas or some shit."

Leon nearly jumped across the table. He put his hands on Piers' shoulders and squeezed a little too hard.

"Thanks a million for this!" He hopped up. "Where should we train? I think I understand the rules, but maybe we should go over the rules first? Or outfit—"

"Tomorrow." Piers cut him off. "We'll start tomorrow."

Leon's face fell like a growlithe that just had his bone taken from him. Piers held his sad gaze. Marnie's morpoko did the same pout when she wanted something, and Piers knew better than to give in.

If Leon still wanted to learn how to be a coordinator, he had to prove himself first. A day would be enough time for Piers to think up obstacles to make Leon forget about the silly notion. Contests, despite the stereotype, were hard work. While beginner contests weren't all that complicated, Piers didn't mind sprinkling in some of the more difficult to grasp bits from the higher tiers. With any luck that would confuse Leon right out of the idea and out of Piers' life.

Leon took a breath. He pulled his hands from Piers and squared his shoulders.

"I'll meet you back here at eight sharp tomorrow and then we can get started."

"No. You'll meet me outside Spikemuth at noon."

"Oh, well, alright. It'll be a champ—" Leon caught himself from using his old catchphrase. "It'll be a fun time."

"That's one way to think of it," Piers muttered, feeling less and less enthused at the arrangement by the second.

----

True to his word, Leon stood outside the front gate of Spikemuth at noon on the dot. He perked up when he saw Piers and jumped in front of him.

"Good afternoon, Teacher Piers."

He winked.

Piers wrinkled his nose.

"Call me that again, and I'm callin' this off."

Leon laughed nervously. "Sorry." He whistled. "Sooooo, what should I learn first? How to use music? Or pose? I'm already pretty good at that."

"How about the rules?"

Piers waved him to follow down the road towards the Spikemuth Tunnel. People were less likely to eavesdrop on them if they walked.

"Alright, rules. I know there are two rounds, and each trainer uses only one pokemon."

"Coordinator," Piers corrected sharply.

He promised to teach, but he didn't promise to be entirely pleasant while doing it.

"Yeah. There are two rounds. The first round is the Performance Stage. You show off your pokemon's appeal with a choreographed set of moves. The judges will assign points based on how well the performance fits into particular categories."

Piers began to ramble on about the different move categories as if the contest in Bellonlea would be so complicated. Beginner contests weren't judged by the five categories individually like higher-ranked contests.

Back when Galar still had a contest circuit, the people in beginner contests were kids with weak pokemon that might only know two or three moves. A performance with a cool move first and a cute move next wouldn't be judged as harshly as the first rank contest would.

However, Leon didn't need to know that. If he thought that the category system was complicated and—in Piers' humble opinion—limited and stupid, maybe he would back out.

"And that's all there is to the appeals rules." Piers looked at Leon, expecting him to be confused and dejected at the long-winded explanation, but instead found him holding onto every word.

"Well, that doesn't seem too hard." He nodded. "It's just putting on a show in a time limit with your partner. Easy."

"We'll see how easy you think it is when you're doing it." Piers stood under a shade tree. "The next round is the harder one. It's the battle round."

"Battle? I thought contests were for show, not for fighting."

Piers cackled at the genuine confusion on Leon's face. Of course, he would think that. That silly stereotype about contests never seemed to die, did it? Coordinators didn't just train their pokemon to teach them new moves. Their partner had to be strong to last the battles against one another. Even though Piers was a gym leader when he did contests, he still struggled against the stronger opponents.

He idly grabbed a lower branch and bent it down. If he didn’t slouch, Piers was tall enough that he could just about reach into the pokemon nest a few branches up with relative ease.

"You would think that, wouldn't you?" He opened his hand.

The branch whipped up and hit the branch the nest was on. The skwovet in the nest jumped with a squeak. Its sudden movement knocked a sitrus berry over the side.

"In the second round, two coordinators battle to remove points from the opponent, usin' moves that fall into the contest categories." He snatched the sitrus berry out of the air.

The skwovet glared at Piers. Piers smirked at it before wiping the berry on his shirt. The pokemon chattered and hurried higher into the tree.

Leon frowned at Piers' interaction with the skwovet. Piers met his gaze, daring him to comment on it.

Leon cleared his throat. "That wasn't necessary."

"It was an accident."

Leon pursed his lips in doubt but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "So it's a battle, but it's an entertaining battle. I can do that."

Around a bite of berry, Piers shrugged, "It's a five-minute battle, but the point of the battle isn't to knock out your opponent with the first move. No one needs to faint. It's to show that your pokemon is better than theirs."

Piers half-expected Leon to go on about how no pokemon was better than another, instead, Leon stroked his chin in thought. Maybe Leon realized that a contest wouldn't be as fun as he thought and wanted to give up on the idea.

The branches above shook and the skwovet chattered. A leppa berry slammed into the ground near Piers' boot. The skwovet, arm loaded with unripe leppa berries, held up another. It threw it. Piers took a step to the side.

"Nice try," he mocked. The skwovet's fur bristled. It tossed down the rest of its armful and missed every time. With a huff, it stomped back towards its nest to rustle through its hoard.

"Alright. I think I can handle this," Leon said, moving into Piers' personal space and lifting his arm over Piers' head, "with your help."

Grinning, he stepped back then opened his fist to present an oran berry. The skwovet cried out in frustration. Piers rubbed the top of his head. He glanced up at the wild pokemon once more before walking away from the tree, with Leon in tow. It was best not to test his luck anymore. The skwovet might use a move on him and the last thing he wanted was to spend the night picking slobbery bullet seeds out of his hair.

The skwovet angrily chattered but seemed to give up. It hurried down the tree to gather its berries. Leon crouched to roll the oran berry over. The skwovet eyed him but snatched the berry up to shove into its cheeks anyway.

Piers raised an eyebrow. Maybe this training wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

----

The training area outside Spikemuth wasn't much, just a patch of barren earth that trainers from Spikemuth would come to battle when they didn't feel like using the gym. Currently, the only souls there were Piers and Leon. Since Marnie took over as gym leader, the younger trainers of the city moved their training back to the gym.

"They didn't want to come when you were the gym leader. They think you're scary," Marnie had explained. "Dunno why though. You're about as scary as a teddisuara."

Piers crossed his arms. "Do you know which pokemon you're goin' use? These are Hoenn rules, so you can only use one."

Leon tapped the pokeballs at his belt. "I'm not sure. I didn't think I could go in with Charizard, so I didn't bring him with me."

"Why not Charizard?"

"Everyone knows what my Charizard looks like," Leon explained. "And I don't think I can pretend not to be me if I use him."

Piers' brows furrowed. What in the world was he talking about?

Upon seeing Piers' expression, Leon chuckled to himself.

"I guess I forgot to tell you." He put his hands on his hips and set his feet a shoulder-width apart. "I'm going to do this contest in disguise."

The hope Piers just acquired vanished.

"You're what?"

"I'm going in disguise," He repeated. "I was the champion, and now I'm chairman. That would give me an unfair advantage, don't you think?"

Piers pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course, Leon would want to win on a level playing field. The Bellonean Ladies' Society would probably just give him the stupid hat if he promised to simply show up and bring more attention to the event. If he did that, Piers could have stayed at home and lazed about, but, noooo, Leon had to win his silly hat fair and square.

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I hoped you could help me with that, too." Leon pointed to his face. "I've seen your stage makeup, and you're talented. I bet you could make me look like a different person."

Piers hated that he couldn't argue with that. Not long after he decided to follow his dream of being a punk star, one of the gym trainers offered to teach him the basics of cosmetics. Once he had the basics down, it only took a year of using his pokemon, friends, and Marnie as test subjects for him to perfect his art.

He could easily make Leon's face look different enough: soften his cheekbones, maybe a few freckles, pull his bangs back, color contacts, and glasses...Leon would look good in glasses, even if it meant hiding his natural eye color...

Piers shook his head. He hadn't agreed to anything but training for the contest. He was not giving Leon a makeover like they were preteens at a slumber party.

Leon pursed his lips. "It would be pointless if I won because of who I am. That wouldn't be fair to the other train—coordinators."

"No. Figure that out yourself."

Leon sighed, his shoulders slumped. He muttered under his breath, something Piers couldn't make out. Finally, he straightened and shrugged.

"You know, I have to approve the budgets for each gym provided by the league," he lifted one finger and wagged it as he continued, "and wouldn't it be nice if Spikemuth got a little extra in their budget so their new gym leader could fix up her gym stadium? I know the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce can't always give too much to the gym, and it needs a few repairs."

Piers' mouth fell a gape. Did Leon just try to bribe him through his sister? He had to admit, he was impressed. It wasn't the best bribery offer he'd ever been given, but considering whom the offer came from and what Marnie would get in return, he decided to give in.

"Make sure the gym gets enough to replace the crumplin’ stadium walls, and I'll do it." Piers stuck out his hand.

Leon took the offered hand in his and shook once. "I knew you'd have a change of heart."

Piers yanked his hand back. "Change of heart my ass. Just send out your pokemon."

With a nod, Leon let out each of his pokemon in turn: Aegislash, Haxorus, Dragapult, Mr. Rime, Seismatoad, then Rhyperior. True to his word, he hadn't brought his ace pokemon with him. Like a well-oiled machine, they quickly lined up and turned their full attention to their trainer.

Pride rolled off Leon as he gazed at his team. Up until last year, this team was undefeated. Leon kept them at their best and even Piers could call that admirable.

"Alright everyone, listen here." Leon clapped his hands as if any of them didn't have their eyes on him. "Remember how I said we were going to enter a contest? Well, only one of you can enter it with me."

Leon's Mr. Rime leaned on his cane and Aegislash shifted his shield, though the other pokemon didn't react one way or another to the news.

"Contests aren't like normal battling. They're a performance." Leon gestured to Piers. "Piers is going to help pick the best one of you for the contest."

Piers snorted. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm not assessin' your team."

Leon's hand dropped to his side. He tilted his head.

"You're not?"

"No."

Piers took out the only pokeball he had on him. With a flick of the wrist, he released his own contest partner. The stench of rotten eggs filled the air. Everyone but Piers jerked back to cover their noses.

Skuntank shook himself out. He stretched his front paws forward then pulled the rest of his body up like a cat in a sunbeam. Piers crouched down and patted his partner between the ears.

"Skuntank here won nearly every contest he entered," Piers explained. "He knows more about them than even I do, I'd say. Even keeps track of the Sinnoh contests online. If anyone can give this team a proper assessment, it'll be him."

Skuntank lifted his head proudly then stomped forward. He stalked up, down, and around the line, eyeing each pokemon. He stopped in front of Haxorus, narrowed his eyes, and rumbled. Haxorus shuffled nervously. She looked to her team members then back at Skuntank. Siesmatoad shrugged, and Dragapult looked away.

Satisfied, Skuntank trotted back to Piers. He took a breath and stated something to the pokemon, loud and clear.

The other pokemon were taken aback. They muttered amongst themselves, all except Mr. Rime and Aegislash. With his chest puffed out, Mr. Rime strode forward. A moment later, Aegislash floated next to him. The rest of the team remained still.

"That's the two to choose from," Piers said. To the other members of Leon's team, he continued, "You can go over there. Take a rest why don't you?" He jabbed his thumb towards the grass at the side of the training area.

Without missing a beat, Dragapult floated away, soon followed by Siesmatoad, Haxorus, and Rhyperior.

Leon gasped. "That's amazing. How does Skuntank know?"

It wasn't as if Skuntank could smell contest talent on Mr. Rime and Aegislash. It just so happened that when Skuntank asked, Mr. Rime and Aegislash wanted to enter a contest. The rest weren't interested.

Ignoring Leon's question, Piers asked, "How do you want to decide between these two."

Leon blinked. "Isn't that what Skuntank is here for?"

With a thump, Skuntank flopped to the ground, paws under his chin, and shut his eyes.

"He's filled his quota." Piers said. "This is your job, Mr. Chairman."

Leon stroked his chin. He crouched down between his pokemon. Mr. Rime tapped his feet and spun his cane. Leon lifted his eyebrows at the impromptu performance. Not to be outdone, Aegislash held his shield up and spun it on the end of his arm. He tossed the shield then expertly caught it.

Mr. Rime danced backward. He spun in a circle, holding his cane up to the sky. From the tip of the cane, snow flurried around him, glittering like tiny diamonds.

Aegislash, upon seeing Leon's dazzled expression at Mr. Rime's performance, clanged his shield and blade together. With his trainer's attention back on him, Aegislash whipped his arm out. The shield rolled out on its side into the middle of the battle area. In the blink of an eye, Aegislash descended into his shadow. Using shadow sleek, he hurried in front of the shield.

Aegislash burst from the ground, large and dark. He whipped the shield up. the sun glinted off the polished metal. Contrasted against Aegislash's dark form, the shining shield appeared like a bright star in the night sky.

Leon's mouth fell a gape. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that, Aegislash."

Aegislash returned to his normal appearance and smugly shurgged. Mr. Rime stomped his foot in frustration. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled for Leon to look at him. Once again, his cane spun. Around him, aurous panes of light screen appeared then frosted over. Mr. Rime stopped and raised his arms. The light screen panes shot up and burst like fireworks.

Aegislash bristled. His grip on his shield tightened and his single eye narrowed. Mr. Rime sneered at him as Leon carefully picked up the frozen light screen fragments to examine.

Piers clapped his hands once. "Don't you lot make this a battle." To Leon, he ordered, "You need to pick one."

Leon stood. "But they're both really talented."

From behind them, Skuntank snorted. Aegislash and Mr. Rime turned their glares from each other to the dark-type.

Piers agreed with Leon, even if his pokemon didn't, but leaving those two to keep one-upping each other wouldn't end well. Leon had to pick a partner for the contest, even if it would hurt someone's feelings.

Leon thought on his choice then slumped forward with a sigh. He rummaged in his pocket and held up a coin.

"I can't decide," he admitted. "Heads for Mr. Rime and tails for Aegislash."

He flicked the coin into the air. Like the oran berry before, he caught it from the air. With a hard smack that made the top of Pier's hand hurt, Leon slapped it on the top of his hand. Aegislash and Mr. Rime stood tense as Leon slowly lifted his hand.

"Heads."

Mr. Rime jumped up with joy. Aegislash dropped his shield to the ground with a thud. Leon reached out to comfort him, but Aegislash waved him away. Dragging his shield through the dirt, he trudged towards the other pokemon.

Skuntank lumbered back to his feet. He intercepted Aegislash. Skuntank rumbled at Aegislash. He silently mulled over what Skuntank said then lifted his shield from the ground.

In a voice like clashing metal, Aegislash yelled at Mr. Rime. Mr. Rime stumbled in his tap dancing, looking shocked at what his teammate said. Skuntank cackled, slapping the ground with his paw. With his mood improved considerably, Aegislash led Skuntank away to join the other pokemon.

----

Mr. Rime was a showman. Even with the occasional heckle from Skuntank, he and Leon managed to cobble together the start of an alright appeal round. After Piers finally admitted that the move categories meant shit all for the beginner contests, Leon decided to make use of what Mr. Rime already presented: sparkling snow and unique uses of psychic power.

Piers, for his part, offered critique when he saw a move that might be too showy or too dull, but mostly left Leon to his own devices. After all, Leon was the one entering, not him.

A thunderbolt tore through an icy column, shattering it. A glow of psychic power protected some of the ice from the heat. When the mist cleared, what remained was the carving of the Champion's logo.

Leon pumped his fist. "There we go!"

Skuntank muttered something to Aegislash, who replied in agreement. Though he hadn't been as loud in his criticism as Skuntank, Aegislash made snide remarks for every misstep.

Piers had more fun watching Skuntank and Aegislash than Leon and Mr. Rime, honestly.

As the heat both from the thunderbolts and the day wore on, Piers was thankful he choose to sit under the shade instead of directly interact with Leon.

Though on the field, he would have had a better view.

Every time Leon raised his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, Piers turned his attention towards him. Rehain once mentioned Leon weight trained and exercised to stay as fit as his team, and Piers could tell. He stared at the well-formed muscles usually hidden under Leon’s shirt several times before finally being caught.

“Is something wrong? Is this too much?” Leon gestured to Mr. Rime’s newest ice sculpture.

Piers made up a suggestion to save himself the embarrassment.

“It’s fine, but you’re rushin’. Slow down, if you know how to do that,” Piers replied, turning his head to hide his pink cheeks against his shoulder.

“Oh, alright.” Leon nodded. “Mr. Rime, take a few more seconds before calling down the thunderbolt!”

Stuntank chuckled and Piers sent him a glare.

“Shut up,” he hissed, earning another laugh from Stuntank.

Something pulled at Piers' sleeve. One of Dragapult's dreepy chewed on his jacket. When Piers acknowledged it, it flew in a circle trying to get him to play with it. It went to nip at the end of one of his ponytails.

Dragapult sighed and wrapped his tail around the dreepy to pull it back. He gave Piers an apologetic look.

The rest of Leon's team wasn't doing much better. They were bored out of their minds.

Siesmatoad ripped a clump of grass from the ground and tossed it in her mouth. Rhyperior and Haxorus took turns stabbing leaves through their horns or tusks, seeing who could make the biggest hole without tearing the leaf in half.

Before Leon and Mr. Rime could start again, Piers called, "That's enough for today."

He stood and put his hands on his lower back to stretch. Skuntank grumbled but got to his paws.

"Well, if you say so." Leon came over to the crowd of pokemon with Mr. Rime. "Everyone ready?"

Seismatoad spat out the grass clump, nearly hitting Rhyperior's foot. Dragapult cooed and the rest of his dreepy hoard hurried out of the tall grass. Aegislash refused to look at Mr. Rime, instead of staying close to Stuntank. Haxorus bent forward and pressed the button on her pokeball with her mouth scythe, returning herself.

When Leon took out Aegislash's ball, Piers put a hand on his wrist.

"Before you return him, can I ask you a favor?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Aegislash and Skuntank seem to be havin' fun together. Do you think Aegislash could come back with me for tonight?" Piers asked. Skuntank stamped a foot and wheezed in approval.

Leon lowered Aegislash's pokeball. He bent down so he looked Aegislash in his singular eye.

"Do you want to have a slumber party with Skuntank at Spikemuth?" He spoke like a parent to a child. Mr. Rime snickered. Stuntank kicked sand at him with a short growl.

Piers pulled the bill of Leon's hat down over his eyes.

"Aegislash is probably older than both of us combined," he reminded. "Don't call it a slumber party."

Leon pushed his hat up and wrinkled his brow. Realization crossed his face.

"Ah." He asked Aegislash, "Do you want to have a date with Skuntank at Spikemuth?"

Piers went to pull Leon's hat clean off, but Aegislash took hold of the bill and pulled until it completely covered Leon's face with the bill touching his chin. He rolled his eye and shrugged towards Skuntank. Skuntank snickered and shook his head back in reply.

Leon laughed, taking the hat into his lap. "I'm joking. I'm joking. Sorry." He put a hand on Aegislash's shoulder. "Really, if you want to hang out with Skuntank for the night, you can." He smiled sincerely.

Aegislash paused, eyed his trainer, then seemed to sigh. He took the hat from Leon's hands and set it on his head. He patted his head, like a parent pacifying a child. Aegislash floated by him towards Skuntank.

-----

“Listen up.”

Piers whistled to the crowd of dark-type pokemon around the Spikemuth stadium. All heads turned towards him and the two pokemon by his side.

“This is Aegislash. He’s part of Chairman Leon’s team.” Piers nodded to Aegislash. “He’s visitin' for the night, so don’t be an asshole.”

He sent a pointed look at Malamar, who crossed his tentacles. Malamar only recently got out of trouble for scaring people around Spikemuth. Neither he nor Marnie needed Aegislash going back to Leon traumatized from Malamar's pranks.

The gym pokemon muttered and mumbled to themselves, eyeing Aegislash suspiciously.

Going well so far.

No one jumped to attack or called out an obscenity towards the new pokemon. Already it was going better when Raihan brought his pokemon over to play while he and Piers visited. Not one sucker punch to the back.

Marnie’s Grimsnarl picked up the toy ball and held it protectively. Both scrafty scooted to shield their tower of cards. Obstagoon took his nose out of a bag of crisps for a moment before shoving it right back in. Liepard yawned, purposely exposing her fangs, before laying her head on Toxicroak’s lap. Toxitricity peeked an eye open from his corner then continued strumming his chest. Morpeko jumped off the stage and scurried over to Aegislash and Skuntank.

She greeted them. Skuntank wheezed to her as Aegislash lifted his shield in a hello. Morpeko spoke with Aegislash a moment before turning to the rest of the pokemon. She took a deep breath and shouted to them her approval.

Malamar snorted but uncrossed his tentacles. Grimsnarl slowly took the ball back out. Neither scrafty moved from their hard work. Toxitricity waved idly. Liepard and Toxicroak and Obstagoon didn’t acknowledge the announcement, the former two napping and the latter still stuffing his maw.

Skuntank jerked his head towards Toxitricity's corner of the gym. Aegislash and Morpeko followed after. Grimsnarl and Malamar watched them closely.

Marnie took a bite of her hamburger. Around it, she asked, “Is that really Leon’s aegislash?”

Piers open the bag from Bob’s Your Uncle to dig out his order. “He is. He and Leon’s Mr. Rime got into a fight, and Aegislash wanted to be away.”

“So Leon asked you?” She swallowed.

Piers thought on his feet. “Dark and ghost types are pretty close when you get down to it. Born of night and the deepness of the soul and all that.”

“Shouldn’t he have asked Allister?”

Piers took a bite of his burger and slowly chewed. He swallowed and said, “Kid must have been busy. He’s still got school to go— just like you.” Piers smirked, leaning over. “And how’s that school work going, little sis?”

Marnie blushed. She huffed, snatched the bag from Piers, then marched to the stage at the other end of the stadium.

Even being a gym leader, Marnie still had to go to school like every other kid her age. Since she was still learning to juggle gym leader duties and school, Marnie fell behind in her classes and had to take extra lessons.

Piers had been the same when he took over the gym, but he usually skipped after-school lessons. She complained about the lessons often, and Piers offered an understanding ear.

He wasn’t above using this information against her, though.

With long strides, he followed his sister. He overtook her quickly. Holding his burger between his teeth, Piers hopped onto the stage and sat, his toes brushing the ground. Marnie walked up the steps to sit near him. She purposefully set the bag with their food on the side farthest away from Piers. He leaned across her to fish his chips out of the bag.

They sat in companionable silence, watching the pokemon as they ate their fast food.

When Marnie’s scrafty turned to open another pack of cards for their tower, Malamar raised a tentacle glowing in psychic power. With both scrafty backs to it, a card from the middle of the tower pulled itself out.

Piers’ scrafty gasped and tried to hold the wobbling tower together, but only managed to save the top two cards from falling. As the scrafty started to argue, Grimsnarl went to the wooden crate next to the stage. She sat her ball inside and began to dig through the pokemon toys until she found another ball. This ball was worn and patched up. She wandered over to Malamar to talk.

Skuntank, Toxtricity, and Aegislash lounged against one of the crumbling stadium walls as Morpeko chewed on a berry. They made friendly conversation until Grimsnarl and Malamar came over. Grimsnarl raised her ball.

Skuntank shrugged and spoke to Aegislash. Malamar sneered at Aegislash. Aegislash rolled his eye and pushed himself up. Skuntank slowly lumbered to his feet. Toxtricity shook his head. Morpeko tossed her berry up and caught it in her mouth before standing as well.

Piers nudged Marnie and pointed at the pokemon as they walked to the middle of the stadium.

Grimsnarl tossed the ball and hit it to Skuntank. Skuntank bopped it with his head. The ball dropped towards Aegislash. Aegislash raised an arm to hit it, but Malamar’s tentacle shot out and smacked the ball up. Aegislash snapped something at Malamar, who ignored him.

Piers chuckled to himself as the game of hot potato continued. Every time the ball neared Aegislash, Malamar or Grimsnarl made sure to hit it before he could. Of course, they were testing him. Being on the former champion’s team wasn’t enough to prove Aegislash worthy, even with Stuntank and Morpeko's approval.

Soon Aegislash had enough. When Malamar went to hit the ball for himself, Aegislash shadow sleeked behind him. He burst from the ground and slapped the ball towards Grimsnarl. The attack on her friend took Grimsnarl by surprise. She stumbled back trying to hit the ball but missed. For the first time since the game started, the ball bounced against the floor.

Skuntank cackled. Morpeko chased after the ball. Malamar stared at Aegislash, who held his ground.

Marnie started to push off the stage to break up the fight, but Piers put a hand out to stop her.

After a few tense heartbeats, Malamar coughed a laugh. He covered his beak and shook his head. Grimsnarl took the ball back from Morpeko. Seeing the newfound respect for Aegislash from Malamar, she went back over to the box to switch the worn, old ball, for a nicer ball with a pink and cream polka-dot pattern.

Marnie let out a breath. Piers tossed a chip in his mouth.

He knew things would work out well. Like his trainer, Aegislash was endearing in his determination.

He wondered what Leon was doing while the Spikemuth pokemon played. As late as it was, he was probably home, or maybe he was training with Mr. Rime for the contest. Piers could almost see him now working with Mr. Rime to pose in time with some pop song.

Leon worked hard for what he wanted. It's no wonder he became champ so young and held the title for nearly a decade. If Piers had that kind of drive, he wouldn’t have left Spikemuth fall into disrepair as he did.

He bet he could ask Leon to help him fix up Spikemuth, and not just the gym. The outside walls needed the myriad of penises and breasts painted over. He could do it, but it would be better with some company, particularly with company that had the energy of a sugar-high puppy. Enjoying the outside air, just talking and working—That would be fun. Piers would be willing to wake up early for that.

Piers reached into his chip container absentmindedly but found nothing but salt. He jerked out of his thoughts to see his last two chips disappear—one into Morpeko’s mouth and one into Marnie’s.

“The hell?” He held his hands out towards the empty container.

“Do you have a new girlfriend?” She asked bluntly.

Piers choked on his tongue. “What?” He shook his head. “No! Why would you think that?”

“A boyfriend? A non-binary friend?”

“No,” Piers assured. “I don’t have anyone.”

“Huh.” Marnie scratched Morpeko behind the ears. “You had that look on your face.”

“Look?” Piers’ stomach clenched as he asked, “What look?”

“That look.” Marnie pulled her pokemon to her lap. “The one you get before Morpeko and me find some gushy love song folded up on the living room floor. It happens every time.”

Piers’ ears grew hot. Twice, Marnie found his secret love songs twice. For that reason, he didn’t even write them on scrap paper anymore but in a nondescript notebook in his dresser drawer—which he hadn’t pulled out since he broke up with an ex gym trainer more than a year ago.

Morpeko stuck her tongue out in disgust at finding another love song. She clambered over Marnie’s arms to the chips container. Morpeko licked her paw, dabbed it in the leftover salt, and cleaned her paw before hopping off the stage to rejoin the game.

“I don’t have a look like that.”

“Yes, you do,” Marnie replied in a sing-song voice. “You get this far away look on your face and a little, tiny smile like you’re thinkin' of somethin’ soft. I only see it when you’re datin’ someone or,” her eyes widen in realization, “you gotta crush.”

Piers’ stomach unclenched and fell to his boots.

“You’ve got a crush, dotcha?” His little sister pried. “Who is it? Do they like you back? Can they like you back? Are they a trainer? What’s their pokemon team? Do you see them often?”

Piers' head spun, blurring the rest of Marnie’s inquiries.

No way. He was too old for crushes, for one thing. For two, if Marnie’s theory held any water, then his ‘crush’ would be Leon.

That wasn’t possible.

Sure, he admired Leon’s strength and his determination. His kindness towards pokemon and others was sweet if a little goody-two-shoes. He was much more clever than he first appeared. His athletic frame stole Piers' attention and he wouldn't mind leaning up against that strength-trained chest.

Oh. Arceus. No.

Piers’ face reddened as he cataloged his thoughts. He did have a crush. He had a crush on Leon. Leon was the Chairman of the League. Not only that, he was and still is the poster child for preppy, sporty trainers everywhere. Leon was the goal children were taught to chase if they wanted to compete.

Only the trainers from Team Yell ever wanted to be anything like Piers, a badass who sang to his own song, not the one society dictated.

Sponsors flocked to Leon like mothim to a flame for his perfect public persona.

Only the Spikemuth Chamber of Commerce ever sponsored Piers, and that’s only because they always sponsored the gym leader.

Leon was the light that the world idolized.

He was the darkness that fought back to prove to those that the shadows were protective and safe for people like him. He was a fierce dark-type trainer. He sang punk rock. He had a band of miscreants who would follow his every order.

He could not have a crush on Leon.

Yet, he did.

What if people found out? Arceus, if news got around he wanted some of Leon’s finely toned ass—

“Piers?” Marnie poked his cheek.

He jumped, losing his balance and tumbling off the stage.

At the thud of his fall, the pokemon stopped their game. Obstagoon tossed his crisps bag aside to barrel towards his trainer. He skidded to his knees, dramatically throwing his claws up and crying out as if Piers fell off a ten-story building.

Marnie hopped down. Crouching, she asked, “Did you break your face?”

Piers groaned loudly. “Dark void, open up and swallow me. I no longer want to live in this cruel world that would play my heart like a harp string and snap it with its sick, twisted irony.”

Once Piers went on with his dramatic monologue, the pokemon returned to their games, confident Piers was fine. Obstagoon patted the back of Piers’ head reassuringly.

Marnie crouched next to him. “Is the person you have a crush on that bad? Are they married or,” she lowered her voice, “old?”

“We’re the same age.” Piers didn’t lift his head from the ground. “He’s single as far as I know.”

Marnie poked his cheek. “So what’s the matter? Are you too scared to ask him out?”

“No. It’s worse than that.” Piers crawled into Obstagoon’s lap and leaned his back against the warm, somewhat smelly, fur. Obstagoon wrapped him in a hug. He’d seen his trainer confused and in a pansexual punk panic before. Piers needed all the comfort Obstagoon could give him.

Marnie tucked her legs under her and waited expectantly for Piers to clarify.

He sighed, slumping farther down Obstagoon’s lap. Obstagoon’s arm fur tickled his nose as he buried his face in it.

“I can’t ask him out,” Piers muttered. “He’s my opposite.”

“Opposite?” Marnie echoed.

“Opposite,” Piers repeated. He paused, then said, “I’m punk. He does ballet. What more can I say?”

Her brows furrowed. She opened her mouth, then shut it, opened, shut, then tilted her head with one eyebrow raised.

"He dances?”

Piers rolled his head away. “You kids have no culture.” He sighed. “He’s the kind of person every kid wants to be like. I’m the kind of person kids stop comin’ to community gyms to train because of.”

Marnie hit her fist into her palm. “Oh, I get it. You don’t want to drag down his rep ‘cause people think you’re a lazy delinquent.”

“Hey!” Piers bolted up, right into Obstagoon’s hanging tongue. He wiped the slobber off his forehead with his forearm. He jabbed a finger at Marnie.

“It’s the other way around. He’d pull mine up from a mysterious, cool rebel rocker.”

He cringed at himself. Out loud it sounded childish. What was he, a schoolboy?

Piers flopped back against Obstagoon, grabbed Obstagoon’s arm, and dropped it over his face.

“Suffocate me. Please. I need to die to escape this torment.”

With a humph, Marnie wrapped her arms around Obstagoon’s thick forearm and lifted. She looked down at her brother with a frown.

“That’s it?” She shook her head. “That’s sad.”

“You’re a kid. You don’t understand.” Piers countered, trying to pull Obstagoon’s arm back over his face.

Marnie wrinkled her nose and tugged against Piers’ attempts.

“I am not.” She dug her feet into the ground. “It is sad. If you’re a ‘mysterious, cool, rebel rocker,’ why should you care what anyone thinks?”

Piers dropped his hands to his lap.

Without the opposing force against her, Marnie fell backward, still clinging to Obstagoon’s arm. Instead of letting her fall, Obstagoon lifted his arm, leaving her hanging off the ground. He carefully lowered her, but she kept his arm pressed against her chest.

Piers pushed himself up to his feet. He patted the back of his shirt, throwing black and white fur into the air. Without a word, he headed to the stage and picked up the trash from their food.

“Piers?” Marnie hugged Obstagoon’s arm to her chest. “Are you ok? I didn’t break you, did I?”

Piers turned. “Yeah. Just fine.” He walked back, bag in hand. A smile spread across his face as he reached up and ruffled her hair.

“You’re right. I was being the opposite of cool.” He admitted, prying her hands off Obstagoon's arm. “Thanks for reminding me.”

Marnie was right. He was the cool, fierce master of dark-type pokemon. He became one of the strongest trainers in all of Galar without resorting to Dynamax in a pinch.

Why the hell should he give a flying ratata’s ass about what other people think about who he wants to make out with?

He still didn’t want people knowing about his contest days. The stereotype of elitist snob coordinators still hung too closely to contests. The attraction could excuse Leon, but he didn't have a good enough excuse for dressing skuntank in a tophat and glittery, purple bow tie when he was still a stunky yet. Maybe if the contest scene grew a little, he could try again, but until then best keeping that particular secret under wraps.

Marnie shrugged, aloof. “It’s whatever. Someone needs to help you keep your head spun the right way around. I'm the only one qualified for it.”

“What would I do without you?” Piers chuckled.

“Die, probably,” Marnie replied. “So can you ask this guy out? Does he like you at all?”

Piers shrugged.

He didn’t know if Leon liked men. As far as he could remember, Leon never dated anyone of any gender. Leon had always been laser-focused on training and being the strongest trainer in Galar.

But if he did like men, would he be interested in Piers? He didn't know, but given how much time they’d be spending together training for the contest, maybe he could figure it out.

Marnie, her ponytails somewhat righted, asked, “If you need help, Gloria and me could—”

“I’d rather step on a pincurchin,” Piers cut her off, crushed the paper bag into a ball, and tossed it to the side. It bounced and went right through Scrafty's new card tower.

"Sorry," he apologized.

Scrarfy sobbed and slumped back. Marnie’s scrafty looked towards him then sighed. She walked around and helped him pick up the cards, their friendship restored.

“I’ll tell you if I find out anything.” He pointed at the hot potato game still ongoing with his thumb. “Right now, though, you and me don’t need boys when we can play with the best pokemon in the Galar region, though.” To Grimsnarl, he shouted, "Oi, toss it to me!"

Marnie giggled as Piers took her wrist and led her towards the game.

----

AN: Shout out to my friend Sara for the help with this! You da best!!! ^-^)/ Next chapter should be next week? I'll probably post to A03 first though if you want less of a wait.

Also feel free to follow my art blog @uas-art if you enjoyed the chapter art.

#fanfiction #dnnz #gym leader piers #Champion Leon #piersxleon #multi chapter

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