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rovewritesit · 4 years ago

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Angel Of My Dreams (Chapter 4) John Deacon x Reader Series

Series Summary: After reluctantly joining a band with your childhood best friends, you are thrust into oncoming stardom with no sea legs and an overwhelming sense of anxiety. But you just might find your way, thanks to some seasoned pros by your side. And the interest of one particular bassist.

This series is a work of fiction, and is loosely inspired by real people and events. Absolutely no offense is meant to actual Queen or their families.

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3

Pairing: John Deacon x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Strong language. Feelings of anxiety.

Chapter Notes: This one was a doozy! Don’t start your very first fic with only a vague idea of where it’s going, friends! Quick reminder that this is a slow ass burn. Gonna take us a bit to get there but want to point out there will be no infidelity. Also fun fact: my grandfather actually did work at Elaine’s and the Mick Jagger story is true.

Song/Title Inspiration: Angel - Fleetwood Mac

Songs Mentioned:

Hallelujah, I Love Her So - Ray Charles

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) - Billy Joel - [I know it wasn’t released till the 90s but I couldn’t shake it]

Taglist: @yourlocalmusicalprostitute @brianmays-hair @deacyblues @squishy-geckboye @hae-bee @aprilaady

- - - - - - -

July 1982 - Freeport, Long Island

“I’ll be right back,” you sigh to no one in particular, pushing yourself off of the faded paisley couch in the basement of Steve’s parent’s house and making your way upstairs for a glass of water. The dull pounding in your head had only gotten worse from repeatedly staring at the green shag carpeting leftover from the prior decade. Navigating the layout of the familiar house with ease, you make your way to the kitchen.

“Oh, Bunny! Wonderful, I was just about to bring down some iced tea,” calls out Steve’s mother upon seeing you.

“Thanks, Mrs. Castellano. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, you know me. It was too quiet when you were all away.” The Limbs had recently gotten back from a small European tour--the album having spread beyond England; to Scotland, France, Germany, and Belgium. “I can’t help myself when I get all of you back under my roof. Speaking of… how’s it going down there?” she presses.

You keep your deadpan expression glued to your face as you lock eyes with the kind woman.

She grimaces, “I had a feeling. You better bring this back yourself then,” she hands you the pitcher.

“Will do. Thanks again, Mrs. C,” you tell her as you start to trudge your body back towards the basement. You let out a deep sigh before yanking the door open and descending into the pit of your own personal hell.

Lawrence’s voice booms from below, “I said simple! A simple four to the floor, and that’s it.”

The rest of The Limbs were right as you left them. Eddie and Rich lounge on the couch that is pushed up against the wood-paneled walls, their guitars strewn casually over their legs as they watch the ongoing argument. Lawrence paces around the room, his hands seemingly glued to his head as he pulls on his hair, and Steve sits behind his drum kit that’s tucked away in the corner. Padded blankets hang from the ceiling around him - a sorry excuse for soundproofing.

“Oh c’mon, I’m just adding some flavor to it! I’ll be as boring, sorry simple, as you want when we actually record it,” Steven replies, twirling a drumstick in his right hand.

Rich lets out a sigh as he clocks you making your way back. “Bun, any help here?”

You softly place the pitcher on a table off to the side before turning to the group, leaning back on your hands. “I just don’t get why we need to debut something new if it’s obviously not ready,” you say carefully.

“Of course you’d say that,” Lawrence grumbled, gesturing in your general direction. “Do you not want to sing it? Because you all told me you thought it was good!”

“It’s not that, and you know it, it’s just-”

“It just needs some work before Sunday, so let’s run the rhythm section again,” Eddie cuts in impatiently from his perch on the back of the couch. He untangles his spidery limbs and makes his way over to where you’re camped out.

“Okay, I’ll explain it again,” Lawrence huffs.

“We don’t need this stress two days before we play,” you tell Eddie softly.

“It’s a hometown show, Y/N,” he looks at you pointedly. “These folks helped get us to where we are. It’ll be nice to give them something new.”

The label had secured The Limbs a night at the Jones Beach Theater, the largest outdoor venue on the island. People from all over traveled to watch such acts as Jimmy Buffet, James Taylor, and Aerosmith, the height of entertainment for the suburban droves. And now they’ll be camping out for the first hometown Limbs show since they’d been signed. It was a huge deal, and you knew it, but you didn’t need something unfamiliar to throw off your already wavering shadow of a presence on stage.

Rich begins to pluck out the new bass line, carefully watching Lawrence’s reaction as he plays. On the pick-up, Steve again adds a light flourish as he joins in.

“Steve! For god’s sake! What did I just say?!”

“Live a little, will ya, Lawrence!” Steven shouts back.

The door to the basement wrenches open, and you all freeze. Mr. Castellano’s footsteps are heavy as he stomps down the stairs, somehow staring all of you down at once.

“Kids. If you’d be so kind as to keep it down a tad. I already have to watch the Yankees hand their asses over to the Blue Jays up there. I would at least like to hear it.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Steve mumbles.

“Thank you.” He starts to make his way back up the stairs but halts, turning to you once again. “Oh, also, someone from your label called before,” he adds on casually.

Steven jumps up from his stool, “What?! Dad!”

“What?! Steven!” he mimics. “I’m not your secretary.”

“Can you just tell us what they said?” Steve scoffs at his father.

“Something about being invited to a show at The Garden tonight. Some band. It’s… Dang it. I wrote it down somewhere,” he mutters, making his way back up the stairs.

“I wonder who it is,” Rich thinks aloud, glancing around to all of you.

Eddie notices as your body immediately stiffens beside him.

“Bun?” he asks slowly. “Do you know who’s playing Madison Square Garden tonight?”

Your eyes find the green carpet once again. Of course you knew who was playing tonight. Queen was beginning their two-night stay at the venue. Dawn wanted to get tickets, but you had argued that it was getting harder for you to go unrecognized in public. That, and the fact you had come to the realization you could only act like a complete fool around any of the band members. You weren’t keen on adding another entry to the list.

“It’s Queen!” Mr. Castellano calls from upstairs. “Starts at 8. You kids should get going if you’re gonna make it.”

“Queen’s playing?” Lawrence marvels. “How did we miss that?”

Rich rises, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe all the incessant practicing you’ve been holding us hostage for?”

“She knew,” Eddie smirks, pointing at you with his thumb. You stick your tongue out at him.

“Why didn’t you say anything? I’ve never gotten the chance to see them live before!” Steve questions, already rocking back on his heels with excitement. He had become quite the Queen fan since your run-in with Freddie after sticking to him like glue that entire night.

You shrug, trying to act nonchalant, “I thought we had more important things to focus on.”

“No, that’s not it,” Eddie deduces, narrowing his eyes at you. “You’re just embarrassed that you went all jellied around Mr. Mercury the last time.”

“You’re the one who had to go and tell him all about me fawning over them on MTV!”

“Ooor, maybe it’s because the entirety of the UK saw you making eyes at their bassist on that game show,” Lawrence elaborates.

“There were no eyes being made at anyone,” you grit out defensively, knowing full well that their words were ringing true.

“I, for one, am happy you have a crush, Bun. You know it’s been a while since…” Rich trails off, leaving out the name of a dreaded ex none of you speak of.

You push yourself off your perch on the table with a huff. “You know what? We’ll go. Let’s go. That way, I can disprove all your wildly inaccurate assumptions,” you retort, wanting to get the heat off you fast.

Steven chuckles, “Oh no, she’s broken out her dictionary, folks. Looks like we’ve hit a nerve.” He pokes your side playfully.

“Shut up, please,” you tell them, making your way over to the stairs. “We have a train to catch.”

- - - - - - -

You’re late.

The muffled bass from the arena hits your ears as the Limbs dash up the steps leading from Penn Station to MSG. You all but sprint to catch up with the boy’s long gaits as they approach the box office window.

“Hiya, there’s supposed to be some tickets at will-call for us from the band,” Eddie explains to a woman behind the glass as he tries to catch his breath.

“Name?”

“Uh… Lo & The Limbs?”

“Don’t have anything under that name. Could it be something else?”

“Can you try just The Limbs?” he guesses, turning back to the group with wide, panicked eyes.

“Nope, sorry,” she answers in a monotone.

“How about The Legs,” you offer up from your spot behind Rich’s tall figure. She just shakes her head.

“Well, fuck,” Lawrence sighs, slapping his palms against his legs, obviously ticked off from the 45-minute train ride you’d all barely caught because Steve had changed his shirt a minimum of three times before you could all head out.

“What about Bunny?” Steve asks with a giggle.

The woman raises her eyebrows before checking the list yet again.

“Ah, there you are. Bunny and friends,” she concludes with a sigh.

A chorus of chuckles erupts from the boys. You point your finger at Eddie.

“I’m coming for ya. Eds. You’re not gonna know where or when, but I’ll get you back for this one day,” you tell him playfully.

“Oh yeah, and when you kill me, you can be free to go off and start your solo group, Bunny and Friends.”

She hands you all large laminate passes and gestures for you to follow a security guard. They deposit you in one of the skyboxes on the 10th floor. The Limbs tentatively enter, glancing around at the mishmash of people gathered. Extra crew, friends of the band, some execs, you guess to yourself. The boys immediately descend on the small bar set up in the back of the room.

“Here, I assume you need one of these,” Lawrence shoves a beer in your shaking hands.

“You assume right, good sir.”

“How the hell did we lose Steve already?” Eddie gripes. Rich easily spots him over the tops of heads surrounding them, pointing to a tall figure pushing his way towards the front of the box that opens up into seating. You all follow, mummering polite excuse me’s and thank you’s as you try to keep up. You can hear Play The Game get louder as you approach the view.

Steve rushes to the first row of seats, leaning over the railing of the balcony. “God, will you look at all these people?” he marvels, watching as the dancing lights illuminate the mass below him.

But you’re not looking at the crowd. Your gaze immediately finds the stage, where Freddie is situated behind a piano off to the left. His voice booms as if he were standing right next to you, and you’re positive that even without a mic, it would be heard by all 20,000 individuals. His eyes are closed as he slams hard on the piano, seemingly in his own world, yet the entire crowd is wholly entranced.

Brian then casually lopes to center for his solo. He smiles out at the crowd as his fingers dance across the frets gracefully while Eddie screams in appreciation throughout. He then jogs back to his mic, nearly missing his cue for his backing vocals, but his fingers never rest. Roger’s gravely falsetto catches your ear, and you train your eyes on the multitasking drummer. Even up behind his kit, his presence takes center stage while he keeps perfect time. The group ends the song in perfect synchronicity as the lights cut to black.

The chords for Somebody To Love start with a few majestic trills from Freddie’s voice, but your attention is once again grabbed away. Towards the back of the stage, still cast in darkness, you see John. He quickly shrugs off a fitted leather jacket to reveal an even tighter full cerulean blue ensemble before a roadie slips the strap of his bass over his head. He strolls into the light just as Freddie finishes his improv, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet as they begin the song.

While he keeps his gaze mostly pointed to the ground, his body already thrums with anticipation. As it really gets going, you watch as he comes to life. You can’t help but hang onto his every movement; the unintentional jerks of his head, the light two-step of his feet as he shuffles along to his bass line's groove. He seems entirely at the will of the song and loving every minute of it. A pang of jealousy hits your chest as you wonder if you’d ever feel that free on stage.

Not much conversation passes between you and the boys as you watch on, more than a bit awestruck. You’re not sure how many songs pass, but fresh beers repeatedly appear in your hands every so often. The lights are dizzyingly bright as your eyes skip around the stage, trying to absorb as much as you can. You find they consistently flick back to John, sucking in every minutia of his performance. Your chest tightens like it did the day of Pop Quiz. Every time he had caught your eye, you remember having to push down the inescapable thoughts you were having. You would tell yourself you don’t know what it is about him, but you’d be lying.

A voice jolts you out of your stupor. “You must be Fred’s young friends he met in New Haven.”

The group turns to find a small man situated in the row behind them wearing an impeccably tailored suit.

“Jim Beach, manager for the band,” he holds out a hand for each of you to shake. “Sorry for the last-minute invitation. Fred was simply beside himself when he remembered you’re all from New York. So glad you could make it.”

“This is incredible, thanks so much for having us,” Rich tells the man sincerely as his gaze keeps being drawn back to the stage.

“Glad you’re enjoying yourselves. We’ve always been big fans of playing here.”

“It’s quite the spectacle,” you muse. “I've never seen The Garden this decked out before. I mean, those lighting rigs alone must cost…” you trail off.

“Believe me, you don’t want to know,” Jim replies with a quirk of his lips. “If you’d all like to follow me downstairs, they’ll be finishing up soon, and I’m sure Fred would love to thank you for coming.”

Steve leaps from his plastic seat, “Yes, please!”

- - - - - - -

The green room is unlike any you’ve ever seen—rust-colored persian rugs litter the floor, the grey slate underneath barely peeking through. Tapestries and various paintings line the walls, somehow giving the usually sterile space a homey feel. Multiple buffet tables filled with every accoutrement imaginable are tucked away in a back corner.

The room is scarce of people for the most part. Crew members filter in and out, grabbing waters, some puffing on cigarettes as they wipe down their sweaty foreheads. A select few have migrated down from the skybox as well.

Lawrence plops down on one of the many leather couches, taking in the room. “So this is what it’s like when you make it?”

“Seems a little excessive even for a band of their stature,” murmurs Rich as if reading your mind.

The deafening roar of the crowd is heard from above, and Queen closes out their encore. The crew members who are now needed for the post set break-down hurry from the room as it gets quiet. You all sit there in near silence for a few moments until a light cheer erupts as Freddie, Brian, and Roger all enter the room, swaddled in thick robes and towels around their necks. They're breathing heavy, still radiating the energy from their set, knowing full well that it was a fantastic show.

“Thank you, darling,” Freddie says as someone hands him a bottle of cold water, glancing around at the people who are still giving the band a wide berth. He spots the group of you huddled out of the way. “Oh!” he exclaims with a clap of his hands, making his way over, “You made it!”

He kisses you all on the cheeks, leaving a ghost of sweat on your faces. “My gangly young saplings! It’s lovely to see you.” He locks eyes with you, a wicked grin on his face. “And you most of all, my little cottontail.”

“You were fantastic Freddie, thank you so much for thinking of us, really,” you tell him genuinely.

“And who have we got here?” a towering Brian May appears behind Freddie.

“Oh yes, may I present to you, Lo & The Limbs!” Freddie says, spreading his arms wide. So he does remember the name; you laugh to yourself.

Eddie pushes further into the group to immediately extend his hand. “You slayed tonight, man. I mean, really slayed.”

Brian returns the shake with a surprised laugh. “Why, thank you. I’ve heard your album, and I have to say, you all… slay as well.”

“Oy, you!” A disheveled looking Roger Taylor makes his way over to the group, people parting like the red sea before him. He marches straight up to you, his finger inches from your nose. “I lost quite a lot of quid, thanks to you.”

You shrink back a bit. “I’m sorry?”

“It would be like John to bring in a ringer at the last second. And after we’d already threw down our bets.” You glance at Freddie with a confused look still on your face.

“What a lovely way to welcome our new friends,” Brian throws an arm over Roger’s shoulder before turning to you. “We may have made a slight wager on John’s most recent Pop Quiz appearance.”

“Slight?” Freddie smirks. “My new Gucci loafers would disagree, darling.”

Roger lets out an incoherent grumble. “Well, he usually fucks it up, doesn’t he? That is until you snuck in there.”

“I’m… sorry?” you offer, failing to find a witty remark for the situation.

He heaves a dramatic sigh, “I guess you’ll just have to make it up to me. I’ve been looking for someone to help me bury the bodies, or do my taxes, or be on call if I perhaps fancied a shag in the middle of the night?” he raises his brows in an overtly teasing manner.

You let out a sharp snort. “Fancy a shag? God, that sounds so much better than “ya wanna go fuck?”

Roger chuckles heartily, “Alright, alright. It was touch and go there for a bit, but I’ve come ‘round. I like this one. She can stay.”

“Y’know, we made a bet of sorts as well,” Lawrence reveals with a mischievous grin. The men all look to him, intrigued. “How long Y/N could keep her cool around that bassist of yours. She failed miserably, and now we shall reap the benefits by teasing her mercilessly until the end of time.”

You swear your mouth couldn’t have dropped open faster. Really need to work on that poker face, you tell yourself.

“Someone was trying to be cool around Deacy? Are you sure you’ve met the man?” Brian laughs.

Staring blankly around, all you know is you need to get out of this situation fast. “I need to pee,” you announce loudly. Really, Y/N? “Excuse me.”

Quickly ducking out of the room before anyone can say anything, you lean your back up against the wall in the hallway as you collect your swimming thoughts. What was it about this band that made you get all dumbstruck? Truth be told, you weren’t usually a timid person. Sure, everyone had bouts of social anxiety now and again, but you navigated social interactions seamlessly for the most part. It had always been easy for you to make friends or crack a quick comeback at a joke. Teasing was a form of endearment where you came from. But ever since you’d entered this new world, it was as if you were a stranger in your body. Who happened to be almost mute apparently. You push yourself off the wall to find a bathroom, your mind still fully occupied by your inner ramblings.

“Points!” a roadie shouts at you, trying to get your attention as they push a cart of cumbersome looking sound equipment right into your path. Before you have time to react, two hands grip your waist and pull you back to your previous position against the wall.

Once again, you are face to face with a familiar chest. You watch as a light chuckle rumbles through it.

“I know it’s cheesy to say, but we have to stop meeting like this. Or do you make it a point to always bumble about in narrow hallways?” John pulls his hands back to his side as you meet his attractive colored eyes, amusement flickering in them.

“John. Hi,” is all you manage.

“Good to see you again, Y/N. Freddie mentioned you all might be stopping by. Glad you could make it.”

You try and will your new persona not to take hold, but all you can do is smile meekly at him. He regards you patiently, cocking his head to the side slightly.

“Did you enjoy the show?”

“Yes, very much,” you rush out quickly. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that before. The Garden’s not an easy place to play.”

“Thank you. You’re kind," he smiles bashfully. "The crowds in New York are some of my favorites. I wish we got the chance to spend more time here, but it seems we’re always passing through.”

“Am I interrupting?” Freddie asks with raised eyebrows from the doorway, a grin on his face.

John makes his way over to him. “Not at all. Just heroically saving Y/N from a near-death run-in with Ratty.”

“Sounds about right,” Freddie muses. “Now, if we’re all safe and sound, I’d like to get out of here. I’m positively starving.”

“Where to?” John asks.

“I want to go someplace real New Yorkers go,” he looks to you expectantly.

“Bun-bun?” you hear from inside before Steve pokes his head around Fred.

“Is your grandpa working tonight?”

- - - - - - -

Even John knew of Elaine’s. He’d hadn’t heard about it because the notable food, but rather the wide variety of clientele it boasted. Writers, directors, actors, and musicians alike frequently filled the establishment for the ambiance and lively conversation. Freddie would love it.

The large group enters through the wood door under a large awning, immediately hit by a wall of sound. The small place is packed to the brim. Raucous laughter can be heard from most tables as the patrons sardine together, shouting over one another. It had a certain charm, he guessed, taking in the decor of signed book covers and hand-painted murals.

“Bambina!” A small italian-looking maitre d' steps from behind the counter and spreads his arms wide as he engulfs Y/N into a hug. “You didn’t tell me you were stopping by tonight.”

“Sorry, Papa. It was last minute. Just in time for the 10:30 rush by the looks of it.”

An infectiously warm smile spreads across his face. “Do you see me complaining? You hardly visit anymore now that you’re running around the world with that guitar. I’m so proud of you,” he adds softly, kissing her forehead. “Look at these boys!” he greets the rest of The Limbs like family, clapping each man on the back with love. “Am I shrinking already, or are all you still growing?”

“Probably a little of both, Dom,” Eddie laughs with the old man.

“And there’s even more, I see,” he inquires, finally noticing Queen.

It was unusual for them not to be the center of attention in any given situation, all of them hanging back except for Freddie, who marches right up to the man and places a kiss on his cheek.

“Freddie Mercury, a dear friend of your Y/N. It’s a pleasure.”

He looks to Y/N suspiciously. “Are they musicians? You know what happened that one time. I had to pry Elaine off of beating that tiny Mickey guy. I’m telling ya, it was ugly.”

“Not Mickey- Mick, Papa. How many times do I have to tell you?” Y/N shushes him, looking a bit embarrassed.

Dom waves his hand at her, “Whoever he is, that kid owes me his life. I expect these ones to behave.”

Roger snorts from the back, “Not very likely.”

“We promise,” Freddie swears. “And might I say, I love the suit. Very dashing,” he adds on for good measure.

“Well, how else do you think I got this job?” Dom smiles at him with a wink. “C’mon,” he gestures for all to follow as he leads them through the narrow restaurant, to a long table in the back. “Enjoy, boys,” he tells them as he heads back to his post up front, kissing Y/N on the cheek before leaving.

“Come sit next to me, my love,” Freddie calls to Y/N, patting the seat beside him. “If any of your other family members are as outrageous as that man, I want to hear all about them.”

The group moves to squish in around the table. Roger silently catches John’s eye and motions to the seat next to Y/N. He quirks his brows at him, confused, but makes his way to sit between them.

Eddie has taken his rightful place next to Brian with Rich in tow, the three already in deep conversation about the current music scene. Lawrence and Roger sit opposite each other, tearing into the bread basket and chatting about the show. Next to Freddie, Steve is eagerly hanging onto every word he says as he chats to Y/N about her upbringing.

“I’m just hoping one day we get to do something like that, man. Our show on Sunday should be a pretty big deal, though,” Lawrence tells Roger.

“Where are you playing? CBGB? The Palladium?”

“Nah, we’re playing out on the island. Jones Beach.”

“Huh, Long Island. We’ve never been to Long Island before,” Roger ponders, intrigued. “What’s there to do on Long Island?”

“Well, do you like bowling? Strip malls?” Lawrence pauses for effect. “Bowling at strip malls?”

John lightly chuckles. An arm brushes his shoulder, and he moves back slightly as a large woman weaves her hands around Y/N’s shoulders.

“My little Y/N has come back to us! And surrounded by even more devilishly handsome men than usual.”

Y/N turns around in her seat to give the woman a proper hug. “Elaine! It’s been too long.”

“Let me get a good look at you,” she gestures for Y/N to spin as she regards her. “If you need help beating em’ off of ya, I have my bat behind the counter.”

Y/N rolls her eyes, teasingly, “Don’t I know it. I have a vivid childhood memory of you chasing Ron Galella around the dining room with that thing.”

She lets out a larger than life laugh at the memory, patting the young girl on the back. “Oh, those were the good years. So, aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friends?”

“Elaine! I’m hurt you don’t remember our beautiful time together,” Eddie teases her from the table's end.

“Shut it, Eddie,” she reprimands him with a point of her stubby finger.

Y/N turns to the group, spreading her arms wide. “Guys, this is Elaine Kaufman, of Eliane’s, obviously. Elaine, this is Queen.”

She attempts a half-hearted curtsey. “Your majesties. Welcome.”

Before long, Elaine has pulled up a chair as she cracks dirty jokes back and forth with Freddie, which has the rest of the group (and some nearby diners) howling in laughter. Y/N’s now-familiar cackle sends tingles through John’s body once again. She’s more relaxed than he’s previously seen her be. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, showcasing her broad smile as she looks on fondly, hands waving about whenever she joins in the conversation. Her face is mostly free of makeup and he catches the hint of a dimple on one of her cheeks as she glances over at him to share in a joke.

Freddie gasps as he catches someone entering the front door. “Is that Shirley MacLaine? Slap my ass and call me Sally, that woman does not age.”

“Come with me,” Elaine says, rising from her chair. “I think she’ll like you.”

Food appears without any of them having to order, along with bottles of wine Elaine insisted they’d love. John tentatively takes a bite of one of the dishes set before him.

“Oh god,” he blurts out upon tasting.

Y/N snickers beside him. “Bad, right? I recommend the tortellini if you want something remotely edible.” She pushes a plate towards him, snagging some for herself.

He gulps down water, trying to rid himself of the bland taste. “I would ask why this place is packed, but it seems I’ve already met her.”

“And you would be right. She’s a riot, but I fully blame her for my vulgar vocabulary,” she reveals, taking a giant bite of pasta.

“You and Freddie seem to have that in common.”

Y/N chews slowly as she muses over that sentiment. “That seems to be the only thing we have in common,” she says softly. He cocks his head at her in question.

“It’s just,” she starts, a somber look replacing her previously buoyant one. “Watching him on stage tonight. All of you actually. You seem so free, so comfortable up there. And Freddie is just magnetic, you know that. It’s as if he makes the crowd fall in love with him again and again with every song. I could never do that…”

“I find that quite hard to believe,” he mumbles, continuing on quickly. “Freddie’s a performer. Everything he does up there is for that crowd. Whereas I’m just a musician, I think. It probably helps that I don’t sing. It'll just take some time to find your footing. You don’t have to be both. You don't have to be either for that matter.”

She scoffs lightly, pushing the food around on her plate. “Don’t I? Ever since this all began, I feel like I’m some paper doll or something. People just dress me up and mold me into what they want. And I go right along with it because I don’t even recognize this version of myself if I’m being honest. So I just keep that mask on until I get back home and I can finally breathe. Because then, at least I don’t have to stare at a stranger in the mirror anymore.”

She breaks out of the daze she fell into while rambling. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t unload on you like this,” she catches herself. “I guess I just had a very different assumption of what my life would look like... I think I'm afraid of losing who I am in all this."

John takes her in, catching glimpses of his former self in her cracks. He itches to soothe her distress. “I can understand,” he tells her sympathetically. “Hell, I thought I was joining a band to play with on the side at uni and look at us now. Sometimes I still feel like I’m leading a double life. I tried to convince myself all this was just a job at first, but I’m sure you’re finding out quickly that’s not always true.”

Y/N looks at him intently, and it’s the first time he truly sees the depth of her eyes. He clears his throat before continuing.

“I've come to learn that the concept of home is a funny thing. For a long time, I held onto the idea of it that I always had for myself, but it’s harder than it looks with what we do,” he sighs, running a hand through his short curls, not wanting to dwell too long on his unpleasent situation back in England.

“But home can be anything really. It can be people,” he says, glancing at his bandmates. “Or even the stage, which sometimes I think is Freddie’s. Or you can be Roger, and make yourself at home wherever you go.”

They glance over at Rog, who is in the middle of an animated story, waving his glass of wine around as it drips on the tablecloth.

“So all you can do is find whatever that home is and hold onto it the best you can. And it might change, but that doesn't mean you have to," he nudges her shoulder with his.

Y/N smiles down at her lap. “Thank you,” she tells him quietly, still swimming in her own thoughts.

“Of course,” he assures, pausing to breathe- not used to giving long-winded explanations. Nervous that he’s pushed too far, he glances over, catching as her shoulders relax.

The restaurant was mostly cleared out by now, save for a few regulars sitting at the tall wood bar. The staff chats casually amongst themselves as they clean off empty tables for the night. Steve is giving Freddie details of the New York club scene, probably hoping to earn himself an invitation one day. Elaine’s regaling Brian, Eddie, and Rich with a story about two writers and a feud of accused plagiarism. Lawrence and Roger were currently attempting to turn their napkins into amusing hats for each other. John finds himself enjoying the young band's presence, their chaotic energy seeming to match Queen’s dynamic quite well.

The group collectively jumps as the music drastically raises in volume, the intro of Ray Charles’ ‘Hallelujah, I Love Her So’ pouring out.

“Oh god, no,” Y/N groans next to him as the waiters all turn their attention to her. Dom appears beside her with an outstretched hand. “Papa, not now, please.”

“Indulge your grandfather, Y/N,” he winks at her as she reluctantly takes his hand, pulling her to the middle of the room. John’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise as the old man springs to life, twirling his granddaughter around the room with ease. The pure spryness of someone that age was genuinely shocking.

“Oh, this is fabulous!” Freddie laughs as he leans his chin forward on his hands.

And it was. The staff cheers, hinting that this was a familiar routine for them. The rest of The Limbs sing along with the track, watching the two affectionately like old family.

Y/N’s apprehensive look fades away as she gives in to the fun, pure joy flashing across her features as she glides along, following her grandfather in the swing dance rather gracefully. She looks free, John thinks to himself, drinking in the true version of the young woman. She was dazzling as her hair fell messily from her ponytail and her laugh was louder than ever as Dom dips her low to the floor, her body bending with him. If this was home, he could see why she was reluctant to leave it behind.

He’s mesmerized by her every movement. She was still an enigma to him, each detail he pulled from her, just making him hungry for more.

You shouldn’t. You’re still married. Well, technically. Papers aren’t signed yet.

“Alright, I’m convinced,” Roger shouts at Lawrence. “Looks like we'll have to stop in Long Island.”

- - - - - - -

“Fuck, it’s cold,” Brian announces, burrowing further into his white windbreaker.

The Jones Beach Theater was tucked right up to the shoreline, causing the spray of the Atlantic to chill the air despite the summer heat. John had never seen a venue like it. It’s as if the vast sea acted as an extended backdrop to the stage, reflecting the stars and inky drape of the night.

The crowd didn’t seem to mind at all. They had been brilliant the entire night, singing along to every one of the songs and dancing in full force. It was perfectly clear how proud they were of their hometown heroes.

The Limbs themselves were a sight to behold from the wings of the stage. The energy from the packed seats had bled over, and all 5 members were indeed feeling it. They had been in perfect sync with each other the entire show, and John was certainly amused by their own way of interacting with their audience. It mostly consisted of them hurling humorous insults back and forth to each other in between songs.

Even Y/N seemed to be enjoying herself, despite her confession the other night. She had taken Freddie’s note that he’d given after seeing her dance and was now stepping out from behind the mic stand for her songs. She slinked around the stage effortlessly, interacting with the other members and the crowd, much to their glee.

“Before we say goodnight to you all, we’d like to leave you with a little something,” Rich calls out over the deafening cheers. “A lullaby of sorts from one of our favorites.”

Y/N drags a stool out to the center of the stage as Lawrence begins a somber melody on the keyboard. The audiences erupts in cheers and John recognizes it as a Billy Joel song.

She takes a seat behind the mic as she gazes out over the crowd. The exhilarated face she had been sporting all night was gone, a shade of melancholy in its place now.

Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you’ve been asking me

I think you know what I’ve been trying to say

Her hypnotic voice pierces through the now-silent crowd. The type of voice you immediately feel in your chest, as if it’s personally strumming your heartstrings. No one dares to sing along, afraid they'll miss a moment of her inflection.

I promised I would never leave you

Then you should always know

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are

I never will be far away

The familiar sight of lighters being illuminated flickers through the sea of people before them, casting a hazy glow on the previously faceless patrons. Their peaceful stares fixed on Y/N, entranced as if she was siren of sorts.

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be

Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby

Then in your heart, there will always be a part of me

Her voice breaks a bit, giving away the glassiness of her eyes. They’re not fixed on the crowd, but instead on the sky beyond them. John watches the panes of her face intently. She wasn’t singing to them, he realizes. This was to herself. Possibly to that image in her mind, she had confided in him, the one she was struggling to leave behind—her piece of home.

Someday we’ll all be gone

But lullabies go on and on

“She’s going to be something else, isn’t she?” Freddie asks, mostly to himself.

They never die

That’s how you and I will be

John watches as a single tear slips off the slope of her nose as she finishes, bowing her head.

“Yeah, I think she is.”

#john deacon #john deacon fic #john deacon imagine #john deacon x reader #john deacon series #angelofmydreams

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mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

Text

My mentor, my idol; Freddie Mercury x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys well here’s a new update. Now before you all read this next chapter of the Rock Angel I want to point out something, this is ANOTHER past chapter so for all you newcomers here, this takes place before you reader-chan become the Rock Angel (well truthfully for this chapter it’s a bit of both). Now on the BoRhap/Queen masterlist I’ve got this in order of how to read it so if you want to do a binge reading of this series that has helped me bond with so many users on tumblr in my 3 years since getting Tumblr, be my guest :)

Plus I’ve been wanting to do this chapter for LITERALLY FOREVER. To really show more of Freddie’s bond with you as the Rock Angel both before and after you become said Rock Angel. I REALLY wanted to showcase that so I hope I did for any Freddie stans out there ;)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@psychosupernatural

@waddles03

@simonedk

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queensdivas

@platawnic

@queendeakyy

@geek-and-proud

@kairosfreddie

@onebigfangirlworld

@naturalswifty89

@starswin

@isabella-bby

@labessieisallama

@bohemiansweede

@5sos-wdw

_______________________________________________________________

*Feb. 2nd, 1981*

It kinda felt strange not going back to the studio anymore. After a 4 month internship, I was once again back in college with that internship with Miami and Queen under my belt. I was currently working on some homework (now that Adam had been kicked out of the apartment so that he could live with that bimbo).

As I was writing out my answer to a question, my phone rang. I stood up from the living room and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

‘(Y/n).’ I smiled softly.

“Hi Freddie.”

‘Hello my little Rock angel.’ I shook my head at the nickname.

“So what’s the occasion for this phone call?”

‘What? Can’t a fabulous superstar call one of the best interns he and his bandmates have ever had?’

“Freddie you know I’m no longer your intern anymore.”

‘I know. But seriously darling. I miss you. We all do.’ I placed my hand over my heart.

“I miss you guys too. My days are quite boring now with just school and homework.”

‘Of course it’s boring darling because I’m not around you anymore.’ We both chuckled.

“You are so ridiculous.” I laughed.

‘But you know you love me.’

“I do Freddie. Very much. Truthfully, I wish the summer would come faster. I want to be with you guys again. To tour with you guys again.”

‘(Y/n) dear.’

“Yeah?”

‘You don’t have any plans this Saturday do you?’

“I mean I was gonna study for an exam I’ve got next Tuesday, why do you ask?”

‘Now I don’t want you to ask any questions, but come over to my place for a while. I want to do something.’

“Freddie what are you planning?”

‘I just told you, you can’t ask any questions!’ He chuckled. I shook my head.

“Right sorry. Umm……I don’t know Fred, I mean this exam is pretty important to this class.”

‘Come on. To make up for it I’ll send Brian and Deacy over to your place on Sunday to help you study.’ I did an internal debate in my head, weighing the pros and cons before I finally said.

“What time do you want me to come over?” I heard him cheer on the other side of the phone before he told me to be at his house at exactly high noon. I agreed and with that he reminded me to not be late or else he’d have Roger tickle me till the next generation.

The week went by fairly quickly and soon it was Saturday. I was thankful that this time around we had some sunny weather (between the cloudy or rainy weather, sunny days are rare in the mid-winter here in England). So I grabbed my keys and my helmet and proceeded to head out to Freddie’s place.

It took a while to get there (thanks London traffic) but just 2 minutes till noon, I finally arrived at Freddie’s place at Garden Lodge.

After getting access into the gate and parking my bike at the entrance, I walked across the front garden and walked up to the front door. I rang the doorbell and soon opening the door was the frontman himself.

“Ahh (y/n) darling. You managed to just get here just in the nick of time. I was just about to call blondie and let him know his new task.”

“Hilarious Fred.” I sassed back sarcastically as he allowed me inside.

I was—amazed at the inside of it. It was—huge! But beautiful. Like those mansions you see on the telly or in a James Bond film. There were expensive vases standing on a few pillars, tons of artwork and architecture that looked like they came out from ancient Japan, and almost everywhere there was some hint of yellow coloring in the walls.

Suddenly I felt something rub against my leg. I looked down and there was an orange tabby cat at my feet. He sniffed my right foot before rubbing his head against it and collapsing on the floor as he continued to rub against my shoe.

“Oscar, behave yourself we have company!” Freddie scolded. “I’m so sorry darling Oscar’s been getting this habit of wanting to rub up against people’s feet.”

“It’s no trouble at all Freddie, really.”

“I—I hate to ask this but you aren’t—allergic to cats are you?”

“Oh no not at all. I love cats.” I knelt down which startled Oscar for a second. I reached my hand out for him and he gently sniffed it before going in and rubbing against my finger, begging to be petted.

“Oh that’s good. I really do hate having to lock them up whenever I have guests that are allergic. Tiffany and Romeo especially hate it. Always wanting to mingle with everyone they meet, so don’t be surprised if they come up to you and want to sleep on your lap.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“Now then, if you’ll follow me we can begin our training.” He walked off without another word. Wait what?

“Training?” I said as I stood up following behind Freddie.

We now stood before a large music room with a grand piano (the very piano that goes on tour with them), a record player in the corner with a bunch of vinyl’s surrounding it.

“Freddie? Fred? Did-did you just say training?”

“Yes my darling, your training begins now.”

“What training?”

“What training?” he mocked me in a posh tone before stating firmly again, “Your rise to stardom training of course.”

“What?”

“Am I going deaf or something? I said—”

“No I heard you Fred, it’s just…..why?”

“Because (y/n) dear, you once said it was your dream to one day be amongst the greatest rock and rollers.”

“Yeah. A dream. Only in my dreams will that happen.”

“You sell yourself short darling.”

“No Fred, I’m logical about this. Because I know it’s true. I—can you honestly see someone like me up on stage?” his brow furrowed at my statement.

“Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the bathroom where a large mirror stood over the vanity. “Look in the mirror and tell me who you see?”

“I see you.”

“Alright smartass, besides the fabulous me.”

“I—I see a girl who has too much imperfections, who sees why her douche of an ex-boyfriend dumped her for a slutty bimbo, and……”

“Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!” he tutted. “What was that?”

“The truth?” I said perplexed.

“No. That. That was bullshit. That’s not what I see when I look at you.”

“And just what do you see?” I demanded. Freddie pressed himself against me, leaning his head on top of mine as his arms wrapped around me.

“Who I see before me; is a strong young woman.” I scoffed. “I’m serious darling. You have been through so much shit in your life and yet you still stand before the world with your head held high and your heart open. Anyone who started off like you would’ve ended up either as a delinquent or cold-hearted. But you—you’ve managed to hold on to your sanity.”

He removed himself from me and continued as he now began to brush my hair back and even braid a few strands together.

“Not only that but I see a woman who can change the way music can be.”

“You really think so?”

“Trust me darling. You could be the next Gladys Knight, Stevie Nick, Aretha Franklin, you know how much I love Aretha. You could be up in the big leagues with them. Pouring your heart and soul out to the world through your songs. Showing people that even through hardships, they can still find the light at the end of the tunnel.” He finished the braid and placed his hands on my shoulders as he leaned his head against mine once more.

“But how can I when I can barely stand before you and the guys when you asked me to sing ‘Set it all free’ for you guys?”

“That takes time. Believe me darling you think that Queen’s first gig was with the number of people we’ve got now? Oh no. Every good performer starts off small before gradually getting bigger and bigger. And any artist that says they weren’t scared at their first gig, is a dirty, rotten liar. Back when Queen had their first gig in Truro city hall, I was scared shitless.”

“Get outta town.”

“No, no it’s true. You ask Rog and he’ll tell you that I nearly forgot the lineup for the songs we were going to sing. And Brian will tell you that I mixed up some of the lyrics to Keep yourself alive.” I shook my head.

“I don’t believe you.”

“But it’s true though.”

“But you always seem so confident on stage Fred. I—I’d give anything to have that kind of bravery on stage.”

“Well darling, believe it or not I’m not like that all the time.”

“Okay now I know you’re lying. I’ve seen how you act—”

“Ah tut, tut, tut. That’s only because I act that way towards people I really trust. Which includes you. Any other time like for interviews or TV appearances, all I want is to just go home and be with my furbabies.” I turned to fully face him and I asked him.

“Then how do you do it? How can you find the courage to get up on that stage almost every night?”

“Because of the audience. Most performers want to just put on a show but not make every single person out there a part of it. To make them feel like they too can influence the performance. As Queen, we make them feel like we belong to them and not the other way around. Plus it gives them a chance to get a taste of the heavens whenever we’re on stage.”

God……never would I guess that the Freddie Mercury could be a shy person, only to reveal his fun side to only those he was really close to and trusted with his life.

“Now darling answer me this; what helps you break out of your shell? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” I looked down embarrassed.

“You’ll probably think it’s silly.”

“Try me.” He challenged. I looked up at him and his brown eyes shined with a serious intent. I exhaled heavily and muttered.

“It’s…..it’s dancing.”

“Dancing?” he questioned.

“Yep. Specifically when I can sing and dance.” Then the worst thing I had imagined came true, Freddie actually began laughing. I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “You said you wouldn’t laugh!”

“I’m sorry darling. Believe me I’m not laughing at you.” he said through his giggles.

“Then why are you still doing it?!”

“Because you and Deacy are more alike than you give yourself credit for.” I then let out a couple of coughs into his fist trying to rid of his laughter. “He told me the same thing comforts him whenever we go up on stage. Why do you think he does all those funky little dance moves of his? And you have seen him at parties right? Get some alcohol into him and a disco beat and you’ve got the concoction for Freaky Disco Deacy.”

I softly laughed to myself remembering all the times when Deacy did get a little shitfaced and he’d be dancing all crazily. Guess the two Leicester siblings have a lot more in common with each other.

“Now darling, what songs get you on your feet?”

“Well, I have always been a fan of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Don’t you worry about a thing’. I guess it’s the Latin vibes he puts into the song. Back then I never believed an artist could take another culture into their music, that’s really what inspired me to get into music in the first place.”

“But we do that too darling remember?”

“Well yes but to be fair the song came out before ‘A Night at the Opera’ when you guys really took in Opera, Folk song, and hard rock.” Freddie shrugged in agreement.

“Okay, so let me hear you sing it.”

“What?”

“You heard me darling.” God he really was persistent. But there’s no way out of this. I walked towards the piano and I said as I pointed out to it.

“May I…..”

“Absolutely darling.” I sat down at the bench and had an inner fangirl moment. Seriously how many people, like me, can say that you’re allowed to play Queen’s tour piano?

I played a couple of keys trying to find the right range I wanted to sing the song in. Tuning the piano as best I could before I took a deep breath and slowly began playing a ballet like-introduction. I turned to Fred who came to sit down beside me and he nodded telling me to start singing.

Softly I began singing the first verse of the song.

Play video

Everybody's got a thing But some don't know how to handle it Always reachin' out in vain Just takin' the things not worth having

But don't you worry 'bout a thing Don't you worry 'bout a thing, mama 'Cause I'll be standin' on the side When you check it out

“Not bad for a ballet introduction to the song, but now really give me that Latin spice you love about the song.”

“Fred…..”

“No buts darling, show me those mini-Deacy moves!” he quickly raced over to his record player and took a blank record on it and insert it on the vinyl player and soon a familiar record began playing.

Yes it was like the original Stevie Wonder record but it had a more upbeat rhythm to it. This was actually a record that I had made around my first year at college for an exam. The assignment for the final was to take a song and make our own spin to it without fully replicating the song itself. So I had picked Don’t you worry bout a thing and I managed to get a B+ as the final grade.

“Wait….how did you get this?!” I asked. “Did you steal this from my record collection!?!”

“You wound me darling of course I didn’t. It was Brian.” I glared at him. “Okay so Rog and I might’ve played it at your house last time you invited us over and he might’ve swiped it secretly so we could listen to it more. But darling this is brilliant and how dare you not share with us that you already made a spin of a fairly good song! So in truth it’s your fault it got borrowed.”

“You guys are gonna give me grey hairs very early.” I muttered.

“Don’t be so dramatic darling. You’re going to be an ageless beauty. Now stand up and give me your best moves. Less you want me to join you!” He pulled me up from the bench and spun me around till once again my back was against his front.

“No! Okay Fred I’ll—I’ll do something. But it’ll be……awkward actually performing my version in front of someone.”

“Little piece of advice for you darling that I once gave Deacy when he first joined Queen, for now pretend I’m not even here. Just allow the music to take control. Perform as you would in your bedroom. There’s no judgement from me.”

He spun me once again so that now I was away from him and he sat down at once of the loveseats near the piano. As the next verse began to play, I felt the music take over my body as my hips began to slowly shake from side to side and I sung the next verse.

This time feeling a bit more confident as my dancing became ore confident. I even threw my voice around from upper to lower register on the vocalizations. Swinging my hips, sashaying my shoulders and moving my head around.

They say your style of life's a drag And that you must go other places Just don't you feel too bad When you get fooled by smiling faces

Don't you worry 'bout a thing Don't you worry 'bout a thing, baby 'Cause I'll be standing on the side When you check it out When you get off your trip

Don't you worry 'bout a thing Don't you worry 'bout a thing My dancing continued to get more passionate as my version of my favorite Stevie Wonder song began to take over me and I really tested my voice to hit the high soprano range I was once praised at during my last few years of secondary school.

When I reached the vocalization part of it, I just let my voice waver both up and down before finally hitting the highest note I could reach.

Everybody needs a change A chance to check out the new, yeah You're the only one to sees The changes you take yourself through Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, ooh!

In the future I’ll never know how it happened, but somehow I had managed to break a glass flower vase that sat at the other end of the room. As soon as we both heard that vase burst, I stopped singing and let out a shriek of fear.

“Oh my god Fred I-I-I-I’m sorry I’ve never once hit that note that high before I didn’t……”

“Seems Rog better watch out, there’s a new dog whistle register in town. And her name is (Y/n) (l/n)!” he jumped up from his seat and twirled me around in his arms.

“Freddie, Freddie put me down!” I laughed out. “So you’re not mad at your broken vase?”

“Oh never mind that darling, I just bought it cause it looked good, what’s really important is those secret pipes of yours that you have been hiding from us! Are you certain you’re not some ethereal being in human form?”

“No Freddie I’m all mortal.”

“Fuck, cause I swear it was really like listening to an angel. And your dancing ugh! Darling those people who call themselves experts especially in the Latin style of dancing better watch out. Both in his generation and in generations to come.”

“Stop it, you’re making me flustered!” I shied away.

“Never darling. I only speak the truth. You’ve got the moves, the talent, the skill, a little more work on the self-confidence and soon enough you’ll be up performing on stage in no time.”

“You really think so?”

“Darling, by the time you reach stardom, Stevie Wonder himself will be calling you up to perform his song with you together. Now what say we keep working on your stage presence?”

“Sure!”

“That’s my rock angel!” after embracing each other tightly, Freddie soon taught me all that he knew about how to command your audience and interact with them. How to make sure each one of them was just as special as the people in the first 4 rows were.

And how to most of all, have fun on stage.

*FF fall of 1981*

Freddie must’ve been psychic or something because shortly after everyone knew of the Rock Angel, and after fully performing my version of Stevie’s song. One guest at the part happened to be one of the Saxophone players for Stevie Wonder himself.

On a little show in America known as Saturday Night Live, Stevie Wonder was asked to be the special guest performer but he had asked the show that if it would be okay if two performers could play. NBC agreed and that’s when I got the call to perform alongside the man himself.

It was in the middle of a live show and I decided that for this special performance, I wanted to fully embrace the Latin vibe this song had.

So I was wearing a red bodysuit. It was skin tight and it exposed my stomach in a diamond shape from my ribs to my lower stomach. The suit was dazzling with sparkles, the sleeves crossed over around my neck in an X and I wore high heeled shoes that were used in Latin dance competitions.

My long hair was volumized and moussed up, and my eyes were given some special red sparkles to make my eyes pop. It was like I was a full Latin dancer performing on stage.

As I sang the rest of the song, I had finally gotten my whole body into the dancing and I got the audience to sing along to the last part (they had also been clapping along the entire song). I would occasionally look towards Stevie Wonder at the electric piano, and all he had was a wide smile spread across his face.

At the ‘papa-papa’s’ I soon began to do a Cha-Cha step backwards while having my hands up like I was in a boxing position. I would move my front arm to the beat two times before Cha-Chaing to show my other side and doing the same thing.

The audience was loving it as I made my dancing as sassy as I could, doing the wave with my shoulders and doing that sassy head movement.

Don't you worry 'bout a thing (A-a-ayy) Don't you worry 'bout a thing (A-a-ayy) Don't you worry 'bout a thing (A-a-ayy) Don't you worry 'bout a thing (A-a-ayy)

Oh! Pa-pa-p, pa-pa-pa-pa Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa Pa-pa-p, pa-pa-pa-pa Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa

Don't you worry Don't you worry 'bout a thing, mama

'Cause I'll be standin' (I'll be standin' for you) Ooh, ooh, whoa Don't you worry 'bout a thing!

After hitting out that high note, and throwing my head back striking a pose the entire studio audience, the actors and even some of the stagehands were applauding for me. Through my heavy breathing, I looked around to see the audience applauding as loudly as they would at a concert arena, I turned to Stevie who clapped along with his backup band and backup singers.

Stevie came down to me and that’s when the guest host came up and closed off the show.

“Stevie Wonder and the rising star of England, (Y/n) (l/n) the Rock Angel! That is it for our show I’m Bernadette Peters, goodnight everyone!” I hugged both Stevie and Bernadette who both congratulated me on a job well done.

*Freddie’s POV*

As the credits rolled on the TV screen, I winked and said.

“That’s my Rock Angel.”

“Not bad for her first TV performance.” Deacy said.

“I just hope she doesn’t fall off the rock wagon and end up as one of those pop divas.” Roger said.

“Oh you rotter, let her be what she wants to be.” I bragged.

“She did phenomenal though. And with Stevie Wonder no less. He’s particularly picky about who sings his songs.” Brian said.

“Indeed.” Another voice spoke up. We all turned around and coming into the room was his majesty David Bowie. “So….that was the Rock Angel you never cease to stop talking Freddie?” he asked.

“It is indeed. What did you think of her David dear?” I asked.

“She’s talented. Far beyond her years.” He said with a grin.

“She’s our little protégé.” Said Brian.

“Oh no, no, no, no. She’s much too good for you lot.” David teased.

“Boys, we’re ready to continue with the song. David, we can start with your part first.” Said one of the producers peeking into the reck room. Deacy turned off the telly as David left the room to record our newest song he was working with us on. All the while, my thoughts kept going back to our special girl who was already making a name for herself since her performance in Madison Square Garden.

My little Rock Angel. She truly was flying high into the spotlight, and I’m honored that I could help her gain the confidence I knew she had in her. I knew at this rate, she was only gonna get bigger and bigger.

And I was gonna be sure to see every achievement she would get because she was my little Rock Angel

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years ago

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 08/05/2021 (Billie Eilish, DJ Khaled)

Whilst this is slightly busier than last week, I am genuinely surprised with how little is actually going on here on this week’s chart, a lot less than I expected or predicted. With that said, the top of the chart is where our biggest story comes from and that is “Body” by Russ Millions and Tion Wayne taking advantage of a weak chart with its star-studded remix and peaking at #1 for its first week, replacing Lil Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)”. Not only is it the biggest hit for both of these guys and their first #1s, but it’s the first #1 for the entire UK drill genre, which kind of came out of nowhere for me since I think the song’s pretty worthless but with a TikTok challenge and streaming numbers that have even placed it in the American Spotify chart, it’s gearing up to be one of the biggest British rap songs ever. Let’s hope maybe this one doesn’t stall out as badly as “Don’t Rush” outside of the UK. With all that out of the way, let’s start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

Our only new arrival from last week’s UK Top 75 (which is what I cover), “Come Through” by H.E.R. featuring Chris Brown, is gone on the next off of the debut. Well, at least we have more than one new song this week, as well as some interesting chart nonsense lower down, but also some notable drop-outs for “Mr. Perfectly Fine” by Taylor Swift, “Mercury” by Dave and Kamal., “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” by Drake featuring Rick Ross, “All You Ever Wanted” by Rag’n’Bone Man (which will rebound next week as that album makes its impact) as well as “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles finally making what seems to be its last exit. Our only return is in the form of “Confetti” by Little Mix getting a massive surge back at #15 after its Saweetie remix and the attached music video, though Saweetie doesn’t happen to be credited here.

We do have an interesting selection of gains and losses, as with the notable fallers – dropping five spots or more down the chart – we have “Titanium” by Dave at #23, “Wellerman” by Nathan Evans and remixed by 220 KID and Billen Ted getting ACR’d down to #29 (it had a surprisingly great run), “The Business” by Tiesto having the same happen to it at #32, “We’re Good” by Dua Lipa at #40, “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo at #43, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #45, “Don’t Play” by Anne-Marie, KSI and Digital Farm Animals at #51, “Calling My Phone” by Lil Tjay and 6LACK hit hard to #54, the same with “Up” by Cardi B at #59, “You” by Regard, Troye Sivan and Tate McRae shaking off the gains #63, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #60, “Heat” by Paul Woolford and Amber Mark at #66, “Solid” by Young Stoner Life, Young Thug and Gunna featuring Drake at #69, “Paradise” by MERDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #71 and, sadly, “How Does it Feel” by London Grammar at #75.

Where it gets a bit more telling about how the charts are going to adapt into the Summer is in our climbers as we have solid gains for “Another Love” by Tom Odell making another run at #60, “Sunshine (The Light)” by Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and Amorphous inexplicably at #57 and now we get into the top 40 where we have more potential future hits. “Way Too Long” by Nathan Dawe, Anne-Marie and MoStack is at #38, “Don’t You Worry About Me” brings the Bad Boy Chiller Crew their first hit at #37 (although the song is only ever worth hearing for that chorus) and “WITHOUT YOU” by the Kid LAROI returns to the top 40 at #30 thanks to a remix with Miley Cyrus who is again not credited by the Official Charts Company. Boney M. are granted their first new top 20 hit since the 1990s, even if it is just a remix of a song that went #2 in 1978, as Majestic’s remix of “Rasputin” is at #18. Our final gain is for a song first entering the top 10 thanks to the remix with Ariana Grande finally making an impact – yet once again not given the official credit by the OCC – as “Save Your Tears” by the Weeknd makes its way up to #8, becoming his tenth top 10 hit here in Britain. That’s not the only song to first enter the top 10 this week but we’ll get to that in due time with our... odd selection of new arrivals this week.

NEW ARRIVALS

#73 – “EVERY CHANCE I GET” – DJ Khaled featuring Lil Baby and Lil Durk

Produced by DJ Khaled and Tay Keith

Two of our new entries are from DJ Khaled’s most recent album Khaled Khaled, an album much like any Khaled album I found cheap and just dull. This record especially is just mixed horribly, with a budget spent exceedingly on getting big-name features instead of any worthwhile engineers to actually mix and master this 50-minute trainwreck. The album doesn’t have many highlights at all but if I had to choose some they would be the two debuting this week, the first of which is basically a Lil Baby cut, “EVERY CHANCE I GET”, with a verse from Lil Durk. Okay, so, yes, first of all, much like the rest of the record, this mix is compressed and just weak, with bizarre bass mastering and drums that sound like garbage, before we get to Lil Baby himself sounding even froggier than ever. I do think that gives the song part of its charm, though, as with a Tay Keith beat, it’s definitely going for a hardcore, old-school Memphis rap atmosphere, and with Lil Baby’s flow switches disguising paranoid lyrics about the typical gunplay and flexing, it does effectively make a pretty intimidating listen... okay, well, it would, if DJ Khaled didn’t have to pop in to convince Lil Baby to “keep going”. We also get a single verse from Lil Durk here, mixed like he recorded his vocals in his bath to the point where it’s clipping against the bass, but delivering a King Von-esque flow that sounds pretty great, and admittedly more detail than you’d expect. I also love that silly “mmm-mmm” flow he uses at the end. I do wish a song like this, clearly supposed to be menacing, did not have the ludicrous personality void that is DJ Khaled on it, and it’s not like they need Khaled to collaborate together – or with Tay Keith for that matter – so I don’t really see why the dude doesn’t just shut up and promote his albums as compilations instead. I understand it comes from his mixtape days, but if this is going to be a studio album, treat it like one and just be quiet for once.

#72 – “Oblivion” – Royal Blood

Produced by Royal Blood

Royal Blood got the #1 album this week for Typhoons and admittedly, whilst I am interested in this band, I haven’t gotten around to listening to it, so I’ll take this album cut as a preview of what to come. If I am doing that, I hope to be surprised by whatever else that album has in store as I’m not really a fan of this. That eerie choppy guitar loop being immediately crushed by this heavily distorted riff and stiff percussion just does not sound unique or interesting, especially if Mike Kerr is going to sound this soulless. The build towards the chorus feels pretty pathetic and unwarranted, and said chorus is just not catchy, before we get to content about how he knows his fate through how arrogant he’s been and he deserves what’s coming to him. I mean, sure, but there’s nothing that makes it obvious that these guys don’t care about what’s coming to them given the pained vocal delivery and monotonous instrumental. It doesn’t feel exciting, rebellious or whatever emotion this tries and fails to capture, just stiff and staggered in its execution. This does make sense for Royal Blood but seems to me like they’re resting way too heavily on ideas ran through the soil at this point. With all that said, this isn’t bad at all, just not as great as those other singles have been from the record. I think I’d be more forgiving if it didn’t come off as a Queens of the Stone Age tribute act writing “originals” that bomb at their shows.

#56 – “love race” – Machine Gun Kelly featuring Kellin Quinn

Produced by Jeff Peters, Jared Gudstadt and Travis Barker

I guess this might actually be a rock-heavy week – not that I’m complaining about more of a rock presence on the chart but God, I wish it wasn’t coming from MGK. I’ll have some choice words to say about this guy’s last attempt at a pop-rock hit by the end of the year, probably, but at least for this song he brought on someone with some kind of legitimacy. Kellin Quinn is the frontman of post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens, one of the most successful bands in their genre but not one unlike others that grew out of the metalcore-infused pop rock to anything more unique or experimental. With that said, Quinn is barely here and other than Travis Barker’s typical explosive drums, MGK is the biggest presence here in his raspy but borderline unlistenable vocal tone that I just can’t stand, especially if it’s going to stretch out “run” as long and as far as he did in that longing, desperate chorus. MGK barely even lets Kellin Quinn have his own verse, registering him as backing vocals throughout the entire song, dampening his vocals that sound a lot more unique and enthused, especially when he starts screaming. That bridge did give me trancecore flashbacks – not that I’m complaining if I’m fully honest – so I’ll admit the part of me that eats up emo-pop garbage did let this grow on me a bit, but, man, without a guitar solo to distract from pretty awful lyrics (not that I’d expect much more from this artist or genre) and without really letting Quinn loose on the vocals, it’s lacking a certain grit and punch I expect from post-hardcore. The song did, however, indirectly remind me of New Found Glory, for which I am thankful for.

#53 – “I DID IT” – DJ Khaled featuring Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby and DaBaby

Produced by Ben Billions, Joe Zarrillo, DJ 360, Tay Keith and DJ Khaled

You wouldn’t expect an artist line-up like this to continue this trend of rock in this week’s new arrivals, but you’d be surprised, and personally I’m pretty happy with how much rock seems to be creeping up back into the public consciousness as if there’s one thing I got back in touch with the most over lockdown, it was the rock music I was raised on and it led to me even further appreciating a genre I had kind of lost touch with over the years out of just a lack of interest. With that said, this isn’t a rock song per se, but it does heavily and lazily sample a classic like much of this Khaled album, going for “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos. I’m not going to lie, either, it sets up a pretty effective back-bone for a trap banger about being awesome, especially with those squealing riffs in the chorus. Oh, yeah, and the mixing is horrible as expected, but to be honest to me it does not dampen the boasting, anthemic nature of this track, especially with Post Malone being a perfect choice to croon that infectious chorus. Megan Thee Stallion has a pretty embarrassingly by-the-numbers verse over a switch in the beat that makes it sound oddly stunted, but she does have that swinging rock charisma that people like Lil Baby do not have. With that said, I think I’m at the point where I eat anything Lil Baby says or does, because the flow switches combined with his frog-throat delivery is just impeccable. Content-wise, I think everyone here realises they’re being squashed by the clipping beat as they just go off about complete nonsense that goes in one ear and out the other apart from Lil Baby’s misguided but still pretty funny line about how he contemplated going vegan but sees no point in it because he’s got ten karats in both of his ears. Sure. At least DJ Khaled as something to do as he... harmonises, I guess, with Posty on the chorus. DaBaby is as distant as possible from the microphone to the point where I can barely hear him, not that it matters when his verse is that basic and short. This is kind of a trainwreck in all honesty, but with four choruses and a beat this heavy, it’s hard to be annoyed by it. Overwhelming maybe but these performers are all characters by themselves and throwing them in this three-minute chaos of squealing guitars and trap skitters just fascinates me if anything. Does it count as a posse cut? I don’t know. Either way, this is hilarious.

#5 – “Your Power” – Billie Eilish

Produced by FINNEAS

Decidedly not hilarious is this new single from Billie Eilish looking to be a smash from that upcoming album which now has a track listing and release date, with this functioning as I suppose the true lead single and her seventh top 10 here in the UK. It’s a brave choice too considering the lyrical content which is a pretty scathing attack on her ex-boyfriend and their abusive relationship, making several references to the gap in age and power dynamic that played into something really distressing for the both of them but especially a young, vulnerable Billie Eilish who found herself helpless in this relationship because of that “hero” quickly revealing himself as little more than his projected insecurities. The song’s detailed enough not to detach itself from Billie’s personal struggles but also works as what I suppose is a warning, as it’s retelling a story all too familiar with many girls of her age at the time who end up in these really scary situations. It does help that the song itself is great, relying on these layered acoustic guitars to form some kind of dejected groove behind Eilish’s vocals, whispery and cooing as always but in this case way too loud in the mix for my taste to the point where it kind of takes me out of the song as a whole. With a better master that blends her vocal take a lot better into the guitars, maybe going for a fuzzier, dream-pop angle, could work a lot better but with that said, I do understand the purpose of making it feel this intimate and minimal because Billie’s honest songwriting calls for a delivery like this, even if she ends up sounding shakier or even mumbling at times as a result. This is a big debut for Billie for a song not prepared to do as well as it did given its content and sound that is not exactly radio-friendly and oftentimes requires more heavy of a listen than a pop song would otherwise. I do love that final outro as her humming careens off the gentle guitars with just enough scratch but I do question how abrupt the ending is. Hopefully when the album’s out, we’ll have a bigger picture to as where this single in particular fits in.

Conclusion

With only five new arrivals and not much in the way of anything bad, I guess Worst of the Week goes to “Oblivion” by Royal Blood but giving a Dishonourable Mention would just end up as dishonest. Therefore, Best of the Week goes to Billie Eilish for “Your Power” but – and I cannot believe I am saying this for a 3/10 album with only fluke hits – but DJ Khaled – and Lil Baby for that matter – get a tied Honourable Mention for both of their songs, “EVERY CHANCE THAT I GET” with Lil Durk and “I DID IT” with Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby. Now to distract from the fact I just did that, here’s this week’s top 10:

I can’t really make any healthy predictions for next week. Maybe we’ll get some songs from Lil Tecca, Rag’n’Bone Man or Bebe Rexha? Maybe we’ll end up with some fluke Weezer smash hit, who knows? Regardless, thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week.

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captaincoffeegirl515 · 4 years ago

Note

A, B, C, D, N, O, P, S, Z

Ahhh yay! So many questions! ❤️

Also lol I basically spent my day slowly writing out my answers in the notes app.

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

- Hardzzello. Currently my main hyperfixation! I just love putting the two together, even with different characters they've played. I also very much like Nightangel but lol I'm also very particular about the fanfics and art that I consume regarding that ship.

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

- Grami. Both as a platonic ship and as a romantic ship. Like I know they're close friends and care deeply for one another, but I never seemed to think of them in a shippy way until a friend pointed it out to me and how underrated the ship is. Now it's like my eyes have been opened and now I'm noticing how soft and sweet and affectionate they are with each other!

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

- R*ylo. Nope. Not for me and never will be.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

- Pixie/Harland/Frank. Okay here's the thing - if it had just ended slightly differently, then I would've enjoyed the ship. But the movie decided to go with that ending and it just felt so disappointing with how Pixie's character arc went.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

- Main fandom right now is the Queen/BoRhap fandom!

1. Definitely want more Rami in fics and art! I know people tend to focus on Gwil, Ben, and Joe because the three have been much more active in social media, (and certain other reasons). But c'mon, are you really going to leave out Rami?? The guy who brought Freddie Mercury to life in BoRhap?? That sweetheart??

2. I'm surprised that this needs to be said, but I want people to learn how to write Rami like an actual person, or at least try to base it on how he acts like in real life. Not sure if people still do this, but I used to see fics where they'd make him so unusually aggressive (bc racial biases towards black/brown men) OR they'd go the opposite route and make him super infantile and where he basically acts like a small child (bc apparently the only way they can think of to make a black/brown man not scary is to make him act and talk like a baby 🤢). Hopefully this has changed, but I'm not sure since I barely read fics by authors I don't know anymore.

Okay so this last one will be for the X-Men fandom!

3. More badass Kurt PLEASE! Enough of this uwu innocent bottom baby personality! Let him kick ass and flirt and be badass ffs!

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

- lol I put my music on shuffle and got Take On Me by A-ha, a song that makes me immediately think of Joe Mazzello solely based on the jumpy/funky/fun vibes of the music.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

- I just suddenly remembered how my friend reminded me about the BoRhap boys' age gap by saying that when Rami was 20, Gwil and Joe were 17. Then you have Ben who was only TEN. So like can you imagine an AU where they somehow met at that age? Just Rami, Gwil, and Joe panicking because they have this whole ass child right in front of them and they know nothing about childcare!

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

- aaahhh okay I will admit that I don't exactly understand this question. Like, an example from where? Canon? Fanfic? Why is there a prompts optional thing? Gah um okay I'll just answer it as me saying one of my headcanons!

Personally I think that Four from 6 Underground has ADHD based on his mannerisms and the way he gestures a lot and speaks fast and also because I relate to him and I also have ADHD, so there!

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

- I've probably said this before, but I am not over the similarities/coincidences between Queen and the BoRhap boys! It's not just from their looks! Like it's even down to their astrology with their sun and moon signs. And their relationships omg!

Like how Freddie was super close to John, then you have the decade-long friendship between Rami and Joe.

Brian and Roger were friends since the beginning of Queen and even until now, then you have Gwil and Ben who bonded over the fact that they're both Brits and can relate to each other more.

Then there's John and Roger's friendship and about them bonding more being the youngest ones in the band, meanwhile Joe and Ben's friendship is just such hilarious fun.

John and Brian have this sort-of friendship/rivalry going on, likewise with how Joe and Gwil pretend to fight over Ben.

Brian and Freddie have such an underrated friendship but it's obvious how much Brian cares based on how lovingly he speaks of Freddie, and it's the same with Gwil and Rami and how sweet and openly affectionate they are with each other.

Lastly there's Freddie and Roger being platonic soulmates, and while Rami and Ben's friendship may not be as open to public eye I can't forget the sweet things Rami said about Ben and how he called Ben the "glue" that brought them all together.

Aaaand I think I've rambled enough lol 😅 I hope you at least enjoyed what I let loose!

A-Z Fandom Asks

#asks #i know it takes me forever to answer but i love getting asks okay

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kristallioness · 5 years ago

Text

Primary care

Summary: Aang acts as a primary caregiver to Katara while she's suffering from the flu.

Word count: 10,168

Author's note: This one-shot idea came from a scene in the "My Family" series (season 2 episode 5). Susan, the mother in the family, was sick with the flu and she lay in bed when her husband Ben came home. He tricked her into thinking that he was gonna kiss her, but then he did something else that surprised her. So I thought how this would be really cute if Aang did the same to Katara. Now it's 10k+ words of Aang nursing Katara back to health. So.. much.. FLUFF!!! Here's an "official" illustration, too. Thanks goes to @thecaroliner for providing me with some ideas! There's a continuation from an old fic of mine inspired by @katarapy's post (yes, I'm tagging you so you'd definitely see this and know that you can read it any time you want). Also, I went to my very first health check this November and I was a bit anxious, but the doctor was really sweet and the way she talked to me helped me relax. She did something that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and, at the same time, soothed me. So, of course, I added a tidbit in the middle of a scene that I thought was already planned out here. It became cuter. Whoever guesses correctly gets a cookie from me. Plus, I translated some Estonian lyrics from a very beautiful song and wrote them into the dialogue. If any of you guys can figure out which sentence it is that Aang says to Katara, you've earned two cookies! *waiting with a tray of cookies*

----------x----------

Katara rolled onto her other side. She could hear someone coming up the stairs, faintly. To be honest, she wasn't sure whether she could rely on the precision of her ears right now. Given how heavy her entire noggin felt.

She opened her eyes and stared at the bedroom door as her husband returned from the kitchen. Aang had a mischievous smile on his face as he approached their bed.

"It'll be another 10 minutes before the soup's done."

Katara's stomach growled at the mere mention of food. She found it hard to keep anything down for the past day and a half. Sometimes she'd get sick from simply smelling something she couldn't stand thanks to her upset tummy.

"Mmm.. thanks," she mumbled, covering her mouth for a second to cough. Otherwise, she remained hidden under the blanket.

Aang began fluffing the pillows she was surrounded with while they waited for lunch. He and Yee-Li, one of the first members of the air acolytes, had been busy preparing a simple noodle soup just for her.

The airbender did most of the cooking, but the young nun was more than happy to help keep an eye on the boiling water and stir the ingredients while he went to check on his wife. She'd promised to bring the soup to their bedroom herself, even after Aang had insisted that it wasn't necessary.

Katara propped herself up on her elbows for a second so he could fluff the pillow under her head.

"I know what would make you feel better."

She quirked an eyebrow as she lay back down and her husband perched on the edge of the bed.

"Really? And what would that be?"

Aang nudged closer to her, running a hand over the corner of her mouth.

"How about a quick kiss?"

"Aang, no. You'll get sick, too."

As if to prove her point, another short coughing fit hit her. She turned her head the other way and held a hand in front of her mouth until it stopped tickling her throat.

"See what I mean?"

"Please? Just humor me," he begged.

Katara shrugged her shoulders, but played along. She closed her eyes and puckered her lips, slightly leaning forward to prepare herself for the kiss. She didn't expect a glass tube to intrude her mouth instead.

"It's okay!" Aang said when she clearly startled.

"I just wanted to take your temperature."

He caressed her cheek to calm her down. Katara stared at the thermometer between her lips, after which she giggled and sucked the tip further in so she could tuck it under her tongue.

"Well, that did cheer me up. Thank-sh!"

"You're welcome!"

He chuckled at the way she hissed her 'S'-s now. But he couldn't really blame her since she had that stick of glass protruding from her mouth.

Aang reached for the small piece of cloth on the nightstand. He dipped it into the bowl filled with cold water, then pressed the damp rag against her hot forehead. The cooling sensation helped ease her headache.

Katara shut her eyes and waited for the thermometer to do its work. She seemed so weak to him, ever since that fever broke out yesterday, along with the accompanying fatigue. Usually she was the one treating everyone else's ailments. But who'd be there to take care of the best healer in the world during her time of need?

She didn't even notice those five minutes go by when the airbender was already carefully pulling the thermometer out of her mouth to check the measurement. He barely got to fix where the silver line of mercury pointed to when she ducked over the edge of the bed and threw up into a wash basin.

Aang grabbed her loose hair so it wouldn't fall down in front of her mouth. Using a scrunchy to fasten most of it near the nape of her neck was a good call after the first time.

"There-there.. let it all out."

Those were leftovers from last night's dinner, which her stomach hadn't digested properly. He gently patted her back until she finished, or felt like there was nothing left to force back out. He rewarded her with a nice back rub instead while she remained dangling over the edge, waiting for more to come out.

Katara wiped at her mouth and climbed back up onto the bed, plopping down into the sea of pillows. Aang used some of the water from the bowl to waterbend the remnants of the vomit off the back of her hand. Then, he picked up a jug and poured some drinking water into a glass.

"Here, sweetie. Drink this."

While she was busy cleaning her mouth from the bitter taste, he managed to find out how high her fever was. 38.2 degrees, it was no wonder she felt so poorly. He didn't really notice how badly she was shivering until she'd sat up to drink.

"Are your chills getting worse?"

Katara raised one of her bare arms in front of his nose to show off her goosebumps.

"Uh-uh, I think so. My f-fever must be rising."

Great, stammering meant that it was about to get much worse for the next hour or two. Aang intended to stay by her side for as long as he could during this period. His fingertips rubbed the edge of their shared blanket.

"Isn't our blanket enough to keep you warm?"

"No. S-stupid thing's too thin.." she muttered under her breath and averted her gaze, annoyed that her body couldn't tell the difference between hot and cold.

The airbender scratched his beard for a few seconds before he flicked his fingers.

"I have an idea. How about if I helped keep you warm? Just until your fever starts coming down again."

Katara put her empty glass on the nightstand and gave him a slightly puzzled look.

"What do you have in mind?"

He stood up and pulled the blanket off the bed in one go, leaving her uncovered.

"Aang! Are you t-trying to make my fever worse!?" she exclaimed as she crossed her arms and pulled her knees up to her chest to keep warm somehow. Her anger dissipated when he wrapped his arms around her and the blanket fell down her back.

"No, I'm trying to make it more bearable for you."

Katara frowned and hung her head a bit while he made sure her shoulders, along with her sides, were covered. She grabbed the edges of the blanket to hold it tight around her upper body.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scream at you."

"Apology accepted."

Aang offered her a smile before he crawled onto the bed and sat down cross-legged right in front of her. He scooted closer and took a hold of her hands.

"Come here."

She inched forward until she got close enough for him to slip a hand under her thighs, the other one supporting her from her back. He helped her hop onto his lap, after which her body fell into place perfectly.

Her bottom fell into the empty space between his legs. She locked her legs around him, as if she was straddling him. At first, she wrapped her arms around his neck to embrace him. But when the blanket fell off, she instinctively snaked them around his chest instead. His red shawl fell down on her bare arms and he covered her bare feet with his long cape of the same colour.

"Oh, so this is what you had in mind," she remarked.

"Do you like it?"

Katara felt how he adjusted the blanket higher on her back and brought the edges over her shoulders again. Not only was she fully covered now, she was also being heated up by the warmth radiating from his body.

"Y-yes. Very much."

She nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes to take it all in. To take all the warmth in. But if she was taking it all in, she had to be giving something in return, right?

Shivers. Aang could feel her entire being tremble from every inch that touched his body. It was scary. He wished there was something he could do to make it stop. If only he had healing abilities like her...

That thought sparked another idea. He placed his hands on her back and began rubbing it in slow circles, similarly to how she'd do it with waterbending on a person's forehead to bring their fever down.

"Aang, c-cut it out," Katara interrupted him.

"What?"

"With the firebending. I'm afraid it'll make my f-fever worse."

"Oh, sorry!" he apologized and quickly took his hands off her back, as if he was close to breaking her spine or scared of hurting her if he held them there a second longer.

"Do you want me to cool you down with some airbending instead?" he offered, but he could sense her shake her head against his shoulder.

"No, just k-keep me warm."

"So, I should just.. hold you?"

"Yes. Hold me," she pleaded.

And he did. Aang hesitantly laid his hands on her back again to hold her close like she'd asked. He gently bumped his head against her own and let her be for a while.

Or he would've let her be if he hadn't heard a faint crackling noise behind his ears. That disturbing sound seemed eerily close by. It didn't take long for him to figure out the pattern he heard matched another one he could feel against his chest.

"Is.. is that your breathing?"

"Yeah-"

Katara couldn't even finish her answer before she had to cough and clear her throat of the phlegm. She glanced over her shoulder and spat it out into the basin, almost with the same accuracy as Toph would've done it.

"Do you want me to check if it's gotten worse?"

"No, not yet. Give me another 10 minutes.. P-please? This feels really nice."

She shuddered and hugged him tighter, her chin falling back on his shoulder. Aang chuckled and pulled her back into his embrace. She sensed how he planted a light kiss into her hair.

"Sure, anything you want."

Katara hummed at that. She enjoyed the silence and the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, keeping her safe. The only sound that accompanied them was her noisy breathing, and occasionally, her coughing.

Her breathing did sound terrible now that she was so close to him, chest to chest. More so that he was an airbender, and the way she was controlling her breathing didn't sound right to him.

Aang could tell she was burning up since she squeezed him harder once every minute or so. Besides that, her intense chills ran all over her body. He wasn't sure whether it was contagious or not, cause sometimes he couldn't distinguish her shivering from his own shaky movements.

"Don't be scared. I'm here. Doctor Aang will take good care of you, okay?"

His attempt at consoling her wasn't in vain. She mumbled something incoherent to him, then continued shivering. At least she'd heard what he'd said.

He wished there was a way for him to help her fight such a high fever. He settled for rubbing her back instead, without the firebending, to let her know that he's there and he could feel her suffering.

A couple of minutes later, the airbender looked over his shoulder when he heard someone coming upstairs and hurrying down the corridor. Yee-Li came to ask him if she should bring two bowls of soup, one for each of them. She slowed her pace and stopped behind the door, knocking three times against the wood before peeking inside.

"Avatar Aang, I'm sorry to disturb you-"

She was met with the sight of the airbender sitting in the middle of their bed, his wife cuddled in his arms and seemingly napping on his shoulder. Katara stirred a little after the disturbance, but her eyes remained closed. Yee-Li pointed a finger at the waterbender.

"Is she awake?" she whispered.

"Yeah, her fever's making her weary is all. Would you leave the soup on the stove for another 20 minutes or so and come back then? Katara wants to rest a little bit longer before she can eat."

"Of course! Take all the time you need. I'll be back in half an hour to check on you two, if that's okay."

"Yes, that suits us just fine. Thank you!"

The nun bowed to him before she left. Aang turned his attention back to Katara as she smacked her lips and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth into his collar. She really had dozed off for a couple of minutes.

"C'mon, it's time for your midday healing session," he declared and tried to get her to sit up straight, but to no avail.

"Noooo.. I don't wanna.." she whined and curled up like a baby koalaotter. Aang attempted to untangle her hands from his sides, but for someone who was sick with the flu and drowsy, she had a pretty strong grip on him.

"You're so warm."

"Thanks, but flattering won't work. You told me not to fall for it."

She'd also told him that she wanted him to examine her condition thrice a day - in the morning, at noon and in the evenings. That way she could keep mental progress of her recovery and teach him how to act in case her condition got worse. It was no secret that she took full advantage of the pampering.

"Just 5 more minutes, please?"

She'd already stopped stammering, so that was a good sign. And her chills weren't as frequent anymore either.

"How about until we hear the next bison growl?"

Katara pondered for a second, then agreed to his terms. She nestled herself against him and shut her eyes, trying to make the most of it. Barely a minute passed before they both heard one.

"Darn it."

Her husband stifled his laughter while she unwillingly pushed herself off of him and stretched her arms, releasing a long yawn. Aang supported her from her back while she did, then adjusted the blanket back on her shoulders after that.

"Feel better?"

"Thanks. A little bit."

Katara shuddered for a second, but continued to freshen up. She waterbended some of the water from the bowl onto her palms, then splashed her face with it. She patted herself dry with the corner of their blanket. Aang cupped her cheek once she'd dried up.

"Look at me," he coaxed. She blinked and stared into his eyes while he did the same. His thumb gently grazed her cheekbone, pulling her lower eyelid down a bit.

"Are they still red?"

He inched closer to her face to check her other eye. She looked around the room so he could see the sclera from all sides, but it didn't matter where she looked. Aang nodded.

"Yeah, they are. Do they still ache, too?"

"Mhmm," she hummed and nodded in return. He caressed her cheek with gentle strokes a couple of times.

"At least you're still a sight for sore eyes."

He earned a giggle from her with that punny compliment.

"Aww, I'm flattered. And since you think so.."

Katara searched for one end of her white waistband and slowly unwrapped it from her middle. She put it aside on the bed, then grabbed the collar of her tunic and, with tiny wiggling movements, slipped it off her upper half.

Another shiver ran down her spine now that she was only wearing her sarashi. Her long, loose hair provided some warmth on her back until she quickly pulled the blanket back around herself.

"It's okay, I'm in no hurry," Aang assured her. He rubbed her arms while she took a couple of calming breaths and the sound of her teeth chattering quietened down.

"Brrr!"

Katara shook the last of her chills out of her system. She took a hold of either side of the blanket and put it in his palms.

"Cover me."

Aang held it up high enough to hide her near-naked form from the surroundings. This was the smallest and narrowest changing room she'd ever used.

She stripped to the waist by pulling the sarashi over her head, throwing it next to her waistband. Next, she took a hold of either side of her tunic, slipped her arms through and pulled it back on, leaving her chest slightly exposed. Just enough room for his fingers to dance around on.

Katara adjusted the edge of the blanket over her shoulders again, after which she untangled the fabric from his fingers. Once she had a firm grip on it, she laid her hands on his shoulders, forming a makeshift drape around herself.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Aang grinned at her before summoning a stream of water, which he used to lift her stethoscope off the nightstand and bring it to him.

There was a lot of basic doctor stuff he could do, and he could do it well. At least, that's how Katara thought of him as a physician. Among other things, he'd learned how to tie a sling around a broken arm and bandage up wounds, simply by observing her. Her teachings of modern medicine compensated for his lack of healing abilities.

She watched him put the earpieces into his ears and warm up the metal by blowing on it and rubbing it against his palm. He pressed the chestpiece below the collarbone on her right side to listen to her heart.

As if on cue, she coughed a moment later. Aang did his best to hide it, but the crackling inside of her made him grimace.

"How bad is it?" she whispered, a tad breathless.

"Sounds like you've just finished running a hundred laps around the island."

"That's pretty much how I feel, too."

He chuckled and moved the chestpiece to her left, hovering over the second listening point. Of all the things missing from her usual, cheerful self, at least she hadn't lost her sense of humor.

"Your heart is beating nicely."

He didn't see it, but the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. She found it comforting when he told her what he could hear in a hushed tone. She guessed it was another manner he'd picked up from all the times she'd been his doctor. Or, healer, to be exact.

Katara slouched a bit once he began listening from the middle of her chest. But the movement unintentionally made him worry that something's wrong, or that she might need to throw up again.

"Are you okay?" Aang wondered. She didn't look up and simply nodded.

"Yes. It's just, when I bend over a little, my heart falls closer to my ribcage and then you can hear it better."

"Oh.. I didn't know that."

She smiled at him as she laid a hand on his own, the one that was pressing the stethoscope against her chest.

"Well, now you do."

Mission accomplished, she'd managed to teach him something new. Katara withdrew her hand when he moved a bit southward, but she didn't break eye contact with him. Aang noticed her still smiling from the corner of his eye and he couldn't help but laugh.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Nothing.. I'm just admiring how focused you look like. And, looking into your eyes helps me calm down."

"Are you sure it doesn't have the opposite effect?" he teased, leaving her with a slightly dumbfounded look on her face.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I can tell you it isn't working. Your heart's still beating pretty fast."

She pouted and huffed out a breath, which provoked another coughing fit. Aang rubbed her right side with his free hand while she turned around a bit to spit the phlegm out into the basin.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No, no-no.." she said with a wave of her hand, then coughed once to clear her throat so she could speak normally.

"I'm fine. You can finish examining me."

Katara rested both her hands on his shoulders to pull the drape back up. He took her word for it and continued by brushing her tunic aside.

She didn't look, but she inhaled a tad sharply when she felt him press the chestpiece gently under her left breast. He'd gone through the pattern in the correct order according to her teachings, finishing with the M-point, where her heart murmured the softest rhythm into his ears. Hence the letter 'M'.

Katara averted her gaze to her bare chest while Aang looked at her face. She'd been really pale before she threw up earlier, but now the blush on her cheeks began to return. Whether she was aroused or it was just her fever showing, it was a good sign that she was feeling better at the moment.

"Do you want me to check your breathing, too?"

"Mhmm," she practically pleaded. Katara let him snake his hand against her left side and spread his fingers over her ribs. She took a couple of deep breaths so he could hear how her lung sounded, and waited until he repeated the same on her right side.

Aang grinned at her proudly while removing the earpieces from his ears.

"Good girl. You were a very obedient patient."

He tucked her chest in by pulling her tunic closer together, then leaned forward and rewarded her with a kiss on the forehead. She released a short giggle and booped his nose with her finger.

"And you make an excellent doctor, sweetie."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and blushed a little.

"Thanks!"

"So did you hear any murmurs? Wheezing? Anything out of the ordi-"

Katara covered her mouth and looked away until she finished coughing again. Aang gave her some time to catch her breath.

"..ordinary?"

"No, not that I heard of. Unless you wanna check for yourself."

He offered the medical instrument to her, but she laid her hands over his own and slowly pushed them back.

"No, I believe you. After all, you have bigger ears than I do."

She pinched one of his ears as Aang blushed even more furiously at that comment.

"True, but I don't have the knowledge that you do."

The short fuzzy hair of his beard grazed her fingers as her hand skimmed over it and she began stroking his flushed cheek to comfort him. There was a sparkle that glinted in her otherwise tired eyes.

"You'll learn. You've been a good pupil so far."

"So, I still have hope for becoming a healer?"

Katara pursed her lips and stared at him from top to bottom.

"Mmm.. maybe not a healer, since you don't have healing abilities.. yet. But you have all the qualities of a good doctor. You're very caring.."

She rested a hand above his heart, her fingers scratching over the red fabric of his shawl.

"You have gentle hands. You don't rush your patient, and you helped her feel cosy and relaxed during the exam."

His smile grew with each compliment, just as his pride swelled in his chest.

"Aww, shucks.. Thank you, sifu healer!"

"But there's one more thing a good doctor does before his visit ends."

The airbender quirked an eyebrow.

"And what's that?"

"He prescribes medicine, or a specific kind of treatment to help the patient get better."

Katara glanced behind her shoulder and nodded towards the bottle of cough syrup on their nightstand. Aang picked up on her hint. He dropped the stethoscope on the mattress and bended a stream of water to lift up the bottle, along with a spoon next to it.

"Let's see if we can cure that nasty cough of yours."

He uncorked it and poured some of that special golden, honey-tasted syrup onto the spoon. He hesitated for a second and decided to have a tiny taste with the tip of his tongue.

"Aang, that's not meant for you!"

"Sorry, I can't help it! It tastes so sweet.. Okay, I promise, this next one's for you."

He poured some more to fill the entire spoonful this time.

"Open wide.."

She obeyed and let him feed it to her, swallowing the medicine with a loud gulp once he'd pulled the spoon out of her mouth.

"Good girl," Aang praised by running his free hand through her hair. She chuckled and laid her hand on his own, bringing it onto her warm cheek. She shut her weary eyes and let him stroke her for a minute, a content hum escaping her vocal cords.

That's when they heard someone coming up the stairs. Katara swiftly pulled one edge of the blanket over the other to cover her chest and make herself more decent. She smiled when she saw Yee-Li appear from the hallway.

"I hope I didn't come too early, but it's been almost half an hour.."

The air acolyte was carrying a tray of food in her hands, approaching them slowly in order not to spill anything. Her face lit up once she lifted her gaze from the tray to the merry couple in bed.

"Oh, Katara! It's good to see you up and about."

"I don't know about that.. I still feel pretty weak."

She released another wet cough, as if to demonstrate how sick she was. Aang held onto her shoulders while she bent over the edge of the bed and spat the phlegm out. Yee-Li knitted her brows in concern.

"I see your point. It's a good thing your husband helped me prepare this hot soup for you to help clear your airways. Where do you want me to put it?"

"Just put it on the vanity over there. We'll start eating in a minute," Aang said, pointing to the empty table with one hand while he rubbed Katara's back with the other.

"Sure! Do you need me to bring you guys anything else?" Yee-Li wondered as she dropped the tray off. The airbender had a quick look around, noting the food and water on the table, his wife's medical instruments and drugs scattered around them.

"Nah, I think we're good for now. Thanks for all the help!"

"You're welcome, Avatar Aang!" she said with a bow to him. Before leaving, she stepped over to his wife and tenderly stroked her head.

"Feel better soon, Katara!"

The waterbender giggled, but had to cover her mouth with the blanket when she started coughing again. She offered the young nun a grateful smile once she'd caught her breath.

"Thank you!"

After Yee-Li had given them some privacy, the two untangled their legs so they could move freely. Aang hopped up from the bed to go have a look at lunch.

Yee-Li had brought them two separate bowls filled with noodle soup, as well as two spoons and cups of tea. There was a single banana next to the tea. He sniffed either cup and could tell which one belonged to Katara. Everything on the tray smelled delicious.

"Okay, let's get you more comfortable," he declared as he stepped behind her. He piled a couple of pillows against the headboard, then helped her scoot backwards and lie down against the heap.

Katara watched how he fetched her ginger tea. She sat up a bit before he handed her the cup.

"Thanks!"

While she breathed on the steamy liquid and took the first couple of sips, the airbender had also grabbed her bowl and dropped the spoon inside. He perched on the edge of the bed and shifted closer to her.

"Aren't you gonna eat yours?"

"No, I wanna get some of this soup into you first. Your tummy must be really empty after, err.. spewing up last night's dinner."

Katara laid her free hand above her stomach as it growled. She agreed with a nod, then allowed him to feed her. Aang stopped and lifted the spoon straight up before he could.

"One more thing. As your doctor, I'd like you to show me your throat before you can have some soup."

She playfully rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, blowing a short raspberry to that. Her husband laughed.

"Good one, sweetie. But that's just your tongue. Open wide!"

This time, she did as he asked and let him press her tongue down a bit with the spoon.

"Is it sore?" Aang wondered in a more concerned tone, withdrawing the makeshift tongue depressor from her mouth. She shook her head.

"Nope. I would've been begging for tea a long time ago if it was."

Katara was telling the truth. Besides the fact that it didn't look red, she couldn't have sat still for so long if she had a sore throat. If she did and she was too weak to move about, she would've asked him to boil more tea. During her worst days, she could gobble down more than 20 mugs of tea in a day. 20.. whole.. mugs...

But Aang was satisfied with her answer, hence he finally began catering to her nutritional needs. He breathed on each spoonful to cool down the broth before feeding it to her, so she wouldn't burn the inside of her mouth.

"By the way, how high was my fever?" she asked while he was busy lifting more noodles onto the spoon.

"38.2, but that was before you threw up and started to have chills. We can measure it again, if you want."

Katara chewed on the noodles a little bit and swallowed before answering.

"Yeah, I do."

She placed her small tea cup on the corner of the nightstand and he laid the half-empty soup bowl next to it. Having pushed the covers off and brushing her tunic off her right side, she raised her arm a little. She gave him a sly smile, her eyes half-lidded as she watched him tuck the thermometer under there.

Aang pulled her tunic back on her bare chest and wrapped the blanket around her for extra warmth. He did feel sorry for having to stop her subtle flirting, but her well-being came first.

"Cover up, sweetie. Don't want you catching pneumonia."

Katara let out a short giggle as he tucked her in, after which she let him feed her the rest of the soup while they waited. She reached out her hands when the bowl was practically empty.

"Gimme."

Aang obliged, watching while she pressed her lips against the round edge and slurped all of the remaining broth down. She wiped at her mouth and belched.

"Sounds like someone's full. At least I won't have to hear the sounds coming from your empty stomach for a while."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked as she handed the bowl to him and he put it aside.

"I could hear your tummy rumbling when I listened to your heart from here."

He pressed his index and middle finger on the lower half of her chest, right in the middle between her breasts. That made sense, he'd been close enough to hear what was going on in her stomach.

"It was practically begging for food. You really had me worried."

Her brows furrowed similarly to his as she let him rub small circles above her belly. She rested a hand on his own and joined in.

"I just hope I can keep the soup down long enough to digest most of it."

Her husband leaned over towards the tray to grab the banana. He offered it to her, but she crinkled her nose and shoved his hand away.

"No, please. I don't think I can stomach anything sweet right now, other than cough syrup."

"Okay, but let me know if there's anything else you'd like for dessert."

"No, not right now."

She licked her lips as she watched him take a bite out of the yellow fruit. If her stomach wasn't acting up, she would've gobbled it down in one go. She offered him an apologetic smile.

"But.. thanks, sweetie. I appreciate the offer."

Aang grazed her flushed cheek with the back of his free hand while he began eating his own lunch. Once he was done with the banana, he grabbed his bowl of noodle soup and slurped the still lukewarm broth.

Katara used the opportunity to check the measurement herself. After about five minutes had passed, she pulled the thermometer out from under her arm. The silvery line reflected back when she slowly tilted it in her hands.

"Well?"

"38.0."

"Not much of a change there," the airbender claimed with a shrug of his shoulders.

She swung the thermometer in the air a couple of times to get the measurement back to a normal 36.6 degrees, so they could use it again the next time. She wasn't too happy with that result.

"I could've sworn it went down a lot more than that."

Aang pressed a hand against her clammy forehead to check.

"Katara, you have the flu, not a cold."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Oh? And since when do you know the difference between a flu and a cold?"

"You told me yourself: 'High fever equals flu, low brings a cold to you.'"

Her expression melted into a proud smile. She tickled his chin with her finger for remembering the clever rhyme she'd made up.

"Like I said, you've learned well."

The airbender looked away shyly, his grey eyes fixing on the remaining broth in his bowl. He slurped the liquid down in her manner and then gathered the dirty dishes back onto the tray.

He also grabbed the stethoscope from the mattress and took the thermometer from his wife's hand, placing her medical instruments on the nightstand to clean up their surroundings a little bit.

Katara had curled up in the meantime. She wriggled her toes, the only part of her feet that stuck out from the blanket. She didn't flinch, but she blinked and looked up when her husband laid a hand on her temple once more. He smiled at her lovingly.

"Hey.. do you wanna go take a shower? You haven't changed clothes today. It'll help you feel a little better. That is, if you feel up for it."

She shut her weary eyes and nodded into his palm.

"Mmm.. A shower does sound nice."

Aang gave her another peck on her forehead, then squatted down in front of their vanity and opened the drawer containing her clothes. He picked out a light blue tunic with the same pattern as her current one, along with a clean pair of undergarments and a sarashi.

Katara had already managed to get herself up and sitting while he arranged her changing clothes next to her on the mattress. He offered her a hand, but she refused.

"Thanks, sweetie, but I can walk by myself."

That's what she claimed, but her actions spoke louder than words. She groaned the moment she had to push her achy body up on her feet, and she nearly collapsed after her first step. Aang quickly snaked an arm around her and held onto her hand to offer some support.

"Oh, I guess not."

"You're too weak. Please, let me carry you to the shower. It's the least I could do."

Katara thought for a second longer, then gave in before her muscles could. He scooped her up in his arms bridal style and started walking towards the bathroom.

She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to steady his balance, but it didn't help much since they fell right back down in her lap.

"You must be really tired."

"What makes you say that?"

"You don't even have the strength to hold onto me."

She let out a quiet chuckle, which turned into a cough. Her heavy noggin fell against his chest and she closed her eyes to enjoy the ride. He'd left out the comment about her slight wheezing after the mild exercise of getting up from bed.

Once they reached the shower, Aang carefully lowered her bare feet to the ground. As she stood up, his hands remained on her sides, slightly tickling her while she attempted to move closer to the stall.

He wasn't fully aware of it, but Katara was a master at holding all of the discomfort in. Every single movement was making her body scream for her to stop and just go back under the blanket. Without his presence, she would've called it quits halfway down the corridor and plopped straight back into their bed. But right now, he was her pillar of strength, literally.

She turned the tap and found enough strength to stand on her own while he slipped her sweaty tunic off her shoulders. She pulled her undergarments off and threw them in the basket of dirty clothes.

She startled a little when her husband stood behind her and slid his hands up along her sides, all while the water was already running.

"Aang, what are you doing? You're gonna get wet."

"I think you forgot that I'm a waterbender, too."

He handed her a bar of soap, orange and peach-scented, after which his hand landed back underneath her armpit to support her. Katara began untangling his fingers one by one from her other side.

"I can wash myself," she protested.

"But you can't stand for yourself. Now it's my turn to beg. Please, Katara, let me hold you."

She ceased plucking his fingers off her ribs, seeing that he planted them right back onto their original gaps. She heaved a sigh in defeat.

"Alright."

Aang smiled, gratefully. He found the courage to take another step closer to her, even though his arms were now getting soaked with the running water. He didn't care. All he cared about was taking care of her.

And to be honest, Katara also felt grateful that he didn't leave her side. She loved the way his hands skidded along her skin as she bended forward to splash her legs with the water. It tickled when she stood back up and his fingertips softly squished into the slight fat on her belly.

He gave her more room when she squatted down a bit to wash her intimate area. While she was busy rubbing the soap under her arms, Aang combed his fingers through her wet hair and down her back. She gave him a sideways glance, along with a smile. He considered it as a silent 'thank you'.

Katara didn't take too long to finish. She didn't want her flu to get worse, hence she had no intention of staying under the water any longer than she needed to.

The airbender left her standing on her own for a couple of seconds while he fetched her towel from the peg. She used the opportunity to wring the majority of the water out of her hair, and waterbend herself drier.

The sudden lack of warmth that came from the running water made her shiver. Until her husband approached her from behind and wrapped her into the fuzzy indigo towel.

"Here you go," Aang murmured as he tucked one side over the other on her chest.

"Thanks."

Katara grabbed his hand and lifted it up to her mouth, leaving a tender kiss on the light blue arrow on the back. After he'd waterbended the soapy water out of his own robes, she let him escort her back to their bedroom.

"Let's get you back into bed. Doctor's orders."

He wasn't sure whether it was her giggling, or a wave of chills that ran down her spine and made her tremble as they walked down the hallway side by side. She could've sworn his hands barely left her sides the entire time she was up on her feet.

It wasn't until they made it to the bedside that he gave her some space to dry up. Having rubbed her back, Katara let the towel fall down, using one half to pat her chest and tummy. Aang took a hold of the other half and softly stroked her back with it, as well as her backside, just in case she missed a spot.

He hung the damp towel on the corner of the bed and watched as she started dressing up in her changing clothes. He inched closer once she was wearing her underwear, and carefully pulled the rest of her loose hair out from the binding straps of her sarashi.

Katara puffed her hair and stretched her arms as she saw him grab her clean tunic from the mattress. She let him slip her hands through the sleeves, tucking it together on the front, and waited for him to tie a white waistband around her middle.

"How are you feeling?" Aang wondered. She hummed in thought, letting him finish the knot on the small of her back to keep the tunic together.

"Refreshed, not so sweaty.. but still pretty tired."

Her answer made him chuckle.

"Then the shower was a good idea," he stated proudly.

Like an exemplary gentleman, he lifted the blanket and helped his wife climb into their bed. Once Katara had settled down, Aang reached for another drawer in their vanity.

"Do you want some peace and quiet after such a tiresome morning, or are you up for playing some cards?"

He pulled out a maroon deck of cards and began shuffling them, a sly smile decorating his lips.

"Because, I'm not sure whether boredom is a fatal illness.."

Katara snorted as she began laughing a little, but she had to cover her mouth once her giggles were replaced with coughs.

"N-no-oh.. it definitely isn't fatal."

The airbender dealt five cards for both of them.

"What was the score again? Four to two, your advantage?"

Katara had felt really awful last night, so in order to cheer her up a bit and get her mind off her upset stomach, they'd started playing cards. The catch being that, whoever lost had to do something pleasant for the other.

If Aang lost, she'd get to pick a chore or something else that he had to do for her to make her feel better. Given that the score was four-two, he'd already lost quite a few times.

The first thing she'd asked him to do was bring her the pair of yellow woollen socks she'd knit for him during their first winter together as a couple. Since Aang had lost twice in a row, the next logical thing she'd requested was a relaxing foot massage to stimulate the blood flow.

If Katara lost, she'd have to eat something healthy that would help her fight against that flu. The third time didn't turn out to be a charm for her. So she was half-forced to pluck a couple of grapes from the bunch he'd brought for her from the kitchen. And she unwillingly ate them all. Of course, he'd given her lots of praise afterwards.

Katara eyed the two fire cards tucked behind her thumb. A Queen of Fire and an 8 of Fire. The element of fire was chosen to be the trump card for this game. She had four cards remaining in her hands.

Aang defended her attack with another water card, then waited for her to add another one on the table. Or, on the blanket, to be precise.

"Don't have anything else to throw down?"

She hummed in thought for a moment before her fingertips grabbed the corner of the smaller fire card. Slowly tugging at it, she decided to put it on the table. The airbender groaned and picked up the entire pile.

"Ha-ha! You were asking for it."

"Yeah, I guess I was a bit of an eager lemur."

Katara released a short cough and, keeping in mind what he'd picked up, she chose that tiny air card for her next move. Aang defended her attack with ease and since she couldn't add any more, it was his turn again.

Now she only had two cards left. The Queen of Fire and a 5 of Water. Aang played a Jack of Earth on the sheets. She had to decide whether she'd take the risk and defend it with the fire card, or pick it up right away. She went for the risk.

Katara pressed a finger to her lips as she waited for his next move. But it never came. Aang looked at his hand a second time, then shook his head and let her throw those two into the pile of used cards.

"I win! You're the fool, again!" she cheered as she threw her final card onto the table. The airbender accepted his defeat with dignity and grace.

"Okay, okay.. so what do you want me to do for you this time?" he asked while tidying up the pile into a deck. The waterbender had a look around the room, humming in thought as her eyes eventually fixed on the floor.

"Hmm.. maybe you could wash the basin and refill it with some clean water? The smell is kind of making me sick," she claimed as she pinched her nose. She wasn't too fond of having to stare at her own vomit every time her gaze dropped to the bedside.

Aang agreed with her reasoning. He stood up and lifted the basin into his hands, already making his way towards the door when Katara tugged at his cloak to stop him for a second.

"Would you take the towel back to the bathroom while you're at it? Put it up on the peg to dry."

"Hey, no fair! That's two things at once."

"Please?" she begged, tilting her head a little. He started to feel sorry for her since she seemed so poorly. He couldn't say 'no' to her slightly reddish puppy eyes.

"Oh, alright, sweetie.."

The airbender dropped the basin and swiftly spun around. He cupped her cheek and leaned down to leave a soft peck on her temple. His thumb ran over the blush on her cheek.

"But next time you lose, you gotta eat two different things at once. Okay?"

"Okay," she murmured.

Aang ran his fingers through her hair before he went to pick up the towel. He threw the damp thing over his shoulder, picked up the basin and began heading towards the bathroom.

"And maybe you can take the tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen, too?"

"Katara-aa.." he groaned from the hallway. He could hear her quiet snickering.

"Alright-alright.. you can take the tray with you the next time you lose," she shouted in return, then plopped into the bed.

Speaking of dampness, the waterbender ran a hand over her forehead, wiping off a few beads of sweat. Something that injected more contentment into her sore limbs. Her fever was going down again, even if it was by a few tenths of a degree.

Katara pushed herself closer to the edge and reached for the small rag, dipping a corner into the bowl of cold water. She softly patted her face with the wet part to cool herself.

Once she was done, she carefully put it back on the edge of the vanity, among all their other piled up stuff. She pulled the top drawer open and wriggled her fingers through the narrow gap to grab her comb.

Her hair, especially the loose half below the scrunchy, was a bit of a mess after a restless night. She removed the scrunchy and pulled the hair loopies out of the bun, letting the entire mass of locks fall freely. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea.

There were several nasty knots near the nape of her neck, where the bun had kept everything together and neat. As she began attempting to soothe them out, the long strands from the sides and the loose hair loopies started falling in front of her eyes. She snarled a couple of times as she tried to brush them aside with the back of her hand, but to no avail.

By the time Aang returned, she looked like someone had been playing around with the octopus form.. on her hair.

"Wow, you look worse than before. What happened?"

"I tried to comb my hair, but it just kept getting more tangled up," she admitted, almost on the verge of tears. She lowered her head in shame as the airbender put the basin of clean water down on the carpet, right next to the bedside. The wavy reflection of herself only made her feel worse.

Aang perched on the edge of the bed and attempted to comfort her by stroking her head. He gave her a warm smile.

"Well, let's see if we can fix that. First, let me find your pretty little face behind these strands."

His smile grew as he brushed the loose hairs aside and revealed her flushed face. In turn, her anger dissipated as her vision became clearer with each stroke. She smiled back at him, gratefully.

"There we go. That's what I like to see. My beautiful, sick, but happy waterbender."

Katara chuckled at that. She averted her gaze shyly, letting him graze her cheek with the back of his hand a couple of times. She felt how his other hand manoeuvred past her fingers and grabbed the comb from her palm.

"Here, let me help you with that. Why don't you shuffle the cards for the next round, hm?"

"Okay," she agreed in a much calmer tone. She sat up a bit so that Aang could inch closer to her side from behind.

While her husband was busy untangling the knots in her hair, she shuffled the pack and dealt five cards for both of them. The element of water happened to be the trump card.

"Shall we play? Or do you wanna finish up back there?"

"Hold on.. just give me a second to tie this up. And then we can play."

He didn't have enough time to redo her hair loopies, so Aang fastened all of her loose hair into a wolf tail by using the scrunchy. He fluffed the thick bundle a couple of times before he stood up to sit back down opposite to her.

To his surprise, he couldn't get his eyes off her as he slowly fell onto the mattress and faced her. Katara took notice.

"What?" she asked, leaving him speechless for a second.

"Oh! Nothing, it's just.. you look beautiful when you wear your hair like that."

She patted around her head and touched the scrunchy up on the back.

"Like what? Like a wolf tail?"

A rather thick and long wolf tail, he would say.

"Yeah. You should do it more often. It makes you look fierce, like the rest of the Southern Water Tribe warriors. Maybe you could ask Sokka to borrow his helmet and uniform some time? You'd look amazing in it with this style."

Katara blushed a little bit more. Now that he put that image into her head, she couldn't get rid of it anymore. And she liked it. She looked away, a loving smile on her lips.

"Thanks!"

Aang picked up his cards, after which she regained her composure and did the same. They began playing the second round of fool for that day. And this time, the odds were in the Avatar's favour for a change.

He played the King of Air and watched how Katara defended it with a 7 of Water. He laid another king next to that one. The waterbender bit her lip and remained in thought for a couple of seconds before she defended that one with a 10 of Water.

"You got anything more?"

"Hmm.." the airbender pondered, then pulled out a card from the middle of his hand and placed it on the blanket, in the same row as the other ones. It was another king, and she didn't have anything to defend it with. She had to pick up the whole pile.

"Sorry, sweetie, but.."

Aang only had two cards left. He threw the Ace of Water on the sheets first, forcing her to pick it up as well. After that, he revealed his last card, a 3 of Fire.

"I win!"

Katara feigned a groan as she dropped her huge, losing hand in her lap.

"Well played, sweetie. You win fair and square.." she said, gathering up the rest of the cards into a neat pile.

"So I guess it's my turn to boss you around for a change."

The waterbender lifted a hand to her mouth, like she was preparing for the food wanting to come out of her stomach the wrong way. She gulped.

"What are you gonna force-feed me this time?"

"Oh, I have a few things in mind.." Aang claimed, a cheeky grin on his face as he stood up and began creating an air ball to ride down to the kitchen. Katara tugged at his cape before he could jump on the sphere.

"But nothing too sweet, okay, sweetie?"

He smiled back at her, laying a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I'll see what I can find."

And with that, he hopped on the air scooter and hurried downstairs.

Katara shuffled the cards around for a while, to get her mind off the fear of choking up everything she'd managed to keep down so far. She put the deck of cards away on the only empty corner of the nightstand.

The rumbling inside her stomach contradicted her thoughts. She was craving for all kinds of sweets right now. That darn organ just happened to be really picky when she was sick.

She was busy running circles above her tummy when her husband returned. He gracefully hopped off the air sphere and let it dissipate in the hallway. She eyed the medium-sized bowl and the jug in his hands.

"What's that?"

"Oatmeal with blueberries, and milk, if you want."

He perched on the edge of the bed and scooted closer to her, offering her the bowl and spoon.

"I thought that since you didn't have anything for dessert earlier, and everything that tastes too sweet makes you sick, then maybe this would be a delicious alternative."

She picked up the bowl from his hand and simply stared at its contents for a few seconds before she looked at him, begging for some encouragement.

"Just try it. I'll eat the rest if you don't wanna."

She gave him a faint smile, then lifted a small spoonful into her mouth. Both to his, and her own surprise, her face lit up.

"Mmmm!" she hummed before swallowing it.

"Do you like it?" Aang wondered, watching how she lifted a bigger spoonful this time and ate all of it. She nodded while munching on the oats.

"Mhmm! Thi-sh ish really good, sh-weetie!"

He laughed with joy and rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand.

"That's great! Now you can quit being on a dessert diet."

She giggled in return and lifted more spoonfuls to her mouth, taking the time to actually chew through the solid food and enjoy it for once.

"Now thi-sh ish the kind of dessert I can sh-tomach."

Aang felt proud. Proud that he'd managed to find something in the pantry and prepare it into a presentable and edible dish on such short notice. But more importantly, he was relieved that she was able to eat her meal without much reluctance. She really seemed to enjoy it, and he loved seeing her this way. Being happy.

He poured some milk on the oats when she asked for more, after which he put the jug away. Aang sat right next to her and urged her to scooch forward.

"Tell me if you start feeling sick, okay? I'll hold onto your hair so it won't fall in front of your mouth when you have to lean over the bedside."

She finished chewing and swallowed the mouthful to speak.

"I will. Thanks, Aang."

He carefully removed the scrunchy and let her hair fall freely again. Next, he began combing her hair into strands. Once the comb didn't get stuck in any bigger knots anymore, he could grab a thick bunch from the middle to roll it up into a bun.

Katara felt like she was being given a massage on her head. With each stroke of the teeth that ran along the right spots, a pleasurable shiver ran down her spine.

"Look this way," Aang coaxed her to tilt her head to the side. She blinked when his fingers came close to her left eye, but he styled her hair with utter care. From the corner of her eye, she saw him slip a blue bead through the thinner strand, fixing the tiny piece of jewellery up near her temple. He did the same on her right side, thus forming the two hair loopies, which he attached to the bun.

Before he could start braiding the rest of her loose hair, Katara used the opportunity to get up and put her empty bowl on the tray of dirty dishes from earlier.

"Do you need some help?"

"Nah, I'm good," she said, taking those couple of steps back to the bed. She did look stronger when she walked around, but the airbender still took her hand in his and supported her from her back as she climbed under the sheets. He joined her and welcomed her into his embrace.

"Aahh.." the waterbender sighed contentedly as she settled down between her husband's legs and rested herself against his chest. Her fever had fallen, she was wearing clean clothes, her tummy was full of yummy food. She could laze around the rest of the day for all she cared.

"Are you full?"

She answered with a loud belch.

"I take it that's a 'yes'," the airbender chuckled and rubbed her belly together with her. Katara released another hum.

"Mmm.. that dessert was so good. Thank you, sweetie."

She raised their entwined hands and brought them closer to her lips, leaving a soft peck on his tattoo. He lifted it higher to graze her flushed cheek.

"I feel as if I'm hugging a fireplace."

"What do you mean?" she mumbled while he ran his fingertips down the side of her face, tenderly stroking her temple a couple of times.

"You're so warm. I could be your thermometer."

"No offense, sweetie, but you wouldn't be the most accurate thermometer."

"I can be accurate enough. See?"

He touched her forehead to check her temperature.

"Diagnosis? Too hot."

Katara snorted and burst out in laughter, but it was soon replaced with another horrible coughing fit. She rolled onto her left side to spit the milky phlegm out into the basin.

"Feel better?"

Aang rubbed her back before she plopped back down against him. She hacked a little bit to regain her voice and get rid of the excess mucus that hadn't come out of her throat.

"Yeah. I'd feel even better if I had something to drink right about now."

The airbender obliged by waterbending some cold drinking water into her glass. Her cosy seat inched further away for a second when he had to reach for the glass, but she was rewarded with a refreshing beverage.

"Here you go."

"Thanks!"

Katara took a bigger sip and rinsed her mouth of the bad taste. She felt his cool palm land on her forehead one more time. She received a tender kiss behind her left ear after that.

"Can you sit up for a minute? I haven't finished your braid yet."

Some of her hair remained stuck between her back and his chest, but he needed more space to do the beginning of her braid.

So she finished her drink and let him put the empty glass away, then propped herself up. Aang looped his arms under hers when she groaned from the discomfort. Her legs might've been stronger, but her arms were still achy.

"Atta girl.." he praised, supporting her until she was sitting upright. The waterbender patiently sat there like that for another few minutes while he weaved the three strands over one another. He allowed her to rest against him once the braid started to take form.

She snuggled into his lap and pulled the blanket higher. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, to see how his hands fastened the scrunchy to the end of her braid. Maybe being sick occasionally wasn't so bad after all. Not if she had a doctor like Aang around to take care of her.

The newly built clock on his island chimed three times. She'd probably get to relax for another hour or two, before her fever would start plaguing her again. Or until the next time she'd feel the need to vomit again.

And then they would repeat the same routine in the evening. And the next morning, a couple of hours later around lunchtime, and again.. It sounded tedious, but she enjoyed every minute of it. To Katara, he was her best healer in the world.

#Kataangtag #Kataang #Aang #Katara #ATLA and TLOK #my fanfiction #mine #shards of Kristal

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ace-ghambit · 6 years ago

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Bumbleby Hercules AU (Part 2)

ALRIGHT WELL THIS POST BLEW UP SO HERE’S A PART 2.

-The songs-

Alright... So this isn’t easy but I’ve decided to NOT include most of the songs in the fic, just because it would just be too much ya know? Like the songs for the most part are unnecessary and I don’t just want to put the lyrics so for the most part I will be removing most of the songs EXCEPT for ‘I Won’t Say I’m In Love’ because that’s the song we’re all here for tbh. Though the muses (maidens) are still going to be the story tellers who interject occasionally in the story

-Villain Plans-

I’ve decided with feedback that Torchwick should probably be the part of “Hades” in this story, mainly because their personalities fit a lot more than Adam and Hades.

Again don’t get me wrong Hades was not a good dude but the fact is that his personality was more campy and pretty amusing for the most part and his voice acting and mannerisms is part of why I really like Hercules and really Torchwick fits perfectly for that role.

However I still want to make Adam an antagonist in this story which is why our least favorite goatman is going to be Torchwick’s apprentice, and the more “serious” threat in this story. I have some ideas for how he might impact Blake in story and I know for a fact that either way I’m just gonna hate writing his scenes so that’s gonna be fun (sarcasm).

As for the imps, I’ve decided that Emerald, Mercury, and Neo are all going to play more competent imps, although Emerald and Mercury are going to be bickering while Neo looks done all the time and is Torchwick’s favorite.

Instead of trying to figure out who the Witches of the Fates would be I’ve decided to make it one person, and that person is Cinder. I mean the fates only use one eye and Cinder now only has one eye so...

Also before any of yall ask why not Salem, I have written some lore/backstory for the AU, which includes Salem so that’s where she is.

-Other story elements-

Yang’s adoptive parents are Saphron and Terra.

I’ve ultimately decided to have Ruby join Yang on her journey to become a hero so she’ll be tagging along.

I rewrote some lore from RWBY to fit more of this AU to add more story and to not make this a rewrite of Hercules but with RWBY (I think that would just be boring for yall to read)

The lore is more fitting for a “Greek tragedy” and some major story elements from RWBY have been changed so bare with me

-BEES-

Alright so because this is a fanfic that isn’t confined to a certain run time I’m gonna write a lot more bees scenes.

Blake is gonna be sent to by Adam to “find out wondergirl’s” weakness a lot sooner but she ends up getting to know her more and more and Blake falls hard for Yang.

Yang gets a lot of women fawning over her but the only woman she has eyes for is Blake and their dates are so soft.

I MIGHT MAKE REFERENCES TO OTHER DISNEY COUPLES ON THEIR DATES BECAUSE I CAN HAHAHA.

There’s going to be angst near the end because Yang’s gonna find out why Blake initially talked to her and I’m gonna be real sad writing this scene guys ;-;

-Art and feedback-

YALL WHO DREW ART I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

YALL DONT UNDERSTAND I STARTED CRYING I WAS SO FUCKING HAPPY.

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO @lethargicwonder @stardragonarts and @biyikes FOR MY LIFE BECAUSE THAT ART MADE ME SO HAPPY AHHHHHHHH.

ALSO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE AMAZING AND WONDERFUL FEEDBACK I WASNT EXPECTING THIS MUCH AHHHHHHHHH

Anyway that’s all for now folks! I have started writing and hopefully I’ll be able to upload it soon! Love yall! -Ace

#bumbleby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #rwby #bumbleby au #hercules au #PART 2 BABY #roman torchwick #emerald sustrai #mercury black #neo (rwby)#neopolitian (rwby)#adam taurus #ruby rose

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prettyboyroger · 6 years ago

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Fame Chapter 1 “Whiskey On Ice”

Author: Sarah (@prettyboyroger)

Characters: BoRhap! Roger Taylor, Katherine Teague (OC), BoRhap! Mary Austin, Jane (OC, kinda), BoRhap! Brian May, BoRhap! Tim Staffell, BoRhap! Freddie Mercury

Pairing(s): BoRhap! Roger Taylor/OC, slight BoRhap! Mary Austin/Freddie Mercury in the background

Summary: A former child star making a new image for herself becomes involved with Roger Taylor as they both rise to fame, dealing with all that brings with it and that life brings along the way.

Rating/Warnings: PG-13/ Alcohol use, smoking, references to a character having had sex while underage (non-graphic)

Disclaimer: These portrayals are based off of the characters in Bohemian Rhapsody, I do not claim to know the real people that these are based on. This story is a work of fiction and the character of Katherine as well as many of the events in this series are fictional. I do not own Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, or Roger Taylor.

Word Count: 2869

A/N: Okay so this is chapter 1 of what’s hopefully going to be a long-running series. I’m finally contributing something to this fandom instead of just leeching off everyone else! Also I made this an OC instead of a reader insert because I wanted to do something a little different and have a character was a little less likable and more flawed and less of a blank slate. Please be gentle, I haven’t written a fanfiction in years, but I hope you like it! I wrote it with BoRhap! Roger in mind, but you can picture 1970 Roger Taylor and it’ll work just fine. If you want to be added to the taglist, just let me know.

Music: Playlist for this chapter in general. Youtube playlist for the songs Smile played (yes I know that I Feel Good was not with Smile just let me have this)

Part 2

4 January 1970

Katherine adjusted the bow on her yellow dress in the mirror. She spun around to face her friend “So how do I look?”

“You look like you’re going to freeze,” Mary said dryly to her co-worker.

“You’re not even wearing nylons Kat!” Jane chimed in.

“Nylons were invented by the man to keep us down! They’re itchy and uncomfortable and not wearing them has the added benefit of free drinks all night,” Katherine smiled deviously to her friends. “In any case it’s not like I’m going to go home with anybody I’m just going to flirt a little and have some drinks, there’s nothing wrong with that, in fact, it makes me frugal!” Katherine said, brushing her long blonde hair.

“What it makes you is fast!” Jane teased dodging the hairbrush that Katherine had thrown at her.

“We’re only teasing Kathy you look great,” Mary said, adjusting the fur trim on her own coat.

“You’re not allowed to tease me on my birthday, it’s against the rules and I do, don’t I? Not quite as good as you, Mary, but I make up for it with my dazzling personality.”

Mary rolled her eyes “And unparalleled humility.”

“Of course I could do better if Mary were to come with me and help me…”

“As much fun as it sounds to be groped by strange creepy drunk men all night, I’ll just leave getting the drinks to you.”

“Oh live a little Mary! Don’t be such a square! And not all the guys are total creeps, who knows, you might just meet your destiny tonight!”

“Seems a funny way to meet my destiny, at a student band’s performance in a tiny pub.”

“A student band that we are going to miss if we don’t get going right now,” Jane chimed in.

The girls set out from Jane’s flat down to the pub two blocks down the road. Katherine was shaking and goosebumps appeared on her bare legs as they walked down the street.

“Cold, Kathy?” Jane taunted.

“I’ll have you know that my blood runs quite warm so I simply don’t get cold. I simply have goosebumps in anticipation, after all, it’s my 18th birthday and I can finally drink out at clubs!”

“Uh-huh and how are you gonna explain to the bartender at the same pub we’ve been going to for years that this is your 18th birthday?” Jane asked

“I don’t know what you’re talking about I have never been this pub before, I have been told that I have an uncanny resemblance to a woman named Karen Knight who may have frequented this pub in the past, but I have a suspicion that she won’t be coming back,” Kathy beamed as her friends rolled their eyes.

The girls walked into the pub together, showing Kathy’s real ID for once, just as the little student band was beginning to set up for the show. Kathy was chatting up one of the men at the bar, a ginger who was probably around 26, in a bid for free drinks just as the lead singer introduced the band.

“How are all you lovely people doing tonight? I’m Tim Staffell, we have the incomparable Brian May on guitar, and of course, the legendary Cornish drummer Roger Taylor.” That last comment earned Tim an eye roll from the blond drummer and a few giggles from the crowd. Must be an inside joke Kathy thought to herself. Kathy had paused her pursuit of drinks to look over at the band. The lead singer looked well enough and when he started to play the bass and sing he was certainly very talented, if a bit lacking in showmanship. The guitarist seemed very tall, at least in comparison to Tim, he really had a natural talent for this, he was probably the best of all of them and his guitar was very unique, it wasn’t a Strat like most people had, Kathy had never seen a guitar quite like this one before, it had a good sound, a unique sound quite unlike most of the others she had heard before. The drummer was probably the least technically skilled of the three of them, but he made up for it many times over by bringing in a certain showmanship that the other two lacked. He would twirl his drumsticks and smile at the pretty girls in the audience. The audience was charmed and mesmerized by him (the female members of the audience in any case). He was the best looking one, in Kathy’s opinion anyway, and it seemed a shame to her that he was hidden away in the back behind a drum kit. Kathy turned her attention back to the ginger in front of her as the band’s song played in the background.

Do do do

“Do you come here often?” Kathy smiled at the ginger affecting her best northern accent. Guys like him always were suckers for sweet, naïve northern girls.

Do do do

“I would come here more often if there were more girls like you here.” Kathy laughed and batted her pretty brown eyes.

Do do do

“My, my but you are charming.” He wasn’t.

Do do do

“Where are you from?”

Do do do

“Carlisle.” She wasn’t.

Do do do

“New in town, then? Can I get you a drink?” Hook, line, and sinker.

You take away my sunshine

You take away my rain

I can see it in your eye

“Well I mean, I don’t know if I should I mean my friends don’t have drinks either and I would just feel too bad drinking in front of them if they don’t have anything.” Years of acting were finally paying off for Kathy as she put on her best “dumb, silly little distressed girl face”.

There must be an answer somewhere

(there must be a way) “Four drinks please! I’ll have a gin & tonic and whatever the lady would like to order.” He had a smarmy smile on his face and his hand started to rub on Kathy’s bare thigh.

You can find a way I can see it in your eye “A Blue Hawaiian and a Pina Colada for my friends. I’ll have a whiskey on ice.” Kathy smiled at the ginger man before her, not allowing any of her distaste for him to show.

The bartender gave Kathy her drinks as the song started to wind down in a chorus of Do do do. Kathy smiled and removed the ginger’s hand from her thigh. “I’ll be right back and we’ll see what kind of trouble we can get into,” Kathy winked. She never saw the ginger again.

Kathy had a few talents and carrying three drinks through a crowded pub without spilling any of them was one of them. As she made her way over to Jane and Mary, she caught the eye of the drummer she had noticed earlier. God, he was gorgeous with long dirty blond hair and sparkling blue eyes and from the looks of it he knew it as he caught Kathy staring at him and winked at her from behind his drum set. Kathy flashed her winning smile right back at him, she would not be outdone in the overconfidence department. The drummer laughed and smiled after catching her smile before turning his attention back to his drums. He was terribly handsome, Kathy thought, I must say hello after the show. Kathy had made her way over to Mary and Jane just as the next song was starting up.

“Ladies, I come bearing gifts!” Kathy handed Mary her Pina Colada and Jane her Blue Hawaiian.

“Which poor sod did you trick into buying you these?” Mary prodded gently.

“The ginger that’s dressed like a square.”

“Kathy! That’s not a very nice thing to say!” Mary scolded, “Don’t be mean!”

“But it’s true isn’t it? Anyway don’t feel too bad for him, he got fresh with me.”

“Which I’m sure you in no way encouraged,” Jane chimed in in between sips of her drink.

“Are we here to judge me for getting free drinks out of a creep or are we here to have a good time?” Kathy asked, impatient to start having a good time, taking a swig of her whiskey.

The band played a short set consisting of some original stuff and some covers. All of the members were quite good singers, something that surprised Kathy.

“You rarely see a singing drummer! It’s very unique!” Kathy remarked earnestly watching the drummer sing a cover of “I Feel Good”.

“You fancy him, Kat?” Jane asked between sips of her drink.

“He is handsome dontcha think?” Kathy twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.

“Yeah, but he seems like a bit of a lad to me,” Jane responded.

“Well I’m not looking to marry him or anything I just think he looks like a good time for a night or so.”

Jane rolled her eyes as Kathy pulled out a cigarette.

“You know Kat I read those things are just awful for you,” Jane chided as Kathy pulled out her Zippo lighter and lit the cigarette.

“Well we all have to die somehow,” Kathy said taking a drag. As she exhaled the smoke rose and circled around the girls heads. Kathy never understood how non-smokers could stand to be in pubs, they always seemed to be more smoke than air. It was pretty in a way, at least to Kathy, the way the smoke would fog up the room putting a haze and a mystique to these pubs, a certain atmosphere was created there, one of anonymity and Kathy found it all very Romantic. Of course, to others like Jane it was just a choking hazard of dirty, smelly air.

As the song finished, the guitarist stepped up to the mic, “Now we only have one song left for you folks tonight,” Boos and whines erupted from the crowd, “No, no, now it’s a good one it’s called ‘Doing All Right’.”

The girls finished their drinks and Kathy finished her cigarette as the song hummed along in the background.

“Mary, what do you think of the singer? You always have had a thing for singers and you are the one who recommended that we should see this band anyway?” Kathy turned to her friend who had been unusually quiet this whole time.

Mary wasn’t paying attention to her friends and her eyes were focused on the bar at something. Or rather someone. A dark haired man was drinking a beer at the bar and watching the band attentively, hanging onto every note and Mary was watching him just as attentively.

“Mary!”

The pretty blonde finally noticed that her friends were trying to get her attention and spun around.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Well, we were going to ask you if you liked the singer, but you seem to be more interested in the gentleman at the bar,” Kathy giggled at her friend as Mary turned bright red.

“Well, I was just- I mean- He is quite handsome don’t you think? And Tim? Oh, he’s fine, but actually Brian, the guitarist, has been terribly kind to me.”

“Kind to you? You’ve talked to him?” Kathy asked her friend.

“Wait, Brian? I’ve heard that name before… weren’t you two going steady for a little while a few months ago?” Jane asked.

Kathy’s eyes lit up and her jaw hit the floor. “Wait, wait, wait, you were going steady with him? And you didn’t tell me? I didn’t know you had gone out with anybody, you never tell me anything!”

Mary looked overwhelmed with the sudden interrogation “Well we weren’t really going steady, we just went out on a few dates and-”

“What was he like? He looks a bit like a square, but he is a guitarist in a rock band and the things that guitarists can do with their fingers-”

“KAT! This is why I never tell you anything! Don’t make this dirty!”

“Oh honey this was dirty before I said anything!”

Mary was saved by the song coming to an end and the band thanking the audience and leaving the stage. People slowly began to shuffle out of the pub and into the hallway when Kathy stopped her friends in a doorway.

“I’m gonna go talk to the drummer.”

“God Kat. Should we wait for you?” Jane asked incredulously.

“No, no, don’t wait for me.”

“Kat, we’re not going to leave you here to go home with some guy you’ve never met. Besides, from what Brian’s told me, Roger is a lad,” Mary cautioned.

“Oh, so his name’s Roger then? I’d forgotten if he’d been introduced. Fantastic, thank you for your help,” Kathy spun around and walked out to the back where the band was, ignoring her friends’ protests.

Kathy opened the doors to see the three boys putting the last of the drum kit into the van.

“I liked your show.”

The boys spun around to see Kathy standing just outside of the door smiling at them with her prettiest, most practised smile. Kathy had a burst of pride when she saw Brian flush as soon as he looked at her, the one thing Kathy always took pride in was how pretty she was. She knew that girls were not supposed to think that they’re pretty, but Kathy was very pretty and everyone had always told her so all her life from her mother, to casting directors, to her agent. Other girls had wit and grace and they were allowed to think to think that they those, why should she not be allowed to think that she was pretty?

Well, as long as men look at me like that, I’ll always have something Kathy thought to herself.

“I- Thank you glad you liked it,” Brian stuttered out before quickly turning back to the van and putting more stuff in in an effort to hide the blush on his face. Kathy stifled a laugh at that. The singer Jim? No? Lin? Was also putting stuff into the van seemingly lost in thought. Roger did not blush sweetly like Brian did. He simply smiled the cockiest smile that Kathy had ever seen as he approached her.

“I noticed you enjoying the show,” he looking up and down her body in a completely un-gentlemanly way. He lowered his voice and whispered in her ear “And I noticed you looking at me.”

Kathy laughed and turned to him, her voice as soft as his, “Is that right? Because I seem to remember it being you looking at me.” The blondes smirked at each other.

“I’m Roger.”

“Kathy. Or Katherine if you’re my mother and I’ve pissed you off.”

Roger laughed at that. “Listen, what are you doing-”

“Roger, hey, I need to talk to you,” the singer Tom? Interrupted the two.

Roger turned to the singer, annoyance flickering in his eyes, “Can it wait, I’m kinda in the middle of something, Tim.” Tim! That was it!

“No, Roger, I’m sorry, but it’s important. And miss? I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to Roger and Brian. Alone.”

“I understand. See you around Roger.”

Kathy turned around towards the hall, a little annoyed, though not as annoyed as Roger who Kathy heard as she was heading back, “Are you joking? You better have something important to say, she was about an hour and two drinks away from shagging me!”

Kathy saw Mary and Jane still standing in the doorway where she had left them as she came back, they were looking at someone down the hall from her. As Kathy followed their gaze she noticed the dark-haired man that Mary had been staring at earlier walking towards her. He stopped suddenly and turned around to look at Mary.

“I like your coat,” the dark-haired stranger said.

“She got it at Biba, she works there!” Jane chimed in smiling at Mary who turned to Jane, irritation flickering on her face.

“Thank you.” Mary said, her annoyance and embarrassment visible on her face.

The dark-haired man smiled and continued walking down the hallway, passing Kathy. Kathy rejoined her friends, as bemused as Jane was at how flustered the dark-haired man made her.

“Well, well Mary, you have an admirer!” Kathy said.

“I do not have an admirer! I’ve seen him at other Smile shows and he just wanted to know where the band is and he probably just recognized me. And aren’t you supposed to be shagging some drummer by now?”

Kathy gasped in mock outrage, “Well I never! I was merely inviting him over for a chaste afternoon tea and you and your dirty mind turned this into something naughty that I never could have dreamed of! Honestly Mary!”

“Spare us Kathy, we both know that you are as much a virgin as Mary Magdalene was. Did you get shot down?”

“I have never and will never be shot down in my life! Tim just needed to talk to him.”

“What about?”

“No idea. Band stuff, probably. Anyway, we have to open tomorrow, want to head back?”

“Gladly.”

A/N Pt. 2: That’s all folks! Also don’t crucify me for the descriptions Kathy gives of the band’s playing, they’re based off of biographies of Queen that I read that said that Tim was good enough to get recruited to an up and coming band, Brian was exceptionally talented from the early days of Queen, and Roger wasn’t perfect technically at first, it took him until about Sheer Heart Attack to really get his drumming down to the exceptional level it is today! I don’t know enough about music to make these kind of judgments on my own, I think they sound really good, even from the beginning! But Kathy as a character would so I had to defer to what other people who know music said about it! Again, please be kind I haven’t written any fanfiction in a very long time!!

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iamnotbrianmay · 6 years ago

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The A Experience

okay lads, chapter 2 is here! I can’t believe the feedback I have gotten for this fic and I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint! I had so much fun writing it!

Description:

Brian May, 21

13 kilometres away

I am looking for someone to come with me to a Christmas dinner and pretend that we have been dating for two months.

Brian's fingers ghosted over the screen of the phone and he wondered, not for the first time, if he should just come clean to Freddie and John. They would tease Brian endlessly, sure, but he also trusted that his friends knew that there was a line that they could not cross. On the other hand, he could also feel the sting of John's words like a slap.

They were right though, he hadn't had had a boyfriend in the last few years; and Tim Staffell, his ever-growing, ever-present crush, didn't make things better. Brian knew he was not ugly, he knew for a fact that if his mind and heart hadn't been with Tim for the past two years or so he could have easily been in a relationship. But love is stupid and even though he only sees the younger man three times a month at most he is still hopelessly in love.

Brian groans, pressing the edge of his phone to his forehead and wishing he had just said yes to Freddie's idea of calling Tim over.

But no, Brian had made that bed and he had to lie in it, he had to somehow get a fake boyfriend by the end of the week. A guy that was nice enough for him to be actually dating and cool enough to act like a boyfriend in a house full of people who made Freddie Mercury look only slightly weird. Oh yes, he was royal screwed.

He looked at his phone once again, staring at the picture of himself playing Red Special at a bar. His hair looked like a mess, his smile was so wide that you could see his weird teeth and his eyes were focused on Freddie, who was singing at the top of his lungs a song by The Rolling Stones that they had been obsessed about at the moment of the gig. Brian smiled at the memory knowing that was the night that a curly haired boy would walk up to them and say, 'hey, you are a cool duo, wouldn't you like a bass player?'. Yes, that was definitely a good photo.

But the rest of the profile? A mess.

He barely had any other pictures of himself that he actually liked so he settled for the next best thing, candid pictures that Freddie often takes of him and John around the apartment and while practicing. Then a bad— no, terrible—picture of the three of them in a carnival ride in which they were all making such stupid faces that it never failed to make Brian smile. Lastly was his description. It was short, sweet, and straight to the point.

Brian May, 21

I am looking for someone to come with me to a Christmas dinner and pretend that we have been dating for two months.

He looked through his profile once again, trying to convince himself that what he was doing was not sad, and that he would at least get one match. Even if it was a creepy old lady from East Wisconsin. In the end he didn't even let himself think about what he was doing much, he just clicked 'Post' and quickly closed the app, trying to focus on other things on his phone.

It went well, for about five minutes, then Brian, ever the obsessive, started checking the app every couple of minutes. He would have a system, if he liked a post on any social media he would go back and refresh his feed, waiting for an answer on his pathetic little profile. He fell asleep like that, waiting for something that would most likely never come, because who on earth would actually swipe right to that?

Hey, it’s me, a twenty-one-year-old dude who can’t get a date.

Yeah, pathetic.

In the morning when he woke up the profile was still empty of requests. He restarted his phone in hopes of it being the apartment’s terrible internet or a glitch, but when he refreshed his feed again the notifications were still empty. Brian sighed and got up, ready to face his flatmates and tell them about the latest gag.

He put on the largest hoodie he could find, and stuffed his cellphone in its pocket. Then walked ruefully out of the room, ready to face to music. The house was uncharacteristically quiet for a Monday morning, and Brian frowned. He walked around, looking for the other two boys and found no one, and when he opened the door to their room he found it pristine.

He took out his phone, and checked their group chat.

f. mercury: had to get to class early

f. mercury: deacy drove me

f. mercury: there is fresh orange juice in the fridge

Okay, so he had the house to himself. No Freddie, no John, no need to embarrass himself any further until they came back. He felt the tension leave his shoulders, and he quickly texted back.

b. may: At what time are you coming back?

He set down the phone on the counter and started to prepare breakfast. He once again tuned into the rock station as soft hummed along when Black Math started to play. The kitchen filled with sounds of cooking, Brian singing and the old, crappy, radio playing in the background. He was in such a good mood that for a second he even forgot about his dilemma, until his phone dinged and he was brought back into the present.

He walked over, waiting to see how long he had between now and his imminent death, but instead of the usual notifications he usually has there was a banner that read in bold black letters.

Roger Taylor is your first match, say hi!

He stared at the phone wide eyed for a few seconds, trying to see if what he was seeing was actually true, and was only snapped out of his haze when the screen turned black once again. He rushed forward, leaving all thoughts of breakfast behind, and grabbed the phone.

He was so nervous his hands were trembling and had to insert the passcode four times before he got it right, but once he was able to get in he couldn’t believe his eyes. Not only was this Roger Taylor not a creepy old lady, but he was also an actually pretty gorgeous guy. Blond hair, baby blue eyes, and soft features that made him look breathtaking in every single one of his pictures.

Then, as in a miracle sent from heaven, the beautiful angel sent him a text.

Roger Taylor: hey brian

Roger Taylor: i would love to be your pretend boyfriend if i’m not too late

Brian stared at the messages in disbelief, and then panicked once another bubble popped up with the text ‘typing…’ written on it.

Roger Taylor: actually i would love to be your pretend boyfriend even if you have already made the agreement with someone else

Roger Taylor: ditch them and take me instead?

Brian freaked out, he felt like his hands were going to fall off out of excitement and nervousness, but he texted back a well crafted, deeply thought out, reply.

Brian May: Yes, please be my pretend boyfriend

To which he eloquently added,

Brian May: You are very cute

He stared at the two messages wondering if he could erase them, or even better, turn back time. After a minute of staring at the conversation, the phone screen turned black and Brian was forced to go back to do his breakfast, only this time he was paying more attention to the phone than the task ahead.

A few minutes later Brian failed to ignore his phone once again.

He opened the damned thing and looked through Roger’s profile. There were a hundred thousand pictures of him in every possible angle, doing everything from sleeping to playing the drums. He scrolled back to the top and looked at his information.

Roger Taylor, 19

13 kilometres away

Drummer, Singer, Biology Student.

Then another texted dinged and Brian was quickly reminded of his very awkward — no, very weird— introduction to Roger.

Roger Taylor: no u

Roger Taylor: lets set up a meeting spot?

Roger Taylor: so we can go over our story before your party

Brian smiled and failed to notice the scent of burning eggs that came from the frying pan in the stove.

Brian May: Let's do that.

Brian May: When are you free?

the tag list is currently v small but I love that people actually want to read my fic! I’m so happy, you guys have no idea! So the tag is: @warping-reality @seven-seas-of-why

if you would like to be added to the tag list send me an ask! also i live your feedback so any comment is highly appreciated!

#maylor #roger taylor #Brian May #freddie mercury #john deacon #fanfic #slash #fake dating #my writing #the a experience fic

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rwbyconversations · 6 years ago

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The Princess and her Pauper- A Weiss/Emerald Character Contrast

One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of a creator is the art of contrast. In storytelling, characters that contrast, often referred to as foils, can serve to highlight particular qualities of each other. How one acts to a situation and the other reacts. It’s why rivalries form the backbone of many a great story with conflict in its theme- why the most memorable moments in action titles like Devil May Cry 3 and Metal Gear Rising are when two rivals who serve as foils for each other come to blows in a winner-take-all clash of wills. Not all foils need be rivals, however- George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men are built as foils, with George being wire-thin and razor-sharp mentally while Lennie is a lumbering giant of a man with the intellect of a child.

Rooster Teeth’s RWBY is a series that loves to set up connections between its central heroes of Team RWBY and the villainous factions under Salem. Although the connections between current villains Team WTCH and RWBY have not yet been solidified (Watts screentime when), RWBY’s initial foes in Team CRME (Cinder, Roman, Mercury and Emerald) all complimented aspects of RWBY’s personalities. Ruby and Cinder were both leaders, Ruby through example and optimism and Cinder through manipulation and fear, Blake dual-contrasted with Adam and Roman, Yang with Mercury and (regardless of what TVTropes tells you), Weiss contrasts with the sharp-tongued, fast-fingered gem thief Emerald Sustrai.

Despite having not technically met in canon*, with their appearances relegated to sharing fights in the Volumes 2 and 3 OP, with their dialogue being two lines in a Chibi episode, Weiss and Emerald are almost perfect narrative foils for each other. I am convinced that they were purposefully written to contrast each other, and if/when Emerald has a redemption arc, you can be sure that this material will be used to show how similar Weiss and Emerald can be... not that either of them would admit it. And for the record? This is my OTP and Weiss and Emerald rank in my five favorite characters each, so this is going to be a self-indulgent mess. Consider it my two and three hundred follower specials wrapped into a neat little bow.

In this post, I am going to show the narrative, backstory and character contrasts between Weiss Schnee and Emerald Sustrai, and why I think they could have one of the best-written rivalries/friendships/bond in the entire show if Miles and Kerry play their cards right in the coming Volumes. As usual, the post is under the Read More for the sake of users on their phones.

(Art source: @nibbles-scribbles)

* (In before “Didn’t Weiss fight Em at Haven during the Checkmate scene?” offscreen doesn’t count and Let’s Not Talk About Haven This Is A Happy Post)

Part 1- Lonely eyes, well, it sure looks like you just might be looking for something

Weiss and Emerald’s backstories on paper couldn’t be any different- which, again, is one of the purposes of narrative contrasts, connecting the impossible. Weiss lived in the lap of luxury her entire life, part of a family that probably had the combined net worth of half of the Fortune 500. The Schnee Dust Company was such a profitable venture that it bought out rival families and took them out of business. Weiss’s every need was catered for, she had a loyal servant in Klein, and became a popular attraction at parties thanks to her singing voice.

And she couldn’t have been more soul-crushingly alone.

A young Weiss sits at a piano, basking in the praise of the adults around her

Weiss, narration: Words of praise were often overflowing around me. Whatever I did, with a little effort, I did better than average. I expected the praise as a matter of course and believed I deserved it all. As the daughter of the Schnee house, I would be the best. Nothing else would do.

Weiss reaches out to her father who is walking away from her. The door shuts in her face. Weiss’s face comes into the panel. The smile is gone.

Weiss, narration: My father felt the same way. So his indifference... was expected. - RWBY Manga,Shirow Miwa

Weiss was little more than a toy when she was a child, something Jacques brought out for the guests to coo at, but they never cared for Weiss herself:

Everyone only cared that I was part of the Schnee family, not that I was me. They were honoring the Schnee name. I thought all that praise was for me. It wasn’t. It messed with my head when I figured that out.

Weiss’s Volume 5 focus song, and the first chronological song about her, The Path to Isolation (AKA Mirror Mirror 0.5), is about when Weiss realizes how alone she is in Atlas with the realization that people only care about her for her money and surname, and not for Weiss as a person. We see this in person with her interactions with Henry Marigold in Volume 4 and Jacques spells it out later:

I don’t give a damn what you want! This isn’t about you!

Miwa’s manga alongside Path To Isolation makes it clear that Weiss lived in the lap of luxury, but it was a cold, sterile lap where she never felt loved even with Klein’s presence and Winter’s distant love, thanks to Jacques’ distance driving Weiss further into her personal hell. Weiss lived a tragically lonely life in her childhood and its effects are still seen on her even in the present day. For a long time, all she was was an accessory to Jacques who got pushed into his obedient shadow.

Emerald’s backstory is less concrete than Weiss, but from what we do know it’s no less painful. She lived alone on the city streets with no parents (dead or neglectful we don’t know) or friends to look out for her, and every day was a struggle to survive. By the time we see Emerald in Volume 3′s flashback, she’s barely holding it together and is stick-thin.

Her clothes are frayed in various places, held together with belts and straps, and Emerald is nearly emaciated. She’s jumpy, paranoid and resorts to blatant daytime robbery of a jewel store just to cover the costs to get some food for a night. When Cinder finds Emerald, she finds a cornered street-rat barely staying alive.

If Jacques manipulated Weiss through inaction, Cinder in turn twisted Emerald through action, providing the young thief everything she ever wanted. Cinder gave her a warm bed, food whenever she wanted it and possibly even the love of the mother that Emerald might not have had. Chibi Season 3 in fact had a skit where Emerald (within a dream) jokingly notes that Cinder really is “The mother figure I may- or may not- have never had.” Regardless, Cinder learned from Salem the best way to get people to follow you is to give them exactly what they want. She gave Roman some Dust and a chance to commit crimes, she gave Mercury a target and people to hurt, and she gave Emerald a sick, twisted lie. She made Emerald fall in love with her.

I don’t care about Salem! But I owe Cinder everything.

Cinder twists Emerald around her finger and makes her almost entirely dependent on Cinder’s approval and love. And make no mistake, this is (at least from Emerald’s warped perspective, the poor girl) love.

This is not the face of a heterosexual woman upon seeing Cinder Fall.

Em sadly closing her eyes behind Cinder just... gets me, man. I care for that mint-ice-cream too much Jesus Christ.

Cinder, of course, doesn’t love her back. I don’t think Cinder knows what it means to love beyond that she can use other people’s love in her pursuit of power. She manipulated and tricked Emerald, making the thief fall for her in a worthless attempt to impress her. And every time Emerald stepped remotely out of line, even if by complete unintentional accident, Cinder harshly made her judgement clear and forced Emerald back into her obedient shadow. Cinder definitely didn’t love Emerald. But damn if she didn’t know how to abuse her.

Emerald: We don’t need him (Mercury), everything was going fine- A slap is heard. Emerald shouts in pain. Cinder: Do not mistake your place.

As pointed out expertly by @alexkablob, Emerald’s body language when Cinder gets angry in this scene is very telling- she almost shrinks and hides herself, trying very hard to avoid Cinder’s wrath in that immediate moment. The mere threat of reprisal has Emerald assuming a more subservient position

Here’s what connects Weiss and Emerald from their backstories. Both had terribly lonely childhoods, with Weiss lonely in a crowd as she realized people only loved her for her money and name, and Emerald forced to live alone as a street rat with no one to rely on. Jacques manipulated Weiss through making her seek his approval which manifested as physical abuse, and Cinder as well manipulated and abused Emerald into falling in love with Cinder or seeing her as a replacement mother figure. Both were lonely children, abused and scorned by everyone around them, especially those who had the most direct power over them. Both of them, tragically, are victims of those above them who see them as tools and not even as people. Ones who occasionally fall out of line and need... percussive maintenance to fix. Weiss and Emerald have some of the darkest backstories in RWBY and in their tragedy, they compliment each other beautifully.

(Source: @nibbles-scribbles, who gave me permission to use her art)

Part 2: Sight Unseen

Now that we’ve covered their backstories, let’s actually contrast Emerald and Weiss on a fighting and character level.

Weiss and Emerald fight each other in the OPs for Volumes 2 and 3. They are so far on the very small list of fights in the OPs that have never occurred and are in fact the only notable fight to not happen ever four years since it was first teased, especially since it happened in two sequences.

Both characters use revolver mechanisms in their weapons- Weiss for her Dust and Emerald for a ranged component. Both are agile fighters who dart around the battlefield and can be very damaging in the right circumstances and are the most fragile member of their respective teams (Weiss having the worst solo win/loss record of anyone on RWBY and Emerald being a stealth fighter who dropped very quickly when Amber focused fire on her being my evidence).

What’s interesting in contrasting the two is their Semblances. Emerald creates vivid hallucinations for a single target that effects all five of their senses but ultimately is a purely mental effect on the subject’s reality. Her Semblance can’t create physical matter. However, Weiss’s Semblance is a purely physical one that lets her influence and change reality on a primal, physical level- be it for Glyphs, time dilation or using Summoning to create physical constructs to fight for her. Depending on if Weiss’s Summons can be affected by Emerald’s hallucinations (or if Weiss being hit with Em’s Semblance has consequences for her Summons), the two could serve as hard counters in the event of a fight.

Long story short a fight between these two would be really cool.

Character wise, one of the more interesting bits of contrast between Weiss and Emerald is how they approach friendship. Both are equally sardonic and have razor-sharp wits on anyone who irks them, but while Weiss is cold at first and softens as she gets to know and trust people, Emerald throws up a facade of being chummy with people, a facade she hates. If her friendship with Mercury is anything to go by, Emerald can make some very biting remarks at the expense of those she’s close to. If her love for Cinder is anything to go by however, Emerald is very tender and affectionate when it comes to the people she loves. She rushes to give Cinder a hug in Volume 2 and in Volume 4, acts as Cinder’s translator, being almost sickeningly tender and rushing to come to Cinder’s side when she asks.

And while Emerald’s a villain, it would be a shame to waste a rivalry between her and Weiss. Both are passionately devoted to their leaders and are willing to cross the world for them and fight in this endless war for them (note how Weiss volunteers for the war while Emerald is drafted). Emerald hates Ruby because she maimed Cinder at Beacon, while Weiss hates Cinder because... bitch shoved a spear in her. It’s more than enough conflict to kickstart a rivalry and as proven despite their lack of screentime, the contrasts between them write themselves.

Part 3) Dry your eyes now, baby, broken wings can’t hold you down

In the event (by which I mean when) Emerald undergoes a redemption arc and leaves Cinder, Weiss will definitely play a significant role in facilitating her joining the heroes, much like Blake did with Ilia. Weiss is honestly the only RWBY member who really can facilitate this redemption in the coming Volumes- Ruby will likely never forgive Emerald for her role in Penny’s death, Blake has basically done this arc already for Ilia, and Yang will be too caught up in her Raven/Blake issues. I have no doubt that Blake’s own abusive past can be used as a bonding point as well with Emerald (a common vector used for fans of the rare ship Cat Burglar), but Weiss perhaps more than anyone else shares a fundamental understanding of Emerald’s “love.” The love of someone determined to win any shred of approval that they can from the monster that haunts their nightmares every night.

Given how Emerald has allusions to Aladdin and Weiss is Snow White, their relationship also works in referencing their fairytale sources- Aladdin saves Jasmine in his story, after all. Rags to ritches is also one of the most prolific tales out there, especially ones where a person destined for greatness falls in love with a member of high society and rises through the ranks. Weiss is a princess after all, and every princess does need her pauper so that she may find true love. Weiss has already tried her hand as the upper echelons of society romantically (Henry and Neptune) and they were found lacking.

(Source. Art by @nibbles-scribbles)

In some cases, literally.

Does this need to mean a romantic connection, especially when Emerald will be coming off her last lover being abusive? Perhaps not, but a close bond between them would be impossible to avoid. However, a romantic attachment between Emerald and Weiss would be a beautiful thing to see develop. Two women, nearly broken down by their oppressive abusers, coming together and helping each other heal from their past traumas? I don’t know about you but that sounds like it could be a great story to me. Emerald already wears a lot of white too, so their color schemes unite smoothly.

To conclude this extended love letter, Emerald and Weiss are two sides of the same coin. Young women beaten down and abused by those with power over them who had desperately lonely childhoods. Women who developed into strong and capable warriors with Semblances that altar different facets of reality, who could have a natural rivalry that leads into a smooth friendship and maybe even more beyond, all of which could be backed by organic references to both of their fairytale sources and allow for a wonderful string of character development for Weiss and Emerald as they heal from their past traumas. This may be a rare ship, one that may have gotten all the references it ever will when Emerald complimented Weiss’s dress.

But damnit. It’s my rare ship and I’ll go down with it, I’ve made too many great friends thanks to it. If you’d like to see more EmWeiss content, check out my great friends @goldibox, @dabby-the-house-elf (the main for @nibbles-scribbles whose seminal art I’ve used throughout this piece), SassyUnicorn7′s A Fight To Remember (one of the best fanfics for both EmWeiss and Yang/Merc, and Sassy herself is a delight to know who lights up my day when I get to talk to her).

(Thanks to @weisscoldglare for this)

Thanks again for reading.

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sunnysynthsunshine · 6 years ago

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7th Comedy Monologue

“Hey my Cheese bags I’m back from my adventure in 1985”

“No joke if you look it up

the timeframe of days for each month this year

are the exact same as they were in 1985”

So all this “80s revival stuff” with Duran Duran and Depeche Mode touring, Petshop Boys releasing a new album, a new generation falling in love with Queen and She-Ra while the world is being messed up by a tyrannical iron lady and a talking tangerine makes a bit of sense doesn’t it?”

Even though I was born in the 2000s I’ve always loved most of the media from that decade, the gothic and upbeat synthesizer music,the cheaply made but entertaining cartoons,the video games,the basic but stylish fashion,the musicals and John Hughes films,the mix of music genres in the charts,Goth,Synth,Punk,2 Tone,Post-Punk,New Wave,Glam Metal,Alternative,Shoegaze,Hip Hop,Electronica

I was watching Saved by the Bell before Netflix even existed

Then again a lot of the shows from then were also being revived back in my day

Dal Winton was presenting game shows, Pingu replaced the scary walrus monsters with rap music, I watched or had VHS tapes of the Muppet show, Noddy, Postman Pat and Scooby Doo.

Scooby-Doo! Now that’s a show that never gets old because it never changes, anyone regardless of what generation they’re from would be able to tell you

“Oh Yeah, I remember Scooby Doo”

When you think about it Scooby Doo is quite philosophical

we are all just a gang going on our own adventures

that and the first few live-action movies are modern masterpieces

I was just browsing Twitter or Tumblr or literally anywhere on the internet only to see that screencaps were taken from the live action Scooby Doo interviews had turned into memes

*ahem*

Well,I was auditioning for the role of Velma, I could sense from the way Matthew Lillard just fully encompassed the role of Shaggy, it felt like he was Shaggy, he was our saviour as he felt his spiritual energy increase, that’s when I knew we were working with a legend

Something like that although Matthew isn’t too fond of the memes himself specifically the ones where his spiritual connections are described more like demon possession rituals

*ahem*

“Being Shaggy has led me down a path of death and destruction. I’ve killed many mortals in hope of replicating 1% of Shaggy’s being, by the end of filming I hope to become one with him”

In which Matthew responded with

*deadpan voice*

This is wrong

I mean I might also have inspirations where I feel like I can philosophically connect with them, in their performing style and personality but that’s where I draw the line

Personality? That’s a tricky subject

You could say some people have consistent personalities

People said Freddie Mercury and David Bowie were party animals who were incredible on stage with their charisma, creativity and charm but other sources have said they were relaxed, laid back people who were shy when being interviewed.

That could just be the contrast between their onstage and offstage personas but not all of us have that, even if we are all just actors in a play, hoping each day goes the right way

Some of us are punk, even if we don’t explicitly say that we are, or have the stereotypical style associated with it,a lot of us just try to be ourselves,some of us can enjoy reality shows and horror movies at the same time,some of us can enjoy One Direction and Gorillaz,some of us can love fashion but also love memes, Theatre, and 1980s aesthetics

I’d say I’m the same but sometimes my personality is all over the place

I can go from being cheerful, relaxed and happy to being dazed and clumsy or cynical or entranced and hyper-fixated to Pessimistic and Cold to Quiet and Timid to Mellow and Loud what personality traits you associate with me, however, is up to your own conclusion

call me any internet subculture stereotype and I’d be able to tell you about how I either, unfortunately, was the stereotype or I hung around people who were those stereotypes

if you said I was someone who watched Cbbc and citv you’d be right

if you said I was a classic rock enthusiast years ago and now you’d be right

if you said I used to be a cringy anime enthusiast you’d be right

if you said I was one of those theatre kids who watched Disney sitcoms you’d be right

if you said I was one of those meme posters who referenced movies like Shrek and bee movie you’d be right

Another thing punks did was and sometimes still do was creating fanzines, magazines related to their favourite band or tv show or their own opinions on what’s going in the world, nowadays you could say social media has replaced that, but publications like the Daily Mirror, The Sun and TMZ still have a presence on there,I’d say fanzines should have a revival.

The BAFTA’s also happened recently and I wasn’t impressed, then again when are awards shows anything other than beauty pageants for films anyway?

Some films deserved their awards, but some films barely got a mention, Paddington 2 wasn’t included in there or in any of the other film awards this year and Stan and Ollie got nothing…

A darn shame because that film was so well made, it felt authentic, while Stan and Ollie also have a bit of a universal following, there are still some people who probably don’t know who they are!

Before Walliams and Lucas, Before the Two Ronnies, Before Richie and Eddie

There was…Laurel and Hardy

Two moustached blokes, who in the 20s and 50s would just try to delight audiences the best way they could, through slapstick and laughter, without them, most of the world’s double acts wouldn’t exist and even Spongebob wouldn’t exist

Yep, you heard me right, all those misadventures Spongebob and Patrick would have, they were loosely based on the adventures of Laurel and Hardy, except instead of it being about a tall British man and a fat American it was about an anthropomorphic sponge and a dumb but caring starfish.

Speaking of Spongebob, there was some sad news involving Spongebob not too long ago

The creator of Spongebob, Stephen Hillenburg…had passed away from ALS

I know, it’s awful,stupid motor neuron diseases and stupid Adam Levine too,for those who don’t know there was an episode of Spongebob called Band Geeks where they ended the episode with the cast playing a song called Sweet Victory over a Superbowl type of event, for the actual super bowl Spongebob fans around the world petitioned for that song to be played in tribute for Stephen,however we got Adam Levine singing a different song instead….what a letdown

If it wasn’t for SpongeBob I and some of the rest of the new generation, wouldn’t know half the old music or old films we know now.

To let down millions of fans like that makes me sick

Honestly, I was a bit sick a few weeks ago, I’ve been sick before and hospitalized twice but this particular moment of sickness was odd

It was like any other night, I was trying to get some sleep and lucid dream, but then it happened, the shivers, the shakes the trembling aches,

Out of nowhere, I felt like an ice-cube stuck in a microwave, It was too cold but it was too warm, I eventually got to sleep but when I got up the next morning I felt sick again, sorry for disclosing those details but it was like the exorcist…

Usually, when I’m sick watching documentaries, Kitchen Nightmares or 90s films weirdly cheers me up

Speaking of films, Rocketman the Elton John movie is out and it actually looks good

It’s being directed by the guy who was the replacement director for Bo Rhap and if it ends up being brilliant I won’t be surprised, the trailer gave off Velvet Goldmine vibes, the style of composed cinematography and I’m sounding like Film Twitter, Isle of Dogs was a good film…oh wait it wasn’t acknowledged much by the award shows either.

Another amazing film I recently watched was Rocky Horror…I know I’ve mentioned it before but that was when I only knew the sequel and some of the soundtrack,

It was amazing, it was brilliant, it was fantastic, it was out of this world,

ah! Rocky Horror was splendid

I definitely now understand why it’s still going strong to this day

It’s that hybrid of rock and roll, optimistic nihilism and soft aesthetics

That just works for me, another thing I’ve remembered was that Richard O’ Brien played the dad in Phineas and Ferb, well that explains that part of me liked that cartoon for the music and some of the characters but other characters did my head in like that Isabel character

“Hey, Phineas what ya dooing?”

“How about you let me finish my invention and you mind your own business”

Oof that’s too harsh…but considering aspects of the marvel Phineas and Ferb crossover were surprisingly a bit sexist at times outdated for the show that is usually quite progressive in its representation and characters…it’s probably accurate

Another person who hasn’t changed but is also often harsh, Piers Morgan, a little tweety bird told me he had a mysterious illness, good riddance I’d say, he’s the new Noel Edmonds, the presenter who used to be ok but now is unbearable…because he never shuts up

Thankfully though he’s “taking a break” from GMB that will rest our eardrums

Russell Brand has also been in the tabloids again, even though he’s more focused on his Buddhist spiritual recovery enlightening, looking back he wasn’t as bad as people described him, yeah at times he was a bit too over the top,but he was and is quite an ok bloke, but I’d say temporarily banning tickling is a bit of a stretch,

when you think about the number of people who disrespect our literal and figurative personal space on a daily basis, it kinda makes a bit of sense,

whether your sensory sensitive or not, I’m sure you hate it, when people are too touchy at times

although years ago I would’ve been a bit of an ignorant hypocrite about that

Hating it when crowds of kids would chase me like how the paparazzi chase their next gossip target, yet often annoyingly running up to people to talk to or entertain them.

I really need to learn to enjoy loneliness more because I get some of my best ideas when alone, but emotionally I feel a lot better when around others, a bit of an Ambivert really,

I’m sorry I can be a bit all over the place, I’m trying to make my energy more manageable

as that lucid dreaming thing has been misused at times,

I shouldn’t let myself be controlled…

by anyone or anything..no overthinking, no overworking,

treat the world as your stage, start your first act, motivated and ready, take your recharging interval breaks and then move on for your second act

fancy that me an ex-drama student making that metaphor when my current course involves digitally drawing art, editing audio and sitting at a computer for most of the day

But then again just because someone shows good charisma that doesn’t always mean their a good person.

Ted Bundy, one of America's most notorious serial killers used charisma and charm in his court cases, and with the amount of fangirls giving him fanmail it was like the Beatles fandom but for people with Stockholm syndrome,and now with Netflix’s documentary and Troy from High School Musical in an upcoming film about him, that seems to be repeating itself…

*Alien voice* Ted Bundy the 1960s called they want your fangirls back!

One show I know you probably haven’t heard of is The Boondocks, a south park esque cartoon with an anime esque art style, referencing the social commentary of African American culture and media, celebrating some aspects while critiquing others, through the lenses of a socialist boy named Huey Freeman, his rapper wannabe brother Riley and their activist grandad Robert.

This show was quite revolutionary,it referenced the issue of each episode quite well, even though it only lasted 4 seasons, however, because the show is quite American, apart from the animation which is done in Korea,The Boondocks is not well known in the UK, which is a shame because it is a really good show that still holds up…however, it does fall under one mousetrap that most other adult cartoons fall into….

Because of the references to violence,innuendo and other dark subject matter sometimes referenced in a satirically humorous way,some audiences would just watch the show because it’s offensive thinking that the show was made just to be offensive..instead of what the show was actually made for..which was to give social commentary on the issues relevant to African American communities in America.

I had watched this show years ago, it only just came back on my radar, because the creator Aaron McGruder, who based the show off his webcomic of the same name, had recently made a new issue.

There’s a difference between being satirical and being offensive

Your either making fun of something bad that a system or people are doing to make people aware of how stupid and sad the world can be at times,subjectively making fun of a stereotype, or your an arse who thinks they’re a comedian when they waste their time on social media, thinking they’re amazing and funny when they’re holding up the line at Mcdonald’s and the only people laughing at their jokes are gammon and people who found Bernard Manning funny

“Oh Wait”

I know sometimes I have unpopular opinions such as how my views of someone dip depending on their views of Kanye West

and sometimes I can be a bit snarky, and I hate and love stuff in equal amounts, but we need a bit of that don’t we, if we bottle it all up we explode like volcanos, but if we overshare too much, we crash like out of control cars

It’s all about moderation, salt is a tasty condiment but eat too much of it and your arteries will get clogged,

A few days back it was the day Mark Ashton passed away, for those who don’t know,he was an LGBT activist in the 80s,he volunteered with organizations such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament,he and the other activists helped to support the miners during the miner strike, creating the LGSM Alliance,Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners,there was a film made about them too, called Pride,but what some people don’t know is that….Mark Ashton was Northern Irish…he was one of us..he was the Marsha P Johnson of our time..if we were a bit like Mark Ashton this country would be a slightly more accepting place, why don’t we give love!

Let’s move on, plant more flowers in our garden..I know I sound like a hippie but it’s true, our Celtic Summerland is being used as a cesspool for Nuclear Waste

Oi! use your own bins, not the place we’re living in, pick up your rubbish and clean up your own mess…

The 80s were telling us something with all those protect and survive adverts, yes some of us were prepared as the older generation made us alert, others couldn’t recognize that a lot of innocent people were getting hurt.

When we say we want a 1980s comeback we want the music, clothes, games and films,

but Nope

while we have some of that the 1980s revival we get is the one that involves Nuclear Danger and the ghost of Margaret Thatcher

All these TV and Film revivals, some are cool others are just unnecessary Do we really need a Snow White sequel? No, we don’t but we did get one even if it was unofficial

Back in 2007 a French animation company made a sequel to Snow White which was also a bit like Shrek in how it satirised the fairy tale tropes, how Prince Charming feels like he is objectified while he ends up doing the same thing to the female characters, quite a tosser but that’s the point of the parody to point out the flaws with fairy tale logic, and to put the likes of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in more realistic scenarios.

…it’s strange, weird but brilliant too

The English dub had quite a few familiar faces doing the character voices

Stephen Fry as the narrator, Morwenna Banks, Simon Greenall and another British actor

Rik someone...

Ah! I remember his name now, he was in many successful sitcoms in the 80s and 90s,he was a legend, he knew how to keep people laughing, whether they were children, adults, teenagers,

in television, theatre, film or music

quite an eclectic range of talent

Although

I’m a new fan, I might adore his work, but I had just learnt his name 2 years ago, whereas, with other fans, they have created their own work, such as Charlie Brooker and Simon Pegg… some were able to meet him…lucky...

Some encounters were quite interesting, I had heard someone’s nan got to meet him in the 90s but she got his name wrong so she ended up saying

“‘oh hello can I have your autograph please Mr mayo?’

Well that happened, she probably still got that autograph,...

And somewhere up there, Rik Mayall is thinking of us, he, Stephen Hillenburg and David Bowie are probably chatting away

Let’s make the lord of misrule proud

#comedy #comedy monologue #1980s #original monologue

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cvenir · 7 years ago

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here i am to introduce EIGHT characters that i actually thought i had already introduced lmao set me on fire !! but yay, take a look under the cut! ofc eventually proper bios will hit my pages and their tasks will expand much more on my children! as always, pinterests and songs are linked if u wanna go a lil deeper

just kidding i drafted that when i was aCTUALLY gonna do 8 but thankfully tea says she won’t accept me until i post 2 intros so yOU SHALL RECEIVE 2 RN and 8 later <33333 gotta keep y’all on your toes heh also i wrote niall’s in my journal on the plane so like... it’s not great (literally just bullets of sentence fragments) but wtvr that’s what bios are for amirite

NIALL O'DONOGHUE looks an awful lot like TARON EGERTON. HE is TWENTY-EIGHT and while they're ASTUTE, they have a tendency to get pretty ARDUOUS. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to DON'T WANNA FALL IN LOVE by KYLE (ok his pinterest is incredibly unfinished look away)

v conflicting mix of soft and hard

king of suppressing his lowkey intense feelings

kinda awkward around others due to the fact that he spent his entire life reading, writing, and studying –– he rarely interacted with other people as a kid and this mostly continued into his adult life

sweet soft boi has a double masters in medieval and renaissance studies and french and romance philology; he’s working on his phd rn while interviewing to become an assistant professor at kola university

grew up w a single mom (never knew dad) and had no siblings so his childhood was even lonelier :////

so like mad libs = his bff :’(

well mad libs and the shoulder flashlight he invented for late night reading (shoutout to amy santiago)

v soft and passionate heart

loves intellectual discussions like my boi has v strong gemini/virgo/mercury influences –– and a libra (or taurus i haven’t decided yet) venus so waTCH OUT

takes friendship v seriously (love u grant <333 @mcnuggcts )

buttt he can be a giant asshole sorry i don’t make the rules

v organized and particular

and scared of getting close to people bc he’s so used to being alone ugh my son!!

but once you get in there you’ll see he’s a good guy like rlly is he just has a bad temper sometimes and can barely express any emotion but anger half the time :///

ISLA VARGA looks an awful lot like ALEXIS REN. SHE is TWENTY-TWO and while they're SAGACIOUS, they have a tendency to get pretty MACABRE. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to COOL GIRL by TOVE LO.

so i’ve played isla before n i’m v sorry to do this but i feel hella lazy so i’m sORRY but here comes a fucking huge wall of text don’t look at me and don’t feel like u have to read it ://// all the triggers i tagged apply to her; she’s p dark so seriously do not read it if you think she will make you uncomfortable!!

to preface, isla is like the embodiment of all of the seven deadly sins, and i molded her a lot after amy dunne (scary, i know) and april ludgate (mostly amy tho april is just deadpan like she is –– when she’s being herself, that is), as she is an incredible pococurante yet perfectionist who borders on sociopathy

soooo this will make sense later but her real name is actually brigid (father’s surname idk) which she now uses as her middle name

so isla’s dad is a fucking rockstar !!! badass right. she’s half-siblings with hadley ( @ofadorations ) and colby ( @shtbgs ) but she actually never met her mom, something she’s not too pressed about

bc she was cute as a button, family friends decided to get her into the entertainment business as a child star almost as soon as she could walk –– she did it all, acted, modeled, danced, sang, she was literally hollywood’s little starlet and she hated every minute of it. the entertainment business loved who they created, but that girl was never her and it weighed deeply on her psyche.

when she was twelve, she decided to fake her own disappearance because she was fed up with everything –– she cut her hair to her ears, dyed it brown (and has continued to do so ever since) and sneaked her way to nyc hoping no one would recognize her

well someone did, and they happened to be a member of ruthless and organized mobs of the city –– in return for keeping her concealed, she pledged her devotion and became one of their most skilled and lethal honeytraps in the business (WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE BC THEY MADE HER START YOUNG I AM SO SORRY FOR WRITING THIS IT JUST PLAYS HEAVILY INTO HER CHARACTER)

along the way, members inevitably died –– people she was sworn to care for –– many times before her eyes as well, which only lead her to realize she enjoyed witnessing all sorts of death, even those of people she was supposed to “love”. emotion was almost nonexistent in isla’s childhood, a trait that bled into her character development.

she began to idolize the gang and its power, something she now craved. still, isla was doing a great job of portraying herself to those around her as a rosy, meek, baby-doll, when in actuality she was a child full of hate who would soon blossom into a young adult of the same tone. she became even more obsessed with death, fantasizing about it as if her unusual thoughts would make her less afraid when it came for her.

eventually, as she grew older, she was accepted into the higher ranks of the mob; this couldn’t have made isla more content. the macabre girl was honored that someone else noticed her genius, the way she could predict things, assess situations, manipulate people to do her bidding. it was only right that she was initiated into a society that praised her for such harshness

but, as all things do, her time in the gang ended after ten years and isla did what she does best: disappeared. she’s relocated back close to home, kola california, and it’s only a matter of time before people and the industry realize just who she is

if she’s acting like her true self, she behaves like a negative, eldritch layabout who likes to watch others suffer (sounds extreme, i know). however, she rarely lets anyone see the real her, and instead accepts various facades in a big game –– the darkness is truly her personality, she’s not faking her cold demeanor. this image enables her to mask her true potential and the fact that she is unflaggingly loyal and cares about those she’s close to.

if i had to give her a label, it would probably be the pococurante (which is defined as: an indifferent person. possibly they’re bored, jaded or even been hurt. either way, they tend not to get attached to things and don’t show much enthusiasm, whether that’s on the outside or the inside, too)

on the other hand, she could be accurately summed up as an arcane, as she’s an enigmatic mystery and she prides herself on being a puzzle that several people have failed to solve. there are many sides to her personality; in some aspects, she’s very much an aesthete considering she spends a great deal of her time taking putting together outfits, so she has a very defined fashion sense and typically dresses like a princess half the time, which is very ironic considering her dark personality. she truly is so GLAMOROUS (and this is why i love alexis for her) and she works that mean girl, hard soul aesthetic while serving looks and also able to come across as incredibly sweet, which is perfect for her multiple personas. she’s a stunner, with both her appearance and personality; as much as she is indifferent and would prefer to fly under the radar, wherever she goes people always want to ask questions, making her into this intangible concept that everyone wants to define.

people will recognize parts of her as if they’ve seen here in another life, and because of her ostentatious, puzzling, and spellbinding personality, she’s unforgettable. on the other hand, she’s also something of a virago, due to the fact that she can be incredibly feisty when angered; but it takes quite a lot to actually set off her fuse, as she’s good at controlling which emotions she shares. for the most part, she is incredibly blasé and even-tempered. additionally, she’s is a bit of a picaro because her primary aim with her life at this point is to be independent and liberated from any and all attachments to other people. mostly, though, she’s is nothing more than a girl who’s afraid; of what, she still can’t decide.

all in all, she’s so much of everything that she isn’t quite certain of her own identity. her character is one shrouded in secrets and shadows yet alluring and sensual. but, lbr, most of all she’s just deadass terrifying. one of her defining characteristics is her desire to make things happen for her through her own abilities and determination. obstinate as all get out, she doesn’t like to own up to making mistakes so she tries to prove that she’s almost invincible to them bc she doesn’t wanna let anyone see her vulnerable, or she doesn’t want to let someone down - this refers only to those that she’s actually close to. due to her apathetic nature, all she really wants to do is let most people down – people she finds boring and useless – and have some fun because of it. however, when it comes to people she truly has allowed herself to care about, her deepest desire is for their happiness because they must be pretty damn special for making her give a shit.

still, because of her evasive tendencies, she almost always does ruin things for herself and for others, even when she actually cares. she’s like a double-edged sword; when she finds something worthwhile, she sees so much beauty and potential in it, but she’s got a midas touch. whenever she wants to obtain it or pursue it, her involvement makes everything fall to ashes, and she is afraid of her own influence. despite her tendency to run away, once she latches on and decides to be truly loyal, she’ll be devoted in such an extent that she would undoubtedly kill for them.

she can be a loudmouth whenever she actually decides to speak, constantly fabricating outlandish stories and even going off like a deranged person, but beneath her caustic and frightening exterior, isla is rather pensive. on the occasion that she chooses to offer legitimate advice, it’s usually very elaborate and composed. still, she doesn’t want people to know about capable she is, or how intelligent she can be, so she hides her rare brilliance with a tough exterior and stoic personality.

idk if you can tell but i like diving into the specifics of my character like their star signs and stuff so i searched an amy dunne mbti and tweaked it bc it really helped describe her even further! she’s a intj !

introverted intuition (ni): isla sees everything around her in a world of symbols, of metaphors, and of potential. her narration will continually be littered with predictions, with ideas about how things are going to be and what will result from this or that. despite her brashness that some may assume is impulsivity, she is a planner, anticipating new “problems” and seeking to rectify them with her own twisted brand of justice. she tries to work everything into her overall system of understanding, of her big ideas about how the world works, including her take on her various false identities she possesses for her previous job as an escort but also to mess with the minds of others around her. she’s always disappointed by how the real world is never as good as the way she imagined it; she is perfect and nothing else can catch up with her expectations.

extroverted feeling (fe): despite her aloofness, and rather lack of any sort of emotional bearing, empathy, or any sort of true feeling, isla is conscious of how others’ perceive her, of the image she’s created, and of how key that social perception is to her success, even if it’s just in her own imagination. she restrains her real opinions in order to adapt to her environment, as she’s somewhat of a chameleon, only a few have had a chance to catch the true witch beneath the crown. she’s the mistress of change, easily altering her identities in order to better fit in with new people, should the situation require it. she’s easily devastated when she reveals her real personality to others, as in the past, some that she’s left truly see her have refused to accept her twisted true-self. even though she is wholesomely selfish and self-seeking, isla is very people-focused, and applies most of her intellect and analysis onto general people-based functions, that may she can have the confidence that she has clearly manipulated and analyzed every aspect of her environment, as she needs this to feel in control.

introverted thinking (ti): as mentioned, isla is highly analytical, always trying to see the why of a scenario, what’s behind human behavior, which turns her attention to psychology and manifests in her flair for anticipating the thoughts and actions of those around her; she is so obsessed with understanding why people tick that she looks past her own slighted judgment, as she herself could easily qualify as a sociopath/psychopath. she’s always trying to fit in any new experience, or piece of information, into her pre-established system of facts, and as such is rarely ever surprised. despite her apathy and lack of care for her life or how it progresses, she’s highly organized and loves to make checklists, arrangements for the future, and methodically ticks of her obligations, one by one. while her emotions and feelings are significantly suppressed, and even nonexistent, she makes up for that human trait with a very powerful mind, one that is quick to learn and adept with languages, memorization, and logic. however, she doesn’t want anyone to know just how brilliant and quick she is, as it’s her greatest asset, thus explaining why she chose not to be a member on the intellectual team.

extroverted sensing (se): isla tends to respond her physical environment with fierce analysis, as expressed in her intellectual capabilities. she’s almost incapable of living in the moment, contrary to how people suspect she is, considering she portrays herself as impulsive and cunningly excitable. in reality, though, even when she’s crossed off everything on her checklist, she’s almost incapable of relaxing, or enjoying the world around her, as she doesn’t find things that other people find beautiful. she struggles the most with the physical side of her plans, even though she is a very physical individual. she is very open with her body and indulges with the lusts of the flesh, as she sensuality is at the same level as her wickedness. along with this, isla craves for the environment that houses her figure to be pleasant and organized, and can’t stand when things are out of order.

#tw sociopath #tw gang #if that's a thing i'm so sorry i'm kinda oblivious w triggers please someone correct me or tell me if i'm missing anything #fckit:intro #tw death #tw childhood trauma #tw prostitution #in a way #tw child abuse #tw human trafficking #could also apply i'm so sorry i'm trying to cover all the bases just in case

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