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mycomfortblanket · 3 years

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Could We?

Toph feels a body drop down onto the bed with her, which is what jostled her awake, but she doesn't open her eyes to acknowledge his presenece. She can hear his breathing, slow and deep and considering the fact that it's Tuesday and before noon, she can accurately assume it's Aang.

"I think I'm going to break up with Katara," he whispers out to her.

"Is that really why you came in here so fucking early and woke me up? To tell me some gossip?" she mumbles out against her pillow. He doesn't say anything else but rather lets out a deep breath.

She is just edging the cliff of sleep when he speaks up again, "Do you think it would be a mistake for me to do that?"

Toph lifts a shoulder in a lazy way, "I don't know, Twinkletoes," her voice thick with sleep, "Are you happy with her? You guys seem to be the picture perfect couple."

"Exactly! That's the thing. I don't want to be the picture perfect couple. I want to fight, I want to get into arguements and disagree on stuff, I don't want everything to be perfect. It just all feels faked and forced," he waves his arms around in exasperation, shaking the bed slightly.

Realizing she isn't going to be able to go back to sleep, she rolls over onto her back and rests her hands on her stomach. "Okay, I thought fighting came with every relationship. I f you don't want it to be faked and forced, then what do you want?"

Aang doesn't answer for a moment, trying to think as to what he does want in his relationship, "I want it to be fun. I want her to be my best friend and then my girlfriend second, you know?"

"No, I don't know. Haven't exactly been flourishing in the dating department. Why don't you just talk to her about this?"

"I don't know," he grumbles. They're both silent, the only sound is their breathing.

"What's your sex life like?" she asks randomly.

Aang sits straight up and turns his head to look at her, "What?!" he yells.

Trying to hold back a snicker, Toph sits up as well and leans her back against the wall, "I said, 'What's your sex life like?' Is it good? How often do you guys do it?"

"I don't think that really pertains to the conversation, Toph!"

"Oh, it really does, Twinkletoes. A lot, actually. So, what's it like? Is it any good? How often do you do it?"

Aang is quiet for a moment, "It's okay and we do it maybe like... a few times a month," he mumbles. Toph can't hold back a laugh and he shoots her a glare, "Oh, and yours is just so much better?"

"Actually, yes. I may not be flourishing in the relationship department, but I definitely know my way around a bedroom," she says through a laugh and Aang just buries his face in his hands. "Since you woke me up, you get to make me breakfast," she says, getting up from the bed.

"Ahhh, Toph!" Aang throws a hand up to cover his eyes.

Toph quirks an eyebrow at him but then remembers that she is only wearing a bralette and panties. Waving a hand at him, "Ehh, it's fine. Same as a swimsuit."

"My Spirits, no it's not," Aang mutters to himself.

-----

Toph stabs at her eggs and Aang sits across from her sucking down some kind of smoothing and making loud slurping noises, "So, what do you think? Should I break up with her?"

"Urgh, we're back to this?" Toph mumbles, her tiredness still not having fully left her. "Look, it really sounds like you've already made up your mind about it. You're obviously not happy in the relationship, so might as well cut that shit off."

Aang casts his eyes down and slurps loudly from his drink again while thinking over what she said. A replay of this morning's conversation comes to his mind, "What's you sex life like?" he asks.

The fork hovers just in front of her open mouth and stays there for a second while she digests the fact that he actually asked that. Laying the fork down, she lifts an eyebrow up at him, "What?" confused disbelief lacing the word.

He shrugs and draws small circles on the table with his finger, "Well, I was just thinking. You know- well kinda know- about mine. So, what's yours like? Maybe I could compare the two, see if I'm doing something wrong or maybe like-"

"Stop," Toph cuts off his rambling. "What do you want to know? And ask quickly before I change my mind."

Aang immediately sits up straighter but draws a complete blank at what to ask, "Ah, shit. Okay. I didn't really think you'd agree. Okay, give me a second." Toph just stares blankly in his direction while sipping from her straw. "Okay, okay. What's it like?"

Cocking her head to the side, Toph lets out a groan. "No, too vague. Ask specific questions so I can give you actual answers."

"Well! I don't know, what am I supposed to ask?! How loud are you or if you prefer to be on top?"

"I don't think I'm loud, but I definitely can be. As for being on top or bottom, you'll have to be more specific? I prefer to ride, so yes to that part of being on top, but I am definitely a bottom. Meaning, I'm a submissive sexual person. Next question, go," she answers with no hesitation and goes back to sipping on her orange juice and staring blankly at him.

"Wow. Uh, okay. Wasn't expecting that," he mumbles awkwardly and sips his drink. He thinks for a moment, and finally asks, "How do you convey to someone that you want to have... not regular sex?"

"What?"

"Like... how do I tell Katara that I want to have sex differently?"

"What, you mean like rough sex? You guys don't have rough sex?" Aang doesn't say anything, just rolls the straw between his fingers, "What, do you do missionary every time?" Again, he doesn't say anything. Raising her eyebrows, she brushes off some crumbs on her hands, "How often do you guys have sex? Like exact number."

"I dunno," he mumbles, "Maybe like... twice a month?"

"You guys have sex twice a month?!" Toph says loudly.

"I told you that!"

"No," she said, shaking her head at him, showing her disappointment in him. "You said a few times a month, which could mean once a week or whatever." She hears a think on the table and assumes he dropped his head onto it. Toph considers him for a minute, "Do you love her?"

He doesn't answer right away, which is an answer enough, but he says, "I feel like it's a little early to say if I love her or not."

Rolling her eyes, Toph leans forward and rests her elbows on the table, "Yeah, but the way you paused says a lot, too." The waitress comes over and drops off their check without even looking at them and takes Toph's plate away. "Alright, I'm going to say something and I don't want you to get upset with me, okay?" When he doesn't say anything, she continues, "I do think you should break up with her. Not because I don't like having girl talks with you, because believe me, it's great. But, you paused on admitting that you loved her, your sex life is shit, and you even said you weren't happy."

"I never said I wasn't happy," he grumbles.

"You never said you were and either way, my point stands. You guys have been together for six months and you don't even feel a little sliver of love for her?" She holds her fingers up so that her index finger and thumb are almost touching to emphasize her point.

Aang starts to say something, but she cuts him off, "You also want to fight and she obviously doesn't. No offense, but I think you're just wanting someone to tell you it's okay that you break up with her, and it is."

-----

A week or two later, she feels Aang drop onto her bed again, jostling her awake. Pulling her pillow over her head, she groans, "What the fuck do you want, Twinkles?"

"I broke up with her," he says as he releases a deep breath.

"Great. I feel like this is a conversation that could wait a few hours," her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Come on, Toph. I need your help."

"Bitch, my help? You already broke up with her, the fuck do you need me for?"

"You're going to help me with my sex life!"

"The fuck I'm helping you with that. Now, go away, it's too early to be awake," she kicks at him, pushing him out of the bed. The hell did he mean 'help him with his sex life'? He was helping himself by getting out of that relationship to begin with, the rest he could figure out on his own.

"It's 11:30," he says, standing up. He smacks her blanket covered ass, hoping to get her out of the bed but she just swings an arm and tries to hit him.

"Get out, Twinkletoes!"

A few hours later, when she finally walks out of her bedroom in a long tshirt and her underwear, Aang greets her from the couch. She can hear some gory tv show going on as she passes through the living room and into the kitchen.

When she comes back with a bowl of Apple Jacks, she sits cross legged on the couch next to him and listens to the show knowing that he's going to want to talk. As expected, he turns off the tv and turns to her, "So, I broke up with her."

"Yeah, you said that," she says through a mouthful of cereal.

"Yeah... it actually went a lot better than I thought it would have. She cried, but..." he trails.

"She cried? Fuck, what did you say to her?" from the passive way Aang was talking about breaking up with her the other day, she assumed that Katara was also starting to pick up on the fact that something was wrong with their relationship.

"Why wouldn't she cry? We dated for six months." Toph shrugged and continued to eat her cereal. They sit in silence for a moment, the only sound is the clink of her spoon against the bowl and her chewing.

"What were you saying about me helping with your sex life? What exactly did you mean by that?" she points her spoon at him.

"You have a lot of sex, I hear it almost weekly," he says in a slightly annoyed tone. Toph had warned him against choosing the apartment that had the bedrooms sharing a wall but he insisted because the kitchen has a nice view of the park, as if it matters. "So you must have some pointer."

Rolling her eyes, she stands up from the couch and takes her bowl to the sink and rinises it out. For what he is asking of her, he could be a little more sensittive with how he words things. "Pointers?" she asks from the sink.

"Yeah. Like tricks or something."

"Aang, honey. I can't give you those kind of pointers unless we're having sex and I can tell where you're fucking up," she says and plops down next to him on the couch.

"True," and from that word alone, she can tell where his mind is going.

Shaking her head, she starts to lean away from him, "No. Nuh uh. No-" she lifts her hands up as if she were to push him off of her at that exact moment. She is getting massive Emma Stone from Easy A vibes at the moment.

"Come on, Toph! Just think about it!"

"No, Aang! No, the fact that you even think that would work-"

"Oh, whatever, Toph! You know it would. You're the least commitall person in the world and you even said that I would need a hands on approach to know where I'm fucking up."

Toph jumps up from the couch and points at him, "You've lost your mind. You're obviously in shock from that breakup. It must've fucked you up more than we realzied."

Aang stands up and grabs the finger that is pointed at him, "Dude! THink about it! We would be helping each other out!" Now Toph is pretty sure that's an actual line in Easy A.

"I really don't see how teaching you how to properly have sex would benefit me. Just do what I do and go pick someone up at the bar!"

Completely ignoring her resolution to the problem, he continues, "You'd be getting to have sex and not faking it since you'd be my guide," she is just about to interject that she does not fake it. "Trust me, I've heard you enough times to tell when you're faking it."

Toph pulls her hand away from him and crosses her arms over her chest and looks away. "And you don't have to keep doing the whole finding someone at the bar, somehow getting them back here, and then hoping they don't steal anything when they leave in the morning!"

He couldn't really think that this would work. Even though she hated the whole 'finding someone at the bar' part, his plan is ridiculous, no matter how appealing the prospect of sex sounded.

Shaking her head, she says, "And what makes you think it would work, you and me having sex? What makes you think you wouldn't catch feelings or someone catching us in the act or some other awful thing."

"I like how you said that as if I would be the only one that caught feeling," she raises an eyebrow at him. "Okay, whatever. I wouldn't catch feelings because, I don't think of you like that now and it would just be sex for educational purposes, no kissing or anything. As for someone catching us, we'll just start locking the front door."

He was really finding reasons to pave over her reasons, "I swear to all the Spirits, this is not going to work," she shakes her head again, her arms still crossed at her chest.

"But...?" he asks, his voice getting a little hopeful. He begins to bounce on the balls of his feet while waiting for her next response.

"But, I haven't gotten laid in a while, so why not."

Read this on Archive of Our Own

#taang #taang fluff #taang smut #start of smut anyways #toph beifong #toph #aang #avatar aang #atla #avatar the last airbender #toph x aang #aang x toph

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tibbinswrites · 5 years

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Suptober Day 25 - Tattoos

“I want a tattoo,” Cas said one morning, completely out of the blue and while Dean was still dangerously in his first sips of his first coffee.

“You’ve got tattoos.” Dean bit back grumpily, though Cas knew better than to take his ire seriously before ten am.

“Yes. I want another one.”

“Okay...” Dean drew out the word like he was waiting for Cas’ point.

“Can I?”

Dean snorted and placed his mug down on the table, “I’m not your mother, Cas. You’re a grown ass practically immortal being. If you want a tattoo you don’t need my permission.”

“I know, but… would you help me? I don’t want to end up disappointed and I don’t know how to tell if a parlour is a good one or not.”

Dean squinted at him through the steam from his coffee, considering.

“Sure,” he said. Go grab my laptop, we can have a look around.”

Xxx

Dean was almost done with his mug and a lot more cheerful when Cas returned a few minutes later, he took the laptop and flipped it open, searching for nearby tattoo parlours and going onto their various websites.

“I don’t suppose sanitation really matters to you,” Dean said, flipping through some pictures of a studio before dismissing it. “Seeing as you can’t get infected and all, but it says a lot about how much a place cares about the art it makes. If you can stumble in there at three am and demand Bob Ross’ face on your ass then you’re not in the right place.”

“Why would anyone-?”

“People.” Dean answered with a shrug. “Those are the kind of places we went to get these,” he gestured at his chest, “but these are practical, they just had to be copied from a drawing we supplied, if you want an actual design, you need to find an actual artist, not just someone with a tattoo gun who can draw hearts and fancy swirls and a passable wolf.”

Cas wrinkled his nose at the thought. He did want a proper design, something beautiful, something meaningful, something his. But the task seemed monumental for him let alone a stranger.

“Here are the ones that look decent.” Dean said a few minutes later, showing Cas a set of six tabs. “What do you want to get anyway?”

“I don’t know.” Cas said, feeling touched that Dean was walking him through this but overwhelmed as he clicked on the first tab and a slew on images popped up. “How am I supposed to choose?”

Surprisingly, instead of mocking him, Dean smiled and shuffled his chair closer so he could see the screen too.

“Look through the artist portfolios,” he directed, pointing to the option at the top of the screen. “Most will have links to their own websites with more of their work. You’re not looking for the perfect design, just the perfect style. Some are better at portraits, others at more geometric stuff, some do different things with colour. You can narrow it down by crossing out the ones you don’t like.”

Cas nodded solemnly and turned his attention back to the screen. The first artist had lots of strong black lines and straight edges. The second a lot of portraits, neither of which really appealed to him.

He seemed to search for hours. Dean was refilling his coffee when Cas found what he was looking for.

“This one.” Cas said, looking up to see Dean jump at his voice. “I want her.” He tried to keep his tone neutral but from the slight crinkle at the edge of Dean’s eyes he hadn’t been able to hide the excitement in his voice.

“Alright, let’s take a look.” Dean said, leaving his mug at the machine and coming over to look at the screen over Cas’ shoulder. “Nice,” he agreed.

Castiel felt a warm buzzing in his stomach, he was glad that Dean liked it too. The image on the screen was a rose, not what Cas was looking for really, delicately done, with a fine outline, but it was the colours that were magical; midnight blue and deep, rich purples blended in the petals, with a shimmer that looked almost metallic, smudging across the lines slightly, not enough to ruin the image but just enough to be imperfect, to feel right.

Castiel booked a consultation for the following week.

Xxx

Cas sat in the waiting room of the tattoo parlour, tapping his foot nervously while Dean sat next to him. Dean had insisted on coming with him and Castiel hadn’t thought to object, the last time he’d gotten a tattoo he’d been alone, and although the pain was minimal compared to some of the torments he’d endured as an angel, experiencing it as human pain was different and he had wished for company, even if Dean only would have mocked him and compared him to an infant.

“What if it turns out bad?” He asked quietly, “I still have no idea what I want, what if I can’t think of anything? What if she doesn’t have the right colours, or-”

“Cas,” Dean interrupted patiently, “it’s just a consultation, no needle is getting near your skin without your say so. If she draws you something and you don’t like it, she’ll change it for you. If she doesn’t have the colours she’ll order them in and we can go back when she’s got ’em. If you don’t have any ideas we can talk it out. It’s gonna be fine”

Cas was grateful for the reassurance, but he was still nervous nonetheless. He just didn’t want to be disappointed. This felt important and he didn’t want to mess it up by choosing the wrong thing. The artist, Giva Chaudhary, was exceptionally talented, but none of the images in her portfolio had really spoken to him. He was worried that they would get there and she would be unable to produce the thing he wanted on his skin forever and he would either have to go home with nothing, or settle for something that was less than perfect.

“Mr Novak?”

Miss Chaudhary was a small woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, her black hair was bound in a long plait and she had a smile that seemed almost too large for her face.

“Yes.” Castiel said, standing to shake her hand. “Miss Chaudhary, you work is beautiful.”

“Well thank you, but don’t bother with the ‘miss’, Giva is fine.”

“Cas,” Cas offered, and then, because Dean was leaning to shake her hand too. “This is Dean, a friend.”

“Moral support?” Giva asked, her dark eyes twinkling, “Understandable, a first tattoo can be a scary business.”

“It’s not his first,” Dean said immediately, “but this one’s important, he wants it to be right.”

Giva nodded and gestured them to sit, she did as well, laying a sketchbook and some pencils on the table in between them.

“So, Cas, do you know what you’d like?”

Cas felt himself flushing and stammered out an apology which Giva waved away, “Not a problem, that’s what these talks are for, yes? If we don’t figure it out today you can always come back another time. So what drew you to my work in particular?”

So Cas told her, he answered her questions and looked through her books. She made some further sketches as he talked, of nothing in particular, nothing important, and so her sketches, while lovely, were nothing like what he was looking for. Dean was quiet throughout, Cas kept glancing at him to gauge his reaction to each piece but he remained stubbornly neutral. This only added to his confusion, how was he supposed to decide if he didn’t know if Dean would like it or not?

“I wonder if I might ask your friend to go and get us some sandwiches from across the street.” Giva said after thirty minutes of light conversation and not much progress.

Dean was reluctant, but agreed when Cas nodded to him and left with a significant ‘call me if you need me’ look.

The second the door closed, Giva let out a long sigh. “Perhaps you can speak more easily now,” she said. “I notice you very much want his approval.”

“I trust his judgement,” Cas said, carefully.

“I don’t doubt his judgement, only that in this case, his opinion matters less than yours. He will approve the most if you’re happy.” Giva said with a kind smile, as though she saw this kind of thing all the time.

“You care for him deeply,” she said

“I-” there was no sense in denying it. “Yes. Dean and I… we’ve been through a lot.”

“Tell me,” Giva said, sitting back in her chair, sketchbook at the ready.

Cas cleared his throat.

“Err… Well… I suppose you could say I come from a very strict background,” he began, picking his words carefully. “When I first met Dean, more than a decade ago now, I pulled him from a dark place; it was a duty for me at the time, to keep an eye on him, look out for him and his brother, to try and keep them on the righteous path. Dean… Dean disliked being led.” He felt a small smile tugging at his lips. “I found myself admiring that, helping him more that I was supposed to and as I grew closer to Dean, I began to see my family for what they truly were. They tried to get me back, keep be under their control but I fought for my freedom because Dean showed me how.”

“Freedom is an important thing.” Giva said encouragingly as she sketched, “Worth fighting for. But it can be difficult if family disagrees with your choices.”

“I made many mistakes that I can never redeem.” Cas said, “A lot of bad decisions that got people hurt. Dean forgave me even when he had every right not to, while my family betrayed me, cast me out, hunted me.”

“A fall from grace, sounds like.” Giva muttered, Cas looked up sharply but the petite woman wasn’t even looking at him, she was focused on her sketch.

“That would be… incredibly accurate.”

“So why the tattoo now?” Giva asked, her pencil stilling for a moment, “This is your first important one, but you waited ten years?”

Cas tilted his head, formulating his answer before speaking, looking down at his own hands, “For years after I met Dean, my body didn’t feel like my own. Like it was someone else’s and I was just stealing his life. It has taken me a long time to… settle into my own skin, as it were. These clothes are his but they fit me now and so have become mine. My other tattoos are copies, but this will be the first thing about my body that isn’t inherited.”

Giva nodded again and asked nothing more, continuing to sketch in silence, she tore three separate pages from her notebook when she was done and laid them out one by one.

Cas didn’t even look at the third sketch, the second one was perfect.

Xxx

“So I drive all this way and I have to drive all the way back again in four days but you’re not gonna tell me what you’re getting?”

“I don’t want you to see it before it’s done.” Cas said, holding Giva’s sketch tightly to his chest. Before Dean had come back in with sandwiches, they had discussed minor tweaks and colours and Giva had given him the sketch to look over in case he wanted to change anything else before his appointment, she assured him that even the day of, if there was anything that he wasn’t certain of it could be changed to his liking as long as he told her before she got her needles out. In fact, all Dean knew about the piece was that it was going to be large and on his back, and that they would probably need more than one appointment to get it all done.

“If it’s Bob Ross’ face, I’m disowning you.” Dean griped.

“You don’t own me,” Cas pointed out. “So disowning me would be pointless.” And then, “and it’s nobody’s face.”

Xxx

It was worth the wait. That was all Dean could think a few weeks later when Cas dropped his shirt so that Dean could see the healed and completed piece. No wonder Giva had looked so pleased with herself after Cas’ last session, no wonder Cas had been beaming through red eyes.

Wings.

If Cas had asked his opinion he’d have said perhaps a little on the nose but he would have been eating those words.

They covered almost the entirety of Cas’ back with anatomically correct (he was assuming) detail but they were by no means static, the top half was full and thick with shimmering feathers, so dark they were almost black, but whatever ink Giva used caught the light, sending beautiful tones of blue, green, purple and magenta skittering across them. They swept down the curve of Cas’ spine where the feathers began to thin, hints of red and orange entered the mix, not enough to take away from the beauty of the above, just a subtle transition where some of the feathers were burning and curling into ash, then further down still those burnt and falling feathers twisted in the air, transforming into butterflies the same colour as the healthy feathers that weaved around the now bare bones of the wings.

“Holy shit,” he breathed. “Cas, they’re incredible.”

“I can’t manifest my wings,” Cas said quietly, “but I want you to see them as I see them. They are perhaps the thing I miss most about my old life; the symbol of what I was, powerful and grand and sure. But I’m not bound by their rules anymore. And what I am has changed into something more compressed, more human but infinitely more free. That transformation is largely because of you, Dean, and I can’t thank you enough.”

Dean barely realised he had reached forward to touch one of the burning feathers until Cas shivered under his touch, his fingers followed the wings in their progression, along their changes, they followed Cas’ story and he was the one who should be thanking Cas for letting him be a part of it. Without thinking, he dropped his lips to Cas’ shoulder and pressed them there. Cas turned to meet him and their mouths fitted together like they were made to, like they had done this before a thousand times, like, perhaps, they should have.

@winchester-reload

If you liked this, please consider buying me a coffee.

#suptober #suptoberart2019 #day 25 #tattoos #wings #Destiel #spn fanfic #prompt #writing #TibbinsWrites

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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10 Best Fighting Game Movies

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Once upon a time, Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, and John Saxon visited a crime boss’ private island to compete in a fighting tournament and it was awesome. The 1973 movie Enter the Dragon is basically the prototype for the fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. And when those fighting games became popular, they inspired their own movies that either tried to emulate Enter the Dragon or do something completely new.

The ‘90s gave us the cheesy live-action fighting game movies from Hollywood and the animated movies from Japan. There have been several live-action Mortal Kombat movies as well as a few animated ones. There have also been multiple Street Fighter movies, four attempts at Tekken, a trilogy of Fatal Fury films, and more.

Are most of them bad? Yes. But did we pick our 10 favorite fighting game movies anyway? You bet. Here are our picks:

10. ART OF FIGHTING (1993)

Eh…it’s harmless.

The Art of Fighting series is mostly defined by the twist that the first game’s final boss is the main character’s father and the second game’s final boss is a younger incarnation of the villain from Fatal Fury. Take away those aspects and you’re left with a rather lowkey storyline for a fighting game where a teenage girl is kidnapped by a mobster and is rescued by her brother and her boyfriend.

Wait, I said that weird. It’s two different people, I swear! Except in Capcom, where Dan Hibiki is literally both of them merged into one character.

In the 45-minute Art of Fighting movie about Ryo and Robert, who are like chiller and dopier versions of Ryu and Ken, we watch as the duo gets sucked into a plot about stolen diamonds, martial arts criminals, and angry police lieutenants. It doesn’t take itself seriously and it’s a fine, breezy watch.

Ryo’s incorrect hair color kind of irks me, though.

9. STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: THE ANIMATION (1999)

This movie suffers from the same problem as Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture. It features a cast of heroes from a fighting game taking on a villain created for the movie instead of the villains we actually give a shit about. But the movie does also have some brief but awesome cameos (Kim Kaphwan and Geese Howard from Fatal Fury and Dan Hibiki and Akuma from Street Fighter Alpha) to brighten up a less-than-stellar plot.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation does at least get by because the original characters play up Ryu’s whole fear about being overcome by “the Dark Hadou.” This leads to some cool animations where Evil Ryu looks like a mindless, shambling zombie but also an unstoppable fighting machine.

The movie’s main storyline is about a kid named Shun who claims that he’s Ryu’s long-lost brother. He too is a fighter cursed with an inner dark side, which is used as a red herring to suggest that Shun’s father (and presumably Ryu’s father) is actually Akuma. That ends up being bupkis and Shun is just linked to some scheme by a mad scientist or whatever.

Probably the funniest thing about this movie is the directors’ infatuation with Chun-Li’s midsection. She’s wearing her form-fitting Street Fighter Alpha costume and there are dozens upon dozens of random close-ups to her lower torso from the front and back. If this were a drinking game, it would kill you.

8. FATAL FURY 2: THE NEW BATTLE (1993)

Of the Fatal Fury movie trilogy, this one is easily the best, even if it makes all the good guys seem like a bunch of overly-serious crybabies. The basic story is that after having avenged his father’s death, Terry hits rock bottom, dusts himself off, and comes out the other end stronger. Good, good. Going Rocky III is the perfect direction for a follow-up.

The problem is that Terry comes off as a bit of a whiner and the other heroes try way too hard to vilify the movie’s main antagonist, who hasn’t actually done anything that terrible. Krauser shows up one day, challenges Terry to a fight, wins, and says, “Okay, when you get better, train and fight me again.” Krauser isn’t trying to take over the world or murder orphans or whatever. He’s just a dude with huge shoulder armor who wants a good fight.

But everyone acts like Krauser’s the absolute worst. Terry starts drinking and falls to pieces while his buddies hope to get revenge. What a bunch of jerks.

While a fun romp, the worst thing about this sequel is how they redesigned Krauser. Gone is his mustache and forehead scar for the sake of making him seem younger. Kind of a bullshit move, considering he’s supposed to be the half-brother to middle-aged Geese Howard.

7. TEKKEN: THE MOTION PICTURE (1998)

This hour-long anime is almost great but just can’t stick the landing. It runs into the same problem as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation where the game series tells a specific overall story but the movie cuts corners to tell the same story. Tekken: The Motion Picture covers the first Tekken while setting up Tekken 3 and skipping Tekken 2 completely.

It means that everything’s well and good until the confusing and rushed finale. Otherwise, the movie is a fine use of the Enter the Dragon formula. Heihachi Mishima has a special island fighting tournament and the entrants include his vengeful son, a couple of cops investigating the situation, a gigantic robot, an angry Native American girl, two feuding assassin sisters, and a bunch of awesome characters who only get about three full frames of appearances each. Really would have liked to see something from Paul, King, and Yoshimitsu, though.

Other than Kazuya being pissed at everything, the best scenes are the over-the-top ones. When Jack does crazy robot stuff, when dinosaurs show up and start eating people, and that memorable sequence where Heihachi catches a hatchet with his mouth and then shatters it with his jaw.

6. STREET FIGHTER (1994)

I know this movie is just a GI Joe script with Street Fighter names pasted over it. I know it’s a cheesefest of dopey ideas and Belgian accents. I’ve long accepted that. Thing is, the movie is still a total blast to watch. What it lacks in faithfulness to the source material, it makes up for with pure camp and ham.

The 16 characters from Super Street Fighter II are represented here, except Fei Long is replaced with the forgettable Captain Sawada. How ironic that the movie star character isn’t even in the movie!

In general, the movie features some head-scratching depictions of classic Street Fighter characters. All-American Guile is played by Jean Claude Van Damme, Charlie Nash and Blanka are the same character, Dee Jay is an evil hacker, Ryu and Ken are comedic conmen, and Dhalsim is a frumpy scientist.

It’s Raul Julia’s M. Bison who keeps this guilty pleasure afloat. He’s to Street Fighter what Frank Langella’s Skeletor was to Masters of the Universe. He gives 110% and his performance is easily the best reason to watch this movie. It’s truly a wonder to behold.

Games

The Forgotten Fighting Games of the 1990s

By Gavin Jasper

Games

King of Fighters: Ranking All the Characters

By Gavin Jasper

The movie is infamous for inspiring a fighting game based on it, but you know what nobody ever talks about? The Double Dragon movie also had a fighting game based on it made by Technos and released on the Neo Geo. And Double Dragon wasn’t even a one-on-one fighter to begin with!

Anyway, if you intend to sit back and watch Street Fighter, make sure to add in the RiffTrax commentary.

5. DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006)

Enter the Dragon meets Charlie’s Angels is a heck of a concept, but DOA: Dead or Alive is so confidently tongue-in-cheek that it succeeds as an action comedy that’s way better than it has any right to be. Part of why it works is that Dead or Alive has never had much of an overarching storyline, but is more defined by the individual characters (plus, you know, all the cheesecake). Enough of those characters appear in what’s your regular “fighting tournament on a mysterious island” setup.

The whole thing moves with such energy that it’s easy to get sucked in. It’s the opposite of the live-action Tekken movie, where even though the film features accurate versions of all the characters, everything is so drab and lifeless that you just can’t wait for it to be over. In DOA, the combatants spend their downtime playing cartoony action volleyball with Fake Dennis Rodman on commentary, while in Tekken everyone mopes about dystopian capitalism.

Other than Helena’s character being “important dead guy’s daughter,” most of the main characters are charismatic enough to keep your attention during the 3% of the movie when fights aren’t happening. It must suck for Ninja Gaiden fans that Hayabusa is depicted as a total dweeb, but he at least gets to do some cool stuff here and there.

The movie also has Kevin Nash playing a character based on Hollywood Hogan and he’s so likeable that I’m genuinely bummed that he peaces out about halfway into the movie. Luckily, the movie is entertaining enough that I didn’t even notice until after it was over. It helps that during that time, we get more of Eric Roberts, his amazing hair, and his special sunglasses that turn him into the ultimate martial arts master.

Spoiler alert, but the secret to defeating him is, get this, removing his sunglasses!

4. MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE (2020)

It took a while, but Warner Bros. Animation is on fire these days. After that Batman vs. TMNT movie and Teen Titans Go vs. Teen Titans, the studio appears to be hitting more than they miss. That’s exactly the kind of team needed to put together the latest animated Mortal Kombat movie.

This is the umpteenth retelling of the first game’s story. Not only does it have to compete with the first live-action movie, but also the events of Mortal Kombat 9, which depicts the tournament in cutscene format. Fortunately, Scorpion’s Revenge has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it puts Scorpion in the forefront as the protagonist. He was barely a character in the original movie and the game just had him kill Sub-Zero and feel bad about it for the rest of the story mode. Now he feels like a character in a crossover, making a mark on the original story instead of being put in the sidelines.

We also have the wonderful stunt casting of Joel McHale as Johnny Cage. More importantly, Jennifer Carpenter plays Sonya Blade, which is such a step up from Ronda Rousey’s voice acting in Mortal Kombat 11.

This cartoon has a very hard R when it comes to violence. From the very beginning, Scorpion’s origins are gruesome and grisly. Once Jax is introduced, it doesn’t take long until we realize, “Oh, that’s how they’re dealing with THAT plot point in this continuity.” Then there’s a surprise villain death late in the movie that not only comes as a shocking development, but it’s so graphic and nasty that you can’t help but be taken aback.

Scorpion’s Revenge is a fantastic first chapter of what is hopefully a series of animated movies, but it does have its pacing issues. Scorpion being the protagonist may be a welcome change, but at times it does feel like a square peg being crammed into a round hole.

3. TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE (2011)

One of the best things about the Tekken series is the endings. While the cutscenes from the first couple games haven’t exactly aged well, these CGI epilogues have become a staple in nearly every installment. What better reward for your time and success than watching a rocking action sequence with Yoshimitsu and Bryan Fury killing each other in the jungle?

And so, to play to the series’ strengths, Bandai Entertainment released a Tekken movie that’s really just one big ending cutscene. It’s not canon, but it feels at home with the games.

Since Tekken’s main conflict is with two ruthless megalomaniacs (Heihachi and Kazuya) and a disgruntled nihilist (Jin), it’s hard to treat any of them as a real protagonist here. Instead, they go with Ling Xiaoyu, who is portrayed as the person who sees the good in Jin and wants him to see the light. She’s given a robotic BFF in Alisa Bosconovitch because Xiaoyu is kind of a tame character and needs someone with chainsaw arms and a jetpack to liven things up.

The first hour or so is good enough to keep your attention and its lightened up by a couple appearances by Tekken’s best character, Lee. But once it gets to the third act, it just becomes a completely awesome Heihachi vs. Kazuya vs. Jin fight, with Xiaoyu taking a backseat to watch all the crazy shit going on. It’s a full-on fireworks factory, as we not only see Devil forms of Kazuya and Jin but a very special final form for Heihachi that’s a true delight for Tekken fans.

2. STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE (1994)

Let it be said that for someone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, finding a faithful cartoon adaptation of a video game property was not easy. Link and Simon Belmont were unlikable sexual harassers. Mega Man was a more annoying sidekick than Scrappy Doo. Mario and Luigi teamed up with Milli Vanilli. Power Team was…a thing. When we got an animated movie based on Street Fighter II, it was mind-blowing. This was a movie where the very first scene was Ryu tearing Sagat’s chest into a bloody gash thanks to a well-animated Shoryuken.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, but at the same time, nothing is going on. By this point, there were 17 characters in the various Street Fighter II games, and outside of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Akuma cameo, it feels the need to include every single one of them. Some get minor roles, like Cammy and Dee Jay. Then there’s Zangief and Blanka, who fight each other for no reason other than for the sake of giving them something to do. Even Ryu vanishes for a huge chunk of the runtime.

Once everything funnels into the third act, this movie is great. And the earlier fight scenes are straight fire too, including the memorable Chun-Li vs. Vega brawl. Even though the movie already feels true to Street Fighter II, it’s even better when you realize that it’s all supposed to be a prequel to the game itself.

Or at least I hope so. Otherwise, all Sagat gets to do is get his ass kicked by Ryu and get chewed out by Bison.

1. MORTAL KOMBAT (1995)

The stars truly aligned for this one. Mortal Kombat Mania was at its peak, so it makes sense that this movie was a retelling of the first game’s story with added aspects from the second game, all while hyping up the arcade release of the third game. CGI was such a novelty in Hollywood in the ’90s that even if it looked primitive, it still looked cutting edge at the time. It was the perfect time to release this movie.

But Mortal Kombat isn’t perfect. Reptile is embarrassing. Scorpion and Sub-Zero being relegated to goons still stings. I still roll my eyes at the part towards the end where Sonya is suddenly the damsel in distress and Raiden flat-out verbally buries her by saying she couldn’t beat Shang Tsung in a million years. Otherwise, it’s the perfect storm of ‘90s action garbage.

There are so many over-the-top and charismatic performances here. Johnny Cage, Raiden, Shang Tsung, Kano, and even Goro are a blast to watch. All 10 characters from the original game are given something to do and, most importantly, they realize how uniquely weird the game’s story is and actually dive headfirst into it. The movie isn’t embarrassed to be a Mortal Kombat movie but handles itself well enough that we aren’t embarrassed to be watching a Mortal Kombat movie.

Even with a PG-13 rating, the movie was violent enough. Kano talked up seeing a pile of frozen guts in the wake of a Sub-Zero fight, Scorpion got his skull sliced apart with demon brain goo spewing all over the place, and Shang Tsung got impaled to death.

With the reboot being rated R, going for the gore could very well be the right route to go, but for the love of the Elder Gods, don’t forget to have FUN. All I’m saying is, if even Johnny Cage isn’t hamming it up, then what’s the point?

The post 10 Best Fighting Game Movies appeared first on Den of Geek.

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starrystarrybabe · 5 years

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Oh, How the Mighty Fall [In Love] CHAPTER THREE (Ben Hardy x OC)

CHAPTER ONE, CHAPTER TWO

Lily Anne Mercury is brought in to help with Bohemian Rhapsody at the request of her Uncle Bri and Uncle Rog, and along the way, she might meet someone to share her life with. The only problem with this is that while their friends and the world can see that they’re perfect for each other, they’re going to be fully blind to this for a while.

DISCLAIMER: I’m fully aware that it would’ve been physically impossible for Jim and Freddie to have a child even with this method during the time they were alive, but the idea of Freddie as a dad and the idea of how his child would turn out to be was just too sweet for me to not write. I’m also aware that I have 2 more fics in progress and I must make a masterlist, but as I’ve previously stated in other fic disclaimers, I am technologically challenged and quite overwhelmed at the moment. I apologize for this, because you all deserve the best from me, and it may take me a while to get to a place where I feel comfortable enough with the quality of everything to produce it. I do have a problem with being a perfectionist when it comes to my work, but I’m working on making that better.

TW: discussion of body issues? this chapter is pretty tame to me so idk if i should even mention it but oh well.

The next day, it’s time to shoot Live Aid. Lily Anne drives back to set in her more practical G Wagon, smiling as she pulls into the parking lot and spots Roger exiting his blue T-Bird. She shakes her head as she exits the car, walking over to the man.

“Remember what you said to me when I drove here in my Rolls Royce, Uncle Rog?” she asks, crossing her arms.

He nods, shrugging. “It was completely impractical. I said that I should take that car for myself if you didn’t treat it better.”

She nods, and points at his Thunderbird. “I could say the same for your T-Bird, Roger. You probably shouldn’t be on the road anyways, you’re so blind and deaf!”

Roger scoffs and shakes his head. “I’m fine, Lily. Don’t be a wanker.”

She shakes her head, becoming more animated. “No! No, you’re not! That T-Bird isn’t safe in your hands, and not to mention it would compliment my orange one quite nicely.”

He raises a brow and crosses his arms. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you, Lily?”

She nods, raising her chin. “Fully.”

Roger thinks for a moment before nodding. “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. If you can perfectly recreate my drum solo from Rock Montreal 1981, you’re allowed to take the car. If not, I get your precious Rolls Royce.”

Lily Anne nods, thinking over his terms. “Deal. How long do I have to learn the drum solo?”

Roger grins. “You have to do it at your concert tonight.”

She bites her lip and shakes her head, holding out her hand for a shake. “You’re a bloody wanker, Rog.”

Roger shakes her hand, grinning. “Say goodbye to your favorite car, Lily Anne.”

“Don’t be so confident, Roger!” Lily shoots back as he walks away, sighing and running a hand through her hair.

Joe comes up next to her, raising a brow. “What just happened?”

She looks at him and sighs, “I’ve just bet my favorite car on my ability to play the drums well enough.”

Ben walks up with Gwil and his interest peaks. “What drum solo do you need to do?”

She looks at Ben with fear in her eyes. “Rock Montreal. 1981.”

Ben’s eyes widen and his jaw drops. “Dear god, Lil. You’re going to lose that fucking car.”

As Lily Anne begins to freak out, Gwil rests a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t listen to him, Lily. You can do this.” He crouches slightly to be more level with the short woman. “Look at me, alright?”

Lily Anne looks up, visibly freaking out now.

“Take a few deep breaths, and just… there. That’s good. Breathe.” Gwil coaches Lily Anne until she’s calmed down. “Who taught you how to play the drums?”

“...Roger,” she says, looking down. “He was a shit teacher. Kept all the best secrets to himself before I pried them out of him…” Her eyes widen. “I know his best kept drumming secrets. I can identify them when he plays.”

Ben looks at her and smiles. “Then you have a chance!”

She grins back at the blonde and nods. “Yes. I have a chance! I’m going to study the fuck out of that footage if you don’t mind. Have fun getting into hair and makeup!”

Lily Anne begins running to the trailers, but stops when Lucy comes running after her.

“Lily, wait! I don’t need to film today. Let’s work on it together, alright? Then, we can take a ride in your new car once you get it,” she says, catching her breath.

Lily Anne grins. “Of course! We can do that tonight, if all goes well.”

Lucy’s eyes go wide. “What’s going on tonight?”

Lily Anne shrugs. “A small concert with my band. It’s going to happen in a small pub that we first started at on campus.”

Lucy is speechless for a moment. “Can… can I come?”

Lily Anne bites her lip, looking down. “I mean… I see no reason why you can’t, I just… I feel like by taking you all to a concert right after inviting you to my house is sort of narcissistic, and I don’t want to give the wrong first impression.”

Lucy shakes her head, holding Lily’s hand. “No, not at all! Are you kidding me? We had so much fun at your house, Lily! We’d love to see your show as well.”

Lily looks up at Lucy with a light in her eyes. “Really?”

Lucy nods, grinning. “Of course!”

Lily grins, nodding. “Then everyone is invited! I’ll make sure there are enough seats booked for everyone.”

Lucy nods, squeezing Lily’s hand. “Never feel self-conscious about what you have, alright? We care so much about you, and as your friends, we want to see what you’re proud of and celebrate your achievements with you, alright?”

Lily nods, giving Lucy a hug. “Alright. Thank you, Lucy.”

A few hours later, Lucy and Lily Anne have figured out the way to play the drum solo, and they’re called in to watch the Live Aid filming. The girls smile and wave as their boys get into character, and Lily Anne puts a hand over her heart when Rami blows her a kiss as Freddie. It’s truly touching to see such a good portrayal of her father.

When they film Live Aid… wow. It’s so good, and the boys are so in character that it feels like Lily Anne is actually in Wembley Stadium watching her father and his band perform. They do the whole 20 minute set, and when the director calls for them to cut, Roger and Brian shower the boys in praise, grinning at them.

“Great job, boys! That was fabulous. Very accurate. Great energy, everything was just perfect!” Brian exclaims, looking at the men as if they were his own sons.

“The music sounded great, the choreography was spot on… I think that’s as good as it can get, boys,” Roger adds, on, high fiving Ben.

Brian turns to Lily Anne, and frowns. “Lily, why are you crying? Is something wrong?”

Lucy wraps an arm around Lily Anne’s shoulders and the whole cast immediately turns their attention to the silently crying woman, who shakes her head.

“N-No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just…” She wipes her eyes with the sleeves of her leather jacket. “Ignore me, please. I’ll get it together.”

Roger helps Lily onto the stage, where Ben immediately shakes his head and walks towards her.

“It’s alright that you’re emotional. Could you just tell us why?” he asks gently.

Lily Anne smiles tearily. “I know it sounds stupid, but I just realized--” She sniffles again. “That’s the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing Live Aid, and out of all the concerts I wish I could’ve seen my dad in, that’s got to be number one on my list. It was lovely, guys. Really, truly, it was absolutely perfect. I loved every minute of it, and I know Freddie and Jim did too.”

Brian and Roger smile as Joe hugs Lily Anne, and the whole cast goes in for a group hug. The Bohemian Rhapsody family is truly coming together, and everyone is crying now, because this is such a unique and moving experience.

“You’re all so good,” Lily Anne croaks out. “This is going to be an amazing movie.”

When the group breaks apart, Lily Anne sniffles and wipes her eyes.

Lucy smiles at her, finishing wiping away the tears from her own eyes. “When is your concert tonight?”

Lily looks up at her. “Ten. It’s a really late concert, but I’ve secured tickets for all of us, and I plan on doing the drum solo for Roger’s Thunderbird, so if you’d all like to see that go down, I’d like if you could all come.”

The cast smiles and nods at Lily Anne’s offer.

“Of course!” Gwil says. “That sounds like a very fun concert.”

“You’ve got to have moral support for when you attempt that drum solo, don’t you?” Joe adds, grinning.

Roger scoffs and laughs, and the cast turns to him. “You’ll never get the drum solo right, Lily. Never. You might be good--”

“Of course I’m good, you taught me!”

“--but that was a struggle even for me. Good luck, Lily!” Roger says before leaving, revving his engine so they can hear the car.

Brian smiles and shakes his head. “I’m going to get some rest before the concert. Keep practicing, Lily. You can do it,” he says, winking at Lily Anne.

She grins. “Take a video of his reaction when I bang the gong.”

Brian nods and leaves, waving goodbye to the cast.

Lily Anne looks back at the cast. “I’m winning this goddamn car. That smug wanker won’t know what hit him.

“B, what should I wear? The leather skirt or the acid-wash denim skirt?” Madigan asks, holding up the options to her wife, who’s taking pictures of their cat. “Bronwyn! This is more important than updating Lillian Weiss’s Instagram story!”

The androgynous looking woman turns to see her wife and grins. “Well, if I had my way you’d be in that lovely latex skirt that really shows off your ass--”

Bronwyn dodges a Doc Marten tossed at her face and raises her hands in surrender. “Alright! I’ll stop. I like the denim with that top.”

Madigan smiles innocently and blows a kiss to her loving wife. “Thanks, babe! I’ll wear the lace underwear you like so much underneath it.”

Bronwyn grins and runs a hand through her short blonde hair, sitting on their bed. She loves her wife more than anything.

“Babe, what did I do to deserve you?” she asks, closing her eyes.

“You ate me out really well!” Madi calls back from the closet.

“I know that, but why did you stay, even after we were kicked out of our parents’ houses?” she continues, turning the conversation more serious. “I mean… I’ve put you through hell and back, babe.”

Madigan exits the closet (hehe) and sighs, sitting beside her wife and holding her hand. “B, look at me.”

The Welsh girl looks up at her lovely wife, raising one hand to play with her long, ginger locks.

“I got you kicked out of your house as well, baby. We both put each other through hell. But we had to walk through the fire to get to where we are today.” She waggles her ring finger, which has a sparkling diamond on it. “Happily married, and about to be together for… Jesus, for 12 years.”

Bronwyn smiles and kisses her wife’s hand. “It’s been a good long time, hasn’t it?”

Madigan kisses her wife’s forehead. “It sure has, love. Now c’mon, we need to get to rehearsal.”

Bronwyn adjusts her button-down before leaving with her wife, heading over to the pub.

Lily Anne is pounding away at the drums, already sweating as her bandmates enter.

“Oi! Hands off my drum kit, Mercury,” Madigan demands, heading towards the stage. She frowns in confusion when she sees a gong. “We don’t use a gong in any of the songs we’re doing tonight. Why is it here?”

Lily Anne looks up and puts down the drum sticks. “Sorry, Madi. I just… I made a bet with Roger.”

Madi nods, still confused. “Alright. What’s the bet, and how is this relevant to you destroying my drumkit?”

Lily Anne stands up and adjusts the gong. “If I can do his drum solo from Rock Montreal in ‘81, I get his blue Thunderbird. If I can’t… I give Christine to the blind old bat.”

Bronwyn goes on stage and raises a brow. “That’s a ballsy bet, Lily. I certainly hope you can follow through. You love Christine!”

Madi sighs. “You’re going to lose her, Lily. That’s one of the hardest drum solos in rock history! Just because he taught you doesn’t mean that you can do it.”

Lily Anne raises a sheet of paper her and Lucy have written on, smiling. “Here’s all the combinations Roger uses in it. He never said I couldn’t have a reference.”

Bronwyn and Madigan smile at their friend’s antics, and shake their heads.

Ezichi walks in wearing a very revealing outfit, and Bronwyn lets out a cat call to the lady as she begins tuning her bass.

“Damn, Zich! Whose pants are you trying to get into tonight?” the bassist calls out, grinning.

Madi and Lily Anne’s jaws are practically on the floor, because this is a thirst trap of an outfit.

“Well, the BoRhap cast is coming, and there was this one man who I found to be fine as hell, so hopefully his,” Ezichi explains, uncasing her guitar.

Lily Anne sighs heavily and shakes her head. “Ezichi, Gwil has a girlfriend. Also, don’t take advantage of me getting some new friends just so you can shag one of them.”

Ezichi raises a brow. “Is he in a stable relationship with her, or can that be changed by long distance and busy schedules?”

The couple of the band cackles and Lily Anne lets out an annoyed screech of Ezichi’s name.

“Ezichi, no! Don’t be a homewrecker! Especially not with Gwil! He’s so sweet, he doesn’t deserve that!” she exclaims, wringing her hands in frustration.

Ezichi shakes her head. “I don’t want him just because he’s pretty! I spent some time with him, and I can’t remember the last time I met someone so genuinely kind. He’s amazing, Lily.”

Ezichi has never talked about anyone this way before, and Lily considers the situation. They’re both gorgeous, kind, and talented. Their children would be supermodels. Ezichi is loyal to the end, and Gwil deserves someone like that in his life. They would be a good match.

Lily nods, smiling. “You know what? I think you two could make a great couple.”

Ezichi grins brighter than the sun. “Really?”

Lily nods again and turns to Bronwyn and Madigan. “Once you meet him, you’ll see what I mean.”

Bronwyn and Madigan shrug, taking Lily’s word. They’ll make up their minds on their own, but they trust her judgment. Despite Lily’s many mishaps and personal errors, she’s always been fairly correct when it comes to other peoples’ relationships and her readings on potential love interests.

Lily Anne takes the microphone in her hands and begins moving across stage, examining how much space she has. She sits on a speaker and leans against the wall.

“Ladies, what Queen song are we feeling for tonight?” Madi asks, twirling her drumsticks.

“Something from Queen or Queen II, definitely,” Ezichi comments, gleaning nods of approval from Lily Anne and Bronwyn.

“Doing Alright is a good option. That or Liar would be fantastic, I think,” Bronwyn adds, smiling.

The band turns to Lily Anne for the final say. She smiles at her friends and sits up.

“Doing Alright. This is a good night, we should play a happy song to accompany that,” she explains.

Everyone gets ready to practice, and music rings out throughout the pub.

The BoRhap cast files into the front of the bar, where there’s a table reserved for them. Brian, Roger, Anita, and Sarina get their own table in a less crowded area of the bar. The cast orders pints of lager and Joe hastily adjusts his Yankees cap to hide his hair.

Ben smiles at the sight of Joe adjusting his hat. “What’s wrong, Joe? You weren’t uncomfortable with us seeing your perm.”

Joe frowns and presses his lips together in a thin line. “It wouldn’t be bad if it could just wash out.”

Lucy snorts and shakes her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t know that perm stands for--”

“--permanent. Yes, I know now, Lucy. Thank you for the reminder,” Joe snaps, huffing.

Gwil bites back laughter, shaking at the effort. Rami is doing the same, shaking his head.

“You’re all awful,” Joe says as he gets his lager and takes a swig.

The lights dim and the stage lights turn on, and the curtain on the stage rises to reveal Lily Anne and the rest of Room 301. The cast begins cheering as the band waves and receives the love from the audience.

“Hello, lovies!” Lily Anne shouts, gleaning a rowdy applause from the audience. “How is everyone? Ready to bring back rock and roll, my darlings?”

The applause is even louder, and she grins, spotting the cast and waving.

The girl raises her arms and hushes the audience, smiling. “Thank you all for your ears. I just want to say that it means so much to Room 301 that everyone is here tonight where this band had its first performance, because we really did start from nothing, and everyone should pay homage to their roots. That’s what our latest album is about, and it was well-received, so we figured we’d do well with this concert. Actually, I forgot how much I missed the smaller crowds.”

“I love you, Lily Anne!” a fan shouts, and Lily Anne blows them a kiss before laughing.

“Enough talking. Let’s start the show, yeah?” The crowds are screaming. “Madi, take it away!”

The show begins with a very aggressive drum solo, accompanied by a guitar duet before Lily Anne begins singing, draping herself over equipment, the floor, and her bandmates. The whole stage is utilized in different ways, and it all accommodates the woman’s writhing body.

The next song begins with a beautiful piano melody, which Lily knocks out of the park before the lights flash and she’s leaning against the instrument and watching Ezichi pour her heart and soul into her guitar solo.

Gwilym is watching this with an amazed smile, and Ezichi notices this, which seems to help her performance. Lily raises a brow at her guitarist and continues singing, twirling around stage and grinning at the audience below her.

Ben is entranced by Lily’s performance. It’s so interesting to see the character she plays on stage. If he hadn’t heard her story, or saw a moment of vulnerability from her, he could see how people believe that Lily Anne Mercury is simply a diva who consistently puts on a show and doesn’t have problems. This version of her is enchanting, but he personally prefers the one who lets people in, and lets herself be vulnerable.

She’s pouring every ounce of her energy into keeping up this facade of playfulness and flirting, but he knows that she must be exhausted. It takes a lot to keep up such a high level of energy. He understands why she turned to drugs in order to keep it up outside of the stage. If this is her usual energy level on stage, it’s no wonder she began to burn the candle from both ends to sustain it.

Before they know it, Lily Anne is pausing the performance, smiling into a microphone.

“Okay, okay… this wasn’t planned, but this morning, on my way into work, I made a bet with my uncle. If you didn’t already know, he’s a right wanker, and his name is Roger Taylor.”

The crowd goes crazy, cheering along as the spotlight moves to Roger, who waves at everyone.

“He was riding in this lovely blue Thunderbird, and when I did the same in my Rolls-Royce, he said he should take it away from me for mistreating it. However, when I called him out, he decided to give me a bet. I had about eight hours to learn his drum solo from Rock Montreal, which is one of the hardest in rock n’ roll history, and I lose my baby Christine if I don’t do it perfectly tonight. However, if I do it correctly, I acquire his Thunderbird. So now, I will attempt this drum solo, and I would appreciate everyone’s positive energy.”

With a cheer, Lily Anne goes back to the drumkit and takes a moment to compose herself before beginning the drum solo as Roger listens back to it and compares the two. The room stays silent as she continues, sweating buckets. Rami grips Lucy’s hand because he’s just so stressed watching this all go down. She grips it right back, and Joe holds onto Ben. Everyone is just incredibly stressed out.

Then, it happens. Lily Anne bangs that fucking gong, and the room erupts into applause. The whole cast fucking yells at the top of their lungs, Roger’s face deflates, Brian gives Lily a standing ovation, and the woman flings her arms into the air, embraced by her band.

“I can barely feel my fucking arms, but I don’t give a shit!” Lily Anne cries out, laughing. “I get that beautiful blue Thunderbird!”

Ben grins, watching as Lily Anne continues the show with a smile that isn’t holding anything back. She’s just fully engulfed in her music, and expresses her joy in a way so pure and raw, and she’s letting herself be vulnerable in the music, which, as far as Ben can tell, is where she finds hardship once she’s off the stage. She doesn’t just open up to anyone.

If that’s true, and Ben has a feeling that it is, why did she open up to him? What makes him so special that she felt comfortable telling him about her overdoses and time in rehab? That’s so deeply personal, and even though they haven’t known each other for long, she feels comfortable telling him all these things.

He’s pulled out of his gaze by Joe nudging him as Lily Anne smiles at the audience, waving at her friends.

She sits at a piano and clears her throat, smiling. “Now, I think it’s only appropriate that we end tonight with a Queen song. We started this tradition during our first concert when my father requested that we do it in memory of Freddie. We performed Love of My Life, which is the only song I will not do nowadays because I don’t like to end Room 301 concerts in tears.” She smiles at her now hushed audience. “You’ve all been a great audience, darlings. I love you all, and appreciate your support so very much, sticking with us despite all the time we’ve made you wait for new music. Now, we’d like to end the night with All Dead, All Dead.”

Lily Anne begins playing the piano, and Ben can’t tear his eyes away from her. Even while sitting down at an instrument, she commands the attention of the entire room. Her emotions are amplified, and everyone can feel her pain and hope as she crones out the lyrics to the song, which are about longing, but also knowing that despite their physical presence being gone, the ones we’ve lost never really leave us.

He feels a tear beginning to form, and sees that the entire table is blinking and wiping their eyes. Lily Anne’s dedication to her craft shows, and it makes itself clear in the tears of the people all around the bar.

Someone raises their phone light and begins to sway, as a homage to Freddie, and the rest of the crowd joins in. Lily Anne looks out and blinks, a black tear streaming down her face as she smiles. She is truly touched by the energy of the audience. Once the song is over, she sniffles and wipes her eyes.

“What did I say about crying?”

The audience laughs, applauding.

Lily Anne shakes her head. “No. We need something to pick us up before we go. How about…” She turns to her band. “Don’t Stop Me Now?”

The audience cheers and the band gets ready to play, and Lily Anne grins, performing the hell out of the upbeat number. She bows with her band as it ends, and leans into the microphone one last time.

“Take the correct Uber home, and assist any drunk people back to their cars! Nobody in this audience is becoming a damn statistic, do you hear me?” She smiles as she hears applause. “Goodnight, London! Room 301 loves you!”

The curtains close, and Lily Anne goes back to change with the rest of the band in their changing room.

Bronwyn is already reaching for her sweatpants and hoodie, and Madigan takes out a makeup wipe, scrubbing the dark smoky eye and maroon lip color off of her face.

Lily Anne immediately takes off her platform boots, tossing them to the side and rubbing her eyes. “Great show, ladies! I love you all, and the audience seemed to as well.”

Ezichi is wrapping her hair in a bonnet and leaning back in the chair. “You did great, Lily. It was an amazing show.”

Lily smiles, wiping away her eye makeup. “You know what, guys?”

Everyone in the room turns to face her, and she smiles tearily.

“I feel like Jim was watching us from his table.”

November, 2008

Lily Anne, Ezichi, Bronwyn and Madigan take the stage for their first concert. They’re nervous as hell, and don’t know how the crowd will react to their set. They’ve performed for their friends, and for Jim, and for Brian and Roger, but those are all people who like them. They’re biased and don’t want to hurt them. What will an audience of drunken college students with no filters think? They’ve heard they can be brutal.

The girls crowd together behind the curtain, holding each others’ hands.

“Alright. We’re about to perform for the first time,” Lily Anne begins, taking a deep breath. “We can kill it. We just need to let the music do the talking for us, okay?”

The girls nod, and Ezichi speaks up. “We have amazing stuff. We know that. If we perform well, people will know that we’re a serious group, and not just some teenagers with instruments. We know what we’re doing.”

Madi smiles. “We managed to please rock legends with our music. There’s no reason why we can’t please drunk uni students.”

Bronwyn grins. “Let’s kick ass.”

The girls huddle together, squeezing each other before heading out on stage.

Lily Anne looks out at the bar, half empty since it’s too early to warrant people coming in yet. She sighs and frowns slightly, her hands shaking. This all stops when she spots her father sticking out like a sore thumb in his wool sweater, sitting at a table with a pint of lager and a warm smile. She waves to him, grinning.

Jim gives her a thumbs up and mouths ‘you can do it.’ The girls sigh in relief, and Lily maneuvers the microphone, which squeaks.

“S-sorry about that, everyone. My name is Lily Anne, this is Ezichi, this is Madigan, and this is Bronwyn. We’re a band called Room 301, and this is our first performance, so please be kind,” she says with a nervous laugh.

The bar-goers look unimpressed, and she carries on.

“Alright, we’re going to start with something we wrote, and we’re very proud of it.”

The band begins playing a song that starts like a ballad, but grows to be something so much more. Lily Anne’s voice cracks, but she quickly regains her composure and begins to sink into the song, letting herself go.

Slowly but surely, the bar-goers have gravitated to the stage, and Lily Anne is controlling the crowd, moving in ways that feel natural and prompted by the music, and swaying to the beat. When she hits a high note, the people cheer, and the adrenaline that runs through her body is the best feeling she’s ever experienced.

She looks into the audience, and Jim is sitting there, looking up at his girls with so much pride and love, and it invigorates them.

“This next one is a faster number, and from the way you’re all behaving now, I’m guessing that you’ll like it!” Lily Anne exclaims, prompting the audience to scream.

The show goes by quickly, and at the end, she smiles and sits at the piano.

“Now, we have one more song left, but we didn’t write this one,” she says, and the audience quiets down. “Don’t be discouraged, people! It’s a good song by a band called Queen.”

The audience cheers again, raising their arms up. Lily Anne grins, and begins to play Love of My Life. It’s dedicated to Freddie, and as she begins to cry singing it, she looks out to see Jim wiping away tears from his eyes. She sniffles and continues, letting the tears flow down her face and neck.

At the end, she smiles and closes the piano, wiping her eyes.

“That seems like a good way to end the night, yeah?” she asks, looking around at the crying audience members. “This was Room 301, I’m Lily Anne, and I hope you all have a great rest of your nights!”

The crowd screams as the band goes backstage, and they collapse into one another, hugging each other tightly and sobbing. That was an amazing first performance, and they’re so overwhelmed by the positive response they got.

“I love you all so much,” Lily Anne sobs, hugging her friends.

That night, they go back to Garden Lodge and curl up on the couch watching shitty movies, and Jim gives them tea and biscuits to reward them for their stellar performance.

Lily Anne is almost asleep on the couch when she stirs due to Jim turning off the TV. She lets out a little noise of confusion and her father shushes her, tucking her back into her blankets.

“Dad?” she whispers, looking up at Jim.

He looks down at her and smiles. “Yes, love?”

“Did you like the performance?” she asks, smiling.

He nods, grinning down at her. “It was lovely, Lily. I loved it. Your Papa would be so proud to see you work the stage like that.”

Lily Anne smiles and closes her eyes. “Good.”

Jim kisses her forehead lightly. “Goodnight, love.”

Lily Anne falls asleep smiling, curled up with her friends on her couch.

Lily Anne smiles as the blue Thunderbird pulls into her driveway, watching as her uncle exits the car and looks sadly at it. She walks forward and grins, looking up at her uncle.

“You’re the one who offered this bet, Roger,” Lily says, shrugging. “This is all your own doing.”

The man sighs and looks down at the young woman. “I know, Lily. I’m sad to give it up, but I’ve got to admit, you did very well. I’m proud.”

She smiles at her uncle, squeezing his hand. “Thank you, Uncle Rog. I learned from the best, after all.”

Roger ruffles her hair before beginning to walk away, dejected. Lily feels a pit of guilt in her chest and sighs, running a hand through her hair.

“Roger, stop!” she exclaims, catching the man’s arm.

He turns to face her and raises a brow.

Her head slumps forward and she shakes it. “I… listen. I feel bad. You look so sad… you know what? We can share. It stays in my garage but if you want to take it for a ride…” she shrugs. “Go ahead.”

Roger grins, hugging the girl. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to follow through, Lily.”

She huffs, hugging him back. “Wanker.”

Inside the house, the band is lounging around, talking with their new friends, and clicking well. The band likes the cast. Bron and Madi have a close eye on Ezichi and Gwil, watching how they interact. They like the dynamic, and like most times, Lily appears to be correct about the match.

All they have to do now is sit back and wait for it to happen.

Lily walks inside, checks on her guests, and then pops back outside, lighting a cigarette. Ben soon follows, sitting next to her on the bench next to the koi pond like before.

Lily smiles at him, leaning back against a pillow on the bench. “Just so you know, I don’t intend to spend another four hours out here. I got bitten up by a bunch of bugs last time.”

Ben laughs, lighting his cigarette and shaking his head. “Nah. Maybe just thirty minutes this time around.”

Lily looks back at the pond, taking a puff of her cigarette. “Any grievances you want to air out? This is apparently a very good place to do it.”

Ben shrugs, breathing out smoke. “Nothing comes to mind at the moment. Give it some time, I’m sure something will come up.”

Just in that moment, Lily Anne’s phone buzzes and she picks it up, seeing a notification from twitter about Room 301’s concert.

SINGER LILY ANNE MERCURY SPOTTED WITH EASTENDERS HEARTTHROB BEN HARDY

Lily lets out a groan and shakes her head. “Ugh. Disgusting.”

Ben turns to look at her. “What is it?”

She hands him her phone, and he rolls his eyes at the headline. “That’s bollocks. I hate twitter.”

She takes her phone when he hands it back to her, looking up at him. “Why do you hate twitter in particular? It’s not the only site that thrives off of bullshit rumors.”

Ben sighs, looking down and rubbing his temples. At this, Lily Anne lets out a breath and begins to freak out.

“If that’s the grievance and you don’t want to air it out, I won’t force you, Ben.”

Ben shakes his head and looks over at her, taking a drag of his cigarette. “No, no. Don’t worry. I should talk about it. Talking made you feel better, didn’t it?”

She nods, looking at the pond. “It was very therapeutic. But don’t feel forced to let it out.”

Ben waves a hand dismissively. “I want to let it out, just give me a moment to collect my thoughts.”

Lily Anne nods, waiting patiently for Ben to collect his thoughts.

When he sits up and takes a deep breath, putting aside the butt of his cigarette, she hands him another one from her pack, which he takes and lights.

“Well, earlier on in my career, I was instructed to make social media accounts to stay relevant, gain fans, get more high profile roles, you know how it works,” Ben begins, looking forward.

“I was told the same thing. I’m assuming you made a twitter?” Lily Anne adds, looking over at him.

He nods, taking a deep breath. “I made a twitter, and I made a horrible mistake by checking the hashtag with my name.”

Lily Anne lets out a groan. She has a feeling she knows where this is going.

“The tweets I saw… the majority of them were just talking about my outer appearance, praising my body, but not acknowledging that I’m a damn good actor as well. My body isn’t all that I have to support my career.” Ben is becoming agitated, and Lily Anne rests a hand on his arm. “It became overwhelming, and the tweets got to my head. I began to think that maybe I was just a piece of meat for people to stare at, like they had said online. I began to absolutely loathe myself, and I could barely look in a mirror without feeling horrid.”

Lily moves closer to Ben, frowning. “Did you delete the app soon after?”

He nods, looking over at her. “Yes. My manager was incredibly mad at me, and didn’t listen when I tried to tell him why I was so uncomfortable. Then, he booked me a photoshoot that he said would really put me on the radar: a nude photoshoot.” Ben blinks back tears. “I’d never felt so objectified and worthless in my entire life.”

Lily Anne moves closer, holding one of his shaking hands. “Is this movie bringing back those fears, Ben?”

He nods, wiping his eyes. “Sometimes I think-- and I know it’s horseshit, but it still bothers me-- that I was only casted because I’m pretty. People won’t look at this movie and think about my acting, but my appearance. Apocalypse didn’t help with that either. My character ended up being an underdeveloped rebel with wings,” he continues, his voice cracking. “What if my career just ends up being me looking pretty on a screen for people to objectify?”

Lily Anne wraps an arm around his shoulder, trying to calm him down. “Hey, hey… it’s alright, Ben. I can assure you that for this role, you were chosen for your acting abilities. I helped Roger make the final choice.”

Ben sniffles and looks at Lily, green eyes damp. “You did?”

She smiles kindly at him. “I did, and in my opinion, this movie will help you get closer to being the kind of actor you want to be.”

He smiles, wiping his eyes. “I-I’m sorry about the tears, I just… I worry about this stuff. A lot.”

Lily Anne shakes her head, handing him a tissue. “It’s alright. Your worries show that you’re not willing to settle for anything, and that kind of determination will bring you where you want to go in your career. People who settle are temporary. The ones with ambition are the ones who stand the test of time.”

He nods, leaning back and taking a drag of his cigarette. “It doesn’t always seem like that.”

Lily Anne nods. “I know. I thought my competitors in the early 2000’s would be around forever, and Room 301 is one of the last rock bands standing. All you have to do is wait. Father Time will do the job for you.”

Ben looks over at her, brows raised. “How can you be so calm about this kind of thing? Aren’t you scared of fading into the background?”

She scoffs and looks over at him. “Of course I am! I can’t support this lifestyle with inheritance alone. I need to make money to keep this level of luxury going. But if I could go to rehab twice and take a hiatus and despite all that my band is still a household name, I’m fairly certain that I’m going to be fine. We’ll all be fine in the end.”

Ben nods, taking in what she said. “Sometimes I forget that you’ve been through so much,” he says, shaking his head. “Tonight, on stage… I’ve never seen anyone sustain that much energy for so long. It was like watching a different person.”

Lily frowns. “Is that a bad thing?”

Ben shakes his head vigorously. “Dear God, no! Not at all. It’s great. Your stage presence is amazing. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. But if I didn’t know you, I would never guess that anything bad has ever happened to that girl in her life.”

Lily shrugs and smiles down at the koi. “I guess I’m a good actress, then.”

Ben smiles down at her. “You could make some good money on the screen if this whole rock star thing doesn’t work out.”

She grins up at him. “Coming from a talented actor like you, that means a lot to me.”

Ben smiles, and the pair sit in silence, finishing their cigarettes.

Joe looks out the window at the pair, frowning. “They baffle me, they really do.”

Ezichi looks up from the card game she’s playing with Gwil and Rami and raises a brow. “What baffles you about them?”

Joe turns back to his friends, wringing his hands. “They’re so clearly into one another, and so good for one another, and they’re so clueless about it all!”

Gwil rolls his eyes, putting down a card. “They just met, Joe. Give them time before calling them clueless.”

“But they’re soulmates, Gwil! Soulmates! How do you not see it?” The man bounces onto the couch next to Gwil, insistently nudging his way into the man’s personal space.

Ezichi shakes her head. “I’ll know if she likes him before she knows it herself.”

Rami frowns, slapping down a card. “How would you know that?”

Ezichi smiles, putting down her last card and winning the game. “She gets this look in her eyes, this really sappy, disgustingly vulnerable look. You’ll know it when you see it.”

They smile and look outside the window before going back to their usual business before Ben and Lily notice.

It’s only a matter of time before they see that look.

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