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blondsauduun-reads · 3 years

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The Revolution That’s Been Singing In The Rain (JATP Reggie X Reader)

Pairing: 1995!Reggie x Reader

Word count: 1.5K

Warnings: some swearing?

Plot: Ok so, it’s a pride parade/riot/demo, in 1995 (or so), and the boys go to support Alex, but surprise! There’s music there too! And Reggie likes the person playing the electric violin at the march. But like it starts to rain and they gotta stop with the instruments and get off the stage but they don’t stop singing. So anyway Reggie is in first row and the band was singing a cover of We Will Rock You and Reg of course knows the lyrics as does everyone. So they start singing and dancing very energetically and passionately in the rain. At the end the violin person gives Reggie their number

A/N: nonbinary reader (they/them pronouns) The link to the electric violin cover of we will rock you without the lyrics. Also. This is the first one-shot I’ve ever written and stuff so please be nice :) yes I accept constructive criticism too.

After practice, Alex had finally mustered up the strength to ask his best friends/bandmates,

“So, there’s this gay thing, on Saturday, and I wanted to ask if it you guys wanted to come with me?” The three other guys were listening closely to him, while fiddling around a bit with their instruments.

“It’s okay though, if you don’t.” Hadn’t even given them time to react, let alone answer. “If you don’t wanna come, I mean.”

A second of silence, the three of them surprised, exchanging looks, the blond one dreading the answer.

“No, yeah, dude.” Luke finally said, leaving his guitar on the stand. “We’ll totally go with you!”

“Yeah! We were just shocked that you’d wanna go.” Bobby said, because he and the two other guys had heard about it but weren’t going to bring it up if Alex wasn’t.

“We’re really proud of you, bro,” Reggie said, hugging his neck from behind. Kinda looked awkward. “I wish I was half as brave as you.”

With the whole AIDs thing, the President, his parents, and you know, the anxiety he lived with, Alex couldn’t really live his whole truth most of the time without fearing for his life, so yes, going to a Pride thing was no small feat for the boy.

“Yep, you can let me go now, Reg.” He chuckled, or coughed, because Reggie wasn’t exactly a spaghetti build person, and was hugging his neck rather tightly.

“So when’s the date bro?” Luke sat down on the couch, spreading himself out like pancake batter on a pan.

It was Saturday. Somehow, Reggie convinced them all to paint lil rainbows on either their cheeks or hands. They all looked adorable, sitting in the metro pressed together like anchovies, all with backpacks loaded with water, their respective lunches, and whatever the hell more fitted in the backpack.

Once they got to the station, they went out, following another group of people dressed for a parade, and in a bit more than five minutes, they were smack in the middle of the parade, chanting something in favor of LGBTQ+ rights.

“Do you hear that?” Reggie asked Alex, but like, screaming.

“Yeah, its about to storm, or something.” He said, looking at the sky, which was getting grayer by the minute.

“Not thunder, it’s like,” The black haired squinted in thought. “it’s like, music, I think. Queen.” He said. “Imma go, be right back!”

Reg disappeared in between the queers at the parade, following that sound.

“Reg, no! Shi…” Alex opened and closed his eyes in disapproval and desperation. “Luke! Bobby! We got a rogue bassist!” Bobby and Luke’s reactions to that were similar to Alex’s.

Meanwhile, Reggie had successfully found the source of the music. At a nearby park, was a stage, like those kinds of stages that can be built in like a day, and on top of it, a rock band.

Said like that, it probably doesn’t sound too special, but the thing was, they were playing a We Will Rock You cover, with an electric violin, or that’s what he could tell from a hundred feet distance from the actual stage, so, continuing squishing himself through the crowd, feeling some droplets of rain on his face, he got closer to the band, until he reached a six feet distance.

Shit, the violin was so incredibly pretty, like, it looked like some sort of futuristic weapon. The guy was loving it. The person playing it though, divine; the way they moved their arms and feet and carried themself. Also, yeah, probably the prettiest person Reg had seen to date.

The band, apart from having the violinist, who also was the backup singer, had a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist, also the lead singer.

Anyway, the scene, everyone stomping their feet on the ground, singing the song with the band, remembering the now dead Freddie Mercury and how iconic he was, the energy of all those people, together in the fight for freedom and equality. The revolution. And the fucking rain.

Droplets were suddenly drops, which then started falling faster, and suddenly the band started panicking a bit, they couldn’t break up these vibes, these people.

So, the three with the string instruments put away the instruments, amps, cables and everything as fast as they could, and the drummer rushing his music cylinders into safety, the only ones carrying the music were the people, among which was Reggie, tearing out his vocal chords singing along the various hundreds of people singing too.

Once all the electric shtick on stage was cleared up, the whole band jumped down from the stage, joining the crowd, singing and stomping.

Buddy you’re an old man poor man

Pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

The violinist, which had seen Reggie look starstruck at them and later on give his all to the music, joined him to sing (and stomp).

They were almost dancing, doing a duet, smiling like children on Christmas morning, being completely soaked through with the rain, and looking at each other with a feeling I can only describe as electricity (and if they looked at each other more electricly, they would have electrocuted themselves along the way.)

You got mud on your face You big disgrace Somebody better put you back in your place

The violinist shot him a wink, he tried to not get flustered, and in return winked back.

We will we will rock you

One last verse to the song, everyone still as excited as they were at the beginning. And yet, this one was sung with intention, with motive, as if they were shouting at the world that they’d rock it to achieve their goal.

We will we will rock you

And that was it. After a couple of seconds, the crowd calmed down and scattered.

“Hey, what are your pronouns?” The violinist asked.

Reggie remembered both the dictionary meaning of pronoun and the context in which it was asked (which Alex so kindly explained to them earlier), “He/Him, I’m Reggie.” He smiled.

“You’re in that band, right? Sunset Curve?” They asked.

“Tell your friends!” I’m pretty sure you can imagine how exactly he said this quote. “I’m the bassist.” Ah yes, and now the important question, “What about you, pronouns and name, I mean.”

“Oh, yeah, that.” They thought for one second before blurting it out, “They/Them, the name’s Y/n.” Y/n stretched out a hand, he seized it and made a mental note to ask Alex about those pronouns after, “So, what brings you here today?”

“Oh, well, my best friend’s gay, but,” He leaned closer to their ear, “I’m like, 90% sure I’m bi.”

“Damn boy, same!” They laughed.

“Anyway, I gotta go now, the instruments are only safe from the rain, not from people,” Y/n scratched the back of their neck. “But, in case I’m not only bi and yearning,” They whipped out a marker from their pocket and scribbled their number on Reggie’s forearm, “give me a call. Maybe we can try to rock out again together.” Wow, so full of confidence, must be the adrenaline that implied losing their instrument over getting a cute bassist as a date.

“Uh, yeah sure,” Y/n was already walking away, smiling at him.” I’ll def give you a call!” There was no answer to that. Only a distant holler.

“Yo! Reggie!” Luke.

“Coming!”

And he did walk over, fishing from his backpack a piece of dry paper and a pen to write down the number on something a bit more permanent. Anyway, he found the guys.

“Remember when I told you I might be bisexual?” He asked, copying the number.

“Yeah, when we were watching Indiana Jones, why?” Alex remembered. Indiana Jones is hot, that’s so not up for discussion.

“Yeah, well” He ripped the page with the number out and stuffed it in his pocket. “now I know, I’m bi.”

“Yeah man, no shit.” Luke teased him. Joke’s on you bitch you’re too.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp imagine #julie and the phantoms imagine #jatp one shot #julie and the phantoms one shot #reggie jatp #jatp reggie #reggie julie and the phantoms #jatp x reader #reggie imagine #reggie jatp imagine #reggie jatp x reader #jatp reggie x reader #alex jatp #luke jatp #bobby jatp #sunset curve

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tf2-hellhole · 4 years

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Can we get some hc's for when the mercs s/o is overworked and refuses to take a break? Love your blog btw 🥺✌️💗

I decided not to mention what the S/O is working on to make it easier to self-project. Because of the whole COVID thing I kinda imagined the S/O is working from home, I didn’t really imagine that the S/O is constantly out working, so I’m really sorry if you meant the S/O works away from home.

Scout:

Scout spent all night in a Doublecross match, so he’s really surprised when he comes back at like 3 AM and his S/O is still up working.

He asks them why they’re still up, and asks them to come to bed with him, they need to get some sleep. He’s a bit clingy so he refuses to go to bed without them. When his S/O says they need to finish what they’re doing, he whines and tries to gently pull them up out of their chair.

If he gets them to come to bed, he’ll cuddle close and tell them they need to get more rest.

If whining doesn’t get them to come to bed, he’ll just pull up a chair and rest his head in his arms on the table and sleepily waits for them to finish up.

They probably both fall asleep there, Scout first, and wake up with their necks hurting like hell.

Soldier:

Soldier frowns when he sees his S/O hard at work; they had been in the same spot when he left for a match 6 hours ago.

He walks up behind them and tells them they need to take a break. He thinks working hard is very important but he would never want his Cupcake to overwork themself

He tells them to come and watch some TV with him for a little while. He still makes them even if they say they need to keep working. He will literally order them to come and spend some time with him.

He has them chill with him for a while, like an hour tops, before letting them go back to work unless it’s late at night. He tells them that they need to get a good night’s sleep.

Pyro:

Pyro had been going about their day for several hours after waking up, yet even before they had gotten up their S/O had been focused on their work

Pyro grabbed their S/O’s free hand and gently tried to pull them away from the table, mumbling that they need to take a break. When their S/O said that they’re busy, Pyro humphed loudly.

Pyro will literally pout until their S/O comes and spends time with them. They’ll pull up a chair and sit with their arms crossed until they get up.

Pyro gets a little mopey if their S/O apologizes and says they need to finish their work, but they get over it easily.

When their S/O eventually give in, Pyro giggles and pulls them up to go do some activities with them. They’ll let their S/O get back to work eventually but they want to spend a few hours maybe watching TV or playing games.

Demoman:

Demo’s S/O was hard at work, alone in their home late at night, when there was a knock on the door. They got up and found Sniper at the door, holding up a very drunk Demo. They thanked and said good night to Sniper before bringing Demo to bed.

As they’re setting him up for bed, he asks his S/O to stay with him. Demo is an emotional drunk so when his S/O says they have work to do, he tears up and begs them to stay. His S/O only apologizes and pushes him back down onto the bed before leaving to go work.

About 5-10 minutes later, the S/O is interrupted by the sounds of approaching shuffles. They turn just in time to catch Demo, who practically throws his 6’0”, 190 pound self onto them. He again asks them to come to bed with him.

His S/O frowns at first, but they can’t help but break into a soft giggle. They know that he’s just going to keep pestering them and they’re not going to get any work done anyway, so they help him stand up straight and bring him to bed. He again throws himself on top of them and begins to snore into their shoulder.

Heavy:

Heavy’s noticed that his S/O has been spending a lot more time working lately, and it’s worried him a lot. He respects their hard work and dedication but spending this much time working each day makes him concerned that they’re really stressed.

He decides to confront them one day after they’ve been working all morning and afternoon. He walks up behind them and tells them that he thinks they’ve worked enough for today and need a break. When they say they need to keep working, he gently pulls the workbook/project/whatever out of their hands and simply says, “Is good for you. Come with me.”

He highkey doesn’t give them a choice. If they’ve only been working this hard for the last few days he probably just has them make a meal with him and talk with them while they eat together. If they’re been working like this for a long while, he’ll probably take them out for the rest of the day to do whatever they want.

Engineer:

Engineer is also a hard worker but he can’t imagine not taking a little break every couple of hours like his S/O. He always asks his S/O if they want to join him when he gets up to go get a beer or sit outside for a little while, and he can’t help but frown when they turn him down.

One day, when they turn him down once again, he approaches them and says, “Honeybee, takin’ a break is really important. Just come sit with me for a while.” He gently takes one of their hands to get them to turn towards him.

If his S/O again says they need to keep working, he’ll just nonchalantly say, “Alright, darlin’,” but it hurts his feelings a little bit. He gets over it pretty quickly but he always sighs quietly when he sees his S/O still working when he passes them.

If they join him, he smiles brightly and leads them to go sit outside with him. He brings a beer and whatever his S/O would like to drink, and plays some guitar for them.

They make a habit of taking 10-15 minute breaks together every once in a while

Medic:

Medic is just as much of a workaholic as his partner, maybe more so. He’s often working in his lab late into the night and goes to sleep around 1-3 AM every night. So he’s a total hypocrite when he tells his S/O that they need to take breaks and not work so late every night. He grumbles a little when they say they need to keep working.

So one night he’s had enough, and he pulls what they’re working on out of their hands and exclaims, “Look at you, you’re exhausted. Go to bed!”

His S/O responds, “Only if you do too.”

There’s a small chance that his stubbornness might get the best of him and he actually just humphs and returns to his lab, and leaves his S/O alone for the rest of the night.

But he’ll probably just take off his glasses, sigh, and say, “Fine.” He lets his S/O lead him to their bedroom and they fall asleep together

After a while they develop a habit of going to bed together a few hours earlier, and it actually highkey improves the performance and energy of both

Sniper:

Sniper was surprised when he entered his camper and found his S/O working at the small table. They had been in that same spot when he and the team left for a Snowycoast match. The battlefield was only ten minutes away from the base but the match had several resets of the timer and multiple overtimes, so it had gone on for hours.

“You’re still working?” He exclaims as he puts his things away and pulled off the jacket he had swapped for his vest. He frowned when he realized it was still a little chilly inside the camper

When his S/O confirmed that they’d been there the whole time, he walked over to them and held a hand out. “C’mon, take a break. It’s cold in here. Come sit with me for a bit.”

If his S/O turns him down, he grumbles a little and takes a nap by himself. He’s pretty salty about it.

If they take his hand, he smiles and pulls them onto his bed to pull the blanket around both of them and spend a while just cuddling and talking.

Spy:

Spy often catches his S/O working for hours upon hours, which he hates. His amour shouldn’t have to work so hard. He’s always reminding them to take breaks before he steps out for a match, but he knows they don’t listen to him.

One night, he walks out to his bedroom, already prepared for bed, and pauses when he sees his S/O still working. He walks over to them and places his hands on their shoulders from behind them, asking them to get ready for bed.

Even if they say they still have work to do, he doesn’t let them keep working. He will stand there and pester them until they finally give in and get up to get changed, and then go to bed.

He can’t help but smile when he feels them get into bed next to him. He rolls over to look at them and tells them that they need to start getting to bed earlier. He reminds them that they can’t work well if they’re tired.

#tf2 #teamfortress2 #tf2 scout #tf2 soldier #tf2 pyro #tf2 demoman #tf2 heavy #tf2 engineer #tf2 medic #tf2 sniper #tf2 spy #tf2 x reader #tf2 x s/o #tf2 headcanons #tf2 imagines

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britishboystm · 4 years

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For Sure- Matt Edition

Warnings: End of smut, swearing, angst, bad parents, pregnancy, labor, fluff

A/N: Okay this is cute. Based on the song ‘For Sure’

•••

August 3rd, 1987

“Yes, yes, yes, right there! FUUUCK!” You cry out before your legs clench on top of Matt and you collapse down beside him onto your bed.

“Holy shit.” You breath out as the two of you lay sprawled out naked, breathing heavily and staring up at your white ceiling. Did it seem a little cliche that the two little best friends that lived in the same neighbourhood all their lives started dating when college began? Maybe, but you guys loved each other so it didn’t matter

“Holy shit indeed.” He chuckles trying to catch his breath. The back of his hand swipes across his forehead to get rid of any sweat.

You see, Matt had come knocking on your door earlier in the evening. He had just gotten off of work and was looking for some comfort from his loving girlfriend after a fight he had with his dad.

“Hey, you okay?” You ask as you open the door to see your boyfriend standing there, shoulders slumped forward and on the brink of tears.

“Can I come in?” He asks.

“Of course.” You say concerned, pulling him into the small home. Your parents were sitting in front of the tv watching some program you’ve never seen before.

“Matt’s here.” You call out. Your dad responds with a grunt of recognition and your mom turns her head.

“Hi Matt. How are you, love?”

“Fine thanks.” He wasn’t fine. You sigh and grab his hand to bring him up to your bedroom.

“So is everything okay?” You say while closing the door. He was already on your bed crying into your pillow.

“Matt baby what happened?” You coo, climbing on top of him and placing tiny kisses all over his tears stained cheeks.

“My dad. He just went in on me today. I tried to explain to him that I needed the weekend off to do a gig in Manchester. He said I couldn’t because of work.”

“Okay?” You didn’t really see why this would be enough to cry over. There was probably more to the story though. Matt didn’t cry over just anything.

“He told me I didn’t have talent and that I should focus on having a real job. Then he said I was going to end up like my mum, no goals and no future. I can’t believe he talked about her like that.” You were honestly shocked. He never really talked about his mom. She left when he was little and so he resented her. It was a sore subject for him.

“I’m so sorry my love. Do you want to talk about it?” He shakes his head.

“Can you just hold me?” He sounded so run down and defeated, it truly broke you inside.

“Of course.” He sniffles like a small child and starts to remove his shoes and gets under the covers. You give him a sympathetic look and get in with him. He moves the blanket so you can shimmy up against his chest and his steady breathing almost puts you to sleep.

“I love you.” He muffles in your hair.

“I love you too Matt.” He then lifts your chin to look at him in the eyes and he leans in to capture your lips in his. The kiss was innocent enough until it wasn’t.

And well, you know the rest.

You both took some time to regain normal breathing once you were done. His hand sneaks across the bed to grab yours in his and he gives you a thankful look. With a squeeze of your interlaced fingers he leans in and kisses your forehead.

“You’re too good to me.” You smile widely and place yourself against his chest.

“Stop.” You blush.

“It’s true. You and my music are the only positive things in my life right now.” You look up at him and place a kiss on his lips.

“Go to Manchester. If your dad asks I’ll cover for you.” He quickly sits up and looks at you with shock.

“Are you serious.” You nod and giggle.

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course I would. I’ve got your back Matt. Go play your music and get us out of here once you sign a record deal.” You laugh. He then jumps on top of you and peppers you with kisses.

“I love you, I love you, I love you. Hey Y/N? Have I ever told you that I love you?” You roll your eyes and smirk before pushing him off of you.

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Now get out of my house and pack your shit. You have a long drive ahead of ya.” He beams and goes in for another kiss before you push him off once more. He shoots up out of bed and starts to walk out of the room but you yell after him.

“Hey, you forgetting something?” He frowns in confusion then looks down, noticing he isn’t wearing anything. All out on display for you. It was a nice sight sure but you didn’t want to distract him by pulling him back into bed. It didn’t hurt to look though.

“Oh right my clothes.” You giggle as you watch him quickly collect them and struggle to get into his pants, hopping around your room. His excitement radiated which got your stomach bubbling with happiness as well. You loved to see him happy and content so this was nice for you.

“Bye love.” He walks over to your side of bed and places a gentle kiss on your lips.

“Bye rockstar.” You whisper as he runs out the room leaving you naked and disheveled. In a good way though.

August 5th 1987

It was now Sunday and it would be safe to say that this would be a Sunday you would never forget.

You were currently sitting on the closed toilet seat in your bathroom as your best friend Lizzy sat on the bathtub edge.

“Is it time yet?” She asks, shifting forward to try to get a better look at the object in your hand.

“Lizzy, stop I can’t see if you're in the way.” You say nervously, your leg shaking and your thumb in your mouth, biting away at the nail.

All of a sudden the timer sitting on the sink goes off and you jump slightly. Your stomach churns and you grip the stick a little harder before flipping it over.

Your breath catches in your throat and tears brim your eyes.

“Well?” Lizzy asks, clearly impatient. Without saying anything you hand over the stick and put your head in your hands, sobbing.

“Jesus Christ.” She mutters after looking at the result.

August 6th 1987

“Matt I’m pregnant.” You say. No, that was too abrupt.

“Matthew, I’m having your kid.” No, that sounds awkward.

“You knocked me up and now you got to pay child support.” That’s just uncalled for.

“I am with child.” Who says that? You honestly didn’t know how you were going to break the news to him.

You paced around your room waiting for your boyfriends return. It was now Monday and his time in Manchester was finally over. Usually you would be ecstatic and ready to greet him with open arms.

This time it didn’t feel like that. This time around, you felt this awful weight on your shoulders and this dull ache in your stomach that wouldn’t go away. And it wasn’t just the baby.

How were you going to explain to him that he got you pregnant and basically every dream he ever had would now be crushed by a little crying, shiting alien. Oh you were going to be an amazing mom, you thought sarcastically.

Sure you had a job at the college radio station and Matt had the clothes stand (probably not for long though). But none of this was the plan.

You were taken out of your thoughts as one of Matt’s band members' car screeched down the road, synth blasting through the speakers. The car abruptly stopped in front of Matt’s and he jumped out, then pulled out his keyboard and bag, completely oblivious to the bombshell you were going to drop on him. He laughs at a joke and you can’t help but admire his smile before he waves his friends off and enters his home.

You assumed he was going to come right out to see you but he didn’t. You frowned and waited a couple minutes but nothing. You thought about going over to his but you were honestly so nervous you just layed on your bed and stared at the ceiling.

About ten minutes later, a loud banging could be heard from downstairs, you waited a second until the door just opened and the figure ran up the stairs.

“Y/N?” It was Matt. Your heart was racing as he entered your bedroom, fuming. Uh oh, you thought. He knew.

His nostrils are flaring and his hands are clenched.

“Fuck him!” He yells. Nevermind

“I come home, super happy. Gig went great by the way. But why would that matter when the first thing I hear when I come home is my dad screaming at me? I am so sick and tired of being pushed around by him. He doesn’t respect me and I don’t want to live under the same roof if he,”

“Matt.”

“Just because I don’t want to live out his dream doesn’t mean he can treat me like that. Honesty you and me should just leave. Get in my car and never come back. London sounds nice doesn’t it. That’s where I can hand off my demos. It will be perfect. Just the two of us.”

Not exactly, you thought.

“Matt.” You then say louder

“And another thing. He barely does anything when he isn’t working. He has the audacity to say I don’t have goals when he lays around all day while I’m-“

“Matt!” You yell finally.

“What?” He seems a little agitated at the fact that you weren’t listening.

“I’m pregnant.” You just had to say it. His face drops then almost becomes angry.

“Seriously Y/N, I don’t have the time for this. I’m already super pissed with my dad. I don’t need you joking around and pulling my leg about something like that.” That response does you in. Of course he thinks it’s a joke. Even though you have been living with the reality of it for the last 24 hours. All of the pent up stress finally leaves your body and you break down.

“I wasn’t joking.” You whisper out through your cries. His face drops again.

“Oh.” Now he didn’t know what to say. It was quite for a while, just your sobs as he stood there completely flabbergasted. He never thought about having kids. Didn’t even occur to him.

“You're not joking?” He finally says.

“NO!” You yell chucking a pillow at his face. How could he not get it through his thick skull. Seeing you in distress makes his heart hurt so he sits down beside you on the bed. He didn’t really know what to do so he just pats your back weirdly.

Then almost out of natural instinct he moves his hand to slide onto your belly.

“That’s our baby?” He asks quietly. Almost like he couldn’t believe. You look up with red, glossy eyes and sniffle.

“Yeah.” He could see how hopeless you were. He couldn’t leave you alone.

“I love you.” He says. You close your eyes, absorbing the words you always loved to hear. He was still your Matt.

“And this baby.” He says after which shocks you.

“Matt you don’t have t-“

“Shh.” He put a finger to your lips.

“Just shut up and kiss me.” You smile weakly and lean in for a deep and loving kiss.

“Matt I need to tell my parents.” He sighs and leans his forehead on yours.

“Your dad is going to kill me.”

“Well you should have thought of that before you ca-“

“Yeah okay I get it.” He rolls his eyes and grabs your hand to go out back where your parents were enjoying glasses of lemonade.

“Mum? Dad?” You said while standing, Matt right beside you.

“What is it dear?” Your mom asks, moving her sunglasses down her face. She always thought she was posher then she really was.

“Matt and I are having a baby.” And with that, the glass in her mother's hand dropped to the ground, spilling all over to the grass, leaving a feast for the ants.

Her father just looks at her in disgust and gets up and walks past them. Not even acknowledging what was happening. He was in denial.

“Oh that won’t do.” Her mother says.

“It isn’t really your choice now is it mum?” You say.

“Oh but it is. Because when the women at the book club ask about the family I will not tell them about my whore of a daughter.

This stung. A lot. You never got much support from your parents so you were almost numb to their shitty parenting.

“Okay well, um nice chat. We’ll be off then. Good luck with everything.”

“You’ll be back.” She says leaning back into her chair. No care in the world.

“Without a baby and your deadbeat boyfriend.” She continues.

Matt’s fists clench and you have to hold him back from him blowing up. Once he calms down you turn and start walking back in the house, Matt trailing behind you.

“What was that?” He says shocked. You crack a smile and grab your boyfriend's cheeks.

“We are free Matt.” You whisper. He scrunches his brows.

“What do you mean?” You pass him and run up the steps.

“I’ll call my aunt Helen in London. Go pack everything essential and meet me out front.”

He stands there for a second, surprised at your burst of energy but follows your instructions, leaving out the front door.

You worked on your room for a good twenty minutes and finished up the call with Aunt Helen before rushing downstairs with your bag.

“Where do you think you're going?” Your father says from the living room.

“Away. Thanks for everything or lack thereof. Hope all goes well.” You say bitterly.

“You're not leaving.” He says sternly, getting up and slamming the door as you open it. He towers over you and you stare him down like a little ferocious chihuahua.

“I loved you, and still do. It saddens me you couldn’t be a proper dad. I hope you learn from your mistakes and get your act together.” And with that you opened the door once more and closed it behind you, leaving your stunned dad.

Matt sat in the car patiently, then giving you a wide smile when you threw your stuff in the back and hopped in beside him.

“I love you.” You say.

“I love you too.” He grabs your hand before backing out of the parking lot and towards your new future.

April 7th 1988

“Matt get down here!” Your aunt yelled. She had been helping you and Matt out in your new apartment as you prepared for the baby. But there wasn’t much prep left to do since your water had just broken.

Loud footsteps could be heard coming down the steps to reveal your shirtless boyfriend with headphones around his neck.

“What, what happened.” He says frantically grabbing a crewneck sweatshirt and covering himself.

“My water broke.” You say calmly, not understanding why everyone was panicking.

“Oh god. Um Helen why don't you grab the bag. Y/N my love let's get you into the car yeah?” He tries to put his hand on your lower back but you swat it away.

“I’m fine. Stop grabbing me.” He sighs and lets you waddle down the apartment stairs, clearly struggling but too stubborn to ask for help.

Everything was fine until the end of the car ride. That was when the contractions kicked in.

All in all the process was awful. You asked for an epidural the second it was offered and you were chewing on ice to distract from yourself from the pain. Matt was an absolute travesty of a human . He was constantly putting his hands through his hair, pacing back and forth. Throughout the pregnancy he had become a homebody. He didn’t seem like a party animal anymore. Just a man who loved his music and his girlfriend who would occasionally hang out with his old friends from Luton and new ones in London. He had proved to you during these past nine months that he was ready, even if he didn’t think he was. Watching him pace almost eased the gut wrenching pain. He was a dad.

When the actual birth happened, you weren't the nicest. Swearing at everyone and gripping onto Matt blaming him for everything and how he caused all this. It did hurt him but he knew you weren’t coherent. You couldn’t control your feelings.

But once your child was born though everything seemed to be right in the world. You were barely conscious but enough to ask for your baby.

“Congratulations, Ms L/N. It’s a girl.” Matt was a blubbering mess when he saw his little girl be passed to you. She was so small and it almost scared him just how much he loved her already. He never thought someone could match you in his ranks. He was wrong. The small baby cried and cried. The nurses came around to give you their best wishes and your aunt finally came in to check up on you. After all that was done, Matt and you were left alone with your perfect creation.

“She looks like you.” You say as you look down at the sleeping baby, her hand curled around your finger.

“You think?” He asks, cuddling in more on the hospital bed.

“Hmhm.” You say.

“Look what we did.” He chuckles to himself, in awe of everything happening. He then raises his hand and you roll your eyes before giving him his high five, a proud look on his face.

“Daddy loves you Hayley.” Matt whispers before giving his daughter a small kiss on the forehead. She yawned in return.

“And I love you Y/N.” You smile up at him and place a kiss on his lips.

“I’m so proud of you.”

July 17th 2005

You sighed deeply as you leaned against the wall and removed your paint splattered converse. For the last decade you have been a commission artist who has actually made a name for yourself in London and even out of the city.

You could hear synth coming from the office which made you roll your eyes. He better not be doing this again.

You walk down the hall and open the office door to see Matt on the computer with Hayley who was home from school for the summer.

“See right there. Isn’t that amazing! Nothing like it.” You smirk at your family.

“Sure dad. But let me show you this.” She leans over him and types in a song in her music library. ‘Since U Been Gone’ by Kelly Clarkson starts playing, a song she has already shown you. Matt thinks for a minute.

“Eh not bad, not Duran Duran but you know.”

“If I’m not mistaken, people thought your music was odd when we were young.’ Matt and Hayley turn around to see you leaning against the doorframe.

“Hi love, how was work?” Matt gets up and brings you in for a kiss. Hayley doesn't even flinch because she was so desensitized at this point when you guys showed each other affection. Even after all this time you two were still madly in love.

“Eh fine. Not getting stuff done as quickly as I like but you know.”

“Hi Mum.” Hayley calls out.

“Hey baby, how was your day?”

“Fine. Hung out with Jason.”

“Jason?” You repeat confused.

“Don’t even ask.” Matt says rolling his eyes. He was always the protective type.

#dean charles chapman #dean charles chapman x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #matt blinded by the light #blinded by the light #Spotify

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gunmetalarchived · 3 years

Text

continued from this text thingy for something to tell you | a discord thread with @diabolicaltendencies

ALEX

She hovered outside his door, already wondering if he had just been nice on the phone to let her down in person. Even worse, after years of going through the conversation with people she didn’t give a shit about, it was hard to redo it all when she cares this much about someone else’s opinion. It was easy to dismiss gossip and rumour. Not so much the way her face cracked in a smile whenever her phone lit up with his name.

Fuck it. She took a deep breath and hit his door bell, the smell of vinegar seeping up from the heavily soaked chips in her arms. At least she would have some fuel for bribery, and a couple of beers to help it flow quicker.

SAM

Sam knew the conversation they'd had over text was heavier than she was letting on. He'd done some poking around the internet since, but after one or two crazy headlines and hyperlinks to celebrity conspiracy blogs popping up on his screen, he quickly quit he quit. It just gave him more proof that talking to people was more useful than googling them. He still can't believe people actually do that.

He opens the door with a smile, genuine and bright as he looks at her, "Hey!" He glances down at the bag and looks a bit confused but no less happy to see her, "Did you bring food?"

ALEX

“And beer, don’t forget the beer.” She beamed up at him, immediately glad she had come even if this was going to be awkward. She took a step inside setting the bag down in his hall to immediately yank him down to her level. If he had been acting polite earlier, fine, but there was no way on earth he was going to escape her barrage of kisses. She missed him. A couple weeks up north and a long overdue day in the studio aggravated that. The nerves more so.

“Cmere stupid.”

SAM

"And beer." He concedes, closing the door behind her. He pulls her close the same time she reaches for him, kissing her thoroughly like there hadn't even been an earlier conversation. He missed her just as much. Cupping her jaw, Sam runs his thumb along her cheek when they pull apart. "If you keep that up, the food's going to get cold."

ALEX

She folded into him so easily, so naturally it was like she was made to for there. It was still a surprise how normal this could feel. Her experience of relationships had been all or nothing, hot and cold was a mild way to put it. Yet with Sam, things seemed to sit at a constant simmer. A gentle bubble, a constant reminder that happiness was just a kiss away d as t the most. Gentle hands and soft touches, it was all so cliche and yet simply perfect.

Alex shrugged, because in all honesty she was happy to forget about the food entirely. But she rolled her eyes like a begrudging teenager, even if the idiotic grin on her face gave her away. “Fine, but I’m coming back for more later, alright?”

SAM

He presses a kiss against her hair before pulling away to pick up the food, "I hope so~" He flashes her a just-short-of-cocky grin and ushers her inside. The flat is an organized mess. There are jackets, papers and books littered about but they've each found their own neat pile. He's been pulling long hours and has resorted to just enough tidying to keep things from overwhelming him. One day it'll all get put away but it's not today.

"Wow, what'd I do to deserve this?" He comments happily upon peeking at their meal for the evening. He places the bag on the coffee table and settles down on one end of the gently worn couch.

ALEX

Alex followed him into his space, heading straight for the sofa too. She liked his flat, it was funny how it could feel so lived in. Her own place was so sparse, she looked like she could leave at any moment without it seeming out of place. But his was worn, loved, filled with time and memories. “Consider it bribery? Also, you’re welcome for saving you from any attempt at me cooking.”

She kicked her shoes off, immediately tucking her feet up underneath her and reaching for her keys from her pocket to open the beer bottles. “What have you been reading about? What’s that one?” She pointed to a pile on the coffee table curiously.

SAM

He begins sorting out the food, placing a box on either end of the table within reach and divvying up all the extra things in the bag. He glances up at the pile of books. It's mostly a stack of textbooks but the top one is a novel, "Oh, that's Stephen King's new one." He reaches to grab it and pass it over to her before opening his box and popping a fry into his mouth.

ALEX

She took the book form him, flipping through the pages likes he could actually take any of it in. No doubt she'd be up for it whenever it became a movie, but she had neither the mindset or the patience for reading. She learnt over, setting it back down carefully where he had pulled it form even if it meant being thoroughly in his way. Alex grabbed one of the bottles, using her keys in a way they were definitely not intended and holding it out for him to take. "Here y' go"

SAM

He leans backs slightly to make room for her to lean over but not quite enough that they aren't completely in each other's space. But it's comfortable, easy. "Thanks," He takes the bottle and downs a quick swig before smiling at her. "So what's the bribe for?"

ALEX

She grabbed the other bottle, playing with her keys again to loosen the top and taking a large swig to gather her thoughts. Her own food was still semi wrapped, so she stretched out for a chip from his. Taking it, Alex smirked.

“Well, I’m guessing you’ve got a ton of questions. And you might not like the answers so.. just in case.”

SAM

Sam slides his food a bit closer between them without complaint, continuing to casually eat himself. He smiles softly at her smirk, there's a short silence after she speaks before he replies, "We don't have to do this now. Unless you want to. My questions can wait."

ALEX

"Feels like we should rip the plaster off now, right?" There was no easy way to explain that if she put it off, she might stop talking all together. It happened, from time to time. He had just the good fortune of not being around to see it. Long distance worked like that. Alex shifted further into the sofa, curling into the arm to face him. "I'm all ears."

SAM

Sam looks over her and sits back against the couch, holding the beer in his lap. "Okay... I'm... not sure where to start." He offers an apologetic smile. "Maybe if you just-- explain what you were worried about me hearing? Give me the context?"

ALEX

"That's... fair." And it made it all the harder. Usually the songs lead this conversation or the press. Or both, if it was truly awful. She had fielded the worst of it for a few years not. It just had less stakes than this normally. Even when Jim found out. "I- erm-" She swallowed, hard. She pursed her lips to let the silence hang, trying to figure out where to start.

"I was with someone for about five years, l-like I said. He was on my course, and lived with me. We made a lot of music together until he got scouted, and then the thing I liked about him made us... not great."

SAM

Sam nods, he's listening intently, following along but not demanding anything. "And... that's what went into the music he wrote?" He asks gently, trying to put the pieces she's given him so far together.

ALEX

Alex nodded too, averting her eyes to take a sip from her own bottle as her fingers moved to fiddle with the label. “I wasn’t a great person... well I’m still not.” How best to put it? Her early twenties had been toxic, partly because of her relationship but also her outlook. There wasn’t really a way to explain all of that. “He wrote about me, about how he felt things had shifted between us. He took songs I had worked on with him and changed the lyrics to suit his view. And because my family is involved in politics, I didn’t get the luxury of having a fucked up relationship the same way other people do.”

SAM

Sam frowns, "So the media get a hold of it." He concludes. That would make sense of all the dramatics he'd seen from a simple search.

ALEX

“The band charted, there was a lot of press around the music from the few demos the label had pushed and... I was a great target.” She shifted awkwardly, tearing off a larger chunk of the label and rolling to between her fingers. “Things kind of spiralled from there.”

SAM

"Can I ask his name.. or the band's? I don't want to listen." He clarifies quickly. "Not unless you want me to for some reason. I just-- I don't want to look like an idiot if they come up."

ALEX

"Yeah- yeah, no of course. Elliot McAlistair, the band is Vactican Camoes. It was some dumb in joke the boys had." She smiled, softly. It was reassuring, whether he meant it or not. "You can. I mean, they're on the radio constantly. Sort of... unavoidable."

They had become the soundtrack to her life, especially working in the bar. Eventually she'd managed to curate some decent playlists to avoid it, but every now and agains she would be caught off guard by his tinny voice echoing from a shop front or builders radio.

"I don't come off well from it. I'm not... the most stable person in his eyes. And my dad - my brother, they didn't take it well."

SAM

"Well, good news is I don't believe everything I hear on the radio." Sam looks at her fondly. She's sitting so defensively, so worried about what he's going to think or say, but all he want to do is wrap an arm around her shoulders and hold her close. He knows this is her side of the story, but honestly that's the only one that matters to him. "...How did they take it?"

ALEX

Everything about her was nervous, tightly wound and yet somehow restless. Maybe finally talking about this would release the pit in her stomach.

“It’s- erm...” she tried to swallow again, opening her lips a few times before she had the sounds to fill them. “It’s.. complicated. I’m not, well, I wasn’t close with my dad so- yeah. It was very... personal. I sort of- I-I stopped talking for a while. My brother, he was better. But it’s... it’s not something people forget.”

She puffed out her cheeks, letting loose a heavy breath. “He wrote about things that made them look b-bad.”

SAM

Sam puts down the beer and shifts to sit facing her. He slowly reaches for her hand, giving her time to pull away if she wants to. He won't force the contact, "Hey." He shakes his head, "That's not your fault."

ALEX

“No, n-no I know you’re right.” She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his with a small squeeze. It was hard because she wasn’t expecting this comfort, but she liked it. Maybe this is what healthy relationships looked like. Her smile fell from her face though, her eye-line dropping to her feet. “Except, well, it kinda is. S-some of it anyway. They’re politicians so my life just... it doesn’t work for them. Me being me- it’s a bit of a whirlwind.”

SAM

He takes her hand in both of his, fingers caressing her skin. "I can't pretend to know what you were like then. I guess I don't really know your family either, but, I like who you are now. A song or headline isn't going to change that... and politicians, celebrities or not, nothing justifies someone selling your private life to the public without your consent. You know that, right?"

ALEX

On some base level, she knew he was right. And she agreed with him completely. Yet her mind swung constantly, between outrage at her life being subject to the judgment of the British public and shame at what a mess it had become. "Yeah." She said it quietly the first time, barely audible before she repeated it a little stronger. Maybe it would sink in.

"I don't know. I wasn't a decent person, neither was he. And I can live with that. It's become very real, having to explain it to everyone."

SAM

He nods and smiles encouragingly, squeezing her hand lightly between his. Sure, he would need more details for the full picture - to actually listen to the songs or read the articles. But even if it's the worst thing he can imagine... he doesn't think it would matter. He likes the Alex he knows, flaws and all, "Well I'm not running away yet... so now what?"

ALEX

"You sure? There's still time?" She uses her free hand to check an imaginary watch, trying to use the bit to gather her shaky confidence. It made sense he was playing nice now, whilst she was here and in the room. It was what came later she was terrified for. "It's okay. If this is too much, that's alright. My life isn't private anymore, it's a lot to get used to"

SAM

"It's not too much." He keeps up his reassuring smile. "Is there anything else you want me to know?"

ALEX

“You say that now...” she took a swig from her beer with a shrug. “I don’t know, guess if there’s any questions?”

SAM

"Hm." He looks down at their hands leaning in to kiss her knuckles before glancing back up with bright blue eyes, "Do I get to hear more of your music now that I know?"

ALEX

It was impossible not to smile when he did shit like this. Small, meaningful gestures that completely derailed her toxic train of thought. She leant forwards, pulling her hands away setting her bottle down on the coffee table before she flopped onto him entirely. She let her head rest against his chest, curling her shoulders to fit in the space at the back of the sofa. Impossible for him to eat, but soothing all the same. “Maybe. If you wanted to? Truth is I haven’t really written, well not for me. For friends, sure but that’s different. I’ve had an idea or two... just not got very far ‘til you came along.”

SAM

Sam falls perfectly into place, right where she wants him. He curls an arm around her, fingers lightly ghosting back and forth before reaching up to brush her hair back from her face. "I'd love to hear it." And he genuinely means it. There's a small note of excitement in his words.

ALEX

Easy. He made things easy. Easier to talk, to be kind, to be honest. Easier to write too. Sure, she'd been playing around with ideas more form the moment they met. However they were still personal - a real outlet for the intense feelings she had been having and trying to play down. Alex knew she was besotted. Acting cool was tricky when she fel so hard, and so fast for the people who showed her the slightest affection. She didn't even think, she just let it out. She had intended to say 'I'd love you to.' but it came out... different.

"I think I love you."

SAM

Out of everything she’s said, all the supposed horrors and skeletons in her closet, it’s those three words that surprise him. He inhales, chest expanding under her cheek, and his expression flutters between surprise and happiness. His breath catches on the exhale, words tumbling out of his mouth before he can think twice, whispered into her hair, “I love you too.”

Maybe it wasn't the right time to say it. Maybe he should've waited for a moment that wasn't weighed down by what's she's been through. But he's happy. He loves her. It's the truth. His arm tightens around her in a loose hug.

#discord thread 012 | something to tell you #( sh: toothpaste kisses | alex + sam | happyverse )#diabolicaltendencies #( v: happyverse )

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chaosrealm-mk-imagines · 4 years

Text

It’s Just a Prank

Thanks so much to @ladybug1596 for the idea to this story, i taked a long time to write it and i think it’s okay after all!

Summary; Sareena is turned into a bat by Havik and Bi-Han tries to help her, but the price is a little to high...

Words count; 3968

Pairing; Sareena x Bi-Han

Warnings; Extreme embarassing situations

The Lin Kuei temple was peaceful, always cold on the outside but warm among its members. The former Netherrealm assassin Sareena, was now dedicated to protecting her beloved clan, there she had found a family and a reason to exist. The relationship with Bi-Han was inseparable, since they had fought together against the dark forces of Shinnok they had become a deadly duo.

Although the current Grand Master was Bi-Han's little brother, he was not offended by this or had the ambition to steal Kuai Liang's place, things were comfortable as a second in command and allowed him more time to dedicate worldly things.

The snow fell with all its purity above the rustic roofs, adorning the local trees and merging with the boreal scenery that created a playful landscape. The recruits trained in low temperatures as a way to strengthen themselves, one of the prodigies of the new generation was Kuai Liang protegee, Frost. She was known for her fiery temper and arrogance, loving to brag about her cryomancy and battle skills. Sareena had woken up late that day, arriving at the dojo with a cup of coffee in her right hand, yawning. The demoness wore a black leather coat with red trim, it was made of incubus skin.

"Sorry for the delay, I've been busy with other matters." Said Sareena, taking a sip of her rapidly cooling drink.

The apprentices bowed out in respect to the woman, waiting for her to begin the first lesson of the day. The tutors were divided into schedules and classes, Sareena was with the beginners class in the morning and the melee training at night with advanced students. She pinned her two-tone hair into a loose bun and started class. The subject was discipline and how defense could be the best attack, practicing counter attack and blocking tactics with students who always had difficulty because their teacher was extremely demanding.

The class continued without any interruption, until the pause for the apprentices to review or rest. Sareena left the training yard and returned to the warm interior of the dojo, sighing and shivering because of the temperature, she was not used to the cold. Strong, gentle arms wrapped around her slender figure, embracing her warmly. She didn't even need to look to know it was Bi-Han, who rested his chin on the woman's arched shoulder, giving her a provocative look.

"I missed you ..." He murmured, kissing Sareena's cold cheek.

"An hour ago I was on your side in bed, idiot." She smiled, blushing at how affectionate Bi-Han was that morning.

"Yes, and you got up without saying goodbye or even waking me up."

Before they could continue the couple's stuff, they were disturbed by Smoke, who was entering the building, with a pile of old books in hands, he perfectly balanced the manuscripts and looked at them with doubt, being able to make both of them feel extremely uncomfortable with that. . Smoke smiled at the couple and before heading to the library decided to provoke them a little

"You two could go to a room, you know." The enenra commented, disappearing to store the books in the large study wing.

Bi-Han released Sareena and looked at her in shame, running his fingers over the beard that was beginning to frame his pale face. He had even forgotten what he was going to talk about, he hadn't even had breakfast yet or changed his pajamas, he was known as the cool teacher who didn't piss off or acted like a lord of the rings character.

"A weird guy came to visit you today, as you were out I got him to see what it was about, he left you a letter." Bi-Han told, handing her an envelope that was still sealed.

"Oh really? How strange ... Didn't he say who he was? ” Sareena looked at him confused, taking the letter and opening it immediately, starting to read.

"No, he just said he had something for you, he wore a mask so I also didn't see his face, for a moment I thought it was Quan Chi but I noticed he had hair so I denied the possibility." The man explained, making the devil laugh with his comment about her former boss.

Sareena's eyes widened when she finished reading the letter, leaving Bi-Han curious and distressed, she then started laughing and thought it was some joke on his part with all that mysterious stranger story. The letter's contents were a disturbing declaration of love, containing a poem about how perfect every vital organ in her body was, it looked like something a butcher would write.

"If I were you, I would ask Kuai for help before trying to write a love letter, this is scary!" Sareena exclaimed, returning the note to Bi-Han.

"Love letter?!" He repeated, confused by the whole situation and jealous, starting to read the content himself.

"Weren't you the one who wrote it?"

"Of course not! Even I know the limits of bad taste. ” The ninja replied in frustration, tearing the paper.

"So is this mysterious stranger story serious?" She couldn't believe it, but from Bi-Han's reaction it seemed to be true.

"Yes. That's why I looked for you! ” Bi-Han's face was red and he did not hide his jealousy, he had served as a mailman for a possible competitor.

"You're jealous?" The woman joked, smiling and approaching him, placing her face against his chest.

"Me? Of course not, because apparently this guy is only interested in stealing your organs and selling on the black market, I bet he has something to do with Kano. ” He mocked, kissing the girl's forehead, smiling at her.

“Let's forget about it, okay? Whoever that freak was, he doesn't get to your feet. ”

The couple forgot about the matter for now, going about the day quietly, without mentioning what happened. Everything was perfectly normal, until Sareena had to go to her rooms to pick up her favorite hook in order to show it to her students on the night shift, she would give a nice lesson about impalement. Upon entering the room she shared with her boyfriend, she was surprised by the sinister appearance of a hooded man, who was sitting on her bed, staring at her. The mysterious figure had a skeletal face, with wide eyes and an almost comical expression, it was not something human.

"Not only did you laughed at my love letter, but you also mocked me with that emo ninja, you’re tearing me apart Sareena!" He spoke in a high-pitched voice.

Before the demoness could have any kind of reaction or response to the stranger, a red fog filled the room and with the sound of an explosion, a strange transformation took place. Everyone in the temple could hear that disturbing sound, Kuai Liang instructed the students to stand guard and not accompany him, leaving Smoke to supervise them while he and Bi-Han went to check on what had happened. When they reached the room that was the source of the noise, they looked from side to side, looking for a clue as to what had happened, and to the brothers' surprise there was nothing unusual there or a trace of Sareena. The cryomancers looked at each other, starting to turn the room over until they concluded that everything was clean.

Bi-Han omitted the visit of the masked stranger to his brother, focusing on searching the rest of the temple for Sareena. Search teams split up to look for her, and none were successful. It was already dawn and everyone was tired, going back to the dormitories to continue their searches later. Bi-Han was frustrated and blaming himself for ignoring what had happened earlier, he should have taken that as a warning. The peace in which he was living had in fact taken him away, he needed to be aware again for the sake of his loved ones. The ninja lay on the bed that seemed even bigger without his dear Sareena, the blankets were cold and the feeling of emptiness consumed his thoughts, until his morbid silence was broken by the sound of knocking on the bedroom window. He got up and carefully went to the window, prepared for a surprise attack, opening it and being stunned by the sudden entrance of a winged creature. A dark-colored bat with a white chest had invaded the room, flying to the doorposts and hanging from the bust of the statue that graced the entrance, Bi-Han tried to grab the animal and was bitten by it, until he was even more surprised by the voice which came from the rodent.

"It's me! Listen to me imbecile! ” It was Sareena's voice coming out of the flying mammal, the ninja swore he was going crazy.

"What kind of witchcraft is this?!" He exclaimed, astonished by the revelation.

"You were right about that freak who came up with the letter, he was here in the room when I came to get my hook, he turned me into a bat!" Sareena explained, trying not to make the situation sound more ridiculous than it already was.

Although the situation was too comical to be taken seriously, Bi-Han was not laughing. He closed the window to prevent the cold breeze from settling in the rooms and sat in an armchair by the door, taking a deep breath and looking at the ceiling. In all his years in the vital industry, it had never happened to him. How he would say that to his brother was the biggest doubt at the moment, he needed to act soon if he wanted to get his dear girlfriend back.

When the sun came up again and the night dispersed, Bi-Han woke up from his troubled sleep, with a bat nestled around his neck, he smiled and stroked the animal's fur, rising from the bed as he stretched. It didn't even seem that his lover's soul was at stake, maybe he was a little too calm at the moment given the situation. The cryomancer put on a black coat and snuggled his bat in the hood behind him, it was comfortable and a good place for her to watch his back.

"I think we're going to need help, you have to talk to Kuai Liang." Sareena suggested, pulling Bihan's hair with her thin claws.

"Out of the question, dear." Bi-Han would accept everything, BUT ask his little brother for help.

It took a lot of flattery on the part of Sareena was needed to convince him to go and tell the truth, and also promises that when she became a human she would reward him greatly. When Bi-Han arrived at Kuai Liang's office, he cleared his throath to announce his presence, thinking about what to say to him.

"I found Sareena." The oldest started

"Where is she?! I was already going to conduct more searches for her. ” Kuai stirred, worried

"Eh ... There is only one small problem."

After explaining the situation and presenting the evidence with his talking bat, Bi-Han imagined that Kuai Liang would use it to get revenge for all the times he was embarrassed by his games, but to his surprise it was quite the opposite. The grandmaster was more than interested in helping, asking several times if Sareena was feeling well with her new form, stating that he would seek help from Raiden if necessary. Bi-Han felt strangely bad for all the times he was such a jerk with the youngest, but it's not like he was going to apologize for it, after all he had a reputation to keep.

It was not long before Kuai Liang left in search of help for the couple, and in his absence a sinister presence returned to manifest itself. It was when Bi-Han asked Sareena to pick cherries for him from the tallest trees that the mysterious hooded man returned. His heavy breathing denounced him and Bi-Han turned to face his ghastly and weird face.

"I see that she is serving you better in that form, maybe I should keep her that way." Commented the man, smiling with his skeleton half-face

Bi-Han did not answer and went after the stranger, grabbing his neck and threatening him, Sareena flew around the two and pulled the mantle of the stranger with her teeth, revealing all his bizarre figure as she removed it with effort.

"Who are you?!" Interrogated Bi-Han, punching him hard in the face.

"I am Havik, chaos cleric and a better man for dearest Sareena." Finally, he presented himself, smiling with threats and violence.

“Dude, it’s not gonna happen. I don't even know you and you just turned me into a fucking bat, aren't clerics supposed to be chaste? ” Sareena replied, annoyed with him.

“Reverse the spell. Now." Ordered the cryomancer, freezing Havik's neck with his cold hands.

"You can reverse it yourself, you don't need me." Revealed the emissary of chaos.

"A kiss of true love?" Sareena suggested, making Bi-Han laugh at the idea.

"No. A performance by Bi-Han singing in the sequel to Ninja Mime is more than enough. ”

They were silent, Bi-Han released Havik who fell to the floor, smiling at them and more than satisfied with the reactions.

"What?"

Havik disappeared with a red haze, leaving them with more questions than answers, which was more than enough to make Bi-Han panic. He knew about the Ninja Mime sequence that would be about a rival singing Ninja but he never thought he would have to participate in that crap, it wasn't fair at all!

"It's not that difficult, I've heard you sing a few times, just call Johnny." Sareena said, encouraging him.

And so Bi-Han did, he was not Kuai Liang to be afraid of the stage, if he had to sing for his motherfucking girlfriend's life then so be it and he would make sure to win a grammy for best soundtrack for that! Calling Johnny Cage, he was answered by a secretary, who with death threats was forced to pass the phone to the actor, Bi-Han was good at acting like a nutcase “Give the phone to Johnny or I'll follow you home and kill your dog. ”

"Cage on the line."

"It's Bi-Han, a huge fan of Ninja Mime and I would like to participate in the sequence as the Ninja Singer, I know that no one else will accept this fucking role." Bi-Han said, it was clear and objective.

"Holy shit the spell I did with that gypsy really worked!" Johnny bragged, glad to have found someone for the role and even more being Sub-Zero's older brother, that would be a blockbuster. "Imagine your name on the posters man!"

"Whatever, just tell me when we can start , it's urgent."

"Hold on, the recordings won't start until next month."

"I'll be there tomorrow, you better be with the same damn makeup of the first movie or I'm going to rip your head off."

And so Bi-Han ended the call, leaving Johnny Cage surprised and busy with several calls to advance the production of the sequence, it would be the most innovative musical of the century and he would have an Oscar for it! The day went on calmly and without further interruptions, Sareena was distracted flying to places she had never imagined, bringing things she found for Bi-Han. Kuai Liang returned unsuccessfully in the search and had to be explained about how they would break the spell, as a form of support he promised to go to the premiere of the film when he launched.

It was already another day and they had a lot to do, Bi-Han used a portal to go to the studio where the recordings would take place, to his surprise everything was ready, he felt powerful for having pressed Cage for it.

"Animals are not allowed on the set of recordings, is this thing vaccinated?" Johnny was talking, looking with disgust at the bat on Bi-Han's shoulder.

"What did you say about my bat, clown!?" Bi-Han was ready to grab Johnny by the collar and hit him

“I’m not a clown, I’m a mime! They're different dude! ” Johnny dodged, laughing at Bi-Han. "Anyway, you will have to memorize your lines, today we are going to record some scenes and as it is a musical you will have to sing, do not worry about the tuning because we can simply put some autotune at the edit."

Bi-Han sighed, going to the dressing room and taking Sareena with him in his coat. He had to put on Ninja Singer's ridiculous outfits that were a bizarre version of Prince's outfits, he hated purple. After going through the makeup and being handed the script for reading, he just leafed through and went straight to the lines, easily decorating the song he would have to sing, practicing it a bit with Sareena before trying in front of the directors.

"You are incredibly good, maybe you have discovered your new vocation!" She praised, playing with her boyfriend's hand while dropping things off the dressing table.

When it was time to record, Bi-Han took a deep breath and went to the initial tests. To everyone's surprise he had the voice of a fallen angel, the singing in the shower had been enough to make him a star. Johnny Cage couldn't help but be excited about his new partner, singing along with him in the stage, the fight scenes were real and he left Johnny with a broken nose but all for the sake of art. The idea of turning Ninja Mime into a musical has never been better! The first act was an epic chant about how Ninja Mime would take revenge on Ninja Singer for making him break his vows of silence with his catchy music.

At the end of the day Bi-Han was exhausted, his throat hurted and he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue his life as a ninja, maybe becoming an actor was in fact his vocation, all he wanted was an easy life and to be paid for singing. However, there was a problem; Sareena was still a bat. Wasn't it just singing that she would be back to normal? He really wanted Havik not to be lying about it, if it was all a prank he would kill the damn cleric who was trying to steal his girlfriend.

“You have to present yourself, remember? On the day of the premiere, there will be a play for the special guests, you will have to sing live. ” Sareena reminded him, for the first time fear appeared on her face.

"Live singing? This is stupid!" Bi-Han took a deep breath, he had to keep calm if he wanted his dear girl back he would have to put up with acting with Johnny Cage for another month.

And so the month went on, the recordings were going well and Bi-Han was stealing the show as an antagonist, Johnny was proud of him and could already imagine the critics considering the sequence the most innovative film of the decade, with clever songs and ultra realistic action scenes. It didn't take long for the debut date to be announced and Bi-Han became increasingly impatient with that, Sareena would have to endure another month like a winged rodent. She was already getting used to that shape, it was good to hide and collect information for the Lin Kuei as well as allowing her to play tricks without being discovered. The day of the presentation came and Johnny Cage was already on stage, talking about his new film and how innovative he was, in the audience were Kuai Liang, Hanzo Hasashi and even Smoke alongside Cyrax, among several other acquaintances of the actors that included Sonya and Cassie in the front rows. The public already expected that the play and film would suck, but they would watch for the sake of their loved ones. Smoke was laughing even before Bi-Han started singing and Kuai Liang couldn't believe it.

The first act of the play began and Ninja Mime was seen in his deep meditation, when suddenly Ninja Singer appeared and cursed him with his infectious music, forcing him to break the vow of silence and start a duet with him. In the second act Ninja Mime felt devastated and swore revenge against Singer, chasing him to hell and having help from Ninja Clown (Played by Terry Crews) and Ninja Loud (played by Adam Sandler) on their journey to defeat him. To everyone's surprise, the performance was good and there were no technical errors in the play, it was a short and theatrical version of the film that would soon open but it was enough to lift the spirits of the guests who were there, even Hugh Jackman was in the audience and considered the musical as good as Les Miserables, Taylor Swift felt attacked by a musical about Ninja Mime being better than Cats.

At the end of the play, the actors were signing autographs for the fans and one of the guests was none other than Havik, asking Bi-Han for an autograph on his forehead, who drew a penis on his face in revenge.

"I sang, acted and now I'm in the fucking cinema, reverse the spell." He spoke, taking the exaggerated Ninja Singer wig from his head.

"Your wish is an order."

The bat fell from Bi-Han's shoulders and an explosion of lights occurred, upon ceasing the figure of Sareena had been reverted to its human form; but without clothes. It was a scandal and Bi-Han handed her his coat to cover herself, swearing that one day he would take revenge on Havik for putting him through all of that.

"Look on the bright side, you are now famous, Ninja Singer." Sareena joked, laughing at everything that had happened.

In the end, that bizarre and unpleasant story had become a laughing matter in the future, Havik stopped sending letters to Sareena and passed to written them to Bi-Han, whom he claimed to be in love with since his performance, demanding a new musical with Ninja Singer as protagonist. For that he might need to turn Kuai Liang into a penguin, but that is for a next prank.

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hellyeahomeland · 4 years

Text

“Prisoners of War”: an HYH recap

The finale of our last season opens just as the finale of our first season did: with Nicholas Brody’s suicide tape. Brody stands before us just as we remember him: uniform pressed, grainy black and white, defending his decisions to the masses. Carrie drives late at night, her face steely, as those familiar words echo in her ears: “People will say I was broken, I was brainwashed. People will say that I was turned into a terrorist, taught to hate my country. I love my country.”

She arrives home, again, to an empty house.

Back in New York, Linus is paying Saul a surprise visit.

Saul: Hey, man! Am I fired yet? Linus: Miraculously, no! But Jalal Haqqani is definitely not dead, did you have any idea? Saul: Yeah, it was my entire idea. I didn’t tell you so you’d have plausible deniability. Linus: WHERE IS THE ALLIGATOR? Look, Hayes is pissed and is saying he’s going to take out Pakistan’s nuclear facilities if they don’t stand down. Saul: Jesus. Ok, get in the car, I’ll explain why I’ve been acting so fishy on the way back.

The next morning, Carrie’s enjoying a nice cup of coffee while watching her former enemy Tasneem deliver an address at the UN. Tasneem explains that the US are basically a bunch of annoying bullies and they have no choice but to defend themselves with everything they have. After, Anna goes back to the Russian Federation’s office and into Director Mirov’s office, where she notices the red flight recorder. She recaps Tasneem’s speech and Mirov is delighted because they’re all about to get promotions. Anna is steely-faced and says he deserves it.

Carrie arrives at Charlotte Benson’s giant mansion. Two Russian hunks, one of whom looks EXACTLY LIKE Jonas but is not, escort her to Charlotte’s murder demo. Actually, Carrie’s not going to murder him. She’s just gonna mix a few chemicals and create a gel that she rubs on his skin to immobilize him, then the Russians hunks will murder him. According to Yevgeny, they’re the best, and Yevgeny wants nothing but the best for his girl. Carrie looks like she may actually vomit, even though I already completed that bingo square.

In the Oval Office, Saul arrives for his meeting with Hayes but instead it’s just Evil Spawn Zabel, who looks so totally delighted to be going one-on-one with Saul again. Saul shares that the flight recorder indicates the helicopter wasn’t shot down after all, it was just mechanical failure. Zabel seems intrigued initially, the wheels in his head probably spinning to figure out how he can play this to his advantage. But Saul doesn’t have the recording and in fact has no proof. Zabel says he’s full of shit. They basically talk past each other, neither side budging from the facts (or, as Zabel would say, “facts”). He pronounces Saddam in Saddam Hussein like it rhymes with “Goddamn” and then says the Iraq War was a good idea “for the record.” Hugh Dancy revels in the slime.

Saul’s relaying this shitshow to Linus when he arrives home to find St. Maggie. Mr. Bill “I’ve Had It” Mathison has a friend who swore he saw Carrie at Langley the other day, which makes no sense to me or to Maggie but Saul’s like “could have happened!” Wasn’t Carrie on trial for being involved in the president’s murder? Anyhoozles, Maggie is once again exasperated with Carrie, her sister whom she just can’t understand. Carrie hasn’t even stopped by to see Franny. Saul agrees it’s strange.

Ironically, while Maggie is paying a house visit to Saul, Carrie is paying a house visit to Maggie. Well, more specifically to Franny’s bedroom, where’s she’s hidden a go-bag filled with cash and a shitload of meds and a half dozen passports. On her way out, she pauses on a photo of Franny, her hair red as ever, in a bright yellow rain coat. She takes it with her.

Later that night, Carrie arrives back at Saul’s, looking again like she could hurl at any minute. She spots the Russian hunks in a nearby car lighting up a cigarette. She steps inside to find Saul, sitting in his library, listening to the Fleabag soundtrack. It’s very ominous. Dad is NOT happy!

He confronts her immediately. Why hasn’t she seen Franny? Actually, why the fuck is she even back here? Seems like she’s planning a quick escape. But why come back in the first place?

She deflects initially, but it’s Saul. She knows that he knows. He knows that she knows that he knows. There is a lot of knowing going on.

Carrie: You know the answers to all your questions. Saul: I still want to hear you say it. With my own ears. Carrie: I made a deal with Yevgeny. The flight recorder for your asset in Moscow. Saul: Asset? What asset? Carrie: Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I know she exists. I know how you communicate. Saul: Good God, Carrie, tell me you haven’t. If you have, you’ve permanently crippled our position in Russia. She’s the last live source we have there. The rest were sent to the wall by Allison Carr, a thing that was 0% my fault. Carrie: We can rebuild the intelligence network. Saul: It’ll take a decades. Meanwhile they slowly strangle us. Carrie: Let’s worry about all that tomorrow. We’re on the brink of nuclear war today in case you forgot. Saul: Relax, I’m talking to some journalists tomorrow. Carrie: Lol, like that will make a flying fuck worth of a difference. Saul: Well, sometimes that’s the price of doing business. Carrie: Who even are you? Saul: What do you want from me? Carrie: GIVE ME HER NAME. Saul: I never will. God, get the fuck out of my house. You’re turning yourself in ASAP.

Carrie storms upstairs and starts to mix the not-murder potion. For some reason she forgets to close the door because Saul walks in a few moments later. She panics and smears the gel across his neck. He looks confused for a second and then collapses. Carrie looks in shock at her mentor sprawled out on the floor. She signals the Russian hunks on the street outside. Sara begins to have an actual panic attack thinking Carrie might murder Saul.

Saul can hear her, of course, but he can’t move. He can barely speak. She tells him to give her the name, now, or some Russian dudes are gonna murder him. She says it’s out of her hands when it’s entirely in her hands. She explains to him the legacy plan. The poor guy looks literally dumbstruck. She asks him to see reason. No one person can be worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It’s an interesting replay of his conversation with Zabel earlier.

The GRU team walks in then — she gives him one final chance, but he still won’t say her name. They take him into his bedroom, which is GIANT, and begin prepping for the murder.

Carrie tries again. She tries really hard, with everything she has.

“Everything you have ever asked of me, I have done.” In a single line, their whole relationship, eight seasons’ worth. He stares back up at her, simultaneously expressionless and filled with hurt and pain. Is there no fucking line?

Then: “Come here,” he mumbles, barely audible. She leans in close to him, expectant. “Go fuck yourself.” A fat tear rolls down her face and she shakes her head at the GRU team. She says something about a fallback plan and then turns toward Saul, every inch of herself sorry and lost and guilty. “I had to try,” she says quietly.

The fallback plan is to go see Saul’s sister Dorit (“Saul, what do you have?”) in the West Bank. And, once there, to tell Dorit that Saul’s died of a stroke and Dorit needs to go back to DC at once for funeral arrangements. Carrie plays somber yet dutiful surrogate daughter well. She’s disgusted with herself but, again, can’t hold back. Wherever the line is, if it existed, she’s lost it now.

While she’s helping Dorit pack, she makes her move and pokes around the legacy plan. Dorit, like Mira before her, sees her brother in this woman all too clearly. “Always an ulterior motive,” she says. But Dorit is kind-hearted and she does have an envelope for Carrie. There’s a thumb drive inside and Carrie looks so relieved she could cry. She sends Dorit on her way (but not before swiping her phone... I LOVE YOU CARRIE).

Back in Washington, Saul has full motor control again but he’s really late for his meeting with those journalists, and Linus, ever the mensch and detective, realizes something’s fishy pretty immediately. Nevertheless, Carrie’s just given word to Yevgeny that she has the name, so they peace out anyway.

Yevgeny arrives at Dorit’s house on cue and dressed for warm weather. Carrie’s not getting a needle to the neck this time. She’s on full alert, gun pointed straight at him before he even walks through the door. She makes a big show of patting every inch of his body down for a weapon that he actually doesn’t have, and then tosses him a piece of paper with Anna’s name. Then she shows him what’s on the flash drive.

Here’s what’s on the flash drive: a much darker-haired Saul, with different glasses, explaining who Anna is. Aside from Carrie, she is the most important professional relationship in his life. She’s an asset but she runs herself (sounds familiar!). She is extraordinary. And he never told her because he was protecting her. Carrie turns away — his soft, sure words are like daggers. Everything he’s talking about on that tape is destroyed. Carrie took a match to it all.

Anna’s now burned and Mirov knows. Saul rings up Resident Hottie Scott Ryan at the UN for an assist. Saul pleads with him to get Anna out of there ASAP. At the same time, Mirov’s men run in quick pursuit. Scott and Anna make their way to a dead-end room in the basement and barricade the door. Anna asks for a gun, not to shoot her way out… well, at least not out. Anna is determined, assured, confident. She won’t let them take her. You can tell how she’s been such an incredible, independent asset all these years and why Saul wants so desperately to save her. Scott refuses to hand over his gun and Anna asks to phone a friend.

On the phone, Saul reacts initially just like Scott. There’s got to be another way. We can get out of this, you don’t have to do this. But she is persistent, she’s determined. She wants to end this on her own terms. “I’ve never known anyone so brave,” Saul says, his eyes wide. He orders Scott to give her the gun. On the other end of the line, Saul hears the single shot. He winces in pain.

Shockingly, Russia followed through with their end of the deal and Mirov gets up at the UN with brand new evidence that Jalal Haqqani didn’t shoot down the president’s helicopter. It was an accident and now the whole world can hear the cockpit recording for themselves. Watching in Israel, Carrie’s disgusted. Yevgeny, ever the considerate boyfriend, asks if she’s ok.

Carrie: Just cut the bullshit, the game’s over. Also, why the fuck are you still here? Just leave already. Russia’s a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize and a decent woman is going to be tortured and killed by your government. Yevgeny: That decent woman got two assets of mine killed in Cyprus. Carrie: Oh, I’m sure they were both good samaritans. Yevgeny: Fine, if you want to blame me, go ahead. Carrie: Good, I do blame you! Yevgeny: Look, sometimes it’s just the cost of doing business. I did what I had to do. Carrie: WHY DO ALL THE MEN IN MY LIFE SAY THE SAME THINGS? Yevgeny: He should have pulled Anna from the field the second he realized what you were doing. Carrie: You just don’t fucking get it. He didn’t pull her because he trusted me. He fucking loved me. I betrayed him. I broke that. Do you even understand what that means? Yevgeny: You’ll survive. So will he. Carrie: I don’t know what it’s like on your side but it must be very lonely.

In the Oval Office, Hayes, Zabel, and Linus—still not eaten by an alligator—are huddled around the TV watching Mirov’s press conference. Mirov pleads with Hayes to stand down following the reveal of this big misunderstanding. Suddenly Zabel looks like he wants to get eaten by an alligator! Hayes asks Linus, who hasn’t been addressed directly by POTUS in 4-6 weeks, for a direct line with the military. They get Owens on the phone. Zabel’s plan to start a phony war to consolidate power and kill more brown people has been thwarted. Everything’s coming up Linus!

Back at Dorit’s house, Yevgeny tells Carrie that Anna’s killed herself. She’s about to make some quippy remark like “Sorry you missed out on some gulag fun” when Yevgeny connects the dots for her and says that Saul must have warned her. And then Carrie connects the dots for us: Israeli counter-intelligence knows too. Time to book it! They hop in their getaway car and head for Ramallah. Yevgeny has people there who can smuggle her into Syria. And then? And then…

Are you sitting down? We fast forward two years. We’re in Moscow. Carrie Mathison is in a large, spacious penthouse. She is applying MASCARA. TO HER EYELASHES. HER HAIR IS CURLED.

“You almost ready?” says a familiar, accented voice. IT’S YEVGENY. She turns and smiles. Y’ALL THEY ARE LIVING TOGETHER IN MOSCOW.

Sara: [head explodes]

He asks if she’s excited. “Very.” Remember in season five when Claire’s like, “Carrie’s doing great, for five minutes.” This is like that only better.

Yevgeny gives her a gold necklace, for “finishing.” Do we all get one too? He tells her what she’s done is very, very important and it’s time to celebrate. It’s sort of surreal. The best way I can think of to describe it is the season of Lost where Jack and Kate are off the island and living together and in love and if you were, say, into that, it was paradise. If you were, say, not into that, it was bizarre as fuck.

Once ready, Carrie runs into her office to get her purse. It’s… about what you’d expect her office to look like. There are stacks of books everywhere, documents printed out and tacked to the wall, sticky notes all over the window. The picture of Franny in the yellow rain coat is still there. She turns to the wall and takes it in. It’s pages and pages of news articles about the CIA’s drone program, Abu Ghraib, the black sites, torture. Familiar figures—in real life and in-show—are visible. Snowden, Brody, Quinn, Keane. It’s her professional career—her entire life—arrayed in one final collage for us to take in. The familiar closing score from “The Star” begins playing as she shuts off the lights.

Cut to Saul, in his house, now much emptier. He and Dorit are packing boxes. He’s had a heart attack and is moving out, presumably to someplace where he’s not alone all the time. The phone begins to ring. It’s someone looking for a Professor Rabinow.

Then the jazz stars to play. Yevgeny’s big celebration for Carrie was a jazz concert by Kamasi Washington and crew. It’s electrifying. They’re both into it, bobbing their heads as much as one can bob their head to jazz. It’s a clever callback not only to the jazz musicians Carries spots in the pilot but also to this oft-parodied passion of hers. The cacophonous sounds, it’s bliss.

The song finishes and out of the corner of her eye Carrie spots a woman in the orchestra exit her seat. She absentmindedly rubs Yevgeny’s knee. It’s a subtle but specific detail with one purpose and that is to reveal that this relationship is real. It is comfortably intimate. It exists in the grey--in the duplicity--that Carrie’s relationships with men have always existed in. Maybe that’s her happiness. Maybe that’s how she’s not alone.

In DC, Saul pays a visit to his friend Claude, who calls him Professor repeatedly, even though Saul claims all that stuff is over with. Well, the package addressed to Professor Rabinow that was just delivered this morning begs to differ.

At the concert, Carrie excuses herself to go freshen up her makeup and ends up at the vanity right next to that woman she’d spotted. The other woman eyes Carrie, before casually taking off with Carrie’s purse. Carrie takes hers.

At his home, Saul has the Professor Rabinow package. He opens it. It’s Carrie’s book, the presumed result of all that research in her office. It’s called Tyranny of Secrets. A haunting black-and-white image of Carrie stares back at him from the cover. This is her work... and it’s his, too. He flips through the first few pages. He reads the subtitle, “Why I Had to Betray My Country.” And the dedication, “For my daughter, in the hope that one day she will understand.”

He doesn’t get it until he does. He flips the book upside down into that familiar Y shape and then extracts a slim piece of paper from the spine. She reads: “Greetings from Moscow, Professor. The Russian S400 missile defense system sold to Iran and Turkey has a back door. It can be defeated. Specs to follow. Stay tuned.” He looks up in awe, a hint of a smile across his face.

At the concert, the saxophone blares in her ears, vocals ringing, strings, bass, piano, drums. Everything, all at once. She sighs, then smiles, bathed in blue light. Not noise. Music.

#homeland #prisoners of war #homeland spoilers #*#by: sara #an hyh recap #PHEW

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andrea-lyn · 4 years

Note

For the holiday prompts- I love cheesy fluffy Hallmark Xmas movies, so one of these but insert Malex? Maybe Alex is a famous singer who is alone at Xmas cause his family sucks and the only people he surrounds himself with are people who work for him. Of course he's lacking the Xmas spirit cause he doesn't usually do holidays. He stumbles into (or gets stranded in) a small town and meets Michael. They fall in love and now Alex has this found family and is reminded of what's really important !!

I’ll Be Home For ChristmasMichael/Alex, Hallmark AU“What do you mean I can’tbring it in? The engine is rattling!” Alex protests. He’d taken the phone fromhis assistant when clearly no progress was being made. “I rented it from you, Ineed a new one!” The agency tells him that they’re very sorry, but being thatit’s the holidays, they have no other cars available.

The best they could do was to send him to the auto repair shop in town and promiseto reimburse him when he returned it. When Alex Manes had made it big on the music scene, he thought he’d be donewith these types of situations, but here he is, as frustrated as ever. He’s notsure who he wants to blame here, but he’s pretty sure this one comes back tohim. He’s the one who’d wanted to spend Christmas in Roswell after his fatherand brothers had waved him off, too busy with their own plans to have Alex forthe holidays.Instead, he’d come to a place that held old memories.He hasn’t been here in years, but when his mother had still been alive, thishad been her absolutely favorite place, and it’s why Alex had wanted tobe here. If he’s going to survive the stupid holiday season, he might as welltry relaxing somewhere that his mother used to love – not that he enjoysChristmas, because in the Manes family, it’s just another holiday where yourfamily lets you down.“Find me the auto repair shop,” he directs his assistant, hanging up the phoneand pinching the bridge of his nose. She nods frantically and takes his cell from him. “Yes, sir, but um…”Alex narrows his eyes. “What?”“It’s just, it’s the twenty-first?”Alex stares at her, not sure where she’s going with this, but he’s not about tointerrupt. He waits and stares at his young assistant.“You said that I could head out today to start the drive back, so I could spendChristmas with my family. Because it’s really important to me,” she says,starting to look nervous. “I can find you all the information you need, but ifI don’t get going soon, I’m not going to be able to make the drive up to SantaFe to catch my flight. I…um…” she’s near to babbling and looks close to tears,as if Alex is that much of a grinch that he’d prevent her from spending timewith her family.Shit, he’s not that bad, is he?

He knows that he’d struck it big a few years ago with some of his solo stuff,but he’s tried as best as he can to keep grounded. Maybe it’s just that hedoesn’t get the point of these holidays and it reflects in hismanagement style. They don’t decorate his house or his trailer, no one isallowed to suggest Christmas songs for Alex to cover, and his team getsbonuses, but they’re not Christmas gifts.“Yeah, of course,” Alex agrees, hurrying to make sure he doesn’t sound like anasshole. “I can take care of the car. Just give me the information and I’lltake care of it. Small town like this, there’s nothing else to do, right?”She looks almost relieved enough to cry, which kind of makes Alex feel like anasshole, because is he really that much of a bad boss that his staff thinksthat he’d deny them going home to their families for the holidays, just becausehe doesn’t see the point of celebrating with his own?“Just tell me where I’m going,” Alex says.The last thing Alex is expecting is to be told to go to a junkyard lot,but here he is. He’s adjusting his leather jacket and sliding his sunglasses upto the top of his head, watching the whole town flock to the Christmas treemarket that Roswell hosts once a year while Alex stands there beside his rentalcar, keys in hand, wondering who the hell here is supposed to look at his car.“Excuse me?” Alex calls to the man in a Santa hat, working near the cash. He’scounting bills and swaying a little to the music that’s playing over theloudspeakers nearby. It’s blaring out, drowning out the sound of thetownspeople milling around. Alex reaches out to touch the man’s shoulder,trying to get his attention. “Are you the owner?”When the man turns, Alex swallows with an audible click.“Yeah!” says the most handsome guy Alex has seen in ages. Under the Santa hat, goldenhoney curls spill out like they can’t be contained, and when he grins, his eyesactually look like they sparkle in the lights. “Hey, hold on, you gotta just…”He closes his eyes. “Can’t miss my favorite part here.”Alex is so confused, but then the guy croons along to the music playing overhim.“Baby, all I want for Christmas,” he sings, loud and not off-key, butdefinitely not with any talent that would make him famous. He opens his eyesand points to Alex, hands over his heart as he draws out, “is you.” Alex rolls his eyes, which is the normal human reaction to that, but he alsocan’t help being somewhat charmed.“And all I want is my rental car fixed,” Alex retorts, jangling the keys.“Well, that’s me,” he says. “Michael Evans,” he says, reaching out to shake hishand. “Certified mechanic, temporary tree-lot runner, and mediocre singer.”After he shakes Alex’s hands, he takes the keys. “What’s wrong with it?”Alex gives a bewildered shrug, because if he knew, he’d try and fix it himself.“I don’t know. It’s rattling?” Michael looks him over like he’s debating what he’s about to say. He looks overhis shoulder to the other people manning the cash booth (a couple of women anda guy), then back at Alex. “Okay. Give me the keys. I can look at it during afew breaks, but it means it’s not gonna get done soon. You going to be okay ifyou stick around?”What other choice does Alex have? Beyond that, what else had he been planningto do?In order to go see his mother’s old haunts, he’d need to get a taxi and this feelslike the kind of personal thing that he wants to do on his own.“Fine,” Alex says, waving a hand to let him have the car. “I guess I’ll just…”He turns and stares at the trees, hears the holiday music, and looks at all thepeople decked up in red and green. It’s like the holiday spirit puked on thearea around him, but if this is what he needs to tolerate to get his car fixedby the town’s handsome mechanic, he can deal. By the time he turns around, Michael’s gone, but the women at the cash are eyeinghim with a speculative eye, which means Alex has probably been clocked. Heheads into the trees to get lost before this ends up an autograph session,winding his way around and finding a bench near a trailer near the back of thelot. He digs out his phone to text Kyle about where he is and the updates on hissituation, scrolling through texts and emails to pass the time. He doesn’t evennotice that most people have left with their trees because he’s started tolisten to some demos to give them approval, taking advantage of the time to gothrough them. It must be hours before the car is done, but Alex doesn’t actually notice thetime passing. The tree lot isn’t the worst place to spend an afternoon,especially in a quaint and quiet town like Roswell. Michael comes to get him eventually. “Hey!” he calls over to him, wiping offhis hands. He has to duck through the trees so he can hold out the keys to him.He’s still wearing the Santa hat, but his shirt bears a few new grease stainsnow. “Thanks for waiting. I know this place can be a bit much,” he admits. Alex stands, prying the air pods out of his ears. The sun’s gone down, so thejunkyard is illuminated by twinkling lights and the stars above cutting throughthe light pollution, and Alex’s instincts are to complain that he shouldn’thave to wait around like this, but on the other hand, what else is he supposedto do in Roswell?“You’re Alex Manes, aren’t you?” Michael says, handing over the invoice for therental company. “Sorry I probably ruined your eardrums earlier,” he jokes. “it wasn’t so bad,” Alex admits, standing and taking the invoice from him. He’sstill just as handsome now – maybe even more, because he tugs off the hat andhis curls spill loose with it. The soft twinkling lights highlight the anglesof his face and the softness of his lips and god, Alex wants to kiss him morethan he’s wanted to kiss anyone in recent memory. “So uh,” he manages, findinghis voice. “I’m new in town. What’s a guy do to entertain himself in Roswell?”“Well,” Michael says. “If you’re okay with waiting ten more minutes, you couldcome to dinner with me and my family?”That’s way more than Alex had been anticipating. “I…”“You’re not intruding. They’ve been curious about you since you turned up,”Michael says, and Alex’s mind flashes back to the people at the desk staring athim. “Besides, Liz’s family owns the local diner and you can’t leave Roswellwithout a meal at the Crashdown. You should come, have dinner with us. That, orI’m gonna bring it back to your hotel, but one way or another, we’re gettingyou to try it,” he warns.Alex laughs in protest. “Okay! Okay, I’ll come to dinner with you.”Michael’s smile is as beautiful as the rest of him; so is the way he breathesin and then holds it, like he’s trying to hold onto a little hope, before helets it out. “You won’t regret it.”Alex absolutely doesn’t. That one dinner turns into lunch the next day, then it becomes Alex hangingaround the junkyard with his guitar, singing his half-written songs whileMichael works on cars. With the tree lot packed up, it’s back to normal, butMichael keeps up the lights and the sound system still plays carols. “Myparents and siblings love Christmas,” he’d explained with a warm grin. “I loveit too.”“I don’t get it,” Alex admits, “The holiday spirit. I guess because my motherdied when I was so little and my father’s not exactly the warm and fuzzy type.Half the time, he wasn’t even there because he or my brothers were out of thecountry on a mission. For me, Christmas was just another week that I didn’thave a family.”“That’s really sad, you know,” Michael says, and pries his guitar back fromAlex. He sits in the back of his pickup and nods to him. “Come on, you can’thate it so much that you won’t at least sing along,” he coaxes, playing theopening chords of Winter Wonderland, and when Michael gets to, “a beautifulsight,” he winks at Alex, which makes him flush.He ducks his head down and sings with Michael, listening to how their voicesharmonize together and sound so right. It all feels right. It feels perfect. At least, right up until the moment Alex’s other life comes into town and burnsit to shreds.Alex is starting to love his lunches at the Crashdown. He’s made friends ofMichael’s friends and by now he’s in tight with his family, and they’ve alltaken him on as a project, sympathetic to the fact that he’s alone onChristmas. He drinks at the Wild Pony every night, then meets Michael forbrunch before he goes to work. Liz makes sure he’s well fed, Maria keeps himdrinking, and Michael and his siblings occupy his time with holiday parties andchores. Right now, he’s in the middle of helping Isobel stuff Christmas cards when hehears a familiar voice.“Holy shit, you weren’t joking about this place being a hellhole.”Kyle Valenti, as loud as ever. Alex tenses up when he sees the hurt onMichael’s face. He rushes out to meet his manager at the door, giving him awarning look even as Kyle pulls him into a hug. He’d said those things when Alexhad first come into town – trust Kyle to repeat them now, after Alex has had acomplete change of heart.“Outside?”“Nah, I’m starved,” Kyle says, pushing past Alex. “Besides, we’re not gonna behere long, so let’s grab some lunch and talk.” Alex tenses up, but he leads Kyle to the only other open booth, which is theone beside Isobel and the others. He’s not facing Michael, which is for thebest, because he doesn’t want to see his face after that first insult. It doesn’t get better.Kyle’s as direct as ever. “So listen, we got a flight to Bora Bora,” he says,once lunch is delivered and he’s in the middle of eating fries like it’s hisjob. “The rest of us figured that it’d be shitty for you to sit here in Roswelland sulk in some stupid town…”“Kyle,” Alex warns.“And since you don’t do the holidays, it’s perfect. The resort doesn’t go infor the festivities, so it can be an Alex Manes special. Get drunk, find a hotguy to sleep with, and then back on tour in the new year.” Usually, any other year, he’d be eager to hop on a plane and do exactly asKyle’s listed. Kyle’s not wrong, that is what he excels at, but somehow thisyear is different. Staring at Michael’s curls in the booth over, he knows why,even if he doesn’t want to say it out loud. “Anyway,” Kyle says, finishing with the burger and laying down a few bills topay for his lunch. “The tickets are back at the hotel for you, okay? I’ll seeyou at the airport and then we’re Bora Bora bound,” he says with an excitedsmile, squeezing Alex’s shoulder as he bounds out, unaware of the damage he’scaused in the course of a thirty-minute lunch. Alex slowly stands, heading back to join the others, but when he gets there, itlooks like Michael is on his way out. “I…wait…”It doesn’t help. “You’re leaving, huh?” Michael says as Alex settles. “I get it. Why would youwant to spend the holidays in a stupid little town like Roswell when you couldbe off living the rock star life with drugs and sex in some tropicaldestination.” He hasn’t looked up at him, won’t meet Alex’s eye. “Shit, BoraBora, if I had that kind of money, I’d go too.”“Michael…”Michael digs into his pockets for crumpled bills to pay for his meal. It hitshim, belatedly, that it’s Christmas Eve. He’d spent so much of his life tryingto ignore the holiday and the one year he finds something he wants, reallywants, and he’s losing it because of his life outside of this town.“I get it,” Michael cuts him off. “We’re just a town you pass through, right?It was never going to be anything.” He stares at his boots, shaking his head,like he’s talking to himself. “It was never gonna be anything,” he repeats, andbefore Alex can protest, he’s gone.In the hotel nearby, Kyle’s waiting for him to pick up the tickets and leave. Tomorrow,this whole town will go have dinner with their families and curl up by thefireplace exchanging gifts. They’ll kiss under the mistletoe and drink spikedegg nog, and they’ll be happy in a way that Alex is only starting torealize he wants.He wants it. It’s not just the holiday spirit and that warmth.He wants Michael. He wants the man who’s sat with him at every meal at theCrashdown. He wants the man who tells the dirtiest jokes to get Alex to laugh asloud as possible. He wants Michael, who drinks with him at the Pony and thendances badly to the Christmas music Maria puts on, who wears reindeer antlersat the junkyard while he’s fixing cars, who plays the guitar while Alex singsfor him. He wants him and maybe he’s starting to understand the Christmasspirit, because he wants to shower him in love and gifts and kisses, butMichael thinks he’s about to leave to go to Bora Bora.“Hey,” Alex says, glancing over to Isobel, who looks at him cautiously -- likeshe’s deciding how cruel to be in return for Alex’s insults about the town. “Doyou have a guitar I can borrow?”His equipment is back in Los Angeles and if he wants this surprise to actuallybe a surprise, he can’t walk up to Michael and ask him for his. When Isobeldoesn’t answer, he figures that she’s trying to freeze him out, but Alexdoesn’t have time for it. It’s Christmas Eve, he only has so long to prove to Michael that he’s not theman that the world wants him to be, especially not right now.“Please, Isobel,” Alex begs. “I need to win him back.”That seems to do the trick. “If that’s the case, Maria can help,” Isobelsuggests. “The Pony’s always got music nights, and if it’s to win over Michael,then I think she’ll be okay loaning it out.”“Thank you,” Alex exhales in a rush, kissing her hand before he bolts to thePony to get what he needs. He has to show Michael that he’s not Alex Manes,rock star. Right now, he’s just Alex Manes, who’s a guy wanting to prove thatthere’s more for him here than there is on some island.By the time he gets to the junkyard, it’s started to snow. Big heavy flakesfrom the sky obscuring the stars, but it gives the world a glow, especiallywith the junkyard lights. Alex can see that the lights are on inside theAirstream and Alex heads over, standing under the twinkling lights a few feetfrom the door. He’s performed in front of thousands of people before, and yet he’s never feltas nervous as he does right now. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas,” he begins without the guitar, adding in thechords after, and playing as he sings. It’s the first holiday song he’s evercovered that wasn’t with Michael playing guitar for him, but when the Airstreamdoor opens and Michael steps out, Alex knows it’s the most important song he’sever sung in his life.Michael looks stunned to see him, but he steps down into the snow. He’s onlywearing a cream sweater and a pair of sweatpants, no jacket to speak of. Thesnow lands in his curls, dissolving as he gapes at Alex, open-mouthed. The cover he’s doing is slow and sweet, but the only thing that matters is thechorus to Michael’s favorite song. “Baby,” he sings, barely more than a softplea, “all I want for Christmas is you.” He doesn’t sing anything beyond that,cautiously putting the guitar down as he approaches Michael. He waits for a signal to stop.Alex looks for a twitch or a flinch. He looks for a single sound that wouldtell him that Michael doesn’t want this, but by the time Alex crosses the fivesteps separating them, he hasn’t seen a single one, which is why he feelsconfident grabbing Michael’s face with both his hands and kissing him under thetwinkling lights, snowflakes cascading towards the ground.He’s on the tips of his toes, like he’s desperately eager to make this kisslast as long as it possibly can, tangling his fingers up in Michael’s curls theway he’s thought about since the moment he met him days ago, and when he easesback, he’s still nervous despite the fact that Michael’s hand is tangled up inAlex’s leather jacket, like he’s going to refuse to let him go.“You’re an idiot,” Michael laughs fondly when they finally drift apart. “You’rechoosing me over Bora Bora? You don’t even like Christmas. You don’t even knowme!”He’s still not letting go.“This is the first time I’ve felt like I had a home or a family in years,” Alexgets out, his voice low and determined. “You’re the first person I’vefelt like myself around in ages. I think I’m figuring out that it’s not that Idon’t like Christmas, but I’ve never had someone to show me how good it can be.Fuck Bora Bora,” he swears. “I mean it. Michael, all I want for Christmas isyou, if you’ll have me.”Michael grins at him and Alex’s breath catches as he sees the lights reflectedin Michael’s eyes. “I’ve been dreaming of having you in about ten different ways,” Michael informshim, tugging Alex towards the Airstream as he wanders idly backwards. “I neverthought I’d get what I asked Santa for Christmas,” he jokes. “Maybe you’ve been a nice boy this year,” Alex suggests, traipsing after himwith a wide-eyed besotted look.Michael smirks as he steps inside, casting Alex a filthy smirk before he pullsoff his shirt. “Baby,” he says, and pushes Alex to the bed. “I’m definitely onthe naughty list for the thoughts I’ve had about you.”Naughty or nice, Alex thinks that they both got exactly what they wanted thisyear, and if anyone had told Alex that this is what he’d be yearning for at thestart of the year, he’d think they were insane. Now that he has it, he knowsthat the only madness would be not having this, not wantingMichael.With Michael finally in his arms, Alex isn’t going to let go.It’s rude to take back the gifts you’re given, after all.*It’s December 21st and Alex turns over in bed to see snow fallingoutside the window. He’s warm in bed, curled up with thick blankets, but despitethat warmth, he’s missing the body heat of someone pressed up against him. Heturns, with a whine of protest, sleepy eyes opening to see Michael sitting nearthe door, tugging on his boots, along with his denim jacket. “Wear the puffer,”Alex mumbles sleepily. “You’re gonna freeze out there in the tree lot all day.”Michael pulls on his other boot and wanders back to bed to give Alex a kiss onthe cheek. “I’m sorry, is my sleepy husband asking me to wear his expensivegifts?”“What’s the point of being a rock star if I can’t spoil you?” Alex asks,yawning in the middle of his words as he grabs at Michael’s jacket to try andpull him in for another kiss. “Your Santa hat’s by the door,” he mumbles, stilldebating whether he wants to go back to sleep.“Thanks, babe,” Michael says, adjusting the hat as it jingles and jangles.“Don’t forget, you’re on stage at noon to lead the carols,” he says, pocketinghis keys. Alex stretches his whole body out and stares at Michael with a happy grin,thinking about the days ahead and the activities they’ll be doing to ring inthe holidays. His house in Los Angeles has been sold, the fancy cars gone, andwhile Alex hasn’t stopped touring and has the same team supporting him, he’slearned an important lesson.It’s one thing to have a career that you love, but having friends and familyaround you at the same time makes life so much better.“I’ll see you there, Santa,” Alex promises, voice low and thick with the headypromise.“Thanks Mrs. Clause,” Michael teases as he goes, whistling a very familiar songon his way out, and as Alex falls back to sleep, the last thing he hears isMichael singing, “I don’t want a lot for Christmas…” under his breath, whichcoaxes Alex back to sleepy warm and perfect dreams about the life he’s made forhimself.

#malex #2019 holiday gifts #michael/alex #roswell new mexico #holiday prompts #singer!alex #mechanic!michael #who was adopted into a good family #learning the true meaning of christmas #Anonymous

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swedeandsour · 4 years

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Ahead of her upcoming debut LP “Powerslide” Soleima talks about Anthropology, Social Welfare, writing cheeky songs and her first Valentine’s Day

Fresh off a tour opening for Electric Guest, we spoke to Danish musician Sarah Mariegaard during her first North American tour. Touching base with what will soon become her debut LP “Powerslide”, we caught up with the Copenhagen artist on what makes her tick. Speaking on friendships and collaborations, and her previous dabbling in anthropology, we debunk the mystery behind Sarah’s cultivated alter-ego Soleima in our interview with Mariegaard.

Words + Interview: Peter Quincy Ng

How’s the tour been so far?

It’s been my first tour in America and Canada! It’s also my first time touring for such a long period, so it’s definitely something special.

It’s been a year since your last EP “Bulldog”, so give us an update on what’s new with Soleima.

We’re releasing an album in March, and it’s going to be so fun. I’m excited to release a full-length album, because of releasing only singles, its something that you have to really cherish.

There’s a little tale that goes with your track “Roses”. I’ve read recently that on EP “Bulldog”, that it was a spontaneous songwriting effort that grew organically rather than you framing it around a narrative. How do you invent some of the characters and stories behind them, because often they are quite cheeky?

(Laughs) Yeah, I guess for “Roses” or for all of my songs, its experiences from my own life and people around. I try to put it in a way that people can relate to. “Roses” is a manifestation of something I’ve been going through and not really believing in myself and my own path. “Roses” its both dealing with it and describing it, and then putting an end to it, so I wrote it as sort of an empowerment song to myself.

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You’ve been a person who has been no stranger to collaboration, from community drumming in Tanzania to Flødeklinikken to your work with producer Vasco. Soleima was never truly built in isolation, so tell me about Sarah’s team-building skills?

(Laughs) I definitely work very well in collabs and write a lot of stuff with others and friends. Some of the songs start on the piano where I write on my own, some start in a room with five other people going, “What about this? What about that? Argh!” and it’s important to have those different processes because songs will end up differently. I like both sides and I like both sides of the outcome.

You started out playing piano in Flødeklinikken, but where do you find your own voice as a soloist?

Actually, it was Vasco and a guy who was his best friend called Vera, where we all had this dream of writing songs for others. I was studying and they were doing other daytime jobs, but we wanted to write songs to become topliners or producers. However when writing I started to feel ownership over some of the songs and release them under my own name. In Flødeklinikken, we were seven people writing together, but I missed that part where I could have full creative control

One of my first musical memories of you was from your video and demo track “My Boi”, tell me your collaboration with visual artist Maya SB?

Since the beginning of the Soleima project we always worked very closely. She’s a very close friend and I trust her vision and creativity. It was very easy to start working together, and of all the visuals that we’ve made “My Boi” is the one I am proudest of. I really think it’s amazing and it’s very much Maya’s vision. We still work together and I feel very humbled and blessed to be working with her.

“My Boi”

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One of the things you’ve said about yourself despite being in hip-hop collaborative Flødeklinikken, is that you never saw yourself as a rapper. So what was it like knowing that your cover of “Check” got you on stage with Young Thug?

(Laughs) That was such a fun thing for me! Like it was so funny, and that’s so much how this all works. You do something and it opens a tiny door into something else, which opens another tiny door into something else, that’s a great example of that. You make a fun cover of a random hip-hop song, and then you get to open for him. I don’t know it’s super fun, and I’ve always listened to hip-hop and done it.

“Check”

And as for Kranium? He’s a pretty big name in dancehall!

It’s because I recently got signed the U.S. instead of Denmark and this was our first conversation, because they’ve heard the “Breathe” track. They wanted to put the artist on the track, and then we did it and it was super fun.

“Breathe”

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So it must be a huge dream to make it like that and get signed. But an earlier dream of yours was as an anthropologist?

I have a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology, and I started to move into music when I finished. I was kind of a crossroads where I was wondering if I wanted to do my Master’s degree or do both? But then, because I got signed, I wanted to give it 110%. Luckily, I’ve been able to live off my music since then. My heart is definitely divided but it sounds a little spoiled to say but because I know it’s such a lucky thing to do music as a career, but I do really dream of going back to anthropology. Maybe I hope I could combine the two.

It’s something that pretty much comes up in every interview, but the name Soleima is taken from something father’s tell their daughters when they about to do something that’s up to no good. So if you had to dedicate a song to the teenage girl from Denmark, which one would it be? (Laughs) That’s a hard question, but there are some cheeky ones; “Roses”, “Shut the Fuck Up”, “Cheers for the Tears”.

I’ve read that your mother works with children and your father an addiction counselor. But did they ever get worried the lifestyle and parties of a touring artist, given their background working with people’s issues?

You are so well prepared! This is amazing I’m super impressed. But yeah, in Scandinavia, the support system is so big. There’s always a system to take care of you, and because of that I have a theory that parents in Scandinavia dare to have their children follow their weird dreams than if you were in U.S. I think as opposed to Scandinavia, over there having an education and making enough money is more important, because if not who is going to take care of you. Whereas in Denmark, I could take another career path and I wouldn’t be out in the street. I have my little theory but that’s why I think people dare to do whatever they want out there.

I also have super cool parents, who let me do whatever the fuck I want. As for the partying I think they would be worried if I seemed unwell, but I think by now it seems like they don’t think I’m drinking everyday or doing drugs.

Touring life can be difficult tell us how you keep the sanitary or some on-stage rituals you perform to shake the nerves?

Today we had an off day yesterday and we walked around the town for a many hours actually. All of us, we really enjoyed walking around the towns, and doing super normal things. But we just typically hang out half-an-hour before the show before we get into focus.

Today is Valentine’s Day, anything special for the audience?

Actually, in Denmark we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, it’s not a tradition there. Maybe some do but I never liked it, so I’m actually going to celebrate my first one with everyone here.

Actually speaking of holidays, I asked Rasmus (School of X), about where he’d have his dream holiday and he said in Mexico with you.

Ah! Oh my God that’s the cutest! We used to go to Tulum and enjoy the ecotourism, but now it’s a bit too touristy and a lot of partying. It’s also because we’ve been travelling for so many years, and vacations, they are really important and it’s about having time together. So I would say the same, no matter where we are, the best vacation is one with Rasmus.

#soleima #sarah mariegaard #danish music

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l000ey · 6 years

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kwon ryu → r.d

pairing; song mino x rae dara (mention of kwon jiyong)

summary; mino wants a baby but dara tells him that she can’t have babies and why, then they go to visit someone special for dara

warnings; mentions of miscarriage, stress attack and mild depression and spoilers about red’s future

note; poor red dragon :( I think I'll do an alternate ending to see how it would be if she ended up with gd

2019

Dara's head was moving from side to side in sync with the demo of a girl, a possible artist of her new company, that Tian had brought her that morning. It wasn’t bad, the rhythm was catchy, the lyrics in english and along with many "bitches". Her artistic part, Red, she loved it. She smiled and shoved a large handful of ramen into her mouth as she looked at her emails.

She was alone at home since Mino had to go to the studio to finish his solo album but she didn’t care much, she was proud of him and the time alone was always a good thing for her, besides that if Mino was with her she couldn’t finish all the work she had with the opening of the new label, probably if Mino were here she would not even have been able to get out of bed this morning.

"D, I'm home!" The king of Rome exclaimed leaving the keys on the kitchen table. He greeted Jaehee, the housekeeper, who was cleaning the kitchen. "Hi, Jaehee. How are you today?".

"I'm fine, Mino." The woman gave her boss a sweet smile. "Thanks for asking. Dara is in her office, she said not to bother her until lunchtime” She sighed, picking up the plate with the remains of pancakes and chocolate syrup.

"Did she get up later today too?" He raised a curious eyebrow. Lately Dara had been behaving differently, didn’ t talk much, locked herself in her office or in the studio that she had at home and only went out to eat, have dinner and then go to bed. Mino thought that maybe it was because she was very focused on opening her own company, because her parents had told her they would come to visit next month or because she hadn’t been on stage for a while. Whatever it was, it was affecting her and that was worrying not only Mino but also her employees, her fans, her friends and the whole world.

Jaehee nodded, making her white hair bun move with the movement of her head. "She got up an hour ago, had breakfast in silence while looking at her phone and when she finished she locked herself in the office. Although about ten minutes ago came and prepared an instant ramen "

Mino let out a sound from his throat, making her understand that he understood and after giving her a slight smile he headed towards the office. He sighed when he saw her move her head with some song that was listening on her headphones, he smiled before closing the door behind him and leaned against the door watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. She kept humming a song that he didn’t know how to recognize and her eyes were focused on the screen of her computer, not realizing that her husband was right in front of her. It must be that the song ran out at once because she took off her headphones and smiled, even without looking at him.

"Are you going to stand there longer? You look like a creepy stalker” She heard him chuckle before approaching her and sitting on one of the chairs in front of her desk."How's the album? "

"Interesting" He shrugged, still crossed his arms "And the company?"

"Interesting" She made the same gesture as him making both laugh, when the laugh died Mino sighed without erasing his smile while Dara filled her mouth again with ramen.

"D?" The girl made an affirmative noise at his question, unable to respond with words because her mouth was full of food "I want to have a baby".

Immediately the brunette began to cough because of the surprise almost choked, Mino got up to help but she stopped him raising a hand, swallowed and drank water and then cough a couple of times more. She shook her head, her eyes were closed and her body tense. The boy frowned, was it so bad to want to have a baby with the person you love?

"Are you okay?" His voice drew her to reality. She opened her eyes and nodded before smiling and taking his hand across the table, her thin hands were much smaller than his.

"Mimi" The brown eyed boy smiled quickly, he loved that nickname for some reason, but only if it was she who called him that because if you did not call yourself Rae Dara and you called him that way you ran the risk of taking a punch in the face " I...Why so suddenly? "

"Today Hanbin brought Hanbyul and, well she is not a baby anymore, but she is so pretty and it was so beautiful to see her and Hanbin hugging each other or how she fell asleep in his arms" He moved in his place and put both hands around hers with the other hand that was free "I want that, with a little princess that looks like you or a champion that looks like me and teach them how to rap, dance and produce, it would be incredible. I want to have a child with you".

A silence covered the room. Both looked at each other in total silence, she looked at him with pity while he looked at her with hope that she would say yes. Dara broke the visual contact by finding the glass that made the desk much more interesting, Mino frowned and took a hand to her chin to raise and make her look him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He gave her a sweet smile, trying to comfort her and convey that he was there for her although he was also afraid and the insecurities did not take long to reach her body. Many questions came to his brain.

She didn’t want him enough to have a child with him?, Didn’t she want to have a baby because she thought he would ruin her career? Would she think that if she was pregnant he would stop loving her because she was not thin? or worse, Did she don’t want to have a child with him because she was only using him as entertainment until Jiyong left the military service?, Would she ask for a divorce when that day comes?.

Her green eyes rested sadly on his, they were watery. "I can’t give you children, Mino. There is very little chance that I would get pregnant, almost nil"

"What?" Mino didn’t understand anything, why could not a girl like her have children? She loved children!

"When I was eighteen, I got pregnant by mistake but Jiyong and I were happy, how couldn’t we? We were in love, we had the job of our dreams and we were going to have a child, the perfect life was getting closer but apparently being parents didn’t fit into the destiny's plans so it tried to erase the error” She took a breath of air causing Mino to squeeze her hand because hers were trembling non-stop. She swallowed and continued "One day Tian and I were in the car, I had a concert here in Seoul and I decided to tell him that I would be a mom because he was like a father to me and still nobody knew, I wanted him to be the first to know, I was happy to finally tell someone the secret but Tian was not very happy about it. From the beginning he didn’t support my relationship with Jiyong, as any father would, but he learned to live with it, of course pregnancy was something else, he began to tell me it was stupid, a risk too big for my career, that I was very young and that both I and baby would suffer because Jiyong wouldn’t be long with us, we argued very hard and I had a stress attack that caused me to have an abortion, I lost a lot of blood and they had to operate on me. It turns out that something was bad insidet there and the doctor told me that thanks to abortion there was very little chance that I could conceive children in the future ".

By the time she finished speaking, she was in a mess, she was crying non-stop, her eyes looked like waterfalls, she was shaking and it seemed like she was not breathing. Mino approached her so that she would sit on his lap and hug her, kissed her shoulder to give her moral support.

"How long were you when it happened?" He muttered almost distressed, it felt strange to talk about a son who could be here scampering but that was not his but Kwon Jiyong's.

"I had just turned a month." She shivered in his arms, making him tighten her grip on her and place the blanket she wore earlier around her shoulders better. Shee looked into his eyes "You can’t tell how much it hurt to wake up from the operation and see Jiyong crying next to my bed, hugging my arm. The happiness that had lit up his face when I told him I was pregnant had turned into a heavy, dark shadow of pain and grief. When I was pregnant he looked at me as if I were some kind of goddess who was giving him the greatest of gifts and, you don’t know how much I would like to see that look on you Mino, but I can’t, I'm sorry” Finally she let out a sob, she hid her face in his neck and her hand made a fist around the fabric of the shirt he was wearing. The boy could feel the tears wet his shirt but it didn’t matter to him but he pressed her harder against his body and kissed repeatedly the skin of her shoulder.

"It's okay, babe. It's okay, I can settle for Johnny and you. We are the perfect family of three, although we could give Johnny a friend, what do you think? "He smiled at a laugh choking a sob, at least she was laughing. He stroke her back carefully and they both stayed in that pose for several minutes, both without saying a word. Oh, what memories of there for 2015 in the new year.

"These days I've been this weird because next week ten years ago and it's going to be the first year for the anniversary without Jiyong, and it feels weird and bad because Jiyong is the only thing left of that memory and always, every year, we go to his grave to take flowers.” She broke the silence with his voice even more hoarse for having cried. Mino tightened his lips making them a thin line, feeling even more bad for her.

"He have a grave?"

"Yes, it was Jiyong's idea" She shrugged her shoulders away from his neck while wiping her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, which was actually from Mino “He said we needed something to remind us that this had really happened, that pain would make us human again if at some point we lost ourselves. "

Mino gave a nod, knew that G Dragon and Red had a language that only they understood, they said a lot of deep things that might not make sense at that time but they knew their meaning one way or another. Their relationship was strange and too poetic.

"Can we go visit him? I'd like to go” He asked and Dara smiled before giving him a chaste kiss and hugging him by the neck as she thanked him again and again.

And so, half an hour later, they were in the cemetery looking at a stone grave surrounded by flowers and a dragon sculpted in the marble next to the initials 'K.R'. Mino frowned, keeping his hands in the pockets of his coat while Dara stroked the stone and left a bouquet of flowers, as she had said on the way were sakuras, the typical flowers of Japan.

"K.R?" His scowl still frowned on one more "It's obvious that K is for Kwon, but what about the R?".

"Kwon Ryu, that was going to be his or hers name."

"Dragon in Japanese, of course" He let out a small laugh at the obviousness of the matter and Dara smiled at him from the ground.

"The dragon is something very powerful and precious. Jiyong name means dragon in Korea, my favorite animal is the dragon and that's why I have one tattooed on my back, I'm from Japan so Ryu was a good choice to be the name of our unborn child” She shrugged and got up, got rid of the snow that had stained her knees and entwined her arm with her husband's before smiling at the grave "Let's go home, it's beginning to snow very hard".

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supposed2bfunny · 6 years

Text

Day 7 of 2doc Week

Day 7-Favorite Gorillaz Song (O Green World)

Final day! I made it! And I got TOTALLY BURNED OUT AS YOU CAN SO CLEARLY TELL. SORRY.

Stu was wrapped up in Murdoc’s luxurious red and purple cape, giggling like a schoolgirl.

“Can you get the clasp for me Muds?” he asked, exhaling the smoke from his most recent toke all over his boyfriend’s face.

Murdoc smirked and nodded, leaning in. Stu still suffered some fine motor issues due to his head trauma, and though it improved when he went to physical and occupational therapy regularly like his mother recommended, he often skipped those boring appointments to spend time with his favorite bass slayer instead. After all, who needed to be able to tie shoelaces and clasp brooches when he could still play keyboards and kick arse at video games?

The bassist leaned in, so close that Stu could smell the beer on his breath and see the individual hairs of his stubbly upper lip. Wordlessly, he secured the skull-shaped clasp that held the cape together around the shoulders, nodding in approval.

“You don’t look half bad, bluebird.”

The younger man passed the joint over to his boyfriend and struck a few poses theatrically, loving the sensation of the satin fabric, the way it smelled of Murdoc’s sweat and Lucky Lungs, the way the collar came up around his neck. He was also pretty fond of watching the older man lying across his bed, shirtless and smoking. Images of Murdoc fucking him wearing only the cape danced through his head, and he reached out for his lover, struggling to find the seductive words to initiate such activities in his stoned state.

Just before his gangly arms could secure themselves around his amused boyfriend, Murdoc’s phone began to ring, Black Sabbath’s War Pigs killing the moment.

“Just a tick, pet,” the older man said, looking at his flip phone curiously. “Don’t recognize the number. Maybe it’s Shaun Ryder’s agent finally getting back to me! I’ve been waiting for that clod to return my voicemails. Yes, hello, this is Murdoc Niccals, bass player for Gorillaz.”

The younger man couldn’t make out what the person on the other line was saying, but he knew it couldn’t be good, because Murdoc’s eyebrows shot up into his bangs, and the corners of his mouth shot down from their signature smirk into a look reminiscent of someone about to vomit.

“How the hell did you get this number?” He asked, and was then interrupted again, which made him pinch the bridge of his nose and start pacing the bedroom.

Stu leaned over and turned down the music they were listening to, a demo of “O Green World” they had recorded earlier and had been tasked with finalizing…until they’d busted out their weed supply and gotten distracted.

“No! No I don’t want to see you. You’re not getting a fucking pence off of me!

Oh god. It couldn’t be. Sighing, Stu sat on the edge of the bed, bracing himself for the onslaught of emotion coming next.

“Don’t ever call this number again, you hear me? You leave me the fuck alone you sodding creep!”

Murdoc didn’t bother flipping his phone shut. He threw it against his wall with a speed and violence that made the singer flinch. It shattered into two pieces, one of which bounced under the bed. The bassist stood there a moment, panting. He would have looked sexy, standing there in only his tight black jeans and Cuban heels, his muscles taut with stress. But his eyes were fierce.

“Murdoc?” the younger man finally found the bravery to speak. “Was that him?”

“I can’t believe that fucker managed to get my number!” he snarled. “He had the nerve to offer to come here, pay me a visit, and while we’re at it, he wanted some money to cash in on my success.”

“Your dad is unbelievable,” he forced a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “He’ll do anything for money, huh? What a clown.”

The older man growled. “He’s an animal. I can’t believe he’s still trying to take advantage of me even now. That fucking monster!” he accentuated his point by grabbing one of his empty beer bottles and throwing that against the wall as well.

Stu winced when it shattered. “Hey now, Muds. Come on, no need to make a mess,” he started.

The older man turned on him. “Oh shut it, dullard! You have no idea what I’m feeling right now. Get off your soapbox, and while you’re at it, give me back my bloody cape too.”

Hurt, he looked down at the clasp that his lover had secured only minutes earlier in a calm state that now felt lifetimes away. “But…you said I looked good in it.” He hated how quick he tended to get emotional, especially when it was Murdoc hurling insults at him. No matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to have the words to stand up for himself; all he could do was back down as the bassist reared up in anger.

Seeing the pain in the younger man’s face, Murdoc groaned and tugged at his hair. “Mate, please don’t get all teary-eyed on me. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just…angry. And…scared.”

That was not a word he was expecting. “Scared?”

“When I hear that man’s voice, I’m a fuckin’ kid all over again. I can feel him standing over me, so much taller and stronger than me. It’s like I can never escape from him. No matter how old I get, how much I distance myself, I just,” he clenched his fists. “Useless. I always fall right back down to the pit I started from.

“That’s not true,” he argued. “You’re a rock star now mate, a music legend. You’re so much greater than him.” More than anything, the singer wanted to get up and hug his boyfriend. But having just seen so much raw adrenaline pumping through him, he figured it was safer to keep a slight distance for the time being. “I believe in you, Muds. That counts for something, right?”

The dark-haired man was silent for a very long time, glaring down at his boots. “I don’t deserve the credence you give me. You give me so much credit.”

One day, Stu would learn to break down the walls the bassist built up. He wouldn’t shy away from these conversations, and would keep pushing the older man to open up. Why don’t you think you deserve the credit I give you? What else did your dad say to you? Do you want me to help find who gave him your phone number so we can have them fired? “Why don’t we get back to what we were doing?”

And one day, after many fights and tears and breakups, Murdoc would learn to lean into the younger man and accept his support. But today was not that day. Murdoc nodded. “Yeah. Gotta get our final remarks in to Noods. And later we can buy me a new phone. I have been eyeing that one Motorola. The sleek silver one.”

“Sure, Muds.” He turned the song back on to the sound of his own voice: his dreamy falsetto rising over the electropop that Russel had helped them mix.

But now you’re in love, you know

You know me too,

“I hope sex and drugs rust into my self, holy, it feels holy,” Stu finished the final part of the song, and to his surprise, Murdoc bent down and picked up half of the phone he’d shattered, whispering the final haunting line Noodle had written:

It feels like you’re with your father in the place you love.

#2docweek #2doc #2doc fanfiction #niccalpot #is this week even still happening?#idk but i had one day to go so take this!#i might expand on this at a later time cuz the lyrics are actually fantastic and speak a lot

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seigyokus · 7 years

Text

5.3 - A Call from Nagi

Idolish Seven - Part 3, Chapter 5.3 For more Part 3 translations, click here!

Translation below the cut!

Yuki: Momo, what is this about? Momo: Uh.... We're talking about a game! One that we've been super into lately! Tsukumo Ryou: He's helping me expose Chiba Salon in order to protect your future position in the industry. To be more specific, I'm having him sell Nikaidou Yamato to me piece by piece. Momo: ......You didn't have to tell Yuki that! Tsukumo Ryou: Oh, but I just want to see you two fight. Yuki: ....... Is this true, Momo....... Momo: ......Sorry I kept quiet about this! But please understand! This is for your sake! Yuki: ...Momo.... My arm hurts. Momo: We want things to go well, right? And there are times where if you can't beat 'em, then you just gotta join 'em! I'm begging you, please don't look at me like that! Yuki: ....... Yuki: Don't touch me! *slap* Momo: Y-Yuki....... Tsukumo Ryou: Wow! This is amazing! It's a shame that I'm the only one here to witness Re:vale fight right before my eyes! What a waste. Momo: ......! Get out! Tsukumo Ryou: Aw, but it's just getting started. Momo: Shut up! Get out......! *slam* Yuki: ....... Yuki: ......Are you okay? Momo: Shh. Wait. Yuki: Huh......? Momo: --I'm so sorry! Forgive me! Please don't throw me away, Yuki! Waaah, ahh, ahh.... Momo: Waaaah, ahhh.... Yuki: Um....... Momo: This should be good. It's okay now. Yuki: When you grabbed me earlier, you whispered to me, "Hit me." Is that correct? Momo: That man's a bully, after all. I just figured he wouldn't leave until he saw some carnage. Momo: I'm really sorry about that. I made you do something so awful, even though you're a gentleman.... Yuki: I'm the one who should be apologizing. It hurt, didn't it? So what were you talking about earlier? You weren't serious about exposing Yamato-kun, were you? Momo: No way! As if I could sell off those kids. Ban-san loves them! But it is true that there's people moving to expose it. Momo: It's not gonna stop at the weekly tabloids. Apparently there's some big names in the industry that are a part of this, so I'm trying to find out who those people are. Momo: The reason why they wanna expose this scandal is because of a grudge, out of righteous anger, or for money. If I get the names of everyone involved, then it'd be possible beat him to the punch and talk them out of it. Yuki: Any guesses so far? Momo: There's a lot of people.... And one of them is a really big name in the industry. Momo: ......Who? Momo: Top actress Asamiya Tomoe-san. Shizuo-san's wife. *click* Tsukumo Ryou: Right! I just remembered something.... Yuki: --I'll fucking kill you! Momo: Forgive me! Please, please forgive me! Tsukumo Ryou: I do apologize for bothering you while you're preoccupied, but Yuki. You may be close to Hoshikage, but I'll instantly know if you squeal to him. Tsukumo Ryou: You see, I've planted a spy in Hoshikage. With that, ding-ding-ding-ding! Let round two begin. *slam* Yuki: ......There's a spy in Hoshikage? Momo: God, he pisses me off! The gong only sounds once at the beginning of a new round! It only sounds four times at the end......! Yuki: I can't believe you put up with that man.... Like I said, don't get involved with weirdos. Momo: That's my line! Shizuo-san works you to the bone! You went to wash his car and shovel snow for him before, right? Yuki: Those were just excuses for him to give me pocket money. Shizuo-san is really good at taking care of people-- Momo: What part of that is good!? It was to the point where I was just like, "If the world's beloved Chiba keeps sending Yuki off on pointless errands, then I guess I'm gonna have to destroy the world!" (1) Yuki: It's better than some overly gaudy man who's insane! Even I knew that he was dangerous from the the instant I saw him. More importantly, why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Momo: You were busy with filming and composing, so I didn't wanna bother you about this.... I was gonna tell you once I figured out who the people doing the exposing were. Yuki: ......I genuinely thought you got corrupted by him and were fully on-board with his plan. Momo: That I'd sell Yamato for your sake? Yuki: Yeah.... Because you tend to worry and brood, Momo. Momo: You wouldn't have doubted it if it were Ban-san though, right? Yuki: I guess so. Ban's really dry, and nothing holds him down. (2) Momo: ......So that's how it is, huh!! I guess I'm sopping wet then!!! (3) Yuki: ......I never said anything about that. Look. Wet wipes are more valuable for cleaning, right? Good job. Momo: Being compared to cleaning goods doesn't make me happy! Even if it's praise! I'll soak you! I'm gonna drench you with condensation! Yuki: Sorry, sorry. Momo: *sob*.... I wanna be a man befitting of fresh laundry like Ban-san....... Yuki: It's fine. It'll just freeze on Mount Everest, after all. Momo: Mount Everest? Yuki: You were the first person to make me work my hardest, Momo. Not Ban. Momo: ......? What are you talking about? Yuki: ....... It's nothing. I finished the demo. You wanna listen to it, right? Momo: You finished!? Even though you were so busy with filming!? That's incredible! I thought you were gonna need more time! Momo: This is great! I super duper can't wait to listen! I knew it, Yuki's a genius......! Yuki: Haha.... I guess so. Momo: Somebody looks happy! I bet you're proud of this one! Yuki: Now I'm proud of it.

Nikaidou Yamato: Hah....... My pulse is racing so fast my heart hurts....... Nikaidou Yamato: ......But I have to go back....... *click* Rokuya Nagi: Hello! Nikaidou Yamato: Ah....... Rokuya Nagi: ....... Nikaidou Yamato: I.... I'm home.... Rokuya Nagi: Welcome back. We've been waiting for you to return. Nikaidou Yamato: Yeah.... Ah.... What happened to the entryway? Is it me or did the security got a lot stricter while I was gone......? Rokuya Nagi: That's not of great importance. Look at me, Yamato. Nikaidou Yamato: But, like.... The windows look kinda grim too....... Rokuya Nagi: Rather than talking about the windows, why don't you talk about yourself? We'll hear all about it tonight. Right, Yamato? Nikaidou Yamato: ....... Yeah, that's what I was gonna do. Rokuya Nagi: OK. Do you know how I feel.... Rokuya Nagi: After urging you, over and over and over again to answer my question.... For you to find that answer at someone else's house, someone who isn't even a member...... Nikaidou Yamato: Huh? Rokuya Nagi: Fine. Bring it on. Nikaidou Yamato: Uh.... Are you mad......? Rokuya Nagi: No, no, no! Do you mind if I inform everyone that you've returned? I'm sure they'll be very, very delighted to hear that. Nikaidou Yamato: ...Sure, but.... Hm? Who are you calling? Rokuya Nagi: .......

Rokuya Nagi: Hello, President! Tonight's going to be Round 1 of Yamato's Confessions! If you have time, please do stop by! Nikaidou Yamato: ......Hey! Just who are you inviting!? Rokuya Nagi: OH! You have something planned? No worries. Thanks. Next-- Hello, Yaotome-shi! Nikaidou Yamato: Hey! Let's keep it to just the members! Hey, are you mad at me? If you are then just tell me, please! Rokuya Nagi: Hello! Mister Yuki. What are you plans for tonight? Nikaidou Yamato: Stop!!! That man's already given me hell! Rokuya Nagi: Hello, Kujou-shi! Nikaidou Yamato: Are you kidding me? Come on......! *click* Nanase Riku: Welcome back, Yamato-san! I'm really glad you're back! Osaka Sougo: --I heard from Nagi-kun, so I rushed back! Yotsuba Tamaki: Is it true you're doing a confession session? I mean, we've done a lot up ‘til now, but this is the first time it's gotten a legit name! (4) Yotsuba Tamaki: That's our leader! You're so on point! Nikaidou Yamato: Noooooooo......!

*click* Kujou Ten: Good evening. So I heard you guys fought, IDOLiSH7. Is everything alright? Yaotome Gaku: What was the important thing you wanted to talk about? Wait-- No way. Are you getting married, Nikaidou? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Wait, really!? Oh no, I came here empty-handed! But, I see.... Today's a lucky day, after all! Nikaidou Yamato: Are you shitting me, even TRIGGER came!? No way, give me a break...! Onii-san can't do this, it's impossible......! *click* Momo・Yuki: Good evening! We're Re:vale! Nikaidou Yamato: Ahhhhhhhhhh.... *click* Izumi Iori: We have returned. Izumi Mitsuki: Sorry we're late! Nagi told me that Yamato-san's gonna tell us everything tonight.... Yaotome Gaku・Kujou Ten・Tsunashi Ryuunosuke・Momo・Yuki: Pardon the intrusion. Izumi Mitsuki: ....... Izumi Mitsuki: ......Damn, you've really steeled yourself. Are you giving a presentation or something? Nikaidou Yamato: Oh no. No. Definitely not.... Let's go to a bar, just the two of us.... How about we quietly reconcile there, yeah...? Izumi Mitsuki: Wow, in tears already?

To be continued....

TL Notes/comments:

THANK U @kuriiii FOR PROOFREADING AS USUAL!!

(1) tl’d it at face value but this may or may not be a reference to Sonny Chiba??? not 100% sure

(2) begin headache: yuki uses an onomatopoeic word for crisp/dry, but it can also mean someone who doesn't get bogged down/is refreshing. casually inserts both meanings 4 emphasis/representation i guess. BUT THE MOMO PLAYS OFF OF THE "DRY" meaning and.............

(3) idk how the word 'wet' ended up as 'wetty' in Japanese but im dying this metaphor thing runs into ch 5.4 too

(4) PLEASE BEAR W/ MY CREATIVE LIBERTIes,

As usual, if you see any mistakes/mistranslations/etc, please message me!

Thank you for reading!!

#idolish7 #アイドリッシュセブン #story3:text #story3:tl #translation

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rayroa · 5 years

Text

Q&A with Britt Daniel of Spoon

(Photo by Ysanne Taylor c/o Gasparilla Music Festival)

In an effort to save some time, I’ll be omitting full Q&A’s from any feature interviews that appear on cltampa.com/music. If you’d still like to read my chat with Britt Daniel of Spoon for research, then find it, not completely polished up, below.

You working on the new album with Alex today?

Not today. Today I'm just kind of getting ready to get back on the road we had a few days off.

What advice do you think Prince would give Spoon as it closes out this run?

He probably had some fashion advice that I would take.He would probably tell me to read the Bible.

I feel like you’ve explained the selection process behind the new compilation album every which way possible.

Yeah, I mean, it's that is the thing that gets asked the most.

How did you how did you pick the songs? How does it feel leaving this song or that song off?

Yeah. I'm happy to talk about whatever anybody wants to.

I don't know if you can answer this question objectively. But how's the signature Tele playing on the tour?

I love it. I mean, it feels really good. It looks really good. I have two main guitars I'm using right now about that. That one and a similar white. Thinline Telecaster and the yellow one. The custom one is a little hotter. When we were picking up the pickups for that guitar, I wanted it to be more of a ‘50s sort of really hot twangy sound. You really hear the pick scraping against the string. I love that.

Not a lot of guitar on Hot Thoughts, has the instrument returned to the tape for the follow up, I mean I know won’t be “Marquee Moon,” but you have two guitar solos on “No Bullets Spent”?

Yeah, there's something.. I don't know. I mean, I recorded that song before I had the Brit Daniel Telecaster, but I don't know what happened. It just started making sense to play some guitar solos for the first time. It fit with the song. I’m having more fun with it.

I think there were three contender songs as far as which new tune you wanted to put on the compilation. And I believe you're about halfway done with the new record. And obviously promo of this album, and this tour is going to keep you away from that. But how many songs are there are working for the new record right now?

We started five songs. We're pretty far on five songs. And I got, you know, a bunch more that I'm working on. As soon as the tour is done, I'm going to need to take a little time to do a little more songwriting to up the record for the end of the year.

You’ve obviously got some good lyrics, but chords and melody is really where I think Spoon expresses what it is feeling — is communicating a song’s sentiment easier or harder in an amphitheatre?

Everybody can hear chords and melodies, but there are people who sort of listen to music and hear the lyrics first.

That must be a little difficult when those kind of people go to see shows, because you can't always hear the lyrics in a live setting, you know? All we can do is just go out there and do the best show we can. Yeah, I'm one of those guys, with a lot of shows I've seen, especially in clubs, I might not know a single word that got said all night, but it doesn't matter. I still don't know whether or not I know whether or not I love the songs because of that melodic information. And because of the attitude that performers will be carrying on stage, the look and the way they moved — all that stuff.

It's interesting to hear you talk about when you go out to see shows because I remember you playing a festival down here in Tampa and you had come out into the crowd during the Warpaint set. Do get emotional at shows?

Sure, sure, of course I do. Not every show will I feel every type of emotion.

When's the last time you teared up or got really emotional?

Watching Prince, I wish I would get like that. When you’re watching Prince it’s almost like watching God’s love. It’s an amazing, otherworldly experience. I feel like he was probably feeling that, too. I do remember the festival in Tampa — that was a fun one. I remember I remember feeling like whoever put it together just did a great job with the lineup. It wasn’t too big, it was a nice, little comfortable, great environment.

You you and Warpaint played in that Moody part of the day to kind of cloudy and a little rainy, the time of the day when normally the sun's starting to kind of burn off. So that was pretty cool. And you guys obviously brought the the good lights that you always bring.

Does warming up these rooms ever make you think of the Natural History? And those tours that he took that band on?

I have been thinking of the Natural History a lot lately because there’s a book coming out, and there’s a piece in Playboy coming out about our history. I don’t know if you read that one, but it’s really good.

Someone asked me to mention “Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now,” but it doesn’t look like the band ever plays it live. Any particular reason why, is it just way too old to even remember? It’s kind of a fuck you song to that A&R person now, right?

It was definitely a release for some major frustration that we were feeling at that time. The way that that thing happened was.. first he quit the label. And then we got fired or got dropped the same week, you know, because he quit the label. And then shortly after that, we were back doing local shows in Texas, and our tour manager, out of the blue, he said, “Oh, the agony of Laffitte.” And I said, “That's funny. That should be a song, and then somebody else came up with “Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now.” So it was just that was that easy. We had the song titles, and then the songs had to be written because of them. And then we put it out just because it felt good, you know? And we had a manager her lawyers were saying, “Maybe that's not the best idea.” I said, “No, this is absolutely the best idea. This is the best thing we could do right this moment.” And I think I was right. But yeah, we've never played “Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now” live, I don't believe I could be wrong, but I don't think we have.

I used to play it solo all the time. So we do we do our show. And then we go away for the Encore, I come back out I play. And then the band will turn out we play a four song. So that was that was kind of a deal used to do.

The group seems to use empty space in songs almost as its own instrument by the absence of instruments; how did the group come to decide that these pauses in sound and large dynamic shifts in their songs were an important element of their music?

I think when we were working on Girls Can Tell, and that's when I kind of figured that out. And at that point I was I was getting pretty bummed on — I guess you'd call it “alt-rock,” it seemed like the formula was, you write a song on rhythm guitar, maybe you write it on acoustic, or whatever it is you write on, and then you when you record it, you just use this really heavy, distorted rhythm guitar that takes up all the space. And that's the sound of your band. I mean, that was the sound of Weezer. That was the sound of I mean, Nirvana did it well, but that was the sound of Nirvana to at some point, they also had an amazing drummer. I don't know that we just sort of the sound of alt-rock was distorted rhythm guitar, and I wanted to get away from that. And so at that point, we took it out. I said, “We're not going to do that anymore.” We're going to, I'm going to use guitar, it's going to be a little, single line. little note, it's gonna happen sporadically so that there's lots of states and just make it be more of a focus on bass and drums.

Just out of curiosity, did you guys ever re-demo “Written In Reverse” after Mark Ronson gave you notes on it?

We never recorded it until he gave me notes on it. I did a demo, and I sent him the demo, and he suggested that there'd be some kind of break. He had some other suggestion, I think I used both suggestions. And then we started playing it live with those things in mind, and we recorded it, but we never, we never ended up working with Mark because the schedule was crazy. We both planned, we would do the next record with him. And we were just waiting on it like, “It's gonna be it's gonna be too long between records,” you know? We would have a much different reaction to the next record if we've done it with him. But all things happen for a reason.

I like your story about “Lafitte” from earlier, how lawyers suggested otherwise, but you recorded it anyway. I think some people try to write about Spoon as if the band just so happened to last this long, but I feel like the real narrative is that Spoon always kind of did what it wanted to do artistically and didn't go and make another Ga Ga Ga Ga Gaa after the success of that one, you know?

Right, right.

I know we're kind of getting low on time here and I don't want to talk about Trump. Everybody's talked about Trump. Obviously the mayor Pete thing was cool and you've played some stuff for Beto… this stuff has happened in El Paso which is pretty far from Temple I mean, it's like 500 miles, but does this ever make you rethink about your place as a musician? Your audience in particular is engaged, intelligent a listening audience, in my opinion. Do events like this week's make you think about where you fit into bigger conversations like the one we’re having this week?

It’s honestly not the first thing I think about when these kinds of things happen, I don’t think about my band. But I did a a quiet remarkable photo of Trump holding an orphan baby today and with the thumbs up… one of the orphans, I think it's a two year old kid who lost both its parents during this massacre. It’s classic. I don't know what's up with this guy. I don't know you can get to a person like that just clearly did not have any emotion for that situation.

Maybe last one here. How much of the new album can fans expect to hear?

None. We’re playing such short sets. It makes more sense. We played one headline at the begining and got to stretch out. A lot of people don’t know us on this one, so we’re playing the best known songs.

OK, bye Britt.

Good to talk to you, thanks for the questions.

#britt daniel #spoon

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