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goldrockyroad · 3 years

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now that the season is over here are chuang2021 moments i cannot believe are real, a list that only gets longer and in no particular order:

- that entire bit of them choosing their dorm rooms, including but not limited to:

lin mo copping his double room only to lose it + his mental breakdown after that

almost 20 of them fighting to have hiroto stay in their room

nine and patrick's 'we break up' (only for patrick to move in after 1st round of eliminations)

ak: ‘does rikimaru snore?’ santa: ‘yeah, very loudly’ ak: ‘oh NOOOO i’m scREWED’

- hanfu shop owner liu yu

- han meijuan training base:

yu gengyin’s ‘i am a proud fishie swimming into your heart’

also yu gengyin: ‘i’m a little scared that the debut lineup will end up being 11 han meijuans’

zhang xinyao dropping it low. that’s it.

han peiquan: ‘look at that santa, he can dance so well but can he do this? he can play the drums but ask him to come here, can he do it? no way’

the entire “just go where you want” performance including their intro + mentors comments + xie xingyang’s slogans

but even more so “just go where you want” 2.0 LIVE AT THE FINALS

- the mentors dancing along to ‘vote for me xoxo’ during “just go where you want” 2.0 before carrying and promptly drOPPING zhou shen onto the floor before the rest of them pretend like nothing happened in time for the ending pose

- “when i’m with you”, “unbreakable love”, “just go where you want” > the actual theme song all day every day

- don't be shy @/tencent , give me all the clips of gan wangxing singing jing long's “lost you” (diu le ni) + more of the both of them dancing to crab dance backstage

- zhou shen, to shao mingming on the verge of having a meltdown over mean comments about him as practice for “i don’t care” stage: ‘do you want to hear the next comment?’ shao mingming, as the others start laughing: ‘plEASE NO’ zhou shen, reading the comment anyway: ‘he only knows how to cry’ cue maniac laughter from all of them

- just hanjiang, really

zhang xinyao, on “feng ding” stage: ‘it was so good. also i wanna add hanjiang you look like huluwa’

to wu yuheng after “i don’t care” team’s performance: ‘there’s only one word to describe you - handsome. first time i saw you i went, woah, handsome. saw you on stage performing - woah, handsome. seriously, handsome’

xue bayi, backstage: ‘i think he’s said that to me too’

when called up at 2nd eliminations: ‘what’s manga-like man?’ another trainee: ‘ means you look like you came out of a manga’ zhou zhennan: ‘yeah it’s like fei yang yang came out of the page into real life’

domineering ceo with all of them either screaming or looking mildly uncomfortable

literally scREAMING to get people to join “zui kuen” team

more importantly hanjiang’s dad imitating him scream to get people to join “zui kuen” team to a dAMN T

- patrick: ‘hello everyone i am your ocean prince patrick!’ wu hai: ‘and i am the ocean’ [for non-chinese speaking fans of chuang, the hai 海 in wu hai means ocean] + the continuation of this on wu hai’s dorm diary

- “unbreakable love” 2.0 !!!! put it on spotify right now !!!!!

- da-geTM bo yuan

fu sichao, on bo yuan getting 9th for 2nd eliminations: ‘that feeling when your own old man (laughs for a bit) when your old man gets a really good grade, it’s indescribable happiness’

amu: ‘bo yuan’s like my grandpa, and he might as well be’

eisho’s ‘bo yuan gege’

hiroto getting other trainees to call him da-ge on dorm diary but having bo yuan as his da-ge

or alternatively, yuan-shu [uncle yuan], as seen after using the term fanersai（凡尔赛）[literally means versailles, a slang that means the same thing as flexing / humblebragging in english]

- gan wangxing unintentional comedian

han peiquan, on his first impressions of gan wangxing: ‘he’s such so good-looking, and then he opens his mouth (disbelievingly rolls his eyes) i almost died right there’

on being 11th for 2nd eliminations: ‘in the past, my life plan was that after graduating from university, i’d find a stable job and live a nine-to-five life. and i used to fantasize that in my future i’d be able to find a wife early, drive a car to bring her travelling, we can listen to some music and lift our heads to see the stars’

other trainees: laughing and going ‘oOHHHH’, notably including xie xingyang: ‘he’s still fantasizing!’

also other trainees, after seeing the video his family sent to cheer him on: ‘where’s the wife? where’s the wife!’

also ‘hello, look at me’ coming up everytime he shows up

case in point - the mentors erupting into laughter when gan wangxing steps forward to do his evaluation, notably zhou zhennan: ‘kill me with it!’ [i’m not sure how to translate what he actually said in a better way than that], nene following up by simply going ‘hello’, zhou zhennan immediately picking it up while still laughing: ‘look at me’

holding the umbrella for nene at the end of “it’s raining and i’m thinking of you” stage just for all the trainees backstage to go ‘why’s it you!’

Very Passionately telling gong jun what jing long taught him on singing

- ‘andy lau has come to visit our zoo!’

- wu yuheng’s quest for chilli sauce in his dorm diary:

wu yuheng and fu sichao terrorising a staff member for chilli sauce until the staff goes to wu yuheng ‘if you wake him (fu sichao) up every morning i’ll make sure you get your chilli sauce’ to which fu sichao says to wu yuheng ‘you know what chilli sauce isn’t that great let’s go’

wu yuheng straight up drinking zhou keyu’s chilli sauce because i could never

- liu yu confessing to lin mo as a dare from shao mingming but lin mo’s in the toilet so liu yu has to awkwardly do it standing outside the cubicle door while shao mingming and xue bayi eat the drama up

- oscar’s reaction to people finding out his real name + the entire ‘xiong xiong’ saga

- lelush with a pearl earring

- rikimaru moments that deserve a segment of their own

having the first comment on his first solo performance be ‘drop your skincare routine’ [essentially] because the mentors didn’t have anything to critique on his performance

at the start of his speech at 3rd eliminations, when it was clearly evening: ‘good morning’

getting very sad over the fact that yumeri didn't send him a video to cheer him on + being jealous every time someone's sister showing up in the videos

- speaking of sisters, the guys simping over amu's sisters + amu, asking the mentors when trainees had the chance to dedicate a few words to each other during the final livestream: 'can my sisters come next year?'

- santa, on preparation for nana party stage: ‘she (mao xiaotong) learnt the choreography really fast, and even if she made mistakes she’ll be like *makes cute expressions* so even when she did i’d be like “it’s ok! no problem!” she’s so cute’ the staff interviewing him: ‘is this the santa we know?’

- “the adventure” team making fun of their female guest before finding out said female guest was meng meiqi aka goddess incarnate AND had been watching them make fun of her through the cameras

- lin mo’s bat song

- xie xingyang discreetly stealing food from the staff on their movie night that was originally supposed to only be for those who used their beans before a whole group of them [led by jing long, consisting of xie xingyang, wei ziyue, hu yetao and others] just go and outright take it with nine hugging the staff member to let them take the food that entire bts video is a mess and you know what? that’s what i’m here for

- zhou zhennan’s constant ‘wtf’ face

- that chuang x GQ beach video

- gong jun’s entire time on chuang, but especially the moments with zhou shen. felt like a fever dream tbh

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write-orflight · 3 years

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Watch Over Me: Chapter One

**Gif Not Mine**

Prev - Next

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Rating: M

Words: 3.2K

Warnings: none for this chapter: innuendo, language

Request: OPEN/CLOSED

Summary: Steve Rogers learns about the future from a woman stuck in the past.

A.N This is my jazz club reader fic I’ve been talking about writing. This fic isn’t gonna be long but I like it so I hope yall do too. I’m not using my perm taglist because it’s different than my normal content. reply, message, or inbox to be tagged. Devil Has Lilith will be updated Saturday.

Slang used in this chapter:

Dish: An attractive Woman

Butter and egg man: The money man, the man who comes to town to blow a big wad in nightclubs.

Dip the bill: Have a drink.

Corn: Bourbon

Cake-eater: A ladies’ man

Jalopy: An old car.

Drop a dime: Make a phone call

Chapter 1: There's a somebody I'm longin' to see

“I can’t watch this anymore!” Tony said storming into the compound’s kitchen one night. Steve looked up from his sketchbook in confusion. “I can’t watch you sit in here another friday night. It’s tragic!”

“Ugh, not this again, Tony.” Steve says, sighing. Nat and Bucky begin snickering next to him, knowing where the conversation was going.

“Yes, this again. Cap, I excused it for the first couple of years because you were adjusting to the times but it’s been years! If you’re not on a mission, you don’t go out! Sometimes, when Pep is having trouble sleeping I describe your social life to her, puts her right slee--”

“Alright, I get it!” Steve cuts him off, slapping Bucky, who was in full hysterics at this point, in the arm. “I know my personal life is--”

“Non-existent?” Nat provides.

“Dead?” Tony adds, laughing.

“But it’s my personal life. I’m over 100 years old. If I looked it, you guys wouldn’t be questioning my staying home.”

“Exactly, if you looked it, I wouldn’t. But you are not that old yet.” Tony says. “Come on, let’s just all go out once. If you don’t like it, I’ll never make you go out again. I’ll even get you a coloring book or a model ship, or whatever old people do.”

“Fine.” Steve sighed, as the man next to him cheered. “But nothing like those places you typically go to. They’re too noisy and sweaty and--”

“Yea I got it, old-timer. We’re not going anywhere like that.” Tony provides. “My friend recently opened a restaurant where their back room is a speakeasy, very accurately themed, you need a password and everything to get in. You’ll fit right in.”

“Prohibition ended in the 30s.” Bucky says. “Long before Stevie could even drink.”

“Even still, work with me a little here.” Tony says.

“Fine.” Steve sighs.

“Awesome. Now, you’ve got to come in costume to these things so I’ve already taken the liberty of telling my tailor to make you guys something.”

“What if I had said no?” Steve asks.

“Oh, Cap. You should know by now I don’t take no as an answer.”

----------------------------------------------

Steve shifted uncomfortably in his uniform. It was almost exactly like the one he would wear out during down times in the war though he knew it wasn’t the real one as that one was in the Smithsonian. Still, Tony’s tailor did a good job with seemingly all the costumes. Tony looked almost identical to how Steve remembered Howard back in the day. Bucky was in a uniform that looked similar to his back in the day, Glove covering his metal hand. Natatsha was in a sleek red gown, white gloves and pearls that was more modest than he’d seen her wear but still made her look drop dead gorgeous.

Tony led them down a dark alley to what seemed to be a back door. Steve looked around confused as they entered the smokey hallway. At the end of the hallway there were two large doors and a lady with pinned up hair and a black shimmery dress, smoking with her feet propped up on the desk she was sitting at.

“Evening gentlemen.” She croons in an english accent. “And lady. Are you lost?”

“We have a meeting with Dr. Volstead.” Tony says, confidently.

The woman tilts her head back giving all of you a once over. “It’s a nice night, isn’t it?” She asks.

“Yes, it is. But I prefer the rain.” Tony says.

With that the woman stands and walks over to the large doors and knocks rhythmically 3 times. The doors open to reveal a large dance hall where couples are in full swing, laughing and drinking. A trio of girls crooned a faced paced song as a jazz band was playing behind them. For a moment, Steve did actually forget he was in the 21st century.

“Enjoy Paradise, my friends.” The woman smiles, before shutting the doors to the outside world.

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You were in the kitchen, taking a much needed headache break from the facade you had been putting up for your tables all night long when your Co-worker, Dalia, came up to you.

“Y/N, Y/N! You have to trade tables with me.”

You looked at her with a suspicious look. “Why?”

“Come on, It’s a 4-top anyway. I’ll even trade you the party table for it.” That made you even more suspicious. “50 bucks for it, come on.”

“Don’t trade, Y/N/N!” Your co-worker and friend/roommate, Jade added. “Tony Stark is in your section. I bet she only wants to give you 50 for it because she knows she’ll make 500.”

“Come on, that’s not even why.” Dalia groans. “Black Widow is also at your table and you know she’s on my ‘Celebrities I have to fuck before I die’ list.”

“God, are the rest of the avengers here?” You ask.

“Not all but you know who is here?” Jade asks. “Steve Rogers.” She says, in a mocking singsong tone, jabbing you. Your crush on Captain America wasn’t really a secret anymore after you confessed it drunk one night. “And he looks almost edible.”

You hum, you didn’t really feel like taking another table but this wasn’t a normal table. You doubt you had a chance but you weren’t passing up on serving Steve Rogers.

“I’ll make you a deal. I still want that 50 bucks and we share the table, I’ll consider splitting the tip.” You say, the idea of making your rent in a night did appease you.

“Deal.”

“Now ladies, I have a song to do.” You say, leaving the girls behind in the kitchen.

—————————————-

Steve, for the first time in a while it seemed, was having fun. Tony was right, he did feel like he fit right in here. He clapped with the crowd, as the three girls bowed and left the stage. The piano man stood up and took the microphone Steve could tell was only styled to look old but actually wasn’t that old.

“One more time for the Duclaw sisters folks.” The smooth voiced man said into the microphone, inciting another round of applause from the crowd. “Our next performer is actually the last of the night.” That incited a few ‘awws’ of disappointment. “Don’t cry just yet because Old Gary never disappoints, our next performer is my personal favorite. Sings like a Canary and the Cat who caught it.” That induces a laugh from the crowd and a small chuckle from Steve. “And maybe if you’re good she’ll come on for an encore later. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Sultry Sounds of Y/N L/N.” He says, moving from the mic back to the piano as the crowd cheers. Steve watches the stage as arguably the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen seems to glide out from the backstage. She’s wearing a floor length silver gown that seemed to glimmer with every step she took. Her hair came down in long fingerwaves, pinned back so you could see the sculpt of her face. Steve would be lying if he said that wasn’t his favorite part of her facade. She had on simple eyeliner, foundation, and a bold red lip he could probably see from mars. You were beautiful, in a timeless sort of way.

“My, my.” She crooned in an sultry old new york accent that reminded Steve of the women he grew up around. “What would your wife say if she knew I was your favorite, Old Gary?”

“She’d agree!” The man called from the piano, inducing the chuckle from the crowd. And a deep sultry one from you.

“Well as they say, two’s just fine but three’s a party.” She winked at the old man in a way that would make Steve weak if he wasn’t already sitting.

“You ok there, Cap?” Tony said, snapping Steve out of the mystery woman’s trance. “You disappeared for a second.”

“I’m fine.” Steve said, fighting the flush that threatened to spread over his face. He looks out the side of his eye to Bucky, who was smirking at him knowingly. Of course, he knew.

“You know, you saying something about being good got me thinking, Old Gary.” She said, as the man softly played behind her. “A good man is hard to find. Great men are great, bad men are good sometimes too.” She winked to the crowd. “But every girl wants a good man, someone to watch over her.” Old Gary seems to take the cue to start playing her song.

“There's a saying old, says that love is blind. Still we're often told, ‘seek and ye shall find’” She began singing and it made Steve sit up in his seat. She had the kind of voice that was almost beckoning. She was becoming his own personal siren. “So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind”

“She’s a looker, huh?” The server, who introduced herself as Dalia, said as she sat down Bucky’s drink. “Y/N’s the main dish of this place.”

“I think I’m more interested in you, doll.” Bucky flirted, shamelessly.

“And I think I’m more interested in dames, Soldier.” She says, winking to Natasha who smiles coyly at her. Steve hardly pays them any mind as his focus was on you as you finished your song and thanked the crowd and waved while Old Gary helped her off stage.

------------------------------------------

You were changing from your stage outfit into your floor outfit when Dalia burst into the locker room.

“Y/N/N, I actually think I might have a chance with Widow. I mean, she’s kinda been ignoring me the whole night but when I mentioned I was into girls she smiled!” Dalia ranted, excitedly as you nodded. You turned your back to her so she’d get the clue to zip you up which she does. “Also, you should’ve seen the way Steve Rogers was watching you sing. He totally wants to hit that.” That makes you perk up a bit.

“I doubt it. I have it under good authority that he hasn’t hit anything in over 70 years. I doubt I’m what he’s been waiting for.” You laugh. “Still, it’s fun to think about.”

Dalia tugs you out of the locker room. “Come on, let's get back out there.”

You sighed before stepping out of the locker room and seemingly out of this century.

You fake laughed with a guest at the bar as you grabbed your tray of drinks and made your way over to the table that had been making you nervous all night. You placed the four whiskey rocks drinks on the tables.

“Courtesy of Dean.” You say, placing the drinks down. Stopping at Tony Stark. “Don’t know why? You seem to be the butter and egg man out tonight.

“Butter and egg?” He asks, looking to Steve and Bucky.

“Means money man, High roller.” Bucky explains, Steve nods.

“Ah, well I am that.” Tony says, laughing. “I must say Miss, what was it? Y/N?” You nod confirming. “I have to say you are quite the performer.”

“Thank you kindly, Mr. Stark. Go ahead, dip your bill.” You say pointing to the drink, Hoping they’d get the hint. They did of course, after seeing Steve and Bucky take a sip. You watch Steve grimace slightly at the taste of the liquor.

“Everything alright, fella?”

You watch Steve flush at the attention being tossed his way. You can’t help the confident smirk that graced your face knowing it was you that had Steve Rogers flustered. “I’m fine, I just don’t enjoy the taste.”

You hum. “Yea, it’s the big cheese’s favorite drink and he’s known for liking it rough.” You wink, somehow making Steve flush more. That made you want to push it more. “I’ve got some corn in the back they call the Y/N because it feels really good when it’s going down.” That makes Steve choke a little and induces a hearty laugh from the group. “Can I get you a glass, Soldier?”

“Y-Yea, I’d like that.” Steve flushes. It was almost fun at this point.

“I’d love to try the real thing.” Bucky says, flirting right back with a smirk you knew has to make every girl in the 40s weak in the knees. You didn’t indulge him though.

“Well, aren’t you a regular cake-eater.” You smirk. “I’ll be back with two glasses.”

“I see the serum didn’t enhance your ability to talk to pretty girls.” Bucky laughs as you want away. Steve can’t help but become a little distracted by the sway of your hips.

The rest of the night seemed to go like that. You bringing them drinks and flirting with the captain anyway you could just to see the pretty flush that spread across his face. But soon the time came for the superheroes to take their leave. As you sat the check in front of Tony, you brushed a hand over the Captain’s shoulder admiring the broadness of them.

“You’ll come back and see me, Sugar?” You say, phrasing it like a question despite it not really being one. Steve nods, dumbfounded by you. You smile and wink at him before walking away.

You’re in the kitchen eating the pizza you had ordered earlier when your manager, Dean comes out of his office for the first time that shift.

“Y/N!” You roll your eyes when you hear him scream your name. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’m eating dinner. Something I could’ve done on my break if I ever got one.”

“You know you’re not supposed to be eating anything that couldn’t be made in the 30s. People pay for the illusion and if they see you gorging yourself on pizza, it ruins it.”

“No one’s looking in the fucking kitchen, Dean.”

“Uh-huh, and another thing. You know what kind of songs you’re supposed to sing.” You roll your eyes harder. You knew this argument was coming. “That song is from the 50s and you knew it.”

“None of those bullshit hipsters know who Ella fucking Fitzgerald is!” You yell. “Much less what years her fucking songs came out. That song killed and that’s all that fucking matters.”

“Change your set or you’re fired.”

That makes you laugh in his face. “Uh-huh, as if you’re going to find a singer who’ll work as cheap as me.” You say, brushing past him. “See you tomorrow.”

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Steve comes back to the bar the following week. He tells himself that it’s just for a quick drink but he knew the real reason was because he could not stop thinking about you. He also knew you were probably just being friendly because it’s your job to. He just needed you to reject him so he could go on with his life.

He found himself in that hallway again approaching the woman he had seen last week.

“Evening, Sir.” She says. “Are you lost?”

“Umm.. I have a meeting with Mr. Volstead?” Steve questions, not really recalling the password fully.

The woman hums. “Nice night, no?” She says.

“I prefer the rain.”

The woman sighs. “I’m sorry. I typically would let you in because I don’t really care but technically I’m not supposed to let anyone who doesn’t know the password in… even if they are kinda famous.” She says. “The password changes every week. I’m sure if you ask Mr. Stark, he can find it for you.”

“Oh, no worries. Sorry for wasting your time.” Steve sighs, turning back out the building.

He’s approaching where he parked his bike when he hears a string of expletives being screamed followed with a car stuttering before not starting. He looks over to see a woman angrily get out of her car and lift the hood to see it smoking. The woman lets out another stream of expletives before kicking the tire and leaning her head on the roof of the car, defeated. For some reason, he feels compelled to go over and see how he could help. As he got closer he couldn’t believe his luck, it was you. He tapped you lightly on the shoulder and you turned with the beginnings of tears in your eyes.

“Oh, Soldier!” You said, quickly turning around to wipe your eyes and putting the facade you typically used with customers back up. “I almost got offended when you didn’t come back to see me. Imagine a broad’s old luck.” You said, smiling flirtatiously. Steve didn’t buy that smile for a second. He could see in your eyes you were still upset.

“Everything okay?” He asks.

“Oh, everything’s swell! This old jalopy has seen better days, gonna drop a dime to a friend hopefully--” You cut yourself off, switching into your normal speaking voice. “Listen, I’m sorry I just can’t keep talking like this off the clock. I’ll drive myself insane. Please, don’t tell my boss. I’m already on thin ice for not ‘maintaining the illusion’.”

Steve laughs, a weight suddenly feeling lifted off his shoulders. Suddenly you weren’t this mysterious woman who seemed to have all the right things to say and how to say them. You were human, just like him. “Your secret’s safe with me.” He says.

“Good.” You say, smiling briefly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve gotta call Triple A for a tow.” You say, pulling your cell phone out. Steve had to admit it looked a little weird to see you with a cellphone in your olden days attire.

“How will you get home?” He asks.

“I’ll probably hoof it.” You shrug. “Or take the subway.”

“At night?!” Steve says, incredulously. “No, I can take you if you’d like.”

You look at him, hopefully. “I don’t want to be a burden.” You say.

“You won’t be one.” He smiles. God, that smile made you feel a little weak.

“Okay.” You smile back.

“Are you hungry by chance?” He asks, as the two of you walk back to his ride. “I was going to eat in the bar but I couldn’t remember the password.” He says, sheepishly.

That makes you laugh out loud. “Those passwords are such bullshit, Dean keeps changing them to keep it ‘exclusive’ but they always end up online anyway.” You say. “Every server has their own password, to keep track of regulars coming in. If you tell them you have a rose delivery for Mae, They’ll take you to my table no questions.”

“Mae?” Steve asks.

“For Mae West.” You explain, That makes Steve laugh again, of course you liked Mae West. “I could eat though. There’s actually a diner right down the road from here.”

“Perfect.” He says, straddling onto his bike. He raises an eyebrow at you when you hesitate. “Something wrong?”

“I’ve never ridden on a bike before is all.”

“As long as you hold on to me, you’ll be fine.” He says, smirking when he sees a flush creep over your face as he hands you his helmet. It was about time for you to be flustered by your interactions.

“I have no problems with that.” You say, placing that helmet on your head after you straddle the bike behind him. Your hands are tight around his waist as the two of you ride out of the lot, leaving Paradise behind.

Taglist: @buckybarneshairpullingkink

#steve x reader #steve rodgers x reader #steve rogers #steve rogers x you #steve Rogers x self insert #steve x you #steve rodgers imagine #steve rodgers #captain america #captain america x reader #captain america x you #captain America x y\n #captain america imagine #steve rogers imagine

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old-childhood-drama · 3 years

Text

Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas Masterpost (Toe/Jaylor)

Before dating (May 2008)

We start with the Taylor lookalike

In May 2008 the Jonas Brothers are filming their music video for Burnin’ Up [x]. Joe’s love interest in it is played by a blonde girl who looks quite a bit (and she’s also styled) like Taylor Swift, for reference, this is the music video that has Selena Gomez as Nick Jonas’ love interest.

As far as we know they hadn’t even met so we don’t know exactly what this was supposed to mean, maybe Joe had a crush on Taylor or maybe it’s a coincidence.

We do know that Nick and Selena were dating when this was filmed and that by the time the MV was released (July 4th, 2008) Joe and Taylor were officially dating.

Toe is alive! (July 2008 – September 2008)

On Tour

Fans claim to have seen Taylor around the tour in early July, which matches with Taylor’s lyrics in "Last Kiss".

Last Kiss. Taylor Swift.

I do recall now the smell of the rain

Fresh on the pavement, I ran off the plane

That July 9th, the beat of your heart

It jumps through your shirt

On July 14th, Taylor and The Jonas Brothers perform “Should’ve Said No”[x] from her debut album, and this performance now forever exists in their 3D movie (a classic), a cute fact is that some fans have said that Taylor tripped when she first came out, so they had to repeat it for the movie.

On July 20th Joe flies to Wyoming to watch Taylor opening up for Rascal Flatts, and they flew back and she was spotted at the Omaha show.

She’s seen in a couple shows more and she joins the stage again for their Madison Square Garden shows in August [x]. They sing “Even now just looking at you feels wrong”.

They’re together but they’re not together.

For more context, we must remember that Taylor was a very new artist from a small label and The Jonas were pretty much at their peak and Disney’s biggest act, and they were managed like crazy and could never even think about being seen with someone in a romantic way. Any rumors were denied so fast, and Disney did the absolute most to keep it secret. So according to everyone they were just good friends, at the time both Taylor and Selena were annoyed by all the secrecy.

Now back to the timeline:

Taylor is backstage of the tour A LOT for the next couple of weeks right next to the other not-girlfriends Selena and Danielle.

She films a cameo for the “Love Is on Its Way” [x] video for the concert in New York. She was said to be only interested in hanging out with Joe and they were seen hugging *gasp* I know it doesn’t seem like much now but back then this was the hottest gossip and again the Jonas were not supposed to breathe near any human of the opposite gender.

Taylor and the Jonas were staying at the same hotel a bunch of rumors ensued, but I will not talk about the whole Olympics and Toe locking themselves in a room at midnight thing. If it’s real, we really needed to touch some grass and stop staying outside of people's rooms all night.

On August 17th Joe goes to Ryan Seacrest's show and denied that Taylor is his girlfriend in the best way a corporation like Disney can train you to deny something that’s true. Saying Taylor is “a great girl and I think anybody would be lucky to date her. I think anybody would love to go on a date with her.”

And Taylor tells People Magazine “He’s an amazing guy and anybody would be lucky to be dating him” Cinematic parallels.

Taylor is spotted in the back (in a mirror) of one of the Jonas youtube videos [x]. Basically, we all knew they were together.

The Central Park date (August 28th)

Now if you were a fan of either the Jonas Brothers, Selena, or Taylor you know this next part and it the iconic triple date of Central Park.

Again, this is kind of famous at this point and Selena has been quoted saying how awful it was because the boys were not allowed to be seen with them so they all went to Central Park (Selena’s first time in Central Park) and Taylor and Selena walked about 20 feet of distance from the guys so nobody would think they were together but we all already knew because it wasn’t like they were that good at hiding it and there are pictures of them together that night (the clownery of it all).

These backstage tour adventures are the reason Taylor and Selena are friends today and in Selena’s own words the best thing to come out of those relationships.

VMAs (September 2008)

With how many pictures of them together that night [x] [x] [x] exist you would think they had gone together as a couple but no just two besties! The 2008 VMAs are so the show where Russell Brand mocks the Jonas Brothers and their purity rings and Taylor publicly defends them.

Toe seems happy for the rest of September but as we know now the end is near.

The Break-Up (October 2008)

Social Media was different back then and Taylor did what every teen girl with a broken heart did in 2008 and she went to myspace with an edited post to make a statement about the Toe current situation.

Post-Breakup

The 27 seconds Joe Jonas will regret for the rest of his life.

Taylor went on Ellen and I don’t even think I need to say much this interview is THAT iconic she sat on that couch and told the world exactly how Joe had broken her heart in the following two quotes:

“There’s one that’s about that guy, but…that guy’s not in my life anymore unfortunately. That guy…that’s an ouch.”

“I’m not even gonna be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18…it was like 27 seconds, that’s got to be a record.” [x]

She also went on Ryan Seacrest’s and when asked about the perfect guy she saw an opportunity and took it, saying “I used to always say sense of humor, but I think that it’s important to have the same kind of sense of humor. I have a really dry, sarcastic sense of humor and if somebody doesn’t think that my sense of humor is funny, then that’s not something that is good. Um, so sometimes you know, that can be a wrong match. If they’re not allowed to go in public with me, that’s sort of an issue too.” [x]

Bonus the amazing youtube video Taylor posted with Joe’s Camp Rock doll and how he comes with his own phone to break up with other dolls [x]. Taylor eventually went full out and cited Camilla Belle (then girlfriend of Joe) as the reason for the breakup. And you know someone at Disney’s PR office wanted to die when this was going down.

So finally, Joe was forced to acknowledge the whole situation with a Myspace post:

"I never cheated on a girlfriend. It might make someone feel better to assume or imply I have been unfaithful, but it is simply not true. Maybe there were reasons for a breakup. Maybe the heart moved on. Perhaps feelings changed. I am truly saddened that anything would potentially cause you to think less of me. For those who have expressed concern over the "27 second” phone call. I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk. “

Forever & Always

Now this song is known as THE Toe song and it was born out of the end of the relationship when she felt Joe was getting distant, but she couldn’t do anything to help it, it was made really late into the production of Fearless so she had to rush to finish it in time (so no other breakup songs are about Joe in the original album).

Forever & Always Was I out of line? Did I say something way too honest, made you run and hide Like a scared little boy I looked into your eyes Thought I knew you for a minute, now I’m not so sure

In the 2009 Grammy's Taylor and Miley (insert The Ex-Girlfriends Club Theory here) performed Fifteen (obviously not about Joe) and the Jonas were in the audience. I believe this is probably around the time Taylor writes Mr. Perfectly Fine and You All Over Me, which we know get to have thanks to Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 13 years later.

You All Over Me

The best and worst day of June

Was the one that I met you

With your hands in your pockets

And your 'don't you wish you had me' grin

But I did, so I smiled, and I melted like a child

Now every breath of air I breathe reminds me of then

Mr. Perfectly Fine

'Cause I hear he's got his arm 'round a brand-new girl

I've been pickin' up my heart, he's been pickin' up her

And I never got past what you put me through

But it's wonderful to see that it never phased you

In November of 2009, she also goes to SNL and mocks Joe in her monologue. "You might think I'd bring up Joe That guy who broke up with me on the phone But I'm not gonna mention him *rolls eyes* In my monologue [Spoken:]Hey Joe, I'm doing real well, tonight I'm hosting SNL [Sings:]But I'm not gonna brag about that In my monologue [x]"

To make things even more dramatic and very awkward The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and Taylor Swift spent NYE together watching the ball drop on TV and this was probably not how they wanted to start their years. [x] [x] [x] and a video [x]

Now let’s discussed some of the songs that came out at the time. The Jonas response to Forever & Always was Much Better. Nick described it as a song that was very personal to Joe and Joe went on to say that it was based on his very interesting year. They also at some point wanted to pretend the song was about their love for their fans but come on. Joe also changed the lyrics from ‘superstar’ to ‘country star’ and later changed it to ‘movie stars’ when he broke up with Camilla who is the ‘Much Better’ girl from the song.

Much Better - Jonas Brothers

I get a rep for breakin’ hearts

Now I’m done with superstars

And all the tears on her guitar

I’m not bitter

But now I see

Everything I’d ever need

Is the girl in front of me

She’s much better

Taylor’s iconic response in Better Than Revenge seems to be more of an attack on Camilla. She’s spoken about her regret for this song since then and hasn’t played it in years and Camilla seems to be ok we never forgiving her for it [x] [x]. Regardless this song remains a staple of the genre ‘Feminism OFF, Bops ON’.

“I was 18 when I wrote [“Better Than Revenge.”] That’s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend. Then you grow up and realize no one can take someone from you if they don’t want to leave”. - Taylor 2014.

Better Than Revenge - Taylor Swift

Let's hear the applause (Come on, come on)

Come on, show me how much better you are

(So much better, yeah?)

See you deserve some applause

'Cause you're so much better

She also released "Last Kiss" about the nicer part of their relationship, and some believe other songs such as If This Was a Movie, Haunted (Speak Now) and Jump Then Fall (Fearless) are about Joe. From the Jonas, the other song believed to be about Taylor is Paranoid (Lines, Vines and Trying Times).

Jump Then Fall

Well, I like the way your hair falls in your face

You got the keys to me

I love each freckle on your face, oh

I've never been so wrapped up, honey

Probably a song was written about and in the early days of their romance and the long hair freckles [x] thing definitely fits 2008 Joe.

If This Was a Movie

Baby, what about the ending?

Oh, I thought you'd be here by now

Thought you'd be here by now

According to some this song is a sister song to "Last Kiss" in the same album and that is confirmed to be about Joe.

Haunted

Come on, come on, don't leave me like this

I thought I had you figured out

Something's gone terribly wrong

Won't finish what you started

This song would be a sister to Forever & Always since Taylor described both to be about a relationship that was fading in the end and that she was confused as to how they got there in the first place.

"‘Haunted’ is about the moment that you realize the person you’re in love with is drifting and fading fast. And you don’t know what to do, but in that period of time, in that phase of love, where it’s fading out, time moves so slowly. Everything hinges on what that last text message said, and you’re realizing that he’s kind of falling out of love. That’s a really heartbreaking and tragic thing to go through because the whole time you’re trying to tell yourself it’s not happening. I went through this, and I ended up waking up in the middle of the night writing this song about it.” Taylor

Friendlier days are coming (2010- )

I guess time can heal a lot of wounds and Toe is seen hugging and on friendly terms at the Clive Davis party on January 31st of 2010 [x].

The world was so shocked when we realized that Joe went to see her perform in a couple of her shows in September 2011 [x] [x], and in here Holy Ground is born about her new evaluation of their former relationship rather than the bitterness of the breakup. The lyrics' secret message is “when you came to the show in SD” and the potential parallel to "Last Kiss".

Holy Ground - Taylor Swift

We blocked the noise with the sound of ‘I need you’

And for the first time I had something to lose

And I guess we fell apart in the usual way

And the story’s got dust on every page

But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now

And I see your face in every crowd…

… Tonight, I'm gonna dance

For all that we've been through

But I don't wanna dance

If I'm not dancing with you

Last Kiss - Taylor Swift

I do remember the swing of your step

The life of the party, you’re showing off again

And I roll my eyes and then

You pull me in

I’m not much for dancing

But for you I did

They're seen talking in the MTV's EMA's 2012 [x].

From here they seem to be friendly and in May of 2015 after the Billboards. They even go on a double date later that year with Gigi Hadid, Calvin Harris, and Karlie Kloss (this picture feels so cursed). Nick and Joe get invited to Taylor’s 4th of July party and they seem somewhat distant after his split from Gigi.

Present (2020- )

In 2020, we got the amazing surprise of folklore with the song ‘Invisible String’ that makes a reference to Taylor’s past songs about exes being harsh and how she sent Joe and his wife Sophie Turner a present for their baby girl’s birth. In 2021, she has now released the re-recordings of Fearless and we are all reliving the drama and enjoying the chaos of Taylor’s and Sophie’s friendship not letting Joe know peace for those 27 seconds over a decade ago.

Invisible String

Cold was the steel of my axe to grind

For the boys who broke my heart

Now I send their babies presents

#Taylor Swift #fearless #fearless (taylor's version)#forever & always #mr perfectly fine #you all over me #last kiss #toe #jaylor #joe jonas #jonas brothers #folklore #invisible string #paranoid #much better #lines #vines and trying times #better than revenge

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shapa-likes-art · 3 years

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Chapter one: Now or never

Warnings: death of major characters, food/battery poisoning (it's unclear). Tell me to put more warnings if needed.

Pairings: Eventual Prinxiety and Intrulogical

Summary: upcoming band, sunset curve, are about to make their debut at the orpheum when a serious tragedy occurs on the night of their performance. (Set in 1995)

A/n: here is my crappy writing bringing to you my Julie and the Phantoms au- er, Roman and Phantoms in this case? Haha, sorry! Besides that, there is are going to be links right before a performance/singing scene and it's highly recommended that you give it a listen before continuing on!

First | Next

Taglist: @that-peach-anon @thunderholtz @anxious-chaos-art @arcticfrostdoesthings @cirishere

It was a loud and busy night in sunset boulevard, there were crowds of people lined up right outside the orpheum, a line that was so long that it almost surpassed the width of the building. There was excited chatter amongst people- fans of the band that had yet to play in the building.

Up on the Marquee read: Sunset Curve - Sold out.

The sound of a distant guitar riff from inside the building seemed to rile up the excitement in the crowd.

(Listen to the song before proceeding)

There were three clacks of drumsticks hitting, "One! Two! Three!"

"Take off, Last stop! Countdown till' we blast open the top!"

A man in his late teens with purple-dyed tips and ripped jeans sung with a playful smirk. he seemed to be the lead singer of the band Sunset curve.

"Face first! full charge! Electric hammer to the heart-"

He looked in his element, effortlessly playing the guitar while singing. Three other voices joined the lead in harmony.

"Clocks move faster 'cause it's all we're after now, oh"

The lead looked over to a guy with a baby blue leather jacket a bass and he cocked his head to the side as if to say 'come over'. The bassist jumped over and sung in the same mic.

"Won't stop climbing, 'cause this is our time! yeah!"

The singer pushed him away playfully and the bassist went back to his own mic. They quickly moved to the prechorus

"When all the days felt black and white, Those were the best shades of my life!"

The singer belted with a grin, swiftly moving to the chorus, the other band members joining in every shout

"Don't look down!"

" 'Cause we're still rising-"

" Up right now!"

"And even if we-"

"Hit the ground!"

"We'll still fly- Keep dreaming like we'll live forever But live it like it's now or never!"

The singer turned away from the mic and to the drummer as if passing it off to him with a shine in his eyes and an almost never-gone grin.

"We ain't searching for tomorrow," The drummer sung, "Tomorrow" The bassist repeated

" 'Cause we got all we need today," "Today!"

The lead took over momentarily

"Living on a feeling that's been running through our veins,"

The bassist smirked as he took in a deep breath, running his and through his hair,

"We're the revolution that's been singing in the rain"

Each band members stopped playing their instruments, clapping and clacking their sticks together to a beat as they repeated the start of the chorus

"Don't look down! 'cause we're still rising up right- now!"

They picked their instruments back up, a fire and smoke effect errupted around them as they played their instruments once again and delved into the final chorus

"And even if we hit the ground we'll still fly- Keep dreaming like we'll live forever but live it like it's now or never!"

There were more effects blowing around and lights shining on them as they harmonized at final part of the song

"It's now or never!" "Now or never"

Both guitarists and the bassist turned to the drummer as they strummed their last chords. They panted, catching their breaths as sweat fell down their faces and yet they had wide grins. They soon turned around and did their bows.

There was applause and cheers from the orpheum employees as the band members stood straight, "Whoo! Excellent!" A Girl cheered from the table she was wiping down, clapping alongside the employees,

The bassist chuckled, it sounded bubbly and sweet, and grabbed the mic, "Thank you, we're sunset curve," he said with a small wave before turning to the other bands members, who were immediately going on about that performance as the put away their instruments.

The lead and the second guitarist bumped their fists together with a smile, "Too bad we wasted that om a sound check," the second guitarist said, "that was the tightest we've ever played!"

The lead singer just smiled as he turned to the empty spot where the crowd would have been, "Just wait until tonight, when this place is packed with record execs," he said, his eyes lighting up at the mere thought. It was almost hard to believe and yet there they stood on the stage.

"Logan, you were smoking!" The bassist said to the drummer- Logan- who just huffed, pulling out his glasses from his shirt and sliding them back onto his face

"I oppose that, Pat, I was just warming up... In fact, you guys were the ones on fire," he said with a small smile and a faint blush on his light brown skin.

The bassist- Pat- pouted, "Aw, c'mon, lo! Can you, just this once, own up to your awesomeness? Hm?" He huffed, grabbing a few of their t-shirts and CD cases. The lead, who had been listening in, looked at Logan with a knowing smirk and an eyebrow raised.

Logan relented, biting his lip as he looked to his band members, "Fine, I was... 'Killing' it," he said, offering a small smile.

The lead smiled and went to lightly tap Logan's Shoulder, "ok, well, I'm thinking that we fuel up before the show," he took in a deep breath, "I'm thinking street dogs?" He suggested

Logan and Pat made sounds of affirmation. It had been a pretty high-energy performance, so having some hotdogs wasn't such a bad idea. At the time.

A female employee watched with a fond smile as she wiped down a table, and it seemed that she had captured the second guitarist's attention and interest

He went to walk off the stage and approach her.

"Hey Toby-" the lead saw him jump off the ledge of the stage and followed after, "Where you going?" He asked, the other two members right behind.

Toby turned to them, "I'm good," he said waving his hand dismissively and turned to the girl, smiling as he leaned against the table she was wiping.

"Vegetarian. Could never hurt an animal," he said, as if explaining. The others stood next to him, the three of them holding unimpressed and fond looks, seeming that they knew it was a lie.

"You guys are really good," she said with an impressed look on her face, a small spanish accent to her as she spoke. She had tan skin, shoulder-length voluminous curly hair, and a sleeveless sequin shirt.

"Thank you," pat chirped, resting his arm on Logan's Shoulder, to which said man didn't mind.

"I see a lot of bands," she continued, "Been in a few, myself," she smiled, "I was really feeling it,"

The lead smiled, "Well, uh, that's what we do this for," he said with a small awkward laugh before realizing something: "I- uh, I'm Virgil, by the way," he introduced then gesturing to Pat.

"Hi, I'm Patton,"

"Logan,"

"Toby,"

"Nice meeting you guys," she said with a curt nod, "I'm Rose,"

Patton seemed to perk up, "Oh! Uh-" he held out a CD, "Here's our demo," he said, sliding it over to her, then grabbing a T-shirt, "and a T-shirt, size: beautiful," he said with a grin. Logan groaned at that. Patton had the tendency to flirt as a joke and not meaning any of it.

Rose just smiled, talking the T-shirt, unfolding it and holding it up to he body, looking down at the design, before looking to the band, "Thanks," she said with a smile. She went to fold it in half and put it on her shoulder, looking to the table, "I'll make sure not to wipe tables down with this one," she said a little awkwardly.

"Oh, good decision," Logan said with a nod, "whenever they get wet, they tend to- uh, fall apart in your hands," he provided with a small smile.

Toby huffed, "Don't you guys have to get hot dogs?" He asked.

Virgil just smirked, "Yeah," he said then leaning close to Rose, "He had a hamburger for lunch," he said, cocking his head to Toby's direction before going to push himself away from the table and walk towards the exit, leaving an exasperated and disappointed Toby alone with Rose.

Virgil, Logan, and Patton grabbed their jackets before they went, shrugging them on as they went out the backstage exit.

Virgil hummed looking around, rolling on the balls of his feet "That's what I'm talking about," He said with an almost giddy shine to his eyes

"The smell of sunset boulevard?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow, readjusting his ripped denim jacket.

Virgil rolled his eyes and lightly punched Logan's arm, "No, smartass," he said with a small laugh, "It's what that girl said back there-" he said, walking in front of the others and kicking a puddle in his adrenaline-induced happiness.

"-about out music Alright?" He turned to look to the others, making a vague gesture with his hands, "It- It's like an energy," he said, slowing down a bit and walking beside them with a hum.

"It connects us with people- they can feel us when we play," Virgil hummed, walking behind them then hooking his arms around their shoulders, "I want that with everybody tonight,"

"Well then, we'll need a lot more shirts," Patton said, looking to the two ones in his hands. Virgil could help but let out a small laugh at that, "C'mon, let's go," he said.

They walked by a line of people- the people lined up for their show. Patton noticed two girls who were excitedly talking to each other and he went to diverge from the other two.

"Ladies," he smiled, giving them the last two shirts he had on hands before going back to the other two.

The two girls seemed confused, unfurling the shirt. Their eyes lit up as they realized who gave them the shirts

"Patton, wait!" One of them shouted, "oh my God, Patton!" The other one shouted. They both jumped in excitement, "oh my God, hi! It's me!"

As they walked away, they felt a little bit of pride bloom inside. They saw just how long the line was and it blew their minds. So many people lined up to see them and hear them play. This truly was a night none of them would ever forget.

They soon found a hotdog spot in an alleyway about a street down from the orpheum. They quickly got their hotdogs and went to putting on their toppings and condiments

Logan grimaced as he looked to where the condiments were stored- the trunk of a car along with a car battery.

"Virgil, there should be better places in Hollywood than this," he huffed, going to reach for the tongs to grab his topping of choice

Virgil didn't exactly look that crazed about it Either but he shrugged, "It's the closest spot to the orpheum and we cannot- for the life of us and our future- miss this gig,"

Logan just took on a deep breath, going to take a pickle to put on his hotdog, a slice slipped through the tongs and fell on the battery's cables. Great, just great, "I can't wait to eat someplace where the condiments aren't served in the back of an Oldsmobile," he grumbled.

Virgil just huffed and leaned against the trunk, waiting for Logan. This was going to be the one and only time they're eating at this spot. After tonight, they'll eat anywhere they want.

Logan finished with assembling his hotdog and turned to the vendor who was grilling hotdogs and patties, "Excuse me, uh... I got some pickle juice on your battery cables. Sorry," he said.

"No problem, it'll help with the rust," the vendor responded, giving Logan a pat on the back and a laugh

Logan looked dumbfounded, "That can't-" the vendor only chuckled and turned back to grilling. Logan looked to Virgil, who cocked his head over to a couch.

"Ok.." Logan sighed as he shook his head, defeated.

Patton let out a small sigh and he plopped on to the couch, followed by Virgil then Logan, they all leaned against the ratty and patched-up couch that was in the "dining area" of this pop-up shop.

Virgil hummed as he looked up to the sky, a small smile appearing on his face. Tonight was the biggest night ever and he could barely believe it, "This is awesome, you guys," he said, looking to his friends. "We are playing the freaking orpheum- I can't even count how many bands have played here and then ended up being huge!" He exclaimed

Patton chuckled lightly and smiled wide while Logan tried to suppress one. Virgil let out a small laugh of disbelief, "We are going to be legends," he smiled. He looked to the hotdog in his hands and lifted it up.

"Eat up, Boys," he said, the other two lifting their dogs as well, " 'Cause after Tonight... Everything changes,"

They all brought their dogs together as if a toast and bit in. As soon as Logan bit down, he tasted something metallic and ashy, "That's an odd flavor," he mumbled. Something felt very wrong.

"I'm sure It'll be fine," Patton mumbled. There was sudden sense of dread, "street dogs haven't killed us yet," he tried to joke.

They looked to the sandwich in their hands and reluctantly took another bite.

Only a few moments later, the siren of an ambulance wailed, driving towards sunset boulevard.

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kitty8roses · 3 years

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This is what I sent to her lol (under a cut tho bc im not that mean)

DONT LOOK UNDER THIS CUT FOR GIVEN SPOILERS!!!!

Ritsuka quickly realizes that Mafuyu is an exceptionally talented singer, and invites him to join the band. Ritsuka learns that Mafuyu's guitar was previously owned by Yuuki, Mafuyu's childhood friend and boyfriend who died in an apparent suicide. The band begins composing music in advance of a live performance, but Mafuyu is unable to write lyrics for the song.

On the day of the performance, Mafuyu has a breakthrough and sings a powerful song about his feelings of loss over Yuuki. The song prompts Ritsuka to realize his romantic feelings for Mafuyu; he kisses him backstage, and they begin dating shortly thereafter.

The band names itself – "Given", in tribute to the guitar given to Mafuyu by Yuuki – and begin to develop a following after posting a video of their live performance online. Given qualifies for a major amateur music festival, and begin preparing new material. Their efforts are complicated when Akihiko, who Haruki secretly has romantic feelings for, becomes involved with his roommate and ex-boyfriend Ugetsu.

Ok so in the beginning of our show: our first protag mafuyu sato is seen walking to school In the rain (with an umbrella tho lol) he says, as narrator, “mafuyu is not lonely.” And also some other stuff that��s all vibe you know? So THIS is repeated through out the series with him saying that “mafuyu isn’t lonely” especially when something bad happens. The thing is he IS lonely. Why you may ask? Well, his ex boyfriend from middle school killed himself and he thinks it’s his fault and stuff. They had gotten into an argument and he drank himself to death. RIP yuki. The only time where I personally believe this statement of ‘not loneliness’ is true is after Uenoyama (other protagonist and love interest) kisses him. I think that’s very swagger. Right before sed kiss mafuyu sang a song that he wrote at a live performance with da band about his heartbreak with yuki’s death. The person he truly loved. It’s called fuyu no hashi and I recommend you give it a listen it’s really good. Uhm but uhhh he realizes after da kiss that he has a new love ❤️ Ue! Yay canon gay ship time let’s party owah owah

NOW I wanna talk abt the opening and op lyrics. They are SO GOOD. they explain Mafuyu’s situation so we’ll just *mwah*. I think it’s called kizuato. There’s this one part where the singer (which could be interpreted as mafuyu despite it not be8gn his voice) says “Rainy, sunny and cloudy

Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. 365 days. You remain in all of them.” When he says the last line “you remain in all of them” we see mafuyu holding his guitar when a pair of arms wraps around him from behind like a hug. He shifts and kind of like compresses himself? Like you know what would happen if you got a hug. These arms are kinda transparent and they disappear before the line and that clip is over. AT FIRST before I knew about yuki and all that I thoguht they were from his late dad but now I believe the arms belong to yuki. Mafuyu’s dad was abusive and hit him when he spoke and I thoguht that would be the part of his trauma the show focused on but it wasn’t, instead they focused on yuki and his death more. Anyways I thoguht that was cool and representative of what happened pretty well.

Part of it also makes me wanna cry tho. It says “Dig them out. Take away these memories. The invisible voices that wouldn't reach. That Make me suffer/ suffocate me. Search deeper and take a look at this pain inside of me.” Specifically the “take away these memories” part just,, damn. And the invisible voices thing is just too fucking relatable. I’m so sorry Mafuyu

Oh god now I’m getting emotional about fictional boys who play guitar in front of my friends. Sorry guys.

Anyways. Main statement of the song time. “Everything you left behind, became my everything.” D a m n. Not only could he be talking about the guitar the he owns that is from Yuki he could also just be talking about the memories. ‘All the memories you left me, became the only thing that brought me comfort’ and that’s just... so sad man. He LOVED this boy. So much :/ It’s equally as sad with the guitar too. Because of how desperately he wanted to learn to play. For yuki’s sake because YUKI loved music. ‘This guitar you (kinda your mom but wtv lol) gave me, became my life” because it DOES become his life. When he finally accepts new love is after singing fuyu no hanashi. He finally lets go of all the pent up grievance and emotions while singing that song.

Now that point flows perfectly into our next one. It’s a possibility This will be the last one so just bear with me, please! So, one of Mafuyu’s main things is that he never knows how to respond or react the “proper” way. First of all!!!! NEURODIVERGENT KING. Second of all!!!! He talks about how he just doesn’t feel emotions as strongly or just the right way as other people. And how he can’t bring himself to cry and can’t cry despite losing his true love. After the kiss, mafuyu cries. A started clapping for him like yay!!! An icon ❤️ not only did he find a new love and move through some trauma but he also experienced a lot of emotions that he struggles to experience! That’s so good for him 💕💕But yeah he’d been talking about in the show how he just couldn’t “cry or laugh as hard as the other people could” which I can understand very well. It can feel dehumanizing at times so I’m really happy for him. One of the main reasons I kin him!

This brings me into a sort of continuation point about how no thought brain empty emotionless kin time. Sorry o just had to write that out Bc my nose started bleeding and I had to go take care of that and also not forget my clause (again). Mafuyu talks to Uenoyama about how everyone thinks that he doesn’t have emotions or doesn’t have thoughts because of how quiet he is and how emotionless he seems. And how he’s come to kind of believe it himself (a sort of ‘am I really thinking ever’ type beat). Ue kinda-over-aggressively is liek “hell no!!!! No way brain not have thought >:(“ like a old you know? And yes KIN TIME. not to make it about me or anything but I’m also constantly told/it’s joked about how I don’t have emotions. I just kinda roll with it tho.

I wanna say one more thing to end off on a note that isn’t about me but I can’t think of one so let me think. So much for that other one being the last shsndujsjjsidj

:OOOOO ok so I’m rewatching given and I just noticed another thing

So in the beginning, the VERY FIRST thing mafuyu talks about is how he keep shaving the same dream over and over again (this is to himself when he’s walking to school). Then, we see a clip of this dream. He is standing in front of someone (but it’s kinda shadowed so I didn’t see the other person the first time) and his eyes go wide and he grips his guitar so hard one of the strings snap.

Not only do I realize that 1) that dream actually happened: hs8 is a scene from when he fo7nd yuki’s body hanging (mafuyu was the one who found him dead). You can tell from the bottles on the ground (yuki got super drunk and then hung himself). this is why mafuyu’s guitar string is broken for Uenoyama to later fix.

I also realize 2) that this dream actually happened. I realized this when watching the show the first time tho lol. Right before the big concert, mafuyu accidentally breaks his guitar string again. And then Ue has to go run to the music store and buy a new one. That’s why there’s a look of desperation on his face when it happens because, Uenoyama brought his hope back by fixing the string the first time but now he messed it up again. Thank the lord for Haruki and reminding them it can be fixed!

Last thing 3) I talked about the hug scene in the last rant right? Well, when mafuyu broke the strings the first time (upon discovering yuki’s body), he mirrored the motions that he made in the hug scene in the opening. I think I described it as him shifting his body and guitar and like compressing himself? Yeah.

I realized one last minuscule thing while writing this but I doubt you care.

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abundanceofsoph · 4 years

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SkyFire 1: Chapter 21

On the Road Again cont. & Rascal Flatts: August 2015

Word count: 3.3k

SkyFire 1 MASTERLIST

>Instagram posts

As August began, the band found themselves back in New York. Following a show in Pittsburgh they arrived in the morning, the day before they were scheduled to appear on Good Morning America for the shows Summer Concert series and since it was scheduled to be filmed in Central Park, a mere stones throw away from Avengers Tower, it made sense for them to stay there instead of booking hotel suites for all of them.

Tony and Steve were glad to have Rori home, if only for two days, having missed her while she travelled with the band for the last 2 months and she’d missed them too, of course, happy to be home briefly before continuing on with the tour for another month. That evening they all crowded into the living room in the penthouse with Sam, Bucky and Thor joining the Stark-Rogers family and the band. They watched a movie, Aurora curled up against Tony, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. She fell asleep at some point, waking up when Louis started throwing popcorn at her, causing Niall to laugh hysterically. They didn’t stay up too late, aware of how early they would need to be up the following morning.

They sky was still dark when they woke the next morning and the sun was still hidden behind the city skyline, barely lighting the sky as they left the tower and walked across the road towards the southwest corner of Central Park. They were joined by the bands security team as they made their way up West Drive and across Sheep Meadow to reach the Summer Stage in Rumsey Playfield. Despite the pre-dawn hour, fans were already camped out across the park, having slept out overnight to ensure their spots for the concert and the five of them dashed towards the backstage tents behind the stage, avoiding drawing the attention of the fans in the soft morning light.

Finally, the sun rose into the sky, warming the summer morning and Aurora grinned with pride as they boys sat on the stage in front of all their fans, talking about the upcoming album, the rest of the tour and Louis’ exciting baby news. By the time the interview concluded, and the boys prepared for the first song, the morning was already warming up and Aurora removed her jacket, revealing her sundress and her most recent tattoo, a rose nestled between her shoulder blades, the stem tracing down her spine. She lifted her hands into the air, joining the fans surrounding her, cheering as the boys stepped back out on the stage and started the performance.

By the time the last song came to an end, Aurora made her way out of the crowd and towards the backstage tent, throwing her arms around Harry once he made his way of the stage.

xXx

After leaving New York, the tour stopped in Rutherford and Baltimore before taking 9 days off and while Niall, Liam and Louis used the time to fly home and see family briefly, Harry and Aurora headed for the coast to spend a few days on the beach.

Aurora barely wasted a moment to drop her bags inside the little beachfront cottage that they’d rented before she was out the door and heading down to the warm sand. Harry joined her a few moments later, wrapping his arms around her stomach as he came up behind where she was standing, her eyes closed and face turned towards the water, soaking up the afternoon sunlight, their toes digging into the sand below them.

They spent the next few days swimming in the ocean, reading or watching movies in the evenings and revelling in the opportunity to spend time alone together with nowhere to be or no one demanding their attention for one thing or another. On their last evening they were curled up on the porch swing, looking out over the moonlit waves, a blanket thrown over their laps to ward off the cool breeze blowing up off the ocean. Harry had a glass of wine in one hand, his other resting around Aurora’s shoulders as her head lay on his shoulder.

“So, there’s something I need to tell you before we get back to the tour,” Harry said, breaking the comfortable silence that had stretched around them in the summer night. “Something the boys and I have been talking about for a while now.”

“Should I be worried?” Rori asked, lifting her head up to look into his eyes.

“No,” Harry promised, “but we’ve decided to take a break. We’re going to go on a hiatus for a year or two.”

“What?” Aurora asked, surprised by the news, having had no idea that it was even an idea before now. “But things have been going so well. Why?”

“We’re all exhausted,” he explained. “None of us have gotten the chance to see our families or live our lives for more than a few weeks at a time in years. We’re in our early 20s and we’ve been working non-stop for the last 5 years. Zayn leaving just made us realise that this isn’t healthy for any of us and we decided we should take a year or two off now before any of us burn out. I don’t want any of them to leave like he did, I can’t do that again. If we all take a break now, we can make sure that doesn’t happen. I just hope the fans don’t hate us for it.”

“Oh Harry,” Rori sighed, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend and pulling him tightly against her. “They’ll be upset but they’ll support you guys no matter what happens. So will I.”

“I love you Rori,” he whispered. “Don’t know what I’d do without you in my life.”

“Good thing you’ll never have to find out,” she replied, smiling warmly up at the man she loved before kissing him. “When are you going to announce it?” she asked softly when they pulled apart.

“In a few weeks.”

xXx

Aurora and Harry flew into Columbus, Ohio the day before the band was scheduled to perform there, and while Harry headed for the stadium for rehearsals and interviews, Aurora took a cab to a local music studio.

She was nervous as she climbed out of the cab, adjusting the hem of her shirt as she made her way through the front doors and gave her name to the receptionist behind the front desk. She was buzzed through the doors to the right and instructed to take the first right and then the third door on the left. Aurora knocked as she opened the door and stepped into the control room, the large window in one wall looking into a spacious live room, instruments and microphones already set up and waiting. There were 3 men sitting in the control room, who all stood when she entered, stepping forward to introduce themselves. Gary, Jay and Joe were all lovely guys, and Aurora was a little star struck at first, having been fans of Rascal Flatts for years, but after spending most of the day chatting and getting to know each other she quickly got over that and was able to look forward to working alongside them for the 2 weeks without the overwhelming anxiety.

The following night Aurora watched the boys from the side of stage and once they left the stadium, she spent the evening wrapped up in Harry’s arms back at the hotel.

“So, Toronto, Chicago, Milwaukee and then you’re back with me,” Rori mumbled in the darkness.

“You’ll be so busy writing number 1 hits that you won’t have time to miss me,” Harry chuckled, trying to brighten his girlfriend’s mood.

“I know it’s silly,” she said. “It’s only 2 weeks but I’m so used to sleeping next to you every night.”

“It’s not silly, love,” Harry promised. “I feel the same, and I really wish we were gonna be together when the hiatus announcement drops.”

“You’ll have the boys with you. You’ll be ok. Just remember the fans love you guys so much. They could never hate you.”

“It’s gonna break their hearts though,” Harry mumbled. “Hate the thought of hurting them after they’ve given me my dreams.”

“And that’s why I love you.”

xXx

For the entirety of the two weeks Harry was gone, Aurora spent almost every moment she could in the studio with Gary, Joe and Jay, revelling in the opportunity to spend uninterrupted time writing and playing. She’d never set aside so much time to write music, usually spending an afternoon here or there, or scribbling lyrics in the back of notebooks while she studied, and she loved every minute of it.

“Ok I’ve got half of something,” Rori said one morning after they’d piled into the studio. “Just a half assed melody and a verse and chorus I came up with last night.”

“Alright well let’s hear it,” Joe said.

Aurora flipped open her notebook to the page she scribbled on the previous night and began to sing what she had, humming when she didn’t have the words to fill the gap.

I know we're running … usually two different ways But we need more than just a quick kiss and a wave goodbye I need you and only you by my side Why don't we turn off the phones, get somewhere alone? I'll trace that smile on your face, 'til the stars fade away Baby, cut off the lights, let our hands talk tonight There's things that need to be said, …. Got good love to be made, take as long as it takes One touch at a time, let our hands talk tonight

Joe picked up his guitar when she finished singing and started to put together the melody, asking her to re-sing certain sections, and then Jay was joining in with the bass line and Gary started piecing together another verse. They spent a few says working on the song until they’d finished Hands Talk and moved on to work on something else.

They played most of Yours If You Want It to Aurora towards the end of the first week and she made some suggestions to the unfinished song, writing a section to slip into the song about 2/3rds of the way through.

Every dollar, every dime, every drop of rain Every single thing I could beg, steal, or borrow Every yesterday and tomorrow Well every grain of sand on the beach Every blade of grass under our feet Baby your name is written on it And it's yours if you want it

“I love it,” Gary said, singing it through a few times for smiling widely. “Inviting you down here was the best idea we’ve ever had.”

The second week of Aurora’s stay in Columbia, she and Gary put their heads together and wrote Are You Happy Now over the course of a few days and after Gary sang the song through with Joe and Jay accompanying him on the guitar and bass, and Aurora playing the piano, all four of them were grinning from ear to ear with excitement.

“This one’s good,” Jay said.

“Let’s go through once more I want to try something,” Aurora said, already starting to play the opening keys of the song. The guys laughed at her eagerness but joined in quickly and when they reached the bridge and the third chorus, Aurora joined in on the vocals with Gary.

“Now that I'm not around,” Gary sang with Aurora echoing the line. “Now that you've finally,” Gary began, Aurora joining him on the second half of the line, “lost what you thought that you needed, never would have treated your heart, like you did. What goes around comes back around.” “It's been that way forever,” Gary continued. “Baby, just look at you now,” they sang together, Gary dropping out to let Aurora finish the line alone, “barely holding it together.” they alternated the next four lines seamlessly, Gary singing first and then Aurora.

“We're so in love.”

“but you gave that up.”

“Just look around.” “Just look around.”

And then they sang the last chorus together, occasionally alternating lines, dipping in and out of the lyrics, watching each other to read which lines to take and which to leave for the other.

“Oh wow,” Jay said when they finished the song. “That was incredible.”

Aurora smiled, blushing as all three men gushed about how great hers and Gary’s voices had blended together.

“This going to have to be a duet,” Gary said, before sitting down with the lyrics and working out where to split the song between the two of them. In the end, Gary took the first verse and Aurora took the second, while they sang the chorus’s together, layering their voices together as the song built toward the final chorus, following the same arrangement they’d sang the first time round and then Aurora played out the final few notes on the piano. After practicing the arrangement a few times, they called it a day and agreed that when they came in the next day they would get in the technician to record the song in full since Aurora only had 2 more days left to work with the boys before she had to drive the 2 hours up to Cleveland to meet back up with Harry and the tour.

They spent every minute of those two days recording the track, Aurora not only laying down her vocals but also playing the piano on the track. An hour before she needed to be on the road, they were all crowded into the control room to listen to the finished song, no one making a sound as it played.

Aurora was grinning from ear to ear when the song faded out to silence, immensely proud of the song and all the work they’d put into it over the last week.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity guys,” she said, turning to look at each of them.

“We should be thanking you,” Joe laughed. “We’re the ones that have 3 incredible tracks for the next album thanks to you. I don’t think we’ve ever had such a productive two weeks in our lives.”

“Me either,” Rori agreed. “But honestly I just had so much fun, so thank you for inviting me down here.”

“You’re welcome, Rori,” Gary said. “There’s actually something we wanted to ask you before you leave. We usually perform at the CMAs in November and me and the boys were talking last night. We were wondering if you’d want to come down and debut Happy Now with us?”

“You want me to sing at the Country Music awards with you?” Aurora asked, shock clear on her face and in her voice causing all three men to chuckle.

“We do,” Jay replied. “The songs bloody great. You in?”

“Absolutely!” Aurora cheered, grinning broadly, all three men hugging her tightly before she said her goodbyes and climbed into the cab waiting for her outside.

xXx

Unlike the previous year when Harry had gone to New York with her at the end of her time on tour, this year she stood in the departures lounge of the Buffalo airport watching as Harry walked away from her to board a flight to Montreal. She tried to hold back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, knowing that she would see him in November for the CMAs. She held it together right up until he turned around to wave goodbye one last time and the sad expression on his face pushed her over the edge, breaking the dam and sending the tears dripping over her cheeks. The moment Harry saw them, he dropped his bag and run back towards her, causing Niall to pause where he had been walking beside him.

Harry swept Aurora up in his arms, gripping her tightly as her breath stuttered. She tried desperately to pull herself together, knowing that her reaction would only hurt the man she loved, making it more difficult for him to get on the plane that would take him away from her.

“9 weeks,” Harry whispered. “9 weeks and I’ll be back.”

“I know,” Rori replied, her face still buried in his shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too. God, I don’t want to get on that plane,” Harry said. “I want to stay here with you and never leave again.”

“You’d be bored,” Rori joked, pulling back from the hug and pecking his lips one last time.

“Never. This hiatus can’t start soon enough,” he sighed.

“You have to go,” Rori urged, pushing him away gently, noticing Niall still waiting by the gate. “Call me when you land.”

Harry pulled her in for one last desperate kiss before turning and walking back to Niall. He didn’t turn back this time and Aurora held her breath until he disappeared from view. As soon as he was gone, she let the sobs break through her chest, slowly walking through the terminal towards her own gate. She waited in the private lounge until her flight was ready and then made her way on board, settling into her first class seat. She put on her headphones and shuffled Four, a soft smile ghosting over her lips as she listened to Harry’s voice, leaning her head back against the seat with her eyes shut as the plane began to taxi down the runway. She let herself wallow in her sadness, knowing that she would need to put it aside when she reached home in about 2 hours’ time. Leaving Harry was never easy, and she hated the months they spent apart but at the same time she had desperately missed her family and was anxious to see them again. She was also excited to start back at school the following week, eager to begin her final year of college, knowing that once she graduated she would be free to travel the world with Harry and very little would keep them apart now that the band was going on Hiatus for the next year and a half.

xXx

A few days after she returned home, Tony and Steve were scheduled to appear on the Late Show for the first night with the new host Stephen Colbert, and since she didn’t have any classes the day they were needed at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, Aurora decided to join them for the day. Having appeared on the Late Show a couple of times when it was hosted by Letterman, Aurora somewhat knew her way around the theatre, although it was interesting to see the subtle changes that had been made for the shows soft reboot with a new host. She’d watched Tony and Steve’s interview from the green room, smiling softly at Steve awkwardness and Tony’s absolute calm in front of the cameras and the audience. Colbert asked them about the team, about leading them together and of course he asked about their relationship. Tony took the lead with most of the answers but when they were asked what it was like having your husband next to you in a fire fight, it was Steve that answered first.

“It’s the best and worst part of the job,” he answered, his arm slung over Tony’s shoulder. “Fantastic because there’s no one I’d trust to have my back more than Tony, but it’s also completely terrifying because if he goes down, I know I’m out of the fight too because I’m going straight for him and getting him out of there.”

They answered more questions about Avenging before being asked about family life.

“Never planned on being a dad,” Tony said. “But Rori’s such an incredible woman and she’s made both of our lives so much better in the last 4 years. Can’t imagine not being a dad anymore.”

“And Steve,” Colbert asked, “what’s it like being a stepdad?”

“Like Tony said,” Steve replied, “Aurora’s so incredible and being her dad is probably the best thing I’ve ever done with my life. I’m very lucky to have her as my daughter. As our daughter.”

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

#skyfire #skyfire fic #aurora stark #dad!tony #iron dad #step dad steve rogers #stony #stony fic #boyfriend harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #superfamily #harry styles #tony stark

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faveficarchive · 4 years

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Summer's Circus: Part 1

By Barbara Davies

Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle (uber)

Rating: Mature

Synopsis: Summer Walsh owns a struggling circus with a dark history. When journalist Alison Carmichael walks through her Big Top, though, things might just start looking up for the distant Ringmaster.

It was late Wednesday evening when the last trailer finally limped on site. Summer watched anxiously as it eased its way between the other trailers, caravans, and vans to its designated spot, its tyres leaving huge ruts in the turf.

So much for 'Flaming June'. Rain had soaked the work crews as they pulled down the Big Top and loaded the unwieldy poles and sections of canvas onto the long trailer kept specially for the purpose; rain had streamed down her van's windscreen every second of the journey by tortuous, winding B road; and it was *still* raining, the hills surrounding Cheltenham almost invisible through the downpour.

She sighed. At least Cox's Meadow had turned out to be a proper field, she consoled herself, not one of those derelict building sites that were all most councils could seem to spare these days. She wondered who Cox was and what he would have made of the meadow that was rapidly turning into a swamp. For this they were paying £1,000 a week? Tomorrow they'd have to get the boards out - couldn't expect the public to wade through mud. She rubbed her forehead tiredly.

"Headache, boss?" Pyotr Dyakonov had come up behind her, unheard in the pelting rain.

"Yeah," Summer confessed. "Just the usual 'Will we be ready in time,' 'Will people like us enough to pay to see us' kind of headache."

"We always are; they always do," said the acrobat complacently.

Summer raised an eyebrow. "I thought Russians were s'posed to be pessimists."

He shrugged. "Things always seem to work out OK when you're around, Boss."

Summer snorted. "Yeah, right."

"It's true," protested Pyotr, stroking his moustache.

"Tell that to Uncle Tommy," she murmured, too low for Pyotr to hear. She turned away and began the tricky process of picking her way carefully between the ruts and puddles towards her caravan.

***

Alison replaced the telephone receiver and let a broad grin plaster itself over her face. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the circus!"

For a moment she allowed herself to feel the excitement she had felt as a little kid, even hopped up and down a bit, then she sobered. This wasn't for pleasure - well, maybe just a bit. This was her chance to prove she could hack it, to call herself 'freelance journalist' and mean more than the book reviews and column fillers that were the only things on her CV so far.

She paced up and down, hardly seeing the little sitting room, considering what to take with her. Her camera, of course. The article would be nothing without pictures, but she was good at photography - she could probably come up with something colourful and spectacular. Her tape recorder. Some spare batteries, a pen and notepad, just in case.

If all went well, she'd be interviewing each of the performers, maybe even the owner of the circus herself. Summer Walsh; what an unusual first name. Alison crossed to the table and rechecked her notes. Yes, it *was* Summer. And not many British circuses were owned by women, according to her research.

Would that make the interview harder, she wondered suddenly. Men were so easy - you just dressed femininely, batted your eyelashes, and simpered. Her Mother had taught her how to flirt with them from an early age, and then been devastated to learn it had been a waste of time. She sighed, remembering how difficult it had been coming out to her mother, how she had wished that her father had been alive to take her part as he always had.

She shook off the melancholy memory, and her doubts. "I can do this," she told herself. "I *will* do this." After all, all circus owners, regardless of their gender, would welcome a chance of free publicity, wouldn't they?

Alison remembered the circuses of her youth, full of horses, elephants, tigers, and lions. These days British circuses without animals were the norm - unrelenting pressure from animal rights protestors and the RSPCA had seen to that. She wondered if the show could possibly be as magical without animals.

Well, tomorrow night she'd see for herself, wouldn't she.

***

"Out of the question." Summer glared at the man who had barged into her office five minutes earlier, and who, rather disconcertingly, reminded her of an orangutan. (It must be the ginger hair and long arms, she decided.)

"I don't think you quite understand." His earlier affability had vanished.

"What's to understand?" she demanded. "I have all the permits and licenses I need. Why should I want to spend more than I have to?"

So far she had managed to keep a tight rein on her temper, but it was getting increasingly difficult. Especially since she was exhausted from helping the work crews to assemble the tiered seating inside the Big Top.

"For a quiet life," he said. "For oiling the wheels of progress -"

"For greasing your palms, you mean." If he thought the sunglasses and leather jacket made him look cool, thought Summer, he was wrong.

"Call it what you like, Ms Walsh. But I think you'd be very unwise not to -"

"I said 'no'. I meant it."

"I see. That's unfortunate."

Summer stood up, placed her hands firmly on the desk and leaned forward, fixing the man with a feral glare from which, to her satisfaction, he flinched. "You're just running a glorified little protection racket, aren't you? Well, no deal." She bared her teeth at him. "You haven't met Tonio and Marcello yet, have you? They're strongmen, they perform under the stage name Men-o-War. I'm sure, if you met them, you'd understand why."

Her visitor was already backing towards the door, looking anxiously through the glass as though expecting the two strongmen to be waiting outside for him. Which, if she'd known he was coming, they would have been, she thought sourly.

"This is probably the worst decision you've made, lady -"

"What happened to 'Ms Walsh?’"

"- in a long, long time."

As he disappeared, like a rat up a drainpipe, she wondered gloomily if he might not just be right.

***

Alison halted just inside the tasseled blue-and-white marquee that was the Big Top, and surveyed her surroundings. It would hold about four hundred people, she judged, but it was barely a quarter full. She checked her watch. There was still ten minutes before the performance was scheduled to begin, but she was doubtful the place would fill up.

She tried to get a sense of the kind of people that had come to the circus. Some were parties of adults only, chattering excitedly to one another; some were adults with children, the parents wearing longsuffering looks; and some, like herself, were alone, their wistful expressions indicating a desire to recapture the magical experience of their youth.

Alison suppressed a smile and searched for Block D. Ah, there it was - the far side of the tiered seating, near the ramp that led from the ring to backstage. She eased herself along the row of tip-up seats until she came to the one that matched the A9 on her ticket stub then sat down gratefully.

She made herself as comfortable as possible on the very basic seat then opened the brochure, emblazoned: 'SUMMER'S CIRCUS', that had cost her a pound. As she had feared, it consisted mainly of advertisements for ice-cream and hotdogs - but a loose sheet of A4 itemized tonight's running order.

She closed the brochure and leaned back, squinting first at the apex of the Big Top high above, then at the trapezes, wires and safety ropes a little below it, then at the ring itself - not covered with sawdust, these days, she noted - which was a lot smaller than her childhood memories had led her to expect. Not bad, she decided, feeling pleased with herself - she should be able to see the performers close to as they came up the ramp into the ring. She pulled her camera from her pocket and hung its strap round her neck ready.

A group of well dressed people - businessmen and women and civic dignitaries by the look of them, one overweight man even wore a chain of office round his neck - approached her block and began to take their seats in the front row. A rather striking dark-haired woman was directing them - her scarlet jacket had wide lapels and tails, and she was wearing a matching bow tie.

The woman smiled brilliantly and said, "I hope you enjoy the show." Alison eyed her with interest.

"I'm sure we will, Ms Walsh," said the man with the chain.

So that was the mysterious Summer Walsh? Well, well.

As the scarlet-clad woman strode away, Alison found that she was suddenly looking forward to interviewing the circus owner.

***

Summer made her way backstage. It was chaos; organized chaos - at least she fervently hoped so.

"Five minutes to the Overture," she yelled. "Everyone okay?"

"Okay, Boss," came the chorus of replies.

She stepped over the pile of baseball bats that looked like wood but weren't. They belonged to Egor and Maks who were due on first after the Overture. As she negotiated the clowns' other props: a foam rubber hatchet, a scrawny looking chicken, and a huge inflatable ball that after the Intermission would be bounced off the audience's heads to screams of fear and delight, her mind returned to the mayor's party.

"Pompous ass," she muttered. He had insisted on complimentary tickets for his wife and colleagues too. "Does he think we're made of money?"

Summer knew the figures all too well. Just to survive, the circus needed three thousand customers a week. Paying customers, like that little blonde who had been sitting just behind the mayor and his cronies. Her thoughts dwelt pleasantly on the woman's interested green eyes for a moment, then she remembered her intention to see how the Ticket Office was getting on.

She was heading for the office wagon at breakneck speed - she had barely ten minutes before she was needed in the ring - when she noticed that a weaselly little pickpocket was working the queue.

With a growl of anger, she somersaulted neatly over the goggling members of the public and launched herself at the man whose hand was about to delve into an unsuspecting customer's coat pocket.

He took one startled look at her and tried to bolt - but by then she had him by the back of his coat collar.

"'Ere, what d'ya think you're - Ulp!" His protest became a strangled squawk as an arm strengthened by years of trapeze work held him effortlessly six inches above the ground.

"Going somewhere?"

He struggled briefly then stopped and concentrated on simply breathing.

"You have a choice, sunshine," growled Summer. "You can spend this evening down the nearest police station...or..." She lifted him higher and watched him think through the implications.

The thief smiled rather glassily at her. "No harm done, lady," he babbled. "I was just looking after a few things for their owners. Know what I mean?"

She lowered her arm, and saw relief wash over his face as his feet touched the ground again. Then she released her grip on his coat collar and held out her hand meaningfully. "Give."

Reluctantly he reached into deep raincoat pockets and began to pile purses and wallets and wristwatches into Summer's hands. From the Big Top came faint music, the first bars of the Overture, reminding her that time was passing.

"Need a hand, Boss?" Tonio and Marcello had joined the little crowd of bystanders watching the proceedings as though it were part of the evening's entertainment.

She nodded, relieved to see them. "I'm due in the ring. Make sure these -" she pushed the pile of purses and wallets into Tonio's huge fists "- are returned to their rightful owners. Most'll have some kind of ID or photo in them, I expect. The rest - well, you may have to ask members of the audience to check if anything's missing."

She rubbed a hand tiredly across her forehead, annoyed at the extra work the thief had caused. If she reported him to the police, even more time would be lost. No police, then. Unless...Suddenly, she remembered the orangutan who had tried to sell her protection.

"You," she turned back to the thief. "Who are you working for?"

"No-one. I'm strictly freelance."

Summer put on her best scowl and took a threatening step towards him.

"Honest." He raised a shaking hand in defence.

She nodded. "Okay. One other thing."

The still unnerved thief looked expectantly at her.

"If I catch you in my circus ever again, I'll let these two - " she indicated the strong men examining the stolen booty "- tear you to pieces. And have no doubts, they can do it, too." She glared at him. "Do I make myself clear?"

The thief winced. "As crystal."

"Now, get out of my circus."

The thief needed no further urging.

***

The Overture ended with a flourish (*Also Sprach Zarathustra*, if she wasn't mistaken) and Alison clapped appreciatively. It amused her that such a tiny orchestra - two men, a drumkit, and what looked like a steam powered synthesizer - was capable of generating music with such power and volume. Circus people, she was rapidly learning, were nothing if not resourceful.

The ringmaster had just stridden into the ring - she recognized the dark-haired woman in the scarlet jacket immediately - when Alison became aware that a big man in black sweatshirt and jeans was easing his way along the row of seats towards her. She frowned.

"Excuse me, Miss," he said politely, as he got nearer, easing her fears, "but is this yours?" He was holding out a wallet similar to the one she owned and pointing to a strip of passport photographs.

Abruptly, she recognized the unflattering snaps she had had taken at the Post Office photo kiosk last week. She gasped and felt for the pocket where she usually kept her wallet. It was empty.

"That's mine. But how did you? I mean - "

The man smiled and handed her the wallet. "Pickpocket was working the Ticket Office queue," he said simply. "The Boss caught him. Persuaded him to return the stolen goods."

There was a subtle emphasis on the 'persuaded' that piqued Alison's interest, as did his accent, which was, she realized, foreign. She checked the contents of the wallet, and was relieved to find that nothing was missing. "'The Boss?’ You mean, Ms Walsh?"

"Yes. Everything there? Sorry to rush you, but I've got several more owners to locate."

"Oh, sorry. Yes, everything's here, but -"

But the man was already turning to go. "Enjoy the show, Miss," he called back to her.

Still feeling rather stunned by this turn of events, Alison turned her attention back to the ring. The attractive ringmaster had disappeared and two short men with unwieldy moustaches and red noses, dressed in appalling yellow-and-black checked suits and bow ties, were starting to hit each other with baseball bats.

***

The trouble with seeing the show from the inside, thought Summer, was that, unlike the appreciative audience - who were clapping wildly at every little thing - you were all too aware when things didn't go right.

For example, the music had started off slightly too fast, but Ruud and Jan had quickly corrected that. Then Egor had tripped over one of Maks' big feet but had deftly turned it into an extra piece of ' business'. And Grigori had almost dropped one of his flaming torches, but an extra flourish distracted the audience from his mistake.

The ringmaster sighed. No matter how often and thoroughly they rehearsed, it was always the same. First-performance-in-a-new-town nerves. But as the evening progressed, she could feel the nerves calming, the professionalism of the performers taking over.

But it was time to announce the next act. She strode out into the ring, fixed a smile on her face, and clicked on the microphone.

"And now, for your enjoyment, Summer's Circus presents, all the way from Greece: the *stupendous* Miss Clio."

She gestured extravagantly towards the maroon velvet curtain that hid backstage, and, right on cue, a petite figure in a pale pink leotard appeared and bounded up the ramp to join her.

"Break a leg, Clio," she murmured. Her reward was a dazzling smile.

Summer withdrew, and watched Clio go into her act.

First came the smile and wave to the audience, then the Greek woman reached for her little ladder and began to climb, adjusting her balance constantly so that the unsupported ladder would remain vertical. When she was settled, Andor, her young male assistant, appeared, carrying a pile of cups and saucers, and proceeded to throw them to her one by one. Almost nonchalantly, Clio would catch each cup or saucer and then throw it up so that it landed on the top of her head. Gradually a stack of alternating cups and saucers grew.

Summer had had no doubts at all, when she'd first seen Clio's act, that she was a must for the circus. On paper, catching cups and saucers while balancing on a ladder was a nonstarter, but in real life there was something about the precision and skill displayed by the young Greek woman that made the audience hold its breath.

As Clio caught yet another saucer, and was greeted with wild applause, Summer's thoughts turned inwards.

It looked like her gamble that the affluent Cheltonians would flock to the circus hadn't paid off - the Ticket Office receipts had confirmed what her squinted glances into the spotlights told her: the Big Top was only half full tonight. What with the appalling weather, the orangutan demanding protection money, the pickpocket ripping off customers, and the question of what would happen when Uncle Tommy discovered his least favourite niece was back on his patch. She sighed.

A teaspoon landed with a loud clink in the topmost saucer, and the audience went mad. Clio's act was winding down. Almost time to announce the aerialists, thought Summer, rising to her feet.

The Finale had met with sustained and enthusiastic applause, and the two man band was playing music calculated to get the audience heading for the exits, when Summer went round backstage congratulating the acts and patting people on the shoulders. There had been no major mishaps, and everyone was feeling relieved.

She was looking forward to a shower, a hot meal, and an early night, and was half way to her caravan, when she remembered she had rashly agreed to see a journalist - Alison Carsomething - about a possible article on the Circus.

She groaned, and trudged over the waterlogged ground towards the trailer that housed both the Administration and Ticket offices.

A blonde woman was waiting for her outside the Admin office. She looked vaguely familiar, thought Summer, traipsing up the short flight of steps.

"Ms Car-" She trailed off.

"Alison Carmichael," said the woman helpfully. "And you must be Summer Walsh." She held out a hand.

Summer grunted, gave the hand a perfunctory shake, then began to unlock the door. "Come in."

She switched on the light, and crossed the office to the battered old desk. The journalist followed her inside, glancing at the dingy interior assessingly. Hmmm, thought Summer, having noticed the camera around her visitor's neck, I don't imagine you want to take a photo of *this* for your article, Ms Carmichael.

She dragged a plastic chair from its place by the wall and indicated it before moving round behind the desk. The journalist sat down. Summer did likewise.

"I really enjoyed the show tonight, Ms Walsh."

"Thanks."

After a moment's silence, the blonde woman realized Summer wasn't going to say any more and picked up the conversation. "Um, we spoke on the phone, about the possibility of my doing interviews with you and with your performers."

Summer nodded.

"So, I was wondering..." The journalist bit her lip.

Summer glanced at the message pad where she had written details of their telephone conversation and frowned. What had she been thinking? "I don't seem to have made a note of which paper you write for, Ms Carmichael," she said apologetically.

"Oh, well - " A slight flush covered the blonde woman's cheeks. "I'm a freelance, but several publications have expressed an interest in the article -"

Summer realized abruptly that there was no point in continuing this conversation. "Then I'm afraid it would be better if we didn't waste each other's time, Ms Carmichael," she interrupted.

The look on the other woman's face made Summer aware that her bluntness had been misinterpreted as offensiveness.

"By the time you've written it and placed it, probably with a local paper," she explained, "the circus will have moved on. Such publicity will be of no benefit to us." She groaned inwardly, realizing that she had only made things worse.

A red spot now burned in each of the blond woman's cheeks. "But, you said on the phone..." Green eyes flashed with indignation.

Green eyes, thought Summer suddenly. Of course. The row of seats behind the mayor's party. Another headache was lurking behind her eyes. The sooner this was over, the better.

"I've changed my mind," she said, sounding more curt than she'd intended. "If you'll excuse me?" She stood up to indicate the interview was over.

Lips pressed in a grim line, the young woman snatched up her gloves and stalked off.

I could have handled that so much better, thought Summer regretfully as she watched the young woman stomp down the steps outside. She sighed, then switched off the light and locked the office door behind her.

As she walked down the steps herself, she glanced absently at the distant figure walking disconsolately towards the carpark. The rest of the paying audience had gone home, and a single pale green Fiesta remained. One of the carpark floodlights was out. Summer made a mental note to get it replaced, then noticed movement in the shadows. She stopped, her senses on alert. A mugger, or worse. And Alison Carmichael, her mind on other things, was heading straight for him.

The rush of adrenalin banished her tiredness and incipient headache instantly, and she broke into a run. "Look out," she called, even as she realized that running wasn't going to get her there in time and launched herself into a series of somersaults and flips.

The journalist had halted near her car and was looking back at her, mouth open in amazement. Summer growled as the figure in the shadows chose that moment to attack, and forced herself to move faster, feeling her muscles burn with the effort. The attacker - a man, by his build - had got an arm round the journalist's throat and was tugging her back into the shadows when Summer flipped over his head.

As she landed behind him, he glanced round, and the momentary distraction enabled the blond woman to break his grip round her throat. One punch with all Summer's weight behind it was enough to send him flying, and two kicks, one to the stomach, one to his unshaven jaw, rendered him out for the count.

Summer stooped over the man and checked his pulse. He was still breathing - she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She straightened, and rubbed her bruised knuckles ruefully, then became aware that the journalist was standing beside her.

"He attacked me!" mumbled the blond, her voice shaky, her breathing uneven. "Oh my God, if you hadn't -" She began to cry.

For moment, Summer stood frozen, then she pulled the sobbing journalist into an awkward hug. There was a moment's startled resistance, then Alison sagged into her embrace.

"It's okay," said Summer. "I've got you." She rubbed a hand soothingly over the other woman's back, encouraging her to cry herself out, her own mind churning. My fault. All my fault. If I hadn't been here...For Summer had no doubt at all that the attacker was working for the man who had tried to sell her protection that morning.

As the sobs dwindled to sniffs, and the tension in the muscles beneath her hands eased, her thoughts turned to the state of her ringmaster uniform. It hadn't been designed for people to cry on.

"Do you still want to do that article on the circus, Ms Carmichael?" Summer was as surprised by her own words as the journalist appeared to be.

"But you said -" The journalist took a step back, and Summer released her.

Colour had returned to the pale cheeks, and bewilderment, coupled with hope, had replaced the fear in the green eyes.

Summer smiled, partly in relief, and shrugged. "I've changed my mind."

The journalist considered for a moment. "What if you change your mind again?" she asked at last.

A fair question, Summer admitted, since from the journalist's point of view, she'd changed her mind twice already. "I won't," she said firmly. "If you want the interviews you asked for, you can have them."

A moment longer, then a smile split the blond woman's features and she nodded eagerly. "Please."

"Tomorrow, then, 10am," said Summer. "I'll give you a guided tour."

"Great."

They stared at one another for a long moment, then Summer sighed and glanced down at the still unconscious attacker.

"In the meantime," she said, "I suppose I'd better see about calling the police."

***

"It was great, Mother. There were clowns, and acrobats, and trapeze artists, and a woman who balanced at the top of a ladder while catching cups and saucers on her head...Yes, that's what I said. Um, it looked like real china from where I was sitting."

Alison could tell her mother wasn't impressed by her enthusiastic description of the circus. Opera was more the older woman's 'thing' - so much more 'adult'. No doubt her mother's opinion of the circus would sink even lower, if that were possible, if she told her about the pickpocket and the attack in the carpark...

She sighed and changed the subject to her coming interviews, then wished she hadn't.

"You're not still intending to be a journalist, are you, dear?" Her mother's tone was disapproving. "My goodness! I thought that was just a fad."

A fad! thought Alison. In fact, the dream of being a reporter had been with her since she was a child, but it was only recently she had decided to do anything about it. Coming out - to herself and to other people - she realized suddenly, had been the catalyst. It had strengthened her determination to live her own life not let others live it for her.

"No, Mother," she said evenly, "it's not a fad."

"It's not as if you need the money, dear."

Alison sighed. It was true that the Life Assurance from her father's death had left them both more than comfortably well off. But she wanted the satisfaction of paying her own way for a change.

"Mother, we've been through this."

"Well, if you *must* occupy yourself, dear, why don't you do some voluntary work? It's so much more...respectable."

"Mother." Alison had reached the end of her patience, and some sign of it must have travelled down the phone line because her Mother went quiet.

"Well, dear. Perhaps you know best." The tone made it clear her mother thought exactly the opposite. "It's past my bedtime, yours too if you're sensible. So I'll say goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mother." Alison replaced the phone receiver and sighed.

The flat that was her pride and joy, her first taste of independence - she was twenty-seven, for heaven's sake; other people left home at eighteen - suddenly seemed drab and pokey. Perhaps it was the contrast with the Big Top and its colourful performers, not least among them the tall ringmaster.

Once more Alison heard the distant shout and turned to watch the ringmaster somersaulting towards her across the carpark. Once more she felt disbelief and bewilderment that the woman who had just dashed her hopes so rudely should be following her in such a spectacular way. Then came a jolt of terror as someone wrapped his arm around her throat. Followed by sheer relief, as Summer tackled the attacker and then held Alison close.

Alison swallowed over a suddenly dry throat, then laughed wryly at herself. What a strange evening it had been! And now here she was feeling gratitude, hero worship, and, if she were being honest, straightforward attraction for a woman who until this evening had been a complete stranger.

Even more ironic, being rescued by a circus owner would have made a *great* story, but Summer was concerned that a mugging might keep paying customers away. Since the policeman who took their statements didn't envisage any further involvement for either Summer or Alison (Alison, though severely shaken, hadn't actually been hurt, and the still groggy attacker had quickly realized it was in his own best interests to confess) Alison had agreed to keep the incident quiet.

Which was probably just as well, she thought sleepily, as the seesaw of raw emotions finally caught up with her. Because then, her mother wouldn't learn of the incident and come rushing over ready to sweep her daughter up and take her back to the claustrophobic home from which she had only just escaped.

Alison had feared the mugging would prey on her mind, but as she got herself ready for bed, she found to her relief and slight embarrassment that her head was full of the music of Strauss and images of clowns and acrobats and a tall, striking ringmaster with blue, blue eyes.

***

"It's going to be muddy, I'm afraid." Summer ushered the young journalist out of the admin office and down the metal steps.

"That's all right." Alison smiled back at her. "What's a little mud between friends?"

Summer raised an eyebrow but said nothing. They walked across the boggy field towards the Big Top.

"We call this the Back Yard." Summer ducked under the cordon that marked the area as off limits to the public, and began threading her way carefully between stakes and guy wires, generators and storage bins.

Alison hurried to keep up. "So," she said, holding out a small tape-recorder. "What made you decide to own your own circus, Ms Walsh?"

"If we're friends, you'd better call me Summer." The tape recorder, she noted absently, was voice-activated.

"Then you'd better call me Alison, or Ali."

Summer caught the faint hesitation. "Which would you prefer?"

"Alison, if you don't mind."

"Alison it is."

Summer held back the tent flap and waited for Alison to duck under it. "We call this the Back Door - it's the performers' entrance." She followed the journalist, her pupils adjusting quickly to the dim lighting of the backstage area.

"Hi, Boss." Egor came somersaulting over and stopped in front of them. "Who's the beautiful towny?"

The little clown's interested gaze was resting on Alison, who blushed. It suited her, thought Summer, suppressing a grin.

"That's what circus people call outsiders," she explained. Then to Egor, "This is Alison Carmichael. She's a local journalist, so be nice - we don't want any bad publicity."

"I thought any publicity was good publicity, Boss." Egor winked at her.

"Yeah, well you thought wrong."

Alison shot her a glance. "You don't have to worry," she said reassuringly. "I really loved the show last night."

"You did?" Summer felt her slight tension ease.

She guided Alison towards the maroon curtain separating backstage from the auditorium, then paused. "I should warn you before we get near the ring," she said, "don't, whatever you do, sit on the edge of it facing out."

Alison stared at her. "Why not?"

Summer shrugged. "It's bad luck."

The journalist leaned forward eagerly. "Oh! So you have your own set of superstitions, like theatre people do?"

"I suppose so. Peacock feathers are bad luck too. And whistling in the dressing room."

Alison's eyes danced and her tone was mock serious. "Okay. No whistling or peacock feathers, and no sitting on the ring's edge facing out. Got it."

Summer started to say something in defence of circus traditions then decided against it. She pulled back the curtain and they walked through.

The Dyakonovs were rehearsing their trapeze act high above the ring, and she stopped to allow Alison to watch. After a long moment, Alison tore her gaze away from the graceful flips and twirls, and Summer gestured towards a row of ringside seats. They covered the distance quickly and sat down.

"I noticed last night that most of the acts in your programme are foreign," said Alison. "Is that coincidence or policy? Or is it simply that Brits don't make good circus performers?"

"Hey! Are you saying I'm no good?" Summer smiled to remove the sting from her words. It was a good question, and she considered her answer. No need to mention that Uncle Tommy had made sure no British performer would work for her anyway, she decided.

"It's a question of cost, actually." Alison glanced at the sound level meter and moved the tape recorder closer to Summer's mouth then her gaze drifted upwards again. Summer smiled. She too felt the magnetic pull of the trapeze.

"When the USSR collapsed," she continued, "so did its circus funding. At their height, they had seventy permanent circuses, you know. That's about fifteen thousand performers."

Alison's startled gaze met hers. "Fifteen thousand?"

Summer nodded. "Which means that now the Russians are desperate for work and -" she spread her hands expressively "- very cheap."

"So *that's* why most of your acts are Russian?"

"Mmmm." Now it was Summer's turn to gaze up at the Dyakonov Troupe. Cheslav, she noted absently, was clasping Irisa's ankles in his brawny fists. "Though actually, the circus band is Dutch." Alison chuckled at the mention of the two musicians, and Summer glanced curiously at her. When no explanation was forthcoming, she let it go and continued. "The strong men are Portuguese. And Miss Clio, of course, is Greek. I take it you'd like to meet the company?"

"Please."

The journalist's obvious enthusiasm pleased Summer. Maybe it was because Alison was a freelance, she thought, and hadn't yet reached the embittered 'just going through the motions' stage.

A faint stomach rumble reached her ears, and she noticed Alison was blushing again.

"Haven't you had any breakfast?"

"Um, yes," admitted Alison. "But it was a couple of hours ago. I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee and a biscuit, if you have them."

Summer rose to her feet. "I'm sure we can rustle up something." She was amused by the look of gratitude that flashed across the blond woman's face.

"Follow me."

***

The trailer that Summer called the 'cook wagon' was hot and fuggy and smelled absolutely wonderful. Coffee and doughnuts, thought Alison, identifying the aromas. Her stomach grumbled more loudly and her mouth began to water.

"It's help yourself in here," instructed the tall woman, busying herself with heating water for two cups of instant coffee. "Just take what you fancy."

"Okay."

While Summer carried their coffees to an empty table, Alison inspected the cardboard box of goodies and chose a large sticky, sugarcoated doughnut. Then she joined Summer and sat down opposite her. She placed the tape recorder on the table between them, and gazed at their spartan surroundings.

"So, this is where you all eat?"

Summer took a sip of coffee than nodded. "We can connect the wagon up to the mains water and power supplies. Not all sites provide access though, so then we have to make do with Calor gas and bottled water."

"I expect you've got moving between sites down to a fine art?" While she waited for an answer, Alison picked up her doughnut and took a bite. Brilliant red jam squirted down her chin and across the table. Fortunately, it didn't reach the ringmaster.

"Oh!" Alison's cheeks felt hot with embarrassment, but Summer just chuckled and reached for a paper napkin.

"I'm always doing that," she said consolingly. "Here."

"Thanks." Alison took the napkin and wiped her chin with it. "Um." Her mind had gone blank and the confusion must have shown on her face.

Summer took pity on her. "To answer your question, yes, after you've been on the road for a while - and this circus has been touring for years now - you get to know the drill." She took another gulp of coffee. "Circus people are pretty tough. Everyone helps with the build-up and pull-down."

"But the circus can't always run smoothly," prompted Alison.

"No. We've had our share of accidents, and some of our vehicles are aging - they're always breaking down. Fortunately, Grigori is a top notch mechanic as well as a juggler. What else?" Summer looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, two years ago, a generator caught fire - we were lucky it didn't burn down the Big Top. And last year we had a blowdown - that's when a storm blows the Big Top down."

Alison would have whistled but remembered their earlier talk of superstition and thought better of it. "That must have set you back a bit."

"Yes. Luckily we got it back up double quick - only missed one matinee. We can't afford to miss many performances."

Alison finished off her doughnut and wiped her hands on the napkin. "You're that close to the line?"

For a moment she thought the other woman wasn't going to answer, then Summer tapped the tape recorder pointedly and said, "Off the record?"

"Oh, okay." Alison pressed the pause button.

"Things are pretty tight at the moment. If they don't get better soon ?" The ringmaster's gaze was suddenly bleak.

"Can't you put up ticket prices?"

"We're already as high as we can go without putting audiences off." Summer shrugged. "Trouble is, we've got so much to compete with these days - TV, video, cinema - football. People just aren't as keen as they used to be on circuses. Especially circuses without animals." She grimaced. "It's a no win situation. If we use animals - we get attacked by the animal rights protestors; if we don't use them - the audiences stay away."

Alison frowned. "That's not fair."

"No, it isn't." Summer sighed.

The journalist suddenly remembered the tape recorder and pointed at it. Summer nodded, and she resumed recording.

"So why do you do it?" asked Alison.

"Do what?"

"Own your own circus. Keep on touring."

"It's in the blood," said Summer simply. "And," she gave Alison a wry smile, "I don't know how to do anything else."

As if regretting her sudden candour, the ringmaster looked away. "Have you had enough?" She indicated the empty plate.

"Oh, yes. That was great, thanks."

"Good. Because we've got quite a few introductions to get through, not to mention photographs."

Alison stood up at once. "Point me at 'em," she said brightly, pleased when the remark earned her a laugh from Summer.

The dark woman led the way out of the cook wagon.

***

Summer managed to prise Ruud and Jan Dekker away from their instruments and get them to talk to Alison. At first wary, the brothers soon opened up under the journalist's genial questioning, revealing a sheepish passion for Country and Western music that was news to Summer. Tonio and Marcello were glad to take a break from rehearsing, and were soon posing and flexing their rippling muscles while a suitably awed Alison took photographs. And Egor and Maks abandoned their discussion - heated, as always - of ways to improve their act and were only too happy to educate Alison in the intricacies and history of clown makeup.

Summer found watching Alison work relaxing, and she was letting the good natured banter flow over her, when Pyotr came running up, breathless.

"It's Cheslav," he said, without preamble. "He's sprained his wrist."

"Shit!"

"What's wrong?" Alison had come over to see what the aerialist's gloomy expression and Summer's unguarded exclamation were about.

"One of the catchers has sprained his wrist," explained Summer.

"Catchers?"

"A trapeze artist who catches," she said absently. Pyotr was looking expectantly at her. "The routine's the same?"

He nodded. "We added a few frills, but the basic moves are unchanged."

"Okay. Give me five minutes."

Summer regarded a bewildered Alison. "You'll have to look after yourself for the next hour, I'm afraid. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Uh, no. But...um, Summer, what are you going to be doing?"

"Taking Cheslav's place."

Alison's eyes widened. "Up on the trapeze? But I thought you were the ringmaster."

"I have many skills," said Summer nonchalantly.

#xena #Xena Warrior Princess #Xena/Gabrielle #uber #uberfic #mature #author: Barbara Davies

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insanityclause · 4 years

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Just months ago, following a critically acclaimed run at London's Harold Pinter Theatre, the four-person cast of Betrayal all made their Broadway debuts. One of the four was Eddie Arnold.

With poetic precision, rich humor, and an extraordinary emotional force, Betrayal charts a compelling seven-year romance, thrillingly captured in reverse chronological order. Arnold brings humor to the revered Pinter play, not only starring as the Waiter, but also understudying 'Jerry' and 'Robert'- roles played by stage and screen stars Charlie Cox and Tom Hiddleston.

Before Betrayal, Eddie starred in stage productions of Hamlet, The Vote, Journey's End, Jumpy, Saki. His film credits include: Mary Queen of Scots, Dead in October, Guardians, The List. Television credits include: "People Just Do Nothing," "Sticks and Stones," "De Infiltrant," "Man in an Orange Shirt," "The Vote."

As the play begins its final weeks on Broadway (closing on December 8, 2019), Eddie checked in with BroadwayWorld to reflect on the show's journey so far and how he is preparing to say goodbye to Broadway.

I know that a lot has happened in the past year, from opening in London to coming here... has it all hit you yet that you're really on Broadway?

I don't think it will hit me until it's too late and I get back home and say, "Oh no, it's over!" [Laughs] I feel like I'm living in this hyper-reality of the world that I used to be in. London was so incredible and such a lucky experience to get to share the stage with these three geniuses, and to be directed by Jamie [Lloyd], and to speak Harold Pinter's lines. But to then have the opportunity to come to New York, which I've only been on holiday to, and be able to come and offer it up to a new set of eyes is incredible. The American audience gets to experience it in a different way now. It was all so incredibly lucky. I feel like i've been floating on this bubble of happiness the whole five months I've been here. I've fallen in love with this city.

You're now a few months into the run. How has it been going at the Jacobs since opening night?

We are definitely all counting our lucky stars every night that we got this lovely, beautiful theatre that we've been invited to perform in. The audiences have been so receptive and so responsive. The funny thing is that the play has so many different threads that you can follow throughout, that an audience can be laughing hysterically one night and almost silent the next night... and yet they are just as into it at the end. They end up getting lost in the words and liking or disliking one of the characters for whatever reason. Or the next night someone else becomes vilified or loved or pitied. Each time it is so different.

It's really beautiful to see that every night, because I get to listen to it through the relays for about two thirds of the show. I get to watch how the audience is gauging it and how the actors are honing in on parts of each scene and working it in a different way. It really pumps me up. Like a football team has "Eye of the Tiger," I get to listen to Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox and Zawe Ashton perform scenes 1-6.

The magic of live theatre! Every time is something different...

Coming into the show in a later scene, in a production where the other characters don't leave the stage, I always get this beautiful feeling as the audience turns and watches me walk on. They're going, "Who the heck is that guy and why is he on stage?" And then it moves to, "Oh, ok! Here is a new dynamic that we haven't seen that will spice things up." They warm very quickly. I think Pinter has written it in a really great spot, where all of these characters that have been onstage before have been firing at each other constantly. Now suddenly, they have this new person who they can direct all of their anger and sadness and annoyance at. He's not going to beaten down that easily though!

This being a drama, with some comedic moments, you're the biggest moment of comic relief in the play. Is there pressure in that?

There's never any pressure going on because you've got to live in the reality of the moment- there are these very angry, posh men in front of you, who are trying their best to conceal their feelings for each other, especially with the information and power they hold over each other. So I've been caught up in this very awkward conversation and how do I talk my way out of it as quickly and effectively as possible? And of course they keep going in berating me. The comedy is really written into it already. So I just try to go into it as naturally as possible. Sometimes people laugh! At the end of the day you just have to be truthful to what you're playing and hopefully the writing and direction will help you out when you're not firing on all cylinders.

Were you intimidated at all at the beginning of the rehearsal process in London?

I had seen a lot of Jamie's work before. Three Days of Rain was such an incredible production and I had seen lots of the Pinter stuff as well. Obviously he is very big director who has done a lot of acclaimed work in London. Then the other guys, if you don't know who they are, you've been living with your head in the sand. At the end of the day I just wanted to nail the part as much as possible.

And luckily for someone like myself and others in this industry, between jobs, you serve at bars or restaurants. It's part of being a gigging actor. I made sure that I brought all of that experience- how many times I've bitten my lip at someone dropping their food and looking to me to pick it up... I thought, I can do this. I've done it before. It's actually a lot more pleasant this way because I can do it with lovely people and we can have a laugh about it in the end.

So intimidated wasn't it... more like honored. I'm so happy to have been allowed to perform and learn. You learn so much just from watching actors of this much talent and ability. Hopefully some of it will seep in and I'll be able to take it to my next job.

Have the four of you become close?

Oh yes, we've had a lovely time!

Your Halloween costumes were incredible.

Oh! They were great, weren't they? Captain America fit the bill for me. And I had to come out first as the leader of the Avengers. But we had so much fun dressed up like that. It was pure laughs backstage.

You've got a lot of time offstage throughout the course of the play. How do you occupy yourself?

I've read quite a few books! Right now I'm halfway through Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It is about 800 pages and people call it the most remarkable achievement of the modern era of novel-writing. Then I've got another called A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. That one is about 700 pages long! So I'm trying to eat my way through both of those.

Then Dylan [S. Wallach] and Jesmille [Darbouze] are right above me. We get to hang out and catch up, which is lovely. We watch the show and run lines once or twice a week. Then I get to chill in pants and wait for my turn to go on.

So you have your own dressing room?

Yes! I bought a couple of plants to zhuzh it up, but I'm going to be really sad to leave it. It's been home for the last five months and it feels very much a part of me. I have very quickly adapted to life here.

What have you enjoyed the most about being a New Yorker?

Everyone is so incredibly welcoming. Also, New York has the best Italian food ever- I love Italian food. I still haven't bee to the Bronx, where I'm told the proper, old-school Italian restaurants are. That is definitely on my list of things to do before we finish.

Also, there are all these sports that don't even exist in England, like basketball and American football, baseball, ice hockey. I've been to see the Knicks and the Mets! I'm really trying to soak up every but of this American lifestyle before it gets taken away from me. [Laughs]

Have you gotten to see any other shows?

Oh goodness, yes! We saw Sea Wall/A Life, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge. That was incredible. In the same way as our play, it felt so natural and timeless. It was so beautifully acted. I went to see Dear Evan Hansen as well. That was phenomenal. Tom and I went to see it and then we've been singing the songs ever since. We're backstage singing our hearts out! That kind of acting, where you come on and sing for two and a half hours... it seems like an alien thing to me. I cannot imagine ever being to do that. How do they do that?

So doing a musical is not on your bucket list?

It might be on my bucket list, but I don't think that anyone would come to see it! [Laughs]

With just a few weeks until the end of the show's run, what are you most looking forward to in the time you have left?

I want to eat as much American food as I can! [Laughs] No, it's about not taking anything for granted. Everything becomes so happy and easy until these last few weeks and now I have to start saying goodbye to people. I need to make sure I've said thank you to about 500 people who have made this experience what it is. I need to seek them out and tell them personally. Any of my free time will be spent hunting people down to show my appreciation.

#Eddie Arnold #Betrayal #interview #i hope Eddie gets lots of work out of this

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thirstygirlclub · 5 years

Text

Duchess - 15

Chapter 15 – Your Duchess

“Come on, come on!” Bambi was saying to me, shaking some lace in my face, “Just try it on! I want you to look amazing for your debut!”

We had spent hours in Stockton looking for the perfect thing for me to wear on my first night. Bambi wanted me to wear small bikinis or weird metallic booty shorts and bras but none of them were my style. I wanted to look classy and pretty and girly. We were in a lingerie store because she was getting tired of me being so picky in the dance store where she got all of her outfits.

“What’s your signature thing going to be?” She asked, looking over the various different things on the walls, “Like, I always wear tacky Halloween costumes, Kitty always wears the cat stuff, what about you?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged and picked up loads of stockings because all of the girls wore them, “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“You’re going on tonight!”

I shrugged again. There had kind of been a lot going on with Mr Lowman in the hospital and I was still waitressing every hour I could so I didn’t really have time to think about dancing. I was literally so tired all the time I couldn’t think about anything. I didn’t even think about what my name was going to be. Apparently that was a big thing.

“I just wanna look… expensive,” I told her eventually, “like I used too, you know? Like, how I looked at parties in LA.”

I was looking so plain nowadays but I blame Jerry for that so much. I mean, he was the one that cut up all my good clothes and only left me with track pants and a pair of shorts. The only nice dress I had was the one I wore for Mr Lowman’s party and I couldn’t wear that to dance in.

“I’ve got it! Stay here, try some things on. I want to see at least three cute outfits to match your shoes when I get back,” Bambi instructed me firmly before turning to leave quickly.

Where was she going?

But, I did what I was told and looked around the store. Everything was pretty but I wasn’t sure if it was pretty enough. I wanted to make lots of money. I know I had boobs and a butt which, apparently, men liked but I don’t think that was good enough. I wanted to look nice.

Eventually, I found some stuff that was pretty. I picked up a beige bra and panty set with those things that hold stocking ups, I know lots of the girls wear them and the men like it; a pale grey sheer and lace body suit thing that would hide literally nothing when I was wearing it and some nude coloured stockings. It was all really pretty and literally nothing I would wear in real life but I guess I would be a different person when I was on stage. Bambi had taught me how to be cool and sexy and stuff which was so not me at all.

As I was paying, I heard the sound of high heels clopping towards me with the sound of shopping bags. I looked over my shoulder to see Bambi coming over with a massive grin on her face, holding a bag with a name I didn’t recognise it on it. It looked expensive.

“Here!” She exclaimed, “For you!”

“What? Bambi-” I stuttered, shaking my head and pushing the bag back towards me.

“Psh! Just take it! It’s a gift, ok? I wanted to get these for you.”

There was more than one thing in there? I hesitantly took it and looked inside. As soon as I did my mouth went dry and I lost all the air in my lungs. Inside I saw two boxes wrapped with a beautiful white ribbon. I recognised it as jewellery; all my stuff used to come wrapped like that.

“Come on, let’s go for lunch and you can open it!”

I nodded numbly and followed her through this weird city that wasn’t really anything like I was used to a city being. It was quieter and looked more like a big town than a city. We sat at a table in a cute restaurant, ordered food and drinks before I was ordered to open my presents. Bambi was bouncing in her seat and clapping as I pulled the two boxes out of the bag, slipped off the ribbon and lifted the lid and just wanted to shriek in excitement. Inside the first one was a choker covered in rhinestones that looked so much like diamonds. It was about two inches thick and made of a solid metal with a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other. It looked almost like a collar. Then, in the bigger box, sat a crown. Like… an actual crown. It was gold with the same kinds of stones in as the necklace.

“Duchess,” Bambi said with a smile, “that’s gonna be your name. You’re gonna look expensive and all the men are gonna try and impress you with how much money they can give you.”

“Thank you,” I said, almost crying, “Bambi I don’t know what to say.”

Bambi shrugged as if it was nothing, “I wanted to. You helped all the girls when we needed it so I wanted to get this for you. It’s gonna look so pretty with your hair all up and everything. You can borrow my extensions to make it thicker. You’re gonna make so much money.”

(((((((())))))))

That evening, before the club opened for the dancers, I let Bambi do my makeup and hair. She had curled my hair neatly and piled it up on my head then clipped in extensions to make it thicker and nestled the crown in it. My makeup was heavy with big eyelashes and pink lips. I wore the less revealing outfit I chose, strapped myself into the crazy big shoes that all the girls wore. When I looked in the mirror I barely recognised myself as the person I was in Charming and more like who I was when I was doing pageants; the makeup and the crown helped.

“What do you think?” Bambi asked with her hands on my shoulders, “Your tits look great in that bra.”

“I- yeah,” I nodded.

I did look good. I felt good.

“Do you know if Mr Lowman is here yet?” I asked, peeping through the curtains to look at the gathering crowd of guys, “I can’t see him.”

“Who’s that?” Bambi asked, easily looking over my head, “You’re sugar daddy?”

I laughed and shook my head, “He’s my bestest friend! He said he’d be here.”

“He’s probably forgotten; men are pigs. They never keep their promises.”

“Nuh-uh! Not Mr Lowman. He’s a really nice man.”

She huffed. She had loads of guy troubles lately and would talk about it but I had literally no idea what to say to her when she complained about them. But Mr Lowman wasn’t just a guy. He was a nice guy. Maybe I could set them up? No. Mr Lowman was my friend and Bambi was my friend; I didn’t want them to be friends too. I wasn’t very good with sharing. What if Mr Lowman liked Bambi more than me and then didn’t want to be my friend anymore?

“You’re on now Babe,” Bambi said, moving back from the curtains and pulling me back, “you can’t wait for him forever. Come on. Madame’s announcing you.”

I frowned, still unable to see my friend but I knew I had no choice but to go on without him being there. Bambi perfected my hair and made sure my stockings were even and dusted this glitter thing over my cleavage before I went to the entrance to the stage to wait.

“We have a special surprise for you gentlemen this evening,” Madame was saying, “because we have a new girl for your viewing pleasure. But be gentle with her, she’s very nervous. Are you ready?”

The crowd cheered and my heart thudded in my chest and in my ears. It was the same feeling before I would go on to do the talent performance of the pageants or the swimsuit section. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was nervous because I knew that after I danced on the stage I would have to go into the crowd and dance for the men. I know I had been taught really well by Bambi though.

“Then welcome to the stage, your Duchess!”

I stepped out, put on my pageant girl smile and opened my arms wide; as if welcoming them to the club as they cheered for me. Then I went into dancing in the enticing way Bambi had taught me; drawing my hands over my chest and stomach, moving my hips slowly then sinking to my knees in front of the gathering crowd of men. At first, the way they reached for me scared me but then I realised what they were doing. They were putting money into my stockings, my garter belt and trying to reach my bra but I was too high up for that. The ones that didn’t tuck money onto my clothes threw it on the stage under me and one man was just patiently holding it up to me. I recognised the hand that held it and then the arm attached to that hand.

Mr Lowman had come.

I smiled at him, wrinkled my nose and slipped the money out of his hand to then throw it up into the air so it fell down onto me. They seemed to like that so I reached down, grabbed a pile of money with both hands and threw it up so it rained down over me. I’ve never been happier to see crumpled up dollar bills in all my life. I wasn’t that good at counting but I could easily see that there was at least $200 there plus whatever was stuffed into my underwear. It was amazing. I had literally made one weeks worth of waitressing wages in less than 10 minutes.

When my dances were over for a while I gathered my money up and ran backstage with a quick glance back at Mr Lowman. Bambi grabbed me and shook me slightly, grinning madly and laughing.

“You did so good! They fell in love with you!” She exclaimed, “Come on I’ve got you a bag for your cash so you can count it up when you go bac and get changed.”

I nodded, too excited and buzzed to say anything, and stuffed all the money into the tote bag. Bambi helped me take it out of my clothes quickly because I had to go onto the floor in like 2 minutes. She came out with me, chatting happily while all I could think was how much I wasn’t looking forward to dancing for the men.

“Heads up,” Bambi whispered, suddenly different from how excited she was before, “I think you’ve got your first dance. He’s a handsome one too.”

I looked over to where she was nodding and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Mr Lowman stood with his hands in his pockets and smiling slightly. I bounced on the toes of my big shoes and walked over to him, took his left arm in my hands and dragged him to a chair.

“You can be my first, Mr Lowman,” I whispered to him and pushed his chest gently so he would sit down before putting my hands on his legs so I could lean in and talk in his ear without other people hearing, “don’t worry, you don’t have to pay.”

“No,” Mr Lowman said, almost sounding tense, “here.”

He handed me some money and wouldn’t let me refuse it. I just shrugged and went to take it but he moved it just out of my reach with a sly smile when I frowned at him. Before I could ask what he was doing he slid the bills into the garter on my left leg, except it wasn’t the front; he hand leaned forwards and put it in the one around the back just under my butt. I rolled my eyes at him then started to do what Bambi taught me. I moved my hips over his lap but hovered so I never touched him, that was a big no-no when dancing for them, then put my hands on his knees to gently stroke down his shins towards his boots so my butt was basically in his face. I took my hands away from him while I turned to kneel between his legs then put them back on his knees. His face looked weird, like tense and stressed, and his hands were in stiff fists on his legs. Was I that bad?

The song ended and I blinked up at him.

“Did I do ok?” I asked, nodding slightly.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “you did good.”

“Amazing! If you wait around for like two songs I can give you your money back, ok? Let me just get some more so people don’t realise.”

“It’s fine. It’s yours.”

But Mr Lowman didn’t have much money. I didn’t want to take any more from him so I shook my head and firmly told him I’d give it back to him anyway. Before he could argue with me, another man had come over and asked if I was available. I offered him my hand so he could help me off the ground. I squeezed Mr Lowman’s fist lightly to tell him I’d see him later before this other man led me away to a table so I could dance for him too. He handed me $30 and I didn’t feel bad about taking the money now because this man was just some guy; I didn’t care if he had money or not all I cared about was if he was giving it to me. I slid it into my stocking and started to dance, swaying my hips over him and turning around and touching my chest in front of his face.

I’m not sure how sexy I was being but guys literally queued up. Every time I finished one dance and turned to find someone else to dance for there was another guy waving money in my face and asking me to dance for them.

On Mr Lowman’s second dance, an older man hovered behind me and I decided to practise flirting. I wasn’t attracted to this guy; he wasn’t my type whatsoever, but he looked like one of Daddy’s friends that would have had money. I mean, I’m sure I’d need to flirt at some point in my life anyway.

“How much for a dance?” The man asked when I turned to look at him.

I threw the curls that had fallen from my hairstyle over my shoulder and perched on Mr Lowman’s leg. I’d never sat on a boys knee before so I was a bit uncomfortable but Bambi told me that even if I feel weird and unsure that I just needed to play it off as good as possible. I needed to act fine even though I wasn’t and I think I’ve been getting really good at that over my time in this town.

“How much do you think I’m worth?” I asked coyly, “Impress me.”

This had the man reaching for his wallet even though he was already holding money. I’m gonna use that line in the future for sure. I leaned back against Mr Lowman’s chest while I waited for this guy to count out his money. Mr Lowman made a weird noise and I worried that I had hurt him, he had literally just got out of hospital after being stabbed, but I had to keep being professional and pretend I didn’t notice. His hands went around my waist slightly then down my hips over my garter belt and to my thighs. I felt weird. I felt warm and restless and tingly but before I could start squirming I was handed $150.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood from Mr Lowman’s lap and looped my arm through the other man’s and walked with him to the small sectioned off area behind a curtain. I could see Bambi already dancing with another man in the next alcove over.

“So,” The Guy said, trying to touch my bra but I moved subtly out of the way, “what’s your name?”

“Duchess,” I murmured to him, dodging out of his reach again.

“No. Your real name.”

We weren’t allowed to use our real names for safety reasons. It didn’t matter what I told him though he still tried to take off my clothes and get my real name out of me. I glanced over at Bambi and saw that she was looking at me and watching the man carefully while she danced. I nodded to her to tell her that I was alright. I didn’t want to do private dances anymore; only on stage and out on the floor.

It seems that men liked me. I kind of knew that anyway, they always looked at me and asked me out when I was waitressing, but they especially liked me when I was half naked and giving them all of my attention. Bambi had told me to only ever look at the man I was dancing for and no one else; they had to believe I was only there for them. That was kind of hard though when others watched me dance and tried to get my attention so they could know if I would dance for them next.

At the end of the night, at 2am, my tote bag was full of money and I was so sleepy. I changed into the comfy shorts I wore for bed and shirt; happy to be more covered up.

I really didn’t want to walk home because my feet were hurting me so much but I think a couple more nights dancing and I could afford a cheap car; then I can start saving up to rent somewhere for me and Jack and then I can save to move back to LA. I said goodbye to the other girls and hitched my dance bag (the one with all the lighters and stuff in) onto my shoulder to leave the club. As I passed the bar, I picked up 3 matchbooks and put them in my bag without thinking. There were a few men still wandering around outside but a smile came onto my face when I saw Mr Lowman chewing on a toothpick he’d got from the bar and leaning against the wall next to the door. He looked like a cowboy.

“You’re still here?” I asked but wasn’t unhappy about it, “Aren’t you sleepy?”

“Making sure you’re ok,” he shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall.

“Oh? You’re walking me home?”

He nodded slowly and started walking beside me. I talked about the night and all the people I danced for and the money I had made. I hadn’t counted it yet but I was saving that for when I got home. Mr Lowman nodded, listened and laughed with me as we walked. Then, when we got back to Mr Chibs’ house he walked to the door with me.

“Are you coming in?” I asked, turning to look at him.

“Yeah.”

I nodded. Mr Chibs had made a key for me since I was going to be staying with them for a while. He even put a really big, cute and fluffy keychain on it for me. It was so cute. When I threw my bag on the bed all the lighters in the bottom rattled but I don’t think Mr Lowman noticed. He greeted Romeo in a hushed voice because Mr and Mrs Chibs were sleeping upstairs. I flopped back onto my bed and kicked off my shoes.

“I don’t think we have any food. We should have got some, huh?” I asked, looking at him as he sat beside me.

“I got this.”

Like a magician, he reached into his leather vest and pulled out a foil wrapped object. I think I could smell grilled cheese and my stomach immediately started growling. When he opened it both me and Romeo were getting closer. Where had he got it from? It was still steaming like he had just made it. It was even cut into triangles; my favourite. He handed me one half which I gladly took from him.

“Where did you get it?” I asked, before I bit into it.

“The diner. It’s open all night.”

That was good to know.

(((((((())))))))

We sat cross legged on my bed while we counted out my money. Mr Lowman was really fast at counting money. Eventually, I just let him do it because I kept losing count and getting confused. It was all arranged in neat stacks on the mattress and seeing it all made me so happy.

“$955,” Mr Lowman concluded, “not bad.”

“Not bad?! That’s like… a new pair of Louboutin’s! What could I buy? Maybe a dance bag… or a new pair of dance shoes or-”

“Maybe you could pay some money to Chibs for rent and food.”

He didn’t say it nastily, more like he was reminding me. I had never had to think of things like that before so it just didn’t come into my mind. I wanted to give Mr Chibs all of the money though because he had helped me so much.

“That’s a good idea,” I yawned, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

I put all the money back into the bag and then lay back on my pillows while Mr Lowman stood and moved behind the couch. I heard the door of the linen closet open and close again.

“Are you staying again?” I asked with another yawn.

“Yeah. That ok?”

“Sure. It’s not my house though so if Mr Chibs comes down and tells us off I’m gonna blame you. I don’t know what his rules about sleepovers are yet.”

Mr Lowman breathed out a laugh. I took my bra off from under my shirt; unclasping it from the back and pulling the straps out of the arms before slipping it out of the bottom. Taking off your bra is the best feeling in the world, I swear. I kept my eyes shut while he changed then opened them again when I felt him get under the blankets. He looked just as cute as he had last night when he was tucked in up to his chin.

“Does your mom mind you not being home?” I asked as I settled into my pillows. “I mean, you only came out of the hospital, like, yesterday and you’ve not slept at your house.”

“Nah, Aunt Maya is still there. She’s in my room so I got nowhere to sleep.”

“The couch?”

“Rather sleep here,” Mr Lowman shrugged.

I liked it when he slept here too.

Happy/3rd Person POV

Chibs had grown used to going down for his morning coffee and seeing Catherine asleep in his living room. His routine had become to gently pat her head to wake her up for work and then let her little dog out in the garden while he had his first cigarette of the day. What he wasn’t used too was going to sleep thinking Catherine would be alone and then waking up to find someone else asleep beside her but not only beside her; wrapped up in his arms under the blanket. From the stairs, their heads were hidden behind the back of the couch but there was no mistaking the bigger figure beside her. He thundered down the stairs, about to rip whoever it was out of his kind of daughter’s bed only to see who it was.

Happy lay peacefully in the sofa bed with his arms wrapped tightly around Catherine with her head tucked under his chin; like she was a teddy bear. Calming down, Chibs puffed out a relieved breath and went about his morning routine.

“Fucking lighters,” he mumbled when he looked for the one he usually kept on top of his cigarettes by the door.

Happy woke up to the sound of clattering in the kitchen and the smell of coffee. He opened his eyes to see blonde curls spread over the pillow beside him and he couldn’t help smiling. At some point in the night Catherine had rolled closer to him and he hadn’t been able to resist pulling her even closer. She was so small and soft and cuddly.

“Morning Lover,” he heard Chibs say with a smile in his voice.

He looked over his shoulder he saw Chibs sat on the armchair wearing his old man pyjamas and a newspaper across his lap. He was smirking.

“Oh,” Happy said roughly with a small cough, “hey.”

“How did she do?”

Happy looked back down at the girl in his arms and smiled. She looked entirely different than she had in the club. He preferred her this way although seeing her dressed like that had definitely made him feel something that was less than PG.

“Amazing.” Happy told Chibs with a nod.

“Did you have fun?”

Happy scoffed as if to say that it was obvious that he had fun. Catherine started stirring and he had to reluctantly let go of her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned adorably before looking at his chest with a small frown then suddenly looked up at him with wide eyes. He loved it when she looked at him like that.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked and moved back across the mattress.

“Morning sweetheart,” Chibs said almost smugly.

She gasped, sat up and then looked at him with wide eyes.

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry Mr Chibs! I didn’t know your rules about sleepovers and- and-”

“Shhh! It’s too early for shrieking,” Chibs laughed and winced, “it’s alright. How much did you make?”

As Happy sat up, Catherine bounced out of bed and grabbed her money bag from the floor with a small laugh before practically skipping over to her dad and started to empty the money over his head. Chibs covered his coffee with his hand then laughed as well, watching as the almost $1000 was shaken over him. She told him excitedly about how much she had made and about how her first night went. It was good to see her so happy.

Happy made sure to remember how happy she looked when she lay back on the stage the night before and dropped money all over her body. He liked seeing her smile. He especially liked seeing her smile when she was covered in money and barely clothed. But, she wasn’t a stripper at the moment; she was just a girl seeking approval from someone that she thought of like a father figure. Chibs understood, told her that she did really well and he was proud of her before touching her cheek with a very affectionate smile. Happy couldn’t help thinking how angry her real dad would be when he found out she was a stripper. Perhaps it was for the best that he had disappeared.

Catherine didn’t look directly at Happy for the rest of the morning which he found funny; she would dance in underwear and be seductive for him but waking up cuddled up to him made her blush? He purposefully spent the morning shirtless just because he liked making her blush. Which she did almost every time she looked in his direction.

Surprise Bitch – This was only a little chapter. I didn’t really know how to end it but really wanted to write about her first night of dancing! There was no way I could carry it on in a way that made sense.

Happy finally be making some moves even though it was when she was giving him a lap dance.

Prepare yourselves kiddo’s because it’s gonna start getting dramatic from here. Now, Catherine is going to be bobbing along happily in her life making money but behind the scenes there’s going to be a lot going on so we’ll be seeing it more from the Sons perspective.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one. I’ll see you soon.

Love, Doe xxxxx

#duchess #happy lowman #happy lowman x oc #happy lowman imagine #happy lowman headcanon #happy lowman fanfiction #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy fanfiction #sons of anarchy imagine #sons of anarchy headcanon

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comicteaparty · 4 years

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November 4th-November 10th, 2019, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 4th , 2019 to November 10th , 2019. The chat focused on Princess Pop by carcarchu.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Princess Pop by carcarchu~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until November 10th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret?

FeatheryJustice

Just started reading but I wish I knew more about the poor girl who left her spot for Kizumi. Must be so disappointed later.

carcarchu

@FeatheryJustice I actually have plans for her but it'll will take forever to get to them at the pace i'm going

FeatheryJustice

Ohhh! I'm glad, I want her to be actually really good and it's like the feels bad moment if she just was able to stay in line long enough she would have been able to get in XD

Also so far I don't trust Rain, bubbly girls make me scared XD

carcarchu

ok this is somewhat of a spoiler but goldie (girl who's spot got taken by kizumi)'s entire character gimmick is that she has horrendous luck. in season 1 she tried to audition but got horrible food poisoning and couldn't make it too. basically her greatest enemy is herself

FeatheryJustice

RIPPO I love her

RebelVampire

@carcarchu Just so you know, spoilers get archived along with the rest of the chat. So make sure it's something you don't mind the public knowing before posting spoilers.

carcarchu

Yep it's no problem! Thanks for letting me know!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story?

snuffysam

3) Hmm... I'd say my favorite character is... Luna. She's abrasive, but she's very practical rather than just being mean for mean's sake, which I like. Like, I find it interesting that Luna's deciding to be Kizumi's friend even after she (allegedly) tried to screw her over, because Luna knows Kizumi can be helpful to her. 4) My guess as to how Yuna's story plays into Kizumi's story is that Yuna sees herself in Kizumi. Like, she sees the potential for Kizumi to go beyond like she did (which I'm guessing is why she was disappointed in Kizumi's team performance). As for what specifically caused that change... no idea. Could be something like "she sings from the heart", or perhaps a really rigorous singing practice regimen?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything?

jaciopara

5) any panel with Luna being a snob in it. Shes my fav. We stan a queen 6) shes gotta have some kind of like,, tragic my parents were celebrities bg or like a bad experience with kizumis kind of hopeful personality

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene so far has probably been the group session where Kizumi enacts her plan to have everyone just skip solos. It was nice to see Kizumi and Luna work together, and I kind of liked that someone not Luna was the "villain" in that moment. It really spoke to the fact that no matter how nice all the girls might be, they're all also rivals. 2) I feel like Kizumi must have some past as a celebrity. Either through her parents, or maybe she had been a failed child star. Or maybe she was a baby in a diaper commercial. I kind of feel like this isn't her first time singing though, granted probably the first time singing for people on such a large scale. Which I think this must be how she knows Ritsu. Ritsu recognizes her for showbiz way back in the day.

3) My favorite character is probably Kizumi. I like her overly polite attitude, because I kind of relate to that in a lot of ways. That and I respect her attitude to just want everyone to get along. I also like that this is kind of a double-edged sword, where sure she can play peace keeper, but then she get walked all over and dragged into contests she didnt want to be a part of. So I just really like this cute and sweet aspect about her. 4) I feel like Yuna must have had some transcendental experience. Like maybe before she wasn't inspired and that although she tried her best, she didn't have the right motivation to win. And then she met a singer who really inspired her and who changed how she viewed singing in general. And instead of something that sounds nice, she strived to make her singing something that changed the hearts and minds of those around her. As for how this plays into Kizumi's story, given this mysterious Nagato figure, I assume that is who changed Yuna's life. The joke dark theory I have is a storyline ripoff from one of my fave mangas where the singer made herself sing better by tapping into sad emotions. Which she made herself sad by killing people close to her. So maybe that's what Yuna did.

5) It's definitely the illustrations from Yuna's performance. https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/chapter-12/viewer?title_no=173793&episode_no=15 I like the color schemes used, but legit, I am super biased this time in terms of favorites. I just honestly really love Yuna's outfit. I could look at that outfit all day. <3 6) I feel like Ritsu was happy go-lucky, maybe kind of like Kizumi, and then got super betrayed and super burned because showbiz is cut throat. And I also feel like she must have people around her who have put intense pressure that she has to succeed as an idol. So Ritsu feels trapped while also incapable of showing trust. So this makes her cyncical and mean because that is not a fun way to live. I feel like Ritsu's mind could be changed, but I think she either has to be convinced to trust again or convinced that showbiz is dumb and do things that make you happy. I feel like either is a challenge, but I do think Kizumi could help her since they have this mysterious past connection.

carcarchu

@RebelVampire THANK YOU for your long and thoughtful comments!! i won't say how close you got on some of your theories but it was a joy to read them!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What do you think this story has to teach us about rivalry, competition, and how people handle it? In what ways do you think rivalry will get the better of the characters, and what ways will they triumph over those obstacles?

redbeanbunny

1. Favorite scene is definitely Kizumi making the plan proposal to Luna, and their meeting afterwards. It's one of the most intriguing personality bits we've seen of Kizumi, and it's cool to see that Luna isn't a cookie-cutter prissy rival. Kizumi is a nice girl but she's not just passive! I'm so interested in what Kizumi will bring to the table in the future! >:3 (alsoluna'soutfitsareallstylish) 2/4/6. I think Kizumi may be related to Nagato, the singer Yuna likes, whether he was a relative or maybe someone who she met up with randomly and joined during singing sessions. IDK, maybe in a park somewhere lol? There's no way she would just be a wildcard singer with no training or interest! Yuna was probably fibbing a little bit about seeing herself in Kizumi, she really made a connection between Kizumi and that singer even if it was just through her voice or style. Maybe Kizumi didn't want to be judged for being related to a celebrity. Or maybe... when she was a child she accidently did something in the past that prevented Nagato from continuing to sing. Depending on what it was it could possibly make people angry with her and she avoided a great opportunity for it. Is it really a coincidence her home is so near the filming site of this contest? :3c I think Ritsu knows about it from childhood bc showbiz and is angry at Kizumi for giving up on something she worked hard to get but was easily given to Kizumi, and maybe she knew Nagato too so thought that Kizumi wasted his efforts on her. Maybe she was involved secretly maybe accidentally and this contributes to her anxiety? Who knows.... but someone is definitely putting pressure on Ritsu maybe forcing her to stay in the biz.(edited)

redbeanbunny

3. My favorite character so far is Luna. She's kind of mean, but she's direct, confident and knows what she wants. Not to say she's not complex, but right now being straightforward makes her stand out from the cast. But my favorite design is definitely Yuna. I think I need to know more about everyone. 5. Probably the last panel of Ritsu in the group concert. Her pose is so powerful. It's so different from her backstage anxiety, makes me wonder about her! (I also love the endcard of Kizumi in a black dress and pink teddy jacket ) 7. It was short, but definitely Luna and Kizumi for the aforementioned reasons. They both have potential to be successful for different aspects and really compliment each other! Like Rain is nice too, but I feel like she doesn't have much going for her right now and it's also a reason she didn't have the presence to bring together her team. Marina is hilarious (I'm sorry for laughing at your suffering Marina but I can also relate to people not pulling weight on a big production T^T...) and I thought the scenes where she was reacting to Kizumi to be great, even if it's more as commentary than them interacting. 8. I think there will be lessons about taking what you're given and working with it to solve problems and move forward. You can only go so far without support, but you can't just go with the flow with others. You can already see the differences in the group elimination. I'm not really sure what the winner of Princess Pop gets, but maybe the girls will find something else out of their time on the show.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Who exactly is Nagato, and why is Yuna so obsessed with them? What does this have to do with Kizumi? Additionally, how might Yuna’s obsession bias how she judges the contest, and what consequences might there be for that?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Kizumi and Luna interact the most. At first, I thought they were gonna have the typical bully/rival relationship. But then not only did Kizumi willingly say "Hey, let's work together," but then Luna through a curve ball saying, "Hey, let's be friends." Nothing about their relationship is typical for what their characters would normally be expected to do, so I like this aspect of figuring out exactly what their relationship is. 8) I feel the story shows us that there are two ways we can go about rivalry. We can use rivalry to drive us to a better place and use it as motivation to do better, in a respectful and friendly manner. Or, we can let rivalry and competition bring out the worst in us in the most self-absorbed way possible. Sadly, I think this comic is true to life in that we've seen a lot more of the worst than the best, and that when it comes to competition, we should probably prepare for the worst (and not think ourselves immune). I feel like the characters will are going to overcome the obstacle of having to hate your rival. But I think there's going to be lots and lots and lots of betrayals as characters have to pick between new friends theyve known a short time and their lifelong dreams.

9) I've really enjoyed the inclusion of bits from the last episodes in the new episodes at the very beginning. I know this is one of those things people will feel really mixed on, but I think in terms of not reading the comic in bulk, it's super helpful in the presentation. Sometimes people need a refresher if it's been a while, and the moments are pretty short so it doesn't hurt the bulk read all that much either. 10) As I theorized earlier, I think Nagato is someone who Yuna was moved by and influenced her own singing to the point she won the competition. I would say that maybe Kizumi is Nagato's reincarnation, but not sure that's the direction this story is going. Maybe Nagato is one of Kizumi's parents or something though. Also, yes. Yes this obsession will totally bias Yuna. We already saw it happen since she criticized for not being able to hear each singer individually. And I think the others will pick up on the fact she has a preference for Kizumi and get super mad at Kizumi for that. It's legit probably just gonna make Kizumi's life hell. ;_;

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general?

jestershark

11. I think this comic's strengths are definitely in the character interactions -- like all good idol competition shows! I also think one of the most compelling things is the subversion of some of the expectations that you have going in. 12. I think Luna is both interested in Kizumi and in it for her own purposes-- I think she's genuinely curious and interested in Kizumi, but maybe thinks of it as more of a self centered move.

redbeanbunny

9. I think a plus point is that everyone has a really unique style that i think matches their personalities, even ahen wearing different clothes. I also like when the artist tries to do something fancier with panels for moments like showcasing Ritsu in the group song or for Yuna singing. 11. I think the comic's strength is where some of our expectations of characters are challenged, while keeping it light-hearted though. 12. I think its probably that she's genuinely interested! I mean Kizumi technically reached out first after all. But she'll probably be okay with some messing and around and manip, but not malicious. Its competition. And you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer xD

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strengths are how it kind of defies expectations. There are a lot of moments in the comic where you think the story is gonna go one way based on past story flows and general character types. But then it doesn't. Instead, it takes you to a new place, so each plot point is really interesting to explore since the outcome keeps you on your toes. 12) I think Luna sees Kizumi as useful. So instead of trying to oust Kizumi from the start, she's decided keeping Kizumi in the competition longer is more interesting and more beneficial in the long term. As for this longterm benefit, it's hard to say. Maybe Luna feels that Kizumi's lack of cutthroat passion to slay the competition at all competition makes her sort of a weak leak when it comes down to individual competitions. So Luna can essentially focus on getting rid of the opponents she feels are stronger first and then easily oust the weaker links, so to speak. As for Luna backstory, I feel she's the type of person who must of had parents who put constant pressure on her and told her winning was the only important thing. So Luna developed a personality that was highly geared towards being self-confident, snobby, and a little bit manipulative, since those are the things most likely that have helped her in the past to win.

13) I am actually looking forward to Kizumi coming to a head with her roommate (whose name escapes me atm). But either way, I feel the roomie is not as innocent as she pretends, and I want to see their relationship pushed as the competition gets more heated and they both come to accept they can't both win. 14) I don't think it'll be Kizumi. I feel like though the experience will inspire Kizumi to go on to have a singing career, I think ultimately it'll be someone else who wins. As for who, I'm torn cause I need more backstory. I think it's gonna depend on who reason for singing is simultaneously sad but filled with surprisingly innocent and sincere passion. I feel like the winners who wanted a singing career will get that. But I think a lot more of the girls will discover showbiz sucks and instead pursue other things that fulfill them more. Cause kind of how we see through Ritsu, showbiz looks glamorous from the outside, but is 100% not for everyone and constantly exposes you and make you vulnerable. And I think they'll also learn you don't have to have a professional singing career to sing for fun and spread music around, especially when the internet is all powerful.

Kabocha

It's gonna take me some time to answer questions, but I'm going to answer them out of order! Huzzah! 14. At the end of the day, who do you think will win the current season of Princess Pop? Will it be Kizumi or someone else? What do you think will become of the winners and losers? You know, I'm kind of hoping it's Luna? Ritsu might have the skill, but I think being showbiz is going to destroy her emotionally. Kizumi may make it to finals, but I feel like she might just step back at some point for someone else to win. Seems like her type, especially since she's only going forward with this because her dad suggested it might be a good idea. (Besides, what happened to the REST of Kizumi's life, anyway?)

3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor? My favorite character... I like Rain, honestly. She's so cheerful, and has such starry eyes... ...Literally, too. She's a cute. A shame it looks like she's going home. I wonder if we'll see her some more? Maybe on the outside, she'll exchange numbers or contact info to talk to Kizumi.

2. What do you think Kizumi’s secret is that she seems to be hiding? Why is she convinced it would change how others saw her? Additionally, how does Ritsu know the secret and why is Ritsu willing to keep it a secret? I kind of wish I knew what her secret is! I feel like the audience drama could be heightened by knowing what Kizumi's deal is, and seeing what the potential fallout for the other girls knowing that is. In any case -- I feel like maybe she and Ritsu met in school, but Rebel's suggestion of her being a model or celebrity in the past makes sense too. Maybe there was a singing competition for school or somesuch, and Kizumi did well there, but Ritsu understands the stress of being popular and saw how it ate Kizumi then, and will probably eat her again. Or maybe the secret's just as simple as "Well, you took goldie's place" and that's it. And everyone kiiiinda knows that, but...

4. Given Yuna originally didn’t do so well at the beginning of her own season, what do you think changed how she sung and eventually caused her to win? How will this play a role in Kizumi’s story? Someone in her life died. ...I dunno. I don't think we have enough information at Yuna to really theorize, tbh. But I mean, clearly Yuna had something happen, and it made her want to change. So she did. It could just be realizing that the prize money coulda been used to help someone? Or having the career woulda been beneficial to meeting her goals? Who knows.

9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention? THE DRESSES Gawsh, they're cute! Just... hhh. Yuna's dress during her special performance kind of inspired me so maybe something will come of that. Who knows.

Kabocha

7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you? I really like Kat and Lobelia - and I'm curious to see how they play off one another as siblings. Will they do any sort of duet outside of the group? Will they simply go solo? What if one of them wins? How's that gonna affect their relationship?

Honestly, I can't see that going well in some regards, but hopefully they'll find a way to work it out since they're siblings.

Kabocha

6. What do you think Ritsu’s story is given how cynical and serious she is about the world of idols? Do you think her mind can be changed, or will she continue to suffer through everything? I'm inclined to think that Ritsu just has issues with getting panicky in crowds. It might not be anything more complicated than that, and she's just like, "LISTEN, if you don't do well with crowds, this is NOT THE JOB FOR YOU" But I suppose we'll seeeeee~.

Kabocha

12. Given recent events, why do you think Luna is suddenly interested in being Kizumi’s friend? Is it genuine, or does Luna have ulterior motives? What do you think Luna’s backstory is in general? You know, I wonder. Luna seems like the type who might avoid making friends just on principle. In competitions like these, it would be difficult to keep friendships made among contestants, so it's just better to be standoffish. I wonder if she expects Kizumi to be less likely to backstab her if they're friends? It's hard to tell.

mathtans

I thought the topic for the comic looked interesting and I needed a break from doing report cards so I'm going to participate this week. O.o Will peek at questions before other answers.

1. The scene where Kizumi calls her dad stands out to me, I think because it helped to ground everything in a sense of reality. Having parents is a thing. Also amusing that he was a fan of the show.

2. Kizumi is secretly an android. ... Okay, no, but not sure aside from probably relates to her family. Ritsu knows her from way back, so that makes sense, and I think all of them would hold off on saying things they could use for blackmail. O.o

3. I'm leaning towards Rain. I like her mix of seriousness and goofiness. Also, nice entrance ducking down from the bunk above.

4. Yuna may have been like Kizumi in terms of just going along for the heck of it, until she realized she might have a shot - or possibly didn't want to see someone else win. So that could connect.

5. I kind of liked the Halloween costumes, am I allowed to pick that even though it wasn't canon? Though in general I like how the art flows down the page, a bit like how one's eye would when looking at someone singing. And there's some neat extra arts at the end sometimes.

6. Ritsu may have family issues, could also be why she wouldn't out Kizumi for family issues. She may feel like she has to suffer for her art.

7. I rather like the Kizumi/Yuna interactions. Feels like there's always something under the surface there. What with Kizumi feeling like not measuring up and Yuna kind of dancing around straight answers.

8. I feel like the plan of "flying under the radar" works well when there's multiple rivals, as we kind of saw, but that only works for so long. Not sure what else it will get into. I could see some of the more naive characters falling for ruses.

Kabocha

Yuna? Straight answers!? That would involve Kizumi actually asking a direct question, too XD

mathtans

9. I guess I already mentioned the flowing down the page matching the tracking of an eye. I also think that some of the art reuse is well done, not simply as a quick recap to start, but callbacks to people singing, or in the dream sequence... that was clever. And some of the explanation font stuff (like 'applause') doesn't come across as weird or goofy.

Kabocha: Heh. You're not wrong. She only really seems to have opened up to Rain, and then only in part.

Kabocha

Yeah. I kind of wish Kizumi would come out more with what her deal is - it would save her a lot of drama! But on the other hand, this comic does give me a very shoujo-manga sort of feel, and those sorts of misunderstandings are a pretty staple trope in the genre :3 So it's not a bad thing, it'd just be interesting to see where it went, yanno?

mathtans

10. I don't recall the Nagato thread, I've been reading very sporadically over the past week.

11. Well, the topic seems to have drawn me in. And it seems to have a good sense of which characters to bring to the forefront out of what is theoretically an oversized cast. I'm not great at this sort of analysis. O.o

12. Oh, Luna definitely has ulterior motives, but I think for the moment the offer is genuine in that she sees Kizumi as being someone who would hold her own. And better to be friends with that sort of person than on their bad side. The ulterior motive being a belief that she could win if it came down to the two of them. Something like that - Luna seems to be a strategist too.

13. It'll be interesting to see how the field gets narrowed, as it is the writer managed to cut the field in fifths with one contest. Pity about Rain, I'm wondering how she's going to handle things. Also some of those helpers/employees in the background got full bios, I'm wondering when and how they'll pop up again.

Kabocha: Also good points there too. And yeah, though I like that there's not so much misunderstandings at this point as much as secrets.

14. Goldie will win, in the most bizarre twist ever. Seriously though, uhhh? Maybe it'll be a tie. That'd be a twist too.(edited)

Kabocha

That's fair Math~ And oh god, if Goldie came back.. That would be really interesting

The final showdown is between Kizumi and Goldie! That could be amazing.

carcarchu

Ahahaha very interesting analysis's guys~ it's very difficult to sow all these seeds and then have to wait so long to be able to pay them off, i hope it will all be worth it in the end!

Kabocha

It'll definitely be interesting to see as it goes on!

I have to admit, that starry dress that Yuna wore was sorta inspiring in a weird way. It's sparked the urge to make some new brushes, too so we'll see what comes out of that. XD

mathtans

Been reading through the other comments. Interesting idea about Ritsu having been burned in the past, I can see it. (It's interesting how she was set up as a rival and then Luna became an additional wild card.) I didn't mention Marina, and that's an oversight because she was a fun character.

mathtans

Also, how could I NOT end by doing ships? With so many wonderful female characters? I mean, there's the obvious Kizumi-Rain, but I'm not sure I see that going beyond friendship. Kizumi-Yuna has potential. Ritsu seems like a bit too much of a lone wolf... whereas Reeni could pair with any of them, she's precious. Luna-Yuna I like for the name alone. (Lyuna?) But part of me likes Luna-Kat, having secret romantic walks in the morning.

redbeanbunny

13. I'm excited to learn more about Ritsu and Luna, and I hope some healing from Ritsu. They say that ppl are most critical of the flaws they have in themself, and for now she's still lashing out at Kizumi. Also to get to know the other contestants. I have no idea who the cannon fodder is right now and who will actually stay and make it to the end. For all I know Luna could get booted in the next round (noooo...). I think there are so many ways things could potentially go. And not to be shallow but more outfits for the gals, please!! Excited to see how things roll from here on out ^^ 14. We haven't met everyone yet, have we? So there's still others to consider. And I think that the other bickering characters haven't revealed their full potential yet. We don't even know the interns that well yet and what they have to put in. I mean there has to be a reason they have names I assume others will be getting their time to shine, so to speak. I just have this feeling the winner won't be Kizumi or Ritsu,,, but eh that's my gut. Who will win is one thing, I wonder who will actually continue their singing career. Maybe someone will get an image change (Ritsu? maybe she'll switch to a different style in the future). (Also Kizumi and Luna duet please at some point!). I think the real wildcard has yet to show up, kind of like how Yuna suddenly changed in the middle of the competition. This is one of the reasons why I'm so confused about what she sees in Kizumi (besides the whole Nagato thing and Kizumi possibly being his protegee). Could be Rain even. You know, like those shows that bring back the old contestants to raise the tension(edited)

Kabocha

13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

I'm looking forward to getting ANSWERS! What is your deal, Luna? As far as final thoughts, I look forward to see how this goes forward. I'm glad I read this week's comic, honestly :3

FeatheryJustice

I didn't have time to finish reading but I have to say I like the concept at least

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Princess Pop this week! Please also give a special thank you to carcarchu for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Princess Pop, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/princess-pop/list?title_no=173793

carcarchu’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kurumadraws

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #princess pop #carcarchu

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eightinyz · 5 years

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Dream Concert

Pairing: Lei / Everybody

Words: 0,6k

Summary: The Dream Concert 2018 occurred during a rainy day and these two don’t combine well.

“Guys, it’s time!”, Scoups gathered his bandmates, “Lei, your turn.”, he continued.

All the members rushed in a circle, ready to do their cheering before going on stage.

“Ok, so it’s raining so, please, let’s be careful. Let’s do our best and most importantly, let’s enjoy ourselves!”

The group finished their cheer loudly and headed to the stage, greeting some idol friends on their way.

The concert was happening in the middle of May but a big gray cloud was covering Seoul since the morning, making it hard for the artists to perform normally and safely.

“Be careful with those shoes.”, Hoshi whispered to Lei. Being dressed in a skirt and some heeled ankle boots probably wasn’t the best outfit regarding the situation they were, but those were chosen days before.

The performance was going pretty smoothly, if we don’t mention the water drenching the members’ outfits and some small slipping. The biggest slip until then was when they were going down the small slopes and Lei fell to her knees, doing her best not to reveal herself. Hopefully, Joshua was quick to react, getting her on her feet just in seconds. Lei smiled thankfully to him.

‘Very Nice’, the last song. “We don’t dance much, that’s good.”, Lei thought. Even if they only performed 3 songs in total, the girl was getting tired of always being on her guards to try not to fall face first on the cold floor. She couldn’t fully enjoy herself.

Everything went alright until the last chorus, where they had to dance for a small part. As they were jumping after the last ‘aju nice’, Lei fell. As an automatic reaction to try and hold herself up, she extended her arm but due to the hard slip and the wet floor, her hand slid and she fell on her shoulder. A sharp pain made Lei’s face contort, and her hand flew to her shoulder. What she felt didn’t seemed normal. Her mind went black for a second, the pain numbing her, but then she got back up and continued the dance. She was careful not to move her arm, although she couldn’t even if would it. The show must go on.

She did the final dance move and, even though, the rest of the members were staying on stage, enjoying the little remixed version of the song, Lei rushed backstage. Staff members seemed a little taken aback from her arrival. Everyone saw her fall but as she got back up and continued to dance, they didn’t evaluate her condition.

“My shoulder.”, she managed to say shakily.

A small group of people gathered around her, and one of them came to check on her.

“I think I dislocated it, my arm feels numb.”, Lei said.

“Bring me some scissors!”, the staff required, seeing that the jacket she was wearing wouldn’t come out otherwise.

Lei’s supposition wasn’t one anymore, looking at the state her shoulder was in. She definitely dislocated it.

“Where’s Lei?”, Jeonghan called the second he came backstage.

The boys rushed around Lei, trying to see and understand the seriousness of her accident, making a huge mess. Some were asking how their bandmate was, others were screaming to call an ambulance.

“Ok everyone, calm down!”, the manager stepped in, trying to bring some quietness into the chaos. “Let’s take her to the hospital before anything else happens. And you,”, he continued, pointing at the boys, “go back to your waiting room, try to relax.”

After a battery of tests, the results were worst than expected. Lei ended up with a dislocated shoulder, but with some small fractures here and there on her arm. This accident led her to be away from work for a few weeks.

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lostinfic · 5 years

Text

Dissonance and Harmony | 5

Pairing: Roderick Peterson (Nativity 2) x Alison Crosby (The Canterbury Tales).

*You don’t need to have seen either film.*

Summary: Alison wants to boost her pop music career whereas Roderick needs to restore his reputation in the world of classical music. Neither of them is above using “irregular” means to get what they want, so when she joins his choir, they are in a unique position to help each other… if only they could get along.

A/N: Apparently, turtlenecks are called polo necks in the UK. Here’s a link to the bells video Roderick shows her.

Rating: M | Word count: 5,4k

Part 1 and 2 | Part 3 and 4 | Ao3

♪ ♪ ♪

Today, when Alison arrives at the theatre earlier, it’s not in the hopes of time alone with Roderick, but for a job interview with Vera, his associate.

Vera asks her a few questions, but she’s a no-nonsense type of woman who quickly sees that Alison has all the requirements both in terms of job experience and people skills.

“I can see why Roderick recommended you for the job,” Vera says as they shake hands.

“I can see why you two are business partners.”

Alison will work at the ticket booth during the day and show performers around when they arrive ahead of their concert. Some nights, she will guide people to their seats and bartend during intermission. The pay is average, but it will compensate for the hours she can’t work at the pub anymore. And there’s a tiny chance she’ll meet interesting people in the business. Still nowhere near the 7000‎£ her ex-husband is suing her for.

There’s an hour left before the beginning of choir practice, enough time to call her friend in Canterbury. Lisa is an old friend, and, more importantly, a terrible gossip. If anyone in Canterbury knows the reasons behind John’s lawsuit, it will be her.

Alison sits in the staircase, and tells her friend the little she knows.

“He’s suing you?” Lisa exclaims. “I can’t believe it. You know, even after you left him, he kept defending you. He was clearly in denial.”

“Aaww. What’s made him change his mind, then?”

“I’ll give you the straight tip: he’s dating the new solicitor in town.”

Lisa has a lot to say about this woman, but Alison focuses on only one thing: with every party emotionally involved, there will be no easy way out.

“If I could talk directly to John, I’m sure I could convince him to drop this,” Alison says.

“Use your loaf, Crosby: he thinks you manipulated him once, he’s not gonna talk to you again.”

“Fuck.”

“Besides, you’re famous now, so what’s the problem?”

“I’m famous?”

“We all saw you on the telly this summer with Robbie William.”

“That was once! I replaced a backup singer at the last minute and never saw him again. I work in a pub and sing in a choir. That’s it.”

When Alison hangs up, she heaves a long sigh. She has some answers now, but not the ones she wanted. If John thinks she’s rich and his new girlfriend convinced him to take advantage of this, she has to prove them wrong. But how if they won’t even talk to her?

Footsteps echo in the staircase, and she springs to her feet. It’s Roderick, shaking rain off his black trench coat as he walks up to his office. Butterflies erupt in her stomach. The man she insulted then impulsively hugged. The two days off they’ve had since that event haven’t decreased her embarrassment in any way.

He stops two steps lower than her. For once, they’re at eye-level.

“Are you alright?” he asks when he sees her.

She smooths her hair self-consciously. “Erm, yeah. Yeah. So, have you heard back from the investors?”

“Yes, we were lucky, Vera told me they couldn’t stay to watch after all. So they didn’t see that disastrous performance.”

“Oh, good. Whew.” She mimes wiping sweat off her forehead. “Unless they left because they’re not interested in sponsoring us after all.”

“No, they’ll be back next Friday… They said they liked the choristers they met in the lobby.”

“That’d be me and Marcus. Guess choosing me for my good looks is already paying off,” she says it good-humouredly, not an accusation, just banter. She tilts her head to the side with a mischievous smile. “My, what a fetching polo neck you’re wearing today.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m practicing.” She flutters her eyelashes exaggeratedly.

“You might not want to sound so sarcastic.”

“Noted. You really do give the best advice, Mr Peterson.”

“Thank you.” He puffs up his chest slightly. “It comes from my extensive experience as a teacher and mentor.”

“See what I did there? Not so sarcastic this time, was I?”

She smiles smugly, and Roderick rolls his eyes, but there is a certain fondness to the way he shakes his head.

“Well played, miss Crosby, well played.”

“I’ve got it covered. So, we have till Friday to improve and dazzle the investors?”

“Not the word I would’ve used, but, in essence, yes,” he says. “Are you going to the coffee shop?”

“Nah, brought my own tea today. Gotta save money.”

“Ok. I will see you in eighteen minutes.”

Alison skips down the stairs, whistling a show tune.

There’s nothing she can do about the lawsuit now, but there is something she can do about the investors.

They had two days off after the last practice session. She’d spent the better part of them reflecting on Roderick’s words and her behaviour towards the choir. He was right, she was making it all about herself and acting like a brat. She still plans on using the choir to boost her own career, but in order to do so, the choir must perform well and win, and that can only happen if they work together. So last night, carried along by a surge of generosity and fondness towards her fellow choristers, she baked a whole lot of cookies.

In the basement, where they’ll practice today, she folds out a table to display the three batches of cookies (chocolate, double chocolate and shortbread) with cute napkins.

As she waits for the others to arrive, she sings “Tiny Dancer” to herself and explores the room with improvised dance steps.

She spends so much time at the Lux Aeterna theatre now, it feels like a second home. She calls it simply “Lux”, like an old friend. “I’ll be at Lux all day,” she’ll say sometimes. Lux. Light. Even the basement is luminous somehow. Cold November sun streams through small stained glass windows and creates a colourful pattern over the exposed stone wall.

She grew up in places like these: church basements, school auditoriums, community centres. Cupboards full of old costumes and stage props, mismatched chair, yellowing paper on bulletin boards. The scent of dust and incense lingers decades after. Her love of the stage, and backstage, started young, at 4, when a speech therapist suggested she tried singing to overcome a light stutter, and suddenly she could express herself so fluently. These spaces she associates with freedom now.

“Nice choreography,” Marcus says as he rolls down the back entrance access ramp.

Cold wind rushes in with him, and Alison gathers the cowl neck of her sweater dress over her cheeks.

Marcus helps himself to four cookies and, after some small talk about their weekends, cuts to the chase and asks what happened backstage with Roderick last time.

“We had a row. He called me a brat. I called him selfish,” Alison sums up.

“And yet you’re still in the choir?”

“Yeah, it’s all fine now.” She waves dismissively. “I guess he kind of needs me.”

“How so?”

She sits down next to him, leaning forward to confide in him.

“You know how on the first day you asked why he’d chosen me. Well, he told me. It’s for my… sex appeal.”

Marcus removes his cap to run a hand through his light hair. “Whoa. Makes sense, I suppose. Some people think you’re sleeping with him.”

“What? Who? No! They thought we were off shagging backstage or something?” An image flashes through her mind: shutting Roderick up with a kiss mid-argument and being lifted against the wall, amongst the ropes and pulleys, nibbling on the skin under his turtleneck to leave a hickey— she wipes out the thought. “It’s not like that. He’s soooo not into me. That’s just ridiculous. He wants me to, I don’t know, seduce the judges or attract a male audience.”

“Will you? How do you feel about that?”

“There’s no harm in that, is there? I wear something nice, stroke their ego a bit, brighten their day. That’s what I’m best at.” Alison shrugs and smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I just feel… daft for thinking he’d chosen me for my voice.”

“Don’t say that. You’re a good singer Alison. Bit of a diva, but nothing that can’t be fixed.” He pats her knee playfully. “It’s like I said that day. He must’ve thought you have a great voice too. He wouldn’t have chosen you for your looks alone.”

“I suppose, yeah. Has he mentioned using your disability?”

“No, but I noticed that whenever there’s a more plaintive part in a song, he always gives it to me. But, hey, I get to sing more than the other blokes. More exposure for me if a talent scout comes to the concert.”

More people come in, and Alison quickly offers them cookies. Some are wary of her sudden generosity, but no one refuses a freshly-baked cookie.

Janet and Abel in particular are grateful for the pick-me-up after what they saw in the lobby: new posters advertising their concert in December. It features a blurry photo taken, unbeknownst to them, during one of their practices and a large close-up of their conductor, with “Roderick Peterson’s choir” written in bold letters. The information spreads as more people arrive, and pictures taken with mobiles circulate.

“We didn’t even get to choose the choir’s name.”

“I reckon we won’t get a say in the setlist either.”

The poster bother Alison too, but mostly because it’s derailing her plan to become everyone’s friend and lead them to victory. Hoping to change the mood, she tells them about the potential sponsorship. “Mr Peterson and I talked, and we agreed that we must impress these investors,” she says. She might be exaggerating her part, and that won’t help with the rumours, but it’s worth it to see Clarissa seethe. Except she’s not the only seething one, the fact that Roderick himself didn’t inform them of this, adds fuel to the fire.

Annoyance rises in Alison, she sighs heavily and crosses her arms. You don’t understand, he cares about us, she wants to say, but bites her bottom lip to stay on their side.

“Why didn’t he tell us last week? We would’ve sang better,” Janet says.

“Because the quality of your performance should not be contingent upon the presence of investors,” says Roderick from the doorway. They all startle and turn around to him. “I expect you to be at your best. Every. Time. Is that clear?” No one dares speak. The threat of eviction from the choir still hangs above their heads. “Besides, you should not concern yourselves with administrative matters.”

Marcus breaks the silence by clearing his throat, everyone watches intently as he rolls up to Roderick. “With all due respect, Mr Peterson, you’re not teaching children anymore. You can consult us.”

Roderick clasps his hands behind his ram rod-straight back. Only a slight contraction around his jaw indicates his annoyance. “Thank you for your opinion, Mr Bailey. Now, let’s begin.”

They take their places in the middle of the room, Roderick at the piano, and sing through the usual warm-ups. Inhale for four beats, and hum the breath out on the same note for another four. Chests lifted, shoulders straight. Their abdomens widen and flatten simultaneously, each of them an alveoli of the same lung. Dissatisfactions are forgotten. Music prevails. “Lauda Mater Ecclesia”, “Saint Nicolas, Op. 42”, “Thou, my love, art fair”.

Alison fights her instinct to draw attention to herself. It’s not easy, just as it isn’t easy for Roderick to give compliments, but he manages to do so. In as much as “adequate” and “reasonable” said looking like he just threw up a little in his mouth can be considered compliments. She likes to think she was instrumental in that change of attitude. It no less surprises her when, at the end of the next practice, he asks, “Which song would you like to work on this week?”

Glances are exchanged, but no titles offered. Alison can’t think of any song what would not cause him to scoff.

“Well?”

Abel hesitantly raises his hand. “Maybe something by Eric Whitacre?”

“Whitacre? Seriously?” The choristers hold their breaths. “Okay, I suppose we can try that.”

The next day, Roderick hands them new scores. “Who wants to sing the solo? Everyone is welcome to try.” He has never asked before.

Alison starts raising her hand, but lowers it. He’s said “the more you try to make it about you, the less it will be”.

“Miss Crosby?” he asks.

“I— I don’t know.”

“This isn’t some test designed to torture you.” He sounds impatient, but there is something encouraging in the way he nods at her.

“Okay.”

“Take 15 to study the score. I’ll see the soloist individually.”

Alison goes into one of the small, soundproof booths that line the basement. As she studies and hums the notes, she realizes how differently she’s approaching this part. Unlike she would have three months ago, she immediately thinks of it in terms of its place in the whole of the song. She wonders how to complement the others rather than stand out.

“I wasn’t ready before,” she remarks when Roderick joins her in the room.

“Show me what you understand now.”

Her pulse quickens. This is her chance. She can’t let him down. She strikes the pose, relaxes her jaw, and sings the first lines.

Roderick interrupts her with a cluck of his tongue. “The notes are perfect. But you must put your guts into it.” He stretches his hand over her stomach and presses it into her flesh.

The contact jolts through her, and she gasps.

“Again,” he commands.

She holds his gaze and leans into his hand. This time, her voice is infused with determination. It erupts from her core until she’s completely out of breath.

“That was better.”

He swiftly leaves the room, leaving Alison to lean against the wall, bewildered.

♪

When Roderick arrives at work the next day, Alison is working in the ticket booth by the entrance of the theatre. It’s not a demanding job— answering phone calls, printing out tickets, selling to the occasional walk-in client— so he knows she has time to talk with him.

He’s just come back from their coffee shop, one black coffee in hand, and a beverage for her too. It’s some awful seasonal concoction. He thought of her when he saw it advertised in the window, and he needed something to smooth things over. His conduct yesterday, touching her like that, was inappropriate. He knew he could get so much more depth out of her. He’d wanted to rouse that boldness she has, and it worked. But she has to learn to engage it by herself.

He places the clear plastic cup in front of her, glad to put the artificial scent of peppermint and vanilla away from him. Her eyes widen at the sight of the indecent amount of whipped cream, but she expresses none of the enthusiasm he expected.

“I didn’t get the solo,” she says.

For a moment, he fails to see the connection. “Oh, miss Crosby, you’ve known me for some time now, have I ever cajoled someone when I was displeased with their performance?”

She giggles and grabs the drink. “Not quite your style, no.” She sips noisily through the straw. “Mmmm. It’s the one called Elf Brew, innit? Want a sip?”

“No. I’m a vegetarian so no elf meat smoothie for me.”

“You’re funny.”

He finds he doesn’t mind this new habit of hers of flirting with him. It’s all a laugh, of course, she doesn’t mean any of it. But it lets him know she’s not upset about what happened.

“So, I didn’t not get the solo?”

“I’m still considering my options. Luisa did very well too.”

“Right, yeah.” She shrugs and swirls the straw around her drink. “I mean, Whitacre's her favourite composer. It’s more her thing than mine. She should probably get it.”

Roderick arches an eyebrow in surprise.

“We’ll find something else that’s a better fit for me, yeah?” she adds.

“That’s more like it.”

She offers a smile that fades quickly. He pretends to take an interest in the brochures around her booth.

“But I’m trying, though,” she says. “I’m making an effort to really be a part of the choir.”

“I noticed.”

He wonders how long that will last, but it seems his words had an effect on her. Just like her words had one on him. She was right, he had been making the choir all about himself. And Marcus was right too, he isn’t teaching children anymore. It’s all getting in the way of his success.

“I decided to make changes to the posters that created such a stir,” Roderick announces.

“Really? That’s very cool of you. ”

“Today in fact. Can you do something about your face?” He gestures vaguely in front of her.

Her smile vanishes. “What’s wrong with my face?”

He could kick himself for phrasing his request like that. He explains that a photographer will arrive shortly to take new photos for the promotional material. She rushes to the bathroom with her handbag. Ten minutes later, Alison comes out with a fresh coat of pink lipstick, loose hair and, somehow, glitter on her eyelids.

In the auditorium, the photographer asks her to sing while he snaps photos around her. Then she smiles and poses with a binder of music sheets. He’s efficient, he’s worked with Roderick before and knows what he wants, but he’s taking more pictures than necessary and getting too friendly with Alison. She, of course, is enjoying every minute of it. Roderick should be annoyed with this kind of vain attitude, but she remains professional and focused.

“Beautiful. You’re a natural, luv. Lean over. Okay, cross your arms. Yes. Look at me.”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Roderick intervenes.

“But we’re only getting started,” the photographer retorts. “I think we need her in a skirt. No? Okay, you’re the boss. Alison, here’s my card if you’re interested in modelling—”

“She already works for me,” Roderick insists, shoving the photographer’s bag in his arms.

After he’s gone, Alison asks, “D’you want me to tell the others there’s gonna be a photoshoot when they come in? I can text them right now.”

“No, we’re not taking pictures of the others, your face will suffice.”

“It’ll be only me? Outside on the marquee of the theatre? On a busy street in central London? Whoa.” She smiles brightly.

“Well, there will be my face too, and then you underneath me— I mean, under the title. Anyway.”

“I see. I suppose it’s like I’m representing the choir. The others— I just… Okay. No. That’s for the best.”

♪

By Friday, the new posters aren’t up on the marquee yet. Good. Alison doesn’t want them to distract her colleagues on this important day when the investors are coming to hear them sing.

She joins everyone in the auditorium. They all scrubbed up well.

“Nice shirt, Marcus,” she says. “Love your scarf, Janet. Luisa, new haircut? Beautiful. Abel you shaved!” There’s a thickness in her throat that isn’t from stress. She’s overcompensating. She should have insisted her friends be in the promotional photos too. She argues with herself that she let Luisa have the solo. And if her pretty face helps sell more tickets for the December concert, than she’s helping everyone. In a way. Being pretty is her thing, and if that’s all she is, then she bloody well deserves her face on a poster. But the guilt doesn’t go away.

She redirects her thoughts to the present when Roderick walks on stage. He greets the investors who are standing at the back of the room. They haven’t introduced themselves to the choir so as not to raise their hopes. They prefer to watch from a distance to better assess their performance. Love of music isn’t their only motivation, they need this association to reflect well on their business, and their logo on the program to pay off.

Roderick’s gaze sweeps across the choristers, and Alison smiles at him. No vein throbs on his forehead, and the movements of his hands and arms are more fluid; they have his back, and he knows it now.

They run through warm-ups and the song they know best. Nervousness strains their voices a little bit, but they cover up each other’s misses. Luisa sings the solo beautifully, and Clarissa is perfect, of course. Alison simply can’t be mad at either of them.

After the first hour, Vera walks on stage to introduce “your new sponsors.” Alison is the first to shake their hands with a warm smile.

“You have great potential, and our bank always believed in encouraging young talent,” they say in a speech that sounds like a marketing pitch.

True to her nature, after the rehearsal, Alison invites everyone to the Blue Bear pub’s Open Mic night to celebrate. Marcus accepts right away, and convinces others to do the same. Even Roderick agrees after they beg him in chorus. “Only for one drink.”

In the theatre’s lobby, a handyman is putting the new posters for the concert. The ones that feature Alison prominently. She doesn’t usually shy away from attention, but when her friends notice it, she wants the floor to swallow her. She sputters some excuses. Thankfully, Marcus smooths things over. “I’m too happy to be pissed right now, let’s not spoil our mood.” No other complaint is voiced, but Alison knows they’re all still thinking about it.

At the Blue Bear, Javier is surprised to see her. “Your shift only starts in an hour.”

“I know, I brought some friends to hang out and sing. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No, of course, I don’t mind customers.”

“I’ll just grab a few things.” She passes behind the bar and picks up a bottle of whiskey along with glasses.

“Paying customers, yeah?” Javier says.

Elife is there too, with her bandmates. “You didn’t have time to go out for my birthday, but you have time for your new friends?” she accuses Alison.

“I’m sorry. We got the sponsorship! It’s like a team-building activity, it’s work.” She hugs her friend. “I’ll introduce you to Marcus, you can thank me later.”

They push tables together to sit the dozen choristers who came. Roderick sits at the head of the table, he raises his glass to them.

“As Bach once said: ‘I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.’”

“That’s it?” Marcus whispers. “Alright. Cheers!”

Janet is the first to go on stage to sing “Back to Black”. Alison’s focus shifts to Roderick. Does he even know Amy Winehouse? She’s a genius just as much as Beethoven. Even sitting at the same table as them, he’s distant. This pub, with its hunting ephemera on the walls and hanging lamps made out of beer bottles, is a far cry from his modern theatre. She’s sure he thinks it’s not good enough for him. Nothing is good enough for him.

She grows annoyed, but she doesn’t know where it’s coming from. Maybe because he called her self-absorbed yet encouraged it by having her pose alone for the photographer. He should have asked the others too or at least explained his decision to them. She’s not the only guilty one. It’s infuriating that he can he be so caring one minute— bringing her tea, finding a solution to her problems, saying she’s sexy, hugging her, smelling good, and that little smile he has sometimes— yet so distant and annoying the next.

Why didn’t he give her a solo? She improved. She worked hard. Why does he want only her face and not her voice? How is she supposed to sing with her guts when all the songs he chooses are hymns to a deity she’s not sure she believes in? Singing with the others is uplifting, but the lyrics are meaningless to her.

“I’ll show him,” she mutters to herself as she makes her way to the stage. Impulsively, she chooses a song by Carly Simon.

Alison keeps the microphone on its stand but puts her two hands over it, she undulates her hips to the first guitar notes.

“You walked into the party. Like you were walking on a yacht,” she sings with a voice deeper than usual.

Her friends cheer when they recognize the song and sing along to the chorus.

“You're so vain. You probably think this song is about you. You're so vain. I'll bet you think this song is about you. Don't you? Don't you?”

She presses her hand to her stomach as she belts out the last lines. It’s cathartic. Her frustration dissolves. She bows to the applause. Feeling better, she saunters off stage.

She crosses Roderick’s path as he’s walking to the exit, putting on his coat.

“You’re going already? It’s not ‘cause of the song, is it?”

“I thought it wasn’t about me,” he says with a playful tone. “I liked it.”

She wishes his approval didn’t make her feel so warm inside.

“Thank you for coming, it means a lot. To everyone.”

“Thank you, Alison. Good night.”

As he walks away, she considers insisting he stays, but Javier calls her to begin her shift.

Alison dons her apron and goes around the tables whiles her friends keep singing on stage. They’re absolutely killing it. Marcus’s rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly” has the crowd cackling, and a few minutes later, he and Elife are snogging like their lives depend on it. Janet and Luisa sing a duet, and are soon joined by a tipsy Abel. And the night wouldn’t be complete without “Bohemian Rhapsody” which she has time to join between two orders.

They stay until closing time, at 11. Alison takes the booze away from them, and goes around wiping tables while they discuss the choir.

“We should sing more songs like we did tonight.”

“We were so good.”

“More people would come to the show.”

“I’ve had enough of bloody hymns.”

“Do you know what we should do? Mash-ups!” Luisa says.

This suggestion is followed by a chorus of enthusiastic agreement.

“Mr Peterson will never let, though,” Janet complains.

“I don’t know,” Alison says. “I mean, he’s been making an effort to talk to us more like we’re actual humans. He’s trying, no?”

“That’s right, he has been making an effort,” Luisa agrees, “since you talked to him.”

They all turn to Alison with intent stares and mischievous smiles.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Because you’re going to ask him to change the setlist.”

“Oh, no, no.”

“Oh, yes, yes,” Janet replies.

“We’ll forgive you for the poster,” Luisa adds.

“Fuck.”

♪

Roderick starts every day by swimming laps in the pool on the first floor of his building. The cool water stimulates his body and mind. He loves to feel the stretch in every muscle from forearm to calf as he crawls and kicks his legs. A musician must stay in shape, but he never liked sports.

When he was 13, his mother (who worried about his social skills and the effect of them of practicing piano alone for so many hours) asked him to join either a sport team or the school choir. He chose music, of course. In no time, he’d surpassed the choir director and was doing the arrangements himself both for the choir and the school band. And thus was born his love of choral music because, for the first time, he was part of a group, of something bigger than himself and free of his father’s shadow. And yet, it’s that feeling of belonging he wanted to run away from today.

He reaches the end of the pool and hangs on to the edge, panting. He hasn’t completed his usual thirty laps yet and he’s already out of breath. The whiskey and late night are affecting his performance. What was he thinking? Fraternizing and drinking with them. The frontier between conductor and choristers must never be crossed. If he gets too close to them, he will lose his objectivity and authority. It will affect his decisions and won’t be good for the choir. Hell, he’d almost given Alison the solo right after she sang for him even if he hadn’t heard the others yet. He had to keep his distance and a cool head.

Of course, keeping his distance would be easier if he hadn’t given her a job at his theatre.

“Hey, Mr Peterson. Here’s your mail,” Alison says, entering his office.

“Thank you.”

No fraternizing. Not crossing the line. He keeps his eyes on the computer and sees a file he saved yesterday, a video that reminded him of her. Bloody hell.

“Wait. There’s something I want to show you, come here.”

She joins him behind the desk, and he plays. It’s woman with bells sewn onto her clothes, each makes a different note, and she plays a medley of Christmas songs by tapping them all over her body.

He watches Alison rather than the video, praying she will think it’s funny. She laughs and he reclines in his chair.

“Oh, this is brilliant.”

“I was thinking we could get you one of those seeing as how you like to draw attention.”

“Oi! Cheeky.” She bumps him with her hip. “I don’t think the others would like that, though.”

Her sharp tone tells him there’s more to her statement, but she changes subject before he can ask.

“Mr Peterson, can I talk to you about something?” She wrings her hands. “Last night, we had an idea.”

“We?”

“Yeah, the whole gang, well, those who were at the pub. We were saying we’d love to sing more popular songs. Maybe do mash-ups? You know, when you take two or three songs and blend them together.”

“Like a quodlibet?”

“Maybe.”

“Darling Alison, the only reason mash-ups work is because there are too many bland, interchangeable songs out there. If a song isn’t interesting enough to perform in its entirety, we should be ignoring it. And if it uses excellent songs, it’s even worse, it completely ruins the integrity of the piece.”

“So you do think pop music has integrity.”

“You missed my point.”

“We could mix them with classical music. Like Steve Hackman did. Coldplay with Beethoven, Drake with Tchaikovski…”

“That little punk.”

“Tchaikovski?”

“Hackman. It’s derivative.”

She crosses her arms and looks at him seriously. He mirrors her pose.

“Alright. If you agree, I’ll do the thing you want me to, you know, be sexy for the judges or whatever.”

“Was refusing ever an option?”

“Well, you can’t force me to be sexy.”

“So far, I haven’t even had to ask you to do it. You charmed the investors of your own accord.”

“I can be ugly.”

“I doubt it,” he replies without thinking.

She smiles and her determination wavers, but not for long. “Flattery won’t work.”

“I doubt that even more.”

“Roderick, please,” she whines.

“We’re not throwing away the songs we’ve already worked hard on. We’re doing a traditional choral concert. That’s it.” He strikes the air with his hand to underline his words.

She sits on the edge of his desk, in front of him. Oh, she’s a stubborn one, but her perseverance doesn’t displease him.

“Can you honestly say the ‘traditional’ way has worked out for you?” she asks.

“Yes! I’m one of the tops in my field.”

“Lately, I mean.”She taps her knee against his. “C’mon, it’d be fun!”

“Alison, this is my livelihood. My life. Fun is not enough.”

Her shoulders slope. He’s getting through to her.

“Okay. I understand. I really do, but—”

“Miss Crosby.”

“No, listen to me.” She leans forward and braces herself on the arms of his chair. “We can do it better than it’s ever been done before. Because of you. Because you’re one of the tops. I trust your judgement and your talent to make the most amazing… quodlibets.”

“If this is another one of your flirting jokes…”

“It’s not.”

It’s hard to think with her so close. Her floral perfume. Her front teeth digging into her lower lip. Her hand so close to his arm, he can feel her warmth. He looks up to the ceiling and sighs.

“Can you come to my home tomorrow?” he asks her.

“Your home?”

“I can hardly carry my whole album collection here. Bring your music, we’ll look through it.”

She squeals and claps her hands, and for a moment he thinks she’s going to hug him again. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

So much for keeping his distance.

#Teninch Fic #mutual pining #slow burn #Roderick Peterson #Alison Crosby #Lostinfic writes stuff #Roderick x Alison #d and h

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