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the babie boys

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my kind of crazy

if it’s crazy, then live a little crazy

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There’s not enough Barlyle Soulmate AU fic so here I present you: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14985137

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“If I were mixed up with you, I’d be the talk of the town. Disgraced and disowned- another one of the clowns.”

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Phil: Man, today is turning out to be the worst day.

PT: Is it because the circus burned down?

Phil: No, it’s because it’s a little humid–YES IT’S BECAUSE THE CIRCUS BURNED DOWN

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LA DOULEUR EXQUISE

The Greatest Showman | Hanahaki Disease A disease born from unequited love where the afflicted coughs up flower-petals; the infection last until their love is returned, it is surgically removed along with their feelings, or they die. 

The vibrant chorus pulls Phillip from the depths of the accounts, and he blinks to disperse the accruals and exorbitant figures from his immediate thoughts. Attention drawn to the office window, he stands from his desk and goes to steal a look at the ongoing rehearsal in the center ring. The ensemble moves like a beating heart, strong and perfectly synchronised with each steady beat. And there, in the middle of it all, was Barnum, arms thrown wide in his red and gold with his grin stretched wide around an impressive note, and Phillip feels a swell of affection.

The feeling comes with a very real flurry in his chest, like a thousand butterflies suddenly let loose in his lungs. Phillip screws his eyes shut as he presses his hand to his mouth, his throat convulsing and chest aching with supressed heaves. With whetted wings the butterflies pullulate, choking and smothering him until Phillip is forced to expel the torrent in harsh, rasping coughs.

Delicate pink petals flood his palm and flutter to the floor, so gentle and unburdened by the weight they lay on his shoulders. Joy, affection, gratitude. He’d looked up the meaning behind the rose petals the moment he’d been afflicted, and he’d laughed, laughed until he’d cried, until velvet blush petals decorated the surface of his desk and the irony ached like an old wound rather than a fresh laceration. His very heartfelt sentiments for Phineas Taylor Barnum had been made visceral, but they represented nothing but anguish, and the loss of a love and relationship that was never his to have. 

Wiping a fleck of blood from his bottom lip, Phillip tips his hand and watches the last few petals drift to the floor with a lightness his heavy heart belied. Collecting his coat and hat, he leaves the office behind, along with the petals Barnum would later find and silently ponder.

Hanahaki was a concept introduced to me by @quixotix, and I was inspired to put together a moodboard and an accompanying snippet. For those interested, la douleur exquise is a French term that expresses the heart-wrenching pain you feel when loving someone you can’t have, and who doesn’t love you back.

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Phil's booty be 👌🔥💯

This was a little something inspired by a randomly selected word from my “Word of the Day” document.

Archive Of Our Own Link: xxx

—–

Evaluation

* * *

“You know,” P.T. Barnum muses under his breath as he watches his partner take the center ring; coattails flickering like twirling crimson ribbons behind the younger man, gold accoutrements glinting under the spotlights, strong legs flexing with ease and finesse. Barnum’s eyes linger on the shape of Phillip Carlyle’s body, sweeping over every inch of Phillip visible from Barnum’s vantage point.

Compact but staggeringly elegant frame. Toned arms that swell with muscle even under the layers of shirtsleeves hiding them away. A sturdy chest sculpted so precisely, it’s as though the finest artists among Heaven’s ranks crafted it from a slab of marble and deigned to gift it to a mere mortal.

Though, Barnum isn’t entirely convinced that Phillip is not a wingless seraph sentenced to roam the earth for the remainder of his days.

And, most decidedly of no less importance than the others, another prominent and pleasing feature that has Barnum’s eyes riveted on the younger man while Phillip gambols about, hyping up the crowd and waving their shared cane to proudly showcase all of the acts posing and whirling and performing feats to dazzle and defy the comprehension of a closed-off mind.

A feature that inspires Barnum to finish his thought with: “Phil’s of a rather Callipygian physique, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Cal-a…?” Lettie Lutz, their bearded lady, puzzles out beside him. She isn’t due to take the ring until the closing act of the night, and has been standing at Barnum’s side for some time, now, her presence companionable.

Barnum feels himself grinning as Phillip tosses the cane up to Anne Wheeler when the lovely trapeze artist swings by, then maneuvers across the sand and sawdust covered floor on his knees with a dancer’s grace, the brilliance of Phillip’s smile obvious even from feet away, under the stands.

Pride is nowhere close to adequate a term for the warm swell of emotions rising like a tide in Barnum’s chest.

This feeling that far exceeds pride, and something much more visceral, and shameless, are what he observes Phillip with, eyes training of their own accord on the globes of that pleasingly prominent feature blessedly accentuated by the snug fit of Phillip’s riding breeches.

And, it is this shameless appraisal that has Lettie nudging Barnum, a Cheshire grin pulling at her lips. “Barnum, did you just say that Phillip has a great–?”

Barnum coughs, his throat suddenly congested, cravat too tight. He feels heat blooming in his face. “I should, uh. Go check on the–” He stammers out, uselessly, before hurrying away from Lettie, very aware that the woman is laughing boisterously at his retreating back.

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ショータイムだ

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The Greatest Showman + favorite dancing moments

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give me oblivious Phil not realizing that the bright kind smiles, warm hugs, encouraging words and lingering looks from P.T. are big fat signs of love and that he has the greatest showman wrapped around his little finger. give me Phil slowly returning P.T.’s love until one day it all burst out during a late night practice so he kisses P.T. and thats when it all clicks together and…. wow…. yeah, he loves this smooth talking man child

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Phin you fucking goof 😂

Two gentlemen on a date being bros.

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give me oblivious Phil not realizing that the bright kind smiles, warm hugs, encouraging words and lingering looks from P.T. are big fat signs of love and that he has the greatest showman wrapped around his little finger. give me Phil slowly returning P.T.’s love until one day it all burst out during a late night practice so he kisses P.T. and thats when it all clicks together and…. wow…. yeah, he loves this smooth talking man child

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oh damn, suddenly we’re free to fly - we’re going to the other side

P.T. and Phillip from The Greatest Showman [2/4]

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Barlyle AU; Inspired by the 1988 film, Paperhouse

While in the hospital recovering from a fire that razed the Carlyle estate to the ground and claimed the lives of both of his parents, Phillip Carlyle spends his days with a pencil and paper. He sketches out an image of a idyllic circus; a safe haven for society’s cast-outs, and the refuge that Phillip so longed for as a child. In his dreams, Phillip finds himself able to visit the circus and its mesmerizingly beautiful ringmaster, whom he falls for during his increasingly prolonged visits with the world of his dreams. 

However, the specter of Phillip’s father begins to haunt these fantasies, and as Phillip’s body starts to heal, and his stay at the hospital approaches its end, Phillip is faced with the dilemma of attempting to remain in his dreamworld as his father’s presence threatens its very existence, or taking a chance on the opportunities that a reality without his parents offers him…

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give me oblivious Phil not realizing that the bright kind smiles, warm hugs, encouraging words and lingering looks from P.T. are big fat signs of love and that he has the greatest showman wrapped around his little finger. give me Phil slowly returning P.T.'s love until one day it all burst out during a late night practice so he kisses P.T. and thats when it all clicks together and.... wow.... yeah, he loves this smooth talking man child