#But Jazz went through her 'I can fix them' stage during high school

[raynewolfegirl]

Meta Jazz, the Arkham Intern Therapist Pt 2.1

Note: The writing bug bit me while wading through the comments and replies so you guys get more! 😁 Special thanks to @the-scarecrow-of-aus & @starlightcat04 for helping spark this continuation!

Also, so you're not confused, this part is from Kon's POV and backtracks to before the Bane incident to explain how Kon started going undercover in Arkham. Pt 2.2 has the Bane incident from Kon's POV.

~*~*~

When Kon got the call from Tim asking if he'd be willing to do a favor for him, he hadn't expected it to be an undercover assignment in the infamous Arkham Asylum itself.

"You want me to do what?" He asked staring at Tim in disbelief once he reached the Nest to debrief.

"Go undercover as a new guard in Arkham." Tim repeated with a deadpan expression looking over his shoulder at Kon from his computer chair. Holy fuck, his eyebags were bad. 

"Have you slept in the past week, Tim?" Kon asked, taking in his best friend's appearance.

Tim frowned at the question. 

"I don't see how that's relevant but yes." He answered, heartbeat unchanging. Which didn't really mean anything since it was Tim but Kon decided he'd believe him. 

For now. 

Kon sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, I'll do it." He said. "Can you tell me why we need someone undercover at least?" 

Tim eyes widened, startled by the question like he was surprised Kon didn't know yet even though Tim hadn't told him yet. Okay, deep breaths, calm down, Tim clearly hasn't slept in at least two days. Kon coached himself as his temper flared up at the evidence that Tim wasn't taking care of himself again. All the Supers agreed: sometimes you just wish you could beat some sense into the Bats and make them take care of themselves like normal human beings.

"Ah. Right." Tim said, turning back to the computer and pulling up some files as he explained. "Two thing have occured within roughly fifteen days of each other that together are rather suspicious. First, Dr. Thomas Rylie, Jonathan Crane's undergraduate roommate and classmate throughout undergrad and grad school, was hired to work as one of the new in house psychiatrists at Arkham Asylum. They also got their doctorates from the same school during the same time frame and both focused on the impact fear has on the brain. Dr. Rylie's focus was on fear conditioning and Dr. Crane's focus was on fear responses." Well, that sounds suspicious. 

"Second, Gotham University lost their minds and began an undergraduate and graduate internship program partnering with Arkham Asylum." 

Kon went cold. They did what?

Pictures of the Asylum, University, and three people -presumably Scarecrow, Dr. Rylie, and a young woman- filled the computer screen now. 

"The internship program has only one applicant so far and she'd already started working at the Arkham. Her name is Jasmine Fenton and her background is...sparse, to say the least." Tim turned in his chair to face Kon.

"I'm too recognizable in Gotham and among the rogues to successfully go undercover in Arkham so I've set you up with an apartment and ID as 'Kyle Jennings.' You're scheduled to start work at Arkham as a new guard tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Kon said with a nod. "What do you need confirmed? What are the primary objectives?" He prodded Tim again since his friend's sleep deprived brain seemed to think that was enough information for debriefing. It wasn't. Definitely not. A lot was implied but it wouldn't be the first time Tim had completely different intentions than what Kon had understood from his briefing. Sleep deprived Tim frequently assumed others could read his mind or something. Sleep deprived Tim was wrong.

"We need to determine if Dr. Rylie is here working for Scarecrow as part of some new scheme. We need to determine if Jasmine Fenton is complicit. We need to know if Gotham U is also in on it. And we need to find out what exactly Scarecrow is the planning." Tim stated automatically as he ticked each one off on his fingers.

"Got it. Guess I'll head over to my new apartment then and start prepping for tomorrow." Kon said, heading towards the exit. Tim hummed in agreement waving a hand in his direction as he left. That dumbass was probably already absorbed in the next case. Kon sighed, hopefully Tim would at least pass out sometime later tonight.

~*~*~

Kon's first day at Arkham wasn't anything special. He didn't see Jasmine, Dr. Rylie, or Scarecrow. He didn't see any rogues or doctors at all. It was just a really Gotham kind of orientation. 

"This is where we keep a cache of stun grenades, long-range scope rifles, tranquilizer rounds, and rubber bullets." His new supervisor and guide through orientation, Alex Fhizer, said as he showed Kon how to access, inventory, lock, and re-conceal the cache. "Everytime you pass by a cache on patrol, you will check the inventory again and sign off on it with the date and time. If anything is different from the previous inventory entry, you will immediately radio the tower and the island will be put on lockdown." Greyish Hazel eyes peered out of a weathered face staring Kon down. "You will never neglect to inventory a cache while on patrol. You will never neglect to report an inventory discrepancy. The first time you do you will be fired immediately and you can count yourself damn lucky if that's all that happens to you." 

Fhizer was intense, man.

"Yes, Sir." Kon answered. Fhizer's hard look lasted another long moment before the older man gave a firm nod and continued showing Kon the ropes.

~*~*~

The second day was no where near as chill as the first. Hell, his brain was already starting to warp, there hadn't been anything chill about that orientation.

Kon started his second day by boarding the Arkham transport bus with the rest of the staff and early morning visitors to the island. That was where he saw Jasmine Fenton in the flesh for the first time. 

She has got to be part Amazonian, was his first thought upon seeing her. She was around 6ft tall with a thick mane of red hair tightly braided reaching all the way down to her waist. Jasmine was wearing teal stud earrings, a silver bangle type bracelet on her left wrist, a white blouse, black slacks, and black flats. She carried a small, clear purse that only held a small notepad, pen, house key, chapstick, and a thin teal wallet that presumably contained her IDs, debit cards, and a small amount of cash. Damn, she was tall.

Kon's concentration was broken by the quiet sound of metal crunching slightly beneath his fingers. He immediately loosened his grip on the hand rail, checking for damage with a wince. He breathed a soft sigh of relief when he saw the damage was almost entirely unnoticeable to the naked eye. He'd have to mind his strength more closely. Kon was too used to the farm and facilities that were all reinforced to handle casual use from people with super strength. 

Tim's notes indicated Arkham wasn't reinforced for super strength anywhere. Not even along the outer walls. The facility had opted to use suppression collars on their meta inmates instead since they were cheaper and easier to repair and replace according to the official reports. However, Tim's notes had also mentioned that Arkham had reinforced the outer walls to account for super strength at one point. They'd poured nearly every dime the facility could spare into the project for months until the Joker himself had taken it personally. The madman had absolutely obliterated the reinforced outer walls until no part of them remained standing. Given Joker had destroyed the walls without having any meta powers at all and his history of viciously attacking -damn near mauling- anyone that tried to put him in a straight jacket, Kon didn't really blame Arkham for stopping while they were ahead.

Kon looked up as the bus jolted to a stop. The other passengers filing off around him. He watched as Jasmine Fenton was met by Dr. Rylie in front of the bus as he waited to disembark. 

"Ms. Jasmine!" Dr. Rylie greeted her enthusiastically with a broad open grin and beaming eyes. He reached towards her with both arms, hands open and she reached back. Their right hands clasped as their left hands landed on the other's upper arms as the two greeted one another openly. Kon wasn't very familiar with intern-mentor relationships nor what would be considered normal or professional for them, but it looked like a rather affectionate greeting for them having been strangers two weeks ago. That was strange, wasn't it? Was Tim right to be worried about them?

"Ms. Jasmine is the first and only applicant for Dr. Rylie, Director Keener, and Dean Byle's hairbrained idea to hire more doctors for this place." One of the older guards that had been standing just behind him on the bus explained having apparently noticed Kon watching the pair.

"They just seemed rather affectionate for Gotham." Kon shrugged dismissively as he turned to look over his shoulder at his new colleague. The shorter man laughed.

"A bit, yeah." He agreed. "I think Dr. Rylie is just desperate for this program to work out." He continued as they finally managed to get off the bus. Dr. Rylie and Ms. Fenton were gone now. "Pretty much everyone's been treating her like a princess." 

"That doesn't seem fair to everyone else." Kon commented, dropping back a bit to let the older man lead the way to the guards room for morning debriefing and to get their assignments. He'd already memorized the layouts but 'Kyle Jennings' shouldn't have yet.

"Who cares about fair as long as it works?" The guard answered. "If treating her like a princess scores more interns for the program in the long run, and if one intern every year ends up interested in sticking around, I'll be happy to cater to every single one of them." He confessed, stopping in the middle of the hall to turn and face Kon directly. Kon glimpsed the name Ryans as the silver name badge flashed the briefly reflecting the overhead lights. "You non-gothamites just don't get it. We're desperate for whatever help we can get." 

"That's why I applied here." Kon lied. "Going to school across the bay, I heard a lot about what went down over here while I was in college. I want to help." 

Ryans gave a short solemn nod then turned and led the rest of the way to the break room. 

~*~*~

Day four undercover was when Kon officially met Jasmine Fenton. 

Everything had been going well so far with his undercover assignment. He'd settled in to the role of Kyle Jennings, been getting along well with his new coworkers including Ryans and Fhizer, and hadn't yet managed to screw up inventorying the caches during the outer patrol loops. That being said, Kon was having other issues.

The worst part of being an unstable Kryptonian clone was that his strength tended to fluctuate. It normally wasn't much of an issue when he was surrounded by reinforced everything in his daily life but here at Arkham it was becoming a problem. Case in point, Kon thought to himself with an exhausted groan as his freshly made coffee mug shattered in his hand.

"Oh come on." He sighed snatching a handful of paper towels from the counter and bending to wipe up the coffee and ceramic shards on the floor. At least he was the only one in the room when it shattered. The door clicked softly behind him and Kon jumped twisting to look. 

Jasmine Fenton stood behind him having just closed the door to the break room after entering.

"What happened here?" She asked, sounding bewildered with slightly wide eyes as she took in the mess on the floor. Thank God. She didn't see it.

"Guess I was a bit more tired than I thought." He said with a forced laugh in order to hide his nerves. "Slipped right through my fingers."

She nodded, accepting his words at face value. 

"I've done that more than a few times close to finals." She admitted. "You guys have 10 hour shifts, right? You must be exhausted. When's your next day off?"

"The day after tomorrow." Kon said. "This is day 3 for me since orientation doesn't count."

"You get 2 days off followed by an on-call day, right?" She asked.

"Right," Kon agreed. "AKA 2 days of freedom and a day chained to the Bowery." He joked.

"Absolutely terrible, they may as well put an ankle monitor on you." She cracked back grinning. Kon snickered. The door opened again.

"I see you found another non-gothamite here." Dr. Rylie said striding into the break room with a wide grin.

"Sounds like that makes three of us." Kon agreed. Outside of Joker, he had never seen a gothamite grin that wide in his life.

"Dr. Thomas Rylie, a pleasure to meet you." Dr. Rylie introduced himself holding out his hand to shake. Kon shook his hand as gently as possible, mindful his strength was on the fritz.

"Kyle Jennings, nice to meet you. I just started as a guard earlier this week." He said then held his hand out to shake Jasmine's.

"Jasmine Fenton, I'm an intern therapist. This is my second week here." She greeted with a warm smile shaking Kon's hand. She didn't say anything about being glad to meet him, Kon noted. It wasn't exactly strange behavior but something made him take note of it anyway. Like by not saying it she was saying she hadn't decided whether meeting him was a good or bad thing yet. Dr. Rylie didn't seem to notice anything off with the interaction though as he went about making his own coffee. The three of them made idle small talk as they made their own coffees. Once his new cup was ready, Kon bid them both goodbye and went on his way. While they were his main objective, lingering too long this early into their aquantiantship would probably be strange.

He had several other small friendly interactions with both of them over the next few days. Taking the time for greetings, small talk, and sharing small bits of casual background info from Kyle Jennings's past to encourage them both to open up to him. He also broke a clipboard, two more coffee cups, several pens, and a doorknob during that time as his strength continued to fluctuate. The doorknob had been particularly embarrassing. He had gone to open the door for Jasmine when he saw her with her arms full of files and somehow managed to twist it in such a way that the screws holding it in place sheered off and the knob came off in his hand. Collins, his partner for building patrol that day, burst out laughing hysterically as Kon stared at the doorknob in horror.

"No worries, man." Collins said, clapping Kon on the shoulder still snickering. "Someone else probably broke it and put it back so they wouldn't get scolded or something."

"Yeah," Kon said with a nervous laugh. "That must be what happened."

Jasmine's eyes flicked between the two of them then she grinned.

"And here I thought you just really hated that door." She teased Kon. He felt his face heat up as Collins laughed at him again.

"It is an ugly door." Collins agreed enthusiastically smirking.

"Terribly ugly. Hideous even," Jasmine said with a smile.

"Possibly even traumatizing to behold," Collins continued to smirk.

"You've got me. I have a deep rooted traumatic fear of metal taupe doors." Kon deadpanned ears burning. Jasmine snickered as Kon got the door open for her and they went their separate ways.

~*~*~

"What have you found so far?" Tim asked. Kon did not have the words to express how much he didn't want to be at the Nest at 3am on his first day off from undercover work. If it was anyone other than Tim he wouldn't have even answered the phone.

"Literally nothing," Kon said dryly. "I am still the newest of newbies at Arkham. I practically spent the whole week being babysat by senior guardsmen." He sighed, reminding himself that it wasn't Tim's fault that he was a little insomniac goblin and that Kon really did love his friend and would be sad if he hurt Tim's feelings. Eventually. When he woke up again in the morning. "I did start befriending them both though. It's slow going since we're in different areas but nearly being the only non-gothamites there seems to be helping me make some headway at least." 

There was one other non-gothamite on staff, a medical nurse named Sharon Earley. She was in her mid-thirties and the most sour and unpleasant person Kon had had the displeasure of meeting so far on Arkham's staff. Not that Kon could blame her for that. Not when she had several large ragged scars spanning from her chin and down both of her arms from when Zsazz had gotten hold of her alone after dark her second year at Arkham. It was a damn miracle she'd survived him. Kon didn't know how she managed it but he wouldn't try to find out either. Ryans had taken him aside right before he first met Nurse Earley and warned him not to stare or ask about any of it and then explained the bare basics of what happened to her after they'd left. 

Tim probably had a file with every detail of that night as well as information about Sharon Earley's life both before and after that night somewhere on his computer. The thought made Kon nauseous. 

"Good, good," Tim said absently as he updated the mission file on his computer. The keys clicked so rapidly that Kon again reconsidered whether or not his best friend had super speed. "Better to keep them from suspecting than to rush in anyway." 

"Exactly." 

Tim continued asking questions about every little detail he could think of concerning Dr. Rylie, Jasmine Fenton, and the rogues currently in Arkham.

"They don't let me near those guys yet. I'm too new." Kon said when Tim asked if Scarecrow looked to be plotting more than usual.

"They don't?" Tim sounded surprised, going so far as to stop typing so he could turn and stare at Kon. The clone was amused to note something about his statement had managed to wake Tim up enough to be visibly shocked instead blank-faced with exhaustion.

"Of course not," Kon answered trying to keep the amusement from his voice as much as possible. "As many times as your rogues have broken out they're leary of letting new hires near them in case they're goons in disguise." 

Tim sank back into his chair looking like Kon had uprooted his whole world by proving the Earth really was flat via actual science.

"That's impossible." Tim said sounding faint. "Everytime there's a mass breakout, we always hear that some of the guards helped them escape. How?..." He trailed off, eyes darting rapidly like he was tracking lines of an invisible conspiracy board in the air in front of him. Kon shrugged, uncomfortable with this new information.

"Scuttlebutt is that the people helping them escape are visitors. The guards get blamed because the goons visit wearing clothes similar to the guard uniform from a distance. All blue polo shirts and black pants look similar at a distance." Kon explained. "It also doesn't help that the guards can't really do much to stop the escape attempts since they only have stun grenades, tranquilizer darts, batons, low voltage tazers, and rubber bullets to fight back with. So as long as enough people are involved in the escape attempt at least some of them will make it out even if the guards manage to to tranquilize several of them." 

Tim still looked like Kon was blowing his mind. It was such a rare experience that Kon had to continue.

"Plus the tranquilizer darts and the rubber bullets have to be fired from different hardware." Kon told him. "Which sucks because you have to carry twice the amount of weight while chasing after the escapees which slows you down and it takes longer to swap between them."

There was something similar to mystified horror spreading across his friend's face now.

"Speaking if swapping between them, they have different ranges too." Kon continued gleefully. Half because it was fun wrecking Tim's worldview and half to actually impart the information. "Batons are short-range. Tranquilializer darts and stun grenades are mid-range. Rubber bullet riffles are long-range."

"If that's all it is, WE can fund then better gear to control the inmates." Tim interrupted turning back to the computer and swiftly typing out a list of things to send Arkham. Kon shook his head.

"That won't work." He disagreed gently. "They aren't failing because of the gear itself."

Tim turned back around to face him, confused. This was not going to be a fun conversation, Kon swallowed hard and forced himself to continue.

"The problem is that if you fire the rubber bullet riffles from mid or short range you could seriously injury or even kill the patient. If they get past mid-range, you'll miss them completely using tranquilizer darts or stun grenades. If you try to use either of those at short-range it'll be bad for you whether it's because they'll get hold of you before the tranquilizer knocks them out or because you'll stun yourself too."

Comprehension and trepidation began to dawn on Tim's face. He deflated in his chair, sinking lower and lower as he stared off into nowhere.

"You also can't hit them with more than one tranquilizer dart in a four hour window because you could accidently kill them that way. That also means even though you have a baton, you typically can't do enough damage to them to keept them from escaping because that might potentially kill them." Kon said completely solemn now as he relayed the information. "Because regardless of the reputation Arkham has or what the patients have done, it is still a hospital and they are still patients." 

Tim was staring directly at Kon now. Mouth open, face slack, eyes wide with a kind of numbed shock. Kon held his gaze.

"Yeah," Kon said after a moment. "Yeah, that's how I reacted too." He looked down, picking at his nails for a moment before forcing himself to stop and meet Tim's gaze again. "Phizer, my new 'boss', made sure to drill that into my head during orientation. 'Arkham's guards exist first and foremost to protect the patients. Arkham isn't supposed to be a prison. It's a medical facility. The patients are confined to the premises because their affliction has made them dangerous and they have to stay so that we can keep them and others safe from further harm. We are here to keep the patients and staff from hurting each other, themselves, or being hurt by people outside of Arkham's walls.' Not gonna lie, man." Kon said quirking a bitter grin as his did. "Hearing that kind of fucked me up a bit."

Tim sucked in a huge heaving breath then slowly let it out before he responded.

"I can't say I ever thought about it like that." He admitted in a soft strained voice. "Can't say I ever wanted to either." There was a bitter tinge to his words.

"Yeah, neither did I." Kon answered, shoulders slumping a bit. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask me? I kind of want to head back and sleep a bit."

Tim shook his head slowly.

"No, I think we're good at the moment." He said looking twice as exhausted and drained now as he did when Kon first got there. Kon nodded.

"Good night then. I'll see you later, man." He said, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning against and heading for the door.

"Be safe, Kon." Tim answered softly turning back to his computer.

[pink-imagines]

reach me behind your voice

chapter 1: harmonize

summary: Shoto, your childhood friend, has grown distant towards you despite your history and Bakugo, the seemingly no-good rebel, has an interesting secret.

a/n: i’m not great at summaries, but you get the jist. this chapter is shorter since it’s more of a try-out. the other chapters will probably be longer and therefore take longer time to make.

warnings: none, yet

masterlist

requesting rules

You can remember clearly how throughout your childhood you’d always be dancing, no matter what the situation. It easily gained you nicknames like “ballerina” or “sugar plum fairy”. As soon as you could, you took any dance class that was available to you. Street dance, break dance, jazz, modern and, your favorite, ballet.  So of course when you heard someone playing the violin solo from the Swan Lake theme, Op. 20: No. 18, in the house next to yours you tried to find out who it was. The neighbour who lived next door was the Todoroki family, you had seen little of them at all but knew that they had a son the same age as you. Your eight year old self made it a mission to figure out if it was him who was playing. Luckily, your window to your bedroom faced his so it wasn’t hard to figure out. The hard part was getting him to notice you. Knocking as hard as you could on the window didn’t seem to help, he was probably wearing ear plugs.

The first time he noticed that you were there was when he for once opened his window. It was a hot  day so your window stood wide open as well. Shoto had never thought about looking into his neighbour’s window before but the music made him look a bit closer. You were playing some sort of hip hop song, practicing for your latest recital. He liked watching you move like that, it seemed as if you had fun. But as soon as you caught him he went to close the window. “No! Wait!”, you exclaimed and almost threw yourself out the window, “Could you play me Op. 20: No. 18?” He didn’t answer, he could only nod. With an eye still on you he started playing, and of course you started dancing. His smile grew and grew, sure you messed up at some parts but it was still fun to see someone dance to his music. “I’m not great at ballet but I’ll practice more if you play for me!”, you promised.

That promise was kept until the present of today. Shoto and you became close friends, first from your windows and then up close. Soon enough you did everything together, you had even fixed a can and string phone between your windows. The phone was still up, but rarely used- seeing as you had real phones now. You had been through a lot with Shoto, and you had supported each other every step of the way. Music is what kept you together, and it seemed as if other people could see that too. The two of you put on a lot of shows together, and whenever either of you needed to practice the other would be there too. Shoto would play for you and you would dance for him. 

Your senior year of high school is when you started drifting apart. Shoto had too many competitions and you had too many performances... other than that it seemed as if he wanted to give up on his talent, and was only hanging on a thread made by his father’s approval. Dancing had become a thing that only happened in a studio or on stage, and playing the violin had become a thing that was only supposed to be played in his room or on stage. 

From time to time you’d walk to school together. You made sure he was eating, and he made sure you didn’t have to walk home alone later. The smallest reasons gave you hope that you still cared about each other. “We’re having a live performer during my next ballet recital.”, you told him on your walk to school, “Kind of like how you used to play for me.” You knew it was useless to try to grasp at something so far away, but you couldn’t help but to try. The chilly air only fueled your want for the warm feeling of Shoto’s embrace. You never thought about how much you’d miss his hugs, but the late-September weather only made it worse.  “Oh really?”, Shoto kept his eyes on the road, “What is it about then?” Of course he completely ignored your last statement, but there was nothing to do about it unless you wanted to make things worse. “The pianist had composed it himself, we’re gonna get to know about it today.”, you explained. “What’s the pianist n-” “Hey, Y/N!”, one of your close friends interrupted Shoto mid-sentance. “Hi, Mina.”, you waved at her but she still engulfed you in a hug. “Cute scarf, it even matches the uniform!”, she smiled and then looked over at Shoto, “Sorry, I didn’t interrupt anything right?” “No, I was on my way anyways.”, he put on a charming smile, “Have a good day- and don’t walk home alone if it gets too dark, Y/N.” “I won’t.”, you waved and watched him walk away. “I totally interrupted something, didn’t I? You look disappointed-” “Just forget about it, Mina.”, you smiled at her even though you were kind of disappointed. “I told you, you should tell him that you have a crush on him. Then he’d totally pay more attention to you.”, she wrapped her left arm around your shoulders. “I don’t have a crush on him!”, you exclaimed even though she gave you a very unbelieving look, “Even if I did, it doesn’t mean that he’d actually like me back.”

School went on like usual; you had your morning classes, ate lunch with Mina and Kyoka and then had your afternoon classes. During the entire day you didn’t talk to Shoto, whenever you tried he always had somewhere else to be. So it was like every other day, though at the end of the day he approached you. It was right when you were about to leave, you has just taken out your outdoor shoes from your locker. “It says it’s gonna rain later.”, he held out his umbrella to you, “You shouldn’t be catching a cold before your performance.” “Thank you.”, you took the umbrella from him and gave him a soft smile, “Are you sure you shouldn’t have it though?” “I’ll be fine... just take it.”, he scratched the back of his head and looked away from you, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” “Sure.”, you nodded. “Bye, then.”, he huffed and walked away. “Bye, Shoto.”, you said and followed him with your eyes as he left.

Like Shoto said, it started raining. It wasn’t a lot of rain but he was overly careful like that at times. You skipped over the puddles forming on the uneven road and hummed the tune to singing in the rain. No one was out on the road so you lost yourself in your own imagination as you danced down the lonesome path.  You were thinking about why things with Shoto had turned out the way they did, if you really just did fine different friendgroups. He couldn’t be completely blamed for the distance that had been put between you since you had taken a few steps back when you realised you had feelings for him. You didn’t even want to think about it, your own feelings could ruin your entire friendship. He probably just distanced himself because he saw you did the same... You didn’t have time to think much longer as you bumped into someone. “Hey, watch it.”, the boy hissed. “Sorry!”, you quickly backed up and looked up at him. It was the boy from your school, Bakugo. You didn’t know much about him, just that he seemed kind of rude and that he hung out with the very nice Kirishima. You never quite understood their dynamic, they were really the opposite when it came to personality.  He let out an irritated sigh before he kept walking... in the same direction you were going. After a while he stopped suddenly, making you accidentally walk into his back. “Are you following me or something?”, he turned around to you. “No, I’m going this way too.”, you huffed and walked past him. You could feel his eyes on you as you walked, and honestly it grew tiring. “Do you have a staring problem or something?”, you turned around to him. “Huh? Why would I look at you?”, he walked up next to you, “You skip when you walk, of course you draw attention to yourself when you walk weird.” “Oh, sure!”, you shook your head and kept walking, faster this time. Bakugo quickened his pace, making it obvious that this was some sort of competition. So of course you walked faster.

This lasted until you were both power walking to your destination. You hadn’t even realised that you got to the dance studio until you almost walked into the door. You pulled out your card to open the door, but Bakugo already had his out and opened the door. “What are you doing? Why do you have a key card?”, you asked. “I’m working here.”, he looked away from you as he held open the door, “Are you gonna walk in or what?” You skeptically walked in, keeping an eye on him during the entire time. He wasn’t a dancer, was he? If he was then you’d know it. He wouldn’t look you in the eye no matter how hard you stared and his ears were turning slightly red. “What are you staring at!?”, he exclaimed. “I’m just trying to figure out if you’re a dancer.”, you muttered. “I’m not a dancer.”, he said. You stared at him with squinted eyes, trying to see if he was lying. “Fine then.”, you said and walked to the changing rooms, “I wouldn’t care if you were, you know.” “I’m not!” “Okay, okay!”, you walked into the changing rooms.

When you got out into the dance studio you saw Bakugo talk with your dance teacher. You pulled your pants up higher over your leotard, making sure that they sat at just the right place, and went to stretch. While stretching you kept an eye on Bakugo, noticing the piano in the background... slowly pieces started to fall together. As soon as they stopped talking the teacher walked out of the studio, probably to get changed, and Bakugo walked up to you. “You better do well, I’m partly in charge of choosing the roles today.”, he grinned. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”, you sat down in a split and looked up at him, “Whether you like me or not, it has nothing to do with my dancing and I’m sure that my teacher wouldn’t be fond of you picking favorites because of their personality.” “Whatever...”, he huffed and walked over to the piano.

When all the dancers had gathered the teacher walked back in and quickly counted all the students. “Seems like we’re all here. I hope everybody has warmed up and stretched, we’ll begin immediately.”, mrs. Takahashi said in a stern tone, “This is Bakugo Katsuki, a well known pianist whom has won many competitions.” You looked at Bakugo as he bowed in a greeting... you had no idea that he had won competitions, let alone that he was well known. Then again, you never really cared about where the music came from unless it was from Shoto. “He’s composed a few pieces, which put together becomes an hour long performance.”, she explained further, “So it won’t be the longest performance we’ve done, but it’s new and exciting. I’m expecting all of you to do your best at these auditions, but for today we’ll be learning the parts.” Mrs. Takahashi motioned for Bakugo to start playing, which he did. It was quick, nothing that you hadn’t done before but it’d always be harder to learn when the beat is quicker. There was no time for slacking, and your interest had peaked. “That was a part of the introduction.”, mrs. Takahashi said as Bakugo stopped playing, “As you can tell, it’s quick. This is a story of tragedy, a young boy who’s invisible to everyone around him no matter what he does. He falls in love with a girl, and though she cannot see him he still tries his best to save her from different situations. I’ll be giving you a short story, so that you can read through it later. For now, let’s get to work.” And so the practicing started. Bakugo never looked away from the notes, he was extremely focused... it was probably the first time you had seen him this quiet and calm. You couldn’t let yourself be distracted, though- afterall, hadn’t you kind of challenged him. Details were to be perfected, steps were to be remembered, and your energy needed to be focused on doing the best you possibly could.

At the end of the lesson, while you were stretching before you got to go home, mrs. Takahashi gathered your attention by clapping harshly twice. “Listen up! You all did fantastic today!”, she sounded proud for once, “Next time we meet will be in two days, for our next lesson. You’ll get an email with the right location, that’s where you’ll audition and that’s where we’ll later hold the performance. Be on time, alright?” “Yes, ma’am.”, all the students answered. “Great work, you’re free to go.”, she nodded and everybody made their way to the changing rooms. You went to grab your waterbottle and when you stood back up mrs. Takahashi stood beside you. “You did well today, Y/L/N.”, she said, “I’m expecting a lot for you in the near future.” “Thank you, ma’am.”, you bowed your head and walked over to the changing room. Before leaving you grabbed the last pile of papers, which had the story written on it. It felt unbelieveable that Bakugo Katsuki had written his own short story, let alone composed music for it.

When you got out you were just about to call Shoto to tell you about it, but then you saw Bakugo standing by the entrance. “I’ll give you this, Bakugo.”, you said as you walked up to him, “You’re pretty good at piano.” “Pretty good?”, he scoffed, “You sure are cocky, aren’t you princess?” “What’s with the nickname?”, you folded your arms over your chest. “Prancing around like that in the studio, I might as well call you a princess.”, he chuckled, “Or do you prefer idiot?” “I’d like to see you ‘prance around’ like I did.”, you huffed. “I didn’t say you were bad.”, he looked away from you, “Whatever, I’m leaving. I’m counting on you to get the lead, princess.” He started walking away.

-

Now it’s your turn to choose: follow Bakugo or call Shoto? Click here to choose

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[mrsrcbinscn]

BDRPWriMo Task #16: TV Soundtrack

Task:  Jukebox Musical/TV or Movie Soundtrack - come up with a playlist of at least 10 songs, write a scene summary to go with each one.

AU: The Robinsons is a hit multigenerational Netflix show featuring an ensemble cast, chronicling the lives of main couple Franny and Cornelius Robinson from childhood all the way through their marriage, and the lives of their families. Rated TV-14 some episodes, but some have mature content rated MA.

These aren’t in chronological order, I was too lazy to fix everything because the ideas came to me out of order.

tw: violence, marijuana use, underage drinking (in the US anyway), abuse of prescription medication (ADHD meds), mentions of abortion (a side character), sexual themes, car accident

tagging my husband because lots of these involve him @nottomsellecksorry

[ooc: these events all happened, just obv not with cool background music]

Episode Title: Song

1. The Mugshot: Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison

(Inspired by the use of Istanbul in the diner fight scene in The Umbrella Academy)

Background: Since the beginning of the series, Franny Robinson has had a framed mugshot of herself throwing up the rock n’ roll hand gesture with a cut on her face on the wall of the Robinson home. This episode is where the mugshot’s origin is revealed.

Franny and Cornelius had only been married for a little over a year when they visited Franny’s parents in Georgia for her mother’s birthday. One night during their stay, they went out drinking in the city (Atlanta) with Franny’s youngest older brother (Art) and a bunch of Franny’s hometown friends. A man at one of the bars, one with a gorgeous outdoor bar, where the scene takes place, wouldn’t leave Franny alone even after she flashed her wedding ring. The situation quickly got heated and before Franny’s brother or friends could step in between them, the man shoved Franny back into a table.

[background noise is edited out in post-production, there is no sound but the sound of glasses falling and shattering on the bar’s patio as Franny looks down at her sandaled feet, now bleeding from glass cutting them a little.]

 And then;

[the first notes of Oh, Pretty Woman]

“He put his hands on me first. He shoved me first, you all saw that, right?” Franny said, holding out and index finger and pointing it at her husband, at her friends, at Art, and at strangers who had long since begun to spectate. 

“He touched me first. So this is self defense.” She said, pulling her hair back into a ponytail before launching herself at him. All five feet five inches of her came at him like a missile and absolutely knocked the crap out of this guy. Her big brother didn’t even need to throw a punch, she had this all on her own.

[Mercy!!] As Franny slams the man’s face onto a table. 

As they were both clearly fighting, both Franny and the man were arrested and taken to the police station, and while they took her mughot, Franny threw up the rock n’ roll gesture with a bored expression.

2. Payne Lake, Georgia: Blue by LeAnn Rimes

Background: Cornelius’s first EVER visit to Franny’s hometown of Payne Lake, Georgia. The first time she introduced him to her family. 

Neil and Franny join some of Franny’s friends at the little town’s bar on karaoke night, they’re hangin’ out, munching on the bar’s specialty - Irish Nachos; waffle fries with melted queso, scallions, ground beef, salsa, and black beans - with her regular hometown crew. But then her high school voice teacher (who is a bartender too because ‘Murica) is like “Franny Framagucci, it is KARAOKE night!!! Sing!!!!”

And Franny’s all like “Noooooo” because Neil’s only heard her sing in musical productions through NYU, or at showcases for jazz studies. So meticulously practiced and critiqued performances. She’d yet to invite him to any open mics she was going to or anything like that. This man thought she was perfect!! ! ! She needed to make sure he kept that myth as truth. 

So Franny was all “no, I simply CAN’T” but then her teacher started chanting ‘sing, sing, sing’ and her friends joined in, and then people around them recognized Franny - small towns, gotta love ‘em - and someone shouted out “Do Blue, Franny!”

“Haha, no way”

“Come ooooon”

“Well, if you inSIST”

When Franny was in high school, she’d learned to yodel to she could knock Blue out of the park to show up some bitch she hated at the county fair. Very South, Much Georgia, wow. So naturally, she stood on stage and rocked Blue in all her Georgia glory in front of her very Yankee boyfriend, exposing her very uncool country bumpkin side to him for the first time.

Except, it only made him think she was even MORE wonderful, he just got even bigger heart eyes than usual. 

3. Am I A Crazy Bitch?: Science vs Romance by Rilo Kiley

Background: Earlier in the episode, Franny had gone off on Cornelius because she was insulted he’d offered to pay for part of her tuition for the upcoming semester so she wouldn’t have to work as much. Because the last episode, he found out she’d been abusing Adderall on a semi-regular basis to be able to stay awake long enough to juggle school, work, a social life, and seeing him. And confronted her about it. So this episode, he was like “let me make it easier for you.” And Franny went off on him because she was A. insulted, and B. so mad at herself, because his response to his girlfriend abusing Adderall shouldn’t be ‘give her money for college.’ He should be!! Disappointed in her!! He should!! Hate her! And she felt disgusted with herself that he didn’t.

SO. 

The song plays while it flips between scenes of 

A. college-aged Franny sitting on the bathroom floor of her apartment smoking weed #hating herself after she went off on Neil before he left for a business trip to Europe. She can be heard muttered “stupid bitch, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you” as she moves to straight up laying down on the bathroom tile.

B. scenes of Neil in Berlin; in the back of a car halfheartedly listening to his assistant reading off the agenda for the day, pretending to listen to what his German nerd counterparts are saying as he’s just spaced out and sad, only picking at his food across the table from his assistant

C. Art (Franny’s youngest older brother) typing an e-mail to his parents because he’s too afraid to tell them in person he’s dropping out of university for the second time

D. Sophie (Franny’s mother) sitting alone in the kitchen of the Framagucci home after having woken up from a nightmare about her life under the Khmer Rouge, drinking hot tea 

E. Delia Weiss, one of Franny’s closest college friends and eventually lifelong friend, smoking a cigarette and standing outside of an abortion clinic that opens the next morning, after having found out earlier in the episode she was pregnant with her shitty ex’s baby, hinting to the audience she planned to come back tomorrow to terminate

4. Cambodian Independence Day: I’m A Cuckoo by Belle & Sebastian

Background: Franny, who had up until this point in her life, never cut her hair more than a few inches, was told she would need to bob her hair to star as Millie in NYU’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. Long hair is a cultural thing for many Cambodian women and while it didn’t carry too much significance to Franny personally, it very much mattered to her mother, Sophea (”Sophie”). The episode happens to be set on November 9th, which is the day Cambodia became independent from France.

I’m A Cuckoo plays as Franny’s standing in the kitchen of Cornelius’s NYC apartment, scissors in hand, just chopping off her hair that went down to just a couple inches above her tailbone. She keeps repeating, “I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m so dead.” Then says “Mak’s gonna skin my hide alive then use it as a lampshade, Ed Gein style.” 

When Cornelius laughs at her joke she whines, “It’s not funny, I’m serious! When my mother kills me say somethin’ nice about me at the funeral.”

Scene skips ahead to Franny examining her hair in Neil’s bathroom mirror, biting down on her lip and whimpering. He slips his arms around her waist and kisses her cheek, “I think it looks nice.” 

“I’m going to be buried. Alive, most likely.”

“Shh.”

“Mak’s going to kill me, revive me, then kill me again.” *whines* “I look like a Boy Scout.”

*Neil turns her away from the mirror to face him. “You look beautiful.”

“You always say that.”

“It’s always true.”

Aaaaaand some more kissing later, they’re having Hot Sex against the bathroom counter.  They’re horny 20-somethings, what can ya do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

5 & 6. Am I A Manic Pixie Dream Girl?: I Held Her In My Arms by Violent Femmes // Prove My Love by Violent Femmes

Background: Franny decided to give Cornelius a glimpse into what poor people do for fun. When she couldn’t afford concert tickets, she and her friends both back home and in NYC would go to parking decks overlooking amphitheater venues to see concerts. So she took Neil to a parking deck to watch a Violent Femmes concert - and planned to, for the first time ever, open up about some parts of her life.

I Held Her In My Arms plays and Franny’s dancing, having a great time, and tbh this is sUCH a manic pixie dream girl moment, I’m ashamed. She’s ashamed. God is ashamed.

Fast forward, and she’s back to sitting down, her legs fit under the barrier between the parking deck and the drop to the concrete below, so her feet are comfortably dangling in the air as she-- know what, lemme just copy-paste a selection from our Discord DMs 

mckala 10/26/2019 Oh wow wanna know the first time Franny was Purposely vulnerable in front of him vs. he-caught-her-at-her-worst-moments

mary 10/26/2019 uuhh yes pls, i say knowing i will regret

mckala 10/26/2019 OH the good news is, it's not SUPER sad, but it's #revealing SO

She opens up about how poor her family is, and how much she'd been bullied for being Asian, biracial, having an immigrant mother and Swiss immigrant stepdad and their funny accents, and how she puts all this pressure on herself to succeed since she couldn't be smart in the "right" way (STEM), so she HAS to do well in the arts against all odds to make her parents proud, and to make enough money so that her mom and dad don't have to work past retirement age. "So my mom can enjoy her life after what she went through in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge."

But she does it...lowkey romantically, like

Franny takes Cornelius to the parking deck overlooking a lil amphitheater concert venue to watch a Violent Femmes concert, and now Franny has like a part-time job while in school so she CAN afford tickets -- and she has a rich boyfriend -- but she purposely took him to the parking deck to listen to the music and at one point she turned to him and said "When I was in middle and high school in Atlanta, we'd do this a lot. It was the only way we could afford to go see live shows."

And then she's like "We were - /are/ poor. Really poor. Not like you." Bc she assumes he was always decently well-off once he was adopted since his mother probably made at least six figures by her estimate. 

And she's monologuing pretty much until her eyes water without her really REALIZING. Just monologues about how much pressure she puts on herself to BE perfect, to BE the best, to not make mistakes because she already made the big mistake of not "Being smart enough to be a doctor, or an engineer, or a lawyer, or half as smart as you."

mary 10/26/2019 oW, my hEART meanwhile neil is just like, "there is no right way to be smart. and you're smarter than me in a million different ways, so we're going to put an end to that line of thinking right here and now." because he didnt look at music as anything other than white noise until she came into his life

mckala 10/26/2019 OHHH MYYYY GOD

SO. They’re all snuggling and kissing for a bit, then at one point Franny’s like “We need to go to the car right now so we can ;)” and he’s not picking up what she’s putting down because he is far less sexperienced than her lmao, so he’s like “...what? Wait, but - oh. OH.”

And Prove My Love plays as Franny gets nerdy, newly sexually active Neil to have sex with her in a his car in a public parking deck, SMH. At [special favors come in thirty-one flavors] the camera pans to Franny’s face as she’s receiving oral ASDFGHJKL; and at [third verse, same as the first] the episode goes to end credits.

7.  I’m Twenty-Two Years Old: I’m Sixteen Years Old by Ros Sereysothea

****TW: CAR ACCIDENT*****

I’m Sixteen is a running musical theme throughout the episode

Background: The previous episode, Franny and the rest of the cast that were NYU students have graduated from NYU. Last episode ended with Franny and Cornelius celebrating her graduation with both of their families, and plenty of nudges from both sets of parents ‘sooo, can we expect a summer wedding, orrrrrr does Franny want to take the summer to think about masters’ programs?’ A lot of Franny and Neil hissing at their mothers ‘Mak/Mom, stoooop’ but earlier that episode Franny and Neil actually talked about getting married next spring, once they figured out whether or not they were staying in New York now that Franny was done with NYU.

The episode I’m Twenty-Two Years Old begins with Franny driving at a comfortable five over the speed limit on the interstate at night. A cassette tape of Cambodian 60′s and 70′s psychedelic rock is playing in Franny’s car as she’s finishing up a phone call on her good ol’ Nokia 5190. (Remember, this was 2002.)

[I’m Sixteen begins to play in the background during the phone call when it was on Franny’s end]

“Yes ma’am, I should be at the house in about an hour.”

[camera shows Lucille Robinson in her neighborhood finishing up a night jog] 

“Franny Framagucci, you know I told you to call me Lucille. You and your manners.”

“I can’t help it, my mama would kill me if she knew I let Lucille slip sometimes.”

 “If you marry my son you can just call me mom.”

“What d’you mean if? It’s when. It’s for sure when, we just- we want to sort a couple things out post-NYU first.”

“So you’ve talked about it?”

“Mmhm. I’m going to talk to him about it again when he’s back from Beijing. I’ll tell you everything when I get to the house. Thanks again for lettin’ me crash a couple days. I dunno, I just feel kinda melancholy about graduatin’. Didn’t wanna be at the apartment all alone for a whole week.”

“You’re family, you’re welcome anytime.”

“I know. Love yoooou, see you soon!”

She tossed her phone onto the passenger seat and turned the music up. [I’m Sixteen is now playing loudly.]  Soon, a car going the wrong way comes speeding at Franny and Franny screams shrilly above the music as she’s aware there’s no avoiding impact. The scene fades to black and a countdown clock appears on screen.

9:00:00. Nine hours, zero minutes, zero seconds before the accident. 

Franny’s dancing around their apartment in one of Neil’s shirts and her underwear listening to that same cassette of Khmer 60s and 70s music. [I’m Sixteen is playing.] She’s singing along and when Cornelius steps out of the bedroom wheeling his suitcase behind him, Franny briefly interrupts her dancing to wave at him before she grabs a handful of Swedish Fish gummies (her favorite American candy) from an open bag on the countertop and pops one into her mouth while dancing.

She dances her way over to Neil and shoves a Swedish Fish in his mouth and asks him. “Got your deodorant?” He hums an affirmative. “Backup underwear and pants in case you spill stuff on your lap thrice in one day again?” 

“Must you have so little-” he’s given pause when she shoves another fish in his mouth. “-faith in me?”

Franny grins. “My love, I have all the faith in the world...in your clumsiness.” Commence some cute kissing before Franny’s like “hey, heeeey, no getting handsy. Because then I’m going to take your clothes off and you’re going to miss your flight, and Tanya [Neil’s assistant at the time] is going to kill me.”

Scenes between several of the cast of characters happen, yadda yadda.

Eventually when the clock strikes 00:00:00, Neil’s plane from his first layover at Dallas-Fort Worth touches down at LAX at the same time of Franny’s car accident. 

The scene cuts to the wreckage of the two cars, it is out of focus and shaky with occasional flashes of clarity to show important actions. Franny’s car falling into place upside down, Franny’s neck not supporting her head anymore because she’s unconscious and her head the rolling to one side, other drivers leaping out of their cars and running to the wreck.

Cut to what can be assumed to be a couple hours later, at LAX. Neil’s still waiting on his flight to China and just chilling, humming the tune of I’m Sixteen because it was in his head from this morning. He begins to mumble an approximation of the lyrics, but he’s immediately disgusted with his lack of ability to speak Khmer. He turns to Tanya.

“Do you think I should learn Khmer?”

“Huh?”

“Khmer. I should learn it.”

“Oh, that language your girlfriend speaks? Good luck. It sounds rough. Every time she’s on the phone with her mother I think they’re fighting.”

Cornelius shook his head. “I think it’s beautiful.”

“You’d think it was beautiful if it was just high-pitched screeching because it’s to do with her.” Tanya poked affectionately.

Neil’s phone rings. Caller ID says Art, Franny’s middle brother.

[I’m Sixteen plays over the background noises of the following scenes spliced together]

Cornelius shooting out of his seat and listening with wide eyes before running to the nearest counter to find the first flight back to New York, Franny in surgery, Bud and Lucille (who were the first people Franny’s family in Georgia called to ask them to go to the hospital since they’re in New York, they’re in Georgia) scurrying out of the house, and poor Tanya looking frustrated as fuck as she realizes Cornelius is about to just throw away important investment opportunities to fly back to New York for a situation he has literally no control over.

8. Brothers and Sisters: She’s Actin’Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles) by Gary Stewart

Two years before Franny even met Cornelius, she was an eighteen year old high school senior and her oldest brother was Going Through Some Shit. Specifically, a breakup.

He was laying on his bedroom floor listenin’ to sad cowboy music and she was like “fuuuuuck no” so her 5′5 ass grabbed her over six foot tall big brother up off the floor and hissed “We’re going to Uncle Lemmy’s garage right the fuck now!”

In one hand was the cassette Gaston was listening to, tucked under her armpit was a bottle of Maker’s Mark she swiped from their vati’s (father’s) collection on the way out, and she had an iron grip on Gaston’s hand with her other hand.

Unlce Lemmy was a Vietnamese man actually called Tất Văn Hữu Liêm  in proper Vietnamese naming custom, but to the neighborhood kids he was Uncle Lemmy. 

“Bác Lemmy!” Franny called out in Vietnamese as she let herself in after knocking. “We need to use the garage. Gaston’s girlfriend just broke up with him.”

“Oh, dear. Do you kids need anything?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have any goi cuon laying around would you?”

“I can roll some!”

“Don’t trouble yourself, Bac Lemmy.”

“Nonsense. Gaston is in crisis!”

In Uncle Lemmy’s garage was a karaoke machine. Franny popped in the cassette of sad cowboy music and shoved the mic into Gaston’s hand. “Sing it out, you sad bastard.”

She opened the bottle of Maker’s Mark and took a swig, handing the whiskey out to Gaston, too. The songs you listen to in your sad cowboy hours? They covered them all. All My Ex’s Live In Texas. Neon Moon. Long Gone Lonesome Blues. (”Whooo, fuck that bitch!” shouted Franny at some point during Hank Williams.) Misery Loves Company. I Told You So. 

The highlight of Framagucci siblings drunk karaoke at 2:30 in the afternoon? She’s Actin’ Single.

[I've seen men look at her before And they think, I don't see] “God,” Franny slurred, very, very drunk. “How fucked is that? Fuck off, partner, that ain’t your woman.”

[I know she'll be lookin' back The minute I'm not there While she pours herself on some stranger I pour myself a drink somewhere]  “Daaaaaaamn, bitch.”

By the chorus, Franny and Gaston were just wasted scream-singing the lyrics at each other.

9. Go Ahead:  Go Ahead by Rilo Kiley 

Basically, the song the soundtrack team put over the scene where Franny took Neil’s virginity lmao. You can tell I stayed up til 6:30 am yesterday working on this task, and now it is almost 4 AM the next day and I’m still trying to finish, so I’m very much trying to stop being Extra now.

It was v soft and giggly and the most wholesome sex scene in cinema mmkay

10. That Damned Penguin Song: Papa Pingouin by Sophie & Magaly

One week when Wilbur was very small, Cornelius and Franny made the mistake of letting Franny’s Swiss Italian-French-German speaking father be the main one to watch Wilbur for a four-day period when both Franny and Neil were insanely busy. Adrien was a godsend, really. Whenever Wilbur was being fussy he would sing and dance to the 1980 absolute BOP that is Papa Pingouin.

But when Adrien Framagucci left Swynlake after his visit? 

“Muuuuummy, Daaaaaaaddy. Penguin! Sing penguin!” 

Except, neither of them knew what the actual fuck Wilbur was talking about, until Franny suddenly remembered from her childhood. When Adrien, who wasn’t her biological father, was trying to convince Franny to like him so she’d let him marry her mother, she vaguely recalled a French song relating to a penguin.

In her memory, six year old Franny had demanded Adrien do something stupid in public and he obliged by singing a French song and acting like a penguin.

Slowly, tentatively, Franny sang the first few bars

Le papa pingouin, le papa pingouin Le papa, le papa, le papa pingouin Le papa pingouin s'ennuie sur la banquise...?

“Muuuuuummy noooo, you gotta do dance! Pépère does the dance.”

Franny inhaled sharply and turned to Cornelius. “How much do you love me, dear?”

“Huh?”

“You married me. It’s not like a Wal-mart where you can just return me if you bring the receipt, yes?” “Uh...”

“I’ll explain after the little guy is satisfied.” With that she turned to Wilbur, sighed, and did Papa Pingouin with full enthusiasm. If French wasn’t Cornelius’s best second language, it was by the time Wilbur outgrew Papa Pingouin.

The penguin song was Wilbur’s favorite until he outgrew it. For years. Years. Y E A R S, Neil and Franny were in a loop of Papa Pingouin. Cornelius is now 45 and Franny is about to be 40. Papa Pingouin still haunts their dreams.

IT IS 5 AM ON DAY 2 OF WORKING ON THIS LMAO FINALLY DONE

[acuppellarp]

Welcome (again) to A Cup-pella, Leigh! We’re excited to have you and Brodie Weston in the game! Please go through the checklist to make sure you’re ready to go and send in your account within the next 24 hours.

OOC INFO

Name + pronouns: Leigh + she/her Age: 27 Timezone: EST Ships:  Chemistry Anti-Ships: No Chemistry

IC INFO

Full Name: Brodie Alexandria Weston Face Claim: Emilia Clarke Age/Birthday: 28/April 8 Occupation: Actress of all trades, writer Personality: Idealistic, opinionated, easygoing, reckless, flighty Hometown: Lane Cove, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Bio:

Growing up in Australia meant that Brodie Weston got very used to the stars, quiet, and giant flying spiders that would try and eat her head off. She wasn’t there for very long– as a child, Brodie was privileged enough to travel to all over the world– her father worked as a Foreign Service Officer and helped with worldwide issues such as infrastructure, immigration, and refugee crises. Brodie was taught that the world is a wonderful and beautiful place, but that all wonderful and beautiful places can have problems that need to be fixed. The most profound ways that Brodie found in fixing them were by sharing the stories of those who she met and keeping a journal where she held all of these memories.

By the time Brodie was sixteen years old, she’d been bitten quite badly by the performing bug. Most would say she’d entered the biz too little, too late, but Brodie had been doing pick-up ballet lessons since she was a child, and she had a decent singing voice. As a dramatic person naturally, Brodie found her chops in the acting world. Her mother, an equally dramatic person, homeschooled her through high school, and got Brodie on the classics very quickly– Austen, Bronte, Shakespeare, Byron, Yates. Of course, Brodie ate up the Harry Potter series like it was candy, and found that she was most herself when she was able to escape to another world. Of course, after a while, reading about other places only scratched one particular itch– then, she needed to actually be in those other worlds.

Sixteen was a crucial year for Brodie. It was at sixteen when Brodie’s family moved to the United States. It was at sixteen when she landed the leading role in her high school’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Brodie very quickly realized that being onstage in front of other people was something she craved, and something that was crucial to her happiness and overall well-being. From then, Brodie did as much as she could to catch up, and took acting, singing, and dancing classes. While she always had a good voice and could carry a tune, her strengths lay in acting and in movement. In addition to all of this, Brodie wrote her first ever novella, about a young girl who suddenly gained the ability to read people’s deepest desires. She submitted it to a writing competition in Seattle, and won first place. Her final year of schooling brought her the leading role in Twelfth Night, and Brodie was sold. She was accepted into the acting program at Berklee and moved to Boston the day after graduation.  She planned on minoring in writing for the stage and screen. The world was at her feet.

It was that crucial summer where Brodie met Cassandra July, the thirty-something dance instructor who taught a Tuesday night jazz class. When she danced to “Fever,” there was something that stirred in Brodie that she’d never really felt before. She’d spent her whole life figuring out how to best make her body move, but it wasn’t until she was struck in the face with actual desire that she realized she was a goner. Brodie took every single class that Cassandra taught that summer, from hip hop to jazz to tap. She found her strengths in a roll of her hips, a tilt of her head, and in the moments when Cassandra would corner her after class and show her how to use them as weapons for her own sensuality. Little did Brodie know that Cassandra July was workshopping a production of Cruel Intentions, one that she ended up auditioning for and landing the role of Kathryn in. After Cassandra made a point of kissing her in-between scenes, the rumor mill went flying about Brodie and how, exactly, she’d landed the role.

Even though the production went up in November of Brodie’s freshman year at Berklee, she stuck faithfully by Cassandra and kept auditioning for her dance projects. Writing, during this time, fell strongly by the wayside and Brodie truly felt like she’d lost herself when her sophomore year dawned and she had nothing written to show for it. Brodie ended up keeping her writing minor, but vowed to break things off with Cassandra. It was a tough transition for Brodie, who largely felt as if Cassandra had defined her time in Boston thus far, but she knew it was for the best. Eventually, Brodie found her way and her voice, and despite her initial reservations about her sexuality, her parents were nothing but supportive when she finally came out to them. Above all things, they wanted Brodie to be happy. And well, that’s what Brodie wanted, too.

Since graduating from Berklee, Brodie made the executive decision to move out to LA, where she booked a few TV pilots that didn’t take off. With her writing completely abandoned, Brodie found herself lost in the plasticity of LA. She looked the part, she could be whatever part needed, but Brodie didn’t see herself fitting in to the laid-back, California attitude. With only one coast left to explore, Brodie made the executive decision to move to New York City to pursue her dreams of being an actress and playwright.

Brodie has been living in New York City for two years now, and she really can’t be any happier. Everything seems to be aligning for her, and the energy of the city is giving her the inspiration that she needs to get herself writing. She’s working on her magnum opus, a play version of the novella she wrote as a child, and she’s acting as Sylvia Allen in The Untitled Aria Abrams Project. All in all, Brodie is making her way through the world and that’s all that she can ask for.

Pets: None, although Brodie desperately would like to have one. Relationships:

Theo Carter

Roommate. They get along very well, if only because Brodie will constantly laugh at Theo’s wit and sarcasm. Their hours are different and they don’t often get much time to spend with each other, so they’re constantly texting and Snapchatting the other. Brodie would go so far as to call Theo her best friend in the city.

Rachel Berry

Ex-something. Since they’ve been in the city together for a few months now, Brodie is well aware of Rachel’s current relationship status and couldn’t be happier for her. Because of Brodie’s great love and respect for Rachel, she’s content to sit back and watch her succeed.

The Untitled Aria Abrams Project - Sylvia Allen

It’s a job, but Brodie loves it, and she’s very happy to be a part of something that involves more people from the Acup world. Working with Aria has made Brodie realize how desperately she wants to put one of her own pieces up. She knows that her part isn’t one that will be on the show forever, and she’s trying to balance TUAAP with the rest of her insane schedule, but she’s very grateful for the opportunity and always comes extremely prepared for rehearsals and shoots.

EXTRA INFO

brodie/brodieweston/she walks in beauty like the night:

Five latest tweets:

@brodieweston: 2B or not 2B… that is the question #apartmenthunting @brodieweston: guess who just got her yoga instructor certification! check me out at @zenyogachelsea for a drop in class every monday morning from 8-9! @brodieweston: toxic masculinity is bombarding hugh jackman to be in another wolverine movie when all he wants to do is sing showtunes. @brodieweston: accepting any and all positive juju for this audition i think i just nailed! #fingerscrossed @brodieweston: that feeling when you download duolingo and can now say an ENTIRE SENTENCE IN ROMANIAN!