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[countessvalentines]

Best Bourbon I've Ever Tasted

pairing: cooper howard/f!reader

word count: 2.8K

warnings: 18+ Only, Minors Do Not Read!! sexual tension, smut, alcohol, swearing, oral sex,

summary: you meet cooper howard at a networking mixer hosted by vault tec. Neither one of you enjoy the scene so you sneak away to make your own.

notes: you voted on the premise, now here it is! If y'all like it and want more, let me know! :)

dividers by @saradika

gif by @doortotomorrow

Despite not wanting to be at a corporate party, you have to admit the venue is impressive. This mansion has picturesque lighting, perfectly placed trees and shrubs, a pool that looks like an ancient Greek bath and an ornate firepit. You'd seen a few nice houses in L.A at this point, but nothing this lavish as this place in the Hollywood Hills. 

This is what they call a "networking mixer," really just an excuse for people in the industry to show off and feel important. As the new face of Abraxo cleaner, your agent insisted you go. Vault-Tec was hosting and they hadn't picked a cleaning agent partner company yet and Abraxo was hoping your winning smile and personality would win them over like you had America. 

You make your way around, smiling and nodding at various suits. You definitely aren't loosened up enough for the "networking" part, and would much rather not do it at all if you can avoid it. You find a relatively quiet spot by the pool to collect your thoughts, and to consume a bit of liquid courage. You see a nearby pop-up bar set up and order yourself a gin martini... You need something strong for this. As you wait for your drink, you look around the party, seeing if any familiar faces are in the crowd. There's a few representatives from Abraxo you've met a few times, some familiar Nuka Cola faces that are at what seems like every function in L.A., and some Vault-Tec suits that keep trying to sell people on their "Hollywood" vault. 

You hear the bartender call out a gin martini, and you turn to grab it. As you reach for your cocktail, your hand comes into contact with another... 

"Oh, I'm sorry." A familiar voice says as you brush hands with them. When you look up, your eyes widen as you realize who's hand you're touching. It's Cooper Howard. 

He quickly takes his hand away and offers you the drink. 

"Ordered the same thing." he explains the mishap. 

Cooper Fucking Howard ordered your drink. You didn't expect to see him at this event - of course you knew he'd been the spokesperson for Vault-Tec, but word on the street was that he was trying to distance himself since the divorce. Maybe representing the company that employs your soon-to-be-ex wife was too uncomfortable. Who could blame him? 

As you're silent and lost in thought, he looks up at you. "Well, uh, please. You take this one." He insists. As you take the drink from him, you find your words. 

 "Th-thank you." Graciously you nod and accept. 

Quickly, the bartender brings up another gin martini and places it on the countertop Cooper tips him for both of your drinks and with thanks, he holds up his glass to you.

"To coincidence." He says in a toast. 

"To coincidence." You reply as you clink glasses together.

"You're the new Abraxo girl, right?" He asks, walking from the crowded bar and lighting a cigarette. 

He offers one to you, and you accept, so he leans his lighter into the cigarette now between your lips. You're shocked he recognizes you, but you're flattered.

"Yeah, that's me." You put on your best commercial voice. "If you've got a clog that's full of muck, trust Abraxo to get it unstuck!" 

You both chuckle at the bit and Cooper holds his hand out for you. 

"Cooper Howard." He introduces himself to you as if everyone in this place doesn't know who he is. 

You nod in acknowledgement and take his hand, introducing yourself in the process. 

"If you don't mind me sayin" Cooper says while taking a drag of his cigarette and a sip of his martini. "You seem a bit too good for..." He gestures at everything around you. "...this." 

Inquisitively, you tilt your head and take your own sip of the cocktail you're holding. 

"How's that?" You ask curiously. 

"Well, you should be makin pictures, pretty face like that? Wasted on commercials if ya ask me." 

The comment takes you by surprise, did Cooper Howard just compliment you? Did he just call you pretty? In your stunned state, you remain silent as he looks at you apologetically. 

"Forgive me if I crossed a line..." He says while putting the cigarette in his mouth and his now free hand on his chest.

"No, no." You interrupt. "It's just that I... I didn't expect that. Thank you." Finally acknoweldging his compliment. 

He looks relieved and smirks sideways. He seems to appreciate your humility. 

"Whys that, now?" He asks, sipping the martini while maintaining eye contact with you. 

"Well, To be honest I've heard quite the opposite from casting directors." You explain, looking down, somewhat embarrassed at the explanation. 

"Wanna know a Hollywood secret?" He asks, leaning in and taking a step closer to you.

When you nod, he leans even closer to your ear and says in a low but audible voice, "Casting directors don't know shit." 

You can't help but get goosebumps from the baritone in his voice, and a giggle spills out of you. 

He smiles in response and continues... 

"I started as a stunt man, ya know." He says while finishing the last of his cigarette and putting it out on a nearby planter. 

"Director asked me to stand in for a second, read a couple lines." He polishes off the martini. "He liked how I read, next thing I know, I'm replacing the guy the casting director hired." 

That's something you didn't know and wonder how many other people do... then it dawns on you. 

"I bet half the people here are casting directors." You point out. 

"Well, if someone complains I hope they kick me out." Cooper teases. 

"Not having a good time, Mr. Howard?" 

You ask, half already knowing the answer.

"Please, call me Cooper." He requests in a pleading tone. "And, if I'm honest, this isn't exactly my idea of a good time." He confesses. 

That, you can understand. 

"My agent thought it would be good to 'keep up appearances'. Not many people are looking to hire an old cowboy anymore." He seems saddened, almost defeated and you can't help but feel for him. 

You've heard all the rumors, you know about his divorce and the lack of work. You've respected him as an actor and been a fan since as far back as you can remember. Seeing such a talented and seemingly genuinely kind man in this town is a rarity, especially among actors. It's such a damn shame. 

"Casting directors don't know shit, right?" You remind him of his own words while trying to catch his eyesight with your own again. 

He smiles sincerely at you, eyes bright and shining. "That's damn right." 

There's a pause between you, full of a tension you can't quite place. In the silence, you finish your drink and place it on a nearby server's tray. Once you turn your attention to Cooper again, he breaks the tension.

"Can I get you another drink?" He asks politely, pointing behind you to the bar. 

You're about to answer yes, when an idea comes to you. Neither one of you want to be here... maybe an appearance was enough to appease both your agents. 

"How about I get you a bourbon?" You suggest, a hint of mischievousness in your voice. 

Cooper cocks his head a bit, looking at the nearby bar. "They don't have good bourbon, I asked." 

"Ah, well, I guess we'll have to get bourbon somewhere else, won't we?" You ask playfully, the liquor in the martini taking effect and giving you a sudden confidence. 

"I spose you're right..." He trails off, trying to deduce your plan. 

"Follow me, try not to make it obvious." You say in a quiet voice as you lean close enough for him to hear. 

You begin to walk towards the back gate of the backyard that leads into the rest of the Hollywood Hills. You turn your head over your shoulder to see if he's following, and by some miracle, he is. 

You smile to yourself as you find a trail behind the mansion, leading up to the Hollywood sign... Perfect. 

Carefully you remove your heels and start walking up the trail, your stockings instantly dirty from the dusty walk. The two of you make light conversation on the fifteen minute hike, both of you more winded than you'd like to be. 

Once you get just underneath the middle of the Hollywood sign, you stop to catch your breath and announce, 

"We're here." 

Cooper looks around, arms outstretched. "Is there a bar in the side of the mountain I don't know about?" He jests. 

You exhale a laugh and lead him to a darkened corner of the trail. It's so dark you can't see a thing, but you know your way. Cooper takes out his lighter to illuminate the path a bit and he sees a small cave mouth.

"What is this?" He asks awe stricken. 

"I'll show you, cmon." You reply while gesturing for him to follow. 

Once inside, a small hot spring is revealed, a few small boulders and shrubs around and some green grass and moss the closer it gets to the water. It's like a small private oasis... 

As Cooper looks around in astonishment, you dig through a nearby bush and pull out a quarter empty bottle of bourbon. You slosh the bottle around to get his attention, and it works. 

"As promised" You say, offering him the bottle. "Sorry, no glasses here. Think you can share?" You ask with a smirk. 

"I guess I have to." He playfully remarks back. He takes an impressive swig and hisses as the alcohol goes down his throat. As it settles, Cooper hands the bottle back to you and you take an equally substantial sip. 

His curiosity gets the best of him and he has to ask, "Does anyone else know about this place?"

"No, actually." You explain while sitting on the edge of the hot spring and removing your soiled stockings.  "It's off limits during the day and it's damn near hidden at night. I found it getting lost one night, but that was when I first moved here years ago." You explain. "Far as I know, no one else has found it or used it. At least, my bourbons still here every time." You say shaking the bottle of bourbon and offering it back to him. 

He comes closer to you to accept the drink and you dip your feet and calves in the warm water. You let out a satisfied sigh as you can feel your muscles relax. The mixture of the strong liquor and the warm pool is sensationally soothing, and you feel your mind relaxed along with your body. 

Something about Cooper makes you feel like you've known him for longer than an hour, and you feel less intimidated by him than you thought you would. 

Cooper follows and sits next to you, taking off his black cowboy boots and placing his feet in the water, his pants getting slightly wet. 

"Ah, damn. That's nice after that hike." He says, taking another generous drink from the bottle. 

"I hope it was worth it." You say, placing your hands next to you and leaning back on them slightly. 

"Of course it is." Cooper replies. "Free bourbon, a natural jacuzzi and a beautiful woman for company? You bet it's worth it." He flashes that trademark winning smile in your direction and you can feel your heart beat a little faster. 

"You flatter me." You reply as you look away, cheeks turning pink. 

"I don't do that sweetheart. I ain't just blowin smoke." He says in his smokey voice as he puts a hand over yours on the earthy floor. 

It's then you know he definitely is hitting on you, and you can't help but give in. One of the world's most famous cowboys thinks you're beautiful and good company... What better compliment could there be? The tension you felt before feels more palpable than ever now. 

In your alcohol induced confident state, you lean towards him slowly, pursing your lips slightly and inviting him to close the distance between you. Cooper obliges and captures your lips with his, tentatively at first, but when you kiss hungrily back, he responds in earnest. 

He dips his head to deepen the kiss, parting his lips and inviting your tongue to dance with his. His hand reaches up to cup your face as he scoots closer to you, kissing passionately. As your tongues dance together, you move your hand to his chest and gradually scratch your nails down to his stomach. With less support, you instinctively lean back and Cooper takes this as an invitation...Not that it isn't. 

His body presses against yours, pushing you gently to the ground. As you move, you continue kissing, each kiss growing more and more desperate. Your hands move across his stomach, tugging at his shirt and yearning for more intimacy. 

With the wordless suggestion, he breaks the kiss to remove his shirt tossing it to the side before leaning down to kiss you again. You smile against his lips as he moves his kisses from your lips to your neck, moaning softly as he does. One of his hands roams to feel your hip, gradually sliding down your form fitting dress and feeling your thigh. You lick your lips in anticipation of his next move and you exhale a soft whimper.

Your lust has built significantly since his hand touched yours and you feel your arousal intensifying. He lifts your dress and slides his hands underneath it, caressing the soft skin of your inner thighs. His lips kiss up your neck to your jawline to your ear, before he asks in a husky whisper, "This okay, darlin?" 

Eagerly you nod before kissing him again, your tongue parting his lips needingly. Cooper presses his chest against you, lifting up your dress to your hips and slowly moving his body down yours. He starts kissing your inner thighs, before biting your underwear and pulling them down with his teeth. 

Your head rolls back, your hand reaching for his hair. You intertwine your fingers in his dark hair as he continues planting kisses further and further up your thigh. Your clit pulsates, anxiously awaiting any form of touch. You bite your lip as you feel his fingers part your slick, wet, folds and his lips lightly brush over your sensitive bud. He plants a kiss there before parting his lips and flicking his tongue over it. 

You gasp sensually in response and your hips roll up to meet him. His tongue moves faster and faster against your clit, before slowing down and pushing his tongue inside you. He repeats this pattern a few times before gradually licking up your opening to your clit teasingly. 

Your hips roll into him faster and faster as your arousal builds and builds. As he continues his delicious motions, your hand reaches down to grab the ground but finds his hand instead. He laces his fingers with yours and holds your hand tight, accepting your tightening grips as encouragement. His tongue starts rolling circles around your clit as he takes his free hand and inserts two fingers slowly inside you. He pumps them slowly, in and out, while his tongue continues licking your clit. 

You can feel yourself getting close to your sexual peak, and your grip on Coopers hand tightens. Your whimpers get loud enough to echo in the cave around you, interspersed with curses and moans. Your clit pulsates harder and you can feel your muscles contracting around his fingers. Sensing this, Cooper pulls back momentarily to look up at you...

"Good girl, come for me... that's it." His words are enough to send you over the edge and with a scream your cunt releases, your entire body spasming and your vaginal walls contracting over and over as you feel the wave of pleasure wash over you. 

Cooper continues to kiss your inner thigh, sliding his hands up your body and moving up with them. He brushes your hair out of your face before leaning down to kiss you sweetly. You taste yourself on his lips and you moan into his kiss. He breaks the kiss and moves his lips to your ear, smiling against your skin. 

"Best bourbon I've ever tasted."

[mindingmybidness12]

Settling Differences [Jenna Ortega x GN! Reader]

Summary: You and Jenna were having a bit of a dispute and you two go about solving it like any normal couple would.

Warnings: Fluff, banter, no editing

************************************************************************

“Ok, it’s your turn to do the dishes.”

“BULLSHIT! It’s your turn! It was my turn last time.”

“and I had to do it for a month straight before that!”

“I WAS OUT FILMING COMMERCIALS!”

“Oh. So what you’re telling me is that you’re too Hollywood for the dishes? Dawn and Mr Clean just couldn’t fit into your schedule?”

“Oh. SHUT. UP."

"Oh? Has this worthless peon spoken out of turn? Forgive me Lady Hollywood."

"Oh will you stop being a petty little asshole? Geeeeez!!"

Despite the back and forth, your girlfriend Jenna had the biggest smile on her face. Even when she was continuously rolling her eyes she had nothing but fondness and slight exasperation on her face. This was how you guys worked. The banter was always lively and always came from both sides even though you were the one to instigate things more often then not. Jenna caught on to your bullshit quick and decided to roll with it by sometimes acting as your straight man on purpose. This is only one of the many things you love about her. She could take a joke.

"Hey if I was being petty I would have call you Miss Almost Golden Globe."

That's to say that you wouldn't try to push the envelope every now and then.

Jenna's eyes bugged out of her head and her jaw dropped as a laugh of disbelief escaped her lips.

"No you fucking didn't!"

"I didn't! I could've, but I didn't."

"You just did!"

"Nooo that was a hypothetical situation that could've happened in an alternate timeline. Sooo...."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you now."

"That would be rude and - oh god!"

You started booking it out of the kitchen with a pissed Ortega on your hills. You two would then reenact a Scooby doo ass chase scene throughout your shared living space. Eventually though she got a hold of you and would now exact her revenge.

"Take this you little shit! And this and that!"

She had you pinned down and straddle and was delivering a merciless assault of pinches all over your face. She got your cheeks and your ears. She grabbed at your hair and twisted it around and stuck two fingers in your nose and pulled. She wasn't mad still. She knew you were playing around. Didn't mean she couldn't give you hell though.

"Ow! Ouch! I give, I give! Uncle. I'm sorry!"

"That's right," she grinned while wiping her hands on your shirt. "Now prove to me your sorry by cleaning the kitchen."

"Oh alright..."

"Good-"

"SIKE!!!"

You threw her off you and she let a cute yelp.

"Y/N, what the fuck?!"

"I refuse to concede defeat." you said as you climbed to your feet while dusting yourself off.

"You just did though?"

"Hush child." You started off before going into a "dramatic" monologue all the while ignoring the mutter of an "Oh brother..." that came from the girl behind you. "We now find ourselves at a crossroads. Neither one of us willing to budge."

"Just do the dishes, dude."

"WE WILL NOT BUDGE SO WE MUST SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!!! TO THE DEATH."

"Best 2 out of 3?" At this point Jenna had gotten up and looked at you with a deadpanned stare but the amusement was clearly dancing in her eyes for anyone to see.

"Best 2 out of 3."

"ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS! SHOOT! ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS! SHOOT! ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS! SHOOT! ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS! SHOOT!"

"Dammit loose already!" You cried.

"Never!" Jenna shouted back laughing.

************************************************************************

You and Jenna sat at the dinner table with crumpled up paper all around you. One sheet of paper was laid out between the two of you with a myriad of x's and o's across it.

"Ok. Rock, Paper, and scissors is one thing..." You began, "But how the hell do you tie in tic-tac-toe? 20 times in a row?"

"Maybe you should just get a clue and lose already." Jenna shrugged while playing with her hair. She wasn't winning but she still had a smug air about her. She was stopping you from winning so she couldn't help but feel smug. You wanted to wipe that smirk off her face.

"Alright you little garden gnome, this next game will be your last."

************************************************************************

Y/N : 2000 LP

Jenna: 1200 LP

"I tribute my two monsters and summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon." You cried in glee.

"FUCK!" Jenna wasn't feeling the glee.

"I'm gonna wipe out the puny monster of yours and-"

"Nope!" Jenna interrupted with a "Negate Attack".

"I can nope too." You said while activating a "Trap Jammer" to cancel her Trap card.

"Nope!" Jenna said again while activating her own "Trap Jammer".

"Right back at yah, kid." Activating your second "Trap Jammer" and she just gave you a look as you grinned cheekily at her. You were about to resume your attack before she flipped over her last trap card.

"Ring of Destruction? AH SHIT!"

That card would destroy a monster and deal damage to both equal to its attack points. Your Blue-Eyes was the target and with its 3000 attack points that means....

"Draw" You and Jenna sighed at the same time.

************************************************************************

You were now on what would potential be the last chance of victory for the both of you. A fighting game. Specifically the fighting game the both of you played together all the time. This game would always get competitive one way or the other and would often become a way to settle all disputes that got too far. Really something as petty as dish washing didn't need to call for all of this but the two of you were having way too much fun and both of you wanted to win.

It was a martial arts game that had a good move pull and several good mechanics and fun little gimmicks in the game. Like being able to show respect to your opponent.

"Ok let's begin with a bow of respec- DAMN!!"

Respect seemed to be the furthest thing from your opponent's mind. You were immediately interrupted by Jenna, who at the word "begin", threw a mean roundhouse kick at your character who was halfway into a bow. The poor bastard had no choice but to eat shit.

"Oh! You said begin! So I just... got to work I guess. My bad."

She didn't sound too sorry. Neither did she stop giving you the business either. You then quickly got into as well. Despite the cheap shot from Jenna (You were secretly proud as hell) you were able to catch up in terms of damage.

Soon you were both on your last legs and with one hit, there would be a winner. You both mashed your controllers and!!!

knocked each other clean the fuck out.

"DRAW!!" the game called out.

"BULLSHIT!!" You both raged.

************************************************************************

"Well there's only a few more ways this could go." You said after you both had time to cool off.

"How?" Jenna asked whiled looking towards you.

"Either you or I could be the bigger person and volunteer to clean the kitchen."

Jenna raised a delicate eyebrow.

"Or.... the one to last longest in bed wins and doesn't have to clean the kitchen for two weeks?"

"....."

".....deal."

************************************************************************

It was tie. You both lost. But you ended up cleaning the kitchen in the morning and making her breakfast in bed so really you lost.

You didn't feel like much of a loser though :)

************************************************************************

A/N: And that's that. Went a little longer than I thought it would but I had fun. Leave a like and comment and I'll see you when I see you!

[urdreamgirls-dreamgirl]

i saw that review on letterboxd of all the rhetorical questions for barbie and like… the more i think abt it, the more i’m certain that the review’s author fundamentally misunderstood the film. barbie land is not a utopia in the way that adults would think abt a utopia, like the author seems to imply… barbie land is canonically shaped by little girls playing with their dolls. that’s why we see a supreme court. thats why there are nobel prizes and authors and lawyers (also because that’s how the toys are marketed… would there be a mermaid in ur utopia??? there would be in mine!). that’s why barbie and ken don’t necessarily know what a boyfriend and girlfriend are “meant” to do (not to mention that the author’s assumption that sex is fundamental to a romantic relationship is problematic at best). that’s why barbie is indifferent to ken (i personally had the life size barbie and my sister had the barbie dream house—we had the working woman barbie game, i had the genie barbie gameboy game, we had countless barbie dolls; we didn’t own a single ken doll lol). barbie land is a world created by and for little girls as they play with their dolls (she says in a comment on the original post “don’t little girls play with their dolls in a sexual way?” and yeah, sure, some do. but i didn’t and i’m sure there are others who didn’t… just like there are some girls who completely mutilated their own dolls and made them into horrifying creatures)… that’s why stereotypical barbie starts having an existential crisis—because a grown woman begins to play with her doll again and starts reshaping barbie land… we, as the audience, are meant to understand this as an outlier to how barbie land is canonically created. the author also calls ken “crass” and “slovenly”… maybe after he builds the patriarchy in barbie land he becomes “crass” but i wouldn’t call him slovenly at any point in the film (i suppose this is just semantics tho).

also, please stop saying that barbie land is a reversal of the real world. it isn’t, even if that may have been the filmmakers intentions. again, barbie is indifferent to ken. she does not abuse him, she does not treat him like he exists to service her by cooking or cleaning or providing other favors for her… barbie does not oppress ken in the way that men oppress women in the real world (we have no idea if he owns property or where he lives and she doesn’t seem to particularly care—extremely different from the fact that women couldn’t have their own bank accounts or credit cards, get a mortgage on their own or divorce their husbands through no fault divorce until the second half of the 20th century in the us… within a lot of our mothers and grandmothers lifetimes!!!!) and it is a complete disservice to conflate or equate the two. we actually see barbie drawing clear boundaries around her time and space in regards to ken—this is not a reversal of misogyny as women and girls experience it in the real world, by any stretch of the imagination.

is the film perfect or revolutionary or radical? of course not. it was produced by major studios and corporations in hollywood. of course the barbie movie is a fucking commercial for barbie, like… to expect anything different is just extremely dumb on your part if u saw the trailer, saw the marketing, saw the interviews, bought a ticket, and sat ur ass in the theater, like be fuckin serious. but don’t do women and girls a disservice by discrediting the world and thoughts and ideas it could open up for them by seeing themselves be taken seriously on screen in a major summer blockbuster with stupid fucking questions because u want to feel superior to everyone else because YOU and ONLY YOU see through the capitalist marketing of lipstick pop girlboss feminism (especially when juxtaposed with the way the female characters are treated in oppenheimer, which we cannot help but compare to the barbie film with the viral marketing of barbenheimer).

[denimbex1986]

'After making his name battling zombies in 28 Days Later and ruling a ruthless gang in Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy has now been recognised as a Hollywood heavyweight after winning his first Oscar for playing the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.

As an actor with a serious reputation and a serious talent, it was refreshing that the first thing to come out of Murphy's mouth when he went on stage to accept his best actor statuette was a joyful laugh.

Not someone usually given to public displays of emotion, it was clear how much winning an Oscar meant.

He may have been the frontrunner to win throughout awards season, but he was still "a little overwhelmed" to have the Oscar in his hand, he told the audience.

Declaring himself "a very proud Irishman" - the first Irish-born star to win best actor at the Oscars, in fact - he did then get serious.

Clearly conscious of his winning role as J Robert Oppenheimer, the US theoretical physicist whose work gave humanity the potential for nuclear annihilation, he dedicated the award to "the peacemakers everywhere".

As ITV's Oscars night host Jonathan Ross said, it was "nice for him to use that moment to point out that we are living in a world which is forever changed by what that film's about".

Ross added: "That's one of the problems I had with the film, that it sort of lionised that man without really forcing the audience to look at what he'd done, even though he was going through that anguish."

Although the early part of the film focuses on the creation and development of the atomic bomb, the last hour sees Oppenheimer grappling with what he's done, as he comes to terms with the many lives lost as a result of his work.

"This is actually a very human story," Murphy told BBC culture editor Katie Razzall last month.

"And if you think about the sort of dilemmas they were wrestling with at the time, they are the biggest, most profound, most paradoxical, most important kind of moral dilemmas that we're still wrestling with as a race and as the world."...

Oppenheimer was released last July - on the same day as Barbie - and the resulting Barbenheimer phenomenon helped propel both to box office success.

Commercial success came with high critical acclaim for Oppenheimer, and it has now cleaned up at the Oscars, with trophies for Murphy and Nolan among seven wins.

The actor already has his next film in the pipeline. Small Things Like These, an intense drama in which he plays a taciturn coal merchant in 1985 Ireland - earned glowing reviews when it opened the Berlin Film Festival last month.

As Hollywood now knows, Murphy is an actor who brings gravitas to every performance - but can still allow himself a well-deserved laugh.'

[cptnhook]

INTRODUCTION: AYDEN HOOK 🪝

name: ayden hook

occupation: owner of "pandemonium" a burlesque club

birthday: july 14th, 1996 (28 years old)

pronouns: he/him

residency: carriage falls

hometown: california

faceclaim: paul mescal

BIOGRAPHY

triggers: abortion mention, mention of drugs and alcohol, drug-related death, mention of adult films.

Ayden was born an only child to James and Hannah. His father was an esteemed film producer who introduced Ayden to the film industry and made his love of cinema grow. His mother was an actress whose relationship with James wasn't meant to go beyond a short, spontaneous sexual relationship. Hannah's original decision was to have an abortion the night she found out she was pregnant, but James offered her a lifechanging sum of money to go through with the pregnancy and childbirth. Their relationship became nothing more than a transaction from that point on.

After Hannah gave birth, she took off. There was always a part of James that hoped she would change her mind and stay. James did his best not to take the rejection out on Ayden, he was always seen as a blessing. However, human emotions are difficult to predict and navigate at times, and James wound up burying himself in work. He tried to make Ayden a part of it. He brought him around the world, to every movie set and introduced him to all the stars. But more times than not, he would be left alone in hotel rooms, seated in front of a television, watching make-believe families, wondering why he didn't have siblings, a mother, or a real home himself.

As a teenager, his father thought he could help utilize their time together and Ayden began his acting career, starring in a few commercials and then appearing in TV shows and movies. After three years of working, he realized he would never become a star. He was always in the background and never had enough lines. The only upside was the friends he was making and the parties they would drag him to. By eighteen, acting was the farthest thing from his mind. The only thing he cared about were the Hollywood parties. He was on every drug, in every low-level gossip column, consequently dragging his father's name through the mud. Unsure of what to do, James cut his son off and forced him to attend a live-in rehab program. It was either that or he loses his trust fund.

His father's plan was executed perfectly because two years later, Ayden was out and clean. He wanted to get back into the movie business but decided he didn't want to be an actor himself. So at twenty one, he used his trust fund to kickstart his own movie production company. Only he wasn't producing normal movies, they were adult films. The business took off and Ayden became one of the largest producers of adult-rated movies in less than a year. However, with its success and the kind of business it was, the partying and the debauchery restarted. Ayden relapsed and convinced one of his actresses to join him. He didn't know, but the drug he offered her was laced and she died after snorting it. His father was so irate, he considered cutting ties with his son completely. But instead, he helped cover up the incident with his money and then exiled his son to Wilmington. It's where Ayden was conceived during one of James and Hannah's many vacations together. This was his final attempt to help his son clean up his life.

Ayden has been in Wilmington for a couple of years now and just recently started up another business, but this time moving away from film. However, he still has an eye for sex appeal and glamor. He's in love with the entertainment business and channeled that love into opening a burlesque club. His father would be proud. Everything is on the up-and-up — or is it?

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

friends: ayden could use friends of any kind! best friends, acquaintances, coworkers, exes turned friends, etc.

employees: if anyone wants to work at his burlesque club! that would be dope.

father: if anyone wants to play his father who's a bigtime movie producer, i wouldn't be opposed lol

enemies: i love banter, so if anyone wants to go back and forth with ayden, exchanging tit-for-tat, that would be fun

good influence: someone who's trying to help him steer clear of his former lifestyle and make sure he succeeds

bad influence: someone who's maybe a party goer who doesn't mind pushing ayden's boundaries when it comes to his sobriety

[victusinveritas]

F. Murray Abraham, on shooting "Scarface" (1983) and "Amadeus" (1984): "While I was working on 'Scarface,' I was told that I got the role of Salieri. I had to fly back and forth from Prague to Hollywood to shoot the two films at the same time. It's not as hard as you think. They're so different - if they were close, it would have been difficult. One was kind of a vacation from the other. The material was very good in both films, so I could just study on the plane when I was going to Hollywood and then I'd study the other script on the way back to Prague. I think I travelled four times back and forth. It was funny. If you look carefully, you will see a couple of the same gestures from those two films, but you have to look carefully."

Primarily a stage actor, Abraham made his screen debut as an usher in the George C. Scott comedy "They Might Be Giants" (1971). By the mid-1970s, Murray had steady employment as an actor, doing commercials and voice-over work. He can be seen as one of the undercover police officers along with Al Pacino in Sidney Lumet's "Serpico" (1973), and in television roles including the villain in one third-season episode of "Kojak". His film work of those years also included the roles of a cabdriver in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975), a mechanic in "The Sunshine Boys" (1975), and a police officer in "All the President's Men" (1976).

Beyond these small roles, Abraham continued to do commercials and voice-over work for income. But in 1978, he decided to give them up. Frustrated with the lack of substantial roles, Abraham said, "No one was taking my acting seriously. I figured if I didn't do it, then I'd have no right to the dreams I've always had." His wife went to work as an assistant and Abraham became a "house husband." He described, "I cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids. It was very rough on my macho idea of life. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Born Murray Abraham, he added "F." to his stage name in honor of his father Fahrid. He has stated that "Murray Abraham just doesn't seem to say anything. It just is another name, so I thought I'd frame it."

Abraham accepting his Best Actor Oscar for "Amadeus": "It would be a lie if I told you I didn't know what to say, because I've been working on this speech for about twenty-five years. But you're not going to hear any of those speeches, because none of the speeches were less than forty-five seconds. You know, it's easy to gamble everything when you've got nothing to lose, and Milos Forman had a great deal to lose when he gave these brilliant roles to Tom Hulce and me, and his courage became my inspiration. There's only one thing that's missing for me tonight, and that's to have Tom Hulce standing by my side." (IMDb/Wikipedia)

Happy Belated Birthday, F. Murray Abraham!

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 3

Chapter: 1 • 2

Find me on wattpad + ao3!

Show: Big Time Rush

Pairing: James Diamond x Original Female Character

Lonely No More (1.3) ~ 14k

It had been a rough day for team Big Time Rush. Five hours of dancing, seven hours of harmonies, thirty-two bottles of water, and fourteen ruined bandanas later, there was nothing the teens were looking forward to more than spending an evening out of their crummy apartments. 

One of the places that provided the five the most comfort was the stillness of the Palm Woods pool after dark and today was no exception. Dragging feet and dragging bags led them out onto the comfy lounge chairs, plopping down and having a rare moment of relaxation. 

“Thank goodness we can escape the stresses of Hollywood at the amazing Palm Woods pool,” Kendall reflected, causing Roxy to close her eyes and listen to the gentle lapping of the water. 

Footsteps clattered behind them as a weird-sounding bell rang. “What’s this? I didn’t order extras!”

The girl shot up in her seat, extremely startled. When she turned around, she spotted a middle-aged woman with a headset and clipboard. “What, us? Extras?” 

“We live here,” Kendall chimed in, lazily raising his hand and pointing to the source of his relaxation, “This is our pool.”

The woman fired back, fuming, “No, this is our set for the Sexy Dog dog food commercial starring Lighting the TV Wonder Dog.” 

Following her gaze across the pool sat the handsome dog, Lighting, getting his black and white fur combed out. His little pair of sunglasses and casanova-style robe would’ve made Roxanne laugh if he wasn’t threatening their relaxation time. The band waved to the little creature as the girl sunk deeper into her chair, determined more than ever to stay rooted in her spot. She would even sleep outside if she had to. Anything for a moment of tranquility. 

What even is Sexy Dog dog food? 

Before she had the chance to contemplate this further the woman with the clipboard yelled, “Strike the teens!” into her headset. One by one, her friends were picked up by some of the men working on the set and dragged off in the direction of the hotel lobby. A hand made its way to her shoulder causing her to flinch and do her best to wiggle out of the grasp it took on her. Another hand gripped down on her arm, then another two around her ankles as she felt herself pulled slightly up, scaring her even more. 

“Let go of me! My friends are hockey players and I swear to you I’ll grab one of their sticks and beat you with it!” Roxy spat out, doing her best to keep her breathing under control as her heart pounded out of fear. Of all the things that happened today, Gustavo yelling at her, Kelly needing her help cleaning the studio, and the boys needing constant supplies through their twelve-hour work day, all she wanted to do was relax. Now she was too terrified to even think about visiting the pool again. “You can carry me to the lobby and I cause a scene or you let go of me and I walk myself.” 

The four men glanced at each other, then over to the woman who commanded them to dispose of the unwanted company. 

“Fine,” grumbled the woman. “Just get off my set.” 

Hands let Roxanne go as she scrambled to her feet, grabbing her small backpack from the slot in between the lounge chairs. Without turning back to the commercial set she made her way toward the lobby. A shiver shot through her body as she flung the door open and mentally cursed out the mean producer. Beside the door, the boys had been dropped down onto the ugly orange couches that decorated the foyer of the hotel - also displeased with the outcome of their relaxation-by-the-pool quest.

As she leaned on the back of the couch seating James and Carlos, she closed her eyes to enjoy the quiet music playing overhead and did her best to forget the feeling of foreign hands on her body. 

After a moment, Kendall spoke again, “Well, at least we can recharge in the stylish Palm Woods lobby.” 

“Roxy? Are you-” began Carlos before he was cut off by a bitter voice. 

“Ah, the five brats from Minnesota…” 

Roxanne popped one eye open to see the hotel manager, Reginold Bitters, standing in front of them, a wicked smile crossing his lips. 

Logan leaned in, “I’m not getting a friendly vibe.” 

“No loitering in the lobby after 9 pm!” The man continued, striking a whiteboard behind him with his stubby fingers to show off the written rule. “Oh,” he gasped, glancing at his watch, “Look at the time. 9:01.”

She already was in a bad mood and this certainly wasn’t helping. Also, when did all these rules come in? The girl couldn’t remember. Maybe she was too tired. 

Raising her hand, she posed a question, “Is it loitering if we live here?” 

The teens held their breath as Bitters pretended to contemplate her remark. 

“Get. Out!” 

So, they wound up back in the boys’ apartment. 

Roxy’s apartment wasn’t the nicest, but every time she visited 2-J she thanked her lucky stars it wasn’t hers to call home. Everything about it was bland, sad browns and light whites covered the interior giving off an ominous feeling. Watching her step, she was sure to avoid the mysterious stains that covered the floor as they made it over to the old couch in front of the even older TV. On the wall across from the kitchen was a photo of the Knight family at one of Kendall’s hockey games, the only thing noting a personal touch to the ramshackle apartment. Out of everything, she was most excited to see their notebooks on the small, brown coffee table in front of them.

Maybe they won’t ask me for my homework this week.

Big Time Rush took all the seats on the couch leaving their assistant to cross her legs and sit on the floor. Roxanne did her best to ignore the strange puddle of fluid on the carpet inches away and tried for the third time that night to relax with her friends. 

“At least there’s the gracious interior of our very own apartment,” Kendall mumbled as the four boys looked around the room presumably having the same thoughts about it as Roxy. 

Logan and Carlos spoke their thoughts aloud, “This place is horrible.”

As if on cue, the legs of the couch gave out with a loud creek, toppling to the floor and taking the boys with it. Their assistant suppressed a laugh as their faces grew disappointed. 

“Oh, look,” James pointed to the ground beside him, “The couch covers the green stain now.” 

“I’m sure Gustavo would love to hear you complaining about his very generous free boarding at a world-famous hotel…” Roxy hummed, poking fun at her friends after their long day. 

“Easy for you to say!” Logan shot back, “You’ve got your own place all to yourself.” 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not all fun and games,” The girl said with a yawn. “It just gets a little lonely sometimes.”

“We need a new crib,” Carlos moaned as if it were an easy fix. 

Next to him, Logan rolled his eyes, “Like that’s just gonna fall from the sky…”

***

“We call it the ultimate teen crib, filled with amazing home electronics, arcade games…” 

Team Big Time Rush sat in a meeting with their bosses and company CEO to come together and decide on a commercial to help promote RCM/CBT/GlobalNet/Sanyoid products using their rising fame. At the front of the room, a set designer was going over the general plan, showing off her drawn image of the set and pointing out the incredible features with her pen. 

“And a swirly slide!” Carlos finished her sentence, excitedly pointing to the yellow drawn tube on the example board. 

The four boys were leaning in, very interested in the presentation and Roxanne wished their room was half as cool as the new studio set. The girl was lazily taking notes about construction times and costume ideas, sneaking in a few written guitar riffs here and there as she got distracted. 

The construction woman winked at Carlos, nearly sending him over the edge.

“Cool, right?” Griffin piped up, looking over at the band trying to find a weird crumb of approval. “Put a swirly slide in my office.” 

His assistant, Obdul, quickly nodded his head and rushed out of the room to complete his assigned task.

Next to her, Gustavo grunted. “Griffin, I don’t know what this is, but I need to work with the dawgs on harmonies today.” 

Were the seven hours from yesterday not enough? 

The thought sat with the girl for a moment before a few lines popped into her head. It had been a while since a lyric had come to her so she grabbed her book a bit more aggressively than normal and flipped through the pages until she found the one with her work in progress. 

I’ve gotta keep on believing

That everything takes time

I’ll make up any reason

To make you mine

The CEO did not back down, “Change your plans. Our ancient Japanese founder, Mr. Fujizaki, wants to dump our music division.”

Roxanne’s head snapped up, looking over at the man with wide eyes and then over to Gustavo who shared an equally as worried look. 

“But,” He continued, glancing at the band, “you boys are going to change his mind.” 

This part of the conversation completely flew over the boy’s heads. They were enamored with the drawing at the front of the room, probably fantasizing about what 2-J would look like with a sweet makeover. Roxy brought her right hand in front of their faces, jotting down music notes for her verse with her left, and snapped her fingers, bringing them back to reality. 

“We… get to live there?” Kendall asked, dumbfounded as he pointed to the drawing on the easel. 

With a smile, Griffin answered. “Yes… for two hours, while you shoot a promotional video surrounded by RCM/CBT/GlobalNet/ Sanyoid products,” He crossed to the front of the room to face his employees. “Which will show Fujizaki why our future rock stars are perfect for selling his blenders, plasma TVs, and missile defense systems.” 

“Uh,” The writer started tentatively, “BTR can’t be pro-missile.” 

“Why not?” The man asked, dead serious. 

She looked to her boss for help but he was too busy rubbing circles around his temples. 

“Well… Our core demographic is teenagers, right? They don’t buy missile defense systems. They want to buy things like video games and Big Time Rush CDs.”  

The CEO placed his chin in his hands, as though he was deep in thought. After a moment, he conceded, “Good point, Miss Somerset. Strike the part about missiles in the script.” 

A woman on his team with red streaks in her jet-black hair jumped up, gathering a bunch of papers in her arms before running out the door to do some last-minute rewrites. 

“Oh,” Griffin added as he sat down at the head of the table, snapping his fingers and pointing to the producer. “Do some interviews.”

Kelly’s pen scribbled even faster than Roxy’s did in order to catch every word the white-haired man spewed out.  

“You know, why they love to sing, why he wears that helmet, and why they love RCM/CBT/GlobalNet/Sanyoid arcade games, industrial strength playground slides, and the new XZ5 Micro laptop.” 

An assistant placed a tiny black laptop in his hands as he finished speaking so he could show it off to the group. Maybe the writer would be able to swipe one from the set as a little souvenir. 

While she was thinking about what she could do with her new laptop, James smacked his hand down on the table. “And we could all wear bandanas! It could be our thing: Bandanas…” 

The resounding silence in the room gave the wannabe his answer.

It was Gustavo who decided to break it, “Griffin, you can’t keep coming into my studio every day and interrupting my training sessions.”

A chill swept through the room, causing the girl to shiver as the CEO stared back at his underling. 

Did he not hear the part about shutting down the music division? 

“Yes, I can. And do the interviews by the water. Fujizaki thinks water is lucky.” 

Kelly only stopped writing to ask a question, “But you want a performance in the teen hangout crib thing?” 

Once more, the girl thought about taking a micro laptop from the set. No one would really miss one tiny electronic. 

“Exactly! And I need it in two days, or the music division will be gone,” Griffin smiled as he stood up. “But have fun with it!”

As he walked out with the construction woman, already beginning to talk about building logistics, Roxy examined the shocked looks on her coworker’s faces. Compared to their first week in Hollywood, this seemed to be an easy challenge. Everything the band had wanted kept falling straight into their laps.

The first person to put their game face on was Kelly. After a quick once-over of her notes, the talent scout had formed a plan. “Okay, we’ll build the teenage crib here in Studio A. I’ll find a nice beach location for the interviews and put in some calls for a hot director.”

Roxanne’s “How about shooting at Santa Monica Pier?” was overshadowed by Gustavo’s “I’m a hot director! And we’re doing everything here because it’s easier, quicker, and cheaper. Dawgs, Roxanne, take a half day while we start to get everything set up.” 

No one was going to argue with that. 

The ride back to the Palm Woods was silent, which should have alerted the girl that the boys were hatching a plan, but she was too absorbed in her songwriting to notice. Along with the nice verse that had come from the meeting earlier, Roxanne had figured out a small tune that could be placed at the beginning of the song. Her pages were a total mess of writing, music staffs, and doodles as she wrote her ideas down as quickly as possible. 

By the time they made it back, she hadn’t even realized how fast the time had gone. Still engrossed, she was in the middle of scratching something out when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. A vision of the other night flashed across her mind, four guys making their way towards her and grabbing her with such force.

Without thinking, she jumped, her head hitting the top of the car with a thud as the contents of her hands spilled down to the floor. 

“Sorry!” A bubbly voice was quick to apologize and when she turned, Carlos was there - practically frozen. The hand he had placed on her shoulder hovered in place next to his helmeted head.

The two stayed like that for a second, processing their exchange, not sure what to do next. 

“No,” she bent down to collect her things, “Don’t be sorry! You just startled me, that's all.” 

The smile he gave was guilty looking as he stepped out of the way to let her exit the vehicle. Up ahead, she could see the other three making their way into the lobby and followed as fast as she could. Footsteps pounded on the pavement as the black-haired boy caught up to his assistant. 

“I’m sorry, really! You have the same look on your face as you did last night-” 

“It’s all good, man!” Roxanne pushed out, faking a confident smile. “Let’s head back to your apartment and enjoy our half-day.” 

Carlos nodded as the two came to a stop in front of the elevator. It was clear he wanted to talk about it more and she loved that he was so caring, but she needed to sort out her own feelings first. 

I’m fine with physical touch, so why did I flinch like that? I trust him!

She stopped her line of thinking there as her friends piled into 2-J, making a beeline for the back wall. Kendall had a piece of poster board in his hands and when he held it up, the band’s plan became clear to her. On the board was the Ultimate Teen Hangout from the presentation earlier, complete with colorful decorations, a better floor plan, and brand new, top-of-the-line electronics, and they wanted the set to be built in their old, gross apartment. 

“No. No way. It’s impossible!” Was all Logan could say, hands flying around in the air as he tried to properly articulate his thoughts.

Well, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. 

Their assistant spoke her mind, “You know I work miracles for you guys, but this might be a little bit out of my limit. But, if we get a little help we might manage to pull this off…” 

The board was passed off to the studious boy as Kendall stepped in front of them. Immediately, she could smell speech. 

“A week ago, we were a hockey team, and a songwriter, in Minnesota,” The frontman reminded the team. “And today, we’re a band in L.A.! Anything is possible.” 

A sigh came from Logan, “Okay. You have a point, but how are we gonna get all this in here?” 

Roxanne pulled out her cell phone, scrolling through her contacts list to try and find the name of the company that would be installing the set in Studio A. 

As she did this, a smirk appeared across James’ face; he had formed a plan. Flicking his wrist, he held his right arm out, showing off a fist full of colorful bandanas. “Take any color you want.” 

Kendall was quick to chime in, “We’re not wearing bandanas in the video, okay?”

“You know what? You guys never support my risky fashion choices!” The long-haired boy retorted.

“Stop!” Roxy called, knowing their bickering could easily escalate. “We have bigger things to worry about right now and a very short time period to convince the set designer to build here, not at Rocque Records.” 

“Yeah, that's simple,” Logan said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “And how are we gonna do that?” 

The frontman smiled, “Logan, are you forgetting that the Palm Woods is home of the future famous?” 

Catching his hint, Roxanne sent a text to someone she knew would always be up for a job.

R: Are you free to help me out this afternoon?

Camille DM’d her back right away. 

C: tell me when and where

The band was already out the door before she could reply. Doing her best to text and run, she followed them down the hall and into the stairwell. 

R: En route to the lobby. Come give the guys a show ;p

When they made it to the lobby, Kendall held his arms out to stop the group - driving Roxy right into Logan’s back. 

“Ouch!” hissed the assistant, hand flying to her nose as Logan whispered a quick apology. 

Kendall stood still, arms spread wide as his eyes darted back and forth across the lobby. “Wait for it…”

A hand flew out and smacked him right across the face. 

“Trevor! I trusted you with my heart, my soul, my money! I-”

The girl who slapped her friend stood, seething, in front of the band and their assistant. Roxy admired her beautiful black vintage dress and pearl jewelry. She looked like she was auditioning for a soap opera and had definitely nailed the grieving housewife look. 

“Camille!” Called Kendall, snapping the actress out of her daze.

Her response was nonchalant. “What?” 

“We need to borrow your acting!” Spoke the band in unison as Roxy gave a little wave from behind them. 

“I already told Roxy I’d help, but it was sweet of you to come ask in person,” Camille winked in Logan’s direction. 

“Great!” The assistant beamed upon her confirmation, “Here’s the plan.” 

***

Team Big Time Rush waited anxiously outside of the back door entrance to Rocque Records. After a quick briefing and costume change into something more professional, the five had sent Camille inside in order to tell the set designer about Griffin’s “change of plans” to have everything installed at the Palm Woods. Roxy had even printed out a fake business card with Kendall’s phone number on it instead of Griffin’s that the actress was to hand off to the contractor as a backup. 

“Do you think she’s gonna convince them?” Logan asked. He had been fidgeting with the buttons on his shirt for the past few minutes, worried about how much trouble their plan could land them in with Gustavo. 

“She’s the best,” The songwriter mused. “We don’t have anything to worry about besides your Griffin impression.” 

Beside her, James attempted to join the conversation with, “Of course she’ll convince the contractor. Did you see the way she looked in that -” 

Roxanne elbowed him in the ribs before he could finish. 

He tried to shoot a retort back but was soon silenced by the ringing of Kendall’s phone. The blond jumbled it in his hands, startled by the shock of the call before he dropped it in Roxy’s palms. 

Gripping the cell, she shot him a frustrated look; the agreement was he would answer it, it was his phone after all. 

After a fourth ring, she hit the accept button and pulled the phone to her ear. 

“Arthur Griffin’s office. One moment, please.” 

Hand over the receiver she turned to Logan whose eyes widened in fear. 

“You’re up.” She smiled, passing the device and stomping her foot down onto his. “Good luck.”

A yelp escaped his lips as he brought the phone to his ear. Clearing his throat, he answered in a voice much deeper than his own. “Hello? Uh-huh. Yes. Move that set to the Palm Woods, now. Okay, I need to touch my llama now. Bye.” 

Camille slid beside the girl before the end of the call, watching Logan very intently. When the impersonator hung up the phone, the band erupted in cheers. 

“I owned them in there!” Camille stated, giving Roxy a high five. The two laughed among themselves before Logan’s stress began to boil over. 

“All you’ve done is set us up for big-time trouble!” 

Roxanne stepped in front of the actress. “We all agreed to this plan, it isn’t Camille's fault!”

Kendall sighed, “Oh, our little Logey, so pessimistic.”

“So scared of everything,” Carlos chimed in. 

“So bad at impressions,” Scoffed the writer. 

Their hired actress finished “And so incredibly hot.”

Roxy stifled a laugh as the four boys turned to her, trying to pick apart her addition to their conversation. Their assistant already knew how hard Logan would eventually fall for her friend - he just needed a bit of time to realize how into him Camille was. 

Shaking his head and trying to get the thought out of his mind, Logan continued, “I’m not scared of everything and I’m not bad at impressions! I’m just realistic, as in, what are gonna tell your mom about the crew that’ll be invading your apartment tomorrow from 11-3?”

“Let’s talk shop at a different time.” Their assistant warned them, gesturing at the studio door to the side of them. “We need to get back to the hotel to talk about this before someone hears us.” 

The ride back was quick and full of silence as the team formulated their next move. They arrived at 2-J, and the boys were too busy sitting down at the dinner table to ask Mrs. Knight if she needed any help in the kitchen. 

“Hi, Mrs. Knight!” Roxanne greeted, “Anything I can help you with?”

The offer was met with a kind smile, “It’s alright, honey, thank you very much! How about you go join the boys at the table? I’ve just gotta bring this plate of hot dogs out.” 

“Sure,” the girl said, “Just let me help with the dishes after.” 

Grabbing a bottle of water for herself from the fridge, Roxy made her way to the table. Sitting down, she examined her friends who were all still deep in thought about how tomorrow was going to play out. Everything had to be perfect or else they would never get the apartment of their dreams. 

“Hey! I almost forgot,” The redheaded woman laughed to herself as she addressed the teens, “I’m gonna go look for a job tomorrow, so I’ll be gone from about 11-3.”

The plate of food was set down on the table and Carlos reached for it hungrily, scaring Kendall’s mother who sighed and quickly left the room, mumbling something about needing to find an outfit to wear at the interviews. 

“No way,” Roxy whispered in disbelief. “You guys must be, like, the luckiest people on the planet. How does everything always go your way?” 

James threw a glance her way, “It’s not luck. When you’re naturally this good-looking, the world works with you, not against you.” 

Silence washed over the room as the assistant tried not to laugh at his ridiculous comment. What a way to see the world.

“Okay, that happened,” Logan sighed from across the table. The girl wasn’t sure if he was talking about Mrs. Knight’s comment or James’ comment. “But what now?” 

More focused on the food than the conversation at hand, Carlos continued to devour his third hot dog. The boy must have noticed his assistant eyeing the plate in the middle of the table, so he lifted it up and held it in her direction. With thanks, she took one of the dogs, still waiting for Kendall’s reply. On the side of her, James was too busy tying bandanas around his wrists to contribute as well. 

“I have no idea,” Was the frontman’s shaky response. “Frankly, I can’t believe we got this far.”

Fair enough. Hope we can go further. Roxanne thought about the big TV from the stock image. It would be a great place to watch concert videos and the surround sound might make it seem like she’s actually there. I really need that TV.

“Hey, look!” James exclaimed, pulling her away from her daydream as he showed off a colorful smattering of bandanas tied around his wrist, “Wrist-danas.” 

The four ignored him. 

“So, next we worry about Gustavo,” Roxy stated, not sure where to go from there. 

Kendall bounced off of that, “We need to find someone who can think like him, someone who can get inside his head.”

“Where could we even find someone that devious?” The writer wondered out loud as Kendall’s little sister, Katie, emerged from her room. “Oh, perfect!” 

Katie, after a brief rundown of the situation, disappeared for about 10 minutes before reemerging with a drawn-out plan on a whiteboard. The group huddled around the brown coffee table in front of the broken couch towards the back of the apartment as she began her presentation. 

The way Katie spoke was dignified and commanding, “First, you’re gonna need more future stars from the Palm Woods. I recommend the Jennifers for their lack of fear.”

Roxanne jotted down basic notes in her book as a reference. 

“Next, you’ll need cordless power tools, sawdust, cool code phrases, and -”

From behind her, Kendall held his hand up, “Wait, Katie. Where did you get the whiteboard?” 

Is that really important right now?

“I swiped it off Bitters,” The girl had a very guilty look on her face, despite the fact she felt no guilt. “Speaking of Bitters, you have to keep him in his cage all day.” 

Exchanging glances, the five knew that wouldn’t be hard at all. 

“But the key to this whole ultra 2-J makeover is convincing Gustavo to shoot the interviews by the pool like the dog food commercial Roxanne complained about all last night.” 

At the mention of this, Roxy turned beet-red. “What? I never told you about the commercial.” 

“No, you didn’t, but you told Camille on the phone last night. We share a wall, remember?” Katie said coolly. 

“I’ll remind the contractors to put extra soundproofing in the walls then…” She dropped the sentence. 

“Anyway,” Kendall shifted the conversation, “Once our teen dream remodeling is complete, Gustavo will have no time and no choice but to shoot our rock performance right here.”

Heads nodded in agreement as Katie finished stating her terms, “And I get the first turn on the swirly slide.” 

Though he had been inactive this entire conversation, Carlos interjected, “I get first turn on the swirly slide!” 

“I do.”

“No! I do!’ 

“You can go together!” Yelled Roxy, ending the fight there. 

We always have bigger fish to fry.

Beside her, James stood up, tightening a teal bandana behind his head. Game face on, he turned to his friends, confident. “Let’s do this.” 

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wad of colored bandanas. 

“We’re not wearing bandanas!” His friends shot back. 

“Bandanas are cool.” The tall boy finished with a pout, not ready to give up on his mission just yet.

With that, each team member retreated back to their rooms with a clear plan in place for how they were going to con their boss in the morning. 

***

“Oh yea, and I say so!”

Despite it being so early in the morning, Gustavo was yelling at Kelly as the band turned the corner of the studio level of Rocque Records with their assistant. 

“He’s in a bad mood,” Logan hissed, “Abort mission.” 

“Mr. Rocque is always in a bad mood,” Roxy stated matter-of-factly as she placed her hand on his arm to help calm him down.  

The frontman whispered, “Just stay cool. If we fail, we fail.” As he fidgeted with the printed sample pictures they had taken earlier by the pool to convince their boss the Palm Woods pool was a prime water location.

When they reached the section of the studio that was supposed to be where the interviews were filmed, the ugliest backdrop the teens had ever seen was set up with a cacophony of ocean sounds coming from a small boombox in the corner of the room. The background showed a scene of the beach with a few palm trees to the left, but it was crinkled and ripped in places making it very obvious to onlookers that this was not truly shot near any kind of real water. 

As the team approached, Gustavo held his hand up in a ‘stop’ motion, looking at something on Kelly’s phone. “Heel. Stay. Speak.” 

What the hell… He really thinks they’re dogs. 

With a nudge from Roxanne, Kendall began pitching, “We took some pictures of the pool at the Palm Woods. The greatest pool ever, very lucky water.”

“It’s a great location for the interviews,” the assistant chimed in. 

Carlos backed her up, “Hot directors shoot there all the time! Swirly Sli-” 

Before he could finish, James smacked him upside the head, in fear their cover would be blown. 

Gustavo handed the photos off to Kelly, who had an amused smile on her face as she examined the silly pictures of the guys Roxy had taken and printed out before they came to work. 

“Oh, the dawgs are directing my video now? Well, let me tell you how it works here.” His tone was getting more angry as the volume of his voice increased. “You are the dawgs and I am the trainer. Now, sit.” 

So I’m a dog now too? Great. 

None of the teens sat on his command, trying to prove his point incorrect. 

“Don’t sit,” Gustavo ordered. 

Ultimately, Roxy didn’t get the memo the rest of her friends were sitting down until Carlos gently grasped her wrist and pulled her backward. She fell onto the back of the couch next to him, very surprised he didn’t startle her.  

“Sorry, again,” He whispered, “I tried to be more gentle this time.” 

Her smile was genuine as she told him, “It’s okay, I think it’s just people grabbing me, uh, roughly, that’s been freaking me out lately.” 

Next to Carlos, James popped his head around the black-haired boy. He had a look of concern on his face, a side of him she had never seen before. “What? Did something happen?”. 

Meanwhile, Kelly and Gustavo were deliberating at the front of the room, not paying attention to the teens' conversation. 

“No, no,” she waved her hands in an X motion to try and get them off her case. “Everything is just fine.” 

“Then why are you talking about people grabbing you?” The bandana wearer shot back. 

“What?” Kendall and Logan had joined the conversation now. 

“Nothing! I was just freaked out by the guys who kicked us off the Sexy Dog Dog Food set the other night,” She tried to figure out a way to change the subject but the boys wouldn’t drop it. 

Still whispering, Logan asked, “Those guys bothered you? Didn’t you walk to the lobby alone? ”

“Yes, I did. After I threatened to beat them with a hockey stick. It was just scary, okay?” 

“Nice going with the hockey stick thing…” Carlos thought aloud. “But tell us next time so we can beat the snot out of those guys!” 

The other three nodded their heads in agreement. 

It would be a lie if she told herself their words didn’t mean anything, but in all fairness, she had only known them for a week.  

“Thanks. I just need some processing time, so can we talk about it when I’m ready?”

Conveniently, Kelly and Gustavo’s squabble had launched onto a more massive scale as the woman walked over to the couch and stood with the teens. She was team Palm Woods pool. 

“This pool looks great,” Kelly said, “And it’s close enough that we could be back here by 3 to shoot the performance at the ultrateen hangout place.”

The band backed her up with words of encouragement and looked to Gustavo in hopes he would change his mind. In the meantime, Roxanne stared at her shoes as more scenes from the other night popped into her head. 

I appreciate those idiots but they don't know when to stop. 

In an attempt to keep images of last night out of her mind, the girl did her best to focus on her musical work in progress. Maybe she could squeeze a couple of productive lyrics out, but she knew she was too unfocused to come up with anything on the fly. 

“No!” Erupted Gustavo, leading all eyes to him. “You do what I say, and I say no, no, no!” 

With every “no!” came a stomp of his foot. He looked like a child throwing a tantrum as he jumped up and down, yelling at his team. On the final “no!”, the wires holding up the terrible beach backdrop snapped, causing the light fixtures to tumble down with it. The canvas felt at the man’s feet, revealing a man on a ladder holding up a prop seagull. 

When he saw the destroyed set behind him, he faced the team once more, a grimace forming on his face. “Hey, uh, let’s do the interviews at the Palm Woods.” 

So, to the hotel they went. 

Gustavo took the film crew to the back right corner of the pool in order to get the appropriate interview shots and lighting, while Kelly negotiated with Bitters over a multitude of fees necessary in order to use the location. During this, the band was sent to hair and makeup while their assistant confirmed the plan with everyone helping them in the lobby. Once the hotel manager was in his office, they would strike. 

As Roxanne went to join the band at their station, she passed the cranky man, signaling their plan was about to be set in motion. 

Katie popped up from behind her brother’s chair, a text tone going off on her little flip phone. “The bird is in the cage and the Jennifers are in place.” 

On her signal, Kendall addressed the group, “Okay, team, remember your missions. James, you stall Gustavo. Carlos, Katie, and Camille, you head to Rocque Records and fake build the ultrateen crib, while Rox, Logan, and I install the swirly slide and all those other electronic goodies.” 

The girl liked the way his green eyes lit up at the mention of the electronics. 

I am so getting my TV. 

From across the pool, Gustavo yelled, “Okay, James is up first! I’ll shoot the rest of you dawgs later.”

Shuttering at his potential double meaning, the writer hoped everything went according to plan.

“Knock ‘em dead, James.” Roxy encouraged, punching his arm. 

“Good luck kiss?” He offered, leaning one of his cheeks a bit too close to her face.

The assistant rolled her eyes as she pulled back, “Move or I’ll threaten to beat you with a hockey stick too.”

Scrambling away, James took his seat in front of the camera, more than ready for his close up. Logan beckoned her over to where he and Kendall were standing as he muttered the details of the plan to himself. Meanwhile, the blond spread a thick eye-black under his eyes, face stone cold. With a wave, he showed off the dark material on his fingers. “Want any, Rox?” 

“Doesn’t go with my outfit.”

“It’ll increase your stealth by 300 percent.” 

For the first time that day, she laughed. The morning had been so stressful getting everything in place there had been no time to focus on anything else. So for now, she let herself enjoy the calm before the storm. 

“How can I argue with that?” Roxanne leaned closer, letting him smear the cold concoction under her left eye. “You know, that sounded like something your sister would say.” 

His eyebrows raised as the thought turned over in his mind, moving onto her right eye. “She had to get it from somewhere.” 

“Are you guys done?” Logan interrupted, he looked so scared he was practically shaking in his shoes. “We need to get out of here before something goes wrong.” 

“It’s going to be fine,” Roxy assured him. “Now get over here, you need some of this stuff too. It’ll reduce your anxiety by 300 percent.”

Though the boy did not appreciate her joke about his nerves, he allowed Kendall to apply the cream under his eyes as well. Once done with that, Logan dragged his team members to the entrance of the hotel to check on the construction crew. 

A conveniently placed planter with a handful of young trees in it was their hiding place and Logan dug out three hats with fake, yet similar, shrubbery hot glued to the top, ensuring no one would break their cover. He plopped one on Roxy’s head - still complaining about the eye-black. Along with the tree hats, Kendall had apparently stashed a boombox preloaded with the Mission Impossible theme which began to play as they waited. 

They’re so weird.

Perfectly on time, the white truck with the construction company logo they were looking for roared to a stop in front of the building, at 11 am on the dot.  Time to tell Brown-Haired Jennifer. 

“Roll out!” Kendall whispered and the three took off running to the lobby.

The crew was too preoccupied getting their supplies out of the truck bed to notice three teens with trees on their heads taking off from behind the planter. 

Ignoring the weird looks from hotel patrons, they made their way to where Jennifer was standing in an official Palm Woods uniform. How she managed to get a hold of that, she didn’t know, but wouldn’t put it past Camille to have one on loan from her large wardrobe. 

“Jennifer, you’re up,” Kendall said with a charming smile. The three made to take off again, to 2-J this time, but the actress held her hand up to stop them. 

“Just to be clear,” her tone was malicious. “We get to be in the video, which will be seen by a lot of people, right?”

Their drive for fame was something to be admired. 

“Are you kidding?” Roxy piped up, scoffing, “It’s gonna be seen in Japan!” 

            She conveniently left out the part about the project being more like an ad, than a music video.

Logan threw in a wink and finger guns for good measure before the team pushed past the pleased girl to get to the next plant potter inside the lobby. Jumping to clear the height, she barely made it over before the set designer walked into the lobby. Hopefully, the swinging branches wouldn’t be too suspicious. 

To no one's surprise, Brown-Haired Jennifer executed her role perfectly and the contractors began to make their way to the elevators. Now that their plan was fully coming together Roxy watched in awe as the swirly slide pieces were carried through the lobby, knowing her TV was soon to follow. 

As the parade of supplies slowly came to end, they stood up to follow. 

“I still say this is a bad idea,” Logan complained.

“Hey, a life without risk is a life unlived, my friend.” The frontman assured him as Roxy nodded along. 

They really needed to get going, so in an attempt to remind the boys, she tugged on their sleeves and nodded towards the elevator, “Now, off to 2-H.” 

Roxanne and Kendall exited their place from behind the planter, making good time to the elevators before they realized a member of their team had been left behind. When she stopped, she could see Logan from behind the palm fronds pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Wow, these hats don’t work at all. 

“Kendall, wait up,” She called ahead, returning back to where she stood moments ago. Holding out her hand, she offered a gentle smile to the nervous boy. “We’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to, but we’ve already gotten this far. We might as well see it through.” 

It took a moment for him to consider his options with a very contemplative face. When his expression softened, he glanced between Roxy and Kendall still weighing his options. 

“Okay, okay.” He sighed, taking her hand. “But we better not get caught.” 

From there, Roxy practically dragged him into the elevator Kendall had been holding. 

“How do you think everyone else is doing?” The girl wondered, taking out her phone to see if she had any SOS texts from her friends. “No messages from anyone so far.”

“Good, good.” The blond repeated, seemingly lost in thought. 

Ding!

They exited the elevator and made a beeline for the girl’s apartment. Though she fumbled with the keys, eventually she got the door open and the three had a moment to catch their breath. 

Various construction-like noises came from the apartment next door, a sign that the set was in the process of being built. 

Kendall was overjoyed. “So far, so good.” 

Walking over to her window, Roxy pushed the curtains back, revealing James still shooting his interview by the pool. Everything seemed to be going great down there; Gustavo didn’t even have a red face yet and they had been shooting for quite some time.

“All good at the pool too.” 

The boys rummaged through her fridge looking for some water. 

After he had grabbed a bottle, Kendall noticed the worry on his friend's face, gently placing his hand on Logan’s shoulder, a confident smirk marking his face. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

Peeking out the window again, she saw Gustavo silently scream at James. 

“I lied, he’s starting to yell again.” 

“It’s okay!” Kendall assured his assistant. “James once kept the principal of Twin Oaks High occupied for 3 hours while we trashed their locker rooms.” 

Her eyebrows raised in interest, but that would have to be a story for another time. Moving the curtains again, she saw Gustavo chasing after James. 

“Oh, wow, Gustavo is going to kill him.” 

The three exchanged worried glances, they all wanted to help their friend, but the risk of getting caught was far too great. 

Buzz buzz

Checking the caller ID, on his phone, Kendall’s face went pale. 

“It’s the set designer.” 

Knowing this meant she was up, Roxy’s palm hit her face. “Ugh, give it here.” 

“Guys, I’m worried…” Logan started, but the girl held a finger to her lips as she took the phone from Kendall. 

“Arthur Griffin’s office. One moment please.” As she did before, her foot smashed down onto Logan’s as she placed the phone on speaker mode before handing it off to the pained boy. 

Thankfully, his Griffin impression pulled through.

“Hello.”

“About that stage door-”

“Just build it!” He hissed, quickly glancing from his assistant to Kendall. 

The two shared an odd look for a moment, but there was too much going on for Roxy to decipher what they were talking about.

“Yeah… okay… Also, the room’s too small. So if you want that swirly slide to fit, we’re gonna have to bust into the ceiling. Is that okay?”

No way. Roxanne immediately shook her head back and forth. They were already going to get in trouble with Gustavo if James had him on the run and now they could get in trouble for far more property damage than they already were. This was turning into a bad idea. 

Logan placed his hand on the receiver, “Break through the ceiling?” His tone was a pained whisper. “No, no. We’ll be arrested.”

“Uh, sir, can we demolish the ceiling?” 

Her pleading eyes met Kendall’s; the blond shook his head in defeat. 

Immediately, Logan gave his reply, “Yes.” 

The sound of power tools practically shook the building as the boy hung up. 

“You better be right about this taking risks thing.” 

The girl was too stunned to speak. All she could do now was try and come up with an explanation that would get them in the least amount of trouble. 

“Fire in the hole!” 

A shout came from next door, followed by a terrible boom. The writer placed her hands over her ears and shut her eyes, feeling the blow shake the ground. 

When she opened her eyes again, Kendall had Logan in his arms as the poor boy shook. 

“You guys are massive, massive idiots. No way Bitters doesn’t know something’s up now. We need to go!”

The front door was opened and the three piled out, running smack dab into the Jennifers in the hall.

Brown-Haired Jennifer yelled, “Code red, Bitters is on his way!” 

Another boom echoed in the halls. 

“What is going on out here?” The manager’s shrill voice grew closer.

Opening her mouth the answer, the writer was quickly cut off by the frontman, “Please tell me you guys are good at teen scream horror flicks.” 

Blonde Jennifer took off her sunglasses and the other two followed suit, rolling their eyes in sync. “They’re desperate… We want talking parts in your next three videos, you do all our ironing for the next month, and we sing backup on your next track.” 

They’re definitely not going to do any of that.

“Done!” Logan sealed the deal.

“Where’s the ketchup?” 

Kendall held up a full bottle. 

“Hey! That’s from my fridge!” Roxy grumbled, but he was too busy squirting it on the actresses to listen. 

When he finished, the team made way for the pool as the girls ran down the hall, screaming as though their lives depended on it.

“Man, they’re good.” The girl mused as their act led Bitters back down to the lobby. “Now we have to focus on Gustavo.” 

Going the opposite way of the hotel manager to avoid being seen, the three reached the elevators and pressed the button for the first floor. 

“We’ve just gotta keep him occupied for one more hour,” Kendall stated confidently. 

It was going to be hard, but not impossible. 

“As long as each of you stretches out your interviews, we should be golden. Plus I can get a smoothie or something and pretend to spill it on one of your costumes to slow production down as well.” The writer thought aloud as they entered the elevator.

Despite the mess and the chaos and the general uncertainty of their plan, Logan was grinning ear to ear as he brushed off what his teammates had said, “I can’t believe it, I think we’re actually gonna make it. I’m not even scared!” 

Ding

Elevator doors opened to reveal a very angry Gustavo and a very annoyed Bitters, who held a french fry covered in ketchup. As if they were now starring in a teen scream flick, the band members shrieked and Roxy felt herself freeze in fear. 

“Why are the Jennifers dripping ketchup all over my Palm Woods?” Bitters knew why, but still made a point of dragging his question out in hopes of a confession. Gustavo plucked the fry from the manager's hand. 

“Dawgs, interviews, now!” 

Their boss reached his hands out and grabbed hold of the boy’s shirts, balling his fists to ensure they wouldn’t escape. Trying to give words of encouragement in an attempt to calm the situation down, their assistant rushed after them to plead with the producer. Her efforts went to waste as Gustavo kept dragging the two out to the pool. Though her friends' eyes begged her not to leave them, Bitters had entered the elevator and she couldn’t risk their plan being blown wide open.

Stairs were the fastest option, so that’s where she went. As she practically sprinted, she could still hear the loud sounds of the power tools being used to build the set on the second floor. When she turned the corner, Bitters was at the end of the hallway. 

She moved to try and block him from reaching the room, but a flash of purple wooshed by her, and a figure hid her from the manager’s view. The new challenger and Bitters stood off for a moment before the figure screamed, scaring the manager who quickly retreated; a nearby supply closet was his respite as he barricaded himself inside. From the end of the hall, dumbfounded as she watched the entire exchange, Roxy heard the figure laugh and lock the man inside the room, wedging a single bandana inside the frame to seal the man in. 

When the person turned around, he and the girl faced each other. He was clad in a black shirt and skinny jeans with a cape and mask fashioned out of purple bandanas.

“James?” 

The boy took his mask off, ruffling his hair. “And they said bandanas weren’t cool?”  

“They’re not,” A smile danced across her face. “But thanks for your help. Hopefully, that’ll keep Bitters occupied for a while.” 

The hero walked over to his assistant, gently taking her hand and placing a light kiss on the back of it. “Bandana Man is at your service, always.” 

It was hard to ignore the turning of her stomach as she let her hand fall out of his. Roxanne cleared her throat and looked anywhere but where he stood, “I’ll be sure not to reveal your secret identity…”

As if on cue, the whirring of power tools came to a stop, highlighting the silence of the hall as the two stood there, unsure of what to do next.

“Uh, we can hide at my place? Gustavo’s bound to be here any second” Roxy suggested, fishing in her pockets for her keys. 

“No!” James blurted, very quickly after her offer. “No, that’ll be the, uh, first place he looks.” 

Her eyes narrowed, “He’d go to your place, not mine.” 

As the boy sighed, shaking his head, the door to 2-J opened. They jumped, trying to find a place to hide from the construction workers. At the end of the hall was the door to the stairwell and right now, that was as good a place as any - her room was on the opposite side of the newly renovated apartment; they wouldn’t be able to get there without being seen. Hands flew to her shoulders, scaring her, as James forcefully pushed her down the hall and onto the landing between staircases. 

Moments after the pair took refuge in the stairwell and she harshly swatted his hands away, having trouble controlling her breathing. Roxanne’s hands were shaking slightly as she wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead. 

Realizing her panicked state was the result of his actions, the boy paled, “Shit, sorry… I am so, so sorry, Roxy, I forgot what you said earlier.” 

“It’s… It’s alright,” She pushed out between shaky breaths. Sinking down to the floor, she continued, “I trust you… You were just trying to help me.” 

Eyes growing wide, he dropped down next to her. Neither of them said a word as she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to gain control of her pounding heart. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. 

“Did you hear what the ocean said to the beach?” 

Roxanne sat up and turned to face James through labored breaths, one eyebrow raised. “What are you doing?” 

He faced her as well, “Why would the ocean say ‘what are you doing’ to the beach? That would be a terrible joke.” 

“I think you should stick with singing, comedy really isn’t the move for you,” She shot back, chuckling at her own joke. 

A smile graced his lips as well, “In a roundabout way, it got you laughing so I’m calling that a win.” 

“You were trying to make me laugh?” Her giggles were starting to hurt her cheeks. “With a terrible joke like that? So stupid.” 

“I’m pretty sure it’s helping at the moment.” 

A strange, but comfortable silence washed over the stairwell for a moment, before the assistant turned to her friend. “Give me one of those bandanas you had earlier.”

Eyes lighting up, James pulled a fist full from his pocket, but before he handed them over he clicked his tongue, “You could at least say please.”

“Please…” Roxy sighed, reaching out and picking a bright red and white patterned cloth, “...Don’t push your luck.”

As she tied up her hair using the bandana, their eyes met for a brief moment and neither of them realized the other looked away to hide the light shade of pink their cheeks were turning. 

Buzz

When she was finished, Roxy pulled her phone out of her back pocket to see a text message from Kelly, bringing her thoughts back to the situation at hand. 

K: r u with the guys rn?

R: Kendall and Logan are at the pool for their interviews

R: Carlos, James, and I are in my apartment for a break

K: hm rlly?

K: Sent a photo

“Do you think the Crib has a built-in panic room?” Roxanne posed the question aloud, moving to stand back up. 

James looked at her quizzically, “Why would it need one of those?” 

She held her phone to his eye level, showing the photo Kelly had sent her of Camille, Katie, and Carlos covered in sawdust sitting on the floor of Studio A. 

“Because we are so dead.” 

A scream that could only belong to Gustavo Rocque echoed throughout the Palm Woods hotel, causing the pair to run as fast as they could to the end of the hall and patiently wait outside the apartment. Construction of the Ultrateen Crib in apartment 2-J had taken a lot quicker than planned, even after they blew into the ceiling - as evidenced by the producer's extreme reaction. 

By the time it took to gather all of the film crew by the pool and the missing parts of Team BTR to get to the hotel from Rocque Records, the set had been completed. It was everything the teens had dreamed of.

From the moment the door was blown down by their angry boss, the renovated apartment captured every part of Roxanne’s attention, pulling it in a million ways. Of course, she was first drawn to the expensive TV and stereo system at the back of the room, so this was where she situated herself. On one end of their new bright orange couch, she sat and examined the room, while James jumped on the other side. Instead of the original brown and drabby walls, 2-J had splashes of blue, yellow, green, and white on every wall, giving the room a funhouse vibe. As for the arcade games and toys that covered the walls, she couldn’t even describe the massive quantity that had been placed neatly all around the room. Kendall moved about the room trying to test out all of the games, making sure they were up to the band’s standards. Electric guitars brandished the wall above the entryway, a touch she personally loved. 

Do those actually work…? The most notable feature was the bright yellow swirly slide which was attached to a small staircase and loft high above her head. Katie and Carlos were atop it, waiting for the first chance to break in the large tube. Though the thing that shocked the assistant the most was the newly redesigned kitchen. State-of-the-art appliances and a brand new sink, fit with a garbage disposal and dishwasher, would make Mrs. Knight very happy. Attached was a small breakfast bar with four swivel chairs, one of which Logan kept spinning himself around in. 

Their boss stood smack in the middle of the room, still screaming, with the set designer behind him, looking very accomplished with herself. Kelly, though astonished, brandished a worried look on her face as her eyes kept darting around the room and back to Gustavo, in fear of his next move. 

Clapping the man on the shoulder, the designer commended herself and her team, “It came out really good, huh?” 

Before anyone else could speak Kendall jumped in, “It came out amazing!” 

Gustavo and Kelly were still unable to muster up their words as they kept looking around the room in disbelief. From the top of the loft, Carlos yelled, “Swirly slide!” as he and Katie jumped in, dumping out at the bottom onto a black, cushy mat in a fit of giggles. 

Gustavo let out an inhuman noise and turned to Kelly who informed him that there was no time to move the set back to the studio if they wanted the commercial to be filmed on time. The man made the noise again. Kelly sighed, “The video has to be great for Fujizaki or we are out of a job.” 

Oh yeah, the writer reminisced, having completely forgotten about the purpose of the commercial. Like the guys, she had allowed herself to get sidetracked in order to get the apartment of their dreams. As their boss slowly made his way over to Kendall, pure rage in his eyes, she was knocked from her thoughts. Hands landed on both sides of the boy’s arms as Gustavo shook him back and forth, groaning the whole time. 

“Light it, and shoot it!” The producer yelled, completely out of time to undo any of the damage the band and their assistant had done. 

***

“Cut! Print!” 

The commercial filming went off without a hitch and as soon as her boss called time, Roxanne ran out into the living room to provide the guys with water and towels after their dance routine. Completing the interviews out by the pool had been easy once the four didn’t have to stall their boss any longer, so the mini-music video in the crib was the last thing they had to complete before it made its way off to the video editors. 

“And strike the set!”

She stopped dead in her tracks. Several people immediately descended upon the apartment and began to take down decorations and place them into the hallway, returning the apartment to its original dreary interior.

“Where are you going with that?” The frontman practically yelled. He and the band were melting into a state of distress as their assistant forced each one of them to take the items she had prepared. 

The set designer turned to the group, shrugging as she acted like the answer was obvious to the teens when clearly, it wasn’t. “Back to the warehouse. Where else would it go?”  

The four of them protested as Roxy tried to cope with their major loss in real time, hoping it wouldn’t affect them in the long run.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gustavo sneered, bursting into an evil laugh. “Did you dawgs think you were gonna get to keep this stuff?” 

As he continued his jeering, Carlos witnessed the breaking down of the swirly slide and howled as if he were in immense pain. 

Their boss took no notice of this as he continued, “The little dawgs thought they outsmarted the big dawg.”

Barking came from behind Roxy, causing her to jump and drop a few towels to the floor. Turning around, she observed Gustavo barking in Kendall and James’ faces. 

What a weirdo.

Too exhausted to even pick up her mess, she let the destruction crew whisk the towels away as she stood still and watched the scene unfold around her. The beautiful colored walls were painted over in the same terrible beige color 2-H was and the orange couch was hauled off to be replaced with the old, broken one from before. At one point, she even had to jump over a roll of moving floor as the disgusting stained carpet was rolled back out. With nowhere else to go, the band fell back onto the couch as Roxy took her seat on the brown ground. 

Bosses poised in front of them, the teens had accepted their defeat. 

“I do have to admit,” Gustavo stated, his hands framing his view of the band and their assistant, “We did get some pretty great stuff today. Let’s just hope Fujizaki thinks so tomorrow.”

***

To say the company meeting took forever would be an understatement. 

Each and every branch of Rocque Records had to share their annual stats and budget projections for the upcoming year while the company founder, Fujizaki, snored on a small video screen at the front of the room. The whole time, Roxanne sat next to the band anxiously tapping her heeled Mary Janes on the floor to the beat of her song as the tune filled the room when their commercial finally began to play. One of the best things about the song “Big Time Rush” was how it fit for just about any occasion - plus, the boys had nailed their routine to it, seeing as they had no other songs to worry about at the moment.

Kelly, Gustavo, and Roxy were the only members of Team BTR who seemed to get the ‘business’ dress code which made her even more uncomfortable as she fiddled with the edge of her black skirt and took meeting notes when something managed to capture her interest. Next to them, the boys were dressed in their everyday casual clothing, not even paying attention to the video on the screen. 

Though she hated to admit it, Gustavo was right about getting some great shots on the set yesterday. Even after all the trouble the five had gone through, the boys gave a great performance. The dance routine to “Big Time Rush” spliced together with the personal interviews and product placement served as a wonderful ad for RCM/CBT/GlobalNet/Sanyoid and for the band themselves. 

Hello, international markets.

When the commercial ended, all heads in the room turned to face the company founder on the screen at the other end of the room. It took quite a few moments, but in the end, Fujizaki was able to give his final declaration. 

“I like the boys!”

Cheers broke through all divisions of Rocque Records as Roxy finally breathed a sigh of relief. One more day she didn’t have to worry about losing her job. The teens exchanged hi-fives and, after clear permission, the band crushed their assistant in a giant hug - thanking her for her help in getting the set built in 2-J and another thanks for her song. 

After, she noticed Gustavo had moved in closer to them, black-tinted glasses obscuring his facial expression. Roxy shuffled backward, but still ended up right next to Kendall - in front of the other three band members - as their boss started them down. 

“So…” Kendall accepted the challenge. “We learned a lot here today didn’t we?”

“Yeah, uh,” Their assistant tried to muster up a few words after the sweet encouragement her friends had just given her. “You did some things. We did some things -”

“Ten hours of harmonies! Ten hours of piano practice! No breaks!”

Harmonies were normal for the band, but piano practice?

“Mr. Rocque?” Roxy questioned. “I don’t play the piano.” 

“Oh, is that so?” His voice mimicked a higher, softer tone but it was clear he was being sarcastic. “Well, you do know! Move out!”

The five teens turned and trudged out of the room, heads bowed to the floor, dreading the rest of the day before them. Kelly, for the most part, oversaw harmony practice as she ran around the studio floor doing this and that for Gustavo, who was overseeing Roxy’s piano practice. The man grumbled as he handed the girl a ‘Piano for Beginners’ book saying something about how it would be easier to collaborate on songs if they knew similar instruments. 

Much to their luck, minutes turned to hours. Their hard work had left them no time to even think about how much longer it would take the day to be over until it eventually was. Roxy ran through her mental checklist as they trudged through the lobby of the Palm Woods, hoping she would have enough tea, lemon, and honey to make the boys something to soothe their throats and would have to dig through her first aid kit for some pain killers to soothe her aching hands. 

As much as they wanted to relax by the pool they had learned their lesson the other night so they went straight to 2-J without another thought. Kendall dug out his keys and opened the door, yet as they walked in something about the band’s vibe shifted from gloom to glee. Picking her head up to see what was the matter, she found the interior of their apartment had been renovated once again to fit the original Ultrateen Crib. 

Someone slid down the swirly slide hitting the floor with a thud. 

“Hey!” Katie shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

Mrs. Knight was lounging on the orange couch in front of the entertainment system, waiting for the teens to come home. She gave the trademark Knight family smirk as she held up her hands to show off their new space, “Well, I love what you’ve done with the place.”

Big Time Rush looked at each other in disbelief before running over to the foosball hockey dome in the center of the room. Standing in awe, their assistant ended up simply looking around making sure every detail she noticed earlier was back in place, including the guitars she would most definitely try to steal.  

“Uh,” A deep voice let out behind her, causing her to whip around and see Gustavo and Kelly standing at the entryway to the apartment. All the teens could do was stop and stare at their bosses. “...Good job today.” 

Kelly had a big smile plastered across her face as she clutched her black ledger to her chest. 

“This is awesome!” Kendall blurted, genuinely thankful for the adult’s actions.

Gustavo took his dark sunglasses, “This is a bone.” 

“Come again?” Blinked Logan. 

“I realized today, sort of, that if you really want to train dogs properly, you need to throw them a treat now and then.” The man continued. “So, enjoy your treat. You’re not getting anymore.” 

For once, I’m kinda jealous of these four. 

Apartment 2-H wasn’t as bad as 2-J had been before, but now in comparison, it was a total dump. Safe to say she’d be spending far more time here in the future. The box full of movies in her closet was calling to her, begging to be played over the surround-sound television. 

Kelly checked her notes before adding, “We lost a day of rehearsal because of the shoot, so it’s at the studio, 7:30 am.”

“I’ll get them there!” Roxy squeaked, finding it hard to suppress her own excitement about the renovations. “No problem!”

Stepping up next to her, Carlos lightly placed a gentle hand on her arm as he spoke to the adults, “We promise, no more surprises.” 

A cracking sound came from the pale blue wall by the kitchen. Roxy took one step back as the boys took one step forward allowing herself to hide behind their tall frames. More busting sounds arose as part of the wall came crumbling down, revealing Bitters covered in plaster dust as he fell to the floor. When he finally managed to get himself up after a few seconds of struggle, he noticed the apartment had been slightly tweaked. 

“You’ve altered this room…” He didn’t sound like he was fully in the present. “You’ve completely devastated this apartment!”

Roxy met James’ eyes and the two shared a quick, suppressed laugh. 

Pointing to the older man, Logan turned around to look at his tall friend. “You locked him in the supply closet?”

“No! Bandana Man did.”

“It’s true!” Their assistant said, trying to hold back giggles as she remembered their time together. “I was there, it was Bandana Man. James came and found me after.”

Bitters ignored them. “This is a total lease violation!” His eyes wandered around the room once more. “Man, cool swirly slide,” He pondered another moment. “I want all of you out of here tomorrow!”

The woman next to him opened her ledger, a sadistic smile on her face, “What if I add another grand to your ‘making it happen’ fee?” 

Tearing out a freshly written check, Kelly handed it to the hotel manager. 

“Have a Palm Woods day, everyone. Enjoy your stay.”

What a sleaze she thought as he left the room. Once the door was fully shut, Kelly spoke up once more. “Try not to show him your apartment, Roxy.” 

The girl blinked. 

“My… apartment?” 

The woman nodded and Roxy wasted no time bursting out the door. A million questions filled her mind, and she did her best to push them out as she dug in her bag for her keys. Once she found them, she slid the golden one into the lock and opened the door with a click. 

The first thing catching her eye was the brand new paint job. Instead of her old, beige, chipping paint, the walls had been covered with calming shades of red, blue, and brown - it felt very southwestern. 

Her kitchen had been pushed into the corner wall, new appliances decorating the small space and she noticed that the breakfast bar had been taken away in favor of a small table tucked in the center. Because the kitchen had been shrunk, her living room had much more space and now accommodated a long red couch and a small entertainment system. She was grateful she didn’t need to figure out how the old dial TV worked. 

Across from the living room on the right, her bedroom door was open. While she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of someone being in her room, as long as no one touched the shoeboxes in her closet she was fine. 

The bed, which once sat in the center of the room with the head under one of the windows to the pool, had been pushed into the corner left and lofted, making the once cramped room more open. Immediately, her eyes were drawn to a cherry red electric guitar hanging on the wall above a small keyboard and desk. An amp and all the necessary electrical cords for the instruments were tucked in the corner of the room, under all of her pictures of Minnesota. On the side opposite her bed, she noticed a huge, cherrywood vanity and stool with a large mirror that lit up around the edges, giving the perfect lighting to ensure her makeup would ways be flawless. On the clear surface, a small, sleek micro-laptop sat.

Standing in the middle of the room, spinning around a few times to make sure she noticed every little detail, her emotions overwhelmed her as she let out a happy scream and jumped around her new, perfect room. 

Though she needed to get back to her friends, she walked over and ran her fingers over the new guitar that had been gifted to her. It was everything she had ever dreamed of and she was ecstatic that she didn’t need to save up and buy one anymore. Hooking it into the amp, she strummed a few chords and was shocked by the clarity of the sound. The electric acoustic she had been using previously was dear to her heart, and a wonderful gift from her father, but she always felt that the sound was mildly muffled when she tried to play it on the electric setting. Lazily, she began to play a small riff of an old Nirvana song that she had heard on one of her tapes earlier in the day; it sounded amazing.

Once she was more than satisfied, she was sure to shut off her equipment and unplug it. The guitar was set back on its stand and she silently promised to take very good care of it. 

Exiting her room, she looked over her new entertainment system and something caught her eye. 

Has that door always been there?

Along the shared wall of her apartment, to the left of her new TV, a red door had escaped her previous glance over the room. Roxy walked over to it with an eerie feeling in her chest. When she grabbed the door handle, it zapped her with a bit of electricity from the carpet and when she opened it, she found Big Time Rush on the other side.

“Surprise!” 

Taking a step back, she examined her surroundings and realized the door led to the hallway of their apartment. The girl must’ve had a puzzled look on her face as Carlos started to explain. 

“The other night you said it gets lonely all by yourself! So, we drew a stage door into the plans for the Crib. You can come over any time!” 

“I can just walk to your apartment though…?” She was giving a strained smile, still slightly confused.

Logan backed the helmet wearer, “Yes, but now you can come in when no one’s around in case you need a hockey stick to defend yourself or something. Or if you have a song idea to share you can just run a few steps and find us. Or if you get lonely, we can always hang out!” 

Roxy turned this thought over in her mind, her strained smile slowly turning into a real one. 

“Oh!” Kendall raised his index finger up. “Your side has a lock, so if you don’t want to see us just flip it and we won’t be able to get in.” 

“And we promise to knock before entering,” James said, sounding slightly disappointed about it. 

“You four are very thoughtful…” She trailed off, still slightly confused but not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I’ll be sure to knock as well.” 

Just like if I was at their front door. They’re so dumb. 

Her mind flipped back to their conversation. And their new entertainment system that was way bigger than hers. Not that she was complaining; the new instruments were a very fair trade-off.

“Want to celebrate with a movie night?”

BTR lit up. Carlos began to mumble something about popcorn before running into the kitchen, Logan in tow. 

Kendall smacked his forehead in remembrance of something, “We didn’t bring any DVD’s!” 

“You left the new Fast and Furious at home? I’m going to wring your neck!” James shouted as he landed a punch to his friend’s shoulder. “I’ve been dying to see that!” 

Letting them wrestle for a few seconds too long, Roxy smiled to herself knowing full well any of the movies she had were on the bottom of their watchlist. But it was all they had, so the band was going to have to deal. “I’ve got a few! Let me change into my pajamas and I’ll be over with my top 3.” 

Kendall looked over at her with pouting eyes. “Why do you get to pick?’ 

“Because they’re my movies? And I write the songs that’ll make you famous?” 

No way was he going to argue with that. “Fair enough. See you soon.” 

The door closed and she walked back into her room to retrieve the necessary items. Choosing a cuter pair of pajama bottoms and an old *NSYNC t-shirt she had thrifted back home, she threw it on. It was quite late so she opted to take off her makeup, just in case she fell asleep, and tied her hair up with her new red bandana. Looking at herself in the mirror door in front of the closet, she yawned. 

Taking the stool from under her new vanity, she set it in front of the top shelf in her closet and balanced on it, bringing down the shoe box with her movies. 

Like her taste in music, her taste in movies was immaculate. The box was filled to the brim with her favorite dramas and romcoms as she dug through them in order to find the ones that would bring her the most joy to force the boys to watch. Her decisions were made carefully as she picked ones she was sure they had never seen before. If their typical movie night was something like Fast and Furious that meant they liked action - her least favorite genre. 

This is going to be so much fun.

Three choices in hand, the girl walked over to her new door and knocked before entering. 

Her band was already on the couch, snacks galore on the tables in front of them. They were bickering about what the best couch position was and Carlos was in the process of giving Logan a noogie when she made her way in front of them. 

“Okay, boys, here are your choices. Number one.” 

Roxy held out her copy of Legally Blonde.

“A movie about a hot blonde girl, Elle, who gets into Harvard Law School in order to prove to her ex she’s more than just a pretty face.”

They blinked at her. Time for the next option. 

“10 Things I Hate About You. A modern retelling of Shakesphere’s Taming of the Shrew. Kat’s little sister, Bianca, wants to date but isn’t allowed to until Kat has a boyfriend, so Biana sets Kat up with this super ultra-hot bad boy Patrick even though she swears up and down she’ll never date in her life. Lots of twists and turns, very fun.” 

She let them soak in all that information while she thought about Patrick Verona. The scene where he sings to Kat while she’s at soccer practice nearly made her swoon just thinking about it; Definitely in her top 5 favorite movie moments ever. 

When none of them voted in favor of 10 Things, she held up her third movie. Twilight, the ace in the hole. Not only did the movie contain a thrilling supernatural romance but it had action in it, something the boys would latch onto because the previous movies had none of that. 

“One of the best movies made in my life based off of one of the best books written in my life, Twilight. Bella Swan finds herself locked in the middle of a centuries-old war between the vampires and werewolves of Forks, Washington. Lots of fighting, lots of blood, and lots of pretty actresses.” 

Trying to recapture the boys’ attention as they processed all the information needed to make a decision, she wiggled the movie in her hands.

“Promise this one has action in it?” Carlos beamed.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” She replied. 

��Let’s watch that one then!” 

Turning around, she looked for the DVD player while hiding the grin spreading across her face. 

Before she placed it in the player, a thought popped into her head, causing her to turn back around and point towards Carlos, then the kitchen, “Can you help me grab something off the top shelf really quick?”

Not even giving a verbal response, he hopped up and raced to the kitchen to assist his assistant. Meanwhile, the other three were too preoccupied with reading the back of the DVD to find the real synopsis of the movie. Apparently they thought Roxy was an unreliable summarizer.

Joining her friend in the kitchen, Carlos eagerly looked up at the shelves, “What do you need?”

“Uh, nothing, sorry,” She replied, and when a look of confusion crossed his face, she wrung her hands together nervously. “I actually wanted to thank you for what you said the other day, when you were checking up on me after those guys grabbed me at the pool. That was really thoughtful, and it meant a lot to me. So… thanks!”

Before she even finished speaking, his eyes lit up and a big grin splashed across his face as he took in her words. “Of course, Roxy! You’re always looking out for me, so I’ll always be looking out for you too. That goes for all of us.” 

As they turned back to see their friends, it appeared as though they were trying to figure out what other movies the lead actors had been in.

A “thank you” didn’t feel like enough. 

“Did you know I have three big sisters?” He asked her, turning towards the cabinets and reaching up to grab a large popcorn bowl before pushing it into her hands. It seemed he had decided she needed something after all. 

Shaking her head, the assistant listened as he continued, “You wouldn’t believe how in tune I am with the emotions of teenage girls; I’ve had triple the practice! Now, come on! Movie time!”

Gently grabbing her wrist, he pulled her back over to the couch. 

They’re so going to hate this.

The previews on the disc began to play so Roxy quickly chose her spot on the couch. Apparently, the band had decided that the best seat on the couch was in the lower part of the L-shape it made, directly facing the TV so she picked a seat on the longer part landing her right next to James. 

Surround sound audio enveloped them, bringing great joy to the girl. It felt like they were at the movie theater; the band was even diligently watching the trailers without talking. To say that Roxy had seen this movie a thousand times would be an understatement, so she had already seen all the clips before the movie and without commentary from the guys, she felt her eyelids getting heavy. Leaning back onto one of the pillows, she finally allowed herself some rest after their hectic few days, and boy did it feel good.

--

Happy Big Time Rush Day!! <3

[frcntiering]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ BIO & WANTED CONNECTIONS

introducing: DAVY QUAN.

character inspo : duckie dale ( pretty in pink ), neil perry ( dead poets’ society ), nellie laroy ( babylon ), vanellope von schweetz ( wreck it ralph )

** content warnings: mentions of deaths in the family ** 

( last updated: 20/03/2023 )

STATS.

FULL NAME: davy delilah quan

NICKNAMES: deedee, ddq, the more creative the better

BIRTHDAY: september 28th ( 26 years old ).

ZODIAC: libra

HOMETOWN: qz

BIRTHPLACE: san francisco, california

JOB: clean-up crew

GENDER & PRONOUNS: nonbinary & she/they

SEXUAL & ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: queer

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

PERSONALITY 

davy intends to walk through life with a skip in their step and a line in their head. if fate was kind, they would be an actor by now, making waves in hollywood and thriving in a creative industry. but no, fate is never that considerate. so they’re stuck as a cleaner in the pittsburgh qz. 

still, this doesn’t stop them from practising accents, self-teaching dance moves, and doing monologues from the saved tapes they have at home. 

they have a box tv that their father salvaged years ago, and some old home videos on tape, and old tv recordings. over the years, the quans collected whatever tapes they could find.

their apartment was kept in pretty good condition

to davy, there’s no point in mourning the past. at least, that’s what they tell themselves. in reality, they are covering up their real emotions with jokes and keeping busy with work and staying around other people. this way, they can be funny, they can be smooth, they can be the best. as long as they don’t have to be themselves :))) because the real davy rn would be crying :)))

davy’s personality has been pretty consistent for most of their life. they have always been sunny and funny, but perhaps in the past year, people may notice that they hardly ever go home, or that they never talk about themselves anymore. it’s always an outward focus, with davy now.

DAILY LIFE.

davy does a mixture of night and day shifts for the clean-up crew. 

recently, they have opted to stay out more than necessary, not really wanting to come home until they absolutely need to fall asleep.

since the death of their father, they’ve been avoiding staying at their old family apartment. 

davy is the only one left :((

HISTORY.

the quan family were on vacation when the outbreak happened, visiting relatives in buffalo, new york. there was her mother, father, and three older brothers. 

davy was a toddler during the chaos of trying to survive the first wave of the outbreak, and trying to get to safety in the qz. 

on the way to the qz, the eldest quan brother was lost, becoming part of the infected. 

being the baby of the family, the quans did everything they could to keep davy safe and protected — if not from the infected, then from the people around them. 

davy’s father became part of the clean-up crew, davy’s mother became a farmer. the two quan brothers became part of fedra. 

when davy was 14, the middle quan brother ( 18 yrs old at the time ) was lost in a raid outside of the qz.

when davy was 17, the youngest quan brother ( 20 yrs old at the time ) defected from fedra and became a firefly. davy never saw them again. 

when davy was 20, davy lost her mother. mrs quan started joining the food delivery trips between the atlanta qz and the pittsburgh qz. she would be gone for weeks at a time. one day, davy and her father heard that her mother’s truck was attacked by the infected. not a single person made it back. 

for six years, davy and her father lived alone in the apartment. it was a quiet existence. when she was 21, she joined the clean-up crew officially, taking her father’s place as his knees had started to give way and he began developing more physical ailments. their regular routine was coming home to watch one of the movie tapes together. mr quan’s favourite was watching the old tv recordings, including the commercial breaks and everything. they often quoted movies back to each other. davy remembers these times with a lot of fondness. 

just last year, when davy was 25, mr quan passed away of natural causes. 

coming home alone to that once crowded apartment ... davy resolved to never think about what they had lost ever again. they would not think about their dead parents, or their dead brothers, and certainly not their missing (probably dead) remaining brother. they would not think about this ... they would move on, and try to shine so bright that there wouldn’t be any space for thinking of the sad things.

since losing their father, davy has not really talked about it with anyone. as far as anyone is aware, they’re ... doing fine ... :))

HEADCANONS / DAVY-ISMS.

they can memorise almost anything they hear. not forever, but word-for-word most times.

very good at mimicking sounds and people’s voices. a decent singer, in this respect.

generally jut a great mimicker and impersonator in general. they love to watch fedra officers and practise their walk.

cannot fight to do shit. being the baby of the family, davy never had to do much protecting of themselves. they rely on the basics of shooting a gun if they ever needed to save themselves. 

they’re an excellent runner, though, and very slippery, so this is how they usually get out of tough scrapes. and there have been a few. 

davy is also, i believe, a very good friend. though they’re very nihilistic and don’t take care of their own wellbeing, they care about the people in their life. it’s a struggle though ... they didn’t want to care about so many people (they don’t want to suffer the pain of losing anyone else) but they can’t help it. they love their friends so much. 

that being said, davy has probably had a few relationships in the past, ranging from puppy love to something almost serious. generally in a romantic relationship, davy used to be quite non-committal and immature. now, however, they are growing into someone more responsible.

WANTED CONNECTIONS !!

friends. (unlimited slots)

someone to teach them how to fend for themselves (hunting, fighting, gathering food, etc.)

someone who will urge them to talk about their past, and help them process

someone davy can help !! they love to make people smile :((

someone davy can be aboslutely goofy with. we’re thinking fred and george weaslye, we’re thinking shaggy and scooby, dumb and dumber, etc. !!

relationships.

the one who got away ( from a couple of years ago, 0/1. )

davy was too immature, it was not a good time, things were not meshing ... you name it ... but there was something real there. could have ended amiably or horribly !  , and maybe they need to re-connect again to properly end whatever happened between them.

crushes !! ( ∞ )

infinity symbol because really davy is a little in love with everyone. a light-hearted plot, can lead to very good friendships or perhaps a relationship ??

let’s get down to business ( 0/1.)

a curious little plot. i’d love to explore davy being more serious in relationships. they genuinely care about people, but is it enough to be able to show their love for a special someone? i am open to SHIIPPSSS

family.

the youngest quan brother. ( 0/1. )

they are two years older than davy, and disappeared when they were 20, and davy was 17. so they would now be 28 years old. went to join the fireflies and never came back. the quan family were very close, and loved each other very much, which is why it’s such a shock that he left. will you come back, dear brother? 

note on gender: at the moment, they are considered a ‘brother’, but if you would like to develop them further, i am more than happy to work with you on that !! they can have any pronouns and can be trans, nonbinary, etc. 

pls message me if any of these plots tickle your fancy !!

[ciyapaofficial]

Top 10 Bollywood Actresses In India Who Hit The List In 2022-2023

Bollywood has always been a source of entertainment and inspiration for millions in India and worldwide. With each passing year, the Indian film industry introduces new talent and showcases the talent of existing actors. In 2023, many Bollywood actresses have proven their mettle till now and won the hearts of audiences with their performances. 

In this blog, we will look at the Bollywood top 10 actresses in India who have hit the list in 2023. From seasoned veterans to emerging stars, these actresses have captivated audiences with their acting skills, charisma, and beauty, and continue to make a mark in the Indian film industry. Let's check out!!

Most Popular Bollywood Actresses In 2022-23

1. Deepika Padukone

Following her debut in Om Shanti Om alongside Bollywood's king, Shahrukh Khan, this actress rose to fame. She has three Filmfare Awards to her name. She is on the list of one of Bollywood's highest-paid actress figures in the nation and was included in Time magazine's 2018 list of the 100 influential people in the world. 

She is the offspring of renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone from India. When younger, Deepika also desired to play badminton for her country, but she gave up that dream in favour of a modelling career. Padukone made her Hollywood debut in the action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), co-starring with Vin Diesel.

2. Katrina Kaif

She is a stunning actress who gained notoriety for her powerful performance in the movie Boom. Her career has gone through several ups and downs since then. She performed admirably in several mainstream and vintage movies, winning her admirers' respect. She is a renowned Bollywood actress for her stunning physique, sensual appearance, and skin tone.

She has become one of the most beautiful Bollywood divas because of her amazing achievement in less than five years. She has been nominated for four Filmfare Awards. She started as a child model and has since made a name for herself in the industry. Kaif had a successful modelling & acting career in India.

3. Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt is one of the most sought-after actresses in Bollywood. She debuted in 2012 with the film "Student of the Year'' and has since delivered numerous hit films. In 2023, Alia continued to dominate the industry with her powerful performances and impressive box office records. She has been listed among Forbes India's Celebrity 100 since 2014. 

And in 2017 she was listed among Forbes Asia 30 Under 30. Her portrayal of Sita in the film "RRR'' was highly anticipated and received critical acclaim. She also starred in the film "Gangubai Kathiyawadi," where she played the lead role and received the title for the "Best Actress In Leading Role" in Dada Saheb Phalke Award Ceremony for her performance. 

Alia is known for her versatility and has proven her mettle in both commercial and critically acclaimed films, making her one of the most talented Bollywood actresses. 

4. Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma, is a former runway model, now an actor and producer. This Bollywood top actress made her acting debut in the 2008 movies "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'' and "Band Baaja Baaraat," for which she was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Both pictures. In a short period, Anushka Sharma rose to fame as an artist. She is a Filmfare Award winner.

NH10, Pari: Not a Fairy Tale and Phillauri are just a few of the productions that Sharma has worked on with Clean Slate Films, a company co-founded by her. She runs her women's clothing company, Nush, and supports several causes and organisations, such as animal rights and gender equality. 

The talented Indian cricketer Virat Kohli is Sharma's husband. She has received the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals "Person of the Year'' award (PETA).

5. Shraddha Kapoor

She is from a Bollywood-connected family with a long history. Her first movie was Teen Patti, in which she acted alongside Amitabh Bachchan. Yet after "Aashiqui 2," which was adored by viewers, she had success in her life. This highest-paid Bollywood actress received a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actress for Aashiqui 2. 

She is a well-known brand ambassador for numerous companies and goods. In addition to launching her apparel line in 2015, she also became associated with the effervescent beverage Shunya in 2021. Lakmé, Veet, Lipton, and Marico's Hair & Care, among other brands, are represented by this Bollywood top actress.

6. Kriti Sanon

Kriti Sanon is one of the hot Indian actresses in Bollywood. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the action-comedy she starred in as her first Bollywood film, Heropanti. 

Sanon has since starred in several financially successful films, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Luka Chuppi, Mimi, and Hum Do Hamare Do. Her highest-grossing films were the comedy-action romance Dilwale (2015) and, consequently, the comedy movie Housefull (2019).

7. Sara Ali Khan

Sara Ali Khan Pataudi is yet another highest-paid Bollywood actress. She was born on August 12, 1995. She was reared in the Pataudi dynasty and is the daughter of the actors' Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan. 

After graduating from Columbia University, Khan debuted in the 2018 movies Kedarnath and Simmba. This Bollywood actress won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the first of her critically and financially successful movies.

8. Kiara Advani

Any list of the most alluring Bollywood actresses does include Kiara Advani. She made her Bollywood debut in the 2014 movie Fugly. The Bollywood film M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story helped her gain a following among fans. 

Among her best are the Bollywood movies Kabir Singh, Good Newz, Laxmii, and Shershaah. She ranked among top 10 most attractive Bollywood actresses in 2023 because of how talented and fashionable this hot Indian actress is.

9. Ananya Pandey

With roles in the comedy movies "Pati Patni Aur Woh" and the adolescent drama "Student of the Year 2", this Bollywood actress launched her acting career in 2019. These performances helped her win the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She has since appeared in the romantic comedy Gehraiyaan (2022). 

10. Disha Patani

This Bollywood actress made her acting debut in Varun Tej's Loafer (2015), a Telugu movie, and gained notoriety for her performance in the sports biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). Following that, she appeared in the commercially successful Hindi flicks Baaghi 2 (2018) and Bharat and the Chinese action comedy Kung Fu Yoga (2017). (2019). 

Patani completed filming for her roles in Karan Johar's Yodha opposite Sidharth Malhotra and Mohit Suri's Ek Villain Returns alongside Tara Sutaria, Arjun Kapoor, and John Abraham. 

Conclusion

The world of Bollywood is home to some of the most talented and beautiful actresses in the industry. With each passing year, we witness new faces and fresh talent who capture the audience's hearts with their exceptional acting skills and stunning looks. 

The Bollywood top 10 actresses who hit the list in 2022 are blessed with beauty and immense talent that has won them millions of fans worldwide. With their hard work and dedication, these hot Indian actresses have managed to carve a niche for themselves in the competitive world of Bollywood, inspiring countless young women to pursue their dreams and make it big in the industry.

[upholsterycleanings]

Hollywood Upholstery Cleaning – Your Number Ones for Clean and Fresh Home

Upholstery Cleaning Hollywood specializes in making your furniture look and feel like new. We can work on your couch, carpet, or rug with the application of advanced cleaning techniques to remove dirt, stains, and odors from your home, which makes it fresh and clean. When you are seeking the Best Couch Steam Cleaner in Bal Harbor, you have come to the right place.  Our deep cleaning steams are perfect for removing deep-set stains, dust mites, and allergens from your couch, making it look fabulous, healthy, and safe for your family.

Pet owners surely know how tricky it is to keep carpets clean. That's why we offer services as the Best Pet Carpet Cleaner in Hallandale Beach. Our pet-friendly cleaning solutions are designed to remove and treat pet stains and odor from your carpets without harming your pets with no dangerous chemicals. Using environmentally-friendly materials, we ensure that the equipment for cleaning your carpets is strong, leaving them with a fresher scent while providing a good habitat for your beloved pets.

We specialize in our experienced, professional upholstery and carpet cleaning at great value and efficacy. Our thoroughly trained staff utilizes the latest equipment to ensure thorough cleaning with lasting results. No job is too big or too small for our dedicated staff, and we commit to making your home as comfortable and clean as can be.

For the ones residing in Surfside Miami Beach, our Rug Cleaning is simply superior. Rugs begin to trap dirt and grime within; this makes their colors dull and washed out. The team at Upholstery Cleaning Hollywood is adequately fitted with specialized techniques for cleaning your rugs, which can be old or modern by nature.

Let's return freshness to your home today by giving us a call at 954-371-1160!

[fsbssanantonio]

Why We're The Best Choice

Five Star Bath Solutions of San Antonio is committed to providing you with our unique combination of bathroom remodeling expertise, the highest quality materials, a fast and clean installation process, and complete customer satisfaction.

Five Star Bath Solutions of San Antonio

Owner: Eric Jones

(210) 796-5982

Hours: M-F: 7am - 9pm Sa-Su: 7am - 9pm

Business Services:

Residential Bathroom Remodeling

Commercial Bathroom Remodeling

Specializing In:

We are laser focused on perfecting your San Antonio bath and shower experience. It's all we do.

SHOWER CONVERSION

Easily turn your bathtub space into an elegant walk-in shower in as little as one day with our modern, durable tub to shower conversions.

Learn More

BATH REMODEL

Transform your bathroom with a corner or full-size shower, or create a bathing oasis with a standard, deep soaker or jetted bathtub.

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BATH & SHOWER COMBO

Maximize your bathroom space, bathing comfort and functionality with our bathtub and shower combo. 

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NEW SHOWER

Enhance the functionality and comfort of your bathroom with a modern, easy to clean corner or full-size shower installation.

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SAFETY & ACCESSIBILITY

If you are a senior or have limited mobility, arthritis, joint pain or tension, our ADA compliant bath solutions are just for you.

Learn More

WALK-IN BATH

Bathe easily and comfortably while regaining your bathing independence with our low-maintenance and affordable walk-in bathtubs.

Learn More

Serving:

Converse

Selma

Live Oak

Stone Oak

Castle Hills

Hollywood Park

Kirby

Schertz

Cibolo

Universal City

Windcrest

Northcliffe

China Grove

Alamo Heights

Shavano Park

Leon Springs

Home » San Antonio, TX

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Wall Surrounds

Shower to Tub Conversion

Bathroom Remodeling

Bathroom Remodeler

Walk-In Tubs

Shower Install

Bath & Shower Combo

Safety & Accessibility

FAQ

Get Five Star Services, Without the Cost

Have you ever signed a contract with someone, only to find out that the job wasn’t done to your satisfaction: shoddy workmanship, unfinished job, couldn’t contact them, cost you more than expected, etc.? 

At Five Star Bath Solutions, we’ve made it our mission to make sure this doesn’t happen to you. Our number one priority is customer service and satisfaction:

We use only the highest quality products

We train and certify all of our technicians

We work exclusively on bathroom remodels

All of this is done to make sure you are happy with the end results.

Specialty Work

Shower and Tub Conversions

Bath Remodel

Bath & Shower Combo

New Shower

Safety & Accessibility

Walk-In Bath

Designs, Colors, and Plans

We understand that not everybody knows what they want, they just need change. 

Never fear. Our 3-D technology will show you exactly what your bathroom could look like according to the designs and colors you’ve chosen.

Ultimately, you will be the one who designs this bathroom. 

Often, with other companies, people don’t know what’s being put into their bathroom until it is done. At Five Star Bath Solutions, you will be picking out the products yourself with guidance from experienced professionals. The process will be outlined and detailed from the very beginning.

Your satisfaction is our end goal. Laying out all the options and keeping you informed is one of our ways of showing that.

High-Quality Products

Our solutions offer the same strength and durability but come with advanced protection against mold and mildew. They are all waterproof from floor to ceiling. 

You get the luxuries of having fine stone, without any deep cleaning or other burdens that come with it.

 

1-2 Day Installation

Time is money. This is why we focus on just bathrooms. We can devote the manpower necessary to get your job finished. Between the highly skilled technicians and the cutting-edge technology we use, most projects are wrapped-up within a day.

Hidden Problems

As part of our installation process, we inspect what’s already in your bathroom. After demolition, there’s an investigatory aspect to make sure nothing harmful was hidden behind your walls or in your plumbing such as:

Mold

Mildew

Water Damage

Bad Pipes

We like our products to last, and fixing hidden problems goes a long way in doing that. 

Many other companies will cover it up and hope it doesn’t resurface. 

We’re not like that. 

You want the best bathroom for your money and we’re here to give it to you.

 

Easy Scheduling

Another benefit to working on just bathrooms is availability. 

Our schedule is never too far out to turn away customers. Because we focus solely on bathrooms, it increases our availability.

 Not only can we finish most jobs in a day, but we can start months before anyone else.

 

Expert Craftsmanship

How you install a bathroom is just as important as what products used to do so. That’s why we take the time to certify and license each of our installation technicians. 

They go through extensive training, from the manufacturing companies themselves, to learn how to install these specialty products. If they can’t get certified, we don’t send them out. 

Rest assured, those we take on have 100’s of hours of combined experience in bathroom remodeling. You’re in good hands. 

 

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

We believe that after investing in a remodeled bathroom, you deserve to be 100% satisfied with the work done. 

That’s why we implemented a practice in our business called “post inspection.” 

We come in, after the job is done, to inspect everything that was remodeled. If something isn’t perfect, we will redo it. If you have complaints, we can fix it. 

We won’t leave the project until you tell us you’re 100% satisfied with the work. 

[samyborewell]

Best Borewell services in Chennai - samyborewells

The most well-known borewell drilling company in Chennai is Samy Borewells, and we offer affordable borewell drilling services to various personal and commercial clients. The company's highly skilled drilling operators and committed technical staff are essential components since they have mastered the art and science of drilling bore wells.

Plumbing services

Plumbing services based on the bore's depth and the source water volume, the organization recommends the best engines and push. Additionally, our knowledgeable technicians have fitted the equipment to remove water. If the incorrect engine is installed, we will produce just 800 liters of water instead of 3000 liters per hour. If you install the Hollywood engine in the lower level water source, there is a danger that the engines will burn.

Inaccurate electrical power readings damage the panel board, the engine switches, and the presses. With the help of highly skilled specialists, the organization selects suitable engines and frequently pushes for the installation of such machines.

borewell drilling services

The most cutting-edge borewell technology, which is highly sought after in the borewell industry, is used by Samy Borewell to deliver borewell drilling services in Chennai. As needed, the shaft is inserted into the drilled hole during the process known as borewell drilling, also referred to as borehole drilling. The total cost of the operation, which depends on several factors, includes the cost of digging a borewell.

The methods and materials used in the construction impact the cost of drilling a borehole, among other things. The best method for estimating the cost is to utilize average expenses because no two waterholes are the same. Your price will be better the more boreholes you see.

Since each project will very certainly have a unique combination of factors governing the components and processes, each borehole will be unique. A drilling specialist, therefore, does not just put figures on the desk without careful calculation impacted by the given factors.

Let's Look at the Key Elements Affecting Costs for Waterhole Drilling:

Type of ground surface

The depth of the waterhole

The planned use of the borehole

There is a need for equipment, labor, and supplies.

The most significant factor affecting drilling costs is the geology of the area where you wish to drill a borehole. Finding a reliable borewell contractor is essential. Professionals who work with boreholes, like Samy Borewell, can conduct a geological analysis of the site, whether it is made of sand, clay, or rock. Then give exact estimates for a dependable and long-lasting borehole.

For dependable and long-lasting solutions, get in touch with Samy Borewells Drilling Service.

Another important factor is the depth to which we must drill water, which varies based on location. The water table, aquifers, and other groundwater reservoirs vary some deep and others shallow. Geologists are professionals at prospecting and estimating the most accurate costs for drilling boreholes in any given location. Experience is essential in this case.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for borehole drilling. Every borehole has a certain function. Materials, equipment, and labor must all be provided. These factors will influence the cost of drilling and developing boreholes. We must factor the equipment, labor, and supplies required to drill the borehole into the calculation.

The materials will also contain the supplies required for creating the waterhole itself. Human resources refer to the number of personnel required to execute the borehole project, while machinery refers to the actual drilling equipment.

 borewell cleaning services

Samy Borewells is a major provider of exceptional professional borewell cleaning services in Chennai and has drawn clients worldwide. Borewells need daily maintenance and cleaning to ensure sufficient water flow and safe drinking.

It is examined for the presence of any bacteria and total coliform and Escherichia coli germs.

High-pressure, specialized air compressors are employed inside the Borewell to remove debris or dust.

To ensure the water used for drinking and other uses is safe, scientifically confirmed borewell cleaning equipment is used.

Testing is done on water used for drinking, watering plants, cooking, and other purposes.

We are available around the clock and offer reasonably priced cleaning services in Borewell. Contact Samy Borewells Cleaning Service for trustworthy and long-term solutions if you have any borewell issues.

best borewell repair services

Samy Borewells offers the best borewell repair services; raise your water level with them. Any borewell problems? Get in touch with our team of skilled engineers who can employ cutting-edge borewell technology to resolve any concerns relating to borewells and provide speedier, more effective solutions. It would increase Borewell's lifetime as well as its effectiveness.

An examination of a soil sample is used to examine the soil's composition, nutrient and pollutant content, and other characteristics like acidity or pH level. A soil test can identify fertility or the soil's predicted potential growth, revealing nutritional deficiencies, potential toxicity from excess fertility, and inhibitions from unneeded trace minerals. For modeling the assimilation of minerals by root function, analysis is used.

Our company has a well-equipped soil testing laboratory, enabling us to provide the best soil testing services at very affordable pricing to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Samy Borewells offers a wide range of physical and diagnostic soil testing and analysis with the most reliable results.

[whatsonmedia]

Best Offers Of This Week!

Discover boundless savings and unforgettable offers spanning dining delights to wellness treats. Dive into a week of exhilarating adventures, tap now for irresistible offers, and craft enduring memories. Seize the finest deals in town with WhatsOn – your journey of enjoyment starts today! At Yaatra, three Indian dishes and a signature Bellini cost £25. Step into the world of old India with Yaatra, a fine dining concept located in the historic Edwardian Grade II Listed Old Westminster Fire Station. Led by Executive Chef Amit Bagyal, formerly of Michelin-starred Benares and Kanishka, Yaatra offers a culinary journey through diverse Indian flavors and traditions. Explore a set menu featuring three delectable courses, complemented by a signature bellini for the ultimate dining experience. Highlights: - Indulge in fine dining with food by Executive Chef Amit Bagyal of Michelin-starred Benares - Set in an Edwardian Grade II listed fire station - Enjoy a three-course meal with a signature bellini for just £25 Menu Highlights: - Starters include Calamari Pepper Fry, Smoked Blue Cheese Malai Chicken, and Masala Chana Papdi Chaat - Mains feature dishes like Kerala Tawa Fry Seabass, Herb Butter Poached Chicken Breast, and Tandoori Apricot Paneer - Desserts offer delights such as Carrot Halwa Cheesecake and Chocolate Orange Chilli Mousse Need to Know: - Available Monday to Saturday: 12 pm - 2:30 pm and 5 pm - 10 pm - Redeem by emailing info@yaatrarestaurant.com  or calling 02045491906 - Voucher valid until May 31, 2024 - Changes/cancellations must be made 48 hours in advance - Location: 4 Greycoat Place, London SW1P 1SB Tickets for 'Double Feature' at Hampstead Theatre are available for £10, down from £55. "Double Feature," penned by acclaimed playwright John Logan, known for works like "The Aviator" and "Skyfall," delves into the allure and challenges of Hollywood's silver screen. The play explores the clash between glamour and reality, featuring Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren's iconic struggle, alongside the battle of wits between young director Michael Reeves and a veteran star. It questions where true power lies in Hollywood: with the actors or the directors? Highlights: - Written by Tony Award-winning playwright John Logan - Limited run in February - Over 80% discount Need to Know: - Valid for 'Double Feature' at Hampstead Theatre - Present booking confirmation upon arrival - No re-entry if you leave during the performance - Seats allocated by the box office - Location: Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage NW3 3EU Take advantage of Housekeep's up to 54% discount house cleaning. Housekeep offers professional cleaning services to help you reclaim your time and ensure your home is sparkling clean. With background-checked cleaners, you can customize your cleaning preferences and enjoy over 40% off regular prices. Highlights: - Choose from one, two, or three two-hour house cleaning options - Servicing various postcodes in London and beyond - Get your home spruced up for spring from £19.95 Need to Know: - Redeem voucher on the Housekeep website - Available Monday to Sunday, 7 am - 7 pm, subject to local availability - New customers only - Voucher valid until April 30, 2024 - Can be used for weekly or fortnightly cleans only - Cancellations/rescheduling allowed until 6 pm the day before - Valid for residential cleans only; excludes deep cleans, end-of-tenancy, or commercial cleans - Customers must provide basic cleaning equipment - Payment card required for booking - Voucher cannot be combined with other offers Tickets to the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition in 2024 are only £12! Embark on a captivating journey around the world through art at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition 2024. Witness extraordinary images, from stunning landscapes to captivating street photography, all showcased in the iconic Somerset House. This year, delve into the works of Sebastião Salgado, the 17th recipient of the Sony World Photography Awards, featuring his notable series like Genesis and Amazônia. Highlights: - Experience the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition - View career-defining photographs by acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado - Exclusive tickets available for just £12, through Time Out When and Where: - April 19 to May 6, 2024 - Timing: 11 am - 8 pm (Bank Holidays 11 am - 6 pm) - Location: Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA Need to Know: - Redeem ticket by presenting QR code at each wing upon arrival - One ticket per person - Tickets cannot be cancelled, amended, exchanged, or refunded - For event details, visit the provided link Read the full article

[creativecourse]

14 Day Filmmaker Smartphone Edition Information How To Create Professional Videos Using Your Smartphone In Just 14 Days The 14 Day Filmmaker Smartphone Edition is an online course about making films using a smartphone. This course focuses on how to use a smartphone to shoot and produce professional-quality videos within 14 days. Who is this course for? You want to learn how to start shooting professional-looking content, but you don't know exactly where to get started. You value SPEED! The primary goal of this course is to teach you FASTER than any other resource on planet earth. We will pack 2 years of learning into the next 14 days People who have already started shooting content, but are struggling to get the perfect "cinematic look" What You’ll Learn In This Course? Day 1: How to Unlock Cinematic Smartphone Settings Day 2: Mastering your iPhone or Android Cameras Day 3: Best Smartphone Camera Gear & Accessories (Discounts) Day 4: Beautiful Composition... Explained! Day 5: Cinematic Camera Movements Day 6: Hollywood Lighting Techniques (Made Fast & Easy) Day 7: Recording Clean Audio On Your Smartphone Day 8: Storytelling & Viral Videos Day 9: Cinematic Smartphone Editing Day 10: Mastering Your Editing Apps Day 11: How to Edit on Your Computer Day 12: Youtube Mastery Day 13: Social Media Superstar Day 14: Commercial Content Creator About Author My name is Anthony Gallo and I've had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember. I started with a cheap $250 camera (that I borrowed from my girlfriend) and since then I've used smartphones, Gopros, professional DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, and even cinema cameras worth upwards of $50,000! I've made over a million dollars through content creation shooting commercials, music videos, real estate videos, travel & tourism videos, scaling monetized youtube channels, and plenty more. And guess what the #1 thing I've learned throughout this entire journey is...? You don't need fancy gear, expensive cameras, or professional degrees to make an impact on the world with your content and change your life by following your creative passions... Once you understand the fundamental laws of filmmaking, the sky is the limit as far as what you can achieve. AND THAT RIGHT THERE is what inspired me to partner with my best friend Paul Xavier, launch ContentCreator.com and create the world's most affordable online course for helping aspiring content creators quickly develop the skills required to shoot professional-looking content no matter what camera gear they have. But I get it, you probably don't really care about who I am and why I created this platform... Right now, all you care about is CAN I ACTUALLY HELP YOU! Well, since launching 14-day filmmaker in 2020, over 71,000 people have enrolled in the program and the feedback is in... People are blown away at how fast they can learn content creation when they follow a proven step-by-step process. I hope you're as excited as I am for you to begin this journey! More courses from the same author: Anthony Gallo

[upholsterycleanings]

From Upholstery Cleaning Hollywood, get a professional Pet Stain Removal Service In Florida. We have a special cleaning technique to remove the stain along with the smell from your furniture items.

Call now for an appointment!