sad-trash-hobo · 1 year ago
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Shane Madej's Puppet history, 'The Dreadful Demise of the Dinosaurs' being able to slow the plot down and get the audience to recognize and appreciate the beauty of the world around them 🤝 Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie' being able to slow the plot down and get the audience to recognize and appreciate the beauty of the world around them
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backtothestart02 · 1 year ago
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Death by Design - 3/? | westallen fanfiction
A/N: My fic of the month is booting up again today! I hope you horror fans enjoy! For any of you who've forgotten, this fic is adapted from the first Final Destination movie. I encourage you to read the first two chaps on ao3 as a refresher, if you need to.
...
Chapter 3 -
Thirty-nine days following the freak explosion of flight 180 over the river in Central City, Barry woke up as he had for each and every one of those days. Feeling exhausted, guilty, and isolated from everyone except his parents. The FBI hadn’t hunted him down, but he knew it was only a matter of time. They were just waiting for something, anything, to point them in his direction. And today was the funeral, a perfect event for them to attend, even from a distance, and watch for moments of weakness.
Barry crawled out of bed, showered, skipped breakfast and made his way over to the outdoor funeral at 10 in the morning. He tried to pay attention to the principal who was giving the eulogy for the loss of so many precious souls, but it was hard with the glares coming from several of his classmates and even their families. Cisco’s in particular hit hard.
Cisco didn’t blame him. He knew that in his heart, as well as from the one text they’d exchanged over the last month. But he wasn’t allowed to talk to him or be near him. Simply being in the same audience with him on this beautiful, sorrow-filled day was enough to fill Cisco’s dad with rage. He kept it contained to avoid making a scene, but Barry could feel it growing. He couldn’t wait to get out of there.
Soon enough the speech came to an end and music began to play after the display of a grand in memoriam statue dedicated to the fallen students and teachers aboard the plane that fateful night several weeks ago. The music indicated a sign to come up with the roses presented to each individual, mostly students, and place it in front of everybody, the last gesture those that had died would ever receive.
Barry looked around one last time before getting up and spotted one face that when he wasn’t feeling absolutely miserable as hell, which wasn’t often, consumed his very being. The face of a girl that had stood up for him from the very beginning, who had believed him on sure faith alone that he was right, whose loyalty hadn’t depended on anything but his frantic desperation on the plane.
Iris. Iris West.
The curious protectiveness he felt for her trickled through him in that moment, but he did his best to shake it off and look away. Maybe he could intercept Cisco, and they could share a few words. And he’d avoid Hunter at all costs. The last thing he needed was another altercation like the one on the plane, even if it had saved the jerk’s life in the process.
Of course luck had never been in Barry’s favor.
He ended up right behind Hunter and Caitlin, holding each other close. But even that gesture of intimacy couldn’t stop Hunter from muttering something despicable to Barry right behind him.
“I hope you don’t think, Allen, that just because my name ain’t on this wall, that I owe you anything.”
“I don’t,” Barry said, wishing a beat later that he’d kept his mouth closed.
Hunter spun around, sounding a degree more emotional than Barry had expected.
“Because all I owe is to these people, to live my life to the fullest-”
“Why don’t you go ahead and stay off the drugs then, maybe, huh?”
Barry could smell it on him, and he was feeling spiteful. The guy could just not leave him alone. As was proven twice over when he grabbed the label of his jacket and pulled him nearly on top of him.
“Listen, jackass, I control my life, not you. You got that?”
“Got it.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Hunter,” Caitlin intervened, standing between them, begging with her eyes that her boyfriend drop it.
“I’m never gonna die,” Hunter said, forcing himself to relax as he stepped away from both the girl he loved and the boy he despised, leaving them both stunned.
Caitlin looked at Barry with something between sympathy and an apology for her boyfriend’s behavior. But in the end, her hand about to squeeze his shoulder removed itself, and she followed after Hunter.
Ralph came up to Barry seconds later, and the look on his face told Barry loud and clear he did not want to deal with whatever he had to say. But the conversation hadn’t even started yet, and there was still time to get to Cisco, so he kept himself in check and greeted him civilly.
“Hi, Barry,” Ralph said.
“Hi.”
“I took my driver’s test at the DMV last week. Lowest score I could get, but I still got it. So I can drive now.”
“That’s great, Ralph,” Barry said, looking through the line for where Cisco might be and wanting this conversation to be done asap.
But Ralph wasn’t done.
“The thing is, the guy who sits in the car with you when you do the test, you know?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, he goes, ‘Young man, you’re going to die at a very young age.’”
Barry blinked.
Where was he going with this?
“Is that true?” Ralph asked, looking to him like he had all the answers.
And that was just not what Barry needed in that moment.
“Not now, not here, not ever, Ralph,” he spat, a venom in his eyes he didn’t anticipate.
Ralph didn’t quite seem to get it and took it literally instead. He tried to ask another question, and Barry blew him off. Ralph wasn’t his problem, and he needed to get himself together if he was going to ‘live life to the fullest’ like Hunter seemed to think was also his mission.
Ms. Horton was standing alone by the other roses on a low table when Barry reached the front. He thought it was the decent thing to do to approach her and offer some sort of condolences, her being his teacher and all. But this time it was his turn to be blown off.
“Ms. Hort-”
She sniffled angrily and turned away.
“Don’t talk to me. You scare the hell out of me.”
And then he was alone again. Some day this was turning out to be.
“Hey.”
And then the dawning light. Neither looked at each other, not wanting to rouse the adults from their seats. But Barry felt a sense of relief, and he hoped Cisco did too as he dropped his rose on the table beside him.
“Hey.”
Barry’s lips twitched.
“Cisco, I uh…I miss you, you know?”
Cisco fought to keep a straight face and failed.
“I miss you, too, buddy.” He paused. “But you know, my dad, he just…he can’t-”
“I know.”
Cisco swallowed.
“Whenever he gets over this though, we’ll road trip on out of here. Forget this place even exists. That sound good?”
“Sounds great.”
Cisco forced a smile, and their eyes locked, both smiles vanishing in a heartbeat.
“I should go.”
Barry nodded.
“Yeah. Yeah, me too. Take care.”
And he was gone.
Barry turned to leave, to head back to his seat, and then there she was in front of him. Beautiful and petite and so earnest, presenting her rose to him instead of to the dead.
“Because of you, I’m still alive,” her voice broke. “Thank you.”
A flash of a camera behind them ruined the moment. Barry turned towards the photographer, aggravated, and when he looked back at Iris, she was heading towards her seat, and she wasn’t looking back. And he hated that for all intents and purposes, to everyone in front of him, he probably looked like he was longing for her as she left his side.
The painful fact was he was.
Later that night, death came again.
This time it wasn’t nearly as explosive as the plane incident had been.
It was quiet, and it began with a gentle breeze blowing through the smallest opening in a window leading into one of the bathrooms of the Ramon household.
Cisco was there, using the bathroom, and he didn’t notice that when he was on the toilet, the water at the base of the pipes started to drip.
He didn’t notice that after he shut the window, there was still a deathly breeze traveling through the room, inflicting it like a curse.
He didn’t notice that the door closed without him shutting it.
He thought he shut it, or maybe he thought it had been the breeze before he’d shut the window. But it hadn’t. It was no natural windy breeze. It was the curse of death, and with nothing to stop its death trail, Cisco would soon succumb to it.
Because the water trickling down from the toilet pipes hadn’t wedged its way into the tiles leading across the bathroom yet.
No, that waited until he was standing in front of the mirror trying to dry shave the prickly short hairs along his jaw line and under his chin. It caused a cut, just a dash of blood, enough to be mildly concerned and stop for a moment, not noticing still that the water filling the gaps in the tiles was tracking right towards him.
Death even presented itself to him once before attacking, making a rippling shadow appear along the shower curtain in the mirror. But when Cisco turned around to see what strictly stayed in the hell hole that was horror movies, the shadow was gone.
He picked up a small tool to cut away some nose hairs – as one does – and narrowly avoided slipping on the approaching water with the sharp tool in his hand. He then plugged in a music player into the outlet, the water just inches away, and then unplugged it and moved away.
Death was getting frustrated by that point. It had to be. So many times already that Cisco Ramon had narrowly escaped its grasp. It had to take action.
Cisco pushed the shower curtain aside to find several clothing items drying on a long tight string. He started to remove them and took the final fatal step onto the leaking toilet water. Before he could stop himself, he had fallen into the tub, the string wrapped tightly around his neck, tighter and tighter, rising higher and higher. He was choking, his eyes starting to bleed, his feet blindly trying to get him to stand up but they’d caught the soap at the bottom of the tub and couldn’t manage to stay still for even a few moments, let alone stand up and to safety in the middle of the tub.
And when finally Cisco’s body gave itself over to death’s intention and fell limp, the breeze trickled back out the sealed window, and the water that had fallen into the crevices between the bathroom tiles retreated back into the water pipes at the bottom of the toilet, as if it had never been there at all.
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kyoonqs · 4 years ago
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iluso amor ; first part.
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↬ summary: Cora has always considered herself elusive, easy to bore and adventurous to the last fiber of her body. One day for no apparent reason, she appears in front of the manager of a globetrotting circus passing through the city where she is temporarily staying to fill her life with magic. Baekhyun, as serious as he is handsome, has no intention of playing a role other than on the main canvas of the circus. He decides to separate Cora from her life of fantasies created by her travels and sets out to show her reality as raw and cruel as he knows it. Or so he believes.
Will time run out too quickly before love and passion devour him and he decides to risk everything for a love that lasts… Forever?
↬ pairing: baekhyun x cora fem!reader.
↬ circus!au ; illusionist!baek x hitchhiker!oc ; strangers to lovers au!
↬ genre: fluff ; romance ; angst ; drama.
↬ length: 2.8 k words.
↬ tag list: @changshapatrol @spacebyuns @fluffyhunnie @soos-goddess @hoho-cham��@shadoukiti @sunbyun21​ @mangobaek​ @suhotly​ @pororodks​ @bbhbae​ 
If you’d like to be tagged for future chapters, please let me know! 
↬ masterlist.
↬ author’s note: this is my first time writing a series, hope you enjoy it and any feedback will be appreciated. thanks for reading! ♡
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Vanilla, caramel and butter scents invaded her nostrils the moment she stepped on the re-centering and she reminded herself that from now on she should get used to the smell due to her timely madness. Beyond her view, occasionally blocked by some old trucks, a red and yellowish-white circus tent loomed along with several smaller tents and a host of caravans. The largest tent, dotted with gold stars, had a large, deep blue sign bearing the name of the circus and its owner. In addition to a few tethered horses, Cora saw a number of huge cages with animals and all kinds of unsavory people, including some pretty dirty men, most of them encrusted with mud and rust.
She was beginning to regret the moment when she had ripped the worn out brochure from the lamppost and the idea of joining the circus scene rose out of boredom. Yes, that was the case, curiosity had killed the cat and she could not contain herself that late afternoon when she had driven her bicycle past the front of the tents and the multicolored costumes of the artists had simultaneously caught her eye. But now it was not like that, the moment she advanced towards the train car where she was to present herself for the position, everyone stopped what they were doing and fixed their eyes on her. Without thinking too much, she stepped forward steadily as her sneakers sank into the sandy ground and she staggering as she stared at the ticket booth where the same brochure she was carrying was presented.
Away from the scrutinizing stares that once haunted her, she took the steps of the carriage two at a time and froze when she saw him inside. He had hair as dark as molten chocolate and chiseled features that would make his face look too beautiful if it weren't for the firm jaw and menacing frown. Men who possessed that brutal appeal had always attracted her but at that moment she would have chosen someone less intimidating to interview her. She tried to calm herself by reminding herself that she would not have to spend more than a couple of hours with him and that it would all be over as soon as she explained clearly why she was applying for the job, which she was still completely unaware of.
She cleared her throat and began with her introduction, first name, last name, place of birth, previous jobs and reason why she was there - from the latter she omitted boredom as a possible factor. The man in question did not give her a single glance and, of course, did not speak a word. She stared straight ahead, the unyielding lines of that hard profile making her skin tingle.
–“I, I want to learn about the trade...” She swallowed.
–“I'm really interested in the job, whatever it is...” She swallowed again.
–“Bastard.”
Until the man in front of her turned his head and looked at her, she didn't realize what she had said. He arched a dark brow with mild curiosity, as if he wasn't sure he had heard correctly. Her impulsiveness took control and she felt her lips tremble, for it was clear that they didn't share her problems in restraining her inappropriate thoughts.
The metal legs of the chair where he was sitting screeched against the hard floor of the wagon. He stood up, ironed the wrinkles of his pants with his hands and looking into her eyes for the first time, he said in a stern and inflexible voice:
–“You are hired. Meet me after the last show behind the main tent.” And without further ado, he passed her by without giving any other explanation.
She could barely suppress a sigh. She directed a furtive glance at the boy, still nameless and wondered what she had gotten into but an irrelevant part of her was dying for new adventures and without a doubt, he would be the greatest from that precise moment.
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–“Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to begin! Come closer everyone!”
The man who made the announcement was the same man who was encouraging people to buy tickets the day the circus had arrived in town, although now he was wearing a red master of ceremonies jacket. At that moment Cora appeared before the young man in the carriage, leading a black horse by the reins with one hand. It was then that she realized that he was not only the manager of the circus but also one of its performers.
He was dressed in a velvet jacket, a velvet vest with nothing underneath and black trousers tucked into high leather boots that snuggled over his calves. A jewel-encrusted band of all colors surrounded his torso accompanied by fine iridescent chains and some ribbons of razo that fell from his pocket. He also carried a rolled whip hanging from one shoulder. Curious about the skills he would display in the arena –she had gotten one of the dancers to tell her when they would leave and to her surprise it would be the next morning– she followed the man with his eyes. At that moment he saw her. The decision she had made had been too recent to seek a way out and she still did not feel comfortable talking to him. Cora tucked her hair nervously behind her ear and refuse to take her gaze from the horse following him when he began to walk towards her.
–“There are unsavory people hanging around the circus. Until you know how everything goes, stay where the rest of the audience is, always” he told her as he adjusted some rings on his slender fingers.
–“Understood.” She responded, since she had just promised herself that she was going to put forth her best effort and not get carried away by first impressions that day. 
 –“Come in and take a look at the show.” His tone was firm, despite the fact that she was already heading back to where she was previously. 
 –“Wait! What is your name!?” She asked hastily, not realizing that perhaps she had sounded somewhat desperate.
He glanced at her over his shoulder with the corner of his mouth slightly curved. “Baekhyun!” He said, chuckling, and with that he returned to his place in line with the rest of the artists.
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She was still feeling hot as she circled the crowd and entered the tent through the back entrance. She found a free spot in the stands. They were weathered white-painted planks of wood, hard and narrow, with nowhere else to rest one’s feet but on the seat of the spectators in the row below. But she quickly set aside her feelins of discomfort the awkwardness when the lights dimmed, a drum roll crescendoed and a spotlight illuminated the emcee on center court.
–“Welcome to the happiest circus in Valencia, welcome to Gran Fele Circus!”
The music exploded, played by a band consisting of two musicians with drums, a synthesizer, and a consola. A lively version of New York, New York began to play and a white horse entered in the arena with a girl who carried a flag with the name of the circus. The other artists followed, carrying colorful banners, smiling and waving to the crowd.
It was the troupe of acrobats that caught Cora's attention; three handsome men and a beautiful woman –whom she identified as the dancer who had helped her earlier– named Laia, dressed in gold sequins, shiny leggings and thick makeup. They were followed by a group of horsemen, clowns, jugglers, and trained dogs.
Baekhyun entered the arena alone, riding his fierce horse, and unlike the other artists, he didn’t wave his hands or smile. As he circled the track, he seemed such a distant and mysterious being. He was no stranger to the presence of the people, but somehow he remained isolated and gave a strange dignity to the colorful display. 
As the show progressed, Cora was amazed at such talent. 
Suddenly, the lights went out and the music died away. A blue spotlight illuminated the master of ceremonies, the only one occupying the dark center court. His voice turned dramatically low and a haunting, folk melody began to play in the background.
–“How many times have we wondered if we were crazy? How many times did someone make us doubt our actions? How many times has someone come before us with the idea of changing our thinking? Sanity makes us useless, many times it is better to be crazy. Life is made for taking risks and if you don't think so, let the next person convince you otherwise...before time runs out.”
The lights began to gradually increase in intensity, the music resounded and Baekhyun entered the middle of a path that seemed illuminated by small streetlights, thin beams of light that danced around him and that were reflected in the small sequins of his suit. With indisputable ease, he untangled the whip dangling from a waistband and sliced through the air in all directions with it. Small particles, like glitter, floated in the air suspended around him. He performed a series of skillfully executed feats that were both daring and dramatic. They had brought a few accessories onto the floor during the emcee's presentation: ribbon targets, fluorescent balloons, chandeliers, and more. Circling the runway, he popped the balloons one by one, and a bright red explosion, like drops of blood, shot through the air with each snap of the whip.
The lights dimmed until only he was illuminated by the spotlight, and he grabbed a second whip and made them pop and dance in all directions with such masculine grace, Cora gasped. The dance was increasing, with faster and faster movements and, as if by magic, the two whips became one. With a powerful twist of his arm, Baekhyun lifted him above his head to set him off in flames. The audience gasped, the lights went out, and the flaming whip danced wildly through the darkness. When the lights came on again, he had vanished.
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–“What are you doing here? Hasn't anyone taken you to the motorhome yet?”
Cora roused herself, her eyes snapping open. Looking up, she saw the same deep brown eyes plaguing since afternoon that day. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was but then everything came to mind: the circus, the manager, the show, his whip.
She suddenly became aware of Baekhyun's hands on her shoulders, it was the only thing that had kept her from falling off the old stool that she had been seated on while waiting for him. She had decided to wait there since it was the most illuminated area around the tent, next to government mandated public toilets where there was still a queue to pass them.
She shifted uneasily under his hands and tried to regain her balance with the idea that he would release her.
–“Could you tell me what time it is? I've lost track of it waiting here for you.”
–“It's about 30 minutes to midnight,” Baekhyun put his hands in the pockets of his coat. Instead of the suit he donned for the show, he wore jeans ripped at the knees and a white t-shirt printed with the word ‘Supreme’ in terms of design. Despite the casual attire he didn’t look any less intimidating.
–“Look dulzura, you will have to get used to my presence, since I will be your guide and housemate from now on”. It wasn’t as if Cora hadn’t tried to do it before, in fact she had been attracted to him the moment she met him, only his personality –and now a whip– had slowed her down. He, at her lack of response, muttered something under his breath and after a sigh, spoke again.
–“Come on dulzura, I'll show you where you'll sleep for the next few months.” He turned and left at a fast pace to where the group of caravans were together, paying little attention to the fact that she had luggage that weighed a ton, the consequence of her idea to buy a memorable garment from each city she had visited until now.
–“Wait!” Her scream had an edge of hysteria, but he seemed not to hear it as he continued walking toward the line of caravans. She rubbed the sole of her sneakers across the ruff, gathering some on the toe of it as she dragged her foot. With a gasp, Cora started walking again. Baekhyun approached two vehicles that were parked next to each other. The closest one was a modern white caravan, it looked spacious inside and on its roof you could see a satellite dish. Next to it was another caravan, dented and rusty that appeared to have been silver previously. She begged to herself that it was the space caravan and not the other.
He stood in front of the ugly rusty trailer, opened the door, and disappeared inside. Cora grunted but conceded since she had stayed in worse places. Perhaps the inside wasn’t as hideous as it looked on the outside. Baekhyun reappeared at the door a moment later and watched as she approached fighting with her backpack towards him. When she finally reached the metal step, he offered her a cynical smile.
–“Home, sweet home, dulzura. Come in and settle”.
Cora had always found the Spanish language something to delight in but this was the third time the nickname had come out of his mouth directed at her and she could swear that the way the word rolled on his tongue and briefly hissed before pronouncing the syllable "zu", surely it was close to the song of the angels that received you when you entered paradise.
She sniffed and climbed the four steps that separated her and...the interior was much worse than the outside. Narrow, messy, it smelled musty and old, with a hint of  mothball. In front of her was a miniature kitchen, the countertop metal, it had spots with peeling paint. To the right of the kitchen, the faded upholstery of the small sofa was barely visible under a pile of books, newspapers, and men's clothing. In addition, she saw an old, medium-sized refrigerator, wooden cabinets, and a bed with rumpled sheets.
Baekhyun stared at her blankly, genuinely doubting whether she had noticed. 
–“It is a small caravan as you can see, but it is comfortable and cozy in the cold. It's all there is and all I have.” 
The bed took up most of the back of the caravan, nothing separated it from the rest of the "rooms", the only thing that seemed to be secluded was the bathroom –which she would make sure to explore as soon as she had the chance. On the sheets there were tangled clothes, a towel, and something she couldn't make out from where she was standing.
–“I think I'll sleep on the couch, it would be better…”
He gazed absently at the tip of his foot, then looked up. She stared into those dark eyes –which depending on the light could be paler or even more blackened– and she felt a chill run down her spine, followed by another strange sensation that she did not want to examine further. 
He slowly raised his hand, adjusting a lock of hair that had been tousled while she was struggling with her backpack, Cora froze and pursed her lips as she felt the softness of his thumb brush the hollow under her ear with something that it seemed like a caress.
–“Do whatever you want, dulzura. I have to go, I still have things to do.” 
Cora gasped when she realized she should have felt danger but her skin had taken the brush of his thumb with pleasure. She felt Baekhyun's insolent hand move away from her hair as he pulled away from her, even though he had left something light on the trailing of her ear. The trailer door swung on its hinges. Baekhyun looked at her and stepped out of it, dropping his gaze from her face to a nonexistent point. Once he was out of sight, she reached for the object that was barely tickling her cheekbone and held the geranium between her fingers with a furtive smile on her face.
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↬ This is all for this chapter, I promise to try to write more in the following parts. I will try to update every Saturday. Honorable mention: Oliv (@changshapatrol​) without her this story would be nothing, thank you for your patience and trust in me. I love you, a lots ♡   
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fckinsupreme · 5 years ago
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Could you write something where Xavier needs your help rehearsing lines with him and things end up taking a smutty turn please?
The faint smell of mildew and dust surrounded you & Xavier in the backstage area, the lights dimmed on the empty stage. No one was there, it was just the two of you, and Xavier was stressing out. He was in a new play, and you got him the job due to your friendship with the director. Your friend took a shine to him when he auditioned, and he decided to cast Xavier as the lead.
But with great power came great responsibility, and Xavier was beginning to doubt himself as an actor. You’d never seen him so anxious; he was so scared that he would fail. He was up all hours of the night in your shared apartment, and you were deeply concerned for your best friend. He obsessively pored over the script, acting scenes out with himself and tugging at his hair when he felt it wasn’t good enough. More than once, you wondered if recommending him to your friend had been a wise decision, if it meant Xavier’s mental well-being was at risk. But he seemed so happy despite the anxiety, and in those moments, you were glad you suggested him.
You both chose to come down to the playhouse that evening, thinking that rehearsing his scenes there would help calm his nerves and lessen his anxiety. He asked you to assist him, thinking that would help, and you were happy to oblige. You started off backstage, helping him run a few of the lines, but then Xavier decided it would be better to rehearse on the stage itself. The two of you walked out there, and the rehearsal went off without a hitch for a long while.
“Uh...” Xavier says, looking at you with a soft smile. “We don’t have to do the next scene.”
“What’s the next scene?” you ask, flipping through the pages of the spare script he lent you.
“It’s...well, this play has a sex scene in it,” he says. “Between me and the lead actress.”
“Oh,” you say, finally landing on the scene in question. You skim over it, cheeks turning dark red as you read over the details. “Jesus. I knew this play had erotic undertones and was for an 18+ audience, but I didn’t think it was bordering on pornographic.”
He laughs, shrugging a bit. “Honestly, it’s the part that has me the most nervous. What if I can’t do it? What if I can’t make it look realistic enough? What if—“
“Xavier,” you say, holding up a hand to cease him. “You can’t keep thinking that way. There’s many ‘what ifs,’ but you just need to focus on doing it. The more nervous you are, the more likely it is that you’ll do badly.”
He runs a hand through his hair, studying the pages. “I guess you’re right. I’m really thankful you got me this job, but...”
You walk over to him, chewing on your lower lip. “We could practice it,” you say. “I don’t think it’ll make things weird. Think of it as two actors acting. That’s what we do, right? We act.”
“You’re right again,” Xavier says, looking down at the script. “Okay, so it says I pull you against me, like this,”—he pulls you close to his chest, tenderly brushing his fingers down your cheek, “—and then I gaze lovingly into your eyes before kissing you.”
You look down at the script, brows furrowed. “That isn’t what mine—“
You’re cut off as his lips find yours, the kiss so gentle and chaste that you wonder if he’s even touching you. Your heart begins to flutter, stomach erupting into butterflies, your eyes slipped closed as you press further against him. His lips part, and you feel his tongue gently swiping your mouth for entry. You open your lips instinctively, your tongues meeting as he pushes his into your mouth. You moan softly, feeling his hand at the back of your neck before its fisting your hair. Your own wrap around the back of his neck, breasts pressed tightly against his chest. You both drop the scripts to the ground, his hands on your ass as he gasps two words between kisses: “Jump, sweetheart.”
You do without hesitation, holding onto him as he backs you up. There’s no wall to pin you against, so he ends up slowly lowering you to the floor after the two of you kiss clumsily for a few minutes. He hovers over you, gazing into your eyes as he holds himself up. You run a finger over his lips, so pink and so full, shining with your mixed saliva. He smiles, his breath coming in tiny pants as he presses his forehead to yours.
You can’t take being apart from him, and smash your lips to his again. He purrs into the kiss, licking over the roof of your mouth as he flips you onto your back. You’re on top of him now, straddling his waist before sitting up. You push your hair out of your face, and you can feel his cock starting to grow hard. You grin at him, chuckling as you push down against the front of his pants. He hisses, hands on your hips as he guides you along his growing bulge.
“What are we doing?” you ask, his hands moving from your hips to massage your clothed breasts.
“Rehearsing,” he breathes, smirking as he rubs your hardening nipples through the fabric of your clothes.
“This wasn’t in the script,” you point out, moaning softly under his touch. You arch against him, pressing down on his hands to encourage more touch. “None of this was.”
“Does it have to be?” he asks, lifting your shirt. You allow him to remove it, his smirk growing when he sees your lace-covered breasts. “Sex is sex, right? And besides, your tits are way better than hers, so I already know your pussy will be. Maybe it’ll help me in the play.”
“It won’t ruin our friendship?” you ask, gasping pleasurably as he tweaks your nipples through the lace.
“I don’t think so,” Xavier says, removing your bra. He licks his lips when your breasts are freed, massaging them in his large hands. You moan loudly, biting your lip as you meet his eyes. “Fuck, Y/N. Your tits are perfect. So soft, so fucking beautiful.”
You blush softly, leaning down to kiss him. It doesn’t take long for the two of you to get completely naked, clothes strewn all over the stage. You were both impressed with each other’s bodies, delighting in the sounds you both made when the right buttons were pushed. His mouth explored your breasts, his mouth warm and silky against your erect nipples, fingers working between your legs as he played with your tits. His fingers were soon replaced with his mouth, his hands gripping your thighs, his nose & chin shining in your slick.
“Xavier,” you moan, back arching against the faux-wood floor of the stage. “/Xavier/!”
“God, fuck,” he breathes against your cunt, sucking your clit between his lips. “You taste like fucking paradise.”
“I’ll bet you taste just as good,” you say, and he smirks up at you.
“Wanna find out?” he asks.
You do find out. He lies back on the stage, one arm behind his head while the other hand tangles in your hair. His massive cock is down your throat, making it bulge as he goes deeper. He cums so hard in your mouth & throat within mere minutes, and you nearly choke from surprise & the amount of his seed that shoots from his twitching cock. He tastes so good, much better than you were expecting, and you gratefully swallow every last drop that’s left.
He resumes eating you out after, wanting to kill a little time before his next erection. You cum around his fingers with his mouth on your clit, your hands tearing at his styled hair, back arching, his name falling from your lips like a desperate prayer. He doesn’t stop, and you don’t want him to. He brings you to a second orgasm with his mouth, and then a third, his cock so painfully hard now that you can feel it throbbing against your folds when he climbs up your body.
You give him a consensual nod, and he eases inside of you until he’s bottomed out. He feels better than anyone you’ve had in the past, his girth giving you the sensation of fullness as his length brushes right against your G-spot. He keeps himself propped on both arms, your legs hooked over his waist in order to feel him as deeply as possible. He kisses you passionately as he thrusts, keeping his movements slow and tender until you beg him to go faster.
“Fuck, you’re so fucking beautiful,” he pants, helping you angle your hips so that he can pound directly into your sweet spot. “Not only do you taste like heaven, but you feel like it, too.”
You chuckle, looking up at him after he kisses you again. “So, are you feeling more confident in that scene now?”
“Oh yeah,” he says, smirking at you as he drives himself repeatedly into your wet pussy. “I’m gonna ask your friend to cast you as the female lead instead.”
Your eyes widen in surprise, and you nearly shove him off of you with the sudden shock. “What?”
“You’re an actress,” he says. “And I think I’d feel more comfortable with you as my co-star. Also, do you really wanna see me fucking someone else after this? Even if it isn’t real. I know you refused the part when he offered it originally, but...considering these new circumstances...”
“Won’t that be weird?” you ask, digging your nails into his back when he pulls out and slams back in. “Fuck!”
“No,” he whispers. “Will you do it?”
“What the hell,” you tease, nuzzling your nose against his as you grab at his ass. He groans, driving into your cunt with jerky, uneven movements. “Let’s show all of them what we’ve got.”
Baby tags: @littledemondani @wroteclassicaly @angel-langdon @my-thoughts-and-prayers @thorohdamnson @leatherduncan @littlegirlsdontplaynice @xaviersghost @codyfernmorelikedaddyfern @wickedlangdon @melodylangdon @blackredrose27 @lvngdvns @xavierplym @xavierplymptons @dark-mei-rose @mrsplympton
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iputastickeronmycarrier · 4 years ago
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『𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕐𝕠𝕦』:| chapter 1: 𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵  |
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Jungkook X Reader
Genre: Angst, Fluff 
Word Count: 2.2k
From busking on the streets to serenades in bars, Y/N has watched them all.  A journalist by trade, she spends her most recent nights writing in her journal in the glow of neon signs in hidden places as she scours the city for upcoming artists for her new editorial.  The hunt for local artists leads her to the dimmed lighting of a bar where she meets Jeon Jungkook, an alluring singer with a voice that drips with equals amounts of anguish and innocent wonder.   In the hushed corners of busy rooms and under cascading gradients of moonlight, Y/N comes back every Tuesday and Friday to see him perform where she discover there may be a more important story unfolding between them that's worth following.
-continuing series-
Follow me on Wattpad
xoxo, Gossip Girl
The moon looks lonely Like it's crying in the bright night sky Even though I always know the morning will come I want to stay in your sky like a star
You’d be lying if you said you didn’t come here every Tuesday and Friday to hear him.  There was something ethereal about him.  Shrouded in the darkness of the bar, he sits on the stool with a dusty light reflecting off his dark tresses.  With eyes closed and hands pressed against his chest as if to contain himself in his body he breathes out a melody, he stares into the audience, demanding their attention.
“Still with you,” you hum along to his vocals as he hits the last note.  He leans back away from the mic, and sighs.
“Thank you, Thank you so much for being here,” he says while bowing his head.
His posture still reads as defeated even amidst the clapping.  You wonder what pain he traps inside so fervently that he has to wrap his arms around himself, less his emotions flood over like water with a cracking dam.  Your phone buzzes.  Breaking your line of sight, you look down.
*Namjoon: Are you still there? [9:32pm]*
*You: What if I am? [9:33pm]*
*Namjoon: It depends; will you finally say something this time? [9:35pm]*
Your fingers linger on the screen, unable to reply.  You sigh, and lock your phone without responding.  Namjoon could wait. You pick your pencil back up and scrawl your last remarks in your notebook. Thumbing through the pages, you see name after name of singers.  You’ve been writing a huge editorial promoting local artists for your publishing company.  Up until a few weeks ago, you sat in on dozens of performances, introducing yourself and inquiring about interviews.  But since finding your way into the booth of your most commonly frequented bar, you had only pages of him.  
Jungkook, up and coming artist can’t be found on stages...yet.  This underground singer came onto the scene last year by…
And that was as far as you got.  You would think after three weeks of what some would call stalking, you still failed to say something: An interview? Absolutely not.  Introducing yourself? Simply unreasonable. Standing within ten feet of him? You might as well be asking yourself to catapult into the sun to be lost in outer space. 
On the pages of your notebook, you professed the intimate thoughts you bore witness to:
Jungkook, mysterious boy with eyes that make want to fall into their depths with no desire to resurface. Jungkook, wistful singer with a voice dripping in anguish. Jungkook, beautiful boy who draws in enrapt audiences with a somber smile.
Pages overflow with praises and then devolve into your musings:
He looks tired today and his eyes are red rimmed.  Has he been crying? He is smiling today and his laugh is like a song I never want to stop listening to. I think he looked at me today.  I ducked down into my notebook. When he cradles himself, what is he trying to keep locked inside? What would his lips feel like against mine?
“I’ve seen you around here before,” a voice says. There are no questions as to who is talking to you. You would be able to hear that voice from miles away with perfect clarity.  Quickly using deft precision, you shut your notebook and force yourself to meet his dark gaze.  Inky dark curls frame his face with lips forming into a curious and sheepish smile. 
You want a quirky quip to respond but the words are stuck in your throat.  You barely choke out, “I’m a writer” too loudly.  More than one person turns their head to assess the exchange unfolding between you two, only to turn back to their own conversations. You fumble for your closed notebook and hold it out, hoping to mollify the rising embarrassment in your body.  “For my publishing company” you continue to struggle, “It’s an editorial on local artists.” You silently give thanks to the shaded room that hides your rose cheeks. 
His eyes widen, revealing the deep pools you desperately wish to look into to try to peer at what's inside them. With a shy look, his eyes crescent with happiness as his lips curl into a bashful smile. “Do you mean me? Are you here to see me?” He emphasizes as if in disbelief. You nod, still flailing inside your head.  “Wow...How wonderful,” he murmurs, still smiling.  You make note of the small freckle under his lip, a perfect addition to his face.  “Can I, uh...answer any questions for you?” he nervously asks.  Your mind reels.
What keeps you awake at night? Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? Is your heart as heavy as it looks? What would it be like to wake up next to you?
“Um, sure,” you cautiously respond as you retrieve your notebook you quickly shoved under the safety of your thighs when he made his presence known. “Please,” you offer as you gesture to the other side of the booth, “sit!” He slides into the seating across from you as you become very aware that you are well within the ten feet you swore you couldn’t be in.  
“But I haven’t catapulted into the sun, yet,” you whisper to yourself with astonishment.
Instead, you take in his whole persona: body enwrapped with black everything.  A simple t-shirt snuggly clings to his torso and toned upper arms.  Jeans worn with holes in the knees expose the smooth appearance of his skin underneath.  Sturdy, but well loved boots lace up just past his ankles with his jeans tucked inside.  
A pause encircles your booth, distant from the rest of the bar as if you are the only people in the room. He breaks the silence.
“Well,” he starts, “I’m Jungkook, but uh,” he chuckles as one hand rises to the nape of his neck as if to self soothe his nerves.  “I guess you might know that?” 
His nerves match your own anxiety as heat continues to pool in your cheeks.  Your notebook is open to a blank page, but you have no writing utensil in hand as your gaze is locked with his.  He is so close that you can smell his gentle scent, warm vanilla.  Another pause snaps you back to reality.  
“Write. You should definitely be writing. At least feign productivity. Literally do anything other than what you are doing right now,” Your inner voice demands.
Fumbling around in your backpack, you procure a pen and start writing.  
“Yes,” you laugh, “I do know that.  I’m y/n.” 
“Alright, y’n, shoot.  What questions do you have?”
How do you like your eggs? What thread count are your sheets Do you sleep with the fan on or off? Are you single?
“Where are you from?”
“Busan.  It’s a coastal port city in South Korea.  It really has everything; trees, the ocean, temples.” he explains.  “It also has my family, who I miss very much,” he says with a sigh.  In that moment, you see a facet of the weight that bears down on his heart. 
“How did you get into music? And why here?”
“Several of my friends live here in the city and they encouraged me to come out here.  I’ve always loved singing.  I flew over, started busking, and now I’m here in places like,” he widely opens his arms, referring to the bar, “this.” 
“Well aren’t we lucky?” you muse.  With laughter that bubbles from his chest, he looks away; but not before you see the fracture of pain you once saw wither away, leaving a warmth flowing from his heart to yours.  It’s overwhelming, the sensation that pours over you and you shake yourself free with a shudder of your frame.  As you bask in the final moments of his energy, your phone buzzes, and buzzes, and buzzes more.
*Namjoon: ???  [11:41pm]*
*Namjoon: Hello? Y/n? [11:41pm]*
*Namjoon: At what point do I send out the search squad? [11:41pm]*
You roll your eyes internally.  “I’m so sorry,” you say with your voice tinged with guilt.  “It’s my roommate.  He’s worried,” you groan.  It’s not until you receive his texts that you realize how late it’s been.  You’ve been here for over two hours.  
“Do you need to leave?” he inquires.  “I definitely don’t want to hold you up.  I have things to do at home, anyway that I’ve been pushing off.  Who wants to go home when there is a mountain of laundry waiting on your bed?” he says in an amused tone.  
You know you should be getting back home. Namjoon gets fussy if you're not home before midnight.  It interrupts catching up on your shows you watch together on Netflix. 
“I should be going,” you resign yourself to leaving as you slide your notebook underneath your arm and tuck your pen behind your ear.  Jungkooks shoulders rise and fall quickly in a silent chuckle.  “What?” you ask, a cautious smile taking over your features.
“Nothing! Well,” he takes a moment, “nothing bad.”  Relief washes over you.  “It’s just the pen behind your ear,” he points out.  “It’s cute; very “writer-esque” of you,” he concludes in a snooty tone as he gently pokes fun at you.  You roll your eyes.
“Well good thing I’m leaving then! I don’t need to tolerate this bullying behavior,” you fire back in a fake, huffy tone. In that moment, the ice breaks between you two.  A trickle of electricity sparks between you both in the distance of your bodies. You’re both smiling.  He motions his head towards the door.
“Let’s get out of here, then!  I’m clearly waiting on you,” he dramatically declares as he ushers you to walk in front of him. Slinging your backpack over your shoulder, you shuffle in front of him and you both leave the bar.
It’s sticky outside with summer heat.  The clear sky sits above you both, moon beaming like a spotlight where you two stand. You both stand in front of the bar, holding each other's gaze to linger in the moment for the last few seconds you have.
“I’m happy you showed up at my performance.  Or, ya know, performances,” he enunciates on “performances” with a grin.  
“I’m happy I walked in on your performance.  Or, ya know, performances,” you lightly mock.  Expecting a retort from him, he instead looks away for a brief moment before looking back at you.
“I really am, though,” he whispers.
His honesty takes you over like a riptide with you flailing in the undertow as you realize how close you both are.  Moonlight captures his features, reflecting a soft gleam that flows from him onto you.  It envelops you and you close your eyes, wanting to sit in this moment; soaked in warmth and vanilla.  He abruptly steps back. “Do you need help getting home? Or are you close by?”
“Close by, just a few blocks,” you reply, disengaging yourself as your closeness dissolves by losing proximity. The tender exchange you both share weaves in and out of each other’s lives, permanently solidifies, and blips out of the physical realm; here for a moment, gone just the same, but irrevocably existing in your timelines. “It’s a short walk, I’ll get home easily.”
“Do you want me to walk with you?”
“Yes, God please,” you internally yell into the void.
“No, that’s okay!” you answer in an overly chipper tone, shoving your desire under mounds of pride.  It takes him off guard.
“Oh, well, uh, that’s good! Yeah, that’s great. Um,” he begins, voice strained with being unsure, “I’m going to be here again next Tuesday, if you have more questions.”
“Oh, right; my job.  The job I get paid for that I should be doing.  Great job, y/n,” you chastise to yourself.
You’re neutral, stifling the excitement.  “Yeah!  That’d be cool. I’d like that,” you say trying way too hard to downplay the response.  You start taking steps back, still facing him.  “I’ll be there,” you say coyly as a genuine smile takes over your face.  Jungkook matches your grin and your heart swoons.  You wouldn’t be mad if you go to see that smile again.  
“Next Tuesday, then?” he questions.
“Next Tuesday,” you answer.  Spinning on your heels, you start your walk home.  You make it a block before you subtly peek over your shoulder.  Jungkook is watching.  He yells.
“Just waiting for you to get home! Don’t make it weird!”
“You’re making it weird by telling me to not make it weird!” you yell back. Before you turn the corner you spin 180 degrees to give a final wave. He mirrors your gesture and the kindness takes you over.  Quickly finding the stoop of your apartment, you perch yourself as you fish out a pen and flip to the last page you wrote on.  It only reads:
Jungkook
You stare at the page.  All that talking and nothing to show for it.  In the midst of the quiet summer heat, you complete the sentence:
Jungkook-- it turns out that existing in your universe within ten feet isn’t the worst thing in the world.  
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littlemisssquiggles · 6 years ago
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Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar’s Other Rose
Someone asked “ You ever notice how you can literally just take any screencap of Oscar looking at Ruby and 99% he has a soft look in his eyes and a soft smile too? I did, and I lose my mind over it all the time. “
Squiggles Answers: 
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You are indeed correct about that anon-chan. It’s adorable that Oscar has grown attached to Ruby enough that he now looks to her both for inspiration and out of care for her own well-being. Be it in support or in need of motivation, Oscar has eyes only for Ruby Rose. As a matter of fact, you just helped spark a new Pinehead headcanon which I believe may be my favourite one yet, my dear anon-ninja.
To my fellow Pineheads who are curious about Oscar’s past life living in Mistral with his family, have you considered this concept:
What if…the Atlas Arc will introduce us to a second Rose who shares a history with Oscar?
For the sake of this headcanon of mine, I’m going to christen this character fittingly ‘Rosaline Fox’ or simply Rose for short and this character will share inspiration from both the Fox and the Rose from the Little Prince. 
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What if…when Oscar was a young boy growing up in the farmlands of Anima, he had a childhood best friend named Rose who used to live next door to him during a timeline where Oscar still lived happily with his parents (or single mother since I’m still rolling with that theory) back in his old neighbourhood before he moved in with his Aunt and Uncle.  
Imagine…Rose Fox being part of the brighter half of Oscar’s life and the two were close friends since they were in diapers until Rose moved away to Atlas with her parents when Oscar was seven years old. Since then, he never saw her again until they surprisingly reunite with each other in the hallways of Atlas Academy.
I really, really love this concept because it could potentially be a way for the audience to learn more about Oscar’s life. As we know, the main series doesn’t highlight Oscar revealing much more about himself beyond the generic ‘he’s a fourteen year old farm hand from Mistral’. While some Pineheads are satisfied with this and believe that this is all we need to know about Oscar, as you know this squiggle meister firmly but respectfully disagrees. I understand that Oscar is only a supporting character but he’s still part of the main cast of heroes and holds as much importance to the plot as characters like Jaune, Nora and Ren. If we can get to learn that Jaune has seven sisters, even being introduced to one of them in V6 in addition to having a full episode focused on Ren and Nora’s backstory then the same could be done for Oscar, right?
I know all three of these examples were given because the plot set aside time to demand that these stories be revealed since they were relevant to the narrative. We had to learn about Jaune’s sisters since one of them housed our heroes while they were in Argus for V6 and we had to learn about Ren and Nora’s connection to Kunoyuri since the monstrous Nuckelavee that decimated that village was the final boss fight for RNJR back in V4.
Perhaps it can work the same for Oscar where the plot will demand we know a little bit more about him since it will possibly tie into the Merge and/or have some part with him reconciling with Ozpin within his mind. We will see. My point is that I really would love to learn more about Oscar’s past because it’s a good way of knowing more about who he is and what his life was like before. If Oscar is expected to, quote, unquote ‘disappear in the Merge’ as the story tries to imply then wouldn’t it make sense if it spends some time fleshing Oscar out before that time comes. I’m just saying.
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This is why I like the idea of Oscar meeting an old friend from home in Atlas. Before we got to meet Saphron Cotta-Arc in V6, the series dropped a hint of her existence way back in V4 and before we saw how Ren and Nora became orphans (particularly Ren), remember we got that hint from Nora back in V3.
Oscar having a second Rose in his life (before Ruby Rose) who was his childhood friend could encourage him to reveal more to our heroes and essentially the audience of what he was like growing up in Mistral. Besides who wouldn’t want to see someone from Oscar’s past tell embarrassing stories of the little farm-bred rascal he used to be.
Plus I like the idea of Rose being part of Oscar’s childhood before he went to live with his Aunt and Uncle on the Pine Family farm.
It’d be interesting if this Rose reminds Oscar of when things were good for him but she is blissfully unaware of the truth of what became of him and his parents after she moved away.
Picture it. RWBY and JNR enjoying Rose talking about the old misadventures of Oscar and Rose of the Mistralian Farmlands and the carefree mischief they used to get themselves into; revealing a different side to Oscar that our heroes weren’t familiar with. This then leads to Rose innocently asking Oscar about his parents and how they were doing/feeling about him being all the way in Atlas since she remembered how overprotective they were of him as a kid, only for Oscar to freeze up and give a rather cutthroat response before trying to change the subject; indicating that discussing his parents was a very touchy subject for him.
Imagine if…Rose Fox is the kind of bold girl who doesn’t know when to take a hint and she brazenly tries to force Oscar to open up about his parents, even going so far as to tactlessly touch the bandages on his neck, questioning the context of those two. This results in Oscar getting testy and storming off, much to everyone’s surprise, especially Ruby’s.
Rose: …Sheesh, lighten up Munchkin! I was only joking. Oscar: *furiously* Yeah well sometimes you don’t know when to stop!”
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In the end, Ruby is the rose that goes to comfort Oscar and as a parallel to how Oscar got Ruby to open up during the dojo scene from V5, Ruby encourages Oscar to talk about his family and she is the rose and possibly the first person outside of his family to know the truth of what happened to Oscar’s parents---their tragic death and the deep pain it caused him that he’s been bottling up for years since it happened.
This additionally ties into why Oscar wears the neck bandages; to cover up an old wound he sustained from the incident that claimed his parent’s life. I still wish to think Oscar was raised by only his mom but that’s another Pinehead headcanon for another time.
Oscar doesn’t show Ruby his scars and out of respect for his feelings, she doesn’t push him to. Instead she consoles him and shares her own qualms over losing her mother at a young age too. It’s a pain and an understanding she shares with Oscar and she also fully comprehends why talking about is very sensitive for him.
In the event that a moment like this occurs, I can see it being another key moment that symbolizes why Ruby is important to Oscar. While the other Rose could be the one that makes Oscar remember his home, Ruby represents the new life Oscar has with the JNR_QROWBMY.
While the other Rose is a remnant from Oscar’s past---a life he ultimately left behind, Ruby is a part of his present and will unknowingly move onto to become a meaningful part of his unforeseeable future. Or…at least that’s how this squiggle meister would love to look at it anyways.
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My Pinehead headcanon is that once Oscar starts attending Atlas Academy, Ruby’s slight protective nature of Oscar will be amped up to about an eleven. I can definitely picture our veteran Silver Eyed Warrior transforming into a sort of mother hen; constantly hovering around and doting over Oscar every chance she got to ensure that the young farm boy and huntsman in training is doing alright during his first time at huntsmen academy.
I can see Ruby being like this with Oscar to some extent because she was around Oscar’s age when she first started Beacon and her first day was a mess. I’m sure Ruby remembers fully well of all the shenanigans she got up to during her first day at Beacon so she’ll probably want to do her best to ensure that Oscar doesn’t bumble and suffer the same misgivings as her. I can definitely see Ruby continue to look out for Oscar a lot more at Atlas Academy. Kind of like his version of Yang Xiao Long to help him get adjusted.
But get this; I also have this hilarious idea that ties into a response I gave to @albion-93. Imagine if…Oscar is surprisingly popular with the ladies---unintentionally being dubbed one of the heartthrobs of the first years at Atlas. Imagine…Oscar having his very own entourage of squealing fangirls who have dubbed him as the ‘Little Prince’ based off of @miki-13’s fanfiction.
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By my imagination, I can picture Ruby’s possessive side as a confirmed Scorpio-born surfacing as she constantly has to shoo away hordes of gushing Atlesian first years drooling over poor Oscar.
In the beginning, Ruby figured that Oscar was blissfully ignorant of his rampant popularity with the ladies but to Ruby’s surprise, Oscar is fully aware. On the contrary, he’s kind of used to it. My Pinehead headcanon is that back in his old neighbourhood, before he went to live with his aunt and uncle, Oscar was the only boy in his age group within a 30 mile radius so Oscar became rather popular with the young girls his age along his block who all had crushes on him and used to literally compete with each other over who gets to be his main girl.
The one girl who didn’t have a crush on Oscar was Rose Fox and she instantly became his best friend since she never tried to force him to be her boyfriend and to infantile Oscar Pine, that was great in his book. Speaking of Rose having a crush on Oscar, I’ll come back to that in a sec.
So Oscar is no stranger to girls’ trying to bark up the Pine Tree’ if y’know what I mean. Fun fact: Did you know that Pine trees smell really good and are known for their distinct scent. Perhaps this can apply to our precious farm boy. Maybe he’s the type of guy that smells good like all the time and has a natural strong yet good scent about him; even when he sweats. I mean it’s a thought.
I can picture girls swarming Oscar like vultures only for the Ruby to be the one to shoo them off; similar to how Rose used to protect Oscar from the boldfaced girls in their neighbourhood trying to court him. I really dig the idea of Oscar having two protective roses in his life.
I like the idea of Oscar being lenient of Ruby’s overprotectiveness toward him, implying that it reminds him of his mother and aunt who used to coddle him the same manner. If it weren’t for Oscar’s Uncle Henry; still nurturing but more willing to challenge Oscar and teach him lessons necessary for him growing up as the father figure in Oscar’s life then he would’ve grown up too soft.
I can picture Aunt Em being protective of Oscar especially after he came to live with her. I can definitely see Oscar being appreciative of Ruby looking out for him all the time since, in a way, she reminds him of Aunt Em. The only difference is that Oscar finds Ruby’s mother hen attitude a likeable quality that he admittedly finds rather cute about her. Picture these two Rosebuds like…
Oscar: Y’know…you’re the closest thing to a close friend I have here and…in many ways, I consider you my best friend. Sorry if that sounds…weird.
Ruby: No, no it’s fine. I consider you my best friend too. *good-humouredly* Don’t tell Weiss though. I don’t want her to get too jealous.
Ruby and Oscar share a laugh.
Ruby: *sheepishly* Sorry if I’ve been overbearing lately with the…y’know hovering and stuff. I just want to make sure that you’re okay and not overwhelmed by everything like how I was my first day.
Oscar: *laughingly* I think we’re way past that actually. Besides it’s okay. I know you’re just looking out for me and I appreciate that. But I also want to look out for you too. Be someone you can depend on. That way, I can return the favour once in a while. So it’s fine if you wanna continue to be a mother hen just so long as you don’t mind me being a papa co---uh…father rooster. We’ll look out for each other. Whaddaya say?
Ruby: I’d like that.
I can definitely see the Rosebud friendship flourishing in Atlas and I’m interested in seeing where V7 may take them. Resuming talk about Rose Fox, remember when I said Rose was the only girl from Oscar’s neighbourhood who didn’t have a crush on him.
Well, turns out Rose did secretly have a crush on Oscar when they were kids and meeting him again in Atlas just brought all of those past feelings bubbling to the surface; rekindling her romantic interest in him.
The concept I had is that this Rose Fox character can play the role of an imposter rose inspired by the Little Prince but her main purpose would be more akin to the Fox.
In the Little Prince fairy tale, after the Prince befriends the Fox, it teaches him the important lesson that made the Prince realize that his rose was his true love.
My reasoning for liking the idea of a Rose Fox character is that I can see them being the reason that not only makes Oscar realize his true feelings for Ruby but Ruby as well.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m really, really liking the idea of Ruby falling in love with Oscar around the same time he’s falling in love with her. I believe in the Little Prince, the Rose acts vain towards the Prince and doesn’t realize how much he means to her until he leaves her alone on his journey, right?
Well, imagine if…it’s the same with our Rosebuds. Imagine if…at first Ruby is rather ignorant of her growing feelings for Oscar and downplays it to it simply being that he is her friend and she cares deeply about him.
However when Rose Fox makes her interest in Oscar known, Ruby uncharacteristically finds her strongly disliking Rose’s romantic advances to woo Oscar. Rose even lets it slip to Ruby that she does have a crush on Oscar; not in a manner of her trying to antagonize Ruby but purely out of Rose wanting to befriend Ruby seeing as she is the new Rose in his life and from one Rose to another, she was hoping she and Ruby could be friends as well.
And at first, Ruby didn’t mind Rose---albeit slightly jealous of her knowing more about Oscar than she did (however Oscar made up for that by telling Ruby everything about him with the two bonding from that reveal). But besides that, the two Roses got along especially since they both shared one commonality---their care for Oscar.
I love the idea of Ruby coming to realize her feelings through a character like Rose Fox. Imagine…Ruby suffering a parallel to the Rose from the Little Prince where when she’s threatened to losing Oscar, even if it’s to another Rose, she is suddenly fuelled with a sense of envy she’s never experienced before. Ruby Rose, for the most part, has always been spirited, passionate and kind to those around her.
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Can you picture Ruby being selfish, vain and/or a bit manipulative in the pursuit of ensuring she keeps something or…someone she doesn’t wish to lose to another or anything else? No. Not really.
Do you think she’s void of these kinds of emotions? Not in the slightest.
As a matter of fact, if the prospect of losing Oscar to another Rose turns Ruby into an arrogant girl then this would bring her closer to Salem than she’s ever been. But we all know Ruby isn’t like that. She’s nothing like Salem. However, it could be potentially interesting to see her character temporarily fall pray to these desires only to be brought back by the people who help keep her grounded. Her friends.
If Ruby becomes like this, then I can see Oscar giving her a good scolding to bring her back to her former self. I can even picture Jaune doing that since Jaune knows what it’s like to come out the sore loser in the pursuit of one’s affections. It was the same for him with Weiss and Neptune.
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But while Jaune never told Weiss the truth of his feelings, he did help Neptune with his. And I can see Jaune providing Ruby with the same advice. This can be a great example to highlight the core big brother dynamic Jaune shares with Ruby.
Maybe in seeing Jaune comforting Ruby, Oscar gets the wrong idea about their relationship. Then again, I’ll admit that I am NOT a fan of Oscar being jealous of Jaune because he believes he and Ruby are in love or something.
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I dislike that fan theory just as much as I dislike the thought of Qrow and Yang having a problem with Oscar having a crush on Ruby.
For how much I’ve talked about it before, you all know how much I’d prefer if Jaune and Oscar share a big brother-little brother dynamic too and harbour a great sense respect for one another. I don’t mind if the plot demands Oscar misinterpreting the Lancaster friendship as romance but not in the sense where he reacts immaturely to it as I’ve read in one or two fanfictions on the subject.
Thus far, Oscar has been shown to possess a level of maturity beyond his years. He generally handles his problems rather casually (albeit a little too casually) and even if he is to have an outburst, it’s usually after an extended period where he surprisingly manages to keep his emotions in tact only speaking out when its reached overwhelming levels that he can’t ignore.
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I cannot picture Oscar to be the jealous type to act like a petulant child, throwing tantrums just because Ruby isn’t giving him enough attention. Does that sound like Oscar Pine the RWBY character? Not to this squiggly Pinehead. If this is sadly somehow how he ends up becoming then I will only shake my head in disappointment at the mishandling of an otherwise mature young character.
If anything Oscar strikes me as the type to be silent with his jealousy; choosing to brood internally while doing his best to keep his envy contained. But as mentioned, if it reaches its peak then he’ll probably lash out in one big upsurge that will leave him embarrassed but unapologetically unabashed since these are his true feelings and he can’t run away from them especially if they get to this level.
Anyways, that being said, even if Oscar unintentionally lashes out at Jaune out of jealousy, I feel like it’ll have the same outcome where they’ll both be able to talk it out like brothers. As a matter of fact, I feel like Oscar and Jaune could have a similar talk akin to Victor Krum and Harry Potter in the Goblet of Fire after Krum accuses Harry of cavorting with Hermione who Krum is interested in. But that’s just me.
On a final note, I’m not sure if the possibility of Rose Fox for RWBY is in the cards. However I think she would have made a great character. I like the idea of another Rose helping our Rose to see the truth in her feelings about Oscar. For me, I love this headcanon just for the likelihood of hearing a Rose Fox character say something like this to Ruby Rose:
“…I tried to tame him. I thought if we spent more time together like we used to then at some point he would look at me the way he looks at you. But he never did. He always looks to you even when he’s with me. It’s my fault really for trying to gain the love of someone whose heart has already been tamed by someone else. I may be the Rose he likes but I’m not the Rose he loves…” 
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It’s moments like these that really make me wish I was a CRWBY Writer just so I can chuck this line of dialogue in Miles and Kerry’s faces because it’s a sweet ass line. Makes me like my fanon Rose Fox girl even more now.
Bonus if Rose Fox is actually a Faunus. I really dig the idea of Oscar’s first friend back home being a Faunus girl. Perhaps…Rose’s family were the only Faunus in Oscar’s old neighbourhood and there were some folk back there who were rather prejudice toward the Faunus. However Oscar’s family weren’t one of those people and raised their son to be the same.
Oscar was always pleasantly nice to Rose which was part of the reason why she liked him so much. The day she started crushing on Oscar was when he complimented her ears after some of the neighbourhood children made fun of Rose for being a Faunus.
If I had to describe my vision for Rose Fox then I can picture her with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair that’s white at the tips like a fox’s tail with dark skin and blue-grey eyes to contrast with Ruby’s silver eyes. Her Faunus feature would her ears so she’ll have cute red Fox ears. I actually quite like this.
But you know, as always, these are only my Pinehead headcanons.
Anyways, if Ruby and Oscar are destined to fall in love with each other then I can only see them coming to realize their true feelings with a little help from a fox.
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More Squiggles’ RWBY Content
~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)
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silviasutton1989 · 6 years ago
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T.T.K. Ch. 12 part 2 “Le jeux sont fait”
A/N: well I know it’s pretty late but I will have like a million things to do tomorrow so I wanted to go ahead and post this (i you see some grammatical errors please just look past them) Here is part 2!! its a long one but you get your answers (here may be a question or two still lingering around but I’m clearing those up in ch. 13.) I hope that you all are open to where I will take these characters, and thank you all for coming along this far!! Shouting out @darley1101 for sending me encouragement (thank you) I was really worried but she told me to d what I had to do fr y story so I went the way I felt (honestly I have like 3 different endings so...) I go back in forth in this one (a lot) so if anyone gets confused feel free to comment.
Word Count. 3000 (just take your time with this one but it’s a quick read I promise)
Rating: Mature audience for course language
Catch Up: Chapter 1  1.2  2  3  4  5  6  7 8  9  9.2  9.25   10   11   12.1
Summary: Drake and Riley finally talk but will everything be confessed? How will the truth of Riley’s birthday night finally come out?
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"Fuuuuucccckkkkk!!!!!"
Liam screams from the top of his lungs. The two have been screaming profanities into the night air for at least 20 minutes the bottle Riley had saved for Drake now open as she takes the first two sips of it before handing it to Liam.
"Boy when you let loose...." She giggles, his button down shirt is open tie dangling from his shoulders.
"I love this. No propriety no decorum just  FUUUUCCCKKK!" he screams again with wide eyes and a large grin.
"I've never seen this side of you before Liam it's ....sexy." She winks at him, then covers her face in her hands in shame. "god I shouldn't have said that. I..."
"What? You think I'm sexy." Liam saunters over to her "What's wrong with that...I think you're sexy too." His fingertips teasingly ghost up and down her arm. That's as far as he was willing to go...unless she wanted more, he would gladly give her more. 
"Liam." she warns relishing in his touch. She wants to move, she ordered her feet to back away but they didn't budge.
"Tonight is your birthday, so if you want something...anything." They lock eyes, his fingers press hard against her skin. "Take it."
Riley doesn't waste any time closing in the distance between them catching his lips in a searing kiss, his mouth opens to her and their tongues dance to their own music.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." she whispers lowly between kisses.
"You've been avoiding me all day, Sutton." Riley found Drake in the veranda, his eyes never leave the fields of green, his jaw clenches as she steps closer to him. The smell of her vanilla perfume begins to whiff past him and a lump forms in his throat.
"I'm here now Drake. What do you want to talk about?"
"I'm just going to come right out with it ok?" Drake turns to see his fiancee's arms folded her eyebrow arched. Olivia was rubbing off on her.
"Lately you...we have been distant. And yesterday was not how I wanted things to go at all..."  he rubs the back of his neck trying to read the expression on her face but she wont look at him...at least not in his eyes. "I need to be honest with you about something."
He takes her hands into his own, his heart beating so fast he closes his eyes to brace himself."I lied when I said there was nothing between Kiara and I after our one night. When I left for college...I was lonely. I tried talking to Liam but he was so busy with Leo's social season and he wasn't really talking to me. I didn't have anyone and then I got a text from Kiara, asking me how I was doing. We talked back and forth for months..nothing major, and never about that night, just about our lives bout college or the court. One night I got completely hammered and I texted her this 8 page message rambling abut I was in love with her and that when I got back home we should marry...it was so stupid. I woke up with a text from her all it said was ok. I...I was so embarrassed I stopped texting her. Honestly we didn't speak again until....until Liam's social season." He opens his eyes one at a time.
"What about last night I know she went after you and you didn't come to our room...Drake what happened last night?"
"Nothing happened, we played some pool had a few drinks she got a booty call from... well that's not my place to say. But she bailed on me and I just crashed in an empty room."
"Oh" She wanted him to say they kissed, anything to stop the guilt building within her. "Well. Good." she gives a half smile and he quickly sees something is wrong.
"Riley ... did something happen last night after the party? I know you didn't sleep in our bed, it was still made when I came to get dressed and you never make the bed."
"What? No of course not. I was pretty drunk Liam took me to my room I waited up for you and fell asleep on the couch." she rises to her toes and kisses her fiancee.
"So... we are ok?" Drake wraps his arms around her tightening his hold then kisses her again.
"Completely." she states swallowing the guilt.
Kiara leans in, just an inch away from Drake "What do you want?" she says before reaching for the chalk cube that sits next to him and stepping away to get her own pool cue.
Drake blushes, slightly embarrassed thinking that her actions were flirtatious. 
"How about who ever makes a shot the other person has to tell a secret." It was a dumb idea but Drake was drunk and he needed to spew is guts out to someone..why not her?
"Deal and since I already made my shot let's hear that secret."
"Ok..." Drake leans over the table studying the ball closest to a corner pocket. "Ok here goes....I never told Riley about our texts while I was in college." He lets out the breathe he had been holding a his shoulders felling lighter....not completely though."
"Pourqui? Those texts didn't mean anything." She chuckles lightly watching his hair fall to the front of his face. The secret she would never tell is how badly to wanted to run her finger through it. "I thing the longer you keep that from her the worse you are going to make it seem."
With a nod Drake makes his shot." Your turn Kiara...what's your secret."
"Um.... she studies the remaining balls on the table. "well I planned to bring you in here to seduce you." she states matter of factly relishing Drake's checks growing redder. She makes a shot and the blue ball rolls into a side pocket with ease. "I'm not going to though... spending tonight with you, I realize your relationship with Riley is love, and I don't love you. I mean yes I'm attracted to you but I also like being your friend. I've only scene you smile for 3 things: horses, whiskey, and Riley. What kind of friend would I be to mess that up for you?"
"Well..."He wasn't sure how to respond so he just focuses on chalking his cue. "I guess my next secret would be that had I never met Riley maybe....." He can't get the words out and they both chuckle.
"Oh mon lapin, I would break your sweet little heart." 
Drake chuckles at her bod statement, " Oh  yeah?" He levels his body to the table aiming for the ball furthest from him.
"Yeah besides Madeline and I have been having sex every night since the club." Drake misses the ball completely and looks to her.
"Are you serious? Why her of all people?"
"She isn't that bad...." the two share a look "ok she is tres mauvais but..that night she confessed her love for Hana .  She can love...or at least she wants to. But Hana has been avoiding her and she is too prideful to admit it hurts her. So every night she's been taking out her frustrations....on me." Kiara's phone vibrates and she quickly looks at it a smile filling her face as she texts back.
"Kiara, I don't think that's a good idea. She's in love with someone else what it you fall for her?"
"Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black, Mr. guy who stole his fiancee from his best friend. I guess I will deal with my emotions when they deal with theirs... and you deal with yours."
Kiara's eyes are glued to her screen as another text pops up. "Look I have to go. But it was fun being your friend for the night."She heads for the door. "Look I know you may not be ready to confront Riley just yet so there are plenty of empty rooms to sleep...you can even take mine, I wont be needing it tonight." She gives him a playful wink before she is out the door.
Drake walks down the hall to find a room. It's quite eerily quiet. He heads down the back stares missing the drunk couple only by a few minuets.
"How about we do a couple of shots with you by these near the bookshelves"  The interviewer tells Olivia. The duchess straightens her suit jacket and gives her best diplomatic pose for the photographer.
"Um.. how about you smile for us a little. You seem a little cold in these shots."
Olivia rolls her eyes. "I don't smile." arching her eyebrow at the two.
The photos continue as the interview begins to ask her questions. 
"So how does it feel to be one of the women to watch?"
"Honestly it feels reassuring. I have worked tirelessly for the Cordonian people, to be recognized is truly..."
"Hold one second Duchess, is that King Liam?"
Olivia turns to see Liam walking towards her. He holds a large beaqu of back roses wrapped in deep red satin. He smiles ear to ear as he approaches, and even though he gives off this since of confidence, for a second, a quick second, Olivia can see he is nervous.
"I'm sorry about intruding I just wanted to give you these and congratulate you on your interview." Their eyes are locked as if no one else is in the room, Liam has his infectious beam on full display, and Olivia can't help but to smile as well.
"I thought she didn't smile." the photographer whispers to the interviewer.
"Well it's such an honor to meet you Your Highness. Would you like to stay we just started?"
"I'm sure the King has more important things to..."
"Actually I'm free for a couple of hours and trust me I have known this woman since she was 5 I have all the juicy intel."
Olivia scowls as the two begin to laugh at her expense.  
"Well may I just say that those roses are beautiful. But I must as why black? Doesn't that symbolize death?"
"They aren't black they are---"
"They are baccara roses. "Liam cuts off Olivia she bites her lip. Whatever happiness she felt seeing him has quickly dissipated. Today was supposed to be her day.
"They don't necessarily mean death. It can also mean rebirth....or incredible beauty." He looks deeply the duchess' eyes "Plus they are her favorite."  she exhales loudly.
"Wow so should we be expecting some sort of relationship blooming between you two soon? This will be a great exclusive."
"No we are just friends---"
"Anything is possible," Liam cuts her off again. Her green eyes widen in shock, never has he even hinted at a relationship with her...sex yes but always as friends with benefits. Could he really begin to see them as something more?
"I know that this woman here is a force, and the best ally you could ever have." Liam takes her free hand into his own, "I don't know what our future holds but where ever we end up I know I want her by my side."
Olivia blinks several times to make sure she isn't hallucinating. She isn't, he is still there holding her hand and smiling at her in a way he never had, saying these words she never thought she would ever hear, she can't fight the blush filling her face and she beams with a smile.
The interviewer and photographer just watch the display in awe. "Get the shot! Get the damn shot!" the interviewer whispers loudly as the camera begins to click away.
It all started, more like ended, the next day. The Casteliarian's were hosting their annual art show, but before that they would have a perstigious luncheon one where many of the nobles had RSVP's to attend. It didn't take much to convince Liam to let her give a toast in his honor. Riley wanted to prove to everyone she could be a duchess this was the perfect opportunity.
Riley and Drake walk to the dining hall hand and hand. On the surface they looked as if everything was fine but Drake knew something was off, he could feel it.
"Oh I'm so glad I caught you." Lord Scribes stops them. He fiddles with the buttons on his suit jacket trying to button it over his pot belly but failing in his attempts "Lady... Duchess Riley it has come to my attention that you requested to give the toast today. Well, although we are grateful for your initiative we have chosen another candidate." He turns on his heals to walk away when Drake stops him.
"Wait a minute she's  been working all night on that speech. You can't just give her chance away." Riley's heart swells watching him defend her, it breaks into pieces when she remembers her transgressions. "Liam gave her the ok let him be the one to take it away."
As if on cue Liam turns the corner. "Liam!" Drake calls him over. "Chief Wiggum over hear says you found someone better to do the toast you already promised Riley."
"What? No I didn't. Lord Scribes what is going on?"
"You Highness, Duchess Olivia said she could give the toast. And like we mentioned the other day we could use her clout right now. The nobles aren't here to see art Sire they are here because the press will be here and the press is only here because Olivia will be giving a toast tonight."
Liam looks to Riley then back to Scribes. "No she will not. I gave it to Riley. Riley will do it."
"But your Highness.."
"Enough....I'm sick of riding Olivia's coat tails. Look you wanted me to spend some time with her in front of the press. I did that. And maybe later on today  will walk around the art show with her but that is it. No more forcing me to pretend to like her when..."
"When what Liam?" the voice sends chills through him. He turns to see the red head with flaming green eyes staring at him index cards in her hand. "Finish your sentence Your Majesty."
"I...I..." He stammers.
"All of it was fake wasn't it? The interview the flowers the nigh on the balcony all of it was just to profit from my 15 minutes of fame?" She scoffs and shakes her head "So when you kissed Riley was that fake too? Or was it just me? Am I the only one you pretend with?" She straightens herself, feeling the tears form in her eyes. "You know what Riley you can have it. All of him....I mean it." Olivia turns a strides down the hall.
The hallway begins to feel closed in. Drake turns to his fiancee. "When did you two kiss?" He asks crossing his arms Liam tying his best to blend into the wall.
"Umm...I should go check on Olivia." She runs after her friend leaving the 3 men to stand there bewildered and confused.
"I can't believe I'm doing this.....I can't believe I'm doing this." Riley says it over and over as their kiss deepens. At first Liam thought it was cute-- maybe she had hoped beyond hoped that one day they wound be like this again. But by the third time she said it he could hear the cringe in her voice, the doubt in her tone...she didn't want to do this, not really.
They break from the kiss to breath and Riley leans back in to meet his lips only for him to back away.
"I think we should call it a night...don't you?" 
"Wh...um yeah. I think your right." she tries to play off her hurt feelings.
"Come on I'll walk you to your room." at first his hand steadies against the small of her back but he rises it to her shoulder.
"No that's ok I can manage." she doesn't look at him far too embarrassed, her eyes are focused on her shoes.
"Are you sure? I don't mind."
"Yeah...I'm fine I need to be alone for a little. Have a good night Liam."
"Happy Birthday Riley." He gives her a quick kiss on the forehead and watches as she leaves down the hall.
Riley finds Olivia in her room throwing long stemmed roses from her window.
"Rebirth my ass!!" 
"Liv, can we talk?" She walks slowly as if approaching a wild animal. Olivia quickly wipes her checks.
"I don't need you to check up on me Riley. Get the hell out before I kick you out myself."
"The other day, when Maxwell was talking about that couple that was.....you said something that I couldn't stop thinking about and I didn’t know why until now. You said your room was on the vacant wing and you didn’t hear anything all night, but Maxwell never said where the couple was." she takes a seat next to her red head friend lightly touching her shoulder. "Olivia it was you wasn't it...it was you and Liam."
It was too late to stop the tears, too late to kick Riley out so that she could cry alone. So she chose to do something else, she chose to cry right there on her friend’s shoulder.
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dailyonionsite-blog · 6 years ago
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Concert Review: Foo Fighters - Live At Madison Square Garden
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Ok, so I'm an 80’s metal guy, through and through. I grew up on bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, Guns N Roses, Skid Row, Motley Crue, KISS, Stryper, Queensryche..I could go on and on, but you get the point. I became a full-fledged “metal head” around 1988, and never looked back, embracing the music, the look and the lifestyle at the ripe young age of 14. I was the guy in high school with long hair, ripped jeans and concert t-shirts, sporting a denim jacket with the band patch on the back and buttons on the front, and wearing skull and cross earrings. It was a look I wore with pride, and I was pretty much the last of my friends to cut their hair (my one buddy did it about 10 years ago, and it was literally just a pony tail with short hair all the way around, so I don't count that), and I didn’t do so until 1993, when I was 19, and I did so very begrudgingly. From pretty much the moment it first exploded on the scene with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", opening the floodgates, alternative rock and grunge were the enemy for me, as it killed all of the bands I listened to, and the music I loved. The bands that I had seen in concert filling 18,000 seat arenas and selling millions of albums in 1991, suddenly could barely fill 1,000 seat clubs by the fall of 1992, and as a loyal metal head, that made me angry, and I refused to embrace the music. In fact, it took a good 5 years before I finally started to appreciate and like alternative rock. Finally around 1997, I started to venture outside my comfort zone. And now years later, I like a variety of grunge and alternative bands. But for whatever reason, I never paid much attention to the Foo Fighters. That all changed in 2011 when I started listening to a local rock station on a regular basis, and pretty much heard them every day. They have since become one of my favorite bands, and a bucket list band for me to see live. I had 2 opportunities to see them on previous tours, and struck out both times. Well, the check mark finally went next to their name this past Monday, July 16th as I finally saw them at Madison Square Garden. One thing I was very curious about, was how the Foo's would open the show, as I have seen everything from Iron Maiden using video intros with Ed Force One, to the dramatic build ups that KISS would use when the house lights would drop, and you would hear a low humming bass before that familiar, gruff voice would scream, "YOU WANTED THE BEST? YOU GOT THE BEST!", and the band would hit the stage with a flurry of pyrotechnics and smoke bombs. There was none of that here. The house lights dropped and the 20,000 fans in the jam packed Garden barely had a chance to let that first roar out before the band came running on to the stage playing loud power cords on their instruments and drummer Taylor Hawkins banging away on his set. This lasted about 45 seconds before Dave Grohl let loose with a few of his trademark ear-piercing screams (RAAAAAHHHH!!!!"), before asking the crowd 3 times, "ARE YOU READY?!?!", and immediately ripping into the opening chords of, "All My Life". This set the pace for a high energy show filled with many of those same screams, that I honestly don't how he was still doing (with relative ease I might add) 2 and half hours later, plus singing great and running all over the stage like a maniac. The band went right into the "Learn To Fly", which by that point the scent of a certain herbal "element" had permeated the air, prompting Grohl to say into the microphone mid-song,"Ooh it smells good in here right now!" "Pretender" was next, which was extended into the first of many improvisational jams, and lots of audience participation, as Dave asked the crowd a few times, "Do you love Rock N Roll?" even doing a tribute to Chuck Berry's trademark duck-walk. Newer songs, "The Sky Is a Neighborhood", and "Rope" followed, along with a great drum solo by Taylor Hawkins which featured his drum kit rising into the air on hydraulic lifts (no doubt a tribute to one of the band's biggest influences, KISS). Another new song, "Sunday Rain" followed after that, and then Dave formally said hello to the sold out Garden crowd (with a couple of ear piercing screams to start), asking not only how many people had seen the Foo Fighters before, but how many had not. And I almost felt as if Dave was speaking directly to me when he said, "We're gonna show you why it was a good thing that you waited almost 23 f***ing years to see our band!”. What followed next was one of the highlights of the night, an epic performance of, "My Hero" which started off with Dave softly strumming the main riff on guitar and singing it slowly, before the full band kicked in, with breakdowns at various points to allow the crowd to sing acapella in unison, "Theeeere gooooes my hero". That lead into "One Of These Days" which was almost as epic, and slowed things down just a bit, but not much, as the chorus was still full bore, and heavy, but the beauty of the slow parts and the way he held the audience spellbound and in the palm of his hand must have moved Dave, because at one point during a stoppage in the song, he simply looked at the crowd and said to them, "I can't believe this is my f***ing job!" prompting both a roar and laughter.  At this point we were only a quarter of a way through the set, and this was already one of the best shows I had ever seen. After picking the pace back up with an old time Foo's classic, "Walk", the band loosened up a little (as if they weren't already) and had some fun with band intros, and a bluesy jam that included a bit from Queen's, "Another One Bites The Dust", and then segued into "La Dee Da" off the new album, and featuring guest saxophonist Dave Koz. At this point, Dave decided that the audience needed to be brought together with a song of "love and hope". That song humorously turned out to be Van Halen's, "Jump" sang to the melody of John Lennon's, "Imagine" with Hawkins joining in on backing vocals. This was another highlight of the night as the band really proved that beyond the loud guitars and thundering drums, they truly were just enjoying themselves up there. The band then ripped into a cover of the Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop" with guitarist, Pat Smear showing his former Nirvana roots and opening with a riff that had just a touch of "Breed" to it . The fun continued with Hawkins coming out from behind his kit to join Luke Spiller, lead vocalist of opening act, the Struts (who were really good in their own set, by the way) for a cover of Queen's, "Under Pressure". Dave Grohl took his old spot behind the drums for this song. That concluded the covers and goofing around (for the most part), as the latter part of the show picked back up the ferocious pace and kept it up for the rest of the night. The band started that pace with “Monkey Wrench”, and continued with new song, “Run” and then my second favorite song from the band, “Breakout”. This featured another extended jam by the band, and a particular concentration on Hawkins’ drumming, before breaking down into a quiet, eery strumming of the guitar, with the entire stage going dark, and a few cellphone flashlights coming out, prompting Dave to encourage everyone to, “be my light show”. The audience gladly complied making the pitch black Garden look like an old school metal show during a power ballad, before the band put the finishing touches on the song, ending with a fury and more trademark screams from Grohl. “Dirty Water” from the new album followed next, featuring Dave Grohl’s daughter, Violet and 3 other girls on backing vocals. And then came the moment that I had been waiting for all night, which was my favorite Foo Fighters song, “Best Of You” to close the first set. Not surprisingly, this was another highlight of the show as the band extended it out to almost 12 minutes, breaking it down 3 minutes in to just Dave’s light strumming, compelling the entire audience to spontaneously sing the trade mark “woohh ooh oh..woohh ooh oh..”part of the song as the band went into a melodic, jazz influenced jam. This continued for a few minutes until another breakdown that brought back the audience participation sing along. This was probably the most beautiful part of the night. So much so that at one point the band just stopped playing and let the crowd sing accapella, prompting Dave to say, “That’s some real s*** right there!”, and then after a minute or so, jokingly saying, “Can we finish the rest of the f***ing song??”, which they did, ending it with a fury, as the band left the stage to let anticipation build towards the final encore. As that anticipation built for a few minutes, Dave finally appeared on the big screen backstage to tease the crowd, holding up various finger combinations to ask how many songs they wanted to hear. The crowd booed at 1 and 2, cheered for 3, but thanks to previous set lists being online knew they were getting 4, despite Dave stubbornly insisting, “Alright ..3 more!” before jokingly relenting, “We’ll see what happens…let’s ease into this.”. The band then went old school with “Big Me” off the first album, which admittedly is probably my least favorite song from the band, but they did a good job with it, doing a slower version with mostly just guitar and minimal bass and drums. “Times Like These” picked the pace back up next, followed by “This Is A Call”, with Dave reminding everyone halfway through, "I said 3 songs, right?". With the crowd voicing their disapproval, he defiantly said, "F*** you, I said 3!", and then went right back into the song, before finishing it with some playful jamming with Pat Smear, showing the obvious chemistry between the 2 long time friends and former Nirvana bandmates. Dave then addressed the crowd one more time saying, "I said 3 songs..but I think I love you, so we might do one more!". And then after thanking the old school fans for sticking with them for 23 years, and the newer fans for coming out, and promising to come back to the Garden if they would, said, "This one's for you!", the band finished with the epic, "Everlong" which is probably the most popular of all Foo Fighter songs, and had the entire place on their feet singing it word for word. This was by far one of, if not, THE BEST concerts I have ever attended, and I have seen many great bands and artists over the years. From the fun, club atmosphere of Stryper, to the over the top, bombastic and make-up laden shows of KISS, to the various Eddie themed shows of the mighty Iron Maiden, to the thrashy assault of Metallica, to the theatrical performances of Queensryche, and the near album sounding perfection of the Eagles, the Foo Fighters got up on the stage of the fabled Madison Square Garden, with no pyro, no make-up, no theatrics…and levitating drum riser, and killer light show aside, no other real props, and quite simply kicked a** for 3 hours of fun, good old fashioned Rock-N-Roll. This was a throwback show for the ages, to a time when artists simply relied on their talent as musicians, and connected with the audience in a way very few bands can do these days. I highly recommend you catch this show if they are in your neighborhood anytime soon. You will NOT be disappointed. SETLIST: All My Life Learn to Fly The Pretender The Sky Is a Neighborhood Rope / Drum Solo Sunday Rain My Hero These Days Walk Lead Guitar solo Another One Bites the Dust La Dee Da Keyboard Solo Imagine / Jump Blitzkrieg Bop Under Pressure Monkey Wrench Run Breakout Dirty Water Best of You ENCORE: Big Me Times Like These This Is a Call Everlong https://youtu.be/X_0TnXUXSwM https://youtu.be/waawJNfS-Hs https://youtu.be/vvLkyYdZnqQ https://youtu.be/8F322atx46M https://youtu.be/XWxfSmwYiAs https://youtu.be/DWPViHyGdE4 Read the full article
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