#especially when its a big group of singers and its just a bunch of open mouths LIKE I CANT EXPLAIN IT

[sea-jello]

one thing i find really funny about watching singing videos is when they have a long note so they just have their mouths open for like a solid 5 seconds and the longer i stare at them the weirder human faces look

[ac3id]

Plaything | 18+ | part i

plaything 1/ ?? | part 0

pairings: yandere! bully bakugou katsuki x fem! reader

warnings: [series] blackmail, bullying, dubcon/ noncon, filming w/o consent, yandere themes, no quirks au. ALL CHARACTERS ARE ABOVE 18 YEARS OF AGE.

↪ for chapter 1: dubcon, blackmail, humiliation, masturbation, filming w/o consent, boot grinding, a little bit of bakusquad + reader....this is filthy :D 

summary: by luck you get enrolled into u.a high the best school in your town. the only catch is that the school is filled with rich, spoilt and powerful brats who just seem to hate you and among them, a certain red eyed blonde dreads you the most

↪ for chapter 1: you bump into bakugou by accident, dropping your vanilla ice cream all over him, you try to apologize and run away but wants more...oh wait why are his friends standing there recording everything too? 

wordcount. 4k+

a/n: sooooo, it’s finally out! huge thanks to @sawamooora for proof reading this! helped me out a lot <3 sorry for making u sit through that mess x[

 this scene was inspired by that one episode of boys over flowers where the mc’s best friend drops ice cream on the main guy’s shoe and he asks the mc to lick it off...obviously that didn’t happen in the show but it really got me thinking...... 

alsO the netflix show elite,,, i just saw it and knew,,,,

taglist: @mocha-focha​, @erenyeagersbasement​ , @haribo-pop, @sunshine-fangs​, @kuremis​, @amazing-fandoms​,

dm/ inbox/ comment to be added/ removed. 

—navigation

It was a great opportunity. Never in your life would you have thought you’d manage to land a scholarship at the prestigious U.A Private Academy. 

The school was a dream, the best in your city, and only affordable for the rich. Graduating from such a school could have helped you with life in so many different ways. Not only would it open doors you could never touch before, but it would help you to form connections which would make your life undoubtedly easier.

Graduating from U.A. was a blessing, but obviously, it did not come easy. It was rather unfortunate. After your previous school building had collapsed, due to some accident, the board announced its year-long closure.

At the time, you were beyond lost and understandably frustrated - it was your last year before college and you simply couldn't risk waiting the year out. The whole situation was nerve-wracking, looking for decent schools which would allow you in. 

Honestly, you had no idea what you would’ve done if U.A. hadn’t called you that night. 

It was the last day of the summer holidays, a week after your school building had collapsed. Luckily, no one was hurt - but the damage on the campus was severe. 

You had been talking to your friends when your mother rushed into your room with exciting news. Apparently, the chairman of U.A was feeling generous. He had decided to offer four excellent students from your school a scholarship to U.A. 

You were overjoyed being one of the students along with your two other friends; Shinso Hitoshi and Izuku Midoriya. 

At first, the thought was a little scary - going into a completely different world than you were accustomed to. The kids there would be much different than you, you didn't want to be the   laughing stock, you didn’t want to be their silly little entertainment... The thought made you nervous, but when your best friend, Izuku, called you the next night explaining how he also won the scholarship; followed by Shinso, you were relieved. 

Yes, you were stepping into a whole different world but you at least had your two friends with you. 

And that brought you to the first day of school. 

You stood outside the huge gates of the even enormous academy all alone shaking in your little, expensive skirt they forced you to wear as the uniform waiting for your friends. You promised the two boys you’d wait for them, and besides, you weren’t planning on entering the building all alone. 

Your friends, Shinso and Midoriya, lived close to each other. They were supposed to meet you at the gates of the school that morning, but they were running late. Your anxiety grew the longer you stayed there, with students filling the place- arriving in their fancy cars with their expensive bags and accessories. It easily made you feel out of place.

“Hey,” you heard someone before someone tapped on your shoulder. You quickly turned around to greet the voice. Staring back at you was Uraraka Ochaco.

You remembered she was in your school too, Midoriya has a huge crush on her. 

“Yes, Uraraka? Right?” You weren’t close to her, nothing but mere acquaintances. But seeing her face - right here, right now - it made your day. 

Uraraka was dressed in the same uniform as you, there was no doubt that she was one of the four kids who won the scholarship. Both of you talked while you implored her to wait for Midoriya and Shinso. You didn’t fail to notice the way her cheeks turned pink when you mentioned Midoriya. The two of them were so obvious. 

Your friends arrived, they were late, but they came. 

Apparently, there was an accident that forced them to stay back a little longer, but they managed to make it before the first bell. 

“I actually have an old friend who goes there now,” Midoriya confesses out of the blue as the four of you enter the gates. You look at him in awe. 

During the three years in high school that both of you had spent together, he had never mentioned any friend of his going to the U.A. academy ever. 

“Why did you never tell us?” Uraraka asks. 

“well, we’re not on good terms. He used to live in the same neighborhood before his parent’s business took off. He left after middle school.” Midoriya says, a slight frown forming on his face.

“Who is he?” Shinso asks. 

Midoriya pauses briefly before explaining his entire history with a temperamental and rude blonde. Bakugou Katsuki, he calls him. His childhood friend. But from what you managed to gather, Bakugou was anything but a friend to Midoriya. 

Bakugo was once just a simple boy, living a simple life, destined to do great things - but once his parent’s clothing line ‘Dynamite’ blew up and became mainstream, he started drowning in wealth. Bakugo moved out of his old neighborhood at the starting of high school before enrolling in U.A., just like all his rich friends.

“Maybe you should say hi,” Uraraka suggests. Midoriya’s expressions turned sheepish.

“About that…” he started. “I called him yesterday, got his number from mom, and-” he stopped. 

“What did he say?” Shinso asked.

“He told me to get lost and die,” Midoriya said with a slight frown on his face, looking down. 

That was your first impression of Katsuki Bakugou. For a man you had not even met, you sure loathed him. 

School went smoothly for a week, everything was going great. The four of you kept your profile low, didn’t talk until spoken to, kept your distance, and everything was okay. 

People often starred and whispered amongst each other when they saw you in the hallways, but that was about it. Everyone seemed to be decent but… there’s always a but. 

Everything took a turn for the worse when you managed to piss off the wrong person, Bakugo Katsuki himself. 

It was an honest mistake, not even that big of a deal - especially for his standards Yet, for some reason, Bakugo wanted to get under your skin. 

It happened after your lunch break, you were on your way back to your classroom with an ice-cream cone fasted tightly in your hands. You mindlessly dashed through the hallways, trying your best to get back to class as fast as possible - you don’t want to be late. It’d earn you a bad reputation. You don’t need that- you don't want anything which could jeopardize your scholarship. 

You walked straight and took a turn. Just by fate, you bumped into a stiff, hard chest making you wobble on your feet and sending your ice cream from your hand flying straight to the ground.

“Shit,” you cursed, looking down seeing what you had to work with. 

The ice-cream cone splattered on the floor, the white creamy liquid flushed all over the floor along with staining an expensive-looking, black leather boot. A snarl comes from above you along with a group of chuckles. More expensive shoes come into your line of view as you realize you’re not alone. 

You slowly bring your gaze up, ogling at who you just pissed off. 

Staring back at you is a furious blonde, glaring at you with such intensity that it makes your stomach drop. It’s the infamous Bakugou Katsuki, you don’t want to deal with him. 

-

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” you don’t give him a chance to complain as you take your flight. Quickly, you try running away but a large hand grabs your forearm, stopping you dead in your tracks. 

You look to the side, deep red eyes stare right back at you. 

“Where are you running off to? Don’t you think you owe my friend here a proper apology?” Kirishima says, his grip on your arm growing tighter. He towers over you, his huge body trapping you with intimidation.

Going to U.A for over a week there’s a thing or two that you’ve learned about the rich, snobby brats who own the school. Not everyone is bad, a few of them are actually but the rest are just bad. 

Bakugou was the worst. From how Midoriya described him, you knew for a fact he’d be a horrible person. But hell, he managed to prove himself even worse. 

He was crude, mean, downright arrogant, and ignorant. Always screaming unasked opinions on top of his lungs, and gets mad whenever someone disagrees. He acts like the world revolves around him.

 Bakugo had a bunch of friends who he called his “followers” and they weren’t any better.

They just watched while Bakugou ruined everything, they were there to support him. 

Kirishima Eijirou the redhead, he was captain of the football team. He was a jock, brawns over brains kind of person. Girls cooed over him and his overly attractive, hot body. It looked as if he was sculpted by God himself. 

Next was Kaminari Denki. He was in the school band, dating the lead singer. And yet, he managed to find time to flirt with other girls. He was the goofball of the group, dumb and stupid But he always knew what he was doing. Even though it was barely noticeable, you could always see a devious glint in those amber eyes of his. 

Sero Hanta was famous for a lot of reasons. Most notably for having brought illegal drugs on the campus and skipping classes to go down to his junkie hangout spot to smoke weed. The man had no shame. Sometimes, he’d walk into the classrooms high as fuck. The teachers couldn’t do anything even if they tried, his parents practically owned the school; he owned the school. There was no going against the tall, lanky man who looked like he couldn’t even smash a bug. He held the most power and his friends sure knew how to abuse it. 

Last but not least was Mina Ashido. The one and only girl member of the self-proclaimed ‘bakusquad’. Sometimes, Jirou Kyouka, the lead singer of the school, would hang out with the boys and her boyfriend, but she wasn’t a permanent member. Mina was. 

In your opinion, Mina was a nightmare dressed like a daydream. With her short, pink hair and bright smile, she seemed like an angel. But she was the devil. Worse than even Bakugou, perhaps. 

She knew everything about everyone, she had leverage galore: screenshots ready to leak, videos ready to ruin lives. She had them all, and frankly- she scared you the most. 

Kirishima pushed you back, and Bakugo caught you by your shoulders. 

“That was fucking rude,” he growled, biting his fingers into your shoulder blades tight and hard making you squeal. “Are you fucking blind or something? Fucking extra.” 

“I said I’m sorry, let me go will you?” Even in such a terrifying situation, you try to remain calm.

“What do you think, Sero?” Kaminari began. Your heart sank, including Sero into anything was never a good sign. 

“She ruined Bakugou’s new shoes,” he continued. Bakugou’s hold on you tightened and you winced, turning back to him and returning his glare. 

“Okay, what do you want?” you give in, finally. A mischievous spark lights up in his crimson eyes as flashes a cocky smirk to his friends before turning back to you with a frown. He pushes you towards Mina and she catches you with an arm around your shoulder. 

“Those were expensive, right?” she looks at you and then back at Bakugou. He grunts, nodding. 

“Fuck yes, I’m pissed as hell. Some fucking extra managed to ruin it.” 

You look back down to steal a glance at his heavy, leather boot. The small, white stain melted away. 

“What will you do to make up for it?” Mina whispers your name and you cringe. They were teasing you. For their fun, they were making fun of you. 

“What can I do?” you say, sarcastically. Prying yourself away from her hold. The crowd goes dead silent before speaking. Sero is the first one to talk. 

“Lick it off.”

There’s a pause, no one speaks. Your stomach drops and your face pales at the look the five of them are giving you- it’s serious. Dead serious. 

Kaminari bursts out laughing followed by Sero and the others. The four of them get a great laugh but Bakugou stares at you head-on with his grave expressions burning through your soul. 

“Whatcha looking at? Do it,” he commands. 

The laughing dies down and Kaminari speaks, “are you serious? You want her to lick your shoe,” he can’t control his laughter, a chuckle breaks with every word. 

“Yes, I’m fucking serious. Besides, Sero recommended it,” he smirks. “Do you really want to say no to him? I don’t know so much about this but-“ he leans down close to your face, his lips ghosting the shell of your ear, “it might complicate your scholarship.” 

There’s a twisted rhythm in his voice. He’s enjoying tormenting you. You still want to believe that they’re just messing around. That they’ll have their laughs and let you go, but the way Sero stares at you says otherwise. 

“You don’t wanna do it?” Bakugou asks. 

“Of course she doesn’t! That’s gross, oh my god.” Mina exclaims, earning a chuckle from the rest of the boys. 

“Hey, let’s hear it from Sero himself.” Kirishima pats Sero’s back, pushing him forward. The five of them have circled around you, coiling you inside their venomous nest with you in the center. You turn to Sero with pleading eyes, looking up at his huge form, begging. 

He smirks looking down at you, you look so tiny beneath bim. He wants to mess with you, even more, you look like a nice toy to him. He wants to play with it until he can’t. 

“I guess, I did say that-” your blood runs cold, heartbeat picking up in nervousness. “-but you don’t need to do it.” He finishes. Your face lights up while the others groan in disappointment. Bakugou looks livid. 

“Just know that, you’re the one who dropped the ice cream on Bakugou’s shoe and now you’re not even helping him out. That’s not very noble, is it? I don’t know if I even by mistake slipped that info back home- my parents might reconsider whether you truly deserve to be here or not. They don’t really like disrespectful kids who comprise the school’s name.” 

Sero ends his speech with a wide, ear-to-ear grin, followed by a pat to your head. 

“The choice is yours.”  

You pause for a moment and think. Where they were really going to make you do it, where they were really going to humiliate you like this. They were. But were you willing to do it? 

From Sero’s threat, you could tell he was serious, this was legit. 

It wouldn’t have been the first time the school expelled someone who had beef with Sero, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. They don’t care about anyone but their loving son. They wouldn’t even think once before expelling you.

“What’s your answer, princess?” Kirishima teases.

 Mina and Kaminari once again break into fits of laughter.

“What do you mean? She doesn’t have a choice here, kneel you extra.” Your heart hammers in your chest as Bakugou gestures you to kneel. You stop for a second, breathing unevenly- thinking. After a long, thoughtful sigh, you answer. 

“No, I am not going to do it.” Your voice is meek yet clear. Even though you’re trembling under the heavy gazes of five snakes, you choose to stand your ground. 

Bakugou glaring at you while the others boo. 

“Aw, c’mon you don’t mean that.” 

“Don’t be a little brat.” 

Bakugou stays silent while the others continue to throw insults at you -  calling you names and trying to make you regret your decision. You look straight forward into Bakugou’s cold, red eyes, searching for his next move. Your heart beats even harder in your chest with increased anxiety. After watching your torment for more than a few minutes, Bakugo decides he’s had enough of this game.

“Hey, shitty hair,” Bakugo starts. “Punch me.” 

“What?” Kirishima asks, vividly shaken. “Why do you want me to hit you, Bakubro?” 

“Punch me real hard, give me a black eye.” The confusion grows greater on everyone’s faces. You stare at him in awe, wondering what angle was trying to play. 

Kirishima raises his hands in defense. “Woah, dude slow down there. I’m not just going to punch you.” 

Bakugou clicks the roof of his tongue, letting out a sound of irritation. “You all are just dumb,” he starts.

“Imagine if this punny, little,” he leans down closer to you till his lips touch your ears and whispers your name with a crude chuckle. “Were to drop all her food over me, not apologize, punch and me then run away, that’d bring her into a whole world of trouble. Wouldn’t it?” 

Bakugo’s words are calculated and sly, he knows exactly what he’s getting at when he starts. His voice fills you up with dread as he makes his accusations public.

“She would be expelled on spot and Kacchan could also raise charges,” Kaminari adds. 

Your eyes widen in fear. 

“Yeah, I’ll fucking do that.” Mina giggles. “That would succck,” she cheers. Your lower lip quivers as you stare at them in disbelief, your eyes open wide only to be covered with fear. 

“Hey, c’mon, why are you doing this to me?” You feel them inch closer to you, their warmth leeching onto you the longer you stay surrounded by them. 

“Because you have no fucking manners.” Bakugou snarls. 

“Kiri, punch him. What are you waiting for? If you don’t wanna do it I will!” Kaminari cries, growing impatient. 

Kirishima laughs before he charges Bakugou. Your heart hammers in your chest. 

You think about your family, your future, and how disappointed everyone would be with you. Your dreams and aspirations, all were rooted in this school. 

It was honestly sad, pathetic even. Your entire future was just a joke to these spoiled kids. These kids who could control you, and everyone else,  with just a flick of their fingers. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the price to pay for a piece of the beautiful cake known as U.A... You resign yourself to your fate.

A piece of your mind. 

“N-no, don’t do that. I-I’ll do it,” you murmured, your voice timid and weak. The five paused looking at each other with an ominous glint in their eyes. Bakugou was the first to speak. 

“Well, then fucking get on with it. On your knees.” Obediently like a trained puppy, you got down onto your knees, not letting your eyes fall from Bakugou’s face. His red, fierce eyes barked at you with an unknown look, keeping you lost. 

“Holy shit, she’s actually doing this,” Mina squealed watching you lean forward, bringing your face next to Bakugou’s expensive boots.

“Kaminari, record this.” Sero taps at the energetic blonde, forcing him to take his phone out and hit ‘record’. As you lean further to the ground, your short skirt rides up behind you, giving the audience a clear view of your round ass and pastel panties. The sight brings a smile to Bakugou’s face as he scoffs. 

“Cute panties,” he remarks. 

You jerk, trying desperately to sit back, but Bakugo stops you. Smashing his other foot on top of your shoulder, he holds you there facing the ground.

“Don’t. You. Dare.” he growls.

You squirm, almost falling under his weight and as much you hate to admit it, a tingle of excitement runs down your spine. This was turning you on.

 A row of whistles flood in, the boys start teasing you and praising Bakugou. 

“Lick it off,”  he commands. 

You look down at his leather boot, the ice cream almost melted. There’s still a bright white spot of the sweet now liquid splayed out. Even though it’s not a lot, it still makes you cringe. You peek your shy, little tongue out timidly, forcing yourself to do the heinous deed. 

Bakugou watches you hesitate and pushes on your shoulder harder making you reach towards him. 

You give in after a final attempt, diving into his wishes. Your wet tongue touches the rough, cold leather. You cringe after a single touch, closing your eyes and scrunching your nose at the salty taste. “Clean it all off,” he commands.

You dive back in, this time letting your tongue glide across a larger portion. The humiliation burns through your body. It makes you uncomfortably hot, mostly from anger and but a little bit of arousal.

“Nice ass.” 

There it is. The excitement comes back the moment they start making suggestive comments, the attention riles you up and it’s horrible. 

“Kaminari are you even supposed to be here? Don’t you have a girlfriend?” Mina asks at the blonde pervert who was currently zooming on your ass. 

“Oh? We’re cool as long as I don’t stick my dick her,” he points to you. “That’s hella fucking tempting but I’m in love, dude.” He chuckles to himself, thinking about his girlfriend. 

They treat you like an object, talking about you like you were some sort of a toy. 

“Bet her pussy is tight,” Sero says. 

Kirishima turns to Bakugou, looking at him with pleading eyes. “Yo, Bakubro, can we touch her?” 

Bakugou looks on from watching you lick his boot and turns to Kirishima. A dark, unsettling gaze falls across his eyes as he speaks, “No. This one is mine.” he stares down at you. 

You stop lapping on his shoe and stand back on your knees, buckling your knees you try to get up but Bakugou harshly kicks your shoulder, throwing you back and making you cry. 

“Why did you do that?” you squeal, holding onto your bruised shoulder, glaring at him intently. 

The rest of the group goes quiet at the display of Bakugou’s sudden violence. 

He stands between your thighs, lazily resting his foot atop of your soft thighs. 

“You’re fucking pathetic, you know that?” the angle you were spread out in had your skirt flipped over hips, displaying your pretty, pastel panties to everyone in the room. 

Even though it’s subtle, masked by everyone’s fear of what Bakugou was planning, you still feel everyone’s gaze focused right on you and more specifically at your clothed cunt. Bakugou presses hard on your thigh making you cry. 

“Useless Deku’s friends are just like him. The fucking second you walked in here, I knew you were just another useless insect for me to stomp on.” He pauses, smirking, pressing his foot onto you even harder, twisting his ankle to increase the burning sting surging across your right thigh. “And I’m doing just that.” 

He steps off you for a moment, letting you catch your breath and recover from the burn. His eyesight travels lower down to your panties. He admires the cute pair you had on. Normally when he’d see girls naked, they’d dress themselves up the most luxurious to match his standards. But that’s not you, that could never be you. 

He rejoices at the thought of seeing your flushed, tear-stained face breaking down under him. You’ll never be like those girls, always a step behind. He can build you up and break you however he likes, you’d have no say in it. 

The power trip drives him crazy. 

He presses the tip of his boot over your clothed clothed cunt, pushing the hard material right over your sensitive clit. 

You gasp at the feeling, looking up at him with terrified eyes. He smirks down at you, moving his foot in a steady rhythm, rubbing the fabric of your cotton panties against your little pearl. 

“This turning you on? What a freak.” The rest of his group basks in shock. They watch intently as the scene spiraled out for them, too captivated to make any comments. They just keep quiet and stare. 

The way you squirm under Bakugou as he plays with your cute clit so unforgivingly makes them hot with excitement. Kaminari feels a little guilty but he blames it on his nature as a man.

Sero feels a little bad for you, they all do. But then again they wouldn’t waste the opportunity to be in Bakugou’s footsteps- literally. 

“You’re a little slut, you know that?” Bakugou sneers. 

Your gasps turn into whimpers as his simulation becomes harder. You clench your fists, desperately wishing it to be over. Tears brim in your eyes at the sheer humiliation of your corrupted form. This was just too much, too much for you to handle. 

“Please, stop,” you beg, knowing he wouldn't listen. “I’ll report you,” you cry.  A roar of laughter starts, shutting you up. 

“Go for it, you do that.” Mina comments. Kaminari walks closer to you, bringing the camera down to your face recording your horrified expressions. 

“We’ll just go ahead and post this online.” he threatens. 

A drop of tear falls down your waterline following a waterfall. You cry, leave all of your dignity behind and cry. You beg them to stop but as your pleas mix with your moans, it’s hard for anyone to understand what you’re saying. It’s not like they don’t know what you’re asking them for, they just turn deaf, simply because they can. 

Bakugou stops, he takes a step back, leaving you alone. You let out the tiniest cry when he leaves, ditching you just when you need his touch the most. 

“Feels like I’m doing too much of the work, if you want it so bad, do this yourself.” He says. Your body still burns with desire, your clit still hard and cunt salivating, you are nowhere close to being done... 

It’s as if something takes over and you are possessed by the dire need to cum, you do exactly as he says. 

You snake your fingers down your panties, deliberately rubbing on your swollen little clit before pushing your finger into your drenched cunt. You cry out as you clench around your finger, the pleasure becoming unbearable. Your legs shake and you close your eyes shut. 

You stay there on the floor, fingering yourself in the corridor, without any shame, while Kaminari records all of it. 

“She’s gonna give me a hard-on,” Kirishima says and you moan.

“She really is a slut, huh?” Sero comments. 

“She’s cute,” Mina adds with a smile. 

Bakugou scoffs, “does Deku know how much of a whore you are?” He asks. 

You don’t pay any attention to what he says, too busy bringing yourself to your climax.

“You’re getting all this right?” Mina looks over Kaminari’s shoulder and onto the phone screen which captures you beautifully losing yourself for everyone to see. 

“You close?” Bakugou asks as you feel yourself clench around fingers tightly, he bends down on his and pulls your panties down your hips, admiring your precious cunt. 

“Cute pussy,” he remarks before flicking your sensitive, hardened clit.

A rush of pleasure washes down your body as you cry while cumming. Bakugou pushes you right over the edge, a nasty grin screaming atop his face as he watches you. You curse at yourself for letting him see you like this, but there’s not much you can do but cry while you feel your juices gush around you before sliding down your thighs and onto the dirty floor. 

It takes a second for you to calm down and when you do come to your senses, dread fills you up. Tears shamelessly fall down your face as you realize what you just did. The others laugh at you, without feeling any remorse. 

Bakugou continues to stare at you with an unsettling look, while the others discuss the heinous crime you’ve just committed. 

Sero looks down at you and you catch his dark eyes staring at you. A toothy grin scavenges his face as he speaks. 

“Awesome,” he says as if he just finished some mediocre movie. 

Finally, you find the courage to get up and run. 

This was totally not awesome. 

[salty-rey]

Singing for the Troops

Pairing: Fives x Reader

Words: 3948

Warnings: Fluff! Open-ending (sexual mention???)

A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first time I do a fic for Star Wars, so I apologize in advance if I mislabeled certain ships. Or if I didn’t do the boys’ personalities any justice. 

I was inspired by old performances/entertainment for the Allied troops in WWII, and after watching Christina Aguilera’s Candyman music video. Then I thought, “do the clones get any kind of entertainment like this?” So I took it upon myself to make a fan fic!

Hope you guys like it!

I don’t know how to end a fic....

Playlist: Something’s Got a Hold On Me | Candyman | Ain’t No Other Man

Your dream is to become a famous singer, and you have been working hard for years to reach this goal. You have been visiting various bars and cantinas, singing for patrons whenever the owner allowed it. Even if you were paid or not, you still sang. If a bar had an open mic night, you were there. Out of all the bars you’ve been to, 79s has always been a favorite. It was always packed, and the owner was happy to have you sing for the guests. It always brought more patrons, which meant more money for the establishment. Plus, you were even paid, unlike previous locations. 

After a few months of you visiting 79s, you attracted the attention of a particular ARC trooper. When you finished your playlist of songs, both originals and covers, you were given a glass of whiskey. 

“Compliments from the ARC trooper,” the droid server told you before gesturing to the said trooper in blue. 

Looking over, you spotted the clone who raised their glass to you, sending a wink your way. Even though they all share the same face, this clone had a distinctive number tattoo on the side of his head and a classic goatee hugging his chin. It wasn’t the first time that someone bought a drink for you. Troopers before had attempted to grab your attention, even tried to get lucky for a night, but you brushed them off. But there was something about this trooper that was welcoming. Perhaps the way he smiled at you or the way he spoke to you. He was causal yet not dull. Flirty, too but it didn’t make you uncomfortable. You become bashful at his witty comments. It felt as though the two of you were long-time friends. 

The ARC Trooper introduced himself as Fives and greeted you to his fellow brothers. There, you met Echo, Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase. They all serve under Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, aka “Skyguy,” as to how Padawan Learner Ahsoka Tano calls him. They had stories to share with you; their missions on other planets engrossed you. In turn, you told them about your dreams to become a singer. 

“It’s silly, I know. Been lectured by my parents for years.” You lightly laughed, only to become surprised at the boys’ reactions.

“No dream is silly!” “Anyone who says otherwise is just jealous of your voice!” “I don’t know what it’s like to have parents, but they should be supportive of you.”

“If that’s your dream, then go after it. To kriff what other people say.” Fives huffed before fully turning to you. “Who can say that they had dreams but didn’t achieve them because they thought it was unrealistic? I’m going to see you on a big stage one day, and I’m going to say, “That’s our songbird.” Because you will always have us cheering you on.” The trooper said with a soft smile.

A blush crept onto your face, and a smile was spreading cheek to cheek. “Thanks, Fives!”

After that night, you and the boys exchanged your private commlinks. Soon enough than anyone would like, they were shipped back to the battlefield. While they were away, if there were any downtime between missions and work, you would hear your holoprojector beeping. You spent hours talking to each trooper, glad to see that they were doing well. Fives was the one who spent the most time with you, almost talking the night away. He would only stop when he saw your head dipping and your eyes blinking to stay awake.

“Go to sleep, songbird. I’ll talk to you as soon as I can. With any luck, we should be landing back to Coruscant within the month.” So fives said, his holo-imagine occasionally flickering due to the distance. 

After letting out a yawn, you rubbed your eyes and smile at him. “Okay. Be safe out there, okay?”

“Anything for my songbird,” Fives smirked. He then bid you goodnight with a soft smile, and he was gone. 

Within the month, the 501st had returned to Coruscant, and you met up with the boys back at 79s. The bar 79s was packed as usual, especially on a weekend evening. Troopers from all kinds of battalions were here, drinking and dancing, retelling stories with their brothers and civilians. The music was pumping, and the dance floor was full of slightly or fully intoxicated soldiers. 

Tight hugs and smiles were exchanged when you were reunited with the boys at the bar before entering and finding an empty booth for you all to sit. Echo had left the table to get everyone their drinks as you and boys caught up. 

“I heard that there this campaign being made for singers by singers and that they want to sing for you troopers.” So you told them, raising for your a bit so that they can hear you over the music. 

Singing for the Troops was a campaign created by independent singers on Coruscant. Singers who supported the clones and believed that the troops deserve a moment of peace and perhaps experience some form of normality, which may be entirely new to them. What clone can say that they have been to a concert? Plus, it would give the artists a moment to shine and perhaps score big with a sponsor. It’s a win-win situation! 

“The campaign reached several Republic-allied planets, encouraging other singers to sign up. Not just that, but it’s was being crowdfunded, and it reached its price goal! Also, I heard that a famous singer is the main supporter of the campaign,” you informed as Echo passed around everyone’s drinks.

“You should sign up!” Kix said after taking a sip of his drink.

“I don’t know. I never sang for a large crowd. Let alone been off-world.” You replied nervously, your hands fiddling with the glass of liquor.

“That never stopped you singing at bars!” Hardcase responded before downing his drink in one gulp. 

“Just imagine that you’re singing to us! We already have the same faces.” Jesse joked before wincing at the sudden punch to the shoulder. 

“Look, songbird; you’re a great singer. And you’ve sung in front of countless drunken troops. So singing in front of a bunch of sober soldiers will be easy,” Fives chimed in, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. “All those other singers will be lucky to have you join them.” He said before winking, a smirk on his face.

Your cheeks felt warm, and it wasn’t because of the liquor. “Thanks, Fives.” A soft smile formed on your lips, happy to hear his compliments. You then sighed before downing the rest of your drink. “Alright. I’ll do it!”

“Alright. A toast to (Y/N)!” Kix cheered, raising his glass, and the rest joined in. 

The next day, you wasted no time in signing up for a chance to sing in the campaign. The requirements are to submit a recording of your singing, and if you are selected, you will receive a message at the earliest notice. When you waited for a response, you and the boys roam the upper mid-levels of Coruscant, taking time to hang out before the boys were shipped back to war. It always felt bittersweet saying goodbye, but you knew that it wouldn’t be for long. 

It will be much longer. 

Arriving at your apartment from working your day job, you noticed that your holoprojector was blinking; someone left a message for you. A tightening sensation was felt in the pit of your stomach, your heart racing as you approached your holoprojector. You stared at the blinking light. Did one of the boys leave a message for you? No, they know your schedule, so it possible it isn’t them. 

Is it from the campaign? Your heart hammered hard against your ribcage as your hand reached over. Then, what felt like many minutes, you finally pressed the button, the image of a well-dressed man appearing. 

“Evening, miss (Y/N). I am the manager of the campaign Singing for the Troops, and I’m here to congratulate you. You have been selected to be one of our singers! We hope to hear from you soon.” The recording ended with a courtesy bow from the man, leaving you standing there in shock. 

Did he just say that you were accepted? Does that mean you get to go off-world and sing?!

A squeal of joy echoed throughout your apartment, you jumping in place. “I did it!!” You cheered before reaching for your holoprojector. You had to tell the boys! You had to tell Fives!

After several minutes to reach them, no one answered your calls. Your smile slowly turned into a frown before sighing in defeat. “They’re at war, (Y/N)... they’re probably outside of their base. I’ll just leave them a message about the good news.” 

Later in the day, you contacted the campaign manager and agreed to meet with them for further instruction. The plan was to visit various battalions and sing for them during downtime. It will be difficult, and the campaign will have to plan, seeing battalion will go first. During those long weeks of planning, meeting other artists, and vocal practices, there still was no response from the boys. It wouldn’t be the first time you didn’t hear from Fives and the others, although you couldn’t help but worry. 

“Once everyone arrives onto Coruscant, we will first visit the 104th Battalion,” the campaign manager informed everyone via holoprojector. 

“The Wolfpack Co.,” you whispered to yourself. Fives told you about this battalion, having pointed a couple of them out back at 79’s. Fives said to you that the unit within the 104th was a serious, no-nonsense type of group. Entertaining this group and the rest of the battalion will be a challenge. 

The manager continued to list other battalions and legions until one of them caught your attention. “501st and finally, the 212th.” 

“Bottom of the list...” You whispered, frowning lightly. How long will it take for you to reach the 501st Legion? 

The meeting concluded with a buzz of excitement. It was happening. For reals! In a few days, you will be flying out of Coruscant for the first time, following your dreams. 

Before the faithful day could arrive, you decided to reach the boys once more. You sat with anticipation, your knee bouncing as you waited for someone to answer. Finally, after several beeps, the projector came to life, and standing before you was Fives. 

“Fives! Thank the Maker,” you sighed in relief before glaring up at him. “Why hasn’t anyone returned my messages?”

The ARC Trooper lightly winced at your tone before smiling apologetically. “Sorry, songbird. The mission was a lot tougher than we first thought. But we finally liberated the planet from Separatist control. The boys and I are fine. I’m sorry for worrying you.” He said, frowning and eyes cast downward.

You opened your mouth to speak before shutting, looking away as well. “No, it’s not your fault. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. We’re at war, and I know that you won’t always be there for our calls. I just....” You began to say but couldn’t finish your sentence.

“I know.” Fives stared at you, eyebrows knitted. “(Y/N)?” Looking back up, he was now smiling at you ever so sweetly that it made you blush. “Congrats on getting picked. I knew you would get in.”

You blinked up at the ARC trooper before smiling. The two of you spend a couple of hours talking, quickly making up for the lost time. You told him the battalions that you were going to visit, and he groaned in annoyance. “Why do we have to be at the bottom of the list?”

“I guess the 104th battalion are in dire need to put some smile on their faces—especially that sourpuss Wolffe.” You teased, causing Fives to laugh. 

“That’s going to be one hell of a challenge. I don’t think I saw Commander Wolffe smile before.”

“I welcome a challenge. And I’ll sure be the one to turn his scowl into a grin.” You puffed out your chest in pride.

Fives chuckles at your comical posture, lightly shaking his head. “If anyone can, it’s you.” You relax, returning to an upright position, looking back up at the trooper. The two of you stare at each other in silence, observing each other’s features. 

His armor was scuffed and dirtied. There are new scratches and dents throughout, roughing his paint job. His face looked tired, yet there was a glow in his eyes, staring at you in what it appears to be loving. 

“I can’t wait to see you again, pretty girl,” Fives spoke, breaking the silence.

That was a new nickname, and it caused you to blush once more. Despite feeling embarrassed, you smiled back. “Me too. Take care, okay?”

“Anything for my songbird,” he repeated all those weeks ago. 

.

.

.

.

Who knew participating in a singing campaign would last for so long. Then again, the war is still going on, so landing on Star Destroyers only happens when the surrounding area was safe. But it was all worth it. Seeing the joy on the troops’ faces and feeling their excitement as the music vibrated throughout the hanger was rewarding.

Working with the manager and group of artists was a great experience as well. Many of the singers were friendly, sharing their stories of how they got into music. Many of them were humans; one was a Twi’lek, another was a Pantoran, and a couple more alien species. Listening to them sing in their native tongue was thrilling, giving you goosebumps at the realization that there are so many cultures out there. So much more for you to learn, and what better place than here. 

As the list of locations was getting shorter, you felt more nervous and excited as you got closer to the 501st legion. You were going to see Fives and the others soon. It’s been months since you last saw them. I tried staying in touch with them via holoprojector, but it was getting more complicated since you were busy as well. But that will all change as you near the Star Destroyer that the famous boys in blue occupied. Although, you were nervous for an entirely different reason. You would do something big, having already talked about it to the manager, band, and fellow singers would help be your backup singers. You’re taking a big chance, and there’s no turning back now. 

The ship that you and the rest of the artist travel on docked, allowing the whole group to exit. The hangar will house the concert. That same space will also enable the troopers can dance and sing along. In a matter of hours, the soldiers set the stage, and the singers filed onto the hanger. Just like every other Star Destroyer, the stage is decked with standing spotlights and a curtain to act as a background. It also shields the rest of the group whenever they’re not performing.

You watched your fellow singers perform on stage, peeking from the corner of the curtain where the rest of the artists prepared themselves. As the crowd cheered and danced in place, your eyes scanned around the group. But at your current angle, you can’t see past the first few rows of troopers. So the only way to spot your boys is when you perform on stage. And it was happening real soon. 

Three more singers performed, some of them accompanied by background singers or dancers. Then, it was your turn. 

“Now, please welcome (Y/N)!” The manager introduced, and the crowd cheered as you walked on stage. Dressed in your performance outfit, you approached the microphone stand. Your eyes quickly scanned around the group, searching until a voice rang out from the sea of white and blue. 

“That’s my songbird!!!” 

Your eyes snapped to the source, and you softly gasped. There he was—your favorite ARC trooper.

Fives was waving his hands at you, a broad grin on his face. Standing by his sides were Echo, Hardcase, Jesse, and Kix. They were waving at you too, whistling and clapping their hands. They were all here. They are all safe and sound. You felt a weight come off your shoulders, blinking your eyes to fight back the tears. 

Gripping the microphone, you paused for a second before opening your mouth. Your voice projected throughout the hangar as you sang out your first couple of lyrics. “Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling, yeah/I get a feeling that I never, never, never had before no, no/And I just wanna tell you right now that I-/I believe, I really do believe that/Something’s got a hold on me.”

“(Oh, it must be love),” your backup singers sang softly after you. Drums began to play. A soft bass followed along as you continued to sing. Your feet carried you around the stage, feeling the beat. The large crowd of troopers resumed their dancing, stomping their feet and cheering as you reached the middle of your song. Standing at the center of the stage and facing forward, your eyes then locked to Fives’s as you sang out the next couple of lyrics. 

“My heart feels heavy, my feet feel light/I shake all over, but I feel alright/I never felt like this before/Something’s got a hold on me that won’t let go/I never thought it could happen to me/Got me happy when I’m in misery/I never thought it could be this way/Love’s sure gonna put a hurting on me.” 

The whole time, neither one of you broke eye contact. You can see the look of surprise appearing on the ARC trooper’s face before shifting to one of love, a smile decorating his face. The other boys looked surprised at your words before looking at Fives. It was evident that their brother had a thing for you since day one, but to have you tell him of your feelings ---incredibly so bold like this--- was shocking. But they began to cheer, Echo smacking Jesse’s back as his brother rolled his eyes before depositing a small number of credits. 

You grinned at the end of your song. Then, having witnessed the reaction from the boys, you blushed a bit. Glancing back at the band, you nodded your head. Drums began to play, followed by a couple of trumpets. “I met him out for dinner on a Friday night/He really got me working up an appetite,” you began to sing, moving your hips to the beat. The crowd started up again, dancing along to the sound of your voice. “He’s a one stop shop, makes my cherry pop/He’s a sweet talkin’, sugar coated candyman!”

“Well, by now, I’m getting all bothered and hot/When he kissed my mouth, it really hit the spot/He had lips like sugarcane/Good things come for boys who wait!” So you sang, smiling at Fives, who smirked back at you. The crowd was getting excited as you moved your hips rather proactively, your confidence rising after seeing Fives’s responses to your words. 

“He’s a one stop shop with a real big (ugh)/He’s a sweet-talkin’, sugar-coated candyman.” The crowd wolf-whistled at those words, but your focus was on Fives. You can see him biting his bottom lip, eyes heatedly watching you now. 

When the song finished, the band continued onto your final piece. You had perfectly planned this night. Your choice of songs were different than the ones from previous performances. This was your love letter to Fives. You love him, and it appears that he feels the same way. You don’t know when will be the next time that the two of you will see each other. You would have loved to tell him your feelings differently, but like how you said before, singing is what you know best.

“Ain’t no other man can stand up next to you/Ain’t no other man on the planet does what you do/You’re the kinda guy a girl finds in a blue moon/You got soul, you got class, you got style with your bad ass/Ain’t no other man, it’s true/Ain’t no other man but you!”

Your performance ended with a loud round of applause. You were softly panting, sweat trickling down your neck, eyes watching Fives. He was clapping the hardest, using two fingers to whistle. A bright smile came to your face, thanking everyone before retreating to the back of the stage. 

“What are you waiting for?!” Jesse shouted, a smirk on his face before lightly shoving Fives. “Go after her!” Echo encouraged, followed by a thumbs up from Hardcase and a nod from Kix. 

Without wasting another second, Fives rush past his brothers, being careful not to bump into anyone as the next singer came to the stage. It didn’t take him long to reach the side of the stage, but two non-clone guards stopped him. “Sorry, sir, but no one is allowed back here.”

“It’s okay! He’s a friend,” you quickly intervene. The guards relaxed, allowing you to approach the ARC trooper. All that confidence from being on stage was dripping away. Now, your heart was racing, and your cheeks felt like they were on fire. Fives smirked as your cheeks darken in color, your blush reaching down your neck to the tips of your ears. 

“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed now, cyar’ika.” Fives chuckled as he took his hand in his. 

You laughed nervously, letting Fives pull you away from the group of singers and towards a more secluded area of the hangar. “M-maybe a little,” you admitted before rounding a corner. Both of you were now hiding the two of you behind a starfighter, Fives gently pressing you against a stack of heavy crates. A hand laid on your hip while the other laid on the containers, trapping you in place. “I told you never sang in front of a large crowd.”

“Could have fooled me,” he responded as his hand on the crates moved to cup the side of your face. You slowly relaxed under his touch before gently leaning into his palm, looking up at him with hooded eyes. 

“I meant every word, Fives.” You said in a hushed tone, your cheeks still flushed. You raised your hands up, before wrapping your arms around his neck, gently pulling him down to you, until the tip of your noses brushed. “I love you.”

“Say it again,” Fives moaned, his arms wrapping around your waist, pulling you flushed against his armor. 

“I love you, Fives.” 

What little space was between you two was gone, as Fives leaned forward, capturing your lips. It wasn’t a light kiss nor a deep one, but still full of passion. It was something that the two of you wanted. A moan escaped you as Fives pressed his tongue into your mouth, your hands moved to cup his cheeks, his hand cradling the back of your neck. “Ner cyar'ika laar senaar,” he purred against your lips after parting to breathe, before pecking your lips a couple of times. Hearing speak in Mando’a caused you to shiver in excitement, which he felt against his hands. 

“You liked that?” He growled before nipping your neck, causing you to gasp. “There’s more where that came from.” You then felt his hips press and grind against yours, releasing another moan from you. 

“There a few more singers left. Plenty of time for it,” you smirked before taking his hand. “And I know the perfect place where you can show me everything.” You both raced back to the ship that you arrived in. You both definitely had enough time, returning back to the hangar but the way you were walking, it was obvious what had occurred. 

You didn’t care how the boys teased you, or how the other singers looked shock, or flustered. You are in complete bliss, having Fives at your side and holding his hand for the rest of the evening. 

---------

A/N: Thanks again for reading! I have another fan fic in mind, but I should really focus on my finals first!

Ner cyar'ika laar senaar = My darling song bird

[madlori]

A quick primer on Schitt’s Creek

So apparently going by the comments on some of my fics I’ve done the thing where some of you who have been reading my fanfic a lot over the years want to read my newest stories without ever having seen the canon source material! You are all valid and I support you. 

So I thought it might be nice to write a bit of a primer on the show so you at least know what these people look like and who they are.

First of all I recommend just...uh, watching the show! It really is fantastic, and not just because of the amazing queer normalization. It’s funny and surprising and strange and heartwarming.

Caveat. A lot of people struggle with the first season. It is true that some viewers find it a rough start. The Roses all have significant character arcs and to do that you have to start from somewhere, let’s say. Also the tone of the show and its pace changed markedly between seasons two and three, which is when Dan Levy took over as head writer and they got a bunch of new writers. But even if you’re not quite feeling it from the first episode (I did not have this problem but some people do) I promise, you will be rewarded. And it’s fast, the episodes are only 20 minutes, so.

So! WTF even is this show. 

The Premise: The wealthy Rose family lose all their money when their finance guy absconds with it having never paid taxes. They’re left with nothing but the clothes (and wigs) on their backs and the ownership of a small town called Schitt’s Creek that father Johnny once bought for his teenage son as a joke. They relocate there and move into a dilapidated motel, thanks to the good graces of the town’s rednecky mayor, Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott). There they occupy two adjoining rooms, the parents in one and siblings in the other.

The Roses

Johnny (Eugene Levy) - Patriarch Johnny Rose made his money with a chain of video stores. Johnny is the straight man of the family, finding himself constantly shepherding his dramatic spouse and offpsring. 

Moira (Catherine O’Hara) - a former soap opera star, Moira is a creature not of this reality, it sometimes seems. She is an eccentrically outlandish persona who cares deeply for her family but is often befuddled as to how to handle those emotions or express them. 

David (Dan Levy) - firstborn son David is probably the character most viewers connect with first and more strongly, for a variety of reasons. His personal arc(s) are really the show’s emotional backbone. A former gallerist and pansexual aesthete, David is constantly frustrated by the Incorrectness of everything happening to the family.

Alexis (Annie Murphy) - younger sister and socialite, kind of a Coachella girl, who has spent most of her life globetrotting and getting herself mixed up in outlandish scenarios (it’s a running joke on the show for her to drop in “That one time when I was...” stories as offhand remarks). David is very protective of her even though they fight constantly, and often bailed her out of her Situations when their parents were too caught up in their own stuff.

The Honorary Roses

While the central “character” of the show is the Rose family, in my opinion there are six core characters, which includes these two.

Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) - Employee of (and later owner of) the motel where the Roses fetch up. She is David’s best friend and the first person in town he connects with. She is snarky and deadpan and sarcastic. She and David have a short-lived romantic/sexual relationship which ends amicably in season two, but their close friendship remains an important part of the show (yet another thing SC does that’s quietly revolutionary - feature exes who decided to be just friends and then actually do that). She later develops a strong surrogate-father relationship with Johnny as he becomes the co-owner of the motel.

Patrick Brewer (Noah Reid) - David’s business partner, and by the end of the show, husband. Although the show has a great deal to offer apart from this, a lot of people watch mostly for the David & Patrick relationship (which is fine, it’s a big part of the show). Note: if you are watching for this, Patrick does not appear in the show until the mid-third season. At first Patrick seems like an oasis of down-to-earth normalcy amidst all these larger-than-life personalities but it doesn’t take long to realize he’s actually an enormous troll who expresses his love for David by gently roasting him constantly.

And the Others - The show is an ensemble, and apart from these six folks, includes a lot of great secondary characters. Veternarian Ted Mullens (Alexis’s on/off boyfriend), Mayor Roland Schitt and his wife Jocelyn (who is one of my favorite characters), town council curmudgeons Ronnie and Bob, cafe waitress Twyla (played by Dan Levy’s sister Sarah), the local all-gender Casanova woodworker Jake, and the Schitts’ adult son Mutt, Alexis’s first hookup in town.

The Arc: This show is about how the Rose family - who have historically been distant and disconnected - had to lose all their money to find themselves as a family, and later, for each of them to find new fulfillment for themselves. They start out chafing and struggling to get out of this new reality, trying to find a way to sell the town, get “back to normal,” but gradually, they fit themselves into the community. Their family reconnection is pretty strong by the end of S2 (the final scene of that season was my first teary moment) and starting in S3, each of them finds a way to rediscover themselves. Johnny invests in the motel and in Stevie. Moira joins the town council and the local women’s a cappella singing group. Alexis goes back to school and starts pursuing a career in public relations. David takes over a vacant general store and turns it into the Rose Apothecary (which you have probably seen on merch everywhere), a venue for local artisans to sell what they make. It is through this venture that he meets Patrick, who first consults and then decides to invest and become David’s partner in the store.

The show is at the same time outlandish, hilarious, touching, abrasive and over the top. The Roses are over-the-top characters - especially Moira, who speaks in an unidentifiable accent and uses words that may or may not exist - and the story seems to exist in a kind of alternate reality (it’s a fandom joke that the timeline of the show makes no sense - it doesn’t - and it is always summer in SC except for one time when it was Christmas). There is also, by design, no homophobia in Schitt’s Creek. The various iterations of queer characters and relationships aren’t just represented, they’re normalized in a way that I didn’t know I was missing until I saw it.

Plus, it’s fun. Like many of Eugene Levy’s previous works (although the show is really Dan’s creation), the show makes use of musical set pieces. Probably the most famous is the iconic mid-season 4 episode “Open Mic” in which Patrick and David host an open mic night at the store and Patrick serenades David with an acoustic cover of Tina Turner’s “The Best” (arranged by actor Noah Reid, who is IRL a talented singer-songwriter, check out his albums, they’re great). It’s one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen, made more poignant by the really remarkable face journey David goes through as he listens.

Well, have a look.

Another big moment was season 5′s production of “Cabaret,” directed by Moira and Jocelyn and starring Patrick as the Emcee and Stevie as Sally Bowles. The rehearsals and performance were mined for a lot of great moments.

Anyway, that’s the gist. Probably more than you wanted or needed.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Colston Hall in Bristol, UK - November 18, 1975

x

The photos could be from either night.

This article from the November 29 issue of Sounds chronicles the second night in Bristol.

Queen triumphant

QUEEN ARE the type of group that make a man want to abandon rock writing. They pose questions and never provide answers. They exist in their own space-time continuum, visible and audible but keeping their secrets to themselves.

On the surface they couldn't be a nicer bunch of people, but they carry English reticence to an epitome. It isn't, as Geoff Barton said two weeks ago, that they're boring, it's just that they're reserved. Or in writer parlance, they don't automatically provide colourful copy. All my instincts as a writer tell me that there is a great story in that band, but after two nights with them I'm hardly any the wiser.

Skin tight

That their insularity has a lot to do with them being one of the most amazing heavy-metal and/or rock bands in Britain - with all the signs that they'll end up monsters on the order of Zep - is fairly obvious, but just how much bearing it has on the matter is hard to say. The enigmas they might pose mightn't even have answers.

Is there any logical reason why they present an image and persona straight out of the Beatles school of interlocking chemistry?

John is reserved, almost nonchalant on stage, as if it's all in a small, personal joke. When asked how he saw himself within the framework of the band he replied, with a small smile, "I'm the bassist".

Roger is his opposite, the cheeky sidekick in a Clint Eastwood movie, and attracting a lot of cheesecake attention in America and Japan.

Freddie is an original - one of the most dynamic singers to tread the boards in quite a few years. His attraction is obvious.

Brian is perhaps the biggest enigma of all. What is this seemingly frail, gaunt astronomer doing on that stage, striding purposefully and blasting diamond-hard rock? They're all equally strong personalities - like the Beatles there's no one major focal point. Ask four fans who their dream Queen is and you'll get four different answers.

Queen have been busy lads these past few months. Having disassociated themselves from their former management and joined with John Reid, the fourth album was seen to. Reid decided that a tight schedule wouldn't cause them undue harm, and figured on two months to record before embarking on this current tour.

Only Queen are driven to better each previous album - which at this stage of the game is obviously producing some excellent results - and 'A Night At The Opera' turned into a saga - culminating in 36-hour mixing sessions in an effort to allow at least a few days for rehearsal. In the end they managed three and a half days at Elstree with four hours off to videotape the promotional film for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Their first few dates had not been without errors and the quartet were still not feeling totally comfortable their second night in Bristol, fourth night of the tour. You'd never know it, though.

Like all other aspects of the group, the stage is sophisticated. A black scrim provides a backdrop bounded by a proscenium of lights both front and rear. At each side the p.a. rises like a mutant marriage of Mammon and Robby the Robot. Amp power is readily evident but the most extraordinary is Brian May's subtle set up: nine Vox boxes stepping back in rows of three. The only packing crate visible is holding a tray of drinks, and you may rest assured that no roadie will rush, crawl or lurk across the stage while the show is in progress unless it's to rescue Freddie's mike from the clawing crowd.

As the auditorium darkens the sound of an orchestra tuning up is heard over the p.a. The conductor taps his baton on the music stand and a slightly effete voice welcomes the audience to A Night At The Opera. The Gilbert & Sullivan portion of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' follows, a brief glimpse of Freddie is allowed, and then in a blast of flares and white smoke the blitzkrieg begins.

Roger is barely visible behind his kit, just his eyes and tousled locks. John is wearing a white suit and playing the-man-who-must-stand-still-or-it-will-all-blow-away. Brian is slightly medieval in his green and white Zandra Rhodes top, while Freddie is...

Around his ankles his satin white pants flare like wings - fleet footed Hermes. Everything north of the knee is skin tight - tighter than skin tight - with a zip-up front open to AA rating. But further south, definitely in X territory, lurks a bulge not unlike the Sunday Telegraph.

There have been sex objects and sex bombs, superstar potency and the arrogant presentation of this all-important area, but never has a man's weaponry been so flagrantly showcased. Fred could jump up on the drum stand and shake his cute arse, leap about and perform all manner of amazing acrobatics, but there it was, this rope in repose, barely leashed tumescence, the Queen's sceptre. Oh to be that hot costume, writhing across the mighty Fred!

Phallic

Freddie is not pretty in the conventional sense of the word; like Mick Jagger of '64, he is his own convention. Also like the Jagger of the time, his stage persona and action is unlike anything else. Although it borrows - like most of the group's plagiarisms - slightly from Zeppelin, in tandem with Freddie's supreme assurance and belief in himself - he always refers to himself as a star - it explodes into something that is a constant delight to watch.

He reacts to his audience almost like an over-emotional actress - Gloria Swanson, say, or perhaps Holly Woodlawn playing Bette Davis. At the climax of the second night in Bristol he paused at the top of the drum stand, looked back over the crowd and with complete, heartfelt emotion placed his delicate fingers to lips and blew a kiss. Any person who can consume themselves so completely in such a clichéd showbiz contrivance deserves to be called a star.

Freddie's real talent, though, is with his mike stand. No Rod Stewart mike stand callisthenics here, just a shortee stick that doubles as a cock, machine gun, ambiguous phallic symbol, and for a fleeting moment an imaginary guitar. He has a neat trick of standing quite still in particularly frantic moments and holding the stand vertically from his crotch up, draw a fragile finger along its length, ever closer to the taunting eyes that survey his audience.

Their show contains lots of bombs and smoke, lots of lights, lots of noise. They fulfil the function of supremely good heavy metal - i.e. you don't get a second to think about what's going on. When they do let up for a few minutes, it's only so you can focus in on the bright blue electric charge crackling between your ears.

Bulldozer

Dominating the sound is Roger's drumming, a bulldozer echo that bounces like an elastic membrane, meshing with your solar plexus so that your body pulses in synch with the thunder. Tuned into that, everything else is just supremely nice icing.

For three days rehearsal, after eight months off the road Bristol was extremely impressive. In speculative mood I quizzed people on how long they thought it would take to headline Madison Square Garden. I was thought a radical at a year and a half. John Reid smilingly assured me it would take a year.

That Queen should end up with John Reid is an entirely logical proceeding. Everything about Queen demands that the world eventually kowtows at their feet in complete acquiescence - so big that bodyguards have to accompany them at every step. Well, no - they found that an annoyance in Japan, but, you know, huge.

Such status demands a Reid or a Peter Grant, and whatever the causes for their leaving Jack Nelson and Trident, an elegant group like Queen is going to look for a man with class. Reid found the idea of managing a group interesting, and having to deal with four strong personalities a challenge. He only concerns himself with their business and ensuring that the year ahead is mapped out. In January they begin a jaunt through the Orient, Australia and America, by which time it's March and they begin preparations for the next album.

Reid's prediction of a year was proven highly credible the next evening in Cardiff. The band had still not paused from the rush up to the tour and spent most of the day relaxing and sleeping - no doubt a factor in their near recumbent profile. Also, unlike most groups, they were keeping their dissatisfaction with the show to themselves.

They stopped off at Harlech TV on the way to see a cassette of the video for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The general consensus was quite good for four hours, with much laughter during the operetta. Brian finds film of the group educational - the first time he saw himself was a Mike Mansfield opus for 'Keep Yourself Alive' - "It was 'All right fellows, give it everything you've got but don't move off that spot.' It was terrible." You don't like Mansfield, eh? "Oh, I hate him - we all do... I was horrified when I saw it - I couldn't believe we looked that bad. I looked very static - seeing myself has taught me a lot about stage movement. Some of the things I do are planned for effect, but it's mostly just feeling the audience and communicating that back to them."

Arriving at the motel - several miles out of town - Freddie immediately fell asleep, John held court of a sort, joined later by Brian, while Roger went jogging, a daily event when touring. Tuning in to rock via Bill Haley and Tommy Steele, he became a drummer because he was better at it than guitar. All through school he was in bands; he only went to dental school out of "middle class conditioning, and it was a good way to stay in London without having to work". His mother thought it a bit strange when he opted for a career as a rock star, but she doesn't worry too much now.

The concert starts in much the same manner as the previous night, but there are signs that tonight is work, with posing an afterthought. The endings to most of their songs are magnificent and majestic, especially 'Flick Of The Wrist' and the rapid harmonies of 'Bad Boy Leroy Brown'.

Maniacal

The audience, seeing their faces in town for the first time, are vociferous in their appreciation. Guys know all the words to every song, yelling enthusiastically at every effect and solo. The band picks up, Freddie receiving the crowd beneficently, telling them they’re beautiful.

As the show builds it is obvious that things are gelling more. The previous night Brian had seemed totally out of place, not moving too much, taking solos with the weirdest half blank half possessed stare, talking to himself; cocking ear towards guitar. He was the proverbial stranger in a strange land, one step removed from the plane inhabited by you and me.

Tonight he moves fluidly, the gonzo lead guitarist of a gonzo band. His expressions are just as maniacal, but it only makes him look more demonic. His solo in 'Brighton Rock', an exposition in riffing and echo, is a treat because of his physical response to both music and audience, complete with ham acting. Freddie gets into the same game on 'The Prophet's Song', where he conducts an acapella madrigal with himself. It's a pretty commanding moment.

It’s soon after this that Madison Square seems reasonable. About a minute into 'Stone Cold Crazy' it becomes very obvious that Queen have suddenly Plugged In. Found the metal music machine and Connected. Freddie's movements explode in perfect unison with the music, the lights and surroundings go crazy, and the audience goes berserk.

Freddie asks for requests and receives a roar out of which one can vaguely make 'Liar'. Fred walks along the stage, nodding, agreeing he will do this one and that one while the kids roar on. "I'll tell you what - we'll do them all!"

'Doing Alright' opens slow and portentously. Queen's variation of light and shade is one of the major factors in their popularity, but even so the quiet sections frequently find the audience's mind wandering. One kid starts getting a joint together, totally forgetting it when everything blasts off again; guys talk among themselves, only to instantly leap to their feet, fists flying to the beat.

'Doing Alright' changes into a cha-cha beat, Freddie snapping his fingers, the coolest hipster in town, and then instantly drops into faster-than-light drive - the whole row next to me leaps to their feet as a man, rocking back and forth as Brian roars into a blinding solo.

Two songs later, in 'Seven Seas of Rye', the kids break - very fast - and in five seconds half the audience is a seething mass in front of the stage, climbing on each other in pyramids, sudden openings appearing as a splintering seat sends a few bodies to the floor.

The rest of the show is equally intense, especially for a couple of minutes during 'Liar; where Fred and Brian merge into a tight little triangle with Roger while John stands in front of the bass drum, staring out with his small smile.

Freddie has treated his encores - 'Big Spender' and 'Jailhouse Rock' - differently on successive nights, once appearing in a kimono and in Bristol with rather rude tight white shorts, giving the song title new emphasis. In Cardiff, though, he doesn't bother to change at all. Later it transpired that Brian had twisted his ankle during 'Liar'. While he’s attended to, kids out front pick up chair slivers to keep as mementos.

On the bus back to the hotel Brian sits quietly at the back, chatting with two girls. John sits at the front, as always. Freddie stares out of the window, lost in his own world. Roger bounces around, starts a pillow fight with Brian - which stops as soon as Brian scores a direct hit to the face - then discovers an eight track of 'Sheer Heart Attack', punching it through the channels as he conducts the group. The two hours towards which they have channelled the day's energies are spent.

Ambition

That Queen have become a top attraction through a fair degree of plagiarism is amusing. Stealing is nothing new in rock (or any art for that matter) and mostly Queen use the borrowed material better than the originals. That they would be big I don't think anybody really doubted. All four have immense desire to be successful, and that kind of ambition will keep them slogging until they achieve it.

But there are popular heavy metal bands and there are popular h-m bands. From watching Queen's audience it is apparent that Queen speak for them in a way that bands such as the Who and the Stones and the Beatles spoke (and continue to speak) to their audience. Uriah Heep may be great at what they do, but five years after their demise who'll remember them? Creedence Clearwater Revival demonstrate the same thing - who remembers them? And yet five years ago they were the largest band in the world.

Queen will probably always be remembered, because as their tour is beginning to demonstrate, they have the ability to actualise and encompass the outer limits of their sense of self-importance. Queen and their music, presentation, production - everything about them says that they are more important than any other band you've every heard, and who has there been, so far, who has objected? Certainly not the 150,000 people (plus 20,000 a day) who bought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the first 20 days of its release. Certainly not me.

See you at Madison Square Garden.

[text © J. Ingham 2007; photos © Kate Simon]

~ You can see the photos which was mentioned on the article, from the link on the title. ~

[pigeon-princess]

Edmund Ravenwood’s Backstory

Thank you all for being so patient!! I finally have the comprehensive story of my DnD character Edmund’s life, past experiences, how he met his patron The Winter Prince and right up until he first ran into our dnd party! I’ve also included a lot of of never before seen secret artwork below the cut! 

Some of the backstory content discussed in this has not been shared with the other players in the campaign, so if anyone of you are reading this (Selby I’m looking at you) avert your eyes!! 

EDMUND’S EARLY YEARS

For the full family history of the Ravenwoods, I only know as much as Edmund knows which is not a lot (My DM holds the secrets). As far as it concerns to Edmund, the Ravenwood family have always been renowned for their arcane abilities, holding a strong Elven lineage that dates back centuries. His father, Rykar Ravenwood used be high ranking officer in the Queen’s army before she died and now holds the position of Kings representative for the state of Vela, in the continent of Lunaris. 

During the time of his military service, Edmund’s father left his family to fight for a few years and when he returned, he brought back his illegitimate Half Elven son, much to the dismay of his wife, Selphine Ravenwood. The identity of Edmund’s birth mother is unknown to him (Only my DM knows) and absolutely everyone refuses to talk about it, the only thing he can assume was that she was human. Although not knowing has left Edmund feeling uneasy at times, in order to fit in with his family, he’s never dwelt on who she could be or had any strong desire to seek her out.

Edmund is the middle child of Ravenwood's 5 children. The oldest son, Ambrose is a respected professor at Hansen’s Academy of the Arcane, doing his best to keep himself composed and proper despite Edmund giving him constant headaches. The oldest daughter Leona is the commander of Vela’s current military force, she has a particularly cold and serious attitude towards most things. Corda, who is slightly younger than Edmund, takes after her mother and is a young socialite with an interest in fashion. She hides a particularly cruel personality behind her sweet smile. Erinaya is the youngest of five children, and has always been the one sibling that openly cares for Edmund. She has outward adoration for him and he would often take her out for adventures and play with her throughout their childhood together. 

His parents were distant in his upbringing, his father would occasionally show him slight signs of warmth when the rest of the family was not around. However, his mother held a particular disdain for him as Edmund was a walking, talking reminder of her husband’s infidelity.

Another constant reminder that Edmund did not fit into his family was the fact that he was completely magically inept. Despite countless tutors, he was unable to do any kind of magic properly, either the spells would not work at all or things had a habit of exploding. The crueler members of his family (His mother and Corda) would often say that it’s the filthy blood in his veins (the human half) that stops the magic from coming to him. 

While spending most of his time being raised by the family’s hired nanny Mary, he developed a similar accent to her own, one less posh than the rest of his family which suited him just fine when people commented on it (Eddie’s accent more is East London/Cockney while his family is closer to am upper class English accent. I used to be really bad at speaking in his accent but I’ve gotten a lot better with practice and now I can slip into it no problem!).  

Most of Edmund’s early years were spent playing out in the woods at the back of the Ravenwood's grand estate. It was there that Edmund met his first friends, two human twins by the names of Rosa and Elijah and despite how his parents discouraged him from associating with the common folk, it only urged him to seek them out more. His friends started calling him Eddie, and the nickname stuck as his little band of friends grew over the years. 

Some of his new mates included a chilled out blue Tiefling called Hex, who is the go to guy to get ahold of all your illegal substances (He was also the person that Edmund lost his virginity to in their teenage years), a Half Orc named Zarak (He became the designated Mum friend of the group) and a Gnome girl with a bold personality called Kiplin. 

AURIGA & APOLLO 

By the time Eddie was a teenager, rebellion was deeply rooted into his personality. The next state over from Vela is a place called Auriga, it's known for its loud music and wild parties. Using the family’s teleportation circle, Eddie and his mates would nearly always sneak off for nights out and spring break holidays. 

A lot of those years spent partying in Auriga are still very hazy to Eddie to this day, the copious amounts of alcohol, party drugs and occasional hook ups have all blurred together. However, things took a turn when on one of these wild nights out, his friends dragged him to a concert for a band of bards known as Killer Korpse. 

Watching the lead singer perform, Eddie was absolutely starstruck and fell in love on the spot. Apollo was everything Eddie dreamed of, a rebellious bard full of magic, singing about not giving a shit and as an added bonus he was a human which his parents would hate. Everything to do with Apollo was a world away from his uptight family and a reputation he has no hopes of living up to. 

After stalking the band for several weeks, hanging outside the backstage door and hovering in the taverns they were staying in, surprisingly Apollo actually took notice of him. One night when Eddie was hopelessly loitering near backstage, the door opened and instead of the usual guard telling him to fuck off, Apollo stepped out and right over to him and Eddie stared up at him completely lost for words.

Apollo thought the stalker kid was really funny so he decided to bring him backstage to meet the rest of the band. After Eddie had downed a bunch of drinks he started oversharing about how much he hated his family and it was then that it clicked for Apollo who Eddie actually is, since the Ravenwoods are very well known. When Eddie started a very drunk confession of love to Apollo, he decided he was going to have a lot of fun with this and a few minutes later Apollo had Eddie pinned to the couch in a very drunk make out session.

After that Eddie was caught in a whirlwind of things and over the spring break he was brought along with the band for their tour. He was having the best time of his life, half in a daze because he couldn’t believe he was spending nearly every night in bed with Apollo, the rebellious bard of his dreams. 

Apollo and his bandmates were pretty much just assholes, the fame had really gone to their heads and they would get away with doing pretty much whatever they wanted. Eddie being naive and being in his own happy world never noticed Apollo sneaking off to hook up with other groupies or making fun of Eddie behind his back. Half the time the band was high on a drug known as Sharp Sugar that’s often used to enhance your senses (AKA gives you an advantage on all ability checks) however the come down can be brutal on the body and makes the substance highly addictive. Some of the shine for his relationship with Apollo started to wear off after having some very scary encounters with a drug deprived Apollo. 

Even though Apollo was a dick a lot of the time, there are also some moments where he could be incredibly sweet, and parts where he would share stories of his own life with Eddie and the sincerity of it made Eddie fall deeper and deeper into devotion. 

On the night that Killer Korpse finished their last show for the spring break in Auriga and just before they were about to travel to the capital city to tour again, there was a big party to celebrate. While Apollo was surrounded by his drunk and very high friends, Eddie approached him with all his courage and told him that he had decided he wasn’t going back to his family and he was going to run away with the band so that they could be together. 

Apollo stood there looking at him seriously for a moment before he started to laugh. He was howling with laughter, clutching onto his friends, his eyes snapped back up to Eddie saying “You can't be serious, look this whole thing was fun while it lasted but everyones heard about the black sheep of the Ravenwood’s now and I'm bored of this. Its over Eddie” 

Absolutely humiliated in front of Apollo’s entire backstage entourage, in a daze Eddie ran away as fast as he could and he slowly made his way home to very angry parents.

HANSEN’S & HUDIC 

By the time Eddie returned to Vela the word had gotten out that the bastard son of the Ravenwood’s was sleeping around with a famous bard. 

In order to quickly shut this rumour down and to get Eddie out of the spotlight, his parents paid to send him to Hansen’s school of the Arcane, under the assumption that he would be watched over by his brother Ambrose (much to his dismay), who is currently working there as a professor. They were hoping that with the correct teaching, Eddie might be able to hone some kind of magical ability. 

There are two ways you can get into the academy, you can either take an extremely difficult exam and practical test, or if you have enough money you can pay your way in. Luckily for Edmund’s family, money is not an issue. 

Not being able to use magic while surrounded by a school for talented magic users is not fun. Especially when everyone knows that you didn’t earn your place and your parents paid for you to be there. And it sucks even more if you don’t actually want to be there in the first place but for Eddie he thought that this would be a wonderful opportunity to stir up some shit. 

Edmund was stuck sharing a dorm room with a human boy called Ozwald. Oz wasn’t too bad, he was one of the only people who didn’t actually look down on Eddie because of his family or lack of magical ability. He was also very patient for putting up with all the trouble Eddie was seeming to find himself in. 

It was in his numerous detentions that Eddie met his new band of friends. A feisty fire Genasi sorcerer called Flint who had a habit of setting things on fire when he lost his temper. Miriam Makovski, a human wizard who just wanted to hit things with a sword and not use magic like her wizard family insisted. Rowan Buckley, a sweet Firbolg druid who was only in detention because the teacher had forgotten he was still in the classroom organising the books. And last but not least his right hand man and partner in crime Theron Finchley, A Halfling wild magic sorcerer who enjoyed stirring up shit just as much as Eddie did. The group managed to get up to all sorts of mischief, smuggling in drugs and alcohol with the help of Hex, pranking teachers, and messing with the uptight students. 

Heres a drawing I did of Rowan because I love him and I would die for him. 

Once Edmund was starting to finish off his second year the Academy, his lack of magical ability was starting to get to him, especially seeing the shining talent in his friends, even if they didn’t really care about their own magic much at all. Doing some research for the first time in his life, Edmund went down the path of researching powerful beings that could give power to those who seek it. Thinking that perhaps this could be his opportunity to have the magic that he was so jealous of. Sneaking into the restricted section, Edmund came across a book describing a resurrection ritual involving an old god of Betrayal known as Hudic. 

Gathering the supplies for the ritual was tough, some of the ingredients being very hard to get ahold of (including bones of an innocent person and other strange items) and over the next few months,  Edmund worked on drawing up the summoning sigil under the rug in his shared dorm room, hiding it whenever ozwald returned from his studies. 

On one cold evening, as soon as Ozwald left to study in the library, Edmund began the ritual, pouring his own blood into the center of the sigil and chanting the words from the book. As the shadows started to collect around his feet and a grotesque figure began to pull himself from the inscriptions on the ground, it was then that Ozwald walked back into the dorm room having forgotten something. 

At that point everything went wrong, the demon grabbed Ozwald and dragged him back into the shadows with him, blood covering the floor, and the screams of both Oz and Eddie echoing throughout the halls. There was a huge scene students began to run out of bed, Professors running into the dorm room to stop students looking in. And before anyone could grab him, Eddie used the rest of his strength to climb out of the window. And for the second time in his life, Eddie ran away. 

THE WINTER PRINCE

With nothing but the clothes on his back, Eddie blindly walked south. Since the academy was in the southernmost part of Vela, it wasn’t long before he started nearing the border for the state known as Crusis, a cold and unforgiving territory bordered by an endless winter wasteland. Eddie, snuck through the border patrols by pretending to be one of the hundreds of refugees making their way south, all displaced from the war with the fire giants raging across the South East of Lunaris. 

Huddling for warmth in barns and gathering scraps of food where he could, he overheard a group of travellers discussing a hidden library out in the winter wastelands. He had nothing else to live for? Perhaps a magic library would have the solution to his problems. So with what little supplies he could gather, he set out in search of a Library, in hopes that he could find another book that could help him reverse what he had done. 

The wastelands are absolutely brutal, many experienced travellers die out in the cold, so for Edmund he was barely hanging in there. At one point he even had a run in with a polar bear and fought to avoid a handful of white dragon wyrmlings. He wandered the endless snow fields until his legs gave out, and the snow was too strong. 

Edmund lay in the snow, looking up at the greying sky, frostbite already starting to nip at the exposed skin on his face. It was in this lucid state of consciousness that he barely registered a figure standing over him, he could have sworn that he was being lifted, and the last thing he remembered was strong arms carrying him before he passed out. 

It was the press of something to his lips that woke him up. Delirious, naked and covered in blankets of fur, Eddie gazed up at the face of the most ethereal looking man he had ever seen. Long white hair, pale skin, long elven ears and ice seeming to glitter across his features. At his lips, the man was forcefully pushing berries and fruits into his mouth, looking annoyed and telling him to eat or he would die. 

After a few days, when Edmund was mostly recovered, he took note that he had been brought to some kind of palace seemingly sculpted of ice and stone. The man introduced himself simply as The Winter Prince. He explained that he had been banished from his home in the Winter Court of the Feywild and confined to the mortal realm and specifically this small area of wasteland in Crusis. Ignoring any of Edmund’s questions about why he was banished, The Winter Prince proposed a deal to him. 

“I’m trapped here in my castle, I can’t go anywhere or in fact do anything, so if you are able go out and look for someway to release me from this banishment, in return I will grant you access to my power, but you’ll also have to lend me your eyes and your body on occasion.” 

By accepting the deal The Winter Prince would be able to look through his eyes and take control of Eddie’s body when he sees fit. (As a player I have to roll a wisdom save and if I fail then my DM takes control of Eddie’s actions as the Winter Prince. In the beginning of the campaign the other players had no idea what was happening, and no idea who my patron was at all. This has already lead to some AMAZING in game interactions) 

With promise of magic and nothing else left to lose, Eddie agreed and The Winter Prince stepped forward and sealed the contract with a kiss on the forehead. After spending the next few hours running around in the snow, throwing Eldritch blasts into the sky and wooping for joy the two of them prepared for Eddie’s journey back into civilisation. 

In the throne room lined by a large mirror made of glass, Eddie was shocked to see a vision of his reflection standing motionlessly, behind the prince’s throne. The prince explained that it was another added sign of their contract (Eddie now does not have a reflection and doesn’t show up in mirrors) 

The Winter Prince is always very graceful and elegant in his movements and he usually speaks with a relaxed tone, like many of the fey he is cold and cruel but has somewhat of a mischievous edge. Eddie was reminded of the cruel twist of his personality with how The Winter Prince reminded him that the only reason he was chosen was because all the other people that he had found in the snow were already long dead. 

With a new mission in mind, a resistance to the cold and new power running through his veins, Edmund set out to the capital city of Naos to earn some money and start looking for ways to release The Winter Prince’s banishment. And of course he wouldn’t throw away the opportunity to test out his new found magical abilities along the way, perhaps he would even try to unravel some of the mysteries behind his patron’s cold heart. 

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions please let me know because I’d be more than happy to answer! 

[onestowatch]

For Louyah, One Viral TikTok and His Closest Friends Changed Everything [Q&A]

It's a tale as old as time; through the power of friendship and the internet, Staten Island-born singer-songwriter and producer Louis Attillio Vigorito’s, better known as Louyah, life changed forever. In a car ride with his friends in New Jersey, the artist had the surprise of a lifetime when he realized his friends had secretly worked to get one of his singles, “I Used to Care,” played on the radio.

Eight million views and counting later, the 25-year-old has proven his versatility as an artist and established himself as an impressive rising talent. Raised in South New Jersey, Louyah entered the music scene as a vocalist and guitarist in metal bands Premonition and Idle Minds. After six years as a band member, he took the plunge and launched his solo career. Rather than focusing on one genre, Louyah’s strength lies in incorporating an eclectic yet balanced mix of pop, rock, rap, and R&B elements.

We had the opportunity to chat with the artist about the viral, wholesome moment, how their life has changed since then, and what fans can expect next.

It's safe to say the last month has been a whirlwind for you. You went from playing in a bunch of bands to setting off on your solo career in 2019, followed by releasing your first album to now being catapulted in front of the internet. What has been the most eye-opening experience during your journey so far?

The most eye-opening thing that hit me was that, just when I was ready to move forward with the whole album and ready to say fuck it let's put something else out, out of nowhere my friends got me on the radio, and that just changed everything. It was a very "expect the unexpected" moment.

How do you spend your time now? Has anything in your life drastically changed?

I keep writing songs! I've honestly been writing a lot of music. Other than that, I've been just kind of doing the same thing. Keeping to myself and hanging out with my friends and my family. I wouldn't say anything's changed, because I'm a very family-oriented person. So, I mean, a lot of people have definitely hit me up, and I think it's awesome. Personally, though, I don't know a lot of people and, for me, it's hard to want to do a project with someone if I know I haven't met that person. I just stick with what I know in the moment. Once I'm introduced to somebody in person, then I'll feel better about it. But as far as making music with people who are hitting me up, it's... I don't know. I just blew up and you're hitting me up. It's a weird feeling.

You want to make sure the connections you make with people are genuine and authentic before you make music together.

Definitely! But as far as you know, DMs are cool. Pink Sweat$ follows me now and that made me happy. I messaged him in 2018 and I said, “You're an inspiration to me. I can't wait to work with you,” and then he followed me and I was like, no way, you just followed me and he said, “Your music's dope,” and I was like, wow, okay. But that's it. I'm not gonna ever be like, “Let's work together! Let's do XYZ.” I feel like it should naturally play its part, just like it did. And there's gonna be a time and place where I sit in a room and he's there and he'd be like, “Louyah!” and I'd be like “Pink Sweat$! Hi.” And then from there, maybe we become best friends or maybe it doesn't have to be anything more than music.

You've mentioned that you still hang out with your friends and family and that nothing in your personal life has changed. What are some things that you do to keep yourself grounded?

I enjoy watching gamers on Twitch and the people I watch are my friends. Outside of that, I spend all my time on music. I really don't do anything else. I would love to travel and music is now giving me the opportunity to travel. Like I've never owned a car. I'm 25 and I've spent my whole life working for this moment. This is all I've ever wanted, and I'm ready for it and I've been ready for it. I've been ready to just accept everything that's happening right now. 

If you could leave tomorrow, where would you go?

Japan. Catch me in Tokyo. I just think the culture is beautiful. I think everything's beautiful. I will respect it. I will love it. I will enjoy it. And I just want to see all the cool shops that they have. I want to see all the interesting foods that they make. I think the way they present things is just insane to me, and I would love love, love, love, love, love to go to Tokyo and take some cool photos at night with all the neon signs and just absorb the environment.

Now that you're working on your next record, can you tell me more about the evolution of Louyah and your creative process?

So young Louyah, just Louis. There was no Louyah. I was a 16-year-old kid that loved metal music, so I picked up the guitar and started playing. I then joined the band as a guitarist and after that band broke up, I was a vocalist, so I screamed at people for a little bit and that was interesting. There was a whole metal scene community that loved our band and what we talked about. We talked about a lot of heartfelt things.

Heartfelt things like what?

I talked about my father's struggle with addiction. And that was a big part of my life before I even ventured into Louyah. The band and I were helping people that were not able to talk about those things and just be open and be honest. I would do this thing where I would have everybody close their eyes at my show, and I would say, “Raise your hand if you're struggling with addiction.” Everybody would close their eyes and you would be so surprised at how many people raised their hands. And then I would have everybody open their eyes and I'd be like, “Alright, now look around you. What do you see?” I've watched people just start crying, because they're like, “Oh, my God, my friend is standing right next to me. And he has an addiction. And I didn't know that.” My whole thing was just being a part of that community, helping people in those realms because that was a big struggle of my life. Through my father, and me, my two brothers, my whole family, we all struggled in that. Once that had kind of cleared up, I stopped doing the band stuff. A few of the people were getting older. Some are married, some had kids. I was looking for something else to do. I didn't want to do the five-member band thing, I wanted to just do something that was a little bit more solo. So, I started Louyah.

And how was that change for you? Was it difficult setting off on your own?

That was a big change for me, because I did listen to hip-hop. I was a fan of hip-hop, I love Biggie Smalls. My parents showed me older stuff, but my brother was constantly recommending artists to check out that he thought were cool. And he was like, “Well if you're going to do hip-hop, you should do it the way you want to do it,” because I was a little on the fence about doing it. He just told me to do it the way I want to do it and see how that works. So, I've been using that method. I've been doing it the way I've wanted to do it this whole time and that's working out well. I'm still technically in a band because I work with a whole group of people. Is the band all on stage with me? No. But I think they all play a really big part just like any other band would. That's my band of brothers. One of them has been my best friend since first grade. He makes all my music videos, he does my graphic design content, and he’s also my live drummer. I remember being young and being like, “yo, we're gonna work together, one day we're gonna be in a band together....” and we are now.

Is he one of the friends that got you on the radio in that TikTok clip?

No, he wasn't one of the friends that were in the car. The reason why I put “friends” is because those guys are basically my best friends and also more or less family. But behind me in the car was my little cousin Young Pwavy. And then behind the driver is my friend Gervs. He's actually on the album. He is such a talented singer. And the person that is driving is actually my brother. All three of them went ahead to just put a smile on my face when I needed it and they knew I needed it, because I dropped this record, and just nothing happened. So they just were like, “Yo, you put a lot of work into this, and we see how much work you put into us,” because I record them and I help produce for them, and they just wanted to make me happy. They literally are the reason my whole life changed.

@louyah

If you don’t have friends like this you’re missing out ❤️ #radio #song #louyah #newjersey

♬ I Used to Care - Louyah

I can only imagine how much joy you must have felt in that moment.

I cried. I cried A LOT. Yeah. I cried to my mom, my brothers, I just cried. There was nothing to do but cry for like, three, four days straight. I would go on live and I didn't even know what to say. I would just cry. They would ask why I was crying and I was just like, “I'm happy.” I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I don't know.

What can we expect from the next stage of Louyah?

I think everyone’s in for a surprise.

So a polka album?

Yeah definitely. Or jazz. Snake jazz!

People would love it!

Yeah, of course! But seriously, I think people are in for a surprise. Like I said, this first album was released in February, and I was ready to move on and move forward. I changed a lot of things about Louyah. Let's just say this new stuff is leaning more towards hip-hop than it is pop and rock. It still has similar elements but it's more hip hop. I'm not changing my voice or anything that crazy. There are some cool things that I'm doing, especially with the new song “La Da Di Da” I just put out. I've been working hard. Like, I have too much. I have too much music that needs to be listened to.

I know genres are arbitrary, but would you call yourself a hip-hop artist? What would you call yourself if you had to call yourself anything?

Honestly, that's a great question but also the hardest question for me. It's so changeable because I could say hip-hop right now, but a week from now, I could say rock. And then another week from now, I could say, pop or alternative. I can even say acoustic, because I do make acoustic music too. So I think at this point, it's just music. For right now, I can’t slap a label onto it because a label will box me, and I do not want to be boxed in any way.

What do you want to manifest for yourself in the year to come as an artist and as a person?

First and foremost, a house for my mom and a house for my dad. Also, a place to be more creative that has more room for the whole team that we have. That's number one, because I know that needs to happen. As for other manifestations, I want diamond records. I want plaques. I want to do US tours. God, I want to tour. I love touring, and I love traveling. I want to do sold-out shows. I want to sing in front of thousands and thousands and thousands of people that just all are connecting with me in that single moment, because that always felt like a very surreal moment, and I had just a short little taste of that at my own sold-out show for five hundred to six hundred people. 

I want to work with Post Malone. I want to work with Don Toliver. I want to work with JACKBOYS, Cactus Jack, and so many others. But these are big-name artists. On the real low, I've manifested the actual people that I love working with, which are Gervs, Young Pwavy, my friend Alec, and Kevin. Oh, and Dakun. I can't forget Dakun. Dakun mixes and masters everything and produces with me. I can't forget Dakun. All of those people I have manifested. I really did manifest everything I've wanted, and now it's just opened to more wants and more needs. So I'm excited to see what else comes of those things because, at this point, I don't even know what could happen tomorrow. There's something new every day.

[jaxl-road]

The League of Extraordinary Rockstars, ch.4

Summary: LA is a hub for music and mutants, making it the perfect place for Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, and countless other mutant musicians to call home. But it’s not all easy, especially when it comes to finding a decent place to live. So what better solution than moving in together in the mansion of an immortal? Love, drama, and super powers. If nothing else, it’ll be interesting.

Chapter Warnings: Language, genderswap!Steven

AN: This is a collaboration between myself and @the–blackdahlia​! It combines elements from her fic “It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)” (specifically her genderswapped!Steven) and my super powered GnR series. It is completely AU and ignores timelines like Woah, but hopefully you’ll have as much fun reading it as we’re having writing it! Let us know what you think!

~~~~~~~~~

Stevie had gotten so used to yelling waking her up, that when she woke up and the room was silent, she was a little confused. But a smile soon spread on her face as she stretched and rolled over on her mattress. She had so many plans for the room. Paint, rug, furniture, an actual bed, and more. And they were going to get a bunch of that today, plus groceries. A wholesale store had just opened up a month ago, and they actually had the money to buy a membership. They had a busy day today.

And it was cloudy outside.

But as she stood to get dressed, she didn’t think much of it. Stevie never stopped absorbing sunlight- she simply couldn’t shut her mutation off- and especially being in southern California, she usually had an excess of light in her. It was the reason she was always glowing at least a little. If it was overcast for more than a few days it was certainly not a fun time, but ever since she met Duff she was able to simply ask him for some clear skies if it had been too long and she’d be good to go.

Yesterday had been sunny though, so she figured she could let nature do its thing for now. No biggie. Throwing on some jeans and her least dirty shirt, she wandered out into the hallway of her new home. Axl and Sebastian’s door was shut, but Duff’s was open and empty. Continuing into the living room, she heard a frantic voice.

“Dude, I’m telling you, it was right there!”

Turning the corner, she found Tommy waving his arms dramatically in front of an unconvinced looking Duff.

“Well, if you’re so sure, why didn’t you chase after it?”

“I tried! But it was just gone! It probably burrowed under the floorboards or something!”

“What did?” Stevie piped up, getting their attention.

Duff rolled his eyes, “Tommy is still going on about that “raccoon” from yesterday,” he explained, disbelief heavy in his voice.

“It’s true though!” Tommy defended himself, “I saw it again this morning!”

“Are you sure you’re not just, like, super hungover?” Stevie tried to reason. So far, Tommy was the only one to have seen the supposed critter, so she tried to find another explanation, “I mean, I’ve had some mornings where I think the fucking walls are moving, y’know?”

“No! It’s real, I swear!”

Stevie and Duff exchanged looks, even as Tommy continued to ramble. They nodded along politely, wandering into the kitchen when the Motley Crue drummer finally gave up. Throwing open a cabinet, Stevie snatched a bag of chips for her breakfast. Along with their take out, they had grabbed some snacks the night before. The mansion didn’t have a fridge, only an old school ice box that was sorely lacking in ice. Oh well. They’d have that taken care of by the end of the day, Stevie thought happily.

“So, Kelly and I are going shopping today,” She told them as she shoved chips into her mouth. “I thought we could split and have half of you guys clean while half went shopping?”

“You know I hate shopping,” Duff groaned. “I guess I’ll stay here and clean.”

“T, I think you better come with me,” Stevie told the other drummer.

“What? Why?” Tommy asked.

“Well, if you made a flamethrower to melt roaches, imagine what you’ll do when you see your supposed raccoon.”

“Is he still going on about that?” Mick asked, shuffling down the stairs, “Why the fuck isn’t there a coffee maker? I need my caffeine.”

“We’ll get one,” Stevie told him, “Don’t worry. It’s on the list.”

“The delivery guys aren’t gonna be happy having to bring all the things you want to buy to the house,” Nikki pointed out as he appeared as well, leaning against the counter, “We give Kelly shit about the “commute”, but we actually are a decent ways away from the strip.”

“Why are we still complaining about the commute?” Baz inquired, wandering into the kitchen with a still mostly-asleep Axl draped across his back.

“Oh, you know,” Stevie sighed dramatically, “We were just talking about how much trouble getting all the new furniture and stuff here will be. If only there was a big, strong mutant who could get things home for us,” she batted her eyelashes at the tall singer.

“Aw, dude you know I’m your guy!” Baz laughed heartily, earning him a mumbled scolding from the redhead on his back that he was quick to ignore, “It’ll probably take me a few trips, I still have trouble jumping large shit so I might have to take things one at a time, but otherwise it’s no problem!”

“Baz, I love you,” Stevie kissed his cheek.

“Back off, he’s mine,” Axl grumbled from where his face was still pressed into his back. Stevie smiled and shook her head.

“He dyes his hair black and we might have to fight for him,” Stevie told Axl. At that moment, Izzy made his way in and Stevie’s smile got bigger. “Iz!”

“God, how are you so cheerful so early in the morning?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m just excited!” She told him, “And you’re going shopping with me and Kelly!”

“What?” Izzy asked. “Who decided that?”

“I did,” Stevie said proudly, “We have a lot to do to get this house in livable shape!” There was a chorus of groans. “I don’t want to hear it. Or I’ll kick everyone except Kelly out.”

The grumbling continued, but none of them put up any real fight. They quickly got the groups sorted out. Stevie, Kelly, Izzy, Tommy, Nikki, and Sebastian would be hitting the stores for the various supplies and furniture the house needed to be livable. Meanwhile, Vince, Mick, Slash, Duff, and Axl would be staying to clean the place and make it less of a health hazard.

Baz dropped Axl unceremoniously onto the beat up couch in the living room. “He’ll wake up once he realizes everyone is doing their cleaning “wrong”,” he assured them.

“Excuse me for having fucking standards,” the redhead mumbled into the dusty cushions, receiving one last kiss on his cheek before the groups split up. The shopping team got ready, Kelly deciding that they should deposit the money instead of paying with cash, so they headed out to the bank.

“Okay, so let’s start with the floor?” Duff suggested. Axl, who’s head had been resting on the couch, popped up suddenly.

“I think the fuck not!”

****

They split the money and each put it in their separate accounts. After fixing overdraft and bank fees, they were all good to go. Stevie was smiling still as she settled in Kelly’s car. She stared out the window as he drove towards the various furniture and home decor stores. Stevie had plans, and one of those plans included a new bed without a spring poking her back.

“You okay over there Glowstick?” Kelly asked. “You’re kinda quiet.”

“I’m good,” She smiled at him, “Just must need some more sleep, y'know?”

Shrugging, Kelly accepted her answer. He hadn’t slept great either, being in a house as old as his meant a lot of weird noises, not to mention they all still had shitty mattresses, so he was sure the blonde drummer would be fine soon enough.

Pulling up to Sears, Stevie clapped her hands excitedly while the poor boys shoved in the back seat of Kelly’s car practically fell out.

“Fuck, Sebastian why do you have so much leg??” Nikki complained, stretching as he stood on the sidewalk, “I thought Tommy was long…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Izzy practically screeched, having ghosted out of the car the second the wheels had stopped, “All three of you are over six feet of dumbass! I almost slipped out on the freeway just to end my misery!”

“Aw, poor little guy,” Kelly tried to ruffle Izzy’s hair, though he wasn’t surprised when his hand fell right through.

Izzy glared, “You’re like, an inch taller than me!”

“Okay guys, stop posturing,” Stevie rolled her eyes, “This is supposed to be the fun part! We can get some kickass stuff to make the house the most rockin place in Hollywood!”

They all headed inside. Stevie immediately headed towards the furniture, but Nikki spotted the power tools and looked at Tommy.

“We’ll need a drill and stuff right?” He asked. “And, like, a screwdriver?”

“Shiny torture devices,” Tommy laughed. “Let’s go look.”

“You know if you don’t go with Stevie, she’ll pick your furniture out for you, right?” Izzy told them. They just shrugged. Kelly and Baz were distracted by the video game display, so Izzy sighed, and then realized something. He would be alone with Stevie until they got bored with their toys.

This was his chance.

Following after Stevie, he found the drummer giggling as she hopped onto different mattresses, grinning at the feel of a bed that wasn’t dragged out of a dumpster.

“Having fun?” Izzy smirked.

“Oh, lots,” Stevie replied. Looking over at him, her brows furrowed, suddenly glancing around, “Hey, where’d the other guys go?”

Izzy shrugged, “Baz and Kelly were looking at some game or something, and the terror twins were playing with power tools.”

Stevie huffed, “I swear, I’m going to get those boys bunk beds.”

“Knowing them they’d be thrilled.”

“Come try this mattress out with me!” Stevie told Izzy. He sat on the edge and she pulled him back to lay on it.

“Oh, this is nice,” Izzy mumbled. “I could get used to this.”

“Let’s rebel and take a nap at Sears,” Stevie laughed. Right then, a salesperson came up.

“Do you and your boyfriend like it?” She asked with a giggle. Stevie smiled.

“It’s great but we have a few more to try out,” She told her. Izzy noticed that she didn’t say “he’s not my boyfriend”.

“Well, if you need anything, I’ll be over there,” She told them before walking away. Stevie rolled onto her side.

“Wanna go try out another one?” She asked. “Or should we just order however many in this style?”

Looking into her eyes, Izzy felt his mind racing. He wanted to say “let's try all of them” or maybe “let’s lay here forever” or maybe “oh my God do you have any idea how much I love you?”

But when he opened his mouth, all that came was a choked, “This one seems good.”

“Well, okay then,” Stevie smiled and got up. “I’m gonna go look at some bedding now. I think they have those sets that have everything all in one. Do you wanna come with me?” She bit her lip slightly. She wanted to take the reins and ask Izzy or Duff out, but most of the people she talked to said that they should make the first move. So Stevie was left waiting for someone, who wasn’t Kelly, to flirt with her orsomething.

“Yeah, as long as I can have something in black,” Izzy smirked. Stevie headed over to the bedding, writing on a little notebook what the furniture they needed would be. There were shelves upon shelves of bedding and Stevie just stared at them. Her head was starting to hurt and she felt really tired.

“So, uh, see anything you like?” Stevie asked, gravitating to a purple set. Izzy watched her for a moment before finding his own set in black

“Here,” He told her, “You feeling okay?”

“I’m great. Just tired,” She told him, grinning. “Why don’t we pick out for everyone else?”

“Yeah, sure,” Izzy replied. His eyes almost immediately fell on what had to be child’s bedding, green with bright, cartoonish flowers all over it. Grinning mischievously, he pointed at the garish pattern.

“Oh, we’re definitely getting that one for Vince.”

~~~~~~~

“No, no, no!” Axl yelled, “You’re doing it wrong!”

“I’m just bagging up the trash! How am I doing it wrong?” Vince asked, glaring at the redhead.

“Well, for starters, you’re not in the bag,” Axl shot back. Duff groaned.

“Can you two be civil for like five minutes?” Duff asked.

“He started it!” Both yelled at the same time. Mick pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Where the hell is Slash?” He asked, “Why isn’t he here trying to help us?”

“Because he’s probably sleeping,” Duff rolled his eyes, “Or trying to find more snakes around the garden.”

“I swear, we need to put a bell on him,” Axl muttered.

“Whatever, I’m sure I’ll fucking trip over him soon enough,” Duff grumbled bitterly, sweeping a pile of debris into a small pan.

Given how large the house was, they were making good progress. They’d gotten rid of the cobwebs and layers of dust, and the decades old trash and bottles were cleared away.

"I see we've made progress even with all the screeching," Vince muttered.

"I'll show you screeching," Axl growled, "Baz isn't here and he's like 85% of my self control."

"Chill out," Mick stood between the frontmen, "We're lucky we got this place. Don't fuck it up."

"Guys! There's more buildings out here!" Slash called from outside.

"That's great but you're supposed to be helping us clean this one!" Duff told him.

“But we’re barely even seen the whole place!” Slash whined.

“You know we gotta have this done before Stevie gets home and cuts off all of our balls,” Vince told him.

“Yeah, I saw the way you were looking at Kelly,” Mick told Vince, “You might need them.” Slash glared slightly at Vince under his hair before he huffed and went to get a mop. Axl was about to say something when there was a noise at the front door.

“Hey guys! Let me in!” Baz called. Axl went to the door to find Baz with a cart that had three mattresses on it.

“What’s this?” Axl asked.

“Beds babe!” Baz gave him a kiss, “Oh, the cart? I just thought it would be handy. And it was just sitting outside of Sears.”

“You just stole a cart from Sears?” Mick asked, arms crossed.

“Well yeah. They’re good for it. They’re loaded,” Baz smirked as he brought in the mattresses. “Here’s the first three. I gotta get the rest of them.”

As the teleporter popped away for the second haul, Slash merely shrugged, “Hey, we’ve stolen worse.” He and Duff got to work dragging the mattresses into various bedrooms as Sebastian brought the rest of their haul. By the time he had brought all the mattresses and bedding, the Skid Row singer was panting, collapsing face down onto the mattresses still on the cart.

“You alive, man?” Vince questioned, poking his shoulder only to have his hand slapped away by Axl.

“Yeah, yeah, no, I’m good,” Baz mumbled, “Just… Just need a minute.”

As they waited for Sebastian to recover so they could move the rest of the mattresses, Duff tilted his head and squinted at the singer, a thought from earlier returning to him.

“Slash,” he asked, voice serious, “should I dye my hair black?”

“I swear to god, I will never escape this bullshit,” Slash sighed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Duff asked.

“Nothing,” Slash grumbled, “God, I can’t wait to sleep on a brand new mattress.”

“Stevie’s getting bed frames delivered,” Baz mumbled, “Said it wouldn’t be fair for me to keep having to teleport everything.”

“Good call,” Axl nodded, draping himself casually across the other singer’s back, “This is a lot for one day.”

“She told me not to do all these but I was like, challenge accepted!” Baz laughed, “I’m starting to feel better. I wanna go to the grocery store. The one we’re going to is the one that gives out all the samples!”

“Man, he gets free samples while we’re stuck here cleaning?” Slash pouted.

“They’ll bring back food for all of us, you big baby,” Axl rolled his eyes, hopping to his feet as Sebastian stood, stretching his arms over his head.

“Alright, see you guys in a bit!” And with one last ‘pop’, he was gone again.

“God, he bounces back fast,” Vince announced. Axl smirked.

“You should see him at night,” Axl winked, “Now come on, let’s get these mattresses into the rooms and ready for the rest of the stuff!”

With only minimal complaining, the group got back to work setting up their new home.

~~~~~~~

Sebastian stumbled just slightly as he materialized in front of the wholesale store Kelly had said they’d be going to next. Sure enough, the group was out front waiting for him, having managed to beat him there while he was taking his break.

Grinning widely, he jogged over to the cluster of musicians, “Alright, everything’s back at the house! Now let’s get some grub, I’ve been looking forward to this part all day!”

“It’s just the grocery store,” Kelly shook his head. They headed inside, signing up for their membership cards, before starting to walk around the store. Stevie was doing fine, but by the third sample station, she stopped accepting it, and by the time they filled up the second cart with bulk goods, she was so tired she could’ve slept on one of the display models.

“Guys?” She asked, “Will someone walk out with me to the car please?”

“I got it! You guys keep going,” Tommy told them, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and heading back out through the store.

“What’s that about?” Kelly asked Nikki, who shrugged. Izzy came back from grabbing a big thing of paper towel, frowning when he saw Stevie gone.

“Where’d Stevie go?” he asked, throwing the paper towels into the cart.

“She went out to the car with Tommy,” Nikki explained.

“She’d been kind of off all day,” Kelly chimed in, “Maybe she’s sick or something.”

Izzy hummed, glancing towards the exit in concern, but following after the other two boys regardless. Maybe Stevie just needed to sit down.

Meanwhile, Stevie had thought the same thing, but sitting wasn’t helping at all. She felt drained, like she wanted to sleep for a week, and she had to lean heavily on Tommy, barely able to keep herself sitting upright.

“Hey, you okay?” Tommy asked as he held her up.

“Mmmm,” Was all Stevie answered. Tommy had climbed inside the back of the car with her in his arms. It was only in the shaded interior of the car that Tommy could see that she was glowing a pale green.

What the fuck?

“Stevie? What’s going on?” Tommy asked. He knew she would glow consistently, but it was usually more golden, or yellow, sometimes orange. But never green. She looked like a glow in the dark star that was fading out. But Stevie was already asleep, her head resting on his chest, and didn’t answer.

“Stevie?” He asked again, shaking her lightly. She murmured a little, but otherwise stayed quiet. Okay, Tommy was officially freaked out. His head darted around, as if he could find a solution within the beat up vehicle. He didn’t want to leave her, but he didn’t know how much longer the guys would be, and he was super fucking worried. Maneuvering himself slowly, he gently laid the other drummer down across the backseat, closing the door softly before sprinting back into the store in a gust of wind.

“I’m just saying, just cause we have money doesn’t mean everything needs to be name brand!” Kelly was arguing with Nikki, each holding a bag of chips that were nearly identical.

Izzy pinched the bridge of his nose, “I swear, if you two don’t get your shit together, I’m gonna-”

“Guyssomethingiswrongwithstevieshe’sgreenlikeliterallygreenIdon’tknowwhat’swrong!”

The three men were nearly blown back as Tommy skid to a stop in front of them, a frantic look on his face as he spit out what was probably supposed to be words, but instead just sounded like gibberish.

“Woah, babe, slow down,” Nikki frowned in concern, tossing the chips to the side as he put his hands on Tommy’s shoulders, “What’s wrong?”

“Stevie!” The speedster forced himself to speak at human speeds, “I don’t know what’s wrong, but she’s super out of it and she’s glowing, like, green!”

“Shit,” Izzy groaned, “Just hurry up and get some fucking chips!” Izzy hurried outside, leaving everyone confused. They hurried up their shopping as Izzy headed out to the car. Sure enough, she was laying in the backseat, glowing slightly green. Izzy opened the back door and gently pulled Stevie to him.

“I-Iz?” Stevie asked weakly before falling back asleep. Izzy held onto her. The one time he needed Duff and he wasn’t around. He glared at the overcast sky as if he could stare it into submission.

The driver’s door suddenly opened, Kelly sticking his head in and practically throwing bags of food into the front seat. He could hear the trunk opening as well.

“Alright dude,” Kelly asked seriously, “What’s going on?” He bit his lip anxiously as he saw the muted green glow of the Guns drummer.

“This happens when she doesn’t get enough sun,” Izzy explained, “It makes her really sick. It’s Hell for her,” he pet her hair softly as he spoke, “We need to get back to the house so Duff can clear the fucking clouds.”

“I’ll teleport and take some of this stuff with me,” Baz told them.

“I can run home,” Tommy shrugged.

“And leave me here? I’ll piggyback.” Nikki added.

“We’ll meet you there,” Kelly nodded and started the car, taking off. Baz grabbed the leftover things and teleported home while Nikki climbed on Tommy’s back.

“I deserve a backrub after this,” Tommy groaned.

“I’ll do that and more. Let’s just get home,” Nikki promised. Tommy smirked and took off.

In the backseat of the car, Izzy held onto Stevie, focusing on staying solid. This wasn’t the first time he had seen her sick like this, but it was still scary. There was always the “what if”. What if she didn’t stop glowing green? What if they’re someplace where they can’t get sun? What if…

Izzy shook his head and focused on Stevie.

There was no good in focusing on the what ifs- Stevie had always bounced back, and she would do so again this time. She was strong as Hell, and no weather would get her down for long. Without even thinking about it, he gave the drummer a soft kiss on her hair. She’d be fine.

In the front seat, Kelly furrowed his brow as he looked up at the long road leading up to their neighborhood before snorting loudly. Ahead of the car in the distance, he saw a few bolts of lightning before the clouds started retreating from the same spot, the sun slowly spreading as the sky cleared. Kelly shook his head.

“I swear, Duff should have been a theater kid.”

~~~~~~~~

"I'm back!" Baz announced as he teleported into the living room and dropped the bags, "Duff, man!"

"What?" Duff came down the stairs having dropped the last mattress off.

"We need you Mr. Wizard," Baz told him. "Our little Starshine is sun sick."

“What?!” Duff shrieked, a few flashes of lighting coming through the window, “How? It’s been sunny all week, this is the first overcast day in a fuckin while!” Even as he ranted though, his irises and pupils faded as his eyes slowly turned a clear, bright white, and the yard outside was soon bathed in sunshine, the clouds spiraling into a rapidly expanding circle of clear sky.

“I dunno man, that’s just what Izzy said,” Sebastian shrugged, glancing away. He always thought Duff’s eyes were kind of creepy when he did more intense weather manipulation, “She was like, this dull green color.”

Frowning, Duff hummed in concern, “Weird…” His white eyes narrowed slightly as he focused on clearing the clouds from as much of the city as he could. Just a few minutes later the car pulled up. Kelly started carrying food in as Izzy carried Stevie in.

"What happened?" Duff asked.

"Remember how excited she was yesterday and was glowing a shit ton?" Izzy pointed out, "This is the result."

“Fuck, I didn’t even think of that,” Duff looked at the sleeping blonde sadly, “Goddammit, girl, why you always gotta be so excited about everything.”

“Aw, poor Glowstick,” Vince cooed, “I feel bad for complaining about all the times she blinded me yesterday.”

“As you should,” Axl huffed, though he shared the worried gaze of the rest of the house.

“She’ll be fine, guys,” Slash reassured the non-Guns members, who had never witnessed this sort of malady with Stevie before, “She just needs to sleep it off and soak in some sun.”

"I'll take her to her room," Izzy told them, carrying her down the hall. When he looked behind him, the rest of the housemates were following. "Guys, she's fine. Chill out."

"I just, I've been around her a lot and never seen her like that…" Kelly admitted.

Izzy softened, nodding sympathetically, “Yeah, I know.” He let them continue to follow him without comment, the group crowded around the doorway as Izzy set Stevie down gently on the new mattress in the corner of her room. Sighing contentedly, the drummer murmured unintelligibly as she rolled over to spread out on the bed like a starfish, sleepily soaking in the sun shining through the large, numerous windows. It was hard to see in the bright room, but they liked to think she looked a little less green.

Tugging her boots off and tossing them aside, Izzy nodded at the crowd, shooing them away, “Alright guys, let’s go,” he said softly, “let’s let her rest.” Begrudgingly, they all shuffled back into the living room where piles of bedding and food still sat abandoned on the floor.

“Right, so,” Kelly shook his head to clear his thoughts, “The fridge is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so we mostly got nonperishable shit.”

"Oh chips! Yes!" Vince called out, "You guys are the best."

"Who picked out the bedding?" Axl quizzed.

"Mainly Stevie but I helped," Izzy told them, "Why, got a problem with it?"

"I mean...there's pink stuff…" the frontman grumbled.

“Check it out, there’s also some black sheets too!” Sebastian pointed out.

“Hands off!” Izzy snapped, snatching the bundle of black fabric away, “That one’s mine!”

“Ooooh, so it’s a first come, first serve situation?” Sebastian questioned.

There were a few beats of silence as they all stared at the pile in front of them. Then, chaos erupted as they all leapt forward, elbowing, wrestling, and shouting as they all fought over the different patterns, designs, and colors.

Izzy shook his head in horror, clutching his plain bedding to his chest tighter as he backed away from the madness.

Eventually, two sets of sheets remained- a soft purple one (which Slash had reluctantly relinquished when Izzy told him it was Stevie’s), and a bright pink one with little stars printed across it.

"Look what the twins get," Kelly chuckled. Just then, Tommy walked in, dragging his feet in exhaustion, with Nikki beside him, "Oh, speak of the devils!"

"What's up?" Nikki asked.

"Here's your bedding!" Mick grinned.

"No. No way." Nikki shook his head, "No."

“Sorry, dudes,” Vince snickered, “You were just too slow.”

“I hate all of you,” Tommy whined, laying down directly on the floor, “You’re the worst roommates ever.”

“Suck it up, buttercup,” Mick smirked.

As Tommy and Nikki tried to bribe different people to switch sheets with them, Kelly finally got a chance to really look around him. The house still definitely needed work, what with all the loose floorboards and peeling wallpaper and such, but the lack of dust and grime actually did make a big difference.

“This place is sprucing up pretty nice,” Duff commented, clutching his polka dot bedding protectively as he stood next to Kelly, “Give it a couple weeks and the property value will probably skyrocket,” he grinned, elbowing the other bassist teasingly.

Kelly snorted, “Yeah, yeah. It’s definitely not as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“Wow, tone down the enthusiasm there, Nickels, you’re shining brighter than Stevie.”

“Shut up.”

Chuckling, Duff made his way back to his room to set up his things. While his stuff had been moved over the day before, he hadn’t taken the time to actually put the room together. He figured now was as good a time as any to put up some posters and get shit organized.

The hours passed steadily as the room came together. Books, records, and various pig themed knick knacks filled the tall bookcases lining the walls. His new bed was shoved into a corner by the lone window in the room and piled with both the new bed sheets as well as the blankets he had brought with him, and his bass was placed carefully on its stand. Before he knew it, the sun was setting and his stomach was growling angrily.

He reluctantly headed downstairs where everyone was digging through the food. Duff grabbed an apple and started to snack on it when he looked around.

“Stevie come out yet?” He asked.

“No. I think she’s still sleeping,” Slash told him. Duff nodded and grabbed some different foods and drinks and headed up towards Stevie’s bedroom. She was pretty much laying the same way she had been when Izzy dropped her off, although now she was cuddling a blanket someone had left for her. Duff couldn’t help but smile.

As much as he hated to wake her, food and water would help her feel better just as much as the rest would. Sitting next to the mattress, he shook her shoulder gently.

“Stevie,” he whispered, chuckling when her only response was a soft grumble as she buried her face into her pillow, “Stevie, come on, wake up. I brought you some food.” The grumbling continued, and Duff shook his head fondly. Grabbing a bag of Cheetos from the pile he had brought with him, he pulled the bag open and held it open by the drummer’s face.

“Come ooooon,” he said teasingly, “I got your favorite!”

As expected, the scent of the snack had Stevie blinking awake, turning towards Duff and blindly snatching the bag from him as he laughed.

“My favorite,” She mumbled, eating the Cheetos lazily.

“You’re going to turn into Chester if you keep eating those the way you are,” He chuckled. Stevie just shrugged.

“I’m not the super fast one in this house,” She told him. Duff laughed and went to stand up. “Where are you going?”

“Back downstairs so you can eat in peace?” He shrugged. “I got you a Sprite too, and some other snacks and-”

“Can...can you stay?” Stevie asked.

The request caught Duff off guard, and he felt his heart beat just a little faster. “Are you sure?” he asked, “I don’t want to disturb your rest.”

But Stevie shook her head, “No, I…” she trailed off, “I dunno. I’m feeling better but I just… don’t want to be alone right now.” She clutched the bag of Cheetos to her chest and burrowed down into her blankets, “Never mind, it’s stupid…”

“No, no, no!” Duff practically shouted, “You’re fine, Sunshine,” he carefully laid down next to her, self-consciousness causing him to leave a few inches of space between them.

But it only took a moment for Stevie to scoot over and press herself next to the bassist, resting her head on his shoulder, “Thanks, Duff.”

“Anytime,” he smiled, putting an arm around her to pull her just a little closer. Then, after a moment, he grinned, “You are going to have to share the snacks though.”

“Mmmmm, maybe,” She laughed. “I don’t know if I should though.”

“Why not?” Duff asked.

“Oh, I dunno,” She snuggled closer to him and his heart was racing as fast as Tommy running to the liquor store. God, he wanted to just kiss her so bad, he wanted to ask her out, he wanted to tell her how he had loved her for so long but he didn’t even know how to start. He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to talk himself into doing something. Anything. Was it punk rock for his hands to be this sweaty over a crush?

“Hey Duff,” Stevie bit her lip and looked up at him, “C-can I tell you something?”

“Of course!” Duff turned to look down at her, suddenly concerned, “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I, uh, I might kinda have a crush on someone. He’s tall, with blond hair, and he’s really sweet,” She looked down, suddenly shy.

Furrowing his brows, Duff mentally listed all of their friends, trying to think of who matched that description. It took him longer than he cared to admit to finally click on what she meant, his face flushing, “Wait… really?” He was afraid to get his hopes up. Maybe she was describing someone Duff just hadn’t met before. He was sure there were lots of tall blondes in LA. Oh God, what if she had run into his brother? He might die.

“Yeah,” She admitted, “I...Duff, I like you…” She smiled a little, waiting for rejection.

Duff didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t find the words to express how light he felt hearing her say that, the weight of all his stress and longing suddenly gone in a fraction of a second. He didn’t think any words existed to explain how happy and disbelieving and relieved and overjoyed he was. How could he possibly explain it?

So he settled for kissing her instead.

Stevie froze. Was she still asleep and dreaming? She felt Duff start to pull back, so she followed him, returning the kiss. Duff wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he kissed her. They both smiled into the kiss, eyes closed as they got lost in each other.

Meanwhile, Izzy decided to check on Stevie, having not seen her since carrying her to her room. Not wanting to wake her if she was still resting, he stuck his head through the door quietly to make sure she was alright.

But what he found was her and Duff in a liplock, and he felt his heart sink.

He pulled himself back into the hallway rapidly, staring at the door between him and the two blondes. It took him a minute to make his legs work, to carry him back to his room, ignoring any attempts made by his many roommates to talk to him along the way. When he was finally safely in the confines of his own room, he sat heavily on his bed.

He shouldn’t be upset, he thought to himself. Had he really thought he had a chance with her? He was the quiet, dark, brooding one, and she was sunshine and joy. Her and Duff made more sense.

It still hurt though. He laid back on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, letting his eyes drift shut.

Downstairs, Duff and Stevie slowly separated, both with smiles on their faces. Duff cupped her cheek, but he noticed that her eyes were heavy.

“Why don’t we lay down?” He suggested.

“That sounds great,” She yawned. They moved the snacks off her bed and Duff grabbed the blanket to cover them up. He wrapped his arms around Stevie, placing one last kiss on the crown of her head before they both drifted off to sleep.

[poe30]

Summer Love part 3

Summer Love:  Julie’s older cousin comes for a summer visit from the east coast, unaware of just what she’s going to get herself into, while helping out. But she’s got a secret of her own, one she’s hid from most of the family, and it includes her 6th sense. Will she be able to help save the ghost band from their curse or will it all blow up in their faces? Especially when a summer love blossoms between one of the ghost boys and herself.

Pairings: Ghost!Luke x Fem!Reader

.-.-. Summer Love Part 1

.-.-. Summer Love Part 2

~~~~~

It didn’t take long before a skater boy came rolling past, stopping right in front of her. Flickering her eyes over at him, she took in his appearance, definitely fit the description Rex had described, now it was just time to get some information out of him.

“Willie right?” The boy nodded, a little unsure, hoping he was making the right decision.

“I’m [y/n]. Its nice to meet you.” Giving him a soft smile, reassuring him you weren’t a threat, as you watched his eyes flicked to the closed garage, hearing the band play.

“Don’t worry about them, they’ll be in there for least another hour. But, let’s get down to business shall we?” Patting the spot next to her, he hopped up.

“Rex caught me up with what your little group plans on doing for everyone trapped.” He started, glancing down at her notes, a little impressed so far. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but if it gets everyone, myself and Callie free, I’m all in.” She chuckled at his happiness at that,

“Glad I’ll be able to help, hes been on our radar for a few years now, and he needs taken care.” Simply stating, before asking him all kinds of questions that was relatable to what Caleb’s were and how they worked. Writing down all he knew, she hummed, quite satisfied at the newfound information. Unaware to them that practice had ended, and quite unaware of the four figures watching them from the studio. Millions of questions going through their minds, only snapping out of it when [y/n] snapped the book close, thanking Willie for the information.

“Hopefully we can get this situation taken care of quickly.” Jumping off the hood, she rose a brow when she saw the band.

“Can we help you guys with something?” Willie turned to see the newcomers, giving a small wave to Alex, Jules being confused since she couldn’t see who she was talking to.

“You knowing so many ghosts is a big mystery to me [y/n].” Julie simply stated, causing the older Molina to shrug,

“In all do time, I’ll reveal why. But if you’ll excuse me, I got some work to do. Thank you meeting me so quickly Willie.” Patting him on the shoulder, she turned after grabbing her bag, she nodded to Julie to come along to give them some privacy.

“See you boys later, have fun with Willie, Alex!” [y/n] smirked, before the two took off back to the house, leaving two blushing boys behind, and two snickering.

“What did [y/n] need to talk to you about? I didn’t even think she knew to many ghosts.” the blonde asked, a little cautious of what the newcomers intentions were. Were they good? Bad? Alex couldn’t help but ask Willie.

“Just some tourists spots and what not. Had to warn her about staying away from Caleb too. He’s not too fond of her kind.” Willie explained, scratching the back of his nervously, keeping the real reason a secret for the time being, not needing her to come after him in a bad way, especially with needing her help.

“Her kind?” the confused boys asked, causing the skater to chuckle.

“You’ll have to ask her about it, I gotta go before Caleb gets suspicious. Ill see you later tonight Alex.” was all the skater said before riding away from the trio.

~~~~

“Is anyone else curious of [y/n] now, and what shes hiding?” Luke turned to his best friends, each giving their own form of agreement.

“What do we do about it though? We can’t just exactly confront her about it.” Alex pointed out the only flaw.

“Can always ask, Julie? She may know?” and with that in mind, they made their way up to their singers room, only to be met with both girls. Sighing softly, [y/n] rolled her eyes softly catching Luke’s eyes for a moment,

“We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, night Jules.” Smiling softly at Julie, when she wished her a good night, walking past the boys and out of her cousins room. The brown haired girl turned to her band mates with a rose brow.

“Who exactly is your cousin, Julie?” Luke’s blunt question took them all by surprise, especially the girl they were asking. Narrowing her eyes, Julie glared at them, the boys holding their hands up in defense before making their intentions clearer.

“What the idiot meant to say is, how is she able to see, hear, and even know more ghosts?” Alex said, not even bothering with Luke’s slight protest. Her glare easing up a little, as she thought about it. She too was curious to know as well,

“We’d have to talk to her about it. I never asked her about it, because this is the first time I’ve seen her in years.” She murmured, before her eyes going wide, a thought coming to mind. The book her grandfather used to have.

“The book..” murmuring to herself, unaware the boys heard her.

“A book?” Reggie asked the question they were all thinking, confusion going on between the three.

“What’s a book got to do with this?” The boys sitting wherever they could, hoping someone would explain it to them.

“It’s not just a book, but an old worn out book our grandfather kept. I can’t remember much, but it definitely had supernatural in it.”  She tried thinking back to what exactly was in the book, but was coming up with blanks. “I don’t know where the book went, it disappeared one day.” Frowning, as she groaned, plopping back on her bed.

“Doesn’t [y/n] have a bunch of old worn books? Do you think one of them could be your grandfathers?” Alex ran a hand through his hair, knowing exactly what his friends now planned on doing.

“Guys, no. We can’t invade her privacy like this. Did you forget she told us not to open any of them?” The drummer tried to reason with them all, Julie taking his side instantly.

“Boundaries guys. Don’t go making her mad alright? Respect her privacy. I’ll talk to her about it in the morning and we’ll get to the bottom of this.” After a few minutes they had no choice but to oblige to her wishes. Knowing one way or another, they were gonna find out just what [y/n] was hiding from them, and they hoped it wouldn’t end up a disaster.

~~~~~

To say the next morning was eventful, would’ve been an understatement. [y/n] had woken up and gotten around to do her daily things, and the last thing she had to do was gather up her books to start working on helping Willie out. Only to find out, all her books were missing, and she was furious.

“Julie!” Her voice rang out, startling the poor girl awake, as her door was slammed open. Julie rubbed her eyes, looking over at her angry cousin, and instantly knew the boys had something to do with this.

“My books are missing, the ones I specifically told them not to look in.” Eyes going darker, as Alex and Reggie poofed in, seeing the look on [y/n]’s face, told them all they needed to know.  Two sets of eyes locked onto the two boys, one seething and the other disappointed.

“Where are my/her books?” The girls questioned at the same time, [y/n] taking a couple steps closer to them, as they tried to hide behind Julie.

“We don��t know!” [y/n] growled, not liked being lied to,

“Either tell me, or you won’t ever be able to play your instruments again.” Her voice was low, threatening, as the boys shivered from her tone, before coughing it up that Luke had took them while they’ve slept. Eyes ablaze, she quickly turned around and made her way towards the studio, Julie scrambling to get out of bed to follow behind her pissed off cousin.

~~~~

Slamming the studio doors open, a gust of wind blew in, the atmosphere chilling with the new arrival. All the books were open with papers scattered around. Luke jumped up, eyes going wide when he realized he was caught red handed. Alex and Reggie poofing in off to the side, Julie finally catching up next to her cousin. With a flick of her wrist, the papers nestled themselves back in the pages they belonged to, the books shutting and flying back into her bag, which was laid next to his feet.

“Give me one good reason, I shouldn’t break your nose.” She snarled out, walking towards him like a predator stalking their prey, ready to tear him apart. What she didn’t expect though, was the fire that was slowly rising in his eyes.

“Who exactly are you, [y/n].” Luke was never the one who liked someone who kept secrets away from him, or his friends. The other three could only watch, not knowing how to handle the ticking time bomb in the room. Chuckling darkly, her eyes narrowed even more at him, growing darker shade of blue.

“Medium, psychic, witch. I can be whatever you want. I’m sure you figured that all out when you snooped through my books.” Standing now toe to toe with Luke, who was slowly lost at words.

“Don’t touch my belongings again without my permission, or something will happen. An, you will not like the outcome of it, I promise you that.” She warned, grabbing her bag by his feet and putting it on one of her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she gave him some credit, no ones ever stood up to her before, especially not a cute ghost like Luke. Eyes widening slowly at the thought, she shook her head, before falling back into the chair. Groaning, as she ran a hand down her face, taking a few deep breaths.

“I should storm out of here, and be pissed off. But I figured this would happen with three curious little ghosts haunting around. Sit, all of you.” Placing her bag by her feet, she waited till they all had sat down. “First off, congrats Luke. You’re the first one to stand up to me when I’ve been fired up” Rolling her eyes softly when she saw the small grin on his face, looking completely unaffected by her threat a few mere minutes ago.

“[y/n].. what are those books? Is grandfathers one of them.” Jules curiosity rang out in the quiet room, the girl nodding to the question.

“Aye, his is one of the many books I have. It explains why you can see ghosts now Julie. It runs in the family, kinda. It skips the males in the house now, for some odd reason but. Congrats on unlocking your sixth sense.” Sending her a small smile, before eyeing the boys.  “Its a pain sometimes, but I’m glad your first time dealing with it, is with these fellas.” gesturing to the three of them, proud smiles on their faces as the girls rolled their eyes.

“Now.. these books here, are whats going to help my friends and I, put Caleb down a few pegs.” The boys froze and glanced at each other, fueling her curiosity before it clicked. “You three made a damn deal with him didn’t you?” She growled lowly, knowing there was now more at stake than just Willie, Callie and everyone else trapped.

“We didn’t know it at the time! We just shook his hand and it was there.” Alex explained, causing her to furrow her brows, confused.

“Caleb just doesn’t give his mark to just anyone unless they’re a threat to him.”

“You learned all that just from those books?” Reggie asked, causing Julie to nudge him hard in the stomach,

“Obviously shes been getting information from someone about him.” Her words clicked in their minds, she was getting her information from Willie.

“Willie’s been giving you information hasn’t he? Is that why he was here yesterday?” Alex started freaking out a little, knowing if he got caught, something bad would happen to him. [y/n] got up when Alex started pacing,  placing a hand on his shoulder,

“Look, Alex, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. Caleb has been out of control with power hungry in a sense. Willie got a hold of my friend as a last resort to help get his soul back along with others. They don’t wanna be under his thumb anymore, they wanna be them and free. My friends and I are the only ones who can set them free. Trust me on this, we’ll set your boyfriend free.” Smirking softly when the boys cheeks flushed pink at the last part, as Alex tried to deny it, the boys chuckle in the background.

“How do you plan on stopping him?” Stopping in front of Luke, she rose a brow down at his question,

“We pretty much have a good idea on how we’re going to stop him. But, we’re missing the final piece before we can even begin the plan.” Running a hand through her hair, she sat next to Luke on the arm piece of the couch. “If we can figure out where it is, we can set them all free, including you three.”

Silence fell over the group for a few minutes, before they heard Ray call to them that breakfast was done, and to come eat before it got cold. Heaving themselves off their seats, and grabbing her bag, she stopped by the door, Julie a few feet in front of her,

“Well, now that you know why I’m here. Stay out of my things without permission. Last warning.”  Warning them, eyes lingering on Luke’s figure a little longer than the other two, who gave into submission along with Luke.

~~~~

Tags: @crybabyddl 

{If you want on the tag list, just lemme know!}

[a-silent-symphony]

Nightwish's Floor Jansen: the music that changed my life

Nightwish singer Floor Jansen celebrates the music that lit her path into symphonic metal

The Gathering - Mandylion

"This album was the reason I started to form the idea in my brain that I could sing in a metal band. There‘s a song on it called Strange Machines and it got played on the radio when was I starting to get interested in metal.

"It was combination of that style of female vocals and heavy guitars. Anna Van Giersbergen’s voice was just … wow to me and hearing her sing on that kind of music, I was like, ‘Yeah that’s what I want.’ For me, an interest in female singers started with Anna Van Giersbergen and with Mandylion."

Joseph And the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

"This was life changing because it made me aware that I could sing. It was a musical that we held at our high school, and I was in it. I must have been 12. There were actual auditions and I participated, wanting the role of the narrator which was one of the main roles and one of the characters who sings by far the most. And I got it, even though I shared the position with two other girls.

"All of a sudden, I realised I can sing. I was the teased child, but in that group, I found I could be myself. Only recently, I was reunited with the two teachers that were behind the whole thing. It was fantastic to meet them again and I wondered, if they hadn’t spent so much time investing time in us to make music, who knows if I would have found out that I wanted to sing, that I can sing and that I’m a born performer?

"I was the great mouse as a child. I was the odd one. Why would I want to be onstage? But as soon as I was on it, I belonged there."

Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power and Machine Head - Burn My Eyes

"Pantera and Machine Head were the two bands that got me into metal. I must have heard things before that when I was listening to grunge, but it was way too heavy for me - I missed melody. It was just un-dynamic, hard music.

"I miss something vocally in both, but I liked the energy of this kind of metal. They are both melodic and very groovy. I was listening as a teenager so and while I wouldn’t play Machine Head so much now, Pantera has become a timeless thing for me."

Nightwish

"I can’t remember when I heard Nightwish for the first time, or which Nightwish album it was exactly when I got into them. And I can’t name one Nightwish album that meant so much it was life changing, but touring with them in 2002 with After Forever as a support act - that was life changing for me.

"I wanted to do what they were doing. That kept me going, it gave me a purpose. I remember that was 2002 we were going to go on our first European tour and share our bus with part of the crew with Nightwish. Tony and Ewo [Nightwish’s management] were these massive big Finnish guys. Both of them are extremely tall, broad shouldered, low voiced giants and they came in and explained the basic rules of touring together.

"We were like a bunch of school kids listening to them. We were almost afraid, but then they started talking with their low voices and I realised these are super nice guys. It all came down to just, ‘Don’t be a total asshole, let’s drink a little too much and have a good time.’ Which we did!"

Russell Allen [Symphony X singer]

"He’s simply my favourite singer in metal. His voice is so diverse, he’s someone who can voice emotion so well. His interpretation of a lyric means you feel the lyric, regardless of its meaning - even if it’s about saving the world and, ‘Here comes the demon…’ and shit I don’t personally get excited about.

"He can make a very proggy band with endless solos sound graspable, understandable by his vocals lines. I mean I like Prog, I just don’t fancy listening to endless solos especially on the keyboards when it just sounds like, ‘I can play a lot of notes really fast!’ Then comes Russell just glues everything together with vocal lines that make complete sense over really complicated parts, with that voice that can colour endlessly.

"We’ve been friends since I met him in 2002. He’s nine or ten years older than me, he was 31, I was 21, he’s super American and I was super Dutch and he really made a big impression on me."

Skunk Anansie - Paranoid And Sunburnt

"I already gave away that I like power voices and… what a woman. I found the total package of her fascinating. There she is [Skunk Anansie singer Skin], with her bald head and her blackness, screaming with anger and god forbid she’s bi-sexual. She rubbed it in like, ‘I don’t give a shit what you think.’ I liked the openness of her, the directness of it and her amazing voice.

"She makes things sound so easy when she sings it and then you go ahead and give it a shot and it’s not. To keep it that powerful and controlled, it’s not easy. Fantastic voice, fantastic songwriter, fantastic performer. Weak As I Am - try and finish that from beginning to end with an untrained voice. It was a challenge."

Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill

"I recently saw her in a documentary about high sensitive people. Someone recommended it to me because I am also a high sensitive person. We’re simply wired differently. There’s something else in our brains, so we perceive the world differently. Hence the fact I was teased so much, why I was a different child and why certain environments don’t work for me.

"You’re more sensitive to the emotions of other people, to smell, sounds. In this documentary she’s talking about it as though she is talking to me. Her experiences are very much like mine. The fact that she is a songwriter herself, she’s doing what she wants and has been doing that her entire career made her a role model."

Roxette - Look Sharp

"This album got me singing. Sitting in the car going on family holiday is the most vivid holiday memory I have so that must be pretty early on. My sister and I would be in the back of the car, singing along with it. We knew all the words. If it was life changing I don’t know, but it sowed the seeds for [singing].

"There was a lot of metal that wasn’t fun to sing. I like Pantera but I’m not going to sing along to it. I like Machine Head and Sepultura. Same thing. [Roxette vocalist Marie Fredriksson] died recently but she made a huge impact on me. She was so forward and so sexy, but she wasn’t seen as a sex object. She was seen as a singer, as a strong woman, as a role model."

[obeymematches]

Hi!! I saw matchups were open and 👀 I'm an ANFP (A for ambivert). Generally with friends, my personality adapts to them, but I'm talkative, energetic and pretty playful. I like to annoy them by doing petty things such as untie their shoelaces or pat their head. I'm 5'2" with long black hair and brown eyes. I love learning about everything, I'm an enthusiast for learning new things!! My most favourite thing to learn about is cultures/languages or anything in the arts department! 1/4

I'm in love with music. I love all types of it and it's my life, though pop is the genre I most appreciate. I also enjoy making my own music, and will make songs for my partner, possibly a whole album for our anniversary. I also love writing and creating stories. It's a big passion of mine. I recently took up drawing too, and I would love to draw a portrait of my partner, should they allow me to!! With my partners, I tend to be overly affectionate. I love giving them praises!! 2/4 I've been told I'm very good at flirting, so I would wholeheartedly flirt with them, even though my pickup lines are very cheesy and wholesome. I will snuggle with my partner pretty much constantly should they allow me and press kisses wherever I can. I love playing with my partner's hair and giving them the world. I'm a switch in terms of being more confident or more flustered. It goes either way. I don't usually get mad, and I'm not normally a jealous type either. 3/4 I do hate being restricted though. I have a lot of guy friends and girl friends. If I'm not allowed to hang with them, the relationship will not go well. I also don't like a partner who doesn't respect my decisions about my life or my dreams. I'm very laid back about dates or things. I don't care much about gifts or where we go, more the experience and fun we have. Thank you so much and I hope this was okay!! Love your work!! 💕4/4 Oh hecc I forgot some hobbies!! I'm a singer!! A mezzo-soprano and I love singing given the opportunity! I'm a coder that's forever interested artificial intelligence! I love the thought that I could create a thinking mind with just codes or wires. I'm a true neutral. I love food as well as cooking it too!! But I'm not greaaat at it. I'm also in love with JRPGs and anime! And kpop haha. However, I'm not necessarily revolving my life around it. I bite my nails and I hate it. Sorry and thank you!

💕 Hi! 💕

Thank you for sending in a request, and thank you for your kind words! I hope you like the result! 

So I decided to match you with Asmo! 

My other choice would have been Levi since anime, but I decided to stick with my first thought. Levi can be too jealous at times and he definitely wouldn’t do well in a big social circle but I’m sure you’d be best friends, or it’s up to you if that would turn into something else. Because besides that there wouldn’t be any conflicts and the two of you could be just yourselves.

Here is why: 

 I think he is also talkative, so the two of you would have some things to talk about at all times! 

I think it would be easy to annoy him but I’m sure he can prank you back if he wants to. I mean he lived with his brothers for centuries, for sure he has some ideas when it comes to pranking someone. 

He likes the fact that you like to learn, that makes you smart and thats so cute! 

The fact that you are ambivert probably means that he was the one who initiated conversation at first but you were very good at keeping that conversation about whatever was the topic, so you two connected early on. 

I think at some parties he met with people who studied something similar as you are interested in so because of that he might actually know a thing or two about your interests. Sure he is probably more into gossip or makeup or fashion but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t listen when a different topic comes up. 

He also likes pop music the most, so you would never have any conflict concerning this! You later mention that you sing a lot, so imagine having a duet with him!!!! I mean think about that!!! You could establish a band, juts the two of you! 

Or if you are not into that then he would be sure to show you off at karaoke bars! The whole club would be looking at you two! 

He would definitely serendae you if thats what you want, any time, on the spot!

I think his gosspis might influence some stories that you write. I mean us humans can’t even imagine all the things that go on in the devildom. 

DRAW HIM LIKE ONE OF YOUR FRENCH GIRLS-

Jokes aside he would absolutely NOT be shy about that, you could practice drawing and he would be flattered! 

Oh his love language is definitely affection so theres no conflict or conversation that needs to be held because of that! Imagine all the cuddles with him!

Asmo definitely loves himself and he definitely enjoys compliments so he would really appreciate that about you! Be prepared though because he is going to return the favor tenfolds more! 

He is definitely one of the better flirtes of the bunch so if you two are at it i’m not sure who would decide to stay in the room anyway

Especially early in the relationship he would cuddle you so so much, lay on top of you, snuggle you, etc! very affectionate couple! 

Oh I’m not sure if he likes it when someone touches his hair but if it’s you he might make an exclusion! 

It’s really handy that you are not jealous because I don’t think he will ever stop flirting even if he is in a relationship and some might consider that cheating. But it doesn’t matter because the two of you have a strong connection! He is definitely not going to be nearly as jealous as Mammon would be for example, so hopefully you’d have no conflicts. 

He is one of the more open-minded demons so he will definitely not restrict you in any way. Literally any way.

Oh it’s really nice that you have many friends, he is a social butterfly so he will feel just fine in your circle!

Maybe he would suggest merging his friends group with yours to have an extra big one where all of you have fun! Idk, think about that, its up to you

Anyways house parties are always loud and crwoded when the two of you are hosts. (imagine all the food you need to prepare beforehead....and all that cleanup afterwards...oh god i feel so bad is it really a good idea to match the two of you...)

I know you said you don’t care much about gifts but for sure thats his giving love language so expect many gifts just for you! Makeup, clothes, keychains, instruments, anything that reminds him of you!

I think he would respect you being a coder, I mean that means you could code some stuff for him too, right?? honestly he adores that you are so smart to do all these!

Don’t worry about food, I think you’d go out so much or have food delivered that your cookings skills might be unnecessary.

I think the fact that you are into animes would draw Levi in your circle and honestly Asmo would not really mind that. As I said he doesn’t mind your friends as long as you can give him attention too. He might join you two sometimes before going out or something. If you catch feelings for Levi along the way he doesn’t mind that either, I mean... he is the avatar of lust.... he knows how things work.

I mean in case Asmo hurts you or something I’m sure Levi would be the first person to be there and support you through it!

I headcanon that Asmo is into kpop. I mean idols are just perfect, just like him! you could definitely talk a lot about that! 

He cares so much about appearance he would definitely find a way to have your nails well-kept! 

So this is a very outgoing and energetic relationship, theres always something going on. But the two of you also trust the other and both of you are open-minded so hopefully there wouldn’t be many conflicts. He would absolutely infuelnce your appearance. He is also supportive and sensitive when it comes to you so you really feel special! Your hobbies differ a bit but hey, that is just a way to explore more of what life has to offer! 

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | May 2019

Happy 28th! If you want to promote your fic or your artwork head on over to @kingsofeverything and send Lauren a message! She’s doing self recs - fics and art - today. Thank you to all of you amazing authors who brighten my world with your words ♥ Here are all the fics I read and loved this month:

Let Our Hearts Collide || crinkle-eyed-boo (KimmieRocks) || While You Were Sleeping AU - 90s - mistaken identity - fake/pretend relationship - coma - amnesia - pining - grief - 76k When Harry, a lonely transit worker, saves the life of the handsome commuter he's been secretly pining for, an innocent mistake results in Liam Payne's family believing that Harry is engaged to their son. In the Paynes, Harry finds the big family he's always longed for...and a love he never saw coming.

Can't Help Falling || Anonymous || open ending - 15k The one where Harry's a workaholic, until best mates Liam and Niall drag him away for a holiday to Ibiza.

24K Magic || Justalittlelouislove || famous/not famous - drug use - 32k A fic based on 24k Magic by Bruno Mars, in which Harry's a mess and famous, Louis is a mess and not, Liam and Zayn are probably hiding something, and Niall is a horrible flatmate.

For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry || amomentoflove || vampires - past abuse - slow burn - angst - depression - anxiety - 50k Harry is cold. His bones ache. Every movement draws a whimper from his cracked lips. The stone underneath him is practically like ice. He’s numb, but can clearly feel the sharp pains on his neck every timeHe visits him. Below the icy cold, the achy bones, and the pain on his neck, Harry Styles is pissed. There’s a fire burning in his mind and the anger for the man who keeps him imprisoned is the fuel. He despises him, the man who feeds from him and is a daily reminder that Harry’s suffering won’t end. The man who keeps Harry so weak that he can barely move most days. Harry’s waiting for the day when his owner will go too far and finally kill him. Death must be better than this cold hell he is in. It won’t happen, though. He has a way of keeping Harry’s heart beating. So for now, all Harry can do is wait for death to come. He’s been waiting for years.

Consequences || allwaswell16 || amnesia - exes to lovers - getting back together - injury recovery - angst - 74k Two years ago Harry let his powerful family come between him and the love of his life, something he deeply regrets. Louis has tried to move on from their devastating break up. Sometimes, he even thinks he has. It only takes one moment to freeze them back in time.

The Fire and the Fate || dimpled_halo || A Star Is Born AU - depression - alcohol abuse/alcoholism - addiction - drug abuse - famous/not famous - angst - hurt/comfort - break up - post-break up - getting back together - 56k An A Star is born au with a happy ending. Harry is a troubled musician about to reach the end of his rope when he finds Louis singing in a club one night. He’s instantly mesmerised by the man with blue eyes and breathtaking voice.

And That's The Tea || 2tiedships2 || a/b/o - soulmates - strangers to lovers - friends to lovers - 27k The one where Louis loses his soulmate before even getting the chance to meet them, and he is in no way prepared for the kind of distraction his new friend Harry proves to be.

I Must Confess (I Still Believe) || objectlesson || High School - Catholic School - Girl Direction - coming of age - self-discovery - self-doubt - self-acceptance - angst - pining - slow burn - internalized homophobia - 44k Harry is the new girl at an all girl Catholic Girl's School, and Louis is the unattainable, dashing senior who changes her forever.

Like A Siren In The Night || whoknows || a/b/o - light dom/sub - 24k “There is an infestation in my home,” Louis hisses, righting himself quickly and pushing his way past Harry, heading directly for the kitchen. He’s rather haphazardly dressed himself, a coat thrown on over a loose flannel shirt and black pants, slippers on his feet. Harry resists the urge to sigh, closing the door and trailing behind him slowly. “What kind of infestation?” For all he knows, Louis is going to claim that there’s a ghost infestation. Harry has no idea what the end game is here – all he knows is that Louis has found at least three complaints a week to bring up since he’s been living on Harry’s property, and he’s been living here for six months. It’s way too many fucking complaints, is what Harry is saying. Especially when most of them are ridiculous to start with.

Let Me (Be Your Girl) || dimpled_halo || Girl Direction - cheating - pwp - 6k Louis hires Harry to help her find out things about her husband. What she doesn't expect is to discover some things about herself in the process.

Come together || bottomlinsons || college/university - One Night Stands - miscommunication - angst - pining - 11k Harry and Louis slept together three weeks ago, and haven't talked. Their coming group project is gonna change that.

Tonight's not over (come over and stay) || louistomlinsons || famous/not famous - fluff - 17k Harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel

Born Ready For You || taggiecb || Sequel to That's What I'm Here For - children - adoption - family drama - 2k Harry and Louis' life gets turned upside down once again with an unexpected visitor.

Getting high in mine || bottomlinsons || meet-cute - drug use - 4k Getting home from a festival is miserable by any method, but a three-hour train ride is truly the bottom of the barrel. This time, though, with the help of the cute guy sitting on the floor, it might not be so bad.

The Daddiest Place on Earth || lovelarry10 || Social Media - Disney World & Disneyland - strangers to lovers - 23k Louis. Harry. Instagram. A whole lot of confusion and a whole lot of laughs...

I Won't Give Up So Come And Get Me || runaway_train || strangers to lovers - Blind Date - 15k The one where Louis meets Harry and it all just seems too good to be true...

Picking Up The Pieces || Halos_Boat || strangers to friends to lovers - angst - slow burn - emotional hurt/comfort - 72k Harry just signed his second set of divorce papers. He felt like his life was over, like he had nothing left. Then he meets Louis.

Ready, baby? || jaerie || pain kink - rope bondage - earrings - 1k Harry gets an earring. Louis is the one to do it. Or a pain kink drabble.

Impress Me || lightswoodmagic (sarah_writes) || Chefs - homelessness - fluff - 5k Harry's a new chef who can't cook to save himself, but when he meets Louis, he learns more than he thought possible

Drunk in Love (last thing I remember) || MrsStylinson || fluff - pining - banter - 22k The one where Louis wakes up, naked, in a stranger's bed and has no idea how he got there. Maybe it's foul play. Maybe it's just the kindness of a handsome stranger amused by his drunken antics.

Take The Bitter With The Sweet || rainbowslovehl (Larrymateforlife) || Coffe Shops - fluff - pining - 7k Liam recruits Louis to spy on the 'rival cafe', which Louis is less than enthusiastic about but it does lead him Harry, the pretty barista who works there.

Harry Poppins || jacaranda_bloom || strangers to lovers - kid fic - hurt/comfort - past character death - fluff - 32k When Louis’ best friends pass away he finds himself with an instant family. Maddie and Thomas are wonderful children but take an immediate dislike to every nanny that sets foot inside their house. After nanny number six is summarily dismissed Louis is at his wit’s end, that is until an unusual man arrives on their doorstep. Harry Styles is like nothing any of them have ever encountered before, and perhaps, exactly what they’ve been looking for all along.

You Bring Me Home || reminiscingintherain || Saving Mr Banks AU - fluff - 22k The one where Louis wants to turn Harry's book into a film, and Harry's very picky about what happens.

Big, Bright World || || pining - jealousy - slow burn - cheating - miscommunication - 35k It really was just a little crush in the beginning, nothing to be worried about. Louis had never really liked anyone he'd worked with in the past, but he was sure he could control himself. Little did he know that over time his 'little crush' would develop into a blazing inferno of Hell-fire proportions. Every day, Louis' feelings became more intense, more immediate, each little smile and gesture and silly flirtation mounting up into something palpable, with a life of its own. Louis felt it every moment they were together. The only problem? Harry was engaged to someone else and had been from the moment Louis started working at Visionary.

Barren Souls || Snowy38 || Dystopian - mpreg - angst - emotional hurt/comfort - 37k It's 2907 and things are different. Organic men and women are no longer fertile and only genetically modified humans are permitted to procreate. The sexes have equalled, men are able to give birth in these dire times and roles have been created to both sire children ('Stud') and carry them ('Provider'). Public displays of affection are a criminal offence and the procreators cannot get emotionally attached without severe consequences. Harry has hit 19, the legal age to bear children. He's looking forward to producing babies for his host family and he's just had his placement confirmed. All that's left now is to meet the Stud who'll impregnate him. It might tug at his heartstrings thinking about the beautiful babies he'll be carrying who he'll have to let go but he's trained for this. He's spent his whole life preparing. Being a Provider is a special job and Harry's one of the chosen.

In a sky full of stars, be my Northern lights || Anonymous || strangers to lovers - fluff - travel - 13k It's one of those nights there's nothing on the telly that Louis absently scrolls through Tinder. After swiping left on a bunch of profiles he comes face to face with a picture that stops him in his tracks. The picture is..almost sweet. It’s a boy with brown curly hair, wearing a very low cut yellow blouse, paired with a black jacket. He’s got a smile on his face and his tongue sticking out, but it’s not in any way lewd or suggestive. He just looks like he’s having a good time, and something about the innocence of it has him swiping right rather than left. He’s barely checked the other pictures on the boy's profile before Tinder confirms that he’s got a match. The shots are so different from the pictures Louis is used to on Tinder - half naked boys who are smoldering at the camera - that he can’t help but smile. It quickly turns into a frown when he opens up the message he’s just received. Harry: Hello! Harry: Thank you for swiping right Harry: I have a proposition for you

[girlsbtrs]

“It’s Such an Intense Boy’s Club”: Cole Becker (SWMRS) on the State of the Music Industry

DISCLAIMER: This article was written August 5, 2017. As we reflect on events concerning SWMRS and Joey Armstrong, we want to make it clear that we stand by Lydia, believe her allegations and want SWMRS to be held accountable for their actions. We apologize that we helped perpetuate a narrative in which people felt SWMRS was a safe space for women in the industry, and from here on out we will be taking further steps to ensure the safety of young women/non-men on our Roadie For A Day program, including requiring a GBTRS rep on each tour we partner with. To any and all victims, we apologize for the hurt this has caused and hope that in the future we can ensure safety in our programming.

The SWMRS front man gets real about the need for activism and looks to a better future.

Punk is more than a style of dress or a type of music. It’s an attitude, and as I sit across from Cole Becker, I get the sense that he is someone who truly embodies what it means to be punk.

My immediate impression of Cole was the strong juxtaposition in his “hard, fast, loud” stage presence with his calm, warm demeanor during our chat. Cole is the front man of the Oakland, California-based band SWMRS, who are known for being outspoken about creating safe, inclusive spaces at their shows. They use their platform to speak out against rampant misogyny and sexism in the male-dominant music industry, and that, my friends, is incredibly punk rock.

Check out all of the wonderful, progressive takes that Cole has about the state of the music industry, while also looking at steps towards a better future in our exclusive interview:

So as you know, I help run a female-centric organization that aims to level the playing field for women in the industry, so I wanted to start off by asking what it means to you to have diverse women represented in the music industry?

It means everything. I think it’s one of those things where a lot of people are ready to talk and say they’re ready for it, but I think it’s a big challenge to really integrate those jobs and start leveling the playing field because I think there’s a lot of subliminal factors that go into hiring.

I think that the fact that we’re having this conversation is really important, but it’s going to be a while. I want it to go faster, but there’s a bunch of different factors at play that are really challenging obstacles, just because of the way that our patriarchal society works.

So what do you feel like your role as a band (and also as an individual) is in keeping up this dialogue?

I think like as a band, especially as we get into a more professional realm as employers -- and as people who run, on one hand an artistic outlet, but on the other hand a business -- making sure that we’re giving the opportunity to young women who have the qualifications to offset the societal setbacks to getting there.

Are there any current women that you have been listening to or following in the music industry?

Angel Olsen is my favorite record out… and then my friend Ebonie is an engineer at Atlantic Studios… [and she] runs a media source and a camp for girls to learn how to be audio engineers because she says… as a singer and a producer, that’s opened up so much more freedom for her.

I definitely want to check that out, because sound engineering -- there’s definitely a huge gender gap.

One of my girlfriend’s friend’s moms is the editor for like some big TV show, and it’s a very similar world…. There’s this weird thing where like -- I mean I’ve never experienced it so I can’t talk about it as well as a like woman who has experienced it has -- where they tell you, “Oh well you need to speak up more and ask for what you want,” but then when you do, it’s like, “Oh, you’re asking too much.”

Yeah I know exactly what you’re talking about. That’s interesting. I don’t know that much about the TV world.

Yeah but it’s the same thing in music too… it’s just like all the people I know that do music are white dudes… I think a lot of bands have all white all male crews because that’s just what they’re comfortable around. And so that’s a huge thing to overcome: how you make sure that they have shared experience with women too -- and it’s such an intense boys club… I think it comes from being insecure about our masculinity.

I also wanted to talk about the term “fangirl” a little bit, just because it’s kind of used in a discriminatory way. So what are your thoughts about that?

I mean, I think that I just don’t know another word to describe the phenomenon … I do think we need to reevaluate the negative connotation we put on it, because to have young people, like boys or girls or non-binary kids, that are that excited about something -- that’s fucking beautiful. That’s something so amazing and pure, and like, at least they care about something, you know? They haven’t been marred by this fucking terrible, apathetic world we live in, and they have something real that they can hold on to and be and love, and I think that’s so admirable, and I wish I loved something that much … and I do, I’m a fangirl about music, you know?

Absolutely, and I think it’s interesting because I think it’s kind of come up in discussion again. I don’t know if you read the Harry Styles Rolling Stone…

Exactly… that dude’s a legend … somebody who has such an intimate and unique relationship with the teenage girls of the world -- for him to come out and say that just validates so many people and that’s a very special thing that he did. When you refer to it negatively, you’re assuming moral high ground.

You guys are known for really championing creating safe spaces at your shows, which I think is a really cool thing. So what kind of a reaction have you gotten from fans both on and offstage about that?

I mean it’s all positive. It’s cool. The strangest thing is, I’m an upper-middle class white kid, heterosexual, cis-gendered male from a suburb of Oakland, California. To be able to create a space where I see people that I have little to no ostensible common experience with, connect with the music and be able to feel as free as I do in the space where we’re making music and sharing it with them -- that’s really special.

Also -- “safe space” has become something that is losing its specificity, so I’ve been trying really hard to make sure that I’m engaging them in not just claiming it to be a safe space, but getting them involved in making it a safe space when we play. So instead of just outright saying “this is a safe space,” I always try to say like “hey, we can’t keep it safe unless you all are helping us… have your eyes out because we can’t see everything from stage.”

Have you noticed a difference in the dynamic at your shows before and after the election, or has it kind of been the same pretty much?

It’s become just more and more honest, in a way. I think now more than ever, people don’t have a place they can go to and just be totally in the moment and feel something good and deep and powerful, and I think live music can transport people to that.

But I think there’s so much feelings of anger and sadness and fear among kids who sincerely don’t know whether their parents are going to get deported or whether they’re going to have health care or this and that… To have just one half-hour moment where they don’t have to think about anything other than being there and feeling something good -- I’ve noticed that their connection to the music has gotten stronger…. It’s a bit of a selfish reaping of the terrible, terrible circumstances we’re in.

But I feel like it’s a collectively beneficial moment too.

Yeah I think it’s reminded me that music is something that is very powerful and pure and beautiful, and it put more faith in my belief in what I do… it makes me prouder and prouder every day because I have a space -- and to be able to make that place for somebody.

So just to kind of bring up some stats, only 5% of top executives in the industry are women, and of course women of color, trans women, all other marginalized groups face an even greater struggle. So what are your thoughts on the importance of representation, and what does that look like to you?

I mean representation -- that’s huge... For me, as somebody who just doesn’t identify with that much heteronormative culture, I don’t look at executives and see like, “Oh, that’s what I want to do,” you know?

Because it’s a very masculine, golf-centric type of feel, and so to have diversity, not just visually, but of style -- I think that’s huge. But beyond that, I think education is the biggest step, you know? Like putting more resources towards getting girls involved -- like young women and young trans women and young women of color -- involved in music on just a basic level where they feel encouraged and validated to be part of the industry.

To wrap things up, are there any other local bands that you want to shout out?

Yeah! Shoutout to Destroy Boys. They are my -- our little sisters, who write really badass punk songs… Mt. Eddy -- very proud of those little dudes. Ricky Lake is my friend. He’s like an art rapper. Same Girls, which is Taifa’s band. And, gotta shoutout to Plush too. The last two are mellow shoegaze bands but I like them. They’re great people.

- article by Jess George

[tangledgal]

WARNING: SUPER BIG POST! This is a complete list of my ranking of the season 1 and season 2 soundtrack.

Alright, first, I truly like/ love all the songs in the soundtrack, so low-ranked songs are never “bad.” Second, I’m not counting the 3 scores we got with the season 2 soundtrack. Third, I know that once season 3 has released its songs, this list will become kinda irrelevant, but hey, I’m impatient. Lastly, this is all biased so if some songs seem like they should be lower or higher than others, then that’s fine. I don’t claim to be a genius musician. I just prefer some songs over others.

(P.S. this was written in a day so misspellings are likely) 

21.) Hook Foot’s Ballad

I don’t think I need to explain why this is the lowest. XD I really don’t mind this song, but it’s so short and just makes me wonder why this was considered a song, but the Reverse Incantation wasn’t! Just . . . meh.

20.) Wind in My Hair (Reprise)

We’ve all heard this one a BUNCH of times, and it’s pretty okay on its own. I just don’t consider this as high on the list just because we’ve heard it a lot and it’s just “Wind in my Hair” but shorter.

19.) More of Me

Another song we hear over and over again, but I’m a sucker for upbeat Disney pop music, and the full song is pretty fun to listen to. Nothing special, but enjoyable.

18.) Next Stop Anywhere (Reprise)

I like this one, but the 30 seconds of just talking at the beginning is a little grating. Again, just “Next Stop” but shorter. Still, Mandy and Zac always sound amazing together.

17.) Let Me Make You Proud (Reprise)

As you see, I put all the reprises last since they aren’t the most . . . interesting, but this is definitely the best of them since this is the MOMENT Varian vows revenge and makes his arc. It’s very powerful and the singing is great, but again, reprise.

16.) Listen Up

A fun song that’s just right for Halloween. I particularly love how it has the same sound as “I’ve Got a Dream,” but in a minor key, making it spoopy! It’s just lower on the list since it doesn’t really add much to the plot. Just a good song.

15.) Life After Happily Ever After

One of the few songs that sound exactly like it came straight from the movie. I like how it fills us in on the plot and with a great melody. Just . . . lots of talking that wasn’t edited out. And not that it’s not good, but I don’t find myself listening to it as often. Still, this was great as the first song of the show and it’s great now.

14.) If I Could Take That Moment Back

Yeah, I’m a New Dream sucker, and this song made me choke up a bit on my first listen. ASIDE FROM THAT, it doesn’t sound too different from most sad love songs. I didn’t want to put it too high because it’s not particularly unique. Not saying it’s BAD at all! The melody is beautiful (especially on the piano), the lyrics are heartbreaking and match up with the situation pretty well, and of course, Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi duet #2. That’s a win in my book. 

13.) Livin’ the Dream

Admittedly, I was REALLY surprised when we got a musical number in this episode, and the song did seem really random. Still, this is just a really funny and upbeat music number! It sounds similar to “I’ve Got A Dream,” but with a twist, it’s pretty catchy, the singer does a great job as a replacement for Brad Garrett. I know for most, this wouldn’t usually be this high, but hey, different tastes.

12.) Friendship Song

I will admit, I like this song A LOT more than most people do. Then again, sucker for upbeat-Disney-pop music right here. I love how the instruments are so clear and beautiful, the melody and fast tempo are really fun to listen to, the lyrics can apply to anyone with a bff, and it always puts me in a good mood!

11.) Set Yourself Free

This is a weird one. It is nice to listen to and sung well, but I think my main liking for this song is that I feel a little bit of an emotional connection with it. When I hear this song, I think of the beginning of January and waiting anxiously for the finale of Season 1. I remember seeing a sneak peek of this song briefly, then seeing the episode as all the past moments of season 1 flash through the screen. Idk, it’s not really my favorite, but the feeling I get from listening to this brings back a lot of memories to me. I wouldn't put it lower since it does sound nice and I feel sentimental when listening to it, but it’s not higher since, honestly, it really is just Wind In My Hair, but instead of Rapunzel wishing for something, she’s doing something. Overall, good song.

10.) Everything I Ever Thought I Knew

It’s . . . complicated. The song is so beautiful, I love the opening lyrics and Zachary Levi. Just. . . .  just Zachary Levi. However, I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of the whole “Dark Prince Eugene” thing. I never wanted it to be true, and I was low-key disappointed when it was revealed to be true. (Not devaluing the DPE theorists. Just not a personal fan of it being canon.) Still, I think the song does express Eugene’s feelings pretty well and it is kinda amusing when you realize he’s just having an identity crisis. All in all, we’ve waited a long time for a Eugene solo, and though I wasn’t thrilled about the context, still a fantastic song, and I’ll listen to it many times over.

9.) Wind in My Hair

The first full song I listened to from the show, sung beautifully, gives the show a great starting point, feels like a classic Disney princess song, and I simply love it. Next.

8.) Next Stop Anywhere

Great intro song to Season 2! It’s catchy, has amazing singing from the 3, and just a wonderful song. Yea, more unnecessary talking here and there that should’ve been cut out, but I love this song too much. Just like Wind in My Hair, I don’t have a logical reason why I love the song as much as I do. I just do!

7.) I’ve Got This

I love the opening notes to this song and it drags you right into it! It’s really fun to sing along to and pretend to be the angry citizens. Mostly, I love how the song progressively goes from upbeat and positive, then to worry, then to panic, then eventually to sadness. It’s catchy and upbeat, yet depressing and slow, and I love it. (Also, kittens)

6.) Buddy Song

Okay, first, can I just say how much I love the context of this song. While the majority of the other songs have an important meaning behind them or are there for some logical reason, the literal purpose of this song is just because Eugene and Lance are drugged up on flowers and that’s it. Usually, I’d be critical to scenes that are pointless or don’t push the story, but here, I have NO problem with it. It’s so fun and enjoyable in how carefree it is. Not only that, but add Zach and James singing like they are having the time of their lives (and not about to die) all to a jazzy beat and you have a musical masterpiece. I was waiting for this kind of song, and I was not disappointed in the slightest!

5.) Ready As I’ll Ever Be

The first two notes of this song should win an award alone. I love the intensity of this song and how epic it all feels. It stands as an amazing group number, as well as its own song separate from the context. Everyone gets to shine in this song, and it all has a very grand feel to it. Also, it really is the only song of its kind in the whole soundtrack. It’s “the epic theme song before going into battle” song. It’s amazing and really deserves the praise it gets (and then some.)

4.) View From Up Here

Admittedly not the most “dramatic” song. However, there is just so much about this song I love. First, I never expected Mandy Moore and Eden Espinosa to sound so good together! Imho, their harmony is one of the best in the show. Their voices blend so amazingly together and though they are different kinds of singers, they sound so in sync and the difference in their voices add so much! Also, even though this is like “whimsical exploring song # 12943,” it has this energy and charm to it that I can’t describe. The way it’s sung + the instruments make it sound so carefree, weightless, and whimsical. I feel I have no care in the world listening to it. Also, it’s upbeat and catchy (as always) Love it, love it, love it! (Also, the entire song is actually extended from what they sing in the episode, so that’s even better!)

3.) Waiting in the Wings

3 words: Eden Freakin’ Espinosa. Her voice was absolutely perfect for this song. Cassandra singing about her dreams and feelings towards being looked-over are expressed so well in the lyrics, the music, and in the emotion and power in Eden’s voice. It’s not only just an amazing song on its own, but it also gives insight into the character and makes us understand her struggles. I love the how gradually it builds up emotion just like in a classic Broadway song and the final note. Holy crap, THAT HIGH NOTE THO. I adore this song, and it definitely deserves to be in my top 3.

2.) With You By My Side

I’ve been singing this all the time since the end of season 2, and it has never gotten old. The highs and lows each singer reaches in each part sound great, the melody is catchy and hopeful, yet a little solemn and sad. It sounds great and has so much emotion put into each note. The instrumentals are enough to get me to listen to this song! Also, the song itself is a milestone in the character’s relationship that went from acquaintances/ enemies to the best of friends who can’t do anything without the other. It’s a song that means friendship, trials, hope, and the end of a journey. (Or at least that’s what they thought >:))

1.) Let Me Make You Proud 

No, I’m not a hardcore Varian fan or Jeremy Jordan fan. Not really even a Broadway fan. What I’m saying is that this song, to me, is perfect. The performance, the music, the context, the instruments, and even the nostalgic feeling I get when listening to this. It’s flawless. Jeremy Jordan is amazing at expressing emotion not through just his voice, but his singing as well. Him playing an emotionally vulnerable 14-year-old who is anxiously traveling through a snowstorm all to save his dad who he isn’t sure will even survive the mistake he made, but his motivation is what’s getting him through, adds so much emotion, personality, and power to this character and song. Also, my memories of watching the D23 panel (on youtube. I wasn’t there) when this was being played over a montage of clips we have and haven’t seen before, exciting us for what was to come, was one of the greatest experiences ever. What else can I say? Just . . . perfection.

Super long post, but I’m happy with my selection and I can’t wait for Season 3!

[cara-terra-pace]

Evelyn Gossamer

A popular dancer and singer among teens, she was supposed to be the holder of the Butterfly Miraculous, but because Hawkmoth has it, she is left feeling a part of her is missing. She never ends up getting the miraculous, but she never knew she needed it in the first place, so it’s cool.

Headcanons:

-Imagine Marinette and Alya adoring Evelyn’s soft songs about the flutter of butterfly wings and the positivity you feel when everything is slowed down and you can enjoy the moment.

-Adrien has worked with Evelyn before, since they had a butterfly themed photo shoot for her new album cover.

-Nino can respect the girl. Sure, he isn’t into that sort of music, but she’s pouring her heart out in her songs and she’s apparently very helpful in keeping people positive, and that’s a musician he can get behind.

-Rose ADORES Evelyn Gossamer. She is basically her idol. She writes fan mail, and once, Evelyn responded and Juleka didn’t stop hearing about it for months.

-Juleka and Luka are related to Evelyn. On their father’s side, but they are still related. They’ve met her, and she seems just as sweet and positive as they had heard. Luka showed her his new song, but when he couldn’t figure out the ending chords she suggested something and it actually worked really well. Juleka actually asked for an autograph for Rose and Evelyn’s eyes lit up.

-“Rose? Oh, she sends me lovely fanmail all the time! I recognize her envelopes and always try to save them! Tell her hello from me, and I simply must meet her!”

-Evelyn may be soft and positive, but she also loves dying her hair different pastel colors. She usually keeps it a pale blonde with purple streaks, but once she met Alix, she just had to ask what color dye she used. Alix was flattered and even offered to do some art for her (she did. It was on a huge canvas and there were spray painted butterflies surrounding a girl with longish pink hair)

-Chloé and Sabrina are casual fans. They’ve both met her when she stayed at the hotel and Sabrina was staying over. It was still a cool experience and Chloé brags about it all the time.

-Kim, Max, and Nathaniel... they secretly think her songs are kind of sweet, Nathaniel being more obvious about his opinion than the other two.

-Ivan and Mylene has their first slow dance to Evelyn’s song “Flight” and now they love her songs, especially Mylene.

-Lila claims she’s met Evelyn and is a very good friend of hers. Everyone believes her except for Marinette, Adrien, Chloé, Sabrina, and Juleka (Luka doesn’t hear about it).

-Evelyn has a concert in Paris and she decides to visit their school.

-She heard Chloé, Sabrina, and Adrien were there from Juleka and figured, why not?

-She meets Rose, who very excitedly says that Lila is also there and Evelyn asks who Lila is.

-She walks in to find Lila bragging about knowing her again

-Evelyn taps on her shoulder and Lila has a slight look of horror before letting it drift off.

-Everyone starts to talk all at once, so Evelyn pulls Lila to the side and trys to clarify things.

-Lila gets defensive and since they are around the corner from everybody and no one can see them, she lets out an ear piercing scream.

-Everyone runs to find out what happened and they find Lila being a complete and utter brat crying on the ground saying that Evelyn slapped her for no reason. She had slapped herself really hard so it looked like she had been slapped.

-You would think they would believe the celebrity but some famous people are horrible in real life, and Evelyn was the one to bring Lila to the side so it sounds plausible.

-Evelyn is insisting that she didn’t do anything (she didn’t) and no one believes her.

-Alya is disappointed in her idol and puts on the Ladyblog that no one should listen to her music anymore

-Rose is crying, a lot. Juleka is trying to calm her down but also frantically texting Luka to get down here because she knew it was his free period next.

-Marinette is confused and is trying to lead Evelyn away from all her angry classmates.

-Lila is still fake crying on the ground when Luka rushes in, sweeps up Juleka, Evelyn and Marinette, who are now being yelled at for defending Evelyn and brings them outside.

-Evelyn starts sobbing once they’re outside and she’s inconsolable. She runs away and hides in an alley, and the group isn’t able to find her. They keep looking for her so they can find out what actually happened.

-Hawkmoth takes advantage of the situation and she gets akumatized into Papillon Vérité (Truth Butterfly) and she makes little akuma like butterflies that make people uncontrollably tell the truth. They will say every lie they’ve ever said and once they’re done, their butterfly sucks in all the energy and they turn into statues, leaving Paris with a bunch of statues laying everywhere.

Truth Butterfly

-Truth Butterfly had light purple hair that was tied in a bun on the back of her head. She had butterfly wings that helped her hover slightly off the ground. Her dress was a deep purple with pinkish accents that billowed around her and hit just below her knees. Her eyes were purple and her shoes were gaudy pinkish white shoes with purple stained glasslike features and a purple and white butterfly on the back. Anytime she opened her hands, butterflies would appear and land on people, getting them to tell the truth. They suck our all their energy, leaving them standing there like statues, though they were not actually stone statues.

-She flew from the alley she was crying in to her first targets. She saw Kim and Max talking to Juleka, Marinette and Luka, attempting to convince them to stop looking for her. She opened her hands and two white butterflies flew out, landing on their shoulders without them even noticing.

-All of a sudden they start spewing out truths. Small things like “I broke the vase” “I ate the candy” “I didn’t finish my homework” and then bigger things like “I have a crush on Odine” and “I feel like I don’t have any friends and I feel so lonely all the time” to “I stole Max’s homework for Chloé so she could get a good grade” and “I have a plan for world domination”.

-Every little lie they’ve ever told is corrected and the butterfly glows a darker and darker purple as they speak. All of a sudden, Max stops talking. He freezes in place, unable to move, speak, or think. All of the energy he has been sucked out of him. The same thing happens to Kim a few seconds later. They turn into purple statues.

-The butterflies fly back to Truth Butterfly and she smirks and says “Justice is served”.

-Marinette, Juleka and Luka are all standing there, horrified.

-Truth Butterfly grabs Juleka’s shoulder and Juleka’s hair is tied up in a ponytail and she sprouts wings. Her outfit changes colors to become the same as Truth Butterfly’s.

-“Go, my butterfly. Bring me all the liars, all of the manipulators, all of the people who sit there and watch horrible people do horrible things. Let’s see how they feel when they are forced to admit their wrongdoings!”

-*cue horrible evil laugh which really just sounds kind of adorable but NO SHE INSISTS ITS EVIL*

-Marinette SPRINTS AWAY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

-She transforms and scoops Luka up and basically yeets throws him in a safe place.

-Truth Butterfly permantely has tears dripping down her face, even when she smiles.

-It’s unnerving.

-Juleka is floating around, putting people in trances and distracting them enough so they can get caught by the butterflies.

-The best people, who don’t tell many lies, get turned into Truth Seekers, which is what Juleka is.

-Truth Butterfly is at the school now and she is REVELING IN THE CHAOS.

-Lila is still sobbing when she comes floating in with fake sympathy woven into her tone.

-Everyone snaps around and Lila gets SO angry.

-SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AKUMATIZED AND THEN SHE COULD BLAME EVELYN AND MARINETTE.

-SHE COULD SLANDER A BIG STAR!

-WHAT A JUICY LIE!

-Truth Butterfly, being Evelyn Gossamer underneath it all, sang a power ballad.

(I have the lyrics if you want me to actually post them)

-During that power ballad, she flies around, her butterflies attaching themselves to half of the student body while the other half escapes.

-She grabs Lila and flies her to the Eiffel Tower.

-CUE POWER BALLAD REPRISE AS SHE SHOOTS HER HAND INTO THE AIR AND MORE BUTTERFLIES START SOARING OUT AND TAKING OVER THE CITY

-Marinette has to admit, it’s pretty cool. She’s glad she was able to remember the lyrics, Evelyn might want them later.

-LB has Chat and Chloe as the fox with her and she recruits Kagami and Luka as the Bee and the turtle.

-they fight really hard.

-SECOND REPRISE FOR THE POWER BALLAD???

-JEEZ BUTTERFLY YOUR SINGER ROOTS ARE SHOWING.

-Lila has so many butterflies on her, only her eyes are visible.

-Truth starts sobbing as Hawkmoth starts yelling at her to get the miraculous. She sends a butterfly to him and after 15 minutes of fighting, the mask around her eyes flickers out.

-She gets Chloe, who jumps in front of Kagami and Chloe is SOBBING.

-Luka is hit next after using his shield to protect everyone. He sees Juleka and is frozen for a second, staring at his poor little sister. He gets hit, all of it being mumbled before he is turned to a Truth Seeker.

-Chat is turned next, getting close to Truth Butterfly and her not liking it.

-Kagami and LB are the only ones left.

-LB talks to TB.

-“Maybe I can help you!”

-“NOOOOOOOO!”

-She screams it so loud and so high that it shocks them a bit.

-Lila is still telling her lies.

-It’s been a long battle, and Truth Butterfly is so tired but she won’t give up.

-She is so upset and there’s no one to rein her in on Hawkmoth’s end.

-the whole city is either frozen or turned into Truth Seekers besides the two heroes.

-Truth Butterfly lets them leave when she suddenly makes the butterflies from Lila come back to her.

-Lila is angry. She doesn’t actually cry. It’s just her anger at being called at and not actual sadness.

-Truth Butterfly flies her around the city, dropping her then diving down and catching her.

-She screams everytime.

-Ladybug and Kagami are figuring out a plan.

-First, they have to lure Truth Butterfly In.

-Truth is finally back at the Eiffel, and Lila, who had been telling the truths to her lies for over an hour started getting to her last lies. The big ones.

-“I’m working with Hawkmoth”

-“I tried to turn everyone against Marinette so I could feel more powerful”

-“I tried to slander Evelyn Gossamer’s name”

-That is the one she was waiting for.

-Lila stiffens, her anger still apparent in her face as she turns purple and freezes.

-Truth Butterfly is so happy that she flies into the air and does a few tricks.

-It’s over.

-But not yet.

-“EVELYN GOSSAMER HATES PARISIANS!”

-Truth’s head snaps to the source of the sound.

-It’s the stupid Bee.

-She follows her, the butterflies soaring after her and scaring Kagami just a little bit with her angry high notes.

-She gets trapped by Kagami and a complicated trap.

-She reaches Ladybug and the tears that flow down Truth Butterfly’s face start flowing more rapidly.

-“I just want everyone to know the Truth”

-Ladybug softens a bit. She knows this is an akuma. But underneath the transformation is a girl who is scared that the entire world will now hate her.

-“The Truth is good. But not when it’s forced out of someone.”

-She devilizes Truth Butterfly’s akuma and uses her lucky charm to reverse all the damage.

-Sitting on the ground, clearly very upset, is Evelyn Gossamer and none of the heroes are very good at comforting her.

-Ladybug sits next to her to get the story.

-Evelyn tells her exactly what happened, and Ladybug nods.

-Nadja Chamack is filming below them and she gestures for her to come over and Ladybug announces that the rumors about Miss Evelyn Gossamer was just one big misunderstanding. In the chaos, she was accidentally slammed into another girl and people thought she’d done it on purpose.

-The explaination was accepted, but Evelyn was still very upset.

-She walked next to the heroes who brought her back to Juleka who took her cousin in her arms and led her into a cafe.

-after that, the heroes detransformed and handed their borrowed Miraculouses back to LB and Chat left before Ladybug detransformed.

-Luka met up with Evelyn and Juleka and they were able to get the story. Luka was understandably angry, but Evelyn insisted he shouldn’t get so angry.

-She now knew the power of strong emotions.

-she started sketching out a path from the Eiffel Tower to a big square, representing something she couldn’t quite remember.

-They went back to the school and the students all apologized for jumping to conclusions.

-Lila almost got away with it.

-Until Evelyn remembered her phone in her pocket.

-IT HAD BEEN RECORDING SINCE BEFORE SHE WAS AKUMATIZED.

-She had proof of what Lila did and she finally got what she deserved.

-She was expelled and her mother was called to be briefed on the situation.

-Evelyn offers to do a concert for the school.

-The last scene is of Evelyn singing her newest song, her power ballad named “Truth Needs Three” and killing it. Kagami is standing in the audience, bobbing her head along to the beat, and Luka is standing in the front row with his sister and mother, cheering for her louder than anyone else.

-The end card is Evelyn belting out her final note with various people and things faded in, some bolder than others. The butterflies are the boldest thing besides Evelyn, and the order of most bold to least is like this: Luka and Juleka, Kagami and Chloe, Marinette and Adrien, and Lila is the most faded.

(That’s basically what the end card would look like according to my brain, just less scribble and more full out drawing)

That’s it! Wow, this took A REALLY LONG TIME TO FINISH! But now that it is, I’m pretty happy.

Hope you guys liked it!

-Bee 🐝

[radio-nano]

A Riot At The Opera: Queen Triumphant by Jonh Ingham with my favorites parts in bold.

QUEEN ARE the type of group that make a man want to abandon rock writing. They pose questions and never provide answers. They exist in their own space-time continuum, visible and audible but keeping their secrets to themselves.

On the surface they couldn't be a nicer bunch of people, but they carry English reticence to an epitome. It isn't, as Geoff Barton said two weeks ago, that they're boring, it's just that they're reserved. Or in writer parlance, they don't automatically provide colourful copy. All my instincts as a writer tell me that there is a great story in that band, but after two nights with them I'm hardly any the wiser.

Skin tight

That their insularity has a lot to do with them being one of the most amazing heavy-metal and/or rock bands in Britain - with all the signs that they'll end up monsters on the order of Zep - is fairly obvious, but just how much bearing it has on the matter is hard to say. The enigmas they might pose mightn't even have answers.

Is there any logical reason why they present an image and persona straight out of the Beatles school of interlocking chemistry?

John is reserved, almost nonchalant on stage, as if it's all in a small, personal joke. When asked how he saw himself within the framework of the band he replied, with a small smile, "I'm the bassist".

Roger is his opposite, the cheeky sidekick in a Clint Eastwood movie, and attracting a lot of cheesecake attention in America and Japan.

Freddie is an original - one of the most dynamic singers to tread the boards in quite a few years. His attraction is obvious.

Brian is perhaps the biggest enigma of all. What is this seemingly frail, gaunt astronomer doing on that stage, striding purposefully and blasting diamond-hard rock? They're all equally strong personalities - like the Beatles there's no one major focal point. Ask four fans who their dream Queen is and you'll get four different answers.

Queen have been busy lads these past few months. Having disassociated themselves from their former management and joined with John Reid, the fourth album was seen to. Reid decided that a tight schedule wouldn't cause them undue harm, and figured on two months to record before embarking on this current tour. Only Queen are driven to better each previous album - which at this stage of the game is obviously producing some excellent results - and A Night At The Opera turned into a saga - culminating in 36-hour mixing sessions in an effort to allow at least a few days for rehearsal. In the end they managed three and a half days at Elstree with four hours off to videotape the promotional film for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Their first few dates had not been without errors and the quartet were still not feeling totally comfortable their second night in Bristol, fourth night of the tour. You'd never know it, though.

Like all other aspects of the group, the stage is sophisticated. A black scrim provides a backdrop bounded by a proscenium of lights both front and rear. At each side the p.a. rises like a mutant marriage of Mammon and Robby the Robot. Amp power is readily evident but the most extraordinary is Brian May's subtle set up: nine Vox boxes stepping back in rows of three. The only packing crate visible is holding a tray of drinks, and you may rest assured that no roadie will rush, crawl or lurk across the stage while the show is in progress unless it's to rescue Freddie's mike from the clawing crowd.

As the auditorium darkens the sound of an orchestra tuning up is heard over the p.a. The conductor taps his baton on the music stand and a slightly effete voice welcomes the audience to "A Night At The Opera". The Gilbert & Sullivan portion of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' follows, a brief glimpse of Freddie is allowed, and then in a blast of flares and white smoke the blitzkrieg begins.

Roger is barely visible behind his kit, just his eyes and tousled locks. John is wearing a white suit and playing the-man-who-must-stand-still-or-it-will-all-blow-away. Brian is slightly medieval in his green and white Zandra Rhodes top, while Freddie is...

Around his ankles his satin white pants flare like wings - fleet footed Hermes. Everything north of the knee is skin tight - tighter than skin tight - with a zip-up front open to AA rating. But further south, definitely in X territory, lurks a bulge not unlike the Sunday Telegraph . There have been sex objects and sex bombs, superstar potency and the arrogant presentation of this all-important area, but never has a man's weaponry been so flagrantly showcased. Fred could jump up on the drum stand and SHAKE HIS CUTE ARSE, leap about and perform all manner of amazing acrobatics, but there it was, this rope in repose, barely leashed tumescence, the Queen's sceptre. Oh to be that hot costume, writhing across the mighty Fred!

Phallic

Freddie is not pretty in the conventional sense of the word; like Mick Jagger of '64, he is his own convention. Also like the Jagger of that time, his stage persona and action is unlike anything else. Although it borrows - like most of the group's plagiarisms - slightly from Zeppelin, in tandem with Freddie's supreme assurance and belief in himself - he always refers to himself as a star - it explodes into something that is a constant delight to watch.

He reacts to his audience almost like an over-emotional actress - Gloria Swanson, say, or perhaps Holly Woodlawn playing Bette Davis. At the climax of the second night in Bristol he paused at the top of the drum stand, looked back over the crowd and with complete, heartfelt emotion placed his delicate fingers to lips and blew a kiss. Any person who can consume themselves so completely in such a clichéd showbiz contrivance deserves to be called a star.

Freddie's real talent, though, is with his mike stand. No Rod Stewart mike stand callisthenics here, just a shortee stick that doubles as a cock, machine gun, ambiguous phallic symbol, and for a fleeting moment an imaginary guitar. He has a neat trick of standing quite still in particularly frantic moments and holding the stand vertically from his crotch up, draw a fragile finger along its length, ever closer to the taunting eyes that survey his audience.

Their show contains lots of bombs and smoke, lots of lights, lots of noise. They fulfil the function of supremely good heavy metal - i.e. you don't get a second to think about what's going on. When they do let up for a few minutes, it's only so you can focus in on the bright blue electric charge crackling between your ears.

Bulldozer

Dominating the sound is Roger's drumming, a bulldozer echo that bounces like an elastic membrane, meshing with your solar plexus so that your body pulses in synch with the thunder. Tuned into that, everything else is just supremely nice icing.

For three days rehearsal, after eight months off the road Bristol was extremely impressive. In speculative mood I quizzed people on how long they thought it would take to headline Madison Square Garden. I was thought a radical at a year and a half. John Reid smilingly assured me it would take a year.

That Queen should end up with John Reid is an entirely logical proceeding. Everything about Queen demands that the world eventually kow-tows at their feet in complete acquiescence - so big that bodyguards have to accompany them at every step. Well, no - they found that an annoyance in Japan, but, you know, huge.

Such status demands a Reid or a Peter Grant, and whatever the causes for their leaving Jack Nelson and Trident, an elegant group like Queen is going to look for a man with class. Reid found the idea of managing a group interesting, and having to deal with four strong personalities a challenge. He only concerns himself with their business and ensuring that the year ahead is mapped out. In January they begin a jaunt through the Orient, Australia and America, by which time it's March and they begin preparations for the next album.

Reid's prediction of a year was proven highly credible the next evening in Cardiff. The band had still not paused from the rush up to the tour and spent most of the day relaxing and sleeping - no doubt a factor in their near recumbent profile. Also, unlike most groups, they were keeping their dissatisfaction with the show to themselves.

They stopped off at Harlech TV on the way to see a cassette of the video for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The general consensus was quite good for four hours, with much laughter during the operetta. Brian finds film of the group educational - the first time he saw himself was a Mike Mansfield opus for 'Keep Yourself Alive' - "It was 'All right fellows, give it everything you've got but don't move off that spot.' It was terrible." You don't like Mansfield, eh? "Oh, I hate him - we all do... I was horrified when I saw it - I couldn't believe we looked that bad. I looked very static - seeing myself has taught me a lot about stage movement. Some of the things I do are planned for effect, but it's mostly just feeling the audience and communicating that back to them."

Arriving at the motel - several miles out of town - Freddie immediately fell asleep, John held court of a sort, joined later by Brian, while Roger went jogging, a daily event when touring. Tuning in to rock via Bill Haley and Tommy Steele, he became a drummer because he was better at it than guitar. All through school he was in bands; he only went to dental school out of "middle class conditioning, and it was a good way to stay in London without having to work". His mother thought it a bit strange when he opted for a career as a rock star, but she doesn't worry too much now.

The concert starts in much the same manner as the previous night, but there are signs that tonight is work, with posing an afterthought. The endings to most of their songs are magnificent and majestic, especially 'Flick Of The Wrist' and the rapid harmonies of 'Bad Boy Leroy Brown'.

Maniacal

The audience, seeing their faces in town for the first time, are vociferous in their appreciation. Guys know all the words to every song, yelling enthusiastically at every effect and solo. The band picks up, Freddie receiving the crowd beneficently, telling them they’re beautiful.

As the show builds it is obvious that things are gelling more. The previous night Brian had seemed totally out of place, not moving too much, taking solos with the weirdest half blank half possessed stare, talking to himself; cocking ear towards guitar. He was the proverbial stranger in a strange land, one step removed from the plane inhabited by you and me.

Tonight he moves fluidly, the gonzo lead guitarist of a gonzo band. His expressions are just as maniacal, but it only makes him look more demonic. His solo in 'Brighton Rock', an exposition in riffing and echo, is a treat because of his physical response to both music and audience, complete with ham acting. Freddie gets into the same game on 'The Prophet's Song', where he conducts an a capella madrigal with himself. It's a pretty commanding moment.

It’s soon after this that Madison Square seems reasonable. About a minute into 'Stone Cold Crazy' it becomes very obvious that Queen have suddenly Plugged In. Found the metal music machine and Connected. Freddie's movements explode in perfect unison with the music, the lights and surroundings go crazy, and the audience goes berserk.

Freddie asks for requests and receives a roar out of which one can vaguely make 'Liar'. Fred walks along the stage, nodding, agreeing he will do this one and that one while the kids roar on. "I'll tell you what - we'll do them all!"

'Doing Alright' opens slow and portentously. Queen's variation of light and shade is one of the major factors in their popularity, but even so the quiet sections frequently find the audience's mind wandering. One kid starts getting a joint together, totally forgetting it when everything blasts off again; guys talk among themselves, only to instantly leap to their feet, fists flying to the beat.

'Doing Alright' changes into a cha-cha beat, Freddie snapping his fingers, the coolest hipster in town, and then instantly drops into faster-than-light drive - the whole row next to me leaps to their feet as a man, rocking back and forth as Brian roars into a blinding solo.

Two songs later, in 'Seven Seas of Rye', the kids break - very fast - and in five seconds half the audience is a seething mass in front of the stage, climbing on each other in pyramids, sudden openings appearing as a splintering seat sends a few bodies to the floor.

The rest of the show is equally intense, especially for a couple of minutes during 'Liar; where Fred and Brian merge into a tight little triangle with Roger while John stands in front of the bass drum, staring out with his small smile.

Freddie has treated his encores - 'Big Spender' and 'Jailhouse Rock' - differently on successive nights, once appearing in a kimono and in Bristol with rather rude tight white shorts, giving the song title new emphasis. In Cardiff, though, he doesn't bother to change at all. Later it transpired that Brian had twisted his ankle during 'Liar'. While he’s attended to, kids out front pick up chair slivers to keep as mementos.

On the bus back to the hotel Brian sits quietly at the back, chatting with two girls. John sits at the front, as always. Freddie stares out of the window, lost in his own world. Roger bounces around, starts a pillow fight with Brian - which stops as soon as Brian scores a direct hit to the face - then discovers an eight track of Sheer Heart Attack, punching it through the channels as he conducts the group. The two hours towards which they have channelled the day's energies are spent.

Ambition

That Queen have become a top attraction through a fair degree of plagiarism is amusing. Stealing is nothing new in rock (or any art for that matter) and mostly Queen use the borrowed material better than the originals. That they would be big I don't think anybody really doubted. All four have immense desire to be successful, and that kind of ambition will keep them slogging until they achieve it.

But there are popular heavy metal bands and there are popular HM bands. From watching Queen's audience it is apparent that Queen speak for them in a way that bands such as the Who and the Stones and the Beatles spoke (and continue to speak) to their audience. Uriah Heep may be great at what they do, but five years after their demise who'll remember them? Creedence Clearwater Revival demonstrate the same thing - who remembers them? And yet five years ago they were the largest band in the world.

Queen will probably always be remembered, because as their tour is beginning to demonstrate, they have the ability to actualise and encompass the outer limits of their sense of self-importance.

Queen and their music, presentation, production - everything about them says that they are more important than any other band you've every heard, and who has there been, so far, who has objected? Certainly not the 150,000 people (plus 20,000 a day) who bought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the first 20 days of its release. Certainly not me.

See you at Madison Square Garden.

And Freddie in an interview a few later after this article:

He has been talking almost an hour and from the rapid increase in body twitches it's obvious he now wants to leave. He gets up to go but then thinks of something else.

A few weeks before I had written a story that adored in detail the tightness of Freddie's costume and the obvious bulge it contained. The Editor had not missed the opportunity to use an obvious headline.

"You know, your 'Cock Opera' piece has done me more harm than good. It was a wonderful piece, but My God, I've got to live up to it now. The insinuations of hosepipes and things, it's gotten really amazing. My God! A day hasn't passed when someone hasn't made a comment on it."

I was reminded of critic Lillian Roxon interviewing Tom Jones and wanting to poke her pencil there to see if it was all Tom. I guess only Fred's tailor knows for sure.