#hamilton/in the heights mashup

[aswithasunbeam]

Champagne and Scratch Tickets

[Read on AO3]

Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: Eliza gets up at the crack of dawn each morning to work at the corner store, doing all she can to keep things afloat after her parents' death. The one thing cutting into her profit margin: the cute boy from the barber shop across the street, who she can't seem to stop giving free coffee to.

A Hamilton/ In the Heights Mashup with Eliza as Usnavi, Alex as Vanessa, Angelica as Nina, and Peggy as Sonny.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Bess. Maybe I should just drop out.” Angelica heaved herself up onto the checkout counter with a sigh.

“Absolutely not,” Eliza said. “Whatever happens, you stay in school. It’s what mom and dad wanted.”

“When my grades come in, Stanford might not give me any choice.”

Angelica’s legs dangled in front of the alcohol and cigarette age disclaimers, mostly bare but for her high cut shorts. Thomas, loitering around the magazine rack, shot Angelica an appreciative glance, Eliza noticed. James noticed, too, apparently, because he gave Thomas a swift smack with a newspaper. Eliza cut her eyes to her sister, and they shared a look of stifled amusement.

Eliza gave her a companionable pat before turning back to stocking the scratch tickets displayed on the other side of the register. “We’ll figure something out, Ange. I promise. We’ll find some more money for you, so you won’t have to work so much. Then you can focus on your classes, get through finals.”

“You don’t have any more money to send,” Angelica said, eyeing the peeling linoleum floor.

True, Eliza granted silently, thinking of the stack of overdue bills on the kitchen table, their bright red final notices practically glowing on the envelopes, not to mention the broken refrigerator on the far wall, still waiting for the repairman to give an estimate. But their parents would turn over in their graves if Angelica didn’t finish school. Conjuring a smile, she said, “We’ll find a way.”

A long, slow whistle of appreciation came from the front window, where a group of two guys and a girl had their heads tilted, peering over the sign announcing a sale on Doritos. Following their eye line, she saw Alex bent over in the refrigerator, his rear beautifully framed in his tight blue jeans. Eliza felt her own head tilting sideways. Alex glanced to the side and threw up his middle finger at the window, prompting the group to walk hastily away.

“What are you looking at?” Angelica asked mischievously.

Eliza gave a flustered start.  

Just then, Peggy skidded to a stop in front of the counter, still tying her apron around her waist. “What are we talking about?”

“I’m worrying about my future,” Angelica said. “Eliza’s checking out boys and pretending to care.”

“I care,” Eliza insisted.

“No judgment here,” Peggy said, openly staring at Alex, who was now standing upright with his cell pressed to his ear. “That boy is fine.”

“Shut up,” Eliza whispered.

Alex spun on the spot and his voice raised in volume. “No, no! I’ll definitely be there. I’ll see you this afternoon. We’ll go over that lease. Thanks.” He hung up and grinned to himself, a dimple appearing in his cheek.

“Good news?” Angelica asked him.

His head swiveled towards them. “I have a lead on an apartment near campus.” He pointed to Eliza. “You owe me a bottle of champagne.”

“You’re moving?” Eliza heard herself asking. She could only hope the heartbreak didn’t come through in her voice.

“If all goes to plan.” He plopped the Pepsi on the counter to check out. “Your fridge smells pretty bad, by the way.”

“Yeah, it’s broken,” Eliza said, hurrying to pour him his customary morning coffee. “It’s been so hot, they’ve been working overtime. It must have finally given out last night.”

“Oh.” An awkward pause followed as he eyed the coffee. “Is the milk okay?”

“I used condensed milk. You know, from the can?”

“Clever,” he praised, clearly impressed.

“My mom’s old recipe.” She shoved a piece of hair back away from her sweaty face. “You’re good to go. It’s all on the house.”

That sweet, warm smile of his fell on her for a heart stopping moment. “Thanks.”  

“So, you’re going back to school?” Angelica asked.

“Yeah. I got accepted to Columbia. With scholarships and the money I’ve saved up working at Mulligan’s, I might just be able to afford it for a semester,” Alex said. “Watch yourself Ivy League. You’ve got competition.”

Angelica laughed, though Eliza noticed a distinct tightness in her face.

“How’s school going for you?” His voice was colored with hope, his dreams clearly pinned on Angelica’s recent escape from the neighborhood.

“Great,” Angelica replied, strain apparent. “Really great. You know, lots of tests, lots of papers.”

“Right.” He sighed wistfully and sipped at his coffee. He raised the coffee cup in a salute to the three of them. “Well, I should get to work. Mr. Mulligan won’t wait forever.” A patent lie. The fatherly barber would starve to death before letting Alex go.

“Bye,” Angelica said.

“See you,” Peggy waved.

“I love you,” Eliza said.

“What?” Angelica, Peggy, and Alex all asked in unison.

“What?” she echoed, face flushing. Oh dear God, had she said that out loud? Grabbing blindly, she laid hand on the pizza dough for the little personal pizzas she put out at lunch time. “Dough! I love dough.”

“Dough?” Alex repeated.

“Yeah. It smells amazing. Nothing like pizza dough to start the morning.”

“Mm,” he hummed, leaning closer to inspect the lump. She closed her eyes, inhaling the smell of his spiced soap on his skin. “Looks good. Maybe I’ll come back for a pizza this afternoon.”

“Yes!” Too eager, she scolded herself. Way too eager. Pull it back. “Yeah, I guess. You know, if you want to.”  

He smiled again as he backed away. He was so pretty she wanted to cry. When the door swished shut behind him, Peggy punched Eliza lightly on the arm. “Oh my God, just ask him out, you freak.”

“No!” Eliza looked askance. “I can’t do that. Look at him.”

They all watched him crossing the street towards Mulligan’s Barber Shop.

“I don’t see a thing wrong,” Peggy said.

“He’s…he’s him. And I’m me.” She gestured to her stained apron and messy hair falling out of her ponytail. “All I’m good for is taking reports of broken fridges and giving away free coffee.”

“That’s so not true. He should be so lucky as to get a girl like you,” Angelica said seriously.

Eliza fought not to scoff.

**

The door dinged when Alex walked in that afternoon.

“Hey handsome,” Peggy greeted, jumping down off the stool she’d been using to stock granola bars on the highest shelf. Eliza sent her glare across the store, to which Peggy gave a careless shrug.

“Hey Pegs,” Alex replied, heading towards the convenience items near the register.

Be normal, Eliza instructed herself as he approached. “How’s work going?”

“As good as sweeping up hair can be,” he replied, rifling around in the candy bars. “God, I can’t wait to quit.”

“Everything’s moving forward with Columbia, then?”

He crossed his fingers and held them up over the shelving for her to see.

“Good. That’s good.” It wasn’t good at all. Her chest hurt at the thought of not seeing him every day.  

He headed towards the spinning food heater displaying hotdogs and pizzas, and finagled a pizza onto a plate for himself to go with his Milky Way bar.

“Hey, Alex?” Peggy asked, sauntering over to him.

“Yeah?”

“My sister over there with her tongue hanging out? She’s wondering what a gentleman such as yourself might be doing this evening.”

Eliza’s eyes widened and she hissed, “Peggy.”

Alex glanced over at her, amusement glittering in his pretty, pretty dark eyes. “Does your sister dance?”

“Eh.” Peggy tilted her hand back and forth. Eliza felt her cheeks heating up with mortification.

Alex only laughed. “Well, maybe her and I could check out a club tonight. You know, if you think she’d like that.”

“Oh, I think she’d like that.”

Eliza sunk down behind the counter. It was as close to the earth swallowing her as she could get. She heard footsteps approaching, and, peeking up, she found Alex leaning over the counter. “I need to pay for these.”

“Just take it,” she said, waving him away.

“Ok. Thanks.” He sank his teeth into the pizza, chewed, swallowed, then winked. “You’re right, by the way. This dough really is amazing.”

She groaned and rolled forward, her forehead pressing against her knees.

He laughed again. “See you tonight?”

“Yeah. See you tonight.”

Peggy scooted behind the counter as Alex left. “You know, you might be able to afford to help Angie out more if you stopped giving Alex free stuff all the time.”

“I can’t believe you did that.” She stood back up, wiping the dirt off her jeans. “That was humiliating.”

“But now you have an actual date, instead of mooning over him from a far. Progress, Bess. Progress.”

Much more progress, and she was going to have to change zip codes.

           **

The music from the club was so loud she felt it in her ribcage more than a block away. Her legs felt sore and rubbery as she struggled down the stairs through the crowd, and she cursed the damn refrigerator repair guy who’d made her heave the two ton monstrosity across half the store. “I need better light,” he’d said. She’d been half tempted to beat him senseless with his own crappy flashlight.

“Alex!” A platinum blonde called from across the room, waving frantically.

Alex didn’t seem to notice. His hand was warm where it pressed against the small of her back. He probably gave amazing back rubs, she considered, biting her lip in anticipation.

“Do you come here a lot?” Eliza asked.

“I wouldn’t say a lot.”

“Hey Alex!” A different girl shouted from the bar. At the same time, a guy stopped in front of them, gave Alex a full head to toe appraisal, and mouthed, “Nice.”

When she glanced back at him, he shrugged. “I like to dance.”

She winced. “I hate to say this, but I’m pretty sore from work. I don’t think I can do much dancing tonight.”

His smile made her heart skip again. “That’s okay. Want a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

He gestured at a table where Gilbert and Jack were already sitting as he pushed through the crowd towards the bar. The two usually exuberant men looked oddly glum. Taking a seat, she asked, “What’s wrong with you two?”

“The car service is under new management,” Jack said. He handed her a shot.

“Is the new manager bad?” she asked, gulping it down with a shiver.

Jack took a shot too. “Wouldn’t know.”

“We’ve been ‘restructured’ right into the unemployment line,” Gilbert explained.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It was a crap job anyway,” Jack said with a shrug. “We’ll figure something out.”

Ah, that old, familiar refrain.

She looked out through the sea of people and saw Alex with three different pairs of hands grabbing at him as he leaned over the bar.  Seeming to sense her eyes on him, he craned his head back and smiled again. Her heart felt like it might pound right out of her chest.

“So, you’re here with Alex, huh?” Jack was smirking.

“Yeah.”

“Took you long enough,” Gilbert added.

Her responding look of indignation faded when she remembered she hadn’t actually ever gotten up the courage to do more than hand him free coffee and drool over him when he walked away.

Alex hadn’t even sat down in a chair when someone paused before the table and offered, “Hey, want to dance.”

“I’m here with someone,” he refused.

She winced again. She didn’t want to be the wet blanket holding him back from a fun night out. “You can, if you want.”

“You don’t mind?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him, sipping at the fruity drink he’d brought her. The concoction tasted exactly like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. Was there even alcohol in it?

“You might want to be careful with that,” Jack warned after she’d sucked down half the drink in two sips. “Those things are lethal.”

She scoffed and took another long sip. Alex had four different people attempting to dance with him on the floor. They’d formed a circle around him, and he turned in place, not seeming to care which of them he was dancing with at any moment. Were people that interchangeable to him? Was she interchangeable? Or was he trying to make her jealous?

After finishing the drink, and stealing a few more shots from Gilbert and Jack for good measure, she pushed back from the table and headed towards the bar, the floor a little more unstable than she remembered. Her legs felt better, at least. She swayed her hips as she approached the bar, where she ordered another one of the watermelon-Jolly Rancher-thingies.  

A girl was grabbing Alex’s ass when the bartender slid the drink across the bar to her. Well, she didn’t have to just take that, right? She could make him jealous right back. Turning to the right, she saw a gorgeous guy leaning against the wall near the bar, glistening with sweat,  his shirt unbuttoned all the way to his belly button.  

“Hey,” she said, trying to smoothly get the guy’s attention. Her heel turned under her, and she had to catch herself on the wall next to him. That did the trick—the guy looked down at her with a quizzical expression.

“Sí?”

“So I’m kind of psychic,” she said, tongue clumsy on the ‘s’ sounds. She touched a finger to his chiseled chest muscles. He looked down at her finger, then back at her. “I looked into your future, and saw me on you.”

He shook his head. “No hablo inglés.”

Only then did the full horror of what she’d just said occur to her. “Oh, thank God,” she whispered to herself, cringing as she began to back away. “Sorry!”

When she started back towards the table, she saw Alex had finally returned. He didn’t look happy, though, she noted, sliding back into her seat. He had his head down and he was slowly banging it against the table over and over.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice was still a little slurred. “Was it that guy? Cause that didn’t mean anything.”

Jack slid a piece of paper over to her. “This got delivered today. I promised Mulligan I’d bring it over to Alex. It’s uh, not good news.”

Trying to make her swimming vision focus on the words, she made out Columbia’s logo on the top. The financial aid office, she recognized after a moment’s more squinting. The word “denied” jumped out from the first sentence.

“Your father’s income is too high for you to qualify for the aid package you applied for?” she asked after far too long trying to comprehend the message. “I didn’t know your father was helping you?”

“Yeah, me either.” He picked his head up off the table. A big, red mark stood out prominently on his forehead. “Maybe they could forward me his address. He hasn’t bothered to keep me updated on his whereabouts for the past fifteen years or so.”

“God, Alex,” she sighed, putting the paper down on the table. “I’m sorry. You’ll get it straightened out, I’m sure. Even if you have to wait another year—”

“I don’t want to wait another year!” His voice went up an octave. “I want out of here. Don’t you get it? Don’t you want more from your life then selling coffee and candy bars to people in that money pit of yours?”

She frowned, sobering up immediately at the dig. Plenty of people thought that about her, she knew. Sweet, dependable Eliza, if only she had some drive, some ambition.

Her displeasure must have shown on her face, because he said immediately, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not a money pit,” she said. “That was my parents’ store.”

“I know,” he said. “I’m really sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”

She cast her eyes down at the table. His chair slid back, barely audible over the driving beat. When she looked up again, he was dragging his fingers through his hair.

“I’m gonna go. I’m not really in a dancing mood anymore.” He gave her a pained look. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” she said, voice chilly. “Sure.”

“You should be gentle with him,” Gilbert said after Alex had left. “He’s very insecure.”

“Insecure?” she echoed with clear disbelief. “He got felt up by everyone in the club and then insulted me. And you’re telling me I need to be gentle?”

“He likes you. A lot,” Jack said. “I gave him the letter to cheer him up after he got all weird and mopey because you were talking to that guy at the bar. Though that clearly didn’t work so well.”  

She fought off a wave of lingering humiliation and frowned down at the letter again. “Well, he shouldn’t have gotten all weird. I didn’t get weird when those girls were all over him.”

Jack snorted.

She glared at him and stole another shot.

**

“There’s no power,” Peggy announced, flipping on the overhead light in Eliza’s bedroom the next morning.

Eliza rolled over, covering her eyes with her arm as she groaned. Her mouth was dry and her head felt like she’d been trampled in a stampede of wild horses. Those watermelon drinks had packed a punch.

“I thought you said you were opening for me,” Eliza grumbled. “Go open. And turn off the damn light.”

“Fun night last night?” Peggy smirked.

“Horrible night,” she corrected, tossing a pillow in Peggy’s general direction. “Light.”

The light turned off. “I can’t open. The store has no power,” Peggy explained.  

Eliza rolled back towards her, squinting. “What?”

“No power,” Peggy repeated again, more slowly.

“Why?”

“Well, I found the bill. It’s way, way overdue. That might be why.”

Eliza swore and sat up. As if they hadn’t just lost enough money with the broken fridge, now they risked losing even more product. “I’ll call.”

Sitting on hold with a hangover had to be one of the circles of hell, she decided, holding the phone far from her ear to minimize the volume of the delirious circus music blaring out at her. She laid with her head down on the table for the first ten minutes, then doodled on a pad, and then rifled through the old mail while she waited. Alex’s letter sat on top of the stack, slightly crumpled from her pocket. She must have taken it with her by accident.

She read it over again in the sober light of day. Pissed as she was at him, she couldn’t help feeling a little bit bad. He was so close to getting what he wanted. To have it snatched away at the last second like that, seemed too cruel to bear, even if he had danced all night with other people.

Jack’s words floated back to her, suddenly, the memory foggy as it fought through the drunken haze of last night. “He likes you. A lot.”

She smiled. Did he really like her, she wondered. She had told him it was okay to dance with other people, she supposed. And he had gotten sad and jealous when she’d tried to talk to another guy. (Oh, God, that poor other guy, she thought, humiliation crashing over her once again.) Still, maybe the night hadn’t been a total disaster after all?

She read the contents of the letter again, more closely now, dragging a pen under the most important parts. She’d dealt with a maze of financial aid nonsense for Angelica last year. The ladies in the office had fawned over the young, sweet, orphan girl trying to help her big sister. Alex would probably shout at them. Maybe if she made a call, she could help?

“Ma’am?” A tinny voice cut through the circus music at last.

“Oh. Yes. Hello. I’m calling to get my power turned back on?”

**

Eliza kicked her legs impatiently against the store counter as she waited for the power to flip back on. They assured her it would be back within an hour after she’d made the payment, using money meant to cover rent. (Oh well, one crisis at a time.) It was now going on two hours.  After a crazed morning of having Peggy rush over with coffee pots from their apartment to serve their most loyal patrons, she’d put up a sign announcing cash only sales and hunkered down to wait.

The bell over the door dinged when she was bent over, looking for a chocolate bar to pass the time. “Cash only, no cold goods,” she announced by rote.

“What happened to your power?” Alex, she identified, snapping back up to look at him.

“Went out. Apparently that’s what happens when you don’t pay the bill for three months.”

“Gotcha.” He held up a curvy green bottle and a scratch ticket as he approached. “I got you some stuff.”

“Champagne?”

“Hair of the dog,” he smirked.

“I don’t think champagne’s what bit me last night,” she replied. At least, she didn’t think so. “What’s the occasion?”

“Partly an apology. I’m sorry about last night. That’s not how I meant it to go. I shouldn’t have gone off dancing with other people.”

“I said it was okay.”

“It was dumb of me. I was just so nervous and flustered. I was worried if we just talked I’d say something stupid. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a real date.”

“Seriously? You practically have to beat people off you with a stick.”

He shrugged slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. “Then, when you said I could dance with that girl, I thought maybe you didn’t really want to be out with me.” He was blushing now, perfectly sculpted tan cheekbones turning pink with embarrassment.

She couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped. He really was insecure as Jack claimed last night. At his wounded look, she leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek. “I’m sorry, honey. That’s just ridiculous. I have never wanted to go out on a date with another person more in my entire life.”

Butterflies took flight in her stomach at the adoration she saw in his eyes. “Really?”  

“Yeah. But I appreciate the apology.”

“I’m also sorry about what I said, about you and the store. It’s great, what you do here.”

She sighed. “I know it’s not fancy or impressive, running the store. Not like you and Angelica.”

He opened his mouth, no doubt to contradict her, but she waved a hand to stop him.

“I wanted to go to school, too, you know. Certainly not an Ivy League school, but maybe just community college. Or maybe travel for a year. I don’t know. I hadn’t worked it out yet. But then my folks died. Someone needed to step up, to be the grownup. Angelica was at Stanford already, and they were so proud of her. Peggy’s just a kid, still. So I did it. I stepped up.”

“You’re a rock,” he said. “You keep this place running. You anchor the whole neighborhood. That’s pretty impressive to me.”  

“I’m not curing cancer or anything, but I like keeping my parents’ legacy alive, reminding everyone they were here, giving Angelica a place to come home to. It feels important.”  

“It is. More than I think you even realize.” He heaved himself onto the counter beside her.

“What’s the other part?” she asked.

“Mm?”

“You said it was partly an apology.”

“Oh, right. The other part is celebration.” He smiled at her. “The funniest thing happened today.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I called Columbia to try to straighten things out with my financial aid. I was raring for a fight with them, too. But they told me they’d already talked to my sister, and she’d explained the whole situation regarding my father. So everything’s back on track with my aid package.”

“That’s pretty great.” Relief swept over her that she’d been able to accomplish at least something useful this morning.

“It is. The funny thing is, I don’t have a sister.”

“Weird,” she said, trying for deadpan.

“Really weird.” His hand touched her knee, fingers tickling lightly over her skin, leaving little goosebumps in their wake. “It’s also honestly the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“What are you thanking me for? I’m definitely not your sister.” Grinning at him, she grabbed the champagne and started working at the foil. The cork popped with a resounding bang and bubbles rushed up the neck of the bottle. “Cheers.”

She took a swig and handed it over to share. They traded the bottle back and forth a few times. “You didn’t lose that apartment in all the financial aid craziness, did you? The one you were talking about yesterday?”

“No. But, um, I’m thinking about turning it down.”

“You are?”  

“Yeah. I think I’ll stick around here. Mulligan said I can keep living with him, working part time. I can take the train to classes. That way, I might even be able to afford a whole year of school.”

“I thought you wanted to get out of here?”

“I did. I’m starting to see the appeal of this place, though.”

“What changed your mind?” she asked. He’d seemed pretty dead set on leaving the night before.

“I think it was that dough of yours.”

She punched him on the arm.

“I mean it. I think I’m falling for it.” He winked and leaned in to kiss her.

His breath was warm against her cheek, and smelled sweet from the champagne. Their lips touched, chaste at first, adjusting to the sensation. His goatee felt scratchy, but she couldn’t say she cared. She leaned in, placing her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer, her mouth parting to invite in his tongue. She moaned softly when his arms wrapped around her in return.  

They pulled apart minutes later, both slightly out of breath.

His hand landed on the scratch ticket as they disentangled themselves. He held it up to her. “You gonna try your luck?”

“I don’t know. It hasn’t been so great lately,” she said, gesturing to the darkened store. “You sure you don’t wanna try?”

“No way. I never win shit. You go.”

She fished a nickel out of the take-a-penny tray and starting scratching away the gray boxes. As the little pots beneath became visible, she felt her eyes widening. One-two-three pots. She squinted, sure she wasn’t reading the ticket right. Electricity surged back through the store.

Alex clapped at the restored power, then tapped her shoulder. “Did you win?”

She nodded, mouth parted with shock.

“Cool. How much?”

“96,000.”

Their eyes met, gazing at each other in stunned silence.

[hey-op-just-kill-me]

I can’t hear one without the other so please listen to what plays in my head on repeat everyday

[blakeyboio73-blog]

Hello! My name is Alexander Hamilton and I’m waving through a window of a candy store down on Skid Row. In the heights I’m defying gravity and waiting for my porno to load, it'll only take one day more.

[hamlintonheights]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by hamlinton | ia (@usnavi.miranda)

The only mashup that matters

[ryangravytrain]

2 and 43 with gravy for the most recent ask game

Y'all you've got to start giving me two people for these not just one! 😅 I want to be sure you get the prompt fill you want! Anyways this isn't a full Royal au, I went in a more Bridgerton style thing! I hope you enjoy!

2: Royal au

43: Dance of Romance

"Mashup Prompts"

Ryan knew that the chances of being asked to dance at tonight's ball was slim to none. It had been three years since his debut and he was only getting older. He understood why he hadn't been courted yet, not many men want someone as tall and as strange as Ryan. But it still hurt, everytime he was passed upon for a younger and more proper man, it stung. He promised himself that this would be the last season that he would take part in before he gave in and shipped himself off to his cousins home in the country.

He watched from the sidelines as boys were asked to dance, one by one all the boys were on the floor with someone who could be their potential husband. Ryan tried to ignore his embarrassment when he found himself alone once again. He signed as he watched Count Johnson spin around the young Makar boy. Ryan had had a few conversations with the Count, enough to get his hopes of a courtship up a bit, but that ship seemed to have sailed.

“Excuse me sir, if you wouldn't mind” A voice called that Ryan didn't recognize. He stepped aside, assuming that he was in the way for the other.

“Sir…” The voice seemed hesitant, “Would you please accompany me to the dance floor? I've been told that you're a lovely dancer?”

Ryan finally looked at the man, about his height with dark red hair and an earnest smile on his face. Ryan slowly put his hand in the strangers, waiting for the other shoe to drop or for him to pull his hand away at the last second.

That didn't happen, instead he was pulled onto the dance floor/ The man's arm wrapping around his waist, pulling Ryan in close while holding his hand high in his own. They spun around the floor at a fast pace, faster than the rest of the couples on the floor. Ryan laughed as the man led them up and down, keeping Ryan close and laughing with him. Soon the music slowed, and they slowed down with it. Swaying from side to side Ryan took a chance and rested his head on the stranger's shoulder.

“Thank you Sir,” Ryan whispered, “That was the most fun I’ve had at one of these for a while.”

The stranger laughed, they separated as the music stopped, “I would like to call on you tomorrow Mr.Graves, would that be alright with you?”

“I would like that very much, and who will I be waiting for?” Ryan smiled shyly, not quite believing what was happening.

“Douglas Hamilton,” The man smiled, “Though you may call me Dougie.”

“I look forward to your call…Dougie.” Ryan said as he bowed. He left the ball shortly afterward, still riding the high of being wanted, for once.

[purelintrash]

undefined

[break-so-beautifully]

Out of the blue, RANDOM Buffy post...

So, the other day I rewatched the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  (Do NOT ask me why, I have no good answer.)  LOL!  Now, for the last two days I have had a crazy mashup of Buffy, In The Heights, and Hamilton songs drifting through my head and intertwining with one another and it is WIERD!  My brain feels like it’s mushy and on fire.  For instance, The lyrics to My Shot will be rocking along in my head and then Anya pops in and is all, “Or maybe midgets...”  And then Usnavi’s all, “This is our block!”  It’s ridiculous.  

[the-perfect-scientist]

REPOST DON’T REBLOG

PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER

ONE ( ALIAS / NAME ). H - It’s the first letter of my real name (was previously Sam).

TWO ( BIRTHDAY ). December 18th

THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN ).  Sagittarius

FOUR ( HEIGHT ). 5′2″ (1.57m)

FIVE ( HOBBIES ). Writing, roleplaying, drawing, video games

SIX ( FAVORITE COLOR ).  Soft purple (almost pastel but not quite)

SEVEN ( FAVORITE BOOKS ) To Kill a Mockingbird, concept art books

EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ) "Satisfied Stars” (Hamilton/One Republic mashup)

NINE ( LAST SHOW WATCHED ) The Holzer Files, Business Blaze (on Youtube)

TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE ) Not sure how I latched onto him in the beginning (probably part because the joke of him being Magic School Bus Carlos and I watched that as a kid A LOT). How I write him is like a mix of Carlos Ramon (MSB), Night Vale Carlos, myself, and a good dad. Also big words. If I can manage to give him a long-winded scientific explanation about a subject or his processes with big words I will.

ELEVEN ( MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL ) In Night Vale, Cecil first described Carlos as ‘perfect’ and, of course, he’s a scientist. Since then Cecil has since acknowledged that Carlos is imperfect, but I kept the url to avoid broken links since this is an old blog. (seven years, I think)

Tagged By: @terrorofthenight ( @elveswithoutears)

Tagging: Any and everyone :3

[forthehonorofraeskull]

the first song i heard from/how i found each of my favorite musicals

(in order of when i found them, ig?)

WICKED ---- Popular. My mom used to be really into theatre too and she used to play Popular, Defying Gravity, and What is This Feeling? around the house

HAMILTON ---- Alexander Hamilton. I heard about the musical from a YouTuber I really liked and I wanted to keep up with her references, so I listened to it and liked it way more than I thought I would

HEATHERS ---- Beautiful. I found Heathers through the same YouTuber and was SHOCKED by the plot. I was, like, 11 when I found the musical

SCHOOL OF ROCK ---- You’re in the Band. Our choir and band programs went on a field trip to see School of Rock and my choir teacher played one of the songs for us about a week in advance. My dad used to watch this movie with me all the time, so I was excited

DEAR EVAN HANSEN ---- Waving Through a Window. At this point I was the Hamilton Girl (tm) and I was trying to expand, ‘cause in my head I was a HUGE fake fan. A girl in my choir class sang this song for karaoke so I went home and listened to the cast album

BE MORE CHILL ---- Michael in the Bathroom. I heard this one song and found out my friend liked it. And so I asked if I should listen to it. She was like mmmmm yeah but it’s a bit weird...? I had no idea what she meant by that-

NEWSIES ---- Seize the Day. I heard this song in a Broadway mashup a long time before. Then I saw Newsies on Netflix and LOVED IT with everything in me. I saw a community theater production of it back in February and it was everything

THE LIGHTNING THIEF ---- The Campfire Song. I’ve been a Percy Jackson fan for as long as I can remember and I used to look up “Percy Jackson songs” on YouTube, until one day I found an animatic. I watched it and was like,,, waaaait a second. So after I saw that I listened to it and it was everything my little theatre/pjo heart could’ve ever wanted. I saw it last winter while it was on tour and low key? I cried afterwards. The cast is so talented

MEAN GIRLS ---- I’d Rather Be Me. As a Barrett Wilbert Weed stan I found out that she was in another musical, a musical version of Mean Girls. I love Mean Girls so much. So I listened to all of Barrett’s songs, and later on, I listened to the whole album. I now follow all of the cast members on Instagram, Broadway and National Tour, and I’m OBSESSED with them

WAITRESS ---- Opening Up. I saw some girls do a cover of it and I was like awww...this is cute. So I gave it a listen, 

FIREBRINGER ---- We’ve Got Work to Do. I went on a MISSION to find the source of the “I don’t really wanna do the work today” vine. I watched, I fell in love, I also found out they did more

BEETLEJUICE ---- Say My Name. I heard it literally days after it was released and I wanted to listen to all of Lydia’s songs, since she was my favorite in the movie, and I chose this one first? Then it blew up on TikTok and I felt like it was stolen from me and that’s probably why I don’t listen to it as much anymore

THE GUY WHO DIDN’T LIKE MUSICALS ---- the title number. It was in my recommended once and I watched the first like 3 minutes and I was like mmmmm not feeling it. Then I saw Firebringer + most of starkid’s musicals and decided I DEFINITELY WAS FEELING IT. Also not to brag but I followed Mariah before she was in TGWDLM *cool guy emoji*

IN THE HEIGHTS ---- No Me Diga. I kept saying I was going to listen to it, since it was Lin’s show, and then I finally did and I was OBSESSED. Technically, like I said, I heard No Me Diga first because I found it on my recommended at like 3 am on a school night

HADESTOWN ---- Wait For Me (Reprise). Hadestown was BIG when I found it, like at it’s peak. I listened to it after hearing the song, but I wasn’t really feeling it. Listened to it again about four months later after seeing Mariah Rose Faith do a drunk cover of the climax in Wait For Me (Reprise) and nowwww it’s my favorite musical

SPIES ARE FOREVER ---- The Coldest Goodbye. I loved Solve it Squad Returns so MUCH and I obviously loved Joey Richter, Lauren Lopez, Brian Rosenthal, and Corey Lubowich, and I only ever heard good things about it. I heard The Coldest Goodbye during a video where someone was ranking TCB/Starkid songs and I was like DAMN I LOVE HER VOICE so I watched it :)

[thefederalistfreestyle]

#ham4heights [v x x x x]

[serceleste]

so basically the only things i’ve listened to using my amazon music app are hamilton, moana, and wicked, so it created a station for me but it doesn’t know i like anything besides showtunes

my takeaway after listening to it all week while i run is that i now assume that everything has a musical version 

also: mean girls has great songs, i love six, i knew there was a moulin rouge musical but i had no idea it was aaron tveit and karen olivo, the anna in the frozen musical is really not to my taste and sounds like she’s trying too hard to sound like kristen bell, it is actually possible for me to not like ‘on my own’ because i’m not sure which cast it is but there is an eponine i really don’t care for, idk why it’s still torturing me by not playing me anything from in the heights and it won’t play me the ben platt/lmm dear evan hansen/hamilton mashup either

[cosmicbug379]

Put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 that come up. Then tag 10 others to do the same!

Tagged by @rzrcrst

1. Rocketman-Taron Egerton (I loved this movie a lot okay)

2. Inutil-In the Heights Original Broadway Cast

3. Drive By-Train (I probably love Train more than most 23 year olds, but I feel like it’s fine)

4. Freak the Freak Out-Victorious Cast (Listen, I loved this show when I was a teenager and I still love it now, please don’t judge me)

5. Green Finch and Linnett Bird- Sweeney Todd (The movie with Johnny Depp)

6. Found/Tonight- Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda (I LOVE both Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton, and this mashup destroys me)

7. I Never Planned On You/Don’t Come A-Knocking-Newsies Original Broadway Cast

8. It’s Gonna Be Good (Reprise)-Next to Normal Original Broadway Cast

9. A Million Dreams-Peter Hollens (I love his music. He is amazing and does all of this A Capella work and I love him)

10. Burnin’ Up-Jonas Brothers (Nick is the best and I will die on this hill)

I don’t think I even know 10 people so I will tag anyone who sees this and wants to do it!

[clevertony]

21 Questions

answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you want to know better

I was tagged by @captainmrvels and @peteparkrrs.  Thanks so much!

Nicknames: Aim/Aimer (mostly by my parents, a few random acquaintances call me Aim sometimes too though)

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Height: 5ft 3.5in (that half inch DOES matter tyvm)

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

The Last Thing I Googled: "jibcon 2019″ (I almost forgot that it was this weekend!)

Favorite Musicians: I don’t really have a favorite musician...I honestly don’t listen to the radio very much and its bad and I know I really should because I don’t know like any of the newer music and it makes me feel so old.  But I really just am a huge theatre nerd and prefer to just keep on listening to my showtunes on repeat instead.

Song Stuck in Your Head: Three Times a Lady AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I LITERALLY NEVER LISTEN TO THIS SONG WHY IS IT IN MY HEAD MAKE IT STOP

Following: 512 (but it was higher this morning because I just accidentally unfollowed like 15 people without meaning to cuz I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, so if you’re reading this and are someone who I was following this morning and am now suddenly NOT following you, PLEASE let me know, I want to re-follow those people but I don’t know who they were because I wasn’t paying attention)

Followers: 1,285

Do You Get Asks: Nope.  

Amount of Sleep: God that varies so much.  Some days I get like 2-3 hours, some days 10-11.  To be fully awake and functioning I usually need 8.

Lucky Number: 9

What You’re Wearing: "pajamas” (aka a tshirt that says “Don’t Let the Muggles Get You Down” and some yoga pants).  Yes it’s 1:30pm and I’m still in my pajamas, don’t judge me.

Dream Job: Well I’m a big theatre nerd like I mentioned earlier, so actress is obviously up there.  But like, realistic dream job would be senior software engineer.  Making 6 figures.  Maybe could happen in like 20 years?

Dream Trip: I’d really like to go to the UK.  My grandparents were born over there so it would be cool to go see where they grew up.  But also just like, anywhere outside the US really.  I’ve never got to leave the country before.  Not even Canada =/

Instruments: As in favorite or as in what I play?  Well I mean the answer to both of those are piano.  But I’m not very good at playing it.  It’s 110% my favorite instrument though.

Languages: I only speak English unfortunately.  And like, a few years of Spanish in middle/high school and college.  But not enough to be fluent.  I really want to learn enough to become fluent.  And I also really wanna learn Latin.  I feel like knowing Latin would make learning other languages a lot easier.

Favorite Songs: Pretty much any showtune.  I don’t really have a favorite per say, and the songs I’m really into change ALL the time, but as of this very second the songs that I currently rarely skip when they come on in my playlist are probably Heaven on Their Minds (Jesus Christ Superstar), One Song Glory (Rent), Waving Through a Window (Dear Evan Hansen), One Last Time (Hamilton), Andante, Andante (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again), Suddenly Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors), and Found/Tonight (Dear Evan Hansen/Hamilton mashup).

Random Fact: I am an identical twin (she is @newtsnifler/@ontrenzalore) And this is the random fact I use in every single icebreaker that forces you to give a random fact about yourself.  I was lucky enough to be born with a random fact :D

Aesthetic: Uhhhh I don’t think I have one?  

Tagging: I’m TERRIBLE at choosing people for stuff like this and it makes me feel like I’m playing favorites, so I just put all my mutuals into a list randomizer and am tagging the first 21 that came up.  Only do this if you want to, I swear it won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t!! @ironarm, @serumsteve, @rarityalien, @scott-andthewasp, @hugwinchester, @sixavengers, @pizdezsworld, @loki-isnt-so-lucky, @noni-thepony, @tinyandsteven, @fypoedameron, @thefourthnorn, @okoyeh, @pepperspotts, @tendoctor, @anduptheygrew, @trashcanakin, @stunningdean, @steverogers, @we-love-tony-stark-wednesday, @rogerss

[riverpersonn]

get to know me meme

tagged by: @brdrlnds​

i tag @rotfrog​ @perilegs​ @poisoniumz​​ @friskibitz​ @schafpudel​ @uselessundertalefacts​ @agent-catcat​ @suzyundertale​ no pressure!!!

update: i played with the formatting a little bit so if youre only just now getting @’d or getting @’d again thats probably why

Nicknames: av!

Zodiac Sign: aries

Height: 5′6″ babey. taller with orthotics b a b e y

The last thing I googled: orthotics for pronated feet (i remembered why i had orthotics in the first place)

Favorite musicians: toby goddamn fox, owl city, janelle monae

Following: 620

Followers: uhh 634 counting bots

Do you get asks: nah but they usually stress me out so thats ok (unless its about my fics!!!!!)

Amount of sleep: 8 hours a night since starting college!!!! GOD i love having my first obligation be at 10 in the morning

Lucky number: 13

What you’re wearing: like the only damn pair of mens jeans ive ever found that fit me + college t shirt + flannel

Dream job: CONTENT CREATOR 

Dream trip: pacific northwest!! im going there this summer!

Languages: i can read, write and understand french and spanish, and speak in them if you give me like 5 minutes, but i want to learn stuff from other language families too!! i know a little kirundi because of an esl tutoring program i volunteer at and its such a cool language

Favorite songs: at the moment: absolutely smitten - dodie clark, pink in the night - mitski, sober up - ajr, anniversary - autoheart, we are young - mika, dreams don’t turn to dust - owl city

Random fact: finnish isn’t an indo-european language (like swedish, icelandic, russian, polish, english, french, greek, latin, german, punjabi and sanskrit LITERALLY ALL ARE) and im constantly going feral over this what the fuck

Aesthetic: forgetting to fill out the aesthetic part of this meme for like two hours appPAREntly but also Undertale 

—————

R U L E S: put your playlist on shuffle, and put down the first 10 songs that play

young volcanoes - fall out boy

my shot - hamilton

the novocaine phoenix - fall out boy mashup i downloaded from youtube

champion - fall out boy

the good the bad and the dirty - patd

death by glamour - undertale the musical

undertale variations - materia collective

natural disaster - pentatonix

umbral ultimatum - homestuck

new york city - owl city

[itsahamandjlaur-blog]

I made another mashup, this is my second creation. It was a request and I’m sorry to say that you will cry ugly tears.

Enjoy :3

-J. Laur

[keepingupwithlinmanuel]

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2018 in review (a brief recap)

Previously in this series: 2016 and 2017 (fair warning, neither are very brief).

January

advocates for neighbourhood bar Coogan’s to stay open

January Hamildrop: a Wrote My Way Out two-parter, with a music video for the original and a remix

attends Broadwaycon’s Heights reunion panel, moderated by Luis Miranda

How Far I’ll Go earns Lin his 3rd Grammy

Cameos in Anthony Veneziale’s new show Bartlett

West End Hamilton wins Critic’s Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical

February

Lin and Vanessa’s second child Francisco is born

interviewed by Oprah for SuperSoul Conversations

Launches salsa remix of Almost Like Praying to raise more funds for Puerto Rico

interviews Bill and Melinda Gates at his alma mater Hunter College High School

first cast recording of the updated Working released featuring 2 songs composed by Lin

February Hamildrop: The Hamilton Polka by Weird Al! Lin was very excited

March

presents at the Oscars with Emily Blunt

March Hamildrop: a mashup of Story of Tonight with You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen to benefit March For Our Lives

participates in and performs at March For Our Lives

April

is forced to take a short break by shingles

West End Hamilton wins 7 Olivier Awards, including Best Musical, and Lin wins Outstanding Achievement in Music alongside Alex Lacamoire

honored with actors’ equity’s Rosetta LeNoire Award for promoting diversity in casting

wins a Webby Award for his charity efforts

April Hamildrop: the first draft of Burn sang by 5 Elizas across different Hamilton companies

honoured by the O’Neill with its Monte Cristo Award for an extraordinary impact on American theater

May

Hamilton the exhibition announced

launches campaign for Hamilton DC to benefit voting rights organisations

honoured for him and his family’s philanthropy by Town and Country magazine

makes his Ducktales debut as the superhero GIzmoduck

Warner Brothers wins bidding war for the Heights movie with Lin producing, a script by Quiara Alegria Hudes and Jon M Chu directing

honoured alongside Dick van Dyke by Geffen Playhouse with the Education Impact Award

May Hamildrop: a Helpless cover by the Regrettes

June

The Heights movie sets a June 2020 release date

June Hamildrop: Boom Goes the Cannon by Mobb Deep

contributes an essay to American Like Me, an anthology edited by America Ferrera

writes the foreword to the newest Garfield book

participates in and performs at the Families Belong Together march in Washington DC

July

nominated for an Emmy for his guest turn on Curb Your Enthusiasm

announces the upcoming release of Gmorning! Gnight!, a collection of his tweets illustrated by Jonny Sun

fills in for his friend Justin McElroy at a live reading of the Adventure Zone graphic novel in New York

announces that he will direct a movie adaption of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick...Boom!

participates in the When We All Vote campaign to get out the vote for the midterms

announces the creation of the Flamboyan Arts Fund to benefit the arts in Puerto Rico, funded from the proceeds of Hamilton’s run in PR

signs on to executive produce Fosse/Verdon, a limited series about the Broadway legends and their relationship

cast in the BBC/HBO TV adaptation of His Dark Materials as Lee Scoresby

August

Begins filming His Dark Materials in Wales

August Hamildrops #1: Boom Goes The Cannon music video in memory of Prodigy of Mobb Deep

announces ticketing arrangement for Hamilton PR: 1/4 of the tickets will be $10 lottery tickets and 1,000 exclusively for university students

August Hamildrops #2: Burn music video with Audra Day

attends a special Hamilton London gala performance benefiting charity with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

features in an American Express commercial as part of a campaign promoting small businesses

August Hamildrops #3: Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up by Ibeyi

September

features on Utkarsh Ambudkar’s Rufio as guest rapper

turns up to a Cardiff bar’s monthly musical theater singalong

September Hamildrop: A Forgotten Spot (Olvidado) featuring a cast of Puerto Rican all stars

release of American Like Me, featuring an essay by Lin

October

announces a new Prizeo contest for Hamilton PR to benefit the Flamboyan Arts Fund

Lin wraps filming on series 1 of His Dark Materials

announces worldwide casting search for the Heights movie

records the Gmorning! Gnight! audiobook

unveils a new tourism partnership between NYC and Puerto Rico

travels to Puerto Rico to promote Hispanic Federation initiative to revive the island’s coffee industry 

contributes a track (with Mandy Gonzalez) to a charity LP to benefit NGOs working to reunite separated families

announces 32 Freestyle Love Supreme shows in February/March 2019 (he will be a guest performer at some of the shows)

October Hamildrop: Theodosia Reprise by Sara Bareilles

November

Visits Swing Left volunteers to support get out the vote efforts

covers Entertainment Weekly with Emily Blunt for their Mary Poppins Returns feature

November Hamildrop: Cheering For Me Now, a new Hamilton tune by Lin and John Kander

attends the Latino Victory Fund PAC launch to raise money for 2020

Participates in a panel discussion with his father moderated by Soledad O’Brien to benefit the Hispanic Federation and the Geffen Playhouse Education and Community Engagement programs

covers Vanity Fair with a long feature about his career

attends the world premiere of Mary Poppins Returns in LA

gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with tributes by Rita Moreno and Weird Al

December

is honored alongside his Hamilton collaborators as part of the Kennedy Center Honors 2018

scores second Golden Globes nomination, this time for his role in Mary Poppins Returns

the Miranda family starts a new scholarship at Rhode Island College to aid students from underrepresented backgrounds

the final Hamildrop: One Last Time (44 Remix) featuring Barack Obama

[Thanks to LinMiranda.com for all the HQ images.]