#he has the worst pr team in the world i’ve never seen someone’s career and rep change so drastically

[newjenns]

the thing that gets me about the john mulaney dave chapelle stuff is that like john is perfectly aware that he has a young and queer audience like when i saw him a week ago or whatever he made a joke about ppl who didn’t know who he was needing to ask their daughters or their not straight sons about him so unless chapelle brainwashed john into thinking he’s not a bigot and everything got blown out of proportion i can’t understand why he would’ve thought that guy would be a good guest opener 😭

[shawnpetermuffins]

Decode

Based very loosely off the song decode by paramore.

A/n: I wrote this in 25 minutes. Sorry if it's trash.

Summary: you're supposed to be dating Shawn, so why does everyone think he's dating someone else?

Word count: 1.2k

***

And we're in yet another fight. Over her of course. At this point, I don't even know what's real and what's not. Which isn't what I should be feeling with him. We've been dating for just under two years, privately mostly, but his fans know about me. I just made it clear to Shawn when we started dating that I didn't want to be everywhere. There are things that he puts up with on his own because this is what he chose to do, but it's not what I chose. He respects that. But now he's parading around a girl that's not me because management thinks it'll be good for him to be seen out more.

What really sucks about this though, is that no one thought to ask me how I felt about it? No one thought to ask me how I felt about my boyfriend being seen holding hands and hugging, and fucking making out with someone else in public? Someone who has never even tried to get to know me in our long term relationship, but claims to be my boyfriend's best friend. Someone who has lied in interviews when asked about mine and Shawn's relationship. Saying things like "oh, we're so close! Almost as close and me and Shawn! I love her so much! They make the perfect couple." If she really thought that, she would have come to me herself and asked if I would be okay with her literally groping my boyfriend and sticking her tongue down his throat in the most crowded coffee shop imaginable. But she didn't. And neither did he. Which is why we're where we are now, screaming at each other for not understanding the other's side.

"Are you seriously picking her again? You don't see at all where I'm coming from? You're taking her side?!"

"Why the hell are there sides?"

"You tell me!" I fling my arms dramatically. This really wasn't the time to do this, he's finished his concert and just now thought to tell me that he wouldn't be spending his one day off with me, but instead would be flying out to LA to see her. "You tell me why I'm suddenly not being treated like your girlfriend anymore?"

"Oh, come on! You're being ridiculous!"

"Am I?" I scoff, "I can see how that's easy for you to blame me for this. But I won't take it. I won't, Shawn. I didn't fucking sign up for this. The entire goddamn world thinks you're dating someone else and not a single one of them cares about the fact that we haven't broken up! That we've never led on to a breakup! All they care about is Shawn Mendes playing fucking tonsil hockey with his so called best friend!"

"Y/n, you know it's to help sales."

"It was! Now I'm not so sure. How did we get here, Shawn? Because I'm looking at you right now and I don't even know you. I don't know the person standing in front of me, and frankly, I don't want to. And I think I know now what it is."

"You think you know what?"

"This change. You're not man enough to tell me yourself, but clearly you don't have to. Those pictures, staged or not, show enough. I see it in your eyes. You want her, and maybe it's just the idea of her. Maybe it's the fact that you can go out in public and be seen with her and she's fine with that because she wants to be photographed. She wants everyone to see her. She wants the world to know her and her relationship status and she wants to be relevant to people. You love that. You love that you can share that with someone. But you know that's not what I want and that I've never wanted that."

"Y/n, that's not true. We're just trying to sell the song. I'm with you aren't I? I'm dating you. Have been for a while now, in case you've forgotten."

"I haven't!" I point to myself. "But you apparently have. Because this whole fake relationship is probably the worst thing you've done in your life. You're lying to everyone. Including me. Including your family. And fuck, you're even lying to yourself. Because you may think that you're still with me, but you're not. You know why?"

"No," he runs his hands through his still sweaty hair, "but I'm sure you're gonna tell me."

"You're not with me, because the time we could be spending together, loving each other, you've chosen to spend on a flight to LA to be seen in yet another goddamn coffee shop, near a window with optimal view of you holding holding her hand, and her stroking your chest, and resting her legs in your lap, and you kissing her on the lips. Do you even realize that you've done what you said you never would? You cheated!! You cheated and you don't even see it, you don't even care!"

"I DIDN'T CHEAT ON YOU! It's fake!" His voice echoes through the room and I know that anyone loitering in the halls of the arena could hear him. "How dare you accuse me of that!"

Now it's my turn to get loud, "YOU KISSED HER, SHAWN!" I take in a harsh breath, "You kissed her not once, but twice! That's not cheating? What is it then?!"

He sighs, "Lower your voice. Everyone can hear us," he says lowly.

"That's what you care about? That people can hear? Fucking let them then! Because they can see, too. And I know they've all seen that you and I aren't the same anymore."

"I'm still me, y/n-"

"No you're not!" I cry. "You're not the same Shawn I fell in love with. And I can't keep lying for you. I can't keep making excuses. You've made such a fool out of me, out of us. Out of your fans. Do you see that? Do you see that you've completely shattered any trust I could ever have in you again?"

"But, I didn't mean to. That's not what I was trying to do. Y/n, I love you. You know that."

"I thought I did. But I don't feel it anymore. You don't show it anymore. Because you're so consumed… in her." I let out a deep breath. "I'm going home. I can't do this anymore."

"No, baby. Don't leave." He reaches for me, but I quickly pull back.

"Why shouldn't I? You're doing it! You're doing it to be with someone else. I'm doing this for me. Because whatever has possessed you to be so invested in the publicity of this, it's killing our relationship. No, no. It's killed our relationship."

"What?" And he reaches for me again, this time taking hold of my clammy hands. "No, we can fix this. I know we can. Let me fix it. This whole PR thing will be over in a couple months and then we can talk this all out and we'll be okay."

I let out a bitter laugh, "I wish that could be true. But there's no fixing what you've broken. I'm done, Shawn. I don't want to be with someone who is always going to put his career and reputation - or now lack thereof - before me. So you go to LA and you get photographed with her, and you promote your song, and you forget that we ever happened. Because as far as I'm concerned, it wasn't real anyway." I take my hands roughly out of his and turn to the locked door. Practically his entire team is standing there, eyes wide. I push past them with a tight lipped smile, but I stop halfway down the hall when I hear Shawn's voice.

"You're seriously just gonna walk away from this? You expect me to just forget about us?"

I face him, still so angry and say, "Why don't you call Camila? I'm sure she can help you through this breakup just like you helped her. Have a nice time in LA, Shawn. I hope this works out for you. I hope you're happy." And I leave again without another word to anyone.

***

Tag:@curlyshawny @anamariel2301 @shawns-badreputation @bbellbagel @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste @tomshufflepuff @dino-16-avocado @sleepybesson @lifeoftheparty74 @shawnssongs

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[godlessfm]

⤿  ––––  op,  well,  hello  !  i’m  neptune  and  since  my  intro  posts  are  always  miles  long,  i’m  gonna  try  and  keep  dis  as  short  as  possible  (  spoiler  alert:  it  was  not  short  ).  also.  there’s  300+  typos  in  this  and  i’m  so  sorry  if  none  of  it  makes  sense.  u  got  questions  about  any  of  this,  i  can  answer  it  the  best  i  can.

( harry styles, demiboy , he/they, 26 ) no way ! i swear i saw west holiday walking down danforth avenue ! i just saw a post about them on 6secrets ! i think it said something like “heart breaking, heartthrob west holiday seen drunkenly flirting with another taken starlet”. isn’t that wild ? i guess that makes sense since they’re apparently shameless and cynical. fans will claim that they’re ( indomitable ) and ( charming ). i mean , it’s not like i know them personally — they’re a famous singer/songwriter. whenever i think of them, i think of crinkling crows feet on the edge of green eyes when someone makes you smile, wild curls that were purposefully styled to look like chic bed head, a small figure swallowed in a button up that is too big for them. i wish i would have asked for an autograph !  * the 1975 career claim !

so,  first  and  foremost.  fuck  this  kid.  i  hate  this  guy  and  i’m  sure  you  will  too.  not  because  i  think  he’s  fleshed  out  bad  or  anything,  he’s  just  the  #Worst. i’m  just  gonna  go  straight  onto  bullet  points  bc  this  will  actually  take  years  if  i  rant  on  about  this  boy.

to  start  of,  he  didn’t  really  grow  up  great.  like  ya  he  was  mad  rich,  but  his  two  moms  cannot  stand  each  other.  they  were  constantly  yelling  at  each  other  and  throwing  things  but  hey.  west  just  kind  of  *wipes  tears  w  hundos*  so  he  didn’t  think  it  was  that  rough

he  grew  up  mainly  in  cheshire,  england,  there  for  he  has  a  pretty  heavy,  thick accent  that  comes  across  in  his  music.  i mean.... his  career  claim  is  the 1975  so you  know  that  i  mean

uh  he  has  lil,  baby  sister,  anabelle .  she’s  v  small  so  sadly  no  wc.  but  she  is  his  whole  world  and  if  you  saw  them  together  u  would  think  west  has  nice  twin  brother.  he  doesn’t  but.  if  he  did.... west  is  the  evil  twin.

though  they  always  fought  they  stayed  together  for  some  dumb  reason,  that  dumb  reason  that  they’re  lil  boy  got  MAD  RICH.  he  started  of  making  some  cash  by  playing  out  on  busy  foot  traffic  areas  and  having  a  guitar  case  wide  open .  and  people  would  just  toss  money  in  there  and  once  he  saw  a  career  in  this  he  straight  up  just  dropped  out  of  high  school  and  pursued  music.  basically,  what  i’m  saying  is,  he’s  dumb. big  dumb.

besides  being  the  biggest  dummy  he’s  really  super  talented  i  swear.  the  only  problem  is  that’s  his  ONLY  redeeming  quality. im  not  even  being  dramatic.  that’s it. that’s  the  only  good  thing  about  him.  like  yeah,  he’s  charming  and  he’s  strong  or  whatever  but  do u  think  he  uses  that  for  good ??? NO.

he’s  quite  literally  the  guy  you  have  in  your  phone  as  ‘DNR’  bc  if  u  do  he’s  gonna  try  and  charm  you  into  coming  over  just  so  he  can  hook  up  with  you  and  get  you  an  uber  when  y’all  are  done.  he  won’t  even  cuddle  u  wtf  bro.

TRUE LIFE: I’m A Disaster Bi

if  y’all  wanted  to  know  he  is  covered  in  tattoos  just  like  harry,  and  he’s  short - haired  harry.  even  tho  as  my  fren  put  it:  all  harry  lives  matter.  watch  me  making  west  grow  it  out  bc  long - haired  harry  is  my  personal fave.  we’ll  see  how  long  it  takes  for  me  to  cave. place ur Bets

uh . so  about  that  headline ... am  i  right  Laid  Ease. basically  he  was  seen  flirting  with  another  rich  kid  /  celeb  that  is  publicly  taken !  cool  plot  there !  please  hit  me  up  if  you  think  it’d  work

pls  dont  be  offended  if  y’all  have  slept  together / met  and  he  doesn’t  remember  you  name .  chances  are  he  will  call  you  bro,  dude,  babe,  etc  until  he  remembers  your  name  or  you  remind  him

west  has  this  rly  weird  habit,  it’s  kind  of  funny.  HE WILL TRY  AND  SHOVE  HIMSELF  INTO  YOUR  DRAMA  BC  HE  IS  BORED.  like  sure. he  means  well  ........ Well. no  he  doesn’t.  he’s  a  little  shit  and  is  so  proud  of  it

pls  hate  him.  im  beggin  u  he  thrives  of  being  hated,  he  rly  does  like  he’s  got  fans  that  love  him  and  see  the  him  that  stops  to  take  pictures/calls  you  honey/loves  his  fans.  but  he’s  like..... simply  put ?? A  Dick.

u h.  so  since  he’s  horrible  he’s  never. EVER. been  in  love.  any  relationship  he’s  ever  been  in  is  100%  fake  and  means  nothing  to  him.  it’s  all  for  pr  and  he  knows  it’ll  get  his  ratings  up  so  like.

i  truly  cannot  think  of  anything  else  so  like....... uh . pls  plot  with  me.  i’ll  make  him  a  pinterest  in  a  lil  bit.  but  until  then,  this  is  all  i’ve  got.  he’s  still  a  total  work  in  progress  but  u  kno .

okay ! so  ! that  was  a  giant  mess.  but,  i do  have  a  quick  little  list  of  wcs  before  i  actually  work  up  a  whole  wc  page  !

001.  100%  smash  on  a  game  of  smash  or  pass:  uh . so lets  say  west  played  a  game  of  smash  or  pass  on  a  talk  show  and  they  asked  him  who  is  his  number  one  smash.  das  where  ur  muse  comes  in .  ur  muse  is  his  number  one  smash.  ALWAYS.

002.  most  recent  public  relationship:  so  west  and  ur  muse  were  probably  spotted  out  somewhere  and  his  pr  team  was  like.  wow  ur  album  is  blowin  up  keep  asking  this  person  to  hang  out  with  and  plead  the  fifth  if  they  ask  if  y’all  are  together.  ur  muse  can  choose  whether  they  were  together  or  not.  but  at  this  point  they’re  definitely  NOT  together,  but  they  could’ve  stayed  friends  or  not.  we  luv  enemies.

003.  dead to me:  would  absolutely  kill  for  this  plot. bc i  LOVE  enemy  plots .  but  basically  west  and  ur  muse  dated,  you  know,  for  pr.  he  didn’t  love  them  no way jose.  but  it  ended  REALLY  badly  and  ur  muse  absolutely  despises  him... rightfully  so.  but  basically  we  can  totally  work  on  this  but  i’m  sure  they  get  into  twitter  feuds.  their  breakup  was  v messie  GIVE  IT  TO  ME.

004.  i  need  just  one  person  to  not  hate  his  man........  just  give  him  one  single friend.  it’s  all  he’s  allowed  i  swear.

[1dfangirls35]

Voir Dire- N.H

A fake dating AU about contracts, soulmates and risking it all for love.

Masterlist // Tell Me What You Think!

thirteen

There are certain phone calls you don't want to receive in your life. For some, it's the dreaded voice of a telemarketer asking you to buy their product. For others, it's the 2 am phone call from their ex who is plastered at the bar. For Niall, it was the angry voice of Mike, his agent, asking who on earth the girl was he was papped with the night before.

"Wait what?" Niall asked, his mind trying to comprehend the endless attack of words coming at him from the other side of the phone. He's not sure he's ever heard this kind of anger leave his agent's mouth before. 

"The girl. Who is she Niall?"

Niall was silent for a moment. Who was Kelsey? Who should he say she is? Would it be better to come clean? Explain that this was a girl that he was developing feelings for and that this relationship was far more real than anything the PR team could have written up? Or should he write Kelsey off as a nobody and hope that the team puts it to rest?

"She's..."

"She's not your girlfriend, Niall," Mike interrupted before Niall had a chance to say otherwise. "Michaels wants to meet with you. 1pm. If I were you I'd come bearing an apologetic face and some sort of solution to this PR nightmare." And with that, the phone call ended.

Niall slammed his phone down on his crisp white bedspread with a thud. Then he sat down, setting his head in his hands. This was the worst case scenario. This was exactly the situation that he had been trying to avoid.

"What's wrong?" Kelsey asked, entering the room from her shower with a towel wrapped around her torso and her wet hair forming a small puddle on the floor.  She wasn't sure she'd ever seen a face like this on Niall before, this look of fear. Almost as if he'd seen a ghost.

Niall pondered whether or not he should bring Kelsey into this. It wasn't her fault that they were caught by a camera or that they'd even been in that situation in the first place. If he leaves her out of it, he can be in and out of a meeting with Alan Michaels at Capitol without her being any the wiser. Taking that route keeps Kelsey from having to worry, or worse feeling guilty for going out to dinner in the first place.

But then a different thought crosses his mind. Maybe this wasn't a problem at all. Maybe this was an opportunity. Maybe this was just what they needed to have a shot at a real relationship, the kind that didn't involve baseball caps and restaurant back rooms and sneaking around as not to be spotted.

"It appears that our outing last night was not quite as stealthy as we had hoped," Niall admitted, eyeing Kelsey carefully to gauge her reaction.

Kelsey felt her stomach drop. Last night had been perfect. It had been the first time that she truly felt like what she and Niall had wasn't just some hidden behind-the-scenes love affair. It felt like a normal date. The things a normal couple would do. And now, the thing that Niall had feared the most had come true.

This was all her fault, if she hadn't pushed Niall. If she hadn't been so insecure about the standing of their relationship they never would have been put in this situation.

"Don't you dare start thinking this is your fault," Niall seemingly read Kelsey's mind. He comes over where she is standing, grabbing her hands and squeezing them between his.

"I..." Kelsey began to argue back but then realized that was exactly what she was thinking. "Well, What are you going to do?"

"I think that maybe..." Niall paused, hardly believing he was about to say the words aloud. "I think maybe we tell them about us."

"What?" Kelsey exclaimed. "Are you crazy?!" She couldn't believe that Niall was even considering the idea, especially with how he'd described the label's representatives so far.

"Maybe a little bit," Niall laughed nervously. "But if you think about it, what did they hire Krystal for in the first place? They hired her to show that I was in love. That my new album wasn't all heartbreak and loneliness. So what difference does it make if I'm in a relationship with a hired actress or someone that I'm actually interested in? In fact, I would argue that if we used our relationship instead, it would be more authentic and better for the image in the long run."

"I think you are overlooking one minor detail Niall," Kelsey said, taking a seat on the bed. She didn't want to get her hopes up. Sure, she'd love to be seen out in public with Niall, but she had a feeling it would be far more complicated than that. "If you start dating me, you are going to have to dump Krystal."

"And?" Niall asked, his voice growing excited as he began to further think about how this was actually the perfect solution. "People in Hollywood break up all the time. It's nothing new."

"I just think its going to be more complicated then you think Ni."

"So you don't want me to go through with it? You want me to keep up this act with Krystal and keep sneaking around? I thought you wanted a real relationship?" Niall replied with confusion.

"Of course I want a real relationship, Niall," Kelsey said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to sit beside her. "I would love to be able to do what we wanted without worrying about someone spotting us." She squeezed Niall's hand, letting him know that there was nothing she wanted more in the world. "But I just don't want you to jump into this decision. This is your career we're talking about."

"I've already made my decision, Kels. Mike told me to come bearing a solution and this is it. You are my solution." He reached a hand up and brushed Kelsey's cheek. "Just trust me on this, everything is going to be okay."

Kelsey nodded her head in agreement. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that this meeting wasn't going to go as planned.

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

The Capitol Records building is just as fancy as you would expect the office of a premier icon of the music industry. Modern décor, framed albums and autographed photos. The ambience would be intimidating to someone entering for something as casual as a tour, let alone a someone entering for a meeting with executives.

Kelsey felt her heart racing as she entered the elevator. Niall must have sensed her nervousness, because he grabbed her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze as the elevator makes its ascent. She wondered what they would do when they saw her with him. Would they yell at her? Demand that she leave the building immediately? Or would they shake her hand and ask her about herself, to see that maybe she was in fact, the perfect person for Niall Horan to be dating in the midst of his album promotion?

As they get off they elevator, they were greeted by a stoic looking red head with her hair slicked back in a ponytail so tight it looked like it was squeezing her head. "Have a seat right there, Mr. Michaels will be right with you."

They took a seat on a slick, black leather loveseat. Kelsey could tell Niall was nervous by the way that he was chewing at his fingertips. Mr. Michaels is large, bald man with a freshly ironed suit and red tie that only adds to his intimidating aura. Kelsey can't help but think that he looks somewhat familiar, but she can' t place. Maybe he'd been a patron at The Manhattan or perhaps she'd simply passed him on the street.

"Mr. Horan," he grumbled, offering out his hand which Niall quickly stood and shook. He looked towards Kelsey, shooting her a mischievous smile. "And Miss Benton, what a pleasant surprise."

Niall looked over at Kelsey with a confused glance. "Didn't think I'd have done my research so quickly Mr. Horan? I'm offended," Mr. Michaels chuckled. He adjusted his tie before taking a step back towards his office. "Well I believe we have some business to attend to, shall we?"

Niall stood and Kelsey stood up following him. Mr. Michaels took a seat behind a large glass desk as Kelsey and Niall sat in two hard metal chairs in front of him. Mr. Michaels clasped his hands in front of him before clearing his throat loudly. "So let me guess, both of you are here today because you'd like your relationship to take the place of the one that we've hired Miss Hoffman for?"

Niall gulped. The stare Mr. Michaels was giving him wasn't one that reflected him thinking this was a brilliant idea by any means. He tried to mentally remind himself of all the points he had come up with on the drive over. All the reasons he could convince Michaels and the rest of the PR team that this was all a benefit to his album sales, and not a detriment. But in this moment, he couldn't seem to come up with any of them. Instead he muttered a shaky, "That would be correct, sir."

"A question for you Miss Benton," Mr. Michaels declared rather than asked. Kelsey nodded her head slowly. "What do you know about dating a celebrity?" His eyes latch onto Kelsey's and she felt her already pounding heart increase in speed. 

"I mean, I know there is always the risk of being caught by the paparazzi's. And that there are a lot of performances and appearances," she glanced over at Niall hoping for some reassurance. He offered her the slightest of smiles. "And I know that you have to grow a thick skin, because their are always going to be people: fans, media, stars, critiquing your every move." Kelsey wanted to add on that she thought she could handle it. That she realized that bringing her relationship with Niall out to the public would come with these new challenges, but that she was prepared to face them, but before she can begin to speak, Mr. Michaels has shifted his gaze towards Niall.

"And you, Mr. Horan. I'd like to hear just what you must think the benefits of dating this girl instead of Miss Hoffman are to you and your team here at Capitol. They must be good ones, hmm," Mr. Michaels raised his eyebrows. "Considering you brought Miss Benton here to our meeting today when it wasn't part of our request."

Niall looked over at Kelsey, then back at Mr. Michaels, his beady gray eyes piercing into his soul. If the goal was to make Niall feel like he had made an incredibly stupid decision then it had most definitely been accomplished, because the longer that Niall sat in this chair enduring the stare of a man who for held his music career in his hands, the smaller he felt.

"I just thought," his voice cracked. He cleared his voice, taking a deep breath and trying to command ever ounce of confidence that remained in his body. "I thought that if the whole goal of me being in a relationship this promotion cycle was that you could portray me as a guy that wasn't heartbroken, wouldn't it be more authentic if I actually was with someone who I'm developing feelings for. You of all people should know my fanbase, they aren't just naïve little girls who believe everything in front of their eyes. They investigate things, they can sense things aren't quite right. Hell, sometimes I think they know me better than I know myself!"

He glanced over at Kelsey who was giving him a reassuring smile. "The point is, I think they can sense that something isn't quite there with my relationship with Krystal. And I think this pap shot is exactly the kind of opportunity to come clean about the whole thing and just tell the truth. And then let me be in an authentic relationship. One with this amazing, smart, beautiful girl sitting next to me."

If Mr. Michaels is moved or convinced by Niall's answer, he didn't show it. Instead, his face remained blank, as he scratched his hairless head with his fingers. "And what of Miss Hoffman then, Mr. Horan?"

"I'm sure you have plenty of ways to frame the end of relationship. I mean, some stars getting a divorce nearly every other day in the newspaper."

Mr. Michaels leaned forward in his chair, picking up a black pen and rolling it between his fingers. "Let me play for a just a second...devil's advocate."

He took a long drawn out pause. Niall shifted nervously in his seat. Kelsey found herself picking at a hangnail on the edge of her thumbnail.

Mr. Michaels continued. "What happens when people hear that Niall has broken up with Krystal and is now with some other girl? They might think that you are a player, or a heartbreaker. Or maybe that you were cheating the whole time you were with Krystal." He set the pen in his hands down on the countertop once again, staring Niall down in a way that made Niall feel like he was a specimen in a lab. "Or say we go with your suggestion, Mr. Horan. We tell your fans that Krystal was just for the publicity and that in the meantime you have met someone else. Then what will they think of you. Their idol is a liar, he'll do anything to promote his music... blah blah blah, blah blah."

"Do you see why you've put the team in quite the predicament here?" Mr. Michaels leaned forward once again, closing the distance between them. "One that simply isn't solved just by 'telling the truth'. People outside the industry don't realize that there is no true honesty in the entertainment industry. It's all about perception. Public perception. Media perception. Changing that perception to fulfill your needs and goals."

Mr. Michaels stood from behind his desk, and Niall and Kelsey exchanged a confused glance. Niall wasn't sure if this meant that the team would consider his suggestion, or if Mr. Michaels had already made his decision. 

"Miss Benton, if you will have a seat back in the lobby, I believe Mr. Horan and I have a bit more to discuss," Mr. Michaels gestured towards the door as Kelsey stood up slowly. "It was a pleasure to see you again. Really was a shame the job didn't work out. But I think we made a pretty good choice with Miss Hoffman don't you think?"

That's when Kelsey finally made the connection. This man was the man sitting behind the coffee table with a stack of papers higher than any Kelsey had ever seen. The one that had asked her the strangest interview questions of her life. But that had been for a PR job Becca had told Kelsey might give her a leg up for entertainment law later in life. The job description had been vague, will little explanation of responsibilities or requirements. But that hadn't been for Krystal's job...had it?

Kelsey caught a glance of Niall's face as she exited Mr. Michaels' office. His face was formed in a scowl. He stared at her in a way that he never had before. This stare was a mix of anger, hurt and shock all in one. Kelsey wanted to stop right there and explain. Explain that she hadn't even known that the job she had applied for was to be Niall's fake girlfriend. Explain that she wouldn't have ever taken if it once she found out that was what it was. But instead she's ushered out of the office by Mr. Michaels' assistant, taking a seat on the hard black leather chair and having to let her mind wander about just what was being said in that office right now.

When Kelsey leaves the room, Niall sat for a moment stunned. The world seemed like it was moving in slow motion. At first he thought he had misheard, because how could Kelsey have applied for Krystal's job and not told him. Especially after all they'd talked about it. But the look on her face when she left the room wasn't one of shock or defensiveness. It was more of recognition, and the thought that Kelsey might have been keeping this secret from Niall was terrifying to him.

But Niall doesn't have time to linger on the thought of being betrayed, as Mr. Michaels begins to lecture once again."Mr. Horan, we expect that you will put an end to this...to this little charade of yours. When you are out of promotional season you are free to date whomever you wish, but if you'll remember our contract..."

So that was it. Niall would get no discussion. No consideration of a new plan. In fact, he was sure now that Mr. Michaels had made his decision the moment Niall and Kelsey stepped into his office. 

"Unless you don't want your album released?" Mr. Michaels added, his voice threatening. 

Niall nodded. "Of course I want the album released, I understand."

Mr. Michaels pulled out a large manila folder. He opened it, revealing a photo of Kelsey and Niall, hand and hand, walking down the Los Angeles streets. "If you are asked about these photos, she's a good friend. Nothing more. We think we've done enough that they should stay out of the press for now, but you know how things can be. But if pictures like this were to surface again, well, that could be catastrophic."

Niall knew that Mr. Michaels wasn't talking about catastrophic for Capitol Records. Mr. Michaels was hinting at catastrophic for Niall's album, his music career.

"Understood, sir," Niall said standing from his chair and begrudgingly giving Mr. Michaels a handshake. 

"End it, Niall." Mr. Michaels commanded, once more before Niall walks out the door.

Niall didn't say anything to Kelsey as he exited the office. He simply makes his way towards the elevator, Kelsey clattering behind him. Tension hangs in the elevator as they make their way back down, and Kelsey knew an explosion was coming.

They slide into the car awaiting them outside the building in silence and when the driver asks if they are going back to Niall's place or Kelsey's. She responded "Mine first," without missing a beat. 

"When I got that phone call do know what the first thing that ran through my mind was?" Niall broke the silence, his voice laced with frustration. "It wasn't the thought that I might get dropped from my label or that I wouldn't get to make music again. The first thing that came to my mind Kelsey was that they might try to get rid of you." Niall's voice continued to raise in volume, his face reddening by the second. "Do you even realize how much it scares me that I didn't for a second think that maybe I should end this. That I would literally risk my standing with the label then lose you?!"

"And then," he continued, barely even looking at Kelsey. "And then I find out that you could have been her. All this time when I told you how I just couldn't understand what kind of person would volunteer for a job like that. Well, apparently that type of person is you." His last words sting Kelsey as they leave his mouth. 

"Niall, it's not like that I can explain..." Kelsey tried to protest. She needed Niall to understand that this wasn't something that she had kept from him willingly. If she had known that the job was the one Krystal had she would have told him from the beginning.

"Explain what Kelsey? How you aren't the person I thought you were." Niall yelled, crossing his arms in front of him. The look on his face is a look of disgust, his eyes fiery. And Kelsey isn't sure that she can say anything that will change is mind. 

"I..." Kelsey began. 

"When I said no more secrets that didn't just apply to me. I thought it would apply to you to!" Niall interrupted.

"Listen to me Niall," Kelsey's voice came out for more like a yell than she intended. "I didn't know that I was applying for that job. They never told me when I interviewed. I wasn't keeping anything from you!"

"You should have something the moment you recognized him," Niall spat. 

"And what good would that have done Niall? You wouldn't have brought me into that office with you is that what you are trying to say?" Kelsey felt her pulse beating violently in her head. 

Niall didn't respond for a moment. "Maybe," he muttered, turning his gaze to look out of the car window. 

"I told you Niall, I had NO idea. You aren't even listening to me," Kelsey said with frustration, throwing up her hands. Niall didn't turn his head, instead, he kept his gaze firmly planted on the Los Angeles streets outside. He stayed that way, back turned away from Kelsey until they reach Kelsey's apartment. 

As Kelsey opened the door of the black Escalade, she wanted to say something else. To remind him that things aren't always what they seem. His relationship with Krystal had proved that. But she knew that he was in a place where he couldn't even hear the words. She knew because she'd been in that place before.

Instead, she softly spoke the question that had been burning in her mind ever since Niall exited Mr. Michaels office. "Did they tell you to end it? To end us?" Her voice comes out meek, like she's not quite sure she even wants to know the answer.

Niall turned to look at her, his face stoic. "Yes."

"Are you going to?" She asked, her voice now shaking.

"I don't know," he answered, before Kelsey stepped out the car and closed the door. Watching Niall's car drive away as she stood in shock on the sidewalk. 

Tag List:

@awomanindeniall​ @ihearthemcallingforyou @niall-is-my-dream

[cheeekyhoney]

Can’t wait for the whole story to come out about fifth harmony down the track. Will be know in 5 years ... 10? How bad were the contracts they signed as kids? This includes Ally cos she was still paid dust on the old contract.

You can see what they were thinking. Let’s establish the biggest girl band in the world and then split them off and have 5 superstars. The plan in establishing them as a supergroup faltered because they treated the girls like shit.

When you look back now - work from home is what made them really well known, particularly outside of America. Before that the old men in control had worked the girls to death touring and making them sing songs that others wrote. Regularly screwing the girls over and not showcasing their voices is quite evident when you listen to certain songs.

I’m a fan of all the girls voices but it is very clear that the men in control had Camila picked as the lead early on. This is so flawed and practically set them up to fail as a group. You can’t have the same sound constantly - if it isn’t working try something different.

Basically as the girls now emerge from the shadow of fifth harmony you can see all of their talents and really understand how their management and labels really did them a disservice.

I love Camila’s voice and she will keep doing well. However, she still has people controlling her every move professionally and they have made some pretty shit choices for her. Randomly releasing Sangria wine hoping it would be Havana 2.0. Yeah nah man. The song was weird and it was so clear they were trying to capitalise off of Havana. Her album was full of gems and they kind of ambled away from it and then looped back with consequences. OMG should have been on the album and was obviously omitted either due to the quite gay lyrics or they thought they could just go for the Latina sound.

The PR narratives are exhausting. Problem one. Camila keeps talking about love and heart break etc but there is no visible partner for the last few years and she claims she’s never been serious about anyone really, although clearly contradicted by her deep lyrical content and visible emotions when performing certain songs.

Enter the weirdest PR I think I’ve ever seen. Well it’s certainly right up there. Her team sets her up with a mid thirties unknown guy who claims to be a ‘love guru’. They have her mention his name in an interview so blatantly out of nowhere that it is clear it was for the fans to go back and be like ‘oh, see she mentioned him then’.

The pairing is bizarre and this slimy dude pops up for photo ops. The girl is 21 for fucks sake.

Her team needs to sort out what direction she’s going in. Is she actually in a PR relationship because she’s gay and they want to hide it because no one will like a gay star (sarcasm). Or is Camila actually into this creepy love guru and has a thing for older guys - and a queerbaiter.

They used to pair off all the gays back in the day (Tab Hunter pictured below)

Lauren’s team is a complete mess. She should have had way more exposure by now. Instead they are content for her to be the arm candy of another older man. At least he is in the music biz and you can follow the thought process a bit more than Camila and her joke of a ‘bf’.

Lauren has a very distinctive voice. So far they have been more focused on showing her smoking pot (no shade) and only promoting her PR and not capitalising on her talent. I sincerely hope that when LJ1 drops they don’t have any more Ty $ on it. Stop associating the girls with him. Leave it in the past. They need to go away from trashy lyrics and have her focus more on the sound she has when she covers Lana songs. Bring that soul out and let her voice shine.

Normani’s career is on the up and up and her team have done everything right. No bullshit. This girl is a fucken star and got no favours from the old men controlling fifth harmony. Shit the girls voice is amazing - but who would have known from the lack of lines in the band days.

Thank god she is out on her own - her new song is a bop and they are showing sides to her voice. I can see many artists wanting to work with her and actually am the most excited for her album out of all the girls - including CC2.

Dinah has had minimal promotion and been a bit under the radar - only popping up for a few shows and promo. Again, stop pairing these girls with Ty for fucks sake. Dinah has such an amazing voice. I’m concerned with how they’re managing her career atm. Hoping that she releases an awesome album and we get to hear her beautiful voice and that there aren’t too many mumbly rappers in there. Again... let her voice shine - the lady is mad talented.

Ally has been a surprise. It appeared initially that she might fade into the background once the group split but she had had some solid efforts and low key is a good move for her. Her team is doing things right also. Ally also has a great voice and deserves all the success in the world.

Can we stop having old men controlling the careers of young women.

Being gay shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Most of the time they label artists as bi and next thing pair them off with a guy again. This perpetuates the whole being bi and slutty image. It totally takes away from the headway made from tackling these issues publicly and being a voice for the community. The management teams are so incongruent.

-Let’s have Camila day she won’t be public about a relationship - literally has weird staged pics on a beach and photo ops at every opportunity.

-let’s have Lauren speak about rights and be an advocate for the LQBTQ community and then pair her with an old guy who is a misogynist.

I really hope all the girls careers fire and that they all achieve the success they desired as youngsters.

Everything always comes out in the end. Years go by and all of a sudden it all gets revealed. Friendships get repaired.

Let’s use the spice girls as an example. Big break up. Friendships broken. The girls all made up and played concerts and for the Olympics.

I think if we go with the theory that Camila and Lauren definitely had a relationship or still do. Then it won’t be revealed any time soon. Either it is over and let’s face it, getting over your first love is the worst. Or they are still together and the constant PR is gay cover. I mean the rumours have followed them for years now.

Address it properly (both of them) or expect the speculation to continue - particularly when you pair 2 young girls with guys in their mid thirties.

I mean if you have to pair Camila with someone over 30 can’t it be Taylor Schilling!

Keep rising girls and hope that you can break away from shitty teams and management as soon as possible. The girls with good management keep kicking goals!!

[carmenlire]

Higher than the Big Trees Ch. 34

read chapter one

read on ao3

Like Father, Like Son: The Apple Didn’t Fall Far from the Scheming Tree

Byline: Victor Aldertree

Magnus Bane, son of notorious Asmodeus Bane, who is currently serving thirty seven years in state prison for defrauding his clients and shareholders of over one billion dollars in assets, has been spotted out on the town with music’s darling, Alec Lightwood.

Is it love, though, or has Magnus just found a different way to make his fortune?

Dear reader, we at Idris News love good gossip and when a source close to Bane came forward to tell us about the hottest tip in town, we couldn’t resist.

It appears that Magnus Bane, professor at Columbia University, has been hiding an unsavory past.

An insider reveals all. To protect her privacy, she asked that we not reveal her name.

Let’s start the story with one Magnus Bane. Born and raised in Manhattan-- on the upper West Side-- Magnus is the son to notorious swindler Asmodeus Bane.

Bane, who is infamous for his unbelievably successful ponzi scheme that stretched over twenty years.

Asmodeus Bane was a wall street broker from 1980 to his long tumble from his gold-plated pedestal in 2004. Considered far and wide to be a charismatic man, Bane Sr. was a shark on Wall Street, known for having a bloodhound’s nose, always sniffing out the Next Big Thing.

Most accredited his success to sheer luck and hard work.

No one knew that he was swindling coworkers and clients alike out of savings accounts, retirement plans, and talking up potential investments that would become a long string of proverbial gold mines in the Old West.

No one knows for certain just how much money Asmodeus Bane absconded with when all is said and done. Working for twenty years afforded him connections and a sharpened sense of when the chips were about to fall. There were dozens of accomplices and just as many scapegoats as Bane kept his nose clean even as those closest to him were caught and indicted.

Bernie Madoff who? Some estimates have Bane’s scheming amounting to over one billion dollars, most of which has never been recovered.

In 2000, the FDIC launched an investigation with the White Collar division of the FBI. After four years, they accumulated enough evidence to formally arrest Asmodeus Bane of over one hundred counts of fraud and embezzlement. After his lengthy trial-- which was a media circus in and of itself-- Bane was sentenced to 53 years in New York’s State Penitentiary.

Due to good behaviour, that sentence has been reduced to thirty seven years with the possibility of parole after ten more years.

Which brings us to his son, Magnus.

Magnus Bane, now an esteemed faculty member of Columbia University, wasn’t always so sparkling clean.

No, our source reveals that Bane Jr. has quite the sordid juvenile record.

Literally.

Magnus Bane was arrested half a dozen times for petty crime between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, when his record was officially sealed. Our intrepid reporters were able to find the dirty details, though.

After Asmodeus’s incarceration, Bane became part of the foster system where he bounced from home to home in the city. His mother died just a few years after giving birth and growing up, Magnus looked up to Asmodeus as only a son can look up to his father.

By all reports, Magnus was a model student-- at least on paper. That didn’t stop him from regularly skipping class or getting up to no good.

Looking at Bane’s record reveals charges for petty larceny, vandalism, and underage possession. And that’s the mere tip of the iceberg.

Things certainly don’t look good for Magnus, do they?

Still, something changed and Magnus took his SATS, graduated summa cum laude and headed for greener pastures-- Yale as a matter of fact, where he completed his undergraduate degree in three years before moving on to his doctoral thesis, spending part of that time in London.

Magnus Bane will be thirty in just a few months and things have never looked better for him-- he’s the Chair of the History Department at an Ivy League Institution, he’s been published dozens of times and is regularly invited to speak at conferences, both domestic and abroad.

We’ve even heard that he’s been busy working on a new book with an anticipated Summer 2019 release.

But that’s not all. Magnus Bane has been spotted out on the town with Alec Lightwood, the hottest musician in the world right now who just wrapped up a sold out world tour in May.

By most estimates, Lightwood is worth an astonishing 300 million dollars.

That begs the question to any reporter worth their salt: What does Bane see in Alec?

It’s easy to see what could have captured Lightwood’s attention. Magnus is handsome (have you seen his Insta???), successful, and we’re sure charming as hell.

We bet he gets it from his father.

But does Magnus see Alec’s million watt smile and rugged good looks or does he see dollar signs flashing?

Does he see a man who would do anything for his fans or his next meal ticket?

Alec is talented-- he can sing, act, and is well-known for his philanthropic endeavors. Idris News has long since waited with bated breath for the biggest name in the music scene to find his perfect match.

We just didn’t want to see it happen like this.

Our inside source claims that things went cold between them when she refused to keep paying for Bane’s tuition in London. Apparently, the professor was in dire straights and like a good girlfriend, our source had wanted to help-- until it became too much.

As you can see from our photos, it looks like Magnus and Alec have been getting cozy for quite a while. Those pictures at the zoo are #couplegoals and don’t get us started on the two of them enjoying a romantic walk throughout the city.

Is Magnus in love? Are we witnessing a real life fairy tale or has Bane just duped Lightwood into becoming his naive sugar daddy in a move that would make his father proud?

It seems like a dream come true for an earnest professor to meet a polished celebrity. We just wonder if fate had a helping hand and if Alec isn’t being played for a fool.

Shame on you Magnus for breaking our golden boy’s heart. We’ve seen Alec through many a scandal dating back to his pre-album days and we’ve got to say that we aren’t impressed.

Or maybe we are. It certainly takes a certain je ne sais quois to pull off such a trick. Time will tell what’s truth or lie with Alec and Magnus and who wouldn’t miss a seat to potentially one of the biggest scandals this year.

Whatever the case, the staff at Idris can’t wait to see what happens next.

Magnus looks up from the glossy magazine at the knock on his door. He sends Ragnor a wan smile.

“I take it you’ve seen the news.”

Ragnor looks at the magazine like others would a vulture. “If you’re asking if I’ve read that piece of trash then, unfortunately, the answer is yes.” He’s quiet a moment, studying Magnus before asking in a gentle voice, “How are you doing?”

Magnus laughs and it’s a bitter, angry noise. “How do you think I’m doing. I woke up next to Alec feeling great enough to take on the world. I didn’t think I’d actually have to, though,” he says, shaking his head.

Ragnor’s gaze sharpens at the mention of Alec. “And have you talked to lover boy since the story broke?”

Shaking his head, Magnus sits back in his chair. He looks through his office window and everything seems the same. There are students milling about like zombies so early on a Monday morning and there’s the kid that’s always flying a kite in a dinosaur onesie.

On any other morning, it’d be more of the same.

Too bad that Magnus’s world has imploded.

“I left his place less than two hours ago,” Magnus says, gaze unseeing. “I only found out when I came to campus. I was passing the Student Center when their magazine stand caught my eye. I certainly didn’t expect to see myself on a cover.”

He chuckles humorlessly. “I haven’t been in a magazine since I was fifteen.”

“Is your career at risk?”

Magnus shoots him a look. “I have tenure so they can’t fire me, if that’s what you’re asking. Forget that I haven’t even done anything. No, I think I’d go so far as to say that I’ve just become the most sought after guest at conferences for the next little while. What is it they say? All publicity is good publicity?”

Ragnor is quiet and the silence starts grating on his nerves. He can’t believe how fast things went to shit, after all.

“Goddamnit,” Magnus mutters, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s bad enough that my past has come back to bite me in the ass. I always knew it would if I continued this thing with Alexander. What I can’t stand is that I wasn’t the one to tell him.”

Magnus looks at Ragnor, beseeching. “Alec had to find out that my dad’s a fucking con from someone else. From the press? From his PR team? It doesn’t matter-- all that matters is that I’ve probably ruined everything. Sometimes I hate my father so much I can taste it,” Magnus bitterly whispers and clenches his fist where it’s resting on the arm of his chair.

Taking a seat in front of Magnus’s desk, Ragnor takes his time thinking before looking up at Magnus. “What makes you so sure that you’ve ruined anything, friend? Surely if Alec is as great as you’ve been screeching about all this time then he won’t cast judgement so cavalierly?”

“What is there to judge? My dad is quite literally the worst crook Wall Street has ever seen. For Christ’s sake, his nickname is ‘The King of Wall Street.’ How does someone get that reputation,” Magnus demands before answering his own question. “They get it by being a cheat, by swindling hundreds and hundreds of people out of their money. Shit, he took savings from the elderly and college funds from middle-aged couples. He was a greedy bastard and he got what was coming to him.”

“That doesn’t mean that you should pay for what he did,” Ragnor says quietly. “You dad was a bastard. That shouldn’t reflect on you. If Alec is the man you say he is then he will see that, friend.”

“Yeah? And what if he doesn’t,” Magnus asks morosely.

“Then he doesn’t deserve you,” Ragnor snaps back impatiently. Magnus looks up to see Ragnor looking at him with fire in his eyes. “You’re a good man Magnus and I can’t stand that you let your father weigh you down like this.”

Magnus shoots him a dry look. “I think I’m incredibly well-adjusted for the shitstorm that was my adolescence.”

“Be that as it may, you’ve castigated yourself enough. I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you looked at Alec yesterday. From what I’ve seen, Lightwood seems like a decent enough man and anyone with eyes could see the way he’s smitten with you. I’m choosing-- shocking, I know-- to give the boy the benefit of the doubt.”

Thinking over Ragnor’s surprisingly impassioned speech, Magnus reaches for the phone on his desk on autopilot when it starts ringing.

“Bane,” he says, voice clipped.

“Dr. Bane, this is Elle Donovan from Celebrity Magazine--”

“No comment,” Magnus says coldly and hangs up without another word.

“The little parasites have already latched on to you,” Ragnor says easily.

Blowing out a breath, Magnus glares at the phone. “Goddamn rodents.”

“It looks like everything is out in the open now, at least. No matter how it was revealed, at least it’s no longer hanging over you and your relationship with Alec like a proverbial thundercloud.”

“You’re right,” Magnus drawls sarcastically. “Now instead of worrying about Alec’s reaction to learning about my past-- in which I envisioned that we would talk about things and, assuming he didn’t run as far away from me as he could get, we would sit down and formulate a plan to deal with the press-- I get to jump right to the inevitable break-up as well as deal with the fucking media frenzy at the same goddamn time.”

Ragnor raises a brow before standing and straightening his jacket. “I can see that you’re in no mood to listen to reason,” he sniffs. “I’ll leave you to your sulk and trust that you’ll deal with things without too much time spent crying into your damn hanky.”

“Like I have a choice,” Magnus mutters.

Ragnor ignores him. Making his way to the door of Magnus’s office, he spares a glance back.

“I know that this isn’t what you wanted and I know that you’ve been running from your past since the day you stepped foot onto Yale. I know that you had a bit of a misspent youth that’s easily forgiven. Alec makes you happy and I’d hate for you to end things before you even see what your boyfriend is thinking.

“As loathe as I am to admit it, there is rarely a silver lining that can’t be found. Talk to Alec and go from there. It doesn’t do anyone any good to decide the future before it’s even had a chance to play out. Talk to him,” Ragnor repeats and Magnus nods once.

“Thank you, Cabbage,” Magnus says softly.

Ragnor doesn’t say anything, just sends him one last piercing look before leaving Magnus’s office.

Sighing heavily, Magnus scrubs his hands over his face, makeup be damned. Looking at his clock, Magnus laughs a little incredulously that it’s still shy of eight in the morning.

He has class in half an hour and Magnus doesn’t even need to think about it before he’s opening an email and cancelling his classes for the day.

Just the thought of teaching to a room full of twenty year olds with such a white elephant hanging about ominously seems repulsive.

Standing, he picks up his bag-- that he hadn’t even had a chance to unpack-- and calls it a day, leaving his office and locking up.

He heads back to his apartment, hoping to fuck that he doesn’t run into anyone.

Magnus looks up from where he’d buried himself in work. The last of his revisions are due by the middle of August and he still has hundreds of pages to edit and review in the next two weeks.

Seeing that it’s late afternoon-- Magnus has successfully distracted himself for hours-- he stands, working out the kinks in his back from where he’s been bent pouring over his manuscript.

Looking through the peephole to ensure it’s not a particularly perseverent journalist, Magnus opens his door to see Cat and Madzie waiting in the hallway.

“Good afternoon. What are you two doing here,” he asks with an arched brow.

Rolling her eyes, Catarina moves past him as Madzie skips to the living room. “What do you think we’re doing here? The shit has hit the fan and what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t check in?”

“No, ‘I told you so?’”

Shaking her head fondly, Cat goes to sit down in the living room as Madzie goes to her cabinet and takes out some crayons and a coloring book, settling down in front of Cat to draw on the coffee table.

“I’m better than that,” Cat says dryly.

Magnus just sighs before sitting down in a chair. “You did warn me, though,” he admits.

Leaning forward, Cat rests a hand on Magnus’s knee. “Yeah, but even I thought you had more time.” She raises a brow. “You know who went to Aldertree, don’t you?”

“I’d have to be a fu-- fool not to,” Magnus scoffs, clearing his throat as he glances at Madzie.

Smile reaching her eyes, Catarina just shakes her head. “All this time and she just can’t help herself.”

"She did warn me in London. I probably should have seen this coming. Maybe I’m losing my touch,” Magnus mutters under his breath.

“Or,” Catarina draws out. “You’ve been a little preoccupied lately. It happens to the best of us,” she teases.

Magnus laughs a little. “Still,” he allows. “I feel like I should have known-- had a feeling, something-- that my world was about to implode.”

Cat shrugs as she leans down to pick up a crayon that fell to the floor. “The only thing you can do now is move forward. Deal with whatever happens and know that you aren’t alone. You have us, of course, but don’t forget that you have Alec.”

“Do I?”

Glaring, Catarina replies, “Yes, you stupid man. You do. Until Alec explicitly ends things, he’s in your corner. From what I’ve seen, I hardly think that an opportunistic viper is going to make him tuck tail and run. He’s made of sterner stuff than that and you do both yourself and him a disservice thinking otherwise.”

“But I didn’t tell him, Cat," Magnus implores. "He found out from someone else and you can’t tell me that doesn’t cast things in a dark light.”

“Please, Magnus. Like we don’t all have things in our past that we’d rather not see the light of day. Like Alec Lightwood doesn’t understand that.”

“Cat,” Magnus says, tone soaked in self-deprecation. “We literally talked about this a few days ago-- about his reputation and insecurity surrounding his career. He’s been used in the past and was rather jaded. I talked him down and we reached an understanding. I said that I didn’t want his money, that I was far more concerned with the person behind the wallet.”

“Well, there we go, then,” Cat exclaims. “He knows your intentions and that you aren’t just another bottom-feeder.”

“Don’t you see, Catarina? I said all of that only for my past to blow up at the worst imaginable time and you must know that any sane person would have an unpleasant case of whiplash.”

Cat sends Magnus an arch look. “Not if that person was as smitten as your boy is over you.”

Magnus opens his mouth to retort but Cat beats him to it. “On the surface? Yeah, Magnus, it looks bad. I won’t lie about that. But that isn’t taking into consideration that you two have been friends for months and Alec should know better. He should at least talk to you before making any rash judgments.”

“I just don’t want to talk to him-- to have that conversation-- and have it be the end.”

“Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do and sometimes people surprise you, even if you thought you had it all figured out,” Cat counters.

“What’s wrong?”

Magnus looks up from where he’d been brooding to see Madzie at his side. He smiles, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Some people found out some things about me that I’d rather they hadn’t. I’m a little afraid of what the consequences will be.”

Madzie hums a little as she thinks before her gaze snaps back to Magnus. “You’re always telling me that I have to be brave even when I don’t want to. Like, when I fell off my bike and didn’t want to get back on. You told me that I had to face my fears and I did! And now I love riding my bike in the park with Cindy.”

“Are you saying that I have to take my own advice?”

Madzie nods solemnly and Magnus smiles. It’s small, and a little defeated, but it’s there nonetheless.

With that, Catarina stands up, helping Madzie clean up her crayons. As she does so, the shifts so that she can see Magnus.

“When are you going to talk to him? You really can’t let this fester,” she warns.

Magnus opens his mouth to respond just as his phone vibrates. He looks over on autopilot and freezes when he sees the text message.

“Speak of the devil,” he murmurs and stares down at his phone, dread settling in his stomach like lead.

Magnus, when are you free? We need to talk.

[sp00kymulderr]

dO THEM ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL /EVIL LAUGH (??)/ uhm from the "let's talk about" post úwù 💗 I'm sorry I'm making you write so much but i really wanna know!!! ILYSM

ANYTHING FOR YOOOU!

There is a lot here, I’m apparently feeling very chatty tonight so sorry about some of the long ramble-y answers again:

1: Talk about the first time you watched your favorite movie.

Itwas 2005, and 15 year old me had dragged my dad and brother to thecinema to see a movie that looked really interesting to me – itfeatured several badass women in the main cast at a time when Iwasn’t seeing much with actually strong, well written femalecharacters in. So I had to see this, and it was sci-fi which my wholefamily enjoys, so off we went to watch it. At the beginning, therewas a filmed intro of Joss Whedon talking about the movie and aboutthe TV series it came from, which I knew nothing about and thatworried me. But then the film started and I swear my heart stoppedfor a moment, I fell so deeply in love with the setting, thecharacters, the cast. The film was Serenity, and it started a lot forme

2: Talk about your first kiss.

Myfirst kiss wasn’t special like I wish it had been. I was about 14and it was with my best friend at the time, a guy who I had nofeelings towards whatsoever. I regret the kiss a lot, and the kissesthat followed. I wish I hadn’t felt pressured in to it the way Idid.

3: Talk about the person you’ve had the most intense romantic feelings for.

Idon’t really get intense feelings for people that often, especiallynot now I’m older. There was a guy when I was in secondary schoolthough, who I genuinely thought I loved (I didn’t). It was veryunrequited and took over my life for too long, and was a catalyst tothe depression I later suffered with.

4: Talk about the thing you regret most so far.

Partof me regrets going to uni, but then I think about all theexperiences I had at uni and I would never have had those, or madethose friends, or enjoyed myself that much anywhere else. I can’tthink of much that I really really regret, I tend to think thingsthrough a lot before I do them.

5: Talk about the best birthday you’ve had.

Iam the queen of good birthdays, istg! I ALWAYS go on holiday for mybirthday, have ever since I was young, so I have so many good ones.But I think it has to be between going to New York for my 21stor Berlin for my 23rd (my favourite place in the wholeworld), or this past birthday which I spent on my own in New Zealandand got to go to Hobbiton for the first time!

6: Talk about the worst birthday you’ve had.

Ihave genuinely not had a bad birthday yet. This year would’ve beensad if I hadn’t gone to Hobbiton, as I was completely on my own forthe first birthday ever.

7: Talk about your biggest insecurity.

I’ma total mess of insecurities tbh. I wouldn’t know where to start.

8: Talk about the thing you are most proud of.

In2012, when I left uni and moved to London on my own, I started a blogcalled The Theatre Tourist where I wrote about two of my biggestpassions; theatre and travel. A year after I started it, I got myfirst invite to review a theatre production which I accepted havingnever written a review. Once I wrote it, I knew this was what Iwanted to be doing, I fell completely in love with it. And to thisday I still run that blog, I have a fair few readers and connectionswith theatre PR’S all around the world. Currently I’m writing atleast a review a month for New Zealand theatre but when I was back inLondon I was being invited to at least 4 a week every week. I am soproud of that blog.

9: Talk about little things on your body that you like the most.

Mytattoos. They make me feel better about myself because I find thembeautiful and they mean a lot to me.

10: Talk about the biggest fight you’ve ever had.

Thatbest friend I mentioned earlier. He accused me of all sorts andcaused so much stupid drama in my life. We had a massive argument inthe hallway at school once, I ended up in tears in the bathroom andwe stopped talking to each other. He was a massive fucking jerk andI’m glad he’s not in my life any more.

11: Talk about the best dream you’ve ever had.

Ihad a lot of great dreams just before I moved to New Zealand, aboutwhat a great time I was going to have out here, and they havedefinitely come true

12: Talk about the worst dream you’ve ever had.

Istress dream quite a lot, the most recent one was losing my family ina natural disaster and it was awful.

13: Talk about the first time you had sex/how you imagine your first time.

Iwaited quite a while, so I was 18 when I lost it. It wasn’t perfectbut it was nice and with someone I liked at the time. It was, however, in a single bed which was AWFUL god. But other than that, there’s not much to talk about.

14: Talk about a vacation.

Whichone to choose though??? I love travelling and have been so lucky totravel a lot, I studied tourism and it’s always been a huge part ofmy life. That’s why I’m out here on this beautiful island in themiddle of nowhere right now.

15: Talk about the time you were most content in life.

Idon’t feel content a lot, but my first and subsequent 6 visits toBerlin have been the best I’ve ever felt in my whole life. Berlinis the one place I feel completely at home and know I belong.

16: Talk about the best party you’ve ever been to.

Idon’t go to a lot of parties! And the ones I went to when I wasyounger, I don’t remember a lot of them… I went to a really funfoam party in my first year of uni that I always remember fondly iffuzzily.

18: Talk about something that happened in elementary school.

Whichone is elementary? Primary I think? Jesus, who remembers primaryschool? I don’t think much exciting happened when I was that young!

19: Talk about something that happened in middle school.

Waitwhat’s middle school if the next question is high school? Do theyhave a school between primary and secondary in America? I’mCONFUSED

20: Talk about something that happened in high school.

Ohall sorts of shit.

21: Talk about a time you had to turn someone down.

Therewas this guy in college who I became pretty close friends with thenlater told me he really liked me. He was sweet but so not my type soI just said no and then he never spoke to me again lol

22: Talk about your worst fear.

Interms of an actual phobia, I’m really afraid of dogs. Which ispretty inconvenient, they make me panic.

23: Talk about a time someone turned you down.

Ugh,I got drunk at a work party and asked out a guy from IT I had beeneyeing up and he turned me down which is fair enough I was a messback then. But then I had to see him at work all the time and it wasso embarrassing for me.

24: Talk about something someone told you that meant a lot.

Justrecently I’ve been having a crisis about what I’m going to dowith my life once I get back to the UK next year, I want to get a jobI actually love as opposed to ending up in a shitty call centre jobhating my life again. But the other day my manager told me that shegenuinely believes I can do absolutely anything and be brilliant atit, and that just boosted my confidence so much.

26: Talk about things you do when you’re sick.

Iusually try and just get on with things and don’t admit I’m sickunless it’s really bad. I hate sitting still, I need to be doingsomething all the time even when ill.

31: Talk about what you think death is like.

Scary?Death scares me, I can’t lie. I try not to think about it.

32: Talk about a place you remember from your childhood.

TheatreRoyal Bath, I associate so many good memories with this building.When I was a kid and first expressed an interest in Shakespeare mymum used to sometimes take me to see plays there. I started a massivething in me and it’s always a place that makes me feel happy.

33: Talk about what you do when you are sad.

Iput on music. Loud. Usually Bowie, because I know he will make mefeel better, he always does.

34: Talk about the worst physical pain you’ve endured.

Ireally hope this doesn’t tempt fate, but as of yet I’ve onlyexperienced self inflicted pain. Never broken a bone or sprainedanything. Uhm so probably my first tattoo but even then that was a good pain for the most part.

35: Talk about things you wish you could stop doing.

Beinganxious. Seriously, if I could control my anxiety or make itdissapear things would be so different.

38: Talk about songs that remind you of certain people.

Meand my dad share a fairly similar musical taste, and he was the onewho introduced me to all the musicians I love so deeply now.Specifically listening to Delilah by The Sensational Alex Harvey Bandmakes me think of him. With my mum, we both love Alice Cooper so anytime I hear him I think of her.

39: Talk about things you wish you’d known earlier.

Iwish I’d known earlier that there’s no shame in ‘sleeping around’.I felt ashamed for a long time about my sexual habits, and got shamedfor them. I know now that it’s all bullshit and me being in controlof my sexuality is a good thing.

Ialso wish someone had told me that you’re allowed to have stops andstarts in your career, for years after uni I tried so hard to followa career path that wasn’t working for me but I thought I would be afailure if I gave up, or if I ended up doing something that didn’trelate to my degree. Even though I still struggle with the idea of acareer, I at least do know now that I am allowed to do whatever thehell I want whether I studied for it or not.

40: Talk about the end of something in your life.

In 2016 the West Endmusical Sunny Afternoon closed. By the time it closed I had seen it150 times, literally seeing it at the very least once a week for twowhole years. It changed me a lot – I became more confident, I madea group of the best friends I’ve ever had, I started a fan groupfor it and worked with the marketing team for the show on a socialmedia campaign. It was a HUGE part of my life. When the show closedit felt like the end of an era, I really didn’t know what I wasgoing to do without it. It meant so much to me. But now I have allthese great friends who still talk and hang out and I have two castsof actors whose careers I’ll be following for the rest of my life.

[belaborthepoint]

How my sexual assault scandal made me a better person

guest writer: cis dude in the public sphere

You might be surprised to hear from me again. I bet you’re thinking, why are people still giving this guy a platform to speak instead of his victims? You’re probably thinking, this is just some PR tactic to try to preserve his image so he can save face and return to his career. But I want you to ask yourselves this: can’t someone save his image while also offering a sincere apology with the help of his PR team? I know that for many, I’m preaching to the choir. For those of you who believed me when I denied all allegations and invalidated the experiences of every person I hurt, and then immediately accepted the denial of my denial and the subsequent apology that I delivered personally to all my victims via twitter, I want to thank you. For supporting me, for believing me, for allowing me to keep going. Not being believed is one of the worst things I have experienced. Even when I’ve lied, it has meant so much to me to know that there are people out there who will take everything I say at face value because they’ve seen me on TV and recognize my name. Having that security has helped me on this journey more than I can say.

The only thing we can control in this life is our reaction to things, not what happens to us

Since you’ve all been so generous with me, I want to return the favor by offering you some of the wisdom that I’ve gleaned over the course of this tumultuous journey. I can say ‘sorry’ for hurt feelings until I’m blue in the face, but ultimately I’ve learned that some people just don’t love themselves enough to move on and choose to stop suffering. So this is not an apology letter. Been there, done that. If you choose not to accept my apology, that’s your decision. The only thing we can control in this life is our reaction to things, not what happens to us. What happens to us is not the fault of God, or fate, or other people. If we’re holding onto anger and resentment, the only person we can blame is ourself. We also have the power to let that go. We have the power to move on and be happy if we want to. If you’re spending years obsessing over something that made you sad, that is on you. You’re choosing to be miserable.

Not everyone is aware of this yet, or is ready to accept the truth, but everything that happens is the result of positive or negative thinking. For example, my career could be over right now, but thankfully, I chose to practice positive self-affirmations each morning and work on forgiving myself. Let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy. You might have had one bad night when I assaulted you, but I had to live with what I did to you for years. If you’ve ever felt guilty about something, you know that there is no worse feeling in the world, and that if anyone is truly suffering, it’s the abuser. I actually envy victims, because they’re the ones who get the rush of trust and sympathy, while I’m over here pining for a little bit of respect, having to get major news publications to give me my own weekly column just so I can grovel at the feet of the public. Can you honestly imagine anything more degrading?

If you can learn to think positively, you can stop getting assaulted

Thankfully, I’m making a lot of progress and learning that if I continue to maintain a positive mindset, I won’t be forced to say goodbye to my seven-figure salary, successful career and large fan base. This is good news for everyone, because it means that anyone at all can manifest their own reality. If you’ve had a lot of hardships, that might be a good indicator that you could be a little more optimistic and affirming. If you’ve been assaulted, particularly if it has happened multiple times, not only should you examine your own behavior and clothing style, but you should also examine yourself internally. Bad things happen because you are willing them to. If you can learn to think positively, you can stop getting assaulted. But it won’t happen unless you put in the work. Why do you think the holocaust happened? Why do you think babies are in concentration camps today? Those babies likely spent their first weeks doing nothing but crying and shitting themselves. Crying and shitting yourself is basically the opposite of practicing positive affirmations. What did they expect, honestly, to spend their formative years outside of a cage?

It’s truly shameful that we don’t teach our children to think positively. We invest so much money into educating our kids about the prison industrial complex and no money into teaching how to think your way out of prison. We’ll make every city a sanctuary city, but we won’t tell immigrants to manifest not getting deported. We spend SO much time teaching men not to rape and no time teaching women how to not get raped as a result of having negative thoughts. Our taxdollars are being funneled into all these resources for sex ed classes so that teens can learn how to have healthy relationships, practice consent, and not abuse people, when all we need is one simple book about the power of positive thinking, such as The Power of Positive Thinking. Other required reading could include The Secret, Think and Grow Rich, or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

If I hadn’t assaulted tons of people, I never would have had to do the internal work needed to forgive myself

But I won’t waste all my energy trying to help other people when, ultimately, we can only help ourselves. And I am so grateful that I’ve chosen to help myself so much. I am grateful for all of this. If I hadn’t assaulted tons of people, I never would have had to do the internal work needed to forgive myself. I wouldn’t have chosen to pay for the private yoga and meditation retreats needed to find the peace of mind I’d been searching for all along but never knew where to look. I’ve learned so much about myself throughout this process, and I know now that this sexual assault scandal has changed me for the better. I’ve done so much work on myself, allowed myself time to think and reflect on my values, and prioritized self-care. So to my victims, I do not wish to apologize yet again, but to say 'thank you.’ If it weren’t for you, I might not be the man I am today, a man I’m proud to look in the mirror and say good morning to every day. A man that I have finally learned to love.

[like-sands-of-time]

so this is something I sorta come to terms with in every fandom im in with a closeted ship but it's literally always relevant, and always kinda weird to think about as a stan but it's still so so important to mention...

as shippers it doesn't matter how much we love them, how loyal we are to them as individuals and as a couple, our #1 needs to be their happiness not ours. what I mean by that so this doesn't sound wayyy out of context is if they don't wanna ever come out, if they just don't want/feel they can't/etc. to come out now but maybe they might change their mind, if they feel pressured either by themselves, by those around them, or even by hollywood in general to make choices regarding pr relationships that they look absolutely miserable in then all we can do is support them. sure you can leave the fandom any time you want, there's no contract or obligation or anything but if you can see past the fact that they're not living out their lives the way you want them and the way they feel they need to(and let's just think about it, how content do you think your idols actually are that they even think they have to do something like that because they're worried what their fans might think, what directors, costars etc. might think, how their career might not make it very far because Hollywood is so fake progressive about things) im sure you can see that that choice doesn't make them any happier ultimately. maybe it was an obligation one made for a project. or maybe their teams both were like hey we should do a mutually beneficial pr relationship.. IDK and we won't ever 100% know cos we're not in the meeting rooms w them.

ANYWAY I got sidetracked a bit. the point of this whole thing is yeah you can get frustrated with them, I'm sure they're very frustrated with the choices they make too at times, but that doesn't change their values or who they are, that doesn't mean they're a liar and everything they might have said about political, religious, personal, etc. views is a lie bc this one part of Hollywood that absolutely sucks.

just.. realize that you're not always gonna be 100% happy with the person you stan or the ship you like because they're real ppl who have to make decisions that have more reasons behind them than we could possibly begin to speculate given we don't actually know everything. our whole blogs are dedicated to summarizing what we see and what we think it means based on other ships, based on them, and based on how much we respect them honestly cos some of you guys assume the absolute worst of your idols when any sort of headline or anything appears.

just, remember that they make mistakes just like you, except their entire lives are blown up so people like you who make proportional mistakes can analyze literally everything and make assumptions about them based on those choices, those .001 second flashes to get picture perfect moments.

also I saw this in someone else's post so im not trying to steal but it was really accurate imo.. specifically regarding this fandom, charmie: Timmy's motivation to do this stuff isn't for the attention or fame, that much seems crystal clear to me. he embraces the awkwardness and sort of self deprication that's very real for our generation. he embraces the fact that he is who he is, I don't think he's ever thought he was that cool popular guy, nor do I think he wants to be. he seems far too introspective and wise for his age to get too close to that kind of thing.

Timmy's motivation is more to not be the minor/side role his whole career. he loves what he does, he doesn't care what genre the movie is, what work he has to put into himself physically or mentally bc he likes the challenge.(he's said all of that). he just wants to be the lead role imo. he wants to be a main actor not stuck on the sidelines or forgotten about and there's nothing wrong with that. ESPECIALLY because he truly does have the talent, the dedication and hard work, the love of what he does to bring all his characters to life even if they are the farthest thing from his irl personality. he seems to make friends with everyone he works with, seems genuinely happy to be where he is even if he's really nervous.

unfortunately for that goal you have to be seen a certain way and Timmy is not some buff, masculine, manly dude bro guy. I'm pretty sure from the beginning of cmbyn promo there has been name calling about his sexuality based on his body type/looks and it's absolutely not cool but yet nothing really new.. that type of "based on what you look like you must be like x" is what drives so much of that industry to work out and diet til their unhealthy, to change their personalities to seem more likeable, etc.

I really hope with the roles he's done so far it's enough to show that you don't have to be that guy to be lead material but i genuinely don't know... I don't think it's something he even wants to do long term, he seems v happy to have a close honest relationship with fans no matter where in the world he goes and he doesn't seem to be losing his love for his job and anywhere it takes him so if The King and Dune go well let's hope he's allowed more freedom to be who he truly is bts.

I really dont think he's some manipulative guy and I never have been one to change lots of ppls opinions but honestly I'm not a hardcore stan. I saw the movie (cmbyn) and gushed a bit for a little bit in the beginning of 2018 but ive literally only just come back bc I saw he was doing some more cool stuff.

I've been in fandoms where the two ppl in the ship haven't even been seen together in years, everytime fans comment about the things they say or how close they might be there's an article about how they hate each other. ive seen ppl I stan struggle to get respect in such a tough/unfeeling industry with their hard work and fear being honest and sabotaging their hard work. it's a real thing and almost any now-out actor/musician/etc. that I've seen talk about it talks about just how traumatic it truly is. even if you aren't internally homophobic, even if you were cool with yourself and your life before, anxiety, self doubt and the fear of judgement and career sabotage seriously messes w artists. i don't know that everyone out there is as strong-willed as we think we are.

THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY FOR NOW sorry for rambling and pls bring on the comments about how dumb and ignorant I am it's really great seeing how ppl handle differences in opinion. (:

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Insanity in San Jose, The Bruins 2nd Line, & Impact of Coach Q in Florida

  It's the greatest day of the year. Seventh game great. Tuesday evening featured four clubs playing for their lives and that always brings the best/worst out of each player. Some rise to the occasion, others crumble under the pressure. As someone without a rooting interest, it's a very pleasurable experience. For all of you Leafs/Bruins/Sharks/Golden Knights fans out there, I apologize. I hope you tried some deep breathing exercises. I hear they can be helpful. Take note, Caps and Canes fans.

  Boston kept their barn rocking with two first period tallies off of two terrible defensive plays by Toronto. One off the stick and Travis Dermott, the second off a Jake Gardiner turnover. With that minus, Gardiner now owns the dubious distinction of the worst plus-minus rating in game 7 history. Yikes. Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of his UFA contract dropping in value. 

  "Last year, Jake Gardiner was a minus-5 in Game 7. It's been a tough 1st period for the pair of Dermott-Gardiner. The reverse to nowhere…& a good job by Johansson to find the far post." @NHLonNBCSports analyst @BrianBoucher33 on Marcus Johansson's goal, 2-0 Bruins. #TORvsBOS pic.twitter.com/JVVH8aDUcV

— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) April 23, 2019

    John Tavares cut the lead to one with a second-period goal – his second of the series, but that was as close as they would come. The Bruins would tally three more goals in the final frame – two via the open cage variety, and sent the Leafs packing in game seven for the third time in the last seven seasons. Needless to say, the Bruins appear to have their number. 

  It didn't take long for pundits to call for Mike Babcock's head. To criticize his deployment, his inability to shuffle lines, or match up successfully while at home. These are all fair criticisms, but at the end of the day, Toronto's backend wasn't good enough, Freddie Andersen let in a soft one to begin the game, and outside of Auston Matthews, the big guns didn't do enough. 

  The Leafs remain one of the brightest, youngest teams and will continue on the rise in 2019-20. That said, their inability to win a playoff series is bordering on ridiculous and is clearly eating the fanbase from the inside out. Since the salary cap era began in 2005, only the Leafs and Panthers have yet to win a series. That's one ugly stat. 

  They've also now wasted the entry-level contract of Matthews and Mitch Marner. Things will only become more difficult from here to fit everyone in. So what kind of changes can we expect heading into next fall for the Buds? Well, Gardiner and his four million will be gone. They'll need to find 10 million for Marner, hefty raises for Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen. Things will need to be shuffled to keep the core together. Do the William Nylander rumours resurface? If so, there will likely a few teams standing around tossing boat anchor offers to Kyle Dubas. 

  **

Many pundits have been calling David Pastrnak out for his less than stellar play in the first round of the playoffs – this despite him producing six points over the seven-game series. That said, I've really enjoyed the David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk and Pastrnak combo on the second line. DeBrusk and Krejci have found some strong chemistry this season and adding a dynamic finisher like Pasta really opens things up. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are strong enough to drive a line without Pastrnak and still put up gaudy totals. 

  Don't be surprised if we see these combinations more next season. It's not ideal for fantasy owners as a complete top-line stack can be dynamite, but it's only a minor downtick for the big three and a nice uptick for DeBrusk and Krejci. I'll put this out here right now, DeBrusk has my seal of approval for a breakout in 2019-20.

  **

Out west, the Sharks and Golden Knights met in Northern California. This series looked all but finished when Vegas dummied San Jose 5-0 in game four to take a 3-1 series lead. However, the Sharks came out and took games five and six to push it back home for a chance to eliminate the reigning Western Conference champions. 

  San Jose played well early, leading the shot count 11-4 through the first frame. However, as has been the case for much of Martin Jones' tenor, the Sharks found themselves down on the scoreboard. William Karlsson tallied to make it 1-0 before Cody Eakin found the back of the net in the second frame. 

  The third period came along and Max Pacioretty scored his fifth of the postseason to make it 3-0. He and Mark Stone continue to lead all playoff producers with 11 and 12 points respectively in seven contests. That appeared to be all the boys from Sin City needed to advance to second round and date with the upstart Avalanche. 

  UNTIL THIS HAPPENED! 

https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/SJ-WOW.mp4

  Eakin takes a 5-minute major that ended Joe Pavelski's night with a scary incident as he lands on his head and needed help off the ice.  It did not take long for the Sharks to rally around their fallen captain. Four power-play goals in 241 seconds with Kevin Labanc getting in on all of them – recording a goal and three helpers. That tied an NHL playoff record for the most points in a single period.

  This is why you never change the channel too early!

  But but but.. I had already written the Sharks obituary for tonight’s Ramblings when they were down 3-0 with half a period to play!

My poor words. They never had a chance.

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) April 24, 2019

  I should've known better. 

  Labanc continued to play a role as he took a penalty with four minutes remaining but his mates picked him up – including the goaltender as Jones channelled his inner Trevor Kidd on this one

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Jones-Kidd.mp4

  However, the Golden Knights would not go quietly into the night. With the goaltender pulled and SIX forwards on the ice, Jonathan Marchessault scored to tie the game with 47 seconds remaining to force overtime. I absolutely love that Gerard Gallant rolled out six forwards with the season on the line. Hazah for creativity! 

  Timo Meier was an absolute beast in this one. He played X amount with an assist and nine shots on goal. He almost ended it in OT with these sweet moves only to be stymied by Marc-Andre Fleury

    Timo Meier with the filthy dangles. But no one gets by Fleury's poke. pic.twitter.com/u7x4A50LEV

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) April 24, 2019

  All that was left to do was see who would play hero…

  https://dobberhockey.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Apr-23-2019-22-28-13.mp4

  Barclay Goodrow in his second shift of overtime. The man with just seven minutes played on the evening completed the comeback in the game and in the series for San Jose in fabulous fashion. The Sharks move on. 

  Of course, Vegas will have a difficult time recovering from this one – especially Cody Eakin. But this team is loaded with nearly all of its players signed through next season. William Karlsson will need another deal, but it’s unlikely he pulls much of a raise on his current 5.25 million. They have one of the top prospects in the game in Cody Glass coming as well.

  This is not the last we’ve heard from them.

  **

On a less adrenaline-induced note, there have been several coaching changes already this spring and we have yet to conclude the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The odds say we’ll see at least one more before the calendar turns over to July. With a new man at the helm, there will inevitably be changes afoot. And with deployment acting as the literal lifeblood of the fantasy world, the implications can be massive.

  In Florida, Bob Boughner is out and three-time Stanley Cup winner, Joel Quenneville is in. Quenneville will have no shortage of offensive firepower to deploy in South Florida (this remains true even if they don’t land Artemi Panarin in free agency), and he’s proven quite successful in finding elite minutes for elite players.

  Under Quenneville, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews never witnessed their average ice-time drop below 18:30 – with a high-water mark of around 21:30 in 2016-17.  We can rest assured that Sasha Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau will likely live in the same ballparks, but this represents a slight decrease for the 23-year-old Finn. Barkov has averaged over 22 minutes in each of the last two seasons. Huberdeau lives in the 17:00-18:30 arena and should comfortably be pegged there. We’ll have to wait and see if the new coach leans on the team’s superstar as much as his predecessor did.

  As far as club achievements, clearly his 10+ season resume with the Hawks is chalked full of accomplishments. Outside of the three rings, he brought the club to 100-plus point seasons in seven of the campaigns, and a 97-point season tossed in as well. The concern was the stagnation that happened towards the end of his tenor in Chicago. The team immediately found their offensive prowess once he left town in November 2018, after many of the top guys witnessed career-lows the season prior. Successful franchises have steadily gotten faster and faster with each passing season, and this may not jive well with Coach Q’s penchant for airtight defensive schemes.

  Here’s the thing though, losing a few goals to save a bucket more is exactly what this team needs. Their 267 tallies this past season was fifth most in the East and good for ninth best in the league. Florida also boasted the second most lethal power-play, clicking at 26.8 percent for the campaign. For reference, that mark is the third highest we’ve seen in the last 30 years.

  However, it’s the 280 goals against that are the real problem. That mark landed them 14th in the East and 28th overall. Like I said, perhaps they can afford to lose a few goals for more team success – but that’s not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear.

  Florida has a bright, young, fantasy-filled roster. Barkov is an elite pillar. Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Keith Yandle each bring upper echelon value to specific leagues. Mike Hoffman, Evgeni Dadonov, and Aaron Ekblad are above-average. Additionally, they boast some of the brightest young prospects in the game with Henrik Borgstrom, Grigori Denisenko, Owen Tippett, and Aleksi Heponiemi coming up the pipe.

  However, expecting a replication, or a continuation, on the career-high seasons by Barkov, Huberdeau and company may be foolish. Shave 5-8 points off of each skater, bump up the goaltender value (whomever that ends up being) and go about your draft preparation.

  **

Over in Sweden, the World U18 Championships are underway. The Americans are destroying the competition thus far. At the top of the heap are linemates, Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield. You've likely heard all about Hughes by now. He's an explosive and creative skater who brings the entire buffet of offensive skills. Thus far, he has five goals and 12 points through four games and is pushing Alex Ovechkin for the most all-time points at this event. Hughes had 12 in seven games last year. 

  But it's Caufield I wanted to talk about. Standing just 5-6 and 157lbs, he's certainly not your prototypical first-round draft choice. Hell, most years a player that sized won't hear their name called at all. But Caufield is special. He's up to 69 goals in 61 games this season and recently broke the all-time goal record for the USNTDP. Sure, he lives next to supreme passers in Hughes and Trevor Zegras at the Program, but his ability to find the soft areas and quickly and efficiently put the puck into the back of the net is special. 

  It's a record breaking 10th goal of the tourney for Cole Caufield and a 2-0 Team USA lead.

A gorgeous pass from Trevor Zegras sets up Caufield for the pretty finish. #U18Worlds #NTDP pic.twitter.com/0bA59wTIvA

— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) April 23, 2019

    Clubs surely regret allowing Alex DeBincat to fall to the second round in 2016. There is much more risk in selecting a player his size in the top-15, but that appears to be exactly where he'll go. At this rate, I'd be somewhat surprised if he's still sitting there at #10. If Caufield were an elite skater, he could be making a very real case for third overall. 

  All this said he's a player you should have earmarked in dynasty drafts. One capable of filling the net and the shots on goal ticker. 

  **

Follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-game-7s-bruins-2nd-line-impact-of-coach-q-in-florida/