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#when i was like 11 i went to universal studios and they had one of those evil transformers idk what theyre called
micahdotgov · 1 year
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too scared to watch secretary 2002 bc i worry it will reveal to myself that i do in fact only find james spader hot when he is voicing a killer robot
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alovesreading · 1 year
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Constant Repeat | Part 9
Summary: Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.  
Word Count: 20.4k
Story Warnings: Throughout this series there will be suggestive talk, jealousy, cheating, alcohol and drug use, angst, smut.  
A/N: This is gonna be a rather lengthy author's note but it's needed. Y'all must definitely know the wonderful @imagine-that-100​ and her masterpiece of a fic Nothing Revealed In A Common Crisis. I'm not exaggerating when I say that fic changed my life in many amazing ways: it introduced me to the 1975, I made friends with N and she's now my best mate and such a special person to me, and through becoming friends with her i gained the courage to start writing again and finally post my fics. I hold @nriacc so close to my heart, so it's a massive honor that N allowed me to borrow Wheels and Curly to use in this story, giving them an alternate universe story line that melts my heart. I'm so beyond excited for you to read this chapter and the rest of this UK trip because it's so fucking fun and eventful. I'm looking forward eagerly to see all of your reactions! I'll shut up now, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!!!
Masterlist
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 |
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It was cruel how slow time had been going. A month had never felt longer, and days were specially slow as she was back at the Focus Creeps office everyday.
Organizing all the clips she had gotten from the recording had only kept her busy for the first week back, and after that it had just been torture to get back into routine.
The one good thing was that, since Aaron had a new PA, Ella was properly getting more into the videography aspect of it all and being mentored directly by Ben.
She had studied for that type of job, all she had ever wanted was to be behind the camera in any type of production and finally being able to do it, no matter how small the production was, was a dream come true.
However, it was a lot of work and, whilst she loved it, managing the crew and instructing a whole team for a production could get really stressful. She still had her PA brain in her so regardless of not needing to, she would take on more responsibilities just to ensure everything would end up perfect on shoot day.
Needless to say, just the thought of the holiday approaching made her incredibly giddy.
The day she had gotten to drop Breana off at LAX had been the day she had started getting nervous. The model had been able to get off work and fly over a week earlier than Ella, and even though she had offered to wait another week so they could fly together, Ella had encouraged her to go ahead.
Bre was already dying to see her boyfriend, so why would Ella want to keep her another week away from him?
The silver lining of the situation was that she'd get to be with everyone in only a week. Just seven more days to wait were nothing in comparison to the three endless weeks she had already waited so it'd be fine.
When she got home that afternoon, she went straight to get her suitcase which was hidden away in a corner of her closet. Ella laughed to herself as she packed away, the whole scene being soundtracked by Bowie. That was probably the first time since she moved out to college that she had packed her things with that much time in advance.
She had just rolled up a pair of black pants when 'Modern Love' was interrupted by a call. A call from the one and only, Alex Turner.
Beaming at the contact name, she swiped on her screen to answer and it wasn't even a fraction of a second later that she heard "Hello my darling!" being shouted by a very obviously drunk Alex.
Ella could hear chatter and music in the background, but his loud slurred greeting had been heard without difficulty. "Hi Al! Having fun?"
"Erm," The singer hesitated dramatically, "A bit, yeah."
"Sure sounds like a bit of fun." She replied sarcastically, making him giggle.
"Far less than it would be if you were here."
Ella tried hard not to laugh again, "Oh wow, I'm worried now I might not remember this trip."
"Oh it'll be memorable alright." Ella couldn't hold her laughter in any longer, giggling loudly at the slurred statement and he smiled to himself hearing that sound, "Remind me why aren't you already on your way with Bre now?"
She sighed, "Because I have a big shoot this week and I couldn't miss it because I'll be filling Aaron's place and working directly with Ben."
"You're so fucking amazing, darling." Alex started, completely amazed at her stories now that she was hands on working on the directing aspect of their productions, "I want you directing our music videos from now on." He demanded as seriously as a drunk man can.
"I think drunk you might not be making the best decisions." She quipped with an immense smile on her face.
"Yeah, no." He was quick to disagree, shaking his head profusely like Ella was there to see him. "That'd be the best decision actually. I'll give Ben a quick call."
"Alex, stop it you idiot." Her cheeks were already heating up so she took her phone away from her ear and put it on speaker to place it on her bed as she continued packing. "It's only one more week. Six days if you count this day as over."
He groaned loudly, "Six more days is too long. I can't wait to see you."
Ella was fully melting. It had been so excruciating to be away from the lads, especially from Alex that she kept thinking about what it would be to hug him again. To lean on him for support as she doubled over in laughter, to cuddle him again. She missed him loads, and she'd realized just how important he had become to her when he had left.
She tried to play it cool though, "Okay but you should be more excited about Glastonbury rather than me coming, Al."
"Well you are coming to see us at Glastonbury so it's basically the same thing." Alex defended himself, when in reality he really wasn't able to point out which of those two he was most excited for.
Ella could only shake her head and smile to herself, "You're funny."
"'Course I am." Alex chatted back with an almost offended tone.
She wanted to taunt him a bit more, he was always hilarious when drunk. "That wasn't necessarily literal."
"Yeah, yeah sure–" Alex started but was interrupted by Matt yelling, "Ellie!" out loud as he had come out looking for Alex and heard her through the speakers of the singer's phone.
"Jesus Christ, my eardrums just burst." Ella exaggerated as she folded a black top and rolled it to fit into her case.
Matt scoffed, "Why are you such a bitch, I was about to tell you how much I missed you."
Feeling accomplished by getting that reaction, she giggled but admitted, "I miss you too Helders."
"Did you drop Bre off today?" The drummer asked first and foremost. He was eager to see his girl, a month had been way too long already.
Ella was proud to announce, "Yes. Got back a few hours ago. She texted me she was boarding about twenty minutes ago so your girl is on her way."
"Thank fuck. That plane better speed here." The hours the flight took were always the worst wait for him, they had been every time.
"I'm sure Bre is making the pilot go as fast as they can to get to you as soon as possible." Ella joked, being able to picture the scenario so clearly. But as she picked up her favorite pair of high heeled boots, the leather slipped between her fingers and landed with a loud thud on the floor. "Oh shit!"
The silence from the lads' side was loud, but Ella's was louder so Alex inquired very quickly, "What are you breaking Eleanor?"
Whenever he used her full name, her insides twisted in a knot. Ella rolled her eyes at the feeling and sassily replied, "Nothing Alexander, just dropped a pair of shoes I was about to pack." She hoped he felt the same way when she called him by his full name.
If Ella had gotten an answer to that, it would've been yes but it was overcome by the giddiness Alex then felt over the fact that she was already packing for the trip. "You're packing already?"
"Yes. Apparently I can't stay still now thinking about this trip." And it was true, she probably took a look at her tickets at least twice a day just to check if they were still real.
"Well it is quite eventful, innit? Glasto, Nick's wedding, the music video..." Alex listed with a loopy smile on his face. It would be the perfect first stay in the UK for her, and he couldn't wait to make it even better.
But Ella was suffering through the wait so it just made her whine for him to stop. "Stop because I will cry from having to wait another week."
Alex flustered at the noise but he was reminded he wasn't alone when Matt laughed beside him. The singer sighed, really putting his drunk mind to work out a solution to the problem, "Why isn't teleporting a thing yet?"
Ella snorted in laughter, "It would make it all so much easier, wouldn't it?"
He really started going deep in thought, thinking about how if they were just grasping the logical ways of the concept then the government or whoever would already have something developed. Or they should, at least. "I'm sure there has to be something that–"
Alex's heavy rant was prematurely interrupted by the usual troublemaker in the friend group. "Ellie?"
"Yes, Matthew?"
"Don't forget to pack your skimpy underwear, you'll be going out on the pull here. We need to get you a rebound!" Matt was so drunk, he missed the amount of people walking past them and turning to see him after being so loud about his plans for the American girl.
Ella cackled, deciding between a few skirts she had laid out on the bed. "It will be noted."
But at the same time Alex cussed out his best mate, "Oh fuck off Helders."
Matt frowned at him, "What? I'm just looking out for her! She needs to get every faint memory of that dickhead fucked out of her brain."
Alex hated thinking about that being the situation, he wouldn't have it. "Jesus– Just, fucking shut up."
"I do actually," Ella agreed on Matt's logic, "But let's not talk about it." She sighed in slight melancholy.
"See?!" Matt fought Alex loudly, making Ella laugh loud at him.
Alex turned to the drummer about to threaten him, "Helders I will fucking–"
Ella stopped them before they could do anything, "Okay don't fight now. I'm not there to record."
"Don't worry, I'll ask Jamie to record as I kick his arse." Matt said confidently, almost ready to run back in and ask for Jamie's help.
But she was quick to kick the drummer's ego down a few notches, "I doubt that'll happen."
"Bitch!" Matt gasped out loud, completely offended.
"Thanks for the support, darling." Alex replied with a smirk, raising his eyebrows at his friend.
"Yeah, you just say that 'cause you want his–" Matt tried to say but it was all muffled what she heard next. Ella held her breath to try and listen but nothing could be heard other than shuffling.
About a minute later the line went clear again and someone cleared their throats, "Sorry 'bout that darling, he gets on my nerves."
Ella shook her head, only imagining what it was that they had just done. "He has that effect."
"Well I can't wait for you to get here, darling. It's gonna be fucking amazing I promise you." Alex would make sure of it like his life depended on it.
Her excitement bubbled up inside her once more, "I know it will, I'm so excited. Finally started watching Game of Thrones to practice my accent."
He remembered getting a picture of the three seasons on DVD she had gotten not long after they had gone back to London and how she said she'd watch it soon to prepare for her trip. "Oh darling, I cannot wait to see you miserably fail at that."
"Hey!" Ella warned him before switching to her very fake and forced british accent, "It's quite good actually." Alex couldn't not let out the loudest laugh at it though, which made her laugh back as she tried to say, "Don't laugh!"
He tried to stop but he couldn't so it was about half a minute later that he could properly say, "Sorry, that was just bad."
"You're mean." She pouted to herself, rolling a pair of jeans.
He hummed and sarcastically said, "Sure I am." Ella was about to call him out for it when they heard, "Alex!" being yelled out by Nick. "Okay, I gotta go now but, erm, I'll call you tomorrow alright?" He stumbled in his words, his tongue tangling because of being drunk and excited.
Ella smiled at that, "That's perfect. Enjoy the rest of your night, Al. Love you." She just couldn't help but add.
Alex swore he would never get over her saying that, even if she didn't mean it like he wanted her to. "Love you too, darling. Bye."
"Bye." She said almost breathless as his words hit her like she hadn't heard him say that before.
The line went dead and they both sighed before going back to their activities. The week needed to pass faster.
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Ella had been walking around LAX with a skip on her step. Her flight was due to leave California at seven in the afternoon and she'd be landing in Montreal at around three in the morning. She had a connecting flight, of course, but she had made sure to make her calculations well and she knew she'd get there in time.
She had made sure to leave her house and order herself a taxi with enough time to spare, taking LA's traffic very into consideration. The counter of the airline she was traveling with had been packed but she got her boarding pass about forty minutes later, with two hours left to go through TSA and then rush to her gate.
Being mindful of how long it would take, she had already taken everything that could beep off her body and placed it inside the big bag she was carrying with her. Though she shouldn't have needed to worry because being the time it was and the fact that it was LAX, the line for TSA moved specially slow, taking her about thirty minutes to get through.
And, of course, her gate was the one furthest away so she was power walking through the airport, not without making a quick stop at McDonald's first. When she finally found her gate, she'd sat in the waiting area with her laptop open in her lap to edit some pictures.
She'd had to do some shoots on digital for a brand that was working with Focus Creeps and despite it not being her favorite medium, they had turned out amazing. She had studied quite intently everything about photo editing in university, so really she was just putting old skills to use when editing them.
When she was almost done with the first batch of pictures, and eating the last of her chips now that her burger was gone, she noticed that the time in the top right corner of her laptop said 7:16PM and they hadn't been called yet, so she started to fidget in her seat.
There was just one person at the counter but they didn't have the airline's uniform. She could see a plane parked right at the gate though, and people driving the boarding bridge in place. Her legs bounced up and down as she watched her surroundings for any signs of them boarding soon.
Just when Ella was about to panic because the person who was at the counter left, her phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her. She pulled it out, grateful for a small distraction from her building anxiety and her face relaxed at the notification of Alex's text.
(27/06/2013 19:17) Hope the airport isn't too crazy at the minute, darling. How's everything going? Have you boarded yet? x
She bit on her thumb, looking around for anyone from the airline getting the counter ready for boarding but no one was there yet so she fully focused on texting the singer.
(27/06/2013 19:18) We were supposed to board twenty minutes ago, so I'm slowly getting nervous. Every minute counts, you know? I can't miss y'all at Glastonbury Al :(
(27/06/2013 19:19) Don't you worry darling, you'll make it just in time. And I'm sure you'll be boarding in no time, just listen to some music, yeah? Maybe some Beatles to set the mood x
(27/06/2013 19:20) I think it'd be better if I blast some Arctic Monkeys, wouldn't it?
(27/06/2013 19:20) I suppose that works too, they're overrated though x
(27/06/2013 19:21) Okay now, don't talk shit about them when I'm only traveling this long to see them.
(27/06/2013 19:21) Hahaha sorry darling x I cannot wait to see you, the lads can't wait either and Bre has been screeching about your first time over here since she got here.
(27/06/2013 19:22) You always know what to say, Al. I feel like I'm gonna puke from excitement now and not anxiety. Can't wait to see y'all.
(27/06/2013 19:23) Everyone's already planning so much shit for when you get here. Just a little heads up for you x
(27/06/2013 19:23) Jesus Christ... I'm scared of the hangovers to come already.
(27/06/2013 19:24) It'll be fun, that's all that matters. What Bre and Matt are planning though, I have no idea about.
(27/06/2013 19:25) Oh no, they're in charge of the parties before the wedding right?
(27/06/2013 19:26) Exactly, so we must be in for a wild night. Gutted we can't be together for those x
(27/06/2013 19:27) Who's gonna save me from Bre then?! She's gonna have me black out, I can't handle alcohol as well as she does.
(27/06/2013 19:27) You can't handle alcohol at all, darling xx
(27/06/2013 19:27) Thanks for the faith, Al. So sweet of you x
(27/06/2013 19:28) Won't apologize for the truth x But Katie and my best friend will be there, they'll take care of you x
(27/06/2013 19:29) Rude! :(( I'm so excited to meet everyone properly!!! x
(27/06/2013 19:29) Just stay away from tequila and you'll be fine darling x And everyone is excited to finally meet you too xx
(27/06/2013 19:30) Such good advice xx P.S. someone's just set things up for boarding! I'll text you when I get to Montreal xxx
(27/06/2013 19:30) Have a great flight, darling. Love you lots xxxx
(27/06/2013 19:30) Thank you Alex, love you too xxxx
Ella stood up from her place with a bright grin on her face. She'd never not react like that to his sweet words.
Once she got her thoughts together, she hung her bag on her shoulder, after stuffing her laptop back inside it, and walked to throw away her McDonald's bag.
As soon as she was able to, Ella boarded her flight. Feeling so elated as she walked to the plane's door and through the hallway up to her seat. She loved being in planes, even though going out of the country had never happened for her before.
She found herself unable to stay still when she got to her seat. There were so many things making her insides feel like jelly, she had a little silent cry in the plane as it took off. Ella was grateful nobody beside her could really see her as she had a window seat, her eyes glued to how everything was looking more minuscule by the minute outside until it was just clouds.
Eventually, she pulled out her laptop again and continued editing, she had a little bit over five hours to kill and since she had no other way to distract herself, she was going through the pictures faster than anticipated.
How she was going to brace the seven hour flight from Montreal to London, she had no idea. She probably would have to come up with concepts for future shoots, work with words rather than with reference pictures since she had no wifi.
Ella had been amazed, watching Montreal under the plane when they were about to land. The lights of the city lighting up everything for her to see, she felt like a child being amazed at such a simple thing, but it looked so beautiful she had to take a picture. She used her phone first but it did little to no justice to it so she pulled out her camera and took a few pictures just to see if it would show on film as beautiful as her eyes could see.
Even walking around the Canadian airport was fascinating to her, because all the signs were in French too, which made her think about just how amazing it would be to visit France.
Thankfully, walking through the airport and finding her gate had been a breeze so she could sit down calmly and just sort through some stuff that she had been procrastinating for long. Before starting to organize her scans though, she sent Alex a quick text.
(28/06/2013 04:20) Landed in Montreal a few minutes ago, and at the gate waiting for the next flight! Only an hour left to wait and then I'll be on my way. I cannot stay still!!! xx Also Canada is beautiful, I love it! xx
Due to the lack of wifi connection, she sent it as a regular SMS, not really caring about being charged. She just hoped it went through as she went back to her laptop screen to work the next hour away.
But her bubble of giddiness had burst when she and all the others who were waiting for their connecting flight, were surprised by someone from the airline crew going up to the gate's waiting area microphone and informing them all that their flight had been delayed six hours because of some issues with the plane that was supposed to take them to London.
Ella scoffed in disbelief. Of course this would happen to me, was all that came to her mind.
When they told them their luggage would have to be picked up from baggage claim and they'd have to check in once again, it hit her just how much time she'd be losing.
She started panicking as she walked out to baggage claim, spotting her flight number in the furthest conveyor belt.
She had debated texting Alex again to tell him about the whole situation, just to let him know, but when she properly made her calculations and realized how much later she'd get there, her whole attention was drawn to fixing the issue.
People saw her rolling her big suitcase around the airport in a haste, her bag continuously falling off her shoulder but it was the least of her concerns as she approached the counters of the airline. She saw the big line of people and was about to cry, but thankfully she spotted some people assisting at the very end of the queue that could help her.
Ella told them about her situation and they apologized profusely. They told her to wait as they saw what they could do and after twenty minutes in which she just watched them type away, call and speak with different people behind the counter, she was told she could get a ticket for another plane they had which was leaving in two hours.
When the time was very scarily going closer to six in the morning, she had been able to check in her suitcase and run to go through security once again. She was grateful everyone had been lovely in every checkpoint, because if she had been faced with another obstacle, she was sure she would've broken down in the middle of the airport.
Never in her life had she walked so fast, and it was only when she got to her gate did she allow herself to fully sit in the panic. On her way, she had been doing the math and she realized she'd be landing in London cutting it very close to their set. It was when she remembered she still needed to get driven to the place the festival was at, that she found she'd get there after the lads had gone on stage, probably in the middle of their set.
Without letting another minute go to waste, she called Alex and tried her hardest to keep herself composed. At least she had a ticket and it would be a minor setback, not six hours.
"Hello, darling!" He exclaimed and she could feel his smile through the phone, her shoulders slowly loosening up at the thought of being beside her best friend soon.
"Hiya, Alex." Ella greeted, trying to copy his enthusiasm but she failed incredibly and Alex knew her so well now that he immediately knew something was wrong.
He walked away from the noise around him, they'd gotten to the festival early and they were all drinking and watching the final touches to the stage setup. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Ella bit her lip, trying not to get too worked up and push herself to tears. "I am, I am. Just— My original flight got delayed six hours..."
Alex's heart dropped, "Oh darling." He muttered, filled with sadness.
"Okay but listen," She continued, trying to switch the situation around—more to try and calm herself than anything else—, "I managed to get a new ticket, but it leaves in about an hour. So, if my calculations aren't wrong, then I might be landing around eight in the evening."
He hummed, "The drive is about two hours and a half, it's okay darling. You're getting picked up by the driver we hired, you'll make it."
She sighed, "I hope I make it on time..." She knew she wouldn't be there from the start but just the knowledge of being a few minutes late to their set wouldn't make her weep at that very moment.
Alex just had to reassure her though, because anything could happen and it was out of everyone's hands so the last thing he wanted was for her to blame herself. "Even if you get here a little late, we just want you here. It's okay Ellie. I promise you, darling."
If Ella hadn't been in public, she would've let herself sob, but she had to inhale deeply to keep herself at bay and focus on the fact that she was on her way to them and that was all that mattered.
"Okay, Al. I'm just gonna distract myself as I wait and, uhm, yeah. I hope this one doesn't get delayed." She tried to joke but her heart sank at just the thought of it.
"Touching wood as we speak, Ellie." He truly was, knocking softly on the wooden table that was set beside him.
She laughed quietly, "I guess I'll see you soon then Al, but just in case I don't get there in time," her voice went a little quiet as she was getting sad at the thought, "Good luck okay? You're all gonna do so amazing, I have no doubt."
"Why don't you just wait until you're here to tell me?" Alex just wanted her to stop thinking like that, she was gonna make it regardless and that's what mattered to him.
"Alright." Ella agreed softly, trying to feed off his positivity.
"Have a great flight darling. Love you. It'll be alright okay?" That sweet conviction of his that he always showed when it came to her laced around his words had her melting and calming down in her seat.
She nodded, smiling tightly at his words. "Yeah, it will. Love you too Alex, see you soon."
They exchanged quiet goodbyes and just like that the call ended.
The panic had gone away and its place had been taken by excitement again. She just wished time would go faster because she had little patience left inside her and it had only been fifteen minutes she had been waiting at the gate.
Working on organizing her scans had been wonderful for her, not only because she had so many that she had forgotten about, but she had been able to see her growth as a photographer and it had made her a little bit proud of herself.
It had been a burden to see the ones with Julian in them, or the ones that she clearly remembered had been taken by him but they were good shots of her where she felt and looked beautiful so she would focus on that rather than give that man any more of her thoughts.
She'd known ever since that day at the beach that she was done with him, over the whole situation and, since she wrapped her mind around that realization, she'd only felt peace. He thankfully hadn't made any more appearances or tried to contact her—of course that also was because she'd made sure to block all contacts that could tie them together any longer.
That all had worked like a charm and surrounding herself with work and keeping in touch with her friends and family had helped her heal.
When she was sorting through the pictures she'd taken in March, that were mostly frames of her birthday party as Bre had been drunkenly taking many pictures of everyone, the crew had started to board.
Ella was glad to see they had started boarding earlier than anticipated and she was on her plane seat in almost no time. And to her luck, she had been seated beside a very lovely woman who had the most beautiful ginger hair Ella had ever seen. That had been the start of the conversation and the girl, who's name was Gabby, had thanked her and started conversation with her right then.
It seemed like the friendship had been sent from above as the two spent most of the flight talking about everything and anything: their jobs, their hobbies, why they were on that plane, the things they were most excited for when they landed.
"Rockstars..." Gabby has started after Ella told her she was on her way to visit her rockstar best friends, "Be careful, you never really know about them." She warned, based on past experiences that made a melancholic smile tug at the corner of her lips.
When the plane landed, they had gone through all of the checkpoints together up until the baggage claim area.
Ella and Gabby exchanged Instagram accounts and they promised each other to keep in touch and maybe plan something while Ella was in London.
It seemed like luck was on Gabby's side because her suitcase was one of the first ones to come out only 20 minutes later, leaving Ella with a long hug and a "Take care sweetheart."
Without the ginger beside her, Ella had been well aware of every minute that was passing and how if everything was going according to schedule then it would be less than two hours that the lads would go on stage.
Maybe if the driver just floored it, she'd be able to make it just in time. She prayed that was the case.
But time kept running and she watched people getting their baggage and leaving, everyone but her. It was a group of twenty people maybe that was waiting with her, and suddenly the conveyor belt stopped carrying cases which made Ella even more fidgety.
When she watched the clock go from nine o'clock to quarter past, she'd had enough. She sighed, fixing her bag on her shoulder to turn around and leave—after all, if her case was found, it had her information attached to it and they'd contact her so she couldn't care less about it—, but then cases started rolling in again and the third one was hers.
Ella practically ran towards it and pulled it up with a strength she didn't know she had in her. As soon as she had a hold on it, she walked fast towards the exit in search of the driver the lads had gotten her.
It took her a few glances around the crowd of people waiting for her to find her name on a small sign. 'Eleanor Hayes' read the sign in the man's hands and she approached him with a relieved smile on her face.
They exchanged pleasantries and he took the suitcase from her as they walked out to the car. It was outside that it hit her where she was. Seeing cars driving on the other side of the road and everyone talking in thick accents around her was enough for her to smile hard.
Even if she was two hours away from the guys, they were standing in the same soil and that was enough for her to breathe calmly for a while.
Ella got in the back seat of the car, and once again she felt like she couldn't sit still. The worst part was that she wasn't even able to call Alex or text him because her phone was basically useless.
So she put her earphones in and connected them to her phone to play some music. Something inside her knew exactly what she needed to hear then and so she scrolled all the way down until she found that song she hadn't been able to stop listening to since that day.
Her eyes watched out of the window, how they were driving on the left side of the road, how different it all was but something felt constant and growing inside her. But then 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' started and her thoughts drowned before she could even allow herself to point out what it was.
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Ella had made light conversation with the driver when they were walking up to the car and he had taken her petition to go as fast as he could to heart. He knew she needed to be there by ten in the evening so he had done the best he could.
Yet that hadn't been enough, because they got there at a little bit over eleven.
The driver had lent Ella his phone so she could call an assistant to the band's manager who was waiting for her to arrive.
The girl had been lovely and told Ella she'd be coming to get her and about thirty minutes later, with her heart leaping on her chest, Ella was walking up to the balcony at the side of the stage.
She was almost in tears seeing and hearing the massive crowd go incredibly insane at the sight of the lads coming back for the encore.
Ella had barely registered the manager's assistant telling Breana that Ella had arrived until Bre had jumped on her to hug her, and that was when the tears had started falling. Ella was so overwhelmed that she was just now processing the long day she'd had and it was hitting her like a ton of bricks.
She was so entranced by the guys getting their instruments and about to perform again that she had only been able to smile and wave at the girls around her. She recognized Kelly of course but she didn't know who out of the two other girls that were there was Katie and who was Alex's best friend.
Alex started strumming his guitar and teasing the crowd with the lyrics to 'Soul Love' by David Bowie, everyone at the balcony laughed as they sang it back to him but he was quick to cut them off when he said, "I'm only messing, I'm only kidding."
He walked backwards for a few seconds before going back to the mic and this time teasing them with 'Yellow' by Coldplay, which made the crowd sing it back to him even louder.
"I'm only messing, I'm only messing." He tried saying but the thousands of people ignored it so he laughed looking at Jamie and shaking his head, "I'm only kidding. Pipe down now, pipe down." And since they still didn't listen, he went ahead and started singing the next song which was 'Cornerstone'.
Ella hadn't even known that they had a string section playing with them until she heard them join the guys during the second verse and she swore she had ascended.
Nothing would ever compare to hearing Alex's stunning voice, accompanied by the violins and cellos, and the crowd so wholeheartedly singing along.
Alex was enthralling standing there just talking to the masses of people and getting them to cheer loudly at him when he suggested an old monkeys song that they didn't perform often. Ella was trying to guess which one it would be when the violins started the gorgeous melody of 'Mardy Bum' and it all sounded even better when the crowd sang along.
It was mesmerizing to say the least. Ella had thought seeing them perform Outside Lands in 2011 had been insane enough, but nothing compared to this. She had never witnessed something like it before and it was leaving her breathless.
A few tears fell down her cheeks and since Bre was holding her close, resting her face against hers, she noticed. The model turned to her best friend, cooing and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek.
Ella was sad she had only caught the end of their performance but so glad to at least have caught a bit of it. She wouldn't have forgiven herself if she had missed it completely.
She watched as Alex changed her acoustic guitar for his Fender jazzmaster when the song was done, and in no time he started playing the chords to 'When The Sun Goes Down'. The crowd was so loud almost completely drowning his voice, making everyone at the balcony sing along.
Just before the song fully kicked in after the first verse, Alex stopped and encouraged the crowd to get louder and louder. It was mental to see how much control he had over them, making them scream as loud as they could with a small movement of his hand.
Finally when they continued, Ella just fully let go of any inhibitions and started dancing with Bre, jumping on her spot and singing along loudly. The girls had done the same, all of them faking playing a guitar and headbanging.
One of the girls she didn't know had wolf whistled and yelled "That's my best friend!" which had Ella instantly knowing who she was. She was glad she had just spent most of the song with her arm swung over the girl's shoulder and both had danced together like they'd known each other their whole lives.
It all got even cuter when Alex asked the crowd if they could help him sing happy birthday to his mum. Ella had melted as she and everyone sang along, Alex had a permanent grin on his face loving the energy and how perfect the night was going.
Ella watched intently as Alex welcomed Miles on stage, whooping and clapping for her friend. She had only been able to see Miles playing 505 with them on video and caught glimpses of it in the studio when the guys were playing around and strummed along for a few seconds, but she was sure this one time would be life changing.
When Alex sang "I'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck", she felt Bre teasingly choke her which made her laugh. That made her almost miss Alex doing it to himself softly in front of the whole crowd. She had to keep herself from letting her eyes roll at that, not only because she was in public, surrounded by people but she had to not think about Alex like that.
She couldn't. They were just friends and no matter how attractive she could find him, she couldn't let herself and her thoughts wander beyond that point.
The song reached its climax and she was taken aback by the crowd's volume once again. It was nothing compared to how loud they got by the end of the song, when the lights grew intensely and lit the whole stage as the band waved them goodbye, blew them kisses and left.
Once the guys were out, that's when Ella properly turned and gave Bre the biggest hug to say hello.
"I missed you so much!" Ella had said hidden away in her neck, "Today was awful."
Bre let go to check if she was crying or not, she only found Ella's eyes pooling with tears, "I knew I should've gone with you." The model cooed and hugged her back again, "Let's go back down to their trailer and I'll introduce you to everyone."
Ella sniffled and followed Breana, who was keeping her fingers intertwined with hers as everyone walked out and back to the band's trailer.
She expected the lads to be out there already, but they told them that they had gone to be quickly interviewed at the BBC Radio area. So she took the brief moment of tranquility to properly take a moment and meet the girls officially.
Kelly was the one walking towards them so Ella was quick to meet her in the middle and give her a quick hug.
"Hi! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Ella said enthusiastically, and the bride-to-be hugged her back tightly.
They swayed a bit in their place before letting go of each other, Kelly was a little bit tipsy by then and the lads and Bre had been talking about how excited they were for Ella to get there that she was ecstatic to meet her.
"You too Ella!" Kelly agreed and then turned to see the other two ladies coming to them. Kelly waved them over for them to hurry and both of them started giggling as they quickened their pace.
When they caught up to where they stood, Ella smiled brightly at them, "Hi! I'm Ella, so nice to meet you."
She hadn't known exactly if she should hug them or shake their hands but the answer was given to her when the brunette one crushed her in a tight hug which surprised her.
"I'm so glad we can finally meet!" Ella had reciprocated the hug because she truly needed it and it's only when the girl let go that she said, "I'm Flo. Welcome to England, love."
"Oh! Alex's best friend, the artist! I've heard so much about you." Ella replied, looking at the pretty girl smiling even harder in front of her.
"I sure hope so. I've heard loads about you too, it was about time you came so I could properly meet you." Flo winked and it made her blush, she was intrigued by the amount of times Alex would mention her if his best friend had been so eager to have her here.
Ella giggled and then turned to give the blonde girl who, by process of elimination, would be Cookie's girlfriend. "You must be Katie then?"
"That's me. Hi Ella, so nice to meet you." Katie said with a sweet smile and a tender brief hug.
Ella reciprocated and held her with the same tenderness. "You too. Congratulations on the engagement, by the way. Lucky guy Cookie is."
Katie laughed and waved her off but before she could disagree on that, Flo jumped in saying, "Isn't he?"
Ella nodded, already feeling that Alex's best friend would be one she'd grow the closest with. Katie felt the need to say something about her then so he pointed at the things that they knew from the lads.
"We've seen your pictures Ella and, bloody hell, we might need to hire you for some shoots because you leave me astounded."
Ella smiled brightly at that, her cheeks tinting red as she watched them all throwing compliments around. Bre threw one of her arms around Ella's shoulders and said, "Think maybe we should just take a day away from the guys and play with the camera."
All the girls agreed on it and Ella was totally willing to do it. "I'm down if you guys are down, that'd be amazing. I came up with a few concepts on my way here, actually."
"It's settled then. Girls day will be a photoshoot day with Ella." Flo settled raising her cup in the air.
"You tell us Kelly if you want it before or after the wedding just so we don't interrupt with any plans." Ella was quick to say, remembering the big day coming up.
"Let's do it after. We have loads of time before we leave for our honeymoon."
Flo smirked at her, "Oooooo the honeymoon. Big anticipation for that Boss, make sure you're well rested beforehand. I speak from experience."
"Wait, you're married?" Ella asked in slight shock. Alex had failed to mention that big little detail.
Flo showed off her ring wiggling her eyebrows, "Very happily so." And then she turned to look around for her husband, "Where is he? Curly?!"
And as if it was magic, the lanky man with the long hair Ella had seen earlier at the balcony had popped out of nowhere with a cigarette in hand by the trailer.
"Sweetheart?" He asked and if it wasn't for the way they had kept quiet, they wouldn't have been able to hear him.
"Come here a second, say hi to Ella."
And like every one of her wishes was a command, he appeared right behind her with a smile on his face. He dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it as he offered a hand out to Ella and introduced himself, "Nice to meet you, I'm Matty."
Ella gave him a kind smile, holding herself from cooing at the way he held Flo close to him. "Hi Matty, I'm Ella."
The man smirked, "Oh we know, famous Ella. You're quite the talk around here."
Breana laughed, knowing how much of Ella they had all heard and seen through the band, especially in the past week and earlier that very day.
Ella blushed at the information, "Jesus... Good talk, I hope."
Flo smirked looking at her, "Oh very good talk, especially from Alex. He's been like a broken record since he got back."
She had no idea what to say so she just blushed quietly for a few seconds until Breana pinched her waist and she jumped, "That's... good, I guess."
"Indeed it is." Katie added with a subtle smirk and a raise of eyebrows which only had Ella blushing even harder.
"Okay, yous stop it." Kelly said, finding it adorable how she reacted to everyone's teasing. "You're getting her all red, bless her."
"You know what you need?" Matty asked playfully and Ella shook her head as she lacked a response, "A drink."
"Oh yes. You're far behind." Informed Breana who had been drinking almost all day with the girls.
"What would you like?" Flo asked nicely, wanting to get her new friend going as the night had only just started.
Ella had a think about it but just shrugged when she couldn't decide on anything she particularly wanted at the moment, "Surprise me."
Flo smiled hard, "I love you already."
So Flo and Matty left to make her a drink and the other four girls stayed outside whilst they talked. It had been mostly about the wedding, Ella had managed to convince Kelly that it wasn't gonna be an issue for her to take pictures all day so Kelly allowed her to be another one of their photographers but only at the reception. Because "I don't want you feeling like you're at work during the ceremony, you're our friend.", was the reasoning she'd given her and Ella smiled at her and promised she'd only pull her camera out during the reception.
Miles had appeared then, interrupting the wedding chat to crush Ella in a tight hug, "Fucking finally! We've been waiting for you!" The scouse had made her giggle with the scoff he'd let out after that.
"Sorry, had to get a new flight and it was shit." Ella replied with a struggle from how tight he was holding her.
Miles left a wet kiss on her cheek and pulled back, "Don't apologize. You're here now."
Ella nodded with a sweet smile, letting herself indulge in Miles' side hug and starting up a conversation with him and the rest of the group.
About five minutes later, when they were trying to get information out of Breana about Kelly's bachelorette party or hen do—as the british girls called it—Matty and Flo finally came out of the band's trailer with multiple drinks in hand.
They were carefully coming down the stairs managing to grip onto two cups on each hand when behind them someone yelled, "Oi! What were those two doing alone in our trailer?" It was when they continued saying, "You nasty bastards!" that Ella recognized it was Matt walking back with the rest of the band following behind.
"Oh my god!" Ella yelled, letting go of Miles and completely missing whatever Matty had yelled back at them because she was too busy running towards them.
She had her guestlist wristband on so security didn't stop her when she jetted off to hug the first person she saw, which was the drummer.
Matt had barely even seen her when she threw herself at him, "Ellie! You're here!"
"I missed you so much, I'm so sorry I was late." She truly was sorry but he wasn't having it.
Matt held her tighter and shook his head, "No need to apologize Ellie, it's all fine. You're here!"
Before she could apologize once more, the rest of the band joined them in the hug. They all crushed Ella in between their bodies and said her name in unison which had her laughing.
By the time they'd all let go and given her space, she had shed a few tears. She turned around with a pout and hugged them one by one, apologizing again and again for being late, for which Alex had gone and hugged her again when she was done hugging everyone.
Alex held her tight and rubbed up and down her back, "I told you that all that mattered is that you'd be here darling, and you are."
"I caught the encore." She mumbled in his ear, sniffling.
He loosened his grip on her and made her look up at him, "Did you like it?"
"It was insane Al. The crowd was so loud! And the strings!" Ella fanned her face to gather herself, "I will cry just picturing how it was from the very start."
"Don't cry darling." Alex cooed, brushing some of her hair behind her ear and wiping a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "We'll catch a rerun of it on TV next week, it's okay."
She didn't have time to keep protesting because Alex started leaving kisses all over her face until she giggled. It was only when she couldn't breathe from laughter that he stopped, getting a hold of her hand and followed the lads walking back to where everyone was gathered.
When they got there though, Ella was met with someone she didn't know. Thankfully, Alex was quick to introduce them to her.
"Ella, this is Penny, my mum. Penny, this is Ella." He let go of her to let her freely hug his mum.
And that Ella did, holding Penny tighter when she'd said "Oh it's so lovely to meet you, sweetie."
"You too. Happy birthday, by the way. That was a lovely serenade you got just then."
Penny cooed, "Oh thank you. And it was, wasn't it?" She turned to her son to steal a hug from him, "Thanks to this one."
Alex relished in his mum's embrace, leaving a kiss on top of her head. "Love you mum." She saw as she was all ready to walk out, her friend waiting for her beside his manager by the entrance of the backstage area. "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, so sorry to leave you lot but I can't be camping out anymore. I'm not fit for this lifestyle now." Penny joked, looking at everyone who was watching the interaction intently.
Ella scoffed, acting like Penny was saying just pure lies, "What are you on about? I was gonna take you out dancing to celebrate!"
Alex's mum laughed at that, gently grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Oh sweetie, that's a tempting offer, that."
Flo joined in Ella's antics, "We'll bring the party up north next week then Penny, get yourself ready."
"That better be a promise." She pointed at the girl she had seen grow up, and Flo blew her a kiss in response.
Alex left Ella with their friends to walk his mom back to her friend, making sure they were all set to leave. And as he went back, he couldn't believe his eyes.
He had been anxiously waiting all day for her to arrive, his heart beating a bit faster the closer it got to their set. He tried blaming it on headlining Glastonbury for a second time but he knew deep inside that really wasn't it. Yes it was making him nervous, but most of all it was because of Ella.
When he had walked on stage, he had anticipated that his thoughts would be fully taken over by the crowd and the place they were at, but he had been wrong—the thought of where Ella was, held a place in the back of his head throughout the whole set.
And when they had been taken to BBC Radio's lounge to get interviewed and saw the mirrorballs hanging from the ceiling, along with the cow print on the floor, he was taken back to Ella.
Ella, Ella, Ella.
He'd been so fucking glad to see her there as they came back. And now, walking back and seeing her laugh with his childhood best friend, it was a sight that had him grinning brightly to himself.
The group seemed to be talking very eagerly about something, and he was just beyond happy that Ella fit perfectly with them all. His smile only faltered when he was getting closer to them and Ella snapped her head in his direction with a deep frown and a gasp.
"Alex Turner, how could you keep this information from me?!" Ella asked loudly, as she had just been embarrassed for not knowing something that seemed like everyone knew.
Alex giggled, frowning back at her, "What?"
"You've never told me that your best friend's husband is in a band as well?" Matty had just said he was excited for the next day and Ella had asked what was happening, which Flo had laughed hard about when she realized Alex had failed to mention it to her.
"Oh," he cringed, "Sorry darling." He apologized to Ella first and then turned to Matty to make sure he hadn't taken offense by it, which he hadn't but just in case Alex said, "Sorry mate."
"S'alright." Matty waved off with an amused smile at Ella's bright red cheeks.
But Ella didn't agree, "Yeah, it's not for me but whatever."
Alex laughed, noting that she had a drink in hand and he guessed that would have to do a little bit with her current mood. "What are you drinking Eleanor?"
"It's called 'none of your business', isn't it Flo?" Ella asked the brunette seriously.
Flo tried to match her seriousness but her smile couldn't be held back, "That's right."
Alex took the drink from her, only to take a sip and when he did he realized what it was. "Angel, you gave her a jagerbomb? She can't handle alcohol, she's gonna be plastered by half past."
"Well, I'll blame this beautiful angel right here." Ella nodded towards his best friend, playing with the word he had just called her, and Flo did a small curtsy back at her.
Alex hadn't expected this duo to be such trouble. He feared them and Bre together would be even worse and he didn't know what to expect.
"Of course you will." Alex shook his head with a smile, and Flo winked at him. She knew him like the back of her hand, and she could just see it all written on Alex's face. He was whipped.
It had been a lovely night, slowly and with the help of the drinks, the buzz the lads had gotten from the night had gone down and by three in the morning, they were all ready to go to sleep. Especially Ella, who despite having multiple jagerbombs with Flo, had succumbed to her exhaustion from her long day traveling.
The lads had their tour bus parked somewhere in the fields, so after the group said bye to Matty and Flo who were staying with the rest of their group, they took on a long drunk walk back to the bus. It had been filled with giggles at the clumsy steps they'd take, especially Ella and Bre's who were holding onto Miles' arms and subsequently making him trip with them.
The walk back had been exhaustingly long to them all in their drunken states, so when they finally reached the massive vehicle, they jetted off up the stairs by the door and chose the first bunk they saw.
Thankfully no one had chosen their bunks yet so there wasn't any bickering about someone stealing someone else's bed but it was hilarious to Alex, who had been the last to go up, to see everyone lazily slump into the beds and groan in relief when they could finally rest their bodies.
Due to how drunk everyone was, they had passed out almost immediately and slept deep and uninterrupted all throughout the night, even through the choir of snores coming from Nick and Matt.
That was until the noise outside woke them up at around eleven and they all realized that if they didn't properly wake up soon and get ready for the day, they'd miss Matty's band.
So, like they had been shocked back alive, the girls started getting ready quickly. Ella was so thankful for the bathroom in the bus being a decent size and it hadn't been much of a burden getting ready in the enclosed space.
She was also grateful for the girls around her, who were going on and on about all that Ella was going to see and what she couldn't miss, warning her about different things around the field but making her more excited about it all by the second.
They all had a bite of food on their way to the stage The 1975 would perform on, and they got there just in time. Matty's band was due on stage in ten minutes, when the group walked up to where Matty and Flo were standing by the steps that would take them up the stage.
Ella was well aware she stood up like a sore thumb from how she was dressed, not that her black shorts and her The Doors shirt were strange but her black and silver cowboy boots were. She had earned herself quite a lot of glances as they paraded around the place, but she couldn't care less.
Matty pointed them out right away but with a compliment because he truly loved them, "Fucking love your boots Ella."
"Awh thanks Matty." She looked down at them, already muddy and dusty but she loved it, it reminded her of home.
His wife had taken the chance to tease him then, "Be careful, he might try to steal them. He's taken half my wardrobe."
Matty bit back saying, "We're married so what's yours is mine. Technically not stealing."
A very tall guy with a man bun walked behind Flo and clicked his tongue as he threw an arm around her shoulders, "He got you there baby."
"George, you're supposed to be on my side always." Flo complained, but leaned into George's touch.
"For that you've got your cousin." The tall guy argued with a smirk, which made Flo elbow him on the ribs.
Matty cackled watching George doubled over in pain and Flo took that moment to turn around and call over the two other members of the band to meet Ella.
Another very tall guy with a buzzcut came their way, along with a slightly shorter brunette, and when they stood beside her with soft smiles, Flo introduced them to Ella.
"Ella, this is George," She pointed to the tallest one who had just been hurt in the ribs, "This is Ross." She then signaled to the one with the buzzcut and finished by pointing at the brunette, "And this is my cousin, Adam."
Ella smiled at them, "Nice to meet y'all."
They all reciprocated the pleasantry with smiles of their own and they started small talk until they were called on stage.
The big Monkeys group stood on the side of the stage, watching The 1975 get cheered on as they grabbed their instruments.
As they played their first three songs, Ella made a mental note to listen to their music when she had the time because they were amazing live and they had this sound that she wasn't really used to listening but she'd just loved. They all had great stage presence, just by enjoying performing and dancing around, and it was funny to hear all the things Matty would just say in between lines.
Their little group had all cheered along with the crowd by the end of 'You' when Matty jumped on George's drumset and played the end of the song headbanging as he looked down towards George.
They all looked amazing on stage, and when the next song started and the crowd got even louder, they fed more off of their energy and somehow got even more hyper.
Ella was particularly entranced by George, seeing every single one of his facial expressions as he hit the drums had her just gawking at him.
She had leaned back a bit knowing that was the only way Flo and Bre would hear her say, "He's fucking hot." as she pointed at the drummer.
Alex's best friend laughed loudly at that, making Matt and Alex turn around to see what had happened and when she informed them of what Ella had just said, Matt joined the laughter while Alex only rolled his eyes in amusement.
"You fancy George then?" Matt asked loudly over the speakers.
"I mean look at him!" Ella had said, he truly looked amazing, "Oh, and Ross! Flo, even your cousin looks hot right now!"
"I'm glad we share opinions when it comes to George." Flo winked at her, "I'll make sure to relay the message."
Ella blushed just thinking about it and shook her head, mortified, "Oh god, no, don't."
"But you need a rebound!" Matt fought and Bre nodded intently.
"No, that'd be so messy!" Ella shook her head just thinking about how she wouldn't be able to act normal if she actually made a move on one of Flo's friends.
"That'd be messy alright. The nice kind of messy." Flo said and that just made Ella double over in laughter.
They kept listening to the rest of the song after that, and Ella was sure she'd have the chorus stuck in her head forever. 'Chocolate' was a hit, no wonder it had been their breakthrough.
She pouted when Matty said the next one will be their last, leaving her to wish to see a longer set of theirs in the future.
The strong riff of the guitar had her already hooked but it was the lyrics to it that made her slowly become obsessed with it.
When Matty turned around to point at Flo as he sang "She's got a boyfriend anyway", Ella gasped realizing this was about her. She screeched then when Matty turned back around to face the crowd and the lyrics got more interesting.
She couldn't help but become entranced by how proud Flo looked of Matty, it was so sweet to see the way she wholeheartedly sang along, her smile never leaving her face.
The end of the song was just heavy and perfect, made it erratic and Ella was absolutely loving it. Especially when the last line Matty sang was changed to "You've got a husband anyway" as he pointed at himself while looking straight at his wife.
Flo blew him a kiss and Matty turned around to play the outro of the song with all the energy he had, it was captivating. Ella was taken aback when it hit her that she was now friends with all these incredible musicians, it was truly a dream that had her pinching herself.
When the guys came off stage, it was pure adrenaline they were running on. Matty didn't take a second to kiss his wife earnestly, and Ella could almost cry from how adorable they were.
The rest of the day had been spent with them all running around the festival, sharing drinks as they tried to catch up to artists in different stages, bumping into friends like Zackery who had taken a few pictures of them—and introduced the band to a group of artists who had designed and hand painted a leather jacket for them at their request for a song in the upcoming album.
Ella had been loving how different yet similar the festival was when comparing it to Bonnaroo. The messy muddy fields, the loud chatter and laughter, the smell of good food in the air mixed with the good weed. She was on cloud nine and she didn't want to leave.
That night they watched The Rolling Stones and it had been absolutely insane seeing Mick Jagger on stage. She was sure she'd lose her voice from how loud she screamed when Mick Taylor was invited on stage and when they performed '2000 Light Years From Home'. She was sure she'd never be able to listen to The Rolling Stones the same ever again.
Sunday hadn't been any different. They had enjoyed every bit of the festival like it was the last they'd ever attend.
Ella had been so grateful to have experienced all of it, and she had made sure to tell Alex that multiple times. The group was so glad they had the massive bus to drive them back home and they needn't worry about a thing through the whole drive but be completely comfortable and enjoy the peace after the bustling weekend. It had ended up being almost three hours due to the traffic, but that had allowed them to rest longer so they didn't complain.
She'd asked to be dropped off at the hotel she was staying at and Alex had offered to go with her and then walk home as she wasn't staying too far away from his flat, but she declined because she knew he was exhausted and so was she so she walked in alone at four in the morning to check in.
It was amazing that it hadn't been a struggle to get checked in, she had been expecting something going wrong with that too after all that had happened at the airports when she was on her way there but it hadn't been, so with her keys in hand she made her merry way up to the fifth floor and to her room.
The little energy Ella had left in her was put into taking a shower, brushing her teeth and just plopping onto bed. The weekend had felt longer than just three days, it felt like it had already been a week since she'd had to run around Montreal's airport like a madwoman looking for a new ticket.
She sighed happily as she snuggled into the plush pillows in the dark, her eyes closed but behind her eyelids was the whole weekend playing like a film and she found herself filling up with warmth. She couldn't wait to see what else this trip would have in store for her, she only hoped it was all good.
✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧
The greatness of the London Eye had Ella trying to gather herself in search of words. She had been struggling to truly believe where she was since she woke up to a view she wasn't used to, gloomy and no sun out, the sky teasing a rainfall later, a little chilly when she went out the balcony for a smoke and the bustling of a city she was yet to get to know.
Alex had called her—thankfully they had figured out the whole cell roaming situation during the weekend so she wasn't uncommunicated and alone—, telling her to get ready as he was coming to get her and they'd be walking around London so she could get her proper touristy stroll around the city.
She had personally asked him for one at Glastonbury, when they were eating as they walked between stages, and he had gladly agreed to it. He wanted to be the one to witness her reactions to one of the cities he held so close to his heart.
Ella's steps slowed as they got closer to the attraction, people already in a long line at eleven in the morning.
"Holy fuck, it's huge." She gasped, staring all around the giant metal structure.
Alex just watched her mesmerized expression with a smile, "D'you wanna get on it?"
"Erm, not really. But I might as well have to, right?" She was looking at the very top of it which was barely in her line of sight but she would have to bear it because why would she come all the way there to not get on it.
"Flying all the way here to not get on it would be regrettable." He said honestly, it looked scary but it was a great experience, one that he didn't want her to miss.
Ella sighed, her brows a little furrowed as she gathered some courage, "Alright let's go."
They quietly walked to the end of the line, which had resumed moving slowly, and Ella felt her heart racing in her chest. Not only because of how she was shitting it thinking about how high she'd be once inside but from the memories coming aggressively to the forefront of her mind.
Valentine's day, Belmont Park. With Alex beside her, just like at that very moment.
She smiled to herself, the thought of that day no longer bitter by any grudges she was holding. So she thought mentioning it might distract her and keep her from shaking. "At least it's a shorter wait than the one we did at Belmont Park, remember?"
Alex gave her a sweet smile, really enjoying the opportunity to think back to that day but he also wanted to take the moment to tease her as she was fidgeting in her place. "Still afraid of heights, darling?"
"Yes but don't remind me, or I'll make you take me to the next place to not get on." Ella smiled slightly embarrassed, her cheeks tinting a faint pink.
"You silly thing." Alex laughed breathlessly, reaching out to grab her wrist and pull her into his side to hug her, "Just think about all the stunning pictures you're gonna be able to take."
She melted into him, looking up and grinned brightly at him, "You just always know how to get me on your side, don't you?" It really did seem like it to her, how fast he could make her twist her arm into stepping out of her comfort zone so she'd enjoy herself.
He just stared down at her adoringly, counting every freckle on her cheeks and admiring how the makeup she had on just accentuated every little thing on her face. So he said sincerely, "I'm glad I do." because he was truly grateful he could.
About ten minutes passed, silence between them was comfortable but sometimes broken by small talk about random things they'd remember or things she was hoping to see and the possibilities of places they could visit.
They had stayed holding each other the whole time: Alex's arm around her shoulders, his fingers clutching her tightly, and Ella's arm around his waist, her thumb rubbing little circles over the fabric of his shirt.
That was until she had remembered about Alex and who he was and she had started overthinking and noticing more and more the glances the people in line were giving them, so she gently pushed herself away from him and he had to slowly let his arm drop from its place around her.
Alex gave her a questioning look and Ella recoiled into herself as she gave him an answer, "I just keep thinking people are looking at us– well, you. And I don't wanna get you in trouble."
"What do you mean?" The singer frowned, not really understanding in which way she'd do that.
"Well, I just feel like they keep glancing over here and I don't want you to get swarmed for being recognized." Her voice was small as she explained, scared of sounding stupid but in her head, it made sense.
He chuckled softly, brushing off his status. "Darling, I'm not that big of a deal."
But Ella wouldn't let him try to downplay it, "Sure you aren't Mr. Rockstar." She rolled her eyes with amusement, "This is your home country, and you're massive here."
Alex just shook his head to have her let go of her worries, "Not gonna get swarmed, darling." And then he further explained, "You know most—if not all—known people that do, is because they get their agents to put out their locations for paparazzi and media's attention right?"
"Oh?" Ella blushed, feeling oh so stupid, "Do they really?"
"Yeah, and it's bullshit. You'll never find me doing that so don't worry. We're safe." He assured, tucking her into his side once more and he smiled when he felt her arm snaking around his middle once again.
"It's just because you love the mysterious act, though, isn't it? Maintains the appeal." She pinched his waist to accentuate the teasing, making him laugh.
"Dickhead."
They laughed together then, falling back into a comfortable silence, just relishing in the warmth they got from each other. It wasn't awfully cold but it was chilly and it was how used she'd gotten to Californian weather that had her performing worse in weather that she used to be able to bear when she lived in Tennessee.
Alex kept her warm and cozy so Ella found herself really snuggling into him and he accepted it with a smirk on his face. Moments like this was all he wanted.
The minutes passed and Ella couldn't help but be hypnotized by the whole scene, especially when they moved further and further up the line until they ended up in a corner where they had the perfect backdrop of the Thames and the city of London.
He felt her get away from his hold again but when she saw her reaching down to grab the camera hanging from around her neck, he breathed calmly.
"Stay there, I wanna take a picture." She instructed, seeing that his position was perfect for a picture.
"Here?" Alex asked, not sure if she really wanted a picture of him right there and then.
But Ella showed him the prettiest smile and said, "Yep, just like that." and Alex couldn't say no, not that he'd really ever tell her no. "Smile for me, sweets." The pet name rolled off her tongue so easily when seeing him standing like that in front of her.
"Sweets?" A massive grin broke out on his face hearing her call him that, his insides melting at the simple word.
Ella pressed the shutter instantly, exhaling in relief at having caught that face in time. "Perfect."
"Sweets?" Alex asked again just to check he hadn't imagined that.
"Yeah..." She timidly confirmed, rolling the film and tucking the lever back in its place to turn off the camera and let it softly drop back over her chest.
He watched her take small steps towards him again and accepted her back in his arms with a "M'kay darling."
Ella poked his ribs making him jump before asking "You don't like it?"
Alex was quick to retort, "Who said that?"
"I don't know–" She tried to start but he was quick to dismiss the whole thing.
"I love it." He backtracked quickly and firmly with an honest smile on his face that had her biting her tongue and fighting back a smile just as big as his.
In no time, the line moved sporadically and it was sooner than expected that they were boarded into a capsule with a family of five.
Ella stepped inside with wobbly steps and Alex followed closely behind. "Oh my god..." Her words were breathless as she was taken aback by the view around her.
"That line was quicker than I expected." The singer thought out loud as he got beside her, both of them standing close to the windows.
But when she heard the glass doors closing and felt the capsule moving to the right, she took a big step back and reached back to hold his hand. "Al, you're gonna have to stay near me because this is freaking me out."
He squeezed her hand in his and giggled, "I'll stay right here."
"Okay..." Ella mumbled unsure but soon her whole attention was taken by how perfectly she could see it all in front of her. "This is so beautiful."
Alex could feel her hands growing sweaty and starting to shake so he took it upon himself to distract her. "You can see it all from here. Look," He pointed to their left, "That's Westminster bridge, the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Parliament." He listed as his finger pointed at each of the landmarks, making sure she was correctly watching each as he talked, "We can see it a bit better now that it's going up, oh and there's Buckingham Palace as well."
It looked so small from there but it was still breathtaking, "Oh wow..." Her heart was swelling in her chest now, just from being able to experience this, "We can see the whole city, Al!" She whispered with such excitement that made Alex want to coo at her.
"It's quite the view, isn't it." He took the smallest step towards her until he was pressed softly against her back and he leaned in to watch her face.
She turned to him completely mesmerized, "I think New York has got some big competition in my book now."
"A tough one between them two." He agreed, resting his chin on her shoulder for a second before standing back up straight again and pointing to their right now, "Oh look, over there is St. Paul's Cathedral. We're going there later 'cause I know you'll love it. And way back over there is the Tower of London and Tower Bridge."
Her eyes swam around the panoramic view and it was all well until she made the mistake of looking down to her feet and her heart sank. With her eyes closed, her panicked words came out incredibly fast, "I'm loving this view but I just accidentally looked down and I feel like I'm gonna have a panic attack."
"You're okay darling, I'm here." Alex promised, taking his hand that was still intertwined with hers and wrapping that arm around her waist, "Just take your pictures, I won't move an inch."
She gulped and let her eyes open up again, feeling slightly better in his hold and slowly untangled her fingers from his to lift her camera, "Okay."
It certainly worked like magic. The second she started looking at the city through that viewfinder, it was like she had completely forgotten she was hundreds of feet above the ground in a spinning wheel, completely focused on capturing the panorama as best as she could.
Alex watched intently as she worked, noticing the little things she did like biting her lip as her finger hovered and seemed to hesitate for a few seconds over the shutter until she caught the perfect moment and it was just a triumphant smile as she turned the lever and then the cycle began again.
Ella counted the shots in her head and only stopped when she had only twelve frames left in the roll.
Letting her head fall on Alex's shoulder, she had to ask, "How long does this take again?" Only because she had felt like she'd lost track of time.
"Half an hour but it's already been fifteen minutes so we're halfway there." His fingers rubbed circles on her waist, sometimes the pads of his fingertips managing to get under her shirt and erupting goosebumps on her skin.
She felt like she was burning up so she let her camera drop back down on her chest and turned around to face him. "I'm just gonna stare at you now because if I look out I'm definitely gonna freak out." She giggled a bit, trying to trick herself into thinking that looking at Alex wouldn't have her chest tighten just as much.
"That's fine by me." He replied with a smirk.
But she didn't entertain his teasing, only giving him a sincere, "Thank you." in return.
His face fell into a sweet smile, "Nothing to thank me for, darling. I'm buzzing to have you here right now." He wasn't afraid to admit it at all, because he truly was beyond happy about the whole situation.
"See? Sweetness!" She softly exclaimed, bringing one of her hands up to cup his cheek but before Alex could get his hopes up on anything happening, she squished his cheeks with her hand, "You're just pure sweetness."
Ella felt his face go warm under her touch so with a giggle she let her hand fall back down. "Your hair looks great today." He looked great. In a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt and his brown leather jacket—he had changed the Chelsea boots for white high top converse and a pair of sunglasses had been tucked into one of the pockets of his jacket.
"You like it?" Alex asked innocently like the simple compliment hadn't made his heart rate stutter.
She nodded, "You know I do. It always looks amazing but whenever it's just like this, without gel..." Her fingers combed through the freshly cut greaser looking hairstyle, "It's so soft."
He nudged her hand with his nose softly and joked, "Are you messing it up?"
She chuckled, combing through it again and again to give it its perfect shape, "I'm fixing a few strands here." She used both her hands then to bring a few of the strands to fall on his forehead like she loved. "There you go."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "Look good?"
Ella's answer was quick, "Beautiful." And she didn't waste a beat to ask, "Can I have another picture?"
"Of me?" Alex asked naively and she just hummed, so he shrugged and nodded, "I suppose."
"I wanna have one of this very moment. With you, my favorite tourist guide." She joked in the end to make it seem less like she was baring her heart out to him.
"Right." He chuckled, his eyes crinkling around the edges slightly.
But she wanted more, she wanted to see his grin fully reach his eyes. "C'mon sweets, show me that gorgeous smile."
Her teasing worked because he felt his cheeks warming again and he had to keep himself from averting his gaze from hers, "Stop." He only said, half a warning but mostly a plea for mercy on his heart.
"What?" Ella inquired like she had nothing to do with it, if she only knew all that she did to him. "Amazing, t'was perfect." She complimented once more.
Alex had to change the topic then because he felt like he could combust any second, "Are you taking them in black and white?"
She had mentioned it earlier when he'd called her, as she was debating whether or not it'd look better. "Decided against it last minute. I don't know, there's something about the atmosphere today that I just wanted to capture the closest to reality I could."
He hummed, understanding what she meant, "You can always take the black and white ones later, you're staying three weeks after all."
Ella smiled brightly at the reminder, that many days just sounded so promising and she couldn't ignore how this was one of the very few times she felt ecstatic thinking about the uncertainty of what the future had to hold.
"So glad I am. It's barely been three days and I already know this is one of the best trips of my life."
"It's only just getting started darling." Alex winked, making a giggle bubble up her throat again and what a lovely sound that was.
Just like that, they had done the full ride and they hadn't realized it was done until they heard the doors open back up, way too entranced in their own little bubble. It was lucky that the rest of the people inside their capsule were on holiday and no one from the family had interest in finding out who they were or interrupting what they were doing.
When they walked out, Alex let out a loud laugh when Ella thanked God for firm soil multiple times, said so devotedly like she wasn't a determined atheist.
From there, they walked through Westminster Bridge to get to Big Ben. Ella had gasped as their feet took them across the bridge and asked Alex to pinch her because she felt like she was dreaming.
She couldn't believe her eyes were actually seeing all of that for themselves in real life and not through stock pictures on Google.
Seeing her glowing from her excitement had Alex's heart breaking as he had to give her some bad news. "This actually has me fuming now because this is just one of those things everyone wants to see once in their life but, a few years back they closed all Big Ben and Parliament tours to people who aren't UK citizens or residents so unfortunately I won't be able to take you inside for a tour."
Ella clearly deflated but it was in an instant that she really turned the situation around in her head. She shook her head standing in her place, making Alex stop beside her on the sidewalk, and she pointed at the landmark right in front of them, "But I'm seeing it right now and that's what counts, Al. It's okay."
Alex hummed reluctantly, still disappointed at not being able to give her the best experience. "We can walk around it, I'm half sure there's some places you can manage to take a peek inside."
She giggled and grabbed his hand, fingers intertwining as she went ahead and dragged him behind her to finish their walk through the bridge. Alex didn't say a word, his smile permanently stuck on his face as he watched her walk enthusiastically in front of him.
She had changed her roll of film right when they got to the street across the monumental place. Alex chuckled as she made him help her by covering her device with his jacket so that her first roll didn't mess up as she put it away, and the new one didn't either as she locked it and rolled it inside before placing the lid back in its place.
They resumed their walk, Alex closely walking next to her with a hand hovering on her lower back as she kept her hands engulfed around her camera but he felt the need to keep his touch on her.
Ella had taken so many pictures already, and about fifteen minutes later she had grown worried she hadn't stuffed enough rolls in her bag before leaving her hotel room. Half the frames she had captured had been of him, either smiling at the camera or unaware as he walked beside her with a burning cigarette resting between his lips.
There was a particular one in which she had stopped without saying a word and he had kept walking a few paces before noticing she wasn't beside him anymore, and when he turned around to search for her, the shutter went off.
Her heart kicked in her chest at the memory of that one picture she had taken of him, back at the start of 2012 when the lads had just come back over to Los Angeles and she had taken them around the city, the one where he was looking back at her with the rest of the band walking in front of him.
Her throat ran a little dry as she placed her camera back down to rest on her chest and watched Alex walk back towards her.
"You've been taking so many pictures of me already, let me take yours." His voice sounded almost like a beg and her knees went a little weak.
Only because of the way he'd said that had made her feel, Ella sighed with a smile and pulled her camera back up, "Alright, I'll show you how to."
She showed him the basics around her in a simple manner and he seemed to catch it all quite quickly. After all, he had seen Matt taking pictures and had gotten ahold of the drummer's cameras throughout the years so it all came back to him when Ella had done her brief run down.
Alex listened to her instructions of having him take a few pictures of their surroundings just so he could get comfortable, and it only took two to have him nodding and reassuring he was ready to take her picture. Ella nodded with a shy smile and took two steps back to stand in front of the camera.
Truth be told, Ella had always preferred being behind the camera and not in front of the lens but it was just because she never thought she was interesting enough to be the constant subject of pictures.
Alex couldn't think of her more differently. Seeing her with a bright smile that had her eyes closing, her hands intertwined in front of her as she softly leaned her head to the side and her hair so perfectly falling over her shoulders had him thinking about how if she looked this breathtaking in front of the camera in such a normal setting, then she needed to be in front of it at all times.
That's why right after the shutter sound went off and she relaxed again, he rolled the film and took another picture without warning her.
That made her shriek and hide behind her hands, "Alex no! It's gonna look so bad!" Ella's words were muffled as her hands covered her face.
"I'm looking through the viewfinder and you look stunning, darling." He was quick to reassure her, "Now could you please drop your hands? I want to take another one." His skilled fingers rolled the film once more as he tried his best to convince her with his eyes.
That unfair look in his eyes made it so impossible to resist anything he could ever suggest. "Last one?" She made sure to ask him before giving in.
"Fine, last one." He agreed with a sigh, his stomach doing somersaults at having gotten away with it.
She slowly let her hands fall back by her sides and it wasn't until he said, "That's it. Beautiful, darling." that he took the picture as her face broke in another massive grin that made his heart skip a beat.
Ella ignored the way her tummy was fluttering as she reached out for her camera, "Alright sweets, that's enough." She wasted no time to push the lever back in its place and hook the camera strap around her neck again, the camera falling to rest on top of her chest.
"Only for now." He countered smoothly, making her scoff out a laugh.
After that they continued walking, leaving Big Ben and Parliament behind to make way to Westminster Abbey.
The massive church was breathtaking. Its structure was gothic architecture perfection inside and out, which accompanied by the stunning gardens and sculptures just made Ella be more in awe.
The gray sky tied everything together, the birds flying around and resting in the old walls and peaks, the tinted windows looking straight out of a painting.
Ella spent a full roll there, small gasps leaving her mouth every corner they turned. She had even been so entranced by the devotees kneeling on the seats and offering their prayers, unbothered by the rest of the people walking around them. Religion was a concept that fascinated her because of how much she just didn't get it like those people praying did.
Once out of that place, they walked to Buckingham Palace and it was a funny stroll since Ella couldn't stop bouncing on her feet like a little girl, asking loads of questions she could come up with about the Royal Family.
"You know," She started with a small smirk on her face, "Prince Harry is fit."
Alex cackled at the way she said it, listening to her try and incorporate British slang in her vocabulary had been endearing all weekend and he was glad she wasn't stopping it. "Oh really?"
Ella hummed eagerly, "I wonder if he'd give an American a chance."
"So you're aiming for the Royals now?" The singer inquired rhetorically with a cheeky smile.
She shrugged, smirking back at him, "Why not?"
Alex chuckled, "That's ambitious."
"Well I like to think of myself as an ambitious person."
With a nudge to her hip, he grabbed a hold of her hand so they could walk a little faster, "Alright Miss Ambitious, we're almost at your lover's place."
From afar Ella could see the palace behind the trees and she thought about the different instances a person could be allowed into the place. "I'm sure we could get in if you just said you're from the biggest British band in history."
"The Beatles are way older than me and half of them are dead so I don't think they'll believe me."
Ella snorted at how nonchalantly he'd just said that and turned her head to look at him as they kept on walking, "Oh you're being humble now."
Alex scoffed playfully, like her words had offended him, "When am I not?"
"I can list some instances." She shrugged again with a teasing smirk on her face.
His eyes narrowed at her as if challenging her to start talking, "Enlighten me then."
But all Alex was met with was silence as they finally got to the big black and gold arches and crossing the road from there was the monumental place standing there in all its glory. The Victoria Memorial was even bigger and more spectacular than she'd seen in pictures, the gold against the gloomy sky and the greenery around was leaving her breathless.
So Ella dropped Alex's hand and started snapping away, frame after frame until they walked closer to the gates of Buckingham Palace and she caught a glimpse of the beefeaters standing there like they were frozen in time and just that got her even more excited about it all.
"They look like little dolls! Oh my god, look at them!" She waved them hello so enthusiastically making Alex hold giggles back and when the guards just stood there without moving a single inch, she turned back to pout at Alex.
The shaking of his head and the "You're so painfully American," he gave her contrasted immensely against his growing smile.
"Hey!" Ella gasped and poked him in the ribs, "Don't call me out like that, I was blending in perfectly well." She joked but she was well aware she hadn't been.
"Yeah, sorry. You were, darling." Alex corrected, faking agreeing with her, "Everyone's a tourist here, so yes you were blending in perfectly well." He changed his words to tease her further and the way her jaw dropped a bit and she frowned at him made him laugh.
They were there for about twenty minutes, walking slowly and taking their time so Ella could capture the moment the best she could. She had taken a few of Alex when he wasn't noticing but at the third one she'd gotten caught, meaning she got pictures taken of her by Alex.
As they waited for some people to move around so they could get a better view from a different angle, they were playing a game that had started with Ella making funny guesses about members of the Royal Family and their hobbies, which had earned her multiple laughs from Alex as she really had no clue about anything to do with the Royals.
Eventually, when the place started getting more crowded, they decided to move onto the next place which Alex had said would be Piccadilly Circus so they could get some lunch and then continue on.
Trafalgar Square had been captured in multiple of her frames and she had finished her film roll as they walked up to the restaurant they were going to eat at. Once again Alex had helped her change her roll covering her camera with his jacket, giggling as she struggled to properly roll it as she couldn't see well what she was doing in the darkness they were making for the film to not get fucked.
Once Ella had managed to set everything up, Alex had asked her if he could have the camera for a bit and of course she said yes. The prospect of getting Alex into one of her passions had her smiling as he took pictures of a place he already knew so well and since she knew he was capturing the views for her, she took her own time to take everything in: the streets, the people, the chatter going on around her, the restlessness of the city, the smell of smoke and coffee every time they walked past a coffee shop, the memories in the making around her that she'd never get to know.
She loved it all.
Ella was so entranced by the scene and completely caught up by her thoughts that she'd missed the multiple times Alex had managed to sneak a picture of her. Only really catching him smiling proudly at her as he lowered the camera from his eyes when she had turned to point at a girl who was wearing an Arctic Monkeys shirt as she smoked outside a restaurant.
Alex chuckled, letting the camera hang around his neck and getting a hold of Ella's hand to then keep walking to the place that was not very far away from where they were then.
When they got there, Ella had been surprised by the fact that Alex had gotten a reservation for them and he had almost perfectly timed it all. They only showed up ten minutes early to their table and it wasn't a fuzz for them to wait.
He offered her a cigarette and, between chatter, they waited for their turn to come up. It had been relatively easy as they finally talked about the adventure it had been for Ella to fly over and it had ended with them hugging as Ella got a bit upset again over not being able to see their full set.
With a promise to find out when they'd be replaying their set on BBC, they went back to get seated as it finally had turned into the time they had the reservation for.
They didn't rush through their meal, enjoying every minute they could get in the lovely restaurant and talking about absolutely anything that came to their minds. And after a pouty Ella—since he hadn't let her pay for the meal—had let Alex take a picture of her with the English streets in the background, they had left the place to resume their stroll.
Their pace was slower then, Alex had suggested taking a cab to get to the next place so she didn't have to walk that much but Ella declined it saying it was alright plus she loved how they could just simply walk places around the city unlike in Los Angeles. It was only when they got to Covent Garden and walked past the underground station that she asked why they hadn't used it yet.
"This one has 193 steps to go up and down it. I was being kind not taking you through it to get here but we can take it to get to St. Paul's if you'd like."
Ella had gasped at the information, because who the fuck in their right minds would make a station have that many stairs. "193?!" She asked again and Alex nodded amused at her disbelief, "Why?"
He chuckled and shrugged, "Been asking the same question for far too many years."
"That's insane." She said under her breath as they continued walking, then remembering his suggestion, "And no, let's not do that. Can we take the bus? I've yet to get on one and I really want to be the cliché American being amazed on every type of your public transportation."
Alex's laughter reached her ears, making her grin brightly at him. "Of course we can." He assured her and Ella scrunched her nose at him for being adorable, but then he continued, "And you're being the best cliché American. Really off the charts performance, darling." making her roll her eyes in amusement.
Between teasing comments, giggles and playful nudges, it didn't take them long to get to the Apple Market and there Ella was instantly blown away by the amount of shops and market-type kiosks of trinkets, hand-made jewelry, souvenirs and art.
They took their time walking around, really ignoring the retail shops because Ella was far more interested in taking her time to look around the little stands in the middle of the place, and it was all so beautiful.
The variety of goods that were offered out for everyone was amazing, and she gasped when they made it to a stand that was offering analog cameras, leather and handmade camera straps, camera cases and lenses.
She had thought about getting one of the few medium format cameras that were there but decided against it after a good few minutes of internal debate. Alex had watched her amused the whole time and giggled when she went from staring between a Halina, a Rolleiflex and a Pentax to getting one of the leather camera cases along with a strap and bought it.
It was bad how indecisive she was because she had spent so much time in the first few shops that she felt the need to rush through her indecision which ended in her buying at least one thing from every shop she had purposely stopped by.
There was a little red bus in her bag, along with a few magnets, her new camera case and strap, a locket, a few pins, a set of coasters and the last kiosk they were looking at was full of rings, necklaces and more handmade jewelry.
Ella easily fell into conversation with the lovely old man who was the owner of the little store. She had complimented him after he told her it was him who made every piece by hand, and she took her time to look intently through it all.
A few minutes passed of her taking a closer look at the different accessories but since she couldn't make a proper choice, she turned to Alex for help.
With her lips pressed she grabbed his wrist to pull him closer and in a bit of panic, she looked up to him and asked, "Could you choose for me please?"
Alex bit his bottom lip not to chuckle at the soft frown on her face and nodded, "Anything in particular, darling?"
Ella looked back at the table, giving it a quick sweep and she found her attention mostly on the hand jewelry. "Maybe a ring?" She tried saying but it sounded more like a question, "They're all stunning." She added then in a quiet whine like it hurt her that everything was too pretty and she couldn't choose.
The singer hummed and stepped closer to the table under the gaze of the old man who had a small smile on his face seeing them two together. Alex took less than a minute, his decision being made when he found one which had a pretty green stone in the middle of the gold band of the ring. "This one." He grabbed it and it seemed to be just the right size, so grabbing her right hand in his, he slipped it on her ring finger. The sight of her Pure Desire tattoo sparking too many thoughts in his mind that he had to push aside.
Ella was breathless seeing him putting the ring on her but she fully felt like she had forgotten how to breathe when he added, "Matches your eyes." with the sweetest smile.
Her eyes didn't move from his for a few seconds that felt eternal to them, dropping to the ring and then back up at Alex to ask, "Does it?"
"Yes," He nodded, completely satisfied with his choice, "Stunning." He complimented, but he wasn't speaking about the piece of jewelry because his gaze was firm on Ella's gorgeous eyes.
She scrunched her nose at him, he was just too cute for her to handle so with rosy cheeks she turned back to the man in charge of the kiosk and deemed that being the last purchase of the day. The lovely man was smiling brightly at them and agreed with Alex when he noticed Ella's hazel green eyes.
Alex had puffed his chest out in pride of it, saying a smug "I know" to the old man and making Ella laugh as she paid. He practically had the color of her eyes permanently imprinted in his mind, he didn't ever have to think hard to remember them and how it felt to get lost in her eyes.
She left the old man with a long hug and Alex gave him a hand shake before the two moved onto the next stop which would be St. Paul's Cathedral. And just like Alex had promised her they would do, they took a bus to the church.
It had been hilarious capturing her smile with her camera as one of the red busses approached them and he had been hearing and seeing her little giddy noises and how she just couldn't really stay still in her seat.
The cathedral had been breathtaking and, again, Ella had snapped away multiple pictures as they walked around. She had been fairly wary of the lots of people worshiping their religious figures then so she tried not to take too many so the shutter going off wouldn't interrupt them.
When they left to go to the next place, they ticked off another thing off Ella's list as they rode the underground to go over to the Tower of London. The only thing she had been overly excited about was the way the stations looked because then being in the tube felt just like taking the train in New York, only cleaner.
Alex had managed to get a picture of her standing there waiting for their train to arrive, and he hoped the frame had captured the big grin that tugged at the corner of her lips making her eyes crinkle at the edges before she had hid her face behind her hands.
The Tower of London had been quite informative, at first she had walked in completely amazed by the structure and architecture of the castle so she was taking picture after picture of the inside and the greenery of the courtyards but then they started walking into the exhibitions and she had forgotten about her camera to read the signs around the rooms.
Going to see the crown jewels had been hilarious to Alex since Ella had been trying so hard to keep her cool as there were beefeaters guarding the exhibition. The White Tower had been rather concerning because of the torture chamber that was located there, and the Green Tower had been as well as it was where the execution memorial was held. And the last bit of the place they had visited was the Bloody Tower which had left Ella gasping as they found it was named that because of the murders of two princes which had been suspected to be done by their own uncle.
They talked about everything they had seen as they slowly walked out of the place and under the Tower Bridge, it was getting late and the sun seemed to be getting ready to set already. She yawned and hid it under her right hand, Alex getting a hold of her left hand and intertwining their fingers so she would walk with him at his pace.
"Where are we going?" Ella asked intrigued, they weren't going very fast but it was like he had the intent of getting somewhere on time.
"Just a bit further down here." He pointed forward with a tilt of his chin and continued walking.
Ella had no other option than to walk along him, and it had been the best day strolling around the city with him so there wasn't a bit in her that wanted to complain about a single thing.
They walked past a Starbucks and to her right she saw a little stand that sold boat tickets. They were walking right by the Thames after all so it wasn't rare to see all the people that were walking ahead of her and stopping by the railing along the short brick column.
As they walked closer to the people gathering for the view of the bridge, Ella finally saw the sculpture that stood there in a fountain and she let out a little gasp of awe.
"That's so cute! I'm gonna take a picture." She squeezed Alex's hand before slowly letting go of it and quickly turning on her camera and getting as close as she could between the people gathered there to get a good frame of the sculpture with the view of the bridge and the city behind it.
She snapped a pair and went back to Alex, excusing herself as she made her way through the people in the way.
"Are we not staying here?" She inquired when Alex grabbed her hand again and pulled her along with him, seeing as everyone seemed to stand next to the fountain to watch the sun go down.
Alex shook his head, "There's a few benches over there and way less people, so we can sit and watch the sunset quietly and alone."
Ella intertwined their fingers properly again with a grin and let him guide her to where he was referring to. It wasn't longer than another minute when they saw a lonely bench by a tree which had the perfect view of the bridge without it being spoiled by the people standing at the railing.
They sat down and sighed in relief, their backs and their feet aching after the long day, yet their smiles were stuck on their faces as they moved closer to each other and Ella let her head fall on his shoulder.
Alex left a kiss on her head before resting his head over hers, making Ella snuggle closer to him and inhaling deep in comfort.
"Thank you." Her voice was low and soft, with the echoes of the people chattering around them, he almost missed it.
His head turned slightly to be able to glance down at her, "What for?"
Ella kept her gaze on the city, being slowly bathed in orange and pink hues as the sun fell to bed down the horizon. "For today. It was lovely and you're the best tourist guide ever."
The last bit held such playfulness that earned her a snort from him, "I'm glad you liked it, darling." And Alex truly meant it, closing his eyes and relishing in the feeling of having her close to him.
"Absolutely loved it, sweetness." Her hand went to grab his—they had let go when they got comfortable on the bench—, intertwining their fingers and rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "You know if the rockstar gig doesn't work you can just take people around the city and make them pay you for your charm." He felt her move her head a bit and when he looked down at her, she had her eyes set on his face with a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Alex lifted his head to match her smirk and played along, "Charming am I?"
"You know you are." Ella rolled her eyes as if it annoyed her telling him the truth so she added, "Don't let it get to your head, it's already too big as it is."
The singer scoffed, straightening his back so he put a small distance between them, "Oh wow, thanks."
The American girl let out a small "Nooo," and hooked her arm through his to bring him back into her side. "I'm joking, I'm joking."
He hummed doubtfully but let her pull him closer. "You better be because you've got a bigger head than mine." He quipped back at her, making her gasp.
It was her turn to put some distance between them as she pulled herself off him with an offended frown, "Excuse me?"
But Alex looked at her completely disregarding her expression and teased her by saying, "Mhm, you're excused."
Ella gasped, "You're such a little shit." and poked him in the ribs, cackling when he jumped and let out a little yelp. She was so glad she got him back beside her after a whole month, "I missed you so much."
"Missed you more darling." He reciprocated, snaking his arm around her waist to pull her into his side. "We should go watch a film soon, I know it won't be the same but we haven't gone to the cinema together in far too long and I miss going to Los Feliz with you."
A bright grin broke out on her face, thinking back to the times they had been able to go to Los Feliz together. "Isn't it amazing? I'm so glad I got you obsessed with it too."
And without really thinking it through, Alex admitted something that had been making rounds in his mind for a while, "Making me consider moving to LA, you."
She rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head looking at the view in front of them, "Yeah sure."
But, staring right at her and pinching her side so she'd look at him, he promised, "Swear down."
Narrowing her eyes at him, she chatted back, "Don't believe you, Turner."
His right hand came to clutch his chest like her lack of trust hurt his heart, "Rude. I thought you loved me and I was your best friend."
Her gaze stayed on his, unwavering and trying to gather her thoughts so she could answer but the only thing she came down to say was, "Touché."
She scooted back close to his side and rested her head on his shoulder, his fingers that were holding her waist had started rubbing circles on it over the fabric of her shirt. Ella was glad she had been able to control the shivers his touch gave her and took a deep breath as they watched the gorgeous sights in front of them.
The sky was turning lilac then and the dying sun was painting the cloud a beautiful pink and orange. It was breathtaking seeing the city coated by the colors, it was truly out of a painting and it somehow got even more beautiful as the minutes went by, the shades growing more intense and the urge of capturing it bubbled in her chest.
"This is stunning." Her words were breathless as she turned on her camera, trying to remember if it was four or five frames she had left in her current roll but only shooting three just to not mess up any of her previous pictures on the roll.
Alex watched her focusing as she watched the landscape through the viewfinder, her eye squinted and her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
"Can I get a picture of you?" He asked as soon as she brought her device back down to rest on her chest.
Ella hesitated for a second but before she could agree, she remembered the lack of proper lighting, "The flash is gonna ruin the sunset and if I don't use it, it will look too dark."
He thought of it only for a second, knowing she knew more about it than him but came to a different solution, "With my phone then."
She hummed like she was considering it, but her decision was taking longer than what he wanted so he bumped his head against hers softly and said, "C'mon darling."
When Ella turned to see him, Alex was grinning at her like he knew she was going to fold and she rolled her eyes when she finally agreed, "Okay just a quick one." She turned off her camera before she could move, purposely taking longer to do that.
Switching seats so he could take the picture properly, and taking her camera from her, Alex pulled up his camera on his phone and turned the flash on. "How does Bre get you to let her take your picture?" He wondered out loud as Ella shied behind her hands and took a few deep breaths.
Letting her hands drop, she shrugged and smiled, "Because it's Bre."
But before he could snap the moment away, Alex rolled his eyes and said, "Right, I forgot you're secretly in love with her still."
"Oh shut up." She hit his knee with hers, truly meaning it when she replied, "She's my best friend."
With that he smugly raised his phone back up, and with a, "And so am I, so smile for me darling." he waited for her to give him a big smile to take the picture.
He lowered his phone as he went to his camera roll to see how it had turned out, "That look alright?" Ella asked shyly, trying to see the product as he was grinning like an idiot at his screen.
Alex nodded intently, "Yes, I love it." And he wasn't lying, her eyes had closed from how big she had smiled, her cheeks rosy almost as much as the pink in the sky and once again he was brought back to that day they spent together in the west coast when he couldn't even begin to appreciate the sunset behind her as he drove because she looked so beautiful.
She demanded softly with a tug of his wrist, "Show it to me." And when she saw herself on his screen, she felt her cheeks heat up, "I look so..."
"Pretty?" He quickly finished the sentence for her.
But she shook her head, putting that to the side for the moment for her own good, "Blushy. My cheeks match the damn sky."
"You always are darling." He confirmed to her, "Don't think there's been many instances since 2011 when I've seen you and you've not been blushing."
She was properly embarrassed then, thinking about how dumb it was for her to always be blushing and for him to have noticed every time for the past two years, "Okay don't call me out now."
"Anyway, you look beautiful." The singer came back to see the picture once more and smiled to himself, "I'll send it to you now."
Her phone pinged with a notification of his text then and unlocking it to see it now on her screen, she sat comfortably again, shoulder to shoulder with him. "Thanks sweets."
His arm came around her shoulder and brought her into him, "You're welcome darling."
The minutes kept passing by and with it the sun lowered even more until it was completely gone and the sky went from orange, pink and lilac to a deep blue pierced by many stars which glistened as much as the lights of the city did.
Exhaustion was catching up to them, her eyes were closing and she was struggling to keep them open. Alex noticed when her hand started falling slowly from the top of her thigh where it was resting to the space between their legs.
So, softly getting a hold of her hand, he played with her fingers and asked in a low voice, "Should we head back to the hotel darling?"
Ella groaned but nodded, really wanting to get in bed and rest now. "Please?"
He pouted at her tired expression and slowly stood up after giving her a little squeeze, "'Course. Let's go."
Alex extended his hand out to her and she accepted it, letting him pull her up. "Thank you." She stumbled a bit, bumping into his chest where she rested her hand so she could stabilize herself.
He took advantage of how close he had her so he left a kiss on her temple and mumbled, "You're welcome." against it.
Turning around to leave, Alex grabbed her hand but she only moved an inch before she called out a "Wait." that he had barely managed to hear with the rumble of the city in the background.
"What's wrong?" He turned back to her with a small frown, he had her camera hanging from his neck and she had her bag hanging off her shoulder so he wasn't sure if there was anything she'd forgotten.
The bench was empty which confirmed she wasn't forgetting a thing but her frown softened up when she continued with a "Nothing just– c'mere," And she dropped his hand to open her arms up for him to walk into.
He of course obliged, taking a big stride her way and clutching her tight, her arms wrapped over his shoulders and his around her waist. She giggled when she felt her camera in the way of their chests pressing together, making for a rather awkward position but it was a hug from him so it was everything but. They swayed a bit in the embrace and he heard her say, "Love you Al, thank you for today." in his ear.
Filling up with warmth, the biggest smile showed on his face and he didn't waste another second to reciprocate, "Love you too Ellie." Kissing her cheek first, he pulled back to look into her eyes and make her understand that, "There's no need to thank me, darling. It was my absolute pleasure."
✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧
A/N: Personally, my heart burst writing this, and rereading it made me tear up. Wheels and Curly being here along with the rest of t1975, Alex and Ella reuniting, and then being absolutely adorable makes me wanna cry. Once again, a million thank yous to @imagine-that-100​ for being wonderful and allowing me to have them here and expanding the multiverse a bit more, and I hope y'all enjoyed catching a glimpse of them in an alternate timeline because I certainly did fucking adore writing them in. If you haven’t read @nriacc​ yet, what are you waiting for? Anyway, I'm wondering now if you have any predictions about what's gonna happen in this trip, I would love to see what those predictions are and if there's anything you want to happen hehehe. Thank you so much for reading! See you in two weeks with the next!! xx
Taglist: @imagine-that-100​ @red---moon​ @kennedy-brooke​ @faveficz​ @indierockgirrl​ @ladydraculasthings @moonvr​ @unwantedlovergirl​ @eaglestar31 @nikisfwn​ @funniestpersoninnyc​ @andrearroe​ @justacaliforniandreamer @alexturnersgf69 @yourorganiccigarette
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"Garrett Hedlund on Brad Pitt in Troy and Friday Night Lights | Screen Tests | W Magazine"
Original Transcript by W Magazine
Edited Video Transcript by @ casual-video-transcripts is under the cut
[0:00] [Text on screen reads "W SCREEN TESTS WITH LYNN HIRSCHBERG"]
[0:02] [Text on screen reads "GARRETT HEDLUND"]
[0:03] Garrett Hedlund: I was raised on a farm, so...
[0:05] We only had like three television channels.
[0:07] I don't really remember the first movie I saw.
[0:11] I loved what films did.
[0:13] I would constantly,
[0:14] you know, go to the back of the VHS's
[0:16] and the address for Universal Pictures
[0:19] or MGM would be on there,
[0:21] and I'd just start writing to the studios,
[0:23] asking if I could be in their, you know, in a movie.
[0:27] And then...That's more of a what I remember, yeah.
[0:31] I don't remember my first audition really well.
[0:33] I just remember that I didn't do very well.
[0:36] You know, I think the phrase was after, "you sucked pond water".
[0:39] And that's a ridiculous phrase, but.
[0:41] [Garrett sputters.]
[0:43] I moved to Arizona when I was 14 to live with my mother,
[0:46] and I always wanted to be an actor,
[0:48] but being in Arizona, I was only a state away.
[0:51] I'd been flying from Arizona to Los Angeles
[0:55] for two or three years for auditions.
[0:58] Yeah, by myself.
[0:59] I'd get out of school and I'd fly into Burbank Airport,
[1:02] I'd get in a taxicab, I'd go to the audition.
[1:04] I'd taxi back, I found out I didn't get it,
[1:07] and then the whole while I'm back on Southwest, you know,
[1:10] flying back to Arizona, go to school the next day.
[1:14] Hee...
[1:15] I was 18 or 17-18, and I'd skipped
[1:18] my junior year prom
[1:19] to be this...to be this extra,
[1:25] and then by my senior year when prom was to go on,
[1:27] I was out in Malta, filming Troy.
[1:29] You know, it was funny, because, you know,
[1:32] the character Patroclus was,
[1:34] you know, [I'd] see little things, you know,
[1:37] references to him being a poet,
[1:39] and so I'd go up to Wolfgang and Brad the next day
[1:41] and I'd be like, "well maybe instead of this shot,
[1:43] maybe you could just have me on that hilltop over there
[1:45] just kind of writing a little bit."
[1:47] And... they were just, "yeah...
[1:50] yeah, that's a good idea."
[1:51] [Garrett pats the air like a one-hand shoulder pat and then chuckles.]
[1:53] Then after, you know, Troy, I went on to...
[1:56] go do Friday Night Lights, the football film.
[1:58] I played football for just a year in Minnesota
[2:01] and then a year in Arizona.
[2:03] But...
[2:05] I don't think was ever a -
[2:08] I think I, I was never really, I don't think I was ever the starter.
[2:10] Heh.
[2:11] I played like defensive end.
[2:13] I was always on defense, so
[2:14] I wasn't the glorious position.
[2:18] I wasn't the ball carrier, I wasn't the quarterback.
[2:20] I wasn't, you know, the one making the touchdowns,
[2:23] so I think that's where, you know.
[2:26] What draws me to certain different roles
[2:28] are the extremities.
[2:29] I mean, doing something completely different.
[2:31] I don't feel during the day that I'm the same person,
[2:34] you know, on Wednesday as I am on Monday,
[2:37] and our minds change, our ideas change,
[2:39] our opinions change constantly.
[2:42] I've been signed on to On the Road since 2007 or so,
[2:46] and I just,
[2:47] I remember reading the book in high school.
[2:50] I mean, I went online and looked,
[2:52] and it said Francis Ford Coppola's directing this,
[2:54] and I was like, "man, I'll never get a chance at this".
[2:57] [And] I still, I mean, we're halfway through filming
[3:00] and I still can't believe I'm a part of it.
[3:02] I auditioned in like March of '07,
[3:05] [and then] I found out on my birthday
[3:07] in September that I'd gotten it.
[3:09] I'd had to land in Chicago for a layover,
[3:11] and when I got to Chicago, my dad called me,
[3:13] sang me all of Happy Birthday,
[3:16] and then I land in L.A.
[3:17] and I get another call from
[3:21] home in Minnesota,
[3:22] and [it was]
[3:24] you know, it was news telling me that my father
[3:27] had dropped of a heart attack
[3:29] [Gasps from behind the camera]
[3:29] Garrett: after he got off the phone with me.
[3:31] So I was just like, I called him up in the hospital
[3:33] and I said, "you know, you can't do this, you know, it's my birthday."
[3:37] And he goes, "I know, son."
[3:39] And I said, I just got On the Road"
[3:40] [Garrett laughs softly.]
[3:42] He's like, "that's great, son."
[3:43] [Garrett sharply inhales.]
[3:44] So it was, you know, a weird balance
[3:47] of... you know...you know, when there's a great amount of good
[3:53] it can also be evened out by
[3:55] a great amount of sort of bad in a way.
[3:58] I sat down with lunch with Jeff Bridges.
[4:01] [Phone chimes.]
[4:02] Garrett: Sorry about this.
[4:03] [Garrett pulls his phone out of his pant pocket and then throws it away. You can hear the phone thunk against the floor.]
[4:06] [Multiple staff members behind the camera laugh and giggle.]
[4:07] Garrett: Hehe, sorry.
[4:08] If it was a car, it'd be out the window.
[4:10] [Someone behind the camera laughs.]
[4:11] Garrett: Just phones and gadgets and stuff,
[4:12] I'm not good with them.
[4:13] I don't appreciate them the way others do.
[4:16] It's like for me, you know when somebody gets a new car
[4:19] and they're so worried that scratch, you know,
[4:22] that first scratch, but after that everything's fine.
[4:24] I'm just saying, you know, everything to me in life
[4:26] is like the second scratch.
[4:30] [Text on screen reads "W"]
[4:31] [Text on screen reads
"director GREG BRUNKALLA
editor LYNN HIRSCHBERG
cinematographer SCOTT SANS
sound ROB CORSO
gaffer CHRIS FISHER
production assistant KALVIN LAZARTE
film editor BRUNX
production company LEGS"]
End of transcript
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Video Channel: W Magazine
Video Description:
In this Screen Tests interview, actor Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, Troy, On the Road) explains how he blew his first audition (the reaction, "you sucked pond water") and how he blew off his senior prom to shoot a movie with Brad Pitt.
Transcript I was raised on a farm, so. We only had like three television channels. I don't really remember the first movie I saw. I loved what films did. I would constantly, you know, go to the back of the VHS's and the address for Universal Pictures or MGM would be on there, and I'd just start writing to the studios, asking if I could be in their, you know, in a movie. That's more of a what I remember, yeah. I don't remember my first audition really well. I just remember that I didn't do very well. I think the phrase was after, you sucked pond water. That's a ridiculous phrase, but. I moved to Arizona when I was to live with my mother, and I always wanted to be an actor, but being in Arizona, I was only a state away. I'd been flying from Arizona to Los Angeles for two or three years for auditions. Yeah, by myself. I'd get out of school and I'd fly into Burbank Airport, I'd get in a taxicab, I'd go to the audition. I'd taxi back, I found out I didn't get it, and then the whole while I'm back on Southwest, flying back to Arizona, go to school the next day. I was , or , , and I'd skipped my junior year prom to be this extra, and then by my senior year when prom was to go on, I was out in Malta, filming Troy. You know, it was funny, because, you know, the character Patrick was, you know, I'd see little things. References to him being a poet, so I'd go up to Wolfgang and Brad the next day and I'd be like, well maybe instead of this shot, maybe you could just have me on that hilltop over there just kind of writing a little bit. And, they were just, yeah, yeah, that's a good idea. Then after Troy, I went on to go do Friday Night Lights, the football film. I played football for just a year in Minnesota and then a year in Arizona. But, I think I, I was never really, I don't think I was ever the starter. I played like defensive end. I was always on defense, so I wasn't the glorious position. I wasn't the ball carrier, I wasn't the quarterback. I wasn't the one making the touchdowns, so I think that's where, you know. What draws me to certain different roles are the extremities. I mean, doing something completely different. I don't feel during the day that I'm the same person on Wednesday as I am on Monday, and our minds change, our ideas change, our opinions change constantly. I've been signed on to On the Road since or so, and I just, I remember reading the book in high school. I went online and looked, and it said Francis Ford Coppola's directing this, and I was like, man, I'll never get a chance at this. And I still, I mean, we're halfway through filming and I still can't believe I'm a part of it. I auditioned in like March of ', and then I found out on my birthday in September that I'd gotten it. I'd had to land in Chicago for a layover, and when I got to Chicago, my dad called me, sang me all of Happy Birthday, and then I land in L.A. and I get another call from home in Minnesota, and it was you know, it was news telling me that my father had dropped of a heart attack after he got off the phone with me. So I was just like, I called him up in the hospital and I said, you know, you can't do this, it's my birthday. And he goes, I know, son. And I said, I just got On the Road (laughs). He's like, that's great, son. So it was a weird balance of you know, when there's a great amount of good it can also be evened out by a great amount of sort of bad in a way. I sat down with lunch with Jeff Bridges. Sorry about this. If it was a car, it'd be out the window. Just phones and gadgets and stuff, I'm not good with them. I don't appreciate it them the way others do. It's like for me, you know when somebody gets a new car and they're so worried that scratch, that first scratch, but after that everything's fine. You know, everything to me in life is like the second scratch.
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Garrett Hedlund on Brad Pitt in Troy and Friday Night Lights | Screen Tests | W Magazine
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Casual Video Transcripts' Personal Notes: Hello everyone again, apologies for not posting the mera video transcript. The mera video transcript will happen eventually... I've been focusing my energy and time on other projects. It's been nice. I want to take my time and not rush it. In the meantime, I hope you all are okay with these other posts. There may or may not be a lot of movie-related video transcripts already in the works.
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dreaming-hibi · 3 months
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*kicks in your door*
You know japanese???? Or you can read it? Because you dropped the original panels in your rants/analysis/ramblings, so I'm curious: Can you tell me about your japanese background pretty please 🥺🥺
You need to know that I'm nosy af as in I will randomly put in inboxes and ask the most random questions kinda noisy so yeah... Tell me if I get too much kay?
I was going to do a casual lore drop one of these days, but this saves me the trouble! I didn't even know where to begin so this question is definitely a lifesaver.
The short answer would be: I have a degree in language, culture and society of asia - Japan. Basically, I studied about Japan (language, culture and society).
The long answer is:
I was born in an underdeveloped country where, for some weird reason, many foreign movies got transmitted in their original language with english subs (if you were lucky! otherwise there were no subs). So, as a young child, I saw many Studio Ghibli movies in Japanese and I guess I was attracted to the language? I know for a fact that I fell in love with anime. But then I moved to Italy, and everything there was dubbed so I forgot Japanese was ever a thing.
Until I picked up when I was 11.
From there, because of my very obvious lack of friends, I had so much free time in my hands that I would go on to download as many Japanese learning apps as I could! I focused a lot on pronunciation (to the point where my university professors and their Japanese friends straight up thought someone in my family spoke Japanese), mostly because I was afraid of learning the writing system and the kanji wrong — how does someone even learn a writing system the wrong way? Well, that's a question for 14 year old.
When I graduated from high school and went on to university, I decided on a Japanese course. Because I was singled out for knowing English in my italian high school (I spent 3 years in a foreign country, and then 6 months in the USA), I made the very wise decision to act like I didn't know shit about Japanese. Maybe I could make some friends that way?
How naive of me!
On the very second day of university (after I missed first two weeks because of reasons), I make a very stupid mistake. The professor was asking questions, and everyone was answering so I jumped on board, but then she asked something I thought everyone knew and I shouted the answer. I was, in fact, the only one to know such a thing.
And then it happened again, and again, until I gave up and literally became infamous. Everyone knew my name, but I barely knew theirs.
"Oh, you're that girl from the convo classes who was always chatting with the teachers in super rapid japanese."
Indeed, that is me.
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alicewhitesblog · 3 months
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Short Story by © Alice White
Jack valued his lunch break. A complete hour without listening to his manager boring everyone about targets and profits. A complete hour taking a walk through the park near his office, watching the squirrels play and him smelling the flowers that grew along the path.
At the end of the park was always rewarded with a sandwich from his favorite deli and a sit on the bench nearby. After eating his lunch, Jack would spend the remaining time eyes closed breathing in deep the fresh air, before his walk back to the office with the afternoon much the same as the morning.
However, unbeknown to Jack. Today was going to be different.
Lunch time began in the normal way for Jack. As soon as he saw 11:58 on his computer, he shut down the laptop, grabbed his jacket from behind the chair and headed for the stairwell. Upon reaching the ground floor he swiped himself through the turnstile and out into reception. With a quick wave to Susan the receptionist he was out of the building and free for an hour.
His lunchtime walk look promising in the warm sunshine. Jack removed his jacket slung it over his shoulder and with a purposeful stride headed for the park.
The first person he encountered in the park was Maryland. It was the name Jack gave to the man he'd seen every lunchtime sitting reading a book as well as eating a packet of Maryland cookies.
Next, were the Pilates twins. Two identically dressed women stretching on their yoga mats. One looked over as Jack passed. He waved and both women acknowledged him with a nod.
The last person Jack met on his way through the park was Brooke who was one of the head gardeners. "Going to be a warm one". She took off her hat, wiping her brow with the back of her hand.
"Sure is". Jack answered. "You make sure you stay hydrated". Jack waved his water bottle at her. Brooke smiled, replaced her hat and went back to attending to the flower bed.
As Jack approached the end of the park he saw Sam's Deli and opposite his favorite bench and like every day it was free and waiting for him.
Jack always ordered the same baguette every day. Salami with a dash of Dijon mustard. Jack paid for his meal which included a cup of coffee and headed back outside.
Now, there was an unwritten law in the universe that the bench outside Sam's Deli on a week day was reserved for Jack Slater. Only today, someone didn't get the memo. To Jack's horror he saw a folded up newspaper sitting on his bench. He would have sworn that it wasn't there when he went into the deli. Which means someone had claimed his bench when he was inside!
Jack looked around. There was no one in sight who looked like they were making their way back to the bench to sit and reclaim their paper. Well, that was something. So, the newspaper must have been discarded by a passerby. Jack sat down, pushed the paper to one side and began to enjoy his baguette and coffee.
When he had finished he got up walked across the path to the opposite waste bin and deposited his rubbish. On his return to the bench he was reminded of the newspaper still sitting along side.
"Damn it!" He said out loud. "I forgot that was still there. I could have put that in the waste bin too!".
Jack sat back down and closely looked at the newspaper.
There was something about the newspaper that looked odd. On inspection there appeared to be only one thing printed on it. A crossword. No other news items, no photos. Just a crossword grid. However, even this looked strange. There were no clues printed alongside the grid. Neither were there any numbers on the puzzle that would have corresponded with any written clues. Just an empty crossword puzzle grid with occasional squares blacked out.
How bizarre, thought Jack. Who would go to the trouble of printing a crossword puzzle without clues? Then Jack thought. Maybe it's a prop from the nearby film studio. That was it, it was a film prop accidentally left by a stagehand.
Contented with solving this mystery, Jack closed his eyes and titled back his head for a few moments before he had to make his way back to the office.
He must have dozed off because he was suddenly awoken with a start by someone whispering in his ear. "Play."
Jack snapped open his eyes, heart pumping, anxiously looking from side to side. "Who, who said that?" But no one was in sight. Brooke was too far away attending to the flower bed and the other customers from Sam's Deli were sitting outside at their tables oblivious to Jack's sudden awakening.
Despite it turning into a hot afternoon, a chill ran down Jack's spine. He was about to leave the bench and return to the office when he glanced down at the newspaper. This time some text was starting to appear above the crossword. Black squiggles, like maggots, squirmed and wriggled their way to form letters and then words.
Jack grabbed the paper "What the...!"
The formation of the words finally stopped to reveal:
'Welcome to today's crossword puzzle. How brave are you to complete this conundrum? The prize on completion will be financial weath previously unknown to you. Remember, once started you have to finish or face the consequences. Some clues will be easy some will be hard. Are you ready?
Jack should have walked away there and then. There was something unholy unfolding before his eyes. Words don't write themselves onto a newspaper, not in this world and some of text seemed threatening. But something had now enchanted Jack. The idea of being rich beyond his wildest dreams was too much of a lure to him. He found it difficult to pull himself away from doing the crossword. Could he complete it in the time left on his lunch break?
He hunted for a pen. He was about to go and ask someone when as if the newspaper was reading his mind, a fountain pen materialised in front of him.
Jack took off the lid and waited for the first clue. The black squiggles appeared again.
Across: A vessel for drinking or a unit of measuring. 3 letters.
Jack thought for a minute, then wrote the word CUP. The letters fit the grid then suddenly disappeared in a puff of green smoke a sign he had answered correctly.
Down: A boys name in the middle of the year. 5 letters.
This needed thinking about. Time was running out and it looked like he had stumbled on clue two. So, the answer had to be in the five months starting from July. He read the clue again and wrote down the months: July, August, September. October, November. And there he saw it. Take the first letters from each month and you have JASON.
He penned in his answer and waited. To his relief the puzzle accepted his answer then as like last time evaporated into green smoke.
He was getting on well, but it was now time to go back to the office. He watched as the third clue appeared.
Down: Severe or a tomb.
Jack knew the answer but really had to get going. He grabbed the newspaper and left the bench. Quickly, he walked along the path back to the office. The weather by now had taken a turn for the worse, winds had picked up bringing heavy rain.
Jack held his jacket over his head. Brooke was hurrying to pack her tools away and Maryland was taking cover under a tree.
Jack made it to the park entrance only to find the gates locked! Why had the gardeners done that. Now in a hurry, Jack ran across the lawn head down and slipping on the wet grass. He continued, trying to find a way out of the park. Unfortunately, Jack didn't see the large hole in the ground up ahead. Wet and muddy he slipped and fell into the hole breaking his neck.
Jack let the newspaper fly from his hand. He hadn't completed the crossword and so the last clue had taken him. If only he had written GRAVE, maybe the next clue would have given him his fortune.
This is my latest short story. I hope you liked it.
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animechick2015 · 2 years
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Anime I watched in 2022 Part 2:
11. Rising of the Shield Hero Part 2- 3/5
Where do I begin with this? It started off strong but by the 3rd or 4th episode I started to question if this was the same shield hero that I watched before. Don’t even get me started on how many times I watched Ost die only for her to come back to life. Thank goodness for the banger opening and ending. I briefly read the manga a while back so I knew that content was left out. After this season ended I reread and yup A LOT was left out. Hopefully the next season can redeem this show.
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12. Spy x Family 10,000/5
Ahhhhh I was so excited for this one. I read the manga so I knew the plot well and was a wee bit nervous when I saw Cloverworks was one of the studios doing the production (they basically cut 90% of Horimiya content) but much to my surprise they kept all of the original content, plus added some to really flesh out the show and it’s characters. This will be one of those shows that people will be talking about for years to come. The animation, the characters, the opening and ending were all spectacularly done. Anya deserves all the happiness in the world. Loid is the best fake dad and fake husband (all for the mission of course) and Yor is the new waifu, I don’t make the rules. God I really love these characters and seeing them animated so wonderfully brings a smile to my face.
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13. Ya Boy Kongming 5/5
This was a underrated gem for this year. I need to thank tik tok for showing me clips for this one otherwise I wouldn’t have know it existed. And that opening: A BANGER!! Seriously, if anyone skips the opening, they need to be arrested immediately! All the characters were so likable and you were cheering on the ‘rivals’. If you’re a fan of music, I highly recommend this anime.
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14. The Case Study of Vanitas 5,000/5
Ahhhhhh! Ok ok. I’m calm now. But seriously this anime has turned my brain into goop. I had serious Vanitas brain rot when I finished watching this one. From opening to ending this one hooked me. Alllll the characters were interesting, even the minor ones; you just wanted to know more about every one and everything. And I know, I KNOW Vanitas and Jeanne are endgame but whyyy is the chemistry between Vanitas and Noe sooooo good. Like holy guacamole their chemistry was off the charts (and that first ending didn’t help either) I can’t wait to know more about these characters and see what shenanigans they get up too.
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15. Misfit of the Demon King Academy 5/5
There’s just something about overpowered characters that gets me so hyped. Now don’t get me wrong, I like to follow the journey of a character from rock bottom and see them rise to the top. But sometimes you just want to see a Main Character just go nuts from the get go and that’s the main character from this series. “Did you really think killing me would stop me?” will never stop being epic. Like damn! This was such a refreshing anime and the ending I didn’t expect. Really can’t wait to see more of this universe.
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16. The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited 4/5
Listen, there was so much hype around this anime that I went into it expecting a lot. Especially the chemistry between the two male leads but alas I was severely disappointed. While the story and other characters were good it just felt like something was missing. And I know everyone loves Kambe but I was more into Haru and I just wanted him to one up Kambe in some way (don’t ask me to go into detail because I can’t even explain it myself). Maybe I need to read the manga to get into this one.
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17. Love After World Domination 5/5
This was such a cute, dorky romance. If you were a Power Rangers fan as a kid, I think you’ll appreciate this one. It’s a nice spoof of that universe with the main characters trying to navigate their love life, school, being a hero and being a villain (is she really a villain though). I went into this one with absolutely no expectations but every week I was continuously surprised by this story. Really hope we get a second season to this.
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18. Skeleton Knight in Another World 5/5
I know a lot of people kept comparing this one to Overload but can I just say that I enjoyed this one wayyy more than Overload. Arc and Arianne are much more enjoyable characters to me and I just adored their chemistry. And Ponta was just the cutest addition to this series. This anime only has 12 episodes but it was enough to hook me in to that universe. I’m really hoping we get another season.
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19. Overlord Season 1 3/5
I really tried to like this one. Honestly I tried my best to like it but I couldn’t get past the first season. The characters felt bland and overdone for me. Maybe it’s because I watched so many isekai anime’s prior that this one didn’t wow me. Maybe if I’m bored I’ll give this another go.
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20. Komi Can’t Communicate Part 2 5/5
Ahhh cuteness overload. I really love Komi and seeing her progress slowly but surely is always a wonderful sight to behold. Chadano will forever be best boy. This season had so many laugh out loud and wtf moments that I really hope we get another season.
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theendwhereibegin · 11 months
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I should give you some warnings for this chapter as it may trigger you. There are mentions of abuse, in all its forms.
Pedro is a great guy once again. You know the drill.
Universally meant.Earthly bound
story line
inner monologue
Part 3
Today has been one hell of a day. I felt like ages had passed, not just 10 hours of my life. I felt so exhausted, but still, in the back of my mind, Pedro`s smile played like a broken record.
He was sweet enough not to make me feel embarrassed of the “Starbucks episode” , how he called it and made me feel at ease during the photo shoot. He somehow felt that my anxiety was starting to get the best of me, so he filled the time with jokes and heartfelt laughs. It did make us work 2 hours extra, but God, was it worth it.
I haven`t been living under a rock. I knew who Pedro was, and even though he portrayed my favourite character ever, Javier Pena, in Narcos, I somehow managed to keep my fangirling inside. That was some miracle because whenever my eyes locked with his, I felt like my knees were about to give up. Partly because of him being there and, also, because my first time meeting one of my favourite actors and I looked like I have just rolled out of a tent a Coachella. Wait, how did I manage to get myself on the floor?
Daydreaming about him, my back just slid on the entrance door once it was closed. I couldn`t believe that I had the chance to meet him and get to be his photographer for the day.
Sure, I have met other celebrities in my 10 years at the studio, but 9 of them I was in a committed relationship and I wasn`t even interested in looking at another man, or so I thought. That meant that while I was in love with the man that I called my boyfriend, he was in love with what I could potentially become if I would let him mould me the way he wanted it.
It`s a part of my life that I would like buried and done with, as even remembering it made my entire body ache.
He`s played so many mind games with me during our 9 years together, and me being younger than him, I believed everything that came out of his mouth.
I don`t even know if you want to know the story, but at the end of the day, it's what shaped me into who I am today. I was young and stupid when I met him. He was 11 years older than me, so in my head, I thought he would bring the emotional stability that I needed. I was love bombed in the first year, and that`s what kept me captive in that relationship. He made me rely on him, emotionally, financially. I loved him truly because, in my mind, he was the best that I could ever do. He made sure I understood that and believed it 100%. Then came the emotional abuse. It wasn`t all at once at first, it was in small doses, until, later on in our relationship, it was all that he was doing, and the only moments he would act like an actual boyfriend would be while out with other people. I loved that version of him and started to hate the version he was at home. At one moment, his emotional abuse turned into physical. One single slap in front of all of our friends, and somehow I was the one that ended up begging him to reconsider and not leave me. To this day, I do not understand how he did that. Later, came the sexual abuse.
As I remembered every small detail, my heart ached. If I could only turn back time and tell the young adult version of me that everything would work out and that it`s okay if she wants to leave him.
I would be exhausted from work. I would come back to a messy home and no food, so I had to do that as well. By the end of it, I was done and over. All I wanted to do was sleep, but he didn`t care. I would say no so many times, scream it even. He would take it as a yes, and that my screams were of pleasure, not pain. It went over and over again. I had to end the relationship and read a lot of books to realise that I was sexually abused. Yes, you read that right. Sexual abuse can happen even if in a relationship. Consent is still necessary.
I didn't deserve it. No one does, but somehow, I couldn't get myself out of that situation until Covid appeared, and I finally built up the strength to kick him out and file in for a divorce. I was finally breathing again after so many years of holding my breath without even knowing.
I suddenly remembered my state and collected myself off the floor, and dragged myself to take a shower and search for some food in my fridge.
My cut didn`t look as bad, but it still needed to be thoroughly cleaned. As I winced at the pain that shot through my head while cleaning the cut, I felt like my entire mess of a life was meant to bring me in this moment. I worked very hard to get here, but it always felt like a higher force pushed me to never give up
My thoughts were suddenly cut short by my phone ringing next to me. I started jamming to the ringtone as it was my favourite song, 'Everywhere' by Fleetwood Mac. Words of advice? Never put your favourite song as your phones ringtone, or you'll never answer calls anymore.
"Hi Alexis! " I said while trying to sound cheery and not in pain.
"Please tell me you can get ready in 20. After the day you've had, you and me, pub, shots, good music"
All I wanted to do was to crawl in my bed and sleep, but the shots didn't sound bad at all after today. I shouldn't, should I?
"Look A, I feel like I could drop dead at any point. Can't we do that tomorrow or something? I am also old, and my bones hurt."
"I swear I will come and drag you out myself! Get yourself ready. We'll be 1 hour tops. It's just for us to unwind after today. Please?" Said Alexis in a pleading voice, which made me picture her puppy stare. It made me give up.
"Fine. See you in 20!"
I tried finding something to wear and had a quick snack while trying my best to tame my hair, which was now sticking in every direction.
I was done in 15, which was a new record, even for me, but Alexis was always before the stated time anyway.
A soft knock confirmed my theory.
"Girl, we are gonna have so much fun!" She didn't even finish her sentence, and she was already hugging me.
"If you say so! Let's go before I change my mind and into my pj's."
We arrived at the only Irish bar we had in the area. What can I say? I love a good Guinness.
The bar was absolutely packed and whilst making our way to the bar, in true Olivia fashion, a drunk girl turns around with her wine glass and spills it all on me.
I felt defeated at this point. What were the chances my clothes would be stained twice in one day?
"I swear Olivia! If there should be a new definition for attracting bad things, your name should definitely be mentioned." Alexis was a bit amused, and why lie? I was a bit amused as well by my own misery.
"I am a magnet. Let's grab some drinks and have no care in the world. Who cares? I am wearing red wine as an accessory today? Though I won't lie, coffee is a warmer accessory." I said while shrugging my head and laughing.
The night went on without further incidents, just me singing along to Dropkick Murphys a bit too loud. I needed this outing more than I knew.
I decided to walk back home while Alexis took a taxi to hers. It didn't make sense for her to make an extra trip for me. I lived 3 blocks away anyway.
With the headphones on I was vibing once again with a great tune. Didn't realise that I started dancing and twirling around the street while singing the lyrics softly to myself.
My last twirl wasn't really the greatest one in history, and I understood that while I felt my fall break when two arms enveloped me and kept me from hitting the ground.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, or I will believe you are doing it on purpose, Olivia," came a deep, slightly amused voice. I didn't get to see who it was because my eyes were shut in a desperate attempt to not let out a loud yelp.
While slowly opening my eyes, the figure started to come into focus. Pedro. If the ground could swallow me up right about now, that would be great.
"I...I am sorry." I said while straightening my clothes. I felt bold all of a sudden. The tequilla right helps as well.
" I could say the same. You seem to always be there whenever I fall. Are you stalking me, Pedro?"
It was a very sad and drunk attempt at a flirt. I am not proud of it.
" I am not!" He said panicked.
"I live about 2 blocks that way, and I wanted to go and grab my food and go back home and watch something boring enough to help me sleep."
He looked so good in that ligh. Hell, he looked good in any light. His messy hair, his eyes, the was his lips were pursed together.
I must have been staring because my trance was finished once he cleared his throat.
" I would say take a photo. It will last longer, but you already did today. Quite a few as well." By the time he finished, I was blushing more than a teenager.
" I am going to the pizza place down the road. If you want, you can join me. At least I won't be taking my pizza and eating it like a loner." Pedro said while hoping that he didn't cross any line with you.
"To be honest, I am so hungry. Alexis took me out of work, and I literally had a small snack before going out. So, sure."
We strolled towards the pizza place while talking about various topics. Once we reached the destination, he stepped in front of me and opened the door.
I was shocked. No one has ever done that small gesture for me.
As we took our seats at the table, he insisted on holding the chair out for me. It was like I have lived in the wilderness before I met him.
"Ready to order?" Asked our waiter.
We ordered our food and drinks and fell into a very comfortable conversation. We started getting deeper into the subject that is our lives. Our upbringing and our weird phases, parents, and so on.
Me, the antisocial, was talking like I have known him my entire life. I was so comfortable with sharing my past with this man. Not all of it, but parts that I wasn't ashamed of. Being married and divorcing after I was abused by a man didn't seem like the kind of topic to bring up, so I didn't, mostly because I was scared he'll think less of me. Not that I was much to even cross his mind.
He was talking about his heritage, about Chile, and his eyes were positively sparkling with joy. They exploded with joy once I told him about my trip to Santiago, Chile, and how the whole culture made me fall in love with the city.
"You've been to Chile? That's amazing!"
"I was 19. I wanted to take a once in a lifetime trip before life really started. I picked Chile, mainly because I was always drawn to its culture. It didn't disappoint one bit. I still have my good friend, Alejandra there. I've been telling her for ages that I will visit again, but life got in the way." I said while remembering my times there. Dancing with the locals. Letting myself get engulfed by its dishes and all-around culture.
" Your smile is just as big as mine whenever I mention Chile. I am glad you like my home country and city. But what do you mean life got in the way? You still took days off, didn't you? Nothing is more important than living your life to the fullest." He said while taking a sip out of his beer.
Suddenly, flashbacks started happening, and before I knew it, I excused myself and went to the bathroom trying to compose myself. My anxiety was taking over, and soon enough, I began sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't catch my breath. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't run away from the memories of him. I couldn't run away from his screams and drunken benders. I could still feel his fingers lingering on my body, making me feel worthless.
" Liv? Are you okay? It's been a while. You have me worried." He said while softly knocking on the door.
"I'll be out in a minute," I said between sniffles, taking deep breaths while trying to control myself. I fixed myself in the mirror and emerged through the door to a Pedro with his back leaning on the wall just in front of the door. He had a worried look on his face, and I could see he was replaying our conversation in his head, trying to make sense.
I made my way to the table with him following me. We sat down, and we ate in silence. I never thought silence could hurt more.
We paid for the bill and made our way out. Walking in the same direction, I felt the need to break the silence.
" I usually never get like this. It's just... whenever you asked how life got in the way, I got pulled back in the past. It's not something that I want to go through again. That's all. I am sorry for ruining your night. I didn't mean to." I said while picking at my hand, trying my best not to break down again.
He didn't say anything but put his arm around me and pulled me in a hug.
" Whatever it is that broke you this badly. I am sorry that you went through it. I can't imagine putting anyone I love through that. He didn't deserve you." And kissed the top of my head.
I was stunned. I didn't know what to say or how to react. How did he even know? How did he even piece it together that easily? He must have known because my relationship with my family is rock solid, and I only have a very carefully picked group of friends.
" I would rather not talk about it. At least, not now. It was a dark part of my life, a part I am trying my best to leave behind me. I appreciate your words, and I definitely appreciated the way you were with me tonight. I've never experienced it. Whoever will get to be with you, she will be one lucky lady."
" You really talk a lot when you get anxious, don't you?" He looked amused at me. " But, thank you. I have yet to find someone to call mine. I might never. I am not getting any younger. You still have a real chance of finding someone who treats you the way you deserve it. To open doors for you, or hold your chair out. To catch you whenever you fall. You deserve that Liv" he said while taking my hands in his.
At this point, I thought I was in some parallel universe. There was no way this was actually happening to me. Me? Never! But yet here I am. In front of this amazing guy that half the planet would love to be with. Being told that I deserve happiness. That I deserve to be loved.
I was suddenly being held close to his chest with his hand rubbing my back. The hand went higher and higher until it reached my right cheek. While stroking it, my head kept getting gently tilted upwards, and soon, I was looking into his eyes. Even his eyes were softly smiling.
"I would say we both waited too long to connect with someone in the way we did today. I have never felt so comfortable near anyone. I have never felt the need to make someone smile more than I wanted to make you smile today. I guess, sometimes waiting for what feels like a lifetime is worth it. May I?" His monologue left me breathless and speechless. His eyes were now darting from my lips to my eyes. It was his way of subtly asking for permission to kiss me.
Still stunned, I moved my face closer to his, our noses touching. My way of telling him that I have never wanted to kiss someone else as much as I wanted to kiss him.
He leaned in all the way, and I was met with the softest and purest kiss I have ever experienced. It was filled with the emotions of the words he just said to me. It was filled with years of waiting and hoping we'll find our happy ending.
He held me so tight and yet not firm enough that I couldn't move. The front of our shoes were touching as well as to say 'It took you long enough to find me'.
My life was falling into place right then and there.
I could feel he felt the same as he parted from me, not before kissing the tip of my nose.
" Let's get you home safely. You've had a full day. We'll pick up where we left it tomorrow, hopefully on an official date?" He asked while following my movements, trying to get home.
Pedro held my hand the whole way through and always made sure he would face me when talking. He stole another kiss in front of my door and let it linger as we both didn't want to part ways.
" See you tomorrow at 7 pm? I'll pick you up and wear whatever you want. You'll look good anyway. Don't stress about it too much. It's just gonna be us two somewhere in town on a date. Deal?" He said while holding my waist and looking at me with reassurance.
" Deal. Can't really vouch for the no stress bit, but I will try." I was feeling like I was floating.
We kissed again and off he went.
While closing my door, I woke up sliding against it once again, but this time, I was smiling so much, and my face hurt. I couldn't believe what a turn tonight took.
One thing I wasn't aware of. Today was meant to happen just like that. With me going through everything and him being there for me.
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thavron · 8 months
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Thank you for the tag @eviebane
1. Are you named after anyone?
Nope.
2. When was the last time you cried?
Since I did the whole therapy thing my emotions have been extremely all over the place. Crying daily at the moment. Also feeling the happiest I have in a long time. It's a strange duality.
3. Do you have kids?
Not that i know of. Hopefully not. I have a God daughter, and two nephews.
4. What sports do you play / have you played?
Netball at school. Ice/Roller Hockey at university. I was big time into martial arts from about aged 13-19, and I'm a black tag in Tae Kwon Do. Also won a fair few competitions. Buggered my knees though playing hockey so had to give it all up.
5. Do you use sarcasm?
NoOOOoo...
6. What's the first thing you notice about people?
I'm not great at eye contact so probably hair colour or body language.
7. What's your eye colour?
Green/Grey. One of my eyes has an orange splodge. it's weird.
8. Scary movies or happy endings?
Can I ask for both? I love horror movies, especially violent slasher movies. But I'm also a big romantic that loves a happy ending. I have layers.
9. Any talents?
I think the only natural talent I have is rhythm. I took to playing the drums like a duck to water. Everything else I've worked at. I'm an artist professionally, but like I have no natural artistic talent. I had to practice a lot to be as good as I am. It actually kind of annoys me when people look at my art and call me talented, because you're looking at thousands of hours of practice. I didn't wake up one morning able to do that. Same with writing. I love writing. I'm not great at it though, but I am better than I used to be.
10. Where were you born?
West Midlands, England. I'm not giving you my postcode.
11. What are your hobbies?
Reading, writing, playing computer games, photography, looking longingly at the sky and yearning for a life not yet lived.
12. Do you have any pets?
I live with a demon called Ben. She looks remarkably like a cat.
13. How tall are you?
5,5.
14. Favourite subject in school?
Always liked the sciences. Started to enjoy religious studies at about 15 and so chose to study Philosophy and Ethics for A level as well as Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I guess I'm just sort of fascinated by the world and how it all works. I did not enjoy Chemistry at degree level though so dropped out to become an artist. You can imagine how that conversation went with my parents...
15. Dream job?
I actually have my dream job. I actually work for the studio I dreamed of working at too. I have even ticked off a few of the dream franchises I wanted to work on. I am very lucky.
No pressure tags
@lumiereandcogsworth and anyone who wants to do it really :)
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now-we-say-c0ral · 9 months
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December 15, 2023
I'm off today until the weekend and it's the day the baby girls and I are going to have our Triple H (Hotel, Harry Potter, and Heaven). I'm excited for this. I went to the gym at 11am and did back, triceps, and some abs then I went to The DoubleTree in Holborn to meet the baby girls. We settled first before walking to Euston to take the Overground to Watford.
We got to Watford and free bus to get to the Universal Studios. I didn't read through the group chat enough and thought that we were just going to the Harry Potter thing near Wingstop at the junction heading to Chinatown. It was such a good experience. I remember that I could recite the Prisoner of Azkaban years ago because I watched it everyday when I was a kid. I was a crazy fan back then but not so much right now. The best thing about the whole experience was seeing Buckbeak and saying up and the broom raising. We bought some merch as well. I'm gonna give the Hufflepuff scarf I bought because he likes yellow stuff. We then took an Uber to the hotel and had dinner there. We freshened up before going to Heaven and it was so fun dancing and feeling the loud, young energy of the club. They played a lot of Rihanna and Christina Aguilera and that shit just keeps me glowing and youthful. I was on my 7th glass already and I'm still not drunk. I also saw Helric and we danced a bit before taking the bus to Holborn back to the hotel.
It was a super fun day and I'm glad that we got to celebrate Porcia's day with a blast like this. These girls will forever hold a dear piece of my heart.
December 11-14, 2023
I've procrastinated a lot with my blog and now everything that happened in the span of this time seems completely blurry to me but I'll try my best to write what I could still remember.
I was still in my neurosurgery rotation this time of the week and I think I scrubbed a total of 3 VP shunts and one mini craniotomy which I was really happy about. I met Martha which is the band 7 of their department and she's the kind of manager that I would want to work for. She just seems like an inspiration and she has a clear direction of what she wants for her staff to do to further their works for their department and so far I have heard nothing short of amazing about her.
The weekend that I worked a WLI which I was with Mark and Ate Imelda, apparently, Mark had been speaking behind my back about how "He has to teach me everything" and I see this as bullying at work. I confronted him and kind of gaslit me saying that he didn't mention all the things that I heard from Ate Imelda and Kuya Ernest about what he was saying about me. I was stern though. I told him, "Fine. If you have a problem about me and my work, you know you can talk to me directly about it, right?" I learned my lesson from how Banessa bullied me at work in Kingston. I will control the narrative this time.
That's about it that I could remember. The week was long and dragging, as usual.
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hoperays-song · 2 years
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Ryan’s Family (All OCs but cute anyway)
I have decided that Ryan has two moms and two sisters. Why? Bite me, that’s why. The poor boy deserves some happiness in life. 
Mom One aka Mom: Lila Lian-Xiu Willis
His biological mother.
37 year old (had Ryan when she was 19).
Runs a dance studio called In Motion Dance.
Former student of Klaus and a former Redshore Rockette (Elite Dance Group).
Quiet and calm most of the time, comes off as the picturesque dancer no matter what. 
Very kind-hearted and takes care of Ryan’s friends like they’re her own kids.
Ryan’s her splitting image.
Tigress.
Mom Two aka Manman: Ellie Alexandra Willis
His stepmother (married Lila when Ryan was 11).
39 years old.
College English and Classics professor.
Moved to the states from Haiti only three years before meeting Lila.
Taught Ryan Latin and Haitian Creole.
Much more like Ryan personality wise than Lila is.
Very passionate about her interests and hobbies.
Outgoing, kind, and professional, it’s easy to tell she’s a professor by talking to her.
Trans Lioness.
Sister One: Amy Fabienne Mei Willis
His oldest half sister. 
6 years old (born when Ryan was 12).
Loves soccer and dinosaurs.
Very social and outgoing like Ryan was as a kid.
Teases her siblings all the time but is very very protective of them (which Ryan finds adorable).
Talks non stop about wanting a trampoline (they live in a small apartment).
Liger (half tiger, half lion).
Sister Two: Bella Roseline Ai Willis
His youngest half sister.
4 years old (born when Ryan was 14).
Loves space and swans (no one knows why).
Very shy and skittish and is the opposite to Ryan and Amy most of the time since she acts like Lila.
Deaf and uses ASL.
Tends to be her sister’s rock and acts as her voice of reason despite being younger, sometimes using Amy’s protectiveness to get her to not do impulsive things.
Liger (half tiger, half lion)
Ryan’s other biological parent was a d-list actor and model who Lila performed with once. He has never wanted anything to do with his son and Ryan only knows the guy’s name. Since he was never in the picture, Ryan refuses to call Ellie his stepmom because to him that implies there was someone in the role before her. 
As for his sisters, because of the large age gap and how they are half tiger, a lot of times people assume they are actually Ryan’s daughters when they see him with them. Ryan and the girls are always really quick to correct people when it comes to that. Amy and Bella are the center of Ryan’s universe, but he rarely got to see them when he worked for Klaus. He would send postcards whenever he went to a new place though and the back of the girls’ bedroom door is covered in them. Now that he’s working in Redshore full time with Out of this World, Ryan get’s to see them multiple times a week and spends 95% of his free time with his family for that reason.
As for Johnny, Lila, Ellie, and the girls absolutely adore the boy. Ryan brought him over for dinner (before they were dating) when Johnny was starting to get homesick from being so far away from his family for so long. They immediately fell in love with him and now insist on including him in literally ever single family event. Bella in particular is the fondest of Johnny and will cling to him every time she sees him. She really likes hugging him while he’s singing (it tends to put her to sleep). Amy loves teasing him about his accent (especially with soccer vs football) and likes that he can climb as fast as her on the jungle gyms at parks. Lila finds him sweet and likes how he cares so much about her son. Ellie especially started to adore the boy when she found out that Johnny was learning Haitian Creole to be able to talk to her in her first language. Needless to say, they all wanted the two to get together for a good while before they actually did.
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razieltwelve · 1 year
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Writing Conditions
I occasionally get asked about what sort of writing conditions I have. That is, what sort of conditions do I write in?
I’ll start off by saying that I do not write in a giant mansion, sitting atop bags of money. I’ve done okay for myself writing, but I’m far from rich. However, one can hope. Movie studios… if you’re listening, I’m totally open for a movie deal.
In all seriousness, I think that every writer has conditions that suit them best when it comes writing. Some like listening to music while they write. Others prefer to work in silence. Some like working outside in the sunshine and amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Others prefer to work at home without anyone else around. If you’re a writer and you’ve found an environment that works for you, then stick with it. Writing is such an idiosyncratic thing that there’s really no ‘right way’ to do things, and each writer will have their own ideal conditions.
As for me?
Back when I was young and spry (i.e., a university student who could live off four hours of sleep a night or even go days without sleep if necessary), I used to do most of my writing sitting on my bed with my laptop in my lap. I won’t say it was particularly good for my back or my shoulders, but it was a habit I’d developed over the years, and I was very, very comfortable working like that. That habit persisted even after university because it was something I was so accustomed to.
However, as I got older and I picked up a variety of injuries, that stopped being a comfortable way of doing things. Nowadays, I have a store room/study that I write in. That might sound a bit dire, but it’s a tidy, orderly place, and I have a big table where I put my laptop, as well as a chair that’s a bit worn down but in a comfortable sort of way. The table itself doesn’t have much in the way of decoration on it. There’s really nothing on it that doesn’t need to be there except a knitted whale plush toy about the size of my fist that my sister got me. He sits atop a pile of notebooks and is positioned so he can watch me write.
The study isn’t completely isolated from outside noise. I can hear what’s going on outside, but it won’t sound particularly loud. For example, a lawnmower being used next door will be audible, but it won’t be at an obnoxious high volume. I like that since I’m not a big fan of total silence. I prefer being able to hear a bit of ambient noise.
I don’t listen to music when I write. I might listen to it before I start writing or while I’m taking a break, but I just don’t like listening to music while writing. I find it a bit distracting. I don’t listen to podcasts or anything either. The only voice I want to hear when I’m writing is that little voice in my head that’s telling me what to do. That said, I can write while listening to music or podcasts. In fact, that’s something I often do when writing other things (e.g., blog posts). But when it comes to writing fiction, I prefer to have nothing but ambient noise around.
I should also mention something about how long I write for in a single sitting. I’ll usually write for a few hours at a time. During a normal day, I’ll write in the morning and again in the evening with a break during the middle of the day. I’m also of fond of writing very late at night. For instance, I’ve written quite a few chapters of various stories while working from 11 PM to 4AM in the morning. Perhaps it’s a holdover from my university days or perhaps I’m a bit of a night owl, but I’ve also enjoyed working during the graveyard shift, so to speak.
Back in my younger days, though, I used to sit down and write for hours and hours. I’m talking about writing for eight to twelve hours straight with brief breaks for the bathroom and food. As I got older, though, sitting down and writing for such long periods of time without longer breaks in the middle would give me wrist and back pain. I also went through at least a few periods where I’m pretty sure I had RSI for a while when I used to do that.
The scary thing is that even now, if things are going really well, I can write for hours and hours without realising how long I’ve been doing it, and I’ll feel fine. It’s only afterward that everything starts to hurt, which is why I’m more conscious of taking breaks. I won’t say that marathon writing sessions are healthy in the long term, but I will also acknowledge that I went through a period of rapid development as a writer while doing them.
With regards to advice, I think that every writer should tinker with their environment to see what suits them best. Try music and then try not having music. Try writing outside and then try inside. Don’t be afraid to experiment until you’ve found the environment that makes you most productive.
If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.
I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here. I’ve also just released a new story, Attempted Rescuing!
P. S. Behold the power of the whale! He sees all!
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itsclydebitches · 2 years
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I posted 1,791 times in 2022
358 posts created (20%)
1,433 posts reblogged (80%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@thequietestlilbucket
@gorgeousgalatea
@combefaerie
@kateinator
@ninjathrowingstork
I tagged 1,603 of my posts in 2022
Only 10% of my posts had no tags
#our flag means death - 259 posts
#ofmd - 255 posts
#rwby - 220 posts
#mymetas - 203 posts
#rwde - 177 posts
#videos - 127 posts
#fic things - 62 posts
#comics - 60 posts
#ted lasso - 54 posts
#gaming - 45 posts
Longest Tag: 108 characters
#and that's not even getting into woman being more active in history (including wars!) than we tend to assume
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
In honor of the Netflix show coming out soon and my enthusiastic re-read, I’d like to gift tumblr with some of my favorite Dream panels from The Absolute Sandman Vol. 1.
We’ve got:
Local Personification Gets Bread Thrown At Him By Badass, Older Sister. More at 11:00.
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“Mm hmm this is my listening face. Go on, tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”
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811 notes - Posted July 20, 2022
#4
Post-canon universe where Mary ends up becoming a tattoo artist.
It starts when Ed winds up visiting the Bonnet household. Maybe he went there after Stede’s “death” only to learn that the Gentleman Pirate is out looking for him. Maybe this is post-reunion and they’ve just popped by to check on the kids. Whatever the reason, Ed ends up hitting it off with Mary and is particularly enamored with her art studio because holy shit you did the lighthouse painting!
He needs a version of that on his body. Now.
And Mary is like, I’m sorry, Mr. Blackbeard sir, but the human body is a slightly different canvas from what I’m used to and I’ve never—
But Ed is already waving her off. You think pirates know what the fuck they’re doing either? Nah. You get a buddy sloshed on rum, promise him it’s gonna look great, tattoo something on his ass, and then keep out of reach when he first sees it in a shaving mirror. It looks like shit. Of course it does! But then you do it to someone else and it looks a little less shitty. Then again and again until hey, that’s some talent right there! So go to town. Can’t look any worse than what Izzy first put on his back.
By this point Ed has hopped up onto a table and pulled a kit seemingly out of nowhere. He’s also got his shirt off—this is fine—and Mary has to admit, some of his tats really are awful. Not all of them! But enough that she can precisely pick out where some drunk sailor was trying out a needle for the first time. And yeah, she could easily justify this through fear, telling herself that it’s not like she can say no to the intimidating, legendary Blackbeard. Dating Stede or not, the guy could slash her throat in an instant. Actually, dating Stede is a mark against any mental stability.
The reality though is that it isn’t fear that convinces her. Mary just looks at the spots of crappy ink and thinks, Fuck. I could do better than that.
So she does. 
Mary might not know tattooing yet, but she’s got an eye for art and she picks up the mechanics quickly. At her request Alma brings in a bottle of something far nicer than rum—casting an interested look towards the pirate that reminds Mary, with a trickle of worry, that she always was her father’s daughter—and they spend a surprisingly pleasant afternoon with Mary experimenting and Ed commenting on her paintings. Is that flower a vagina, Mary? Yes it is, god, no one else gets that!
Mary tattoos a lighthouse onto Ed’s arm, entwining it with one of his tentacles. It’s nothing fancy, but Ed leaves the Bonnet household pleased as fucking punch.
Which means, of course, that a few months later Stede shows back up (in a terrible disguise) begging her to give him his own lighthouse on the opposite arm.
Stede Bonnet, are you really asking for the symbol of our now defunct marriage after you left me, came back, came out as gay, and then had the gall to fall in love with the most dangerous pirate on the seven seas?
…Yes?
Yeah, alright, fine. Get on the table.
Mary has been practicing since she last saw Ed, discovering that she loves the permanence of tattooing—putting her art on a moving canvas; a part of someone’s very identity, not just their home. Though it’s hardly considered good form in their community, she even managed to find a tutor after promising Doug that she wouldn’t fall in love with this one. Or if she does, she’s not going to throw him over for the new guy. You should really talk to Stede’s friend Lucius, Doug. He has fantastic ideas about the whole thing.
Stede tells Mary all about their lighthouse fuckery while she works and she finds that this story is a damn bit more romantic than their awkward wedding vows. In the end, this lighthouse is far more detailed than Ed’s, with steadier lines and a bit of shading, and Mary can’t help but think that it fits their personalities quite well. Stede is so happy he forgets himself and plants an exuberant kiss on Mary’s cheek. She just laughs.
From there other members of The Revenge show up when it’s safe for them to sneak into town, all of them wanting ink from a member of their Captain’s family. Their family, now. After she’s given Jim a pair of crossed knives and Oluwande a small orange tree on his back; Frenchie a recreation of his lute and the Swede the notes of his favorite song, word starts to spread to other crews. Wherever The Revenge goes they show off their ink. Even when they don’t, Mary’s developing a style that’s noticeable in any tavern or seedy alleyway—far nicer work than what anyone else has got.
The first time an unknown pirate shows up on their doorstep in the dead of night, Mary very nearly stabs him with one of the knives Jim gifted her. She whisper-yells at the poor bastard about manners and coming during business hours, really, what is wrong with you? After a sheepish apology, she brews an obscene amount of coffee and inks a child’s portrait onto the man’s arm. It’s by far the most challenging tat she’s done to date and somewhere around 4:00am, bleary-eyed and energized, Mary thinks that she’ll never want to do anything else again.
More pirates come after that. Doug worries. Mary reassures. As a compromise, she starts taking clients while her widow group meets. The presences of nine or so women who have nothing to lose—alongside Evelyn glaring from the corner—is more than enough to keep even the toughest ruffian in line.
Which isn’t to say that every client is a good experience. Oh no. Mary learns and more importantly, she listens, figuring out which pirates have beef with an ally of The Revenge, or who would sooner sell out their own than part with a single coin. On the truly worrisome visitors, the ones who do nothing to endear themselves during the long session or any of the repeat visits, Mary adds a small flower to their designs. Just her signature, she assures them, but everyone on The Revenge knows that it’s a message: don’t trust this one, watch your back.
Most though are surprisingly pleasant to spend time with. Sweethearts just dealing with a fair bit of trauma, as her ex-husband might say. When they thank her and try to press purses into her hand, Mary just shakes her head. It’s not like she needs the money. Instead, she draws out promises that they’ll do right by The Revenge and its co-captains, should they ever cross paths. When her family visits, Mary hears many tales about the crews that unexpectedly assisted during a tough raid, offered a good deal on supplies, bought them all drinks when they came into port.
Mary is the laughingstock of the town. She’s the woman whose husband ran out on her to become a criminal and then didn’t even have the decency to stay away, instead dying in a thoroughly tactless fashion. She’s the woman who gave up a lucrative painting career to instead take up a lowlife’s art form—if it could even be called such—with all manner of scoundrels calling on her. She’ll end badly, wait and see.
Mary is beloved by the pirate community. She’s the darling of Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate, more than capable of holding her own with both. She’s the woman whose ink you want etched into your skin—always safe to visit, always compassionate, and unspeakably talented. She’ll go far, wait and see.
Of course, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Mary teaches Louis how to draw and makes Alma promise that she’ll finish her education before following her father to sea; she takes Doug to bed each night and with his encouragement visits Evelyn many afternoons. She’s happy.
Shockingly, so is everyone else. Mary isn’t entirely sure what to make of the waspish man who shows up on her doorstep one afternoon, but he’s easily recognizable based on Stede and Ed’s descriptions. Israel Hands has just three tattoos: the ace of spades to mark his time in the Navy, the swallow for a well-traveled pirate, and a lopsided cross on his cheek that Mary almost asks about, before thinking better of it.
He wants a fourth tattoo. A lighthouse on the back of his neck.
It’s been a long time since Mary first started tattooing. It’s not that she forgot about her previous lighthouses, of course not, but any additional meaning doesn’t register as she works up a design to show Izzy. After all, he’s a sailor. A pirate. Most of them want something to connect them to the sea and there are only so many objects that do that.
The placement is a bit odd though. Mary warns him that he’ll have to keep his hair short for the tattoo to show, shaving the fine hairs regularly. Izzy just grunts and mutters for her to get to it. Mary doesn’t realize the significance of him allowing her to hold a razor to his neck, in his blind-spot no less. At this point, she’s considered an extension of the only two allowed to do the same.
This lighthouse is perfect. After years of work Mary is easily able to navigate the muscles in Izzy’s neck; the thin scar that—she shivers—is just a little too close to his jugular. Mary knows how to make her art catch the eye when Izzy stands tall and how to keep it from looking absurd whenever he twists his head. She doesn’t know this man well, but Mary senses that this piece should be meticulous and detailed, not a single line out of place. So she pours everything into the image, holding Izzy steady with a grip he doesn’t flinch from.
It's only months later, when the family comes back to visit, that Mary realizes what she’s helped accomplish. Izzy stands between his two captains and from the back she sees that all the lighthouses are balanced, like the top of a nautical star.
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880 notes - Posted May 29, 2022
#3
Okay, so as the canon recedes from memory and fandom jokes take hold — la de da the world turns — I’ve seen an influx of takes that have steadily moved away from “Izzy’s tragic because this whole debacle is technically his fault (going after Stede’s hostages)” and “Izzy is sympathetic in part because he’s so bad at villain-ing” straight into serious claims of, “Wow, Izzy is just totally incompetent, huh?”
No, no, no, Izzy is terrifyingly competent.
We as a fandom need to remember our meta roots; one of the very first things ever acknowledged in the community: this is a character who has suddenly been thrust into a new genre.
For me, it’s basically the storytelling version of the “Who would win, Goku or Saitama?” question. The answer has nothing to do with power, skill, or competence and everything to do with what would be funny, because Saitama exists in a universe where, unless it’s more entertaining for him to lose, he automatically wins — always, forever, it’s the default state. That doesn’t make Goku, a guy with the power of the gods in his own universe, incompetent by any stretch of the imagination. It just means he’s suddenly been hog-tied by the rules of a new reality.
Izzy is the Goku to Stede’s Saitama.
Izzy scopes out Stede’s marooned crew (because he didn’t remember to have someone steer the boat), buys the hostages he lost, and homoerotically skillfully cuts up his shirt with hard-earned sword skills. Stede wins when Pete throws a rock.
Izzy corners Stede in the duel before he’s even realized they’ve started, hits him across the face, disarms him, and skewers him to the mast by successfully stabbing him. Stede wins because the handle of Izzy’s sword broke and there’s supposedly nothing important on the left side of the body.
Izzy is a complete asshole about chores because in his ‘real world’ a lack of munitions, or barnacles on the ship’s side, leads to death. Or at least lost raids (which they also need to afford basic supplies). Stede exists in the world where you can walk off stab wounds, find an oasis of oranges at your assassin’s church, and row straight to your lost crew without a need for anything like supplies, rest, or a map.
Pre-Stede Izzy successfully intimidates Fang, gets him to obey his commands ( “Fang!” *hiss*), and Fang admits that complaining about the abuse wouldn’t do any good. Post-Stede Fang, Lucius, Pete, Wee John, etc. can’t be intimidated because they know that here, such threats are meaningless.
Izzy manages to wrangle together Calico Jack, Spanish Jackie, and the British — three very different parties with beef against each other and him — all in an effort to get Stede executed. Stede survives because Ed pulls out a trump card that we learned about [checks notes] right now.
Stede beats Izzy again and again and again because Stede is working under the rules of the Romantic Comedy. Is it funny if Stede were to win a duel through absurd means? Yes? Then that’s what happens. Would Izzy winning here interfere with the romance between Ed and Stede? Yes? Then that can’t happen. It’s as simple as that. Unless we circle away from the stages of Epiphany (Stede’s talk with Mary) and Resolution (heading back to Ed for the presumed reunion) and Izzy becomes a more serious Obstacle to their love, everything he attempts is doomed from the get-go. Even if he were to be written as a more serious threat to the romance, the comedy inevitably obliterates any real chance he’d have. Unless OFMD doesn’t just pull lightly from other genres as it has in season one, but takes a hard turn into something new... Izzy is fighting a losing battle. He’s Goku powering up to fucking super saiyan and then being understandably confused when Stede manages to trip over his own feet, starting a Loony Toon-esque domino fall that somehow ends with Izzy K.O.’ed. How did this happen? Fuck if he knows. The logic he’s worked under all his life says it’s impossible and yet... here he lies.
Honestly, I ramble because competence is SUCH an important part of Izzy’s character. Competence is what’s allowed him to survive into his 50′s (unless he’s really 16 lol), help build the Blackbeard legend, and gain the kind of respect that has the crew (initially) jumping at his command. Izzy knows that he’s competent. His entire, prickly personality is built on being competent, particularly when competence is used as a defense mechanism. (No need to grapple with feelings when he can just kill someone.) More importantly, he knows that, under ordinary circumstances, not being competent gets you killed. He’s watching Ed trade in protective leather for lace shirts, fill up on marmalade, turn sword training into a flirting session, admire model ships instead of formulating plans — all these things that should, according to the rules Izzy has spent his entire life living by, get them all killed. We know Stede wouldn’t survive a day in the world of “real” pirates, where Izzy originally hails from. Izzy knows it too. We know Stede survives anyway because this is a rom-com and he’s the lead. But Izzy doesn’t know what genre he’s in; certainly not that the genre has changed — and fuck, if the rules of the universe changed once before, who’s to say they won’t suddenly change again? What if he wakes up one day on a frilly ship, with a useless crew, a domesticated Blackbeard, and the world is a horrifying mess of cruelty and violence again? They’d be screwed. He’s running around bitching about plans, munitions, ship speed, killing pets, formal duels, and yes, avoiding “namby-pamby” soft things because dammit of course those things matter. They always have. Yes everyone needs specific duties because otherwise the ship falls apart and they all die. What do you mean the ship isn’t falling apart while everyone eats marmalade and has gay sex? That’s not possible.
Imagine you were a crazy competent member of society according to current social norms. Maybe you’re highly educated, have a six-figure job, are meeting all the expectations for a family, you’re considered conventionally attractive, you eat well, go to the gym every day, have impressive hobbies, give to charity on the regular, maintain a thriving friend group — in every way that your peers might judge your worth within this specific social circle, you are killing it. Then you wake up one random morning and, as Badminton puts it, you’ve entered Backwards Land. People suddenly laugh at your well-balanced lunch because pff, what do you mean you’re not just eating a bucket of candy like the rest of us? Certain public displays that would have been unthinkable 24 hours ago are suddenly occurring on every street corner. You walk in to a promotion meeting with a detailed report on why your work of the last 30 years is worth recognition. The new hire suggests they have a face-paint party instead of running the company and your boss is like, “Well damn if that isn’t the best suggestion anyone’s ever given me. You’re promoted!”
What?
Izzy is fascinating in part because he’s a HYPER-COMPETENT individual who took to his toxic, violent, homophobic, highly repressed society like a duck to water, only to find one day that the rules of the universe had changed (for the better) but whoops, nothing he’s good at suddenly has a foothold anymore. You’re an expert at running a ship? Ships are just a backdrop to romance and it doesn’t matter if there’s, you know, ammunition, or whatever. Supplies — like oranges — only matter if they’re forwarding relationships. You’re an expert swordsman? Yeah, good luck winning a rigged fight where literally anything goes provided it’s funny enough (and you, as a tightly-strung rule follower, are not funny). Your entire identity is built around intimidating and executing people? The queer polycule thinks your threats are hilarious and if you strand people on a desert island their lighthouse captain will just row to them in a single scene; the guy tossed overboard will just climb into the walls and sustain himself on paper or something. You’re Alice in Wonderland except you don’t remember falling down the hole. The fact that Lucius’ cut off finger is used for a moment of (wonderfully gross) humor and he’s totally fine when he wakes up, whereas Izzy’s severed toe is more straightforwardly horrific and requires a cane, just highlight that they’re living in different genres. For Lucius, a severed finger is a moment of comedy (Dutch fuckery) and romance (Pete whittling him a replacement). For Izzy, a severed toe is a moment of devotion to a toxic relationship (eating it on Blackbeard’s command) and a #SeriousInjury that he literally can’t walk off. Izzy’s got the worst of both worlds at the moment: governed by his original, gritty genre and unable to circumvent or reap the rewards of the rom-com.
Which only leaves the question of whether Izzy will remain the tragic figure — but still very humorous for the viewer — who is either killed or permanently exiled due to his inability to adapt? Or will he grudgingly (oh so grudgingly) turn himself over to this new set of rules? I’m personally hoping for the latter BUT with moments here and there where the gritty drama bleeds into the rom-com; moments where things suddenly do become legitimately perilous and Izzy’s honed skills once again become necessary for survival. Like Ed who moves from the poetry-loving Edward into the murderous Kraken, Izzy has the potential to move between and/or straddle genres in some pretty entertaining ways.
930 notes - Posted May 8, 2022
#2
Season 2 concept where Stede gets up to some pirate shenanigans while trying to hunt down The Revenge, resulting in a number of WANTED posters for The Gentleman Pirate. Ed is losing his mind over the sketch of a disheveled, bearded Stede. Izzy is furiously trying to tear it out of his hands (he’s too short). Frenchie is openly sobbing that his captain is alright and apparently doing impressive pirate-y things, good for him. Meanwhile, Jim:
“That fucker is worth 700 doubloons?!? I was only 50! Oh, we’re finding him alright and I’ll show him exactly how someone earns a fucking price on their head — !” 
933 notes - Posted May 12, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
How fucking funny would it be if post-reunion, after everyone has settled down on The Revenge and accepted their weird found family, Izzy still pulled out the “I’m resigning, Ed!” speech every few months, like a kid marching down the end of their driveway to “run away forever, I’m definitely leaving this time, Dad!” Because he’s a supremely repressed gremlin of a man who doesn’t know how to receive validation unless he’s made a dramatic production of it via this intricate ritual. So everyone just accepts that on occasion Izzy will throw a hissy fit, passive aggressively pack up the dinghy, and Ed’s gotta go down there all, “Nooo, mate, we totally need you, don’t leave, what the fuck am I gonna do without my fearsome First Mate?🙄” Really laying it on thick so Izzy can soak up enough Toxically Approved Praise to survive another couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the crew is just watching this sad production, exchanging knowing glances. They’ve TRIED to be nice to Izzy—the whole mutiny thing was so last year, dude!—but outside of The Ritual he will straight up bite off anyone’s head who so much as tries to smile at him.
“Oh, you think I’ve got a flight or bite response? Mr. Hands earned his last name for a reason, laddie,” Buttons says while staring pointedly at Lucius’ finger. That’s obviously bullshit, but Buttons likes fucking with them on occasion. It’s great fun.
Stede’s place in The Ritual varies depending on everyone’s mood. Usually, he treats it like another fuckery production, making a big ta-do about how if Izzy really insists on leaving them—and wouldn't that be terrible? Simply terrible... right, everyone?—then he must take plenty of supplies with him and a bottle of the good brandy and this warm coat because it can get quite chilly at night, don’t you know? This allows Izzy to fly into a very cathartic rage about real pirates vs. gentry twats, leading to him oh so magnanimously deciding to stick around, if only to continue saving Ed from this dithering fool. Sometimes though Izzy has legit pissed Stede off, just like in the old days, and the crew has to run damage control to keep another duel from starting, Izzy having entirely forgotten his desire to leave under the allure of skewering Stede. That too is cathartic, but Ed tends to get tetchy when Stede stabs or is stabbed by anyone other than him.
Every once in a while Izzy will dig his heels in and actually launch the dinghy, heading towards… nothing, because we’re nowhere near land, you idiot, are we really doing this today? So the crew has got to drop everything else they’ve got going on and just… follow him. Izzy spends a couple hours angrily trying to out-row a top of the line ship while the others watch from the deck, occasionally yelling out corrections to his form: “Keep your shoulders steady—you’ll get farther away if you improve your posture.” “I know that!” They let him wear himself out and then tow him in for dinner.
One time Lucius and Pete are ~distracted~ while on the night watch and Izzy is actually able to slip away unnoticed. He's so pissed about it that he leaves in a true huff, that anger taking him all the way to the Republic. Two days later Buttons gets a seagull from Spanish Jackie basically saying that their wayward First Mate is stinking up her bar, you’d better pick him up before I kill a bitch. Ed and Stede arrive like fussy dads whose darling sent the playdate into turmoil; come along, Israel, that’s enough fun for one weekend.
Sometimes Jim is already hiding in the dinghy when Izzy tries to “escape” and the two of them spend a day talking shit, The Revenge floating nearby. Sometimes other pirates will find Izzy in random places and sternly steer him back towards the ship: “Do your parents Captains know you’re out here?” Once Izzy made the mistake of loading his get-away bag with half the strawberries put aside for a new cake and Roach very nearly took a limb in vengeance. Frenchie has a couple tunes that he only plays during The Ritual, to set the mood and all. Lucius has immortalized a number of the attempts in sketch form and slips them underneath Izzy’s door when he’s sure he’s not there to retaliate.
Years later, when all the crew have a lot more gray in their hair, Izzy flips them off and starts packing his things, same old, same old. Ed sidles up to Pete on the quarterdeck, sighing down at the display.
“Can you believe he’s still doing this?” he asks, shaking his head. “I thought he got it out of his system back on the Queen Anne.”
“Remember that time the rope broke and he lost us that dinghy?”
“Ha! I was ready to flog the bastard.”
And that’s how the crew learns that yes, Black Pete really did serve under Blackbeard holy shit.
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boricuacherry-blog · 2 years
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Holly Rae Ellsworth-Clark has been missing from her home in Hamilton, Ontario for eight months before she was found in suspicious circumstances.
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The 27-year-old musician had hazel eyes with dark blonde/light brown hair and distinctive bangs. She grew up in Calgary where she completed an honours degree in political science at the University of Calgary, where she also was in the wrestling team. After college she relocated to Toronto some time in 2019 to join a band and be with her boyfriend. Neither the project nor the relationship worked out, so she moved to central Hamilton in October 2019, where she had been offered a room in a house with other musicians who aspired to form a band called Deep Bight and record at their in-house studio. The project, once again, didn't work out, so Holly Clark decided to concentrate on writing and performing solo, which she had been doing for some years. She described the music as between Velvet Underground and 90s grunge.
She uploaded videos and performances to her YouTube channel, while also performing locally at shows. She had been writing an album right before she disappeared. Her sister Kate said spending time outdoors was one of the ways Holly would combat feelings of loneliness. They used to go hiking and camping as a family, but never had Holly gone off without informing anyone.
In December of 2019, her family noticed a change in her behavior on phone calls. The usually warm and outgoing girl had become emotional and fearful when making calls home.
A few days before she went missing, her roommates called 911 after she broke into her own bedroom through the window, presumably being chased by said males. Holly was an athlete. She was a 6ft, 200lbs, three-time wrestling champion, and an outdoorsy girl. She talked to her father on the phone and told him about this incident. Her father believes that if she was scared, she was scared for a reason.
Other than the reported incident of the two men chasing her, her roommates did not report anything else strange or odd about Holly's behavior leading up to her disappearance.
One day before she went missing on January 11, she left a voice-mail to her parents. Unfortunately, they only noticed it a week after she had already vanished. The concerning message said:
"I would really like a plane to get out of Hamilton. I would really, really like a plane ticket out of Hamilton to Calgary please and I would like to come home and visit you and Dave [her father]..."
She seemed to be pleading, and was heard crying. The message continued:
"I'm missing you so much [sob] so that's all I want in the world is to see you and Dave because I love you so much [sobs]..."
Holly then tries to regain her composure, stating:
"So, um, if you could please, um - uh - help me out with a plane ticket that would be really, really, greatly appreciated. Okay, I love you. I love you and I look forward to hearing from you. Okay, bye..."
CCTV of Holly showed her walking down a road near Wentworth Street and Shaw Street at around 4:50pm, the day she went missing [and the day before her dad was going to pick her up]. She was wearing a garbage bag over her upper body as a makeshift poncho as she walked down the rain slicked street. Her father confirmed he had taught her to do this when it rained.
She didn't bring her phone or any credit cards with her, and she made no money withdrawals before or after her disappearance. She only had $45 on her. She was seen walking from her home located on the corner of Sanford and Bristol, crossing Barton street, cutting through Woodlands Park, before popping up on Wentworth Street and Shaw, with CCTV footage suddenly showing her with a garbage bag half full and slung over her shoulder. Six minutes later, surveillance outside of Wentworth Metal Recycling picks her up again. She's then seen crossing the railroad tracks on Wentworth, no longer with the garbage bag. She then vanishes. The businesses further up the road don't catch her walking by. In that small blind spot that no surveillance could catch, she disappeared. Some speculated she could have gotten into a car. She was wearing a black shirt, black pants, and black ankle boots.
Some people have said they avoid going north on Wentworth Avenue due to alleged drug trafficking and drug issues in the area.
There were three alleged sightings reported to police of Holly at Budget Hotel in east Hamilton. The hotel was not searched, as police were unable to obtain warrants. Later that day, at around midnight, another tip came in regarding the same motel, claiming they saw Holly Clark "drugged out of her mind, dragged along by another man."
Her body would later be discovered floating in Hamilton Harbour at Pier 11. Her lower legs were missing. An autopsy indicated it would be impossible to tell how she had died, as her body had been in the water so long. No injuries could be determined and there were no drugs found in her system.
Her father mentioned that Holly had plans the day she disappeared, saying:
"Holly's apartment is full of plants waiting to be watered, seeds waiting to be planted, handmade lyric books and groceries she bought for an event on January 11, the night she disappeared. It's like packing up someone's dreams and aspirations."
Her obituary describes her as:
"6-7 time national heavy-weight title holder and Pan American champ in wrestling. Beginner in Jiu Jitsu, Coach in MMA. Comedienne. Gardener. Painter and inveterate drawer of pictures. Writer of an uncatalogued number of surprising and beautiful songs. 1.5x a person but champion of everything small. Proudly intolerant of bullies of any kind. Babysitter, Baker, Bike-Breaker, and a fierce competitor in hand soccer, pioneer of the knee-tilt in women's wrestling, and ready to talk back to her coach in the middle of a match. Fierce competitor, and fiercely encouraging of her competitors. And a proud Calgarian."
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fmhiphop · 2 years
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Nas Now Shares Billboard Honor With Jay-Z
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Hip-hop legend Nas has achieved a new milestone in his career. The rapper is now tied with Jay-Z for the most top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart. His latest album King’s Disease III debuted at #10 on the latest Billboard 200 chart with 29,000 first-week units earned. Both Nas and Jay-Z have had 16 Top 10 albums, with Nas having six of those being number one and 14 for Hov. They are also the second and third musicians to have their albums reach the top 10. The Beatles take the top spot with 19. While the long feud between the two is somewhat friendly, it is great to see black rappers achieve great excellence. Nas vs. Jay-Z It has not been a secret that Jay and Nas have had beef with each other in the past. With tracks like Ether, the two now poke fun at each other.He briefly brought up the topic in his track "Thun." “No beef or rivals, they playing ‘Ether’ on Tidal. Brothers can do anything when they decide to. In a Range Rover, dissecting bars from ‘Takeover.’ Sometimes I text Hova like, ‘N####, this ain’t over,’ laughing.” He then went on The Daily Show after being nominated for Best Rap Album, saying that Hov threw him some shade.“When I released the tracklist for that album the other day, he released a picture with all his Grammys… Yeah, shout out to him,” he said. Nas is not the only artist who tied with Jay-Z. Artists Catching Up To Jay-Z Aside from Nas, Taylor Swift has tied Jay-Z for the most consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200. Both have had 11 studio albums consecutively top the chart. His wife, Queen Bey, ties him for the most nominations received in Grammy history. This comes after Beyonce's nine Grammy nominations for the 2023 ceremony including Album, Record and Song of the Year for her universally acclaimed album Renaissance. Drake is also tied with the rapper for most number-one albums on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart. After the release of his joint album with 21 Savage Her Loss earlier this month, Drizzy now has 14 number ones. The album debuted at the top spot with 404,000 sold in the first week. Written By: Roy Lott Read the full article
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project1939 · 5 months
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100+ Films of 1952
Film number 113: Models, Inc. 
Release date: May 19th, 1952. 
Studio: Mutual, distributed by Universal 
Genre: noir 
Director: Reginald Le Borg 
Producer: Bernard W. Burton, Hal E. Chester 
Actors: Howard Duff, Colleen Gray, John Howard 
Plot Summary: A beautiful young con-artist enrolls in a modeling school to seduce its wealthy owner, but when her old boyfriend gets out of prison, he has a scheme of his own. Can she really keep her criminal past away from her new rich husband? 
My Rating (out of 5 stars): ***½  
OK, this one was fun! For a lower budget noir, this is about as good as it can get. The acting was above par, the story was interesting, and we were blessed with amazing cheesy dialogue and a thrilling ending. It’s far from a towering achievement in film, but it’s hella entertaining. I’m definitely watching it again. (Some minor spoilers) 
The Good: 
Rusty, the con-woman at the center of everything. Both her character and the actress who played her were perfect for this kind of film. First of all, Rusty is a great name for a shady woman in a noir! She’s basically morally bankrupt, but it sure is fun to watch her. 
Howard Duff as Lennie the ex who has been part of Rusty’s crimes. He recently impressed me in Steel Town, where he left me wishing he had gotten the girl in the end. Here he plays a bad guy with strength and aplomb. You love to hate him. 
John Howard was effective as John Stafford, the millionaire in the modeling industry who succumbs to Rusty’s charms. 
This was a classic sleazy crime-ridden noir in all the best ways, 
A terrifically cheesy romance montage- as Rusty and John begin dating we see them go to a horse race, then an art museum, then a classical music concert, and finally a shopping scene where John lets her pick out lots of expensive clothes. 
One of my favorite things about noirs is their tendency to have odd everyday characters randomly appear for comic relief or suspenseful delays. This one had a great scene near the end with a man in a bank and a slow customer ahead of Rusty as she's trying to flee. 
The details about the modeling school classes were a treat to watch. (Go to the bottom of this post for the details!)
The ending was Perfect! 
During a climactic shootout in an alley, we get glimpses of ads papered to the walls. As a character dodges bullets, a sign right next to him has a pouring teapot and reads, “Time for Tea,” which killed me. 
There was so much great hilariously “noir” tough-talkin' dialogue. Like- “You can’t blow into town, promise me a job modeling your crummy lingerie, and after a fast pitch slough it off as a sweet dream.” Also, “That’s right, Lennie, neither of us has changed very much. Oh, a better suit or a dress maybe, but in here where it really counts, we’re still the same kids, looking for shortcuts to the rainbow.” 
The Bad: 
There was maybe a bit too much vagueness of what actually went on with the photo taking racket Lennie starts. I know censors at the time couldn’t outright say prostitution was involved, but... 
How could John Stafford, a man who made a fortune creating models, be so stupid as to fall in love with Rusty? Her intentions seemed fairly transparent. I know love can blind a person, but you’d think he'd been around the block enough to figure it out. 
During a police car chase scene, you could clearly see that no one in either car was wearing a seatbelt. Afterall, seatbelts wouldn’t be mandatory for fourteen years! (The resources I could find said it was 1966.) It sent me into a mini-panic just watching it! 
------As a silly bonus, here’s the schedule on the chalkboard at the Stafford Modeling School: 
9:30-10:30 Poise and Personality 
10:30-10:45 Exercise 
10:45-11:30 Hairstyling 
11:30-12:45 Posture 
12:45-2:00 Makeup 
2:00-2:45 Modeling Stance 
So there’s 15 minutes of exercise, but 75 minutes for posture? 
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openingnightposts · 8 months
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