everything is still so good!!! heartbeat is super fast and strong and is now firmly in the upper band of healthy/normal. behold the little seahorse (now less seahorse-y because its tail is almost gone) floating around in there attached to its little yolk sac inner tube!!

man a nightclub running AU tho.

Black Pete and Jim as bouncers, Roach bartends, Frenchie and Wee John help arrange for talent/performers (thinking like more club/concert space for smaller shows)

the Swede and Buttons handle stuff like set up and lights (the lighting system is weird as fuck, and they are the only two who can make it work without potentially breaking the entire thing)

Lucius is some unique combo of things: he'll bartend with Roach, help shout assholes out of the club while Pete and Jim handle the physical tossing bit. But he also helps Olu with the finances (Olu's main job because he saw Stede's attempt at it and knew they'd sink in a month if he didn't step in, and he really doesn't feel like job searching again so soon. Plus, Stede is very excited abt his new club even tho he knows next to nothing abt the actual running of one, and the enthusiasm is sweet), and will generally pick up anything else that needs doing as long as he doesn't outright hate doing it

Ed runs a competing club across the street but as soon as he sees Stede and his crew and how they work (and also how cute Stede is), he's like ayyy

what if I sell my space and help you run your newer, nicer space? I can give you Izzy as an extra bouncer, he does a good job at my club (he does. he may be short but he will literally haul ppl outside and yeet them a good foot while calling them a twat so loudly anyone nearby now knows this person is apparently an asshole. several times this has unleashed a passing drunken bachelorette party on the tossed out asshole, who don't know what's going on but will happily give this person a dressing down for harshing the overall vibe

It also nets Fang and Ivan as additional stage crew and bartenders and tbh whatever else they feel like doing. they've done the work for ages, they know their shit, so having their help in any area is a gift

Badminton's shithead twin (im gonna probs misspell it, Chauncey? dickfuck #2 lol) rolls in with some Footloose levels of i don't want clubs near my home and schools!!! Meanwhile the fucking club is all the way down town, and his dumb ass lives literally miles away on the outskirts of town on a big lot with horses and rich ppl shit, and his kids go away to a private school. it seems like he's literally just making a fuss to make a fuss, but either way now they have to deal with his shit. and he is batshit, he keeps trying to do things to fuck up their service and revenue like stealing the visiting talent's gear, attempting and failing poorly to set the club on fire, etc, but he's besties with the authorities so any reports they make get minimal results if any

eventually Ed finds out Stede has had to consistently kick out and finally banned the first Badminton twin for being generally terrible and making other patrons uncomfortable and shit, on like week two of his club being open, and that's the actual reason twin 2 is losing his shit. Explains it, but doesn't excuse it

The only thing I can't decide is how to end it, and how to work everyone else in. I do right now really like the idea of Mary and Spanish Jackie as a team of lawyers that end up representing the Revenge and crew as a business entity while the Badminton dickfucks keep trying to bring useless, so far only civil, cases against them. Bonus for Doug as the legal assistant, because i feel like he'd shine there, honestly. He's got his shit together, and he genuinely loves going to the club to see new bands, so yeah yeah conflict of interest but ehhh it's fanfic fuck it lol, and he doesn't want to see it taken away when it's doing decently well finally, and most in town who are old enough to get into a club love it

Calico Jack is just a regular performer, but each performance is Something. Never know exactly what he's gonna do: spanish guitar for three hours? strip tease? Led Zeppelin cover band made up of only him? you gotta roll the dice and see what he shows up with. Stede is a little concerned abt him but hey, he shows up consistently and helps set up his own gear while working out a decent deal for wages with Stede and Olu, so what more could he ask for on the nights when they have no guest performers coming in?

the ending really evades me rn, but im gonna find it dang it. eventually lol