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succubusphan · 10 months

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Two Man Team - Chapter 1

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Rating: E

Tags/warnings: Friends to lovers, Friends with benefits, mental health issues (mainly anxiety), Slow burn, Dan is a psych student. Canon divergence (the timeline is altered and some things never happened), Slutty Phil, Angst with a happy ending. The fic spans many years.

Author's Note: Written for the OSPBB 2023 @oldschoolpbb. Thank you @effingmeteors for being my life saviour and beta as usual and to my artist Lin @anironsidh.

Edits and the art will be added at some point, we are busy bees.

POSTING EVERY DAY UNTIL IT'S COMPLETED.

Total Word Count: 75k ish

Read on Ao3

CHAPTER 1: Somebody to Love

June 2005

Phil threw himself onto his bed and looked around at his neon green walls and carpet thinking how little time he had left in his childhood bedroom. He had one last summer in his hometown before uprooting his entire life and moving to York for uni. It was weird, in a way, to be in this sort of limbo where his basic education was over; he no longer felt like a child but didn’t feel like an adult either. It could be because he didn’t feel like he was fully himself, not to anyone he knew - not even his friends.

Could he really call them his friends if they didn’t know who he truly was, if he couldn’t share his attraction to boys like the others shared their crushes on girls and their flings? Maybe it wasn’t fair to think of them as near strangers, it was not their fault that he didn’t feel ready to talk about it. They had all been there for him his entire childhood and he still wasn’t ready. That was on him.

On the other hand, York presented him with a new opportunity, a chance to live his true life and finally get a boyfriend. That’s all he wanted, just - someone to cuddle with. Ok, also other stuff, but he wanted a proper boyfriend. It didn’t hurt to start looking now though.

Phil sat up and reached for his laptop, lifting the screen and connecting to the internet. He clicked on the Explorer icon and waited for everything to load for a few minutes. He logged into a random Yahoo chat room as per usual and greeted the 60 strangers chatting and sending emojis in the hopes of catching someone’s attention.

Snowdude: Hi. Anyone around 18? ;)

A private window popped up immediately.

DanTheMan: hi snowdude XD i’m dan

Snowdude: Hi. als?

DanTheMan: 16/m/reading. u?

Phil hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t often that dudes messaged him. Still, “Dan” was too young and still in school. Well, he didn’t have anything better to do than speak to him.

Snowdude: 18 m York. Are you in school?

DanTheMan: yeah just the A lvls to go. What’s ur favourrtie game?

Phil’s eyebrows shot up at the typo and he snorted.

Snowdude: Final Fantasy 7 is ace.

DanTheMan: ace XD favourite show?

Snowdude: Buffy obviously. What is this, an interview? What’s your favourite subject in school?

DanTheMan: ouch, geography and psych and theatre.

Snowdude: hate geo, you act?

DanTheMan: don’t laugh. i always have but i’m cool.

Snowdude: nothing wrong with it. I’m a terrible actor.

Looking at his ceiling, Phil felt bad for making Dan feel insecure by bringing up school, pointedly marking their age difference. He knew what it was like to be looked down upon by the older kids. He quickly typed another message.

Snowdude: I signed up to art because I thought it would be easy and almost failed. Seems like i suck at art.

DanTheMan: ROFL. ur weird.

DanTheMan: let’s be friends.

Snowdude: Lesbifriends

DanTheMan: forget it lol. I regret asking.

Snowdude: noooooooooooo

DanTheMan: i have to go my mums calling. add me on msn i’m [email protected]

Snowdude: Rawr xD. ACe. Good luck with homework

DanTheMan: fuckoff with your capitalistion and good grammra ttyl

And just like that, Dan exited their chat. Phil smiled and logged into MSN, hesitating only for a second before adding his new friend.

Ian opened their conversation with a buzz as per usual and invited him over to play games with the girls. He hesitated, but another notification popped up and it brought a smile to his face.

GoThic chiK (Anja): coming or not phL?

Phil rolled his eyes, at least Anja would be there and even if he didn’t like girls like that, Anja was always cool. She was like a girl, but also not. Well, she was a girl of course, but she felt like a guy, but not - like him. He didn’t fit in as the kind of man his dad wanted to see in his son and Anja didn’t impress her mother either. Maybe they were losers but they still had each other.

Phil Strikr: omw Annie tell Ian

GoTik chiK (Anja): told you to stop butcherin ma name.

Phil laughed and sent her a buzz before logging out and getting into his favourite blue jeans and a green T-shirt.

The night went by in a breeze, with loads of pizza, drinking and a few rounds of TEG that ended in disaster. He mostly enjoyed it until the topic of dating came up yet again. All the guys had some sort of girlfriend or arrangement and Phil had barely anything to show for. For the umpteenth time, Phil considered coming out to them but he could never bring himself to do it. Maybe one of these days when he was drunk enough.

“Phil, Phil!” Someone said.

Anja snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, startling him and causing him to drop the dice he had been shaking for who knows how long. “Mate, what is it with you today?”

“Uh, nothing. I was just thinking about Buffy,” he said.

Anja gave him a look that let him know she was not buying it, but the rest rolled their eyes and continued with their conversation. For a moment Phil thought he was off the hook but Ian looked at him expectantly.

“What?” Phil asked.

Ian sighed heavily. “Sandra asked about you again, mate. When are you going to ask her out?”

Phil tried not to look like a deer caught in the headlights. “I think it would be weird to date your cousin, we are like brothers at this point.”

Ian snorted and shook his head. “We are like brothers but not actually. It’s not like incest or anything.”

“Ew, don’t say that,” Phil said, paling at the thought of Sandra and her wandering hands. He was not going to repeat the mistake of asking her out. One sloppy kiss was more than enough.

Richard, Noah and Keith laughed at the face he pulled but Ian merely smiled at him.

“Oi! Phil is mine, let him be,” Anja said, shuffling closer to him and resting her hand on his thigh.

Phil’s eyes widened but she gave him a small wink before looking back at their friends.

“What? Are you his girlfriend now?” asked Richard with a frown.

“Yeah,” she said, looking uncomfortable at the question. Anja didn’t like Richard like that, she loved him as a friend, but he had a huge crush on her and he was terrible at hiding it. Phil didn’t need to read her mind to know she didn’t want to break his heart or risk their friendship but it was bound to happen eventually.

Wrapping his arm around Anja’s waist loosely, he set his head on her shoulder. “Tell Sandra I’m taken,” Phil said and Anja relaxed against him, letting her head gently rest on his.

Richard looked disappointed but didn’t press the issue any further.

Eventually, the board games stopped being fun and the alcohol ran out so they declared the party over. As soon as Phil said goodbye and stood from his spot Anja followed him, making the others laugh and howl at them, half whispering about what they were going to do in Phil’s bedroom.

Once they were out, Phil turned to look at her. “Do you want me to walk you home?” He asked, hopefully.

“Nah, I was expecting to crash in your bed.” She began the walk back home and Phil followed her.

“What?” Phil squeaked.

Anja laughed and turned towards him, but her eyes looked a bit misty. “Don’t be daft, it’s not that.” She poked him gently, looking into his eyes. “I just feel sad and I don’t wanna be alone right now. I know I can trust you like that.”

“Alright,” Phil said, still walking at her side. “Do you want to talk about it? What happened?”

Anja looked away from him, her eyes focusing on the moon for a moment as she spoke. “I was dating someone but they are not sure about it anymore and it sucks.”

Phil stopped walking and pulled her into a hug. “An- you know you can tell me anything, come stay with me too.”

“I know.” She returned the hug tightly only for a moment before stepping back. “Come on!” She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. “Kath will be fuming if we are not there before midnight.”

He snorted and laced their fingers together. “I’ll tell my mum you call her Kath behind her back one day, you know?”

“Meh,” Anja shrugged. “She loves me. I’ll live.”

They stayed silent for most of the 20 minute walk home and had to sneak in, but soon enough they were in his room. Phil gave Anja a big T-shirt and a pair of joggers and slipped into his own pyjamas while she changed in the bathroom.

Five minutes later they were looking up at the ceiling as they lay under the covers in the small bed.

“Hey, Phil?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Richard will get over his crush eventually?”

Phil turned on his side to look at her. “Probably, he has gotten over the others.”

She nodded. “Are you seeing anyone that you haven’t told us about?” she asked in a drastic change of topic.

Phil sputtered. “As if anyone would be interested.”

“You have pretty eyes and perfect eyebrows. I wish I had your eyebrows,” Anja said. “You should dye your hair black though, it would make your eyes pop.”

“I don’t know… Would you do it for me?”

“Of course, ginge,” She laughed.

“I’m not a ginger!” Phil whined.

“Course not.” She poked at his stomach. “Good night.”

“Good night, An,” he said and shut his eyes, letting sleep claim him.

---

It was a weird summer. Anja remained sad for the majority of it but refused to talk about her boyfriend, choosing to focus on giving Phil an extreme makeover instead. She dyed his hair black, took him to the mall to pick up black skinny jeans and to the stylist that had given her her emo haircut to tame his mane.

By the end of it, Phil had perfected a nice image for his MySpace page. He had even ventured into eyeliner for some pictures when he’d gotten bored waiting for Anja to get ready for a party. He’d enjoyed the results and even Ian and the guys said it looked cool on him. Even Dan thought he looked really cool when he saw the pics.

He got to talk to Dan quite a few times as well before going off to uni and caught up with life. It was amazing to learn that they were actually super compatible, liking many of the same games, music and shows. The best part was that Dan said there was a chance he would go to York like him so they could hang out and Phil liked the sound of that, even if Dan was still a full year away from it. Dan was honestly super cool and Phil really had come to consider him a friend in the last few months so it would be super fun to have someone close to hang out and play games with. It sounded like a great plan.

Daydreaming about their potential meet-up was a nice distraction from Dan’s home life, which seemed to be in constant turmoil as Phil came to find over time. There was a reason Dan barely mentioned his younger brother and he had vaguely complained about his father’s rage issues, so Phil always let Dan talk first, and let whatever was troubling him be aired so that he could offer his support or advice if it was needed. Phil also shared some of his issues and insecurities, but his problems were not nearly as bad as Dan’s so he tried to keep things on the positive side and help Dan out.

But Phil wasn’t expecting to catch Dan in a lie only weeks later. As it turned out, Dan had never been 16, he was a 14 year old kid. It was a silly lie, but it still hurt Phil, so he asked Dan to never lie to him again. Dan was very apologetic and begged him not to break their friendship, which Phil had briefly considered, but decided against, especially because of the kind of bullying Dan suffered at school on the regular. After the initial shock had worn off, Phil reassured him that they could be friends, even if they would have to be long distance.

Dan deserved to have supportive friends. He needed someone to be there for him and Phil knew he could be that someone. At an appropriate distance, of course.

It was a bit of a rough patch between them, but after they had resolved the issue, life went on as usual. Phil dived head first into his uni life and there were so many changes. He moved into the dorm and met new people at uni, but sadly, he wasn’t able to stay in touch with his friends back home as much as he’d have liked due to his schedule. In a way, he had inadvertently severed most contact with his life back home, but no matter how much things changed, some stayed the same: his lack of a love life and being trapped in the closet.

He decided that it was time to take his life by the horns and that marked the beginning of a new chapter for him, an exploring phase of sorts. After some consideration, he opened a profile on a dating website, hoping to find a nice guy he could date. His new look did seem to help a lot, but his popularity applied mostly to MySpace. The dating scene seemed a bit dry, or maybe he was just too awkward. There weren't a bunch of messages flooding his inbox by any means.

To be honest, he was starting to get really discouraged, thinking he would never meet someone, but his luck finally changed on a mighty weekend when in a hidden corner of a pub, he got his first taste of freedom. He was blonde and tall and three years older than Phil and his lips were on Phil’s, quickly taking him to heaven, making his blood rush south and his stomach tingle. His hands were inside Phil’s T-shirt and struggling with his jeans’ zipper in less than five minutes. It wasn’t too rough or something that Phil didn’t want, but the speed of it all scared him a bit. It was too much too soon and he wasn’t ready even though he wanted to be, so he took a step back and apologised.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still trying to catch his breath. “Listen, I’m not out yet, not even to my friends back home, my new uni friends or my roommates.”

The guy nodded and smiled at him. “That’s alright,” he said. “Could I get your phone number? Maybe we can meet up some other time.”

Phil nodded and saved it in the other’s phone, but he was not going to trick himself into thinking he was going to get a text. His chances were slim.

They parted ways with a quick kiss, which surprised Phil. He let out a deep sigh as he watched the blonde disappear into the crowd and surveyed the pub in search of his friends.

Towering over most people did come in handy and allowed him to locate his roommates in under a minute. Phil tried to put on a brave smile as he made his way to them and accepted a beer, taking a zip and groaning at the bitter taste. It was performative and he knew it, but he didn’t know what else to do, so he followed along with what everyone was doing. He got drunk - and even made out with a girl briefly just out of boredom.

He felt nothing, nothing at all, but his roommates cheered him on and the girl seemed happy enough.

That made one of them.

Once back in his room, Phil put his phone to charge and turned it on. There were a few missed calls and texts from Dan, asking if he was free to talk. Phil got a bad feeling about it and tried to call him but Dan didn’t pick up. Maybe it was too late and he had fallen asleep. Biting the inside of his cheek, Phil hesitated before sending a text.

“I’m sorry I missed your calls, I was out until just now and my phone had died X.x . I’m free to talk in the morning!”

Phil lay in bed for what seemed like forever, the room spinning a bit around him, as he thought about the blonde guy, the boring night, the girl he kissed - and Dan. He wished he would have stayed home and talked to Dan, maybe played some games, or talked about school. It was sad that he got along better with a 14 year old than his own friends. What did that say about him? He fell into a fitful night of sleep just as the sun rose above the clouds.

The talk with Dan didn’t come the next day, or the following one. In fact, Dan stopped replying entirely for over a week and Phil’s stomach was twisted into knots. Over twenty messages unanswered could only mean bad news, right?

The following weekend, Phil sent yet another text: “Please, Dan. Just let me know that you are ok.”

Ten minutes later, his phone finally vibrated. “im ok. stop.”

Phil’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m so sorry, Dan. I’ve been worried about you. I went out and had so many calls and missed texts, I thought something had happened and you needed to talk. It’s ok if you don’t want to, I just didn’t want you to think that I didn’t care. Sorry I missed your call.”

His screen lit up with a call immediately and Dan’s raspy voice greeted him on the other side. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s ok,” Phil said, trying to calm himself down, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He swallowed thick and attempted a small smile, even if Dan could not see it. “What did you want to talk about?”

Dan was silent for a moment, but then he let out a tired sigh. “Nothing much, it’s fine.”

“You can tell me, you know you can,” Phil said with a frown.

“Last weekend I went to the mall and I had some problems with the usual shitheads…” he trailed off.

“Did they throw rocks at you again?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t care. And on Monday -” Dan paused.

“What happened on Monday?” Phil asked, frowning at the pain he could hear in Dan’s voice.

“One of the idiots grabbed me by the neck and slapped me for like 5 minutes,” Dan mumbled. “And I know what you’re going to say, one of the teachers saw and did nothing. He even laughed.”

“Dan,” Phil said, his heart breaking for his friend. “I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve any of that. I wish I could be there to help you.”

“It’s fine,” Dan said in a monotone voice. “I didn’t react, I didn’t want to give them that satisfaction.”

“It takes a lot of courage not to fight back. You were very brave.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Dan muttered. “Almost gave them another satisfaction.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m so tired sometimes, you know? Just so tired.” Then, Dan cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’ve been staying with my grandma since Tuesday, so I’m ok.”

Phil had to clear his throat too, trying not to get choked up by what Dan was implying. “You have to get good grades so you can get into uni and we can hang out, ok?”

Dan snorted. “As if you would hang out with me. You’re cool and I’m just a 14 year old loser.”

“You’re not a loser. You’re kind, and funny, and one of the coolest people I know. I know that one day you will be a great guy. Maybe you’ll be a famous actor, like you’ve always wanted.”

“Yeah… maybe,” Dan said. “Wanna play Mario Kart later? I have homework.”

Phil looked at the time, it was already late, but a few races wouldn’t hurt. “Sure. Text me when you’re done.”

“Thanks, Phil,” Dan said and Phil could picture a little smile on his face.

“No problem. See you later.”

“Yeah. Hey, can I follow your MySpace?” Dan asked.

“You can follow me anywhere,” Phil said. “We are friends.”

“Yeah, ok,” Dan snorted. “See you later, Philly.”

Phil rolled his eyes and hung up the phone.

Letting out a deep sigh, he decided to do the “adult thing” and study a little more for the exam he had the following morning so that he could join Dan online later. It was not a lot, but he felt better now that Dan knew Phil was on his side and he cared.

That night, Phil stayed on his DS until 4, but he managed to get a passing grade on the exam anyway. He rewarded himself with a 10 hour nap afterwards.

All through his first term at uni, Phil tried his best to keep in touch with Dan, but with his tight study schedule, the weekends pretending to be straight and attempting to not stress himself half to death with his new chaotic life, it was getting increasingly difficult.

Before long, Phil had to make a drastic choice. Something needed to change and he knew exactly what was the worst stressor for him: his straight-sex-maniac persona. And so it was decided.

He invited his four roommates to their very limited common space and paced in the square foot of floor he had available to himself waving his hands around without uttering a word until one of the guys asked if he was ok.

No, Phil was not ok at all, he was nearly crawling up the wall, so instead of giving a carefully planned and rehearsed speech, he stopped short of the wall, turned around and said: “I lied… I am not super experienced, I don’t have a lot of sex experience. In fact, I have zero experience, because… because I’m gay. I’m sorry that I lied, I just wanted you guys to like me, you are all so cool. I wanted to be your friend. I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand. I-”

Peter got up from the armrest of the sofa, causing Phil to take a step back just in case, and gave him a hard pat on the shoulder. “It’s ok. We are all figuring things out,” he said. “Also, Sarah will be happy to know that you are not disgusted by her presence, you’re just thick as all fuck and gay. Right, Sarah?”

“You like me?” Phil squeaked, turning towards the popular blonde girl. She was super nice and also pretty, but she was still not a guy, so there was not even a chance.

“I do. I did, but it’s ok. We can be friends,” she said with a smile.

“We can?” Phil croaked.

Sarah nodded. “You’re a good guy, Phil. Why wouldn’t I want to be your friend? And the fact that you are not opposed to a little makeup also plays in your favour.”

Peter clapped once and rushed to the fridge. He got the Malibu out of the freezer, messily pouring the alcohol into various glasses and mugs and other liquid-holding implements before turning around to face the group and raising his glass. “To Phil, the gayest emo York has ever seen - and a good friend too!” He downed his drink without waiting for anyone else.

Sarah walked over to the kitchenette and grabbed a shot glass, raising it towards Phil with an encouraging smile. “Cheers,” she said and downed her drink. She then passed a repurposed laundry detergent cap full of Malibu to Phil.

“Thank you,” he said, hoping that his eyes could convey the gratitude he felt. “Cheers,” he said and drank the entire thing.

Jimmy and Callan, who had been quiet until now, stood from the sofa and grabbed a mug each, raising them to Phil.

“To Phil, the gay emo,” said Callan with a smirk.

“We can still be friends even if you’re gay and your willy is bigger than all of ours,” Jimmy said with a nod and necked his drink.

Phil laughed. “Stop talking about my dick, Jimmy. You saw nothing!”

“I will when it stops looking back at me every time you sit,” Jimmy cackled.

Phil threw the laundry detergent cap at his head, hitting the target and causing the group to laugh. Hours later, he crawled into his tiny bed and felt the effects of all the alcohol he had consumed rock him gently, like the waves in the sea. He let out a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his lips as he remembered how the night had started. His coming out had been awkward but still a success. Now he could truly be himself, at least in York, and he couldn’t wait until he was able to live his life fully everywhere.

#phanfic #phanfiction #phan #succubusphan fics #dan and phil #phan au #ospbb 2023

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chrisodonline · 1 year

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TITLE CARD: ONE WEEK LATER

I am writing this post as quickly as possibly since I've got to go fold laundry, and I still want to have time before I go to bed to do some reading of a book I just bought. So no promises on proofreading.

I am still perfectly content with the finale. I've been watching the show over 14 years (not just seasons), and it...very much felt like the show I've been watching for 14 years. It's the show they wanted to make, and the one everyone there was happy with. They very much made a show they'd want to watch, and that goes for multiple people behind and even in front of the camera. Listening to the cast over the years always gave me a good redirect reminder on overprojecting onto people.

Shows, and their pilots, are supposed to be "story engines." The ending was "The story continues, but there are also new stories and always will be." And I dig it. I have had a week of reading interviews, after also watching them in the retrospective, and also reading comments and thoughts from fans across all platforms and with all different preferences. I've always been interested in reading different opinions, even if some weren't always painless to read because I take weird things personally. As I've gotten older, met more people, learned new things, and learned to look at things in other ways, I feel like it's good to take away feeling humble whenever you can. Some out there are so into the ending storyline they truly do want to see a movie about that. Because it is very much something the show would have done. And they've very much been watching the show. (I'm personally good, though. Don't need one.)

I think my favorite comment among hundreds, but possibly even 1,000+, when someone was claiming the ep felt like the show instead of something else: (Paraphrasing) "Why would they change the recipe just because this is the last time they're baking the cake?" Look, I was even surprised to find that I was happier with the finale the more I thought about it instead of less. But I knew what bakery I was going to. I knew that I'm far, far from their only customer. I knew that I could've always stopped going to that bakery and the bakers would've been fine. It's their product but also their passion, and they aren't going to miss me because I didn't understand why they wouldn't break their rules to give me a custom order. (I've worked in customer service for a very, very long time and have also been a customer service manager for a long time. Yes, there is always the threat of people creating fake crimes in The Court of Facebook, but we aren't going to screw over other customers who are truly loyal for one loud so-and-so who never seems happy with anything. We don't need that person.)

From a logistics standpoint, the show was always going to be limited by a late-in-the-season cancellation, the availability of actors, and squeezing in enough to pay homage to everyone who's had a hand in the show over 14 years. They weren't going to be able to stick the landing with any new tricks at the eleventh hour (hello, cornucopia of metaphors and idioms). And they definitely weren't going to do well if it's not something they didn't truly want to do. The show didn't always know its limits, and that only led to cringe-y things. This was the finale: I wanted 0 cringe. And while I may have wanted slight tweaks to things, those are personal wishes. And you can wish in one hand, and...well you know the rest. There was just the right amount of sentiment without it feeling like the show was trying to be a cutesy sitcom or maudlin soap. I don't like a lot of super sweet icing on my cake, in general, and when they start going wild with those giant rosettes and borders...no. Not the cake for me. Fine cake for others. Nothing wrong with liking it. But I go to this bakery because they stay chill on the rosettes. (We can always go to AO3, er, our own kitchens, and add our own rosettes or whatever decorations we want.)

This isn't the kind of show you can actually give letter grades to, either. Save that for your more prestige-y and thinky things. It's very much a pass/fail if it's anything. And they passed.

I will miss it, but it was time. And not every cake may have been for me, and yes, some of them you could tell the bakery team was not on their A-game. However, I'm grateful for all the cakes.

#z rambles on #show: ncis la

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colorful-white-ideas · 6 months

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I agree with what you just said about this place, basically Bill's fandom and I use that word loosely, being dead AF. It's, he, is so boring lately. It took me awhile to really mean that bc I wanted to hope his light would come back again. But he doesn't seem to care about his fans or even himself anymore. Have you noticed he wears the same black outfit (black shirt black pants or jeans) all the time now? He only manages a smile when he's not with you know who. And yet he keeps showing up with you know who. If he can't bother to care why should his fans? I just hope his acting hasn't suffered like his life has. I loved watching him in pretty much anything. Dude can act and it comes naturally. That's something other actors would kill for.

I see hes trying to give some content and trying to look good, younger ( thus the rings and earring , and all that dark clothing) BUT is not enough. He is always hiding , the news that get to come out its because fans are looking for them ... his team is most of the time silent. There is no hype around him , not even in this fandom ( not as it may have been 4 years ago x example) and next year is key , he will have at least 3 movies out in different times of the next year.

Sorry for the following rant it's just to get it out of my chest. I won't talk about that anymore from now.

I want to also say something since sometimes I get some ask that I later erase with the typical " you just hate you are not with him".

Im not stupid , I'm not in love of someone I DONT KNOW. Also I have nothing personal against Alida M, I don't know her personally to hate her. But I DO HAVE A PROBLEM with wasted privilege.

The reason why I started to like Bill and - why not- his family is because you can see they all worked to get what they want. They may have had it easier in some ways but they always wanted to go beyond , try something else to make a name on their own. I admire that. They are not the classical nepo rich kids.

A is the very opposite. She wanted to be a public persona and that's fine but only promoted her rich kid personality while traying ( in interviews ) to portray herself as a working woman. I hate fake humility. It's ok if she just wanted to be a socilite ... why lie ? why say you are an actress but don't look for more projects? why dont take classes? and if its not for you then why not USE THE POSITION you have to build something else? There is alot to do for the industry : casting, writing, make up, production, etc. She bragged on her personal social media acc about the wrong things. Contradiction at it's finnest

A contradiction that reflected onto Bill later on , the humble funny likable guy aware of his upbringing disaspeared before our eyes , he sounded in interviews more and more cocky and selfcentered. He claimed being private but at the same time was being recorded on intimate moments very often. We started to see him stressed , tired ,a shadow of who he was.

There were no changes... 'till now. I gotta acknowledge her attemps to change, also what Bill is trying to do to save - idk - his image and maybe his family too ¿? . Still the damage has been done

Anyway i'm just one among millions in the world , if I or all the people in this fandom leaves , new ones will arrive. We are replaceable.

I wish him luck in whatever he is trying to do.

And yes he can act , thats the only things that keeps his fandom slightly breathing.

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drawnaghht · 1 year

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hmm so last week i was trying to think of why it might be that ppl suddenly started shipping Rise Leo and Yuichi Usagi (a "never met" crossover ship) when the Usagi Chronicles series was teased in 2021* and I think it might just be because it's so easy to change this iteration of both the ship and characters - a lot of the appeal of fanworks these days is full bespoke fan AUs and redesigns.

so I think this Usagi was just easier to sorta project new ideas onto, since he doesn't come with 35+ years of comics history. He's like a clean slate. especially if folks don't watch/don't care to look into the series.

which I kinda get, from an artistic perspective, creative endevours are always more fun if they're new and something you can make your own, right? or at least that's one possible aspect (of both this and fanworks in general)

but from a fannish perspective, my brain is also going like, "oh noo, my blorbo..." xD

and it's also a bit sad that folks ignore the og comic completely in some cases or just, don't look into it out of interest at all lol. I guess I kinda get that too, sometimes in some areas of the world, comics are really hard to get by and maybe some are like me, who want to read them on paper. It might also just be that older comics are unappealing to younger fans (?) but that would wholly be an assumption, since we don't really know all the reasons other people don't get interested in things like comics. I doubt many Rise fans have read the og TMNT comics either (it's fine, cuz again, younger audience + that's sorta the point various animated series sometimes - to get the new audience into the old comics - and sometimes it doesn't go like that)

the other thing is also that technically, Yuichi Usagi seems to be like the Gaumont/Netflix crew's way of making like a fun fanwork in the form of Samurai Rabbit: the Usagi Chronicles. Many of the project leads were fans of Usagi Yojimbo and even some of the voice actors had read the comics as kids or had seen Usagi in the old TMNT series (from the SDCC interview with Stan and crew). Boy even has the Stan Sakai signature under his shoes, lol x3 So he is in some way already a fan-character and has a lot of those "new character" features that might be appealing to some (the hair and clothes are very "generic modern boy") and appealing to change drastically as well.

but anyway, yeah like... I've been around fandoms for a long while so I don't mind much that people are gonna have different tastes abt fanworks and how to write characters, etc. Everybody ships their niche ships differently. it's just interesting to think about, cuz there's so many ways to make fanworks in general and so many ways to define fandom or fandom ships and so on. like it's just something interesting I realized while having a bus ride.

*you can correct me on when the leochi/leochi ship became popular and when people started properly watching the SRTUC series, at least going by tumblr tags (more reliable than twitter, for tags at least) and I'll make any corrections about the timeline of tags here on tumblr xD Going back through the tumblr tag for "leosagi" and "leoichi" you can see a sort of a sharp drop in old leosagi "content" (fanart, fic, posts etc) and then the new stuff, mixed in with various fan designs for a Rise!version of Miyamoto Usagi and other designs and ideas. but I think there needs to be some sorta archive blog for this cuz honestly, going through the tumblr tags without a pages system is... so annoying xD Like I am not in university anymore so I don't feel like doing this sorta stuff (archiving by screenshots or by reblogs) but dang.... sorta feels like this would be nice to have lol

#leoichi #rise leo #yuichi usagi #it's interesting #aghht fantalk #THIS WAS SUPPSED TO BE A SHORT FUNNY POST.....

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pickledpascal · 1 year

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The Missing Link

Chapter Four: Hindenburg

Warnings: Panic attack, Miles Bron is closeted (?), some swearing.

Word Count: 7.4k

The Missing Link Masterlist

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Out of all the people Detective Blanc expected to arrive at the dock earlier that day, Ezra Wayne and his daughter were not one of them. Birdie Jay, why wouldn't he? She was the problematic fashionista who was clinging onto relevancy by trying to come up with something new and revolutionary every few years. Duke Cody was a men's rights activist, pleading for his audience to trust everything he said. And they did, not thinking to make at least one Google search to check if he was telling the truth or not. Claire Debella and Lionel Toussaint were similar in that much of their money to do their work was provided by Miles, in turn they'd basically support everything he did.

Ezra Wayne was the outlier.

Why would he come all the way to Greece to meet an old friend who he was very vocal about not liking anymore? He didn't owe anything to Miles as far as Blanc knew. Ezra started his acting career from nothing. No help or reassurance was given to him by any of his past friends.

He knew this because of some of the interviews he'd seen. It was safe to say Benoit was a fan. Who wouldn't think the tall, dark, and handsome man wasn't the best looking in all of Hollywood anyway? He was also a great actor too, starring in anything from a silly rom com to the scariest of horror movies. Blanc liked versatility in his men.

Seeing Ezra in person was certainly something. His gray's were much more prominent than in the movies, showing his age. Maybe he hadn't gotten around to re-dyeing it yet. Then there was the part where Birdie deadnamed him. Ezra didn't seem that bothered, just annoyed.

When he got his chance, Blanc smiled kindly as Ezra turned to him. "I must say, I absolutely love your films! I've seen almost all of 'em, you're amazin' in every single one." He was nervous but he needed to get that out as he looked Ezra up and down. It felt like he was a teenager again, talking to the most attractive boy at school. Ezra always looked absolutely beautiful on screen but it didn't compare to seeing him in real life.

Once on the boat, Benoit wanted to get an inkling to each person's personality. It just so happened that he was walking into the boat to talk with Lionel when Elle waved him over. It was hard to say no, especially with such a beautiful man in the room. But nerves, they were never something Benoit got over easily. He was a relatively calm person, even after the sheer amount of dangerous cases he's been through that would send any sane person running. Who takes on the mysterious case of the death of the mystery novel writer? Apparently, Benoit Blanc does. When Benoit did get nervous, though, they didn't leave as swiftly as he would hope.

After all, meeting your celebrity crush and escaping a near death experience are two completely different things. Although, they might meet on this isolated island.

Conversation with the father-daughter duo was certainly interesting and insinuated something Benoit wasn’t sure he wanted to admit. As much as he wanted to focus on the matter at hand, it was hard with someone as determined as Elle to make both himself and Ezra a blubbering mess.

Benoit pursed his lips, he might as well use this time to try and eliminate Ezra from his suspect list. Or try to. “Y’know, Ezra, you and your daughter seem to be out of place among all these…. Eccentric personalities. For an actor, it’s strange of me to admit such a thing.” It was peculiar that Ezra was here. If he wasn’t the murderer–which would be horrible for Benoit–-then why was he here?

“I like to think it’s because I grew up poor and didn’t compromise myself or leech off of others in order to get rich and famous.” The brunette explained with a hum. Benoit nodded at Ezra and looked down at his hands.

The others happened to grow up in middle class families, besides Birdie–she was the daughter of a famous model, making her famous even before she was born. And Lionel, a little different too. He intimately worked with Miles, being employed by him for the sake of doing what he always wanted to do. Only for the sake of science of course.

—------

Now, Benoit did not know of Ezra before his transition but the actor was always open about that time, sharing photos of himself and even his deadname but Benoit didn’t think it was that difficult to call Ezra by the name he goes by now. Apparently it was very hard for Miles.

“Liz-Ezra…. You look amazing. Great, actually. I’m glad you’re here.” Miles’ eyebrows furrowed as he corrected himself. Benoit observed him as he walked the length of the glass dock. It seemed Miles was blushing a little but it didn’t look like embarrassment.

Huh, interesting…. Oh.

Oh.

Well, it’s reassuring that Benoit isn’t the only one attracted to Ezra. He glanced at Helen who stared at Miles. His main objective was to get her some answers, he needed to focus on that. If he happened to get a boyfriend out of this case, well, that would be nice. Benoit closed his eyes for a moment to get his head in the right mindset, fixing his sunglasses.

“Can we just take a second and fully inbreathiate this moment together?” Miles said with a gentle smile. Benoit pursed his lips and cocked his eyebrow, he ignored it but something inside him was saying that he needed to remember that for later.

Benoit was quiet as the tour started, mostly hanging around Helen to give her some semblance of comfort. Someone here killed her sister so he didn’t blame her if she was tense and weary of everyone, even if some of them seemed too dense to commit a murder.

“Get settled in! Change. Let’s meet up at the pool.” Miles told everyone with a happy smile. “We’ll have a chill afternoon and then the game begins!” He announced, letting everyone fiddle with the bracelets around their wrists to find their room. As expected, Miles requested Benoit come with him for a private chat.

—-------

The pool seemed to be calmer but that meant it was time for Benoit to start gathering some information, among other things. He looked around the rectangular pool, catching sight of Birdie and Claire on the pool chairs off to the side while Miles was playing a tune on the guitar. He made his way over the Miles and grabbed one of the drinks inside the cooler.

“Oh! Baby Blue!” Benoit exclaimed, a light smile on his face as he twisted the cap open and took a drink. His nose wrinkled slightly at the taste. It was like Jared Leto somehow bottled how he smelled. Benoit had never met him before but that’s what he imagined he’d smell like.

Duke took a sip of his drink, “Yeah. Miles, you remember when you almost pancaked me outside Andi’s–”

“Anderson Cooper’s birthday party? Yeah, Coop's parties are memorable.” Miles laughed with an almost nervous smile as he grabbed a bottle as well.

Benoit stood from his crouching position and looked over at Ezra and Elle. They were talking with each other. No one seemed to want to talk to them. Peculiar, with such a close-knit group like this. He made his way over to the pair and sat at the other pool chair next to Ezra. “Have you always been…. The outcast in a group like this?” He asked, careful but still blunt.

“Eh, kinda.” Ezra lowered his sunglasses so they covered his eyes, the sides of his lips were tense. “I was the only one who wanted a job in the performing arts and then I told them I was also trangender, kinda put the nail in the coffin.”

“Hmm.” Benoit nodded, catching a glimpse of the scars ever so slightly showing from underneath the half-open shirt on Ezra’s shoulders. “You look…. Great.” He said with a light smile, knowing his face must be some shade of red. He assumed crimson. It didn’t take the detective much to get him a blushing mess. It just depended on the person and if they had the means to.

Ezra let out a small laugh at the compliment. “Thanks, Detective. I could say the same for you.” Benoit bit the inside of his cheek. Was he flirting with him? Holy shit. “I mean, I would be very proud of myself if I was the most attractive detective alive.” Ezra shrugged.

Benoit let out a flattered laugh, feeling as if he was a boy again. “Some might say you’re the most attractive actor alive.” It was weak, but it was all he could come up with. It was like his brain was short-circuiting. Only for a second.

—------

After the little stunt at the pool, Helen and Benoit met in the gym as it seemed no one was using it or was going to use it in the short time they were there. Of course, that led to Benoit snooping around the compound to eventually find Duke watching Miles and Whiskey…. Doing their thing in front of a window. Honestly, though, how could Miles not see Duke. Weird.

Helen got a little closer, wanting to hear what the pair was talking about behind the glass. Benoit pursed his lips, shaking his head at her. She was good but damn if she got caught, that'd be the end of their investigation.

—------

"My mom took me to Paris when I was six years old. First time I looked at this lady, it changed my life. You know Da Vinci invented a technique for brush strokes that leave no lines?" Miles gushed over the real Mona Lisa, the one in songs and meant to be the museum of art in France. Guess not these days. "That's how you can look straight at her and her expression changes every time. Her smile's there, then it disappears. Is she happy? Is she sad? Is it something else?"

Benoit never was one to be interested in art, at least not high art like the Mona Lisa or any of Goya's paintings. He appreciated it, sure, just not one to dedicate his whole life to caring about them. It seemed Ezra was similar in that aspect, taking a sip from his glass with an unbothered look in his eyes.

Helen kept staring at the painting, nodding. "It really is something." Benoit glanced up at the painting before he looked back at Miles.

Claire looked from Miles to the painting and narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute, Miles. Why do you have the Mona Lisa in your living room?" Her tone was pointed, like she knew something the rest didn't. Or, that Claire knew Miles was gonna do something she didn't like.

Miles let out a breath, a cocky smile appearing on his lips. "In one week, I've invited world leaders and members of the press from all over to unveil the future." He said as he grabbed a crystal-like object from his pocket and showed it to everyone in the room. Most looked confused…. But Claire and Lionel…. "You know what this is?"

"You know damn well we do." Lionel gritted out, tapping at the lip of his glass. "What's going on, Miles?"

Benoit raised his hand, letting out a strained laugh. "Uh, I don't." It seemed, neither did Ezra or his daughter who's attention was peaked at the crystallic object. They seemed to have felt the rise of tension in the room.

"Don't drop it." Miles threw it at Benoit who caught it with ease.

But Claire, she was concerned. "Oh my god!" Perhaps something would have happened if the little crystal touched the floor. They were all in trouble, then.

Benoit looked at the crystal between his fingers, carefully staring at the grooves and small bubbles that seemed to be trapped inside.

"That's a new solid hydrogen fuel. It's incredibly powerful." Miles explained, "It's radically efficient. Zero carbon emissions, and it's derived from abundant seawater. I call it Klear, with a K." Because of course he did. "And at this event, we are going to announce 'Klear America.' Our affordable home power solution. Klear is going to be powering people's dreams, all over this country, by the end of this year."

Ezra shook his head, he may not have been a chemist or anything that had to do with the sciences but the looks Claire and Lionel had on their faces weren't hard to read. They were concerned, devastated even.

Lionel slammed his glass down on one of the podiums, causing the glass on the Mona Lisa to lift back up. It was protecting itself, from what? It didn't know just yet. "No. No. Because I was clear with you. I told you I need two years minimum to test this stuff to see if it's safe or even viable. Claire and I are not gonna be responsible for putting something out in the world before it is tested. And–" He paused once Miles pointed up at the air around them.

"Shit." Ezra breathed. So much for being safe on this summer vacation. They were walking around in a ticking time bomb….

"Oh, no." Lionel realized as well, stepping back from Miles.

Miles nodded with a smirk, "Oh, yeah."

Benoit's eyebrows furrowed as he looked back at the small crystal in his hand. "You're running this entire place off this?"

"The whole Glass Onion is powered by Klear." Miles let out a light laugh. He was giddy, his dreamlike fuel was working. As far as he knew. "Come on, let's…. Let's eat!"

It was clear that both Lionel and Claire weren't sure they could trust Miles anymore. He was being reckless. More reckless than he usually was. Elle narrowed her eyes at Miles before she looked at Ezra who let out a light breath. Maybe they could get through this night and leave as soon as possible in the morning. Ezra didn't want to stay too much longer if the whole island was dangerous and he also didn't want to feel responsible if something were to happen to his daughter.

This was a huge mistake.

—----

Dinner was short-lived, Benoit solved Miles' "mystery" in just a few short seconds and Ezra had to refrain from the urge to laugh once he saw his defeated face. The pair went upstairs, leaving Ezra and Elle with everyone else who deemed it was time to get royally hammered after their weekend was ruined.

Duke's notifications went off, causing the glass vault to go back up. "You know, you could just power it down." Lionel suggested to Duke.

"Ah, it's my Google Alerts. Got them for all you guys." Duke explained, taking a sip from his glass. "Whiskey, sports I like, general interests."

Ezra rubbed Elle's back while she leaned on him. She was tired even though it was only 8:30 but he couldn't blame her. The whole day was filled with…. things out of the ordinary. Plus she found another father figure and half her time was spent getting him and Ezra together. Well, Elle's work seemed to be done. They may never see each other again after Ezra leaves tomorrow. It was sad, thinking about the future and the fact that each time Elle would look at a magazine with Benoit's solved cases on the front cover, she would ache for something that could have been.

Lionel was unimpressed as Duke's phone rang yet again. "You have a Google Alert for the word 'movie?'"

"I like movies!" Duke defended. "Don't hate. Nerd." Says the guy who started off on Twitch as a gamer.

Ezra took a sip of his drink, looked at the red table in front of him. His eyes glazed over as he thought about what may happen after this. He'd be glad to go home, back to his normal life. Which was weird to think that being an actor everyone sought over was normal. But it was for him. Though, Elle knew differently. He longed for someone to be with, and if that someone just so happened to be Benoit Blanc…. Well, wouldn't that be nice?

Birdie let out a relieved sigh as she sat down on the couch, "Thank God for Benoit Blanc. We don't have to spend the weekend spelling hedges." She sipped her drink through her straw.

"Well, I'm outta her. Tomorrow morning. Gone." Duke stated, waving his hand.

Whiskey shook her head, "We just got here." She was on the floor. Ezra wasn't sure why or how she got there and he didn't really care either.

Duke mockingly whined like a baby. Elle's gaze hardened at him, she could treat Whiskey much better than him. If only she could let him go and leave him, Duke didn't deserve her. Not to mention, Duke was at least twenty years older than Whiskey. "You can stay. Have fun."

"Fine. You're murdering my vibe." Whiskey grabbed the bottle of tequila next to her and stood up, walking outside.

Birdie whined, "No! Miserable in paradise. We've all earned this."

Andi walked towards the group, "Yes, you have." She seemed more tense than before. Perhaps she was gonna blow up again.

Ezra helped Elle stand from her place on the couch and retreated outside with her by his side. He didn't want to hear whatever argument that was going to happen. It would have been entertaining but Ezra's brain was close to shutting off. And if Elle was anything like her father, he knew it was the same for her.

Soon, Andi was leaving too. She stopped to say a few words to Whiskey then made her way to Ezra.

"You-you are the only good one. And I don't blame you for leaving all those years ago." She said before running off.

Ezra cocked his head somewhat confused while Elle looked off into the distance, admiring how the moonlight danced with the water. Whatever happened in there, must've been enough to set her off. Not that Ezra blamed Andi at all. After everything that's happened between her and Miles and suddenly she's cut out of the company. Ezra didn't know many details about why but he assumed it was because of something big….

His eyes widened, shaking his head a little. He was being dumb. It was because of that Klear stuff, wasn't it? Andi knew it was dangerous and didn't want Miles to be distributing across the entire country. No wonder….

—-----

Well, they certainly picked the wrong time to make their way back inside. Duke looked as if he was choking, falling down on one of the coffee tables until his harbored breaths were silenced. He died. Right in front of their eyes. Ezra immediately shielded Elle's eyes, holding her tight to his chest while Benoit inspected his body.

"I'm afraid Mr. Cody is…. Is dead." Benoit said as he looked up at Claire. There was a certain sense of bewilderment in his eyes. He's seen plenty of deaths before, it was a part of his job, but none quite like Duke's.

Birdie started to scream while Whiskey cried, "No, Duke! No!"

The rest of the conversation seemed to buzz in Ezra's ears. Someone killed Duke. That much was obvious. The question was who? And, well, there were only a select few on the island.

"Fuck." Ezra cursed under his breath, loosening his grip on Elle. "We have to get the fuck out of here." He ran a hand through his hair.

Sure, Claire could see the headlines but Ezra could see them too. He was an actor, a transgender one at that so criticism was something he was used to. But this…. This would be a whole new level. Ezra hated red-pill "truthers," so being on an island with one who just so happened to die would automatically blacklist him. Progressives in Hollywood wouldn't cast him anymore and the conservatives didn't cast him at all because he was trans.

"My dear, hey, you're gonna be alright." Benoit told Elle softly, wrapping his arms around her for a moment while she sniffled softly.

Even if Duke was an asshole and a bitch, witnessing his death wasn't something Elle was particularly fond of. Sure, he might have deserved it with the harm he caused on little boys minds but…. This…. This was different. It would haunt Elle for the rest of her life, she was sure.

"Boat can't come till low tide in the morning. Six am at the earliest." Lionel announced as he walked back.

Benoit patted Elle's shoulder for a moment before he looked at Lionel. "Do they understand the situation?" He asked with a frown.

"There is no other landing point, and Miles' dumbass Banksy dock was set to low-tide height and it isn't buoyant. It is a piece of shit." Lionel explained, tone very reasonably pointed at the man who decided to have said dock.

Ezra wrapped a blanket around Elle's shoulders, knowing that sometimes she needed the weight to feel normal again. This certainly wouldn't help all the things going on inside her brain. And, holy shit, was Miles saying someone was trying to kill him and not Duke? Well, then they royally fucked up. Poison in the person's drink was rather cliché wasn't it? And clumsy because shit like this could happen. You could mix up the drinks and accidentally have given it to the wrong person.

Hm, maybe Ezra could be the new Harlan Thrombey…. Without all the parts of suicide and…. Well, Benoit Blanc appeared in Ezra's life too. Maybe that was a sign.

"Forget about his phone. Look." Lionel pointed at Duke's holster…. Which was missing the gun. The gun that Duke was famous for always keeping with him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…." Ezra ran a hand through his hair, squeezing Elle's shoulder to comfort her. Now someone was roaming around the island with a goddamned gun. So much for a little light hearted fun.

Elle shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "I can't believe this is happening." Her lungs were screaming for air, her esophagus closing up. "D-Dad…." She said weakly. She could feel her heartbeat going faster and faster. She couldn't breathe.

She was having a panic attack.

Ezra's eyes widened. He knew these signs. He didn't care about what was happening behind him, he needed to focus on his daughter. "I'm right here, Elle, c'mon look at me, okay?" He tilted Elle's head towards him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Take a few big breaths, honey. I'm here for you, whatever you need, okay?" Ezra squeezed her tight, not missing the concerned look Benoit had for her. But it was like he knew Ezra would help her through it.

"Blanc, you have to help me. Help me! Help me!" Miles yelled right before Benoit slapped him across the face.

Benoit shouted, "What happens at ten o'clock!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, all the lights powered down. They were showered in darkness, the only light that didn't turn off was the lighthouse just outside. It rotated, causing only a sliver of light to run through the house.

Against Benoit's wishes, no one stayed in the living room. Well, besides Elle and Ezra. Weirdly, the light seemed to help Elle out of her panic attack. Her heart was still beating fast but she could breathe again which helped marginally.

"Alright, that's good, sweetheart." Ezra said calmly, cupping her cheek softly as he wrapped a blanket around her. "I'll grab you some water, okay. Stay here." Turning on the flashlight from his phone, he found his way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fill it with water. Once he was back in the living room, Elle took it gratefully and downed it. Her throat was feeling better, less dry than before. "There we go." Ezra kissed the top of her head. "I love you, kiddo."

Elle buried her face in Ezra's chest, letting a few tears flow. "I love you too, Dad. So much."

—-----

"Who?" Claire asked, that's the thing all of them were thinking but it seemed only Benoit had the answers.

Benoit, looking off to the side for a moment, smacked his lips. "Well, I keep returning, in my mind, to the Glass Onion." Ezra cocked an eyebrow at him. He's heard of the weird ways Benoit had explained the truth of a case but…. What did the Glass Onion have to do with any of this? "Something that seems densely layered, mysterious and inscrutable. But in fact, the center is in plain sight. And that is why this case has confounded me like no other." Benoit gently rubbed Elle's arm before walking the length of the living room.

"Why, every complex layer peeled back has revealed another layer and another layer and come to naught." Benoit looked around at the room, at the different people standing in front of him as his eyes narrowed momentarily. "And that was the problem, right there. You see, I expected complexity. I expected intelligence. I expected a puzzle, a game." Where was he going with this? Ezra kept Elle close, not knowing if they were in a room with a murderer or not. "But that's not what any of this is. It hides. Not behind complexity, but behind mind-numbing obvious clarity. Truth is, it doesn't hide at all."

Ezra looked around the room. Who would be the most obvious choice to murder both Andi and Duke? He could think of many reasons why all of them would want to kill Andi but Duke? He was dumb, he had no ill intentions. At least, not to them. To the greater public? Probably.

"I was staring right at it." Benoit sighed, feeling somewhat dumb for not assuming it at first. "The killer nearly struck my Achilles' heel. But thank high heaven, at the last moment, I realized what had teased my brain through this entire case… "inbreathiate." It's not a word." Benoit shook his head, glancing at Ezra for a moment.

It seemed obvious he would start to catch on out of all of them. Not to say that Whiskey wasn't smart or the rest weren't but they all believed Miles and how "smart" he portrays himself to be. Ezra, on the other hand, does not.

Lionel shook his head for a second, not getting how this related to anything. "What?"

"'Inbreathiate.'" Ezra repeated. "It's not a real word, it just sounds like one but it's…. Made up. Like something a kid would say to sound smart." He explained, blinking a little as the pieces started to fall into place.

"Precisely." Benoit nodded, "And "reclamation," that is a word. But it's the wrong word." His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, sighing. "This entire day… A veritable minefield of malapropisms and factual errors." Now, Ezra would be lying if he said he knew any of the words Benoit used in that single sentence but he was sure the detective was using them correctly. After all, Benoit had this way of speaking that felt like he would be more at home in the 40s or 50s if he should ever set foot in that time period.

Benoit turned and pointed out the window. "That is the Aegean Sea." Right…. Miles said the Ionian Sea. But if what Benoit was starting to say was true then… It was Miles all along. But he couldn't, right? Miles was too dumb to pull off a murder.

"Oh, yeah. It is, it is." Claire said, not understanding what Benoit was trying to explain.

"His dick doesn't float. His wonder-fuel is a disaster. His grasp of disruption theory is remedial at best." Aw, and just when Ezra was going to turn to the dark side. Yeah…. No. "He didn't design the puzzle boxes. He didn't write the mystery. Et voilà. It all adds up. The key to this entire case. And it was staring at me right in the face." Benoit then clarified, clicking his tongue as turned back the group. "Like everyone in the world, I assumed Miles Bron was a complicated genius."

Ezra chuckled, shaking his head. "First mistake, Detective." He shrugged. Miles couldn't come up with his own idea if it saved a million lives.

Ezra knew that and he warned Andi against partnering with Miles… but she didn't listen. And that's why he left. Sure, the transphobia was part of it but he couldn't bear to watch Andi throw away all her ideas and let Miles get all the credit. Alpha was hers, never Miles'. He just so happened to run into Andi and she took him along for the ride.

Benoit glanced at Ezra, a slightly amused look in his eye. "Look into the clear center of this Glass Onion… Miles Bron is an idiot."

Whiskey covered her lips, a little shocked Benoit would say such a thing. Miles' jaw tensed, "Oh, please." He grumbled, shaking his head as he crossed his arms. "Just tell us who tried to kill me."

"No one tried to kill you, you vainglorious buffoon." Benoit countered, shoving his hands in his pockets. If Miles was the murderer, Benoit certainly did not seem scared when he insulted him to his face.

Miles exclaimed, growing frustrated and not in the way that would make him seem innocent. "Duke took my glass!" He wouldn't make a great actor, Ezra could see all his tells easily.

Keeping his composure, Benoit looked at Miles unpressed. "That's what you told us he did. He must've picked it up by mistake, you told us, right after it happened." Ezra cocked his head slightly as he started to remember. It was right in front of them. Miles couldn't be that dumb? To attempt murder right before their eyes. "Ignore his lies, everyone, and think clearly now! What did we all actually see?"

"Y-You handed Duke your own glass. In front of us! And you lied. Made us think you didn't." Ezra said, letting go of Elle once it seemed she was alright. "I must admit I'm not sad that he's dead but…. You traumatized my kid for life.

"Blanc, Ezra… you're telling us Miles killed Duke?" Lionel asked in disbelief.

Benoit nodded, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the night Andi sent you all the emails, when Duke got to Andi's house early on his motorcycle he saw Miles leaving. Was almost struck by him." Benoit explained, Ezra wasn't following this time. What email? "In fact, he told all of us. Right in the open, he told us. That night, at Andi's."

Claire nodded, rubbing her chin slightly. "That night…. Duke told us he almost got in an accident. He… pancaked?" She realized.

"Okay yeah, but Miles had been living in Greece the past six months." Lionel said. He couldn't accept the fact Miles would kill one of their closest friends. Even if Duke was…. Duke.

Benoit let out a light huff, a laugh almost. "No." It was clipped. "Whiskey." He made his way over to her. This piqued Elle's interest, what did all this have to do with her? "Miles saw you on your birthday in New York. Gave you that necklace for your birthday. You're a Taurus." He whispered.

"I am." Whiskey said in a light whisper as well before she realized, "Two weeks ago. May 9th."

Benoit shrugged as Peg ran back into the room. "Forget the hydrofuels, and the sweatshops, and the consensual cuckolding for cable news assignments." Cuckold? God, that had to be the first time he's ever said that for a case. It made Ezra snort out a laugh.

"Sorry what?" Peg asked, face clear with confusion.

"And focus! On the envelope." Benoit motioned with his hand to a staircase.

Everyone's heads turned at the staircase to reveal Andi descending from the steps. Birdie let out a shriek, while Claire yelled a few curses. Ezra, on the other hand, was utterly confused.

"Andi?" Lionel asked, appalled.

Ezra looked from Andi to Benoit, "What the fuck is going on?" She was dead not more than two minutes ago when he thought she was dead, the grief was just starting to set in until she came back.

"Who did the envelope threaten?" Benoit didn't expect Ezra to know, maybe he should have explained but it's not like Whiskey really would have known either. "Miles Bron." Almost as if Miles' mom just died in a house fire, his expression became sour and hardened. "That night, Lionel faxed Andi's email to Miles who received it in New York. The one thing that could destroy his empire of lies, the truth in the hands of the only person unafraid to tell it. So Miles drives his Baby Blue Porsche to the scene of the crime, and Andi let's him in." Benoit cocked his head at Miles, eyes narrowed.

Benoit never had any remorse unveiling the truth, especially with cases with such…. Shitheads. "Of course she did. Miles' machine of lawyers and power could destroy her through sheer dumb force. But Miles himself? Oh, she was clever enough not to fear Miles." If this was going where Ezra thought this was going… then who was the woman that looked exactly like Andi? "But she didn't see the real threat, the obvious threat until it was too late. Duke alone knew you were there that night, but he didn't know Andi was dead."

Ezra ran a hand down his forehead. Wait… Andi had mentioned she had a sister to him, maybe a few times just when families were brought up in conversation. She didn't happen to say her sister was twin but… What else could this be? The actor looked up at the "imposter"—if he could really call her that–and realized. That had to be Helen.

"No, no, he didn't know that until this evening." Benoit continued as he pointed out, "Right here, when he got a Google Alert on his phone, which has now fallen strangely silent." He made his way around Miles and grabbed something from his pocket to reveal that Miles had Duke's phone ever since he died. Ezra was somewhat scared Benoit was feeling him up or something, thankfully it didn't seem Benoit had a kink for villains. "Which he showed to you… because you don't own a phone."

"Did you really think you could stop all of them from finding out about Andi's death? They all have phones." The blonde made her way towards the group, her southern accent was thick.

"He didn't need to hide the death, he just needed to hide that Duke has shown him the death moments before he was killed." Benoit spun the tail a little further… Well, not so much spinning, more like weaving. Putting the pieces together so they could see the finished product more clearly. "Right out in the open, Duke showed him. And told him exactly what he wanted in return for his silence. So what does Miles do?" The Detective stepped away from the man in question.

The woman followed Benoit, "Does he keep a vial of poison in his tooth or something? Is that some rich person thing?" If it was, Ezra was in trouble.

Benoit sighed, shaking his head in slight disappointment. "No, no, no, no, it's just… it's so much stupider than that. Birdie, what are the ingredients to your Cuban Breeze?" He asked.

Suddenly the attention was on her and it winded her for a moment. "Um, vodka, amaretto…."

"Oh, God." Whiskey gasped, raising her hands to her mouth as she realized.

"And… pineapple juice." Birdie finished after a little while.

Benoit strained, slightly disgusted and appalled. "An allergy!"

"He can't even have a drop."

"Pineapple juice!" The detective exclaimed in frustration. "He just put pineapple juice in his whiskey! It's so dumb." He shook his head, raising a hand to his forehead to rub at it. It teased his brain in the worst way possible.

Birdie, probably drunk, gasped in amazement. "It's so dumb, it's brilliant!"

"No! It's just dumb!" Benoit exclaimed, rubbing a hand against his forehead.

Ezra didn't need to check as he went up to her while the rest went to check their phones, reading off the first article about Cassandra Brand. "You must be Helen Brand…" He said softly.

"You know Helen?" Claire asked. It seemed none of them knew who she was, or they didn't pay much attention when Andi told them about her.

Helen glanced from Claire to Ezra. "We met once. He was in Alabama for some movie and recognized me." She explained, fiddling with the red envelope in her hands as Miles realized… The person he just tried to kill wasn't Andi at all. But an entirely different character all together.

"And now we come to Helen's attempted murder. Which, I have to give you credit for, did have a sound foundation of thought." Benoit said, earning him a glare from Ezra. The actor could see it being a bad habit already, the detective praising a criminal for their creativity just because it tested him enough. But Ezra didn't mind if that was the worst thing about Benoit. "You realized the opportunity laid out in front of you. You have a house on a remote island, filled with desperate people, all of whom have a real-life reason to wish this woman harm. You–" Benoit paused suddenly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Miles. Something started to become abundantly clear in his mind.

Benoit continued, somewhat weary, "Furthermore, you have a loaded gun conveniently within reach. And the lights had even been turned off." He let out a heavy sigh as he brought a hand to his forehead. "Heavens to…" Ezra didn't want to laugh but the sound escaped him anyways. Benoit may have described Ransom and Harlan in an older case as "drama mamas" but he wasn't exempt from that description either. "You dim-witted, brainless… jackass!" Elle jumped a little as she wrapped the blanket tighter around her form.

"Your one murder, with any panache at all, and you stole the whole idea from me." It seemed he knew how it felt now. Andi got her ideas stolen by Miles for years, the napkin wasn't the only thing. They all knew that.

Lionel cocked his head, "And after all that, you…. You still kept the envelope? Didn't burn it or anything?" He asked. It could have been seen as a trophy of some sort but if someone–like Helen–were to discover he still had it then his empire would fall.

"You recognize this?" Helen asked, almost smug as she took the napkin out of its packaging. "Andi's handwritin'. I got you, son of a bitch." Miles almost looked scared.

Miles shook his head, "Oh, let's slow down there, sister. Okay? Because first, how could you ever prove that that's the original?" He countered. "She might have copied mine."

"No. The bar closed nine years ago, and hers has one thing that yours just doesn't." Helen pointed at something, Ezra couldn't see what since he was standing behind her. However, Ezra was prepared to jump Miles if Helen asked him to.

Miles hummed, glancing over Helen's shoulder to meet Benoit's eyes. "Okay, but second…." He clicked on his light to set the napkin aflame.

Benoit and Ezra ran over to Helen. "What the hell did he do?" Benoit exclaimed as he looked at the pile of ash that suddenly formed at Helen's feet.

"He just burned it!" Helen gasped as Benoit squatted down to see it for himself.

"Burned what? I didn't see anything." Miles shrugged.

Ezra growled, "You are acting worse than a child! And I should know, I have one." Elle pouted, shaking her head. At least Ezra raised her right. Who knows what Miles' parents were like.

"This will not stand." Benoit ground out, his jaw clenching.

Miles chuckled, "Uh-huh. Well, did you see this proof, this smoking napkin, Blanc?" He asked with a knowing smile. They had no more evidence. Nothing that could prove Andi's death. "No. Did anybody?" The group casted their gaze downward, defeated and silent. They couldn't go against Miles, he had them in his pocket. "Okay, then wow! Wow! We got some big accusations flying around here. Except, everybody seems to have a very foggy recollection of what they actually saw–"

"Well, I did see you burn something." Ezra countered.

"And there's nothing but totally circumspective evidence." Miles continued, completely ignoring Ezra like he did most of the time a decade ago. "So, if this was just us playing my murder mystery game, which we should have been doing all weekend, then Blanc wins an iPad Pro this time." He joked softly. "But this is the real world. And in the real world you need more than a neat, little detective story. You need evidence. And you've got… nothing. Do you?"

Ezra looked from Benoit to Helen. He was right. You need evidence and you need witnesses. And if Ezra was going to be the only to side with Helen then the courts would never work out in her favor. Miles had the majority here.

Benoit pursed his lips, a sad glaze rolling over his eyes. He hated losing in a game as serious as this. "He's right." He sighed, pursing his lips. "The contents of that envelope and his possession of it were our only physical evidence."

"Right." Miles pointed at him, clicking on his lighter yet again to fiddle with it. "Wanna take that to the cops? You wanna take that to the courts?" He laughed quietly, "Look, pick your poison. Anywhere you go, it's going to be your word against mine. How do you think that's gonna go?"

Benoit took his jacket from the glass pedestal he hung it from and put it on as he walked across the room, ushering Ezra with him by setting a hand on his back.

Miles shrugged, clicking his tongue slightly. "I think it's gonna go about like it went for Andi."

"Jesus." Lionel whispered under his breath, glancing at Helen. He could have been good. But no. Lionel wasn't quite there yet.

"And I do want to say, your sister was a complicated woman, but she meant the world to me." Miles pursed his lips, trying his best to sound sincere. But if it was sincere… would he have ever killed her? "And I'm so sorry for your loss."

Dejected, Helen made her way over to Benoit. "Blanc. I need you to do something." Tears started to form at the edges of her eyes, threatening to fall. After all this work and… nothing.

"I'm sorry, Helen." Benoit shook his head, eyebrows drawing together. "I gave you the truth. This is where my jurisdiction ends. I have to answer to the police, the courts, the system. There's nothing I can do." He took a quick breath as he grabbed the glass with 'Andi' written on it. "Except maybe… offer you some courage." Benoit handed Helen the glass. "And a reminder of why your sister walked away in the first place." He quickly handed her something else, Ezra could only imagine what it was.

Benoit turned away, whispering to Ezra, "I suggest you and your daughter come with me." He said. It was a very serious tone and Ezra hadn't had the time to think it through much so he followed his instructions.

Ezra grabbed Elle by her arm and walked outside, following Benoit to the docks. He wondered why Benoit was in such a hurry to leave. Or maybe… not? He didn't seem that worried.

But, well…. The entire Glass Onion blew up a few minutes later and Ezra would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the fireworks.

"Disruption." Benoit laughed as he took a drag from his cigar.

"Fuckin' A." Derol laughed as well, his joint firmly between his lips as he lounged on a chair.

Ezra ran a hand through Elle's hair while a proud smile was on his lips. Helen sure knew how to shake things up, Ezra didn't mind though. Miles deserved to have his house blown up.

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wherewhereare · 1 year

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Selena Gomez Accused Of Lying About Writing Her Hit Song After Gwen Stefani's Demo Of The Track Leaks

By John Sundholm — Written on Dec 07, 2022

Photo: Featureflash Photo AgencyTinseltown/Shutterstock.Com

It’s been so long since their break-up it’s easy to forget that Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were once one of pop’s it-couples.

Of course, we’ve never needed to look any further than Gomez’s 2014 hit “The Heart Wants What It Wants” to remind us of their passionate, and apparently tumultuous, relationship—until now, anyway.

It turns out the song may have had nothing to do with Bieber, now that a demo of the song has leaked onto the internet this week—with Gwen Stefani’s vocals.

A Gwen Stefani version of Selena Gomez's 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' has surfaced.

Several versions of Stefani’s demo, titled “My Heart Wants What It Wants” instead of Gomez’s “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” have appeared and disappeared on social media and YouTube this week amidst ongoing rights disputes.

youtube

It turns out the pop diva and former No Doubt frontwoman recorded the song too but decided not to release her version.

Gomez went on to release it just as word of her and Bieber’s split hit the news. And a lot of fans are feeling misled by the track.

Many fans seem to think Stefani's is the original version. But Gomez is credited as a writer of the song, along with David Jost and songwriting team Antonina Armato and Tim James, the duo known as Rock Mafia.

youtube

The strange way that songwriting credits work in the music industry, however, makes it next to impossible to know the extent to which Gomez was actually involved in the writing.

Gomez could be credited for simply changing around a line or two.

Pop fans on Reddit were quick to point out that Gomez has repeatedly claimed to be the writer of the tune. One commented, “She literally said she wrote it and that it’s her most personal song & means so much to her."

The fan isn't exaggerating, Gomez has repeatedly expressed how personal the hit was for her.

“I was going through one of the hardest parts of my life,” she told Zach Sang in 2017, “And I took what I was going through and put it into my art.”

Another fan on Reddit noted that changing "My" to "The" in the song's title could entitle her to a songwriting credit in the music industry's tangled web of legalities.

Fans of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber consider the song to be about their breakup.

In her own words, Gomez has been fairly cagey about claiming the song is actually about her relationship with Bieber.

However, the song’s timing and in particular its video, which opens with Gomez lamenting about their volatile relationship, gives that impression.

The clip for the song begins with shots of Gomez over a tearful voiceover in which she recounts her conflicts with Bieber. She’s heard saying:

"I know his heart, and I know what he wouldn't do to hurt me, but I didn't realize feeling so confident, feeling so great about myself and then it just be completely shattered by one thing—by something so stupid.”

“But then you make me feel crazy because you make me feel like it's my fault. I was in pain."

Media coverage of the song and the album it appears on, suggestively titled “For You," heavily referenced her relationship and break-up with Bieber as well.

A 2014 interview with Ryan Seacrest timed to the album’s release even featured Gomez talking about Bieber’s reaction to the video when she showed it to him. She told Seacrest:

“He thought it was beautiful… I think it was really hard. I think he was a little jealous of the [actor in the video] at first.”

Many pop fans took to social media to call out Gomez for what they see as a deception now that Stefani's version has been brought to light.

There could be a simple explanation.

In the end, the confusion could be down to totally innocent details of the process of creating pop music. As one Redditor theorized:

“So Selena co-wrote the song, decided she didn’t want it, Gwen (and possibly other artists) recorded a demo, Selena decided she wanted it back, Selena got it back and released it?”

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened, especially when working with big-name songwriters like Rock Mafia.

In the end, only Gomez knows the real story. But given all the drama surrounding the tune at the time, this is one pop mystery that's sure to endure.

#Youtube

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bari-the-witch · 1 year

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Because I'm currently drowning in Steddie WIP's I'm dishing out another one to you.

Did somebody say Modern Steddie Actor!AU?

(Enjoy the first half off the first chapter I've written and tell me what you think, ok?)

Oh, and it's not really edited and beta read, so don't be surprised if there are any mistakes.

_______________________________________

December 2020 Los Angeles, California

The first thing Steve does, after coming home from the interview is to put everything in its designated place until he’s satisfied. After he’s done Steve flops onto his couch with an earth-shattering sigh, closing his eyes for a moment while massaging the spot between them with two fingers. He feels the first tendrils of a killer migraine getting stronger by the minute, announcing itself with a faint throbbing on the left side of his face. It’s not like he’s getting them often, but when they hit him it always puts him completely out of order. Even the meds prescribed by his doctor don’t help that much these days.

A look at his watch tells him, that he has a bit more than thirty minutes until the migraine will get worse, and that’s the only good thing about them; they always seem to follow some kind of weird schedule he was able to memorize over the years.

"God you’re weird. You’re such a stuck-up organized priss, even your headaches follow a schedule,” Tommy, his former best friend once joked when they were still talking to each other.

And the thing is, Steve can’t argue about that. If there’s one thing Steve loves more than his job as an actor, it’s when everything’s in order around him. Some will say, it’s almost bordering on obsessive with how organized he is, but they just don’t seem to see the advantages of it.

And now he’s here on his couch, praying to the gods above, that this migraine will be the same as all the others before, starting half an hour after the first throb, lasting for approximately ten hours, and be gone by the time he needs to be up for breakfast with his father. Like clockwork.

Steve changes into some comfortable clothes before putting his old ones into the laundry basket for washing them later, grabs a bite to eat in case he needs to puke, and dutifully takes his pills even though they don’t do much. Last but not least he pulls his curtains closed, turns off his phone and doorbell, and heads to bed for the night.

The next morning, he feels like a new human being. The pain behind his eyes morphed into a dull throbbing during the night and is going to vanish in the next few hours. Having breakfast with his father is going to be a bit of a hassle, but nothing Steve can’t handle. Like himself, his father is an absolutely predictable person. Butter him up, ask him about his work, don’t talk back and you’re good to go. Steve does this every time, And it always works.

After giving himself a pep-talk so he’s ready to face the world, Steve gets out of bed for his morning routine, consisting of his daily stretch to stay fit, and hopping under the shower’s warm, relaxing spray. He takes extra care of his appearance today so his father doesn’t scold him for it (which he’ll do anyway), eats his breakfast, and decides to go through his e-mails, something he neglected the last few days.

The tabloids would be totally pissed off if they knew how mundane, boring and predictable his life really is, the exact opposite of the picture they’re painting of him in their articles. To them, he’s the type of actor with five girls on each arm, sleeping around like there’s no tomorrow, even though he’s been in a relationship for five years and likes to have his peace and quiet if he has the chance to. Somewhere along the way, Steve gave up to correct them. It’s too draining, so he just lets them be.

The first few e-mails in his inbox (all spam) are so ridiculous, that he is tempted to post them on his social media account just to make fun of them, but he withstands the urge in favor of getting to the more important ones. They’re from Joyce, his manager, a tiny but headstrong woman he works with since landing his first major role in the business. They contain all kinds of suggestions for roles he can apply to, something that proved to be a problem for him recently. Nothing seems to catch his eye these days which is a shame. Joyce always supported this in the past but even she’s getting antsy after almost a year of not picking anything.

Steve reads a few more of her suggestions and huffs in annoyance when they all sound boring and shallow. It might sound arrogant to others, but these roles weren’t even worth wasting a single thought on them or - god forbid - putting a casting tape together.

The ringing of his phone pulls Steve out of his miserable thoughts and he only picks it up because it’s Joyce’s caller ID popping up on the screen. It’s not unusual for her to him call during the day, she’s his manager after all, but Joyce knows that he hates it when she doesn’t send him a message in advance so he can prepare for it. Things like this always put him on edge.

“Good morning Steve,” she chirps into the phone on the other end of the line after he picked up. She sounds almost giddy, which can be a good sign or the foreboding of disaster.

“Hey, Joyce. Not that I don’t like to hear your voice but … did we have a meeting or something?”

“Sorry for calling you out of the blue, but … I think you’ll forgive me when I tell you what it’s about,” Joyce really does sound sorry for not warning him, which makes it a little bit better. She also gets straight to the point, something Steve always liked about her.

“Okay, shoot,” he replies while taking a short glance at his wristwatch. He still has an hour to spare before meeting with his father for their monthly “my-son-is-a-failure”-lunch, so he isn’t in a hurry.

“Just like that?” There is amusement in her voice.

“Just like that. So what’s the matter? Is everything ok?”

Joyce chuckles at the concern in his voice before she answers: “Yeah, everything’s fine, don’t worry. Listen, I got a call yesterday evening, but because it was so late I didn’t wanna disturb you so … to make it short: Jim Hopper wants to work with you.”

Ok wow. That is indeed a big thing.

Steve never had the pleasure of working with Jim Hopper, one of the best writers and directors out there, but he heard all kinds of good things about him, things like he was ridiculously easy to work with or the fact, that everything the man touches seemed to turn into gold.

“Joyce, wow. That’s great, I uh… I really don’t know what to say.”

“I know, right? And the best thing is, he called me and asked for you specifically. He wants you to take one of the two leading roles in his next tv show!” There is a rustling of paper on the other end of the line. “I said I wanted to talk to you about it first, but oh my god, Steve. This can finally be your chance to get back into the eyes of the public! You’re such a talented young actor and it would be a waste to throw it all away,” she praises and Steve can feel his heart clench at her words. Words he so desperately wants to hear from his parents just once.

“I guess… I always wanted to work with Hopper, to be honest. He’s just so…”

“Great? One of the best out there? Totally awesome? Your ticket back to the business?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Steve chuckles, suddenly in a much better mood after hearing the good news.

“Ok, then. I’ll send you the details via email in a few minutes. Call me tonight and tell me what you think, ok?”

“Will do, Joyce, don’t worry.”

“Great. So, I’ll hear from you later then. Oh, and sorry about calling you just like that. I know how much you hate that.”

“Don’t mention it.”

There are voices in the background in the background now, and Joyce talks to them for a moment before turning her attention back to Steve again. “Sorry, I really need to get going. Bye Steve. Talk to you later.”

“Bye Joyce. And greet Will and Jonathan from me, will you?”

“Of course Steve. They’ll never forgive me if I don’t. Have a nice day.”

“You too Joyce,” Steve replies before ending the call and putting his phone aside.

Holy shit, working with Hopper. It wasn’t just a daydream anymore but a real possibility for him now.

Steve opens the document Joyce sent him immediately after ending the call, and skims slowly over the first couple of pages. The role he’s offered is the leading role in a high school drama named ‘Stranger Things’ a show about two boys falling in love while battling the horrors lurking beneath their peaceful town and Steve is almost immediately hooked.

The plot sounds exciting and well put-together, the romance is cute but doesn’t take up the whole show, and the character he’s (hopefully) going to be, strikes him as a total badass: a former popular kid in high school that loses his crown and finally realizes what’s really important in life. It sounds almost too good to be true and exactly like the thing Steve’s been looking for.

But it crashes and burns the moment Steve turns to the next page.

Oh, fucking shit no. Please let this be a mistake!

Steve isn’t particularly picky about who he’s working with really, it’s one of the things he least cares about when accepting a role, but not this time.

Not with Eddie fucking Munson being his co-star.

Fuck, no.

No, he absolutely won’t take that stupid role if it means, that he’ll have to spend weeks or even months with a person that behaves like a rabid squirrel on crack. Where Steve is all organized and serious, Eddie Munson is the complete opposite. He’s loud, he’s brash, he’s goofy, and doesn’t seem to give a shit about not making a mess of everything. Eddie Munson is complete and utter chaos and Steve will do his best to stay away from a person this unpredictable. He already worked with him once, he doesn’t intend to repeat the experience.

“What the hell were you thinking Joyce” Steve mumbles angrily to himself while he reads Munson’s name over and over. He’ll have to call her tonight to blow the whole thing off, if only for the sake of his sanity.

#steddie

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polijakefim · 1 year

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TRAVIS FIMMEL AT THE CRESCENT BEVERLY HILLS IN LOS ANGELES. PHOTOS: ZOEY GROSSMAN/ART DEPARTMENT. STYLING: RITA ZEBDI/JED ROOT. GROOMING: MARISSA MACHADO/ART DEPARTMENT USING KEVIN.MURPHY.

In a lot of ways, Travis Fimmel is an easy person to talk to. He’s kind and polite, and quick to deflect the conversation back onto you: Where did you grow up? Did you like it? Would you go back permanently? When we meet in person on a rainy day in New York, he seems keen to keep an abnormal situation—an interview in which a stranger is asking you personal questions about your profession —as normal and reciprocal as possible.

The youngest of three boys, Fimmel grew up on a cattle farm in Australia, and lived in London for a while before settling in Los Angeles to become an actor. His early career had plenty of false starts, and he famously became a model in the early 2000s so he could extend his U.S. visa. Since he made his debut as Ragnar Lothbrook, the protagonist of Vikings, almost four years ago, however, things have been going very smoothly. In the past year, for example, he played a hapless hippy in Rebecca Miller’s screwball comedy Maggie’s Plan and starred in the video game adaptation Warcraft: The Beginning, which though a domestic disappointment grossed almost $400 million overseas. He just finished working with Chloë Sevigny and Steven Buscemi in Lean on Pete, the new film from 45 Years writer-director Andrew Haigh, and completed Finding Steve McQueen with Forest Whitaker and Lily Rabe. Next year, he will film Inversion opposite Samuel L. Jackson.

But Vikings is still the project everyone is buzzing about. It has long been suggested that, at some point, Ragnar’s sons will replace him in the main narrative, and, after April’s mid-season finale, it seemed like the time had come. When we left Ragnar seven months ago, he had been decimated in battle by his brother Rollo and had walked away from his kingdom. Now, however, Ragnar is back and keen for revenge.

EMMA BROWN: With Vikings, you’ve always said that Ragnar’s sons are going to do bigger and better things than him. Is that something that you talked about with the creator from the very beginning?

TRAVIS FIMMEL: In history they went on and did better things, but yeah, I was only meant to be on the show for a year. I was meant to die that last episode that first year, but I didn’t; I ended up being on it a bit longer. There are great young actors playing my sons. A lot of shows get very repetitive, but I think it’s great that the young kids are coming in. It just gives new life to the show—some cool characters for the audience to follow. I hope they really enjoy this season. The kids are great. I’m excited for the audience to see these young people doing amazing things.

BROWN: Murdering and pillaging.

FIMMEL: Yes. Plundering and making love to strangers.

BROWN: I hear you’ve got to watch out for Ivar the Boneless.

FIMMEL: Yeah, that’s a great character—a great character in the history. All of them go on to do some very interesting stuff, but Ivar is a very historical character, and it’s certainly set up to be a great role and a great young actor plays it. I think the audience will love it.

BROWN: Will you miss Ragnar when you stop playing him?

FIMMEL: No. I’ll miss the crew and the Irish. There were a lot of laughs.

BROWN: Will you give up your place in Ireland?

FIMMEL: No, I stay in a little cabin. I stay whenever I want. I stay on a beautiful little lake. A great Irish family. Fishing all the time. It’s one of the most beautiful countries, and the nicest people I’ve ever met.

BROWN: How did you meet the family?

FIMMEL: We shot there. I can even take a boat some days to work to see the other side of the lake. We shot a lot of stuff on that lake. We had a camp there the first year—a Viking camp right on their place.

BROWN: You’ve said in the past that most of the crew already knew each other when they started working on the show.

FIMMEL: It’s just a small industry over there. A lot of them worked on that show The Tudors. A lot of them worked on Braveheart. They’re a great crew. We couldn’t have shot the show anywhere else.

BROWN: Is that why you want to work with Mel Gibson? Did they tell you stories about Braveheart?

FIMMEL: [laughs] No, no, I’ve always loved Mel Gibson. I think he’s awesome. I love the humor that he brings to everything. And he’s an Aussie. I would love to work with him.

BROWN: Do you have Aussie pride, or is it just Mel Gibson?

FIMMEL: I’ve got Aussie country pride for sure. I just like where I grew up. I think you’ve got lots in common with the people who grew up the same as you.

BROWN: When you were growing up, did you think you were going to be a farmer?

FIMMEL: Yeah, I still do.

BROWN: Do your parents still have their farm?

FIMMEL: They just sold it. It’s a bad week for me. They move out on the eighth of December. I don’t know what I’m going to do now when I go back. I’ll get a tent or something. Stay at my mate’s place. All of my mates have got farms there still.

BROWN: Were your parents disappointed that none of their children wanted to take over the farm?

FIMMEL: My grandparents were always farmers. My granddad is dead. They started with a really little farm, and then my uncle and my dad, they kept expanding and expanding and getting more farms. My grandma worked there until she was 85. She’s 91 now. She was milking at 85 before my granddad died, and then she couldn’t get out there anymore. My granddad had Parkinson’s, so he couldn’t change gears [while driving], so my grandma changed gears in the car. He couldn’t see very well, so my grandma would be the eyes. My grandma never got a license. She can drive, but she never got a license. They used to drive about a half hour every morning to the farm. They did retire and they got a place in town and then they unretired, just started driving out every morning at 5 o’clock or whatever.

BROWN: When you were little, were you good about doing your farm chores?

FIMMEL: Yeah, we always would milk before and after school. I liked it, though. That’s the type of work that I like. I didn’t like it on Saturdays when you had to go home and milk after football, but I love the country. I’ll get a farm over there one day.

BROWN: What will you have on your farm? Will it be a dairy farm?

FIMMEL: No, just beef cattle. Dairy sucks.

BROWN: When did you start riding?

FIMMEL: We had a little pony.

BROWN: A fat Shetland?

FIMMEL: No. [laughs] For some reason I remember a Shetland, though. I think somebody left a Shetland at our place, or maybe it was when we were real little. I remember when I was seven or eight or something we had a little white pony. And my dad always had a horse. But we did most of our stuff on the motorbikes, because it was all very flat where we’re from. I got a motorbike at three; we’ve still got it. It was an R50. Hopefully my little nephews will play on it.

BROWN: How come you haven’t quit acting yet?

FIMMEL: I haven’t made enough money to buy a farm. I want a big farm. Everything is expensive in Australia. I got a long way to go, unfortunately. I had a two-year plan that went to a four-year plan that went to a six-year plan. I’ve been trying to do this for 16 years or something now. Plans never really turn out. I’ll get a certain amount of money then I’ll go.

BROWN: When did you realize that acting was something you could do for a living?

FIMMEL: I don’t know, once I got a job I guess. There’s a much better chance of making money doing this for a while than farming. I don’t know why I’m doing it. I still have no idea why I’m doing it.

BROWN: Do people ever get angry with you for saying that?

FIMMEL: I don’t care. Why would people get angry at me? Do they think we’re curing cancer? I think people take themselves too seriously if they get offended by it; it’s just a job. I’m not knocking doctors. There’s some great stuff about acting and all that. It just doesn’t affect me.

BROWN: Did you ever go through a dry spell in terms of acting?

FIMMEL: Yeah, my first 12 years. [laughs] I think that happens to every actor.

BROWN: How did you get your first acting job?

FIMMEL: Just auditioning. I was in class for a couple of years before I had even gone out for an audition. When I decided to stay in L.A., it was to act. Then I couldn’t stay here because of the visa, and so I had to do the modeling stuff. [laughs]

BROWN: You didn’t want to do Home and Away or any of the Australian soaps?

FIMMEL: I didn’t want anybody to know that I was trying to be an actor at home. I wanted to do it over here so nobody knew. They didn’t know until I got a job—a TV series for the WB.

BROWN: Whom have you most enjoyed working with as an actor? You’ve worked some interesting directors like Rebecca Miller.

FIMMEL: I love Rebecca. I worked with a guy, Mark Steven Johnson, that I really loved just recently. I worked with Andrew Haigh; he’s an English guy. He was fantastic. I worked with him earlier this year.

BROWN: What did you like about him?

FIMMEL: Just a nice fellow and a gentleman. No ego.

BROWN: Have you worked with people with big egos?

FIMMEL: Many, many times.

BROWN: Do you have general faith in humanity?

FIMMEL: Yeah, of course. For sure.

BROWN: What qualities do you look for in a friend?

FIMMEL: For a fellow, just a good bloke I guess. Just nice people. Humor.

BROWN: Is your first impression generally correct, or do you ever change your mind about people?

FIMMEL: A bit of both, I guess. People have such a distinctive look to them these days. Whatever image they’re doing, a lot of the time it sums up their character a bit. There are not many individual people anymore—they dress the same as their friends. It’s a bit weird; everybody is trying to be different, but then they’re exactly the same as whatever mob they hang out with.

BROWN: Do you think individualism is important?

FIMMEL: Yeah, of course—not worrying about what other people are wearing and any of that stuff.

BROWN: Did you ever worry about that stuff—what people thought of you—when you were a teenager?

FIMMEL: I remember putting gel in my hair—I had the spike and the rat’s tail. I got a flat top for a while. That was between 12 and 16.

BROWN: Have you ever lied to get a job?

FIMMEL: I think every job you have to lie to get. You always say how wonderful it all is, that it’s an amazing script—”I love you, you’re such a great director.” I think every actor does that.

BROWN: What about, “Of course I can do a perfect Irish accent,” or, “I’m a great guitar player.”

FIMMEL: No, I’ve never done that ever. You’d get found out so quick. Who are you people trying to kid?

BROWN: Have you ever had to really fight for a job?

FIMMEL: Yeah. Most jobs you have to fight for. For my first job, I auditioned like 13 times. You go back in, you’re writing letters. It happens all the time. It’s not a very easy industry to be a part of.

BROWN: If your older brothers both work in the mines in Western Australia, and you were a Calvin Klein model, do they ever make Zoolander jokes?

FIMMEL: No, they know me too well. [laughs] They know I was just trying to get a visa, you know? It got me a visa for three years. They think it’s funny.

VIKINGS AIRS WEDNESDAY NIGHTS ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL.

#travisfimmel #vikings #ragnar lothbrok #travis fimmel #ragnarlothbrok #polijake_fim

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chris-grimaldi · 2 years

Photo

Final Confessional

Mentions: Juni, Luna, Cisco, Riley, Xavier, and the baby

“Chris, it’s so good to get you in here. It’s been so long that we had started wondering if you forgot the way here,” the producer said as Chris sat down.

“I didn’t,” Chris deadpanned, giving them a hard look in return, “but considering that you didn’t let me have access to a working phone so I could contact my lawyer about the food situation here, I figured that protesting sitting for these was a good way to get my point across.”

“You do realize that we were rolling right?” the producer asked, motioning at the camera.

“You do realize, I know what a rolling camera looks like better than anyone else here, right?” Chris deadpanned back, “But please go ahead and release the footage. I’m sure that people would love to know that you didn’t let a pregnant person have the food that they needed for weeks into their pregnancy. Plus don’t think that I didn’t notice that Luna had her health emergency too before you actually provided us food. So go ahead and show what I just said. I dare you. Because don’t think for a second that I won’t use all of my connections to make sure that this place gets shut down for unsafe working conditions if you do.”

“You know what, point taken, let’s change the subject,” the producer said, looking down at their clipboard. And in a moment, Chris had channeled the movie star persona that people were used to. The flashy smile, the laid back demeanor, he was interview ready, which was a switch that flipped so quickly that to anyone not used to it, they probably would have been thrown for a loop. “So you were one of the last people to come onto the island, and yet you still managed to find love rather quickly, describe how that process was for you.”

“Well, I mean, have you met Juni? It’s impossible not to love them,” Chris chuckled, “But there always was something more to it. From the moment that I met them, it was like the heavens opened and announced that this was who I have been looking for all my life. And I know that sounds incredibly cliché, especially with my incredibly public relationship history, but Juni just feels like she truly is my soulmate.”

“Speaking of your relationship history, you did seem to get a few public posts that seemed to doubt your intentions here. Do you...” the producer started.

“Those were from my ex-wife, next question,” Chris matter-of-factly interrupted. He didn’t need to explain how he knew that they were from Lucy, even if people didn’t understand how he knew.

“Alright....so why don’t you talk about some of the other connections that you made on the island.”

“Well, while it wasn’t a new connection, it was great getting to hang out with Cisco. He’s been my brother for forever, so any time that we actually get to hang out is one that I’ll take,” Chris smiled, “But I loved getting to know Luna. I’ve heard so many great things about her from my team with going to SDCC so often that I’ve actually wanted to meet her for awhile. But obviously con weekend is so insanely busy that I’m sure that every time that I was free she was busy, or vice versa. And then I loved getting to know Riley. The video game industry is such a vital part of modern day entertainment that I don’t really think a lot of people realize the extent that it is so getting to hear his point of view was pretty fascinating. Plus I really look forward to doing a project with him. And then Xavier, I had actually worked with before, but hadn’t really gotten the chance to get to know him. And now that I have, well not only do I look forward to working with him again in the future, but I’m glad to have him as a friend.”

“You know, it sounds like a lot of your connections have to do with work,” the producer pointed out.

“And you’re not wrong, I haven’t worked since my accident. And while I am not willing to really go on the record about that yet, it doesn’t stop the fact that I miss my job. And being an actor, despite how much I am protective of my personal life, there is still a strange junction where my personal life and my work life have to intersect in a way that most people don’t understand. And to be honest, I think a lot of the Ship-Mates are going to experience this when they get back and not truly understand why. From what I can tell the show was incredibly popular.”

“You’re not wrong, we’ve been dominating in the ratings,” the producer confirmed.

“Exactly, so the fact that I was able to make industry connections that I didn’t have before, yes it’ll help me with getting work because the entertainment industry is so interpersonal and who knows who,” Chris stated, “But at the same time, you legitimately want to be friends with all of these creative and talented people and so there’s a lot of overlap.”

“I guess that makes a lot of sense,” the producer nodded. “Now, before I let you go, I do need to mention what everyone’s excited about, the baby. What are you most looking forward to about them?”

“I know that in a way it’s a cop-out answer, but really the answer is everything,” Chris admitted, “I’ve wanted to be a Dad for such a long time, and so I just am looking forward to holding them, singing to them, even changing diapers,” he chuckled, “But also watching them grow up. See how they take after both me and Juni, and seeing how our family grows because of them. It’s going to be an amazing change in my life, and it’s one that I truly look forward to.”

“Well thank you for coming in, and thank you for being on the show,” the producer said, as Chris took of his mic.

“Yeah, no problem,” Chris dryly said, “just glad to have this all done.”

#swconfess #swtask

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siythn · 1 month

Text

Worth The Wait

LEVIXREADER! Working for the hit T.V show, Attack on Titan has truly given you many memories and opportunities. You knew you got along with your Co-Star, Levi Ackerman, a bit different than everybody else. The question was, did he notice it too? _______ ♫ LOVER - taylor swift ❝ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ꜱᴀᴠᴇ ᴀʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅɪʀᴛɪᴇꜱᴛ ᴊᴏᴋᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴛᴀʙʟᴇ, ɪ'ʟʟ ꜱᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀ ꜱᴇᴀᴛ❞

You were four years old when you got your first acting gig. It was a commercial for a clothing brand that you've long forgotten; to say you'll never forget what it soon brought you later on is an understatement.

The grandeur of Oscar night welcomes you the moment you step onto the red carpet, the flashes of cameras and people calling out your name create a symphony of blinding lights, and clicks, with overbearing noise you can't quite make out.

Your assistant guides you and your "plus one" (a teasing nickname that arose when someone recognized you and not Levi when grabbing lunch), who just is your co-star and closest friend; Levi Ackerman, past the shouts of photographers trying to capture a moment of two well-known actors for Attack on Titan's critical acclaim.

To say Attack On Titan wasn't a huge hit was an insulting statement. It's proved itself by its many awards won over the years. It's bringing home one or more Oscars tonight to sit pretty for the rest to celebrate.

But for you, the real turmoil churns inside your stomach and into your already existing nerves as you await the category of Best Supporting Actress—your category.

Working with the cast who's seen you grow as an actor, most importantly; a person from the start is enough fulfillment for you. To share experiences that are one of a household is short of a blessing.

But when you heard the news you were nominated for an Oscar, nothing could've prepared you for the rush of emotions that was to come. With the satisfaction you already gained with Attack On Titan; being considered to be a real winner was the cherry on top.

The famous show has been your haven for years now. It's where your career took one for the books; where your name became one familiar. You remember your first day on set, the bundle of anxiety that sat in your stomach and never quite left until you got to understand the people you would be calling your family in interviews.

One person clicked differently from the rest. Levi Ackerman is someone you'd consider a best friend or even more. To be real, you couldn't even figure out your feelings for yourself, which led you to swear you'd never admit it due to sheer embarrassment. Plus, it seems quite scandalous to have a "crush" on a co-star you've been so dear with.

It never stopped the fans though.

They have long picked up on the chemistry between you two, both on-screen and off. Your characters, connect in ways of war, along with the unspoken tension that fans adore. You weren't complaining since it brought more media attention, but the cast always had a field day when an interviewer brought it up.

Long over the years of working together, your bond became inseparable. Close moments in the set transcribed to real life with the both of you.

Meeting him for the first time is always a funny story since both of you seemed to hold distaste for the other. When you sucked up the courage to confront him at his trailer as to why he hated you so much, you received a dumbfounded look. With crossed arms, he claimed, "I thought you hated me, so I just assumed you wanted space."

You two become closer and closer from that day on. Not to boost his ego—but his presence alone is a force in itself. The familiarity of his nearness is a comfort you've latched onto.

And, with the way you're latched onto his arm, grip tightening as the minutes fly by, anyone could pick up a clue.

You've been grasping his arm for who knows how long, but not a word of complaint has come from Levi yet. You feel bad, but your nerves are a title wave compared to the guilt.

Levi, ever the calm, senses how tense you are as he stares. "Just breathe," he whispers, leaning close enough that his words only reach your ear in the chaos.

You feel his breath grazing your neck, before pulling away with a soft nod; making sure his comforting words reach you. With a brief nod, you continue being directed to your seats.

As you and the cast find your seats, located in the middle with fancy chairs and decorum; you thank every high being you can think of when you see your name tag, then Levi's name, sitting right next to you.

"Oh no, look who's sitting next to me," Confused, you look to see Hange pulling in her chair as she sits. Levi, noticing your gaze, nudges your shoulder to redirect your stare. Following it, you find yourself looking back at your name.

"Shut up," You mumble, releasing the hold you have on his arm to smack him slightly, in return he gives you a grin.

Being sat at one of the tables, in the Dolby Theatre, is as surreal as it might sound. You can't take your eyes off the gravitating stage. You wonder if you'll be standing up there in a bit.

As the night progresses, the time for Best Supporting Actress draws near. You haven't moved from your seat in the dim glow of the theater, too hot and overwhelmed. Levi's hand finds yours again under the table, his grip firm. It feels different this time, probably considering how you're holding his hand rather than grasping onto his forearm.

From the corner of your eye, you can see him watching you, not bothering to watch what's happening on the big stage. "No matter what happens, we celebrate tonight," he assures you, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I think that's just an excuse for drinking." With a suppressed laugh and a smile matching Levi's, he gives you a snarky glare, he responds with a "watch out" kind of look, and a squeeze of his hand.

The lights dim and brighten, continuing the show even though you feel stuck in one. In this grand theatre, spotlighting the famous and the influential, there you are, seated next to Levi, your hand clasped tightly in his.

It's comical to think about.

As the category for Best Supporting Actress shows up in big bold letters, your heart pounds like it's trying to beat right out of your chest. You can practically hear your blood pumping.

You're nominated this is it; is what goes through your mind over and over, and the reality is as daunting as it is thrilling.

Your palm sweats against Levi's, but he gives your hand another reassuring squeeze. When you glance at him, he offers you a small, confident nod, as if he knows a secret you don't.

The presenter takes the stage, envelope in hand, and the murmur of the room hushes. "And now," the presenter begins, her voice echoing throughout the grand auditorium, "the nominees for Best Supporting Actress."

Your heart skips a beat as your face appears on the screen, a well-known clip from Attack on Titan, Season Four. It shows an emotional moment, a scene that took you weeks to prepare for; and fuck did you do it well, the tears pouring down your face add to the dramatics.

You can hear your cast and others cheer and clap, long before it's interrupted by another face, one of your competitors.

In your peripheral vision, you can see a cameraman waltz towards you, ready to get your reaction to who wins the Oscar. Hopefully, the tablecloths are long.

Your heart pounds in your ears, drowning out the next few moments until the sharp sound of your name cuts through, clear and irrevocable. "And the Oscar goes to. . .,"

The presenter takes so long to open the envelope, to the point where you don't care who wins or loses. You want the anticipation to be over with.

With a tiny cough to clear up her voice, the presenter's voice is loud and clear and she presses her lips close to the mic. ". . . with Attack on Titan!"

At first, you don't even hear your name. Not even realizing you won, you open your closed eyes; that you didn't know were shut, to see multiple eyes staring right at you, the camera now shoved into your face.

A surge of disbelief washes over you, followed swiftly by adrenaline that rockets through your veins. As reality sets in, tears well up in your waterline, a few escape, running down to meet makeup that took your stylist a good hour.

You can't care though, it's a testament to the journey and the struggles that brought you here.

You can't even get up from your seat at first, you just sit trying to process this tremendous wave of emotions. You look to the left of you to see that Levi is already feet before you, his applause thunderous, joined by the cheers of your peers.

As you stand, overwhelmed, he reaches out, cupping your checks gently wiping away your tears with a laugh. "Hey, no tears now, get up there," he teases gently, pulling you into a hug, as you choke up a laugh and hold him right, slightly rocking the both of you right to left.

Letting go of the warmth of his embrace, you give him a smile, ear to ear; hoping it can express the amount of gratitude you hold for him in this moment.

Moving from your seat to approach other members of the cast you love, you hug and thank each one of them that's near as they shout congratulations at you. You know your time is limited; you give one final hug to Armin who's in your reach before speed walking towards the stage.

Making your way up where your face is plastered and a few new clips play, your dress falls long behind you as you rush up the steps, making quick work but not enough to trip and fall over your heels. Walking up to the presenter, you first greet her with a hug and kiss on the cheek. With a few words of congrats, she hands you the award.

Its solid weight feels real in your hands, it's something you'd never imagine having the privilege to hold let alone have. It'll forever be a tangible reminder of the years of hard work and passion you've poured into your career.

Approaching the microphone, you look out at the sea of faces—some familiar, some not—all smiling at you. There's so so so many people, is all you can think of as you release a sigh.

"Wow, um," you let out a laugh, wiping down the tears that continue to flow down. You pause, taking in the light that beams down before you start your speech.

"I honestly don't even know where to start. Thank you so much to the Academy for this incredible honor, to our director, and the amazing cast and crew of Attack on Titan. This is a dream I've never dared to dream."

You pause, collecting your thoughts and the courage to articulate the depth of your gratitude. That's when it hits you.

Your eyes scan the crowd until they rest on Levi. "And I need to say a special thank you to my co-star, Levi Ackerman," you continue, your voice already starting to crack. "Levi, you have been my rock through this entire journey. On-screen, you challenge me to push harder, and off-screen, you keep me sane. I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here without your friendship and support. Thank you for being so, so amazing."

With a side glance, you see the camera cut from you to Levi, capturing his slight blush and proud smile, expressions that send another wave of cheers through the audience.

"Most importantly, my family and friends. I can't make up the words to describe all my love for you. My parents, who supported me always, and my siblings who even though always tense me," you smile at the memories, "were the ones always there. And as always, the fans. I would never be here without all of you, I love each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart!"

As you finish your speech, the crowd erupts into applause. The noise is so loud, and with the few people yelling their hearts out, it's a moment of realization that this is real. You feel a hot blush rising your neck as you take a few bows, before hushing off backstage.

You are greeted with a glass of champagne, as camera crews gather around, calling your name in all different directions to try and snap a photo of you still holding the Oscar before you take off for interviews.

There, it seems like a press conference. More people are there than before, and many of them are out with microphones and notepads already prepared. You hear a few clicks of photos being taken as you answer questions, but you can't help but laugh when they ask about Levi and the special shoutout you gave him. "I had to give what was due," was your answer.

Finally being released, you're escorted backstage to your seat, in doing so, a few give you bright smiles and nods of compliments for your win. You return them all with smiley whites.

As you arrive back at your table, some of the members of your cast excitingly greet you, reaching out their hands with yours to give praise.

When the previous moments seem to have died down, you can focus on Levi. Who's been patiently waiting for his turn. When your eyes fall on him, you know the words before it comes out of his mouth.

"Told you," he murmurs, as he takes your free hand in his, his pride in you shining brightly. "I still can't believe it," as he places both of your hands onto his lap, you take the next step to intertwine them.

You don't know what his reaction was to it, since you looked away as soon as you made the move, embarrassment written across your features. You feel accomplished when he doesn't show any sign of breaking it.

Levi leans over, whispering, "How does it feel, Oscar-winning actress?"

You chuckle, a light, bubbly sound that matches the champagne bubbles you'd enjoyed earlier. "It feels like I'm dreaming. Don't let me wake up, okay?"

Levi's response is a soft, genuine laugh. "I won't. We're just getting started, you know."

- ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱᴋɪᴘ -

The shots you took with Connie, Sasha, and Jean are taking a toll on your body now. You feel tipsy, well that's what you're hoping. It's not that dizzy, but the occasional bumping into people/things and apologizing with slurred words shows you're not sober.

As the glittering after-party unfolds around you, the music thrumming and laughter echoing under the luxurious chandeliers,

You can feel someone's intense gaze fixated on you. When you move your eyes to search for the culprit, you find Levi's eyes rock hard on you.

Realizing you're now straight directly at him, he excuses himself from a group of producers and makes his way to you. Your heart races a bit, a reaction you're still getting used to despite the months of filming together.

"Need some air?" he asks, a knowing smile tugging at his lips as if he can read your mind. Without waiting for your reply, he nods toward a quieter balcony area. You follow, grateful for a break from the overwhelming crowd.

The cool night air is a welcoming relief, the city lights below providing a soft, romantic backdrop that you try not to read too much into.

The cold air feels blissful as it hits your skin, you know you should have something to cover yourself, but the feelings to nice to let go. Plus, the way Levi's aligned shoulder to shoulder with you making his body height seep onto yours, you know you can last a few more moments here.

Yet, there's an undeniable tension at the moment, made clearer when Levi turns to you with a look of admiration. "You did amazing tonight, by the way. That speech was something else."

You smile, touched by his words. Trying to hide the obvious attempt of panic, you knew he was going to bring up the shoutout you gave him. You just didn't know if you were ready to face it. "I was just speaking from the heart. But thank you, Levi. I couldn't have gotten through tonight without you."

He nods, his gaze lingering on yours. "It's not just tonight. You know that, right? You've got this energy about you. It's like—infectious, and makes everyone around better. Made me better."

His words seem to send a shock through your body as you slowly digest his words. As silence warps around the two of you, you quickly change the subject in hopes he won't can't a glimpse of your body becoming suspiciously flush.

"Remember that time during filming when Sasha accidentally set fire to the catering tent?" you ask, a fond smile playing on your lips.

You turn your head from the view to look at Levi. Who has yet to say a word in the comfortable silence, keeping his eyes fixed on you? He snaps out of it quickly, seeming startled by your words before making his face fall back into one normal.

His lips quirk into a grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "How could I forget?" he replies, a hint of laughter in his voice. "It took hours to put out the flames, and poor Hange nearly lost their eyebrows in the process."

As your laughter begins to subside, Levi's expression turns thoughtful, a hint of mischief dancing in his eyes. "Remember that time during the blooper reel when Marco accidentally tripped over his own feet and knocked over the entire set?"

The memory hits you like a wave, and you can't help but burst into laughter, tears streaming down your cheeks. "Oh my gosh, yes!" you gasp between fits of laughter. "And then Petra tried to save him, but ended up falling on top of him instead!"

Levi joins in your laughter, the sound filling the air with a warmth that seems to wrap around you like a comforting embrace. And as you both stare at each other, a few tears of laughter streaming down your faces, you realize just how lucky you are to have someone like Levi by your side—someone who knows you inside and out, who can make you laugh even in the darkest of times, and who is always there to wipe away your tears, whether they're from laughter or something else entirely.

The moment stretches between you, filled with unspoken words and hints of tension that seem to hang in the air like a delicate tapestry, woven from the threads of friendship and maybe something underlying more. As Levi's hand brushes away the tear from your cheek, you reminisce from when he cupped your cheek when facing the shock of winning.

You feel a fluttering in your chest, a warmth spreading through you that has nothing to do with the cool night air as you feel your eyelids become jaded.

His touch lingers, the pad of his thumb tracing a gentle path along your cheekbone, and you find yourself leaning into his touch, your eyes now fluttering closed at the sensation.

His other hand finds its way sneaking to your waist, pulling you softly a fraction closer, and you feel the heat of his body seeping through the thin fabric of your dress.

With a shy, tentative smile, you reach up as your hazy eyes open to meet his. Your fingers tangling in the soft strands of his jet-black hair. The gesture is instinctual, a silent invitation that speaks volumes more than words ever could.

Yeah, you'd had your hands in his hair for multiple shots in Attack on Titan, and as much as it was a familiar feeling, it was one way more intimate.

Levi's eyes darken slightly at the touch, his gaze dropping to your lips before flickering back up to meet yours, seeking permission with his eyes.

You can feel your heart pound in your chest as you nod, the movement barely exaggerated but enough to convey your consent. And then, finally, he closes the distance between you, his lips meeting yours in a kiss that feels warm; it was worth the wait.

It starts slow, a gentle exploration of lips and breath, each touch sending sparks flying through you like fireworks. You can't think of anything but him, Levi, and how his lips touch yours.

His hand cups your cheek, his touch warm and reassuring, while the other settles at the small of your back, drawing you closer until there's barely an inch of space between you.

The kiss deepens, fueled by a growing hunger that seems to consume you both, a fire that burns brighter with each passing moment. Your fingers tighten in his hair, pulling him impossibly closer, while his grip on your waist tightens, anchoring you to him as if afraid to let go.

The both of you pause for a moment, catching your breath but not making any move to interrupt the position you're in. As Levi grips your waist tightly, he pulls you in for a kiss.

For a moment, the world falls away, leaving just the two of you suspended in a bubble of time and space, a universe unto yourselves where nothing else matters except the warmth of each other's touch and the softness of each other's lips.

You slightly move your head to the right, permitting him to go deeper than it already is. He gets the message, lips moving together, faster, as if they were made to be locked on one another.

And oh, do you wish you could last here in this moment forever.

Just as suddenly as it began, the "spell" is broken by the discreet click of a camera shutter from somewhere inside. You pull away, breathless and flushed, your eyes meeting Levi's in a silent exchange that speaks volumes more than words ever could.

Silence greets you both, as you both catch your breath for the second time. You ignore the camera, only focusing on what's more important. Levi breaks first, grinning as he stares at you up and down, then moves his eyes to peer up.

"Guess we should have checked for paparazzi," Levi murmurs, a playful glint in his eyes as he brushes a stray strand of hair from your face that fell.

You laugh softly, the sound a mix of nerves and excitement as you lean against him, arms wrapping around his neck. Without hesitation, he wraps his arms around your waist tightly. In the stillness of it all, you can feel the steady beat of his heart. "Yeah," you agree, your voice barely above a whisper. "But no regrets."

"None at all," he confirms, his arms giving you one more reassuring squeeze.

- ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱᴋɪᴘ -

The next morning when you wake up, you feel as if your head is about to pound out of your head. It's like you can still hear the remnants of champagne and laughter (and multiple shots sitting in the back of your throat that you drank down) You turn annoyed to find your phone buzzing relentlessly on the nightstand.

Squinting, you pick it up to find a barrage of messages and missed calls. The top one from Hange captures your attention with its flurry of emojis and exclamation points.

[glasses]: "YOU TWO ARE TRENDING!!! BTW, when TFFF did this happen OMG!!!!

Attached is a link to a gossip site, the headline screaming about the 'intimate moment caught between AOT stars at the Oscars after-party.' The photo shows you and Levi on the balcony, mid-kiss, a moment that felt intensely private now splashed across the internet.

Your heart sinks a bit at the intrusion but warms at the memory. You knew this was bound to happen, but couldn't it have waited a day or two? You're about to type a response when another message from Hange pops up.

[glasses]: "Prepare for paparazzi madness today! 😂 And call me! Need ALLLL the deets!!!!!!!"

You toss the phone aside, landing on your bed as you groan into your pillow. The weight of the newfound public scrutiny settling in. But then you remember Levi's lips on yours, the genuine connection in his eyes, and you can't help but slightly smile.

No matter what the public says or thinks, last night you found a new depth to your relationship with Levi, one that went beyond cameras and scripts. And for now, that was enough to face whatever the day would bring.

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