it’s been a LONG time since alex has spent time in this park ( too many memories ; too many lost things hiding in the bushes ) but something draws him in now, tugging him off from the original route of his evening walk. more instinct than anything draws him to THEIR spot, long un-used tennis courts with weeds clawing out of the cracks and loose chainlink fence that clinks in the wind. it’s a little more run - down than he remembers , a little more SAD , but that very well could just be him. eyes close, fingers placing earbuds into ears and restarting his music, words half - breathed half song under his breath, “ it’s been a long day without you my friend ---- ” of its own accord body reacts to the music, sweeping into the motions of improvised choreography ( EMPTY, WANTING, REACHING for someone that isn’t there ).
help me, it's like the walls are caving in
sometimes I feel like giving up
no medicine is strong enough
someone help me
i'm crawling in my skin
sometimes I feel like giving up
but I just can't
it isn't in my blood
ANONED was invited to the AMAs ; alex freitas was decidedly not --- at least not until his producer got his hands on the guest list and helpfully poked and prodded a few names around. alex freitas : choreographer. it’s not quite a LIE ; more like a half - truth, something that might have been much MORE true had things gone differently ( if alex hadn’t wanted ice cream, if he’d been looking at the road, if someone had taken an uber instead, if --- ). but for now, it works, even if alex wonder now why he even came, fingers popping open the top few buttons of his shirt as he steps out briefly for some fresh air. “ oh --- ” he says, gaze fixing on another, “ --- not intruding am i? the smell of CHAMPAGNE is getting a bit MUCH. ”
“you sure have a lot to say for someone who is just here to enjoy the show,“ jay glanced at the door, “but i don’t know if your words or wisdom will have enough time to work their magic.”
back home, when music was little more than a hobby and he never dreamed of it being anything more, being honest onstage was easy. you never had to think about who would be watching, who you would be letting down.
“look, i’ll be late if i don’t head out,” he paused and began to head out, before looking at alex again, “i mean, you seem cool. if you want, you can- come with? unless you’re busy or anything. it’d be nice to talk to someone not in the band for a minute.”
“ everyone talks to the walls but no one expects them to start talking back, ” alex mutters cryptically. hands moving to pass under the water from the facet one more time before he shuts it off. it’s times like this --still almosts in the bathroom with his hands under cold water-- that he wonders would it would’ve been like if he hadn’t turned down the offer to perform ( if ANONED hadn’t ). he can’t HIDE behind a computer screen forever.
he looks at ray’s reflection in the mirror, “ go ahead --- ” he says with a small smile, “ better go meditate those nerves away, huh? we can chat later --- i’ll be around. y’know, everywhere. ” it might be a semblance of a wink that he gives at the other before he fishes his phone out of his inside pocket. gaze raises one brief time, half of an aborted shrug raising shoulder slightly, “ --- good luck --- break a leg ; for whatever that’s worth. ”
“from backstage?“ jay raised an eyebrow but didn’t press. he rubbed the back of his neck, before grimacing, “oh- that.”
he looked around, before tentatively continuing, a smile on his face, “who cares about being relatable? haven’t you ever seen the expendables? the vulnerable action hero is over.“
“besides, people want their rockstars to be fearless. you can see the worry all over their voices and their-“ he mimed playing the bass, “strings.“
“ who gives a shit anyway? ” call him a bit TOO MUCH old school or --- whatever --- but he places too much on INDIVIDUALITY. perhaps not necessarily relatable, but honest is good, important. even under ANONED’s blindfold, alex feels honest, even if he is lying by omission. “ play for yourself. ”
“ --- anyway, you should know fearless doesn’t mean emotionless. BRAVERY and FEAR aren’t mutually exclusive. all that matters is that you jump in the end. ” he sounds TOO MUCH like kayla now, and he abruptly stops talking, shrugging and turning to tuck hands into his pocket.
“– you’re probably right,“ jay looked down, slumping his shoulders, “i just, sometimes, i have to tell myself that i’m not afraid in order to be brave.”
“it’s dumb, i know,“ he laughed weakly, “before you came in i was giving myself a pep talk in the mirror. visualizing success. all that stupid stuff.“
he made eye contact with the other person and shrugged. he extended a hand, “i’m jay. and you are?“
“ haven’t EXACTLY been back page news, have you? ” says alex not unkindly, friendly smile flitting across his face. it’s true, though ; jay cook’s arrival to DEAD AFTER DARK hasn’t exactly gone incognito by any definition. “ but reall, i’ve heard it’s good. nerves keep you humble, relatable. haven’t you HEARD? the age of emotionless, macho men is OVER. ”
there’s an almost imperceptible glance down at the offered hand, before he reaches out for it, a firm shake given ( a HANDSHAKE can leave quite the impression ). “ alex --- nothing special to the name. just here to enjoy the SHOW. ”
“i hate that this is going to sound like i’m making this about me-“ jay bit his lower lip, looking around at all the people around him, “but i just-”
“it’s not even stage fright,” he elaborated tentatively, “it’s just that i’ve never even been to one of these before. and now i have to be on that stage?“
alex has found refuge in the bathroom, cold water running soothingly over his hands. it’s NOTHING, he tells himself ; no one has any reason to believe he is anyone but alex freitas --- his story is AIR TIGHT ( pretty much ),:a plus one, a choreographer, a nobody --- alex always HAS been at disappearing in crowds.
he should keep to his own business, remain quiet and FORGETTABLE but he can’t help but pipe up, “ ---- sounds like stage fright to me, ” he says, “ but that can be good ; sometimes it’s the COCKY ones that fall to pieces. ”
a few plot ideas!!! Intro is over here and if ur interested please hmu on discord at disappointment swords#5730
Someone who knew Alex before the accident (knew him with Kayla); knows him for his dancing and choreo. Can be someone close to him who has known him for that whole time or someone who was just a fan online and was sad when his videos just stopped with no explanation over a year ago?
Literally any plot having to do with someone loving ANONED and not knowing he’s Alex
Could be someone who admires him
Someone’s who close to him and he hasn’t told
Maybe even a friend he does a lil choreo for on the DL and doesn’t know he’s ANONED
Someone who is like, OBSESSED with figuring it out??? Like they feel like this guy is their SOULMATE and is going crazy to figure it out?? Or not even to that extreme lol.
Someone who was friends with Kayla??? Idk
Also if anyone’s chara isn’t at the awards thing hmu bc Alex isn’t there for,,, obv reasons.
hey guys!!! i’m ras and oh my god i am so excited for this. i’ve been wanting to play this chara for a lil while now and i’m SUPER hype to finally get things rolling. the big takeaway is that no one knows the connection between alex and ANONED! specifics under the cut c:
「 SHAWN MENDES, MALE, 20, SHAWN MENDES. 」┈ did you read that latest viral gossip issue on ALEX FREITAS / ANONED? he is one of my favorite POP artists. they’ve been releasing music for ONE YEAR now, but viral gossip has only been talking about them for the last THREE MONTHS. get this, i think i heard NO ONE ACTUALLY KNOWS WHO ANONED IS. they’re known as the WALLFLOWER of the music industry, since they have a rep for being WITHDRAWN but EMPATHETIC, but who knows. maybe that will change once they become #1. ( RAS, 19, EST, SHE/HER. )
· Long before ANONED hit the music world, he was just Alex Freitas, and even Alex Freitas had a pretty name for himself.
· He grew up in a suburb of LA. His mother had grown up a dancer, and it was only fair that Alex would follow in her footsteps, learning both ballet and contemporary.
· He first met Kayla at a dance competition in San Francisco when he was twelve and from there, their friendship would only grow. At first it was a simple music video Alex choreographed and they grew closer as the years past, their dancing and connection becoming stronger.
· They were extremely close, something between friendship and romance. Alex, at least, was in love with her in more ways than one, and maybe, it might have become something.
· Alex was eighteen when Kayla died. A drunk driver, they would tell him later when Alex woke up in the hospital, she died at impact. He remembers more of the accident that he would like; more than most anyone knows.
· Alex suffered his own injuries that took substantial time to heal, sidelining him from dancing, his only emotional outlet. Even when he was finally cleared for physical movement, the doctors warned him he would most likely never move the same thing again.
· Without dancing and without Kayla, Alex began to spiral into depression.
· Time passed and when it was no longer so painful to think about Kayla, Alex began to go through the multitude of pictures and video, and it when then that he came across some throwaway video of them bickering over his singing. Kayla had wanted him to start posting videos, claiming he was a Good Singer while Alex denied it up and down.
· Finally, he pucked up the courage, recording himself playing the piano and singing an emotional cover of Kayla’s favorite song. The video he shot stretgically from one end of the piano so only his hands were in the shot and put up on youtube on a new channed under the user ANONED.
· From there, things only started to pick up. He started to gain a following, and Alex finally found a way he could honor Kayla without feeling empty (He had danced, only to feel just how lonely it was to be alone), expanding to original songs in addition to his covers.
· Things finally exploded when Viral found his work, part of him was thrilled, hopeful that maybe his music could help people who had hurt the same way he had, most of him wanted to go back to the boy in his bedroom. In some ways, it felt almost weird to share all this with the world. So he remained anonymous or well ANONED and sat back to watch the world do its thing.
· For Obvious reasons, Alex does not drink and on the very Rare chance he does, he tries not to lose control of himself.
· ANONED’s videos either leave him faceless or blindfolded by a wide blindfold leaving him unrecognizable. He’s gotten pretty good with the camera angles over the last year, and editing as well. Very recently, Alex has started to dance and choreograph again and he’s considering releasing a music video of sorts of him (blindfolded of course) dancing to a new song but is terrified someone might recognize him.
so.... if anyone is watching world of dance,,,, yeah he’s inspired by sean and kaycee’s qualifiers dance to ‘silence’
i’ll be back with a wanted connections post later, but hmu if you have any ideas!!
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