#malvin mortimer

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

so I'm almost positive the woman holding the child is/was Malvin's wife, and furthermore, I'm almost positive the child she is holding is Malvin's younger daughter- whom Steve and Phil taught to walk in the studio one day

[henry-cavs-tudor]

DL had a soccer match with Deep Purple, 1993. Joe and Viv are on the bottom row with tour manager Malvin.

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

A Magical Mysteria (Def Leppard x Reader)

Normally in this space I'd tell you how I started writing this over a year ago and how I'm FINALLY posting it- but I didn't start writing this last year. I started writing this last week. I thought of, and wrote, this all in one night bc honestly... I was high. The idea came and I just rolled with it. I wasn't planning to have another fic to post so soon, and I felt it was only right to post it on Hysteria's 35th anniversary!

(illustration by me! this story is dedicated to @amiscreations bc this is all her fault)

Words: 1,943

Prompt: 1986, you and the Leppard boys all get high around the fire one night. Sav and Phil have a new song for the next album, and you get them to play it for everyone...

-----

July 28th, 1986

Dublin, Ireland

The bright orange flames continued to make the wood crackle and pop underneath it, just as they had done for so long already. Overhead, the navy blue midnight sky stretched from one end of your vision to the next. 

Orange and blue, you realized; complementary colors. That fiery, orange glare from the campfire was complemented by the blue night. From this glare, there came a hug full of decadent heat that wrapped around you.

Above you and this artistic intertwining of colors were the twinkling, tiny, glittery bits in space sparkled like some kind of midnight snow. Underneath this intensely still display was cold grass prickling at your skin. You could feel every single blade against your back; like a million tiny fingers poking at you. 

As the blue sky slowly spun in a circle far above where you lay, you felt the hand you were holding gently clasp yours. It grounded you only to the being that it was attached to- not the earth itself. 

You and Sav were high, all right. You were both very high and floating through space together; you and him. Among the complementary colors of the fire and the great wide open, you flew. 

Suddenly, the sensation of something holding your other hand came about. You'd forgotten about the other man you were with. When he reminded you of his presence with his grasp, Phil grounded half of you back to the earth while the other half was still in the sky with Sav.

It was fine with you if you were in between worlds for a little while. There was nothing in your way currently. Nothing stood between you and the infinite beyond.

Joe's face randomly came into view as he looked down at you. He almost completely overshadowed the sky with his hair flopping straight down towards your face.

"Helloo, Y/n? You there on mars yet?" his head tilted from side to side before he cackled and delightfully strolled away from you, Sav, and Phil on the ground. His intention, it seemed, was to ridicule you for being high while he was in quite the same condition. 

As you blinked, reality came walking back in. You sat up off the ground, letting go of Sav and Phil's hands. You observed the scene around the fire a few yards away. Everyone partaking in this gathering were still in another world- all of them. 

Joe was stepping around and moving his hips to the strumming that Steve was doing. Next to Steve, Rick sat there practicing drumming with his left foot to the beat of Steve's playing. More of your friends- Mike, Russell, Mal, and a few local Irishmen being among them- were either laughing, dancing, or wresting each other.

While the late summer chill in the air didn't affect everyone's skin, breaths were visible against the atmosphere.

"Christ, how long were we up there for?" you asked the men laying on the grass on either side of you.

"Beats me," Phil's eyes remained fixed on above, "I'm still there."

"Me too," Sav seconded, "Still on a magic carpet ride."

You chuckled, crossing your legs and closing your eyes. You pictured yourself swaying on a magic carpet ride as Sav had said, humming the specific tune that was playing loudly in your head from earlier that day. 

After a moment, the magic carpet disappeared. You floated back down against the grass like a leaf, laying flat once more. 

Rolling over to Sav, you felt his body heat radiate against you like the campfire, and you swore you heard him humming the same tune you were. He rolled over in your direction, too, threw an arm over you, and touched his forehead to yours.

You were floating through space together again. There was perfect sync and perfect harmony all around you, and ample, delicate warmth caressing you both.

Just like last time, Joe's face appeared over both of yours again.

"What's that you're humming, now?" his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Never heard that one before," Mike remarked, further away.

Steve, a few yards away at the fire, commented, "Yeah, sounds like you're tryin' to summon something."

You and Sav opened your eyes, both giggling together. Phil began to laugh close by as well. Rick, in his warped state, caught on to the contagious laughter as well, slapping his knee and wheezing.

"Rick, why are you laughing?" Phil sat up, "You don't know our little secret...!"

"It's funny cos- I don't know why we're laughing-!" Rick continued to laugh so hard at himself, he fell off his makeshift seat and backwards onto the grass. Russell and Mal began silently laughing at him as a result. 

"But what is that tune?" Steve pressed again, seemingly mesmerized by the little song to the point where he tried to figure it out on his guitar. 

"It's something we've been workin' on," Sav's head tilted sweetly. 

"Just a little thing for the new album, hopefully. We had these two-" Phil formed an invisible ball with his hands, "-these two little bits, and they fit perfectly together somehow, then before we knew it- BAM-!" he loudly slapped his hands together, "We got an embryo of a song."

"And you, mister Zeff-" you sternly pointed at Joe, "You didn't like it!"

"What d'you mean, princess?" he sarcastically pointed back, "Better watch what you say!"

"I played it for you last week, and you said it was-" Sav rolled his eyes so hard he almost fell over, then put up air quotes, "'too much like a Police song'."

"But it's perfect and is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard," you insisted, "And Phil thinks so, too!"

"Yeah! Wait, no I don't," Phil caught himself, "It's lovely, but I'm not in love with it-"

"And Phil thinks so, too," you insisted again to Joe. You gasped a little, then looked between the guys on either side of you, "Ooh, that's right- you haven't played it to anyone yet... you should do that now, for everyone!"

In a daze of events you weren't sure of- trying to get everyone's attention, corralling them back around the fire, Sav and Phil locating their respective guitars, and each of them taking another hit of a blunt- you seemed to have only blinked before everyone was circled back at the flames. Rick was sitting next to you, now, and everyone was gathered as if this were a sacred ritual. In your eyes, it was. Anything that was made for Def Leppard's fourth album had to be sacred. 

On a night like this, everything felt sacred.

Looking up at those dark, navy blue heavens above you, you whispered, "This was just meant for tonight."

"Shh!" Joe smushed a finger to his lips. You stuck your tongue out at him just before the music began.

Sav counted in the song, both he and Phil then proceeding to pluck and strum it into existence. At that moment, it felt like outer space had descended upon all of you there. It was as if the circle of people around the campfire had begun to slowly rotate as one. 

None of the floating or spinning alarmed you; what did was the fact that Sav was playing lead. After all, it was his song, in a way. 

You weren't the first person to hear Sav's new jangly idea, but you felt honored that you were the only one there besides the musicians who had heard what became of it.

Everyone was captivated by the trance they created; it took them all on that magic carpet ride the three of you had been on earlier. It was an experience both magical and mysterious. 

Phil went from a D, to a G, to a C as he began to softly sing, "I gotta know tonight... if you're alone tonight..."

Sav joined in for the next part, "Can't stop this feeling... can't stop this fire..."

When they reached an empty section in E minor (most likely where a chorus would later be), you could've sworn you saw the music itself fly up into the beyond along with the fire. It was an offering, it felt like. It was nothing short of simply divine.

Perhaps Steve was right, earlier; perhaps they were trying to summon something.

At the end of the chorus, Phil stopped playing. This left Sav to end their ditty with his melody again. He let it fade out on the last note, and everyone watched, speechless.

Rick's head was now slumped on your shoulder, your head leaning on his. Those bouncy curls tickled the side of your face, and his body heat mixed with that of the fire.

You patted his lap and said, "They don't have a name for it, yet, or any other lyrics, but I think it's my favorite so far. And it's hardly even done yet..."

Standing up, you waltzed back over to the spot on the ground where you and the two guitarists had been laying before. As if you mentally called them, they both put down their guitars and went back over to join you. Resuming your former positions of being hand-in-hand with each other, you stared back up at the glitter in the sky. Only, this time, you began to whistle the tune of the song just played by them. 

As you rejoined your flight into the midnight depths, you faintly heard chatter back at the fire.

"I think it's all gonna be okay," Russell stared into the flames, resting his head on his hand, "All this insanity is gonna be worth it."

He didn't have to clarify what he was talking about; you were all in sync enough with each other to understand.

"I dunno," Rick disagreed, "I think we're all still sane. Maybe it's the grass."

No one was allowed to speak of any worries that night- it was a rule that did not need to be spoken.

"I like it," Joe remarked, "The song, I mean- not the grass. Well- I mean- I like the grass, too."

He laughed loudly at himself and began to play Sav and Phil's new song on an invisible guitar, "But it's a bit magical, don't you think? And it sounded like it's..." his eyes closed, "...blue."

"But I don't think it was quite sad," Steve told him, "What were you listenin' to?"

Joe corrected his friend, "No, no, I mean it sounds like the color blue. Dark blue; violet, even- Like that sky up there..."

He pointed straight up, tilting his head back to look to the heavens. Everyone still at the fire did the same. 

"Hypnotizing like the sky, too... makin' me lift up off my feet..." his hands reached slowly upwards, "I can feel it... can't you?"

Mike's head resumed staring ahead of him, "But I thought you didn't even like this song before-?"

"Never said that," Joe's hands rested on top of his head as he giggled, "Really like it now, though."

Joe's high mind was correct; you were being lifted up and engulfed in the color blue as you kept whistling the tune. You were taking Phil and Sav along with you- higher and higher- as the ground underneath rose up towards the midnight beyond like a pedestal.

And yes, you could feel it. 

"We're not too high, are we?" you asked both of them.

"Nah," Sav denied gently, "Not like we're hysterical or anything."

"To us, you are," Rick turned around to stare at the three of you and snicker, "Cos' we all seem to be real experienced with bloody hysteria."

"Yeah, we are," Phil squeezed your hand and let the sky envelop him, "That we are."

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

Incorrect quote generator part 2: singular person quotes

Bonus:

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

My favorite bits from Fabulist Icons (part 3):

Sav being "a magician of old" when it came to making food for himself

when the band was about to leave where they'd been recording in Dublin in 1984 and they threw a big party, the next day Mike woke up to find all of the sitting room furniture in the garden

the band keeping not only every single liquor bottle that they emptied during the first Dublin pre-Hysteria era, but also keeping every newspaper and egg carton as well

them forgetting to clean up this "Bottle Room" before they left and it going undiscovered until the house was introduced to the next client

Joe buying a new house and inheriting a car that belonged to the previous owners, which he and Malvin "pimped" with every fucking bumper sticker or decal they could find

this car was also christened "Dirk" and Mike said that only those closely involved with the naming would ever know why

Steve "rarely going off somewhere on his own"

Mike once going to the studio and forgetting to take Sav, then coming back to their apartments to find him chillin with a newspaper like nothing happened because he was just that unbothered

Joe and Mike getting a boat and naming it the "Piglet"

Joe going out on this boat one (1) time, realizing it was NOT what he expected, then hardly ever going on it again

Malvin driving the boat like a crackhead

Phil was apparently in a car crash in 1984 as well, less than a few months before Rick's accident, and it was very well hidden from the public (hence why it's never been mentioned)

Rick driving Miriam's car after his accident (yes, you heard me, after)

Steve and Phil walking across the frozen lake in Looesdrecht to get to nightclubs

Joe flipping out at the air crew after one very scary and unstable flight

and finally:

Mike and the rest of the crew: *in bus driving through extremely bad weather at night in 86, half asleep*

a sign on the side of the road: Heavy Plant Crossing

an entire fucking tree: *blows across the road*

everyone:

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

“Nigel is wearing a Lainey jumper.”

via Fabulist Icons

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

My favorite things from Fabulist Icons so far (part 1):

Mike talking about how he put his sick two and a half/three-year-old son Benji into a cab, handed the driver some money and an address, and told him to drop him off at his friend's house so that they could babysit him (a "now, unbelievably stupid, but, then, desperate move")

Robert Allen being the one who sucked him into the life of Leppard

Mike reflecting on the day he met Malvin and Russell and saying how such a "fruitful triumvirate was in the making"

Joe and Denise, and Sav and Joy both owning their own houses in 1982

Mike and Malvin then LIVING with Joe and Denise in 1982

Steve being uncomfortable around Mike possibly/partially because he'd only order orange juice at the pub

Malvin being a "mathematical prodigy"

Malvin and Sav always solving "cryptic crosswords" together with "relative ease"

Mike driving back to Sheffield at 3am in the ice and snow, having a minor car crash that only involved himself, realizing the car was still fully working and miraculously facing the right direction, and then just driving on

Mike dropping said car off in Sheffield and then coming back to get stuff he left in the car, and finally seeing all the damage that was REALLY done to the car and yeeting himself the fuck outta there

Joe getting a brand new guitar for when he decided to play along with Switch 625 live for the first time

a HUGE ass bolt getting chucked at the speed of light onstage during a show and it narrowly missing Mike's head, leaving a huge dent in the steel rack next to him

Russell and Malvin pretending to fight so that the temporary crews would be intimidated and work faster

Mike being one of the first people to help Phil start eating vegetarian

[i-dont-want-your-hysteria]

"Jumping forward in time, on Sunday 10th January 2010 the website Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles featured a piece by Malvin on the anniversary of Steve Clark's tragic death (8th January 1991) in which he signed himself as 'Stumpus Maximus'. The band had nicknamed Malvin 'Stump' partly because of his short stature, and partly because, when we all first met up he had a bony knobble on the top of his venerable head. I had added the 'Maximus' but felt that 'Naughtius' was more affectionate than 'Stumpus', and so dubbed him 'Naughtius Maximus'. The 'knobble' was surgically removed at some point- and is fabled to be a major feature in the Cardiff Natural History museum, where it suggests the possibility that this was the remains of a defensive spike that grew on the heads of early Neolithic Welshpersons!"

-Mike Rogers, via Fabulist Icons