Nov 17, 2023
"I really liked the flashbacks of little Lou. I wish we would get a full prequel movie of that time in the family's life"
seen from China
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"I really liked the flashbacks of little Lou. I wish we would get a full prequel movie of that time in the family's life"
I could see Hailee Steinfeld as young Debbie and Saoirse Ronan as young Lou 🤔
Oooh I can see that!
((Crunchy))
(( @noramutaofrost -- Hey, if anyone else wants to be tagged when I post these, just let me know!))
Summary: An upbeat downtown punk named Dareth gets in good with a widely popular quartet, The Royal Blacksmiths. Befriending the lead singer, Lou, the two find that seeing eye-to-eye is harder than it looks.
Beginning / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 7
“Tickle the ivorys, Ollie!” The blacksmith plunked away at the piano, while the other three men sang along. Today’s rehearsal was more peppy than usual; the quartet had gotten wind that the performance night was going to be a big one. Singers and dancers, performers alike from far and wide all across ninjago were to perform going into the night. Lou thought it would be a nice change for once, being able to mingle with other groups without the motive of competing against them. Although confident that his quartet would be more than ready for the gig, he thought it would be nice to squeeze in a little more practice than usual. “Who do you think will all show up?” Roger took a sip from his water, glancing at Jeremy who shrugged in response. “I hope the fire-eaters show up. I’ll tell you what, those women can light my cigarette anytime.” Ollie swooned, causing Roger to roll his eyes. “Fat chance, have you looked in the mirror?” “You’re only bitter that you didn’t get their number last we saw them. The blonde one invited me to go out if I’m looking for a good time.” Ollie wolf-whistled, smirking. “Boys, get along now! We have a few more routines to run through before we finish up.” Lou tapped the top of the piano starting a tempo. Snapping his finger, the others followed suit, walking and lining up with the beat in their step. With a hop and a skip, the quartet began to sing.
Jeremy had offered to make lunch which consisted of Fruit salad and deviled eggs. Sitting around the table, the group seemed to eye Lou curiously. “You sure everything’s all arranged for us to go there?” Roger asked the elephant question. “Yeah, where’s our manager, huh? How do we know when to show up and perform?” Ollie added. Lou creased his eyebrows in concern. Did Dareth tell him before he left? He couldn’t remember. He cleared his throat. “Dareth is currently not here… he won’t be here until the day of the concert, and I have no means of contact him about these questions…” He looked around and the sudden worried look of the rest of his group, “But-! I do know when the concert starts, which is around 6. We should be there by 5 to have enough time and get ourselves situated with when we are up.” That seemed to cause a great sigh of relief. Lou had trust that Dareth got everything arranged ahead of time- he seemed well organize enough. Especially with all that had started happening in his life, he seemed to be handling it well. Lou was still suspicious about that. “How are the eggs?” Jeremy asked, his voice deep enough to be felt in people's chests. “They’re good, but a little bland,” Roger pointed, “Needs ketchup.” This caused multiple eye rolls.
--
Showing up early didn’t seem early enough. It was as though all the other groups of performers had the same idea. Thankfully the audience had yet to show up, behind stage was chaos. Groups intermingled, laughing and talking, some setting up and others lounging around. There was a ring of a microphone over the loudspeaker. ‘TESTING, TESTING, ONE TWO THREE. *ahem* attention all performers! Thank you for taking time to come and perform tonight! At the front counter, there is a pile of schedules for you all to look over to refresh your performing times. There are refreshments and snacks in the back room for you all to enjoy through the night. I encourage you to stay even after your performance to catch up with fellow performers. Have a nice night!’ Lou stepped out from behind the curtain, walking around the stage and observing the building. Outward, tables were set up with candles, booths and lattice, plants that hung from ceiling planters, the place was dim and high end. In the corner there was a bar, the tender gave him a gentle wave before going back to cleaning glasses. A few of the staff walked out and set tables, placing menus and utensils as well as number cards. ‘Reservations,’ Lou thought to himself, ‘must be a private performance.’ walking back behind stage to his quartet, he spread the news of what was waiting for them. Jeremy had gotten a schedule for them, and Lou filed through different routines in his head. It had to be something big, something they haven’t done publicly before, something that wouldn’t disappoint the audience….
The building was filled perfectly in front of the stage; everyone had their own place to sit and not a chair to spare. The gentle murmuring amongst the crowd barely traveled through the thick curtain backstage. Lou and his quartet whispered through their routine, watching the first group go. Then afterwards, the second. Then the third. Lou kept on glancing at the clock, waiting for more things than one. ‘Dareth said he would be here, where is he?’ Lou thought, glancing at the clock and then glancing at Roger’s watch. Fourth group, fifth group, sixth group- he was beginning to give up hope. “I think my bikes’ clock is slow.” a familiar lazy voice came from behind Lou. “There you are! I thought you weren’t going to make it! Where were you?” Lou whipped around to look at Dareth, only to be surprised. He expected him to be wearing the usual leather coat and jeans, but that was not the case. He was in a dark brown tailored suit, white undershirt accompanied by a black tie, dark brown pants and black dress shoes, hair being more slicked back than normal. Dareth gave him a cheerful smile. “Sorry, had to part ways with an old set of friends. How’s the show going?” “The show? It’s going fine. Still haven’t gone up yet-- the front stage area is high-end.” “Yeah, I know. I’ve been here once before, worked here once but that didn’t last. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.” Dareth watched as some women dressed in deep purple velvet walk past, winking and waving over their shoulders. Ollie gave out a wolf whistle, causing one of them to laugh. Roger cut him off, pointing at the clock.
“Show time.”
The Quartet filed onto stage, adjusting the microphone. Lou looked over the crowd, his eyes almost instant going to a woman with a long braid. She seemed to notice, looking over her shoulder, she gave him a gentle wave before being addressed by another person. His heart skipped a beat-- or did it stop? Lou had put his hand over his chest, while ollie gave a light chuckle. “Hey brookstone, are we singing or what?” That snapped him out of it. “Oh!- yes,” he cleared his throat, “of course!” snapping his fingers to start the tempo, the group began. Though his words were clear and rehearsed, his mind wandered, as did his eyes. The woman across the room kept on giggling and looking back at him whenever she caught his gaze. He could feel his face heat up…
Dareth had found his way into the back room, where groups of performers mingled and laughed. He hovered around the snack bar, having quite a few morsels stuck on toothpicks. Pouring himself some punch, he found the flavor to be nothing that he had tasted before. There was a rough slap of tangy followed by fruity, leaving a bitter aftertaste that he masked by having another glass, and another.
“Good job tonight, boys.” Lou patted the back of one of the quartet members, who had finished their performance and had gone back stage. Ollie quickly ran his hand over Lou’s head, messing up his combed over hair before running to hide behind Roger. “Comb boy!” he taunted, to which Lou laughed, while brushing his hair over again. “Hey hey, What was the slip up about?” He asked quickly, dodging Rogers attempt at a headlock. “Slip up?” “Yeah Lou, you turned tomatoe on stage, almost couldn’t see you against the curtains.” Roger added, undoing his bow tie. Lou blinked, and suddenly remembered. He knit his eyebrows, crossing his arms and looking away. “None of your business. Just a very pretty woman out in the Crowd waved at me, that’s all.” He muttered. The three other boys smiled, exchanging glances. “Some ones in love~” the trio harmonized, causing Lou to growl and shove them aside. “Come on now, Let’s just find the Manager and get out of here before you all make this night hell for me.” He pushed his way into the back room, the noise of the other groups drowning out the teasing of his own. He had made his way to the back of the room, scoping around to see if he could find Dareth. As he did so, he noticed that those around were older than he was, or at least he hoped judging by the beverages. Everyone seemed to have a wine glass of some sort, and panic started to rise in his chest. Standing on a chair to get a better view, there was a thud of something hitting the table in front of him. Looking back down, he smiled. “There you are! I was starting to worry that…. Dareth?” Lou stepped down from the chair and nudged his shoulder. “I can’t go home Lou, remember? Dad would kill me..” he groggily stated, slowly picking up his head; His face was flushed with tears streaming down. Lou’s gaze hardened, as Dareth plopped his face back into his arm and let out a wail. “I just came here for a good time but now I’m frikken head hurts and crying! Nothin’ goes right in my life Lou, itssupid.” “What the hell Dareth, didn’t your momma ever teach you to not drink anything at parties? Come on let’s go--” He proceeded to pull Dareth out of the chair, who let out another wail of distress. Walking out the room, he passed by his quartet. Roger shook his head. “Sorry Lou, I can’t give you a ride home, I want to stay here with the boys. Besides, your house isn’t too far away from here, you can walk him.” He coaxed, to which Lou looked disappointed. He knew the truth, he didn’t want to deal with anyone who was drunk. Leading(dragging) Dareth out the door, the two walked down the street, Dareth occasionally mumbling something or another in a slurred fashion. Lou ignored him, he was too busy thinking about the angel who was out in the crowd… He didn’t even get to say hello.
(( @noramutaofrost -- I should’ve put a little bit of a trigger warning at the last part hrh. uuuu this ones good though.))
Summary: An upbeat downtown punk named Dareth gets in good with a widely popular quartet, The Royal Blacksmiths. Befriending the lead singer, Lou, the two find that seeing eye-to-eye is harder than it looks.
Beginning / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 8
“So you’re not from Ninjago city?” Jeremy asked softly, his voice vibrating her very soul. The tall woman shook her head, watching him take a sip at the glass. “No, my family lives out by Jamanakai. It’s a very peaceful town, and our visitors are scarce, but it would be an honor if you could arrange a way to perform there. Oh..” she looked down at her own glass, sliding her finger over the rim, “But.. we aren’t a very rich village. I understand if you could not make it happen, I know it must be *very* expensive traveling so far..” She trailed off and smiled when Jeremy took a napkin from the middle table, laying it out flat and digging in his pocket. He pulled out a pen and began to write on it, “What date and what time do you wish?” “In a week if you could, and, around noon?” Jeremy nodded, finishing up and clicking the pen. Folding the napkin and putting both in his pocket, he stood up and pushed his chair in. She looked at him, startled. “I will make sure Lou sees this.” He bowed his head, and she smiled.
“Y’think Lou hates us yet?” Ollie stared out the window of the car. “Because we keep ditching him n’ stuff?” There was a break of silence filled with the sound of the rumbling car. “Welp, guess I’m talking to myself again.” He sighed. The orange lights gently passed over. Driving through the city at this time of night felt almost unreal. Not another car drove on the street, nor a pedestrian walked or a stray crept; it was as if the whole town has fallen into a deep restful slumber. The clouds rolled overhead, threatening to cast rain. Jeremy lightly snored in the back seat while Roger held the wheel steady.
Lou slowly picked his head up off the pillow. Someone was cooking something, the smell of french toast and sausages caused his stomach to respond. He pulled himself from bed, stepping out and into the kitchen. “Goood morning, son!” Lou’s father heartily stated, “Long night, huh? Didn’t even get your bow undone.” Raising his eyebrows, lou looked down at himself, who was still wearing the suit from last night. “Yeah, got home and crashed.. Didn’t expect to see you today.” “Crashed huh? You’re not the only one.” His father pointed a spatula towards the living room, in which Dareth was sloppily passed out on the couch. “I tried to wake him, but he’s as dead as a rock.” Lou sat down at the table where his father set a plate of breakfast down, joining him. “So, how have you been? I was notified that the budget issue was fixed, and I’m so proud of you, figuring it out on your own.” “Well, you know the routine, go around, schedule, perform, have a good time,” Lou shrugged, “How about you?” “My men and I have split off. I think I’m getting close to retirement, especially now that I’m not in debt to everyone.” Lou looked surprised. “Though, the only reason why I’m home is because your mother wanted me to spend time with you.” Aaand no longer surprised. The table shook a bit. Lou looked up from his plate, seeing Dareth plop himself in a seat. He looked.. Well, like a trainwreck; hair in his face, tie crooked and undershirt barely buttoned. Dareth barely opened his eyes, taking in the area around slowly, grunting and deflating a bit into the seat. Lou looked at his father, who looked curious and somewhat annoyed. “Ah, Dad, this is my Manager, Dareth. He’s the one who fixed the back end of all of this.” He suddenly regretted stating that, hearing his father let out a dry chuckle. “Well son, You’ve done goofed.” He gave his son a pat on the back, obviously not believing him. Lou knit his eyebrows at this gesture and squinted at his father. “Hmph. Don’t believe me? Dareth, give me a rehash of the performances from last month.” Dareth inhaled slowly, exhaling and leaning on the table, holding his head. There was a pause, Dareth scrunching his eyebrows and staring outward, thinking. “There were… 5 performances.. All located in Ninjago City. The first one was… the 5th, then another the day after because of a reschedule. Third one was.. The 11th, which we had an influx of donations that went into literally nowhere, which was put into the bank account for the emergency reserve-” as Dareth carried on, Lou cockily watched the look on his father's face shift to one of genuine surprise. “Well, perhaps I thought wrong!” His father laughed, cutting Dareth’s groggy ramble off. “Normally he looks better than this, but he had a little too much last night. I had to take him home-- well, which is here, now.” His father raised an eyebrow, and Lou carried on explaining the situation. Dareth just about fell asleep again, covering his ears. That wasn’t something he wanted to think about, not on top of this screaming headache.
He was awoken by a rather vigorous shake from Lou. Looking up, he saw the excitement gleaming in his eyes. Looking back down, he noticed a napkin with short-fonted writing on it that stated an invitation to perform at Jamanakai of all places. Dareth rubbed his face, slowly blinking, “You want me to set this up?” Lou shook his head, smiling pleasantly. “Alright… hey wait a sec before you run off on me, you said,” he let out a yawn, “you said you took me home.. Which is here..” “Yeah. what, did you think you’d wake up a-” “Where’s my bike?” Lou looked confused at that statement. “Bike. Motorcycle. Loud, two wheels, has my entire life on it?” Then it hit him, it was probably still at the show building from last night. “How about this, you get that situated, and I’ll go grab your bike.” Dareth, as if on queue, tossed the keys over. “Sounds good, I don’t want to go out today anyway.” He sunk his head back into his arms, as Lou ran out the door, and slowly dozed off once more.
(( @noramutaofrost -- short chapter but ahh, a bit of a callback(call forward?) to a certain chapter in the Zareth Fic, eheheheh.))
Summary: An upbeat downtown punk named Dareth gets in good with a widely popular quartet, The Royal Blacksmiths. Befriending the lead singer, Lou, the two find that seeing eye-to-eye is harder than it looks.
Beginning / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 6
Lou awoke abruptly to the sound of a sputtering engine. Shooting up from his bed, he pressed his face against the window. Dareth kicked off, rolling the bike before applying the gas, he sped out of the driveway and down the street. Lou rubbed his eyes, slowly remembering what happened last night. They had continued to talk and sing, he vaguely remembered Dareth telling him that he had to go somewhere and would be back for the concert the following week. Flopping back on the bed, he sighed curling up in his covers again. It was only 6AM, he didn’t feel ready to wake up yet.
The sun beat-down on his leather coat, the rumbling bike pushing gravel around on the road kicking up dust into the wind behind. He had been driving for 3 hours now, and his arms were starting to go numb from them shaking so much against the handles. Dareth wasn’t concerned with that. Staring off into the distant road, his mind wandered elsewhere… ‘Did I do the right thing?’ he questioned himself. The past few days were much more of an emotional ride than he anticipated. Running, arguing, taking from his parents, crying, sucking it all in the appear fine- he took the opportunity to reflect. Part of him wanted to go back, to apologize and promise to never do such a thing ever again, but he knew that wouldn’t help him in the long run. Being away and on his own, an overhanging dread of becoming a businessman like his father fizzled away. For once, he felt in control of his own life, and he was happy about it… Dareth chuckled under the helmet. ‘Yeah, this is the right thing.’
He had veered off the main road and down a rockier one. The sand had slowly changed to plains and rocks. The sun was quarter of the way down in the air, marking sometime around four. He was starting to feel hungry, so he pulled off the the side and had a snack, looking at his fish. The two playfully chased each other in the tank. “Don’t worry fellas, we’re almost there. Just another day.” He sprinkled some fish-flakes in the tank, and slowly closed it again. Hopping back on the bike, he tuned on the radio and puttered down the road.
‘-n the radio tonight, thanks for tuning in, this is your host, Jason Thatch, coming at you live from Ninjago City. Today’s question is, Who is the actress that plays Dolly Jingles in ‘Dimes from Dolly J’? Be the first to call in five, this is Tom Petty: Last dance with Mary Jane!’
“Dolly J- I only know the dog’s name, ‘Koju’.” Dareth remarked to himself listening to the music play. “... oh narts! I forgot to watch the latest episode!” He realized suddenly. Lou’s father's house didn’t have a TV, and a new episode came out every Saturday afternoon. He missed that, getting done with homework at the living room table and popping on the television to watch last weeks re-run and then the new episode. Gosh how he wished he could be on set; the show was filmed in a very fancy mansion instead of in a studio so all the cast lived there as well. “...Libby? Was it Libby..?” Dareth proceeded to keep trying to rack his brain a bit. ‘First caller! What is your answer?’ ‘Hey. Uhh, is it Libber Gordon?’ ‘Correct! Libber Gordon is the correct answer! A dashing, dazzling actress isn’t she? Makes me wonder how many pinups you have to answer that quickly!’ The guy on the line laughed. ‘Since you answered the question correctly, what song do you want us to play next?’
--
Dareth kicked the stand down on the bike, pulling his helmet off and letting it hang on the handlebar. The night sky peppered with stars, more stars than he had ever seen in the city. He flopped down on the grass against a hill, gazing outward at the white dust that covered the sky. Dareth felt his eyes getting heavier, he had been riding for a solid twelve hours- it would take another eight to get to the shoreline by Stiix. before long, he was fast asleep...
The tires had rolled to a stop once more, Dareth had parked his bike against the cliffside. Opening up the saddlebag, he pulled the fishtank out and carried it across the beach, the waves gently rolling across his boots. Sitting down on the sand, he planted the tank beside himself pulling the top off. Rolling up his sleeve, he gently put his fingers into the tank, letting the two fish lightly glide across them. He rubbed the underside of one, petting the top of the other, chuckling to himself. “Well guys, its been a good run but it’s time you guys go back to where you came from.” It was hard for him, these fish had been around for many years- as long as he could remember. They were from the old house, when his family lived in Stiix, his father had collected them from fishing and were going to turn them into chunk- but his mother had thought they would be better as a pet. Dareth had talked to them a lot, but not in any universal spoken language. With clicks, he could grab their attention, and with a growl, he could make them swim around playfully. He wasn’t sure where he picked it up, but he never put too much thought into it. Taking off his boots and socks, rolling up his pants, he stepped into the water with the tank, slowly submerging it. The fish seemed reluctant at first, but slowly inched into the open water. Dareth watched as the two disappeared into the ocean, teary-eyed. Wiping his face, he smiled, “Make it big out there, little fellas.”
((This was fun to write. Thank you all for reading, whoever had!))
Summary: An upbeat downtown punk named Dareth gets in good with a widely popular quartet, The Royal Blacksmiths. Befriending the lead singer, Lou, the two find that seeing eye-to-eye is harder than it looks
Beginning / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8
Day of the Departed, Winter festival, new years, the holidays seemed to come and go over the year. Spring was showing signs of becoming summer once more, flowers were abloom and the waves crashed their blue water across the coast of Ninjago City. People were enjoying the beach, bathing, splashing, playing, chatting, strolling and biking, it was a perfect sunny day. Dareth found himself face first to a type-writer, plucking away at the round lettered keys. There was a short notice income report that was due the following day, and he had no time to lollygag. But, he rationalized that getting this done first would give him the rest of the day off, which was something he was looking forward to. Luckily Lou was out at the moment, over the span of the year he had become more and more disconnected with him. There were even times where Dareth was flat-out ignored, but he had to remind himself who was the star and who was the stupid manager. The front door swung open as Lou laughed and stepped in. “And he thought I was a baronet singer when I was a tenor all along!” he exclaimed, to which the tall woman giggled in response. Dareth rolled his eyes and held his head in his hand, plucking with one finger. Lou always seemed to have some sort of story to say to her, some of them seemed less real than others. He walked over and set down some papers in front of Dareth, to which he deflated and looked up in response. “Ahem.” Lou swiveled around from going back to leave. “What are these?” Dareth held up the papers. “Oh, you know the usual, invitations and RSVPs. Stuff that you can sort out-” “Do you mean, stuff that we are supposed to sort out together?” Dareth corrected, to which Lou looked over at his girlfriend and gave her the okay to wait outside. Lou pulled up a chair and sat across the table facing him. “Lets see, most of these are requests for Ninjago City, two near the center and one for the outskirts, one for-- Are you even listening to me?” He threw down the papers at the table. Lou shook his head from a dazed smile, looking somewhat confused. “Oh, I’m sorry-- something about Ninjago City? Not an issue right? We can do all of them I don’t mind.” He looked down at the papers and shuffled through them, more or less to look busy than to really be. Dareth’s gaze narrowed. “I bet if your girlfriend didn’t want to do one you wouldn’t.” That caught Lou off guard. “Excuse me?” “You heard me, Lou, I’m sick of sitting here day in and day out at this stupid hunk of junk doing everything for you. The only reason why I wanted to help you in the first place is because I wanted to sing and dance just like your guys, not stay all cooped up surrounded by paper!” “What? I taught you how to dance and sing-” “Yeah, ONE lesson. ONE. and how many have you given to the woman outside, huh? How much more time have you been spending with her that you could be spending with your group, huh?” “You leave her out of this!” Lou barked, glaring now. “This isn’t about me, Lou. No, this is about you and what the hell you’ve been doing! It’s like I don’t even exist anymore, and neither does Ollie, or Jeremy, or Roger. You don’t care about any of this anymore, all you care about is her and impressing her! That’s why you keep doing all of this!” “Well if you have such a problem with it, then why won’t you just leave?!” Silence. Dareth reeled, and nodded slowly. “Okay.” There was buildup to his nodding frequency, as he stood out of the chair and pushed it in, ripping the paper from the writer and slapping it down on the table.“You’re welcome.” Dareth stated flatly, gathering up some of his things and heading out the door with a gentle slam.
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