(no subject)
Title: Beyond It All
Pairing: Ville/Bam
Rating: PG-13 at the moment, rating may change per chapter
Disclaimer: In this chapter the characters who belong to themselves are Ryan and Bam. JoJo is a figment of my own imagination. This never happened and I have never met any of the characters; information has been taken from various sources. You could draw links between 1984 and this piece of fiction but this is not intended as a parody. In addition, Ville probably won’t appear for at least a few chapters so this could be considered a slow story.
Summary: “America,” boomed George Harby, Head of State, “is changing. America,” he continued, fixing the television screen with an impressive stare, “has changed. Changes,” declared the red-faced gentleman, “will be necessary.” The last word was spoken with deliberate stress and the millions of men and women watching the speech at home felt a vague cold feeling somewhere deep inside.
(I realise that by the _Vam timezone this may be posted on the same day as my last chapter but my timezone claims differently so I'm sorry if it is.)
I was wondering if anybody would be able to beta read this fic for me? Constructive criticism would also be very much welcomed. Am I using too many new characters? I don't know, it irritates me when I read Alternate Universe fics and everyone is famous ("Jonne, I didn't know that you worked here! Here being one of about 3 million supermarkets worldwide, completely out of your way and with no plausible explanation as to why you would possibly decide to be here") but at the same time I hate Mary-Sue's (girls, or guys I suppose but less common, who are charming, and beautiful, and witty, and intelligent, and absolutely everyone loves them, commonly seen with uniquely coloured hair and/or eyes, often weilding a special and original skill - not sure how common the term is in this fandom).
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Ryan had died and he still hadn’t shed a tear. It was just the way it was, people disappeared all the time in TGW. There was nothing anybody could do about it. Bam frowned, suddenly, fiercely. He was developing the kind of attitude he detested. That kind of attitude didn’t get anybody anywhere. That was what he used to tell himself when he was younger and had doubts about whether he’d make it. People who thought like that ended up in desk jobs or supermarkets. But Bam worked in a supermarket now. And Ryan was dead. And a skateboard wouldn’t be much good against a machine gun.
Bam hated this kind of work. So monotonous, so soul destroying. And there was always that one guy, the old one, who’d been there forever and would quite probably never leave. He hated seeing people like that. The old ones who’d never be young, the dull ones who’d never be funny, the lonely ones who didn’t stand a chance of finding a friend in the world. That was the thing he missed most about being a child. Children just don’t notice these things, it quite literally goes right over their heads. Adults, adults had to work hard at not noticing if they didn‘t want to grow up. And Bam was good at not noticing, he was damn near one of the best. That was one of the reasons he thought people liked watching his shows, he was the child everyone wanted to be forever. Or, at least, he used to be. Now Bam’s castle had been razed to the ground and there was nothing between him and reality.
Everyone was that old guy now. You worked where TGW put you and you didn’t complain. People who complained ended up like Ryan. Bam rested his head against the frigid concrete of the chiller wall. He remembered when he was younger and all the hopes and all the dreams he and Ryan had shared. “I’m going to be famous,” he’d persisted, “me too” would have been Ryan’s reply. They’d never thought about what would happen afterwards. No child’s imagination stretched this far.
“Yo!” Bam turned. It was JoJo. Mousy hair and brown eyes belied her exuberant nature.
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad has your morning been today?” Bam opened his mouth to reply but JoJo wasn’t done, she rarely was. “I would rate mine a three point five”. The last syllable of ‘five’ drawn out, the word ‘point’ clipped out with deliberated emphasis. Bam grinned, there was a time when he might have laughed but that time was long gone now.
“You’re late,” he replied, avoidant and aware of it.
“What they gonna do? Kill me?” JoJo snorted and Bam repeated the noise with little enthusiasm. A joke not so much in bad taste as one that hit a little too close to the mark.
Bam began the task of cash counting. It wasn’t a bad job as jobs went, involved a lot of throwing about of both money and plastic containers and far too much maths for his liking.
“How was The Date?” he asked, for the sake of asking.
“You know, illicit, underhand, illegal”. She snorted, glancing at the security cameras as she did so.
“I wouldn’t worry, this isn’t a State run business. I don’t think they watch these ones as much. Perverted wankers, do you think they watch us in the shower?”
“In the shower? I’d be more worried about them watching me on the toilet. Or,” she grinned lasciviously, “down a dark alley.”
“Again?”
“A girl’s gotta get her entertainment somehow. Have The Powers That Be replied to your letter about Viva La Bam yet?”
Bam began to shake his head ‘no’ but JoJo was off again.
“It’s a wonder you don’t do it.”
“Loiter down dark alleys to ravish unsuspecting men?”
“Well not quite like that and I didn’t know you were gay! And I don’t see why not.”
“I’m kind of attached.”
JoJo’s eyes widened visibly, Bam began to worry if the new information might prove too much for the girl. She opened her mouth. Bam’s eyes darted towards the Emergency Help Button.
“You!” Gasped JoJo, a kind of reverse exhalation that Bam would have previously thought impossible. “You didn’t tell me! Who is she? He? It?”
“She. She’s called Missy but it’s a bit complicated, I-”
JoJo started as if he had made a sign of stopping. “I insist you tell me all.”
“I haven’t seen her for two years. She disappeared. I don’t really know what happened.”
JoJo deflated. “You have a thoroughly boring life.”
It was true, Bam realised. He did. “I do,” he murmured.
Hours later work was out and Bam was at the skate park. Skate ramp. Skate ramp surrounded by security cameras and safety notices. His one welcome relief. It would be a long session tonight, illegal but Bam had never minded the law. Bloody ridiculous, any less than 1 hour of physical activity a day was against the law, any more than 3 was equally illegal. Bam snickered. It was killing Don Vito.
His spirits lifted as he approached the ramp, ollied onto the pavement beside it and, fell.
The pavement sped towards Bam, grey and green blurring, white noise buzzing in his ears. This was his life. Collapsing around his ears, a puddle of shattered colours and broken glass. Bam whacked his head against the pavement, bitterly angry at the world, JoJo’s earlier words ringing in his ears, “Why don’t you just leave?”
Pairing: Ville/Bam
Rating: PG-13 at the moment, rating may change per chapter
Disclaimer: In this chapter the characters who belong to themselves are Ryan and Bam. JoJo is a figment of my own imagination. This never happened and I have never met any of the characters; information has been taken from various sources. You could draw links between 1984 and this piece of fiction but this is not intended as a parody. In addition, Ville probably won’t appear for at least a few chapters so this could be considered a slow story.
Summary: “America,” boomed George Harby, Head of State, “is changing. America,” he continued, fixing the television screen with an impressive stare, “has changed. Changes,” declared the red-faced gentleman, “will be necessary.” The last word was spoken with deliberate stress and the millions of men and women watching the speech at home felt a vague cold feeling somewhere deep inside.
(I realise that by the _Vam timezone this may be posted on the same day as my last chapter but my timezone claims differently so I'm sorry if it is.)
I was wondering if anybody would be able to beta read this fic for me? Constructive criticism would also be very much welcomed. Am I using too many new characters? I don't know, it irritates me when I read Alternate Universe fics and everyone is famous ("Jonne, I didn't know that you worked here! Here being one of about 3 million supermarkets worldwide, completely out of your way and with no plausible explanation as to why you would possibly decide to be here") but at the same time I hate Mary-Sue's (girls, or guys I suppose but less common, who are charming, and beautiful, and witty, and intelligent, and absolutely everyone loves them, commonly seen with uniquely coloured hair and/or eyes, often weilding a special and original skill - not sure how common the term is in this fandom).
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Ryan had died and he still hadn’t shed a tear. It was just the way it was, people disappeared all the time in TGW. There was nothing anybody could do about it. Bam frowned, suddenly, fiercely. He was developing the kind of attitude he detested. That kind of attitude didn’t get anybody anywhere. That was what he used to tell himself when he was younger and had doubts about whether he’d make it. People who thought like that ended up in desk jobs or supermarkets. But Bam worked in a supermarket now. And Ryan was dead. And a skateboard wouldn’t be much good against a machine gun.
Bam hated this kind of work. So monotonous, so soul destroying. And there was always that one guy, the old one, who’d been there forever and would quite probably never leave. He hated seeing people like that. The old ones who’d never be young, the dull ones who’d never be funny, the lonely ones who didn’t stand a chance of finding a friend in the world. That was the thing he missed most about being a child. Children just don’t notice these things, it quite literally goes right over their heads. Adults, adults had to work hard at not noticing if they didn‘t want to grow up. And Bam was good at not noticing, he was damn near one of the best. That was one of the reasons he thought people liked watching his shows, he was the child everyone wanted to be forever. Or, at least, he used to be. Now Bam’s castle had been razed to the ground and there was nothing between him and reality.
Everyone was that old guy now. You worked where TGW put you and you didn’t complain. People who complained ended up like Ryan. Bam rested his head against the frigid concrete of the chiller wall. He remembered when he was younger and all the hopes and all the dreams he and Ryan had shared. “I’m going to be famous,” he’d persisted, “me too” would have been Ryan’s reply. They’d never thought about what would happen afterwards. No child’s imagination stretched this far.
“Yo!” Bam turned. It was JoJo. Mousy hair and brown eyes belied her exuberant nature.
“On a scale of one to ten, how bad has your morning been today?” Bam opened his mouth to reply but JoJo wasn’t done, she rarely was. “I would rate mine a three point five”. The last syllable of ‘five’ drawn out, the word ‘point’ clipped out with deliberated emphasis. Bam grinned, there was a time when he might have laughed but that time was long gone now.
“You’re late,” he replied, avoidant and aware of it.
“What they gonna do? Kill me?” JoJo snorted and Bam repeated the noise with little enthusiasm. A joke not so much in bad taste as one that hit a little too close to the mark.
Bam began the task of cash counting. It wasn’t a bad job as jobs went, involved a lot of throwing about of both money and plastic containers and far too much maths for his liking.
“How was The Date?” he asked, for the sake of asking.
“You know, illicit, underhand, illegal”. She snorted, glancing at the security cameras as she did so.
“I wouldn’t worry, this isn’t a State run business. I don’t think they watch these ones as much. Perverted wankers, do you think they watch us in the shower?”
“In the shower? I’d be more worried about them watching me on the toilet. Or,” she grinned lasciviously, “down a dark alley.”
“Again?”
“A girl’s gotta get her entertainment somehow. Have The Powers That Be replied to your letter about Viva La Bam yet?”
Bam began to shake his head ‘no’ but JoJo was off again.
“It’s a wonder you don’t do it.”
“Loiter down dark alleys to ravish unsuspecting men?”
“Well not quite like that and I didn’t know you were gay! And I don’t see why not.”
“I’m kind of attached.”
JoJo’s eyes widened visibly, Bam began to worry if the new information might prove too much for the girl. She opened her mouth. Bam’s eyes darted towards the Emergency Help Button.
“You!” Gasped JoJo, a kind of reverse exhalation that Bam would have previously thought impossible. “You didn’t tell me! Who is she? He? It?”
“She. She’s called Missy but it’s a bit complicated, I-”
JoJo started as if he had made a sign of stopping. “I insist you tell me all.”
“I haven’t seen her for two years. She disappeared. I don’t really know what happened.”
JoJo deflated. “You have a thoroughly boring life.”
It was true, Bam realised. He did. “I do,” he murmured.
Hours later work was out and Bam was at the skate park. Skate ramp. Skate ramp surrounded by security cameras and safety notices. His one welcome relief. It would be a long session tonight, illegal but Bam had never minded the law. Bloody ridiculous, any less than 1 hour of physical activity a day was against the law, any more than 3 was equally illegal. Bam snickered. It was killing Don Vito.
His spirits lifted as he approached the ramp, ollied onto the pavement beside it and, fell.
The pavement sped towards Bam, grey and green blurring, white noise buzzing in his ears. This was his life. Collapsing around his ears, a puddle of shattered colours and broken glass. Bam whacked his head against the pavement, bitterly angry at the world, JoJo’s earlier words ringing in his ears, “Why don’t you just leave?”