《Fifty Million Followers [BOYXBOY]》8
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We're only on the talk show for five minutes, and I know it's being broadcast to millions of people across the world because even I, a lad from Manchester, has heard of this talk show. Leonard Baxter is probably the most famous talk show host to date. He has variety bleeding from his veins; one day he's laughing along with comedians, the next, he's interviewing important people in political circles, interviewing internet superstars, then social justice advocates. The man is watched by nearly everyone, other hosts from other countries imitating the way he talks and dresses and interacts.
And he's gay, dramatically so.
His signature look is bright blonde hair, black, thick rimmed glasses, a purple suit, and a green tie. He looks like a comic book character, with a limp wrist and a high-pitched voice. He flounces around the set, the middle-aged women of the audience cheering for him on his opinions on the recent catwalk shoot or Chris Hemsworth's abs.
It's the type of gay that, as a kid, I didn't understand.
I found out a young age what gay meant. But, when sat on my living room floor, staring up at the likes of Leonard Baxter, my dad calling him a 'fairy' and changing the channel, I thought that to be gay you had to be a certain way – the Leonard Baxter way.
So how could I like playing football, fighting in the school yard, and thinking about boys naked?
I became obsessed with searching for gay celebrities like me, ones who didn't hang around with girls all the time, ones who didn't like to also cross dress, ones who were like me. But then I started writing songs about my feelings; and I guess that was as gay as I got.
But at the same time, I liked the way people looked up to Leonard Baxter. They admired him; they hung off his every word like each word was liquid gold dripping from between his teeth. I watched every episode, every interview.
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And now, I'm going to be interviewed by him.
Shit.
We sit in a line, Demitri on the end, then me, Oliver, and Luke closest to Leonard, all of us sat on high stools like we're on some game show. My mouth doesn't open throughout the whole interview; I just stare at Leonard, who's quaffed his hair so high that it could hit the ceiling, and he's wearing a gold suit. A gold suit.
I've been told not to talk because they reckon the American audience won't understand me because of my strong accent. But that's bollocks; we already have so many American fans, and it's not like they look at me like I'm speaking an alien language.
But producers and TV execs think differently, so I'm silent.
Oliver, on the other hand, has an RP accent. He speaks the Queen's English, the English that's taught and instilled at an all boy's posh boarding school in the English countryside – which I know for a fact that he went to.
I've dreamt about his uniform way too many times.
And Luke, Luke oozes charm and charisma. He has Leonard and the audience and even the camera men in the palm of his hand. Every time he answers, we can hear the screaming fans outside bang against the studio wall and cry and shout our names. It's time like these that remind me why he's the lead singer.
He sits with his legs apart, his fingers linked in front of him.
"We've already played in Texas and Arkansas, we're playing a few shows here in Los Angeles and then we'll carry on around the rest of the States. It's gunna be big."
"You're gunna be big, boys!" Leonard smiles, raising his arms for effect which makes the audience cheer and the fans outside scream. "I mean, can't you hear that? They love you!"
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"And we love them. Without them, we wouldn't be here. The fans are what got us here." Oliver chimes in. I look at Mitch Simmons, who's stood in the shadows of the studio, his arms folded. He nods an approval. He's still wearing his fucking sunglasses.
"You guys are the whole package! You're talented and sexy." Leonard winks at the camera, and I'm a little shit scared that the noise of the fans is going to shake the walls and bring them down. We all smile, Oliver's and Luke's more relaxed than mine. Demitri's lips don't turn upwards at all, but Leonard's been told by a voice in his ear to ignore it.
"And your accents are to die for, especially yours on the end." We all take a sharp intake of breathe as instead of ignoring Demitri, Leonard completely ignores the producers and eyes Demi with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "American girls love an Irish accent and you haven't spoken this whole interview! What do you say, why don't you let us hear just a little?" Leonard crosses his legs and leans in to us, eyes boring into Demitri. The fans outside are going crazy that I'm ready to be welcomed by monsters instead of teenage girls.
It's true; they love our accent, especially Demitri's, who's been named the 'mystery' because hearing him talk is like seeing a shooting star; really fucking rare.
But today, Demitri is not Demitri.
He slouches off the stool, feet hitting the ground with a thud. And, as I'm ready to hold him back just in case he decides to punch Leonard Baxter in the face, he turns on his heel with a scowl on his face, and walks off the set.
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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