#but like i’m correct in assuming that’s really rare right? for an actor to have 2 back-to-back hit shows in roles that are polar opposites?

[crayonflop]

I remember you raved about “just between lovers” some while ago which I looked up the synopsis of and assumed you’re probably just biased about actors. I watched it recently and turns out you’re 100% correct it really is THAT GOOD. the characters and chemistry between them is surprisingly rare in so many kdramas i was eating it all up. Anyway, I’m here begging for some other underrated drama like this pretty please and thank you!

i'm a bit hurt tbh lmao never in my life have i praised a drama bc i'm biased about actors my own mother could be starring in a drama and i'll still say it's shit u must not have been here for tkem!!!!!!!....jbl is my number one drama of all time like i'm in it DEEP about just between lovers it is just that good ur right....

if u would like very similar

a piece of your mind

call it love

when the weather is fine

lost

#recs

[jadejedi]

The problem with streaming

Okay first of all, I’m not an expert on this subject. Secondly, I am not the first person to say this. I’m just writing it down because these thoughts just keep bouncing around in my head. Thirdly, there are many, many problems with streaming, many of which are being discussed right now, but this one just seems like the Big One to me, especially as someone who is not a writer or an actor, but a mere consumer of content. 

So one of the main reasons for the current writers and actors strike is streaming, and the fact that these workers do not make residuals on streaming because the studios don’t have to license out the different shows and movies like they did before streaming. This is because each major studio has their own streaming service, and their content is exclusively streamed through their own platform. 

From a glance, this can seem like a competitive market, right? Peacock is competing wit Hulu which is competing with Netflix and so on. All of them are in competition, which means that this is a healthy market, not run by monopolies. Right? 

Wrong. 

In the current system, each studio has a monopoly over their own catalogue. Netflix has a monopoly on Stranger Things, Disney has a monopoly on The Mandalorian, etc. This means that none of these studios are actually competing, because they know if you want to watch any particular show, you have to watch it on the platform that made it. That gives the studios the incentive to make as much new content as possible to try and make a show that attracts new viewers. As has been pointed out many times, this means that shows get cancelled after just a couple of seasons, because people don’t usually sign up for a streaming subscription for the third season of something. They sign up when the first season comes out and there’s a big buzz. 

The other effect this has, the effect that is felt more on the consumer side of things, is that there is also little to no incentive to improve the quality of the streaming platform itself. If you want to watch Stranger Things, you have to go to Netflix (or stream illegally), no matter how poor Netflix’s actual streaming platform is. As long as it actually streams the content, that’s good enough for the studio. That’s why you rarely see streaming platforms make any big updates to their platforms other than fixing bugs. 

So what is the solution to this? Well, in my opinion, it’s obvious, and also very unlikely to happen. Streaming services should not be allowed to have a monopoly on the properties they own the rights to. Now, they should still hold the licensing rights, but they shouldn’t be able to be the exclusive streaming rights of a property. Not sure if I’m using the correct terminology, but basically, I think that if Netflix makes a show, they have to allow other other streaming services to purchase it. The other streaming services would have to pay Netflix to stream it, but those other studios would do that because more content on their platforms can only benefit them. Say you really want to watch Ted Lasso, but you don’t want to subscribe to Apple TV+ (and you don’t want to pirate it) for just one show. What if they bought streaming rights to a show that they assume has a similar audience, in order to convince people to sign up, say Parks and Rec. That may be more of a draw for a larger audience. Not sure what this would look like, if there would have to be some objective way of valuing properties and then enforcing that starting price, so the owners of the licensing rights can’t just charge more than anyone is willing to pay. 

This would force studios to sell the streaming rights to other streaming services, thus giving people who worked on those shows or movies residuals. Now, it still wouldn’t be the same as pre-streaming television, where you would get paid for every airing, but I think it would at least be an improvement on the current situation. Also, each season of a show should be licensed separately, so every streaming platforms have to pay for the streaming rights for each individual season. These changes would incentivize: 

-Creating longer running shows. I imagine it would be easier to sell the licensing rights to an established show, than a brand new show with no established audience. 

-Improving the streaming platforms themselves. Have you ever been annoyed about the fast forward and rewind functions on desktop and mobile? I sure have, but under the current system, there is no incentive to make them any better. 

-It would also likely make the different streaming platforms fall under a specific genre or niche the way that TV channels do. If you want to get people to subscribe to your streaming service, you purchase the streaming rights to content that you think will attract a similar audience to the properties you already own. 

-Making fewer, better shows. Everyone knows that the tv market is bloated right now with so many streaming platforms coming out with a ridiculous number of new shows to attract new subscribers. If you can’t hold the exclusive streaming rights to a property, then there is less incentive to create a massive number of new shows, but rather higher quality, long running shows that can be sold for more money. This might also re-incentivize making shows with longer seasons, as you could also charge more for more episodes. 

tl;dr: Streaming services currently have a monopoly on the properties they own. Monopolies are bad, and in this case they hurt both the viewers and everyone involved in the production of the shows and movies other than the studios themselves. Studios should not be allowed to own a monopoly on a given property. 

#streaming #writers strike #actors strike #hope this all makes sense lol #if anyone is actually an expert on this topic #please feel free to chime in #jj talks

[gobbluthbutagirl]

i’ve actually only seen about 50% of breaking bad & not consecutively either. like for example i haven’t seen the pilot but i have seen the entire second episode. i’ve seen random episodes from all 5 seasons out of context & had the context filled in for me by my dad. i think i’ve actually seen slightly more of better call saul(i watched almost every episode of season 5 as it aired) but both shows ARE on my to-watch list. in fact they were at one point NEXT on my to-watch list, right after malcolm in the middle, but i didn’t like the person i became when i was watching malcolm in the middle. i watched that sitcom like it was my full-time job. and in fact it was in the middle of an episode of malcolm in the middle that i received a call offering me what is essentially a full-time job, so now the reason i haven’t watched breaking bad yet is not that i will act insane about it but that i won’t have the opportunity to act insane about it

#i don’t want to be at work bored as hell thinking ‘man i could be at home watching breaking bad rn’ #i mean. i already do that but i feel like it’d be worse if i were like. actually in the middle of an episode of breaking bad #that i had had to pause in order to come into work & be bored #i’m like obsessed with how bryan cranston did 7 seasons of an immensely popular sitcom #then 2 years later turns around and does 5 seasons of an immensely popular drama #admittedly i do not know nearly as much about the industry as somebody hoping to enter it probably should #but like i’m correct in assuming that’s really rare right? for an actor to have 2 back-to-back hit shows in roles that are polar opposites? #anyway the point of this post was supposed to be to say that when i see brba events being discussed there’s like a 50% chance i remember it #and w/ bcs it’s more like a 65-75% chance

[gaemkyuu]

Loved.

Warnings: Mentions of an abusive boyfriend (Not Charlie) A/N: This is a personal piece of something I went through. Not all the details disclosed on this piece happened to me, but they have happened to people I love. Something we connected on was that one person came into our lives and became the light that we needed to get out of our situation. Charlie isn’t meant to portray the image of a false hero, but rather a light and a starting point. A second chapter will be made.

If you or someone you love is suffering from abuse, you are not alone. We hear you, we love you and we can help you. Reach out of the dark. Step into your greatness. Stand Tall.

Disclaimer: This is a FICITONAL writing piece! In no way do I claim characters in this piece act this way in real life.

Masterlist *now taking requests ;)

Loved.

Kaia paused to take a sip of water. Carrying around boxes and furniture was proving to be difficult with the hot LA sun. She was used to super sunny days with a cool breeze or rainy cloudy days up in Vancouver. Moving countries hadn’t been easy, what with the paperwork and everything, but here she was. Starting a life in LA, the city where people come to make their dreams happen. 

“How you doin’?” the girl jump at the sound of a male voice and turned to see a very good looking guy leaning on her fence. His beautiful eyes and contagious smile caused her to smile back at him. He seemed genuine and something deep inside told her he was good.

“I’m hoping you’re the person that lives beside me, otherwise I may have to call the cops” the male chuckled at her response and shook his head.

“Welcome to the neighbourhood. Me and my roommates live right beside you. Are you new to LA?” Kaia knew she shouldn’t get caught chatting away with the male, but she didn’t want him to get the wrong impression. She knew that bad neighbours could make your life a living hell, plus being new to the country meant that she had no friends. Might as well start somewhere right?

“New to the country actually, I’m from Vancouver” Judging by the way his eyes grew to the size of saucers, she assumed that he might be a fellow Canadian too. It would be nice to have someone who understands the culture shock as a friend. “Parles-tu francais?” she sheepishly asked.

“Oui! J’suis de Dieppe!” Kaia let out a big laugh. She very rarely heard that dialect of french and it felt funny to her ears. She blushed when she realized how hard she was laughing.

“Sorry! I wasn’t laughing at you or anything. I’ve rarely heard an Acadien speak french and it sounds a little funny to me” she scratched her neck in slight embarrassment. The male seemed to bite his lip and she couldn’t help but notice the twinkle in his eyes, confirming that he wasn’t offended. “So what brought you here?”

“I’m an actor. What about you?” 

“I moved down here with my boyfriend, he’s actually a local” she saw a small look of disappointment cross his unusually bright features, but as quickly as it came, it was gone. She could hear her boyfriend’s voice growing louder as he approached the entrance of the house. “Do you live by yourself? Or?”

“I live with my roommates, all of whom are girls with boyfriends” she giggled at his predicament but found it interesting.

“Too much estrogen I take it?” he rolled his eyes in confirmation and she laughed again at his reaction.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. But they’re pretty awesome, so I can’t complain” he opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted at a booming voice. She continued to chat with the man about the neighbourhood and life in LA in general. It felt nice to Kaia that someone was also weirded out by all  the fake grass lawns and garbage on the streets. The conversation was flowing naturally and she was very engaged that she didn’t notice another person in the house growing impatient.

“Kaia!” She quickly turned around to her boyfriend, who was motioning her over. He looked irritated and upset, something she wasn’t looking forward to dealing with. She opened her mouth to explain herself as her new neighbour waved, but he interrupted her. “Let’s go!”

“Sorry, the heat’s making him a little grumpy. Thank you for welcoming us to the neighbourhood. It was really nice chatting with you” she smiled as her boyfriend marched back into the house. “I’m Kaia by the way, but you can call me Kai”

“Charlie. Charlie Gillespie. It was nice to meet you Kai, pass the welcome on to your boyfriend from us. See you around?” she smiled softly and waved goodbye as he made his way over to the front door. When he was out of sight, she took a deep breath preparing herself for the inevitable conversation with her boyfriend.

Who’s that? You’ve been flirting for half an hour. I wasn’t flirting. He’s our neighbour. Don’t lie to me, Kaia. I’m not. Listen, I moved you down here to be with me. Last time I checked, I moved down to start my career. Don’t. Sass. Me. Kaia. I’m sorry. Remember. You’re here because I let you. Don’t forget that.

The next time Kaia saw Charlie was a few weeks later. Her boyfriend and her had a big argument, so she was de-stressing the only way she knew how, making music. She was sure that at some point, someone in the neighbourhood would make a noise complaint, but right now, she could care less. She filled track after tracking, replaying what she had already made and what she had added. Kaia often poured her soul into her music, something she felt was therapeutic.

It had always been Kaia’s dream to move down to LA and pursue a music career. So when she finished her music program in Vancouver, she began working full time around the city doing odd jobs and mixing jobs wherever she could. She had saved up enough money to make the move, when she had met her boyfriend. He was playing a live set at a bar she was bartending for and the two hit it off right away. Soon, the two began to collaborate with music and Kaia found herself producing and mixing his demos.

Sure, their relationship was a little bit of a rollercoaster, but in Kaia’s mind, that wasn’t strange. She had seen her parents experience similar things with one another. He struggled to pay rent along with his tuition fees for his music program, but Kaia didn’t mind paying for it. Being an American citizen in Canada made it difficult at times to find employment and at the beginning he was super grateful. That’s how they fell into a rhythm on Kaia working to support the both of them while doing what she loved.

When her boyfriend’s Visa expired, she knew this was her chance to move down to LA. Her parents weren’t thrilled with the two of them moving in together, but they had already been a couple for 2 years. In Kaia’s mind, it was the next step in their relationship. She also assured her parents that if anything happened, that she had enough money saved up to support herself on her own for a few months.

“Sick beats!” she jumped at the voice, turning around to see Charlie fist bumping into her garage. Immediately, she turned down the music and smiled. “I didn’t know you were into music too! This is really good!”

“Think so? I haven’t made anything from scratch in a long time” Kaia blushed when Charlie’s jaw dropped at her confession. “I’m actually struggling with this track if I’m being honest”

“May I?” she moved over letting Charlie take control and play around with things. The two then began a very in depth conversation about music and finding the sound of the track she was working on. However, Kaia came to learn that as passionate Charlie was about music, he was also very goofy. The two playfully argued as to whether Charlie was correct about incorporating a xylophone or bongos into the track. He was a self proclaimed EDM expert and enthusiast, which caused Kaia to question his instrument choices. They sat there for who knows how long, eventually trading rhythms on different instruments,  Kaia on the piano and Charlie on the guitar. “You’re really good at this Kai”

“I normally produce music that my boyfriend writes” she scratch her neck in embarrassment. “The move had us so busy that I’m a little rusty”

“What? If this is what you’re “rusty” is, then I’m excited to see your polished work!” Kaia smiled and stood there awkwardly, not fully knowing how to accept his compliment. “Kai, you should really give your music a chance”

“I’ll think about it” she smiled. “Say, was there a reason why you bursted into my garage?” It was now Charlie’s turn to blush and Kaia giggled in return.

“Oh yeah, I was going to invite you and your boyfriend for a barbeque tomorrow evening. Think you’d like to come?” he wiggled his eyebrows making Kaia laugh.

“We’ve got plans. Thanks” both were startled at the introduction of a new voice. Kaia’s boyfriend stood at the garage door entrance, arms crossed and unimpressed.

“Ty, this is Charlie, our neighbour. Charlie, this is Tyler, my boyfriend” Kaia quickly made her way to her boyfriend, explaining the situation.

“Nice to meet you man” Charlie smiled and extended his hand, but Tyler just looked at it until Charlie took it back. He muttered a soft ‘okay then’ and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I just wanted to invite you and Kai over for dinner tomorrow night. My roommates would love to meet you guys”

“It’s Kaia, and thanks but no thanks. Like I said, we have plans” Kaia stood silently beside her boyfriend, fidgeting with her sleeve. She held one arm across her body and was squeezing her other arm, but cleared her throat to break the tension.

“Thanks for the visit. I’ll see you around Charlie” this time Kaia’s smile was a genuine one, but by the look on Charlie’s face, she knew he was growing suspicious. She was grateful that he didn’t push the topic, but she knew that his hesitation wouldn’t go unnoticed by her boyfriend.

What is it with you and this guy? We were just collaborating on mixing. You mix for me Kaia. Don’t let someone take advantage of you. He wasn’t taking advantage of me. He was helping me. Helping? It sounds like shit. You better get your head in the game for my next EP. ... Babe, you know I only want you to be the best right? I know. I love you. ... I love you too.

If another person screamed at her today, Kaia was sure that she would lose it. She felt exhausted and overworked. Living in LA was proving to be pricey and she was the only one who was able to find work between the two of them. Between working two jobs and producing late into the evenings, Kaia felt like she was reaching her limit.

“Good evening! Can I start you guys with something to drink?” Kaia fished for her notepad and pen in her apron, fiddling around for a moment.

“Kai?” she recognized the voice immediately and finally found her things. Charlie sat at the table she was waiting along with two other people. 

“I’m beginning to think you’re stalking me Charlie” she joked, smoothing out her hair and uniform. She suddenly felt more aware and conscious of her appearance. 

“Sounds like Charlie” the female interrupted, earning a shove from the male. The blonde across from Charlie stifled a chuckle at the interaction. “I’m Hannah, I live with Charlie”

“And this is Owen” he introduced and Kaia gave a kind smile back. “I didn’t know you worked here! I thought you worked at the Starbucks?” she noticed Owen and Hannah give each other a look about Charlie’s observation.

“Yeah, I work at Starbucks in the morning and here in the evenings” she blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Not all of us make a living off of Netflix contracts” she winked. “What can I get you guys?”

The playful banter continued on through the night and Kaia continued to wait their table, along with the many other tables she had. Kaia got to know Owen and Hannah pretty well that night and genuinely enjoyed their company. Since moving to LA, she had been working so much that she hadn’t even made friends in the three months she had been there. So naturally, after her shift, she sat down with their table and got them free dessert just to hang out. They were having such a good time that she lost track time.

“Hey Kaia! Your boyfriend’s calling” Kaia paled at the closing manager’s announcement and she politely excused herself from the table, telling the manager she’d take the call in the office. As Kaia sat in the office, quiet tears streamed down her face as her boyfriend chastised her over the phone. Her closing manager comforted her quietly, knowing the intricacies of her situation. Once Kaia was sure she was composed, she returned to her table of friends, surprised that they still waited around for her. 

“Thanks for the company tonight! I’ll see you guys around?” The looks they gave each other didn’t go unnoticed by Kaia. However, they didn’t say anything and bid her farewell.

“Hey Kaia?” she paused and turned around, a soft smile on her face, and Charlie standing at the edge of his table. “You know you can talk to me right?” Kaia bit her lip, hesitant for her next move. She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the tears that were surfacing.

“I’m just tired is all” but a tear slipped down her face, which she quickly wiped away. Charlie pulled her in for a hug and Kaia melted into it. She couldn’t remember feeling this warmth for a long time and quite frankly, she felt at peace. The flickering of the car lights in the parking lot pulled her attention from the comfort of Charlie’s arms. “I have to go” she whispered and left, not bearing to look at Charlie and the rest.

I don’t like him. Don’t hang around him anymore. He’s my only friend here. Then make a new one. How? Between working two jobs and mixing your music, I have no time. Don’t pin this on me. Stop whining and figure it out.  ... I’m just protecting you. He’ll take advantage of you.  ... Now who’s my girl? I am. And who’s everything that you’ll ever need. ... Kaia. You are. Don’t forget that.

“That’ll be $4.95”

“I’ll pay. Could you add on a donut too? Thanks”

The next time Kaia saw Charlie was a few weeks after the diner incident. Kaia didn’t actually see Charlie, but rather Charlie saw Kaia and couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to her. Judging by his outfit, she assumed that he was on his usual morning run. She felt nervous about him appearing from nowhere and offering to buy her coffee, especially since the last time they talked it was awkward.

“You didn’t have to do that Charlie.” she smiled and thanked him with her eyes. She fiddled with her zip up collar and hair. 

“It’s nothing. Wanna grab a table? Maybe in a more secluded and private area?” she nodded thinking that his specificity in seating had to do with the recent release of a Netflix show he starred on that was gaining popularity. So she settled for a table tucked away in the corner of the shop. Charlie followed along soon after with her coffee and his donut. 

“Thanks again. How was your run?” Charlie shrugged as he took a bite of his donut.

“Same as always, except this time I get to see you” Kaia blushed at his beautiful smile. He was good looking and from their exchanges, she had gotten to know he was genuinely a good guy. “You like to hike?”

She couldn’t understand what it was, but Charlie had a way of making her feel comfortable and safe. As they chatted about the many hiking places and how often Charlie went, Kaia could see the excitement in his eyes. Their conversation naturally divulged into hobbies and things they had been up to. The two laughed and chatted, both of them wishing that they could stay in each other’s company. It was exactly what she needed.

“I haven’t been hearing you mix lately. The neighbourhood sounds quiet”

“Nothing I’ve come up with sounds good” she stated sheepishly, flushed at the fact that Charlie had noticed.

“Oh come on, I’m sure you’re being hard on yourself. You’re extremely talented, and I’m not saying that just to be nice or anything!” Charlie leaned in as he said this, and Kaia could tell that he truly meant what he was saying.

“No, it’s always garbage when I try to mix on my own” Charlie frowned at this much to Kaia’s dismay, and he sat back in his seat, looking slightly annoyed. Kaia felt her pulse quicken, feeling like she had disappointed him in some way.

“Is that what he tells you?” Kaia was about to drink her coffee, but that comment caught her off guard. She tensed, knowing where this conversation could go and where she didn’t want it to go. “I’m sorry, I just...”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything” she assured him, setting her cup down and a small awkward silence filling the empty space. “I get that you care Charlie, but everything’s fine”.

“You don’t have to lie to me Kai” she avoided his gaze knowing that he would see right through her when she melted under his stare. “Look, I know it’s none of my business, but if what I think is happening, is happening, then you need to leave” she bit her lip again, stopping herself from confessing the truth to Charlie.

“Nothing’s happening Charlie. We’ve just been going through a rough patch. I’m fine, really” she hoped to god that she sounded convincing enough for Charlie to drop the topic. Nervous for his response, she glanced down at her phone and noticed the 15 missed calls. To add, they had been sitting in that coffee shop chatting for 2 hours. Kaia always came to Tyler’s defence, as Charlie wasn’t the first one to voice his concerns. Tyler was sweet and loving, but he often got jealous or irritated. However, it was always emphasized that Kaia crossed the lines that triggered Tyler and that he never acted irrationally.

“Thanks for the chat Charlie.” She smiled at him, taking the last sip of the liquid in her cup. “It was nice getting to know you more”. She could see Charlie hesitate, knowing he didn’t want the conversation to end. She secretly wanted the same thing as his, but she felt guilty for feeling this way.

In their various exchanges and in their conversation today, Kaia felt more and more attracted to Charlie. He was so kind and always interested in the person he was talking to. He empathized and expressed compassion in a way that Kaia had never experienced before. If she wasn’t with Tyler, she could see herself with Charlie and that made her feel horrible. She tried over and over again to convince herself that Charlie was nothing but a friend, when really she wanted more. Tyler loved her and only wanted the best for her, yet here she was wishing Charlie was in Tyler’s place instead. 

“You don’t have to be with someone that makes you feel the way you do” Charlie held Kaia’s hand across the table. “I know you might feel like you’re trapped, but you don’t have to be. You have a way out” Kaia quickly wiped away the tear that escaped her eyes, but Charlie wiped away the second one. The two sat in silence as Kaia quietly let a few more tears escape, but it was only a matter of time that Kaia would find herself in Charlie’s arms crying steadily, but still silently, until there was nothing left. When Kaia was sure she was done, Charlie pulled away to give her an encouraging smile and squeezed her arm.

That’s when Kaia kissed him.

In her mind, it all happened so fast. One moment, she was trying to protect Tyler, the next moment she was wishing Tyler was Charlie. That’s what led her to kiss him and Charlie to kiss her back. The two pulled apart, speechless and slightly out of breath, but Kaia didn’t stay long enough to get a response. She quickly grabbed her things and left Charlie to rush out after her. She kept walking despite his calls after her.

That kiss confirmed what Kaia had been trying to deny for a long time now. It confirmed that she didn’t want to be with Tyler anymore. It confirmed that she hadn’t wanted to be with him for a long time. She hasn’t loved him for a long time and it took someone else to help her realize there was love outside of Tyler. However, leaving Tyler wouldn’t be so easy. She tried many times, but there was always a reason as to why she never left. Unfortunately, that reason as of late had been fear. 

“Kai! Kaia! Would you just stop for a second?!” Charlie chased after her, ignoring the various stares that were casted their way. A car pulled up beside her on the street and she paused to get in. Kaia looked back at him regretfully, tears falling from her eyes again, before opening the door and being pulled in. Charlie was left on the side of the street, left wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

You’re so stupid, why can’t you think? I’m sorry. Yeah, well sorry isn’t good enough! What did I tell you about him?! I’m sorry. Is that all you can say?! Tyler, stop, you’re hurting me. I’m hurting you?! What about what you’re doing to me?! You’re so selfish Kaia. ... This is what I get for everything that I’ve given you?! ...I’m sorry. Just shut up.

Kaia quit her jobs the next day at Tyler’s request. His reasoning was that Kaia couldn’t be trusted outside of the house, so it would be better for her to pick up some work from home jobs. It didn’t help that he had found a printed bank statement with information about how much Kaia had in her savings, something he didn’t hesitate to use against her. 

If she was being honest, she felt absolutely awful and was quietly thankful that she was able to quit her jobs. It meant that she didn’t have to leave home, something that she was hoping for more and more. Kaia was riddled with guilt that deep down, she saw Charlie as more than a friend and that she kissed him, despite being in a relationship with Tyler. She reasoned that she was being unfaithful to Tyler, especially after everything he did for her back in Vancouver. Sure, she handled the financials, but Tyler showed her a whole new world that she never dreamed of getting access to. He introduced her to Canadian producers and artists, got her more involved in the music scene and he loved her. Tyler was her first everything! First kiss, first boyfriend, first time... He loved her. She was sure of it.

Or was she?

“She’ll have a water and a margherita pizza and I’ll have the tuscan with a coke” Kaia felt him squeeze her arm and she did her best not to flinch. He had insisted that he sat beside her whenever they dined out so that he could be closer to her, but his rough advances were uncomfortable, especially with the bruises. She sat there in silence staring off to space as they sat on the outdoor patio. 

He had been lashing out more lately and sometimes Kaia got in the way. He didn’t target her for his aggression, it was rather that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn’t dare tell a single soul. Not her friends back home, not her family, no one. That would prompt them to check on her more and more, something that she really didn’t want. She wanted to be left alone. Tyler had grown obsessive of knowing what she was doing at every moment. He held her phone from her and everywhere he went, she came along too. She was rarely left home alone. Had Tyler become toxic? Yes. 

Had he been toxic for a while? Well...

In truth, Kaia wanted to break things off a few months into their dating, but he’d always find a way to convince her otherwise. At some point, Kaia stopped questioning his off behaviour or quips and accepted it as that was who he was. She convinced herself that at his core the Tyler she fell for was still there and that right now he had all the reasons to be the way he was. Life as a musician was stressful, especially when you hadn’t made it into the industry. 

Kaia was pulled out of her thoughts as the waitress placed their orders down in front of them. Immediately, Tyler began portioning out her serving on her plate as she quietly sipped on her water.

“Can you look any more miserable Kaia? Jesus” he scoffed, shoving her serving in front of her. “If you’re going to be this miserable out and about, I might as well leave you at home” she ate her slice in silence, not entertaining his comments, knowing that whatever she said would be used against her anyways. His phone began vibrating and he sighed, seemingly conflicted. “I gotta take this inside because it’s too loud out here. Don’t leave until I come back” Kaia nodded softly continuing to chew on her slice, as he stepped away from the table, out of sight. Her heart began to race when she noticed he left her phone behind.

This is it. This is your chance out Kaia. Don’t think. Just do it.

She snatched the phone and quickly pin dropped her location with the word ‘HELP’, to the one person she knew she could count on. Quickly, she deleted the text and put her phone back, not wanting to be caught near it. She prayed that he would see her text and she prayed that he would be able to help her. As she watched her boyfriend return to the table, she felt her stomach knot and the pizza she consumed rise in her throat.

“Eat your food or people are going to think I’m making you starve or some shit” he scoffed sitting down beside her and continuing to eat. He didn’t notice anything.

“I’m not hungry anymore” she smiled at him, slightly pushing her plate away. He pushed it back to her.

“I don’t care. I don’t want people thinking I’m treating you poorly” she stiffly grabbed her half eaten slice and when she was nearly done, he put another one on her plate. In the distance, she saw the familiar orange subaru parallel park. Her heart rate increased.

“Thank you. Was that phone call good news?” Kaia knew that the number one thing Tyler liked was talking about himself and his accomplishment. She turned to face him more and tried her best to look really engaged in the conversation, despite her sweaty palms and pounding heart. She was grateful that his back was facing the inside of the restaurant and he turned to face her too, telling her about the exec who was interested in meeting him and listening to his work. She nodded and replied appropriately, but she couldn’t tell you what more he said. Kaia was too focused on the scene in the restaurant unfolding. She watched as Charlie walked in and explained the situation to the hostess who then called over what looked like the manager. The three of them stood in discussion as a police officer entered the restaurant as well, pointing to their table. Her stomach sank as she watched the officer and Charlie leave, but she did her best to keep her eyes focused, only looking at the background when he went for a bite or a drink.

The waitress made her way over and asked how their meal was or if there was anything that she could get for them. Kaia shook her head no and Tyler did as well, but she dropped off napkins, tapping them lightly and looking at Kaia directly. She took it as a sign that the napkins had something important, so she intentionally took a messy bite of pizza, to wipe her face. Too bad Tyler got to the napkin first. Wiping his mouth, he noticed a smudge mark of ink on the napkin and Kaia immediately knew she was done for. His face changed in an instant and he glared at her, throwing cash onto the table.

“Get up.”

“But I’m not done-”

“I said, Get. Up.” Kaia did as she was told and Tyler grabbed her arm, not caring at who was staring. She started to walk, but it wasn’t good enough for Tyler as he forced her to his side. “You think you’re so smart? Tipping off the waitress like you’re some prisoner”

“I didn’t-”

“Shut up. You little liar. I’m not hurting you. I’m not forcing you to be here. You can leave, but you don’t because you know that you’re nothing without me” he hissed into her ear as they made their way to the entrance, but the officer stopped them midway. “Can I help you, officer?”

“I just need to ask you some questions outside. Ma’am I’m going to have to ask you to wait inside with the manager” the officer was stern and surely Tyler would comply, but he proved different.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving my girlfriend by herself,” he added, pulling her close.

“Tyler, just do as he says” she winced at the grip he had on her arm, glaring at her. 

“Sir, you need to come with me. Ma’am, I’m going to need you to step away from him” Kaia complied but Tyler didn’t, and soon she began to fight him off, struggling for her freedom all the while the police officer was trying to deescalate the situation. She finally slapped him across the face and he splashed a glass of water that was sitting on a table in her face, then throwing the glass at her. The police officer restrained him immediately and dragged him outside, while Kaia was left in the restaurant wet and a bruise starting to form on her cheek bone.

Was this it? Was it over?

She felt a soft warm cloth envelop her shoulders and she was handed a dish rag to try to dry off, but she was still in shock. She was moved to a less populated area of the restaurant, away from any clients and was sat down at a table. That’s when Charlie came running back in. As he rushed over to where she was sitting, she felt her own legs start to move quickly towards him, falling into his embrace. Charlie held her close, comforting her by whispering soothing words into her ears. He moved them to the table she was originally at and sat beside her, holding her while her tears fell and even after. He held her while another police officer approached them to update them on Tyler. He held her as they took down her statement and gave her directions as to what she would do next.

“Here is the address to the temporary apartment we will have you stay in. Do you have a vehicle or need transportation” Kaia read the address on the paper, but before she could speak up, Charlie did.

“Kai, I can drive you if you want. I can even help you get things that you need from your place” he smiled gently at her and cautiously, knowing that she was still in shock and overwhelmed.

“You’ll have a police escort on the premise if you would like to return home to grab a few things” Kaia looked at Charlie searching his eyes for some sort of sign that he was as hurtful as Tyler.

“I’ll let him drive me back and forth, thank you.” her voice sounded slightly croaky, probably from her crying. The officer notified them that she could give them 10 minutes before they had to leave. They would follow Charlie’s car to her house and escort her around to grab what she needed. From there, she would be followed to her temporary residence, until the courts could come to a conclusion about her situation. As the officer stepped away, Kaia took a deep breath and let out a big sigh.

“Thank you Charlie”

“I should be thanking you. What you did was hard, but it was the right thing to do. I’m always here for you, however you need me” He kissed her hand that he held and pulled her in for another hug. For the first time, in a long time, Kaia felt something she didn’t know she was missing.

Loved.

A/N: Look out for part 2!

#charlie gillespie #charlie gillespie imagines #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie fanfiction #fanfiction #imagine #imagines

[too-scared-to-do-this]

Prestige

Chapter one - Welcome to Weltingston Heights

Sanders side fanfiction

Idea by: @hestianerd1

Wordcount: 1094

Pairings: so far the main one is prinxiety :)

TW: cursing and some hostility, but let me know if I've missed any! :3

The summery of the whole story: Prestige. Such a simple construct. All you have to do is act the way you want people to perceive you, keep up the image, wear a big proud smile and never ever dare make a mistake. That’s why Weltingston Heights University is such a well known school. Everybody knows that anyone who got in must have some prestige tied to their name. Educational records, family history, or even literal fame. So why not treat students the same way? Because what’s a little more pressure on their young and strong bones?

But prestige and image are precious things. You slip up even the tiniest bit, step out of the line you drew for yourself and it’s all gone. So now that the pressure is on, and everyone already knows their place in this small circle of society, only one question remains. How far are they willing to go to keep the false image up?

(Or: Very over-dramatically with a noticeable amount of sarcastic undertone: "Oh my god! They were roommates!")

---------------------------------

Chapter one - Welcome to Weltingston heights

The halls were packed. So packed in fact, Virgil barely had space to move around. And that rarely was the case!

Usually, people just cleared a path for him - not wanting to catch a disease or something he presumed (rumors are so stupid). Mostly, people just feared him.

When you’re growly all the time, with a hoodie on, head low and headphones on, people tend to react that way. And the makeup and dark clothing probably didn’t help either.

Either way, they usually ran the moment they saw him.

But not today - no! This day out of all the days they could’ve chosen - they chose to not scatter. The filthy glory of move-in day.

Welcome to Waltingston Heights.

This day was already a nightmare. And yet another new room and roommate on top of it and Virgil was ready to throw himself over the ledge. He clutched his box to his chest and swallowed hard.

Just breath Virgil. You’re almost there. Count your steps. - he thought.

Room 223… 227… 234…

Room 236. Finally.

A quick (and very clumsy) fumble with the keys and Virgil was shutting the doors behind him. Hard and fast - falling against cold hard wood in the darkness.

Thank God for the hot weather outside - the staff had to close the curtains to protect the rooms at least a little from the boiling sun. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Two more trips to his car. He can do that. Obviously, he can.

…

But maybe he’ll unpack this box first. People might just thin out in that time.

And so, V took of his backpack, forced his legs to work and took a good look of the room.

Not too big, but bigger than what he had at home. One bathroom and a small kitchen of to the side. This pretty much supplied as a small apartment - just like the exact same looking once from previous years. It was suitable. Livable in.

Now, only if the roommate situation was the same.

It wasn’t the question of who, honestly, but rather why anyone at all? He did go to headmaster Berry with this, but that helped nothing. The man lacks empathy and that’s all he’ll ad.

Dropping the box on one of the beds (right side. Always the one under the window.) he started pulling out pieces of identical clothing and neatly folding them away into the drawers. Setting up a small table-lamp, an alarm clock. Dealing with the bed sheets.

Pushing the box aside, he fell onto his new bed. Home for the next two months max.

It didn’t matter who the roommate was, they always eventually requested him moved. Without fail. (Those days the old man decided to show some empathy - how convenient.) But they were in the right - he didn’t blame them. Didn’t like them as much, either.

He had to get up and go get those other boxes. He knew it. But he didn’t really want to leave the safety of the quiet room… And his idiotic ass also left his headphones in the car… Okay. Deep breath.

It was on his third trip back - the last one thankfully - when the students finally started thinning out. No more stupid elbowing through crowds, no more unwanted bumping or pushing. Not nearly enough space yet, but better.

Balancing the box in one hand, he reached out for the door handle. He was about to push the door open when it got yanked, pulling V with it.

Laud laughter and chatting filled the anxious boy’s ears. “Oh my, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

“Obviously.” he grunted elbowing his way into the room. Plopping his box down, he turned to actually face the guy he had to spend the two weeks with (didn’t give it longer).

And god, out of all the people in this school, it had to be this guy. He hated this situation. Eyelids lowered, mouth a thin line, Virgil growled. “You.”

“The one and only. Roman Velez.” the other bowed with a grin. A young girl behind him giggled at the sight and said something in Spanish, which made the actor grin even wider. “And you, dark and broody, must be my new roommate.”

“Not for long hopefully.” V grunted, turning back to his boxes and starting unpacking again.

Was it really too much to ask for some quiet and piece this year?

“I didn’t catch your name, emo.”

“That’s ‘cus I didn’t say it, dumbass.”

“Such pristine vocabulary. I just asked to be polite, anyways. I know you’re Virgil Reat. Everybody knows that.”

Virgil was just about to quip back when a completely shocked high-pitched voiced beat him to it. “That is him?!” the girl squawked.

Roman immediately fixed her with a glare. “Shut up, Cas. Go help dad.”

His sister was the best thing in the world, but she just could not keep her mouth shut. “Oh my god! Ro! You-“

“Now.”

“Wait till dad hears about this!” and she was gone, evil giggle fading with distance. Leaving the two boys in the not-so-small room.

Roman looked back at the short bundle of unhappiness and wondered what went wrong in the board-members heads to assign them as roommates. But he couldn’t say that out loud, now could he. So, he went with the next best thing - when in doubt, wear a smile and act friendly. “You don’t have much decoration.”

Virgil just razed an eyebrow. Then gestured at Romans’s side of the room. The man had literal toys everywhere. Glittery letters, a plush unicorns and bunch of stuff from plays he assumed. Like that sword hanging on the wall over there. Were they even allowed to bring weapons (no matter if fake) to school? “There wouldn’t be no place to put it with all the shit you brought.”

“Well, I’ll let you know, these things are not ‘shit’. They hold emotional value. And at least I’m not afraid to express myself.”

“And that’s exactly why most people find you annoying.” and with that (and a very cruel, obviously fake, polite smile), the box was tossed to the ground and V’s big black noise-canceling headphones were finally on his head. Blasting whatever his crappy phone would offer at that exact moment.

Roman was left staring at the rude little leprechaun laying on his bed. Ignoring him!

“Hey!” he called out. But V only turned the volume up and closed his eyes.

Roman scoffed in disbelief. “Welcome back to Weltingston, I guess.”

This is going to be a fun year.

---------------------------------

Welcome to a new series! I hope you'll enjoy it <3

(Also, I wrote Roman Spanish because I just love the concept, but I don't really speak or know much, and I really don't want to come of as offensive! That's the last thing I want... So if anybody out there is kindhearted enough to help me correct anything that might seem off or with some correct translations into Spanish in later chapters, I'd really appreciate the help! (I don't trust google translate with something like this XD) I really don't mean to make anybody uncomfortable, and if this helps me prevent it, than I'd be very grateful! Thank you <3)

#prestige #roman sanders #virgil sanders #prinxiety #ts roman #creativity sanders #ts virgil #anxiety sanders #thomas sanders #sander's sides #what else should I tag? #very scary tiny V #very lovely tall Ro

[blaster-aichi]

Cardfight!! Vanguard Extra Story IF 21 things

WHAT A GOOD FUCKING EPISODE

A running theme through the episode: whoever directed the visuals is a godsend.

Initially had wondered if the opening scenes within the first world were going to shine some light on the Tatsunagis’ past. Throwing the viewer into the deep end alongside Suiko was a clever decision, allowing us to feel her confusion all the more effectively.

Also the system for the girls’ ranger world is super-neat. Spin-off when?

Cards continuing their gimmick of being incredibly lethal.

The entirety of the fight with the Vanguard unit was spent thinking of the irony that it and Aichi share goals, so had a brain cell laughing at the suggestion the girls were simply on a filming set and he was the one in costume.

immediately after: Oh. Oh my fuck.

me: don’t do it. don’t do it. brain: Singularity F!

obligatory Long Live the King memeage

The claim that Kourin’ll search for a world Suiko likes smacks of irony given Suiko has her world she likes and has been fighting all along for it. It’s simply a world that Kourin approves of for Suiko to lose herself and how they handled it was stellar.

Just Miwa being cute. That is all.

Can someone inform Aichi that him getting into Vanguard has nothing to do with the Kais abandoning their son?

How dare you say such shit with such a sweet smile.

Curious how the Cardfight Club existed with four members (unless the other three were also signed up but simply not present). This world in particular is peculiar with its presumably aging up Rekka and the sisters not knowing one another to begin with. Not to mention how evidently distant Aichi is; the girls swear loyalty to him, but he minimizes his contact with them. Perhaps it’s to do with it being called the Cardfight Club but when he despises the game, have to wonder why he would choose that rather than anything else when the purpose was just to goof around.

Breaks through the door at a monument to Misaki’s existence.

Assuming she was roped into the surfing of worlds prior to Suiko, left to wonder how many worlds Rekka briefly lived in, and how many appealed to her, but she sacrificed to stay loyal to who she is, and just how difficult it must have been.

Thank you writers for giving SK4 Suiko and Rekka excellent names, rip Sanctuary Knight Ibuki.

Link Joker-hen noises in the distance.

I love this crew. That is all.

Whoever wrote this episode is also a godsend, thank you for giving the Tatsunagis some sisterly love.

Kourin: Aichi hates Vanguard. Also Kourin: [flips her shit at Suiko Riding “one of Aichi’s favourite units”].

I’M CRYING YOURE REFERENCING THE ORIGINAL ANIME? YOU DIRECTLY CONNECTED THE TWO CONTINUITIES ILY.

Rena continuing to lose her shit because this entire scene is so good and the girls’ contrasting feelings about Alfred, Vanguard, everything is so wonderfully portrayed. For bonus points; Suiko’s unit belonging to a clan that Aichi chose and stuck with whereas Kourin’s heralds from one he never played in the manga & reboot continuity and was forced onto him in the original.

Had been wondering for quite some time just how Kourin and Suiko remembered anything related to the Reboot anime, so them providing an answer is immensely appreciated.

Also still loving whoever storyboarded this episode. Also very much loving the touch of Suiko being in focus as she challenges Kourin on her choice while Aichi hovers out of focus in the background; with their respective positions in the season and in comparison to their Outside World lives as well as how Kourin risks to lose them, it’s incredible poignant.

"We move forward”. Rockets back to one of the best scenes in epi 7 that I love so much. The fact that Ibuki and Suiko are the ones to speak of the same sentiment is precious.

At the same time, turning the idea onto Kourin and Aichi, with the added visual of the latter, really brought it home. With OverDress’ new cast, our time with these characters is drawing to a close for a second time and with no guarantee we’ll see them again. It’s incredibly bittersweet, particularly when adding in how the Q4 voice actors showed how torn up they were during the live event shortly prior to G’s airing. We were incredibly lucky to get a second run with these characters, so as the audience carries on forward and part ways with them again, having this particular theme front and centre, we’re essentially in the same position as Kourin.

I love this crew. That is all.

As much as tried to discern the glitched figure, unless it’s whatever’s in/controlling/manipulating/whathaveyou Aichi (it doesn’t look human), a Deletor or something related to Brandt, couldn’t even try to guess, they did a good job of obscuring their identity.

IF 22 preview

Babie boy’s cheek looks bruised. Is he still getting bullied? Were you wandering around somewhere to prolong your mother being faced with another afterschool of being beaten up? My heart. He looks incredibly distrustful of Takuto compared to their previous first meetings.

Zooms in on that Akashic Record in Kourin’s hands. Zooms in on Aichi’s hand on his arm. Were you really beaten up? Point me to them! 9′^’9 — Alternatively, he looks uncomfortable, in the same vein as the photo of himself and Emi in their Miyaji uniforms from epi 7, perhaps Takuto's explaining the truth to him and Aichi just can't process such a world because he's weak and timid and simply doesn't have the strength to imagine it.

How can someone be so ominous without a visible expression? The Biggest Fear.

DID YOU RIP OUT YOURS AND KAI-KUN’S PAGE FROM THE AKASHIC RECORD AND THATS HOW NO-ONE CAN GET THERE?

The placement of the four cards is striking; one distanced from the other three. They may be representative of the Q4 members and how far Aichi has drifted as a result of IF’s premise. Though at the same time, even if unintentional, it could be reflective of the young Aichi, who saw Kai-kun, Ibuki and Miwa playing from afar, never closing the distance himself and allowing that space between them to remain.

I have many questions. First of all: is it next week yet?

SCREAMS IN PSYQUALIA. BUT ALSO. It looks darker compared to usual, particularly in the Reboot continuity. Maybe it’s a sign of it not being quite right? That darker huge reminds me of Leon’s Psyqualia during Asia Circuit, so the possibility springs to mind of Void (seeing as the original continuity has been drawn in directly now) or interference by Brandt. If it’s a shot from the explanation regarding what’s happened to him (INTENSE VIBRATING), it could be whatever worming its way in through his Psyqualia.

Akashic Record-related thoughts:

Suiko:

Suiko’s remembrance of handing Alfred to Aichi in the original continuity opens up a huge possibility that she’s aware of the Tatsunagi sisters’ pasts and fate of that timeline. Though the girls of that world themselves never found out about their missing memories, their counterparts may have learned the truth themselves.

Kourin:

Going along the same line of thought, it gives Kourin a much more sympathetic position in that she’s not only experienced losing her memories once, but learned it to be her fate in more than just this world. When threatened with the possibility of losing a treasured period of her life for a second time, coupled with it being apparently inescapable even in other worlds, it’s a hopeless position she’s been put in, so though her motives may be selfish, it’s difficult not to sympathize with her.

Also a curious thought; Kourin’s alternate worlds for Suiko. Using the Akashic Records to surf between them, there’s the possibility that these are all worlds that exist and continue as such without external interference; other worlds where Aichi hates Vanguard, where Ultra Rare exist in different forms. But Kourin also described her actions as “creating” new worlds, so that begs the question of if she’s nonchalantly creating and erasing entire timelines?

Aichi:

The scrap of paper from the preview could very well be the page detailing his and Kai-kun’s first meeting and whatever force is at work, the figure from the glitch, given the ability to keep the distortion locked by its possession of the page through Aichi. At the same time, it might also explain why deviating from IF World’s narrative had such a detrimental physical effect on Aichi or it could be a result of, being the Tatsunagis are the only ones we’ve seen truly handle the book, interfering with its writings without the authority to do so bit Aichi and he’s suffering the consequences of it.

Why go through all this and for someone he shouldn’t know in this timeline? After he (or rather the force inside of him that intervened when they tried to bring him around and lead him back to the correct worldline) handled Takuto and Kourin, Aichi was able to investigate the Akashic Records and see just how much damage was done to Kai-kun; in the Reboot continuity, in the original continuity, maybe even in continuities we've never known of; Psyqualia, Link Joker, Legion Mate, Neon Messiah, the PsyZombie arc  — he’s learned of them and how much anguish they put someone incredibly dear to him through (and it need not be just him; Ren, Ibuki, Leon, the Ultra Rare girls, Chrono, the list goes on for how many people have been deeply hurt by being connected to the game). So to protect him, that’s why Aichi targeted and hated Vanguard, not something that’s been brewing for years, but something that exploded when keeping him in his IF existence was threatened, allowing for Emi’s insistence that he’s always been a nice boy hold true.

#Cardfight!! Vanguard #Cardfight!! Vanguard IF #cfv spoilers

[greatfay]

controversial opinions?

Cold pizza actually not good. Tastes like angry bacteria.

There’s a completely separate class of gay men who are in a different, rainbow-tinted plane of reality from the rest of us and I don’t like them. They push for “acceptance” via commercialization of the Pride movement, assimilation through over-exposure, and focus on sexualizing the movement to be “provocative” and writing annoying articles that reek of class privilege instead of something actually important like lgbtqa youth homelessness, job discrimination, and mental health awareness.

Coleslaw is good. You guys just suck in the kitchen.

Generational divides ARE real: a 16-year-old and a 60-year-old right now in 2021 could agree on every hot button sociopolitical topic and yet not even realize it because they communicate in entirely different ways.

Sam Wilson is a power bottom. No I will not elaborate.

Allison’s makeover in The Breakfast Club good, not bad. She kept literally and metaphorically dumping her trash out onto the table and it’s clearly a cry for help. Having the attention and affection of a smart, pretty girl doing her makeup for her was sweet and helped her open up to new experiences. Not every loner wants to BE a loner (see: Bender, who is fine being a lone wolf).

Movie/show recommendations that start with a detailed “representation” list read like status-effecting gear in an RPG and it’s actually a turn-off for me. I have to force myself to give something a try in spite of it.

Yelling at people to just “learn a new language” because clearly everyone who isn’t you and your immediate vicinity of friends must be a lazy ignorant white American is so fucking stupid, like I get it, you’re mad someone doesn’t immediately know how to pronounce your name or what something means. But I know 2 languages and am struggling with a 3rd when I can between 2 jobs and quite frankly, I don’t have the time to just absorb the entire kanji system into my brain to learn Japanese by tomorrow night, or suddenly learn Arabic or Welsh. There are 6500 recorded languages in the world, what’s the chance that one of 3 I’ve learn(ed?) is the one you’re yelling at me about. Yes this is referring to that post yelling at people for not knowing how to pronounce obscure Irish names and words. Sometimes just explaining something instead of admonishing people for not knowing something inherently in the belief that everyone must be lazy entitled privileged people is uh... better?

Stop fucking yelling at people. I despise feeling like someone is yelling at me or scolding me, it triggers my Violence Mode, you don’t run me, you are not God, fuck off. Worst fucking way to "educate” people, it just feels good in the moment to say or write and doesn’t help. Yes I’ve done it before.

Violence is good actually.

Characters doing bad things ≠ an endorsement of bad things. Characters doing bad things that are unquestioned by the entire rest of the cast = endorsement of bad things, or at the least, a power fantasy by the creator. See: Glee, in which Sue’s awfulness is constantly called out, while Mr. Shue’s awfulness rarely is because he’s “the hero.” See also: the Lightbringer series, in which the protagonist is a violent manipulator who is praised as clever, charming, diplomatic, and genius by every supporting character (enemies included), despite the text never demonstrating such.

Euphoria is good, actually. It falls into this niche of the past decade of “dark gritty teen shows” but actually has substance behind it, but the general vibe I get from passive-aggressive tumblr posts from casual viewers is that this show is The Devil, and the criticism of its racier content screams pearl-clutching “what about the children??” to me.

Describing all diagnosed psychopaths as violent criminals is a damaging slippery slope, sure. But I won’t be mad at anyone for inherently distrusting another human who does not have the ability to feel guilt and remorse, empathy, is a pathological liar, or proves to be cunning and manipulative.

It’s actually not easy to unconditionally support and love everyone everywhere when you’ve actually experienced the World. Your perspective and values will be challenged as you encounter difficult people, experience hardship, are torn between conflicting ideas and commitments, and fail. My vow to never ever call the cops on another black person was challenged when an employee’s boyfriend marched into the kitchen OF AN ESTABLISHMENT to scream at her, in a BUSINESS I MANAGED, and threaten to BEAT the SHIT out of her. Turns out I can hate cops and hate that motherfucker equally, I am more than capable of both.

Defending makeup culture bad, actually. Enjoy it, experiment, master it, but don’t paint it as something other than upholding exactly what they want from you. Even using makeup to “defy the heteropatriarchal oppressors!” is still putting cash in their pockets, no matter how camp...

Not every villain needs to be redeemed, some of you just never outgrew projecting yourself onto monsters and killers.

Writing teams and networks queerbaiting is not the same as individuals queerbaiting. Nick Jonas performing exclusively at gay clubs to generate an audience really isn’t criminal; if they paid to go see him, that’s on them, he didn’t promise anyone anything other than music and a show. Do not paint this as similar to wealthy, bigoted executives and writing teams trying to snatch up the LGBTQA demographic with vague ass marketing and manipulative screenplays, only to cop out so as not to alienate their conservative audiences. And ESPECIALLY when the artists/actors/creators accused of queerbaiting or lezploitation then come out as queer in some form later on.

Queer is not a bad word, and I’ve no clue how that remains one of few words hurled at LGBTQA people that can’t be reclaimed. It’s so archaic and underused at this point that I don’t get the reaction to it compared to others.

People who defend grown-woman Lorelai Gilmore’s childish actions and in the same breath heavily criticize teenage religious abuse victim Lane Kim’s actions are not to be trusted. Also Lane deserved better.

Keep your realism out of my media, or at least make it tonally consistent. Tired of shows and movies and books where some gritty, dark shit comes out of nowhere when the narrative was relatively Romantic beforehand.

Actually people should be writing characters different from themselves, this new wave in the past year of “If you aren’t [X] you shouldn’t be writing [X]” is a complete leap backward from the 2010s media diversity movement. And if [X] has to do with an invisible minority status (not immediately visible disabilities, or diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, persecuted religious affiliations, mental illness) it’s actually quite fucked up to assume the creator can’t be whatever [X] is or to demand receipts or details of someone’s personal life to then grant them “permission” to create something. I know, we’re upset an actual gay actor wasn’t casted to play this gay character, so let’s give them shit about it: and not lose a wink of sleep when 2 years later, this very actor comes out and gives a detailed account of the pressure to stay closeted if they wanted success in Hollywood.

Projecting an actor’s personal romantic life and gender identity onto the characters they play is actually many levels of fucked up, and not cute or funny. See: reinterpreting every character Elliot Page has played through a sapphic lens, and insulting his ability to play straight characters while straight actors play actual caricatures of us (See also: Jared Leto. Fuck him).

I’m fucking sick of DaBaby, he sucks. “I shot somebody, she suck my peepee” that’s 90% of whatever he raps about.

“Political Correctness” is not new. It was, at one point, unacceptable to walk into a fine establishment and inform the proprietor that you love a nice firm pair of tits in your face. 60 years ago, such a statement would get you throw out and possibly arrested under suspicion of public intoxication. But then something happened and I blame Woodstock and Nixon. And now I have to explain to a man 40 years my senior that no, you can’t casually mention to the staff here, many of whom are children, how you haven’t had a good fuck in a while. And then rant about the “Chinese who gave us the virus.” Can’t be that upset with them if you then refused to wear your mask for 20 minutes.

Triggering content should not have a blanket ban; trigger warnings are enough, and those who campaign otherwise need to understand the difference between helping people and taking away their agency. 13 Reasons Why inspired this one. Absolutely shitty show, sure, but it’s a choice to watch it knowing exactly what it contains.

Sasuke’s not a fucking INTJ, he’s an ISFP whose every decision is based off in-the-moment feelings and proves incapable of detailed and logical planning to accomplish his larger goals.

MCU critique manages to be both spot-on and pointless. Amazing stories have been told with these characters over the course of decades; but most of it is toilet paper. Expecting a Marvel movie to be a deeply detailed examination of American nationalism and imperialism painted with a colorful gauze of avant-garde film technique is like expecting filet mignon from McDonalds. Scarf down your quarter pounder or gtfo.

Disparagingly comparing the popularity and (marginal) success of BLM to another movement is anti-black. It is not only possible but also easy to ask for people’s support without throwing in “you all supported BLM for black people but won’t show support for [insert group]” how about you keep our name out your mouth? Black people owe the rest of the world nothing tbh until yall root out the anti-blackness in your own communities.

It is the personal demon/tragic flaw of every cis gay/bi/pan man to externalize and exorcize Shame: I’m talking about the innate compulsion to Shame, especially in the name of Pride and Progress. Shame for socioeconomic “success,” shame for status of outness, shame for fitness and health, shame for looks, shame for style and dress, shame for how one fits into the gender binary, shame for sexual positions and intimacy preferences, shame for fucking music tastes. Put down the weapon that They used to beat you. Becoming the Beater is not growth, it’s the worst-case scenario.

Works by minorities do not have to be focused on their marginalized identities. Some ladies want to ride dragons AND other ladies. The pressure on minorities to create the Next Great Minority Character Study that will inevitably get snuffed at the Oscars/Peabody Awards is some bullshit when straight white dudes walk around shitting out mediocre screenplays and books.

Canadians can stfu about how the US is handling COVID-19 actually. Love most of yall, but the number of Canadian snowbirds on vacation (VACATION??? VA.CAT.ION.) in the supposed “hotbed” of my region that I’ve had to inform our mask policies and social distancing to is ASTOUNDING. Incroyable! I guess your country has a sizable population of entitled, privileged, inconsiderate, wealthy, and ignorant people making things difficult for everyone, just like mine :)

No trick to eliminate glasses fog while wearing my mask has worked, not a single one, it actually has affected my job and work speed and is incredibly frustrating, and I have to deal with it and pretend it’s not a problem while still encouraging others to follow the rules for everyone’s safety and the cognitive dissonance is driving me insane.

It’s really really really not anti-Japanese... to be uncomfortable with the rampant pedophilia in manga and anime, and voice this. I really can’t compare western animation’s sneakier bullshit with pantyshots of a 12-year-old girl.

Most of the people in the cottagecore aesthetic/tag have zero interest in all the hard work that comes with maintaining an isolated property in the countryside, milking cows and tending crops before sunrise, etc. And that’s okay? They just like flowers and pretty pottery and homemade pastries. Idk where discourse about this came from.

You think mint chip ice-cream tastes like toothpaste because you’re missing a receptor that can distinguish the flavors, and that sucks for you. It’s a sort of “taste-blindness” that can make gum spicy to some while others can eat a ghost pepper without crying.

Being a spectacle for the oppressive class doesn’t make them respect us, it makes them unafraid of us. This means they continue to devour us, but without fear of our retaliation.

Only like 4 people on tumblr dot com are actually prepared for the full ramifications of an actual revolution. The rest of you just really imprinted onto Katniss, or grew up in the suburbs.

Straight crushes are normal. They’re people first, sexual orientation second. Can’t always know.

The road to body positivity is not easy, especially if what you desire is what you aren’t.

You’re actually personally responsible for not voluntarily bringing yourself into an environment that you know is not fit for you unless you have the resolve to manage it. Can’t break a glass ceiling without getting a few cuts. This one’s a shoutout to my homophobic temp coworkers who decided working a venue with a drag show would be a good idea. This is also is a shoutout to people who want to make waves but are surprised when the boat tips. And also a shoutout to people who—wait that’s it’s own controversial opinion hold up.

Straight people can and should stay the fuck out of gay bars and queer spaces. “yoUrE bEInG diVisiVe” go fuck yourself.

[orionsangel86]

I was the one with the ask. I want to apologize. I didn't wanna come across as rude. I love your blog. It was an honest question, since I haven't seen any spoilers which indicate that Cas and Dean are gonna make up. Also I have only seen spoilers where they said that the conflicts goes on after ep 9. Last thing was that Jensen didn't mention Cas as a reason for Dean being sad. But I saw ppl saying that Dean is gonna be shedding tears over Cas. I'd like to know if there's any reference material.

Okay so the first thing I need to stress here as in all cases is this: PR is not showrunning. I know I know, we say it all the time. You can’t really rely on small soundbites from the actors taken from interviews and put into clickbait articles usually to satisfy a specific writers agenda depending on the article they are writing. 

The second thing to remember: People are going to hype up and sensationalise things on social media to gain attention, likes, notes, etc. You cannot rely on this information either.

What we actually know:

Misha said this: “Cas will return to the bunker and the boys. He’ll be sort of driven back into collaborating with them because we’re still confronting the big bad, which is God. But that tension between Cas and Dean will play out for some time, and we won’t really have a resolution to that. I think the audience, and frankly Cas, will finally understand what it is that’s upsetting Dean so much in episode 9. So we’re a ways off from that arc feeling like it’s resolved.”

This quote is from this article.

Then at DCCon the other weekend, the last question asked by Mel aka @/mishasdiary on Twitter, was basically to know if Dean and Cas patch things up and Jensen answered this:

“I will say this, there is an answer to your question in the show. It will be in episode 9 which we just finished. Let’s just say that Dean has a moment by himself, where he prays to Cas. That is a bit of a confession on why he feels the way he feels and why he treated Cas the way he treated him.”

You can see the answer here at about 58 minutes in (last question).

In your ask you sent me yesterday, you also referred to another article (link here) written with soundbites from Jensen. I believe you were referring to this:

"I think the state of his brother always worries Dean. That's who he fights for," Jensen Ackles told TV Guide. "When that support, that base strength in his life starts to waver and [he] starts to second guess himself, that will certainly affect Dean in a way of, 'I can't let him go down this road' or 'I need to figure out a way to help him out.' So it'll be a struggle, not against each other, but for each other. Sam is struggling to find a purpose and Dean is struggling to help Sam find purpose."

But this is standard talk from Jensen and it is also correct so I don’t see why anyone would read this and feel threatened about Dean’s relationship with Cas? Come on now, we aren’t like Bronly’s threatened by Cas’s mere presence. This is very true what Jensen is saying because the brothers are toxically codependent. But there is a true bond between them which has been poisoned over time. Yes Dean will be worried about Sam because Dean is always worried about Sam, but Sam is not part of the Dean and Cas break up narrative.

Jensen also had this to say which I thought was interesting:

[about Sam hypothetically dying] "That would have to be a bridge crossed when he came to it," Ackles said. "Right now, and for a long time, Sam's been the reason that Dean keeps fighting. If you take that away from him, then what does he have? Is there a will to keep going? I don't know how that would shape up from Dean's perspective. Maybe he finds something to fight for or maybe he finds somebody to fight with. Maybe he calls it quits."

So this is Jensen contemplating what life would be like for Dean without Sam, and he’s hardly saying “well if Sam died Dean would also want to die” because Jensen most likely knows that isn’t the case anymore. Bobo has been picking apart that particular arc ever since he wrote Red Meat. 

So anyway, brushing off Jensen’s interview aside as nothing even remotely alarming or concerning for DeanCas fans (because we do NOT see Sam as a threat to our ship), lets talk about the prayer. We got Jensen’s spoiler first, and given this was fresh in Jensen’s mind, only shortly after he filmed it, I reckon we can safely assume that what he has told us is at least somewhat accurate (though we cannot of course account for how this may be cut in the editing room).

Episode 9 is Bobo’s episode. Bobo is basically holding the mantle for the DeanCas emotional arc this season (and last season) so I fully expect this to be the next big turning point in Dean and Cas’s relationship. Jensen has confirmed that when Dean is alone, he prays to Cas.

This is already setting a super intimate scene. Dean rarely prays as it is. We haven’t seen him pray to Cas since season 9. The fact that he is alone and not with Sam also confirms the level of intimacy. We can assume that Dean sought privacy for this prayer.

Now, Jensen goes on to say that Dean will explain how he feels and why he treated Cas how he did. This is already sounding like a proper explanation and potentially an apology. We will learn the mystery of why Dean (in Misha’s words) has been acting like such a prick. I never had any doubt that they would eventually explain it. I trust Bobo has planned this all out and knows what he is doing. He likes exploring Dean’s emotional responses - anger comes from fear and worry. Dean is terrified. That is usually why he acts out. Bobo has previously confirmed this and it was even stated in the show itself in Bobo’s episode 14x09 via Kaia. I think that Dean’s treatment of Cas is based on fear. This is why we are so excited (when I say “we” here, I mean me and the general group of wonderful people I scream with daily about this dumb show aka a bunch of meta writers or at least meta literate people). So Jensen has confirmed that we will get a proper explanation of WHY he treated Cas and also HIS FEELINGS on the matter. 

The MOST interesting part of Jensen’s spoiler, is that he called the whole thing a CONFESSION. Dude. The last time Dean confessed to anything was in a church and it almost gave me a heart attack. Since that scene was the closest this show has ever come so far to Dean actually coming out of the fucking closet.

So not only is this an intimate prayer to Cas, an explanation of his bad treatment of Cas and an admittance of his feelings over the whole thing, its also a confession. 

Interesting choice of words Jensen. Confession to what exactly? Because this is starting to feel suspiciously like a very profound moment between our two boys. It’s clearly an important scene. 

Then Misha on top of this, has confirmed that Cas hears the prayer. Which yay for starters, and also think about how he explained the situation:

“But that tension between Cas and Dean will play out for some time, and we won’t really have a resolution to that. I think the audience, and frankly Cas, will finally understand what it is that’s upsetting Dean so much in episode 9. So we’re a ways off from that arc feeling like it’s resolved.”

You have to read this entire paragraph as one: 

The tension will play out for sometime but Cas and the audience will understand what the deal is in episode 9. So we are a way off from that arcs resolution.

When Misha was talking about the resolution being way off, he was talking about the time between now and episode 9. He confirms that it is at least somewhat resolved in episode 9. That’s what I interpret as being implied here anyway. 

This plus Jensen’s entire answer was to the question “when will Dean and Cas patch things up?” Jensen answered “episode 9″.

Like??? How are people misunderstanding this and blowing it so far out of proportion? Bitter people are so desperate to cling to their negativity that they are totally misinterpreting the information they are being given. It’s extremely frustrating.

Anyway, the one other gripe you had was about Dean’s prayer being about Sam or because he is worried about Sam. Okay except that has come out of absolutely nowhere other than bitters who are actually threatened by Sam which I find utterly ridiculous. So what if the prayer is triggered by Sam? Maybe Sam is in a perilous situation and Dean doesn’t know what to do so he prays. I mean, is that really so bad? Dean usually IS motivated by Sam, so it’s not exactly a huge deal. The main thing to focus on here is that the prayer will be about Dean and Cas and THEIR issues. It will resolve THAT ARC. The arc that doesn’t involve Sam. 

Honestly, I don’t think that Dean’s prayer will be triggered by Sam though. Because Sam has never been part of this particular arc that Bobo has been writing. I mean maybe its possible that the whole thing could be triggered by Sam yelling at Dean to sort out his shit with Cas because they are stronger together and Sam is fed up of being stuck in the middle in which case GREAT because I would LOVE to see more exasperated Sam telling his brother to talk to his estranged husband. 12x10 is one of my all time favourite episodes BECAUSE OF SAM.

But again, I don’t think that an intimate private prayer confession from Dean to Cas will have anything to do with Sam because quite frankly, I can’t see how to fit him in a way that makes sense outside of my own 12x10 repeat above. 

So please, stop panicking over things we don’t know. Stop making negative assumptions. Focus on the good stuff and enjoy what the show is giving us right now. I’m still riding the DeanCas break up scene high because that shit was romantic AF and no one can tell me otherwise. I’m still amazed that in this shows final season Dean and Cas’s emotional arc is getting pushed into the A plot. In all the years of watching this show this has only ever been the case once before and that was in 13x01-13x06. This is a huge deal. Enjoy it and stop letting negative Nancy’s drag you down.

#destiel #deancas #supernatural #castiel #dean winchester #misha collins #jensen ackles #spn meta #spn speculation #my meta #15x09 #destiel dreaming #spn spoilers #deans prayer confession #the destiel break up scene #negativity for ts #fandom problems #asks #anon #Anonymous

[beeezie]

suggestive drunken absurdity

fandom: harry potter (next-gen) characters: victoire weasley, fred weasley, ocs length: 3000 words summary: some teenagers hang out and get drunk. later there’s only one bed.

The nice thing about summer vacation after fifth year wasn't just that Victoire and her friends weren't just old enough for their parents to leave them relatively unsupervised - that had been the case for at least a year. It was that now her friend Gallagher's sister Gillian was both old enough to buy them beer and feeling guilty enough about imminently moving out to do so.

He was doing an excellent job at pretending that he wasn't already feeling lonely. Victoire was far from convinced that that was genuinely how he felt, but he'd always been a good actor.

They'd all been home for just over a week when the five of them gathered in his room for a night of drinking and being ridiculous, on the grounds that it was both by far the biggest and the most private. His four oldest siblings had long since finished school and moved out, and with only him and Gillian left at home, his father had just shrugged his assent the previous summer when Gallagher had announced that he wanted to relocate to the now rarely-used family room on the ground floor.

Victoire and her cousin Fred had privately speculated that Mr. Dedworth was probably just as happy to have two floors between his ability to get a decent night's sleep and his son's very loud friends.

The five of them were far from sober when the conversation took a turn toward the gutter, which was about par for the course.

"Micah, if you really want something to gossip about, we could always go hook up in Gallagher's bathroom," Lexy Abbott said. The bruise on her collarbone from a quaffle save during the last quidditch game of the year was still on full display under her bright yellow tank top. "It's really just how I dreamed my first time would be - in my friend's bathroom with some guy who won't stop lording his knowledge of muggle stuff over us."

"Some guy?" Micah Higgins shot back. His shirt today had a symbol on the front and the words everything changed when the fire nation attacked on the back. Victoire had no idea what that meant, which was generally a pretty good indication that it did indeed have something to do with muggle stuff. "I'm fucking hurt, Lex. I'm more than just some guy - I'm some guy with just enough class to not fuck anyone in my friend's bathroom."

"Just enough, huh? Sounds like a close call." Fred held his hand out. Like Lexy, he still sported several bruises from the quidditch game, though only the one on his calf was actually visible just then. "G, how would you feel about your friends hooking up in your bathroom?"

Gallagher handed Fred a bottle and shrugged as Fred popped the top off and took a swig. "Hey, as long as you wash your hands and don't make me listen to it, go have your seven minutes of heaven."

"Bold of you to suggest Micah would last seven minutes."

"Hey!" Micah tossed an empty chocolate frog box at Lexy. "I was going to make that joke!"

"I love that that's your objection, not that she said it in the first place," Victoire told him.

"Mocking me is fine," her fellow Ravenclaw said. "But stealing my joke? That's un-fucking-forgivable. I can't hook up with someone who steals my jokes." Lexy collapsed into a fit of giggles, burying her face in the arm of the chair she'd taken over earlier that night. "Fred, Gallagher, either of you want to get lucky?"

Fred let out a snort, and Gallagher pretended to consider it. "It's not that it's not really tempting," he said. "It's just that I'm not at all tempted." Victoire started to giggle, too, and he grinned at her. "How's it feel to be the last resort, Vic?"

"I think you were the last resort," she told him. "Micah doesn't want his three minutes in heaven with me."

Gallagher glanced back at Micah, looking a little perplexed about why Victoire was being left out of something that was clearly a joke in the first place. "My sister and I have a rule," Micah said. "We don't joke about fucking the same people. She joked about Vic first, and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of crime to break a sacred vow like that."

Victoire stuck her tongue out at Fred as a smirk spread across his face. They'd all spent an evening at Micah's over the previous Christmas break, and Fred had teased her later about Micah's muggle sister wanting to hook up with her. She'd stolen the stuffed purple unicorn that he regularly insisted that he really had outgrown and refused to give it back until he stopped teasing her, but he'd had the last laugh when Micah had confirmed it after they'd gotten back to school.

"Your sister made a joke about wanting to fuck Vic?" Gallagher sounded bizarrely bewildered by the concept.

Micah shrugged. "I mean, I don't know that it was entirely a joke, but yeah."

Victoire twisted around to nudge her friend, who was sitting next to her on the couch. "Yeah, G, some people actually find me attractive."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, I'd gathered that, I just can't fathom why." There was a general chorus of laughter as she shoved him playfully again. He grinned and put an arm around her shoulders. "Oh, Vic, ignore me - it's just my jealousy talking. I can't stand knowing that I'll never be the hottest person in the room if you're also in it. It's been keeping me up at night."

"Oh my god, Gallagher," she said, shifting to lean against him. "How are you such a fucking dick?"

"Practice makes perfect, and I practice at being a dick a lot," he told her. "Oh, come on, Vic, am I just your fucking pillow now?"

"You're so much more than my pillow," she told him. "You're also my distillery. Give me another."

He popped the top off and handed it to her, and Lexy rolled her eyes. "She tells you that you're just a dick and a pillow to her, and she's the one who gets her top popped off?" Micah let out a loud snort of laughter, and she threw the empty box back at him. "Oh my god, Micah."

"Oh, come on, Lex," Fred put in. He was also laughing. "That one's not on him, that's on you."

Before Lexy could do more than shrug an acknowledgement of that, Gallagher said, "She also called me her distillery, which I'm choosing to take it as a compliment. That's what it was, right, Vic?"

"Sure, baby," she said, matching his sarcasm. "Absolutely."

The two of them went upstairs a couple hours later to get some water and a quick snack; when they returned fifteen minutes later, all three of their friends were asleep. Fred was sprawled out on the couch, snoring slightly, and Micah and Lexy had both fallen asleep in their armchairs.

That was a little unfortunate. When they'd all stayed at Gallagher's over the previous summer, the unspoken assumption had always been that Victoire and Fred would share the bed - it saved repeated conversations about who got the bed on each specific occasion and any awkwardness about whether any particular permutation of the group did feel weird.

But that was clearly not an option just then.

Gallagher glanced from the couch and chairs to his bed. "I mean - uh -"

She waved a hand at him. "G, it's fine, I can just go home - I can fake sober for long enough to get past my parents."

He brushed his hair back from his face, looking skeptical. "Vic, as somebody who's definitely more sober than you right now, I'm really not so sure about that."

"Well, I'm sure."

Victoire really was sure. Being correct was clearly a different story, though: she collapsed into a fit of giggles as soon as they entered the floo room.

Her friend sat down next to her, a broad grin on his face. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I can tell that you're totally going to be able to fake being sober."

A new fit of giggles overtook her, and she buried her face in his knee. "Sorry," she gasped, and she heard him start to laugh.

"Come on," he said when she'd started to regain her composure. "Just crash here so you don't get in trouble - I don't mind sleeping on the floor if it's weird."

She'd gotten her giggles under control but very pointedly did not sit up to look at him; she was sure that her face was nearly as red as her hair. She wasn't sure why it was making her blush - there was no reason why it should. She and Gallagher were friends - they'd never been anything but friends. There was no reason why this should be a big deal.

But somehow, she felt a little weird anyway.

"No," she said, straightening up and hoping he'd assume the redness in her face came from laughing or alcohol rather than whatever other nonsensical emotions she might or might not be feeling. "No, don't be silly - it's fine."

He pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand. "Let's go get some more water first, though - I don't really need to know what a hangover feels like."

When they got back to his room, he crawled into bed and settled in, legs crossed and back against his headboard. She flopped down next to him on her stomach and immediately made a discovery. "G, I don't think I'm actually tired."

"Neither am I," he said as she edged closer to him. "Uh - Vic, that's my knee."

"I know," she said, turning her head to look up at him. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head, looking a little bemused. "No, it's - I don't mind, I just can't imagine that it's a comfortable pillow."

She wrapped her arms around his leg. "All of you is a good pillow." The corners of his mouth twitched, and she groaned. "Oh my god, don't say it!"

"Well, now I don't need to - you basically said it for me." After a moment, she felt his fingers in her hair, and she let out a moan. "Oh, should I stop?" he teased. "It sounds like you're not enjoying this at all."

"Oh my god, don't you dare," she breathed, tightening her grip as though that had any impact on what he was doing with his hands. "This feels so good. Yes, I heard it, shut up and keep touching me."

He started to twine her hair around his fingers. "You're making it way too easy for me, Vic," he said lightly. "It doesn't even feel sporting to make fun of you. Here, put this under your head - there's no way that that's comfortable."

She took the pillow he was offering her without protest. "This feels so good," she said, closing her eyes as her scalp started to tingle. "It's like an orgasm on my head. Like, the good kind. Stop rolling your eyes at me!"

He was laughing at her again. "I'm almost impressed that you could tell that I was through the orgasm I'm apparently giving your head."

She closed her eyes. "Oh, fuck, that feels so good."

The bemusement had given way to more straightforward amusement. "When you start dating somebody, I am definitely going to bring this up."

"Good." She didn't open her eyes - the sensations that had started cascading down her spine felt too good for her to let anything else distract her. "Give them pointers - this feels really good."

"Sure," her friend said. She felt his other hand sink into her hair, too, and she let out a whimper. "I'll definitely give the next person you date pointers about how to make you moan with pleasure. That won't be awkward at all."

As soon as he'd stopped and laid down next to her, she threw her arms around him. "Thanks," she said in his chest. "You're a really good friend."

"Yeah," he said softly, returning the hug. "You are, too." She made an annoyed noise when he pulled back. "What?"

"I like you hugging me," she said as he studied her face. "You have nice arms."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her back toward him. "Vic, you're a very affectionate drunk."

He still sounded amused rather than annoyed, so she nuzzled her face into his shirt. She registered how soft the cotton was, and then immediately realized something else. "You have a nice chest, too," she said, ignoring what he'd said. "Do you work out and I just somehow never noticed?"

"I dunno," he said after a moment. "Sometimes when I'm stressed, I guess. I mean, there's no reason why you would notice - it's not like there's generally a reason for me to take my shirt off around you."

"That's true," she conceded. "Well, when there is someone you take your shirt off for, they'll be very lucky."

He let out a snort of laughter. "Vic, you haven't actually seen me without a shirt on in more than a year. I don't think you can say that one way or the other."

"Well, I can tell." He was looking skeptical again, and she blew out her breath in exasperation. "Oh my god, G, fine, take off your shirt then."

It occured to her belatedly that if any of their friends woke up and found Gallagher taking off his clothes, they'd probably have some questions. On the other hand, though, now she was curious.

As it often did, curiosity won out. "Come on, Gallagher."

He sighed and yanked his shirt over his head. "I'm only doing this because I'm pretty sure you'll be too drunk to remember," he told her. "And Vic, if you make fun of me, you're sleeping on the floor."

She dragged her eyes away from his chest to study his face. To her surprise, he looked serious. "G, why the fuck would I make fun of you? I wouldn't do that to my friend - not like that, that's just mean."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't usually take my shirt off in front of people - especially not so they can tell me whether or not I'm attractive - so I'm self-conscious. You're also very drunk - I'm not sure you'd be able to lie convincingly even if you wanted to."

If she'd been uncertain about whether he'd sobered up significantly more than she had, his ability to come up with that entire string of logic would have convinced her. The most she could manage was a very simple, "Why would I make fun of you for being hot? That doesn't even make sense."

He was silent for a moment. "So that's your conclusion?" She wasn't sure what the expression on her face was, but judging by the faint blush on his cheeks, it had convinced him. She started running a finger down his chest, and he stiffened. Before she could pull back, he said, "No! You just - that tickled, that's all. It's fine if you want to feel me up."

This was something that she was fairly certain she should stop, especially since even through the haze of alcohol, she wasn't sure that she believed that his reaction had been about feeling tickled. On the other hand, though, whatever the reaction had been, he did seem to like what she was doing, so she went back to running her hand across it. His chest was toned in a subtle but noticeable way, and the feel of his muscles under her fingers was almost electric. With a start, she realized that the muscles in his arms were similar - she had no idea how she hadn't noticed that before.

"You have a nice chest," she repeated after a minute. "Whoever you start taking your shirt off for will be very lucky."

"Thanks." He glanced over toward their sleeping friends. "Vic, on second thought, if somebody wakes up and catches you doing this, they're gonna have questions."

Now she did pull her hand back. "Oh, right," she said, feeling her face start to get warm, too. "I - sorry."

He yanked his shirt back over his head. "No, Vic, it's really fine - next time you're the only one here, I'll take off my shirt again and you can feel me up as much as you want."

She stuck her tongue out at him. Her heart was starting to race - she wanted to write it off to the drinking, though she suspected that it might have more to do with realizing what her friend looked like without a shirt on than how many beers she'd had. She hoped that he was right and she was too drunk to properly remember this - the last thing she wanted was to make Gallagher uncomfortable by developing some kind of crush on him.

He grinned at her and nudged her side. "Vic, seriously - it's fine. Come here." She felt his arms around her again, and she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're good at hugging," she murmured. "And you really do have a nice chest."

She felt him start to shake with barely-suppressed laughter. "Thanks," he said. "While we're complimenting body parts, those shorts make your legs look amazing."

"Thanks," she said, ignoring the lurch in her stomach. Since she wasn't looking at his face, she managed to blurt out, "But I don't have a nice chest?" When he didn't respond immediately, she said, "Sorry - I don't know what's -"

"No - I just - didn't want to go there and make you feel weird." She could hear his heart starting to speed up. "But since you asked, yes, Vic, you have an amazing chest." She felt his lips brush against her forehead, and a pleasant sensation started to run across her shoulders and down her back again. "Now stop apologizing," he said softly, letting her go. "Come on - if you roll onto your stomach, I'll play with your hair until you fall asleep."

+ao3 | +hpft

#harry potter fanfiction #victoire weasley #fred weasley ii #next gen fanfic #harry potter next gen

[stevishabitat]

“These are the perils of working from home,” mutters David Tennant, typing into his phone, filmed by his computer and watched, bemusedly, by me.

The 49-year-old actor has been texting, intermittently and apologetically, throughout our Zoom call. One of his five children (aged 18, nine, seven, four and eight months) has returned to school, and it seems pickup arrangements have been miscommunicated.

Tennant’s correspondent – I assume it is his wife, Georgia – is messaging from inside the house; Tennant is in the garden, his long lockdown locks pushed back into a Beckham-style headband. Over yonder, he gestures off-camera, a homeschooling lesson is under way: “I came outside to avoid the maths.”

Yet Tennant seems to have embraced the realities of home life, with two BBC projects drawing on his experience of raising a family. In the meta, of-the-moment series Staged, he and Georgia play versions of themselves in lockdown in their Chiswick home, while There She Goes (which returns for a second series tomorrow) captures an oft-unspoken truth about parenting, says Tennant: that “it’s sort of a slog”.

Coupled with doing interviews from his garden – Tennant tips his camera to show me Myrtle the cockapoo, flopped at his feet – it offers a surprising glimpse into the family life of an actor who has previously been reluctant to reveal any of it.

“We’re not quite as squeamish as we were,” he agrees, not least because his eldest son, Ty, is now also an actor. “I don’t think we’ll ever be sharing pictures of our children in Hello! magazine, but I think a lot of that comes from an insecurity about being uncovered or invaded. The longer you’re together, the less that feels like a threat.”

Tennant met Georgia (then Moffett) in 2008 on the set of Doctor Who – her father is a former Doctor, Pete Davison. “As our relationship was born out of people trying to stick lenses through windows, it’s taken us a long time to slough off that residual nervousness about sharing anything.”

These days, their guard is low enough for Georgia to post on Instagram a shot of herself breastfeeding – and to rail against Mark Zuckerberg when the image was removed by Facebook for breaching community standards (“I’ll come round there and squirt you in the eye”).

But, Tennant adds: “It’s still important to us that the characters in Staged are not us,” “David” being “more pathetic” than Tennant and “Georgia” more indulgent of him. “We’re not telling the actual story of our private life.”

There She Goes, however, he praises as scrupulously honest. The comedy stars Tennant and Jessica Hynes as parents of a child with a severe learning disability, based on the experience of the writers Shaun Pye and Sarah Crawford with their daughter, who was born with an extremely rare (and still undiagnosed) chromosomal disorder.

Tennant plays Simon, the character Pye based on himself: a loving but somewhat hapless father, always out to foist young Rosie on to his wife so he can head down the pub. Tennant says he tried to catch Pye out on set: “I’d go: ‘This bit we’re doing today – that didn’t really happen, did it?’ And everything is true.”

The first series was widely praised for refusing to sugarcoat the realities of parenting and marriage, while still finding moments of sweetness. Hynes won a Bafta for her turn as Emily, Rosie’s harried but devoted mum who, in a low moment, admits to struggling to love her newborn.

Simon, meanwhile, leans on booze and dark humour. There She Goes can be an undeniably uncomfortable watch. But the dual narratives of each episode – switching between a challenging but joyful time for the family and a more desperate early one – provide relief and perspective.

Tennant considers the series a mainstream comedy. Yet there had been trepidation within the BBC about how it would be received, he says, “because it lacked a certain sentimentality and political correctness – there was a real fear”. He disdainfully recalls a journalist at the press launch playing devil’s advocate, warning of a coming “shitstorm”: “He said: ‘You are going to be destroyed for putting this on television.’ We all hoped he was wrong – but we feared that he might be right.” And this was after the huge critical success of the police drama Broadchurch, which might easily have convinced Tennant he could do no wrong.

The casting of a non-disabled actor as nine-year-old Rosie – who is non-verbal, with the mental age of a toddler – was one sensitivity, says Tennant. The possibility of casting an actor with a learning disability had been explored, he says, “because, of course, that’s a live issue and one that has to be rightly unpicked”. But the demands of the role were found to be too great for a young actor with a disability. “Anyone who appreciates the kind of challenges that a child like Rosie would have doesn’t doubt that it would not really have been possible.”

Miley Locke, who is now 11, was “an incredible find”, says Tennant, praising her as nimble and uninhibited in a challenging role. Locke has met Jo, on whom Rosie is based, and has “an incredible capacity to find the truth of that character”, he says. “She’s also very game – I’m endlessly having to pick her up and fling her about and yank her around …”

Any parent will identify with “that constant sense that you’re falling short”, he says – now, perhaps, more than ever. A scene in which Emily tries desperately to work in the face of Rosie’s demands has taken on new relevance during lockdown. “Well, quite,” says Tennant, while texting in response to the latest news from Georgia. “Erm. Sorry …”

A big part of the challenge of shooting Staged was finding moments when the children were “either asleep or quiet”, but Tennant counts himself as “phenomenally fortunate” to have had the work, given how acting has been affected by the pandemic. This October, he was due to appear in CP Taylor’s play Good; that now seems unlikely.

Even when theatres are able to reopen, Tennant does not foresee audiences flocking back, “to sit there watching three hours of Chekhov as someone coughs all over them”. The impact on British culture could be catastrophic, he fears, even for institutions such as the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. “It’s a huge bill just to keep those buildings running … We could be left with a cultural scene that’s vastly changed, and that’s a huge part of who we are as a nation.

“Even if the theatre is of no interest to you, even if it feels like an elitist playground, it’s places like that that all the other creative industries feed off,” he says, adding that the arts make a significant contribution to the UK economy – nearly £11bn in 2016, more than agriculture.

Tennant’s career first developed in theatre. As a teenager in Paisley, the son of a Presbyterian minister, he became one of the youngest students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Even as his work in television and film has taken off, Tennant continues to be a regular on stage, especially with the RSC.

It faces a “titanic problem” in the pandemic, he says, having furloughed 90% of its staff. Government intervention is needed to support theatres until they can reopen, he says, but he is sceptical of it materialising. “If one felt more inclined to trust this government, one might relax, but they haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory thus far.” In fact, since I spoke to Tennant, the government has promised the arts and heritage sectors a rescue package worth £1.57bn, which the playwright and funding advocate James Graham described as “surprisingly ambitious”.

A longtime Labour supporter, Tennant appeared in an election broadcast in 2015 before becoming disillusioned with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership (to summarise various diplomatic responses to interviewers). Asked if he was a fan of Corbyn in 2017, he said he was a fan of the party – although its ambivalent position on Brexit (which Tennant has called a “shitshow”) was a sticking point.

Before last year’s general election, he said he was not even sure if he would vote for Labour. He did – to return Ruth Cadbury to her Brentford and Isleworth seat: “And, also, what was the actual alternative?”

He admits he found Labour’s defeat and the postmortem “disappointingly predictable”, although he still struggles to fathom how so many red seats turned blue. “How do you go from ever being a Labour supporter to supporting Boris Johnson?” he asks, dumbfounded.

He expresses some limited sympathy for politicians handed a pandemic when they thought they “were only going to have to talk about Brexit”. “But if you choose a cabinet purely to surround yourself with people who won’t disagree with you, you’re not necessarily getting the greatest brains in the country,” he says, although a caveat is quick in coming. “One might postulate, were that to be the case, and I’m not for a minute suggesting it is …”

Last year, Tennant singled out Michael Gove’s call for “enough of experts” as a “political lowpoint”. That attitude has had deadly consequences during the pandemic, I suggest. Now the government is “hiding behind them”, he agrees – “selectively, of course. If the experts then say: ‘We told them not to do that,’ suddenly they’re evil again.”

He shakes his head in despair. “Ugh! It’s a very sad state of affairs. Remember when there used to be clever people? When you look back on David Cameron and George W Bush with some kind of sentimentality, you think: ‘Jesus – how low have we plummeted, when they look like better options than what we’ve got currently?’”

Under Keir Starmer, Tennant says Labour “are looking a lot stronger”: “We’ve got a clever grownup in the room, which makes the other side look as ridiculous as they are. Let’s hope he can fulfil his early promise.”

Tennant has said he was inspired to act by watching Doctor Who at the age of three. When he was cast as the 10th incarnation of the Doctor, in 2005, he quipped that the first line of his obituary was written. Ten years since ceding the role to Matt Smith, Tennant remains as connected as ever to the programme, recording a new Doctor Who audio drama while in lockdown. “It’s a nice show to be associated with, because people feel kindly towards it,” he says. “You may not be a fan, but it sort of sits there in the cultural firmament. As a nation, I think we’re quite proud of it.”

Unlike many vehicles for British nostalgia, the malleability of the format has allowed Doctor Who to move with the times, he thinks. “It absolutely comes with all that nostalgic goodwill, but it also manages to live in the moment.

“It felt like a very different show in 2005 than it did in 1963, but it also has that link to the past – which is a positive, rather than preserving it in aspic in any way.” And the Doctor, defined by his (or her) kindness, a peaceful champion of the underdog, is “a wonderful character to aspire to. It’s about being the cleverest person in the room, not the strongest.”

Tennant, meanwhile, remains in his garden, the school pickup plan no more clear for all the messages sent back and forth over the threshold. “Probably would have been quicker just to go and have a conversation,” he says, cheerily. “But less fun for you, obviously.”

#david tennant #culture #television & radio #television #stage

[ladybugsfanfics]

Shut Up And Kiss Me [7/?] | Tom Hiddleston x reader

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x reader

Style: part 7 of ?

WC: 4.3k

Warnings: cursing, Tom being a gentleman, 

Summary: You and Professor Hiddleston have been colleagues for many years now, and through those years the hatred for each other has only grown. Now, as a new school year starts, you’re being told that you have to share a classroom or a class. Neither are happy about the outcome, but knowing you’ll never come to an agreement, you let the class choose for you. Team-teaching is rare in 2019, but it is a lot harder to do when you can’t stand the person you’re doing it with. 

A/N: oof, this part took a long time for me, but I really like it and I hope you do to ^_^ also, thanks to @adefectivedetective for helping me with the idea of a play, it helped tremendously and I had so much fun writing it <3<3 enjoy!

send an ASK to be added to the taglist ^_^

Previous | Series Masterlist | Part Eight

It’s deathly annoying to relay the message to your best friend, and Benedict, and to the other few people (that’s a lie; there are no other people) you’d told about your payback on Hiddleston. Reality is; he’s just too kind. Yeah, you can be a bitch, but there’s a limit to how big of a bitch. 

Still, it sucks to not do a carefully planned out prank which would peg him down a notch and also (was supposed to) make him lose a little bit of the reputation he carries around that does him no good―honestly you’re getting sick of it. 

But you can’t do anything now. 

Hiddleston is just too nice. He offered to drive you home more than once last week after he did so two weeks ago. He offered to help you with your research―how he would be of help neither you nor he knows, but he offered and they say it’s the thought that counts. And worst of all, when you’d complained about Chris’s last day being Thursday, he had offered to take the whole Creative Writing class, giving you the chance to spend more time with the one week fling you’d had. 

There is just too much nice emanating from the person that is Hiddleston, and it’s getting on your nerves because you can’t be mean anymore. Now, mean makes you sound like even more of a bitch than you can be at times, and the times when you’re actually being a bitch, you sound even worse. That is a problem.

Maybe that’s a new reason for hating Hiddleston; he is so nice you can’t hate him that he makes you look like a horrible person―which is very wrong (though not always)―and he doesn’t even look guilty about it. 

The audacity. 

He even has the audacity to look kind of… handsome?... where he sits across from you in the café. This had been your idea, as a thank you for letting you cut class and go on that date. You’d asked Friday night, before you left to enjoy your weekend. 

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you again,” you said. “You hadn’t had to do that.”

He waved it off and gave you a smile. “No, it’s okay. I hope it was worth it, though? Did you get to say a proper goodbye?”

You nodded. “Yeah, it was really nice. But, as a repaying, what do you say we grade these stories together? Over coffee? Sunday, maybe?”

To be honest, you hadn’t expected him to say yes. And you’d both established there is nothing more to it than wanting to grade the first stories together, and a way for you to give back what you feel you owe.

But it annoys you that the thought drunk you had so many weeks ago has to linger at the back of your mind. Now of all times. It’s not like you haven’t thought so before―you can’t deny facts. 

Hiddleston is handsome, always has been and probably always will be. But that doesn’t mean he has to dress up for work and coffee with you. After all, he isn’t supposed to like you very much, yet there he sits;

His ginger hair is slicked back, curling up under his ear and in his neck. Every now and then he adjusts his glasses, either by lifting them entirely or by using his middle finger to push them back―considering how much he does the latter, you’re almost certain he’s sending you a message, one you would expect, but because everything else seems wrong, the message seems like something else. The blue eyes he hides behind the frames flicker over the words on his screen with an intensity you haven’t seen before. He keeps looking at it, scrutinizing the story and continuously making notes―the sound of his keyboard is slowly getting on your nerves. 

But, to be fair, it’s his clothes that triggers the handsome thought most. He wears the same sweater as always, dark blue that clings to his arms but falls a little everywhere else. The pants he wears are the same as always. The first time you saw the look, when you first met him, it was fancy and sophisticated, but now it feels old. 

Yet, at this very moment, it suits him in such a way it’s almost… You don’t have a word for it, but the way it has you swallow a lump in your throat and try to refocus your attention on the words on your screen doesn’t sit well. 

Benedict may have been right in assuming you’ve never really hated him, but that does not mean you like-like him. He’s handsome, you were attracted from the first moment you laid eyes on him, and that’s it. There’s nothing else to it. 

Drunk you probably admitted to him being handsome. Drunk you tried to say you like him, have a crush. Drunk you is known for being wrong. Plus, mixed with sleep deprived you, they are both known for making rash decisions. 

You shake your head. There is no need for this mindset, no need to contemplate Hiddleston, or his looks. All you have to do is read this story, comment on it and grade it. And then do that with the next one, and the next, and hope that you’re not too caught up in thoughts to not properly do your job. 

No.

You can do it. You can read the sentence. 

You can’t read the sentence. Nope, it’s all blurry. Fuck. “Uhh, I’m just gonna go… you know,” you say softly and gesture in the direction of the restrooms. 

Hiddleston looks up at you and nod, no real expression on his face. And is fast to turn back to the task at hand―if you’re correct he’s probably already read and graded a third of his stories. You’re still stuck on the first one. 

But you shake that thought off as well, get up and find the restroom. 

You close the door behind you and take a deep breath. There should be no reason for this, no reason for everything to bubble to the surface because something changed in the last month that distorts the ideal you got from him from the last three and a half years. 

The Christmas Party is a long time since. He’s probably forgotten, even if you haven’t. After all, it’s within you the guilt lies. Oh, I wish I could hate him. 

You shake your head and move to the sinks. Despite wearing some make-up, you turn on the sink and splash your face with cold water. It runs down your skin in a tickling manner, but it’s better than the heat that had made its way there. If you blush in his presence, so much as show any sign of weakness, blood will be spilled, and it will be yours. 

A deep sigh and a dry of your face makes for five minutes later. Where all you do is stare at the face in the mirror and ask what’s going on. But you know what’s going on; you’re becoming friends, or at least colleagues that can work together. 

So you nod, walk back out and sit down across from him with a newfound sense of courage and confidence. It makes it easier to concentrate on the work ahead, easier to concentrate on the story in front of you. 

God, I hope this isn’t going to be a regular occurence.

---

Being told there’s a Monday morning meeting is not the news you need when you step into the teacher’s lounge to steal a cup of coffee. Literally anything but the news of a morning meeting would be fine―especially when the person relaying the news is Hiddleston with somewhat of a smirk playing on his face that grows bigger when you groan loudly. He may be nice, but he still has some spark left. 

You walk together into the meeting room, where every professor have crammed themselves inside. There are no free chairs and the two of you lean against the wall in the back, hoping it’ll be over before it even starts. 

“You know what this is about?” you ask Hiddleston. 

He shakes his head. “Not a clue. Maybe there’s some change in something?” 

You cock a brow. “Change in what? Pay? Could use a raise now that I think about it.”

The comment gets a chuckle as a response, which has you smile triumphantly. Hiddleston doesn’t say more before Dean McHallan stands at the front with a nervous smile and a note card in his hands. 

“Hello everyone, so lovely that you could all take the time out of your morning to cram in here. I know it’s a bit crowded, but I hope you can bear with me,” he says with a small smile. The chatter dies down and every professor looks at the dean. “Now, what I have to say will probably surprise a few of you, but also make some happy. We have been asked to do a play in front of the students.” A groan erupts amongst the faculty, quickly hushed by McHallan. “Not long, it will only last for about a month with only one show, but with a message we want to give. Now, the play was written by our lovely drama teacher,” ―he gestures to a woman who stands at the side with a big smile― “and we have already figured out who should play the parts, seeing as there might be a rather few number of you who actually would volunteer to participate.”

McHallan sends a new smile out in the room. “Now, let’s see here.” He pulls the paper closer to him. “The male lead has been handed to Tom Hiddleston.” 

There’s a little cheer, but mostly uninterested clapping. With the exception of the drama teacher who looks Hiddleston’s way with a big smile and a flirtatious flutter of her lashes. Hiddleston himself gives a smile and nods, accepting the role just like that―probably not too weird seeing as the man always wanted to make it as an actor. 

You whisper a congrats to your coworker, who gives you a tight lipped smile in return. 

The dean coughs to get the attention back to him. “Now, for the female lead.” He takes a break, gaze travelling over the women in the room. “Y/N Y/L/N!” 

You blink. Frown. Stare at McHallan, who shoots you a smile from where he stands at the other end of the room. Hiddleston mumbles congrats and laughs at your expression. Most shrug, not really caring, but a kind of shriek erupts and everyone turns to see the drama professor glaring your way. 

“Excuse me,” she says, “how can she get the female lead in a play I wrote?” She gestures to herself. “Drama teacher,” then to you, “history teacher. Do you not have eyes?” 

“I agree with that, she can get the role if she wants to,” you say nodding. 

Of course, McHallan shakes his head and in your peripheral vision you see Hiddleston shake his, too. “We picked names from a hat, everyone has been assigned something so don’t go crazy from one role, okay?”

That discussion went over fast. You sigh and roll your eyes at Hiddleston’s smug expression, and then listen as McHallan lists the other characters and who were assigned them (Benedict got a tree, though he looks happy about it). 

---

The students file into the classroom as you read through the script. You read through it last night, or some of it, but you need to know if you read correctly at that last part. Because if you did―well, it won’t go well. For anyone.

“Awfully dedicated for someone who doesn’t want the role,” comments Hiddleston. 

You look up at him to see him put down his bag and shrug. “Did you know that the interaction in this between the two leads is the opposite of ours?” 

He nods. “I read through it last night. Not sure how you’ll pull it off.” 

“‘Not sure how you’ll pull it off’,” you mimic, “excuse me, but they kiss! They kiss.” 

“What are you worrying about? It’s just a kiss.” Hiddleston smirks and you swallow the feeling that shoots up at the thought of kissing him. You’re not sure whether you want to throw up or just need to eat something, but the twisting in your gut is not one of pleasure. 

Shaking off the thought, you put down the script and look up at the students in front of you. The chatter flows through the room, some seeming to be about what you just put down. Hiddleston coughs for attention and it quiets down, but their interest is piqued and a few hands shoot into the air. You nod for one of the boys on the first row to speak.

“Is that paper you were holding the reason you weren’t here on Thursday? Are you going to leave for an acting job?” 

You shake your head. “No, the paper and my absence on Thursday do not correlate. And no, I am not leaving for an acting job, because that script is for a play we professors are putting on for you guys.”

If it’s possible for multiple people to share a frown, that is what the thirty students do. “Why? And who are you playing?” a voice asks from the back row. 

“We were lucky enough to get the leads,” says Hiddleston and you roll your eyes. 

“Correction. He was lucky, I was unlucky because I do not want it.” 

Another ‘why?’ pops up. 

“First, I am no actor. Second, I’ll be playing opposite this dude and the two leads are love interests. I am not… I just don’t think I'm good enough of an actor.” You shake your head and press your lips together. 

“Can you show us some?” asks a voice in the middle. You can’t detect who said it, but you would love to let them know never to ask that, but before you can answer no, Hiddleston nods, says loudly ‘yes, sure’ and pulls out his script. 

You glare at him and try to put on a mask for the students. Some laugh seeing your resignation as you pick up the script again. “What do you want to see?” you ask, not wanting to choose anything. 

A chant of kiss scene erupts and your mind goes blank. That’s where we are, wow great. 

Hiddleston smirks, the same one as before. “Afraid of playing out some of it? Maybe they’ll boost your confidence enough to go through with this?” 

You sigh. “I wish I got the same role as Benedict. I would die just to play a tree.”

But that doesn’t help now and you find the―thankfully―only kiss scene in the script. It’s near the end with a long dialogue before it happens. Already now, your gut churns at the thought, nerves creeping up your arms and back, filling you with dread. This will never turn out good, especially not when you’re acutely aware of your students stares―at least they’re more attentive than usual.

“For context sake,” says Hiddleston, “before this a lot of things have happened that have caused the two characters to be rather wary of each other.” 

You nod, sigh and look down in the script. You don’t know the words by a long shot, but you know Hiddleston starts at least. And then he does. 

“I’m sorry.” You look up at Hiddleston and see the regretful look he sends you. “I didn’t mean to… it sort of happened.”

A deep breath. “How does that matter? That’s not an excuse, nor an apology.” 

Hiddleston takes a few steps closer to you. Your heart pounds in your head reading over the words he’s about to say. “No, it’s not. But it’s the best I have.” You look up and lock eyes with him, lock eyes with deep blue, so full of regret, eyes. “I love you.”

Your throat feels dry but you look back down in the script. “Not enough,” you say and despite the fact that you should look up and in his eyes, yours stay trained on the script. 

“How much is enough? What else do I have to do to prove my love?” Hiddleston tilts your chin up with a finger―god he’s a good actor―and you see the sadness that coats his face. “I would kill for you, love. I would―”

“It doesn't matter what you would.” You look back down in the script, losing Hiddleston’s gentle touch. “It matters what you did.” You take a step back, creating bigger distance between the two of you. 

Hiddleston meets your look and then glances down in the script. “Tell me what I can do. There has to be something.” 

You swallow the lump in your throat. You ignore your gut wrenching, the sweat coating your back and the obvious tension that lies like a blanket over the room. In your peripheral view you can see the students watch the two of you with curious interest, but instead, you let the pause break and open your mouth.

“Let me punch you.”

There’s a snicker in the student audience but your eyes are trained on Hiddleston’s reaction. He sighs, nods and opens his arms. “As hard as you need to.”

In the script, your character walks back to him, so you do the same. It says to lightly punch him, to act as if you take out your frustration by repeatedly hitting his chest and then, with tears streaming down your face, curl into it and let him embrace you. To be honest, you could use the hug, and you could use the punching bag. So you lightly do what it says, not really punch him but you make it look like that, and for some reason you’re comfortable enough to act like you’re crying and curl into Hiddleston’s chest. His strong arms secure you tightly, and you feel the heat rise in every inch of your body by how close you are. 

And then it’s the kissing part. You’ve read it more times than you can count. You know the words, the acting. But you don’t want to admit to it. 

The students are all quiet, probably leaning close and you hear someone whisper about the kiss coming soon. 

You pull from the embrace, though still close to him you look up at Hiddleston. He looks down at you, a pained smile on his face―completely in character―and then the words, spoken as a whisper, “Kiss me.”

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, Hiddleston smiles and pulls away, turning to face the students and bowing. You use a moment to realize what’s happening, but do the same as him and plaster on a smile. It’s not like your heart is beating a mile a minute. Like you wanted the kiss, no you didn’t. That’s silly. Weird. 

No, you shake it away, take the compliments that you are more than a good enough actor, and then relish in getting to actually start class. There are other, more important things than a play happening, and one of them is to teach a class. 

---

Lunch on Friday doesn’t come fast enough. After a class and then using your spare time―usually used for research, grading papers or planning classes―have gone to learning to play a role you don’t want to play, you need the break. The drama teacher, albeit angry about the whole ordeal, helps you out whenever she can and you’re grateful to her for her help, especially in knowing what message she wants to come across with the play, but it’s tiring. 

You slump down in the chair across from Benedict, mumbling a ‘hi’ to him and Eddie. They both cock their brows in you direction but neither says anything as you bite into the sandwich you prepared that morning. 

“Grumpy today, or?”

You divert your gaze to Hiddleston, who sits down in the free chair and places his lunch on the table. “Oh, how nice of you to comment on the fact that I don’t enjoy seeing your face.” 

He chuckles. “Sorry, what’s going on?”

“The usual this week. McHallan said we’re doing this for a month with one show, and I don’t wanna do this at all. The show we had on Tuesday was more than enough,” you say and take another bite. 

“Is she hard on you?” 

You finish chewing before answering, swallowing with your hand in front of your mouth―manners, right? “Hard? She glares at me during the entire thing. I bet she wrote it all just to be able to play the lead herself and kiss whoever got the male lead, and considering how happy she was when that was you I bet you’re that person.”

“Wait?” Benedict gets your attention. “You have to kiss?”

“Yes, Mr. Ignorant, we do.”

Benedict holds up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I find it amusing. But either way, I don’t have the script since I have no lines and… thank you for the information.”

You roll your eyes and take another bite of your sandwich. 

Hiddleston smiles, amused probably. “She’s a little mad about that part. Especially after Tuesday and we showed a scene for our students and they ended up writing small paragraphs of us as a couple. They are, I think it’s called ‘shipping’ us now.”

“Oh, tell them welcome aboard. A lot of us have been doing that for a while now.” Benedicts comment only gets him a glare from you, something Eddie seems to find very funny, so you send one his way, too. 

“I just don’t see why we have to. I don’t want to kiss his ugly face,” you say. 

“It’s a play. It won’t last long,” replies Hiddleston. 

You press your lips together and find the picture you sent of it to Y/BFF/N earlier in the week. “It says here ‘kiss for thirty seconds, tongue is appreciated’. They want us to make out in front of the whole college. Excuse me but I can barely stand your face. The only good that would come of it is that I would have my eyes closed and wouldn’t have to look at you.”

“Well, at least you know what’s it like to make out with someone with a beard,” comments Benedict. 

You count to ten in your head. “I’m going to let that slide because I don’t hate you, but you are on thin ice. Be sure I’m not certain I want to help you next week after all. However, I’m there for your kids and not you, so you might be lucky.”

Eddie snickers from where he sits, a grin on his face and eyes flickering between you and Benedict. “To be honest, I thought this would be a quieter table, but I was wrong. I don’t mind, though.”

Hiddleston smiles. “Had she not been here, it would have been. But a little less fun, though.” 

You sigh and decide not to comment. It’s neither worth it, nor do you really have a good comment. At least he called you fun. 

 ---

Usually, you wouldn’t make the trip to the store on a Saturday meant to be inside and do nothing. Yet, there you find yourself, walking determinedly to the hot chocolate section and picking up a box of powder to make instant hot chocolate. On the way to the register, you swing by the candy department and grab your favorite chocolate. 

Yeah, it’s that time of the month. 

You manage to grab with you a bag of chips as well, and some berries, and oh, pastries look so good. Yup, chocolate donuts it is. 

As you stand in line, you’re certain you saw a ginger bob of curly hair. And you’re correct, as Hiddleston comes to stand in the queue behind you. 

“That’s a lot of chocolate,” he says and you nod. “Baking something? Or just relishing in it being Saturday?”

You nod. “Sure, we can say those are the reasons.”

“Oh, oh. Sorry, I don’t think that far.” 

You shake your head. “Don’t think about it, it’s really nothing. I’m just grateful there’s not much pain right now.”

Hiddleston nods. “I have heard that isn’t exactly lovely.”

“So,” you say, “what are you doing here?” You place the items you have―which became more than planned―on the conveyor belt, putting one of those rectangles to separate your items from Hiddleston’s and the guy in front of you. 

“Here for a last minute shopping, really. Found out I lacked some food,” he says. 

You nod. “Food is smart, that’s true.” 

“Yeah.”

The silence lasts after that until you get your total. You put your card in and type the code and press ok and… rejected. “That’s.. I’ll just try again.” And rejected. 

Fuck.

“Let me pay.” Hiddleston looks at you, a trying expression on his face, but you don’t have much choice. 

“I’m paying you back,” you say matter-of-factly. 

He nods. “Sure, you are.” He smiles at the woman behind the register when it goes through and says yes to the receipt. You snatch it from him and put it down in the bag you bag your groceries in. It’s not much, but it’s enough and you saw the price, you will pay him back. 

You wait for him to bag his own items before exiting the store together. When you near your car, you glance at him. “I will pay you back.”

“You need information to do that.” 

“I have my ways.” 

He nods. “Benedict, I presume?”

You nod. “Yeah, see you Monday.”

“Bye.”

And then you get in your car with a churning gut, a sweat-ridden back and the feeling that you might not be able to pay him back. But at the same time feeling a strong need to punch him for being such a gentleman.

He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to do anything. 

Which is exactly what makes it so hard to ignore that flutter in your stomach at the thought of him. 

permanent tags: @devilbat @adefectivedetective @gamillian

tom tags:  @inlovewith3 @bookgirlunicorn @mindlesschicca @justawriterinprogress @wolfsmom1 @loser-alert @satanskatze

tags:  @plooffairy @just-the-hiddles @jennytwoshoes @lokissidehoe @fruitfly123 @princetale @scorpionchild81 @noplacelikehome77 @winterisakiller @lostsoldieronahill @nonsensicalobsessions @cherrygeek86 @louhpstuff @olyamoriarty @sunshinein17 @kthemarsian​ @kumikowi @secretcupcakekitty @buckygrantbarnes @josis-teacup @runawaygiirl @januarycalendargirl @funny-fangirl @kinghiddlestonanddixon @scorpiomindfuck  @dr-kayleigh-dh @inmyworstlies @twhgirl @maah-chan @florencia93c @i-am-a-mes @o-deya @eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy @cantaloupewatch @carpediem-spero @createdbyanintensenerd​

bold in the taglist are people tumblr won’t let me mention :(

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston fanfiction #twh #thomas william hiddleston #fanfic #fanfiction #marvel #loki #college professors au #professor hiddleston #professors au #tom hiddleston slowburn #enemies to lovers #slowburn #reader insert

[quentinxdelancret]

Discord Thread || Quentin, & Roman, & Aaron.

Discord thread featuring: Quentin and Roman and , Aaron, 

When: December 5th 2020

Description: Quentin, Aaron, and Roman agree to meet up and have a threesome.

Trigger Warnings: SMUT!! Hot af SMUT!!

ROMAN Roman truthfully hadn’t been part of a threesome in a very long time, so to say he was nervous was a slight understatement. He was excited, but yeah. Nervous. “Okay.” The barista took a deep breath as he checked himself out one last time in the mirror. He’d run upstairs after work to shower, and change, deciding ultimately on a mint green off the shoulder sweater with his favorite pair of caramel colored flares. He applied a light layer of strawberry flavored lip balm, and ran some product through his hair to compliment his curls. It was a simple but effective look, all completed by stepping into his suede Chelsea boots, and then he was off to meet Quentin at Aaron’s flat.

AARON Since Quentin had texted Aaron that both him and Roman were coming over tonight, the excitement of having a threesome with two of the hottest men Aaron had ever seen was damn near impossible to contain. He had honestly gotten a bit of a semi just thinking of the possibilities. He’d assumed Roman would be dressed to the nines again, but that didn’t stop him from looking casual. He’d spent most of the day with Des at the zoo before dropping her off at Ali’s for the night, so he was still in a pair of jeans (Aaron Hart? In Jeans? A rare occurrence) and a button down which was neatly tucked in and secured with a designer belt. He had already popped open a bottle of one of Quentin’s favorite wines for the occasion. He poured himself and Q a glass and corked the bottle to save the rest for Roman when he arrived. “And she said the elephants were her favorite, but last time we went the giraffes were her favorite. So quick frankly, I have no clue what her favorite zoo animal is.” He handed the glass of wine over the other male. He was talking Quentin’s ear off about his day. What? He asked.

QUENTIN  It wasn’t unusual for Quentin to make himself comfortable as soon as he walked through Aaron’s door. Kicking off his combat boots and sitting cross legged across from Aaron on the couch. He was dressed rather comfortably compared to how he would usually show up. A pair of sweat and a hoodie, with absolutely nothing underneath. It wasn’t like he didn’t know why he was coming here tonight. He took the glass of wine from the older male and offered him a genuine smile. “Hmm, maybe her favorite is actually the monkies... or No! The tigers” he beamed. He tended to get a bit over excited when he was nervous, but he liked to think he was funny anyway. Especially since he had to reason to be nervous. He had been with both Aaron and Roman numerous times, but together? This was gonna be a whole different ball game. He tried not to fidget too much none the less. Sipping on the wine and pressing his lips together with a deep breath in. “Maybe next time I come over I’ll bring her a stuffed elephant. You think she’d like that?” he asked. Picking up his phone to check if Roman had texted to see if he was on his way.(edited)

ROMAN Once Roman was buzzed up to the front door of Aaron’s pent, the actor took in a deep breath, and then knocked on the door before proceeding to open it. He knew they two men had left it unlocked, and the second Aaron and Q were in his line of vision, it was time to turn off the anxious energy, and do what he did best. Act! “The fun has arriveddddd!!!” Roman sang out, proceeding to exercise the use of jazz hands, thus hiding any amount of insecurity that pooling under the surface. After all, the most unattractive quality in the world was being shy in the bedroom, and heaven forbid Roman show any ounce of weakness in that area. Sex was something he knew on a deep level, much deeper than anyone probably should. “Look at you two.” He sighed, and shook his head as he turned to close the door behind him. “A vision. Truly. Where’s the alcohol?”

AARON After Aaron buzzed the Brit up, the businessman’s lips curled up into a bright smile as he sat down next to his sugar baby on the couch, resting his hand on the other’s knee. It was cute he excited he was getting. He could sense a bit of nervousness on the other’s behalf, but they were all probably a bit nervous. Thank god they had plenty of wine. “You’d really wanna get her som-“ he couldn’t finish his sentence before Roman was barreling into the pent with the excitement of a racehorse. Of course Aaron laughed — Roman was ridiculous, but in a really quirky and funny way. “It’s about time.” He joked, quickly moving to pour Roman a glass of wine. “Cmon on in.” He smirked, holding out the glass of dark red liquid.

QUENTIN Quentin was smiling from ear to ear as Aaron sat beside him. His attention quickly shifting to the front door once Roman entered though. Okay, this was it. It was really happening, and his heart was starting to race. “Hey, Romie” he beamed, despite the nervousness trying to take control. “Come sit with us” he beckoned, scooting over and patting the space between him and Aaron before downing his entire glass of wine. “How was work?” Really? How was work? God, could he be any more awkward right now? He leaned back against the arm of the couch and fidgeted with the string on his sweats. “Was it busy?” He added. Deciding to just go with it. At least it was conversation.

ROMAN Roman of course grabbed the wine that was offered, accepting the generosity with a slight bow, as if Aaron was the king giving a gift of something significant. Once the glass was in hand, Ro made his way over to the couch, taking his place between the two men with what seemed like a confident ease. He wasn’t expecting to be asked about work, instead maybe making a comment about how juicy his ass looked in this pants. But ya know, he’d talk about work if he had to. “It was fine. Long. I didn’t get out near as early  as I wanted to, which is why I’m king of late. What about you all? How was your day?” He directed at Aaron first.

AARON Aaron was now more certain that Q was feeling a little nervous. As Roman spoke, he got up quickly to grab another bottle of the same wine. He sat back down beside Ro and uncorked the other bottle to pour more in everyone’s glasses. “I still think it’s damn cruel you have to work on saturdays.” He took an inappropriately large chug of wine before responding to the actor’s question. “I hung out with a very energetic six year old all day. So I’d say it was pretty great.” He smiled slyly, sipping on his wine like it was grape juice.

QUENTIN His eyes followed Aaron as he moved to grab another bottle of wine. Giving him a grateful nod as he refilled his glass and he immediately brought it to his lips to sip on. Quentin was no stranger to having threesomes,  but there was something about this particular threesome that had him feeling all sorts of shy. “Yeah, working Saturdays definitely sucks” he agreed. Speaking through the glass because he couldn’t find it in himself to pull it away from his face at the moment. His eyes shifting down to the dark red liquid before downing it all in one shot. “I need to go pee... uh, use the bathroom” he corrected. Not wanting to seem like some slum rat in front of Aaron. “I’ll be right back. You two don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” he teased with a wink. He quickly made his way to the bathroom and for anyone who really knew him, they knew exactly what he was doing. His anxiety only hoping Aaron was still clueless when he reappeared back into the living room feeling a little more loose. December 6, 2020

ROMAN Roman looked a little confused when Quentin just up and left for the bathroom, eyes following his coworker until he disappeared. Okay, so, that definitely wasn’t helping with his nerves. He suddenly took a deep breath, and then blew it out slowly, trying to still seem like this wasn’t a big deal as he was left in the room alone with Aaron. “So. You went to the zoo today?” He brought the wine glass up to his lips, drinking on it a little faster than he normally would once it hit him that he knew exactly what Q was doing in the bathroom. God, he really wanted in on that too. He wondered what he was taking. “That sounds way better than making coffee.” The actor moved over to the couch to make himself comfortable, crossing one leg over the other as he sat down.

AARON Quentin thought he was slick, but Aaron had known something was up for quite some time. His face faltered slightly. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but he knew that he was up to no good. The businessman wasn’t exactly sure how to bring up his concerns to the younger. Was that even his place? Aaron snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Roman speak to him. Putting his hand on the barista’s knee, he gave him a comforting smile and a nod. “I did. I will say it probably was better than making coffee. I’m not even gonna lie.” He smirked, following suit and chugging more wine. Someone needed to get this show on the road, but Aaron needed just a little more to drink before doing that. Hence the chugging. Aaron’s blue eyes darted over to Quentin when he re emerged from the bathroom. “Welcome back.”

QUENTIN When Quentin came back to see Aaron’s hand on Roman’s knee he smiled devilishly. He expected nothing less from the business man. He always knew how to make anyone feel welcome and comfortable, and honestly, Q was always so grateful for that. Thankfully it never really took long for the molly he had taken to kick in, and he was feeling a whole lot braver than he had started off. “Hey...I said don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” he teased. Walking over to the pair and pushing Roman back against the couch as he straddled over his lap. His hand reaching over to Aaron as his fingers teased at the buttons on his shirt. “So... we doing this here? Or should we move to the bedroom?” he asked. Quirking just brow up just slightly before pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.

ROMAN Roman finished the rest of his wine while Aaron talked, feeling that slight buzz kick in thanks to the fact he’d barely eaten today. That wasn’t something he was proud of, but definitely a habit he possessed. When Quentin came back in, the barista smiled wide, accepting him onto his lap after sitting then empty wine glass down on the table beside him. His hands then moved to the other male’s hips as he turned to look at Aaron with a raised brow. “I think that’ll be up to daddy...” he cooed, both dimples deep in his cheeks as he watched the businessman for a reaction.

AARON DAMN. Aaron was daddy to both of these incredible men and he honestly felt like the luckiest man in the whole damn world right now. Aaron grabbed Quentin’s hand and kissed his palm before smirking at the both of them. “Upstairs.” He commanded, springing up from the couch while he was still holding onto Quentin’s hand to tug him along just assuming the Q would grab Ro and drag him along with them.  He set his empty wine glass down on the way as he lead them up to the master bedroom, immediately closing the door when they were all inside. Not like anyone else was home but it was just a force of habit. He turned to face the two men to pull Q in by the back of his neck to kiss him quickly yet deeply. He turned to Roman and pulled him in by the waste to place a similar kiss on his lips.

QUENTIN Aaron definitely was daddy af, and Q often found himself simping to this mans every need. But now Roman was here too, and with Roman he was a total Dom. This was about to get real interesting, and the more he thought about it, the more of a semi he started to get. He let Aaron pull him along easily as his fist grabbed hold of Roman’s shirt and he pulled him along with them. His fingers lacing through his coworkers as they made their way into Aaron’s master bedroom. He wasn’t expect Aaron to just take charge like he did, kissing them both like that. But he shouldn’t have expected anything less. Again, Aaron was really good as making everyone feel comfortable. As he watched Aaron kiss Roman, Q could feel his heartbeat speed up again. His hand dropping Romans and moving to unbutton Aaron’s shirt. “God, you two look so sexy kissing” he admitted out loud. Taking a step back to let them continue on a bit longer. He moved around to the back of Aaron and started to kiss the back of his neck as he pulled his shirt off his shoulders. His lips trailing down his back and then back up again before biting softly at his earlobe. “I’m gonna get more comfortable” he whispered. Walking backwards toward the bed and removing his hoodie before climbing onto the mattress on his knees and motioning with his finger for the pair of extremely gorgeous men to come closer.

ROMAN Roman was more than willing to make whatever move he needed to make as soon as they were in the bedroom, but Aaron seemed to already have that covered. His eyes slipped close at the taste of the smaller’s lips, his own tongue licking into Aaron’s mouth while Quentin undressed their mutual lover. Once their little snog session was over, Roman looked over to Q on the bed, shirtless, and looking like a Greek god. Ro took the opportunity to take off his own top, not wanting to be fully clothed when no one else was. Hell, he even moved to take off his trousers as well, kicking them off and to the side before giving Aaron a fleeting glance. He smirked, as if he was trying to communicate something non verbally, and then was jumping on the bed to climb on top of Quentin. He thought maybe Aaron might enjoy the show, both of the baristas’ mouths now crashing together unlike they really had before.

AARON The businessman cooperated with the younger male when he started taking his shirt off, welcoming the lack of clothes on his body. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up when Q played with his earlobe and whispered to him. Aaron’s blues flickered from Q back to Ro, lips parting slightly as he raised his brow. Roman seemed to tell him that he was about to do something naughty. It got him excited, and that excitement, of course, went straight to his dick. He eyed Roman suspiciously as he moved towards the bed to crawl on top of Quentin. The millionaire smirked because he could feel himself getting hard by just watching them make out like that. “Roman, get him undressed.” He commanded, looking lustfully at the both of them. Finally Aaron moved to join them, getting completely undressed before he hopped onto bed with them.

QUENTIN Quentin’s lips curled up into the most alluring and mischievous grin as he watched Roman undress and make his way over to him. Their lips crashing together like magnets as he laid back willingly to let his friend crawl over him. His legs spreading wide open for him so that Roman could make himself comfortable between them. He could feel Aaron’s eyes on them, watching them, and it only made the heat between them burn even hotter. Their tongues lustfully battling together for dominance as Quentin heard Aaron’s command, and he lifted his hips eagerly to help Roman get him undressed. His hand reaching out for Aaron to pull him closer as the other gripped tightly at the back of Romans hair.

ROMAN if there was one thing that really got Roman off in the bedroom, it was being told what to do. Aaron’s command was like music to his ears as he enthusiastically began helping Quentin get his clothes off, and thrown into the floor. Damn, he was such a beautiful man. A model even. He kind of made Roman feel less than thrilled about his own body, but he would never voice that feeling out loud. After he finished getting the other male naked, he proceeded to kick off his own underwear, leaving them both completely nude, and looking over at Aaron. “What would you like us to do next, daddy?” Roman asked in a low voice, hand reaching out to rub along the businessman’s leg.

AARON Aaron: Aaron was being given complete control in this situation. This was his perfect scenario. Seriously. Was he dreaming? His mind swirled with all the things he could tell them to do, he even felt a little light headed. “Quentin, I want you to fuck Roman’s mouth.” He told them, trying not to sound too eager. Even though he was. Aaron sat next to the baristas on the king sized bed. He then fisted Roman’s curls in one hand while slowly stroking himself as he watched.

QUENTIN There was always a small part of Quentin that felt a bit vulnerable while laying naked in front of anyone. But Aaron and Roman both had a way of making him feel comfortable. Not to mention, the drugs he had taken were making him feel all kinds of feisty. His lips curling up into another grin as he scooted up just slightly on the bed. His heart pounding even harder now because getting head was one of his few weaknesses. Especially getting head from Roman. Why did he have to tell his friend his soft spot before? God, hopefully he didn’t use it against him. Because Q was already getting hard just at the tone of Aaron’s voice instructing them what to do. His hands clenching at the sheet beneath him as he looked down to watch Roman take his length.  He didn’t make a sound as his lips parted with pleasure and he tilted his head back against the bed frame. Goddamn, that felt so good, and with Aaron watching, his cock was practically throbbing.

ROMAN Everyone who knew Roman, knew that he kind of had a thing for giving head. Okay, maybe not his family, but you get where I’m going with this. Starting off the evening with a good blowie though was always a winner in Roman’s book. Ro began slow, wrapping a hand around Quentin’s cock before sinking his mouth all the way down, and slowly pulling almost completely off. With his finger, he gently traced over the underside of Q's erection while he licked the tip before diving back down, setting a faster rhythm. He cupped his friend’s balls in hand, giving them an occasional squeeze. He then used his other hand to reach, and wander up Aaron’s body until he was playing with his nipples. Everyone needed some attention in this scenario.

AARON Aaron: This was something that Aaron never knew he needed. And he was certain that this scenario was going to replay over and over in his head for a long time. He already knew this was something that he was going to want to do again. Roman was clearly a pro at giving head. Even Aaron was taking notes. And Aaron had been around. To say the least. God, it looks like it felt so fucking good and the look on Quentin’s face only proved that theory. He was so fucking hot. Especially like this. Heavy breaths left his lips as Roman’s fingers played with his nipples and his thumb swiped through his own pre cum. Finally, Aaron forcefully tugged at Ro’s hair to pop his lips off of the musician’s hard. “It’s your turn.” His pupils dilated as he looked at the Brit then over to Quentin with a devilish smirk. He positioned himself just right to wrap his lips around Roman’s huge cock. He took him into the back of his throat then immediately sliding his tongue up his member and around his tip, repeating the motions at a faster and faster pace.

QUENTIN Of course Roman was going to use this situation to his full advantage. He would never expect anything less honestly. His entire body practically jerking as his friends finger traced the underside of his cock. Practically thrusting his cock completely down his throat as Roman came back down on him. “Ughh... fuck” he whined a bit pathetically as Aaron pulled Roman off of him. His eyes shifting to watch his lover reposition himself to go down on his friend. He felt a little dazed for a moment, as the sight of Aaron sucking off Roman made his cock twitch. God, that was so hot! His hand inevitably moving  to stroke his own length as he found himself becoming even more turned on, as if that were even possible. He repositioned himself on the bed and placed his free hand on the back of Aaron’s head. Making a tight fist in his hair as he pulled his head back just slightly. Letting his tongue extending from his mouth to lick fervently at his lovers lips around Roman’s cock. ”Mmm...” he hummed softly at the taste of Aaron’s mouth around his friends cock. His hand now moving from around himself to wrap firmly around Aaron’s girth and stroking him expertly.

ROMAN Roman suddenly couldn’t remember why he rarely did threesomes. This was fucking amazing. The best part? Fighting for dominance. It was like they all wanted a piece of each other all at once, making it difficult to continue on one specific task. Not that Ro minded, now he was getting a blow job, and a fucking fantastic one at that. The actor threw his head back in an erotic moan, his own hands threading into his curls to tug at them for that extra edge he was dying for. When Quentin dropped down to get a taste of both his cock, and Aaron, Roman was fucking done for. What the hell?! That was SO hot. “Oh my god.” He breathed out, toes curling as he bucked his hips up slightly. “Mmmm, who wants to fuck me while I blow their cock?” He suddenly asked, because it was definitely a fantasy he’d had, and whether they switched it up or not, he didn’t really mind, but he knew he had to be in the middle of these two at least once.

AARON Aaron suddenly believed in God. And he must’ve done something really good go have been blessed like this. It was rare that Quentin got dominant in bed with him, but it was so fucking hot when he did. A sound that resembled a dirty whimper  escaped from his mouth. He wasn’t expecting to feel Quentin strong hand at the back of his head and certainly wasn’t expecting him to man handle him like that. “Oh, fuck.” Aaron gripped onto Quentin as he dark eyes watched the two males once again. He leaned down to kiss Quentin’s body before Roman spoke. Thank god Roman suggested that someone fuck him because he was so hard it hurt. “Shit. You know I wanna fuck you.” The bar owner pulled Quentin’s hand off of him and crawled over to his night stand to grab one of the many bottle of lube he kept in there. “Ready when you are.” The smirk on his face was so naughty it was practically painful.

QUENTIN Goddamn, the way Roman reacted to them both licking at his cock, was enough to get anyone off. His hand pulling even more vigorously at Aaron’s length as he became more and more turned on. Hearing Roman’s request though, and feeling Aaron pull his hand away, he wasted no time getting into position. He was so ready for this, his cock practically throbbing with the need to be touched. “Mmm, you want me to fuck your mouth baby?” he asked Roman as he reached out for him. Pulling him closer as his  eyes shifted over to Aaron  as he watched him grab the lube. He lifted his torso just slightly off the mattress as his hands gripped tightly at the back of Romans hair. Crashing their lips together in a heated kiss before moving his lips to his neck and keeping his eyes on Aaron. “You can fuck me if you want to” he whispered lustfully before licking at Roman’s earlobe. One of his hands reaching between them to stroke Roman’s cock as he pulled his head back by his hair to gain better access to his neck. God, this was all just so  fucking hot. Just knowing that Aaron was watching them made him even more turned on than he could have ever imagined.

ROMAN Roman didn't even have time to think about any of the things that had made him insecure before. He was in heaven, having these two sexy men that he honestly loved being with, both fighting to get a piece of him, and each other. It was the most primal thing he'd ever really been a part of, like Lions fighting over a pile of meat. That was a lot more fun in real life than it sounded. "Oh God..." Ro moaned, swallowing hard as he gripped the back of Quentin's head, and dug his nails into his scalp just enough to be painful, yet pleasurable. "Turn around." He then ordered gruffly, ready to swipe the lube from Aaron as soon as he was done with it so he could slick up his own cock. He was so ready to be pounded, and pound Q at the same time, though he knew he'd have to really concentrate not to cum quickly.

AARON Aaron: The millionaire was enjoying this entire show. but everything seemed to kind of stop for a moment when Quentin kissed Roman and looked at him like that. Time slowed, and even his heart skipped a beat as their eyes met. It was like Daddy Aaron turned off for a moment. He only snapped back into reality when Roman commanded Quentin to turn around. He quickly snapped back to Alpha Aaron mode very seamlessly. Aaron lathered fingers up with lube before Roman grabbed the bottle from him. He moved behind the actor and kissed his back and shoulders as he started to open Roman up with his digits. He reached past Roman to grab ahold of Quentin because he wanted to feel both of them.

QUENTIN There was no sexier sound in the world then the way Roman sounded right now. The tone of his voice commanding him to turn over practically making his cock twitch with anticipation as he let out a low growl of his own. “Yes sir” he purred. Licking vigorously at Roman’s lips one last time before doing exactly as he was told. This would actually be the first time he ever let Roman fuck him, and honestly, he was feeling the butterflies in the pit of his stomach start to do little flips. “Mmm..” he moaned softly as he felt Aaron’s hand grip onto him. His hand moving to lace his fingers through the older males as he held onto him tightly. His ass pushing back impatiently against Roman as he felt him start to lube him up.

ROMAN Roman loved sex. This wasn’t something new, just stating a fact that is already general knowledge. So, obviously this was playing into some sort of fantasy that had been buried somewhere deep in his subconscious. Aaron and Quentin were two vastly different people, and yet he somehow couldn’t get enough of them. Did he expect to be in the middle of this hunk sandwich? No, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to take it for granted. “Fuck, you’re both so hot.” He rasped, taking it upon himself to start opening Q up now that he had the lube, making it a point to squeeze around the digits inside of his own heat as he did so. He then lifted a hand to scale through Quentin’s hair before tugging on it hard, forcing his head backwards as he hooked his fingers up towards his coworker’s prostate, and then turned his head to seek out Aaron’s lips.

AARON Aaron: He saw Roman take charge of Q like that, and Aaron had to remind himself where he was for a minute. Seeing and hearing those two put on a show in front of him took him to a whole other world, and he found himself constantly reminding himself that the two men in front of him were real. Aaron's lips trailed his way up the back of Roman's neck before he slid his tongue up the side of his neck to nibble at his ear. He gripped onto Q tightly, needing his touch more than ever. Aaron found the actor's prostate quickly and began massaging it to open him up thoroughly. Swollen lips crashed together as he slowly added lubed up fingers inside of Ro when he felt him begin to open up to him. He moaned into his mouth because his already leaking cock was practically screaming to be touched. "Okay. Fuck." He sighed, as a way of telling Roman that he was about to enter him. With his free hand, he lubed up some more before sliding his member inside the barista.

QUENTIN Quentin could feel his heartbeat start to speed up as Roman hovered over him. The adrenaline finally catching up with him in a moment of weakness as Roman tugged aggressively at his hair. The most erotic moan spilling from his lips as he pushed back against his lovers hand. “Ughhh.. Fuck” he growled with pleasure. His cheeks tightening blissfully around Roman’s long fingers as he started to fondle his prostate. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get through this without completely crumbling. But God he was so fucking hard he could barely stand it. He moved his free hand to grasp the headboard and pushed back on his lovers hand once more. Begging desperately for Roman to enter him as the sounds of Aaron and Roman kissing made him even more impatient.  His fingers squeezing even tighter around Aaron’s hand as another moan fell from his lips. “Please baby... I need to feel you” he whimpered. His head dropping down as he arched his back and waited eagerly for the pressure he so desperately needed.

ROMAN This was so fucking amazing. Quentin was practically begging him, and Aaron was finally giving in as well. It was addicting, this sense of power he felt right now. Yeah, they were all extremely attracted to each other, even if he felt like maybe it was on a different level between the other two men. This was one of the most in control moments Roman had felt in a long time regardless. “Yeah. You both belong to me right now.” He rasped, surprised himself at hearing that out loud. To be honest, he hadn’t even meant to say it, but it was like he was hovering above his own body, watching himself lube up, and push into Quentin with a low growl. He was so tight, and warm, and the sensation of both being inside someone, and getting fucked at the same time was something he couldn’t really describe. Roman let out a low moan, and bit at Aaron’s lips as he started thrusting in tune with the businessman, making sure to nail Q’s prostate every single time.

AARON Hearing such dominant words come out of Roman’s mouth was something he’d never thought he’d ever hear. Admittedly, it was pretty hot. But that was just further proof that Roman was into this. Aaron  lips parted as he let Roman nip at his lower lower lip before he opened his mouth to slid his tongue inside of the actor’s mouth again. The businessman punched out heavy grunts as he pounded in and out of Roman with intent. He felt so good. He felt good every time. Aaron’s hand still held on to Quentin tightly, his free hand snaked up into Roman’s long curls for a forceful tug so he could suck on his beautiful fucking neck. He focused on the sounds of the other two males’ heavy breaths and low grunts. Those were his sugar babies. His men.

QUENTIN God, there was no way in hell Quentin could have ever prepared himself for the feeling of Roman’s cock pushing dee inside of him. His hands tightening firmly around the headboard and Aaron’s hand as he pushed back against each and every thrust Roman pounded into him. To be honest, he felt at a bit of a disadvantage in this position. The sounds of erotic kissing and skin slapping together being the only two things keeping him grounded in such a blissful  moment. He let go of Aaron’s hand and moved it to the headboard beside his other and dropped his head down against his arms. His hips rolling in time with each thrust as he clenched firmly around Roman’s throbbing cock.

ROMAN Roman groaned lowwww in his throat when Aaron started kissing his neck, making him snap even harder into Quentin in response. He then moved a hand to his coworker’s stomach, fingertips grazing his lower and along his happy trail before ultimately wrapping around his cock. He knew at this point his friend would be needing some major relief, so he began tugging in time with their thrusts. The tight walls of his heat squeezed around Aaron’s length as he moaned again, this time a lot longer, feeling like he was on pleasure overload with a cock up his ass, and his own in someone else’s.

AARON the sounds of the other men’s moans sounded like a god damn choir. The was erotic as fuck. Aaron movements became faster and harder. He wanted to pounded into Roman so hard that Quentin could feel it. Letting go of Roman’s hair, he leaned in and reached to press his hands against the headboard, leaning his body into Roman and pushed the three men even closer together. With all of his might, he pounded Roman’s prostate. Loud, Heavy grunts escaped his lips with each movement. “Oh! Fuck!” God he wished they’d decided to film this. Though, Aaron knew this would be replaying in his mind for weeks to come.

QUENTIN He took a  deep breath in when he felt Roman’s hand on his lower abdomen. His entire body tingling with the soft touch of his fingers, and then exploding with pleasure once they reached their destination: Fuck! everything felt so fucking good, it was like he was in a dream. One in which he never wanted to wake up from. “Mmm, Romie” he moaned with a slight whimper. His back arching against his friends cock before thrusting vigorously into his hand. God, he just couldn’t get enough of his and he so desperately wanted more. His wish practically being granted the instant he thought it as Aaron placed his hand beside his on the headboard. He could feel the weight of both men pressing into him and he let out the most erotic growling moan. “Fu...ck, Aaron” he whimpered with overwhelming pleasure. His body barely able to move as Roman kept stroking him and pounding into him even deeper now. “Don’t sto....” he tried to say but, goddamn he was on another level. “Yessss, oh God, yesss” he hissed. His hand moving on top of Aaron’s as he dug his nails into the back of his hand.

ROMAN This was by far the best threesome he’d ever had. Bold statement, but oh, so true. It was almost hard to even function, this felt so fucking good, pleasure pumping through his veins all the way down to his toes, buzzing through his fingertips, and then right back up to his nipples. It felt like every nerve ending was activated as his hand tightened around Quentin’s throbbing cock. His coworker was leaking precum, which honestly he wished he could see, or even taste right now. But, one thing at a time. “I’m gonna cum...” Ro breathed out in warning, because as much as he wanted to hold out forever, there was no damn way all of them were going to be able to take this much longer. “Fuck...” the actor slowed down just for a moment, and turned to look back at Aaron as his movements slowed on Quentin’s cock. “You gonna give me your cum, daddy? Do you want ours?” He asked for permission, knowing Aaron would probably get off still on having control over when he and Q could finish.

AARON he liked that he could get Quentin moaning his name even though the businessman wasn’t the one inside of him. He loved hearing his name coming out of both of their mouths. While he was fucking them separately and, as he now discovered, together. Aaron breath hitched at the feeling of Quentin’s fingernails digging into his hands. “Quentin. Fuck.” He didn’t think as much pain as these two....but he had to admit he did love at least a little pain with his pleasure. Aaron had...options here. He liked that Roman and Q liked giving him control, even in situations when it wasn’t just him and one of the other men. Aaron knew that Roman was going to be the first one to cum considering his...position. Aaron nipped on Roman’s ear as he turned to him. “Fuck...yes..” he hissed. “I want you both to scream for me when you cum.” He demanded.

QUENTIN Jesus, there was quite literally nothing better than this. Roman and Aaron’s moans mixed together as they got closer and closer to cumming was like fucking music to his ears. He was close himself. His body starting to tremble and tingle with the overwhelming pleasure that was being inflicted upon him. He started to thrust aggressively against Roman’s hand which only did wonders for his coworkers cock that was deep in his ass. When Roman slowed his movements, Q could feel his entire body pulsating with the need to release. A deep gritty and erotic moan passing through his lips as he clenched his teeth together. “Fuck.. I’m gonna cum” he warned. One of his hands reaching behind him to grip firmly onto Roman’s hip as he leaned back against him. Pushing his friends cock so deep in to his ass as he rolled his hips against him. His other hand still digging his fingers desperately into the back of Aaron’s grip on the headboard. “Fuck... yes. I feel you, daddy” his thick French accent shaking out of him with pleasure as he tried to hold back from cumming.

ROMAN Thank god both of these men were just as on the edge as Roman was, because the actor couldn’t hold on much longer. Ro gripped at Q’s cock firm enough to give him the pressure he needed, but of course not intense enough to be painful. He wanted to work the cum out of him nice and steady, knowing he was about the paint the headboard. Good thing it was a slick surface, something easily cleaned up, because Ro was not about to stop more. “Cum for me, both of you...” Roman moaned, thrusting, and snapping his hips forward while pulling on the back of Aaron’s hair with his free hand. He wanted that to be slightly painful, but in such a pleasurable way. “Come on!” He challenged, eyes slipping closed as he felt his own orgasm build up, and then explode with a string of moans, deep into Quentin’s ass.

AARON The businessman felt like he couldn't even breathe anymore. This practically felt like a workout. It was most certainly the best workout of his life if it was though. Aaron nuzzled his nose into Roman's neck and opened his mouth on his skin as he grunted in Roman's ear. Thank God Roman was asking them to come. He wasn't sure about the other men, but Aaron knew that he was about to erupt. He hissed when the actor tugged on the back of his hair - it only added to the excitement of all this. Roman didn't need to ask him again, he was all ready spewing hot inside of Roman with the loudest moan he'd heard come out of his throat this evening. "Oh Go- fuck." He cursed under his breath as his fingernails dug into either side of Ro's hips.

QUENTIN All it took was the feeling of Roman’s hot cum shooting deep into his heat to set him off. Pushing him completely over the edge as his thrusts back against the actor became sloppy and aggressive. “Fuuu...” he growled, biting down on his own bottom lip as he felt his hot sticky cum shoot out all over the headboard and into Roman’s hand. His body trembling with his release as he continued to push back against the actor riding out his orgasm. “God! fuck... yessss” he moaned loudly. His head dropping down against his arm again as he struggled to catch his hard breaths. This was quite literally the best threesome he had ever been a part of. His rested his chin on his arm as he turned his head to look back at the other two men. A devious yet satisfied grin playing at his features as he continued to bite his lower lip.

#chats:aaron #chats:roman #chats:discord #tw::nsfw #tw::smut #tw:::threesome #//this was so fucking HOT uuuughh!!! #{{𝔄𝔞𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔫;; he’s sweet like candy in my veins}} #{{𝓠𝚄𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙽;; let's just fall in love for the hell of it}}

[bettyannbutterworth]

Asleep - Chapter 5 (After the rain)

Tom finishes preparing two tea mugs of strong, milky tea and joins her at the table.  He smells like he had a shower as well, and he wears a very nice grey jumper with fresh dark jeans, not a tear or hole in sight.  The top could be cashmere, it looks very soft and warm. So does he.

[...]

“Yes, that was the goal.  To tire Toby out.  Let me put your things in the dryer.”

Alex holds her trousers, shirt, and smaller wet items to her chest.

“Just tell me where it is?”

She ignores his amused smile and follows the directions to the appliance, 30 minutes should do.

Returning to the living room she can hear soft music in the background, it sounds dramatic but pleasingly so.

“What’s that playing?”

“The score to a movie called Conquest of Paradise.”

“It’s nice.  I rarely go to the cinema and I don’t own a TV.  Does it bother you that I’m clueless to your… prominence?”

She is honestly curious.

Tom chuckles, “No, not at all.  Believe it or not, I like it…I’m enjoying it.  All too often, when I meet new people, the conversations center around my job, the perks, that kind of stuff.  I like that I can talk with you about anything but that.”

Alex sips her sweet tea and considers.

“My circle, which admittedly is not as exciting as yours must be, might be also rarified.  There are so few of us who specialize successfully, that one might consider me a celebrity of sorts.  Being the daughter of a world-renowned scholar, having extensively researched and published myself…” She laughs, “though to most people, it probably wouldn’t compare.  But I like that you share my passion about my field of interest and at the same time it’s refreshing to talk about other things, do other things.  Maybe even learn new things.” She looks over to the snoring Toby.

Both start to say something at the same time, Alex gestures for Tom to go ahead.

Tom pauses for a moment but Alex insists. She isn’t sure if she should really voice what’s in her head, the mood that has been created in the last hour and now by the homely setting, almost an intimacy, is unfamiliar to her, making her feel soft and vulnerable.

“Well, I was still wondering about the things you told me while we were walking.”

Tom waits, watches to see if she understands that he is not trying to pry, that it’s up to her whether to continue or stop.

“Yes?”

“After the loss of your mother, how long did you stay in France?”

“A little over a year. Grand-mère was 80 already at the time and her health was deteriorating and the doctors wanted her back at her home in London.  She said, ‘there is only so much that France can heal, some things simply need time and the love of a father’.’  And she was right.  Even though I was terribly sad to leave Severine, I missed my dad and home, so we returned.”

Tom would like to keep asking, to dig deeper, remembers that he had interrupted her.

“What did you want to say before?”

Alex is debating what to do but finally gives in to the urge to be candid with him. Also, she has the weird feeling Severine is standing behind her, nudging her on, giving her a thumbs up.

“I just thought. Well. We had mentioned our… occupation and the things that might come with it. I meant to add that I have to admit, it threw me a bit when I looked you up online.  Obviously, there’s the fact of your success, your,” Alex can’t think of a better phrase and makes a face, settling for “fame.  But what really surprised me, was how different you do look in person to me from some of those pictures. I know actors, the good ones anyways, are like chameleons, but honestly, even if I had seen you in a movie before you walked into the shop, I’m not sure I’d have recognized you.”

Tom snorts and shrugs his shoulders, “The short version is, I’m a lazy bastard.  Contact lenses dry my eyes, shaving is a hassle and to be honest it irritates my skin, so I only do it if I really have to. Make up obviously helps… does the hair bother you?” He jokingly strokes an imaginary Gandalf beard. “I’ll take it off immediately, just say the word!”

Alex laughs, “No, I quite like it, actually.”

She doesn’t add that it helps her to not get too distracted by his intelligent eyes, but it’s a close thing.

“Is that right?” Tom asks, as if hearing her thoughts and although she is aware that she might be crossing the line from innocent teasing, she feels compelled to speak about what's been on her mind since Wednesday, when the search engine had corrected her spelling of his last name and offered  ‘Results for Tom Hiddleston’.

“You must have thought me naïve, for not knowing who you are.  And I felt naïve, if not embarrassed later because I did what a person that loves reading as much as I do, should know better than to do – I judged the book by its cover.“

“You took one look at my hairy self and drew the conclusion I was a tortured, suffering artist? A poor scholar?” Tom raises his eyebrows jokingly.

“No. I mean, maybe, yes, a little. And just for the record I was fine, with you being any of these things. But I’m referring to later on, the moment I saw pictures of your... actor persona, the man in a £4000 suit. The award winner. Posing.” She presses her lips together for a moment. “I judged. And assumed.”

She tries to say it without bias, even smiling, and Tom interjects that not all the suits are that expensive and posing in them is, well, required, but she can see he understands that she is serious. She continues with a small voice and Tom has to lean in to hear her properly.

“You are obviously an attractive man, inside and out, but these pictures…Beauty, or what is perceived as beauty, can be a distraction.  It can be used as a cloak to hide behind and I admit, I was once deceived by it.  And hurt.  I take responsibility for my actions then; I wanted to believe that inner ugliness could not be hidden under outer elegance, that outer beauty must be a reflection of what is inside.”

Alex stares into her cup, apprehensive to look up at a silent Tom. She finishes her tea and her line of thought, “However, I learned, that it’s mostly a mask, a superficial disguise to hide something, and to tell you the truth, I thought, when I looked you up and found this other facet of you…that I had discovered yours.”

Tom remains still and when she finally gazes up at him, he gives her a tiny wistful smile.

“I’m afraid you have, Alex.  I am an actor and I have perfected so many disguises that I sometimes don’t know any more who the real me is.  People do judge books by their covers, and people in turn by their looks.  I would be lying if I didn’t admit to doing the same at times.  I too have my experiences with confusing perception versus reality.  Sometimes, Alex, I even encourage it, preferring to wear a mask – however, when I do, it’s not to hide what’s inside, but rather, to protect it.“

He takes a deep breath, “Your, as you call it, naivety is actually a superpower.  It made you immune to my deception, and I have to say I am grateful for the moment when you looked up at me with unclouded eyes and ordered me to leave my damn cup at the shelf.  You gave me the chance to be myself, and you have no idea what a joy that is.  As is finding out,” he smiles, “I like who I am when I’m with you.”

#BAE #soundtrack #tom hiddleston rpf

[pocket-luv101]

An Unexpected Match || Part 1

Summary: Licht is an aspiring pianist but his cousin worries that he’s working himself too hard. In hopes of making him take more breaks, Kranz asks Hyde to help him. (LawLicht, Modern AU)

(Part 1) // Part 2 // Part 3

“If Kranz tries to set me up with another guy, I’m going to murder the date. Kranz keeps nagging me about having a work-life balance but he should know that I can’t take breaks often— especially since he’s my manager.” Licht complained to his friend Mahiru over the phone. He walked through a bookstore and skimmed the titles. “I want to find a love like the one my parents have. A match made in heaven.”

“Sometimes, the best matches are the ones you least expect. I never thought I would be with a man like Kuro but look at us now. We’re engaged! Maybe you should give the date a chance even if you don’t think they’re your type at first.” Mahiru suggested. Licht could hear the overwhelming happiness in his friend’s voice. “Kranz just wants you to be happy. He’s your cousin before your manager.”

“I know. He says he wants me to take more breaks from practise and find love. Playing matchmaker for me is like hitting two birds with one stone. He should let things happen on its own though.” He sighed softly and walked into the gothic novel section of the bookstore. “Have you read the novel I told you to? I want to talk to someone about the ending without needing to explain the rest of the plot.”

“I reached the third chapter but I haven’t been able to read much. My deadline is in a week so I barely have enough time to eat, let alone read. I need a new job. Kuro forced me to take a little catnap with him. He says it’s so I don’t overwork myself but I know the truth. I let him get away with it though.” While he couldn’t see him, Licht was certain that Mahiru was grinning like a lovesick teenager. “I’ll try to finish the book by the weekend so we can talk.”

“There’s no rush. I’m at the bookstore to find a new novel right now.” When he first started travelling on tours, his parents gave him a book to read during the long plane rides. He fell in love with gothic novels and would find a new book before each concert. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Mahiru.”

As he tucked his phone into his pocket, Licht noticed someone approach him. He assumed that the man wanted to browse through the books as well. The stranger stopped next to him and asked: “Pardon me, do you work here? I would like a few suggestions on what to read in the gothic section. I want to get into the genre but I don’t know where to start.”

“Shouldn’t you have decided that before you drove to a bookstore? You must have a lot of free time if you can drive here on a whim. I don’t work here so I can’t help.” Licht told him. He was on his phone earlier and he didn’t have a uniform so the man should’ve known that he wasn’t an employee.

“Sorry. I guess I should start with the classics. Frankenstein was a cool horror movie so the novel might be fun.” He pulled the book from the shelf. Licht was slightly surprised that the man didn’t leave immediately. Most people were intimidated by his glare and they would flee without speaking to him. Instead, he introduced himself. “My name’s Hyde. I don’t have a lot of people to talk to about books. I’m really into Shakespeare but I thought I would give gothic novels a chance.”

“My parents took me to a Shakespeare play once but I didn’t enjoy it. He writes in circles. Frankenstein is a classic but you might like Wuthering Heights better. It has similar themes to Shakespearian tragedies like revenge and love.” Licht was rarely able to talk to many people about his interest in books with other musicians or his friends. He took the short opportunity to do so with Hyde.

“You’re more than just a pretty face, Angel Cakes.” Hyde winked at him. While Licht rolled his eyes at his flirting, a small blush tainted his cheeks. He went on to ask: “Is there a book here that you haven’t read yet? Maybe we can both read it and then hold a little book club to discuss it. The bookstore has a little café where we can sit and talk.”

“Don’t call me ‘Angel Cakes’, Shit Rat. I have a name and it’s Licht.” He corrected him bluntly. “I don’t have time for dating.”

“That’s okay. I was being honest when I said there’s not many people who I can discuss literature with. You seem smart and you have a lot of opinions. I only want to talk and have coffee.” Hyde said. Licht stared into his red eyes and wondered if he looked too deeply into his words earlier. “You can invite anyone you want to our book club if that will be better for you. The more the merrier.”

Licht took down two copies of a thick collection of short stories and held one out to Hyde. “Are you free Saturday? We can meet at eight but I can’t stay for long. I have piano practise strictly at ten.”

“You play the piano? I knew you were an angel the moment I saw you but this confirms it. I’ll see you Friday.” He said. They walked to the cash register together and talked more about books. Licht had to admit that Hyde was attractive and he enjoyed trading quips with him. He found himself looking forward to their first book club meeting and hearing his opinion.

“See you later, Angel Cakes.” Hyde opened the door for Licht after they finished paying for their books. He nodded towards the café corner of the bookstore and said: “I’m going to get coffee and start this book right away. I can’t wait to talk to you about it on Saturday.”

He nodded back to him and went to his car. Licht paused for a moment outside and glanced back to Hyde. He wasn’t in the doorway anymore and he reasoned that he went to the café. He went into his care and took out the anthology he bought. His career was only beginning but it didn’t give him any free time to date. He accepted the coffee invite thinking it wouldn’t lead to anything.

As Hyde waited for his coffee, he watched Licht drive away. He looked away when his name was called and he took the cup from the worker. He found an empty table and sat down. Hyde took out the thick book he purchased and flipped through the stories. An illustration of an angel caught his interest and he decided to read the story first.

A man sat in the chair across from him but Hyde didn’t question his sudden appearance. He asked: “So, what do you think of Licht?”

“He’s interesting.” Hyde closed the book and sat straighter in his chair. “Kranz, I met him like you asked but I haven’t decided to go along with this plan of yours yet. It doesn’t feel right to lie to him, even when I barely know him. Shouldn’t you just talk to him instead of creating this crazy plan? This has to be the strangest acting job I’ve been offered.”

With a heavy sigh, Kranz told him: “I’ve already tried talking with him. He works hard but he doesn’t take care of himself properly. I want him to take breaks more often. Licht isn’t easy to work with because he’s so stubborn. None of his other managers lasted more than a few weeks. I’ve only been able to manage him this long because I’m his cousin.”

Kranz also worked with a few actors Hyde knew and they told him he was a good manager. When he reached out to Kranz for work, he didn’t expect him to ask him to befriend Licht. “I’ll pay you four hundred dollars each time you take Licht out and help him take a break from practise. I can refer you to a few directors I know too. Think of this as method acting.”

The number made Hyde pause. He worked part time jobs but he was struggling for money. It was difficult to work and find auditions at the same time. Hyde said, “I have a book club meeting with him Saturday morning here at the café. Meet me afterwards with the cheque.”

Hyde sat in the booth and waited for Licht to come. To pass the time, he skimmed through the book idly even though he could recite each story by heart. He was able to memorize the stories easily since he was an actor. He prepared answers for any question Licht could ask. A part of Hyde still felt guilty for the deception and he sighed into his coffee.

His phone buzzed and Hyde swiped his finger over the screen. A message from Licht told him he arrived at the bookstore. They had exchanged phone numbers and shared short conversations throughout the week. The cartoon emoticons he sent made him laugh lightly. He replied to his text and leaned back in the chair.

I’m in a booth next to the window. I already bought coffee and muffins for us so you don’t need to wait in line. Hyde texted him back. He glanced out the window and he saw Licht in the distance. He waved to him and he smiled back to him. For someone who enjoyed dark stories so much, his smile was soft and gentle. He came into the café and sat across from Hyde.

“Thanks for waiting.” Licht said and placed his book on the table.

“I didn’t know how you like your coffee so I got you black with a bunch of sugar and cream on the side. I thought you were bringing a friend so I brought three cups. At least there’s three muffins you can choose from now. I bought them a few minutes ago so they’re fresh. Do you want the chocolate chip or… That’s a lot of cream for your coffee, Angel Cakes.”

“I don’t like bitter things.” He told him simply and Hyde couldn’t help but grin. The angel was full of interesting contradictions. He liked gothic novels but had a sweet tooth. Once Licht was satisfied with his coffee, he took a sip. He peeked at Hyde’s book between them and said, “You’re the type to highlight lines in his book. I haven’t seen that much highlighter aside from university textbooks and actor’s scripts.”

“I wanted to highlight my favourite parts so I could find them again. Better at a Distance was the best story in the collection, I think. It has drama, forbidden love and tragedy.” Hyde flipped to the story and spun the book to Licht. “What do you think of the ending?”

“It was the protagonist’s own fault that the love interest pushed him off the cliff. He should’ve told her the truth about who he was. You can’t blame her for being scared and confused when a skeleton man appeared instead of the handsome nobleman he claimed he was. I don’t know what he expected to happen.” Licht set down his coffee on the table and stared at the highlighted words. “Some things are better at a distance.”

The short story revolved around a romance between a princess and an undead servant. They never met in person yet they traded letters every day and eventually fell in love. The night they arranged to elope with each other, his form frightened her and she accidentally pushed him off a cliff.

“I guess he was hoping that she would accept him despite his appearance. That wasn’t the issue though. He didn’t trust her enough to let her get to know him. That’s the tragedy. Their romance was doomed from the start because he lied and kept a distance between them.” He didn’t glance at the book but quoted: “I’ve told so many lies I don’t know who I truly am anymore.”

Licht tilted his head slightly and asked: “Are you an actor?”

“What?” Hyde choked on his drink. He was an aspiring actor and that was one of the reasons Kranz asked him for help. Licht didn’t seem angry so he doubted he knew about the plan. Hesitantly, he asked: “How did you know that I’m an actor? Did you stalk me on the internet?”

“It was just my intuition.” He answered with a shrug. Licht nonchalantly stirred his coffee and went on to explain, “My parents are famous pianists and they would often have celebrities over for house parties. Most were musicians but some were actors. There weren’t many kids at the parties so I played a game with myself. ‘Guess what this person is.’ I’m rarely wrong.”

“You’re only half right this time. I want to become an actor but I haven’t landed a major role yet. For now, I’m working part time jobs and acting as Villager B in a local stage production.” Hyde joked dryly. “It’s my dream to be on a grand stage. When my performance is over, the audience will be too in awe to clap. Then, after a moment, the room will be filled with applause and claps. I can only imagine getting that reaction.”

“When you recited that line from the book, I pictured you on stage.” Licht was drawn into the passion in Hyde’s voice. It was clear that he was driven. Since he was chasing his own dream to be a pianist, he respected Hyde’s determination. “We all have to start somewhere. As long as you don’t give up halfway through, you can do anything you imagine. That’s what my parents taught me.”

Hyde was certain that Licht wouldn’t be as encouraging if he knew that his first major acting job was to befriend him. He changed the subject and said, “Your parents are musicians as well. Do I know of them?”

“My full name is Licht Jekylland Todoroki.” He told him but Hyde didn’t recognize the surname. Licht wasn’t surprised nor upset that he didn’t know his parents. He was a little glad he didn’t. “They tour in Europe so they’re mostly known there. I didn’t want to rely on my family name so I moved to Japan to start my career here. My music speaks for itself.”

“I have to hear you play one day. You can watch the production I’m in too.” Hyde offered. As they talked, he forgot about Kranz and their plan. Licht was engaging and Hyde found himself opening up more than he usually would. He leaned his cheek in his hand and grinned at Licht. “You remind me of the main character from Blind Love. Stubbornly independent.”

“I am not.” Licht pouted. “If I am, then you’re the character from Serendipity. A demon!”

“You break my heart, Lichtan. Here I thought we were getting along too.” His words were mixed with a laugh. “Between those two stories, which did you enjoy more?”

“Sorry, I’m late, Kranz.” Licht immediately said as he stumbled into the music room. He lost track of time while he spent time with Hyde and he almost missed practise. He raced out of the bookstore the moment he realized the time. “An hour passed. Do you think we can squeeze in another hour?”

“I asked the owner that before you came but someone already have this room booked after our session. They said that they’ll only charge us for the time we use instead of what’s booked so that’s lucky.” Kranz said but he could see that Licht was still frustrated. “We have the room booked for the next three hours and that should be enough time for your practise. It’s the normal amount people play each day.”

“I don’t want to limit myself to what most people do. I can’t reach my dreams unless I go beyond that.” Licht recalled the advice his father gave him before he left for Japan. He took out music sheets from his bag and sat in front of the piano.

“I tried texting you but you didn’t answer.” Kranz lied. “Where were you today? You usually have breakfast in your hotel room but you weren’t there this morning.”

“My friend and I were at a book club. We’re going to meet again on Monday. Next time I lose track of time, call me instead of texting me.”

#servamp #lawlicht #greed pair #servamp hyde #licht jekylland todoroki #mahiru shirota #fanfiction