#little did i know that it would end up showing me a new perspective on a lot of things

[riumeri]

thank you for the laughs, the thrills, the life lessons, and the journey!

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #mp100 spoilers #kageyama shigeo #reigen arataka #dimple #kageyama ritsu #hanazawa teruki #serizawa katsuya #hey how we feelin' about the anime finale guys :') #the final episode had me CRYING. mp100's gonna be on the mind for a while i'm gonna miss them so much oughhh #it's funny to think back on it now bc #i got into the series on a whim -- and back when my mental health was. Very Bad. #little did i know that it would end up showing me a new perspective on a lot of things #i'm doing better these days and i owe it to mp100 for helping change my negative mindset back then. 1000% gratitude #well. time to reread the manga to cope lmao

[monzamash]

lost in japan — lando norris

lando norris x you (femreader) | 3.8k summary – a convincing late night call and a flight to japan. warnings – 18+ (sex, coarse language) inspo – ‘i like being close to you. you’re warm’ for the #monzamashspecial and that shawn mendes song – you know the one. masterlist

“Fly out and see me…”

“You know I can’t, Lando.”

This had been the back and forth for nearly half an hour, like a painfully long rally in tennis and neither one of you wanted to give up the point. Lando had been out in Japan for nearly a week, 5 days and counting and before that, Singapore and before that, Italy for training. He had always been at peace with the time he spent away from home, because up until now it had never really been a problem. Jet-setting across the globe, living out his childhood dream – on top of the world. Chained to nothing and nobody.

But then you showed up in those leather pants; it was all by coincidence and he was in trouble from the very beginning. He liked you. A lot. And you liked him but that one night on a breezy street corner in Melbourne had changed his perspective. Skewed beyond recognition, because now he had someone to miss. Someone who influenced his happiness, his contentedness and that was you. You had snapped up a spot in his cold, precious heart that he had guarded, locked away safely so he didn’t have to wake up to that sinking feeling in his gut, or look at his phone and have his mood drop when he didn't see your name in his notifications.

He was forlorn without you and even though it made him sick that he had ended up like this, he loved it. He took the good with the bad, every chance to hear your voice made it worthwhile and much to your surprise, you felt the same. Infatuated and swept up in this new romance.

“Why not? If you give me a really good answer, I’ll stop asking,” Lando bartered as he trudged around his hotel room, kicking articles of clothing towards his empty suitcase in an attempt to clean up the mess he’d made over the last couple of days.

“Well for starters I have this thing called a job… I have responsibilities and I have my houseplants – you know how much they mean to me.”

A small smirk tugged on the corners of your mouth when Lando rolled his eyes, brow quirked. Even the shaky camera was able to capture his distain for your answer but he quickly bounced back, knowing that he wasn’t completely out of the fight if it was a couple of replaceable pot plants keeping you from dropping everything to see him. Surely he meant more than that.

“You love me way more though.”

“Definitely not,” You scoffed playfully and adjusted the loose, somewhat revealing top you'd been sleeping in before this late night call, “But I do miss you a tiny bit…”

Lando’s frown softened at your confession, one he’d been patiently waiting to hear. I miss you too; he sighed and walked into what looked like a bathroom, carefully balancing the phone on a shelf beside the mirror. 

He was an enigma the night that you met him; a friend of a friend of a friend, someone had said when introducing the two of you at a swanky restaurant in the heart of the city. You had wondered why there was a last minute invite sent your way that afternoon, until your friend explained that her new work friend wanted to show their friend who had just flown in from England a good time. It was a confusing web of acquaintances but you agreed, knowing that whatever she had organised would be worthwhile attending.

Little did you know that the friend would have something to do with why your street was shut down for a week, making your daily commute fifteen minutes longer than normal. But when you looked into those stormy blue, or maybe they were hazel eyes, and grasped the hand he was holding out for you to shake, you didn’t care. In fact, nothing really mattered after the two of you pulled up a seat at the long table and continued chatting, drawn together.

“See something you like? …”

Lando’s tinny voice pulled you out of your daydreaming and snapped your eyes back to your screen. You cleared your throat and tucked a couple of stray hairs behind your ear as you watched him change out of his Phoenix suns shirt; his rippling muscles contracting caught your attention, perfectly sculpted under is sun-kissed skin. Beneath all the boyish charm and dripping sarcasm, he was sexy. And it was taking everything in your power not to give in and book a plane ticket to Japan as soon as possible.

“Nothing in particular but I do like that shirt,” You deflected with a smirk, wanting nothing more than to be crawling your lips all over his skin, tasting the cool mint mouthwash he was swirling and spitting out in quick succession.

“Might have to steal it when I see you next.”

“Which will be…?” Lando teetered off, hoping for sooner rather than later but you simply shrugged and closed your eyes, exhaling so deeply that a whistle rang through your nostrils.   

Lando could tell you were battling internally with the idea, knowing that you wanted to see him just as much as he ached to see you. It’d been too long and with your situationship being so new, so hot – he was desperate to lock in a time or have at least a crumb to cling onto if nothing else. But he needed to be gentle, patient while you worked through all of the metaphorical plates spinning in your head.

“You can steal all of my shirts when you get here,” He sweetly stated, his attention full focused on your solemn expression, “Look, what day suits you the best and I’ll work around that.”

He was serving the ball in your court now, with the promise of taking care of everything else so you didn’t even have to think about it. Make the fleeting decision and the rest will be sorted. Except for the glaringly obvious hurdles you’d have to jump over to get the time off work that you knew Lando wanted you to have.

“Maybe Saturday…”

Lando groaned at your response, “But I’ll be busy all day Saturday.”

“Doing what?” You teased; lip firmly gripped between your front teeth as Lando rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his messy hair in frustration.

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” He grumbled and titled his head back, chin and jawline tensed as he groaned loudly into the dark bedroom he was sitting in, “Come on – I’m blue-balling out here and you’re not here to help me… It's not fair.”

“Oh, so you just want me for sex?”

Lando’s eyes narrowed and a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as he planned his next move, “No,” He sheepishly whispered, “But also not no… But definitely not just for sex because that would be wildly perverse and disgusting – promise.” Cheeky fucker.

You hummed, “Just so we’re clear, I’d just be coming out for the sex. Nothing more than that – can’t stand you, actually. Absolutely gross.”

Not even a beat passed before Lando's loud, high-pitched laugh filtered through your air pods, hand barely covering his face. The other was in your face, middle finger perfectly framed on your screen while you sat back and enjoyed the sound you’d missed so much; his laugh alone made you chuckle and forget all about your worries.

“Fuck you,” He cheekily retorted, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes, “But what I’m hearing is that you’re coming out… I’m booking you a ticket right now so keep an eye out for the email, baby.”

Baby.

“Baby?” You asked, eyebrow quirked with intrigue.

“Shit, sorry…” Lando cursed under his breath, cheeks reddening as he clicked away on his phone, “It slipped out. Is it bad?”

You shook your head and balanced your chin on your knuckles, “No, I like it – makes me feel like we’re more than just strangers fucking around.”

“Oh yeah? And is that something you want to feel or?”

Now he was just being cocky.

It was your turn to roll your eyes and scowl, “Don’t push it, baby.”

“You can’t go calling me that with that tone and not be naked in this bed right now… You’re killing me.” His voice was strained, eyes dark.

You simply smiled and winked, “I will be soon.”

“Cannot fucking wait.”

It was raining in Osaka when you landed; the red eye flight causing your eyes to flutter close as you slumped in the back seat of the cab, silent. Bright headlights from the heavy traffic flashed behind your eyelids as the driver slowly made his way through the city streets, stopping every two seconds for pedestrians. You were in a foreign country; one you’d never visited before but you felt calm, safe to completely relax after the tenuous eleven hour flight.

Lando had messaged you the address to the hotel he was staying at and let you know he’d left his spare key card for you downstairs at reception. You shyly asked the attendant for the card he left, feeling a little dirty at the insinuation that you were there for a good time, not a long time. A thought entirely in your own head as the young lady gave you a polite smile and sent you on your way.

Because of Lando’s efforts to go above and beyond making your journey as stress-free as possible, you hadn’t bothered messaging him when you landed or even checked to make sure he was at the hotel. Only having carry-on gave you the freedom to jump off the plane and into a cab – no time to really think about the logistics that you had been reassured were taken care of. All you could think about was the instinctual pull you felt to get to him as quickly as you could.

Maybe you should’ve messaged. Given him the heads up as you tiptoed through the long hallway, past the large lounge room and kitchen that was bigger than your own back home. It was massive and as expected, exuding luxury. You could tell from the facetime yesterday that he was living large in the penthouse suite, indulging in all the lavish things life as a professional athlete promised. It was too much but you weren’t complaining when you touched the plush robes hung up on the back of the bedroom door or when you saw how huge, and enticing the bed was.

You let your mind wander to the possibility that maybe, just maybe you could get used to this but as soon as that thought emerged, you flicked it away. The gentle sound of running water echoing drew your attention to the door on the other side of the room, closed and most likely locked for privacy, or so you assumed.

Your feet were gliding you towards the sound, hand reaching for the handle before your brain had even registered what you were doing. Impatience and temptation were fuelling all of your movements as you clicked open the door and let out a cloud of steam, warmth instantly hitting your face as you took a couple of steps over the threshold.

“Hello?” You softly called out, not wanting to startle Lando but failing as you heard a shallow gasp from behind the steamed glass. His hand hit the pane and smudged away the moisture obstructing his sight, his narrowed eyes bloodshot from the water but he could see you, wondered for a second if you were a ghost in the fog but grinning when he realised you were here. Really here.

“Holy shit…” He breathed out and pushed open the glass door, thrilled that you were already unzipping your jeans and tugging the tight shirt from your shoulders. He didn't even have to ask.

“You scared the absolute shit out of me.”

He almost giggled as you skirted your underwear down your legs, the cool air sending chills down across your skin, “Let me in, quick!”

Lando moved aside with another chuckle, hands grasping your waist as you searched for warmth, a sigh of relief exhaled when you felt the hot water rushing over your back, eyes closed and skin tingling from the gentle touches trailing down your spine. You fluttered your eyes open; smile etched on your face as you looked up and took in your surroundings. Took in him.

“Hello.”  

“Hi.”

Lando whispered back as you reached out and placed your hands on his chest that was glimmering with water droplets the same size of his birth marks and freckles. Misshapen and lovely. The scent of lemon and sandalwood mingling together filled the air, his skin still slick and soapy from being interrupted mid-shower but he didn't care. Not one bit.

Your fingers danced across his beating heart, tracing small circles on his shoulder before gazing up through your lashes, smile coy.

“I made it…”

“You did… and you’re real,” So real he could feel you and see, for the first time in over a month, how you reacted to his touch.

“How are you real?”

“That’s way too philosophical for my mushy brain so just shut up and kiss me, please,” You teased, tone soft and arms snaking around his waist to bring his body closer; chest stuck perfectly against yours.

“That I can do,” Lando sang back as he grasped your slack jaw in his hands and pulled you in, lips tied in a wistful kiss.

It wasn’t an ordinary kiss. It was a Lando kiss, which up until this point in your life you’d never experienced before now. You felt sparkly, giddy yet set alight, burning with desire – all rolled into one wild emotion. At first you mistook it for lust, merely a physical attraction that would slowly fade away, never felt again. But it was lust disguised when you felt it for the second time and then the third and forth time, the fifth and so on.

The feeling never faded and remained even when you were miles away, kissing through the phone and pretending you were together, touching one another. Chasing that feeling over and over again.

His lips moved so perfectly with yours, in sync and the taste on his tongue reminded you of a warm summers day down on the beach, cocktail in one hand and his fingers intertwined in the other. It was visceral and destined, like you’d kissed him a million times before; but what you were doing with him was all so new, so fresh, so fucking exhilarating that you hadn’t even realised he’d moved his lips to your neck, the soft spot beneath your ear being gently nibbled by his sharp teeth.

“You smell so good... like the first night we fucked,” Lando mumbled against your supple skin, eliciting the tiniest whimper to slip from your parted lips as he brushed the palms of his hands over your perky nipples.

“Hello to you,” He whispered, pressing a soft, smirking kiss to the top of your left boob before moving to the right, “And hello to you.”

“Oh my god,” You groaned at his words, barely slapping his bicep but still making him flinch, as his breathy giggle fanned across your chest, “Such a dork.” 

Lando removed his lips, reluctantly and stood up straight again, slightly towering over your smaller frame, “I remember you saying that you liked that about me…” He defended and suggestively winked, slowly walking you out from underneath the stream of water and towards the shower wall.

“I think it came up when you were touching yourself and moaning my name… Maybe? Can’t quite recall,” He toyed, knowing exactly what had happened last week when you texted him, ‘call me asap’ in the middle of the night.

“You are doing a lot of talking for a guy who replied with ‘I’m watching the new episode of Mandalorian, can’t call’, after I sent you a photo of me literally naked… You know what, maybe I should leave you hanging, now that you’ve so kindly brought it up.”

The whiny protest and strain in Lando’s eyes softened when he felt your hand graze his thigh, fingernails lightly scratching the skin so close to where he had been aching for you. He gasped at the sensation, starved of anyone’s touch besides his own for far too long. Your eyes met in the middle, a humorous smile twitching on the ridge of your mouth when he sucked in a deep breath and his bottom lip with it as you wrapped your hand around him, twisting gently.

Long strokes sent his eyelashes fluttering shut as he pushed you against the wet titled wall; skin slapping as your back made contact. His head was titled back from the pleasure coursing through his veins, somehow still attached to his body as he let out a strangled moan. He couldn’t think straight – the words magnificent and mind-blowing tumbling around his empty head until he heard a squeak and cracked open his eyes to see you turning around, hands pressed against the crimson tiles.

He noticed a hunger burning behind your stare when you glanced over your shoulder, ass brushing over his cock like a woman starved.

“I’ve been dreaming about this ever since I left your place in London,” You confessed as Lando dipped his head and trailed open-mouthed kisses down your back, "Think about it so much."

“Fuuuck,” He grumbled as you rolled your hips steadily, stroking him between your slightly parted thighs with a raspy moan, “Shower sex specifically?”

Lando’s question was punctuated with his tip nudging forward, gliding over your clit before sinking slowly into your warmth with a gruff exhale, “Shiiit.”

A soft giggle slipped from your lips as you leaned forward and rested your forehead against the wall, droplets of water dripping down the ceramic onto your flushed cheeks. Chills crawled down your spine as Lando roughly grasped your hips, fingertips kneading the skin as he slowly fucked into you.

“Shower sex had crossed my mind but honestly, I imagined it all…”

“Did it feel this good?” Lando asked with a knowing smile on his lips as he rocked into you, slow and steady, sensing that the occasion called for something gentle, "Because it didn't in my imagination." You shook your head and grasped his wrist, needing to feel his large hand on your stomach, “Not even close, baby… I want it all.”

Hearing you stake your claim for his heart and hint that maybe you wanted more than just a couple of one night stands strung together sent a surge of serotonin through Lando's hazy mind. It may have started that way; a subtle mention of 'no strings attached' so you could both keep your hearts safe but the countless hours talking on the phone, venting about your day as if you’d known each other for years proved that it was more. The way his touch set every inch of your skin alight proved to you that he was more.

He was the match to your fuse.

A gasp slipped from your lips when he pulled out, the emptiness feeling like a punishment for god knows what but Lando was quick to spin you around and pin your back against the cold wall, “Need to change it up otherwise we’ll be calling it a night very early.”

“Can’t handle the heat?” You teased, hoisting your leg to wrap around his thigh as he stretched you out again; eyes closing for a split second to adjust to his firm thrust.

“Oh, I’m doing great, pretty girl. Dunno about you though...” Lando whispered the last part as his hand skimmed down between your legs, thumb gliding over your sensitive nub ever so lightly – enough to have you hissing in pleasure.

“I am going so good..." You exhaled, trying to keep your cool but the scrunched up brows and slack jaw exposed you and he couldn't help but admire how fucking beautiful you looked meeting his snapping hips, deliciously synchronised .

"Keep touching me like that.”

You unclasped your claws that were digging into Lando's muscular biceps and slung your arms loosely over his shoulders, chest to chest and you could feel his heart beating. It was pumping under the taut skin, thrumming against your own as he rocked his hips into you, long, teasing strokes that were clouding your mind with all sorts of dangerous thoughts.

“I like being this close to you. You’re so warm and soft and god…” He rambled off with a moan and a gritted smile as you opened your eyes and held his face in your hands, smiling back.

“I like it too.”

The words got tangled in your throat as your nails dug into the back of his head, the pace now quickening to a level you’d never really been before with Lando. Sure, you'd had sex but this was different. It was pent up, building to an unparalleled crescendo that was washing over the both of you quicker than expected. Loud moans being swallowed in a desperate kiss, hands fumbling to grab hold of any inch of skin they could to pull you through your earth shattering high. Screams muted by the sound of running water.

And all you could do was ride it out while Lando held you upright, palms shaky and fingertips barely holding on as he dipped his head into the crook of your neck; curls tickling the sultry skin. The air was thick, humidity making everything sticky as your erratic breaths rattled against one another; chests connected, limbs tangled together as you stood under the water.

Wow, was all Lando rasped with no attempt of untangling himself from your embrace until your trembling fingers traced down his back, nails dragging over his supple skin finall brought him into your vision once again. Eyes misty and tired.

“I’m really pruny.” He stated and held up his wrinkling hand; a shy smile appeared on his plush lips as you laced your fingers with his.

You hummed and tucked a couple of the damp curls that had fallen into his face behind his pointy ears, “Shall I suggest continuing this on that massive fucking bed sitting in the middle of a room that’s bigger than my apartment?”

Lando chuckled and ghosted a soft, heart-racing kiss to your pursed lips as he reached for the towel he’d set out for himself, “It’s stupid how massive it is,” He bashfully confessed, wrapping your shivering body up and guiding you out to the warm bedroom.

“It’s… Lavish and maybe a little silly.”

There was comfortable silence as you glanced around the room again, noticing the pile of clothes that Lando had been kicking around on your call yesterday, “Yeah, sorry about the mess. I was gonna clear up but I didn’t expect you to get in so early tonight – I'm bad with time zones and all that shit.”

“Well you have a lot to keep track of with all the travelling so that’s understandable and don’t worry about the clothes, my floor is ten times worse than this.”

There was something familiar in the way you soothed his nerves and made his anxieties melt away with your words. He liked that about you, that no matter what stupid thing he’d said or done, you were either backing him up or affectionately ribbing him before mollifying his worries.

“Can’t wait to see it in person soon,” Lando blurted out, not even thinking about whether that was something you wanted or if your reassuring words warranted that intense of a response.

But you smiled and nodded, again, easing his blushing cheeks that were still burning from his high only minutes ago. There was a comfortable silence as you stood up from the end of the bed and let him bury you in one of the big, fluffy robes you’d noticed on your way in – the gold italic ‘H’ shining under the down lights as you tied the belt up, watching Lando do the same.

“Very soon, I hope.”

You sealed the promise with a kiss to his bottom lip, praying that you could be more than just a stranger he’d met by happenstance. More than an acquaintance who was simply a way to pass the time while he was away from home. Away from his creature comforts.

And if he did need you in his life like you needed him, then you definitely wanted to be his friend. Maybe more.

a//n – really been feeling the lando bug recently so let me know what you thought of this little one-shot! this will actually be the last of the #monzamashspecial celebrating 700 followers and funnily enough, i just passed 1k this morning, i think? so thank you all so much for the support. i still have a couple of great suggestions that i will get to next so keep an eye for that x masterlist | askbox

#lando norris #lando norris one shot #lando norris imagine #lando norris x you #lando norris fanfic #lando norris smut #f1 smut #f1 imagine #f1 one shot #formula 1 imagine #f1 writing #monzamashmasterlist #the monzamash special #lost in japan fic

[dawn-moths]

Tomura x Reader

word count: 1,300+

(You tend to Tomura’s dry, cracked hands and itchy skin while the two of you watch a movie.)

disclaimer/content warning: no warnings apply! just a lil sfw drabble in honor of tomura’s birthday. also reader has a technology/hacking quirk. enjoy!

The light from the television cast the room in a pale glow, muted colors shifting from blue to green and back to blue again as the scene of the movie oscillated between the perspective of the two main characters— the protagonist and antagonist about to come to a head.

Tomura was enraptured, unable to tear his unblinking gaze from the screen as the tense music began to pick up speed, the cuts between the two opposing sides getting faster and faster until they met on the same ground, the final fight about to build to a crescendo.

You, however, were currently focused on something much more important than a dramatic psychological thriller you’d already seen a million times.

Because, being carefully massaged between your soft little hands was one of Tomura’s big, rough palms, the skin cracked and flaking with irritation.

“Tomu…” you murmured, sort of with a concerned, sympathetic coo. “I told you… you don’t need to wait until they’re this bad to come to me. I can do it nightly, I don’t mind.”

All he gave in response was a simple hum and a barely detectable nod. You felt his hand tense slightly in yours as the fight took a turn and the villain got the upper hand. You knew that’s who he was rooting for, though, unfortunately, very few films ended with the bad guys winning in the end.

You continued to work the first layer of lotion into one of his hands, then reached over to grab the other from his lap, giving it the same treatment. It was a thin, lightweight hand cream that, for you, normally did the trick. In the colder months, maybe you would have to reapply it two or three times a day, at most, but for Tomura, you’d gathered every lotion, cream, and salve within your moisturizing arsenal to treat him with.

All it took was one look at his hands to know it was going to be a lengthy process.

“Just tell me if any of it starts to burn or sting,” you instructed him, finishing with his left hand and retaking up the right one where, just as you’d thought, the first layer of lotion had already soaked all the way in and left his hand still feeling dry, albeit slightly less rough. “And if you notice any unusual redness by tomorrow you need to—”

“I know, I know,” he sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He appreciated your help, truly he did, but he wasn’t used to having someone fuss over him like this. The care you offered was still a foreign thing to him.

He remedied the harsher edges of his voice then by looking over and giving a small grin, chapped lips beseeching of your attention as well. Lightly squeezing your hand in his, he said, “I’ll let you know.”

That seemed to placate you, for the time being at least, and you resumed your work tending to his hands.

“You better…” you muttered with a crooked grin.

Now moving onto the second layer, you flipped open the cap of a thicker, slightly stronger eczema cream. It would help lock the moisture in better than the surface layer that you’d just finished applying. It was your favorite for whenever you, yourself, encountered any stubborn dry patches on your own skin. A few days of this stuff and your ailment would disappear. You figured it would take a few weeks to have even half the effect on Tomura, though, it wasn’t so much the appearance of his skin that concerned you. It was more so how the constant itching sensation affected him.

It was painful, you could tell. It showed in the way he flinched and hissed and scratched himself raw, carving new scars over old ones. It hurt you to watch him hurting, so whatever you could do to help him feel more comfortable in his own skin, you were more than willing to try.

“Ah, man…” you heard Tomura grumble, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “They always let the heroes win. So predicable…”

He turned his attention away from the movie— there was only about ten minutes left now anyway— and instead decided to focus more on you now.

“What’s this one do?” He half-mockingly, half-curiosity inquired, plucking up step three of your six step lotion lineup for the night. He narrowed his eyes as he read the packaging, smirk widening as he asked with a bit of a chuckle, “And what the fuck is colloidal oatmeal?”

You swiped it from his grasp, motioning for him to give you back his hand.

“It helps your skin!” was all you could offer in defense. And then, before he could tease you any further, you said, “Now stop stalling and sit still.”

To humor you, Tomura complied, though the way his entire body relaxed the more you lulled him with the soothing circles you massaged into his hand spoke to just how much he’d needed this. Craved it. He never asked for it himself, but whenever you told him to sit down and let you tend to him, he never tried to argue.

“Y’know, I’ve been trying to do some research,” you eventually admitted, “and I think I might’ve found a few products that could really give you some relief in the long term. They’re pricey but…”

“Well,” Tomura shrugged. “That’s what shoplifting was invented for.”

At that, you gave a gentle chuckle. “Well, some of these things are prescription only…” You shot him a coy glance. “Which is why I’ve also been researching how to commit prescription fraud.”

“Ah,” he replied, perking with sarcasm. “Glad to see your robbery skills are leveling up.”

You let out another laugh, opened the cap to the next ointment. “Forging medical documents might be the boss battle,” you joked.

“Yeah…” he sighed, something in his expression softening then. “But if anyone can beat it, it’s gonna be you.”

You felt yourself warming to his praise. You were his favorite little hacker, after all, your quirk allowing you to enter into any kind of technology— the internet included— and navigate through it as if it were a physical space, your consciousness traveling into the coding and giving you the ability to alter things, to fidget with and rearrange the contents like they were items on a shelf or paintings on a wall.

By now, you were nearing the end of your moisturizing process, a pile of previous lotions, potions, oils, and hand creams collecting on your side of the couch.

“How does it feel?” you asked him. He hadn’t complained about any discomfort, but you still wanted to make sure.

“Mm, pretty good, I think,” he answered. Though, what he really liked most about these exchanges wasn’t necessarily the effect it had on his skin, but rather getting to have your full attention, privately, away from the other members of the League.

He liked how meticulously you tended to his hands, making sure to get every inch from fingertips to wrists.

He liked how you touched him with such gentle care, dare it be compared to love.

“Good,” you smiled, interlocking your fingers with his as soon as you were done. After these sessions, your palms were even softer than they'd been at the start.

You snuggled against his shoulder, resting your head against it even though it was a bit boney. His hand grasped yours just a little tighter, a silent plea for you to stay here, like this, with him, for just a while longer.

“Thank you…” Tomura eventually muttered, sounding halfway to dozing off. You were starting to drift too, so you almost missed it. But once it registered to you you grinned, softly nuzzling against him.

“Anytime,” you murmured.

Anytime.

#happy birthday to our boooooy!!! #I just wanna take care of him 🥺 #tomura shigaraki #tomura x reader #tomura x you #tomura x y/n #boku no hero academia fanfiction #bnha x reader #bnha x you #bnha x y/n #my hero academia fanfiction #mha x reader #mha x you #mha x y/n #drabble

[gradientsys]

thinking about how important rose asking roxy if she liked wizards was, and how important her answer was. by roxy saying she actually does love wizards it kinda forces rose to recontextualise every action mom took with the new lens that she actually DID like wizards and it wasn't nearly the passive aggressive gesture rose thought. it's 100% clear that interests were transferred between each kid's alpha and beta counterpart, that much is obvious, so with rose now knowing that roxy actually did like wizards, its possible for her and us to assume that for the most part, everything mom lalonde did was out of genuine care for rose, but saddled with the pressure of the end of the world and a susceptibility to alcoholism, she just had no idea how to show it, and still wanted to give rose what she saw as a normal, feminine childhood (one that she never had if u want to get transgender.) and shit like this makes me LOVE homestuck to DEATH because you can glean and interpret literally so much about rose, roxy, and mom lalonde from these lines

and sure rose does explicitly say that it puts a lot of things into perspective about roxy and mom but the same thing applies here. rose says that its her fault pretty lightly, but there's so much more to it. rose has gone from holding so much bitter contempt for her mother to idolising roxy (and obviously mom posthumously) as her perfect mother who little rose just couldn't understand. this journey of blaming herself started with her drinking on the meteor and meeting roxy is the next milestone in it. it's just the perfect encapsulation of roses own loathing, either she projects her hatred onto her surroundings, or inward. she projects her hatred for being caged and her need to be seen by blowing up sburb gates and aggressively rejecting sburbs quests. she then projects it outward against kanaya and jade in small amounts, and then onto jack resulting in her death. (obviously there was other motivations for how rose acted with kanaya and jack - a crush and jack murdering her mother - but rose chronically needs to be seen and needs attention, which she got from kanaya meddling into her problems like a concerned mother would #mommyissues and jack killing mom was a highly extreme tipping point in her turn towards the horrorterrors.) the same pattern happens with mom. rose sees mom as a passive aggressive hag who simply didn't understand rose and sought to make her life difficult, but now she's a loving mother who rose just couldn't appreciate as a child. both of her viewpoints are based around something that a singular party couldn't do, rather than a more holistic approach. again she projects outwards and then inwards, and it's so important how she does this. and there is some truth to her view of mom post-meeting roxy! we can interpret that mom lalonde was a kind hearted, well intentioned mother who really loved rose and played roses games to feel closer to her daughter, but she was 100% an unfit mother, and rose is unable to accept the nuanced outlook - mom lalonde was by all means a caring person who really did love rose and care about her interests, but rose was still absolutely neglected/abused by mom lalonde. and personally, i think it is SO important that rose thinks this. the fact that the characters in homestuck are kids is obviously imperative, and I think roses evolution in thinking about her mother is such a raw microcosm in a child not being able to accept that they genuinely were abused, even with evidence to the contrary. it's also a testament to just how thematically rich and rife with content to analyse homestuck is, and just how amazingly subtle it can be. hussie absolutely glosses over serious subjects like this in a kind of slapdash way sometimes, roses alcoholism is a pretty big example, but forgetting the author entirely, it's an incredibly compelling way to show a scared, traumatised child trying desperately to understand her upbringing and her parent. i think rose would still be pretty stubborn about it into earth c days, but I feel like she would definitely accept it in time. she'd probably have a similar arc to jade honestly, because she too has so much to accept in regards to her childhood being Bad, Actually. dave would also provide insight on this and living with kanaya, the person she projected her desperate, gnawing need for motherly care on when she was 13, would definitely give her an environment and perspective to reconcile with her having a bad childhood. with a decent support network and Actually facing her internal hatred and biases, probably kicking and screaming because that's just how rose is, rose would be able to accept that mom lalonde neglected her

#god i fucking love homestuck! i love analysing stuff #homestuck #meta #rose lalonde #roxy lalonde #mom lalonde

[irkimatsu]

Husk needs all the love. So maybe fem!reader and Husk have been dating for awhile and even though he loves the affection and attention she gives him, he's still a little hesitant because of past experiences with relationships. But then she tells him "I love you" for the first time ❤️

Good/bad news, depending on your perspective - I went for an angsty hurt/comfort route on this one. I love Husk so much, I just want to take care of him...

Reader is questioning their relationship with Husk, Husk comes home injured one night, care is given and feelings are exchanged. Husk is a mess but he wants to be better, even if he thinks it's hopeless. Sex is mentioned, but over all SFW. About 2k words.

You and Husk have been together for about six months… you think. It depends on how you define “together”.

In some ways, he dotes on you. He loves giving you gifts, whether those gifts are physical items that immediately made him think of you, or songs he writes and performs just for you. He often takes you out for dinner, shows, and dancing, and has a great memory for the types of meals and shows you enjoy. Even the physical intimacy is incredible. He may not be one for public displays of physical affection, but behind closed doors he’s such an adoring partner. He told you from the start that for him, sex should be an experience shared by all parties involved, not just something that one side gives while the other takes, and oh, the way he shows it! Whether cuddling, making out, or having sex, Husk never leaves you wanting, and always makes sure you’re comfortable before it’s time for you to go to sleep or part ways. When you think about how attentive he is, you feel like you couldn’t ask for a more perfect partner.

But when it comes to emotional matters, it’s like dating a brick wall.

You spend so much time with him, and yet you barely know a damn thing about him. Sure, he’s shared some pieces of his past, like his dreams of being an internationally renowned performer that he crushed beneath the weight of his own vices and weaknesses. But in the present day, if he has any emotions besides “drunk”, you’re not aware of them. Sure, he seems happy when he gets to spend time with you, but he actively refuses to say so out loud.

“I like spending time with ya, but that’s all this is. We both know I’m gonna fuck this up eventually. Let’s just enjoy this while it lasts.”

He didn’t even seem upset when he told you that he knew his time with you would be limited before he hurt you. To him, it was simply an inevitable fact of nature.

You’ve tried so hard to break down his walls and offer him some much needed affection. He does genuinely seem to love it when you cuddle him and compliment him. He brightens at how well you remember what little he’s told you about himself, from his favorite songs and movies to the exact way he loves having his back massaged. And even though he refuses to admit to any of it, you can tell when he ends a night even more agitated than usual. He may tell you not to bother when you offer to keep him company after he closes the bar down, but he’ll accept it after some pressing, and you know he appreciates the attention from the way he starts clinging to you and purring.

But if you actually try to ask him exactly what has him agitated, he’ll refuse to answer. Maybe he’ll bitch about Alastor, but he’s never been clear about what his relationship with the Radio Demon is, and he won’t offer any other clues about anything that bothers him.

You once tried to tell him you loved him. He snapped at you not to say that shit before the phrase had fully left your mouth.

“What did I tell you about not getting too close to me?!”

It’s not like you don’t see where he’s coming from when he calls himself a fuckup. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him sober, and you’ve tucked his barely-coherent self into bed on numerous occasions. He’s had to cancel dates last-minute because he gambled away your concert tickets, and he often disappears in the middle of the night and refuses to say where he’s been. Sometimes you have a guess when the next morning involves a date cancellation, but other times all you can tell is that his nightly adventure has set him so on edge that he won’t leave his room or accept your company.

Why won’t he tell you anything? Why won’t he let you care about him? For all his talk about how people need to be honest and open about their feelings, he sure as hell isn’t saying shit about his own.

It’s the middle of the night, and you can’t sleep. You’d initially hoped for Husk to ease you to sleep with a hug and a lullaby, but he’s not answering his bedroom door. You didn’t find him in the lobby, either, so at this point you figure he’s either passed out drunk or out gambling again. It’s not the answer you want when you’re looking for your partner, but you’re still trying to be patient and accept that he has inner demons you’re nowhere near equipped to fight for him.

Patience. A man like Husk needs patience. But how much more patience can you have when he won’t even let you try?

You’ve given up on trying to sleep for now, and are instead lounging on the lobby couch and reading a book, not truly absorbing the words on the page as your mind wanders to thoughts about the relationship you’ve found yourself in.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts and your book as the front door to the hotel creaks open, followed by a familiar voice quietly cursing. Husk limps through the door, which is your first of many clues that something is terribly wrong.

He’s hunched over even more than usual, and he swears or hisses through his teeth every time he puts pressure on his right leg. It takes him a second to get moving again after every step. He’s clutching his left arm, and both of his wings are drooping and slightly crumpled.

“Husk?!” you shout as you spring up from the couch and run to him, all doubts about your relationship flung completely from your mind. “What happened?!”

He seems surprised to see you at first, but he swallows down any visible emotions as quickly as he can. “I’m fine,” he grumbles as he limps past you. “Just tired. Long night.”

“Of course you’re not fine! Come on, lean on me.” You grab his good arm and pull it away, and are horrified to see the bloodstained fur surrounding a nasty gash in his arm. “Husk!”

“I’m fine…” he repeats, even while breathing heavily through the pain.

“I’ll get you cleaned up. You’re not going upstairs alone.” You sling his good arm around your shoulder, and you slowly walk him up to his hotel room.

—

He keeps insisting he’s fine, but he’s not physically fighting your attempts at taking care of him. You’re not sure if it’s because he really does want your affection or because he’s too tired and in too much pain to protest, but either way, you’re glad he hasn’t chased you out of the room yet. You’re not a medical expert by any means, but he does seem soothed by the warm, wet rags you’ve wrapped around the wounds on his arm and his leg. For now, he’s laying on his back with his head in your lap and letting you gently stroke his head.

“What happened?” you ask.

He responds with a hollow laugh. “Told you I’m a fuckup,” is all he has to offer.

“Who did this to you?” you continue. “Why?”

“Does it matter?” he asks. “You don’t need to get involved in this shit.”

“I just want to help…”

“Yeah? How are you gonna help? You know a secret to getting me out of a million different debts with the fucking mob?”

Well, that’s more information than he’s offered before. “You’re in debt?”

“Ugh… didn’t mean to say that…”

“Husk… please talk to me. You’re always letting me talk to you when something’s bothering me…”

“This is way bigger than you can handle, doll. It’s been going on for years before this hotel even existed.”

“I still want to know… I want to know what’s going on with the person I lo- the person I care about.”

Husk groans, either in exasperation or pain. “You better not do anything stupid with what I’m about to tell you. I haven’t been able to save myself for years. Like hell you’ll be able to do anything about it.”

“At least let me hear you out,” you insist.

“All right… I’m in debt, like I said. It’s hard not to be when you’re a fucking gambling addict. There’s debts I’ve owed since back when I was an Overlord.”

“You were an Overlord?” This part is news to you.

“...I’ll tell you about that later,” is how he closes that subject. “I’ve been going out trying to win my way out of those debts, but more often than not, gambling just puts you further in the hole. The group I played with last night are an especially ruthless bunch. I got desperate enough to try to cheat my way into a win… and I got caught.”

“And then they…”

Husk scoffs. “Yeah. They weren’t happy. Probably would have killed me if they had any angelic weapons on ‘em. They still fucked me up pretty badly. I’m not as strong as I used to be, and even if I was, ten-on-one ain’t great odds. Would have been worse if I didn’t somehow manage to crawl out of there.” He sighs. “I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve gotten roughed up over a bad hand of poker. I was just able to hide it from you until now.”

“I wish you would have told me,” you say. “I could have taken care of you…”

“Why are you so desperate to take care of a fuckup like me?” he asks. “It’s not the first time I’ve gotten myself into some deep shit, and it’s not going to be the last. This is what you’re signing up for by insisting on hanging around me. What are you getting out of this?”

“You’re not a fuckup, Husk. You’re a performer, a dreamer, an artist… you’re attentive, patient, caring… you’re my best friend. You have issues, but who doesn’t, especially down here? But I know who you are underneath it all, and it’s more than worth it.”

He doesn’t seem to believe you, but he doesn’t say anything about it either way. He simply falls silent and closes his eyes as you stroke his hair.

“Husk?” you say after about a minute.

“Mm?”

“...I love you, Husk.” It’s out of your mouth before you can stop yourself. You don’t care how he reacts to it; it needs to be said.

“Even when I’m like this?” he asks.

“Especially when you’re like this,” you assure him. “Especially when you need it most.”

“I’m not gonna get better. Is this really what you want to be stuck with?”

“Who says you won’t?” you ask. “There’s nothing stopping you from trying, right? And you know I’m here to help you, if there’s anything I can do…” You gently stroke at the tuft of fur on his chest, lightly pulling out the tangles.

“...I don’t want to hurt you,” he finally says. “I never wanted to hurt anyone who loved me. But I couldn’t fix myself for them… what if I can’t fix myself for you?”

“It’s enough for me if you try. You have me, you have Angel, you have Charlie… you’ll get through this. It’s not too late.”

“You really believe in Charlie’s mission, huh…”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was possible.”

He relaxes in silence for a few minutes as you continue to stroke his chest. 

“...I wanna go to sleep,” he finally says.

“Of course.” You help move him up to his pillows, going slowly and carefully to not aggravate his wounds any more than you have to. Once you have him in position, you go into the bathroom to get some clean rags, then return to change the makeshift bandages you’ve made for him.

“Do you want me to leave you alone tonight?” you ask as you tuck the rag around his leg.

He doesn’t even need a second to think about it. “No. I want you to stay.”

“Then I’ll stay.” Once you’re sure he’s comfortable, you join him on the other side of the bed. He groans in pain, but still moves to wrap an arm around you and pull you close. His wings don’t blanket you like they sometimes do, but you know it’s for the best if he doesn’t move them right now. You pull him in against your chest, finally feeling ready to fall asleep.

“Hey…” he says quietly just before you drift off.

“...I love you, too.”

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin husk #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel husk x reader #hazbin husk x reader #irk blubbers about nothing #irk got asked a thing #irk talks to strangers #irk huskposts

[missmists]

First bookbinding project a success. I think that my cat approves because he would not stay out of my photos. Five months in the making, but I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

I started with @armoredsuperheavy's amazing fanbinding tutorial to create a typeset of each work in @erisenyo's Burning Bright AU published on Ao3. Then had to reread the works in the new format and edit as I went to make sure everything was formatted correctly, (combined word count somewhere around 1.3 million) that took over a month all by itself.

I picked up a copy of Introduction to Bookbinding & Custom Cases by Tom and Cindy Hollander from my local library, to look at some detailed how to images and get multiple perspectives on construction methods. Excellent book, I do recommend.

My hunt for materials included a trip to Detroit with a side stop at Blick to look at decorative papers in person. Blick and the fine people at Hollander’s ended up having everything I needed to make covers. So between my brother kindly 3d printing me a punch cradle, making a DIY sewing frame of my own invention (courtesy of scrap lumber and a trip to the Lowe's hardware department), and three reams of late night printing, I managed to amass all my supplies.

Folding three reams of paper into signatures (the little bundles you sew together) takes about five days if you don't want to lose your mind or your place, and longer if you discover you need to fix things because that definitely happened. Then you get to unfold them to stab holes in them which is as terrifying at first and therapeutic by the end as it sounds.

Next came weeks of sewing books together, a magical process. I learned three new knots, repeatedly stabbed myself (because all forms of creation forcibly demand blood sacrifice) , and felt like I was roleplaying a monastic librarian from the time of Gutenburg. That's 600 years ago, 24ish generations, over 8million ancestors since then (by geometric progression, which excludes the possibility that any of my peasant ancestry is from small towns which is you know likely but I digress) and here I sat sewing pages together in a basement because story is the most sacred of human arts as it binds communities together and shapes perceptions of the self and our brethren, of outsiders allies and enemies, of the world as we know it and as it may come to be. Did I mention sewing books felt magical.

Then came the glue. So much glue. Multiple types of glue. All sticky. all stuck to me. I smeared glue with my fingers like a child.

At last it was time for the covers. Choosing combinations of the decorative papers and bookcloth and making sure I could get enough out of each material for what I needed. Precise cutting so many thanks to the architecture school professors who showed me how to properly cut chipboard. Then measuring and gluing, and more measuring, and more gluing. At last press a little groove by the spine and repeat eleven times.

Then I get to impress all my people with my latest and possibly coolest maker skill unlock, I am a book binder.

Bottom to top in the stack or left to right at the bottom are: These Things Written  These Things Unsaid with Without Consent These Things Known with A Third Chance (or a First) Oh, The Way Your Makeup Stains My Pillowcase That Love You've Been Looking For  All I Need Is To Be Struck (By Your Electric Love) To Open Every Door to Night, To Meet Each Rising Sun (my favorite) Love Is In the Hair (fanart of this one originally lead me to read the series, thanks @ash-and-starlight) Lessons in Proper Asset Management Tangled Up With You  To Be Named, To Be Known (To Be Loved)

#fandom #fanbinding #book binding #book making #zukka #zukka nation #zukka fanfic #avatar #atla #atla azula #atla sokka #atla zuko #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #erisenyo

[franklyimissparis]

hi there can i ask what are your favourite fics??

ahhhhhh this was so hard to narrow down since i think i have something like 300 beatles fics bookmarked on ao3 (plus a ton saved from livejournal but i’ve only included ao3 ones here). at first i was gonna pick a top 5 or top 10 but that was too hard so here are my top 24-ish i think? could have picked a lot more tbh. i only included fics that are completed, even though there are a lot i love that are either WIP or abandoned. also didn’t include any modern AUs though there’s a lot of those that i love as well! if anyone has any specific requests for other fic reqs i’m always happy to suggest more :)

on our way back home by kathleenishereagain

this fic has the most kudos in the fandom for a reason! old paul time travels back to the touring days and his relationship with john changes from there. love the way they integrated the magical realism into this and it’s just such a beautiful, touching story.

knowing that the sun is there by tarenas

john comes out after brian dies. lovely look at john’s individual relationships with all of the beatles and cynthia (but especially his relationship with paul of course)

cutting water with a knife by savageandwise

may’s perspective on john and paul. love love love. heartbreakingly realistic and so poignant. feels like it could have been a cut chapter out of loving john.

i’m so tired, my mind is set on you by dornfelder

god how i wish this is what would have happened in india. i’ve read this fic so many times, it just feels so real i keep coming back to it.

india, actually by inspiteallthedanger

jane notices that john’s india tapes are all of paul a la love actually. love jane in this and paul and john’s dynamic is great.

grow old with me by inherownwrite

john and paul in scotland in the 80s - paul breaks his arm and gives john a fright. such a tender picture of what could have been had things not ended how they did.

i was a younger man then (now) (post hoc) by fingersfallingupwards

using the time traveller’s wife premise in quite literally the best way i have ever read. the way it unfolds is…. stunning.

having coffee by dornfelder

old paul and john reflecting on life and being outed in the 80s through an interview. lovely.

to lead a better life by downtothelastdrop

1966 ringo mistakenly thinks john and paul are together, leading to a revelation of paul’s own.

going nowhere by inspiteallthedanger

fix-it where after surviving the shooting, john moves back to england.

if i could choose my own name, it’d be the one that falls best from your lips by kandakicksass

one of my favourite reincarnation fics ever. i really enjoyed how simple it was, how the pieces just slid into place so naturally.

the birthday party by merseydreams

everyone reunites for ringo’s 40th in july 1980. an excellent look at the dynamic between all the bugs and how things could have gone.

something old something new by inspiteallthedanger

john shows up to pattie and eric’s wedding causing a beatles reunion for the first time in years and some shenanigans and talks with paul. this fic is hilarious and THIS is my george, i love him so much

1967 by please_dont_wake_me

paul and john stay in paris after their 1961 trip. they return to liverpool in 1967 as a couple. this feels so real, the way every minor character is written… the dynamics between them all - every detail is excellent.

the beatles holiday au series by econhomework

an AU that follows john and paul (and george/ringo) being a committed couple in the 60s/70s and having their children via surrogacy. i’ve been subscribed to this series for years now and it’s a lot of fun getting an update that builds upon the last around every holiday, giving a little snippet into their lives as the kids grow up chronologically. (they also have other fics set in this AU in their beatles fic requests series)

the brother dearest series by javelinbk

jim and mimi get married, causing john and paul to become step-brothers (sort of). interesting premise and an even better execution of it. not to mention the idea of jim and mimi getting together will never fail to make me laugh (but also sort of makes a lot of sense???)

how much was mine to keep by mynamesbetty

paul is ‘unstuck in time’ and lives his life out of order a la slaughterhouse five (one of my favourite novels). done very well.

take a sad song and make it better by javelinbk

1980s paul moves his ex-boyfriend into his house because he’s an idiot but i love him. great fix-it.

christmas lights (keep shinin’ on) by distinguished_like

paul invites john to the mccartney family christmas party, leading to some discussions between the two. very cute early years fic.

here today by herspecialagent005

december 1980 except john and paul are hosting a dinner party for some friends in scotland, with magical realism elements. ugh loved this so much, especially linda and just all the little details of john and paul settling into a life together.

kissing the blarney by tikk

paul is the blarney - this turns into a superstitious ritual in the band which emotionally complicates things but ends very satisfyingly.

writing letters (on my wall) by 15clubsaday

70s paul writes to john under a pseudonym while they aren’t speaking. newly finished and wonderful!

the jumper by merseydreams

john sees denny laine wearing HIS jumper and flies back to england to retrieve it. this fic has everything: miscommunication, john being a dumb shite, jealousy, confused denny laine, paul in all his 70s glory, and lesbian linda. truly could not ask for more.

back to where you belong by sleeprettydarling

george on johnandpaul throughout the early years. i’m a big sucker for the george & johnandpaul dynamic and how complicated and devastating it can be so naturally i loved this.

#sorry this is so long anon! but thanks for the ask hope you found some new fics to check out! :) #asks #mclennon #beatles fic #john and paul #beatles rpf #john lennon #paul mccartney #the beatles

[freakywrites]

Sub König x femdom reader SMUT!!

Part 2 (purely smut)

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.

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Smut dictionary- degrading kink, femdom, male sub, orgasm denial, mommy kink, Dacryphilia

I think that’s about it…..idk Not edited so maybe a lil typos

🩷🩷🩷🩷

The relationship for You and König from your parties perspective was seen as two rivals. You two were both at each others throat trying to one up each other which was normal for you but König? He was more of the quiet type except for in the battle field where he was the most brutal and rather loud but they don’t know your relationship.

Not at all.

You could feel his eyes on you again you turn back and there he is, the silent colonel staring at you with intensity as you where showing the party some knew information on a table scattered with files and maps. Still explaining you had the brilliant idea to tease him by arch your back a little while you reach over to get a pen from the other side of the table grabbing it tightly to your hand and ended your meet-up for that day so you can get ready for tomorrows new plan.

The stares of the masked man still lingered as you went on with your day you could see him standing from the corner of your eye, it felt humorous to think you can’t see him. He is massive! What an idiot. You looked back at him and he flinched as you walk towards him. “Hello sir, your eyes been on me all day. What did I do wrong?” You asked looking up at him with your arms crossed his eyes softened and he mumbled “pl-please….meet me at my room please….” He tried to look stronger by puffing out his chest and clenching his fists that where at his sides. From someone else perspective it would look like he was in control but that would be far from the truth.

You could burst out laughing at his nervousness but that would lead others into the conversation. “I will soon colonel, ok? Be patience for me yes?” You said smiling innocently and König lets out a huff his hand raises to hold yours but you swat it away making him let out a gasp. “No touching remember? Wait for me at your room ok?” You hissed ending the conversation as you walk away leaving him there standing pitifully.

That night when everyone was asleep you snuck into König’s room and smiled as you saw his large frame sat on his bed hands on his lap fidgety fingers shaking and picking at skin. Gloomy eyes turn bright with joy as soon as he noticed your presence watching you shut the door quietly. “Did you miss me König?” You asked tilting your head and the taller man nodded eagerly. “yes- ye-yes” he repeated frantically his voice trembling you almost felt bad for him…. Almost. You walked to the taller man lifting his head up with your hand his eyes stare at yours you can feel him gulp fluttering eyes filled with need.

“my poor baby you did so well!” You said getting onto his lap his shaky hands tried to hold your waist but he flinched as you continued to voice. “…but you lost it on the last day! You know what that means right baby?“ you smiled sinisterly “whatever I do… no touching ok? This will be one of your punishments today for being so impatient..” You watched his eyes gloss over with panic and sadness as his hands gripped the edge of the bed where he sat. “Yes” he said sadly eyeing you. You stand taking of the pajama pants you had on at the time along with your panties looking at him as you touch yourself teasing him and you can see his chest rise and fall his blue eyes hungrily scan your body then down to your cunt, you can already see a tent rising in his grey sweat pants you let out a giggle.

“stay still and be a good boy for me ok König?” You said straddling him, your left hand around his neck the other pulling down his pants his length springing out as König let out a whimper at the cool breeze hitting him. As per your orders he hasn’t touched himself, touched you, he hasn’t even watched porn but you didn’t order him to do that he was so sensitive it hurts he needed you so bad. “P-please mommy- mama- please” He begged looking at your fingers trace gently over him he needed more, he need everything, he needed you.

You turned your attention to him “use your words König” you demanded him. his hips stuttered up to get any friction but you moved your hand away from him. he spoke “please touch me- I want it please mommy…” he begged over and over again almost to the point of crying you kissed the outer corner of his eye and whispered “sense you asked so nicely baby…” you smiled as your hand traveled under his mask you spoke. “now suck.” you comande and he obediently did his mouth lapping at your fingers first then taking them into his mouth suckling it as he looked at you his eyes dilating as you say your praises.

Once your fingers where well coated your hand moved to König’s lonely manhood teasing the tip as you watch his eyes roll back at your warm hand barely touching him. “aw you missed me so much huh baby?” You laughed out as he nodded his head looking down at your hand teasing his length.

He gasped, hips twitching as you started to trace the veins of his dick letting out a whimper as you begin to move in a good pace. You see him buck his hips which you quickly push down. Your face turn to him kissing his masked jaw. “you’re such a slut you know König? So impatient for me huh?” You said and König whined. “n-no not a slut- no” He said his head laying on your neck. It made you laugh when you felt him pulse on your hand. “oh ya? Then why do you like it when I degrade you huh? You like it when I call you names?” You whispered in his ear and he shivered clenching the bed sheets as he felt himself close.

“you’re acting like a deprived whore, you like that nasty stuff huh? Creep~” You spat with a nasty grin on your face. The taller man lets out a shaky semi-loud moan as he was on the edge seeing stars but the high left him as you stopped all movement your thumb squeezing gently at the slit of his tip. “wa-what are y-you mommy- plea-hah plea-I” he was letting out begs and sobs you kissed his neck and masked cheek smiling evilly “do you remember König? It will be a punishment today!” You say bubbly the taller man was about to protest but stopped when he was pushed down to the mattress it squeaking under his weight.

His doe eyes stared at you his black eye makeup a little smeared from letting out his little pathetic cries. You positioned yourself on his length your hand cupping his chest rubbing circles on them making him let out shaky breath.

“Be a good boy and maybe I’ll let you have your way with me~”

♡´･ᴗ･`♡

A/N!

WAAH WOH OH MY my first smut! Honestly imma bout to throw up cuz I’m still not healthy yet 😞

Buttt I had a lot of fun making this! Please understand I’m not really skilled with smuts sense idk I don’t think I’m that good at writing them! I hope you do like it!

Love y’all xoxo 💋

#könig smut #könig fanfiction #könig x reader #könig x fem reader #x fem reader #sub könig #fanfic #x reader #smut #mw2 fanfic #smut fic #first smut #dom fem reader #sub male character

[sleeplesssmoll]

Analysis: Another perspective into Sonetto and Vertin's complicated childhood relationship using new information from Green Lake.

We know Vertin and Sonetto were not on good terms after the frog event in the hallway but after playing through Green Lake, I think Vertin still tried to befriend Sonetto. She didn't give Sonetto things from the outside world, but instead she shared her toffees. Even if they didn't speak much (Vertin mentions this when Sonetto gave her notebook. It's rare for Sonetto to talk to her first), this says volumes about their relationship to me.

Vertin, who's love language is giving/providing, found a way to give Sonetto things without making her mad. Perhaps it was more than her being nice. She wanted to befriend Sonetto, but she didn't know how to bridge the gap since her interests are the main reason they don't get along. They had nothing to bond over, but Smoltin did her best to build something. Sonetto also didn't hate the brat, but she didn't like the rule-breaking. She accepted the toffees because they didn't break the rules.

During the Green Lake event, we see Sonetto decipher Jessica’s learning style and modify her lessons around it. Sonetto is very observant.

Back to Vertin and Sonetto's childhood, What if Sonetto knew Vertin was trying to bridge the gap because giving is how she shows affection? She didn't care about the flavor. In fact, she admits she can't remember what they tasted like. But they were a gift from Vertin and she accepted them instead of breaking her heart again.

Vertin was trying to mend things but she wasn't the charismatic Timekeeper then. She was a kid who really wanted the girl sitting next to her to talk to her. She's genuinely surprised when Sonetto comes to her first after the Parade Protest, which ngl breaks my heart.

She couldn't fathom Sonetto checking up on her because she assumes Sonetto doesn't like her. Placing that into context, she “knew” Sonetto didn't like her, but Sonetto “likes” the toffees she shares with so she continued to share. The pining is real.

Unlike everyone else at the Foundation, Sonetto isn't a victim of her cheeky comebacks. Vertin is unusually quiet and soft spoken when she talks to Sonetto by time the Parade comes around. There's no playfulness in her tone or dry humor.

But her efforts were not in vain. Sonetto was highly aware of her deskmate.

When Vertin was hurt, what did Sonetto do after they spoke again?

She gave Vertin her notebook.

Sonetto isn't like Vertin with a bunch of random crap in her pockets to share, but she shared something very dear to her and wrote little notes to her in the margins. While Vertin was in a coma, Sonetto annotated her notes with the intention of Vertin reading them (can be found in Ch3 Atlas). She even left a little get-well-soon message at the end. The highly focused, no nonsense Sonetto wrote annotations in a way someone like Vertin would understand by associating them with things she might be familiar with. She's trying to speak Vertin's language because she gets that one part of her deskmate.

She is trying to wrap her head around Vertin too, even if it's not obvious in her interactions.

Vertin still has the notebook Sonetto gave her.

Moving on, Vertin might learn in a similar fashion to Jessica. Afterall, Sonetto's notes were effective at keeping her out of the guardhouse.

Vertin is a tactile person. Sonetto teaches Jessica about tangible cognition in a way similar to the notes she gave to Vertin through associations.

It's frustrating to think how much these two understood each other yet kept missing the mark because of the Foundation! Also, we can see Sonetto was distracted in some of her notes when Vertin was no longer at her side. Vertin was always a distraction, especially when she's not around.

Sonetto wanted Vertin to succeed. She wanted her to stop getting punished and just listen to the Foundation. However, once Vertin's made up her mind to leave Sonetto fights by her side, because she in fact does care about Vertin. She doesn't understand her completely, but she gets that this is important for Vertin.

And maybe at the back of her mind, seeing Vertin shot down in front of her finally planted that seed of doubt.

Sonetto never tattled in game, but she threatened to. Why? Because Vertin was going to get punished and she wanted to prevent that. Unfortunately, she couldn't. I wonder if that frustrated her? Did she see the bruises when Vertin shared her toffees after seeing Tooth Fairy? Did she feel helpless? Angry? If she's observant, she must have seen them.

In hindsight we can see TWO IDIOT CHILDREN WHO NEEDED TO HUG IT OUT.

#reverse 1999 #vertin #sonetto #why does it get sadder every time #i wonder how vertin felt when she learned Sonetto wanted toffee #im gonna fail my exam #what is sleep

[dnp-pet-rectangle]

WAD reflection from the perspective of a theatre director

Inspired by @/calvinahobbes who did an amazing job breaking down the show’s metaphors & using her English degree in this post, I wanted to share my perspective on it (even a month later) & get use out of my theatre degree lol. Also, warning, this will be very much a long, long essay with run-ons. I have ADHD & I love when my frequent hyperfixations intersect 🤪 There are major spoilers.

My Background:

I am a semi-professional theatre director, but more broadly, a theatremaker. I have a theatre degree from New York University’s Tisch School on the Arts (NYU Tisch), where I did a conservatory program with one of their studios which focused basically on those who wanted to do a little bit of everything and create new works & was the only studio training directors & playwrights. I originally went into the program as a performer. I did not mean to end up concentrating on being mainly a producer & a director, but that’s a whole other story. I also through that program had to take theatre/performance studies courses, which I loved for the most part & is an interesting interdisciplinary field. But I will try to define terms just in case since anybody reading this may not know any or all the specific terminology I might use. In short, I have a fancy degree that apparently should cost $300k 🤡 & I’m gonna actually use it with doing this lol

--

Setting the Tone:

While Dan might call this a comedy special or comedy show, and thereby comparing it to other comedians, I actually think he is doing himself and We’re All Doomed (WAD) a disservice. I saw folks compare him a lot to Bo Burnham in the chat (who was actually was accepted and almost went to NYU Tisch for a different studio that focused on solely experimental work), which makes sense considering the theatrical nature of both of them. However, Dan actually goes further into the realm of theatre because of how he utilizes his crowd work (I’ll go into that later). I recognize traditional comedy specials/standup as having jokes or stories, when doing you know like late night talk show interviews, that can be made outside of the context of the show & slip into a conversation. Or with Burnham’s Inside Out, the songs & other parts can be done or understood mainly out of context, as seen through Bo uploading them to his YouTube channel. Comedy specials have the sections of their comedy stand-up thread together, but what Dan has done is weave his sections together. The length along with the intermission/interval being a part of WAD, adds to my point that he is not treating this as different material he tested out at different comedy clubs, but as something cohesive storytelling pieces. I think in terms of testing, Phil was the main sufferer audience member of the initial materials being created.

Anyway, you cannot as easily remove it from the context at certain points, because the transitions & the order of these different sections are treated as equally important, rather than a means to move on to the next section, with some possible space for improv.

Basically, I’m bi. Sorry, my brain started thinking about BIG when I started writing “basically” at the start of that sentence. Actually, what I am trying to say is that I would classify We’re All Doomed as a one-man performance piece/show, so I will be treating it as such in my review/reflection/breakdown. The comedy of it is important and there, but I don’t think it captures what WAD entirely is.

Also, unfortunately due to where I was at mentally at the time & the location it was being performed at, I never saw this live. To be honest, how it got framed marketing-wise did not help me feel connected with the actual purpose of the show, with hope being a key element. So while this was filmed, I am as much as possible trying to remove the cinematography as an element of my analysis. However, some things might be clearer on film, as with theatrical directing, you cannot add a zoom or crop & instead are trying to ensure moments are clear to an audience by what they see and hear through drawing their attention to it. With theatre being mainly about the live output by performers and intake by the audience, at the end of the day, what my job as a director is is to direct not only how the performers share the story, but also direct the audience on what is important to catch for understanding.

--

Breakdown of Thoughts

Originally, I wanted to rewatch the show again, and started to, but considering I ended up writing about a whole page worth of things for each minute of the show & I was sleepy by the time I was like 5-10 minutes in, I decided to be nice to myself & stay up all night in my comfortable bed instead of staying up all night at my desk trying to take in-depth notes 🙃

I’m gonna breakdown this analysis/reflection into further sections, just to give myself some anchors & break up the blocks of text. Also as a way to just be that pretentious, maybe with an academic flair, as is fitting to be for something about Dan Howell (said affectionately 💕)

The Script/Writing

When considering the text of the show itself, two things came to mind for me:

(1) This is definitely what I would call intertext. Intertext is a piece of writing that relates to another or more other writings through allusions. WAD is an intertext which alludes mainly to other works of Dan’s on his YouTube channel. The ability to get the true impact of the show relies on you knowing Dan (as his internet persona) on some level. And as a theatre maker & longtime fan, I love that it is, it’s what the piece needed to be. As a theatre producer, the hiatus from engaging with his audience and the limited runway given to reactivate interest in him and his creative work I think made it difficult to get that audience in some venues, along with some other funkiness (mainly with promo) I am less knowledgeable on. But I think Dan has already learned/continues to learn from that, which I think may have been valuable for him. (sidenote: I need the tea on all that because I love knowing how presenting venues work with performers, as well as the lack of understanding they have of internet culture as it relates to venue leadership.)

(2) This was a work he made for himself. He mentions this both in the show & in reference to WAD multiple times. But I think what truly came to mind for me was that it is still powerful for him to write for himself. He is writing for what he needs to be hearing or wants to be processing creatively.

I think why it is powerful is that Dan has discussed before how much stress he put on himself regarding danisnotonfire, and later Daniel Howell, videos, focusing on the audience, and how he was presenting a specific style/quality of video to them. Add in the layer of being closeted & actively fighting internalized homophobia, and the anxiety he built up makes sense. And I might personally attribute that more to his need to pass as straight & catering I believe at one point to an audience of cishet men, whether actual or perceived by him. Not all videos, especially the most impactful ones in my opinion, rely on this, but it was a key piece of what he made during his rise in popularity on the platform. This catering slowly decreased with the amount of uploads he was doing, along with a more tangible understanding of his audience thanks to the tours he did with Phil. Basically I’m Gay I think was the true shift where he gave himself permission to write work that had a main audience of himself. That’s where his best work has come from, and I think since then, he’s been able to have the space to process things creatively through his writing.

--

The Relationship Between Performer & Audience

When I was in theatre school, my directing teacher would constantly talk about not just considering the relationship of the performers on “stage” (I did a lot of more immersive work & we only had black box theatres, which is literally a room that is floor to ceiling black) but also the relationship of the performers & the story with the audience. By Dan knowing mainly who his audience would be, the show can now play with that understanding in mind.

This leads to my point that, overall, Dan does not use the fourth wall, and I think that is what makes We’re All Doomed work. It may also be why he called it a comedy show, idk.

For those who don’t know what the fourth wall is, it is a term from theatre originally that is about the way in which a traditional theatre stage (called a proscenium) has three physical walls around it, while there is no 4th physical wall, so the audience can see the performance. If does exist physically, it is only the curtain that acts as the 4th “wall”. So, in order to keep it as a separation between the performers and the audience, the actors treat the side where the audience is as a fourth wall. When someone breaks the 4th wall, this is when they speak to audience directly, rather than to another character. Examples from English-speaking pop culture would be the asides from Hamlet or Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But when you are the only person on stage, the only way to have a fourth wall is when you don’t reference that you know there’s an audience there. Hence, a monologue where the character is talking to themselves or an entity that is not the audience directly (or assigned to be the audience by the director), it is the closest you can have a fourth wall when alone.

Dan in his videos and in his previous tours with Phil never were without direct engagement of the audience (obvious with the naming of Interactive Introverts). It was never not a variation on him speaking with the audience in any type of dialogue, even if done parasocially.

Some of that is not new to theatre, but I would say is that it has become more of a trend within new theatre starting in the early 2010s to have more interactivity and a more authentic, explicit message that no performance will be the exact same. I definitely saw that in the shows I saw both Off-Broadway (which sidenote, all that means is that there’s fewer seats in that theatre, not about quality of the work or how worth it is to engage with) and larger settings like Broadway and the West End. That’s what I love about theatre, and why my own work is more about immersion and direct audience engagement.

Now Dan’s creative works have never been skit only or interested in telling a story outside of the realm of connecting with an audience as a variation of himself, so again, him not using the fourth wall overall is appropriate and fits in with what I mentioned about intertext. The piece does however start with a fourth wall for the music number, which I will walk through fully sharing why I am saying that about the song & dance opening after establishing some other concepts to help build understanding.

--

Design Can Work With You or Against You

I just want to say out the gate that the design was done really well, and I immediately felt a need to emphasize it after watching the first 10 minutes again.

First, let’s talk about the orange & black aesthetic of the show. Dan may have simply said that the orange just looked cool, but I think I would attribute more meaning to that color. Orange brings to my mind at first instance both a bright happiness/warmth and a sense of caution and warning, like road signs (at least those in America). The themes of the show reflect these two ideas and plays with the tension between them. I don’t know if he or the team meant to have that be a conscious choice, but there’s a joke I’ve had with other directors of when they get complimented on something unexpected, they just nod and say “yes, that was a choice”, even though it was just a random thing that happened or was something that you just thought would be cool to do. Orange runs through the show’s designs and it becomes clear that it is a tool for contrast and emphasis for the points Dan & the director want to make.

Now with the design team of costumes, lights, sound, and media, I can see a clear cohesion. Good theatrical design has the designs act as a character or highlighter in the story. Bad theatrical design can take away/distract from the core intensions of the show. It was so clear to me that the design was a character. And seeing that there were two media designers make complete sense considering the labor lift of both creating the projections displayed, but also creating/filming pieces of the media itself. The music/sound and lighting work well to articulate the manic feelings it means to instill in the audience and seeing it as a director, I assume part of the creative discussion was about parts of the media played they wanted to make sure were heard, and the lights help catch attentions in service of those pulled out moments. For costumes, I think Calvina did well in her post at articulating the elements of the costume and the progression it goes throughout the show. I’d rather not take up space to say the same thing truthfully.

With all the design elements, I think three characters could be defined (not including the audience), two as main characters, and one as a supporting character. I would name the main characters as “the Circle” (the looming set piece throughout hosting the projections used throughout) and “Dan On Stage/Dan performing” (the one in the physical space) with the “voiceover Dan/inner voice Dan” as a supporting character. The voiceover only exists in the beginning, and it is only shared with us to demonstrate the way in which the Dan On Stage singing is not really that aggressively optimistic and wholeheartedly believes the words he is singing. He is not the Dan we know from the Internet, so we can cathartically laugh at the attempt to pretend everything is fine. The voiceover only has one role, and it is to force Dan to confront this breakdown has an audience.

--

Staging an Opening Sequence: Our First Stage Character is the Circle

In directing classes, often what you focus on is called stage pictures, which is meant to help you consider what the actual imagery you want to ensure the audience absorbs for their understanding of the piece. The first and last stage moment of each act should tell a basic story of what happened, and therefore, are heavily emphasized as important for directors. The Circle (capitalized for reference purposes) being lit up before the show starts and then again in conjunction with the light flashes and sound establishes the importance of the Circle to the show. When the projection comes into play, showing the speech of a 15-year-old Greta Thunberg before beginning to add more, we are then introduced to the purpose of the Circle to be an output/portal for the overstimulation of messages, in this case, I would claim it being what comes from the Internet.

The music/sound and lighting work well to articulate the manic feelings it means to instill in the audience and seeing it as a director, I assume part of the creative discussion was about parts of the media played they wanted to make sure were heard, and the lights help catch attentions in service of those pulled out moments. The Circle also through some of the lighting moments, mimic that of a clock, which again adds to the doomsday, the "end is near" type energy. To have the end of the opening sequence build to an explosion which then shows solid orange at the end while Dan is in silhouette begins the introduction to the orange emphasis & proposes a sort of prophet-like version of him after the apocalyptic imagery disappears as he rises to be seen. What we have opened with is setting the tone to how we should view these two characters of the Circle & the Dan on Stage.

--

Song Time!

Dan is such a theatre kid & I love that for him. His dramatic side shows through the moment he used a rise to start his show at the top of the stairs, first in a place of seriousness with the sharp lighting and smoke to then bring in a very happy music number. The contrast & switching of expectations is a key of comedic works, and shows through most of the phandom who did not know WAD started with that, as it is indeed funnier if it comes as a shock. The movement & music mimic what folks attribute to as musical theatre, which is campy, happy singing. Knowing he was the one who suggested the song for TATINOF, I am loving Dan clearly wanting to have that opening number of a musical moment, even if it is dripping in irony. The Circle & the lights in this acts as a supporter to the message of it being sunshine and rainbows, with literal rainbow lights included. (Sidenote: I am 99% sure the pigeon coo is Phil, so if anything, I’m disappointed he was not credited as Pigeon sound effect AND remote crisis manager. Idk why I could tell, but both times now, it’s what I immediately thought when hearing that part)

I think of the musical number as the only place where he does have a fourth wall, because the number does not directly reference the audience at the start. It’s a one-man moment and it is about the performance not the audience engagement. It starts falling away when he starts pointing out the “and you”s, but the voiceover is the real break in our understanding of the world. It is emphasized by the color inversion of the sun & sky media of the Circle. The director is saying, this is important to how you now interpret what you’ve seen & will see, this is another shift from what was established of this world.

I should mention “world” is the terminology used to name what the environment the story is being told in with consideration, especially in theatre, of how much of a need there is for suspension of disbelief. I believe this term is also referenced a lot when discussing the fantasy and sci-fi genres, since those also requires some distancing from reality for the audience. This ties into a phrase I will probably end up using a lot of “rules of the space”. When establishing this world for the show you are presenting to an audience, there is a type of logic that must be established in order to understand what is the baseline for what the audience will be engaging with over the span of the show. But the voiceover immediately changes the rules of the space, because it messes with the Dan on stage, and messes with the messaging of the Circle. It adds a new context to the Dan On Stage, as while a fan will know that this song is not in alignment of our knowledge of Dan Howell, we get confirmation that this indeed ironic and outside of the branding that Dan has boxed himself into over his time on YouTube.

But the voiceover is also not in alignment with that “branding”. It expresses concerns related to the Dan On Stage’s mental wellbeing. There is no irony or subtext in that voice, it is the most direct in speaking to Dan On Stage, because it is being said by a variation of Dan in voiceover to himself. These could be seen as questions he knows to ask himself, but as someone who advocates for mental health & shares now about being openly gay, I interpret that he may feel he cannot express that outside of his mind for fear of undermining his advocacy points. The discussion of the “wonders” of the Internet also continue building in the tension that exists throughout WAD of how Dan feels about that space. The voiceover then proposes at first a type of equal extreme, which only sees the Doom, and as someone with clinical Depression myself, I think is only a furtherance of the breakdown, rather than the reality check it started off being. Not that what is listed is wrong by any means, but the barrage of it is meant to expand the drowning feeling, not act as call to action or consideration of the intricacies for engaging in the world. With the Circle’s sun imagery & the music having been inverted and shifted to something more sinister, Dan’s movement up the stairs fits a type of circular moment from the first entry of him, where the image of the prophetic figure is questioned on how he alone will solve the climate emergency. The slap & break of character for the Dan on Stage serves to confirm our understanding of the voiceover as the voice in Dan’s head & indeed there are not two Dans.

Also, the sparklers 🎇 showing up really make the key change for the song, but my producer brain is going, “girl, of course you lost money on this show, was that so VERY NECESSARY?” But the dramatic Gemini theatre bitch in me would 100% want this too. I just don’t have a capita£ester working to get sponsorship money in my life, so I have to be reasonable 😔 Also, the confetti with the high note is peak theatre gay so I again, love that for him. And of course, the confetti is orange.

--

Hints of Orange

When the song reaches its end & the Circle starts showing squares of orange, rather than a full background, this acts as a seed for the breakdown and waterfall of cubes, which Calvina speaks to the orange cube hint at the beginning in her post. The sudden cut-out with Dan simply lit replicates a moment the Circle is not present. The Internet is not present. To crawl to a microphone, the message is not “hey this guy needs two mics”, because we see one on his face, but that the wired mic (which I will now label as “The Microphone”) is a metaphor. It’s a crawl towards sharing out, not suppression. Only when the voiceover of himself points out the audience does he does a full fourth wall break. The suppression did not work, and neither he nor the audience can believe that it was the Truth.

The wire of the Microphone being orange showcases that it was meant to be seen. I don’t think it even in play in terms of the sound, like it might not even be on, considering the feedback nightmare it would likely cause. And no standard microphone used on stages has orange wires, because that would pull the audience’s eyes to it. But that’s the point here.

The rules of the space are now this: the Circle is not always active, the Microphone has significance, the Dan On Stage knows there is an audience. None of these were true before, even the Circle was on before the start. This draws the audience to know there has been a shift & to have the first words said into the Microphone be “We’re All Doomed” solidifies the song moment was a blip, that this is really where we start at. As an example, in the social media section, Dan does a deliberate wrapping of the wire on his hand at the same time the Circle scrolls to the social media icon. It is how the director & Dan are ensuring that we understand “what he is saying and what is been shown on the screen are in tandem”, so if you’re paying attention to that wire, it signals you should look up too.

Every other prop, except I believe the gavel and wig, is also orange. The bubble gun is mainly what comes to mind for me, since the cubes are not as activated as props necessarily. But if an item is to enter the stage, what I interpret it as is that it must be orange, there must be high contrast, nothing in the physical world on the stage can become blurred, only screens have that privilege(?) to have things blend together.

--

The Power Struggle Between Dan & the Circle

Once Dan has begun directly conversing with the audience, the rules of the space are:

(1) Dan On Stage acts, the design elements react (not including the Circle)

(2) The Circle and Dan have a symbiotic relationship, as neither have complete control over the other & react to what each other are doing

(3) The icons are our guides in understanding the sectioning done throughout the show

(4) Having “One Good Night” is the goal to reach at the end of the piece

As a person, as well as discussed throughout the show, we know that Dan has a contentious relationship with the Internet. It is what has given him his living but has also caused some of his worst moments mentally (2012? I don’t know her). It is the space in which lets him have an audience who have mainly showed him support, but also the space that has fed the cynicism that fuels his clinical depression. There lies in the way in which the Circle exists on the stage & looms over Dan in the background. It’s a necessary evil of what appears on the screen.

Why do I then say that the design elements are reacting? Well, if we remove the Circle from the equation, the lights, sounds effects, and props are all cued off of something Dan does like the clown honk. However, the Circle sometimes cues off what Dan does, but sometimes instigates what Dan speaks to. That especially is evident when video clips play that invoke what media Dan has been contending with on the Internet and the consequences of those things.

The Circle exists throughout both Act One & Act Two, but only becomes passive to the piece when Dan directly shows vulnerability & the removal of protective irony. Calvina spoke to this when discussing the costume choice of him opening the jumpsuit in Act Two to show the orange tank underneath.

--

Cubes as Articulators

Oh Creator did I have to dig deep into my brain for this term of articulators. So my directing instructor had some key terms that I think I don’t think are universally used, even by American theatre directors or at least in academic settings. She defined articulators to basically be elements that helped give almost like checkpoints for the progression of a throughline in a show. For WAD, that is easily those orange cubes.

When static is displayed on the Circle’s screen each time we transition to a new section, it is not the typical emulation of TV static, it is that sea of orange squares. It is an articulation of those fear, issues, concerns, all those pinpoints Dan speaks to why he says “We’re All Doomed”.

That’s why there is the culmination of the orange cubes falling on him, when he reaches the top of the stairs at the end of Act One. When he circles back to the same stage picture of him at the top, it can been considered a repetition of the prophetic imagery I pointed out from the opening sequence. What changes is that the orange squares enter the physical world, falling onto Dan. He can no longer say they live in his head. They are here and stay in the space until the end of the show. In Act One, they are the looming issues that signal the Apocalypse. In Act Two, they are the rubble that must be sorted through.

Calvina was the one who named it rubble and the cubes as representations of Dan’s problems. To have the audience actually able to take a cube home, she argued, would be symbolic of the audience helping carry that weight. While I’d love that, I mentioned in my tags on her post that I think mentally, that rubble would still be at his feet, even with taking home that visual metaphor. This is Dan we’re talking about, and with personal responsibility being a topic of the show, while it’s not his burden to bear alone, he does have to recognize it exists.

I think the repetition of the prophetic imagery comes to its climax when in the aftermath found in Act 2, voting who to fire into space can and does end up with him being sent by the audience. It represents an understanding of where he exists now from where he did at 18 in terms of social, political, and economic access and the possibilities of his influence. There is a responsibility there that ties to how he can move in the world now publicly, so why wouldn’t he have an existential crisis?

--

It is a Comedy Though, Right?

This is hundred percent comedy, and obvious dark humor at that. As a director, I love comedy, especially this type, because when an audience gets to laugh, the armor gets stripped away. They have no built-up resistance that let’s any uncomfortable point be heard effectively. It’s why the end’s vulnerability is effective, because we have already joked and laughed about our pains and our desire for escapism. Now we are able to move on into a place of reflection.

To underline why I say this is not stand-up comedy is that Dan has made it a stage show, just one that has comedy as a vehicle for telling this “story”. His interactions with his audience, through both quips based on audience reactions or “heckling” as well as explicitly asking for input into who to shot to space or what to add as a mad lib (generic brand for law purposes), are about being blended into the loose narrative constructed already, not actually to be reactionary like most crowd work I associate with stand-up comedy.

If anything, I could argue that it could be considered a comedy special that “Dan On Stage” is trying to make, but there is actually conflict being introduced that disrupts his set (both the comedy one and the physical one). There is clearly a showing of meta, as Dan makes sure to share thoughts on the creation of the show, the reactions from his overall show branding & imagery, the use of the lift because it was expensive to have. Dan’s comedy style can never be told without reference to behind the scenes, because if this is a creative means to process feelings, there are things about the show & its making that impact what needs to be processed too. It is also related to how his work is strengthened by acknowledging the two-way street of being in a parasocial relationship with his audience.

--

Can We Have One Good Night?

Another term central to what my directing teacher spoke of was the “Core”, usually a question, though not always, that motivated what was being explored over the course of a theatre piece. At the top, as Dan on Stage exaggerates that love doesn’t exist (which Dan refutes as being an actual belief of his during the afterparty) and other sardonic phrases, he also states he wants to give his audience one good night, because he recognizes the escapism his audience finds in his solo and joint content. We’re All Doomed’s Core is “can we just have one good night, even in the midst of the horrors we have outside of these theatre doors?”. But I would also say that in terms of where his writing was at the time of WAD’s inception and the naming of his mental health book as You Will Get Through This Night, it feels more like Dan himself has been grappling with a Core of “can I have one good night? Or a full 24 hours where I feel mainly happy when all I am bombarded with about the world is suffering?” I think night can be both literal, since we know he has had sleep issues, and metaphorical, as the night can represent this depressive episode he was writing himself out of.

When the mood tracker gets discussed in the last portion of WAD, to see a sea of neutral or uninterested emojis demonstrates when he took the time to do it, the answer that night was “no, not really” 😕. The main one mentioned is the ritual of “Fry Day” he has with Phil (sidenote: why are these British men not calling it “Chip Day”, since this ritual falls on a Saturday?), which is a rare smiley face. The question he likely has then is “can I ever have a good night again?”

So for him to then turn to his own videos during one of those nights, to a video where he states his famous “embrace the void and have the courage to exist,” that showcases what I mentioned of his best work being written for himself, in this case, a future version of himself.

--

Ending Sequence: Where Do We Land?

When the Circle does not display any media, it again shows the orange square motif, but after mentioning his own video, he turns to his audience for glimpses of what joy exists even in the face of Doom. The Circle changes into a display of different submitted clips showcasing this joy and hope that Dan was clearly looking for throughout this piece. He walks towards the top of the stairs to witness these clips. I cannot for my life at this point having now been separate from it for about a month, but I believe before the submitted media sequence, he states the famous line again of “Embrace the Void and Have the Courage to Exist”. With this last thing spoken, it gives that emphasis needed to take in the message emotionally and then witness what the Void (in this case the Circle) can offer.

--

A Good Director Should Go Unnoticed

When someone is not versed in theatrical directing, if the audience cannot tell what was a choice by the director or even consider the director themselves, this is weirdly a good sign. It means that it feels natural to what they are witnessing and to the messages that are meant to be communicated to the audience. As someone who also works in government, it feels very similar, as only bad work is evident to the general public. Obviously that is not true for everyone, but is an overall trait I think impacts both an understanding of public service and directing.

I am not familiar with any of the work of Ed Stambollouian, who through research, looks like he has done work with comedians like Joe Lycett (who I am also not familiar with) and directed TATINOF, but also more stripped down, exploratory theatre. Through a quick review of his portfolio, one, I am not shocked that Dan tapped him to assist with directing since there is a familiarity and two, his background tells me he knows how to direct for writer-performers, which is what comedians really are at the end of the day.

To direct for those who are doing one-person shows that they both wrote and performed, it is especially tricky to have the artist hand the reins over to the director. The director in this case acts as the artist’s eyes, because an artist cannot clone themselves. It is impossible for them to wear multiple hats at once, where they can give quality, objective feedback to themselves while also doing a full out performance. For Ed to be someone Dan has worked with before, there is already an established understanding of each other’s work styles, and a trust that otherwise would have to be built up before the work can truly begin to finalize the piece.

In short, Ed Stambollouian and the creative team on We’re All Doomed did an incredible job bringing what I understand Dan intended when he started writing this down in isolation. And @danielhowell you whole-heartedly deserve to call this your magnum opus. What can I say (sorry I can't help lovingly poking fun at you), your artistry shines throughout the show. I hope this too can be something your future self can turn back to.

🧡

(bonus) Thoughts on Orange Carpet & the Phil element

I didn’t fully rewatch the orange carpet, just to keep myself on task & not bring Phil too much into the main reflection without explicit reference in the show, but hearing Dan go “I’m alive in 3, 2…” made me laugh both times. He understands that we just want to know he has a pulse, ya know? Also them pretending it totally was live, when those fools (affectionate) cannot run a real live broadcast from their home for their lives. It just ran too smoothly, esp. in the transitions, for it to be anything but some very, very light editing on one improvised take they did. But I always support them in their acting, no matter how bad, like with DITL Australia’s opener or pretending there were not two apartments or that Google Feud being back was unplanned or Dil being pregnant with a statistically rare alien child or Phil living in a tiled, cramped bedroom or...

Also, Dan’s little laugh at the end of Phil’s sign-off is so fond it hurts. It also hurt that the VOD was hard to scrub through, so another deduction for the Kiswe platform.

Anyway, I’m glad that Dan was able to find space outside of the Dan & Phil branding of the 2010s as well as the image he was forced to manufacture for his YouTube presence, but also realize that with having a core audience that wants him to simply be happy, he can recognize that Phil is part of the things that make him happy. And can do so openly.

He is his own person, but it has been clearly emphasized now that Dan has no interest in not acknowledging that Phil always is and will be part of his present and future. He has made work like WAD & "Gay and Not Proud" to explore his way of thinking without the support of Phil present in the filmed/performed aspect. Dan acknowledges this intention, which is evident with him shooing away Phil at the beginning of “Gay and Not Proud” to process it alone.

It is also evident with the ending of “Daniel & Depression” and the WAD end credit of remote crisis manager showcasing the caretaking role Phil often plays in Dan’s life. But we know that caretaking is reciprocal, considering Phil's tactics with glue as well as his continuing health issues and anxieties. Dan has seen who he is without Phil by his side everyday in the public eye & has no interest in maintaining that Phil is absent for public projections.

I obviously do not know Dan Howell, or anything about him outside what exists on the internet. But in performance studies, there is a foundational understanding that there is no way to not be performing in some way during your day-to-day. Performing is not inherently a bad thing, as there are different roles you take on in your life, where how I engage at work is different from how I am hanging out with friends. This also has basis in gender studies, such as ideas that you can perform your gender "wrong". What has been so interesting to me in this phandom renaissance is the way Dan and Phil each perform as themselves in front of the camera now. What they share out and the layers they include--or choose to not remove--have been stated by them explicitly to be the most authentic they have ever been, without obviously removing their right to privacy. During the height of the glass closet that was their 2018 content, I remember thinking that it was going to be the most they would show us in the vain of "if you know, you know, and we know who will know". After the coming out videos of 2019, obviously that's not true, but the return of dapg has signaled a message of "we know you know, if you've been in the know" while veiled in a way that is not immediately perceivable by those who are casually engaging with their content. It is an authentic portrayal of themselves without filter, while also providing themselves space to not have to announce everything to the world. When you are in the know, it definitely targeted and causes psychic damage, but I am ready for anything and everything they throw our way.

#we’re all doomed #wad spoilers #daniel howell #danisnotonfire #dnp #dan and phil #dan howell #theatre analysis #performance studies #theatre director

[jiusyn]

being a kafhime truther is being normally deranged and magnifying at the available dialogues to decipher and create meaning behind layers and layers of history we do not know of yet. quite frankly the reason why im still very much stuck in my own head bc of pondering through perspective methods to see why their dialogues and gestures the way they are (other than, ofc, writers and directors' decision)

think abt how 90 percent of himeko's dialogue is filled with direct and indirect mention of kafka during the destination alteration scene. and in a new player's pov, it can be treated as himeko's and kafka's 1st encounter— yet everyone can also notice how tensed and passive aggressive the atmosphere was when kafka appeared and took the floor. [case in point with himeko's reaction and body language: kafka appeared, himeko held her forearm in recognition and side-eyed kafka— shifting her head together with her body in an attempt to ignore kafka.

[bombastic side eye]

[owh girlie did not like it one bit]

[then, the famous tension scene that would make u want to rewind and see what u missed bc why is girlie so mad]

kafka nearing himeko's line of view; himeko glancing at her nails then crossing her arms in guard— again, in an attempt to dismiss kafka and assert that kafka's presence is not something that she can't handle. kafka paused intentionally, eyes looking forward yet the subtle and brief flicker of it, as if awaiting for any acknowledgement from himeko (himeko saying "stellaron hunter" with distaste) and when she did, kafka giggled. and kafka, well, she gestured at himeko as if it really was their first encounter, yet how she smirked at the end with eyes crinkling in the slightest tells otherwise.

march in an attempt to interrupt kafka's unwarranted presence but was subdued with himeko's signal. which makes u think cuz, really, who even lets a stellaron hunter even speak when others would immediately turn hostile against them and apprehend them asap.]

AND THEN...

himeko: perhaps next time you'll be willing to pay us a visit in person and we can continue our little discussion.

in kafka's companion quest:

"in person"

something abt how himeko keeps saying that in her dialogues when kafka's involved makes me think. makes a lot of us think. this then can probably cue us of how owlbert hinted (or even deadass exposed himeko) that they do have had encounters and it piques our interest as to how, why, when, and where in those moments — were they intentional? happenstance that turned to destiny? and so much more.

and how many in those encounters did himeko hoped that kafka would show up in person often than on wanted posters and news media and bulletin boards of her bounty and crimes? than on rumors and words from people's prejudices and opinions that she hears about her?

i can only make out from these dialogues is that himeko knows kafka (and the stellaron hunters) would need her help.

there is, after all, a grace of sincerity when someone shows up in person.

#kafhime #kafka #himeko #im brainrotting at 3 am pls excuse the dramatics #a clear evidence of them infesting my entire being #lore is very much needed bc dialogues can only lead us with speculations beyond our control #pics might get butchered bc of phone app thingsz #hsr.lore

[roaenexists]

Pick-A-Pairing Tarot and Oracle readings for the collective.

From left to right we have Pairing One: Leather. Pairing Two: Starburst. Pairing Three: Cerebral.

Pairing One: Leather.

You have been getting a little too big for your britches, as my grandma would say. You have been communicating and behaving in a way that has showed those around you a haughtier side of yourself than I know you'd prefer. In other words, you've been coming off as a bit of a bitch and we both know you're capable of better than that. You need to do some inner child work and tap back in to a learner's mindset. You don't have to fundamentally change who you are, just walk it back a bit. Did you ever love learning? Did you ever used to value the input of those around you? Tap back into that energy and you'll be surprised at how naturally it comes. Past You is here to support Present You. Stop trying to rush to your future self because right now you're missing the mark. Open yourself up to the lessons your friends and mentors and colleagues have for you, and embrace the youthful spirit you've been neglecting. Come home to yourself.

Pairing Two: Starburst

Recently you've ended something and then immediately begun something new that, quite frankly, you are ill-equipped to handle. I'm inclined to think it's a relationship, though for some of you it's a new job, or a personal project. But y'all all got one thing in common: You are going about this all wrong. You had your head in the clouds about what was going to be required of you, and how quickly you were capable of providing it, but the reality of the situation is that you have all the wrong tools, most of the wrong perspective, and none of the energy. You aren't seeing the situation clearly, most likely because you haven't been doing the necessary work on yourself to make sure you were ready for this new journey. If it's too late now to walk it back, don't panic. Set aside some time to really refill your emotional, spiritual, and physical cups. Make your own health and well-being the priority, at least for long enough to recenter and reassess. You cannot expect a battery to work when empty, and you cannot care for others without first tending to your own needs.

Pairing Three: Cerebral

Shit sucks right now. You're in a situation where you are powerless and/or unhappy, with the caveat being that there's no fucking reason you shouldn't be seeing and, more importantly, feeling progress already. You feel you've learned all you can from where you are, you've made all the moves, and all that's left is to move on. The good news is that it's only a matter of time. If you can bear down and get through time then you will be able to pursue your own idealistic future, which includes physically moving location in some way, and probably also mental health support services. Will you actually make it there is up to you, but overall this draw is giving big Trevor Project, "It gets better," vibes. It's corny but it is literally in the cards. You are moving forward. Time and space are not separate, so the longer you press on, the farther you are from where you want to leave. Things are changing. This is inevitable. If you can ride the tumultuous waters, they will eventually calm down, and you will be able to take control of your vessel in the way you know you need to. You know you are meant for different; you just need to believe it until your experienced reality is reflecting that truth back to you. Take this energetic hug from me and Spirit and know that your future is full of potential. If you need to vent you can DM me. Just keep going.

#roaenpost #tarotblr #tarot #tarot cards #divination #roaen reads #pick a card #pick a pile #pick a pair #pick a pairing #daily tarot #witch #witchcraft #witchblr #witchling #baby witch #daily divination #weekly reading #full moon reading

[morgandoesstuffsig]

Hello! Idk if your requests are open but I just wanted to get this off my head before I forget it😅

I was thinking a sagau with a creator reader who’s secretly a super-genius( iq of a gods level) who sees everything like it’s a hologram?( stuff like math, science, medical, mechanical, strategies, etc…) how do you thing they would react if they got to see from the creators perspective? Who would find it useful? Who would find it more annoying? Who would be impressed about it? How would take advantage of it in battle?

Ah, my requests are indeed open as of right now! when I first read this I thought of that one woman and the random ass math equations meme :sobs: also childe's is short 'cause idk what to do for him...

anyways, this is a cool idea!! chars. used are : Al-Haitham, Childe, and Kaveh. i love Kaveh sm :((<3

start below cut

AL-HAITHAM

Oh, when Al-Haitham first saw you randomly fiddling with seemingly the air, he thought maybe something might be wrong with you. Maybe you were sleep deprived? Sick? Tired? Slightly delusional? You, of course, noticed he was staring at you and sighed.

"Stop staring at me like I'm crazy and just come over here and look." He quickly nodded and obeyed. He would never even think of taking another moment to stop. He quickly approached next to you, and then out of nowhere, suddenly a bunch of light [color] words, symbols, and numbers appeared infront of you two. He looked at them, hen back at you, and then back at them. What were these? So many equations he'd never seen before... You glanced at his confused face and suppressed a laugh.

How cute he is when he is confused, you thought, smiling to yourself. He was trying pretty hard to understand them, though it was all something only you really knew.

He slowly gained the courage to ask, "What... are these..?"

"Well, my lovely little scribe, these are all problems and formulas from which I've learned. I haven't implemented them into Teyvat at all, of course though."

'Lovely little scribe..?' He thought, his face heating up a bit. "I-if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you..?" 'Archons, did I really just stutter.. how embarrassing...'

"Well, there really isn't a reason for anyone here to learn it. I merely use it so could help me control the events of Teyvat easier. There is no need for anyone on Teyvat to learn such a thing, if they do not possess the power I do." You said, smiling at his reaction to his new nickname.

"I.. see.. That is very.. interesting." He said, trying to process it all as he glanced at you, just to see you smiling at him, and quickly looked back at the hologram. He couldn't handle it-- you were just too much for him to handle. [positively, of course. he loved the creator in a lot of ways.]

"Not as interesting as you, love."

"!!!"

Oh archons, you've broke him!

end : 1/3

KAVEH

you have no idea how down bad I am for this man istg

"I'm surprised you've gotten the hang of this already! N-Not that I doubted you of course, but most people don't learn so quickly! N-No that I mean to say you're most people, you aren't!! B-But I don't mean to try and single you out, nor do I mean to mean to say you're the same--" Kaveh tripped over all his words, trying to make sure they weren't going to offend you at all, but he just kept poking holes in each until he heard you let out a light laugh.

"It's alright Kaveh. I know what you're trying to say, thank you. I've just got a nifty little trick up my sleeve."

...Archons, he loved your laugh. It made him feel so giddy.

"Do you mind telling me? I-I just want to se if I could use it to hurry and finish my work faster, not that I mean to use you or anything, but--"

You could sense he was about to go on another trail of thoughts, so you simply smiled and said, "It is not a trick that can be learned, it's more of a power I possess." He nodded, and internally sighed.

"...Come here, let me show you. I'll let you decided whether it's useful or not." You said, motioning for him to stand next to you.

What an honor it is, to be invited next to the Divine Creator, and how important it is... and how I get too! Ah, happy day! He thought, as he happily sped walked his way next to you. What happened next, made him feel as if he was ascending.

You carefully grabbed Kaveh's hand and guided up into the air, and as he tilted his head in confusion as a blush appeared on his cheeks, suddenly words, numbers, problems, and more appeared on thin air! They all had solutions and such, and he could understand most of them because they were the ones you two were just working on, but others had unfamiliar letters and language, with different numbers and much different ways of solving them.

"So? What do you think?" You inquired, looking at him to see his reaction. He was completely astonished. You did all of this in one day?! Not say he was doubting you or anything, but he'd never seen it before! Such complex things that took him and others so long took you merely a minute or two!

"...woah." Was all he could mutter as he stared up at the hologram.

You chuckled, and said, "There's one more thing I'd like to show you..." And you guided his hand to another part of the hologram, as if you were swiping. Suddenly, a bunch of blueprints and diagrams appeared, and he quickly recognized them. They were his future projects he had planned on! He stared at them, then at you, and then just turned red. Both because he was flustered, and because he was blown away.

You'd been thinking about.. me..? And from the looks of it.. you've been trying to.. help me?!

You smiled and squeezed his hand, and he had to muffle a little 'eep!'

...He did not do very well muffling it. You chuckled and whispered in his ear, "You're so cute Kaveh, you know that?"

God, he loved the way his named rolled off of your tounge.

[i love kaveh to a normal amount i swear..]

end : 2/3

CHILDE / TARTAGLIA

"What're you doing?"

"Solving formulas to see which artifacts are best for this fight." You answered, continuing to move and use your hologram.

"A fight is a fight! What're artifacts really needed for?" He groaned, dramatically.

"For you? To do more damage. Some others do better support, off-field, healing--"

"Yeah but isn't doing so much math boringgg?" He drawed out, he just wanted to fight this [boss] already!

"Do you want to win this fight?"

"..Well, yeah..!"

"Then let me check these artifacts."

He whined, dramatically. He didn't really see why you needed that stupid hologram, it was quite annoying... taking up all your attention when he's right there! Sure he can't read half of those equations, but he can entertain you more than that 'floating screen' can! That's for sure!

Though, Childe wouldn't push anymore. You're the creator, whatever you say goes.

"Aand... done! Now use these artifacts and--" You handed him the artifacts before he eagerly put them on and grabbed your hand before you could get caught up in those stupid little symbols again.

"Let's go, Your Grace!!! I don't wanna wait any longer!!" He semi-shouted enthusiastically, holding onto you gently. You smiled, and shook your head lightly, but silently laughed.

...maybe you could let it slide this time.

end : 3/3

#morgan.died : writes #genshin alhaitham #genshin al haitham #al haitham x reader #genshin sagau #sagau genshin #sagau au #sagau #creator au #genshin creator au #genshin au #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin x y/n #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #al haitham genshin #sagau alhaitham #sagau al haitham #al-haitham #sagau x you #sagau x reader #genshin kaveh #kaveh x reader #genshin childe #childe x reader #genshin tartaglia #tartaglia x reader #genshin cult au

[autocrats-in-love]

Heyyyy your hero x villain writing is my favvvv I was wondering if you could do a small story about a civilian who is friends with villain, then one day when they are hanging out the hero swoops in and “rescues” civilian and no matter how many times they tell hero they are fine the hero doesn’t believe them. Maybe they think they’ve been brainwashed so they lock them in an empty room for their “protection” and villain comes and saves them. Maybe a little romance and fluff between civilian and villain..?

Heroes, Am I Right?

“For the last time, they’re my friend!” the civilian said, exasperated.

The hero looked at the civilian through the bars of the cage sceptically.

“I don’t think anyone would be friends with that. . .that. . .maniac.” they said.

A lot to unpack there, but the civilian wasn’t here to change the hero’s world views. They just wanted to get out of here. They and the villain had been hanging out at a park. The villain, who was decidedly one of their closest friends. Sure, they had to move some illegal, magical products to make ends meet, but no one is perfect. The two had been sitting on a bench, chatting, when the hero and several associates came out of nowhere. The hero scooped up the civilian--let’s get you somewhere safe--while four people surrounded the villain. The civilian only hoped that their friend was alright. 

“This is kidnapping. You can’t keep me here against my will.” the civilian said.

“If I think you aren’t of sound mind, I can keep you for observation-” the hero pulled something up on a computer.“-and this is all the proof I need that you’re under some sort of hypnosis.”

They showed the civilian the screen. On it were multiple security camera pictures. Pictures of the civilian and villain. At a restaurant, On a subway platform, laughing as they wait for a taxi. 

“You ate dinner with them?” the hero said incredulously. “Knowing what they’ve done?”

The civilian felt heat crawl up the back of their neck. That picture was taken after the civilian had a bad day at work. They were moping about their apartment when the villain called them.

“How did the presentation go?” the villain asked.

“Awful,” the civilian said. “It’s like no one thinks I know what I’m talking about.”

“People always underestimate the new kid.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“Say, what are you doing tonight?” the villain said.

“Moping on my couch.”

“Perfect.”

“What?”

The villain promptly hung up, and there was a knock at the door.

“What is this?” the civilian asked when they saw the villain on the other side, dressed up in shiny shoes and a flowy shirt.

“I’m taking you to dinner, of course.” the villain said.

“Uh. . .” the civilian said, looking down at their pyjamas.

“The reservation’s in an hour, you better hurry up.” the villain said with a mischievous smile.

“Fine,” the civilian groaned, blushing. “But you’re waiting outside.”

“I actually have to go to the-”

“Too bad, you have to hold it.” 

The civilian stared at the photo, aware of how often they thought about that night, and how dry their mouth was. 

“No one with full control of their mental faculties would ever go out with this monster!” The hero exclaimed.

The civilian had to admit, the hero had a point. They seemed to lose their grasp of reality around the villain a bit. 

“They would never brainwash me,” the civilian said. “For one thing, they wouldn’t be able to.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty sure if they could do that, they would just get people to give them money without having to do all this crime.” the civilian pointed out.

The hero ignored them, turning their computer around and going back to what the civilian assumed was an intense documentation of the events that passed today. The civilian sighed and leaned back in their chair.

“They’re not so bad, once you get to know them.” the civilian said.

The hero scoffed.

“Yeah, I’m sure they’re a bucket of sunshine.” 

The civilian shrugged. “Sometimes.”

The hero stared at the civilian, intrigued by their perspective. They set their computer on the table behind them and leaned forward.

“Like when?” they asked.

The civilian didn’t have time to answer, because a moment later the door was kicked open. The villain came running in, much to the surprise of the hero. The civilian smiled. This was going to be fun.

“Halt, evildoer!” The hero said, pushing the table to the side and getting in a fighting stance.

The civilian watched as the hero and villain fought, the villain repeatedly blocking blows and trying to get past the hero.

“Their left knee is weak!” the civilian called.

The hero heard, but was too late in redirecting the villain’s kick. The hero cried in pain and dropped to the floor. The villain grabbed the keys from them and wasted no time running over and freeing the civilian.

“How did you know about their knee?” the villain asked as the civilian stepped out.

“They limped a bit as they carried me away heroically.” the civilian said.

The villain smiled and pulled the civilian into a hug. 

“Are you okay?” the villain as they separated.

The civilian’s heart beat too fast in their chest. 

“Yeah. Just get me out of here, would you?”

“Alright, let’s go,” the villain said, taking the civilian’s hand and leading them out of the room.

#not a prompt #fluff #villain x civilian #tw violence #civilian x villain

[harlowsthetic]

More Than Friends.

Featuring. Jack Harlow x Fem! Best Friend! Reader.

Request From [@harlowcomehome]. From the prompts list for Jack : — hang-outs that start to feel more and more like dates.

Summary. When you notice your feelings about him, you start to worry about the outcomes when it comes to telling him.

General Tags. Fluff with some angst.

Content Warnings. Words that are bold/italic are a flashback.

Word Count. 2,2k.

Notes. Thank you so much for this prompt, I loved writing it, and I hope I did justice on this!! Also thank you to my bestie, @inlovewithpandora for helping me brainstorm this and for proofreading it!!

Extra. Requests are open, please read my rules beforehand! / Comments, likes, and reblogs are highly appreciated but not pressured. 💙

Starred Links. Navigation + Masterlist + Prompts + Taglist

You have known Jack for a long time now, he even managed to become one of your best friends. You loved hanging out with him, he was always fun to be around since he always put a smile on your face. Lately, the hangouts became different, they no longer felt like they used to. you thought you were just overthinking it but the more you hung out together, the more you started realizing your feelings for him slightly changed and they weren’t platonic. 

Best friends aren’t supposed to feel for each other, right? That’s what you keep telling yourself to deny your feelings but the way he looked at you like you were the only girl in the world, the way his smile brightened up the room, or the way he said your name, or maybe it was valentines day that put things in perspective for you, you always remembered it so clearly.

You set up the movie you planned on watching and made your way to the kitchen. You hummed a little tune as you opened the freezer taking out your favorite ice cream and a spoon to eat it with. “Another valentines day alone…” You let out a sigh. You gave up on the dating sites, the guys on there never gave you the laugh you had whenever Jack was around. As you were about to open the ice cream, you heard a knock at your door. “Who can that be?” you questioned as put the ice cream on the counter and made your way to the door. You open the door and see Jack leaning against the door frame in a tank top, grey sweatpants, and new balances on his feet. When he sees you, the smile that always gives you butterflies in your stomach appears on his face. 

“Jack, what are you doing here?” you questioned as you looked up to make eye contact with him. “Well it’s Valentine's Day and I couldn’t have you spend it alone,” he responded as he revealed what he had behind his back, a bouquet of your favorite flowers. You take it from him and sniff it as your face begins to heat up and a flustered smile makes its appearance on your face. “These are beautiful, thank you, come in.” You step aside and he walks in. You take a deep breath before closing the door and walk up behind him. “I thought a busy guy like you would already have plans with other girls?” you commented as you walked to the kitchen grabbing a vase and filling it with water to put the flowers in. 

“Those other girls were not you.” he spoke, when you heard the ‘those other girls were not you’ comment, you couldn’t help but swoon as your stomach filled with butterflies and that smile once again showed its appearance on your face. “I couldn’t imagine my best friend spending today alone in her pajamas and eating ice cream so I rushed right over to keep you company.” 

The smile disappeared from your face as you heard “Best friend”. ‘Cause that’s what I’ll always be to you, right?’ you thought, keeping it to yourself. You didn’t want to question because once you start, you might get hurt in the end. 

That was the night that made you notice that you didn’t want to be just friends with him anymore but there was just one problem, you had to admit your feelings to him and you didn’t know how he felt or if it was possible that he would feel the same way about you. What if he didn’t and your friendship is ruined and you go your separate ways? You didn’t want that but how could you hold all your feelings in? “What is going on in that pretty mind of yours?” Jack questioned with a worried expression on his face as he paused the movie the two of you, well he was watching. You looked from the TV to him contemplating whether you should just tell him and get it over with but you bit down on your lip, wanting to avoid the outcome of what could happen. 

“To be honest, it's—“ you get cut off by a buzz. “Sorry that’s me, hold that thought.” He said as he took out his phone, and when you looked at his phone you noticed the text was from one of his old hookups and your heart immediately sank. You tried focusing on the pause screen in front of you as you fidget with your fingers and your mind started running. ‘Well that surely gave me an answer, what was I thinking?’ you thought, mentally slapping yourself for thinking he could feel romantic feelings for you. You rolled your eyes and looked back at Jack after he stood up, shoving his phone into his pocket. “Listen, I’ve got to go handle something, I’ll see you tomorrow?” You didn’t say anything but a nod of your head and he put on his shoes and walked out of your door after sending you one last wave. 

3 weeks later… 

Jack has been very worried about you, he hasn’t heard or seen you since he abruptly left your house. You weren’t answering his calls or his texts and he knows you saw his numerous texts because of the read receipt. 

When he would go over to your house, you were never there. Did he do something wrong? He tried to think of things he did but came up short, there was no reason for you to be so distant towards him so why were you? “Alright, what’s up with you? You have been absent this whole time.” Urban voiced as he watched Jack stare at his phone for the past ten minutes. 

Jack lets out a breath, he didn’t know he was holding. “I haven’t heard from [Name] in three weeks, she hasn’t been answering my calls, texts, nothing.” Jack leans back in his chair. “What did you do?”

“That’s the thing, nothing!” Jack immediately stands up, grabbing his car keys. “I’ma drive by her apartment again to see if I catch her this time.” He shoves his phone into his pocket after he sees his text being ignored once again, tired of seeing the read under each unanswered text. “Alright man, keep me posted.” Jack tilts his head up as he and Urban do their handshake and he heads out. 

It took two hours and some change to get to your place and on the way there, Jack thought about what he was going to say,  thinking of what the outcome of the conversation between you could be. He was worried because he didn’t want to lose you, you were one of the people he cared most about. You supported him so much throughout his career and were always there for him through thick and thin which made it hard for him not to fall for you throughout the time of your friendship. He did plan on admitting his feelings but he didn’t want to know a life without you in it if you didn’t feel reciprocate feelings for him so he thought it was best to kept it to himself and try to move on.

When he pulled up on your block, he saw you coming out of your car holding grocery bags, the sight of you already put a smile on his face as he missed being able to be with you in person. 

Jack parks the car right behind yours. You didn’t even have to look in the car to know it was Jack, you knew his car like the back of your hand. Letting out a groan, you continue heading into your apartment building with him hot on your tail catching up with you as you stop to wait for the elevator. “So what, I can’t get a hi or something?”

“Hi,” you respond dryly as the elevator doors open, You step in as soon as the other people clear out and Jack steps in after you. Luckily the sunglasses and hoodie Jack had on, helped him go unnoticed, he presses the number for you as you try to look everywhere but at him, staying silent. “What’s been going on with you?” 

“Nothing much, just been busy.” You gave him a dry response, still not giving him the satisfaction of making eye contact. The elevator reaches the fourth level and the doors open, you immediately step out and make your way to your apartment door. Jack was getting a bit pissed off by the dry responses you were giving him, it wasn’t like you to treat him like this. He needed to know what was wrong and he wasn’t going to leave til this was fixed.

As soon as you open your apartment door and walk in, Jack comes in, closes the door, and takes hold of your wrist pulling you over by the couch. “Jack, what are you doing?” You questioned as you finally looked him in the eyes and saw the angry expression on his face. 

“Tell me the truth, what’s wrong?” You let out a sigh, trying to come up with an excuse. “I told you, I’ve been busy,” you responded as you fidget with your thumbs. “Cut the bullshit, I know you’re lying by the way you can’t make eye contact with me.” 

“Why have you been avoiding me?” You inhale deeply as you try to find the words. “Did I do something wrong for you to just up and cut me off?” Butterflies formed in your stomach because you knew you had to tell him the truth, too scared of knowing the outcome of this could be horrible but maybe there’s a chance, it’d turn out well. “Tell me so I can-.” 

“I have feelings for you, Jack!” you blurted out, interrupting him in the process and you watched as his facial features turned from a confused expression to a shocked one. “Feelings that can’t seem to go away, no matter what I do!” you breathed out not giving him time to put a word in. “I’m not supposed to feel this way about you, you’re my best friend.” You take a moment to breathe before putting a hand to your forehead. “Well ex-best friend now after finding this out.” 

Before you can continue to ramble on, Jack closes the distance between the two of you and captures your soft lips with his. Your eyes widened in shock, your mind taking a bit longer to process what was going on but you finally kissed him back leaning more into his touch as your hands traveled to his arms, his hands found your waist gripping you tightly as he pulled you in closer. 

You were the first one to pull away, panting as you tried to catch your breath, “W…What was that?” you weakly question as you watch a small smirk appear on his lips. “I took my shot,” he laughed earning one from you along with a playful eye roll. Jack takes your hand in his and motions for you to sit. 

Once the two of you sat on the couch, Jack immediately pulled you closer to him so that your legs were touching and you couldn't help the flustered smile spread across your cheeks. “Why would you think that I’d stop talking to you?” 

“Why not just tell me?” Jack places his hand on your thigh, rubbing it a bit as he waits for your response. “Because, I was afraid you wouldn’t like me back, that you saw me just as a friend.” you responded looking away from him but Jack brought up his hand and gently moved your face so you could look him in the eyes. “How could I not like you more than a friend?” He smiled. “You supported me throughout my entire career, always been there for me when times were tough, and just in case you didn’t know you’re very hot.” You laugh at his response. 

“I feel the same way about you,” you spoke as you placed your hand on top of his hand that was on your thigh. “Where do we go from here?” you queried and Jack snaked his arm around your waist and gave you a small peck on your cheek. “Well, I want to take you out on a date, I think we’d make a cute couple.”

“I think so too,” you replied with a huge smile on your face. “Jack?” You begin to ask and he answers with a small ‘hm” “When did you know you liked me?” When Jack hears your question, he smiles as if he already knows the answer, not having to think about it too long. ”It was Valentine's Day, the night I came over here.” Your eyes widen in shock at his answer. 

“When I saw you after you opened the door and the way your face lit up when I handed you the flowers, I knew that no other girl could hold a candle to you.” Jack voiced as he kept eye contact with you. “No other girl could bring me happiness like you, I guess you hold the key to my heart permanently.” he chuckled, earning one from you as well. “That was the same night,  I realized as well,”

“How about we recreate that night?” Jack commented as he stood up from where he sat. “Let’s watch movies, order some food, and some ice cream. We can’t forget that,” he states with a smile on his face and all you can do is smile as you reminisce on the old memory but it is different now, this time, he is yours and couldn’t be any happier to start your new relationship.

🔖 @starpdfs, @livsters, @itsyagirljaz, @jackharloww, @j0hkiya.

© harlowsthetic 2023. | All Rights Reserved. Do not repost on other platforms, copy, steal, or translate any of my works!

#🎤 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩? ╱ 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠. #jack harlow #jack harlow angst #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow fluff #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow one shot #jack harlow x y/n #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x you #jackman harlow #jack harlow story #jack harlow fanfiction

[iraprince]

TIME FOR A PROCESS POST let's talk abt getting from this (client sketch - which, btw, i know other artists have talked about this plenty, but i LOOOOOOVE a client sketch as early direction on a commission. LOVE it)

to this!

at first we didn't know if the title was going to go across the desk, or over the central figure (emara's) head against the back wall. so there was a 1st version where we were favoring a higher title, then we started favoring the desk so we scrapped the clutter + centered it more

i used clip studio's 3D models (particularly for the chair, guard, + weapon crates) and perspective rulers to help with laying everything out at this stage, tho i abandoned the 3D pretty early on bc it's a bit too clunky for me. maybe i'll find it quicker to use w more practice!

(the rest under the cut!)

once the basic layout was approved, i threw together a value study to explain how in the final image all the clutter of the bg detail would be unified and pushed back. lately i find myself thinking abt value earlier + earlier in the process; planning ahead saves me a lot of time!

i fiddled with starting to refine things digitally, but then i got A BRAND NEW LIGHTBOX delivered in the mail with perfect timing (lmao) so i just ended up printing off the digital sketch, finalizing in pencil, + scanning back in

then comes five billion different steps of locking in values, again. i did everything greyscale first, but i didn't worry abt getting things super polished at this stage bc i knew color would factor in a lot to later decisions

this is the point at which presenting these wips "step by step" is kind of misleading; i didn't do these stages one at a time, but rather had a BUNCH of different lighting/shading layers that i kept toggling on and off as i worked to make sure everything was coming along well.

(to get some of these caps i actually went into the main file again and turned a bunch of stuff on/off just for the sake of getting specific examples, because actually when i was actively working on it there was rarely a point where i was actually working on something with "all lighting turned off and just the shading on," or anything like that; but i AM interested in showing what effects different lighting/shading changes had on the base colors, even if i wasn't really making these changes in a rigid order.)

i.e., just for the sake of interest, here's how the flat colors look without those adjustments!! but i honestly never looked at it like this on its own for long...i had all the shading/lighting turned off so i could see what i was doing while flatting, but i was constantly checking back and forth.

then tones added on top (which were actually just two copies of the tone folders in the above posts, set to linear burn and overlay) -

which makes it get HORRIFYINGLY dark, but that's when we go in and add a bunch of lighting adjustments.

the most obvious lighting change above is the big burst of hot pink light from the corner, but there was also some masked overlay + burn layers to pop out the guard + emara and make sure they were pulled out from the bg. if this were a standalone illustration, i maybe would have let the bg (and all that painstakingly drawn detail..........) stand out a little more, but a cover functions differently, and i wanted to make sure the eye goes to the title first. that means sacrificing bg detail even if it looks sick lol

then final touches! a lot of my very last touches are things that are close to invisible; gradient maps on very low opacity, noise, a little bit of scribbling on upper layers. the typesetting was all by the client, except for the lettering for "emara king's," which i did myself!

finally, here's a comparison of ⬅where i left off one night close to the deadline thinking "it's probably done, but i'll sleep on it just in case," then all the adjustments i made the next day with fresh eyes.➡ and that's it!!! phew!!! that's how i make a cover!

#my art #process #wip #tutorials #<- not really but. i just figure someone browsing my tutorials tag might be into this #i am so so so so so fucking mad that i didnt think to turn timelapse recording on for this #bc a timelapse wouldve been so fucking sick. but i can at least share this