#preshow counts

[coffeeghoulie]

okay okay listen...#48 w/dewther. yes? but. insert aeon in place of aether. insert dew's habit and....what happens?

Crow, your brain is huge <3. Hope you enjoy!

#48: out of habit

from this prompt list

Something's wrong.

Dew can feel it growing in the pit of his chest, straining at his ribs with each heartbeat. He hasn't been this nervous ahead of a Ritual in years, long before he transitioned to fire.

Miserere Mei, Deus is playing over the speakers, just barely managing to drown out the growing sound of the crowd, and if Dew were quintessence, he'd be able to taste the excitement. The gossamer sheet between them and the audience ripples softly in the breeze, and something's wrong.

Dew stares down at his hands, growling at them as if that alone would make his spindly fingers stop trembling. It's the first show of this cycle. He should be excited, just like the humans who came to see them spread the Unholy Father's message.

He cannot, for the life of him, figure out what's making him feel like the world's about to end until he looks up from his hands. Aeon's taking his Fantomen from a tech, and Dew is reminded, painfully, that his mate will not be standing across the stage from him when that curtain falls.

Dew stumbles back, grabbing at a crate like he thinks he might go off balance. His other hand covers the crook of his neck, over the many intricate layers of his uniform, where Aether's mark sits, long scarred over. He knows what he's missing, what's wrong, what is making him feel like he's dying.

The first Ritual he and Aether shared together, Aether's very first, Dew had watched the big ghoul shake with nerves, still shy and skittish, only a few months' summoned. He had slipped over towards him, pressed a cool hand to his chest.

Aether had flinched, looking up, violet eyes all Dew could see behind the silver masks. "You'll do fine," Dew had whispered, "I trust Omega and Delta's judgment. You'll do just fine."

He hadn't responded, still trembling under Dew's touch. Dew furrowed his brow, humming softly. Aether swayed towards the noise, entranced.

"Here," Dew said, grabbing the chin of his mask and pulling it up, revealing the pale skin of his glamour. "Pull your mask up, starshine."

Aether wordlessly obeyed, and Dew's gaze softened at the sight of his lip bitten raw, fear written clear as day across his expression.

"Do you want a distraction?" Dew asked, gently reaching up to pet at Aether's cheek. He nodded, and Dew grabbed his Grucifix necklace, pulling gently until Aether leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He had blushed so hard it almost looked purple, but he stopped shaking, and Dew counted that as a win.

Especially when they got off stage, and Aether had given him the biggest grin he'd ever seen on the quintessence ghoul's face.

For six years, for as long as they'd been touring together, Aether had sidled up to Dew, leaning down and grinning. "You're not nervous anymore," Dew scoffed, rolling his eyes, but he'd still stand up on his tiptoes to give Aether his preshow good luck kiss.

Aether's not here now. He's retired to work in the infirmary with Omega, and Dew had thought he'd finished processing that. He's dead wrong.

He glances to stage left, to where his Fantomen hangs around the new kid's neck, and it doesn't quite dwarf them the way Dew thought it would when he had first seen the new quintessence ghoul. But it's still strange and unfamiliar, and the pit in his chest wrenches at him, and Dew knows what he has to do.

There's a call for places. Unlike the rest of the band pack, Dew ignores it, stomping across the stage until he gets to Aeon.

They jolt, posture straightening as he approaches, and Dew can't exactly blame them. He's been cold and a little distant from them, but he shakes his head, reaching out to pull them down gently by the tubing on their helmet.

He can't see their expression, just the curve of their lips under their balaclava, but he leans in and kisses right between the horns of their helmet.

"You'll do fine," he says softly, and darts back to his place just as Imperium starts, leaving Aeon to wonder what just happened.

#ok i fucked around with tenses and wrote this while at work so if there's any mistakes that's on me #but again crow your brain is huge and i wanted to jump on this one #dew being reluctantly but genuinely soft to aeon my beloved #dot's writing #dewdrop ghoul #aeon ghoul #the band ghost #the band ghost fanfiction #forlorn_crows #fic request #kiss prompts

[huihuiheart]

Kinktober D21: Backstage - Seonghwa

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Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

Ateez Masterlist

Pairing:  Seonghwa x GN! Reader

Genre: Smut

Summary: There's one foolproof way to resolve preshow jitters.

Warnings: Oral (seonghwa rec), face fucking, crying, drooling, semi-public sex, teasing, cum eating.

Word Count: 452

On your knees in a dressing room backstage was not a common occurrence for you, but when Seonghwa had been so stressed that he stumbled through soundcheck you and he both knew that wouldn’t do. His pre-show jitters had never been this bad before, but you were determined to do what you could to help him ease them. So here you were on your knees, his cock down your throat as he leaned back against the door. His bottom lip tucked between his teeth to hold back the sounds so as not to get caught and not to strain his voice too much before the show. On the other hand your voice wasn’t needed for anything else this evening, so you grabbed his hips pulling them forward and encouraging him to start fucking your face. 

One of his hands comes down to slip into your hair, gripping just firm enough to keep you in place while his other moves to cover his mouth. Finally getting control over himself enough to look down at you, how you’re crying a little as you take his cock so well.  Letting him get out all his pent up stress and frustrations while fucking your tight little throat. Trying your best not to drool too terribly much around him and make a mess of his pants before he has to go out and get on stage. Though as hard as you try it’s impossible to do so perfectly. 

He’s soon cumming down your throat, quickly backing away to go find some tissues. When he turns back to you however he finds you already swallowing down all his cum, licking your lips before looking at him with a smirk. The sight making his jaw drop. He soon snaps out of it though to come over and gently wipe away the drool and tears before putting himself back together to be ready for the stage and not get chewed out by the stylists.

“God I can’t look at you if you’re gonna do that I’ll get hard again.” He groans which just makes you chuckle in response.

“Do you feel better now though?” You ask hoping that what you could offer did actually help him.

“Yeah much better. Thank you.” He leans in to kiss you sweetly, but pulls back and his nose scrunches in disgust, “You swallowed that?”

“What? I like salty.” You wink at him laughing a little bit more, “It’s not that bad Seonghwa… though you might wanna have another bottle of water before getting on stage.” 

“Yah!” He calls after you due to your teasing, but you’re already running out of the room to escape any trouble laughing down the whole length of the hall.

If you enjoy my work please keep in mind how much time and effort goes into it and show support through comments and reblogs, or consider buying me a kofi. (Caffeine fuels the chaotic gremlin in me who creates content.)

#kinktober 2023 #ateez smut #ateez x reader #ateez imagines #seonghwa smut #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa imagines

[nhlclover]

you're nineteen! sparks fly au

✭ — summary: sofia celebrates her nineteenth birthday

✭ — warnings: just mutual pining

✭ — a/n: sweetheart behaviour

✭ — word count: 0.86k

“Happy Birthday!”

“Surprise!”

“You’re nineteen!”

When Sofia stepped into the kitchen, she was greeted with a myriad of cheers and birthday wishes. In the middle of an island was a chocolate cake adorned with several candles. “You guys!” Sofia gushed.

She stepped over, blowing out the candles. The boys cheered, each coming over to individually wish Sofia a happy birthday.

“Did you plan this?” Sofia asked Luca as he came over.

“Maybe…” Luca said. He wrapped an arm around his baby sister's shoulder, bringing her in for a hug.

“Hey Sof, want a slice?” Tyler asked, cutting into the cake.

“Did you guys make it?” Sofia asked. The boys shook their heads, with Mark telling her it was store-bought. “Then sure!”

Tyler handed her a plate and fork, sending her into the living room where they had ESPN on the TV, the preshow for the Columbus game showing. Adam, her twin brother, was currently warming up for his game against the New York Rangers.

Sofia had called Adam earlier in the afternoon, wishing her twin a happy birthday. This was the first birthday that the Fantilli twins had spent apart. It was a little hard for Sofia to be away from Adam this time of year, but Luca and the rest of the team were doing a great job making it a little easier.

Once all the others got a slice, they joined Sofia in the living room.

Once the game started, the room filled with shouting every time Adam touched the puck, with discourse about both teams arising.

The entire time, Rutger couldn’t help but sneak glances at Sofia. Every time the puck was on Adam’s stick, she was sat up, heavily focused on the screen. Whenever one of the boys made a joke, her smile would light up the room.

Sitting in Rutgers’ bag by the front door was Sofias’ birthday present. His gift to her was an antique copy of Little Women he had picked up from a used bookstore. He had been thinking of a good gift to get her for a while and when he passed by the shop and ventured in, finding the book, he knew it was the perfect gift.

The only thing to do now was to find the right moment to give her the gift. It felt weird to give her the book in front of all the boys, especially in front of Luca. Suddenly the night was coming to an end and Rutger still hadn’t given her the gift.

“Alright Sof, get back safely.” Luca said, pulling his sister in for a goodbye hug.

“Thanks, Luc. I had a lot of fun tonight.” She replied. Sofia shouted out to the rest of the boys. “Goodbye, everyone!”

“Bye Sofia!” They all shouted.

Once Sofia had left, Luca rejoined the boys in the kitchen as they cleaned and talked about Adams’ game. Rutger knew this was the last chance he would get to gift the book to her on her birthday. Rutger slipped out of the kitchen, pulling on a pair of trainers he isn’t sure are his but still running out the front door. Sofia had just reached the end of the walkway when Rutger called out to her.

“Sof!” He called.

She spun around, her hands shoved into the pockets of her oversized leather jacket. Rutger halted when he was a couple of feet from her. “Hey, wassup Rut?” Sofia asked.

“I uh… I just…” Rutger stammered, trying to catch his breath. “Happy birthday.”

Sofia chuckled. “Thanks, Rut.”

Rutger laughed at his own words. “I know I told you that already but I wanted to tell you again. But, uh… I got you something.”

Rutger handed Sofia the wrapped gift, scanning her confused face. “You got me a gift?” She asked.

“Well… yeah.” He said.

“Aw, you didn’t have to.” She said.

He simply shook his head. “Of course I did, friends get each other gifts on their birthdays, that’s how it works.”

Sofia ripped open the wrapping paper, pulling out the book inside. She scanned the cover, her eyes softening and jaw-dropping as she realized what the book was exactly.

“Rutger…” She gasped quietly. “You didn’t.”

Rutger just shrugged, watching as she opened the book, flipping through the pages. “Where did you even get this?” Sofia asked.

“I was out driving the other day and drove past this bookstore. I just decided to pop in and saw this on one of the shelves.” He explained.

“I can’t… I don’t have enough words. Thank you, Rutger.” Sofia said.

Sofia reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms found her waist, pulling her close. They stayed there for a few seconds, holding the hug for a few more seconds — a bit longer than the normal three-second hugging rule. The scent of her perfume, one Rutger had gotten familiar with as they spent more and more time together, washed over him.

Finally, Sofia unwrapped her arms from around him, Rutger clearing his throat. “Uhm, I hope you like the book. And I hope you had a good birthday.”

“Thank you, again.” Sofia said. “I’ll uh… I’ll see you in class.”

Sofia turned, walking down the sidewalk and off towards her dorm. Rutger sighed, letting out a loud groan.

#sparks fly au! #sofia x rutger #rutger mcgroarty

[duskspring]

Chores and a Show - Copia/GN!Reader fic

Domestic December - Day 2

Summary: You help Copia with his paints before a ritual

Content (do let me know if I forgot anything!): Google translate Italian as per fandom tradition, some insecurity on Copia’s side but it’s all ok in the end

Word count: ~1.7k

“Stop being so squeamish." You said to Copia, trying to sound gentle and not make him feel bad. He could be extra sensitive before a ritual, but you’d already told him to settle down twice.

"It's not my fault you tickle me, amore."

You playfully scoffed, trying to resume getting him ready. You added some black onto the brush.

"Close your eyes for me.” When he did, you started dragging the colored hairs over his eyelids and the surrounding area.

You were laser focused. Copia deserved nothing but perfection.

You startled the brush back slightly when he put his hands on your hips. You'd been straddling his lap the whole time to get as close as possible, but he’d kept his hands down up to this point.

"Copia." You say in fun-loving warning as you color his other eyelid.

"I'm behaving." He claimed, though he smirked like he had more up his sleeve.

When you moved to add a second layer, his hands dipped a little lower to your rear.

"Preshow's already on, we don't have forever.” You reminded him.

“All the more reason to enjoy your company while I can.” You had to pull back again when he smiled, not being able to work if his eyes were crinkled up.

Stopping for a moment did give you the chance to take a good look at his face. His freckles and any blemishes you usually loved mapping out were already covered up with white, but his wrinkles, the proof of his fast life experience and wiseness were still visible clearly enough for you to admire. Not that you’d admit to that, knowing Copia didn’t like them being pointed out.

“Does it look ok?” He noticed your staring, taking it to mean something was wrong. His voice sounded so small, almost childlike.

Your expression softened further, but still you took the chance to tease him a bit, “It will, as soon as you let me do my job.”

He chuckled briefly, trying to get his worries out, before straightening his face. His hands dutifully moved back to your hips.

The rest of the work went well. You’d gotten plenty of time to practise back at the abbey. Doing this for him was just another way for you to prove your devotion to him and try to help him out any way you could. He, in return, appreciated your perfectionism in the act, always insisting on starting over if it wasn’t just right.

He would never understand just how hard it was for you, however. He was still shirtless, apart from his suspenders you couldn’t believe he could wear against his bare skin. He looked good enough to eat. Though the only person you had to blame for that distraction was yourself. You were the one encouraging him to not be in costume yet when you painted his face. You had faith in your skill but the last thing you wanted would be to accidentally stain that beautiful military style jacket of his.

You took a steady breath, before holding it in. You refused to allow yourself to mess up the thin lines on the sides of his face.

Copia would love nothing more than to cheer you on or tell you something to calm your nerves, but it was his job right now to remain still.

You pulled back after the second line was done, letting out a big sigh of relief after having not messed it up.

“Stay very still.” You told him next, angling his head a little further back.

He wasn’t sure what you were gonna do, but he would never question your process. Not after your flawless track record. Because it was you.

You were shaking slightly, the small adrenaline rush you always got catching up with you. Still, you smiled. You smiled at the man that made everyday just a little better. A man that you knew would go through hardship and hell to make you happy. He was everything, with or without the paint, because it was him.

You lean in closer, his hold on your hips instinctively tightening to help keep you steady. You press your lips to his. They were the only part of him still unpainted.

Still, you kiss him softly, not wanting to blemish the surrounding paint. Copia sits up the slightest bit, trying to follow you when you pull back with a self satisfied look on your face.

“Almost there, love.” It was a matter of coloring his lips and you’d be done at last.

Still you didn’t allow yourself to slack in that department. You couldn’t speak for the rest of his audience, but you certainly enjoyed looking at his lips a lot, so they too had to look pristine.

You wished you could stay and look at him for another few hours, but a quick glance at the clock revealed the disappointing need to start wrapping it up.

You patted his hands on your hips, “Up we go.” You smiled, standing up and quickly stretching you back as Copia followed you.

As soon as you straightened your posture he stepped closer to you and put his gloved hands on your cheeks, “I would kiss you again if I could. Thank you so much, amato mio.”

You lean your head sideways into his hold, “No need you thank me at all. I love getting to do this for you.” As a last sign of affection before having to move on, you turned your head a little to kiss his palm.

You stepped away to the clothing rack that stood against the walls. All of his costumes for the night were hung up in order, ready for his quick in between costume changes. You grabbed the one on the end of the rack, the previously mentioned beautiful military style suit. It gave Copia an edge, a sense of authority he deserved as Papa.

When you faced him again, he looked the part as well. It was like watching an actor morph into character; he stood up straighter, exuding an air of confidence that suited him so well.

You took the jacket off the hanger and held it up. He obediently held his arms out without having to be asked. You helped him into the garment, closing it quickly, but with care.

After that he knew to sit in front of the vanity, you coming up behind him to brush his hair back. You loved getting to make his hair look all neat to then see it get progressively more messy throughout the night. As much as you loved watching Copia all dolled up, it was even better to see him let loose and have fun. It was clear as day that the stage was where he was at his most comfortable.

You looked away from his hair for just a moment, noticing how he looked at your reflection in the mirror, the slightest of smiles on his face. You knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I love you too.” The words left you oh so delicately. He needed to know you weren’t just saying it to say it.

“Ti amo più di ogni altra cosa.” More than anything. It was far from his first love declaration but this one, right in all the chaos before the show, somehow felt like the most meaningful one you’d ever heard.

A frantic knock interrupted the sentiment, “You’re on in five!”

You sighed, excited to see Copia perform again but upset your time together was so rushed. You leaned down and very delicately placed a kiss on his neatly brushed back hair.

“Go get ‘em.” You winked at him through the mirror.

He got up, examined his full reflection before finally turning to face you again.

"How do I look?" He already looked confident as can be, but still he asked you that same question before every show, as if you wouldn’t always respond the exact same way.

You stepped closer, putting your hands on his chest, "Like the most beautiful man I've ever seen."

His confident look softened. He wished so badly to kiss you, but knew his paints would mess up from it and your hard work had to be admired on stage for all to see. Instead he brushed his hand over your hair.

“I will look for you in the crowd.” He promised.

You pulled back, already grabbing your bag and making your way there, “Remember, I’m on the left balcony.” You didn’t really jive well with big crowds. As much as you’d miss seeing Copia up close, you were happy you got a spot in the VIP camp. Less people, but still a good overview of the stage.

The next few minutes we’re a bit of a blur as you had to rush to make it up there on time. You only hoped Copia could take it a bit easier.

You knew he was nervous, he always was. But as soon as the white screen fell down to reveal the band the energy in the room was electric.

He had such a way about him, capturing all eyes in the room with his strong voice, silly dance moves and sometimes eyebrow raising words in between songs.

And he made sure to keep his promise, looking over in your direction multiple times. It was clear to you that he didn’t truly see you at first. But when he did, he made sure you knew. He waved his arm in a gesture towards you and you immediately understood he’d found you.

It was almost an art, making you feel like the only person in a fully packed arena. As if all those songs were especially for you even when he interacted with the crowd and wasn’t actively engaging you.

You’d probably never get the full scope of it, but when Copia was up on that stage, he was there for you. At least in spirit. He thought of you the whole time. Your unwavering faith in him calmed his nerves and the prospect of you telling him how great he did, like you always told him after performances, served as a driving force to do even better than last time.

He needed you, in that way. He wanted you. He could never imagine doing this without you.

He loved you, as wholly as you loved him.

[My Main Masterlist | Domestic December Masterlist]

#domestic december #the band ghost fanfiction #the band ghost #papa emeritus 4 #ghost fanfiction #copia #ghost bc

[jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka]

No Strings Attached

(Strumming of a Heart)

✵ Part 2

Summary: After an overwhelming breakup you decided to set your heart aside and run free. With the constraints of your past relationship behind you, finding the fun in the physical company of others has been your favorite past time and it all started one night you met a lonely Jake Kiszka in a bar. Although you thought you would never see him after that night, a year later you meet him again, only this time you find out he’s a guitar player in a popular band. You can not deny the intense attraction, embarking on a messy situationship that has only one stipulation: absolutely no strings attached.

Pairings: Jake X fem reader

Warnings: as always 18+ no minors, past abusive relationships, angst, drinking, sexual content, friends with benefits, mentions of cheating, unhealthy ignoring of emotions, I’ll update more as they come along!

Word count: 10k

Jake’s POV

“If she comes, bring her straight back” you instructed the club personnel. It was the third time you had come out to check and see if she had decided to show or not. Thankfully you didn’t take as long to get ready as the others did so you had plenty of opportunities to slip away and quickly scan the crowd only to come up empty handed every time. Empty handed, but not discouraged.

“Where’d you go Jake?” Josh suspiciously questioned you. Obviously he’d noticed how often you had disappeared in the past hour.

You resumed your seat on the futon, trying to focus on anything other than the image of her laid out underneath you the night before. “Just went to get some fresh air”.

“You having some preshow nerves?” Josh moved to take a seat next to you, but you had to avoid looking over at him. Usually you were grateful for your brother's intuition, he always knew when there was something on your mind and when it was time to sit down and have a little talk. Especially when your twinergy affected each other's stage presence.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got my head in the game. I’m excited to get out there tonight” you could hear the opening bands reaching the peak of their performance which meant it would be time for you guys to go on soon.

Josh gave your shoulder an encouraging squeeze, “Let’s go give them what they want”. You were able to glance over for long enough to see his contagious smile, the corners of your own mouth pulling up as well.

Sam and Danny took the stage first, the crowd was already charged by the previous performances, shouting and yelling as Josh walked out next.

You stood behind, your last chance to get a glimpse before you had to focus on playing, but she was nowhere to be found, again.

You were trying to not be surprised. She had said it herself last night when you invited her out again that she didn’t think it was a good idea, and you were starting to think now that she was probably right. She had become a distraction, a welcomed one, but one nonetheless.

The moment was cut short by the sound of Danny’s drums trying to get the set started. Your eyes tore from the crowd onto the stage where Sam was plucking at his bass and Josh was shooting you a look that said ‘what the hell? Get your ass out here’.

Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you ran out onto the stage, threw your guitar strap over your shoulder, and laid your frustration out on your instrument.

The first few songs you blew through with ease, the energy coming from your guitar out to the crowd then reciprocated back to you as your fingers instinctively played the next song, Lover Leaver (Taker Believer). You knew this was a fan favorite as you took a break before your solo while Sam set the bar high grooving on his bass, grabbing your slide from off the amps behind you. As you turned back around a few girls in front of you waved and yelled. You caught their eyes and smiled slyly back, giving a small wave in return before pushing your hair out of your face and ripping back into playing wherever your heart took you to.

Your eyes fluttered closed as you felt your music with your entire body, tossing your head back and popping out your hips as Josh’s voice echoed the sounds you were so sweetly pulling from your guitar.

Once the song was nearing its end you moved to put your slide back, glancing off stage for just a moment and being shocked when you saw her standing there, watching you play with a simple smile on her face.

So she came after all. A smile found its way onto your face as you sent her a quick nod. She could have shown up an hour ago, saved you a lot of nerves, but she was here now and you’d been playing your heart out all night just in case she did.

You rocked out the last few songs, stealing more glances than you should have to side stage where there was a mysterious girl waiting for you. An anxious feeling started to reappear in the pit of your stomach.

Although she was here now, you could see a look of hesitancy in her eyes as they darted around the stage and the crowd, trying to not linger on you for too long. When the set was finished and you said your goodbyes you wanted to run off the stage and greet her, but you were afraid that might frighten her away. Like a little bird startled by fast movements. That’s exactly how she looked to you, like a little bird, a dove.

Reader POV

You are definitely not doing this. You thought to yourself as you stood in front of the full length mirror that leaned up against the wall of your apartment. The mirror was always meant to be hung. Liam said he’d do it for you when you moved into this apartment nearly two years ago, so you set it up on the floor for him and it’s sat there ever since.

Sure you could’ve hung it up whenever you wanted, but you’d only asked Liam a few dozen times since he insisted he would. It was always a good reason to get him over to your apartment, ‘will you come hang that mirror up for me today?’ you’d ask even when you knew he’d find a reason not to. At least he’d come over, so you kept asking.

The joke was, you had put so much thought and energy in him hanging the damn thing, that even now every time you looked at yourself in its reflection you saw him. You were starting to think that maybe when you packed up and left, you’d leave the mirror still sitting where it was.

You hated that you were reminded of him in the simplest of things, the diner across the street from your apartments, the bench between the arts buildings and the library on campus, this stupid full length mirror, even if you hadn’t seen him in over a year now.

That was just another reason for you to get excited to leave though. Detroit was filled with the ghosts of your past and once in Nashville you’d get to start over. Your life was getting a reset and you could finally start to heal from what transpired here, become who you truely wanted to be.

Pushing back the memories of your ex you held top after top up against your bare torso, trying to figure out which looked best.

If I can’t find anything to wear then I’m not going. You pouted as you returned to your drawer to shift through the stack of tank tops. You didn’t have very many, but your closet space was not ideal so some of the articles of clothing you’d prefer to have hung up found a home in your old dresser instead.

It’s not like Jake will care what you show up in. He will be peeling these clothes off you by the end of the night anyways. Your shoulder devils were making a good point (they were both devils because there was no way you had an angel guiding you through this hook up).

Your eyes flicked to the next drawer over, suddenly remembering a fancy new set you had bought just a week ago still sitting fresh with the tags. You had never purchased any type of lingerie before now. There was no point, Liam made it clear if you slept over then you had to be fully clothed and cuddling was limited to waist up only. Since that blew up in your face you hadn’t cared much about impressing guys, because you’d never see them more than once. Then Caleb made his way into your orbit, easing his way into your day to day even though you kept him at arm's length at all times. The intent was to give him a nice little surprise, but now you seriously debated at least trying them on and seeing how you felt about wearing them tonight instead.

Although the bra was in your usual size, it seemed to squeeze your breasts tighter than normal. Maybe if you’d had the nerve to try it on in the store before buying you could have found a better fit, but as you glanced in the mirror again you saw just how damn good you looked.

Adjusting the straps so that they weren’t digging into your shoulders you found a tank top that would do the job and threw it on over top.

After jeans and shoes you were out the door. You knew you were late and that the show was starting very soon, probably already missed the openers, but at least you’d been able to convince yourself to stop stressing over the news from this morning. The next few weeks were probably going to be filled with making preparations for transferring to another school. You’d have to find someone to take over your lease, search for a new apartment in Nashville. You deserved one more night to enjoy yourself before turning your life upside down.

“What did you think of tonight’s show?” Jake asked you, sweaty and out of breath as he and his band exited the stage leaving the crowd of fans only wanting more.

His band mates gave you a few confused looks when they saw you, but shrugged their shoulders when Jake approached and went about their business. You felt very out of place, not at all expecting when you arrived to be plucked from the back of the crowd by a staff member and escorted back to where you were now. “From what I caught, really great. You guys have amazing energy” you gave him the free compliment since it was directed more towards his band than him alone. Hopefully he hadn’t seen you staring at him while he played.

His fingers slipped around your wrist and drug you off down the hallway behind the stage, finding a quiet corner to push you up against the wall. He pressed his entire body flush with yours, pinning you between his hot form and the cool brick as his lips caught yours in a quick dance.

Your head was spinning with the rapid progression of his actions. Although you’d done nothing to give him reason to not think it was okay to treat you this way. It was a little too much, a little too fast.

Jake must have read your thoughts, feeling your body stiff underneath his eager touch. He slowed his pace, placing a hand on the wall next to you to lift his body off of you while still staying close enough to keep you caged in. “Sorry, was that too much?” He asked in a gentle hushed tone, opposite to how he’d just been acting. Before you could answer he brushed the back of his fingers against your collar bone, moving a lock of hair over your shoulder so he could place a kiss to your throat.

He smelled like he’d been drinking, sweet mixed with men’s cologne and a hint of cigarettes. It was a smell you weren’t fond of, but underneath all of that you smelt something else, his shampoo maybe, and it smelled good. Something like sage with floral undertones.

“I don’t want to spook you. I’m afraid you might fly away too soon. Little dove”.

What the hell was that? He was calling you pet names? You thought he understood your situationship clearly last night, but now you weren’t so sure.

As he continued to kiss across your neck and shoulder, slowly lowering his body back onto yours and slipping a knee between your legs, you gave him a warning.

“Jake,” you panted out when his knee brushed a little too high. “Remember what I said last night?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?” He replied though not bothering to stop his exploration, moving down your shoulder.

“Pet names? Is that necessary?”

“Hmm?” He was listening, but he didn’t understand what you meant.

“Little dove?”

He realized now what he’d said only a moment ago. It hadn’t necessarily been on purpose, just came out when he thought about how he had you trapped underneath him.

He stopped to look up at you trying to find an explanation that wouldn’t cause you to call it quits right there before he had you again, one more time. “Hey, it doesn’t mean anything. You’re just very flighty is all. Makes me think of chasing a bird as a kid. You get so close only for them to fly away and land a few feet out of reach. They’re very taunting little creatures don’t you think?”

“You think I’m taunting?” You pried with a scoff.

“Only a bit” he chuckled at your frustration. “You let me think you weren’t going to come, then you show up acting all shy. I know what you came here for”. He straightened back up again, stepping away from you completely this time. You were puzzled by his sudden retreat. He was the one taunting you.

Then realized he was giving you an opportunity to flee. Removing himself from your space so you could decide the next more yourself. You pushed off the wall, closing the gap between your bodies once more proving to him that you weren’t going to run away. Not tonight at least.

You ran your hand up his chest, gripping the scarf he had dangling around his neck and giving it a tug. “If you know what I’m here for then what are we waiting on?”

In your close proximity you were able to watch his Adam's apple bob up and down as she swallowed hard before clearing his throat. “Let me get my things from the dressing room and we can take the van back to the hotel”.

“Hotel?” You questioned in a peep. Of course he was staying in a hotel, but since you knew his band was from Michigan you might have guessed he lived nearby. A hotel was better than his place anyways.

“Is that okay with you?” He snaked his hand around your waist like although he was still giving you the chance so say no, he wasn't going to let you go any longer.

“It’s okay, you lead the way”.

Again you were finding yourself unsure what to expect when you followed him around the venue, waiting as he collected a few items in the dressing room and tossing them into his leather bag then guiding you towards the back of the building where the van was waiting.

“After you” he held his hand out in front of the open door, helping you from the curb onto the step of the van.

Peaking your head inside you found the van wasn’t empty. Back in the very back row of seats one of his band mates looked up from his phone, the screen illuminating the shocked look on his face to see you of all people for the second night in a row.

“Well hello again?” He called over to you while you tried to find an appropriate place to sit. Jake was already ducking into the van behind you, catching the small interaction.

“You guys are acquainted already?” Jake questioned as he took his seat next to you, letting his bag fall to the floor between his feet.

“No, not exactly” you muttered, keeping your eyes fixed directly ahead since the seat you chose was right in front of his band mate.

“I caught her slipping out last night” he revealed to Jake, “didn’t catch her name though”.

Why did he care what your name was? He clearly knew what it was you were doing here, and with his bandmate.

Jake smirked, also knowing Danny had to be aware of the reason behind your presence. “Well this is Danny, our drummer” he invited you to properly meet him. You braced yourself as you turned around in the seat, offering your name in exchange with a half smile.

Danny reached over the seat and shook your hand. His grip was strong and you couldn’t put your finger on his expression. Trying to brush it off you settled back into the seat and waited for what you assumed were the others to arrive before you could be on your way to the hotel.

Jake stayed turned around in his seat, chatting with Danny about the night and the level of excitement from the crowd.

“Well, who do we have here?” A voice you recognized as their singer entered the van followed behind with the last member.

“Josh and Sam” Jake motioned towards the both of them as they plopped down into the front row. “Joshua Michael Kiszka at your pleasure” the singer formally reintroduced himself with a little tilt of his head. So Google was right, they were brothers, his attempt at eloquence sounding familiar to when you first met Jake. Glancing between the three of them, even in the barely there light of the van you could see the uncanny resemblance. “Jake, you didn’t tell us you were having a visitor?”.

“It’s no wonder he was so fidgety before the show” the one called Sam teased which warranted a thump to the back of his ear by Jake. Yeah, they were definitely brothers.

“Hey! What the fuck man?” Sam hollered, rubbing his ear dramatically.

“You worry about yourself Sam, and I’ll worry about what I’ve got going on” Jake replied in defense.

“It’s alright Jake, I’m sure they’re just as shocked about me being here as I am” you nervously interjected as the door to the van was rolled shut by the driver before he took his seat up front.

“Not surprised, just thrilled to see our Jake coming out of his shell a little. Meeting new people isn’t really his thing. Where did you guys meet by the way?” Josh was fully invested in this conversation, sitting sideways with his back against the window and his arm thrown across the seat in front of you.

You watched as Jake opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out how to explain your meeting without embarrassing either of you.

“I’m a friend of Lila’s” you lied through a smile hoping there wasn’t any past beef you didn’t know about between Jake's ex and his brothers.

“Oh really!” Josh sat up and leaned over the seat now. You’d made a good call. “How’s she doing? I didn’t know Jake and her even kept in touch anymore?”

“You know she’s doing really well, I didn’t know they did either” you kept up the facade, glancing over at Jake who had a wide and amused smile on his face, just shaking his head back and forth in disbelief of your boldness.

“That’s good to hear, tell her we miss her. Haven’t seen that girl in ages”. Josh finally sat forward when you told him you would, leaving you and Jake to yourselves the rest of the short ride to the hotel.

Jake's hand fell into your lap as he leaned over to whisper into your ear. “You think you’re cunning don’t you?” He gave your thigh a squeeze.

You turned your face towards his, so close that your lips could brush against each other if the van hit a bump in the road.

“I thought I was taunting?” Your hand matched his, but you slid it further up his leg causing him to retreat further back into his seat.

He removed his hand from your leg and grabbed yours that was still trying to advance. “Careful, you don’t want to get too carried away before we make it to the room”. He was staring right at you, but you let your eyes slip down to his mouth, plush and pouty and just begging to be pulled between your teeth.

The sound of Danny clearing his throat behind you caused Jake to pull back, adjusting his pants as he sat forward but keeping his hand tightly wrapped around yours between you.

“To be continued” you whispered once more under your breath, unsure if he’d still be able to hear you or not, but he squeezed your hand to show he did.

The van pulled into the hotel’s drop off lane only minutes later and everyone piled out into the lobby.

“Daniel? Bar?” Sam turned to the drummer with a mischievous look on his face.

“Sure, will you order for me and I’ll meet you over there?” He replied, stuffing his hands into his back pockets as Sam agreed and sauntered off.

“You guys up to join us?” Danny asked, his eyes flashing back and forth between his two band mates, but never to you.

“Sure, I’ve got to go up to my room and make a few phone calls, but I’ll head back down in a few” Josh replied as he hit the button on the elevator.

“I’ve got a mini bar in the room” Jake politely declined while also nondiscreetly slipping his arm around your waist.

“Yeah, of course” he chuckled, finally taking a look at you then down to where Jake's hand rested on your hip. What was this feeling you were getting from him? Was he being timid? You didn’t get that impression from him watching him play behind his drum set on stage. Then again they were performers and their stage presence didn’t have to directly reflect their personal identities.

The elevator sounded its arrival and you, Jake, and Josh retreated inside. Jake's fingers were tapping against your side as he spoke to his brother about their plans for the next day making sure they were both going to be prepared before parting for the night. Danny’s eyes remained fixed on you until the doors closed and you tore yours away, noticing Josh hitting the button for the fifth floor and Jake the sixth. The elevator started to rise, not stopping until it was time for Josh to get off, then you and Jake.

His arm left your side as he exited the elevator first, glancing behind to make sure you were still planning on following him to the room.

“Better make this quick if you’ve got to get up early tomorrow” you mentioned you’d heard part of his conversation in the elevator as you joined him down the hallway.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ve got a long drive to the east coast tomorrow. I can sleep on the bus”. His steps slowed as he reached his room, pulling out his wallet that you recognized to be the same from a year ago and getting out the key card. “So no, I don’t plan on making this quick”. A wide and anxious smile spread across his face as he again allowed you to enter first.

You stepped into the cold room. The sound of the air conditioning unit being left on filling the space until you heard the sound of the door shutting and locking behind you. You turned around to see Jake already pulling his shirt over his head.

“Are you ready for some fun?” He raised his brows with a smirk as he kicked his shoes off and unbuttoned his pants.

You bit your lip as you backed away from him, further into the room making him follow you to the bed. “You going to really show me what you’re made of this time? Finally getting me in a proper bed?” You giggled, keeping the mood light hearted and charged with sexual tension.

He was getting closer and closer as you slowed your steps. “We will get to the bed” he replied, “but first I want you on your knees for me”. He bent over to pull his pants off, taking his underwear down with them and stepping out of the pile on the floor as he rose.

You let your eyes roam his fully unclothed body, mouth watering as your mind wondered what he would taste like. Surely salty with the amount of sweat that had glistened off him in the intense stage lights. You’d know soon enough. “Yes sir” you caught him twitching at your words. “Oh you like that?”.

Instead of answering you he finally reached right in front of you, taking his hand and snaking it around to the back of your head, pulling you into a hungry kiss. His fingers tangled into your hair, tugging slightly at the roots until your lips were pulled off of his. “Show me your tongue” he purred as he looked down at your head tilted back through hooded eyes.

You obliged him, letting your jaw fall and your tongue peak out. “Open wider” his fingers tightened around your hair until you stuck your tongue out all the way. He took his free hand and placed two fingers against the wet muscle. “Okay, now close”.

You let your tongue slide against his fingers as you brought them inside your mouth, sucking on them as his thumb came to rest on your jaw.

Up until now he had been doing a very good job at keeping his composure, but as he felt your tongue swirl around his fingers a breathy groan escaped past his parted lips.

“Good” he pulled his fingers out and grabbed your chin. “Now do that to my cock” he used his hands on you to guide you down until you were indeed on your knees in front of him, keeping the hand on the back of your head.

You opened your mouth wide again, taking your tongue out once more to lick him from base to tip, wrapping your lips around his head.

“Wait” Jake gasped out just as you were about to take him in completely. His fingers untangled themselves from your hair and moved to cup your cheek. “I think we should establish some ground rules”.

“Now?” You bemoaned, looking up at him with lust filled eyes then back down to his leaking tip right in front of your nose.

He pulled your attention back upwards, “yes now, before we get too carried away. I told you last night I would make you beg for it. I think we should have a safe word before I do”.

You didn’t think you could get any more turned on, but the confidence that boarderlined arrogance sounded very appealing coming from him. He said he’d make you beg for it? Maybe you were desperate when you first met, but this time you were sure you could hold out longer than him. “Hmm,” you creeped your hand up his thigh as you thought. “How about ‘Jake get the fuck off of me before I kick your ass’?”

He wanted to be upset with you for not taking him seriously, but now you had his dick in your hand giving him a firm stroke before he got his words out again. “No, that won’t work. I might want you to kick my ass”.

“Freaky Jake” you chuckled as your eyes flickered back to what was in front of you, licking the bead of precum that was already leaking out.

“Fuck-” his thumb traced your bottom lip as his hips started to buck forward ever so slightly, just as they did when he was onstage. “Mangos, it’s fucking mangos, the safe word. Are you okay with that? Can you remember that?”

“Mangos?” You giggled, slowing your stroking to give him a moment to actually think about what he said. “Why mangos?”

“I hate them. I wouldn’t say mangos unless I was serious we needed to stop” he revealed, and that was good enough for you. With that established you were ready to resume your blow job.

“Okay, mangos it is” you nodded and he moved his hand back, gathering as much hair as he could between his fingers on his way. You wrapped your lips around him, swirling your tongue over his head like you had his fingers causing a sweet sounding moan.

Then you started bobbing your head, going as far as you could, twisting your hand around his base for support. Jake was using his hand on the back of your head to push you further. You could tell he wanted to be completely in your mouth, so you moved your hand to his hip to brace yourself.

Jake looked down at you, his eyes questioning if you were okay. You hummed around him, the vibration causing him to twitch, and wrapped your hand around his hip, taking a handful of his ass cheek and pulling him forward until he was brushing against the back of your throat.

You let your eyes close as they teared up a bit, but you were still handling him very well. “Just a little bit more, then I’ll get you on that bed” Jake groaned as he fucked into your mouth. You hollowed out your cheeks, giving him a good suck before he slid out with a pop and bent down to pick you up, backing you up, and throwing you onto the bed all in one quick motion.

You were already working at unbuttoning your pants as he crawled onto the bed and ripped them off, tossing them onto the floor near his. “These are cute” he hooked a finger underneath the hem of your lacy panties and pulled it up letting the elastic come snapping back against your skin.

“There’s a matching top” you gave away, drawing his attention as you shed your tank top. revealing the strappy sheer bra barely covering your hardened nipples.

“This looks uncomfortable” he questioned playfully as he ghosted his lips up your torso.

Your back arched off the bed, looking for a little more pressure in his kisses. “The point is they’re not supposed to be on for that long” you replied matter-of-factly, but he had other ideas for you.

“Hmm, that’s too bad, I like looking at you in them”. He reached your chest, nipping at the delicate fabric with his teeth, grazing against your hardened bud. The tip of his nose traced the curve of your breast that was exposed by the low cut of the bra, his warm breath soothing the soreness in your nipples.

“On second thought” he slid a hand up the bed beside you and lifted himself to get one last look at you in your full set. “You can take one of them off now.” The hand that wasn’t holding himself up came to dance his fingers over your shoulder straps “you’re bra?”, then they dropped down to cup over your core “or your panties?”

Trying to sway your decision he began rubbing, knowing you’d want to be touched without the fabric in the way. Bringing his lips next to your ear he hushed his voice like there was someone nearby who could possibly overhear him “These are already soaking wet, you might as well choose to take them off first”.

The two of you weren’t in a bathroom at a bar, or backstage at a venue this time though, and you now had the appropriate privacy to indulge however you wanted.

“Go ahead, take them off” you lifted your hips signaling to him what your choice was.

He sat back onto his knees with a smirk, keeping eye contact with you as he pulled the delicate piece slowly down your legs. He caught one of your legs mid air and focused his kisses on the inner part of your knee, then further up your thigh until he was lowering himself back onto the bed, but this time situated between your legs.

“You want my mouth now?” His arm slid between the bed and your thigh, hiking your knee around his shoulder and blowing cool air onto the hottest part of your body.

“I’m not begging yet if that’s what you’re asking” you managed to answer him with a tease even though you’d be lying if you didn’t say yes, so you did. “Yes Jake, I do”. You slid your hips down the bed, settling closer to him.

“Hmm, an attitude isn’t going to get you anywhere” his fingers tightened around your thigh and you realized just how strong his grip was. Made sense being a musician who used his hands all day. You started to wonder what else those hands could do to you.

“You’re right, yes sir” you enticed him again based off your knowledge of his previous reaction to that phrase. He let out a deep chested groan before connecting his mouth to you.

A heavy sigh left past your parted lips as you felt the warmth from his mouth mix with yours. His tongue sliding between your folds collecting all of your arousal before easily finding your sweet bundle of nerves and flicking the tip over it.

You let out an unabashed moan, rocking your hips up and down against his tongue letting the now familiar feeling coil up tightly inside.

To your dismay Jake removed his mouth from you, moving his hands to either side of your hips and massaging his thumbs into your pelvis. “No no, not yet. Hold on a little longer”.

“Hmmmmm, why?” You whined, absolutely writhing at the way his hands felt on you, wanting more. Wanting everything he could give you tonight while you were both still here to give and take it.

“You. Know. Why” he replied, holding onto each word as he returned his kisses to your inner thigh then back to your core, picking up right where he left off.

“Jake enough, more. Give me more”. You realized this could be considered begging, but at that moment you just needed to feel him.

He moved to lay down next to you, grabbing your same knee and swinging it over him. You got the memo that he wanted you on top now, sitting up and moving with him until your center was hovering over him and your hands were sprawled out across his chest.

He reached up and unhooked your bra, pulling the straps off your shoulders and letting it fall.

Your heart was racing, your center aching for him, wanting to be connected so badly. Before you could grind your hips down for relief his hands caressed up your thighs, settling on your sides in a tight grip to keep you still and showing you that although you were on top now he was still in control.

You whimpered as you tried to lower yourself onto him again, but his grip tightened, his fingers digging into the divets of your hips. “Do not move” he demanded in a rumble deep from his chest. “I’ll give you what you want dove”.

Once he felt confident that you would follow his instruction and sit still he moved one hand between your bodies, taking himself by the base and positioning his tip against your entrance.

You sucked in a lung full of hot air, your body already quaking with anticipation as he lifted his hips off the bed and pressed up into you. You weren’t even expecting it but after being edged just a little while ago, as soon as he entered you something went off and you were holding yourself up while digging your nails into his chest as you came around him.

“Oh my god Jake!” You cried out, your orgasm continuously erupting from your core as his hips snapped up over and over again, never stopping to give you a break.

“You’re dripping all over me” he moaned, knowing you’d finally come undone, but because he allowed you to.

“Jake!” You screamed his name continuously, making him even more excited with his movements. “Wait please I-” your pleading was cut off by him suddenly dropping you, making you come fully seated down on top of him all the way to the hilt and deeper than ever let yourself go before.

“You want me to stop? Hmm do you?” His voice was soaking in lust as he circled his hips underneath you to keep the friction going. “What’s the safe word? You remember right?”

“No” you huffed out, starting to work your hips yourself but not paying close enough attention to the words that were coming out of your mouth, “I mean yes, I do, but no I’m good now”.

You removed your hands from his chest admiring the welts that were left behind, those were sure to sting in the shower, and grabbed Jake's hands that had settled on the bed next to him. Returning them to your body, you guided them with yours across the spots on your sides that you’d found you’d liked to be touched, stopping when he was grasping both your breasts.

“I’m going to cum again” you whined as you let your hand fall down and fingers circle over yourself.

“As many times as you want, you’ve been so good” Jake praised you only adding to everything that was pushing you over the edge tumbling towards your second orgasm.

He threw his head back onto the bed as you worked through it before you couldn’t hold yourself up any longer, collapsing onto his chest. “No, I’m so close” he groaned knowing you’d reached your limit but his body screaming at him to keep fucking up into your overstimulated core until he’d finished.

It was then you realized that in the moment neither of you had paused to get protection. Although you took the proper precautions for incidents like this you thought it’d be best to not push your luck. Besides, you wanted to taste him again.

With him focused on chasing his high you were able to pull off before he could complain, quickly moving down and replacing your mouth onto him and starting to suck.

“Oh fuck” he moaned, craning his neck to get one last look before his body tensed. When he was completely spent you sat up, letting him see you swallow.

He pulled you back down onto the bed next to him, his lips frantically searching for yours like you were going to breathe life back into him.

After a few minutes of reveling in the feeling of ecstasy, lazily swapping open mouthed kisses while your legs intertwined together Jake propped his head up on his elbow, looking down at you with a satisfied smirk.

“What?” You chuckled, starting to feel subconscious knowing your hair must be extremely tangled and mascara smudged to hell.

“You’re fucking amazing, did you know that?” His gaze tore through you. You could tell his words were genuine, only making you feel like more of a phony. “In bed I mean, you’re amazing in bed” he corrected his compliment after seeing your expression start to fall. “It’s too bad I don’t know when the next time I’ll be in Detroit is. I’d like to keep seeing you like this”. He ran his hand across the curve of your waist from just under where you had your arm tucked underneath your chin down to the swell of your hip.

It was a nice sentiment when you thought about it, you couldn’t deny that you had thoroughly enjoyed every encounter you’d had with him, but you didn’t even know when the next time you would be back in Detroit was either.

The thought crossed your mind to speak to him about your move, but you decided against it after a second. There was no reason for you to bring that up. If things went as you planned then you wouldn't have the time to be following around some rockstar let alone be falling back into old habits.

“Well, I could use a shower” he took your silence as a queue to drop the conversation, trying not to let it bother him since you had been very clear about your intentions.

He untangled his body from yours, stretching as he stood. A little smile forced itself onto your face as you watched him walk away into the bathroom, your eyes fixed on his perfectly round ass.

Stopping at the doorway he glanced behind his shoulder, catching you staring with a wide smile. “You coming?”

Thankfully it was pretty dark in the room so hopefully he couldn’t see your face burn bright red. “Yeah, give me a second. I’m still trying to regain the feeling in my legs”. You replied, trying to remain shrouded in the dark until your blush went away.

Jake looked proud of himself as he continued into the bathroom and you waited until you heard the sound of the water hitting the tile of the shower turning on until you hopped out of the bed. What you didn’t expect to hear was the sound of Jake humming a familiar melody that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

When you entered the bathroom you saw him standing under the shower head, raking his fingers through his hair to get every strand wet, singing the lyrics to the song making you realize exactly what it was.

You’ll be doin’ alright with your Christmas of white. But I’ll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.

“Christmas is months away” you reminded him as you stepped into the shower to join him.

“I know, jus’ popped into my head” Jake shrugged his shoulders. You could tell he was starting to get sleepy by the way he shortened his words, so you offered to help rinse him off.

Lathering up his torso with soap you let your hands explore the expanse of skin, thinking you might as well commit each dip and plane of his form to memory in case this time you did never see him again.

Your eyes followed the trail of soap as it rolled down his body, biting your lips as you held back the urge to take the little piece of skin on his side right above his hip bone in between your teeth.

Mindlessly your hands roamed lower without your notice until his breathing started to pick up and he gave you a warning. “Careful where you’re touchin’ or we might have to go for roun’ two”.

The corners of your mouth pulled up as you flashed your eyes up to him seductively, “that doesn’t sound too bad”.

Jake cupped your face and let out a groan, catching your lips in his at the same time as you wrapped your fingers around his length.

After a longer than anticipated but very fulfilling shower you found yourself questioning what your next move was going to be. Normally once you’d had your fill, a short goodbye would be said and you would go about your business. This time however, you found yourself wanting to stay just a while longer.

Jake noticed your hesitancy to redress, standing in his hotel room with the towel wrapped around your body slowly collecting the discarded articles of your clothing.

“Care for a drink?” He offered after flicking on a couple of lamps and pulling on a pair of boxers with simple sweatpants, a stark contradiction to the outfits you had become used to seeing him in.

“Yeah, whatever you have is fine”. You pulled your tank top on, skipping the bra for now, unsure how comfortable you should be making yourself. Ultimately you decided he had invited you here and you’d already used the bed, so you might as well have a seat right in the middle.

He turned around from the bar with two tiny bottles of whiskey and a couple of bags of pretzels he’d saved from a flight. “I hope this doesn’t count as being ‘wined and dined’” he laughed to himself as he crawled onto the bed, sitting crisscrossed in front of you and laying out the goods on the sheets between you.

“I’ll allow it” you joked back, collecting your half and cracking open the cap on the mini bottle. “Just this once” you winked and tipped your head back, feeling the hot liquid run down your throat. You tried to hold a steady face, but shooting straight whisky wasn’t usually your thing, so your nose scrunched up when you brought your head back down.

Of course Jake found that amusing, unscrewing his cap and knocking his shot back without even a hint of distaste. “Another?” He questioned with a smirk when he successfully finessed you.

He looked like he expected you to say no, already ready to argue the matter of ‘one more’ with you like the bad influence you were realizing he was. What you hadn’t come to realize yet was how he had already begun to influence you, agreeing to have another without the need for his extra encouragement.

Moving back over to the minibar, Jake pulled a glass out and retrieved another shot of whiskey and a can of coke, mixing the two into the glass haphazardly. “Is this better?” He held the glass out for you with his brows raised.

You moved onto your knees on the bed, leaning forward to examine it further, “no ice?”

“We can go join the others down at the bar if you prefer?” He offered instead, turning on his heel with the glass still in hand. “I’m sure they’d all love to get caught up on you and Lila, considering you know you’re best friends and all”.

You hurried over to the edge, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pulling him back down onto the bed with you, nearly causing him to spill the whisky and coke all over his chest. You plucked the glass from his hand, placing a kiss to his cheek before settling back onto the middle of the bed. “No. This is fine”.

“That’s what I thought” you could hear the smirk in his voice as he stood to get himself another drink before returning.

As you sipped your glass the image of Danny watching you leave with Jake in the elevator flashed through your mind. You were nervous about the idea of going down to drink with them. How would he look at you now? In a state of near undress still, hair slightly dripping at the ends from the shower.

Would his gaze be soft and timid like it was in the lobby, or judgmental like when he found you last night?

You pushed the thought to the back of your head because it wasn’t important right now.

Here in the room you were enjoying watching Jake relax shirtless, stealing glances at the way his body moved so fluidly when you thought he wasn’t paying attention.

“So what’s next for you then? I mean after the long bus ride?” You sipped on the warm liquid in the glass, much more tolerable with the strong fizzy flavor of the coke.

“More shows, and more shows” he leaned back onto his elbow and crossed his legs, his ankles overlapping next to you at the same spot his sweats cuffed, “and more shows”. He sighed looking exhausted. You were a bit worried that you might be keeping him up later than you should. Something gave you the impression though that even if you did leave he would stay up drinking from his minibar alone anyways. At least this way he had some company. “I’m looking forward to going back overseas though. It’s always very cool to see how far our music travels, and we will travel just as far to play for our fans”.

“Overseas? Like Europe?” You questioned, amazement sounding in your voice.

He sat back up, being just as excited about the conversation as you were. “Yeah, we will be doing a few legs in Europe here pretty soon. Have you ever been before?”

You felt your face blush slightly, “No, I haven’t but it is definitely a dream of mine”. Despite how little you knew about Jake, even since night one for some reason you had this feeling in the pit of your stomach that the two of you were somehow similar. Talking to him now was making you realize the opposite.

You had hardly even been out of the state, let alone another country. This man before you, although near the same age, had probably been everywhere your heart had ever desired. Yet here he was meeting you in the same city twice, seemingly taking an interest in you.

“You will get there someday, I’m sure of it” he offered you a soft smile, “where do you want to go most of all?”

That was an easy answer, your favorite movie coming to mind as you romanticized picturing yourself walking down cobblestone streets illuminated by old iron lamp posts. “France” you smiled at the thought. “Have you ever seen Midnight in Paris?”

He shook his head, popping a few mini pretzels into his mouth in the meantime. “You want to go there because of a movie? You sound like my brother” he chuckled at the look of shock and disappointment on your face.

“No it’s not just that, the movie is about an aspiring novelist that goes back in time and meets some famous artists and writers. It’s really inspiring and romantic. Sometimes I wonder if going to Paris might unlock something within myself and I’ll suddenly see the world in the same light as those amazing writers”.

“So you’re a writer then? Or you want to be?” He concluded that much from your moment of divulgence.

Bringing your glass up to finish it off you shrugged your shoulders, “I guess so, we will see how it goes. At one point or another I might have to grow up and focus on getting a real job. For the time being though I’d like to dream”.

Jake took the empty glass from your hand, you were thinking he was about to refill it for you, but instead he set it next to him and brought both of your hands into his. “Fuck that, never give up on your dreams. Go to Pairs, see the city and the countryside, and just create something beautiful. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it as long as it’s authentically you”.

Your breath caught in a knot at the top of your throat as his genuine gaze suddenly knocked you off guard. Nodding your head was all you could manage, but he accepted that as acknowledgment of his pep talk, letting your hands fall back onto your legs and retrieving your glass for the refill.

The conversation steered itself naturally, going both anywhere and nowhere at the same time as you and Jake enjoyed a few more drinks and each other's company.

Even with the lighthearted and meaningless topics about comparing trying to cook decent meals on a bus versus in a dorm, or college parties to after parties, you felt glad that you had decided to come out again tonight.

All the while Jake's endearing speech held a place at the forefront of your mind. His encouragement made you even more excited for the big move. You believed Nashville was going to be your you era.

As the drinks started to settle into your bloodstream, causing your head to feel light and your body to feel warm and heavy in contrast, you tried squinting your eyes at the tiny red numbers displayed on the clock at the bedside table. Did it really say 2:35AM? You could have sworn the last time you checked there was a one before that two.

Jake had to be up again in a few hours, and he was just about passed out on the bed next to you, having moved a little while ago to laying on his stomach with his arms surrounding the pillow tucked underneath his chin.

Just as you thought he was asleep you pulled out your phone and searched your app to see if you could still get an Uber this late. Things weren’t looking great. Well maybe the hotel front desk would know if there were any taxis that still ran at this hour.

Slipping out of the bed trying not to disturb him, you gathered up your jeans and looked around in the area you thought you had kicked off your shoes.

“What are you doing?” He groggily sat up onto his elbows, his eyes squinting from how heavy they were but he was trying to force them to stay open so he could search the room for you. “Please don’t leave”.

“Jake..” his name fell out of your mouth in a whisper, unlike how you were screaming it earlier on in the evening.

“Don’t. Don’t do that right now, just stay with me” he was trying hard to fight you over the matter, but his delicate body slumped back onto the mattress and his eyes closed again.

You could have slipped out anyways, but finding a ride back home was risky, and although you weren’t nearly as tired as Jake was, the bed had been a comfort before you forced yourself out of it.

Picking up the light comforter you eased back onto the bed, your place still warm and inviting even after you’d left it.

You weren’t planning on staying much longer, but if it would help him sleep better right now then you didn’t mind being that comfort for him in this moment.

Jake’s POV

When the alarm on your phone went off after just a few hours of sleep you groaned into your pillow. Flapping your arm around on the bed next to you to silence the damn thing you realized your phone wasn’t where you thought you’d left it.

Instead it was sitting on the bedside table next to the clock that read 6:00AM in blazing harsh light. It was plugged in, face down with the colors illuminating from the screen barely visible against the veneer.

You reached over to turn the alarm off, hesitating as you laid back against the headboard. First you rubbed your eyes and stretched out your legs, your thighs and calves sore from the multitude of activities that required their use yesterday. Then you braved looking over to the empty place next to you.

She had pulled the cover back up against the end of the pillow like she’d never been there at all, but you clearly remembered begging her to stay in your state of sleepy and slightly buzzed delirium. As far as you could recall she’d gotten back into the bed, but when did she leave?

Dragging your tired body out of the bed you went all around the room, picking up all your belongings and packing them back into your worn in suitcase. Ideally you would have done this last night, but you had enjoyed yourself instead.

Little conversations from in the middle of the night replayed in your head causing a slight smile to play on your lips as you completed the mundane task of folding clothes.

She’s a college student, she likes making homemade pizza, she’s got a dog back at home that she misses, she wants to be a writer. You ran through every bit of detailed information she’d given you, trying to piece together the image of her you had created a year ago with all this new information. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to hold onto.

Josh, Sam, and Danny came sluggishly out the elevator, slightly surprised to see you waiting for them in the lobby with your bags already loaded into the compartment on the bus and a fresh hot coffee in hand.

Despite a shaky start, the four hours of sleep you had gotten were actually rather fulfilling, the caffeine in your cup aiding in your little stint of energy.

“Morning boys! Ready for another long ride?” You clapped your hand onto the oldest shoulder, since he had been the one to doubt your capability to be up and at it after your company.

“You're rather cheerful this morning. Have a good night?” Josh replied as you followed him out the door, taking his heavy duffle bag full of his specific products and necessities from him and helping carry it along the way.

You didn’t have to answer, it was rhetorical for him to ask you that after seeing how rested you were. A crash was sure to come soon, and hard, but in the meantime you were going to relish in it.

“Sam met some girls here for a conference and started ordering shots. After the fourth or fifth things start to get a little blurry but I think one of them made out with Danny and Sam filmed it” he started to recall what he could of their night at the bar.

“She said she would show me how to tie a cherry stem in a knot, I didn’t know she was going to put her tongue in my mouth”. Danny stepped into the conversation with Sam right behind him. “Sam please delete that video”.

Sam was the last to load his things inside, but the first to get onto the bus. His entire lean body collapsed onto the sofa with his feet hanging off the edge. “Phones dead” Sam groaned.

Danny rolled his eyes and moved to set his backpack down onto the table so he could pull out his own charger, then retrieved Sam’s cell from his pocket and plugged it in for him. In that amount of time Sam had already fallen back asleep.

The three of you exchanged looks judging which one was brave enough to wake the youngest and have him move into his bunk. You all knew better and decided to just leave him be.

“So, I didn’t know you were still talking to Lila” Josh managed to corner you next to him at the table after he had brewed himself a cup of tea, bouncing the teabag around in the hot water until it had darkened to his liking.

You sat next to him with your chin in your palm and your elbow propped up on the table, shifting your position to stare out the window as the bus rolled out of the hotel's parking lot. “Occasionally” you still answered him.

“Why do you do that to yourself brother? I thought you were done trying to get her back?” There was his sigh that you were dreading. A headache was slowly starting to present itself as this unasked for conversion progressed. “And now you’re what? Sleeping with her friend to get back at her?”

“She has nothing to do with Lila. They hardly know each other” you quipped back, not liking the insinuation coming from your brother right now.

He opened his mouth, probably ready to question it further since he’d heard her say otherwise last night, but he closed it and took a sip of his cup instead. His jaw flexed as he held the rest of the conversation in his mouth, sighing one last time before getting up and leaving you alone.

You knew he was only trying to look out for you, but it was unnecessary. Last night didn’t mean anything, you had no way of contacting her, no idea of if and when you would ever see her again.

The anger you had tried so hard to tuck away into the confines of the back of your mind was fighting to pull forward causing your headache to swell.

You had to keep those feelings at bay because you knew the longer you let yourself feel the anger it would eventually turn into hurt. The anger wasn’t what you were afraid of, it was the hurt.

That’s why you had so easily agreed when she had proposed no feelings be brought between you two. Josh had been watching you from his spot as you stood up and went to your bunk. He’d expected you to be heading back to sleep because he was surprised when you returned with your old acoustic.

An assuring smile spread across his face as he nodded slightly and kicked his ankle up over his knee, sitting back to get ready to listen to whatever was about to spill from your fingers knowing that was the purest way you expressed yourself.

The instrument fit intimately into your lap as you leaned over its body and pressed it against your chest. The feeling of a guitar was the most familiar form in your hands, easily taking their place and forming a chord. You strummed down once before beginning a gentle plucking pattern letting your eyes close and the music write itself.

Everything you kept locked inside was released into your guitar as it always was, leaving you empty to focus only on your art and performing.

No feelings was easier, less messy, and right now the only strings that mattered to you were the strings on your guitar.

<<<Previous chapter

@gretavansara

#greta van fleet #gvf #greta van fic #greta van smut #jake kiskza x reader #jake kiszka #strumming of a heart

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (October 29-November 4, 2023)

Like me, you probably haven't seen Godzilla Minus One yet, making Fest Godzilla 4: Operation Jet Jaguar last week's most spectacular new watch. Kazuhiro Nakagawa's ambitions grow with each entry in this series; this time, he was helped by veteran Rider/Sentai suit actor Kenya Saito inside the great new Jet Jaguar suit. The ending wasn't quite what I predicted, but still set up what should be a spectacular showdown last year.

I wish these shorts weren't effectively the last vestiges of tokusatsu in the Godzilla series; I wish even more that Toho would allow them to stay on YouTube. This one, along with its associated behind-the-scenes videos, will stay around until the end of the year, as an apology for the Godzilla Day VOD having such awful audio as to be unsalvageable. But that still means its discoverability will take a serious hit, and it's unclear what Toho actually gets out of this artificial scarcity. Maybe they're plotting to release all the shorts on Blu-ray in a few years. In any case, download this one post-haste.

While he didn't get a new suit, Megalon still made a triumphant return in the other short film released on Godzilla Day, Godzilla vs. Megalon. A sequel to Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, it's also directed by Takuya Uenishi. The live-action footage in this one helps ground the over-the-top monster mayhem, and a weakened Godzilla displays some cool new tricks, although I found his finisher unsatisfying. As for Megalon, well, he finally shows the world just how terrifying he can be when he takes himself more seriously.

After a mercifully brief marketing campaign, the 37th Godzilla movie, Godzilla Minus One, is in Japanese theaters (and it's making bank). I'm trying to go in relatively unspoiled (always difficult as a Wikizilla admin), but what little I have read has been promising. The basic premise, which the early promos have largely masked, sounds like a kaiju story I wrote in college, which I couldn't be more thrilled by. If you're feeling daring, there's a second trailer out.

We'll get the first episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters even sooner than Godzilla Minus One. Accordingly, Apple has ramped up promotion, releasing a behind-the-scenes video (above), the opening title sequence, and the first scene of the series. We also have names for a couple of the new monsters (the new Skull Island beastie is a Mantleclaw and the critters hatching from eggs are Endoswarmers) and better looks at a couple others.

I joked after the Godzilla Day livestream that it was such a technical fiasco because Toho had put all its skill points into releasing Godzilla Minus One. Similar could be said for the Fathom Events release of Godzilla 2000: Millennium. The showing I caught was fine technically (one brief frame rate hiccup aside), just... uninspired. The preshow was the same brief behind-the-scenes footage of G2K included on the American DVD and Blu-ray; the film used the same translation as the Blu-ray. And now that the novelty of actually being able to watch it has worn off, I've soured considerably on the Japanese version of this movie. The languid score and sound design are especially glaring in a theater.

Godzilla Voxel Wars, available on Steam and Epic Games, probably should have been released in a week less packed with more attention-grabbing Godzilla news. Still zero reviews on Metacritic! Haven't played it myself, but fellow Wikizilla admin Les is enjoying it.

Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons #5 also added to the Godzilla onslaught. Still impressed at how big a role the Giant Octopus had in this (and what a brutal ending for it and Ebirah), but the miniseries wrapped up a little too neatly.

Despite backing it on Kickstarter, I had nearly forgotten about Godzilla & Kong: The Cinematic Storyboard Art of Richard Bennett. Turns out the reason the book has taken so long to be published (the campaign ended last May) is the page count jumping from "around 200" to 424! It's off to the printer now, so the wait is nearly over.

Worth posting again: the third BOSS Coffee ad featuring the new ShodaiGoji suit. Very little original footage in this one, but some first-class editing.

And a few other happenings I'll keep to bullet points so you can finally stop scrolling:

I forgot to post about Viz publishing volume 7 of Asadora! Huge props for introducing a kyodai hero without derailing the story (I won't say how, but it's quite clever).

After its brief Japanese theatrical run, the black-and-white version of Shin Godzilla is "under consideration for further development." Home video next?

The newest Godzilla Battle Line units are Super Mechagodzilla and a second version of Godzilla '54 who strafes his atomic breath and ignores most status effects. I've had virtually no time to play since the new season started (this post was typed entirely in a Georgia hotel room, put it that way), but I hear they're both stellar.

Godzilla trading card update: disappointment and confusion! The Godzilla Minus One promo cards were only available for a very limited time as add-ons to a $75+ TCGPlayer order. Meanwhile, nobody can find the packs of Surreal Entertainment cards that were supposed to arrive at Five Below on Godzilla Day.

Naturally, lots of toys revealed on and around Godzilla Day. Highlights include a Super7 Godzilla figure with an Imperial-inspired paint job, a Super7 SpaceGodzilla repaint blatantly based on Super Godzilla which sold out instantly, an S.H. MonsterArts Jet Jaguar '73, and Movie Monster Series figures for *inhales* Godzilla '55, Anguirus '55, Flying Stage Hedorah, Godzilla '64, and Minilla '67. The Godzilla Raids Again figures are both getting variants inspired by a Toy Dreams set from 2006. Bandai also started up another Movie Monster Series fans-pick-the-figure poll, but what's the point? They'll have every single Godzilla kaiju represented before the decade's half over. (And maybe by the end of the decade I'll be able to afford all the ones I want!)

#godzilla #the 69th #godzilla minus one #godzilla vs. megalon #fest godzilla 4 operation jet jaguar #monarch legacy of monsters #kaiju week in review #kaiju

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

The Best Place To Be

Fandom: Elvis Presley, American Actor, Elvis Movie 2022

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Reader

Characters: Elvis Presley, Reader, Jerry Schilling, Dr 

Word Count: 2660  // Rating: Mature

Summary: Tours are well oiled machines but what happens when there’s a spanner in the works

Tags/ Warnings: Request, Requested Fic, Kisses, Established Relationship, 70s Elvis, Elvis on Tour, Tour Schedule, Ill Health, Abdominal Pain, Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, Hospitals, Planes, Fear, Arguing, Angst, Love

Notes: hope whoever requested this likes it. also if you ask me something the surgical nurse in me will always go to something surgical. I have no apologies. 

Elvis Tags:  @literally-just-elvis-fics @caitlin1996

Request from anon:  Could you do one where the reader isn't feeling well but doesn't tell Elvis and she faints?

‘Our only duties, as far as I could gather. Our only duties, our only-’ I mumbled, trying to get the words on the page in front of me to stick in my head though I wasn't having much luck. The book in front of me had been laying in my lap for the past twenty minutes but I had barely made it through two sentences as every time I did a familiar wave of pain flowed through my abdomen making the words melt from my brain. I was sitting in the dressing room, trying to ignore the hubbub that came with the preshow, and trying to distract myself from the pain I had been having on and off all day.

I didn't have time to be ill. Ten cities in ten days meant that for the foreseeable future, my life was a blur of cars, planes, hotel rooms and show venues and though I wasn't working I was still expected to be part of the team. To show up, grin and bear it until we were safely back in Memphis and I could have time to slow down. It wasn't that I didn't want to know what was wrong. I just didn't want to cause problems. When it came to Elvis the goal was clear. Keep him well, keep him working. With me? Who knows. I could be shipped off to a hospital in a state I didn't know or forced to go back to Memphis. I didn’t want that. Or worse. Elvis would insist the tour be rejigged, which meant I’d be receiving the Colonel’s wrath. No, I knew what I needed to do. Hang on and wait it out.

But it was hard, especially as another wave of pain flowed through me bringing with it a round of nausea that made me feel as though I was going to hurl even though I knew full well there was nothing left in me to throw up. I clutched my stomach and closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the ordeal going on inside me.

'You falling asleep on me?’ came a familiar velvety voice which made my eyes snap open. Elvis had come out of the bathroom and was giving himself a final once over before he had to head to the stage. As he fiddled with the cuffs on his suit he watched me in the mirror awaiting my response. ’M'tired,’ I said. It technically wasn't a lie. I was exhausted. Whilst he’d slept soundly on the plane I’d been tossing and turning, unable to get into any position that seemed comfortable. Throw in a day of driving, prepping and general busyness I wasn’t the most spritely. Elvis moved towards the couch I was sitting on and captured my chin with his fingers, tilting my face upwards as he leaned down and kissed me. 'Well don’t be calling it a night just yet,’ he smirked, pulling back, 'you know I love it when you’re watching.'

I nodded and smiled though I could feel uneasiness building inside me. That was the other problem. Though I wasn’t officially a member of the crew I did have a role. I was an unofficial mascot. Someone he needed to get him through the touring schedule. He liked having me by his side, watching every single show and being honest with him about it. I calmed his pre-show jitters and helped him ride his post-show highs but the thought of doing that tonight seemed like a mammoth one. I was comfortable sitting on this dingy little couch in the dressing room and I wasn’t sure how well I’d fare standing at the side of the stage amidst the heat and the noise. Elvis didn't notice my reluctance as he moved to check his hair out in the mirror, in fact, he didn’t have much chance to do anything as there was a knock at the door and Charlie appeared.

'Ready to go boss?’ he asked. Elvis turned and nodded, walking towards me and holding out a hand to help me up from the couch which I did so with as little wincing as possible. He didn't let go of my hand until we were out of the dressing room but before he did he brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles gently. Then he was lost to the flurry of the crowd. I filtered back allowing his entourage to walk with him, firing questions at him as they walked in step. I could feel myself shrinking backwards, trying to ignore the dull ache in my stomach which twinged with every step. The coolness of the stadium’s corridors was a welcome relief to the warmth I was now feeling in my cheeks from exerting myself just a little but that quickly fizzled away as we walked out into the auditorium and I felt the Phoenix heat melded with the warmth from the stage lights and the thousands of bodies crammed inside waiting with eager excitement.

As the sound of CC Rider echoed out the crowd started to cheer and Elvis limbered up, taking to the stage to rapturous applause. I watched him go, feeling the same awe and pride I felt every night even though I had seen the show a thousand times before. Yet that feeling was only fleeting thought as my discomfort returned almost immediately. I moved myself to a secluded corner, resting against trunks that held equipment in order to keep myself upright. That wooziness from before was present again but I kept myself focused, watching Elvis as he moved around the stage entertaining his fans. I don’t know how long I managed to stand there, focused on the show before another wave of pain hit.

'Are you okay?’ Jerry said as he appeared at my side. As I turned my head to look at him my vision faltered, blurring his face in front of me before it focused back in sync. 'I’m fine,’ I said. 'You don’t look good,’ he said. I moved to wave him off but as I took my hand off the trunk I stumbled, not having realised how tightly I had been gripping it to keep myself upright. Jerry’s hand caught my elbow steadying me. 'Okay you need to sit down,’ he said. I could feel his grip tight against my elbow as he waved to one of the roadies for some help. ’M'fine,’ I said, though my voice sounded as if I was hearing it from underwater. My vision blurred again accompanied by ringing in my ears as I felt a searing pain ripple through my abdomen.

And then nothing.

As I came to I could feel myself being gently deposited down onto a soft surface and I cracked open my eyes to find Jerry watching me with concern as he placed me on the dressing room couch. He moved out of the way, though he perched on the arm beside me as Dr Nick appeared in his place.

'That was some drop,’ he said as he gestured for me to offer him my arm, which I did obediently. 'What happened?’ I asked. 'You went white as a sheet and then hit the deck. Scared the crap out of me,’ Jerry said with a frown. 'Sorry,’ I mumbled sheepishly. 'Your blood pressures down a bit,’ Dr Nick said as he took the cuff off my arm. 'I’m fine honestly,’ I said, attempting to sit up though it was done with a wince as I felt searing pain. Jerry and Dr Nick pushed me back down gently. 'Have you got pain?’ Dr Nick asked. 'A little,’ I said, though he looked at me skeptically, 'okay a lot.’ 'Since when?’ he asked. 'Last night,’ I said. 'Where?’ he said, his hand following mine as I placed it gently on my right side. 'Does that hurt?’ he asked, pressing sharply on my side, making tears sting my eyes. 'Yeah,’ I said, trying to breathe as steadily as I could. 'Any nausea or vomiting?’ he asked. 'A little of both,’ I said, 'but I haven't eaten anything today so the nausea isn’t that bad.’ 'That’s not exactly a plus,’ Jerry said. 'Any fevers?’ Dr Nick said. 'I don’t think so,’ I said watching his face closely as he frowned, 'why what is it?' 'I think-’

'Where is she?’ I heard Elvis’ voice say panicked. He burst in, followed by several guys offering protestations but he wasn’t listening to them. His face was frantic as he came in quickly kneeling by my side as he placed a hand tenderly on my cheek. 'Are you okay?’ he asked, worry in his big blue eyes. 'I’m fine,’ I said though he only took that in for a millisecond before he was looking for a second opinion. He glanced at Jerry who shrugged and then at Dr Nick, 'what’s the matter, Dr Nick?' 'Well it could be a couple of things,’ he said, 'I wouldn’t want to say for definite but she’s got pain and vomiting-’ 'They said you passed out,’ Elvis said quickly. 'It was nothing,’ I said as Dr Nick continued, betraying my denials as he said, 'she did but I think that was more due to her being weak from not eating today.’ 'You’ve not eaten anything today?’ Elvis said. I could see the cogs whirring in his mind as he tried to think about every moment we had spent together and whether or not he recalled what I had consumed. He’d been bleary-eyed this morning at breakfast drinking his coffee and reading his paper whilst I pushed pancakes around my plate. And lunch was on the go as always, easy to hide if needs be. 'Didn’t feel up to it,’ I said. He seemed to take my answer on board but there was something behind his eyes that I didn't like. Anger.

'So what doc?’ he said turning to look at the older man who shrugged. 'Like I said I wouldn’t want to say for sure without tests but that would mean going to the hospital,’ he said. 'Then that’s where we’re going,’ Elvis said matter of factly. 'But we’ve gotta leave and the tour-’ I started to protest. 'Will wait,’ he said looking pointedly at me before he stood up. I could feel the shift in his mode. He was the boss now, looking at the guys who were lingering by the door, 'get a car to take us to the hospital and call ahead. I want a room sorted for when we get there.’ 'What about Dallas?’ Vernon asked with concern. 'Keep it on the books for now. Have the plane on standby so it’s ready if we can make it,’ he said, 'and let the Colonel know.’ 'He’s not gonna be happy about it,’ Vernon said. 'I don’t give a rat’s ass what he’s happy about,’ Elvis said. Vernon nodded and scuttled out the door. A few of the boys lingered too making him glare at them, 'haven’t y'all got things to be doing?'

There was a murmur of agreement as he looked down at me that feeling of disappointment not waning though it softened a little as I felt a pain flow through me again and moved to clutch my stomach. He turned away, mumbling, 'Isn’t there something you can give her?'

'Yes, yes,’ Dr Nick said turning to his bag of tricks and rummaging around in it until he produced a vial of something and started drawing it up. I glanced at Jerry, the only one who hadn’t left and he smiled at me for a moment though it was pulled away from me as Elvis said, 'Jer.'

I watched Jerry jump up obediently and go to his boss. They talked in low whispers for a moment before Jerry clapped him on the back and headed out the door offering me one more smile as he did. As he left Elvis turned around and came and sat on the coffee table beside the couch watching as Dr Nick finished up what he was doing. The pain was eased now, whatever he had given me working instantly though it hadn’t done much for the nausea.

'I’ll ring ahead to the hospital,’ Dr Nick said, 'hopefully we can get some scans arranged for as soon as we get there.’ 'Thanks, Doc,’ Elvis said glancing towards the door. Dr Nick followed his gaze and then nodded subtly. 'Right, I er, I’ll leave you to it. Not too long though. The sooner we get her there the better,’ he said. 'Right, right,’ Elvis said. I watched him as he watched Dr Nick leave the room. Then his gaze fell on me. There was an ounce of compassion behind his gorgeous blue eyes but I could see the tension he was holding in his jaw and it was enough to make me feel like I was a naughty schoolgirl.

'E,’ I mumbled trying to get out words even though I didn’t have a plan for what I was going to say. 'Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked. 'What?’ I said feeling whatever I was going to say suddenly not compatible as a response. 'You didn’t tell me,’ he said, 'you’re in this much pain. Hardly eaten anything, heading for hospital and I’m the last to know.’ 'You had a show,’ I said. 'When did it start?’ he asked pointedly. 'E,’ I said guiltily. 'When did it start? Because I can bet it wasn’t when you were at the side of the stage,’ he said. I looked at him for a moment and then looked away feeling enormously guilty.

'Last night,’ I admitted. Elvis scoffed. 'So you did have time to tell me,’ he said shaking his head. 'When?’ I said, 'we had places to be. Venues, cars, hotels, planes. There was never a right time and I didn’t think it was that serious-’ 'But you didn’t know that!’ he said his voice louder than intended, 'you could’ve…I could've lost… you don’t know what it is. You can't take risks with your health baby.’ 'Elvis,’ I said sadly. I could see the anguish in his eyes as he said it, catching himself on the idea of losing me. He was always so protective over those that he loved, especially when it came to their health. Losing his mother so young made him careful. I had just been so focused on making sure I was doing the best thing for him I hadn’t thought about what he would actually want.

'Honey…you need me to tell about this stuff. No matter what,’ he said. 'What about your tour? I mean we’re going to be at least three hours behind and that’s if they can figure out what it is right away and the Colonel’s gonna hit the roof-’ 'I don’t care about that,’ Elvis said coming to kneel beside the couch and placing his hand on my cheek. 'But-’ 'I. Don’t. Care,’ he said watching me closely. I hesitated for a moment taking in his look of concern and allowing it to soothe me just a tad. 'Good,’ I giggled, making him watch me with amused concern until I explained, 'you can be my buffer from when he shows up shouting the odds.' 'You think I want to incur his wrath?’ he chuckled his anger and frustration disappearing, 'ain’t having no one in that room except medical professionals.’ 'Not even you?’ I asked quirking an eyebrow. 'I’m the exception,’ he said as he helped me sit up. There was a dull ache inside me now though it was nothing as it had been before. 'Maybe we can play doctors and nurses,’ I giggled as he pulled me up to standing where I clung to his side. 'That sounds like a plan,’ he said leaning down to place a kiss on the top of my head. I didn’t feel 100% right but beside him was the best place to be.

#my writing #elvis #elvis presley #elvis Presley x reader #elvis x reader #elvis fic #elvis presley fic #elvis x reader fic #requested #requested fic #the best place to be

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

New Article:

Eddie Redmayne On How His Emcee in Cabaret Is a Shape Shifter.

The Olivier and Oscar winner talked with Playbill about coming back to the stage, and whether he's coming to Broadway.

Playbill, by Talaura Harms, October 16, 2023.

While a few fortunate Broadway theatregoers were able to catch the recent Olivier Award-winning revival of Cabaret, the majority of us are anxiously awaiting its Spring 2024 arrival on Broadway. And even more, we are anxiously awaiting the casting news to see if one, both, or neither of its Olivier-winning stars, Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley, will come with it.

While we impatiently tap our feet as we wait to hear, we've at least had the cast recording to keep us company. Released in January 2023, the album features Redmayne as The Emcee and Buckley as Sally Bowles. 

Playbill got the chance to catch up with Redmayne recently to chat about his wild, weird performance and, basically, harass him about his 13 year (and counting) absence from the Broadway stage.

Redmayne made his Broadway debut in 2010 when the Donmar Warehouse production of John Logan's Red transferred from the West End. The two-hander starred Alfred Molina as artist Mark Rothko and Redmayne as his assistant. Redmayne earned an Olivier and a Tony for his performance. 

Redmayne says, only partly in jest, that one of the reasons he hasn't returned to Broadway is because Red was perfect. "It was one of the greatest experiences of my life—working with Fred Molina on a play that I loved, and with Michael Grandage," he says. "It went so well that I was like, 'I don't think I'm ever going to do a Broadway play ever again. It's never ever gonna go as well as that.'"

Following Red, he returned to the West End for another production with Grandage, a short run as the title role in Shakespeare's Richard II. Then his film career took off. His 2012 performance as Marius in the Les Misérables film set musical theatre hearts aflutter. Then in 2015, he was awarded an Oscar for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything and garnered another nomination the following year for The Danish Girl.

He did not return to the stage until the 2021 West End revival of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. The chance to create The Emcee anew was too good to pass up. "The abstract nature of the character—the fact that does the character even really exist? Is it a figment of the imagination? I mean, it's so ripe for interpretation," says Redmayne. "And the show is so beautifully constructed, but yet it allows for interpretation. That was the appeal."

The Emcee is so ripe for interpretation because the character only exists in the Kit Kat Club and not within narrative story of Cabaret. The diegetic Kit Kat Club numbers comment on the action of the plot—chanteuse Sally Bowles' relationship with English writer Cliff during the Nazi rise to power in Berlin—but the Kit Kat Club songs are not a part of the action. 

And this new immersive production takes that meta-theatricality to new heights—London's Playhouse Theatre has been transformed to look like a '40s Berlin nightclub, with performers interacting with he audience during the preshow. 

Redmayne's initial actor's instinct was to create a backstory for The Emcee, but in the end, his attempts simply were not supported by the text. So, he tried something else. "What was very liberating about playing this role was that I approached it, ultimately, in a very different way—which was throwing clay at a wall in big kind of broad gestures and then trying to refine it as it were," Redmayne explains. "Then, as we began to run the show, making sense of a psychology through it—working backwards, and working with the understanding that there's an abstraction to the character."

But Redmayne was excited about shaking his process up a bit. He'd only done film for the 10 years prior to Cabaret, and he was ready to dive into stage work again. In the months leading up to Cabaret rehearsals, he even enrolled in a training course at Lecoq (formally, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq), a physical theatre school in Paris. "I was working with actors aged 18 to 60 from all over the world. It was huge improvisations, the whole thing was in French, and there were these two French doyennes of Lecoq's training going 'No!' and it was kind of brutal, but it was exactly what I needed," he says, laughing. "It took me out of my head. I felt so much more physically free to humiliate myself. By the time I came into the rehearsal room for Cabaret, the experience was one of release in some ways."

So with his newfound physical freedom, and the idea of The Emcee as an abstraction unclouded by a backstory, Redmayne was ready to create his character. The vocal performance is almost otherworldly. Redmayne explains the genesis of his sound: "There was this idea of a shapeshifter. That was something that [director] Rebecca [Frecknall] and Tom Scott, our production designer, talked about—that my version of The Emcee could puppeteer this group of Kit Kat dancers and conjure these characters. But, ultimately, when fascism arrives, he is able to get out absolutely fine. He can shape shift his way out of that situation. And I wanted vocally for that to translate as well."

Working with Musical Director Jennifer Whyte ("She had brilliant ideas," he adds), Redmayne created different voices and sounds for different songs. In "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," he sang live over his own recorded harmony lines. "So, in that, there was a delicate side. Then there was the raucous, quite nasal version of The Emcee in 'Willkommen.' And then, particularly within 'I Don't Care Much,' I wanted you to hear him move from one voice into the other within the same song. So he's sort of demonstrating to the audience the power he has in his passivity, just to keep changing the versions of himself," explains Redmayne, then quickly adding,"That sounds bloody pretentious." (Clearly Mr. Redmayne does not understand how hard we can nerd out about a vocal performance.)

Musical theatre is in Redmayne's blood, he says. His first job, after all, was playing a workhouse boy in a West End production of Oliver! And he was a choral scholar in his years at Cambridge. And returning to Cabaret after years in film was a particular joy for him. "I do think that music and singing jumps synapses into people's souls and you connect emotionally in a beautifully honest way," he says. 

But he's more proud of just being involved with this particular production. He's been back to see every new cast as they arrive in the West End. "Rebecca has created a version of the show that champions individuality," he says. "Getting to watch a production that you've been in, but in a completely different interpretation—having seen all of The Emcees and Sallys and seen the breadth and brilliance of their voices—I just feel proud to be a part of something that keeps living."

And, of course, we asked if he'll be coming to Broadway with Cabaret in the spring. Of course we did. "You know more about it than I do," said the shape shifter, easily getting out of that one.

The Rebecca Frecknall-directed production of the Tony-winning 1966 Broadway musical, currently running at London's Kit Kat Club (a.k.a. the renovated Playhouse Theatre), officially opened December 12, 2021. It currently stars Jake Shears as The Emcee and Rebecca Lucy Taylor as Sally Bowles. Mason Alexander Park and Maude Apatow just completed their three-month runs in the show. 

Cabaret is slated to arrive at the August Wilson Theatre this season. Dates and cast are to be announced. 

Photo by Marc Brenner

#eddie redmayne #eddieredmayne #redmayne #cabaret at the kit kat club #the emcee #cabaret2021 #broadway #playbill #october 2023

[silversweetpea]

Waiting Up

Word Count: 1431

Pairing:  Marc Spector x Reader (very very minor allusions to Steven Grant x Reader)

Summary:  Waiting up for your boyfriend to come home leads to some interesting conversations.

Warnings:  Marc is tired and a little stressed but nothing beyond that.

Author’s Note:  This just in i still miss the boys :(((( also I get sad thinking about Marc preshow returning back to the apartment alone and dealing with all that guilt and grief and how upsetting dealing with everything on his own must have been. 

❀✿❀✿ ❀✿❀✿ ❀✿❀✿ ❀✿❀✿ ❀✿❀✿ ❀✿❀✿

“You didn’t need to wait up,” it’s almost sunrise when Marc limps his way home. The man looks like a ghost in his own skin, gaunt and stretched beyond his limits. The sleep tugging at your eyelids retreated at the sight of your partner’s exhaustion and the blanket you had been curled up under as you watched television comes with you when you stand to approach him.

“Of course I did, Taylor Swift is dropping a new album any day now and I’ll be damned if I don’t catch up on the conspiracy tweets her fans make while they’re still fresh.” Marc’s lips barely twitch but twitch they do. You get close enough to wrap your arms around his waist and bring him into your cacoon of warmth. 

Those tired, haunted eyes flutter closed as he rests his head against you at the embrace. Parts of you want to drop the facade and the jokes, to tell him that you would wait for him every minute of every day for the rest of eternity so long as it meant that he never came home without someone to chase away that ghosts that came with him. Those parts of you hold him a little bit tighter in your arms and remind yourself that intimacy takes time.

“Besides, it’s hard to sleep without my favorite hoodie and you took it with you.” That one gets a bit closer to a laugh. You feel the smile on your skin and feel the rush of air that slips past him. “Nice to see it return in one peice.” Nice to see you in one piece too.

“I’ll run my wardrobe by you next time.” Marc whispers, the two of you starting to sway ever so slightly in the open space of the apartment’s living room. You hate that there’s going to be a next time. 

“You better. If you warn me with enough time I can make sure to send you with that soup you like. Good to drink if it’s cold out and the metal thermos would make a good last ditch weapon.” He doesn’t smell like blood at least today, but you can see the way he favors his right side, and after so long together you’re fairy sure you can pinpoint it as a monster of a bruise. You can feel his words on your skin more than you can hear him, and the way he buries his head in the crook of your neck makes it hard to see his expressions.

“You should go to sleep, your jokes suck this early in the morning.” There’s no venom in the words though and his arms had snaked around your own waist when you hadn’t noticed. The sun is peaking through the curtains ever so slightly, the sky turning shades of pink and gold that cast heavenly light on the man in your arms. 

“I will in a minute, want to make sure my guy’s okay first.” You free up a single hand to brush through his curls.

“I’m fine. Suit makes sure I don’t bleed out.” There’s a distance in his tone that makes you uncomfortable. It’s not his fault, you’re not sure it’s even on purpose, but it never gets easier to hear Marc brushing off your concern for his wellbeing. And Gods and Goddesses know it never gets easier to hear him talk so candidly about his own wellbeing. 

“I know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you.” You don’t tell him that the suit doesn’t do anything to help with the things he brings home with him, he doesn’t need a therapist right now. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Not hungry.” It’s less of a scentence and more of a grunt. Avoiding the question. It’s been way too long for sure.

“That’s not what I asked.” You try again gently but Marc lets out a sigh that tickles as it brushes past you. 

“Can we go lay down?” The soft blanket frames his face as he looks to you, soft blue against his dark curls and making it impossible to say no to him. 

“You’re not nearly as clever as you think you are. I can still order breakfast from bed.” The smile arrives in full force as you meander towards the bed, the both of you still entangled within each other, neither eager to be apart after his time away.

“I’d love to see you try.” Your boyfriend yawns and you laugh. You make sure to set your cellphone just out of his reach on your side of the bed before slipping in next to him. 

“Hey, Marc?” He gave a hum of a response as you curled up next to him in the mountain of blankets, his eyes already closed in an failed fight with rest. You think of all the things you want to say to him before he slips into sleep. I’m glad you’re safe. You worried me. Thank you for letting me be here for you. I love you. Please don’t go again. “Are you still staying home tomorrow?”

“Yeah, Steven took the day off work and Khonsu is off somewhere.” The anxiety in your chest subsides ever so slightly. You take one of his hands in yours, thumb resting on his pulse.

“Good, you both need to take better care of yourselves.” Familiar arms snake around you once more, pulling you towards him as he opens his eyes once more.

“It’s fine, I’m okay.” He says so every time, and yet tonight he can’t stop looking at you every time he manages to open his eyes. As if he was worried he would never see you again, as if he almost didn’t. One of his hands climbs up from your waist to rest on your face, cradle your expression as he brings his lips to your forehead. It’s supposed to sooth you, remind you that he’s here, but instead it makes your throat tight with the want to cry. 

“Marc, if I was an avata-”

‘You wouldn’t be.” His voice is tight and you almost feel bad for pushing the topic.

“If I was, and I had to do what you do, would you believe me when I told you I was okay?” You've had to use this argument before and it never gets easier to feel the way he pulls you closer, his pulse picking up slightly faster in the hand that you hold. The silence that settled over the bedroom was heavy in a way that was unique to these post mission conversations. You struggle to meet his eyes in the quiet, to see the raw emotion within them at the situation you’ve proposed.

No matter how many times you bring the conversation up, how many times you turn the tables to make him see what he’s doing to himself, at the mere mention of you taking up a mantle of your own Marc never wants to talk about it. There’s too much fear and anger and desperation that rises in his gaze, eyes scanning you as if trying to force you into this thoughts to see his way in the matter. Even now with his eyes heavy with sleep, one hand on your cheek to gently stroke, he looks more determined than tired. 

“You wouldn’t be an avatar.” He whispers and you bring his wrist to your lips.

‘It’s hypothetical.” Marc shakes his head, finally letting his eyes slip closed again.

‘Even hypothetically, I wouldn’t let it happen.” The warmth in your chest is nearly all consuming. It’s said so surely that it leaves no room for argument. Marc wouldn’t let you become an avatar, wouldn’t let you entertain it even for a minute. It can be easy to overlook his way of loving sometimes, he’s not nearly as vocal as Steven but its just as easy to loose yourself in when you catch moments like this. To see Marc, so tired, so beat down from tasks that he still can’t bring himself to tell you about, limp in your arms and still focused on your safety in a hypothetical situation. It’s nothing short of 

“Well in that case you better take care of yourself so you can keep an eye on me." You nestle yourself further in his arms, deciding that breakfast could wait until your favorite cafe down the block opened up. Marc’s breathing is already slow and steadying out, likely sleeping even as you press another kiss to his cheek. "Don’t know what I’d do without my hero to keep me in line.”

#marc spector x reader #marc spector x you #marc spector imagines #Marc Spector x gender neutral reader #Marc Spector Fluff

[themetaphorgirl]

this was prompted by my darling Maeve!!! (seriously, I have absolutely no fucking clue what I would do without Maeve in my life. a literal angel.)

also yes I have a backlog of prompts that I should fill, but YES I am always taking more prompts if you have them!!

----------

“Penelope, do you really need a bag that big?”

She hugged her arms around her tote bag. “Yes!” she said. “I have nine peoples’ worth of snacks in here.” 

Dave locked his car doors. “Well, everyone had better finish all their snacks before they get back in my car after this, because there’s no eating allowed,” he announced. 

“Yeah, we know, Grandpa,” Emily said. He rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll just ride back in James’s car, he’ll let us eat,” Derek said. 

“Good luck prying the Wonder Twins and their baby out of there,” Emily said. “Trust me, I’ve tried. I keep telling them I can squish into the backseat middle, but they keep saying that there’s no room for me.”

JJ blew a bubble and snapped her gum. “I just hope they don't ask to check your bag when we get in there,” she said. “You’re not supposed to bring in outside food and drinks to a movie theater.”

Penelope’s mouth dropped open. “They won’t get me in trouble, will they?” she said. “I’m just a little girl with a few pieces of candy.”

“You have the entire Willy Wonka factory in there, Penny,” Dave said. 

She stood in the middle of the parking lot as they walked away. “Guys, I won’t get in trouble, right?” she called. “Guys?”

“Come on, Pen, you’re standing in the middle of the road.”

She hurried to catch up; the other half of the group was waiting on the sidewalk. “There you guys are,” James said. “Whoa, Penny. That’s…that's a big bag.”

“It’s not that noticeable, is it?” she said. 

“Spencer could use that as a sleeping bag,” Aaron said dryly. 

Spencer made a face. “I’m not that little,” he said. 

“We should probably go if we want to get popcorn before the movie,” Alex said. 

“Are we going to need any?” JJ said. “With all the stuff Penelope is sneaking in for us?”

“Oh, definitely,” Derek said. 

Penelope’s heart was beating so loudly she was sure the theater employees could hear it. Maybe she had a glowing neon sign above her head- ask me about the illegal candy in my bag! 

“Penny, stop looking so guilty,” Dave whispered. 

“But I am guilty,” she whispered back. 

“It was your idea to bring all this candy.”

“Stop talking about it!”

“Well, then stop looking so guilty!”

She hugged the bag to her chest and hid herself behind Derek. He shook his head, grinning, and handed her ticket to the bored employee along with his. 

Once they were safely into the theater she exhaled loudly. “I was not cut out for a life of crime,” she said. 

“I don’t think that counts as a crime,” JJ said. “Besides…haven’t you gotten in trouble like a million times for hacking computers?”

“That’s different,” Penelope said. “I’m going to go sit in the theater. Can somebody come with me?”

“Yeah, yeah, I will,” Emily said. “I’ll be your fall guy if they catch you. I’d do better in prison than you would.” Penelope’s eyes widened. “They’re not going to send you to prison, Pen, it’s a joke.”

Still, she didn’t feel completely secure until she was safely seated in the theater, her bag of contraband settled on her lap. She waited for the rest of the kids to make their way to their seats with their popcorn, half watching the preshow on the screen and half scanning for theater employees. 

“Dave, I think you have more butter than popcorn,” Aaron said. 

“What’s the point of getting movie theater popcorn if you don’t dump a ton of extra movie theater butter on it?” Dave protested. 

“It’s not really butter, most theaters use a coconut oil blend,” Spencer said. 

“Yeah, well, it’s still delicious.”

Alex sat down, and Spencer immediately plunked down in the seat beside her, nudging James out of his way. “Uh…could I sit next to Alex, please?” he said. 

“No, thank you, I’d like to sit here,” Spencer said. 

Penelope bit back a giggle at the look of tragic desperation on his face. “Do you want to sit on her other side, so you can be between the twins?” James suggested. 

“Yeah, you can sit over here, Bug,” Aaron said. 

“No, thank you,” Spencer said. 

Alex covered Spencer’s ears. “Don’t worry, babe, he’ll fall asleep twenty minutes into the movie and then I can give him to Aaron,” she whispered. 

Spencer squirmed around and frowned at her. “What did you say?”

“Nothing, darling.”

Penelope opened up her bag. “All right, I think we’re safe,” she said. “I think I have everything. I’ve got Milk Duds for Derek-“

JJ made a face. “I think we need to start calling you Grandpa instead of Dave.”

“Hey!” Derek protested. 

“Thank god,” Dave said. 

“Junior Mints for JJ-“

“Ew, that’s like eating chocolate covered toothpaste,” Derek said. 

“Milk Duds are basically chocolate covered cement, so who’s the real loser here?”

Penelope kept digging around in her bag. “Black licorice for Emily…”

Dave, JJ, and Derek stared at her. She shrugged. “It’ll turn my mouth black,” she said. 

“I’ve got a single can of ginger ale for Hotch, which…that’s just very sad,” Penelope said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Aaron said. 

“His tummy hurts and he’s being very brave about it,” Alex said. He huffed in annoyance. 

Penelope held up two packets of candy. “Skittles for Spencer and M&Ms for James,” she said. 

“Thanks, Pen,” James said as he ripped it open and poured it into his popcorn. 

Spencer’s eyes went wide. “You can do that?” he said.

“Yeah, Bug, you want to try it?” James asked. He held it out and Spencer took a small handful. 

Penelope pulled out her bag of Hi-Chews and set her tote on the empty seat next to her. “So since you guys have terrible taste in candy, I have backups,” she said. “I have starbursts, sour patch kids, Hershey kisses, Reese’s cups-“

Derek shook his empty Milk Duds box. “Can you toss me something?” he said. “I finished mine.”

“Already? The previews haven’t even started!”

#au: patron saint of lost causes #fragolinaa #wow i love maeve #the lucy to my susan #patron saint: penelope #patron saint: dave #patron saint: james #patron saint: alex #patron saint: jalex #patron saint: spencer #patron saint: aaron #patron saint: hotch #patron saint: jj #patron saint: derek #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds AU #boarding school AU

[ahappydnp]

Anyone else randomly start to worry Dan will have the realisation he prefers this independent life away from Phil / not being tied down and they separate or is this just my abandonment issues talking :) x

anon he cannot go a single day without mentioning phil unprompted or immediately liking his tweets alsldkflfgk this is the dude who had to announce to a preshow what phil ordered for dinner 20 minutes prior. he’s branching out and finding himself but that just means he’s coming back home more secure and with a thousand new stories to tell his arch enemy/piece of furniture/doesn’t count as a person/partner in crime

#anon ask #don’t stress! just wait and see what happens in 4 weeks ;)

[knightfire]

Story snippet from Earthbound as Chance views the Earth’s night sky

The familiar ichor-red of the Pride ring's night sky was dotted with the occasional faint sparkle, like a few flecks of glitter had fallen off of something vast and come to rest over the Hellsphere.

This-! This was where the sky-glitter had flaked off. It had to be. The stars back home, nestled in their suffocating red cradles, were dim and easily perceived as individuals. THESE stars, though! There were more than Chance could begin to count, clustered thickly in a graceful spiral arch over the strange sort of world he found himself on.

The colors were unbelievable. The bright riot of daytime was an overhyped preshow compared to this attraction! Crystalline, icy blues that flickered with rainbow diamond fire! Deep indigos that dipped carelessly into ultraviolet! Rich, shimmering greens that seemed to breathe! Vibrant gold that hugged the horizon like a warm fireplace hearth!

It wasn't pretty, it was so beautiful that it was terrifying! A momentary flash of fear: that all of that EVERYTHING up there might pull him in and absorb him into itself like a single note being lost in an orchestra's musical performance, pulled at his heart. Chance swallowed back a knot of foreign emotion at the sensation.

#hazbin hotel #radiohusk chance #hazbin hotel au #hearts proximity au #wip #hazbin hotel fanfiction

[thinking-emoji]

We Are All Doomed Tour: Predictions

Not a bingo because these sentences are too long for a little grid. I'll check them off anyway when/if they happen.

✅ Last minute date cancellation/reschedule

✅ Phil shows up at a show

✅ Dan meets another youtube/internet colleague (other than Phil) around the show

⬜ Someone at a m&g asks Dan for a threesome with Phil

✴ Some other m&g interaction becomes the phannie tea du jour

⬜ Phil takes up a sponsorship with a new start-up while Dan is away

⬜ Someone on twitter tries to cancel Dan over a joke

✅ Wardrobe malfunction

⬜ Phil gets a new haircut while Dan is away

⬜ Covid scare for Dan or someone on his team

✅ Dan is seen outside of the venue and causes speculation

⬜ We find out the tour is partly sponsored by a brand

✅ Dan tries to incorporate current affairs news into the show

⬜ The preshow setlist has to get changed bc an artist got cancelled

⬜ It is revealed that he has a supporting act, who quickly overtakes Dan in popularity with the phandom

⬜ The merch sells out completely before tour is over due to disastrous planning

⬜ Phil renovates something in the phouse while Dan is away

✅ His grandma comes to one of the shows (DD counts!)

⬜ A popular band returns from their hiatus and announces new tour dates that happen to coincide with Dan's shows. Huge drop-off in attendance for those dates

⬜ Dan actually gets covid during the tour. Or monkeypox

⬜ Phil gets a pet while Dan is away

⬜ We find out that not only is the tour sponsored by a brand, but it's also a highly unethical brand, which people immediately call Dan out for

⬜ Phil finds a new boyfriend and moves in with him/lets him move into the phouse without Dan's knowledge or consent

⬜ One of the countries he's booked a venue in cuts diplomatic ties with the UK and revokes his work visa

✴ The Queen dies, all British comedians have to put their shows on hold because the nation is supposed to mourn, Dan doesn't comply and ends up facing legal consequences

⬜ Dan performs gravity defying moves on stage

⬜ A brawl breaks out at one of the shows

⬜ IRL Merch files for bankruptcy

⬜ Freja is brought along to the backstage (workplace of the IRL team) and destroys an important piece of equipment

#do i tag this? #yes #dan and phil #daniel howell #tell me what you find most realistic

[inventors-fair]

Balancing Act

Hey folks! It’s @naban-dean-of-irritation​ back at the helm for another contest! I don’t have much of a preshow blurb for this one, just that I hope y’all have fun with it! I will say as well- it’s been a while since I’ve picked a contest from our #contest-submissions Discord Channel, so I’ll be doing that on my next rotation. If you have some good ideas, make sure to throw them in there in the next few weeks! Anyways, here’s what you really came here for:

This week’s contest: Design a card with more words of flavor text than words of rules text + reminder text.

M.E.O.W.

Mandatory: What does this mean? Exactly what it says. There aren’t many limitations this week, so design your heart out! Make a card that is all the things you like. The only caveat is that there has to be more flavor text alone than there is rules text and reminder text together. As long as you do that (even if it’s only a difference of 1 word!), you’re good to go. IN TERMS OF MANAY/ TAP SYMBOLS: Each "clause" counts as one word, so "2U, T" would be two words. Basically, anytime there's a space, punctuation, or a line break, count it as a word!

Encouraged: While there is the above restriction, the cards will be judged on their own merit, not solely on their flavor text. To that end, you want to find a nice middle ground between a card with enough abilities to be interesting, but not so much flavor text that it’s squished and unreadable. That’s why it’s a balancing act!

Optional: I want you to show off your mechanical designer skills and your creative writing skills this week. It can be hard to write more than one sentence of flavor text without letting it drag on or be expository, so get your fellow designers to help out and critique your work! Remember though- It’s your card, and you have final say on it if you disagree with any suggestions. Be open to commentary, but stick with your gut!

Warning: As stated above, this is meant to be a delicate act of balancing the two blocks of text. This means that something like a vanilla/ french vanilla card with a few words of flavor text, OR a Yu-Gi-Oh card with 9 lines of each, will be very weak submissions in the context of this week. I still want fun and interesting designs, first and foremost! Also, if you make a new custom mechanic or use an old mechanic on a common, don't forgo the reminder text for the sake of the contest! Your design should incorporate those limitations and work around them, not just ignore them. If you need reminder text, use it!

If you have questions, comments, concerns, opinions on the state of fruit fly politics, anything, you know where to find me!

Toe the Line in our Discord!

Submit your Balanced Design Here!

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom Magic card #Inventor's Fair #contest #announcement #balancing act

[greatcomets]

fine ive never heard hang em high live. whatever. i'll wallow about it. Well unless you count when it was on the idkhow content tour preshow playlist and as soon as it started playing and i heard the screams i realized so acutely that everyone around me was 13-16 years old. it was a good show though

[jazzywazzy89]

yep to everything you said tbh. and that’s the weird thing about them. it’s like paul will be his typical passive aggressive, bored, too cool to care self and then the second she comes into the picture it’s a mixture of sexual tension, flirtiness with this desperate kinda attention seeking/acting out behavior from him. it’s different if he acted like that with nina or candice and if he just genuinely had that flirtatious attitude but he doesn’t. and it’s even more interesting when you consider how little screen time bonnie and stefan shared because then their comfortability would have made sense, like i remember the first interview i watched of them and they were giggling and leaning in super close and i was like ‘huh when did this happen’ because you can count the amount of scenes they had together on one hand so they must have spent a LOT of time together offscreen to be making those kinda jokes w one another.

(and let’s not forget when he said he wanted to have a bath w her at a con 👀)

Hey anon,

So, to be fair Kat and Paul have known each other a long time and knew each other pre-TVD so like there's that but honestly I remember wondering why Bonnie and Stefan never had screen time and Kat saying something along the lines of her and Paul being unable to shoot together and keep a straight face because they're goofy together and they are, so it may have been true to a point but also the whole thing has always been suspect. Because like I mentioned and you mentioned here, there has always just been a lot of attention seeking behavior and just a need to be in each others orbit literally any time they are in proximity to one another and that is during interviews, panels, and the like. I get that there was a friendship preshow, but Kat also had that with Michael Trevino, and we didn't get that energy from them even though they were closer off screen than they were written to be onscreen. Whatever Kat and Paul were doing which felt and has always felt like something else entirely, was outside of friendship in some way, because of that sort of desperate flustered attention seeking behavior mixed with the flirting just felt like they were edging towards something, edging around something, or just had already crossed the line at some point. They were also very touchy and invasive of each other's space, which speaks to comfort but also there's an obviously the sort of charged sexual tension that even humor can't mask that just isn't present with the other women in the cast in the same way with Paul. I definitely feel like they spent a lot of time together off screen and even Kat is very different with Paul than she is with the other men on the cast. And like you said Paul just says and does wild shit when in her orbit. As I mentioned they are messy together.

Like a lot of folks will speculate about Kat and Ian but for starters Ian just says wild shit to say wild shit. Also, I have always gotten the vibe that while Ian wanted to smash and would have, Kat didn't seem to entertain it or take it seriously to be honest. I always got it more from his end than her end and she has this sort of amused placating eye roll energy for Ian and his antics that a lot of the cast had but they did have onscreen chemistry and played well off each other. And offscreen it kind of settled into an almost familial affection between the two where there was a clear love and fondness there but the tension sort of settled after a while which was like the opposite with Paulerina because their tension seemed to heighten over time offscreen.

Where the showrunners eventually mined the Somergraham chemistry a bit, though it never crossed to romantic they still teased it and played around with it in later seasons, which also just speaks to it not being that deep behind the scenes in terms of irl Kian stuff, in contrast, with Paul and Kat it seemed like they went out of their way to have Stefan and Bonnie not interact even when it called for it. And they turned their relationship very combative onscreen towards the end so it's almost like they had to have the characters portray the opposite dynamic to the one Kat and Paul have irl in order to even get the scenes shot and as I have said in a different post before they shifted the Stefonnie dynamic to Steroline in season one, Stefan was very soft and protective of Bonnie and they seemed to be playing at something in season one and then suddenly it was dropped and scenes were cut with them with little to no explanation and I always wondered.

But, yeah, I think it's just really easy to speculate with these two because, how they react to each other is so out there and it's easy to question it when you don't see them have the same energy with other castmates and they're body language and tone is speaking something that just gives off tension and things unsaid. I'll also point out that one of the most beautiful Bonnie shots of the series was an episode that Paul directed and ya'll can do with that what you will.

#lol #anons #replies #paulerina #conspiracy theories #messy for the sake of being messy #also crack treated seriously treated as crack #i don't irl ship but like also i am nosy and want the tea #because there is tea #you can't tell me different