#we never get these pictures unless it's someone's birthday

[seokgyuu]

your boyfriend has been telling you he wants to bring someone else into the bedroom for a while. the thought only started to sound good when a certain boyfriend's best friend posts gym pictures on insta.

pairing: sung hanbin x fem!reader x seok matthew

genre: established relationship (hanbin x fem!reader) , smut MDNI!

smut warnings: cuckold, thigh riding, blowjobs, penetrative sex, dirty talk, usage of the words "princess", "baby", unprotected sex, creampie

wordcount: 4.4k

a/n: happy happy birthday @cheolism!!!!! see, i told you i would whip something up!! you probably didn't believe me, did you? ha! got you there. anyway. happiest birthday, my dear! i hope you enjoy this little piece of filth i made in your honour. one turns 22 only once you know!! in german we say: Schnappszahl! i love you loads, babes, have a wonderful day <3 (ps. it's been your birthday in germany for one hour already so theoretically i am not posting early!!)

“When did Matthew start working out like this?” 

You’re laying on your stomach on Hanbin’s bed, biting down on your thumbnail. 

“Like… a month ago? He’s been going to the gym forever, but only recently going every day.”

You nod. Yeah, he definitely looks like he hits the gym every day. Gosh, you still remember him as a small (he’s still relatively small), lanky pre-teen with braces and glasses that were too big for his face. None of that is left. Glasses are ditched unless he’s at home playing video games for no one to see. Braces have been gone a long time, leaving him with two rows of perfectly straight white teeth. And last but not least the lankiness has turned into buffness you couldn’t stop staring at on your phone.

“Why do you ask?” Hanbin now rolls over with his chair, eyebrows raised as he looks at your phone screen. You’re not quick enough to move, leading Hanbin to snicker as he places his legs on top of his bed, arms crossed.

“I can explain,” you say now, sitting up, but your boyfriend just grins at you.

“Can you now, princess?” He tilts his head and you bite your lip, suddenly forgetting all the explanations you could possibly come up with. You know your boyfriend - he isn’t the jealous type. If anything… he is the opposite. How many nights had he whispered into your ear that he would love to watch you get fucked by someone else, how he got hard just imagining you on someone else’s cock. All you had done when he said that was turn bright red and let him fuck you senseless after - with his own cock, not anyone else’s. 

And now, here you are. Looking at pictures of his best friend (really? out of everyone it had to be Hanbin’s best fucking friend?!) with Hanbin’s eyes sparkling mischievously. It’s obvious what he’s thinking. You clear your throat.

“I don’t- I don’t think you want him to get involved, do you?” You ask carefully and Hanbin leans forward now, smiling.

“Why not? Because he’s been my best friend for years?” He wants to know. When you nod, Hanbin climbs onto the bed, catching you off guard when he wraps his arms around you and brings his lips to your forehead, kissing it softly before looking down at you with yet another one of his beautiful smiles.

“I don’t think there is anyone I’d rather see you getting fucked by, my love.” He says it in such a soft and innocent tone, you can’t help but laugh, burying your head in his chest.

“You’re horrible,” you mumble and Hanbin laughs, bringing one of his hands to the back of your head, patting it lovingly. 

“I love you, you know that right? And if you’re really interested in Matt… I am sure I could arrange something.”

The thing is: you say no. Because why would you want to sleep with someone else when you have your perfect boyfriend right there? Your perfect boyfriend that has always cared more about your pleasure than his? That has made you cum more times than you can count? That perfect boyfriend that has never once let you down. 

You’re in the cafeteria with your bottle of water and a tray full of food but you can’t eat. Your leg is bouncing up and down and your eyes are focused on one of the trash cans at the far end of the room. Not because they are particularly interesting, but because Matthew sat down just a few tables further from you in nothing but a flimsy muscle shirt and ripped jeans and you really, really can’t look at him. So, the trash can it is. 

“Did you see a ghost?” Hao is suddenly next to you, making you flinch and almost knock over the bottle of water.

“Jesus Christ, Hao, next time whistle or something,” you say, frowning at your friend who just shrugs and instead begins eating his food. 

“You didn’t answer my question. Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Is the cafeteria poltergeist back?” 

“What? No. No, I am fine. Totally fine. No ghosts.” You clear your throat and catch yourself sneaking a glance at Matthew after all, regretting it immediately. Because why is he flexing right then and there, laughing his cute laugh after when Gyuvin throws a napkin at him. This is torture. 

“Ah, right. Matthew,” Hao nods and your head swirls around, eyes wide. 

“Matthew, what?” You ask even though you already know. God fucking dammit Sung Hanbin! 

“Bin told me,” Hao confirms and you roll your eyes with a groan, “even though I was kind of offended you didn’t want me to be the first to join you two in the bedroom, Y/N.”

“If I were to ever let that happen I’d be single and you and Hanbin happily married with seven children in no time,” you mumble and Hao chuckles, shaking his head and pulling a hand through his hair.

“At least you’re aware I’m actually his favorite,” he hums at you and the desire to copy Gyuvin and throw a napkin at your friend is extremely tempting. 

“Whatever.” You try to focus back on your food, but your stomach is rumbling and your brain is somewhere totally different, meaning hunger was the last thing on your mind - at least hunger for actual food. 

Hao snickers and watches you, a piece of meat landing on his tongue.

“I think you should do it, Y/N. Hanbin has been dreaming of this moment. Honestly, no idea what he finds so appealing about watching his girlfriend getting fucked by another man, but believe me, you’d make him the happiest man on this earth if you were to bring Matthew into your bedroom.”

The words do more than either of you probably thought. They continue to linger in your mind even hours after Hao had said them, you now being in your dorm with your pen stuck between your teeth, eyes unfocused on the words you’ve been trying to read.

Bring Matthew into your bedroom. Have him be a part of your sex life with Hanbin. Make Hanbin the happiest man on this earth. 

It’s official: You’d be lying if you said the whole thing didn’t turn you on. Imagining Hanbin sitting on the little armchair in his apartment with his cock in his hands as you sat on Matthews stiff length, his strong arms wrapped around you as he thrusted up into your needy pussy…

The pen falls down and you are back in reality, flinching and shaking your head. This is crazy. You couldn’t possibly… a groan escapes you and you let your head fall on top of your desk, slamming your forehead against it a few times, before sitting back up and leaning against your chair, letting your thoughts roam free. Hanbin had literally asked you about this several times. He wanted to bring someone else into the bedroom and he even said that he wouldn’t mind it being Matthew. So, what was stopping you? 

“Fucking hell,” you curse as you pull both hands through your hair and get up, opening the door of your room to walk into the living space, where you are met with none other than Hanbin walking in… Matthew right behind him. You freeze mid step. 

“Hi, I called you, but you didn’t pick up, I hope it’s okay I brought Matt over, we were at the gym and the showers are broken and, well, your apartment is closer.” 

Yes, you can clearly see where those two have been. They are sweaty, hair slightly wet, muscle shirts clinging onto their chests. The tattoo on Matthew’s biceps pops out deliciously when he raises his arm to wave at you. Your eyes wander to your boyfriend, a knowing glint in his eyes. 

“That’s okay,” you croak out, looking back at Matthew and somehow you just cannot stop yourself from checking him out unapologetically. His defined arms, the defined chest, the sweatpants on his strong legs. Your tongue slips out of your mouth and runs over your dried up bottom lip and Matthew can’t help but stare at you, feeling his cheeks heat up at the way you’re looking at him. 

He remembers Hanbin’s words and feels his knees go weak.

“She definitely wants you to fuck her, Matt. She just needs a little… nudge.”

Never had he ever thought his best friend’s girlfriend would ever want him to… do that. He swallows down whatever lump has formed in his throat and looks at Hanbin, unsure. Hanbin, who now walks over to you, his hand softly grabbing your chin, moving your head to look at him.

“I think I should hit the shower first, be a good girl and show Matthew the rest of the apartment, hm?” He kisses your lips softly after that, well aware of what his words just caused. Your eyes flicker up to him, wide and unsure and when he winks at you, squeezing your hand as he slowly makes his way to the door leading into the bathroom, you know that all you can do now is follow your gut. 

There is a certain kind of silence between Matthew and you once the door shuts behind Hanbin, a silence filled with tension so thick it takes your breath away. You watch as Matthew slowly drops his bag onto the floor, his shoes vacant next to it. His legs carry him over to you and with every step he takes, your heart picks up speed while the heat between your legs begins to feel almost unbearable. His eyes say much more than words ever could and when he comes to a stop, he lets them linger on your lips long enough for you to almost lose your mind. 

“So, what’s behind this door?” He asks, nodding in the direction of the bedroom door. The heat is about to make you pass out.

“B-bedroom,” you stutter back. Matthew grins.

“Well, what did Hanbin hyung say? Be a good girl and show me.”

Oh. Oh. A Wave of desire washes over you as you nod, your hand shaking when you push the door open, following Matthew’s hand movement and walking inside, his body right behind yours. He doesn’t close the door behind him, instead he settles on walking through the room, looking around. You try to steady your breathing, failing miserably.

“It’s a nice bedroom,” he says, nodding to himself, “I like the pictures on your wall. Did you take them?” 

When you nod, he smiles at you, obviously impressed.

“You’ve got a good eye.” 

As much as you appreciate the compliment - you can’t really focus on anything else but the way he looks in the dim light coming through the window. His arms, his slowly heaving chest. Your eyes roam over his body and you feel hot all over, wondering what it would feel like to touch him, to feel his muscles tighten around you. 

He notices, of course he does. It’s not hard to miss - the way you eye him up and down, the way your eyes linger a little too long on his chest, his arms. He feels his blood rush down, feels his dick getting hard at the mere idea of you checking him out, wanting him. 

“Maybe,” you begin, not sure where the confidence to speak is coming from but you accept it with open arms, “maybe you should change out of your sweaty clothes.”

His eyebrows shoot up for just a second before they settle back down. He can’t stop the smug smile creeping on his lips, not taking his eyes off you when he starts moving. 

“Yeah? Hm, I think you might be right.” His voice is deep and dripping in cockyness that has your pussy clenching. To make matters worse, he comes to a stop in front of you and immediately moves his hands to the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head the next second to reveal a perfectly sculpted torso - abs and chest and collarbones that make your fingers itch to touch them. 

“Fuck,” you breathe out, stepping closer to him with your hands stretched out, hands that he now grabs with his, pulling you right into him. While he should smell bad, courtesy of working out, he doesn’t. He looks sweaty, he is sweaty, but he smells heavenly. His cologne mixed with his own scent, musky and sweet at the same time, it lingers in your nose, gets your knees weak and Matt has to wrap an arm around your waist to stop you from actually falling to your knees. The smug smile seems to get even more smug. His eyes are on yours and his arm around you seems to squeeze every ounce of self respect you have left right out of you.

“Careful, darling.” His voice is merely a whisper. His breath hits your face and you can’t stop the whimper escaping your lips now even if you tried. That does it for him. He forgets all about his worries and crashes his lips onto yours, free hand now cupping your cheek, meaning both of your hands were free to find their own place to settle on. 

First, you let your right hand feel up his biceps, a moan slipping between your lips when he flexes his arm underneath your grip. The other hand is on his chest, nails digging into his warm skin, causing him to hiss. His teeth sink into your bottom lip and you feel like you could come undone on the spot. 

Matthew deepens the kiss, tongue now inside your mouth, wet and hot and perfect and you let both arms wrap around his neck now, his strong arm carrying you over to the bed, where he puts you down, his body now on yours, one of his thighs slipping between yours - giving you the friction you so desperately needed. His lips move fast and rough and you feel like your whole body is on fire when you begin to move your core against his thick thigh, embarrassingly already feeling a climax approaching. 

“God, you’re so pretty,” his breathy voice against your ear gets you even closer to the edge. You bite down on your lip, arching your back against him and he begins to kiss your neck, kiss it, lick it, bite down on your sensitive skin, one hand now under your shirt, grabbing your braless tits and squeezing them hard. 

“Fuck, Matthew-,” you cry out, nails back to digging into his skin, this time his shoulders. Your hips move uncontrollably against his hard thigh, his tongue now wandering down and finally flicking against your nipple after shoving your top up far enough. Everything inside of you is burning by now. Your clothes feel too hot and you sit up for a second to get rid of your shirt, the wild look in Matthew’s eyes as he watches you is intoxicating. You are quick to wrap your arms around him again when your upper body is freed and he is quick to kiss you again, just as rough as before. 

In no time you feel your first orgasm rush over you, a series of whimpers and moans landing in his mouth, against his lips, down his throat as he swallows them.

“Yeah, baby, so pretty when you cum for me, fucking hell, I bet you’re so fucking wet.”

The orgasm is mindblowing. It’s hot and feels forbidden even though you know it’s not. You know Hanbin is probably standing under the stream of water having to restrict himself from touching his cock, from getting off to the thought of you and Matthew alone in your bedroom. There is no time for you to come down from your high, not with Matthew parting from you only to shove you further up the bed with your newest obsession in the form of his arms. Your mouth waters and your eyes widen when you see the clear outline of his arousal between his legs and you can’t stop yourself from sitting back up.

“Can I suck you off?” You ask him.

He groans and nods, pulling his sweatpants down, leaving almost nothing to imagination anymore. His gray briefs are tight around his cock, a cock you can’t wait to taste on your lips and feel its weight on your tongue. You get on all fours, looking up at him and seeing his eyebrow twitch, a smile on your lips when you finally reach him, fingers in the waistband of his underwear, dragging it down his legs next, his thick cock springing free and smacking against his stomach, leaving a small stain right there on his skin. Moving forward, you grab his cock and lick over his stomach, the stain gone in no time, Matthew’s eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. 

“Fuck.” He breathes out, one hand now on the back of your head, watching you as you begin to pump his cock with one hand, the other helping you keep steady on the mattress. You eye his cock, tongue soon licking his tip clean and Matthew is sure he is about to pass out. His hips buck and you giggle, opening your mouth fully for him to slip inside, easily taking him down your throat, Matthew’s composure about to break. His hand fists your hair, head thrown back as he continues to fuck your mouth. Spit is dripping down onto the bed, spit mixed with his pre and you press your tongue against his shaft, letting him use your throat as much as he likes. 

“So, so good for me, baby, taking me so well, fuck.” 

His raspy voice has your eyes rolling back and your core starting to throb again. It won’t be long until you need a cock stuffing you full. 

“I see you are already acquainted with my princess’ ability to take a cock down her throat no problem.”

Hanbin entered the room with neither of you taking notice. Your heart does a flip, eyes opening and flicking over to your beautiful boyfriend who stands in the door frame, nothing but a towel around his slim body, the tattoo right underneath his neck as well as his v-line on full display for you to drool on Matt’s cock over. Your boyfriend comes closer to you now, Matthew not even taking real notice, too far into his desire. Hanbin stops next to Matthew, smiling to himself as he watches his most beloved girlfriend getting throat fucked by his best friend. The towel does little to hide how much he enjoys the view. 

“My perfect girl, I bet you’re so wet, aren’t you?” He pats your cheek softly, eyes warm but sharp. You want to tell him to get behind you, to fuck you as Matthew fucks your mouth, but you know that’s not what he wants.

“Matt, I think it’s time for you to give our little baby here what she needs.” Shit. You moan around Matt’s cock, dizzy from the way Hanbin seems to lose himself in authority in the best way. He’s confident and secure and you don’t think he’s ever been sexier to you. Finally, Matt lets his cock drop from your lips and you wipe over your mouth with the back of your hand, looking from Matt to Hanbin.

“You did so well, baby, ‘am so proud of you.” Hanbin leans forward, kissing your lips and then your cheeks and finally your forehead before looking back at Matthew and giving him the go with a nod. 

A few seconds later you’re on your back, Matthew’s cock deep inside you, wrapped in a condom Hanbin had handed him (“The only one cumming inside her is me, sorry bud,” he had said and Matthew had only nodded, too horny to even really care), fucking into you like a madman. Your back was arched and your fingers were wrapped around his biceps that were all nice and hard as he held himself up above you, his hips working at godspeed. 

Watching all of this from your desk chair, Hanbin had discarded the towel on the floor, his hand around his leaking cock, watching his best friend fuck his girlfriend just the way she liked it. His eyes are glued to your face, the way it is contoured in nothing but pleasure - your eyes closed shut and your mouth dropped open, the sounds coming out of it more than just music to his ears. You sound like heaven to him - like something no one could ever compare to. He licks over his lips, stroking his cock a little quicker as he lets his eyes roam over the rest of you; your tits as they bounce up and down, your legs crossed around Matthew’s waist. Everything about you is perfect and he can’t believe he got to finally see your pleasure from this point of view.

“G-gonna cum, fuck, sh-shit,” Matthew feels himself tumbling over the edge, his head dipping down to kiss your neck and lick up to your lips, pulling you into a kiss that takes your already harbored breath away. He moves faster, with less control and finally, when he feels you clench around his cock over and over - hot cum shoots out of his exhausted cock and into the condom, for a split second wishing there wasn’t one. 

He rides out his orgasm, kissing your lips and cheeks and moving down to your neck, your hands in his hair now, enjoying the way he twitches inside of you. When he rolls off your body, he is still trying to catch his breath, even more sweaty than before. With all of the tension and arousal gone, he now starts to feel blood rush to his cheeks, slowly looking over at you only to see you fondly smiling at him.

“Thanks,” you giggle, letting your fingers brush through his wet bangs. He smiles, showing his rows of white teeth.

“Right back at you,” he says, looking at Hanbin then, who has gotten up. He exchanges glances and nods, knowing that this next part is not for his eyes.

“Guess I’ll finally hit the shower then.” Matthew chuckles, getting off the bed and hurrying to the door that he ends up closing this time.

Hanbin is on top of you a second later, his lips devouring yours, hands on your face, cock pressing against the inside of your thigh. You sigh into his mouth, hands on his nape as you kiss him back, butterflies everywhere, your stomach feeling like you’re flying. 

“You did so well, baby, made me so happy, so horny, god, I love you,” he kisses you between every word and you giggle, wrapping your legs around him.

“I love you too, need you, too, please fill me up, Hannie.”

He nods, kissing the corner of your mouth before skillfully turning you around, slipping into your pussy through your legs flat on the mattress. Fuck. You love it when he fucks you like this. His mouth is right by your ear, his cock easily slipping into you, the moan he lets out making your pussy flutter.

“So wet baby, did he fuck you well, hm? Liked his cock in your mouth? Your pussy?” He whispers into your ear, his hips beginning to fuck you into the mattress hard. You cry out, hands gripping the bed sheets.

“Y-Yes! Liked it a lot.”

“Hm, bet you did. Bet you would have loved it if I had fucked you when you had his cock in your mouth, isn’t that right, baby?” His hips are so skilled, know exactly how to move to make you lose your mind, forget all your words. So, all you can do is nod your head yes.

Hanbin chuckles, kissing the back of your neck.

“I am so lucky to have you.” 

His speed triples after this. He ruts into you like it’s his life goal to have you coming undone on his cock, to have his seed spill into you and claim you as his. Your cries of pleasure make him go even harder, the sound of his cock slipping in and out of your wet pussy so lewd it has both of your heads spinning. When you feel your second climax approaching, you clench around him, Hanbin biting into your shoulder as he continues his thrusts. Neither of you will hold out any longer and so, when he gives you permission with a sweet kiss and a “cum for me, princess”, you can’t help yourself. Pleasure runs through every inch of your body, pulsating around Hanbin’s cock and taking him over the edge with you.

“Yeah, baby, that’s it, shit,” Hanbin empties inside you, hot cum filling your spent pussy and you cry out his name over and over again, just as he does yours. All through getting down from his high, he showers your back with kisses, hands caressing your sides. When he slips out of you and helps turn you on your back, you feel his release dripping out too and he is quick to stuff it back in with his slim fingers, your pussy clenching as you whimper in overstimulation.

“Bin!” Your hands both move to his wrist, eyes wide and he grins, the wrinkles under his eyes making you all soft inside. 

“Sorry, baby. Just making sure what’s yours stays in there.” He kisses the top of your nose and you roll your eyes at him, swatting at his shoulder.

“You’ve got a dirty mouth.”

Your boyfriend just laughs, kissing you lovingly, free hand caressing your cheek. 

Someone clearing their throat in the door makes you part again. There stands Matthew, his eyes glued to the both of you with something like uncertainty in his gaze.

“I just- uh, I just wanted to know where, uh, where you kept the towels.”

You can see clearly that he’s been watching you longer than a few seconds. You and Hanbin share a look before you burst out laughing.

“Maybe we should take a shower together. All three of us,” You say, grinning from Hanbin to Matthew. They both are visibly surprised at your proposal, Matthew looking a little unsure when his and Hanbin’s gaze meet. 

“Sounds like a wonderful plan to me, sweetheart. I could definitely use another shower after this.” Hanbin grins happily. And Matthew thinks that maybe he could get used to this. 

#ksmutsociety #sung hanbin x reader #hanbin x reader #seok matthew x reader #matthew x reader #zb1 fanfiction #zb1 smut #zb1 x reader #zb1 imagines #zerobaseone smut #zerobaseone fanfiction #sung hanbin smut #hanbin smut #seok matthew smut #matthew smut #mattbin smut #zerobaseone imagines

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Q&A: The Phantom Broadway Proshot

Happy 36th Birthday to Phantom of the Opera's opening night on Broadway! We should be celebrating at the Majestic. The show never should have closed.

In order to create "new" ish POTO Broadway content, @or-what-you-will and I promised to answer your questions about the proshot on POTO Broadway's birthday. Find our summary of the Proshot here.

We got dozens of questions, which we've consolidated into 14 questions. Read them all past the cut!

Wait, what’s the Phantom Proshot?

The Phantom Proshot is an archival copy of the original Broadway cast and production of Phantom of the Opera, filmed at the evening performance with a live audience on May 25, 1988. The New York Public Library, Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center has archival copies of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Regional theater going back to 1970. You can’t view currently running shows, so since Phantom ran for so long, it was under lock and key.

2. How do I see the Pro-Shot? 

Pretty simple how to guide here on the NYPL website. 

We are both NYPL cardholders and made a reservation in advance. You are required to state why you are accessing the recording as they exist for archival and research purpose. Both of us are published authors and researchers under our real names. 

Here's a picture of the room we were in from NYPL's website. We had an appointment and were set up in a room with lots of monitors. We were seated at monitors next to each other with two sets of headphones and had one set of controls to pause/rewind etc. There are 20 monitors in the room and it was pretty full that day. This was not my first time at the TOFT and it’s always had a good number of people around. 

3. Can someone get a boot of it/send me the link to it? Pleeeeease? 

No. Seriously, stop asking about this. Stop joking about this. It’s not online, and never will be. All of the recordings are on digital media (videodiscs or DvDs) in the basement and only library staff get to touch them. Don’t be the person who tried to do this and ruins the archive for everyone else. You can’t even bring electronic devices into the room.

4. Why won’t they release it to the public? And who the heck does it benefit to keep this locked away?

It isn’t. It was locked away when the show was actually running. It is available to the public. We are the public! We have library cards and went to a public library and watched it for $0! It’s owned by the library so the public can see it! At the library! 

The availability of us to access it now that the show has closed is what constitutes public release. There were several other phans, members of the public there to see it after us, and the library allowed them to max out the number of monitors the library allows people to view on. They had a later appointment and were watching disc one when we were on disc two. I’m sure there was someone after them too. Were we all wearing Phantom gear? Also yes. 

(@or-what-you-will here) The library is not allowed to show recordings of anything currently running on Broadway, presumably because of fears about economic loss from those who own the rights to the musicals. The library does not own the rights to the musicals in the archive, and there are likely a lot of stipulations the library has to follow to be able to have recordings like this. 

As someone who works in a library doing digitization work, libraries and the media they contain are very complicated. TOFT likely has the rights to show it under a very limited license, and to make copies for preservation purposes only, but things like this mean they would not be able to do anything like put it online or charge for it or do anything that would be them acting as though they owned the copyright (as opposed to the physical media). This is why when a library or archive has a book or tapes they don’t usually have the right to photocopy the entire book or digitize the entire tape and put it online (unless it is in public domain), however, if you go in person you can see it all you want. Someone else (usually the creator) owns the right to distribute or copy, and libraries and archives can get in a lot of trouble for violating it. 

The copyright is still owned by the holders of each respective musical’s copyright. It’s essentially like when you buy a DVD and you are technically not supposed to copy that DVD but you can invite your friends over to watch it at your house. Copying it and distributing it violates copyright. Putting it online violates copyright. If the library violated copyright it would likely lose the ability to archive musicals altogether. If you copied the DVD it would be a lot harder to find out who put it up because the DVD is owned by lots of people, though you could still be prosecuted by the law. If the library did, they would know immediately who did it because they are presumably the only ones with a copy of this recording. 

Likewise if someone took a bootleg recording of a show and distributed it, the copyright holders wouldn’t know it existed. If they found out that individual would then be eligible to be prosecuted under the law. Because the library is a public institution, if they were found out to be doing this, it would be the library itself that would get in trouble and it would damage their reputation, their funding, and quite possibly the funding and reputation of libraries around the world. A lot of this is done on trust. The copyright holders trust the library as a public institution and the library has a lot more stakes in the game than a single person recording the show and distributing it.

It’s a very tenuous agreement at times, and likely the library is only allowed to even record because there are so many protections in place and they have a history of enforcing these rules. These agreements also usually cover digitization and preservation, but again, violating them could have those abilities taken away as well. It’s all tied up in copyright law and the library has no control over that. I have talked to archivists where I live who have to record performances with tape over the lens because it’s considered for preservation and they want to make sure it cannot be possible to profit off of it in any way. 

When the show goes into public domain they will be able to put it online all they want without fear of repercussions, but until then, unless those agreements change, we are all limited by the whim of the copyright holders.

5. Hello! Is the pro shot you watched what this clip is from https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp2_80CJqI3/?igsh=MWNja2wwYWw4OHUwbw== ?

I know all of us here on Tumblr were freaking out that they maybe had a copy of the pro shot when this came out. Thank you! (@imstillhere-butallislost)

Not the proshot, it's a press reel. It has its own cool story though! Answered this here.

6. How good of a shot was it? I know you said ProShot but is it a ProShot like Hamilton or just a camera recording the whole stage at once?

I’d definitely say it was Hamilton pro-shot quality as to what was available at the time between image quality and mixing up of close ups and wide shots. I’ve watched other proshots and many just park a camera in the back of the orchestra and call it good. Cats in particular had multiple cameras but just did close-ups when they felt like it, not when it made sense or added anything. As @or-what-you-will explained in their re-blog, Phantom was one of the first proshots where they had a soundboard plug in, and let me tell you, with the exception of a few moments in Act 1 where Sarah Brightman maxes out her mic, the sound was delicious. Have we talked about how Judy Kaye is singing over the overture (yes, that’s Judy Kaye, original Carlotta, warming up!)? Or that you can hear every single word of Notes I and Prima Donna and Notes II, which usually just sounds garbled because everyone is singing over one another? Actually hearing words that I sort of know exist changed my experience of the show for me. 

7. How did the tempo seem, compared to the pace of the show at the end of its run? I saw the show a few times in the last few years, and the music seemed significantly faster in person than it sounded on the London cast recording. I’ve always wondered if that was just a difference between the London and NY productions, or if the tempo just sped up over the years.

Uh…normal pace??? I’ve watched a lot of boots and most solidly clock in 2:15 of run time. This was no different. There are definitely some that run a little faster. London during Earl Carpenter’s 2023 run was notorious as he had to catch a train. It does seem to have settled back out. I will say, the music does always feel more intense in person because the whole place just vibrates. 

8. I'm curious about the comment about the Ratcatcher? I think I remember that character from a film adaptation, but was he ever in the ALW musical? (@lord-valery-mimes)

Yes, Ratcatcher is still in the musical, even now. It’s a blink or you miss it type of moment. If you hear a thud and a scream right before Madame Giry tells Raoul “He lives across the Lake, Monsieur”, the thud is the ratcatcher running across the travelator.

9. Does Christine really recognize the Phantom in PONR from his boner? 

No, but at this point she probably already know it’s him and has been trying to get through the scene, but definitely acts surprised because, well, that’s surprising. But it’s definitely the moment where the Vibes Are Officially Off. 

10. Can Sarah Brightman act? 

Yes! All three of the trio have far more nuanced performances on stage. Sarah doesn’t act the way that we do see many later Christines (including late 80s and early 90s Christines), but she absolutely created the blueprint for the role. Her “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” is missing some soul, but at the end of the day she was one of a kind, and she made some very strong acting choices. 

11. there anything unexpected? Any interpretation that stood out to you and particularly striking but didn’t stick around as others took on the roles and put their own spin on things?

Guys, I want to talk about Steve Barton as Raoul. The man made choice, after choice, after choice. And yet we have had so many Raoul’s that are kind of just strutting about looking pretty. Some seem to even forget they’re onstage during Final Lair. It can be such a juicy role if the actors choose to make it that way but so few do. 

Besides some small details I mentioned, the show did maintain its integrity through its 35 year run, which is truly remarkable. 

(@or-what-you-will here) Seconding what Flag said, Steve Barton brought so much more to the role than I’m used to seeing, and it really opened my mind to what Raoul could be. 

The blocking in PONR did surprise me, I knew they had changed it but I hadn’t realized how much. I always found the kind of pinwheeling arm thing Christine does with the phantom strange, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that they didn’t do that at all, the embrace from behind made more sense to me.

I also found after she took his hood off no one really ran out, the phantom and Christine got to have their moment. The blocking where they (the managers and Raoul) run out and tell Christine to stay makes no sense with their motivations to stop him. The more recent blocking where Christine motions them to stay in place as the phantom sings the All I Ask of You Reprise makes way more sense with the characters’ motives and matches this original blocking much more. 

12. Also are you truly working on a research project? If so, how is progress and where might we find your final results when it’s complete?

To quote Dr. Who, “Spoilers.” Yes, always. Both of us have day jobs that have us doing research, but I can’t promise I’ll put it on here when complete since I keep fandom and real life separate. Sorry to dodge this one but getting into specifics about this starts to identify us. 

(@or-what-you-will here) Seconding what Flag said. 

13. Hi there, I was wondering if I could ask you a general question about the NPL’s archive. Something about the language on their website made it sound like viewers could only watch a recording “once”. I wasn’t sure if that meant “once per visit” (i.e. you can’t sit there for 8 hours restarting the tape every time it ends) or “once” as in forever (like, once you’ve watched a recording you are never allowed to request it again). Did you have any clarification? I wasn't sure if the librarians explain the policies when you arrive at your appointment. Thank you for providing so many details about the Phantom pro-shot and offering to answer our questions! That's really kind of you!

You’re welcome! So if there’s nobody after you, you can hang out with the media as long as you want. However, we did have another group come in about 90 minutes after us. That gave us enough time to watch both acts with all the rewinds we wanted. We watched PONR and parts of Final Lair like five times. On a previous TOFT trip I watched two shows and was there for like six hours.  The prohibition is on coming back and watching the recording again. I have no idea how strict they are about this, although I suspect it’s to keep people from monopolizing certain media. Would I want to try to watch the proshot again in the future? Probably! I know there’s stuff I missed, or I’d see something different depending on what I’m working on. The TOFT is also an absolutely incredible resource and I have so many other shows I’d like to check out. 

(Will here) They do log on your library account when you visit that you visited and what you saw. However, if you have accessibility needs that would require you to watch in multiple viewings or something along those lines, I would talk to them about it, because I’m sure they’d be able to work with you to figure out something so you wouldn’t have to sit through the whole thing in one shot.

14. > Barton Raoul’s “There is no Phantom of the Opera” comes off more as “Christine this is just some dude” vs “he doesn’t exist at all.” 

Could you elaborate on this part? I'm having trouble imagining how that would be conveyed. (also, thanks for sharing your notes on the procast!) @clutzyangel

You're welcome! Yes, he's telling Christine that the Phantom is a human, flesh-and-blood man, not some fantastical creature. I've seen many Raouls who seem to try to convince Christine that the Phantom doesn't exist at all. Barton's Raoul seems to understand that he's a man with ulterior motives possibly duping Christine.

And he's not wrong.

#phantom of the opera #poto #alw phantom #phantom proshot #happy birthday phantom broadway #phantom broadway #michael crawford #sarah brightman #steve barton #judy kaye #andrew lloyd webber #nypl #research #I wish Phantom were still be on broadway #we should all be wilding out at the majestic

[chaengluva]

Loving You Differently

Reneé Rapp x Fem!Reader: 1.4k Words: Masterlist

Requested: Yes/No: Send Requests!

Warnings: Angst, No happy ending, considering a part 2

Disclaimer: I know Reneé would never do things like this or act like this, this is just a oneshot, everything is fictional (except for reneé and towa lmao)

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You couldn't deny the way your heart dropped when you saw the pictures of Reneé and Towa, you couldn't even scroll through twitter peacefully, every second tweet was about the them, everyone seemed so happy for them, while you were in your bed, loving her from affair.

You knew it wad going to happen eventually, each day Reneé would come home and get in bed with who she called her best friend, she would talk about how much she liked Towa, same with every crush she has ever had, while you're just hoping that one day she will admit that she likes you, but you know that won't be anytime soon. She has done this every single time. 

Flashback

"Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n,Y/n," Reneé says loudly, pocking you each time she said your name, "What?" You ask tiredly, "Lisa" She starts, you tired of only hearing that name. making you roll your eyes, she hits you, making you groan in pain. "Don't be annoying!" She exclaims, but she smiles when she looks back at her phone. 

"She wants to go out with me!" You smile slightly, trying to be the good best friend and be there for her, "That's great Reneé! When?" You ask, trying your best to not sound sad or hurt. "Tomorrow."  You sigh loudly, feeling very betrayed, "Oh.." You start, she turns to you, raising her eyebrow, "But, It's my birthday tomorrow." You say sadly, hoping she would rethink it.

"Yeah, but you don't mind! this is more important." She started, ouch, that stung. "Besides, we will spend the morning with you." You nod, not wanting to say anything, the only thing you wanted to be was the girl that was special to Reneé. When you slept, you just felt empty that you would have to spend the morning alone, at least you have the morning together, right?

Wrong.

She didn't wake up still 12pm, she only had 2 hours before she had to get ready, you wanted to be mad at her but when she gave you her puppy eyes you just had to forgive her, the 2 hours went by really quickly, before you knew it, her date was at the door, picking her up, you didn't dare let any tears fall before she left, but right after the door was closed, they fell. 

You didn't know how long you were crying for, but you were interrupted by a phone call from one of your other friends, Rosie. You tried to calm your voice down so it wasn't clear that you had been crying, but it didn't work, she knew right away. 

"Is it Reneé again?" She asks, you nod as if she can see you, you realise she couldn't so you mumble a quiet, "Yeah." You hear her loudly groan, "Y/n! I know you like her but she's using you! She's never there unless she needs you! Please don't let her come back to you like you always do. She needs to know what it feels like losing someone as good as you." 

As much as her words stung, you knew they were true, you talk for a little bit more then you hang up, deciding that you would leave before she get's home, but it doesn't work out because you hear the door open. 

A sobbing Reneé walks in, you stare at her as she walks closer to you, you try to think of Rosie's words but you can't leave Reneé like this, you wrap your arms around her and let Reneé cry into your arms. "She humiliated me!" You played with her hair, to give her comfort at the time she needed it

Reneé has you wrapped around her finger, and you hate yourself for not being able to let her go.

Present time. 

The thing that hurts the most is the mixed signals she gives you, some days your so close to confessing your feelings, but other days telling her your feelings isn't even a thought inside you. 

You have been friends with Reneé for longer then you can remember, you have also had feelings for her for almost as long as you have been friends, you never want to confess because your scared of losing over 10 years of the friendship with her. 

When Reneé  didn't have many fans, you would always be there, supporting her, she made so many promises that you knew she wouldn't be able to keep, she promised to take you to her award shows as a plus one, but that hasn't happened yet. 

A days hours later after you saw the news on twitter, you were in your kitchen, looking in your fridge for something to eat, you decide to make a sandwich, just as about you're about to start eating it,  a knock on the door made you jump, you put the sandwich on the plate, then you walk downstairs, when you open the door you smile seeing your best friend, standing there with open arms. "Y/n!" She says loudly, giving you a hug. "How are you baby?" You hate the fact she calls you that, you hate it because of the effect she has on you. 

"I'm good." You smile slightly, she walks in, taking her Jacket off, walking upstairs, you slowly follow after her, when you get up you see that she's sitting down at the the table, you look at the kitchen contour and see that your sandwich had disappeared, you look back at Reneé and see her eating the sandwich. 

You sigh, walking over to sit next to her, taking the sandwich from her then eating it, making her pout. You don't bring up the news, you're way to hurt by it, the two of you just sit in silence until one of you speaks up. 

 Reneé, is the one to break the silence, "So, I'm assuming you have heard." She starts and you try not to roll your eyes, the pure feeling of jealously, hurt and envy is flowing threw your veins, she smiles brightly, "Towa and I are dating." You smile, "Nice," You say coldly, you could have pretended to be happy but you were so sick of pretending. "I'd thought you'd be happy for us." She says, making you roll your eyes and tense up, "I am happy." You lie, which Reneé notices. "

"You're lying, I can tell." You just roll her eyes, which makes her more irritated, "Jesus Y/n! Just tell me! Is it because you like Towa?!" She asks, how could she be so oblivious?  "You're the one I like!" You yell, instantly regretting it after you confessed, you notice how her eyes soften, she goes from annoyed to confused. "I'm sorry... I didn't know." Reneé says quietly, "How could you? You're never here!" You yell, she opens her mouth to say something but you beat her to it.

"I have been there for you all the time, I have been there for you when you need me, when you need a shoulder to cry on, when you need to ramble about someone, when you first started your music career." You yelled, tears falling, as you yelled at her, Reneé stood their quietly, taking everything that you said and listening to it. "I had to listen to you talk about all your crushes while I had eyes for you., I know it's not your fault you don't like me.. but.. I never got that shoulder to cry on, I never had the support I needed for me to start my dream it was always about you. " 

The guilt quickly began to wash over Reneé, she saw everything for herself now, but she knew that it was too late. "Y/n.. I'm sorry." She reaches out to grab your hands but you pull away, "No, You don't need to be sorry, I need to be sorry with myself, for not letting you go earlier." Reneé's heart breaks more then it has ever broken before, "No.. You don't mean that" she starts, you wipe the tears running down your face, "I do, It's the only way I'll be able to move on from you."

Reneé's tears are now uncontrollable, she thinks of the past 10 years of her life and how losing you will be the worst person she has ever lost, she slowly walks downstairs and she swears her heart breaks even more when you don't follow her,  she opens the door and leaves the house she used to call her second home.

You let out a sigh of relief, it was hard letting her go, you felt like you just lost a piece of yourself as you saw her drive off for the last time. 

#reneé rapp x reader #reneé rapp #gxg #wlw #towa bird #mean girls 2024 #regina george #lesbian #mean girls #reneé rapp angst #angst

[epiphyllous]

culture difference (Malleus/Reader)

Everyone in the world except for you and Malleus seems to think you’re dating. It’s hard knowing for sure what the other person thinks, especially when there seems to be some miscommunication in terms of expressing how you feel– not that either of you are giving up. 

(Malleus visits you in the dead of night to hang out; you constantly are touching Malleus whenever he walks you to school– the whole college can’t believe two people can ever be this oblivious.)

Word Count: ~3k

Note: gender-neutral reader, 2nd POV ('you'), physically affectionate reader, insinuated shorter reader, never read the birthday ssr for malleus but I've seen (2) pictures

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According to Cater, everyone and their mothers think that you are dating Malleus. You didn’t at first, but now you can definitely see why. 

It’s a miracle that the great Malleus Draconia, prince of Briar Valley, 5th strongest mage in Twisted Wonderland, soon-to-be Fae King (need you go on?) would be visiting you at the late hours of the night just to talk. For the most part, Deuce, Ace, and Grim didn’t even believe you the first few times you told them it was happening. And then once you invited Malleus to sit at lunch with you, they didn’t believe you when you said the two of you were just talking. 

“There is no way in wonderland that the two of you do nothing for three hours each night except talk,” Ace tells you during class. You glance up at Professor Trein and wonder if his glare will kill Ace first or yours. “I mean– don’t you run out of things to talk about?”

“To be honest,” you reply, “yeah.”

When he sputters, you quickly continue, “We can just sit and enjoy each other’s company too! Sometimes I study and he helps, or sometimes we do a face mask together, share snacks, watch the stars, feed his Gao Gao Dragon, or…” You trail off, “Or I just fall asleep by accident…” 

Ace looks at you blankly. “Ignoring the fact that all of those things are very DATING things. You tell me you sleep… ‘by accident…’” he says slowly, “together… in your bed-”

“No!”

“So does he just watch you sleep or what-?!”

“Is history suddenly interesting to the two of you,” Professor Trein says, making the two of you turn back to your books in a snap, “or are you talking about something completely different?”

“No, sir.” 

“Sorry, sir.”

You glare at Ace when Professor Trein turns his back. “Can we talk about this never?” 

“Yeah, for real,” Grim mutters. “You’re gonna get me in trouble for once.” 

“Well, we were just wondering,” Deuce says in concern, and you sigh, knowing even you can’t get mad at the former delinquent. “If you aren’t dating Malleus-senpai, then…”

“What are you doing?” Ace finishes.

You stare at them. “You mean a person can’t hang out with someone else at midnight till 3AM and not have it be romantic?”

Ace stares back. “Everyday?”

“...Everyday. Unless I’m busy or something…”

Ace rolls his eyes and buries his nose into a book all of you know he is not reading. “And I’m the stupid one.” 

You wish you had a comeback.

.

In all honesty, you wonder to yourself how you can possibly be dating Malleus without actually dating him. Liking him is not a problem for you; your feelings for him went beyond friendship after the 7th night he visited you (can they blame you though?). 

But the fact of the matter is you are the first friend he has made in a very, very long time. With your help, he is able to make other friends, but in many cases, you think you might be his best friend– and vice versa. Would it truly be that far off to say that Malleus is overcompensating for his lack of companionship by spending as much time as possible with you, his first best friend? You care for Malleus enough to not want to ruin the friendship he is able to cultivate with you with romantic feelings. After all, how many friendships turn sour with the presence of unrequited love? 

…And how many friendships bloom into romances as a result?

It is weird to you, and perhaps it is because you are human, but you wonder why nothing has happened in the many weeks you and Malleus have spoken into the long hours. Had this been possibly anybody else with romantic feelings, surely, something… more would have occurred? It’s hard to think that Malleus is waiting on you to make a move, and much easier to assume that perhaps Malleus does not feel anything beyond camaraderie with you. 

Which is fine. You have always been affectionate and loving with friends and family alike, so technically you wouldn’t be missing out too much with Malleus as just friends. 

Or so you tell yourself, wondering if you should just take a gamble and test the waters– and hope for a bite.  

.

.

.

According to Lilia, Malleus recalls, everyone and their grandmothers think that he is dating you. He can’t seem to understand why; you treat him the same way you treat everyone else– for the most part.

Asides from the occasional heckler or attempted bully, you are kind, patient, and friendly to all of those you meet. You maintain a sense of approachability that allows everyone to find it easy to talk to you. He would know best of all, considering it was you who befriended him and allowed him to find others who could do the same as you. 

You are, as he finds out almost immediately, also an extremely affectionate person, both verbally and physically. It is rare if he does not see you hook arms with someone walking down the halls or hear you say a genuine comment, whether it is in prose or in that… meme language you have shown to him many times that he has yet to get a good grasp on. (Sebek breathes a sigh of relief.) You dare to hook arms with him as he walks to class together with you, pleasantly ignoring the way Sebek wishes for your downfall, and you provide him compliments with such fervor that he feels his cheeks warm. 

If this is your way of including him in your circle of friends, he could not be happier. 

But in other times, he feels you often exclude him as well, for reasons he cannot discern. 

Malleus thinks of seeing you hold hands with your closest friends and trying to pretend as though that does not bother him– that he does not wish to ask if you would hold his hand as well. He thinks of a quickly aborted hug when you had celebrated your good scores that he did not even have the chance to hold you in return before you jumped away as though surprised. For some reason, you are… uneasy around him at times, nervous and jumpy, and he cannot come to any other conclusion other than that you find him different from your other friend you are closer with. 

It is a hard pill for him to swallow, but he knows he cannot wish for you to see him differently or demand more of your affection as though he is entitled to it. It feels worse knowing that he sees you as more than a friend. 

Malleus has already sought out Lilia’s advice, and it is almost tragic to think that he has connected the dots of his own feelings only to realize that your feelings for him cannot be more different. At the very least, he would like to be with you as a friend and forgo what romance entails, but even this seems to be kept from him.

Still, Malleus is not one for giving up, though he admits he has his bouts of petulance. (You laughed the last time you caught him dragging his feet when his favorite ice cream flavor had run out and reassured him that you would find it next time for him.) And so he does what any traditional romance has done before him and opens doors for you, walks you to your class and back home, plays his instrument– a concert just for you, and shares his secrets with you (Gao Gao Dragon XIII is alive and well). 

You are always pleased whenever he does so, and it is with this hope that he takes with him as the school year continues. Though it stings him at times to know that others see the two of you as romantic partners already when that is far from the case, he is determined to make it a reality. 

Perhaps he should wish upon a star…? 

.

The nearest star that Malleus could wish upon is the candles that sit on his cake for however many number years he’s been alive. The only difference between now and the previous years is that he is celebrating with you and everyone else at the college– and he gets pied for the first time in his life.

He could not be happier. 

The firework display outside, courtesy of Lilia, dies out eventually, and pleasantly surprised, he finds that most of his party goers have enjoyed themselves to the extent of falling asleep on every surface available. He remembers that some of them had taken off early (Leona) or otherwise felt the need to turn in early (Azul), but the bodies on the floor still number many. He looks to the grandfather clock on the upper floor and sees that it has barely hit midnight. 

“You think Floyd-senpai or Jade-senpai might have put something in the punch?” He hears you joke, tiptoeing around the limbs that lie on the floor to get to him. “Or you think maybe we’re the only ones used to staying up after twelve?” 

Malleus feels his lips twitch into a familiar smile. “I would not put it past the Leech brothers to do so… especially if it affects Ashengrotto’s behavior in a way that amuses them.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t discount the practice we’ve gotten together staying up until daybreak either,” you reply, grinning up at him. You lift your hand to swipe at his cheek. “You still have bits of cream everywhere; you wanna go wash up?” 

In the strange quiet of Diasomnia dorm, Malleus follows you to the restroom you know the path to easily and diligently washes off his face and hair as you retell the events of the night.

“-and then Jamil-senpai had to run off after Kalim-senpai before he bought too many party poppers, and that was only half an hour ago.” You pause thoughtfully. “I wonder where they went.” 

“I also recall them planning to get food while they were out,” Malleus replies in amusement, “considering how the demon cat consumed half of the food on the table.” 

“Oh, Ruggie was so mad for that,” you cackle, and he finds that every laughter of yours is a joy to hear. “I had to hold him back from tackling the table and shoving things into his pocket. I told him he could take the leftovers too.”

Malleus does recall that particular part of the party as well, including the twinge of envy at how comfortable you were with your upperclassmen, and he finds that he wants his wish to be answered now. 

“For my birthday,” he says, “can you grant me one wish?” 

You blink up at him, surprised, and you lift yourself off from the bathroom counter. “Sure, I’ll do what I can,” you tell him, and his next words feel almost practiced.

“May I hug you?” 

“Huh?” You ask instinctively, though you quickly follow-up. “No, sorry, I don’t mean to make it sound like I don’t want to do it. I’m just surprised.” You tilt your head. “You know, you can do it anytime you want. Not just today.” 

Malleus feels like he’s been surprised too many times today, but here he is, once again. “I… can?” He blinks. “I… was not aware of that,” he explains. “I was under the impression that you were not inclined to embrace me.”

“Huh?” He hears you repeat yourself with growing confusion that matches his. “Since when? I’d love to hug you.” You quickly backtrack, stammering, “I-I mean, I love hugging in general.” 

“Then…” Malleus stops himself, feeling the thoughts in his head spin trying to interpret your words. 

“So… you want to hug me?” You say, and there it is again, your growing nervousness in your voice. “Sure! We can do that.”

He hesitates. “...Are you certain? I would not want you to do something you didn’t-”

Malleus feels your arms around him and he shuts up. 

Not to lose his chance again, Malleus slowly wraps his arms around you, briefly wondering where his arms should end up when they settle on your shoulder and the small of your back. He hears you quietly sigh in his embrace, and a feeling of intense fondness bursts from inside him at the thought of you. He holds you closer and feels reassured when you only bury yourself deeper in his arms. Perhaps it is the sense of fulfillment that comes with the aftermath of an enjoyable party, but you do not hold any qualms with staying right here with him for as long as he wishes to hold you. 

Malleus tilts his head down and gently places his cheek upon your head, breathing in your comfortingly familiar scent of citrus. 

Alas, eventually he must let go, disappointed as he may be. He softens his hold on you, and you slowly pull away from him, looking thoughtful. Perhaps he could convince you to embrace him more often?

“Thank you,” he says, “I-”

“Malleus,” you say suddenly, “can I kiss you?”

Truly, a wish granted, he thinks, and he holds onto your arms as you tiptoe to reach his lips. He is bending ever so slightly and tilting his head to what seems to be the best angle to press his lips against yours without bumping his nose with you– though he thinks he wouldn’t have minded at all if it still meant he could kiss you. 

He feels mildly validated by the fact that he was right about one thing: your lips are soft. 

“Is… is this what you do with your other friends as well?” Malleus asks, unsure, when the two of you part. He looks down at you and feels himself off-kilter when you squint up at him with amusement.

“Malleus,” you tell him with a hint of exasperation in your laughter. “Do you really think I kiss everyone on the lips? And hang out with them for three hours a day at LEAST after midnight? And tell them stupid stories about my childhood that still embarrass me to this day? Or even let them in my room at night, for that matter? (Very scandalous, you know?)”

Malleus feels his mouth open, and then close. He opens them again and finds that his knowledge on human courting is lacking to a mortifying degree. “I… suppose not,” he says finally. “It seems I am still unfamiliar with how children of man demonstrate their affections. But surely, not every person hooks arms or holds hands with their friends and hugs every acquaintance they see during the day?” he continues, watching your face darken with embarrassment. 

He cannot help but feel his lips form what Lilia refers to as a pout and his tone grow a tinge petulant. “And even if they are common-day actions for you, you seem to not allow me the same privileges of friendship– if that is what they are.” 

“But I do hook arms with you!”

“And the other actions?”

He watches you as you stammer for a moment before collecting yourself. “It-” You clear your throat. “It feels different for you,” you say, pressing your lips together, and Malleus itches to touch them. 

“It’s- It would mean something to me if I held your hand or- or kissed you on the cheeks…” You sigh suddenly, losing steam. “I’m sorry,” you say, “I get why it’s been so confusing for you now. But it’s been confusing for me too, okay? I just thought if you thought of me as more than a friend, you would…” your voice grows quiet out of embarrassment, “I don’t know, do something.” 

“It is not within fae culture to do something that is unwelcomed,” Malleus says just as quietly. “What would you have wished I had done to express my feelings?”

You sigh again, a little more exasperated. You throw your hands up in the air. “I don’t know, like pin me up against the wall or something-”

That is not a hard thing to do, he thinks. He quickly maneuvers your left hand to be pressed against the wall, his fingers curling over your wrist to feel the way your pulse quickens. His body almost blankets over yours as he takes his free hand to lift your chin up to meet your eyes. He feels you shiver. 

“And then?” Malleus asks, his breath ghosting over yours. He already sees your eyes close reflexively when he asks, “What would you have me do?” 

“Oh my!” The two of you hear Lilia’s voice ring out much too closely for comfort. “It seems birthday wishes are being granted tonight?” 

Malleus has never seen you move so quickly before, but granted, he finds himself jumping away reflexively and turning to Lilia as though he has caught him red-handed with his fingers in the cookie jar. (Not cookies made by Lilia, mind you.) He respects the way you compose yourself enough to address Lilia because he feels like his heart may jump from his throat if he were to speak.

“L-L-Lilia-senpai! Hey, when did you get here?” You ask, fidgeting. 

“Oh, you know,” Lilia says, waving his hand vaguely. Malleus expects him to elaborate but he never does. Before you can stammer out another response, “Glad to see that the rumors are indeed true. Good night, you two.” 

Lilia leaves with a mild flourish, leaving the two of you alone once more.

“...You know…” he begins to hear you say, “everyone’s been saying they thought we were already dating way back.”

“I have heard the same as well.”

Malleus looks back at you, and when you start to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, he finds himself unable to not join in. In fact, you’re laughing so hard, you’re beginning to double over, using his arm as a support that he is only glad to provide. 

“Oh man, talk about culture differences,” you say, your laughter dying down. He feels your hand trail down until you’re entwining your fingers with his, and he looks to see you smiling up at him. “Can’t believe we’re the last ones to know we’ve been dating.” 

“Yes, though in retrospect, I find it to be a blessing in disguise,” he says, brushing your hair behind your ears. His hand is close enough to feel the warmth of your cheeks, and he has never felt luckier. “To know that you have felt affection for me for that long that other people would notice…” He smiles. “This is truly a night that will be unforgettable for me.” 

Malleus squeezes your hands, and you squeeze back just as tightly. If he bends down to give what the both of you consider to be a romantic gesture, well, no one but the two of you will know. 

Kissing you is the best privilege he has ever been given.

#malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #malleus x reader #twst #im obsessed w him maybe #and this trope #can u tell im having the time of my life writing this LOL

[forever-rogue]

Its my 20th birthday today! Can I get a pre relationship fluff post with Eddie?? Well, of course. Its me so it has to be a cute little confession 🥺

AN | I hope you have a wonderful birthday! And this is just soft, soft, soft and I love it! Enjoy 🥰

Warnings | None

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 1.9k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

This was the day. Not only was it your birthday but it was the day that Eddie Munson was finally going to confess his feelings for you. He worked himself up to this for so long, planning every detail out in his mind. He’d even rehearsed it in the privacy of his bedroom, using a picture of the two of you for a stand-in for you.

Finally, after all this time, he was going to put his heart on the line and give it to you to love…or break. God, he really hoped you wouldn’t break it. But he knew that he would never know unless he took the chance and told you that he didn’t just love you as a best friend, he was in love with you in every single way. 

But then you showed up at school, just as you did every other morning, and somehow every single thought in his mind escaped and left him staring wordlessly at you. How could anyone look so pretty - how could you manage to be this pretty? You were dressed in a simple jumper and jeans, scoffed up trainers, but you still looked better than anything else he had ever seen. 

“Eds?” you were laughing softly as he stood wordlessly next to your locker with a sweet, dopey grin on features. You waved your hand in front of his face, snapping him back into reality, “everything alright?”

“Y-yeah,” a soft flush of pink welled up in his neck and cheeks as he looked at you sheepishly. He suddenly remembered the flowers he was holding behind his back, and held them out to you nervously, “happy birthday!”

“Oh Eddie,” you eagerly took the small bundle from him, admiring the wildflowers that he had found and picked for you. Just for you. You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning in and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “you remembered! And these are beautiful. Thank you so, so much!”

“‘course I remembered,” he grinned, touching his cheek where you’d pressed your soft lips. His entire face felt like it was on fire, “we’ve been friends for how long now? It’d be a crime if I hadn’t remembered.”

“I know,” you admitted, worrying your bottom lip between your teeth, “but it’s just…it’s so nice. To have someone remember and be appreciated. Especially from you, Eds.”

You opened your locker to get out your things for your first period, but could still feel his eyes intently trained on you. Peeking behind the door, you caught him and a sheepish smile worked its way onto his face. He scratched at the back of his neck nervously before staring at the ground, “do you want to have lunch with me later?”

“We have lunch together everyday, silly.”

“In our spot,” he was almost whispering and you leaned in to hear him better, “just us. And if we’re feeling crazy, maybe we could play…hooky for the rest of the day?”

“Edward Munson,” you teased, “are you proposing we ditch school and become degenerate rule breakers?”

“Perhaps,” there was that soft little smirk you loved, “whaddya say? Just for one afternoon…”

“That is a lie and we both know it!”

“Fine,” he admitted, “how about just today and then not again for…at least two months?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’ve got the whole afternoon planned out already?” you’d caught him red handed and he shrugged innocently. And how could you say no? You couldn’t…at least not when it came to Eddie, “alright, Eddie. I’m in! But you better make it worth it.”

“I will,” he grinned eagerly as the school bell rang shrilly, “I swear it. I’ll see you at lunch - our spot!”

“See you then,” you grinned to yourself as you watched him rush off to his first class. He stopped and turned around to press a kiss to the side of your head. You watched him go until he was out of sight, your heart full to bursting with nothing but affection and adoration for him, “silly fool.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By the time you’d managed to evade the rest of your friends and their birthday wishes and get to that secluded spot in the woods, Eddie was already waiting for you…along with a picnic basket full of what looked like all of your favorite snacks. 

“Eddie,” you looked at him in surprise as he waved his arms around in a small little ta da gesture, “what’s all of this?”

“Birthday smorgasbord or whatever you call it for the birthday girl,” he played it off as though it was nothing; but to you it was everything. You almost knocked him over in your excitement as you wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug, “whoa, easy there tiger!”

“Eddie,” the way you were looking at him with those big, soft doe eyes was going to be the death of him. Something shifted in the moment and you could both feel it. You loosened your grip on him and slowly took a step back, suddenly nervous and scrambling for what to say, “I…thank you. You’re the best, and I mean it. I don’t know what I’d ever do with you.”

"Listen," his features adopted a serious look as your stomach flopped anxiously. What could he possibly have to say? Was he going to tell you that he knew about your feelings for him? Was he going to end your friendship? But he wouldn't do that…right? Especially not on your birthday. That would be…horrible. Maybe he was going to tell you he hadn't actually made any plans for the afternoon after all. Sure. Hopefully, "I-I have something I need to talk to you about."

"I'm sorry!" you couldn't help but blurt it nervously.

"For what?" It was his turn to look worried.

"I dunno," you shrugged, "it just came out. Did I…do something?"

"No, no, not at all," he waved you off and put his hands on his hips as inhaled and exhaled deeply, "listen. We're best friends right?"

"'course."

"And I love you," those words, despite having been exchanged so many times in what he thought was a platonic way still made him nervous, "b-but I don't just…love you."

"Oh."

"I'm in love with you."

Your eyes widened at his confession and you weren't sure how to react. Part of you was waiting for the other shoe to drop where he told you it was a joke, or even if he loved you couldn't be together. But nothing came except a nervous look from the boy that had captured your heart. You exhaled sharply before laughing…a habit that came around whenever you grew anxious or nervous.

His brows knitted together in confusion at your reaction and he wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He wasn't sure what he expected, but you laughing at him wasn't it. He took a step back and tried to play it off like his heart wasn't breaking, "well…I've been reading this situation wrong and just…ugh…probably fucked everything up."

"Eddie?"

"I just thought…you felt the same way," he shook his head and held up his hands in surrender, "I kind of had this whole thing planned out, a whole stupid speech memorized where I tell you that I'm in love with you and I have been for a long, long time, and that I don't want to be your best friend but I want to be your boyfriend and…yeah. And then the rest of the day was gonna be just the two of until later when we throw you that surprise party and we could tell everyone and fuck. I'm sorry."

He turned to walk, but you jumped after him and circled your fingers around his wrist and stopped him. He looked at you with an expectant expression, "Eddie Munson."

"Yeah?" you dropped his hand and waved your own around, trying to find the right words. Instead, all you felt was a prickling at the back of your eyes as you tried not to cry. 

“You just pulled off a whole love confession and yet you’re the one apologizing,” you looked up and tried to blink away the tears as he stepped closer. He wondered if you could hear the pounding of his heart in his chest’ it felt like it was threatening to break through his ribcage. You couldn’t hear it over the sound of your own, “while I am the one that should be apologizing. I-I didn’t mean to laugh, Eds. You know that’s what I do when-”

“Hey, you don’t have to…lie or pretend to spare my feelings,” his instinct was to reach over and wipe away the tears that had rolled down your cheeks as you shook your head, “angel-”

“Eddie, you fool, my fool,” you laughed softly, “I was laughing because I was nervous. Not at you. I-I’m in love with you. And you have no idea how long I’ve been dreaming and wishing that you’d say those words to me. And here we are. You’ve just said them and part of me still feels like I’m dreaming.”

“Y-you’re in love with me?” he pointed between your bodies as you nodded happily, “really?”

“Duh,” you reached over to touch his face, hesitating for just a moment before actually touching his face, cupping his cheek in your hand, “did you really think that all this time we were just friends?”

“No,” he admitted, “in my mind we were never just friends.”

You were grinning at him like mad, hardly able to contain yourself as you leaned in and kissed him, deciding that there was no better response. His hands naturally went to your waist as he pulled you into him. Your hands went to his shoulders as you practically melted into him. The moment was better than anything you could have ever imagined. 

“Never just friends,” you agreed when you pulled back, finding him looking at you with nothing short of heart eyes. Oh yeah, you were a sucker for him, “I love you, Eds. In all the ways.”

“Me too,” he grinned, pressing kisses to the apples of your cheeks, “happy birthday, angel.”

“Thank you,” you hugged him tightly, “best birthday ever. And umm…you mentioned something about a surprise party later?”

“Oh,” he groaned inwardly as you giggled at him, “that just sort of slipped out. So, for your sake and mine, act surprised later.”

“I can do that,” you nodded lightly, “and then I can finally tell them that Eddie Munson dramatically professed his love to me and I so graciously told him I felt the same! What a story it will be!”

“I’m sure it will be,” he grinned as he spun around in his arms, “just make sure to tell them all good details.”

“They’re all good!” you sighed happily, “I love you, Eds.”

“I love you, angel.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x you

[mrswolffs-blog]

Didn’t Know: Jimmy Uso x Black!Reader

TW: Mention of miscarriages, please note that I don't hate Trinity❤️

Being the ex-wife and mother to the twins of Jimmy Uso, otherwise known as Jonathan Fatu, has never been easy. Y/n and Jonathan met during their time in High School and dated until they were 22 years old when they found out that they were expecting, they got married in a courtroom per her request which made Jon's family hate her even more since they had already thought she wasn't right for him. They ended up staying married for five more years before Jonathan met Trinity through his mom and aunts, and he officially started dating in secret with his family knowing yet no one told Y/n as they wanted her to be hurt if she was to catch them. A few months went by until Y/n caught them in their matrimonial home committing adultery. That was officially the end of their marriage after it was explained that his family was the one who set them up to date and he fell in love with her.

Today is yet another birthday for the twins and so Y/n had to deal with being around her toxic ex-in-laws. The party had already started and everyone had now gathered around to watch the kids blow out their candles and cut their cakes. Once that was done, both parents stood behind their kids for a group picture that obviously no one wanted copies of and so only Y/n was given one. The party continued on as the kids and their cousins went playing, eating while others were busy petting the animals from the petting zoo. A bit of an argument was going on as Y/n sat at the table with all the other adults, yet she paid it no mind and continued to listen to the music coming from her AirPods.

The mumbling which was actually yelling continued for a few more minutes until it suddenly went quiet after someone seemed to have mentioned something horrific about her; causing Y/n to look up to find all eyes on her, the one pair sticking out the most was her ex-husband's who looked at her with tears in his eyes as he walked slowly towards her. "Get up" Jonathon calmly ordered her, as he pulled her away from the crowd and into the house upstairs into a private room. "Jon what's wrong? You're scaring me" Y/n tried finding out the problem but was met with silence as Jon sat down on the bed and began to cry. "What happened while I was in the road?" he asked finally breaking the silence. "Do you want the truth?" Y/n asked softly in which Jon nodded for her to continue.

"While you were gone, your family never helped me. I was left on my own to study, work, take care of the house and the kids. They never visited me unless it was to get something and when they did show up, they'd abuse me verbally, mentally and physically yet I said nothing as I wanted to keep the peace with your family. I struggled a lot but made it work though many of the times, I was on the verge of giving up. Then came the disappointment of having eight different miscarriages while you were away. Throughout the years of you being on the road while we were married, you'd come home and we'd get down, I managed to get pregnant eight times but ended up losing them all before I got the chance to tell you, with two of them being the result of your mom and aunts ganging me because they didn't want me to go full term. The kids knew, your mom, wife and aunts know because they found me in pain a couple of times, but no one else has ever been aware. I screamed and wailed in pain while in the hospital, begging for them to call you but they'd just hit me in the pelvic area making it worse. I didn't say anything because they threatened me not to" Y/n explained to her now ex-husband who was not only silently crying but was also infuriated as his palms were now fists.

Jonathon said nothing as he got up and made his way towards his bag on the chair in the living room, taking out a file and walking straight into the backyard towards his family. "Jadian, Jayla? Let's go." he called out to his kids before turning to his wife Trinity. "Please note that since I've given you this envelope, we are now completely divorced, due to our marriage being void from me not signing my previous divorce papers; it means that I am still married to Y/n and as for my so-called mom and aunts, don't expect to see me, my kids or y/n at any future family gatherings as what you've done is completely unforgivable and I will not tolerate such evil." he spat at them with venom before hugging his brothers and cousins, taking his kids and heading to the car to settle them in.

Jonathan then made his way back into the house, going up to the room he left his wife in to find her crying to herself. "Hey mamas whatchu crying for?" he asked as he brought her into a hug. "I just feel like I failed everyone. I couldn't keep my family together, I was only able to give birth once during my pregnancies and so I couldn't give you the big family that you desired" Y/n cried into his shirt, frustrated with herself. "Y/n I want you to listen to me, you did not fail anyone, our family was never apart cause even though I was with her my heart was and still is with you. It was my fault for listening to my family and breaking us like that, but I promise you it won't happen again. We'll leave here and go back to Tampa where I bought us a new home and we'll never see them again." he comforted her as they made their way to the car, where they drove off to their new chapter leaving all the negative behind.

#jimmy uso #jimmy uso x reader #jimmy uso fanfiction #jimmy uso imagine #jimmy uso x you #the bloodline #the bloodline x reader #the bloodline fanfic #the usos

[trashcanfills]

So I just read your hanzo space hcs and I loved the part about hushed conversations between him and genji in Japanese and I'm sorry if this request doesn't make a lot of sense but could I ask for a reader who finds out hanzo likes them because they know Japanese and listen to the arguments between hanzo and genji? Thank you and I'm sorry if this is long or confusing.

Mam/sir no this is not confusing. I like that you elaborated on the scenario u wanted me to write cus boi it helps hehe.

This became a monster of a fic jesus so uhhh more content for you i guess pardon the wait. I might edit this later cus Im not sure if Im happy with it now but eh its been stuck in my inbox for so long with some other requests better release now.

Shimada Hanzo x Reader - Hidden Confessions

Hanzo would likely be crushing on you after spending quite some time with you as friends. It’s hard to tell though because he never really says how he feels out loud, like I doubt you even are aware he considers you as a friend unless you confident/observant as hell or sth happened that both of you had to clarify for the sake of your friendship.

But alright lets say that you both consider each other as friends and you both know that. Cus friends to lovers tropes are gucci hehehehehe.

Ok so you def have to be crushing on Hanzo at this point, which I dont blame you for btw like look at the man. There’s a reason for the loads of fanart around him.

Unfortunately as we all know with the fucking friends to lovers trope drama, you cant just admit you like Hanzo that way, cus what if he doesnt sees you that way and it ruins your friendship and makes everything btw u??? Uh yea better safe than sorry bitches. Just keep it down and appreciate that you get to hang out with the angsty ass archer anyway.

Except…some kinda weird things have been going on with Hanzo and Genji? You think you see Genji talking to Hanzo in hushed whispers abt something that, based on Hanzo’s flushed and irritated expression, Hanzo clearly doesnt want to talk abt. It HAS piqued you interest when it tends to occur more often whenever you see the Shimada bros tgt. Asking Hanzo about it however just has him to dismiss it and change the subject. Rip.

Later on those hushed conversations do end up occurring in front of you and other overwatch members, in Japanese, since not many people do really know the language and the conversation was prob meant to be abt sth private and secretive.

Except, you do know Japanese. You didn’t exactly inform Hanzo or Genji of it because it seemed really entertaining to have them have these supposedly private Japanese conversations OUT LOUD without realising there were people who understood what they were saying. I mean, if it was a really sensitive thing they should be speaking behind closed doors right? Like cmon lol.

Usually, whenever the Shimada brothers talk to each other in Japanese, they would exchange some form of wit or ridiculous reference to their past (like that time Genji tried to cajole Hanzo into joining the DDR contest during one of the weekly game night sessions, until Hanzo said he still has pictures of Genji’s 16th Birthday Party Incident in Japanese. Ngl you were a lil curious what the incident was, but its likely some form of embarrassing blackmail).

However THIS TIME, it was completely different. You were chilling with a few other overwatch members plus Hanzo and Genji in the recreation room. Cue your surprise when Genji decided to ask Hanzo in Japanese:

“Sooooo…have you confessed your feelings yet, brother?”

Im sorry HANZO?? HAS FEELINGS FOR SOMEONE????? Thank god they weren’t really focusing on you that much otherwise they would have noticed your body tense a little at that. You don’t know exactly how to feel about this because this can either spell sth great or very bad for you, but most likely bad because what are the chances…right?

Hanzo predictably flushes a little, scowling even harder. If you didn’t know any better you would probably have thought that the archer was pissed at Genji about something instead of being embarrassed (tho i mean when has hanzo never been annoyed at genji lol)

At Hanzo’s expression, Genji sighed out loud. “You do realise you can’t stew on your feelings forever-“

“I can if I want to and that is my decision to make, not yours.” Hanzo hissed back. Genji, unbothered by the interruption, continued:

“-and you have been pining for them for like almost a year.”

Hanzo scoffed. Genji kept going. “I mean they are literally just RIGHT THERE. You can ask them out on like a freaking date-“

“-and risk the potential embarrassment and fallout of our current platonic relationship?”

“Look, I doubt y/n would be the kind of person to-“ Sorry, hold the phone. Did Genji say YOUR NAME?? DOES HANZO ACTUALLY LIKE YOU BACK??? HOLY SHEET???? It was literally taking all of your concentration to not combust on the spot and give away the fact you could understand what they were saying in Japanese because HOLY FUCK HANZO RETURNS YOUR FEELINGS??

Ok ok calm down and listen back to the conversation because you were zoning out a bit from the revelation that Hanzo has a crush on you. Genji was still talking.

“-and you can’t be sure that they aren’t interested in you. Heck, from what I see, they seem very receptive to your boneheaded ass-“

“Being friendly and polite in a platonic relationship is no grounds for speculating romantic interest, you idiot. It’s only a common courtesy-“

“-dude do you NOT notice how much closer they are to you compared to anyone else here-“

“-and that means nothing, Genji. Cease this conversation.”

“Hanzo-“

“No. I do not wish to discuss this any further. Regardless of what you say, I severely doubt they would even like me that way.”

“Even then, just TRY. That is all I am asking of you, Hanzo. Because I want you to be happy for once-”

“You know, you guys could just asked me yourself right now if that’s what you are worried about.” You chimed in. “And speaking of which, I do actually like you too, Hanzo, and uhhh I would be totally open for a date anytime?”

Their reactions were priceless. The moment you spoke up in Japanese had the two Shimada brother halt their conversation to look at you in shock. Hanzo in particular had a myriad of expressions too entertaining to watch.

Hanzo practically went through an entire rollercoaster of emotions when you interrupted. Shock at you speaking Japanese, horror when he realised you spoke Japanese and understood it which meant you were able to listen through their conversation this entire time, until he processed the part on you liking him back which turned into a mix of joy, relief, embarrassment…yea rip Hanzo lol.

Genji meanwhile was trying so hard not to laugh because holy sheet your timing was excellent.

He had to shake Hanzo a bit to get him out of a daze, and gestured at him to ask you out. Hanzo gets his wits back after, glares at Genji because he’s such a lil shit. He then glanced at you briefly before looking away all flustered. “So uhhh…I’ll pick you for dinner at 7pm later?”

You gave him you biggest smile and agreed. That was the start of your beautiful romance with Hanzo, albeit with a mildly embarrassing start but hey, you guys got together since then. :3

BONUS: during the date

“I wasn’t aware that you knew Japanese.”

“You didn’t exactly ask me.”

“…Fair point but still.”

BONUS BONUS: immediately after Hanzo asks you out

“Holy fuck finally!”

“I-Cassidy WHAT?”

“Look. I had to sit through y/n telling me that they are crushing on Hanzo, and listen to them whine about how unfairly hot and cool Hanzo is. I couldn’t do anything about it because I had to keep it secret.”

“Mood.”

“Genji, why are you saying mood? I didn’t tell you about my crush on your brother-“

“I had to sit through Hanzo waxing poetry about you whenever he gets in this weird mood or when he gets drunk during our drinking sessions. It was funny at first but then got sad after a while when he kept making himself depressed over the idea you didn’t see him the same way.”

“You did NOT have to reveal that information-“

“You were the one who chose to confide in me, brother.”

“Hmph, then I suppose you won’t mind me showing y/n my collection of blackmail material of you, then.”

“Woah woah woah let’s not go THAT far-“

#overwatch x reader #ow x reader #hanzo shimada x reader #hanzo x reader #wow this one went super long af #and yea I had reader confess right then and there but later I might edit to include a shyer version where reader confesses later in private #at least this is out of my inbox whew #very lengthy post I apologise I would have to do a mass edit of my posts later to include read more lines

[devildomwriter]

Obey Me As Tumblr #20

Diavolo: If it excites you and scared the crap out of you at the same time. You should probably do it.

Asmodeus: Time to fuck a blender

Diavolo: Wait no

•

Asmodeus: “Forgive me father for I have sinned” and “sorry daddy I’ve been bad” both mean very similar things but have wildly different connotations

Simeon: How do I delete someone else’s post

•

Mammon: Is masturbating while smoking weed called masturblazing

Satan: No it’s called highjacking

Belphegor: Guys no it’s weedwhacking

Raphael: No it’s called disappointing your father

•

Mammon: Imagine being stuck in a room with everyone you’ve ever had sex with

Leviathan: #empty chairs at empty tables

Satan: Imagine being stuck in a room surrounded by everyone you’ve ever thought about having sex with

MC: Oh god NO

Solomon: Oh god YES

Asmodeus: Imagine your cousin sitting there wondering what he has in common with these people

Simeon: What

Raphael: What

Lucifer: What

•

MC: I’ll speak French between you legs is the hottest thing I’ve ever been told

Asmodeus: I’m just picturing someone screaming “BONJOUR” at a penis

Mammon: #SACRE BLEU MADEMOISELLE VAGINA #HON HON HON TITTY CROISSANTS

Satan: TITTY CROISSANTS

Lucifer: None of you should ever be having sex

•

Mammon: If she’s even able to walk after sex you didn’t do it right

Diavolo: Yeah you’re supposed to cut her legs off

•

Mammon: Today in biology the teacher asked “why do chromosomes have to stick together” and I whispered “because they’re bromosomes” and the guy next to me just about died laughing

•

Beelzebub: If you spell skeletons backwards it still spells skeletons

Satan: Man I can’t wait for Halloween to see some snoteleks

•

Diavolo: When I die I want that cool thing done where you take your ashes and pressurize them enough to turn them into a precious gem. I then want that gem forged into a sword’s hilt so my heir can avenge me because I’m not dying unless I’m killed I can assure you

•

Mammon: I heard my brother say he was going to Dairy Queen so I snuck into his car and he has no idea I’m in here

Mammon: He asked his friend what he wanted and I popped up from the floor “I was thinking about a milkshake” I have never heard two grown men scream louder

•

Asmodeus: I like wearing oversized sweaters. Not because they’re extremely cuddly and comfy but because whenever the sleeves are really big I get to flop them around and smack people

Leviathan: I love sleeve smacking people

Like flippity flip you need to stop

Mammon: Whippity whap don’t talk crap

•

Satan: In fifth grade we were making little clay statues and mine came out shitty so I left a big air pocket in it so it would explode when the teacher put it in the kiln and it exploded so hard it destroyed ten other kids’ statues and they were all on the verge of tears I thought it was really funny I still do

Barbatos: So you basically planted a bomb

•

Asmodeus: People who wear pants last 7 are not the kind of people I associate with

Asmodeus: I’m getting hate over this because people are putting the word ‘size’ in there when that’s nit what I was saying

7:00 PM

AS IN THE FUCKING TIME

Simeon: I thought you meant past age 7 and I was rly confused

Diavolo: “Happy birthday son, since you’re eight now it’s time you learn about kilts”

•

Mammon: Shout out to girls who don’t mind being called dude and man casually

Asmodeus: Shout out to boys who don’t mind being called guuuurl

Mephistopheles: Shout out to humans who don’t mind being called dawg

Lucifer: Shout out to dogs who will let you call them anything so long as you say it in a happy, friendly tone

Satan: Shout out to Guinea Pigs which are neither pigs nor from Guinea

#obey me shall we date #obey me as tumblr #funny obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me diavolo #obey me simeon #obey me asmodeus #obey me satan #obey me solomon #obey me belphegor #obey me leviathan #obey me beelzebub #obey me barbatos #obey me luke #obey me raphael #obey me mephistopheles #obey me thirteen #obey me michael

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Hero and Ursula’s Transmedia Accounts Debut

- I don’t think I ever knew that Hero had a transmedia Instagram account. That’s new to me! I’m excited to see what else she posts on it throughout the series.

- I do remember Ursula’s tumblr but I don’t know if I ever scrolled back enough to see the photos in the most recent email before. It’s extremely cute that she includes links to follow “My Friend Hero”, “My Friend Bea”, and “My Friend Ben”. She’s a sweetheart. Ursula deserves the world and so much more appreciation.

- It’s also really interesting that she considers herself friends with Ben before the events of the series happen to combine the two halves of the friend group. It’s probably because she’s best friends with Balthazar and he’s the crossover friend who is close friends with both the girls’ group and the boys’ group. I think it’s very possible that Ben doesn’t fully realize that Ursula thinks of him as a friend and not just an acquaintance because she’s so quiet and it can be hard to know what she’s thinking. Now I’m really interested in what their friendship would be like. They probably wouldn’t hang out one on one, but they would enjoy each other and never quite know how to tell each other that. Which is definitely a type of high school friend experience people have that rings true to me. All from the tiny detail of her linking to his channel on her tumblr. I wonder if he links to her channel on his? I bet he does, I have to look out for that.

- Update: oh my god I just scrolled through Ursula’s tumblr and saw that she posted Ben’s first vlog and mentioned in the tags that she helped him edit it! He “tried to do everything himself” and almost managed it, apparently. That says to me that he was probably complaining about how hard editing was, and Ursula offered to help. And I checked, he thanked her in the video description on that vlog. Ben and Ursula canonically hang out and edit his first video just the two of them???? Excuse me, this changes so many things. I am now obsessed with the Ben and Ursula friendship. This is definitely, for Ben, an example of that thing where social anxiety makes you kind of selfish and unappreciative of the friends you do have, because you dislike yourself so much you never believe they really like you, and then you hold them at arm’s length and never realize that’s literally why you’re so lonely. Ben probably feels like he doesn’t know how to talk to Ursula because Ursula is so quiet, and I bet she can get overwhelmed by him, but also sees that his heart is in the right place. And this makes Ursula yet another friend who has doubtless hung out with Bea and Ben separately and heard them complain about each other, so of course she’s on Team Love Gods. She’s just so dear and eager to help her friends, I love Ursula.

- I am also still sad that Ben never had an in-world Tumblr account I could have followed. It’s not story-necessary, but I’d have liked it.

- I kept thinking the grass was bugs and getting scared, but I still like seeing Ursula’s nature photography. She’s definitely growing up to be a pro videographer/photographer/director/cinematographer or something.

- Ursula also posted a picture of a TARDIS cake she and Hero baked for Bea, which, first, why are there not more Hero and Ursula friendship fluff fics AND Hersula ship fics about them baking together? I love this. They are so cute and sweet.

- Does this cake post mean we have an approximate canonical birthday for Beatrice? Baking a cake for someone feels like a birthday thing. It was posted on March 30, so is Bea’s birthday March 30? This is huge, I don’t think we ever got anyone’s birthday except Hero’s elsewhere in the series! Unless the cake is a belated Welcome to Auckland cake? I haven’t rewatched Bea’s first video yet, I’m terrible, I know, so I don’t remember how long she’s been in town. They didn’t actually say it was her birthday, so it’s probably a Welcome cake. Oh well. Still sweet!

- Also, the tags say the cake is banana cake! So Beatrice already likes Ben’s favorite food, and she’s definitely a huge fan of Doctor Who even though she downplays that to avoid praising anything connected to Benedick. She’s so stubborn, I love her, and they are meant to be. This will not be the last detail indicating how much they have in common and see eye-to-eye. I love all of it.

- I also love that this isn’t the last themed cake to appear! I remember the dalek cake from the pizza party later in the series. Ursula and Hero were hobby bakers and shippers on deck from the start!

- The email with the cake post is titled “putting the Who in superwholock”, which is so incredibly 2014, and also makes me realize that the NMTD characters were really only WhoLocks, none of them were Supernatural fans that I remember. I just find that funny given what a behemoth it was and is on tumblr. I don’t blame them, it’s the one of the three I’ve seen the least of too, it’s just amusing. I actually don’t know if it ever even aired over there, to be fair.

- We also got Bea’s first tweet, in the email with her first video, but it’s pretty simple, nothing to dissect. We get some good tweets later on, though! I promise I’ll make a post about Bea’s first video before the next video email on Wednesday. I’ve decided I don’t have to post recaps day-of, I just want to do them eventually.

- MVP of the past few emails: Ursula! You go, Ursula. Jules 20genderchild is so right that you deserved a last name!!!!

💖🦩🥭

#nmtd #nothing much to do #nmtd spoilers #nmtdaily #violivs nmtdaily liveblog #sorry (not really) for talking about Ben so much in this post lol

[thegayallofus]

(im sorry, but this post, again, is about the Israel-hamas war.)

(Trigger warning: antisemitism, talk of war, talk of the Holocaust, talk of death, mental health, r*pe)

It's weird, when BLM protested against armed police forces, every one said that we shouldn't hurt anyone, "it should be a peaceful protest". But when it's against unarmed Jewish students, it's totally fine to assault them?!, because of what, because they're Jewish?, because most of them were not Israeli. You barricade students in the library and slam on the windows and doors.

How can someone call themselves a pro human rights activist, and walk on a rally against Israel, with someone who literally is literally waving a picture of a swastika.

To all the me too movement, I guess it's believe all women, unless they are Israeli? Because on the 7th of October, tens of not hundreds of women got r*ped and killed by hamas, but I don't hear anything about it.

I am Israeli, I live in northern Israel. The only gunshots I heat are from the military bases near my city. I hear and see the fighter jets and the helicopters. The last time I left my house was on Monday, before that, on the 6th of October. Because since the war started I have had panic attacks at least twice a day. The one time I got out of the house, was on my birthday, and I almost passed out because of anxiety.

I am autistic. I am dealing with anxiety. I am dealing with depression. I am Jewish. I am trans. I am bisexual. I am Israeli.

Never again is now.

When I was in school we did two things that I thought were normal in every country. First, bomb shelter drills (like fire drills, but if we get attacked by one of the neighboring countries.). Second, have memorial days for the soldiers and civilians who died in war, and the Holocaust.

I ask one thing, share this story, don't let Jewish people get hurt for no reason.

Pleas share I any way possible. Thak you so much, I hope to hear from you all again.

Love, Jaiden.

#israel will survive #never again is now #free palestine from hamas #be safe #love you all #blm

[localcryptidsteg]

Tracing, Stye Theft, and the need to be Unique

A comment chain on Instagram got me thinking about these things earlier. Someone asked what common art advice is actually bad advice, and I left a short list that Ive heard, among which is "dont trace."

Naturally, this ruffled some feathers, but heres the deal: so long as you arent line-for-line copying the majority of someone elses work and passing it off as yours? Theres absolutely nothing wrong with tracing. Copying and tracing are two different things; think back to the old "how to draw" books. How they blocked out anatomy and taught you the relative distance of things with lines and joints. Tracing... is essentially doing the same thing. As a learning tool for personal use, being able to take a picture and draw the skeletal frame over it helps you with perpesctive and anatomy immensely! It even helps in stylization. Tracing develops the skills you need in order to replicate something, replication develops the skills you need in order to stylize.

Which brings us to our next issue.... style theft isnt a thing. It doesnt exist. Unless youre forging paintings and passing them off as the real deal, there is absolutely zero reason not to look at the techniques and stylization your favorite artists use and replicate that. Again, it helps you develop skills like shading and coloring and lineart. And having your own "style"? One that has to be completely different from anyone elses? Thats bullshit! Most artists dont even have ONE style. The best artists have several and go out of their way to continue learning more!

Think of it this way: we wouldnt have 2d animation if actual artists gave a flying fuck about their "style" being copied. The Renaissance artists would never have risen to prominence if their teachers hadnt sat them down and told to paint how they did. Bob Ross would never have had a tv show if mimicking how someone else creates mattered in any way at all.

The way you develop your own style is simply this: you look at your favorite artists, you analyze what elements of their work make your brain happy and what are enjoyable for you to do, you mash them all together and voila. Your very own (not really at all) "unique" style.

I think this frankly terrible and counterintuitive art advice trend is killing artists. When you go online as an artist and preach to a bunch of younger aspiring artists that invaluable tools for growth are inherently bad and wrong and theyre evil for using them, you do three things at once:

First, you make them fear creation. "I want to draw or sculpt or knit or what have you, but what if I accidentally copy someone? Then Id be a bad person!"

Second: you kill the joy of creation. They become too focused on the end result and never really learn how to make for the sake of making.

Third: you block their avenues of progress. In order to get better at your craft, you really do have to try everything. Trying to make certain techniques into something "off limits" only serves to hinder that progression. It causes stagnation which in turn causes frustration, which leads us back to issue 2.

When I was a kid, my grandma would drive two hours to my city every year for my birthday, and every year she would take me to the art museum. My grandma loved art with every fiber of her being. She was thrilled when my mom went to art school. She was estatic when my sibling and I took up drawing. But she never, EVER tried to make anything herself. See, when she was in school, her art teacher had told her she wasnt very good. And she, being a kid, believed it. And she stopped trying. She would never color with me and my sibling, would never try drawing with us when we begged her to join in. Shed chuckle and say "oh, I couldnt draw a straight line with a ruler!" And sit and watch us work and rave over how good we were at it instead.

When she hit about 80 or so, her memory started going. But she still loved the museum and she still loved art. One of my aunts talked her into taking one of those "how to paint" classes at a little studio near her house. She painted a cake. And you know what? It was a really friggin good painting! Itd be hanging in my room right now if my aunt hadnt called dibs!

My point is this: anyone of any skill level can learn to draw or paint or whatever. Im a major proponent of this; I always have been. But shaming creatives for how they do it, for how they learn it, for what they make? That destroys the drive to create, and it can last a lifetime. Who knows what my grandma could have made if not for that teacher? Who knows how many young artists felt nothing but shame and guilt over their work and quit because of bad-faith art advice?

#steg speaks #my art #artist advice #art advice

[darkacey]

Alice/Ares’ Forgotten Backstory

Things we know

Alice/Ares do not remember anything beyond their name and birthday after they wake in Whispering Woods on the second of Spring (which we will label Year 1 for convenience). Given that the player can change this name and date to be literally anything, however, there is some doubt regarding whether or not even this is accurate.

Approximately twenty years ago (Year -20), Pricilla went into Belpha Ruins, somehow made it into the depths, and was attacked by something/someone.

Alice/Ares broke Livia’s seal while protecting Pricilla. Livia fully awakens after everyone has cleared the room.

While fetching Livia’s horn from the depths of Belpha Ruins, Alice/Ares remembers this scene. It is a picture of a 5/7-year-old Pricilla, laying on the ground and injured, and behind her are the preserved/sealed bodies of Lumenivia and Umbradea.

And they also remember the following conversation

Sharp-Voiced Man: Why are there children here?! They’ve seen too much. I can’t let them leave. Forgive me. Girl’s Voice (Pricilla): Aaah! ??? (Alice/Ares): Nooooo! Sharp-Voiced Man: What? This power…! ???: Aaaaaah! Sharp-Voiced Man: It can’t be! The seal…is breaking? This is YOUR doing! Ugh! I won’t let you free Lumenivia...

If Alice/Ares dates Pricilla through her final Marriage Event, they remember seeing each other in the ruins and that Alice/Ares was the one who “rescued” her. Yuki, Simone, and Lucy were present when Pricilla was brought back, but they never told Pricilla details about this person. Lucy and Pricilla's parents also say that the person who brought back Pricilla left before they could ask them any questions. Lucy is also the only person who knew that Pricilla went to the ruins -- she kept this secret from everyone.

Due to the fact that Alice/Ares would have been a child at the time (unless Earthmates have increased lifespans like elves, which hasn’t been shown in other titles), we can assume the person who brought Pricilla back into town was not Alice/Ares. If it had been them, the townsfolk would have either recognized Alice/Ares or mentioned a literal child brought back Pricilla.

The Sech Empire fell over a generation ago, but the aftermath of its downfall was felt for "decades" in both Sech and Norad.

No one in Rigbarth recognizes Alice/Ares. No one outside of Rigbarth ever comes looking for them either.

Rigbarth in present day is a tourist destination, but it is also located along a major trade route (Gadeus Grasslands through Whispering Woods, since that's where Misasagi/Hina came to get into Rigbarth).

Things we can infer from these facts and safely assume to be canon

Alice/Ares did not live in Rigbarth at any point of their childhood. If they had, at minimum, Yuki and Randolph would have remembered them.

Alice/Ares and their parents were likely refugees from the Sech Empire.

Alice/Ares’ family was passing through Rigbarth when baby Alice/Ares wandered away from their family to play in the ruins.

Alice/Ares may or may not have intentionally followed Pricilla into the ruins. They might have simply found her there by coincidence, but given their penchant to casually stalk and eavesdrop on people (there are so many town events where they are incredibly nosy), I like to believe Alice/Ares always had that habit.

My idea that lacks support, but is my personal headcanon

The “Sharp-Voiced Man” kidnapped Alice/Ares, took Radea’s skull, and took Pricilla back to Rigbarth.

After he realized what Alice/Ares was, they quickly changed plans. Earthmates were too rare/valuable to simply kill, so he tricked Alice/Ares into thinking Lumenivia is A Big Bad Thing, and that Alice/Ares just misheard him before. They get Alice/Ares on their side by grabbing Pricilla and telling them that they’re rescuing her now from the Big Bad Thing, and they run out of the ruins. In Rigbarth, the “Sharp-Voiced Man” makes Alice/Ares wait for him while he drops off Pricilla at the nearest clinic, and then talks them into following him out of town.

Alice/Ares probably figured something was up at this point, but being a Literal Child, there wasn’t much they could do about being kidnapped.

After the “Sharp-Voiced Man” took Alice/Ares away, their parents would’ve noticed their absence and called a search. People in town would’ve eventually realized that wherever Alice/Ares went… it was probably the same place that Pricilla got hurt. Lucy knew where Pricilla went, but naturally she stayed quiet out of terror of losing her best friend (since she was also a Literal Child). The adults waited for Pricilla to wake up and see if she remembered seeing Alice/Ares, but of course, she remembered absolutely nothing because Trauma.

So… Alice/Ares’ parents would’ve eventually left and assumed their kid was killed in those ruins, or somehow realized that even if they were okay, whoever took them wasn’t going to bring them back.

At some point, Radea's skull ends up with Oswald/Gideon. Maybe "Sharp-Voiced Man" raised Alice/Ares himself, maybe he sold them off to the higest bidder, or maybe SEED took custody. Depending on how much involvement you want between Gideon and Alice/Ares, this portion is free real estate for headcanons.

Fast forward about twenty years, and Alice/Ares figure out or remember the name of the town where they were separated from their parents. They make an escape plan, manage to get through Whispering Woods, and then… their memory is wiped because of the spell circle.

Eventually, however, because their backstory is inextricably linked with Pricilla’s, Terry will be able to track down Alice/Ares’ parents. It’s the cold case file of the century, after all, and you can bet this man has been itching to figure out what happened to the missing child. He needs the satisfaction of reuniting the family, and dammit, so do I.

#rune factory 5 spoilers #rf5 spoilers #headcanon #rf5 alice #rf5 ares #rune factory 5 #backstory #who remembers a god #nothing like writing a fanfic to motivate you to fill in plot holes #this has been bothering me for weeks

[jimblejamblewritings]

the imprint or the blood singer | part 6.

Summary: Y/N Black. All about La Push. Shy girl unless you get to know her. Not one to make friends easily despite the fact that she very well could. Friends with her brother’s friends until one Bella Swan comes back to town.

Warnings for the Series: light violence, light smut

Pairing: Edward Cullen x reader, Embry Call x reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Previous Part | (Series Masterlist)

“Someone’s here for you.” Edward turned Bella around and pointed towards you and Jacob coming her way.

“Happy birthday, Bells!” you said excitedly.

Your friend hummed in slight disapproval as she hugged you at the mention of her birthday.

“Hi (Y/N/N), and hello biceps? You know anabolic steroids are really bad for you,” Bella said addressing your brother.

Maybe it was because you hung out with him all summer you hadn’t really noticed that Jacob had gotten taller and some muscles.

“I’m just filling out, Bella. You would know if you hung out with us more.”

“You should switch schools then. Or come for lunch like (Y/N), hang out with us pale faces,” Bella joked.

Jacob laughed with her. “I’m good, think the res is more fun. Happy birthday by the way. I saw this and thought of you.”

Jacob held up a dreamcatcher that Bella gratefully took. You pulled out your sketchbook and ripped out the page with Bella’s portrait.

“These are actually perfect presents, you two.”

Bella hugged you both, her hug on Jacob lingering a little longer than when she hugged you.

“I figured you wouldn’t want something too flashy,” you said.

“You know she’s been more open with her drawings, starting to give them out like favors. Still hasn’t finished mine yet,” Jacob quipped.

“You haven’t finished my car yet. I’m sick of the stupid motorcycle.”

“I was going to say,” Edward spoke up. “Bikes don’t really seem your style (Y/N).”

He didn’t mind speaking up around Jacob. You gave in a few weeks ago and told Jacob about your friendship. Unlike your dad, Jake didn’t seem to have any particular feelings towards the Cullens but he agreed to keep quiet about your friends.

You walked off to talk with Edward by his car while Bella caught up with Jake.

“It’s cause bikes aren’t. You want to see a picture of the car?”

“It’s small and cute, like you.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Your words sound sweet but your eyes confuse me.”

“My eyes?” Edward looked into your (E/C) eyes.

“What’s Jacob thinking about right now?”

He smiled as you quickly deflected. You could never look him in the eyes for very long without feeling like every secret of yours was his to know. Edward wanted nothing more than to please you so he entertained your question but never took his eyes from yours. He could hear your heartbeat get faster the longer he looked. His instincts enjoyed it, like a hunt. But he didn’t want to hurt you.

“Bella’s gotten prettier since he last saw her. The new part for your car comes in today or tomorrow morning. He’s wondering if you’re staying for lunch, apparently there’s a nacho bar today?”

“Nachos?”

Jacob was always the one that paid attention to the lunch menu, you just showed up to the cafeteria.

“And what color you want for the outside and the seats.”

“He’s gonna change the seats? Aww, I said he didn’t have to.”

“You have a good brother.”

Before you could say anything, Jacob called your name.

“(Y/N/N)! Are you staying for lunch? It’s—”

“A nacho bar today,” you cut him off enjoying the surprised look on his face. Edward wanted to laugh, you used his powers for the most trivial things. Nothing harmless.

“Yeah. You actually looked at the menu?”

Jessica and Angela scared you as they each grabbed an arm. “Sorry, Jacob. Your sister’s ours today.”

“Catch you back at school then.” Jacob hopped on his bike after giving Bella one last hug and sped off.

“Your brother’s kind of cute,” Jessica said.

“Eww, Jess. Can we just go to lunch?”  

~~

It was like the Cullens had just disappeared. You didn’t know the exact details but Bella told you Edward broke up with her and they just moved. Your friend stopped answering your texts and calls as well. It confused you. But rather than focus on that, you focused on the present moment.

You, Jacob, and Bella sitting in the garage. Bella had brought Jacob some bikes from the junkyard. You knew it was her lame excuse to come over and see him. It was starting to get weird if she always claimed to come over to hang out with you and then conveniently ended up in the garage with your brother.

You let your car become Jacob’s back burner project as he focused on the bikes and clients’ cars instead. You rested on the tire turned chair. Putting down your doodles, you picked up folding paper instead. You had learned origami earlier in the summer when you got bored of drawing. Finishing the folds on your paper bat, you picked up another sheet of paper.

“Question. How are your grades? Because I’m sure I haven’t seen either one of you pick up a textbook since we’ve been in this garage.”

Bella and Jacob looked over at you and laughed.

“(Y/N)’s right. We should probably squeeze in some homework too if we’re going to be doing this everyday. Don’t want Billy to think I’m a bad influence on you.”

“You? An influence on me? Please, if anything it’s the other way around.”

“You wish, Jake,” you said as you folded.

“I’m older,” Bella started. “That makes me the influencer and you the influencee.”

“Mmm mmm. My size and knowledge base actually make me older than you because of your, you know, general paleness and lack of know-how.”

“He’s kind of got a point there,” you quipped up.

“Whose side are you on?” Bella asked. You just shrugged, enjoying the banter. “Don’t you think that makes you funny, young, and naive?”

“Yo, Jake. You in there?” a voice called out from outside the garage.

“Sounds like Embry.”

Just like Jake predicted, Embry and Quil came walking in.

“So the bike building story was true,” Embry said.

“What about the part where you’re his girlfriend?” Quil asked.

You smirked as Jacob choked on air while Bella blushed profusely. They both may have denied it but you could see something there.

“She’s a friend who’s a girl. Like you and (Y/N/N),” Jacob said to Quil.

“I don’t remember you making that distinction. Do you remember him making that distinction, Embry?”

Embry shook his head as he made his way over to you. He kissed you on the forehead. You got up from the tire so he could sit down before taking your seat up on his lap.

“So you have a girlfriend?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, right,” Jake said. “Quil’s taking his cousin to prom.”

“Ooh burn,” Embry chuckled, causing you to bounce up and down as he did.

“Yeah, that’s a riot. You want funny Black? I’ll give you funny.” Quil quickly tackled Jacob.

“Five bucks on Jake!”

You and Embry both shouted at the same time. You pouted and Embry kissed your stuck-out bottom lip.

“I said it quicker, (Y/N/N).”

(Part 7)...

#edward cullen x black!reader #edward cullen x reader #embry call x reader #embry call x black!reader #twilight fic

[thisfanisgonesorry]

sleep pun - arthur morgan

i wrote this as a birthday gift for my friend last year and i never posted it so lol

cws // obviously fluff, kinda estab rship but take it as you want. for fic reasons lets pretend his tent has some privacy, i know a lot of peoples tents don’t. the locations of the camps are up to the reader so it’s kept vague but im thinking valentine. canon deviation. i love him so bad pls someone get him some self esteem.

<3

I sat with my back against a tree just outside camp, the moon glistening bright as the gun laid limp in my hands. There’d been shouting and gunshots appearing in the distance, though that was none of our business. Not unless it came close to us. Looking through the tree-line, I sat trying to make pictures of the stars to pass the time, admiring the Milky Way and trying to find the constellations Mary-Beth read about in a book of hers. It’d been a long day, and guard duty was the final straw.

I sat with heavy eyes, waiting for the sky to lighten as an indication I could leave but tiredness started to consume me and I’d only been sitting out here for at least a few hours. I began to groan inwards, more-less directed at Dutch’s foreboding attitude. He sits around in his high-quality tent, reading his numerous books, coming up with his ridiculous speeches and useless fuckin’ plans that get us nowhere. 

“God damn it, Dutch.” I mumbled, closing my eyes and leaning back against the tree. My head felt too heavy with exhaustion, a yawn escaping me.

“What’d he do now?” A familiar voice called, I looked up to see my favourite cowboy looking down at me, a grin spreading across his stubbled face. The pale moonlight did it’s best to soften his features, though he always angled his hat down to avoid it.

“I was out in town all day and he has the nerve to keep me out here.” I spoke with a yawn, “I robbed a bunch of guys at the saloon and outside of town. Some of the town girls helped me out, if you know what I mean. Got like, 75 bucks.”

He only responded with a furrowed brow, taking the gun from my hands as I fought off another yawn. I could try and argue that I wasn’t tired but it was to no use, he was smarter than that. He began wrapping an arm around me and pulling into the warmth of his chest, which was nice on the cool night. He was smiling off into the distance as his hat sagged over his face.

“You look just as tired as I do.” I nudged at him, realising he’d had a just as long day and he was keeping himself awake to sit out here. He turned to look at me, flicking his hat up so I could see his eyes.

“That’s just my mug, cowgirl.” He responded, though a yawn escaped him too. “C’mon, honey, we gotta get you to bed.” He let out a warm chuckle that vibrated his chest, it was also a half-excuse to get himself to bed, because we both knew sitting against the hard bark of a tree was not comfortable. He eventually changed positions and forced me to wake up enough to get us to the camp.

I rubbed my eyes as he changed his position around, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder, “You ain’t gonna walk, are ya?” He spoke, walking us back to camp. He laid me down onto his bedroll before he quickly disappeared towards Micah’s tent.

I tried to angle my head to see what was going on through the doorway of the tent that was left slightly open. Arthur gently shook Micah with his foot to wake him up before giving him a medium kick, he gave a loud groan of pain before I heard them grudgingly walk their own directions. 

A wide grinned Arthur entered the tent, his hat removed from his head in his hands, placed to the side somewhere. He had a lantern in the corner of his room that lit up his features, he was painfully beautiful in the warm light. A sight for sore eyes as there was not a lot we could see in the dark of the night.

“Did you just make Micah take my shift?” I mumbled.

“Yeah. He wanted to shoot me in the head.” He gave a short laugh, sliding onto the bedroll and trying to find a comfortable position, it was definitely not the size for two people though most nights he’d find a way to make do, almost always refusing to let me go to my own tent or to let me move my bedroll to his.

The final position had him laying on his back with me laying, for the most part, entirely on top of him, his arms wrapped around my torso, our legs intertwined and my head buried into the warmth of his neck. The blanket loosely draped over our bodies as we laid in the comfort of the night.

“Are you comfortable?”

I let out a hum, feeling the way his chest vibrated as the words left his heavenly mouth. I could only hold him tighter in my arms, though I couldn’t reach much around him, only weakly holding onto his chest. The gentle sound of the breeze and the subtle whisper of Arthurs breathing as he tried to fall asleep were like a lullaby, the sound of crickets and other wildlife filled the air. The feeling of being with the sweetest man on earth was just enough to feel like I was already dreaming, and with that, he always managed to lull me to sleep.

#arthur morgan #red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr #arthur morgan rdr2 #rdr2 arthur morgan #arthur morgan x you #arthur morgan x reader #rdr2 fanfic #arthur morgan fanfic #arthur morgan fluff #fluff

[jinx-blackout-84]

My highschool quote book:

----

"Violence is never the answer.... unless it is" (said with a mischievous look)

----

"I won't give you a 100 on assignment you didn't do"

"Not even for my birthday?"

".....it's not your birthday"

----

"I'm going to lick your shoulder" -girl 1

"DO NOT LICK MY SHOULDER" -girl 2

"Then cover it up, whore." -girl 1

-----

"Here's the thing, if someone licks your shoulder because you don't have it covered, that's on you," - math teacher

----

"Okay but the submissionn didn't work and the document got deleted. I did the assignment, I swear!"

"What was the passage you had to read with the questions about, then?"

".....I prefer not to answer"

"Yeah. Sit down."

----

"You guys are great. Not because youre a good class, I hate this class, but because you all turned in your presentations, and I didn't expect any of you to do it." -English teacher

----

"Hey so the presentation was supposed to be between 3-5 minutes. Yours was 23 seconds." -English teacher

".......well you can't say I wasn't efficient!"

----

"Are those drugs or tictacs? If theyre adderall I want one"

"Tictacs."

(At least 6 dissapointed sighs)

----

(For refrence they are both straight guys)

"Stop using my phone to take pictures of guy 1, I don't even know him." -Me

"But he's so hottttt....." -guy 2

----

"Can I touch your nipples?" -guy 2

"Not in public, babe" -guy 1

----

"So I was walking past the makeout hallway"

Guy 2, excitedly, "THERES A MAKEOUT HALLWAY??? TEACHER ME AND GUY 1 NEED TO GO ON A BATHROOM BREAK"

"You need to not fail my class. Do your notes."

----

"Guy 2, can you stay over tonight?" -guy 1

"OoOoH do you want to kiss me????"-Guy 2

"No I want to play video games." - guy 1

----

"So basically we are making a petition so me and guy 5 can be cheerleaders" -guy 4

"so I'll see you in a skirt?" -guy 6

"yes." -guy 4

"Can I sign this more than once?" -guy 6

(They did not get to be cheerleaders)

----

"Okay, so you know the the college fair is today-" -math teacher

(Girl raises hand)

"Can I sleep on the floor instead of attending?" -girl 3

"Are you referring to actual college or just the college fair?" -math teacher

"Both. You never answered my question" -girl 3

"You may not sleep through the college fair." -math teacher

"This is why the school system is failing." -girl 3

----

"Penis exploding machine"

----

"Project emo"

----

"Is it a vape?" -English teacher

"...Its a highlighter" -4 people say at once (it was a pink highlighter)

----

"Google search how to kill your entire family?"

----

"I feel like the second someone becomes famous they are immediately imbued with the urge to touch children" -Me

----

"I wouldn't kill you guys, that's too much work." -English teacher

----

"Am I watching a drug deal happen right now? What is happening?" -English teacher

"No I just give him money because he's my friend"

----

"Pov: the girlies go on a road trip to cannibalize politicians" - Me

----

"I wasnt looking at your boobs because they're sexy, im staring at them because I'm a fucking idiot" - Me

----

"As a proud part of the gay." - Me

----

"Everybody's parents die at some point, you dont have to be so sad about it" -Me

----

"Are you having a boy or an abortion?"

----

"I wont make you touch Jeremy's vagina, Guy 7, you don't like those" -Me

(Jeremy is an airpod case. His vagina is the charging port. Guy 7 is gay)

----

"Save that for your discord boy" - Me

----

"if your nipples are purple, you're not a virgin" - Me

----

"I do not condone racism" -Guy 7

----

"I encourage realistic thinking, not positive, but realistic" - English teacher

----

"School is about doing things you don't like" -English teacher

----

"shit down" -English teacher

----

"Karate in the English room is a no" -Me

 ----

"He dance battled too hard, the cops went after him" -Guy 7

----

"I think, had he not insisted upon gyrating at people, the cops may not have been involved" -Me

----

"Note to self: the cops do not appreciate being thrust at or run from" -Me

----

"you cant have too many grandpas, don't get greedy, guy 7" -Me

---- 

"I hate this ruler..."(Darkly) "I have to snap it in half"

#jinx screams into the void #Quote books #Jinx exists in real life

[sabraeal]

Sic Semper Monstrum, Chapter 9

[Read on AO3]

Written for @sepalina's birthday, who deliberated for two days only to suddenly remember, oh yes right she has a favorite fic 🤣

That Seiran chick might have a princess’s pedigree around here, but there’s nothing dainty about the way she grips the metal bar at the end of each of their cots, twisting her wrists like she’s picturing flesh and bone rather than steel.

“You two have to be the biggest boneheads I have ever seen stuffed into a drive suit.” Her fingers clench, and Obi could swear the mental dints. “A bare knuckle brawl in the dome? At a time like this? Are you two insane?”

“Ah, well…” The Big Guy may have looked tough when Obi took him to the mats, a more solid anti-kaiju wall than anything the PDPC could toss into the Pacific, but he cringes just like any other mortal would when Kiki Seiran looms over him, all her disappointment honed to a point. “It wasn’t really a brawl. Just a…regulated spar, like usual—“

“Usual?” Her arms fold the way steel does into rebar, and oh, the princess is not amused. “Obi’s more bruise than bone.”

“Aw, Princess,” he croons, trying not to wince from the effort. “If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy.”

Her spine straightens, giving her all the extra inches she needs to give that glare of hers momentum, hitting him like a body off the Golden Gate hits the bay. “I can see the other guy. You’re both in the same infirmary, because you’re the same amount of stupid.”

“Actually, I’ve been wondering about the logic on that one.” He tilts his head, trying to go for that doleful dog stare that does wonders on sweet little nurses with hearts of gold. Too bad he’s got Yuzuri, who only wrenches his head back to the side, holding him still enough to swab when the skin’s split over his cheekbone. “Is this our— yikes, careful there, Florence— get along shirt or something? Two guys take some swings and you hope sticking us in a bottle sorts it out?”

“No,” she deadpans, taking a pen light out from the pocket of her scrubs. “I’m trying to quarantine the idiocy. You better be careful, Major” —she casts a long glance princess-side— “it might be catching.”

That regal mouth twitches, somewhere in the realm of amused. “Too late for me. No one ends up in a drive suit unless they’re born with it.”

“Ha, that’s for sure.” A light sears across his line of sight, leaving constellations in its wake. “As for you two, I didn’t see the point in sending you to your corners when you’re so friendly. Saves me space, and you can treat tonight like a sleepover. Braid each other’s hair and talk about cute boys.”

“Er…” How a big man like that can go through basic and still blush as easy as a school girl, Obi will never know, but it’s funny as hell. “I don’t really have opinions on cute boys…”

“Don’t worry, Big Guy,” he grunts, snuggling his shoulders into the pillows at his back. “I’ve got enough for both of us.”

That gets him a real side-eye from GI Joe, one that only ends when he swings those golden retriever eyes onto the real authority in this room. “Is there any way I get to go back to my bunk tonight?”

“Sorry, Major.” No matter what she says, Yuzuri’s shrug doesn’t give a single hint of regret. “Gotta keep you both on observation. SOP for rangers with head injuries. Last thing we need is for you guys to hare off and play hero just because you heard the dinner bell.”

He grimaces, all perfect teeth in a perfect face. Pity this guy fell into the military before someone could get him a magazine cover. Obi would have loved to hang that pin-up over his bunk. “Ah, right. That…makes sense.”

Of course it did. They might all be kaiju-fodder in the end, but they were the expensive, top shelf shit. The kind the PDPC wanted to stretch out as long as possible, not waste on some idiot who went into the drift concussed and had his brain melt right out his ears for the effort. Obi half surprised they haven’t been shoved into an MRI just to make sure.

“Aww, but you don’t really want to leave, do you, bestie? Not when we’re gonna have so much fun.” The target of his grin shifts from bed to bedside. “What do you think, Yuzuri? Think we could borrow some ManGo For It or Red Hot Rio?”

“I dunno,” she deadpans, not even looking up from her notes. “I think he’s more of Rosy Future guy.”

“Really? Still running your mouth?” Her Highness tosses her head, more pony than princess. “Did you not get beat bad enough?”

“What, this little mosquito bite?” Obi gives his jaw a good clench and turn, displaying his medal of honor at its best angle. Hurts like a bitch, but it’s worth it to see even Princess get squeamish. “Lucky shot. I got three hits for his one.”

Her mouth does that thing it does, that twitch, the one he’s starting to figure out is a laugh. “Yeah, and that’s all he needed to make you crumple like a tin can.”

“I already said I felt bad about that,” Big Guy grumbles, all folded in on himself like a teddy bear longing for a good squeeze. “I wasn’t trying to…well…”

“It’s okay, Superman, we all know you’re living in a world of cardboard.” Obi leans over, giving one of those meaty shoulders a good pat. Probably feels like a whisper to a man that stacked. “How can I blame you, when you were only defending milady’s honor—?”

Her weight shifts, no longer balanced parade-style between their cots, but sitting back in her hips, displeasure heavily implied. That man-sized mountain straightens so much it Obi can practically feel the plate tectonics beneath his palm.

“I was not!” Big puppy eyes swing right around to the ticking time bomb at the end of their beds. “I would never do that!”

One elegant eyebrow arches, and ah, now he can see why half the PDPC pisses itself when she punches the bag right off its chain. Most of the rangers the Academy rolls out are brawlers, the kind of guys that get in between a kaiju’s punch and the Pacific coastline, but this girl— her power’s in the application of force, the art of finessing a blow to where the bones can’t bear it. Can’t get into a brawl with a fighter like that and expect an old fashioned beatdown, oh no— when princess steps on the mats, she doesn’t fight, she dismantles.

Ha, and by the way she chucks her chin, all challenge, she knows it.

Now how about that. It’s a whisper in his ear, a hum across the million and one electric impulses in his brain, dangerous and fond. Remind you of anyone you know?

Knew, maybe. Bright blue smears over stark white when he closes his eyes; suits that stood out, even among halls that housed living legends. Eye-catching, the higher ups had called it, but it caught all the wrong eyes when it came to Sonisay. They all learned, of course; even now he hears the sickening crack of bone, sees the sweep of dark hair as she steps out of her spin—

Not just that. That laugh jangles his nerves, too close to his own and yet infinitely different, inimitable. Not just her.

There’s a boy too, too small, too skinny, too…not enough. Might as well be a shadow for how closely he clings to that same dance, to those same stances. Might as well be a monster for how easily the bones crack under his heels too, no remorse, no regrets—

A boy that shouldn’t exist. A boy that no longer does. Obi closes his eyes.

You can’t look away forever. Too many voices to count on that one. Watch me, only his reply.

“Let me make something clear.” Big Guy’s grunt grounds him, dragging him right back down to his bed, to the finger waggling at him. “Kiki doesn’t need me to fight her fights for her. If she wants to kick someone’s ass, she can make her own bodies.”

Ah, great. Got back just in time to witnessing Bloodbath Barbie over there desire Big Guy carnally. Not that he notices; oh no, the Jolly Marine Giant only has eyes for him, serious as a heart attack. Makes him want to mention that these rickety little med cots can’t handle two ranger pilots going at it, let alone three, but of course Yuzuri’s gotta make it a rain out.

“All right, all right, visiting hours are over,” she sighs, and oh, by Princess’s look, this is the first time someone’s tried to shoo Kiki Seiran out of anywhere. “These boys need some rest, not an audience. Just gonna rile ‘em up.”

This guy benches almost twice Obi’s weight, a monster of a man, but the second Yuzuri aims that scold his way, he’s all puppy. “But I wouldn’t—”

“You might behave, but he won’t.” She jerks a thumb back where Obi lounges, pointed. “And if he doesn’t want to play nice, he’ll find some way to drag you along with him.”

Sounds about right, hums a nuisance that has no right to throw stones. Not at this particular glass house, at least.

“Me?” Obi a presses a hand to his chest; harder to see it tremble that way. “Why, I was only going to take a small snooze. A cat nap, really. How could I—?”

“No sleeping!” Yuzuri glares at him, incredulous. “Didn’t I just say you could have a concussion?”

“Aww, come on,” he sighs, hooking his hands behind his head. “First no fighting, now no napping? What else are we supposed to get up to in here?”

Princess hangs in the gap of their curtain coverage, and oh, she may not smile, but that’s one masterclass of a grin. “Strenuous activity.”

“Kiki—!”

“None of that either!” With an officious wave of her hands, Yuzuri succeeds in doing what PDPC has failed to do for years: tell Kiki Seiran where to go. “Now, get. These two don’t need a bad influence.”

“Aww, c’mon, Flo! That’s no reason to shoo Princess out,” Obi whines now that his entertainment has sashayed right out of his evening. “I’m an even worse influence, so—”

“You don’t need to tell me,” she sniffs. “Now give it a rest. Or else I’ll call Shirayuki down here, and she can read you the riot act.”

There’s a time he might have laughed. Might even have let one shoulder and a wry eyebrow do the heavy lifting as he said, I’m sure the Good Doctor has better things to do with her time than worry about little old me.

But a week ago he woke up in one of these cots soaked in his own sweat, ears still ringing from a klaxon that never rang. At least, not in this dome, not that day; his stomach churning from the heady brew of trauma and military grade sedatives. He’d turned, half convinced he’d see either six bodies or and empty room, and instead—

It was her. Tiny ponytail and all, clumps of it making a bid for freedom from that poor excuse of an elastic. A borrowed one,  all stretched out from trying to contain the fallout from Yuzuri’s nuclear-level event that she calls her hair, but it’s serviceable. Enough to bridge the gap between now and whenever Doc finally decides whether she’s gonna bite the bullet and grow it out again, or just chop the whole thing off.

That’s not the sort of stuff he knows about people. Not the sort of stuff he ever gets close enough to find out. But she was sitting right there, head tipped off the back of that chair, breath trembling the little flyaways splayed over her lips, and—

“Fine,” he sighs, settling back into his pillows. “I’ll play nice.”

Yuzuri snorts. “I won’t hold my breath.”

*

It’s when Big Guy lumbers out of their cozy little curtained love cave to go take a piss— or a shit; Obi might be nosy, but even he’s got his limits— that Yuzuri swoops back to his bedside, using his vitals as an excuse to say, “What the hell were you thinking anyway?”

None of her business. There’s a gruffness to that, a texture that implying barbed wire fencing with the prickly bits facing inside. Embarrassment, the kind a boy at the cusp of manhood couldn’t bear with any grace. Not that he had done all that well with other emotions either.

Could never bear being anything but the hero. A taunt, a snipe across the mess hall’s tables. Even in his head those two would never get along.

You can just admit it. Sonisay speaks the way silk would sting, if it could, a smooth stab with no mess left behind. A sliver beneath the fingernail, only noticed when it slips deeper. It’s not as if you were thinking of anything sexual.

Sure. There’s no need for the smile-like stretch over his synapses, too smug. But not from lack of trying.

He appreciates the honesty is the best policy shtick, especially from the girl who always spoke out both sides of her mouth as easy a breathing, but Obi settles on a nice neutral, “What?” instead.

Might earn him the sort of look that begs the question of just what is rattling around between his ears, but it’s better than having to explain that when he closes his eyes he sees red. Not spread out across his pillow or tangled in his fingers, but caught up in plain little hairpins, already slipping free.

“Are you kidding me?” Her gaze darts over the the empty bed beside his, pointed. Oh, so that’s what she’s asking about. “Did you somehow miss how big that man is? He could fit two of you between his shoulders!”

“Aww, Flo, he’s harmless.” Pain shoots up his cheek when he tries to grin, settling somewhere near his temple. Damn, that’s gonna put a real crimp in his game. “Big Guy’s a gentle giant.”

She stares at him. “Half your face is a bruise.”

Obi hasn’t had the pleasure of seeing himself in the mirror lately, but by the way one half of his face feels heavy enough to make him lean like a tower in Pisa, he doubts that’s an exaggeration. “He didn’t mean it though.”

“Doesn’t really make a difference to your capillaries whether he meant it or not.” One finger of hers brushes an eyebrow— yowch— and she scowls. “They’re broken all to shit anyway. God, you’re gonna be lucky if that smile of yours isn’t permanently lopsided from this.”

Already was, but she didn’t ask for his medical history. “I’ll be roguish.”

“You’ll be in PT, that’s what you’ll be.” She pulls back with a cluck of her tongue. “Lucky as hell that he didn’t break your orbital. Ugh, or your nose. That would have been a bitch to set. And your cheekbones—”

A cough, timid for how deep it is, rustles outside the curtain. “Sorry,” Big Guy starts, all doleful hound dog eyes as Yuzuri pulls them back. “I didn’t want to, er, eavesdrop, but…”

He’s smarter than to say, but you told us not to leave. Not to someone like Yuzuri, who’s already ruby red from the collar of her scrubs to her headband, ready to crack out of her shell like a crab left too long in the pot.

“You…I…” She slides out right around him, never once turning her back. “G-go. Lay down. Or something! Ugh!”

Big Guy blinks once at her back before swinging those hound eyes back to him. “Is she—?”

“Embarrassed,” he agrees. Yuzuri’s always happy to share her opinions, up until she get caught. “Big time. She’ll recover. But until then it’ll be your fault.”

“Oh…” He winces, though Obi can hardly tell if it’s from the thought of Yuzuri’s ill-wishes, or the kick he landed on his hip, making what should be an easy walk a bit of a hobble. “I am sorry about that, you know.”

That lantern jaw juts itself toward him, or more specifically, the shiner painted up one side. “This old thing? Don’t worry about it. Got worse from a mosquito.”

If Big Guy is impressed with his bravado, he’s got a funny way of showing it, looking all hangdog like that. “I just…I didn’t really mean to…”

Fuck you up is what the big guy can’t bring himself to say. It’s probably rude to tell him, I’ve had worse.

“No hard feelings, Major.” It’s half a laugh, half a groan as he hauls himself up his pillows, every muscle aching. “I did tell you not to go easy on me.”

A grimace is what he gets in reply, and a pained, “Still…”

The you didn’t know what you were getting into hangs in the air, heavy with implication. Like maybe he’s never fought a guy above his weight class. Like he’s never stood in front of a boy a third again his age, watching his knuckles crack beneath the cloth of his binds.

More like he doesn’t know how much he can mean it, a grim mouth huffs humorlessly. He will though. Give him a few months.

“Didn’t really expect you to try to kill me, though.” For a moment, he’s not quite sure who he’s talking to. He rubs at his jaw, pain scintillating beneath his palm, and, haah, yeah, he knows what fist laid a kiss on this cheek alright. “Damn, no wonder kaiju don’t walk away from you.”

“I wasn’t try to…” It’s funny watching a mountain hunch like that, shoulders riding up again his ears making him a whole range instead a single peak. “With someone who moves like you, there’s only two sure ways to win. I went with the one that relied on power. Wasn’t going to land many hits on you but had to make the ones I did count.”

“And then did too good a job.” That’s the thing with having a body that shares more in common with a jaeger’s chassis than human flesh; the fall back option is to just do everything more and harder. Obi had met more than a few men like that in his time, but none of them so friendly. “I gotta admit though, Big Guy, you got me curious. What’s the other way?”

Big lungs heave big sighs, and oh, this one feels like it could take a few trees with it before he settles back against the headboard. “Tire you out. Quick guys typically don’t have a lot of stamina when things drag on, so—”

“All right, all right, don’t let the ladies hear that one.” Or most of the men while he’s at it, even if Obi’s personal tastes tend more toward the techs tending the tin cans than the bodies they throw in them. “Don’t want anyone to get the idea that I can’t keep up off the mat either.”

That won’t be much of a problem. It’s rare to hear advice from that corner of his mind, but Buma’s habit always was to watch first and speak too late. Not with all the training you’ve done outside—

That’s Need To Know only. Obi casts a long glance over where giant feet nearly hang off the mattress. And I don’t think the Major needs to know.

“Anyways,” he huffs, the sort of quiet career boys get when they’re shy. “Sorry.”

“Aw, c’mon, Big Guy. I asked you to bring me a fight and you did! I’m hardly gonna blame you for that.” He turns his head, grinning at him across the poor excuse for a bedside table. “Besides, now I know what it’s like.”

Those puppy eyes blink, too innocent for a guy who could break him in half by breathing. “Hm? Do you mean—?”

His eyebrows lift —well, one of them tries to— enticingly. The wince probably doesn’t do him any favors. “Kissing your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.”

Oh, it’s a real treat to see a lantern jaw drop so hard it nearly shatters. Too bad Princess isn’t here to enjoy it. “What?”

“You know…” His fingers weave through some hazy dips and lazy dives. “I can see what was good between you and High Highness, or whatever. The way you’d could compensate for each other in the drift. But you and me” — his hand flicks between them— “we don’t fit.”

“Oh.” It’s a pleasure to watch his mouth wrap around that noise, to see him really wrangle with the meat of what his meaning. “Yeah. I get it. I think.”

“I mean, for one thing,” Obi says, so casual. “We’re both bottoms.”

“Come again?”

“Kidding, kidding.” Kind of, Sonisay hums, and oh, he could swear he feels that forked tongue flickering where she coils in his mind. I doubt he’d complain if that blonde woman took it into her head to—

Hey. Maybe if he had a mirror, he could give himself a warning look, the kind Doc was always giving him right before he took a joke too far. But instead he had to settle for just thinking louder, like trying to shout over a crowded bar. I still gotta talk to this guy with a straight face for the next twenty-four hours.

Sounds like, that too-familiar voice hums, a real personal problem.

It’s too bad Major Do-Right over there can’t hear the speculation of the peanut gallery; then he might no be so quick to let relief bring those shoulders relax, to settle back into those pillows with a sigh that speaks of a light conscience. What did Yuzuri say? If Obi doesn’t want to behave, he’ll drag you down with him…?

Well, he hates to disappoint.

“Or am I?” The cot nearly cracks down the middle from how fast the Big Guy turns on it, sputtering. Obi just tosses him a wink. “Don’t worry, Big Guy. I’m not the kind of girl who likes to kiss and tell.”

*

For all that their lovely nurse devotedly frets over the potential stupors they could slip into with even the slightest bit of shut eye, or sometimes even something like getting up too fast or breathing too easy, she’s sure eager to encourage them to piss all by their lonesomes one she’s sure they can make the walk.

“What, this doesn’t get you going?” Obi asks, peeking around the door. “I hear some people really get into—”

“I hear some people really don’t get jello at dinner,” she replies, shoving him bodily through the crack. “Wanna see if you’re one of them?”

“What if the stream’s too strong and I get vertigo?” He winces, hearing all those words echo in so small a space, but it’s worth it for the noise she makes outside the door. “What if I crack my head on the floor and get a double concussion?”

“Then at least you’ll be quiet.”

There’s a slam— a door. Not this one, the particle board so paper thin Big Guy could probably sneeze it off its hinges; but the heavier infirmary door, one meant to withstand a mortar shell, maybe even nuclear blast— but Obi doesn’t bother to bite back his grin. Maybe if he’s lucky, she’s run into Suzu on the way to the commissary and give him a full run down of all the ways she could make Obi’s death look like an accident. Some real romantic talk to keep a nerd warm at night.

With shake and a wriggle— how Big Guy managed to move around in here when his elbows keep cracking into the tile, Obi’ll never know— he wraps up his business, sauntering straight out onto the infirmary floor. With no kaiju to keep the place hopping, it’s dark, the only light coming from the lamp angled over Yuzuri’s desk, and from behind their ring of curtains. A nice way to find his way back; or at least it would be if he didn’t already count two shadows there: one hitched up on the bed, shoulder big enough to overflow the outline of the pillows, and the other—

The other’s standing, tall enough to make Big Guy seem normal sized, and radiating authority the same way the sirens do danger.

Ah, fuck. It’s the Marshal. Hide, a cacophony of whispers hiss, which— he’d love to, if there was a single goddamn place to do it.

“I take it this isn’t a social call.” Big Guy doesn’t have a deep voice, not the way the circumference of his chest would suggest, but he’s pitched it low now. Still too much to be contained by a curtain, though.

The Marshal cocks his head, wry. “Would you believe me if I said, ‘yes?’”

There’s a hesitation, a huff that might be something like humor. “No.”

“Then let’s not waste time pretending.” It might be a trick of the acoustics in this room, a little reverb on that tinny echo, but Obi could swear His Majesty sounds amused. “I’ve heard you’ve quite the rapport with our new ranger.”

Oh, hell. As if this isn’t the cherry on top of his shit sundae: not only is he stuck, standing right out in the open as the top brass talks Top Secret, he’s the topic they’re having tea over.

“News travels fast.”

“Danger of living in one of these little warrens.” The Marshal shrugs. “Rats like to chatter.”

Air hisses between Big Guy’s teeth, the way it did right before he threw his haymaker. “Not a lot of people eager to be on the wrong side of the mat from him. Not after the way he and Zen went at it the last time.”

“So you…what?” It’s uncanny how even the Marshal can make his voice; no inflection, no judgment, no answers. “Thought you’d help him keep his edge?”

“He asked.” There’s a rustle, a creak, and even though he can’t see it, he knows mountains are moving to make that shrug. “Not like I’ve got much to be afraid of.”

If one half of his face didn’t feel as ginger as the oldest wicker chair on some grandma’s patio, Obi might take some offense to that. That’s what you get for being so scrawny, a gruff voice scrapes over his ear, everyone underestimates you.

That, hums another, too pleased, is kind of the point.

“Good.” There’s something final in the way the Marshal says it, less like an observation, and more like an assessment. A test passed with much anticipated flying colors. “Keep doing that.”

Obi could cut the consternation in this room with a knife. “Excuse me, sir?”

“Was I not clear?” His Majesty’s tone conveys his confidence that he was. Maybe even too much so. “I’d like you to pursue this…relationship with our new colleague. Foster this tentative trust you have managed to build.”

Ha. Obi’s heart stutter hard enough— loud enough— that even the peanut gallery keeps their opinions to themselves. He should have known something like this would happen; sure, all the paperwork calls Hachimaru a failure, one that should have never flopped its way out of dry dock, but to someone like Izana Wisteria, well—

He’s got a reputation for ruthlessness for a reason. Enough of one that it escaped containment, slipping past the PDPC’s iron curtain of silence to spread around the streets of Sitka. Buildin’ a wall to keep the monsters out, one of the wallmen had chuckled over his pint, but no matter how high we do it, that one will still be in here.

Obi might have called that unfair, once. Sure, His Majesty wasn’t exactly a friendly guy, at least not with the rank and file, though there were magazines enough that showed him being chummy with the higher ups, but, well— pedigree might have put him in a pod, but it wouldn’t have pulled him a position so high above it. No, that only went to the corps' top minds, the ones who knew what it took out there to take your lumps and drag your metal coffin home. The ones who understood what they were asking when they dumped two men out into the Pacific and asked them to stop a natural disaster or die trying.

But if that guy is gonna meddle in his business like this, well, maybe once they finish building that wall, they can dump him over it. Lets the monsters sort it out between themselves. Knowing the Marshal, he’d still find a way to come out on—

“No.”

“No?” The way the Marshal wraps his mouth around the word sends shivers up his arms.

“I can’t do that. I mean, I won’t.” Big Guy snorts, like there’s a stench in the air he can’t quite get rid of. “I’d do a lot for you, sir, I would. Take a bullet. Die for the cause. But I’m not going to…to manipulate that man back into a jaeger for you. Not like this.”

A breath catches in Obi’s throat, nearly choking him. Big Guy’s got a heart of gold, but he can’t possibly be stupid enough to— to—

“Well well.” To his utter surprise, the Marshal laughs. “Good thing that’s not what I’m asking.”

Big Guy grunts. “Isn’t it?”

“If you couldn’t manage to convince my brother into the cockpit, I doubt you’ll have much luck with a man you barely know.” For how casually it’s said, there’s a bite to it, each word honed to sting. “I only meant that he’s not responding to the typically recommended course of therapy.”

Right. Because after that one session with Doc post-drift, all his peanut gallery clamoring to have their turn now that cat had clawed its way out of the bag, he hadn’t been able to drag himself back. And with all the dinners and hallway-run ins they’ve had since, Doc didn’t seem eager to sit him back down on her couch any time soon either.

“But he seems responsive to you, Major Lowen.” Or at least responsive to getting his shit kicked in, whatever that said about him. “Rangers are typically taciturn about their issues. I thought this route might be worth encouraging, since he seems amenable. Sometimes it’s easier for military men to discuss their problems with someone who has gone through the same ones. Especially” —Obi doesn’t need to see his smirk to know it’s there— “if they’re with the same person.”

Obi might not have stuck around under his dome once the dust settled, but he knew all about guys like Lowen. The regulation haircut, the closet full of BDUs, the fondness for field rations and boiled chicken— just a thin veneer of muscle and bravado over a reflex to ‘sir, yes, sir’ his way out of any problem more complex than picking which socks to put on in the morning. He might have stuck his neck out for something that twinged the weather vane that was his moral compass, but now that someone with stars and bars has explained to him that black is white, he’ll—

“That all?” Big Guy’s too nice to spit out the “sir?” but that little hitch before it, that small hesitation— well, sky writing would have been more subtle.

“Yes.” There’s no tone to that one either, no flavor. Just the implacable bite of subzero. “Unless, of course, there’s something you’d like to discuss?”

There shouldn’t be, his tone conveys, clear enough it could be heard in the hangar. Obi could swear he hears Big Guy’s teeth grind from here.

There’s a long stretch of silence, the kind that makes his skin itch.

“Just one thing, actually. Sir.” The bed creaks, and his shadow shifts, pulling straight. “Been noticing there’s a lot of hopefuls hanging around the past few months. Thought they might be clearing out now that all this business with Tyrannis is done.”

The Marshal hums, distant. “There’s hardly any rush, Major. A few sets of extra hands is always welcome.”

“Even when they don’t come with their own ride?”

For once, His Majesty hesitates. “Even then.”

“Even” —Big Guy almost savors his next words— “if they’re Hisame Lugis?”

“Dangerous times makes strange bedfellows.” The Marshal laughs, sour. “Especially ones like Hisame Lugis. Now if you don’t mind” — the curtain pulls aside— “I think our friend might like to use his bed. Isn't that right, Major?”

Ha, a voice tingles in his ear, busted.

#obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #pacific rim au #my fic #ans #there is something about this arc in this fic where i keep thinking i'll never have enough words #and then I get there and I have to move like at least one or two major scenes to another chapter #and POV! #but this one was less of a surprised because all of the peanut gallery was added in on the second draft #which changed a LOT of Obi's narration #and made him more introspective than I usually keep him #I think next chap is a Shirayuki chap #and is possibly more shippy. BUT WE WILL SEE