#Little palette cleanser after last week
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Masters' Academy AU: PE Uniforms
Art by @okkennymay
#masters’ academy au#paranorman#gravity falls#okkennymay#parapines#Little palette cleanser after last week#Dipper is a stocky boy#he's really takes after the Stans#so he wears a larger uniform size than the beanpole-Norman#plus if you're going to do the boarding school vibe you have to commit#which is a long way of saying...#Who loves short-shorts?!#Norman hates short-shorts!
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Just a little palette cleanser after the wild day yesterday, and what I anticipate (might) be a pretty interestinggg week.
I want to add a few things as well:
I am not going to be talking about JD anymore unless we get SOLID confirmation something is going on with him and N. I can't stress this enough though (I WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY SHOCKED IF THEY WERE DATING). If you read between the lines just a little bit with the publicly available information regarding JD and what we know about N, you would understand why I have come to that conclusion. However, I am not going to specify about that anymore here, you are free to do some research though if you would like through SM. DO NOT LEAVE ANY COMMENTS THOUGH ON ANYONE'S PAGES, PLEASEEEEE.
I want to paint a little picture for you on what I think is going on (just a theory of course):
SOOOO many things played out on a VERY public stage for L/N during the PR tour for like 6 months. And they were NOT subtle about their feelings for each other, which is why a lot of us are still here on the ship. However, the situation was pretty messy BTS (particularly for L). I talked a lot about my theories on that here. Sooooo, I think L/N might have taken some space after the London premiere to process a lot of things, and I think things were quickly unraveling with A. The Italy bday trip bs was the last straw, there was a HUGE falling out of some sort, and L and N started talking/hanging out again and something shifted (in a positive way for us Lukola fans), and tbh this shift has probably been bubbling for a while. Then N proceeded to post all those L coded crumbs (and tbf, this man is ALL over her grid and L is okay with it apparently, she's been sending a message for a while if you put the full picture together). N has ALWAYS been private about this part of her life since being in the entertainment field, but for L, she isn't. Just think about that for a second. Why might this be? I'll let you come to your own conclusions on that... So how do the JD pics fit into all of this? Well, I think this theory sums up my thoughts pretty well. I think the pics served as a distraction to take the heat off of L (and L/N) because of all the hate and attention L is still getting because of his personal life. We know N is very protective of the people she cares about (and I think she REALLY loves L and knows he's going through a really hard time rn), and so she coordinated for the pics to be released early this week to get some of the attention off of him and onto her for a change. And JD is a good friend, so agreed to it, and will get some exposure from this which could help his career a little since he doesn't have the same level of "stardom" as N. I think the pics might have also served as a statement of sorts that a lot of the hate towards L was totally unwarranted and not justified. She can do something VERY similar to his "papgate", and not get the same type of hate. Lastly, I talked about my thoughts on a lot of the recent L coded crumbs from N here. My thoughts really haven't changed. N is VERY tuned in to the fandom, and wanted us to know about her mans y'all. If she was with someone else, she wouldn't have posted WHAT she has posted since the Italy bday trip. She can definitely be a little shady sometimes, but she is NOT cruel. Why would she kick him when he's down? She wouldn't! Sooooo, everything else we've seen the last week is kind of just smoke and mirrors imo.
One more thing, please remember to critically analyze all sources of information. Look at the FULL picture of everything before jumping to any conclusions.
I've had a lot of thoughts the last couple of days, so I wanted to get it all out. Just my thoughts of course, but I don't think there's any real reason to freak out right now.
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KINKTOBER 2023 / Day Nineteen
( Triple Frontier Boys x F!Reader )
BITING/SCRATCHING / PIERCINGS/TATTOOS / MARKING
Summary: You decide to give the boys a little surprise but some unwanted company scuppers your plan.
Day Nineteen of @absurdthirst's Kinktober
Rating: Fluff
Warnings: Mentions of piercings, mentions of family/family members, no use of Y/N
Word Count: 2.5k
Author’s Notes: I apologise for this fic just becoming a ridiculous fluffy palette cleanser 🙈
“Are you sure about this?”
Your friend wasn’t, what was about to happen was not what she had in mind when you asked her to come. You had asked her to come because you needed moral support, someone to hold your hand but you couldn’t bring the boys, this was for them… mostly.
The pair of you sat in animal print armchairs, surrounded by black walls, a series of pricing posters opposite.
“When you asked me to come, I thought you were just getting your ears pierced.”
“I changed my mind.”
You didn’t, this was a decision that came into fruition a few weeks ago. You’d booked the appointment to give some lee-way incase you changed your mind but you didn’t, you were adamant about this.
“Does your ‘boyfriend’ mind?”
You rolled your eyes at her, “Not at all.”
The boys didn’t know anything about this.
A woman popped her head out the door and called your name. You get up from the chair and wipe your clammy palms on your jeans before walking over. You take one last look to your friend who smiles upon seeing your worried expression.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”
It was several hours later and it wasn’t fine.
Even though you flipped through the aftercare leaflet and checked on the band aids stuck to your tits, you felt unbelievably itchy. This was worse than any kind of torture Santiago can come up with, all you wanted to do was lay on your bed topless and let them breath, instead you’d stupidly invited all of them over this afternoon.
When the door knocked, you were greeted with Santiago, Frankie and Will. The three of them came in and you shared a hug and a kiss with each other them as they entered. You leaned out, expecting Benny to be there.
“Where’s Benny?”
“Oh,” Will turned round. “Apparently the fire alarm went off during training, he’ll be over later.”
Shit, the one time you wanted them all here.
“Everything alright?”
Frankie could sense something, he wasn’t sure what. You were never really bothered by one of them being late but you chewed the inside of your lip and scrunched your eyebrows. That wasn’t it though, there was something in the way you were holding yourself, it wasn’t quite right.
“Yeah, it’s fine, I just had something to tell you all.”
He scoffed, “Hope it’s nothing bad.”
You held your hands up, “No, no, it’s good.”
You hoped it was anyway.
Santiago was already pulling out the beer he’d brought, he assumed they’d be here for the night.
“If it’s that important you can tell us now and Benny later,” he says, looking back at you.
“I’m sure you boys can wait.”
Santiago’s eyes narrowed, you hadn’t been this nervous since arriving at the bar a day after he gave you his number.
You took the beers to pop in the fridge, asking if any of them wanted a coffee instead. Frankie gladly accepted your offer and Will wondered if you had tea. Santiago decided to talk to the pair of them whilst the kettle bubbled away loudly.
“She’s hiding something.”
Frankie jutted his chin, “You noticed it too?”
Santiago put his hands on his hips, this was serious.
“I need to know what it is.”
“You gotta be patient, man,” Will said, shaking his head. “Benny’s going to be a couple of hours tops.”
This was the first time you heard Will speak Spanish, he mentioned he could and his brother, even if it was a bit shit.
Santiago couldn’t wait a couple of hours nor Frankie, neither of them were built for surprises. They shared a quick glance, thinking the same thing.
“Think we can break her?”
Santiago smirked.
“I may not be able to understand you but I know you’re talking about me,” you call from the kitchen.
Frankie folded his arms to his chest, brows furrowing.
“What are you thinking?”
“Will, what tea do you want?”
His baby blues flick from one man to the other.
“Whatever it is you’re planning, I ain’t getting involved.”
He walks away to join you in the kitchen, leaving Santiago and Frankie to come up with a scheme.
Whatever they planned, they didn’t implement it straight away. Maybe they were leading you into a false sense of security before they all jumped you but only time will tell. The four of you mostly talked about the week and the next few to follow, the conversation veering towards Halloween.
“You must have done fancy dress, Santi. Not even when you were home from the barracks?”
“No, I don’t like Halloween.”
You gasp, “Does that mean you don’t like Christmas too?”
He shrugged, a nonchalant expression on his face. You dramatically fall against Frankie’s shoulder and groan.
“Stop, Santi, you’re breaking my heart!”
“He hasn’t already?” Frankie quips.
Santiago flips him the bird.
“He’s just playing with you, sweetheart,” Will pats your leg. “He’s the most festive out of all of us.”
You shoot up, “Really?”
He sips his drink, his dark eyes focused on you. He was never going to tell, you’d find out in a couple of months.
There was a knock on the door.
“I hope this is Benny,” Frankie says as you leap from the couch, “the suspense is killing me.”
You glance over your shoulder, you roll your eyes, “It’s not that bad.”
Taking the door handle in your hand, you open it and what is behind is most definitely bad.
The two women in front of you squeal and go in for heavy, bear squeezing hugs which you have no way of avoiding and fuck, does it hurt.
“Hey, aunties.”
The boys all look to each other, Will stopping Santiago from making his escape.
“What are you doing here?”
You were smiling but dying of embarrassment on inside. Of course, your aunties would turn up unexpectedly when you had three guys sat around your living room.
“We were in the neighbourhood and thought we’d pop in for a coffee.”
“I wished you’d called, I’ve got guests over.”
“I’m sure they won’t mind us intruding,” the one batted you out the way.
Actually maybe them arriving was a good thing, maybe it could save you from whatever the three of them were planning.
“Oh, you didn’t tell us how good looking they were.”
Frankie choked on his coffee.
“I thought you said it was just going to be us.”
Santiago had snuck into the kitchen with you, using the excuse of giving you a hand and bringing out the used cups. He was helpful but now this was an interrogation, he pressed his body close and whispered in your ear. He couldn’t be mad at what was happening, it just threw a spanner in the works, you were meant to be calm.
You were far from it.
“It was, I didn’t expect my family to rock up unannounced.”
He opened one of your cupboards and pulled out two more mugs.
“So are you going to tell them?”
You hum curiously.
“What you’re going to tell us?”
“God, no!”
“Why not, they’re family, right?”
You put one hand on the counter and turn to face him, other hand on your hip. Your stare drilled into him, you knew exactly what he was trying to do and it wasn’t working. If you were going to make it a staring contest, he could do it all day however the smirk coming to your face was interesting.
“I guess,” you shrug, “though I’d have to tell them why you three were here too.”
You knew what trick Santiago was pulling to get you to blab, it wasn’t going to work.
He arched his one eyebrow, “I’m going to punish you later.”
You smile back at him sweetly.
“I was hoping you would.”
Picking up four empty mugs, you head back to the living room and he follows with yours and Will’s teas. Miraculously a packet of cookies had appeared on the table and your aunties had distributed them evenly.
“Now that you’re all sat down, how did you all meet our lovely niece?”
All the boys look to you.
“It was actually at Will’s brothers fight.”
Your aunties couldn’t let that go.
The conversation had been going for over forty-five minutes and they still kept bringing it up, in awe that their sweet niece ended up at some sort of cage fight. You were getting fidgety and agitated, the urge to scratch overwhelming and it was all you could think about, none of them had seen your foot twitch like that.
“I’m just going to pop to the bathroom.”
You flee the room before anyone could stop you.
This was no longer the time for games, Santiago shared a glance with Will, he was the best man for the job. Will excused himself, using taking the mugs out as an excuse to leave the room. After placing them in the sink, he went in search of you, knowing full well that weren’t in the bathroom.
There was a rap on the door.
You stood in front of your full length mirror, inspecting the band-aids, questioning whether to just rip them off.
“It’s just me, can I come in?”
You pulled your top back down, “Sure.”
Will came in, giving you a soft smile.
“Please tell me Santi didn’t put you up to this?”
“I came of my own accord.”
“Thank god.”
Perching at the edge of your bed, he joins you, his thigh rubbing against your own.
“This afternoon hasn’t exactly gone as I planned,” you laugh because otherwise you��d cry.
“What a day for Benny to be late, huh?”
“Even if he was here, they still would have turned up and that may have been worse.”
Will wasn’t going to push you any further if you didn’t want to but it was very clear you needed to get something off your chest.
“Promise you won’t tell Frankie and Santiago what I’m about to tell you.”
“I didn’t tell them about you squirting, I won’t tell them this.”
You played with your fingers, taking a breath before you spoke.
“I got my nipples pierced.”
That explains it.
The overly conscious hugs when they arrived, how you winced when your aunties hugged you when they probably shouldn’t have.
He rubbed the back of his neck, his tell.
“Doesn’t that make them more—“
“Sensitive,” you scoff. “Yeah.”
“That bad?”
“The itch is fucking tortuous, I should probably let them get some air but…”
“That’s why we need Benny?”
“That’s why we need Benny,” you sigh.
Will told you to take off the band-aids and you forced him to face the walls, he could hold Santiago and Frankie off.
It was getting rid of your aunties that proved another hurdle.
He suggested pretending you had spontaneously felt ill, that’s why you left the living room so quickly and why you couldn’t come out of the bathroom. Yet you knew full well that they would insist on seeing you no matter what and you, for sure, could not keep up that charade. You considered texting another family member to come and get them however that meant another person seeing the boys, which would be the discussion at the next family get together.
This was harder than you’d thought.
“We’re going now, love!”
You and Will looked at each other with scrunched expressions.
Returning to the living room, your aunties were finally leaving. Frankie was coming around the coffee table to say his goodbyes, Santiago approaching the door, smiling and delivering kisses to their cheeks.
“We can’t forget to say goodbye to you either.”
Your one auntie walked over to Will and wrapped an arm round his frame, definitely squeezing his shoulder as she hugged him. You chaperoned her away before she took another opportunity with any of them, questioning whether she’d hug Frankie, who adamantly reminded her she had.
Ferrying them out of the door, you gently hugged them and said you’d watch them get to the elevator. They weren’t exactly subtle about what they were saying about the boys, the sound travelling into your apartment making them chuckle amongst themselves. The down arrow flashed above their heads and they said their goodbyes one more time before they were lost to the elevator doors.
Before you even got back into your flat, Frankie and Santiago had you surrounded.
“You forgot to mention how handsy your one auntie was.”
“Did I?”
Frankie took a step closer and your eyes met Will, who was holding back, smiling, knowing what was going to happen.
“Santiago’s traumatised.”
Santiago nodded in agreement, “I think you owe me something.”
You instinctively fold your arms over your tits even though you’re wearing that top and they can’t see shit.
“No…”
They noticed the way your arms are sitting.
“I don’t.”
You lean as they crowd you.
“Honey, what are you hiding?”
“Will,” you cry desperately, “help me.”
You look to Will and he throws a hand out, “Just show them.”
Frankie and Santiago turn to Will who remains pokerfaced and then to you again, studying you from head to toe. You sigh, unravelling your arms before motioning for them to move back and this is the first, they’re following your orders.
You bite your lip, glancing to each of their faces, Will being the only one smiling back at you.
Taking the hem of your top in your fingers, you slowly lift it up and over your breasts to your chest, showing them your nipple piercings.
Frankie’s tongue darts over his bottom lip, Will’s eyebrows raise.
You hear a creak from behind you.
“Why have you just left your door open, what the fu—“
Benny freezes, eyebrows knotted at the scene he sees in front of him. His brother and Frankie blink at him as you try to look over your shoulder, Santiago juts his chin to him.
“Come look at this.”
He tosses his bag to the side, making sure the door slams behind him as he strides over, Santiago making space for him. His eyes immediately fall to your bare breasts and the new nipple piercings shining back.
His confusion is replaced in an instant with unadulterated joy.
“No, Benny, no touching!”
—
Later that evening, you sat on the edge of your bath whilst Will inspected the piercings, cotton swab in hand. He pressed it delicately to the skin and you still flinched.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s ok,” you say, the sensitivity was a bitch.
He unwrapped a plaster and cover your nipple back up before doing the same to the other, he offered to do this and you were happy for the help.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
You did.
You smile sheepishly, “They might not last that long.”
Part of you couldn’t believe you had, you just thought it would be nice to treat them all but maybe this was a step too far.
“Well, at least give us a chance to have a play with them.”
The woman at the shop warned you to be careful for the first few weeks of having them done, hence why you were so sure in covering them for the time being, though you knew the boys couldn’t wait.
“Don’t worry, you will.”
#kinktober 2023#triple frontier x reader#santiago garcia#frankie catfish morales#will ironhead miller#benny miller#fluff#kinktober
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Once again, this is @pillowspace's AU that I'm kinda going AWOL with. I just want to make something a little more cheerful after leaving Y/N struggling to get home last night.
Clone AU is being a bit prickly, but I think that's mostly cause I want to draw for it rn and I'm still in the throes of color separations whenever I have a spare moment on my tablet. But that'll be done soonish I think? By the end of the week for sure because I need to start making my mylar sheets soon.
Time Loop whump fic will likely be pecked away at throughout the day to deal with school stress. This is just a quick palette cleanser since to me HD Y/N is a bit in the middle personality-wise.
TL is a lot more extraverted and kind, and Clone is the one most likely to cause the DCA to experience the first animatronic heart attack if they ever spoke because every other word would be fuck. HD is one of those people who recognizes the struggle they're in, but they can also find the good moments and appreciate them all the more while giving the bird to everything making life actively harder for them and their little brother.
"You sure you're fine." Gretchen sounds doubtful, but you smile and keep working.
"Positive. Look, nothing really happened in the grand scheme of things, right? I'm not hurt."
"Your hand is bruised, and you had to cancel your cards," Gretchen says, and to prove a point, she grabs your hand.
You flinch, pulling back. "I made it home in one piece and nothing really valuable got stolen," you reply archly, shoving the last of the books towards your friend. "Go put these away. I need to check the computer room to make sure no one needs help."
"This conversation isn't over," Gretchen warns, even as she pushes the cart away. The library is fairly quiet at this point in the day, early in the afternoon, before school is let out and you all get inundated with kids and teens looking to kill a couple hours before their parents get home. It's the perfect time to make sure everything is clean and ready for kids to play.
The computer room is actually pretty quiet, though there is one brightly colored splotch of a person in the corner. You can hear them tapping slowly at the keyboard as you check each computer, wiping things down and logging out of a couple accounts. Eventually, you've made it to the corner with the stranger, struck by just how tall they are.
"Is everything all right?" you ask brightly.
"O-oh!" The stranger is clearly startled, so you take an extra step back, just for safety. "Yes, sorry. I think we, I, signed up for an hour? Has time. passed that fast?"
"No, sorry. There's a timer in the corner, here." You tap at the monitor helpfully. "I didn't mean to confuse you. I just wanted to know if you needed any help."
The stranger doesn't reply, instead fidgeting with what you're guessing is a scarf around their face. "Is your hand okay?" They ask, and you quickly withdraw it, tucking it close to your chest. "I don't mean to pry. It just looks painful."
"Ah, well." You grimace, remembering that Gretchen is going to be on you the moment she's done with her returns. It's easier to hide in the computer room, and besides, what's the likelihood this stranger will talk to her? You decide to sit, still achey from last night and exhausted from a lack of sleep. "I was mugged last night."
"You were what?" The horror in their voice is less grating than it was with your friend, and when you smile, it just feels tired, not forced. "You can't possibly be okay after that!"
"I kind of have to be. It's making some of my duties today a little harder though. I can't exactly balance heavy boxes with this hand, and my coworkers are sweet, but if I don't do my work, I think they're going to send me home." You curl and uncurl your hand slowly, biting the inside of your cheek to keep from grimacing. "And I need the money, so. Here we are, you know?"
"Here we are," they agree, a bit distractedly. They pecked at the computer a little longer, apparently thinking as they suddenly turn back to you. "I can help you move those boxes. I-if you'd like I mean."
"Oh?" You pause, thinking. "Oh, uh. Sure! If you're sure that is. I --- yeah, it'd be really helpful, but you don't have to. You signed up for the computer and oh fuck, I've just started spilling my guts out to you."
They flinch when you curse, muttering something in the middle of your rambling before holding up one gloved (gloves indoors?) hand. "It's all right. We, I, like to help. Just point us in the right direction."
"Okay," you saw, drawing the word out until it's more a sound than a word. "You can help this time. But I'm going to have to do something in return."
"That's not really---"
"Nuh uh," you interrupt, wagging a finger (from the unbruised hand), in front of their face. "Fair's fair, and if you're helping me, I'm helping you. Consider this a rain check."
"Fine," they say, turning to log out of the computer. When they stand, you feel very, very small. "Lead the way, Mx. Librarian."
"That's Librarian Clerk to you," you say, a little teasingly. You do take point, walking through the library to where you and Gretchen had packed away the Halloween decorations. "And what do I call you?"
"Sun," they say, and they take the first of three boxes without so much as a grunt of exertion. Tall and strong. If you were a lesser person, you would be jealous. Maybe you are anyway.
"Sun," you repeat, and it's an unusual name for this unusual not-quite-a-stranger. You lead them towards the back, fiddling with your keys to find the one for the storage closet. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too."
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Hi ! 📺 🍦 👻 🏆 (or just tell and don't show if u prefer) 🧑🍳,
Hejhej! Thank you so much for the questions, they come at the ideal time to think about things not related to academic texts.
📺 What did you think of the last movie you saw? Longslegs (2024, dir. Osgood Perkins) Remarkable cinematic capability which are absolutely lost on terrible dialogue, and, if possible, a stupid script. I want my ticket money back.
A Taxi Driver (2017, dir. Jang Hoon) Like in Memories of Murder this is a movie in which I can forgive historical inaccuracies because a) the creators simply weren't privy of any previous information b) these are stories about the actual life under the Chun dictator ship, made with the pretense to talk about this difficult political time. It is a highly affective movie, not sensational in depicting militia violence. By the way, the scene in which Hinzpeter and Kim Man-seob receive multiple food gifts by the citizens of Gwangju is perhaps the most Korean things ever, I would immediately believe that this would have happened. It is a really good movie, and such a needed palette cleanser in seriousness, writing of very humane behavior and speech after Longlegs. (And through some research I found multiple contributions by Hinzpeter in which he openly critizes Japan for building it's bubble economy on neo-colonialism in Korea. There definitely was a lot of genuine investment in telling this story.)
🍦 Top picks for a 3 scoop ice cream cone? Once again, I need to mention how spoiled rotten I am with creative ice cream flavours in my city. So a new 3-scoop combo: Saffron, Acerola, Cinnamon-Plum
👻 Dream halloween costume? Good question. Probably something with elaborate horns and a skull mask. I still have materials for Lady MacBeth, so maybe one autumn?
🏆 Could you give us a short show and tell about an interesting object in your room? Okay, alright believe me now that I do indeed own the following: A relative's father once studied in Germany in the 1950s. There he acquired a historical Civil Law book from 1900, the year the German civil law was finalized and came into force. Given that these civil codes were also adapted in Poland (well, in Poland's case more enforced, yes including some very hyperspecific paragraphs about bee ownership), Japan, Russia, and China, it is quiet the influential little book.
🧑🍳 Do you have a food or cooking (or eating) tip for us?
Please do invest into a wet stone for your kitchen knives. It doesn't have to be an absolute haute cuisine tool. But blunt knifes are much more likely to cause you injuries by slipping, or being much harder to get through material.
For ideal cookies or shortcrust pastry, first mix all dry ingredients, and then work them into the butter. The butter should be the center of kneading. The dough will becomes silky smooth, ideally mixed.
🍺 If you ran a themed bar what would the theme be? Hehehe, just last week I was in the curfew bar in Copenhagen which was brimming with charm and style. The owner really lives out his passion for everything vintage and classy. (If ever in Copenhagen, it's a blast!)
Beginning with: Every good food place is one run with passion by someone who really does stand behind their cuisine. It just shows in the service, the quality, and staff how invested everyone is in the meals, and service.
But I think I would like to run a place which is very open to people not wanting to drink alcohol, which will be treated as an equally legitimate choice. So the alcohol free cocktails will be as fancy, varied, and creative as the alcoholic beverages. For style I would probably go with Norse fishing village cottage. Mostly it's comfortable, somewhere were people can warm up. So the seats are comfortable, maybe there even is a little library. Maybe laying it all a big thick on the mermaid and lobster decor. The cocktail names on the menu are hillarious with various cold needle etching illustrations.
Ah yeah, the house will have it's very own bar cat.
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IDW Sonic Issue 58
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A new issue came out this week! Yippee!!
Last issue I focused a lot on Lanolin because I thought she was the star of the issue, being a new character and all. This issue I think the star of the issue is.... Thomas Rothlisberger?
Yes!! This is Rothlisberger's first penciling job for a WHOLE mainline issue! He did about four pages in issue 43, a story in the 2022 annual, and the majority of Imposter Syndrome! However I think the thicker lineart and strong cel shading made his artwork look a little stiff. I think the thinner lines more subdued coloring by Matt Herms really brings out more of the character in his style.
And Holy Shit the character!! Rothlisberger draws characters with such fun goofy expressions and there's so much movement in all the character poses! Wow, just makes you want to get up and draw, doesn't it? He also brings a lightheartedness that I think has been missing from the comics a while.
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As much as I love ABT's interiors his style does seem to give off an overly serious tone. I think from all the fun banter and character interactions it's obvious this arc is supposed to be more lighthearted and fun that I didn't really pick up on from the previous issue. It makes sense after watching two incredibly traumatized children self sabotage themselves that we would now pivot to something lighter. Chao Races and Badnik bases followed the metal virus saga as a fun palette cleanser, and that's one of my favorite arcs! We also get a more healthy depiction of how to move past and deal with trauma from Whisper, it's nice to have her back!
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There's a lot of characters running around this issue but I think Flynn handles it well! The more emotional stuff is only handled between three characters and all the fun bot busting is left up to the bigger team. The last arc felt a bit narrow in scope of characters which made sense for the emotional intensity and themes, but I missed having all my favorite guys on screen! And now team dark's about to show up too?? Guess we'll have to wait till next month!
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Reviews from Last Week
My Alien Prince - Reverie Harwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👽 It's an alien romance. There are just certain things you can expect out of it. Limited plot, hesitant human woman, and a weird dick. It was a cute little palette cleanser. No real angst, feeling of low stakes, golden retriever turquoise alien.
I liked it. It had vibes similar to Ice Planet Barbarians but in a jungle. If you like alien romances, you'll like this.
Daydream - Hannah Grace ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🏒 I didn't know I needed this book as much I did. Halle and Henry were like the best couple ever. The fact that they built a healthy friendship before delving into a physical relationship was so refreshing. No hate to the previous couples in this series because frankly, I think they're all great. But the communication in this book was just perfection.
They were so perfectly imperfect and fit so well together. Henry's blunt neurodivergence (undiagnosed but very obvious) worked so well with Halle's people-pleasing anxiety. Neither one seemed to be a caricature of their personality. They felt like real people.
Hannah Grace's Maple Hills series is just a low angst, cozy romance series that I love. It's smutty, it's funny, and the plot is pretty light.
The Wife Assignment - Victoria Paige ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💍 I'm gonna lay it out for you. I would have rated this 5 stars except for one terrible thing. When Levi and Kelly talk during and about sex was so juvenile that I ending up skimming most of those scenes. Honestly if there was no romance, it would have been perfect. The plot outside of the romance was so good.
And really Levi and Kelly were decent enough characters, they just didn't speak like adults with 2 kids and responsibilities. I mean they consistently referred to sex and "a pounding." I have never cringed so hard.
Chasing Home - Hannah Cowan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🐎 This was really, really good. I loved Johnny. He was just the ultimate golden retriever boyfriend to Rory's black cat energy. They just worked so well together. And the fact that while Rory didn't give in to Johnny's advances immediately, when she was in, she was in. There wasn't waffling about her feelings for him.
My only beef with this book is the way Rory treated her bio mom about hiding her father's identity. She refused to communicate with the woman that raised her and loved her and was present for 30 years and instead chased after a guy that literally everyone told her was a useless piece of shit. It was just frustrating.
Other than that, excellent book in a great series. Looking forward to continuing this one.
Bought by the Beast - Lexi Heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💀 You know what? This was pretty decent. For being under 300 pages, there was a plot that was built upon and characters that were pretty well fleshed out. This does have a vaguely Wattpad vibe. I don't means this in a derogatory way. And those of us that grew up on Wattpad will know what I mean. I really enjoyed this. It was just a smutty fun time. Dmitry was a bit annoying with his inner monologue about Daisy in the beginning. The thoughts, while very much simping over her, were also not so subtly misogynist.
This is also pretty much insta-love. I don't care what anyone tries to claim. You fall in love within a week, that's insta-love, baby. I didn't hate it. I did roll my eyes though.
There was some editing misses but honestly, I didn't care that much. This was just a fun time.
Delayed Penalty - Teagan Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⛸️ You know, I really started this thinking I was going to hate it just because of the judgey-ness that Hayes felt necessary to heap on Quinn. Like up until a couple of months before the start of this book, he was just as much of a fuck up as Quinn was. I say that knowing that Quinn isn't so much of a fuck up as she is someone in their early-20s with very few responsibilities and no direction in life. But really it all managed to work out. Hayes got the truth of Quinn force-fed to him and Quinn was able to not panic about her current situation. They worked well together and adding in Flora, Hayes's 7-year-old niece, really perfected them.
All of the characters were unique and filled out. I really liked all 3 of our mains. And it was cozy. There wasn't any real angst and even the small amount of miscommunication didn't irritate me all too much. I liked the story. I like Teagan Hunter's work. I'll definitely pick up more from this author.
Wings So Wicked - Emily Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪽 The description of this book being Fourth Wing meets The Serpent and the Wings of Night was as accurate as it gets. I understand why people wouldn't like this. It's not original. It's not unique. But damnit, I was here for the vibes. I enjoyed this. I read it in one sitting and I'm going to immediately jump into the sequel.
Huntyr and Wolf (stupid names) were just fleshed out enough for me to not complete despise them, although Wolf carried this book on his shoulders even without his own POV. Huntyr's inner monologue was annoying at best. It was really light on smut, like almost not in there at all. And because of this, or despite this, I would argue that this is a YA book. It definitely read like one.
Also, there is a love triangle. I hate that trope so much so if you do, here's your warning that it's there.
Back to You - Kristen Granata ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👩🏻🏫 This was such a good second chance romance novella. The characters were so great. Christopher and Michelle were so believable in all their reactions to everything. Even the side characters were pretty fun.
There isn't really much to say. It's a Kristen Granata book so I knew I was going to enjoy it. It's short, sweet, and just really well done in my opinion.
Blood So Brutal - Emily Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶 Damn, Wolf just keeps messing up. This was the best rivals to lovers to enemies to lovers I have read in a bit. If you made it to this book without absolutely despising Wings So Wicked, then you know what you're getting into. It's a sequel. The themes that made up the first book, make up this one for the most part. Although, now we're getting Wolf's POV and it's worth it.
I really liked this. I liked this better than the first book. Probably because getting inside Wolf's head made me not want to scream as much about all the stuff that kept getting heaped on Huntyr (still a stupid name.)
The writing is decent. The plot plots. Yeah, it's very, very similar to Crowns of Nyaxia (first duet) but it's clearly inspired by rather than plagiarized, in my opinion. Wolf and Huntyr were great. The chemistry was well done. Wolf was a shit for the stunts he pulled and Huntyr's upsetness made sense even though it was frustrating at times. Definitely the slowest of burns.
Never Kiss the Bad Boy - Lauren Landish ⭐️⭐️ 🏊🏻 This was a yikes from me, dog. Like Kyle (hate his name) was a pretty decent character. He had some depth, but Dani? She was a stereotypical caricature of the hot tempered (borderline abusive) Latina. She treated Kyle like dog-shit, refused to communicate like an adult, got shitty with him for parking at the curb so he could complete a job he was contracted to do. She did this all while having the entitled attitude that she was the only one allowed to take up curb space for her at-home takeout restaurant. Give me a break.
The lack of communication was just so irritating. They both treated their families terribly instead of having honest discussions about what was bothering them.
I absolutely cannot.
Don't Sleep with the Dead - Nghi Vo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🍸 ARC review posted separately
Miss Amelia's List - Mercedes Lackey ⭐️ 🐆 There was a significant lack of plot direction and it seemed very apparent that there was no real research done in regards to Regency era life. For these reasons, the book was very dull and the focus on the clothes, accessories, and furniture was so draw out and detailed that I found myself skimming whole pages just to get beyond the details of the velvet dressing gowns.
The book in general felt like a Pride and Prejudice AU fan fiction. And it could have been so good. It really could have been. But instead of Lizzie and Darcy, we ended up with vague caricatures of them (although I don't think Hightower is Darcy in any way, shape, or form.)
I love Mercedes Lackey. I have loved her writing since I was in high school (so it has been a while) but this was just not it. It was a cozy slice of life set in Regency era, with magic, and then a rushed ending that just didn't flow. I'm so utterly disappointed.
Thank you to Netgalley and DAW for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#book#books#booklr#book lover#literature#lit#reading#novel#book review#book blog#book recommendations#books and reading
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How's everyone's reading going? I always struggle to pick up more than kindle unlimited sports romances when school and work start, but I'm really pushing myself past that stress in small ways.
Here are the books I'm currently reading, just finished, and am hoping to get to soon that I really wanted to talk about:
The Sun and the Star (read): This book is pure serotonin. It's one of the longer Percy Jackson books, but I never felt the length for a single second. There were definite moments where I could tell someone other than Rick Riordan had taken over writing, but that doesn't change how fun and romantic the book was. What an absolute treasure.
Scoring Position (read): kindle unlimited mlm hockey romance. I just finished this today actually, and it ended up getting a lower rating than what it had been for most of the book, but I'm still glad I read it. It did offer a good palette cleanser, and though I didn't end up loving it the way I'd hoped I would, I would still recommend it for a nice time.
Under the Whispering Door (currently reading): I tried reading this a few months ago and DNFed after chapter five or something. I felt like the humor was hit-and-miss, I thought Wallace was a little too annoying, but I knew that I didn't want to DNF it for good. Why? I really liked Hugo, Mei, and Nelson, and the teashop. I thought there was some good potential there. I have to drive a lot to school and work, and I figured that since I couldn't enjoy reading this physically, then maybe I would have a better time on audiobook, annnnd... yeah. The narrator is phenomenal, I would highly recommend this audiobook if you couldn't get into the paperback. He has a way of reading in SUCH a funny way that I was suddenly laughing at lines I didn't think were funny the first time. I've got less than 3 hours of the audiobook left, and I'm having a great time. It's not anything groundbreaking, and I think the first half was very slow and repetitive, but it really has got me thinking about death and life a little bit more, and I really enjoy these characters. I now love Wallace, he's hilarious and becomes so easy to love, and I can't wait to see how this story ends.
House of Sky and Breath (currently reading): Anyone else really have trouble reading physical books when they're super stressed or overwhelmed? That's kind of where I am. I'm annotating and tabbing my paperback copy, I'm 10 chapters in, but I feel like I just don't have the strength right now to physically hold a book, you know? The first book in particular already took me so long to read because of its length (you're not Order of the Phoenix, STOP trying to be Order of the Phoenix, not every story can carry that kind of page count!), and now I just feel like I'd be going through it faster if I can read it digitally. I won't get my ebook copy from the library for over 2 weeks, so I might just try to read as much as I can now, and then finish with the ebook. I know the big spoiler at the end, but beyond that, I have no idea what happens in this book, and I can't wait to find out.
Books I want to pick up next:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part of last year's reread so that I can start this year's reread. I'm afraid, but it must be done.
Percy Jackson and the Chalice of the Gods: I think I was subconsciously waiting until after the show ended to dive back into this world, and I'm just ready to spend all day with my favorite demigod (and satyr) trio.
House of Flame and Shadow: Is this a shock to anyone? I should've read HoSaB sooner so I would be ready for this book now, but I overestimated by reading speed, so here we are. I hope to get to it before any spoilers start circulating.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: I have more books on my physical TBR, but this is one of the lightest and I think I need that.
The Paladin's Shadow: 'Nough said. Anything by Tavia Lark is gold.
I love talking about books so much, so please do let me know what you're reading now, how you're feeling about it, what you'd like to pick up soon. It's always fun to me to discuss books, and I'd really like to talk more about them on my tumblr from now on. I still have it tagged rin reads if you want to filter that out though.
#rin reads#rick riordan#the sun and the star#under the whispering door#tavia lark#harry potter#hosab#book#books#booklr
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Today was the usual mixed bag. Readmore for animal death (not my pets)
Ended the day with another Barbie bad cam viewing as a palette cleanser, noticed more outfits this time around. Such a delight.
Started the day with quick chores then tomorrow's grocery pickup by the replacement carer we managed to find for a full 2h a week 🙃. (Usually we pay someone happy to work off books but thought this agency might be a little more thoughtful). It just is, so we're making do.
I walked one dog after the other at daybreak. I've been slowly taming the very scaredy Gargouille, he now comes slowly close for scritches and a peanut.
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Yesterday someone left out a bunch of near new shoes and I carried them home (a small part of why my shoulder hurts) as they were roommate sized. She kept 4 pairs.
The rest was bagged and ready to go to the second hand store. I left the sandals, marrocan slippers and some large boots. As with all previous clothing or electronics dropoffs, they were thrown into the bin even though we have multiple clothes bins and second hand drop off points in town.
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I find that very odd, someone clearly wants to share their cast offs and someone else doesn't want that left out more than half a day and tosses it instead of using the two second hand stores (clothes are less than 5€ each like 5€ would be for a coat, the point is to reuse and teach folks repair)
On the second walk for Lily (i can't handle both dogs, they both walk very differently because of the age difference and both have strong temperaments), the walk goes by the cemetery and sis had said she'd seen someone complain about a dead cat. So I went to the bins opposite the gate and there he was, a large ginger cat, flattened by a car and rotting under the bins. We're supposed to take them to the vets for incineration but I'm not able to and he'd been there a while. I acted on instinct, grabbed him with a dog poop bag and placed him inside the bin 1 and started looking for bags to wrap him in. In bin 3 there was a ripped bag of school papers and junk so i emptied it out and gently placed the cat in it, tied knots in the top and tear. It's not the burial or sanitary incineration he deserves but it felt so disrespectful to see him just decaying on the tarmac.
Bin 2 contained 2 stainless steel branded dog bowls - they'll go to one of the local animal rescues. I didn't dig further, I was feeling drained from a dozen different emotions about that ginger cat. This is a caravan parking lot on weekends so it could have been from abandoned dogs. We're a small tourist town on the road to large tourist destinations.
Last week I found a muzzle and collar at the car wash and I don't know if it's one of the dogs that's been spotted loose in town. Animal control has already caught two who are now up for adoption since vacations started in july. The stray cats and dead cats are adding up as people who rent their house out for the summer leave for *their* vacations and holiday makers drop off their cats during a pit stop.
They'll probably do another massive "catch, spay and release" for the cat population in autumn.
As much as I rant about outdoor cats killing wildlife and our neighbours who let their dog roam at night (she's a sweetie who sits most of that time on their doorstep), the fact is that it's easier to talk about than the culture of disposing of pets. Even if the best case scenario works out, it's a huge amount of volunteer work and the new owners have to discover the animals quirks and fears instead of a simple form and a small fee when you surrender them.
The law is very slowly catching up.
I'm far happier with the new age of no-consent laws but it would be nice to see some lawmaking about pet owning : some basics to agree to before you buy and fines for not just the cruelty but the chaos for animal control, drivers, vets and shelters during the summer hols.
I got Lily in july 8 years ago from a local shelter. Talia was a surrender to the same shelter around Christmas. So so so worth the expenses and work.
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June recap: introspective!
woot woot! We’re officially wrapping up our first month of ninbingo round 2, and I want you all to know that we have 40 submissions so far. Let that sink in. 40, and last year, we capped out our bingo at 50.
Are you guys excited, because I am!
Because there are so many entries, I’ve split this recap by genre into the broad categories of angst, fluff, and introspective. I separated the entries using my best judgement, but if you’re the creator and would like your work(s) moved, just lmk!
art (low res; click on the link to go to the original post):
Day off and time by @sebilini
The original four ninja have time off on the same day, so they met and are chatting about their old adventures. A lot of time has passed.
Lights and magic by @sebilini
Clouse’s last happy summer
fic:
A Little Brother (Of Sorts) by @ninjas-that-go. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: small
Perks of being an older sibling number one: being taller than your little brother. For now.
Blue-Black by @k1ngtok1. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: contrast
Sometimes, even when he was quiet, she could see flickers of green in between his fingers or licking at his heels with his quiet footsteps. They weren’t normally a part of his color palette, and it was only sound that set off the colors. Her gut told her something was up, and if Kai had taught her anything, it was that Smiths always followed their gut.
His name didn’t match his colors, after all. Green cursive didn’t complement blue-black.
Deep down you know, You weren't built for fighting by @unknownuncut. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: protective
Five times the ninjas protected Lloyd and the one time Lloyd protected the ninjas.
My Papa’s Waltz by @/k1ngtok1. || tumblr || ao3 || prompts: parents and reveal
“Sorry for not telling you earlier.” Cole says in lieu of a response, “I was still trying to figure it out for myself, but-“ he pulls his father’s hands away from his face and holds them, “You might want to sit down for this. It might take a while to explain everything.”
“I canceled all my plans for the week after I saw the news. I’ve got all the time in the world for you.”
Cole revels in the warmth that spreads through his chest.
Sibling Bonding ft. Dragon Hermit by @/unknownuncut. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: animal
“Kai!” Nya pushes through the crowd to get over to him. She stops before him and keeps wanting to reach out to touch him but kept her hands away. Almost as if she’s afraid to touch him. “You okay? You’ve been missing for an hour, the others said that you and someone else went into the mountain.”
“I’m fine, just tired.” Kai finally sat down on the ground with Nya crouched down so to help him if he needs it. “Just some idiot that wanted to see if the legend of the Flame Sword is true or not."
so he was sent to bed by @21st-century-ninja. || tumblr || ao3 || prompts: parents and acceptance
“Oh, Kai, why couldn’t you just have gone to a shop?” his mother scolds, once the doctor has left after prescribing a cleanser and instructions to call her back if the infection spread. “If you had to do that to yourself, dear, why didn’t you have a professional do it? It’s not like we don’t have the money.”
It’s true. Kai’s definitely got the money for it.
or:
the fine line between filial piety and puppetry, told in a series of vignettes about earrings.
Strong In The Real Way by @/unknownuncut. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: strength
Normally, Jay would be dragging his feet and complaining to Zane, who would be sitting with his mother and helping with the paperwork. That’s when it’s just Jay and his dad but not today.
Kai and Cole had decided to come out for a surprise visit.
We’ve Come A Long Way From Where We’ve Began by @ace-of-spaces. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: smile
Their time is up.
After thirteen years, eleven months and four days, Ninjago no longer needs them. It is able to protect itself now.
It was symbolic, in hindsight, that their last day as Ninja ended exactly as it had started all those years ago; just the four of them in the courtyard of the Monastery of Spinjitzu.
You’re Not Alone In The World…You Have Me by @/unknownuncut. || tumblr || ao3 || prompt: contrast
Lloyd couldn’t sleep and asked Cole to take them to the store.
@weekend-whip @crappy-coffee @grollow @master-of-cosmos @roantheboat @art-i-sticks @viioletpixels @miserable-flamango @frozensoapbubble @thepenguisalive7 @marsipain @destinymanticor @obsessedbee @master-of-fluff @legogeek33 @applecranberryjuice @abunnsburrow @mitzle @ice-emperor-zane @curious-corvius @ninjago4life @kumamoo-hq
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In the Stacks | Feysand
College students AU. Smut. Naughty, public smut that I dare you to read in a crowd.
Rhys was late to the study group. Feyre had been there for a half hour with Mor and Amren and was ready to strangle them both. The former had been mainlining energy drinks all afternoon and was now bouncing up and down in her chair, and the latter was alternating between snapping at Mor and muttering under her breath as she worked out equations out loud. This was especially unhelpful because Amren was doing an advanced course and having irrelevant equations being spoken aloud while Feyre barely understood the maths she was supposed to be doing was more than unhelpful.
Feyre was just about ready to give up when the boys finally clattered in, jerseys mud-stained and with testosterone rolling off them in waves.
"Relax ladies, we have arrived!" Cassian announced, throwing himself into a chair next to Mor. Azriel sat down on her other side, kicking his sports bag under the table. "Thirty-five minutes late," Amren growled. "Sorry, practice ran over." Rhys kissed Feyre on the cheek, then in one smooth motion lifted her, slid into her chair, and placed her back on his lap. He smelled of grass, fresh sweat, and Rhys.
"To be fair, the bat boys need all the practice they can get," Mor said, eyes flashing. "They're playing us next weekend and we are undefeated this season." "The Illyrian Bats will crush the Nightmare Queens," Cassian said. Mor just shrugged. "Hasn't happened yet," she said. "Yes, yes, you all play Lacrosse. Now sit down and be quiet, some of us are trying to work," Amren said. Feyre stared at her, the irony astounding. Amren didn't notice.
While Cassian and Azriel busied themselves pulling out books and laptops and pens, Rhys wrapped his arms around Feyre's middle and buried his nose in the spot where her neck met her shoulder.
"How was practice?" she asked him quietly. "It was good," he said, his lips moving against her. He nipped her earlobe, and then murmured, "Why do I always want you so bad when I've been working out?"
Feyre swatted him away. "Down boy," she said. "We're in public." Rhys sat back in the chair, and toyed with a curl that had come loose from Feyre's braid. "How's study going?" he asked her. "It's alright," Feyre said. "I like it better when you're here." Rhys kissed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry we were late." "It's okay. Maybe you can help me though, I've been stuck on this question for the last twenty minutes."
Rhys scooted the chair in closer to the desk, and looked over Feyre's shoulder at her open book. Under the table, his fingers slipped under the hem of her sweater.
"Let m be the slope of the tangent line to the graph of y equals x squared over x plus 2 at the point minus 3, minus 9. Express m as a limit," Rhys read out loud. Meanwhile, his nails scratched lightly over her belly, and Feyre leaned back into him instinctively.
"I don't get calculus," Feyre complained. "I've read the problem so many times it's just meaningless now." Rhys' hands smoothed over her thighs, and then clawed back upward. He squeezed her hips as he spoke.
"Okay this is not so bad. You got the previous question right, so you can get this one. You just need to substitute the new values into the same formula you used last time."
Now Rhys' hands were travelling back over her legs, his fingertips grazing Feyre's inner thighs. She shivered a little.
"I got it for the last question, but for some reason I can't repeat the process," she said. "Alright," said Rhys. "Give me your pencil and I'll write it out for you."
Feyre leaned forward and reached for her pencil case, and as she did, Rhys gripped her hips and rolled her over his lap. She was shocked to find him hard beneath her, and sat up in surprise.
Rhys plucked the pencil from her limp fingers.
"Thanks," he said. "Okay so, here look I'm copying this same formula, and the new values are substituted right here."
Rhys's voice was perfectly level. But while he wrote across the page, his free hand had snaked down between Feyre's legs. His fingers stroked down the seam of her leggings, then pulled back up slowly.
"What are you doing?" Feyre hissed at him. Rhys looked at her, his face innocent.
"Helping you with calculus," he said lightly. But his violet eyes burned. "Right so, since we know the coordinates are minus 3, minus 9, we can plug those straight in." Under the table, his fingers found the sensitive spot at the apex of her thighs, and rubbed against it.
Feyre's knees jolted up at the sensation, and hit the table. Four pairs of eyes looked up at her, and Rhys' fingers stopped.
"Are you alright, Feyre darling?" he asked, wide eyed. "Fine," Feyre forced out. "Shall I continue?" Feyre just nodded.
Cassian gave her a weird look, and then returned to the argument he was having with Mor and Azriel. Amren glared pointedly at her as she reached for her eraser, her writing having been jostled. Then she, too returned to her work, and Rhys started moving again. Moved his hand up and then inside her pants, hidden under the desk. Feyre bit the inside of her cheek and tried very hard to hold her expression still.
"Okay," Rhys said to her. His fingers slid down the hot, wet core of her. His voice remained level, but she could have sworn she felt him shudder slightly against her back. "So now the equation has all the information and we can solve it. Now you do the next question." He handed her the pencil, and it shook in her grip.
M = she started to write, then had to stop. Rhys's index finger was sliding very, very slowly up into her. She was horrified. She was delighted. She needed more.
Staring hard at the desk and trying not to go bright red, Feyre's hips rocked involuntarily. Seeking more, more, more.
"That's it," he said. "Keep going." His tone completely neutral, nodding toward the page.
Lim, she managed to write, the words now shaky on the paper. Then the pencil snapped clean in half, and Rhys very calmly reached out and picked up another. He pushed a second finger into her, and started to move them in and out. The heel of his palm leaned into her clit.
"They don't make pencils like they used to, do they?" Rhys said. "Here, try again."
Feyre reached out, but only got as far as putting her hand on his, and then her insides clenched and her nails dug into his palm.
"By the way Feyre, Azriel and I were talking about the party after the big match next week," Rhys said, a little too loudly. "What do you think? Are you going to come?" "Um," Feyre stuttered. "Don't you want to come, honey?"
The edges of Feyre's vision went black. Holy fuck, she thought. She was going to come, right here, in front of all of their friends.
All of a sudden, Rhys pulled his hand away and stood up. Feyre was tipped out of his lap, and her hands caught the table as her knees gave.
"Actually," Rhys said, "if you're struggling with calculus, I found the older text book much more helpful than the current one. Let me see if I can find it for you."
He took Feyre's hand and walked around the corner. She followed, dazed, and as soon as they were out of sight from the group Rhys picked up his pace. Half-dragged her all the way through the stacks, deep into the dark shelf maze, and then when they were far away enough from the rest of the students he spun her around and kissed her.
Feyre's back hit a shelf with a dull thud, and she twined her arms around Rhys' neck with a soft moan. She licked at his lips, and when their tongues touched Rhys lifted her up and hitched her legs around his waist. Feyre, so far past caring that they were still technically in a public space, grabbed at his lacrosse shorts, pulllng them down in the front. Rhys pushed his hips against her, and her hands found the ledge of the shelf behind her. He yanked her leggings down, and next thing she knew, he was inside of her.
Feyre bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out. Rhys' head fell onto her shoulder, and he let her adjust for a moment. Then they were moving, desperately, frantically. Pulling at each other's hair. Fucking in the stacks.
In what must have been record time, Feyre broke suddenly, her back arching and her head knocking against a row of books. She held on tightly to Rhys as her climax wrung her out, and then Rhys' hand hit the shelf beside her shoulder and he was coming, too.
In the dark, dusty space between the books, Rhys and Feyre breathed hard. Feyre laughed sliently, shaking in Rhys' arms. He grinned at her through the shadows, and used his undershirt to clean her up. Then he looked around them, made sure the coast was clear, and sauntered out, casual as anything.
Feyre squeezed his hand, following, and pulled a random book from the shelf. Rhys looked at her quizzically.
"Well we can't very well come back empty handed," she said, and Rhys laughed a lovely, dark and glittering laugh.
****
Just wanted to write you lovely things a fun little one-shot as a palette cleanser before I get deep into the next chapter fic. Hope you enjoyed the smut-fest my darlings x
TAGLIST: @ghostlyrose2 @highladysith @stardelia @feysand-babies @tillyrubes10 @ratabrasileira @live-the-fangirl-life @maybekindasortaace @annejulianneh111
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Best New Heavy Metal Releases Week of August 5th, 2022
Going to try something a little different with the layout. Hopefully to make things easier to find if you are just looking for something in particular. Going to separate the albums by highlight albums, genre standouts and finally good albums that are worth a listen if you simply enjoy the album. Had a request to break it down by genre but thought that might get a little messy as a LOT of albums could conceivably fit into multiple genres. Either way, I hope this helps a bit. Let’s get to the highlights.
Exilium Noctis-Fragments of Apocalypse (Black/Death/Symphonic)**
You want something heavy? I don’t mean just your ordinary heavy; I mean, like HEAVY with all the letters capitalized. Like snap your neck heavy. Like destroying a mosh pit heavy. If that is what you want, this band has everything you need. This is an absolutely perfect mix of Death Metal and Black Metal. One genre never dominates the other and the result is that super heavy sound. This album seriously feels like a weight on your shoulders. The symphonic elements are interspersed perfectly and add an epic feel to the whole undertaking, which makes it feel even (you see a theme here?) heavier. May want to consult a physician before listening to this album.
H.E.A.T.-Force Majeure (Hard Rock/Heavy)**
If you enjoy all the genres Metal offers like me, you may need a little palette cleanser after the Exilium Noctis album. This is about as far in the other direction as you are likely to get. Insanely catchy Hard Rock that has that definite nod to the Glam Metal of the 80s but sounding very modern at the same time. This is just music that will put you in a good mood with sing along choruses, memorable riffs and shredding solos.
Starstrike-Legacy or Destiny (Heavy/Teaditional)**
This was one of the very last additions to the list this week. The logo and album cover just screams Traditional Metal and that is exactly what you get. The band is from Germany and you can hear every earmark of that German Heavy Metal sound throughout the album. If you were to put Accept, Gamma Ray, Paragon, Victory, Primal Fear, Helloween and Bonfire into a blender, this would be the result. Yet another debut album….how these bands are this good, this quick is amazing.
Preterist-Blood Moon Rising (Power)**
I have almost no info on this band. I know they are from the US and they have that European Power Metal sound down to a damn science. Think of a mixture of Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica and you will get close to their sound. Upbeat and catchy with those over the top sing along choruses and shredding guitar solos. Drums with plenty of double bass action and perfectly placed fills. If I had one very slight nitpick, it would be the production could be better. The bottom end doesn’t really come across for my liking. That could easily just be a me thing. Hopefully, I can find out more information about this band.
Perish-The Decline (Melodic Black)**
Time to get back to some feelings of anger, despair, and isolation. Those feelings are palpable on this album and they dive headfirst and wallow in them. The various guitar tones they used to convey those feelings really make this stand out and personally, I think it is a brilliant move. Oh, and did I mention this is a debut album? This is WAY too good to be a debut album. The songs are expertly crafted, and it even feels like they took care with the running order, as it feels like the songs build on each other.
Something else worthy of note. When I went to their Bandcamp page, they have a special edition box set of this album for sale. That isn’t really noteworthy but where the box is from certainly is. It is locally made at a factory next to the label office, which employs disabled people. If you purchase the box set, it helps these people out and if you want to throw a couple extra bucks on the Bandcamp order, the extra money goes directly to this cause. A Black Metal band with an album this furious, but still doing something to better their community? That deserves some praise!
That will do it for this week. I normally try to keep my vinyl purchases to only the pick of the week, but man, that is going to be difficult this week. If you have an opinion on the new layout, let me know. Until next week and, as always,
BANG THY HEAD!!!
All worthy of a listen if you like the genre
*= standout in that genre
**=best of the week regardless of genre
Best of the Best
Exilium Noctis-Fragments of Apocalypse (Black/Death/Symphonic)**
H.E.A.T.-Force Majeure (Hard Rock/Heavy)**
Liminal Shroud-Al Virtues Ablaze (Melodic Black/Atmospheric)**
Perish-The Decline (Melodic Black)**
Psycroptic-Divine Council (Technical Death)**
Starstrike-Legacy or Destiny (Heavy/Teaditional)**
Preterist-Blood Moon Rising (Power)**
Genre Standouts -
Bernatchez-Grief (Symphonic Black/Death)*
Amon Amarth-The Great Heathen Army (Melodic Death/Viking)*
Sun of Dead-Path of the Warrior (Black/Folk/Death)*
David Readman-Medusa (Hard Rock)*
Phrenesy-Fears Apocalypse (Thrash)*
Toxik-Dis Morta (Thrash)*
Ominum-Monument (Thrash/Death)*
Rotting Empire-Buried in the Past (Melodic Death)*
Early Moods-Early Moods (Traditional Doom)*
Circle Creek-The World is On Fire (Heavy/Hard Rock/Sludge)*
Creeping Cats-Losing Strength (Heavy/Traditional)*
Yelbegen-Kafir-I Azam (Black)*
Worth a listen if you enjoy the genre -
Soulfly-Totem (Thrash/Groove)
Draugur-Reflexio (Atmospheric Black)
Stormbound-December (Symphonic Heavy)
Reternity-Cosmic Dreams (Heavy)
Witchslayer-Witchslayer (Heavy/Traditional/Doom/Speed)
Ryker’s-Ours Was a Noble Cause (Hardcore)
Quantum Twilight-Hypersonic Demolition (Power)
Leaving Eden-As Above So Below (Hard Rock)
Annihilation Text-The Order (Death)
Evil In-Age of Immortal Darkness (Death/Thrash)
Triumvir Foul-Onslaught to Seraphim (Death)
Fleshrot-Unburied Corpse (Death)
Van Diemen-Sarcophilus Laniarius (Melodic Death)
Dagger Threat-Weltschmerz (Death/Melodic Death/Hardcore)
Perish takes my Pick of the Week with a debut that is WAY better than you would expect. 5 Solid bulldogs beating the heat out of 5!
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#black metal#metal#music#classic rock#folk#hard rock#hardcore music#rock#death metal#punk#melodic death metal#heavy metal#heavymusic#heavyrock#traditional metal#melodic black metal#youtube#extreme metal#melodic death#melodic metal
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After the last couple days I think we could all use a little palette cleanser so please enjoy this latest chapter of "Good Investments"! This one was a bit of a struggle, hence the late post, but as always @3dg310rdsupreme is here doing God's work in getting me to where I need to be.
This week everyone's favorite idiots in love venture to Home Depot. What could possible go wrong?
Thank you to everyone who's been reading, sharing, liking and leaving comments. I'm so grateful for you all.
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Dispelled Magic – What to do if your new campaign is falling flat
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Hullo, Gentle Readers. We have an interesting question this week, submitted anonymously. Our reader asks, “I got a problem, and I'm asking anonymously to avoid discovery. 2 years ago I finished running a stellar campaign for my group of friends. We especially fell in love with the player characters. We talk about them, draw memes about them, still 2 years after the game has ended. My problem is that the next campaign I ran with didn't do any of that. We played and had fun, sure, but the ~magic~ was missing. Any advice to help me recapture that magic for our next campaign?”
I wish I had a magic formula for you, my friend. I truly do. Sometimes it just “clicks” – everything drops into place, and you run a campaign you’ll be talking about for years to come. Other times, you’ll run a game, and everyone will enjoy themselves, but it won’t be the same. And sometimes, the game will just fall apart without any real good feeling of resolution.
I’ve had this happen to me as both a DM and a player. It may sound like I run nothing but killer campaigns full of amazing stories that become legends, but this is far from the truth. I’ve had plenty of games run for a while, and then just kind of drift apart, usually to be replaced by something else that may or may not be better or worse than what we already did.
In a situation like this, it could be that you were a bit more inspired when you worked on the previous campaign. Maybe you had some great plot twist that you sat on for ages and then pulled it out, surprising everyone. Maybe the players made characters they liked a little bit better than the characters they made in the later campaign. Maybe you’re all just a little burnt out, even if no one’s exactly feeling that yet.
One thing you could do would be to sit down with your players and ask them this very question. After all, I could tell you about things that I felt went right or wrong in my own campaigns, or in campaigns that I’ve played. Your players might be the best source for what made the game so magical to them. Maybe they can give you some clues of elements that would make the next game that much better for them.
You might also try either going far away from the previous campaign, or else embracing the familiar. It might be that you should try a total palette cleanser. Either play a totally different RPG, or run a campaign that is NOTHING like the previous game. As much as I dislike them, maybe an evil campaign would be something your players would enjoy? Or, if your campaign was a lot of epic adventure and dungeon delving, try something very small scale and city-based. Try to really turn away from what you’ve done before. Try a group of all rogues, or all fighters, or all clerics. Do a series of one-shots, or run a published adventure to give you a little break.
Alternately, embrace the familiar and make a campaign that harkens back to the old campaign. Maybe the new characters are the children of the old ones, or the old ones reincarnated (but played by different players). Maybe they awaken as faulty clones of their old characters at level 1, trying to rise up against a threat that was able to defeat their old selves! Or maybe they’re raised from the dead at level 1 a thousand years later, as part of a prophecy of renewal to save the world.
One last thought – instead of seeking to recapture the magic, you might try to inspire something totally new and different. It took me a while to get used to listening to season 2 of Critical Role after having listened to all of campaign 1, but I’m now just as heavily invested in the characters as I was with the original group. It’s a very different kind of group and a different kind of campaign, but I am along for the ride.
I can’t guarantee these ideas will help, my Anonymous friend, but I hope they do. Good luck in all your gaming.
#d&d#D&D#dnd#DnD stuff#dungeons & dragons#Dungeons and Dragons#dungeon master#dungeonmaster#DM advice#GM Advice
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2 AM ~ TDC One-Shot
Just a short fluff piece that was inspired by things including but not limited to: Arsinoe having long hair, Arsinoe the blanket hog, jokes about Billy being good with his hands and me just wanting a palette cleanser from rewriting my Titanic AU.
~ Set 4 years after the FDF bonus scene ~
She had either been awake for way too long or there was a goose on the garden scape tapestry above her. She was pretty sure it was coming up on 2am but she couldn’t sleep. Billy slept beside her in perfect serenity. She was of the opinion that Billy was one of those wack people who looked attractive even in sleep, something she couldn’t relate to. He also didn’t move, making it easier for her to accidentally pull the blanket off in her own sleep.
Something that she was not currently doing. No, she was staring at the ceiling.
The thing that was most frustrating was that she had no clue why she couldn’t sleep. Usually when she couldn’t sleep, it was for one of two reasons. But it was late July, so it was neither around her birthday nor was the weather changing. So there was no reason to be awake, and yet here she was.
She looked over at Billy, with his blonde hair and softened brow. Her eyes followed down to where his hands gently rested on his pillow, catching on the scars. She fought against the pang of crippling guilt that went through her mind when she saw those scars. Billy always scolded her for apologising for them, declaring that it wasn’t her fault, but Arsinoe still struggled with her guilt, especially when he’s not awake to disagree with her.
“Stop what you’re thinking right now,” at his voice, Arsinoe looked up to meet eyes with Billy’s and his hand comes up to caress her face gently.
“Did I wake you up?” Arsinoe asked softly. Billy smiled.
“If it it hits early morning and the blanket is still on me, I wake up. It’s basically how I know you’re still awake,” he smiles a little and rubs his thumb over the scar on her chin, before his concerned face returns. “So, what’s wrong?” Billy asks.
She can’t do anything but shrug.
“I don’t know, something is just off,” she says. Billy looks her over with a cursory glance before sitting up and guiding her do the same thing.
“Turn around,” he says and she does, albeit with confusion.
She’s confused until he’s pulling her hair back off her neck, starting to plait it down her back. Oh. Of course. Her hair.
Ruth Chatworth had started hiding the scissors from her about 18 months ago, basically forcing Arsinoe to grow her hair out. Which had meant that Arsinoe was having to deal with hair that had grown out immensely curly, as she knew it would. It drove her crazy and she couldn’t sleep with it down, so she always plaited it before bed.
Except earlier that night, when Billy had pulled her hair tie out as they made love.
She felt him near the end of the plait and smiled, turning her head slightly.
“Is now the time to make a comment about you being good with your hands?” She asked, a slight smirk on her face.
“Oh my God,” Billy whispered, a breathy laugh following it. He tied her plait off and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, kissing her cheek.
“Do you reckon your mother will give me the scissors if I ask her tomorrow?” She asks, slumping back against Billy’s chest.
“I asked her last week. She said she would let you cut your hair to an appropriate length after we get back from our honeymoon. Something to do with the hairstyle she wanted to go with your dress,” Billy answered, absently twirling a stray strand of hair near her brow. Arsinoe groaned quietly.
“That’s two and a half months away. I should just use her dressmaking scissors out of spite,” she said. Billy nodded and kissed her cheek again.
“Can you do it tomorrow, once we’ve gotten enough sleep for you to be a good thief and for me to handle my mother when she realises you cut your hair?” Arsinoe considered and then nodded, letting Billy pull her gently back down onto the blue sheets of their bed. She twisted so that they faced each other and kissed him slowly before breaking away to settle in.
Billy kissed her forehead and let her burrow closer into his chest before pulling the blanket over the two of them.
#three dark crowns#one dark throne#two dark reigns#five dark fates#queen arsinoe#billy chatworth#billy x arsinoe
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Girl Crush (Ben Hardy Imagine)
Description: In another version of Bohemian Rhapsody, you are one of the main actresses and have fallen in love with Ben Hardy. Unfortunately, he’s dating someone else and you are left with nothing but to simply watch them be together. Based off the song Girl Crush (Harry Styles version)
Warnings: Some serious unrequited love. Possibly too cheesy, who knows. Word Count: 3.5k
Note: This was originally going to be for Rami but I kept re-writing it for weeks and wasn’t satisfied until I came up with this. I listened to Girl Crush and When The Party’s Over when writing it so it might add to it if you listen to them. Also, I made up some stuff in there about a film and name-dropped Harry Styles so just go with it lol
Please know I have nothing against Katriona Perrett nor her relationship with Ben; I don’t know her well but I’m sure she’s a lovely girl and I wish them happiness. I’ve simply used her name for the purposes of this.
I poured a lot of myself into this so please enjoy. Love xx
—
You loved him.
Actually, love in the present tense because your heart still clenches at the sight of them together.
You love him.
But you’re not his and he definitely isn’t yours. Although the former may not be the truth half the time because you’re secretly his, you’ve reserved yourself to be. He just doesn’t know it yet.
You watch painfully as she spills another one of her jokes which in his eyes, are the best thing in the world. The crinkle of his eyes and scrunch of his nose bring butterflies to you but they are killed off as soon as they spring up.
With a drink in your hand, you sip it meagrely. You feel creepy watching the two of them have their moment but also can’t help it; you wish so badly that it was you giving him all that joy.
You could just hear his low, honeyed voice now, directing sweet nothings into your ear.
She places a hand on his chest and he wraps an arm around her body, tugging her in closer. He laughs again and looks at her as if she’s got all the light in the world wrapped around her.
If you tried hard enough, you could probably break the glass in your hand but you weren’t at that point. Not yet.
Your teeth sink down onto your lips, harsh enough to draw blood though you had been chewing on them all night.
You didn’t want to go to that party, you really didn’t. You knew that they would come together and that they would be exactly as you are seeing them now. But his sweet, charming voice convincing you to tag along just for “a drink or two and a laugh.” You couldn’t say no to his pleading eyes and agreed to be there just for a bit.
It was, after all, the last night out after you had finished filming Bo Rhap and he guilted you by saying this was going to be one of the last times you guys got together. You wanted to tell him he was wrong; there was a whole press tour and line of premieres afterwards but so it goes. You went anyways to the party at Brian May’s London house.
And now, a couple hours into your night out, you were finally up until they arrived thirty minutes ago.
They looked radiant, a real power couple that looked like they could withstand whatever Hollywood threw at them.
Ben Hardy and Katriona Perrett; even their names placed them among the stars.
You hate yourself for feeling so envious, so spiteful of their relationship but could you help it if you were in love with one of the people in it?
You also didn’t mean to fall in love with him as you did. You tried not to but when you realised your feelings you were a moment too late, as she had already made a move and he seemed to gladly accept it.
“You alright?”
Gwilym’s voice tears you away from your painful thoughts. You look up at the man as he grabs the seat next to you to see what you were looking at.
You open your mouth to reply but nothing seems to come out and so you simply shrug.
“I see.” Gwil says. He downs the drink in his hand before glancing at you, shaking his head once more.
“That’s not going to help, you know.”
“You think I don’t know that?” You snap in reply. His eyes bulge slightly and you feign remorse.
“S-Sorry, I don’t mean to.”
He nods. “That’s alright, I know. I’m sorry you have to feel this.”
“I am too.” You reply, swirling the alcoholic concoction around in your hand. “I’ve never felt more pathetic.”
Gwil’s brows furrow. “What’s there to feel pathetic for? Don’t tell me it’s your feelings, there’s nothing pathetic about how you feel.”
You shrug again. “I’m literally sitting here watching the two of them fall more in love like some peeping Tom who’s trying to get over their unrequited love. He doesn’t even think of me and yet I’d still drop everything for him, it’s pathetic.”
Gwil looks down into his lap as guilt washing over him. He can’t help but feel partially responsible for your hurt for reasons he could never disclose with you without tainting your friendship with him. He thinks back to the conversation he had with the on-screen Roger Taylor and sighs.
“Look,” He begins whilst placing a hand on your shoulder. “It’s not pathetic. Maybe a bit much, but you’re in love with the man and love makes you mad sometimes.”
He searches your eyes for any emotion but you sit expressionless as tears bubble up to the brims of your eyes.
“I know you don’t want to hear this but he’s found happiness, and I think you should start trying to find yours as well because it’s the only way you’ll be able to healthily get through all this.”
You glance at him through hooded eyes and say the next few words so lowly that it’s just him who hears. “What if he’s my happiness?”
“Then he’ll make his way to you.”
Joe, Lucy and Rami drop by before you can reply. Gwil updates them on your dilemma, being the only other people besides himself to know. The three are silent as they follow your gaze at Ben.
Lucy places a hand on her shoulder, sympathy seeping out of her blue eyes.
“We need to get you fucked or something.” She says. The four of you laugh as you shake your head.
She winks, prompted by the amusement. “I’m serious! A little palette cleanser! It’s not going to hurt anyone is it?”
You sigh, nose scrunched. “Problem is, Lucy, if I’m gonna have sex, I kinda want it to be with someone I like.”
Rami moves his head around, as if searching for someone to set you up with. He makes accidental eye contact with Ben, who he gives the “what’s up” head nod before going back to the small circle you guys made. “Take your pick of anyone in the room, although I wouldn’t go for Gwil or Joe if I were you. They can be divas sometimes.”
Laughter erupts from the four of you again as you lean your head on Gwil’s shoulder in consolation. Joe fake cries, “I thought you loved me, Rami! I thought we had something real!”
Ben watches silently at the gesture. He couldn’t help but feel something when you got closer to Gwil, although it might just be annoyance because you hadn’t said anything to him all night yet you were fine with the other Bo Rhap boys.
Before you can speak into the circle, you hear your name called across the room. You’d know that voice from anywhere; it’s your favorite one.
Ben’s waving his arms around to signal for you to come and you can’t help but giggle at the dork. You notice Katriona’s absence as you make your way towards the loveseat her and Ben occupied. He pats the spot that she sat in before disappearing and you want to laugh, almost as though you’re wrongfully taking her place.
“I feel like we haven’t spoken to each other in so long, Y/N! How’ve you been? Don’t tell me you’ve been getting close with Gwil now.” Ben speaks at a pace much faster than normal and you know that he’s already had quite a few drinks in him. He winks cheekily at the last bit, causing you to shake your head.
“He’s more like a brother to me if you wanna be creepy like that.” You respond and he laughs.
“Good. You deserve someone who’s gonna make you laugh and you guys didn’t look like you were having a good time.”
You smile at his words. If only he knew. “We were just talking about life, really. He was giving me some advice.”
“Oh? Advice on what? Maybe I can help.” He offers eagerly. You swallow hard, not only because of the nature of your conversation but also because you hadn’t spoken to him in quite some time.
“No, no. That’s okay, it was small.” You quickly shut down any further interrogation. “How have you been though?”
Ben frowns for a moment before replying. “I feel like I should ask you that, I haven’t seen you in so long. Have you been avoiding me or something?” He jokes, a smirk teetering off his lips.
You shake your head, forcing a smile. “Nah, just been doing a lot of things.”
“We should set up a time to hang out though, are you free next week?”
“Y/N! My goodness, you look lovely!” Your head snaps up to meet Katriona’s warm eyes. She’s back with two drinks in her hand and genuine excitement on her face from seeing you.
That was another issue in all this; she’s so fucking nice it hurts. You couldn’t hate her even if you tried because she’s nothing but sweet to you and you don’t know how to react sometimes. Lucy’s much closer to you than she is to Katriona but tells you to be civil because of how welcoming she is.
You knew all Katriona wanted was to be happy as well and you feel guilty for thinking ill of their relationship.
Ben takes the drink from her as she goes to sit on his lap, squeezing the three of you tight into the love seat.
“Thank you.” You say, scooting yourself over as much as you can with the inch of space you have left.
“Did I miss anything?” She grins, eyes flicking back between you and Ben.
He juts his lips out, forehead wrinkles popping out as he shrugs. “Just trying to schedule a day for us to get together again.”
“Oh yes! I’d love that!” Katriona exclaims. “A double date, yeah? Y/N, tell me you’ve got someone special in your life now.”
Ben eyes you, curious for an answer as you stutter. “U-Uh, no. Not really.”
She frowns. “That’s impossible, you’re absolutely stunning, any person would be daft not to fall for you.”
Yes, any person but your boyfriend apparently. You think to yourself.
You hop onto your feet, suddenly feeling like the loveseat was too crowded. You clutch your bag tightly and shake your head.
“Nah, it’s just not the right time, really.”
“Aw, well I still wanna schedule a day for all of us. Please let me know.” She persists and you sip your drink. Ben furrows his brows as you stand, Katriona taking her spot back.
“Yeah! Of course. I just can’t give you an answer right now though, I’m leaving for LA next week, but I’ll text you guys after that?”
“Oo, what’s in LA?”
“My next film, it’s called La La Land, I’m opposite Harry Styles in it.” You reply, glancing at Ben who’s been quiet the whole time. You hadn’t told him you had something else going on.
“You are?” He asks, a bit offended that you didn’t mention anything to him.
“Y-Yeah, I’ve been prepping for it for the last couple of weeks and rehearsals start next week.” The disappointment is evident in his eyes when you meet them.
Before Katriona can say anything, Lucy, who was standing watching the whole thing unfold, senses your unease and steps in.
“Hiya! Sorry to bother but Y/N,” She places a hand on your arm. “There’s something I wanted to ask you and I wanted to before I forgot.”
You nod quickly, eyes screaming a “thank you” as you leave Ben and Katriona. She beams, waving at you as you walk away.
“My god, I need to leave.” You say once they’re out of earshot. Lucy giggles a “you’re welcome” before leading you to the door.
“You know, you’re going to have to be her friend someday.”
You sigh. “I’m trying here, I am. It’s not going to happen over night.” You can’t help the guilt; you really did wish you could appreciate Katriona but you can never get the image of her and Ben together out of your head, much less kick Ben out of your heart. “I’m a bit relieved now that filming is over because then I really won’t have to be around him anymore. No matter how much I wanna see him, it also kills me to.”
“Until the film comes out. Then you’ll have to see him every day for another month and a half for press.” Lucy reminds and you roll your eyes.
"That’s not for a while though. That gives me time to fall in love with someone else who hopefully won’t break my heart and there, I’ll be over him.”
“Yeah.” She smiles lovingly. “I’m looking forward to that too for you. I’m tired of seeing you so hung up on him, no matter how lovely he is.” You groan, pulling her in for a hug.
“Lucy, I hate him.” You whisper and she lets out a breath.
“I know, love. He’s the worst isn’t he?”
“He stole my heart. He’s the absolute devil.”
She laughs and pats your back, pulling away from the hug. “Look, I’m not giving you any false hope, but you never know how these things work. Give it some time.”
“I doubt things will change.” You reply. “He looks so...” You trail off, watching Ben and Katriona sit on the couch, his arm around her, conversing about who knows what. They look comfortable; something you can’t say for yourself.
“Be as optimistic or pessimistic as you want. But know that there is someone out there for you, whether it be Ben or who knows, maybe someone out in LA next week. But whoever they are, they’re waiting for you with open arms, ready for you to love them, and they’re going to be perfect for you.”
You smile at your best friend as she pulls you in for another hug. “Don’t lose hope.” She whispers.
“Thank you.” You utter. “I think I should go home now, I’m not really in the partying mood anymore.”
“Alright.” Lucy frowns. “I’ll see you in a couple of days for lunch before you leave, yeah? The boys and I wanna wish you good luck on your next project.”
“Of course, of course. Give my love to everyone, yeah?” You smile her once more before making your rounds to everyone left at the party, who all frown at the thought of seeing you go. You didn’t really want to leave everyone else, but for your own sanity, you had to. You knew you’d see everyone again at the release of the film and decided you’d come back a happier, stronger person at that time.
You feel Ben’s eyes burning into you, as if he’s expecting you to walk over to him but you decide to avoid his gaze. After waving to Roger and Brian once more, you depart from the party with your chin up.
-
On the Uber ride home, you are silent. You originally planned for Gwil to drive you back but part of you is grateful you left because who knows when Gwil would’ve decided to go home, let alone pressed you to speak at a time when you didn’t want to.
You scroll mindlessly through Instagram and sigh. Most of the photos you’re seeing are of people living their best lives and you wonder how many of them are genuinely content with their positions in life. Your feed was similar to most people in that it exhibited the side of yourself that you let people see. If only they knew the displeasure you had been feeling for a while now.
As an actress, you saved your dramatics for the screen. You loathed those who aired their dirty laundry and felt it wasn’t anyone’s business to know what was going on in your personal life. After all, it’s one of the only things that grounds you.
You scroll further down your feed to the two photos you had posted of you and Ben. One was a mirror selfie in your costumes for that day’s shooting and the other was a candid of you guys laughing. Your heart clenches at the memory for it felt like a lifetime ago that it happened. As for the day you posted it, everyone flocked to the photos to comment how cute of a couple you two would be and shipped you both.
But you and Ben never spoke of everyone’s comments for fear on your end that it would make things awkward, and that was that.
“Hey, you’re Y/N Y/L/N, right?” The Uber driver’s voice rips you away from your thoughts and prompts you to nod.
“I loved your work in that one movie!” They rattle off details about it before you finally give them to name, to which they snap and say “that’s the one! I thought that was one of your best movies, if I’m honest. My daughter is a big fan of your acting in that one.”
This time, a genuine smile makes its way onto your lips as you look up. “Thank you so much, it means a lot to hear that people actually like what I’m doing." You joke.
“Haha, yeah. I get that, but you’re great at what you do.” That simple remark causes you two to spring into a conversation about your favorite films and for the first time that night, your thoughts are not consumed by Ben.
-
Back in the party, Katriona is now asleep on Ben’s shoulder. He smiles down at her for a moment before sipping the last of his water. He hadn’t drank that much, enough to get him buzzed and a little more talkative, but the water is a nice pause from everything else.
He can’t help but sigh as you cross his mind. You didn’t even say goodbye to him. In fact, you haven’t said much to him at all. Anger begins to run through him, why didn’t you tell him about your new film? Why haven’t you said anything at all?
Ben realises just how little you guys have interacted over the several, aside from the usual “good morning” followed by a smile.
Your part in the film wasn’t gigantic but you managed to charm your way into everyone’s heart whilst on set. And when you finished your scenes, the rest of the cast and crew still had a month and a half to go but that didn’t stop you from popping on set every now and then.
Naturally, when Ben started dating Katriona, he dedicated more of his time to making their relationship work. But that didn’t mean he didn’t think of you every once in awhile and missed hanging around. He went from being with you most hours of his day, whether it was alone or with a big group, to hardly seeing you at all. Even when you did visit, he noticed you made less and less of an effort to stay speaking with him.
This killed him a bit because you two had gotten so close and now you seem to give him the cold shoulder all the time.
He wanted to believe it was just because you were occupied helping other people around set all the time now but since you are so abrupt to leave him and Katriona now, he knows something must be off.
“Hey!” a drunk Joe shouts as he swings by. He glances at the two of them and raises his eyebrows. “So you guys still together, huh.”
Ben laughs at his shit-faced friend, nodding. “Yep, back together.”
Joe frowns, taking a seat on the coffee table across the couple. “That’s a shame.” Ben furrows his brows at his friend’s words.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because,” Joe waves his hands around trying to remember what he was going to say next. He gulps before speaking. “I don’t know if I should say it. She might get mad at me for telling you.”
“No no. Please tell me, Joe.” Ben snaps, half-annoyed at him and wondering if he’s speaking his true opinion. “It’s gotta be important since you’re sitting here, criticizing my relationship with my girlfriend. Whoever you think might get mad, I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“Well, I guess you know her better than I do so I should probably say it.” He replies, pursing his lips. Ben hangs on to his every word, now completely invested. Who’s he talking about?
Joe nods to himself, looking down into the ground to casually say, “It’s kinda a shame because Y/N is in love with you, ya know? She’s so hung-up on you, it’s endearing but sucks to watch her go through it. Also kinda awkward cause you guys are perfect for each other yet you’re still dating someone else.”
Ben stares blankly at his friend, who smiles at him happily, as if he didn’t just reveal something huge to him. Something that Ben didn’t quite consider a possibility until it was just said. He licks his lips, jaw dropped in disbelief.
“She’s what?”
—
Edit: Ah hi friends! I wasn’t expecting such love for this story, so thank you so much for that! :)
Read Part Two Here
Send me feedback, nsfw talk for Rami, Ben or Freddie or just overall love right here :)
#ben hardy#ben hardy x reader#ben hardy fanfic#ben hardy one shot#ben hardy imagine#ben hardy smut#gwilym lee#joe mazzello#rami malek#lucy boynton#bohemian rhapsody#bo rhap#bo rhap cast
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