#and got approached and wrapped into a convo as I was putting my stuff away

[howmanybees]

Twice this week I’ve been hit on by old men

:( this is why I hate going anywhere by myself

[food4dead]

Ive gotta say this out loud somewhere bc it's eating my brain like a worm. I had an off putting and creepy coworker at an old job of mine that i constantly butted heads with. There were rumors that our boss's boss got him the job (turned out to be true) and he was a genuine creep. Specifically to the girls. And incompetent. Like this guy sucked, no one liked him and i was like fucking batman to the other girls that worked there bc if he cornered them either literally or just into a convo, i would descend on him and tell him to fuck off.

He once offered to tie my apron for me. I told him id rather get third degree burns on my chest from steaming milk than have his hands near my ass. A few weeks later he offered to come with me, alone, to the storage room to "help" me get the stuff we needed. I looked down my nose at him and asked him in what way exactly did he think he was going to be helpful in this endeavor, when he couldn't even put away the truck in that same room in under 5 hours? He said nothing and avoided me after that. I talked shit to my partner about him constantly.

Lo and behold, bf gets a job at that same place years later but as a manager. And that guy is still there! So obviously id primed him to expect the worse of this guy and he did for a while. But then, he starts telling me about how that guy's doing at work now.

He's no longer incompetent, and is actually quite helpful. Ok, good, id sure fuckin hope so after being there for 3+ years.

He's not really a creep, he actually keeps to himself most of the time and is polite to everyone he talks to, especially the girls. ...ok, maybe i actually humbled him more than i thought. Also good.

Then, slowly, my partner starts talking about this guy as if they're friends. Telling me about something funny Guy did at work today, how Guy covered the grill so someone else could go on break and it was a huge help, stuff like that. I asked him about it finally and he was like yeah, Guy really isnt that bad. A little awkward sometimes but i guess he's changed since you've known him. I say it's probably just bc you're also a man but whatever it's not like i have to deal with him anymore.

But then. Partner gets invites to dnd with some of his other coworkers, one of them is a dm apparently and wants to set up a campaign with work friends. Partner goes a couple times, establishes that this is actually fun, and invites me to come next time to watch bc that's what i like to do. So i go. And Guy is there.

Apparently he lives here with 2 other roommates, one of them being the dm that organized this. The other being the son of the director that got him his job. (That's how i was able to confirm the rumors) It's almost incomprehensible to me that Guy is living with roomates. Peacefully. But he is. I walk in with Partner and Guy and I make eye contact. We stare at each other for a second before he approaches me. Instantly I'm ready for a fight, like i felt my face flush and got hit with an adrenaline rush.

He offers me his hand, to shake. I never broke eye contact but i took it. He welcomed me to their home. He told us goodbye when we left. And that was it. He had fun during the campaign but wasnt the abrasive and off kilter person i remembered. I was shaken bc i find it hard to believe that ppl can actually change.

I keep going with Partner to these campaigns whenever i can and it becomes increasingly obvious to me that Guy actually has changed. I obviously still make him nervous, though, as he's especially polite and courteous to me when im there. I'll usually bring my switch with me and play while listening to them run their campaign, and Guy offers me his switch charger every time i do so since the first time i accepted the offer. But he actually is polite and helpful and kind and. Not creepy anymore. And i cant wrap my head around how that happened.

I ask Partner about it eventually and he tells me it actually was the way i treated Guy + his job being threatened (for bs work politics reasons) that ironed him out. Im genuinely shocked but accept this answer. I never really think about why Guy was like that in the first place, just accepted he was a cishet man acting like they do.

Now this brings us to the present. I dont remember why but Partner and i were talking about Guy and how much i used to hate him. I wonder out loud, for the first time, why he was like that. Partner drops the bombshell on me that Guy was a FUCKING FARM BOY. HE WAS RAISED ON A RANCH. DOING RANCH WORK WITH HIS BROTHERS. THIS JOB IS BASICALLY HIS FIRST REAL JOB. THAT'S WHY HE DIDNT FUCKING KNOW HOW TO ACT AROUND OTHER PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, IN A SETTING LIKE THAT. HE DIDNT REALIZE HOW MUCH BIGGER HE WAS THAN THE GIRLS THERE AND THAT WHEN HE GOT TOO CLOSE TO THEM TO TALK TO THEM HE WAS LITERALLY BACKING THEM INTO A CORNER AND LOOMING OVER THEM. HE DIDNT REALIZE THAT OFFERING TO TIE MY APRON WOULD COME OFF AS CREEPY. HE WANTED MY FUCKING HELP TO LEARN THE STORAGE ROOM BETTER BC HE KNEW THAT I KNEW IT AND THATS WHY HE ASKED TO COME WITH ME THAT ONE TIME. AND I JUST. I DONT KNOW.

I'm irritated that i didnt catch that but i have reasons to assume the worst of men that i work with. And now im trying to reconcile this new information about Guy with my previous and current image of him as a maladjusted, creepy weeb turned normal guy but still a weeb. The worst part of it all is that my dad was also a farm boy and acted odd and weird when he was a teen/young adult. He's still got weirdo tendencies as an adult. And as soon as Partner told me Guy was raised on a ranch, my brain drew up my mental image of him alongside my dad and started making comparisons.

I just. Dont know how to feel about him still. My inital gut reaction to the guy was "Creepy. Bad. Not safe. Be vigilant." and unfortunately bc of the way i am, it's extremely difficult for me to change or get past my initial read of someone. So whenever i see Guy i still get the initial gut drop feeling but then i have to scoop it out of my intestines and tell it to get a grip. It would have been so much easier if he had just stayed a creep (<- joking). But i am glad he grew as a person and no longer makes his feminine coworkers uncomfortable. But that means now i have to, too. And im just now realizing this is the first time im having to do something like this. I guess that's why i cant stop thinking about it

[cal-puddies]

a million little times // ashton irwin

big shout out to @kindahoping4forever for letting me work this out and coming in with the last minute help for re-ordering. i hope she was surprised because i started this so she would be. (old convo a while ago, i didn’t forget!)

word count: 2169

warnings: angsty, mentions of cheating/infidelity, mentions of sex

Masterlist // Ko-Fi

Let me know what you think!

Ash falls onto his bed. Your smell surrounds him, from the last time you were there; a tawdry 2 weeks of nakedness and sex, kissing and talking and showing you everything he could be for you. 

But you still left when Logan came back. 

Him and the band were in rehearsal for tour and he knew it’d be months before he could see you again. He wouldn’t get to see you until he was home or if Logan left and you could get away.

He catches the green toothbrush, next to his pink one out of the corner of his eye; you’d immediately gone for the green when presented with the choices and Ash happily took the pink because he was with you. He kept all of your travel stuff since he was single and if it wasn’t around at home it couldn’t raise any questions. Again, Ash was happy to, because it meant he was with you. 

He remembers the way the sheets wrapped around your body and it gave and gave and gave, and he couldn’t imagine any man not giving you absolutely everything. 

He thinks about you just in his shirt, so undone and pretty, the hours and hours of talking. Spilling all your secrets to each other, you told him about what you’d wanted in life and he told you how he wanted a family. 

Even though he subconsciously knew you were someone else’s, you always made him feel like you were his, like Logan didn’t exist, unless he brought him up first. 

*****

Logan places his cufflinks while he watches you finish your makeup, “we could have paid someone.” He mentions, checking his tie. 

“Why? it’s just a party.” You shrug. 

“You never let me spoil you.” He groans. 

“You only want it because I’m the girl on your arm.” You roll your eyes, the air was tense, like it always is anymore. “And I don’t need to be spoiled.” 

“Fine.” He huffs. 

He watches you reach for perfume, he grabs the one he got you most recently, but you reach for the one you bought for Ashton, without even thinking. 

“When did you even get that?” Logan asks, seeming to really notice it for the first time. 

“I’m not sure, a couple years ago?” You reach for Ashton’s earrings and walk out to get yourself dressed. 

When you get to the party, Ashton is the first person you look for, he’s in the middle of the room, surrounded by his friends, he smiles softly when you make eye contact.

“Should we get drinks?” Logan asks. 

You nod, leading him toward the middle of the room before heading to the bar. When you pass Ash you tuck your hair behind your ear, so he sees the earrings and gets a whiff of you. He knows that means to find you later. 

You excuse yourself to fix your makeup, Ash locks the door behind him a few minutes later, pressing himself against your back. “What do you want?” He whispers. 

“You, just you.” You murmur, turning into him, kissing him. 

It’s instantly needy, he can’t keep you in here long and you both know that. You immediately start undoing his belt, and he lifts you onto the counter, pulling your skirt up over your waist and pushing your panties to the side. 

Logan spots you when you walk back in from outside. You glance at Ashton, back with his friends like 10 minutes ago you weren’t wrapped around him. His cheeks were a little pink, but you were downright still flushed. 

Logan’s arm scoops around your back, “there you are.” Is tightly whispered in your ear. 

“It’s just a little warm, stepped out for some air.” 

“Well are you ok? You still look flushed.”

*****

Ash can’t wait, you can sense it the second you open the door to his car, leaving yours in the office lot again. 

You were heading to the Beverly Wilshire, where you spent most of your multi day sessions with him. Especially back when it was New, 5 years ago. 

His hand slides up your thigh and you glance at him. He smiles and his eyes soften, the look he gave you when you first met; Before he knew you were married, or what you did, before putting all the moves on you. It inevitably worked. You could say for certain. 

Which is why you were here now. 

You wrap your hand around the back of his neck and he puts the car in drive. 

“I hate the rules.” He murmurs, while you’re laying in bed together. 

“I know. They aren’t my favorite either.” You admit, looking up at him. “But, they keep us from overstepping.” 

“You mean they keep me from asking you to leave him again.” 

“Ashton.” You move away, pushing yourself off the bed. You grab his button down and pull it on. “We can’t do this again. You know all the reasons why…” 

Ash gets on his knees and crawls across the bed, grabbing you by the waist, “Yes, I know all the reasons why we shouldn’t have this conversation, but I have one why we should.” He presses his lips to yours. You make a “hmmm” noise, “because I love you, and you love me. And we’re great together. And you told me 3 years ago that you weren’t in love with him anymore.” 

“Yes and we almost went through with that plan and someone got cold feet.” You remind him, tapping his chest before pulling away, heading for the bathroom. 

“Does he make you cum like I do?” He calls after you. 

“You know he doesn’t.” You say, closing the door. 

Ash collapses face first on the bed, sighing. 

*****

There was barely enough space for Ash in the backseat of the SUV, and it was only now that you were twisting his curls between your fingers, head on your chest, draped over your body like a blanket that you really took notice.

“That dress looked incredible.” He murmurs. 

“Oh, did you even see it?” You breathe out a laugh, “before we got cum all over it?” You tease.

“I’m sorry, it’s been too long.” He smiles at you. 

“I know, that’s why I agreed to a parking lot meetup… didn’t know I needed a change of clothes though.” You smirk. 

“You can come back to mine?” Ash offers, knowing you’d likely say no and you should say no.

“Bubba.” You murmur. “I think I’d love that. But that doesn’t solve the ‘what will I wear home?’ Situation.” You point out. 

“Couldn’t you stay? Say you went out with the girls or stayed downtown because you worked late?”  

“I’d be pushing it.” You sigh. 

“Let me have you for the night, please?” He's so close to begging, sitting up to unleash the full power of his pout and green eyes. 

“Ash…” you reach up, resting your palm on his cheek, “you know I want that too.” 

“You’ll have to shower anyway, I’m all over you. You have stuff at my place.” He reminds you. 

“We agreed not at your place anymore… too personal, too many emotions in that bed, too easy for your friends to just pop by.” 

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just hard you know? I want you around.” 

“I know.” You nod. 

“What do you say? Just come shower.” He tries again.

“Ok,” You agree, sitting up and reaching for your panties. You know going to his place means you’ll give in and stay the night. It’s why it became off limits in the first place. 

Ash pulls on his undershirt and pants, handing over his button down for you to put on instead of the cum covered dress. 

He gets you to stay, coaxing you to the bed so he can hold you before you shower. 

“Can I see you again this week?” He asks. 

You look over his face, he looks so unsure, lacking the confidence he normally has. “Maybe, I think Logan might be out of town this weekend. I’ll let you know.” You promise. You peck him on the lips, breathing in deep and trying to remember every bit of this night.

You text Logan that you’d be staying downtown due to working late. 

*****

Ashton knew it was wrong, the second you gave him a second glance though, he was gone. You flicked your hair off your shoulder and he saw the wedding ring, but it didn’t stop him from approaching you at the bar. 

He brushes his fingertips over your bare shoulder. “Doesn’t a pretty little thing like you have someone to fetch her drinks?” 

He can feel your eyes roll. “Yeah, sure. But did it cross your mind that I needed to get away?” You smirk. 

“Ashton.” He holds out his hand and you turn to shake it, he’s immediately breathless, staring in your eyes. You introduce yourself and occupy your time talking to him, maybe another 20 minutes. 

You lose yourself, not noticing the other people around trying to get drinks, but you notice when he puts himself in between you and a glass of wine you’d knocked with your elbow, catching the spill himself. Your eyes go wide, “I’m so so sorry!” You say, grabbing for napkins being handed to you by the bartender. 

“It’s ok… for you? I’d ruin myself a million little times.” He hushes you, giving you a sweet smile. 

He asks for your number as you get ready to move on, “Bold, since I saw you looking at my wedding ring.” You tease. 

“Just wanna talk to you again.” He shrugs, handing over his phone so you can punch in the number. 

*****

I can’t meet at the hotel. I have to meet L for dinner. 

We need to talk. 

He didn’t respond, but Ashton was waiting in your parking lot, from the early days. It sat near the beach, and you were very familiar with the traffic patterns of it. 

You see he’s not in his car so you head out to the beach and see him there, alone. 

“Hey baby.” You say quietly, standing just behind him.

“This is it, isn’t it?” He asks.

“I’m not sure. Logan’s job wants him to move… to the UK.” 

“You know we go there sometimes.” He points out. “What about your job?”

“We haven’t talked about what it means for us yet. That’s why I had to cancel our night.” You admit. 

“So, what… you wanted to come here and break my heart, kid?” He snarks back, looking back over his shoulder at you.

“Don’t be an asshole, Ash. You’ve known this thing had a time limit.” 

He sighs and stands in front of you, “I’ll always wish we’d met before you met him. Because I do think you’d be with me.” 

“Ash…” you say softly. “We can’t…” 

“Yeah… I know. Call me or don’t at this point.” He shrugs, squeezing your shoulder as he walks off. 

*****

Ash looks at himself in the mirror, it was a typically rainy day in London and he had the night off, so he was heading out to meet you at a hotel you’d picked. 

He hadn’t seen you six months, since your move to London. He knew you were miserable and hated it, you’d emailed him a bunch and he’d send the bare minimum in replies. Having the distance and the beach moment gave him clarity. 

He sighs, slipping on a jacket and then taking the elevator to slide into a car. 

He spots you immediately, and he can almost smell your perfume at the door. 

“Hi.” He mentions, standing next to you at the bar. 

“Hey,” you smile softly, moving to hug him and he looks around and shakes his head so you stop and course correct. “I’ve missed you.” You offer. 

“Yeah? My life’s been different without you.” He agrees. And then he’s quiet. He lets you talk at him a bit, but doesn’t offer anything up. 

“What’s going on?” You ask. 

He’s silent for a while longer and then swirls the glass in his hand, “You know how sometimes the world stops? And it’s like… big life changing moments? I’ve had a few of them. But 3 have been with you, and only one has been truly positive, and I don’t know if it’s meeting you, or leaving you.” He tips the glass of whiskey back against his lips. 

He slips off the stool and throws a few bills on the bar to pay for all the drinks. 

“Wait… Ashton?” You ask, confused. He can see the tears in your eyes and any other time, that’d stop him. 

“Go home to Logan…” he murmurs, “you’ll never be mine and I’m not ok with second best any more.” 

“You were never second best.” You whisper, biting your lip, holding back tears. 

“I was never gonna be the one you chose.” He shrugs. “And I’ve accepted that.” He turns on his heel to walk away. 

“I came here to choose you.” You whisper to his back.

If you would like to be tagged when I post, make sure you get added to the new tag list!

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[vintagedolan]

Maybe you’ve been dating one of the twins for awhile and it’s finally time to take him to meet your family? All your siblings and your mom like him, but your dad is super old fashioned and doesn’t understand his job being YouTube. Something kinda angsty but ends nicely? Idk, you write so well, if you decide to use this I’m sure it will be great!

omg listen okay this actually put me in my feels when I thought about it with Grayson 🥺

“Again? You wanna go again?” Grayson would tease, holding your little sister up in the pool water.

“Again gwayson, again!” She’d squeal, begging. And so he’d toss her up in the air and catch her again, even though he swore the ‘last one’ was twenty times ago. She was belly laughing when she came back down, and your boyfriend was grinning from ear to ear, fueled by her smile.

“He’s so good with her,” your mom piped up from beside you. It had been a pool day with the whole family, and you’d brought Grayson along to finally meet them all. And as you knew they would, everyone loved him.

Well - almost everyone. Even from your spot by the pool you could see your dad, over in the shade, sulking.

“Hey, don’t worry about Dad. He’ll come around,” your mom said, following your gaze.

“I doubt that,” you huffed, annoyed. He had no reason to dislike Grayson - he was nothing but respectful with your family, always ‘yes sir’ and ‘no ma’am’. The rest of your siblings got along with him great; it was almost like he’d always been a part of the family.

“Go talk to him, see what he has to say,” she suggested, nudging you. You sighed, knowing it would have to happen eventually. Wrapping your towel around your waist, you headed over to where he was sitting. 

He noticed you approaching, but then his eyes went right back to watching Grayson. 

“You gonna sulk over here all day, or are we gonna talk about what’s bothering you?” You asked, sitting down beside him. 

“What? Nothing’s bothering me,” your dad said, crossing his arms. Classic deflection - nothing new there.

“Well then why are you looking at my boyfriend like you can’t wait for him to leave?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow. 

He sighed at that, knowing you weren’t going to let up. 

“I just worry, about his career. I want someone whose going to be able to support you in the future, give you the life you deserve,” he huffed.

You bit back a laugh. Obviously he’d never seen Grayson’s bank account.

“Well, first off, I can support myself. And second off, Grayson does just fine, trust me.”

“Internet fame doesn’t last forever sweetheart. It’ll fade away, and the money will too. He’s gotta have some other, real life skills if it’s gonna last,” he countered. You tried to ignore the condescending tone, instead turning to look at Grayson, who was carrying your sister out of the pool.

“Hey Gray, come down here when you’re done!” You called out.

“Okay, be there in a sec!” He answered, sitting your sister down and helping her take her floaties off before wrapping her in a towel and passing her to your mom. He came jogging over, still dripping a bit with his towel wrapped around his shoulders.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“Oh, I was just talking with dad about all sorts of stuff. Your building stuff, Wakeheart, LovefromSean, you know, all the stuff you do outside of just youtube. But I figured you could explain it better,” you smiled, staring right at your dad as you said it. 

“Oh! Yeah, we have a lot of other stuff going on behind the scenes. What exactly were you curious about?” He asked, polite as ever. 

And the next thirty minutes you’d just listen to them talk about everything, from building Wakeheart from the ground up to his plans of building a house in the future. The only interruption was when your little sister made her way down, asking to sit in Grayson’s lap. He held her as if he’d done it a thousand times before, and she was so exhausted from swimming that she actually ended up falling asleep before the conversation ended. 

“Well. It looks like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders Grayson. Glad to have you as part of the family,” was the end of the convo, and you were beaming.

Ten minutes later your parents had gone inside, taking your sister and not so subtly giving the two of you some alone time. You got back in the pool, wrapping your legs around his waist as he waded around, smiling.

“So, did I pass the test?” He asked, a bit nervous.

“With flying colors, everyone loves you,” you reassured him, pulling him in for a kiss.

[im-jjs-gun]

Hot Tub Time (JJ x Reader)

Summary: the group decides to get good use out of JJs impulse buy, things get steamy between you two and JJ can’t keep his hands off you.

Words: 2.9k

Warnings: smut, fingering, oral sex, unprotected sex (always wear a condom tho)

(side note this is my first time writing smut or anything so soz in advance)

----

It was a breezy night and the fire wasn’t cutting it so you, Sarah and Kie decide to get into the hot tub JJ got, might as well since it’s just sitting there. After stripping off and getting in the tub you hear a JJ wolf whistle from the hammocks and John B shout “room for three more?”.

The boys come running over joining the three of you in the warm water, naturally John B sits next to Sarah and Pope next to Kie cause of their weird friendship/relationship thing going on, so that leaves JJ next to you. It’s not that you don’t like the guy, more the opposite, both of you have always had this flirty thing going on ever since the boy found out you had boobs. JJ slips in next to you groaning cause of the warmth, you can’t help feel the butterflies in your tummy cause let's face it he’s hot as shit. He slings his arm around the back of you resting his hand so that his finger tips are just touching your shoulder, you felt his other hand come down under the water coming down on your thigh slightly massaging it, the butterflies only getting worse, sneaky touches here and there are normal but you know it’s just JJ being the tease he is.

After about 20 mins some other pogues show up looking for a party since there usually is one at John B’s, they join the rest of you in the tub but with the extra people it kinda cramped up the place. Sarah moved into John B’s lap to try and free up some space, which it did but you were still getting kicked under the water and couldn’t really sit comfortably so you decided you’d just get out and sit by the fire again. As you stood up and you felt someone grab your arm and say “hey where you going sweet cheeks'', cheesy nicknames being a thing with you two too, “the tubs kinda getting crowded so imma head” you said nodding over to the fire, JJ just looks up at you with a smirk  “well you could always use Sarah’s approach” he says looking down at his lap. You laugh and playfully hit him across the head, “now y/n there no need for that, I’m just fixing the problem at hand”, with that you just tell him to shut up.

Not wanting to leave the nice warm water, or be away from a shirtless JJ, you take him up on his offer and get back into the water, sitting in this lap so the side of your arm was pressed against his chest and your legs were swung across his thighs. You wrapped one arm around his neck to keep your balance and then the both of you went back to your respective conversations.

You, Kie and Sarah were talking about something funny and you couldn’t stop laughing which made your whole body shift on JJ, you felt a breath on neck “I’m not superhuman y/n, if you keep moving your gonna be felling a part of me you’ve never felt before” he says in a low voice into your ear, “oh be quiet Maybank” you say turning you head and looking at him, his eyes have changed from their usual blue/grey to a darker shade and you realise he wasn’t messing around this time, he was being serious. You decide to have some fun with this and start moving your legs slowly under the water  so your back is now against his chest, you feel JJ look down at you and stare down at your movements, you feel his hand come down to your thigh squeezing it slightly telling you to stop. You don’t, next you lean forward so it seems like you’re trying to get closer to Kie and Sarah to talk to them, you made it a point to roll your ass into his lap, you feel his hand grip tighter and from the corner of your eye you see him tight his head back slightly.

You smile at yourself knowing what you’ve done, sitting back up you place your mouth next to his ear “you’re not the only one that can be a tease Maybank”, pulling away he’s slightly biting his lip and looking you straight in the eyes. Almost instantly you feel him growing hard against your ass and you can’t help but push back harder, “oh baby girl you don’t know what you’ve started” he whispers in your ear, but you do you’re fully aware that he was not going to let you get away with that. J

J goes back to his conversation with Pope and a few minutes later he wraps his arm around your waist under the water pulling you even closer making it impossible for you to ignore his dick, you jump slightly when you feel his hand glide up your thigh stopping at the edge of your bikini bottoms. You squeeze his thigh to tell him what he was doing was okay, he stays at that spot for what felt like hours just drawing patterns on your thigh, you were pretty sure you could feel yourself getting wet even though you were already in water.

Getting impatient and hornier by the second you look up at him and go “JJ if you don’t do something right now I swear I’m never speaking to you again”,  he just laughs at you and leans down “don’t worry y/n, i’ll get there eventually I just like watching you squirm”. When you felt him finally move his hand over your core you have to stop yourself from moaning realising everyone else was still in the tub, you were currently very grateful that JJ got the jets so that the bubbles could hide his actions.

His fingers were barely touching you, he was gliding them up and down your bikini covered folds teasing you to the max. Just when you think you’re about to explode he presses down on your clit making you grip his thigh even harder and drop your head back onto his shoulder. You hear JJ chuckle at your reaction, “oh you think that’s funny” reaching back you push your plan against his hard on making him hiss quietly.

After a good half an hour of back and forth teasing, the group that had arrived earlier said they were leaving and everyone else decided to get out of the tub and dry off. You get off JJ’s lap and immediately he jumps out if the tub and runs into the house, probably didn’t want anyone to see his hard on. When he was gone Kie comes over to me “hey y/n what was that with JJ?” Scared shitless that she had seen, you ask “what are you talking about ?”, “all those private little side convos, all the whispering, what was that about?” She asks, giving  you a suspicious look. “Oh we were just making fun of the newbies, you know usually JJ jokes” she looks satisfied with your answer and just then you see JJ, his bottom half wrapped up in a towel, come out of the house and over to you holding out another towel motioning for you to let him wrap you up in it. You smile and stand between his open arms and he wraps the towel, and his arms around u at the same time hugging u from the back. “Wow thanks for getting me a towel to man” John B joking complains, “sorry man, my baby girl comes first” JJ says surprising you cause he’s never called you his before.

Its a couple hours later, Pope Kie and Sarah have all gone home and John B’s practically passed out on the couch but you and JJ are still sat out on the porch talking and laughing. You were at one end of the couch and JJ was at the other, your legs in his lap, “hey y/n come over here”, he says lifting up his arm so you could slide in beside him. He pulls you in close drawing patterns on your shoulder, you feel him shift a bit and then feel his hand on the side of your face, pulling you to face him, he gets closer and closer until his lips are on yours softly kissing your and holding your face. It quickly gets more heated as you wrap your arms around his neck and he pulls you onto his lap so your were straddling him and again almost immediately you feel him get hard, he stops kissing you and looks at your with a smirk “well this positions familiar” you giggle and start kissing him again moving down to his neck sucking and kissing different spots. JJ starts to moan so you put your hand over his mouth knowing full well that John B is right on the other side of the wall.

You go back to making out for a bit, you’re constantly grinding on him aching for more friction. Suddenly you fell JJ’s arms under your legs and he stands up picking you up with him, you squeal quietly holding on to his neck, “JJ don’t wake up John B”, “don’t worry baby girl I got this”. JJ carefully manoeuvres all of John B’s stuff on the floor and takes you to what basically is his room since he usually stays at John B’s. He plops you down on the bed and goes back to lock the door behind him, you lean back against the headboard watching him walk back towards you. He grabs your ankles and pulls your further down the bed so your back is flat against it, he then puts one knee on either side of your hips towing over you and looking down. You tug on the edges on his muscle tank telling him you want it off and he swiftly removes the item of clothing off of his body revealing his god like abs that you have never gotten used to. You must’ve gotten lost in thought because the next thing you hear is JJ laughing “like the view?”, you pull him down to you by his neck and kiss him hard, his hands are roaming your body going up your legs and underneath your shirt, next thing you know both of you are in your underwear.

JJ starts to kiss down your neck to your chest but he stops and looks up at you “if you wanna stop just tell me okay?”, “okay JJ” you reply “now get back to what you were doing” you say jokingly, JJ shakes his head and smirks but doesn’t deny your request. He gets to your chest and slips your bra straps off your shoulders and the reaches around your to expertly unhook your bra, “great tits babes” he says looks at them in awe and you think to yourself its like he’s never seen boobs before, you laugh at his comment but it quickly turns into moans as he places his mouth around a nipple and massages you other boob with his hands.

You wrap your legs around his waist wanting to feel more of his body against yours, you reach down to cup his dick over his boxers making him stop his actions on your boobs and moan. You feel yourself get even wetter hearing him moan from your slightest touch and you want more, you push him up so he’s on his knees in front of you, he looks confused at first but when you go to pull his boxers down his eyes light up, “I like a girl who takes initiative” he smirks down at you. Pulling them down all the way his dick bounces up and JJ releases a sigh, you take him in surprised and excited at how big he is, you knew he was big but up close was a whole different ball game.

You get on knees in front of him and  wrap your hand around the base of his dick, pumping it a few times before placing the tip in your mouth moving your tongue around it. Knowing this would get a reaction out him you take all of him in at once relaxing your throat, “ohh shit, fuck baby where did you learn how to do that” JJ moans and wraps his hand in your hair holding it out of your way and guiding your head. You look up at him and he’s looking right back at you his mouth open a bit and breathing heavily, you keep sucking going to his pace when he says “baby if you keep doing that I’m gonna cum” so obviously you increase the pace, “fuck I’m gonna…I’m close” he moans and that’s when he pull back and take your mouth off his dick with a pop.

JJ lets out a groan and looks at you with the darkest eyes, “what the fuck y/n”, you give him the most innocent look you could knowing he was right on the edge and then sit back against the pillows waiting to see what he would do next. He comes over to you and grabs the sides of your bikini bottoms roughly pulling them off your body, you’re pretty sure you heard them rip but you couldn’t care less right now. He puts his hands on your knees pushing them apart, knelt in-between your legs leaning over you he leans down to kiss you roughly placing a hand on your neck to pull your face towards his, paying attention to his lips you moan out when you felt him sliding his fingers up and down your slit, “oh baby girl you’re so wet, who made you this wet huh?”, as he spoke he started to rub your clit fast in small circles making it almost impossible for you to do anything but moan. “Who was it y/n?”, “you baby it was you” you said looking up at JJ, your voice just turned him on even more making him groan and go back to kissing you. You wanted more, you needed more.

“Please JJ more” you moan out, and he takes his time but he finally places two fingers into you, slowly going in and out. He begins to pick up the pace but he knows he not hitting your sweet spot, you place your hand on his bicep and squeeze letting him know you’re getting impatient, he chuckles and curls his finger hitting your g-spot over and over again, “shit JJ just like that….faster”, “yes ma’am” he fingers you faster getting you closer to your high. “Baby I’m gonna cum” you tell him and just as you were about to reach your climax he stops, “paybacks a bitch baby” he says snuggly as he leans down and pecks you on the lips as you lie there out of breath, “but don’t worry I’m not done with you yet”.

With that JJ flips you over so you're on your tummy and grabs your hips so your ass is in the air, you feel his weight over you as he pushes your face down to the mattress “ready baby girl?” He asks “yes JJ now fuck me already”, you fell him push in the tip then pull out again, he does this multiple times and just as you were about to tell him to hurry the fuck up he slides his dick in all the way, deep and fast, how wet you are making that very easy for him.

You’re a moaning mess as he’s plunging in and out at, ironically, superhuman pace. JJ places his hand over your mouth to quiet your moans “unless you want the whole of the cut to know we’re having sex you better be quiet babe” he said smirking. Before you know it you’re on your back with JJ on top of you holding your legs up and knees apart, he keeps his pace hitting your g-spot with every thrust, you feel your climax building up, “fuck JJ I’m close”. He reaches between your legs rubbing your clit as fast as he could and somehow managed to fuck you even harder, making your high even more intense than usual.

Gripping his bicep you can’t help but scream out then your climax washes over you, JJ followed close behind you pulling out and cumming all over your tummy. You open your eyes to see JJ looking down at you jaw open, “baby girl you made quite the mess to clean up” he says looking back up at you with the biggest smirk you’ve seem plastered across his face. At first you were confused but then you felt how damp your legs and the sheets were. “Oh my god, did I?” You ask embarrassed, “yep we got ourselves a squirter” he replies. You roll over and hide your face, JJ just wraps his arms around you and says “don’t be embarrassed, it’s hot as fuck” you laugh and just enjoy his embrace.

Soon after you hear a knock at the door “are you two done with your fuck fest cause I would like to get some sleep” a grumpy John B says from the other side of the door, you both erupt into laughter, “yeah man we’re done” JJ replies sitting up, “come on lets get cleaned up”.

That night you slept in JJ’s arms not knowing what was gonna happen next.

[singingcookie]

👀👀 SO. THAT LATEST CHAPTER OF DOJ 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

👀👀👀👀 Yes. It certainly was a thing wasn’t it?  👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 In all seriousness this chapter was really difficult for me to bring myself to work on. And it was mostly because (compared to most of my other chapters) this one was really lacking detail. I had a few moments that stood out but figuring out how to smush them together in a cohesive way was hard. With that said, I’m gonna do something I haven’t done much til now. I’m gonna share my original outline for this chapter under the read more.

I might throw in comments between sections/thoughts. I normally post my outline at the bottom of my chapter documents and gradually get rid of bullet points as I get through them. This’ll be the first time I’ve looked at the outline since I completed, so I apologize for the length this might take on lol. That said....

DOJ CHAPTER 20 SPOILERS READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Deku’s pov this chapter.

Skip ahead to them at the thing. They’re in Tarasanudo in Kanagawa. Somewhere close to the Tokyo Bay. Last train will leave a bit after 9pm.

I like to preface my outlines with a pov if there’s a change from the previous chapter. Any ones that are continuations (so with chapters 9 & 10 for Deku, and chapters 11-15 for Ochako) don’t really get labelled like this but since it was Ochako for 19 I had to. I knew right away this had to be Izuku that we were hearing from because his thoughts--his perception of Uraraka in the story thus far--have been pretty close to nonexistent. I figured it was about time (especially put into this position) for us to glean an idea of what exactly is going on under that curly hair of his.

The second bullet point is just a point of reference for me so I don’t forget anything 😅 I’ll probably carry it on through my next few chapters too. Again, just so I don’t forget as I go since the setting will be relevant until the festival ends.

We get festival shenanigans maybe just them looking around at things at first. He keeps getting wrapped up in Uraraka. Lingering on whatever she does. Her excitement at the foods, the decorations. The way she sways to the music from each and every stall. Obviously this should be at least a few paragraphs. If not a page.

HAHAHAHA, oh man. So much for that. Deku really went damn wild at the start of this chapter. The whole introduction (before Ochako says the FIRST LINE OF DIALOGUE FOR THE CHAPTER WTF) was 2 pages long on my chapter document. And I remember being shook about it. “This much Deku??? You have this much to say?” It probably would have been less if he didn’t want to retell the whole dang story with the netsuke BUT HE DID WHAT HE DOES I GUESS!!

I also added the okonomiyaki scene pretty sporadically, I didn’t have it in my oultine at all. But I needed an introductory scene into them at the festival before Bakugou and Kirishima showed up. I think it turned out pretty well? I got a lot of questions about my research on that one cause it was so specific! 😅 Truth is I just look up those kinda details as I get to them mid-writing. Makes it take longer but the learning part is really interesting and fun for me!

And then there’s also the hints of them being followed by at least  two of their classmates, working up Uraraka and stemming Deku’s fear. Also added because I needed to segue naturally between the okonomiyaki and cork gun scenes.

Uraraka points to a cork gun stall nearby and says that she wants to play. They don’t fully approach the stand though, Uraraka standing back to look over the prizes to see what she wants to play for. He wonders why she doesn’t just play and figure it out later. She says that she’ll play better if she has something in mind already “don’t question my methods” she hums for a moment and he kinda playfully regards her. Maybe a mild stirring of something.

She surges forward, reaching for one of the cork guns while she holds the yen out for the vendor. “Hey, take the next one over.” Oh god Kacchan’s grabbed the same cork gun and now him and Uraraka are glaring at each other. Kirishima apologizes for the interruption, telling Kacchan that he can just take the next one over. He greets Deku who replies while still watching as Uraraka and Kacchan glare even while he complies to their classmate’s request. Both of them slam their money on the counter. Aaaaand they’re making it a competition. Great.

Thiiiiiiis turned out more of less the same, clearly. 😂 I had a different concept in my head originally of how these games worked there. Ended up digging hard for videos and photos to find out properly. Ended up altering my image to match but it still managed to work out on that front, regardless.

I knew I wanted Kirishima and Bakugou here with them (not only because I love the ship) but it gave them a chance to unwind and relax. Kind of ease off on the tension of them being stuck alone together. Not to mention that I felt it would be really good for cementing the idea of a “something more” kind of pondering in Deku.

Kirishima and Deku talk about what they’ve been up to since getting to the festival. Maybe Deku wonders about the snack that Kirishima has. It looks delicious. Some kinda meat thing. “Where’s the stall?” Kirishima tries to explain but Deku just looks lost. “How ‘bout me and--Bakugou just show you where once they’re finished?”

“That sounds--” Deku’s cut off by a whoop and when he looks back to the stand, they’re both setting the cork guns back down. Uraraka’s reveling in her victory and Kacchan tells her she only got one more point, so she shouldn’t be so excited. She says he’d be just as excited if the scores were reversed. The vendor has to remind them they have prizes to pick.

Kirishima and Deku kind of just ^^; about it. They get whatever the prizes are. Ochako maybe picked something with the idea of giving it to Inko. Kirishima says to Bakugou that he told Deku they’d show him to the stand with the meat skewers.

This got altered a LOT WOW. I think the reason this section changed so much was because I was trying to find a way to make the chapter flow. I left a lot of details out and mostly went big picture because I knew this part of the festival would involve a lot of tiny things that would be a pain to plan out. Lots of minor minutiae that I knew I’d get annoyed if I had to change a lot.

I knew I had to keep Kirishima with MEAT because he’s Kiri (hello it’s listed as one of his fav things even!) and I knew I wanted to have him almost tripped up and saying “Katsuki” just to hammer home where exactly they’re at rn in their interactions.

I extended their interactions together because saying “hey let’s walk around” only to separate them with narry another conversation felt pointless and stilted. That’s why I added the extended convo about the game (I didn’t have it in the outline that she cheated but when I thought about the game and her quirk, it was too fitting to not include!) and also the thing about their internships and things being “too calm” again. Was really trying to hammer home one last “YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE” for all you readers lol

They might get stuck together for a bit maybe up through the fireworks. They only realize after the fireworks are through. Uraraka wonders about if maybe there’s something that Deku wants to do now, especially since Bakugou and Kirishima p much vanished.

Deku says something offhandedly. He hadn’t really been pulled toward anything in particular. Maybe they could just walk around, see if they find some of the others. Maybe some kinda casual conversation. Ochako has them stop because she sees a yo-yo fishing game and she really wants a water yo-yo.

As you can see, the fireworks scene (which apparently everyone adores?) was very much not planned LOL. Nor was Bakugou clearly and purposefully ditching them. I don’t really have much in the way of explanations other than it’s what felt right. I considered including a time skip or two during this chapter...but then I realized how silly that would be over such a short time period. So I ended up including the ditching (including Bakugou literally yelled that “Nope!” and it was like “oh okay that’s what we’re doing cool thanks for the memo?”) and then the fireworks was a clear “time is passing while he’s wistful” kind of moment. I think it went over well and segued pretty naturally into this.

Deku just watches, musing to himself over how nice this has been...how nice she looks...she said something about wanting to give the stuffed animal in his grasp to his mom. As a thank you for the yukata. He still can’t believe that Inko never said anything to him about it. But honestly...what would he have said. What would he have done? He’s seen her in it for a while now and he still hasn’t commented about it to her…yeah, okay, he did try twice. Once at school and once with Eri but since then he hasn’t bothered to try again.

Maybe it’s pointless. Maybe the fact that he did try twice was the universe saying that it was dumb and he definitely shouldn’t. That he would make her uncomfortable so don’t bother.

Or maybe it wasn’t about her. Maybe it was the universe scolding him from trying to say it around other people… Embarrassing her around her friends and their former teacher...yeah. Yeah, no. It was definitely that. He needed to say something. She deserved to hear it. He couldn’t tell her about her kimono during that New Years celebration. Shouldn’t he tell her now? Respect both her and his mother’s efforts? Yes. He should definitely say something now.

As you can see....pretty much nothing here changed LOL. I knew this was exactly right but some stuff got clarified and extended, I feel. Made it feel a lot more stream of conscious like as a result of that.

Side note Deku has a big tendency to repeat himself mentally when I write him....idk why this happens but it does lmao.

Uraraka comes back over with her water yo-yo. She says something idk what. But Deku starts to try to say something about her thing. Bringing it up very slowly and awkwardly but before he can explain properly she interrupts him. “Deku-kun, do you hear that?” He goes quiet as he listens. Then……screaming. 

Then they hear someone exclaim that it looks like the bonfire is out of control. They look and...that’s not a normal bonfire. Those are blue flames.

LOL “She says something idk what” is such a staple of my outlines I cry. 😂 That and “Idk something else needs to go here figure it out later”

Anyway though another case of extension here. I knew I was gonna have to with “bringing it up slowly and very awkwardly” that’s vague and I had to show that happening so it was bound to be. I actually struggled on whether or not to let him say it. But ultimately it felt dissatisfying to let him say it and not give Uraraka or the readers the chance to dwell on it. It needs a moment to itself. It needs to be a heavy, impactful moment--but the problem is the League reveal was heavier so it would have knocked it away just as much as him not saying it at all.

Obviously my reveal (the last bullet point) changed a lot with how I conveyed it...also Uraraka’s line. But when I was writing it I realized that Uraraka would be more horrified than my outline which, as you can see, is really calm in comparison. But I knew the only way to reveal it all was Dabi blue flames. A staple of the League... But having Deku’s last line was a better ending line.

ANYWAY, sorry that took so long but. There you have it. Deeper thoughts and perspective from the planning of the chapter. I hope this was interesting seeing the difference between my outline, but I apologize if my commentary was at all boring lol

Thanks Kat!! Always happy to talk!!! 💖💖💖💖

[pastpatientlywaitingforimagines]

Then Her Body’s On Mine (Javier x Reader) Platonic

WC: 1472

You and Javier Muñoz had been best friends for exactly forever, and that was a fact. Your birthdays were five days apart (you would never let him forget that you were older and subsequently wiser), you grew up in the same neighborhoods, attended the same high school and college, and were in all of the same clubs. No matter what adventure your lives held, Javi was always by your side and you were always by his.

Now in your adult life, you were taking on a new adventure: Hamilton. You had been in the production for a while, Javi as an alternate and you as an ensemble member, but since most of the Original Broadway Cast had left, Javi had taken over full time for Lin and you had very recently taken over for Jasmine. While you loved the whole OBC dearly, being able to have a principle role in a Broadway production was a dream come true.

“How long have you and Javier known each other?” Mandy asked one afternoon as you were getting ready for rehearsal.

“Forever minus five days. Our mothers became friends at the hospital before we were born so I literally met him the day he was born. I don’t remember it, of course, but he’s always been there,” you answered.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed you were dating,” Lexi added to the conversation.

“We get that a lot. Coincidentally, we came out to each other on the same day. Ah high school, I remember it like it was yesterday,” you joked, pulling your hair into a ponytail before heading out of the door. You clambered down the stairs quickly to Javi’s dressing room, pounding on the closed door four times.

“Hurry up loser we’re starting soon!” You yelled. You heard Javi yelling back to you in Spanish on the other side of the door, followed closely by a loud crash. You giggled, bounding back up the steps and onto the stage.

“We’re going to be working on your blocking for ‘Say No To This’ first, so if you want to warm up your voice I would do that now,” Tommy directed as you joined your fellow Schuyler sisters on the stage. You ran through your warms ups with them, immersing yourself in the music and only faltering when Javi snuck up behind you and tickled your sides.

Tommy started directing your movements for the song, and you took very detailed mental notes. Each step you took was placed perfectly in your mind as you progressed.

You ran the beginning over and over, finally getting to the point where you and Javi were singing and acting at the same time.

“Alright, take five and then we’ll go from the chorus. Nice work guys,” Tommy said happily, turning to discuss movements with Andy.

One of the new ensemble members turned to you with wide eyes.

“You sing so well together! I didn’t think it was possible!” You laughed at their comment after graciously accepting the compliment.

“Javi and I have been singing together for a while, we’ve had a lot of practice balancing each other out.”

Singing with Javier was one of your favorite pastimes. In college you would spend your free afternoons walking around Washington Square Park singing covers of songs you both liked. Javier always sang melody and you always sang harmony, due to Javi’s firm belief that you had a better ear for it than he did. Your favorite songs with him were the ones where you got to sing a countermelody. The complexity of the piece added to the beauty of your voices in your opinion.

After your break, you began blocking for the chorus of the song.

“(Y/N), you’re gonna get right up in front of Javi and start seducing him. Grind on him, touch his face, anything you think is sexy enough to seduce Sexy Ham, ok?” Tommy cued the music, and you began your walk towards Javi. As you neared him you reached your arm out, dragging your fingers across his chest. You pressed your hips into his, ghosting his neck and cheek with your lips as the music played around you.

Due to your close friendship, acting with Javi was second nature. You had spent hours in different characters with him as you grew up and pursued your acting careers. You and Javi had basically made out onstage before during a production in your high school years, so being so close in personal with him. Nevertheless, as soon as you pulled back and made eye contact, you both burst out laughing.

You were laughing so hard that Tommy had to stop rehearsal. The rest of the cast watched in awe as you and Javier gripped each other for support.

You and Javi had these moments where you would laugh at and with each other. Just belly laughter over one little thing that filled your heart all the way to the top. You both had what could be classified as a rough childhood, and you learned early on that laughing through life together was the only way you’d make it out relatively unscathed, so that was what you did.

After the pair of you had more or less collected yourself, Tommy approached your spot on the stage.

“Do I want to know what just happened?” he asked.

“It was just so weird for us to have that kind of interaction,” Javi managed to say.

“Ok, well, it looked really good so if you can do it that way during the show without breaking character that would be fantastic,” Tommy said excitedly.

You continued running the scene, and eventually you were able to keep your composure for a majority of the acting.

“Great! (Y/N), you’re in for the show tomorrow. Let’s wrap it up everyone!”

After rehearsal you joined Javi in his dressing room for dinner, Chinese food per your request. As you shoved chopsticks full of noodles into your mouth, you each scrolled through your Twitter feeds.

“I got one,” you said, taking a sip of water and sending him the link. The two of you carefully drafted each of your responses before hitting ‘post’.

“These are more fun when you’re here to help me,” Javi said when your take-out cartons were almost empty.

“Sorry I have more of a life than constantly roasting people on Twitter,” you said, eyes staying locked on your phone. Your phone buzzed with another mention, this time from Javi.

@JMunozActor: Chinese food, tweeting, and upside down convos with my favorite

Attached was a photo of you in your current state, head hanging off the couch and feet stuck straight in the air. You glanced up and stuck your tongue out at your best friend.

“Honestly (Y/N), what would I do without you?” he asked.

“Probably cry every day from lack of fun,” you teased.

“What would you do without me?” Javi’s voice dropped just a little bit, becoming more serious.

“I don’t like to think about it Javi. I’ve almost lost you too many times now,” you said, staring at the ceiling to avoid eye contact.

“We’ll have to talk about it eventually, (Y/N). You know I’ll probably die before you,” he persisted.

“That’s a bridge I’ll cross when we get there then. For now you’re still here so we don’t have to worry.”

“I put you in my will.”

“You what?”

“You’re in my will. I gave you some money, and a lot of random stuff I have. It’s mostly high school memorabilia, stuff that my mom would throw away but you wouldn’t because you know why it’s sentimental,” he clarified. You hated thinking about losing Javi. He was your rock and your partner in crime. For you, there was no life without Javi. Even when he was sick you visited him every day.

“That’s really sweet of you, Javi,” you choked out.

“I also want you to sing at my funeral,” he said, his tone becoming more casual.

“What should I sing?” you asked, picking up on the change.

“Anything you want, really. Maybe something in Spanish? You sing so beautifully in Spanish,” he said fondly.

“I wouldn’t know what I was singing, and my pronunciation would suck. I only sing those well because you walk me through the pronunciation first,” you reminded him.

“Then we’ll pick a song and I’ll teach it to you before I die!” Javier said very optimistically, considering the topic you were discussing.

“Sure thing loser. I’ll sing in Spanish at your funeral, but only if you throw me the coolest birthday party at the last birthday of mine you’ll be at,” you bartered.

“How will I know which birthday of yours will be my last?” Javi asked. You just shrugged.

“Guess you better get party planning buddy.”

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #42: You Guys All OK? (6/25/17)

Well, fellas. It’s been a crazy week. The era ends today. That means another long, long, long update. Let’s do it, and then lets all watch Twitter all night to see how things all wrap up.

This Week’s TØPics:

Complete Tour de Columbus Recap (Plus More Cryptic Nonsense)

UPCOMING: Schott Tonight

Teen Choice Nominations

Yours Truly Makes TØP History (Not Really)

Major News and Announcements:

The only major piece of news from this week was that “Stressed Out” hit one billion views on YouTube. I fully take the credit for this achievement, as I asked you guys to turn out to make sure this happened (joking). 

The band was also nominated for three Teen’s Choice Awards for Choice Music and Rock Groups and Choice Group Song for “Heathens”.

Oh, and there was this thing called Tour de Columbus. You guys heard of it? Just a little thing we’ll. A lot of a thing. Let’s get into it in the recap section.

Performances, Interviews, and Other Shenanigans:

Whoo, boy. Obviously, this was a very busy week. However, it wasn’t quite as busy as I expected when writing the Upcoming section last week. For the most part, the shows have all stuck to the basic Emotional Roadshow setlist, with the minor changes of using the 2016 Old Songs Medley and including “Truce” at the beginning of the encore. That said, there were a few points that set each of the shows apart from each other. These include:

Basement

The Basement opened with Tyler running out (with the keytar!) and playing “Fake You Out” for the first time since before Blurryface’s release. I may or may not have wept.

Tyler’s Trees Speech for Basement was notably old school, featuring him pacing the stage, talking more directly to the crowd, and even rambling a bit. In fact, Tyler in general was looser in this show than we’ve seen him in a long time. He was constantly smiling, joked about how the first time he played the venue he lost a Battle of the Bands, thanked a fan who said he was doing great, and stated that people didn’t need to “whoo” to fill awkward pauses. This looseness was likely because, as Tyler explains it, he and Josh just came straight from their homes to play music with their friends. And that’s why this tour is so amazing. (A pretty well-edited together version of the full show can be viewed here.)

To prove their hardcore cred, they kept the cryo and confetti for “Trees”. Yes, they shot the full load into the tiny room, smoking it out the Basement (heh) almost instantly and even knocking out some people in the front row (Tyler stumbling over his “We are…” speech while watching security bridal-carry an unconscious girl away with great concern is a great image). Still, it was hardcore.

Newport

Apparently, somebody in the management (possibly Tyler and Josh themselves) ordered Chipotle for the folks in line at Newport.

Newport featured Tyler pointing out that one of the exits was the exact spot he and Josh met for the first time (tears).

Ohio Governor John Kasich was apparently in the audience at Newport (I believe his daughters are fans).

Don’t have a good video of it with clear audio, but multiple sources have corroborated the story that the crowd chanted “TAXI CAB” multiple times before Tyler played “Trees”. He appears to have said “Sorry”, but sadly, folks, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting “Taxi Cab” this week.

The ending screen got me feeling something. 

Express

Express Live had a bit of a kerfuffle in the line. That’s all I’m getting into that drama. Moving on.

New TOPxMM colla-

Oh, screw it, I’m addressing it: the line stuff was nonsense, and was the only part of the week that really bummed me out. It seems pretty clear that Express Live HUGELY underestimated the number of workers and planning that would be necessary to handle the huge crowds and failed to provide adequate care for their patrons. That said, I have a real hard time criticizing only them when looking at what they had to deal with. Perhaps I’m biased because I’ve worked events of this size before, but it is an incredibly difficult job to manage thousands of people, especially when those people act as a mob and do not pay attention to any directions they’re issued. Let’s be clear: There is no excuse for those people who ignoring the venues’ orders not to camp and then were angry that their position in line wasn’t honored. There’s also no excuse for the many people who broke laws by rushing across a busy street, pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line, and leaving buckets of trash everywhere. It’s a shame that so much of the Clique appears to be so entitled that they’re blind to their own shared responsibility for the chaos.

Erm… moving on.

New TOPxMM, complete with more awkward dance moves from Tyler.

Tyler told people to be sure to pick up their trash, since he used to have to clean up the LC.

Tyler stopped the show during “Stressed Out” to help someone out of the pit. He joked that the song had just hit a billion views and they didn’t need to finish it, but, at the crowd’s insistence, he pushed through.

The Trees Speech on this one was lengthy and more structured than any I can think of since MSG last year. Tyler framed it around the idea of belief and how much of a positive impact it has on people, and thanked their families (who put up with having TV programs ruined by drumming and screaming from the basement), Fueled By Ramen (who were in attendance), and the fans for believing in them.

Nationwide

This show might have had the most lit crowd of any Twenty One Pilots arena show, with several dance-offs, a conga line, and a beautiful, peaceful circle during “Trees”.

The Trees Speech was another stellar one, with Tyler thanking the fans for making the journey from around the world to make Tour de Columbus so special.

The band’s activity this week was not limited to their performances. The boys also hopped around a couple of local radio stations and gave good, lengthy interviews for the first time in quite awhile. Here’s some highlights:

Dave and Jimmy Show, 97.9

These guys were pretty casual and open, enjoyed the conversations. I particularly appreciated that they didn’t sugar coat a lot of aspects about the entertainment industry, freely dissing award shows, SNL, and even some artists for their fakeness. I can dig it.

Lots of Grammy underwear talk, which is to be expected. Honestly, it’s Tyler’s fault as much as anyone else, he kept redirecting the convo to the underwear. “How does it feel when they call your name for an actual Grammy?” Tyler: “I mean, I was just thinking about the buttons on my pants.”

Tyler: “Just to clarify, there were more than just us two. There were multiple dudes in their underwear.” Josh: “For sure no females though.” Tyler: “Yeah, just a bunch of bros getting drafty.” (Oh my God.)

They brought the underwear issue to a vote with their friends and family on the van ride over to the Grammys, resulting in an evenly split vote. Tyler claims they called their manager to make the final decision; he said, “Go for it,” making history.

Tyler: “[Walking up to the stage in my underwear] was a long moment in my life.”

Perhaps the most groundbreaking news: Tyler was approached by SAXX underwear to join Kevin Love in promoting their product after he demonstrated it live on national television. Though he turned it down, he still stands by the underwear as his favorite and its compartmentalizing mesh.

They chat a little bit about how the Grammys are the only award shows that actually don’t tell the artists beforehand who has won and seem to confirm that they won’t go to a show they’ve been nominated for but know they won’t win. Tyler: “The people who go and lose just really have nothing else to do that day.”

Interviewer: “So let’s talk about “Heathens”. I think that song did better than the movie.” Tyler tries to stay on script and say that they both loved the movie when they saw it, even making the argument that no one really knows that a movie’s bad until they go home and read the reviews, but there’s just enough backpeddling and trademarked Joseph sarcasm that I’m not sure I buy it. 

Their discussion of their appearance on SNL is actually probably my favorite part of the whole interview, since it’s pretty darn upfront about the whole thing. Tyler said that he was honored to be invited on, but as soon as one of the hosts says that he’s actually been to it and observed the disconnect between the audience and artist, Tyler immediately opens up and discusses his quibbles with the show’s format. Specifically, he points to how the opening dress rehearsal has great energy, with all the jokes landing perfectly and the younger crowd of “slops” off the street really being into it. However, by the live filming, the audience has been replaced mostly by more reserved people with connections and the show becomes more stiff. The interviewers muse that it must have something to do with the greater pressure, but Tyler makes the interesting point that it likely has more to do with doing the same thing in front of the same camera guys, comparing it to when he does multiple shows in a single city and becomes aware that the security guards see right through him when his apparently spontaneous performances and speeches are exactly the same.

Tyler throws Kyle Mooney under the bus again, and also criticizes the entire ending schtick of SNL where they all hug each other as “the most awkward thing I’ve ever done in my life.” Tyler says that it was the first time they had ever met most of the crew, making it especially weird to have to act like they all had worked together to put on a show.

While in the process of burning bridges with the entertainment industry, Tyler and Josh both talk about how they never even met Kimmel and Conan despite playing their shows, calling the whole thing “garbage”. Specifically, Tyler goes in on Conan, revealing that they performed their set on that show to an empty audience and no Conan. They speculate it was either because Jennifer Aniston and her team requested it, or perhaps that Conan just was on vacation.

The interviewers ask the guys if they mind when they’re asked about old content (though it seems to just be a way for them to complain about the Chainsmokers). Tyler says that he doesn’t mind, because they make sure to put meaning into all of their stuff (which I’m taking as a Chainsmokers dig).

Andre on Air, 102.5

This interview really gets into the nitty gritty of Tour de Columbus and the band’s relationship with their hometown.

Andre asks the big question lots of us have been wondering about: what about playing Ohio Stadium, one of the largest venues in the world (at 100,000 capacity, they could fit the crowds of all the Columbus shows in the stadium and not even fill it halfway). Tyler says that still sounds “ridiculous” to them, but he also fully admits that they still expect people not to show up to their shows.

Andre points out the remarkably close connection the boys have to their hometown, between this tour, featuring the city in their Grammys speech, and a million other things, even going so far as to say that Twenty One Pilots put Columbus back on the map and is the thing the city is most well-known for now behind Ohio State football (which, to be honest, I think is accurate). Tyler says that he’s honored by that praise. He says further that he likely wouldn’t have left Columbus if not for his music, stating that before touring took him and Josh all over the world, he’d only been on a plane once. Even now, though, he still prefers the city to anyplace else.

Tyler: “We’ve been all over now, but whenever anyone asks what our favorite place is, it’s Columbus. There’s nothing better. We’re not trying to be sentimental, we really… we like the highways here.” 

Josh speaks to the experience of being at home while being famous. He says that there’s a real sense of normalcy so long as they’re hanging out with their families, but going out with their families to do something and having to take a picture with fans has become the new normal. (Tyler jokes that he’s found out that he’s had more cousins than he’s ever known.)

Tyler reveals that Zach was skipping out on a few concerts to play rec league basketball, and that his dad skipped shows to watch him. Perf.

No tattoos planned for these shows.

Tyler states that, while they planned to make minor alterations to every show to make them special, they were never going to be able to have drastically different setlists for each space for logistical reasons. Tyler says the tour’s less about the content of the shows and more about just honoring the city.

Discussing the “HeavyDirtySoul” video, Josh was glad for the flames due to how freezing cold it was (roughly eight degrees). Tyler: “I thought we were going to lose him.”

For what I think is the first time, Tyler talks a bit about recording “Heathens” in a very DIY fashion in European greenrooms. Tyler says that he has demos of a bunch of songs that have the sounds of people in the background banging on the door of the hotel room asking him to keep it down. 

When discussing their favorite cover songs, Tyler says that his is probably “My Heart Will Go On”, telling a story of a concert where he found out that Kate Winslet was in the audience and that she sang her heart out, despite the fact that she probably is sick of that song.

Andre suggests that they should recruit Jack Hannah at Columbus Zoo to get a hold of the giraffe whose birth was livestreamed for the last show of TDC to fulfill their greatest career goals. Josh says Tyler should ride the baby since he’s smaller. They joke that they really shouldn’t try to actually use giraffes, as it would represent a peak in their career they could never top, but Tyler points out that if they keep talking about it, they will inevitably get to bring giraffes onstage at their final show.

Tyler says that they’re definitely taking a break, and that he’s looking forward to get away from all the external pressures and getting back to making songs he likes with Josh.

In honor of TDC, The Columbus Dispatch did a front-page spotlight on the band. It’s honestly kind of amusing: since they weren’t able to secure interviews with anyone in the band or their families, their main sources are fans, the owner of the PromoWest venues, Tyler’s high school basketball coach, a guy who worked with Josh at Guitar Center (lol), and Chris Salih. The only new information the article provides is that Chris was the one who actually took the picture of Josh with the wedding crashers that set the Clique on-fire last week. That’s quality journalism.

I would also be totally remiss not to talk about Artopia. The Facebook stream for the event was very well produced, and David McCreary did a pretty good job at keeping things high energy. The stream contained hours of interviews and interactions with the Clique, hundreds of amazing pieces of art, and cameos from Mark. After the stream was over, Tyler and Josh surprised all the folks who stuck around at the free event by coming out to thank the artists and do a meet and greet with everyone. Some of my favorite moments:

David challenging some fan to cartwheeling contests. Not only did the girls own him, they criticized Josh’s form in the backflips.

After David jokingly asked people to ask him questions about the band, he got a bunch of questions (”Latin America tour!” “When’s the new album?”) that he was not able to answer. When asked their favorite song: “We Are Young” by Fun (Mark laughed).

Tyler’s mom showed up and talked trashed him (and oh my god she sounds just like him and has his sarcasm, omg).

All the people from across the country. All of the concert stories. All the dads.

Outside of TDC, which has understandably overwhelmed a lot of other news, Josh also filmed a promo for Columbus’s Roosevelt Coffee, a favorite spot of both band members (they gave their only 2016 performance in Columbus at the shop) that also serves as a charity that fights hunger, disease, and human trafficking. The promo notably makes use of the TØP deep cut “Clear” from Regional at Best; it fits the theme perfectly. One last minor point: here’s Josh doing an unboxing video of his own drum. Hear that’s popular YouTube content.

Upcoming Shows:

Show 5: Schottenstein Center at Value City Arena, (6/25)

Capacity: 18,800

It’s all led up to this: the last show of the Blurryface era, and the last show for the foreseeable future. Despite being a tad smaller than Nationwide, this is the obvious spot to host the final concert: located on the Ohio State campus, the Schott was the first arena the boys ever headlined and is one of Columbus’s premier venues. I don’t know what to expect from this one. MisterWives are opening, so I think we’d be pretty safe in assuming that we should get a trumpet assist on a song or two. I doubt we’ll be getting too much else, but I do know one thing: that Trees Speech is gonna make me cry. The curtain’s falling on the Blurryface Era, ladies and gents. Hold each other.

BLIND SPECULATION OF THE WEEK:

Each concert so far has had a unique opening. Basement played some audio of Tyler and Josh talking to each other; Newport featured this image of the repeated word “WAIT”. Express featured an extended montage of the band’s history with a Nigel voiceover questioning “how many days” it takes to reach where the band is now. It is entirely possible that some of these things were actually features of the venue and have nothing to do with a Blurryface-style viral marketing campaign. 

It’s all come down to this. Depending on what happens between now and then, next week’s update might be the last for a good while. We’ll see. Regardless, as always: Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[tricityrevivals]

Blog Chapter 2.0: Road Trippin' it to Hershey So as you can probably already tell we do things at a moment's notice. There's no telling where we will be or what we will be doing even if we have plans already made that day. Things come up, and you need to move quick on them or you can miss out. This was kinda the case with our last minute trip to The Hershey AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) Fall Swap Meet.  We knew it was coming up but we weren't going to be vendors at this one. It just so happened a past customer and friend of ours bought two of our big money items. Another gas pump and the enormous Coca Cola Sign we had. After having the Coke sign "sold" multiple times, we couldn't wait any longer for no show buyers. Unfortunately even the most seemingly trustworthy people go ghost with no explanation, and everyday they don't show is a day you miss out on money. They know that, and we know that. After holding the sign for over 4 months we couldn't wait any longer. The only problem was that our new buyer is from South Carolina. The good news is he was going to The Hershey swap meet. We made the decision that since he was a return customer and an all around great guy we're going to take the three hour trip to Hershey, PA and meet him there to exchange the two items.  Two days before we were contacted by another interested buyer in our six foot Texaco sign. He was from Blairstown, NJ and that just so happened to be on our way to Hershey. Things were looking up. The day before we are getting ready, making a gameplan for the next morning and doing our everyday routine, when we get a text from a random number. "Have 8 Antique Wine Barrels and a Grape Press...Interested? Has to be out by 4pm tomorrow" Now this is literally at 4pm when we are just about to wrap up for the day. We've been working since 9am, and I still haven't slept since working my other job midnight shift the night before, so I'm going on about 32 hours of no sleep. We negotiated a price, and basically said unless you can do this price we can't do it today and tomorrow we are gone all day, so we're going to have to pass.  "That price works you can come now heres the address" Well, I guess the end of our workday would have to be pushed back a little today. We picked up and started heading to the location about 40 minutes away. It was too good of a deal to pass up, and once we got there we realized it was a repeat person who we had picked about a year ago and changed his number. It was good to see him. This is the last thing we wanted to do before a big trip to Hershey but we just had to.  The next day I was by Luke's at 7am. Now the challenge is that we have an 8 Foot by 4 Foot Sign, and 6 Foot in Diameter Sign, and Gas Pump- with only a 6 Foot Pickup Truck Bed to transport this all safely. We figured out the signs pretty easily but than came the pump. If you've ever transported an old gas pump, you would know these things are heavy as hell! We usually only need 3 guys to lift it, but we've never tried it with 2. Today was the day we tried it with just the two of us. I would estimate from what I've seen online it weighs anywhere from 6-650 pounds depending what parts are on it still. This just so happened to be a complete pump. Goal- lift it just the two of us four feet into the air onto the pickup truck bed and ease it down so it didn't crack or ruin the porcelain signs. It only took us two tries, but it took everything we had, and we successfully didn't break anything in the process. We were finally en route to one of the biggest Swap Meets in the East Coast. We stopped in the Blairstown area and dropped off the Texaco Sign to the first buyer. The actual town name was Allamuchy, NJ and we swore it was a made up town that we were just getting lured into to get kidnapped. Nice guy though, newer collector and he was ecstatic about the sign once he saw it in person. Always good to see satisfied customers. We continued onto Hershey Long road trips are fun and brutal at the same time if that makes sense. Luckily we're such good friends that it doesn't really seem like work or a job, and time does go fast but there is a lottttt of time to kill. We literally talk about the most random things and go down this wormhole of topic to topic and scenario to scenario. It's definitely entertainment at its finest and I cant really explain it unless cameras were rolling and you see it for yourself. Maybe one day. Our music of choice for this particular ride was Lady Gaga, like literally every song she has ever done. So if you can picture these two bearded, tattooed, backwards hat wearing men with a gas pump and Coke Sign sticking out of their blacked out pickup truck bed, windows down, blasting Lady Gaga. Some of the reactions we saw when people pulled up next to us were priceless, but that's who we are. Its always an adventure. After about another hour of that we finally pulled up to Hershey. The best way to describe it is that its a playground for older adult men. Ever see a child in a toy store? That look on their face? Running around all happy touching and playing with everything they see? Now picture that, but a 50 year old men doing it.  Literally everyone has some sort of motorized scooter and they are zipping around left and right going from aisle to aisle. This is probably the biggest show we've been to. I think they said around 9,000 vendors were there. It so big you even have to cross the overpass of the highway to get to the second side of it.  There was some top notch stuff here. They line up all the cars which is anything from Dodge Brothers to Muscle Cars to Wagons to Ice Cream Delivery Trucks. All vintage. All completely restored. All amazing in their own way. It's really something to see someone's prized possession vehicle that they put so much time and effort into, and now multiply that by like 10,000 and that's Hershey. There's also 9,000 vendors. So you have your petroliana booths with signs and oil cans, also other booths with car parts and car related items, and than you have various other different booths like chrome plating booths, tools, bicycles, replica signs, and coin ops. I'm never too fond of the repop sign booths, but as long as they're upfront and honest that their signs aren't original that's fine with me. It's just more unfortunate that those signs are out there now and being sold as original down the road.  There's something for every type of collector here if your a fan of "Mantiques". The only problem is you're going to pay retail and possibly more than retail at most booths. There's no "wiggle" room for resellers like us. Granted, if you're looking for a rare sign, or a car you've been searching for you WILL find it here, but you're going to pay for it. It was kinda fun just being a spectator again, looking at things, making some new contacts, seeing how things are being priced and definitely meeting new people. Speaking of meeting new people. While we were walking Luke heard a voice that couldn't be mistaken. He has heard this voice at least 100 times before. He looked to his right. "There he is" "Who" "Look its Robbie Wolfe" Yes it was the American Picker Robert Wolfe. Mike Wolfes brother, a huge car guy, and a regular at shows like this one. He was standing right beside us and Luke picked him out after hearing his voice having a conversation with his friend. We went over. He shooks our hands like we had been friends for a long time, and we had a short convo with him. He kept it moving which we completely understood, and we didnt want to blow up his spot in a crowd of 10,000+ people. As he was walking away we said to ourselves we should have taken a picture with him. Luckily, a few other people recognized him and took some pictures with him. Luke decided to make the move and I was a little hesitant.  "Robbie can we just get a quick pic with you?" "Sure guys" We got our picture. Had another brief convo with him and he kept it moving like before. All I have to say is what a great guy. Truly a standup guy, very generous, and so down to earth. He took the time to talk to everyone who approached him and took pictures with anyone who asked, when all he was trying to do was check out some cool stuff at different booths. Never complained or said no to anyone. It was a great experience meeting him, and it was an extra bonus for our trip. We were always huge fans of him, but after this encounter and actually getting to meet him and talk with him we can't say enough about him.  After walking probably 15 miles the entire day, meeting new people, and window shopping, it was around 6pm and we were spent. I swear I pulled a hamstring, and Luke's feet were killing him from the boots he was wearing. We called it a day. We met our buyer and swapped out the pump and coke sign from my truck to his, we put on the Gaga, and began the three hour trip back home. Overall, we had a great time and I highly recommended checking it out next year even if you're not intending on buying anything. It's definitely a sight to see, and you never know who you're going to run into. Well most likely definitely be back next year. Maybe we'll get a booth next year or maybe not. Either way you should definitely plan on going to check it out. Hershey AACA Show 2017 was a success!