#i was! head spotlight techie

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

if i was absolutely FORCED to go back in time to high school i think the one thing i would change would be. being more involved w the theatre kids

[hausofmingi]

spotlight | choi seungcheol

pairing: choi seungcheol x afab reader

word count: 5.6K

summary: You're so excited to get the opportunity to sound design your favorite show, Hadestown. But the new lighting guy really knows how to piss you off.

warnings: 18+, minors do not interact, sound designer!reader, lighting designer!seungcheol, switch!reader and switch!seungcheol, fight for dominance, unprotected piv (don't do that), oral (f and m receiving), semi-public?, munch behavior, head pusher (SORRY IM SORRY), use of petnames (babygirl, sweetie/sweetheart, good girl, baby)

author's note: so hi. if you've noticed i've been gone for like months and months, no i haven't mind ya business. ANYWAYS this was a VERYYYYY indulgent fic bc as you may be able to tell i dabble in theatre. but im not a sound person, maybe one day ill do a fic from an actor perspective but something about being in the booth got me IDKKKKKK. also this would never happen and don't do this it's so incredibly unprofessional. and thank you to my betas, @hausofwoo and T, yall always have my back (and so does neo).

It’s always exciting getting started on a new show. The new people, new creative outlets, new ideas to try. After the last couple years of being a sound designer, you really feel like you found your groove when it came to jumping into a new show. 

This is a theatre you have worked for a few times before; a small one but it paid the techies well and even got you some union points. 

The production manager, Moonbyul, was a longtime friend and had called you in to sound design Hadestown. You had to say yes, of course, to one of your favorite musicals. You had seen it on Broadway a few years before and fell in love with it, especially the production design of it all. 

Moonbyul had also mentioned that they were bringing in a new lighting designer. The last one you had worked with was very lovely, but also an older man that would fall asleep between cues so probably for the best…

At the first production meeting, you were eager to get started and fire off all the great ideas you had for the production, so you wanted to get there early to get all your notes organized. 

You walked into the theatre about half an hour early, expecting to see Moonbyul and Vernon (the stage manager) running around, but they were nowhere to be found. 

You set your stuff down in an audience seat, and head to the stage. It had been a few years since you had been on this side of things, but it always gave you a rush to see the audience from this view; standing center stage. 

Retiring from performing was not an easy choice, fueled by hate and trauma and self-judgement. But when it was time to leave, you found a space in sound design. Being taken under the wing of a longtime mentor, Jihoon, made everything come to you easy and you’ve been hooked ever since. 

Even though the stage is dark, you can close your eyes and imagine the audience in front of you, lights shining, costume sparkling. You hum a few bars of “Flowers” to yourself, slowing your breathing and your brain for just a second. 

BOOM. A bright light cuts through your vision. You hold your hands up in front of your eyes to shield them before you open them. 

“What the heck??” you shout at whoever is in the booth. 

“Sorry, sorry.” says a voice, the light too bright for you to make out a face. “You just looked like you could use a spot.”

“I’m good thanks…” you answer back coldly. 

“Alright, but just know you look great from up here. Made for the stage.” the voice says. 

“Thanks..” you answer under your breath, not sure how to react to the obvious compliment.

The spot shuts off and you blink a few times to adjust your eyesight. Standing in the booth is a figure, a taller man with broad shoulders. But it's still too dark to see his facial features. 

It seems as if he’s just standing there… looking at you.

“Um… can you bring up the house lights?” you ask him. 

“Oh yeah! Sorry..” he responds. The house lights come up a second later. “I’m gonna come down there, hold on one sec!” he says.

You step off of the stage, a little embarrassed you got caught lost in a daydream. You walk over to your stuff, digging through your backpack to get out your Ipad and pencil, if only you could find the damn thing…

A tap on your shoulder startles you and you turn around in defense. In front of you stands maybe the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen. His hair was long, his bangs perfectly framing his dark, deep eyes. And man were those shoulders broad… he could probably pick you up and throw you around a little….

You were staring. 

“Um.. sorry you scared me.” you said, trying to cover up your obvious gawking. 

“No you’re good, I tend to sneak up on people. I’m Seongcheol by the way, nice to meet you.” he holds out his (very large) hand for you to shake.

“___” you respond, and take his hand. You’re too stunned to even move your hand to shake his, but he holds your hand strongly and commands the handshake. 

An obvious indicator that he can take control. 

You shake away that thought, remembering the pact you made with yourself to stay far far away from another showmance. 

Your hand is still in his, and his eyes have not left yours. Has time slowed down?

“Good, you guys have met!” says Moonbyul, walking down the aisle where you guys were standing, Vernon trailing close behind. Seungcheol lets go of your hand and quickly turns around to face them. 

“Ready to get this meeting started?”

The rest of the production team trickles in and the production meeting promptly starts; Moonbyul is not one for tardiness. 

All the designers give their presentations, and this is always so exciting for you. To watch the production blossom from pieces of paper to onstage art is a beautiful thing. You especially love the costume designers concept of using color to show contrast between the human characters and the god characters.

Finally comes Seungcheol’s presentation. He opens up his laptop to a lighting program, already set with the stages dimensions and the set design and presses play. He explains while the lights change from scene to scene, full of color and different gobos to add texture. 

There is obviously a lot of thought put behind this design. He is extremely talented. And hot. 

His presentation finishes and it’s obvious how his shoulders relax. Those broad shoulders. He must not like being the center of attention, you think.

It’s your turn next, so you shake the thoughts of him away before stepping in front of the others with your laptop in hand. 

You are always very prepared, already having the mic plot done and the sound effects downloaded to the board. You are super excited to present your concept for the final song- I Raise My Cup. Having seen the show on Broadway, you have a good idea of how the audience will react to the final scene of the show. Complete silence. So your concept is to have the characters sing this song with no help of the mics, completely acapella and completely raw. 

“But what if the audience claps?” Seungcheols voice shoots through your confidence. 

“They won't,” you reassure. 

“But they might, and then what? We won't be able to hear Persephone and then the rest of the cast will be thrown off for the rest of the song,” he pushes.

“I promise, that won’t be a problem. The audience will be stunned by the heartbreaking ending, they won’t know what to do.”

“I don’t like it,” he says blankly.

Okay maybe he’s not so hot anymore. 

This little shit is totally bursting your bubble, what the fuck? You were so proud of this idea, why did he have to embarrass you in front of the director and entire production team??

“Let’s put a pin in that one. Thank you for that great presentation, let's move on to props!” says Moonbyul, cutting through the tension. 

You take your seat next to Seungcheol, but not before shooting him a piercing scowl. 

He leans over to you once you sit down. “Hey, no hard feelings. I'm just a skeptic, ya know?” he whispers over the presentation. 

“Yeah well next time please keep it to yourself. Some of us are trying to make a name in this theatre,” you shoot back. 

The rest of the meeting is spent with your arms crossed, trying not to melt into the smell of Seungcheol’s cologne, but rather hold steady in your annoyance with him. 

The next day is the first day of rehearsal for the cast, and although you aren’t called, you decide to come in to organize the booth a little bit. 

They’re learning music on the stage, so you open the booth window so you can hear the cast sing. The music of this show is so beautiful, so romantic. It's nice to listen to while you work.

It’s when the actress playing Eurydice starts singing Flowers that you space off, lost in the beauty of the song. If you were still acting, this role would be a dream role for you. Of course you belt this song all the time in your car. 

You start to sing along under your breath, knowing that no one will hear you up here. 

Flowers, I remember fields of flowers, soft beneath my heels

You sing to yourself, imagining a beautiful field laid out before you instead of a 10-year-old soundboard. 

I remember someone, someone by my side. Turned his face to mine, and then he turned away, into the shade. 

In the field of flowers, who pops into your head but Seungcheol. That asshole is so damn beautiful you can’t help but imagine him as your Orpheus. 

The song finishes out with the final notes and you sigh as your day dream dissipates, shaking away the thought of ever seeing Seungcheol in that way and returning back to the box of mystery chords you were wrapping.

Someone clears their throat behind you. You really hope it's Vernon. 

“Didn’t know you could sing?” says Seungcheol from behind you. 

“I don’t anymore.” you reply coldly, not really interested in conversing with him.

“You should, you have a beautiful voice,” he says.

You turn away from him as he comes to the lightboard next to you, hiding your blush. 

“Thanks,” you say, trying not to show too much emotion in your voice.

Silence fills the space as he pulls up a chair and opens up the light programming app on the desktop. You direct your attention back to your cords that connect to god knows what. 

“So about yesterday…” he starts.

“Yeah, that was a dick move,” you blurt out. Maybe not so direct next time.

“Look I get that you’re upset, but I just call them like I see them. I get your idea but I don’t think it's gonna work. What's wrong with a little bit of criticism?” he asks.

You take a breath before you turn to him and give him a piece of your mind.

“What’s wrong is I don’t know what gave you the idea that I asked for criticism. I’ve been working at this theatre for a long time, you’re still fresh meat. Really isn’t a good look to come flouncing in giving everyone unsolicited criticism,” you spit at him. 

You get so worked up that you stomp over to where he is sitting on the other side of the booth. The look on his face is unwavering though, in fact it turns into a smirk as he stands. 

He is easily a foot taller than you, looking down at you without closing the space between the two of you. 

You feel so small. You swear you feel yourself throb.

“Someone’s got their panties in a twist,” he says, still smirking. 

You are stunned, mouth falling open but no words coming out. That sentence has never sounded sexier.

“It’s alright, I’ll be nicer to you from now on, knowing how sensitive you get.” he says, leaning down to whisper in your ear for extra effect. 

And then the asshole just walks away and sits back down as if nothing even happened. 

You’re still frozen in place, in shock at the intense flirting that just happened. 

“So, you said you have worked here for a while, how have you liked it?” he asks, continuing the conversation with no indication of what just happened. 

This is going to be a long day. 

After a few hours of genuinely torturous small talk with Seungcheol mixed with palpable silence, you decide to call it an early day. You got almost nothing done, besides wrapping and unwrapping a bunch of useless cords and clicking on random folders on the sound desktop. 

As you leave, he promises to see you tomorrow and sends you off with a wink that makes your knees weak.

The next day, you get there later than usual. The cast is learning blocking in the dance studio, giving the techies free reign of the stage for the afternoon. 

You’re hoping your tardiness will allow you to avoid the overlap with Seungcheol and you can have the booth to yourself.

But, no luck. There he is, sitting in the rolling chair at the lighting desktop in the sexiest skin tight compression shirt you’ve ever seen. 

You don’t even realize you’re gawking when he turns the chair around. “Like what you see?” he teases.

You come back to your senses at his words. “You wish,” you grumble as you head to your station, hoping to get some work done today. 

You swear you hear him scoff as he turns back to the desktop.

“Blackout!” he shouts down to the set people on the stage, as he presses the “next cue” button. A series of “thank you blackouts!” follow, in proper theatre etiquette.

You keep quiet though. 

He goes through a few more cues, calling blackout a few more times, and you still don’t say anything. 

“You know, it’s proper manners to say ‘thank you’ when I call blackout,” he points out after the 4th time.

“What do you know about manners?” you grumble under your breath.

He crosses over to you, again smirking, as he says “Enough to know that you need to learn some, baby girl.”

Shocks of electricity go straight to your clit. 

“Don’t call me that, get that stick out of your ass, and fucking leave me alone Seungcheol!” you shout, unsure if you're more angry or turned on or both. 

You grab your stuff to leave in a hurry, all the while he doesn’t move from his spot where he’s standing; just leans against the counter and crosses his arms to watch you angrily throw stuff in your bag. 

You turn to leave, expecting him to apologize for his inappropriate comment. But when you turn to look back at him, all you see is him looking at you with that stupidly sexy smirk on his face. He waves a finger at you before you stomp down the stairs and out of the booth. 

You text Moonbyul and Vernon some bullshit excuse about period cramps and that you have to leave early, before going home and using up all the battery in your vibrator.

Saturday no one is called, so you use this as an excuse to go in and pick up where you left off before leaving in a huff.

Luckily you have keys, so you let yourself into the empty theatre and up to the booth.

It’s really nice to work in the silence of the empty theatre, only the ghostlight lighting the stage. You leave the ceiling light off in the booth, only leaving on the string lights you and Jihoon added to make the space more cozy. 

You put on your headphones and get to work. The music director sent you a recording of the cast singing, so you make sure all your cues align with the music.

You work for about an hour before it's rudely interrupted by Seungcheol lifting one side of the headphones off your ear. You feel his breath on the shell of your ear, sending shivers down your back, before he whispers, “Boo.” 

Jumping out of your chair a little bit, you snatch his hand away from your headphones and turn back around without a word to him. 

“Sorry to scare you,” he giggles. “I just forgot my charger last time.”

You give him no reply, not interested in potentially entering another conversation where you leave dripping.

“Actually, would you mind if I stayed and worked on a few things?” he asks.

Again, you don’t respond. 

You see him shrug his shoulders in your peripherals and sit down in his chair to get to work.

Both of you sit in heavy silence as you work, and the more silent it is, the more you feel the tension rise, with anger burning in your chest.

What is the deal with this guy? Does he like just getting a rise out of people? Why does he feel the need to torture me? What did I even do to him??

“Gum?” he asks, holding out a pack to you.

“What the fuck is your problem?” you shout back.

He looks stunned as he takes a piece out and unwraps it, popping it in his mouth. “So, no gum then…”

“Why do you treat me this way, Seungcheol? It’s fucked up,” you shout, moving towards him to really give it to him.

“Treat you what way exactly?” he asks slyly.

“You just keep saying annoying shit to me, pushing my buttons and pissing me off. But then you make me leave every conversation so turned on that I can’t even think straight. I don’t get it, what is your issue with me??” You shout at him.

He looks at you in silence for a second, his expression unreadable.

“I… turn you on?” he asks.

Oh shit. You may have revealed a bit too much….

“I… what? I didn’t mean to say that,” you stutter.

“Oh well in that case… it won’t mean anything to you if I do this?” 

He stands up and turns to face you, arms leaning against the countertop, caging you between them. You swear you see the veins straining against his skin, bulging out from his thick arms as he moves closer.

He leans in close to your ear, breath fanning down your neck. You’re frozen in place, trying to focus on slowing your breathing. 

“Jump,” he says. And you do, hopping up to sit on the counter. Why did you just obey him??

“Good girl.”

Oh that’s why.

“Now,” he starts, his lips moving all over your neck, so close but not touching as he breathes the next few words onto you. 

“I’m really curious to know exactly what it is I do that turns you on?” one of his hands snakes up the side of your thigh, dipping just slightly under the skirt you’re wearing and playing with the edge. 

“Can you tell me, baby girl?” he says before he licks a stripe up your neck. 

You shudder and lean into him a little bit. It’s over for you now.

“Say the word and I’ll stop,” he says, hovering in front of your lips now. 

You grab his arm to stop him from moving back. “Please,” you say in a desperate voice. 

His lips meet yours, and slowly he starts making out with you. His big lips make it sloppy, but it's so hot you could care less.

He sneaks his tongue into your mouth, swirling around yours so sensually it goes straight to your throbbing pussy. He snakes his hand into your hair, guiding your head with his big hand to deepen the kiss. 

The strap of your tank top falls and before you can put it back, he takes the opportunity to bring it down even more, revealing your bare breast to him. He pinches your nipple between two fingers, lightly twisting it enough to make you whimper into his mouth.

He pulls away after a few seconds, a string of spit connecting your lips. You look up at his large frame through your lashes, breathing heavily. 

And then he does something you don’t expect. He drops to his knees. 

He grabs your ass and forcefully pulls you forward on the counter to access you better. You know he can see the wet spot forming on your white panties, and try to cross your legs out of embarrassment.

“Absolutely not.” he says in protest, snaking his arms underneath your thighs and grabbing them so you’re practically sitting on his shoulders.

He kisses up and down your thighs, not yet touching you where you need him. You whine and wiggle your hips, attempting to bring him closer. 

“Someone really does have their panties in a twist…” he smirks from below you. That little shit.

He barely gives you what you desperately need, lightly kissing your clit through your panties.

“Cheol, please…” you whine, attempting to get him to give you a little bit more. 

“Babygirl, I know you can beg better than that,” he says, lifting his head up. He keeps a finger pressed to your clit as he talks, rubbing in small, torturous circles. 

Your cheeks heat up, probably turning red. You’ve already given in to this annoying shit, there’s no way you’re begging for him. You just whine in response, not willing to give him what he wants. 

“You sure you don’t want to beg for it?...” he questions slyly, while at the same time moving your now completely wet panties to the side.

He gives your pulsing clit a few kitten licks, just enough to give you a taste of what you could have, all while never breaking eye contact with you. 

You whimper at the contact, starting to reach out your hand to grab his head and pull it closer. He knows what you're up to, though, and grabs your wrist, forcing it back to its place on the counter.

“Now try again baby, beg for what you want.” he says, slipping your panties off in anticipation.

You sit there a minute, chest already heaving with desire, dripping all over the counter. 

“Please Cheol, you know how badly I need it. I deserve it after all the shit you put me through,” you say, the words tumbling out of your mouth before you can think about them fully.

He raises his eyebrow at you, smiling that stupid fucking smirk that makes you shiver. “Oh is that so?” he questions.

And then he dives in. It’s as if he has been eating your pussy for years, somehow finding the exact rhythm and pressure on your clit that makes the string lights turn blurry. His arms are wrapped around both of your thighs, as if he was trying to choke them out. 

You grab the back of his head with one hand, and start rolling your hips into his mouth, chasing the high that is hurdling closer. He loves it, judging by the way he growls into your pussy, barely pulling away to mumble “fuck yes” before plunging two fingers into you. 

It only takes him hooking them into your g-spot a few times along with flicking your clit with his tongue before you are cumming into him, gasping and not letting go of the tight hold you have on his hair. 

He pulls away, resting his head on the inside of your thigh, breathing heavily as if he just ran a marathon. His plump lips are completely drenched with your wetness. He looks up at you through his lashes, as if you were a goddess.

Oh, it really is over for me. 

“Stand up,” you order.

He questions you at first, but then gets the message when you hop off the counter and drop to your knees. 

He pets your hair, towering over you, but not unbuckling his belt like you so want him to. 

“You really don’t have to, baby. But it’s so sweet seeing how compliant you are.” he says with a slight smirk. 

“Shut up,” you say, all the while undoing his belt. He continues to pet your hair, watching your every move. 

You pull his cock out of his boxers. It's perfect; long but not too long, and slightly curved upwards. He’s definitely a fucking munch seeing how much it's already dripping precum. 

You hover your lips around the tip, kissing it lightly. He hums above you in approval. 

“Now, it's your turn to beg for it.” you tease, pulling away from him. 

He chuckles from above you, fucking chuckles, before grabbing the back of your head with more force than before.

“Oh sweetie, I don’t beg.” he says, before pulling your head forward onto him.

A head pusher? Yeah… But for some reason, this time, it was the hottest thing he could have done. 

You get to work, watching his mouth drop open in pleasure while you work your mouth up and down his length. You cup your tongue around the underside of him, pulling out every trick in the book to try and get the upperhand in this fight.

He’s very obviously enjoying it, moaning loud enough for anyone in the theater to hear and eyes locked into contact with yours. He swipes his other hand through his bangs, which are now collecting the sweat from his brow. God he’s beautiful.

Even though his hand is holding your head down, you still have full control, so you slow down your pace just a little to try another trick. 

You bring your hand up to cup his balls, lightly squeezing and tugging to bring him closer. You feel his cock pulse in your mouth at the added pleasure. 

But nothing could’ve prepared him for your next trick. 

You slowly trail your finger backwards, lightly circling his rim to test the waters. But before you can even think about going further, you hear a gargled moan come from him, and he pulls you off your knees by your hair. 

Your face meets his, foreheads touching, but you divert your eyes down, scared you may have crossed a line.

“Why the fuck are you trying to make me cum before I get to feel that pussy around me?” he asks.

Your cheeks heat up knowing that it worked, filing that info into your head for another time. 

“Turn around,” he barks, but you stay still. You bring your eyes up off the floor to meet his, determined not to let him win the struggle for control. 

“Funny if you think I’m going to let you fuck me from behind right off the bat.” you say, trying to put power behind your words even though you feel so little in his arms. 

“Oh, well then what’s your alternative sweetheart?” he cuts back at you, as if humoring you.

“Take this off,” you say, tugging at his shirt, “and sit down.”

“Hm… but aren’t you going to take anything off too?” he asks, pulling away and pulling his shirt over his head from the back of the neck. 

You get distracted by his toned stomach, your retort getting stuck in the back of your throat. 

He giggles at you again, before stepping forward and grabbing the hem of the crop top you were wearing. 

“How about, we take this off, but leave the skirt on?” he says, dragging his fingers along the bottom of your shirt, waiting for your consent.

You nod at him, and he swiftly lifts the top off of you, leaving you in your skirt and bra. 

He silently backs up into the chair, sitting down and draping his thick arms over the arms of it.

You slowly walk towards him, really wanting to drag this part out, before you lift up your legs to straddle him in the chair.

You hover over his cock, but before you drop down, you make eye contact with him. He’s staring into you, as if looking into your soul, and you stutter your movements, all of the sudden getting nervous. 

It’s as if he senses the nerves, and brings a hand to the small of your back, trying to reassure and ground you silently.

You reach your hands up to cup his cheeks, before leaning in to kiss him. This one is different though, not like the intense one before. This one is slower, tongues just brushing over each other. Kissing like you have all the time in the world.

Your hands tangle in his hair as you slowly sink onto his length, pausing the kiss to moan in each other's mouths. 

As you bottom out, he holds your hips in place, not allowing you to start bouncing. “Just give me a minute, baby. You feel too good.” he sighs out.

You find it endearing how close he already is just from the kiss, and as much as you are tempted to start the game of control back up and just start bouncing, you stay still. 

You press your body against his in anticipation, so that your stomachs are pressed together. He feels so warm against you, and his arms circle around your back as he lets go of your hips. 

You take this as a green light and start bouncing on him, never breaking the contact of your forehead against his. 

He fills you up soooo perfectly, the curve in his cock dragging so deliciously along your g-spot. You can’t help but to speed up, the sounds of his balls slapping your wet pussy fill the booth. 

He’s circled his arms around your hips now, grabbing your ass and basically moving you up and down on his cock without you having to do any work. But even with that, the awkward position makes your legs burn and you start to slow down. 

“You getting tired baby?” he asks, and you nod. “Do you need me to help you?” he asks, to which you nod again. 

He wraps his arm underneath your thighs and picks you up out of the chair as if you weighed nothing. You knew those arms would come to good use. He sets you down on the edge of the counter before entering you again. 

You keep your arms wrapped around the back of his neck as he starts thrusting into you. This angle is different than before, allowing him to directly hit your g-spot every time.

His pace is somehow way more effective at pushing you to the edge than your own pace was, and you find yourself getting desperately close to your second orgasm. 

It’s as if he can read your mind, or it's probably just him feeling your pussy pulse around him tightly, but he smirks to himself. Almost too small for you to notice. But you do notice, and next thing you know he is pulling out and jacking his cock off in between you both. You whimper at the loss of him filling you up. 

“Help me cum and maybe I’ll let you cum again when I get you in my bed tonight,” he breathes out heavily. 

You huff out in frustration, but unfortunately, you are completely under his spell. You reach in between you both and take over jacking him off. Your other hand snakes around the back of his head, pulling it down towards you so you can whisper in his ear. 

“Maybe if you make me cum again tonight, I'll let you fill me up.” you whisper in his ear. 

That sends him over the edge, and he grabs the counter as he stutters in your hands, cumming all over your skirt. 

You giggle as his orgasm trails off. “You owe me a new skirt now I guess.” you say.

He catches his breath before scooping you up into his arms again. “I’ll buy you a hundred new skirts if you suck my dick my like that again.” 

With another giggle, you peck him on the nose. “So, does this mean I won the fight?” you ask. 

“I don’t know what makes you think that babygirl,” he chuckles as he sets you down. 

He hands you your shirt before finding his own. Still a gentleman even when he’s being an asshole. 

A door in the theatre opens, scaring the shit out of both of you. You both scramble into the spotlight room to put your clothes back on out of sight of the huge window.

“Hey guys! I know you’re here! The director just emailed me back with some tech notes.” Vernon yells from the audience. 

“Okay come on up, it's unlocked!” Seungcheol yells down to Vernon from the enclosed room, now fully dressed. 

He pecks you on the lips before rushing out of the room to his seat at the counter. Which you just fucked on.

You scramble to clean off your skirt with a tissue before rushing to your own chair and sitting down. But it isn’t until you sit down that you realize, you’re still not wearing panties. 

It’s as if Seungcheol reads your mind and you both lock eyes in terror. There are your panties sitting in the middle of the counter. 

The door opens and Vernon starts walking up the stairs to the booth as Seungcheol grabs your panties and haphazardly stuffs them in his pocket. 

“Hey guys, glad you're--” he stops in the middle of the sentence. “It smells like dick in here what the fuck??” he exclaims.

You hid your face, scared you might burst out laughing. 

Seungcheol takes the heat for you though, explaining it off as him leaving some leftovers in here overnight.

Vernon takes you both through some notes before leaving, with a peculiar expression on his face. 

Something tells you he has a suspicion, and you might be hearing some rumors tomorrow thanks to the nosy theatre bitches you surround yourself with…

It’s silent for a moment after Vernon leaves, before you both burst out laughing. 

“Okay well that was fun, but I’m getting my chair all wet. Can I have my underwear back now?” you ask after the laughter dies down. 

“Um, absolutely not! I’m keeping these,” Seungcheol says with a wink before turning back to his desktop to finally get to work. 

And later that night, you both get what you promised.

a/n: thank you for reading, and please reblog and leave feedback! 💕

[masterjedilenawrites]

I have a request if you’re feeling up for it :)

I wanted to know what each clone’s S/O does to get them flustered? 🤔 like all blushy, stuttering, etc? Is it words from their S/O? Light touches?(ticklish,sensitive,etc) I was in a fluffy mood and you are a good writer. I shall pay you in llamas pls & thank u ✨🦙 🦙🦙🦙

Ooh hard to pass up a deal for llamas. But first I need to know, are they smelly? Do they get along with cats? And can they survive on a small apartment balcony?

Cody, Wolffe, and Wrecker melt over sweet and kind gestures. Gentle touches are a big one. It sends such pleasant tingles across their skin and they cannot comprehend how they could possibly deserve such softness. Another is being taken care of, such as their armor being cleaned or being cooked a nice meal. They won't be able to find the words to express how such acts make them feel. 

Tup, Dogma, and Thorn will be flushed, stuttering messes over just about anything. Seriously, any kind of attention goes straight to their hearts without a fight, and comes spilling over in the most frazzled and adorable of ways. We're talking compliments, being thanked, brushing arms as they move by, seeing their S/O blush... These three are immediately red as a tomato and utterly helpless.

Hardcase, Tech, and Mayday would need it laid on them real thick before they're even aware. Simple brushes of the hand won't do the trick, they need their head caressed in both hands. Sweet words or silly pet names? No, they need to be taken aside, looked in the eye, and told just how handsome or strong they are. Then they'll start stuttering and blushing.

Fox, Rex, and Echo will get worked into a tizzy any time their S/O shines the spotlight on them in public. Behind closed doors, they are totally fine hearing compliments, holding them close, being doted on. But around others, they cannot function with that attention. It's not even out of embarrassment or anything; the gestures just hit them that much deeper when they're on display.

Fives, Jesse, and Crosshair aren't too easily thrown off their game, but there is one simple thing that will make their brains short circuit: their S/O's smile. They dream about that smile. It is the single most dazzling, beautiful, perfect thing they have ever seen in their entire lives, and it will make them seize up and swoon, without fail, every single time. 

Kix, Hunter, and Gregor are more likely to be flustered over things that are... uh, less than innocent, shall we say. They don't bat an eye at the fluffy stuff. It's still enjoyable, don't get them wrong, but they won't be turning pink just by holding hands. No, their blushes only come out when touched teasingly elsewhere, or at suggestive turns of phrase, or even at flirty winks. 

Every Character Tag: @dangerousstrawberrypie, @justanothersadperson93, @arctrooper69, @sleepycreativewriter, @techie-bear, @theroguesully

Bois, Batch, and Other Clones Tag: @kaijusplotch, @rebel-finn, @lucyysthings, @marvel-starwars-nerd, @nekotaetae, @severalseashellsbytheseashore, @lackofhonor, @flowered-bicycles, @foodmoneyandcats, @nahoney22

✨Join A Tag List Here!✨

💋 Tender Loving Clones Master List | 🌙 Master List of Master Lists

[brookie-the-cookie-lmao]

ok, if y’all have seen one of earlier posts, i was saying that i desperately needed a bootleg of “The Outsiders Musical” because i’m actually a whore for The Outsiders. well, funny enough, I don’t need it anymore because i was able to watch it in NY 😭 it’s a whole thing, but now i need to talk about it.

spoilers ahead!!!!

The Review, Thoughts, and Opinions, of “The Outsiders Musical” from A Theatre Kid

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to watch the original cast. The show I watched had pretty much all of the Understudies for the Greasers, except for Sodapop (Jason Schmidt) and Dallas (Joshua Boone). Thankfully, those understudies were phenomenal, so I’m definitely not complaining. They put on such a spectacular show, and they deserve so much credit and recognition for the work they’ve put into this.

Take my review with a grain of salt. I’m no professional. Just an enjoyer of musicals, who’s been in a few herself.

Oh, and speaking of credit and recognition, I need to talk Techies before I deep dive into the characters and their respective actors.

The Technical Aspects:

Choreo

Dude, that choreography was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I loved the way that they utilized every part of their stage and props. The dancing and jumping off of the car was so cool. I think my favorite choreo moments have to be “Run Run Brother” and the rumble scene. The way the planks were used to hide and carry and Johnny and Ponyboy was so enthralling to watch. And the rumble scene was so cool. I’m going to go into detail about this scene later.

Sounds

The sound crew is so talented. I loved the muffled, underwater sounds when Ponyboy was being drowned. I loved the train noises. I loved how balanced all the mics were. There were literally no issues that I could point out at my show with mics going out. They were perfect. I loved when those quick flashes of lights would happen and everything blacks out, the noises that went with it. I loved the noises when Ponyboy gets jumped (and the other characters too, but Ponyboy gets jumped a lot) and his head hits the car. The unconscious noises that followed. So good.

Lights

The lights were so cool. I thought it was interesting (and maybe it’s because I’ve never seen a Broadway show before this) how there were no handheld spotlights. I’m not a light person, so idk how it all works, but they were like programmed to follow them or they were moving the lights from their booth? Anyways, it was cool. The sunrise was beautiful. The church glass mural reflecting onto the ground was so cool. I loved the quick black-outs, with that singular light flashing. Idk how to describe it, but I loved it.

Props / Set

Dude the set was so cool. The gravel, the cars. I loved the cars. I loved how they used that one car the entire show and made it into different things. I loved how the Socs car moved. I loved the use of the planks. They were benches, they were hiding spots during “Run Run Brother”, they were Johnny’s death bed, they were used during the church burning. I thought it was cool that they used real food during that final scene between the Curtis boys. I loved all the climbing they did. On that jungle-gym looking thing on stage right, and the utilization of the higher parts of the stage. Pony and Johnny hung out there, ensemble/Socs/dally was there during “Tulsa ‘67 (Reprise)”. So cool. I loved the tire full of water, and how they put that topper on it so they could stand or sit or dance on it.

Costumes/Hair/Makeup

I live for Ponyboy’s blonde wig. That was hilarious.

The costumes were great! I liked that they didn’t completely base them off of the movie costumes and went for something a little different. I did find it funny how (and I think that was at the drive-in, or one of the scenes leading up to it) that Ponyboy had Johnny’s jacket in the movie, and Musical-Johnny had the cut-off sleeve jean jacket — similar to watch Ponyboy was wearing in the movie. Was it intentional? I guess we’ll never know.

I think the use of fake blood falls under this category? If not… womp womp.

The blood was so cool. I loved during the rumble scene how one minute all the boys had clean faces, and then when they were all center stage, fighting slo-mo, lights turning on and off, how they slowly started getting blood all over their faces and clothes. I thought it was so cool the use of blood during Bob’s death. He got stabbed, lights went on and off, each time showing a different pose of the actors, and Bob’s shirt just got bloodier and bloodier.

Music / Orchestra

The orchestra was amazing. I didn’t notice anything go wrong, everything sounded very smoothly. They did so good.

So, apparently some people have actually complained about the music? I really liked it, but I also see where they’re coming from. Loved the country feel to the songs — bc it’s literally set in Oklahoma. But, I also would’ve liked to get more of that 60s feel (think Elvis and the Beatles) rather than a modern feel.

But overall, I really enjoyed it. I’m not gonna sit here and legitimately complain, bc I didn’t hate it, I just was expecting a different vibe.

Idk Where To Categorize These

I also loved the use of the flashlights. Blinding? Yes. But, cool?? Abso-fucking-lutely.

Uhm, the rain??? Excuse me? I knew that that was in the show, but seeing it live was so much cooler. Like, how the hell do you even do that? I’ve never heard of something like that before. It was so cool.

The pyrotechnics was so cool!! There was soooo much fire. More and more fire popped up as the church-fire scene progressed, which was just 😫😫

The Actors and Their Characters:

So, when it comes to diving into the specifics of the characters, I do think it would be better to watch it a second time to be able to understand them better (that’s what I do with movies. First time you watch, it’s for entertainment. The second time, it’s to dissect it). And I say that because I am most familiar with the original source material. That’s what I was comparing this musicals and these characters to when I watched it. If I were able to watch it a second time, I don’t think I’d have that holding me back in my initial critique, because it did change the way I thought. If that makes any sense???

That being said, I do understand that books, movies, and musicals are all three completely different pieces of media. I don’t think that they should be compared too insanely harshly because the details that you can add into a book cannot always be reiterated in the movie. Musicals are a completely different territory, a different audience, and sometimes the flow that makes sense in a book or movie does not make sense in a musical.

Ok, moving on now. Just needed to put that out there as I critique and compliment these characters :)

The Ensemble

They had a very small ensemble cast, but they put their all into their roles. And, I say small, but I think I expected more because I’m used to high school theatre where they try to give as many kids an opportunity as they can. (I did Little Shop not too long ago, and our ensemble was huge compared to traditional Broadway casting for it. I think we had like 13 or 14 ensemble members?) Anyways, they were great. I loved that they had the Soc girls dress up as guys for the rumble. I was humored by that, idk why. I loved the cute little dance the Soc girls had in the beginning. The boys did really good during the rumble scene and during all the jumping scenes.

Paul & Bob — Dan Berry & Kevin William Paul

They were greatttt! I don’t have a bunch to say, since the story doesn’t focus too much on these two. But their performances were amazing.

I did find it interesting that Paul was actually a character in the musical, more so than he was in both the book and movie. Homeboy was not involved for the contents of the book up until the rumble (same with the movie), but he was the main Soc in the musical. It’s not a bad thing. But, it did stick out to me that they essentially replaced Randy for Paul. And i know that Randy ended up “being one of the good ones” in the book/movie, so I can see why they might not have wanted to expand in his character for sake of the story and time. But, I actually wouldn’t have been upset if they changed Randy’s character to what Paul was. If they just and whim want revenge. Idk. Ig I just missed Randy lol

Cherry — Emma Pittman

BRO CHERRY WAS SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING IN THE MUSICAL

I actually really liked her. And it’s not that I didn’t like her character before, I just was never impressed with anything she did. She was just kinda there. She was just the girl Pony had a crush on, nothing more.

But here?? She’s so much more than that

Once again, this goes back to how real these characters are.

Her and Ponyboy made a connection at the drive-in. That was always clear, but I don’t think it was portrayed as well as it could’ve been in the movie. In the musical, they showwwedddd it!!! They showed how similar the two were. That, despite their differences, they became friends that night.

I loved that she even broke up with Bob.

Her line “If I don’t talk to you at school, don’t take it personal” has a completely different perspective here too. In the movie, I thought she said that because of Bob. Because she didn’t want to cause a problem and Bob either her or Ponyboy. In the musical, since now Bob doesn’t matter bc they broke up, it means something else. It could be see as an asshole thing to do bc “oh why shouldn’t they just defy dumb biases??” But it’s more than that. It was a way to protect him. If Ponyboy was seen talking to not just a Soc, but Cherry Valance, he’d be given so much shit. Probably jumped. Cherry would also get a lot of shit for it too.

And she seemed like she cared so much more about Ponyboy in the musical. How she checked in on Ponyboy, cared about him while he was gone and then being hunted down by Socs, and even hand-delivering Johnny’s things to him.

(Side note: when Cherry visited the Curtis home and said “Johnny’s mother never claim his things”, someone behind me gasped at that. Me too, girl. Me too 😢)

Steve & Two-Bit — Jordan Chin & Henry Julián Gendron

Sooooo I actually don’t have much to say about Steve and Two-Bit because the show didn’t have much to say with Steve and Two-Bit. They hardly had any lines and they didn’t do anything except dance and fight. It was honestly really disappointing. And maybe it was for the sake of the story, which I understand. This is Ponyboy’s story, and he didn’t always have much to say about either of them. But, they were still important characters. Two-Bit cared a lot for Ponyboy after he returned in the book and movie, same with Johnny as he went to go visit him and was even crying when he confronted Johnny’s dead-beat mother. Steve was an important in Sodapop’s life. You can’t tell me that Steve wasn’t there comforting Soda when Sandy cheated. You can’t tell me he wasn’t there when Ponyboy ran away. He definitely was, but they never showed it. These are the two characters out of the whole bunch that literally never get any good rep and it sucks, because they are such good characters.

I’m gonna give the musical the benefit of the doubt — like I mentioned before — and that it was for the sake of time, pacing, story progression, etc. But hopefully you get the point I’m trying to make ?

Ace — Milena J. Comeau

I was shocked when the curtains opened and I saw a Greaser girl. I thought she was gonna be ensemble, but no, she was a legitimate member of the Curtis gang. She also didn’t have a bunch of lines. She just danced and fought a lot. But, props to her actor, because she is a beautiful dancer. She was so smooth with her movements, she traveled the stage so fluidly. I wish that they did more with her character, only because I didn’t exactly know what her role was within the gang. I actually don’t even know why she was added in the first place. Once again, nothing much was probably done with her for the sake of the show progression, but still.

Sodapop — Jason Schmidt

Dude. He was hot.

His shirt of off for like the first 10 minutes of the show, and I was just 😍 the whole time.

Anyways, onto his actual character.

I really loved what they did with Sodapop. Creds to the actor, but also creds to the writers.

In the book, the boys didn’t curse, like at all (and granted, this was written from a 14yo perspective. let’s be so fr, cursing was still an uncomfortable thing at 13/14). They would curse, but they were hardly ever written out in dialogue, Ponyboy would just say “and then he started cursing a bunch”. Anyways, I actually really enjoyed the fact that they included language in the musical. It made it feel more like a bunch of poor, teenage boys in the 60s. Even the things they’d say. Like, during “Grease Got A Hold” Sodapop was talking about girls and idk if it’s in the recording but istg, watching it live he said something about pussy, and like… implying something with sex. I don’t exactly remember but yeah. That felt very real. :)

I thought it was interesting how Sandy wasn’t mentioned as cheating on him, but simply breaking up and moving away. But, they also literally did not mention what happened between the two in the movie. So whatever.

I liked how they showed more of how much of a mediator Sodapop is. Every time Darry and Pony would fight and Darry would get worked up, he’d make sure that Darry doesn’t get too close to Pony and tries to calm him down. Ngl, it definitely looked awkward watching him trying to calm Darry down, but that’s also because (in my opinion) it’s one of the harder things to do on stage and make it seem real. Irl, Soda would be talking Darry down, and interrupting. He can’t exactly do that on stage. But, that’s not really a critique, just something I noticed bc it stuck out to me. Maybe I’m inexperienced, but I can’t think of a much better way to do that.

His character was much deeper as well. It was clear just how emotionally intelligent he is, but that he isn’t exactly book smart. He was funny, and they did play into some of the “dumb guy” humor, but they also had him be actually funny. Just like a 16yo boy would be.

Darry — Victor Carrillo Tracey

Darry seemed a lot more stern in the musical ??? Not necessarily in a bad way though. ? I’ve heard that people agree with that statement, but more or less as in “oh Darry’s the worst. He told Ponyboy that it would be better if he — Darry — left him, and that Pony would be ‘one less thing to worry about.’” But I don’t think that that’s him being mean.

Darry is 20yo. He had a full-ride scholarship for football, and had to throw it all away to care for his brothers. It was selfless what he did. He could’ve just allowed them to be put into foster care, but he didn’t because those are his brothers. So, he started working two jobs. He put everything he had into those boys, and made a lot of sacrifices in his personal life. So, yeah, when Darry is at his breaking point in “Runs In The Family (Reprise)” he’s going to talk about how much better his life would be if he could get what he wanted. If he could spend his days with a lady by his side, if he could’ve gone on to be successful in life. Darry isn’t Ponyboy’s dad — if that we’re the case, yeah, then Darry actually would be the worst character. Darry’s just a kid. He was a teenager not that long ago.

Does that make sense?

And, I don’t want to sound like a shitty person when saying that, bc I definitely how that could come off. I say it because I relate to it. Now, my parents aren’t dead, and it’s not like I was given the worst childhood either — just shitty circumstances. I’m the eldest sibling, just like Darry, and at times it felt like I was given too much responsibility on caring for my younger siblings. At times, I did think “oh it would be easier if I could just move out. I wouldn’t have this burden.” I think when I was 12 I even contemplated running away LMAOO

So, I don’t hate him, but I do sympathize with him. Because I know that what he’s doing isn’t easy.

And it’s clear that he does care for Ponyboy, because in “Throwing In The Towel” he shares how he’s feeling to Sodapop. How worried he is for Pony, how horrible he feels about what he did, he’s blaming himself for everything, he thinks that it would be better if he just wasn’t around. Yk what I mean?

Anyways

I liked his character. Like I’ve been saying; the character feels more real. The emotions Darry was portraying, the words he was saying — that’s everything a 20yo, working two jobs to provide for his brothers, who’s given up everything, at his breaking point looks like. I think Tracey did a great job here. Props to him

Johnny — Josh Strobl

For a few minutes into the show, I did not think that I’d like his character. He was much more talkative than what I was used to that I was taken aback. But, I quickly changed my mind. His character was really good. And it goes back to what I was saying about the characters feeling more real, more like actual teenagers. Johnny wouldn’t have been shaking like a scared dog all the time, stuttering and stumbling over his words in fear, having a panic attack every three hours. Maybe some of that was true to some degree, but the degree that this particular fandom paints him in. Y’all think he’s completely helpless. He definitely wouldn’t have been. Yes, he would still have anxiety, yes, he’d still suffer with depression (bc, let’s be honest, he definitely would have).

Johnny camped outside his house to make sure his dad wouldn’t kill his mom. He was still able to joke around and actually talk to people.

Musical-Johnny felt more like what a real person would go through. Still suffering, but not helpless.

Anyways. I need to make a critique. Before I say this, I do understand that I watched the understudy cast. I am well aware — as someone who has done double-casted shows before — that the understudy cast doesn’t get the same stage time/rehearsal time that the main cast does. I also understand that the ensemble doesn’t always get to perform that often. They don’t have set performances like the main cast does, they just fill in when needed.

That being said, I think I have this critique because Strobl (if I had to guess) didn’t have enough time to properly learn his character. Giving the benefit of the doubt here, I didn’t like the way he delivered his lines. I noticed it specifically at the end, when Johnny’s on his death bed. Ralph Macchio did a great job acting like he was dying — you could hear it in his voice. Strobl sounded normal. And, yes, that might have been for the sake of articulation and actually being able to hear what he’s saying. But… there were still things that he could’ve done. He was monotone delivering his characters dying words. Johnny had burns all over him, he has inhaled so much smoke, he was paralyzed. But he sounds like normal?

Idk he just sounded like he didn’t care to be there.

Dallas — Joshua Boone

I think that this was the best iteration of Dallas across the board.

Once again, the musical made him feel like a real person. He wasn’t just Tulsa’s infamous bad-boy. He was also really close with Johnny and Ponyboy. He cared for them. His care for those boys (ESPECIALLY JOHNNY) was clearly shown in the musical. Dallas just seems pissed off the whole time in the movie. Like yeah, he cares, but he’s also got mad attitude.

I loved that they made it clear how he views Johnny, and Ponyboy even. Called them his brothers. Even told Darry that he’s more of a brother to Ponyboy than Darry ever will be, because Dallas actually spends time with him.

Trust me trust me trust me — i am going to talking about Dallas’ suicide scene, bc I have a lot to say about it. But, I have a section further down where I talk about specific scenes that I want to talk about. There will I discuss this.

Ponyboy — Trevor Wayne

OK WE MADE IT TO PONYBOYYY

I freaking loved Musical-Ponyboy. Once again, as I’ve said it a thousand times already; he seemed much more like a 14yo boy in the musical. Idk what made him so boy-ish specifically, but I’m pretty sure it was that damn shirt 😭

I loved the narration throughout the show.

He had such an angelic voice

He was so funny

ABHHH

I loved how well he portrayed Ponyboy absolutely grief-stricken. The depression he was facing. UGH I live for it. The spacing out, the not talking. The lashing out even. Beautiful.

Dude and Trevor was so sweet too. I got to meet him after the show.

(Y’all idk why I have like nothing to say about him. Ik I do, I just can’t think rn omllll. I’ll come up with something, i SWEAR!!! I’ll come back with an edit)

I Must Talk About These Scenes

Dally’s Suicide

Ok, this is gonna sound morbid… but I really liked it. It’s impact hit me much harder than it ever did in the book/movie — and that shit hurt the first time I read it.

I went into this musical completely blind. Didn’t want to know the plot, didn’t listen the cast album, scrolled past most of the promo videos online. So… I was definitely shocked as I watched Dallas jump in front of a train.

So, I did a little bit of digging, and apparently they changed how Dally died because they didn’t want to being politics into the show — police brutality. Which, I get it. But… let’s be honest. You’ve got a show that is very much about how hard the Greasers have it versus the Socs. How much the Socs can get away with, and what very little the Greasers get away with. They said that they were particular in their casting — Socs were all white, while the Greasers had a heavy POC cast. So, if you’re trying to make a point about he unfairness of life these boys faced, it wouldn’t have been the most shocking thing to have the police shoot Dallas. But, that being said, I also didn’t hate it. Like I mentioned earlier, Dallas’ grotesque ending hit me much harder.

To sit there and watched as Ponyboy narrates Dallas’ final moments, the thoughts that could’ve been going through his head, how Ponyboy pictured what his last actions or words were — I mean, my heart was racing, I couldn’t look away, and I was sitting there thinking, “there’s no way a train’s gonna be his death.” And then it was. It was loud. It was bright, then quickly blacked-out. When the lights come up again, Ponyboy retells what happened to Dallas as he got hit. Pieces of him flew everywhere. The train derailed.

It’s such an awful way to go. Horrifying. Scary. I think it’s one thing to get shot to death. It’s a whole other thing to stand there and watch as a train slowly comes after you.

The Rumble

HOLY FUCKING SHITT

The fight choreo was amazing, and then the synchronized punching and getting kicked down was just 😫

I loved the way that they had Johnny in that scene too. I saw him show up out of literally nowhere in his regular clothing, then fucking disappear so smoothly. AND THEN HE REAPPEARS AGAIN ON HIS HOSPITAL BED AND GOWN SO QUICKLY?!?? EHAT?!?! I need to know how they did that. How did they get that set together so quickly? How did they get Johnny to change so quickly? Did they have a seperate actor? Or is this dude literally the Flash?

Anyways, I was fucking gripping my seat handles and leaning over my seat freaking the fuck out over that beautiful transition.

UHM THE FUCKING RAIN?!?!

Ik I already talked about this — but it was SO COOL to see irl. I loved it so much. I mean, I truly cannot think of any other production doing something like that, unless I just am not as well-versed in the theatre world as I thought I was lol

It was such a cool scene

Church Burning

I mentioned the pyrotechnics of this scene earlier, but honestly the whole thing was impressive. The projections, the beams being used to throw the whole thing falling apart and just showing the overall chaos. It was awesome.

Darry & Dallas Fight

Yeahhhh ummmmm I didn’t like that :/

I wasn’t like “oh wow this is so out of character and strange, this doesn’t make any sense to be in here”, bc to some degree I could see how worried Darry would get onto Dallas for hiding where his younger brother is. But I don’t think Darry’s proud enough to get into a physical alteration with him over it. He definitely would think that he’s “too old to fight” and that he could be saving his energy focused on finding his brother and being able to work so he can provide for his family.

And maybe it’s because I haven’t read the book in forever, and the fact that the two never really interacted in either the book or movie, but I feel I’ve seen it somewhere that Dallas and Darry actually had a decent relationship. Or that Dallas looked up to Darry ??? Am I crazy? Did I just make that up ? or was that actually said lmaoooo

Anyways, found it a little strange. I’m gonna chalk up finding this interaction weird to the book being all in Ponyboy’s POV, therefore the writers had to really reach to get the audience to understand what the other characters were going through. If that makes sense??

I think if this did happen, they would start almost punching each other. Darry’s too responsible. And I think he cares too much for his friends — even if it is Dallas Winston.

Sodapop + Ponyboy Talking In Bed

bro this scene was so funny. I literally only wanted to mention this scene because I can’t stop thinking about:

SP: “What are you reading?”

PB: “It’s a book called Great Expectations.”

SP: “How many pages is it?”

PB: “544–“

SP: “FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR FUCKING PAGES?!?!?!… that would take me ten years to read.”

The Ending — The Curtis Brothers

I loved the connection that was finally formed at the end between the brothers.

I liked the acting here. Ponyboy hasn’t spoken hardly a word this whole time. Now, all of a sudden, he’s asking his brothers if they want to read his book. Darry and Soda, who’ve been waiting for him at the dinner table, slowly — in shock — turn to him. UGH I LOVED THAT!

And when Darry said “can I read it too?” and Pony just goes “really? You want to read it?” He expected Darry not to care. But he did.

When Pony physically lashed out at Darry, Sodapop breaks it up and he finally breaks. But… it felt very rushed. Sodapop had some very real feelings, and while everyone agreed to try to do better, I would’ve liked for them to focus on Soda a bit more. The movie did it beautifully. They took their time, we watched as Pony and Darry finally fully realize how much they’re tearing their family apart. How badly it’s impacting them — how it’s affecting their own brother. The musical definitely rushed it.

But other than that, it was so heartwarming

Final Thoughts

All in all, this show exceeded my already great expectations for it (FULL FUCKING PUN INTENDED, i think i’m so funny).

I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to watch this brilliant show.

Listening to these beautiful voices, I had goosebumps all throughout the songs, especially Great Expectations. Trevor Wayne has a spectacular voice, and those high notes in that song was soooo good

I want to watch this show again and again. I also would like the see the OG cast. But, I’m definitely not complaining with what I got.

Ok. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk :) if I remember anything else, I’ll edit this post.

[reedsprophet]

So can you tell me about your oc?

Oh man…. I have a bit of info!! It’s all over the place but yakknow, I haven’t really talked about the silly :P!!

Dew is genderfluid, uses he/they pronouns but it fluctuates based on how he appears/dresses!! He’s 5’4… a bit small… compared to all my f/os since I just ship him with everyone LMAO I’m lazy :,)

His voice canon is Noel from ride the cyclone!!! I relate to him a bunch personally and I think it fits!

As for just him in general, I like to think he’s just some critter that’s trying to blend in. Maybe an incubus? Just remove the nsfw aspects of it because he is EASILY head over heels with people that he likes, and he gets his fuel from the adoration or enjoyment from his presence.

He’s not used to humanity, as much as he tries to be,,..,,,, as for his form… he can shapeshift based on things he’s seen before, so one day he saw a person wearing a pair of dog ears and a tail for a cosplay or a costume (ironically one of the first days he showed up to look at humans was Halloween!!) he can also shapeshift with any form of I guess “dna” from someone, wether that be blood or a piece of hair, BAM he’s that person now. Only downside is that there’s signals that it’s him, mainly the pink eyes and fangs. Maybe even wings or pink clothes sobs

So from what he’s seen, which isn’t particularly the best views of humans… he’s altered his physical appearance to blend in with them :P!! It doesn’t really work, but considering a lot of people look weird, it’s nothing that’s super… terrible or important

He’s super… theater kid energy. He’s a fashionista, dramatic, basically just put the craziest actor that you know on Broadway, then mix it with techie, and BAM you have Dew. He’s a sucker for singing, dancing, and being in the spotlight, who wouldn’t be? He has absolutely NO shame, at least that’s what people see.

Onto some other stuff listed on his character hub… he doesn’t like to fit into other people’s standards or beliefs in what’s normal or not, but he’s often forced into them. He has this desperation to be his own person, to stand out, but he’s often told to mask or feels compelled to do so.

He’s very shiny!! If that makes sense, he likes to wear bracelets and any form of jewelry or cute clothing possible… if you see him, he’s most likely wearing at LEAST a choker and three bracelets.

Man this is all over the place… chat I don’t talk about my sillies often but that’s A-OKAY— I think 🧍‍♂️

[crossfoxbuns]

Keep a Link Garden!

The Internet is Big

Like, REALLY big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is - or how much this intro has been overused since Hitchhiker's Guide has been a thing.

But it is big. Big enough that if you don't have some kind of system for keeping things you want to remember, there's no way in hell that you can remember it. What is a "thing you want to remember" though?

For me, it's everything from interesting blogs and webcomics, to YouTube favorites, to pin on Pinterest, to random shops I'd love to buy things from if I had money, to cool examples and inspirations - that kind of thing.

Each platform kinda has a way of letting you organize your favorite stuff - but it only works on that platform.

Enter the humble bookmark. Remember those? Before revamping my system I had nearly 1000 of them. YIKES.

But bookmarks are just SO GOOD at being the one thing that always works to save stuff for later. No matter the platform, every piece of content has a unique URL - that's how it has to be. And with unique URLs, bookmarks become the best way to save stuff in one place no matter the platform.

Personally this became a problem for me a couple of months ago. Because of my work and general techie interests, I switch web browsers all the time. I've used 'em all. Most recently I was trying out Arc browser. It's generally quite nice! It took the spotlight/global search sort of approach to literally everything, which tickles my brain in the right ways.

There's still a big problem with Arc though - no way to export stuff very well. (Pro tip: before you commit to a software, make sure you can leave the thing easily!) And because Arc's philosophy doesn't really do bookmarks (I just had a space on the side with hundreds of "pinned tabs"), when I finally found a stupid, roundabout way to get my list of bookmarks out, it was just that - a plain old list. The organization was gone. It was just hundreds and hundreds of links all piled together into a bin with no sorting whatsoever.

So I decided that this was the time to really start organizing this pile of links. It's like the inside of my brain, covered head to toe in random sticky notes, half of which don't make sense anymore. To start things off, I found Raindrop.

Raindrop is a place to put my bookmarks that, first and foremost, isn't married to a particular browser. Whether I'm using Arc, Firefox, Safari, on any device, doesn't matter - I get to my bookmarks the same way.

Another benefit is that Raindrop's app lets me share links and stuff to it using the phone's built-in sharing function, which makes saving the bookmarks way easier!

The icing on the cake? You can upload files to it as well. Images, documents, whatever. This got me thinking. I have a rather large collection of images saved on Pinterest...

By the way, Pinterest also sucks when it comes to exporting things. I had to use a downloaded tool that crawls the account and downloads the resources it finds, which felt gross. But with my stuff out of Pinterest, it meant one less corpo-site I relied on, so I'll take it. Uploading all those pins back into Raindrop was nice and simple. Raindrop even has a "moodboard" view mode, which looks suspiciously like Pinterest's masonry look, but without the ads and tracking scripts.

After adding my old pins to the collection, my bookmark garden is now just shy of 2000 links and images. I've been spending the past couple of weeks going through the giant pile and deleting old ones, sorting the rest into fresh categories, and giving things meaningful tags. That's another thing, I love that Raindrop uses and encourages tagging! Regular browsers take note - when there's a lot of something that someone will want to find again - support tags. Please. Not that I'll be doing that since I have transcended browser bookmarks, but you know.

Lots of stuff yet to sort and tag - about 600 links and 1000 images left to go - but it's coming along. And I'm tagging things as I continue to find links to add to the garden as well. Once that process is done, I'll have that nigh-perfect system - never needing to forget something again. If I want to browse some shops, I won't go to Etsy, I'll go the shops section of my private link garden. Carefully and lovingly curated. :)

Bonus points - if Raindrop gets enshittified, they have a couple of great exporting options, including a good old OPML file that every other bookmark manager can use.

[noobsomeexagerjunk]

guess who was late to the dsmp stage play convo

Honestly the stage play visions are so wild! It can be so beautiful either big budget or low budget in props, costume, and VFX. These are what I could come up with so far.

Michaelmcchill is in the orchestra pit. He's one of the few people who can interact with both the audience and the players, with the restriction being that he rarely gets the chance to do the interacting at all. When he does, it's worth it though. He adds and comments but nothing more, too afraid to genuinely change the course, at least alone anyway. Think Starkid's use of Clark Baxtresser in a few of their musicals (like, Firebringer, Ani, or TTO)

Purpled is decked out in light-up sketchers, hoodie or tux on. He has a lot of glow-in-the-dark shit going on in the costume that the stage has to dim a little whenever he enters the forefront. He has glow-in-the-dark face paint on too, with a plastic but flashy light saber toy. His lighting style is all neons and techy shit, which distinguishes him from all the other glowy people that read as more ethereal and supernatural. Instead of spitting up ketchup during his death scene, it's neon purple paint.

Callahan is a stagehand who doesn't stay backstage but just sits with the audience. He hands out free shit if asked politely. He is called onstage to the crowds delight during his times of spotlight.

Egg lore staged would have to match the energy of a Hatchetfield musical. Yes, the Egg is a fucking cardboard cut out but the lighting and the prerecorded voices from the speakers make it nonetheless sinister. The Eggheads wear glowing red eye contacts, as well as a bit of face paint beside the costume changes. That one Egg stream where Bad reveals his state to chat is him monologuing to the audience, dramatically ripping away his cloak to reveal the bleached one, cackling evilly before the lights dim.

Slimecicle's skin is body painted green. He comically throws goops of green DIY slimes everytime he enters, moves around, and exits the stage. Some of them have toy bones in there and some lucky audience members can get and keep them. He still acts his heart out like in canon.

Everyone gets a burger served to them during the burger arc! Some chairs have Tubburger, some are Wilburger. There is one McPuffy's burger.

Foam M!necraft weapons for everybody except the plot relevant props, which are more realistic-looking objects. Like, the Axe of Peace vs a player's prop axe.

Technoblade is dressed like this. Just add king garb.

All the horses are those horse-head-on-a-stick props. They are colored according to the in-game horse with their name taped onto their faces. When a horse is ridden, they will be ridden right.

Weednip is those edible seaweed sheets. Antfrost, fursuit on, would have a lighter in his pocket and smoke the rolled-up sheets in the bg of a scene where he was canonically present at.

Chat as audience can speak throughout the show, though are only acknowledged when acknowledged in the canon. Otherwise, sometimes the yelling takes on the energy of Rocky Horror callouts. The latter is most evident whenever Techno is onstage.

[klirk-hammurton]

KISS as beast tamers

My friends and I that play Dungeons and Dragons discussed this so I had to post it. Yes, I have made them all gods in my campaigns that you can worship. Yes, my friends have said I should tweet them about them being God's in my campaigns

Anywho....let's begin

Paul Stanley; Griffin. He's a faithful friend and sticks by his friends and family through thick and thin. I was originally going to use Pegasus or a gothic unicorn, but let's be honest....Paul riding on the back of a Griffin would be amazing

Gene Simmons: Hydra. I wasn't about to be cliché and just say "oh it's a dragon" Nah. I can picture him sitting on a throne with a 6 headed Hydra standing behind him and it would be a moment of "It's not the Hydra you have to worry about". No matter how many times people and media have tried tearing him down, he always comes back bigger and better

Eric Carr: Kitsune. I know.....I know.....the fox with a fix demon but hear me out. He was so sweet and genuine. Sure he had flaws but we all do. I can see him with a kitsune because they're misunderstood in mythos. And honestly? I could see a kitsune sacrificing itself or its tails to save him

Peter Criss: Manticore. You can't help BUT think of anything feline when talking about Peter. With his attitude and a demanding presence, it's no wonder he'd be the one that could control and tame a whole ass manticore.

Ace Frehley: ice based unicorn. Let's be honest here....he'd look do majestic riding on the back of that thing. I was going to do something techy, but I couldn't really find anything aesthetically pleasing. Plus, Ace has always had this "I do what I want" vibe about himself.

Vinnie Vincent: Chimera. I couldn't focus on just ONE creature that could fit his persona and personality so I figured let's put them all together. Big ego. Talent. Hard-headed. Everything that a Chimera personifies.

Bruce Kulick: blue Phoenix. I chose this because it resonates do much with Bruce and his career. The Phoenix represents new beginnings and comebacks. Before Ace, Bruces brother was originally was going to be the lead guitarist for KISS in '72 but Ace took the position. Then later, we saw Bruce was given an opportunity at the spotlight and he skyrocketed as if rising from ashes. I know....I'm corny with this but bear with me on it okay? What better for a comebacks than the creature that personifies it

Eric Singer: Cerberus. Hear me out....it's the most unexpected one of this series and that's why I love it. He gives off such wholesome vibes but could secretly kick your ass. Nobody would expect him to be the one to have reign over this hell hound, but somehow....he does. Could it be charisma? Probably so..

Tommy Thayer: Pegasus. Let's be honest here.....he'd look fucking amazing riding the back of a black Pegasus. Hair blowing in the wind during a lightning storm? Absolute perfection 🤌. He just has this vibe about him that points to something strong like a Pegasus. Strong. Graceful. Majestic.

[baby-n-boo]

Not Alone- kid!wilbur, older kid!techno, very little kid!tommy, even smaller kid!tubbo, dad!za.

The sun rose bright and warm on the small cottage in the forest, shining familiarly through the thin curtains to wake the thirteen-year-old splayed across his bed, legs tangled in the blue, sheep printed sheets that were a little too small for the bed itself. He groaned, and rolled over, almost falling off the bed as he moved, it being far too early to be awake, especially on a lazy day such as this one. It wasn’t like he had anything to do, no school, no sparring practice, not even any chores. A perfect day to stay in bed until the sun went away again.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t afforded that luxury, as his door was thrown open, slamming against the wall as it swung, and the cool dawn breeze washed over his exposed skin, ruffling his hair gently. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” an excitable voice squeaked, before a weight threw itself at the bed, making it bounce wildly. Coughing, with a breathless “oof”, he couldn’t help but open his eyes now, to see the almost-vibrating form of his younger brother, a grin splitting his face almost in half. “oh, hey Will.” he muttered, wearily, and reaching for his glasses. “What’s, uh...what's up?” Fighting back a yawn, sure he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep now the kid had invaded.

Wilbur bounced again, his hands flapping excitedly, as he grinned. “It’s my birfday! Happy birfday to me, happy birfday to me!” he squeaked, starting to sing as he slid back off the bed and started spinning in circles while singing. “Techy! Sing with me!” he gasped, holding his hands out towards his brother eagerly, making it hard for the teen to refuse, as he smiled weakly. “I’m getting up, don’t worry.” Techno assured, as he slithered reluctantly out of bed, pulling on the first shirt to reach his hands- one of Phil’s donated pieces- and took Wilbur’s quivering hand. “Yeah, uh...” he started, not really singing, though the nine-year-old didn’t seem to mind. “Ha-Happy Birthday, I guess?” he sounded tentative, like he hadnt quite done it right.

“Yay! Thank You!” Will’s grin only got bigger, showing the gap where his front tooth used to be, as he dragged Techno towards the bedroom door. “Cummon, Techy! Everyone else ‘s already up! Dad sent me to come get youuuuu.” He couldn’t stop talking, excitement flowing through his very veins, at the very premise of a birthday. Techno didn’t quite understand what was so important about it, or what significance it held, especially if it meant waking up so ridiculously early on a summer morning. Still, he muffled his groan as the sunlight streaming through the front windows hit his eyes, trying his hardest to smile encouragingly whenever the kid looked back to him. Even as his head pounded and his broken glasses dug into the bridge of his nose.

Seeing the rest of the group sat about the coffee table, which had been piled high with presents, Techno couldn’t help but wrap his free arm about his chest, as it ached. Tommy was bouncing almost as much as WIlbur, holding a small, sloppily wrapped bundle tight in his lap, like it was precious, whilst Tubbo, the youngest of the boys, was sat, wedged right up against the edge of the couch, nervously gripping Phil’s sleeve as he saw the eldest be dragged in. Phil, himself, had taken a comfortable seat right in the centre of the couch, a sheepish smile on his face as he saw Techno’s bewildered face. “Hey Will? I don’t think he wants to be pulled everywhere?” Phil drew the boy's attention, chuckling slightly as Wilbur rushed an apology, stumbling over the words, and threw himself into the dining chair that had been hastily decorated with some balloons, to signify a birthday boy’s throne.

Trying to clear up the misunderstanding, Techno held up a hand, ignoring how the too-big sleeve flopped over his fingers, and muttered his own apology. “No, really, it’s my fault, I...i wasn’t going fast enough. It’s fine.” The words fell on deaf ears, however, as Phil smiled apologetically for Will’s behaviour, beckoning the eldest of the four over to sit with him. Instead, he elected to sink down, crosslegged onto the floor, leaning awkwardly against an armchair, and hugged his knees to his chest to hide the way it was aching. It wasn’t like it was a new position, he liked to sit on the floor, and Phil had stopped questioning it now, sure he would sit on chairs when he wanted to, but, especially today, he could enjoy the fact the spotlight was as far away from on him as it could possibly be.

Subtly combing his fingers through his bed head, he watched through strands of unruly, candyfloss hair as Will descended like a vulture onto the pile of gifts with Phil’s blessing, surfacing with the biggest one. He looked to the fatherly figure for approval, and, after he received a nod, dug all ten of his fingers into the thin wrapping at the same time, yanking to open it in only the way a nine-year-old really could. Shreds of paper went everywhere, Tubbo giggling as a piece landed squarely on his nose, Will’s eyes racing hungrily over the bundle of brown and black that fell out. “It’s a coat like mine, I thought you might want to have one.” Phil explained, as Will unfolded it to reveal a rather less tattered trench-coat than the one Phil was speaking of, the one hung beside the door. Squealing, he held it tight to his chest, almost tripping as he ran over to Phil, and threw himself at him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm gunna wear it everyday, and ill be so cool!” He promised, ignoring how Phil was laughing openly at how big it was. His hands barely even came to the elbows, the tails dragging on the floor behind him as he excitedly ran to his little brother to show him. “Look, Look, Look, Tommy! I’m so cool!” he yelled, as Tommy almost bounced right out of his seat.

“Uh-huhs! You look awesum, Wilby!” the blond grinned, his hair falling over his eyes as he nodded enthusiastically. Wilbur seemed to glow at the praise, his mind racing a million miles an hour as Tubbo nodded to back up Tommy’s point, the sun seeming to shine specifically on him in that moment. “We’re gunna have such cool adventures! Oh, Dad, Dad, Dad, can I go play? I'll be really good, promise!” Will begged, pointing to the window, through which he could see a few animals milling around, the salmon in the river playing lazily in the sun spots. Phil looked amused, shaking his head a little, as Techno stifled a snort. “Maybe later, lil siren. For now, look! You’ve still got more presents! Tommy, how about you give Will yours next?” He carefully redirected the point, relieved as Tommy gasped, and whirled round to grab the brown paper wrapped bundle from where it had fallen to the cushion during their bouncing.

Pushing the sleeves up, and suddenly looking a whole lot more mature as he did so, Wilbur accepted the gift, graciously thanking his little brother, even as the paper almost fell apart in his hands. He tried his hardest to be gentle with it, especially as Tommy watched on, sure that it was precious. And, as he finally unwrapped it from the tissue paper, and it fell into his hand, he couldn’t help but gasp. A small, hand-engraved locket had fallen into his hand, the chain thin and delicate, as it rippled between his fingers, dangling down. Cautiously opening it, Will smiled wide, faced with a picture of his dad, hand on each of his son’s shoulders, Tubbo sat in front of them, all wearing genuine smiles. That was sweet enough, to have his family staring back at him, but the other side held a picture of a pink haired pre-teen, wearing strangely formal clothes, but recognisable all the same. “Techy! Techy look!” Will smiled, rushing over to thrust it in the half-piglin's face, so he could see. The addition of his own picture in the clearly family-heirloom made Techno’s heart flutter a little, especially as he could tell it had been Phil’s experienced hand that had put it together. He replied with a sof smile, and a quiet “huh, ‘tis me, yeah. Thats pretty cool, Will.”, trying his hardest to catch Phil’s eye to send a grateful look his way, though the old man seemed to be purposefully looking away, a slight blush the onbly sign it had affected him at all.

Gently slipping the chain over his head, Will let the heavy piece rest halfway down his chest, as he headed back to the presents, not seeing how Techno’s eyes had glossed over a little at the gesture. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice as the pile slowly dwindled, more and more activities or toys or clothes spilling out of the bright paper, almost drowning the kid, at least not until a ball of paper caught the side of his head, making him zone back in. Quickly scrubbing at the tears that had, rather embrassingly, slid down his cheeks whilst he hadnt noticed, Techno turned his head towards the perpetrator of the assault, scowling slightly when he saw it had been a laughing Phil.

“That hurt.” he complained bluntly, rubbing at his pointed ear, where it had caught him, adjusting the course strands of hair he had tucked behind said ear, instead of tying it up. “Sorry, son. It’s just, we’ve been calling you for a couple minutes now.” he apologised, rubbing his neck awkwardly, especially as Techno’s eyes widened at the endearment. Before he could question it, however, Phil spoke up again. Or at least, tried to. “I was gunna-” he started, before Wilbur jumped in, having changed from his pyjamas to a loose, hempen shirt and some jeans, with, of course, his precious jacket.

“We’re gunna go play! You wanna come with us?” he enthused, pulling his boots onto the wrong feet in his excitement, and making Phil have to stoop from where he was helping Tommy with his buttons, to swap them over. “Let’s play revolution!” he continued, Tubbo following mutely but happily behind the two boys as they ran to the door, his oversized, hand-me-down green shirt flopping around as he moved. “It’s no fun with just one, two of us! Tubbo doesn’t count when we play, he’s too small.” he protested, as Techno went to shake his head, really not feeling up to playing pretend with the boys that day. He had too much to think about. Phil wasn’t having any of it, though, picking up his sunhat from the hook and calling across the room. “Come on, Tech, We’ll all go, I have to head into town to get something anyway, you can come me if you arent going to play with them.” He left no room to wriggle out, making Techno heave a sigh, and nod, slipping away to his room to change. He could hear the excited screams as Phil opened the door to let all three of the littler kids out, and the following yell to “be nice to Tubbo!” as Tommy obviously left him behind to run into the cooler woods.

It didn’t take long to slip into a light, ruffled front shirt and some black dress pants, Techno feeling more comfortable in the antique style clothes, though he couldn’t help sinking down onto his unmade bed, as his stomach ached harder. It might have been hunger, since he hadnt eaten anything since the previous night, but, hearing the faint whoops of Will as he started up one of his too-complex games, Techno knew it wasn’t anything as physical as that. No, it was much deeper.

Quietly wrapping one arm about his stomach again as he headed out, having shoved on some boots, and thrown his too-long hair into some semblance of out-his-face, he tried to paste on a sort of smile for his adoptive carer, sure he’d never hear the end of it if he showed how much he wanted to frown. He did gain a small eyebrow furrow, but, luckily, Phil had the sense not to push, instead pulling out a wide brimmed straw hat for the easily-burnt half-piglin, and passed it over. “Here, we have to go get the cake for later, I had it made specially by that baker in town.” He was reading off a scribbled grocery list, clutched in one hand as he grabbed a basket with the other, not even looking away from the writing to catch the rest of the stuff trying to tumble out of the cupboard, and shove it back in. Techno nodded quietly, knowing the one he meant, and planning how best to Not-Be-There, since it was probably the busiest store of the waterfront on a normal day, never mind today, when everyone would be seeking pies and pastries for their summer parties. He notoriously wasn’t good with crowds, though he didn’t dare tell Phil this, in case it was a nuisance, instead opting to take a peek at the list, and offer to get something else at the same time.

The sudden burst of helpfullness didn’t escape notice, but, given how much he had to get, Phil didn’t much mind, setting the teen on the job of collecting fruits, and stashed the list away in his pocket, to plot the rest of when they got there. He wasn’t sure how long his boys would be out, but he really didn’t want to keep them waiting too long if they got bored before he got back. Having pre-prepared a tray of snacks and water bottles earlier in the day, he quickly propped the door open with a foot, popping it on the low, end table just outside, for precisely that purpose, before waving a hesitant Techno through with a smile. “Out we come, then.” He joked, pulling out the key to lock the cottage door behind them both, his shoes thudding familiarly on the worn stone step, reminding Techno he wasn’t gunna be going on his own, as he shuffled awkwardly between feet.

He wasn’t used to going out without his cape about his shoulders to help hide him from the world, but even now, he could feel the sun beating down on his shoulders and back, warming him almost to discomfort, even without the thick layer of velvet. He cleared his throat, easily falling into step just behind Phil as they passed the squeaky, broken gate, and straight into the field across the road, taking the wooded path shortcut, much to the relief of the teen, not sure he could have made it all the way up the main road and back today. The rustling of the wheat, and foraging of smaller animals was all that breached the comfortable silence that settled over the two of them as they walked, having established that neither was good at small talk months ago, back when days still came and went in darkness.

They had their own minds for company, for the most part, Phil seeming to hear songs on the wind to hum along to tunelessly whenever he felt like it, and really, Techno wouldn’t have it any other way, especially as it gave him something else to focus on, other than the weird feeling he was struggling to put a name to. He may have squealed slightly as a cow wandered across their path, spooking him a little, and causing Phil to chuckle, squeezing his shoulder a little with his callused hand, but, if he had longed for the warm touch to linger a little longer, well that was between him and the trees.

Before long, the trees thinned out, bit-by-bit, interrupted by houses where they would fit, until, by some strange occurrence, they found themselves stood in the town square, like they had been there all along. Still not used to how sudden it felt, Techno spun gently to get his bearings back, before pulling on the basket. “I’ll...i’ll go to the market, if you want to go get the cake before it gets too busy?” he offered, flinching at the merchants hawking their wares at the top of their lungs only a little ways away. Phil nodded, seeing an opportunity to join the three-person queue, hurrying off with barely another word than “Meet back here”, leaving Techno stood, clutching the basket to his chest, in the middle of the path.

Luckily, most people knew Phil, and so, by extension, Techno, in this small village, shaking their heads good-naturedly as he wandered the stalls, looking for the carrots. Trying to ease the furrowed brow he always seemed to wear, they called out jokes, or offered discounts, but he mostly kept his head down, shoving the number of vegetables he needed into the basket, and holding out the money to the appropriate local merchant. Really, he needed to buy Will a gift, since he had flat-out forgotten what the day was, and he really didn’t want to give Phil a reason to put him back out on the street where he had found him.

Finding he barely had enough coins left in the small pouch Phil had handed him for a hunk of cheese, Techno sighed, dejected, sure he was going to have to pick a flower and pretend it was important, and turned to leave. His last hope was a new stall, tucked right in the corner, boasting rare and wonderful treasures he was sure would be cheap tat. Sidling up to the stall, he tried not to be intimidated by the trader keeping their head shrouded in the shadow of their green cloak, and instead, muttered “Do...Do you have anything for a handful of bronze?” like it was something to be ashamed of. The merchant gasped, pulling back the blanket that had covered their wares previously, to show a distinct lack of prices. “Anything here may be purchased for your budget.” He spoke smoothly, as if luring Techo into making a mistake.

For the most part, he had been right, it was cheap tat, painted bright colors to attract fools. But leaning up against the side of the rickety shelf, stood a gleaming wooden instrument, as if begging to be bought, as if it wanted to be played. He couldn’t help but smile, knowing it was perfect for Wilbur, no questions asked. Pointing to it, he nodded. “I want that.” he spoke bluntly, leaving no room for error, watching as the strange merchant picked up in a gloved hand, and inspected it. “Ah, yes, a wonderful choice. I am sure it will be in good hands. That will be five bronze then.” He held out the spare hand, for Techno to upend the coin purse into, watching as five scuffed, browning circles fell out. Snapping the hand shut before he could take the coins back, the strange merchant lifted the instrument over the desk to Techno, knocking back his hood in the process. “Very good.” He spoke, not seeming to notice as Techno backed away, eyes transfixed on the smiling mask he wore over his own face.

Slinging the carrying strap of the instrument over his shoulder, Techno took off running, the basket of carrots banging against his leg as he moved, only daring to look back when he got to the familiar vegetable stalls he had grown up with. The merchant was gone, only a dusty corner left where he had once been, as if it had all been imagined. Rubbing his eyes, behind the broken rims of his glasses, Techno panted, sinking down onto the bench he had been told to meet Phil back at, and tried to calm himself by rubbing his fingers up and down the thick material of the strap. It didn’t make any sense, but, shaking it off as the old man walked up with a carefully balanced patisserie box, he stood and smiled, holding up the basket. “Got ‘em.” he spoke quietly, feeling slightly better at Phil’s affirming smile of praise.

“We should hurry back, Tommy’s attention span isnt too long.” Phil chuckled, speaking fondly about his middle son, shuffling the box to a more sustainable position. “Then, cake! Which I'm sure everyone is excited for!” Techno nodded softly, watching as the baker’s daughter, Niki, ran across the square, chasing pigeons and laughing. She was only a few years younger than Will, but somehow she looked so much smaller, more innocent. He only hoped the best for her. Hoped she would grow up loved and cared for.

Pulling his attention back to the present, he saw Phil had already strated walking, hurrying to catch up with him, and walk in time. The journey was so much quicker on the way back, the path clear of wandering cows, Techno even finding some suspicious looking mushrooms he might have been able to make a soup out of, just growing at the foot of a tree. He didn’t dare pick them, knowing how many people walked their dogs through the wood, but he did make a mental note to research them in one of Phil’s many books when he got some free time.

Soon enough, they were heading back through the wheat, greeted by three tired looking kids, as they lazed about in varying levels of sleepiness on the front lawn. Laughing as Wilbur instantly perked up at the cake box, Phil ushered his boys aside, handing the heavy and cool box to Techno whilst he unlocked the door, trusting him with the responsibility. He didn’t take it back as everyone rushed in, either, letting Techno go last so he could get the box onto the dining table with minimal little kid help. It was a nice feeling, especially as Phil got everyone cleaned up and seated, giving the eldest the honor of opening the box, to reveal a white frosting covered cake, “Happy Birthday, Wilbur” piped on the top with yellow, cursive icing. Practically bouncing off the walls, Wilbur begged his dad to let him have some now, to which Phil reluctantly relented, moving to get plates and a knife to cut the cake with, with the warning they were only allowed a small slice, so they would still eat their lunch. Tommy didn’t seem particularly pleased with the news, protesting “but daaaaaad” loudly, giving Will the perfect opportunity to start talking Techno’s ear off.

“Birfdays are the bestest! I want it to be a birfday everyday! You get cake, and presents, and....and....cake!” he smiled wide, humming happily to himself as Techno offered a tight smile, the feeling only getting worse. “When is your birfday, Techy?” Will asked curiously, as Phil came back with a stack of chipped mismatched plates, and a small utensil to cut the cake with. “Yeah, actually, Tech, when /is/ your birthday? I havent seen you celebrate...” Phil chimed in, seemingly confused when Techno slumped, shaking his head a little.

“I...i,uh, don’t have one?” Techno whispered, flinching as Tommy yelled “What!” at full volume. “Everyone has birfday.” Wilbur seemed confused, especially as Techno shook his head. “Not me. I don’t know when mine is. My family never told me.” He continued, eyes flicking to Phil, who was frozen in panic-stricken thought. Wilbur nodded quietly for a moment, then leaning over a dozing Tubbo towards the cake, and smeared his finger in the icing, rubbing out his name from it, leaning back grinning with his icing coated finger in his mouth. “There. It can be today.” he spoke as if it was that easy, Techno gaping at how kind the gesture had been, his mind not caught up enough to protest, not even as Will pulled the locket from around his neck, and put it round his brother’s. “Happy birfday, Techy, from your family.”

[just-call-me-the-intrusive-thot]

Soulmate September - Day 10

Day 10 - You are born with a birthmark, similar to a tattoo, that is shared by your soulmate.

Pairing(s): Romantic Anaroceit, Romantic RemSleep, Ambiguous Poly Glasses Gays 

TWs: Swearing, Remus being Remus, animal death metions briefly, implied sexual mention once I think? 

–

Why was it so difficult to simply bring together two handsome, obnoxious soulmates?

How could grown men be this dense?!Virgil had been trying for MONTHS at this point to get these idiots to date, yet for some reason 

Instead of wanting to date each other, they both seemed far more interested in someone else.

In him.

Why, why did this have to be his life? Tormented by such stupid, handsome men?

Okay, maybe he had a teeny crush on both of them but Virgil was getting ahead of himself.

Working at the local theatre was doing some real good for Virgil; being a techie meant he was mostly out of the spotlight - so no chance of any performance anxiety - and it meant he had to actually wake up and be a functional human being but was flexible enough that he could call in sick pretty easily if he needed a mental health day. 

Thankfully, things had been going well until Virgil looked down from the catwalk to note that the two best actors in their troupe, Roman Prince and Janus D. Lyre, both bore each other’s soulmate markings. Both on the backs of their necks, all too easy to miss. Ever since, Virgil had been trying to subtly get them to realise they were soulmates. Of course, given the intimacy of the soulmate marks, it would be entirely outrageous for Virgil to simply tell them they were soulmates; social etiquette wasn’t his forte, but his anxiety really didn’t want the possible shunning he might receive if he broke that rule. Knowing that Janus and Roman were often together for rehearsals and were similarly self-obsessed, Virgil assumed getting them interested in each other would be a piece of cake.

And yet. Somehow. The man they were both interested in was Virgil himself.

Every time he tried to get the two talking, Virgil wound up being flirted with or found himself stuck between two arguing idiots. If anything, Virgil wondered if his interfering had made things worse. Now instead of kidding and being perfect and gorgeous together, they were absolutely straight up enemies. Janus did his best to interrupt - and one-up - Roman’s stellar attempts at flirting, and Roman often tried to out shine Janus by giving Virgil anything from his favourite chocolates to gothic black roses to new headphones.

Not that Virgil didn’t secretly love being the object of their mutual affection, if anything it gave him hope that perhaps whoever his soulmate was would dote on him just as much. But just like his non-existent soulmate mark, this just wasn’t meant to be. He still wasn’t sure why he didn’t have a soulmate mark like everyone else; even his ace and aro friends confirmed they had soulmates too, so why was he skipped over? Probably because no one would ever want to be his soulmate.Yeah. Probably.

Virgil was lost in that downward spiral when Remus leapt off of the set he was painting and landed just shy of crushing the poor emo.

“Wow you look like shit,”, the trash rat greeted, sitting and slinging an arm around Virgil before he could protest, “Are the girls fighting again?”

Virgil tried to stifle a snicker. It’s a stupid meme reference, Virgil, don’t laugh.

“Of course it fucking is, when is it not?“

Remus nodded, though he looked more bored than sympathetic, “Well, how about I offer you some advice, my good bitch?”

Virgil squinted at him in both annoyance and suspicion. “If it’s going to get me arrested, it’s a solid ‘fuck no’.”

“Relax, asshole, it’s totally legal and requires zero body bags and or falsified witness statements!”

Well. That’s about as good as they’re going to get. Virgil huffed, “Fine, give me the deets, Ratman.”

Remus snickered at the old nickname; A decade had passed but still the memory of the two of them graffitiing their high school gym with their tags on their last day still lived on.

“Alright, Stitch Bitch, here’s how you do it,”, Remus ignored Virgil’s eye roll and continued, “Ask them both on a date, same place and time. Talk about your interests, since you’re probably not gonna actually have that much in common, then you can just reject both of them! They’ll be driven into each other’s arms, or some shit. You know what they’re like, they’re dramatic as fuck. It’ll be perfect.”

Virgil wasn’t amused, “But what if they don’t? What if I just end up breaking both their hearts and they wind up all depressed and-?!”

“Then it solves your problem anyway, dipshit.”, he rolled his eyes, “Jeez, you’re worse than Roman with the dramatics! Think of the middle ground, you turn them both down, they go home sulking, but they’re big boys! They’ll get over it and get together some other day! Big deal!” Remus affectionately ruffled Virgil’s hair and didn’t stop until Virgil all but threw him off, “Alright, alright, fine! I’ll try, but if it all goes wrong, you’re helping me pack to move across the fucking globe.” “Ooh, alright! Or I can hide your body if it goes REALLY badly! I know how to make sure the police never find it, after all! Did you know you just need to bury it vertically and put a dead animal on top-”

Virgil tuned him out, already trying to narrow down locations for dates in his head. He’d need to pick somewhere both Roman and Janus would agree to go. He didn’t exactly doubt either of them would turn him down, but he needed to be sure they’d both attend. Perhaps the local restaurants would be a good place to start? It’d be easy to Mrs.Doubtfire that shit. Minus the clothing change, of course. Maybe the Golden Palace might be a good idea? It’s bougie enough for Roman, classy enough for Janus, and if Virgil got lucky enough, perhaps they’d both be the ones to pay for dinner.

“...And so I told Roman about it and then Roman tells me “Remus, you dunce, you got arrested because you were caught carrying a dangerous weapon in Starbucks” but I personally think that cop was just an asshole. I mean, it was just a baseball bat for fuck’s sake, so WHAT if it had a few nails in it-”

The techie noted that Remus was still babbling to himself so he clicked his fingers just shy or flicking him in the ear,

“When’s Roman free? I know Janus is pretty flexible-”

“I’ll bet.”, Remus snickered. “Dude. You have your soulmate, don’t be a dick.”

“Hey, that doesn’t mean I can’t mentally rank every guy here on how bendy I think they’d be in bed-”

“THAT ASIDE.”, Virgil interrupted, rubbing his temples like it would squeeze out the horrible mental image and several questions he never wanted answers to, “I’ve nailed down the where, I just need the when. Janus is free most days, but Roman’s pretty enigmatic about that shit. Do you know if he’s free tonight? Might as well get this shit over with.”

Remus mulled it over, “He should be. But you should probably just ask him first then Janus. Y’know, save yourself the trouble.”

Ah. That did make sense. Virgil tried not to let it show that he hadn’t thought of that and nodded, “Right… Okay. Just, if I fuck up talking to either of them, be ready.”

“With the car or a shovel?”

“Both.”

The trashrat snickered and let Virgil stand up, giving him an ‘affectionate’ jab in the back of his knee just to get a reaction out of the techie. Virgil wasn’t sure why Remus did that sometimes, he figured it was just another one of the demented twin’s eccentricities.

Inhaling deeply, Virgil sought out Roman, careful to avoid Janus’ line of sight as he tapped the flamboyant twin on the arm. Roman spun to face him, his expression lighting up in a way that made Virgil shamefully wish that he was his soulmate. That he was worthy of all his doting.

“Virge! What can I do for you, my dark and stormy knight?”

Stop being so fucking charming perhaps?

“Uh, it’s kind of an embarrassing request, so bear with me.”

“Of course! What’s up?”

Just ask him, ignore the butterflies, he’s not your soulmate.

“I was wondering, if you’d want to go on a date with me tonight-”

Roman positively swept the emo off his feet, his beaming smile could have burned itself into Virgil’s eyes.

“YES!! YES, I’D ADORE-”

“YEP! Okay, that’s great!”, he shushed him, trying to keep things as quiet as possible, “Listen, I know you’re excited but I’m really anxious about this-”

“Nothing new there.”, Roman chuckled affectionately as he put Virgil down.

“Oh shut up,”, Virgil smirked, pushing down the sunny feeling that chuckle brought out, “Look, I’ll text you the details so can you just keep this between us? I don’t want anyone gossiping. Not that I’m ashamed of you or anything I just-”

Roman carefully halted his word vomit with a gentle caress of Virgil’s cheek, “It’s alright, I understand. After all, with such an honour, I’d do good not to betray the trust of my charming prince.”

Virgil flusteredly averted his gaze, “Hmph. What happened to your ‘dark and stormy knight’?”

“Well, if things go well, I’d hope to promote him.”

The wink Roman shot Virgil should be illegal, that thing could have killed him. The techie just gave him an attempt at an ‘oh fuck off’ smirk that came out more as a ‘fuck I have a crush’ shy smile.

No time to dwell on it, he had another stupidly handsome man to ask on a fake date. 

Virgil checked with the stagehands and made his way over to the backstage dressing room area, finding Janus sat on one of the makeup tables while their dramaturg was busy going over some directions for their next rehearsal. Upon looking up and noticing him, Janus smirked - another expression that should be outright banned for it’s lethality - and politely requested the dramaturg ‘bother him another time’. They did exactly that, leaving Virgil and Janus alone to talk,

“Virgil,”, Janus purred with a voice like sweet honey, “what brings you here?”

Don’t think about that sexy voice, don’t think about that sexy voice, don’t-

“You, actually.” Play it cool, Virge. Be suave and charming. “I wanted to ask you out on a date.”

Janus’ eyes widened slightly in surprise. Virgil felt pretty proud to have finally stunned the silver-tongued gent, though he knew it’d only be a fleeting victory. If anyone would out-smooth even the most flirty person alive, it would be Janus.

With a snake-like fluidity, Janus slunk off of the table and made his way over to Virgil; whereas Roman was only an inch or two taller than him, Janus had a whole six inches at least. Virgil found it semi-intimidating, but that just made the taller man more attractive if he was being honest. Janus softly ran a hand through Virgil’s purple-dyed hair, 

“That’s rather a bold request, Virgil. What brought this on, if I may ask? Not that I’m complaining..”

Virgil had to work extremely hard to resist the urge to nestle into the warmth of his palm. Not your soulmate! Stop it! “I uh, I figured I would take a risk for once. It’s alright if you don’t wanna-”

“No.”, Janus interjected, the hand in Virgil’s hair sliding under his chin to lock their eyes, “I’d very much like to go on a date with you. When and where?”

Virgil swallowed nervously, “The Golden Palace, tonight? I’ll um, I’ll book the table and text you the time-”

“Perfect.”, Janus smirked, gently releasing Virgil. He hadn’t realised how much he’d been subconsciously leaning into Janus’ touch until he almost felt himself sway. “I’ll be sure to wear my best suit for you. Really give you something to blush over.”

Shit.

Virgil had no rebuttal, he simply nodded and hastily headed back to his usual breakspot to work out just how he would survive tonight…

--

It turned out the answer was simple; he wouldn’t.

Thankfully Virgil had settled on an outfit that was just the right mix of fancy and casual; his black leather jacket hugged his shoulders which his dark purple button up sat under. He’d gone back and forward between his options for bottoms, but in the end, he preferred his black short pencil skirt and a pair of sheer black tights that matched his black ankle boots. It was a bold choice, but Virgil felt far more powerful in that combination. Like he could kick ass and get away with it.

Virgil needn’t have bothered, however, as the second he showed up at quarter to seven to meet Roman, any semblance of confidence in his ability to control the situation went right out the window. It should have been illegal to look that handsome. A white waistcoat and pants bearing gold trim, combined with a burgundy button up shirt with the sleeves rolled? How dare Roman look that beautiful-

Oh god, now he’s smiling at him from across the room. Too late to back out now. 

Swallowing nervously, Virgil returned the smile and headed over to the table he’d booked; far enough from the door for Roman to miss Janus arriving, and out of the way enough so that they wouldn’t see each other too soon. If he wasn’t so nervous, Virgil would have pat himself on the back for the trouble he went to securing two tables over the phone, but the last thing he wanted to focus on was the person on the phone’s sassy remarks as he did so. Instead, he focused on Roman politely getting up to pull out his chair for him.

“You look stunning, Virge! Did you change up your eye shadow too?”

Virgil gave an anxious nod, “Yeah, I thought maybe I’d try the purple instead of solid black like usual. Do you like it?”

Roman’s grin could’ve smothered him in the night and he’d have thanked it for the priveledge, “I love it!”

While keeping an eye on the time, Virgil let himself roll into conversation with Roman; he was surprised by not only how smoothly the conversation went, but how much they had in common. Sure, there was a tiiiiny heated exchange as to which Disney movie reigned supreme, but their mutual love of Nightmare Before Christmas and the artistic pursuits made for some wonderful discussion. It was a shame Virgil had to remind himself of just why he was doing this. 

He was supposed to be making his rejection of Roman easier, not more difficult.

Finally, as 8 O’clock rolled around, Janus walked in followed by a few other smartly dressed patrons. Of course, Janus very much stood out among them wearing a black dinner suit with an obsidian waist coat and golden coloured button up underneath. His usual bowler hat had been replaced for a much fancier one with a larger brim that held a marigold flower. The sight was so enticing, Virgil had to will himself to stop staring as he got up from the table,

“Excuse me, Roman, mind if I go use the bathroom?”

Roman gave a nod and Virgil made haste towards the restroom area; thankfully he’d planned ahead and knew he could use the corridor that went along behind the bar to emerge on the other side of the room without being detected. However, a new obstacle proved to be a challenge; Janus hadn’t taken his eyes off of the door since the moment he’d walked in and removed his suit jacket. 

Damn. Virgil hadn’t anticipated that. 

Luckily, one of the men who’d come in behind Janus - a man adorned in an off-black suit wearing a beanie, a pair of sunglasses, and a face mask - had just come out of the bathroom door behind him. Without the time to let his social anxiety kick in, Virgil stopped the man and asked quietly, “Hey, sorry to be a bother, but if you can distract the handsome guy at that table for a couple  minutes,“, he began, gesturing to Janus, “I’ll give you ten bucks, how’s that sound?”.

The man seemed to stare for a moment behind the shades then silently gestured with his hands in a motion of “more”.

Of course.

“Okay, uh, fifteen?”

More again. This asshole..

“Ugh, fine, twenty! That's as much as I can spare!”

The man shrugged and nodded, gladly taking the money and, to his credit, doing exactly as was asked. Virgil watched him approach Janus, asking for the time if the way Janus took his attention and turned it to his watch was an indication. It bought Virgil enough time to ‘arrive’ just as the man gave a thank you nod to Janus.

“Sorry I’m a little late,”, Virgil apologised, taking his seat, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting?”

 “Not at all,”, Janus assured him, smirking delightedly in a way that made Virgil’s knees feel weak even in a sitting position, “You look beautiful, Virgil, if I’d known you’d look so good, I’d have picked out an even better suit.”

This fucking guy, oh my god. “Oh shut up, you look handsome as is.”, Virgil shot back, doing his best to remain calm even as Janus leant in close to strike up conversation.

--

“I’m telling you, babes, he’s either a cheater or he’s crazy.”

Remy aimed the stirrer he’d been using to push back his cuticles towards Virgil and Janus, then trained it on his stoic co worker, “Look, he’s got two gorgeous guys here and neither of them have noticed yet.”

The aforementioned co worker rolled his eyes, “Remy, you have once again utterly misread the situation for the sake of needless dramatics. It’s rather obvious what’s going on here if you take the time to pick up on subtle body language clues.”

“What’s this about clues, Logie Bear?”, questioned a rather eager waiter carrying a tray of glasses back behind the bar. “Are you playing Sherlock again?”

“Patton, please, refrain from the pet names during working hours, I’ve told you before-”

“While they’re perfectly suitable and welcome at home, we must remain professional at work.”, chimed in another bespectacled man who was manning the till, “It’s fine Logan, honey, let them off the hook this once, okay?”

Patton put down the tray and wrapped their arms around the man who’d just spoken, “Emile’s right! C’mon Logan, you can’t deny it, you like the name too-”

Logan cleared his throat to throw off the peachy blush that threatened to give away his adoration for his soulmates, ”As I was saying before, it’s obvious as to what this rather anxious individual is up to. His body language isn’t that of a cheater, Remy,”, the server flipped Logan the bird, “In fact, I’d hazard a guess that the poor lad is simply attempting to work out which man is his soulmate. I read a fascinating journal that talked all about this phenomenon where some soulmates are unable to see their soulmarks and thus rely on a technique comparable to sensing one’s aura-”

“Okay so like, you think he’s trying to get a read on these two to narrow it down?”, Remy interrupted before Logan could further explore his tangent, “Well then, it’s obvious which one he’s gonna pick.”

Remy gestured lazily over his shoulder at Roman, who was currently twirling his fork between his fingers, “It’s gonna be Tall, Dark and Dumbass over there, babes.”

Logan scoffed, “Falsehood. Clearly the gentleman he’s sat with currently is a much more appropriate option.”. The server nodded his head in their direction, “All factors point to the man in black not only being the more suitable option, but his body language is far more open and receptive to our subject.”

“Subject. Christ it’s like I’m back in science one.”, Remy groaned, but continued to argue, “Besides, you’re ignoring how he’s like, totes more comfortable with my boy in white, sweetie. Look at him, he can’t wait to get away from your boy in black.“

Sure enough, Virgil had gone to switch partners again, returning to Roman with a sweetly shy apologetic gesture.

Patton piped up, “What if they’re like us, Logie Bear? Y’know, more than one soulmate?”

Logan shook his head, “Ridiculous, it’d make no sense to have such a date if that were the case.”

Remy nodded in agreement for the first time, “Yeah, either way, you’re wrong on this one, Logan. Trust me, I know what a fellow morosexual looks like.”

Emile and Logan both sighed at that one while Patton tsk’d, “Remy, come on, thats your soulmate you’re talking about! You shouldn’t be mean!”

Remy quirked an eyebrow at Patton, “Babes, have you met Remus? I love the big sap but he’s a certified dumbass with a heaping dose of cryptid.”, he opened the drinks cooler and took out a lemonade bottle, not giving a shit that the three soulmates behind him were absolutely unamused. ”Anyway, if you’re so sure over who our ‘subject’ will end up with, how about we bet on it? Loser has to work two weeks of overtime and the winner gets thirty dollars or some shit. You in?”

Patton and Emile both declined, both more focused on their work and simply enjoying the dates being had, while Logan agreed wholeheartedly, “I do hope your next two weeks are free, Remy...”

--

He couldn’t take much more of this.

The longer Virgil kept going back and forth between the two of them - using his anxiety to buy himself time without too much suspicion - the more he was getting tangled up in feelings he knew he couldn’t indulge. Every second with Roman made him smile, even when trading verbal jabs. Every second with Janus made him feel more bold, able to flirt back every once and a while. But this wasn’t right. Janus, Roman, they were made for each other. Not for him.

He wouldn’t get to curl up next to Roman on a cold night, watching Disney movies, baking together, or following along to Bob Ross tutorials only for one of them inevitably would start painting on the other until they were both paint splattered, cackling messes. 

He wouldn’t get to dance quietly in the living room with Janus while their favourite music plays, swaying softly to his favourite Jazz music, or lazily draping himself over Janus’ lap while they read their favourite books long into the night.

Virgil stared into the bathroom mirror; his ‘dates’ had been so sweet as to compliment him, but all he could focus on was how much of a mess he felt. He’s going to break their hearts beyond repair, all because he couldn’t just tell them they were soulmates. Social etiquette be damned, why had he let it go on like this?

Feeling his chest constricting, Virgil quickly grabbed his phone and texted Remus.

V: [help. Having a panic attack. Distract me]

He tried to remember his breathing exercises, chewing his free hand’s thumbnail anxiously until he got the text notification;

R: [Cool. Did u  kno rabbits eat their babies when they’re stressed?]

…. Virgil heavily regretted asking Remus to distract him.

V: [Horrifying. Thank you.]

R: [Anytime, Stitch Bitch. Now what happened?]

V: [Dates backfired.]

R: [U caught feelings didnt u]

Virgil groaned and kept typing.

V: [fuck u]

R: [fuck me urself coward.]

Well at least that got a laugh out of him. Remus followed up that text before he could reply:

R: [Just go out there and tell them the truth]

V: [nope, no way, they’ll hate me]

R: [Bitch they’re both smitten w/ u it’ll hurt but they’ll live, they’re sat there worried about u]

V: [how the fuck do you know that?]

R: [Remy’s on shift tonight, he and Logan are taking bets on how things will pan out. They’ve been texting me non stop.]

That did explain a few things. Namely the one server with the sunglasses and sassy attitude who gave him and Roman extra desserts “for like, the cutest couple in this bitch”, and the other more stoic server who brought him and Janus a bottle of champagne “to celebrate a wonderful partnership”. When would his life stop feeling like a goddamn circus?

Virgil was pulled from his thoughts as his next text sent his blood running cold,

R: [u might wanna get back to em, they’ll be worried about u by now]

Dammit. Virgil had just left the bathroom to be met with a worried Roman, “Virgil, are you alright!? You were gone so long, I thought something had happened!”

Stomp down that affection you’re feeling, Virgil. It’s just gonna hurt more.

“I’m fine, its just my nerves-”

“Virgil?”

Both men turned to spy Janus entering the hallway with an expression of shock and disgust upon seeing the two of them. He promptly strode over and with surprising gentleness moved Virgil to his side,

“It’s bad enough I can’t avoid you at work, Prince, but I’ll not have you ruining our date night.”

As Janus went to lead Virgil away, Roman held onto Virgil’s hand, “Actually, Lies and Dolls, he’s with me tonight, so kindly take your delusions and leave.”

Oh my god, why did he trust Remus’ plan in the first place?! Janus smirked dangerously, “Or what, you dramatic hack?”

Roman took exception to that, and while Janus had the height advantage, Roman still knew how to be intimidating when needed, “I’ll make you leave!”

Before either of them could come to blows, Virgil got in between them. He might as well come clean,

“BOTH OF YOU STOP!”

Janus and Roman faced him, sporting stunned but ever attentive expressions. Ugh, this was gonna hurt.

“I can’t do this anymore! Yeah, I did ask you both here, and yeah! You’re both wonderful but you’re not meant to be with me! You’re meant to be with each other! Ugh, this was a mistake! I can’t-! I can’t be here, I’m sorry-!”

Virgil wrenched himself from between them, making a beeline through the tables and just getting out of the door before the two caught up to him. In the back of his mind, Virgil assumed the serving staff that followed behind were either desperate to see this unfold or just making sure this wasn’t going to be a dine ‘n’ dash scenario.

“Virge, come on, you’re not making any sense! I’m not meant to be with Janus,”, Roman assured him, rolling his left sleeve up the whole way and revealing Virgil’s soul mark, “I’m meant to be with you! You’re my soulmate, Virgil! Surely you knew-”

“That’s,”, Janus interrupted, “That’s not possible, because Virgil is my soulmate.”

Both Roman and Virgil turned to face him, watching Janus roll up his right sleeve to reveal Virgil’s soul mark in the exact same place as Roman’s had been. 

To say Virgil was confused was an understatement, “W...Wait, no, that’s...”

Roman and Janus stared at each other’s soul mark then looked to Virgil, “You… really didn’t know that I- that we were your soulmates?”

Virgil shook his head, ”I don’t have your soulmarks though! It doesn’t make sense...”

He turned away, grasping his arms as he tried to make sense of all this. All his life, Virgil had looked in his mirror and wished - God, how he’d wished - to find just one mark. Something to prove that he was indeed someone’s soulmate. That the universe hadn’t forsaken him. And now he had two of the most wonderful men he’d ever met sporting his soul mark while he had nothing to reassure him this wasn’t some cosmic fluke?!

Janus and Roman stood in awkward silence, the latter giving the servers an apologetic look and pulling out his wallet to pay when the former noticed something about Virgil that had him squinting to get a look. “.... Virgil, do forgive me for this.”

Without hesitating, Janus whipped out his pocket knife - why he brought it on a date, Virgil had no idea - and cut a hole in the back of Virgil’s tights, careful to avoid his skin.

“What the FUCK, Janus!?”, came the obviously horrified reply, only for Janus to take a picture with his phone and hand it to Virgil, rendering him speechless.

Sure enough, there on the inside of his right knee joint was Janus’ soul mark. 

“I just happened to spot the same shade of yellow showing through and, well….”

He didn’t need to finish, Virgil was stunned to silence. All this time, how could he have missed it!? 

Well, it wasn’t in the easiest to see area, and come to think of it, his mirror was a little too high off the ground for that kind of angle, and with the marks being so small..…..

The revelation was met with a shocked gasp from Roman.

“... Virgil, may I-”

“I’ll just take them off, fucking hell!”

Both men turned away to let Virgil remove his shoes and tights in peace. When he gave them the all clear, Roman was ecstatic to note his own soul mark adorning the left knee joint. Virgil glanced towards his two soulmates, letting out a soft sigh of adoration at their delighted faces. He was feeling a whole rush of emotions, but right now? The last thing he wanted was to waste any more time.

“Gimme a second to pay these guys,”, Virgil gestured to the gaggle of servers set in various expressions of celebratory delight, “Then we can go back to my place and have a movie night.”

Roman and Janus offered sweet smiles to their soulmate; that sounded like the perfect end to a wild night.

---- Bonus (Because I got attached to this universe, fight me) ----

With the cafe clearing out aside a few stragglers, Remy sighed distantly, “Well, it’s a good thing we both won, babes, I didn’t wanna get stuck with all that overtime.”

Logan gave him a perplexed look, “Actually, we both lost, therefore we both should work overtime.”

Remy pulled down his shades to glare at Logan, “.... Are you fucking kidding me? Bitch, we WON, and we get to keep our money, babes. What part of that makes you think “nope, overtime sounds better”!?”

Logan was about to go into the technicalities when he chanced a glance back at his soulmates, watching as Patton excitedly gushed over the night’s events, stimming excitedly with their apron while Emile folded his own and put it away for the night, glad to listen to Patton’s bubbly rambling. Logan couldn’t deny, the idea of staying late while his soulmates were home without him wasn’t an appealing idea. Maybe this once he’d spare Remy a lecture.

“.... You know what, you’re right. Excuse me.”

With that, Logan went to join his soulmates while Remy stifled a fond smirk and went to go ask the last patron to leave. He wanted to just go home and collapse into Remus’ arms. Ugh, he just hoped this dude wasn’t going to make a fuss. He wasn’t sure what kind of guy combined a suit, a beanie, shades, AND a face mask, but Remy just hoped he wasn’t here to rob the place.

“Alright sweetie, you gotta go. We’re closing and I wanna get home to my loveable dumbass. Let’s go-”

The man gestured to his ear. Ah. Remy rolled his eyes and leant down to speak closer,

“I said-“

The man quickly pulled down his face mask and stole a peck from Remy, a grin spreading across his face that curled excitedly to match his moustache.

“You gotta get home to meeeee~.”

Remus took off the sunglasses and beanie, revelling in the surprise that painted itself over Remy’s face. He stood up, wrapping his arms around Remy’s waist as his soulmate tried to form a sentence, “How long have you just been sitting here?!”

“Ever since I figured it’d be funny to watch Virgil realise he was trying to set up his own soulmates-”

“You- Wait, Virgil!? That’s the guy you’re always telling me about?!”

“Yep!”, Remus grinned.

Remy wrapped his arms around Remus’ neck, unsure if he wanted to strangle him or hold him closer, “...Did you know he-”

“Had two soulmates? Yep~!”

Remus chuckled and kissed Remy’s cheek, “Virge and I used to have gym together. He kept saying he couldn’t find his soulmarks, I’m surprised he never got my hints...”

Sighing annoyedly at his soulmate, Remy pulled him in for a proper kiss before he could go on more of a tangent. Once they broke apart, Remy poked Remus’ chest, 

“You made me lose thirty bucks, y’know.” 

Remus grinned harder and pulled out twenty dollars  “Well then, I better take this generous donation from my best friend and treat you to a milkshake on the way home then...”

-----

It’s finally doooone!!

This was a long one for sure, but sue me, I got super into this one!!

I’ll be playing catch up for a while so get ready for Day 11, I ended up with a last minute change and it’s gonna be a tear jerker. @tsshipmonth2020

Taglist: @somehow-i-got-an-account @cateye-glasses @fandomsofrandom

[wroammin]

Tech Troubles

Part 1 (You are here!) | Part 2

Ao3

Pairings: Prinxiety

Word Count: 1,089

Warnings: there is one (1) curse word

Summary: Roman is a lead in his high school’s musical, but when tech runs always seem to go wrong for him, he decides to do a little investigating

A/N: remember when i used to post my writing?? haha well me neither apparently!! but in all seriousness, i forgot how fun it was to write prinxiety banter, so this was completely self-indulgent. enjoy.

Roman’s arm whipped upwards to block the harsh incoming light that was shining directly onto his face. He stepped out of the spotlight and blinked his eyes to adjust them to the darkness, then rubbed them when it didn’t work.

“What’s going on up there?” The director called out, looking backwards and up at the tech booth. A clattering sound escaped from the enclosed booth, and the spotlight quickly shut off. The director frowned, “Please be careful. I know it’s just the fifth week, but we do want to keep our cast’s eyes intact.”

“At least let me memorize the script. Then, blind me all you want.” Roman smiled good-naturedly as he spoke. He couldn’t see who was in the booth, but whoever it was clearly didn’t appreciate his joke, since they remained completely silent.

“Let’s just take it from the top, Roman.” Mr. Sanders, the director, told him as he turned back toward the stage. Roman nodded and flipped back through the script.

That was the first of multiple mishaps involving the tech booth and Roman. Music for his songs would suddenly cut out or start too early, spotlights were either too bright or too dim, and they didn’t follow him around the stage at all. Mr. Sanders did his best to hide his frustration, but Roman could tell he was nearing his limit. It seemed that most of the mistakes occurred during his scenes, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet. It was some time around the second month of rehearsals when he finally decided to knock on the door to the tech booth.

After a few minutes of silence, he called out.

“Hello? Anyone in there?” No response. Roman frowned and opened the door, which was thankfully unlocked. He peeked in, then opened the door fully upon realizing he was in a small, closet-sized room. Attached to the back wall was a vertical ladder, which Roman set upon climbing.

He gracefully pulled himself over the ledge and into the suspended booth over the auditorium. It was really more like a long, dark passageway with barely any headroom. Near the middle of the hall-shaped room, he could see a bit of light coming in from the auditorium, filtering through a rectangular window carved into the side of the wall. Roman slowly approached in the dark, keeping his hand on the right wall for balance.

His hand floated over grooves and marks etched onto the wall that spelled out names and years, remembering the presence of previous techies who manned the booth. Some scribbles were more graphic.

Cables were taped down to the floor and the walls. Roman followed their paths back to the spotlights that were peeking out of the rectangular window, then to the figure who seemed to be messing with them.

“Hello!” Roman spoke up, perhaps a little too suddenly, since the figure jumped away from the light they’d been working on and hit their head on the low ceiling.

“Shit,” They hissed, clutching at their head.

Roman stepped forward quickly, hands out in what he hoped was an apologetic gesture, “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry about that, I didn’t-”

“Wait… Roman?” The figure turned to face him now, and Roman did not recognize the boy who was standing in the light. He wore a dark black hoodie and ripped jeans that were somehow an even darker black. He was slouching, but Roman got the feeling that the boy’s poor posture was not due to the low ceiling.

“That is I.” He responded, hesitantly coming to a stop just inside the small box of light in the room.

The other boy searched his expression for something, then scowled (yes, scowled) at Roman when he appeared to not find it.

“You don’t recognize me.” The boy said. Roman winced at the bitterness in his tone. Who exactly was this guy?

“I’m sorry to say I don’t. But that’s what I’m up here for! To meet you, that is,” The other boy quirked a brow, “And everyone else. Not, uh, not you specifically.” Roman added with a small smile.

The boy looked him over and turned back toward the spotlights without even saying a word.

“Where is everyone else, by the way?” Roman asked.

“Rehearsals are over. They all went home.” The boy avoided his eyes, “Maybe you should follow.”

Roman looked at the exit, then back at the other boy. “I… I’m truly sorry I don’t remember you, uh–”

“Virgil.” He supplied begrudgingly.

Roman frowned and tried to think. “Virgil…Oh, of course, Virgil! We had English together last year!”

“Nope.”

Roman grinned and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Worth a shot.”

Normally, people liked it when he smiled, saying it made him look charming and princely. This boy–Virgil– clearly did not. Roman let his smile drop.

“What about Pre-calc?” He tried again.

“No.”

“Honors U.S. History?”

Virgil lifted his chin, looking defensive. “I took AP, thank you very much.”

“Well,” Roman huffed, running a hand through his hair, “we don’t have chemistry together, that much is clear.”

“Of course we don’t have chemistry together, that was a sophomore-year class.” Virgil’s mouth quirked upwards at Roman’s groan of frustration. Maybe this unexpected visitor could be more entertaining than he’d initially thought.

“Right.” Roman gave up, and Virgil leaned down to adjust some cables.

He quietly watched him for a moment, then turned to look out of the small viewing box. Roman let out a small whistle.

“Nice view up here.” He said, glancing down to see if the other boy would react.

Virgil remained silent. Roman didn’t take the hint, staring back out at the empty auditorium.

“Do you like working in crew?”

Roman heard a cable snap into place, and a spotlight suddenly flickered on, lighting up the exact center of the stage.

“Sometimes.” Virgil leaned back up, eyes following the cone of light the spotlight was emitting. “When no one else is up here, it can be pretty chill.”

Roman’s brows furrowed once he realized what Virgil’s comment meant. The actor pointedly decided to ignore it.

“Should they really let you mess around with the cables? I mean, what if you get electrocuted or something?” Roman questioned.

“If it was your brother up here, maybe I’d be worried.”

Roman’s eyes suddenly widened in realization. Virgil finally looked up with an entertained smile.

“Remus… Oh, no. You’re one of my brother’s friends, aren’t you?”

Roman could still hear Virgil’s laughter when he went to sleep that night.

[turning-the-frigging-frogs-gay]

Underneath The Spotlight- A Sanders Sides Fic

Taglist: @sophiexteresa

Chapter 11- Logan Berry: Dancer, Organiser, Techie... Boyfriend?

(Read chapter 1 here!)

(Read here on ao3!)

Warnings for this chapter: mild curse word

A/N: did anyone order Logince??? Also, I love how this chapter came out, I hope you do too :D

Harrison and Bailey were the two techies stationed at stage left of the theatre where the show was taking place, however their distinct personalities had earned them the nicknames Heart and Brain. The two had become inseparable throughout their time managing the theatre lighting and made a great team, Brain making sure every performer could be seen and Heart adding the symbolism and meanings to the lighting designs. Heart loved his job and was awed at getting such a close view of every performance that came and went from their theatre. Earlier in the show, during the ballroom dance, Heart had been watching the routine with curiosity.

“Brain, hey Brain!” he whispered, nudging his partner.

Brain sighed. “Yes, Heart?” they asked, turning to him.

“Look, look! That little guy in light blue, with the freckles and glasses! The really short one!”

“I see, yes.”

“Look how he looks at his partner. Brain, he’s in loooooveee!!!”

“I do see the signs, yes,” Brain replied. “How he never takes his eyes off of him, and the smiling and blushing. However his partner, the one in yellow, is probably doing it even more.”

“OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE SO RIGHT!”

“Heart, keep your voice down!”

“Sorry... but I totally see what you mean! Those two are absolutely smitten, it’s so cute! Oooohhh, let’s see if we can spot any other couples!”

“Over there, those two,” Brain said immediately. “Both really tall, one in red, one in dark blue.”

“Oh my gosh yeeessss!! They’re both such good dancers as well! It’s almost like they’re trying to impress each other. They make such a perfect couple, Brain!”

The other gave a small smile.

“Oh and look, over there! Green and purple, green and purple!”

“Ah yes, although their dancing skills are more... lacking, shall one say?”

Heart nudged them lightly. “Don’t be mean! They don’t have to be perfect dancers, but you can see they’re supporting each other and both trying their best. I bet they really take care of each other.”

Brain moved closer to their partner. “Like I take care of you?”

“Braiiiinnnnn! Not nowwww!” Heart whined, blushing.

“I apologise. Let’s leave the romancing to them, shall we?” they said, gesturing to the three waltzing couples.

Back at the current stage in the show, well into the second half, Logan and Roman were waiting in the wings for the tap dance, containing Logan’s big solo. His tap solos were fast, furious and one missed beat could ruin the whole thing. However he always seemed to execute them perfectly, captivating every single audience member with his rhythmic and technical precision.

“Are you nervous?”

“Slightly, although thanks to your talk earlier I now have no doubt that I am capable of doing this.”

“That’s the spirit, Lo! You’re gonna do amazing! And don’t forget I’ll be supporting you all the way.”

“Thank you Roman...”

The lights came up and the music began, signalling the start of the routine. The main part of the dance went well, everyone putting in their all with the technique and performance, delivering a great routine. Towards the end, all the other dancers retired to the back of the stage, ready for Logan’s solo.

“You can do this Logan,” he swore he heard Remus say

“Show everyone how great you are!” Patton’s voice came in his head.

“You got this, you nerd,” Virgil seemed to tell him.

“You are a fantastic dancer, never doubt yourself,” Janus’ voice said.

“Logan... I love you,” were the final words Logan heard from Roman.

They were all right. He could do this. Step... prepare... five, six, seven, eight-

The rest of the dancers watched with pride as Logan began his tap solo, most of them barely following the moves he seemed to be doing at hyper-speed. Logan did move after move perfectly in time, never once missing a beat, tapping out an extremely fast and complex rhythm with his shoes. The audience watched, in awe... they weren’t the only ones. Roman stood, watching his boyfriend, mesmerised...

“God, I love that tap-dancing nerd...”

There was little time to marvel over Logan’s skills after the routine, as most of the dancers had another routine soon, Roman almost immediately. After his very intense solo, Logan took a walk around backstage in order to catch his breath back a bit. While wandering around stage left, he overheard a couple of the techies talking.

“Oh no, Brain, it looks like the centre-stage spotlight is broken!” the shorter of the two techies said.

The other, taller techie winced. “That is the spotlight we need for the next dance, the best dancer in the school is performing a solo. What will we do?”

“I dunno, Brain, maybe we could try-“

Logan pondered. The best dancer in the school... they must be talking about Roman. Logan recalled his boyfriend did indeed have a solo as part of the next routine, and the broken spotlight would bring him even more unneeded stress. Logan himself had some tech skills. He sighed- it was worth a shot. He approached the techies, the tap shoes he was still wearing tapping against the floor.

“Salutations,” he said. “I overheard that the two of you were having an issue?”

“Aren’t you one of the dancers?” the taller techie (Brain?) asked.

“Indeed I am, however I thought I may be able to assist you with the broken spotlight problem.”

“I dunno, I mean we’re really not supposed to let performers use the lighting unit, let alone kids...” said the smaller techie Logan believed to be called Heart.

“I am sixteen, there is no need to belittle me or act like I don’t know anything.”

“Oh, no, I wasn’t trying to belittle you or anything! I just don’t think there’s anything any of us can do about this.”

“I agree,” said Brain. “The dancer will just have to dance without his spotlight.”

That made Logan livid. He knew full well that Roman, his boyfriend, deserved only the best. He was a stunning dancer and deserved to perform under the most flattering conditions, so everyone could see just how amazing he was. And if no one else could provide that for him, Logan was more than willing to take it into his own hands.

“Look, okay? We have a few minutes until the spotlight is needed, and I don’t need to be onstage for a while now. I think you’ll find that it is very much possible, and that I will be fixing this spotlight.”

He stamped his tap shoe on the floor in determination, making Heart jump and cower behind his partner. Even Brain took a step back, in shock.

“He’s being scary! It’s like those really demanding people from the posh ballet school all over again! Brain, do something!”

Brain shrugged.

“I trust the guy. Go ahead and see what you can do, umm...”

“Logan. Logan Berry.”

“I think you can fix it, Logan,” Brain said.

“Me too, I believe in you!” Heart chirped.

The problem was relatively simple. Logan had it fixed within a few minutes, and the techies did not do well at hiding their shock.

“Wow... you actually fixed it,” Brain said, looking over the lighting unit then giving Logan an impressed glance.

“Oh my goodness you did it!” Heart half-squealed. “Logan you are so clever and kind and skilful and selfless and helpful and smart and you saved our butts and you-“

Just as Heart looked as if he were about to lurch forwards and hug Logan, Brain placed a calming hand on their partner’s shoulder.

“Heart. Calm. Remember to be professional.”

“Sorrryyyy,” Heart shrank back, a blush dusting his freckled face.

Logan smiled. “You are very welcome.... I should probably return to my dressing room now. I don’t doubt that some catastrophe may have occurred in my absence.”

Brain chuckled. “My sincere thanks, Logan, we couldn’t have done this without you.”

Logan smiled, one of his rare, genuine, not just plastered on for a performance smiles. “You are most welcome.”

Roman was already dashing out of the dressing room when Logan returned. He stumbled towards him and frantically placed his hands on his boyfriend’s shoulders.

“Logan! I heard about some trouble with lighting, is everything ok back there?”

“Yes, do not worry, everything is fine now,” Logan replied, however his words did not have their desired calming effect.

Roman immediately frowned. “What do you mean ‘now’?”

“Oh, there was a small trouble regarding a spotlight for the next dance, but I managed to fix it, nothing major really. I merely examined the lighting unit, I spotted the issue and it was quite simple so I recalibrated the...” Logan’s words tailed off as he took in the look on his boyfriend’s face. “...wh-what’s the matter?”

“Logan... you did all that so I could have my spotlight?”

“Well, of course... because I love you-“

Logan was immediately cut off by Roman throwing his arms around him, holding him tight as he seemed to fight back tears.

“Thank you. Logan... you didn’t have to do that... I... has anyone ever told you how incredible you are?”

No words were necessary, as they both held each other tight, forgetting for a moment the chaos ensuing around them, as everything melted away into-

“ROMAN! So that’s where you’ve been!” Emile Picani once again thrust his head through the backstage door, this time looking even more infuriated than the last. “You’re literally on right now, we’ve had to stall the music for you! Get your ass in here now!”

Logan and Roman exchanged a shocked glance. If Emile swears at you, you know you’re in for it. Roman began sprinting towards the stage without a word. Logan was left stunned, with more confidence than he could remember having in a long time. He stood there, grinning like an idiot for a good few seconds until Remus approached him, mockingly wiggling his eyebrows.

“Jeez, dude, stop simping for my bother,” he said, causing Logan to blush bright red and snap back into his usual serious manner.

“Remus, cut it out,” he snapped. “You should be getting ready, we all have the big group number soon, where’s everyone else?”

Remus gestured awkwardly inside the dressing room. “Comforting Patton,” he whispered. Logan suddenly remembered the bold red mark he had put on Patton’s column of the spreadsheet, the seemingly impossible feat his childhood friend had been anxious about for months. He sighed.

“Then I suggest we join them...”

Next chapter

[rosesisupposes]

Other Half

hi i was haunted with the idea of subverting a soulmate trope after a chat with @potestessemagishomosexualitatis and it evolved in like a day on discord so here y’all go!

relationships: brotherly prinxiety, QPR moceit, romantic royality, implied/eventual anxceit

content tags: musician roman, techie/sound-guy Virgil, deaf Patton, QPRs, amatonormativity, soulmates & lack thereof, happy ending

word count: 2,847

read on ao3

Roman has half a soulmark, waiting to make skin contact with his Soulmate to finally be completed.

His brother, not so much.

Context: In this world, soulmates have half a symbol somewhere on their skin, each with one half. When soulmates have skin contact for the first time, both marks complete. The amatonormativity (prioritizing romantic love) is very strong, despite the fact that soulmates have frequently been platonic, not just romantic. It’s still a rather progressive idea, similar to gay marriage, and the traditions and stories are all centered around that romantic ideal. In that vein, some people have thirds or fourth of a mark would need to contact all their soulmates to have a complete mark. Marks are very much for One Person (or, occasionally, Two or Three Specific People), and so not everyone meets their mate. Not everyone has the means. They could be anywhere in the world! But unfortunately, there's still an idea that even if you're with a partner, you'd leave them if you met your soulmate, and that other relationship are just settling.

⁂

Enter two brothers.

Roman goes starry-eyed over stories of meet-cutes and surprise soulmates. He wants to know if he'll feel it, as his mark completes. Someday, when he meets his Someone™️!!!

And then his brother, Virgil.

Virgil... doesn't have a mark. He's not sure he's heard of that before. He has some freckles, but those fade with the seasons. Soulmarks don't fade.

Roman has half a circle, and it either has petals or rays around it. A flower or a sun, he thinks. It's right on his bicep, so he frequently goes sleeveless, and greets new people by taking both their hands in his every time. Just in case.

Lots of people do that- but it makes Virgil uncomfortable. Even if he knows he'll never be the one to trigger someone's mark, he hates knowing that's what everyone expects. He'd rather keep his hands to himself. He wears his big baggy hoodie to avoid the expectant stares of people looking for his mark, and avoids skin contact as much as he can.

They grow up in a family without a ton of resources, so neither can afford to take the 'Soul Year' some teens do where they travel before going into higher education. But Roman's determined that his career will help him meet hundreds, no, thousands of people, and he will find his soulmate!

Virgil really doesn't love the whole soulmate thing, the obsession with it, the constant reminder that he doesn’t have one and will never have one. But he does love his brother.

He tries, sometimes, to temper Roman's excitement just to make sure it doesn't hurt too much if he never finds The One. But mostly he just listens as Roman waxes poetic about his hypothetical love.

Roman, for several years, went silent, assuming Virgil wouldn't want to hear it. But Virgil has just kinda accepted it, you know? He's basically like everyone who never ends up meeting their mate, except he gets to skip the years of doubt and worry that their mate might suddenly appear at any time. He knows from the get-go. He’ll never have to look back with regret or sorrow, never have to worry about disrupted relationships, never need to mourn that his hypothetical mate might have died before he could meet them. It’s fine, really.

Roman becomes a singer and songwriter, and acts on the side. Virgil does his cover art and helps him with the sound-mixing. They're a great team - and they always have been.

Virgil makes friends with the roadies and techies, happy to leave Roman in the spotlight. He dates, sometimes. It's easier when they go on tour- a short international stay means no promises, no uncomfortable conversations about the future, no intrusive knowledge of a partner's Someone™️ out there.

After years of touring, Roman is internationally known and recognized. But he's also starting to lose hope.

He's lost count of all the meet-and-greets he's been to, how many hands he's grabbed from the stage into the crowd. He makes sure to at least high-five every roadie and tech, every opening act or announcer. His songs range from fantastical to domestic, from sweet and bubbly to sorrowful and yearning, and he loves creating, he does. But he knows there's someone out there for him, and he wants to meet them so, so badly.

They're in Paris for a show, and Virgil and Roman are strolling along the Seine. It's Spring, Roman's favorite time of year, and all the trees are in bloom. It looks like something out of a Hallmark movie.

Roman sighs heavily.

Virgil bumps him with an elbow. "Hey, no moping. That's my aesthetic, no stealing."

"Vee, what if I don't ever meet them?"

"Ro-"

"I know I should keep hoping, but- I've touched so many people and still haven't found them, what if I never will?"

"Then you'll be like most of us, Ro. Find love & companionship the new way: with hard work and dating apps."

Roman nods, but sighs again. "I just... really wanna, Vee." His voice is small, like a pouting kid. 

"I know. I hope you do."

They keep walking, but Roman's practically shuffling. On the one hand, he is a fucking drama queen.

On the other hand, Virgil wants him to feel better. 

Rolling his eyes, Virgil orders ice cream from a vendor in clumsy but serviceable French and presents Roman with his sprinkle-covered cone. Just like he knew it would, it perks him up immediately.

"Chocolate! My favorite!!"

"How are you possibly older than me. You are five."

"I just have childlike wonder, not a well of ennui!"

"Fuckin' dork."

"Edgy poser."

"Prima donna."

"Nerd."

Distracted, Roman walks straight into a man looking off at the river. He stumbles and trips and they both fall.

"Oh goodness gracious, forgive me, excusez moi, je suis desole! Pardonnez-moi!" he rattles off.

The man smiles, and his hands dance. Virgil realizes he's signing. Sorry, I didn't see you there!

 Luckily, Virgil understands it - he’s taken classes in ASL, just for kicks.

Roman knows very little sign, but he learned a couple of phrases. Sorry!

Virgil adds, It was our fault, we weren't watching.

Virgil recognizes the starry-eyed look on his brother's face. It's yet another Infatuation At First Sight, where he throws his whole heart into hoping. 

"Vee, Vee, ask him his name please?" he says, smiling for all he's worth at the curly-haired man in front of him.

Before Virgil gets a chance, he sees the man's eyes flick up and past them, and he breaks into a sunny smile. (Virgil might actually understand his brother's infatuation, for once)

Another person comes over, holding two ice creams. Virgil does a slight double-take. Like him, this newcomer chooses not to show very much skin. But they've covered even their hands. Ice cream somehow looks funny in a gloved hand.

Handing one to the first man, they start signing with one hand, far faster than he can follow. He catches a couple of signs he recognizes - gestures to himself & Roman, are you okay, something that either is we're late or shoo.

The first man is still smiling, though, and whatever he says must be okay, because the newcomer turns to them. They speak with a lilting accent, something not quite Parisian. "Please forgive my barging in- I can't exactly call for Patton from across the walkway.  My name is Dante. And you are?"

"I'm Roman, and this is Virgil, and it is wonderful to meet you!"

Virgil signs along with his brother's words, and sees Patton's eyes crinkle happily as he greets them both.

Roman has clearly also noticed Dante's gloves, but turns to Patton. With a slight bit of hesitation, he speaks and signs at once, "May I shake your hand?"

Virgil is sure he's not imagining the minute pursing of Dante's lips, but Patton's nodding and reaching out and so is Roman.

Roman is clearly holding his breath, and Virgil is too, both braced for opposite outcomes. But Patton's small, tan hand is wrapped in Roman's larger one and both sets of eyes are huge. 

Virgil's eyes flick to Roman's bicep, exposed as always, the white mark a stark contrast to his dark skin, looking like a sun or maybe a flower and-

"Holy shit-" Virgil breathes.

Roman, however, is not looking at his arm. He's staring directly into Patton's dark eyes with a smile that looks confused and elated all at once, and their hands haven't parted. 

Patton's eyes are just a huge, even huger thanks to his glasses.

"It's you," Roman says, wonder in his voice. Patton seems to read his lips, because he smiles somehow even bigger than before and signs It's you! back.

And sure enough, the mark on Roman's arm is a full circle, a full sun or flower, and Virgil's head is reeling.

Virgil's not sure what to say- the two soulmates seem content to keep staring and smiling and holding hands. But Virgil's just... nervous. Soulmate or not, this ‘Patton’ is a stranger, but Roman looks like he might never move from his side. Fuck, they can't even communicate both ways, Roman knows practically no sign and he just used up the only full sentence he’s ever learned.

He looks nervously at Patton's companion. Dante is staring too, seemingly unaware of the ice cream dripping down their glove.

Dante starts to sign something, realizes Patton can't see them, reaches out to tap Patton on the shoulder, then stops before they can touch, hand falling to their side. They look down and finally notice their ice cream, and blanch, pulling out napkins to clean their glove before it stains.

Virgil digs into his knapsack and pulls out a wet wipe and offers it. "This might help more."

Dante looks up, staring at Virgil without a shred of comprehension until Virgil waves the wipe once more. They take it with a quiet, "Merci."

They turn away, wiping off their glove and tossing the rest of their ice cream into the trash. They wiggle their fingers, clearly uncomfortable with the damp fabric. 

Virgil shifts awkwardly. He should say something, but what do you even say in this situation? He has no idea what their relation is to Pat- oh fuck, what if they were dating and Roman's just swooped in and ruined it?

In his tried-and-true method of awkward small talk with new roadies in new cities, he says, in French, "So, Paris, yeah? Know any good cafes near here?"

Dante shakes themself a bit and turns to look at Virgil. "Ah, yes. There's a patisserie just on the next block. Shall we relocate them and stop blocking the tourists?"

Virgil nods and looks over at his brother. He weighs his options of interruption, and decides on flicking Roman in the temple.

"Ow! Fuck! Vee!?!"

"You're blocking traffic, dumbass."

"I'm having a moment."

"Well come have a mocha. You can keep having your moment and I can have coffee. C'mon." 

He sees Dante signing to Patton too, explaining the plan but much more politely. Roman and Patton continue holding hands, but follow them down the block.

They get Roman and Patton sitting at a table in a picturesque cafe, and walk to the bar to order. Virgil orders his go-to of a double shot and gets Roman his mocha. Dante orders themself a latte and a vanilla cappuccino for Patton. Sitting at the bar waiting, Virgil looks over.

"So. That lunkhead over there is my brother."

Dante nods. "And Patton is my. Well. You might not know what it means, so don't immediately freak out, okay? But it's called a queerplatonic partner."

Virgil can feel the nervousness melt away. "Oh, phew. Yeah, I know what it means. So Roman's not homewrecking by being a discovered soulmate?"

"Well. I certainly hope not. But I know not everyone really, uh. Gets it. Especially with the soulmate sh- stuff. Things."

Virgil grins. "You were about to say soulmate shit, weren't you."

"...No."

"You're a terrible liar."

Dante winks. "I might surprise you."

Virgil raises an eyebrow. "Oh that's how we're gonna play it?"

"I don't play, monsieur. I just win."

"Okay then, here's a test. Why the gloves?"

Dante automatically goes to adjust them, and looks up at Virgil. Their eyes drift down to his hoodie and back up. "I think you know exactly why."

"You don't have-?"

"Nope. I don't have one either."

"I thought I was-"

"The only one?"

"Apparently not."

Virgil looks over at Patton, sitting with Roman. They don't seem to be even attempting to talk still, just staring and holding hands.

"With the QPP- are you aromantic? Do you think that's why?" He gestures vaguely at their whole body, but he’s never been quite as elegant in his gestures as Roman is.

Dante opens their mouth to speak, but stops, and sighs. "That's what I've been saying. It was easier, to say maybe this was for a purpose. And I do love Patton with all my platonic heart and I will kill your brother if he hurts him."

"The feeling’s mutual."

"But, no. I'm not fully aro. I still have romantic attraction and all that, I've just been guaranteed that even if I want it, I'll always be someone's secondary love so. Might as well lean in, right? Make the system work somewhat in my favor?"

Virgil opens his mouth to respond, to object, when the barista calls out their drinks, and then they're carefully carrying full mugs across the cafe and finding a table next to the couple.

Patton appears to be teaching Roman how to sign his name. Roman is even managing to pay attention.

"I get that, uh, reluctance. The playing-it-safe thing," Virgil says quietly, so only Dante can hear. "We travel a lot. That's a good excuse to avoid the whole fucking system. No conversations about who'll leave who when the mark shows up, because I'll be leaving in a month, tops. And people looking for hookups barely poke you to check for the mark before just... getting on with life. No expectations, no holding their breath or unrealistic disappointment."

Dante smiles weakly. "Well, good to know for when I need to start dating. I think I'm about to have a lot more free time."

"Until Roman needs to travel on again. We're here for three full weeks, but-"

"What is it you do, that you both travel so much?"

"You know Sun Prince, the singer?"

"Yeah?"

"You're looking at him," Virgil says wryly, tipping his head in Roman's direction.

Dante's eyes go wide. "Oh, that's why he looks familiar."

"So Patton probably didn’t recognize him either?"

"Nah, he tends to like EDM and electronic things the most, for the bassline. Clubbing with a deaf partner is great - the priority is just feeling the music, and we don't have to yell to hear each other."

Virgil and Dante continue to chat quietly on casual topics, but Virgil's leg is bouncing. He wants to ask the bigger questions, but it feel like prying. It's none of his business, really, right? 

But it's Roman's happiness on the line. And Virgil will do anything and everything to protect his brother. Even if it means awkwardness.

"So, uh. Did y'all have the Conversation™️ before now?"

Dante raises a questioning eyebrow in response.

"The 'what happens if he meets his soulmate' conversation. Don't tell me Pat's the only one you've ever dated?"

Dante blinks in a way that implies that were they a lesser being, they might have blushed. "Actually, he is. But yes, we've had that conversation. I'll never get in the way of Pat's romantic love and his soulmate… destiny, ou comme tu veux. I just want to still have a part in his life."

They're tugging at their gloves again, even though their face remains smooth. Virgil recognizes a nervous tic when he sees one. And god does he recognize the sentiment.

Not that any of his past partners had ever wanted to stick around in return. Why would they? He wasn't their soulmate. They hadn't decided to "settle" yet.

"I can't speak for him, but- I think Roman will be open to that," Virgil offers. "He loves performing, so we'll probably still be traveling a fair amount. But I mean. I think he'd understand that you two are a unit the same way me and him are. Like, yeah, we're brothers, but we've been each other's lifeline our whole lives, and that's not about to change. Even if he's finally found his Other Half."

Dante looks up gratefully. "I can tell you love him. And- I hope you're right."

"I should be. If Roman's a dick about it, I'll smack him upside the head."

That surprises a laugh out of Dante. They finally pull off their glove entirely, shaking it out and letting it dry on the table. "I won't interfere with them, you'll encourage Roman to not interfere with us. Do we have a deal, then?"

They offer their bare hand to shake. For once, Virgil doesn't hesitate, but takes it immediately.

Skin hits skin. Virgil finds an agreeable little shudder running down his spine as he appreciates for the first time how attractive this person is. Elegant chestnut curls, heterochromatic eyes that are dancing with delight, and disarming smile. 

Dante winks as they withdraw their hand. "What, not going to check for your completed mark now, just in case?"

Virgil grins back. "No, but I can help you look for yours later, if you want."

"Is that a proposition? Monsieur, goodness, you move fast," Dante replies, fluttering their eyelashes.

Virgil shrugs. "It could be one. You know, we're clearly gonna be around each other a lot. They found each other the old fashioned way. Maybe we could try something a bit... less traditional."

Dante smiles. "I'd like that a lot, Virgil. Should we break into cloud nine over there and ask them about the future now?"

Virgil nods. Soulmark or not, the future's looking pretty good.

tag list: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt ​@thelowlysatsuma @adorably-angsty @max-is-tired @almostoveranalyzed @hawthornshadow @mariniacipher and obligatory royality tag @notveryglittery and anxceit tag @vintage-squid

[valeriethepussycats]

I’m Only Human

Chapter 5

Pairing- Loki x Reader, Thor x Reader(Best friends)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts in italics.

Sitwell talks into his radio, starting to look worried.

“DeLancey, Jackson -- report.” Sitwell said into the radio.

Thor, now wearing a Shield rain slicker, makes his way across the base. Another Shield Agent approaches the jeep, spots the unconscious DeLancey and Jackson. He quickly calls into his radio.

“Agents down! We've got a perimeter breach!” Shield Agent yelled.

The security monitors squelch with static and interference. Sitwell holds his PDA -- even it's on the fritz. Sitwell and the Techie watch the monitors warily.

On the monitor showing the hammer containment area, Mjolnir starts to crackle with energy.

“Get Coulson.” Sitwell urged Techie. Sitwell punches an alarm.

As Thor makes his way towards the crater, an alarm sounds and security lights explode to life.

A spotlight fires out from the base and sweeps across the ridge towards Y/n and Jane. Y/n use her mind control abilities, to make the guards think she’s not there while Jane ducks down, out of sight. She pulls out her cellphone and dials. We hear Erik’s recorded message.

“You've reached Dr. Erik Selvig. Please leave me a message.” His voicemail beeps. She talks quietly, urgently.

“Erik, okay, first of all, don't worry. I'm perfectly fine, really.” Jane started while More sounds of mayhem come from the base. “But if you don't hear from me again, you might want to come out to the crater site and look for me. I kind of did what you said I shouldn't do. Thanks. Bye.” She hangs up.

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Coulson emerges from the Shield command trailer and marches across the mud, radio to his ear. He looks out across the lit up site uneasily. A Shield guard moves through the base, rifle in hand. From the shadows behind a trailer, a figure looks out at him. As the Guard raises his radio to check in, Thor quickly rushes towards him and chokes him out. He falls to the ground. Thor notices the AR-15 rifle lying on the ground beside the fallen Guard.

He stares down at the weapon quizzically. As more Guards approach, Thor snatches up the weapon and takes cover in the shadows of the trailer. The Guards pass by. Thor peers around the corner, sees the well-guarded main entrance tube to the center of the site. A bright light suddenly illuminates his face.

 He looks to see an ATV moving across the site, shining its spotlight right on him. Thor sees that the ATV driver has spotted him. The Driver raises his radio to report. Thor knows he has to act fact. He raises the rifle -- then flips it over in the air and catches it by the barrel. He rears the weapon back, then  hurls it like a hammer. It flies through the air, smashing the ATV's spotlight. Glass and debris shower the driver, who takes his hands off the wheel to protect himself. The ATV roars out of control past the Guards near the tube entrance. The Guards notice and chase after it.

Thor emerges from the shadows, watches the Guards abandoning the site entrance.The ATV Driver looks forward in panic as the ATV approaches the crater lip. The vehicle careens over the edge of the crater and heads  straight for one of the plastic tunnels. The Technicians inside scatter as the ATV crashes into it, tearing into the tunnel, sending sparks everywhere. The ATV finally comes to a stop, the tunnel collapsing around it and the Driver. Shield Agents rush in behind to help.

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Y/n is watching every thing play out like she’s watching her favorite movie. “He’s really going to make it.” Y/n said with a proud smile.

Jane peers over the ridge, stares down at the frenzied aftermath of the ATV crash, at the base on high alert. Lightning Cracking in the sky behind her.

“Can you please do something about this lighting.” Jane Requested.

“There’s a lot of emotions behind this storm Anger,Sadness,Confused and so much more I want to see how this plays out.” Y/n stated.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Coulson climbs to the lip of the crater as a light rain begins to fall. He eyes the damage of the ATV crash. He's not pleased. The light rain becomes a downpour. As Shield Agents pull the ATV driver from the wreckage, Thor races towards the unguarded entrance to the tunnels and heads inside.Thor races up the entrance ramp. Before him, two Guards round the corner. 

Thor knocks out the first Guard, then tackles the second. He  hurries around the corner, when more Guards come up a ladder ahead. Thor punches the closest Guard, sending him tumbling backwards, toppling the others on the ladder behind him. Thor takes off running, as the Guards regroup and give chase. Thor spots the glow of Mjolnir in the central cube, through the translucent walls of the tunnels. He hurries through to tunnels to find a way towards it.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Coulson stands on the crater lip, barking out orders, as the Guards in the tunnel rush to cut off Thor. Coulson activates his radio.

“I want eyes up high. With a gun. Now!” Coulson ordered. And just like that a sniper, dressed in black tactical gear and high-tech Night vision equipment, picks up a rifle, slings it over his shoulder and heads out. His name is Clint Barton. Lightning crackles around the camp as Barton approaches a crane bucket . He leaps in, and the bucket lifts into the air. Through the translucent plastic, we see Thor racing through the tubing. 

As Thor races through the tunnel, a Guards runs right at him, on a collision course. Thor takes him out with a punch to the gut, then turns to see more Agents coming towards him. Thor picks up the fallen Guard he punched, then throws him  into the approaching Agents, scattering them. Thor turns around, runs back the way he came. The Agents give chase.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Jane looks down at the crater through binoculars, frustrated that she can't clearly see what's happening.

“How can’t they see you you?” Jane asked.

Y/n shrugged. “Perks of being a Mutant.”

Y/n looks closely at and the camp and see a  familiar person in the sky bucket

Barton... given the chance he’ll drop the Thor like a sack of potatoes I gotta to stop he.

Y/n starts to climb down but Jane’s voice stops her.

“Where are you going?” Jane questioned.

“Thor needs help and I’m going to help him.” Y/n answered. “You need to stay here if you were to get caught there make you disappear I’ll be back and if I’m not head back without me.”

Y/n starts to climb down the cliff.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Coulson watches the commotion in the tunnel complex. He heads off for the command trailer to enter the tunnels. The crane basket ascends into the high winds as Barton readies his sniper rifle.

We see the figure of Thor inside the complex, heading down a ladder from a junction box, with other figures converging on him. Coulson enters the tunnels through the command trailer. He calls on his radio. “Barton. Talk to me.” Coulson Announced.

The crane holding Barton arcs out over the structure. Barton takes aim. “One shot, one kill, sir. Just give the word. Sir this weather seems very familiar is Agent Munroe here?” Barton questioned into his radio.

“No Agent Munroe is on leave in New York.” Coulson answered.

Barton’s lookout Overlooking the complex. It's a clear field of vision, nowhere to hide. A digital read-out gives information on the distance to the target. He locks in on Thor, who's inside the plastic tubing, emerging from the junction box and heading towards the cube structure.

“Hello, handsome.” Barton grinned.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor races through the tunnel, comes across a wall of Agents . Thor roars and barrels through them -- elbowing, punching --whatever it takes to keep moving. As he takes down the last Agent, Thor sees the last junction box and the entrance to the cube structure up ahead. He races towards it. He can actually see Mjolnir within the middle of the structure, when -- BAM! From out of nowhere, a lands a powerful blow across his jaw, sending him reeling. Dazed, Thor looks up to see --A HUGE SHIELD AGENT. The biggest of them all, standing between him and his hammer in the cube structure beyond. Thor sizes him up.

“You're big.” Thor grins.“Fought bigger.”

Thor and the Huge Agent explode through the wall of the junction box, then crash into the mud, sending them sliding. Barton has Thor in his sites. The sniper stands still as a statue. Coulson hurries through the tunnel, ready to give the word to Barton, when he stops short. He sees what looks like an electrical storm erupting inside the structure ahead, directly above the crater... and the hammer.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Jane sees Shield Agents and Guards swarming into the cube containment structure. “No...” Jane trailed off.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n is sneaking onto the camp trying to make sure that she could find a way to help Thor without being caught by Shield. She knows what happen if they find out she’s here helping him, they’re gonna question her and, then big man himself is going to make it his business to come all the way down to New Mexico to see what is going on.

Maybe if I lay down fog... No can’t do that do they’ll know I’m here how am I going to help Thor?

Meanwhile, Thor and the Huge Agent struggle to stand in the mud. Through the translucent walls of the cube structure, Thor sees Mjolnir. The Huge Agent rises up before him, blocking his view. Rain and blood run down Thor’s face. He lunges forward, whipping his feet in front of him, then kicks out, nailing the Huge Agent in the chest.

 The Agent goes down hard as Thor's momentum carries him past. Thor stands, heads for the cube structure, when the Huge Guard grabs his ankle in a last effort. Thor looks back down at his foe, then drops backwards, pile driving his elbow into the fallen Agent's chest. The Huge Agent grimaces in pain, defeated. Thor races back towards the structure. From outside, Thor rips an opening in the plastic wall of the structure.

He stands there -- soaking, bleeding, caked with wet earth. His hammer rests just a few yards before him, energy surging around it. Coulson steps into the structure through an access tunnel, one story up. As Thor approaches his hammer, Mjolnir starts to glow brighter, blue electricity sparking off its surface. The  crackling energy seems to reach out to him. Coulson notices, his interest piqued. Above the open ceiling of the structure, Barton's crane bucket comes into view.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Wind and rain whip around Barton as he stares into his rifle  site, locked on the back of Thor's head -- his finger on the trigger.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Thor stands next to the hammer, feels its power. He reaches out to it confidently. Coulson watches from above. Armed Agents approach behind him. He motions for them to hold their positions, then  radios Barton. “Barton...”

Barton stands ready to take Thor down. His finger starts to squeeze the trigger. “ ...hold your fire.” Coulson commented. Barton releases the trigger, pulls up.

Coulson watches Thor with anticipation as Thor wraps his hand around the hammer. He smiles, triumphant, lifts... but the  hammer doesn't move. Thor looks confused, tries again with two hands, to no avail-- anger and frustration overtaking him. He strains with all his might, screams from the effort, bellowing up at the storm and lightning above him. Something begins to appear on the side of Mjolnir -- glowing runes. Thor looks down, sees them. But, still, the hammer doesn't budge. Thor falls to his knees before it, rain pouring down around him, as the glowing runes fade away. He's failed. Unworthy. Coulson looks on, disappointed. Shield Agents move in, guns trained on Thor, surrounding him. Coulson activates his radio.

“Ground units, move in. Show's over.” Coulson Announced.

As the Agents surround him, Thor doesn't seem to notice or care. He just sits there on his knees, head bowed in the rain -- a man broken, lost. From overhead, we see the hammer in the cube containment room. We pull up as the Guards approach Thor, then continue to climb, until we see the whole camp -- and the extensive damage Thor's done to it during the melee.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○                  

Jane lowers her binoculars, sensing things have gone from bad to worse. She steels herself, then starts over the ridge to help him. Almost immediately, a Spotlight sweeps past her. She hears the sound of dogs and Shield Agents approaching, sees the glow of flashlights moving from the base towards her. With no other choice, she makes a quick retreat.

Part 6

[ambitionsource]

Who do you think gets underestimated the most in the A class?

now that’s a fun question. i’m going to go specifically by like, underestimated within AAA and not necessarily in the rest of their life.

jade. you’d think that jade would never get overlooked considering the facts speak for themselves -- she makes all their costumes that aren’t just like bring your own outfit. she is crucial to like every production. and yet! the issue here is that the performers don’t appreciate (even after culture swap week) how difficult her job is, and the fact that she basically does it alone, so she’s like working constantly all the time. and that’s great because it hones her craft, but my god is she putting the WORK in. she gets overlooked because she’s not loud about her stuff, but she’s one of the most talented people in their class without a doubt.

yindra. i think everyone acknowledges yindra’s talent and knows she’s going places, especially because she has such a good head on her shoulders too and isn’t prone to diva antics -- enough that she even avoided being labeled a diva despite being equally or more talented than maya and farkle. but all that being true, she still somehow ends up backing to the divas, and in that regard she’s underestimated. i think she’s going to burst into success post-grad much faster than most of the a class, and people will be surprised by that, which goes to show how little they’re actually considering her power.

nigel. specifically in the realm of acting, i think nigel is the strongest performer in the a class. yet no one is ever talking about him, or putting him up against the divas in regards to comparisons. this is because, as riley put it in 211, he just... doesn’t care. he cares about his passion and will follow it diligently, but he doesn’t play the mind games or go over the top the way some of the other major a class players do. this is great for his sanity, and making him a likeable person, but it doesn’t help him gain some of the spotlight he honestly deserves.

dylan. dyl pickle is on this list solely because i think underestimated is highly applicable to him. not because he’s the strongest in any realm (singing, performing, tech work, etc.) but because everyone really underrates him in like all the above. so many people see dylan as either 1) lucas’s right hand minion, 2) asher’s arm candy, or 3) just techie work muscle, and all three of those perceptions write him off as mindless, simple, and just following marching orders. it doesn’t give any credit to his own creativity + problem-solving (both technically and personally), his guitar playing ability that he’s been doing since S1, his actually strong performance ability (seeing as he was actually supposed to be a performer.......), or his leadership qualities. it will be exciting to see some of this shift in S3 and for him to actually take on more responsibility and respect (and more performances!!). it’s about time!!!

-- Maggie

[dragonsaphirareads]

A Turn in the Spotlight

Day 25 of @tsshipmonth2020 Fluffuary

Ship: Royaliceit

AU: Actor, Human

Word Count: 1134

Summary: Patton has always loved theater, ever since he was a child. But standing under those stage lights, he always freezes up. Thankfully, his boyfriends are there to help him do what he loves.

(Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel here!)

Patton wrung his hands together, eyes closed as Virgil applied the last of his makeup. He had already been scolded for touching his hair and tugging at his costume by the techie, but Patton just couldn’t stop fidgeting.

“There, done.” Virgil said, turning to the counter and grabbing a small spray bottle. “Close your eyes and don’t breath for a sec.”

Patton held his breath as Virgil sprayed his face, setting his makeup before putting his brushes away. He flinched at the cold mist, then he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder.

“Knock ‘em dead, Pat.” The techie encouraged quietly, and Patton smiled nervously at him.

“I’ll do my best!” He promised, hopping off the stool and leaving the dressing room. There were other people who needed to get ready still, so he wouldn’t take up space in the cramped room.

Patton grabbed his phone from his backpack in the corner of the back hallway, taking a seat as he scrolled through his favorite videos. His heart was starting to race and he needed to calm down before he started crying and ruined his makeup.

Footsteps rushed back and forth in front of him as actors and techies alike were getting themselves ready for the show. He tried to ignore them, to focus on the cute cat videos on his tiny phone screen instead of the impending breakdown he was facing.

Then a pair of footsteps approached him and stopped, and Patton tried to shrink away from them, hoping they wouldn’t yell at him for being in the way.

“Patton? Are you alright, my love?”

He looked up to see his boyfriend Roman standing there, decked out in his full makeup and costume. Patton faked a smile as their eyes met.

“Of course I am! I’m just waiting for things to start!”

Roman didn’t look too convinced, and he knelt in front of Patton, noticing what he had been watching. “It’s ok if you’re nervous, darling. Even the greatest performers get a few butterflies before opening night!”

“But I’m not a great performer! I only have three lines!” Patton insisted as Roman sat down completely, crossing his legs.

“So? Doesn’t Thomas always say that every part, no matter how small, is important? Your three lines are incredibly important!”

Patton grimaced, crossing his arms and curling further in on himself. “But... what if I screw it up? What if I freeze up and I forget what I’m supposed to say and then the whole play is ruined!?”

Tears pricked at his eyes suddenly, and he tilted his head back so he wouldn’t run his makeup. Roman reached for his hand, patting it gently.

“You won’t. You know your lines by heart - I’ve seen you during rehearsals! You’re so vibrant then, what’s different now that you’re in costume?”

“The... the lights... and all the people watching me... that’s different than just being in rehearsal!” Patton insisted, dabbing at his eyes with the edge of his sleeve. Luckily his costume was dark, so he couldn’t tell if he had rubbed any of his eye makeup off.

Roman winced, trying to think of some way to comfort his boyfriend, but before he could say anything else his name was called by someone down the hall. “Hey Roman! Director wants you!”

“I’ll be right there!” Roman replied, then he turned back to Patton and cupped his cheek, gently pulling him closer for a chaste kiss. “You’re going to be fantastic, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon!”

“Break a leg!” Patton called, since Roman was going to be on stage far before Patton was. He pulled his phone out again, deciding to play some Candy Crush for a while before the show opened.

“I thought you’d be here~” Patton glanced up at the other familiar voice as his other boyfriend approached, sitting down next to him.

“Were you looking for me?” He asked worriedly, and Ernest shook his head.

“I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. Roman told me you’re a little nervous.” Patton deflated, staring at the floor in front of them.

“I can do everything right in practice... but whenever I go on stage, I just freeze up! I don’t know why, it’s just... so much pressure! If I miss my lines, the whole thing is ruined!”

Ernest raised an eyebrow, tapping his chin. “Really? I think you’re giving yourself a little too much credit.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“If you can ruin an entire show by just missing a single cue, then you must be incredible. Pat, my darling, don’t you remember all of those improv games that we play? Do you think we just do those for fun?”

Patton picked at his fingernails. “N-No, but I’m no good at those...”

“You don’t have to be. After all, if you forget your lines, you’re probably not going to be the one saving yourself, right?” Ernest shifted, wrapping an arm around Patton’s shoulders. “You always talk about how me and Roman need to rely on other people more, rather than do everything ourselves. I think you should take your own advice here.”

“But it’s three lines, Ernest!”

“So? Patton, there’s nothing wrong with having a little stage fright.”

Ernest leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Remember, the audience doesn’t have the script in their hands. They’re not here to critique the show based on the lines being said exactly as they’re written. If that’s all they want, they’d go and read it on their own. They’re here for our interpretation, for us to show them how we want to tell the story. And so, if you miss a line or two, who cares? Just keep smiling, and they’ll never know.”

Patton sniffed, and Ernest pulled him into a proper hug.

“We’re both so proud of you, you know that, right? This is a big step for you, and we’re going to celebrate afterwards, no matter how much you think you ruined the show. Got it?”

That got him, and Patton was sure he would have no makeup left by the end of the night.

Ernest got to his feet, pulling Patton up with him. “Ready to go and show everyone how amazing you are?”

Patton sniffed and nodded. He was still shaking from nerves, but he was excited too. He went backstage hand in hand with Ernest, ready to wait for his cue.

After the show, Roman and Ernest took him to an extremely romantic dinner at the nearest McDonalds, and they showered him with praise at how smooth and wonderful his acting was.

He knew they were laying it on thick, and that he really wasn’t that good. But he just let them talk, and reflected on how extremely lucky he was to have not one, but two boyfriends who loved him so unconditionally.