#it was so funny and wild being in the front row

[eat-sleep-breathe-drum]

Hey guys guess who went to saw the musical last night

[withacapitalp]

Bathtubs, Closets, and Coming Home

For the servers daily prompt today "closet"

Eddie was giggling. 

Steve’s metalhead rockstar badass boyfriend was straight up fucking giggling. 

“Look at this, Sunshine,” He crowed, practically skipping into the ensuite bathroom, “There’s a clawfoot tub. Clawfoot!” 

Steve slowly made his way over to the bathroom, and by the time he was at the doorway, Eddie was lying fully clothed in said clawfoot bathtub. His legs were crossed and his arms were spread wide in front of him, a dragon with a weird porcelain horde. 

“Can you imagine the wicked wild sex we can have in this thing?” Eddie asked in a hushed whisper, his eyebrows waggling up and down. 

“Eddie!” Steve hissed, quickly glancing around to make sure that their realtor wasn’t standing nearby. 

Luckily Sophie seemed to be occupied elsewhere, so Steve felt brave enough to creep closer, linking his fingers with Eddie’s and giving their joined hands a single soft squeeze. From the moment they had set foot in the house, Eddie had been acting like a kid at Christmas, and the last thing Steve wanted to do was ruin his mood by being a sourpuss. 

“You’re not funny,” Steve teased, throwing on a mock pout just because he knew Eddie loved to kiss that look off his face. Sure enough, Eddie immediately sat up, turning to Steve so they were nose to nose, so close that Steve could smell his shampoo. 

“That’s because I’m hilarious,” Eddie declared, quickly smacking a kiss onto Steve’s lips before hauling himself out of the tub and striding back into the master bedroom, “And this place is perfect!”

Perfect. 

Steve’s heart seized up, and he leaned against the tub, trying to force himself to breathe steadily. 

On paper, Eddie was right, the house was perfect. With eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, an absolutely ginormous kitchen, a gorgeous backyard, and a guest house on property for when any parents come to visit, it was a dream come true. The house had everything that had been on their list, and with Corroded Coffin’s newest single staying at the number one spot for the sixth week in a row, it was well within their price range. 

On paper, this was everything they were looking for. It was perfect. 

And yet here Steve was, standing in a bathroom trying not to have a complete meltdown. 

“I mean, come on!” Eddie shouted, his voice carrying through to the bathroom. Steve forced his body to walk, barely feeling every step he took as he basically frog marched back into the bedroom. 

Eddie was standing with his arms directly out to his sides, trying and failing to touch each side of the doorway to the walk in closet. There was a big fat grin on his face, and in any other moment, Steve would be dying of happiness instead of despair. 

“This closet is bigger than the entire trailer,” Eddie stated, giddy with the exhilaration of someone who had finally found everything they were looking for. Somehow that one single statement was the thing that pushed him over the edge. 

If Steve was a good partner, he would be happy too. He would rush over to Eddie’s side and pull him in close, show him how much he loved the house, and they would be living happily ever after. 

But Steve wasn’t a good partner. Steve was a selfish goddamn brat, and he couldn’t hide how utterly miserable the house was making him. He couldn’t fake a smile and he couldn't make the tears in his eyes go away, no matter how hard he blinked. 

And the worst part was, Eddie- who was the world’s best partner- instantly caught Steve’s shining eyes and wobbling lip. 

“Steve?”

Fuck. 

It was just his name, but it was the way Eddie said it. That soft tone, the gentle voice that was reserved just for Steve and maybe the kids on a particularly bad day. Compassion and love and understanding all wrapped in a sweet Eddie ribbon, an arrow that sailed right over all of his walls and pierced directly into Steve’s heart. 

“Come here,” Eddie commanded, trusting his hand out. Steve was like a puppet on a string, everything he did tied to whatever Eddie wanted. He swayed into the closet, letting his boyfriend pull him into his arms, setting them both down on the floor with care. They ended up sitting side by side on the ground, their backs against the wall, Steve’s head on Eddie’s shoulder with a comforting hand curled in his hair. 

“It’s great,” Steve tried, hating how thin the lie was. He wanted to be able to put on an act, play along for Eddie’s sake, but there was no way it was going to work. 

“You hate it,” Eddie whispered, and there it was. Steve wasn’t able to lie, but neither was Eddie, and the disappointment in his voice was crushing Steve’s lungs. 

“No,” Steve replied immediately. Eddie scoffed, and Steve pulled away, just enough so they could look at each other. He wanted Eddie to know he was honest when he said he didn’t hate the place, because he was being honest. Steve didn’t hate the house, he loved it, but he hated the way it made him feel. 

“It’s not the house, Eddie. The house is great,” Steve trailed off trying to find the words to explain but coming up empty. He sighed shortly, frustrated with himself as the explanation for the strange rolling feeling in his stomach didn’t come. ”I mean it’s exactly what you want. This is the kind of place you’ve been dreaming about since you were a kid.”

“What I want,” Eddie emphasized, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he looked at Steve, “But not what you want?” 

“I’m being stupid,” Steve shot back. When Eddie made a sound and tried to reach out, Steve stopped him, knowing this was important. “No, seriously, Eds. I know I’m being super fucking irrational,”

“What do you think you’re being irrational about, baby?” Eddie asked softly, linking their pinkies and looking at Steve with those big brown eyes. 

“You grew up wanting a house like this. I grew up in a house just like this,” Steve explained, closing his eyes as he did. He wouldn’t be able to look at Eddie as he said it, wouldn’t be able to get through without losing it as he finally got to the heart of why this house scared him so badly, “It wasn’t all it was cracked up to be,”

It was irrational. Eddie wasn’t going to stop loving him the second they bought the house. He wasn’t going to leave Steve alone in a tomb of their own making. They weren’t his parents. 

Steve’s brain understood that, now he just needed to get his heart on board. 

“Oh honey,” Eddie murmured. If it was anyone else, there would be pity there, and Steve wouldn’t be able to help being angry. But it was Eddie, who understood him more than almost anyone, and there was nothing to be upset about. 

“Listen to me Steve Buckley, and listen well” Eddie began, his voice firm and filled to bursting with love. A shiver rolled down Steve’s spine, and a small spark of joy burst in his chest as he heard his full name. Even just that reminder was enough to tell him he was never going to be alone again. No matter what happened, he had Robin. 

“I would be happy if we were living in a shoebox under an underpass. We can stop all this right now and live in the trailer for the rest of our lives. I don’t care where we are, or what we’re doing. I just want to come home to you."

And that was all he needed to hear. Steve already knew that, but now he understood it. Eddie might have to go on tour, or to record, or just need his own space, but this would be their home, and he would always come back to it.

To Steve.

“I love you so much,” Steve whispered, leaning forward for a kiss. It was a chaste thing, small and sweet but carrying the promise of everything that was to come. 

“Well boys?” Their realtor said from the doorway. They instantly broke away, both turning to face her with fear. Sophie was watching them with a knowing smirk, holding her pad and pencil like she already was aware of what they were going to say. 

“We'll take it,” Steve declared. 

[storiesfromafan]

Choices - Benny Cross

A/N: I want to say I am sorry. This might upset you all 😅

Here's another short, under 1000 word fic.

Warning/: angst, no happy ending 😅

Tag list: @strayrockette

They say over the course of your life you will have to endure many different moments. Some good, some bad, some funny and some sad. Tonight was one of those night for you. And it was a sad one, as well as a bad one. A moment so sad and bad, that it would change you. A moment were you learned what it was like to watch the one person that you love choose someone else.

His name is Benny, Benny Cross. A Vandal. A wild and free spirit that never asked for anything, nor did he take anything from anyone. He would come and go as he pleased, riding whenever or wherever he liked. Settling for no one. Until her: Kathy.

You were there that night she came into the bar, a deer in headlights by the Vandal men and their attention on her. You were like a fixture to the wall by the pool tables, watching Benny and another Vandal play pool, their money on the table to remind them of the stakes. Benny looked exceptionally delicious tonight, his arms on display and smoulder of a face. You could understand why Kathy was taken with him.

You’d seen her stand from her table, looking to run from the bar. But one look at Benny, and you knew that was it for her. Just like you had been. She moved back to her friend, words exchanged as she kept looking to the pool table. Your heart racing, knowing your Benny had a new admirer.

And when you looked to Benny, you saw him looking in her direction. A look upon his face you’ve hardly seen before: interest. For he rarely ever noticed a women, maybe when he wanted to warm his bed or entertain himself. Those that he did let stick around, they never stayed for long. Seeing what Benny was really like, sometimes it frightened them away. Or they couldn’t change him, so they cut their loses.

You were the exception. You chose to be in his life as a friend. A wallflower in his life. For you would rather that then having your heart broken by Benny Cross. It was safer. You’d watched them come and go, not wanting to be one of them. So, you sat back in silence, heart constantly aching. A smile plastered on your face, when all you wanted was to cry. Supporting him in everything, while you die a little each time. Waiting for the day when it’s the last time, and you finally break for good.

Seeing his opportunity, Benny moved over to Kathy’s table. Taking a hold of a chair, turning it around before sitting next to her. You watched how Benny gave her his best, charming smile as he introduced herself. And then her reply. That was it. That solidified it for them. They were taken with each other, even if Kathy had played hard to get. And that was it for you.

“Oi, (Y/N)” the man who had just been playing Benny called. “Ya want a game?”

You turned from the budding romance, chest hurting and hallow from what you had watched. A distraction being nice right now, you agreed. Getting up from your spot, you helped set up for the break, watching as the guy strikes the cluster of balls with the white one. Feeling how another crack crossed your heart when they collided. He sunk a large numbered ball, so he took another shot.

And with another hit, part of you knew this might be it. This might be the time you loose Benny for good. All because you were scared to put yourself out there. But why would he want you? You weren’t nothing special, you were practically one of the guys. You dressed like a boy, acted like a boy. But had womanly tendencies at times. And for your tomboy ways, you knew you didn’t stand a chance.

When it came your time to play, you had a front row seat to Kathy leaving. And then Benny right after her not long after she left. With every movement across the bar, with every step he took that crack got bigger. For Benny never went after a woman before. Which told you all you needed to know: she was it. Kathy was the one for him. Not you. You sunk a small number ball just as he stepped outside.

Finally the crack was big enough. Your heart finally broke. You felt numb. Your breathing even. No tears. Nothing. Reality was your unrequited love, was just that. Plain and simple. One sided, not returned. Now you had to learn to live with it. And your choices.

[marvelobsessed134]

Going to Disneyland with Elvis headcannons

A/n: First Elvis fic! I’ve had this idea for a couple days now and finally decided to write it! Also just a disclaimer even though I am a huge Disney nerd especially for the parks I may get some information inaccurate because I was obviously not around in the 60s to go to Disneyland during that time. I have been an avid Disneyland guest for my whole life basically so I do know a lot about how the park is run and things like that.

Pairings: Late 60s!Elvis x Fem!Reader

Warnings: too much explanation about vintage Disneyland sorry

Okay so the day would start out where the two of you would get there bright and early for rope drop (when the park opens and they drop the rope that blocks off the rides)

You wanted to make sure you could get on the E ticket rides (Back then Disney had tickets for rides and you’d buy a little ticket book and there were different tickets: A, B, C, D, and E. E ticket rides were the popular more thrilling rides like Matterhorn bobsleds) before the lines got too long

Elvis always had a blast at Disneyland with you being able to let out his inner child

After a couple rides you’d get breakfast on Main Street and talked about your plans for the day after eating. You’d both stare at sleeping beauty castle in awe and a cast member (what the employees are called) would offer to take your picture in front of it which of course you’d say yes

Elvis obviously being extremely famous has people come up to him and ask for autographs and such and he’d politely decline, saying he was here to have a good time with his girl

Cinderella definitely had a thing for him when the two of you went to get your picture with her, she was paying much more attention to Elvis than you. She was trying to hold in the fangirling and not break character

Elvis thought it was funny that you were a tiny bit upset about it until non other than Prince Phillip seemed so enamored by you and he felt how you were feeling previously. The two of you just laughed it off together though

You went on the smaller (but still fun) rides like the carousel, teacups, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toads Wild Ride

Elvis loves the Mickey ice cream bars and you love the cotton candy

You had a lot of fun waving to the mermaids that sat on the rocks above the submarine voyage ride

Elvis didn’t like that other men thought it was okay to whistle and be disrespectful to the mermaids but he didn’t say anything to them just muttered to you, “The lack of respect these men have is disgusting.” Which made you giggle a bit and agree

Midday you’d watch the parade and then go into the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln attraction to watch the amazing Abraham Lincoln animatronic (it’s actually really amazing one of the best animatronics in the park)

You’d ride on the pack mules on the trail through natures wonderland attraction which was super fun

And even go on the canoes which Elvis helped the whole boat with how good he was at rowing

The day would end at night, standing in front of the castle with your head resting on his shoulder as you watched the fireworks.

And of course you’d fall asleep on the car ride home

[indignantlemur]

Hi!

First, I just binged Emigre during the week-end, and I love everything about it. It is truly fascinating how you came up with such a wide array of well-rounded characters and original lore.

Second, I hope you're doing well after the accident.

Third, Thoris is my favourite of the cast, these snippets of him in the last few days made me love him even more. Poor man, outliving his sons it's so terrible. However on a lighter note, there is something I found funny in your previous answers: he had a front row ticket to Shral pining after Dagmar, I wonder what he thought about it. Like being in his head is truly delightful.

Hey! I finally have an internet connection again, so I can actually get around to answering this! Hooray!

That's so sweet of your to say, thank you! And yes, I'm doing much better these days. I've officially graduated from physio and I've been released back into the wild once more.

As for Thoris... he absolutely did have a front row to about a year's worth of pining, and boy did he have opinions on the subject.

From Thoris' perspective, Shral had been remarkably stoic even by Andorian standards during his entire tenure as a personal aide prior to the Andorian contingent going en masse to their embassy on Earth. For his personal aide to suddenly have such an obvious tell was quite entertaining, even if his fixation on a Human was a little odd. Still, Andorians are an adventurous lot, and Thoris initially chalked Shral's behaviour up to a passing fancy of some sort. It would either be indulged or pass on its own in a few weeks, surely.

After three months, Thoris was forced to revise his opinion on the subject. Either his aide was remarkably determined, or it wasn't a passing anything.

Indeed, the first time Dagmar wore blue to the embassy, it took every ounce of willpower Thoris possessed not to break out into the most undignified snickering. It was Shral's faint but hopeful expression that nearly did the ambassador in, it really was. In fact, Thoris reckoned he may very well have strained something important during the whole ordeal. Truly, the sacrifices he made in service to Andoria were beyond counting.

After a few months without any change to the status quo, Thoris began to grow exasperated. He was starting to believe that Shral would never actually do something about his infatuation - or, Emperor forbid, just give up. The Human clearly had no idea what was being communicated, it seemed, and Thoris absolutely got a kick out of the notion that such a critical part of Andorian socialization just wasn't taught to Humans. (He'd have to get that sorted eventually, of course, but in the moment it was very entertaining indeed and he was ever so starved of entertainment these days.)

On occasion, Thoris would engage in some friendly ribbing, when he and Shral were alone and boredom struck - including infrequent reminders that even Vulcans had to declare intent at some point. Shral was never very receptive to Thoris' commentary on the subject, but he was particularly polite and professional whenever Thoris struck a nerve. (Which of course meant that Thoris did what he'd been trained to do, and prodded at that particular nerve until Shral found a reason to be elsewhere. Sometimes Thoris could drive Shral out of his office two or three times a day! Four, on the day Dagmar wore blue - a personal record.)

After six months, Thoris was maintaining an outwardly stoic mein whenever the subject or Human in question came up. Inwardly, Thoris was debating the pros and cons of sabotaging a turbolift just to get the pair alone in a room together. At that point, Thoris was firmly of the belief that nature would take the reigns from there, but his aide might never fully forgive him for meddling. Thoris had just about decided he could live with that, when the first few chapters of Emigre began.

So, in short: Thoris was alternately baffled, amused, exasperated, and frustrated by the field kabuki display of a courtship that he had front row seats for - whether he wanted them or not.

Now that it's underway and showing no signs of collapsing under its own weight, he's mostly just relieved. It's finally, finally not his problem anymore. His aide is content, his translator is secured, and as long as neither of them fuck it up he can leverage the whole ordeal as a one-up on the Tellarites for interspecies cooperation.

(There's no point playing that game with the Denobulans - that's a loser's game any day - and the Vulcans are a bit too sensitive on the subject after that Terra Prime incident to be any fun, so Tellarites are what he's left with. Besides, covert reports indicate that Ambassador Gral has been managing his high blood pressure far too well lately, and Thoris is bored.)

[fountainpenguin]

I forgot how much I love Kevin Crocker... They made him the most self-deprecating character in the series (who is actively being manipulated by his uncle to use that self-deprecation to weasel things out of Chloe) and they also made him the guy who answers his phone with "This is the Crockmeister! Crock to me! :)"

Crocker dunked on him in front of everyone and Kevin just flung his arms in the air and yelled "That's two zingers in a row!! :D" and he's also the kid who taped his mouth shut to express his rage at being used as a puppet.

He's so hungry at home that he steals food from the class rabbit. He's so tired that he crawls on top of his desk and passes out for the rest of the episode. He collapses into a sobbing mess when no one picks him to be in their group for the project. But his big moment is also screaming "From now on, it's GORK!" and wiggling his arms like noodles.

When Chloe invited him over, Kevin put on the biggest smile and told her "Nah, I'm busy being a bitter loner." He is also the kid who loves dentistry and crashes into walls and ceilings because he can't control his completely unnecessary rocket boots.

"It's no biggie. I just kind of wish I was never born." - The kid who just kicked down a door and yelled "Yo, yo, yo, Crockmeister in the hizzy!" and then got immediately told he was pathetic and always would be because of his family tree.

5 seconds after this, he's bursting at the seams with giddy joy. Then he tells you no one's been this happy to see him since his going away party where everyone was excited to see him go away.

Chloe cannot emotionally destroy him in a way that matters. He just jumps out her window and leaves...

He's presumed dead in two of his three remaining episodes this season, and in the other one, he was pretending to be a lifeless doll. Timmy was convinced he'd been beheaded for a short time. Also, he can't walk as fast as his uncle so when they walk onscreen together, Kevin falls increasingly farther behind.

Timmy: Kevin has overcome the Crocker stigma of evil! :)

Kevin: /immediate mental breakdown over the idea that anyone could actually like him, ending with the conclusion that only his uncle's approval matters and he will absolutely kidnap two people if he gets that

He's so funny and every time he shows up, it's a wild emotional ride... I love him...

[ladylooch]

Surprises in Seattle - [Liv X Luca]

A/N: The way this took me forever to come up with an idea for... and then I wrote it in an hour and it was suddenly over 2k words... Writing is wild man. WILD! Thank you 🇧🇷 anon for the request. Sorry for how long this took.......... yikes!

Original Request: I would love for a small thing of Liv and Father in law Kev interacting, I think there's has to be funny moments between those two that will leave him laughing wildly and she getting soooo embarrassed!!!! 😂😂😂 - 🇧🇷

Word Count: 2.2k

Have fun tonight, baby. I’m so proud of you 😘

Liv reads off the text quickly while she finishes out the last curl of her hair. Once it’s set, she rips the plug out of the wall and hastily rushes out of the bathroom to grab her purse and jacket.

I wish you were here, babe. Good luck tonight! And be safe

Liv responds as she walks out of her hotel room. She double checks she has what she needs- key, purse, jacket, phone- then let’s the door close softly behind her. 

Tonight is a long anticipated night for Liv. It’s the first day of her second book tour. She’s doing a book signing at the cute, local bookshop across the street. This book tour is so much more chaotic for her because she self-published her second book. After all the issues she had with her previous team not seeing the same vision for the book, Liv quietly walked away from them. Truthfully, they let her go easily, not seeing much of a reason to fight her wishes. Fine with her. She knows what she is capable of. Never again is a board room full of people going to tell her what to do with her art.

She has Ryder to thank for that. Without his fierce belief in her years ago, she wouldn’t be where she is now. She’s thankful now that the past is in the past and they’ve all been able to move forward, especially with Ryder’s recent trade to the Kings. 

Liv’s black heels clack against the tile of the hotel lobby. She makes her way out the door, then falters slightly when she sees the line outside the bookstore. She bites her lip then quickly takes a picture to send to her fiancé. 

Baby, you’re so popular 😏,  he immediately texts back

You better not be texting and driving.

Oops. Love you! 

Liv rolls her eyes at her man’s worst habit. Then with confidence in her step, she crosses the street to the bookstore hosting her event. The crowd sees her step onto the sidewalk and they begin to clap for her. Liv gives them a huge smile, dimples out and proud, along with an enthusiastic wave.

“Thank you all for coming! I can’t wait to meet you!” She calls back to them, then slides into the bookstore. The owner, Lillianne, ushers her to a makeshift curtain room where she can sit in privacy until the event begins.

“Are you still okay with doing the Q&A before the signing?”

“Of course!” Liv confirms. She hopes there aren’t any awkward silences with fans not having anything to ask her. Otherwise, this long anticipated night is going to end quickly.

In another few minutes, the crowd is allowed into the store, bring noise into the normally quiet space. Liv does a few breathing exercises to settle the nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach. As a writer, she knows this is part of the job, but she still worried that her fans won’t like her. She would never want someone to come away from an interaction with her and be disappointed. 

From behind the curtain, Liv watches as people being to filter into the seating area. She wishes she had someone in the crowd for her today, but this is the only stop on her tour where she won’t be able to meet someone after. She has five more stops after this. Savannah is meeting her in Atlanta, her parents in NYC, Luca in L.A., Mack in Chicago, and Luca’s little sister, Lena, in Phoenix.

But tonight in Seattle, it’s only supposed to be her. 

Yet, when she steps onto the stage, the first person her eyes land on is Kevin Fiala in the front row. Her steps almost falter, but then she waves and continues forward. He cheers excitedly for her appearance and Liv can’t help but grin wider. 

Kevin’s presence helps ground her in confidence as she beings the Q&A. The thoughtfulness of their questions has Liv buzzing with excitement. They wonder about the main characters, her writing style, how this process was different from her first book. There are also questions about what it is like to date a professional athlete, how her and Luca have found a balance with their successful careers and of course, what is in the future.

“I think our biggest focus right now is this book tour for me. Then it’s back to hockeyland before we get married this coming summer.”

“Will you change your name!?” Someone shouts out without the microphone.

“Yeah, I think Livia Fiala has a great ring to it.” She grins. “But I’m not sure if I will change my pen name yet. It’s an ongoing discussion.” 

With that, the Q&A is finished and Liv begins to head off to the signing table, but not before a quick, rushed hug to Kevin.

“You’re here?!” She greets him.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He smiles. Liv gives him a grateful smile, then heads back behind the table. The next interaction she has with him is cheeky and adorable.

He proudly displays her cover to her in both hands, then taps her name at the bottom.

“Fiala will look much better than this.”

“I’ll be sure to tell my fiancé that. He will appreciate the support.” She chuckles. Kevin slides the book across the table to her. Liv blushes at how sweet it is of him to be here to support her AND buy a book he could easily get for free. “Should I make this out to anyone?”

“Yes, my son, Luca. L-U-C-A.” He jokingly spells out as Liv chomps down on her bottom lip to stop from laughing. She concentrates on the letters of her fiancé’s name. “He’s a huge fan of your work.” Liv’s mind immediately goes to how appreciative of her work Luca was before he took her to the airport this morning. Her giggle escapes and she looks back at Kevin brightly.

“Anything in particular you want me to say to him?”

“Please write: Your dad was my favorite Swiss hockey player growing up.”

“No.” Liv laughs immediately. “My dad would be crushed! And probably my uncle too…”

“Okay, okay.” Kevin concedes. “Hm, what would you want it to say?” He asks, quieter, more reflective. Liv contemplates then tilts down to write: 

I can’t wait to get home to you. I love you! XOXO Livy.

Liv finishes off with a heart after her name, then gently closes the book. She hands it to Kevin.

“He will love that.” He murmurs. “

“I think so.”

“Can I take you to dinner to celebrate?”

“I would really love that. Thank you.” Liv smiles at her future father-in-law. “I think your son would probably love a picture.”

“He would. Otherwise he is gonna think his mom signed this for him.” Liv belly laughs. She stands up next to Kevin, pointing and looking surprised for their selfie as Kevin grins next to her.

“Nice to meet you Ms. Fiala- Uh Meier.” He stutters. “Sorry, Fiala just sounds so natural for you.” Then he saunters away, leaving Liv giggling in his wake. 

Liv continues signing and engaging with fans. From the corner of her eye, she can see people divert to Kevin for a picture or autograph. He tentatively comes over to interrupt and asks if it is okay with her before he signs anything.

“Yes! Go for it!” She assures, but is truly touched that he wants to be sure the attention stays on her. 

Although he engages in some hockey talk, Liv can hear Kevin bring the conversation away from him and back to her work time and time again. He enthusiastically talks about her new book and characters, even speaking about his favorite scene towards the end. Liv is touched that he read it, and also a little embarrassed considering there is a smutty hot tub scene in the middle chapters. Her neck flushes as she thinks about the real life scenario with his son that inspired that. 

It is after 8pm by the time all the fans have been greeted and books signed. Liv reunites with Kevin for dinner. She requests they go to a bar to find the Kings game, knowing it’s a nationally televised game. 

“Luca scored the first goal.” Kevin fills in for her as she squints at the score. The Kings are up on the Flyers 2-1.

“Nice!” Liv murmurs, then drops her eyes to the menu. They both order and watch the game in relative silence, outside a comment or so about the game. It’s comfortable and appreciated after Liv just did so much conversing. Her energy is zapped.

“Did Luca put you up to this?” Liv finally asks after they have finished dinner. 

“No. He doesn’t know I’m here.” Kevin tells her. “But we were talking to him earlier this week and he did mention you were nervous about being here alone.” He takes a sip of water. “Your our daughter, Livy. If any of our kids were worried about something like this, Sam and I would be there to support them. So here I am. If Sam wasn’t sick, she would be here too.” Liv knows that. She bites her lip for a moment, feeling overcome with the emotions of the whole day. 

“Thank you. I’m really lucky.” She murmurs. 

“You also look very tired.”

“Yeah.” She starts to laugh.

Kevin grabs the bill from the waiter and pays it before Liv can get her hands on it.

“No kid of mine pays for dinner either.” He insists when she balks. 

“A lot of rules to being your kid. Somehow more than Timo Meier…” Liv teases. Kevin laughs. 

“You are lucky Emma is your mom. The Hischier in her balances everything out.” Liv nods. This is true.

“Are you leaving early tomorrow?” Liv asks as they step back out onto the street.

“I am here until noon.” 

“Great, then I’ll take you to breakfast before the airport.”

“Sure, but you’re not paying.” Kevin points a scolding finger at her, lowering his eyebrows.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Liv affirms. 

As she snuggles into her hotel bed for the night, she sends a text to Luca seeing if he is home yet. His response is a FaceTime call.

“Hellooooo!” Luca cheers. “Oh! She’s in bed!” He grins. “Is this a sexy FaceTime?”

“No.” She says through a yawn. “I just called to say goodnight. I’m dead. And I have to meet your dad for breakfast tomorrow.”

“My dad?” He questions.

“Yeah, he showed up tonight. Bought a book and everything. Let me send you the picture.” She hears the ding and adores the instant smile when he looks it over on his screen.

“Wow, he’s so cool. I wanna be like him when I grow up.” Luca laughs as he takes something out of the microwave. “Pasta.” He shows her the bowl, then spoons a huge, steaming forkful into his mouth. “Hawt.” He huffs out. Liv can only shake her head. “That’s awesome that he came tho. I didn’t expect that. Was mom with him?”

“No, she is sick.” 

“Oh, damn. I bet that killed her not being able to come. Still cool that dad came alone though.” 

“Your dad called me his kid like all night. This one sweet older man came up to him and complimented him on raising me.” 

“I hope he corrected that.” Luca gives her a knowing look.

“He made sure to tell the man that he was the dad I always deserved but didn’t have growing up.” Luca barks out a laugh.

“You know he is going to text your dad that later.”

“Oh I’m sure he already has.” Liv chuckles. “But yeah, it was really nice. The night.. hearing that… having him show up for me. I feel really lucky to share your family with you.”

“My family loves you, baby. But nowhere near as much as I do.” He says softly. “I’m glad you had a good night. You deserve this success.” Liv lets his words soak into her skin. Before, she would have blushed and brushed that off, but Luca is right. She does deserve this. She’s worked and fought her ass off to get here. 

“Thank you. I miss you though. I wish there weren’t so many days before we see each other again.” She huffs. While Liv is going back to L.A. for the weekend, Luca will be heading out of town on a road trip. 

“I know, baby. I miss you too.” He murmurs, pushing his empty bowl across the counter. They stare at each other and as he always does, Luca knows her thoughts before she can fully think them. “We are okay.” He fills the silent worry she has that distance will stretch them too far again. “Two weeks is nothing for us.” He reminds her. She nods in assurance. 

He is right. Liv bites her bottom lip, then looks up at him with dewy eyes. Luca perks up from his slouch.

“This is a sexy FaceTime!!!!” He yells as he runs out of the kitchen, heading towards their bedroom. 

Liv smirks. 

He’s been so good to her, supportive and unwavering, he deserves a little bedtime show.

[21wanderer]

The parody

His name was Johnny Zest, born John Landgraab, but that wasn’t a name he used anymore. His family disowned him years ago after he skipped out of school. Johnny wasn’t academical, at all, he was the class clown, and boy did he make them laugh.

Johnny was funny, and he was good at it, so he wanted to work on that instead. He wanted to be a comedian. And that is what he eventually became, much to his family’s disapproval. Not anything big, but enough to make ends meet, and usually just at the local comedy club. One thing he was particularly good at was parodies. Given a little time, he could change his voice quite convincingly. People were amazed with his parodies. He nailed it, they told him.

After a show one evening, a guy approached him by the scene after his performance, as the next set was being set up.

“Great show, dude” he said with a big smile. Johnny thanked him for the compliment.

“Do you think you could make yourself sound like me?” the guy asked. “Well, I’ll need a little time to see how your face moves when you speak, and of course get to know your voice…” Johnny began to explain, but he was cut off before he could elaborate further.

“Heh, it would be great, if you could. I could put you on my channel, you'd get tons of attention." The guy kept talking, but Johnny was beginning to zone out.

Then it dawned on Johnny, who this guy was… He had to be some sort of influencer.

Johnny didn’t recognize him, the guy probably wouldn’t like the fact, that Johnny had no idea who he was. And this guy seemed to be the kind of person, who wanted to be recognized.

So Johnny just played along, after all, acting was what he was good at.

"Hey, let’s take a selfie together, I’ll post on my channel. Then maybe you can get me some free tickets for your next show. Then you can show your impression of me." It wasn't until the guy had taken his selfie and shown the uploaded result to him, that he actual figured out his name: Jackson Ready.

His meeting with Jackson had made him realize something, he wasn’t just good at parodies, he was great at it… Maybe it was time to put it to use…

He began studying Jackson’s posts intricately, trying to absorb as much knowledge about him as possible. Learning all about his hobbies, interests, and most importantly; his behaviour. He had to admit that Jackson was pretty generic, nothing really set him apart. He just filmed other people doing stuff, and then made it all about himself. Johnny couldn’t see any justification in this guy’s popularity, but he wasn’t going to complain, after all he was planning on using it.

He practiced extensively Jackson’s voice and behaviour. He also spent hours on makeup to make himself look just Jackson; they were quite similar, which made it easy, and Johnny wanted to be sure, that he nailed it. In the following weeks, he did everything to try and become just like Jackson, and he was getting more and more accustomed to it.

Thanks to a shady individual from Strangetown, Johnny had come into possession of the device, that was going to subdue Jackson and take him out of the picture. With that he was now all set to put his plan into motion. His last show on stage. The prelude to his greatest performance yet.

He sent a message to Jackson, of course with a free ticket attached, as well as asking him to meet him backstage after his performance.

Johnny managed to get through the show. Jackson was sitting front row… and Johnny had kept a good eye on him, this was going to be wild.

“Hey, dude, you were great tonight - freaking hilarious.”

“Thanks,” Johnny said, his pulse was rising, he knew his window of opportunity was small, and it will appear in just a moment. “So did you think you could make an impression of me?” “Yes, I have been practicing quite a bit.” Johnny said as he led Jackson to the backstage room. “Cool, we can do a couple of short recordings, then I can post in on my channel.” “Excellent, dude!” Johnny said imitating Jackson’s voice. Jackson was visibly surprised. “Woah! You sound just like me, but wait till I have started recording.”

“Oh okay…” Johnny said with his regular voice. Having hid a little tube device in his hand, Johnny anticipated the moment. Jackson was way to occupied looking at his phone screen, seemingly trying to get a good angle as well as light. But his inattention was just, what Johnny had waited for.

Johnny injected the tube into Jackson’s neck, Jackson yelped almost inaudibly, before he dropped his phone and collapsed on the floor.

Not wasting any time, Johnny quickly pulled off Jackson’s boots, socks, suit, watch, cap and underwear, stripping him completely naked. Jackson had a nice body, Johnny already knew that obviously, but seeing it in real life was something definitely more satisfying.

He went over to the mirror table pulling off his fake soul patch, without it his chin was as smoothly shaved as Jackson’s. He then grabbed the wig and quickly put it on. It looked pretty convincing, but Johnny was intending to dye his hair as soon as possible, so he wouldn’t have to rely on the wig. He put in the contact lenses, he knew Jackson used them too, so nobody would notice. Then he began to apply the makeup, he had prepared in advance. He knew exactly what to do to make the disguise flawless. He admired the result in the mirror, his Jackson face was spot on.

He began to undress and threw all his old clothes into his “prop box”, there were actually no props inside the box, the box itself was the prop, but as long as everybody thought it was filled with props Johnny could carry out his plan with little worry.

He stuffed all his old clothes into the box, then dragged it over to the unconscious Jackson.

He lifted him with surprisingly little effort, he wasn’t exactly sure, what that injection had done to him, but he quickly folded Jackson in half and placed him in box, then he shut it.

He then looked at the pile of clothes, that was all that remained of Jackson. He put on Jackson’s damp boxers, keeping his arousal in place. Then the t-shirt and socks, also damp, Johnny enjoyed how they smelled strongly of Jackson, he could get used to that scent.

Then he grabbed the weird suit Jackson had worn, Johnny wasn’t exactly sure, what kind of motor sport you’d wear it for… if any. But Jackson didn’t do motor sports, Johnny knew that much. Nevertheless he thoroughly enjoyed slipping into the suit, it was warm and slick on the inside, it creaked softly as it covered his body. His hand slid down the inside of Jackson's suit, he pulled a couple of times, his arousal was growing. He needed to remain focused, time was of the essence. He wiped his hand off on the leg of the suit. There would be plenty of time for that later. He had to complete his transformation. He slipped on Jackson’s boots, they fitted perfectly. He slipped on his watch and finally he placed the cap on his head… backwards, just like Jackson had worn it.

He now looked just like Jackson did as he entered the backroom just a few minutes ago, nobody would be able to tell the difference, he looked at himself in the mirror, it was breathtaking.

He placed the box on its wheels and quickly left unseen via the back door. He retrieved Jackson’s car key from the inner pocket of the suit. He unlocked Jackson’s car and stuffed the box in the trunk.

The perfect act, from the world’s greatest parodist.

[princess-leaorgana]

Summary: After the takedown of The Absolute, Zelphie finds her city in need of more help and her home destroyed. She won't stop helping, but who can help her?

Rolan x Tav (Zelphie; ~30y.o AFAB, Sorcerer, Tiefling, not really described physically on purpose <3)

M/F

Author's Note: I fucking love tielfings. Along with this being a budding romance/smut/fluff/word vomit fanfiction, it's also my case study in DnD 5e tieflings, how they act, what sets them apart from humans and devils and elves. That being said, I have a few artistic liberties in here as well where I couldn't find a straight answer, if you'll amuse me.

Warnings - Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3, alcohol consumption, mild hints of abuse, and OH DEAR is that my smut I left out? Oh, that's a lot of smut. I'm so embarrassed.

Chapter One Two Three

While dinner was being prepared, Rolan helped Zelphie with her room. She had done a lot of shopping for furnishings. New curtains for the balcony window, new blankets and pillows for her bed. She had gone clothes shopping as well and she pushed him away from snooping through her new dresses, stockings and tunics. They would share dinner with each other and Lajy on the balcony. Zelphie made a fun decision to place down the old furnishings of her room on the balcony to create a nice sitting space while they ate. It was cozy, very intimate. Sitting down on plush pillows and a thick blanket on a balcony of a wizard’s tower, drinking wine, eating and watching the sunset next to Rolan seemed divine to Zelphie. As they ate, they did what felt right for a budding couple, asking each other questions. They now knew each other’s favorite flower, color, wine and sweet treat.

‘So…if you can remember, as you told me you were young when you were left on your own, is Zelphie your real name?’ He asked her and she swirled her wine glass a little.

‘No, the matron of the orphanage named me. I was named after her parrot,’ she said and Rolan shook his head.

‘That is not true,’ he sighed, almost annoyed at her story.

‘I swear it is! At least that’s what she told me. She told me she named me after the parrot because I never learned how to shut up and be peaceful,’ she said and Rolan snorted.

‘Alright, that I believe,’ he said and she nudged him.

‘How about you?’

‘I’ve always been Rolan,’ he answered her and cleared his throat. It was incredibly common in tiefling culture for tieflings to change their names. Many didn’t even have last names. Tieflings did not have a great societal sense of a family unit. Their children ran wild and some parents who did try to raise their children were ripped from their children, just like Zelphie and Rolan’s had been. The state of the orphans she had met at the Emerald Grove was normal, unfortunately. At least this was true for the tieflings of the Sword Coast.

‘What was your mother’s name?’ She asked and Rolan smiled.

‘Dayryn,’ he answered softly and leaned against the tower’s wall. ‘She was the most wonderful person in the world. Just imagine, if you will, the person who is the reason for Lia’s bravery and passion and Cal’s loyalty and kindness,’ he began and Zelphie just smiled. What a wonderful thing to say. ‘And, to her credit, most of my brilliance,’ he added with a smirk and Zelphie laughed, but shook her head.

‘She might have fueled the flames, but she did not spark them, Rolan,’ she said and he looked down at her. ‘Trust me, with the rows I’ve had with wizards and warlocks all my life, you have something more special than books can teach and devils can promise,’ she said, and she had been hiding a little secret from him. Rolan was a powerful mage, there was no mistaking that. When she first met him, he was incredibly boisterous about his talents, which was very funny to hear as he had gone on and on in front of Mystra’s previous chosen, Gale. But when she heard of Rolan’s power in the Shadowfell Lands and saw it for herself about a month ago, she knew Rolan was special. He was very hard working and well read, she wouldn’t take that from him. But he was born with a talent.

‘I’m sure there was a compliment in there,’ he said and she nodded.

‘Yes, I mean, I don’t know if you were born this way Rolan, but your magic is….different. I didn’t go to Blackstaff or perfect my craft as an apprentice. I don’t know what the spells I yield are called. Sorcerers just…do. Like blinking or breathing. Because of that our magic that a wizard may learn is always a little unique. Very strong but also unique. Does that make sense?’ She asked and Rolan simply nodded. ‘I didn’t notice it at first…but when you cast a magic missile, it has the potential to stun. That’s not something a wizard is taught. You can cast mage armor on a person wearing armor. That is not something that is taught. Gale made that remark to me a while back, about you. He noticed it right away. Were you…did you always have a connection to the Weave, when you were very young?’ She asked and Rolan frowned and nodded slowly. ‘Then…maybe…you are just a very very well read sorcerer.’ Rolan was frozen and a little tense. Zelphie had only meant for her words to be complimentary, but it seemed to not have that effect. ‘Rolan?’

‘I’m not a sorcerer,’ he said and seemed to relax a little and sipped his wine. ‘I worked very, very hard for what I have-‘

‘Of course! Oh! Rolan, I don’t mean to say all of that to insult your education. Oh, no, no I’m so sorry. Obviously everything you have accomplished in your life is incredible. I mean, wizards usually get so far up the chain because they are privileged. Gale grew up a spoiled only child in Waterdeep. Lorroakan had his family name to raise him to the top, you, you did all of this yourself.’ She rambled quickly and Rolan sighed. ‘And bully for me, I think sorcerers are impressive people.’ She said and tilted her head. Rolan’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

‘Well, of course…I just-‘ Zelphie giggled and shook her head. 

‘Hush you,’ she said and leaned up for a kiss. He was very happy to oblige her. Happy to kiss her and very happy to not be in trouble for insulting her. She was just as happy. She still couldn’t believe herself. Kissing him, enjoying his company as they lounged on her new beautiful balcony. She sighed happily against his lips and she felt his arm slowly coil around her waist, pulling her closer to him. ‘Stubborn wizard,’ she muttered against his lips and he growled a little laugh. Another almost fight, and she dissolved it with grace, as she always did. This wasn’t very normal for him but he was very happy about it. He was stubborn, he knew he was stubborn. He was proud of being stubborn. His stubbornness got him where he was right now. With a little help, of course. Help from the woman who was kissing him on a balcony as the sunset on the sea in front of them.

His arm pulled her tighter, the ease in which he was able to move her made her feel good. She liked that neediness and strength. He pulled her so close she felt it only natural to get as close to him as she could. With care and patience, she crawled into Rolan’s lap. She was timid in case he would object, but no protests came from him. Just a tighter grip on her waist. Her dress lifted to her thighs and Rolan touched her thigh and laughed. She barely pulled away from him, just enough to speak.

‘What’s so funny?’ She whispered and he nipped at her bottom lip.

‘Fucking stockings,’ he muttered a pinched the soft fabric that created a barrier between her thigh and his hand. Her heart melted, hearing his voice so low and soft. Almost demanding. She could have passed out.

‘They are a nuisance, aren’t they?’ She asked and lowered her face, her lips finding the delicate skin of his neck. He shivered and sighed at her touch. ‘Good thing they don’t go all the way up,’ she muttered. Rolan was frozen for a second, and then moved his hand up her thigh slowly, until his fingertips could feel her delicate skin. She shivered and lifted her head to look at him.

‘I would…like to be a gentleman,’ he whispered, his hand moving a little more and his thumb rubbing soft circles on her inner thigh. She gasped at his new touch, that look on his face, she was lust drunk, completely different from the drunk she was earlier.

‘I’ll give you permission if that will help,’ she whispered back and his hand inched closer.

‘Whatever my lady requests,’ he whispered back, daring her, daring her to ask him.

‘Touch me Rolan,’ she said and he leaned back down to kiss her. As he did, she felt his thumb gently stroke her bare slit and she moaned happily against him.

‘Oh, maybe you aren’t my lady. Stockings but…no underwear? Tut tut, my dear,’ he said playfully and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

‘I promise I’ll behave next time, Master Rolan,’ she muttered and his fingers parted her lips. She moaned once more and rolled her hips into his hand.

‘Oooh, now, don’t be so greedy, I’ll give you what you need,’ he muttered into her ear and she whined, only grinding her hips harder. ‘Oh, my little hero is so desperate, isn’t she?’ He chuckled. ‘Up with you, love,’ he said and his hand moved from her groin to her hip, patting her backside a little. With a little whine, Zelphie stood up and was followed quickly by Rolan. A little too naturally, Rolan took her hand and walked her back inside. ‘Now, you be good for me and sit on the bed,’ he told her and she eagerly obeyed. For some reason, she didn’t picture him to be so commanding in the bedroom, but his confidence scaled his whole personality. Very fortunate for her, she did like it. She’d never been led before, it felt very nice. She sat on the bed, her tail beating the mattress with excitement. Rolan watched it for a moment and walked over to her. ‘My happy little sorceress, are you happy?’ He asked, getting close enough that Zelphie spread her legs easily. He tipped her chin gently and she nodded.

‘Happy is a very poor word, but yes, I am happy,’ she said and he chuckled.

‘What’s a better word?’ He asked her and she looked up at the ceiling.

‘Hmmmm….delighted, excited, enraptured, curious, a little nervous,’ she said with a giggle and Rolan’s smile just kept growing. He was terribly handsome. ‘Incredibly aroused,’ she said, running her hand down his robes. They were made of a very heavy velvet. He was a showman. Down his chest and torso her hands went before they landed to his middle, where she felt his erection.

‘You feel what you do to me?’ He asked her and she nodded, rubbing the area and he sighed out. ‘Oh, very good,’ he told her and slowly guided her face to look to the side. She easily moved her head, feeling his eyes on her, baring into her. His fingers left her chin and his nails pulled the fabric of her collar and he sighed, not gaining the access he wanted. ‘This needs to go,’ he told her and she stopped rubbing him. She placed her hands in the delicate buttons on her shoulder, but he took over. She looked back up at him, watching him fuss easily over her collar.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ she said softly, she was so lightheaded from lust and love she barely registered that her mouth opened. His yellow eyes moved from her shoulder to her face and he stopped moving for a moment, then returned back to his work.

‘You’re drunk again,’ he said and she shook her head.

‘Drunk, maybe, but not like I was earlier. This has nothing to do with alcohol. You are the potion that has my brain in a chokehold,’ she told him and reached up to his face, cupping his cheek. He was just in control. He had lost it. He had gotten her collar loose and he looked back at her. ‘Everything you do just…sets my heart on fire, Rolan,’ she told him and he searched her face. ‘You are devastatingly beautiful.’

‘Do you really think that?’ He asked her softly and she nodded.

‘Yes, I think that because you are. Your strong jaw, those beautiful eyes, I love your nose,’ she said and his brows furrowed and she giggled. ‘I do, it’s so sharp and I love the little bump,’ she said and his nose wrinkled. She laughed again and shook her head. ‘Yes, that nose,’ she confirmed and he laughed.

‘I’m sorry, but getting accolades from you is…hard to believe,’ he told her and she tilted her head. She let go of his face and slipped the rest of her dress off, sitting almost completely naked in front of him. He swallowed hard when he looked at her properly. There she was. He would have loved to control himself and be a gentleman, but his eyes traveled down her neck to her collarbone, she had freckles on her shoulders. Her breasts were beautiful and he felt his hands reaching out to touch them. Her chest heaved with a heavy breath and he glanced back at her face to make sure this was alright. She was just looking back at him. He had been in control, but now he seemed timid.

‘I’m all yours, it’s alright,’ she told him softly and she saw him swallow hard. He took in a deep breath and breathed out.

‘Lie back on the mattress,’ he requested, his voice cracking a little. She smiled and scooted up on the bed and began to remove her long stockings. ‘Mmmmm, leave those on, please,’ he told her and she giggled. As she climbed up on the bed, her tail curled to an S-shape and Rolan quickly began to undress. She sat down and watched him closely. She chewed on her lip as his robes fell around him. She ogled him a little less subtly than he had just done to her. Her grip on her own lip hardened as she took in his body. He really was beautiful. He had such a strong, lean frame. The ridges on his chest were beautiful and symmetrical. He caught her and smiled, confident that look on her face wasn’t faked. ‘I told you to lie down,’ he told her and she giggled and obeyed, lying on her back. Quickly, Rolan climbed into the bed, crawling over her. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his neck. His teeth nipped at her bottom lip and she sighed happily. Her tail curled around his leg and he chuckled. ‘Greedy, greedy little thing,’ he whispered and his lips moved to her jaw, trailing kissing down to her neck. He leaned up a little and moved her face to the side once more and let out a very satisfied breath.

‘What are you looking at?’ She asked and he leaned down to kiss her neck.

‘Your lovely neck,’ he whispered and his hand traveled down the side of her body, giving her skin bumps and a shiver. She gasped at the light touch of his nails on her skin. Damn anyone who assumed a wizard wasn’t good with their hands. With ease and allowed access from Zelphie, Rolan’s hand returned to her middle as his kisses met her breasts. ‘Mmmmm…so ready for me already, my dear, very good girl,’ he said, feeling her warmth and wetness. She gasped in delight, his fingers teasing her, his lips on her nipple.

‘Oh!’ She squealed and gasped, which only egged Rolan on.

‘Shhhh…they’ll hear you down in the city,’ he whispered playfully.

‘Let them,’ she moaned. Her hips twitched as his fingers found her sensitive little nub.

‘Oh, lucky me, you’ll have to indulge me. I’m a bit pent up…so I’ll need some time to play. I want you to unravel, I want you delirious, begging,’ he told her, sitting up. ‘And when you have completely lost your senses, I’ll take what I’ve worked for and fuck you through this bed,’ he said, kneeling in between her legs, his thumb still rubbing her clit in a steady motion. She leaned up on her elbows and he leaned down, kissing her thighs, biting their sensitive skin. She gasped and yelped a little at the feeling of his teeth breaking her skin. He made eye contact with her and she let out another loud moan. He removed his teeth from her skin and kissed her gently in the same spot. His kisses again traveled until she felt him in her middle. His tongue ran up to his thumb and she sighed.

‘Oh…oh Rolan…t-that-‘ she couldn’t finish. His thumb rubbed her clit and his tongue entered her, attempting to lick her clean. Her head hung back in ecstasy. He hummed happily against her and she continued to moan. He felt wonderful, loving, needy, demanding. Warmth ran through her body and she relaxed, lying back on the bed, her left hand finding the top of his head and grabbed at his hair. ‘That feels so good, you’re so good,’ she moaned and he grinned, but continued eating her out, not changing anything about his movements. If they were working there was no reason to change. He wanted to feel her melt on him. Her moans and cries and shakes were killing him. He was doing everything he could not to sit up and fuck her properly. But he knew, he knew he would spend himself quickly. It had been a long time for him. Their first time must be perfect. Or at least memorable. He felt powerful watching his lovely sorceress unwind. And gods she tasted delicious.

He got what he wanted, very quickly. Her ragged breaths slowly became a little louder and more deep and he felt her hips roll up. Her hands left his hair and she held his horns. 

‘That’s my girl, that’s my little love, cum for me,’ he said and her grip on his horns tightened and her thighs tightened around his head.

‘Oh! Oh fuck! Yes!’ She cried and Rolan felt her muscles contracting. He lapped up as much of her as he could handle and sat up. She let her grip on him go and he laughed proudly, wiping his face. He watched her writhe for a moment longer and she looked up at him. Her body was perfect for him. The spines down her collarbone to her breasts were delicate. He leaned over and kissed her mouth and she moaned, kissing him back.

‘Gorgeous,’ he whispered and without moving his face from hers, he lifted her hips back up and she gasped when she felt his erection right up against her. ‘Are you alright?’ He asked her and she nodded. ‘Speak, my love,’ he whispered and she swallowed hard. What had he done to her?

‘I’m alright, Rolan, I need you,’ she said and rubbed herself against him. ‘Please,’ she whispered and Rolan pushed inside of her slowly, making her whimper. He groaned loudly and stopped moving.

‘Gods you feel wonderful,’ he groaned and slowly began to thrust in and out of her. Each thrust was slow but still made Zelphie call out a little sound with each one. He felt wonderful. He leaned his forehead to hers, bending her a little, and her moans got louder. ‘Is it alright?’ He asked and she opened her red eyes to look into his yellow ones. ‘Am I alright?’ He asked her and she nodded, completely unable to speak. Just little cries and moans, so she leaned up to kiss him, her hands on his face. He had one hand holding himself up, on the bed beside her, the other hand had a very firm grip on her hip. She felt his nails clawing a little anytime he moved back in her. The sensation was nice, possession and neediness. She trusted Rolan not to really hurt her. It made her feel good to be needed so desperately by him. She felt beautiful, more than she felt if he were to simply call her that.

‘Oh gods,’ she cried when he made a simple change in pace. Her hands moved to his hair, tangling her fingers in his once neat locks. His thrusting became eager, and she gave back as she could, arching her back for him. ‘I love you,’ she muttered and his lips caught hers. She heard him whimper, feeling the vibrations of his lips against hers.

‘I-I can’t-‘ he stammered and she felt his whole body on her. His face was in her neck, shuddering and with two hard thrusts he shook and sighed out, trying to catch his breath. She still held him close. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ he whispered and she caught his lips again. Her kiss was tender.

‘Don’t apologize, that was magnificent, you are wonderful,’ she whispered to him and he kissed her once more.

‘You are…you are perfection, the way you feel, those sounds you sing so sweetly, I couldn’t help it,’ he continued and she laughed.

‘There is no higher compliment,’ she told him, her fingers stroking his hair back, which had completely fallen from its neat little knot. He sighed and rolled off of her, she gave out a little wince when she felt him leave her completely. He didn’t look as happy as she felt. ‘Rolan….are you alright?’ She asked and rolled onto her side. She placed a hand on his chest and he sighed, taking her hand.

‘I thought I had more in me…but…well, when you said you loved me I just…’ he sighed and closed his eyes. She laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

‘Please, Rolan, I mean it, I feel wonderful. And you are all to blame, please tell me you feel the same,’ she said and he opened his eyes to look at her.

‘Zelphie, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like that. I’m just afraid you think me….’ He didn’t finish and she smirked.

‘Well, if you’re going to be stubborn about it,’ she said and he grunted, which made her laugh. ‘You make it up to me in the morning, hm?’ She asked him and littered the side of his face with kisses. ‘But until then, enjoy the afterglow, because I’m going to,’ she told him and he rolled over to face her.

‘I consider myself incredibly lucky,’ he told her. ‘Being here with you, you know…the party all those months ago, the light show? It was to impress you,’ he said and she laughed. He sighed heavily. ‘I mean it,’ he told her and she shook her head, still laughing.

‘I believe you, I’m laughing because I was enamored with you at that party. And neither of us were brave enough to admit it,’ she said and he finally smiled.

‘It was probably for the best, romance back then was probably not the best of plans,’ he said and placed his hand on her cheek.

‘I won’t regret anything, I’m very happy right now,’ she told him and she felt his tail curling around her leg. ‘Stay with me tonight,’ she whispered and he grinned.

‘Of course but uhm…if we could migrate…I uhm…I’d like to be in my own room, if that is alright. I would have brought us there in the first place had I assumed we would…’ he said and she smiled.

‘Whatever would make you comfortable. I’m very adaptable,’ she told him and he nodded.

‘Come then, let us not get too comfortable here,’ he said and grunted as he sat up. She sat up with him and when she climbed off the bed and walked to her wardrobe, finding a nightdress and a robe to wear for the quick journey across the hallway. Once she removed her stockings, she pulled her nightdress over her head. She felt the fabric fall from her head to around her body. It felt wonderful. Her skin was so sensitive. Before she could pull on her robe, Rolan walked up behind her. She hummed happily as she felt his hands on her hips. ‘Now you are devastating…’ he whispered and kissed her neck. She shivered at his touch and the feel of his lips and breath on her neck. She leaned back in him, his hands ran up her sides, grabbing at her breasts, just to feel them.

‘You better not start anything you cannot finish,’ she told him playfully. He chuckled against her skin, meaning only to play, to touch, he was too tempted by her. He nipped at her skin and little and she giggled. ‘You have a biting fixation, don’t you?’ She asked and he laughed. She could still feel the small sting of his little love bite on her thigh.

‘I suppose I do, or maybe it’s just that I’ve had a taste of my favorite treat,’ he purred into her neck and she continued to giggle. The rush of joy, lust and the feeling of his lips were driving her mad. His hands were terribly needy, but gentle. His thumbs stroked her nipples through her gown. She sighed softly. ‘Mmmmm, maybe I will be able to pay you back sooner than morning,’ he muttered and gave her neck one last little bite and walked away from her. She almost fell over. Instead, as he dressed himself, she pulled on her night robe and called for the little kitten.

‘Come now Lajy,’ she said and made a little sound from her lips to coax the kitten from the balcony. He came running and Zelphie shut the balcony door, a little embarrassed that it had been left open. ‘Lucky me, it seems I’m getting everything I want today,’ she hummed happily and Rolan laughed as he lazily redid the buttons of his robes. It wouldn’t be staying on much longer.

‘Tell me then that you wish for at least one more glass of wine, a hot bath and then a deep deep slumber?’ He asked her and she grinned.

‘You read my mind, I’m terribly lucky,’ she said and he held out his hand for her. She smiled and picked her little kitten up and took Rolan’s hand. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. ‘Even luckier now,’ she said and he gave her quite the proud smirk. He radiated joy and pride and that made her even happier. The couple left Zelphie’s room and made it to Rolan’s. She hadn’t been to the master bedroom before, why would she have? It was incredibly clear that Rolan had fully renovated this room. Not a glimmer of Lorroakan was left. The room was warm, a fireplace roaring a blue flame. It was bright but had no heat. The rest of the room was dark, but incredibly illuminated. Along with the blue flame, the ceiling had an illusion cast on it, a brightly lit night sky. Zelphie placed the kitten on the floor, but did not take her eyes off of the effect.

‘It’s not too jarring, is it?’ Rolan asked and she smiled at him and shook her head.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she said softly and he smiled.

‘I hope you can sleep through it, I…I need it, to sleep,’ he said and Zelphie tilted her head.

‘Afraid of the dark?’ She asked and he nodded.

‘Yes,’ he said, very simply. ‘Well, uneasy to sleep in the dark, it was never dark where I lived,’ he said and Zelphie’s mouth opened a little, remembering exactly where Rolan was from. Elturel. Elturel, a capital city that had descended to Avernus, suspended over the River Styx, had been a daylight city. She knew very little about it, but the city was under the constant glow of a light source referred to as The Companion.

‘That must have been so strange…never seeing night,’ she said and he shrugged.

‘It was all we knew until The Descent,’ he told her and she nodded. ‘So, I sleep with a little light on,’ he said and she looked back up and smiled.

‘Was The Companion this bright, or brighter?’ She asked and he grinned, happy for her curiosity.

‘Bright as the sun, but none of the heat. It would be as bright as a spring day while it was snowing,’ he said and she laughed a little. That was joyful. She didn’t think she could deal with that much light, but it was better than the reverse. ‘But, after The Descent, we’ve had to make due with evolving our sleeping schedules. Once on the Sword Coast, after all tieflings were expelled from Elturel, I used to sleep during the day, although that proved to be very dangerous. Everyone else we traveled with seemed to be able to cope with the night sky, but…I never really could. So, this is my compromise. I hope it does not disturb you,’ he said and she looked back at him.

‘I don’t see how it could. It’s so beautiful, you amaze me with how talented you are,’ she said and his cheeks burnt up. ‘The other day you were in such awe of my concentration on a little mage hand, but you’ve had this just going on and on? Don’t you ever be impressed with me again,’ she said and he laughed.

‘Well, that is…very nice to hear,’ he said and got himself undressed.

Rolan ran the couple a bath, which Zelphie was very excited about. As lovely as their recent activity had been, she hated going to bed less than clean. The past tenday had proven to her that she still felt that way, even after her less luxurious adventures. Rolan had a large bedroom, it had an adjoining washroom, a wine rack, a desk and seating area, Zelphie could have lived in just this one room her whole life and have been happy. He also had a balcony that faced the west, looking to the mountains and sea. She looked down at fuzzy little Eliminster and wondered what he thought of the giant room. He was snoozing on a lounge chair. Zelphie poured two glasses of wine and met him in the washroom.

‘Now this is terribly luxurious, wine in a bath,’ she said, handing Rolan both glasses so that she could undress and set into the water. Boiling hot, exactly as she liked it. As she sat in the large tub, Rolan handed her her glass and he got in carefully, able to balance his own glass, sitting across from her.

‘It is the very first thing I did after calling Cal and Lia to the tower,’ he said, smiling. ‘That might have been the strangest day of my life, back at home, my family home, I was desperate to work under a man like Lorroakan. I would never have dreamed this is the situation I would find myself in. I had a lot of work to do, but that night, I needed to just…soak it all in, so to speak,’ he explained and she nodded.

‘For what it’s worth Rolan, I’m still coming to terms with the events that happened this year. When everything was over, I thought it was so strange that I would be going home, living a normal life, and going back to work. It’s what I wanted, but it felt almost wrong,’ she explained to him and took a sip of wine. He laughed lightly and was clearly in thought from what she said. 

‘Back to work? What on Toril did you used to do for work?’ He asked her and she frowned.

‘I worked with a jeweler in the upper city,’ she said and took another quick sip of wine. ‘I was…I helped set stones in gold and silver and bronze,’ she explained and Rolan frowned. Zelphie didn’t really want to discuss her past work. She was a setter for a jeweler in the upper city, and she did set precious gems, but that was not all she did for her employer’s clients. Rolan took a moment, but asked against his better judgment.

‘What has you so upset about that?’ He asked. She took a deep sigh into her wine.

‘I don’t think you want to know, Rolan. I don’t…I don’t have good stories about my past employment. Either I lie to you, or you will be upset and I don’t wish to lie to you or sour the mood,’ she told him and his frown only deepened.

‘Did your last employer treat you like my last employer?’ He asked her softly and she shrugged.

‘She never touched me…but…I was a bit of a…’ she huffed and looked at him. ‘Until the refugees from Elturel came to Baldur’s Gate, tieflings were very rare in the city and some patriars found me…exotic,’ she began and Rolan’s face turned to a scowl, full of disgust. She glanced at him and looked away. She didn’t like that look on him. She swore she felt the water get hotter. ‘I shouldn’t have told you,’ she said softly and Rolan looked up and away from her.

‘Where was this?’ He asked, a cracking in his voice.

‘Like I said, it was in the Upper City, so it’s probably rubble. I think this tower is the only thing standing,’ she explained quickly. ‘Rolan, please, I shouldn’t have said anything,’ she told him and leaned forward. She placed her goblet on the side of the bath and climbed into his lap. ‘Please, don’t be upset,’ she told him softly, but he was terribly tense. She wrapped one arm around his neck and placed her free hand on his face. ‘Please,’ she begged and he looked up at her.

‘Tell me who she is,’ he asked her as calmly as he could. Zelphie chewed on her bottom lip. She was very angry with herself for upsetting him. He didn’t need to know about her past. Not that. It didn’t matter, that was well over. No one could touch her again, she was safe. ‘I’ll drop it if you tell me,’ he told her and she frowned but sighed, relenting.

‘It was in The Wide, called Love’s Secret. It was owned by a woman named Mayleen Starheart. Although, I would place a bet that was not her real name,’ she said and Rolan sighed and nodded. He sipped his wine and placed his goblet down. He would keep his promise to her for now. His arms wrapped around her and she leaned down to kiss him. She felt him relax and she leaned back up. ‘You know, I never pictured your hair would be this long,’ she said and her finger twisted around a lock behind his neck. He smiled at her.

‘If I want to keep it long, I must keep it neat,’ he told her and she nodded.

‘Could I wash it for you?’ Rolan’s eyes widened at her question and he nodded. She climbed off of his lap and he reached behind him for his soap. She took it as he dunked his head back, soaking his hair. ‘Make yourself comfortable,’ she said, sitting up high and he turned himself around, laying back, his back against her chest.

‘Is that alright?’ He asked her and she hummed. He felt like a weighted blanket on her.

‘Wonderful,’ she told him and began to rub the soap into his scalp just at his hairline, along the crowns of his horns. ‘You Lia and Cal all have fully black horns,’ she mused and he hummed. ‘I’m terribly jealous.’

‘Your horns are beautiful,’ he told her quickly and she laughed. ‘I meant it, they are very large, but they are so…graceful. They only enhance your beauty, my darling,’ he told her and she smiled, continuing her work in his hair.

‘Thank you, Master Rolan,’ she said with a smirk. He laughed, she felt the vibrations of his body against her chest.

‘We are naked, newly coupled, your fingers are in my hair which all on its own is stirring something in me, and you keep calling me Master Rolan,’ he said happily. ‘You need to stop that,’ he told her and she smiled proudly.

‘I told you earlier, I’m all yours, I think that’s a very fitting title for me to call you,’ she said and Rolan quickly submerged into the water again. After a moment under the water, Zelphie was laughing loudly. Now he was being silly. He re-emerged and quickly ran his hands through his hair to get the water out, and he got right out of the bath. ‘Uh-oh,’ she said, still laughing a bit as Rolan turned around, grabbing a towel to dry himself off.

‘Uh-oh is correct, and you’ll be in much more trouble if you don’t get that heavenly body out of that bath and into my bed,’ he told her and Zelphie almost froze. She did as she was told and got out of the bath. She grabbed herself a towel and dried herself off, glad her hair hadn’t gotten wet. Rolan gave her about ten seconds and took her hand. ‘Come come,’ he said and she smiled up at him. She might have just created a monster. He led her to his large bed, a large white blanket with dark purple satin sheets underneath. It was incredibly plush. ‘Lie back,’ he told her gently and once her head reached the pillow, he climbed on top of her. ‘You look very, very good in my bed,’ he told her and that possessive tail of hers wrapped around his leg again. He leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Her hips rolled up into him, coaxing his erection and he sighed happily. He then laughed. He laughed hard and she looked at him with wide eyes.

‘What?’ She asked, a smile growing on her face. Oh, he was incredibly silly. She loved it, she loved seeing him so happy, and she loved even more to be the center of his joy. He shook his head and kissed the side of her mouth. 

‘I feel spoiled,’ he told her and lifted his head to look at her again. ‘You, you of all people in this world are in my bed. And you want me, I’m just having a hard time processing it all,’ he said and she grinned up at him.

‘I hate to boost your ego even further, but you need to know how much I am thinking the same. I really didn’t think you would ever want me, like this,’ she said and placed her hands on his face. ‘Can I show you how much I want you?’ She asked and let her tail loosen from his leg. He nodded slowly. ‘Lie on your back,’ she whispered and he did just that. Zelphie smiled and climbed over him, but stayed by his legs. She knelt between his legs and bent over, running her tongue against his erection and he sighed out with a shake in his voice.

‘Aahhh…’ he whimpered and Zelphie smiled, keeping close attention to the head of his cock, lapping at it like a cat to water. ‘Oh…you.I’m supposed to be..p-paying you back,’ he whimpered and she giggled.

‘You are,’ she whispered. He hissed and she felt him twitch. That was the truth. She wanted to pamper him. She had been earlier, washing his hair, but he needed attention elsewhere and she would give it to him. It turned her on, watching her partner be satisfied with just her mouth. She rocked her hips happily and once he was slick with her spit, she took as much as she could of him in her mouth. Rolan moaned and she felt his tail rise up between her legs, asking for them to part. She parted her knees and his tail rubbed up against her and she moaned against him.

‘Oh what a pretty thing you are…’ he muttered and she began to bob her head up and down. As she did, she naturally rubbed herself against his tail, which he kept pressing against her harder and harder. He was only encouraging her. She felt his tail move against her and she grinned.

‘Looking for something?’ She asked him playfully and went right back to her work. He made eye contact with her for a moment and she watched him. She had never seen him like that, completely enraptured, nervous, a little confused. He sighed out happily and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

‘I want to fuck you, so you’re going to need to cum for me,’ he told her softly and she wiggled her hips.

‘It makes you feel good when I cum, doesn’t it?’ She asked, using her hand to work his cock as she spoke to him. He nodded and swallowed hard. ‘You make me feel so good, Rolan,’ she said and put his cock back in her mouth. His sounds and whimpers as she sucked him, his cock growing harder in her mouth was sending her on edge. She couldn’t help it. She felt the warmth rise up inside of her and she arched her back, slowing down. Rolan opened his eyes to watch her. His tail rubbed her harder and a little faster to make up for her frozen form.

‘Yes, yes, oh you beautiful thing, yes, cum for me, cum like I asked, be a good girl,’ he whispered a spasm shot through her body as she writhed, riding her orgasm out on his tail. ‘That’s my girl, yes, enjoy yourself on me, use me,’ he coaxed her through her orgasm, leaving her legs shaking. She crawled up and kissed him hard, rolling her hips in his. He placed one hand on her backside and the other positioned himself so she could feel him at her entrance which was begging. ‘Do you want it?’ He asked her through kisses and she moaned. ‘Say it,’ he commanded her lightly and she nodded.

‘I want it, I want you,’ she muttered and he lifted his hips and she groaned as he entered her. He held her hips still so she would stay exactly where she was. In and out, so slow, so careful. With every movement of his hips she cried out. Her body ached. He watched her carefully and she sat upright. She then leaned back, her hands on his thighs behind her and bounced. He cursed under his breath and moved his right hand to her middle. His thumb rubbed her clit and she called out, feeling that rush of warmth again. She felt like she had no control over herself, pure instinct had taken over. She bounced and rocked her hips on him like a mad woman, crying out his name.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ Rolan muttered. She moaned again, looking down at her.

‘Oh Rolan,’ she moaned and he leaned up on his elbow, still rubbing her clit.

‘Mmmm…take what you want, take what you want, I want to feel you cum with me inside you, be selfish,’ he whispered and that was it. She lost the ability to breath and her hips curled around, as her second orgasm rang through her. Rolan gasped and moaned and she felt him shiver under her, twitching and then his hips pressing into her more. That was magical.

‘I love you,’ she whispered and bent down to kiss him. A shiver ran up her spine and she giggled. Rolan pulled her down to lay on top of him, his arms wrapped around her.

‘I love you too,’ he whispered and kissed his lady. She giggled, a feel of pure joy and release washing over her, delusional joy. She felt happy, she felt silly, she felt stupid, she felt playful and warm. The couple stayed like that, not getting enough of the other, just kissing and grabbing in the afterglow. Their tails intertwined and fought over dominance. Zelphie kissed down his face, giggling happily and he laughed at her. ‘Oh don’t tell me you have energy left,’ he said and looked down at her with heavily lidded eyes. Her eyes were bright.

‘Is it annoying?’ She asked him, wiggling a little. He shook his head, still smiling and closed his eyes.

‘Not in the least, I just hope you know this old man is physically spent,’ he said and sighed out.

‘What old man?’ She asked and he just laughed. She crawled off of him happily and sat next to his head, and her fingers combed through his wet hair happily. He had a very low and quiet purr, but it was there and it made her happy. He scooted to his side and pulled on her arm.

‘Come down here and lay with me, I want to hold you,’ he begged and she did as he asked. Though first, Rolan kicked down the covers to situate themselves on the sheets. Once under them, Rolan pulled Zelphie in closed, their noses nuzzling and her horns clinked against his. ‘Comfortable?’ He asked her softly and she nodded, her tail and legs wrapping around his. If she could find a way to get closer to him she would. ‘Good,’ he said and leaned his face up to kiss her forehead. ‘I meant what I said, Zelphie, I do love you. That wasn’t wine or lust talking. Your courage, your kindness, your patience, your warmth, your beauty…I…I’d have to be a damned fool not to consider myself the luckiest person in Faerun by having you in my arms, in my bed. And I will take advantage of that, I will cherish you, I will make sure I am worthy of your love in return,’ he spoke and Zelphie’s mind buzzed. She didn’t know what to say. All of the accolades coming from him meant everything to her. So that’s what she would tell him.

‘That…that means quite a lot coming from you, Rolan. Thank you, and know that I will also cherish you, and boost that goddamned confidence of yours, because everything you say you see in me I see in you,’ she said and he looked down. ‘I see a trustworthy, devoted, brave, hard-working, intelligent and beautiful man when I look at you. I’d give anything to have you know that about yourself,’ she continued and he frowned a little. ‘You don’t need to fight for me. Just…promise me you’ll continue being this man that I love, hm?’ She asked and he smiled again and nodded.

‘I promise,’ he told her and she kissed him tenderly. ‘Goodnight, Zelphie,’ he whispered and closed his eyes.

‘Sweet dreams, Rolan.’

[the0retically]

The Suckening #12: The Twilight Zone:

Thoughts and quotes below, a wild first half of the finale

- I’ve put this off for too long it’s time to do this

- Oh hi le frog

- God Condi and bizly having to switch accents is so funny it sounds SO WRONG CONDI CANT DO IT AND BIZLY IS JUST DOING HIS OWN VOICE

- Love that the plan hinges on Taylor launter??

- Shilo being so adamant about not punching Emizel but then just doing it, I love them

- But oh god shilo has to talk to Theo because he looks like emizel

- Love music coming up when they’re going over the plan and then immediately cutting out when Arthur said demons instead of dangs

- “I know you hit it off with Viv” “my homegirl yeah” ARTHUR??

- “Who is it?” “It’s me” “…alpha” I cannot believe this

- ARE YOU SERIOUS MRS TAYLOR LAUNTER HAS A HELICOPTER????? CHARLIES DEFEATED SIGH WAS SO FUNNY

- SHARKBOY GAUNTLET????? WHAT IS HAPPENING

- “Good boy” “…..” “HA I WAS GONNA SAY GOOD MAN”

- I shouldn’t be sad that emizel can’t actually talk to Theo

- Also it scares me every time charlie asks what phone they’re using

- “I already told him about the plan to change faces” “then WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THIS?” “I don’t know I forgot”

- “This is such a classic Theo move I love you” :((((((

- Awwww them all being so excited emizel is the phantom flipper is so fun

- Bizly losing his mind over the dangs new plan is so funny

- Forgot how Edwards voice sounded god

- THEY HAVE TO LEAVE THE ROOM? Oh god

- “You know the plan, to be yourself” oh god

- Emizel you’re doing so bad this is awful

- 6 different Edwards??

- Why have they heard about shilo?

- Oh god this whole scene is like playing in my head I can see it so clearly

- Chester Chesser is such a cool name

- Paul with the unseen one freaky little dude I like him

- Ok yeah I love Paul he’s so fun

- You know who I miss though? Grefgore :( where is my boy

- Chet is insane??? Oh my god. The energy here is unmatched. Love Charlie and Condi just immediately going into laughter

- God the audio design is incredible in this campaign, the overlapping voices for Charlie is so good I love it

- “People think I’m weak do you think I’m weak?” “…you say that out loud in front of everyone?” OH GOD

- Paul and Chet being Emizel’s buds is so on brand I love it

- RENWICK!!!!!!!! HES COMMENTING!!!

- Oh it’s masquerade breakers that are competing

- …….and deacon rounded them up

- Interact with the show???

- “If there’s any invisible around” SO SMART ARTHUR

- Paul?? Oh they’re like the cameras. That’s really cool

- It’s fortnite, it’s fucking fortnite. Ok Charlie ok

- “I’d like to start-“ “ok shilo” “crying”

- Arthur is so cool I love him

- Oh there are humans—oh god it’s the dangs yikes that’s horrible

- “But I am walking the same amount of time!” “No” “….yuh-huh!”

- Charlie’s manic laughter was so fun who does shilo see?

- FORTNITE BUILDER!

- Love that they just keep saying minecraft and Charlie is like nah it’s fortnite building

- “Fortnite vampire” thanks Charlie

- OH GOD BIZLY IS LOSING IT

- ARTHUR IS POPPING OFF LETS GOOO

- “Now you’ve met the real devil” HOLY SHIT???? ARTHUR??

- OH!!! THIS IS WHERE THE WINGS COME IN THIS IS SO COOL LETS GO ARTHUR

- A wolf you say? Oh god the squirrel

- 3 roll off in a row?? That’s epic

- Uhhhh shilo? Please be ok

- LETS GOOOOOOO SHILO

- HE HAS A FRIEND!!!!

- Grangle!! Love him

- “Can I talk to satan?” “I’m not a say no dm am I? Oh god” PLEASE WHAT A MOOD

- HELICOPTER!!!!!! THE LAUNTERS ARE HERE

- Bizly losing his mind when Chet started talking is perfect I love Chet so much

- WEYLIN TWINS TIME!!!!!

- I LOVE THEM!!!!!!! HI HI HI HI HI

- IM CRYING THIS ENTIRE ENCOUNTER WITH CHET AND EMIZEL IS HILARIOUS

- “Hands too fast can’t stop them” Everyone breaks down laughing

- WHAT???? WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH EDWARD AND EMIZEL RIGHT NOW

- THE HELICOPTER HITS THE BARRIER????? WHAT??

- HE DIED????? RIP TAYLOR OH MY GOD

- NO HE SURVIVED LETS GOOOOOO HES NOT EVEN INJURED!!!!!

- Oh, :( one of the old people. It’s the people who know about the masquerade

- “Can you take me home?” “Yeah I’ll take you home” oh I’m gonna sob

- “I just walk with him for a while” “and then what?” “I don’t know. I keep walking. I don’t know where to take him” “ok, just keep walking” “Ben can you tell me about your family or anything you like?” And he just pointed out a bird in the trees :(( NOW HIM AND SHILO ARE TALKING ABOUT BIRDS IM NOT OK

- :( I agree with bizly this is the saddest thing Charlie has ever done

- I get why bizly said this destroyed him because I agree Ben’s whole situation is so incredibly sad

- Gotta wait to do part 2 but that was a phenomenal first half of the finale I loved it!!

[lizzypuppet1711]

things about toronto’s production of the great comet at crow’s theatre/musical stage co that i need everyone to know about because i am obsessed with this show.

as of writing i have seen this show five times.

very long under the cut:

full cast listed here. at time of writing, donna garner replaces louise pitre as marya, tyler pearse replaces lawrence libor as dolokhov, and ben carlson replaces marcus nance as andrey/bolkonsky. currently i’ve seen the og cast four times and the replacements once.

the stage is set up with seats on three out of four sides, with front rows at tables, back of house left and right sides at barstools, and a small balcony with some seats on house right. there are balconies on either side, with a revolving platform in the middle of the stage (revolving by being pushed by cast members or stagehands). seats around 200 people or so.

the actors are EVERYWHERE. it is so incredibly immersive

the music is very punchy

during prologue, everyone is taking shots as they’re introduced, except dolokhov, who drinks straight from the bottle and sprays it into the air

i’m a dolokhov girlie through and through and once he nodded hello at me during the prologue and i legit swooned

mary is walking around holding a program showing off the family tree, actors will point to them on tables etc

once anatole pointed at his face on it, pointed to himself, all in a very flirty manner

he winked at me during prologue once and i’m still thinking about it

evan buliung is acting his ass off as pierre

he is definitely is more gruff and acting focused (think dave malloy over josh groban)

at “hours at my screen”, pierre takes an audience member’s phone (from one of the tables… or once out of someone’s hands LMAO) and mimes tapping, scrolling through it etc

two stagehands move things on and offstage (such as the sofa, church props etc) and they are also in little costumes. it’s very adorable

dolokhov’s little soldier walk thing??? during moscow????? i’m sure there’s a reason for it bc both of them do it but i have no clue why it’s there???? love it tho

heeyun park as mary is also acting her damn heart out

private and intimate life has a faster tempo and is SUCH a banger as a result

an audience member gets briefly pulled up on the platform to be the cheap french thing, he typically kisses up their arm, hugs them, and sometimes sits on their lap a bit

pierre is playing the tambourine in the background during natasha and bolkonskys and it is honestly kind of funny

hailey gillis plays natasha very emotional and headstrong. her no one else has a sense of urgency, desperation, and deep longing

the platform is spinning and people are walking around and she is singing like an angel…

basically i want to be hailey gillis when i grow up

actors are rotating the platform during no one else and it ends with andrey standing behind her and pierre standing in front of her. no one talk to me i’m losing it

as the run has continued, dolokhov’s adlibs during his intro in the opera have increased drastically

lawrence libor as dolokhov had such an air and presence (rizz?) about himself i cannot DESCRIBE. the comphet he gave me… i miss him v much. he was also very much giving toronto mans. and he made SO MUCH eye contact. he loves to look at you. i miss him. i need him. who said that

tumblr theatre girlies you would go insane over lawrence libor. if this show had ANY b roll footage i know i would be seeing edits all over the place

i am president of the lawrence libor fan club and everyone should join me

tyler pearse as dolokhov has heavy frat boy energy. he is also gayer, and somehow, sluttier. gives short king energy despite only being an inch shorter than lawrence (apparently)??? don’t ask bc i don’t know either he just does. anyway thank u tyler pearse for making dolokhov bisexual for real

either way dolokhov is doing SO MUCH in this production. he is wild he is a whirling dervish he is arrogant he is a bastard he is everything to me

“YEAH BABEY LETS GOOOOOOO” -lawrence libor as dolokhov, upon his entrance

in one performance he would go YEAH BABEY three separate times in act 1. yeahh

flirting with a girl in the balcony, dabbing up a guy in the balcony, generally being hilarious

and tyler pearse leaning over the balcony, rose in his mouth, wolf howling… i can’t.

basically i can’t with this production’s dolokhov. i’m obsessed

anatole’s entrance… he’s a whore. all i can say

rita dottor (ensemble) does the high soprano bravooooooo and she always sounds so fantastic. live laugh love rita dottor

george krissa, who plays anatole, is probably the most attractive man in ontario. like if you googled hot guy he would be the first result.

“where did they find this anatole. was he made in a lab or something. he was perfect” — my friend after seeing it

tumblr theatre girlies you would also be obsessed with george krissa. like jeremy jordan andrew rannells level obsessed. please love these toronto actors with me

i’d let him ruin my life ANY DAY. it is a fact that lesbians love george krissa. i hope he knows

the way he plays it… my friend described it like “lucas steele is like an alien david bowie, and george krissa is a bridgerton man. just a very charismatic, but normal, guy”

while i would say that lucas steele’s anatole believes he is truly in love with natasha, i would not say the same for george krissa’s. some of the manipulation happening here during the opera is. quite clear

when he is entering the box natasha struggles to open her fan, fans herself frantically, under the arms etc. then when he enters immediately shifts to fanning in a cool and collected manner. hailey gillis master of comedy

“we are speaking of most ordinary things” is especially like. this is a male manipulator if i’ve ever seen one

natasha lost was added back in!! fantastic obviously

anatole checking his hair in the mirror before waking pierre up. fucker

“look dolokhov’s coming around… and we’re off to the CLEURB”

brendan wall (ensemble) walking around during the club scene with a glowstick necklace on is peak comedy to me

i’ve said it but tyler’s dolokhov is an absolute slut at this scene. and for what AND FOR WHAT!!!!

also fun tidbit but all the glasses (other than shots) and any clear bottles have real liquid in them. i am very concerned something will spill one day

when dolokhov gets right up in the audience’s face during “known only to his intimates” i LOVE it idk

during the duel, marya and rita steal off to house left directly beside the barstools and chatter about how bad of an idea this is, they’re so drunk, etc

special shout out to divine’s “he will kill you STOOPID HUSBAND” so good

dolokhov’s adlibs during the duel… i need him. sorry

dolokhov gets shot in the side rather than his shoulder, and unceremoniously rolls off the platform as it’s moving. looks painful

hélène screams when dolokhov is shot but not pierre. so much to think about here

a life changing dust and ashes from evan. i can’t describe anything more just that he’s incredible. i’ve learned so much about acting just by watching him a few times

natasha’s face at “am i guilty…” breaks my heart she is so tormented

we are canadians we are going to pronounce our french correctly! no more charmantay

hélène has started adding some very fun runs into charming as the run has gone on. divine brown marry me

anatole is shirtless during charming. btw.

again i know he’s gay and i’m gay but.

the entirety of this rendition of the ball has been stuck in my head since december

his “don’t lower your eyes i love you” that whole section is delicious i want to eat his voice

plus “BEWITCHING AND I LOVE YOUUU” UGHHH such an ear worm but only when it’s their voices

the choreo going on here is very nice btw

i love the way he says natalie at this part idk. it’s not overly enunciated and the vowel is just right <— vocal nerd

the kiss feels like it lasts forever

music gets very very loud at the end and you can feel it in your skin

also fun fact the house music before and after the show is orchestral but during intermission it’s electronic. bc. anatole. gah details

when marcus was still in the cast you could really hear his voice during letters and it sounded sooooo.

dolokhov’s stupid little thumbs up to indicate he will be ok. pleaseee. i laughed i did

generally lawrence would grab at the place he was shot at a lot; while pushing the revolve etc. loved that detail. (tyler does too but less so)

sonya and natasha just sounds so great. like they just always sound fantastic i love that song

sonya alone. yes i am weeping. yes camille eanga-selenge is everything i want to be and more. she’s phenomenal

dolokhov sitting in a big fuckin chair at the beginning of preparations just absolutely clearly regretting every decision he’s made to facilitate this. is great.

i know i keep talking abt lawrence libor but the image of him at this part is just. really great. to me. sorry

very campy and exaggerated scowling and grimacing from anatole

dolokhov is so sick of anatole’s shit

“here feel how it beats” is NOT entertained he pushes him back immediately

lawrence dolokhov’s “dawdling” business was him tuning his guitar i miss musician dolokhov sooooo much gah

balaga truly does not sing any of his lines. he is basically yelling the entire time. i don’t know how he does it. it’s chaotic and hilarious and so fun

sonya and mary hand out the egg shakers on house right and left respectfully

near the end of balaga, four audience members are brought up to dance with the cast! (i got to dance with mary once!)

dolokhov writhing on the floor during anatole’s long held note thank u

during the goodbye section, anatole comes around to said audience members and interacts with them; dancing with them, booping them on the nose etc, and at “kiss me one last time”, invites a lucky audience member to kiss his cheek. (this once, was me. yup. still processing it.)

once he accidentally knocked someone’s egg shaker from their hand, dolokhov picked it up, laughed, gave it a shake, and handed it back, and yes i’m still thinking about it

when they sit down, balaga and dolokhov will sit on the house right stairs, though once there was an empty seat nearby so dolokhov wedged his way in between two people, guitar and all. so fucking good

anatole will squeeze himself between two audience members on house left, put an arm around each, and look around at everyone sitting in that area, out into the audience, etc. if one is going to make eye contact with him, it is now

once he threw his head back to look at the people behind him, and someone, at the speed of light, took their phone out and snapped a picture of his upside down head. i scream laughed

lawrence’s BETRAYED BETRAYEDDDD was sooooo good. so so so good

hailey gillis is an absolute powerhouse during in my house

usually when “natasha’s whole body shook” she falls to the ground silently but last time i went she YELLED and i gasped so loud

at “i have refused him” louise would go NO in shock and i FREAK OUT ABOUT IT.

and i loved her “what then? would that be alright???”

“NATASHA CRIED OUT! GO AWAY! GO AWAY YOU ALL HATE AND DESPISE ME” sounds SO FUCKING GOOD!!! I LOVE YOU HAILEY GILLIS

when the call to pierre music starts i always get goosebumps

the fight choreo when pierre grabs anatole by the collar is very good

if we’re comparing to broadway, it feels less like anatole’s life is in danger here but like i’m not upset about it

at this point anatole does not seem sad or upset to me more just. pissed off that it didn’t go his way. like annoyed

as anatole leaves during pierre and anatole the staging has him stepping around/over natasha as she is choking from the arsenic and it is such a. show of his shallowness

his petersburg note is fantastic obviously. live laugh love george krissa

marcus nance (andrey) has such a deep and beautiful legit singing voice. it’s sooo gorgeous. any word that raises against marcus nance will fall.

I MISS HIMMMM ok sorry.

i am more sympathetic to ben carlson’s andrey, however. marcus was Incredibly stoic ben has a bit more emotion to him i think

i could swear sometimes hailey is actually crying during pierre and natasha

her “pytor kirillovich” sounds so tiny and fragile ugh my heart breaks

and his “…pierre” is so assuring AUGHH

it’s such a beautiful scene obviously. i love the two of them so damn much i hope only good things happen to them forever

“it was clear and cold” also. chills EVERY TIME

“having traced its parabola” and “like an arrow piercing the earth” hit me so hard i cannot explain

genuinely evan buliung gives the most effective inspiring fantastic mind blowing performance i maybe have ever seen on stage. he is such an incredible actor and he inspires me beyond belief

the end when the lights get really really bright and then fade out. god. so simple and so fucking beautiful

now this post is very long. thank u for reading it all if you did! (will update after seeing it more times if there’s things to say!!)

if you’re anywhere near toronto i BEG of you to go see it!! it’s closing march 24th :(( so if you get the chance i deeply implore you. beg borrow or steal a ticket just get there! best comet production ever in my biased opinion :)

[lavenderbexlatte]

day 14: anonymous sex

monsta x 1.9k words gender neutral reader insert Reader x Chae Hyungwon NSFW

🖤 warnings: music as a form of intimacy(?), anonymous sexual encounter, public sex🖤

kinktober masterlist

connect with me! / masterlist

You don’t like EDM.

Or, no, it’s not that you dislike it, necessarily. You’ve just never counted the genre among your favorites. It’s unavoidable, though, as the soundtrack of choice for festivals, clubs, and TikToks alike.

And concerts, as you’re discovering tonight.

This is supposed to be a pop-rock kind of show, some band that your friend recommended, playing at a dingy little venue downtown that you frequented as a student. You were younger then, looser with the amount you drank, less concerned with the music playing and much more concerned with meeting someone cute in the crowd to take home (or, far more realistically, to just fantasize about with your friends). Bagging the lead singer for one wild night, meeting your soulmate among the sweaty throngs of moshing music fans…you’ve imagined it all, drunk and ridiculous with your friends.

But now, older and less patient and looking for a simple solo night out with good music and a reasonable number of alcoholic beverages, you’re slightly dismayed to learn that the first act you’ll have to sit through before the headlining band is a DJ.

A DJ. Not even another, lesser-known rock group. But a DJ.

It’s your own fault, you reason, for not checking the ticket listing more carefully, or scrutinizing the posters on the way in. You could have arrived later, missed the opener, and taken your time getting ready.

But you snagged a rare high-top table along the side of the open floor, which is exceptionally good luck, so maybe you’re better off having come early, after all. You’re comfortable, perched on a stool, slightly taller and far more relaxed than the milling groups of people standing around, the brave souls already crushed a few rows deep against the front barrier along the stage.

Even if you have to sit through some DJ’s lame-ass set.

Your interest is piqued, though only slightly, when the lights dim and the DJ himself walks onstage.

He’s kind of unassuming at first glance, just a tall guy in a dark hoodie and a brightly-colored jacket overtop. Even when he faces the crowd from behind his setup, he doesn’t look like much. A mop of dark hair, a small delicate face barely visible under the drooping hood of his sweatshirt.

He kind of reminds you of a turtle, if you’re being honest. The slight point to his thick (…pretty) upper lip gives him a slightly reptilian look, complete with dark tired eyes and a kind of slow precision to his movements.

He introduces himself as DJ H. ONE, which strikes you as kind of funny.

Most DJs would take the beginning of their set to plug their socials, try to hype the crowd, or do something else equally as embarrassing, but he doesn’t. No, he just gets into it, hands right at the turntables, skittering across the laptop that he carried onstage with him.

The music’s not terrible, either.

You still don’t like EDM much, though, so rather than dancing like some of the more excited people at the front of the crowd are doing, you’re just sitting there. Enjoying yourself, sure, but not exactly partying. You’ll be happier when the band comes out.

“You’re so hot!”

The call ringing up from the front row surprises you, and it seems to surprise the DJ just as much. But his bemusement passes quickly, and with a strikingly charming half-smile, he pushes the hood off and shakes out his dark hair.

He…is kind of hot, isn’t he?

It’s a small venue, and under the harsh spotlight you can clearly see how the semicircles of eyesmile stand out on his face. He’s relaxed a little bit now, it seems, as he bounces more intently to the beat that he’s manipulating, bobbing his head to the staccato bass.

The DJ’s gaze passes over the front-row crowd, the equal-opportunity party people who are getting down to his music, and then.

And then he looks at you.

He looks at you, he meets your eye, and he pauses.

You can’t figure out why, for a moment – you don’t know each other, you’ve never met, and after a quick glance downward you conclude that nothing Is noticeably wrong with your outfit – until it dawns on you.

You’re here alone, you stand out from the crowd because you’re sitting rather than standing, and you aren’t dancing. Friends have told you before that you’re capable of some intense resting bitch face, and you’ve probably been aiming it directly at the guy as you scrutinize his good looks and his musical aptitude.

He’s looking right at you, eyes unreadable even as his hands keep working the keys and knobs. He doesn’t seem offended by your lack of reaction. Rather, it seems like curiosity.

He breaks the eye contact, focus returning to the task at hand. He tilts his head to the side, telegraphing his careful consideration.

The song changes, the hard beat he’d been throwing down melting away into something smoother, more melodic, an R&B kind of sway. A few whoops of approval come up from the crowd, taking in the new atmosphere.

But the DJ simply looks back at you.

There’s a question in the shrug of his shoulders, and you’re a little self-conscious that he’s even asking.

This is better, you have to admit to yourself. The sultry slow jams are usually your pick over the loud club bangers, hence your general disinterest in EDM. But this guy is playing a game, and you can’t let him win so easily.

You cross your arms over your chest, and you fix him with a flat look. You can’t help the grin that creeps onto your face, though, as he takes in your stubborn dismissal and nods resolutely.

The music changes again, and this time it’s reggaeton.

You laugh.

Why this DJ has decided that pleasing one particular audience member is his main priority for the night, you can’t fathom. But that’s what he’s doing. It’s undoubtable now. He’s trying to get a reaction out of you, feeling out what kind of music you like.

Suddenly, all the fantasies that your younger self had conjured in this very room, the silly and impossible trysts with artists and rockstars, seem very much possible.

You’d laughed at the sudden left turn, but as the DJ smiles at you, baring small even teeth and wrinkling his nose delicately, you shake your head. If he’s looking for music that’s your style, he hasn’t found it.

His set has to be coming to an end, soon. He’s been onstage for nearly 20 minutes, somehow.

He’s still looking at you, eyes gleaming. You raise your bare wrist and tap it, as if showing him a watch face. Time’s up, dude.

The DJ gives you another nod. He grins even wider.

The reggaeton fades away, replaced with the familiar guitar-heavy opening of a song. Even so, it takes you a few bars to recognize exactly what you’re hearing.

When you put it together, you laugh again, harder. It’s a song by the band that you’re here to see that got heavy radio play a few years back, popular enough that even you, a casual fan by the loosest definition, know every word. It’s remixed, of course, but the crowd goes absolutely wild with anticipation. Smart.

The slightly smug look on the DJ’s face makes you want to be contrary for the sake of the game, though, so you shrug through your laughter. It’s a mixed message since you can’t help but sway along to the music, but that’s fine.

He hasn’t spoken for the duration of the set, but as the last chorus of the song comes around, he reaches for the microphone.

“Getting excited?”

His voice is deep, slightly nasal, and tinged with a kind of whine that makes you wonder what other tones he can take on, in other situations.

The crowd whoops back, a little half-hearted, but he grins. “I can tell.”

You’ve never encountered a person of so few words, because he doesn’t say anything else as he taps and mixes his way through the end of the track. And it ends, resounding, as the DJ pulls his hood back up and settles it carelessly over his dark shaggy hair.

“You’ve been great,” he says, leaning into the microphone as he disconnects his laptop from the rest of the system. “Catch you later.”

It’s a casual goodbye, and you’d be a little disappointed to see him go, except for the fact that he sends you another grin and a little nod toward the opposite corner of the room. Toward the backstage access door, you realize.

He can’t be serious.

Despite the daydreams you’ve made in this room over the years, despite your deep fascination with this man and his intentions, you don’t want to look overeager. You really don’t want to go running to the stage door like a teenage groupie, no matter how interesting or cute of a guy is trying to link up.

The stage crew takes away the DJ setup, and lowers the arrangement for the band. The instruments come out, and the lights cycle through a quick test.

And then the headlining band comes on, with no sign of your DJ.

Must not’ve been that serious.

You’ll enjoy the concert, anyway. Comfortable at your high-seater table, with a drink and a good view over the bouncing crowd, you settle in for the rest of the night.

About three songs into the set, there’s a hand on your shoulder. You turn around, expecting a drunk girl doing whatever it is drunk girls do but not-so-secretly hoping-

The DJ.

Smiling, standing there just behind your seat. He says something, but you can’t hear him over the roar of the band. You just regard him for a moment, his pretty face and his dark hoodie.

It would be a shame to lose this prime seat, and even more of a shame to miss the main act that you paid to see.

You stand up, carefully check that you have all your belongings, and you walk toward the exit.

He's behind you, all the way. You can hear his footsteps. But before you can make it to the outside door, there's a hand on your shoulder, slim fingers and heavy rings.

"You actually trying to dip out?" he asks.

"Did you want me to stay?"

He shrugs broad shoulders, peering at you from under his hood. "If you wanted."

It's not even a closet, but a hallway.

Backstage, mostly dark, dingy crushed velvet on the walls. An ill-kempt attempt at luxury, smelling strongly of cigarette smoke and dust.

It feels kind of nice against you, though, as your DJ crowds you between it and himself.

Hurried, is the word for it. His jeans are down just enough, your bottoms moved out of the way. Both of you still fully dressed. There's no time for formalities, no need for more intimacy than this. His attention from the stage was like foreplay, and his fingers up your thigh, between your legs, was even more.

When he buries himself in you, you swear you see stars.

"Don't you wanna tell me your name?" he asks, into your hair.

You wonder wryly if he wants a name to moan. Something to hold onto, while he loses himself in you.

You fix his hoodie on top of his fluffy hair, brush your fingers down his face.

"Ask me next time."

[macaroni-rascal]

Montreal Worlds 2024 Day 4!

My voice is completely shot, my hands are legitimately sore from clapping, ears still slightly ringing, and I had the best damn time!

FREE DANCE

Mrazek's easily won the Swan Lake Battle, team nepotism were fucking awful, and it was even more apparent when a superior team skated to the same music directly after them. Diana Davis walked on the ice for 4 minutes, and did one lift that was supposed to be impressive, but was just shaky. Woof.

Olivia Smart deserves so much better, judges were not kind.

Lim and Quan got a standing ovation and they more than deserved it, they were stunning. I adored every single second of that free dance.

I didn't watch that team, so don't know, don't care, and fuck 'em.

I still don't love Turkkila and Versluis that much, in person they skate quite small and it felt like the program dragged on forever.

OKAY SO. A documentary is being made about the Reeds it seems like, a dude came and set up a camera next to us because Cathy Reed was sitting two rows behind, and he made the people right behind us come sit in our row and us scooch down so that they could get a good shot of her watching her sister. So that was both cute and a little annoying. We were stuck there also for Cpom, since Cpom had already started by the time the camera guy left and we didn't want to disturb others watching. A nice program from R/A though!

Cpom were SO very good. They were captivating and lovely, definitely had more speed at the start of the program, but wow have they ever improved. A joy to watch.

Back in my seat, in time for the small most boring most rip of P/C program of them all. 2/10.

Lajoie and Lagha had me right from the start. Just. I adore them so much. I'm so proud of them for coming back so strong after injury, I cried, I clapped, I cheered. I was fully moved.

Fear and Gibson were just fucking awful. I hated it. She's throw around in lifts and never needs to hold a position, they are doing push ups on the ice, they are standing still for 45 seconds in their choreo step, they are the second slowest team, and god just can they go away already?

Chock and Bates ARE SO FUCKING SLOW. I don't know if I didn't notice it in the RD, but jesus christ so glaringly obvious they were trudging through molasses the entire program. I didn't like the program. It was two cool lifts, and then a slow slog through Madison Chock being off the ice as much as possible. 1/10.

The first time ever the Italians made me happy. A nice program, a nice moment. The dress mishap at then was a little funny, still annoyed they will likely stay in until Milan.

Gilles and Poirier, the third slowest team. After the emotional moment with L/L, I just wasn't as moved or interested in this program. It felt melodramatic more often than not. Glad for them winning the free, now retire already.

MEN'S FREE

Adam coming from 19th to 3rd, what a moment. The crowd loved the back flip, and in the moment, I did too. Why not? He had nothing to lose. Redemption skates always give me warm fuzzies.

Donovan was a lovely time, she's got such razzle dazzle, he needs to work on his speed though.

Goodbye two spots of Canadian Men, that's all I have to say about that.

Love Selevko, he's my favourite.

Kao, it was not your day, or your competition. He kept drilling and fucking up his quad in front of me all warm up, I wanted to shake him.

Jun, it was also not your day or your competition, but you have a nice ina, so it's all cool.

Deniss was a lovely moment, I enjoyed his skate a lot. When he got standing ovation, a rude American behind me loudly said 'why are people standing up, he didn't do that well?' Which was wild.

Jason Brown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So beautiful. The single axel honestly made me laugh. What a treat it was to see him skate.

Lukas was also a very fun moment, he's a skater I enjoy waching.

Shoma, I love you. <3

Yuma! What a moment, a shame about the triple axel, but that step sequence is so gorgeous. Can't wait to see him grow and evolve as a skater.

Ilia was there. LISTEN. Okay. Objectively the things he is doing are impressive, I just personally do not find it interesting. You know what I mean? My and my friend were at a sensory overload high and we just booked it out of the venue during his standing ovation before the scores cause we had to get out there. That rude American I mentioned would not stop fucking yelling at the top of his lungs during the skate, I had to plug my ears several times. Good for him, but he's not my thing at all.

GENERAL THOUGHTS AND HAPPENINGS!

Okay, so that rude American I mentioned a couple times, he was honestly hilarious. Another guy was sitting next to him, and the rude American kept giving him all wrong information about skating. Just confidently, with his whole chest, attempting to educate someone with nothing but false info. He kept calling jumps wrong (called flips toe, calls loops sals, and sals lopps), he said that V/M skated to Umbrellas at their first worlds (it was their second) he pronounced salchow like sal-CH-OW, no card C, but chow like chow down, he called several elements wrong all ice dance events, got coaches wrong for several skaters, etc. So hilarious.

I saw Corey Circelli and almost asked him he's like Italy but then didn't.

On our way out, we walked next to Lia, Trennt, and Hannah Lim all talking about Ilia's skate, that was fun.

Thinking of drafting an official complaint with the Bell Center to make their seats 4 inches bigger on all sides. I'm so serious my right hip, and lower back still hurt. Those seats were made for babies.

My wonderful amazing friend who I hadn't seen works at the Bell Center on the weekends, and I got to catch up with him, and then during the men he brought me a hot chocolate. Shoutout to him, he's the bees fucking knees.

I shan't be going to the gala. Thought I could do it, but I am so sensory overload from four straight days of bright, loud, and crowded. I am a person that like dim, quiet, and 3-4 people at most, and I am at my limit. Also, fuck those seats, I can't sit in them for one more minute.

ALL IN ALL! I had SO much fun, it was truly amazing seeing all these skaters I've loved for so long, and being able to really watching and analyze so many different things. I've gained new appreciation, new perspectives, and some new favourites. I am, however, very ready to get home to my bed, my cat, and my space. I'm flying out dumb early tomorrow, and I can't wait!

[pencil-merchant]

Our DnD party

In the style of the disco elysium skill portraits based on descriptions! disclaimer: I have not done enough runs to judge all the skills gameplay impact so this is entirely based on their descriptions

reasoning for the 2 skills per character under the cut.

left to right in the top row:

Gambit (belongs to @ardate ) : Physical Instrument + empathy

Gambit our robot barbarian is consistently concerned with others well being but an absolute force to be reckoned with on the battle field with enormous physical strenght. Gambit is pretty universally liked within the party and also the youngest member of the party (~2 years old)

Habagat (belongs to @birbwell) : Interfacing + Drama

Habagat our Artificer who built Gambit knows how to maintain a front and keep up a lie and being difficult to read at the best of times. Knows a great deal about technology coming at the price of social seclusion.

Omen (belongs to @inkyfruit) : Volition + Encyclopedia

Omen our Cleric is equipped with a lot of knowledge and heaps of volition to keep going in spite of this knowledge. Joining the party at a later point in time and adapting incredibly quickly. As a Cleric the pressure is high and the job demanding, He needs every bit of volition he can get his hands on after the dissapearance of his friend Apricot.

Dog (npc belongs to our DM @salcreus) : Shivers + Inland empire

Dog the mink (named by the party) stays within the confines of the city and somehow always seems not to be too far from the party (and Gambit in particular) inexplicably connected to the city and the things that go on within.

left to right in the bottom row:

Clayton (belongs to @pointsfortrying) : Rethoric + Pain threshold

Clayton our Rogue (full name that Clayton keeps adding onto: Clayton Rancid Ingeborg Murdock Eyarr Sussy the second) On surface level is a funny guy, always ready to say wild shit and lightly bullying darmond as well as eating rocks, but beneath this funny guy exterior is a man of firm principles with a disrespectful amount of pain tolerance, not even so much as flinching in response to being stabbed in the shoulder.

Lord Foog (belongs to @colonelgarfield) : Suggestion + Savoir Faire

Lord foog our Bard is a charming fella, quick to gain peoples favour by giving them tiny magic porcelain geese that he considers his children, not lacking in style and swag either and willing to go along with the bit. Lord Foog is the second youngest member of the group but one of the more socially adapt ones.

Darmond (belongs to me) : Hand eye coordiantion + Half light

Darmond our Fighter Is socially speaking, barely competent. Lucky for him he shines on the battlefield, rarely missing and hitting hard with his axe and being nearly unrecognizeably to the man he is outside of battle. After an incident of being posessed and injuring his party this proficiency at battle has taken a frightful turn for him. The posession is over but the Incident has left its mark on him.

Sweetheart (belongs to @cherryberg): Conceptualization + Suggestion

Sweetheart our Sorcerer is a man from the upper class and has expectations to match. Insisting the party kidnapped him despite being free to leave he is trying to buy Gambit from Habagat, additionally being on bad terms with lord foog after crushing one of Foogs geese in his hand, and yet being a Sorcerer using his spells to charm people.

It is noteworthy that While lord foog and Sweetheart share the Suggestion trait they share it at varying levels, with Sweetheart often times coming off as blatantly slimey.

[eriexplosion]

Okay I've put off the finale enough. Time for Return to Kamino.

You can tell it's awkward between Crosshair and Hunter right now because after his dramatic entrance Crosshair just. Slipped back out to wait up front rather than risk having to actually talk to Hunter about anything.

This first interaction though god there's so much there. "And so will your squad." "They'll still come for you." Just godddd the pain is so deep here and it's no one's FAULT it's the Empire's but you can't have interpersonal family dynamics with the Empire. It's only this painful because of how much everyone cares about each other.

POOR PANICKY OMEGA she's so scared and wants to go get Hunter RIGHT NOW IMMEDIATELY.

When do we get the Gregor in Cid's bar chaos cut?

Rampart has acknowledged Hunter's name but never Crosshair's, which is wild to me.

The fact that his subordinates still call him 'the clone' okay. The thing with Crosshair is he might have gotten the title but he never got an OUNCE of respect and god does it show. The fact that he willingly went back to this is a sign of how little self respect he has left frankly. He doesn't care that they treat him like shit because whatever he probably deserves to be treated like shit.

Echo getting down to ask Omega if she's alright is such a good moment for them, just a lovely example of how good they are at relating to her. (Her saying it doesn't matter they just need to save Hunter though sdoifjsf, I cannot wait to see her stubborn streak in season 3)

"Not the ones that matter" baby boy, my beloved delusional bitch, NONE of you matter and you NEVER WILL to the Empire.

"They don't leave their own behind. Most of the time."

Listen I love that his hurt is treated like it matters but I love that Hunter doesn't instantly give in when he hears it too. They did what they could with the information they had - which wasn't much - and it meant that they couldn't take Crosshair with them. Either they would have died or Crosshair would have been killed. There's no solution where they just grab Crosshair and take him with them and it all works out perfectly, and both of their sides are absolutely valid in the emotions they have and it's DELICIOUSLY COMPLICATED BETWEEN THEM.

"We didn't have a choice." "Hm. And I did?" - Okay though I love this exchange because it is. The singular time I think where we hear Crosshair admit that he didn't have a choice. He usually tries to pretend he's picked this path, that he's made his own decisions. And after a point he did, but those decisions will never not be influenced by something that was completely out of his control, and when he lets himself be a little raw he admits that, before he piles on all his stubbornness again.

GODDD HUNTER IS TRYING SO HARD STILL TO GET THROUGH TO HIM AND HE DOESN'T KNOW THAT CROSSHAIR ISN'T CHIPPED ANYMORE AND AGHHHHHHH. I know I'm focusing on this over the others in the lab but god there's just so much here I can't stop chewing on it. Hunter's sad sigh, the gentleness he uses to try to get through to him, Crosshair's face when Hunter mentions the chip because he knows it's not there and he isn't sure he fully believes that it was That Big A Deal anyway. I'm so. Emotional. About this.

Empty Kamino is still one of the creepier settings tbh

So funny how they fall for the 'oh we'll go where they're not expecting!' trick twice in a row because Crosshair is just that familiar with how they think.

"And here we all are, together again!" Brat.

HUNTER'S LITTLE NOD TELLING THEM TO DROP THEIR WEAPONS

"You think we'd bring her here? We're smarter than that." NO YOU ABSOLUTELY ARE NOT GO FIND THE KID RIGHT NOW

"You betrayed everything we stood for" babe you are the one being weird about what you stood for not the rest of the batch.

"You weren't loyal to me." LINES THAT STRIKE AT THE HEART EVERY TIME. THE MUSIC IS SO FUCKING GOOD ON THIS BIT. AND "I'm going to give you what youo never gave me. A chance." WHY THE DIALOGUE GOTTA GO SO DAMNED HARD.

The way that he tries to get Omega off world is another good signal that the chip is out, it's so different from aim for the kid it might as well be coming from a different person. Because it is. The chipped version was not Crosshair, not really, this is. Just. A very very damaged Crosshair.

Glad he drops the 'we're superior' bullshit in season two pretty much, guess 32 rotations starving on a platform will put some things back in perspective.

Tech spotting the mirrors and bringing Wrecker's attention to them right before Crosshair shoots everyone and pulls his helmet off it's just so much happening all at once and I adore the Emotion in this whole sequence.

YOU ARE ALL MEANT FOR MORE THAN JUST RUNNING. LIKE BEING THE LACKEY OF A GUY THAT FUNDAMENTALLY DISRESPECTS YOU.

"Don't become my enemy" "Crosshair, we never were" BABIES

And then the droid incident happens right when it seems like MAYBE they could get through and it's back to wrestling around on the ground like idiots.

This is not a fight this is Hunter managing a fucking tantrum while trying not to let Crosshair get shot in the meantime. Like it is clear they are not on equal footing in this lol. Crosshair manages to get the upper hand for exactly .5 seconds.

THE THEME KICKING IN WHEN HE JOINS UP AGAINST THE DROIDS MY GOD.

We need Tech alive it's the only way to get the theme back properly in season 3 if they play it without him it will feel EMPTY.

The DESPERATION ON HUNTER'S FACE AS HE TRIES ONE LAST TIME TO INSIST IT'S THE INHIBITOR CHIP. And I am still not over how.... the thing that Crosshair says 'Wrong' about isn't 'it's your inhibitor chip' but rather 'we can help you.'

This is just the face of a man that fundamentally thinks he can't be saved.

Like he doesn't look happy about this at ALL he looks exhausted and hurt, he's not proud when he says This is who I am.

Anyway he snapped his rifle up to try and commit suicide by Hunter I think, probably didn't occur to him that Hunter would have it on the stun setting.

Hunter's HEARTBREAKING EXPRESSION is a lot to take in but you also can see Tech's eyes widen and then narrow as he tries to process the new information and just. UGH. MY HEART AND SOUL IS WOUNDED.

And through it all, Hunter still checks for a scar trying to figure out what is going on. He still wants so bad for it not to be true that this is Crosshair in his right mind.

Which, well, he's not, just not because he's actively chipped.

U G H THE SHOTS OF EMPTY KAMINO JUST BEFORE THE BOMBING STARTS.

[furby-organist]

// spoilers, some thots, differences between canon and my worldbuilding. adhd style rambling.

- Contrary to like, the pilot and Alastor comic, there was a lot less of Alastor terrifying the shit out of everyone with his presence. I wonder if this is because the people he's seen interacting with are a) The hotel peeps, who are largely a self-selecting group of people who are okay interacting with him, and b) other overlords. Anyway, "almost everyone is terrified of Alastor and he is deeply lonely" is still a very important part of this blog and his development and I'm not changing it.

- Alexa is not an overlord. I'm pretty sure that the team (or Viv?) had said that Alastor wasn't a proper Overlord because he doesn't hold territory, but he's very powerful. Not sure if the series will clarify further or if they've decided he's an overlord. Alexa will continue to not be an Overlord. He controls radio as a mechanism and has the only radio tower in the area but he doesn't control actual territory.

- I was expecting Vaggie and Alastor to butt heads way more haha! Vaggie was not malding as much as I expected!

- I had really hoped to see more Alastor/Angel chaos interaction, especially because we got some fun stuff out of the Hunicast. They seem to get along okay. Though it looks like Angel + Husk are getting pretty chummy and Husk has beef with Alastor

(and they like... paralleled Alastor to Valentino? Which is INSANE to me... listen Alastor sucks as a person, and having his freak ass own your soul can't be fun, but there is a MASSIVE difference between the circumstances that had Husk sign over his soul and Angel sign over his soul. Like one is overlord-on-overlord violence and the other is, like, exploitation of structural violence at minimum. "I'll make you a star, I'll make you rich" etc etc. And there's a MASSIVE difference between the abuse & control that Val does and Alastor doing Diet Labor Trafficking by voluntelling Husk as a bartender.)

so I do wonder in canon how Angel and Alastor COULD be friends if the implied parallel is Husk (or anyone) befriending Valentino. Girl that is insane.

Whatever, I am on the radiodust train until I mf die, Alastor/Angel besties train, chaos friends, I think the funniest possible development on this blog is that (after canonically pulling up to the hotel and being like "girl you are delulu. This is a dumpster fire. and I want front row seats" and Vaggie was like "this freak is going to ruin this project") that he clown tax evasion married the ONE RESIDENT. They went "we could make each other worse. we could make all of this worse" (they did not make each other worse but hell certainly suffers when they open their mouths)

- I've talked extensively in the past on this blog about abuse and how Local Alastor thinks a situation like Angel's should be handled and it's not like how Charlie does Lmao bless her.

- I thought it was so funny that Alastor was like "now I have to go to the tailor" bitch your coat was already raggedy and you came back with a raggedy ass coat.

- Also... Alastor behaved a lot more than I thought he would? He was pretty down to do the job of disposing of the egg bois, even humanely, like he didn't really put up too many fights! Idk he was a behaved manager. I think he is having a good time at the hotel. I love that for his freak ass

- I love how him doing freaky ass facial expressions/lighting is mostly like, Something He Does and most of everyone just kind of accepts it. He really is out here saying wild shit too. "I pulled some limbs too. Hahaha!" lmao yesss Alexa randomly saying morbid ass shit bc he didn't think it through how it comes off was definitely a Thing that's happened and will continue to happen.