#it’s like reccing a new artist to you SO that they’d never heard of before

[mxtxfanatic]

I love how, even though Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji already matched each other in morality, they still impart in each other changes to their behaviors that the other just… didn’t consider due to their different personalities and upbringings. Teenage Lan Wangji starts helping out civilians with odd jobs and minor cultivation world-related issues because Wei Wuxian during the Cloud Recesses lessons told him to try some lotus pod seeds, for which he had to travel to do so. Before this, Lan Wangji would only leave the Cloud Recesses on mission-assigned nighthunts with other Lan disciples. Then, years later, Wei Wuxian learns that Lan Wangji travels around doing mundane tasks for non-cultivators and thinks this is so neat—as someone who used to only choose nighthunts for the glory one could potentially gain from the assignment—that he suggests they do it for their honeymoon.

The way they open up each other’s worlds to new and wonderful possibilities that the other had never thought of but now that they are, it totally matches their interests? That’s some real loving couple shit right there!

[earnestly-endlessly]

Hi! I'm wondering if you can make a list of fics where Erik's jewish heritage isn't ignored? I just came across the fact that a lot of authors don't explore this part of him for some reason and i found it kinda upsetting so i'm wondering if you have any recs! I liked "As They Kiss, Consume" and "Who Shall be King Hereafter" by sherwoodfox, in case anyone who's reading this ask is interested in the same topic.

Hi Anon. I'm sorry for taking so long with this list but your request sent me on a wide search for fics that fit with your request. I tried to find a variety of fics where Erik's Jewish heritage is addressed. Some of them aren't necessarily cherik, but most of them are. I hope you enjoy this list.

Mistletoe, Latkes, and Long-Term Revenge Strategies – pocky_slash

Summary: Charles knows that Erik hates working at a department store in the best of times. Being Jewish in a department store during the holiday season is far from the best of times. He does what he can to help.

A Nice Boy (the Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

A Road Trip to Pennsylvania – Aainiouu

Summary: For a year Charles has nurtured the biggest and most embarrassing crush known to man towards Erik. They are friends and roommates and when Erik asks Charles to accompany him to home on Thanksgiving of course Charles goes.

In the Bleak Midwinter – keire_ke

Summary: It is not easy to find out, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, that your mother arranged a marriage for you. It is even less easy to convince her that you have no interest in the very fertile Magda, she of the wide hips and lustrous auburn hair. Fortunately, with a good friend at his side over the holiday weekend, Erik is sure he will prevail.

Speech Making – phalangine

Summary: Modern Emma AU- Charles Xavier, accomplished matchmaker and headmaster of North America’s preeminent school for mutants, intends to add another notch to his belt: setting up his friend Moira. His oldest friend, Erik, has doubts about this plan.

Charles doesn’t share them.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Bashert – AvengingAngel

Summary: Erik and Charles meet and fall in love. I wanted to write a story where Erik had a huge family. Pretty fluffy (for me anyways). I suck at summaries.

Note: The summary doesn’t reveal much but if you’re looking for a fic where Erik is jewish and has a large family with a heavy dose of cherik fluff and angst then this one is for you.

Math Reasons – pearl_o,  pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

Ser

It’s kind of our whole things – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

Sequel to Math Reasons

A Winter in New York – nextraordinaire

Summary: Charles and Erik have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember – Erik, living with his mother in Queens, and Charles in the big mansion in Westchester. For all, expect themselves, it was just natural progression that they'd end up together.

A series of ficlets from the same universe – can be read as separate and are out of chronological order.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – heyjupiter

Summary: "It's just, this is my first Chanukah away from my parents. And it's--it's like 90 degrees out."

Erik Lehnsherr and Kitty Pryde celebrate a Genoshan Chanukah. It's a little different from the way it used to be in New York, but some unexpected visitors help them embrace the spirit of the holiday season.

Hold Back the Rain (front!strict mashup) – euphorbic

Summary: Charles Xavier: society darling, powerful political activist, well-known professor, and Dominant.

Erik Lehnsherr: anti-social, international motorcycle racer, and defiant submissive.

Erik is at Sepang in Malaysia for the fourteenth leg of the International World Championship. After doing poorly in qualifying, he's furious to find he has to take another VIP around the track instead of meeting Charles at the KL airport.

The Swan – waitfornight

Summary: In 1939 Erik and his sister Ruth are sent to Devonshire, England, during the Kindertransport refugee program to live with Kurt and Sharon Marko as foster children just before the start of World War II. Angry and wishing he could return home on the night of his seventeenth birthday, Erik meets a boy alone in the forest who is cursed to transform each day into a swan, only taking his true form by night.

Swan Lake AU.

The boy with the heart on his sleeve – euphorbic

Summary: Charles loses a high-stakes bet to Raven and is required to get a tattoo. However, when he makes a disparaging remark about the art form, Raven's acerbic mentor, Erik, steps in.

Or, the one where Erik and Raven are tattoo artists.

The Wurst Case Scenario – sareyen

Summary:If anyone asked why Charles, come rain, wind or shine, made the significant trek during his dismal lunch hour to dine at "Edie's Kosher Delicatessen", he would stubbornly say that it was because their pastrami on rye and potato knishes were absolutely to die for. He wasn't completely lying, because the deli's namesake, Edie Lehnsherr, made the best matzah ball soup Charles has ever had in his life. Still, Charles would rather shave his full head of hair off than admit that the real reason he would willingly walk through hail and fire to get to the corner deli was because of Erik, the insanely attractive man working the counter.

Sure, Erik has barely spoken two words to Charles other than "Hello, what can I get you?" or, after the third day in a row that Charles came to the deli, "Welcome back, what can I get you?", but Charles was more than happy to just ogle at the man from afar while devouring the juicy wurst Erik had put together with his (large and very capable) hands.

But, little does Charles know, Erik doesn't usually work the front counter. He only does it when he knows the cute blue-eyed man will be dining in.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

c'est regarder ensemble dans la même direction – melonbutterfly

Summary: Since that day on the beach, Charles and Erik have learned to agree to disagree for the sake of living and working together. Then, for Christmas, and Charles gives Erik Hanukkah back a second time, and their relationship shifts a little further.

Terrible Hanukkah Sweaters and Other Life Challenges – professor

Summary: “Why am I here again?” Erik groans.

“I need you to lift things and glower at people over my shoulder when I tell people that it’s not ‘politically correct’ or a ‘war on Christmas’ to have a non-denominational winter holiday festival,” says Theresa Pryde.

Well, at least those are two things he’s good at.

Shrapnel – librata

Summary: It's late 1940, and tensions between the Axis and the Allies are tightening. Displaced and alone, 16-year-old German Jew Erik Lehnsherr finds himself employed as a servant by some snobby, terrible family in England whose house is far too big and whose money never seems to end. The worst part is, he isn't just mucking stables or cleaning plates–-he's tasked with tending to the whiny, disabled son named Charles, who might just drive Erik into absolute madness.

Or, the World War II fic in which Erik and Charles experience a changing world and a lot of teen angst.

Defying Expectations – Baamon5evr

Summary: Charles and Erik meet each other’s family. Neither of them gets what they expect.

table for three – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik should have known to call ahead to the Chinese restaurant--it's Christmas Eve and he lives in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, after all. But before he can go home to mourn the loss of another one of his mother's yearly traditions, he's accosted by a teenage girl with a strange proposition--that he should stay and have dinner with her and her mother, instead.

different from all other nights – metonymy

Summary: "This year we are slaves; next year we will be free." Kitty and Erik host a seder for Passover at the Xavier School.

Libertad – ariadnes_string

Summary: Erik knew the look, had seen it his whole life, even before the war.  ”You, with your height and blue eyes and straight nose, you can pass. You can be free of us. You are not marked with your difference.” If you only knew, he’d thought then. He thought the same thing now. And it was that thought, as much as anything, that made him move towards the gate.

Wash Away – sebastian2017

Summary: One quiet, lonely morning, before Yom Kippur, Erik makes his way to the sea in search of forgiveness.

After? There is No ‘After’ – Unrepentant_Marvelist

Summary: Erik knows what he is for. He has known his responsibilities as a survivor since the moment he woke under a scratchy, lice-infested blanket in the Red Army hospital. His world is painted in lucid blacks and whites (so often splashed in red) and there is no room for uncertainty or indecision... until a certain sunburned Englishman throws himself into his world.

The Children of an Idle Brain – Margo_Kim

Summary: Sometimes, when he’s lucky, Schmidt can’t hurt him. It’s like there’s a room inside of Erik’s head that’s he’s usually locked out of, that won’t open no matter if he beats himself bloody against it. On those days, he endures. But sometimes—and Erik doesn’t know why, whether it’s that the stars align or some higher power takes pity or Erik screams loud enough to earn his reward—the door opens. Erik can duck inside and slam it behind him and watches himself through the windows as Schmidt slowly, methodically tortures him to strength.

These days, this past week, there’s a boy in the room with him and he tells Erik, “That’s horrible,” like that means something.

Somehow, across the world, Erik's and Charles' minds touch when they need each other most. They can't be sure that the other boy is real. They suspect that he is not. But that doesn't mean they aren't each other's lifeline until they lose each other and then for a while longer.

Tehillim – kvikindi

Summary: Erik, in Israel, afterwards: another life he could have had. If.

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) – childishinquiry

Summary: Erik has worn long sleeves his whole life, even before they had to wear yellow stars. Marching along his arm, in neat, black, English letters, are the words "My name's Charles Xavier."

Precious Few Years – sherwoodfox

Summary: Erik and Charles (known only to each other by the letters inscribed on their wrists) are meant to be together, soulmates, destined for the most powerful kind of love and connection a human being can experience.

But they are separated in almost every possible way- by distance, by circumstance, by language, by war. Their chances of success- of finding one another in the labyrinth of the world- are very slim. There is a reason why most people never find their soulmates.

But of course, Charles and Erik aren't ordinary children-

They have their gifts.

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Circe Invidiosa

Circe Invidiosa has 11 stories at Gossamer, but there are even more X-Files stories at her website. Some of my favs I’ve recced here before, like Make It Worse and Slap a Goatee On Me and Call Me Evil. She also made a bunch of X-Files collage art, including some cover art for fics (hers and others), which you probably saw if you were reading fic back when authors posted fics on their own websites where art could be shared. Big thanks to Circe Invidiosa for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Well, it would surprise me if people did read my fic. As it happens, I don't hear much feedback from my fic these days. Probably because the bulk of it is on Gossamer and my own site rather than AO3. Also, I was never a BNA. I worked a lot behind the scenes – hosting other authors' sites and making fanart and dustjackets. I think that's what I'd be remembered for, if anything.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience?

I miss the collective excitement and discussions we had as groups. When you got in with a group in the XF fandom, you felt like you knew everybody there. Now the fandom feels a little faceless except for the people I still follow from my old groups.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Most of my experience was on Yahoo Groups. I joined Scullyfic while it was still there and then E-muse when it became an e-mail list, which I'm still a part of. I was part of several Yahoo Groups (can't remember all of them now), where I'd post my fic, RealPlayer slideshows (remember those?!), and collages. I never really took part in discourse because I'm shy and don't think anyone cares about my opinions (still don't!). The e-mail address I used for those groups was purged a couple of years ago, so I've lost all those messages.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

My take away is that fanfic made me a better writer, thanks to having some great betas, and it made me a better professional writer for it (my real-life work is writing but not fun writing) because I learned to take criticism.

I also used to make a lot of fanart, collages and dustjackets for fic mostly. My big take away from that was that I really got into graphics and I got super proficient at Photoshop, which helped my own artistic endeavours and photography. I didn't realize how much skill I had developed until I've had to help someone with their graphics or photo editing.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

My mother was watching X-Files before I was and she was raving about it. I don't have a great relationship with my mom, but one thing she was usually right about was TV shows. It's where I got my love of Sci-Fi.

I think the first episode I watched was Ice, which definitely hooked me. As for when the shipping started, I remember we were watching Lazarus, and when Mulder was yelling at Lula (I had to look that up) about hurting the hostage Scully, my mom said, "Oh, he's so in love with her." And I was all, "What?! Pfff." But then I could not stop thinking about it. And then I thought about it way, way too much.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I was in my late 20s, and it was around the end of S7 and I kept thinking about what if these two dumb idiots actually talked one day. And I kept thinking about dialogue in my head about what they'd actually say. The internet was still in its infancy back then, but I'd seen fan sites here and there. So I decided to search around to see if other people were talking about it and thinking about it like I was. I was such a noob I'd never even heard of fanfic. Imagine my delight when I discovered it. I found a few stories and thought, 'Well, I can do that.' And I wrote up my first story, found a place to post it (wasn't Ephemeral the best?), got some kind feedback, found a really nice person (not sure she wants to be named since she used her real name in the fandom back in the day) who encouraged me a lot and directed me to all the e-mail lists and Yahoo Groups that I needed to be on, and then, Bob's your uncle, I wrote more and more.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Periphery. Most of my experience in any fandom is now on Tumblr because that's where my attention span is. Show me pretty pictures and funny stuff. I am old now and don't want to think hard.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Veronica Mars was my next fandom experience. A number of my XF friends got me hooked on VM. The VM fandom was a LOT younger compared to the XF fandom. When I joined the XF fandom, I was the kid compared to most of the other fans who were all goddesses and royalty in my eyes. But in the VM fandom, I was in my 30s and the rest of the fandom were all in their early 20s if not younger. It often showed, so I stayed out of discussions and just posted my fic once I started writing it. I took a new handle (invida) when I started writing VM fic. Just in case these kids felt like my writing sucked, I didn't want it getting back to the XF fandom that I’d branched out and failed spectacularly.

By then fandom experiences had moved over to LiveJournal. I never really got involved in the discourse or the fandom fights. I knew what people were saying and where the schisms were, but I was all about the fanfic and the pretty pictures. Most of my LJ friends just discussed the episodes and posted their fic and that was good with me.

What got me writing fic for VM was Anjou's brilliant VM fic Into the Blue. Seriously, if you love VM S1, read her fic. Just so beautiful.

VM was also where started writing a WIP, which was a wild trip. I wrote a much-loved WIP called Damn, Damn the Circumstance which people still ask me about finishing to this day. Someday…*wistful sighs*

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Scully. She was everything! Lapsed Catholic, degrees in science, skeptic, always trying to work within the rules but still not taking crap. Yeah, she was the best.

Veronica Mars was great until she wasn't. I have a lot of issues with her beyond S2. And don't even talk to me about S4. For me, S1 was the best, I enjoyed the movie, the books were okay, but nothing else happened after that. NOTHING.

And the first character I ever loved was Princess Leia. She was also everything to me growing up. I wanted to be her. I still do.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Now and then. Not as much as I used to. I sometimes have it on in the background when I'm doing other things. Back before the pandemic, my BFF and I would have get togethers where we would play Scrabble, eat a lot of candy, and binge several XF episodes. I miss doing that. Hopefully, we will get back to that soon.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I am not an active XF fanfic reader right now. I will read any stories my friends put out. Otherwise, I only occasionally read some I come across on Tumblr in my feed, but I am not seeking them out. I will beta for any XF author who asks me as well.

I am reading fic in other fandoms though – Endeavour, Broadchurch, Sherlock…huh, I'm just realizing that's a lot of British stuff. I have been really into British detective series for the last few years.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I used to run an XF fic recommendation site called How Will It End usually with at least one other person (I went through at least 4 partners on that project because I'm a control freak). We'd compile our recs and then I'd post them on my site. We'd also feature authors we really liked and interview them. Not unlike these interviews!

I'm terrible at giving feedback/comments. So I solved that problem by making a rec site. That way I could tell authors I loved their fics by recommending them. I didn't have to comment, I'd just say, 'I'd like to rec your fic'. And then they'd get promotion. Win-win. Back in those days, the fandom would absolutely roast you for promoting your own fic, so to get on a rec site was a big deal. Not that I had a popular rec site or anything. But I think authors really enjoyed being asked.

All that to say I've liked a lot of fics. I can pull up the archives of HWIE and show you all the faves I liked. :)

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Back in the day, E-muse would hold Improv Challenges, where other members would give you a prompt that you had to include in your fic. I was always really proud of the stories I created from those challenges (No Earthly Means and Elephant in the Room if you want to read them).

I enjoyed writing Dead to Rights which is an XF/Dead Like Me crossover because I loved the challenge of writing a crossover. It was the first crossover I ever tried writing even though I only recently published it.

Otherwise, I like re-reading In a Graveyard, Importuning Life for Life, and Some By Virtue Fall. Of my more recent fic, I like Slap a Goatee on Me and Call Me Evil because the premise was ridiculous and I think it's funny as all get out.

Probably my favourite of my VM fic was Stay Outta Riverdale. Because: 1. The title is a Simpsons reference who doesn't love a Simpsons reference? And 2. I think I was hilarious throughout it.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I'm always open to writing more fic (and, of course, I don't mean my WIPs…don't look at me like that). Lately, my only motivation has been from writing prompts on Tumblr. I haven't had anyone give me a prompt in over a year, so here we are. I have snippets of dialogue in journals and word documents that have never found their way into stories. I'd be happy to dust off any of those and shoehorn them into a new story.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

The last fanfic I wrote was a mini-fic over a year ago (with a prompt from Lilydale!). I've written a bit of original fiction but I haven't been able to finish it. Otherwise, I do have a number of real life hobbies which are where my creative outlets lie now.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Lately, challenges and prompts. It used to be from wanting to see more from a scene. I really had a thing for fill-in-the-blanks or scene continuations. And sometimes my motivation is just plain old spite. :)

What's the story behind your pen name?

Circe Invidiosa is the title of a painting by John William Waterhouse. Love the colours and the absolute malice on the face of the subject. It felt like a good pen name – the envious witch. That's me!

I chose it when I posted my first XF fic (which I cringe to read now, ugh so terrible) without knowing there was already a Circe in the fandom. Whoops. I tried to go by the full Circe Invidiosa or Invidiosa as much as possible after realizing that (invidiosa is my url and my username on a lot of sites, etc.). Now I think that I've been around long enough that it doesn't matter as much but I still like it.

As I said, I took the name Invida for the VM fandom which is just a shortening of Invidiosa.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My significant other knows and that was quite a reveal (oh how awkward). However, the SO has been very supportive and has read all my stories since the reveal and sometimes betas them. The SO also wants us to collaborate on writing some original fiction but we haven't found a project that works for both of us creatively or timewise.

My BFF knows because I dragged her into the online fandom. We've known each other since we were 14, but our love of XF really solidified our bond in our 20s. She wrote some short but sweet fics under the penname Helen Quilley which I bullied her into posting, and we wrote Of Ladies Most Deject and Wretched together. She is mostly embarrassed that she wrote fanfic now but we still fangirl together.

No one else really knows other than fandom folks I've met in real life. And some friends know I've written 'short stories' but I don't elaborate. I work in a stodgy, uptight industry where anything fun or actually having a life is frowned upon.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Over the first lockdown, I got my shit together and got my fic site, invidiosa.com, up and running again. My site houses fic by Rain (now @doctorhelena on Tumblr and AO3), Helen Quilley, ML (who I miss so much), Folieadeux, Shelba, TLynn, Oracle, Piper Sargasso, Diehard, and me. And I made all their dustjackets (except Folie's). The site got hacked a few years back and it was so much work to get running again that I put it off for years and years. I still feel terrible that I did not get the site back up before ML passed away, especially when ML had asked me about it a few months before she passed.

Anyway, all my XF fic is here: circe.invidiosa.com. I have 3 of my newer XF stories on AO3. And my fic-LJ also has some of my stories. Some of the newer stories are on Tumblr but the tagging is so erratic that I'd have to list several tags before you'd find them all. I don't know why I haven't moved everything over to AO3. Probably laziness.

I'm @invidiosa on Tumblr. I'm still on E-muse. I'm still on LJ. I'm always reachable by e-mail (invidiosa at gmail).

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for reading, writing, and commenting. It is always appreciated.

(Posted by Lilydale on January 5, 2021)

[canyonmoonlily]

| game night |

live! on tour series

*smut*

“Event caaaaard!” Harry sing-songed as y/n groaned. He was sat on the couch in the green room of a stadium in Texas, one of the many stops along his tour.

His bandmates and those of his opening act all playing the board game Life. Y/N, one of the lead vocalists in the band opening for him, was having terrible luck per usual.

Harry hated seeing her sulk, but when she did so by nestling herself into his side, he caught himself wishing her unlucky streak would continue.

“You might as well keep my payday since I’ll be getting fined again for God-knows-what,” she said with a roll of her pretty blue eyes, a pout playing on her full lips. Harry caught himself ogling her, again.

Game nights became far more difficult to pay attention to anytime she was in the room, especially so close to him that he could smell her perfume. Light Blue by Dolce and Gabbanna was quickly becoming his favorite scent of all time.

“You’ve payed what? Like $150,000 in fines now?” Mitch laughed from beside her as she put her head in her hands. She yanked the card from his outstretched hand, hesitating before ripping the bandaid off and flipping it over.

“Damn it!” She yelped, the room bursting into laughter. “Don’t laugh too soon, you all owe me $500,” y/n quipped amidst her own laughter. “I’m just mad because I have to get rid of one of my orphans to make room for a baby girl.” y/n’s “50s Brooklyn” accent was atrocious, but had Harry clutching his sides every round.

“Y/n you really gotta take those out of there, it’s going to get confusing at the end of the game,” one of her own bandmates scolded. Y/n had insisted on filling her little car with blue pieces as part of an “orphan smuggler” bit she’d started earlier in the day. Y/n and her bandmates were actors, above all, and creative ones at that. Constantly doing morbid, nonsensical bits that kept both themselves and anyone around them entertained. She had Harry in stitches within the first 10 minutes of meeting him at the start of the tour.

“No they’re apart of my comedy act, motherfucker, leave my orphans alone,” y/n tossed her card at the scolding bandmate. “Okay Harry, darling, it’s your turn.” Her hand rested on his thigh, a mindless action on her part.

But Harry’s blood pressure shot through the roof. She’d fallen asleep on his lap many times in the last few months as they’d grown quite close, but something about the way she looked bundled up in one of his sweaters, nestled into his side on the couch, calling him darling in a voice so sweet he nearly choked, had his heart about ready to burst. He returned her smile but quickly busied himself with spinning the wheel. Can’t get a boner on game night.

Harry landed a 7, rolling and landing perfectly on an income tax block. “Damnit!” He groaned. He had chosen to become a plumber, and his salary was small enough that half of it was no big deal.

“It’s only fair, seeing as you’ve gotten every “Lucky Day! Collect $100,000” event card in the game so far,” y/n elbowed him. he responded by plucking her forehead and reminding her that jealousy is a disease.

As the game went on, it became more and more painful for y/n to act out her part as banker. She’d gone the college route and was $50,000 in debt while Harry, the plumber, was nearly a multimillionaire. Every time he landed on another payday she would make someone else hand him the fake money, she couldn’t bear the sight of another one of his smug little victory dances. Cheeky little bastard he was, he kept waving his hundred thousand dollar bills in y/n’s face as she balled her little fists and scrunched up her nose.

As much as she hated Harry’s ridiculously good luck, his cocky little chuckles and the way he kept snuggling up to her made her wish the game would never end. But, as all things do, after about an hour and a half of rigorous bonding, the group dispersed after Mitch rolled an 8 and became a famous comedian.

By the time the game was packed up and put away, the only two people left on the couch in front of the green room TV were Harry and y/n. Parks & Rec played at a low volume, Harry reveling in the feeling of y/n laid against his chest, little legs sprawled out between his. He could feel the rumble of her chest against his every time she laughed at one of Andy’s antics onscreen.

His green eyes studied her facial expressions as she watched, always so responsive to everything. Harry has come to notice y/n was startlingly alert for someone who came across as so aloof. She had a brilliant, sharp mind; he could listen to her prattle on about history, politics, or whatever new subject she’d taken an interest in for hours at a time. She was so passionate about so many things, it drove him insane. The most perfect human he’d come across in his 25 years sat sprawled in his lap, and though they were close enough to touch, he wasn’t brave enough to cross the border between platonic intimacy and something more. He had never been so sure and so terrified of his feelings for someone before.

With Camille, Kendall, and even Caroline, it was so much simpler. There had been no initial friendship. Just romance. Friendship came after, on occasion, like with Kendall, but never before. Harry was shit at taking things slowly. It’s quite the generalization, but being an artist tends to make it harder to hold back one’s emotions. As y/n had put it once, “artists run head first into things without thinking about the consequences because they want another piece of the human experience to write about. we’re all just chasing another truth.”

If Harry’s version of chasing the truth was running his hands through her hair as she laid sprawled out on his chest, so be it.

If this had to be slower than usual, so be it.

If falling in love with her was unprofessional, so be it.

If she never reciprocated his feelings and it crushed him, so be it.

His hands wandered through her har and down to her pretty little neck, mindlessly ghosting up and down the curve where it met her shoulder.

y/n shivered and let out the softest little moan—a noise he’d never heard her make before. He wasn’t prepared for the effect it would have on him.

His hands continued their exploration, cupping her jaw, lightly raking up and down in some caressing massage. Shivers racked her body, little mewls growing louder as his touch got firmer. He moved them up to massage her scalp, her back suddenly arching to meet his hands.

Neither of them said a word. Y/n was so caught up in the feelings Harry was eliciting with his calloused finger tips, while he was afraid if he opened his mouth he would let out a strangled groan. As her back arched he slipped himself more firmly underneath her, ima position now where his lips could reach the little neck he was so enamored with.

The first press of his full lips against the juncture where her neck met her shoulder was met with a gasp. His kisses trailed up her neck to the spot just below her ear, her hand flying to cover mouth as she let out a moan that would’ve surely put all the other so far to shame.

Harry couldn’t think. Y/n couldn’t think. He had just made the resolution to take it slowly and here he was sucking on the sensitive part of her neck while her panties dampened rapidly in response.

Y/n had never been so turned on. Her feelings for Harry she had long accepted as unrequited but now, in his arms with his lips on her neck, she wonders if she was wrong all along. She feel his little grunts as her body writhes against his, she’s so much shorter that she doesn’t initially feel the hardening length against her thigh. Her bottom was pressed against his stomach so he could reach her neck, so she let out a muffled scream when the back of her thigh finally brushed it.

Harry’s hands had begun clutching her to him, from beneath her began grinding his erection into her. His fingertips reached for her breasts over the fabric of his sweater, cupping them with a gentle yet primal urgency.

He was so caught up in rutting himself against her, she flipped onto her stomach easily and pressed her lips to his. She maneuvered her clothed pussy over where his cock strained against the fabric of his bottoms, rubbing her little clit against him like some wanton whore. It was then, as Harry let out an angelic groan, the door to the green room slammed open.

“Y/n! what did you put in my be—what the fuck?” y/n’s bandmate came storming in before taking in the sight of the two before her. Y/n’s blue eyes were wide, her long blonde hair tousled and her cheeks as flushed as the red shirt Harry was wearing beneath her.

Harry’s mop of curls were untouched, but his eyes were dark and dialated, his hunger for the petite girl on top of him clouding his usually bright orbs.

Y/n scrambled off of him and to her feet, taking her bandmate by the arm and rushing out of the green room before Harry had a chance to register what was happening.

hi! this is a mini series of sorts I want to write in my freetime. it won’t be in order but I’ll be telling this story through random moments throughout Harry & y/n’s relationship.

[mingishoe]

if you would actually want to see one of these let me know!

(This is kinda long... I’m so sorry I’m not using the ‘read more’ option so I’m so sorry if I’m spamming your feed)

(Also PSA these ideas are all my own and Ik some of them might be a lil cliche but I promise they’re all my ideas and I didn’t take them from someone else! Except the tiktok one)

Young Dumb and Broke (Series) - So this one is a lil weird but hear me out... I’m a bitch for Sugar Daddy stories but this is like a lil twist. So basically you got out of highschool and somehow got a sugar daddy (completely legal!!!) and like you got a shit ton of money and he like paid for your first two years of college so like you’re living the life- then he like puts money in your account... like a lot of money... and he buys you a bunch of shit so you’re literally living the life in his penthouse or whatever and then like you’re like hmmm ion need a sugar daddy anymore so then you’re like lemme tell him and then he like gets mad and is like get the fuck out... then you go and find your own place and like there’s no need for you to be worried about money or anything but you still go get a job just so you can be busy and you find a cute cafe and you get a boyfriend who happens to be your old sugar daddy’s son and like shit be happening. So yeah that’s what I have as of now and I think that could be fun to write

Guns N’ Roses (one shot) - I’m an even bigger bitch for Mafia shit and like a Hongjoong/Jongho/maybe Seonghwa Ateez Mafia moment? And like maybe a lil cliche moment but like the MC won’t get kidnapped by him or whatever but like she’s a little nosy bitch. Like not an annoying nosy to where she’d get fucked up by the Mafia but like nosy so tHe ScArY mAfIa bOsS thinks she’s cute, you know? So like she obviously knows who he is and like thinks he’s hot and wants to fuck. So she messes with him and is like wHy dO yOu hAVe a bLacK eYe when she obviously knows why he has a black eye. N e way... I think it would be cute or whatever but also not like a cliche he kidnapped me and I fell in love with him kinda moment.

Pancakes? (one shot) - So I’m even a bigger bitch for hybrid fics. Ik Im a bitch for a lot of stuff sorry... N e way I don’t rly know how to write one so I’d have to do like research or whatever about it and figure out anatomy of like whatever animal I’m wanting to do (probably a puppy or a kitten or a bunny bc I’m a basic bitch and don’t wanna do something cool like a snake or anything... but like MC would find said animal sOmEwHerE or maybe adopt it from the actual animal shelter instead of a hybrid one just bc they were in the animal form and not the human-hybrid form, you know? And like they take him home and like their new pet or whatever falls asleep on her tummy and like when she wakes up it’s a whole ass man and she’s like uhh what the fuck is a grown ass naked man doing on me??? And like they both get scared and like she offers him pancakes (hence the name) and like yeah they just live life after that with some conflict but it’s all good.

Temptation (one shot) - so guess what else I’m a bitch for... Vampire AUs... like who isn’t??? So like I really fuck with San/Seonghwa vampire moment?But like I really really fuck with the MC being the vampire... like there’s not a lot of one shots or series with the MC as the vampire so I think that would be cute and different. But also again, idk too much about vampire shit besides the cliche stuff and I’m sure I could take a different route with it rather than the usual uhhh shhh don’t tell anyone I’m a vampire or imma bite you kinda stuff. Or the we met in a club and imma suck your blood and you may or may not live kinda thing, even though those are my favourites and I read those all the time.

*Idk what name yet* (One shot) - I also really really like Harry Potter house AUs with maybe San or Wooyoung of Ateez... but I’ve never seen a full Harry Potter movie in my life (please don’t attack me) and I would have to like watch the movies and read parts of the books or like research stuff about the Harry Potter houses EXTENSIVELY (unless there’s anyone who wants to help me) but I rly like the whole the really pretty girl that everyone is scared of is in the Slytherin House and the cute shy boy in the Hufflepuff House has the biggest crush on her. And like she fucks with him bc he’s a Hufflepuff but she likes him too and just doesn’t know how to show it.

Hail Mary (one shot) - So like this is probably the most cliche on the list but the fucking Priests Daughter kinda shit is the best kinda shit out there. Like I would REALLY FUCK WITH A N Y member of ATEEZ LIKE FUCK! N e way- like the MC would be the priests daughter and like E V E R Y O N E knows who she is bc 1. She’s hot. And 2. She’s known for being like a goodie goodie. She’s the kinda girl that like has straight A’s in every class, doesn’t go to any parties, is at church all day every Sunday with her father. You wear a purity ring around your finger and all the boys just want to be the one to make you take it off. But like whichever member I pick (I’ve been wanting to write this for forever but I can’t pick a member from the ones listed above) actually likes you and isn’t just fucking you to get your ring.

Bookstore Girl (one shot) - So... I’ve had this idea for over a year (way before I started writing on Tumblr) it’s not rly that interesting or really original or anything but like one of my favourite songs is Bookstore Girl by Charlie Burg and immediacy after the first time I heard it I thought “I’m writing a Namjoon fic based off of this song” and I have yet to do it. If you haven’t heard it before I really recommend you do! In the song it says “Oh bookstore girl, I wonder what your name is” and “Reading only the books that you'd recommend to me... knowing more than just your name, it wouldn’t be the same... remaining fantasy, that’s more romantic to me” and it really gave me the inspiration for like maybe the MC as the other regulars that Namjoon likes so he’s always asking her for book Recs or they’d just talk about books but he doesn’t know her name and it’s practically killing him bc he has the biggest crush on her but literally knows nothing about her. So yeah I’ve personally never rly read a fic like this??? But yeah i think it would be really cute.

Groupie (One shot) - so like PH-1 is like one of my favourite artists and like he has a song called Groupie and I think it would be really interesting to incorporate it into a fic. I was thinking maybe like Jin/Taehyung BTS or like maybe Minhyuk Monsta X would go good with this kind of fic? So like in the song it’s constantly asking if their a Groupie “Are you a groupie? Tell me straight up is you a Groupie? I’m trynna do me, don’t waste my time is you a Groupie?” And like I think it would be kinda a twist if he knew the MC was a Groupie but he didn’t care bc he actually really liked her and is willing to have her around as a Groupie than not at all. But like eventually the MC would like... stop being a Groupie? And like they’d end up together fr fr, you know?

Red? (One Shot) - So yk those TikToks, yes I have a TikTok addiction don’t come at me, that are like yOu aNd yOur sOUlMaTe sEe tHe sAmE cOlOur aNd oNce yOu fAll iN lOve yOu seE eVery cOlOur? So yeah those kind of tiktoks are really creative and I think it would be a really cool fic idea. This one is obviously not my idea but I could try and like make a spin on it??? If that makes sense? But I was thinking maybe Mingi ATEEZ

*idk a name for this one either* (One shot) - So you know how there’s like a million fics that’s like tHe dEvIls sOn, which no hate bc those hit different, but like there’s never rly any where the MC is like the devils daughter yk? I’m thinking either Mingi or Yunho Ateez. So like imagine the Devil sending his daughter to go collect this “pretty boy” and bring him down. He was said to be protected by the angles so you had to get him wrapped around your finger. You take an interest in the “pretty boy” and bring him down with you and you want him for yourself, let’s just say the Devil isn’t happy...

Wings (one shot) - So I’m really into the whole Angel/Demon and Heaven/Hell kinda thing incorporated into fics and like... I’m kinda thinking like maybe Angel!Yunho/Wooyoung(kinda funny Ik) and like Demon!San/Seonghwa and like you’re one of the few “angels” that can go back and forth through Heaven and Hell. You’re half Angel and half Demon which is the reason you could travel back and forth. You usually spend most of your time on the lower half... it maybe or may not be because of a specific Demon with wings so dark you almost couldn’t see them... however, in heaven... the boy with the whitest wings you’ve ever seen makes you want to keep going back. Your wings are gray, more specifically a dark gray meaning you’re more demonic than angelic, which makes you stand out in either place. The more time you spend with the boy with the white wings... the darker they become...

사랑해 (Saranghae) (one shot) - So like Ik there’s a lot of like HighSchoolAUs and I really really like them but I wanna take a little spin on it and do like a transfer student kinda thing. So I’m thinking maybe like Yeosang ATEEZ? So like they come to America (where you’re from) from Korea and you’re assigned to be their like? Idk what it’s called? Just kinda the person to show them around and make them feel welcome. So it’s a little bit difficult because of the language barrier so you try your best to learn Korean and he try’s his best to learn some English so the two of you could talk. You’re not good at korean, at all, but you know when you hear that word... you feel the same way.

[hunnamsgoldchain]

“I care too much about you to just leave you alone like this.”+ cport!samcedes

Some would call it foolish. He’d probably say the same thing, depending on the day and how deep in his feelings he found himself. Love felt like too strong, too stupid a word to describe the ‘why’ for half the shit he did when it came to Mercedes. 

Today it was curiosity that propelled him towards the rec center, where her artwork would be on display. It was strange to think she’d gone from galleries in Brooklyn and Manhattan to sharing spaces with the poster advertising the senior citizens spring shuffleboard league, but it didn’t make her work any less impressive. He remembered when he’d been the first to see her fresh sketches. Hasty drawings on napkins and scraps of paper, to the idle strokes of a paintbrush that trailed across his skin, leaving color in its wake and a blush in his cheeks because he was a stupid teenager infatuated with her and her talent. 

He was so far removed from that sixteen year old with love in his eyes. Today, staring at the piece on display, he viewed it critically. Sam bit his lip, remembering too late about the cut on his lip and hissed at the still tender spot. He knew how it must have looked, how he did. The bruise under his eye from the fight had faded to a dull purple but it was still visible. He heard her voice in the distance, the sound of her laughter bouncing off the flyer-covered walls of the Castleport Community Center, bringing forth a faint grin of his own, amused that he could still recognize her ‘polite but over this conversation’ laugh, usually reserved for nosy church elders and stuffy art critics. Rounding the corner, he noticed it was the former. Mrs. Patterson was a known gossip, even bigger than Mercedes, and she’d somehow trapped herself in a conversation with the well-meaning but meddlesome older woman. 

It took Mercedes a minute to spot him, but when she did, Sam noticed her smile shifted. To surprise. A little guarded. But mostly confused. And he supposed that was fair. They’d managed to avoid each other quite successfully around town. Almost as if the lines had been redrawn to accommodate their limits, in some sort of unspoken stalemate since her return to Castleport. The community center was hers. He never expected for her to wander into The Maggie, and part of him was glad she hadn’t recently. Though if the cursory glance Mercedes gave his busted lip and bruised eye was any indication, she’d already known about the fight between him and Rick. Hell, the whole town did. 

Which Mrs. Patterson was only too happy to point out. “Such a waste of a perfectly fine face,” she told him, once they’d reached where he’d been standing. The old lady followed up the unwanted observation with a searching eye and a lot of tsking and Sam ducked his head, feeling thoroughly chastised…and a little annoyed. Least until she spoke again. “But I hear that Nelson boy looks far worse. A shame, since he wasn’t much to look at to begin with.” That made him snort and Sam caught the older woman’s smile. “Nice to see you too, Mrs. Patterson.” 

She waved them both off, and clutched at her purse. “Uh-huh. You keep out of trouble, Sam. And Mercedes, tell your mother I’ll need my pie plate back. She’s been holding it hostage since New Years.” With that, she shuffled off, leaving Sam with no real buffer. Well, besides their usual awkward silence. “Uh…the display looks nice.” It wasn’t much, but it was genuine, and Sam liked that he could still be sincere in his compliments towards her. Towards her artwork, at least. The rest…well he wasn’t gonna say she looked good. Even though she did (she always did, it was kinda unfair). 

He was feeling like a heel, wondering why he was still there. Maybe he was waiting for her to ask about his eye. He wouldn’t talk about the fight and he was sure they both knew that. And it didn’t make sense, getting annoyed about a question he wasn’t going to answer but wanted her to ask anyway. They were beyond being that petty to each other. “I’m gonna go,” he decided, not really waiting around for another lull in the conversation. “Good luck, with the art classes. Not every day people can say they had a session with a genuine artist.” 

There was something in her gaze that rooted him; a weariness tinged with a sadness that Sam couldn’t decipher and sure, it was years of distance and miles of bad road between them, but it it was difficult, turning off the concern. He’d noticed the way her face had fallen, the mask of pleasantries slipping once Mrs. Patterson was out of sight and Sam was surprised she’d even done it with him around. They weren’t close like that. Not for a long time. But he knew her tells. Frustrating remnants of a relationship long past its expiration. The smart thing would’ve been to leave. Let her sort through whatever it was in private. But then again, he’d never been known for doing the smart thing. 

“If you uh, need me to stick around, I can.” The offer was casual, but kind. And he didn’t blame her for the questioning look that was her initial reaction. He offered a slight shrug in return, before shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “I care too much about you to just leave you alone like this.” @blkgrlwrites

[reuxben]

This was our MTGinktober for “Ship,” starring Precinct Captain and its corresponding Soldier Token!  Yes, I totally ship them--I have seen it. Seen the end, seen the beginning, the beginning of the end--and I have the photos to back it up, which I collected over the years during my time in the Boros Legion.

Relax, spare me the “thank you for your service” stuff, I was just a Legion photographer.  I never saw combat.  Though I did get a papercut once, which technically qualified me for a Purple Core signet--and don’t get it mindtwisted, “technically qualified” is the best kind of qualified, though I grant you that paranoia’s all I got left on that theory.  Look, I wanted to go to photography school, but figured it’d be smarter to do the Boros work-study program in the Arts and Propaganda (A&P) department, since I could study photography, do nominal but obligatory (and minimal) soldier stuff, get out after my term was up, and then use that sweet, sweet Boros bonus to start my own studio.  They were desperate for recruits back then (no idea what it’s like nowadays, don’t really keep up), so they just threw money at unguilded chumps to enlist. 

I should note this was during the disastrous “Feathernomics” period of exorbitant deficit spending on recruitment and propaganda, which is why I had it so good as a new enlistee in the A&P department (our nickname was “Twinkle Toes Company.”  Other companies did that “OOH-Rah! OOH-Rah! OOH-Rah-Rah!” chant you always see in the spectacles, but they’d shout “OOH-Lah!” at us, as in “Ooh-la-la.” It was stupid.).  So I wasn’t exactly Agrus Kos, ok?  Just a photographer too cheap to go to a proper art school and aware enough to take basically free money for the inconvenience of doing all that idiotic marching and saluting nonsense while having to dress like 80,000 of my closest friends. 

But today is a salute to just two of these fellow marching enthusiasts.  I can’t believe it never really clicked until I was going over some old photos from back in the day as research for an upcoming project (I’m doing a pictorial book on daily Boros life, plug plug plug), but I kept seeing these two doofs together in photo after photo, so here’s what I remember:

I wasn’t terribly close with anyone in the service, (again, just there for the [essentially] paid education), but my staffbook confirms the guy’s name is Sten Scott, the girl is Tev Pres.  I was embedded in the Ravnica 254th Precinct Corps to cover them for one training cycle to simulate wartime conditions, so I had to be a fly on the wall and they had to pretend I didn’t exist, meanwhile I was popping up out of bushes and from under eaves, snapping photos like a filthy Hazoret. These guys were part of the newest wave of recruits and the earliest photo I found of them was right after they presumably first met at the orientation party for new enlistees in the Noble 254th, which is why they’re in their full cadet uniforms.

Scott was nervous because he didn’t know anybody and wasn’t really gelling with anyone, but Pres was super outgoing and forged a fast friendship.  She was the life of the party, especially a party of two, so that’s why I remember wanting to follow her around at the party because she got all these great reactions from people, which made for great candid shots--I hate static, posed shots, is there anything more pointless? 

Scott was from a higher up family, but I gather he was running from his roots since the 254th is known for being comprised of, shall we say “less financially-secure” families?  He definitely didn’t talk about his family life, that’s for sure.  For my own curiosity one night, I do recall pulling his file for “research” (Twinkle Toes credentials has its perks), and yeah, his family was pretty loaded.  He should have been in Champagne Company like all the other snots.  His file says he was indeed placed there originally, but filed a transfer request before he even arrived on campus.  And they granted it.  Curious.

Pres came from a larger family, according to her file, so that’s probably where she got her more outgoing personality, necessarily screaming over siblings to get a word in, and being generous in her affection for those close to her.  254th families are famously close-knit because for many of them, they need their families jealously looking out for each other in order to survive their rougher districts.  That’s why they call it the “Noble 254th,” there’s so much pride in that Corps: their motto is Fogi di Pesn to Nobus di Regi, “The fire of peasants and the nobility of kings.” 

So Pres was like your best friend set to eleven, everything was amplified with her, like she didn’t want an ounce of life wasted.  She obviously sticks out in my memory more than Scott, but as a “professional,” I tried to maintain my impartiality in my daily rounds of covering the 254th, but judging by my catalog, I invariably found myself gravitating towards photographing her and by extension Scott since these guys were like two shells in a Mortarpod ever since that orientation party.

I’ll briefly address here that there was always that controversial aspect of the Noble 254th.  Honorable in conduct, but always with that iffy aftertaste of perpetuating the cynical cycle of the poor fighting rich men’s battles, who would rather send their kids to various Azorius schools for legal training, or if they must enlist in the Legion, then they’d cut straight to higher-placed officer training, like the aforementioned “Champagne Company,” which of course had the widest outbreak of “bone spurs” you’d ever come across.  Those poor, delicate orchids.  Yeah, I’m one to talk, twinkle twinkle.  Regardless, I never heard of anyone rejecting Champagne placement before--nor did anyone else since Scott conveniently never brought it up. 

Anyway, the photo under the one from orientation is from boot camp.  You always went on IPT (Independent Physical Training) with a buddy to spot you, and these two randomly got paired that first week--pairing was random the first three weeks, after which you elected your buddy having had a breadth of experiences with fellow Legionnaires--I do respect the Boros embrace of the perfect balance of randomness and order, as dealing with these factors is a necessary life skill they make sure you master, even we Twinklers. 

I remember this day of IPT pretty well because I love the rain and we all got entangled in this one, despite my otherwise stellar ability to stay out of subjects’ ways.  Pres got caught in a sudden downpour during an IPT session, but fortunately Scott had brought an umbrella for that day since, unlike his more spontaneous colleague, he had actually heeded the morning’s weather intel.  She promised to pay more attention next time and gave a hug of relief to her trusty backup “fuddy-duddy-in-chief” (I believe was the rank she ascribed him, even addressing him in written communications as FDIC Scott rather than his proper rank).  He sheepishly brushed off all credit to the umbrella, as if it were only randomly packed in his supplies that day, and he only perfunctorily lectured her about compromising the rescue mission by getting him just as soaked as her when she rested her sopping wet head on his shoulder. 

We were all packed under an awning or something when I snapped this photo, and this is where I got the impression they might have something going on, looking back on these old photos, though to be fair, most people I talked to think it was just her being naturally more tactile, and him being over-prepared as always and being unable to handle *Solemn Simulacrum voice* hu-man e-mo-tions (he definitely chilled out the more they were together, though, and these photos certainly capture how comfortable he felt around her).  I dunno. I do know they became pretty much inseparable after that, and were always on the same squad, obviously did their future elected IPT together, everything. Again, easily just that “spirit bond” soldiers get, but come on.  Look at them.

I mean, during Rec Day, the 254th’s annual mid-bootcamp morale festival, they of course hit up the photobooth and snapped all these cheesy buddy shots.  Before you ask, I processed the photos, so I have a copy in my records--I didn’t mug them for these like a Bramble Creeper, all right?  Anyway, again, I guess you could flip a coin on this photo-roll as evidence, pro or con.  They were pretty close by then, half-way through bootcamp, spending bloody, sweaty, and teary hours upon hours together, so maybe it’s just them being pals, having achieved dat soulbond doe. 

Real talk, though, that’s how the Boros gets you.  They lure you in with some attractive benefits package, you build these absurdly strong bonds with your partner or squad, and then you end up re-upping after your term is up, signing longer and longer contracts, and before you know it, you’re off fighting for some rich, bloated Orzhov oligarch who doesn’t even know who you are and would without hesitation send you to die to secure him a greater tax cut or clear out unguilded protestors who figured out what’s up, etc. The house always wins if you play long enough.  Twinkle Toes Company is full of artists and diva creatives, so the turnover is higher, thus we don’t suffer from that unfortunate development of blind obedience.  Besides, who would ever trust an artist on anything worthwhile? Seriously. 

The last photo is from their commencement ceremony afterparty, I was on photography duty of course, so all photos got that dumb, overly formal, commemorative dressing at the bottom.  As meh as I am about the Boros, or the guilds in general--it’s all a scam, man, every guild is just out for your cash in the end, yes, even the Gruul (if you think Bobo ain’t gettin’ paid, wow, I’ve got a Planar Bridge I’d like to sell you)--regardless of all that, I thought it was cool to see them in their formal uniforms at long last.  Even I get a little emotional seeing companies finally don their fray apparel, ok?  It’s the spectacle of it, I guess.  I’m a photographer, I appreciate visuals.  But I mean, who doesn’t get caught up in all that?  Be human.  Or whatever. Goat people, whatever you call them.  You know what I mean. I just had the good sense to get out when my contract was up.  I shredded my guild card and have been living just peachy out here unguilded, though I do collect my vet check every month. Thank you for your postal service.   

The last document...I won’t tell you how I got it.  I won’t tell you who wrote it.  I will say though...how many letters do you write to mere friends like that?  It turns out that commencement party photo was the last time they ever saw each other because, as far as I know, one of the two found this letter slid under-door the next morning and meanwhile the other was already off on a separate assignment on a totally different plane.  No transfer requests in the file, nothing. Silence.

Even if you know you’ll never see them again by virtue of the sheer time and space imminently separating you...Do you ever tell your friends you love them?  Ought you to?  Am I just an emotionally stunted photographer living vicariously through my subjects, being unable to live life myself, and can only rely on the fantasies I invent about the vivacious people I cover to bring me any semblance of a satisfactory life? Don’t answer that.

Love,

Thanks,

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Not normal,

Reuxben

[inktae]

(This'll probably be a couple asks because I don't know how long these will be;) But for Music, I think you would like the artists: Birdy, Hozier, Jaymes Young, Bastille, New Politics, Lana Del Ray, Marina and the Diamonds, EchoSmith, Paramore, Of Monsters and Men, Clean Bandit, One Republic, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, and Misterwives (legit just went through all my CDs rip). Some are more soft, others a little more pop/punk, and others are a bit quirky/meaningful. You've probably heard some (1)

(2) of these guys already too. I kind of just chose some more indie vibes bands/singers, if I'm honest? You said you liked that and I already get that feel from you, so I thought they'd be good ^^ sorry if you don't like them tho 😅. Uh, so others songs I think you might like are "Lights Down Low" by MAX; especially the orchestra version. It's one of my personal favorites, tbh. "Ten Feet Tall" by Afrojack, "Angel" by Theory of a Deadman, "Closer" by Emma Jensen, "High" (Vanic x Zella Day remix)

(3) "Faded" (Alan Walker remix), "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees Cover),"I wanna be yours" by Arctic Monkeys, and "Sail" by AWOLNATION. btw I think you'd like Ed Sheeran, Neon Trees (maybe?), and X Ambassadors too. Maybe even Troye Sivan, but him and Jaymes Young usually have sadder/soft songs. (Wow I made three asks for music). For movies... maybe Adaline? It's a romance, but idk, it makes me think of you. There's also Eragon- which is an /AMAZING/ book and the movie is trash compared to it;

(4) I really recommend the book instead, if I'm honest. It's my favorite book series 🙏🏼 Anyways, back to movies! The Giver was a good movie (and book), and the plot was very interesting. Interstellar was a space movie with some crazy tricks at the end, but I wish I knew more movies that messed with your head! I'm not near my movie case so I can't go through them right now :( If I find any more, I'll be sure to tell you! And back to Adaline, the plot and feel of the story reminds me of you and

(5) your stories. It's romance and the whole storyline is creative like your writings; it's also low key indie, vintage vibe like what you have. But on to animes! I'm going to say the ones I like and think you'd like; there's Hetalia, Seraph of the End, Bungou no stray Dogs, Karneval, Ouran HighSchool Host Club, Black Butler, Free!, Sword Art Online, the Devil is a Part-Timer, and my first anime, Kawaichi No Maid Sama. Phew! I think that's it? I said a lot, but I hope you like them ^^;

Wow, I just can't stop saying my Recs. I think you'd also like Lorde, the song "Closer" by Brandyn Brunette x John Lock, and "Work this Body" by Walk the Moon. And tbh I think you'd really like Birdy (the first singer I suggested). She's got a very indie, sad-song-but-you've-accepted-it kind of vibe? Her voice is low key raspy but her voice is soft and beautiful. I suggest "Skinny Love" or "Not About Angels" first if you haven't heard her before. I'm going to stop myself now ^^;

THANK YOU FOR GOING THROUGH ALL THE TROUBLE OF SENDING ME RECS THAT MIGHT FIT ME, OMG YOU’RE SO NICE. ;;;;

I think you read me quite well, because I know half of the music already and my favorite artists are among them! from your first ask I only did not know about misterwives, so I’m giving them a listen right now. so far so good, I love their vibe!!

lights down low is good, yes!! I feel like it’s a song I already heard somewhere, on the streets maybe haha. so thanks for bringing it back to me :) I also just added closer to my playlist. such a bop 👌👌

and omg, someone actually recommended me adaline a while back but I completely forgot about it. I definitely want to watch it this summer, I think it’s a movie I will enjoy. and eragon alksdjsa I’ve been wanting to read it for years! as for the giver, I think I will note the book down instead of the film, it looks very promising :D interestellar is actually my number one (non-animated) film of all time, it has everything I look for in sci-fi and the scientific accuracy was amazing *sobs*

as for the animes, I’m screaming bc bungou no stray dogs!! I really want to watch that one! and I will check out karnival because I never heard about it before. I already know about the rest - ouran is one of my all time favorite animes, so so good!

thank you for dropping a bit more music there ahaha. closer sounds amazing, and work this body is so upbeat, I will actually add it to my work out playlist lmao :)) birdy is an artist I really enjoy, and my favorite song from hers is wings! (it actually inspired one of my stories hehe). thank you so much for your asks lovely, you really hit my taste spot on!!