#joe locke owns my whole heart

[wordsaresimple-imnot]

That final line - Joe Liebgott x F!Reader

Summary: Things have changed between Joe and Reader after bearing witness to the Concentration camp. They moved from being best friends to something more emotionally intimate. Now that the war in Europe is over will they cross the last line and become physically intimate?

Warnings: 18+ content (smut, p in v) angst-ish (mentions of war & concentration camp), comforting each other, tooth rotting fluff at end, she/her pronouns (no use of y/n or 1st person POV, but told from Liebgott's perspective sorta).

A/N: I have the biggest respect for the real life heroes of WWII (and all other wars, past & current), this work & all other works is based on the actor(s) and character(s) portrayed in the Band of Brothers series.

A/N pt 2: I love how this turned out. Basically this is just my own self-indulgence wish that I could have held and taken care of Liebgott after that scene of him crying in the truck. As always, let me know what you think! I tried a different writing perspective and I like it, hopefully you do too. Comments, likes, and reblogs make me happy and feel validated!

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Joe Liebgott would forever be a different man. Easy Company had just liberated Kaufering IV but that included locking the poor souls back up for the medics to be able to try and get them back from the brink of death. The whole thing had left Joe feeling broken and full of pure rage and despair he didn't know how to get rid of it. So he grabbed a bottle of wine and wondered till he found a tree isolated enough he wouldn't easily be found. He just needed space.

He'd been alone for hours, judging by how low the sun was hanging, bottle long since empty, and eyes sore and dry from tears when he heard a twig snap. Looking around the tree, his heart both swelled and shattered at the sight of the person walking towards him. She was his best friend, been that way since Toccoa and all through the war thus far. The only person that could calm him down when his hot-headedness got the better of him and always had his back in every combat situation. He never had to worry when she was around. She was also the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and had long since accepted that his heart would always speed up a little when she was in eyesight. While his heart had the usual reaction at seeing her, he couldn't help but feel broken anew at the sadness on her face and emptiness in her eyes. He wasn't the only one tore up from their recent experience.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." She speaks barely above a whisper as she drops down next to him, already leaning against his arm.

"I'm sorry, I just had to get away for a while. I should have found you and brought you with me." He leans over to drop a kiss on the top of her head.

There's a beat of silence and then she speaks again, still in a low whisper, "Do you think they'll make it?"

The words are a dagger to his already bruised and bleeding heart. He gives a small sniff, trying to hold back the fresh tears.

"I don't know." He feels her turn her body towards him and knows she's taking in his appearance detail by detail.

"You can let it out, Joe. I know this is tearing you up. Please don't hold it in and let it destroy you." One hand grasps his while the other gently takes his chin and turns his head so their eyes meet. He tries to push the emotions back down and come up with something to say, but he loses all resolve when her hand moves to cup his cheek and wipe away a stray tear that falls out.

Joe is suddenly wrapping his arms around her, pressing his face in the crook of her neck and letting it all out. He feels her shift them so he's laying mostly on her, her back against the tree and arms tightly wrapped around him. One hand is gripping the back of his jacket tightly, holding him to her, the other is gently stroking his head, and when he feels the side of his face getting wet he knows she's crying too.

They stay like that for hours, until the sun is nearly gone and all tears have been let out. Even after the tears, they don't move, finding too much comfort in holding each other. The only thing that gets them finally moving is their stomachs growling. Joe gets up first, holding his hand out to help her up and starts walking them back to find some food. He looks down briefly when he feels her intertwine their fingers and give his hand a squeeze. The first smile he's had in days makes it way across his face and he squeezes her hand back.

As the days dragged on ahead, their bond grew even tighter. There was a new level of safety and vulnerability that blossomed. Hands would brush more often, hugs turned tighter and longer, if they were able to they'd often be found napping together tangled limbs and all. It was as natural as breathing to seek the other out and before Joe knew it, he was hit with the realization that he was head-over-heels in love with his best friend.

The popping of yet another champagne bottle drags Joe from his mulling and takes in the sight around him with a smile. They are in the Eagles Nest, the war in Europe is over and everyone is finally able to relax and celebrate. He's sitting by Webster and Perco, watching the other's talk and laugh, already more than a little drunk. His smile widens when he catches her eye, sitting next to Malarkey and they salute each other from across the room.

"You ever gonna make a move, Lieb?" Perco's question lands like a bomb right in his stomach.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He looks at the man next to him like he's crazy, but inside he's frantic. Is it that obvious?

"Oh come on, Liebgott. The two of you have been attached at the hip the whole war, even back at training. We've all noticed the stolen looks between you. The wars over, just go for it." Webster gives him a shove, pointedly ignoring the glare Joe shoots at him.

"I gotta take a leak." Joe abruptly stands and leaves before either of them can continue their pestering. They're right, he knows they're right. Since accepting his feelings, the only thing that's been holding him back has been the on-going war. Sure there's still Japan to figure out but right now, their immediate part is over and he doesn't have to worry about dying and leaving her or worse losing her any second to a bullet or bomb.

Not actually needing the bathroom, he finds himself wondering the halls of the Eagles Nest and randomly picking a room to go into. It's spacious with a sitting area, a large comfortable bed sitting against the back wall, a door leading to an adjoining bathroom next to it and doors to the right leading to a balcony. He heads to the balcony, throwing the doors open and leans against the railing taking in the mountains and open valley. It's so quiet and peaceful, he doesn't know how to reconcile it with the horrors the owner and occupants have done to the people of this land.

"Why am I always having to search for you?" A soft, happy voice speaks behind him. Joe turns around and feels his breathe catch in his throat at how beautiful and easy going she looks, leaning around the doorframe to the balcony. When he didn't respond, she stands up a little straighter. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Joe shakes his head and moves to stand in-front of her, raising his hand to trail a finger down her cheek. "You're beautiful."

"How drunk are you?" Her voice is playful, but Joe knew his words were having an effect on her based on the blush she now had.

"Not even tipsy. But drunk or sober, you're still beautiful." His hand cups her cheek, tilts her head up a little to fully meet his eyes and he decides to cross that final line. "I love you. I love you fully and completely; body, mind, and soul. I need you, more than I need to breathe. If you don't feel the same, that's fine. I will lock my heart away to keep you in my life however you wish to be. But the war here is done and I'm out of reasons to not tell you how I feel. Tell me you don't feel the same and I'll respect that, but if you feel even close to what I feel please let me know."

Joe see's tears form in her eyes and for a heartbreaking second he's sure she's going to tell him 'no' and walk away. Then he feels her hands on his face and holds his breathe as she rises on her toes, stopping when her lips are barely brushing his.

"I love you, Joe. I'm yours; body, mind and soul." And then her lips are pressing against his and Joe thinks he's died and gone to heaven.

Their kiss is passionate and slow, taking full advantage that they don't have to rush and can take their time exploring. Joe starts nudging her backwards, back into the main room and towards the bed. A line of clothes marks their path as they help each other be rid of them, kissing freshly exposed shoulders and necks as they go. Soon enough they've managed to be rid of everything and tumble onto the bed in a heap.

Joe leans back just enough to take in the site of her underneath him. Face flushed, lips swollen and glossy from kissing, hair spread out like a halo, chest rising and falling hard as she tries to catch her breathe. He leans his head down pressing kisses to her neck, trailing down her collarbone, around the swell of her breast and ending at her nipple. He takes his time delivering languid licks and sucks, making her skin pucker and rise. Not wanting to leave the other one out of the fun, his hand cups, massages and pinches a little on the flesh there, his other hand hasn't stopped caressing any part of her skin he can reach.

If he has any doubts of how he's making her feel, the gasps and moans falling from her lips dispel them quickly. Soon enough her hands are in his hair and scratching down his back as she wraps her legs around his waist pulling him closer. Joe stops his minstrations on her breast with a groan when his erection is pressed right against her wet core and he can't help but roll his hips into her again. This time they both moan.

"Joe, please. I need you." Her voice is ragged and the lustful look in her eyes almost has him finishing right then. He shifts to the side a little, giving him room to run his hand down her side and cup her core. She's soaking and his brain short circuits a little.

His fingers make quick work of making sure she is coated properly, detouring to her clit to rub until she starts to whimper and pull at him. As he meets her eyes, he raises his fingers to his lips and sucks her taste off of them.

"Goddamn, baby. Next time I'm spending hours down there." He rushes out as he positions himself at her entrance. "But if I don't have you soon, I might die." He looks at her for confirmation that she's ready and when she nods, he starts pushing in slowly.

They groan together at the feel of him sliding into place like a puzzle piece coming home. Once he's bottomed out, he drops down to his elbows, putting more of himself on top of her and rests his forehead against hers. Her thighs tighten around him as she turns her head to kiss him.

"Move. Please." She bites his bottom lip at the same time she scratches his back again.

"Yes ma'am." He presses his lips firmly to her, swallowing the moan she lets out as he pulls out and quickly snaps back in. He finds a steady rhythm, angling his hips just right so he's brushing that sweet spot within her. Her back bows, pressing her chest further into his and exposes her neck to his lips. He doesn't waste any time placing a hard bite where it'll be hard to hide the mark already forming. This spurs something in her and soon her hands are in his hair, tugging his head to the side as she returns the favor.

Joe can tell she starts to get close to her release, as her walls start fluttering around him and her moans start becoming more frequent. He raises himself up, gripping the headboard with one hand and dropping his other hand down to rub her clit.

"I know you're close baby. Look at me as you let go." His voice is deep and commanding. Her eyes immediately lock onto his and his movements pick up speed. A few more hard thrusts and a pinch on her clit and she's moaning his name and clamping down around him. The feeling of her combined with his name falling from her lips like a prayer has him falling right behind her.

As they come down from their highs, they exchange slow kisses and 'I love you's'.

Bonus scene:

Not wanting to waste a beautiful day, the guys had decided to have an impromptu baseball game. Joe stood in his spot, waiting to bat next, sending a smile and wave to the stands where his girl was watching and cheering. They were getting ready for the next play when Winters came strolling across the field. They all crowded around him, fully expecting to hear their deployment orders for fighting Japan. Instead he was giving them the best news they'd heard since VE day. Japan had surrendered. The war, all of it, was finally over.

All the guys started cheering, exchanging hugs and pats on the backs. Joe see's her coming towards them at an easy jog, a curious look on her face. He gives her the biggest smile and runs right up to her, lifting her in his arms and spins her around.

"Japan surrendered. It's over. We're going home." Her smile matches his as she fully takes in his words and hugs him back. Just as quick as it started, Joe stops spinning her and sets her down on her feet, then he's down on one knee, holding her hands.

"Marry me. Come back home with me. Or wherever you wanna live. I don't care. Just marry me, please." Everything dulls around the edges as he holds his breathe, waiting for her response.

"Yes, Joe!" She smiles bright enough to blind the sun and then starts laughing when he jumps back up and starts spinning her around again. The only sound is the cheering of their friends and their hearts beating in sync.

[greattigerssimp]

Maybe childhood hc of the boxers (idk if this a weird req )??

It's not weird at all! Childhood hc's coming up + you can find more about their origins in my AU :>

Glass Joe 🇫🇷🥐

- Lived with his mom, dad, and his uncle, Gabriel (aka Gabby Jay). All his guardians all worked for very long hours (since living in Paris is pricey)

- His mom (Celine) and dad (Dion) were barely in his life because of it; Gabby was his primary caretaker

- Gabby was basically his best friend since he didn't have a lot as a child

- Has had asthma his whole life and was never ever good at sports or PE. (Bro does not smoke in this AU lmao)

- He's actually very smart! Loved writing and math, and is one of the few boxers that was able to go to college

- Some of his best childhood memories are with Gabby, whether it be going to see a play with him, or learning how to bake with him... they were insanely close.

- Went through a small emo phase when he was 13. He's still very embarrassed about it to this day.

Von Kaiser🇩🇪🔩

- Grew up in two different homes... for least part, he grew up with his ultra caring, ultra sweet single mom (named Emilia)... or for the most part, he grew up with his ultra strict, bigoted, and cruel grandparents (Agnes and Leopold)

- His grandparents are where his adulthood trauma stems from. They were horrible... as early as 6 years old, Kaiser was forced to cook, clean, have his bed made at 5 in the morning before school... that sorta thing.

- They punished hard, too. Name any outdated or cruel punishment towards a child, and they've probably done it. Screaming at him, breaking toys, locking him in the attic... and, of course, physical violence. Belt or hand, take your pick.

- Kaiser actually has a small premenant burn on his bottom left hip. It was when Agnes burned him with a hot pan as a kid... if anyone asks about it, he'll lie and quickly tell you it's a birthmark.

- Growing up with them, especially with his grandfather, he was taught to always bottle his feelings. This led him to being very social distant, both in school and when he eventually enrolled in technician school.

- His mom was pretty cool, though. She was an engineer (later an amputee, long after Kaiser moved out of Germany) and did her best to provide for her and her son. Because she had no other relatives and she didn't want Kaiser staying home alone every day (her job is very time demanding), she had to send him to live with his grandparents often.

- If his grandparents were alive today, they'd def be tweaking tf about Kaiser getting with not only a man but a French man.

Disco Kid 🇺🇲🕺

- Omg a childhood that isn't completely sad???

- Lived a comfortable, upper middle class with his mom (Zuri), his radio host dad (Kenneth), and his little sister, April.

- Naturally a very active child! He's been in and out of multiple sports, but dancing was by far his favorite.

- Also very close to his mom and adopted her love for disco and the 80s in general. They boxercise regularly together, and sometimes April will join them

- Certified prom king expert! The dude has completely owned every single school dance he's been to. This made him a popular kid with plenty of friends growing up.

King Hippo 🏝🦛

- Not much to say! Hippo was born an adult. He was a full-blown adult hippo before getting mutated into a human-hippo being. (See my AU for details)

- Has very few memories of his time on Hippo island... he just knows he was the leader of them, though.

Piston Hondo: 🇯🇵🥊

- Lived with his mom (Michi), his dad (Ryu), and his twin sisters, Aki and Aiko.

- Always busy. If he's not at school, he's most likely working at the family restaurant, called "Heart of the Hondo's, as a cook.

- Parents were strict but not outwardly abusive. They raised him right! Taught him responsibility, respect, discipline... everything that he is today.

- Aki and Aiko are little Aran Ryan level menace's... Hondo had to take care of them and make sure they never got into any trouble most days.

- Childhood friends with Heike Kagero ever since grade school.

- Very quiet, non-social kid, and mainly hung out with Heike. If he's not working or at school, he'd spend his time watching anime (mainly Sailor Moon) or reading manga. His sisters loooved teasing him about his love for Sailor Moon...

Overall, pretty good childhood! He has a lot of nostalgia for his childhood, too.

Bear Hugger 🇨🇦🐻

- Didn't have a very great relationship with his folks... at least not until his teen years, that is.

- His father (Caleb) was a big name hunter, and his mother (Elanor) specialized in taxidermy.

- They lived in a rural community in Salmon Arm, Canada.

- They weren't really mean or horrible people, but they didn't know Bear didn't agree with their actions... mainly because Bear never confronted them. At all.

- Got very rebellious as a teen and ran away from his folks one night with his squirrel, Spruce. To this day, his parents seriously think he got kidnapped or something, and nowadays, they actually have no idea Bear is a boxer now.

- Spent his whole childhood with Spruce and other animals. Ever since he was 4 years old, animals just had a natural gravitation towards him.

- Never saw his grieving parents again.

Great Tiger 🇮🇳🐯

- Legit doesn't remember his childhood well.

- He imagines it was pretty mundane and routinely.

- Thinks he had a childhood pet...? He could be wrong, though.

Don Flamenco 🇪🇸🥀

- Lived in a middle class home with his mom (Lucia) and his dad (Juan)

- His mom was VERY dotting and protective... girl would throw a shoe at you if you accidentally looked at her son the wrong way. She bragged about him a lot too. Girl definitely wore the pants in her relationship.

- Ofc, even if Don's mother was clingy and protective of her "sweet baby angel" son, it didn't stop a certain blonde tourists parents from convincing her to let Don leave Spain...

- In terms of childhood, Don was a very popular kid for how social he was. He wasn't a particularly behaved student though.

- Definitely became a jock in his team years, sporting a large male friend group.

- Loved by his community, especially after his dad introduced him to the matador business at a young age.

- Smaller hc here, but was definitely on a swim team. Idk, I feel like that'd be a thing.

- Even smaller hc; Lucia is actually Latina (from Columbia), and his dad is a native Spaniard. This makes Don mixed race, technically :3

Aran Ryan 🇮🇪😈

- Lived in the outskirts of Dublin with his father (Oscar), his 6 younger siblings, including the one was closest to the most, a year younger sister named Brooke.

- Grew up on a small sheep farm, with lots of responsibilities, similar to Hondo. He looked after his siblings, his siblings did farm work, and his father fed them that night. That's how it worked.

- Was homeschooled

- Fought with Brooke a lot, except he was always the instigator. Brooke was a sharp contrast to his personality, being an intellectual and a stickler for rules and safety.

- On again off again relationship with his dad. Some days and nights were awesome, but some nights and days were awful...

- His dad was a hard punisher, and he wasn't afraid to spank or use the belt. He also definitely played favorites with all of the siblings.

- Rowdy sibling, and got into trouble the most. Either that or his dad couldn't handle his adhd.

- Runs away during hard fights, either to a local pub or into a sheep pen

- Had this small childhood toy, a stuffed lamb he named "lucky," that he sleeps with every night... and to this day!

Soda Popinski 🇷🇺🍾

- Grew up in a small, low-income community with his mom (Petra), his hard working dad (Grigory), and his short older sister named Svetlana.

- Absolutely adored child. Basically friends with all his neighbors, and was known as this gentle, soft-spoken giant.

- Naturally very tall kid

- Him and Svetlana were nearly always on the same wavelength, it was almost scary at times. They were basically besties

- Worked as a box carrier alongside school

- Parents are humoursly short compared to him. Funnier because they're very sweet and supportive of him, but not to an overbearing extent

Bald Bull 🇹🇷🐂

- Social shut in + anger issues

- His autism made it hard to understand other kids, so he didn't have a lot of friends

- Can't remember his parents well

- Nothing too notable here

Super Macho Man 🇺🇸🌊

- Very rich actors' parents (Sophia and Lucas) that weren't really parents. They were more like acting agents for young Macho Man.

- Didn't do well at school, and was often taken out so he could focus on his inevitable acting career

- Looks SO different from how he did as a kid... as a kid, he was a tiny blonde boy with a cute smile and rosey dimples. A far cry from how Macho Man looks now...

- Loved the beach, but his parents never brought him there much. He'd sneak off with friends often to be at the beach. Loved swimming, surfing and the ocean.

- His parents dropped all contact with him once reports of him being a spoiled, terrible actor to work with made public. They didn't wanna take credit for the kid they raised lol

- Loved action movies as a kid, had a ton of merchandise

Mr. Sandman 🟢🥊

- First of all, dude will never spill the beans about his childhood if you ask.

- Had absolutely incredible parents that he loved a lot. He lived with his kindhearted, if shy mother (Destiny) and his strong, wise father (Miles).

- Loved boxing ever since he was a boy... his childhood room was adorable, adorned with posters, action figures, and even trading cards.

- Strong, sporty kid who participated in multiple little leagues. He laughed and smiled way more during fights as a kid...

- Moved to NY when he was a teen to get recognized... Mr. Dream picked him up for training and stardom.

- Saw his parents less and less the more he worked with Mr. Dream... but Mr. Dream needed full control over him for true greatness.

- His childhood officially ended when his parents never came home from work one day because Mr. Dream had them murdered...

If anyone wants childhood hc for any particular boxer not mentioned, please comment them!~

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 6 part 1

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1])

ooh the "magick" mitzvah? I've been puzzling about the connection between william and billy, that's an interesting detail. I'll elaborate in a minute

I've seen a lot of irony about joe locke clearly not being 13 here, but the thing is, sometimes boys do suddenly hit puberty and have an insane growth spurt! and then you get the hilarious visuals of some guy sitting in a tiny desk in a classroom full of children.

my point being, they should have had joe dancing with a bunch of actual 13 year olds, it would have been so fucking funny

I love mama and papa kaplan, and it really gets to me that they lost their boy and don't even know it. I was worried about billy's episode because I thought it would be just a bunch of marvel tie-ins with no heart. glad to report I was wrong

lilia who hates witch stereotypes performing those very stereotypes in order to not fucking starve

william's reflection is billy reversed

lilia foresees william's death and billy's takeover, and she is SO sorry for him. patti as usual conveys so much, you can tell her heart is breaking but she's being kind and lying in order to not scare this poor kid. and this is exactly why being a Seer has always been a burden to lilia, how do you form any relationships, how do you love someone when you've already seen the day you're going to lose them?

“The Tower Reversed.” disaster, destruction, sudden upheaval. but reversed, it means miraculous transformation.

and there is something about lilia choosing this moment as the most representative for billy, a moment that symbolize both billy and william. this is future!lilia embracing her own strength and reclaiming the coven and the community she denied herself her whole life. and not only she includes billy in it, but also william as a fundamental part of billy, a kid that she protected and cherished despite meeting him only briefly.

not only lilia goes above and beyond for william, hiding the truth from him, inviting him to enjoy the party she knows will be his last. she hides the sigil on him so she can protect billy too, because she knows that another little boy is about to wake up in a strange reality and be so lost. she tells william he's a good egg, but she is the goodest egg.

I love the little choices here. wanda's voice on the radio, pretending she's in an idyllic sitcom marriage. and a real life marriage where wanda's 1950s tropes are reversed, rebecca is the one who drives and grabs her husband's hand to reassure him.

another great detail: the dissolving Hex reflected in the car window.

the parallels are taking my breath away. two moms, agatha and rebecca, fiercely loving and protective. both would blame themselves for their sons dying.

but sometimes, boys die. and to quote jac shaeffer, that is tragedy enough to fill the universe.

you can hear william's heart slow down and stop. then, when billy takes over, it starts beating like crazy.

and here's alice, who's also never met william (or billy) before, but she will unquestionably do her utmost to help.

I miss you so much, alice

he's so scared. the way he shakes his head and doesn't know where to look.

imagine being born yesterday, and suddenly you are in a different body and your head is cracked and you're surrounded by strangers. and your brother is nowhere.

that is the worst omelet I've ever seen in my life by the way

(also I know billy is used to instant growth, but imagine switching from child to teenager just like that, it's like going through puberty in two seconds. kafkaesque nightmare fuel)

and it's just so realistic and so moving that the kaplans are presenting a united front even though they are crumbling underneath. and they won't say any of it out loud because they are good fucking parents and it's their job to protect and worry without their kid ever feeling guilty about it. (billy does end up reading their minds because they're not equipped to parent a superhero yet. not that they wouldn't RAISE TO THE FUCKING CHALLENGE. I love you rebecca and jeff kaplan)

william liked classic movies, board games and magic tricks. there were budding hints at a goth vibe too, with dario argento quotes and creepy victorian posters. it doesn't seem at all incompatible with the person billy will eventually grow up to be, I know he had to settle into william's life, but he didn't revolutionize any of it, he kind of followed in william tracks. I think that yes, william died just as wanda dissolved the hex and it was a wrong place and wrong time kind of situation, but he also had to be a compatible donor - as similar as billy as possible, I don't know if genetically or soul-wise or what. they even look a bit similar, same ears, same nose, same eyes, same chin, same triangular face.

these guys really like doing mirror shots, don't they

by the way I will keep calling him Boyf because it's so damn funny, but I do know his name is eddie and I'm really really happy for the representation. there won't be any particularly deep meta about these two because gay boys are so, so far from my realm of interest or expertise, I'm sorry if you were looking forward to it. if you want to add context or ideas about them please do!

another possibility is that billy's soul, while not having any of wiliam's memories, was still shaped and conditioned by his dna and brain chemistry and past experiences, so in a sense william is still in there. you put software in a different hardware, it's gonna affect its performance.

I'll say this about boyf, he's very sweet. billy gives him this crazy story and he doesn't flinch, he just tries to understand and be supportive.

*cough cough* nerd

but look, he's pulling a detective agnes! he really is an agatha mini me.

ah yes, the future coven looking after billy even before meeting him. lilia giving him the sigil, alice being first responder on the site of the accident, jen saving his dating life by teaching him good skincare (he's a teenager! he's got pimples!)

you guys, I hope you don't mind me dedicating some time to billy alone, but I do like this episode a lot.

and tomorrow: it's the return of butch agatha!

[witchofthemidlands]

after @senhorita-girassol incredibly well worded post, i felt like i could finally come out & talk about how uncomfortable i feel in this fandom at the moment.

my favourite comic book character in history is wanda maximoff | the scarlet witch because she was the first comic book character i ever saw in the first comic book i ever had as a child, she is the character that began my love for comics, but i don't really make that many posts about wanda on her own anymore because i don't want people to assume i agree with how members of her fanbase act & i have wanted to talk about this for sometime because i don't want people to assume the worst of me because wanda is my favourite marvel character.

i mean, i won't hide it, i personally hated the ending of multiverse of madness, i hate that the creators of multiverse of madness talked about how they didn't watch wandavision like it was some kind of a badge of honour that they hadn't because it seemed disrespectful to the phenomenal work jac schaeffer had done & i do hope that one day there's a way back for wanda one day because she's my favourite comic book character & i don't like that she ended her life, that felt too much to me, i found that incredibly difficult to process. i'd have personally rather she'd banished herself to somewhere with no way back but THAT DOESN'T MATTER!!! it happened, it was devastating to me, it breaks my heart just thinking about it similarly to how i felt when pietro was killed but he never came back & eventually i moved on, despite still being sad about his journey ended in live action. sometimes you can't always get what you want & that's normal, characters are killed off, that's just how it is, sometimes that's just how the story works out, sometimes the actor doesn't want to continue or the franchise wants to move on without that character, it's upsetting but that's the way it goes & yes, if it's your favourite character like wanda is mine, then it's a difficult pill to swallow, you are valid for feeling upset & valid for grieving the loss of the character you've loved so much but it's fiction, there's scenepacks, multiple comic books, there's fanfiction & currently ongoing comic books about the character, i am just grateful we had wanda for as long as we did & i can always go back & watch her content whenever i want to, to me at least now, to want anything more makes me feel like i'm being greedy.

there's also the fact that never did i think she'd have any relevance in agatha all along, other than various comments here & there, perhaps confirming without a doubt (that they have) that wanda is dead & gone & not coming back BECAUSE SHE SHOULDN'T, it's agatha's show, i mean to me, this show is a blessing because it's about agatha harkness, my second favourite comic book character ever & when i was a kid i never imagined for a second that one day my favourite comic book characters would be in live action like this, that'd i'd get all the content that i got on wanda & i especially never imagined that i'd get so much content on a supporting character like agatha or the mesmerising lilia & the gorgeous jennifer kale but we have a whole show dedicated to these characters, i am getting to see these characters i loved & grew up with be developed & explored in ways that just blow my mind, especially agatha, i mean she was the second comic book character i ever saw in my first comic, this is absolutely phenomenal.

then there's billy too & honestly i was blown away last night i mean, yeah i thought that it would have his backstory woven in with scenes of agatha, lilia, jen & rio on another trial as it's “agatha all along” & there's one thing to make a bunch of lighthearted jokes about the other characters being sidelined without being cruel. i mean wow, joe locke carried that episode beautifully, he embodied one of my favourite comic book characters in such a raw & emotional way, it is just fantastic to see him in live action like this & that he wants his twin brother tommy as the prize that waits for him at the end of the road because that's his twin brother, are you telling me that if wanda could find a way of reuniting with pietro that she wouldn't want that? tommy has often been shoved aside in the comics so to see him be the one billy wants is absolutely beautiful to me as, billy finding tommy first is what happened in the comics & to get the news that tommy, one of my other favourite side comic book characters may get explored in detail in live action is the most exciting news & more than i ever could have hoped for, what with again, the amount of times tommy has been shoved to off the side in the comics.

for me at least for me my passionate love for wanda extends to all the characters connected to her so to get any new content on the characters like agatha or billy or tommy or pietro or lorna or erik & vision makes me feel like the luckiest fan around. would i like wanda to come back, to have a project about the witches with agatha, meet lilia, jen & alice, reunite with her sons, vision & agatha so that they can have the relationship they had in the comics? yes, that would be an absolute dream to me but i wouldn't expect that to happen for YEARS & i don't really expect that to happen at all because to me at least: wanda is dead & there are no intentions to bring her back.

honestly it breaks my heart to see people be like this because it makes me question my love for the character that began my journey into comics when i was a kid & that i want to keep quiet & hide how much i love wanda because it'll make people think that i am just as bad & annoying as these “fans” who are being so cruel to others like me who are just trying to enjoy agatha harkness's, billy | wiccan's, lilia, jen, alice & potentially even tommy | speed's time to shine.

again, for me who's journey into comics began with wanda & agatha together, the character of wanda maximoff | the scarlet witch wouldn't mean quite as much without agatha harkness, without billy | wiccan & without tommy | speed. let people enjoy what the incredible, fantastic creator of wandavision & agatha all along, the person who understands so much about my favourite comic book characters & has adapted them wonderfully, jac schaeffer, is creating without being hateful because you're disappointed that it's not given you what you thought it would despite the fact it's been said time & time again by the creators & actors that it wouldn't.

i hope one day i can find part of the fanbase that wants to interact with me about a mutual love for wanda & loves my favourite comic book character as much as i do without dragging down my other favourite comic book characters because it really makes the fandom feel incredibly unwelcome & that i shouldn't have the love that i do for my favourite character & honestly that's not what fandoms should be about.

[slutouttanowhere]

Joe Hendry x black!oc

Theme: fluff

a/n: honestly I had no idea who this man was like two months ago, but now I can’t stop playing his damn song(s). I love him ya honor, and I ain’t never going back! No but seriously Joe Hendry has warped my brain cells, he’s handsome, Scottish, plays guitar!!! Like what’s not to love? So here you moots go, just a cute little one just for funsies, y’all know me always cooking. Reblog, and follow for more 🎸

When Joe first joined nxt, you were far from interested in anybody. Lash and Jakara has tried to talk you into hooking up with one of the boys multiple times, but you always decline. “Y’all know my career comes first.”

Joe had his eyes on you from the moment you crossed his path. Five foot two, gorgeous, deep brown skin, and a little stubborn. Nothing he couldn’t handle. Every time he’d watch you walk past him, he noticed you would slow your pace a tad giving him a show.

Admittedly, you did find Joe handsome, his platinum blonde hair made his pretty brown eyes stand out. Every time he smiled his dimples pressed into his cheeks, and he had this dorky way about him but secretly loved it. He clearly was very confident in himself. You always knew when he was in the building because there would be a bunch of the girls standing in a group giggling, and sure enough, Joe would be at the forefront grinning charmingly. You even caught Perez snickering at one of his jokes.

Of course Jakara and Lash got tired of watching the two of you eye fuck each other every week, so they took it upon themselves to get you two together. At first you and your girls are walking down the halls chatting about the usual, and the next Lash had quite literally shoved you into Joe. Once your eyes locked that was it, your hands pressed firmly to his muscular chest, and his hands held you by the hips.

The way Joe went about showing his affection for you was in a grand way every time, meaning you got your very own song curtesy of the man himself. He felt serenading you in front of the whole world might have been a touch too much for the first time, so he asked you out on a picnic date. “You look beautiful kitten.” His eyes took you in, then grabbed your hand, and pressed his lips to your skin. You sat on the soft quilted blanket, your legs tucked underneath you, and a drink in your hand as you looked up at your handsome Scottish heart throb.

He sang softly to you as he strum his acoustic guitar with accuracy, “who told you I liked Ed Sheeran?” You questioned him when he was done with his performance. He gently put the guitar down, planted a soft kiss on your lips, and sat cross legged in front of you.

“Oh I do my research sweetheart.” He bragged arrogantly, his finger tapped you on the nose, then took a sip of his drink. His eyes lingered on you, committing your every feature to his memory, a small smiles turned onto his lips as he thought about how hard headed you were in the beginning. It was obvious to him that maybe you liked him, but you put in zero effort to let him know that. No, you made him chase you. Even when your friends intervened, it took a few tries to get you to say yes to a date.

You looked up from your croissant, with half of it still in your mouth you giggled a little. “What?” You offered the other half of the bread, he smiled at you, his pretty brown eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Butterflies swooned the pit of your tummy, and all you could think about was how special he’s made you feel.

“Nothing, just enjoying my view.” He spoke honestly, you like breathtaking with the sun setting behind you, and the wind blowing a crisp breeze causing your pretty curls to tousle around. You made something as simple as pink, and white look so angelic, the complete opposite of your in ring gear. You got up on your knees, and scooted towards him till your legs were touching. He held you by the waist securely so you wouldn’t topple over. You took his face in your hands, and pressed your lips to his in a deep heated kiss. His tongue pushed past your lips, and caressed the inside of your mouth, you didn’t fight it.

He moaned into your mouth as your hands slid down his neck, then rested on his muscular chest, which to your surprise was actually soft. He loved the taste of you, sweet like fresh fruits, and the tenderness of your body. You straddled his lap, your thighs on either side of him. You didn’t care if anyone saw you, his lips felt too good, you only pulled away to press wet kisses to his neck, that’s when he began to protest. “As much as I want to spread you open right here on this blanket, we are global icons on tv every week.” His breathing was already picking up from the teasing, it didn’t take much for you to excite him. He kissed you on your forehead, you wanted to argue, but he was right. So instead you opted for lying on his chest under the pink lemonade sky, and after the sun fully went down Joe helped you pack up everything. The drive home was long, but of course the care karaoke helped with that. Eventually you passed out in the passenger seat half way through, Joe turned the music down, and let you get some rest on the way back to your apartment.

[anecdotal-acorn]

I AM A CHANGED WOMAN. OH MY G-D. I can't think coherently. But here are my thoughts on Sweeney Todd (3/30/24 matinee)

Act I

- I almost jumped out of my skin when they said “swing your razor high, Sweeney,” in Ballad of Sweeney Todd, like if that was possible I would have done it lol; the ensemble was so scary, there was a bright white light change, and the music got super loud, it was awesome

- Seeing Joe Locke in that opening number, something about him made me realize “oh he's gonna be great,” like his really intense pained vibes, his Toby really wears his heart on his sleeve

- WHEN AARON JUMPED OUT WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON HIM!!!!!!!!!!!! I think my soul left my body (& it's still in the theater)

- Aaron’s weird cockney accent that he clearly has so much pride in, like King you could've just done a normal voice but no, he chose to do his own strange thing and it was giving Prince James One Royal Holiday (his Hallmark movie, iykyk) tbh

- When Mrs. Lovett threw flour across the stage at Sweeney to get his attention in Worst Pies

- The shadow/silhouette projections going through the story in Poor Thing, they were so tantalizing they actually managed to distract me from Aaron lol

- AARON’S MY FRIENDS WAS LIKE HEARING AN ANGEL SING FR

- It really didn't seem like he snapped when he said “my right arm is complete,” it seemed like he was a depressed man who finally found passion and drive again, not someone who was going crazy

- Maria was IMMACULATE as Johanna, the most gorgeous voice and acting…her halting, jerky movements really showed how damaged Johanna is, yet she still had this grace about her underneath, true beauty that couldn't be stamped out of her, even with all she endures

- Joe Locke was so light on his feet in Miracle Elixir (also he seemed to be having a great time, which goes for everyone during the whole show honestly)

- The lights changed color with each line of the song, like there was orange, white, then blue

- Aaron leaned over when he was standing by his little razor table and Sutton’s Mrs. Lovett ate that shit up, she crouched down to check out his butt for a solid twenty seconds

- When the Judge came into the shop Aaron had this huge grin on his face, he was so excited to kill him and he just spent too long relishing the moment

- Epiphany was a full-body experience I swear

- When Mrs. Lovett stared at his package in A Little Priest

- And then Aaron laughed when he pointed down at her cupped hands and said “what's that,” you could tell it was a genuine laugh from Aaron and not a Sweeney thing

- Aaron’s buttery voice when he sang “the history of the world, my pet”

- And he did a little growl too (don't look at me. DON'T)

Act II

- his voice was SO well-suited for Johanna Act II

- SUTTON FOSTER’S FEET IN BY THE SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping SO HARD that she would do that, and she did and it did not disappoint; Miss Foster how does it feel to be living out my dreams, thank you queen for letting me see that and live vicariously through you <33333333333

- she struck a pose like she was taking photos for Playboy when she said “me in stripes”

- “Not While I’m Around” was emotional af, Joe Locke did not have to go that hard but he fucking did

- For some reason I was the only one who clapped when Johanna shot Fogg? Is that not an applause-worthy moment??

- He was so giddy when he finally killed the Judge

- Aaron actually scared me when he was gonna kill Johanna, and esp when he chased down the stairs after her like a hulking monster

- the scariest thing was that even as things unraveled, he didn't seem to be “losing it”; he seemed to be getting even more intent on his revenge, stronger, more deft and precise, more confident, more powerful in his evilness

- he was scary af when they were looking for Toby too, so menacing

- his growl when he said “you lied to me”

- how he crawled towards Mrs. Lovett like an animal and scrabbled at the floor to grab her

- How loud the fire roared when he put Mrs. Lovett inside

- his body language (hunched shoulders, limp limbs/posture) seemed maybe almost remorseful once he threw her in the fire? Like as if he was thinking I'm glad I did that, I had to, but I'm exhausted and can't exactly process that she’s actually gone because of me

- The way Johanna held Anthony close when she saw the bodies

- Aaron’s acting when Toby killed Sweeney—he didn't fight him off, he just looked so sad and tired, like he wanted to be dead (what a wonderful interpretation of the lyric “she was his reason and his life”)

- UGH when Sweeney and Lovett hold hands and step into the pit, finally weightless, they’ve got each other, Sutton and Aaron are right, it IS a love story, oh my g-d my heart

I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop thinking about this. It was SO GOOD!!!!! Anyway thanks for reading my rambles if you got this far hahaha, hope you have a lovely day

[oohbuggypie]

"and as he wept, he wept and said, 'Oh, my.. Oh, my.. Would to God I had died for He'"

this is fully inspired by @goferwashere 's PO!! Monster Hunter AU 🩷 depicted is Don Flamenco in his monster form being held in his last moments by Joe. the writing that describes their fight, Don's death, and Joe's regret are all below the cut as its very long. but WOW i just could not get this idea out of my head . thank u soo much Gofer for the amazing AU and thank u to the whole community for being my courage to be brave and release something a little less cutesie than usual ! 🥹 additional details i rlly want to be known::

-the tattoo on Don' torso is an altered version of that in the regular PO!! universe; the one depicted reads "COLOSSIANS 3:2" :: the verse's meaning is "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things". this is meant to reflect his disdain for humans, and how he views them as lesser

-the stab wound placement is below Don's right pectoral; this is in reflection of Jesus Christ's 5th wound he suffered whilst being crucified. additionally, it is said that what seeped from the wound wasn't only blood, but water as well; i found this very fitting for his character for obvious reasons lol

-the lyrics above the drawing are a condensed / altered version from the choral piece "David's Lamentation", one of my favorite songs ever !

phewph okay writing time ! unfortunately i have never written angst, let alone fighting OR death .. this is also being released about half an hour shy of midnight on bad sleep so proofreading is out of the question.. this is prob a hard read but I STAY CONFIDENT ! here we gooo 🩷::

-------------------------------------------------------

Don hissed and swung his fist in an aimless direction, hearing the collision's result come in the form of an agonized grunt from the man near him. Blind rage mingled with fear consumed Don's body in a way God himself forbade, yet he continued to batter any flesh that came into contact with his.

Joe's entire being ached, his eye now burning from the knuckles that dug into it just moments ago. He clenched it shut and let the obscurity of his vision drive his instincts to wherever they were necessary. He aimed to return the punch with his own fist plunging to meet Don's stomach, momentarily knocking the air from his lungs. As Don's arms instinctively lowered to gaurd where his sore flesh was struck, Joe snarled and drew his left arm back to slam a fist into Don's cheek. The siren felt a coursing agony not only externally, but through his heart. He knew what would come, yet he continued to bare his teeth. He ripped apart anything which bothered him and felt no haunting ring in his mind. Though this time, he feared that the bells would toll.

Joe took full advantage of the temporary stun he inflicted upon Don and wrapped his hands around the man's throat. Joe kicked Don's ankle in so that he buckled beneath his own weight, dropping them both to meet the floor. Joe felt a shake within his bones, like the structures in his own body didn't want him to do this. He didn't want to. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Yet his body moved now without his mind, pressing his entire weight into the neck of the helpless man below him. Don couldn't stand the desperation that racked his body, and above that distaste, he couldn't bare to look up at the deathly eyes staring into his own. The man who he called a friend held less semblance to a human and now closer to a wraith, some wretched figure distorted by horror. His skin appeared a sickly gray in the darkness of the gym's room, and had his hands always been this coarse and cold? Nonetheless, for the present time Don disregarded the friend he once had and viewed him now as a step above a pet; competition.

Don snarled and thrashed beneath the body of Joe and locked his hands around the arms above. His brain felt like a searing gas within his head, but that lack of consciousness was immediately replaced by instinct. Don slid his hands down to grip Joe's wrists and ripped them outwards with a fell swipe. Joe wasn't spared a second to process the motion before his nose was slammed by Don's forehead. A pained cry was all his voice could manage before his vision flickered black.

-----

When he awoke, only seconds has passed since he blacked out. With a horrified start, Joe began to thrash his arms through the water engulfing him. His legs kicked in the same motion, his left heel slamming into an excruciating pressure seeming to bind his right ankle. The force released as soon as it felt his bruising strike against it. Joe desperately made strokes with his arms upwards, looking for any form of light to signify what differentiated the surface from the bottom. Joe felt a darkness reigning upon him as another figure trailed close behind, its presence growing heavier with each struggling wave of his arms throughout the pool.

Joe's face broke the surface. Without a second to catch his breath, he began scanning the area with bewildered eyes for the nearest edge. His loafers felt like bricks tied to his ankles, and the turtleneck he donned was quickly becoming suffocating. A short distance behind him, a splash breaking the water's tension drove Joe into fight or flight. His arms clawed in front of him with strokes large enough to leave his arms aching the next day, yet that same pain was his drive to reach the edge quicker. He gripped the ledge of the hard floor and hoisted himself above the edge, rushing into a position where his knees and one arm balanced his body upright. With his unoccupied hand, he reached where the bells tolled and the colors sank. Joe frantically patted his pocket for where the knife's sheath bulged.

Don arose from the water he resided in just seconds after his former partner. Joe ripped the leather from his pocket and reached into it, gripping the handle as if he was warding death itself away. His knuckles were white with pressure, and his wide eyes locked on the man inches from himself. Don's eyes were sickly and no longer passing as human; the bags beneath them were a bruised purple, and where the whites of his eyes should be were replaced by a glassy blue. His brows dug wrinkles into his forehead like malicious scars upon skin. And the worst of it all was the death-like frown that crumpled his entire facial structure; it drew his eyes in a downward spiral, and his lips curled against his flesh like desperate hands digging into anything for hold.

With his chest exposed and either arms beside him as means to lift himself, Joe raised his blade and drudged it into Don's flesh.

Don's eyes fell like the world's light upon an empty room, and the sharp inhale in his throat thrummed akin to the death rattle. Despite the metal lodged deep within his chest, he managed the strength to drag himself from his home's grasp and to lay on the freezing tile below him. Joe's hands left his mouth as he let out some visceral shout that made cherubs above weep. He scurried across the soaked floor to examine the man before him. Joe slammed himself down upon the floor and struggled to lift him, eventually draping Don's being across his own. Don's arms rested against Joe's bent knees, and his head tilted into his chest with slowing breaths beating against his sweater. The remaining warmth of his breath settling on his own shoulder resembled the comfort of a blanket upon a child's cold body. Joe felt static piercing through his brain and throughout his ears.

He slid his trembling hand to grab the hilt of his blade, yanking it from between Don's ribs with a crumbling expression upon his face. Where the stab wound remained open, Joe rested his hand on its opening and let the blood seep onto his skin. He lowered them to graze the rest of Don's torso, creating an up and down rhythm almost as if to comfort him. He felt a dread in his stomach nothing in his life had ever compared to; he had killed numerous times before this, and for pettier reasons. But the understanding of what he had just done settled upon him like the smothering embrace of a rotting being. Joe lost any remaining thoughts in his mind as small, breaking moans passed the pursing lips of Don.

Don's body felt washed by shades of baby blue. His eyed fixated on an empty and quickly fading horizon. The right side of his body held a sensation that reminded him of familiarity; dripping water and warm waves caressing his flesh. Though this time, the sea seemed to be accompanied by rainfall. Don couldn't muster the strength to look up, let alone turn his head, but he felt warm droplets fall upon his hair. The fog that began swallowing his mind didn't allow him to understand where the water's source was coming from. They dropped rapidly now, dripping enough so that they slid across his own cheeks; they made up for the lack of his own tears. The air that was becoming increasingly hard to keep in his grasp now filled with a tune, a rhythm similar to those he practiced when dancing.

"Je suis désolé, je suis vraiment désolé, oh..."

Don couldn't understand the words, couldn't sing along to the beautiful tune that seemed to hail from Heaven itself. It broke his heart a bit, seeing that one of his greatest attributes was his ethereal singing voice. But the words soothed his soul, and held this wonderous ability to make his eyes feel comfortable closing.

"Oh, mon Dieu... Oh, mon Dieu, pardonne-moi... Pardonne-lui aussi..." Joe heaved, his hands clutching the bloodied skin of Don's torso. His body shook with a might that caused Don's own body to tremor along with his.

Don wished he knew what those words meant. Don wished he could hear the voice sing in his ears forever, let the melody echo throughout the chambers of his fading mind every second of every waking moment. Don's face fell cold, and his body felt as if it was losing its occupation; but fear never crossed his mind when his vision finally began to fade. He loved the hands running up and down his body, loved the warmth cascading against his side, loved the song, he loved this moment. He let his breath soften and slip from his mind's priorities, and now focused on shutting his eyes to rest.

The last thing Don truly felt was the slipping of beads across his collar bones.

-----

Joe removed the rosary from around Don's neck and let its wooden roses slide into a pile inside his unused pocket. He vowed that the blade would make no contact with the necklace.

Joe couldn't and didn't think as he laid the body of his sweet friend down to rest away from his own. He looked once more into the drained yet softened features of Don's face; his lips looked soft against his chin, and his brows no longer furrowed in such a dreadful way. Joe stood for moments, spending minutes staring down at the body now devoid of life on the floor. The worst sight of the entire night was the wound beneath the right side of Don's chest. And even upon staring at it, running his eyes over it again and again, Joe just couldn't think deeper about it.

He turned his back from the death that loomed behind him and exited through the double doors of the room. Joe stalked off into the night, letting the world's air solidify the agonizing tears that stained his cheeks, down to his neck.

END !! thanks 4 reading if u did and thank u 2 anybody who sees this !! now im gonna go ahead and pass out it's 11:45 PM and im sick 🩷

[dangermousie]

Oh, brother...aka keeping it in the (royal) family

I recently realized that for some reason “multiple brothers one girl” seems to be a popular category in costume dramas. I am not sure why such sharing is necessary in a polygamous society for fancy royals each of whom can get himself a whole harem, but I am not complaining that it appears any remake of the Hollywood classic “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” would clearly be changed into “One Bride for Seven Brothers, and Some of the Brothers Spit Blood and Die” if it were a cdrama. Here are some of the dramas at issue. 

Liu Shi Shi appears to be the queen of this subgenre to such an extent that I am vaguely wondering if it’s in her contract. We are gonna start with THREE of her dramas:

Bu Bu Jing Xin - Liu Shi Shi has not one, not two, but THREE hot royal brothers, played by Nicky Wu, Kevin Cheng and Lin Gengxin, pine for her time-traveling self. Since this is an exquisite (no, seriously, it’s amazing) period piece about loss and longing, she ends up with none of them, instead of a hot vagely-’cesty gangbang as one might expect from that set-up.

Lost Love in Times - poor Liu Shi Shi, she’s a sexy witch having to pick between William Chan and his shady brother Joe Xu. To make it even trippier, the two actors look like each other, to really hammer the whole “siblings want her” theme.

The Imperial Doctress - why bust what’s not broken? It’s the true and tried Liu Shi Shi and hot royal brothers formula. She’s a doctor who spends most of her time practicing medicine, escaping barbarians and creating feminism, not noticing that as she pines for one royal brother played by Huang Xuan, another royal brother, played by infinitely hotter Wallace Huo, is pining for her.

Gong/Jade Palace Lock Heart - if Liu Shi Shi is the queen of that set up, Feng Shao Feng is the king, what with this and Military Seal, both of which star Yang Mi. Clearly, there are worse ways to make a career than stealing Yang Mi from a royal brother. Here, Yang Mi is a spunky time traveler in the middle of Kang Xi’s sons’ fight for the throne. She first falls for Four but ends up with Eight. In between, she offers to bang Four to save Eight as one does. Gives a whole new meaning to sharing is caring and “have you brought enough for the entire class?”

Legend of the Military Seal - Yang Mi and FSF strike again. FSF is madly in love with his brother’s wife, and since she’s not afflicted by blindness, she shares his feelings. Surprisingly, but delightfully, happy ending ensues. 

Who Rules the World - more like which brother rules awesome Zhao Lusi’s heart. Going by the rule of “hottest brother wins,” Yang Yang gets the girl in a drama that is pretty yum yum.

Colourful Bone - one hot seriously whumped out royal brother and one whiny immature one, oh who should the heroine pick? This drama stands for the proposition that you should protect and save abused people, especially if they are hot men, since they will always turn out to be an emperor in disguise. This drama btw is one giant kinkfest for yours truly.

The Eternal Love - you could make THREE whole seasons out of timetravel and brothers into the same girl, who knew.

Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty - if you’ve seen Gong or BBJX, you know the drill. Horde of queued brothers queueing for the heroine.

(Mine and all my brothers’, that is -Ed.)

Princess Jieyou - Yuan Hong narrowly escaped the curse of fancying his brother’s woman in BBJX, being about the only sibling not in love with LSS in that one. But clearly, you can’t fight fate and shortly thereafter he’s got to be a sister-in-law luster in a drama of his very own. He is a barbarian general who falls in love with a woman only to discover she’s to marry his brother. Angst and deliciousness and eventual happy ending (the husband fulfilled the uglier brother’s duty by eventually kicking the bucket.)

The Promise of Chang’an - if you want to watch brothers with the same woman but no happy ending, and have already watched BBJX, I present this recent drama where Cheng Yi gets to, as always, suffer beautifully watching the woman he loves marry his annoying brother. Pretty much everyone dies at the end of this one, going off to a great big threesome in the sky.

Twisted Fate of Love - will Sun Yi pick the delicate Tan Jianci or the sexy as fuck bastard that is Jin Han? Being a smart woman, she picks the latter and my hormones rejoice.

Go Princess Go - this is a drama that parodied every cliche there is, so why not brothers into one woman? Who is actually a man in a woman’s body making it even more delightful!

Ashes of Love - even being divine, with women from three separate realms available will seemingly not prevent love interests being a scarce resource leading to sibling love rivalry. Deng Lun and Luo Yunxi duke it out ostensibly for Yang Zi but in reality for who can suffer more prettily. Deng Lun might get the girl, but LYX wins the suffering crown, so it all more or less evens out.

Princess Silver - are siblings in love with the same woman not spicy enough for you? How about TWINS in love with the same woman? One awesome (Aarif Rahman) and one psychotic (Jing Chao) want our heroine and both marry her at one point. Only the awesome one gets to bang her though. (But the psychotic one gets to stick meathooks through his brother in compensation for not being able to stick...ummm...meathook through the heroine, so it’s all OK.)

Secret of the Three Kingdoms - and now we are gonna go REAL PERV! If twins are not enough for you, seekers of strong sensations, how about IDENTICAL twins? Ma Tianyu replaces his dead identical twin brother as the last Han emperor and gets to woo Wan Qian (whose plan it was in the first place.) At least she doesn’t need to get used to a new face?

We are gonna end here and not get into father and son sharing the same woman a la Empress of China.

(Congrats to Aarif Rahman for getting to bang both his brother’s and his father’s wives on screen. That is an interesting niche.)

[sweet-villain]

The Truth~ J.Q

@haileighboi asked:

A little angst to fluff one shot:

Joe meets reader on stranger things (love at first sight) but due to her past she doesn’t believe would love her so when he ask her out she thinks it is a joke or he just desperate for a body to fuck. So the whole time he is trying to get through her head that he wants her for her. She finally believes him after awhile but he wants it private, he knows how crazy fangirls get. She gets back into her head believing the worst that she played herself again thinking someone actually wants her. She shuts herself out. Joseph is confused doesn’t know what to do you are talking to him, not answering the door when he knocks or when he calls or texts they get ignored. So he calls her best friend to ask if they know what is going on (ofc they do) she tells him about her past and about how she is feeling now. So he finally see her at a con he know now why she is acting the way she is acting so when she is at her table signing autographs he comes behind her hugs her and kisses her cheeks and ask to talk later. Then after they talk it out and they fix everything. :)

@woahlifehitsyahuh @cinemaquinn @pleasantlycrazyworld. @moonchildquinn @haileighboi @ceriseheaven @harringtons-cupid

He couldn't get his eyes off of you as you chuckled at something that Grace had said. His heart raced faster hearing the sound of your laughter. He noticed the way you brushed your hair behind your ear, cheeks hinted a bit of red as you nodded along listening to Grace. When you walked into the room for the table read, being casted for Stranger Things along your best friend Grace, you took notice of the eyes that didn't stop watching you.

" You know he hasn't stopped looking this way since you walked into the room. It's like his whole face light up like a Christmas tree noticing you right off the bat" Grace giggled. You waved it off, never really believing no one would be interested in a little thing like you.

" It's nothing, he's probably looking at you. You're so beautiful" Grace giggled as she pushed your shoulder. " You're such a silly goose, why won't you accept that a man has eyes for you" you shook your head.

The very man that couldn't keep his eyes off of you was Joseph Quinn, he was casted as Eddie Munson and you were casted as Chrissy's best friend in the show. You had a couple of scenes with Joe as Eddie, and you were beyond nervous to look him in the eye. He was very attractive guy and once your eyes locked with his sitting across from him at the table read, he smiled widen as his eyes sparkled as he looked at you reading his lines.

You were too busy in your own thoughts to notice that you had forgotten your line, Grace nudging you bringing you back down as she giggled. The room was quiet but once you realized that you were the one they were lookin at and waiting, you cleared your throat and apologized.

" it's okay, take your time" Joe says. " No need to be nervous" he sent you a comforting smile that you were sure the room heard how your breath hitched and heart sped up.

" He likes you" Grace tells you after you were done running lines for the day. You waved her off once more not believing a handsome man like Joe would take interest in you.

" You did great in there" you heard a British voice at your ear, scaring you a bit causing you to jump grasping at your chest where your heart was. " Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Joe" he introduced himself. " But you already knew that" his cheeks flushed red making him look adorable.

" My name is Y/N" you quietly tell him. He nods, rubbing the back of his neck. " Such a pretty name for a pretty girl" your own cheeks flushed as you brush your hair behind your ear. Joe spotted you shyness right away as he waited for you to continue to talk to him.

" Uh, I'll see you around" you mumble hurrying up to catch up with Grace who had left you alone with Joe. " Thank you for running off and leaving me into a puddle of mess" you inform her. She rolls her eyes, " Flirt a little, he's into you."

" He's not, don't even start" she sighs as she follows you to the car.

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Joe would never understand why you always were shy around him, maybe it was because he made you nervous or something. He would always complement you, ask you about your day or try to start a conversation with you. You would respond being sweet to him as usual, but there was distance in you that told you he only was talking to you in hopes to get you in bed or was just flirting as a joke.

" What are you doing around dinner?" Joe asked, still dressed as Eddie as you both were on break in between scenes. You stood in your cheerleader uniform in your character turning to him once you took a drink out of your water bottle. Your eyebrows knitted as you were confused for a moment if he was talking to you.

You turned around seeing if there was another person near you that caught his attention and when you found there was no one besides you, he was talking to you.

" Are you asking me?" you asked, just making sure it was you that he was talking to. He let out a giggle as he nodded his head. " Yeah, do you see anyone else, darling?"

The nickname caused a little pause inside your brain to halt. Your eyes blinked a couple of times catching yourself for a moment to yourself before you answered him.

" Um, no?" you answered really not sure yet what you were doing for dinner. You were probably going to have dinner with Grace as usual but she wasn't around today.

He shifted back and forth on his feet as he seemed nervous for a moment. His heart raced at the thought of what he was about to ask you. The two of you got a bit closer as the shooting started, everything was going well and he was sure you were going to say yes to his question. But there was a certain unsurness in your eyes. It kinda put him off but he was going to do it any ways.

" I was thinking we could have dinner together, you know. I can take you somewhere really nice and it's just be the two of us" your heart raced thinking of being alone with him. You two were only alone on set and the thought of being alone with him like that scared you.

" A-are you a-asking me out?" you asked, eyes wide as saucers. He nodded his head ready for your answer feeling his hand sweat and nervously bite his lip.

"Is this a joke?" the question threw him off as his eyebrow knitted together in confusion and there was slight hurt in his eyes. Why would you think he was joking around with you about something like this?

" I would never joke about something like this" he says. " I really want to take you out" you couldn't believe someone as attractive as Joe was asking you out. You. The person that never believed someone wanted to be with. Someone would love one day.

" I'm sorry.. I just... no.." you shook your head, hearing your name being called to on set. " I'm sorry Joe" you threw him an apologetic look before running off. He sighed to himself watching you leave.

He wasn't going to let you slip away that easy.

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Joe continue to presue you, leaving you flowers in your dressing room with little notes that would make you smile. The others noticed the way he would talk about you, especially Jamie who you had a couple of scenes with as Vecna. He would stand on the side with you dressed as Vecna telling you how much Joe admired you and your work.

Never in your life you had someone as determined as Joe. It was new.

" How many flowers does he have to leave until you go out with him? How many loves notes until you say yes? How many looks? What are you so afraid of?" Grace asks, worry written in her eyes. She knew you well enough the answer to your question but she wants to hear it from you.

" To fall in love, to give someone my heart and to have them break it into two" you whispered, but loud enough for her to hear. She reached over to grab your hand and give it a squeeze.

" I hope I'm not interrupting or anything" you heard the sound of Joe's voice. You turned your head to see he's taken Eddie's wig off and standing there in regular clothing with his head tilted to the side.

" No, not at all. We were just talking about you actually" if looks could kill, you glared daggers at Grace causing her to slip away and Joe took her spot instead.

" About me? What about me?" He asked, " I hope it wasn't anything bad otherwise I'll have to tickle you" he jokingly reached over poking your side knowing you'll squirm.

" Stop" you giggled, pushing his hand away. A smile remained on his lips. He thought you were the most adorable and cutest thing he had ever seen. " Now are you going to tell me what you two talked about?"

" It's nothing interesting" you shrugged.

" Don't make me tickle you, darling. I will" you shot him a look before giving in. " It's just all these things you do to get my attention, I think it's not what you really want out of me" his eyebrows knitted together as he listened.

" And what do you think I want?"

" Just a quick fuck, that I'm just nothing more than that" Joe's mouth dropped open hearing the words. He shook his head, " Oh love, that's not what I really want. All I want is you, all of you" he reached over the chair placing his hand on top of yours. The warmth causing you to smile a little.

" I appreciate all the flowers and the notes but, I don't really think I'm worth it to you" your hand slipped from below his hand and as you stood up from the chair, he followed.

" What do I have to do to convince you that's the truth?" you turned to look at him one more time, " I don't know, Joe. You're really great guy and everything but-" he put a hand to stop you.

" I'm not going to stop until you say yes" this caused a smile to spread on your face, with a chuckle.

" why me?" you asked.You had to know why out of all the woman, he chose you to chase after.

" You're the most beautiful girl I have laid eyes on. I know you want to be seen by someone. Well, I see you. All of you. You're smile lights up the room, you're so kind and welcoming, you deserve all the adoration in the world and I want to be the one to give it to you" he says taking a step forward reaching out with his hand to brush a strand of your hair away from your face.

His fingertips brush against your cheek causing a shiver to go down your spine.

" I'll think about it" those words were much better than a no. He took it as he let you walk away from him.

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You watched as he interacted with Jamie in his interviews, the two of them have a special friendship bond that you adored. They have both joined you for an interview this time. You were just having your make up touched up when you felt Joe's eyes on you.

He casually winked at you hoping Jamie wouldn't notice the wink but he did, chuckling to himself. Joe turned his head hearing him.

" What?" Jamie shook his head.

" What's going on with you two?" Jamie motioned his head over where you sat in the chair and the make up artist was brushing your hair away from your face. Joe's cheeks burned red as he shrugged, not really giving Jamie an answer.

" You both are cute, did you ask her out?" Joe nodded his head.

" I did, but she doesn't believe that I want to be with her. She believes else wise." Jamie hummed as he looked over to you. He was going to talk to you and figure out he could change your mind. You were friends with Jamie since the show came to an end.

He would bring you breakfast sometimes, make you laugh and you would show him memes that you found funny.

After the interview was over, Jamie caught up with you before you had chance to leave.

" Darling? Can I have a moment?" he asks, catching you right as you put on your jacket. You took the hair out of your jacket that was stuck inside turning to face him.

" What is it?" you asked. " Is something wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Jamie shook his head.

" Darling, when are you going to quite playing this game with Joe?"

" What game?" he sighed.

" The one where you give him a chance. The poor man talks about you all the time, he completely adores you and would do anything to give you the world. I mean look at him" you turned your head where Joe was talking to his team about something, chuckling at something they said. He had his sunglasses on top of his curls, the crinkle near his eyes appeared and the smile that made your heart swoon.

He was beautiful.

" I see the way you look at him too, you want it. I can tell, darling. Please, just take the risk and see where it goes. He's great, and you two would look great together. It's okay to be scared, I was too when I was in your shoes with my girlfriend"

" But Jamie.." you started to say seeing the look on his face, pausing.

" Okay, I'll talk to him"

" Thank you" Jamie sent you a smile, " I must be off now. You know places to be and things to do" he laughs as he pulls you into a hug.

" You won't regret it, darling. I promise" with those words Jamie was off leaving you to talk to Joe as he was finishing up talking to his team.

Joe hadn't noticed that you were waiting for him until he saw you standing by the door just scrolling through your phone. He wondered if you were really waiting for him.

" Why are you still here?" he asks, stopping in front of you. You put your phone in your pocket as you raised your head to meet his gaze. It was warm and filled with curiosity.

" I was actually waiting for you" that surprised him. It was written on his face that it took him a step back to hear what you said. You were waiting on him. Jamie had already left, he took notice of that.

" Me? Why?" he pointed to himself as he looked around to make sure it was really him that you were talking about.

" Because I want to talk to you"

The words seem to bother him as his expression changed from shocked to fear. But you took a step forward that he could hear you better.

" I want to try, with you"

" Try with me what?" he knew what you were on about but wanted to hear the words from you. He needed to hear them.

" Being with you" there it was. Those words he has been waiting for since he locked eyes with you at the table read that day. He wanted you and now he had you.

He was happy.

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Joe was happy being with you but he wanted to keep your relationship quiet. The only people knew that you were dating Joe was Grace and Jamie who were beyond happy you chose to give Joe a chance. Joe didn't want the fans to find out that the two of you were dating, he knew the hate you would get and how they would act if they found out.

He wants to keep you safe.

But, things took a turn for the worst as your mind began to race with negative thoughts. The thoughts that Joe was really with you because he just wanted a warm mouth on him. That you weren't good enough to be with him.

You had seen online from the fans shipping his character and Grace's character, and you have seen what the fans they about them. It stung because you couldn't just tell them that you were the one with Joe.

It was yours and his secret from the world.

You haven't seen Joe in a couple of weeks, and your phone wouldn't stop ringing as he left you voicemail after voicemail and text after texts. He came by your apartment, knocking on the door calling out your name. He hadn't know what happened and it killed him that you shut yourself out from him. He didn't know weather it was him or something he said.

His mind raced trying to understand what happened and came to find none. He took out his phone from his pocket as he dialed a familiar number on his phone. It rang a couple of times before she answered.

" Hey Joe, what can I do for you?" Grace asked. He paced his own apartment, scratching the back of neck as he asked.

" Do you know what's going on with Y/N? She's not answering me, I'e stopped by her apartment and she is not answering the door. What happened? Did I say something to upset her? Please, I miss her so much. I-I love her, Grace..I really do" Grace sighed on the other line.

" I know why she's like this..."

"Please tell me Grace, I don't know what to do.. please help me" of course Grace was going to help. She loved that you finally chose to be with Joe, he was a good guy and you deserved him.

" She's been feeling like you aren't with her like you say you are. She gets into her head a lot because of her past. She used to date this guy, dated for a couple of months and she fell in love with him but he broke her heart telling her the only reason he went out with her was because she was good in bed... it really hurt her Joe.. I guess she's back in her head reliving the moment where your going to tell her the same thing.."

Joe wanted to find whomever hurt you and made you feel this way, to hurt them. You don't deserve any of the pain and suffering your mind is putting you through. He wanted to run and hold you in his arms.

" I won't hurt her, I'm not like that. I promise you"

" I know, she's going to the same comic on as you in a couple of days, fix it Joe and tell her you love her" Grace says.

" I will, thank you"

Joe was determined to fix this, and to have you back in his arms.

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You did your best to maintain the smile on your face as you signed autographs for the fans at your table. You loved your fans and love interacting with them, but you were missing Joe and feeling guilty that you've been pushing him away. It wasn't your fault your mind decided to bring this back on you.

You wanted to run backstage and cry. You wanted Joe too. He was here at the same Comic con as you. You hadn't seen him yet though, Grace had told you he already was here as she talked to him before coming in.

A little girl ran up to your table with a teddy bear in her arms. The teddy bear was dressed in your character's clothes. It was really cute and warmed your heart.

" Hi, what's your name?" you asked her. Her green eyes widen as you spoke to her looking back at her mom who was happily nodding her head for the little girl to talk.

" My name is Ariel" she says, " I love your character on Stranger Things. She's funny and my favorite" Ariel says. You had the biggest smile on your face as you talked to her. She explained to you that she was going to be you on Halloween and she hoped that you would be in the next season.

" You'll have to find out, here you go" you handed her autograph for her to take. She placed the bear on top of the table, " for you. This is Miss Teddy. She loves you as much as I do and I want you to have this."

" Oh sweetheart, I can't take this. How about this?" you slide off one of your bracelets from your wrist onto the teddybear making Ariel gasp.

" To keep you and Miss Teddy safe, okay?" she nodded her head taking the bear back as she ran to her mom explaining to her what you did. Her mom shoots you a thank you smile as she walks away.

Before another fan stepped up to talk to you, a pair of arms embraced you from behind. A hint of smoke and mint gum catches your nose. Joe. You turned your head just in time as he places a kiss on your cheek.

" We will talk later, darling. I really want to talk to you" he kisses you one more time on the cheek. Meanwhile the fans were watching and squealing as they gushed over what they were seeing. You couldn't help it but blush at what Joe did.

" Are you two together?" a fan asked, the only response you gave her was a small smile before asking them some questions.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

You met Joe outside as he took a smoke break in between the signings and photo ops he was doing. His head turned in time when he heard the door opened and one of his team members led you to him.

" Hi Joe" you stood in front of him, rubbing one arm up and down feeling the chill go down your back. It was pretty cold outside and you didn't grab your jacket before you stepped outside.

He shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around your shoulders to warm you up. " Thank you" you held onto it on your shoulder feeling his scent consume you with warmth. You had missed the way his scent felt. Like home.

" I really miss you, love" he says dropping the cigarette on the ground and stomping it with his foot. " I miss you too" you whisper lowly but enough for him to hear.

" These past couple of weeks have been hell for me, being away from you is something I don't ever want to do" his hands land on your hips and pull you flush against his chest. " You have no idea how much I want to never let you go, I want to hold you every single day, tell you how beautiful you are, how much you deserve the world and more.."

" Joe.." he shook his head letting you know he's not finished.

" I know what happened in your past, Grace told me" a frown appears on your face. You kinda wanted to slowly tell Joe about your past but you were going to talk to Grace about this later. " You don't need to be afraid with me, I'm not him. I promise you" you nodded as he continued.

" I'm far from that, I don't want you for your body love. I want you, everything about you make me giddy and happy. I love the sound of your voice, the way you say my name, the way you pout, the way you smile at me, the way you look at me, the way you want to be around e and the way you laugh. I want you to be safe with me, because honestly love. I've know this for a while, and it's okay if you don't say it back. I love you. I'm in love with you. I love you" Joe says.

Your mouth drops open in shock hearing his words. You feel your eyes brim with tears at his confession. He' so sweet and the one that deserves the world.

" I don't deserve you, you're perfect" Joe takes your hands in his and brings it up to his lips. His eyes lock with yours.

" We're perfect, together" you could not help it but throw your arms around him as you smashed your lips against his. Everything felt right in the moment. You didn't feel afraid anymore, he made you feel safe and wanted. You never want that feeling to go away.

" I love you too" you whispered against his lips once you pull away, Joe couldn't stop smiling as he pulled you back into him, taking you in his arms as he swung you around making you laugh.

[cloveroctobers]

Love me like you — Joe x OC | Ginny & Georgia

A/N: I always wanted to write for joe aka SAV but also didn’t want the diehard joe x Georgia Stan’s to come at me lol — although I’m also a stan. However after seeing that BS for Joe & Mrs. Redhead I had to do something of my own. (We’re not rocking with Cynthia like that over here.) Something that makes sense ☕️ but this will also feel like you’re getting your heart stomped on :) I have a few episodes left of the new season so I’m still holding my breath lol! And if you don’t know, now you know—angst is what I do. So get ready to scream at me but here’s to also cheering for Joe’s happy ending someday👏🏽

S|N: OC’s name is pronounced like Sienna just without the “i” lol & Lior is just like Dior—not liar lmao. She’s not physically described in this so it also works for x f! reader as well.

WARNINGS: bad judgment & Language.

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‘How did we get here?’ No Paramore! Senna-Lior thought to herself as she sat in the driver’s side of her car, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight that she started to lose feeling in her hands.

The rain pelted hard against the window shield as Senna took in a shaky breath with a damp face.

What she was going through with Joe was a whole lot.

Actually let’s run that back.

“How did we get here?! When I used to know you so well!” Senna-Lior screamed the lyrics that vibrated throughout her parked car, “How did we get here? Well, I think I know.” Then she went crazy to the beat, letting the lyrics basically attempt to soothe the heartache she was feeling right now.

What she didn’t notice was Joe locking up for the night, ready to go home. When he turned around, he stood across the street at his own business, underneath the tarp which shielded him from the rain. He watched her flailing her head around, hair whipping as he could faintly hear the beat of music bouncing from her car over the raindrops.

Joe wasn’t sure if he should make that move across the street, not after the rough discussion they had in his café a week ago. While he was pondering over these thoughts, her head slightly turned to see him standing there, watching her.

Great, now he felt like he was being a complete creep.

His eyes went wide in embarrassment at being caught. Should he wave? That probably wouldn’t be appropriate and lucky for him he didn’t have to think too hard about what happened next. Senna-Lior did the honors of turning her head to face forward, started the engine, followed by her headlights shining as she pulled away from the curb and away from Joe.

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It really shouldn’t have been a question why Senna-Lior and Joe were in this place now, looking back on things. They were always the best of friends, which didn’t come without the shit-talking and slight competition in the beginning. Senna-Lior owned a brew-pub right across the street from The Blue Farm called The Bronze Pantry.

So when Joe did his first walk-through as the official owner of the blue farm, Senna-Lior was the first to greet him on the street, telling him his building was haunted—just for shits and giggles…mainly. Of course he didn’t believe her, especially after learning from the shoe repair shop guy next door to him, that the building Joe now owned, was originally supposed to be The bronze pantry. However he entertained her interest in the paranormal, just to show that he was good spirited about her teasing.

It was more of a love and hate type of thing at first, between Senna-Lior and Joe. She really wasn’t out to get him like the people in Wellsbury thought. In fact Senna-Lior wanted to see Joe win from the very moment he showed his parents and big sister around The Blue Farm for the very first time. Senna-Lior couldn’t recall seeing them there at the grand opening; Joe confirmed that when he came over to The Bronze Pantry for a glass of whiskey before he went home.

From there they gradually got to know each other, piece by piece. Joe even placed a order with Senna-Lior for her manufacturer to distribute some of their beer (not exactly the same beer she distributed in the bronze pantry per say, since Joe didn’t want to completely take all of her business!) for a limited time only. Senna-Lior even did a collab with Joe for a couple of months, bringing the bronze pantry to half of Joe’s café, since her place suffered water damage and brew damage.

Joe’s joke not her’s.

Although Senna-Lior and Joe mostly worked on different time frames, they often spent their free time together. Even more now that her scumbag of a ex, who was in a successful metal band overseas, decided to stay international after she learned about his infidelity, along with finding the wedding ring he accidentally left behind, was actually for the redhead he fallen for and not Senna-Lior.

On Sunday’s the bronze pantry was closed so Senna-Lior spent her time going for jogs at the local park with her sheriff father, then when they got home to their two family home, she’d head to her side of the house to the right and do laundry, while her father prepared Sunday dinner to the left for her and her little sister Flora. Joe would eventually make his way over after being at the blue farm, for sometimes a leftover plate or to mainly watch the game with Senna-Lior’s dad.

Mondays were usually slow days for Senna-Lior but fast-paced for Joe as everyone was getting back into the swing of things for the week. The bronze pantry opened at 12pm and she would arrive anywhere between 1-1:30 as she had her assistant manager open for her most of the time—thats the perks of owning your own business people! You show up when you want while still putting the work in.

Everyday was a routine once Senna-Lior and Joe became really close, yet they still had their own lives to live where it didn’t feel clingy.

Senna-Lior swore to herself that she wouldn’t fall for her best friend. It was the typical cliché  that she didn’t want to be part of but once she was healed and considered the possibility of dating again, Joe was surprisingly what she envisioned. They actually went speed-dating together, since she was always the one that told Joe that he needed to put himself out there! He had all the qualities of what made him a great partner, yet his response was being solely focused on the blue farm.

It was a fun event but they both knew they didn’t hit it off with anyone there. They had better fun going for gelato afterwards and watching rom-coms at Joe’s ranch.

Their story felt like a brief moment, like she blinked and it was over for good. At least that’s what Senna-Lior felt and began to regret ever entering the cafe that night.

“I—I love you too.” Joe breathed, as he held Senna-Lior by the waist.

She had stumbled her way in just as Joe was locking the front doors. Senna-Lior had a lot on her chest and tonight was the night that she was going to admit that she loved Joe…more than a friend. Part of her hoped he felt the same but she knew about the small page he took up in Georgia’s story. Senna-Lior listened to Joe rant about this on Game night Wednesday’s and she wished that Joe would keep this same energy and just tell Georgia.

Which was a bit hypocritical as she realized now she has feelings for best friend, long before this Georgia Peach came back into the picture. If she was still included, since Georgia was engaged to the ken-doll looking Mayor and Senna-Lior was there to get Joe back on his feet. She hated that the southern woman with the good hair, held a good portion of Joe’s heart when she’s been right there, this entire time!

Granted, Joe watched Senna-Lior care for someone else but he never felt out of place on the sidelines. Perhaps Joe knew that Senna-Lior was not in love with her rockstar boyfriend and preferred being by her side. Not wishing for things to crumble for his best friend but to continue uplifting her when she needed it. He was fine being in his designated spot, however when Senna-Lior saw Joe with Georgia she realized maybe that’s what he’s always been waiting for.

Yet she would be damned if she didn’t at least test the waters. She was always the type of person that felt: if you didn’t try then you won’t know. Sure she had a bit of liquid courage and bounced her ass a bit with her assistant manager, Kennedy before heading over to the blue farm but hey you can’t say she didn’t put in the effort.

And that was her own fault.

She gave her whole speech about not waiting around for miracles when you can just look at what’s in front of your very eyes.

Joe snorted as he sat at the bar stool facing the woman, “I think you’re tipsy, venting and will probably hate that you got emotional about it when you remember in the morning. Yet…I kinda want you to carry on.”

Blowing a raspberry, Senna-Lior fanned her hand at the man, “Make fun of me all you want, Joey. But there are real feelings in here,” she patted her chest, “and I need you to hear them before it’s too late and you choose a different soulmate that’s not me.”

Joe raised his brow at that. So this was a serious, serious conversation right now and Joe wasn’t sure how to go about this. Senna-Lior wasn’t drunk, so she knew what she was saying but it was all rambling out too fast for her brain to process.

“I just want you to know,” Senna-Lior waltzed up to joe, resting her hands right on his sturdy shoulders, “that I love you.”

Joe couldn’t believe this. It’s not like she was normally this overly affectionate person but Senna-Lior knew when to say it when the time was right. It was not the first time that she has ever said the L word to him, being his best friend and all…but the look in her eyes hinted that this time was different.

This means something.

It really sucked watching life and love flow on around Joe, being on the sidelines and when the days were hard, it felt nice to hear that somebody loved him—other than his parents.

So Joe said it back but…he realized that he may not have meant it the way that Senna-Lior meant it. He hesitated with his hands on her waist and the words were automatic from his brain but his heart felt like it was being squeezed.

It was her eyes that got him in trouble along with his mouth because the next thing he knew, Senna-Lior’s lips were right on his. His grip on Senna-Lior tightened as he pushed off the bar stool, his lips were moving fast against hers as she gripped his face.

This should have been wrong instantly but he knew Senna-Lior. Knew her for years and sure this felt a little strange—new but with her hands traveling over his body, and gripping dangerously low, Joe had to rip his lips away with a groan.

“What are we doing?” Joe breathed, forehead pressed against Senna-Lior’s.

She swallowed, “trying something new in the new year?”

Joe couldn’t help but to chuckle and knew he really should have stopped this right there. However part of him didn’t want to and that had to mean something, maybe selfishness?. He realized it all the next morning that he didn’t want to be this guy as he watched Senna-Lior sleep in the back room.

He had the only coffee that Senna-Lior liked ready for her, he was dressed, washed up and ready to go, just to turn around and come back here in a couple hours. She was always beautiful and when she slept she looked like a total angel, like she didn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Joe was ready to wake her but the smell of the coffee must have wakened her first, as she stretched her arms above her head, wincing slightly before a eye popped open.

“Joe,” she started almost as a warning as he carefully approached her, sitting on the cot in the back room, slowly reaching over to pull up the sheet across her bare chest, before handing over a mug, “thank you for this.”

She leaned on her elbow, covers tucked against her chest as she sipped at the cappuccino with extra foam.

“You’re welcome,” Joe sighed as he watched her take a sip.

She hummed in content, licking her upper lip before she peeked at the bearded man. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.” He was quick to answer which already made him guilty.

“You sure?”

“Yup! I was just coming to wake you, I know we both have to start getting ready for the day. It is Friday after all.” Joe responded as Senna-Lior nodded.

“How generous of you, waking me up with the only thing I like on your menu.” Senna-Lior teased with a wink.

Joe rolled his eyes as he counteracted, “that’s not necessarily true…you seemed to like what I had on the menu last night, if I remember correctly? Mind pointing out what you see on my neck?”

He revealed the dark patches on his pretty brown skin as Senna-Lior laughed to herself. She was sure there were plenty other marks on his back but these were nice too. “Shut up, you’re corny.”

“Which you love.” Flew out of his mouth so fast, that he had to sit up straight, like he’s just been shocked.

Senna-Lior groaned as she used her free hand to rub at her eye, “I did say that didn’t I?”

“A few times, actually.”

Silence was met and part of Joe felt maybe she was starting to regret this. Then that way this could make this a little easier for what was about to come.

“Do you want to talk about this…” Sienna-Lior glanced at the Roman numeral clock on the wall above the door, “over dinner tonight?”

Joe inhaled, “I actually can’t. Why don’t you swing by here, Saturday night? Give us some time to get our thoughts together…since I feel, both of us are a little unsure what to say about all of this.”

This wasn’t Joe’s intention to prolong this but he didn’t want to have this conversation so early. He didn’t know how this would go and he didn’t want to potentially ruin Senna-Lior’s day.

Relax, he already knows how this sounds.

“Okay,” Senna-Lior nodded, “Saturday night works for me.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, downing the hot beverage down and used the spoon to scoop the leftover foam on the sides up.

As she collected her things, Joe kept quiet giving Senna-Lior the privacy she needed while she did. When she turned back around she laughed at Joe a bit saying, “are you seriously hiding yourself from this glorious view this morning? C’mon, joe! You’re acting like we’re on trial here!”

It would soon feel like it.

Joe gave a small smile as he rubbed at his beard in thought, “I’m just…being respectful.”

“Riiight, lighten up! It’s a brand new day,” Senna-Lior cooed, wiggling her hips as she finished buttoning her jeans, “I’ll see you soon then, weirdo.”

The man gave a small wave as Senna-Lior was now on her phone, leaving the spare room trying not to think about Joe’s actions for the morning after. Soon Joe had to follow her out, listening carefully to make sure she left the building to lock up.

Now Joe wished he could lock himself away for longer than a day, to erase the fury Senna-Lior’s spewed at him that Saturday night.

“It was all a lie then,” Senna-Lior said after a long period of silence.

Joe exhaled as Senna-Lior gripped the wine glass. He was expected her to throw it right in his face and he wouldn’t blame her but she just chugged the contents in the glass.

“No, it wasn’t.” Joe started, “I do love you, you’re my best friend in this whole snobby town.”

She visibly flinched.

“…I just never thought you would be one of those guys, Joe. To lie to me to get me to lay with you.”

This was exactly what Joe didn’t want this to look like.

“That wasn’t my intention,” Joe sighed, “it really wasn’t. I-I don’t want to take advantage of you like that. I just needed you to know before this carried on any further, romantically, that I can’t love you like you need me to. Not in that way or at least…not right now.”

Senna-Lior did not want to hold her breath on the last part of that statement. She didnt ever want to be anyone’s second choice.

“What do you want me to do with this, Joe?” Senna-Lior asked, “I confessed long time feelings for you and you kinda led me on, thinking that this could be more. If you just wanted a night with me as strictly your best friend, we could have discussed that.”

“You seriously would have been fine with me asking that of you? Like some sort of pact?” Joe scoffed, “I never thought of you in that way, as a one time only kinda woman. I value this friendship too much—despite how shitty this situation is turning out to be.”

Senna-Lior tossed her head back with a cackle, “Joe! Just cut the bullshit. You weren’t thinking with your main head, which is the problem here and wasn’t expecting me to be vulnerable or rather desperate for you.”

“You’re not—i fucked up and I’m sorry. I empathize with you saying that you love me and I’ll always care for you. It’s just—

“I’m not your true soulmate. I’m not the one.” Senna-Lior pressed her nails into her palms.

Joe tried to reach out for her hand but she pulled it back. The man closed his eyes briefly at this, he was hurting her and that’s not something he ever wanted to do.

“We were connected way before that Thursday night, that I’m sure of. It may not be romantically but that could simply be because my heart isn’t ready yet and i accept that. I think what that was…was convenience on both parts.” Joe slowly explained, coming to terms with his version of events.

He watched as Senna-Lior huffed out a breath.

“Hear me out please,” Joe raised his hands, “don’t get me wrong, I felt shitty as soon as I woke up but you’re right, I wasn’t thinking when it happened and that was wrong. I’ll always be sorry for that, not thinking about the consequences of it all. However, it’s only been half a year since things ended with Ruben…”

A sharp inhale was heard at the mention of his name in the dim quiet café, that Joe had to tread lightly.

“Although you told me you didn’t know what the future held for you two, you still loved him. You’ve been together before we became friends and that’s not something you can just get over, especially with how it ended.”

Senna-Lior was pointing now, “Are you trying to convince me or do you genuinely feel that’s true?”

Joe held the woman’s stare as he spoke, “I do. And that’s okay to feel that way. You haven’t really coped as far as I can tell? You carried on as if nothing happened, cut him out of your life completely without acknowledging that it’s over. You needed to and found that comfort in me, which i can’t be mad about by the way. It was a—

He caught himself, knowing now wasn’t the time to be joking around or be insensitive.

“Do you have a fucking degree in psychology that I don’t know about?” Senna-Lior questioned, “I don’t need you to analyze me. I needed you to love me back.”

The way her voice cracked made Joe want to sink into the floor forever. He couldn’t imagine what Senna-Lior was feeling right now but he could tell you he equally didn’t feel well.

There maybe some truth to what Joe was saying, as he was always on the outside looking in but Senna-Lior didn’t like how he chose to be honest now compared to two days ago. Before she was stepping out of her jeans for him and opened up in a whole new way that friends normally don’t.

“I’m so sorry.”

That was all Joe could say.

Senna-Lior swallowed, “I know and it does nothing for me. This hurts because now I have to lose you.”

“No,” Joe shook his head with a frown, “it doesn’t have to be like that.”

Senna-Lior scrapped the chair back, smoothing down her long length dress, “how else can it be, Joey? I’m unfortunately, secretly desperate for love and like you said…I haven’t healed from Ruben. So now I guess I’ll just add you to the list.”

She had to get out of here before the tears started falling, although Joe could see them brewing for awhile now. He also stood as Senna-Lior grabbed her purse and began making her way to the front door.

“Don’t leave,” Joe called out to the woman who kept moving forward, “w-we can figure this out, I’m sure of it.”

She hesitated at the door, shoulders tense before she turned back to Joe, leaning against the door. The back of her hand pressed against her nostrils as she tried to encourage herself how to breathe. Friendship breakups—if you still considered this that! were so damn hard and the worst you can possibly face.

Joe took long strides to get to the woman who was trying to catch her breath. He tucked her underneath his chin, her arms wrapping tightly around him as she allowed him to hold her for the last time tonight.

Things would never be the same.

And when she pulled back to stare up into his kind but sad filled eyes, she caressed his growing beard, before tugging his head down to kiss his nose.

“I love you, take care of yourself, Joey.” Sienna-Lior was able to get out before she exited, breaking down once more.

Joe wanted to grab her and not let her go but he knew he couldn’t fix this, no matter how sorry he was. Not when his heart was still waiting on someone else.

The love was there but the damage was already done.

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰

Continue along with my winter prompts here.

[bumblingest-bee]

bee’s thoughts on the sweeney todd revival!!

idk if recordings just didn’t do him justice or if he’s improved as his run has gone on, but i did truly enjoy aaron as sweeney. to be clear he’s still not a baritone but he didn’t struggle with the range as much as i’d feared. unfortunately but not unexpectedly he didn’t have that deep resonance that the role should have, yet at the same time he almost made up for it with the sheer intensity of his acting. (almost.) i REALLY enjoyed that he did a proper cockney accent - it was surprisingly good and fit his take on the character very well. he was genuinely frightening and impressively intense at times (his “how about a shave?” section in epiphany was a highlight for me) but at other times he was. aaron tveit. overall while still i wish they’d cast a proper baritone on the role, aaron was wonderful in his own way and im very very glad i saw him. the fact he was aaron tveit in a very tight shirt may or may not have helped.

guys. folks. sutton was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. i know, i am just as shocked as you, but she was born to play mrs. lovett. i’ve never laughed so hard at worst pies in my life. i can’t say enough good things about her which is insane bc i’ve been joking about her casting since the beginning. vocally, she knew exactly when to turn on the deranged lansbury style belt and when to sing it straight. i won’t lie her accent was much better than annaleigh’s (I’M SO SORRY). acting-wise, she was just hysterically funny; over-the-top without being over-the-top, if that makes any sense at all. just a really truly delightful take on the role.

JOE LOCKE. HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK. i came in knowing nothing about him but thinking he was stunt casting and i was SO wrong. he was, bar none, THE best toby i have ever heard. he made the role sound completely effortless with a gorgeous classical tenor that turned into a high belt so powerful it made the couple in front of me nearly leap from their seats in amazement.

jamie jackson’s deeply creepy judge and john rapson’s slimy, flamboyant beadle made the perfect dickensian villain duo. they were THE essential ingredient to the atmosphere of the show, which they just about stole.

maria bilbao was a wonderfully unnerving, constantly in anxious motion, adorably sweet johanna. she and daniel yearwood (who was lovable and vocally gorgeous as anthony) had great chemistry. ruthie ann miles was, of course, perfect as the beggar woman, heart-wrenching and unsettling and probably the best acting performance out of the whole cast.

the entire ensemble was brilliant - of course i’ve got to give a special mention to pirelli because that contest was the funniest one i’ve ever seen. also shoutout to hennessy winkler who was on as jonas fogg!

the sets were great, though at times i wished there was a bit more of them instead of being minimalist for the sake of it. the choreography was used to great, unnerving effect at times (that stumbling in the opening ballad!) though sometimes i wished they’d just stay still for god’s sake. two things that stood out to me: the blood effects were very effective, and the sound design in the bakehouse was so creepy.

for a 26-piece orchestra you’d think they’d make it a bit louder. compared to other big orchestra shows i’ve seen the instruments felt a bit tinny and canned at times, despite the fact that they really turned it up for some songs, proving that they could!! in any case i was just very very glad to hear that gorgeous full score at any volume.

overall it was a brilliant experience - though im not sure how much of that is due to just how fucking good the material is no matter what you do with it. it wasn’t perfect, but i laughed so hard i cried (and just plain cried) and got goosebumps about every five minutes. so happy i got to attend the tale ❤️🥧❤️

[tctteredwings]

[joe keery, cis man, he/him ] — whoa! OLIVER “OLI” METCALFE just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for HIS WHOLE LIFE ON AND OFF, working as an ARTIST & STAFF AT THE MoMA. that can’t be easy, especially at only 31 YEARS OLD. some people say they can be a little bit WITHDRAWN and MESSY, but i know them to be SELF-AWARE and CREATIVE. whatever. i guess i’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to BROOKLYN! 

IN A NUTSHELL; wearing his heart on his sleeve, hiding away in a quiet corner with a sketch pad, the sleeves of his hoodie covering his paint-stained hands, scuffed & untied converse, fiercely protective.

tw: parental death, severe depression, anxiety

Name: Oliver Metcalfe Nicknames: Oli Age: Thirty-one Date of birth: 3rd December 1992 Birth place: Manhattan, New York Occupation: Artist & staff at the MoMA Romantic/sexual orientation: Homoromantic/homosexual

IMMEDIATE FAMILY.

Parents: ___ & ___. Siblings: Margaret Metcalfe & Violet Metcalfe. Children: none. Pets: One border terrier named Claude.

ABOUT.

Oliver’s family had always been well known, his father owning a successful chain of luxury hotels, but it was apparent from an early age that the youngest of the Metcalfe’s had no interest in that.

He was the quiet one, who was happy to sit back while his older sisters caused chaos around the city. To some he came across as boring, for him, all he wanted was solitude.

When his father passed away suddenly, Oliver only seven at the time, he quickly realised he couldn’t hide away forever. He was suddenly the man of the house, conversations would turn to him inheriting the family business when he turned eighteen. It was too much for a young boy and before long he withdrew further into himself.

Family gatherings were something he avoided like the plague, school too to a certain extent. He did all he could to keep away from the place, cutting classes and hiding out, only attending when he really felt like it.

By the age of fourteen he was diagnosed with depression, forced into an intervention by his family, and then marched off to see a doctor. Given a concoction of meds and locked away in his room, it worked for a time, his family content that he was working on getting better. But Oliver didn’t care, didn’t want to spend the rest of his life reliant on a bunch of pills, so he began hoarding them. His mother was convinced he was still taking them, too consumed with what was going on with his older sisters, and so he was able to slip out and toss them in the trash on collection days unnoticed.

A year later, things changed. No one really expected it, least of all him. He was fifteen and he fell in love with his best friend. But the problem was that his friend definitely didn’t feel the same way. In fact, his friend seemed disgusted when Oliver finally found the courage to say something to him, pushing him away in every sense of the word. He didn’t take it well; fell back into the abyss, shutting himself away from everyone and everything. They never spoke again, mostly Oliver's fault as he refused to listen.

He did his best to keep up pretenses around his family, though, knowing how much they’d worry about him and take away from their own lives. That was the last thing he ever wanted, for them to start putting him above what they wanted and needed. If there was one thing he’d never wanted to be to anyone, it was a burden, and as time went on, he couldn’t help the way those feelings developed and deepened. He was getting in the way.

On the ninth anniversary of his father’s death things reached an all time low for him. He was writing letters for all of his family members and hoarding painkillers by the hundred. In the end it was a mere idea and nothing more, instead he was found sobbing on the floor of his bedroom by one of his sisters and he told her everything that day.

For the first time he let people in and let them help him. He was able to finish school without any problem and made a move across to Paris for a couple of years for art school, needing to take a break and take time for himself.  No one was particularly happy about him moving away after everything that had happened, but he assured them all that he could take care of himself and they relented.

And Paris treated him well, he made friends, actually began to live his life and become who he wanted to be. Art had been something he’d enjoyed from an early age, sketching and painting, and with the guidance of the right people, he flourished.

Five years later and he returned to the city he grew up in, hesitant about how he left things with some people, but safe in the knowledge that he did the right thing.

Now he’s been back for eight years he’s made a real life for himself, he works in the MoMA and in his spare time, works on his own pieces. He lives in a small apartment with a good friend and feels settled, like nothing can go wrong.

TLDR; Oliver grew up in New York's Upper East Side and his family own a luxury chain of hotels that span the States ( and parts of Europe ), something he was set to inherit, but had little interest in. He's quiet and likes to keep to himself, only letting those he knows well get to know the real him. Following the death of his father and a struggle with his mental health, he moved to France for five years to attend art school and 'find himself' again. One of his older sisters inherited the family business and he focused on his art instead, which he still does today, working as a freelance artist and also as staff at the MoMA. He enjoys being surrounded by the art and showing others a passion for it.

[flagbridge]

Shows I saw in 2023 Part 6: Phantom London (3 shows, 3 Casts, AMA)

Listen, originally it started with going once. Then another friend wanted to go another night. Then I thought if I gambled with matinee Rush seats I might get a different cast. Turns out I was right.

Tues 10/10: Jon Robyns/Eve Shanu-Wilson/Joe-Griffiths Brown

Weds 10/11: James Gant/Lily Kerhoas/Joe

Thurs 10/12: Jon/Lily/Joe

I hit the jackpot. Also shoutout to the whole crew on Thursday night when the stage lost power right before final lair and they had to pause the show for five minute to get the stage set.

Some overall thoughts after the cutline:

Lily is the best Christine I have ever seen live, hands down. She is also the strongest (even stronger than Emilie Kouatchou). She is damn near calling a lot of the shots. Some ways: she locks the door between "Things have changed, Raoul" and "Insolent Boy". She does NOT want Raoul coming back. She is seemingly delighted to hear the "voice" and is very willing going through the mirror. On the travelator during the title track she actually goes ahead of Phantom by several feet like "so we're going to your place, right?". During AIAOY, she pulls away from Raoul during her first verse and her body language is telling him "Say you love me" is her giving her terms and conditions. During PONR after she feels Phantoms' mask and he pulls away from her she's the one putting his hands on her waist and pressing herself against him like "ahem, you started this fire and now I'm going to pour some gasoline on it. "

Between Eve and Lily, Eve is very good but Lily is so exceptional that she's far and away better. The key difference is Eve's Christine is much more fearful and tentative. For example, during STYDI, once Christine is on the floor, Eve is turned away from Phantom the entire time. Lily is facing him the entire time. Both Phantoms briefly show his whole face again, and then she reacts, which is followed by the "Oh Christine". With Eve, she yelps. With Lily, they're so close it looks like they're about to kiss. Lily gasps. During PONR, Eve's Christine is much more tentative and fearful. Lily's is into it. In both of them, the Phantoms are taking Christine off the stage to get her out of danger (they both have two guns pointed at them right before this)

Jon vs James. Tough one. Jon by a hair BUT Gantom's chemistry with Christine is palpable and off the charts. They are both phenomenal. It's hard to choose. Gant is going on so much right now that he's basically an alternate at this point, so he's getting in the reps and sets to really make the role his own and develop chemistry with the Christines. I think I liked Jon just slightly more but he's also the last person I saw. If I saw Gantom again I might say he's my favorite.

Vocally, both of them manage to achieve the ghost-like, floaty phantom who brings the power when it matters, and make very subtle changes with their breath control to convey emotion (especially when pleading with Christine). They are both very sad and desperate Phantoms, but James Gant has a sweetness to his that I think is very interesting to watch. He's the only Phantom that has ever made me cry before final lair. He holds his heart during the AIAOY reprise and then does it again during final lair (the only thing I don't like is Gant is a "daddying gaze" Phantom, and I despise the fathering line--Robyns does far-reaching). Jon does this thing during AIAOY where he is hitting his ears (he does not do it during Final Lair). His crying during final lair is also exceptionally realistic and desperate.

Again on the combo: Lily and Jon both do a thing after the kiss where they are both touching their lips trying to figure wtf just happened and what they're feeling. Jon is the one to break the kiss and Christine damn nearly needs to be dragged out of the lair. But...Lily/James MOTN was so sensual I was like...do we need to ask the children in the audience to leave? I think she still has a father/daughter relationship with Jon from their time in Les Miz

Joe Griffiths-Brown is a wonderful singer and plays Raoul as a arrogant puppy. However, I wasn't really getting any chemistry between him and any of the Christines. He's still a little wooden but I think he's going to continue to develop in the role.

I had Grace Hume as u/s Meg. I hesitate to say anything negative here, but her singing is noticeably lackluster to the point that it's distracting. I hoped maybe she had a bad day on Tuesday but it was the same every time.

I stagedoored the last night and met Lily, Joe, and James. They were all kind and gracious!

[jelazakazone]

I posted 3,282 times in 2022

That's 2,019 more posts than 2021!

136 posts created (4%)

3,146 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@barrowsteeth

@spinninwiththestars

@angelnicknelson

@heartstoppercentral

@fandom-indy

I tagged 3,217 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#heartstopper - 2,852 posts

#heartstopper cast - 248 posts

#fanart - 210 posts

#why are they like this? - 176 posts

#joe locke - 146 posts

#kit connor - 133 posts

#representation matters - 132 posts

#details - 108 posts

#charlie spring - 88 posts

#faves - 81 posts

Longest Tag: 101 characters

#why does netflix even think i want to watch something else when i've just continuously been watching?

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Why we need a S2 of Heartstopper

Because if we don’t get this scene I WILL PERISH.

102 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

#4

Doorways as liminal spaces in ep 3

With massive thanks again to @herewetumble​ and @barrows-teeth​ for their collaborative help. As usual, all mistakes are mine.  Find the first post here.

The episode begins with Nick googling “am I gay” and “Own Person” is playing. The music is important throughout the show, but nowhere is it more pivotal than in episode 3. Nick’s digging deep, finding parts of himself he’s buried long ago and he’s uncovering who he really is.

We see Nick verbally agree to Imogen’s request to invite her to Harry’s party at the school gates, but his body language says no, in contrast with his invitation to Charlie who at first turns him down until Nick says in a wheedling tone “Please come. I want you to be there.” These are inner doors Nick is opening and closing. In between these two invitations, there is a scene in the locker room. The lads are bantering about Imogen and Tara. Harry says “If you’re not into Imogen, Saturday night’s your chance with Tara,” at which point Nick looks over at Charlie. I think Harry has planted a tiny seed that Saturday night could be his chance with Charlie.

Charlie arrives at the opulent hotel where Harry’s party is. There are a gazillion balloons around the door; it has that fantastical feel of a child’s over-the-top birthday celebration. Charlie waits in line, looking awkward and nervous.

We see Charlie enter the building and start to walk around, looking for Nick.

“Telephone” by Waterparks is playing at the party. “Cause I think I love you so, I know we only just met, so why do I feel invested, do you feel it too, do you feel it too?”

Finally, Charlie is standing at the doorway of a room where lots of kids are dancing — and Nick is standing across the room. They see each other at the same time and approach each other. Two doorways deep, they easily come together. I am definitely feeling that they are feeling it too:D

See the full post

115 notes - Posted July 10, 2022

#3

Rooted

can we talk for a minute about how safe Charlie feels in Mr Ajayi’s room? He literally comes in here to be grounded/connected to the earth and gah, it’s such powerful symbolism. I love all the little details in this show and how they don’t hit you all at once. 

I had to add this picture from ep 7, after they are back at school after the cinema. 

142 notes - Posted May 9, 2022

#2

Doorways and corridors as liminal spaces in Heartstopper pt 1 of 8

Thanks so much to @herewetumble​ for editorial help and @barrows-teeth​ for feedback and the awesome gifs! All mistakes are mine.

Find part 2 here.

Part 3 here.

Part 4 here.

Part 5 here.

Part 6 here.

Part 7 here.

Part 8 here.

If you want, you can read the whole thing without gifs on AO3 here.

Doorways and corridors are not just scenery in Heartstopper — they are silent characters supporting a journey. 

Charlie Spring walks through a corridor to meet Ben after winter break, and passes through a doorway where a teacher is taking down some decorations. Could this be a signal of things changing?

When Charlie reaches the library, he finds the library empty and a text from Ben asking to meet up later. This opens a space in Charlie’s heart when he meets Nick a few minutes later.

We do see him actually pass through the doorway into his new form room. He exchanges inanities with the teacher and then turns to go to his seat. When he lays eyes on Nick, you can tell he is immediately struck. I think this doorway, into his new form room, represents Charlie’s imminent relationship with Nick. 

See the full post

159 notes - Posted June 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Heartstopper s2

We are not even going to survive the trailers for S2, are we? 

353 notes - Posted November 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[taylor-tut-fics]

small short horror piece i've shared before but can't find! reuploading to show a friend :)

“Just so you know,” I say to the new girl, leaning over the top of where our cubicles meet, “I’m a monster.” She stares at me with a blank expression. It’s not that I don’t understand the confusion, but it’s imperative that she knows this now rather than finding out when it's too late. There’s a reason that I had requested the cubicle that borders my own be left empty, but the company is expanding and it can’t be helped. I might talk to HR about it anyway. 

“Oh,” she fumbles. “Yeah, I can be one too, in the mornings. Just show me where the coffee maker is and I’ll be good, though.” 

I roll my eyes, which I realize goes against the goal of this woman taking me seriously, but I can’t help it. I’m frustrated. It’s rare that I have to deal with other people. Usually they scare off easier than this.

“No. A monster. Like, sharp teeth and bloody claws and all that. If I like you too much, I will eat your heart.” 

This time, she snorts again, but more out of discomfort than mirth. 

“Okay.” What else could she say? “I’ll try not to be too likable, then.” 

“That might be best.”

Because I didn’t get a comprehensive look at her before, my gaze lingers for a moment despite every intention in of turning back to my computer. She’s about my age, with jet black hair and eyes almost as dark. She brushes the strands that have escaped her low ponytail behind her ear, glancing up at me with a smile on her face. “I mark my pens with a little green flag.” Indeed, the handful of pens and highlighters she pulls from her bag all have a small, neon green piece of tape around the end. “That’s so I know which ones are mine. Take one without asking, and I’ll eat your heart.” 

“You’re funny. Be careful.” 

The first time I fall in love with her is a few weeks after we meet. She sings while she heats up her lunch in the microwave. It looks horrifying and smells unoffensive, but the look of excitement on her face as she places her leftovers into the dirty break room microwave is enough to do me in. After weeks of pointedly ignoring her, I have to bite down on a smile. 

“What do you have there?” I ask. Liv—I don’t think she knows that I even know her name—glances around to be sure I’m talking to her. 

“This? It’s leftover eggplant parmesan. From Trader Joe’s.” 

“Is it good?” 

“Do you like eggplant?” 

I shrug. “I like most things.” 

“Oh, do you? That’s news to me.” Her smile slips. I regret this. “Come on. We’ve sat next to each other for over a month and you’ve never said a word to me, no matter how much I try. Why this? Why now?” 

“Maybe I’m—” lonely, empty, horrible, toxic, yearning, desperate, terrified of being myself and by myself—”hungry.” 

She yanks the microwave open before her food is even warm and slides the lid back on top before setting it back in the refrigerator. “Oh, perfect. I’m buying, then. You’re driving.” 

Just like that, she’s everything. 

It’s when her laugh fills my stomach with moths that I feel the shift. The sequence of events is so fast that it’s impossible to stop, and I’m immediately too tied up in it to warn her. Bile pools behind my eyes and I recoil from the pain. My palm finds my temple, sinking into my skull like a thumb into an overripe peach. 

“Ridley?” I hear Liv’s voice calling to me like a thunderstorm in the distance. “What’s wrong?” 

Her hands reach out and I shove them away. I think I see a finger splinter from the force, but she remains calm, whole, focused. 

“Go,” I growl. Flecks of black ink that has collected between my teeth spit from my mouth and stain her face in corrosive freckles, boring into her skin. They’ll leave pockmarks if she doesn’t wipe it off, but her eyes remain locked onto mine. I don’t realize that she’s wiping away the burning, stinging rubbing alcohol that’s leaking from my eyes until she pats my cheek. 

“Hey, look at me.” I look at her and through her, inside and out, the things she shows me and the things she carefully doesn’t. 

My head splits down the center, and though she remains remarkably calm, I can see the terror, the hatred in her eyes. It’s the same way everyone else that has seen the monster has looked at me, betrayed and confused. 

Each hemisphere of my flayed skin is sharp. It’s not tooth and it’s not gum but jaw, with jagged bony edges that are black with rot and dripping with venom. 

Liv’s mouth is moving, but I’m too far gone to make out the words. 

I try to command her once more to leave me, to turn away and never look back, but the jaws that were once my skull wrap around her arms, pulling her in, a finch in a bramble bush. She thinks she can contort to fit between the shards, but they’ll grow into her if she stays. 

What leaks from the jaw is mine and mine alone, and it stains her, dissolves her, makes her a little less than she was before. I can’t stop it flowing any more than I can stop it churning behind my own tonsils. Even without this form, it lives at the bottom of my throat. The kindest people go looking down it when I tell them how it burns, and that’s how I end up with a heart between my teeth. 

Every time. This time. 

The next morning, I wake in my bedroom. My head pounds from the exertion, but it seems as though Liv has gotten me dressed and wrangled back into the bed despite everything. She’s sleeping beside me in my bed, radiant but speckled with corrosive burns. Though I can’t remember exactly what happened last night, I can see the marks I left. 

“Liv,” I whisper. Gently, tenderly, I soothe her arms, her collarbones, her chest. I ate her heart, and she rolls over to offer it to me again. 

She’s kind, and she’s kind, and she’s kind. 

“Go back to sleep, Ridley. You need it.” 

So I do. 

That night, I sneak out of the bed to chew rocks in the back yard until I spit blood in the hopes of dulling my teeth. They stay that way for three days. When they grow back sharper than ever, I dig. Bare-handed and alone, I rip up the garden, all the flowers I spent the summer planting. They look so ugly now that I can’t believe I was ever proud of them. 

When my nails are broken from the tip to the bed, I finally let myself go inside. A trail of blood follows me down the hall and pools beneath me when I collapse in my bathtub. 

I wake up with them not only sharp, but pristinely manicured, perfect enough to mock the effort I put into ruining them. 

[taylortuthorror]

have a short horror story!! i wrote this when i was in a really bad place in my life and that darkness made me feel like a monster. this piece was so cathartic to me and i still think it's really good. trigger warning for body horror.

“Just so you know,” I say to the new girl, leaning over the top of where our cubicles meet, “I’m a monster.” She stares at me with a blank expression. It’s not that I don’t understand the confusion, but it’s imperative that she knows this now rather than finding out when it's too late. There’s a reason that I had requested the cubicle that borders my own be left empty, but the company is expanding and it can’t be helped. I might talk to HR about it anyway. 

“Oh,” she fumbles. “Yeah, I can be one too, in the mornings. Just show me where the coffee maker is and I’ll be good, though.” 

I roll my eyes, which I realize goes against the goal of this woman taking me seriously, but I can’t help it. I’m frustrated. It’s rare that I have to deal with other people. Usually they scare off easier than this.

“No. A monster. Like, sharp teeth and bloody claws and all that. If I like you too much, I will eat your heart.” 

This time, she snorts again, but more out of discomfort than mirth. 

“Okay.” What else could she say? “I’ll try not to be too likable, then.” 

“That might be best.”

Because I didn’t get a comprehensive look at her before, my gaze lingers for a moment despite every intention in of turning back to my computer. She’s about my age, with jet black hair and eyes almost as dark. She brushes the strands that have escaped her low ponytail behind her ear, glancing up at me with a smile on her face. “I mark my pens with a little green flag.” Indeed, the handful of pens and highlighters she pulls from her bag all have a small, neon green piece of tape around the end. “That’s so I know which ones are mine. Take one without asking, and I’ll eat your heart.” 

“You’re funny. Be careful.” 

The first time I fall in love with her is a few weeks after we meet. She sings while she heats up her lunch in the microwave. It looks horrifying and smells unoffensive, but the look of excitement on her face as she places her leftovers into the dirty break room microwave is enough to do me in. After weeks of pointedly ignoring her, I have to bite down on a smile. 

“What do you have there?” I ask. Liv—I don’t think she knows that I even know her name—glances around to be sure I’m talking to her. 

“This? It’s leftover eggplant parmesan. From Trader Joe’s.” 

“Is it good?” 

“Do you like eggplant?” 

I shrug. “I like most things.” 

“Oh, do you? That’s news to me.” Her smile slips. I regret this. “Come on. We’ve sat next to each other for over a month and you’ve never said a word to me, no matter how much I try. Why this? Why now?” 

“Maybe I’m—” lonely, empty, horrible, toxic, yearning, desperate, terrified of being myself and by myself—”hungry.” 

She yanks the microwave open before her food is even warm and slides the lid back on top before setting it back in the refrigerator. “Oh, perfect. I’m buying, then. You’re driving.” 

Just like that, she’s everything. 

It’s when her laugh fills my stomach with moths that I feel the shift. The sequence of events is so fast that it’s impossible to stop, and I’m immediately too tied up in it to warn her. Bile pools behind my eyes and I recoil from the pain. My palm finds my temple, sinking into my skull like a thumb into an overripe peach. 

“Ridley?” I hear Liv’s voice calling to me like a thunderstorm in the distance. “What’s wrong?” 

Her hands reach out and I shove them away. I think I see a finger splinter from the force, but she remains calm, whole, focused. 

“Go,” I growl. Flecks of black ink that has collected between my teeth spit from my mouth and stain her face in corrosive freckles, boring into her skin. They’ll leave pockmarks if she doesn’t wipe it off, but her eyes remain locked onto mine. I don’t realize that she’s wiping away the burning, stinging rubbing alcohol that’s leaking from my eyes until she pats my cheek. 

“Hey, look at me.” I look at her and through her, inside and out, the things she shows me and the things she carefully doesn’t. 

My head splits down the center, and though she remains remarkably calm, I can see the terror, the hatred in her eyes. It’s the same way everyone else that has seen the monster has looked at me, betrayed and confused. 

Each hemisphere of my flayed skin is sharp. It’s not tooth and it’s not gum but jaw, with jagged bony edges that are black with rot and dripping with venom. 

Liv’s mouth is moving, but I’m too far gone to make out the words. 

I try to command her once more to leave me, to turn away and never look back, but the jaws that were once my skull wrap around her arms, pulling her in, a finch in a bramble bush. She thinks she can contort to fit between the shards, but they’ll grow into her if she stays. 

What leaks from the jaw is mine and mine alone, and it stains her, dissolves her, makes her a little less than she was before. I can’t stop it flowing any more than I can stop it churning behind my own tonsils. Even without this form, it lives at the bottom of my throat. The kindest people go looking down it when I tell them how it burns, and that’s how I end up with a heart between my teeth. 

Every time. This time. 

The next morning, I wake in my bedroom. My head pounds from the exertion, but it seems as though Liv has gotten me dressed and wrangled back into the bed despite everything. She’s sleeping beside me in my bed, radiant but speckled with corrosive burns. Though I can’t remember exactly what happened last night, I can see the marks I left. 

“Liv,” I whisper. Gently, tenderly, I soothe her arms, her collarbones, her chest. I ate her heart, and she rolls over to offer it to me again. 

She’s kind, and she’s kind, and she’s kind. 

“Go back to sleep, Ridley. You need it.” 

So I do. 

That night, I sneak out of the bed to chew rocks in the back yard until I spit blood in the hopes of dulling my teeth. They stay that way for three days. When they grow back sharper than ever, I dig. Bare-handed and alone, I rip up the garden, all the flowers I spent the summer planting. They look so ugly now that I can’t believe I was ever proud of them. 

When my nails are broken from the tip to the bed, I finally let myself go inside. A trail of blood follows me down the hall and pools beneath me when I collapse in my bathtub. 

I wake up with them not only sharp, but pristinely manicured, perfect enough to mock the effort I put into ruining them.