#maybe they will be able to go back soon... but gosh 10/10

[satninroses]

Elvis’s white swim shorts become completely see-thru. Making y/n be able to see ever detail of his cock and surrounding goods. Y/n shyly whispers to elvis to let him know and he looks down mortified at just how much detail you can see of him like he might as well be naked. he is so embarrassed moving his hands in front of his crotch. Before dragging y/n somewhere private to figure out what to do about it. (Maybe it leads to smut somehow)

Wet White Shorts

(A/N): Hi 🙁. To be honest, this is probably my worst one. I’m just in a little low at the moment. I really, REALLY hope that I can climb out of this rut soon. Thank you all for your patience :)

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Fem! Reader

Word Count: 1,475

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of exposed bodies, like… super mini smut?

Note: Because this was taking me forever, I decided to publish it as is. At some point, I’ll probably come back and add more to it.

“Cannonball!” Came Billy’s booming voice as he splashed everyone in the pool. There were a few agitated ‘Billy!’s and groans from the guys as they wipe their eyes clear of the water. Billy resurfaced for air and laughed heartily at everyones displeasure. “Should have been quicker!” He spoke amused.

As one of the guys had tackled him in the pool and was basically drowning him, You and Elvis were walking out the back doors of Graceland hand in hand. “Gosh, we leave them alone for 5 minutes.”

Elvis laughed at your remark and nodded in agreement. “Never have too much trust in them. They’re all a buncha’ school boys.” You giggled and his comment and kissed his cheek. “Go have fun with them baby! I’ll be by the poolside.” Elvis nodded and kissed you back. He unhooked his arm from your and jogged over to thwete thebrest if the guys were.

“Elvis! Make Billy get out! He’s been splashing us all day!” Spoke one of his buddies, clearly agitated. “Just splash ‘em back?” Elvis replied.

“He’s right guys. GET HIM!”

The boys, including Elvis, ambushed Billy in the pool. It was truly a sight to behold. Multiple grown men turned teenagers splashing around in the water.

You sat on a lounge chair, watching them have fun and splash each other. You were laid on your back, reading a magazine about Elvis and his up and coming career. The media were ruthless sometimes. Calling him a hill-billy who probably wouldn’t make it out of preforming at local clubs or bars? That’s silly! He had just recently bought Graceland and had given you, his girlfriend of 3 years now, a place to call home.

He was finally in a position to take care of his friends and family and he wasn’t going to waste a second of it. With the purchase of Graceland, a pool was to be added in the backyard as well. As of about a week ago, the construction on the pool had been finished and Elvis had proposed a get-together with some of his crew and you.

His friends had arrived tonight and they threw a little party. You guys had some food, played a couple games, and then went out to the pool. You were in a plain white two piece bathing suit. The bra portion tied in the back and the bottoms sat right in the middle of your stomach. You didn’t need to worry about dressing modestly while you were with Elvis. In fact, he loved it! He thought you looked like an angel with it on. He would also be lying if he didn’t think about ripping it off of your and fucking you senseless in the lounge chair.

There were no prying eyes, flashes of cameras from the paparazzi, screams of fans, or nosy media people trying to get a scoop of your life.

Elvis had on a pair of white shorts. Now, he had swore up and down that they were swim shorts, and you believed him. However, part of you had your doubts. It wasn’t that they were “see-through”, it just didn’t look like the material of typical swimwear. He looked so handsome though. He was a little tan from all these days in the sun that he’s been spending, and his hair was perfect and glistening from the water. You loved him so much, it hurt sometimes.

After about 10 minutes of switching between reading your magazine and watching them dork around, you stood up to stretch. You popped a cramp in your back and elbows and walked towards the pool. One of his friends noticed you before him. “Hey doll! Need Elvis?” You smile and nodded. “Thank you!”

“Elvis! Your girl needs you!” Elvis whips his head around and sees you bent over the pool. He walks, albeit very slowly, to you. He pushes himself up on his forearms and catches your lips in a sweet kiss. You allow yourself to sink deeper into the kiss. He slowly wrapped one arm around your neck and tugged you into the pool with him.

You dove headfirst into the water and resurfaced next to him. His friends were giggling at your misfortune. You wiped the excess water out of your face and looked at him with irritation written all over your face. You pursed your lips and pushed yourself out of his grip.

“No kisses ever again for that Mr.”

“Noooo, baby! I was kidding. Here, let’s get out. I’m sorry baby.”

You smiled at his whiny apology and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. You pulled yourself You both make your way to the tiny steps to get out of the pool. With the help of his hand to keep you steady, you step out of the pool first and rush to your seat to grab your towel. Elvis follows directly behind you and makes his way to grab a towel.

You sat on your chair and waited for him to catch up to you. You stare him down as he gets out. Your smile widens when you rake your eyes down his body. They stop at his bulge and your smile falters.

Your eyes bulge out of your head at the sight. His white shorts, completely see through now, clung tightly to his body. Your mouth gapes and you catch his eyes. He smiles at you and walks in your direction.

“Baby, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He joked with you.

“I did. And it’s phallic shaped.” His laughing stops and he looks you in the eyes. “What?”

“Elvis… wrap a towel around your waist we need to go back inside.”

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

Should you tell him now or bring him inside to save him from any embarrassment?

“Baby. What’s going on?” He says sternly. Normally, his deep sultry voice would have you whipped for him but now was not the time.

“Your shorts are becoming see through! I can see your… you know.” You whispered shyly to him. He looks down at himself to confirm your statement. A tick is placed in his jaw. Not only was he fully exposed, but he was hard.

“So what are we gonna do about it?” He asked. He placed his hand on his crotch to try and cover himself a little bit. “Let’s go inside and we’ll figure this out.”

You both walked quickly - almost a light jog - back to the house. You both walked through the doors of Graceland and he promptly ran upstairs. You followed slowly behind him. You reached the top of the steps and called out to him. “Elvis? Baby, which room are you in?”

A grunt was heard from one of the doors. You know you shouldn’t go in, but you really wanted to check on him. You tried the door on the left but it was locked. Then, you tried the door on the right. It was unlocked. You stepped in the dimly lit room. “Elvis? Where are you?”

The grunt your heard before grew louder as you came closer to the bathroom connected to the bedroom. “F-fuck. (Y/N).” His melodic voice rang out. You knew all too well what that meant. Your hand rested against the door as you watched him do his business. He sat on the side of the tub with his long legs spread. One hand worked up and down his hard cock while the other kept himself steady on the edge of the tub. His shorts had been discarded somewhere around the room, probably leaving a puddle.

“El?” You pushed open the door to be met with the scene face-to-face. Elvis jumped at you entering the room. However, he did not stop, only slowed his actions. “(Y/N)… Baby” He groaned out at the sight of you. The bottoms of your swimsuit were bunched around your crotch area and it was driving him insane.

“Baby. I need you so bad.” He reached his hands out for you and beckoned you over with two fingers. Without wasting anymore time, you rushed over to stand in-between his spread legs. His hands were on you in an instant, as was his mouth. He nipped ad your collarbone and worked his way down to your swim top. His hands reached around to the back of your neck to pull the straps loose.

Your soaked bra fell off and created a puddle on the floor at your feet. His mouth returned to you. He took one nipple in his mouth while he fondled with your other breast. You placed your hands on his shoulders and moaned out to him. “Oh, Elvis! I need you so bad!” You mewled out to him. A smirk forms in his lips and against your tits as he pulls away.

“Oh baby, I plan on takin’ ya.”

(taglist: @mt12209 @myradiaz @presleyenterprise @austinsmutler @18lkpeters @ccab @elvisalltheway101

[countrymusiclover]

9 - Life Changing Moments

Part 10

Dr. Redheaded Neighbor

Tag list - send an ask to be added @annieradcliff @watermeezer @zaidatorcuatomorgado @kmc1989

Maxon made a noise looking up at Will with a tilt of his head. “What do you think that conversation is going to be about, Max.” Will just sat down with him laying at his feet simply wanting to wait until she got back.

Sylvie and I exited the ED going to sit down on one of the benches outside the building so we could talk. I wasn’t sure what she needed to talk to me about or how she found me here at the hospital in the first place. “So, I have to ask how the hell did you find me here exactly?”

“I looked you up on the internet. Facebook showed some pictures with you and Dr. Halstead. I searched through his page and found out that he worked here. The chance of you being here still at the same town was a happy coincidence.” She explained and I nodded somehow not finding that creepy given the smile she had given me.

I clicked my tongue intertwining my hands together in my lap. “Okay, so – what exactly did you need to talk to me about privately?”

“I have been trying to rack my brain about why I couldn’t get you out of my head and it finally came to me. It’s because you clearly aren’t ready to be done helping people.”

I eyed my right leg wishing that I didn’t have the brace on all the time. “Maybe I am. I mean I had to be discharged from Army after I got injured. I don’t remember the last mission I only know I came home with this on me probably for the rest of my life.”

“Look I have been thinking about offering you a chance to come work at Firehouse 51 or at least consider looking into helping out there.” The female firefighter sends me a smile again.

Running a hand through my loose hair I sighed thinking about what she was offering. “Wow. That’s - that’s a huge offer. I mean I don’t have any training to be a Firefighter or Paramedic like you guys.”

“You’re right but you’d be able to learn on the job and take courses if you really want to look into what I’ve mentioned here.”

I asked her meeting her blue eyes. “Is this even allowed with your boss?”

“If you truly are considering saying yes, I will speak with him as soon as possible.” She reached forward touching my knee.

Since coming home I was just focusing on trying to adjust getting back to civilian lifestyle and getting spend more time with my best friend again. “I’ll let you know. Uh here – I can give you my phone number.” Taking out my phone I handed it to her showing my phone number.

“Thanks. Just call me, Mallory.” She put her number in my phone handing me my phone back.

The hospital sliding doors opened causing me and the firefighter to turn our heads and attention towards them. I saw Maxon coming towards me before I saw Will slowly running over to us. “Raegan is awake and asking for you. If you want to see her now.”

“Oh my gosh. Ms. Brett, I will certainly let you know my answer later.” Jumping up onto my feet Maxon bolted to the doors with me and Will following him inside the hospital doors. I entered the room she was supposed to be in seeing her sitting somewhat upright in her bed, smiling when I rushed to her bedside. “Rae, I was so worried about you. I – I thought something really bad was going to happen.”

She blew a raspberry at me. “I’m too stubborn to leave you alone. Especially when you haven’t fessed up and told your Redhead how you feel.”

“You know the thought of you dying is more important than my romantic life.” I sent her a glare.

She crossed her arms over her chest huffing at me. “Okay but you know that I’m right. Halstead from what I can tell isn’t very good about hiding his feelings. So, I see no issue with getting it over with and telling him that you have feelings for him too.”

“But what if he- “

She held her up left hand with an iv sticking in her arm. “I will take this out which will set off all the alarms and go find himself. Do you really want me to be the one to tell him what you won’t.”

Holding up my hands up in surrender in front of me I begged her. “Don’t you dare do anything like that. I’ll tell him soon okay.”

“You better.” Raegan sent me a warning look.

Pushing opened the apartment door I tossed my keys on the countertop the second I walked inside Will’s apartment while carrying in a pizza box that we had picked up on the way home from the hospital. Maxon jumped up onto the couch and he laid down in a curled-up position. Will came in shortly after sitting his bag by the door. “Oh, what a day. I gotta say I love being an ED doc but it sure wores me out.”

“At least now I finally kept up on my promise on bringing you this.” Spinning the pizza box around on the kitchen counter I drew the lid open and the familiar comforting smell filled the air.

He shrugged his jacket off ditching it onto the back side of the couch coming over in two long strides until his nose was right above the pizza box. “Ohh I’ve been needing this all day.”

“I gotta admit it is pretty good pizza.” I picked up a bite thinking back to my old home state. “I do remember the drive to Dominos wasn’t too bad either.”

Will set his piece of pizza down. “How dare you say bad things about me pizza..”

“I can’t help I’m from Indiana, Will.” I throw my hands up staring at him.

He glared at me across the kitchen island. “Dang country girl.”

“City slicker.” I did my best to hold a straight and serious face when I was looking at him but I only lasted a few more seconds. I bent my head down in my arms laughing my head off.

Will mirrored my laughter shaking his head. “Who would’ve thought that we would work together like this. Living together, me, you and Maxon.”

“We do make a pretty good trio.” Picking up my slice of pizza I take out a few bites before picking up another.

Will moved over to the couch sitting down with some pieces of pizza on his plate. “Do you ever think we’d still work together this great as a couple?”

“Wha – what did you say?” I nearly choked on the bite of pizza I had in my mouth.

Will’s gaze focused on me standing by the kitchen island sitting the plate down on the coffee table in front of him. I’ve been thinking for a while that I should have told you this much sooner. And so now I’m done waiting.” He rose from the furniture striding over to me until I held my hands up before he can say anything more.

“Will, hang on a second. I need to say something to you too. I – I just have been so terrified of what you would say.”

He rummaged around in his pocket holding up a random coin. “Let’s let luck decide this then. Heads, we say our feelings one at a time. Tails, we say them at the same time. And there’s no backing out.” Will tossed the coin up off his thumb and it landed down in his palm.

“What does it say?” I nervously gripped the ends of my tea shirt in my fingers nervous for his answer.

“Tails.”

I gulped. “Okay. 3 – 2 – 1.”

Will and I paused before uttering out at the same time. “I have feelings for you.”

Covering my mouth with my hands I felt some tears welling in my eyes. “I thought that you wouldn’t – um.” I didn’t know what to say considering I assumed he wouldn’t feel the same way since we’d been friends for over six years now.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He asked me.

I started to respond to him but he cut me off. “I was afraid that our relationship would be ruined and that you wouldn’t feel the same way- “

He crashed his lip’s down onto mine where I gasped taking a second to process what was happening. I had imagined what it would be like to kiss him but now that it was happening I thought I was dreaming. I leaned up slightly on my toes kissing him back and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Mal, Mallory, listen to me okay.” He drew back holding my face in his hands, smiling through happy tears. “Our relationship could never be ruined by you being honest with me. Cause I have always had feelings for you. Always have, always will.”

I grinned up at him gripping the fabric of his shirt. “So this is for real?”

“Yes, Mallory. This is real.” He sent me that familiar cheeky grin. “Now what would you say to me taking you out on our first official date tomorrow night?’

Leaning up on my toes I began the next kiss we shared. “I’d love that.” Will moved his hands around my waist holding me against his chest until we broke away knowing the pizza was getting cold.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[yourmomsgranddad]

— 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃

— CHAPTER TWO: We can stay at home and watch the sunset but I can't help but asking are you bored yet

— SUMMARY: Kate and Y/n's reunion isn't what Kate expects.

— WARNINGS: two curse words i believe, sexual themes but no smut, mention of blood

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

That was all that was going through Kate's mind right now. Her brain was still trying to comprehend what her mom said but at the time was feeling at the emotions all at once. She wanted to cry, she wanted to rejoice and she definitely wanted to go to the bathroom.

"What do you mean 'she's coming back'?" Kate was trying to make sure she heard her mom right before she flew off the handle.

"Well I guess her and her mom wanted to see New York and she found out we lived here so they are hopping on the first plane and they will be here by tomorrow."

Yup, she heard her completely correctly. Now she could commence her freakout.

She laid on the floor. She wanted to burst into tears but instead her brain was seeing everything, everywhere, all at once. All of her memories of you were rising to the top.

That creaky swing that used to be in your backyard, the way you used to dress, the bright purple you insisted on painting Kate's bedroom by yourselves and ended up being purple for a few months.

She missed you so much. She didn't know what she was worrying about, she was excited to see you again.

"I'm having a party tomorrow night and they're going to be there if you want to come."

Not that excited! She couldn't see you so soon.

"I don't know why I said it like it was your decision. You're coming, I cannot handle Claire by myself."

Claire was your mother and she was like Godzilla and the Boogeyman mixed together. She always enjoyed having Kate in her home but something in her just absolutely couldn't find it to pretend to be nice to Kate's mom.

Kate never understood why she could be so nice to her but not her mom, it didn't make sense. Nevertheless, she definitely could chill things down if she was there.

"Fine. I'll be there." She rolled her eyes. But her mom didn't care, this was a win in her book. She was going to celebrate.

And Kate was about to do something brash, maybe a tattoo?

Could she pull off a bob?

Both answers were a no so she just went to bed. Today was kind of draining even if she barely did anything.

Next day, Kate woke up determined. She was going to dominate this party and see you, and have the best time ever.

Yeah, no, none of that happened.

The moment she got inside the building, all of bodily functions started to act against her. First, her bladder attacked. She had to take the longest piss known to man. She was in the bathroom for like 18 minutes.

No one had seen her in while.

Next, she got a cramp in her knee. That doesn't seem like a problem but this event had no chairs so she had to sit on the floor, not being able to stand up.

And lastly, her nose started bleeding. Like gushing blood. It's like her nose was having a period.

Trying to fish for tissues, she banged her knee against the table. "Ow." Like her night could get any worse.

"Katie?! Why are you on the floor?"

She looked up and it's like someone was just cackling at her, they did not want her to succeed. Surely enough, you were standing above, looking more beautiful than when she last saw you.

Well the last time she saw you, you were like 10 but that doesn't matter because you were here.

"I cwamped my leg and can't stand. And I'm bweeding from the nose." Her words sounded funny since she was full of tissues and a whole lot of blood. You couldn't help but giggle.

"Well either way, it's great to see you." You got down to her level and pulled her into your arms, completely not thinking about the blood.

"Sorry. I got blood on your clothes."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

You situated yourself to sit next to her, getting as close to her as possible. She missed having you this close. She almost thought it was a dream but then you touched her.

She hadn't felt your touch in years. Feeling it again was like eating your favorite food again after a while and finding out you still love it.

"So how are you? Besides having everything happen to you at once."

"The best. Now that you're here." You smiled. You reached forward, helping her release her hand from the blood. Instead, you held them for her.

"Why do I feel like I've seen this before?" Kate's mom popped up, crossing her arms at the two of you. "Our girl's always hurting herself, isn't she?" You scrambled off the floor, going over to her mom for your hug.

Kate couldn't hide the blush that was spreading from hearing you call her 'your girl'. Maybe it was the blood. Who knows?

"So Miss Bishop, how's life? Kate still giving you trouble?" You chuckle, looking back at Kate for a second, who just seemed to be trying to hide her face.

"Always. And I told you, you can call me Eleanor. I've known you for a while." She tried, your hands still in hers.

"I know but you're like my mom, Miss B. And I wouldn't call my mom by her first name." You shrugged.

Kate's brain was making sure to remember every part of this moment, she never wanted to forget when you walked back into your life. (although she was gonna keep out the part where she was laying on the floor and bleeding)

But her thoughts got disrupted when she noticed your mom walking right over to the two of you. Oh no. That brought Kate to her feet, even if she wanted to scream in agony.

"Claire! So lovely to see you!" Kate greeted first. She saw the look on your mom's face, she was unhappy. Kate figured hop on it before she could.

"Katherine! Always a pleasure!" She went in for a hug but then looked down, noticing the way Kate was trying so hard to hop on her other leg. "Oh no! Kate, what happened?" A sudden worry washed over her.

"My body doesn't like me. How are you?" She tried to shift the conversation to her, hoping to forget about her pain.

"Normally fine but this one over here is giving me a run for my money." She gestured to you, looking like something was definitely bothering the two of you. She wanted to ask, but figured she could hear when the two ladies walked away.

And it was like they heard her brain since they walked away, going to talk to someone else, leaving the two of you alone.

"So what was that about?"

You rolled your eyes, not taking your eyes off of your mom, making sure she was far away.

"She is so worried about me. I dropped out of college a few months ago and she thinks I don't have any 'prospects'. She brought me here, hoping your mom could give me a job. She's so annoying."

This was new territory for Kate. She had never heard you speak anything but highly about your mom.

"Well she's right about one thing. My mom will definitely give you that job, she loves you." You smiled and all of a sudden, the pain from her leg vanished. There was something about your smile, it could make the clouds disappear.

"Well I do love your mom."

And there was that shift, that shift that Kate was afraid of, the shift that haunted her dreams. The shift that let her know, things were going to be different now.

She knew once she saw you, it wasn't going to all shiny and rainbows and you would go back into your old routine. You were like 12! You were adults now, things were going to change and she definitely didn't want to them to.

So she tried her hardest to bring the past the present.

"Remember when you glued my hair to my bedroom door?" You looked down, chuckling, you remembered the moment exactly.

"Well it wasn't my fault. You said you were going to tell Jake Faraday that I had a crush on him and you wake up earlier than me. I had to do something to stop you."

"Glue? Really, Y/n? That was your first option." She furrowed her eyebrows, till this day she was still confused about your choice.

"In my defense, it was either glue or attach you to the ceiling and I knew you had a fear of heights. I wanted to send a message, not scare you half-to-death."

Her heart swelled. You remembered her fear after all these years, maybe there was hope for you yet.

So all night, you stayed dormant, reminiscing about everything that the two of you ever did.

The time you crashed the cool kids' party and they called your moms. The day you both went around the arcade, putting your high score on every game. Even the time you both almost met Justin Timberlake.

"Remember when we both got mono from each other?"

Her eyes went wide. Some part of her definitely wanted you to bring it up but something told her it was a bad idea. But here it was. Whether she liked it or not.

"Yeah. Do you know how hard it is to explain to your mother how you and your best friend both have the kissing disease but 'didn't kiss each other'?" You let out a wry chuckle.

"I gotta say Kate, even if you did give me a disease, still one of the best kisses I've ever had."

She froze. The kiss that she was cursing herself for having, the kiss she stayed awake thinking about, the kiss that changed her life, it was the best you had ever had. She didn't know how to process.

But before she could get you to add on, you had to go. Not from the party, just to the bathroom and you would be right back.

She was ask when you came back.

It had been almost 30 minutes and you hadn't came back.

Kate's bleeding stopped and her cramp was retreating. But she was now completely worried about you and she didn't know what to do.

She still saw her mom and yours so you were definitely still here but you could be having issues in the bathroom, something could be wrong and you might need help. She needed to find you.

So she started running around, looking in every bathroom in the building, hoping to find you in one. Even the men's!

Little note, you were not in the men's. I don't know why she thought you would be.

But she had checked every bathroom on the floor the party was on and not one of them had you in them. Maybe you were on a different floor. Maybe you weren't in the bathroom at all. Maybe you were dead!

Kate was thinking about too hard.

You probably went home and couldn't text her since you didn't have her number anymore. Yeah.

She was about to quit her search and go tell her mom she was going home, she served her purpose. If you were gone, chances are your mom was right behind you.

But something stopped her.

She heard moans and groans coming from the closet she was standing next to. At first, she figured someone must be hurt and she was about to burst in there and become Captain Save A Ho.

But as soon as the door swung open, she knew it was the complete opposite. And she looked on with fear.

You were inside the closet with some boy's lips on your neck.

Holy shit.

[castlebyersafterdark]

i really love your realisticness about what we could actually get in s5 when it comes to byler spice. lover's lake is a perfect set up, and i agree that peak romance being needed. although the reason i've always been in the spicy camp is because, to me, the more we see, the less explicit/dirty/spicy/lewd it will be?

cutting to black like jancy is too... dismissive, almost. it implies that the couple has found peace and simply needs to do the deed, and that the sex quality didnt matter, only that they did it. but surely the conflict for mike and will IS the question of hiccups and doubts even during? Can we, should we, do this? i think that what we DO need to see IS the fumbling, IS the constant glances at each other to make sure it's ok, IS the hand grabbing another hand and tentatively guiding it down to the crotch, probably over clothes, etc! i want to see their relationship literally transform before my eyes. and i think we need to see that hesitation and fear mixed with excitement in their eyes even during the act, that inexplicable oxymoron that is first desire and losing your virginity.

the first shadow REALLY plays up the idea of desire and intense emotion making electricity and lights go haywire, and it was sometimes done tongue in cheek as an obvious sex joke (the whole theatre laughed). its sooooo duffers to use this for will and mike. what better metaphor than the whole hawkins power grid sparking out because mike made will come so hard he literally BLACKED OUT?? and it doesnt need to be kinky or lewd! it could be over for will in 10 seconds as soon as mike touches him, but that doesnt make it less intense or hot - but the important thing is that will came because of the emotional intensity of them having sex, not just the physical sensation. i think this is the difference between gratuitous and meaningful movie sex.

and then the actual climax (lol) of that emotional arc will be their peace and contentment AFTER its done, so we also need to see the post-sex scene. you mentioned shy smiles and doing up a belt, but i think they deserve a whole night together. i would love love love to see them waking up together, maybe even accidentally thwarting a mission somewhat because they left their walkie talkies in another room? idk. something that ties it into the plot well.

a quick fumble can be sexy but i don't think byler need that - it keeps them too in the friends category, and the audience needs to know for sure that their relationship has transformed into something else and can never go back. THIS is a coming of age arc. their first time can't resemble a one night stand in any way. i also think will wouldn't be able to emotionally cope with sleeping with mike in a barn in the afternoon and then just going back about his day. i think he would need at least one business day and night to process it lol. will's sleep quality has also been a big theme of the show - imagine if he sleeps with mike and wakes up in his arms the next morning having slept soundly for the first time since he was 12???? literal perfection.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF THIS - I tried to be realistic in my assessment/predictions but I guess I'm just trying to set the bar low to either be happy with what we get or surprised if it exceeds expectations. But this ship deserves the world. They deserve care and peak romance and softness and it to be the moment. Truly, there is so much more going on in the show but I really do believe that byler is the heart of the show, a major turning point and overarching theme so I do hold out the hope that they get something really beautiful. What a waste, if not?

I compare to the 2 sex scenes we've gotten because that's the only frame of reference for that sort of romance we've really seen - but in actuality, yeah, it doesn't really make sense for a repeat or an homage. They'd get their own moment. Gosh, you've described some wonderful direction and context and potential imagery for the scene. I especially love "will's sleep quality has also been a big theme of the show - imagine if he sleeps with mike and wakes up in his arms the next morning having slept soundly for the first time since he was 12" LIKE??? Oh that's fantastic. Your brain. My heart ahhh. Wouldn't that just be the loveliest? How indicative of their relationship as a whole, and one of the classic pillars of romance - "find someone with whom you can rest." Ahh. That's what they are to each other, aren't they? Mike - running from himself, from society, from guilt, from his feelings, from danger. Will - plagued by nightmares, and hate, always looking over his shoulder for monsters and humans alike. Have them express their love not just emotionally, but physically, but then let them rest. With each other.

[cringetownusa]

I have a Yax writing request. How about after Yakko flirting with Max so much, Max flirts back and turns Yakko into a flustered, stuttering mess? (Maybe have his sibs tease him on the side?)

Still taking drabble requests! They're making for good warmups when I'm stuck with normal writing! thanks for sending this in!

--

Flirting was something Yakko did often, and in his opinion, well. He might not have been successful in the past, well- ever, but he had no doubt in his abilities. He was still going to do it.

Plus the amused, but slightly embarrassed look on Max's face when Yakko took him particularly off guard with a well timed pick-up line or compliment? That was something he didn't intend to give up anytime soon.

And that was the norm. Max would do something funny, charming, or stunning, and Yakko would cover up the the way his breath stopped in his chest and the heat on his muzzle by putting up his familiar barrier of flirting and wit. It was a good way to get out his real feelings under the guise of a joke, and to make his friend smile at the same time.

Today however, was not the norm.

The Warners three were lying on the top of the water tower watching the clouds go by. The sound of metal creaking and soft grunts signaled the arrival of their favorite Disney, but none of them bothered to move from their spot as Max made his way up the ladder.

His face pops up over the side of the roof minutes later, and with a grunt, he leapt and grabbed the lip to swing himself over onto the ledge beside Yakko.

Yakko sat up and clapped. "Very impressive!" All three of them hold up signs to give him points. Yakko's holding a black 10, but his siblings' at 9. "Well there's no accounting for taste I suppose, you'll have to show me your "Parkour Skillz" sometime, I'm afraid with just jumping directly on the tower, I'm a little rusty."

Max, now placed between him and his sister, laughs and returns the joke. "If I could teach any old man how to pull it off, it'd be you. I'll show you sometime."

Yakko's heart swelled at the compliment. He deflected it off with a joke. "Then it's a date."

What Max said next, what Max did next was something new. He turned one way to dot and cocked a hand out toward her, then spoke much like one would expect for a gossiping hairdresser. "Oh my GOSH, darling can you believe it? After all this time, And here I thought he didn't like me!"

Dot, ever the one to pick up a bit quickly, sat and faked painting Max's nails, replying in that same tone. "Oh lucky you! You'll have to bring the boy 'round here sometime, let him meet all the girls!"

"Goodness will I ever, you know I introduce you to all my new boyfriends Margaret."

Whatever Dot said next, was lost on Yakko. The continued mentions of date and boyfriend, were a bit much for his heart to take. He felt much like a teapot. Emotions bubbling and ready to scream.

"Well your nails look lovely now if I do say so, you'll be all ready for your date with that Yakko boy."

Yakko was thoroughly flustered now, only able to watch in shock as the bit continued.

Max blew at the tips of his gloves and pretended to admire them. "Thank you so much Margie, they're as beautiful as ever." 

Dot and Wakko both decide now was a good time to make their departure. Traitors, leaving him alone to deal with the racing of his heart. As they jumped down, his little sister made two more comments. "You must tell me how your date went when you're here next." Then again, in her normal voice, laced with sincerity. "You must, Max."

He swallowed, and waved her off. "Um, yeah, if he'll let me."

If he does the what-the who now? Let him? Yakko? Let Max? Take him on a date? Let? As if that wasn't the deepest secret clutched behind the bars of his sole since they'd met?

"D-do you, do you maybe- um. I mean if it's ok..." Yakko trailed off. He was hopeful, but he really didn't want to be made an idiot if he'd misread everything that just happened.

"Make it a real date? I'd love to."

[the-prosecutors-fated-pen]

@badthingshappenbingo selfship oneshot 2!

Fic Title: Leave the Crusts On Too, Please!

Fandom: Ace Attorney

Characters: Miles Edgeworth, Emily Clearwater (Author Insert)

Prompt: Soup for the Sick

Warnings: No smut, but there's an age gap between two adults.

Additional Notes: this is in the Prosecutor!Emily timeline, all Athena x Emily fics are in the Defense!Emily timeline. However, all fics set in both of these timelines take place after the events of Spirit of Justice.

Summary: When Emily has to miss a day of proceedings due to a cold, Edgeworth takes it upon himself to stop by and prepare something tasty for her.

"Gosh damn it..." Emily Clearwater murmured as she awoke feeling both too hot and too cold. Nevertheless, she managed to drag herself to the closest bathroom in her apartment and grab a thermometer.

One hundred one point three degrees, it read. Emily sighed as she made her way back to bed.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to miss proceedings today..." With that, she picked up her phone and made a call to the prosecutors' office.

Despite the fact that it was only 7 AM and the trial proper didn't start until 10:30, several prosecutors, including Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, had already clocked in. In fact, it was Edgeworth who had picked up the phone.

"Good morning, how may I help?" he sighed, still somewhat recovering from having woken up so early.

"I'm not gonna be able to show up to the trial today. I woke up feeling all crummy, and when I checked, I had a pretty nasty fever - as in '101.3 degrees' nasty..."

"Well, in that case, Prosecutor Clearwater, erm, sorry, Emily... Good thing Blackquill decided to volunteer as backup in the event you couldn't make it," Edgeworth responded. "I'll be over at your place as soon as I can." Just after he said this, he hung up the phone and let the court staff know of the situation before making his way to Emily's apartment building.

The building in which Emily lived was not far from the court premises, and her apartment specifically was on the ground floor, so it only took Edgeworth about six minutes to arrive, by which point Emily had moved to her living room sofa with her blanket, pillow, and stuffed cat, Marcel - all so she could more easily answer the door when she heard the doorbell.

Upon seeing him at the door, Emily couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for coming. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

"I'm glad I could be here. Is there anything you want me to cook or something?" Edgeworth asked as Emily crawled back onto the couch.

"There's some cream stew in the fridge, could you heat that up?" Emily requested. "And maybe a grilled cheese, with crusts intact?"

"That can be arranged." With that, Edgeworth plodded into Emily's slightly cluttered kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a covered plastic container containing the cream stew Emily mentioned, as well as a pack of sliced cheese and a stick of butter.

After transferring the stew to a medium saucepan that was on the counter and turning the stove on, he grabbed a bowl and a frying pan from a nearby cabinet, as well as a pack of white bread from the pantry.

In about fifteen minutes, both the soup and the sandwich had now been set down on a TV table next to where a grateful Emily was laying.

"Looks tasty, thank you!" Emily responded, taking one half of the sandwich and dipping it into the bowl before taking a bite before nodding in approval. Edgeworth smiled warmly as he murmured something about being happy that Emily liked it. The two of them quietly basked in each other's presence for the next twenty minutes as Emily savored the meal.

When the bowl and plate were both empty save for the small amounts of cream stew and grilled cheese crumbs Emily couldn't reach, Edgeworth got up from where he was seated.

"I'm gonna have to go now. You take care, alright?" he said as he headed for the door. Emily nodded as he left, before nuzzling back into the softness of her space with Marcel in her arms.

[allylikethecat]

just wanted to let you know ive re-read make way for ducklings no joke like 10 times now lol. i checked for chapter 13 as soon as ao3 was stable again, since i saw you said it was done 😅. fictional matty fumbling the interview was very cute, and idk if this will be included or not but im interested to see when the fans start to figure it out 👀

(also thought using the durex shirt in the previous chapter was a nice touch lmao)

also been loving the kiss prompts! interested in the extended version of face down too, or anything more about migraines, or...well, anything angsty in general really haha...😅

anyway, looking forward to whatever you post next! ive very much enjoyed everything of yours so far <3

Oh my gosh. Thank you SO MUCH. I can't believe someone other than ME has read Make Way for Ducklings more than once, let alone TEN TIMES. You are absolutely amazing and I hope you didn't find too many plot holes that i have attempted to bandaid 😂 I feel like I was one of the last people to be able to access AO3 again, so I hope you weren't waiting too long after it came back up (huge shout out to the volunteer that fought off the attack, those are some real life rockstars.)

Meanwhile, Fictional!Matty is out there saying words that he is realizing after they leave his mouth that he probably should have kept to himself (reminds me of real life Matty there a little bit 🤔) except luckily, the only person he's hurting in my fic is himself! The fans are 100% going to think that Matty got some random girl pregnant and is now freaking out about it 😂 Though... they weren't the only ones listening to the broadcast and they don't have the same front row seat to Matty's erratic behavior as other people 👀

Thank you for commenting on the Durex shirt. I thought I was fucking hilarious with that one and was snickering as I wrote it haha

The kiss prompts have been so much fun! I posted another one today, and I have a few more in my inbox! I really needed them to kind of reset my brain I think!

Don't worry- there is lots more angst in the future! I will eventually finish the Ear Infection Fic™️ situation, and once that's finished I want to shift my "one shot" focus onto expanding Face Down- that whole thing has such a grip on me! I also have You Know Where the City Is - my Matty x Taylor 2014 Fake Dating AU... Matty is pretty miserable in that one as well 😂 I feel bad maybe I should write him into a happier situation?

I can't commit to migraines at the moment - but they're miserable so they will probably also make a reappearance at some point. I've also been really intrigued by Matty's experience getting LASIK...

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to reach out and for reading (multiple times!!!) I was so excited when I saw this ask and probably just sent way too long responding to it- but I got really excited and here we are, I have written you a small novel in response. If you have made it this far, thank you so, so, much and I am always overly excited to chat about my fic if you are so inclined. Thank you again!!

❤️Ally

[mcrmadness]

Gosh I feel like a weird cartoon or sketch comedy character right now. My luck is often very... selective, but today? Today apparently my luck really favours me.

One: I have decided to dye my hair this week but I realized: I just ran out of rubber gloves, and I can't go to a store to fetch new ones because my car is at a car repair place rn. So I decided to check my kitchen cupboards just in case and lo and behold - I did find EXACTLY three rubber gloves from there, of which 2 are clean enough so that I can actually use them when dyeing my hair! So I can dye my hair tonight after all!

Two: I have to do three different voluntary courses at school, they all are online courses and chose an art course as one of them. I contacted the teacher and I can do just one exercise of them and I can get the full course marked done with 10-15 photos and a couple of drawings, and THAT is going to be an easy peacy! The only difficult part will be: choosing which photos to use because I have a shitton of photos!

Third: Earlier this month, my car did not pass the annual checkup. Something something brakes etc. The man who replaced stuff about the brakes also found another thing that's broken: in the power steering. Spare parts can cost over 300 Euros and he was not able to find them anywhere. I'm already a poor student struggling to pay even this bill, let alone this power steering part. Turns out the other person who originally sold this car to me 12 years ago - HE HAS THOSE PARTS TOO. He might have a new one as well, and we can buy it from him, and I sure hope it's not as expensive as buying this spare part from a car repair shop.

But the fact this man was able to locate this issue is insane to me. I have had this car for 12 years and about half of that time, I have been saying there is something wrong with the steering. It makes weird rumbling noise sometimes, and it sometimes feels like the car is possessed. When standing with the motor running, the wheel sometimes starts turning itself, and occasionally it has also felt like that on the road. Thank goodness it has NEVER felt off on the road when going high speed because that shit would be extremely dangerous and scary. But still, for years I have been saying that this rumbling noise from the power steering does NOT sound right. Years ago, the power steering has also turned itself off out of blue. Now, my car is French so many things about it is electric (tho it's a normal car, not an electric one), including the power steering. So I always brushed it aside as nothing big after it came back because this car always has something wrong with the electronics. I have the replace the headlight bulbs regularly because it keeps breaking them so often, when I still drove more every month, I had to replace the bulbs maybe 1-2 times a year. There's probably not a single bulb I haven't changed to this car (apart from maybe the interior light).

So even tho it sucks that this repair will cost more than what it originally should have cost, I'm still so happy that finally someone was able to find the reason for why the power steering is what it is. Mind you, I have even used it at car repair shops and asked wtf is this noise my car does, and I got the car back without them really finding anything meanwhile talking to me as if I was crazy and hearing things. So I'm so happy that this gets fixed soon, and I'm looking forward to seeing whether I will feel a difference in the steering once the power steering is replaced with one that is not broken! Also very much looking forward to seeing how the brakes feel because for a few years now, I have been saying the brakes feel weird too but the annual checkups never had anything to say about them until now, so I never did anything about those. Also because car repairing is expensive AF and I have exective dysfunction, so I haven't even done any annual repairs which. Is not good either. But I've only got stuff fixed when something has broken down or the annual checkup was a fail due to some part needing fixing or replacing.

I did not mean to ramble so much about my car but here we are. Anyway, it feels good when stuff sometimes goes well for once. Better knock on wood cos I am still that superstitious.

[chelleztjs18]

Hello you mrs. writer of good stories honey nut cheerio lefty eyebag 😌

Oh to have a kid means never having a neat house. I remember going to my friends house to visit. My niece's room was so clean and tidy, then when she wanted me to play with her, she would just start moving the toys out of her room and make a big mess 🤣

So is the food you just had the first and last thing you'll have for 4 hours and then fast again for another 20? Are you able to drink water or coffee at least?

Woot! Finally part 4 coming out soon! I'm excited for the ending! Then are you gonna start with other stories? Like maybe 10 days? Ahahahaha just kidding no rush no rush.

So my headache is still there. I had a short power nap during my lunch break, but it didn't help any. I thought it was maybe just my eyes are strained, but I guess not. So I don't know what is going on.

Oh no, when I first moved here, it was in CA. Then we moved to FL then to GA. Then when I met my ex, she was in Canada. But then we met friends in NE, and decided to move here.

Ah I know what you mean with the shoes and wet socks. Even though they make water shoes! You goose. But I hate those too just because the splash is so cold lol

Yeah, CA has so many Filipino stores now. I am so sad I don't live there. There is this one place that sells bbq stuff and you can grill it yourself outside.

Hahaha yeah, I'll be bringing back lots of snacks definitely. There's also this one cereal that's been my favorite since I was a child, I might bring back boxes of those.

Ah so when you cook noodles for yourself, what kind do you make?

Thats funny you brought that up, because I was just watching clips of Gloria and how she speaks. Ah so your husband is from CA originally then? How much taller is he than you? Did Emily get half and half of your guys genes then or is she more white?

I stay quiet too when I am around someone I don't like. But if they keep pushing, I just walk away. Cause I don't want to say anything that I would regret. But I avoid those people anyway.

Has a stranger ever changed your life or made an impact?

-CuriousGeorge

Aaw that was a sweet nickname for me.. thank you so much.. i appreciate ur support n thank u for reading my stories.

Oh yeah thats so true.. it can change from clean n tidy to a mess in a second.lol. thats why we call her the hurricane Em or tornado Em.lol.

Well, actually i can eat whatever i want in 4hours window. i eat after 20hours fasting n then usually i eat something else around 30minutes or last minutes before the eating window ends so i wont get hungry too early.

Yeah u can drink water, tea or coffee that's plain. No sweet at all. I drink water and iced tea the whole day.

Haha yeah, pt. 4 is done.. i might start putting it in the tumblr n post it tonight. So stay tune! Hahaha.

N maybe after this i will focus on last chapter of my lost in assistance series, ten days n lesson learned. Or some of my old requests.

I know what u meant with water shoes but it usually for swimming or surfing or water activity. 😆 i wouldnt wear it all day at the park.lol.

Talking about a "water" ride. I remember this one ride that i tried once n i will never do it ever again. I forgot what it's called but i think it's the Nemo Submarine or something. It's in disneyland. Gosh that one ride is a torture to me.

It's just a submarine ride that take u under the water n u can see like robotic fish n coral n sometimes underwater screen that shows nemo movie. What bothers me is it's a long narrow submarine-like ride n they put a lot of people sit along the submarine n face to face pretty close. N then goes under water n it moves slow. It's so narrow that it started to give me anxiety n panic attack. Plus it's gross me out because i imagine the air in it is not clean with that many people breath in it. It feels weird n imagine what kind of germs that comea out of other's breath. Also it feels so weird with that many people in it n u dont know what to do, i felt like people watch me or something even though they all watch the window n dont even care about me... thank god when it starts to get harder to breath for me, the ride ended. So yeah imagine 3 of my fear or anxiety triggers combined in one confined place. Claustrophobic, germphobic and my social anxiety. Lol. Just google or youtube the ride so u'll see.what i meant. 😁

Oh no, im sorry.. maybe because u look at the screen too much? Did u take medicine or anything?

Wow u moved a lot.. that must be hard.

I like any thinner noodle. Panfried or soupy..doesnt matter, as long as it's spicy.haha.

Yes. He was born n raised in CA. He's like 6ft, blue eyed, his hair is light brown. N i'm 5'2 lol. So i think im about a little bit under his shoulder. I think Em is mixed pretty good but looks a little more white.lol. my friends n family say that she looks like the white version of me 🤣🤣🤣

For me, she looks just how i want it. U can see the asian in her but more dominant in the white looks. Good color on her eyes n hair. N she is definitely gets his height genes. She is more than half of my height. Lol. When she was born she looked very very asian n she changed A LOT. 😅 my husband wanted her to look more asian. Lol.

Ah i see..thats true. We r kinda similar.

Hmmm i dont really remember. I think someone help me to get me out of the pushing n crazy crowd in linkin park concert. Otherwise i might be dead from getting stomped.lol. u?

Next question?

Cheerio!

[boringbodywithacrazymind]

October 2022

I've been avoiding writing this post....but considering I need to get it off my chest and really document my pain instead of compartmentalizing all the time here we go.

I told my friends/co-workers I hate my birthday. I really hate the end of the year because the start of September until the end of the year gets really stressful, then a small break until it's time for taxes.

Anyway, my peers were like "oh no girl we want to know when your birthday is and don't say that you hate your birthday" or "why". I hate my birthday because something bad or super stressful happens around this time. And like I always call it, end of September to the first week of October; October 1st to the 5th to be exact, my children had the stomach flu. Symptoms included fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, and fatigue. I was washing soiled underwear, administered medication, and monitored symptoms constantly. Then once the kids got better I went down with the stomach flu. Oh my gosh did I feel so sick, but I refused vomit so I drank Zofran, fever/pain reducer, and whatever to help ease the symptoms. The girls were able to go to school first, but while I still recovered I had to make sure everything was disinfected and sheets were all washed....all while I still felt gross and fatigued.

Same day, that Wednesday, I kicked my husband out the house because I was so stressed and tired of constantly seeking his attention and love. I was so tired and angry about him messaging another girl and so on and so forth. Always the same argument every time. I was just so over it.

So I finally went back to work and they girls continued life like usual, but the girls began to really act up and become more emotional and I knew it was because their dad wasn't home. They would want to FaceTime him and ask him when he would come home or ask if he could lay down or sleep with them. It absolutely broke my heart. It was a good time for me to really reflect myself and everything and my support group was all there for me. I got the divorce paperwork and maybe some time soon I can fill those out and file it.

Fast forward to 10/14/22, you can refer to my earlier post of how I found out I was pregnant. I had told my husband about the baby on my birthday 10/15 and he wasn't the happiest. If anything he was super disappointment and frustrated to say the least. He also mentioned how he doesn't like me being pregnant and that he prefers making love me while not being pregnant and "big"; long story short. I stayed quiet cause I somewhat felt the same in the timing of the baby. But overall I was really excited and happy to know we have another baby on the way.

We decided to have husband come home because of the baby and the girls missed him a lot. This requires a lot of patience on both parts. As we started to get accustomed to our usual ways, I went to work and got the girls to school like any regular day right? 10/18/22 I started to feel slight cramping/pressure and a bloody discharge the size of a dime or nickel. I asked my nurse practitioner if it is something to worry about and literally everyone told me to head to the ER.

I was scared and to be honest I already told my husband, cause I felt it, that the baby wasn't going to stay. I told him this on my birthday. Maybe baby knew, baby somehow knew, he or she wasn't wanted and so he or she left.....since we weren't ready. God knew and knows. He can bless and take away a blessing whenever he feels fit to do so.

Before I head to the ER, Lodi Memorial Hospital, where I received treatment and gave birth to my Analisa and Caria Lovely, I picked up my niece Angelica to accompany me for moral support. 3 minutes from the hospital, we were rear ended by a man. A man who apparently had no driver's license, no insurance, and the vehicle was not his under the pretenses that he "honestly didn't see me because he was changing the music on his phone".

Part 2....

[abyssalhuntersnerd]

Chuzenji, Gladiia's official artist has posted a new illustration!

Source and please check them out on Twitter!

[littleoddwriter]

ahhh awesome!! ur writing is so good btw <<33 i’d love to know how eddie would react to finding things in readers room- reader is ftm and maybe eddie finds out the reader is trans by seeing some needles and all the empty T vials on their bathroom counter. (i tooootally don’t have like 10 of them lying around & collecting dust) & how he’d react to the reader having a cat :> ♡

Getting to Know You | Edward Nashton/The Riddler x Trans!Male!Reader (Pre-Relationship)

Hiya there! Thank you so much!!! <3 <3 <3 Gosh, thanks for the request, hdfkjdhkjs, I really hope you like what I've done with it! By the way, I'd be willing to continue this particular story if you, or anyone else, wanted me to. :') <3

summary; Ed looks through your apartment to get to know you better, before he actually goes to talk to you, and finds some interesting things. Disclaimer: The card's text is not mine, I simply found it on the internet.

notes; Trans!Male!Reader; Reader is on T; Reader does not make an actual appearance; Pre-Relationship; Stalking; Obsession; Breaking & Entering; Pet Cats; No Dialogue; Mild Dark Fic.

Lately, Edward had a new favourite way to pass the time after work and whenever it fit in, which was watching his newest obsession: You. 

He didn't just watch you in places you went to, though, taking pictures of you to study them once he returned home. No, he followed you home once, and took photos of everything to find back to your place for when you should be at work yourself. 

And then, on his day off, he decided to finally go and look around your apartment. He hasn't been able to do that yet, and it was definitely about time. 

He found you so interesting, so fascinating, so charming. He wanted to know everything about you that he could before he would try to talk to you. He wanted you to know that he was the right one for you immediately, and that would only truly work if he knew absolutely everything about you beforehand. He couldn't allow himself to make mistakes. 

Edward had gotten into your apartment almost too easily. Something that concerned him. You needed to be more aware of how easy it was to find your spare key under the potted plant outside your door. It was dangerous, considering that the wrong people could simply walk inside. He'd have to warn you about that eventually. 

Right now, though, he only wanted to look around your apartment and see what new information he could find out about you. 

As soon as he'd gotten in, a cat greeted him. Quickly, he closed the door behind himself, lest the cat would manage to get out. 

He looked down at it, tilting his head to the side. The cat did the exact same thing, eyeing him curiously. 

When nothing else happened, Ed shrugged and let his eyes sweep over the entrance way first. There was nothing much of interest to him. Your jacket and coats hung on a coat hanger, your shoes and boots were placed below on a small shelf, and there was a chest of drawers that also had a small bowl on top of it, which was empty now, but he guessed your keys landed in there when you came back home.

He took out his phone and photographed your coat and its size, doing the same thing with a pair of shoes and boots each. 

He walked down the hall and turned right, which led him to the kitchen. He spent quite some time there, finding out what your eating habits were, what you ate most, such as your favourite drink, which was evident by the amount of bottles you owned, and taking photos of all the products he deemed important. The cat followed him throughout, sticking to him, but otherwise not doing anything. He thought that was a good sign. Your cat already trusted him, and it should. You were meant to be with him after all. He couldn't afford to be disliked by your pet. 

Once he was done in the kitchen, he walked over to the living room, which was on the opposite side. 

It was decorated nicely, made to feel personal, as it was covered in things you liked; posters, books, DVDs, CDs, action figures, and more. He liked that. There was also a TV and a couch not far from it, such as a carpet on the floor between them. He took photos of the entire room at different angles, making sure the posters and the likes were visible. He took close-ups of your DVD and CD collections. He'd have to take a weekend or two to himself to watch and listen to each title. 

Next was your bedroom. He looked forward to it. 

It was similarly decorated to your living room, which he thought was a nice touch and really underlined how much you liked certain things that you've hung up posters of in either room. 

After he took a photo of your king sized bed, he put his phone away for a second, to take your sleeping clothes into his hands; a soft, big, cotton shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.

He hesitated for a moment, but then gave into his instinct and put his face into the shirt, inhaling its scent. It smelled clean, but there was something underlying that was just you. He breathed in deeply to savour it. He really liked it.

Exhaling slowly, Eddie pulled away from the shirt and put your clothes back on the bed.

Then, he opened each drawer of your bedside table. He almost expected to find something related to sex, considering that most people kept their lube and condoms in one of those drawers, but you didn’t. There were just some trinkets that he guessed you couldn’t fit anywhere else. He took a photo of those as well, thinking that they could be important if they were beside your bed, rather than in a different drawer.

After that, he walked over to your closet to look into it. He only found your clothing neatly stacked or hung up, showing off all the different items you owned. He also took a photo of the entire closet, noting down some of the brands you owned more pieces of, such as the different sizes for each. 

When Edward was done with your bedroom it was time for the last one - the bathroom.

He heard a quiet meow behind himself and turned around. That was a different cat than the other one. Huh. So you owned two pet cats? He could work with that.

Ed crouched down and held his hand out to the cat. It sniffed at his hand for a bit before coming closer and rubbing its head against his palm. Smiling he scratched the cat’s head and behind its ear, making it purr. He mused just how lucky he was to not be allergic to the felines. 

After a few minutes passed, though, Ed straightened back up. He couldn’t let himself be distracted like that for long after all. While you were supposed to be gone for a few more hours, he shouldn’t risk anything just yet. 

In your bathroom, he first went to the shower, looking at the products you used and taking photos of them. Then he turned around and crouched down to look at the cabinet below the sink. The left side held cleaning products and the right side held extras of the hair and body products you used. 

When he looked at the bathroom counter, he stopped short. There were at least eight vials and needles on the right side. He took a closer look, picked one vial up, and read that it was testosterone. Interesting. He knew what that could mean. 

So, he took a photo of it and noted down to do research on what being a transgender man meant for someone, how it may impact their daily life, etc. Ed had to admit that he only had the most basic surface knowledge about it, so doing this research would definitely benefit him in more than one way.

Edward only found you to be even more intriguing now. It was as though everything he’s found out about you thus far changed in some way, like it became more meaningful. He’d have to look at his photos of you more closely again with the knowledge he now had. 

That was why he thought it was so important for him to do this and go through all your things. He didn’t mean to invade your privacy. He only wanted to know everything he could so he wouldn’t make any mistakes and potentially mess up. And this was something he could have fucked up terribly if he hadn’t snooped around. 

At last, he’s seen and photographed everything he needed. 

Before he left, he opened his jacket’s pocket and pulled out the envelope with the card he’s written for you. It was risky. He’s never contacted you before, but he felt that it was time to start initiating it. 

‘To Y/N’ was written on the royal blue envelope.

Inside was a card with an owl printed on it, saying ‘Guess who…’. 

In the card, Ed had written, ‘Although you may not know my name, you are special to me just the same.’

Usually he would opt for a nice riddle, but he discarded each one he’d written because none of them really conveyed this sentiment well enough. But he would try them out for the next card he would write to you. This one was mostly to test the waters anyway.

At the bottom, the card’s own text continued, ‘... your secret admirer.’

Edward walked out of your apartment, after having said goodbye to your cats, and placed the envelope on your doormat outside.

With a happy smile and while humming Ave Maria, Ed walked downstairs and out of the building, practically skipping to his own apartment complex. 

He couldn’t wait to finally make you his.

[press-theshift-key-unlimited]

Missed the Ringer

Hailee Steinfeld x Reader

Synopsis: You and Hailee are guests on the Tonight Show and have a little surprise to share with everyone.

CW: very little cussing (it’s like one word I think)

A/N: I know I said I was going to right a Kate Bishop x reader series awhile ago, but writers block, you know? And I just haven’t gotten to it. This however, I came up with two hours ago and just started writing as soon as it came into my head. It’s basically 1:30 am right now, so apparently I've been writing it for awhile. But this was actually pretty easy for me to right for some reason. 

I want to make another part for this and maybe have like a bonus chapter. I would’ve written more if I wasn’t so tired tbh.

But I hope you enjoy this part! 

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

    “Hey everyone and welcome to the Tonight Show! I’m your host Jimmy Fallon, and tonight we have a special treat for you. We’ve got games, guests, and some tricky tests that i’m sure we’ll get through in a flash!-”

    You sat backstage in your dressing room watching the start of the show on a tv that was put in there. The crowd was buzzing as Jimmy continued to speak, The Roots, of course, adding in their musical charm to go along with his performance.

    You’ve always loved watching the Tonight Show, and being able to be on it was something you were always excited about. Every time you came here you always felt overjoyed and excited about what was planned for the night. Tonight you actually got to come here alongside Hailee to talk about both of your careers and where your lives are at, play some games, and a little surprise at the end of it all.

    As you continued to look at the tv, you heard a knock at the door before someone came walking in.

    “Hey Yn/n~” Hailee said as she closed the door.

    “Hey Lee~” you said as you extended your arm out for her to come to sit next to you.

    She walked over and sat next to you, nuzzling into your side as you wrapped your arm around her. “You know I never know whether you’re saying my name or that nickname you gave me whenever you greet me like that,”

    You shrugged, “All up for interpretation I guess,”

    She smacked your leg and looked up at the tv, watching the show with you. “Are you excited?”

    “For…”

    She rolled her eyes and shifted her position to look up at you. “Fooor~ the surprise we have at the end,” She looked down at her hand, as did you, catching a glimpse of the sparkly jewel. You took her hand in yours and gently ran your thumb over her knuckles, grazing it in the process.

    You looked back up to her eyes and gave her a small smirk, “I’ve never been more excited for this,”

~    ~   ~   ~

    “You have 10 seconds!”

    “No WAIT! I know this!! Hold on!”

    “5, 4-”

    “ugh- it’s at the tip of my tongue!!”

    “2, 1- Times Up!!”

    “Dang it!!” You laughed frustrated and covered your face as Hailee jumped up in victory.

    “The answer was Emily Junk. Stay tuned everyone cause we’ll be right back with something special after the break,”

    The director yelled cut and Jimmy patted you on the shoulder and gave Hailee a high five.

    “You really gotta know your Hailee characters Y/n, I mean I thought for sure that you were going to win this,”

    You looked up and spotted some of The Roots exchanging money with each other. Jimmy caught what you were looking at too,

    “Hey! What are you guys doing? Were you betting this whole time?!”

    They all nodded.

    “Typical- Without me of course!! Gosh!” Everyone laughed as he walked over to them and they started messing around and talking.

    Hailee walked over to you and gave you a punch to the arm. “What was that for?” you winced.

    “That’s for losing,”

    “I only lost cause I’m tired, otherwise I would’ve beaten your ass,” you say with a smirk as you start to walk over to where you’ll be seated next for the final part of your segment.

    “Riight~ blame your lack of energy. I thought me being here would boost up your energy? I mean I am your w- friend,”

    You look back at her with your eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

    Her cheeks brightened up a bit, “I’m saying I’m your friend and that should be enough to give you enough energy to not lose loser,” she said punching you in the arm again.

��   You winced and held your arm, shuffling away from her as to not get hit again. “Alright my little bumblebee I get it, you don’t have to sting me to prove a point,” you chuckled as her cheeks became a bit redder than before.

    “Yeah yeah, whatever,”

~   ~   ~   ~    

    “Alright so the last time we had the both of you here, you two had said you were single correct?” Jimmy asked, knowing full well what was coming.

    You and Hailee both smiled as she said, “Yes we did,”

    “Mmm, and what about now, since it’s been- a couple months I believe? Since you two were last here together. Are either of you in a relationship? Or currently seeing anyone perhaps?”

    This time you spoke, “Well actually Jimmy it’s funny you mention that because…” you look down and grab Hailee’s hand.

    The crowd gasps, and you can feel her grip tighten a bit as she says, “We’ve been hiding this for awhile,”

    Jimmy looks between the both of you and acts like he just put two and two together. “Wait are you two… together?”

    Hailee looks at you and you look back. You give her a gentle smile and a squeeze to her hand. She lets out a breath and says, “Yes, we’re together,”

    The crowd is full of gasps that quickly turn into cheers and claps. You and Hailee had been widely shipped for years now, and hearing this was definitely going to make people ecstatic. But there’s more.

    Hailee clears her throat and continues, “We’re actually engaged,” she lifts up her hand and shows off the ring she is wearing with a smile.

    The cheers only get louder from there. Everyone in the room seems frantic as they are yelling their congrats and showing how excited they are. Some people don’t seem as excited about it, but they’re barely noticed.

    Hailee put her hand back down and looked over at you with a smile. You smiled back and gave her a kiss on the cheek before looking back at Jimmy as aww’s filled the room before he spoke.

    “I’m so happy for the both of you. I can’t wait to see where this next chapter in your life together will take you. And i’m sure everyone here and at home are just as excited too- isn’t that right?!”

    The crowd cheered and then came silent once again as Jimmy continued.

    “But Hailee, we actually have a little surprise for you- as well as the audience. See, me and my team actually got to be with Y/n as they were getting everything set up to propose to you- we even got to help her quite a bit. Would you like to see the footage?”

    Hailee smiled wide before replying, “I’d love to see it!”

    “Awsome! Alright everyone here is a look at what Y/n did to get ready for her proposal to Hailee! Roll the Clip!”

[butterfly-lies-chase-them-away]

Don’t Stand So Close To Me (18+)

(Part 2) (Reader POV)

Teacher!Bruno Madrigal x Student!Fem!Reader

Modern Day!Imagine

Non-Magic AU

Summary: After getting caught in the rain, the reader gets a ride home with Bruno but ends up having to stay at his for a bit for the rain to settle

Warnings: Swearing, Agegap, inappropriate thoughts, teacher/student (STUDENT IS OF AGE), slight sir kink, maybe slight bimbofication

Word Count: 2347

Italics will mostly be his direct thoughts or his imagination

Author Note: So many of you asked for a part 3 and I promise that I was be making one but I first just wanted to make another part 2 but in the readers pov. I tried to write this one quick, just so I could get onto the third part as soon as possible.

Don't Stand So Close To Me (Masterlist) (Part 2) >(Part 2 Reader POV)< (Part 3) 

(I do not own this gif)

-

Reader POV

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Mr Madrigal has been preparing us all for the upcoming exams in a couple of months with practice tests and revision. Yesterday, he had given us a practice test for the topic we had learnt at the beginning of the year, and my gosh, I know nothing. Right now, I was just trying to do the questions put up on the board and I was struggling hard out. 

I really hope he doesn’t think I’m that dumb.

I think about that every day in class, whether Bruno just sees me as a dumb student. I really do try, but I just need extra help, that’s all. 

Up the front of the room, I hear him clicking his tongue, every so often. 

Oh god, it’s probably my paper he’s looking at.

I try to focus back on the work in front of me but it’s hard when I don’t even know what I’m looking at. In other classes, I would have just asked the teacher for help, but this is his class. This is the teacher that I’ve been thinking about constantly for months now!

He’ll never like a dumb girl like me.

I decide to just give up on the questions and just look around the room. Outside, I can hear the rain growing more and more aggressive. 

Damnit! I have to wait for the bus in this shit.

I looked up at the clock and saw it was almost the end of the class and the other students began packing their things away. Mr Madrgial gets up and was handing the papers out to everyone.

Shit.

The second he hands me the paper, I look up at the grade in the top corner. 

Fuck, I just barely passed.

But I knew I couldn’t keep looking through the paper, no, I had to run. The bus would be there any minute because, for some reason, they made the buses come earlier on a Wednesday. I shove the paper in my bag and run out of the room. 

I swear to god, if I miss the bus in this weather, I am going to be so pissed. 

But as I was getting close to the bus stop, I knew it was too late. The bus was just leaving.

“FUCK!” I yelled.

Great! Just fantastic! 

I knew I couldn’t call anyone to come to pick me up or anything and walking is just a no. So now, I had to wait, in the rain, for the next bus, which comes in an hour. 

Just my fucking luck.

I watch as cars drive past, wanting nothing more than to throw a rick at them for being able to be in a warm, dry car. About 10 minutes into waiting, another car come driving past but instead of driving down the road, it stopped right in front of me. They roll down the window and that’s when I see him.

Mr Madrigal.

"Are you okay?"

No.

"Yeah! I'm fine, I just missed the last bus so I'm waiting for the next!" I had to shout over the rain.

"The next bus won't come for other hours, is-is there anyone you can call?" he asked.

I just shook my head.

"Hop in, I'll take you home".

Wait- whAT!?

"It's fine! I don't want to bother you!" I yelled.

In reality, I just didn’t want the chance to embarrass myself more in front of him. 

"It's pissing down, I'm not letting you stay in the rain," he said.

I look down the street, wishing that my bus would magically come but I knew that that wouldn’t be the case. I rush over to his car and hop in as quickly as possible, not wanting rain to come in when I open the door. Once I was in, I let out a loud sigh. 

It's so warm!!

“Thank you,” I say, out of breath a bit. 

He gives me a tight smile before turning back to the road.

Thank the bloody heavens I don’t have to be in that rain anymore.

…Rain…wet….me.

I let out a little cry when I realise that I am sitting in his car, all wet.

"I'm all wet! I don't want to ruin your car," I cried.

I was pouting a little when he looked up at me.

"I should have a towel or something in the back," he said, reaching into the back and grabbing a towel from the ground. 

He handed it over to me.

"You're a life saviour, sir!" 

I started drying myself as much as possible. My clothes were clinging to my body, so that was a bit annoying. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him roll up his sleeves a bit.

Fuck.

I can't help myself from just staring at his arms. His hands grip the steering wheel with a grip I could only wish was on me. The veins in his hands pop out a bit and it just drives me crazy.

"What's your address?" He asked.

I almost didn't hear it because of how distracted I was.

I tell him my address.

"That's like a 40-minute drive from here," he said.

I start to feel bad, not wanting him to drive all the way across town just for me. 

"Yeah, it's okay if you don't drive me all the way, I can-" 

"No! U-uh, no, it's okay, I can take you," he says, a bit too quickly.

"I-uh just really don't want to send you back into that rain, ya know,"

My heart warms a little.

"Thank you, Mr. Madrigal," I said, looking at him. 

I don't usually say his name but right now, it just felt right.

About 10 minutes into the drive, the rain had noticeably gotten worse. It was pissing down so hard that we could barely even see through the window. 

Fuck, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die!

"It's too dangerous to drive in this weather, are you okay with just stopping in at my house and letting it settle down a bit?" He offers.

"Yeah, I think that might be best," I said, with my voice quivering a bit.

He turns to look over at me.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, just...can't see, ya know?" Laughing a bit after.

"Don't worry, okay, I won't let anything happen to you," he said.

Fuck, this man is nice!

We make a turn at the next street and a couple of minutes later, he comes up in a driveway and parks the car. I watch as he reaches into the back and pulls out an umbrella, handing it to me.

"You probably need it more than me, I'm already wet," I tried to say.

"I want you to take it," he said, quite demanding.

I took the umbrella with a little 'thank you'. We look at each other, as if we were using telepathy on when to get out. We quickly rush out of the car and dash to the door. I make sure to hold the umbrella over the both of us so we can at least stay a bit dry. He managed to get the door open and we both rushed inside and, oh my God, it is so warm!! It feels so nice!!

"Follow me," he walks down the hallway and to the left.

It was as if some in his head switched on because almost immediately, he started to move a lot faster, placing me in front of the fireplace and run to get me a blanket.

“Is there anything I can get you? Do you need a shower or anything?” the words spew out of his mouth.

"No, thank you, I'm fine, really," I say, trying to hold back my big smile.

My heart cannot handle this man.

And then I remember my test.

"Uh, sir, I had a look at the grade on my paper and was wondering if you could take me through the paper and my mistakes," I asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Uh, of course".

He came over and sat beside me. I reach into my bag and pull out the scrunched up paper, trying to smooth it out a little bit, before handing it to him. He opened it to the first page and pointed out the first mistake.

"You see, here, you used the first formula instead of the third and you don't have all the information needed for that one, so that's why you couldn't finish that question”.

I nodded a little at every statement he made.

He took me through the whole paper and explained what mistakes I made and what I should have done instead.

"I feel like an idiot!" I say, smacking my hand over my face.

"No, it's okay! Plenty of the students had trouble with this test!" he tried to reassure me.

I drop my hands from my face. 

"I just really want to pass the test, sir," I mumbled.

God, I feel pathetic.

"Uh, how would you feel about tutoring sessions? If you'd like, I could help you".

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course, we could start tomorrow if you'd like?"

"Oh my gosh, thank you, sir! You are the best teacher I could have asked for!"

"Just doing my jobs," he said with a tight smile.

“No, really sir, it means a lot”.

Before either of us could say another word, all the lights shut off.

“Woah! What happened?” I asked, frightened by the sudden light change.

“Must be a power cut,” he said, standing up to look out the window.

“How long do you think it will be like this?” I ask.

“I say at least another hour or so”.

What to do now?

“Come, sit down,” I scoot over a bit.

“W-what?”

“Sit with me, you’re probably cold,” I said, patting the spot next to me.

He slowly comes to sit next to me but leaving a bit more space than I would have liked. Sooo, I move in closer.

Start a conversation!

“Are you married?” I suddenly ask.

That causes him to choke.

“Wh-aT?” his voice cracked.

“Are you married? Or seeing someone?” I asked again.

Please say no, please say no!

He didn’t say anything, just shook his head.

“Really?! How come?”

“I-I don’t know, I guess no one really wants me”.

“I find that hard to believe, I’m sure you could get anyone you want”.

His face goes a little red.

Damnit Y/N, you probably made him uncomfortable!

The room goes quiet.

“Are you seeing anyone?” he suddenly asked.

“No,” I answered, looking into the fire.

“Oh”.

“What?” I giggle a little.

“It’s just that…I thought…a beautiful girl like you…Might be dating someone”.

Did he just call me beautiful?

“Beautiful?” I look up at him with complete admiration.

“W-well, yes,” he muttered, nervously.

I quickly looked away, my face becoming extremely hot.

“Thank you,” I whisper, just enough for him to hear.

There was no more talking after that. I was a bit tired from the day being a bit more exhausting than usual but I tried my best to stay awake. 

Ha, yeah, no, that didn’t happen.

I slowly dozed off and landed on something soft. A couple of seconds later, I feel something warm and tight wrap around me.

⌛

“Hey, Y/N. You need to wake up now,” I hear but completely ignore.

“Y/N”.

I whine a little while lifting my head up, still with my eyes closed.

“You have to wake up now, the rain has calmed down”.

It took me a while to actually process what he had just said to me. 

“What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“8ish, I’ll take you home now”. 

“Okay,” I slowly stood up and began packing my things away in my bag.

I don’t want to leave.

“You got everything?” he asked.

I nodded and we went to the front door.

We rush to the car, avoiding the rain as much as possible. We get in the car and drive off.

⌛

“Here we are!” I had woken up fully by now. 

I turn to him while grabbing my bag from the floor.

“Thank you, sir. For everything,” I give him a grateful smile.

“Of course, I’ll uh see you tomorrow”.

“See you tomorrow, Mr Madrigal, thank you!” 

I run out of the car and once I get to my door, I turn back and wave. He waved back and I enter my house.

⌛

“Ple-ase!” I whimper. 

Here I am, touching myself at the thought of my teacher. 

He would be on top of me, legs on his shoulders and cock in me but he would be still.  

“I’m not moving until you tell me what you want,” he would say. 

“Ple-eas-” 

“Talk properly”.

“Please, I want!”

“Aww, look at my dumb little girl, can’t even talk,” he would tease.

“Mo-ove please, sir!” I’d finally managed to get out. 

“See, I knew you could do it, not that dumb after all”.

He’d then slowly start moving, cooing at me every so often.

“Look at you, my beautiful girl all full with my cock”.

I use both my hands, one on my clit and the other pushing the end of a hairbrush inside me. I could only imagine how big he would actually be. 

“Fa-st-er” I’d stutter. 

“Faster? But you can’t even handle me now”.

“Please!” I’d cry.

“Oh alright”.

He’d push himself closer to me before ramming into me. 

I’m a moaning mess, pushing the brush in as far as I can possibly get it. I near climax quicker than I would have hoped for. 

“Mr Madrigal!” and with that, my legs begin to shake. 

My orgasm lasted at least 10 seconds. It took me a while to come down from my high, but I wasn’t complaining. About 10 minutes later, I decided to get out of bed and clean myself up. 

After a quick shower, I jump back in bed and think back on the wild day I had. 

I can’t wait for my tutoring sessions.

-

Author Note: I really hoped you enjoyed this one, even if it is basically just the same as the previous one, but if you’d like to be put in the taglist, just drop a comment below and if there are any specific kinks or something that you’d like, feel free to put that in as well, cause the next part is when shit is about to go down!

Taglist: elfwoodfae diannaey rennaisancebaby fapqueen scarletambitions nik-barinova little-spooky-ghost-girl  dylansoldhair

[en-hale-archives]

Me with You ~~

pairing ⑅ bestfriend!Jake x fem!reader

genre ⑅ friends to lovers, fluff, slow dancing, suggestive/smut

words/read time ⑅ 3.9k/12-19 mins

warnings ⑅ 18+ content, light cussing

synopsis ⑅ Jake is back in his hometown to spend time with his closest friend. During some fun and frivolous dancing, things start to heat up...

author's note ⑅ I’m really proud of how this story turned out. I'm not a huge fan of second person, so I wrote in first, but if anyone asks, I can copy and post again in second person. It's more fluff than anything, but it does get a bit steamier towards the end, so I’m just going to go ahead and put a warning.

————✧————

When the back door finally slammed shut and the cacophony of barks faded down the street, I could finally let out my sigh of relief that I had been holding in since this morning. I tapped on my phone. How many days had we been watching Mrs. Chen’s pets? And just how was I able to put up with hours of barking, the smell of fresh turd lying across the lawn, and dog walks till dark? Including their rigorous feeding times and bathroom breaks -- I’m surprised I haven’t exploded yet.

I had so much planned the minute they left my house, but instead, the sudden silence felt all too relaxing and I laid my head against the cold countertop. I could finally stop stressing, stop thinking, and stop worrying about reprimanding for chewing on my shoes or peeing in the house or the continued barking that never ended. I was free. I felt like I could’ve stayed laid on the countertop forever, drowning in the evening sun. Who knew watching five dogs would take such a burden out of a person. Jake and I had taken on the job of dog sitting for Mrs. Chen while she visited some family in Tokyo. We both switched off every other day; some of the dogs at my house and the others at his; until we realized it would be easier if he just spent the few days at my house as we co-doggy sat. He got up bright and early to take them on their walks while I prepared their highly detailed and specific meals. Then from there, we spent the rest of the day making sure they didn’t run off somewhere or cause too much destruction in the house. But alas, Mrs. Chen came back early from her getaway and picked up Toby, Caleb, Khao, Sofia, and Pickle on her way home. Although I was exhausted from watching 3-foot dogs all day, the pay was amazing for me, and it would help tremendously for all the online classes I was going to be taking next semester.

The warmth of the sun cast a comforting trance over my heavy eyelids, and soon enough I was fast asleep, standing in the middle of the kitchen with the soft sound of nothing surrounding me.

By the time I had fluttered my eyes open, I had realized I was now seated in my dining chair and a large black jacket was placed over my shoulders. I sat up and let out a yawn, wincing at the bright light coming from the tv and shaking my now numb arm awake. I must have been sleeping for a while because the evening sun had turned to pitch of black. The moonlight beamed through the window and danced along with the sways of the large oak tree out front. I stood up and walked over to the refrigerator in which I grabbed two water bottles and some leftover pasta.

I was sure that Jake hadn’t eaten since lunch, seeing as he only ate if someone sat food in front of his face. I dragged my feet up the stairs until I heard the slamming of a book and the fast typing of a keyboard come from the living room. I turned and looked behind me. Jake had settled his things on the coffee table and floor, large books, folders, and several amounts of crumpled up pieces of paper found their way around Jake, himself slouched up against the edge of the couch. He had changed clothes since the last time I had seen him, he now wore a plain blue shirt with grey sweats, his eyebrows furrowed as he worked hard on whatever he was getting at.

“Oh yes, I was starving!” Propping himself up on the couch, he took the plate of pasta. I placed the waters on the coffee table and settled comfortably on the couch beside him.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anybody sleep standing up before. Look,” Jake took his phone off the charger. “I got a picture.” He pushed the screen in my face, and of course, there was my unconscious body laying on the counter, mouth open and all. I playfully pushed it back his way as his face lit up with a smile I was all too familiar with.

“What are you doing down here so late, it’s almost 12 in the morning,” I asked. Jake’s smile disappeared when he was reminded of the work he had been doing seconds before.

He let out a large huff of air. “Trying to get some words on paper but instead it turned into a paper massacre,” he jokingly replied, “sorry for the mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, taking a swig of water. I was going to ask if he wanted to watch a late-night movie, or pull an all-nighter and talk endlessly until the sun rose, but I could tell by each passing second that Jake was worried about this, and he wanted the time he had now over the summer to work on his music. I wished I was motivated to work on my own music, but unlike Jake, I wasn’t in a globally popular boy band. My complicated best friend for over 10 years had been working his butt off since middle school. It was his annual time to sit back and relax while he had the time to, but instead, he chose to use that time to help watch a bunch of dogs with his hometown bestie. God, I loved him.

Jake pulled himself off the couch and right back onto the floor, leaving the rest of the pasta to me. He picked up his pen again and started scribbling down words as quickly as he could, trying hard not to forget the lyrics that had floated into his head. Until he stopped, closing his eyes for just a split second, and let out a powerful sigh. Crumpling up the sheet, he stacks it on top of the others in frustration and started frantically tapping his pencil against the table.

“Maybe it’s best to just try again in the morning,” I advised, taking a small bite of the pasta that was left by my side.

“How come I’m having such a hard time with this?” He gazed up at me frantically for a clue, as if I had the answer to fix a problem as big and as important as his was. I looked at his doleful eyes and the bags that were starting to grow underneath them. I couldn’t help but think, because I made you sit up and watch a bunch of dogs with me.

“Do you want me to see if I could come up with something?”

“If you want. But, hold on, I think my thoughts are coming back up.” He quickly grabbed another piece of paper, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

I tried my best to keep occupied by watching videos on my phone, but I found myself suddenly bored out of my mind. I laid out on my back and picked up one of Jake’s folders. Briefly looking through it, I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous at the amount of fan art and letters, praising him and the other members. Followed with that were just more and more engene stuff, full of nothing but kind words and heartfelt messages. Part of me wished that I was able to travel with Jake and see the world like he was. How fun would it be to meet people that praised you? And how cool would it be to see that you had fans? I couldn’t help but plaster on a huge smile as I skimmed through some of the notes until I finally came to one with familiar handwriting.

Remember Me were the words written on the top of the paper in bold and bright colors. But the message written underneath is what caught my attention:

To the person that makes me the luckiest guy in the world, this song is for you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but please just remember me -- it was Jake’s handwriting.

I didn’t feel like I was breaking any crime reading his stuff until this moment, but curiosity killed the cat, and right now I didn’t mind being a feline. I checked to make sure Jake was still busy, and he was, almost like he had teleported into his own world. I quietly turned back to the sheet and started reading. It was about a girl, presumably his crush I’m sure. She was someone important to him, someone who made him love so much that it hurt. But this was far from a happy song, in fact, it was terribly heartbreaking. She didn’t understand his love, she wasn’t able to interpret it like he wanted her to. But he confesses that he was scared of what telling her would do, worried that she wouldn’t feel the same. So instead, it was like he was apologizing, and asking that she forgive him for not being brave enough to tell her, and if he did ever get the courage to, for her to remember him even if she wasn’t able to love him like he wanted her to.

The song ends like how the title began, and I find myself flabbergasted at the beautiful mixes of rhymes and metaphors that read like a poem. This was the first of Jake’s songs that made me feel this way, like I had just finished watching a tragedy movie with Ryan Renolds starring. I blink back the tears that I didn’t realize were forming. How come he never told me this? We never kept secrets from each other, like ever. It never mattered the subject or the severity, we had always promised that we would be open and honest with each other. I wish I would’ve known this sooner, maybe I could’ve saved him from feeling this way. And what girl could it possibly be? I knew for sure I was the only girl he was presumably close to; but was there someone else?

I glanced down at Jake, who was still in a focused state of mind with the pencil in his mouth and mumbling lyrics softly under his breath. I tried picturing my bubbly Jake writing these agonizing words and miserably failed.

Jake looked up at me as if he could feel my gaze on the back of his head. “I think I’ve found the chorus, but it’s the rest of the song I’m not able to get, and how come it’s so hard to find another word that rhymes with severe? Beer? Sphere? Revere? Appear? Gosh, rhyming sucks some serious ass!”

“This song is beautiful.”

Jake furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?”

“This song I found in your folder.” I glanced back at it in my hand. “Remember Me.”

Jake’s gaze leaped from my eyes to the sheet, and I felt his body tense. “Where’d you get that from?”

“I was just going through one of your folders. Did you accidentally get it mixed up in your fan folder? Cause this is -”

“Did you read it?” He interrupted.

“Yeah, and it’s perfect.”

Jake glanced at me for a split second before turning back around, obviously uncomfortable. “I was watching one of those Kdramas you love so much and it inspired me. Could you help me rhyme with severe now?”

I knew Jake like the back of my hand, so I knew continuing on with this conversation would get him upset if he’s clearly avoiding it. But, I wasn’t going to just let him off that quickly. “Jake, come on, you can tell me anything. Who is this about?”

Jake looked back at me with a hint of something in his eyes, something I’ve never seen before, and something I wasn't able to decipher. “Nobody, I was just feeling really inspired, that's it.” His tone had switched from calm to agitated.

I give him my I’m-not-stupid look and he comes back with his own you’re-being-delusional stare. “It’s seriously nobody, truthfully and honestly.”

“Okay, okay I’ll back off.” I could tell he was starting to get defensive, and when he got like that, it took him at least a few hours before returning to normal. I watched Jake's Adam's apple move up and down, a way in which I could tell he knew I was not convinced in the slightest. “Well, sometimes we go through things that can remind us of situations like that, but not necessarily in that same exact context, you know? It has to be amplified for that audience appeal.”

“Okay...but have you ever felt this way before? Not exactly like how it’s written, but maybe somewhere along these lines?”

I thought I was going to get another vague answer, or worse, an aggravated one. But instead Jake looked down at his pencil as he tapped it along his wrist. “...maybe, but I think everyone can connect to the words in some way. I mean, everyone feels some kind of heartbreak in their life, right?” Jake's answer was still pretty vague, but at least I was able to get something out of him.

“Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, like, anything ever because you know that you’ll never actually have to feel this way, right?” I said, maybe too much in a hurry.

“Of course I know that.” He replied, giving one of his awkward grins.

“And if anyone has made you feel this way, then you know you can tell me that too cause there a sucker to lose out on a perfect person like you.” I teased in a sing-song way, poking his shoulder hard. Jake chuckled and poked me back.

A weird silence grew in the room, and Jake went back to trying to find rhyming words. I tried getting back on my phone, but I knew I needed to say something to let go of the tenseness in the air.

“Hey, crystal clear rhymes!”

He leaned his head back and looked up at me. “Nevermind, I give up for tonight.”

I could see the stress that played on his face. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah, but by the time I do, it’ll be too late.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake pulled his knees up to his chest and spoke. “This was going to go on our album comeback that needs to be finished in the next four months. By the time I think of something, it'll be too late and I’ll have to wait until the next four months. But by then, I'll have forgotten. This always happens and I have no idea how the hell to fix it.” I couldn’t tell if he wanted my help or just a bit of comfort.

“Did you try asking the other guys to see if they had any ideas?”

“Yeah, but they’re working on their own parts, I can’t ask them to do this too.”

“I’m sure they’d be willing to help if you asked,” I assured him.

“I know they would, but I just don’t want to. I always ask them for help, I thought being away from the studio and being back home would help my brainstorming abilities.” He gave a weary chuckle that almost sounded like a groan.

“Well, maybe tomorrow will come with better results.” I did my best to give him some motivation, but I could tell I was failing miserably at that too.

Jake watched as a car zoomed past the window, a low bass sounding off as it zoomed away. “I bet it’s easier to just listen to music than to try and come up with it. I remember when I would just blare NCT all day long and jam out in my room. It seemed so much easier back then to come up with stuff than it does now. I miss it.” He took a slight pause before continuing. “ Did you know that song you read was the easiest thing I have written in my life? I remember writing too. I just had this super weird feeling in my chest one day so I basically locked myself in my room and took maybe two hours and just wrote a bunch of words down and connected them to sound like a song. For once my mind had just gone blank and I couldn’t stop thinking and feeling that song, like I knew what it was supposed to sound like, I knew what the lyrics were supposed to mean. I just knew everything. And I miss that feeling, that feeling of like- '' He broke off his sentence when he looked back up to my eyes. It seemed like he was talking more to himself than to me. He swallowed hard and looked back at the pencil still in hand.

“Well, I'm sorry you don’t feel free anymore. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel like that again-”

“No, please don’t feel like that. It’s just something that had just recently started happening, something I really just can’t fix…” His voice gets softer and softer the more he spoke.

“Have you spoken to your manager about it?” I asked. “He’s super nice from what I understand. And he’ll probably have better answers than your friend who can barely play the piano, let alone produce an entire song.”

Jake laughed before I had the chance to. “ See, now you're underestimating yourself. Remember that song from freshman year? The one about-- what was his name, Josh?” Jake teased. I grabbed a pillow and slammed it into the back of his head. “Oh my gosh, I thought we promised we’d never bring it up again!”

Jake chuckled and laid his arm on the couch completely turning towards me. “How about we sneak out and go get ice cream and try to not wake up your mom in the process?”

I suddenly jumped to my feet when I have the perfect idea on how to cheer up the gloomy Mr. Shim. “Or, we could do something even better!”

“Urgh!” Jake groaned.

I grabbed my phone and hooked it up to the speaker. I was going to turn on his hit song Drunk-Dazed as a joke, but Jake needed this break from his career, so instead, I crunk up Beyonce as loud as it could go without disturbing my mom who slept upstairs. I turn back to Jake and reach out for his hands, already moving my hips to the music.

He shook his head and threw it back onto the couch as if throwing a temper tantrum. “I literally dance for a living.”

“Okay but this will be different, I promise.” I grabbed the piles of papers on the ground and threw them in the trash, I then pushed the coffee table near the wall and piled his folders and books neatly on top.

“Come on, cowboy!” I grabbed his hands and helped him up. He was reluctant to get up, but he threw one last groan before standing on his feet.

“This will get the brain juices flowing again!” I told him. I go back to my phone and switch it to one of my favorite Beyonce songs that she covered, At Last.

I sang dramatically to get Jake to smile, and luckily, it worked. I placed both my hands over his shoulders and swayed us back and forth, still miming the song as overly exaggerated as I could. Jake still couldn’t help but smile, and it didn’t take him long to join me in the rhythm and sway naturally with me. I learned at our middle school dance that Jake had perfect rhythm. He was able to impress the rest of the crowd when he busted out moves from BTS. Everyone was impressed, including me.

Now we were on a steady roll. I accidentally stepped on his feet a few times, but it was fine seeing as I was wearing foam flip-flops and he was barefooted. After a while, the song switched and played another of my favorites that didn’t match our style of dance, but we still moved slowly to the beat. Jake tried twirling me, but since I have two left feet, I almost ended up hitting the wall each time and Jake laughed loud at my clumsiness. The moonlight from the kitchen had now switched to the window in the living room. It gleamed through and glistened on Jake like a spotlight, just like the ones on the stage did for him. In a split second, I was reminded that he wouldn’t be here forever, just like he wasn’t here for the past year. I tried to not let it settle on my face that I was scared to see him go again, so I played up on the fun we were having now. Jake looked like he was at ease; finally, since he’d been here, he looked genuinely happy and I wasn’t going to ruin that.

After another handful of songs full of laughs and giggles, we were soon sweating and taking deeper breaths than normal. Each song was different from the one before, but it didn’t stop us from sticking to our style of dance. Even with the simplicity of the moves and the slowness of the steps, I had to take a minute to relax. I hooked my arms around his neck and rested my entire body on his. I could feel Jake’s own sweat seeping through his shirt, But I didn’t mind the wetness that was now attached to my cheek. I thought he would act awkward and ask for me to pull away, but instead, he gripped tighter on my hips and started slowly moving me side to side. I let out a long overdue sigh, trying my best to match the steady breathing of Jake’s with my own. It was actually therapeutic: hearing his heartbeat in one ear and the softness of the music in the other.

I tried to continue our steady breathing together, but his had picked up a bit, almost out of nowhere. I felt the heat of his breath on the nape of my neck, and it made my entire body tingle in a way it never had before. After this sudden feeling, I realized just how close we really were. His leg hair tickled my legs, I could feel the bone of his foot connecting to mine, I could feel his thin waist against mine as well. I felt like I needed to back up, but instead, I couldn’t and continued to sway softly against him. A few seconds later, Jake’s hands rose a little higher, planting themselves on my waist and tightening their grip as if they were trying to pull me closer than we already were.

The sensation hadn’t stopped though, it clung to my body like my damp shorts did on my thighs. Sooner or later I felt pressure on the lower part of my stomach and thought for sure that Jake was messing around and wasn’t feeling what I was, which indicated that I needed to pull back before this feeling became too much.

This is so embarrassing. I thought. How could I let myself feel like this? How was this in any way okay? I finally pulled back, the sensation becoming too unbearable, and glanced up at his face. His pupils were large in a way I hadn’t seen before. His mouth was slightly open and a drop of sweat slowly traced down his forehead, onto his nose. That pressure I was feeling on my stomach had now doubled in force, and Jake's face had switched from calm and subtle, to alarmed and panicked...

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(part 2 possibly...?)

Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please, leave any constructive criticism you have on helping improve my writing!

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None of the images are mine, They all belong to their rightful owners :)

[stagemanagerssaygo]

Heaven and Hell: or my experience being a person of color in Disney’s Hyperion Theater

by Cooper Howell

Heaven and Hell: or my experience being a person of color in Disney's Hyperion Theater. #holdingtheateraccountable Im just gonna go ahead and be straight up. This is pretty scary to share. HEAVEN: Once upon a time Liesl Tommy cast me as Prince Hans in Frozen: Live at the Hyperion. And I was gooped. GOOPED. There was nothing in my prior history that gave any indication this was possible. Up until then every role I played had to do with my race. Every. Single. One. And even ones where it didn’t (Shakespeare or classical pieces mostly) I was always made aware that the novelty of me being a poc in that role that gave me the part. So much did I not expect to get this part that when I got the callback I rolled my eyes and didn’t take the actual callback seriously. I mean, there was a zero percent chance that Disney would ever let me play a Prince, especially when the dude in the movie is a ginger. But then I got it. And immediately everything I thought was possible about my career changed. My whole life I’ve never inwardly felt black. I’ve never inwardly felt white. I’ve always felt like I was Cooper, you know, on the inside. But whether it was every single white human in Utah reminding me that I was “the whitest person they ever knew/saw” (which DIDNT mean how white my skin was. It was how white I ACTED) or Mr. Johnson, my 7th grade drama teacher, telling me that he “wanted to put Velcro on the ceiling to see if I’d stick” or Mr. Smith, my high school drama teacher, saying “finally we can do black shows” as soon as I entered high school and then not casting me in roles because of the "optics" of it, or even my best friend in high school Tanner Harmon who called me "blackie", I was always reminded that I was an other. So imagine getting paid good money to put on that $10,000 costume and waltzing out to 4000 people a day to play a really amazing part. A fantastic, evil, complicated, person who sings a killer duet and then grabs the show by the throat with a vicious about-face monologue... and not once was my race ever mentioned cuz it didnt matter. What was being prized was Cooper, my talent, not my skin color that I never asked for. Heaven. Liesl MADE SURE, almost overly sure, that the poc’s in the cast felt equal. The kingdom of Arendelle, after all, is a make believe place. It can be whatever. From having Disney executives come and tell us that they were happy to have us there, to side conversations with John Lasseter, we were made to feel overly welcome playing the parts we were playing. She encouraged us to dive deeper into the script of a cartoon that I didnt really think much of until I was in it. We were encouraged to ask why. We felt seen as talent and not commodities. There were, of course, detractors. Gosh, I remember people at a party of cast members from "Mickey and the Magical Map" another show at Disneyland which features a princess and the frog number and many of those casts mates angrily claiming that “if that black girl Tiana Okoye can play Elsa than I should be able to play Princess Tiana” and then looking at me to confirm that was okay to say, not realizing that a) she’s one of my best friends, b) that I’m in the show with her also playing a role that wasn't created to be a poc, c) how racist that sounded, and d) why there's a difference there and why that wouldn't make sense. On Liesls final night I came up to her and said “I don’t know why you did it but thank you so much for casting ME in this part” to which she replied “you mean why would I cast a handsome, talented person in this role?” And I stuttered something like “well, I mean, I’m black. You know...” to which she tilted her head to her side and said “no. I don’t know why. Tell me why that matters.” And I had no answer. Seeing that I had no answer she smiled. That was the answer. There was no reason. On the spot my outlook about myself changed. Windows into what I thought was possible for me opened. -------------------------------------- HELL: And then Liesl went back to NYC and she was replaced by a man named Roger Castellano as show director. Rogers task, he told us on the first day, was to "change the show". We were not told what needed to be changed or even why, but that changes were on the horizon. You've got to understand: to a full cast of actors who had just spent more than three months dissecting a 60 page Disney script with a Tony nominated director like it was Shakespeare, we were initially emotionally/mentally/spiritually resistant to changes. But then it became clear that the spirit of collaboration was over, and the show changes were to be given without the same care, consideration, and thematic explanation of why they were being made. Everyones initial reaction was to push back, but when people who questioned their notes or their changes started getting days removed their schedule or being replaced entirely by a new actor, the Hyperion theater became a place where no one was allowed to speak out. Injustices were happening left and right and no one felt they could do anything for fear of losing their livelihood. And that's when the Frozen: Live at the Hyperion became a living hell. In my first note session with Roger he pulled me into a room with Domonique Paton, my best friend and incredible costar who played princess Anna in the show I was in. She just so happens to also be black. Almost all of Prince Hans’s scenes in the show are with her character and so most of my notes would be primarily based on those interactions with her. Earlier in the day I performed with a different (white) actress but it was the show with Domonique that I had a note session about. Imagine my surprise and dismay when, with how Liesl set up the show experience, we were told this: “WHEN THE TWO OF YOU PERFORM THE SHOW TOGETHER ITS TOO… URBAN.” Urban. What else could that have meant, do you think? He could have said maybe “too contemporary” emphasizing that we were maybe too modern in our speech patterns or movements. We weren’t. He could have said “too lax” or “too loose” meaning that maybe we were being unprofessional and goofy up there because we’re really good friends. We were not. The best me and Ms. Paton could think of was a 8 count moment of improv dance that me and Domonique decided to use as a synchronized moment of unity. It happened to fall on the line “our mental synchronization can have but one explanation” and thought, with the freedom that Christopher (the original choreographer) had given us, was appropriate, especially considering everyone behind us was doing the robot. As in the 80s robot. But he didnt clarify. He just said “WHEN THE TWO OF YOU PERFORM THE SHOW TOGETHER IT’S TOO… URBAN” And when asked what he meant he smiled with a little shrug and said "you can figure that out. You're smart." And thats how I became Black Hans and Domonique became Black Anna. My every moment onstage afterwards became about the optics of being a poc in that show. It was if I was suddenly made aware that I was LUCKY enough to be there and under any normal circumstances, or this new directors circumstances, me getting this part would have never happened. But the message was clear. It was especially clear when me and Domonique Paton shows together durastically decreased and made even more clear when the vast majority of the new hires were not people of color. But no one said anything. And made even MORE clear when, over the next few weeks, both Domonique and I got COPIOUS notes, ten times that of our coworkers that played the same parts. It was almost a game. In fact we did turn it into a game, seeing who would get the least amount of notes from him in a day. Our costars would even joke about it onstage with us, during the ballroom scene, and jokingly whisper "The shows been up 15 minutes. How many do you think you got today?" But no one said anything. And the notes were about all kinds of things. How we held our hand. If our inflections went up or down on a word. Which side of a couch we leaned on… which was fine! When you're an actor, thats the gig... until we started comparing our notes with the actors that played our same parts and none of them, NONE, would get the same notes. Our notes would be outrageously longer, the note sessions sometimes lasting 10/15 minutes. Others would get the “Oh hey, try doing this or that next time, okay bye” walk-by notes. Sometimes I would sneak into the audience and watch as some of the other Han's, some of whom changed lines, changed entire intentions of scenes, some of whom adding in all types of vocalizations and cackles and dance moves and what have you, and would receive ZERO notes. But I was watching them to see what was wrong with me. What was my performance missing? What am I actually doing to feel this singled out. And then I realized that the thing that was wrong with me was that I was a different color than the 5 other white Hans's they cast. And then I started getting notes about my penis. Most of the time these “penis sessions”, as I called them, were given in private rooms without another stage manager present. It was incredibly unpleasant and unprofessional. In fairness, those Prince Hans pants are TIGHT! And yes, Mr. Howell is indeed a party in the front and a party in the back, but so were a lot of those fellas. And thats where I put my foot down. If Disney was going to provide me with a costume it is not my responsibility to fix their problem, especially when other of my (white) costars had been given a dance belt for the same thing. But they never got penis notes. Private session notes about what their penis looked like in that show. Over and over again I was told to fix it, to not make it (my dick) so apparent, and that “if my daughter were younger I wouldn’t want her to come to a show you were performing at" all the more insulting considering his daughter, a cast member in the show, was a friend of mine and the loveliest person. He started demanding that I buy a dance belt. It was “my fault”, “my responsibility” …and thats where I took my stand. And then it really became hell. Penis sessions were now done out in the open. Once, he screamed at me, in the green room in front of all of my costars during lunch, about how incredible unprofessional I was, about how he was tired of seeing my dick, and that if I didnt go buy myself one I didnt deserve to be there anymore. Followed by a huge litany of notes. That doesnt compare to some of what Domonique went through and I invite her to share them if she’s willing. During this time I went to every stage manager in the building and told them about being singling out and about my penis. They all told me to write a complaint report and it would go to some place called "HR". Which I did. Numerously. More months passed. Nothing from "HR". Multiple cast members who witnessed my note sessions encouraged me to go to the HR themselves. I didnt honestly know what an HR was. As soon as it was explained to me by my allies even what an HR was I went to the head of HR at Disneyland herself and waited outside of her door. I asked her if she got any of my HR reports and she told me that she had received no HR reports from the Hyperion. Ever. And then asked me to fill out a HR form. As we went over it, she asked me some questions, and then set up a second meeting. On the second meeting she said that in order for my report to be given credence I would need witnesses to give their testimony. The witnesses, in fact the very people that told me to go to HR in the first place, said no. They didnt want to lose their jobs. In retrospect that might be the thing that hurt the most but, whatever... anyway, I was told "“well… without testimonies we’ll do an investigation and we’ll call you when we’ve completed it.” I never received a phone call. With absolutely zero protection from the stage managers from both the sexual harassment or my obvious racial targeting I (and others) were experiencing, not to mention that HR reports were doing nothing, aka not being forwarded, I thought about quitting. And when a white stage manager made a show mistake and laughed it off to the cast by saying an entirely offensive lynching joke, I quit. I didnt matter to Disney. How I felt and what I was being put through didnt matter. I was a commodity. My departure was unceremonious. Bizarre. 100% un-magical. I hung up my costume one last time and it was given to a new Hans, one who looked very much like me oddly, and stepped out of the theater. The park was playing “every wish your heart desires will come to you” and I remember laughing at how dead that song felt. The director has since moved on but still works as a musical theater director in Southern California. This one time 4 years ago I got to feel something other than my color for the first and only time in my professional career. It lasted from about March 2016 to July 2016 and never again since. I will never forget in those early days looking at all the beautiful princesses I got to woo and thinking “wow. I’m a prince right now.” Im sure that sounds stupid. But it didn't feel stupid. And a Disney prince! Yeah, a shitty prince kinda... I mean, he's a sociopath... BUT still a Prince! Especially special was being able to look in Dominique’s eyes and I could see the same glimmer of “can you believe we get to do this right now” reflected back. We never knew it was in the cards for us. My race always has and will always be part of my career equation and a determining factor of its projection. It will always be a determining factor in how im treated, by creatives, by people, by the those in authority over me, including the government and the police. #wasitmyskin

Copied in its entirety here from Cooper Howell’s public Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10163696376095054&set=a.10151302685610054&type=3&theater