#post opera pining

[coffeeheartaddict2]

Crescendo

Book: Open Heart (book 1)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC Casey Valentine

Word count: 1056

Rating: Mature

Category: angsty smut

Warnings: Sexual references, masturbation

Summary: After being told about the goings on with Mrs Martinez, Ethan takes Casey to the opera and once again the lines between professional and personal become very blurry.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry.

🎼🎶🎶🎶🎵🎵🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎶🎶

It had been a long day. He was hoping to have gotten away early but he had needed to run more tests for Naveen and despite putting as high a priority he could without drawing attention he was still waiting. He did not see her until she was at the table and she announced herself. She looked stressed so I pushed the chair out and she sat. She tells me about that day, when the deal with the devil was finalized and what I had witnessed the end of. I can see she is wracked with guilt. I knew she did it out of kindness, I knew how much Theresa resented her treatment. In a way I was happy she got to do what she always wanted. I assured Casey that she needed to feel but move on because prolonged guilt was no good to anyone. I looked at my watch as it was clear I was not getting those results tonight. I then invite her to the opera. I had hoped to have gone tonight anyway and I hoped it had the desired effect of giving her a break from today.

We arrive and she is awestruck by the beauty of the building. She looked gorgeous in her revelry and he knew it was going to test all his self control. They went to his box and settled in. Tonight the opera was Orpheus in the underworld. It was a sad tale. As it was in Italian, I narrated it for her. I could see the parallels in our situation. I could see that she could too and was caught up in the emotion. I could see her breathing heavily to keep her emotions in check. My mind went to what I had wanted to do in my dreams. I looked down and our hands were intertwined. It felt right, even though the circumstances were wrong. I was still narrating but as the story and the music came to a climax and crescendo all I could think about was being on my knees, knowing that my mouth and fingers were going to crescendo into a climax that would rival the music being played. The Opera came to an end and she kisses me. I pull away.

“You and me, it is complicated” I say quietly.

“For me it is not” she states and we kiss again. How I want to take it further. The house lights come on, ending the moment and I drop her at home.

I then make my way back to mine, again alone and the thoughts of right and wrong argued in my mind, until the salacious thoughts sought dominance in my mind and my body worked to a crescendo to win the battle.

Pizzicato.

I sat on the couch, looking at the views of Boston but all I could think about was her. Her naked body, responding to my touch, the dulcet tones that I knew would get louder as I caressed her breasts and worked my way down. The way her breath would hitch as my fingers made contact with her core. The thoughts were making me painfully hard and I started to rub myself. The music from tonight’s opera and my imagination of me fucking Casey into oblivion was a perfect symphony. I imagined her reaching her climax as the music in my mind reached its crescendo and at the climax, I experienced a hard but sweet release. The high lasted several minutes but once it was gone the cycle of regret, the cycle of reasons of why I should and could not started. The cycle this night was so vicious that sleep did not come. So he sat there, in darkness enduring the cycle.

Dulce.

Morning mercifully came. He went to the hospital early. The results were ready. The results quietened his mind about Casey. Naveen had only one month left. The shock that he had failed his long term mentor, friend, adopted father settled in slowly. This was the second person this year that he cared deeply about and was going to lose. He knew Delores was no one's fault but it was still someone he could not save. He was mulling in his misery when he was distracted by a noise on the computer. It was an email from Harper advising that there was to be an investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mrs Theresa Martinez. Ethan was not surprised but then he was angry, a third person for whom he gave a damn about was going to be lost to him. He eventually made his way out of his office to work. He was on autopilot until he came across Casey. He knew she needed him as her mentor but today was not the day. His mind was still replaying the events of the night before, coupled with everything with Naveen and the investigation, well all he did was walk away and slam the door in her face. He was then mad at himself for hurting her but he knew that any involvement with him was going to hurt her more long term.

“It is for the best” he kept telling himself all day and even when he arrived home but the thought did not stay. The why is wrong when it feels so right grew to a crescendo to again he had no choice but to relieve the tension and walk through the cycle of guilt again. He fell into a troubled sleep and awoke. He went to the hospital and saw her. How he wanted to greet her more affectionately but all he could do is tell her the results and ask if she could be there when he tells Naveen that he had failed. She agrees to come and Naveen takes the news surprisingly well. We see him off and she hugs me. I was in so much emotional tumult that I kissed her gently. At that moment I needed to give her the best chance of survival and that meant removing myself from the situatuon. I head in and quit and walk away, from the one place where I had gambled and lost everything that was near and dear to me, at least this way I thought, Casey would have a chance of still being able to practice.

——-/

Authors note: I have written post opera from Casey’s perspective. That fic can be found here.

I decided to use some musical terms because it is the opera and it fit.

Pizzicato is to pluck with your fingers, obviously seen on sheet music for stringed instruments.

Dulce is to play softly and Crescendo means to get louder.

I hope you have enjoyed this little indulgence.

Tagging: @jerzwriter @cariantha @genevievemd @liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @tessa-liam @crazy-loca-blog @bex-la-get @a-crepusculo @alj4890 @zealouscanonindeer @jamespotterthefirst @lucy-268 @schnitzelbutterfingers @binny1985 @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @youlookappropriate @socalwriterbee

[millenianthemums]

just a little fic in comic form i guess, about an alternate way they could have ruined Bill’s day in Sock Opera.

i imagine Bill is CRAZY touch-starved. a trillion years without a physical form has gotta mess a guy up. he’s always shoving people around and shaking hands and leaning on shoulders and stuff, but he doesn’t actually feel anything when he does it. possessing living bodies gives him a semblance of physical sensation, but it’s still just a shadow of the real thing.

also, i think Mabel gives, just, the best hugs in the universe.

[canadianno-gravityfalls]

I KNOW someone else has done this before and I cannot find that post for the life of me

This art is like a month old or something by now </3

[moosemaples]

puppet boy warmups

[ethanthedreamer]

im so sorry @n0va-xp

[writerswho]

Kalego: Do you ever get pre-annoyed? Like you already know someone is going to piss you off?

Balam: What? No, I—

Opera: [enters the room].

Kalego: [clenches jaw].

[jjmej]

i honestly cant get mabel haters cuz like. you are literally being manipulated by bill to blame a 12yo for the thing he literally 100% caused

[daemonjpeg]

“ By the by, Mabel, where'd you put my journal again? ” “ I used it as a prop for the big wedding scene! I still need a reverend, though. ” “ Hey, what if I play the reverend? I mean, someone's gotta hold that journal, right? ”

[kawaiichibiart]

Burning Hearth AU

Rui: At least she treats me like I'm somebody!

Tsukasa: Well, would she love you if you were nobody?!

Rui: NOBODY loved me when I was nobody!

Tsukasa: I DID!!

Rui:...

Tsukasa: Before the money...

Tsukasa: And before the fame...

Tsukasa: Before the lie...

Tsukasa: To me you were a somebody Rui Kamishiro.

Tsukasa: But now you're nothing...but a fake.

Tsukasa: A sham. A con.

Rui:...

Tsukasa:... you're a joke.

[carpeossa]

[okapiandpaste]

rip sherlock holmes (*radio 4 drama version) you would've loved listening to ABBA's gimme! gimme! gimme! and queen's good old fashioned lover boy like this

[i-need-of-a-hobby]

stan is the only member of the pines twins^2 to never make a deal with bill and i think he needs more credit for that.

ford makes, just, so many deals with his demon boyfriend

dipper literally trades his body to bill in sock opera

and while i will die on the hill that it was never her fault, mabel is tricked into making a deal with him for weirdmagenon.

but stan never gets tricked. the only time he comes close was when he was pretending to be ford but that was with the sole purpose of getting bill erased. never does bill get to him or twist his thoughts. for being the "dumb one" he's surprisingly rational in this was.

nobody matches bill intellectually, ford's fatal flaw is that he thought he did, and the pines family wins because they have an emotional core that bill never had (the power of sibling bonding saves the day and i love it) but ill go out on a limb and say that out of everyone, stan is the only one to match bill's street smarts.

bill's a master manipulator but stan is a professional con-artist with no respect for the law, you tell me who's coming out on top.

stan successfully faked his own death, ran a business for 30 years, taught himself some sort of advanced engineering to repair the portal, evaded local, federal and international authorities from the age of 18, and did it all without any support.

and going back to when he pretends to be ford to get bill to enter his mind, that scene makes stan the only character to ever outwit bill.

anyways this has been a stan pines appreciation post, thank you and goodnight

[amc-minx]

Whatever the case, an AMC spokesperson confirmed that Bianca's return, which coincides with her trying to locate her on-screen mother, Erica, is just one aspect of her future dilemmas in Pine Valley: "There is a complete and long-term story in the works for the character of Bianca from here to kingdom come."

- There are still so many story opportunities for such a rich character as Bianca Montgomery.

[cottonlemonade]

Just Down The Street

word count: 1050 || avg. reading time: 4 mins.

pairing: post-time skip Ushijima x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff

warnings: spoilers

request: watching Goosebumps with caramel popcorn, dressed as a pirate || fluffy, going trick or treating with crush Ushijima

Being a cool aunt came with a whole lot of responsibilities. Most of it was the usual of showing up at school plays in outfits that would put any opera-goer to shame, covertly slipping the kids extra pocket money, or rolling up in your freshly polished convertible to pick them up from soccer practice when their parents were busy. But around the holidays more tasks emerged, like taking your niece and nephew trick or treating while their parents were stuck at a work function.

The boy was dressed as Pikachu and his older sister wore the black dress and blank expression of Wednesday Addams. You joined your niece as Morticia, with a long black evening gown that clung tightly to your curves and your corgi by your side dressed as a fish befitting his name.

Originally, you would have left your dog at home to enjoy some peace and quiet after the long hours of playing with the kids but even though you loved him dearly, you didn't trust that sly weasel with an empty home filled with decorations and possibly easily reachable chocolates stashed by not so innocent children's hands.

It was late afternoon and typical for Halloween the sun had already gone down. The first groups of children and chaperones wandered along the sidewalks next to the neatly trimmed lawns of your neighborhood. The street was mostly inhabited by lawyers and doctors and architects, in short, plenty of potential prospects to make your mother ask during every phone call if there was someone on the horizon for you. Usually, you ignored that question, opting instead to silently ponder about the man living in house number 15 with the gorgeous Japanese pine out front and a large pool in the back. You had seen him around the grocery store every so often, inspecting the fresh shiny produce or loading up on a new sack of rice that he effortlessly lifted into the cart. A few times before, he had helped you get something off a high shelf with a polite nod and once at a coffee shop he had paid for your new drink because you dropped the first one just outside the door. And maybe, once or twice, you had stood by your kitchen window, absently nibbling on an apple, waiting for him to run past your home on his morning jog.

When you had seen him on TV during the Olympics this year you had let out a short yelp that had Fish look at you in concern.

The unmovable and kind Olympian neighbor quickly became your crush and you racked your brain trying to think of ways to ask him out.

“Okay munchkins, be cool.”, you told the kids as you headed up the short walkway to number 15’s front door.

They both nodded and your niece rang the bell.

A few moments later the Ushijima Wakatoshi opened, dressed comfortably in dark sweatpants and a gray shirt, holding up a large bowl of what seemed to be expensive French pralines.

“Trick or-“, but before the kids managed to get all the way through the short phrase, Fish spotted a black Shiba Inu strutting down the corridor behind his owner and tugged his leash out of your niece’s hand. In an admirable attempt to catch your dog, your nephew ran after him into Ushijima’s pristine home, and your niece right behind him to get both of them back outside. You and Ushijima just gaped after the chaotic procession racing left into the living room, back out into the corridor, and then right into the kitchen.

Quietly to himself Ushijima had hoped you would stop by today. He had seen you around the neighborhood with the two children plenty of times and although the sight had filled him with a numb lump of disappointment at first, it quickly disappeared once he overheard them calling you their aunt. He asked Tendou to send him some chocolates just in case you’d ring his bell and had kept them in a separate bowl by the door.

He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander for a moment over your tightly fitted dress before calling his dog. The little shadow raced around the corner, tiny paws making scratching sounds on the wooden floor and came to a halt in front of him. Fish’s turn wasn't as graceful. He slipped into the adjacent room before trotting back out, niece and nephew on his tail.

“Sorry.”, both kids bowed as they passed Ushijima Meanwhile, Fish made one last attempt to get the Shiba Inu to play but one stern mention of his name and he hopped over the threshold to be by your side again.

“I am so sorry.”, you also said, bowing as deeply as you could without the dress becoming a distracting issue.

Ushijima smiled and shook his head, dividing the pralines equally among the children whose eyes grew big as saucers at the bounty.

“No need to apologize.”, he said calmly.

With a nervous laugh, you turned the end of Fish's lead in your hands. “This would be so much easier if I had an extra arm. You know, one for each kid and one for the dog.”

“Oh, alright.”, Ushijima took a jacket from a hook and slipped into a pair of sneakers.

“What are you doing?”

“You said you need an extra hand.” And as if to drive his point across he raised both of his.

You blushed. You really didn't want him to think that you were guilt-tripping him into helping out. “This is not necess-”

“I was just about to take him for a walk anyway.”, Ushijima nodded to the well behaved pup still sitting at his feet, then looked back at you, “If you wouldn’t mind some company…?” He let the question hang in the air for a bit, wondering if the “subtle insinuation”-approach Tendou had taught him was not too vague.

“Oh!”, you said, “No, not at all! The more the merrier.”

Followed by his dog he stepped outside into the crisp fall air.

“Who are you dressed as?”, your nephew asked, frowning up at your neighbor about his non-existent costume.

The man was perplexed and halted as he fixed the collar of his jacket, then said, “Ushijima Wakatoshi. - Nice to make your acquaintance.”

art: @Sally_Chang_ on Twitter

a/n: request for @rosetakemi - Thank you so much for your request and the congratulations and your kind words ^^ I hope you enjoyed it! 🌟

for requests see here

[absolutebl]

BLs with Strong Historical Elements

Costume dramas, historical BLs, and BLs with time travel or flashbacks to historical locations & times.

These are in order of my personal preference, best at the top.

I Feel You Linger in the Air

2023 Thailand

IFYLITA is an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). It's about a gay man from our time who falls into the past, becomes a servant to a noble house, and falls in love with the heir. It turns out this has all happened several times before. Steeped in history and family drama it edges into lakorn (but not as much as To Sir With Love and with way less scenery chewing). This is an elegant and classy soulmates BL... from Thailand which normally doesn't even try for classy. The main couple (both as a pair and as individuals) were excellent, particularly Bright (Yai) whose eye-work acting style is a personal favorite of mine. Pity about the ending. Oh it wasn’t that sad but it wasn’t good either. This show could easily have earned a 10/10 from me except that it fumbled the… erm… balls in the final quarter. Argh. Whatever.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding

2021 Korea - WeTV

A boy cross-dresses to take his runaway sister's place as a bride to a shy scholar, turns out they like being married. A historical setting allowed this BL to use some seriously old fashioned romance tropes (arranged marriage, evil step-sisters, Cinderfella) but also modern BL stylings like fake relationship & secret identity (drag) plus some cute gay panic. It reminded me of 12th Night more than anything else which just happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play. For all these reasons, I adored it.

(the ghat kiss!)

Tinted With You

2022 Korea - Viki

Fun stylish time travel meets portal fantasy with a likable cast, historical setting, and two actual kisses that mitigate the rough plot and issues around anachronisms.

Word of Honor

2021 China (censored) - Viki/YouTube?

I don’t rec Chinese stuff often, because I believe in censoring the censors, but this show is one of my favorites of the post 2016 censored bromances. It’s two murder-gay assassins (pining sunshine/tsundere), and they are so insanely gay for two boys who will never be allowed to kiss. Tropes include: wuxia, soulmates, paranormal, historical, and fantasy elements.

To Sir, With Love AKA Khun Chai

2022 Thailand - YouTube?

This is a true lakorn (basically Thai tellenovella or soap opera) with scenery chewing performances, especially from the mother characters. Gone With the Wind + Days of Our Lives but gay. That said? I loved it: A glorious central brother relationship (the best, made me cry), het romances, class divide + gay *gasp* main romance - oh my word, the campy drama of it all! Arranged marriage, rebellion, cut sleeves, over-the-top death with curses and regrets, beautiful if inaccurate costumes, secrets unraveling, cover ups, sparkle murder, sex herbs, coils within coils including snakes and murderous green metallic sequins (is anything gayer on this earth?). It’s a WILD ride but it does end happy for our gay boys. A man cries when he finds DEATH GLITTER. Come on! You haffa watch it. That said, like Manner of Death I struggle to rate something on a BL scale when it patently isn’t a BL. So I ended up giving this exactly what I gave that show, 7/10 I enjoyed it a whole lot, but not as a BL.

The Untamed (Special BL Edition)

2020 China (censored) - YouTube

Censored wuxia bromance, amorphous ending. Probubly the best known BL of its kind out of China and responsible for bring many fans to the BL side.

Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go

2023 Thailand - YouTube

I was nervous to watch this PondPhuwin vehicle but I liked it a lot! Doomed soulmates + paranormal time travel to fix the past. I’m happy for the outfits and the dancing (if not the singing). It’s not a bad premise and it’s nice to see GMMTV lean into its high production values for a change. I'd adore a full historical starring these two and this was definitely the best of the second series of Our Skyy. I don't think you have to have watched the original Never Let Me Go to enjoy this.

Legend of Long Yang: Rebirth

2017 China

Gaga

Whipping boy trope... literally, servant character takes the strap for the prince, who then makes him his bodyguard and lover when he becomes king. Low budget historical, comes off as kind of cosplay wuxia version of Irresistible Love, but we get (in the credits) an actual kiss, and they both live. So yay for small mercies.

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

2023 Korea (historical flash backs)

iQIYI

A new employee at a film company encounters a director who claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. It has a lot of Japanese elements, not the least of which are: an office setting, the fact that every character in this show is unhinged, and a killing of the gays. Featuring a gorgeous & stellar cast, TDWBMD should have utilized them less for melodrama and more for chemistry. This BL surprised me by going there with a lipstick mark AND an actually gay idol. But (you knew there was a but) while it's a unique twist on an office romance it is NOT a unique twist on the doomed red thread trope, resulting in it feeling less than the sum of its parts and ultimately unsatisfying. This might have also had to do with the fact that this was one of those KBLs where I felt how very short it was the whole time I was watching, like I was missing something constantly, in every episode. Worth watching for some but seriously flawed.

First Love Again

2022 Korea (historical flash backs) - Viki

A popular novelist who remembers his past lives meets his soulmate for the third time, only to find she has been reincarnated into the body of a man. This one started out a touch mean-spirited, but we eventually got a good kiss. The confession/rejection scene was justified and the reconciliation and ending was... fine. All in all, the pacing felt rushed and the romantic arc was underdeveloped. They go from like to love to boyfriends in a red hot minute. But that’s par for the course with Korea’s short form. If you don’t mind a heavy does of melodrama in your BL this one has a solid story with a strong concept that’s well acted and produced, making it a classic KBL with better than average chemistry but ultimately a touch forgettable.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush

2022 Korea

This show was all over the place with uneven acting, narrative, and focus (sometimes it wanted to be a slapstick comedy, sometimes a depressing melodrama) which meant no one, actors or viewers, took anyone or anything seriously.... AND it’s a bromance. I was left wondering if SalHyung is now code for “they were roommates” in Kdrama historicals but otherwise largely apathetic and unimpressed. Korea, I now know you can do better. Do better.

Mermaid's Jade

2019 China (censored-esk) - Gaga

Kills the gay.

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

2016 China - Gaga

Kills the gay. Schrodinger's BL, both a BL and entirely not one at the same time.

Diary of Heong Yeong Dang

2014 Korea

Kills the Gay

I was gonna do a top 10 list, but there aren't enough by my metrics, so many end sadly.

This post at the behest of @verymuchof thank you for the idea!

Dated April 2023, includes only BLs that had finished their run by that date. Not responsible for cool costume flix that come after that. But you should check the comments to see if any have been added by others!

I might have missed a few that only have time historical elements since I don't always track those.

Also I would like to point out a decided lack of Japan on this list. My ninja yaoi consuming tiny past self is VERY upset about this void.

WHERE ARE MY GAY NINJAS??!!!

(source)

[writerswho]

Principal Weems is a serious, noble and respectable woman, able to put the fear of God into you with just a look. She is protective, caring, intelligent and smart, and she would kill for the good of her students and the school. She's a goddess, a madwoman, a sorceress, she's awesome. 

Civilian Weems, on the other hand, is just a silly little big girl who likes to watch low quality movies, should be banned from cooking because she's a public safety hazard, and can't be let alone with Gomez without supervision, or they might end up blowing the house, and she'll definitely kill you if you get in her way during her novela time.

Principal Weems and Civilian Weems are not the same person and you do not want to mess with any of them.