#runbymachinesandclones

[zairaalbereo]

It’s been a day.

For @runbymachinesandclones prompt “despair/vulnerability”.

I had no real idea where this was going when I started doodling Joe in a towel. The street, the colour, all came on the way. Maybe not as angsty as the prompt suggested, but the feeling of vulnerability can come in big and small ways. And sometimes you just need your husband. So Nicky better hurry…

[spacewitchqueen]

Hi! Really enjoy your writing, first time popping up here to say that 😬😁 could you try with #29 of the intimacy prompts? Hope you have a nice day/weekend!

Thank you! I kept re-reading your sweet message, it made me really happy. I hope you like this 💗

A/N: I tried to mix this up a bit. I remembered a post about international settings that mentioned a couple of specific details, I tried to use those. Also, I’m not always a fan of shutting someone up with a kiss but I hope the reading here is not ‘will you shut up already?’ but rather ‘you’re upset and I’m kissing you to make you feel better’ because kaysanova is love <3 

29. Kisses when they’re mad

It’s getting late. Joe checks the time again and can’t help but frown. It’s not that he’s worried about Nicky; their current mission —gathering intel about a shady businessman by befriending his son— is not actually dangerous. Joe would go as far as to say it’s almost boring. And yet, he could also say they’re enjoying it.

Nicky is doing the shadowing. The businessman’s son is in med school and Nicky jumped at the chance to kill two birds with one stone: following their target and re-learning a thing or two. Joe had agreed to that, it gave him time to wander around the big city and visit its many museums.  

According to Nicky, the campus is like a city in itself with thousands of students. It sounds challenging, but they have tracked people in worse conditions, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Another hour goes by and still no word from Nicky. Joe checks his phone in case he accidentally had it muted but there are no missed calls or unread texts.  

Finally, three hours after Joe expected him, Nicky walks into their safehouse soaking wet, dripping from head to toe and, judging by the expression on his face, ready to murder someone.

“Nicky? What-” Joe stands up from the table and starts walking towards him but Nicky raises a hand to stop him. Joe cocks his head, he knows it’s best to let Nicky be when he’s angry. “I’m glad you’re home, what took you so long?”

“I walked.” 

Joe raises an eyebrow. “Did you get lost?”

Nicky huffs indignant. “Of course not. Even if I didn’t know Spanish, it is literally impossible to get lost in the subway, just follow the pictures. But it started raining.”

Joe just stares at Nicky, not quite understanding how the rain would make him three hours late. Nicky shrugs off his jacket, trailing water all over the linoleum floor, and grabs a dish towel to dry his hair. “The subway flooded. Trains were packed. I wanted to wait but I realized it wasn’t going to get any better and anyway, when I tried to turn around the crowd just carried me, that was sort of fun.”

“Fun?” Joe asks, uncertain if he’d misheard.

“Yeah,” Nicky sighs. “But people just kept getting in and since it made no sense to stay on the subway, I thought I’d get off and call you to come pick me up. Only when I tried to do that, I noticed my phone and my wallet were gone. I wanted to laugh, no one had pickpocketed me in nearly two centuries. Then, I pulled out my backup phone and the battery was dead.”

“Oh, Nicky!” Joe has to bite his lip to stop himself from smirking but his shoulders shaking give him away. He closes the distance between them and rests his forehead against Nicky’s. Joe is laughing openly now.

“I’m hungry, I’m cold, I was robbed and I lost the target. Do not start with me.”

Joe cups Nicky’s face and brings their lips together, playfully at first, kissing the corners of Nicky’s mouth; then softly, barely moving and finally with all the passion that they inspire in each other even after all this time. 

If anyone were to ask Joe —and sometimes even if no one does—, Joe would say Nicky’s lips taste different when he’s angry. Spicy. Joe would never make him mad on purpose but if someone else has already managed to get Nicky in a bad mood, Joe will gladly kiss it away.

[captain-grammar]

☆ <- Put this star into the inbox of your favourite blogs. It's time to spread positivity!

Aaaaaah!!! I don't know what to do with this ask! Thank you so much for making me smile!!! 😊

[bestwisheslatersgators]

HBD!! 🎉🎉🎉 Hope you have a nice day and a great year! 🍀 Many happy returns 😄🤗

Thank you so much!! ☺️☺️

[dillydallyttante]

Female Faves

List 10 different female faves from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people. Tagged by @runbymachinesandclones - thanks for tagging me, sorry it's been so long in coming. This has Been A Week.

1) Andromache of Scythia (The Old Guard)

2) Nairobi (La Casa de Papel)

3) Miranda Barlow (Black Sails)

4) Stevie Budd (Schitt's Creek)

5) Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)

6) Jessica Jones (Jessica Jones)

7 Angelica Anacleti (Suburra)

8) Zoe (Firefly)

9) Effy Stonem (Skins)

10) Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Tagging anybody who wants to do it!

[katharinehepbrun]

David Fincher?

1. Gone Girl

2. Zodiac

3. The Social Network

4. Fight Club

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Put A Director In My Inbox And I Will Rank Their Movies

[isabellehemlock]

Went from catholicnicky -> isabellehemlock

I had been wanting to change it for a few months, as I've been slowly branching out to other fandoms, but had been holding off until some other fandom events wrapped up, but I'll tag my paired writers as well, and can easily email it out to whoever needs an updated link.

I'm also updating my pinned post, but here's my current carrd for all sorts of other links until then. Please feel free to signal boost and pass along but I hopefully managed to tag (in the post and comments) most recently interacted with people 🥰

@ceraunos @amyvalhalla @beepbeepsan @chinchillinator @raedear @werebearbearbar @a-cumberbatch-of-cookies @selling-my-soul-for-tony-stark @spacewitchqueen @zairaalbereo @asunlovingde @asamandra @astrabear @notablogtobefollowedunless @nonbinary-nicolo @nicolos @nicolosfaith @trelane82 @the-heart-of-leo @theresatvjoe @mostlyimmortal @almostcanon @southpaw1128 @pinkninjapj @pierremichelofavignon @heda-of-endlesswonder @samshinechester @sindirimba @katt5673 @alllthequeenshorses @energievie @captainfrostedcherry @celiaelise @runbymachinesandclones @kat0nline @dianadaughterofhippolyta @ongreenergrasses @vikiblood @bewires @thirdspin @bulllla @theanity @commander-codys @icannotreadcursive @baladine @wrenaspun @boutiquetraveltravelboutique @sphinx81 @angels-and-aliens @82tweeder

[good-nightsocialite]

I was tagged by the lovely @amyvalhalla in the "Tag 9 people you want to get to know better". Thank you Amy! <3

Three ships: starting off with the obvious,, Joe x Nicky (The Old Guard), Lola x Maya and Eliott x Lucas (Both from SKAM France)

First ever ship: Snap! Ryden was also my first ship (Panic! at the Disco)

Last song: On spotify 'The Night Has Opened My Eyes' by The Smiths, but on itunes the 'Lover, You Should Have Come Over' cover by Nothing But Thieves.

Last film: Fabrizio De André: Principe libero (which the wonderful @catholicnicky set up a watchparty for)

Currently Reading: 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara

Currently watching: SKAM France s8 (I've been binging it at the moment to try and keep up to date)

Currently craving: Idk but my first thought was mashed potatoes for some reason.. but I'm also craving a hug rn.

Tagging (if you want to) - @zairaalbereo @catholicnicky @beepbeepsan @runbymachinesandclones@pepperpottsandcompany @therowdybee @fitzcamebacktome <3 - and @wandasbitch69 @eloquent-goose and @the-almighty-platypus (even though I know you bitches well enough) Here is the song links if anyone wants them too :)

[negotiumcrucis]

I was tagged by @thatpratdragonlady @occlusivavelare and @kadma32writes for the “Tag people you want to get to know better” game! Thank you all! <3 <3 <3

Three ships: currently it's Joe/Nicky (TOG), of course, but also Helsinki/Palermo (La Casa de Papel) and maybe Majid/Paolo (Kenzarelli multiverse)?

Last song: nothing new, but I'm always in the mood for two very specific songs from The Old Boy soundtrack and I have been listening to 'Fear of The Dark' (Iron Maiden) and 'Deutschland' (Rammstein) nonstop lately...

First ever ship: Hiei/Kurama (Yu Yu Hakushô)

Last film: hm, I think it was Encanto?

Currently reading: that general History schoolbook I'm currently editing and, of course so, so many fanfic

Currently watching: I follow a couple of YouTubers, but I barely have any time to watch anything lately. The last series I watched was Gentleman Jack, tho, and I enjoyed it

Currently craving: the amazing cheesecake from this new Korean coffee house/restaurant that opened in my neighbourhood :D

Tagging: not sure who has done this already, but if any of you is in the mood... @softyusuf @sal-si-puedes @shadowhannibad @0psique1099 @loflight501 @runbymachinesandclones @mekana47 @krimsnkramsart @aivelin @nolimepercipere @notablogtobefollowedunless @lisea18 @lisagarlandd

[sothischickshe]

spell on u(rl)

tagged by @runbymachinesandclones (ty!!! <3)

Rules: Spell out your url with song titles, then tag as many people as there are letters in your url.

She wants to move -- NERD

Ophelia -- the band

Television, television -- OK Go

Hello, goodbye -- beatles

If -- pink floyd

Super sharp shooter -- dj zinc

Coffee & tv -- blur

Hey ma -- cam’ron

Ice box -- omarion 

China -- tori amos

Kinky reggae -- the wailers

Sinnerman -- nina simone

Hazey jane ii -- nick drake

Ex-factor -- lauryn hill

tag: @chateaustemichelle @bourbon-ontherocks @femalegothic @big-lonely-idjit @tiedyebrio @beth-boland @magneticflower @lemoncupcake @wheresbincsxo @purplemagic @armouredheart @pickfordsdumptruck @via-paradis @blizabrth

[spacewitchqueen]

Hi! Can I request #8 or 20 of the enemies to lovers prompts for Joe and Nicky? Hope you have a nice weekend! 🤗💜

Nara!!! I am so sorry this took me so long. Thank you so much for these prompts 💜💗💜 I went with a modern au (dance au!), hope you like it.

#8: How do I know I can trust you?

#20: Why are you always on my mind when I don’t even like you?

***

When Joe joined the Scythian Ballet Company he expected some animosity, sure, professional dancers are competitive by nature. But he did not expect the outright hatred that he seemed to have inspired in the principal dancer, Nicolò.

It had started in a subtle way. During rehearsals, Nicolò would take the best spot in the room, blocking the mirror—and sometimes, standing right in front of Joe—. At first, Joe had tried not to react. He was the newcomer, maybe it was some sort of initiation, maybe it was all in his head. It took just a couple of weeks for Joe to realize he was not imagining things.

No matter how hard he tried, his very presence seemed to irritate Nicolò. Eventually, Joe just stopped trying to be nice to him, and in fact made every effort to annoy Nicolò in return, going as far as arriving one hour early to class just to take the bratty principal dancer’s favorite spot. Obviously, this didn’t help to mend their relationship at all.

There were days when Joe actually questioned his decision to leave his old dance school—his home, his country—to be where he wasn’t wanted. “I’m doing this for Andy, she believes in me,” he would tell himself whenever he felt like quitting.

“Nicky can be stubborn, but he’s a great guy and a superb dancer,” Andy told Joe when he confided in her. “Give him time.”

Joe gave it a few more weeks but nothing changed, at best they ignored each other, at worst they would start arguments about proper technique or who had messed up during warmup.

As a last resort, Andy had separated them. It helped in a way, Joe supposed. They couldn’t fight if they weren’t in the same room. As relieved as Joe was, there was a part of him that missed Nicky. “Why are you always on my mind when I don’t even like you?” Joe asked himself, he didn’t understand why. Still, Joe would catch himself picturing how Nicky would do a certain sequence, or the things he would say if he saw Joe made a mistake. Whenever this happened, Joe rolled his eyes at himself, what was this?

Late one evening, just as Joe’s last rehearsal session of the day was wrapping up and he was ready to go home he heard a frustrated groan from another classroom. His curiosity got the best of him and he opened the door, thinking he could help whoever it was. It was Nicky.

“Hi,” Joe said in a low voice. “May I?”

“Hi.” Nicky nodded. He was sitting on the floor in front of the mirror wall, biting his lip.

Joe went inside and closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong?”

Nicky shook his head. “This song, I just don’t get it.” He looked away. “And I think I just sprained my ankle.”

Joe sat down beside him and they stayed there in silence for a while. Nicky sighed and muttered, “you can laugh now.”

“Why would I laugh?” Joe asked, genuinely taken aback.

Nicky shrugged. “You’re here to take my place, aren’t you? Now you can.”

“Is that why you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you, I…”

“I’m not here to take your place, Nicky,” Joe interrupted, realizing that many of the things he had interpreted as hostile were probably due to a big misunderstanding. “Andy brought me here to dance with you.”

Nicky raised his head and looked at Joe’s reflection in the mirror. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“You won’t know.” Joe stood up and offered Nicky a hand. “If you don’t dance with me.”

And dance together they did, from that day on. Learning how to be together was not easy. Fighting the urge to yell at each other, letting snide remarks slide first, and then turning them into constructive criticism and even praise; building trust step by step, and then something more. When Andy asked them if the kiss they shared onstage had been real, Joe and Nicky just smiled, holding hands.

[captain-grammar]

10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags

@glassbearclock tagged me to share 10 of my favourite characters from 10 different fandoms. I'm not completely sure I've been *in* 10 different fandoms but I'm certain I've been a fan of at least 10 different things so let's go!

The Old Guard | Sébastien Le Livre / Booker

The Witcher | Jaskier

Stargate: SG-1 | Jonas Quinn

Stargate: Atlantis | John Sheppard

The West Wing | Josh Lyman OR CJ Cregg (dead heat)

Downton Abbey | Lady Edith Crawley

Lord of the Rings | Eowyn

Our Flag Means Death | Stede Bonnet (we do NOT condone the actions of the people the characters were based on)

Black Sails | Jack Rackham

Ted Lasso | Roy Kent & Keeley Jones (do NOT make me choose!)

'No Pressure' Tagging: @beepbeepsan @runbymachinesandclones @lazynbored @phatburd @goldheartedsky @paradisetemporarilymisplaced @dorothyoz39 @dani2theela @valkarian-chronicler @cantteachanoldguardnewquotes

[bestwisheslatersgators]

23 from the positivity asks 😃🎶 *virtual hug*

23) what is your go to feel good song?

At the moment (and by moment I mean since 2015) The Schuyler Sisters from Hamilton. It always puts me in a much better mood. 

[ladyknight-keladry]

Thanks for tagging me @runbymachinesandclones! The passage of time is a funny thing, but here it is now! 

Rules: Spell out your url with song titles, then tag as many people as there are letters in your url.

Let it Die-  Starset

Ain’t it Fun- Paramore

Deliverance- CVRCHES

Yield- The Indigo Girls

Karma- Marina 

Never Let Me Go- Florence and the Machine

I’ll Follow You- Shinedown

Glory- Bastille

Hard Times- Paramore

Tennis Court- Lorde

Kids in the Dark- All Time Low

Ever After- Marianas Trench

Laughter Lines- Bastille

A closeness- Dermont Kennedy

Dangerous- Shinedown

Rule- X Ambassadors

Your Eyes Open- Keane

I know the rules are to tag but I’m instead going to ask anyone who sees this and wants to play to do so, and tag me as tagging you (if you want). It was really fun to try and pick which songs I wanted to represent me while still playing by the rules of the letter! 

[cryhardanddanceharder]

@ongreenergrasses tagged me to make a list of things that bring me joy! Thank you so much ♥ This was nice to think about because i've been having some very hard weeks, and is nice to think about good things for a change. I liked reading your list and i'm sure i'm gonna like the lists others will do.

my twin, my friends, my family

sunsets and sunrises

long showers

colorful things, like scarfs, socks, pencils, paint...

reading and writing

music

improvised outings

roadtrips

the ocean

naps in the sun

imagining stories with my fav characters

autumn

star/cloud gazing

walks in the park

gardening

homemade food

Tagging (only if you want to do it): @lilolilyr @spacewitchqueen @cinnamonplums @rupzydaisy @afreakingbattleaxe @jackwolfskid @thirst-teenth @salzundhonig @sarah-fiers @runbymachinesandclones

[isabellehemlock]

Thank you @energievie for the lovely piccrew tag! Here's what I came up for for mine 🥰

Tagging a few loves, but of course no pressure to do them ❤️

@runbymachinesandclones @beepbeepsan @boutiquetraveltravelboutique @good-nightsocialite @mostlyimmortal @mickolo @nicelytousled @pierremichelofavignon @nonbinary-nicolo @1099ce (bc I know you love a good piccrew lol - feel free to share in a thread 😎)