#side note all the other 'probably too big' shorts i bought actually fit perfectly so.

[six-of-ravens]

was prepared to have a Moment about these not fitting BUT NO THEY WERE MISLABELED AAAGGGHHHHHH

[monstas1ut2]

(1/2) Sanji Vinsmoke

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

DBSB, 3272, nigga, that's my potna dem

G-L-O-B-E, A-B-B, nigga, that's my potna dem

Softly touching up the edges, the orangish, red hair color was now apart of you. Just staring into the mirror as you let go a bit of a smile. The only time you smile when you look at a mirror is when you're staring at your face... any more inches down and it's like you could just puke.

"I like that color on you (y/n)!"

Glancing towards the phone that was on the sink , you just gave a kissing noise. The woman on the other side of the screen happened to have the same color hair, though hers was natural.

"Thats what's up Nami, it was a lotta money... but...Sanji brought it fa me..." You muttered that last part, still feeling bad about even talking about him.. It caused the female to sigh, she knew your problems.. and your issues that you face everyday. Nami is caring, as well as the other female who happened to be in the call. Robin, and Nami had always been on this agonizing journey..

Their bodies were beautiful, just perfect. While you, felt as if you'd be better off covering up with a jacket. It's bad, really... Sanji is your lover, you've accepted to live with him and yet you still cover yourself up anytime he's around. A jacket is always in arms length.

Once, Sanji almost walked in on you changing and in result in hating yourself.. you immediately threw the bedsheet over you. This obviously made Sanji feel some type of way but at the same time he respects you. As strong as you are, as much as you deal with just being a black woman.. he respects you...

Sanji hasn't touched you in any way, not sexually, nor in a domestic type way. His hands are always to himself.. as much as his insides hated it. All Sanji begs to do is touch and love on you. Alas, you overthink and wonder why Sanji is even with you..

"You neeed to tell him how you feel, (y/n)... the situation will only become worse... Your relationship is so strong that sex was never needed.. you're a beautiful woman... You're unique, and fun to be around... give it a chance, yes?" Robin's soft voice echoed slightly in your brain, just sighing out in retaliation. Nami's face showing that she definitely agreed.. but it's just not that simple..

You wish it was that simple.

"(Y/n)-swan~~~~ I'm home!"

A jolt rushed through you as the look you gave the two females happened to be a rushed one.

"Imma talk to y'all later Ight..?" You gently spoke before ending the call as quickly as you could. Moving from the bathroom and you grabbed your black jacket. It was quite huge on you and it had 2pac's picture on the back of it, his name on the front. This jacket originally came from your brother, but you claimed it of course...

Throwing your phone on the bed, you gently walked into the hall and went downstairs. The house you both lived in was a dream. Sanji isn't a poor man... he has his own restaurant, and it rivals with Gordon Ramsey's restaurant... come on..

"Hey, you feelin' ight..?" You gently spoke as you were finally off that last step. Your blonde man standing in front of the door as he blew some of the cigarette smoke. It was something you didn't mind.. the house was big so.. not everything smelt like it...

Though seeing your beautiful, slightly chubby face and your beautiful new colored hair made him die inside. His throat and lungs giving up on him as he choked and coughed. A huge blush rushing quickly to his cheeks and ears... Even now he just.. he gets all school girl on you.

"Babe! Babe! You Ight..!? Aye..." you kinda panicked actually, just softly touching his arm and moving to pat him on his back. The coughing fit he was having eventually surpassed and you were now holding onto his arm. His arm happened to be between your breasts.. he could feel it, he didn't need to see it..

Thing is, you didn't even realize...

"I'm fine.. it's just, you're so beautiful... I bought that right..? Glad that was a thing.." Sanji rambled off to himself as he then finally stared at you and chuckled. That genuine smile causing your insides to twist and turn.. your face was burning up, but your ancestors gave you the ability to not show the blood rushing to your cheeks..

"Oh.. you like it..? Thanks baby... thanks for buyin it fa me..." your voice soft as you got on your tippy toes and wrapped those arms around his neck.. well you tried.. he had to lean down a bit.. his lips connecting against yours and all you could taste was cigarette smoke, but it was this hint of sweetness.. probably from whatever he cooked today.. nevertheless, you were used to it.

The kiss was short like always, and Sanji didn't dare touch you. His hands weren't inching whatsoever, as much as he wanted to... he didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, since you worked today, d'want me to make you sum to eat?... or.."

"Actually, I wanted us to go to my restaurant and eat... we haven't done that in awhile." Sanji's gentle smile and that shrug made you feel completely bad. The two of you rarely go anywhere together.. it's just that you hate the fact that Sanji has to go anywhere with you...

A little smile appeared on your face, it seemed a bit forced but as good as your acting skills were, it probably passed. Fidgeting on the heels of your feet, you kinda shrugged as well. The hoodie that you had on suddenly felt tight and honestly you hated it. Did you look huge in this too...?

"I-.. Ight.."

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

What in your right mind possessed you to say 'ight'?! Just flailing around in your walk in closet. As many clothes you had, as many outfits.. you never touched them. They collect dust every day. But that's nothing compared to what you were doing now, the clothes being scattered across the floor as you looked at your final option..

"I'm not goin..."

The words you spoke made your eyes kind of tear up, just staring at the soft, white dress. It was soft and it wasn't tight, but at the same time.. it clings to your skin. It shows every bump and curve. Not to mention how it had little slits on the side.. to show more of your thighs that were already showing... Nope.. just Nope..

Though another bomb was going to come rushing down, because how the hell were you going to tell Sanji..? What were you going to say? Jesus Christ...

Actually, there is this one thing... yes.. for sure..

"Yeah... it just started... can you get me them pills in the cabinet? Ion wanna move... we can literally go next week though.." you gently spoke when you were now in front of Sanji in the bedroom.

It was odd, just a few hours ago you were perfectly fine... not to mention how your period just went off a week ago. The blonde keeps notice of these things, he's not a dumb male who doesn't pay attention to his girlfriend. He's only collecting notes, he'll go with your maze run for now.. but in the end.. he'll find the way.

"So.. you're just up for me makin somethin..? I can teach you the gumbo you wanted to learn..." you gently spoke, only because the atmosphere was kind of tense? Or maybe it was just you... Sanji was laying on his back and he was smoking like usual.. but it seemed like he was thinking hard about something.. and it made you want to go shit.

Have he finally had enough..?

"I thought you'd never ask (y/n)-Chan" Sanji gently purred with those same hearts in his eyes as he decided to follow you out the bedroom and to the kitchen. There was some things Sanji just didn't know how to make. Yes he's an amazing chef and you're sure he'll get this in one go.. but he doesn't know much about.. let's say : black people dishes.

You've just been teaching him about the wide range of things.. and he's been having a blast. As well as being enamored with your aave...

Sanji just loves being with you... didn't matter what it was.. he's obsessed with you, even though his touch is limited..

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

The night had already been here, though it was now 11 pm, the house being ripped of all its lights that were on. Sanji made sure everything was cleaned up because it wasn't a surprise that you were knocked out in bed already. His own attire consisted of just his underwear... which you didn't mind but that's probably because you wore that jacket to sleep every night..

Sanji snapped out of his thoughts and he noticed the light to your closet as was still on. His body maneuvering over to go inside and turn it off.. though.. the mountain of clothes restricted him. His eyes widening as the cigarette from his mouth had dropped ever so gently to the floor.

The closet was a mess.

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ Masterlist 2

[kimnjss]

dating rich | ksj

⤑  series: sugar free

⤑ genre: fluff, rich!jin x artist!reader, college au.

⤑ rating: PG13

⤑ word count: 3.4K

⤑ warnings: there aren’t any, lmao.

⤑ A/N: today was a bit of a busy day so this is later than i wanted it to be! (im in the process of moving) buuut, it’s here and i really like it :( they’re kinda cute ngl . let me know what you think ! x

You hadn't been expecting the knock at your front door, was weary on your way down the steps to see who was standing on the other side. A large man, black hat pulled low on his head shuffled on his feet from behind the peephole. A box tucked underneath his armpit.

 Watching him, you waited until he did the normal delivery man thing – dropping the box outside of the door and ditching second after knocking; not even giving you a chance to reach for the doorknob. He didn't, though. Seconds passed and the man just stood there, waiting for you to open up.

 “Package for Miss Yn,” His deep voice had your body jumping as if he had sensed your presence on the other side of the door. With a quiet breath, you were reaching for to pull the door open, caught off guard by the dazzling smile of the tall man. “Are you Miss Yn?” He asked, that grin not wavering for a moment.

 “Yeah, that's me. I didn't order anything, though.” You kept good track of your orders, knew when you would be expecting a visitor. Never could be too careful as a young girl living on her own.

 “It's from Master Seokjin, a dress for tonight.” The man was holding the box out to you and you couldn't hold back the urge to roll your eyes. Did this guy really have his own delivery service where the workers referred to him as 'Master'? How ridiculous. “Great, thank you.” You forced the smile, watching as the man nodded before taking a few backward steps down the stairs.

 Pushing the door closed, your attention was dropping to the box in your hands. It was neatly wrapped, probably done professionally with the way this man loved to throw his cash to the wind. A pretty gold bow holding the thing together and you weren't gentle with the way you tugged at it, watching as the careful ribboning came undone.

 With the lid now off, you were faced with the expertly folded laid inside. A creamy white color, silky to the touch. Noting how short it was when you finally talked yourself into pulling it from the box. Singed at the waist with a matching belt tie, the dress was beautiful. And you didn't have to peak at the price tag (that he didn't bother to detach) to know that it was expensive.

 You had been so enthralled with the fabric, you almost missed the items that laid at the bottom of the box. A pair of long dangled silver earrings beside a pair of matching silver stilettos. This man sure paid a great deal of attention to detail. There was a note placed just below the sole of the shoe.

 Lifting it, your eyes scanned over the words written, not being able to fight the smile breaking onto your lips.

 'don't you think this is much prettier than some tired cocktail dress? (no idea what you have in your closet) – nd no offense either. like i said, im sure you look great in everything. though, i heard chiffon does wonders for a pretty woman; wanted to test that theory.'

 A compliment hidden somewhere within his obvious need to flaunt his wealth. It was kinda sweet and he wasn't wrong, this dress was much nicer than any old thing you would've thrown on at the last minute.

 If you were going to be dating rich... might as well look the part, right?

 Another knock sounded at your door exactly five hours later. 18:27. Three whole minutes before Jin had told you he'd be picking you up. Was he extremely punctual or just excited to see you? Not allowing yourself a moment extra to mull over the question, you were pulling the door open, new dress hugging your body, heels adding to your height, and earrings fastened in your ear.

 Jin took his time taking in your appearance, a not so subtle jaw dropped expression as his eyes scanned over the way the fabric hugged your body. “You look amazing,” His words were riddled with disbelief, hushed as if he was speaking to himself.

 Either way, that smile was pushing its way onto your lips. Not able to place just why you were so fond of receiving compliments from him. Maybe it was the fact it seemed as if he actually cared how you looked... you the fact that $3,421.78 made you feel desirable. No need to mull over that either.

 “Thank you,”

 He nodded, acknowledging your gratitude before offering up his arm for you to hold. “Minho is keeping the car warm for us, come on.” Only then were you noticing the shiny SUV parked directly in front of your house? The same man from earlier standing outside of it, ready to pull the door open when needed.

 Your hand fit nicely against his bicep, heels clicked as you stepped forward pulling your front door closed behind you. Jin led you down the steps, advising you to watch your step as he brought you to the car.

 Minho greeted you both with a soft smile, the back door of the car being pulled open and Jin was ushering you in like a true gentleman. The door was closing behind you and moments later, Minho was climbing into the front seat and shoving the car into gear.

 The car ride to the restaurant was uncomfortably silent. You couldn't come up with something interesting to say and couldn't stop scolding yourself for actually wanting to say something to pique his interest. Jin was quiet, uncharacteristically so. Eyes staring out the slightly tinted window as his leg bounced quickly next to you.

 Was he nervous? Doubtful.

 You took to fumbling with the hem of your dress, counting down the moments until the car was stopping and you'd be inside of the restaurant. Actually hungry and excited to try the food there. $50 a plate (you had surfed the website for their cheapest dish, that was it), their food had to be good, right?

 Relief is instantly washing over you as Minho is sliding the car to a stop, stepping out without a word to open the door for both you and Seokjin. An innocent hand lands on the small of your back as the two of you make your way toward the entrance and, surprisingly, you lack the urge to bat it away.

 “Hey, Dae-Ho!” His bright personality is back, complete with his matching smile as the two of you approach the man standing at the door. Dae-Ho? Is turning, a grin spreading on his lips as he spots the two of you. Of course, they knew each other.

 Jin is clapping hands with Dae-Ho, engaging in that generic guy handshake where they pat each other on the back while holding hands but not getting too close. “It's been forever, dude. You don't shadow your old man any more?” Dae-Ho is wondering and Jin is quick to shake his head.

 “Not as much... think he was afraid if I learned too much I'd surpass him too fast,” Jin is joking and his friend is letting out a heartfelt laugh, eyes squinting as he shows off his perfectly white teeth. When the laughter dies down, the guy's attention is zeroing on you. He stares for a moment, brow arched as he watched you, waiting... for what?

 If Jin notices the weird moment, he doesn't say anything. He doesn't even bother to drop his hand from your waist, just continues on smiling at his friend and speaking up without missing a beat. “Is Moonie around?”

 Moonie? How many people did this guy know behind these thick glass doors? Dae-Ho is nodding his head, reaching for the walk-y that was clipped to his waist. He speaks into the receiver, voice much deeper and direct now. “Moon, there's someone here to see you.”

 'Moon' is coming out just minutes later. A short silver-haired girl with small features and a pointed nose. Her smile is large when she spots Jin, not hesitating to pull him in for a tight hug when she's able to reach. “Wow, where have you been Jinnie?”

 “You know around,” Jin shrugs. “Heard you bought your father out, took his name off all the papers of this place...” The girl is nodding excitedly at Jin's words, leading the two of you past the front doors as they continue to catch up.

 So he was close to the owner? Seemed like old friends from the way they addressed each other and smiled so fondly. With a snorted laugh, she was sitting the two of you down in a quiet corner of the place. “I haven't seen you in so long, man. This one's on the house, whatever you want.” She's handing a menu over to you, that pretty smile taking over her features again.

 “Wow, I'm so rude. Is this your girlfriend? What's your name?” You tried not to flinch at the label, pushing a polite smile onto your lips as you got ready to answer. “I'm not-” You start, quickly being interrupted by Jin.

 “This is Yn. We go to school together,” Moon takes a moment to look between the two of you, obviously picking up on the tension but not saying much about it. “That's cool, then. Let me go grab a server for you two,” She's turning to leave before either of you could weigh in.

 “Why didn't you let me correct her?” Jin is looking at you with a furrowed brow, shoulders shrugging before he's reaching for the glass of water placed on the table and taking a long sip. “Did it really matter?” Did it? Maybe it didn't... it wasn't like you were ever going to see that girl again. And the two of you weren't exactly friends.

 What was he supposed to introduce you as? The girl that he was kinda interested in, but not really because he was probably this way with any girl he found remotely attractive. Yeah, that was definitely a mouthful.

 No, wait. It did. Girlfriend was a big deal. And you had just barely agreed to go on this date with him. Two people can go on a date without being accused of actually dating. That's not weird to say. He was courting you and that was the bottom line, nothing had been promised.

 Through your mess of thoughts, a small fact was hitting you. He knew the owner of this place and acted as if the two of you would have trouble getting in based on what you wore. So why had he insisted on buying you a new dress if he knew that wouldn't be a factor?

 Sat across from you in a nice but regular button shirt tucked into a pair of simple black jeans. Everyone else around you two was dolled up, so there most definitely was a dress code, yet he didn't have to follow it because his friend was the owner. So why a new (expensive) dress for you?

 Something wasn't adding up.

 As much as you didn't want to admit it, having dinner with Jin wasn't as bad as you had assumed it would be. He was kind, funny, and all-around an entertaining person to be around. It was as if he genuinely enjoyed seeing you laugh, hearing the sound of it, and was ready to spew out joke after joke just to hear the sound.

 He had ordered for the both of you, warning you quietly that not many things on the menu were all that appetizing. Well, he thought he was being quiet, he did however earn an eye roll from his friend Moon who hadn't been too far from the table. 

 The awkward laugh that left his lips, oddly, warmed your heart pushing a smile onto your face and breaking the layer of ice you had been keen on keeping intact. Jin listened intently to the answer to each question that he asked, seeming honestly interested in what you had to tell him. Wanting to actually know more about you and your personality rather than just asking the questions to fill the silence.

 You told him whatever came to mind, not being able to hold back after realizing that he was interested in what you had to say. Told him about your dreams as an artist, your love for literature, and film work. Even told him the embarrassing story of the time you thought you could be a poet and actually entered a poetry slam.

 He had a good laugh hearing your story end in stumbling off stage in fear, tripping over the microphone on the way, and busting your ass in front of the entire audience. You couldn't silence his laughter after that and quickly, you were urging him to make up for it with an embarrassing story of his own.

 Which he shared without a second thought, animatedly telling you about his friends and the times they got themselves into a mess, the sound of his laughter interrupting his words more often than not. As the seconds of the night ticked by, you found yourself feeling more and more comfortable around this man.

 Almost had you second-guessing the snap judgment you had made prior to this. How quickly you decided that you weren't interested in getting to know him when he was kind of great when it came down to it.

 A gracious tip was left on the table, despite the meal not needing to be paid for. With a soft smile, Jin's reaching to set his hand on the small of your back once more; leading you out of the restaurant with the gentlest guidance.

 Moon is stood at the front door, flicking through the menu as the two of you pass her. She looks up immediately, waving with that brightest of smiles. “Come back soon! You need to treat your pretty girlfriend as often as possible,” She's calling out. It's not even hard for you to push down the urge to correct her, only pushing a smile onto your face and waving back.

 Jin nods grins at his friends before the two of you are exiting the building. Minho is pulling up just as the two of you are stepping out. Dae-Ho nowhere insight when you look for him, but you're not given the chance to wander with the way Jin's ushering you into the backseat of the car.

 “So,” He's prompting after a few moments driving in silence had passed. Your attention had been out the window, watching the trees as they whipped by and trying to wrap your mind around how pleasant this evening had been. Wondering just how your guard had managed to slip, Jin letting himself in without a second thought.

 You turn to face him, a smile instantly lifting the corners of your mouth at the sight of him. Had he always been this unbelievably handsome? “You had a good time tonight, huh?” He's asking with that cocky smile of his and out of habit, you're rolling your eyes.

 “It's alright,” You shrug, turning your attention from him to hide the coloring in your cheeks. If you hadn't looked away, you would've seen the cute way Jin rolled his eyes at you, his body sinking into the comfort of the leather seats as his head turned to get a better look at your profile. “Just alright? That grin hasn't left your face since we sat down. Not that I'm complaining,”

 You're quiet, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right. Not like he even needed it, the evidence was right in front of his face. He doesn't push it, his attention going to the window at his side of the car.

 “I had a really good time tonight,” It sounds more like a silent confession than a declaration meant for you. As if he couldn't believe it himself. You couldn't either, but you don't say anything. So positive that this was just tonight. No matter how much fun he was, how nice, how attractive... he was still the same Kim Seokjin. Still, the same womanizer name riddled with rumors.

 Who knows if this wasn't just a calculated plan he used each time he took some girl on a date? Yeah, you weren't falling for it. Couldn't believe you almost let yourself believe it was any different.

 You're quiet the rest of the ride, mind reeling. So badly, you wanted this night to be more than just... some night to him. It had been a good time and it kinda sucked that you knew this would be it. 

 Minho is pulling up in front of your house and before he can move, Jin is opening up the back door. He turns to offer a hand to you, much like a true gentleman would. You're accepting it, allowing him to pull you out of the vehicle.

 “Have a good night, Minho!” You're calling over the shoulder, the man in the driver's seat jumping slightly at the mention of his name but quickly replying with a quick goodbye and a large smile. 

 His hands slip into the front pockets of his jeans as he leads you up the walkway to your front door. An awkward silence fell over the two of you and you had no idea what you were supposed to say in a moment like this. Thank you? See you around? The date was great, too bad we can't do it again? All horrible conversation starters that you had no idea how to steer.

 Silence was the best option.

 Jin stops once you're at your front door, hands shoved in his pockets while he toes with a loose pebble. Head ducked as if the stone of your porch is the most fascinating thing, but you can still see the tint in his cheeks. He was blushing? But why?

 Was he fixing to ask if he could come up? Complete the night like you were sure he and his friends prided with. Minho still hasn't moved from his spot, does that mean he was planning to just come up for a quicky and meet Minho back downstairs?

 He's lifting his head and you prepare yourself for the question, ready to reject the idea of a quick fuck that most likely followed his dates. Did he think just because you had a good time you'd be willing to give yourself up to him? Not happening.

 “Did I manage to change your opinion on me?” His voice is hushed, almost as if he's afraid of the answer. Did he really care that much what you thought of him? Why you? Why did your opinion matter so much to him?

 Slowly, the pieces were starting to fall into place. The expensive dress, the way he flaunted his connections within in the restaurant you picked, how interested in you he seemed to be throughout the whole night... not to mention the shy way his fingers would brush yours as if he wanted to hold your hand the whole car ride home.

 Was he actually interested in you? The thought had a smile pushing on your lips and you hated the easy effect the idea of Jin having a crush on you gave away. Before you can talk yourself out of it, think it all the way through – you're stepping forward, hands braced on his biceps as you lean on your toes.

 His lips are warm against yours, very soft. It takes Jin a moment to realize what's happening, that your lips are pressed firmly against his but once his mind is settling, he's slipping into it. An arm wrapping around your waist, holding you close while he slowly moves his mouth over yours.

 You don't let the kiss become too deep, your head already spinning. You pull away just as he steps forward, looking up just in time to see the dopey smile on his face. You can still taste his lips on yours and figured that will be enough to hold you over for the night.

 “I wouldn’t mind doing this again,” You watch the way his eyes light up at your confession, his cheeks tinting pink. “That's good, then!” He's taking backward steps off your porch, eyes never leaving you.

 “I should call you then?” He wonders and you nod, turning to unlock your front door. “Yeah, call me.” He offers a quick wave before he's turning and you watch him walk all the way to the car, slipping into the front seat next to Minho.

 Faintly, you can feel the pressure of his lips. His strong arm wrapped around your waist. How nervous he looked before asking if you had thought differently of him. Had you? You couldn't know for sure. But maybe you were wrong about him.

– rich, spoiled and a bit of a womanizer. but underneath all of that, there’s a heart of gold. and no matter how determined she is to reject him, he won’t stop trying until she sees he’s kinda sweet.

↲ masterlist ↳

taglist: @randomkoalablog​​​ @smoljams​​​ @dee-ehn​​​ @jaiuneamesolitaiire​​​ @lilacdreams-00​​​ @sw33tnight​​​ @bangtansonyeondayyyum​​​ @okblve​​​ @jinhitwhore​​​ @tae165​​​ @hellotherehoneybee​​​ @bangtansbun​​​ @betysotelo18​​​ @cherriigguk​​​ @koostime​​​ @kooinluv​​​ @butterflylion​​​ @kookiesjoonies​​​ @uxwi​​​ @honeyoongles​​​ @imajiningseokjin​​​ @amoreguk​​​ @beeeb05​​​ @tommasauras​​​ @bluefaeriefury​​​ @butterflylion​​​ @withlovestudyblr​​​ @samros95​​​ @korkanswers​​​ @houseofarmanto​​​ @soulstaes​​​ @thesunisup-theskyisblue​​​ @jinsearth​​​ @aizuwusho​​​ @moonb0yy​​​ @tan-dulset​​​ @8sjaf​​​ @mini-coop25​​​ @marifujioka​​​ @sunskook​​​ @elliemeetsevil​​​ @ratking101​​​​ @leovaldezisfire​​​

A/N: timestamps are important throughout the fic!! if you want to be added to the taglist, send me an ask! also if you asked to be on the taglist and aren’t on there, it’s because tumblr sometimes doesn’t let me tag ppl for some reason.

[come-on-shitty-boys]

//general dating headcannons//

Characters: Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Akaashi Keiji

Warnings: none :)

Word Count: 2K (~630 a piece)

Notes: kdhfesdkfje catch me getting carried away on Kuroo’s ope 0-0

Bokuto Koutarou

My literal husband ;-;

He’s such a sweet boyf oml hi yes, where do I order one?

Bokuto 100% dates to marry.  He’s not here for flings or anything like that, so your relationship will turn serious pretty fast.

Bo is a simp and no one can tell me otherwise, so when it comes to PDA? Oh, he’s C L I N G Y

He always wants to hold your hand or sometimes he’ll walk behind you and cling to your waist.  It’s definitely super hard for both of you to walk, but it’s adorable and makes him happy, so you’re not really going to complain.

If you hug onto his arm? He’s going to melt, especially if you trail your fingers up and down his bicep

It’s the same when the two of you are in private.  He likes to have contact with you whenever possible.  He’ll lay your head in his lap if you’re both laying on the couch or he’ll sit you in his lap and place little kisses at the base of your neck, right above the collar of your shirt.

His clothes are your clothes.  At this point, you wear his training jacket more than he does.  Sweatshirts? Flannels? Shorts?  That’s shared territory right there.

And my G O D does he love it.  He already has to buy bigger clothes because he’s got those wide shoulders, so his clothes tend to either fit you perfectly or completely swallow you, there is no in between.

If you’re thicc too? He has 100% stolen your leggings, just to see the appeal of them.  Please hide them, because oH he understands now.

He gets jealous jealous.  As in, he will place himself between you and the guy trying to talk to you and he’ll act all big and tough.  But the minute the other dude backs off?  Baby boy is back, wanting hugs.  He’ll kiss you all over your face and be really pouty, asking if you’re okay and telling you that he loves you ;-;

Bokuto hoots bye i don’t make the rules. Okay yeah i kinda do, but still.

It’s not like HOOOOOT, but like a really soft h o o and he probably kinda wiggles in his spot, real happy

Bo has N O control over how he sleeps.  He’ll always start out really normal, like you’ll be tucked into his side or something, but by the time you guys wake up? S T A R F I S H he is on his face, limbs covering the whole bed, just snoring away

When he’s away for games, he’s always on the phone with you.  Like, the guys will try to hang out or something and he’ll definitely go off to his room with a “Oh, I want to call Y/N before she goes to bed, but I’ll come by later!” 

And then he just doesn’t because he’s the one who fell asleep, not you.

Compliments the shit out of you.  You’re his hype man and he is yours.  He’s constantly telling you that you look beautiful or if you send him a selfie, he’s absolutely sending back the simp emoji, asking how he got so lucky.

He calls you ‘babe’ but usually only when he wants your attention or if he’s in another room and needs something, so expects lots of “Baaaaaaaaaaabe”s to be headed your way.

Other times?  He calls you by name.  Because there’s a million people who get called babe or sweetheart, but your name is yours, so it feels special and kinda intimate to him?  So, if he’s feeling a little extra sentimental, he’s going to bury his face in your neck and just whisper lots of quiet, “I love you, Y/N”s over and over again.

Kuroo Tetsurou

R O O S T E R H E A D A S S that I love very very much

He’s a complete dork and I know the fandom makes him to be some kind of smooth talking God I’m guilty of it too but-

He’s literally not.  He fumbles over his words so much when he’s around you.  You guys can be dating for years and he’ll still have his moments where he’s a stuttering mess in front of you.

Asking you out?  You suffered second-hand embarrassment.  His face was about as red as his jersey and the boy was so nervous, rubbing the back of his neck, refusing to look at you, but then just shyly raising his eyes to look at you and muttering,

“Do you maybe wanna go out sometime?”

INSTANTLY STARTS APOLOGIZING

“But- but only if you want, of course! Don’t feel like you have to say yes, I can take rejection!  I’m so sorry.  I probably made you really uncomfortable.  You know what?  You don’t have to answer.  I’m just going to go.”

He’s so shook when you say yes, but then immediately puts his cool guy act back on, like “psshh of course you do.”

I don’t see him being super into PDA or physical contact period?  There’s something really special about just being near each other to him.  Just accidentally bumping shoulders or brushing hands while the two of you stroll, talking about anything and everything.

Even in private, there’s not a ton of physical contact.  Maybe tangling legs together as you sit on opposite ends of the couch, but that’s really it.  He likes being in close proximity with you, but he doesn’t need to be touching you at all times.

But he’s down to cuddle if you ask.  He’ll let you lay on top of him and hide your face in his neck or his chest.  Sometimes you guys will talk, but most of the time?  Cuddle time = nap time

He doesn’t get super jealous, but he won’t hesitate to come stand behind you if some guy is trying to hit on you.  Kuroo will probably just play with your hair or make some kind of comment about how that bracelet he bought you looks really nice on you.  Just dropping subtle hints that you’re taken.

Afterwards, though, he just drops it.  It doesn’t really bother him.  He knows well enough that if you didn’t want to be with him, you would’ve broken up with him.  He just wants to be there in case someone tries to make you uncomfortable.

Gamenightgamenightgamenight

I’m talking like board games.  Hours and hours of just sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of your guys’ friends, slowly ruining relationships, but overall having a good time.

Kuroo plays Dungeons and Dragons.  I’ve said this SO many times and no one is going to tell me otherwise.  So, if you show any interest in maybe wanting to play, or, better yet, if you already know how to play?  He’s bringing you to A L L of the future sessions.

He’s probably going to write your character into his character’s backstory, so when Dungeon Master!Kenma scolds him for playing reckless in order to protect you, Kuroo can retort with, “Well, actually, if you paid attention when I was telling my backstory, you would know- *insert long-winded backstory of how your characters know each other and how his character vowed to your character’s dying father that he would protect you etc etc*”

Kuroo is super into domestic life with you, so you guys probably moved in together as soon as possible.  As in, if you started dating in high school, you were sharing an apartment your first year of college. 

He just has a lot of fun doing little household things with you, like cooking, cleaning, or just enjoying quiet evenings together after all of the work is done for the day.

Kuroo said “I love you” first, but it took you both forever to say it, because you were both kind of new to this dating thing and you had always been told that it was a really big deal, so you didn’t want to rush that.

;-; please take care of my dorky rooster

Akaashi Keiji

Akaashi is pretty easy-going in relationships, but he’s also super romantic.

As in, he has hand-written you love letters.  He’s got really neat writing too, so that just adds to their appeal.  Akaashi probably has a wax seal that he seals all of the envelopes with? I don’t know why, but he seems like the type of guy to have one.  

You guys have a book club, just the two of you.  Oh, it’s so cute.  It started as the two of you forcing each other to read your favorite books, but then, you guys ran out of books to share?  So, once a month, you guys will go to the local bookstore and just spend a good hour or two trying to decide what book to give the other next.  

Akaashi 100% always recommends classic novels.  Things like Sense & Sensibility, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World am i saying that because that’s my favorite book? more likely than you’d think.

He’s a lot more prepared for these shopping escapades that you are.  He usually knows exactly what he wants to get you.  If they don’t have it?  That’s fine.  He has a list.

You on the other hand?  You’re asking the clerks what they recommend, reading the back of every book that seems like something he might enjoy, but you usually resort to dystopian novels (Never Let Me Go, Gone, The Handmaid’s Tale, etc), because he likes analyzing the politics and seeing how they could be metaphors for today’s world.  

Damn this really turned into me just recommending books huh

After you two pick out the selections for the month, you two coffee hop.  So, each month, you try a new cafe and you will spend hours just sipping coffee and reading.

He gave you a first edition copy of the first book that you recommended to him for your anniversary one year.  Akaashi wrote you a letter, telling you how happy he was to have spent so much time with you and that he can’t wait to share more books with you and probably some really poetic stuff, because he’s a good writer, but he hid it in your favorite part, so you don’t get to read it right away.  

Okay, now that I got that out of my head.  Like Kuroo, Akaashi isn’t super into PDA, but he does like to hold your hand.  He also always offers to carry your bag.

Akaashi likes to fidget with your fingers.  The two of you could be out or just hanging at home, but he’s playing with your fingers.  It’s just a habit for him.  He used to fidget with his own hands a lot, but now he’s got yours, so not only does he get to keep his hands busy, he gets to hold onto your hand

He doesn’t get jealous.  Or at least, you don’t think so.  He’s really good at hiding any sense of envy he might feel.  He doesn’t say anything.  He knows that you can take care of yourself, but he’s likely right there next to you, possibly playing with your fingers behind your back.

It’s a really chill relationship dynamic for the most part.  You two could be dating for a week and it’ll already feel like you’ve been together for years.  You guys just vibe really well, so there was never that awkward stage at the beginning of the relationship.  Likely because the two of you started off as friends, so slipping into dating wasn’t a very hard transition.

Akaashi isn’t one to say “I love you” a lot, but he really does love you more than anything.  He likes to take care of you and he tries to give you the best life possible and that says I love you more than any words ever could.

[jksangelic]

defanged (m)

↳ rating: M

↳ genre: smut, fluff, werewolf!au, a/b/o au, pwp

↳ pairing: mates werewolf!reader x werewolf/alpha!hoseok

↳ warnings: explicit sexual content, dom themes, breathplay, knotting, rough play, impregnation kink, overall general ”werewolf” smut themes, personality change, probably an uncomfortable amount of squishy mate talk

↳ summary:  hoseok is an easy mate—as such that there are moments you question if he’s just human. so when his sudden spike of aggression emerges, you do your best to keep this unknown man at bay. or, alternatively: young alpha hoseok has started teething and he’s being a bratty puppy about it.

↳ note: ok so if you were with me a few months ago you would know that this is actually a collab fic with a couple other writers but life happens and here we are now *cowboy emoji*. this is really important to me bc they’re such *clench fist* great people and i’m happy i received such an opportunity to collab with them (’: pls make sure to rb/like/visit our collab masterlist if you want to be in-the-know of when they post their parts!

also i wanted to play around with the humorous sides of what werewolves might go thru (-: so, like, short attention spans and hating loud noises and typical big dog stuff. with the teething, just imagine that their growth stages are prolonged because they’re, idk, maybe immortal or something lol

(i…… i’m not used to writing fantasy can u tell)

((gif isn’t mine + his side profile ;-;))

↳ words: 9k+

You could hear every miniscule thread snap and unwind from themselves, a simple task such as painting your nails becoming less relaxing than it should be.

“Hobi,” you mumble once. You swipe down your thumb again, carmine red smoothing over brightly and with utmost delicacy. He doesn’t listen, another squeaking grind of his teeth against the material of his sweatshirt followed by a snapsnap.

“Hobi,” you say a little louder, flinching from annoyance and staining your cuticle with the polish. You curse your discontents, waiting for him to look at you but only meeting a turned neck and eyes still glued to his phone, an I’m listening portrayed by his demeanor but not really meaning it.

He chews hard on the neckline, a solid rip completely tearing several inches down his chest, eyes widening and attention finally caught when his chest is exposed hilariously.

“Hoseok!” you yell, slamming the closed bottle onto the coffee table and meeting his startled eyes, “I just bought that for you!”

He hopes to play it off and shrugs as you swipe it from his teeth, untwined fibers poking out sadly. You smooth your thumbs over the poor fabric, the third victim of his recent gnashing problem.

“Why do you keep doing this?” you ask sadly, a little more bummed about the beautiful sweatshirt than you should be.

He responds simply, “My gums itch.”

You roll your eyes at his childlike excuse, the full-sized man sitting cross-legged and distractedly in his corner of the couch with his phone paused on some game with horrendously annoying music. Was he really your alpha?

“Why don’t you do us some good and go hunting.” You offer, a lame excuse to get Hoseok out of your hair for a bit. It’s what you deserve. He rolls over with a harrumph, shoulder now bare from the growing tear in his clothing. It made you giggle slightly.

“I’m in pain and you’re laughing at me,” he deadpans, body static-still and stubborn more than ever.

Your breath fans his skin as you slither next to him, “I’m sorry, baby. Are you really hurting? Why don’t you go to the dentist?”

Hoseok pouts, taptaptapping away at his screen instead of looking at you, “I don’t want to go to the dentist. They just itch.” Even now, he licks over the burning sensation of his gums, clenching and grinding his teeth to ease the feeling in any way. You can hear the collisions of his canines, your own tingling uncomfortably from the sound.

You shake your head. “Maybe you’re teething,” you suggest in all seriousness. It wasn’t impossible; your kind’s lifespan certainly placing such life stages at seemingly unusual times. In any case, it would simply mean his canines were most likely growing longer and stronger.

He scoffs as if you’ve insulted him, “I’m well over my teething days, Y/N. They just itc—"

“Say that one more time and I’ll neuter you,” you huff. When he lacks a kinder response, you push yourself off the couch to tidy your bedroom instead. He clearly wasn’t in the mood to have a serious conversation with you at the moment, and despite its rarity, you could use your space.

Your mate was in no way irritable; in fact, Hoseok was one of the sunniest alpha’s you’ve ever encountered. His kindness differentiated him from others, bearing his mark (and one day, hopefully, his pups) certainly deeming you quite lucky. He was a soft lover above all, never making you feel as a subordinate or anything of the like.

Perhaps it’s why you two were clashing heads recently, his personality completely contradictory from his true self. Never does he ignore you, let alone snap at you.

Folding your clothes (and purposefully leaving his items in a pile on his side of the bed in spite), you exhale heavily and leave for the living room once again, disregarding your now smeared manicure.

Hoseok beams at the shoe aisle, producing more light than whatever was already lit in the store. Due to his “issue”, stopping by the mall was a given. Two more of his shirts and even one of your necklaces mangled and chewed up like he was the Tasmanian Devil.

Petting his hair fondly, you give him a nuzzle to his cheek, “I’ll be in the next store over, puppy. Come meet me when you’re done.” He nods happily, wide-frame glasses bobbing atop his pretty nose.

You beeline for the department store in hopes of purchasing a few extra things for yourself before Hoseok sniffs you out. It’s immediate heaven when you sift through the dresses, picking a few out and dangling them happily on your fingers before bouncing from rack to rack. By the time you reach the dressing rooms, your arm aches from the pile you’ve accumulated.

“Hey there, you can go ahead and take that first stall right there,” a man directs, tall and intimidating and rather fucking handsome, you think. “My name’s Jaebum. Let me know if you need anything and I’ll go grab it for you.”

You bat your lashes and mouth a Thanks before waltzing into your room, appreciating his kindness perhaps a little too much. Despite your complex and absolute relationship status, it didn’t hurt to peek at what’s on display. It was only right!

You try on more than what you even remembered picking out, velvets and satins and the softest of cottons all hugging you warmly with every piece, a bittersweet happiness when everything seemed to fit you perfectly. The last dress, though, is your only hiccup. Material skin-tight and ending just a little above your ankles; you harrumph. Almost a perfect streak.

Dress still on (at least it zipped), you peek through the door and spot handsome Bum at the front. “Psst, um, do you mind getting me a couple more sizes in this? I think it was near the wall to the right.”

He grins and nods, almost grateful of the fact that you asked him to do so. Why was he even in this section? Should it concern you?

You watch as he leaves, back muscles showcased quite lavishly in his pristinely pressed suit.

Should it be more concerning that it didn’t?

You take a moment to look at the dress once more, smoothing over the velvet that bunched snugly at your waist and checking out your own ass. The fabric might rip if you sneeze too hard but you look pretty damn splendid.

“Found a few more and got you another color as well,” Jaebum says upon return. You almost snap your neck away from the mirror, hoping he didn’t see you ogling your bum. What a speedy fellow.

You politely open the door wider and reach for the hangers, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Jaebum doesn’t fully hand it to you though, briefly but noticeably skimming over your body, “I think that size is cute on you too. You have a really beautiful figure.”

Maybe it should concern you. You chuckle awkwardly and look elsewhere. Please just give me my dresses, you almost say, now self-conscious in your skin.

“It’s even better when she’s naked. I would know,” Hoseok near growls, appearing out of thin air. He swipes the hangers from behind Jaebum, who is surprised beyond all comprehension of the word, and pushes you back into the room. You’ve never seen him look so enraged, face serious and twitching as if he would shift at any given moment.

“Th-There aren’t allowed to be more than one person in a—,” Jaebum nervously starts from the other side before the door is slammed on his nose.

You didn’t even see Jaebum’s reaction, nor do you ponder it when Hoseok drops your beautiful dresses and thrusts your back against the mirror with his hand to your neck, deliberately making you yelp loud enough for others to hear. You recoil as he bares his fangs, sharp and taunting, threatening to devour you whole and you know this isn’t your Hobi.

He doesn’t get the chance for whatever else he had in store when pure vehemence engulfs you, daring to stand your ground with a low guttural snarl and shoving him off. Your strength is nothing to snicker at, his shoulders nearly hitting the other wall despite his stature.

“What’s wrong with you?” you didn’t even care if everyone in the damn store could hear you, “Don’t you dare touch me!”

Regret instantly arises in his eyes, his hands reaching out to comfort you in any way but hesitant in the warning. He would rather die than hurt you, he was sorry, he was so sorry.

Your body can feel his sorrow and want, itching to touch him in any way but you push it down. The little she-wolf in you whimpers as you struggle out of the dress and leave him alone in the stall, begging for you to go back and forgive him.

Jaebum stands, bewildered, outside of the rooms. He sure did rue the moment he ever made advances on you. Not a word is spoken as you pass by and exit the store.

It doesn’t make it any easier when Hoseok follows you closely. “Baby, I’m sorry. Please.”

“You were going to shift because of some stupid sales clerk! You could’ve gotten us in some deep shit with the order,” you scold, “We’re going home. Right now.” This was a double-edged sword, you didn’t even get to purchase anything. Though your mood is far too foul to continue.

“But I didn’t! No one saw anything. I just lost my cool for a second, I promise. I know better.” Even Hoseok strains to keep up your pace, car already in view and goddamn you walk fast.

“Do you? Are you seriously justifying your actions? You need to uphold your responsibilities, Hoseok. You’re not new to this.” He finds that he despises when you lecture him this way, gums and skin and everything prickly and he wish he could gnaw on something right about now.

It was odd to tell him these things, taking into consideration that his role is considerably higher than yours and that he hardly ever faults as an alpha. If there wasn’t something going on biologically, what else could it be?

He’s obviously straining to keep his composure now, jaw slacked and knuckles cracking in his fist, “How am I supposed to do that now? It won’t happen again. It’s over.”

“Then what about your shitty mood swings? We don’t argue, Hoseok. You’re not mean, you’re not easily agitated, and you’re not a fucking paper  shredder. Neither are you aggressive to your own mate,” you throw in his face, unsurprised when he cowers again at the thought. It’s like the man was on his period.

Now that you recall, the last time you’ve ever seen him so angry at you is when you watched Endgame without him, and that should say enough. This was just all so new and unbecoming of someone with his level of reputation.

“You know I didn’t mean to do that. I never want to hurt you…” he leads as you beat him to the driver’s side of the car, watching him over the hood for him to finish his sentence, “I’m just—”

“You what, Hoseok?”

He jostles the door handle a few times, a rep of unsettling clacks making him uneasy.  

“Can you unlock the car?”

“You what?” you say a little louder, entirely avoiding his question.

“Goddammit,” he hisses, “Just let me in and we can talk about it when we get home.” You scan his face in search of anything. For the truth. For him to own up to what it is. What you get is nothing.

So you smile, “No.”

He stands cluelessly as you unlock your door and hop in, starting the car with a satisfying roll and opening his window just enough to see his addled facial expression.

“What are you doing?” he deadpans.

“If you won’t admit it then you obviously don’t take me seriously, and if you won’t take me seriously then I’ll take my car home by myself. So, toodles!”

He smirks nervously, slender fingers sifting through his hair, “Y/N, c’mon. Just let me in.” He’s even more staggered when you start reversing out of your spot. Eyes widening hilariously, he cusses under his breath as he walks cautiously towards the door.

“Have a fun run, baby. Better get home soon,” you feign pity, “looks like it’s going to start raining pretty soon.”

“We live an hour away!”

You drive down the row, turning on your signal just in case someone needed to know. Shucks, you were such a good driver, even in the parking lot.

Hoseok thinks otherwise, anger and panic so vivid that you can feel it from this distance. Walking Time Bomb even begins to jog, not willing to risk your bluff.

“Okay! Okay, I admit it. I may be going through something…” his wavering voice trickles into your head. “You’re right.’

You let him catch up to you, eyes shifty and fingers fiddling. “Hi, darling. Can you say that one more time? In person?” His chest puffs.

“I already said it once,” he begs.

Was his pride this important? Did the strangled mutt deep down change your Hoseok for the worst? An impatient car behind you honks and you shrug.

“You’re making people wait. I’m going to leave.”

“Jesus fucking—okay. I think I’m teething. Or something involving my dental state. It’s making me fucking grumpy and it’s painful and I want to punch a fucking wall because it’s stupid that this phase is so late.” You unlock his door mid-sentence, his body falling into his seat before he continues to blabber on.

“Oh, little puppy,” you slide your sunglasses from atop your head down to the bridge of your nose, “Don’t be so sensitive. ‘S like a human adult getting braces.”

The week passes by agonizingly slow. And that wasn't necessarily because Hoseok bitched and complained, throwing temper tantrums when the remote had fallen between the couch cushions or throwing his pants stormily when they would catch on his ankles and make him hobble about like a disabled chicken.

Or maybe it was because of that.

You dare to creak the door to his den (pun intended), having locked himself in such confinement to work through the paperwork that's been piling on his mahogany desk for days. He looks worn around the eyes, long brown hair pushed back with his fake reading glasses. You knock three times as if he couldn't already sense your presence. When he looks at you through his lashes, he nods for you to proceed.

"Hi, baby. How's the work going?" you ask with a honey-dipped edge.

He shrugs, "A lot of affairs from other packs that I have to go over. I should be done soon."

You slink behind his office chair and wrap your arms around his shoulders, "Mm, why don't you take a break and have a nice little bath with me?" He doesn't budge one inch, straightening out a stack of papers before stapling them neatly and tucking them into one of his drawers.

"I need to finish this. I've been pushing it back until the last minute."

Rolling him out a bit, you slide onto his lap and rest on his chest. Your touch always lulls a serene sensitivity from his skin, a natural effect that only you are capable of. But his muscles remain taut. Bones stiff and budging none whatsoever. Stuttering, you try again, "You've been working for hours. I'm lonely. Just an hour--,"

"Y/N. I'm warning you. Get off."

She-wolf unconsciously warns you to stand down upon this statement. Was he being serious? He's warning you? You search his blank face, waiting for him to crack a smile or lift you up and attack you with kisses. When he doesn't, you test the waters.

Your nails scratch the bare skin under his shirt, "H-Hoseokie, we haven't had sex in so long," you whine. Invading his space, however, only sets him off more.

He growls, deep and meant to be menacing. It takes brutal force to push yourself to move, a weight halting your ministrations. His word, no matter how rare it be, was your law. Do you dare defy that?

You unbutton his pants the same time he threatens, "Continue any further and see what happens." He's breathier than normal and that gives you some satisfaction. He was your mate, after all. Eternal fulfillment was your duty.

The feeling of his heavy and growing bulge, nestling in the crook of his thigh, is a success all in its own. You purr and rub your legs together, licking at Hoseok's neck lovingly and waiting for him to give in. "Hobi, you're already--ah!"

Your view spins as Hoseok scruffs you to his desk, cold wood pressed to your cheek and wrists somehow pinned behind you. Yiping in fear, you struggle in his harsh imprisonment.

"You don't fucking listen," he complains, voice balancing on the line between speaking and yelling.

"Hoseok! L-Let me g-go--," you start before he grinds himself into your ass, boner prominent and angry as it prods. He replaces the hand to your neck with his mouth, laving and suckling all the way down your shoulder.

"Can't do that. I warned you and you disobeyed me. You disobey your alpha, Y/N?"

"No, I'm sorry--," you squeak before your dress is thrown over your back and a sharp slap comes down onto your ass.

You don’t believe the sound that comes out of your throat, pressing your thighs together and wiggling the pain away. “J-Jung Hoseok! What is—” Another slap, harder than the first.

The nerves tingle all the way down to your toes as your eyes roll back. You moan once more, unsolicited and without restraint. Hoseok is content with your reaction, not expecting you to squirm so nicely because of your punishment.

"You like this, don't you? I can smell you leaking like some submissive whore," he snarls with an edge of disappointment. You're beyond mortified of how he speaks to you, although not inclined to deny his words. Not when he spanks you once more, with such force that a scream is rewarded and your back arches in euphoric pain.

"Hoseok, no more, please. I'll--I'll cum if you keep, ugh," you blabber over yourself. He thinks you look prettily pathetic drooling on his desk, so close to spilling over the edge from being physically humiliated.

"Tch, so weak," he comments before releasing your wrist and letting you collapse to the floor. "Are you done?" The question both turns you on and pisses you off, emotions swirling into something self-destructive.

Crawling on the carpet and up his leg, you nuzzle into his bulge, "But I still didn't get what I want." You don’t even ponder where this behavior is coming from; slinking out of you like a dog with its tail between its legs. Perhaps his own change of manner influenced one in you.

He could laugh at how easy you were being, wondering when he ever mated with someone who acts like such a sexually-obsessed brat. "Oh?" he prompts, "So you think you get to make the calls here?"

Licking the hem of his boxers in response, he doesn't feel pleased with your lack of words. You perk up when he shuffles his cock out from the confines of his layers. It’s almost instinctual, not wasting any time to pepper kisses and kitten licks to his tip. God, he even smells amazing. You don't care if you look ridiculous, feverish with your actions like he'd take away your precious treat if you weren't cautious.

He snickers at you, petting your hair with an unexpectedly soft touch. Your heart-shaped irises peer up, knowing he loves your eye contact when you suck him off. Watching the blush spread on his face means that you must be doing your job correctly. Besides, not even the Big Bad Wolf can deny when he feels his pleasure.

He almost can’t stand the self-righteousness that oozes off you. If you thought you were in control, you were dead-wrong. "You want my cock that bad, huh, baby?" your love bunches as much of your hair as he can with his fist, "Then fucking take it."

Then his girthy dick shoves to the back of your throat without warning, hips to your nose and thrustingthrustingthrusting as far as he can.

You'd sputter if your mouth wasn't so full, eyes overflowing with tears and throat constricting in hopes that he'll let you go. When he doesn't and continues to grind himself down your mouth, you dig your nails into his thighs and whine on his persistent cock. It doesn’t matter, the digging crescents in his thighs rousing him even further and even hoping those pretty nails of yours leave marks for him. He’d accept no less.

Hoseok thrusts twice more before pulling you off and watching you cough maniacally. The tears that gathered were now running down your face, accompanied with your saliva that leaks from your chin and onto the floor.

You couldn't breathe, you couldn't ask him to stop, and you loved it.

He cocks a brow as you struggle to catch up, "We'll stop here. You're obviously not made for this."

Pitiful is the only word he can use to describe how quickly you paw and beg for him, desperately wrapping your fingers around the base of his member and pumping him just the way he likes it, "No! I can take it, please use me." Your unstable hand massages the cum-saliva mix as well as it can, a small victory celebrated when he bucks into you.

"Mm," his thumb wipes a stray tear from your lip, "You're so beautiful when you cry. Will you sit on the desk for me?"

You don't hesitate to obey, being careful to hop up when your bum is so sore but otherwise eager for him to touch you again. When he places himself between your legs, your body hums.

"I'm... I'm not well, Y/N. I don't want to hurt you," he says, voicing his first concern after what's already happened. With his brows knit in concern and his slender fingers rubbing calmly at your sides, it's almost as if the Hoseok you know has returned. The Hobi that makes your pancakes just a little overcooked like you prefer. Who makes you a blanket nest when you’re feeling down. And will gladly give up his last bite of anything to watch you munch happily even after you’ve finished your own portion.

In some way, this was your same Hobi. Maybe not so sweet and innocent but more on the receiving end. Spending his days tending to you out of pure love and pleasure to see you bloom; it was just your turn to return the favor.

So you kiss him with fervor and mold your chest to his, feeling the scorching heat that emanates from him. He must seriously be straining himself, you think. His canines graze your lips and you know he's trying his best to hold back; to not completely obliterate you.

"I want to help you," you whisper against his mouth. You implore him and he doesn’t hesitate to take your offer.

You extend your legs as he rushes to pull down your thong, throwing it to the side, and embracing you with another kiss, all tongue and pants. Some of his documents get ruffled under your steadying hands and he shoves them off altogether, a rain of really important paper littering the room. He comes in a little too excitedly, slamming a drawer closed with his thigh and even scooting his desk across the floor.

“God fucking dammit,” he swears, your chuckles covering his wet lips. “I’m… a mess… not thinking straight. Need to cum inside you.”

You purr when his head rubs against your sex, an electric sensation tearing through you. “Want you to knot me,” you whisper. A mistake in its own because he’s practically moaning into your mouth when you say such things.

“Yeah, baby? Want your cunt pumped full? Hm?” he asks into your jaw, all the while spreading your legs as far as they can split with his strong hands. His hips begin to circle like he’s stalling as long as possible and that rouses you up in a way.

You nod with sultry eyes and chant, “Yes. Yes, yes.” By the second yes does he all but slam into you, your final confirmation his endgame.

Hoseok was truly blessed in size, something no mere human could ever match. His length alone would make you double over in ecstasy if he allowed you the space to. Squeezing around him only makes him fuck you deeper, both wanting and needing more of each other than you already have. You were made for him, and him you.

You whimper as he pulls out, his head tantalizing your g-spot before ramming back inside and forcing an angelic cry. “H-Hoseokie… Please, your pups. I want to have your pups”

The sounds of his hips against your skin with your moans and the subtle creak of his desk is almost humorous, you were fucking like dogs. Even more so when he pushes you flat against the wood by the front of your throat, his thumb tucked gently on an airway as your tongue flops out in simple bliss.

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it,” he snarls with a particularly evil drill to your core that curls your toes. “Nothing to me would be more satisfying than to breed you.”

Your throat constricts and you cough, your tiny hands tugging at his fingers while barely being able to pry his grip. You can’t resist moaning through clenched teeth still, even when the prettiest wine red pours into his irises. Hoseok holds back incredibly well, despite having shifting eyes, his total control never fails to astonish you. It was years worth of training and you thank the stars that it was useful in a time where you were literally stuffed with his cock.

“And you’re so willing; so obedient now. You like when I fuck you like this. Just want that beautiful pussy bred until you’re spilling, right?” he chuckles with means to humiliate when your eyes flutter and drool spills from your swollen lips, “What a mate.”

You tighten, an embarrassing amount of arousal spilling and sticking to your love. He doesn’t mind one bit, rather, losing composure for a brief moment, “Ugh, so good.”

His hand suddenly withdraws from your tender neck and you sputter an attempt to catch your breath, a fleeting moment before he wraps his arms under your knees and prompts you to hang onto him when he stands. How quickly he’s able to switch positions is hot in itself, but the thought is also lost when you sink down even further on his dick.

“Oh, oh my god,” you wail pathetically, wrapping yourself around him and trying to lift your trembling body to ease how full you feel, even for just a moment.

“Hm? I thought you wanted this, baby. Wanted my complete, unforgiving love for you. Isn’t that why you walked into my office?” he smirks similarly to how you imagine the devil would. His hands find leverage against the closest wall, also shoving you against it and resuming his pace into you.

This, to whichever persona was hiding deep down in Hoseok, was divine. Incredible. You would die for this man even without the bond. He was literally screwing you braindead.

He pants, warm and sweaty and shirt somehow unbuttoned halfway down (when did you do that?), “I thought you wanted my knot? Not anymore?”

Your pupils blow out as you shake your head, you were so close.

“Ah, then I’ll knot you. I’ll knot you but you have to beg,” he says with a wink. Bastard.

“Please, please knot me, baby. Breed me and let me have your pups,” you sob, “Fill me up until I can’t take it anymore, Alpha, please—”

He jabs incessantly until you’re entirely maxed out, sloppy smacks echoing out further than the den and his growls emanating when you drag your sharp nails down his back, the fabric tearing under your fingers. Hoseok grinds his full length into you, reaching beyond the end of your walls.

“S-Stay,” he orders. He slows as the base of his cock swells and even though you asked for it, it’s always a little uncomfortable. You can’t even fathom how it feels for your mate, his sudden groans and the absolute necessity to lave at your neck only scraping at the surface of any real indication.

Hoseok told you once that it was similar to both being overstimulated and having a sudden spike of energy, which could explain his touchiness. It was cute though, and kinda hot.

Nestled deep inside, you can subtly feel the ropes of semen beginning to pool. You rest your head over his shoulder, buzzing from the intensity of it all and watching as the walls move and shift into the ones of your bedroom.

Hoseok’s hoarse voice surprises you, “Fuck, I’m so dizzy.”

The bed is a heavenly difference from the den’s desk and wall, your heart pounding a little too hardly when he places one of his pillows lengthwise under your back for extra squish. He was so cute.

But then he collapses on you.

“Oof—I’ve never seen you like that before. My ass hurts,” you state dreamily.

“Oh, love. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” he asks seriously, lifting his head to study your face in case you lie. The red dissipated long before, his deep brown eyes twinkling down at you like they always do.

“You were a little rough,” you feign, pouting and pushing around his face with paw-folded fists. He thinks you look like an idiot, a cute idiot.

“I’m sorryyyy,” he whines, burying his face into your chest and wiggling around like a fish. His knot moves with him and you wince.

“Hoseok, stay still.”

Being showered in a sudden attack of kisses is what he responds with, not even aware of the task at hand and fake crying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t ever want to hurt you—I—oh no.”

You yipe as semen sloshes down your leg, shoving your palm into Hobi’s (who is undoubtedly back to his usual self) cheek and trying your best to not panic.

“Goddammit, Jung Hoseok! Stay still!”

beep boop hope you liked, leave some feedback if you did!

[myownworldstayout]

New Friends Ch. 12

Ch.1 / Ch.11 / Ch.13

(Are you ready for more fluff?? you’re gonna get more fluff.) (also, It’s long so warning lol)

“Marinette, I love these dresses!” Aurore sang, twirling around in a sleeveless purple dress, which stopped short just above her knees.

“The casual outfits are quite nice as well.” Kagami complimented, studying her black, ripped jeans and rose red top, matching her black boots.

Marinette blushed slightly at the praise, though it was hardly noticeable since she was still fiddling with another outfit on one of the manikins. 

“Thank you so much! I figured you guys would like those.” 

“I still can’t believe you made these.” Wayhem commented, picking at the collar of his bright green, short sleeved shirt. 

“Do the jeans fit okay?” She asked, turning to get a good look at the three. 

Wayhem grinned. “They’re perfect.” 

Marinette smiled brightly, nodding with satisfaction as she focused on the manikin again.

“It’s a shame Felix couldn’t come to your house with us. He’s missing out on some great fashion.” Aurore giggled, sitting down on the chaise and smoothing out her dress.

“Actually, I already gave him an outfit. He’s gonna meet us at the concert.”

Aurore sat up. “Really?” 

“Yep!”

During lunch period that morning, Luka invited them to go to Kitty Section’s concert. They were holding it in the square this time, and the crowd was hopefully going to be big. Aurore and Wayhem were more than happy to go, since they always loved Kitty Section’s concerts, and Kagami promised to work something out in her schedule. Felix was reluctant at first- concerts were always so loud and pushy -but when Marinette excitedly agreed to go, he gave in.

The group became so hyped for the event that they decided to dress up for it as well. That was when Marinette remembered she had some outfits at home that she’d been working on. So Aurore, Kagami, and Wayhem came to the Bakery to try them on while Luka prepared for the concert. 

“The real question is how you convinced Felix to come to the concert in the first place.” Kagami said, shifting comfortably on the chase next to Aurore.

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked obliviously, pulling one of the pins from between her teeth and sticking it into a skirt.

“Felix hates concerts.” Kagami stated bluntly.

“I can’t imagine Felix liking anything loud or crowded to be honest.” Wayhem joked, slipping his hands into his pockets.

“Pretty much. His exact words were, ‘why listen to music at a loud, people-infested park when I could listen to the same music alone in my quiet bedroom?’” Kagami smile.

Aurore and Wayhem laughed at that, but Marinette furrowed her eyebrows.

“Why do you think I convinced him though? Maybe he decided to just try it out on his own.” 

Wayhem scoffed and lightheartedly replied, “You kidding? He was so going to stay home until you said you were going.” 

“He did suspiciously agree right after you did. Even though he said no the first time around.” Aurore joined in, a coy smile spreading across her lips.

Marinette pursed her lips, turning back to her project to hide her embarrassment. Felix didn’t agree just to be with her, right? 

The image of him walking her to her house around the first time they met flashed through mind.

She shook her head.

He just wanted to go to the concert since everyone else was going. They were all friends, after all. It would be silly to stay home instead of hanging out with all of your friends.

Yes, it had nothing to do with her, and this certainly wasn’t going to be another Adrien situation.

Marinette stilled.

Adrien.

“Marinette, are you alright?” Aurore asked, noticing her pause.

She drew in a breath, steeling herself. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I was just thinking about..”

“About Adrien?” Wayhem finished, sitting down on the floor next to Marinette’s rolling chair, across from the girls.

Marinette nodded in confirmation, keeping her eyes on the skirt.

The group quietly waited, their gaze soft, understanding. Marinette would speak if she wanted to do so.

“They haven’t noticed my unofficial absence for weeks.” she finally began, more of thinking aloud. “They didn’t care that I haven’t spoken a word to anyone, that they haven’t talked to me for weeks. It wasn’t until I actively ignored Adrien that they got upset.”

Marinette sighed, massaging her temples. “It’s like they don’t even care about me as a person. It’s all about their egos or hurt feelings or something just- just all about them.”

The group nodded along, letting her work through her thoughts. Though Marinette appreciated it, it also sort of ached. Because she had never had something like this before. Not with Alya, or Adrien, or anyone else she knew for years in that forsaken classroom. It was always “Marinette, you’re overreacting”, “Marinette you’re being ridiculous”. It could never be, “you have a right to be angry”, or “your feelings are valid whether they completely make sense or not”.

Come to think of it, even despite Lila’s influence, they’d had trouble before. Mostly when Marinette decided to have any sort of feelings besides pure happiness. Of course, Alya and the others weren’t entirely to blame. Adrien was normally the one to scold her on that front. 

She looked back up at the others. They sat there patiently, waiting for her to either finish her concerns or change the subject. It was her choice.

She reveled in that thought. Her choice. It felt as if this entire school year had flown by without giving her a single glance. She’d been forced into more things than she liked to admit. 

Being ladybug, for example. She loved Tikki with all her heart, but Marinette still found herself a tad bitter about how she got the miraculous. Would she have accepted if Master Fu asked her straight up? Probably not, but it still would’ve been nice to get a say in the matter. 

The point is, choices seemed to be new for her. She was sad that it turned out this way, but if it meant she could make choices, that she was finally free in a sense..

“There, done.” Marinette then smiled, leaning back to check her work.

Aurore and Wayhem gasped.

“Oh, Marinette, it’s beautiful!”

~~~~~~

Felix grumbled to himself as he got ready for the concert.

Why did her agree to go to this? Concerts were loud and crowded and everything he despised, really. Why couldn’t he just stay home and watch the concert live at the very least? That’d be much more preferable.

He pictured Marinette’s smiling face, her eyes shining with excitement and anticipation. 

“You’re coming too, right Felix?” She had asked.

Seeing that expectant and hopeful look in her eyes… how could he say no?

He remembered her quietly squealing a “yes!” and pumping her fist in the air when he said he would go.

The group was surprised, though none argued. Especially when Marinette started rambling about “New outfits” and “Fitting sessions after school”.

A frown tugged at the corner of Felix’s lips.

They were all at her house now, getting ready for the concert. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to be there. Unfortunately, he needed to come home first to inform his mother about the new schedule and do a few things.

As expected, she was more than eager to let him go to the concert.

“When are you going to invite them over?” she asked for what felt like the fifth time that week.

“When I feel the time is right.” Felix said, repeating the same answer he always gave. 

His mother put on a pout, but only huffed and left the room to start supper. 

Felix smiled towards his mother’s antics as he straightened his new tie.

Marinette had shown them lots of sketches for clothing designs, but her actually making the clothes was a completely different story.

And she’d done and amazing job. The clothes she made for them not only fit their personalities well, but also seemed like they could be bought from a store.

Felix noticed a few crooked stitches and some loose buttons, usual mistakes that are perfected over time. Considering she was only fifteen, the handiwork was extremely impressive in his opinion.

The outfit wasn’t all that different from his usual one. He still had his black dress pants and dark grey vest. However, his familiar, lighter grey of a button up, long sleeve shirt was replaced by a black one with the sleeves stitched up to his elbows in a quarter sleeve style. Instead of his black tie, Marinette gave him a striped green and black tie to use. How she got the measurements was beyond him, because the clothes fit perfectly.

“Have fun at the concert sweetie! If you need me or your father to pick you up, just give us a call.” His mother cooed as he opened the front door.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Felix said with a small smile, waving and walking out the door.

-

The walk was longer than what he was used to, but he left earlier than necessary so he took his time. Nevertheless, he still got there about twenty minutes before the concert started. A few people were lingering in the square, either curious about the commotion or waiting for the concert to begin. In the center of the square, right in front of the glass pyramid, Felix spotted Kitty Section preparing themselves for the performance. Luka was tuning his guitar with Juleka, Rose was checking the sound system, and Ivan was testing his drums. 

Felix noted that the others were wearing their normal outfits while Luka was obviously wearing a “Mari original” as they called it. He was wearing a dark-ish blue, checkered button up shirt with black jeans. His shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a navy blue t-shirt underneath. In the middle of the navy blue T-shirt was a white jagged stone, similar to the black one on his white t-shirt he normally wore.

Luka glanced up, smiling when he noticed Felix. 

“Hey! I see you’re wearing your new outfit, too. Mari did a good job, as always.” he commented, setting his guitar to the side and standing up.

Felix nodded with a smile, looking over his clothes once more. He ignored the side glances he received from his classmates. He figured they wouldn’t be pleased of his presence, but he was here for Marinette, not them.

Speaking of which, “Where are the others?” 

“They’ll be coming soon, don’t worry. Marinette wanted to make last minute tweaks on the other’s outfits.” Luka explained, waving off the question. “I didn’t expect you to come. Concerts don’t seem to be your thing.”

“They’re not. I only came because-” Felix cut himself short. Telling Luka his real reason for coming probably wasn’t the best idea.

Unfortunately for Felix, Luka was good at filling in the blanks.

“Because Marinette wanted you to, right?” he finished with a knowing smile. 

Felix gave him a glare in response, not denying or confirming anything.

Thankfully, people were already starting to pile into the square. Therefore, Felix and Luka were quickly surrounded by chattering fans, distracting them from the conversation. 

“I have to go up on stage. Good luck finding Mari in this mess.” Luka chuckled, before disappearing into the crowd as well.

Felix hummed in displeasure, turning on his heel and heading for the back of the crowd. Maybe it would be better to find them if he weren’t so smothered.

“Felix, there you are!” 

He stopped, looking in the direction of the familiar voice he’d come to know quite well.

What he saw brought his thoughts to a screeching halt.

It was definitely Marinette- you could tell from her signature ponytails and unmistakably bright smile -but her clothes almost made her seem like a different person entirely.

She wore a pitch black blouse which was tucked into a bright red skirt covered in black polka dots that hung just above her knees. Her black heels, which were red on the bottom, drew attention to her toned legs. Now that Felix thought about it, Marinette’s arms were pretty toned as well. She was fit in general, to be honest.

A light blush dusted Felix’s cheeks as he pushed the thought out of his mind.

“What do you think?” Marinette beamed, twirling to give him a better look. 

Felix swallowed, briefly at a loss for words. Could you blame him, though?

“Did you make that?” he managed to ask.

“Yeah! It’s not too bad is it?” Marinette said shyly.

Felix shook his head almost vigorously. “No, It- you look-” he paused, taking a second to compose himself. “You look.. Stunning.” 

Now Marinette blushed, a delightful pink that somehow complemented the outfit. 

He pulled a soft smirk, but then it faded as he looked her up and down again and squinted.

Marinette frowned. “What is it?” 

“Do you mind if I try something?”

“Try something?” Marinette repeated, blinking in surprise.

“Yes, with your hair if that’s alright?” He said, reaching up and gently touching one of her pigtails in thought.

“O-Oh, uh- Sure, I g-guess.” Marinette stuttered, her blush deepening.

Without another word, Felix moved around behind her, carefully starting to pull the ribbons out. It might have been his imagination, but Felix thought he felt her shiver when he started combing his fingers through her hair to straighten it out.

“Alright, I’m done.” He stated after a few minutes, stepping around to her side again.

Marinette brought her hands up to her hair, lightly feeling around to figure out what he did. 

“Thank you.”

Felix shrugged. “My uncle is a fashion designer after all.”

Marinette smiled, opening her mouth to respond when someone else called out to Felix.

“Felix! We finally found you! Oh, and you have Marinette that’s even better!” Aurore shouted over the crowds, moving towards them with Wayhem and Kagami in tow.

“Wow, I love your hair.” Wayhem complimented when they caught up to the two.

“Felix did it.” Marinette grinned, absently touching her hair that had fallen around her shoulders.

“Felix did?” Kagami raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk playing at her lips. 

The blonde didn’t respond, keeping an indifferent expression. That might have been more condemning than if he had said anything at all.

“Well, it totally makes the look.” Aurore smiled, pulling a pocket mirror out of her purse and handing it to Marinette.

The hair-do looked much nicer than Marinette expected. Apparently, Felix took out her two pigtails, using the two ribbons to tie her hair into a half up half down style. This caused it to look like she was wearing a big red bow instead of her ordinary ribbons. Having her hair pulled back certainly topped off the outfit as Aurore had said. The red bow brought out the skirt and the hair that fell around her shoulders, along with her bangs, shaped her face nicely. 

“Wow..” Marinette muttered, brushing her bangs somewhat to the side.

“Mhmm~” Aurore hummed with a smile, taking back the pocket mirror. 

“We should get to the front, or somewhere near there. The concert is going to be starting soon.” Felix spoke up.

“Yeah, but there’s so many people..” Kagami said with a frown, standing up on her tiptoes to look over the growing crowd.

“Oh, let’s hold hands so we don’t lose each other!” Wayhem suggested, grabbing Aurore and Kagami’s hands. 

Felix winced, though no one noticed.

Aurore grinned, turning and grabbing Marinette’s hand.

Marinette turned to Felix, holding up her hand.

“So we can stay together.” She smiled.

Felix hesitated. He didn’t like touch. Never enjoyed physical contact with anyone, really. Even his mother, who he loved dearly, was someone he could barely stay around for long due to all the hugs she smothers him with.

There wasn’t a specific reason he hated being touched, he just did. Felix assumed it was mostly from his father, but he couldn’t tell for sure.

That was why he was surprised when he took Marinette’s hand. Because he.. He actually didn’t mind her touch. It wasn’t all that bad. Her hand was warm and her grip gentle, loose enough that he could let go if he wanted, but tight enough that they shouldn’t be separated.

Her grip then tightened suddenly to keep from losing him when they got deeper into the crowd.

For reasons unbeknownst to him, Felix squeezed her hand back. 

He caught a glimpse of Marinette glancing back at him in surprise, before turning her attention back to the crowds.

“Alright, Paris, are you ready!” Luka called over the microphone.

The group stopped. The crowds cheered.

Marinette didn’t let go of Felix’s hand. Whether she was distracted by Luka or just didn’t think about it, Felix found that he was okay with it. 

The music began, causing Felix to look at the stage as well. Half way through, Marinette and the others started dancing. He didn’t join in, but his hand swung around with Marinette’s occasionally. That was when he noticed she was still holding Aurore’s hand as well. In fact, they were all still holding hands. To stay together.

That’s right. To stay together, nothing more. Felix reminded himself, even if he wasn’t sure why he needed to remember that.

-

The concert lasted for about an hour, along with a few added encores.

“And now,” Luka began, wrapping up the show. “I’d like to make a special shoutout to the girl who not only made my outfit for tonight, but also designed Kitty Section’s costumes and album covers from the beginning. Mlle. Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”  

Felix saw Marinette’s eyes widen as the spotlight landed on her.

Luka grinned, walking to the edge of the stage and holding out his hand.

Marinette, still in shock, slipped her hand out of Aurore and Felix’s grasp and took Luka’s hand.

He ignored the sudden coldness he felt from Marinette’s absence as the girl was pulled up on stage.

“This is also a ‘Mari Original’.” Luka announced eagerly, gesturing to Marinette’s outfit.

The ravenette smiled sheepishly, fiddling with her skirt a bit to contain her nerves.

The crowd gave a hearty round of applause. Her friends clapped the loudest, of course, and Wayhem whistled. 

“That’s all I’ve got folks. Thank you and goodnight!”

~~~~~~~

Marinette’s heart pounded against her chest even half an hour later. Luka did love his surprises, she just wished they didn’t involve so many people.

“Where does this go?” Wayhem asked, holding up a box of sound equipment. 

“Over there is fine.” Luka answered, pointing to a few other boxes nearby.

Wayhem nodded, hobbling off in that direction. Marinette giggled at the odd posture.

It was nice though, she thought, being appreciated. Getting the credit she deserved for her work. What did she do to deserve these wonderful people?

“I~ think that’s everything?” Aurore more of asked, looking around the now empty stage.

“Yes, I believe so.” Felix agreed, crossing his arms and searching for any lost or forgotten items as well.

Marinette smiled towards the blonde. He’d been full of surprises that evening. Since the first week she met him, actually. She was also happy to say that the outfit she created looked good on him.

“Thanks for helping out guys.” Luka said appreciatively, setting the last few boxes onto their stacked pile. 

Juleka, Rose, and Ivan mumbled their “thanks” as well- Rose being as cheerful as ever. Marinette and Felix might rival Chloe in low popularity at school at the moment, but they still helped out.

“You don’t have to thank us.” Kagami insisted. Her phone then buzzed in her pocket, and she sighed when she saw the message.

“My driver’s going to be here in a few minutes. Anyone need a ride home?” 

Luka scratched the back of his head. “Actually.. Can you take Juleka and I home? It’d be hard to take all of the boxes home and mom doesn’t have a car..” 

Kagami smiled. “Of course, it’s not a problem.”

The exchange seemed to remind Felix of something, and he turned to her. 

“What about you?” He asked, glancing at her as he took out his phone and pressed on his mother’s contact icon.

“Sorry?” Marinette blinked, looking at Felix and standing up on the stage.

“Do you need a ride home?” he elaborated, waving his phone slightly.

“Oh no! I’m alright, thank you-” 

Marinette then paused, and looked to the streets. It was getting a bit dark. 

“On second thought, that would be nice.” she smiled.

Felix returned the smile, before walking away to call his parents.

-

Marinette yelped as she stumbled down the steps of the stage, right into a firm pair of arms. 

“Are you alright?” Felix asked, concern lacing his tone.

“Ah, y-yes. I’m so sorry..” she sighed, struggling in his arms to stand back up.

Felix lifted her to her feet. “It’s fine. As long as you’re alright.”

Marinette blushed, suddenly noticing how close they were and Felix’s lingering arms around her waist. She lightly touched her right cheek, which she somehow managed to scratch on the way down.

“Honestly, I don’t know what possessed you to where heels. You can barely walk around in your usually flats.” he then added, frowning at the injury. 

Marinette chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. Though his tone was sarcastic, she knew he meant it as more of a joke than anything. It was hard to read Felix when they first met, but after a few weeks of hanging out with the group so much, she managed to figure him out a little.

For one, he wasn’t as stone cold as he appeared to be. Felix might be brutally honest and strongly opinionated, but he did care. She’d seen it over the past few weeks. He just had a hard time expressing his emotions.

Not to mention that ever since he arrived at school, Lila hasn’t bothered Marinette as much- if at all. She couldn’t begin to explain how thankful she was for that. 

“The car’s here. Are you ready to go?” The blonde in question interrupted her thoughts, gesturing to a grey car that had just rolled onto the street. 

Marinette nodded, saying a quick goodbye to the others and following Felix to the vehicle. 

Felix opened the back door for her, which she found sweet. When she got into the car, though, Marinette was a tad surprised to see Felix slide into the seat next to her and close the door.

She looked to the floor to calm herself. Taking deep breaths, smoothing out her skirt, fixing her hair. The car pulled onto the street and started towards the bakery.

“T-thanks for the r-ride.” she finally said, wincing at the stutter.

Why was she nervous? It was just Felix.

Just Felix. Marinette mentally repeated. 

“It’s no trouble.” Felix assured, brushing off the comment. 

“I didn’t know you had a chauffeur.” She commented thoughtfully.

Felix glanced at her from the window. “Well, I would certainly hope so. My family does own and run several banks around the country.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”

“You didn’t know?” Felix raised his eyebrows, straightening in his seat.

Marinette shook her head dumbly. Then again, how did she not know Felix’s family ran the banks? She’s known him for weeks hasn’t she?

The boy stared at her for a moment, then simply hummed and turned back to the window. 

Silence filled the car. Marinette found it frustrating. Usually, she could talk about anything or everything with Felix. Now, she was at a loss for words. Why was that?

-

When the car stopped in front of her house, Marinette shuffled out of the vehicle, Felix following behind her.

“Thanks again for the ride home.” she said, throwing him an appreciative smile. 

“Any time.” Felix replied softly. 

A frown suddenly flickered across his face and he lightly touched the side of his lips. “You’re lipstick’s a little messed up.” 

Marinette blushed, bringing her hand up to fix the error. 

He was looking at my lips? 

The thought nearly gave Marinette a heart attack, and she shoved it to the back of her mind. That didn’t mean anything. Felix was just observant like that.

“No, wait- you missed- here let me do it.” 

Before Marinette could respond, Felix was in front of her again. He tilted her chin upwards, gently grazing his thumb across her lips.

Marinette’s heart skipped a beat at the gesture and her eyes flicked to his.

His eyebrows were knitted together as he focused on fixing her makeup. It was all too obvious that he wasn’t trying anything.

“It’s such a lovely shade of red..” he murmured absently, stroking her lips one last time for perfection.

Oh, if Marinette thought she couldn’t blush any deeper..

The poor girl was about to blabber out some sort of reply when a car horn blared next to them, signaling for Felix to hurry up. The two jumped apart, glancing at the impatient chauffeur. 

“G-Goodnight!” Marinette nearly squeaked, holding back another cringe of embarrassment. 

Felix gave a small smile, though, not seeming to mind. “Yes, goodnight.”

With that, he got back in the car and left. 

Marinette went back inside as well, hand on her lips and thoughts racing about the night she just had and the new feelings she might have just experienced.

Tag list: @unabashedbookworm @bluerosette23 @minightrose@kuroko26@im-here-for-the-content @angstyrastuff @clumsy-owl-4178 @fanboy7794@choaticneturcl @bigcheeseyboi @burntnugget-tae @ayuchan07@honorisfortheweak @knightrose15 @mjisntme@rhub4rb @simplythebestbug@wilhelmares@zebrabaker@dargeon-lissa @kristycocopop @alumneia @kaydenth3gayden @thornangelic727 @flirtshobi @whatamessofwords

[igotyouniverse]

Crush

Pairing: Bang Chan x Oc (fem)

Words: 4.3k

Story:  a girl has a crush on Chan, thinking that he only sees her as a good friend but soon realizes that he’s feeling exactly the same way. ♥

Genre:  romance, fluff, au, suggestive

Warnings: none! itsjustamaekout

Note: this was supposed to be a short blurb for Channie’s birthday but I got so into it that I decided to stretch it out a bit :p I dreamed part of this a few nights ago and it made me so incredibly soft, ahh, I just love him. Just imagine a movie night with him ahh- I wrote this at 1am, I hope it’s a tiny bit good, lol.

The girl felt her nervousness slightly increasing with every second slowly passing by as she looked at the clock on the wall. “Do we have everything or do you think we’ll need more snacks?”, the girl heard her best friend and roommate asking but her thoughts were somewhere else.

“Hey, you there?”, she heard her friend asking, waving her hands before the girls’ eyes which made the brunette flinch. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”, she excused herself. A big ambiguous smile appeared on her friends’ face. “Thinking about Chan, I assume?” she asked and raised her eyebrows mockingly. “Seriously, just ask him out already.”, she added and put some of the snacks the two of them just bought in big bowls.

“Are you kidding? It’s not that easy.”, she sighed and let her head fall in her neck, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

“It is. Just ask him: Hey, do you want to go on a date with me? And then he says yes and you two can finally stop with that obvious crushing and get real.”, the girl blinked at her friend for a few seconds. She wasn't used to her being that blunt.

“I really don’t think he has that sort of feelings for me. We’re just friends.”, she said.

“Sure.”, her roommate said sarcastically.

“Only because you and Felix started dating recently doesn’t mean that everyone has to.”, she said defensively and pouted. Her friend rolled her eyes and put the bowls on the table in the shared living room. The girl tried to help her friend putting all available chairs in the room, including pillows and blankets.

Every month the boys were coming over for a movie night, which they started with about half-a-year ago. At the beginning, the girl just met Felix and his roommate Changbin on the Campus but they introduced her to their group of friends, including Chan, shortly after. It was easy to see that Felix and her roommate got close pretty fast and she was really happy for them because they just seem to fit so perfectly together.

For her, on the other side, it wasn’t that simple. Chan immediately caught her eyes when she first met him and she caught herself developing feelings for him in no time. But it just didn't seem like he felt the same way. Not even a bit. She tried to get over her little crush but she had to realize that it wasn't as little as she wanted it to be. She caught herself imagining how it would feel to actually touch and kiss him nearly every time she saw him. It was driving her completely crazy.

They had the same interests and hobbies, listened to the same music and had the same humour. Plus, Chan was really attractive in her eyes. She couldn't deny the fact that he was just exactly her type, even though she wished he wasn't. He was funny, smart and unbelievably cute. It was impossible to not fall for someone like him. Especially when she shared most of her classes with him this semester, which made it even harder to ignore her feelings for him.

“Okay, I know you don't want to hear it but don't you wonder why he always sits next to you in lectures or at lunch? Or at our movie nights? I mean, come on. He's basically drooling all over you but I think he's too shy to ask you out because you are too busy not showing him that you like him.” her friend said and the girl froze for a second.

“He is just being friendly.”, the girl waved the topic aside with a gesture and looked at the clock again. It was nearly seven, so the boys would arrive soon. She sighed and thought about changing into the new clothes she bought a few days ago but wouldn't that be a bit too obvious? She walked into her room, leaving her roommate alone in the living room, eyeballing herself in her big mirror. She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair and tried to style it just a tiny bit. She bit her lip and put on some delicate golden necklaces over her black turtle neck pullover and looked in the mirror again.

It was already getting chilly inside, due to the upcoming winter. She took her blanket with her to the living room and placed it on her usual place on the big sofa. She felt her friend looking over her and heard a chuckle.

“Don't worry, you look good.”, she heard her friend saying and smiled.

The doorbell rang loudly and she flinched for a second before going to the door. She just took a quick look at the security camera and saw the nine boys all brightly smiling into the camera, holding up softdrinks and even more snacks. She smiled and pressed the button to open the door, feeling her roommate appearing next to her.

The girl felt how her heartbeat increased and she got chills. She felt nervous, as always. She really wished she wouldn't behave so stupid but it wasn't really possible for her, especially not when she saw Chan coming through the door, wearing a simple black jeans paired with a white shirt and a leather jacket, his curly hair messily falling in his face, complementing his facial features perfectly. The girl smiled at all of them, greeting each of them and  talked just a bit with Changbin about his lectures and which movie he picked, because it was his turn to pick.

When she looked at Chan to greet him and saw him smiling at her, showing off his dimples her heart made a jump in her chest. She ran her hand through her hair and mumbled an awkward “Hi.”, towards him before leading the group to their sofa.

She felt how her roommate was looking at her but she tried to ignore her gaze and waited for the boys to sit down in their usual places. After asking if anyone needed another pillow or blanket she quickly grabbed her own blanket and sat down next to Chan, who was scooting over to make some place for her.

The girl sighed when Changbin announced that he picked one of his favourite horror movies for them to watch. She really wasn't a fan of horror. She usually avoids to watch them and the last time she saw one was probably couple of years ago when she wanted to try them out but quickly realized that she really couldn't stand some of these creepy creatures or stories, without having nightmares for the rest of the week.

She tried to relax and looked over to her best friend, which already cuddled up next to Felix, resting her head on his shoulder, talking to him about something she didn't understand. The girl looked around, trying to distract herself from the TV screen which turned in dark colours and some sketchy noises appeared which made her flinch. She really was quite easy to scare, which annoyed her but she didn't want to make a scene and had to accept the movie choice. She realized she forgot her phone in her room and bit her lip. It was probably impolite to stand up and grab her phone now that the movie had started.

She leaned back on the sofa, allowing herself to look at the screen. Of course she didn't know the movie, nor what it was about. It was about a group of scientists which wanted to examine some old abandoned building which used to be a psychiatry and apparently some old souls or ghosts still lived there and killed people who went inside there, driving them completely crazy and sucking them into their own universe.For her, the scientists seemed everything else than smart. Why would they voluntarily go into a obviously haunted house?

The girl had to admit, that she movie really was extremely thrilling but not in a way she wanted it to be. It was so dark and quite that she flinched by every little sound something made. Not to mention, that Changbin had to turn off all the lights to give them a better experience, he said.

A scene appeared where the four scientists walked around at one floor, only using some flashlights. The floor was dark and she could barely see what was going on when the camera suddenly turned around and a women, completely drenched in blood and dirt, was standing behind them, screeching in a high pitched voice.

She oppressed a mild scream and held her hands in front of her eyes. She really was easy to scare, especially with some jump scares, which appeared out of nowhere. I hate horror movies. She thought to herself and tried to relax her tense muscles but as the screeching noises continued she couldn’t get herself to relax.

Suddenly, she felt an arm slowly placing around her, making her flinch for a second, as she didn't expect someone to touch her. She felt the arm stopping and put her hands down to see who was touching her, only to realize that it was Chan's arm, which was already moving back but she grabbed his hand and placed his arm around her waist, holding his hand tightly.

She bit her lip and looked up into his face only to see him smiling brightly at her, pulling her closer to him, which made her heart jump again. She felt his other arm around her, as he hugged her softly while placing his head against hers. She couldn't hold back a smile herself and pressed his hand, wanting to tell him that she was more than okay with the situation. She felt his thumb softly wandering over the skin on her hand, which gave her goosebumps all over her body. Her head was spinning, her head was fluttering wildly and she felt a wave of happiness crashing on her body, filling it with a calming warmth which even made her forget the movie.

The girl wanted nothing more than saying something but she didn't want to interrupt the movie, everyone else was being glued to, so she just savoured the moment, allowing herself to fall into all her suppressed feelings she had for so long. She quietly chuckled to herself for wasting so much time, trying to ignore her feelings only to find out that Chan seemingly had the same feelings for her for quite some time, too.

She felt Chan's head moving as he nuzzled softly against her hair, placing a gently kiss on her hair, making her heart going even faster. The feeling of his lips on her hair sent shivers through her body and she smiled, wanting to show him some of her affection, which she was overflowing with, too. She placed a quick kiss on the hand she was still holding onto tightly and felt him smiling against her head.

She let her head rest against his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment, inhaling his soothing scent as Chan placed his head on hers, while he continued to caress her hand with his thumb. The girl felt like her body was about to explode with happiness and relieve. She really wanted to just feel him but unfortunately they weren't alone and she had to come up with something, so he wouldn't just leave after the movie finished. She just hoped to have at least a quick second alone with him, to tell him how she felt and ask if he was wanting the same thing like her.

The movie didn't last for long and when it was finally over she sighed in relieve. The only thing she saw was that the dumb scientists weren't able to leave that haunted house and had to live there forever and eventually lost their minds. Like it wasn't obvious.

She noticed how the others slowly started moving and quickly moved away from Chan, not wanting the others to see them all cuddled up, because she felt it'd be kinda awkward not being officially dating or something. She stretched her arms and smiled at Chan, which he joined. The others started talking loudly about the movie and how real the ghosts looked. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the movie, she noticed.

The girl felt her roommate looking at her again, slowly approaching her. “Oh my god! I knew it. See, I said he likes you.”, her friend whispered into her ear, poking her with her elbow. She felt how her cheeks got warmer and looked at her best friend.

“It was dark! How could you saw that?”, she asked and her friend chuckled. “I knew that Chan would try to make a move once he saw how scared you are. I told Changbin to bring that movie, you know.”, her friend winked and poked her tongue out before she quickly ran back to Felix before the girl could even answer her.

She just stood there, her mouth slightly opened as she tried to process. But then again, her roommate was right the whole time and she actually did her a favour with that movie, so she shook it off and looked at the mess the guys left. She probably had to clean it up before going to bed and sighed.

“I can help you clean this up, if you want to.”, the girl heard Chan saying, who was just standing up from the sofa.

“Oh, you don't need to. I think that my room-”, she started while looking towards her best friend, who was already looking at the two of them and smirked

“Yeah, I'm going to stay with Felix tonight. We have the same class tomorrow and he lives closer to the Campus, sooo..”, the girl wanted to say something but her roommate was already off to her room to get her things.

She shrugged her shoulders and turned to Chan. “Well, I guess it'd be really great if you could help me.” He smiled at her, showing off his dimples, which made her heart jump again.

The other boys were already standing in the door, putting on their shoes and jackets while Felix was taking the back of the roommate. “Hey, Chan, are you coming?”, his roommate, Woojin, asked him but he shook his head. “I'm gonna help to clean up the mess you made. I'll be home later, okay?”

There was a short silence in which the boys exchanged meaningful gazes and smirked. “That's so nice of you. Have fun!” Woojin laughed and the other boys were repeating his words mockingly as if everyone knew what was going on between her and Chan. She blinked a bit perplex as the group decided to leave them alone. Before her roommate closed the door behind her, she winked in their direction and whispered something about them not missing the morning lecture tomorrow.

The girl tried to ignore her comment and started to pick up the pillows and blankets, which were laying all across the floor and sofa, while Chan put the bowls on the kitchen counter. They were smiling to each other most of the time, both of them feeling that something was in the air but none of them tried to do something about it.

“Did you know?”, the girl asked and Chan looked at her and raised his brows.

“Know what?”

“That I obviously like you.”, she chuckled picked up the last pillow.

“Oh, you do? I was just being nice.”, he said jokingly.

She laughed and threw the pillow into his face, which made him laugh.

“No, I actually didn't. I just knew this morning when Felix told me.”, Chan said and put the pillow she threw at him on the sofa.

“Wait, he told you?”, she asked and moves closer to him to follow the urge to touch him. She grabbed his hand softly and entangled her fingers with his.

“Yeah, he was kinda annoyed because I wasn't asking you out, so he told me.”, Chan pressed her hand whilst his other one started to stroke her hair.

“So you were afraid to ask me out?”, she chuckled and thought about all the times thinking that she was behaving stupid with her crush. She really didn't realize that their feelings were mutual.

“Well, you aren't really easy to approach, you know.”, he grinned and their eyes met.

“I'm sorry, I was trying my best to ignore my feelings, because I thought you're just seeing me as a friend.”, she explained and smiled at him, unable to unlock her gaze from his. His brown eyes were looking directly at her, and she felt how she lost herself in them. They were way to beautiful to not fall for.

“Trust me, I'm really not seeing you just as a friend.”, he said softly, while his head was slowly moving closer to hers, making her heart beating faster and her muscles tighten slightly in anticipation.

When she was finally able to take her gaze off his eyes she looked at every part of his close face. She looked at his hair, which was falling in his face. How his dimples were showing and she softly touched one with her thumb, which made Chan smile even brighter. She looked at his nose, his eyes The atmosphere between them felt like it was full of electricity, which was sizzling in the whole room, leaving the air hot and full of impatient expectation of what was about to happen next. It felt like a drum roll. Her gaze got stuck on his wonderful pink lips. They looked so soft and inviting, especially when she noticed how Chan licked them quickly. She looked up to his eyes again, noticing how he got closer, eliminating the last few inches between them, before he took her head in his hands and finally placed his lips on hers.

It felt like a knot was exploding inside of her chest. Her head suddenly felt empty and light, her veins filled with a cosy warm feeling. Her whole body felt light like a feather, making her feel like she was about to just lift into the sky. A hot shiver ran down her body when Chan deepened the kiss. She never wanted it to end. It felt like her lips fit so perfectly against his as they worked in perfect synch. Her lips against his felt like they were the only matching pieces in a puzzle – like they were just meant to be together. They belonged together. She felt the immense urge to feel him. The girl let her hands wander. They gently touched the soft skin of his neck, wandering over his shoulders, her fingers delicately touching the material of his shirt over his arms.

He let his hands leave her face after stroking it softly with his thumbs. He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to his body, trying to leave no air between their bodies. He just wanted her to be as close to him as humanly possible. After all these month of not knowing if the girl he likes was liking him back he always imagined how it would feel to kiss her. How it would feel when her soft lips were brushing against his, how her skin would feel under his fingers and how it would feel to have her as close as possible. He just needed her. More than anything he could think of. It was like he was addicted to her presence. Her beautiful dazzling scent of cherry blossom filled his nose, embracing him completely.

Shivers ran down his body when he felt her touching him. Her soft and delicate touch drove him crazy.  He couldn't pull away. It was like her lips were like magnets, pulling him closer every second. He felt how the once so innocent kiss changed and felt how she was going with the change, which made his heart rate increase even more. He felt how she opened her mouth just a tiny bit, just to see if he agrees – which he absolutely did. He felt her lips moving into a small smile as his tongue softly caressed hers, endearing and gently.

The girl completely lost herself in their kiss, wanting it to never end. His tongue was brushing against hers. Their lips touched a thousand beautiful times, opening and closing their mouths in synch. It just felt so good and right. It was way better than she could've ever imagined it. She let her hands continue to wander as she felt his gently touching her waist. The girl let her hands wander down his back, shortly stopping at his waits, unsure about what she should do next. She knew what she definitely wanted to do but she didn't know if he was thinking the same.

She grabbed his hands, which were resting on her hip again, and pulled him towards the sofa, trying to get as much contact with his lips as possible. Both of them sat down on the cushions, their mouths still attached to each others. Her hands stopped at the hem of his shirt. She felt how the grip of his hands on her hip tightened. She slowly pulled away for a moment and let her forehead rest against his, both smiling at each other and out of breath.

“You are incredibly beautiful, do you know that?”, she heard him saying, his voice being slightly raspy and out of breath. Her eyes looked right into his and she smiled.

His lips found hers again, feeling her hands on his shirt. It was like both of them were waiting for something the other one would do or say to give their permission to continue. She broke the kiss for a short second and chuckled lightly at the situation, not wanting to wait another five months for something to happen. She pressed her lips against his again, making him smile into the kiss. Her body filled with excitement as she pulled at the hem of his shirt, slowly lifting it up. The kiss stopped again as Chan was pulling away to lift his shirt over his head before he placed his lips on hers again.

She ran her fingers over his bare upper body, leaving him with goosebumps. His skin was soft as she let her hands wander over his stomach and chest, which made his heart race in his chest. He let her push him back softly, his back meeting the soft cushions of the sofa.

She savoured every second of this moment. How his bare skin felt under her fingers and what impact a simple touch had on him. She felt how his muscles tightened as she hovered over him to continue to kiss him passionately. She propped on one of her arms, which she placed next to his head and smiled against his lips. The girl felt him smiling too. She placed soft kisses on his cheeks before she placed some on his neck, which made Chan sigh. She was completely driving him crazy, making him want more.

She continued to caress his chest with her free hand and felt his hands on her hip again, pressing her body closer to him until her body was laying on his body. His hands were wandering up her back to touch her shoulders before he stroked her back softly. He let his hands slip under her pullover to feel the sensation of her bare soft skin under the palms of his hands. He felt how goosebumps appeared on her body, which made him smile, seeing what his touch triggered in her. He explored every inch of her back, letting his hands run over her skin just like she did with hers.

After a while he slowly let his hands down to her hip and placed them on her butt, softly squeezing it, which made her sigh into his ear as she was about to place another soft kiss on his cheek. He felt how his muscles tightened and his self-control grew thinner.

“Let's get up.”, she said softly and pressed a kiss on his collarbone.

He placed his hands back up on her waist and brushed a wisp of hair out of her face, cupping her face with one of his hands.

“Do you want to stop?”, Chan asked and looked at her with a smile on his face.

“Hell no. But I know a way more comfortable place.”, she said and both of them laughed at each other.

The girl stood up followed by Chan who instantly grabbed her hand and held it tightly. She guided him towards the door which was leading into her bedroom. She opened it and realized that he hesitated for a second, stopping in the door frame. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, wondering if he didn't want to move further.

“Are you sure it's okay for you?”, he asked with a serious expression on his face. He didn’t want to put pressure on her to do something she might not want. She smiled softly at him, which let him relax and smile as well. His lovely dimples showed again on his face, which made her heart melt instantly.

Instead of answering him with words she decided to kiss him once more, putting all her feelings into the kiss, while guiding him into her bedroom.

masterlist

[spaceskam]

What's Mine Is Yours, I Guess

"That's my sweater."

"Yeah, smells like you."

Alex tried his best to glare at Michael all cuddled up on the couch in his sweater and a pair of tight briefs, eyes half lidded as he watched the episode of Gossip Girl that was playing on the TV. Glaring proved impossible. It took more effort than the glaring to not just jump on the couch with him. He looked so damn cuddly.

"Your shoulders are broader than mine and it was already kinda tight on me. You're stretching it out," Alex tried to argue. His voice didn't hold near as much protest as he intended.

"It's okay," Michael said softly, turning just a bit to lay on his stomach. A pillow was tucked under his head and his legs were splayed haphazardly. It was like he was just trying to get Alex to go lay with him.

"No, it's not," Alex said, gulping softly as his eyes focused on the back of his thighs. He had to force himself to look away, to remind himself that he had plans that didn't involve putting himself between Michael Guerin's thighs.

"Smells like you," he whispered again, his eyes drifting closed all the way. Alex's heart clenched and he couldn't find anything in him to complain anymore. Michael could have his whole fucking closet if he always looked and sounded like that.

"Fine," Alex said, making his way towards the door. He had no control when he stopped behind the couch, leaning over to press a kiss to his boyfriend's hair and his cheek. Michael smiled. "I'll be home later."

"I'll be here."

Alex had never regretted making plans so badly.

*

"You scared the shit out of me, thought someone kidnapped you and stole my car!"

"Yeah, like anyone could kidnap a telekinetic alien without waking you up. Right."

Alex had his hand over his heart that was beating like crazy as Michael just gave him that easy smile. Sure, it was nice that he bought him coffee and donuts on their day off, but he could've left a note.

"Well why'd you take my car instead of your truck?" Alex asked, steadying his still shaking hand as he grabbed the coffee.

"I got up early and was trying to get a load of laundry out of the way for you and I'm pretty sure my keys were in there and it locks, so I just took yours. Didn't think you'd mind," Michael said, still smirking as he ripped off a piece of his donut. Alex rolled his eyes.

"I don't, I just would like it if you told me when you use my things," Alex said, taking a sip of coffee only to find that it wasn't actually coffee. It was chai tea with a fuck ton of vanilla which happened to be his favorite 'I'm trying to relax' drink. It brought a smile to his face.

Michael looked him up and down, something glistening in his eyes as a warm smile doused on his face. Maybe Alex was mistaken, but it looked like his cheeks were getting red.

"You were worried about me," he said softly. Alex rolled his eyes, but still smiled as he sipped his tea.

"I just said I was."

"Yeah but like... legit worried that someone hurt me just 'cause you woke up without me," Michael said, "I've literally gone MIA for days and no one cared. You didn't know where I was for 5 minutes and you were shaking. You really love me, huh?"

Alex again rolled his eyes and felt his cheeks flush. He didn't know why he was so embarrassed by Michael pointing it out. His love for him wasn't exactly a secret. But, still, it made him feel like he was a stupid 17 year old to be called out like that.

"You stole my car, how was I supposed to act?"

"Yeah, sure. That's why you were worried."

*

"Move!"

"Comfy."

Alex groaned, limply pushing at Michael's form. He had taken over Alex's side of the bed without any shame. It wouldn't have been that annoying, but Alex had a system on how he got up in the morning and he didn't feel like switching it.

"It's my side," Alex groaned, "I'm the one with the military training, I should be closer to the door in case special forces come to kidnap you."

"Why do you always think I'm going to be kidnapped?" Michael laughed, only moving his head to flash a big smile but otherwise not budging.

"It was supposed to convince you to move," Alex argued, kneeling on the bed to steady himself more. Michael's hand instinctively went to the back of his thigh which made it a bit harder to focus on being annoyed.

"Look, we can share this side of the bed," Michael suggested, smirking as he started inching his hand up more, "This bed's too big. I wanna be closer."

"We can. In the middle. Not on my side," Alex complained, swatting at the hand that was now firmly on his ass.

"You're no fun," Michael said, finally scooting just a bit. He was still technically on Alex's side, but it was enough space that he could lay down now. He took what he could get. "You're like a grumpy old man."

"Says the guy who is literally pushing 85," Alex grumbled, fitting himself into Michael's side. He was pulled even closer and a wet kiss was smashed into his forehead. It easily took away any of his previous irritation.

"I was in a pod for most of that time so it doesn't count."

"Sure."

*

"Alex, are those your jeans?"

Alex sighed as Isobel pointed to her brother who seemed perfectly content in the jeans that were all but cutting off his circulation. He'd given up on fighting Michael about wearing his clothes, even if all of his jeans were now covered in oil stains.

"Yep," Alex said, tilting back his beer. Michael laughed at something Liz said and leaned over to take his turn at their game of pool, the jeans showing much more of his ass than literally anyone wanted to see.

"Oh my god, that's gross," Isobel laughed, turning away. Alex just rolled his eyes and let Rosa be the one to force the jeans over his hips. He wasn't close enough to hear what she was telling him, but he could assume it was a solid amount of berating out of love.

"We're not even married yet and he takes the whole 'what's mine is yours' thing way too seriously. He literally wore my engagement ring the other day," Alex complained though it wasn't much of a complaint. Most of the time he didn't mind sharing, there were just a few things that got annoying.

"Really?" Isobel asked, quirking an eyebrow as she nodded slowly.

"What does that face mean?" Alex wondered. Isobel was just as expressive as Michael, though he was still learning to decipher it. He could read Michael like a book and planned to get there with Isobel as well.

"Nothing. Just I like that he trusts you enough to take without asking. He's my brother and he's still too scared to ask for anything because he thinks my love is conditional. Or at least that's what my therapist says is probably it. I spent like five sessions complaining about how he won't let me help," she snorted. Alex rolled his eyes and his the smile that was forming behind his beer bottle. He hadn't really thought about it like that.

"So basically he thinks my love is unconditional and that he can annoy me and I won't leave?" Alex asked. Isobel let out a musical little laugh that really only came out when she was tipsy.

"Look, Alex, when you still love someone after all the shit you two have been through, it's not hard to see why he thinks its unconditional," she pointed out. Alex shrugged, deciding to let the topic go as he caught Michael's eye. The cowboy smiled broadly and blew a short little kiss before turning back to the Ortecho women.

Yeah. Maybe it was unconditional.

[ryuukia]

[Translation] Tsukiutaya Tokuten Short Stories - Koi Wasuregusa ver.

Happy Birthday, Hajime~! I was thinking days ago what I could do for his birthday then I remembered I had these short stories. 

They’re some tokuten you could get if you bought the smartphone case/bag/pouch from Tsukiutaya. Each item has a different short story, and even on the original paper they’re marked as vol.1, 2 and 3, but I put them together here. The first one is from Hajime’s point of view, second one from Haru's and third back to Hajime. Look forward to a short story each month, because I’ll do it until December.

Assistance and proofreading: @moonlit-manifesto and @ryota-kunstranslations. Rui also helped me a bit with some lines~

Please don’t repost/reuse my translations.

Koi Wasuregusa ①【Hajime】

“ーThis is a new song about you.”

Or so I was told yesterday. Ever since I had been handed the lyrics of my new song, I’ve been continuously gazing at them.

There’s heavy usage of unusual kanji which, paired up with the riddles hidden between the lines that require a careful reading, turn the song into something with a rigid narrativity.

The person in charge of composing my songs is determined to imbue every single word written on the paper with emotions.

With that in my hand, I’ve been thinking all along.

(In this song, a heavy, profound, and passionate love is being painted.)

Unfortunately, I’ve never thought about someone in such a manner until now.

I wonder if I can ever deliver this song perfectly the way I am now.

“Forget love, there’s only passion[1], huh?”

“Eh?”

Unaware I was muttering, I ended up saying those words out loud unconsciously.

Haru, who was on the other side of the room, tilted his head almost as if he was asking “What?” to which I answered “Nothing” and waved my hand dismissively.

“Eh, you made me curious.”

“I said it’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, then tell me more. Even though Hajime's the type to just say words as he thinks of them, in reality, there's actually a deeper meaning to those words!”

“Is that so?”

“It is. Aren’t you aware?”

“Not really.”

As Haru smiled in his attempt to figure out what was so intriguing for me, I suddenly asked him the question that’s been on my mind.

This new song is my duet with Haru.

Haru also knows about these lyrics.

That’s why……

“Have you ever fallen in love in such manner?”

It was a topic rarely brought up and would normally go ignored, but I brought it up anyway.

They say singing means experiencing new emotions and expanding your horizon.

(Ah, that’s right.)

Sometimes, having this kind of conversation is also good.

Koi Wasuregusa ②【Haru】

“Have you ever fallen in love in such manner?”

At hearing that question, I was at a loss for words, which is rare for me.

ーTalking about love.

(In this case, the conversation is not about Gravi’s mood maker, Koi[2], but rather about romantic ‘love’, right?)

My thoughts scrambled at such an unspoken thing. The shock was that big.

(A conversation about love. Discussing romance. Love talk, lo-, love talk!?)

It’s one of the most common topics for people our age.

However, I was surprised to see that the other party consisted of my combi partner, who always brushes off these topics.

(No way this is coming from Hajime! Love talk!)

It’s probably hard enough to talk about this with regular people.

But in any case, I want you to understand this is something very, very unusual. That’s why I was so surprised, and in that moment I felt some puzzling emotions.

After all, this is a conversation about love with the king.

“...Haru?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Love, huh, love…”

(Whaa, I’m talking about love with Hajime. About love! Talking about romantic love with Hajime...)

To be honest, the impact of that question was too big, and my brain stopped responding.

However, as that gradually faded away, curiosity unexpectedly took over soon after.

Unconsciously, I leaned forward.

“Since you asked me… Of course you will respond as well, right?”

“Me? … I don’t have any significant memories of love that I can talk about...”

“Now, now! I think you’ve been confessed to a lot of times, right? It must have happened at some point when you were secretly working part-time, too? There should be a dramatic story at least?”

“Aren’t you getting worked up over nothing?”

“Then I’ll get even more excited to talk. When do I ever get to have a conversation about love with you?”

“Conversation about love? …... Is that what is it?”

“......Then Hajime, what on earth is this talk supposed to be about?”

“About my song. We’re talking about music.”

“Still, it doesn’t change the fact we’re talking about love.”

“Don’t say it flatly like that...... Okay, well, I’m still asking you more about it.”

“Sure, sure. If I talk about it, you also have to do the same.”

Alright, let’s talk about love as well.

Koi Wasuregusa ③【Hajime】

I took in the glory of the shoot setup, my body wrapped in an extravagant costume that could dazzle the eyes.

And in one corner of the studio where they were showing us around, a tatami room with red walls was recreated.

(Is this where we come in wearing these outfits? That is…...)

“How should I put this…it’s flashy in many ways.”

“Indeed, isn’t it?”

Standing beside me, Haru laughs with ease.

As our outfits are being worked on, the two of us are side-by-side, looking at the set.

The part of the room brimming with various set pieces created an eccentric atmosphere beyond my imagination.

They don’t look cheap, and they actually aren’t cheap.

My eyes fell on the deep red fake wall for a few moments.

(The art is also fairly well-made, too.)

While thinking about those things my eyes shifted to my side, and there stood a profile of Haru you rarely see.

“You forgot your glasses.”

“Today I won’t need them. I’ll be wearing contacts to fit the world view.”

“That’s unusual.”

“It’s been a long time, so my eyes might hurt a bit.”

While we were talking, it appears the costume check had ended.

I was passed a flower branch and Haru received a pipe.

“Passion daylily[3], huh?”

“I understood something from that strange[4] conversation about love we had the other time: we have yet to experience a love as passionate as the one from the this song, don’t you think? Or rather……”

“Yeah, I understand, Haru. It’s impossible for us to comprehend it the way we are now. That’s why it’s better to devote ourselves to solely getting into this world, without thinking too much.”

“Right? …… Well, in fact, I think love is not something you feel with your head to begin with.”

“...... You say that as if you understand what it is.”

“I wish that were the case.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Even if Haru laughs so nonchalantly about it now, I wonder if someday he’ll fall in love that intensely.

(...... And how about me?)

Maybe one day I’ll be able to give myself up to love, just like in this song.

ーOne day.

T/N:

“Forget love, there’s only passion”[1]  = lyrics from their duet song (”Ai wasure, koi dake”)

Koi[2] : There’s a thing here. Koi’s name (恋) means ‘romantic love’ in Japanese, so if I have to be more literal, Haru said “the conversation is not about Gravi’s mood maker, Koi, but rather about ‘koi’ as in renai” (恋愛/renai→love; love-making; passion; emotion; affections). I think it's understable even without this note so you can ignore it, this is aimed more for those interested in the Japanese part~

Passion daylily[3] = the title of the song, Koi Wasuregusa (恋忘れ草)

strange[4] = Haru uses 慣れない (narenai) which can also be translated as ‘unfamiliar’ or ‘unaccustomed to’

[deakyrog]

Eyes That Know Me (Roger Taylor x Reader) Part 3

Words: 7,722

A/N: Wey hey there! I am SO proud of this part, and it’s quite lengthy so I hope this is enjoyed. I had so much fun writing this, and all I can say is, for the ending...I’m sorry :) You can also find Parts One and Two here 

Warnings: mild swearing 

Roger had left you at your hotel room and as soon as you shut your door, he let out a deep breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He ran his fingers through his long and tangled hair and headed for the elevator. He looked back at your door one more time, and smiled softly and pressed up on the elevator pad He walked into it, and waited for it to close. As he waited, he thought back on the night’s events with you, particularly the elevator ride. Like when he put his hand on your back, how your body relaxed, your posture loosening up from the tight position you often stood in. Or how your cheeks, however slightly, became full of the slightest red color, implying that you were blushing, no matter how many times you would have denied it. Roger has only seen you blush a handful of times, most of the times it was admittedly his doing. It was always something you tried SO hard to hide, but tonight you didn’t. In fact you let it happen naturally that you didn’t bother to let it bother you. He chuckled at that thought and then his thoughts went to how right it felt standing in that position with you. How it was almost like you were molded for him, how his hand fit perfectly and how he wanted desperately to do it again. It was such a little action and movement, but he would give anything to do it again. As the elevator got off on his floor, he walked off and walked to his room. He reached into his pocket for his room key and quickly unlocked it, scurrying inside his room. He went to do the familiar action of dropping his jacket on the small couch seated in his room (perks of getting the nicest rooms in the building), until he realized he wasn’t wearing it. He remembered that he had given it to you to wear on the walk from the pub and you had most likely forgotten to return it. Roger smiled wide remembering the image of you wearing it. It wasn’t overly big on you, it hugged you the right way. It fell just the right length on you. He had quite liked the picture of you wearing his clothes, even if it was something as simple and unattachable as a jacket. 

As he sat down on the bed, he let his thoughts run to the idea of what you would look like wearing his actual clothes. One of his favorite t-shirts maybe? He then smirked at the image of you wearing one of his simple button downs with slightly messed up hair and the just woken up morning glow he’s seen on you so many times. Except this time you would wake up with him, in his bed, in his arms. He let out a small sigh imagining what could be. He let his imagination run wild with thoughts of you until he abruptly sat up.

“No.” he said aloud. Why no? Why couldn’t he let himself think about you like that. He wasn’t sure why he was thinking about you like that to begin with, but he couldn’t. Roger couldn’t allow himself- no, wouldn’t allow himself to have any other feelings for you except platonic. He had such a special relationship with you. You meant so much to him, hell you meant the world to him. The last thing he would ever want to do is hurt you, and with his relationship (if you could call it that) track record, that’s exactly what would end up happening. Roger absolutely could not lose you, so if that meant denying any possible developing feelings he might have for you, so be it.

“It’s not like she feels the same anyway.” he said out loud again. You couldn’t possibly harbor anything besides platonic feelings for him anyway, you weren’t an idiot and he would’ve picked up on changed. You’re one person he knows like the back of his hand. You were his person, the one person he has always been 100% honest and open with, and didn’t have to put on a front, especially one he puts on in public, and he wasn’t going to throw that intimate relationship away on the merit of feelings that he might have that are more than friendship for you. He wasn’t even sure anyway. He would have to push it away and think about that more tomorrow. It was rather late and he needed to rest for the band’s first concert tomorrow night, and all he was thinking about was you anyway and he needed to attempt to stop that. He changed into his pajamas and crawled into his hotel bed groaning. He doesn’t know exactly what he was feeling, and one of the many things Roger hates, is not knowing. There was something, however that he did know for sure. He had to see you tomorrow before the concert.

You woke up groaning. You looked over at the clock sitting on the nightstand next to the bed, and saw that it read half past seven in the morning, so you sat up and stretched. You ran your fingers through your greasy hair, knowing you were in need of a shower. Remembering last night and your abrupt conclusion, you flopped back onto your pillows, trying to come up with a plan of action. You now knew you were possibly falling slowly, for Roger, your BEST FRIEND. You had to face him and basically live with him for the next few months. You would probably go out to the pubs and after parties with him as well, and you rolled your eyes knowing what that meant. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t have your fun too. You grabbed your pillow from under your head and you put it over your face and you squealed into it. You were a lawyer, you wore a poker face for a living. You were used to lying to clients and maintaining either a perfectly straight face or one to match the situation. Being a lawyer mixed with the one semester of dramatic arts basically made you an expert on faking facial expressions. The downside, however, was Roger knew your real and fake ones. He could easily tell the difference and that was only going to make the situation harder. He could always see past whatever fake emotions you had on display, a huge disadvantage of knowing someone for almost twenty years. You sat up and groaned again, finally deciding that you would take it day by day, trying your best to mask any true emotions that may slip through the cracks  

You decided to distract yourself until the concert by taking a much needed shower and start looking over some financial paperwork Miami had left for you. You looked through your suitcase for some clothes before settling on a pair of denim shorts and a The Who t-shirt that you have no recollection of buying but found in your flat once, and you liked it so much you brought it with you. You took a quick shower and then towel dried your hair. You ran your fingers through your wet hair, getting the tangles out and then braiding it at both sides of your head. You fixed your full frontal bangs and then got dressed. You walked back and sat on the bed beginning to look through the papers, highlighting and making notes in the margins with points and things you wanted to bring to Miami’s attention when you saw him next. You hadn’t realized how much time you spent working on the documents until you reached the end of the first hefty packet. You smiled at your work and started a pile on the nightstand where the completed ones would go, and you grabbed the next packet to work on. You started highlighting a conditional payment in one contract when suddenly there was a loud knocking coming from your hotel room door. Confused as to why anyone would be coming to see you today, you waited until it stopped. It was silent for a moment until the knocking began again. You walked to the door slowly as it kept going.

“Coming!” you yelled as you went to open it. When you swung it open, on the other side stood none other than Freddie Mercury and the other 3 lads stood behind him. “Hey boys!” you said with a chipper tone, always happy to see them.

“Good afternoon darling! T’was afraid you might not have been awake!” Freddie cheered as everyone welcomed themselves into your room.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Besides, I’ve been quite busy.” you hummed as you shut the door, following them in.

“Oh I can see that! What is even in these stacks of papers and why is everything highlighted?” Freddie asked picking up the finished stack, flipping through it. You ran over fast and snatched them out of his hands.

“Well these are YOUR contracts and finances that I’m helping Miami look over. Everything is highlighted because there are some points I want to bring to his attention and highlighting and writing it down helps me organize what I want to say. It’s how I work through clients paperwork, so every thought I had is there. And no touchy, it’s in a perfect order!” you explained as you put the papers nicely in their stack. You were quite the stickler about organization. Roger was standing by the window, completely in awe, watching as you moved swiftly around your room as you tidied up.  

“That’s...precise.” Deaky joked and you laughed in agreement, shrugging your shoulders.

“Hey it’s my job. Besides, someone has gotta look out for my boys!” you cheesed at him and you quickly glanced at Roger, who you noticed was watching you as well. You smiled to yourself and you sat down on your bed crossing your legs. Brian sat down next to you on your right side, and John sat on your left. Roger had looked at you again but this time squinting your eyes, trying to recognize something.

“Hey you thief!” Roger shouted and your head popped up looking at him.

“Who, me?” you asked confused and he nodded his head.

“Yeah you! You’re wearing my t-shirt.” you raised your eyebrows and you looked down, not remembering which shirt you had on. Once you saw you had your mysterious The Who shirt, you let out a gasp.

“Shit this is yours? I found it in my flat one time, I just thought I forgot I bought it because I liked it.” you said quickly. Of course it was Rogers shirt, and he accidentally left it at your place. You could feel your face on fire and it was probably as red as a tomato. You looked down trying to hide your embarrassment and you heard Roger laugh softly.

“Don’t worry about it, it wouldn’t have been the first time I left something at your place, kind of figured you would keep it. You’re always stealing my things.” he smiled through the double meaning and walked over to you and in a moment of complete of whim, tilted your chin up at him, because once you got embarrassed over something, you wouldn’t look anyone in the eye once you got over it. You were forced to look up at him and he was heavily smoldering, almost drinking up your current state. “It’s all right darling, it looks way better on you then it ever would on me, keep it.” he winked over to the window and you chuckled.

“Good because I had no intention of returning it, once I have my sights set on something and I get it, it’s mine and I don’t give back things I’ve grown attached too.” you finally said trying to ease yourself, but the familiar feeling from last night was returning in your stomach, you stifled a giggle and adjusted your sitting position. After a moment of silence, you heard Brian clear his throat next to you.  

“Right, anyway we were going to grab something to eat and then go to rehearsal for tonight, would you like to join us?” Brian asked as he turned to face you. Your face lit up at the chance to spend time with the band. You nodded fast.  

“Absolutely! Let me grab my bag and put my shoes on.” you confirmed excitedly as you stood up fast and skipped to where your suitcase was sitting down. You bent down to grab a pair of sandals with a bit of a heel. It was a nice summer day so you could wear shoes like that. You walked to the small table by the door where you noticed you still had Roger’s jacket from last night. You picked it up and walked to where he was standing. His back was to you as he was conversing with John. You tapped his shoulder softly and he turned around to face.

“Hey uh thanks for letting me borrow this last night. Guess I forgot to give it back! So here ya go!” you chuckled as you pushed it in his direction, but he held his hands up.

“No no you might need it later, knowing how easily you get chilly. Wear it in case you get cold while we’re out. Besides I don’t wanna hear you complain about being cold and wanting to come all the way back here to grab something. That has happened way too many times.” he told you and you rolled your eyes, knowing he was right but being stubborn enough not to admit it. He laughed at your reaction. “Just admit it and stop being stubborn, it’ll be easier for you and for me.”

“You know, sometimes you’re such a pain in my ass Taylor.” you said with a playful tone as you threw it on. Roger laughed nodding in agreement and fixed the collar on you.

“That is very true, I’m a pain in everyone’s ass apparently.” he started and Deaky, who was standing next to him just nodded in agreement. “But I’m your pain in the ass.” he winked and a giggle finally escaped your lips. You brought your lips to a smirk and squinted at him, which was a nonverbal signal to let him know he was right. You looked in his eyes, considering with your heeled shows on you were eye level with him. You both stood in front of each other for a minute until you were both brought back to reality as you heard Freddie clap. You jumped and turned yourself to face Freddie.

“I hate to break up this little love fest darlings but we must be going!” you quickly walked over towards the other boys as you grabbed your small bag. Since you were no longer facing Roger, you missed him staring daggers at Freddie as he made his way over to join him and the others. The dirty look didn’t bother Freddie as he just smirked and winked at him and walked out the door. The others followed suit and you locked the door from the inside and trailed behind them.

The afternoon hanging out with the boys was as much fun as it normally was. Endless amounts of laughter, banter and some unusually calm arguments as the boys got into conversations about the set list for later that evening. At the restaurant, you were sat next to Roger so thankfully you couldn’t sneak any glances. The fluttering feeling only came back a few times throughout the meal. Since the five of you were crammed into a booth, you and Roger were practically on top of each other. You didn’t mind being that close to him, you were used to it. The feelings came back though whenever your knees would occasionally brush when either one of you would adjust your position in your seat. However, that feeling in your stomach would occasionally be accompanied by a surge of electricity soaring through your body. You knew Roger didn’t feel it, but goodness was it strong in you. After lunch, you joined the boys for a rehearsal before the show. They were focused and driven as ever, focusing intently on their respective instruments. You just stood off to the side and watched them, clapping and cheering after every song, giving them the praise they deserved.

It was now an hour before showtime and you were at the venue with the boys, hanging backstage in their dressing room. The others were getting ready when you noticed Roger attempting to fix his long hair. It pained you to watch so you walked over to him and stood behind his chair which was facing the mirror.  

“No no stop. For the love of God let me do it.” you said directly and you put your hand out, implying for him to hand over the comb. He rolled his blue eyes and gave it to you and you began fixing his hair, giving it some needed volume.  

“My hair was just fine you know...ow!” he whined and you eased up.

“Oh it wasn’t bad you big baby, and it was a mess! At least now your hair looks nice and put together.” you told him as you ran your fingers through the front of it, getting it to stay down. “You should let me color your hair one day. I think you would look good with light blonde hair.” you looked at him in the mirror and smirked. You weren’t lying to feed his ego, he would look good as a light blonde. He already had darker blonde hair, but the change would be nice. You put the last minute touches on his part, and you could see him considering what you had said about the color. “There, all finished!” you clapped your hands together as you walked around, squatting next to him in his chair.

“Wow, you do know how to work magic huh?” he smiled down at you and you just shrugged.

“Practice I guess, I have a mane of my own so I experiment.” you looked up at him trying to place something, and then an idea hit you. “Wait! There’s one more thing I want to do. Close your eyes!” you squealed happily as you went to grab your bag.

“I’m not so sure about that...whenever you tell me to close me eyes, it can’t be good. Remember my 20th birthday part?” he asked and you rolled your eyes, remembering when he ran into the couch when you told him to close his eyes as you brought him into his surprise party you planned and banged his knee up from it.

“That was entirely your fault babe, but just do it. You’ll like this I promise.” you told him as you walked back over to him. He closed his eyes and you pulled a stick of sharpened eyeliner out of your bag. You sat on his lap facing him, eager to put it on. You saw a ghost of a smirk appear on his lips as you sat down.

“Oh you’re right. I do like this!” he said in a flirty tone as he snaked his arms around your waist. You bit your lip trying to suppress any noise that may have escaped. You took the eyeliner and leaned into him, carefully sliding it over his eyelids. You looked at him once you finished, and smiled proudly at your work. It definitely wasn’t dramatically done like any stage makeup, but it was just enough to make his blue eyes seem bluer to the crowd.

“Alright Rog you can open.” he did as soon as you told him too, and he looked at himself in the mirror. He didn’t say anything at first, but by the way he was looking at himself in the mirror, he liked it. “Oh! One last thing, I promise!” you told him as you turned slightly and went to unbutton the top button of the vest he was wearing. That was the only type of shirt he was wearing but damn did he look good. You also adjusted the silver necklaces he was wearing, so they laid just the right way against his chest. You once again beamed at your work and turned to face the mirror. “There...perfect. Now you’ll make all the women in the crowd crazy!” you exclaimed as the hold on your waist got tighter, a way of him to thank you.

“I look...hot! Where would I be without you?” he questioned as he smirked at himself in the mirror again and his grip stayed the same but he leaned his head against your chest, turning it into a semi hug. You laid your head on top of his and grinned.

“Well let’s see, you’d have a terrible fashion sense and would be left with a huge void in your life that only I can fill seeing as you’ve known me for almost twenty years and you’ve gotten used to me.” you laughed and he nodded in agreement, nuzzling further into you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and let one arm slide down his back, where you let your long nails graze his back up and down slowly. You could tell he was slightly nervous but he’d never admit it. This was something you would do to help calm him down in any situation. You’d hug him and slowly scratch his back until he was calm and fine, you were also the only one who could truly calm him down. The amount of times the boys would call you down to the studio when they were rehearsing and Roger would get upset about something and you’d have to calm him down was staggering. Roger would only listen to you when you’d talk him down.

After a few minutes of you two sitting in that position quietly and you just scratching his back and rubbing his arm occasionally, you spoke up. “Hey...you’re going to do so great tonight. I’m so proud of you.” you told him and you could feel his smile as he nuzzled further into you, moving his head up so it was buried into the crook of your neck.  

“Ya think so?” he asked quietly and you nodded.

“Of course! You’re a fantastic drummer Rog, you’re so fucking talented. You’re going to blow the roof off this place. You deserve too.” you praised him as you rubbed his arm again, something natural for you. He looked up at you and his face softened. You lifted your head and looked down at him at the same time he looked up into your eyes.

“I meant it...I don’t know where I’d be without you. You’re like this constant source of light in my life, always so positive and comforting. I feel so much better when you’re around most times.” he confessed as he booped your nose, and you scrunched it up and laughed. He did that every so often and it would always make you laugh.

“Thanks Rog...you’re like that with me as well. I don’t know where or who I would be without you, you’ve done so much for me, both physically and emotionally...” you told him not breaking the eye contact. You saw him grin wide as he grabbed your hand, holding it in your lap with his. The fluttering feeling was back in your stomach but it was in full swing as you both sat like that, just admiring another and gazing at each other with admiration and what seemed to be happiness. If you had enough courage you could’ve kissed him right then and there. You were close enough in proximity to him and the moment definitely seemed right. You swore you saw his gaze shift between your lips and eyes a few times, but you weren’t sure and didn’t want to get your hopes up. You also weren’t sure if that’s even what he wanted, you had absolutely no idea what or how he felt about you, if anything at all, or anything that wasn’t friendship. You didn’t want to lose any relationship you had with him, because not having him as a friend was the worst feeling of all. Even if that’s all he saw you as, that was more than enough for you, and you could live with it. You decided not to test the waters just yet until you had a sign that there could be, if anything, more. However, as you let your thoughts draw that conclusion, you saw Roger slowly lean upwards towards you, testing the waters for himself. “Shit” you thought to yourself, it was happening and Roger was initiating. You slowly started to lean down towards him, your stomach moving a mile a minute at the built up tension and movements. Just as you two were about to be close and he licked his lips slowly, someone burst into the room.  

“Roger we’re needed!” John yelled as he charged in towards you two. You both pulled back and jumped slightly at the intrusion, and you quickly got off Roger’s lap, and the two of you stood up quickly. “Oh did I interrupt something?” John asked curiously with a slight purr to his voice, slowly putting two and two together. You both just shook your head in disagreement.

“Uh nope! I was actually just going to go out and grab a good spot for a good view! Break legs you guys!” you quickly exclaimed as you scurried towards the door.

“Wait! You’re coming to the after party yeah?” John asked before you left and you quickly bounced your head, looking at Roger.

“Course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Have a great show you guys.” you smiled big and walked out of the dressing room. Once you left, Roger shot John the dirtiest look and groaned, curling his lips.

“Aye what’s wrong with you mate?” John smirked at the visibly mad Roger. “Certain gal got your tongue?”

Roger rolled his eyes and angrily grabbed his drumsticks. “Oh piss off Deacon.” he stormed past him and walked on stage, all while John followed laughing.

The show went on swimmingly. The boys were on top of their game, each member radiating such a passion and energy. They were seemingly each in their own element, although they were separately different, but when they came together, they worked as one. Like a well oiled machine in fact. Each part in the machine is different in terms of what it was designed to do, but it’s contribution to the machine and its overall mechanics is crucial and couldn’t work without the other parts. That’s exactly how Queen was. Each guy was a different working part, but they were vital the group as a whole. Watching them on stage was an experience, it felt as if your head was going to pop off. You would watch Freddie dance and sing around the stage, owning it as his own, then your attention would shift to Deaky, who was masterfully playing his bass, and concentrating only on that, but somehow was captivating to watch his pure concentration flow. Then you would watch Brian, easily and skillfully playing his guitar, and you were mesmerized by how he played it. He played it so easily, so strategically. Your attention lingered on Roger the most. The way he would rhythmically play and hit the drums with such grace was a sight. The more passionate and into a song he got, the more he would unconsciously pucker his lips. You’ve never told him but it was something you’ve noticed over the years of watching him play.  

When you were watching him, you’d catch his eye often, and he would send a wink or a look in your direction. You weren’t sure if it was meant for you or a girl behind you, so you didn’t think too much about it. But watching him play his heart out made your heart swell with pride. You’ve seen him go from small garage bands to touring the United Kingdom. From day one until now, you were so proud of how far he has come. From telling him not to give up when one of his bands were having issues playing, to the pep talk you had with him not a mere half hour ago. You simply couldn’t have been prouder of him. Of course you were so proud of the entire band, having supported them and cheering them on since the very first day, watching them create three amazing albums, and now living their dreams. They were your best friends and watching them now, made your heart swell with happiness.

Once the concert was over, you made your way backstage to congratulate the boys. It took you a few minutes to get through the swarm of people who had the same idea, but the bodyguard recognized you and let you back. You were walking the familiar path to their room when suddenly you were being pulled by your waist and turned you around into a hug.

“Brian hey!” you squealed as you hugged him back, wrapping your own arms around him.

“What did you think of the show?!” he asked spinning you around and you giggled happily. You were significantly shorter than him, so it was easy to be swung around by him. He set you back down on your feet and you cheered your praise.

“Oh man you guys were AMAZING! Seriously y’all rocked so hard and are so talented. You with that guitar? Fantastic!” you gushed, realizing your American side was definitely showing and you saw Brian blush slightly.

“Yeah? Well that means a lot coming from you Y/N...are you coming to the party?’

You bounced your head confirming. “Absolutely! Just wanted to go say hi to Roger before I went. Wait for me?” you asked with a smile, knowing Roger takes forever after a show and you didn’t want to wait for him, such a diva he was. Brian hummed his response as you walked to the dressing room. You were about to knock when you heard a feminine giggle come from the room. The door was half open, and against your better judgement, you peered in quietly and sure enough, you saw Roger sitting on the couch in the room with a blonde young woman in his lap giggling. You quickly removed yourself and walked away, feeling your heart sink. You should’ve known that you read way into things. You weren’t going to cry or get upset, you never cried. You just sighed and took a moment to get over it, to get over your initial disappointment and any hope you were holding onto. You kept reminding yourself that you were overthinking things and everything that’s happened between you two is normal. You two were just close and now that you were thinking about it, wasn’t all that out of the ordinary. You shook your head and plastered a smile on your face, ready to forget anything that’s happened, and you walked back to Brian.

“Let’s go!” you cheered and he smiled, offering his arm. You took it and you two walked to the venue next door, which is where the party was.

Once you arrived, you had grabbed a drink and began mingling with Brian. He had his arm slinged around you the entire time, and as he made his way through fans and other people in the crowd, you were tucked under his side, he not once pushed you away. You didn’t mind it, you kept drinking and you enjoyed hearing him speak. He would look down at you and made sure you were following the conversations. You gave input when you could, but you were happy to listen and be a part of the talks whenever you could. You mainly just sipped your drink and nodded along to the music, singing to yourself whenever you knew the song. You had spent almost the entire night tucked idly under Brian’s arm, only leaving to go grab another drink or shots for the two of you, and when you would return, his arm returned right to your shoulder, occasionally stroking your back. You were enjoying the evening so much that you had almost forgotten about the Roger incident, until you glanced upon him out of the corner of your eye, talking to John with the blonde woman glued to his side. You posture must have noticeably changed because Brian tightened his grip on you and looked down at you concerned.  

“Hey you okay?” You just nodded putting your poker face on.

“Yeah! I think I’m just feeling the effects of everything I’ve drank tonight!” you laughed and so did Brian thankfully.

“You have had a few it seems. I’ll take you back to the hotel yeah?” he offered and you shook your head in protest.

“No no no, you stay here! This party is for you and you’re the main event. I’ll be okay hun.” you assured him and he just protested right back.

“It’s no big deal! They’ve all had enough of me anyway. Let me go tell the boys I’m out of here.” he said and you sighed in defeat, not wanting him to leave his own party. You watched Brian go tell the boys goodbye and he pointed to you, and you did a small wave. When Brian did, you saw Roger’s head quickly turn to you and you sent him a small wave as well. He half smiled and waved back. You kept looking at each other until Brian walked back.

“Ready lil darling?’ he asked and you grabbed his arm and grinned. He slid his arm over you leading you out. You both talked on the way back about the night, and Brian went on about how clear the night sky was, and he was showing you different stars in the sky. You listened and smiled, very interested in what he had to say. He did that until you approached, and he led you to the elevator pressing your floor. Once you got on to your floor and walked to your room, you took a deep breath as you began to unlock your door.

“Do you want to come inside...?” you curiously asked, and as you did, Brian’s face lit up. You took that as a yes, so you unlocked the door swinging it open. “Make yourself comfy!” Brian sat down on the bed and you threw your bag and keys on the table, and you sat down next to him. “I had such a great night tonight Bri...thank you.” you beamed at him.

“Well thank you for being my date, it was an amazing night with you.” he told you and you turned your head to look at him. He in turn looked at you, and said so softly it almost came out like a whisper. “I’d really like to kiss you..”

You felt your cheeks flare with heat and you smirked at him. “Well, what are you waiting for then?” he looked at you with wide eyes and he slowly cupped your face, and brought his lips close to yours. You closed your eyes and put your hands over his, and he kissed you ever so softly, and you moved your lips to match his. He deepened it slowly, but as he did, you were waiting for that spark you were supposed to feel when you kissed someone, especially someone you cared about and got on with, someone you liked. But it never came. You lessened your movements and Brian broke the contact, pulling away as he looked at you.

“That was uh...” he started and quickly stopped, almost not wanting to finish the sentence. You looked at him, knowing exactly what he meant.

“Nice...but...” you also started, but didn’t know how to finish the statement without it being awkward.

“I didn’t feel it either...” he finally said you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, and you laughed. Of all the reactions you fucking laughed!

“Oh thank god! I thought I was broken!” you blurted and quickly covered your mouth, embarrassed. He laughed at your outburst and you calmed down a  bit.

“No no, I suppose it was a sign to stop before things progressed further and we found out the hard way.” he shrugged and you took his hand.

“Brian listen...I like you a lot. Really. We get along well together, we have a lot in common, can out wit each other, can drive each other bonkers. I thought there was something there too, for a while actually.” you admitted looking at him. “But...” you trailed on before he cut you off.

“But I’m not Roger.”

“What?’ you asked in surprise, with a slight touch of being horrified.

“Y/N I’m not mad or upset. I’m also not blind. I can sense the feelings and tension between you two most of the time, hell we all can. I just chose to ignore it, thinking it was normal for you guys. But the last few days, it got stronger and although it never showed, it was felt in the air. Whatever you and him are feeling is intense, and it can’t be found in other partners, no matter how you feel about those other people. I like you a lot as well Y/N, I thought we could’ve gone somewhere, but whatever we have, no matter how great it is, isn’t what you and Rog have, and what you two have, is special and seemingly unbreakable. It’s real.” he beamed at you and kissed your hand. You don’t know what overcame you, but you teared up and hugged Brian tight. God how did he manage to hit what you felt right on the head.

“God please don’t let me lose you as a friend.” you cried and muffled into him, and Brian hugged back laughing.

“Darling you wish you could get rid of me! I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” he assured you as he hugged you, and you sniffled. You sighed and whispered, finally letting it out.

“The thing is, I don’t even know myself what Roger and I have. Hell I don’t even know what I’m feeling if anything, and I could just be taking things and intuitions the wrong way, and just making things bigger than what they are. It’s so...complicated.” you finally admitted and you sat up.

“Well, love is never easy. We’ve had a lot of admissions tonight, so if you need someone to talk to, I’m here and have been told I am a great listener” he nudged you and smiled, and you took a deep breath, ready to finally tell someone everything you’ve been feeling. You told him what you’ve been feeling, both for and about Roger, you told him what led you to feel these things, and for how long. You also explained how you felt these partially in the past but never paid any attention to them because you thought it was silly and cliché. You told Brian every detail of things you’ve ignored in the past, and how these things have become stronger in the past few days and how you couldn’t ignore them anymore, no matter how hard you tried. You were pouring your heart and brain out, and you felt like a huge weight was lifted off your shoulders. You were so happy to finally tell someone, and someone you trusted. You knew Brian would see things practically, so that was a huge help to you.

Once you got down explaining, you told him about what happened before the concert and how that made you question things further. Brian watched you intently as you explained, and would tap his chin. “Wow Y/N...that’s a lot.” he finally said and you laughed and wiped your eyes, not even noticing you were crying again. You never cried so to do it twice in one night was odd for you.  

“You’re telling me kid.” you both laughed and Brian rubbed your side soothingly as you laid your head on his shoulder.

“But, from what you told me, even though it seems impractical and scary, you need to tell him. You’re feeling a lot and he deserves to know...trust me.”

You sighed, afraid he would say that. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship Bri, he means so much to me and I can’t lose him over some schoolgirl crush!”

“Well, from what you told me, it’s way deeper than a crush. Besides, from the things you told me that he’s done, and from the things I’ve observed and seen from him, it’s mutual. I’ve seen the way he glances at you, hell we’ve made comments about it. We never said anything though, wanting to see if you would figure it out for yourself. And my small crush on you didn’t help either.” you chuckled at that and grabbed his hand. “But Y/N you should tell him, I’m sure he’s feeling just the same. But you know Roger, he’s a stubborn bastard.” Brian finished explaining and you felt a smile creep up on your lips. He then stood up, grabbed both of your hands and pulled you up. “All right up we go! No overthinking it, go tell him now!” he encouraged and you shook your head. “Go do it now while your emotions are out, you have an overthinking tendency and you’ll talk yourself out of it. Go now, I’ll wait here until you get back, unless you don’t.” he winked at you and you rolled your eyes, unable to believe you were going to do this without any sort of plan. Brian hugged you again and handed you your bag. “Don’t plan...think from the heart. Just go.” he kissed your head and ushered you out.

You beamed at the gesture and his kindness. “Thanks Bri, I love you a lot.” he pushed you out and you walked to the elevator. You could do this, after what happened today, it had to be done. Brian was right, Roger deserved to know. You took another deep breath, suddenly nervous. You hardly felt nervous, except for a big case, but you ignored it, not letting it affect you. As you got to his floor and made your way to his door, you bit your lip and swallowed hard. It was now or never. You knocked on his door once, and there was no answer. You knocked again, and waited a minute. There was no answer so you started to turn back around and make the walk to the elevator, until you heard the door open. You expected Roger to answer it, but instead you were greeted by the same blonde woman from the party, wearing one of Roger’s shirts.

“Hello!” she greeted with a kind tone.

“Hi, is uhm Roger around?” you asked curiously, slowly losing any motivation you had.

“Yeah he’s in the shower! I can grab him for you if you’d like?” she asked and you just shook your head in response.

“Oh no no that’s okay, I just wanted to...never mind. It’s no longer important.” you smiled sadly realizing it was true.

“Oh, okay! Sorry about that! What’s your name love, I can tell him you stopped by?” she offered with a genuine smile. Wow she was a nice and polite girl, so unlike the other girls Roger’s had. You chuckled at your thought and felt bad for thinking that.

“Y/N...again it’s fine. It’s no big deal. Have a nice night.” you said quietly and shot her a smile, and as you were about to leave, Roger appeared next to her in the doorway wearing a hotel bathrobe.

“Lolo hey what are you doing here?” he asked surprised.

“Oh it’s nothing Rog...just uh wanted to give you your jacket back!” you quickly recovered and took it off, not even realizing you were still wearing it. You were so thankful you were, as it saved you in that moment. You handed him the discarded clothing item, and he looked at you with confused eyes.

“I told you to keep it doll...yanno in case you needed it.”

“It’s okay Rog, I don’t need it any longer.” you smiled softly, pulling your poker face. “Anyway I wanted to give that back. Sorry to disturb your uh, evening. Have a great night!” you said fast, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. You started to head back to the elevator, and you heard Roger call out your name, seemingly trying to call you back. But you didn’t turn around, you didn’t go back. You couldn’t. All the courage you had was gone, and for the first time you lost your voice. You took a deep breath as you got on the elevator. All the hope you had from Brian, and from thinking about what could be was gone. You should’ve known better than to keep hope, especially for a situation you didn’t have all the necessary facts for and couldn’t draw out a conclusion. You felt like crying but you wouldn’t, not over this. There were more important things to do. Tonight you were going to march up to your hotel room, pack your things up and forget all about what had happened. Because you’re on this tour as a friend to Roger and to cheer on the band. You may not have your feelings sorted out, but you’ll get there. At least you knew where you stood with Roger, that you had indeed read way into things. He only saw you as his best friend, and hell that’s exactly what you would be for him. No different than before, nothing would change between you two. Roger needed his best friend and that’s exactly what you would be to him. You did this for him, and that’s what you would do for him. You loved him, that much was true, but at least you knew where you stood in his eyes, and that was more than enough for him. You still had him in your life and would keep him in your life in anyway, no matter how you felt towards him or how it made you feel. You smiled at the thought, knowing you still had him, in any shape.  

taglist: @obsessedwithrogertaylor @dreamy--far-off--look @godknowsivefalleninlove @tohellwithsafe @okqueenie @clarkewithameme @incorrcctqueen @chlobo6

[kaynstein]

Doctor Zhivago (Star, 2018)

While I was in Japan I bought my first Zuka DVD (damn those are expensive), Doctor Zhivago. So I thought, after watching it and the 1965 movie, I’d write down my thoughts about it. My Japanese still needs improving, so I didn’t catch all the details; meaning I could be wrong about some things.

Officially the musical is based on the book by Boris Pasternak. But it seems they took things from the book, the 1965 movie and the 2002 remake. (At least I think that naming Yuri’s son “Yuri” is a 2002 thing) All in all I think they did a good job adapting a book famous for it’s many characters, who’re all in some way important, and ~3h long movies into a 2h play with only 25 actresses. Seen on it’s own I would even say it’s my favourite musical. For a Takarazuka musical it’s really dark (literally). Even more so than i.e. “Arch of Triumph” (2018). They had no problem showing: state sanctioned violence, hunger, the village Strelnikov destroyed, war wounds and rape. The death scenes were sudden and short, with just a single headlight on the dead body. Moreover, in my experience Zuka usually puts a few lighter scenes in their more serious shows, which is missing here. Although I must say, that the dance of the soldiers was a bit too heroic in my opinion.

Obviously there had to be cut a lot and characters are left out. For example people are getting a lot less pregnant. But overall the story didn’t feel too rushed and the important story elements were all included. My only complaint is, that they should have given Yuri and Lara more time to interact in the field hospital. Their following romance therefore seemed a bit like they were just horny; even with all that talk about ~fate~. But in my opinion simple lust also plays a big role in their relationship in the book and the movie, so I’m not too mad about it. I like that in this version Lara seems to immediately plan to kill Komarovsky after he raped her and doesn’t think too much about the consequences. Whereas in the source material it isn’t clearly stated if it was rape (“she might have liked it” and such stuff) and Lara’s decision to shoot Komarovsky is a bit more calculated or rather in the book she doesn’t even shoot him in the end.

Todoroki Yuu’s Yuri Zhivago is a lot more proud and forward than in the movie, which I like. He clearly cares for his family and tries to help as much people around him as possible, but also has no problem clearly stating his political views. Tom plays Yuri vulnerable, but not whiny. A big part of Yuri’s more assertive nature comes, I think, from Tom’s general “don’t mess with me”-vibes. But that might just be in the performance on the DVD. I’ve seen snippets of the last day performance and Yuri seems, especially towards the end, a lot more defeated and overall less intense. The first two songs were in a higher pitch, where her voice sounded a bit raspy and you could definitely see, that she had to work to get those notes; but she never missed them. The later songs were deeper and really fit her voice. Also, that moustache looks so damn good on her.

Arisa Hitomi did a good job as Lara I think. She could have been a bit more forward, but that’s probably due to the musumeyaku training. All in all I liked her acting, especially her contempt for Komarovsky. In the kiss scenes it’s sometimes noticeable that she’s still nervous around Tom. They don’t have the same dynamic as Kiichan and Tom, but they also had less time to get to know each other, so that’s understandable. Arisa also has a nice soprano voice.

Seo Yuria as Pascha/Strelnikov was really outstanding for me. So passionate and filled with rage. At the end of her song after meeting Yuri she’s actually more screaming than singing, which fits in this case perfectly. She showed really good the two sides of Pascha; concerning Lara he is gentle and more sensitive, but in his political views he is fervid. Seo seemed like she would kill the Tsar alone and with her own hands if need be. Her death scene is also one of my favourites that I’ve seen so far. It’s abrupt and fairly quick; Pascha of course once again proclaims his love for Lara, but it’s not a long monologue, which makes one forget the fact that the speaker is actually supposed to be dying. Also, there’s no fake blood, but scene seems very bloody nonetheless because of Seo’s acting.

Tenju Mitsuki plays Komarovsky as well as one of the soldiers. I didn’t notice her among the soldiers, but her Komarovsky was really good. He never ceases to be a despicable guy, but towards the end you understand that he does in some way care for Lara and Yuri. Tenju only had one small solo singing part right before the intermission and she missed her cue and/or didn’t hit the note either way it sounded weird. You could hear that she was angry about missing her chance to shine. But I think her acting made up for that.

On that note I really liked the way how they handled the rape scene. It was disturbing and not downplayed. Lara’s also not shown to be at fault (her mother first slaps her, but then comes to understand) or staged as a helpless victim, since she immediately takes up the initiative to shoot Komorovsky.

I can really recommend watching this play!

[deltastorm101]

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst - A (critical) love letter.

Hello and welcome back to another episode of “a review I thought I could never write because I’m way too emotionally attached to this game which I know insanely, almost creepily well”, mixed with a healthy dose of “I should do everything but write this review because I want to finish school at some point but I have to use the surge of inspiration while it lasts”!

Today we will be talking about Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, which was released 2016 as a prequel-ly reboot (saying it like this because for the longest time I’ve thought it to be a prequel but turns out it’s a lot more like a reboot... my bad) to the first Mirror’s Edge from 2008 (which, by the way, still looks fantastic today considering its release year). I will occasionally throw in references and aspects from the first game as well, but this will primarily be about Catalyst.

Time for game 👏 review 👏!

And as always - warning: spoilers. I’ll try to keep the really huge ones out of this or at least mark them well, but going off and playing for yourself first is recommended.

To start this off, I want to say that I initially loved the first Mirror’s Edge - however, only after playing Catalyst, I realized how bad the controls and bugs in it actually were, which is another way of saying Catalyst is a miracle when it comes to naturally flowing controls and crisp and polished looking environments. The city it takes place in, “Glass”, is breathtakingly gorgeous, period. Shiny, clean, it is just on point and one of the biggest reasons I consider it to be my favourite game from the day I first played it, hands down. Not even one of the new Tomb Raider games or one of my childhood-reminiscent games were able to top it and that means something.

The game takes place in an open world map complex under a totalitarian government, drawing parallels to George Orwell’s “1984” – big brother is watching you, all that. A dystopian world if I’ve ever seen one. The open world aspect is one of the best decisions the developers could have made; I have no words to describe how beautiful the different city districts are, and being able to run in freeroam through the city of Glass like parkour runners are meant to feels so much better than being trapped in closed-off levels like it was the case in the first game.

When I first wrote down some key aspects for this review while I was playing it once more, I noted that apparently, you only truly understand the game’s backstory and the protagonists’ origins if you’ve bought and read the comic, Mirror’s Edge Exordium, and that I think it’s not that important because you can well understand what’s going on at the beginning without it – the game starts with Faith, the main protagonist, getting out of jail/a sort of juvenile detention, making her way back into her old circle of friends and family and, of course, old unresolved and new unconsidered problems and conflicts. The comic basically explains what has been messed up by who to make her end up in juvie in the first place and, as I said, it’s not really necessary to know. But, after having bought it now after literal years of consideration, I can say that it’s definitely very nice to know, and totally worth it. There are a lot of elements from the game carefully and lovingly worked into the comic and vice versa (I don’t know what was written first, comic or game, but they fit together very nicely), and just having more reasons, more answers, a larger overview and even partly some explanations for the first game feels... right.

The voice acting is good overall – not strikingly awesome but definitely up there, especially during emotional cutscenes. Sometimes the controls are a bit wonky and Faith might not immediately do what your fingers tell her to but that could definitely be on me - in games where fast reaction is important, quick time events can go wrong occasionally, nothing new. There are some passages you could consider a QTE but they’re being displayed early enough for you to be able to mentally prepare for them as far as I see it. And in my book, that’s a massive improvement from the first game, where you were able to press a button perfectly in time even while having reaction time (= a temporary slow mode) activated, and still watch Faith gracefully fall down the side of the building while flailing her arms in fear because she didn’t grab onto that perfectly grabbable practical white ledge. Why, you ask? I don’t know, ask Faith. Oh, you can’t, obviously made clear by the nasty sound of her hitting the road and her neck being snapped apart. Seriously, I cringed to the moon and back when I first heard that ugly sound. Which is another thing they improved in Catalyst; now all you hear is her quick, raspy, fear-filled breaths and a blissful silence paired with a white death screen after you’ve hit a death barrier. Not the ground, a death barrier. There’s a shitload of them. Which is a pity regarding the fact that a whole lot more out-of-bounds areas would be reachable and playable if there weren’t. Honestly, I find it kind of disappointing that there’s this many invisible walls, fall-through grounds and death barriers. I can see why, conserving computing resources to avoid loading screens, blah blah, but still... let me go off the map, dammit. The game is about a group of people living “off the grid”, why can’t the player actually do that? Hm? Hmmm?

Another aspect tying into this is the social playing mechanic(s), which I found interesting but indeed totally unnecessary. We all know leaderboards of races and stuff, which were incorporated here as setting the best time in short, timed courses (“dashes”), which naturally have been hacked and cheated into ridiculousness. No, RunnerMaster69, I do not believe you ran that dash in three seconds and 420 nanoseconds, I just don’t. Upon completing a dash, you leave an ‘echo’, so basically a ghost other players can compare themselves to, and for you to see which route another player took. Nothing too groundbreaking on that front. There’s a way of tagging locations you’ve been to: so-called Beat Link Emitters (Beat L.E.s) are like little chips shining red in the world you can put down wherever you’re able to stand safely and have them appear in other people’s games to touch, which is a nice way of incorporating a way of saying “Hey, look where I was able to climb!” (And yes, I have abused this system; there’s a glitch making it possible for Faith to float down high buildings onto lower ones, which aren’t death-barriered but not reachable on a normal way. You bet I was a floating gurl putting down Beat L.E.s whereeeeever I could. So much fun. Sorry.)

The same goes for hackable billboards, which can also appear in your friends’ games, but they could have been designed a lot more interestingly. If you hack a billboard, your runner tag appears on it, which consists of a visual symbol, a frame around it, and a background. You can customize the tag in a companion app, which again I didn’t really find necessary. But it is pretty self-explanatory and a nice gimmick if you’re into that kinda stuff.

Maybe an irrelevant aspect: Faith is wearing the same outfit (almost) throughout the whole game. Only at the beginning while getting to the runners’ lair she’s wearing something different and I see missed potential there: let the player run in these clothes, or in the prison clothes, or in the clothes from Mirror’s Edge 1, or in some of the fancy clothes Glass’ high society is wearing, or generally different runner’s attire which still stays true to the style, or Black November garb... endless opportunities, missed. Not at all crucial, but in my opinion maybe better than some different-looking billboard...

Coming back to the (back-)story aspect once more; as with all of today’s big triple-A games, there’s a looooot of documents and recordings to find, to give the player a loooot of backstory, which I found terribly overdone. It always felt like there was too much to collect and too few actual story told; not to mention some story bits not being in either of the games or their collectables, but in a separately sold comic, well done EA, well done.

Additionally, a lot of the documents were about literal history of the state called Cascadia and the ‘conglomerate’ and Omnistat and the November Riots (don’t worry if you have no idea what these words mean, I don’t either...) and regarding the fact that I finished taking history in school with a D ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)... you can imagine I wasn’t that interested in the actual history elements. Give me story anytime, but get the hi- prefix outta here please.

Another thing that I just very recently discovered: Some of the performed parkour movements are inaccurate. Thanks to my new interest of binging parkour tutorial videos I’ve seen actual mistakes in movement (in both games), which I can understand sometimes because some of them have been implemented on purpose and for a reason. For example: A parkour safety roll is performed sideways, with one of your shoulders hitting the floor first and the impact being absorbed and reduced by your whole back rolling over the ground in a diagonal line, ending in one of your feet carrying over the fall’s momentum for you to be able to stand up and run right along, probably even faster than before the drop. In the first game, this was handled straight up terribly; not only did Faith not roll diagonally but straight on her spine, which fuckin hurts if you perform it after you took a fall and is dangerous as all hell, but all her momentum got lost as well - it didn’t make any difference if you took a hard fall, the screen flashed red and you had to build new momentum, or if it was a soft fall with a nice (hurting and dangerous) roll, her stopping dead in her tracks like “Oh wow, did you see that, I made a roll” and then continuing to build new momentum because it all got lost. BUT since this is about Catalyst: Faith is still performing a straight spine-hurting-dangerous-as-all-hell-roll, but at least she keeps her momentum when she does it. Regarding to what I said at the beginning of this semi-rant-paragraph because I’ve “studied” (emphasis on the quotation marks) parkour theory so much at this point, yet am not able to actually perform any moves because I don’t have the strength, stamina or willpower to- Uh, where was I...? Ah, yeah, the reason for the incorrectly performed roll. It’s obvious when you think about it: motion sickness, a gamer’s best friend when it comes to first-person perspective. If Faith was performing a correct roll, it would turn and shake the camera around too much, which could potentially make the player motion sick over time. Period. Look up some first-person safety roll footage on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean. So, there’s a reason, and we should be thankful the roll is a straight gymnastics roll. Sorry Faith, looks like your spine and neck have to suffer a little longer. However, I can and will not understand why they have Celeste, a character from the first game, climb up ledges with her knees and elbows. No. NO. Feet first. If you can’t do feet first, then do one foot first and then pull up the rest. If you can’t do that, train more and don’t call yourself a runner yet, doing this for a living on top of I-dunno-how-high-rooftops.

My feelings are kind of ambivalent on the no-guns mechanics - all you can defend yourself with is your fists (and legs and momentum, of course), while in the first game, you could snatch people’s guns and start some weaponized combat. I liked both of these strategies, not really caring when they announced Faith not being able to do shootieshootie-pewpew this time around.

One thing I liked a lot considering the open world aspect is that if you die, you respawn exactly where you last stood on safe ground before dying (except in missions, of course). It makes freeroaming very comfortable because you don’t have to worry about respawn- and checkpoints; you can just try again when you messed up a jump.

They also changed the beacon- and navigation system (“runner’s vision”) a bit too, which was also definitely necessary for the open world (which they’ve praised as a lot less linear, but honestly? It isn’t really. I knew my way around in Glass pretty well after a mere month of playing), but they did include options for how much you want the game to help you. There’s normal runner’s vision, with a red streak appearing every few seconds, showing you exactly where to run; there’s classic runner’s vision, made to be like in the first game, with environmental beacons and indicators being coloured in red when coming close to them and without the red streak; and of course, you can switch it off completely, which I occasionally like to do to test how well I really know my way around in Glass.

The soundtrack is outstanding. Straight up phenomenal. It can empower and hype you up, but can also be relaxing during a relaxing sightseeing trip through Glass. And it’s also great to leave on as background music while studying (I’m making use of that when preparing for graduation exams), or driving.

There is dynamic day- and night time - I liked that a lot, it’s a good way of showing off the lighting at all sorts of times. Only problem I had: a night sky is supposed to be black, not royal blue.

Note: almost all the “problems” I’ve listed here have been made mods for (e.g. more exciting looking billboards, more outfits, a changeable day-night cycle and a black night sky). If I had enough experience with (and patience for) modding, I’d definitely try it myself but the ‘flaws’ aren’t grave enough for me to feel a desire to manipulate and tweak some game files.

Okay, time for a spoiler. Not a bad one, but one that could give you ideas if you know how Mirror’s Edge rolls, or if you’ve played the first game... which is basically a spoiler in itself too. Ahem, anyway.

Towards the end of the game, when I was profoundly convinced of it being one of my all-time favourites, I was like “Yes, finally a game that improves and learns from past mistakes and listens to their players and what they want”... and then came Noah. I bawled my eyes out and I will be forever angry at the devs for doing this. That’s all I’m saying.

That ultimately didn’t stop me from loving the game though. From an objective standpoint I’d say it’s an overall good prequel/reboot/requel/preboot. Faith’s universe became a bit more mainstream but also a lot more polished and they definitely listened to their fans to some degree. From the very subjective standpoint I have written this review from, I’m saying that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst holds a very special place in my heart and I am truly glad it saw the light of day, after everyone waiting 8 years for it to be released after the first game. (I didn’t wait quite that long; I got Mirror’s Edge 1 in January 2016 and was completely and utterly hooked and hyped for Catalyst in May 2016.)

And that concludes it. If you’ve read this far – thank you. I’m aware that this is a bit different from my other reviews tone-wise - I have put every ounce of sass I possess into this because I... felt like it :D I hope it was fun to read!

[thatfilmduderyan]

Death Studios: My studio space.

For a long time I’ve wanted to do a blogpost about my studio but it’s never materialised (mostly due to always being distracted by other more pressing matters in the world of work). That is until now. 

Death Studios began life in September 2016 when I came back from working on the All Fucked Up video for The Amity Affliction. From time to time a mutual friend of mine worked from a coffee shop I often frequented, and she turned up one day and said that off the back of brexit she felt a need to find “a new place to work from to change things up”. Immediately I got on board with the idea as I’d never found the perfect spot to set up a studio before. Previously I’d been accepted at a number of innovation centres but the problem was that they were often far too ‘office like’ for me. I probably could have moved into a studio space about 5 years ago but I’m someone that operates strongly off the back of their gut feelings. Nothing every felt right for me until I walked into this place.

The entire building was up for grabs and 3 of us ended up coming together with the same goal. The other 2 people were more ‘desk based’ (a graphic designer and an illustrator) and therefore they needed a lot less space than me, so they ended up taking the floor above and turned it into a shared desk studio. But I needed shelf spaces, work tops, storage areas and a host of other features, so this room had massive potential. There were a few structural changes required that included an overhaul of electrics, the recovering of all surface woodwork, new windows with an advanced security system, a couple stud walls, a new wooden floor and finally the painting of the entire place. My dad was a huge part of the work that went into this place and he came up with the idea to drop the strip lights from the ceiling and hang them by chains (which I loved so much). There were a lot of late nights spent working on the space as well as continuing to run other video/film projects. I have fond memories of my brother and me painting the walls and laughing until I sides hurt at old stories of us growing up. Originally I had wanted to keep things minimal but I soon realised this was near impossible with everything I had. I actually suffer with OCD, so once I’d made peace with the layout I began arranging things as I saw fit. A large part of inspiration for the room came from Casey Neistat’s studio (his youtube blog linked below but click his name for a studio tour) and various other interiors outlets like Rocket St George (some bulbs and the coat rack near the front door are from that store). 

The main aim for the studio space was for me to have a private working environment where I could do a number of things. The layout is setup for meetings, post-production work, pre-production work, team sessions, equipment storage/maintenance and physical product distribution. I actually want to create and release things that all get made and distributed from the studio at some point but I’ve yet to do this (it’s in the works though). The layout of the work surfaces means I can move to different points of the room depending on my mood. It sounds kinda crazy but my mood really does affect this and I’ve used pretty much all the different positions for different pieces of work. During the winter I often like to sit in the position picture 3 showcases. Picture 2 is often utilised for packing cases and the layout of the room means I can pretty much pack for any job within a 30 minute period. I have a large wall (not pictured) behind where picture 4 is taken but this is covered in post-it notes relating to the projects I’ve currently got going on so I can’t show it due to privacy requirements/NDAs I’ve signed. Originally the wall was covered with framed posters from various releases I’ve directed, but I felt like it wasn’t being used properly so these were taken down in favour of a wall where I could stick post it notes (this was partly inspired by the character Nathan in Ex-Machina, and the scene where we see a wall of post-it notes behind his work computer). There are a couple angles of the room I’ve not included due to me wanting to keep the location largely hidden, but there is also a tea and coffee area which has a picture of the Defeater boys hanging over it haha (thanks to my friend Josie Hoffman for that gift). The space can house about 4 people when working from computers but I’ve held a production meeting for a film here with about 12 people present.

The strip light you see above the shelves in picture 4 has a strange tale behind it. My parents bought an old derelict newspaper shop to setup their business in and during the renovations they found an old light that sat on top of a cigarette counter. The light sat in the loft of their business for years and as we approached the completion of the studio build my dad said “do you want that old cigarette counter light in here?” and I said “hell yes I do”. My plan was to have it on the floor previously and replace the old branded perspex front with my own custom one. I ended up going with a phrase that has stuck with me for years which is ‘fear mediocrity’. Mediocrity is of the the biggest threats to inspired and original art. Mediocrity is also a very big seller and it functions as the facilitating ground for many people looking to make money from creativity (it’s easy to accept and often doesn’t challenge the status quo). This is something I’ve always felt has to be avoided to achieve greatness in your work; so what better place to illuminate it than above my head every day. Either side of the phrase are a couple of aliens from the John Carpenter film ‘They Live’ who in the story are trying to capture and brainwash the earth. The strangest part of this light was that when we came to the installation it went perfectly into the gap above the shelf... there was no space either side of it to shift. It was a spooky moment because it honestly felt like that light was meant to be in that spot. If you look closely at the picture of it you’ll see a steel conduit right next to it with no space... this was fitted before the light went in, let alone was in the same building. 

The studio has become an integral part of my work routine and allows me to disconnect from whatever I need to and concentrate on the job at hand. This place was at the centre of all of the projects I’ve helmed over the last 2.5 years. Due to the nature of how I work and the routine I have I unfortunately can’t accept work experience placements, but Crashburn does accept them on shoots. My creative routine has become extremely private since moving into this space and I realised that I want to keep it that way moving forward into future projects. I’m currently writing my first feature film (off the back of a recently produced short) which is bringing new challenges but never the less is being aided by this custom made space. I really recommend people in the creative industries finding their own studio space and making it truly ‘them’. It’s a tall order to find a spot you feel comfortable in but ultimately if you don’t feel good your workflow will be heavily disrupted. My advice to would-be studio designers is.... don’t rush. Find what works and make it yours. That is the very crux of what Death Studios is for me. I think the most gratifying thing about owning a spot like this is that it has come from a place within myself. In filmmaking you’re often surrounded by many different types of people and eventually you end up realising that everyone is different and everyone has their own idea of what filmmaking is. The journey is never the same twice. I’ve always wanted to be independent and able to do whatever I want, however I want, and finally this studio is a step in that direction (just think along the lines of Neil Blomkamp’s ‘Oats Studios’). I’m here to create the films I feel need to be made while developing myself further as a feature film director. In this process there’s a wonderful gap to facilitate anyone who wants to collaborate and make great things. The process is natural, nurturing and it makes me feel strong. All parts fit together. Long live Death Studios. 

Rx

Links!

Casey Neistat Youtube Page

Casey Neistat Studio tour via Marcus Brownlee

Rocket St George

Ex-Machina ‘Post-it note’ scene

They Live movie

[robotslenderman]

Wait, American here. What's happened? Why are we fighting with the Australians. Everyone knows not to fight with the Australians, they're our allies ffs. Oh god, he's going to start WW3.

G’DAY MATE LEMME SORT THAT OUT FOR YA. Scroll to the bottom for a TL;DR.

*Clears throat* #auspol, please correct me if I’m wrong on this, I’m just repeating what my mother told me and I’ve read absolutely nowhere about the Central American refugees thing, so let me know if I’ve totally cocked this one up.

Right. Before we get started, lemme tell you about Australia’s version of the Mexican Wall (detention centres! Human rights violations for everybody!), and how this relates to Trump throwing a tantrum on twitter and Malcolm Turnbull either being the most unimpressed politician ever or the biggest doormat ever, depending on who you ask.

See, the big issue in Australian politics (when it’s not the annual Leadership Spill) is the People On Boats.

Because of that whole “island nation” thing, we don’t have people fucking over here over the border because our border’s the fucking ocean, so they have to get on a goddamn boat to do it. To get on the boats, they pay people smugglers, go across a few countries, then get on more boats (possibly not in that order, I don’t know, I don’t have a bachelor’s degree in this), and then wind up here.

There’s a couple of problems with this, “AAAAAH BROWN PEOPLE!!!” from the racists in the peanut gallery notwithstanding:

Problem #1 – People smugglers know that those boats are one-way-trip only, so they give refugees the shittiest possible boats they can. Every now and then, one springs a leak earlier than intended. (Yes, “earlier than intended”, more on that in a tick.) So every now and then we’ll see on the news that the navy found an empty boat or one full of corpses or answered a distress call only to find no boat at all. Either way, refugees can and have died to get here – either as an accident, or as a tragic consequence of – 

Problem #2 – I don’t know the specifics, but the Australian navy, when it intercepts boats, is… I don’t know if they’re supposed to somehow turn the boats back, all I know is that they can’t let the refugees on board.

Unless the boat is in distress.

The solution to that? Blow a hole in the boat.

IDK if this still happens, or if this is just my Liberal mother filtering it, but what I’ve heard is that the only way the refugees can get rescued by the navy is if they’re in danger. So the refugees sabotage their own boat, and the navy has to rescue them.

As you can imagine, sometimes this doesn’t go as intended. Sometimes the navy’s too late, or someone slips – there’s families on board those shitty boats. People’s children have died.

Anyway, because of problem #1 and #2, there’s a real risk of people dying. Now, look, a lot of people who don’t want refugees here are just plain racist and could actually hardly care less about drowning refugees, and all of this could be solved by the navy just rescuing them anyway before the refugees are desperate enough to kick a hole in the hull, but fact of the matter is, there’s people profiting off the life savings of vulnerable people, greasing the wheels of corruption and putting people in danger, all the while promising that they’ll get settled in Australia if they remember to blow a hole in their own ship.

and then we stick them in a detention centre for years or more anyway.

So basically, all Australian politics ever talks about is Stopping the Boats (or not stopping the boats).

So somebody – IDK if this was the Lizard King or Turnbull’s idea, or even Obama’s. But at some point, Aussie politicians made a deal with Obama.

And, again, correct me if I’m wrong because the only source for this is my Liberal (as in, right-wing Liberal) mother, and I’m too lazy to google, and have heard nothing about this anywhere else, but – 

The idea is that we’d swap refugees. America gets our refugees, and we get Central American refugees. Two thousand, I think. I expect that’s just to start off with because I would’ve heard about it earlier if this was a thing that had been going on for a while. Either we end up with a few hundred extra refugees or it’s one for one, I don’t know, all I know is that it was two thousand on each side or less.

Anyway, this is win-win! 

People smugglers (hopefully) get less business because it’s kind of bad for business if you tell your clients they’ll go to Straya and they wind up drawing a short straw and winding up in Murica instead. (Word gets around, refugees find this stuff out so the people smugglers could only bluff for so long.)

People who are genuinely concerned about refugees not drowning are soothed because hopefully less refugees coming = less drownings.

Closet racists have to deal with brown people anyway and have no choice but to shut the fuck up or out themselves as actual racists.

People who are all for accepting refugees will be satisfied as the refugees get to go to a better life than the one they left behind anyway.

Basically the Australian government probably thinks it’ll get some peace and fucking quiet from all sides, when in reality we’ll just move on to marriage equality.

Now, again, I don’t know if this is actually what it is or not. I live in a Liberal (ie Republican, not left wing like it means in the States) household. I’ve never even seen left wingers here talk about people smugglers so I don’t even know how much of that is or isn’t true.

Whatever it is, we were supposed to ship a bunch of refugees over to the States and then the Carrot’s ass got elected, started going on about banning muslims etc and Washington DC Canberra went, “Oh, fuck.”

So! Turnbull, our PM, called Trump or vice versa to chat about it.

Then Turnbull told Straya that the deal was going ahead and that he Stood Up For Australia during this phone call. 

Australia went, “umm…. sounds fake but ok” because we’re Australian, not stupid, we got more coverage about the last US election than we do about all our elections ever combined. We know perfectly damn well that you either stand up to Trump or you get your own way, not both.

Then the Washington Post leaked what actually happened on that phone call a few days ago and now the Australian media is losing its shit.

What happened?

Apparently Trump went on about his penis size inauguration crowds, pitched a fit about the deal and how he “intended” (note the wiggle room that word gives you) to follow through on the deal, called that phone call with Turnbull “the worst” phone call he’d had that day (yes, to Turnbull’s “face”), and then hung up on him 25 minutes in out of the hour that call was supposed to take.

The Washington Post leaked it a few days later, and the Australian media lost its shit.

And after the Washington Post leaked it, Trump (ETA: oops, fixed that error, it was definitely Trump!) complained publicly on twitter that the whole deal was “dumb” and implied he was gonna try get out of it.

Australian media lost its shit again.

Now, regardless of your opinions of Turnbull – I think the guy actually did stand up to Trump. (I shouldn’t have said that out loud on tumblr, that’s like the Australian equivalent of saying “well I heard Trump petted a dog once?”) He can be a bit of a people pleaser and seems to be pretty laid back rather than go-for-the-throat. Or so I’m guessing because political news has been a lot quieter since the Lizard King was deposed.

But look, first off, we’re fucking Australians. We despise rank, it’s in our blood, our ancestors were convicts who wanted (and frequently tried) to shank their British overlords. Ranks are formalities on paper that should stay on paper. You wouldn’t even dream of the President of the US making chitchat with, say, a garbage disposal man, but in Australia if we found out our PM didn’t treat one as his equal we’d lose our fucking minds at the politician’s arrogance. Unless the garbage person was brown, because at the end of the day, Australia is p damn racist. Even the biggest doormat of a PM would have their inner Australian chomping at the bit the second Trump so much as insinuated he was more important than them. 

And come on, even people who live under rocks just know how big Trump’s ego is and how long Trump can be expected to go before he insinuates someone is beneath him even a little bit.

Secondly, the American pro-Trump media is implying that Turnbull pissed Trump off because they spun it as “well, Trump’s other phone calls went fine!”

And thirdly, I really don’t think a manchild like Trump would hang up the phone on someone unless that person was acting with a sliver of self-respect. Like hell, Turnbull could breathe too loudly and Trump’d be offended.

But then, Turnbull might’ve stood up to him and still been a doormat by our standards, because he is not telling the media his side of the story. At all. Probably because he doesn’t want to piss off Pence whoever winds up in charge after Trump goes, because at the end of the day, sucking up to the States is a sport that’s even more popular than our annual leadership spills.

Also, Australians hate politicians in general, so we’d probably call Turnbull a doormat if he bought a plane ticket and pissed on Trump’s hair personally, so.

TL;DR – Washington Post leaked that Trump humiliated our PM over the phone and now Australia’s going “Oooooh, shots fired!”

[hangonimevolving]

Sewing Table Refurb: The Backstory

I’ve got a little less than an hour to spend today, updating all you lovely people about a project I’ve had going on for some weeks now.  

So, I sew sometimes.  I would like to sew more than I currently do, and I’ve decided that this is the year it’s gonna happen.  I believe I have talked about sewing on this blog before, namely with regards to various reupholstering and quilting projects I’ve taken on in the past.  I think I’ve even introduced you to two of The Girls - - i.e my sewing machines.  I’ve got a 1964 vintage Sears/Kenmore sewing machine that I purchased off of Craigslist back in Boston for $60, which included a beautiful midcentury solid wood cabinet that conceals the machine when not in use (talked about it here and here).  

It had its original midcentury-era drawer pulls when I first purchased it, but I switched them out to more updated knob pulls back in 2007 because I was being anal-retentive and wanted the hardware to be brushed nickel, to match other crap in our condo.

I also have a substantially more modern, and in “like new” condition (but actual age, maybe 20 years old) Husqvarna Viking serger (discussed here).  I remember feeling like a frigging rock start for scooping it up at $100.

Last year, during a giant Slipcovering Bonanza undertaken by me and my mom to guard my ginormous, beautiful double-sectional West Elm sofa from my destructive children and cat, my old Kenmore started giving me a little bit of grief.... my mother convinced me that I owed it to myself to buy a new sewing machine, if I was serious about continuing this hobby.  She said all the right things about how I deserved a newer machine with a few more features and a little less of the wheezing and attitude of an older machine.  I took the bait, and bought myself this Gorgeous Lady: a Janome HD 3000.

I’m incredibly pleased with this machine.  I paid under $500 for it on Amazon, and this included a bunch of “free gifts” and accessories like a bunch of special presser feet, extra bobbin set, and some other doodads.  

I love the machine.  But.  (there’s always a but, isn’t there?)....  I am a brat.  After sewing on my old-school Kenmore machine in the built-in cabinet for so many  years, I got accustomed to having my needle plate sitting flush with the tabletop while I sew.  To those of you who have no idea what the #$%^ I’m talking about - -the short version of the story is, I missed the ergonomics of how my old vintage machine was set up.  Here is a graphic that might explain:

(I stole that image from someone on Pinterest, but I’ve left their handle name up there in case someone wants to go search for it)

Here’s another image that might allow a non-sewing person to understand what my problem was.  This is also from IKEAhackers on Pinterest.... in summary, see how this machine has been set INTO the table a bit, instead of just having its base sitting on top?  This allows you to work fabric through the machine’s needle without having to hunch your shoulders.

Anyways.  Thus far, I had been working on my new Janome machine either at the dining table or on my desk in our home office, or sometimes, on top of my old Kenmore machine’s cabinet with the hinged tabletop still shut.  All of these setups were making my shoulders and neck pissed off at me, but there wasn’t much I could do about it unless and until I was ready to start thinking about coming up with a proper furniture solution.

Somehow, about a month ago, I got a little fed up with my shoulders and back muscles hurting, and after my second round of Botox injections in my levator scapulae muscles in as many years, I decided I really ought to do what they say in my MMA classes... “protect ya neck.”  It was time to find a sewing table with a drop-in shelf that would allow my machine to sit with its needle plate flush to the work surface.

Naturally, my first thought was to buy a table that was ready made for this purpose.  So I perused the interwebz.  

I found a number of tables like this and this and this.  And these are perfectly fine options.... for someone else.  NO judgment if you own and love one of these tables.  But they weren’t for me.  They either looked too flimsy, too particle board-y, too not my style, or too expensive for me.  As I said before, I am a spoiled, spoiled brat, who lucked out and got a wonderful vintage machine in an almost MORE wonderful solid wood cabinet many years ago, and it happens to be EXACTLY from my dream design era of the midcentury modern years.  So I was totally ruined on any kind of commercially-available table that was out there to be purchased.

It was time for me to do things MY way.  And we all know what way that is. The way that starts out exciting, unique, and very cheap, but then snowballs into some giant, physically-involved and exhausting project that in the end costs more than one of those readymade tables would cost.  HAHAHA :)  I am so extra, as the youngsters say.

So off I went!  I spent hours and hours on the internet trying to brainstorm ideas, educating myself on what it would take to buy a nice solid wood console table or desk, and DIY a cutout and drop-shelf for my machine.  I did a daylong “research” trip to some big box home furnishing discount stores in my area, to see if I could find an inexpensive but solid wood table that I could modify.  But I came up empty-handed - -nothing was my style, in my price range, or - -a dagger - - easily modifiable.  Bummer.  

Stop #2 on my sewing table option train was to spend hours on Pinterest reading with great curiosity how there’s a whole world of sewing people out there who have successfully, and relatively easily, converted this one particular table from IKEA into a sewing table: the IKEA Ingo dining table.  A woman at the blog Blue Dinosaurs was the pioneer of this conversion, and since then, many (she speculates thousands) of others have followed her awesome tutorials.  I considered this briefly, but was always put off by the dimensions of this Ingo table, which, sadly, would be too wide and cumbersome in the sewing space I have in my home (our guest room, which also houses a queen sized bed, two side tables, and a long 6-drawer dresser, as well as my old Kenmore cabinet and the serger table).

Then, I sat and thought about it: hmm, if I was willing to entertain the idea of converting a table, but I didn’t want to do a dining table....what kind of table would be the easiest to convert into a sewing table?  Duh, maybe a SEWING table.  Now one might wonder why I didn't think of this earlier.  I didn’t immediately think about finding a vintage sewing table because I was stuck on the notion that the cutout for a vintage machine wouldn’t fit my newer machine precisely.  But I realized, if I was willing to learn how to cut into a solid tabletop, I could probably teach myself to modify and elongate an existing cutout even more easily.  SO!  I was newly energized.  This time, I took to the app Letgo, which is the newfangled and more mobile device-friendly version of Craigslist.  It also happens to be relatively popular in my area.  It only took a few days for me to stumble upon a BEAUTY, listed for $55.  I contacted the seller, she replied within hours, and by 10 am the next morning, I was in possession of My New Baby:

Ain’t she GORGEOUS!  Look at those amazing drawer pulls!  Look at those GAMS!  I was smitten.  It was love at first sight.

Okay, warning: I’m about to nerd out for a second.  If you have no interest whatsoever in sewing machine history, please feel free to stop reading here, and stay tuned for my next installment of the Great Sewing Table Refurb!  

Nerd time: She’s a vintage Singer sewing cabinet.  I happened to meet the seller and her mom (the former owner of the table), and talk with them awhile.  The seller didn’t sew herself, but she tried to sell me a box of accessories that went with the original machine that was housed in this cabinet, including a shitload of switchable stitch discs.  I declined because I knew they would serve precisely zero purpose at all to me, with a brand-new modern machine of a different brand - - but I was fascinated, looking through the box of stitch discs and interesting accoutrement.  She also showed me - and I could just KICK MYSELF that I didn’t take photos of it, or even ask her to give/sell it to me!!! - the original catalog and manual for this cabinet and the machine that went with it.  I’ve been haunted ever since that I didn’t note down the information, but here is what I do remember and have been able to piece together.

This table housed a vintage Singer sewing machine.  I have been able to deduce that it was likely either a 401a, 500 Slant-O-Matic, 503 Slant-O-Matic (the “Rocketeer!!!") or possibly a 513 Stylist.  I think I recall seeing the date 1957 or 1958 on the catalogs and manuals she showed me, which would mean it couldn’t have been the Stylist, which only was released in the late 60′s-early 70′s.  Also, the fact that she had a box full of stitch discs that she was trying to sell me corroborates the fact that it may not have been a 513 Stylist, because the Stylist didn’t use removable stitch discs, I don’t believe (but I could be wrong?) - - so I’m super excited b/c that means this is a true MCM (midcentury modern) piece of furniture.  I distinctly remember that the catalog showed several cabinet models, including the well-known Singer “Copenhagen” cabinet, which was produced from about 1957 for a few years, and was almost identical to this table, except it had different cabinet hardware and a stabilizing cross-beam on the right legs.  However.  The only exact photos online of my particular cabinet all have 513 Stylists mounted in them.  Hmm.  This may mean NOTHING to anyone out there, but if you know anything about antique sewing machines, this is all sorta interesting.  Dude. Sewing machine history is VERY INTERESTING.  I’ve been learning a lot through getting to know my new love interest.

History buffs, or those willing to hang in there with me: check out these pics!

Original hang tag off of a Copenhagen cabinet, published 1961.  Also, helpfully for my purposes, listed the precise materials used in the construction of the cabinet (walnut wood and walnut wood veneer)

Helpful screenshots from the encyclopedic website of the International Sewing Machine Collectors Society (ISMACS).

This is all evidence that my cabinet dates between 1957-1962 or so.  However, I found a few images online at auction sites like this one that give me reason to feel some doubt, that perhaps my table is newer, and originally held a Singer Stylist??? Hmm.

But ACK!  I just found another one, and this table is housing a Singer 306/306K, which ISMACS tells me dates to 1954-62, so overlapping the 401/500.... 

So, yeah.  I dunno.  Now.  Does it even matter what frigging model of machine this table once held, or when it was built?  Does it even matter if it truly dates to the midcentury modern era?!  I love the styling, and its going to fit my needs.  I know.  That’s all that should matter.  But I am A NERD, and nerds die hard.  Nerds love nothing more to do than nerding out.  So this has given me something new to nerd out about for awhile, and its been delightful.  

And... since I’m still, specifically, a liberal arts research nerd at heart, here are some screenshots and a link to an awesome article on the importance of the Singer Sewing Machine company to the history of American (and world) furniture production.  Read it here!  

Teaser screenshots:

Alright.  Laters, people!  This is just the first part of my long-winded refurb story, and I look forward to bringing you the rest soon!

[endlessarchite]

The Beach House Has Furniture!

If you guys follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve already heard the news: not only does the beach house officially have furniture (!!!) we finally got the spend the night there this past weekend! Two nights, in fact!

It’s still a far cry from “done.” There’s a lot of remaining furniture that we need to get (nightstands, dressers, headboards, a top for our coffee table, etc) along with various other decor stuff that’s missing (rugs! art! lamps!). Not to mention some bigger tasks like installing the kitchen, adding built-in bunk beds upstairs, and constructing bench seating in the breakfast nook. But even so, just having some furniture (a couch! beds to sleep on!) and flushing toilets & working showers feels like a HUGE MILESTONE in this year-long renovation. Especially when you consider how things looked last October when we bought it:

We spent a couple of days there this weekend unpacking, arranging, and making lists of what we still need to move and/or shop for, and I stole a few minutes on our way out to make a big ol’ video tour of our progress. This video is not short, but I really wanted to show you guys every nook and cranny (including one I’ve never shown before that some of you have asked to see!). I also explain what else is on the list, why we chose some of the stuff we did, and share a general rundown of what’s happening in each room. We’ll cover some of the details via photographs in this post, but the video has allll of the juicy details for ya, so it’s worth coming back to watch if you’re somewhere that you can’t watch it right now. Note: If you’re viewing this in a reader, you may need to click through to see the video player.

UPDATE: You can also view the video here on YouTube

Last Sunday we loaded up a 15′ U-Haul packed with furniture, all of our flat-packed Ikea kitchen boxes, and our pink stove! These things have all been stealing space in our own house over the last several months so it was so exciting to stuff that truck with everything and finally get it out to the beach house. It was a mix of some new buys, a lot of thrifted finds, and even some leftovers from our previous rooms. Hi green office chairs from our second house! (You can hear my ideas for them in the video) 

Then on the Monday after packing the truck, we drove it out to Cape Charles and spent a few hours unloading it and arranging things. But it wasn’t until we went back again this past weekend for our first two overnights that it actually started to feel like we were making progress. The entryway is probably the most “settled” feeling space of the house thus far (look ma! we hung a mirror!) since we knew it would help the whole place feel more finished if the first thing you see from the front door looks nice.

Don’t mind that wood railing that still needs some love to get all of the marks off it. Our to-do list is longer than Santa’s toy list at this point, but we’re slowly chipping away at things – like that house number you see reflected in the mirror that we proudly added to our transom window (more on that in a minute).

Just beyond the foyer, the kitchen is still looking pretty nuts. The kitchen cabinets, counters, and even the sink and microwave are in approximately 243 still to-be-opened boxes. So right now there’s just a mountain of cardboard that’s hiding behind my chorus line of stools (you know I took great joy in lining them up just to imagine them sitting happily behind the island that’ll be there someday). One coup is that the stove is in place and even installed!

As expected, the stove was a beast to move. In Richmond, it took me and John and a few other neighbors (plus a dolly! plus a ramp!) to get it up on the truck. And when we arrived in Cape Charles, our contractor kindly sent over a couple of his guys to help us get it into the house. Looking at this picture makes me so itchy to start building cabinets, you don’t even know.

The big progress upstairs was beds, glorious beds! We slept on air mattresses the first night, so when the truck full of mattresses, boxsprings, and frames arrived the next morning, it felt even more legit to spend the second night in actual beds. We got three queen mattresses and two twin extra long mattresses (for the bunk room) delivered from the same place we bought our own house’s guest room mattress and our daughter’s mattress, The Original Mattress Factory. We get compliments on the guest room bed all the time (it’s 6 years old and still feels great!) and we lay in our daughter’s bed all the time and it’s awesome – even when all four of us are piled in there.

It was only $1,800 to get all five mattresses for the beach house, including two boxsprings, two frames, and delivery! When they told me the price on the phone I was pretty sure they were doing the math wrong (I expected to pay at least $500 per bed, which meant $2500 at least plus other fees), but they’re just super affordable and well made with inner springs and high durability testing and all that stuff. They’re also rotatable (it’s surprising how many new mattresses aren’t) so we think that’ll help us get maximum life out of them.

We’re using good ol’ Ed the Bed in this middle bedroom above (for now at least) which means the mattress rests on a wooden platform, but the other two bedrooms got the full frames-and-boxsprings treatment. And the twin extra long mattresses in the bunk room will eventually get built into a sweet little bunk bed that runs wall to wall along that left side of the room, which the kids are especially excited for. We’re just excited that our measurements were correct and the mattresses fit perfectly in that space. Phew!

The most put together bedroom so far is the master bedroom in the back of the house, where John and I slept both nights. We arrived with fresh bedding and assembled the nightstands during our first morning there and even hung some art (we’re gonna source everything for you at the bottom of this post, so scroll down for that). There’s still a lot more to do (still need a headboard, rug, dresser, and the bed is too low for the nightstands so we’re going to raise it) but it was remarkably relaxing to sleep in here even without all that stuff.

I’ll admit that we were both holding our breaths a little on this room. We worried the bed would feel cramped and too close to the pocket doors (it doesn’t!) and that having pocket doors in front of the back stairs might be weird (they ended up being incredibly charming!) so there have been a whole lot of sighs of relief in here. It’s so so hard to picture a room when it’s framed out, and even when it’s drywalled it’s hard to tell if something is cramped or weirdly proportioned until furniture comes in and it’s all suddenly clear.

Our stay wasn’t flawless by any means though. None of the door latches are installed, so no interior doors stay completely closed yet. We remembered to bring shower curtains and liners, but forgot the hooks, so we all showered without the curtain, which wasn’t ideal, but thankfully wasn’t too splashy. And we didn’t like the upstairs blinds we had bought, so we relied on some scrap cardboard to cover the windows at night… ha! It really was kind of like camping. Maybe more like glamping because we had running water and mattresses.

Also, look at that old character in the wood floor above. I kept spying so many sweet things like that while we stayed overnight and my heart would just swell with excitement. We worried that having to rebuild so much of this house might strip out a lot of the old charm, but getting to refinish the old pine floors and reuse the original molding and doors is such a treat. All that 1920s charm (like the back staircase and the stained glass windows and the curved wall in the foyer) really do make this house feel old and special.

We see a lot of weekends like this in our future. Spending a night or two while trying to cross a few items off our to-do list (and mix in a little bit of family fun at the same time). It was even hot enough to go to the beach on this trip and actually swim! We also got to trim down a too-tall door in the bunk room, we added a bunch of door stops behind doors that were banging against our freshly painted walls and trim, and we put up those aforementioned house numbers in the transom window, which also felt like a super momentous milestone.

To hang these vintage looking decals we ordered online, John created some guides with green painter’s tape on the inside of the glass (marking the center, pasting up a level baseline, etc) that we could follow while carefully applying the decals from the outside and smoothing them out with a credit card as we went from bottom to top. They weren’t easily repositionable so we both just kind of held our breath as they went on, but they look great. And after months of telling people “it’s the pink house with the dumpster out front” or whatever weird description we had been using at the time, we finally got to tell the mattress delivery people “it’s 119” because IT FINALLY HAD HOUSE NUMBERS!

We LOVE how they turned out, although we’re considering ordering another “9” and placing it slightly more to the right (because we are crazy people who obsess over tracking and kerning thanks to all of our advertising years). Even though they’re technically spaced equally, we think the 9 looks a little close because it’s a fuller number than the 1, which has a lot of space on either side of the serif. We’re probably being insane, but we acknowledge and accept this obsessive letter and number spacing quirk that was instilled in us many years ago.

So again, if you want to see lots more of our progress, scroll up to watch the video (you basically get to walk through every cranny of the house and hear our plans for what we’re changing or thinking of adding). Things are moving so quickly over there lately that we’re having fun using Instagram (and Instagram Stories) to share things in real-time when we can. Of course, the blog is still the best place for super meaty info, links, and videos, like the walk-through tour in today’s post – so no worries if you’re not an Instagram person, it’ll all end up here eventually, and with a lot more detail.

And since we’ve been getting a lot of source questions as we share those little sneak peeks, below is a quick round-up of all of the items in the video and these photos. What this doesn’t include of course, are things that are secondhand since we can’t link to those (like the wood dresser in the foyer above) or things that have been discontinued (like our Ikea Karlstad sectional in the living room).

1. Living Room Art / 2. Kitchen Stool (similar) / 3. Chair Version of Kitchen Stools / 4. Front Bedroom Art / 5. Walls (SW White Heron) / 6. Downstairs Trim (SW Stone Isle) / 7. Upstairs Trim (SW Pure White) / 8. Tub & Pocket Doors (SW Riverway) / 9. Foyer Mirror / 10. Hall Bath Tile / 11. Hall Bath Vanity / 12. Downstairs Bath Mirror / 13. Downstairs Bath Vanity / 14. Master Bath Mirror / 15. Hall Bedding / 16. Master Bedside Lamps / 17. Master Bedroom Art / 18. Master Bath Tile / 19. Master Bath Accent Tile / 20. Master Nightstands / 21. Master Bedding

And here’s the lighting round-up from a few posts ago, for anyone wondering about those links/sources. Also, update: we love the fans! Sleeping with it on low in that back bedroom was pretty dang great.

1. Front Porch / 2. Downstairs Bath / 3. Kitchen Island / 4. Porch Numbers 5. Foyer (similar) / 6. Bedrooms / 7. Kitchen Sconces / 8. Living & Master Bath 9. Mudroom / 10. Clear, Soft White LED Bulbs / 11. Dining / 12. Master Bath 13. Hall Bath / 14. Hallway & Small Upstairs Rooms / 15. Under Stairs

So there it is. A whole lotta beach house goodness. We can’t wait to share these rooms as they evolve. Just imagine a kitchen with cabinets! A bedroom with a headboard and a big cozy rug underfoot! And a shower with a shower curtain and an actual window treatment instead of a rectangle of cardboard leaning against the sill! WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!

Psst – To read all of the previous beach house posts (this project has been over a year in the making!) here is an archive full of posts & pics for you! 

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