#that now is the perfect time to make a slideshow

[calico-kiwi]

One reason me and one of my best friends are a good combo is because she’s a very visual person who relies on notes and presentations she can review in order for things to process/stick with her, and I’m someone who loves to fuck around in editing and presentation programs who’s obsessed with making fun and visually appealing (but also highly functional and informational) slide shows and graphics about my favorite things. So whenever I get her into something new or explain something I’m really into I get an excuse to make a presentation and she gets a functional explanation tailor suited to the best way she learns. a treat for both of us

[jlheon]

୨୧ — stalker (lhs)

pairing. secret bf! lee heeseung x fem! reader synopsis. you get paired up with your bf's younger brother on a project genre. est. relationship fluff wc. 1487 notes. ft. leehan of bnd library.

unfortunately, your saturday plans of rotting in your boyfriend's bed while he played on his computer were pushed aside. you were still going to heeseung's house but not for him, but for his younger brother.

"why can't you just tell him you're busy?" your boyfriend said.

"the project is due on monday,"

"i don't careee," heeseung whined over the phone. "just tell him to do his part on his own."

“i need a good grade on this seung,” you sighed again, rolling over in your bed. tap back on your screen to see your boyfriend's face close to the camera pouting.

"you'll live," you told him as you screenshotted his face. "i have to get ready now hee."

"can you wear pink?" he asked, making you raise an eyebrow at him. "so we can match!" heeseung showed himself in the pink hoodie you bought him for your one-year anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

picking out a simple white skirt and pink sweater and throwing it on, then moving to do some simple makeup as you knew heeseung would sneak you into his room as soon as you were done, so you wanted to look nice.

the walk to heeseung's house was short as he only lived about two blocks away. you walked up the front foot steps and knocked on the door, already knowing that his doorbell was broken.

"hi ____!" leehan answered the door smiling.

"hey leehan!" you smiled back, seeing heeseung staring at you from the living room couch. "hi hee...seung!" you called out while waving.

"oh, are you guys friends?" leehan asked from behind you.

"we have some mutual friends," you quickly answered, knowing heeseung would give an obvious hint that you were together. "i finished my part of the project so i'll just help you with your parts!"

"okay, let's work in the kitchen," leehan started walking further into the house.

following behind him and poking heeseung's shoulder as you passed him in the living room. he brought your hand that poked him to his lips, kissed the back of your knuckles, and let go so his brother wouldn't notice.

sitting at the kitchen island, you had a perfect view of your boyfriend sitting on the couch watching a random show. he also had a view of you in his peripheral vision.

leehan opened up his computer to the slideshow presentation for your english class. curse him for being the only underclassman in your class. why did he have to be heeseung's younger brother?

"so i need you to complete the places i left blank with your commentary and i'll be out of here," you explained, failing to make any direct eye contact with the boy sitting on the stool next to you, instead staring at heeseung's side profile the whole time.

"are you in a rush or anything?"

"no," you shifted your eyes back to leehan. "i have to use the bathroom though." you stood up walking towards the staircase.

he thought it was weird how you didn't ask where the bathroom was. he also thought it was weird that he doesn't remember giving you his address. so he asked his older brother while you were gone.

"heeseung?" he called out to the living room.

"yeah?" heeseung answered mindlessly, eyes still glued to the television.

"has ____ ever been here before?" leehan asked, causing heeseung's eyes to widen.

"nope."

when you returned from the kitchen leehan felt even more suspicious of you. how did you know where they lived and where the bathroom was?

he continued to edit his portion of the project until he caught you in the corner of his eye alternating staring at heeseung and then at your phone. a small smile across your lips. leehan started to feel something weird about you so he spoke up.

"how come you didn't ask where the bathroom was?" leehan questioned, not giving you any time to respond before asking you another one. "have you ever been here before?"

caught off guard you started coughing on the water you were drinking, heeseung looking over with concern when he heard you.

"oh um me and heeseung did a project together last year!" you replied after you stopped coughing.

"mhm, sure..." he responded side-eyeing you due to the two different answers he received from you and heeseung.

leehan was sure he knew what was wrong.

you were a crazy stalker in love with his older brother!

maybe you had bribed your english teacher to be his partner for this project just to see his brother. heeseung would never lie to him so you surely got their address on your own and have never been here on invite.

you were probably wearing pink to match heeseung, and you knew what color to wear since you had a camera in his room to watch his every move. you were wearing nice clothes to impress heeseung!

he had to tell his brother as soon as you left.

"i think i'm done!" leehan lied nervously. "you can look it over at home."

you let out a sigh of relief you stood up and put your empty cup in the sink.

"okay great!" you smiled, packing your stuff into your bag and slinging it over your shoulder.

saying bye as you walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door where your boyfriend was already waiting for you. he picked up your shoes and opened the door to simulate you leaving. calling out one last goodbye to leehan, heeseung slammed the door and took your bag from you. quickly following him up the stairs so leehan wouldn't see you both.

"finally!" heeseung crashed on top of his bed, pulling you down with him. "why did you let him take so long?"

"it was just an hour seung!" you giggled, pushing some hair out of his eyes.

"way too long." he wrapped his arms around your waist. "are you hungry?"

you knew there were leftover cupcakes from leehan's birthday in the fridge so you asked heeseung to get you one. he got up and headed down to the kitchen.

wrapping yourself in his duvet you started to feel warm with your sweater. you got up and went through heeseung's drawers and picked out the first shirt you saw. going over to the mirror to change into it and fix your hair before getting back into bed.

"HEE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE- ____?" leehan burst through the door, shrieking when he saw you instead of his brother. "YOU'RE A STALKER! HEE GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"no i'm not-" you tried to calm him down, thankfully heeseung entered the room.

"look she's even stealing your shirt!" leehan pointed at you accusingly. "i knew something was up when you didn't ask for my address and just showed up."

heeseung set the cupcake and drink he had gotten for you on his desk and came to your side, wrapping an arm around you.

"he's my boyfriend, leehan."

"look at her gaslighting you- STAND UP." leehan scolded his brother, still waving his finger around.

"she is my girlfriend!" heeseung shouted back. "now can you please leave us alone? she was supposed to come over today for me but you just had to do your stupid project today-"

you put a hand to cover your boyfriend's mouth before he could say anything else to his brother.

"oh..." the younger boy's ears turned red due to embarrassment, walking out and closing the door behind him.

"you're so cranky today," you said while taking a bite of the vanilla cupcake once you were alone, some getting stuck on the corner of your lips.

"i barely saw you this week," heeseung frowned, wiping the frosting from your face and bringing his thumb to his lips to eat it.

the calm atmosphere was again interrupted by the door opening to reveal leehan. heeseung groaned, stood up, and got ready to kick his brother out again.

"wait! before you kick me out i have one question," leehan explained quickly, heeseung reluctantly nodded. "how long have you guys been dating?"

"our one year was last week."

"WHAT?" leehan screamed, jaw hanging open.

heeseung pushed him out the door and flopped back onto the bed. you finished your cupcake and threw the wrapper in the garbage bin under his desk, returning down next to him on the bed. your boyfriend rolled over on his side, burying his face in your neck, inhaling your perfume.

"we should stay like this forever," he mumbled into your neck.

"forever is only like three hours," you giggled. "i have to be home by seven."

"sleepover?" heeseung raised his head to look at your face.

"maybe..." you sighed, thinking about his offer. "i'll tell my parents i'm at rina's."

"good because i wasn't going to let you go anyways," he tightly squeezed you and came as close as possible, kissing your neck. 

[vaaaaaiolet]

Good thing your doctor's always on speed dial for your health scares, but can he help you out of this one?

gn / m, fluff, romance, hypochondriac reader, leon is your teledoc LMAO, denial of feelings / obliviousness, slightly ooc?? phone call transcript format in lowercase

word count: 1.2k // read on ao3

a/n: for @idyllcy + @hiya-itsamber :3

just a silly scenario i wrote in 2023 when those corny tiktok dual pov slideshows were a thing 😭 leon's dialogue is indented + in blue and nothing is proofread i fear

RINGING… [0:01]

[line connects.]

hi doc, I just wanted to call and tell you that I need to schedule an appointment tomorrow.

     that’s awfully soon, I just saw you last week. what’s wrong?

what’s wrong? more like what isn’t wrong. honestly, I think I’d rather just schedule the appointment and not waste more of your time. are you free at 4 tomorrow?

     my job is to ask you what’s wrong so I can fix it. cut out the middle man and tell me how you’ve been feeling. the poor receptionist needs a break anyway, flu season has her answering calls from her bathroom.

[nervous laughter.]

     are you in the bathroom?

…

     never mind that. do you have any new symptoms or have your old ones worsened?

this has to be against HIPAA or something, doc. I’m telling you, I’ll just call later.

[loud flushing sounds and tap water running.]

     I’m still waiting.

have it your way then.

     mhm.

I have so many symptoms, I don’t even know where to start. you know how I am about cleaning things and staying on top of my health. my chart last appointment was perfect!

     minus the minor cold you had, yes. has your cold not improved?

I’m not sure. the congestion and coughing’s all disappeared, but now I have really bad headaches. and hot flashes.

     headaches?

uh huh.

     what are they like?

they’re…weird. they start in my head, but they spread, like, everywhere.

     I see.

     can you tell me more about how they spread? is it one big headache or a bunch of little ones at a time?

they start in my temples and if I don’t take medicine for them fast enough, they move down to the bridge of my nose and into my cheeks. I swear I can feel these headaches in my chest.

and that’s when I get these hot flashes. like someone’s microwaving me on high, and I get dizzy, and out of breath, and-

     you get headaches in your chest?

in my chest! headaches aren’t supposed to do that right? it feels like my heart jumps. that’s not right, is it?

     [sounds of pen scratching on paper.]

but the curious thing is that I’ve had these symptoms before. they’re not new.

     huh? I thought they started right after your cold.

no no, it’s just that they go away when I have my appointments. I’ve been doing some research online and I think that right at the time you prescribe me my new medicine, they go away. it all lines up with the release time of the inhibi-

     you worry too much. I’m sure it’s not that; none of the medicine I’ve ever given you lines up with your symptoms.

oh.

     why didn’t you tell me this when you first started coming to our office? this is important information that needs to be added to your file.

but it really wasn’t that important-

     you don’t understand. I need your entire medical history to assign you the right medicine.

     I could have triggered some autoimmune disease, or, or, flared up more symptoms.

     god, I should have done the bare minimum and checked with your nurse. Florence, is that her name? I need to make some calls. I’ll call you right back.

hey doc? you’re starting to sound like me. don’t worry, I’m coming in for my appointment anyway tomorrow. you don’t have to get all military about it.

     you’re one of my first patients. I worry about you.

you do?

     it’s my job to worry about you. i quite like my job.

that felt nice to hear.

     it’s the truth.

the reason I didn’t tell you about it earlier is because I got a second opinion and I felt guilty about it. I felt like I was cheating on you, somehow.

     [laughter.]

     what part of your research gave you that idea? you don’t believe I can handle you seeing another healthcare professional?

it’s embarrassing! it wasn’t even a healthcare professional. it was my mom.

     your mom counts as a second opinion?

she’s licensed in all matters of life.

     I see.

…and the heart.

     that so?

she told me it was mmmfmmf [unintelligible].

     hm. I still need to hear about this incredibly important second opinion.

she told me I just had a silly crush. can you believe her?

     and she might have a point, you know. how did she come to that conclusion?

she totally dismissed my hot flashes and told me that it was normal. same with my headaches and what i’m definitely sure is a developing heart arrhythmia.

     that’s…interesting.

I get it, I thought the same thing you’re thinking right now. except she predicted a symptom I didn’t even have when I asked her.

     and what symptom would that be?

insomnia! I can’t even sleep anymore. I stay up all night in bed, thinking.

     and what do you think about?

to be honest, going back to the doctor’s office.

your office.

     my office?

yeah. whenever I go to your appointments, my symptoms go away. it would be stupid to bring up my mom’s theory during checkups, so I’ve never said anything.

     you’ve got to be kidding me.

     your master plan is to keep getting sick and showing up to my office for 20 minutes a month?

well, it sounds stupid when you say it!

     how long did you think this was going to last?

I don’t have a choice. it’s either this or nothing. 20 minutes with you taking my vitals is worth the aches and pains leading up to it because i feel so much better afterwards.

it just feels nice seeing you. i think it’s an environment trigger.

hey doc, you still there?

     tell you what, I think you’re going to have to get that second opinion.

why would I do that? didn’t I just explain to you why I can’t? you’re the only one that makes my mysterious disease go away, and besides, there’s no such thing as a second second opinion.

     listen to me. I can’t continue your current treatment anymore. it'd be breaking HIPAA to treat you like I need to because of the type of disease you have.

     and to be honest, I don’t think it has a cure yet.

are you serious? how much do I need to pay for treatment? what’s my prognosis?

[clattering of pens on desk and line breaks up briefly from movement.]

[quietly.] doc, am I going to live?

     [laughs.] you’ll live. I have no doubts about that.

well then, why can’t you treat me?

     I can treat you. it’s just that I can’t as your doctor.

you’re not making any sense.

     you’re still going to need to schedule that appointment for tomorrow, but it’ll have to be using a different phone number. call XXX-XXX-XXXX.

[furious pen scratching on paper.]

alright, and who am I asking for on the line?

     ask for Leon. and dress nice.

that’s required for the appointment?

     he has special conditions. it’s a quality of service thing.

…and you’ll be there with the doctor at the appointment?

     [light laughter.]

     I will.

okay, see you soon.

     take care.

[line disconnects.]

CALL ENDED WITH: DR. L. KENNEDY M.D. [14:45]

psst, find more of my work here!

comments and reblogs are very much appreciated <3 take care and i love you!

[1800classiccherries]

Slideshow!

⚘ 1610!Miles Morales x black!fem!reader

⚘ fluff! use of n word like once, teen romance

⚘ summary: Miles and Y/n make a slideshow to convince his parents to be able to be in his room with the door closed.

⚘ wc: 631

You and Miles were on his bed, sitting in silence a foot or so apart, which was odd because you two were never normally this awkward. Occasionally one of you would glance at the wide open door, revealing Miles's parents walking by here and there, which is why you two kept your distance.

For context, when you and Miles first started dating, you two weren't allowed in his room and had to stay in a public space like the living room; however, y'all are obnoxiously loud. When you two were playing games, loud. Even just talking, you two laughed loud. Except, when it was a movie night, it was quieter because y'all were so wrapped up in the plot.

To be honest, y'all were fine in the living room, but it was rough always being told to quiet down. The volume of you two in the same room was too much, so Miles suggested to his parents that you two go to his room instead of being confined to only the living room. Under one condition, the door stayed wide open.

And so there y'all were sitting side-by-side in a semi-awkward silence.

You feel the weight on the bed shift closer to you, and an arm makes its way over your shoulder, "Hey."

"Nigga, what?" you say without thinking at his cheesy attempt to make a move on you.

With a pout, he takes his arm off your shoulder and leans back upright, "You ruined the moment."

You giggle at his pouting, feeling a little bad about your reaction, "My bad, stink, it was a natural reflex. Try again," you offer, tossing your locs over your shoulder.

Miles clears his throat before leaning back over, putting an arm over your shoulders again.

"Hey." He says with a smirk and a tilt of his head.

"Hi," you respond, tilting your head the same way, your eyes glancing down at his lips before back up at his eyes.

"You look really pretty right now," He compliments, leaning in.

"Thank you," you whisper with a smile, leaning in as well.

You hear someone clear their throat walking past the doorway of his room, causing both of y'all to quickly move away and back into the awkward silence.

~

A week or so later--that situation happening again and again--you and Miles were on Facetime brainstorming ideas for the slideshow y'all planned to make to convince Miles's parents (mainly his mom) to let y'all have the door closed.

The both of you knew it was ambitious to shoot for something so big, so that's why you had to create the best slideshow presentation of all time.

"Okay, what do we think about this template?" you ask, turning your camera around to show a classy slideshow template.

"Perfect." he nods, and you add him to the slideshow.

~

A few days of hard work and planning go by, and it's now the day you two scheduled to present the presentation.

In preparation, the two of you coordinated your most trustworthy-looking outfits and practiced how you would present. Y'all knew you both were being extra, but at the end of the day, it didn't matter because y'all were having fun.

"Greetings, esteemed guests," Miles opens, gesturing to the title slide on tv.

You and Miles alternated presenting slides, explaining how having a door closed is reverse psychology, decreasing the chances of anything happening. Also, the classic, if the door was closed, grades would improve (don't know how, but there was a graph to prove it), along with a few other random and made-up examples.

"Thank you for your time," you close, and the two of you bow.

Following suit, his dad gives a round of applause, "That was actually pretty impressive."

His mom sighs, "We'll think about it."

Thanks for reading!

Ngl i wanna do a part two but at the same time i dont know if it'd be any good... if youd be interested in part two lmk

part 2

[keyotos]

swear to be overdramatic and true

summary ⎯ different wedding scenarios w/ the hsr men. like they are all different. none of you are getting married in this tho. modern!au

includes ⎯ dan heng, gepard, blade, sampo, & jing yuan

notes ⎯ i want to go to a wedding so bad after tiktok kept on showing me crazy rich asians-esque venues (i love crazy rich asians)

dan heng

⎯ you promised him you’d go for the food (dan heng is not one for parties), you ended up staying for everything else.

⎯ a close friend of yours was getting married and invited you to their wedding. you were so excited and ready while dan heng was like ehhhggggg

⎯ dude is not a party-goer. but you really put your all into convincing him to go. you brought out puppy dog eyes (didn’t work), pros and cons list (didn’t work), 15 slide google slideshow (didn’t work), and finally: begging on your knees (worked).

⎯ so now, you guys are here: sitting at a table by yourselves (everyone else was dancing/mingling) and sharing a slice of wedding cake.

⎯ secretly, dan heng loved weddings. he loved the joy everyone felt and he really did enjoy the food.

⎯ he would never tell anyone this, but he was taking notes for his future wedding (preferably with you). he takes note of the theme, the food, the venues. he’s very observant of these things.

⎯ the one thing he did not like about weddings was the partying afterwards. call him boring, but after sitting in a cathedral for two hours got him exhausted.

⎯ but he could make exceptions for you. you seemed to love the party aspect of weddings: you bounced to the music and you waved your fork around like a microphone when there was a song you liked.

⎯ dan heng wished he could have your loud and exciting spirit and love for after parties, but he found himself done for the day. so now, the two of you were eating cake while most people were on the dance floor

⎯ dan heng felt bad about it; he felt like he was holding you down from your happiness because he was not the party type. he didn’t want to burden your enjoyment.

“if you want to dance, you should dance,” dan heng let go of the arm he had wrapped around you.

“what?” you furrowed your eyebrows. you took another bite out of the shared cake.

“you don’t have to worry about me. i’ll be fine. you have go have fun,” dan heng repeated himself with utmost seriousness. you almost burst out with laughter.

“i don’t need to dance to be happy,” you chuckled and interlocked your fingers with dan heng’s, “as long as i have you around, i’m perfectly content,” you grinned.

⎯ yeah. dan heng definitely enjoys weddings.

dan heng returns your smile and wraps his other arm around you once more. he pulled you closer to place a kiss on your temple. as long as you’re around, dan heng is more than perfectly content. he is overjoyed.

gepard

⎯ you two are executives for a wedding planning company; it’s not your company, it’s pela’s. you two are friends of hers and just so happen to work there together.

⎯ you two are the best in the wedding planning game. you two are also rivals.

⎯ you guys are practically trying to outdo each other with every plan. the theme, the decorations, the music: whatever it is, one of you is striving to be better than the other.

⎯ you and gepard bicker so much that some of the maintenance people think YOU GUYS are the married couple.

⎯ gepard blushes so hard that you would think he just had a heat stroke. he quickly brushes of the comment and gets back to work.

⎯ you two are just so… different. but you’re the SAME. whoever’s idea it was to put you two together on an assignment needs to be fired bc most of the time you two are bickering 😭

“why would you make that the theme?” you questioned gepard, “that doesn’t match the wedding venue at all.”

“technically it is apart of the venue. they have two,” gepard corrected you. smartass

and also, “don’t you dare move that. it’s perfect where it belongs,” you ordered.

“it’s actually not,” gepard counters, “it’s not centered.”

⎯ you end up getting so frustrated that you have to walk off the scene and run to starbucks.

⎯ but there are some points where you see gepard in a different light. like when he helps you set up the fairy lights. also when he helps you lift heavy things.

⎯ oh yeah and the fact that he caught you when you fell from a ladder.

you didn’t know how you managed to slip from a ladder, but you did. you thought you were about to face imminent death until you felt strong arms wrap around your thighs.

“what were you thinking?!” gepard exasperatedly asked.

“uhh, that i could reach it?” you brushed him off, trying not to acknowledge the position that you were in at the moment. you were also trying to ignore how fast your heart was beating, but that was blamed on adrenaline.

⎯ even though you and gepard argued for half of the time, there were a few (many) accidents, and someone spilled punch on the ground; the wedding venue ends up looking nice thanks to you and gepard!

⎯ at the end of this tiring and long day, you sat down at one of the tables and ate a few bites of leftover cake. that is until gepard randomly comes up to your table.

gepard extends his hand to you, “would you like to dance? as a way to celebrate the happy couple?”

you raise an eyebrow and give him a sly smirk, “you deign to touch the hand of your opposition?” you joked.

“i’m full of surprises,” gepard looks away from you to scan the venue, “just like this venue. it's beautiful by the way. you did well.”

you take his hand into yours; gepard’s hand is calloused and warm. “give yourself some credit,” you pull him out to the dance floor, then you pull him closer to you, “shall we?”

blade

⎯ you two are some WEDDING CRASHERS

⎯ you first suggested the idea as a joke; you’ve been wanting to go to a wedding after your tiktok kept showing you wedding venues.

⎯ you never expected to actually be wrecking a wedding so soon. you didn’t even know how blade found a wedding to crash.

“are there apps for these things?”

“um… no????”

⎯ you two sneak in undetected and you arrive just in time for the after party!!

⎯ you guys end up sitting in some randos’ seats that never showed up. so for the time being you two were the married couple mr and mx anderson.

⎯ luckily, the people you sat by had no idea what the andersons looked like. they had questions, and surely they will be confused by the end of this night, but you will never see these people ever again!! so you guys answered their questions

“how’s your newborn? we heard you guys just had a baby,” the couple next to you pointed.

⎯ psa for my gn!readers or male!readers, you guys just had a surrogate

⎯ BABY??????? you nearly choked on your food. chivalrously, blade took the opportunity to answer for you.

"we did," blade smiled and rubbed your stomach, "we're hoping for another one soon," he smirked when he looked at you.

⎯ your eyes popped out of your skull and you turned to him. you took the rest of your food down with a gulp and you turned to face the couple across from you.

⎯ once they left, you elbowed blade in his ribcage. or, you tried to anyway, you doubt he felt anything from it.

"what was that?" your eyes went wide. you tried to hide your embarrassment.

"what was what?" blade asked. his tone with filled with mock-confusion. the bastard knew what he was doing.

"please, don't make me say it out loud," you hide your face in your hands, trying not to smile. to say you haven't thought of a domestic life with blade would be a lie.

blade rubbed your shoulder and then slid his arm over your waist, pulling you closer, "it was funny," he chuckled.

you unmasked your face to punch him in the shoulder, "it was mortifying," you laughed.

blade planted a kiss near your ear, "'m sorry," he was not, "let's go dance. enjoy yourself. before the next one comes," he added. you almost shoved him off of you after that.

⎯ blade is NOT funny.

sampo

⎯ here you were surrounded by so many couples, yet you are alone. you are alone at the bar and you've had waaaaay too many margaritas to be thinking straight.

⎯ you were almost about to leave when a mysterious blue-haired man slid into the seat next to yours.

⎯ sampo had been watching you for the entire wedding. maybe watching wasn't the right word: he had been observing you. that is not the right word either. simply put, he was entranced by you. you were stunning; you lit up the entire room. it's strange how someone like you had no one by your side.

"care if i bought you a drink?" sampo asked, leaning towards you.

"i think i'm too drunk to drink," you slurred. you were tired and single and lonely. not even this random man could console you.

⎯ when you laid your head down and groaned, sampo was a little concerned. he was concerned for two reasons: for your wellbeing and for what he might've accidentally gotten himself into.

⎯ sampo has fallen victim to hangovers multiple times and, judging by how wasted you are right now, you are about to be the next victim.

⎯ he asked the bartender to get you a glass of water. now, he just had to wake you up. or cheer you up.

“hey, you might wanna drink think,” sampo pushed the drink towards you.

you raised your head up, surveyed the drink, and then pushed it away. “nice try buddy. i know you put something in that.”

⎯ sampo’s jaw went agape. he completely forgot about that possibility. of course you wouldn’t take a drink from a stranger that randomly came up to you.

“uh, how about we just get you another glass of water,” he grabbed the cup back and ordered another one, this time with you watching. once you made sure nothing happened to your drink, you gulped it down.

“thanks,” you set the glass down. “i’ll be needing that in the morning,” you groaned.

⎯ even when you’re miserable you’re beautiful, sampo thought

“i get it,” sampo laughed. you two exchanged names and you started to tell the story of why you were so drunk in the first place

⎯ when you finished, sampo remembered every detail of your story. he wanted the sound of your voice to be imprinted into his brain; he wanted the sight of you burned into his eyes.

⎯ and by the end of that night, after you two exchanged phone numbers, sampo was sure to make his dream a reality.

jing yuan

⎯ best couple alert??? you guys are just there for fun and relaxation

⎯ everyone knows you two are the couple that’s getting married next. just the love that you two have for each other is enough evidence to prove their theory.

⎯ you two are there for the reception, the actual wedding, the after party. like you guys EAT WEDDINGS UP.

⎯ it’s a sweet and silent love. it doesn’t overshadow the wedding couple, but everyone can tell that it’s prevalent and it’s most definitely there.

⎯ everyone can also see the immense love jing yuan has for you just by looking at his expression. as a general, most would think his mind is preoccupied on strategy and tactics. that is not true though; jing yuan would argue that, half of the time, his mind is on you. he wonders about you, thinks about you, wishes about you.

⎯ and his actions?? the way he always pulls out a chair for you so you can sit before him. the way he carefully tugs you to the side if someone were about to hit you. the way his hand rests coyly on your thigh.

⎯ don't get me started on when you two start dancing.

cliche as it is, sometimes i does feel like the world is shining it's light on the two of you when you two dance. you two aren't master dancers or anything. with jing yuan's lifestyle, there is no time for trivial activities such as dancing, but for you he'd always make an exception.

⎯ you two are both awful. omfg you guys actually suck at dancing. like get off of the dance floor LMAO. since you two probably have very busy lives, there isn't much time for fun like weddings. that's why the two of you try to embrace weddings and other fun activities as much as possible

"you keep stepping on my feet," jing yuan laughs. he tries to guide the two of you to an empty slot on the floor, but fails.

"i'd be able to dance properly if someone stopped knocking me into others," you jokingly retorted. even though jing yuan was a general, all his poise and prosperities was washed away on the dance floor.

"i highly doubt that," he twirled you. you leaned closer into his chest this time, melting into his body. he was warm; a good contrast to the chill of the room. even with his shitty dancing skills, you think that you could never be sick of him.

⎯ yeah u two are definitely getting married in the near future. jing yuan is sure of it. after all, he's already gotten a ring.

[cheoliehansolie]

Uno Reverse Card

Summary: Seokmin is the one who constantly surprises you when you least expect it, so you decide it's time to return the favor.

Word Count: ~2.8k

Pairing: gn reader x Seokmin

Warnings: although reader is written as gender neutral, it's implied that they have long hair.

an: This was inspired by blonde Seokmin and it was supposed to come out sooner but I hit a wall, so let's pretend that it came it earlier. If you like reading this, make sure to reblog! If you have any suggestions or you just want to talk, send me an ask 💕

To read more, check out my masterlist

---

“Minnie, I already told you, we’ll meet at your place later. You don’t need to come with me while I just do a bunch of boring errands.” you say as you make your way to the hair salon.

“I know babe, but I miss you. We haven’t been able to see each other for a while because we’ve both been so busy the past few days.”

You hear the pout that is extremely evident in his voice and you can just see the pout on his lips.

“Aww, I miss you too. But I have something important I have to do and as much as I love you, you will definitely distract me. Besides, I want it to be a surprise.” you say, hoping to cheer up your pouty boyfriend.

“A surprise?” he asks, curiously.

“Yeah, but it can only stay a surprise if you don’t come with me while I’m out today.” 

“Fine, I guess we can just meet at my place. But it’s only because you want to surprise me!” he says.

“Okay, okay, listen I’ve gotta go now. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Okay, babe. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” you say as you hang up.

The hair salon comes into view right when you hang up the phone. You couldn’t wait to surprise Seokmin with your new hair later tonight. He was always the one to come home on a random weekday with completely different hair, two weeks ago being the perfect example.

You were sitting on the couch doing a few final touches on the presentation you were supposed to present the next day when you heard a knock at the front door open. Once you opened the door, you were greeted by your sweet boyfriend dressed in gray sweats, a black shirt, and a black beanie effectively covering all his hair.

“Hey baby.” he says as he leans down to meet your lips for a quick kiss.

“Hi Minnie.” you say with a smile as you let him into your place and wait for him to take his shoes off.

“What’re you up to? Did I disturb you?” he asks as the two of you plop onto the couch.

“Nah, I was just working on a presentation for tomorrow. I’ve been staring at it for the past few hours so you coming over was a welcome distraction. I think I would’ve gone insane if I had to stare at the slideshow any longer.” you explain.

“Well then I’m glad that I can take your mind off it.” he says with a bright smile.

“What about you? What’d you get up to today?” you ask him.

“Before we get to that, I have a surprise for you!” your boyfriend exclaims excitedly.

“A surprise? Where is it? You don’t have a bag with you.” you ask, confused.

“Just close your eyes. It’ll make sense soon, I promise.” he says.

“Okay.” you say, bringing your hands dramatically up to cover your eyes.

You can briefly hear some shuffling, but you try not to focus on it too much so you can be fully surprised by the sweet boy sitting next to you.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now!” Seokmin says and you can hear the joy in his voice.

When you open your eyes, your jaw immediately drops at the sight in front of you. Seokmin, you’re sweet, lovely boyfriend that sent you a selfie earlier in the day from the studio with his natural black hair now sits next to you with bleach blond hair.

“Oh my god, your hair!” you exclaim as you shuffle closer to get a better look at his hair.

“What? Do you not like it?” Seokmin asks anxiously.

“Not like it? Baby, there’s no way I could not like it! You look amazing, I’m just shocked.” you say, hoping he could hear the earnesty in your voice.

Your boyfriend visibly relaxes as you bring your hand up to card your fingers through his newly blonde locks.

“How is your hair still so soft after you just bleached it to death?” you ask.

“My hair’s just special like that, I guess.” he says as he shrugs his shoulders.

“You’re so annoying!” you joke as you giggle and gently pull at his hair, making him whine. “I can’t believe that you came home with completely different hair than when you left this morning. It’s literally a random Tuesday.”

“Well, I actually knew a few weeks ago but I decided to not say anything so I could surprise you.” 

“You knew for a few weeks and you didn’t say anything? I’m getting you back for this, Lee Seokmin.” you threatened.

Which brings you to why you’re seated in the hair salon waiting room. In the time that you and Seokmin had been together, you didn’t really change much about your appearance. You liked how you looked and you didn’t really feel the need to change. But when you were cleaning out your camera roll, you came across pictures from before you and Seokmin knew each other.

The pictures included some from a few years ago when you impulsively decided to cut your hair to your shoulders after going through a particularly rough situationship. It had been a while since then and you had forgotten how much you liked your shorter hair. It was also so much easier to take care of than the long hair you currently have. It’s been a few years since you did anything drastic to your hair, so you decided to change it up. 

Your name gets called and you get up to take a seat at the stylist’s chair. You felt butterflies in your stomach as you told the stylist what you wanted and you were so excited to see how this would go.

Not even an hour later, you were staring at your reflection in the mirror and you couldn’t believe how good you looked.

“Oh my god, I love it so much! You did a great job.” you exclaimed to your hairstylist as you played with your hair.

“I’m so glad you like it!” she says with the biggest smile on her face.

“I can’t wait to see Seokmin’s reaction.” you say as you get up from the chair.

“He doesn’t know?” your stylist asks.

“No, I wanted to surprise him. Do you think he’ll like it?”

“He definitely will! If he doesn’t, call me and I will personally shave his hair off.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” you laugh as you make your way to the exit.

“Thank you, again!” 

“Anytime!”

Once you’re back out in the streets, you can’t keep the smile from appearing on your face. You just loved your new hair so much and you couldn’t wait to show Seokmin.

You still had a few hours before you were supposed to meet Seokmin, so you decided to do a little window shopping until later tonight. But less than thirty minutes into your shopping trip, you feel your phone buzz in your purse. Unsurprisingly, it’s a call from your sweet, clingy (in the best way possible) boyfriend

“Babe~, when are you coming over?” Seokmin whines on the other end of the line.

“Well I finished my big task that I had to get done today and I decided to go out shopping since it finished quicker than expected. I figured I could just window shop until we were supposed to meet later tonight.” you explained as you continued casually browsing the racks of the store you were in.

“If you’re done with your big task, why can’t you just come over earlier?” Seokmin asks, pouting at you for the nth time today.

“I thought you would be busy and you’d have a few things you needed to get done before I came over later so I wanted to give you some time to get stuff done before I come over and distract you.” you say into the phone.

“First of all, I’ve literally spent the entire day sitting on the couch watching the clock waiting for the time that you’re gonna come over. Second of all, I do have things to get done but I can’t get anything done when I know that I get to see you later. Third of all, you are my favorite distraction to have and I would have no problems with you distracting me.” your boyfriend says sweetly into his phone.

You feel your cheeks heat up at his words and you hide yourself in a corner of the store to avoid having other people see you all flustered and embarrassed.

“Okay, since I am done and it seems like you’re getting nothing done anyways, I guess I could come over now.”

“Really? Yay! I’ll see you soon then babe. I love you!” he says happily into the phone.

You can’t help the smile from spreading onto your face as you say “I love you too, I’ll see you soon.” and hang up the phone.

As you’re about to leave the store, you see a hair scarf on one of the mannequins and you think that would be the best way to hide your new hair from your boyfriend. 

Less than ten minutes later, you’re leaving the store in the direction of your boyfriend’s apartment, scarf completely covering your hair from view. Once you’re standing in the elevator on your way to his floor, you do a final check of the scarf on your head to make sure no pieces are sticking out. By the time the elevator doors open, you determine that you’re physically ready to show your boyfriend your new hair.

Mentally? That’s another story. You know that Seokmin will love you no matter what you look like, he’s made that apparently clear over the past year you’ve been together, but you can’t help the doubt from creeping into your mind as you make your way to his apartment door. You haven't changed your look much, if at all, since meeting Seokmin and you can’t help but wonder if this will completely change how Seokmin sees you. What if he doesn’t like you anymore?

Before you can dwell on your thoughts much longer, you’re standing in front of Seokmin’s door and you decide you can’t stand there delaying his reaction any longer. So, you bring your hand up to knock on his door. Not even a second later, the door swings open and your boyfriend greets you with the brightest smile.

“Babe! I’ve missed you!” he says once you’ve made your way into his apartment and slipped your shoes off.

“Aww, I’ve missed you too!” you say as you reach up to give him a hug.

The two of you melt into each other's touch and your previous nerves from a few minutes ago seem to immediately dissipate.

“So, where’s my surprise?” Seokmin asks, his excitement evident in his voice.

“So impatient.” you tsk. “I’m starting to think you only wanted me to come over sooner so you could get your surprise sooner.”

“Babe, you know that’s not true.” he whines as he leans down into your embrace.

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing. Come on, let’s go sit down and I’ll show you your surprise.” you say as you lead him to his couch in the living room.

“Sit down and close your eyes.” you say as you stand in front of the couch, too nervous to sit down.

“Okay babe.” Seokmin says as he grabs a throw pillow from his couch and covers his face with it to prove to you that he’s not peeking.

Taking a deep breath, you undo the scarf and drop it on the coffee table next to you. You feel your previous nervousness bubbling up again, but that’s almost immediately gone when your boyfriend opens his mouth.

Seokmin, still sitting on the couch with his face in the pillow, hears the rustle of fabric and says the first thing that comes to mind, being “You’re not taking off your clothes, are you?” Seokmin asks “Like, I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but that’s definitely not the surprise I was expecting.”

“Seokmin!” you exclaim, acting scandalized as though Seokmin hasn’t seen you naked on multiple occasions. “I wouldn’t say I have a surprise for you just to get naked in front of you. Why was that the first thing you thought of?”

“I don’t know! I just heard fabric rustling and that’s what I thought!” he says defensively.

“What if I bought you a shirt and that’s what you were hearing?” you ask, smiling at the fact that he still has his face buried in the pillow.

“Well did you buy me a shirt?” 

“I don’t know, did I?” you counter, sassily.

“Babe, can I please open my eyes now? I’ve been sitting with this pillow in my face for like the past three hundred years.” he whines dramatically.

“Hmm, I’m gonna choose to ignore how factually incorrect that statement is. Okay, you can open your eyes now.” you say.

Seokmin opens his eyes and it’s his turn to have his jaw drop. You had shown him pictures of your hair when it used to be short before you met Seokmin, but it had been a long time since then and the pictures definitely didn’t do you justice.

“What do you think?” you ask nervously as you card your fingers through your newly shorter hair.

“Babe, I love it so much. It looks so good!” your boyfriend exclaims as he gets off the couch to stand in front of you.

“You look so beautiful.” he says softly as he cups your cheek in his hand. “Can I touch it?” he asks, knowing how you normally don’t like it when he touches your hair when it’s been styled.

You nod your head in approval and it’s his turn to card his fingers through your hair. You lean your cheek further into his palm, seeking comfort in his touch.

“Do you really like it?” you ask, still feeling a little bit insecure.

“Of course I do! Do you like it?” he asks you.

“Yeah, I think it looks really pretty.” you say softly.

“Then that’s all that matters. I’ll love you no matter what you look like. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” he says, his blinding smile gracing his lips once again.

You knew he would like it no matter what, but hearing him confirm it to you himself made any last bits of insecurity completely leave your system. You wrapped your hands around his neck, bringing his lips down to yours in a long kiss and you hope he can feel how much you appreciate him.

Once the two of you part, you can practically see the hearts coming out of his eyes and you know for a fact that your expression is the exact same.

“So, how long have you been planning this?” he asks, back to his normally silly self.

“Hmm, I made the appointment at the salon like two weeks ago?” you say, unsure of the exact date you made the appointment.

“You’ve been sitting on this information for the past two weeks and you didn’t say anything?” he exclaims, fake betrayal heavily lacing his voice.

“Now you know how it feels! You’re always the one who comes home with completely new hair with no prior warning. At least I told you to be ready for a surprise when I came over today.” you whine at him.

“Okay, okay, that’s fair.” he says with his hands up. “But, you’ve gotta admit, it’s fun for you, isn’t it?”

“No comment.” you say, as you try to turn around to grab your scarf off the table.

Key word, try. The second your back is turned to your boyfriend, he grabs your wrist and pulls you into his chest. Before you can say anything, you feel him push the two of you into the couch and his hands are immediately tickling you all over.

“Admit it! You like it don’t you?” he says, a smile plastered on his face as he continues tickling you.

Your giggles fill the room and you struggle to say, “Fine, fine! I do like it! Can you stop tickling me now?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Seokmin says as he collapses against you on the couch.

Before you can protest that his weight is all but crushing you into the couch, you feel his fingers carding through your hair again and the words die on your lips. Even though you felt like you would suffocate in the cushions of your boyfriend’s couch, you couldn’t bring yourself to break the peace. You realized you were much too content staying here with his fingers in your hair and you wanted this moment to last forever.

[camullenix]

"Careful what you say, it'll bite you like a B*" by C. A. Mullenix, Digital

Boy now this little project took me about a WEEK to finish up proper. between having to go back once to redo the rough drafts, taking an hour to line out each character. TWICE. Then having to redo the flat coloring cause of an issue with the fill tool and J's hair, figuring out the shading, making the character's silhouettes stand out from the BG well, and finally making sure to put my socials around it to make sure others know where I'm at in the end.

All things considered though, this turned out really well in my opinion. Not perfect of course, but for the time put in, it came out great. Hopefully it'll make for a Great spotlight piece for the Murder Drones Fandom, and a fun project to look back on. Still as always, I'm willing to take of any feedback wherever and whenever I can. So, feel free to give your thoughts and I'll be sure to read them.

Unti next time, hope all you fellow drones enjoy this short, sweet slideshow of the Disassembly trio's dynamic in a nutshell

[fredwkong]

Virgo Season: Harold

There was no way in hell that Harold was going to do his presentations on the lawn. This conference was supposed to be prestigious, and all that he had seen so far was every so-called “real man” in the Astra Hotel running in terror from a group of deviants.

Harold had been a police officer in Detroit for decades, and even retired he knew he cut an imposing figure. Where the inimitable Pastor Blanco had failed, Harold had succeeded, forcing the staff to clean up the conference hall in the early hours of the morning, after the nightly freak party ended. The day’s discussions and meetings had been held in their rightful place again, and now it was Harold’s turn.

If only he could get the damn projector working properly.

While Harold had been on the force, everything had been microfilm and slides, even into the 2000s. The Astra’s conference hall contained such newfangled gadgets as an “HDMI port,” an “audio jack,” and the horrifically misnamed “Smart Board” that Harold had no hope of interacting with. Harold had been expecting that some of the young professionals attending the conference would be able to help him with setting up.

Alas, all the young cowards seemed to have fled the conference over the last few weeks, and so Harold had spent 15 minutes struggling with the technology before he turned to Blanco, his face purple with rage. “Get… me… the concierge,” Harold gritted out.

Blanco seemed about to protest at being ordered around like one of his lackeys, but then clearly thought better of it. Without a word, he fled the hall.

The door closed with an echoing bang. Without meaning to, Harold jumped as if he had been touched by a small electric shock. The small audience—not more than twenty, and yet more than half the people still at the conference—all jumped too.

Harold turned back to the podium where the mess of wires surrounded his ancient brick of a laptop, only to see that one cable was neatly plugged into a port on his device. Behind him, the large screen flickered to life, displaying his desktop background.

“Ah, that’s fine then,” Harold said gruffly. “Let’s begin, we’re behind enough as it is.” He launched PowerPoint exactly as the man at the tech support desk had shown him once and began the slideshow.

The screen went black, then flashed bright before the first slide came up. Harold could have sworn it had shown a picture of a smooth-skinned man in a rubber bodysuit, lying at the foot of someone in high heels. But there was no such image on his device, so he must have imagined it.

“The police and their policies are an important part of America and make ordinary life possible,” Harold began, following the notes he had written in his notebook. He went through the first few slides, on the glorious history of the American police force and how essential they were to the protection of real Americans, like him and the other attendees.

As he did, Harold felt himself beginning to get warm in his suit. He wasn’t the type for nervous sweating, but he found himself tugging at his collar, feeling beads of sweat run down his grey, buzzed temples. After the third slide, he took a moment to take a drink of water, and saw several of the conference attendees doing the same, or fanning themselves with paper and notebooks. Maybe it had been a mistake to close the doors.

“Please pay close attention,” Harold said, clicking to the next slide.

The slide was meant to show an image of Harold during his glory days on the force. Instead, for an instant, Harold was sure the picture was of some deviant in a rubber bodysuit, long socks, aviators, and a leather cap. Like a horrible fetishistic parody of his younger self.

He blinked, horrified, and the picture he was was as it was supposed to be, a younger Harold in his perfect police uniform. Somehow, he had imagined such a horrific image. Harold coughed awkwardly. “In my time on the force, my district…” he continued, rattled.

The statistics and policy changes relevant to Harold’s presentation seemed to swim before his eyes. He was sweating like a pig in this suit. It felt like there was something under the cotton and silk, something pliant and sticky against his skin. The audience seemed to be moving uncomfortably. Some were tugging on their dress shirts, trying to force air into the humid interiors.

Harold continued reading his notes. “Police put great attention on stepping on—I mean, stamping out—less desirable elements in the city,” he said, stumbling over his words. “Employee satisfaction reached an all time high when police were given free rein to fu—no, that’s pluck—potential criminals from their hiding places preemptively.” Why had he written that word?

But the idea was somehow enticing. That would have changed things in Detroit, Harold thought, as he kept on reading and clicking through slides. Walking into a raid lubed up and hard in a rubber—rubber? Yes, rubber—jockstrap, fucking sense into those deviant criminals’ asses… He tried to resist getting hard in his dress pants.

When he clicked to the next slide, it showed an example of exactly the kind of criminal Harold was thinking of. Tight rubber pants, his chest bare, giving fuck-me eyes to the camera.

“The criminal element—” Harold’s voice was hoarse for some reason. He coughed and continued talking about the inherent criminality of non-white men in America.

The men in the audience were leaning forward in their seats as Harold went through the next few slides. He knew that look. The attractiveness of the hedonistic lifestyle of a deviant criminal was getting to them. It was getting to him, too. He could barely remember where his discussion was leading.

No one in the hall heard the main doors stick as someone attempted to open them from the outside, but found them held fast by some force other than the lock.

The atmosphere had become close and humid. Harold could see some of the men palming their bulging groins through their pants. He wanted a taste of that. Pictures of men in rubber continued to flash on the screen, even though Harold wasn’t clicking on it to continue. Harold couldn’t tell if they were criminals or civilians anymore. Maybe they were just ordinary people. The images came faster and faster until the screen was a blur of rubber men.

Suddenly, the onslaught stopped. A video started to play. Two men, of very different skin tones, furiously kissing. Harold heard moaning from the audience as they started to imitate what they were seeing on screen.

Harold felt overwhelmingly warm, and started to unbutton his shirt. Had his hands always been so tan? As he worked, he tried to continue speaking. “In-in short, the police force… Oh god, the police force should totally fuck more, can you imagine? In uniform?” The pitch of his voice rose as his grey hair darkened to black. Graceful hands stripped away his shirt to reveal a translucent rubber tank top underneath. “Can you imagine if they put on some rubber booty shorts instead of those boring pants?” he continued.

The audience started to strip each other, following Harold’s example. The squeak of rubber on rubber sang out in harmony with smooth moans and gasps. Skin darkened and youthened everywhere as everyone let go of everything that had been holding them back for decades all at once.

Harold clicked to the next slide, knowing what was coming now. A man in boots and a rubber shirt, sniffing a black sneaker. “You gotta show your partner you appreciate all that sweat he’s been building up under his rubber!” Harold told the audience, hearing the licks and snuffles begin as men enthusiastically dove into each others’ armpits, groins, and abandoned shoes.

Hadn’t Harold had a water bottle? No, just the spare sneaker his husband had sent with him to the Astra Hotel this year. Giving the audience a moment to put his command into action, Harold gave the shoe a sniff, feeling as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders as his body tightened up into a tan, muscular physique.

He wanted to stretch out his long tongue into the shoe’s interior, but Harold knew that would spoil the musk, plus he needed to keep focussed on his presentation. Instead, he imagined giving his husband’s feet a nice tongue bath once he got home, giving his cock a squeeze through his sweat-soaked pants. Still sniffing, he wriggled out of the pants, revealing his black rubber shorts, rivulets of sweat still running down his sturdy legs.

Harold clicked to the next slide, the final moment of his presentation. A guy in a full bodysuit, his rubber toes extended to the camera. “Remember, it’s all about playing with power,” Harold called out, feeling his mouth slip around the English consonants. His mixed heritage, raised in a house where he spoke Lebanese, left him with a faint accent that came out specifically when he was horny. “You do what another man says because you trust him, and it feels so fucking good, right?”

There was a roar of assent from the crowd, drunk on their own lust. “Good boys,” Harold said firmly, and drank in the responding chorus of submissive groans. Leaving the slide up, Harold stepped down from the presenter’s dais back into the seating. He pulled his long rubber gloves back on as he went. Best to be prepared in case someone wanted to feel his arm up inside them.

One couple, a Chinese man and his little Black boy, had actually started fucking, the Black guy’s rubber pantseat unzipped so his tight ass could take his dom’s cock. An older Arabic man had his hands tied behind his back as he sat on the floor in a circle of men, all taking turns using his mouth. As he walked past, Harold tugged on the long ponytail of a Brazilian in a rubber shirt, enjoying the man’s groan as he kept bouncing on what must be a plug on the inside of his pants. They were all gonna have a good time until the non-rubber guys joined them for the night’s party.

The conference hall door burst open, and Harold turned to see some old white man standing there, surrounded by terrified hotel staff. Harold raised himself to his full height and crossed his gloved arms, showing off the bulge in his rubber shorts and the muscles in his translucent shirt. This was his place, and he was gonna protect it.

The hotel staff fled, and the old prude wasn’t far behind. Harold rolled his eyes and turned back to his fun.

Click here to see all of Virgo Season.

If you feel inspired, write a story set at the Astra Hotel and post it @ me to join in. Help me celebrate my birthday by turning more conference attendees into geared up gay kinksters.

[romancingdaffodils]

Drunken Monologues

Certified Mind Blower

remus lupin x gender neutral!magical!reader

fluff fluff pure fluff with a tiny sprinkle of Remus being silly about his furry little problem.

Remus Lupin is the cutest cutie that ever did cute!

You fell asleep at his house, in his bed, beside him. Despite what your ‘drunken’ self may have wanted Remus just put you to sleep. Then, you wake up to the sound of his voice and to the scent of something sweet. Oh, and a splitting headache.

haii did you miss me i bet you did (lots of love lilac)

ps i think this picture is super cute because my best friend taught me how to play backgammon and i’m shit at it but it makes me happy :333 matt hitt is so cute

Remus Lupin has been and always will be unbearably pretty. So, when you woke up in his bed, it was a bit of a shock. However, that shock was soon overcome by the consequences of your previous actions. ‘Ow, my head.’ you thought, groaning once again. You were certain you hadn’t been that drunk, but maybe you were in denial. Not being that drunk should not warrant this awful headache. Suddenly, it dawned on you. You were alone in the bed. Surely Remus wasn’t the type to fuck off from his own house just because he wasn’t interested in you, right? Right? Sitting up, another sensation other than the splitting headache hit you. The smell of pancakes and the sound of Remus’s voice. Yum (for both). He’s talking, was he on the phone? You wanted to groan again, feeling like it was too much energy to move to the lounge. However, for more of Remus, you’d do anything.

“I’d say sorry Pads,” Sirius from last night, you remind yourself “But, I’m not sorry at all. They’re lovely, absolutely perfect.” he said, his voice muffled slightly by the walls. You can’t hear Sirius’s voice but you imagine he said something along the lines of ‘Honestly Moony, never expected that from you,’. As you had this thought, it set in he was talking about you. Fuck. Your face flushed and every single thing you’d said last night popped into your head. Late night slideshows of embarrassment now had enough fuel to last a life time. Padding out of the bedroom, you stood in the doorway to the lounge.

“Dunno why you’re so bothered, heard you went home with someone else anyway, Mckinnon was it? Or perhaps the bartender guy, who couldn’t leave you alone?” Remus said, chuckling down the phone. You were glad Sirius wasn’t bothered by your infatuation with his friend, seeing as he’d gone home with someone else. In front of him, two plates of pancakes were being coated in strawberries and chocolate spread. Sirius shouted so loud down the phone that you actually heard it this time.

“���Cause it was a fucking betrayal Remus!” he whined and you couldn’t help but giggle at his remark. Immediately, the tall boys head whipped round and he flashed you a smile.

“Good bye Sirius.” he replied, hanging up instantly. “Made breakfast, how long have you been awake?” he asked, still grinning at you; you smiled back.

“Not long, thanks for breakfast. Looks good.” you said, trying desperately hard not to fumble over your words. Your cheeks were still flushed and your brain was still mush.

“You alright, love? Y’look- quite red. How’s your head?” he questioned, as though he could read your mind. The statement ‘you look quite red’ was obviously a teasing one. So, when you frowned up at him, his grin only grew. Stomach twisting, you tried desperately hard not to give him a reaction to his pet name.

“I’m fine, thanks. Plus, you’re completely and utterly awful.” you complained, still frowning up at him.

“I made you breakfast and I’m awful. You were a lot braver last night.” he teased, picking up the two plates and placing them down on the breakfast bar.

“I remember you being a lot less mean last night.” you complained, still scowling at him. Your false anger didn’t last long as you sat down and gave a big smile. “Thank you.” you added, tilting your head.

“ ‘m incredible, dunno what you’re talking about. And, you’re welcome. How’d you sleep?” he replied, sitting down next to you and stretching out his legs. He was so unbelievably pretty, even with messy hair and too big pyjamas - which consisted of a band shirt and joggers.

“Really, really well actually. You? Oh, by the way. Sorry about, you know, everything I said last night. I’m not normally like that.” you mumbled in between bites of freakishly good pancakes. Chocolate spread and strawberries were an unmatched combo (only lemon juice and sugar could beat it).

“Slept well too. Plus, quite enjoyed you telling me how, ahh what was it? Fucking gorgeous you think I am. But, seriously, no worries.” Remus teased, but his tone deepened at his last sentence.

“I feel like I forced my way into your home.” you giggled, smiling over at him sheepishly.

“I’m not complaining. Y’lovely. I know you heard me say that to Sirius, by the way. You don’t really have the whole poker face nailed, do you?”.

“No, no not really.” you mumbled, becoming flustered once again. Watching Remus, you admired his every move as he finished off the pancakes. Similarly, he couldn’t take his eyes away from you. “Let me help, like do the washing up or something.” you said, standing up as soon as you finished the food “I feel bad, you’ve been so nice.”.

“You really don’t have to, but, if you want to you can.” he stated, smiling over at you as you took the plate away. Quickly, you got to work on washing the plates. He laughed lightly as he watched you, shaking his head.

“Are you laughing at me?” you asked, feigning offence. Approaching you, Remus placed his arms on either side of you. You turned around, having finished with the washing up. His face was only a few inches away from your own.

“Would never.” he defended, looking down at you. Remus Lupin was ridiculously tall, pretty and charismatic. He dressed like a loser, but was in fact - in your eyes - quite the opposite. Right now, he was all you had ever wanted.

“Hi.” your mind was at a complete blank and the fact you had even formed a word was impressive. Your body felt like it was on fire.

“Hello, dove.” he purred, trying hard not to laugh at the look on your face. As calm as Remus presented himself, he had a dead giveaway. A tell. White knuckles. He was gripping the sink so tightly his knuckles had altered into a pale, almost translucent white.

“You didn’t kiss me yesterday.” you stated, feeling it rather appropriate for the situation. He smiled. You swallowed, hard.

“No, I didn’t. You were quite drunk. However, it would be awful of me to not kiss you today.” he murmured in response, leaning closer in. Your mind was filled with a repetitive sequence of two words. Kiss me. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me. His teasing was criminal. He was driving you insane within the first day of knowing him and you couldn’t imagine the solace his kiss would bring.

“So awful,”. You had to bite your tongue to avoid begging him to kiss you.

Moving even closer towards you, Remus’s tight grip on the sink never once faltered. And, finally, sweet relief. He kissed you like you’d never been kissed before. Soft, sweet and somehow it held a passion that sent your brain into a wicked frenzy. When he pulls away, you pant.

It was good. Too good. Far too good.

“You’re so pretty, ‘s unfair.” he cooed, releasing the sink and running his hand through your hair. Tenderly, he tucked the majority of your unbrushed hair behind your ears. Remus didn’t really seem to mind the mess.

“Ha-ha. Haha.” you said. Yes, you spoke the sounds “Ha-ha.” Sounding somewhat like a maniac, all you could do was look up at him with pure adoration.

“Are you okay?” he asked, tilting his head. Once again, he was trying desperately hard not to laugh.

“Perfectly- Um, perfectly fine.” you confirmed, nodding your head as you spoke. Once again, the broken record spinning that was in your mind began its maniacal chant. ‘Kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me.’ you begged, silently.

“Still not got a poker face, dove.” he observed, leaning back in. Connection. Morning breath and all. Connection. You were praying you wouldn’t collapse of the sensation of it all. Your hands shakily found their way into Remus’s hair. Carelessly, his hands moved to your waist and pulled you closer.

In books it’s common for the writer to describe the characters emotions whilst kissing; it emphasises how good the sensation truly is. However, right now, you were going against all laws of literature. All you could think, feel or live was Remus. One day was all it took for you to be whipped. Truly, taken. One day.

With your head tilted upwards and your body pressed flush against the brown haired man’s, you could’ve died. Unfortunately, he pulled away. Taking in slow deep breaths, he peered down at you. The look in his eyes was different. He had attraction and affection, sure. But, there was something else there. His expression changed, now matching the look in his eyes. It looked like he was fighting some sort of battle with himself.

And, honestly? Remus was fighting a battle. He liked you, from what he could tell anyway. He liked you a lot. However, Remus Lupin was burdened with a curse he wouldn’t dare admit to anyone bar his closest friends. His so called furry little problem actually turned out to be a rather large problem. Especially when it came to people like you.

Famously, he was promiscuous. God knows the number of people he’d been with. But, those hookups could be reduced to a number. Someone like you couldn’t be inconsequential. In fact, he was of the firm belief you were going to be quite consequential in deed. Reducing you to another quick affection fix would be doing you a great disservice, so Remus thought anyway. So here he was, in his own kitchen, desperately pleading with his own brain to let him take you out. You kissed like some sort of God and you begged like a desperate follower; his body couldn’t decide which part of you he liked the most. In turn, that was what led to the ultimate decision to ask you out. Reminding himself of James, Sirius and Pete’s never ending pep talks, the lanky man understood his lycanthropy did not make him any less worthy of what he wanted. However, trying to act on that was an unbelievably difficult task for Remus. The typical excuse of chronic pain won’t cut it in a serious relationship, when he disappears for days. And, he felt a pang of guilt already fiddling with his intestines for any pain it would bring you. Making his mind up was proving to be far more difficult than he would’ve liked.

His heart won the fight, for once. Foolishly, he had put his logic driven brain aside and let his heart do the talking. (He’d soon come to realise it wasn’t foolish at all).

“Do you wanna go out, this week sometime?” he asked, continuously taking the lead. Grateful, you smiled up at him.

“Yeah, actually. I’d really, really like that.” you affirmed, once again nodding your head like a babbling idiot.

[halfratsalready]

The Unhinged Jack x Wanderlust Conspiracy Board Explained

A few days ago I posted this silly conspiracy board I made for a slideshow night with my friends where I talked about how Ubisoft loves to deny Jack x Wanderlust and everyone seemed to like it so here’s an in-depth (and I mean in-depth) explanation of everything on it.

We start, of course, with Si’ha Nova and the Traveler, and Wanderlust wearing his dad’s cape at the beginning of Canned Heat because it’s super cute.

And you can’t talk about this ship without the moment from Majesty that perfectly mirrors the moment from Save Your Tears because genuinely why would they do this if they didn’t want people to ship these two? (Rainbow flag added for ✨flavor✨)

I also thought it was worth mentioning that the only time we ever actually hear any of these characters speak across all 14 lore playlist maps is literally Wanderlust calling out Jack’s name.

And now it’s time for the part that I like to call Ubisoft’s crusade against a monster of their own creation (because look at those last two points and tell me they didn’t do this to themselves. You can’t.)

Now in making this I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Ubisoft isn’t being as harsh on the ship as we’ve been thinking, because “they’re such good friends” and “best friends” with a thumbs up automatically reads as very sarcastic and joking to me, like all the memes about “historians will say they were close friends.”

Then there’s the infamous in’s and out’s New Years post, but what I hadn’t picked up on until I saw this screenshot from Twitter is that the inclusion of “normalize being evil” on the in’s list is rather suspicious and that, according to Just Dance, “this was posted by Night Swan’s army.” So I feel like that’s worth mentioning, because it casts a different light on all the other things on the lists. As in including Jack Rose in the in’s list since he’s the only one she didn’t corrupt yet and she wants to do that this year? And putting stanning Jacklust on the out’s because she’s evil and doesn’t want us to have nice things? Not too sure but hey, if someone better at analyzing things wants to look into that, I’d be down to read it.

(I also think it’s worth mentioning that “worrying about getting a Megastar” is included in the out’s list when the tweet just before that one is encouraging players to get Megastar on Zero to Hero, so some more contradictions there, but that might not mean anything, given that Night Swan’s whole thing is perfection and I feel like she would definitely be in favor of worrying over getting Megastar.)

Plus there’s the pretty popular belief that they’re just pointing out how stupid of a ship name Jacklust is, but I’m personally not at all sold on this being the reason, even if Jacklust is a stupid ship name. (I told my friends the ship name during this presentation and one of them said “Really? Wanderrose was right there.”)

Lastly, I threw Night Swan in there because of the theory that Ubisoft is denying Jack x Wanderlust because the Traveler is Jack’s father. Now, I have opinions about this theory and I hope it’s not true for obvious reasons, but I feel like if it is, it’s a serious oversight on Ubisoft’s part.

Firstly, if they’re half siblings why did they recreate the move from Save Your Tears in Majesty? Seems odd to have half siblings recreate a pretty iconic romantic duet moment.

There’s also the fact that we can clearly see that Wanderlust takes physical traits from each of his parents - his mother’s blue skin and his father’s dark hair. If the Traveler is Jack’s dad, why don’t they share any physical characteristics? At the very end of the beta for Sweet Dreams (spoiler?) we see Night Swan with green eyes, unlike the yellow eyes she has in the rest of the dances we see her in. (While this could just be an older design choice, I personally interpreted this as meaning that her eyes were green before she went evil and then they turned yellow.) In all of his character artwork, Jack’s eyes are green, which I take as meaning that this is a trait he got from his mother. So I personally feel like it only makes sense for his father to have red hair (and we’ve got plenty of options to pick from with that criteria).

But hey, that’s just a theory… I don’t need to finish that part, you’re already thinking it. Thanks for reading my insane ramblings!

[jahsontodd]

✨rating pedro pascal characters based on nothing but costuming (non-exhaustive)✨

considerations:

*real housewives voice* thats my OPINION!!! also subject to change upon reflection, just going off my current feelings. 

not really discussing whether the costuming is good or bad for character, context, or source material but just how much I like them if that makes sense. 

some of these costume designers knocked it out of the park but would I be a little grumpy if I went on a date and they showed up in a walmart denim button up and ripped their $300+ jacket to shreds? Yes. Was that costume absolutely perfect for Joel? Yes again.

Mostly discussing costuming in context modern/21st century settings. The Mandalorian+GOT+ etc. in part two?

Minimal discussion on hair+cosmetics, only really when it applies to the whole look

Javier Gutierrez: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Rating: 10/10

Crew:

Paco Delgado: Costume Designer see also: John Wick: Chapter 4, Death on the Nile, Jungle Cruise, Cats (2019), Split, Les Misérables 2012 (and many more he’s booked and busy)

full cast and crew

Comments: 

They did not have to go so crazy on these outfits!!! 

Why does one of my favorite looks apparently not even appear in the movie!?

every look is so *chefs kiss*

I feel like mustard yellow is such a good color on him. 

Like call up those people on tik tok who make nonsensical categories like “strong winter” “ambivalent fall” and find out why mustard yellow always works.

The palette is a cute mix of like warm bricky colors like red, brown, mustard yellow mixed with baby blue and eggshell white. its actually perfect. 

What really makes him stand out is the fact he accessorizes. 

Lots of men don't accessorize because they don’t think its important - they couldn’t be more wrong. 

It’s one of the many injustices of the world that a man’s outfit looks 10x better by adding one necklace or in this case- pinky ring.

Do I like the sunglasses? No. But I like that they are there. 

Obligatory hair mention: The hair looks great. With longer hair becomes more responsibility, ie sometimes the part is a little too deep making the front pieces have a combover look. This is only when its messy though so that may have been the point?

If I included every outfit I liked it would just be a slideshow of the whole movie so I picked my favorites 

Javier Peña: Narcos

Rating: 10/10

Crew:

Bina Daigler: Costume Designer (season 1) see also: Dumplin’, Tár, Mulan (2020), 1899

María Estela Fernánde: Costume Designer (season 2-3) see also: Narcos: Mexico, Queen of the South, Hell (El Infierno)

Mayra de Abreu: Wardrobe Supervisor (season 1) key costumer for (season 2-3) see also: Narcos: Mexico, The Head of Joaquín Murrieta (La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta)

full cast and crew

Comments: 

Can you tell I like 70s inspos?

Its unique but true to someone who grew up in RGV and now on his own

ie good luck getting him out of boots. you can’t do it

When he dresses up in s1+2, damn i love a tan suit! 

Its very formulaic, but not to the extent that it looks like he bought 7 colors of the exact same shirt. He’s pretty much always wearing a short sleeve button up and fitted jeans. which makes the times he isn’t stand out

ie the tan suit. what can i say i am an american who is up to date on politics i always defend a tan suit when i see one

also occasionally breaks out this like tan vest situation? 

I think it’s a good balance between like clearly not being inspired by like their “current day” but not so 70s that it would be odd. It’s kinda timeless. 

He tends to follow one of my outfits rules: max 3 colors

Rules are meant to be broken obvi 

But I do feel like as a general rule of thumb and since he doesn’t wear a ton of patterns, wearing more than three colors starts to make an outfit look random and not put together

For Javi, this usually means 

color 1: *shirt color* 

color 2: pants (pretty much just blue or black, he does throw in some brown pants) 

color 3: brown (pretty exclusively wears brown belts/shoes)

Short note on hair/grooming: I love how season 1 has some more length in the back and generally has a shaggy sort of look? By season 3 his hair is more cropped probably bc of his new role. 

Something about the extra length in the back makes him look young- not in the sense of like actual age but maybe looking more hopeful or green, even when dressed up 

Also every so often you can see when they mess up the stick on sideburns. It tickles me.

He’s a menace to society. And he knows it 

Pietro Alvarez: If Beale Street Could Talk

Rating:  8/10

Crew:

Caroline Eselin (Caroline Eselin-Schaefer): Costume Designer see also: Moonlight (2016), Father of the Bride, Troop Zero, The Underground Railroad

full cast and crew

Comments:

We don’t see much and what we see! Is so good

This deep deep red is very nice and I like that is a monochromatic look (I don’t think we see his pants in the movie but collecting pics for this I saw the pants are the same color) 

It also has my favorite type of collar- that extra pointy extra long collar. 

And he *drum rolls* accessorized! Its only a necklace but the choice to have it OVER the shirt, over an already perfectly monochrome outfit makes it pop

The things that bring it a little down for me is, well, there is only one scene to work with so it feels wrong to rank higher than projects with multiple outfits, and the grooming

The mustache didn’t have to be so thin. 

Hair wise I don’t understand why we always have to exaggerate the side burns to achieve the “deep sideburn” look. 

I feel like we could still make the hair look “of the time” by taking some of the weight from the sides and leaving it up top and working with his natural side burns (even if that means making them darker, just not necessarily longer)

Even though I get the hair of the time was very um... spherical

side note: everyone in this movie is dressed spectacularly. I am appreciating through the tears in my eyes

Jack Daniels: Kingsman: Golden Circle

Rating: 7/10

Crew:

Arianne Phillips: Costume Designer See Also: Don’t Worry Darling, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Nocturnal Animals, Kingsman: The Secret Service

Full cast and crew

Comments:

Have I watched in full? Maybe a few years ago? I remember the first one quite clearly bc the water filling up the bedroom scene YIKES!

The snowsuit is so good. It’s functional, it’s sassy. It has one of my favorite western top details I don’t know the name of but the little patch details on the front of the shoulders. 

Who’s idea was it for the belt buckle to be a FLASK!!! thats gold

I love a color SCHEME!!! 

brown leather deserves love

The rain boots- a practical choice in the middle of like the least practical movie ever? Leave him in cowboy boots you cowards

Like oh the grounds might get muddy he needs rain boots. His belt buckle was a flask guys be real

Marcus Pike: The Mentalist

Rating: 5/10

Crew:

Amanda Friedland: Costumer Designer See also: 13 Reasons Why, House of 1000 Corpses, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fight Club, Clueless,

Scott O’Leary: Costume Designer See Also: The Rookie, Lucifer, Supergirl, 21 Jumpstreet

full cast and crew

Comments:

Have I watched in full? No. I caught a few episodes it was when it was airing but I don’t think i could tell you a single plot line 

(there is a LOT of FBI Department of Pseudo Psychology shows ok)

I do remember in one of his early eps they use the murder house from Nightcrawlers.

*Abby Lee voice* you didn’t stick out to me

Very government employee of you to wear ill fitting suits

Not to be irrational but v-neck t shirts don’t rub me the right way. 

This is a completely personal ick that I don’t expect anyone else to agree with. 

I just ~~ just do a crew neck you know? 

Maybe WHY I don’t like it is because its very 2010-2014. 

Which, in Marcus’ defense, just makes v-neck t-shirts something of the time 

Does nothing crazy with his suits, but nothing that makes me cover my eyes either 

Joel Miller: The Last of Us

Rating: 6/10

Crew:

Cynthia Anne Summers: Costume Designer See also: Swan Song, The Babysitters Club, Snowpiercer, A Series of Unfortunate Events (2018), Apollo 18

Full cast and crew

Comments:

Joel we get it you are nOT like other girls 

It makes sense for who he is. 

And who he is is someone who is not thinking about how much cunt he is going to serve with his outfit that day. 

unFORTUNATELY.

His pants ARE suspiciously fitted. Not so utilitarian when it comes to pants are you Joel?

But! I love the big coat. Could live in the big coat. The big coat deserves an award

The best part of the big coat is the main defense against the simplicity of Joel’s outfits are “oh it’s the apocalypse” or “oh he’s not thinking about that” 

Really? bc this is a SHEARLING lined coat. Do you know how quickly those fluffy shearling/sherpa etc. liners start to look like shit? if its a real shearling lining (the one he uses is real) you need to avoid getting it wet and store in dry areas. 

I am not even talking about price here! Because I have already explained why I think its not that weird to have people wearing expensive clothes 20 years into the apocalypse. 

Its the utility of having a shearling lined coat when you don’t have a closet full of DampRids

No way he had it in Boston since they only travel with regular sized backpacks. He saw it, liked it, wanted it, got it. 

He got that coat for the cunt of it all, you can’t convince me otherwise. 

Thank you so much for coming on this ride with me it was a fun exercise to look at just the clothes and not my feelings toward the character/movie/show. 

Who should I do next time? I have plenty of more thoughts hehe

~Tags for amiges who wanted to see this post!~

@fuckyeahpedropascal​ @simpingcowboy​

[gash-rock-now]

SCUM Zine (2022)

When I found Riot Grrrl music, I was elated. Loud, fast, angry music that focused on feminism was exactly what I was looking for. I discovered it as a genre/movement through Bikini Kill, as many of us do. The first time I heard Double Dare Ya, I felt like my life had changed. I went through the whole discography and found plenty that I liked just as much, but also several ideas that were expressed that I was a bit critical of. I decided to dig deeper into Riot Grrrl and what it was, but I found myself disappointed. Most of the music in the genre isn't actually all that loud or fast, and it feels like there is more contempt than pure rage, at least in many instances. There are several bands that I enjoy some of the songs of, but they don't quite hit for me in a broader sense. The critiques they present are so rarely about larger systems of oppression but rather individual experiences or more minor issues (which isn't to say that those minor issues shouldn't be discussed because they ARE contributing to a larger system, but I think that the system they uphold needs to actually be addressed for it to have any impact, otherwise the resounding response is that it's insignificant or not inherently universal). Bikini Kill and Bratmobile got the closest to that for me, but it was still mixed in with some ideals that I don't adhere to. I thought that the ideas might be fleshed out or properly analyzed in the zines that they released, so I got copies of the Bikini Kill and Girl Germs zines, as well as a plethora of other 90s Riot Grrrl zines, and for the most part they offered me the same conundrum: they are just kinda cool. They offer some inspiration, But that's really it;  they are aesthetically pleasing, a bit edgy, and touch on some feminist topics, but they still are just individual thoughts, feelings, and aesthetics above all else. It often left me to wonder, who could build a revolutionary movement on this? Kathleen Hanna said she wanted a Revolution, "Girl-Style" NOW, but where is it? The biggest problem, in my opinion, was the rampant individualism. Riot Grrrl, despite the probable original intent, wasn't a revolutionary leftist force but rather an aesthetic neoliberal one (which makes perfect sense for the time that it came about, but still it leaves a lot to be desired). It's made a comeback in recent years, and self-declared Riot-Grrrls have started making zines again too. I've bought some of the more popular Riot Grrrl zines of the present day, and looked at many of the ones that exist online but they are largely, well, in my opinion, worse. Like they try to replicate the whole aesthetic of the 90s zines but really focus in on that *aesthetic* rather than the politics, which is an issue for me because I already was critical enough of the politics before. It's often a culmination of collages and pictures that worship a specific artist or a "look", interspersed with the repetition of slogans and the same brand of politics that you find on those sponsored radlib™ instagram pages that make those slideshows that co-opt leftist language but end up being ironically very reactionary and kinda perplexing. And seeing this be the current state of feminist "activism" amongst youth, especially amongst those who would proclaim themselves to be radicals and leftists of some sort, has led me to a point of feeling like I need to take action. I just couldn't find a means of feminist activism that felt right to me.

[ancientcity]

One of the first things asked in survey #2 was “What makes a fanwork not RPF?”.

Now, there isn’t one concrete answer to this. In fact, the majority of people’s responses to this question fell into one of three categories:

Having aspects of being a “character”

Not being “out of character”

Author/Artist intent

(There were also a few instances of people thinking RPF stood for Roleplay Fiction)

To expand upon the first two, Joel (Smallishbeans) states in a QnA:

“When you see me in these videos, this is not what I’m like in real life most of the time. When I’m acting all crazy and stuff that is me just messing around, having fun, and sort of like playing a character where the character is myself. But I guess for me to actually do that, I guess part of it has to be me, as I do come up with these ideas all by myself and they are a bit weird sometimes.”

And in E. T. Hetzler's "Actor Self vs. Character Self: An Empirical Exploration", they paraphrase a chapter from A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology by Franco Ruffini.

“The actor does not have the luxury of distance. The actor must create the illusion for the audience. But for this to be the case, the actor must surely see a distinct separation between the character and his/her personal self. This is not always an easy distinction to make.”

They go on to poll actors about their relationship with their role. Nearly 75% of respondents answered "It depends on the role and production. I can be detached or immersed." to the question of "How important is it to become your character?"

A few responses caught my eye in the survey I did as well:

But regarding Author/Artist intent?

Alright alright… what does this have to do with anything?

Once the essay I’m writing on this subject is out there, I will no longer have control of how it’s interpreted. Nor this slideshow. The same goes for any form of art, fanwork or otherwise. Even with the responses to the survey, I probably didn’t get exactly what was intended out of them!

Being both an author and someone who enjoys analysis, on top of someone who enjoys reading, I’m in a bit of a tricky spot. Do I subscribe to Roland Barthes’s proposal that “the birth of the reader must be ransomed by the death of the Author”? That the author must “die” in order to give space for the reader?

Or do I follow the whims of the statistician in me? To say, for certain, what is true or false about the data given?

Do I follow the wants of the author in me? To say, for certain, what is right or wrong about a piece of canon?

An author should be given space to share what they believe about their story.

A statistician should be given space to explain their reasoning.

But as viewer of the work provided, you should be able to come to your own conclusions and interpretations about a piece of media. Author intent be damned.

After reading the answers to this survey, I think it’s safe to say that I am in the minority that believes intent doesn’t matter. That as the reader, you are able to interpret other’s work however you see fit.

So I invite you to criticize my analysis of the data. I’m not perfect, and I’m still learning. But I can and will try to see different interpretations of the data.

[snakxreader]

hi ... so like .. im the only snorpy selfshipper afaik qnd i require food so .... can you maybe if you want to write a snorpy x reader scenario where he gets to infodump about conspiracies and all that jazz on a date while the reader (me) lovingly listens to him if you dont mind ,,, tysm hehe !!

A/N: SNORPY KISSER SO REAL. I don’t self-ship with him, but I do wanna be his friend and I have a bit of a crush on him. I forgot to do conspiracies and made it some show with a plot I came up with though…sorry ^^’

Snorpy x Reader (Infodumping)

You knocked quietly, hoping you wouldn’t disturb him while he was getting ready or startle him. “Snorpy? Hun? Ready to go?”

“In a moment, dearest!” Came the muffled reply, as the sound of scattering pencils and sheets from papers most likely knocked over in his haste. You can’t help but snort at your boyfriend’s antics, waiting semi-impatiently. You don’t have to wait for much longer thankfully, as he stumbles out of the room a few minutes later. He stands in front of you, giddy and nervous at the same time. “I hope I look presentable..?” He asks.

He looks adorable, handsome as well. His usual apron and cap were removed, with his locs being put into a nice little ponytail. His apron was removed in place of a red knitted sweater, from a close friend, and navy overalls, rolled up at the ends. And while you would normally tell him as much, his bashful, hopeful grin is too much for you not to kiss him. You gently cup his cheeks, and press your lips against his forehead, nose and lips in rapid succession.

“D-Darling!” He cries out, surprised glee in his voice.

“You look amazing as always, Snorpington.” And you mean it. You hold out your hand, and he takes it as you walk out the apartment you two share.

“So, where are we heading, anyways?” He asked. You’ve kept the location of your date incredibly secret so far, and you planned to keep it that way.

“Nowhere crowded, I promise~”

“That’s incredibly vague…”

You simply shrug, him snorting at your smirk. You both head inside the car, shift it into gear, and reverse out your apartment grounds. It’s not a far drive, just a couple turns and a few miles until your car reaches a deep forested area.

“Love?” Snorpy inquires, glancing around at what he presumes is an empty space. “I don’t understand why you’ve…” He turns out and you visibly see his breath get taken away. His pupils dilate. The little things you love about him when he’s flustered. “Oh.”

You hold a small bundle of blankets, as well as a picnic basket, kissing Snorpy before heading in front of him. “C’mon, this way!”

He follows after your brisk steps, nearly tripping over a tree root or two until you two make it to a cliff. You’ve chosen the perfect time, the sun setting as evening comes, it’s orange hue providing a perfect view on top of the large ledge you’ve chosen.

Snorpy sputters as you rest down the blankets. “H-how did you even find-?”

“Me and Chandlo found it after a hike in the woods, I thought it’d be a cute date spot.” You spread out your picnic, admittedly full of his favorite sweets as it has actual food in it. “Sit down!” You say, taking a seat on the blanket. Snorpy drapes himself across your lap.

“Mmmm…it is quite nice outside. Thank you, dear. I did need a bit more fresh air.” Snorpy hums.

“No problem. But hey, now that we got some time to ourselves, you wanna tell me about the theories for that new show you got into?” His eyes light up, and he rushes to unlock his phone. You’re so used to seeing it when he talks about his charts or Grump Peaks, it's cute seeing it for something else.

“Oh where do I even begin?! It’s just- The mystery is so gripping and the threads are connected and -ok, ok, the main character, I think personally she's the one that betrayed the crew because if you look at the beginining of the show-” Snorpy rambles uncontrollaby, pulling out a slideshow he had made on his phone for you to scroll through. The bright radiant joy from your normally so quiet boyfriend is something you cherish and care for.

“And then, it’s Grump Peaks right, where, uh, where…” His fingers snap. “Right! The-the-“ Snorpy flapped his hands squealing, before returning to his infodumping. You listen to him patiently, stroking his locs all the while.

“So, you’re saying this cyborg lady is actually the mother of…Jaxon?” You ask.

“Yes! Exactly!” Snorpy nods. He stammers for a second, before taking a breath and looking at you grateful. “Um…t-thank you. Y’know for listening to me.”

“Of course. I could listen to you ramble all day, especially when you look so happy, honey.” You giggle, smooching his nose. “Now go on, I wanna hear more!” The floodgates for theories open once more, as Snorpy stims with his hands, infodumping his heart out. His smile is infectious, and his eyes still gleam.

Yeah. You could listen to him ramble all day.

[papapascal]

Classroom Crush (Pedro Pascal)

The strap of my bag is practically creating an imprint on my shoulder from how tight I was pulling on it, but also because it’s holding two textbooks, a laptop, and a few folders for my classes today. One of my scheduled classes always gets me feeling giddy and nervous all at the same time. Every Tuesday and Friday I attend the same classroom for two different courses, both of them obviously taught by the same Professor.

Today is Friday, and that means I’ll be there for my Feminist Theory class. History has become my passion, but even more now since the man who teaches them is pretty easy on the eyes. There’s nothing more attractive than a man teaching a women’s history class and knows exactly what he’s talking about. Our class is mostly made up of women, and a few men sprinkled about. Let’s just say this Professor has our undivided attention. Half is looks, half is his exuberant personality, which just makes information absorption a lot easier.

“Are you ready for class?” My best friend appears beside me as I’m in route to class, and the smirk on her face was evident that she was teasing me. She knows I have a crush. “You’ve got this little pep in your step. It’s actually quite adorable. Professor Pascal would be flattered to know how excited you are for his class.” She then gives out a laugh at the way I tensed up and focused on how I was walking so I wouldn’t have that ‘pep’ in my step.

Great, now I’m going to be hyper aware of how I’m walking to his class from now on.

“Oh, shut up!” I grumble.

We turn the corner to head down a hallway when we hear music. It gets louder the closer we get to his classroom.

“Is that—“ F/N begins but pauses to listen closer. “Is that Beyoncé?”

We step into the classroom, following behind other students. They start laughing, and I couldn’t figure out why because they were blocking my view, but when they disperse to head up the stairs to their seat, I see it. Our Professor is dancing. Terribly. And every time Beyoncé asks ‘Who runs the world?’ he’d shout ‘GIRLS’.

F/N began to laugh. I cracked an amused grin.

“What is happening!?” F/N asks loud enough so she can be heard over the music.

“Good afternoon, ladies!” Professor Pascal greets us, ignoring F/N’s question and slightly out of breath.

Behind him is a large screen that has a quote pulled up: There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish - Michelle Obama.

Once everyone is seated he uses a small black remote that turns the music off. He perches himself on his stool. He looks very sophisticated for someone who was just dancing to a Beyoncé track—a brown cardigan, a white t-shirt underneath, green, baggy pants, and black, shiny shoes. He’s also wearing a pair of black, bulky glasses on his face. His hair looked groomed but also like he just crawled out of bed. It’s hard to explain, but it looked perfect on him.

“Wow, I’m going to be feeling this in the morning,” he jokes before taking a deep breath. “Don’t question it if I end up laying on the floor in the middle of class.”

Everyone gives out a laugh in unison.

“You’re getting too old, Mr. Pascal,” one of the men in the front says.

Professor Pascal shoots him a glare as his hand reaches back and rubs his lower back. “Fuck you.”

We all laugh again.

“Good afternoon, class! Today is March first, which means for the next thirty days we will be celebrating Women’s History Month, although, we should be celebrating our women and appreciating our women everyday!”

Simultaneously, we’re all clapping.

“Lucky for us though, we get to do just that, even when it isn’t March. There’s people in this world that don’t understand why we devote an entire month to women. I would simply ask them, why not? One day isn’t enough to teach the countless accomplishments women have made that have greatly impacted our history…our lives…our world…and as individuals.”

I’m mesmerized by the way the words flow through his mouth without a slideshow. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s a proud man who is proud to celebrate women. He recognizes women. There’s nothing better a man can do.

He goes on to tie in the quote on the screen before he jumps into the curriculum. He keeps his voice loud and clear so nothing is unheard or misunderstood. He’s confident in his education. He loves women in a way it’s harder for other men to do the same. And how do you not form a crush on someone like that? He keeps my faith in humanity alive.

I enjoy the brief moments he lays his beautiful brown eyes on me.

“I’m going to throw another quote at you, because we like quotes in this class. G.D Anderson—feminism isn’t about making women strong…women are already strong.”

There’s a ‘WHOO’ from the back of the classroom.

“It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength,” he finishes. He’s quiet for a second to allow us to soak in the words before proceeding. “And you know what, I’ll throw another one at you. Melinda Gates—a woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”

Clapping fills the room.

“We’re going to name off some strong, impactful women. Just throw them at me.”

“Frida Kahlo.”

“Harriet Tubman.”

“Wilma Rudolph.”

“Clara Barton.”

“My mom.”

“Love that answer!” Professor Pascal exclaims, pointing a finger in the direction of a man who said his mom.

“Me!” I answer loud enough.

He claps his hands together. “Yes!” His eyes are wide and practically sparkling. I couldn’t tell if it was just me but he always lights up when I participate. “If I was capable of doing a cartwheel I fucking would!”

“Give it a try,” one of the students call out.

“Alright!” He raises up from the stool, holds his arms up high above his head, and jerks his body to one side, making it seem as if he was actually going to attempt a cartwheel but not. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” He chuckles and slides back onto the stool.

“No, try it!” Another student exclaims.

“I think I’ll have bigger issues than a sore back if I attempt it. Knowing me I’d tumble off the stoop here,” he says, hand pointing down to the single stair that creates a step up to the stage-like platform he’s set up on. “I bet you guys would like that, that’s why you want me to do it.”

“Psh, no,” the same guy he cursed out earlier says.

“I’m too old, right, Randy?” Professor Pascal shoots.

I always forget the guy’s name even though him and our Professor always banter during class. They have a great, playful student-teacher relationship. They’re always amusing the rest of the class. Something inside me envies that…

“I mean, you can prove me wrong right now,” Randy says, shrugging.

“There’s nothing wrong with being old, Randy, but if you keep it up you better have quick hands to catch a flying stool. Anyways!” He flashes us a pearly white smile while we all laugh. “We are surrounded by women who are impactful that you forget that you, as an individual and a woman, leave an impact as well. Your actions and voice are just as strong and important.”

He claps his hands together. “Alright, that’s all I’ve got for you guys today! Enjoy your weekend, stay safe, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Is there anything you wouldn’t do?” Randy asks.

“Exactly. Go have fun!” Professor Pascal exclaims.

Everyone begins gathering their belongings and filing out of the classroom while he turns the music back on. He’s back to dancing, even a few students joining him while they’re leaving. I giggle while still packing my things, shoving my textbook and unit folder back down into my bag. F/N gives me a little wave as she leaves without me.

All of the seats are empty except where I’m sitting, eventually standing up and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

“I enjoyed your participation today, Y/N.”

I look over to find Professor Pascal approaching me, hands stuffed in his pants and a thoughtful smile on his face to match his kind eyes.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a good class to participate in,” I say, and it’s the truth.

“Gotta keep it lively in here, you know? People should be excited to learn about women. It can’t just be another history class.”

I pull the strap of my bag tight on my shoulder. “You’re doing a great job at it. Probably one of the best classes I’m taking. And really, it all depends on the teacher when it comes to how we absorb the information. You keep it real and exciting,” I say.

He chuckles, and I notice the dimples in his cheeks. They make him appear younger—child-like.

“Well, I don’t want to hold you up any longer. I’m sure you’d like to begin your weekend,” he says.

My brain immediately flipped through anything and everything I could possibly say to get me to stick around a little longer. I’m not quick with thinking when I’m in the presence of someone I believe is attractive—man or woman—but today it’s going at full speed. “Wait, could you maybe help me out with the paper that is due on Monday? I’m almost finished with it, but just need help with a few info pieces.”

“Absolutely!” He perks up and pulls his hands out of his pockets while I scramble to throw my stuff back down into the seat. “What ya got for me?”

I flip the top open on my computer and my paper immediately pops up on the screen since I was working on it earlier during class while he was discussing a topic I’m writing about. “I just need a few more things to back my thesis. Like, I have an idea of something but I don’t know how to incorporate it.”

Professor Pascal sits beside me.

“I wrote down a few potential pieces to add though,” I say as I whip out my unit folder and pull out a loose-leaf piece of paper that had my written ideas and citations scribbled down on it.

He reviewed what I had written down, nodding his head as he read, and I’m assuming liking what I had written. He points out the best ones to back my thesis, and then he’s rattling off more from the top of his head that could strengthen my argument further.

I enjoy being in his presence, especially this close to him. The aroma of his cologne lingers off of him and fills my nose. He smells just as good as he looks. He’s then pointing to something on the screen, but I’m too busy watching his hand to listen to anything he’s saying. There’s a tattoo between the space that separates his thumb and index finger. It looks like a bullseye. Simple, but makes me wonder what the meaning is behind it.

“You still with me, Y/N?”

I snap out of my thoughts the second I hear my name. “Huh?”

He begins laughing at me, eyes scrunched up to reveal crows feet, and his face looking absolutely squish-able. Who knew men could be adorable? “I asked if you were still with me, but I think that ‘huh’ just answered my question!”

“Oh!” My cheeks fill up with heat, so I know they’re tomato red. “I’m sorry, I think I just spaced out a little. Sorry.”

“Here.” His large hand slides the paper in front of him. “Got a pen?”

I reach down into my bag, and my fingertips touch a familiar plastic, and I fish out a pen, handing it to him. He gently takes it from me and begins to scribble down I guess the information I missed. “Apply this to your fifth paragraph.” He writes the number ‘5’ next to what he wrote. “And then this…” he jots down more words, “for your conclusion.” He writes ‘conclusion’ next to that one. “But your paper is phenomenal so far. How you transition between each argument and topic is beautiful.”

I could kiss him right now. I could press my palms against his scruffy cheeks and press my lips against his and just experience the warmth of him, or even his hand against my neck. For someone who is a very proud woman, I’d risk anything to have a chance with him. He’s too professional to sneak around and create a romantic connection with a student like me. He’s older. Way older. It’s unforeseeable to believe he would pursue someone as young as me.

He’s sliding the paper back in front of me. “I enjoy having you in my class,” he says.

We connect eyes, and for a brief moment his eyes flick down to my lips and then back up to my eyes. It could also just be my imagination. I’d be delusional to think he’s attracted to one of his students. It was my imagination.

“Just finish this up on Monday. You can turn it in late, even. A lot of work has gone into this paper, I can tell. Just go enjoy your weekend, okay?” He smiles softly before getting up from the seat.

I close my laptop and slide it into my bag, along with my unit folder that I slid the loose leaf paper into. “So I get special privileges?”

“If you tell anyone I just might have to kill you,” he jokes. “Now get out. You’ve already wasted thirty minutes of your weekend sitting in my classroom.”

“Alright, alright, I’m getting out!” I pull my bag over my shoulder.

“Git! Git!” He’s waving me out like an old man trying to chase me off his lawn. “Don’t touch that paper until Monday, you hear!?”

I give him a thumbs up while I’m scampering out of his classroom.

[juliettedunn]

Luz Noceda and What She Means to Me

Luz is the greatest character of all time of any media ever because she is THE Luz fucking Noceda, I have loved her ever since I saw the first episode, my favorite character and remained that way. She was always underrated by the fandom in her own show. She changed my life.

Her character is unapologetically cringe. She wears a cat hoodie and says “Meow meow.” She says random nonsense and gets big sparkly eyes and she stims by bouncing and running in place. She wears an otter onesie. She snorts book pages. She gives so many hugs.

She is androgynous, and I learned I wanted to have that style too. I saw Reaching Out and thought she looked so cool. I cut my hair and started dressing more androgynous and was so happy with that. It was inspired by Luz.

She ignores every binary. She wears a suit AND a skirt to Grom and it looks horrible but it’s HER. She has a derpy technicolor Palisman that shapeshifts. She is bisexual and she came out with an animated slideshow and a portmanteau couple name like the cringe silly icon she is.

She is so ADHD and she runs around and does the wildest impulsive things and she has volume control issues and she has a self insert Mary Sue based off her favorite fictional character, and now she’s going to battle an evil Christian colonialist in cosplay because she’s that cool.

She rediscovered a whole damn magic system and invented a bunch of spells and built an inter dimensional portal door in her backyard and she played a centuries old emperor like a fiddle and she saved so many people but she can’t even see it she doesn’t KNOW.

Her story means so much to me, her journey of being an outcast and feeling guilty for doing poor in school when she knows she can put her all into “waste of time” things like learning fantasy languages and hobbies like taxidermy. She let me forgive myself for failing college.

I didn’t truly forgive myself until I saw TTT and I cried the whole night realizing I can finally let go of that guilt.Just like Luz must learn. Seeing her find friends and family, and realizing her core wish is to be understood provides me so much comfort.

I’ve never known any character that made me feel so represented. Things that I used to be ashamed of, that Luz does too, I now feel positively about. I am so much softer on myself since I saw Luz make similar mistakes.

And her worst traits, that tendency toward self blame and keeping her guilt inside instead of confiding, made me reflect on my own tendency to do it, and I have worked hard to break this cycle. I see how harmful it is, not only to me, but loved ones, and I am changing.

My self esteem is higher now, I am forgiving of my disability, I feel safe to be a chaotic and silly mess, to be more androgynous, to get super cringey about fandom, and to reach out and confide in others. I have hope of finding people who I connect and feel at home with, like Luz did.

She is the cringiest little silly and also the most badass fucking LEGEND I’ve ever seen on screen. Luz Noceda the perfect icon. I am so grateful she exists. The ultimate character. Luz Noceda.