#to clarify im a theatre kid

[itsacruelsummerwithyou2]

look i know people all have their own feelings about ben platt, but can we agree he kinda when off when he wrote a bridge that was just the line “i could leave all this behind me if i could remember you kindly” over in increasingly desperate begging?

[muff1nqwq]

sorry i havent been around in a while, things have gotten crazy, im sure you get it. my first day of being a sophmore (10th grader) starts tomorrow and while im not extremely nervous it is also 11:50 at night and i have to wake up at 6:15, ignore the specific time as it is never specific, its an estimate at best.

i have this thing called band camp that has been going on for the last couple of days. basically i play my trumpet (her name is Margaret) for 4 hours in preparation for football season (im in the band, we have to play at football games) idk where you are ofc, so to clarify, this is american football. the concussion sport.

i picked up tarot reading and it's super silly, i would recommend. its funny to think that the cards are supposed to have their own personality. id say that i dont see it, but they told me to shut up once, sassy ass cards...

i havent been hurting myself as much because of how busy i am + how cold it is. a thing about me is that i cannot ever cvt when its cold. maximum discomfort. 0/10 stars. not funky fresh.

my ex and i started talking less often and im kinda glad it happened, which might be mean to say, considering were friends still, but theres so much to do, to worry about that i can barely keep up with things.

anyways, i think thats most of it. btw if you ever dont know how to respond to one of my rambles, id love it if you might just add your own story? about anything!!!! i like hearing from you!

— rin

hiya Rin :DDD I missed u!!

GL in school!! I'm gonna b a Freshman this year and I'm excited-nervous abt it... At least its gonna b the same ppl ( even though the principal warned us abt a rush of new students, but its better than going 2 a brand new school ) I gotta fix my sleep schedule so bad, I stay up till 3am and wake up at noon :'3

:0000 IM IN BAND TOO :DD I play clarinet :3 ( btw I love how u called football the "concussion sport" XDDDD )

Tarot reading sounds so cool :000 i rlly like astrology and numerology ( I'm an Aquarius :3 )

4 me it's still hot af here, even though snow melted like 3 weeks b4 summer break :> but yesterday I went 2 go walk my doggo and right as we were turning back, it started raining, and my dumbass didn't bring a jacket and I was wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts, so I was running ( in flip-flops ) 4 ten mins in the rain tryna get back 2 my house lolol X'3

That sounded like a line from a book I read a few yrs ago XD ( but I hope ur still finding time 4 urself :) )

A few nights ago I was rlly, RLLY hyped up 4 highschool... Same school, few new kids, new teachers, maybe a new rep... Then I thought abt what my rep would b like. I mean tbh I don't mind if I'm known as a weirdo furry theatre kid, but last yr my ex-bestie spread nasty rumours bout me, manipulate me and my friend group, and overall make everyone avoid me. At least my friends knew what she's all abt and stuck w me 4 the whole yr, but like... What if the rumours spread 2 the new kids and bad stuff happen?? So then I stayed up thinking bout that and at 2am I multiswiped 10 times and I named the cvt Jeffo :3 ( I haven't cvt in weeks cuz I didn't have many Band-Aids left )

Have a good day Rin :DDD

-Muffin

[lulu-nightbon]

i cant edit either my phone almost bricked when anon sent me an entire book in my ask box

i may not have clarified enough which is my fault- the question is SHOULD i make it, im not asking for assistance with animating it (ill likely do that myself if i ever regain access to making digital art)

i would have preferred doing an animatic of Two Birds on a Wire first but that one would be FAR too spoilery (though it does contain the theatre kid macaque we all know and love)

alright, i have a BIG ask, i need advice

@sun-wukong-brain-rot @no---username (i hope its okay if i tag you, if not i am so sorry, just let me know and ill never do it again) i trust you two the most for advice on this though all advice is helpful in this scenario

i would really like to make an animation meme for Baleful Melody, and while this isn't my first pick, im willing to do an edgier/more venting-focused meme first cuz otherwise ill be too busy brainrotting to finish the masterpost

however, i don't have access to drawing digitally, let alone a method to animate it. so, instead, id like to storyboard it. however, said storyboard would contain DARK AND MATURE THEMES THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AUDIENCES, so id like to ask advice on what to do (trigger warning before mentions of said dark themes, look for the "content warning over" and put it at the top if you are not in the right headspace for something as drastic as the trigger- as someone who's been in that headspace before and still has depression, i understand that you may not be up to seeing the actual trigger)

id like to storyboard the short version of this meme (so it stops after the word "okay"). however, i don't know if anyone would be interested, not to mention, it presents a mild continuity issue that im willing to overlook if there's enough reason to make this.

CONTENT WARNING!

CONTENT WARNING!

CONTENT WARNING!

CONTENT WARNING!

CONTENT WARNING!

CONTENT WARNING!

the only issue with the continuity of the meme is that it implies cháng zhǐ's attempted suicide was AFTER spider queen bashed her skull in, when there's still a fair chance it's before, as i haven't decided yet.

CONTENT WARNING OVER!

is there any interest in seeing a storyboard for a meme drawn on paper? if there is enough when i finish the storyboard, i may draw the extended version, but im taking it one step at a time

all input and advice on this is appreciated, thank you!

this little last bit is filler so that there's room for you to put the safety words at the top

if it's not sufficient, please note im on the mobile app, just let me know how many lines you need after this

DGJSJYDHTSKHDJYDJUDKY

hi.

[metaphor-cheese]

Have a strong dislike for teen fanfics where buford and baljeet seem to have reverted back to their season 1 personalities. Based on the trajectory of their character development at the end of the series baljeet should be confident as fuck in highschool while buford is a softy theatre geek. In this essay i will

[prosciuttostoothgap]

my gender is just whatever emcee from cabaret had going on

[wistfulwatcher]

Hello I saw your tag on that "im 25 and dying post" please tell us how it got better for you. Im 26, still living with parents, currently having a fight with my boyfriend, and i still have a year until I get my bachelors. The comparison to everyone younger than me is killing me.

I'm really sorry to hear that you're struggling, but I hope you can take some solace in the fact that that post has a lot of notes and you are absolutely not alone in feeling the way you do! I can certainly try and share my experience, but unfortunately I think the biggest factor is just time (and like, a buttload of self-reflection).

I moved back home after college and worked full time at an administrative job I was doing during school breaks. I majored in psychology and anthropology in college, and was planning to eventually go into forensic psychology, but wasn't interested in going straight into grad school. So I did that administrative job for about a year, and tried to find something that was a bit more stable and at least semi-related to my field. I did end up finding a new job when I was 23 - stable, semi-related to my field (a psych/research background was required), and decent pay (especially as I was still living at home). Exactly what I needed, since I still wasn't ready to start looking into grad school.

I was doing pretty well, until I started getting comfortable at that job, and then I started getting hit with the "I'm not doing enough," and "I need to look into grad school," and "will I ever find a boyfriend?" (friendly reminder that 23-year-old me thought she was straight, yikes), "how will I afford to move out, I have to save my money and do it soon!", "I'm not doing anything but watching TV, I'm wasting my life," "I'm lonely, but I'm too tired to try and make friends," etc., etc.

But it wasn't constant. I'd have a flurry of those questions and fears, and then days where I was just living life and doing my job and taking care of my dogs, without any of that. And I don't think I felt good or particularly comfortable those days, it was more like I just wasn't actively thinking about it, like when you feel "good" after a physical pain goes away and you're just normal.

Eventually, I started thinking about all of these concerns I had, and the fact that it felt like it was URGENT whenever I thought about them. It felt like I needed to get my shit together immediately. I also started to acknowledge that there was this big sense of guilt around those concerns; I was too old to be living at home, I was too old to be single, I was too old not to be starting a career. I felt like I was wasting my life (cue the guilt), and I realized that part of why I felt like I was wasting it was that I felt like I was missing milestones I wouldn't be able to do at a later time because the older I was past "normal" the more humiliating it would be to try (cue the shame and embarrassment, hard).

I also started to doubt that I wanted to go into forensic psychology. More importantly, I started to seriously doubt that I wanted a "career" at all. My job (as I kept that same semi-related to my field one) was absolutely a job, not a career. And I think this was a huge tipping point for me, because a career had always been a given in my life. I'm passionate about what I'm interested in, so it literally just never occurred to me that I would be content with a job. I also started acknowledging that I had some messed up associations about being content with a job meaning that I was lazy (because the only way to be ambitious is with a career and, more damaging, a lack of ambition is fundamentally bad).

Now, I need to clarify that all of the above occurred over the course of years. I was constantly seeing "friends" (i.e., of the facebook variety) go to grad school, start careers, get married, buy homes, etc. And with all of that alongside the entire mess I've outlined in the above paragraphs, it was really, really, tough. It gets hard to find a foothold in better thinking, I believe, when seeing all of these people (some younger) doing things "right" was really just compounding my guilt and shame. (I feel like it's worth mentioning, too, that I was always "an individual" growing up, march-to-the-beat-of-my-own-drummer, yada yada. I feel like that's worth pointing out for others who may be in the same boat, because I think it can lead to another layer of shame in comparing yourself to those around you - especially if it's a big part of your identity that you DON'T do that, because I think it's inevitable as you get older, and you're looking to reach these milestones that prove you're an adult.)

So, here I am, acknowledging that I feel guilt and shame about what I'm not doing. And suddenly I ask myself my first really important question: Do I want a career? The question hot on its heels is: Do I want to go to grad school? Honestly, my answer is no. There is nothing in me that's excited by the prospect. But what, does that mean I'm just going to work my job for the rest of my life? How is giving up going to make me feel better about Not Doing Enough?

As I'm opening this door (remember, years), three things happen: 1) I realize I'm gay, 2) I watch Dirty 30, 3) I start playing D&D.

First, realizing I'm gay. Woohoo! Not only was this exciting because girls are amazing, but it made me seriously look at myself. Realizing I had spent 25 years assuming one thing about myself that turned out to be completely wrong made me question everything for a while. I started to ask myself, "Do I really like this?" more often, which seems like a really obvious question, but I'm not convinced that it's one people ask themselves consciously all that often. But once I did, I realized how freeing it was to answer, "No," and move on to something I did like.

Second, I watched Dirty 30, the Grace Helbig/Mamrie Hart/Hannah Hart movie. It feels dramatic to say that it changed my life, but the older I get the more I honestly think it did. Mamrie Hart's character is a dental hygienist who is freaking out about turning 30 and feeling very much like that text post I reblogged. But (spoilers), at the end of the movie, she decides that she loves her job (job, not career!) because it's comfortable and she has fun at work, and that it makes her happy. She has other things going on, but the idea that a character in a film is content with her job and choosing to "settle" into her life as-is and she's genuinely happy about it? I honestly can't think of a single other time I've seen that happen on-screen. I still think about that ending very often. And after seeing it, I started to ask myself another question regularly: "Am I happy?" Again, this feels pretty obvious, but I think there is something incredibly empowering about making sure you are happy on a regular basis, instead of just assuming that you're fine until something hurts.

Third, I started playing D&D. This is not a plug for D&D! (Well, maybe a little.) One thing that happened to me when I started to get into the urgent-guilt-shame-confusion mess of my mid-20s was that I got very much into a routine of go to work, come home, sleep, go to work, come home, sleep, be totally brain-dead on the weekend, repeat. I found it very difficult to feel creative because I was just wiped, and as all of my creative outlets (gifs, fanfic) are self-motivated, it was really easy to brush them off. I ended up starting Critical Role (this is also not a plug for CR! well, maybe), and I wanted to give D&D a try myself. (I was VERY lucky - my best friend happened to be listening to the Adventure Zone at the same time I started CR, and she wanted to try to run a game. The stars truly aligned!)

I started playing, then DMing, and found that it was a great fit for my interests. I used to be a theatre kid, and I was getting to act again (something I didn't realize I was missing). I was getting to build and flesh out characters, which is what I love the most about writing fanfic. I was also discovering that I was stretching myself - world building and plot had never been my strong suit, but as a DM it became the majority of my creative effort. It gave me soft deadlines with people I didn't want to let down, and it made me truly social again for the first time since college. Essentially, it was filling in all of the gaps of what I felt lacking in my life. This isn't a D&D plug because it wasn't D&D specifically, but rather a hobby that satisfied what was missing in my life. For example, I didn't realize how isolated I was before D&D until I had regular interactions with friends, and that isolation absolutely made the urgent-guilt-shame-confusion worse.

D&D gave me that final push to realize that I was OK with having a job and being passionate about hobbies instead of trying to fit myself into a career, because I was getting out of that hobby what I had been convinced I would get out of a career. I started to really value that I could punch out and go have fun doing exactly what I wanted to do. (It feels so obvious as I type this, but it took me a long time to get here! Sometimes it really is that simple!)

The above is specific to my job vs. career struggle which may not be in the mix of things you're struggling with. But what I do think is universal/can be your take away, is that sometimes you just have to actively choose to let go of the pressure to be doing things. Which, I know, sounds so much easier than it is (and part of why I think it just takes time/is part of growing older). But I think it's something that can be worked at over time, by checking in with yourself about what you feel, why you feel it, and what you need to make yourself feel better in the present.

It's been 6 years since I started that semi-related job, and I'm still there. I still live with my mom. I'm still single. My circumstances have not changed since 24, but honestly? I'm OK. When I check in with myself about it, I do enjoy living with my mom and our dogs (even though I'm 30 and "real" adults move out). I am happy more often than I'm not (much more, actually!). I have a job that allows me to be done after 8 hours, and I have hobbies I look forward to doing each night (and the energy to do them, most of the time). My weekends are free to play D&D with my friends and laugh until I cry. That is what I've worked out as my definition of what I want life to be right now. You'll notice it includes none of the "milestones" that those younger than me have hit.

As I noted on that text post tag, I still struggle with this. I definitely have days where I think, I'm a mess, I'm not DOING anything. It's hard. But time does help, those days become fewer and farther between.

I know that was probably a hundred times longer than you wanted it to be, but I did want to illustrate just how much of a process it is. It takes time. My summary advice is to check in with yourself often, be honest about what you want and what you need, do not let anyone else define where you "should" be. And if you aren't living life how you want to be, identify what you can do (however small) to make yourself feel like you're getting closer.

[raspberrycrush-moved-blog]

it’s only been like an hour and a half but i already have post show depression

[thoughts-of-a-stagemanager]

I work at a non for profit theater, im usually stage managing, painting, building or helping with costumes. I was asked to stage-manage for our 13+ show, I accepted and spread word of auditions to kids i’ve stagemanaged before. Only come to find out im labeled as the Assistant SM, not the stagemanager even if im still doing all of the work as a regular stagemanager. I dont know how I should react? I feel oddly destroyed by this? I feel embarrassed too, due to telling people i was stagemanaging.

Hi Anon,

Unfortunately in the theatre world these miscommunications happen. To start, you are still stage managing. You are still doing SM duties and tasks. Some theaters have different definitions of what an ASM is and what they do. I would next time just clarify if you are an ASM or an SM. I know it’s a hard thing to swallow and is hurtful but an ASM is just as important as an SM. I would take advantage of this and use this opportunity to show the theatre that you can be the best SM they have ever seen when given the chance.

Keep your chin up!

~Admin

[skamfairy]

Thoughts on the changes in clip 3 of Druck

Alright so before i start talking about the changes, i’m gonna clarify the similarities in clip 3 of druck to og skam which areeee:

Eva/Hanna doing school work 

Sees old friends and stares 

Two people come over and invite Eva/Hanna to a party

Thats about it (although i urge you to tell me if i missed something)

This clip did such a good job at already staking it’s claim on their own originality and separation from og skam and i think this is so so so important and something the remakes should all take note of. 

Not only does Amira (sana) coming in early have what i believe is a domino effect on the upcoming clips; but it also has an effect on the dynamic of the girl group.

of course this is dependant on personal opinion, but in s1 especially; eva and sana are not as close as,,,, well as eva and noora or sana and chris and vilde and chris for example. like the dynamics of the girl group are clear, and so i feel like by introducing amira early, druck is indicating that they will make the dynamics and the relationships within the girl squad their own. and THIS IS SO EXCITING!!

This clip already had a political voice and i think this is what really makes me so hopeful for this remake. The theatre kids have become refugee activists inviting Hanna to help tutor refugee students. We also get a glimpse of the kind of ignorance and isolation Amira faces every day, even by students who would consider themselves aware about the issues. and i just love this so much <3 this whole clip was so great in not just staking it’s claim as slightly independent from skam but also in already showing us what we’re in for and addressing some of the key issues in (but ofc i can only assume cos im a vegemite eating koala) german society. 

I’m so excited about the way things are going so far and how druck doesn’t seem afraid from straying away from the script and the plot to put their own mark on this wonderful concept and to give german youth accurate rep. Lets hope it sticks <3

[lighbrl]

first time i got tagged in something wow ok um hi lets be friends???

anyway

relationship status: single lady yep yep

fav colors: ???? purple black red pink so many pretty colors that one mustard yellow thats zuper popular

lipstick or chapstick: like...both are nice? lipgloss tho bruh is the best its shiny but so's lipstick. so lipstick thats the final answer.

fav food: cheese pizza apparently in russia pizza has one flavor so i mma clarify. cheese pizza is god. cheese pizza is

song stuck in my head: confident demi lovato its my current angry song

last movie i watched: crazy rich asians altho its uncommon for me to watch movies in the theatres...friend had discount so...!

top 3 tv shows: ah fuck uh: ATLA, Star Trek (TNG/DS9), Attack on Titan

current book reading: conspiracy audiobook by Lindsay buroker (does anyone actually know about this bc hmu its f*cking litty and i would f*ck the entire cast 😆)

last thing i googled; my address uh

time: 7:49 am

blankets: lots its summer and airconditioning is TOO MUCH HERE UG!

dream trip: see friends far away idk im also interested in going to japan

anything you want: to get married ? having someone around always would be so nice???

ALSO MONEY MONEY

age: inconsequential but 19

birthplace: you want my social sec # too? usa boiii

last drink i had: strawberry milk

easiest person to talk to: friends

favorite song: uhmmmm sweet dreams

grossest memory: yikes uh eating pasta (with red sauce) after learning about bloody tapeworms good times in grade school

hoggywarts house: fuckin gryff im a disaster

in love? once, not now

jealous of people? friend jealous hella

killed someone? 😉

love at first sight or walk by again: nyeh i dunno skip

middle name: lan

siblings: нет

one wish: infinate money, realistically? lots of friends who understand my...questionable personality and humor. A home, kids, a loving partner. a job that lets me travel.

wait thats more than

person last called: someone in my russian class

questions you're asked the most: are you ok??

reasons to smile: attention!!! writing, fun fandom stuff. comfortable clothes good food i could go on...

song you last sang: dancing queen

time i woke up; the time between my awakening and checking the time are...disperate. but ~7:30 when i checked the time.

underwear color: black with white stripe

vacay destination: hell i want to meet everyone there before death... joking. jokes. austria sounds cool.

sign: a very accurate cancer

worst habit: having a large ego and rambling about myself stream of consiousness style.

i tag: @forlornmelody @bronzeagelove @blazenight-it @lotusflame14 @ishouldbepunk

[hoopyfrood]

as promised, here’s ur first glimpse of katm (@knightatthemuseum) fic 👌👌

i’ll be uploading this to ao3 too when i start uploading all the companion stories in order, but it’s relevant, and these events just happened a few days ago, so it’s only fair u guys get this one now! 😜✌️

posting several days after new years rami style lmao

also context for anyone confused: 

i run a natm blog set in an au where nicky goes to the british museum for his gap year and it posts in real time with what events are happening to nicky and lance, as well as fitting into canon as much as possible, and along with it im posting fics for backstory and extras!

no name for this fic just yet, so how about: sleepy boy parties too hard but its worth it because he’s gay as hell feat. sadly not enough tilly 

“Ah, a New Year’s Kiss! Isn’t that nice?”

Nicky blinked and looked over at Lance and then at the exhibits dancing and singing in front of them, following their gaze until he got distracted by some of the tiny figures from Pompeii doing a Mexican wave. It wasn’t unusual for him to become sleepy during his hours spent at the museum, and as he’d been to a party earlier that night he was now really ready for a good long nap.

However, he’d promised he’d stay up for the new year, so he was sat on the stairs with Lancelot, who had taken a break from dancing, while several exhibits were partying before them in the Great Court to a 70s playlist provided by his dad. Nicky had put his music on shuffle earlier, but museum folks just seemed to be fans of disco classics. Larry stayed for Hanukkah, and it’d been great hanging out with him, but he’d left earlier that day; he’d gotten himself a dog for company and his grumpy neighbour had only agreed to look after it for just over a week.

Lance had been more excited to see photos of the dog, Betsy, than to see Larry himself. It was understandable, though, his dad was still a little wary of Lance after their first encounter when they almost got all the exhibits, including themself, uh, killed. Also, Lancelot really liked dogs and had an impossible dream of owning one in the priceless artefact filled museum.

His dad didn’t need to be cautious though, Lance was pretty harmless, in Nick’s opinion. Take their sword away and they were just a slightly confused, unfairly attractive person who enjoyed reality tv a bit too much.

Said knight was elbowing him again, which was kinda painful as they were wearing their full suit of armour for the occasion. They grinned and pointed over at the two statues sharing shy kisses.

“Those lovely ladies over there, isn’t it nice?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Nicky knew he should’ve feigned more excitement as Lancelot instantly turned to look at him with a worried expression. He sipped the cider they were sharing and tried to look more awake. New Year’s was a great time for the museum exhibits as it wasn’t long since they’d woken up, so they were ready to party, but Nicky didn’t think it’d be more than a few hours until he passed out. He’d try and stay up and enjoy the celebrations till then, though.

“Nick, what’s wrong?” They didn’t even need to ask if he was okay, they knew each other too well by now.

“Just tired. I did all my partying earlier, and, you know, I love DJing but being on your feet for so long really drains you.”

Lance crunched a handful of crisps as they paused to think. “You should rest, then.”

“No, I’m alright, just don’t ask me to dance, I’ll probably collapse,” He chuckled, but Lancelot was still fixing him with a concerned stare. “Just kidding.” Nick clarified, patting them on the leg in reassurance before helping himself to some snacks too, opting for the bowl of pretzels between them.

“I won’t be dancing myself either, I keep getting made fun of by this very mean guy with freckles who refuses to dress up for the occasion.” Lance told him, sniffing and looking away, opting for being dramatic, as per usual.

“Hey, this is a new sweater, I made some effort!” Nicky jostled them in the side and watched the grin spread across their face again.  Lancelot could never remain serious for long without smiling, or just forgetting what they were doing.

“Armour is much more appropriate for an important event such as heralding a new year!”

“Not very practical though, at least I can dance in a sweater,”

“You’ve not gotten up to dance once! Half heartedly doing the hand movements to the macarena doesn’t count.”

“I’m tired! Look, my eyes are almost shut… can’t stay awake… time to collapse… ow!”

“You can’t miss the start of a whole new year, Nicky!”

“I’ll stay awake, just… don’t attack me with your evil metal fingers again.”

“What can I say? I have very well made armour. But my metal fingers will leave you be.”

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

The two shared a smile and then went back to snacking and watching the crowd of exhibits and their varied dancing styles. Tilly was teaching a cluster of people how to do the robot, with mixed results. She waved over to them excitedly and gestured to the exhibits next to her doing the awkward dance. Nicky and Lance both waved back in unison, Nick also giving her a thumbs up.

“When was your last New Year’s Kiss, Nicky?” Lance asked in interest, foot tapping to the music.

That took a bit of thought. “Uh… when I was fourteen and the only other boy who liked boys took pity on me at a friend’s party.” He smiled self deprecatingly as he remembered the girls avoiding him near the end of the night. He’d only recently come out as gay (later realising he was bi) and the only other known gay guy had given him a quick kiss before running off, leaving him alone to play a Pokémon game in the corner. Things hadn’t changed much, clearly, as before Lance found him he’d just been sat on his phone on the steps of the Court.

“That’s a long time ago.” Lance commented.

Nicky elbowed them in the side teasingly. “Not that it’s any competition, but when was your last kiss?”

To Nicky’s surprise, Lancelot turned the faintest bit pink. “William kissed my hand the night before he left, the same as I had greeted him.”

“Shakespeare?” Lance nodded in response to Nicky’s question. “Oh, I thought you were going to say Trixie or yourself or something.”

“Well, it was just a friendly gesture, I think it was, but it was nice of him.”

Lancelot wasn’t saying much which was an odd thing, as they usually wouldn’t shut up, but Nicky didn’t want to probe. They’d only recently gotten comfortable calling themself gay and being more confident in their sexuality: whatever it was, it wasn’t straight, and Nick didn’t want to push them to talk about crushes or anything. Will had gotten on well with Lance when he’d been part of the British theatre exhibition, and he’d been a surprisingly chill, flirty kind of guy who made terrible innuendos.

“That’s a long time with no kisses, though.” Lancelot was saying, and Nicky turned to see they were looking at him in thought.

“I guess. I’m used to it though, no big deal, man.”

“No, that won’t do,”

“Lance…” Now it was Nicky’s turn to feel heat rise in his cheeks. He didn’t know what Lancelot was planning but, oh man, he was already thinking of ideas and he really shouldn’t be thinking those ideas, they were ridiculous… but very welcome.

“Trixie! Come here, girl!”

Nicky breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. Then held his breath again as Trixie scrambled around the corner and sat at Lancelot’s side. She really was a loyal dinosaur, it reminded him of his friend Rexy, as boisterous as she had been, and it was a good thing they weren’t in the staff lounge for once as Trixie would probably have broken through the door frame and most of the wall to get to Lance.

“Now, give Nicky a kiss.” Lancelot commanded, clasping their hands together.

It was probably weird to not be scared by a giant triceratops looming down on you, but Nicky was used to it by now, having helped Lance train Trixie with the more difficult commands. The dinosaur butted her mouth against Nicky’s forehead then sat down again happily, and Nicky patted her side in thanks.

“Isn’t she a good girl? Yes she is! You’re a good dinosaur, Trixie!” Lance was saying, not in a cutesy voice like most people would use for a pet, instead they were proudly proclaiming how great she was while scratching her under the chin. After receiving the praise she wanted, Trixie ran off again in chase of something neither of them could see. It was New Year’s Eve, it was a party, neither of them could be bothered to run after her. Besides, she rarely broke anything lately, and if she did it was never any of the really important historical things.

It was a couple songs later after a comfortable silence between them when Lancelot spoke up again.

“Nicky, when are New Year’s kisses supposed to happen?”

“Uh, New Year.”

“Nicky!”

“What?” He smiled innocently while sipping his drink and avoided looking at his friend; he knew he’d lose his straight face pretty quickly if he saw Lance’s disgruntled expression.

Lance pushed some hair from their face so they could frown more clearly at him. “That’s not very helpful.”

“I’m not a very helpful guy.”

Nicky turned his head to give Lancelot one of his best teasing smiles, but just as he did he realised Lance was moving closer to him, their hands on his shoulders and then Nicky’s breath caught in his throat and… they kissed his eyebrow.

They both moved back quickly, Nicky now in utter confusion. What had just happened?

“You weren’t supposed to move.” Lance told him, and, now that Nicky was frozen due to being in mild shock and being held still by Lancelot, they kissed him lightly on the cheek, stubble brushing against his jaw.

“There. Happy new year!” Lance pulled away and patted him on the back, looking as though they felt very successful.

“Oh, right, happy new year, dude,” Nicky though of giving them a fist bump in return, then realised that would look a bit weird and he decided to just smile back before looking away.

Lancelot had no idea they’d just given him the best moment of his whole year and that was ridiculous, but it was also true, and he really wanted to run his fingers over where Lance had been against him and kissing him, and it was just his cheek, but, man, he suddenly felt wide awake. Nicky exhaled deeply and internally told himself to chill. He’d probably have handled himself better if he hadn’t had a few drinks. At least, he hoped so.

Lancelot looked completely oblivious, thankfully, to Nicky’s reaction. They were tapping both feet to the music now and picking the rocks of salt out of a pretzel with great concentration.

“Thanks, Lance,” Nicky told them, not sure if his friend had taken pity on him or just wanted to fulfil the tradition, but it was a nice end to the year. He wasn’t going to look into too deeply; the other was always an open person with expressing their excitement and love of their friends and things.

Lancelot patted him on the back, again, proving Nicky’s internal musings about their touchy feely nature correct, and nodded. “No problem. Everybody should get a kiss for New Years, I think.”

Nicky considered for the briefest of seconds kissing his friend back, but then mentally (and maybe physically? He wasn’t really sure what he was doing at that moment in time) shook his head to get rid of that thought. It was better to stick to their usual banter and move on.

Although… kissing for the sake of tradition was a pretty valid reason to do so. He wouldn’t have another chance for a year, and fuck knows where he’d be then.

Yeah, he might as well go for it.

“Guess you should get one too, yeah?”

He waited for Lance’s nod of agreement, then, as casual as he could be, Nicky held their jaw gently, and pressed a kiss to the side of their face. If he’d been somebody watching he would’ve walked over and slapped himself in the face; it reminded him of little kids shyly kissing each other during school recess or something. It was only for the sake of tradition, of course, but he felt a little nervous about it happening.

(Nicky was too busy keeping his eyes on Lance to notice, but later he’d be told that there was somebody watching, and it was Tilly, and she had been giving Nicky an unseen double thumbs up. She was very keen about setting people up in the museum, but unfortunately for her, it was just a casual thing.)

Lancelot looked surprised, but grateful, and they smiled. “Thank you!” Another person with a big crush on them might’ve been annoyed by how relaxed Lance was, but Nicky was glad to see them looking so happy and comfortable. It made him chill out, too.

Sometimes he was anxious about touching or hugging his friend too much, worried he was being too close, being too obvious about his feelings. He didn’t want to influence Lance, to make them feel they had to be anything other than good friends. So it was nice to just hang out, to get the warm buzz of alcohol in his body, to joke around and know that his friend was comfortable with the odd touch and hug, and kiss on the cheek. He really needed to start up a conversation to distract himself from thinking about moving his lips elsewhere.

“New Year’s Kisses are supposed to happen right as it becomes the new year,” Nicky told them, failing to think of anything to talk about but kissing. Great, not like that was weird. He was also pleasantly ignoring the fact he’d kissed them back way before midnight.

Lance didn’t seem to mind, though, they just looked thoughtful.

Everything had been a bit surreal, but it was hard to feel awkward around Lance, and even though Nicky was sure he was still blushing a tiny bit, the atmosphere was relaxed as ever. Well, he was used to the guy being close. It just happened that he’d liked this one action from them quite a bit more than all the hugs, though they were nice. Lance was nice, too, pretty great, actually. It was ten minutes to midnight now, and Nicky was glad to be spending the last few moments of 2016 with his closest friend.

“Well, hopefully I’ll get it right next year, then.” Lance replied with a nod, happiness returning as they munched on a pretzel and tapped their feet to Boogie Wonderland, while Nicky wondered if that promise would be fulfilled.