#my subtle question about your favourite colour very obviously has nothing to do with the idea behind this set duh

[kimtaegis]

blue joon ♡ for @rkivedfiles

cr. namuspromised

[leviiattacks]

Two Faced | Chapter Ten

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it’s all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared, for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au ??? (at this point idek) angst, fluff, slice of life etc ?? word count :: 4k author note :: haha.... wowww it's been long since i last updated. honestly my physical and mental health have just been horrible... that's about it, i lost a lot of motivation but if you're still reading i am very thankful and i will try to deliver the story well. i tried my best but writing whilst sick is very tiresome :-) tags :: @patience-is-here​ , @chwlogy​ , @a--nonymousse​ , @imkumichan​ 

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Keeping yourself cooped up within Levi's estate and never daring to step a foot outside should have been what you had done. Blackmailing him to keep you confined within the walls of your bedroom would be much better compared to the problem you have to resolve now. Perhaps if you had done so you wouldn't have collided face first into this muddle.

Jean fiddles with the ends of his button up, he doesn't take the chance to glance up at any of his superiors. He's either much too embarrassed or has nothing noteworthy to start off with.

Erwin chooses to call the shots seeing as neither you or the Viscount by your side wish to begin.

"You both understand why we're here. Correct me if I'm wrong?" The Commander looks between you, Jean and your unfortunate excuse of a husband. Suddenly it looks as if the gears and cogs in Jean's brain move without warning.

Offering a demure nod you expect for him to follow in your footsteps and do the same only he stands there looking between you and Levi.

"Wait...The two of you are? A couple?" Stunned isn't the word, Jean's completely flabbergasted.

"If you figured that out this late, I do not understand why Erwin sees you remotely fit for my team." Levi's beyond insulted at the fact he's only just understood the situation.

Jean, now more intimidated than ever before straightens his back and coughs clumsily, "Sorry." He murmurs chestnut eyes making contact with the hardwood floors.

The Commander's laced hands sit atop his desk, elegant fingers moving similar to honey on a spoon. He sighs not out of fatigue but pride. Whatever plan he's come up with has to be decent at the very least, his body language is telling you that much.

"We have a number of possibilities we can choose from. We owe that pleasure to Mr Kirstein here." Erwin offers him an almost cynical smile, you can't help but gulp thinking about how this is essentially your fault. With all the constant training sessions and team building tasks it makes sense for Jean to have completely forgot about your unspoken rule. Solely blaming him is incorrect.

Raising your arm above your head to intervene you make it known that you're aware of Levi shooting you a look of warning by returning it. It's best he knows you don't care for anyone's opinion let alone his.

"Permission to speak Commander?"

Your request is agreed to immediately with the wave of  Erwin's hand.

"It's my fault for not reminding Jean. I'll take the blame, I hadn't even told him the full story concerning me and Levi."

Levi doesn't enjoy your defense in the slightest. "I don't expect my wife to fling herself at other men and allow for them to snoop around gathering the details of our personal lives."

Scoffing you shield yourself with your arms over your chest.

"Oh dear husband. If you want to get personal do tell me where my family is?" It's an inside joke only Levi will be able to understand.

"If you call those people family your standards are disgustingly low."

"Maybe that explains why I settled for you."

Again, other's opinions are not at the forefront of your priority list. Regardless it's quite enjoyable pushing Levi further into a corner with that sentence. You see the internal struggle play out within him. Jaw clenched, hands balled together. He doesn't have an appropriate response

Jean bursts out unable to hold it in any longer, chest trembling with every quake of laughter that ripples through him you have to shove him with your elbow. For a Viscount his etiquette sure is nonexistent.

"My word, the two of you sound like..."

Levi stares at him most probably expecting something along the lines of "An old married couple."

But, no. It's nothing anyone in the room expects. That includes you.

"It's as if you're unhappy with each other..."

Not a noise is made after that. Jean isn't mistaken, your heart is miserable. You've never had many relationships to begin with, whether it be familial, romantic or platonic and for someone such as your husband to treat you the way he does - it feels futile having to navigate around the complexities. Even if he isn't really your husband it's disappointing to reflect on your marriage so suddenly.

Feeling your face droop a little you bite your bottom lip with your teeth. Hearing the truth from someone you barely expect to hear it from has an effect on you.

You're so caught up analyzing everything it takes you a minute to even register Levi grumbling and lunging forward pilfering the collar of Jean's shirt.

"Every day you prove to be more and more pathetic than I expect." Levi turns to look at you after that. His stare bores into you but he doesn't come off threatening, you assume his last remark is directed solely at Jean.

When he turns back only glaring at Jean now with even more tenacity than before. He's ready to snap but Erwin has clearly had enough of the unwanted altercation in his office.

"Enough. The both of you. This is most bothersome." At the Commander's orders Levi is silenced although it takes all of his resolve to do so.

Finally bothering you take a good look at Jean. He's calm in an incredibly out of character way.

Is this not the man who trembled in his boots the first time he and Levi came into contact? It's almost as if he seems pleased with himself for drawing out such a reaction from his Captain.

Erwin shuffles through stacks of paperwork on his desk. The man needs an assistant at this point. You doubt you could find anything in that haphazard pile. Edges of crumpled paper poke out uncomfortably and Erwin becomes increasingly annoyed when he can't locate what it is he's looking for.

Just as you're about to ask if he requires any assistance it seems he's found what he's been looking for, that's if his eyes are any indication of the relief he feels.

"This." He holds up the paper, all eyes in the room are trained on it. "Under normal circumstances would not have to become an option."

"But these aren't normal circumstances?" Jean's thoughtless question is irksome when the answer is so obviously staring him down in the face.

Nonetheless Erwin nods incapable of losing his cool over something so minor.

"Sign to confirm to my proposition."

The document he places onto the desk isn't what you imagine, you can practically feel the dread climb up your throat once you're done scanning it. Jean's full name placed right next to yours in bold lettering has your stomach lurching. You don't have to read the rest to understand the new circumstances you've landed into.

To make matters worse Erwin places two rings down right in front of the both of you.

A pot of boiling hot water is what you've been thrown in.

Are you supposed to be some sort of replacement for potatoes? What's Jean in this scenario? Carrots?

"It is troublesome to have the two of you put on an act to be involved with one another but I see it as our safest option." Erwin notices your parted lips and slacked jaw. "You need not worry this isn't a marriage contract, you're simply acting."

There's no path out of this pot, you and Jean will simply have to deal with the prospect of being boiled alive.

Ah, you forgot to mention who would act as the hot water but you're sure the suspect is obvious.

Even right now Levi's fury radiates off of him, it's unclear if he was given the details of the Commander's plan beforehand but if his furrowed brow and pursed lips are indicators of the truth he must have had no idea.

Your suspicions are confirmed to be correct once Levi reaches forward plucking the paper away, it just so happens he's snatched it away the very moment Jean leans in to get a closer look at it.

"I was never informed of this."

Erwin gives him a guarded smile. "Do you have any jurisdiction over what I think is best?" Is his freezing reply.

"Yes. When it concerns my wife and another man - Correction. I meant boy."

Jean's taken aback by the subtle jab and shamefacedly shoves his hands into his pockets.

You watch the scene go down with a perplexed look the entire time. Levi's frustration seems to be legitimate yet he has no logical reason for it to ever be present in the first place. Unless he has a plan which outperforms the one you've just been given he's doing this all for nothing.

"I assure you your wife is in safe hands so long as you stop interfering."

Levi's about to bark back until he catches your confusion. He's become aware of your tilted head and telling expression and only then does he silence himself permanently not before sighing deeply, muttering an expletive under his breath.

 "I’ll sign it.” That seems to be Jean’s indirect way of asking what your choice will be.

“I... will too.” Is your hesitant reply.

Levi only becomes avoidant after that. Half way through Erwin explaining how you and Jean have to look believable Levi just ups and leaves without a word. Perhaps you've hurt his pride but for what he's done to you it's a small price to pay and so you do nothing to make amends. He has no reason to feel uncomfortable, you aren't really his wife, you're essentially strangers. Does he even know your favourite colour? Your favourite food? Your favourite pastime?  

You doubt he does.

Jean and you are rather successful with your act. It feels pleasant having him brush your hair out of your face occasionally or lovingly place a hand on your forehead to check if you've come down with a fever. He laces his fingers with yours when others are around and when they aren't he lets the act go. It's satisfying having a cooperative partner.

Naturally Jean is still a tease, even now he makes the odd suggestive comment or two in passing but you can't say you hate it. In fact it excites you to think of a response that borders the edge of teasing and simple fun between friends.

The increasing openness between the two of you is enough for the cadets to deduce that he's most probably the noble man you wed in secrecy.

It's only been a few days since yours and Jean's newfound behaviour, thankfully you haven't been flooded with questions just yet. The higher ups sit nearby during breakfast, lunch and dinner keeping watch over the cadets. It leaves you able to eat and drink without having to handle the constant inquiring of your comrades.

However, you aren't as lucky today. A meeting's taking place and after yours and Jean's convincing act Erwin deems it safe enough to leave you unattended for a short while.

Of course it doesn't go according to plan because when you're involved when does anything ever go according to plan?

The cadets are flocked around your table at dinner as soon as they notice they've been left to their own devices. The opportunity to sit down without everyone invading your space is barely provided to you. Krista is sat to your right leaning into you rather animatedly, Annie has made herself at home sat across you which in itself is completely out of character and slightly unnerving, Annie never and you repeat never concerns herself with you.

"Why did you and Jean hide it?" Armin hovers over your shoulder as per usual. He can't be blamed for naturally being inquisitive and it does give you the opportunity to lay out the foundations of your plan. Now's your time to muster up one of your rehearsed responses.

"It would interfere with work." You respond immediately wanting to appear natural. Pondering on an answer for too long would raise suspicions.

Armin makes a sound of approval and shuffles into the seat next to Krista, that is until Ymir can be overheard telling him to move if he knows what's best for him.

"I have a question." Says a voice across the table, you don't have to look at the blonde parallel to you to know it's her.

For once Annie’s initiated a conversation with you, she’s not particularly great at keeping her intentions discreet. Maybe she doesn’t care if you can tell what she’s up to? But if that’s the case her plan isn’t all that foolproof, there's no way you're to let any details slip away.

Sharply inhaling waiting for what it is she has to say you find that her sentence never comes. Instead she shakes her head and murmurs a "Never mind.". You don't even have the time to ask her to stick around, she's already rose from her seat taking her unfinished plate of food with her, you let her go assuming she feels unwell.

"So how'd you two meet? Jean already told me earlier but I'd like to hear your side." Reiner's taken Annie's empty seat and his gaze is unwavering. The trap they've set up is a clever one. Surveying the hall for Bertholdt you know he has to be observing too. The two never operate alone.

You suddenly hate Reiner. For whatever reason he and his trio are endlessly obsessed with you, they've caught onto something that's for sure but you don't know what it is and now they've completely ensnared you with a backhanded trick. There's no way out of this, you have no idea what it is Jean said to Reiner, the chances of you providing the exact same answer are slim to none.

"My memory is really fuzzy, I don't think Jean gave off much of a first impression so I've forgot." Your horrible excuse doesn't fly by, everyone simultaneously narrows their eyes in disbelief. What you've said isn't convincing at all.

Husband and Wife yet you've forgot how the two of you met?

Fidgeting with the ring adorning your finger the cool metal isn't doing a great job at alleviating the pressure of the situation.

"Jean said the two of you hit it off almost instantly. Who's being dishonest?"

Reiner's either lying to catch you out or he's saying the God honest truth and right now all you can do is hope and pray for a miracle to sweep you off your feet. Mikasa and Jean still aren't within view. At this point you're hoping for Levi to save you, it doesn't matter how so long as you escape unscathed.

"Hey, I think we're just making her anxious with all the questions." Armin is quick to side with you, deep down you know he only does so due to the respect he holds for his Commander. You thank the Heaven's for Erwin's admirable smile and commendable leadership, it seems to be the only reason Armin believes you and Jean.

"Or she's lying." Reiner's resting his head in one of his palms, he's still boring holes right into your frame.

Your eye twitches, this is all unnecessary and uncalled for, whatever it is Reiner wants out of you it better be worthwhile.

He still eggs you on. "You walked out of the Captain's quarters. I saw you."

Standing up and leaning forward you plant your feet to the ground as firmly as you can you.

"And if she did what's it to you?"

Fighting the urge to sigh in relief you've never been happier to hear Jean's voice but something's off. His breathing sounds heavy - like he fought his way to get inside. Turning only then do you notice Mikasa standing by him. She looks equally as exhausted. There's been some sort of a struggle.

"You think it was funny getting Annie to guard the door?" He heaves and runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"And you think hiding secrets from the rest of us is any better?" Reiner's adamant there's information that the both of you are hiding, he's not wrong but that doesn't change that he's challenging you unprovoked without a reasonable motive.

"We're hiding nothing." Unlike you Jean is sure of his words, he's confident speaking up and he seems to be able to pull off the role of a protective husband perfectly.

“I came out of the Captain’s quarters because he had access to hot water. He said I could use his shower. That’s all it was.”

Reiner quirks an eyebrow upwards and is pleased with your answer. God you’ve said something incriminating haven’t you? It's not incriminating per se but it's without doubt malleable and easy to twist.

“Jean, you were okay with your wife doing that at the dead of night?” Reiner's still leading the interrogation.

“I was the one who suggested it.”

“I don’t believe you’re a couple." If it were Reiner who said that you wouldn't care much, after all it's pretty clear he never believed it but to your displeasure it isn't him who's spoken. Ymir's lopsided grin is all knowing and you're beginning to lose your footing in this argument any second now if any more people start to side against you.

If Ymir disagrees that almost certainly means Krista has her qualms about you too, you've observed beforehand that Ymir tends to speak for Krista on occasion. This happens to be one of those times.

Krista timidly raises her hand and Ymir gives her an approving nod encouraging her to speak.

"I don't like the conflict going on but it is suspicious..."

"Why have I only ever seen you two hold hands?" She asks.

Ymir slings her arm over Krista's shoulder affectionately. "Yeah, I tell Krista I'll marry her every day of the week."

Mikasa mumbles something unintelligible, Ymir gives her a look of warning but Mikasa doesn't seem to care. Instead she repeats what she has to say loud and clear.

"Stick to only speaking when Krista is involved."

Krista holds Ymir by her arm so she doesn't get up, she knows how she gets when she's been provoked. Even if Krista has her suspicions it isn't worth Ymir gaining a permanent penalty point on her record.

Thankfully Armin cuts in. "There's no solid evidence to show they're lying and even if they are the Commander's most probably told them to. Don't you think there's a reason? Leave it be if that's the case. I trust him with our lives."

"We have a right to know." Annie's returned and insists to keep this back and forth going.

Just as you're about to fire back Jean takes a hold of your waist, you look down and seeing his large hands planted securely around your frame has your stomach bubbling with anticipation.

"What are you— "

And then he kisses you, he doesn't ask and instinctively your arms move to whack his chest but you stop yourself in time. You realize it's for the sake of your plan not falling through and so you gently place your hands on his shoulders attempting to ground yourself. It becomes increasingly difficult when you sink deeper into the kiss than you'd like to admit. Blood rushes to the tips of your ears and the thumping of your heartbeat makes it difficult to articulate any thoughts, all you really know is that you like this, whatever this is.

Jean's hands don't feel like they were made to rest against your back, they feel slightly out of place as if he's a key and you're an unmatched lock. In spite of that the circles he comfortingly rubs into the sides of your waist are appreciated, you almost forget you're in a room full of people until you're flooded by cold air.

You've been dragged off of Jean and something in the pit of your stomach has you wishing Levi isn't responsible for the interruption.

To your relief it's just Hange, they're glowing in mischief, the grin on their face shows they aren't mad. They might even find this entertaining.

"Well I be damned... maybe they weren't bluffing?" Connie's been persuaded by the looks of it and Krista's busy whispering to Ymir, you hear the faint sound of the word "Romantic" escape her lips, she's equally as convinced as Connie.

Hange smacks your back light-heartedly and looks to the door for a second. "We leave ya' both for a while and you decide to give everyone a show?"

Erwin's stood by the doorway with a humorous smile playing at his lips, Levi however is anything but amused, he glares at you with murderous eyes, he looks like he's ready to end your life then and there but you know he won't dare do so and for a second you feel braver than you ever have before. Without much thought you grab onto Jean's forearm.

"Me and my husband will get going now!" You allow your gaze to loiter when you get to Reiner. He grunts an apology and you're oh so tempted to ask him to repeat himself but you'd rather not instigate anything.

With that said and done you and Jean leave after giving the performance of your lives.

Slowly but gradually the sky outside becomes dark.

The will to sleep left your body long ago. It's by pure luck that you even manage to catch three hours of rest. Training is the only available distraction and dying out in battle isn't favourable by any means, your boredom may as well be used resourcefully - Strapping yourself up in your ODM gear is the best option.

A quarter way through your warm up you can sense a presence behind you, the leaves rustle and the wind feels noticeably quieter. You'd bother to turn around to see who's intruded but Levi's snuck close enough for you to be able to smell his perfume from where you're stood.

"Feel disrespected? Embarrassed even?" You jab at him knowing it'll rile him up, you don't face him not wanting to give him the pleasure of seeing your face.

"Watch your mouth." he warns sharply.

Rolling your eyes you go about your business, it stays that way for a few minutes. All the while Levi stares at you darting from tree to tree, his scrutinizing gaze scalding you repeatedly.

"Y/N!" He yells at the top of his lungs.

For some unknown reason you automatically stop and lower yourself to the ground

"I have something to tell you." Comes his tense follow up. A finger of his latches onto one of the leather straps on your back.

You can't believe he's still denying the undeniable.

"You can wait till tomorrow. I'll be going to bed."

Levi doesn't seem to care for your cold response and proceeds with no warning.

"I'm jealous." His voice shakes. The grip he has on your harness doesn't let up. With your back turned to him you're still somehow able to detect the very obvious crack of pain.

Levi, jealous?

Gritting your teeth together you feel deceived.

How much longer will you have to tolerate Levi's push and pull?

“May I ask, what he is to you, my love?”

Your breathing grows heavy, tensing up you're completely shocked by the term of endearment that falls from his lips. You haven't heard it for so long, Levi sounds eerily different.

You hate to admit it but a flicker of foolish hope lights in your chest.

"Levi why would you ask— "

"Why don't you call me Lev anymore?" He whispers sounding strangled. You can't take it anymore and hesitantly look his way.

His eyes are filled with tears "I'm sorry my love, I don't know what went wrong." you falter for a second not knowing what to think.

At that moment the flicker becomes a flame.

The man who stands right before you is meant to be dead, never to be seen again. By all accounts this should be impossible, but Lev has always been a fighter.

Bitterness stings your heart, the wounds you've collected are still fresh but despite your body's protests you don't flinch when he gently takes a hold of your wrist, bringing it closer to his mouth.

"Lev...? Is that really you...?" You ask desperately.

The warm kiss he presses against your pulse point provides you with the answer you've been longing for.

[sanstropfremir]

episode 9 baby!!! dear lord that was a lot!!

frankly, i'm still in shock that i full on manifested an opera stage, AND it was a rock opera stage at that! plus i got a jazz stage AND a taemin stage??? if they’re pulling out all my favourites now then what on earth are they gonna do in the finale??? this was a very overwhelming crop of stages, i thought i was going to be prepared, but oh no i was not prepared. i'm just going to get right into it because this one is gonna be long and i have many words. i'll discuss in airing order first, and then put my personal rankings for this round at the end.

btob

costume

changsub, you absolute king. spectacular. stunning. incredible. zoot suit riot playing in my brain on repeat. will i finally get the zoot suit revival of my fucking dreams instead of this current drab ill-fitting suit trend? for those who are wondering why in the fuck changsub is dressed like that and what on earth i’m talking about, the specific cut of suit that he’s wearing is called a zoot suit, which were popular in mexican, black and italian american communities in the 30s and 40s, until they were outlawed by the united states war production board as a fabric rationing method as part of the war effort in 1942. there was a huge amount of mob violence surrrounding the wearing of them (there were actual zoot suit riots) as they were direct counter culture fashion to the predominant drab trends of white americans at the time. i'm actually very impressed they got a proper (modernized) cut of zoot suit instead of just putting him in an oversized one; there are actually specific structural differences. the pegged trouser legs, large should pads, and knee length single breasted jacket are key features, and they were often in much more flashy fabrics than a pinstripe, but they get points for effort. i wish they had put all of them in zoot suits but he’s playing the ‘lead’ actor so i will begrudgingly forgive them.

eunkwang those are the stupidest sleeve garters ive ever seen i love them never take them off. they’re like someone decided to repurpose a suspender in the worst way. excellent. i do love that they’ve got three of them in oxford saddle shoes, another great touch.

love the three piece and the fedora* on peniel. it's also in a relatively close period cut; waistcoasts (vests) were generally cut much higher in the neck pre-war, we only start seeing the neckline slide down in the 60s (i think? i don’t remember when exactly). also love to see a proper sleeve and jacket length, it's good practice to have at least a finger’s width of sleeve cuff visible ahead of the jacket sleeve when hanging at rest. also looks like there’s french cuffs on everyone, which is also great.

minhyuk in his slutty lowneck shirt....thank you. in addition to the zoot suit revival i would also like a revival of those ultra low necklines on mens’ shirts from like 2010-2011. i don’t think those are the same boots from the backdoor stage but those are some beautifully cut boots. i also loved the little details of his crewmember look, especially the chunky watch and the string bracelets; those are super realistic, i know so many crew with them and i had several for many years. and who doesn’t love a visible button fly?

none of any of the other costumes are period in any way shape or form but i’m forgiving it because there’s several layers of meta in this stage, and they explicitly based it on la la land, even though we don’t respect la la land in this house. do i wish they had gone more strictly period with at least the jazz club ‘actors’ a little more? absolutely, but i'm not mad about it.

set

again we’ve got a good delineation of the two different ‘stages,’ there’s the club itself in the smaller stage and the soundstage set in the larger space. you can pretty clearly see all the ‘pieces’ of the set on the soundstage, especially the obvious set painting techniques on false prosc frame and the window facade from that first little scene. also the you can see the castors (wheels) on all the setpieces too, which is another nice little versimilitudinous** (triple word score!) touch, as old hollywood movies were made still using theatre stagecraft techniques.

i love how the visual shorthand for ‘this is a set wink wonk’ is just...leaving a ladder on stage. i see it all the time and it's so funny. it doesn’t always make sense because as soon as there’s actors on set the ladders are the first thing cleared because actors cannot be trusted, but yes there are always ladders, so. also psa ladder safety is no joke, please be careful on ladders.

nice streamline of the mnet deco into the club. i’m consistently surprised at how well the designers have been able to mask it or use it to their advantage, because in the normal kingdom stage lighting it is SO obvious and stylistic that it always sticks out.

i'm going to ignore the fact that they implied changsub and miyeon were drinking wine out of martini glasses.

lighting

no complaints, it does its job. everything is visible and super clear. love that the ‘scene’ changes are made through the lighting, it's a really simple and effective device to change atmosphere. purple/blue/amber are the most flattering colours on human skin and that’s why you see it so commonly in stage lighting. also blue/lavendar is the best way to show nighttime/moonlight.

really nice and subtle projection work, especially with the billboard bit and the blue moon sign in the club. despite being obviously meta/’world breaking’ it’s actually very seamless and fits well into the flow of the stage.

sound

i love love love the big band feel in the intro, combined with the piano lead. very duke ellington, as all things should be.

no complaints. i love big band. i love eunkwang’s voice. i have nothing else to say.

staging

i LOVE this movie within a movie within a performance meta nonsense! it's such a fun concept and it is exactly what i wanted ikon’s first round stage to be! i also love to see btob consistently coming up with concepts that are inventive and fun and allow them to showcase their technical performance skills without the aerobics the younger groups are putting themselves through. it provides a really lovely variety and it just goes to show that you can make impressive, dramatic stages without having to be serious or ‘dark.’

i do wish they had leaned into the band director/lead singer with eunkwang a bit more; this could have been a really excellent place for a tap number a la the nicholas brothers or an homage to cab calloway. i know i know this was meant to be la la land themed but la la land is a cheap and whitewashed version of jazz and look me right in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the greatest tap routine of all time. i know i’ve typed this out somewhere before but la la land is just a conglomeration of old hollywood tropes and so stylistically cheap that this would have such a better visual core if they had actually looked back at the real old hollywood musicals like stormy weather. even singing in the rain and an american in paris have such phenomenal visuals and are really beautiful examples of the scope you can pull off with a limited technical capacity and sticking to these old techniques.

now that i'm thinking about it, oh my GOD i would DIE for a lindy hop routine in kpop PLEASE. i know it would never happen because kpop doesn’t like partner dancing and not a single kpop boy has the chops but oh you think fourth gen has too many acrobatics?

this got off track but i think you see my point.

---

ateez

costume

these are really sharply cut suits. and the detail work on the beading??? so beautiful. i'm disappointed that they gave me a rock opera stage without the true ridiculousness of rock opera costuming, because they could have pushed this a lot farther if they really wanted. a tragic lack of gay little outfits, seonghwa’s lace choker is just not enough! two favourite suits: hongjoong’s and yunho’s.

that being said i do actually really like these. this stage is actually very modern opera with a kpop twist and i'm a little surprised by that? i continue to be impressed by the ateez team who are clearly doing their research.

i'm absolutely not going back through their stages to check all the choreography but i wonder if you can track all the ‘wound’ placements to places they’ve been ‘hit.’ i wouldn’t put it past them to have put that thought in but also i’m not expecting that much either.

who is this white grim reaper bdsm executioner chain arm man. where did he come from. i have no idea and i love it.

why is honjoong blindfolded. it was such a fast beat, if youre gonna blindfold someone give it a little longer and some more obvious narrative weight!

seonghwa does that quickchange, runs across that massive stage to the smaller set, and gets into places in like 45 seconds. it's not the hardest quickchange in the world but still, under a minute is fast for any quickchange, especially when there’s travel time involved. i think the fastest, most complex quickchange i ever did was in university which was a 50s cocktail dress into a flannel and culottes with a shoe, hair, and jewelry change in 35 seconds. and that took three dressers. quickchanges are always impressive. the added bonus of this review being later is that i can specifically reference that you can see him book it the fuck off stage in the full cam!

cute moment with the backup dancers dressed in costumes from the previous stages. i'm assuming this is a time travel reference? i'll get more into my thoughts on this in the staging section. regardless, love to see that iconic seonghwa moment again.

set

this is such a restricted space! they really pared down their dancing space with those staircases and ....arms? honestly i have NO clue what these are supposed to be. the only thing i can maybe think of is flying buttresses??? but why?? i mean, i'm 90% sure theyre just there for drama and i agree but i do still have questions.

there’s a lot of moving parts in this set? the buttresses, and the upstage centre staircase. i don’t think the staircase is totally automated because i spotted some dancers securing it in place, but it’s still a moving part. i do really like that we get that expanding upwards energy, because it's really tough to get functional level movement in this kind of a performance, mostly because of its length and because it moves so quickly. so seeing the downward vertical movement and then the upward movement was actually a really nice visual contrast that made use of how tall those fucking ceilings are, and the fact that they had less horizontal space. in sort of similar way to sf9’s jealousy stage, using long, narrow vertical lines really makes it feel like a castle space. the interiors of castles, especially the really old ones, are a lot smaller than you think they would be.

i’ve actually seen that type of small house/tent/thing several times in various types of performances before, but i think this is the first time i’ve seen it used as a time travel device (other than in the say my name mv). aesthetically it's a bit incongruent but i dont really mind because i'm used to watching rock operas that look a lot weirder than this.

lighting

there is so much happening. i have NO clue what the projections are doing. i dont hate it though, so that’s a plus? there’s a clear-ish colour arc even if it does get a bit funky in the middle, which is why the projections dont feel as insanely distracting as some of the other stages we’ve seen.

the climax is a perfect example of how to light a busy stage with primarily red but still maintain clarity on the performers. a little bit of red goes a long way; the spark stage from last week would have looked so much better if they had done what the ateez designers did here.

sound

i know it's only ode to joy, but answer already gets my motor running and then i get so gassed by the guitars and then by the time those vocals come in i'm inconsolable. i don’t know why i wasn’t expecting a rock opera stage but i'm so glad i got that surprise because i genuinely love rock operas so much. it's two of the most dramatic genres in music, what more could you possibly want?

staging

the choreo for answer is so goofy that I'm kinda glad this was mostly terrible mnet boom shots. i love it, but you can't deny that it's goofy. i spotted a couple of moves from their other choreos as well?

choreographing dance fights is just as difficult as choreographing real fights and i think they did a fairly good job here. i think it was a solid mix of dance and conflict that erred on the side of dramatic rather than accurate and i prefer that over trying to be ‘realistic.’ i’ve only ever seen one truly realistic fight scene on stage and that was for a deeply naturalist play (boring and a waste of the medium), but the best fight scene i’ve ever seen was in the prague national ballet’s adaptation of kafka’s the trial where three ballet dancers beat the absolute snot out of the main character with the most beautiful leg extensions. that whole show was probably one of the best pieces of dance i’ve ever seen, holy fuck it was so good.

despite how insane the music and the visuals were going, i actually really liked how sedate this was, on the part of ateez’s performance. there was a really sophisticated and resigned energy from them that is very different from what we’ve previously seen and i think that was a pretty admirable risk to take. reaching the top and then throwing away the crown? especially in a competition where every other stage has involved stealing crowns or royalty and there’s a group competing that got here through that very concept? that shows a real maturity, peace of mind, and foresight that i did not at all expect from a bunch of 22 year olds.

here we come to a very interesting comparison. both ateez and tbz are very heavily leaning on previously established group lore. we all know my thoughts on why it isn’t working for tbz, but here’s why i think it is working for ateez: it's because it doesn’t matter to the audience’s understanding of the stage. i had absolutely no fucking clue what was going on the first time i watched this, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the music and all the weird shit they were doing. i totally believed that they understood what was going on. there’s a loose enough established conflict right at the beginning that draws us in, and really it doesn’t matter who they're fighting because they win in the end. the key here is that they’re so earnest. they believe 100% in every move they make on that stage. there’s no winks to camera, there’s not a drop of irony. they really deeply care about the ridiculousness of it all and that’s what makes it work. i sure as fuck dont know what’s going on, but i can see that they do, and i trust that. this is what i meant when i talked about convincing the audience you belong on stage in my stage presence post. i’ve never once believed that juyeon was anything other than an idol. he’s talented and very beautiful and he may occasionally stand on that stage like he owns it but it's always as juyeon. as an idol. but when hongjoong flaps around in that gigantic fur coat i 100% believe he’s a pirate captain. I believe he’s a punk rebel leader. i believe him a resigned king. there’s always a level of irony you have to fight as a performer because we all start from a place of disbelief. acting is not just lying to the audience, it's lying to yourself too. and if you succeed in convincing yourself? well, you’re already halfway to convincing us.

i checked it out because i wanted to see if they did the blindfold how i expected them to and was genuinely surprised by hongjoong’s fancam. the boy is EMOTING even when he knew the camera wasn’t on him; that’s a real dedication to craft.

ok i'm finished talking about this stage, this is over two pages in my document, there’s so many things i have not covered here but that’s fine, i'm quite sure any further thoughts will end up out there at some point.

---

sf9

costume

let’s get it out of the way......crop top. crop top? crop top. crop top.

ok, besides the crop top, i think i might actually like the backup dancer outfits more...? i find mannequin adjacent looks really fascinating and i thought there was a lot more they could have done here in connecting the two thematically. i actually think a change of costume on the boys would have been very interesting, especially because there was a lot of inference and direct reference to changes of colour.

ALL the backup dancers are wearing the same wig and i LOVE that.

special mention zuho’s.....jacket? the right idea but it absolutely should have been one of those extreme french cut bodysuits, you COWARDS. don’t come at me with this ‘male version of venus’ if you don’t have your whole torso out! come on!

set

not sure if this is meant to be a department store, a factory, or a white cube gallery. honestly you could make the case that they’re all the same place anyways. more on this later.

i loved the movator and wish they had used it more! that sequence was so good and they could have done some more interesting repetition sequences to further highlight the ‘sameness’/the breaking of that sameness.

i feel like the set could have been used more as a whole? i would have loved to see some mannequin interactions with those boxes, because all they did was dump colour everywhere.

....why did they feel the need to include the rain bit? i know it's likely because it's in the mv and at the 2018 dream concert taemin does perform move in the rain, but with the standing still and the box walls with the words it just looks like a department store ad. which i...dont think is what they were intending?

lighting

nothing really to say here. it has a similar feel to the mayfly rap stage, which is fine because the lighting for that was good. i could tell what was going on all the time and that’s the most important part. notable standouts are the lips sequence, that's fun use of pop iconography and very effective, and the scanning lasers at the beginning.

the repeating sequence in the edm dance break is actually done pretty simply, it's just what happens when you point a camera that’s livestreaming to a monitor directly at that monitor. it's a very cool effect and it was neat to see it used intentionally, especially with the handheld leds.

actually i also really liked the lightbox tables, those were cool.

sound

the remix was fine for the most part, it was about what i expected it to sound like. i did however greatly dislike that unnecessary edm break in the middle. what was the point of that? it didn’t add anything to the overall sound or arc of the stage because it was SO out of place. there was no connective tissue around it.

oh i was also not a fan of the effect on zuho’s mic. no one else had a discernible vocal effect so it felt a little out of place. also for some reason his cadence and tone right at the end made me think of some of the voices that bo burnam uses for his vocal masque sketches/songs, especially repeat stuff, weirdly? took me right the fuck out of it. i listened to it again after i slept and i’m still getting it, so maybe i’m just going insane so best ignore this part.

staging

loved the mannequin tree, not a clue why it was there.

do actually think this is a successful cover because it does what i was hoping it would, which is take move completely out of the taemin context and put it into an entirely new one. however, i’m really struggling to figure out what exactly that new context is? and what theyre trying to say with it?

obviously they went for a ‘show your own colours/individuality’ vibe, like i said in the set section, where exactly is this supposed to be? from the start i get factory/mechanized environment, which is fine and grand because mannequins and making repetitive motions and products and all that, makes sense. but then there’s stacked shelving type units happening and curtains and that combined with the mannequins give me pretty big department store vibes, which is also fine, because that’s still a comment on commercialization and the mass production of product. but then we get to the movator and the repetitive movements of the dancers say pretty clearly factory, but the lighting and projections are very pop art referential, plus combining that with the white set, just makes me think of an art gallery. so now is this a comment on the commercialization and commidification of contemporary art? are they making a statement about being ‘real’ artists among the others who have lost the critical understanding of why pop art was even a thing in the first place? and then the rain bit at the end literally looks like a department store ad, so are they then making another statement that they still are that packaged product? maybe the episode has more clarity in it but i’m genuinely a bit baffled by what the underlying statement is here.

i suspect it is not as deep as i'm making it, but i did say that i was likely to be hyper critical of this stage AND i am a grad student, so here we are.

---

tbz

costume

ok of all the ‘fourth gen’ style costumes we’ve seen, i actually like these ones more than most. i'm not entirely clear on the theme but i'm assuming it's meant to be post apocalyptic, and i'll take that.

backup dancers in black!!! we’re beyond this!!!

this will be a running theme with this stage, but i’m disappointed these don’t have more depth.

set

compared to every other stage, the set here seems especially plain. there’s so little set dec that it's disappointing. i do like the movement of the pieces themselves combined with the blocking; that first slide underneath the arches was slick and i would have liked to have seen more of that.

yea ok the big snake was cool and also a fairly complex build, but the transitions around it were a bit awkward for my tastes. especially the turn around, why did they even show that at all? you have control over what the audience sees, you can totally not show scenic transitions. skz were super smart about hiding theirs in last week’s episode.

also if you have a bigass puppet like that, i wanna see some more movement from it! it doesn’t have to be complex, we literally just saw a kraken balloon arm wave around aimlessly, but at least there was movement! that snake had a long ass body, why didn’t they at least take a pseudo dragon dance movement with it, that would have been such fun to watch with the iridescent scales. there was a lot of opportunity here!

lighting

i don’t hate it but also.... not a lot to say about it on the whole.

there were two really smart ideas here, the first being the front projection section, which i was SO glad to see! i explained in a previous review, but the projections in kingdom are not actually projections per se, because they’re actually massive led screens. there are two common types of projections in performance, rear projection and front projection. rear projection is when the projector is behind the screen, and front projection is ‘normal’ projection. rear projection can produce a crisper image because you have full control of the light values, because the projector is in a separate room from the performance space. but the downsides are that the projector has to be in a separate room from the performance space. so if you’re short on real estate, it's not ideal. front projection is much more common, because the tech is a lot cheaper and easier to access, especially now, and it requires less real estate because you can ceiling mount about the audience (you can move a projector wherever, this is just the most common spot in commercial theatres). but! in order to get an actually crisp image, you have to be really careful with your light bounce. it’s exactly the same principle as how you kinda can't see a projected screen when you have all the lights turned on, but when you turn them off it's a lot clearer. front projection works best in pitch dark, so when you use it in a theatre you gotta be smart about it. i use front projection a lot in my personal art practice as a singular light source, and that’s what tbz did here in that traveling/snake intro sequence. it’s a really fun technique that they used as a good gimmick because it’s not something we’ve seen before, and you get some great shadow effects because the projector is throwing light directionally at the performers (they have it set up close to the floor, it’s probably on a wheeled cart of some kind). however i did not like the snake intro. a bit too cheesy and out of place, especially because the asset quality didn’t match the rest of landscapes that we have been seeing.

the second smart idea, which is partially also a set and blocking thing but whatever, was that final image of the eclipse within the circle architecture with all the members standing in front of it. it was a great shot and a great ending pose, but it felt like a concept photo. like someone had that image as the idea that they then built the stage around, instead of a narrative first and then imagery after.

sound

this remix had SO much promise! those first two minutes were SO GOOD. i love that dirty discordant strings bit, it's gross and right up my alley. but it really fell off in the back half and i'm sad about that.

staging

i'm sorry tbz but.....what did you actually do differently than exo here? with the exception of the continual game of thrones references? nothing here felt transcendentally different from the original monster. and especially coming RIGHT after sf9’s move, which did go beyond its original context. this feels more like an awards show stage cover than a stage at the level of the others we’ve seen just this episode.

again like with the skz stage, there’s no conflict here. no tension. yes they do a great job covering the dance but it just isn’t enough! this is obviously personal preference and i'm sure lots of people liked the fact that it was uncomplicated, but even just a hint of narrative tension could have pushed this into more engaging territory. and if they didn’t want to do that, i would have loved to see them make up for that with extra visual spectacle. this is the no limits round! ikon is putting a full jungle on stage and these are grey cubes!

i think this is a perfect example of what i talked about at the end of my tbz section in my episode four review; this is a good performance, there are good elements at play and good ideas at their genesis, but the core of the issue is that nothing about this is transformative. all of the ideas here are just exaggerations of the original song. fuck, the snake was even IN the mv! and they didn’t even include the best part which is the lip chains! ive said before and i'll say it again; being a good artist has two steps, the first is understanding the material and its context, and the second is elevating the material from that context and synthesizing something new. tbz are really good at the first step, but terrible at the second.

---

ranking

btob - the cleanest and the most fun of the round. everything i wanted.

sf9 - fun and a good cover, despite being conceptually baffling.

ateez - very extra dramatic nonsense with an unexpected dose of sincerity. and it’s rock opera, of course i love it.

skz - fun, with some good thematic devices but generally lacking in arc. also australian accents, that’s an automatic ding.

tbz - honestly the first two minutes of the remix and the costume are holding this above 6th. it just wasn’t fully formed.

ikon - aesthetically this is a great set design and although i do love the opening and closing moments, everything else scrapes me the wrong way. super personal preference here, i’m not expecting anyone else to agree with me.

i feel like my rankings were probably pretty easy to guess if you’ve been around reading the reviews for long enough. i do have very specific tastes after all. i know sf9 ranked first in the episode but i have no idea what the other slots are. i’ll find out when i watch the episode in a couple of days, but i think yea a first for sf9 is fair. i do think its mostly because it’s a taemin song and you have to do something horrendous in order to fuck up a taemin song, but there is a lot of thought and work that went into that stage.

ok i'm done now, sorry this was later than usual, but i was busier and there were four stages that i had to review. also technical difficulties because tumblr is a garbage platform and nothing works properly. comments/questions/opinions always welcome, i know i didn't expand on a couple of points that i could have so hopefully y'all have some thoughts too!

* the type of hat that ~society~ has told you is a fedora is actually a trilby. what peniel is wearing is a real fedora, i felt the need to correct this unjust hat malignment.

** meaning ‘the appearance of being true or real.’ you do sometimes hear it used by normal people, but it’s more commonly used as a descriptor in film and theatre. it’s also one of the five rules of neoclassical theatre, which are: versimilitude, purity of form, five act structure, decorum, and purpose. the most prominent playwrights from that era are moliere and racine if youre interested in what those look like in an actual text.

[freddieslater]

Ginny Weasley and Landon Kirby!!

So this is nearly like a month late! And I am so sorry for that!! I got very distracted, wrote half of this, then left it for like two weeks, so you have my sincerest apologies! But I hope you enjoy this!! ❤️

Ginny Weasley:

• Headcanon for their sexuality — Oh, she has the biggest bi energy out here. She probably figured it out really casually as well, like, she realized she had a bit of a crush on Tonks and was like, "Oh.”

• Have they come out? If so, how — She came out to Bill first, because she remembers him telling her about the boy he fancied when he was in fourth year, and she trusts he’ll be kind, so she waits until he’s visiting and slips it into conversation when they’re alone in the garden. Then she casually tells Luna while they’re reading a book that mentions this queer witch from centuries ago. Then comes the rest of her family, little by little. When it came to the media finding out after the war had settled however, now, that was a far more dramatic and hilarious story; the rumours flew around faster than her supposed secret lovers from her team! She definitely played them up and let people speculate for months, finding the whole thing downright ridiculous but at least entertaining.

• How their friends/family took their coming out:

Bill is as supportive as she expected. He smiles this knowing smile and hugs her, then they’re back to de-gnoming. “I’m happy you trust me.”

Ron is the second sibling she tells, because even though he can be a bit dense, she listened to him gush for hours about Krum, Harry, and his favourite Chudley Cannons player. He stares for a minute like he doesn’t quite know what she means, then he’s making her promise not to date any of the Gryffindor girls in his year because “Dean was one thing, alright, but if you and Lavender—“

George blinked for one second of surprise when she casually mentioned that she was thinking of asking Katie on a date to Hogsmeade, and if he thought she’d say yes, then he shrugged and told her she has a good chance. When she caught his eye, he shot her a soft smile. “If any of my other teammates catch your eye, let me know and I’ll see if they’re interested.”

Arthur was so understanding and supportive that she cried. They were talking, and she couldn’t keep it in anymore, and she just told him. He nodded, shifted closer in his chair as she rambled a bit to try and explain what she meant. When she wouldn’t look at him, he gently took her hand, and she lifted her eyes to meet his and he was smiling. She just started crying and he hugged her until she calmed down. “Thank you for telling me. I’m happy that you’re being who you are, and I will always love you for that.”

Fred grinned like it’s the best thing he’s heard all year when she told him about her date with Katie. He congratulated her, hooking an arm around her shoulders, and proceeded to ask many questions — mostly about her date. “Mum’s gonna accuse the two of us trying to end our lineage.”

She gave Fred and George full permission to tell Percy, because she honestly wasn’t sure about doing it herself. They do it in some really obvious but attempting to be subtle way, when Ginny isn’t there. He doesn’t react then, but he comes to find her later in her room, and he sits down with her. He tells her that it doesn’t matter to him, and he’s sorry that she didn’t think she could tell him. She assures him she was just nervous and he understands. “I will always protect you. Even when you don’t need me.”

Charlie was delighted. She told him in a letter because she wasn’t sure when she’d see him but what he wrote back was nothing but love and support, and he actually came out to her at the same time, and promised to talk properly in person next time he visits. “If you need someone to talk to in the mean time, I’d recommend Tonks, she’s brilliant.”

Molly was the one she was most scared to tell. That’s why she waited so long before finally telling her while they were getting dinner ready. She stared at her back, waiting for her to respond while she dried a plate to set it on the table. When her mum turned to face her, she was wearing a small smile, and said, “Okay,” then handed her another plate and continued with the dishes. Ginny didn’t know what to make of it. Dinner was quiet. It wasn’t mentioned again, and Ginny decided that her mum tolerating her future relationships like she tolerates Bill’s marriage and Charlie’s lack of one was probably the best she was going to get.

As for her friends; she told Luna over a discussion about a queer witch from centuries ago, and Luna had smiled, chin in her hand, and said she was happy to have a friend who shared how she felt. Harry had sat in silence for a moment long enough for her to worry, then quietly asked, “If you’re allowed to feel like that in the wizarding world, does that mean... guys are allowed to feel that way about about other guys?” And she had indeed gone to Tonks once or twice, who was as delighted as Charlie, practically bouncing, and promised to be like a big sister if she needed her for anything.

• Do they go to pride? If so, with whom? — Ginny discovers that Pride is a thing through Tonks, who excitedly tells her everything about it at an Order meeting. She asks if Tonks will take her, which is the height of honour to her. Ginny casually mentions it to Fred and George in the passing, and they ask to tag-along. Bill trusts Tonks, but he still comes along. Just in case; those four out in the Muggle world is a recipe for disaster. She manages to convince Harry to join, too, so of course Ron’s there, and Luna was already planning to go with her dad anyway so they meet up.

• Do they show their colours? (Flag-wise) — After coming out to everyone she cares about, Ginny is happily confident in letting everyone else know. She wears the bi colours to Pride, and she got a few badges there courtesy of George that she has pinned somewhere on her outfits nearly all of the time around Hogwarts.

And now Landon Kirby!

• Headcanon for their sexuality — I just get very strong ace vibes? And possibly bi. It just makes Sense to me.

• Have they come out? If so, how — He told Rafael before anyone else. Just sorta blurted it out to him in their room after many, many days of overthinking how he’d say it. Telling Hope and Josie was then easier, as they were preparing one of their movie nights.

• How their friends/family took their coming out:

Rafael was the most supportive person in Landon’s life about everything, so this was no different. He picked up on Landon’s anxiety while telling him and approached his response with great comfort, assuring him that it changed nothing, he loves him unconditionally, and he would be right there by his side to stand up to anyone who said one word about it. His response actually made it easier for Landon to be more confident in accepting who he is.

Hope reacted in a similar way. She saw how nervous he was and told him that it didn’t make her feel any differently about him. He was a little more worried about telling her he was ace, but she smiled and hugged him, promised that they would never do anything he didn’t want to and she was okay with that.

Telling Josie didn’t feel as daunting; after all, he knew how open she was about her own sexuality, so easing it into a conversation made him less anxious about how she’d react. Sure enough, she gave him a soft, knowing smile behind the wide eyes, and they were joking about it within two minutes.

Lizzie was downright delighted. She claimed that she picked up on the “vibes” from him right from the beginning but couldn’t be sure, so she was just waiting to see if he ever said anything. He of course rolled his eyes at that, but he was grinning as she plunged into a seemingly endless well of questions — mostly about if they had the same taste in people, because they have Hope in common, so she wanted to see if it stretched to her two-week crush on Jed, or her infatuation with Sebastian. They got into a whole debate over Star Wars characters.

Kaleb honestly thought that Landon was already out, so that was more of a surprise to him. He swears hands-down that they had flirted a couple times, so he just assumed! It was a funny moment.

MG was bright smiles and literally just a ball of supportive sunshine. But actually, while talking about it, Landon kinda helped MG realize that he may not be too straight either. It was a nice, very insightful conversation that helped both of them.

Wade could not be happier. He had already come out to Landon a few months before during a D&D game— something that had given Landon a little push — and he’s so glad that Landon trusts him and sees him as someone important enough to share this part of him with. He, of course, also told him while they were playing D&D; he slipped it into his character’s story.

• Do they go to Pride? If so, with whom — Landon doesn’t really know what Pride actually is until he joins the Salvatore School, and after he comes out, Josie gives him a better idea. Mystic Falls hosts Pride every year (it’s a new tradition, really, but the town’s trying to pretend it’s always been so progressive), and so she invites him along. He’s unsure since crowds aren’t really his thing, but Lizzie is insistent (she admits she just wants to see if she can find the love of her life and maybe someone for him if he’s willing), and Hope says she’s going too, and after Wade, Kaleb, and MG invite him as well, it’s hard to say no.

He goes with them all and actually… it’s pretty cool. It’s the most colourful he’s ever seen the town, that’s for sure. And it’s fun!

• Do they show their colours? (Flag-wise) — He’s proud to be himself, obviously, but at the same time, he’s still more comfortable with keeping it quiet from anyone outside of his close friends, so he doesn’t tend to display either of his flags colours too often. He does make an exception for the second time he goes to Pride, though.

So, this was long. I don’t know whether to apologize for that for or not but again, I hope you enjoy some of these headcanons! I had the most fun with the reactions from the rest of the Weasley’s!

[misssophiachase]

For @klaroline-events​​ KC Bingo - School on FF and AO3

When his Porsche convertible blows a tire, private school student Klaus Mikaelson needs it fixed. Enter townie and daughter of the local mechanic, Caroline Forbes.

The Preppy and the Townie

Friday PM, Forbes Garage, Exeter, NH

“Excuse me?” Klaus hadn’t frequented this part of town all that much during his time at Phillips Exeter Academy and given the outdated exterior he wasn’t sure if it was still operational or if he’d stepped back in time.

It was eerily quiet and the small gas station on the outskirts of the town centre seemed unattended. He’d blown the tire on his Porsche not far down the road but had managed to get there just in time.

Given he attended the local boarding school, cars weren’t usually allowed on campus but his father had sent it the other day in lieu of his presence. Mikael Mikaelson never quite understood the concept of fatherhood and considered monetary gifts an alternative way to show affection. 

Klaus also knew there was another reason for his guilt but pushed it to the back of his mind, it was easier that way. 

“Can I help you?” Her voice was gruff, bored and almost resentful of the intrusion. Klaus turned to the source not expecting her to be so indescribable.

And he meant that in a very good way.  

Her denim shorts were frayed at the edges, her white, fitted tank covered in black, grease stains and a red, checked shirt tied around her waist was doing nothing to hide a delectable pair of creamy, toned legs.

“Hey jackass, my eyes are up here,” she barked.

Yes, they were. Blue, expressive and teamed with her golden waves pulled back into a high ponytail, Klaus didn’t think he’d seen anyone so breathtaking in his life.

He didn’t usually stare so obviously at girls, generally it was the other way around, but he couldn’t stop if he tried.

“Is that how you speak to all your customers?”

“Only the ones who look at me like that.”

“And how exactly am I looking at you, love?”

“You know exactly how you’re looking at me,” she countered. “You’re not the first and I know you won’t be the last. Also, I have a name but before you do the completely predictable thing and ask what it is, I’m not going to tell you.”

“That’s quite a speech you seem to have prepared there,” he offered. “Is there any point in me asking about my tire then?”

“If you can’t fix it, then sure, I can do that for you.”

“Are you insinuating that I can’t change a tire?”

“Well, if the shoe fits,” she responded, shrugging her shoulders. Klaus wanted to be offended, he wanted to dislike her immensely and tell her so but there was no hope in hell of that happening.

“Actually, I can change a tire but I don’t have a jack on me,” she snorted by way of response. “You are incredibly judgemental, anyone ever tell you that?”

“Oh, p-uh-lease,” she drawled. “Your type swan around this town like you own it but, newsflash, you don’t. We’ll all be here long after you’ve finished school and left town.”

“I don’t swan, number one,” he replied, “and number two, I don’t think I own your town, even though it is lovely, especially during the Fall.” He held her gaze, and he could see her face soften slightly. But, unfortunately, it didn’t last long. 

”How about we just stick to the tire,” she murmured begrudgingly. “If you’re lucky, I’ll even give you some pointers.”  

Saturday PM, Front Row Pizza

“So, tell me more about this hottie from Philips?” Kat asked, handing a customer their slices on a plate.

Katherine Pierce was her oldest friend and the two had been working at Front Row the past two years. Saturday was their busiest night of the week but thankfully business was starting to slow down. 

“Shhh, would you keep your voice down,” she hissed, wiping the counter and keeping her head down to avoid any embarrassment. “You know how small this place is at the best of times.”

“I didn’t name names, mainly because you haven’t told me yet,” Kat muttered. 

“He’s your typical, preppy jock, nothing groundbreaking around these parts. And I never said he was a hottie, nor would I ever use that term.”

“No, I found that out when I visited the garage this morning and spoke to your DILF.”

“Kat, please don’t talk about my dad like that, it’s extremely disgusting,” she growled. “And when exactly did he decide that Klaus was...”

“Oooh, he has a name. So, tell me more about him and his Porsche?” 

Caroline fought the urge to roll her eyes. As much as she loved her best friend, Kat liked the finer things in life a little too much. Sure, their upbringing was relatively simple in comparison to people like Klaus but Caroline didn’t need money to define who she was and what she wanted out of life. 

“He blew out his tire.”

“Wow, how exciting,” she pouted. “You never tell me anything.”

“He’s English and his surname is Mikaelson, happy?”

“Not in the slightest, next thing I know you’ll tell me his favourite colour,” she pretended to yawn. “Okay, one last question and then I’ll leave you alone for a full five minutes. How would you score him on a scale of one to ten?”  

“It’s blue, well actually it’s more of a french navy if I’m being specific,” a familiar voice interrupted. Caroline closed her eyes wishing she could melt into a puddle on the floor. Of all the times for him to just show up. “As for a score, I think it’s probably best Caroline takes that one.”

She really shouldn’t have told him her name. Why did it have to sound so good rolling off his tongue too? Damn his English accent and those dimples. Why hadn’t she noticed just how disarming they were yesterday?

“If it isn’t the hottie,” Kat smiled, turning to face Caroline giving her an extremely indiscreet thumbs up. “It’s okay, no score necessary, I can work it out just fine on my own.” 

Before Caroline could really die of embarrassment, Katherine had conveniently flounced away to make it even more awkward. 

If she thought he looked good yesterday in his school uniform sans tie with his shirt sleeves rolled up, he was absolutely gorgeous today. Dark jeans, sitting low on his hips and a navy henley that only accentuated his eyes.  

“She’s, uh, friendly.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Caroline agreed. “Are you following me or something?”

“Someone has an incredibly high opinion of themselves,” he said, cocking his left eyebrow. “Maybe I was just hungry, did you ever think of that?”

“Did my dad tell you where I was?” She asked, arms crossed over her chest. “I noticed you two talking yesterday, but here I thought he was just drooling over your speedster.”

“He may have mentioned that Front Row has the best four cheese pizza in town,” he shared. “You know, while he was drooling.”

“Just because you think you can charm my father with your expensive car, doesn’t mean I’m powerless to your charms.”

“My charms?” He smirked, leaning closer. “Are you trying to flirt with me?”

“If you think that’s flirting then I need to teach you more than how to change a tire,” she scoffed. “Now, would you like to order something? The kitchen is going to be closing soon and I can only take so much of your over inflated ego in a confined space.”

“Your customer service skills really are second to none, love,” he laughed, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She wanted to hate him so much but Caroline swore those crimson lips had superpowers of some kind. 

“Sorry, what?” She asked, noticing he’d said something but not quite sure what it was. 

“My over inflated ego and I would like a four cheese pizza to have here,” he joked, his knowing smile telling her she’d been caught out. 

“You are taking it to go,” she demanded, scared of what his lips might do next. 

“I think I’m going to nominate you for employee of the month,” he suggested, taking a seat and making himself at home. “There’s something about your rare skill of being charming but rude at the same time.”

“Kat, can you tell the kitchen there’s an order up,” she called out, not bothering to respond to his remark. “To go.”

“If I agree to leave this fine establishment, how about you do something for me?”

“I changed your tire yesterday and I’m now serving you pizza today,” he attempted to interrupt but Caroline continued. “And before you try to be cute about my impeccable, customer service skills, it’s abundantly clear that, if anything, you owe me, Mikaelson.”

“I was getting to that part,” he promised. “I was hoping you could come to the river tomorrow morning and help me out with my rowing?”

“Excuse me?” Caroline wasn’t expecting that. “I’m curious about what exactly the preppy needs help with?”

“Motivation,” he murmured, his double meaning not lost on her. “Coach says I won’t be up to championships if I can’t improve my times. So, I figured what better way to do that then have you yelling at me from the bow?”  

Katherine let out a not-so-subtle groan from the nearest table. Caroline really shouldn’t have been surprised she was eavesdropping. “Be careful what you wish for, french navy.” 

“I’m willing to take my chances, Katherine,” he smiled in her direction before returning his attention back to Caroline. She really wanted to hate him and his smug, good looking ass but it was becoming more and more difficult. Now, she knew why her best friend and father were so easily convinced. 

“Can I push you in the water if you annoy me?” He took her by surprise and laughed. Caroline had to admit she liked hearing it. 

“I think we’ll need to define what’s annoying from the outset but you’ve got a deal.”

“Well, when you put it like that.”

Sunday AM, The Exeter River

“You need to keep your back flat and make sure your core is engaged,” Caroline offered from the front of the boat.” Now that instruction Klaus wasn’t expecting. 

“Trust me, my core is very engaged,” he teased, unable to help himself. 

Klaus was still shocked she’d agreed to come today, he figured it had everything to do with pushing him in the water. Which luckily she hadn’t done...yet. 

“I think we decided that innuendo was annoying.”

“You decided that and who said it’s innuendo? I was merely confirming the fact that my core is, in fact, engaged. And let’s not forget you asked the question.”

“It’s textbook rowing technique and that smirk you gave me was a dead giveaway.”

She looked stunning today, the breeze blowing through her blonde waves that were loose and flowing. Her make-up free face, simple t-shirt and shorts only highlighting her natural beauty. 

“How do you know so much about rowing?” Klaus was surprised, given she didn’t indicate any interest the night before. 

“I might have dated one of you before.”

“One of me?” Klaus was immediately offended by her reply. “I didn’t realise I had a twin.”

“He went to Philips and was on the rowing team too. But instead of a Porsche he had a Mercedes.”

“Wow, you really know how to hurt a guy,” he shot back, unable to disguise his disappointment. “Is this why you’ve been so hostile?” He stopped rowing needing to know the answer.

“I haven’t been…” 

“Yes, you have,” he interrupted. “I don’t know what this guy did to you but…”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Perhaps not but I’d hate for you to unfairly judge me based on some idiot who couldn’t see what was right in front of him.”

“I’m a townie, yes my house is only a few kilometres away, but we lived in totally different worlds,” she murmured, her gaze downcast. “He had a trust fund bigger than I could ever imagine and I work two jobs just so I can afford college if I don’t get a scholarship. I stupidly thought that someone like him actually liked me.”

“Well, he’s an idiot and you’re not stupid.” His hand was on hers before he had time to think. “I get you’ve had a bad experience but I’m not who you think I am.” She faltered, her eyes finding his again. “Ask me anything.”

“Can I push you in the water?”

“Cute.”

“On Friday, you didn’t seem to care too much about your new car, why is that? At first I assumed it was the fact you had another ten of them waiting at home in your garage.”

“Only two,” he admitted. “But I’m not really that enthused about them either.”

“What happened?”

“My mother died last year, my siblings are scattered around the country at different colleges and schools and my father sent the car in lieu of his presence at Philip’s family weekend. We’ve never been that close but I guess I thought…”

“He’d want to see you.”

“It’s ridiculous I know.”

“It’s not,” she smiled, placing her other hand over his. “You know what is silly though? How lazy you’re being, now get moving before I push you into the water, Mikaelson.”

Turns out they both ended up in the water that day but neither minded. Klaus won the rowing championship with plenty of core engagement instruction from Caroline. He also sent back the Porsche to his father because he didn’t need it anymore, he had everything he needed right there. 

[lukatheselkie]

HMC - Candle in the dark (1/2)

@hetaliamondaychallenge

Originally I wasn’t going to participate today because I had no ideas for either prompt, but then I came up with the sentence “___ feels like he’s drowning.” and I just had to use it today! I couldn’t decide between two people for that blank, so I wound up writing two. This one is much more light-hearted than the next one.

University Human AU

Pairing: France x OC Albert; Stockholm Syndrome (again, not romanticizing Stockholm Syndrome. I’ve been put through it and he is a coping mechanism. He’s terrified of “forcing” it onto others, when he’s not in a human AU.)

Warnings: Almost drowning, cussing, unopened condom

    Francis feels like he’s drowning. He may be. He can’t recall the events that led up to this moment, but he is certain there’s cold water tugging at his clothes. It’s so dark, he can’t tell if his eyes are open or closed. Something hard smashes into his ribs, and he lets out an involuntary noise of pain. Salt water fills his mouth, and he starts choking on it. The thing smashes into his ribs again, and that’s when he realizes he’s moving around, not the hard object. This is it. This is the end.

~

    Francis feels his body float back into consciousness. He starts hurting before he can register what’s happening. He lets out a low groan, and someone grabs his hand. “Francis? Are you awake?” That voice! It’s so familiar… Yet he can’t place it to a face, or a name. He hears a steady beeping that seems to be speeding up as he regains the ability to feel his nerves. “You damn bloody git! You scared me half to death! Open your eyes already! I know you’re awake!” Ah. Now he has a name and a face. Arthur. His best friend. They were leisure sailing, and a storm rolled in faster than they could go ashore. Was that what caused him to wind up in the water?

    “Sir, please, lower your voice.” That must be a doctor. Francis decides he should probably open his eyes now, and does just that. A moment later, the doctor is by his side, checking on some vitals. She’s asking questions, too, but they’re hard to comprehend. He does his best to answer them, along with flirting a bit, but she effortlessly brushes off his advances. Then it occurs to him he might be doing a shitty thing, and he apologizes. She looks surprised. “Thank you for apologizing. It’s understandable you might flirt when you first wake up if it’s something you do often, or you find me attractive, but no one’s ever apologized before.” She clicks her tongue. “Your boyfriend is very lucky to have such a lovely partner.”

    “Boyfriend?” He doesn’t mean for it to slip past his lips, but it does. He glances at Arthur frantically, and shakes his head. “Oh, no. We’re not dating. He’s a childhood friend. That would be weird.” Arthur scoffs and rolls his eyes.

    “As if I would want to date you anyway! I have taste. And you are not included in that. Obviously.” The doctor laughs quietly at their bickering.

    “Don’t overdo it, okay? And I’m not talking about him. He’s made it very clear that the two of you are only friends. But when he’s not by your side, which is very rarely, another man visits. He’s very quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak. He’s a bit eccentric, too. Wears pants, long sleeves, a scarf, gloves. No matter the temperature. My apologies if you aren’t together. I just assumed because of the flowers he brought you. I shouldn’t have.” Flowers? Francis lifts his head, and looks around the room. Sure enough, there’s a huge vase full of flowers on a windowsill. Miniature red roses. He knows exactly who they’re from. “I swear it gets bigger every day.”

    “It probably does. He’s very good at slipping by unnoticed.” Francis can’t help but smile. “But we’re not together. Yet, at least.” The doctor flushes a bit.

    “My apologies! I just thought… Red roses mean romantic love. Though I suppose they are miniature, does that change the meaning any?” He’s not sure. He’d like to think not though. Because if the size doesn’t change the meaning, that means Albert is reciprocating his advances. Finally.

    “Ah, I’ve been somewhat courting him. He’s shy, and rather cautious of people. I’ve not been pushing anything onto him, but he hasn’t shown signs of acknowledgement until now. I’m so happy.” He smiles brightly. That smile is short lived, as it causes pain to shoot through his body. He groans again, and the doctor starts up the questions again. He learns he has thirteen broken ribs, a broken arm, a few cracked bones in his leg, and tons of scrapes and bruises. He’s lucky Arthur pulled him out of the water before the waves could slam his head into the rocks. He seems to have gotten the majority of damage on his left side, thankfully. Unfortunately, he has to stay for a few days to make sure nothing more severe happened, now that he’s awake.

~

    “Albert!” The quiet man flinches when he hears Francis’ loud voice, but he can’t hide the smile that graces his lips. Francis plops down in the seat across from him, and gives him the biggest grin he can muster. He sets his crutch aside carefully, and gently pushes down the book Albert is reading. He watches the slight change in expression as he catches sight of the miniature red rose in Francis’ hair. His cheeks turn crimson, and he looks away quickly. “Good morning.”

    “Good morning. How are du feeling?” His voice comes out almost silent.

    “Better. Much better. Your flowers helped a lot.” Albert makes a noise in the back of his throat, but besides that he doesn’t react. “I know you are aware of the language of flowers.” It’s a simple statement, but it’s filled with a polite accusation. The slightly taller man lifts his book back up, both hiding his blush and trying to end the conversation long enough for him to think. Francis stares at his fingers, thinking about how delicate they look. Everything about Albert looks delicate though. He’s definitely not, despite being the most soft-spoken person he’s ever met.

    Francis remembers the first time he ever saw him. He, Antonio, and Gilbert had been dicking around, and they just so happened to accidentally throw a condom into the library as they passed by. They had been tossing it back and forth like a ball, and it got a bit out of hand. Of course they couldn’t leave it there, so they did a quick game of rock paper scissors, with Francis losing. He made his way into the room, looking around for the foil packet. Coincidentally, it landed on top of the book Albert had been reading. His face was so red! It was cute. Since then, he had made a point to get to know the man, and had gone as far as changing his way of flirting so he would be comfortable with it. He couldn’t help it! The moment he laid eyes on Albert, he knew he had to date him. That was something his heart and head agreed on, for once. But he had been respectful about it, and that hard work might pay off soon.

    “I do. And if you’ll notice, they’re miniature roses.” Francis hums softly.

    “They’re your favourite flower.” Albert gives him a light-hearted glare.

    “Why do you remember that?” He shrugs in response. Albert sighs heavily, and closes his eyes. “I was hoping du didn’t. They’re easier to explain away that way.” Francis scoffs.

    “Tell me the truth. Please. Don’t try to explain them away. I want to know why them.”

    “Fine.” He drops the volume of his voice even more. Francis has to lean in to hear him. “...gave du them because they’re my favourite. It was a subtle way of telling du that you’re one of my favourite people without actually saying it. The colour was a bonus, because it shows how you’re important to me.” He opens his eyes. “You’re a candle in the dark for me, Francis. I don’t know how you managed it, but you did. I never thought I would feel comfortable enough around someone to be able to love them romantically, but you proved me wrong.” He stands, and moves into the seat next to Francis. “I love you. That’s so strange to say to someone besides family. But I mean it. And while you’re still in shock, I’m going to take the opportunity to ask you out so I can say I started the relationship.” He laughs, mostly joking. Mostly.

    “Y...Yes! Absolutely! I want to hug you, but I can’t.” He makes a face. “I wish I hadn’t gotten injured now.”

    “Don’t wish that. Well, yes, do wish that, but also du should know the fear of losing du is what made me realize my feelings. I was so scared.” He pauses, watching Francis smile brightly.

   “Then I won’t wish that. But, perhaps I can get a kiss as an apology for making me feel good about hurting myself?” Albert rolls his eyes, but nods. “Yay!” He leans in and presses a gentle kiss to his forehead. He sticks his bottom lip out in a pout. “That’s not what I meant.”    “Oh? You have to be more specific, du know. That was indeed a kiss. It’s exactly what du asked for.” Francis opens his mouth to ask for a kiss on the lips, but he is cut short by exactly what he’s about to ask for. A warm, happy tingle spreads through his body. You’re a candle in the dark for me as well.

[ratsmagnumdong]

Head Over Heels (Severus Snape X Reader)

SUMMARY: Delivering Minerva's gift to Severus leads to more discussions.

WARNINGS: None

LENGTH: 3098

NOTES: I know this chapter is updated super, super late... Honestly, I only recently had the motivation to write a chapter, so here it is. I'm very rusty at writing so I apologize if this isn't too good. I feel like my Severus Snape is a bit out of character so I'm trying to get used to writing for him! Possible Chapter 3 if I could think of what to write? :)

1

---

What if he’s sleeping? What if he’s busy? What if he’s not even in his chambers? What if he didn’t want to see you? Oh god, why did Minerva make you do this-

The door swung open to reveal the very man you were overthinking about. His expression screamed irritation and annoyance, “What in God’s name is so important at this hour - oh… Iris...” his tone shifted to a somewhat sheepish when he realized it was you.

Oh gods, you hoped that you hadn’t woken him. But his apparel wasn’t pajamas, so you assumed he hadn’t been. It seems he had discarded his frock coat and cape, instead wearing his usual black slacks with a white button up… What would Severus wear to sleep? An all black two piece? Or perhaps a night shirt? A onesie- oh that would be an absolute sight… Naked? Oh man-

“What brings you to my chambers at this hour?” Severus questioned, regaining his composure as he peered down at you with a single raised eyebrow.

“My apologies if I’ve intruded on your night, but, uh,” you lifted the bottle of wine to him. “‘Minerva asked if I can deliver this to you.”

He stared at the offered bottle of wine for a moment before gently taking it from your hands. He examined it, a small frown etched on his lips. Though, you’ve learned that seemed to be Severus’ normal everyday expression.

When he didn’t seem to say anything, you cleared your throat and began fidgeting with your now unoccupied hands. “She said it was an end of the year gift,” you explained.

He snorted, eyebrow now raised in amusement as he stared at the label on the bottle. “And she made you deliver it at the dead of night?” He then raised his eyes to meet yours.

His piercing gaze made you squirm at the spot you stood. “It was convenient. I was talking to her and she asked if I could do her a favour,” you cracked a sweet smile, managing to maintain eye contact with the much taller man.

“It’s nearly midnight. What could you possibly be talking about?” He leaned against the doorway, bottle still being held delicately with those wonderful hands you seemed to find yourself admiring more often.

A soft laugh escaped from your lips. “We were having our monthly meeting. It usually doesn’t last this long… guess we lost track of time,” you scratched the back of your neck, feeling almost like a teenager being scolded for being out after curfew.

His long, slender fingers ran up and down the neck of the wine bottle. “I see… well… I’ll give her my gratitude when I see her,” his voice was very gentle, almost like silk.

His voice was like music to your ears. It never failed to make you feel warm and safe whenever he spoke to you. It was like a blanket wrapping around you to envelope you in a comforting warmth.

“... is there anything else you need, Iris?”

You both had been standing in the dungeon corridors talking to each other for an awkward amount of time. “Oh, uh… well, there is this one thing… but it can wait until you aren’t busy,” you stammered out, not wanting to disturb his night even more.

“I’m not busy,” he responded without missing a beat. He cast his eyes down to the floor for a brief moment, almost as if he seemed embarrassed for sounding so eager.

“Oh.”

He moved aside to let you through the doorway, an unspoken invitation to enter. When you quickly stepped inside, he looked both ways down the corridor before shutting the wooden door with a quiet click when locked.

“I apologize for the mess… I wasn’t expecting guests.”

You looked around his living quarters to find it… well. As how you expected Severus would manage his room. It was absolutely spotless, everything in its own organized spot. It was almost as if nothing was out of place. What could he possibly be apologizing for?

“Severus, it’s absolutely pristine in here,” you laughed softly. His name flowed off your tongue so smoothly, so sweetly… just like honey.

He didn’t respond to that, instead deciding to ask, “What is it that you needed?” He watched you for a moment; you had immediately been attracted to the large bookshelf that nearly took up the entire wall.

You examined the books resting on the shelf, a pleased smile gracing your lips. You ran your fingers up and down the spines of certain books, enjoying the variety of textures. “Oh, uh, well… it has to do with the Slytherin boys,” you turned your head to look at the Potions Master.

He had apparently silently made his way to his desk during the time you were admiring his books. “What have they done now?” He sighed, expression immediately turning exasperated.

You joined him at his desk, sitting at the cushioned seat across from him. You opened your mouth, but shut it moments after when you found yourself stuttering. Severus waited patiently, eyebrow raised and hands clasped together on the desk.

“Well, uh, it’s… it’s sort of hard to say,” you explained, thumbs twiddling together nervously. “I think you need to teach the boys on… uh, manners.”

And with that, Severus looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just- ever since I started teaching here, I hear a lot of… rude comments from the Slytherin boys,” you leaned forward in your seat. “I usually am the bigger person and ignore it, but I think it’s rather degrading when it’s my own house.”

Severus stared for a moment, clearly in thought before he let out an exasperated sigh, hands moving to rub his temples. “... I would like to give my sincerest apologies on behalf of my house. I would like to think I taught them well, but apparently not.” He clasped his hands back together and rested them on the desk, giving you the softest of expressions.

Being under the state of such a soft expression from the feared Severus Snape made you feel absolutely blessed. A warmth began to rise in your cheeks, casting your eyes down to your lap bashfully. This man was so sweet and sincere yet others say otherwise.

“I try to educate them what their parents so obviously didn’t teach them… I’ve never had to deal with those imbeciles harassing a professor,” he explained, eyes still on yours.

“After all, you’re quite young,” he said quietly.

That caught your attention, eyes snapping up to meet his. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He better not be implying that you being young- wait, wasn’t he only in his 30’s-

“Well, considering how old the other professors are… I think they find you most appealing,” he spoke truthfully. He wondered if what he said would offend you.

There was an overbearing silence filling the room. Severus thought he had indeed offended you and was about to apologize for his comments, but what came out your mouth next surprised him.

“Do you think the boys find me appealing or do you find me appealing?”

The question left another silence took over the room. You both stared at each other, not breaking that contact. It felt like forever before he answered.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he mumbled, finally breaking eye contact and looking down to his hands briefly.

“Oh,” was all you could really say.

There was disappointment, obviously. You would have really liked- loved if he admitted he did find you appealing and cue stereotypical romantic moment, but sadly, this wasn’t a movie or novel but real life.

“... I would like to believe you have this natural charm towards you that I can’t quite explain,” he furrowed his brows, as if a little confused. “... if you want flattery, then I find you the most tolerable at this school.”

Well, you’ll take what you can get. Knowing Severus, he isn’t very good with compliments.

“Wow, you sure know how to woo a woman, Severus,” you teased, rolling your eyes, but a smile still managing to creep its way up on your lips.

He clearly wasn’t quite used to teasing as a little colour began to form on his pale, sallow cheeks. “Truth he told, Iris, you confuse me,” he confessed.

It was your turn to raise an eyebrow.

When you didn’t respond, Severus sighed. “Not many enjoy my company. In fact, many absolutely despise me. But you… you almost seem to seek my company. And you enjoy it… Why is that?” He was now staring at you quite intensely, a look you couldn’t quite describe.

It was no secret that Severus was your favourite among the other professors. Yes, of course you loved Minerva and Sprout with your entire heart, but... Severus was different. He has his flaws, but who doesn’t have any?

It was almost like a duckling imprinting. You kind of just stuck with Severus ever since you met. Despite what others said, you found the man to have a comfortable presence. You enjoyed the time you spent with him; the conversations during dinner, subtle smiles (It was usually you smiling while Severus gave a curt nod.) when passing in the hallway, spending time in his classroom, it was all so enjoyable. And of course, there was the fact that you managed to grow a gigantic crush on the man.

“Is it such a crime to enjoy your company?” You said softly, looking into the other’s onyx eyes.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air. It was clear Severus wasn’t sure what to say. After a few thoughtful moments, he cast his eyes downwards and cleared his throat. “It just sort of baffles me on why you enjoy me so much.”

Because I like you, stupid.

“Maybe you have some sort of natural charm too,” you quoted what he had said earlier, a teasing smile growing on your lips.

The tension seemed to lift from the air when Severus rolled his eyes, letting out the quietest of chuckles from your teasing. “Oh, shut up,” he finally looked up to meet eyes once more. “I am the least likely person with charm.”

A laugh escaped your lips, leaning forward to the desk and resting your chin against your hand. “Oh Severus, I think you’re wrong. You charmed me the moment I met you,” you admitted, eyes admiring the man in front of you.

Where the sudden boldness came from, you had no idea. But it was definitely worth it when a subtle pink developed on those pale cheeks of his.

“How much have you had to drink tonight?” A bashful smile etched on his lips, trying to look anywhere else besides your soft eyes that seemed to be staring at him with absolute adoration. He wasn’t used to attention like this, but he didn’t mind at all if it was coming from you.

“I’m being serious, Severus! You have some kind of charm that I can’t quite put my finger on,” you smiled sweetly, biting your lip.

When he seemed too flustered to respond, you added, “You kind of give off a bad boy vibe, ya know?”

And with that, Severus let out a sudden snort of laughter. “Bad boy vibe?! Now you’re being ridiculous!” He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

You grinned, standing up and walking around the desk to him. “No, I’m serious! Look at you,” you looked the man up and down. “You constantly wear black, you're always brooding- have you heard the snarky remarks you make? Oh, not to mention your nails,” you reached down to grab his hand that rested on the armrest. “You paint your nails black for Merlin’s sake!” You laughed gently, playing with his long, slender fingers for a moment.

“I’ll have you know that I enjoy my painted nails,” Severus stated defensively, watching your much smaller hand fiddle with his own.

“I know. I think it’s cute."

Severus couldn’t hide the tiny smile that etched onto his lips when you said this.

You circled the seat he sat in for a moment before planting yourself right behind him, hands coming to rest on his shoulders and squeezing gently. “Not to mention your hair,” you gently twirled a strand of his jet black hair around your fingers.

Severus let out a soft breath, allowing himself to relax and let himself sink into the cushioned seat. “What about my hair?” He asked softly, head leaning back slightly to look up at you.

At the sight of his relaxed, soft eyes, you seemed to melt. You knew Severus wasn’t a man who relaxed much. He was always stressed about all sorts of stuff. Whether it was about school, students, or whatever, he was always so stressed. He was always so tense and rigid. So it was quite a sight to see the man almost seemed to loosen up just from your touch.

“I think it’s nice,” you whispered softly, continuing to play with long strands of his hair. Students always called it greasy. But it surprisingly wasn’t. At least right now it wasn’t. “It’s quite soft… oh, and smells good- in a totally non-creepy way of course,” you added, smiling awkwardly down at him.

He did smell nice though. You couldn’t exactly pinpoint the scent. It was… earthy. Mint? Pine? No, that’s not it-

“I understand. I have a somewhat... intense hair routine,” he stated, shutting his eyes and taking in this relaxing moment. “I make potions for a living. Standing over a steaming cauldron all day is not good for my hair- anyone’s hair for that matter. I sort of have to take care of my hair,” he explained.

You nodded in understanding, staring down at the man and taking advantage of the fact the man’s eyes were closed. You admired his features and smiled dreamily. The fireplace on the opposite side of the room crackled, swaying flames casting shadows across his face.

Severus looked absolutely stunning sitting here. You really didn’t understand the things that people said about Severus. You absolutely adored this man; why didn’t others?

“It’s quite annoying when people describe my hair as… greasy. I’m a Potions Professor for Merlin’s sake. I don’t know what they expect,” he mumbled, eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

“What kind of shampoo do you use?” You decided to try and steer away from his frustrations.

You saw Severus visibly tense when you decided to take it a step further, fingers running through his hair. You paused, looking down at him for permission to continue. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and let out a soft breath.

“Eucalyptus,” he said softly, staring up into your eyes. He relaxed back into his seat, shoulders no longer rigid. You took this as permission, continuing your actions.

You never expected to see the feared Professor Snape so vulnerable. In fact, you didn’t even expect to get this close to him. To think back on when you first met him and now, it’s quite shocking on how close the both of you have gotten. You were happy you were the one who was able to get past that rough exterior of his and become friends with him.

“It smells wonderful,” you whispered softly, fingers running through his soft hair ever so gently.

Severus eyes searched your face for a moment. You watched as he slowly brought a hand up to your cheek. He was very close to cupping your cheek, but he hesitated and almost looked scared to touch you.

You decided to take initiative and leaned into his gentle touch, cheek being cupped by his warm hand. You reached up and gently placed your own hand against his.

For that moment, you felt like nothing around you mattered besides him . Like time stood still and it was just the two of you. Just you and Severus. Oh, you wished it could be like this all the time.

His thumb gently caressed your cheek. “... Iris… I..,” he began in a soft spoken voice. He watched your look of anticipation. Was that… a look of hope?

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment, clearly having some mental debate. He let out a deep sigh and averted his eyes, looking towards the clock on his desk. “... It’s getting quite late. You must be tired,” he said quietly, removing his hand from your cheek.

No, you’re not tired! You want this to continue!

He clearly didn’t see the disappointment that grew upon your face. “Right. You must be tired too. Uh. I suppose I’ll take my leave then,” you huffed a bit, pouting like a child who hasn’t gotten their way. All that confidence from earlier seemed to go down the drain and you suddenly felt very… stupid … to think you had a chance with this man.

“Thank you for bringing the harassment to my attention.” Severus stood up, smoothing his pants out and turning to you. He himself looked a bit disheartened that you were retiring for the night.

For a moment, you totally forgot the entire reason you had come to him. “Oh. Of course,” you shuffled awkwardly where you stood and rubbed your arm. “Thank you for handling it.”

An uncomfortable tension filled the air once more. You couldn’t bear it. You sighed and made your way to the door. “Enjoy your night Severus,” you opened the door and looked back at him. “Maybe we could do something over the break?”

He stood there, blinking and processing what you said. “Oh. Yes. I was planning to head home, but if you still would like to do something, I’m perfectly happy to accept,” he nodded his head, hands behind his back.

Home? For some reason, you didn’t think Severus had… an actual house. You sort of assumed he lived in the castle like some of the other professors.

“Oh wonderful,” a small smile grew on your face. “I’d love that. I’ll owl you! Goodnight Severus!” You seemed far too ecstatic to spend time with him but at this point, you could care less. You gave him one last wave (He gave a curt nod back) before leaving his chambers.

As soon as that wooden door shut, you let out a quiet breath of relief you were holding in. You held a hand to your heart to feel it beating slightly faster than usual. You tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, the soft smile that began to grow on your lips was inevitable.

Oh boy, you were head over heels for this man.

[mitchsmarners]

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING [SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF]

pairing: eddie kaspbrak/richie tozier chapter count: 1/5 summary: eddie kaspbrak runs an advice blog online, and he finds that maybe he’s starting to develop feelings for the cute, regular anon he gets gushing about their crush. meanwhile, richie tozier opens up his heart about falling in love to an anonymous advice blogger. read on ao3.

Eddie wondered if it was a little sad how excited he got when the message in his inbox started with a little purple heart emoji. Because his little heart definitely jumped in his chest every time he saw it at the front, and that message always got instant priority over whatever else was in his inbox.

omg cute boy did the most perfect thing today. i dont even have a genuine question here, or anything i just need to express how perfect this tiny human is and i think all my friends are tired of hearing about gfhdlgfhakjahsjlga i wanna hold his stupid tiny hand.

Eddie smiled to himself, clicking on the reply button. The past few weeks, Eddie’s spur of the moment advice blog had suddenly gained a ridiculous amount of popularity after a screenshot of one his posts had made its way onto a Buzzfeed article. With all the new followers, a great influx of messages had come along as well. Including this specific purple heart emoji anon, who seemed to be completely and utter smitten with somebody who worked in the same place as he did. And Eddie well, maybe Eddie was a little in love with how in love his anon was. Or maybe he wanted somebody to love him that much.

“Good moooooorning, beautiful!”

Eddie startled, quickly slamming the lid of his computer down. His advice blog was a top secret of his, the only person who knew he did was his best friend from high school, Mike. They’d both made blogs back in the early years of high school, and Eddie had clung to his as a perfect escape from the bullshit of the real world. He didn’t think Mike still used it, but he was the only person who knew that Eddie used his. And what he used it for.

Richie worked at the Starbucks across from Eddie’s store in the mall, and he’d seemed to latch onto Eddie on his very first day on the job. They were both college students trying to make ends meet with part time jobs when they weren’t in their classes or sleeping, and Richie had declared them kindred spirits. That had been almost two years earlier, and Eddie had officially been selling skinny jeans and sweaters to teenager girls for way too long.

“Sure slammed that shut pretty quick,” Richie commented with a small whistle. He raised his eyebrow and cocked his lips up into half a grin. His small overbite was barely obvious from that smile, but it was still annoying adorable. Eddie supposed that must things were annoyingly adorable about Richie Tozier. “Are you looking at porn on the job, Kaspbrak? Or do you just have deep dark hidden secret out there on the Internet?”

Eddie flushed. “You’re not supposed to be behind the counter.”

Richie held his hands up in defense, each one holding a Starbucks cup and rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll just take your iced coffee back over to work and dump it out then.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” Eddie cried, flopping forward in his chair to make grabby hands at smaller cup. Richie let out a laugh and handed the drink to Eddie, tucking his own empty hand into the back pocket of his jeans.

Eddie took a sip of the drink and let out a loud sigh. Richie had perfected his drink to the point where Eddie wouldn’t go to Starbucks if Richie wasn’t working. On the nice days when Richie’s shift started before Eddie’s, Eddie wouldn’t have to get up and get it himself at all. “Are you done now?” Eddie asked, glancing at the clock on the wall behind him. It was a little after noon, a bit early for Richie to be finished his shift but he knew that Richie did like to take shorter shifts during exam season.

“Nah. Not done until three.” Richie said, sipping at his red-coloured, syrupy iced drink that Eddie was never brave enough to ask what was in it. “I’m going on my break. Want to go see the outside world with me and remember what it’s like to be free?”

Eddie clucked his tongue, and turned on the chair to look at his coworker, Kay. “Is it okay if I go on my break now?” It was a little early to Eddie to take a break, and he knew he’d probably regret it later when he had to move through the last several hours of his shift in one go, but he was still going to jump at the chance.

Kay looked up from the binder of the summer sales that were coming in, and smirked as she caught sight of Richie standing with Eddie. “Yeah, we’re completely dead,” Kay replied. “I’m not sure why Barb insists on scheduling two people in the middle of the day when our entire target audience is in school.”

“K thanks!” Eddie jumped down from the chair, sticking his tongue out at Kay as Richie turned around. He supposed that his raging crush on the lankier guy hadn’t exactly been subtle over the last year or so, but it was subtle enough that Richie hadn’t seemed to notice and that was what mattered in the long run.

He remembered how annoyed he’d been when he’d realized that he’d fallen for the stupid barista boy like a goddamn internet cliche. But then again, Eddie had never claimed to be anything more than an Internet cliche, so what the point in fighting it? He’d let himself fall full forward into liking Richie, and found that he enjoyed Richie even more than he’d originally realized. Once he stopped fighting his crush, and let himself genuinely find Richie funny and amusing, life became so much lighter.

Richie jumped up onto the curb stop once they’d gotten outside, and swung his leg around while drinking from the red drink of death. “So... are you going to invite me to Mike’s party this weekend?”

Eddie raised one eyebrow, a challenge. “I’m assuming that since you’re asking about it, that Mike has already asked you.”

“Well, yeah.” Richie huffed, but he was still smiling. “But you didn’t ask me, Eddie. And that hurts. I thought we were lovers.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but he knew that he was blushing. “I don’t know whatever gave you that idea, Richard, but I’ll have you know that I didn’t invite anybody to this party. Because it’s Mike’s party, for his weird fuckboy boyfriend. I just happen to live in the same house as that party. I’ll be spending it in my room, probably watching re-runs of the Office with Chinese food.”

Richie jumped off the curb and landed in front of Eddie. “Well then- invite me to that.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “You want to spend your Saturday night sitting alone with me watching the Office?”

“My favourite show with my favourite boy?” Richie reached out and pinched Eddie’s cheeks. Eddie swatted him away with a grumble. “Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do on Saturday. It’s not like I’d be drinking anyway.”

Eddie nodded, knowing all about Richie’s long and poor history with alcohol that had peaked the year before they’d met. Still though... parties seemed like something Richie enjoyed, as somebody who thrived on social environments. “You're welcome to come over and watch the Office with me,” Eddie said with small smile. “And I promise I won’t be offended when you ditch me for the music and chatter of half the school in my tiny living room.”

Richie tossed an arm around Eddie’s shoulder and pulled him into him. “I would never ditch my Eds!”

xxx

“I swear,” Richie said, gesturing towards Eddie’s small bedroom television set. They were both laying together, Eddie’s small enough that they were pressed together from top to bottom. It wasn’t the first time they’d been seated in Eddie’s bed like this, but it made Eddie’s heart race everytime. “It takes Pam and Jim longer to get together every time I want this show.”

Eddie let his head lull to the side, crinkling up his nose. He, personally, could barely hear the show over the raging music from the party outside the walls. Mike had promised to try and keep it down for them, but Eddie hadn’t really expected much. “They get together in the same episode every time.”

“Yes, Edward.” Richie rolled his eyes, letting his hand come down and start to fiddling with the rainbow pride rope bracelet that Eddie always wore on his left wrist. “In my old age, I just find myself a little less tolerant of all this slowburn. They’re obviously soulmates, why must we sit through so much bullshit when they should just have gotten together at the start?”

Eddie chuckled, hoping Richie couldn’t feel his blood rushing under his hold on his wrist. “I like the slowburn. It’s interesting, you know? Two people who obviously right for each other but had to the get the timing right too. That’s the whole part of it. I think Jim and Pam wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting and powerful as couple if they’d gotten together right at a beginning and never had to like... really go through it together.”

“I just don’t think love should always have to be such a struggle.” Richie said, moving on from playing with Eddie’s bracelet to simply rubbing at Eddie’s wrist. “Why can’t just once I see a couple get together and then nothing bad ever happens, the end.”

Eddie smiled softly. “Why, Richard Tozier, I didn’t know you were such a closet romantic.”

“There’s lots you don’t know about me, Eds.” Richie tilted his head back down and smiled at him. Eddie blinked sleepily at him, letting his smile turn slightly confused. Richie let out a sigh. “Like, uh... I probably never told you this, but I think the best decision I ever made was going over to talk to you that day when you surrounded by all those preteens that were freaking out that you guys were sold out of those new Kardashian jeans.”

Eddie groaned, head falling into Richie’s neck. He told himself he imagined that Richie’s seemed to jump underneath him at the pressure of Eddie’s body.“Oh my God, that was the worst fucking day.”

“Wow,” Richie chuckled, moving Eddie’s body with his. Richie had always been a touchy feely friend, but Eddie didn’t think they’d ever been this close. “Guess I’ll just die.”

“Obviously the only good part of the day was the big gangly losers coming over and handing me a coffee even thought he’d never met and wasn’t sure how I even took it.” Eddie laughed, shifting so he could look at him, chin resting on Richie’s chest.

“Hey.” Richie waggled his eyebrows. “I made a wicked iced coffee that day.”

“It was edible.” Eddie said dryly. “But I think I was so high on anxiety, you could have handed me hot piss in a cup and I would’ve drank it without a second thought.”

“That’s disgusting,” Richie laughed, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Eddie’s forehead. “I thought I was supposed to be the disgusting one.”

Eddie’s entire face flushed. “You’re not that disgusting.”

Something odd and soft came over Richie’s face, and he was leaning closer... closer... Eddie took in a shaky breath, closed his eyes...

A loud crash, followed by Mike swearing, broke them apart. Eddie rolled his eyes and paused the show. “Want to help me kick some ass?”

“Every single person in that room could kill me with one punch,” Richie replied, smiling cheekily. “But I would happily die in a fight for my Eddie Spaghetti.”

“Oh my God, fucking gross, how many times do I need to tell you not to call me that?”

“At least once more, apparently.”

xxx

After Richie and the party guests had all gone home, Eddie quickly logged into his blog and clicked onto his ask box. Right at the top was a message from the purple heart.

fuck i almost kissed the cutie today! he seemed into it but this stupid party interrupt it and now im like??? do i try to kiss him again or was i over thinking it? ah ah ah pls send help. i need a whole army of strong men to carry me through this.

Eddie frowned.

[lolalexturnerlol]

Age of Consent (Negan x reader a/b/o) Part 3

summary: you’re moving on, slowly but surely. at least you think you are

warnings: lil bit of angst, mild smut, fluff, swearing, drinking, feelings

so yeah, this is late as hell. but it’s still here. thanks to everyone who came out, seriously i can’t tell you how happy I am that this was so well received. here’s the third and final part!

part one  part two

masterlist 

Two months later

"Oh my god. There is literally no way I'm putting that on my body Sarah."

She rolls her eyes at you, tossing the thin dress at your head. "Stop being such a baby, Y/n. Just put the fucking dress on. It's cute, it'll look good on you."

With a sigh, you look down at the yellow fabric in your hands. You don't want to do this - get all dolled up and interact with people and pretend your happy to be there. But Sarah wouldn't let you ignore your birthday, yelling something about "don't you dare fucking think we're not celebrating god dammit" when you'd told her you didn't want to do anything.

You'd managed to dissuade her from the big, extravagant night-out-drinking plans she'd had. Your dad had suggested something quiet at home - friends and family type of thing. She hadn't been happy, but she'd settled for it. Besides, twenty four isn't a big birthday. You'd told her it was nothing special, nothing to go crazy about. 

You slip the dress on, not really wanting to wear something so happy, but knowing your best friend won't give you a choice either way. Turning to your full length mirror, you give yourself a once over.

It's obviously made for someone skinnier than you, the fabric clinging to your hips and stomach. It's not the most modest thing ever either, dipping to show a sliver of your breasts. It stops at mid thigh, and you thank god above that you decided to shave your legs for the first time in a long while. It's not really you, but despite that, you still feel pretty.

And that's something you haven't felt in months.

Sarah squeals, clapping her hands behind you. "See, I knew it would look good. You're so pretty!"

Your friends gushing makes you smile. Maybe this won't be so terrible.

You let Sarah put makeup on you, reigning her in when she gets too wild talking about glitter and lip liner. You also refuse to wear the heels she bought, forgoing them in favour of a pair of worn-in sandals. Sarah gives the shoes a dirty look.

There's a knock on your open door, and you turn around to see your dad there. He's in what he likes to call 'his best shirt,' a hideous pale blue thing with a banana print all over it.

"There's people downstairs waiting to see you." He says. You hadn't even heard anyone arrive.

"You look beautiful." He tells you, pulling you into a hug at the top of the staircase. You hear a squeal, and a camera flashes. Turning, you see Sarah clutching at your camera.

"Oh yeah, Sarah's chief photographer tonight. Forgot to tell you." You roll your eyes at your father.

Downstairs in the kitchen are a few people, aunts, cousins, uncles. And a rather unexpected edition; your uncle Daryl, who has been away for months doing who knows what.

"Thought you were off adventuring." You say as he hands you a beer from the fridge.

"Well, I was. But I figured I could give it a rest to come see my favourite niece."

You roll your eyes, popping the cap of your beer off on the kitchen bench. "I'm your only niece."

"Unimportant." He slings his arm over your shoulders, leader you out into the backyard. "I still couldn't miss your birthday."

The words from your uncle make you feel more at ease about the whole night. A little, at least.

You'd thought this birthday would feel different, with Negan absent. He'd been there for every birthday since you were eighteen. Back then you were too young to know what your attraction to him meant. There are parts of you that wish you still possessed that young naivety. That wish you could still look at him with those googly eyes and rose coloured glasses and think he's the perfect alpha.

But a larger part of you knows how silly and damaging that train of thought can be. Besides, they say you regret what you don't do. You can't bring yourself to regret what happened with him. At least you know. At least you don't have to pine over him anymore. Granted, that doesn't mean you haven't spent time on it. The last two months have been... hard, to say the least. And absolutely plagued with thoughts of the alpha.

So yes, this birthday does feel different. Not in a big way, but in a small, subtle way that nobody else but you notices. Even with your family and friends gathering in your backyard, it feels a little empty.

You spend hours catching up with people, being asked the same questions, congratulated on your new job curating a gallery down  in the north part of town. You'd finally even bought your own car. Things are looking up, there's no denying that.

You still miss Negan, though.

It's a while before you get to sit down. You squish next to Sarah on one of the wicker love seats your father dragged out of the shed earlier today. Sh wraps her arm around you, and you clink your drinks together.

"Cheers to you, baby." She grins.

"Cheers to me." You agree.

Her phone trills from her pocket and she pulls it out with a long sigh. When you give her a questioning look, all she says is "Max."

You roll your eyes so hard they probably come close to falling out of your skull.

You had gone on the date with the boy. And felt like a shitty human being throughout the whole thing. You couldn't even attempt to be into him. I t just wasn't going to happen.No one could match up to Negan, not yet anyway. Unfortunately, when you'd explained that you weren't really interested he'd made it his personal mission to change your mind. It hadn't been cute. When you told him you weren't interested, it wasn't an invitation to negotiate on the matter. You eventually blocked him, but he's still pestering Sarah.

"Tell him where he can shove it." You smile at her.

You laugh together, but it doesn't last long for you.

Fate must be laughing at you. God, having a good old chuckle at your expense. You've never been a believer of any fate, but it's hard to believe that there's not some higher being that's got it out for you.

Because before you even see him, his smell drifts out the back door, caressing your senses in the most bittersweet way. Cigarette smoke, fresh rain on grass, worn leather. For a second, you forget where you are.

But only for a second. Because then, he's coming through the door, laughing at something your dad has said. And fuck, he's so beautiful, of course he wouldn't want to be your alpha. How could someone who looks like that possibly want to tie themselves to someone like you.

He turns as he comes down the porch steps, looking straight at you. Your breath is stuck in your throat. There's no way you'd expected him to come tonight. Why would he? He'd been nothing but cold to you for months. What kind of power play is he trying to pull, showing up here and now?

"What's he doing here?" Sarah asks, eyes narrowed on him across the yard.

Her words make your gaze snap away from him. "I've got no clue. Dad probably invited him." You mumble, tipping your bottle back and swallowing the last mouthful. "I'm getting another drink."

"Mm. Get me one?"

"Ok."

You shuffle into the kitchen, having skirted most of the backyard to avoid going near Negan. You're digging in the bottom of the fridge, looking for the drinks Sarah bought, when you feel a presence with you.

You don't even have to turn around to know it's him. Despite everything that's happened, every fibre in your being just knows when he's around. All your muscles tense, and it takes you a second to stop locking up and face him. Being this close to him after so long could so easily make you faint right there. But you won't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he still affects you. You're stronger than what your body wants you to do, anyway.

He's leaning against the sink, hands buried in his pockets. Despite what seems to be a - dare you say it - nervous body language, he gazes at you steadily, unwavering. He looks tired, somehow older than you've ever seen him look. Good. Hopefully he knows how you've been feeling then.

"Beers in the fridge." You mutter, making your way to walk past him.

"I was hoping we could talk."

Your head whips towards him, eyes narrowed, tone hard when you say "about what?"

He sighs, rubbing a hand along his beard. You very nearly let yourself feel guilty for snapping at him. Nearly. "You know what about."

There's silence as you mull over your options. You could certainly tell him to fuck off - it's no less than he deserves. But the masochistic side of you want to stay, to hear what it is that he wants to say to you. "I'm not sure we have anything to talk about, Negan. I'm pretty sure you already said everything you wanted to." You tell him, begging your voice to stay steady.

For the first time in your years of knowing him, he looks guilty.

"I said some shit I shouldn't have, baby." There it is. That word is enough to make your heart melt. "When your party's over come home with me. Please. I just - we need to talk, y/n."

You have to wonder if this is some sort of game. It's not in Negans nature to be that cruel - at least you don't think it is. A few months ago you would've been sure of it. But you can't help but want to know what his angle is. Maybe he wants to apologise. Ok. Then what? It's not like things will ever go back to how they used to be. You don't want to question his motives, but this person that you've spent years of your life around you now feel like you hardly know.

"Why can't we talk here?" You ask.

He sighs again. "It's not really a conversation to be had when your whole family is around."

Don't do it y/n, don't give in, don't say yes - "ok." his face lights up, but you hold up your hand and continue. "But if I've had enough, if I don't want to 'talk' anymore, you take me back here straight away. No questions, no negotiations."

"I promise. Now, got one of those beers for me?"

You roll your eyes, but this time it's almost playful. God, you really can't help yourself can you? "Get it yourself."

Of course though, as you leave the kitchen and rejoin the party, the anxiety kicks in. You question everything you've just said, everything he said, everything you may have just agreed to. The fear of uncertainty is something that you hate, of not knowing what's going to happen and how you're going to end up feeling.

But you tell yourself through the night that you can't doubt your decision. You know better than anyone you would have regretted refusing him. You'll spend months  dwelling on it if you don't follow through.

So you try to quell your anxiety. It doesn't help that all night you can feel Negan's eyes on you though. The few times you catch his eye, he sends you a little lopsided smile that makes your heart flutter.

Maybe your being crazy. Maybe it's just a depressing case of wishful thinking. But you can't help but get the feeling that he wants to apologise, and the thought of that alone and the possibilities it holds scares you.

When the night is drawing to an end, you help your drunk father into bed, making sure he doesn't stumble down the stairs. He's blabbering, telling you how proud he is while he stumble around the hallway. When he's put into bed and the last person has left, you're left alone with Negan.

"Are you ready to go?" He says it quietly, but his words reverberate through you. His car keys are already in his hands.

"Yes."

You remember the first time you went to Negan's house, expecting it to be messy and disorganised, only to be surprised that it was the complete opposite. The whole place is a bachelor pad, definitely. But it feels cosy, it always has. That may have something to do with the fact that the whole place just screams Negan, his scent covering every inch of the place. But you'll keep that to yourself.

"Um, want some coffee? Tea?" He asks you, unlocking the door and ushering you in. You've seen him in a lot of different emotional states over the years, but you've never seen him nervous like this.

"I didn't come here for coffee or tea, Negan."

He nods, still staring. "No, no you didn't." Without waiting for you, he wanders into the lounge room, shucking off his jacket along the way.

You follow.

He's sitting on the couch already, hands clasped between his open knees. He pats the couch next to him, signalling for you to sit. You hesitate in the doorway, your breathe caught in your throat.

Breathe, y/n. He's human, just like you. You can handle this.

So you sit, far enough away that your not touching but close enough that his breathe still brushes your skin. At first, he doesn't say anything, and neither do you. You feel far to anxious to even attempt to form a coherent sentence. At first then turns to a solid couple of minutes, and the silence starts to drive you crazy.

It's all getting to be a bit too much.

"Negan, you better start speaking your piece. Believe it or not I have better things I could be doing."

Suddenly, he takes his hands in yours, linking your fingers together gently. A warmth stems from his touch, a sensation that makes your whole body thrum. For what feels like forever, he stares at you, his eyes darting to your cheeks, your lips, your foreheads and back. Like he'll forget your face if he doesn't keep reminding himself of what it looks like.

There's a thick tension in the air around you. You almost think he's going to kiss you and you're not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Finally, after what feels like years (but what is probably only a few minutes) he speaks.

"I'm so, so fucking sorry baby. I've been tryin' to fight this for too long, and somehow I convinced myself I could stop this, whatever it is, before it got any further. You've got your whole life ahead of you and I - fuck, I shouldn't take that away from you. But I can't stay away, not for one more fucking second. I'll spend the rest of my life making this up to you if I have to. If you'll let me. You're my omega, y/n, and neither of us can change that. I was a fucking idiot to try to."  

You're speechless.

You attempt to say something but your mouth just hangs open, not even a sound escaping. Maybe this is fake, you think. Maybe you just had too much to drink tonight, and you've finally gone round the bend fully. It takes a full moment for you to snap out of it.

"Negan." You breathe out, eyes searching his, finding nothing but sincerity. It scares you a little, to be quite frank. No one has ever looked at you quite like that. "That - that wasn't your choice to make. You didn't even speak to me, and now you want to tell me that -"

"I know, y/n." He interrupts, gripping your hands tighter. "Shit, baby. I know I don't really have any right to be trying to drag you back. But fuck, please, you've got to belie-"

You've heard all you need to, plus it's getting damn near unbearable being this close to him but having such limited contact. An so you can't help yourself when you lean forward, cupping his jaw in your hands and placing your lips on his.

He's frozen for a second before you're melting against each other, lips moving in sync, his hands snaking around to your hips and your back. You can taste something salty, and realise that you'd started to cry.

"If you ever do shit like that again I'll kick your ass." You tell him, lips brushing, eyes still closed.

"I'll let you kick my old ass around every day for the rest of my life, sweetheart."

This is so different from the first time you kissed. He's so gentle with you, cradling your body to his like you'll break if you're mishandled. You doubt you'll ever feel any sensation better than his lips on yours in your life. And you're perfectly content with that, because the way he cradles you, laying you down beneath him with such carefulness, makes you feel like you could fly.

His hands are all over you, caressing your hips, your face, your stomach. You grip at his hair, gasping for breath when you can but otherwise uncaring, as long as he keeps kissing you the way he is.

His hand creeps up your dress, grasping at your thigh and hiking it up over his own. You let out a moan, the feeling of having him so close and pressed against you in the most intimate of ways making you gush.

"Fuck, missed the way you smell baby." He growls, pulling away only to nip slightly at the skin of your neck, right where his mark would go.

"Negan." You gasp, tilting your head back for him.

"Your skin is so fucking soft."

You lean down, tugging the hem of your dress up. He gets the idea, and sits back, letting you pull your dress up and over your head. To be honest, you've never been the most confident about your body. And laying in front of Negan in your old pink cotton bra and wonder woman panties, waiting for him to say something is nerve racking.

"You are so beautiful, baby." He breathes, leaning forward again.

"Wait." You put your hand on his chest, curling your fingers slightly. Your nails dig into your skin a little. He grasps your wrist, hand sliding up to intertwine your fingers.

"What's wrong?" He breathes, voice husky.

You feel like this could be going to fast. Then again, you almost feel like it's not going fast enough. Your head is muddled in the most delicious way, but that doesn't stop your fears from breaking to the surface. "I don't want to be just a convenient knot, Negan."

He pulls back to stare you dead in the eyes. His expression, his stare holds an amount of honesty and earnest that you didn't even know one human could show. "Baby, that's not what this is. That's not what this will ever be. We don't have to do this tonight. Shit sweetheart, we don't have to do this ever if that's what you want."

"No, I mean, I want to. It's just..." you gulp, your train of thought slipping further away from you with every passing second. "It's been a while for me and uh, I don't - I don't want us to fuck this up."

"Baby, I already told you; I'll wait f that's what you want. Hell, I'd go the rest of my life without sex if it meant I could get one last taste of those lips of yours. You taste like strawberries and fucking mint sweetheart."

And if you weren't soaringly happy before, you most certainly are now. And that's when you know that this is what you want. You want him. This man, who's willing to wait for you, and only you. Why should you deny yourself? Either of you. You both want this, and you for one don't want to wait.

"Fuck it." You growl, pulling him down. "Make love to me, you asshole."

He laughs, tugging off his shirt in one swift movement. "As you wish, ma'am."

And before you know it, you're naked. And even when he's fingers deep inside you, he's still gentle. An even when he's biting you it's still loving. And just before he enters you, he looks into your eyes and says "are you sure about this sweetheart? Not too late to turn back."

"I'm sure." You tell him. "Just - just go slow. Please." It's been a long time for you, and Negan is hardly small.

He nods, sheathing himself inside of you in one slow thrust. "Of course. We've got all the time in the world."

You lay tangled in the sheets, hair an absolute mess, breathing still erratic. You're absolutely ruined, but a smile is painted on your face.  

Negan huffs out a laugh next to you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close to him. "Why are you so smiley?"

You nestle into him, not minding in the slightest that you're both grossly sweaty.  "You know what's got me all smiley."

"Hmm, I suppose I do." His hand comes up to your head, tangling in your hair as is fingers rub at your scalp. It makes noises that come close to purrs escape you.

"You realise we have to tell my dad about us, right?"

He chuckles. "Already done it, baby. I wasn't going near you without telling him first. He'd have my head."

Your heart swells, and for a second you think you could float up to the ceiling, you're that happy.

"Well then," you raise your head to look up at him, a fond smile on your lips, "looks like you're really not getting rid of me now."

He laughs, tugging you down for a long, languid kiss. "I'm not going anywhere baby."

"Just - just go slow. Please." It's been a long time for you, and Negan is hardly small.

He nods, sheathing himself inside of you in one slow thrust. "Of course. We've got all the time in the world."

You lay tangled in the sheets, hair an absolute mess, breathing still erratic. You're absolutely ruined, but a smile is painted on your face.  

Negan huffs out a laugh next to you, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close to him. "Why are you so smiley?"

You nestle into him, not minding in the slightest that you're both grossly sweaty.  "You know what's got me all smiley."

"Hmm, I suppose I do." His hand comes up to your head, tangling in your hair as is fingers rub at your scalp. It makes noises that come close to purrs escape you.

"You realise we have to tell my dad about us, right?"

He chuckles. "Already done it, baby. I wasn't going near you without telling him first. He'd have my head."

Your heart swells, and for a second you think you could float up to the ceiling, you're that happy.

"Well then," you raise your head to look up at him, a fond smile on your lips, "looks like you're really not getting rid of me now."

He laughs, tugging you down for a long, languid kiss. "I'm not going anywhere baby."

taglist:

@superwholock36

@negansbean

@sprinklesandsugarcubes 

@daddys-girl5683 

@naughtynegan 

@fariesandwanderlust  

@ej-winchester

@nerdygirlwithacrush

@haleyea

@imjustmakingstuffupagain

@negan-is-daddy

@alanlizzingtonshore

@lunar-r-bryce

@rabbitinmytea

@princessjae92

@ask-kakashihatake

[littlebluespoon]

Masked Mischief

So this has taken far too long and I kinda think it might be a little short but oh well. Here it is... the long awaited Bushi/El Despy/Reader threesome! Thank you @ghostofviper for all the distractions and inspiration, and I’m totally not thinking about them getting me my own mask... totally not!

You were at lunch with your boyfriend, Kyosuke when he brought it up. You had thought that you had been discreet in your lusting for another and that he hadn’t noticed. But you should have remembered to not underestimate Kyosuke, the last time you did you lost a bet and he got to pick your clothes for a week. Kyosuke had seen you lust after the other masked man in New Japan and was now calling you out on it.

“Why him?” You seriously thought that he was going to break up with you but instead of being angry he looked, curious. “But really, we’re not alike. Look completely different and we’re definitl-oh.” In the middle of the restaurant he let out a howling laughter and your face turned bright red.

“What is wrong with you?” Swatting his arm, you brought his attention back to you, “Really Kyosuke, that’s not like you.” You wiped the tears on his face as he stared at you with a smirk.

“It’s the masks, isn’t it?” You couldn’t answer him, his question had left you frozen in embarrassment. After several tense moments, in which his smirk steadily got wider, you sat back in your chair and looked at him, “It is. You like the masks.”

He pulled himself closer to you in the booth,

“Have you ever seen him without it? I bet you haven’t and it makes you want him more. Not knowing what he looks like, you could walk past him in the street and you wouldn’t know.” He had been rubbing his hand across your thigh as he spoke, bringing it higher with every word. “How many hours have you spent looking at his masks, fantasising about the man wearing them? Watching him, begging him to fuck you?” The thin dress you were wearing didn’t provide much protection as Kyosuke easily slipped his fingers past its hem and into your panties. “Would you be as obedient as you are for me? Would you let him touch you without a sound? Would you cum only when he told you?” You couldn’t focus on anything he was saying now as his fingers expertly moved against your folds and brought you closer to orgasm. “You won’t cum now will you?” Every bit of strength you had went into shaking your head at him, “Good girl.” He sealed his words with a kiss to your fore head and withdrew his fingers before moving back to his seat across from you.

He resumed eating and watched as you came back to reality after your ruined orgasm. Lunch finished quickly after that and your lust for Bushi wasn’t mentioned again. Your relationship continued on, Kyosuke was a little needier afterwards, but that seemed to be the only change. He’d go to work and instead of only texting you when he had finished he started texting you during the show, sending you pictures of things he found funny or cute and other times it was pictures of who he was with and what he was doing. And when two out of five of those pictures contained Bushi, you never thought anything of it. You still had the odd fantasy of Bushi, usually it was after you had seen the man in at a show wearing one of his ornately decorated masks. It was three months later when Kyosuke brought up your ‘thing’ for masks again.

“Do you want me to fuck you with it on?” You had been watching some sitcom just to pass time when he blurted it out, “The mask I mean. Do you want to have sex with it on?” You turned to him, your cheeks obviously red,

“Would you mind?” You couldn’t stop yourself from looking down, you didn’t want to see his reaction.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I did.” And just like before the subject was dropped. His attention completely focused on the crappy sitcom in front of him.

Two weeks had passed and you had heard very little from Kyosuke. He was back to the old schedule of only texting you when he was in his hotel for the night, and since it was the BOSJ he was away for a long time. It left you feeling quite lonely, so lonely that you had started fantasising about Bushi again. It wasn’t often, just a few nights in the past couple of weeks. One night was so bad that you had been unable to sleep until you had gotten some release, you didn’t know what to do. Should you tell your boyfriend that you’re lusting after another man or should you hide it? Hiding it would be a problem since Kyosuke already knows how you feel and according to him you weren’t exactly subtle the first time. Maybe you could finally convince him to wear his mask in bed.

It was the end of the BOSJ tour and Kyosuke was due home in a matter of hours. He had said not to cook dinner and that he was bringing home a present for you. This was something he had never done before so you were excited, had even dressed up a little for the occasion and put on the red swingers style dress that he liked. It was his favourite because it gave him easy access to you but also kept you covered in case anyone else looked your way. Having nothing else to do until he returned you decided to clean the house, for the third time that week.

“Tadaima! You home babe?” You hadn’t heard the door open but you definitely heard him. Rushing to the door to greet Kyosuke you stopped short when you see that he had brought a friend home with him. A masked friend.

“Of course I’m home, where else would I be? It’s not like I have some secret lover that I see when you’re not here.” He pulled you to his chest greeting you warmly with a kiss, once he was done he pushed you towards Bushi,

“Say hello to Bushi doll, nicely. I think he’ll be staying a while.” You could hear Kyosuke’s command through his tone, it seems you wouldn’t have to hide your lust for Bushi anymore. Stepping close you gave Bushi the same welcome Kyosuke had gotten,

“You’re certainly eager. You know, Kyosuke’s told me all about you and your mask thing. And I can’t help but wonder, is it the mask itself or the mystery?” He had kept you close as the three of you walked towards the living room. Sitting on the couch Bushi pulled you into his lap,

“Keep her entertained, I’m going to get changed.” Kyosuke sent a wink your way before disappearing into your shared bedroom. You sat for a minute in silence as Bushi’s hand tentatively rubbed at your knee,

“This dress is a rather pretty colour, matches your cheeks.” If your blush could get any deeper it would have,

“It’s Kyosuke’s favourite dress. He picked it out himself.” Your hands twisted and pulled slightly at his shirt,

“Well then it would be a shame to dirty it. Stand up.” Remembering what Kyosuke had said all those months ago during lunch you quickly obeyed, Bushi stood up after you coming to a stop behind you. “Let’s get this off.” His hands quickly unzipped the dress and you stepped out of it, leaving yourself in the black lacy panties you had on and your heels.

A wolf whistle caught your attention, it was Kyosuke. Or rather El Desperado, he was wearing his mask, you could feel how wet the lace of your panties was.

“Kneel.” The command came from behind you but your eyes were focused on Despy and the cloth in his hand. It was all you could focus on until it covered your eyes. Hearing their footsteps move around, you struggled to keep track of who was where.

“Tonight is not about you. You’ve been naughty lately so why would we please you.” They spoke at the same time, it was like they had rehearsed. But it meant you still could tell who was standing where.

“Now if you can determine which one of us is which then maybe we’ll let you cum.” Your hands were guided to their cocks, “Don’t be afraid to get real close with your inspections, it is your pleasure on the line.” You stroked each cock for a few seconds, you knew that Despy was slightly longer than average but you had no idea what Bushi felt like which meant you would have to guess. You bent your head towards the dick in your right hand and began to suck it. Taking you time you started with just the tip before making your way down the shaft but before you had taken in what felt like half you pulled off and turned your attention to the other cock you held.

For several minutes you sucked, alternating sides every minute or so. Once you felt confident in your choice you made your guess. Licking at the tip of the dick in your left hand,

“Hello Despy, which means,” You turned and licked at the dick on your right, “This is Bushi.”

You sat back on your heels and waited for someone to untie your blindfold. You could hear chuckles, “Aw darling, you really tried.” The cloth was roughly pulled away from your face and you looked up at the two masked men, Despy on your left and Bushi on your right.

“But, I guessed right. Didn’t I?” Your confused face must have been adorable because they aw’d before replying,

“Did you? You were the one who seemed sure doll.” You had been, but now you weren’t. Their masks covered most of their faces and they were both wearing plain black shirts. The only defining thing was the masks but now they had you questioning that. Who was wearing which mask? You couldn’t tell, the masks covering everything but their mouths and the black lipstick that they both wore made it impossible.

“Crawl to the bedroom. I think it’s time we started this punishment.” You unthinkingly obeyed as you had been trained to do. Tonight these men were in charge and you would gladly obey them both.

Tag List! ~Just ask to be added!

@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @ghostofviper @devittsbalor @wrestlingismyfavourite @laziestgirlintheworld @narwhalneglect @blondekel77 @kylesnowreilly @theworldiscolorful @allywallly @imagineyourwrestlers @villainsqueendom @alenathi @ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne @kakakatey @phyreblue @princesstoniii @keltic-goddess

[sofeyhh]

BTS Metahuman Au

*Based on the BTS Metahuman Au Profile I created

Part 5 / ?

The streets of Tokyo was still vibrant down to the last second of the night. It was never dark in that city; a cycle where the sun drowns in a sea of bright neon signs and emerges back during the day. Tokyo’s nightlife was both Yoongi’s and Jimin’s favourite time of day, but for two very different reasons.

Jimin loved the lively atmosphere, the fast paced chatters of the vendors and customers and the buzz of the colourful dazzling streets. Yoongi, on the other hand, loved the hidden culture heightened during the night, especially from the food vendors.

“Noodles, noodles, noodles,” Jimin chanted while grabbing Yoongi’s arm along to his rhythmic arm flailing.

The two were winding their way through the crowd, not really heading anywhere when the sound of Jimin’s stomach grumbling startled them.

“Look, kid, I’m tired out so I’m heading back to my apartment. It’s time for us to go our separate ways yeah?” Yoongi nods his head as he twists his arms out of Jimin’s grips.

He was desperate to get the pink-haired kid out of his sight, eager to resume his usual banal routine. It may not feature the exciting life of a legendary god but it gets him through life and that’s all that Yoongi wants. Comfort and familiarity.

“What?!” Jimin spits out, shoving Yoongi’s arm away like it was poisoned.

The older boy was taken aback by how offended Jimin looked. He held his hands up, willing the boy to take his voice down a notch. If it was anything Yoongi hates, it was unnecessary attention.  

“How can you have the audacity to spur me on with legendary tales and then just wipe me away from all this? You think I’m gonna let this go without haunting you with more questions? I am on a high right now with your story and I want to be part of this. Well, I am a part of this! So you can’t just say we have to split ways!”

Before he could ramble on any longer, Yoongi clamped his hand down on his pouty lips. He groans internally, kicking himself for spilling the juice that they were supposedly gods. If it was scientifically possible, Yoongi’s ears would be bleeding from all this high-pitched chaos that is Park Jimin. He wonders if it was the fresh connection they had made through the symbol that heightened the intimacy between them for Yoongi to share so much. Or perhaps because he felt that the lost boy at least needed an explanation for his existence.

Yoongi drags a sigh from his lips and soon found himself crammed into a small noodle vendor, constantly elbowed in the back by the waiters passing by. He scoots his plastic chair closer towards the small table and finds himself face to face with a bright-eyed puppy. Only this puppy had a big mouth that loves to pry into his personal life stories.

“Okay so, you’ve never been with anyone? Like intimately? In bed?” Jimin gasps and goes back to slurping his noodles, waiting for an answer from the blushing man.  

Yoongi’s brain faltered for a moment at the blatant questions thrown to his face. He tries to gather his words but nothing prepared him for it. It’s been years that he hadn't stuck around with someone long enough to share these...stories.

“Uhm well, I just...haven’t got attracted to anyone. The girls that I’ve encountered hasn’t exactly...aroused me enough to get me interested,” Yoongi coughed out the heavy words.

As if he wasn’t prepared for that question, he was slapped with a brick for the next.

“Maybe you’re gay,” Jimin shrugs. “Haven’t you thought about it?”

The pink shades on Yoongi’s cheeks darken to a deep red as he avoids making eye contact with the boy. It wasn’t the fact that the idea of him being gay was offensive. It was more of the fact that Jimin’s got in on the bullseye. But just because he’s accepted his condition, doesn’t mean he was brave enough to outrightly say it. One guy has tried it with him and that relationship didn’t end well.

“Maybe you’re being a prick and poking into people’s business,” Yoongi sneered to cover his sheepish blushing. “Have you thought about that?”

Obviously, his mocking remarks went over Jimin’s head because the kid shrugs it off with a nod. Though thankfully, he moves his attention from Yoongi and decided to pick his own brain.

“I’ve always wondered what’s it like to kiss a guy,” Jimin hums to himself.

Yoongi spoons down the broth from his bowl as his mind wanders to the past. The lips of the man he used to love ghosted on his own. They were playful, energetic and teasing. He was shorter than his lover and always craved to be pulled into his hugs with his arms wrapped around him. But back then, being gay wasn’t something to be celebrated about. There were no rainbow flags and marches and supportive communities. There were only asylums and needles and disgusted expressions.

“I’ve kissed a thousand girls over my lifetime but never got the chance to do it with a guy. Never thought about it actually. But now that it’s all the rage to be gay, I kinda want to try it.”

Yoongi’s past contorts to make way for the present; the buzzing of a thousand conversations chugging back in his ears. He rolls his eyes at Jimin’s commentary. It was amusing how different the situation it was now compared to the past.

“So you want to be gay just for the sake of being in trend?” Yoongi asked with a scoff

“I didn’t say I was going to do a 180 and turn gay in a night,” he says, wagging his wet chopsticks around. “Possibly bisexual. But first, I need to know if I like kissing guys.”

Just as he was about to lower his head for another serving, he feels a subtle pull to his chin followed by a warm sensation on his lips. It was quick, barely a second. Weirdly enough, the sudden feeling had him touching his lips, almost craving a kiss. He looks up to see Jimin slurping his noodles but with his eyes trained on him.

“Did you...did you kiss me?” Yoongi whispered in a hushed tone as he leant over his bowl, frowning. This kid really just stole a kiss from him.

Jimin chews his food, propping his elbows on the table and resting his chin there. He gives Yoongi a cheeky smirk, “I didn’t know you’d catch on so fast. Usually, people don’t seem to know.” He reaches out to pat Yoongi’s clenched fist. “That was a great kiss by the way.”

BTS Au Masterlist

[chaoticsentiments]

Meant To Be Yours

Based of the musical, Heathers. Inspired by this animatic. Hope you enjoy ^_^

(AO3) 

How can any of this be happening to her? Is this what her adolescent life will become? A body count at 16 is not right and Rey knows it. And for what, a chance to be a First?

For the majority of her life, Rey Kenobi had always wondered what it would be like to be one of the popular crowd. To stand out and find her place within a society of social norms, ignorant adults and complicated teenage, hormonal issues. To live her high school years as Miss Popular and having her first kiss by a romantic scenery filled with wild promises of the future; stuff like in the movies, you know?

But instead, Rey finds herself not just a tool for the most hated and feared group in all of Republic High, that being the defiant First Order, but also the murderer of their leader, Snoke (god forbid anyone who speaks of his last name). Furthermore, it’s no better with Armitage Hux running about the school like he’s suddenly the new Snoke, as if the “suicide” of his “closest” friend had not even occurred at all.

And now, she’s responsible for not only Snoke, but the deaths of jocks Dopheld Mitaka and Kurt Thannison, and the entire reason why Finn, her most dearest and bestest friend, is bedridden with broken bones and a broken heart after his own failed suicide attempt.

Oh why, oh why did I ever listened to him, Rey whined, I should have known those bullets were real, I should’ve told Finn the truth. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

With nowhere else to turn, Rey rushes straight home where her grandfather is waiting for her.

“Ah, Rey,” he greets as she comes through the front door. “You’re finally back. Where have you been, my dear, I’ve been worried sick.”

“I’m sorry, grandpa. I was just at the hospital, visiting Finn.”

“Heard it on the radio,” he informs, standing up from his chair to hug her. “I just hope that boy’s alright. In any case, your friend, Kylo Ren, came by about an hour ago. He told me about everything, Rey.”

Confused and terrified by the mention of his name, Rey asks, “Everything?”

“Yes,” Kenobi nods. “He told me about your depression, Rey, your-- your thoughts of suicide. He even showed me --” He takes out what looks to be a worn out book with pages folded and colourful strips jutting from the top  “-- your copy of Moby Dick. Oh, Rey, what’s going on in that head of yours. I understand your need to fit in, but this is going a little bit too far for you… You’re not turning to those Darksiders, are you? I’ve heard that band is notorious for their suicidal themes.”

Rey takes the book. Flipping it through, she stumbles on a hidden note stuck to the centre, obviously not seen by her grandfather. Taking it out and reading it, the blood drains from her face.

Recognise the handwriting?

An amorphous voice sounding a lot like Snoke’s, whispers into her ear, “He’s got your handwriting down cold.”

“Rey?”

Rey looks up to meet the concerned gaze of her grandfather’s eyes. “I’m sorry, grandpa,” she mutters, placing the note back inside and making her way to her room, taking the book along with her. “I have to go.”

“Rey?” Kenobi questions, but to no avail. Before he can even inquire her further, Rey has already slammed her door shut. Inside, slumping down to her knees, she takes a breather, her mind a flurry of thoughts swirling inside her head.

What do I do now?! The most popular people are dead, Finn’s in the hospital, K.R.’s psychotic and I’m next on his list! Is this what teen angst was meant to be? This is getting the fuck out of hand!

Unable to think things through properly, Rey gets up and goes to her thinking space - her closet - to clear her head. As claustrophobic as it may sounds, there’s just something about the compact closure that allows for Rey to better focus on a sole objective.  

Turning on the dim light and finding her favourite spot, Rey curls with her knees tucked in, arms crossed and a mantra underneath her breath.

In and out…

In and out…

In… and out…

She looks around her little zone in search for some comfort. What Rey sees, aside from her thrift-store bought clothes, are pointless elementary school notes, treasures from the scavenger hunts her grandfather annually arranged for her birthday parties and many other nostalgic items. For a moment, Rey is reassured that maybe things aren’t as ba--

A lock loudly snaps. It came from the window. “Knock, knock!”

Rey freezes, mentally slapping herself for her inattentiveness. How could I’ve be so careless?

“Sorry to come through the window,” articulates a familiar, dark voice. “Dreadful etiquette, I know.”

Rey, never really understanding why she did it, shouts, “Get out of my house!”, alerting him of her location.

“Hiding in the closet?” K.R. teases, his footsteps approaching the closet door, “C’mon, Rey… Open the door.”

“No, I’ll scream, my grandpa will call the cops.”

“Oh come on Rey, don’t be afraid. I feel it too, y’know?” He mumbles mockingly in a soothing tone. “Look, all is forgiven, sweetheart. Just… just get dressed, you’re my date to the pep rally tonight.”

Pep rally? “What, why?”

“Well, I would answer that if you could just... come out.” As he says “come out”, Rey knows he’s beginning to lose his temper. I can’t believe this; does he really think I’m daft?

“No!” She retorts. “You threatened me and you, what, expect me to go to my doom with you?! Just leave me alone!”

K.R. emits a frustrated sigh. “No, sweetheart, no, I was only teasing you. You know I love you too much to mean it. Sure, I was coming up here to kill you, but I swear, I was gonna try and get you back with my amazing petition first.”

Petition? “What petition?”

Sounding fully smug, a fact that which for a guy like K.R. wouldn’t be too unusual, he replies, “I knew you’d be curious. You see, our classmates thought they were signing for the greater good of a senseless community. But really, listen to this.” Sounds suggesting a piece of crushed paper being smoothed out, K.R. takes a deep breath and starts reading his note, almost like a stage performance, as he reveals to Rey his secret scheme.

“We, the students of Republic High, will die. Our burnt bodies will be the ultimate protest to a society that degrades us and churns only slaves and blanks. No thanks. Fuck you all. Signed, the Students of Republic High. Goodbye… Whatcha you think? I mean, it’s not very subtle but neither is blowing up an entire school.”

Only the pure silence of Rey’s horror could describe how appalling she felt, as K.R. laughs rather humorously to his plot, to have ever thought a girl like her and a guy like K.R. could ever be like a normal teenaged couple. Of course her would-be-but-also-sorta-like-an-ex boyfriend is a psycho-maniac, why wouldn’t he be?

“You’re insane…” she cries.

“No, Rey, you don’t understand,” he assures her, “this is exactly what the world needs. It’s what my grandfather would have wanted from this cold, uncaring and unforgiving world. The only way to get things done around here is by taking the extremes and you know that.”

Rey can only cry a river into her arms further.

“Think about it, Rey. We can still be together, if that’s what you want. Don’t you know you’re the only thing that's right about this broken world? We were meant to be one without anything stopping us. Those assholes at school are the only keeping you away from me.”

Rey covers her ears. “No, shut up, I don’t care what you say to me anymore. You’re a liar!”

The room turns ghost-quiet with the prominent ticking of her bedroom clock outside. Yet it feels like she’s standing near the countdown of a ticking bomb. Never had Rey preferred the bustling of noises over the serenity of the quiet. Rey begins to get up, when suddenly, the flat wooden door of her closet cracks heavily under the pressure of a very impactful weight. She squeaks and gets back down again.

“They made you blind, Rey,” chides K.R. as he tries pushing against the door once more. “Messed up your mind.” Push. “I’m the only one who can set you free from their grasp!” Another push. “I can show you the way.”

Rey’s heart accelerates as she frantically searches for whatever weapon she may find in her close-packed closet.

“We have to finish what we began, Rey,” again another push with a furious heave, and Rey knows the door won’t be able to hold itself for much longer, “And I can’t make this alone without you!”

Her whole body starts to shake like a mad caffeine addict. Eyes shifting up and down again, Rey can only see her old white bed sheets laying haphazardly on the floor. It takes a while, but Rey ultimately decided. It’s the only way.

“I’m all that you need, Rey! Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?!”

The door is really starting to split and Rey knows he won’t stop until he has her. I have to hurry, she sputters, quickly tying the many knots around herself and on a protruding railing above her.

“I was meant to be yours, Rey! You were meant to be mine!” He pushes again, fury only . “You carved open my heart!” The doors warns her here time is running quick. “You can’t just leave me to bleed.”

“Go away, Kylo!”

“NO! Not until I make you mine!”

After a while, it seems K.R. must have gotten tired from using all his mustered strength and had stopped for a moment. Why, though, Rey does not know. Clearly, he could have just easily finished the job.

She hears him breathing in and out again, like he’s calming himself down (although if anyone should be trying to stay calm, it should be her). “Please, open the door, Rey,” he says collectedly, yet his very evident shuddering does not help elevate the situation at all. “Please, can we just… not fight anymore? I know you’re scared right now, I’ve been there myself. But I can also set you free.”

K.R. hears nothing from the other side. “Don’t make me come in there, Rey,” he warns her and when she persists to remain silent, he cautions her again. “I’m going to count to three now.” Still nothing. He raises his hand.

“One…” No reply or sound coming from Rey is heard.

“Two…” The persisting stillness gets to him too quickly, making his patience run thin until he can’t be bothered anymore. “Fuck it!” And with that, he slams the door wide open.

What greets him though, wrenches a knife deep into to his chest. For there she hangs, motionless, feet floating in mid-air as her neck is supported by the thick rope of her bed sheets, her head sluggish like a comatose muscle.

Rey Kenobi is dead.

“Oh my god… ” Dropping to his knees, K.R. can only watch as the inanimate life, once his fire, sway from side-to-side, his vision becoming blurry as tears begin to make their way down his face. “No… Rey… Why?”

Down on all fours, K.R. tries looking back for a reason, any reason that would make her leave him like this. Did I say something wrong? What did I do wrong? Have I forgotten our anniversaries already?

He looks back up at the hanging body. “Please, Rey… Tell me why… Don’t leave me alone like this… Please,” he sobs. “You were all I could trust.”

Did I scare her too much?

It’s not long before his misery soon becomes his fueled anger. “Damn it, Rey!” He pounds his fist to the floor. “We could have watched the fires and roasted marshmallows together!” Trembling, his eyes watery, he watches her hair-covered face. “I can’t do this-- without you…”

But then his words of promise come back into his mind. Promise of how he swore as his role to obliterate everything and start the world anew with his own new order, his new vision, his new utopia.

And we could have done it together, Rey.

Regardless, K.R. knows where his duties lie. He gets up, coming closer to Rey’s corpse. Eyes down, he falters under his breath, more solemnly swearing to her than to himself, “I will do what I must, Rey. I know you’d agree with me. And then we can be happy together.”

Caressing her cheek, he gives her one last kiss. “Goodbye…”

“Rey?” The voice of Ben Kenobi inquired. “I heard noises, is everything alright?”

K.R. takes his cue and leaves.

One could only pity the soul of Old Ben once he realised his cherished granddaughter had hung herself. He screams in agony at her suicide, a piercing sound in the stillness of the room. “AHHH!!”

Which miraculously awakens Rey.

Coughing, she tries - and fails - to form coherent sentences. “No, grandpa, n--” Another rushed breath. “This-- is not what it looks like-- Grandpa,” she jabbers. “I’m so sorry--” More coughs .“It was just a joke-- I’m so sorry, It-- Was just a-- joke. Just a joke. I’m so sorry...”

Kenobi stands there, held by some unknown force of confusion - or shock - and a whole mix of emotions fighting in his head. He watches as she drops down, opening her blazer to reveal the sheets tied around her waist. Trapped in a state of stupefaction, afraid to shatter the reality he sees in front of him, Rey tries again, more softly this time.

“Grandpa?”

Fortunately, although almost whispered, it manages to shake him out of his numbness and straight into his fury. “It’s not funny!” He nags at her.  “Don’t you dare do that again to me, young lady!”

“Yes-- yes, grandpa” Rey squeaks, greatly ashamed yet necessary.

Satisfied with her word, Kenobi eyes her before bidding her a goodnight and proceeding on to his bedroom. Rey breathes a sigh of relief. That’s one problem handled. Now… How do I stop K.R?

[yesterdaysdreams]

Help us choose the colour palette for our renovation!

Hey guys! Finally, we can move on to the fun stuff with the renovation…

Not that all the planning and drawing of ideas isn’t fun, but I have to say there’s nothing better than getting stuck into the detail, and going ‘deep Pinterest’ (kind of like deep sea or deep web – a place you may never come back from). Everything is roaring along with the renovation – because we’re not living in it while we do it, things can happen at a much quicker pace. Meaning…. We’re choosing all the details, fitting and finishings for the house. Yippeee!

Something I was excited about from the very beginning was getting your input and feedback about the ideas that we have for the house… Call it crowdsourced renovating. And there’s no better area than you guys to have your say than about the colours… Paint colours are completely subjective and come down to your taste, but I’m keen to hear what you guys think. For this reno we’ve teamed up with Haymes Paint for the whole house – they have heritage inspired colours which will be great for the exterior and lots of gorgeous, simple and unique colours for indoors. Yay!

Our Plans

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of you guys giving me your honest opinion about two potential colour palettes, I wanted to give you a bit of a rundown of what we’re planning generally. To start with, we thought about what the overarching goals fo the house is – and worked out that it needs to be simple, minimal but also has a bit of personality. So rather than sticking with a palette of just say white and black (which would look great in the house), we’re choosing to add a few highlight colours into the house by way of cupboards, flat painted pieces of furniture and shelves. This will all be on a base of a light and bright white so won’t be too over the top… I promise! Scroll on for two palettes we’re considering.

Option 1: Pink & Mustard

Well well well. If it isn’t my absolute favourite colour palette ever… You’re probably not surprised to see these tones make an appearance in the potential line up. I think these colours would look great as the odd cupboard door, shelf or cabinet here and there around the house. I like the warming, 70’s atmosphere of them paired together. On the other hand, part of me thinks they may date a bit too quickly for my liking, and that they might make a bit too much of a statement… I’d love to know what you think!

Colours

Main colours Minimalist (white), Intimacy (dark grey)

Highlight colours Marengo (mustard), Humas (dusty pink), Cordovan (light pink).

Inspiration

You can see some inspiration below that I like and could potentially see myself living amongst… Once again remember that we’re not painting whole walls these colours, they’ll be incorporated on cupboards, cabinets and shelves, and obviously soft furnishings too!

Option 2: Pink & Khaki

Ok, onto the next option! This time, we’re moving away from the 70’s vibe and going for a bit more of a botanical, pared back feel. We’ve kept in the pink because the Haymes ‘Humas’ pink – which is a cool dusty pink – is such a great tone and one that I really want to incorporate into the house. We’ve replaced the mustard with a light khaki colour, one that I think ups the cool factor a bit and also makes it feel a bit more minimalist. I love this palette, and think it wouldn’t date too fast which is something I’m quite keen on. It would also be a more subtle statement than option one… But do we want to go subtle?!

Colours

Main colours Minimalist (white), Intimacy (dark grey)

Highlight colours Bay Berry (khaki), Humas (dusty pink), Cordovan (light pink).

Inspiration

Below is the inspiration for the colour palette, I think it would look particularly great paired with all the plants that will (naturally) be in the house.

  Question

Ok guys, I am DYING to know. Which one do you prefer? Are you a 70’s gal or do you prefer something a little more muted… Feel free to let me know in the comments section! You might also be thinking ‘Geneva and Ben are you crazy, those are the worst colours ever?!’ In which case you should totally let me know too. There’s no wrong answers here!

This post is in collaboration with Haymes Paint.

Inspiration images via: Jasmine Dowling, Interior Design, Sight Unseen, NY Times, Apartment Therapy, Pop & Scott, Claire Brody Designs 

The post Help us choose the colour palette for our renovation! appeared first on A Pair & A Spare.

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[brendagilliam2]

15 fantasy portrait tips

Fantasy portraiture is my favourite subject. Bringing an original character to life is exciting, but can be difficult to achieve. To avoid mistakes and save time I try to follow a few rules. But they’re really just guidelines, so feel free to adapt, change and test other techniques that might better suit your painting process. 

There’s more to portraits than knowing how to draw a face. It’s worth spending time and effort trying to understand how a face ‘works’, such as under a particular lighting setup. Such a skill won’t be grasped overnight. The most important thing to bear in mind is to take your time. This is the best advice I can give, because nothing good comes from rushing a painting.

Take your time – nothing good comes from rushing a painting.

Melanie Delon

The main challenge in a portrait painting is to make the character stand out. Usually there’s no surrounding decor in the environment to help you achieve this goal, and a finished, polished portrait can often end up looking flat and boring. Thankfully, there are several simple and effective ways to achieve a striking portrait.

01. Plan with preparatory sketches

Rough sketches will get your portrait headed in the right direction

Before starting an illustration, I always do some quick pencil drawings to lay down my ideas. This helps me to see more clearly what I want to do and express, and be more confident about the direction I want to take. I use these sketches to build the composition, reworking them slightly in Photoshop CC if necessary. Usually I like to keep them rough, because this gives me more freedom during the colouring process. I feel restricted by perfectly clean line-art.

02. Get the proportions right

Practise getting your facial proportions right

It’s important to be aware of the proportions of a human face. Of course, they’re only guides – everyone has a different face shape that doesn’t necessarily meet the beauty standard – but it’s essential to know these rules, if you’re going to play by them and break them.

I recommend practising with facial proportions until it almost becomes instinctual to apply them to a portrait piece. I always start with a basic oval and then slowly add the facial features to build up the character’s face.

03. Avoid pure black and white

Skin consists of a multitude of colours

Usually the biggest mistake in a portrait painting is the skin’s colour: it’s never either beige or black. Skin comprises a multitude of colours, from pale blue around the eye, to pink, to hints of yellow for the mouth’s corners. I start painting with very few colours, and progressively add more hues. 

I save my colour palette in a corner of the illustration so it’s always on hand. So I don’t end up with a muddy look, I avoid using pure black or white. Instead, I increase the saturation to the colour I using for the shadows.

04. Develop a dynamic composition

Composition and placement can make things more dynamic

The composition and placement of the character in the illustration is essential for introducing dynamism to the painting. I always try to imply a slight torso movement, which avoids a straight and boring posture. 

Placing the character’s face in the centre is a classic approach and works well, but I also like to nudge the character towards a corner of the image to add a little originality, and free up space in the scene. I find that slightly tilting the character’s head helps to add visual interest and life to an image.

05. Work the background

A relatively plain background keeps the focus on the character

The background can also help give more impact to the portrait. I don’t like to overload it with details, preferring instead to leave it relatively plain to avoid any unnecessary visual distractions. I usually add subtle texture and a gradient to avoid a flat, lifeless look. An alternative is to add blurred elements, such as a forest or a building, to give the character context and hint at their story.

06. Introduce realistic details

Veins and beauty spots can add realism

Small details such as veins or beauty dots won’t be immediately apparent, but will give the last touches of texture and realism to portraits. These can also tell a story: for example, exposed veins can be useful for depicting a vampire or a person who’s ill. 

I generally use the same brush to create these details: a very fine brush that allows for precise work. I slightly blur the brushstrokes’ edges to unify and soften the details.

07. Emphasise key facial features

Concentrate on detailing the areas you want to draw attention to

It’s easy to get lost in the details, even in an intimate portrait piece. To avoid this and save time I don’t detail the entire illustration, instead only working up the areas that I want to draw attention to. For a portrait the most obvious area is the eyes, but depending on the lighting and the story I want to tell I can add a second focal point, usually a key costume element.

08. Maintain eye contact

Eye contact will always grab the viewer’s attention

Even in the busiest of compositions, a face will always catch the viewer’s attention. And to make the face even more powerful and striking, ensuring strong eye contact remains the most effective trick. The viewer is instantly connected with the character. 

It’s an effect that I use a lot in my portraits… perhaps a little too much! But I also love to play with more subtle glances, which are less direct and help to develop a sense of mystery, raising questions in the viewer’s mind.

Next page: More top portrait painting tips

09. Give lips texture

Dots of bright light can bring lips to life

Lips are an important facial feature. They can draw attention as much as the eyes do, and help the character to express emotion. To get them right it’s just a matter of texture. 

Lips aren’t a flat, plain element: I paint the little wrinkles with a very thin brush, which gives them texture and a lot of volume. Indeed, volume is the key to bring life to the lips, so I always add some intense dots of light to make them more realistic and attract even more attention.

10. Add new focal points to profile portraits

Emphasise details in profile, to make up for the lack of eye contact

Developing a character’s profile is tricky because there’s no eye contact to play with and only half of the face to show. I use light and contrast to compensate for the lack of interaction with the character, and enhance the costume design to hold the viewer’s attention. Here, the figure’s hair does almost everything: it defines her head shape and contrasts well with the bright, empty background.

11. Play with light and saturation in the eyes

Use light and saturation to help eyes stand out

The eyes are usually the main part of a portrait, and are my favourite element. They can look sad, sparkling, mysterious or dangerous… and done well, can bring any character to life. I like to give them a lot of intensity with unusual colours such as purple or yellow. 

The trick to make them stand out is to play with the light and saturation. I use a precise brush to create some colours variations in the eye and finish it a bright dot of light that will give volume to the eyeball.

12. Tell a story

There are plenty of ways to introduce hints of a story

A portrait leaves very little space to tell a story, so the general style of the character is important and can give a lot of indications and information about their life. I try to pay special care to their clothing, even if the viewer can only see a small part of it. I also spend time on their hair and details like a crown, to give the maximum amount of visual information. Their story can also be told by elements on the skin, like a tattoo, a scar or tribal markings.

13. Explore interesting lighting

Get your lighting right and you’ll add atmosphere to your work

The light is crucial in a portrait. If you get this right, it adds to the atmosphere of the piece, and brings life and volume to the face. I always start a portrait with neutral mid-tones and gradually add shadows and light. I love to accentuate the light in a chiaroscuro style; I think it brings a classic feeling to my fantasy theme. However, I keep my shadows very soft, and my gradients are usually very smoothed, because the face is made of curves and not sharp angles.

14. Add flaws to your skin

Flawless skin looks fake; work in some blemishes

The skin is obviously an important element in a portrait painting, and a common mistake is to make it look flawless. It’s relatively simple to paint clean, soft-looking skin, but if you’re not careful your character will end up looking like a plastic doll, and besides, nobody has perfect skin. 

To avoid this, I start with a textured base and use a soft brush with a little grain texture to recreate the skin’s irregularities. I also add some dots of light to create pores, particularly on the nose and around the eyes.

15. Play with contrast

Contrast helps to draw your character out from the background

Another trick that works very well is to add contrast to the composition. I achieve this by adjusting the lighting, playing with complementary colours, or using warm and cold hues. The trick is to separate the character from the background. My favourite approach is to use a very dark background and an unusual light source to illuminate the character. The light captures the viewer’s initial attention, who then moves on to my character portrait.

This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 138; buy it here!

Read more:

How to paint an atmospheric portrait in Photoshop

10 digital artists you need to know about

How to use digital tools to create a hand-drawn look

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from Brenda Gilliam https://brendagilliam.com/15-fantasy-portrait-tips/

[haaziqhamid1-blog]

Apple iPhone 8 Plus Early Review: A Big Leap Forward With A Great Surprise

By : Ian Morris 

The iPhone 8 Plus / @ianmorris

I haven't had the iPhone 8 Plus for long, so I'm not fully reviewing it yet. I did, however, think it was worth looking at it from the perspective of someone who didn't attend the Apple launch and this year, for the first time in ages, didn't watch the live stream. So when I unboxed the 8 Plus, it was my first time seeing the phone.

The iPhone 8 Plus loan sample I'm using was sent to me by UK retailer Direct Mobiles so I didn't get a choice in colour, however, I'm quite pleased to have the Gold device for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's enabled me to see how much of the Rose Gold colour there is here and secondly, it's much nicer to have a bold colour for photos than either Silver or Space Gray. Anyway, the Gold is excellent and Apple's done a really good job blending the bold colour of the metal with the rear finish.

So what's the surprise?

Wireless charging. Honestly. I expected an experience that mirrors the ones I've had with Android devices. Competent at best, but often frustration at putting the phone down and it not picking up the charger. A slightly sluggish start to the charge cycle is also common on other phones too. Not with the iPhone 8 though. Using my Samsung wireless charger I was thrilled to discover that the iPhone 8 Plus immediately starts the charging cycle and feels a lot more snappy than other phones.

This is, to me, a good example of what Apple does best. It's not always first with technology and wireless charging is nothing new. But if you want "normal" consumers using a tech like wireless it has to be seamless and easy. I feel like Apple has managed that when others have struggled. I don't know how it managed it either, but the experience felt better.

I do wish Apple had put a wireless charger in the box, but this is just a fantasy - that wouldn't happen with Apple and probably wouldn't with any other mobile firm either.

How does it feel?

TouchID stays on the iPhone 8 Plus / @IanMorris 

I expected the 8 Plus to feel different. The glass back is nice, but it doesn't make as much of a difference as I would expect. I think the iPhone 8 is a lovely device, but coming as I am from a 7 Plus it doesn't feel all that different. It is heavier though, and I feel like it's quite noticeable in the hand.

The big question I had going in was "will it be slippery" and I'm pleased to say that it's actually not. Well, it is but not enough more than the metal on the iPhone 7 to worry me much. Like most phones it accrues fingerprints at an alarming rate but I bought a job lot of microfibre cloths on Amazon to deal with this exact problem.

I suppose if I wanted to be super-critical of the iPhone 8 I could say that it doesn't feel different enough to the iPhone 7. I expected the glass back to have a more distinctive feel, and the truth is that Apple has just done what it does best, which is producing a product that feels like it has always existed.

It's worth it for the screen

The iPhone 8 Plus screen is a joy. / @IanMorris 

One of my favourite features is the True Tone display. Since Apple launched the original iPad Pro 9.7 with this tech I've loved how it adapts to the ambient light. The idea is that this phone should always have a display that's sympathetic to your environment.

There's no resolution boost here from last year, so pixel counters will need to wait for the iPhone X to satisfy their need for higher resolutions. But as always, the iPhone's display is beautifully crisp, with a wide colour gamut to produce accurate colours.

But the True Tone means that when you're inside, under artificial light, the display isn't pushing a blue tint at you. This feels a lot more natural to use and paired with Apple's subtle automatic brightness the iPhone 8 is always giving you an image that feels comfortable. It should also help with colour accuracy too, matching the on-screen image to the ambient light you're watching in.

Camera and video gets a massive boost

The cameras are tweaked and video is a huge improvement. / @IanMorris 

Apple is using HEVC to record 4K at up to 60 frames per second and, amazingly, slow-motion at 240 frames per second in 1080p. I realise for most people the technical achievement of this is somewhat lost, but I promise you these features are pretty staggering in a smartphone.

Although the iOS 11 update to how photos are handled also works on older phones, I do feel like it's a massive improvement overall. Being able to loop Live Photos and generally have more control over filters feels like it's going to be significant.

There have been other upgrades to the camera and processing but I've not had enough time to fully test them yet - I will do so for a full review later.

Should you upgrade?

First thing's first, if you're an iPhone 7 Plus owner, I suspect you're going to want to hold fire on the iPhone 8 Plus. Last years phone is so good I've never got bored of it, or felt I needed to upgrade. This might not be what Apple wants to hear, but I suspect the big upgrade for current 7 Plus owners will be the iPhone 9 Plus next year. Or perhaps jumping to the iPhone X.

Personally, I think the people who should upgrade to the iPhone 8 Plus are those with any of the smaller iPhones or the 6 or 6S Plus. The dual camera is so good that if you're not using it, moving on to it will be such a massive leap forward for you that you'll be blown away.

For Android users, it's almost certainly a good time to switch. My feeling though is that anyone defecting from Android would probably want to go for the iPhone X, with its interesting features.

Obviously, people who can't live without a headphone jack, or cope with an adaptor should avoid too - but the world is changing around you, it's time to move on too.

If you are upgrading, there's something important to remember

David Phelan pointed this out in his recent article, and I was blown away by the simplicity of how it works. If you're moving from an older Apple phone that can support iOS 11 it's worth upgrading before you switch to the new phone. The upgrade process for those who do this is so simple it's amazing.

Very early verdict

It's easy for us writers to forget that normal people don't usually upgrade their phones every year so even if the iPhone 8 was only a small update it would still be a big change for a lot of users. However the iPhone 8 is a surprisingly big update over last year's iPhone 7. Camera tweaks, new video options including a more efficient video codec and that glorious True Tone display mean that this is actually a pretty big update. It's certainly more significant than the usual "S" increment on odd years.

It will be interesting to see how popular the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus turn out to be against a backdrop of the more expensive, but more desirable iPhone X. I'll be honest here, if I was buying I'd go for the X. The real truth is that I've been considering pre-ordering the X when it's available.

But if you were hesitating over the iPhone 8, don't. There are some changes here that make the new iPhone a joy. Wireless charging is a really nice touch and the incremental improvements to the camera are always worth having. If you're coming from an iPhone 6 or 6S and you want this larger device, I heartily recommend it.

You can also read David Phelan's early review of the smaller iPhone 8 if you're on the fence about which device to buy.