#not blaine. i need to draw that man.. i think

[porcelainvino]

i think i need to draw darren criss right now /neg

[bpdjennamaroney]

Will and Emma are having relationship problems because Will is not taking COVID seriously enough ("Therapy"). The next day Will takes his frustration out on the glee club and accuses them of not taking COVID seriously enough (Finn doesn't understand germ theory and Brittany is QAnon.)

Will says, "You guys lack historical perspective. Back in the 80s and 90s there was a young gay composer named Jonathan Larson who saw disease and suffering all around him. When he found out he was afflicted with AIDS, he put all of his pain into the timeless and unreproachable work of art, RENT. RENT taught us about community and caring for one another and more importantly...it taught us that musicals can rock." Will sings the title song from RENT with Artie and Finn.

That night: Santana is fed up with lockdown restrictions and sneaks out of her house to visit Brittany ("Out Tonight"). Brittany is planning a big show that will blow the whole COVID conspiracy wide open. She previews it for Santana ("Over the Moon"). Santana is freaked out and breaks up with Brittany. Santana can excuse ignoring disease prevention guidelines but she draws the line at being Republican about it.

Also that night, Will tries to sleep with Emma but she's too COVID-cautious ("Green Green Dress"). She says maybe they need some time apart because of their different priorities.

While grocery shopping, Will runs into Holly Holliday. Holly is lighting scented candles in the middle of the store but for some reason all of them are defective/unscented ("Light My Candle.") Holly propositions Will. Will says he's seeing Emma, and Holly admits she also has a boyfriend.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Holly says. "Meet me at the basement of the swinger's club at 9:00."

Will shows up at the swinger's club and spots his old rival, Brian Ryan (the Neil Patrick Harris character). They glare at each other, then confront each other and it's revealed that Brian is Holly's boyfriend ("Tango Maureen.") She knew Brian and Will were old high school rivals and set all this up because she's into the whole enemies-to-lovers thing.

Will scolds her. "That is so cruel and manipulative of you. I can't believe you would do this."

Holly tries to convince him to live life to the fullest. ("Another Day.")

Eventually Will thinks about what proud openly gay icon Jonathan larson would do, and he has a threesome with Holly and Brian ("Contact," I'm afraid.)

The morning after, Will can't believe he kind of cheated on Emma/hooked up with Brian and really enjoyed it ("Real Life").

On Monday, Brittany and Santana are still broken up but sitting on opposite sides of the choir room is emotionally difficult for them ("Without You.")

On the way home from school, Kurt and Blaine are like "Aren't you glad we're not like Brittany and Santana, breaking up every 5 seconds over something stupid?" and they sing "I'll Cover You" but then they break up over something stupid.

Will contemplates his sexual awakening, torn between Holly+Brian and Emma ("Johnny Can't Decide/Come To Your Senses" mashup).

The tension in glee club is unavoidable.

"Mr. Shu, this is ridiculous," Rachel says. "Ever since you brought up RENT and Jonathan Larson, it's been nonstop hookups and fighting. Also, Jonathan Larson wasn't gay and he didn't die of AIDS! He was straight and died of some random heart thing."

"What? Jonathan Larson wasn't gay? So my sexual experimentation was under false pretenses?"

Will immediately calls and breaks it off with Brian and they argue ("What You Own").

The next day Santana says "I can't believe we caused this much fuss over a straight man, who died of a random heart thing."

"Wait, just because he was straight doesn't make his words less powerful," Finn says.

"You're right," Will says. "Maybe I'm bisexual." ("Louder than Words.") And then they all sing La Vie Boheme.

At some point Santana and Mercedes sing "Take Me or Leave Me" as their glee club presentation. (It's a four-part episode.) Also I think Gwyneth would have fun with Today 4 U, don't kill me.



[randomgentlefolk]

CPC CHAPTER 168

I'M GONNA. I'M GOING TO.

Oh thank goodness Frederick has a cat-like flexibility. No but fr tho. The fact that he can fit in small places and just, fold his body??? He's a cat.

OH I AM SO DOWN TO GWEN, AURELIA, THE POSSUM, AND THE RAT PROTECTING FREDERICK LET'S GOOOOO. Also The possum and Gwen's sharp teeth and Aurelia's spit? Heck yeah. AND THEN AURELIA PROTECTING GWEN!! I'm so glad she had a redemption arc :')

OH. OH. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS. Do you understand the amount of time I've been thinking about Frederick throwing a book at his bullies and Leland to the point I want to draw it but give up midway due to unable to draw anatomy of a person throwing a book? Yeah. And Frederick calling Leland a doofus LOLLLL.

Curtis not being able to see shit but still defending the aid kit station pretty well? That's what I call true skill. I mean he's really fighting multiple soldiers with armor and spear, and he's winning. But man his hand tho. I'm guessing those are from splinter and maybe some sorta swelling from holding the broom too long (idk how to describe it) or smth? Those has got to hurt...

HAHAHAHHAHAH I can't believe I didn't expect she would say that LMAO. Also she looks so goofy in the second image HAHA.

Nah the commander really went for Laverne too... Did Leland even agree on that?

Omg....Lorena catching Suzie....Lorzanna....

Leland's strength continues to terrify me. He just broke stair railing that seems to be made from marble, WITH HIS BARE HAND. I swear the Pastel palace is gonna need LOTS of renovation after all of these end.

"You don't decide what you want" oh bull I say, bull. Boooo Leland rotten tomatoes rotten tomatoes boooo nobody likes you go home boooo rotten tomatoes.

Eugh I'm surprised Frederick hasn't broken AT LEAST a bone with how much he got slammed and thrown hardly. The door broke bro the door broke. His spine...

Now that I think about it never have i ever with syrah would probably be wild XD

Okay at this point I am the most glad that frederick told cpc because otherwise many bad things would happen...

Wait a minute. What happened to spider Prez? I can't seem to remember...Did she pass out after breaking the door?

Wait so the Plaidypus isn't the royal plaid army?? Wait cause I'm kinda confused now :') if someone can explain it to me that would be great.

OH CRAP OH NO.

Shit, Frederick fr need a doctor asap. All those tossing around, the dusts, nah...

Okay this is sad and all but Syrah with the long nose made me giggle.

THANK YOU PRINCEL-WHOSE-NAME-HASN'T-BEEN-REVEALD!! Blaine really missed like ¾ of the war lmao.

I swear cpc is responsible for me learning new vocabularies daily.

OH??? BLAINE?? BLAINE??? I don't, I really don't know how to start.

First of all, there's a new meaning to this. So what I'm getting here, Blaine wants to be at the top because if he gets all the attention, Lance and Frederick won't be in trouble because he thought Leland wouldn't notice him much then. I suppose what's in Blaine's mind is, it's better to be neglected by your shitty parents rather than being noticed and verbally/physically abused by them?

Okay, I'm starting to get it. I'm the youngest sibling so I don't know if I'm getting it correctly, but this is what I get: "I will take all the abuse from our father so you, my younger brothers, can live a happy life without being notices by him."

Older siblings, amirite?

So, Blaine has been trying to protect his brothers but because Frederick keeps upsetting Leland and then making him proud, Blaine's plan keeps on being in shambles?

One thing I'm confused about though. Hear me out, Blaine most likely has golden child syndrome right? So how do we draw a line between which act is because wanting to succeed due to believing that's all his worth, and which act is from protecting his brothers?

Oh but he still owes Frederick and Lance lots of apologies though. Don't think I can forget what you said to Frederick in the dungeon, Blaine. That chapter broke me. To Lance, well, to be honest I don't exactly know what he should apologize about, but I feel like Blaine still has to? Sorry, I'm not making sense. Maybe apologize due to not talking to Lance and Frederick about his plan?? Oh man someone help me–

Imagine this tho: Blaine apologizing to Lance and Frederick for letting them get hurt by father, but then Isolde came and assured him that what Leland do isn't his fault. Haha I love to analyze this guy's mental health.

I hope he goes to therapy after this is all over. The plaid princes really need a lot of therapy. Actually the whole plaid family need therapy.

Okay say goodbye to my professionalism for awhile.

OABDUANSUAKSBW BLAINE??? PROTECTING FREDERICK?? THIS IS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE. LAMBCATTTT THANK YOU LAMBCATTT!!!!

Frederick looks so amazed and I won't blame him cause I WOULD TO. IF I WAS ABOUT TO DIE, And someone suddenly came to save me, then proceed to throw the bad guy and himself out of the window by breaking the window and letting the damn sun rise view come in. I. I would look like that.

Blaine looking at the sunrise and realizing the true meaning of life and contemplating what he has done. I love him so much you got this bro.

Also Blaine turns out to be strong! I remember headcanons of him being the weakest out of the three. I mean that could still happen, but the fact that he carried Leland in which who knows how much he weights, and threw him out of the window. Damn.

But they're still falling though, that's not good. I doubt Blaine will die for that matter. It would be wasteful. He barely had his redemption arc. I'm thinking either he uses Leland to break his fall, or Nell's premonition about the tent save him. But the forest is a little far though... Oh! Or maybe, because the pastel kingdom is full of hills, they would fall and roll down towards the tent! That's a possibility!

SHE'S WEARING RED. I REPEAT, SHE'S WEARING RED!!!! YOOOO I WONDER WHAT SHE DID?? I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER...which is in 20 minutes lmao

That's it for now. See ya next chapter!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts. Please actually tell me your thought on this because I NEED answers and theories. Also psychology analization will actually make me go insanely happy)

[frogskelton]

Part 5 of Scooby doo fanfic

Alejandro’s father sat at the far head of the table, leaning his head in his hand.

“So, I see,” His low voice only muttered and sighed, drawing his hand through his hair, after the gang had explained what happened. The room remains silent , remains dull, everyone remains unable to look at each other and see that look of defeat on their friend’s face.

Me Burromuerto swore muttering sometime under his breath, standing up, pushing in the chair, and rubbing his nose bridge left the room.

“Fuck,” he just muttered to himself under his breath. Leaving Tyler, Owen and Noah to walk back in through the dull hallway, the cold floor biting through their shoes. Getting ready for bed the air was silent.

The blinding morning lights seeped through the blinds and right into drenching light intoTyler’s weary eyes.

“Huuhhh, uhh,” Tyler unintelligible tried muttering, squishing into his pillow. Loud voices sounding from downstairs, though the disorientation from just waking up made and of that go in one ear and out the other.

“Guys, guys, guys!” Owen blurted out, racing around the room, already fully dressed, and seemingly somehow full awake. “The news dudes! All the cameras and film crews are here, we gotta go down!”

“Uhhh, five more minutes” Noah grumbled into his pillow, lazily waving his arm around to shoo off the noises.

“Come on, Noah!” Owen said, tugging on Noah’s arm to get him (If it was up to Noah he’d be there for eons) “We need to get stuff, so we can find Ale!”

“Ehhh” Noah kept grumbling, somewhat attempting to get up.

“Wow! Man, I thought you were still asleep.” Owen exclaimed gawking at Tyler who managed to wake up, get dress and be all ready to go in what must of been an instant.

“Yeah dudes, we gotta look for Alejandro.” Tyler said, with a determined look in his eye.

“Mmm,” Noah quietly said, finally getting his head off of his pillow.

“Time to go get some bats, bitc-” Izzy barked, pouncing up on her hind paws.

Cameras and film crews and news reporters scurried everywhere, looking for the next big scoop and where better to get it from the scene of the bat monster’s attack.

“Hi, I’m Chris Mclean, here at the scene of wher-”

“Thanks Mclean, I’m Blain-” One of the news reporters said, shoving the other one out of the way. “Ouch!” Blainely grabbing her foot in pain.

“Out! This is mine! I did everything for this,” Chris Mclean, muttered, pushing back against the, as Noah thought of her as, “fame sucking vampires.”

“Okay, so, split up and get info.” Noah said.

“Sir, what has- people- what do you know about the case?” Owen said, after slipping off, poking a intern

“I don’t know, they don’t tell me anything,” The short intern with eye bags stretching over his face grumbled.

“Oh,”

“Yeah, I’m here to double check everything, mind if I have over all the scripts and sources, you know just gotta make sure, you know.” Noah said, approaching one of the hosts, who just got off camera.

“Kid, loss the fake mustache, you aren’t shit, if you wanna waddle onto the film world, get some makeup to cover up that face and we’ll talk.” Blainely barked, feral devouring her coffee, like she was a wolf digging into some meat.

“Yeah, if only make up could cover up your personality,” Noah grumbled.

“What is she doing here?” Chris Mclean, cornered on one of his the people behind the cameras. “Cheffff, she is the worst and she is stealing his from me.” He whined like some spoiled child.

“Hey Chris, we got this, or I have an idea.” He whispered trying to keep their conversation quiet, while Tyler crept behind some of the bushes, hidden in the garden.

Owen and Tyler had reunited back together, sat on the grass.

“Anything?” Owen questioned.

“Nah, you?”

“No luck.”

“Uhhh,” Noah moaned,

“Oh wait, I think it’s Alejandro’s brother who is being interviewed, '' Owen pointed out, reinvigorating a bit of his energy.

“What’s the point of that?!” Noah groaned, waving his hand in the air. “He wasn’t even there.”

“Yeahh, let’s go watch though, maybe never know!”

Jose dramatized recapping for the loathsome news reporter who seemed entrenched, maybe people in his thrall.

“I swear he thinks Alejandro is like some helpless five year old?”

“Ah, lay off, he is his older brother, probably just protective,” Owen said “Just surprised I wonder who told him, because he wasn’t there.”

“What?” Noah blurted out.

“Yeah, he was out grabbing some stuff to refill the drink or ice or something, I forget, from the back.”

“This wasn’t mentioned before, because?!”

“It didn’t come up in conversation?”

“Owen, Owen, that’s important to the case!”

“Huh, I mean I suppose that could be important.”

“Owww,” Tyler muttered the thorns sticking into his skin, while he tried to stay as quick as possible.

“We can play the long game, you know good old sabotage?”

“Oh darling, you know me so well,” Chris snickered. “So we watch Blainely completely mess up and watch her look a fool after, you know what?”

“Ouch!” Another thorn stabbing into Tyler’s arm.

“What was that?” Chris said, suddenly worried.

“Let’s keep it down.” Chef whispered, as they walked away from where Tyler could hear.

“Nooo, come backkk,” Tyler muttered “Ouch!” more thorns stabbing into him as he slightly moved.

“So here you are!” Blainely’s show voice spitting out the dialogue held up by one of the grumbling interns. “The illusive Bat monster striking fear into the hearts of many is an honest soul,” She said “Who is very hot and I am very attracted to?” She read off, very very confused.

“Who knows what we will see next of this creature and where he could strike next! Back to you John.”

“Heh, I know some girl in high school who’d probably write a couple dozen fanfics about that” Noah quipped “Though that feels like I’d be vomit inducing.”

“Hah, yeah man! I’d read it whenever- uh- whenever- I uh- want to vomit, yeah!”

“Ow, ow ow,” Tyler whispered “Need to get out, need to get out from Al- OW!” he desperately attempting to shift his body out of the bushes, though only to be met with more thorns.

“Heyyy, kid what are you doing in there?” Chris leaned down to Tyler, still attempting to get out.

“Just gardening?” Tyler said, attempting to find an excuse.

“Not well.” Chef said, lifting Tyler out of the bushes.

“Thanks man.” Tyler sighed, after being plopped on the ground.

“Don’t worry kid!” Chris chuckled, patting Tyler weirdly in the middle of his back. “Run along now, don’t go jumping into more bushes and trust the word.” Chris and Chef walked off smirking at each other about something.

“Sure, dudes” Tyler essentially said to himself, since they’d already walked away, aqs he walked bye.

“Hey Tyler!” Owen said, waving at him, Noah standing by him, “Oh man, we’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Ah, shoot sorry man” Tyler awkwardly laughed, picking out some of the thorns stuck in his skin.

“Ooooo, the looks bad,”

“You reckon you could help get some out of the back?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, course man, yeah anytime.” Owen said, spinning Tyler around

“What the hell?” Noah blurted in.

“What, wait, wait is it??”

“It’s some kind of note…” Noah quietly muttered. “An address?”

17 east crystal cove road

Come down and say hi to your friend

I’ll be there ; )

"Ohh, like hell, obvious tra-" Noah attempted to caution

"We'll be there!" Tyler standing up tall

"Uhhh."

"Yeah, for Alejandro!" Owen said, meeting Tyler's eyes

"Yeah, for Alejandro." Tyler

"Hm! well he does still owe me, can't let him go missing now." Noah said, meeting the other twos eyes

"Yeah! Now it's time for some revenge on that turd!." Izzy pounced in.

"Where the hell have you been?!”

[lilyvandersteen]

Critically Yours

This story was written as part of the Klaine Secret Santa Gift Exchange 2022, and is gifted to @honeysucklepink. Merry Christmas, sweetie, and I hope this hits the spot for you!

The prompt can be found in the end notes.

Many thanks to my beta @hkvoyage, who was lightning-quick to review this for me so that it would still be in time for Christmas.

Critically Yours by @lilyvandersteen​

Kurt let out a big yawn as he walked into the kitchen. The party after the premiere had been fun, but he’d had too short a night’s sleep because of it.

He was on his second mug of coffee when Rachel called him.

“Kurt, you were amazing yesterday, as I knew you would be!”

Kurt grinned and thanked her.

“And I know you always tell me not to read the reviews, but… There’s this one you really need to read. You’ll love it. I’m sending you the link.”

“Rach, I don’t think…”

“Read it. This guy is so sweet, aww. Well, at least I think it’s a guy. He’s using a nickname. But the way he writes feels like a guy. Am I making sense? Maybe I’m still a bit drunk. One thing’s for sure, though, you have to read it. You just have to. I wish he’d say things like that about me. Anyway, got to go. Yoga tonight?”

“It’s a date!” Kurt promised her, and when she’d hung up, he clicked on the link.

It wasn’t a fan site that popped up. It was the New York Times website. The comments section, to be precise.

The commenter’s name was IconicWarbler, and unlike the other one-sentence commenters, he’d gone for the novel-like approach.

“I went to see Cabaret last night, and found myself totally enamoured of the MC, played by newcomer Kurt Hummel. I’ve never seen this actor on stage before, but I can assure you I will attend every play he’s in from now on. That’s how much he enchanted me. Such clear, strong vocals. Such a master at conveying emotions. And what a compelling personality! He draws you in, even pulling focus when he’s in the background. I could not keep my eyes off him. I urge you all to go see Cabaret and discover this promising fresh face.

Mr. Hummel, I’m calling it now: you will get a Tony nomination for this role. You are just THAT good.

Critically yours,

IconicWarbler”

Kurt covered his hand with his mouth and let out a happy squeak, smiling ear to ear.

Rachel was right, that was exactly the pick-up he’d needed this morning.

Thank you, IconicWarbler!

 K&B

Blaine fist-pumped happily when he read the announcement that Kurt Hummel would have the title role in the Jesus Christ Superstar revival.

The actor had gotten a Tony nomination for his role in Cabaret, as Blaine had predicted, and though he hadn’t won the award, it had opened new doors for him.

By now, Kurt Hummel had played in Dear Evan Hansen, causing Blaine to rave over how high his vocal range was, and opposite Rachel Berry in West Side Story, after which performance Blaine had waxed lyrical over how convincing they had been as star-crossed lovers, defending Kurt in replies to other commenters who seemed to think he was too gay to pull off the role of Tony.

Blaine had gone to see both shows as many times as his budget would allow, and had waited at the stage door to get his playbill signed every single time, even when it was pouring rain or freezing.

Kurt was always courteous and kind to every fan, taking his time to greet and thank them.

Every encounter with Kurt had Blaine walking on sunshine for days, especially when Blaine’s praise coaxed a rare smile out of the handsome man.

But after West Side Story, Kurt had disappeared from Broadway, not even starring in smaller roles. He was just… gone.

It had made Blaine worry and wonder what had happened.

But now, a year later, Kurt was back, and Blaine was relieved and excited to see his favourite actor in a new role.

The anticipation that had been building inside of him rose to a fever point when the radio station he listened to every morning announced a contest.

“Good morning everyone! I have some exciting news to share with you! You’ve probably already heard it: Jesus Christ Superstar is coming back to Broadway. And with it crowd favourite Kurt Hummel, who’s going to play the title role, and who is with us right now to have a little chat.”

“Hello, everyone!”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you to see Kurt take on this role? Let us know through our app!”

Blaine grinned and opened the app, sending a quick message.

“Oh, lots of enthusiasm so early in the morning. Let’s see: Ruth says she’s missed you the past year and that she’s stoked you’re back, Blaine says you’re sure to be stellar in your new role, and David says he can’t wait to see you in the play, Kurt!”

“I hope I’ll do you guys proud,” Kurt said.

The ensuing interview cleared up why Kurt had been away for so long. Apparently, his father had fallen ill, and he’d moved back home to be with his family.

“But now he’s better, and he told me to stop fussing over him and get back to work. So here I am!”

Blaine chuckled and crossed his fingers that the radio presenters would coax Kurt into singing a fragment from his new show.

What he got was even better.

“When our family celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, it got me thinking about what I was most thankful for. Dad getting better, obviously, that’s a big one. He’s my rock, and I’m so grateful I get to keep him, hopefully for decades more. But apart from that, I’m so thankful for all my fans. You are the ones who brought me here. Who believed in me when I had doubts I could do this. Who have stood by me from the very beginning. Who have defended me when people tried to tear me down. And I don’t have enough words to tell you how much that has meant to me. So I’m going to show you instead.”

At this point, the radio presenter took over.

“Prick up your ears now, all you Broadway lovers out there! This is a contest you won’t want to miss! Kurt is offering not just tickets to Jesus Christ Superstar, but an extra special main prize. The overall winner will get a ticket to the premiere, a meet-and-greet with Kurt and the rest of the cast, and will get to attend the party with the cast and crew afterwards. Isn’t that something?”

Blaine’s heart started pumping double speed.

Oh wow.

“Yes, you heard that right! Ever dream of getting the chance to chat with your fave actor over a glass or two? Well, for one lucky guy or girl, this dream will come true! And what do you have to do to win this, you ask?”

“Tell me, tell me,” Blaine muttered.

“Well, from now until the day of the premiere, we’ll be having a little quiz every morning, about Broadway topics. If you want to take part in it, sign up for the quiz in our app, and each morning, we’ll pick two listeners to compete against each other. The goal is to be the first to answer five questions correctly. The winner will go through to the next round, and then on the last day before the premiere, we’ll find out who wins the main prize.”

Blaine opened the app again and looked for the sign-up form.

There wasn’t much chance he’d be chosen, but it couldn’t hurt to try, right?

One day after another passed, and it seemed luck was not on his side. He listened to the morning show even more attentively than he otherwise did, and he made sure he always had his phone on hand, but the show host always picked other listeners to play the quiz.

Sometimes, they were so abysmal at answering the questions that Blaine rolled his eyes. Did they really know so little about Broadway shows, or was it nerves blocking their brain?

Two days before the premiere, just as he’d all but given up hope, his phone rang as he was eating a bowl of cereal, and his heart slammed into his throat.

Was it really…?

And yes, it was. He’d been selected to play the quiz!

Hearing the presenter’s voice both over the radio and on the phone was distracting, so he switched off the radio so as to be able to focus better.

“And today, we’ll be playing the Broadway quiz with Blaine and Tiffany!”

Wow, my hands are clammy. And why is my throat so dry all of a sudden?

The first question was about West Side Story. The presenter wanted them to name the two street gangs.

“The Jets and the Sharks,” Blaine yelled.

The other contestant groaned.

“Second question: you’re going to hear a snippet from a Broadway song. Tell me what show it is from!”

The song was “All That Jazz”. As soon as Blaine recognised it, he yelled, “Chicago!”

He heard a muffled curse, and knew he’d beaten his opponent again.

“Number 3: where does “Hairspray” take place?”

Blaine chuckled and sang a few lines of “Good morning Baltimore”.

“Wow, nice! You’re a fine singer yourself!” the presenter praised him.

“Thank you. I was in show choir for years. The Dalton Warblers.”

“Wonderful. And you’re firmly in the lead, with three right answers to nil. Tiffany, what’s happening?”

“He’s just too fast,” Tiffany whined, and both Blaine and the presenter chuckled.

“Okay, next question: complete this Hamilton lyric: I’m just like my country, I’m young…”

“Scrappy and hungry, and I’m not throwing away my shot!” Blaine rattled off glibly.

The presenter whistled low. “You didn’t even have to think about it, did you? How many times have you seen Hamilton?”

“Uhm, I’ve never really counted the times,” Blaine confessed, and the presenter laughed.

“Okay, if you keep this up, Blaine, you’ll only have to answer one more question. Here it is: name all seven children of the von Trapp family.”

“Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl,” said Blaine, counting them on his fingers to make sure he left no-one out.

“Yes, you did it!” the presenter enthused, and he played the jingle that pronounced Blaine the winner.

Blaine sat back and mechanically put a spoonful of cereal with milk in his mouth.

Wow, I’m through to the next round. Now what?

Now, as it transpired, all the winners would be competing against each other the following morning, and the first two to get five questions right would then play a sudden death round.

Blaine spent the rest of the day frantically reading up on all things Broadway, and also did his research on Kurt Hummel. In the process, he may have gotten a bit side-tracked when he found YouTube recordings of Kurt performing as a cheerleader, a clip of him singing “Le Jazz Hot” and then his audition for NYADA, “Not the Boy Next Door”. Those gold pants. And his moves. Unf.

When the next morning rolled around, Blaine may have been just a little sleep-deprived from watching certain Kurt Hummel videos on repeat. But he regretted nothing.

Despite his sleepiness, Blaine had no trouble answering questions, and became the first finalist. He ended up playing the sudden death round against a guy called Chandler, who was just as knowledgeable as Blaine was.

After they’d each answered another ten questions correctly, the presenter sighed. “Okay, this is not going to work. You guys know EVERYTHING! So what do you say to a practical challenge as a tie-breaker?”

“Okay,” said Blaine.

“I guess,” said Chandler.

“You each get to sing a song from Jesus Christ Superstar, and then the other listeners will vote in the app and decide who becomes the overall winner!”

Blaine grinned. “That sounds good.”

Chandler said nothing.

“So who wants to go first?” the presenter asked.

“Let’s get it over with,” Chandler groused.

“Okay, Chandler, what are you going to sing?”

“I don’t know how to love him.”

“Great choice! Let me put the music on for you.”

Chandler started to sing, and Blaine winced and wanted to clap his hands over his ears.

He didn’t, because it would be his turn in a short while, but aah, Chandler’s singing was worse than nails on a chalkboard!

He let out a sigh of relief when the song came to an end, and announced to the presenter that he’d be singing “Heaven on their minds”.

He threw his everything into the performance and found himself panting rather heavily when he was done.

Applause startled him. The presenter whooped and hollered and then said, “Wow, that was quite something. Are you sure you’re not a Broadway actor in disguise?”

Blaine laughed. “I wish!”

“And it looks like the listeners agree with me. Look at that, what an overwhelming victory for BLAINE!”

“Yay!” Blaine yelled. He’d given it his all, and he’d actually won!

K&B

Though he was an old hand at giving interviews by now, Kurt found himself fidgeting with his shirt cuffs this time.

It wasn’t the interview itself he was nervous about, but the contest he’d be announcing.

As he talked about celebrating Thanksgiving with his family, and being so grateful for his fans that he wanted to thank them, he felt a bit deceitful. Yes, he truly was thankful for his fans and their support, but his real goal with this contest was something else altogether.

The idea had come to him one night when he’d had a sleepover with Rachel, Quinn, Brittany and Santana, and Santana had wanted to know if Kurt had ever slept with a fan of his.

“I’m sure there’s tons of them that slip you their phone number and that are itching to discover what’s under those tight pants of yours.”

“Nah,” Kurt had said. “Well, I’ve gotten some phone numbers, yes, but I didn’t fancy the guys in question. Too pushy. The worst one’s called Chandler. He comes to my show every night, and he always waits at the stage door, and he’s forever running his hands over me and gushing and professing himself in love with me. Ugh.”

“Well, aren’t there more respectful fans that you’d like to get to know better?”

Kurt had taken another sip of his drink and thought it over.

The first fan that had sprung to mind was IconicWarbler, with his wonderful reviews. Wouldn’t it be great to get to thank him in person for what his words had meant to Kurt? But the chances of ever finding this anonymous reviewer were slim to nil.

Then, Kurt had thought of a fan that hadn’t been such a fixture at the stage door as Chandler, but who had shown up regularly nonetheless. This guy was always dressed dapperly, with gelled hair and a profile that were reminiscent of a 1950s movie star, and with impeccable manners. He clearly loved getting to talk to Kurt, but he never got handsy and never tried to monopolise him.

Yes, that was someone he’d like to get to know better. But how would he manage that?

That’s how he’d come up with the contest plan. It was a wild shot in the dark, and chances were he’d end up meeting and greeting another person entirely, but he wanted to try this.

So he tuned in to that radio station every morning to find out who’d win the quiz that day. He grimaced when he saw the name Chandler pop up, and hoped that would not be the winner of the meet-and-greet package.

The second to last day of the contest, he got a pleasant surprise. One of the contestants, a guy called Blaine, had a voice he recognised – velvety smooth and soothing. Was it… could it be the Mr. Dapper he’d seen so often at the stage door?

Then Blaine started to sing, as an answer to a quiz question, and Kurt was blown away. Wow!

And what did he just say? He’d been in a show choir called the Dalton Warblers?

It might be just a coincidence, of course, but maybe Kurt had found his IconicWarbler…

The next day was the finals, and Kurt cursed loudly and at length when Chandler made it through and was still in the running for the top prize.

Please no!

Thankfully, Blaine made it through as well.

On an impulse, Kurt sent the radio show host a text that said, “Make them sing.”

At first, the two finalists got questions again, but when neither Chandler nor Blaine cracked under the pressure and they just kept giving right answers, the show host decided to make the both of them sing instead.

Yes!

Chandler was as bad a singer as Kurt had hoped, and Blaine was even better than in Kurt’s wildest dreams. He sang better than the actual actor playing in the show with Kurt!

Kurt grinned ear to ear when Blaine was pronounced the winner, and hoped so much that it was the fan he remembered.

The day of the premiere, he felt more than just the usual pre-show jitters. He also felt butterflies in his stomach, as if he was about to go on a first date.

Before the show started, he peeked through the curtain to check the place, front and centre in the Orchestra section, he’d reserved for the main winner of the contest.

He saw a neatly gelled head and fist-pumped. Yes! He’d guessed right! Blaine was Mr. Dapper all right!

Blaine certainly lived up to Kurt’s nickname, as he was dressed to the nines in a tuxedo.

The tuxedo jacket was made of burgundy velvet with black lapels, and Kurt was itching to find out if it was as soft as it looked.

He checked out the other reserved places, and saw Chandler, looking like thunder and throwing poisonous looks in Blaine’s direction. His plus-one seat was the only one left unoccupied.

Kurt drew back from the curtain, and went to have a chat with the security guard, warning him about Chandler, just in case the guy tried to get backstage or to make trouble for Blaine.

And then it was showtime, and Kurt threw himself into the performance with double the energy he’d shown during the dress rehearsal.

Afterwards, while bowing to the audience with the rest of the cast, his eyes strayed to Blaine again, who was clapping and cheering.

See you soon!

Back in his dressing room, he got out of his costume, freshened up and put his regular clothes on in record time, because he wanted to be the first of the actors to welcome Blaine backstage.

When he left his dressing room, he found Blaine attentively listening to John, one of the stage hands, who was explaining how all the equipment worked.

“Hello Blaine!” Kurt said, and Blaine’s attention shifted to him at once.

John chuckled. “I guess that’s my cue to disappear. Once the big star comes out, nobody’s interested in the technical stuff anymore.”

Blaine looked stricken, and started to babble apologies.

John clapped him on the shoulder. “Nah, don’t worry about it. You came here for Kurt and the others, I get it. See you both at the party!”

John left, and Blaine looked after him, biting his lip.

“Don’t worry,” Kurt said. “John’s not offended at all.”

Blaine’s eyes flitted to Kurt, and he flushed and nodded.

“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” Kurt asked. “At the stage door?”

“Yes.” It sounded timid and uncertain.

“But this is your first time backstage?”

“Yes.”

Kurt winked at Blaine. “A lot less glamourous than you’d think, right?”

Blaine grinned. “Yep. Smaller, too. But I’m still stoked to get to see it. And it’s so interesting, how it all works…”

“I know, right? I remember when I started working on Broadway that I was fascinated with the technical side of things.”

They stood there, smiling at each other for a moment, and then Kurt said, “Oh, right, I should give you a tour, until my colleagues get here, too. Come with me.”

He let Blaine peek into his dressing room and then took him to see the costumes and the orchestra pit, introducing him to everyone they passed on the way.

By the time Blaine had seen every nook and cranny of the backstage area, the other actors were there to greet him and talk to him.

Blaine was a lot less shy around them than he was around Kurt, and when they all left the theatre to go to the party venue, it felt already as if Blaine was part of the group.

At the party, Kurt introduced Blaine to Rachel as well, and smothered a giggle behind his hand when Blaine treated her as if she were royalty (“It’s such an honour to meet the great Rachel Berry – you are a legend!”) and Rachel lapped it all up.

Rachel and Blaine got on like a house on fire, and Kurt left them to it to go procure some drinks.

When he came back from the bar, Rachel had drifted away to go talk to her off-and-on lover Jesse, and Blaine was talking to one of the musicians about his violin, which was apparently an antique.

“You play the violin?” he asked.

“Well, I haven’t in a while, as I told Ashley, because I need to get round to restringing my violin first, but yes, I do. The piano as well, and drums and guitar.”

“Wow. And you sing so well, too! You should have heard him, Ashley, he sang “Heaven on their Minds” on the radio, and he sounded better than Jesse!”

“Don’t let Jesse hear you say that,” Ashley laughed. “He wouldn’t take it well!”

Kurt handed Blaine a glass of champagne, and offered Ashley the one he’d brought for Rachel. “Cheers!”

A few hours later, he and Blaine were still nursing the same drink and talking their heads off about anything and everything when Rachel turned up again, phone in hand.

“I was just looking on the New York Times website, and it’s weird. Usually around this time, there’s a review already. But this time, not a word from IconicWarbler.”

Blaine’s head shot up, but Rachel didn’t notice, she was too busy scrolling.

“Do you think he didn’t come?” Rachel asked Kurt.

“Oh, he came all right,” Blaine said softly. “He’s just been too… busy to write a review just yet.”

Kurt, who’d had a hunch that Blaine might be IconicWarbler, beamed in satisfaction, and Rachel gasped, “It’s you?”

“It’s me.”

“I love your reviews,” Kurt told Blaine. “They’re always so kind and so supportive. I reread them when I’m having a bad day to get the strength to carry on, and on good days they make me want to strive to become even better. It means the world to me to have you in my corner.”

Blaine took his hand and squeezed it softly. “Always.”

After that, Kurt didn’t stay at the party much longer, and when he left, he took Blaine home with him.

As he explained to Blaine, “I don’t do this, usually. Or ever. But with you, it feels different.”

Blaine nodded. “I know. I feel the same. May I kiss you?”

Kurt threw his arms around Blaine’s neck and pulled him closer until their lips met.

A long moment later, Blaine’s eyes fluttered open and found his, and he whispered, “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you forever.”

THE END

This is the prompt the story is based on:

Blaine always reviews Kurt's performances in the NYT comments section but uses a nom-de-plume. (Blaine is not a critic--Blaine is in love!) Kurt doesn't know who, but he is also kind of falling for the person giving him such glowing reviews.

[forabeatofadrum]

Ljubim te (22/24)

Notes: Oh man, I’ve also been sitting on (most of) this one for a long time.

AO3 | S&C  

–

RED

Kurt wakes up with his arm draped around Blaine. Blaine looks so peaceful and blissed. Kurt presses a kiss on Blaine’s cheek before getting out of bed.

He stretches and puts on some pants and a t-shirt before drawing the curtains. After all, he doesn’t want to give the people of Ljubljana a show. The sun shines into the room, giving it a red or orange glow, and Blaine stirs a bit but he remains asleep.

Kurt watches Ljubljana and he smiles. He loves this city. He loves Blaine and Blaine loves him fully. Blaine, who has finally led himself just feel and let himself want.

And now they’re in Blaine’s apartment and actually sleeping next to Blaine is so much better than crashing on Blaine’s couch. He hopes he gets to keep this. He hopes he can wake up next to Blaine more often.

Kurt waits a few more minutes, just watching Blaine, but it’s clear that he isn’t going to wake up anytime soon. That’s fine. Blaine needs the rest. Yesterday was a lot and they went to bed quite late after fooling around. Fooling around. Kurt suppresses a laugh. He sounds like such a teenager. It was a bit messy and awkward, since it was all new for Blaine, but that also made it fun.

Kurt slips out of the room and he decides to surprise Blaine by making some breakfast. He remembers where to find the ingredients. Kurt’s frying some eggs when the front door opens. Before Kurt can remember who else has the key, Quinn opens the door to the living space.

Quinn and Kurt stare at each other.

Kurt didn’t forget Quinn, but he also had his mind elsewhere.

“Quinn-”

“I was going to joke ‘So you’re the other woman, huh?’, but you’re not,” Quinn says kindly, “You’re the other man.”

“I am indeed,” Kurt says back in the same light tone.

“Is Blaine around?”

Kurt nods towards the door.

“He’s still asleep.”

“Oh, that sounds like him,” Quinn says with a joke.

Then Kurt remembers something else. He slept in Blaine’s bed, so where did Quinn go? She didn’t crash on the couch, which is a good thing, but then where did she go?

Kurt asks her.

Quinn looks pleasantly surprised.

“Oh, thanks for the concern,” she says, “I booked a hotel room, once I realised you two needed time to yourselves. I texted Blaine last evening, but I don’t think he saw it.”

“Blaine’s not the best at checking his phone.”

Quinn laughs.

“Tell me about it. He ghosted me as well.”

Kurt turns back to the eggs, because he can’t let them burn. Quinn is still standing there and it’s weird. There isn’t any bad blood or jealousy between them, but Quinn is still right. He is the other man. Blaine kissed him when he was still dating Quinn.

Kurt wants to apologise for that, but Quinn speaks first.

“Can I ask you something?” she asks.

“Sure.”

“What is it like, to be in love with Blaine?”

Kurt’s head jerks towards her. Why is she asking? Shouldn’t she be the person who knows?

“It’s wonderful,” Kurt says and a besotted smile breaks out on his face, “I see him and I think ‘that’s the one’. He’s captivated me right from the beginning. It might sound silly, but I really feel like butterflies are in my tummy when he looks at me. And I admire his kindness and his heart and his ambition, and his ass, of course.”

Kurt’s afraid he crossed a line there, but Quinn snorts.

“Yeah?” she asks.

“Have you seen him, darling?” Kurt asks, even though it’s a rhetorical question.

“But then, how do you know you’re in love with Blaine?” she asks.

Kurt frowns. He still doesn’t understand why she’s asking this. Is this a test? Must he prove his affection for Blaine?

“I just know,” he answers lamely, but it is the truth.

Quinn beckons him to continue.

“I just want to be around him all the time. When he ghosted me, I was absolutely miserable because I missed him so much. I didn’t realise how much I’d gotten attached to him until that point. I spend all my free time thinking about him and about being with him. Even now, I can’t wait for him to wake up, just so that I can kiss him again. I want to be with him. I know it’s only been a day, but I am already wondering about what will happen next, because I want him to be there by my side, always.”

Kurt turns red. It is ridiculous, but it’s true. He hasn’t felt so certain until now. He knew he wanted to be with Blaine, but now that it’s clear that the feeling is mutual, he can’t help but fantasise about their future.

God, he’s in love.

“… Okay,” Quinn nods and she has a contemplative look on his face, “That makes sense. That… yeah.”

“Sorry?” Kurt says, but he’s not sure if Quinn’s upset. He’s just poured his heart and soul out about the boy that Quinn’s in love with. She looks like Kurt’s upended her entire life. Well, Kurt kind of did. Quinn is staring at the ground and she’s not moving. When she arrived in Ljubljana a few days ago, she probably didn’t expect her boyfriend to be gay and to be in love with Kurt.

Quinn keeps staring down at her feet.

“Quinn?”

When Quinn looks up, there are tears in her eyes.

“Oh, Quinn, I’m- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-” Kurt reaches for her, but then he stops himself because he doesn’t want to make it worse.

Quinn shakes her head.

“It’s, it’s fine! You- I think I had an awkward realisation.”

Kurt tilts his head in confusion. He waits for Quinn to speak, if she even wants to.

Quinn looks Kurt in the eyes.

“I don’t think I ever loved Blaine.”

Kurt’s jaw drops.

Quinn lets out a shocked laugh. She looks like someone’s doused her in cold water and she’s gotten a weird wake up slap.

“Quinn-”

“I don’t think I did,” she repeats through her laughs, “I… He’s my best friend, but I never felt like that.”

“Are you sure?”

Quinn nods, although she is a bit hesitant.

“I… I have been thinking a lot since last night. When Blaine said he wanted to be with you, I was defeated-”

“I am so sorry-”

“But not heartbroken. And that shocked me. How was I not heartbroken? In fact, why did it make sense that he’s gay? And why was I with him?”

“I am not following,” Kurt admits.

“What Blaine said, about us just following along… I think I needed that epiphany as well. I love Blaine, as a brother, and I tried so hard to make myself believe I loved him as a lover too, but I… The way you just talked about him, that’s not what I feel for him. I feel that for…”

She trials off.

Kurt’s hanging on her every word. He certainly did not see this coming, but it looks like Quinn didn’t see it coming either.

“Denise,” Quinn splutters out, “I need… I need to talk to Denise. You know of Denise, right?”

“Your senator daughter friend?”

“I have to go. Thanks for the talk. Bye.”

“Bye-”

And just like that, Quinn is out of the apartment and Kurt’s left alone to stare into space in confusion for a few minutes. He’s so baffled by what just happened that he doesn’t notice that Blaine’s gotten up.

“Kurt?”

Kurt startles. Blaine’s standing in the doorway of the bedroom. He’s also put on pants and his hair is a mess, but to Kurt, he is still gorgeous.

“Blaine.”

“… Do I smell something burnt?”

“Shit!”

The eggs! The smoke from the frying pan is getting bigger and he turns off the gas. Blaine lets out a chuckle when he sees it.

“What happened here?”

“Oh, Blaine, you wouldn’t believe it.”

[tjreidwrites]

This is a write up I did as a review for the Estival Festival in Kankakee Illinois September 2023. I originally posted in on my band’s (Bluprint) Facebook page. I wanted to do something a little different. It’s more of a short story of my day at the fest disguised as a review/ write up. Hope you all enjoy!

•

I rounded up the corner where the sidewalk would end, leading to a bridge that went across the river. It was a good idea to walk, I thought. Short cut.

The bridge gently swayed as I crossed the water. The clouds threatened rain, but it ended up being a good day that saw only a light drizzle. Light shower to stay cool. Any Kankakee area native with their sanity knows that fall hoodie weather is the best time of year. Midwest vibes. Hurt- your- face cold winters. Hot ass summers. And falls you wished would last longer, of course.

I keep on past the baseball field.

Step forward, the louder the music.

Trees surround the bandshell. The Don Palzer bandshell, a stage that will be used the right way today. Situated naturally amidst a natural amphitheater of rugged rock and trees. I came from behind the action, catching glimpses of the drummer's head, the vocalist too, but branches covered the rest of the band. How do they load their gear up the rock like that? I would find out later that the answer was; efficiently

I think that’s Melodic Industries inc. They're good. The music made me feel like dancing. I put a little hop in my step. The sign coming in said in bright oranges and light blues; ESTY FEST.

When I got to the entrance of the festival, I was greeted by friendly security guards and the smell of pizza. The pizza smelled good, but I needed something quick. The next truck over had waffle hot dogs. Fare Square.

That hit the spot.

The music had everyone smiling and greeting each other. After meeting up with some friends, we walked over to where the beer was sold. It was great to see two places that I already trusted and liked; On The Rox and Ryan’s Pier, supplying the fresh cold brew. Melodic industries wrapped up a great set. Next, we got to headbang. My favorite. Ephinepic crushed it. The metal vocals were on point.

Those vox were wet .

“What are you grinning at?” Blain Smith said. He was capturing the festival in high definition video. Recap set to be movie quality from the man himself.

“This band is sick. I’m gonna check out some vendors.”

If I would have come prepared, I could have added onto my modest retro game collection efficiently at the fest. Three tents of awesome pop culture stuff and video games. I considered getting Pokemon diamond for my rusty old DS, but the wall of funko pops distracted me.

I used the well placed and convenient porter potty and hand wash station, then made my way to the other part of the fest. On the way, I noticed a play area for the kids. Thoughtful, family friendly. The neat vendor tents seemed to go on forever. No complaints, that’s a positive in my book. Everything on display was interesting. Halloween right around the corner? Plenty for that. Flowers. Sports. Wood werx creations. Art. Jewelry. All leading up to the second stage, Faber financial stage. The second stage was the perfect size, and placed in a great spot past the vendors and plenty far away enough from the main stage.

I made my way back to the Art and Sol main stage when I heard The Katzpa Jammas start. I was delighted at the beautiful high notes, with grit, and a talented band to go with it. From the moment they began, I was locked in and captivated until the end.

As the sun went down, Vaudevileins and Luck of the Draw killed it. The energy was up. Neon lights bounced off the rock and bandshell. A sight to see. Everyone is dancing and having a good time. And this is a free show, I thought.

The vibe came and it stuck.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay all night.

I trudged up the hill and around the back of the main stage. Carrying torches, a band that sounded pro as hell (and has a knack for sounding better all the time) was my soundtrack as I left the festival. Who says there's never anything to do? I would have paid to get in. The purple, blue, red and random colored stage lights illuminated the little cove. The cool breeze came off the water and hit my face as I rounded back to the bridge.

Every step, the music got a little quieter.

I smiled, still happy I decided to walk. Things like the Estival Festival can turn a shit day good again, if you let it. Events like that can provide a creative spark, if you let it.

I was across the bridge, almost home. The music faded, but it was still there in the background. The hurt-your-face winters and the hot ass summers seemed far away.

During that walk home, I lived in the moment and realized that I had been the entire day. Music, and spending a day with good people in the community could have had something to do with it.

Or it’s just about having a good mindset, I thought.

“Nah, it’s the music.”

#bluprintband #estivalfestival

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Sygna Suit Red

Alright, the BP Pairs are done, and I finished the Red alt discussion. Finally I am done.

........fuck, I forgot about the grid expansions.

General Overview Not content to ruin my day once, Sygna Suit Red also gets something, in the form of his grid expansion. Thankfully, this is far, far less annoying, as DeNA seems to categorize original Kantrio more as "Free pair" than as "PokeFair," so they limited the possibilities. Unfortunately, this is my first time talking about him as a sync pair.

SS Red was the original powercreep unit. Brought about at the half-anniversary well before I was playing, he was miles ahead of everyone else. While SST Red and the new NC Red are certainly bullshit, absolutely nothing compares to the gap in power from those early days. Red was the unit, so significantly that people would prefer off-typing with him and Kantrio instead of using on-type damage for many types, for over two years with the game. The reason for his power was two-fold. One was Blast Burn. Other options had access to four-bar moves, but the lower accuracy combined with Piercing Gaze meant a power boost without the downside. Second, Red's self-setup is immaculate. Two turns of trainer move, Dire Hit+, sync gives him +1 crit, and you're at maximum offensive ability, with maxed out speed. There was very little that compared, so much so that even the first Master Fair in Leon was considered less potent due to his poor self-setup.

Over time, this stopped being as significant. Stronger moves than Blast Burn exist, and better self-setup certainly exists among limited pairs. Red didn't strictly need this help, but it's not entirely unwarranted. He fell off a bit. So to keep him relevant...they gave him some cosmetic tools.

Soften Up, Sharp Entry, Solar Flare 2, Sync Thinker, Standfast 9, and TM: Propulsion. All of these are solidly mid. At no point has Red ever thought to himself gee, I sure wish I could Flare Blitz right now. Sharp Entry is nice for easier setup on that first sync, but Soften Up isn't worth the price of getting to it. Sync Thinker is funny for the kaboom after sync, but it's one use per rotation so it's not the same as, I dunno, a multiplier. That's really the big loss; Red still has no natural multipliers for move damage, which is his big draw. Meanwhile Lance and Alder are out here getting fat 30% free boosts on goddamn Hyper Beam. The tradeoff is Propulsion, which means Red can now fast ramp with any other source of -1 cooldown. Which is great, except that one of Red's defining features is his 3-turn self-setup. So if you go for a fast-ramp, he's support reliant now.

Again, the grid is not the worst there's ever been, but it's very noticeably limited compared to what contemporaries have received. Like, not even Burn effects off Heat Wave for Gauntlet purposes. Just very small, almost superficial upgrades that don't seriously change how he was playing in the first place. Which I love. He'll never be bad, sadly for me, but at least this form will never see the light of top tier performance again.

EX and Move Level? There are people that don't have him 3/5 EX? Weird, man. Anyway, mine's now 3/5 for sad reasons involving banner sharing, but I don't EX him and he can do alright.

Team 1: SS Red, SS Morty, Eevee Lucas/NC Leaf This is the more or less defining set. SS Morty is Red's best partner by miles, while Eevee Lucas supplies special defense debuffing and even eases Red's setup if you're going for Propulsion sets. NC Leaf is a solid alternative, packing even more immunities for the team and extra Sun setting. But also she has Kanto Pride and Potion. Which means that this is like the only time Flare Blitz SS Red makes any kind of sense. That said, his trainer move only gives attack if he's already mega evolved, so I don't really think it's optimal.

Team 2: SS Red, Lodge Dawn/BP Janine, Blaine If you're going for F2P, this is the set. SS Red hits like a truck even at 1/5 thanks to Blast Burn, and a little Sun application will power that up quite well. Blaine has a ton of matched theme skills and that coveted Sun. Lodge Dawn and BP Janine are really nice partners, thanks to Team Sharp Entry, but each has their own utility. Janine can easily buff his offense to max, so after one Dire Hit+ he gets blasting. Dawn offsets the defense drop on his trainer move, and can run Mind Games 2 as a lucky skill to debuff defenses. Up to preference.

Final Thoughts Again, I've been a this a while today, so I'm cutting it a little short. Red has very little utility under his belt, and exists to sync under Sun and spam Blast Burn. Thanks to effective self-setup, he is able to do this with minimal consideration to partners. I could talk about the Propulsion set, but I am very opposed to 5/5ing Red. I don't think it's actually worth it. Besides, the only adjustment is "bring someone who also buffs crit," and Morty can do that fine.

[cursed-princess-club]

Which 5 CPC characters, do you think are most likely to be yandere? Like the least ones to the most ones? What type of yandere do you think they will be? And why? I apologize if I'm asking too much.

NO WORRIESSS I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER :D

maria is the most obvious haha, so i'll list her reasons first

those fangirl tendencies? they could easily escalate quickly

like MAN the blaine fan club is lucky she isn't as obsessive as a yandere would be

she'd be the type to have a shrine and collect memorabilia, maybe some stalking and the like

yandere maria's backstory would probably be like- she grew up within the castle walls admiring her victim from afar, collecting all their magazines and everything- she'd probably fantasize over the idea of them as an escapism

she wouldn't necessarily want to be the only one important to blaine, she'd just wanna protect him. like to the EXTREME. (this is where she really differs from canon maria who'd know when to draw the line ykyk)

second would be aurelia! because i could kinda see that, lemme explain

jealousy

literally

aurelia's jealousy could quickly grow into an unhealthy jealousy

like what she did in canon??? yes. now imagine if she wasn't well meaning

to be fair this could apply to everyone, morally, but like aurelia

AURELIA IS ACTUALLY CLINGY BEST FRIEND VIBES

im allowed to slander her because she is my blorbo

anyway YES clingy best friend because she too, like maria, has overprotective parents that cut her off from a lot of the world (yay!)

man some of the cpc parents really. wow. if only you guys could see these yandere hcs

do you think that maybe. yandere beckett?

it could be that same parasocial relationship!! i think that's what makes the maribecklaine triangle interesting, cause like they all have really different impressions of each other n stuff

beckett who idolizes maria, and maria who idolizes blaine

yandere beckett would feel that need to protect maria at all costs

like some stuff he said in canon about maria being too pure for the world? that but to the MAX. im all about amplifying those negative traits for the sake of this

leland

self explanatory

he... he kinda... wow

in canon too mates!!

you know that theory that leland was related to lilyth's death, and potentially the cause due to we never find out how she died atm?

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

my work here is done

lastly!! pre redemption whitney is pretty yandere, but i feel like saying that would be lazy of me. which im cool with because i take the easy way out

possessive of fiance

sees fiance as an object

assumes that fiance is cheating on him

seeks out the third party and intends to kill them

average yandere behavior

yeah!! i didnt expect this many of this them to make THIS much sense but here we are

[spaceorphan18]

99 Perspectives on a Single Love Story #96

A/N: The Story of Kurt and Blaine told through the eyes of everyone else but them. Each chapter is a different perspective in the ongoing tale of their love story.

I started something like this a while back - and now I’m taking the idea and really running with it. Each chapter is a ficlet of a different character at a different point in Kurt and Blaine’s life - documenting their love story. This starts in Audition, and each chapter will be paired with a different episode until reaching Dreams Come True.

[Ao3]

***

Kurt Hummel (The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester) 

Kurt joins Blaine on one of Dalton’s staircases.  It’s not that staircase - the one that no longer exists do to a raging fire that took most of the building.  It’s the outside staircase that now leads to a pile of bricks and rubble.  He puts a comforting arm around Blaine, squeezing him as Blaine tries to hold back his tears.  And for a moment, it reminds him, suddenly, of all those years ago when Blaine comforted him on a different stair case.  Kurt can’t help but smile to himself as he thinks about how life is just a tad more dramatic when you’re upset on a staircase.  

“It’s gone,” Blaine utters.  “All of it just… gone.  My identity - the foundation of who I am no longer exists.”  

“Oh, honey,” Kurt puts his head against Blaine’s.  He knows melodrama when he hears it, but he also knows how much the news of Dalton’s destruction has hurt Blaine.  “It’s not really gone - we still have all the memories.”  

“This is where we met,” Blaine says, the tears are coming now.  “This is where we got engaged.  This is where we first kissed and…” 

“I think you’re overromanticizing it a bit,” Kurt says.  There’s a lightness in his voice.  He doesn’t want Blaine going full on spiral.  Besides - no doom and gloom, physics defying fire is going to scorch the happiness of his first week of being married.  He smiles to himself.  Blaine may have loved this place, and he may have appreciated it, but it’s just a building.  “It also smelled a lot like dust and mildew and crotchety old men.  And I’m pretty sure that it was haunted.  I still think the ghost of that old lady threw a shoe at me.”  

Blaine frowns at him, not convinced. His eyes are wide and wet and Kurt’s heart stirs a bit seeing his new husband in pain.  

Kurt brings his arm around, and shifts a little, so he can hold Blaine’s left hand in both of his.  He plays with Blaine’s wedding ring - this simple, beautiful, silver ring for a moment before he speaks again.  “This place is not the foundation of your identity.  Being a good person - being a good husband, an inspiration to me and to so many people - that is your foundation.  Dalton will always be with us, but we’re both more what a building can define us as.  Besides - didn’t some famous Greek philosopher say ‘every new beginning comes from some other beginning end’?”

Blaine cracks a smile.  “I think you just quoted Semisonic.”  

“Well, in any case, like a phoenix more than a warbler - I’m sure Dalton will rise again.  The stodgy, old alumni will see to that.”  

Blaine leans his forehead against Kurt’s.  “Thank you for coming out here.”

Kurt looks him surely in the eye, and says in a low whisper, “You know I’d do anything for you, right?” 

Blaine nods as they draw in for a kiss.  

Kurt’s love for this man is deep and unwavering, and he hopes Blaine can feel that.  Blaine’s still hurting, and he will for a while, but in a way, Kurt feels as though it’s a fresh start.  A way to start their own foundation, together, back in their real home - wherever that might be in New York.  Blaine will be okay - he just needs a little time to mourn.  And Kurt understands that.  

“C’mon,” Kurt says as they break apart.  He stands, pulling Blaine up with him, giving him a salacious grin.  “Why don’t we go back to the hotel so I can really make you feel better?” 

Hand in hand, they walk down the steps, and off into the new chapter of their life together.  

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Hi! I hope y'all are doing well. It's been a few months since I've been on Tumblr. I'm back for some new fics. I'm interested in suggestions for WIP that y'all are really enjoying and I should catch up on. I just started @gleefulpoppet Better Knot Bow Tie Company and it's so lovely but I'm looking for more to read. Thanks for all you do in keeping this library.

Unless noted, all the fics listed below are active WIPS. - HKVoyage

LYNNE I am completely and totally in love with this story. I hope I don’t catch up before it’s complete but I can’t stop reading it!

A Summer Story by Kb.Ellen  (This updates Wed/Sat every week) When an injury forces Kurt to take the summer off from his dream job as a principal dancer with the NYC Ballet, he's anxious to recover and get back to life as he knows it. But can a tiny town in southern Arkansas, a joyful aunt, a town full of good-hearted people and an intriguing local handyman make Kurt reassess what his dreams actually are? Welcome to Cassville.

On my TO-READ list:

Turn Into A Pose by @little-escapist   [WIP] Singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson wants to come out of the closet. When his publicist sets him up with movie-star Kurt Hummel, he’s ready for anything, but the last thing that Kurt wants is a relationship with anyone, let alone Blaine. He hates his publicist for setting him up, hates the idea of lying to the world, and hates letting the world invade his personal life. But maybe Blaine Anderson is exactly what Kurt Hummel needs.

~~~~~ The Prince and the Pea by dreamcatcher (darcangell23)  [Complete] When a young man shows up at the palace doors drenched from the rain inside, Prince Blaine begins to suspect he may be the missing prince of another kingdom. But when his father refuses to believe the young man to be anything but a peasant, Blaine formulates a plan to prove he is royalty.

~~~~~

Stargazing Memories by @jayhawk-writes  [WIP] Kurt reminisces on some of his experiences here in Cassville while waiting for Blaine to show up. This is one of those memories.

*A second thank you to kb.ellen on FF.net for giving me permission to write a fanfic of her fanfic, A Summer Story. Go check it out…it’s fantastic!!

~~~~~

Crimson Yarn by @teddyshoney   [Complete] Back from New York, Kurt has just purchased a lake house in need of fixing up to keep him busy while he tries to heal from his past relationship. Back from LA, Blaine reluctantly takes a job from his father while he mourns the loss of his dream. Will red yarn, coffee, and some heavy conversation be enough for both boys to realize that there many be an answer to their healing right in front of them?

HKVOYAGE I’m on a summer hiatus of reading WIPs while I read the Klaine Fanfic Award finalists that are new to me. However, these are the WIPs that I will definitely read when I’m ready. Too many fics and not enough time!

Turn Into A Pose by @little-escapist Singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson wants to come out of the closet. When his publicist sets him up with movie-star Kurt Hummel, he’s ready for anything, but the last thing that Kurt wants is a relationship with anyone, let alone Blaine. He hates his publicist for setting him up, hates the idea of lying to the world, and hates letting the world invade his personal life. But maybe Blaine Anderson is exactly what Kurt Hummel needs.

~~~~~

Better Knot Bow Tie Company by @gleefulpoppet Blaine Anderson has been a Better Knot Bow Tie Company monthly subscriber for years. He's taken a hiatus from Broadway to facilitate the Journey Performing Arts School's summer program in New York. What happens when a zany bow tie sets off a chain reaction of events that may change their futures forever?

~~~~~

Show Me Love, Show Me Life by CoffeeAddict80 | @caramelcoffeeaddict When Blaine Anderson became a vampire over 800 years ago, he gave up on the idea of having close relationships – platonic or romantic – with anyone. As long as he could still have sex, feelings were unnecessary. But there was something different about the new transfer student, Kurt Hummel, that kept drawing him in. Kurt was unlike anyone Blaine had ever met. And Blaine was starting to think that he wasn’t the only one at Dalton with a supernatural secret.

To most people, Kurt Hummel seems like your average high schooler; but there's nothing average about him. Kurt is a warlock – a warlock that can’t use magic. When he was born, his magic went dormant, and no one knows why. But sometimes, he's capable of things that no one – not even Kurt himself – can explain.

~~~~~

Undiagnosed by @esperantoauthor “As he glanced at the calendar, Burt Hummel contemplated—not for the first time—how little he had in common with his only child.”

Burt Hummel doesn’t know how to connect with his son but when he discovers that Kurt has a serious problem, Burt will do anything to help him. Told from multiple perspectives, this is a story about what happens when a problem goes undiagnosed, and what happens when it finally is.

[chocoholicannanymous]

If the Spit Hits the Fan (Glee) Part XV

Follows pt I, pt II, pt III, pt IV, pt V, part VI, pt VII, part VIII, part IX, part X, part XI, part XII, part XIII and part XIV.

Being Sebastian's boyfriend really isn't that much different from being his friend. They do a lot of the same things, and talk about the same stuff, only now there's hand-holding and kissing and cuddling with it. Apart from the touching though? Nothing really changes much.

Which kind of makes it sound like how it was with Blaine.

It's not though.

Sebastian will hold his hand in the hallway without worrying about being seen. And yes, Dalton is different from McKinley – so, so much different, and safer – but Blaine even hesitated to hold Kurt's hand in the choir room, surrounded by friends.

Sebastian kisses him in a way that never leaves Kurt doubting there's attraction, and has to stop his hands from wandering too far on a regular basis – yet never making Kurt worry he won't stop.

Sebastian makes Kurt have to stop himself, both from allowing it and from doing his own wandering. They're still too new to go there, no matter how much Kurt's hormones sit up and beg every time Sebastian touches him. (They'll get there, Kurt's sure, just... Step by step, and not yet.)

Sebastian reaches out for Kurt without looking – sometimes seemingly without thinking – to pull him close, and always makes a space for him.

And when Sebastian sings, it's with Kurt, or for him, not at him.

It's a far cry from scheduled make-outs and avoiding even PG13 levels of PDA and being made to feel like his boyfriend is more interested in his own hand than in Kurt.

It's amazing.

There's a rainbow rose hanging on Kurt's door on Valentine's day. He and Sebastian have been dating for two days – a day and a half, if he was to be picky – and Kurt knows from last year's insanity that there's not a flower shop within two hours of Vesterville that carries rainbow roses. They have to be ordered special, and with a lot more warning than two days.

Kurt's not the least bit ashamed about how he squeals, or how he turns on his heel and kisses his boyfriend (!) for long enough to be a little dizzy afterwards.

This isn't to say that Sebastian is a perfect boyfriend. He's not. Then again, neither is Kurt. He's working from romantic movies and the examples from the New directions, and of course from his time with Blaine. Neither is a good road map. Romantic movies have so many flaws Kurt don't really want to examine, and a lot of his favorites are set too far back in time to be useful as guidelines. The loves lives of his old glee mates are...well. They're flawed too, when seen without rose-colored glasses and envy.

As for his relationship with Blaine... Even if he's not counting how it ended that relationship was so very less than perfect, and honestly it was both their faults. Kurt's not without blame, he knows that and can admit it without somehow pretending what Blaine did wrong never happened.

So he's trying to learn from his mistakes, and other people's mistakes, and he does his best to communicate with Sebastian – who does the same in return.

Also, no one can say that they don't argue. They definitely do. They have from the beginning, and they're both opinionated passionate people, so why should they stop now? Their relationship has changed – they themselves haven't.

It's just that they manage to argue in a way that works. That doesn't makes Kurt pull out his claws to eviscerate Sebastian, that doesn't scare Kurt, or make him give in to “preserve the peace”. That, right there, was one of the things that had sent his relationship with Blaine down the wrong turn. When he'd first told his dad that he'd begun dating Blaine Burt Hummel had told him never to go to bed angry with his partner. He'd meant to sort out arguments and disagreements, but Kurt had interpreted it as needing to back down and push down his anger or hurt. With Sebastian he doesn't.

They argue, because that's who – and how – they are, but they do it in as mature and healthy way as they are able to, being teenagers. And they apologize if they step over the line. Not Kurt apologizes, regardless, with Sebastian pouting until he does, but both of them.

If Kurt had to, he'd call it damned near perfect. Instead he'll just say it's good, and he's happy.

That's never something to look down on.

The week of Regionals is weird. Kurt's never felt as prepared or as calm with a competition approaching, which is rather telling. The rest of the Warblers are a different story though. Kurt has made it clear that his primary goal is to beat the Troubletones, and his friends are feeling the pressure. They even ask if Kurt and Sebastian won't reconsider singing 'Human Nature'.

“Look, guys, I'm honored, really, that you would trust me, us like that. But I want to win more than I want that solo. And even if we ignore the fact that Ohio doesn't seem ready for a gay duet, I really do think the setlist we have is stronger as is. The Troubletones have a great presence, and both Mercedes and Santana are awesomely talented. However, everything about the Troubletones are built around them. The rest of the girls are background and dancing. If we go on with a number that's the same they are going to win, for no other reason than that most people find girls prettier and nicer to look at.

“But if we go on as an actual choir, for a show choir competition? We'll win. I'm sure of it. We've worked so hard with our songs, and I wouldn't change a thing about our setlist.”

And it's true. They have an amazing setlist, and everything flows in a way that makes Kurt feel practically professional, and he's not giving that – and its chance to win – up to stare longingly at Sebastian while singing a song that exposes them to the core.

No. Kurt's going to have quite a lot more time in the spotlight than he'd expected when turning down a proper solo. He's going to sing with his friends, and his boyfriend, and he's going to show McKinley what it means to be a team onstage.

The Troubletones are just as amazing onstage as Kurt thought. They've done a good job picking their songs, and Mercedes still has the best voice he's ever heard live. Santana's not quite as talented, but give her the right song – which these are – and she'll blow your mind. Their choreography showcases the girls poached from the Cheerios without making Mercedes look too far behind, and their clothes look good.

Kurt would vote for them any day, even with Rachel being given a place in the background, except this one. This is going to be his day. He meets Sebastians eyes as they line up and nods.

Showtime.

'I want You Back' does exactly what it's meant to, namely getting the audience in a party mood. As the last notes flows into the first from 'Man in the Mirror' the mood shifts and Kurt feels his own shift with it. His solo feels a little raw, because in no way can he sing those lines without being reminded of all the crap he's gone through over the past 6 months.

“...a willow deeply scared, somebody's broken heart and a washed out dream...”

Well. His heart might have been broken, and his dreams about Blaine did wash out. But he's got new dreams, and his hearts healed, and no matter the scars he's whole where it matters. And even if he wasn't? He's looking in the mirror, and he's changing.

They bring the party back with their last song, giving their all transforming the sounds of 'Beat It' to sounds that can be reproduced by the human throat. The dancing is the most demanding Kurt's ever done onstage, and he knows he will definitely be beat after. But they look and sound awesome, and that's all that matters.

Or maybe not, he ruefully thinks as he sees Finn on his feet, jumping up and down and whooping as the Warblers are proclaimed the winners and Rachel looks like she's been pelted with eggs again.

“You stole our songs!”

Of course. All Kurt wants to do is get on the bus, go back to Dalton and celebrate. Okay, shower, then celebrate. So naturally Rachel is waiting to ambush him. Well, that's not going to go the way she's probably thinking.

“Really? Really Rachel, you're going there? You know very well that we didn't steal anything. Oh, I know that there was a suggestion that the New Directions do Michael for Sectionals, but I also know that you were the one who refused to accept it.

“You really blew it there. Michael is a great choice for Sectionals or Regionals, what with the Ohio mindset, and I'm pretty sure you would have won with the setlist the guys suggested. I'm not surprised you put a stop to it though.”

Rachel draws back, looking first shocked, then insulted, then finally like an angry goose, complete with hissing sound. He's not letting it touch him though, lets it run over him, one might say, like water over a goose.

“There are no songs in Michael Jacksons discography that's a given for you, no certainty that you'll be featured. And in the end, that's what mattered, wasn't it? Not that the New Directions won, but that you won. You wanted to beat the Troubletones, didn't you? Wanted to show that you were better than Mercedes, wanted to prove that her beating you when auditioning for Maria was just a fluke. Wanted to prove what everyone knows, that's she's every bit as good as you, and sometimes better, is wrong.

“Well, congratulations. You got what you wanted in terms of the setlist and the spotlight, but you fucked up everything else. And not just for you, but for everyone.”

An expression of pain flies across Rachel's face, and he pushes the knife in a little bit further.

“We weren't as blind though. The minute Finn told me about the Michael setlist I knew it was a winner. As did the other Warblers. I asked Finn first, and Sam and Puck. They didn't think we needed their permission, as you didn't use the songs, but they gave it any way.”

Kurt looks at Rachel, looks at the way she's still fuming, still refusing to see any other side than her own. It won't matter what he says – she'll keep ignoring any and all arguments against her. Once he might have tried harder to make her understand, but as things are he just wants to leave. His boyfriend's waiting and that makes Kurt out of time to spend on his former friend.

“Your loss, our gain.”

He starts to leave, but thinks better of it. He's got one more jab in him.

“Oh, and Rachel? Don't worry. Going to Nationals is a privilege, and we won't waste it. We've already gotten started on a setlist.”

It's petty, but. So's she.

That evening the Warblers celebrate as thoroughly as a bunch of uniformed boys in a well-staffed boarding school can. This means that it's late when Kurt drags Sebastian to his room (unlike him Sebastian's in a single), but neither of them is under the influence of anything but happiness.

That's important to Kurt as they tumble into Sebastian's bed while kissing, because he doesn't want there to be any doubt in Sebastian's mind that when Kurt pulls off his shirt and then goes for his fly it's because he wants to.

Having Sebastian stop him is frustrating, to say the very least.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

It's only the fact that it's Sebastian, and that he's shown himself trustworthy in so many ways over the past months that stops Kurt from storming out.

“I thought we... You know?”

It's so hard to say, to open himself up like this, years of being told he's a predator, or ugly, or plain wrong getting just as much in his way as the fact that he's never done this, and the only time he's been even close wasn't even about him.

Apparently he's going to have to use his words regardless, because Sebastian's not taking the opening.

“I thought we could have sex.” There. Words. Consent. Door wide open.

And yet Sebastian's still not taking the opening.

“What's the hurry?”

Kurt pulls back a little, hurt blooming.

“No, no, don't. Talk to me, okay? I'm a bit surprised I guess. We haven't even been dating for two months yet, and I know this is new for you.”

“So? It's not like I'm waiting for marriage.”

Kurt knows he sounds a bit snippy, and he has sort of been waiting – not for marriage, but for something, some feeling of more. He's got that feeling with Sebastian, so what's the point of waiting any longer? Everyone else his age (or so it feels) is having sex so why can't he?

Some of it must bleed through because Sebastian gets that “aha” look, and nods a bit.

“Look, regardless of what I might have said or implied when chasing Blaine, I'm actually not the whore of Babylon. I have, however, rounded a few bases and enjoyed them. I think you'd enjoy them too, and I would love to find out first hand. But that doesn't have to mean we go straight to fucking.” Kurt blushes, because he might be ready to do it, but those words...

“So. I'm not going to push, and I'm not going to rush. I am more than interested though, I'm just happy to take it a bit slow. To build up to every step. As far as I'm concerned you've earned that.”

Sebastian's looking so earnest it kills Kurt annoyance, and then lightning-quick it's replaced by a vicked look than makes him shiver all over.

“I wouldn't mind showing you the first of many, many bases now though. How about it, babe?”

Kurt doesn't mind either, neither then nor the next day.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

adventure time wizard city liveblog

 well here we go

my last adventure time liveblog, i havent actually done one of these in MANY years... probably not since 2014

this takes place at the same time as obsidian?

DID-- DID CHOOSE GOOSE JUST DIE

DID BUFO JUST KILL CHOOSE GOOSE

yeah i know that’s bufo, they only made it enormously obvious, tsk tsk

@spaceacepearl​ joked about us seeing choose goose get sent to hell but i diDNT EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN

This music is i assume by one of the many musical artists Adam Muto listed on twitter, it rocks. It’s not as hardcore as Obsidian’s intro, but it’s suitably chill for the scene. 

“get offa my bus kid”

Those wizards in the left and far right groups appear to be new! 

OH MY GOD--

HELP?????? NEW PROFILE PIC TIME

HAHAHAHAH

THE MUSICAL CON DID ME GOOD, I DID REALLY LOUD AUDIBLE LAUGHTER

i bet hanna and co had fun making these signs

my favourite is the cat with “FAMILIARS HAVE RIGHTS”

cadorka..... wow

We’re not even four minutes into the ep and peppermint butler has already killed someone in front of a large group of witnesses

“this smells of DARK MAGIC” “yall kids know thats illegal right” peps watches the other kids nod before later joining in, LOL

i cant believe pep started the great gum wars and got killed by golb

SOMEONE has been playing Overwatch... 

i-- i still cant believe choose goose is fucking dead

how long was he stuck in hell for, or was that recent to together again after new death showed up 

i have to admit im not a big fan of spader, too perfect, and not in that funny way either. i hope they give him some characteristics that make him stand out. 

im getting flashbacks to OK KO and Owl House here...

Cadebra using music is a reference to Abracadaniel’s love of interpretetive dance in Play Date. 

“they only laugh because youre different” “i know” “SO STOP BEING DIFFERENT” oh my god it’s like talking to my own parents cadebra is actually... a LOT like me, less in her hyperactivity but more in her nonchalant enthusiasm and almost acceptance of the inevitable bullying because it means more time in people’s consciousness

ahhh - it’s quietly revealed here that she is responsible and a skilled magician, she is just bored of magic! i like that she parents abracadaniel instead of being downtrodden by his ramblings. 

PEP NO--- oh i see the problem, he hasn’t got his Bug Milk... sorry Martin Olsen fans, no Hunson today. At least we get one more Phil Face for the road! 

candy people in their natural habitat

Ahhh that’s Doctor Calidoneus! The voice actor was at the recent Distant Lands panel alongside Pep and Blaine’s actors. 

“pretty sure hes just trashcandy” - i like you, sassy antler lady

the mystery of how he gets clothes

and once again spader is proving to be the most irritating distant lands character of the lot, there is no subversion here. where is the subversion?  

NANI

what is going on here? are pep and peppermint the same person or not? im sure they must be, but there is something going on here with peppermint butler’s soul being trapped in the body of his child self who hasn’t got the same memories. 

OH, HYNDEN WALCH DID A NEW LINE yes this is what im here for, special over 

peppermint butler cursed himself... of course he did - Shado was correct!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WHAT THE FUCK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

ROCK STUDENT, BLESSED ROCK STUDENT, WAS THAT POOR GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE A JAWBREAKER

love the reference to astral plane, of course pep cant astrally project because cursed pep is still inside of him 

wow, blaine, wow

they have a crush

LITTLE DUDE! COLE SANCHEZ!

i love the dynamic between cadebra and abracadaniel, imo so far it’s the heart of the special. im not really gripped by peppermint butler’s school troubles. i imagine someone else probably will be but i want to run past that shit as far as possible. 

TRDGFYGHJH

WE

WE MADE  A PREDICTION THAT WAS JUST LIKE THIS

PEPPERMINT BUTLER GETTING TURNED INTO THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF PEPPER MINT BUTT LURE WAS IN THE WIZARD CITY PREDICTIONS ART DRAW THAT HASNT BEEN POSTED YET

ILL SHOW YOU WHEN NICK POSTS THE VIDEO and then ill tell you who made the prediction because i... think it was nick himself, insanity 

who plagiarized finn’s signature???

turns out pep really DID take over wizard city!!!!

i love this band

i understand your pain peps

you probably have a bit too much in common with your mother, and i imagine it isn’t easy being turned into a kid and not being able to do stuff that came so easy. you’re disappointing yourself! (he’s literally disappointing himself)

I’m less than halfway through the special, what the fuck. I wasn’t wrong when I said Wizard City had a lot on its plate. It’s noit that I’ve been particularly gripped up to this point, though to be fair I didn’t pause at all during the other specials barring Obsidian. 

that... that poor kid is still a rock

and then the preview happened and bufo casually revealed to the audience that, yes, he killed choose goose

i dont know whats happening with pep but it seems he needs to be exorcised of... pep. which is a shame. i hope they learn to coexist. 

i have to say the background work in this special is really good! like, really damn good. 

WH

WHAT

DID SPADER JUST DIE

IS THIS WHY PEOPLE THINK PEPBUT KILLED HIM 

oh thats right - abracadaniel is cadebra’s uncle! this must be abracadniels sister. sorry, folks, he doesn’t fuck. 

Where are they? Is this anywhere near Wizard City? It’s an unpopulated prewar wasteland. 

THESE ARE JUST HUMANS

OF COURSE SHE WANTS TO PERFORM TO MILQUETOAST HUMANS

my child

is this an art style choice or did they get the people from that one studio to make this

HANNA FINALLY GETS TO FULFIL HER DREAM OF INSERTING KANEDA INTO ADVENTURE TIME

the red jacket he wears and his head pill shape is a big kaneda reference actually, which i suppose makes sense considering he’s a rival to our protagonist, but it’s a bit on the nose

bufo killed one of his own students? but why????

“MY UNCLE’S A COP”

“no one likes a rat”

i actually really like blaine, though im confused. did their VA change halfway through the special?

HOW NATURAL, NO WASTE, IT IS AN ENDLESS CHAIN

did doctor caledonius steal the trophy,,,? 

EVIL SNAIL EVIL SNAIL

MONMSTER HUNJTER DISCOVERY NOISE, this time it’s a tetsucabra

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I HAVE QUESTIONS

god i wish this is what this special was about, i miss adventure time

these remind me of the comics with their art style :) i wonder who designed them? the one on the right with pb and pep, in particular, very comics-y. 

fdgfhgf because he’s like 500

“pep can be kind of a jerk but he wouldn’t kill anyone”

sorry, cadebra, i have news for you

is doctor calednoius the true villain? if bufo’s out of the picture, she MUST be, 

ANTS

oh no, he might gbe stuck in wizard city :( 

HELP

the writing on the wall...

SPADER LITERALLY FUCKING DIED OH YM JESUS CHRIST

PEPPERMINT BUTLER’S OWN CULT????

THIS IS JUST OK KO NOW

okay im not surprised all the teachers at wizard city are cultists in worship of peps, maybe they killed spader and bufo because they bullied peps T_T

wait no, they thought spader had the potential, but sadly not

HE FUCKING KILLED HIMSELF

sorry, i was distracted by the pretty dope fight sequence and now the special is over????

fucking jesse, hes probably at least partly responsible for the cult nonsense

This credits art is by Maya Petersen!!!! Holy shit it’s adorable!

LRETGFDRGTFGMHGFHFG

LEAF MAN

DO YOU THINK THEY PUT HIM IN RETROSPECTIVELY

DO YOU THINK MAYA PETERSEN DREW THIS AND ADAM PUT IT IN THE EP RETROSPECTIVELY

HE LIVES

MAYBE THIS IS WHY CHOOSE GOOSE WENT TO HELL

okay, it’s over :) 

first thoughts out of the way: not a big fan of this special. it’s like watching a completely different show. it’s not got the PZSHAHH of the normal wizard city stuff and there weren’t a lot of funny jokes or even hearty moments in the thing. 

it suffers from a lack of invested character interactions, much like BMO did. there was not a single main cast member in the whole thing! and like i said before, much of peppermint butler’s character in the show is based on his very sweet relationship to his mother, princess bubblegum, so when they showed a single (hilarious) photo of them together it made me sad we didn’t get any scenes with them together. it would have STOLEN this episode. and they teased the hunson golf photo, and death!!! and jake appeared in a photo T_T last jake appearance. 

it also suffers because Peppermint Butler is clearly not himself, imo he was way more entertaining in the Together Again special, where we seem him back to his “normal” self. 

i dont think peps being a dark wizard was something to “kill off” exactly. i wonder what was going on there? was that actually peps, or was that a spirit he cursed himself with based on himself? we at least know in the future he does become a dark wizard again, and even princess :) this special didn’t answer those questions but lol. 

THE GOOD STUFF, because yes, there was a lot of good stuff! 

God, I’m with Aracle and Maya on this - I LOVE Cadebra and her relationship to Pep. I wish she was even in more of this - I would love to watch the adventures of Cadebra and Pepbut in their first year of school, like in the end credits.

That, imo, is where the heart of the special lay - Peppermint Butler’s attempts to impress himself, versus Cadebra’s self acceptance and desire to follow her dreams of being a goofy goober, no matter what other people thought of her. 

It turned out that Cadebra is a responsible student and family member. I really liked that. Her scenes with Abracadaniel were, somehow, my favourite in the entire special! 

I like that theres a lot of cool magic towards the end of this special, and a lot of HORRIFYING DEATH. It wouldn’t be adventure time if you didn’t randomly kill off child characters. Poor Spader, I hated you but damn, what a grim fate. 

I like that Bufo and Caledonius had this crush/hatred thing going on, but they were part of the same cult in the end. 

I didn’t like the giant peps scene at the end, the monster was extremely milquetoast compared to the madness we usually get in AT. Obsidian, for example, had the awesome Larvo design. Nemesis had some INSANE dark magic!!!!  I wish they drew more from that episode. 

Considering how much Steve Little appears in this special, I do feel bad for Mace (little Peps). He said he would have really benefitted from coaching, but recieved none. He had to re-record his lines 3 times! Judging from his description of events, Wizard City was a hard time for him. 

The wizard school did remind me, heavily, of both The Owl House and OK KO. Personally I was hoping AT would offer me something more insane, but I do love both of those shows, and I know Wizard City was on a really tight schedule. 

I think they should have spent less time on the school bullying plot, and skipped straight to MURDER. 

We did have a cold opening, not on par with Together Again’s at all, but damn!

I am wondering where I would put this in the watch list? I do think it should sit after Obsidian as the third special. The intro scene makes it clear this takes place at the same time as Obsidian!!!

Well, that was it, the last ep of AT for the next few years at least T_T

i think together again was the better finale, definitely. but wizard city feels pretty detached from AT for me, despite the familiar characters it tonally isn’t like the show other than the awesome brutal death scenes. I thought the last 11 minutes was easily the best in the special! Which, honestly, is how it should be, though I do wish it gripped me more. Maybe I’m just not the target audience for Wizard City? It feels like something I would find very compelling if I was a bit younger! 

[satellitesunset]

There are three characters on Glee who are REALLY constructed around their relationship to masculinity… Other characters get arcs around it, but there are three where it is a very central arc.

One is Spencer, whose story there is VERY explicitly a queer story. He outright talks about needing to be more masculine than anyone else so that people don’t write him off as “the gay one”… I really wish the show had given him more than two conversations about this. And I also get why the show drew his arc against Kurt specifically, but there are other characters who would have made more sense to connect with him… If Sam were canonically queer, maybe him, but I also think there’d have been something interesting in explicitly drawing Spencer against KAROFSKY in S6. If the show had been better about following through its themes.

One is Artie, whose story is about building an identity both incorporating and aside from his disability… I have issues with how the show portrays Artie’s relationship with his body and his masculinity, but I also think that the surface reading there — the disability one — makes enough sense on its own that I don’t think it NEEDS to be queered specifically… HOWEVER, there are certainly facets of my own queerness that I see in Artie, and I am on-board with queer readings of Artie’s arc here…

And then there’s Sam, and I just really feel like a queer reading of Sam’s body image, masculinity, and popularity stuff… It just makes too much sense to me to ignore. It’s not just about the internal stuff in Sam’s character, either… But it’s about who that character is drawn up against in those arcs… In Season 2, Sam’s drawn against Finn, and to a lesser extent Karofsky… In Season 3, it’s against Blaine and Shane…. In Season 4 and 5, he doesn’t really have a foil, but his body image and masculinity stuff is specifically drawn against Artie… but also tied into Blaine… Sam finds himself drawn into self-discovery arcs around every queer major character in the show, pretty much. He dates Santana and Brittany (… and Quinn)… he’s best friends with Blaine… there’s both Duets and Rumours with Kurt… He gets significant screentime with Spencer… He’s Kurt’s biggest defender against Karofsky…

the reply is a bit late, but there are so many great ideas that i wanted to articulate my response properly.

Spencer

Spencer, out of all the s6 newbies, is the biggest lost potential, because as you mentioned, from how Kurt and him, dare I say are opposite halves of the same coin, to how both he and Sam had to prove their own masculinity, but most importantly how his story is parallel to that of David's.

You have Spencer who, despite his surface acceptance of his sexuality, still has a lot of internalized homophobia, ( I rewatched some of his sense, and the line "we have nothing in common", stood out to me, because it reflects how he never sees himself fitting in with the community) and how interacting with David, a gay jock who has also gone through internalized homophobia, could clear up his insecurities.

Artie

Artie, unintentionally, is a very queer-coded character, he makes a lot of' jokes' about finding men/guys attractive (the writer's biophobia is showing), I don't think I'm qualified to expand on how he, as a disabled guy has to prove his own masculinity but another line that pops in my mind is in s3 ep5 the first time (my beloathed) when he talks about hooking up with Brittany, made he feel like a 'real man', which just further proves my point (toxic masculinity yay)

Sam

there's so much to unpack with Sam, what you said is so on point,

A lot of Sam's arcs are inherently queer, no denying that from how he's established to how he evolves, from s2 this well-meaning insecure jock who's going through the conflict of popularity serving as a parallel between him and Finn in S2, and I know from experience how going to a same-sex school influences how you view your identity, like it fucks you up, then into s3, from being a stripper AGE 16!! and feeling like being popular is the only way to get the girl, and how did having dyslexia make him feel lesser and like his worth lies only on his body, especially with, as you mentioned, being pitied against Shane and Blaine, and how he continuously interact with other queer characters.

if were also discussing the topic, we can expand on Puck (a deep dive into the hyper-sexual nature of his character and the deeper reasoning of why he hooked up with older women) Jake (the intersectionality of race and masculinity), and Kurt and Blaine both as gay men and how they affect each other but also individually, (for Kurt, on how he viewed masculinity and how it relates to his sexuality which is a topic I kinda covered the other day, and specifically both his arc in s3 and s5).

[drakewalkerfantasy]

My little angels (Tatum x Claire)

Summary: Two births. Two different experiences. Two sisters. And only 3 years and 3 month apart.

Prompt: 43. A kiss pressed to the top of the head.

Words: 2442

Rating: PG

Warning: labour / emergency c-section / childbirth / pain

A/N: Thank you, dear anon for your request. I hope you will like it, I’m not sure if I’m particularly happy with all parts, and it got too raw too quickly. I literally wrote what I felt, so sorry for any kind of mistakes. Read under the cut

The crucifying pain shot through Claire in a flush, knocking the air out of her lungs and leaving her breathless.

Her breath caught in her throat and the dry lump of emotions formed there with the tears that started to burn at the corners of her eyes, while the feeling of another inevitable bout of pain washed over her. Getting ready to tear through her with the sob and the plea, that she couldn’t push back anymore.

But before she could say anything or plead for mercy... the seconds before she could feel another fit of pain rip through her, she felt two strong hands gently wrapping around her bringing her closer to a firm muscled chest, soothing her… calming her, and just for a second making her forget about the pain... just for a second.

“You are doing so great,” whispered a familiar voice, breaking through the fog of agony she was into. “I’m in such an awe of you,” said the man pressing a soft affectionate kiss to the top of her head.

Her forehead dropped onto his chest while she was breathing heavily, feeling his fingers drawing soft soothing circles into her scalp, making the pain step back for a little bit longer. Her eyes closed from exhaustion, while she tried to breath.

“I cannot...,” she half-sobbed, half-whispered into his chest. Her voice hoarse and dry from all the pain and emotions. The lump still blocked her throat making it almost painful to speak, while his hands gently tightened around her feeling how her body stiffened with another rush of pain. “It hurts... so much,” Claire breathed. Her fingers curl around the crisp material of his shirt, and the pain is so strong that she almost forgets how to breathe. Opening and closing her mouth in a futile attempt. Her eyes squeezed shut, hoping that if they will remain like that, then the pain will not come.

“Hey, look at me, breathe.... just breathe. One in... and one out,” Tatum murmured, cupping her face in his hand. His voice is calming and soothing, guiding her through the process, breathing in unison with her. So gently... so carefully... Her rock... her strength…

One in... and one out. One in... and one out.

“You are almost there,” Claire heard another voice breaking through the fog of her mind and she prepared herself for another wave of pain. Squeezing her eyes even firmer, but breathing at last. 

One in... and one out.

“Soon we will finally meet our little girl,” Claire breathed, finally opening her eyes and raising them to meet Tatum’s, smiling weakly at him. Her hands still curled around the material of his shirt, while she breathed in and out, feeling the calming movements of his chest with every breath he took.

She could feel how another rush of contractions surged onto her. Her forehead wrinkled from pain and her eyes squeezed shut, while she grunted into Tatum’s shirt. Their breathes synced, calming her as nothing else could before another command to push followed after another excruciating wave of pain struck her.

Push... push... push... followed after every contraction and she did just so... following without questions, bravely meeting the pain, but still no result, and she almost wants to give up. Just to close her eyes... and forget all the pain... rewind the days and try next time... but she doesn't.

Instead Claire squeezes her eyes, and pushes with the last bit of strength left in her before collapsing back into Tatum’s arms. Feeling, how they softly curl around her offering her all the strength and support he can... all the strength and support she needs.

“Sorry... I can’t... I just.... make it stop... please just make it stop,” she sobbed into his shirt, while he brushed the strands of hair out of her eyes. His hand cupping her cheek gently, making her look at him, while they still had time before another command and another contraction would inevitably follow.

“Honey, you can do that. I know you can,” he whispered softly, locking his eyes with hers, before pressing their foreheads together. They breathes synced, while another command followed only a second later and she pushed. Her hands dug into his. Her nails breaking the skin of his forearms, while she cried out and pushed with the last effort and strength she could find in her.

Her body fell into Tatum’s embrace in exhaustion and her eyes snapped open, focusing on the midwife and the small figure covered in a red bloody substance in her hands. Both waiting with the bated breath, while the seconds were ticking.

One... two...thr... faint soft sigh... cry.

The baby was crying. Their baby was crying.

And they could feel how they finally could breathe again. Feeling how their own tears started to flow, while Tatum pressed a soft kiss to the top of Claire’s head, to her forehead, her nose and then finally to her lips.

Murmuring the words of gratitude and love over and over, while covering her in small, affectionate kisses. Their tears mixing together before the baby, cleaned and wrapped into the blanket, was finally brought to them and put into Tatum’s hands.

“You did it,” he said in a voice full of awe and love. His cheeks still stricken by tears and his eyes moist, while he pressed a soft kiss to the baby’s forehead.

“We did it,” murmured Claire looking at Tatum with a weak loving smile, before dropping her eyes to their baby girl, letting her small little hand wrap around her finger. “Hey, Lilibeth. Welcome to the world.”

Lilibeth, the filipino name that mixes Lily and Beth, his mum’s favourite flowers and the name of Claire’s grandmother from her father’s side.

————————————————

3 years and 3 months later, same hospital and she once again in pain. Claire’s hand firmly gripping Tatum’s, doubling with a scream, while waiting for someone to come after them. She wasn’t so far into the labour and another three weeks till her due date, but the pain is so much worse than with their first and she knows... or at least she suspects that it’s only the beginning.

Her forehead covered in beads of sweat, while she gritted her teeth. Her waters broke an hour ago, but pain seems to jump from zero to ten in one go... with the gush of water to the kitchen floor where she was laughing till her sides hurt only a second before with Denise and her father in law over one of Tatum’s childhood memories. While he was scowling just meters away, mumbling something under his breath before he heard her gasp and he was right next to her in a flash. Cradling her in his strong, comforting arms before she screamed, feeling how her abdomen tensed and the pain shoot through her, making another young man rush to them with the panicked look on his face.

Should I have coloured my hair back to my natural colour or should I let them wash out... the sudden thought strikes her. The thought that seems to be coming from nowhere through the flush of another spasm and pain. Her brow furrowed in concentration trying to determine where it even came from. Doing everything she could to get distracted from pain. And even though she knows that Tatum loves her in any form and appearance, the doubt still creeping, overlapping with another contraction in her abdomen, that makes it rock solid, and the grip on his hand bone-crashingly firm.

“Everything will be okay. Doctor will be here in a moment,” tries to calm her Tatum, easing her hand gently while it didn't break any bones in his.

“You are the one to talk,” Claire snapped, bracing herself for another wave of pain, her stomach getting firmer and she could feel the pain rushing onto her like a wrecked train. The tears welling on her eyes, while she tried to breathe. “God... how did I even let you do that to me again...,” she sobbed, gripping his hand firmer, while another gripped the lapels of his jacket. “Never again... Oooof.... fuck you and yours.... Oh God...,” she panted, feeling his hand squeezing hers, while another wraps around her waist, letting her bury her face on his chest, whimpering softly.

“I think that was the reason why we got into that position in the first place,” chuckled Tatum into Claire’s hair, rubbing her back softly and kissing the top of head.

Realising the mistake of his words only an instance later, when she hit him hard in his chest. Baffling him only a second later, when he heard a muffled bark of hoarse laugh against his chest. But before he could say anything his eyes stopped on the midwife who was finally approaching them with Blaine hot on her heels. And he could feel how some of the tension left his body, thankful to Blaine for getting someone to finally look at them using his status. The thing Tatum knew for a fact Blaine hated to do, but still done for them.

“Thank you,” said Tatum, turning to Blaine as soon as Claire was put into the wheelchair and rolled to the examination room. “Hey, she will be okay,” tried to convince him Tatum, or was it he himself who needed that, or both when he met a panicked look on Blaine’s face. But before he could say anything else or followed after his wife and midwife they heard an alarm coming from the room where Claire disappeared. Tatum felt instantly numb feeling how the fear that something happened washed over him and they both ran into the room.

The scene they were both met with, made Blaine instantly look away while Tatum froze, the words failing him and he could distantly hear the question that he was asked.

“Yes... yes, I’m her husband,” numbly said Tatum, watching how Claire was moved to the gourmet.

“You shouldn’t worry, we will make sure...,” said the woman placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t hear her, as the only sounds in his ears were the pounding of his own heart and the roaring of his blood.

He didn’t feel how Blaine led him to the waiting area, didn’t hear him trying to comfort him and he didn’t know how much time had passed. The only thing he could feel and hear was a paralysing fear, the one he never felt before, the one that grabbed him with a stranglehold and did not let go... the one that made his breath shallow and his vision blurred... the one he didn’t know how to deal with.

It was minutes... or hours... or seconds. He didn’t know... he just didn’t... the fear unlike any other gripped at his throat, when he felt a hand placed carefully at his shoulder bringing him back to present... tearing him away from the thoughts he was having...

He couldn’t lose her... Their little girl cannot lose her... 

The fear punched holes in his heart, and his breathing hollows, almost like a panic attack he didn’t have in years... since the early childhood after his mother’s death, after he needed to become strong for Claire... and now he was losing her... them...

Distantly he could feel someone’s hand on his, but he couldn’t move, trying to breath, until the hand squeezed his firmer, and he could hear someone’s voice trying to break through to him... through the beating of his heart in his ears... through the fear... until he felt something small got placed in his hands, helping him held something... someone, realisation dawned at him a second later. His eyes dropped to the baby, the small bundle in his hands before raising them to meet Blaine’s gaze who was squatting in front of him, preventing his arms from shaking, helping him to hold the baby... smiling.

“She is okay. Both of them,” replied Blaine to an unasked question, watching how relief washed over Tatum.

“Can I...,” the question stuck in Tatum’s throat while he raised his eyes watching over Blaine’s shoulder at the elderly woman behind him.

“Mrs. Mendoza is still recovering from anaesthesia, but you can see her,” sounded a reply. “She suffered some minor blood loss, but other than that both her and baby are feeling good and will be able to go home within a day or two,” the woman said, while Tatum carefully stood up holding their newborn girl and following the nurse toward the ward.

First what she felt was the dryness of her throat, like she didn’t have anything to drink for days... weeks even or if she would spend some time in a desert.

The second, was the heaviness of her eyelids. And the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to open them even if she would try. So heavy that she kept them closed, trying to adjust her other senses first.

And the last, she felt a fear that quickly turned into relief when Claire heard the voice of her husband... her Tatum, cooing with someone... their daughter. Thanks God... she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, relief rolling over her in waves together with a raspy cough ripping through her throat before she cleared it.

“Hey,” she spoke, her voice raspy and hoarse and cutting her throat as nothing else did. Her eyes still closed before she tried to flutter them open. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, she is. She is precious,” she hears next to her and she tries to sit or at least she thinks she tries to do that before she feels a warm hand over hers. “You did it,” Tatum’s voice so close to her now, and she can feel his soft lips pressing to her forehead in a lingering kiss, while her eyes finally flutter open to meet his, and to look at their girl.

“We...,” she tries to object, but the soft press of his lips to hers cut her off.

“You did it,” murmurs Tatum against her lips. His arms holding hers securing them around their daughter, helping her to hold their girl.

“She is perfect,” Claire murmurs still hoarsely,

“Yes, she is... and as strong and brave just like her mother,” he whispers, leaning toward the little girl cradled in their arms, pressing a softest kiss to her forehead. His murmur like a rustle of leaves on the wind. “Hey, Ana. Welcome to the word.”

Ana... Anita, the name of the Spanish origin, the middle name of her mother’s, as strong and as brave like the woman who gave her life and who he loves.

Tagging: @kowshikha @sophxwithers​ @itsjustwinter @ramseysrookiex​​​ @lahelasaveiro​ @mercury84choices​ @choices-bound​ @jamespotterthefirst​ @starrystarrytrouble​

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

Guess I Misunderstood

Part 2 of Not the One series. 

Summary: Kurt's trying a find a way to end things with Adam and Blaine Anderson is one of the reasons why. 

Notes:  Open for more prompts in this 'verse but I only intended it to be 2 parts of a two-sided story. I hope you enjoy.

Read Part 1 here

AO3

The first time Kurt saw Blaine Anderson, he was spying on the bulletin boards. He, like every other Apple, was worried about how many freshmen they could pull this semester. With a majority of the current Adam’s Apples being seniors, they needed to fill those spots with freshmen. Better to round them up this year so they’ll already have a year of acapella under their belts.

He's just standing there reading all the flyers. Kurt’s trying to look busy with his phone to not draw attention. But he can’t help but access this man. 

Firstly, Kurt doesn't recognize him so he assumes this is a freshman, exactly the demographic their flyers are trying to bring in. The second thing that makes this man stand out among the others Kurt’s observed thus far is how nicely dressed he is. It is the first day of school so one would think a little effort would be put in but some boys their age won’t even put on a stain-free shirt to come to school. Luckily, most NYADA students care about their appearances, this freshman is no exception. 

He’s wearing tightly fitted, dark green, capri pants and a crisp, white, collared polo. 

Then his hand is reaching up to the green flyer Kurt designed. 

He takes it. 

YES!

Kurt tries to collect himself when he walks over to the boards. Don’t scare him away is his new mantra.

“The Apples?” He asks. 

The freshman was shy at first probably because he didn’t expect to be approached. Before he answers Kurt, he does manage to meet his eyes. 

Well, Kurt thought, if he sings as well as he looks the Apples could make Nationals. 

In the past, Kurt would’ve berated himself for checking out guys while being in a relationship but he’s becoming less sure about Adam lately. His boyfriend is becoming a bit pushy about things like this. But Kurt isn’t about to stop doing it. If Adam really trusted him, he could see all of this was harmless. 

The guy was gorgeous, no one should really blame Kurt for staring. His bowtie added a dash of adorableness, which would only draw Kurt in closer if he was single. Which he is decidedly not. 

“I love to sing.” 

Kurt could certainly relate. That’s how he got involved with glee clubs in the first place. Hell, that’s what got him to New York. 

“Me too,” he said, “I’ll see you at auditions, break a leg.” 

Only while he was walking away did Kurt curse himself for not catching the man’s name. 

Before he knew it, they reached the point in the school year—day two—where Rachel was would start harassing him about “getting his name out there” and listing off all the auditions she had lined up. The only way Kurt could hear another word of this was over coffee so he dragged Rachel there before his class. This meant she had exactly 35 minutes to talk at him about it until he inevitably came home for the night and had to share the loft with her. Halfway through the conversation, he notices a finely dressed young man in line.

 He’s not ashamed to admit the man’s best asset drew his attention. Though it wasn’t a difficult feat considering Power-Hungry Rachel was his other option. 

Thankfully, her time was running out, “Rach, I’ll see you at home, I have Tibideaux.” 

With one last look at the man, Kurt rushes off to class. 

When Adam’s Apples auditions are up and running, Kurt is fuming. His boyfriend thought the perfect time to discuss their future as a couple was directly before they had to sit on their asses for 3 hours listening to a bunch of freshmen sing their hearts out. 

Of course, they fought over it. Kurt was pissed about the timing, Adam thought he was being careless about their future plans because he refused to talk about it. 

“I’m refusing to do it publicly when we have obligations!” Kurt had told him. 

He had stormed into the empty auditorium at that point, casting aside Adam’s idea to move away after graduation for the moment, and sat in the third row. Unable to take a hint, Adam sat beside him. 

Kurt was barely able to pay attention to the singers until Blaine. Once again, the man was pleasantly dressed. This time in bright yellow capris and a lovely yellow and blue bowtie. Kurt wondered if he had an affinity for them. 

Adam coughed next to him, Kurt reverted his eyes. For the rest of the song, he was trying not to stare because Adam didn’t need another reason to blame Kurt for their relationship problems. When Blaine was finished, they clapped, Adam leaned in, “I’m sorry, you’re right.” In reply, Kurt kissed his cheek. 

Knowing a simple kiss could smooth things over for now. They obviously had a lot to discuss. 

As school picked up, Kurt mostly forgot about his little soft spot for Blaine until he was pulling a tipsy Adam off of the Lion’s Den dance floor Saturday night. 

They knew their potential new recruits would be at Callbacks, Kurt wanted none of that. If they were going to celebrate the first week of classes as a couple, he wasn’t about to be interrupted by a drunk NYADA student begging to know how their glee audition went. So he was here and apparently so was Blaine. 

He almost turned right around wanting to ignore the man. This is the exact situation he was trying to avoid. But Adam pulled him forward, slurring “bar’s this way.” 

Kurt tried to catch his eye from across the bar but instead watched as Blaine slung his drink back and paid his tab. By the time Adam was finished ordering, Blaine was gone. 

The fourth time Kurt thought he’d see Blaine never came. 

Kurt had posted the Adam’s Apples list of new recruits himself. Blaine Anderson was at the top. Alphabetically speaking. Yet, he never showed up to their first rehearsal. Everyone else had come. It was difficult to listen to Adam’s introductory speech when he kept waiting for Blaine to walk through the auditorium doors. 

He never did. Did Tuesdays at 7 not work for his schedule? 

They sat in a circle on stage playing ice breakers, learning each other’s names and special interests in regards to their studies at NYADA. 

When rehearsal ends, Adam tapped his shoulder, “you seem distracted, what’s up?” 

Kurt remembers what Drunk Adam told him on Saturday and lies, “nothing, I’m fine. Just something Rachel said.” 

“Well,” Adam helped him up, “don’t worry too much about her. Before you know it, you and I will be taking on the West End.” 

He smiles until Adam turns away. 

When Adam had first said they should move, Kurt thought he meant out of the heart of the city. Which was something he could understand. If Kurt’s dreams of starting a family someday were to be met, he saw the appeal of a move. It never crossed his mind that Adam meant to move across the ocean. 

When they first started talking, Kurt loved the allure of an older man. Being a freshman at the time, Kurt had been desperate to fit in in ways he never could at McKinley. So when Adam took him under his wing, showed him the ropes of NYADA and New York, it was only a matter of time before Kurt had a crush on him. Initially, Adam was too busy for a relationship, he had told Kurt as much so Kurt keep the crush to himself...and Rachel. 

When NYADA’s spring formal rolled around, Kurt was already planning on going with his roommate. Rachel had been trying him to match in a terrible shade of pink. It didn’t go well with either of their complexions. The text came in mid-argument about their outfits.

Adam: wanna go to formal?

Kurt dropped his phone. Luckily, he was sitting on the couch and it fell onto the cushion. Rachel, of course, knew something was wrong because Kurt paused in the middle of yelling at her about the tackiness of matching when they could complement each other instead. 

“What’s up?” she asked, leaning in to glance at his phone, “it’s not your dad, right?” 

“No, no, no,” Kurt assured her, tilting his screen so she could read the message. 

“OH!” she squealed, jumping up. “Tell him yes!” 

“He probably isn’t asking me, just wants to know if I’ll be there.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, “don’t stupid, Kurt.” 

Ignoring her, Kurt texted back and slumped down. 

Kurt: Rachel and I are going to go together, yes

Instantly, another text came in. 

Adam: Would Rachel be upset if I took you instead?

Rachel was biting her lip excitedly. Practically dancing as she sat on the couch next to him. 

Kurt: I think she’d be delighted. As would I.

The two of them did some jumping up and down together before Kurt settled back onto the couch, holding his phone to his chest. 

 “Guess that means I can wear pink if I want to,” Rachel said before disappearing into her bedroom. 

But that was then. It had been a long time since Kurt felt butterflies in his stomach when he thought about Adam. He never thought they’d completely disappear but these last few months he felt stagnant. When he expressed these concerns to his boyfriend, Adam’s solution was, once again, to move across the pond. 

Like that would solve their issues. 

That wasn’t what Kurt had meant by stagnant but Adam kept going on and on about how New York may be the city that never sleeps but he couldn’t wait to get back to the excitement of London. 

Kurt could never see himself moving so far away from his dad or his friends. New York had become his home these last three years. Maybe Adam always dreamed of going back to the UK but he had never told Kurt that explicitly until the start of this semester. Dating for 2 years and it never came up. 

By the time they were having their fifth fight about this, Kurt knew they were going to have to break up. It was just a matter of when. 

The actual fourth time Kurt saw Blaine Anderson was two weeks before Thanksgiving break. 

He was sitting in a corner of the library. Sheets of music spread across his lap. Titling his head so a single black curl dangled in his face. Blaine keeps blowing the curl away to no avail. It took everything in Kurt to not laugh. 

Adorable. 

Kurt wasn’t really here to study. He finished up his assignments for the weekend. There was a major test next week for one of Rachel’s classes. She was in a study group and forgot her yellow notebook so Kurt offered to bring it to her. 

Wasn’t it just his luck that Blaine Anderson was here? Right in his line of sight. The universe must be having fun with him tonight. He was about to go home to an empty apartment and write a breakup speech for Adam. 

Kurt had plans to talk with his day over Thanksgiving break—Burt insisted on planning for his flight. He just needed someone, not Rachel, to tell him it was the right choice. For so long, Adam, being his first boyfriend, made Kurt feel like he owed it to Adam to continue this. Kurt had just reached the end of his rope. 

He did end up talking to his dad about everything other than the impending breakup. In fact, Kurt couldn’t seem to get Blaine’s name out of his mouth. 

“We had this really talented singer come in for auditions, dad,” Kurt said. “Blaine Anderson, he’s a freshman.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

This was the second time Kurt had brought this up. 

“He’s going to do big things someday.” 

By the fourth time, Blaine’s name was mentioned, which was a lot of times for a man Kurt had only spoken to once, Burt had something to say about it. 

“You gonna ask him out, bud, or just keep talking to me?”

Kurt paused, blushed, and stumbled out a “no.” 

“No what? You won’t ask him or he won’t go out with you.” 

“Dad,” Kurt said, “both of those imply, I do ask him out.” 

“Well, you should.” Burt shrugged. “You clearly like him.” 

His dad did always know how to read him. This wasn’t the time to remind Burt of his boyfriend. Of whom, Burt was indifferent. Dating for years and Adam couldn’t seem to break down Burt’s overprotective walls. 

Now that Kurt was alone in their apartment thinking of those conversations. All of them. Every single time he had asked Burt about Adam or called his dad after a ridiculous fight. How many of those conversations contain happy stories? 

Kurt and Adam had loads of good times but none that he ever shared with his dad, no memories that become inside jokes, nothing like that. 

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving, Rachel was in class, Adam’s professor had let them out earlier, and Kurt had an empty apartment. 

Kurt: let’s get coffee

Adam: Be there in ten

When Kurt came back, he was a single man in New York once again. 

The fifth time, Kurt saw Blaine Anderson was on purpose. He meant to run into him in the NYADA auditorium. Kurt had asked around and found out Blaine had joined a different glee club. Amy said they rehearsed on Wednesdays and Blaine was always there a half-hour earlier to warm-up alone. 

Sure enough, Blaine was center stage pacing in a circle doing one of Rachel’s favorite scales. Kurt is creeping in from one of the back entrances. Slowly, he makes his way up to the stage unsure if he wants Blaine to notice him or not. 

Eventually, he reaches a moment when he has to say something. About fifteen feet from the stage, Kurt speaks up, “you’re very talented, you know?” 

Blaine looks down at him, a quick smile, and blushes, “thanks.” 

“We were sad to not see you at rehearsals but The Singsations benefit greatly.” 

“Yeah, I felt bad about it…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “but it just wasn’t going to work.” 

“Well,” Kurt replied, “acapella isn’t for everyone.” 

“Funny enough, it wasn’t the acapella part.” 

At that, Kurt’s not sure what to say. He wants to ask what the problem was then.

“Sorry, did you just come here to ask why I didn’t join the Apples?” Blaine asked. 

“Um no, Amy said you warm up here before rehearsals.” Which was Kurt’s way of stalling. “I…”

This is exactly why Kurt hadn’t had a boyfriend before Adam: he was too nervous to make the first move. 

Blaine is sitting on the edge of the stage now so they’re almost level. Kurt could just push his legs apart, stand between them, and kiss him. That’s all he wants to do. 

“I’ve seen you around campus a lot.” Four times.

“Me too,” Blaine said, which has Kurt smirking slightly. So he did notice him too. Then Blaine continues and knocks that smirk right off his face, “how’s your boyfriend?” 

Well, Kurt should’ve expected that blow. His and Adam’s relationship was pretty well-known. In just two weeks since the breakup, Kurt’s surprised more people aren’t gossiping about it. 

Honesty is the best policy, right? 

“We broke up.”

“Oh,” Blaine replied, “I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“Are you?” Kurt asked, “because I’m not sorry at all. I should’ve done it sooner. We weren’t meant to be together as long as we were.” 

“You broke up with him?” Blaine asked, confused. “But you seemed so in love.” 

“A year ago, I would’ve agreed with you but one too many problems later it was never going to work,” Kurt told him, “but that’s not why I’m here either.” 

“So, why are you here? I was pretty sure you didn’t know I existed.” 

“I definitely do,” Kurt said, “and now it’s my turn to ask if you’re single.” 

Blaine blushed again, “Not sure that’s what I meant earlier.” 

“It’s what I meant.” 

“I’m not seeing anyone right now, I’ve been pining after this upperclassman who was with someone.” 

“Oh yeah?” Kurt asked. 

“Yeah.” 

Kurt took a step closer and placed his palms on Blaine’s knees. 

“Well, I think he likes you too.” 

Then, he pushes his legs open with no resistance from Blaine. It isn’t Kurt who leans in first though.