#the guy who played Joseph was a good actor

[thegreatstoryteller]

The Great Shift: Friendsgiving

“So we’ve got the turkey in the oven, the mashed potatoes being mashed, yams ready for serving, and gravy on the stove top! Am I missing anything?” Reggie asked looking eagerly at his boyfriend Roth.

“Nope! You’ve got everything honey. It’s gonna be fine. I already have dessert in the fridge and drink ready to pour. Tonight is gonna be great, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Roth consoled, looking up at his concerned man while rubbing the his lower back. His eager hands couldn’t resist pulling at the shorts Reggie liked to wear around the house when he went shirtless.

“I know.. I know.... it’s just been such a long time since we all got together. I’d been keeping up with Chan a bit... but the others only briefly... What.... has it been 3 years since the Great Shift?” Reggie said sullenly as if recounting the time.

“It sure has been. 3 years since the world went full on swap crazy... and 3 years since I got lucky enough to be swapped so close to you.” Roth smirked hugging his boyfriend lovingly.

Reggie smiled as he turned to gaze down into his boyfriend’s beautiful brown eyes, covered by glasses he didn’t originally need till it all happened. He couldn’t believe his luck. Nearly 3 Thanksgivings ago his friends Roth, Chan, Phil, Monty, and Joseph were all eager to be in town for their family’s celebrations. They were close all throughout high school and college and wanted were finally all in the same place. But then the shift happened. Reggie was in the kitchen helping his mom out with a meal when suddenly he was somewhere else entirely.... in someone else! He was having the most intimate moment he’d ever experienced with one of the most handsome men he’d ever seen! For the nerdy one of his group Reggie had never gotten remotely intimate with anyone, but now it was as if his body was moving on auto pilot. Thrusting, moaning, and kissing like a top notch adult film actor!

It was only after the most satisfying hour off passionate love making that he managed to come down from that high. The next few minutes were furious explanations and apologies, that were immediately shushed by who Reggie later learned was Roth! The former nerd couldn’t believe his straight best friend who played football and was a notorious ladies man was this incredibly cute African American twink who he’d just been inside of! Not to mention the glasses and Pokémon necklace completing the whole new nerdy look!

 And when Reggie finally got a good look at himself there was no trace of the former nerd. Hard muscles and broad shoulders were the only thing anyone would see when they stared at him now. That and a handsome face, framed perfectly with his new Asian features. People would say he could be a model with that physique and bone structure, but his shy nature wouldn’t call for anything more than attention from his soon to be boyfriend. 

Needless to say the rest was history. The two survived the strange transition from great shift craziness back to normal lives and had been living together and getting closer the entire time. Reggie as the newly Asian 6′2 fitness model. Roth as the nerdy 5′4 twink who had a knack for admiring his boyfriend’s body.

Soon the doorbell broke Reggie’s train of thought. “Oh that must be them! Mind taking the turkey out babe? I’m gonna get the door!” Reggie directed as he strode towards the doorway. When Reggie opened up he was greeted by the open smoldering smile of Chan.

“S’up guys. Great to see you. Looking good there Reggie. Guess I’m not the only one who’s been hitting the gym since the change! Now that I’m back in town maybe we can start working out again.” Chan smirked, his once thicker accent gone with time and apparently a new body.

Reggie simply hugged his friend still inwardly surprised. He’d kept up with Chan, but he hadn’t seen any pictures that would suggest he was now a white guy. Chan had been the second nerdiest of the group and a Chinese immigrant, originally meeting his friends when his parents moved for work. He stayed in college under a student visa and after they graduated was worried he’d be unable to continue living nearby when he couldn’t find work right away. Well then the shift happened landing him in the most American body he could think of with a thick East Coast accent!

“It was actually funny. When it happened I thought I was in some kind of dream, but it happened to be true. Once identities were being re-established I had to explain who I was and they had a hard time wanting to deport a guy who could barely speak Mandarin or Kantonese! Still sucks how I’m one of those guys who had that dang language aphasia post swap the prevents me from knowing words that my current body didn’t know.  But hey, I may not be a language major anymore, but I at least got some solid work! Have to hold back saying things like ‘forget about it’ these days. It’s like a weird verbal compulsion, y’know?” Chan explained as he got inside to greet Roth. 

Then the doorbell chimed once more and two larger men were there.

“Hey Reggie!... that is you right?” the first larger man said. The signature casual grin on that face was unmistakably Phil! There seemed to be no sign of his tall skinny friend who loved to smoke pot in the basement.  “Y-yeah. This is me. Wow Phil! It’s great to see you again. Come on in.” The larger man laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen that face all around town when I re introduce myself to people! I know I’ve put on some weight since you last saw me. I’ve been embracing my new dad bod these days, especially my new appetite! When I first got into this guy I was surprised to say the least. Not every day you gain over 100lbs and are sitting in front of some corporate desk job. And I lost my long silky hair! But hey, I’ve got this kickass beard now and a beefier bod! Not bad being 6′4 with these huge thick feet. They’re size 15 if you can believe! And of course I’m at least not alone. Monty is in the same big guy boat as me.”

Phil stepped aside as if to hide the pretty obvious big guy behind him.

 “Yeah. Hi. Good to see you again Reggie. I take it Roth and Chan are already inside?” Monty asked. This larger guy looked less comfortable in his skin. Clothes clearly tight over his larger body.

“Yeah of course. They’re just in the kitchen. Dinner is about to be served soon.” Reggie explained as the two large bellies before him rumbled in excitement. “Gosh this embarrassing.” Monty winced. “I used to be the lean put together one of our group and now I can barely contain myself whenever someone mentions food.... a lot of things taste real good now... but I just can’t keep the weight off. I keep trying to do exercises and diets, but my self control isn’t what it used to be... but it’s at least good to see friends and... well Chan is always looking good these days.” Monty blushes. He was once a lean 5′10 with a runner’s build, and while he’d maintained his height it was now enlarged with a hefty coating of hair and fat.

Reggie wasn’t sure what to make of this but lead the two larger men to the table as Chan joined them. As the three friends caught up Reggie went back to the kitchen to see his smaller boyfriend struggling with taking the big turkey out of the oven. 

“Here let me lend you a hand.” Reggie offered as he effortlessly grabbed some oven mitts and lifted the meal with ease.

“Thanks babe,” Roth smiled. “I forget I’m not as strong as I used to be. Chan offered to do some workouts later this week. Maybe I’ll join him! Get some of my old physique back.” Roth patted his lean arms of non existent muscle. 

“I’d love that Roth. You’re the one who showed me how to maintain this body while the world was still going mad. I couldn’t have got through all that without you.” Reggie admitted with a blush.

“Hey, we got each other through all that.” Roth pulled his boyfriend in for another one of their legendary kisses, both men feeling the other stir with pleasure. When they release Roth smirked. “Now how about we get out there and serve them a delicious meal.” Reggie nodded excitedly and the two came out with the food.

It was clear for anyone at the table to see that Chan and Monty were making eyes at each other, but even that was broken when the food was placed and the feast began.

“Had anyone heard from Joey? I was hoping he’d come by too.” Roth asked as he passed the mashed potatoes. 

“Oh you hadn’t heard?” Chan said. “Joey is going by Joseph now. He’s been all over social media ever since he turned into that hot straight guy. Look here’s his latest post.” Chan produced his phone and showed them a classic social media post with a cringe caption.

“Thankful for my busty babe Jessica for snapping me before my morning workout in Milan. #blessed #truefriends”

“Woah is that really Joey?” Reggie stared wide eyed. The Joey he knew was an outspoken gay man who was advocating for rights, while attending Pride! He was a shorter guy who had no problem grabbing people’s attention too. Granted he knew he was a bit of a horny twink at times, but still. The guy he was seeing seemed to post countless shirtless pics with beautiful women left and right. His latest post suggested he was traveling abroad with a collection of different hot women offering him places to stay throughout his trip.

“It really is. I tried to get him to come but he just said he had more babes to meet up and knew we’d understand.” Chan scoffed with disappointment.

Roth just shook his head. “What a jerk. Guess some people really let the shift change em for the worse.”

“Aw come on. Let’s not let o’l joey get us down.” Phil said patting the smaller guy on the back, nearly knocking him off the chair. “We got a whole table to be thankful for this year! And i’m not talking just about the food!” 

They all laughed, comforted by Phil’s familiar light heartedness. “I’m just saying. We survived a weird time in human history and are still friends. I’m real lucky to have you guys here and wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“Now that sounded like a cheers. How about we raise a glass?” Monty suggested.

“I like the sound of that.” Chan nodded as he held Monty’s thick hand under the table, causing both men to blush.

“To the people in our lives! And the one’s we’re lucky enough to call friends!” Phil cheered.

“Cheers!” “Salud!” “Here here!”

The group of friends continued to eat happy for the things they could be thankful for and were hoping for even more moments like this to share.

[zombii-ships]

SDJ BOYS: KINK HEADCANNONS

sorry if these are ooc i was just brainstorming and bein a horny nerd

Jack

-World’s biggest breeding kink. Dude’s absolutely got a huge thing for claiming his partner, and he loves to watch his cum spill back out of them.

-Praise. PRAISE HIM. PLEASE. Tell him how good he makes you feel and he’s over the fucking moon. He’s so motivated by praise, the simplest “you’re making me feel so good” is gonna flip such a switch in his head.

-Makeup/Body Paint. Whether it’s seeing his partner in clown paint, painting their body and feeling them up, his own makeup smearing on them, or theirs running on their face, he loves it. Jack’s immediately down for round two if he catches a glimpse of his partner’s liner/lipstick on his chest.

-Foodplay. You thought whipped cream was just for the pancakes? Surprise surprise!

Joseph

-Size Difference. Loves feeling big compared to his partner, whether he’s topping or bottoming, he loves the difference. Loves seeing his partner in his clothes, especially his jackets and pajama pants. Put on something of his and its gonna ignite something in him.

-Voice Kink. He LOVES getting to hear his partner, if they make a noise while they stretch? He’s horny. Moan? Horny. Whisper in his ear? Horny. So so easily stirred if he’s the one who gets you to make noise for him, too~

-Hickies. MARK. HIM. UP. PLEASE. Dude absolutely loves getting to show off what his partner did to him, he wears them like badges of honor.

-Bonus, I know he’s an absolute FIEND for giving head and he loves just knowing that he’s pleasuring his partner. Dude’s a total pleasure top.

Shaun

-A nut for roleplay. Pet/Owner, Slasher/Final Survivor, Vampire/Prey, whatever, dude LOVES playing a little horny pretend with his partner.

-Masks. Ghostface, leatherface, pyramid head, gas masks, he loves the mystery there and he finds it really hot. Goes along with his roleplay kink, but either way, he’s super into it.

-Exhibitionism. Give him the go to make porn of yall and he’s gonna go nuts. Something about filming the deed or just you getting off turns him tf ON. Plus if he can go back and show you the footage?? “Look how pretty you looked here. Fuck- lemme rewind so I can hear that sound again~”

-Monster/Abnormal Toys. What’s a horror junkie without some monster dildos??

Nick

-Begging. Beg HIM. Beg him for whatever, doesn’t even have to be sexual, he just loves it. He just wants to hear you pleading with him, asking for his permission.

-Shibari. Let him make your body into art. The more intricate the better. Whether it’s simple ties or a whole full body production, it’s the artistry and the restraint that really gets him, plus seeing you wrapped up for the taking isn’t half bad either. Bonus points if he gets to do pretty harnesses and collars ✨

- Waxplay/Temperature Play. You or him, but mainly you I think. You’re the canvas and he’s the painter, and he’s obsessed with how you let him paint you. Whether it be pretty dark colored wax, gently touching you with ice, or just warm hands against your skin, he loves your reactions, watching you squirm between the different sensations.

-Oral Fixation. Don’t suck on his fingers unless you wanna rile his ass up

Ian

-Cosplay/Costumes. IF YOU LET HIM DRESS YOU UP he’s going to go absolutely feral. Ian’s a fashion fan, so seeing you in something he specifically coordinated to look good on you and to his personal tastes would have him going over the deep end. He’s literally obsessed.

-Blindfolds. Now I know he’s scared of being left alone, but I think he’d enjoy the rush of giving up control to you like that, letting you touch and trail over his body without knowing what’s next would have him super sensitive and needy in seconds. Plus if you let him blindly roam his hands over you?? He’s about to get SO handsy.

-Also a roleplay guy. He’s an actor, let him get into a role! Not only is he excited to make the bit convincing, but he might slip pretty deep into it, local man gets horny from improv.

-Body Writing. Write all your favorite things about him on his body, and let him put his signature on you?? Dude would be over the moon going about his day with your words of praise written on his chest, tummy and hips.

[pedroschka]

not my type

Joseph Quinn x reader

words: 1.9k fluff

Summary: one sided feelings can destroy friendships, so you and Joe make it very clear that you both are not each other's type, pinky promise clear

A/n: @ghostinthebackofyourhead grab your favorite bread and (hopefully) enjoy because I'm your secret Santa!! thanks to @quinnyfairy for organising this <3

Mid laugh, brown eyes crinkling and his head thrown back, that's the blurry image of your best friend in front of you for the last two minutes.

"Joe as much I love to see your little potato head but your screen is frozen."

" ugh, shit! The bloody wifi connection at my parents' is the worst. Wait a second!" his voice on the other end is a bit muffled as he seems to be moving around, trying to fix it.

It was one day after Christmas and you and Joe are trying to have your own little celebration via video call while you both are at your family's and didn't want to wait till you eventually see each other in person again, unpredictable with Joe's busy schedule nowadays anyway. So you both had sent each other's presents via post and now wanted to unpack them together.

So now you sit on your bed in your old bedroom, presents scattered around you and your tablet in front of you with the frozen image of your laughing friend.

" OK, what about now?" Joe's face finally in time again and him waving at the camera

" yes, now get started I already tried peaking but you really are serious about your sticky tape"

" and see how it came in handy" his cocky little smile makes you roll your eyes while grabbing the first present on your left which already has a bit of wrapping paper ripped out, but sticky tape all around it preventing you from making out what it could be.

At the end, you both sit in a colorful mass out of wrapping paper, presents sorted in a little pile beside you, and now updating each other on the newest family tea.

" no! I swear my aunt was full-on gushing about how Eddie looked like her ex-boyfriend's when she was a teen and started showing pictures of you as Eddie all around the dining table, it was soo uncomfortable!" you comically shuddered and Joe's snickering like a little kid at your theatrics.

As comfortable and at ease you were now around him was the complete opposite when you first met each other a year ago.

You sat on your friend's couch, phone in hand, and playing some stupid game, that only seems to come to use in social situations out of ultimate boredom, but trying to look very busy for the people around you. Questioning why your friend even thought it was a good idea to invite you to one of her parties, celebrating whatever with a bunch of her actor friends, when you were the epitome of socially awkward and just overall really bad at meeting new people.

You tried, you really tried to be a part of some conversations, standing in a group full of, on first sight, cliché book extroverts, all of them with interesting lives and using big words talking about different plays, with you just standing there and fake laughing at their jokes you didn't understand and attempting to stop comparing yourself with them. Which didn't work so after a few exhausting hours in which you've been ignored or got an awkward "was nice meeting you" after you ranted too much about a topic you finally could understand you gave up. Your social battery drained and you loathing in self-pity.

Loud cheers and greetings make you look up from your phone, great even more people. The new guest is a very ordinary-looking guy, plain light washed baggy jeans hanging low on his hips, a plain white shirt, sneakers. Not bad on the eye with tousled brown curls as well as brown eyes but not really your type.

Still he held an aura around him that forced you to keep your attention on him, apparently the people around him felt the same effect as they were hanging on every word that was coming out of his mouth. Or is he... Famous around here?! And you are just the only one who has absolutely no idea who he is?

But you're already admiring him for a different reason, Looking so awkward but at the same time so charmingly charismatic and being able to find the right words and topic for each person. You couldn't help to be slightly jealous.

Forced to look down again as he looked across the room and dangerously close in your direction you continued your game, only looking up again as you felt the couch dip as someone sat themselves beside you, and you hastily tried to turn your phone away to not get caught.

"well, that looks fun" shit.

Unknown ordinary looking /maybe famous guy is smiling at you and nodding at your phone

"uggh, kinda" and your brain is letting you down again.

But he doesn't seem bothered by your brain-dead state and tried again to engage you in a conversation, ending up with him having your phone and you, hanging half over his shoulder, explaining to him how to play the game.

"oh, I'm Joe by the way!"

You met Joe a few times after that again and eventually exchanged numbers which resulted in a weird and chaotic friendship. With his ability to make you feel so comfortable around him and just being yourself, he has to endure your ranting over the most ridiculous topics or oversharing the most private things, but it doesn't seem to bother him, on the contrary, he seems to even encourage your weirdness and just adapt to it.

Because of this connection between you both, you lost count of how many times people thought you both were dating or how many times your friends and family tried to play matchmaker, so a pinky promise between you and joe was made that you both are on the same page, that you are not each other's type, both of you already familiar with how one-sided feelings can destroy a friendship, so better making sure at the beginning right?

It was now new years eve and like you planned with Joe in your last call you both were gonna drive over to a friend's house who's throwing a party to celebrate it together, in person this time.

Joe's gonna be at your place to pick you up in nearly 20 minutes and you're still sitting in front of your wardrobe in only your bathrobe and still wet hair, nibbling nervously on your fingernails and looking over all your clothes, eyes wide with panic debating what you should wear to look presentable for him.

Which is absolutely ridiculous because Joe has already seen you in your absolute worst states, coming over to you with pimple cream all over your face, greasy hair, and sloppy oversized shirts with holes and stains you couldn't even explain.

But you haven't seen each other for nearly a month now, well except for the few video calls but that's just different, and now you are a nervous mess, suddenly worried about your appearance and you hate it.

The buzzing of your doorbell makes you jump slightly, spraying the last bit of hairspray on your head and turning the music off, which you needed to hype yourself up, and speedwalking to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

Joe's standing in front of you in black slacks and a slightly striped white shirt, the last button undone and a necklace peeking out of it, and you feel your heartbeat throbbing in your ears.

With a happy call of your name, he went straight into a hug and you suddenly felt distracted by the smell of his perfume, still the same one you smelt a thousand times but different regardless, Like his arms around you, squeezing you firmly into him, it's like your sensory perception is on high alert and suddenly everything feels more intense.

The car ride to the party is awkward to say at least, your nerves preventing you from coming up with anything other than occasionally humming or nodding as an answer, and after a few more tries from Joe he gave up, thinking maybe you're just nervous again because of all the people that are gonna be there and needed a few more minutes for yourself, so the car becomes silent and you hate it because that was your least concern right now, you felt like a bad friend, not seeing each other for a month and you can't even talk to him because this bloody nervous feeling just won't go away. So you both just stare at the road in front of you.

It's loud and full and lights flickering everywhere and you're so overwhelmed and tense that the weird feeling is forgotten for a moment and you're clinging to Joe, following him around like a lost puppy. Him ordering drinks for you both and chatting with people, trying to include you, taking you with him for smoke breaks, the only time when you both are separated is when one of you has to go to the toilet.

A few minutes before midnight a group of people had gathered on the balcony, with them you and Joe, shouting the countdown to the new year and watching fireworks exploding and illuminating the night sky.

" happy new year!" you screamed in each other's faces and laughed as you tackle each other in a big hug. People around you doing the same or walking around and giving the traditional New Year kiss.

Observing this you both looked at each other and shrugged while giggling, both slightly tipsy, and pecked each other on the lips. Physical contact wasn't unfamiliar to you, both being touchy when around people you feel comfortable enough, small kisses when saying goodbye, or cuddling together on your small sofa when watching some movies weren't new either. What was new was the feeling you felt as your lips met his.

As you separated you looked into each other's eyes, you always thought that his eyes were beautiful, even told him so, but you never felt such strong emotions when looking into them, unable to hold eye contact your gaze trailed to his lips, so full and soft looking and you never felt such a strong urge either to be near them. Subconscious you both lean in again and your lips met again but this time for a real kiss.

Warm flooded your body and you can't think of anything else other than the feeling of his lips against yours. His hands found the back of your neck to bring you even closer and you copied him, trailing your fingers through his curls, both of you starving for each other's presence and hungry for more, captivated and lost in your own little world.

Until a person stumbles into you and you remember again where you are.

Both of you catching your breath as you separated again, waking up from the trance-like state, emotional chaos whirling up in you again because you just made out with your best friend, with which you made a silly pinky promise and made very clear to not be each other's type to save this friendship but now you experienced the best kiss you ever had and when you look at his face now he is so beautiful and you can't help to want to kiss those lips again but you were also so overwhelmed because what the fuck does this all mean now.

Luckily Joe answers your questions as he leans in again for a third kiss, shorter but still as breathtaking.

" I know we promised to be not each other's type but do you wanna go on a date with me?" he asked against your lips and you both giggled as you nodded 'yes' before going into another kiss.

(reblogs and comments are very appreciated additional to your likes)

[klausysworld]

hey honey can you make headcanons about dating joseph morgan😍

@klaustopia love u and your mood boards ^^

Dating Joseph Morgan:

Joseph is a kind loving person, he wants you to know how much he loves you all of the time.

This is often shown from him spending as much time with you as possible. He helps you cook and clean, always trying to be helpful to you.

He'll ask you to help him learn his lines (if you're an actor too then he's even more eager)

He wants you to feel part his life even when he's pretending to be someone else. You get to come with him and watch him shoot scenes, if he has to kiss anybody else on set then he’s sure to make it up to you.

You don’t get mad at him for having to kiss other people, it’s part of the job after all but often he’ll feel bad about it and will be sure to make love to you later that day, showing you that he’s yours no matter what.

He also makes sure to take you on dates as much as possible. You have to travel around quite a bit for his job and so he makes sure you get the full experience of each place you visit.

He loves to bring you to the beaches, his arm round your waist as you stand before the sea, the sun low in the sky as you watch it disappear.

You have a collection of bikinis though he insists you buy a new one each time. He’ll go as far to buy shorts that consist of the same colour to see you smile at his coordination

Being a star in his own show comes with a large pay check and he loves to spend it on you, even if you tell him to keep it for himself he always gets you something to say thank you for always being with him.

He knows that with a fan base also comes with hate and unfortunately you may become a victim of it, he always feels awful even if you aren’t bothered. You love him unconditionally and toxic fans won’t stop that.

He’ll post you both together on his socials from time to time to make sure people know he’s still very much in love and he coaxes you to sit with him on his lives to show you off

Joseph knows how much you love his hair and will grow his curls out for you to play with. It becomes common for you to cut his hair instead of a professional, he prefers you to do it how you like it.

We also know Joseph is a dog person, your puppy dog is now your child. You both adore your pets and treat them like your babies.

Speaking of babies…

Jospeh is very happy to have kids with you if that’s something you want. He loves the idea of you being a mother, to have a baby that you created together.

If you don’t want kids thats fine too, he’s happy with you and he doesn’t need more, he’s content knowing that theres no worry of the child having to be hidden from cameras and fans.

He always has to keep you close to make sure he knows your safe and not being harassed. He loves when he meets fans who also adore you, glad that there are good people put there who are happy for him regardless.

You get to know that other cast members and you all go out from time to time for meals and such

Joseph loves to splash his cash and take you out on an expensive dinner every now and then to make sure the romance never dies.

He’s definitely someone who would cover the bedroom in candles, rose petals on the bed and he’s led across it with a a rose in his mouth making you giggle before joining him for a long, pleasurable night.

He’s a PDA guy and I don’t want to be convinced otherwise. He always wants to hold your hand or have him arm around your waist, kisses to your face and long hugs when he has to leave for a few hours.

Living with him is a dream and he never fails to keep your spirits up. On the days you are a little down and tired of the world he’s always there to hold you, he’s your biggest supporter and loves you to the ends of the earth

[kingsandbastardz]

Sometimes I like comparing actors behavior/personalities outside of their roles to their in character roles, just to see where they are making some of their acting choices.

I don't usually follow actors so the following impressions are based off casual viewing:

All three leads are very confident, physical actors. Aero's dance background definitely helps.

On variety shows, they try to help Cheng Yi bc he struggles more than they do.

Cheng Yi sees variety show games as stressful hellscapes. But on a drama set, he's fully in control and confident. He isn't the type that thinks of snappy responses very quickly when he's put on the spot.

Joseph seems to be a very proactive, take charge personality and has good situational awareness. Friendly arguing and mildly bossing Aero around, including physically moving him. Will be super permissive with Cheng Yi failing at every game but if Aero messes up a single time... 💀 rip Aero. Not a cute personality type. In freeform situations, will direct others or talk/create ideas for group activities to do in front of the cameras. Verbally quick.

Aero is the second person that will take charge if ppl are passive but seems to prefer an active support role. Looks confident but imo he's not always on the same page as everyone, so ends up in situations where he has to mask awkwardness. Is totally ok with Joseph being assertive with him despite the age difference. In freeform situations, defaults to being physically helpful or doing stuff.

Thoughts on acting choices vs the actors naturally in the wild:

No proof, but I'm like 100000% convinced the bamboo holding/walking and the wedding dress hand holding were unscripted additions. Would not be surprised if you told me Aero was helping Cheng Yi maneuver on set or they were goofing off and the director decided to work it into the story.

The cuteness of Fang Doubing is a creation. He's not fluffy like that irl.

Cheng Yi mentioned that his speech is fast bc the director kept telling him to talk faster, so his rapid patter style is a product of him trying to maintain speed without being boring. His natural speaking pace and reaction time is slower than the role

Fang Doubing has a 'young lion' feel, like he is on the cusp of taking charge of everything with just a bit more time and training. I think that's some of Joseph's natural assertiveness at play.

Aero has said he got a nice high when he filmed a particularly dominating scene. He doesn't seem to be naturally like that. Physical stuff being his happy place definitely comes through in his fight scenes.

Cheng Yi's confidence on set shows when LLH/LXY becomes dominating on screen. You can tell he has zero doubts in himself

I don't know what experiences or parts of his personality Aero was channeling during DFS's gender subversive confrontations with Jiao Liqiao but it was fascinating. His (imo atypical and realistic) reactions made his worsening situation far more tense and believable than I expected.

Fang Doubing's yelling/being rowdy at DFS... seems to be a direct mirror of irl behavior, but more often, more prolonged and framed in a more mutually antagonistic, cute manner. Irl Joseph is just goofing and Aero takes it like a champ.

Chen Yi said he first met Aero during martial arts training sessions and that they didn't discuss their roles before they jumped into doing scenes together -- so I guess this means their synergy on screen just came naturally between them? (The director must have been so happy)

all 3 are team players with the way they support each other during variety shows, so I think that contributed to how they maintained their chemistry and push/pull for their characters

Other thoughts:

With Joseph's natural personality, I can see why he's interested in playing a villain. I think he could do something interesting with a bad guy that looks like a good guy. Sort of like DFS who has a lot of heroic qualities but looks like a bad guy? Just in the opposite direction.

[josephquinnn]

Alias

part one - part two

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: You were supposed to guide David Harbour during the launch of the Stranger Things game that the company you work for created, however, he cancels at the last minute. His replacement? Joseph Quinn.

CW / disclaimer: rpf (don't read if it's not your jam), fem!reader, fluff

Author’s note: This is the kick-off fic for this page, so please be kind. I have several ideas in mind that I'm currently working on, so stay tuned for more!

“Ladies and gentlemen, Corendon Airlines welcomes you to Amsterdam. The local time is 9 P.M. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle clear until we are parked at the gate.”

While this hadn’t been your first time visiting Amsterdam, the reason why was very different this time. Or perhaps not that different, were it not that you had a very personal reason why it was so different for you. The company you worked for, GED International, had developed an immersive multiplayer game to kick off the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. Aside from your love from the show, you also had a huge admiration for the cast. And while being a part of the release of Stranger Things: Invading The Upside Down was really cool in itself, the fact that you were pointed to be the guide of the one and only David Harbour had you jittery for weeks. It made sense that an actor would fly over to promote it, but you hadn’t expected it regardless. It just wasn’t how your luck usually worked. Not this time though. This time, you were the one who was going to show Jim Hopper around Amsterdam, as that was where the event would take place all around the city. You were well acquainted enough with the city, having spent several years working there on and off. It always felt like a weird coming home, although this time you would reside in a hotel for a couple days. One day for the event, two leisure days.

After waiting for a good twenty minutes, you were finally able to get up from your seat and out of the plane, on your way to get your luggage. Your colleagues already arrived earlier to set up several things, but since your task was literally getting David from A to B and entertaining him a little during, you didn’t have to be earlier than the evening beforehand. The wait for your luggage to show up was as stressful as ever, but thankfully the rollerband hadn’t disappointed you once and quietly (not really) provided you with your suitcase after some time. On your way to the hotel you decided to grab a quick bite from the popular fries shack that was quite literally on your way towards The Dam, along with what the Dutch call a “frikandel”, which was essentially a lengthy meat stick. It was a craving you had whenever you visited the Netherlands, which your colleagues thought was the funniest thing after you described it to them for the first time. The Dutch had more things you had a weak spot for though, such as “stroopwafels” and their delicious tiny pancakes that they called “poffertjes”. You’d probably indulge and get it the next day, if you had the time. Your hotel wasn’t far removed from The Dam, which was still bustling in the late summer evening, with their street artists keeping up the crowd. You had to unpack, iron your clothes and get ready for bed though, so there was no time to stick around.

You nearly bumped into a guy on your way into your hotel, who was so focused on holding his head down that he hadn’t noticed you and apologized with a quick and very British “sorry”, though not even glancing in your direction. You had been too busy saving your suitcase from falling down the stairs to whip your head around in time. The guy had already gone and with him, the familiar voice that left you wondering whether your mind was just playing tricks on you.

The event had just gone to your head. Of course you had hoped it would have been him to promote the game. His character’s return had already been announced in a subtle teaser that had the world in their grasp at the moment, so soon before the release of the last season. Besides, with him residing in London it almost felt like it made the most sense. You shook your head, it hadn’t been him. It was just a random Brit with a similar voice. They were out there. You realized you had been standing in the middle of the lobby where the receptionist had been looking at you with her eyebrow raised for a moment now. Time to check in.

Just as you came out of the shower, you received a call. It hadn’t been the first time they had tried to call you according to your phone and you were only just in time to pick up this time around.

“Deniz, hi, sorry I was just in the shower,” you explained quickly.

“All good. Listen, change of plans.”

“Change of plans?”

Now?! The evening before the event? You groaned inwardly, already dreading whatever changes he was about to inform you with. You sat down on your bed, dressed in the hotel’s bathrobe and waited.

“Yeah, so… David Harbour canceled. I know how excited you were about that, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. You felt your heart sink. There it was, reality coming right back to kick you in the face as usual. Of fucking course.

“I see, so… what’s going to happen now?” Were you just going to have a little vacation then? Would they let you join the event differently? Maybe it would mean you could sleep in. That would be nice.

“Well, miracles happened and another actor agreed to come. We just got the memo way later. David canceled earlier this week apparently so they’ve been making calls and such.”

“Who is it?” It was time for Deniz to drop the information you actually gave a damn about. Your mind immediately went back to the guy who had bumped into you. It couldn’t be…

“Joseph Quinn? I googled him quickly while I called you but I have no clue. Is he one of the smaller actors?” You had to bite your tongue not to lecture him on how Joseph Quinn was anything but. It didn’t matter. Deniz didn’t give a damn about celebrities, and since Joseph looked quite different from his character Eddie, you weren’t surprised he had no idea who he was based off of that.

“No. He plays Eddie Munson.”

“Hold up. The guy who died but then didn’t?”

“That’s the one.”

“That’s actually pretty cool. Looks nothing like him though. Insane.”

Tell me about it, you thought. You had spent enough hours ogling both his character and his regular appearance, still unable to grasp at how they were the same person.

“Okay so, I’ve emailed you the details of his PA Leah, she’s been briefed on when and where he’s expected. You’ll meet after breakfast in the lobby at ten sharp, same as the original plan. Just make sure you’re a little early, yeah?”

“Will do.” You continued your convo casually but eventually you cut it off because you really needed your sleep. And before you could do that, you needed at least an hour to silently scream into your pillow because you were going to meet him. Chances were that the hand that had quickly searched for balance on your arm earlier had been his. You felt a little lightheaded. This was a nightmare cocooned in a dream. Undoubtedly you were going to make a fool of yourself and he would hate your guts. Or he’d laugh at you. You didn’t know what was worse. All you knew was that while the change of plans theoretically would have been a dream come true, a nightmare had never felt more realistic.

The next morning you were fidgeting with the hem of your blouse as you waited in the lobby, half an hour too early. You had barely managed to eat breakfast due to your nerves but had forced a few things in your system because a grumbling stomach would be worse. Maybe you should have just eaten a bit more slowly so that you didn’t have to wait ridiculously long. It was killing you, perking your head up at every movement and often receiving an odd glance from the stranger who you’d been so eager to look at. Not with Joseph though. His voice alerted you long before the man even came into view. Laughter had escaped his lips and it sounded all too familiar. Granted, you had a bit of a crush on the man you had only seen through a screen so far. You were relieved he sounded chipper, as you had noticed that he hadn’t been so delighted at some other events he had attended. Those were all just assumptions, but you liked to think that your people skills gave you enough knowledge to assess someone’s body language at least a little. You turned your body in his direction at the right timing, where you wouldn’t have to stare for too long but had enough time to grab his attention. It looked like his assistant had received a photo from you, because recognition flashed her face and she walked up to you before Joseph had even noticed you. With a quick B-line, he followed her.

“Hi, you must be Y/N?”

“That’s me, nice to meet you,” you said politely as you shook her hand.

“Leah, you as well.”

Then, it was Joseph’s turn. Your smile faltered only for a second when he shook your hand and it was a good thing you already knew the man’s name, because his eyes were so distracting that you could only see his lips move and not hear a thing he said.

“Nice to meet you,” you managed to say to him as well and he let go of your hand with a subtle squeeze to finish off the greeting.

“The car should be up front soon,” you said as you checked your phone for the time. The nerves, which you would have had just the same if it had been David, we’re eating you alive from the inside as a silence pursued. All you had been briefed to do was getting them from location to location and you had no idea how much they had been told about the game already. To your relief the silence was cut short when you received a message that your ride was there. After announcing that, you went ahead and led Joseph and his PA to the car waiting outside. 

“Are you from here?” Joseph’s voice perched your ears and you turned your head to look into his curious brown eyes.

“I’m not actually. I’m from Y/B/P.” You had to bite your tongue to automatically ask the same question in return because you knew.

“Oh! That’s cool. I’ve been there once, on vacation,” he told you. “Would love to go back sometime.”

I’ll gladly take you back home with me, you thought, but instead you nodded.

“What about Amsterdam? You’ve been here often?” You asked to keep the conversation going. He told you about the two times he visited Amsterdam, how he hadn’t managed to visit any museums because his mates had wanted to get high and go out most of the time. Fun times, still, but he wanted to see if he could squeeze in a museum or two before he left again. Once you arrived at The Dam, a noticeable crowd had already gathered and their heads all turned towards the car. Oh boy.

“Alright, let’s go this way,” you decided and Joseph shifted in the seat to get out on your end, his assistant following suit. Phones were shoved into your faces and Joseph took the time to take a few photos and sign some things before he followed you towards the stage. His assistant stood on the sidelines, leaving Joseph alone with you and the host who would present the game.

“I had no idea what to expect but this is pretty big,” Joseph mumbled, gesturing at the game setup. There was a platform on which you could walk continuously without moving, a round treadmill so to say. It had a railing around the front and VR glasses hung over it.

“It is. They found it important that walking around felt natural, hence the big platform. It’s pretty cool.”

“Have you played it yet?”

“No, I’ve only seen some test runs.”

“The concept sounded pretty cool, like working together and all that. I believe it’s also available on other stuff right? PC and everything?”

You nodded and went into detail about how the PC version would be different, in terms of VR and without VR, but also the general difference in running around physically versus only digitally. Joseph seemed very intrigued at everything you had to say while they set him up with a microphone on his shirt. So much, even, that he nearly missed his announcement for coming up the stage.

“My bad. Hi everyone.”

You watched the conversation from the side between Joseph and the host, who explained the game again in detail and held a little presentation about it. Then, it was time for Joseph to actually join the game. Throughout Amsterdam there were several setups like this one, and a few lucky fans had been selected to take part in the immersive game together with Joseph. Each wearing a headset and being in a party together, all with a different task ahead. The people on the Dam could watch Joseph’s gameplay on a big screen behind him. Joseph seemed to enjoy it a lot, completely into the game as he stepped and jumped over things, running over to clues and communicating with his party. It was his task to gather camouflage to bring over to the others, who each had their own task to explore as well. It all went down on a timer and it was important that everyone finished their task in time. Of course, there were enemies as well which would progress into severity the closer everyone game to the middle, also known as their meeting point.

You loved watching Joseph do his thing, with his tongue darting out and making wild gestures at creatures that tried to attack him. He shouted, did his best not to swear and often went into a giggle fit when he did something silly. It was the most endearing thing to watch and while you thought David Harbour would have been a very funny candidate to watch as well, nothing could beat Joseph being Joseph.

“It says I can pick up an ally? I want an ally!” Joseph suddenly exclaimed, looking around as he perked his head up. “Can I?” He then asked a bit unsurely. His VR headset was soundproof, meaning he wouldn’t even be able to hear the answer unless he took his headset off. You watched the guy monitoring the screen discuss something with one of the developers and then nodded over to you. What? When the developer approached you, holding another VR headset, you felt dread seeping into your shoes. Oh no. You enjoyed playing the occasional game but you weren’t any good, and you definitely didn’t have a wide experience with VR games. This was doomed to make you look like a fool. Great.

“We’ll set you up if you want to join as his ally?”

You weren’t going to say no, of course.

“Sure. Just tell me what to do.”

The developer briefly explained that you would join the game as an extra help during fights, making your health double up. You were handed a stick that represented a bat in the game and were put on a similar platform like Joseph was. After connecting the two together, you would be launched into the same spot he was, and you would be able to play once you entered a nickname.

IN GAME: Your ally Y/N has arrived, Joseph

“Hello? Y/N?” “Hi, it’s me.”

“Oh! Hi! I didn’t expect them to insert an actual person, I thought they meant like an NPC or something. This is even better!” Immediately, he got back to business, as he took the game quite seriously. “So. We have to find our way through this forest, but there are demobats trying to kill us. And apparently wild dogs.” 

Joseph turned to you in the game, and it felt surreal to have a pretty decent looking Eddie avatar look at you and communicate with you in a British accent. You had no idea what your character looked like.

“Alright, we’ve got to get… Oh! You’re Robin, that’s cool. We need to go this way, it seems.”

You discussed your options and decided to look around first for any clues if you were going in the right direction. When a demobat attack forced you to run into the forest, you knew you had been right. It was pretty fun to use your bat to slam the demons away, but the VR aspect of it all was harder than you expected. It was a good thing you and Joseph were about two meters apart from each other in real life, or you would have played whack-a-mole with each other’s heads. At one point you had to run, which meant physically running in real life too. As if you wanted to be sweaty! Luckily, you soon met up with the other players, who had all achieved their tasks and slayed some enemies like you had. Now it was time for the final battle: Defeating Vecna. While you had expected things to be pretty hectic with at least four other voices outside of you and Joseph, it wasn’t all that bad. If anything, it made it feel more realistic to have several people shout their battle cries. It required working together and using each other’s strengths, timing them perfectly after one another. The person with Nancy’s character would shoot at him, while you threw bottles lit with fire, and Joseph had to use his catapult to distract Vecna and weaken his sight. Eventually, you managed to defeat Vecna without having to replay the game or anyone dying. You always liked how the developers made Eddie an available character as well, regardless when they knew if he was going to return or not.

Finally, you took off your headset and quickly fixed your hair, stepped away from the platform and found that Joseph joined you immediately. 

“That was fun,” he grinned, clearly wanting to share his experience with someone. His hair was a bit of a mess now, his curls no longer as tamed as before. After he noticed you looking he quickly ran a hand through his hair and you wondered if you had made him self conscious. For whatever reason his PA was nowhere to be found. Joseph was called over to give a quick review on the game and after that it was time to acknowledge the fans who had long since gathered at the barricades for some selfies and photographs. You could tell that he was in a good mood by the way he wore a relaxed smile on his face as he interacted with the fans. All you could hope was that it would stay the same after visiting the other locations. You never really understood why they wanted him to visit all locations, instead of just having everyone come up to one, but apparently they didn’t want to overcrowd any spot and considering people had to buy tickets to even get to stand near the barricades, it started to dawn on you. Of course these money hungry bastards took the opportunity and ran away with it in ten folds.

Joseph seemed to handle it all perfectly well until you were back in the car and he slumped in his seat. As it turned out, his PA had suddenly gotten sick and had gone back to the hotel. It was just you and him now, for the rest of the day.

“That was intense,” Joseph said softly, unsure whether he should even be sharing his thoughts with you. All you could do was nod.

“It was. I’m surprised you have to visit so many spots if I’m honest,” you admitted and Joseph nodded in agreement.

“I hadn’t expected that either. I just figured it would be one location and go, until we received the schedule yesterday.”

“That gave you little time to prepare then… I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh it’s alright. Can’t complain, it’s a great opportunity.”

You smiled softly.

“It’s fine to complain a little, even if it’s a great opportunity,” you assured him. That granted a smile out of him as well. You could imagine it was hard to cut yourself some slack when you had been so lucky, yet incredibly overwhelmed by it all. And he wasn’t even allowed to call it luck according to people because it was talent, but to him it sure had felt like luck.

When the driver stopped the car, you were surprised to see you weren’t at the next location yet.

“Roadblocks all around. You’ll have to walk from here,” he said apologetically. The thought alone filled you with dread. Joseph had been stalked in every place he had been and Amsterdam was about to become the next. They knew what he looked like down to the shoes he was wearing at the moment, so the watchful eye would definitely notice.

“Alright, not a problem at all,” Joseph told the driver before turning to you. “Is it far?”

“Ten minutes max, I think,” you replied, getting your phone out to find a route. Once you got it, you both left the car. The driver assured you he would be in the same spot in time for the next one, but you exchanged numbers just in case.

The first couple of minutes went fine. No one batted an eye. Not until one teenager shouted his name.

“Oh fuck,” you mumbled softly, watching as the many heads turned around frantically in search of the man next to you.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured you, as if you were the one who needed assurance. You were very ready to elbow these people in the head if they were behaving like idiots. It would cost you your job if you caused a scandal, though.

“Where do we have to go?” Joseph asked you, sounding a little hurried. You showed him the route on your phone and watched how he scanned the area quickly.

“Alright. Come.” Before you realized what was going on, he had grabbed your hand and guided you through the masses who were dawning in on you, taking photos and trying to get their picture taken with him as well. He greeted them kindly, effortlessly. Apologized for moving on and explaining you had to get to your destination quickly. You wondered if anyone else noticed how draining this seemed to be for him. His frown deepening, his lips disappearing into a thin line. His hand squeezed yours tighter every now and then, although he often relaxed it shortly after and grazed the top of your hand with his thumb, as if to apologize.

When you finally made it to the next stage, you let out a breath of relief. This unorganized shit show was a drag. Joseph let go of your hand and listened to the host of that location, who guided him to the fans where he could do his service of taking photos and interacting with them shortly. Then, he met with a handful of people who had won a meet & greet with him for a good five minutes and after that it was time to move to the next. Two down, four to go. It wasn’t until the transition from the fourth to the fifth that you and Joseph decided to skip the car and just walk all the way. You had been hopeful the other times that the car would actually be able to drop you off at a good spot, but it had become clear that Amsterdam wasn’t great to go through by car, especially not on a day like this. When you asked him about security, it turned out that he had turned them down as he hadn’t expected the getting from one location to the other would have gone so hectic.

“God that smells delicious,” Joseph exclaimed softly as you were walking through crowds, trying to blend in as well as you could. You had smelled it too, or at least you thought you did. If you were honest, you were pretty hungry after that lousy breakfast, considering it was way past lunch time already.

“The bakery, right?” You ask as you point into the direction of a bakery on the other side of the street.

“Yes. Mind if we make a quick stop? I’ve really got to eat something.”

“Not at all. Some more delay isn’t going to matter at this point,” you pointed out. You made your way towards the bakery that luckily wasn’t too crowded, and got yourselves a pastry , two in Joe’s case. He had been eyeing the croissants but decided against it because of the crumbs. Not that these pastries were any better. They were delicious though, you concluded, and Joseph seemed to agree judging by the sounds he made.

“Right, I needed that,” he said as he cleaned off his fingers with a napkin. Once you got closer to the last stage, he turned to you.

“Am I good?” He asked, gesturing at his face so you could tell him if he missed a crumb. He had, so you pointed it out with words, until he didn’t catch it at the third try and you lifted your finger to his face instead and gently took it off.

“You also have some…” he started, brushing his thumb over the corner of your mouth, “right there. All good now.” His gaze lingered longer than it should have and you blamed your burning cheeks for it. He probably noticed your shift in attitude right away. Despite that, he seemed unbothered and you entered the last stage, where Joseph did his thing again and you watched him do it all effortlessly. 

It was already way past dinner time when you finally made your way back to the hotel. That was it then, you thought. You had had fun, and it had been great to get to know him briefly, but you would have loved more. Somehow it made you feel greedy, though you blamed the man himself for being the exact way you had imagined him to be. All sweet and nice and gentlemanly. So annoying.

“Would you like to join me for dinner?”

The silence that hung in the air got way too much time to spread when you looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. God, please act cool for once, you thought to yourself. To top it off, he smiled softly at you and even seemed a little nervous. Why in the world would he be nervous?

“I— Yes! That sounds lovely, where would you like to go? Just here at the hotel, or…”

“Oh no. I’d prefer to get into the city if that’s okay. I heard you can get dinner on a boat, no idea if you have to book a spot for that though. We could check? I just want to change into something else once we’re back at the hotel, freshen up a little. Is that alright with you?” His eyes darted away as he spoke and his hand softly scratched behind his ear in a repeat motion until he finished his sentence. Absolutely endearing. Your conversation briefly paused as you left the car and headed back inside your hotel.

“Dinner on a boat sounds…” Romantic as hell. “Great! And if it’s not available I’m sure we can find a nice spot somewhere. At the canals maybe?” You offered, wanting to throw in your two cents as well instead of just completely going along with what he said.

“I’ll give them a call. The canals would be nice as well!” He agreed, and shifted his weight from one foot to another as he looked at you. “Meet down here in an hour?”

You agreed and both went opposite ways towards your rooms. His was in a much more luxurious area of the hotel, which made sense. Once in your hotel room you quickly turned your suitcase upside down in search of something appropriate to wear. Would a dress be too much? The rest all seemed too casual and you had no idea how fancy that boat restaurant was. The dress would have to do. It was a simple, black, a-line dress but it looked very elegant on your figure. You freshened up in the bathroom and reapplied your makeup, hoping it all looked fine. 

Miraculously you had some time to kill, which basically meant you sat alone with your thoughts. Those that hadn’t stopped running the same sentence over and over after he had said it. Would you like to join me for dinner? You were genuinely confused why he had asked you. Maybe he just didn’t want to eat alone because it would attract extra attention to himself. Yeah. That must be it. And you guessed you were deemed nice enough to have a chat with. Which was great, but everything else was just confusing and slightly stressful. When you finally allowed yourself to go down ten minutes early, you found that Joseph was already waiting there. Dressed in black pants and a dark blue blouse, he looked incredibly handsome. He immediately noticed you as you exited the elevator, his neutral expression lighting up into a smile.

“Y/N, thank god, you made it. I managed to get a reservation in twenty minutes, so I was secretly hoping you’d be early too. They happened to have a cancellation. Our uber is ready too.”

“Oh that’s great! I’m really curious about this restaurant. Is it just docked in one of the canals or does it actually fare?” You asked curiously, while trying to calm yourself down inwardly that you were going to sit in front of this handsome man for a whole meal. Oh god. What if you made a total fool of yourself?

They have a route that goes partially through the canals, so we’ll be able to do a slight bit of sightseeing if we’re lucky. It might be too dark outside already.”

He held the door open for you to slide inside the uber and then joined from the other side. Again. What a gentleman.

“Have you decided on what you might want to visit tomorrow?” You wanted to know. While you hadn’t made specific plans just yet, you wanted to check out some things as well before you had to go back. Your silly brain allowed yourself to hope that maybe you could do some sightseeing together. Not that you were going to ask him that, oh no. That was way too embarrassing. What if he said no?

“I have some time to squeeze in one or two things. Later tomorrow I have an interview through zoom with someone in New York though, and we leave again early the next day. So I have a bit of time but nothing too grand. Any recommendations?”

“I was thinking of visiting Anne Frank’s house. I’ve heard many stories about that. And Rijksmuseum, maybe. Those are things I’d want to do, but I can’t exactly recommend them because I’ve never been.”

“Those were on my list as well as the Vincent van Gogh museum. Haven’t decided yet.”

“I heard there was a special exhibition there, temporarily.”

“Oh, really? Can’t miss out on that now, can I? It’s not like I’m a very artsy person, I don’t necessarily feel things when I look at paintings, but I do appreciate the craft. And Van Gogh does have a nice style. I’ve got a small print of one of his works in my hallway. Sorry,” he winced and chuckled awkwardly.

“For what?” You genuinely wanted to know. He shrugged and avoided your gaze, disguised by looking out the car window for scenery.

“For going on a ramble.”

“Don’t be silly! I’m the same with art. Especially abstract pieces. I try to find a meaning in them but sometimes… a blob is just a blob.” You shrugged.

“Yes!” Joseph seemed happy that someone agreed. You briefly wondered if he was just always happy when he met someone like minded or if he simply had a lot of artsy friends. He seemed to relax after you didn’t make a fuss about him being talkative and suddenly mentioned how disappointed he was in the Mona Lisa.

“She’s just so small. I never expected a huge painting, but I also didn’t expect people to gather in rows and rows to catch a glimpse of this tiny painted woman,” he mumbled. When you arrived at the dock where the boat would set sail from, you both got out and Joseph gallantly held out his arm for you to take.

“I’ve noticed the streets can be pretty uneven here,” he used to reason as to why he provided his arm. You nodded, looking down at your low boots. There was a reason you didn’t wear heels. One, the streets. Two, Joseph wasn’t that tall and you didn’t want to be taller. Three, fine. Maybe you didn’t bring any heels.

“Careful, these stairs are a little slippery,” he warned you softly, making sure he held onto the railing tightly while continuing to hand out stability to you with his arm.

“You look really pretty. I wanted to say so earlier but words got away from me,” he told you right before you entered the boat. A blush tainted your cheeks and you smiled softly.

“Oh— Thank you. You look very handsome yourself.”

“Oh, stop it,” he chuckled abashedly as he let you go in first. After Joseph checked in with the waiter for your reservation under the name of Steven Johnson and sat you down near a window, you couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Should I call you Steven for the time being?” You asked him softly. Joseph covered half his face with his hand and groaned.

“I panicked when they asked for a name alright? I know it’s not the best.”

“It’s fine.”

When the waiter came over for drinks you decided on red wine, while he went with a dark beer. You discussed your food options thoroughly, with Joseph managing to get totally lost into his food related stories at nearly each one. You had had a short world tour of his experiences in several countries by the time you had both made up your minds, nearly able to taste it after Joseph’s detailed descriptions. His eyes lit up when the breadbasket was brought to the table and he eyed it eagerly, waiting for you to go first. You took the butter knife and added salty butter to one, looking up.

“Do you want one too?” You asked politely, holding the one you just smeared out for him to take.

“I’d— Oh, thank you,” he responded slightly flustered, accepting the slice from you and then watched you make another one. When the main course arrived, you were well into your third, maybe fourth topic of the evening. It all felt so natural that you sometimes forgot that you had been putting this man onto a pedestal for some time. Not that he didn’t deserve a pedestal anymore, he was an amazing guy still, but he felt more leveled. Equal. In reach. Quite literally so, but also figuratively. He was just Joe. That’s what he preferred to be called. Though you stubbornly kept the joke up and only called him Steven for the rest of the evening. Whenever there was silence, you would look out the window and admire the city, as far as the darkness allowed you to. The reflection of the windows in combination with the lights from both inside and out made it a tricky view, but a pretty one nonetheless. When Joe’s knee nudged yours, you turned your head to look at him but his eyes weren’t on you. After subtly nudging his leg back with your own, he kept it there. It seemed to be intentional. You decided it was late enough to go for a stroll on your way back to the hotel instead of getting a ride, and found yourselves admiring the pretty lit canals, where you were momentarily distracted by a stray cat. Joe watched you with a calm nature while he smoked a cigarette, passing the time until you had told the cat goodbye. Passing the Dam, you noticed it was still pretty lively, and you spent a bit of time watching a performer dance with fire.

“Oh, it’s my agent, hang on.” Joe excused himself and walked away from the small crowd that had gathered around the performer. While you were curious, you didn’t want to be impolite and stare, so instead you looked around the crowd. After what seemed like ten minutes, the crowd had thinned out and the performer was packing up his stuff. You stood there awkwardly, not wanting to ogle the performer who was clearly done, but also not wanting to bother Joe. Instead, you took some distance from both and sat down on a stone bench. It was obvious that Joe’s mood was sour when he returned to your side, slumping down next to you.

“Turns out I only have the morning left tomorrow. Change of plans. So I won’t be able to check out anything, not enough time. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me but unfortunately I can’t even do that.”

“Oh I’m sorry, that’s a bummer. Where do you need to be?” It was hard to keep your expression in check. To not look too disappointed at this news while in reality you felt down to cry. The fact that he had wanted to go sightseeing with you possibly made it even worse.

“You can’t tell anyone, but I’ve got a photoshoot for this magazine thing in LA.”

“That sounds, uhm, cool,” you tried to say enthusiastically but failed horribly once you saw his expression.

“Yeah, it is. Just not so fond of last minute changes.” He rubbed his palms onto his knees, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that welled up in his stomach.

“I get that. I don’t like them either. I guess I’ll have to enjoy tomorrow for both of us.”

“Please do.”

You would do anything to get that sad expression off his face. If only you knew how. A random idea sprung to mind and instead of thinking it through like you usually did, assessing the pros and cons and whatnot, you blurted out a question.

“Do you like reading?”

Joe frowned a little at the sudden topic change but nodded. 

“I do, yeah, why?”

“Would you like to check out a bookstore with me? We could have breakfast somewhere and do just that, before you have to leave? Unless you don’t have the time or,” you laughed softly, “don’t really want to.” Joe shifted so he could turn for a better look at you.

“I’d love to.” His voice was sincere. Much more sincere than you had heard him be all day. Apart from during dinner, maybe. It was a relief to see his clouded expression had lifted almost instantly. 

You decided that you both wanted to be well rested for the day after and headed back to the hotel, though there was a reluctance on both sides to work towards the end of today. It was obvious when the two of you parted ways, at the elevators, and even more obvious when you both stole glances from each other at different moments, convinced the other hadn’t looked at all. Even more obvious was the fact that neither of you could fall asleep, not until you accepted that the other person was going to be on your mind all night.

The last morning

Joe met you in the lobby dressed in black jeans, a white tucked in blouse and a coat that was already on his arm, his smile lighting up at the sight of you. 

“Good morning,” he greeted you softly, his voice a little hoarse still. He cleared his throat and reached for his vape, as if that was going to make it better. You smiled softly.

“Morning, Steven.”

“Oh stop it,” he groaned. “I’m never gonna get away with that, am I?”

“Nah. Especially not after accidentally telling me Steven is actually your go to alias and not just one slip up. From Australia, no less!”

“Think of a better name then, on the spot. Go. Go!” He urged you on with a youthful grin.

“Legolas.” You responded deadpanned.

Joe snorted and shook his head, already heading to the exit. “Oh come on, you didn’t even try,” he protested.

“I did! I was trying to think of an easy to remember name for you and couldn’t help but think about that massive cardboard you told me ab—”

“Now you’re just taking the mick,” he sighed. “I need more leverage to do the same to you, this is unfair.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

You and Joe made your way into the city to find a nice place to have breakfast at and you were quite relieved that you weren’t spotted. You loved watching him devour his breakfast, which was three times as extensive as yours, and see pure joy on his face at each bite he took. Time flew by as you shared more about your lives, and before you knew it you only had half an hour to get to the bookstore before Joe would be picked up to go to the airport. He was apologizing profusely, feeling guilty for messing up your nice idea to spend your morning, and you had to assure him it was okay.

“Honestly, don't worry about it. We had a great time at breakfast too, did we not?” You told him.

“Yes, but now there’s so little time left—”

“Would it be better if we skipped it altogether? I don’t want you to feel hurried,” you offered, as much as you would love to check out some books with him. Joe simply refused.

“No, we’re going to the bookstore. Even if I can only stick around for ten minutes.” He was steadfast and you decided it was best not to argue and lose more time. His concerned face was not something you liked to see on the man. The bookstore had several levels and wasn’t too crowded, but you noticed Joe wasn’t exactly relaxed either.

“Were you looking for something specific?” He asked after you reached the top level. You shook your head and shrugged.

“There are some books I still want to read, but… nothing specific in mind. Maybe The Midnight Library. It’s been out for a few years already but I still haven’t gotten around to it,” you explained. Joe hummed to let you know he heard you and the next moment, he had disappeared. For a hot second you worried that he had ditched you. Maybe for having a bad taste in books, or him suddenly realizing the time and not bothering to say goodbye. Neither scenario sounded very sensible, but your brain loved to make up scenarios that weren't sensible. You shrieked softly when he suddenly popped up next to you again, holding a paper bag with a book in it. The Midnight Library.

“A parting gift,” he said with a small, nervous smile. “A little hurried and a little lame, but there’s no time for something better. I had a great time with you so I wanted to give you a token of my gratitude.”

You stared at him, his big brown eyes peering nervously into yours to figure out your expression, when you suddenly hugged him.

“But I didn’t get you anything,” you mumbled next to his ear as you felt your cheeks grow warm when he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“We weren’t exchanging gifts, so there’s no need,” Joseph said softly into your hair, his hand coming up to the back of your head. There were so many things you wanted to say to him at that moment, but no words came out. Eventually you uttered a thank you as you held on to the embrace that was lasting way too long for it to not be awkward.

Except it wasn’t awkward at all. And you didn’t want it to end. Neither did he, it seemed, when his phone went off and he reluctantly let go of you to pick up.

“My ride’s here,” he announced sourly. You followed him outside, wanting to properly send him off despite the growing lump in your throat. You wanted to say something. Exchange numbers, or whatever, but your fear of having him reject you was too big of a risk. This was it. You should be happy, having gotten to spend so much time with him already, right? So why did it feel like you lost a part of you when he finally stepped into the car after one last, quick hug? When he looked at you through the window and smiled a smile that didn’t meet his eyes? You felt simply horrible. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was always much better in fiction, you thought. With their sappy happy endings and people running out of cars or going to airports to confess their love to each other after spending a mere day together. You hated the unrealistic part of it, and yet you craved it like nothing else right now.

A week later

Things had gone back to normal again. All but for one thing. He was on your mind all the time. It distracted you from everything you had to do. Stupid man. With his stupid handsome face and his stupid pretty smile and his stupid gorgeous hair. You never expected to suddenly fly off into the sunset with him, but man did you wish it had gone exactly like that. Instead, you had watched him leave in a car with a sad expression on his face that told you he didn’t want to leave you either. Or maybe you had just imagined it. You never even brought yourself to do more than hold the book, only to put it back in the paper bag that you didn’t want to throw away. It was all you had to go with your memories. To remember it was real. That, and some photos on Getty Images that you found highly unflattering. You had saved them anyway. Deniz had comforted you when you told him about what had happened and he was convinced that you would meet him again.

“He likes you. It’s obvious from what you’ve told me. He invited you to dinner right away, didn’t want the evening to end, wanted to spend his only other free day with you as well and did so until the last minute? Come on. I’m sure the asshat just forgot to give him your number and is eating himself up over it. I promise. I’ll eat my keyboard if you don’t end up dating him.”

You laughed softly and shook your head at him, and you loved him for trying to make you feel better.

“Please don’t eat your keyboard, I am busy enough as it is without getting your tasks piled up on me as well,” you joked. Deniz wanted to respond but suddenly got distracted by a view that was coming into your direction.

“Who do you think that’s for?” Deniz asked, gesturing at the bouquet of flowers that was definitely larger than your head. You shrugged.

“Probably Melody’s. Or Petra’s,” you listed the two pretty blondes in the office. Deniz shrieked softly when the person holding the bouquet passed both their desks.

“Oh my god. Never manifested something so quickly,” he whispered to himself. When they finally stopped at your desk and handed it to you, you were at a loss for words.

“The card, check the card!” Deniz urged on.

You searched through a bouquet of beautiful gerberas, lilies and other flowers you didn’t know the name of and finally found a tiny card. You barely heard Deniz’s confused reaction about the name on the card, as all sounds seemed to die down instantly as you read the card.

Just in case the note I secretly put into your book didn’t make it safely to your hotel for whatever reason. - Steven x

Below his name was a phone number and you recognized the country code immediately. Definitely not Australia.

FIN

[occulthours]

Can you rate some bonnie ships

Sure! This is just based on my personal preference, combining what we got in canon and the potential Bonnie stans explore in fanon.

This is pretty long so I'll put a text breaker (or whatever that's called) here. If you wanted me to go in-depth for a certain ship, feel free to ask! I apologize in advance for any misspells, grammar mistakes or errors.

1. Stefonnie and Bonkai

I have a few posts dedicated to my love of Stefonnie, but I’ll say it again, out of all of Bonnie’s ships, they had some of the best foundations based on canon alone. Same with Bonkai. There easily could’ve been a smooth transition into a relationship for both ships.

Season 5 was the perfect time to set Stefonnie up instead we got the blandness that is Ste.roline due to how similar their arcs were up to that point and how the main conflict of that season affected them two the most out of the main cast.

Anyone with eyes could see that Bonkai had a similar setup to TVDUS “dark romance” ships like DE and KC. The whole “bad boy x good girl” trope combined with the “evil guy is willing to change to earn the heart of the morally rich girl” trope was very on brand for Julie and Bonkai did it in a way that, again in my opinion, subverted from the norm. Bonnie held Kai accountable in a way that Elena and Caroline simply didn’t when it came to their highly questionable boyfriends. On top of that, I loved how Kai brought out the more vengeful side of Bonnie that had been somewhat watered down in seasons 3-5. Bonkai had one thing that was missing from all of Bonnie’s canon ships; passion. Out of all of Bonnie’s ships, canon or otherwise, Bonkai had the most electric chemistry. You can feel the emotions from Kat and Chris through the screen and they played off each other so well.

2. Klonnie

Bonnies ship with the most wasted potential. Klaus and Bonnie had everything in place to be a well-done ship. Not only did Kat and Joseph have great chemistry, but they were the biggest captains of this ship when Klaus was just getting started in TVD. They individually had the most interesting lore of all the TVDU characters and given how intertwined the Mikaelsons and the Bennetts were, should’ve interacted far more times in canon. Klaus was said to always have a witch by his side but wouldn't want to seduce Bonnie into joining his team after nearly reaching the damn near impossible feat of killing him? As a "novice" witch at that!

Additionally, Bonnie would've THRIVED in The Originals. TO was a very witch-centric show with a lot of characters I would've loved seeing Bonnie interact with. No offense to Hayley, but there's no denying that Bonnie being Hope's mother would have made more sense than what canon gave us.

3. Bonora

If Julie and Co didn’t want Bonnie to date one of their precious fan-favorite white men, fine. Bonora was there and would’ve been such a nice ship for Bonnie. Kat had been advocating for Bonnie to be bisexual for a long time to no avail instead we got Fr.eelin which, no shade, is basically shein Bonora despite Kat having great chemistry with women as well as men. If you had put Nora in Enzo's place in the later 2 seasons of the show very little would’ve changed. In fact, Bonnie’s arc would’ve significantly improved.

4. Kennett

Kennett has somewhat slipped down my ranking due to how disgusting the actor who plays Kol is, but for the ship's sake let’s just imagine Daniel Sherman was the one to start off playing Kol, okay? Okay <3

Kol was said to have a love of witches very early on in the show. The most consistent thing about his character was how he stayed connected to magic despite no longer being able to practice it himself. Bonnie was undisputedly the most powerful witch he had ever come across. Why wasn’t he more interested in her? Bonnie was the one solving everyone’s magical issues as a 17-year-old self-trained witch. Kol would’ve loved to dissect her mind, watch her do spells, and even share his own 1000 years' worth of knowledge about magic with her.

5. Tonnie

I honestly don’t have much to say about Tonnie, but I do think they could’ve been fun in the later seasons. Julie said that her shitty alternative ending for Bonnie was her ending up with Matt and having children with him, which sucks ASS by the way, and while I had the idea of Bonnie getting an even more half-baked romance than she got with Jeremy and Enzo, I would've sucked it up if it were with Tyler. Bonnie and Tyler were childhood friends and should've gotten even closer when Elena and Matt started dating considering they were their best friends. I can definitely imagine Elena trying to force Bonnie on a double date with her, Matt, and Tyler.

While Forwood is one of my favorite canon TVDU ships, Tyler and Bonnie bonding early on over their supernatural heritage would've made a lot more sense given that witches and werewolves traditionally get along significantly better than either species do with vampires.

6. Bamon

If you had asked me this in 2020/21, Bamon would've topped my list. I don't by any means hate them, but I'm admittedly not as fond of them anymore. I feel like Bamon is most serious Bonnie stans first, and/or most beloved ship. And it makes sense! Bonnie and Damon had excellent chemistry, a large amount of focus on their relationship in season 6 and onward, and a lot of romantically coded scenes despite the writers' hopes of dissuading the fans. My biggest gripe with Bamon is that, like most dynamics including Damon, Damon benefits from having Bonnie in his life significantly more than Bonnie benefits from having Damon in her life. Additionally, given how they wrote Steroline in regards to Stelena, how Bamon would play out in canon in regards to Delena sounds like a nightmare to me.

7. Bonenzo

Bonenzo is Bonnie's best canon ship but lord knows that's not saying a lot. The ship felt as if the writers took bits and pieces from Bamon and Kennett/Kolvina and said "Here, damn!" in hopes to shut Bonnie fans up. I honestly wouldn't dislike them nearly as much if they were actually endgame. Enzo's presence was merely to give Bonnie a romance, and he didn't even fulfill the means that justified his existence.

8. Beremy

He cheated on her with a ghost. Enough said.

[strangerthingssimps-blog]

Joe keery x Reader

You were sat there watching Free guy, with your 7 year old daughter on disney plus. She loved the movie, she had watched it 12 times since it came out. You didn’t mind it either.

Keys came onto the screen..

“Mom, look it’s dad” She said pointing at the screen, you looked and saw your husband Joe on the scene. He was so gorgeous in any role he had. You had met Joe in college and you got married 2 years after college in 2012.

It was a beautiful wedding, your family flew all the way from England for the wedding. Joe’s mom and sister’s helped you pick out your wedding dress since your mother wanted nothing to do with the bridal side. She just turned up to congratulate you.

You never had a good relationship with your parents; they were always away on business trips while you were stuck looking after your younger brother. Your brother was a little angel. He was 11 at the time of your wedding.

You were getting ready and one of Joe's sisters said someone wanted to see you and then your little brother walked in the room wearing a suit and handed you some flowers. You started tearing up and gave him a massive hug.

Instead of your father walking you down the aisle, Your brother found it adorable how a little boy was walking his big sister down the aisle.

In 2016, Joe got the biggest role in his life as Steve harringron. He then grew as an actor and soon you was known as the wife of the famous Joe keery. It was weird at first but then you got used to it.

In 2017, You gave birth to your daughter. Joe was emotional when he saw his daughter for the first time. He had always wanted a daughter and now he had one. You both decided to name Grace Lillie Ann keery.

Here you were now in 2021 watching his newest movie where he was playing a geeky nerd. He still was good looking to you. It reminds of what Joe looked like when you first met in college all those years ago.

Grace had Brown hair and hazel eyes, she had inherited that from her father but she had your face shape and smile which Joe is thankful for. She was wearing her Scoops ahoy hoodie that she brough when season 3 came out. She loved meeting everyone when he took her on set. She was mostly fond of Gaten since she saw him the most.

3 months later…

Joe was in Indiana filming the fourth season of Stranger things, they were all in costume and they were on a break when all of sudden they heard..

“GATEN” They all looked to see your daughter running up to gaten. Gaten then picked her up while the cast members looked in awe,

Joe saw this and saw you and ran up to you, he was happy to see both of you and his other baby, he picked up his pet pomeranian that you got him for his 24th birthday.

Gaten then passed Grace around the cast members introducing her to Jamie and Joseph, Jamie was out of costume and Joseph was dressed as Eddie. Grace smiled and gave them both a high five. They accepted and gave her a high five back.

After everyone had held Grace…

“Daddy” Grace said running up Joe in his Steve Harrington Costume. Joe saw this and kneeled down and opened his arms so that Grace could land into his arms. Grace then jumped and landed into his arms and Joe pulled her close and gave her a giant hug.

“Oh no daddy you're hurt” Grace says as she looks at Joe who was wearing the outfit he was wearing when he went into the upside down world the first time. He has fake bite marks and scars and it upset Grace.

“NO DADDY” Grace says as she starts crying at the thought of her father being hurt. All the Cast then look at Grace in awwe. Grace then started to cry harder as Joe looked at her and started to comfort her.

“No sweetie daddy’s fine, it’s fake i promise you. It’s for the scene. Daddy’s not really hurt” Joe says while trying to calm your daughter down while tears fell down her cheeks.

“You promise” Grace said through some sniffles as she calmed down.

“I promise” Joe says reassuring your daughter while the cast members stood there in Awwe. On how good Joe was with her when she was upset. None of them not even gaten had ever seen her cry before so they were a bit shocked. A couple minutes later she calmed down and stopped crying.

You then went up to Joe and gave him a quick kiss before you took your daughter into her arms and rocked her to sleep.

“You better get back to filming, me and Grace will be sitting in your Trailer while you do this alright” You say as you say goodbye to the rest of the cast and put Grace back into the stroller and head to his trailer.

When you get there the trailer is in great condition as always, you still remember when Joe had to come shoot Season 2 and it was only a few weeks after Grace was born, he felt so guilty leaving you with a newborn so he made sure he got a new trailer to fit the needs of a Newborn so that you could come and stay in the trailer while he worked on scenes.

You then got Grace out of the stroller and laid her on the little bean bag that he bought for her to sleep on in 2018, when he was filming Season 3.

[jennay]

Play Pretend (2)

An: I was thinking about a mini series? What do you think? Anything you’d love to see? Angst, fluff, whatever? I can suggest smut but I’m not huge on writing it. Anyways if you enjoy and want more please reblog comment and let me know 💜

Master List

Part 1

Months passed before you gave in to Joseph and agreed to lunch. It's not that you didn't want to see him, but with how your life was going, it was easier to lie through a text message. You didn't want him to know for the past few months you'd been out partying and drowning any emotion you had with alcohol and any pain relievers you could get your hands on.

Joseph had asked if it was ok that Jamie came to lunch, and for a brief second, you were upset, and then you were excited to see him. You looked fabulous and could easily convince him you were doing fine without him. You'd be lying if you said you didn't miss Jamie's company, but there was no chance in hell that you would be the one to reach out.

When you round the corner, it's not hard to spot your dorky friends sitting around a table outside the restaurant. Jamie looked like a rockstar out of place, and Joseph looked like he was going to a photoshoot.

You quietly sneak up behind Joseph, giving Jamie the universal sign to be quiet by putting your finger to your lips. You abruptly grab Joseph's shoulders and yell, "Boo!"

Joseph spills his water on his lap, which causes Jamie to clap his hands together and laugh. "She got you."

You bend down and wrap your arms around his shoulders, leaving a slobbery kiss on his cheek. "Hello, darling, did you miss me?" You pull one of the chairs out and sit next to Joseph. You hand him a few paper towels. "We can't take you anywhere without you making a mess."

He glares and continues cleaning up his pants. "I didn't think you'd be so cheerful considering how drunk you were last night." He laughs, "Babbling on about your new lover."

Your mouth drops. "I told you about that?" You look around the table searching for water, your mouth feels dry, and you can feel hangover anxiety reaching your throat. You grab Jamie's ice water and take a drink. "Honestly, I'm hungover as shit, and I don't remember much from last night, so disregard anything I said." You say, taking another drink of water and

Jamie grabs his cup back from you. "I've got cooties, you know?" He chuckles at his own joke.

Shrugging, you say, "I've had grosser things of yours in my mouth."

Jamie's face scrunches, and he looks offended by your words. "I'm not gross!"

Joseph covers his mouth, making gagging noises, "That's not an image I wanted in my head."

"Sure you didn't." You wink in his direction.

He groans at your gesture, "I honestly could've done without, sweetheart."

"Are you ready to order?"

Your eyes shoot to the waitress, "I'll take a vodka cranberry and an ice water, please." You hand her your menu, not bothering with the food. You weren't hungry, but you needed something to kill the hangover. The two men watch with concern. "Look, I need you two to put those judgy eyes away. I can't handle any more anxiety today."

"I'll have the number twelve, please."

You find yourself admiring Jamie while he studies the menu. His finger taps his full lips, and he scrunches his nose every time he almost decides something.

His eyes raise to the waitress, "The number six sounds outstanding."

Joseph gently kicks your leg under the table, snapping you back to reality. You shake your head away from Jamie and meet Joseph's gaze, "So," He says, "Tell us about the new guy."

"Thank you." You say to the woman who brings you your drink. "Well, he's an actor. He's charming, funny, and the sex!" You say, emphasizing the last word.

"I don't want to hear about your sex life." Joseph says, "Not with Jamie, strangers, or yourself."

Jamie laughs, "We did have good sex." He teases Joseph.

Smirking, you say, "Maybe good for you." That's right (y/n); keep hitting him where it hurts the most. You give him the sweetest sarcastic smile you can muster up. "Anyhow, his name is Alex Shepard, and we actually haven't had sex. I'm saving the goods for now."

Joseph's brow crinkles, "The Alex Shepard?"

Jamie's body stiffens, and out of the corner of your eye, you see his look of disgust. "Alex is a pig. Do you know how many women have come forward saying he's abusive? You'd think you, of all people, would believe the victims."

"He was never charged, and it was a miss understanding. The two girls took back the claims and even said they were doing it for his money." You roll your eyes and chug the rest of your drink. "I shouldn't be surprised that you would have such a negative attitude about someone I'm dating." You set your glass down roughly. "You had your chance, Jamie. Now fuck off and let me find my person."

Jamie scoffs and pushes his food away, "No, absolutely not! You have no idea who you're dating. This has nothing to do with my feelings (Y/N). This is strictly because I care about you!"

"Guys." Joseph tries to intervene, but it's too late. "Lower your voices."

"You sound like a jealous boy." You taunt.

Jamie tilts his head, slightly annoyed by your assumptions. "Someone needs to look after you! Joseph is too nice to tell you, you make bad choices. Everyone sees it besides you. It's insane!" He yells.

You scoot back in your chair, aggravated by his words. You stand up and throw cash on the table. "It was nice seeing you guys and not at the same time. Seems to be a running theme, so I'm gonna go." You start down the sidewalk, not giving them any time to react. "Don't bother me anymore."

Part 3

Tag list - @cat-loves-music @lma1986

Thanks for reading!

[dis-astre]

hi to the new people in the les mis fandom joining bc of joseph quinn, it is lovely to have u all with us and u are more than welcome, however u should know that bbc enjolras (and the whole bbc adaptation) is nowhere close to the original character and everything he represent.

while joseph quinn did a really good job at acting enjolras, the way the writers wrote his character was bad and out of character. obviously, and it's normal, an adaptation will always have its own interpretation of a character, and that's what's make fiction so great. but i think u need to be aware of the fact that it's not a good representation of what enjolras' character is and what his character has been representing for over 150 years (i could go into details and maybe will but it's late and i'm working early tomorrow).

i also wanted to say, as a reminder that, while it's completely fine to simp for enjolras (no one is immune to him, whether he's played by aaron tveit, joseph quinn or anyone else) and find him hot (because he IS hot or because he's played by joseph quinn, again, i get it; i don't find moustachjolras hot but damn that man is find irl), u need to be aware that enjolras is a queer character. it's stated multiple times that he has no interest in women, never has and never will. his character has been an important representation for the queer community, him being compared to a lot of gay historical figures (and i'm not going to start with the enjoltaire); but also for the aromantic and asexual community and trans community. his character is very likely to be aroace; and victor hugo describe him as being very androgynous looking, looking like a young woman. and while i don't want to talk on behalf of the trans community, i've seen a lot of post and fanfictions headcanoning him as trans, and i think it's very important to have that kind of representation in such an important piece of classical literature.

so please, be aware that the y/n fanfic and nswf y/n fanfic with female character x enjolras can be really disturbing, especially for people who have been in the fandom for a long time and are really looking up to his character and kinning him. don't just reduce him to hot-man-u-wanna-do-the-dirty-with when his character carries so much importance and has for decades. and i promise, caring about a character's whole essence and personality doesn't make them any less interesting or hot (quite the contrary actually).

also, let's not forget how we collectively hated on the casting choice when it first came out and i find it a bit odd to suddenly change our mind just bc it's the same actor who plays eddie munson. i personally think we were right to complain, bc it WAS a bad casting choice considering all the physical description of enjolras we had (and yes, in les mis, his physical appearance matters of lot).

we are not trying to gatekeep our fandom. on the contrary, i think it's really pretty fucking cool to have new people finding an interest in a 160yo book ! and for me, u guys are more than welcome to join our sad silly little fandom. but we just want u to be aware of all of this (and maybe some other issues that do not cross my mind rn) and be educated so we can all be drama free.

ok i'm done now, sorry for the long post, welcome again to the fandom, and if u decide to stay be ready for the tears and the pain caused by mr victor hugo ! bye bye, with love, a little french fan

[phenexhotfury]

🌙🌹Get to know them better! Character sheets for The Sunny Show AU : Attraction ☀️❤️

This is the character sheets that I made with a little backstory and their role, but their Likes and Dislikes will remain the same like in OG SDJ.

Update Story 🫴🏻☀️

1.Ian

I think that Ian (TSS AU) is better be a photographer. You will see the story through his eyes / camera lens. Like what they said: Ghost can be seen through the camera lens, so you guys can see Jack walking beside MC all along.

2.Shaun

He is the one who invited MC to this production as an (Actor/Actress), but why you?

-The story I plotted for The Sunny Show AU is…

First there a murder happened in the Sunny Show.

Second a burn down tragedy of Sunny Show in 1984 which Joseph died in that fire, but Joseph/Jack still haunted down this place

Third, Grace’s body has been found in Animatronic suit in the backstage

after that this place has been shut down, but our MC got inherited this place from her mother(Gina) and Aunt(Grace).

so we are the owner of this place too. If Shaun needs to film the story of that tragedy. He needs MC permission first.

3.Nick

His story will focus on solving this mystery with you through the play. MC will discover the truth with him.

He might be the one who ends this mystery too. (If he doesn’t died first). You better saved him for a good ending.

Love Gauge? Why we need it?

-I created the Love Gauge system to made you know characters feeling towards you.

-Because I might let you guys pick MC decision for this story!

So stay tuned!!! 💕 I made it this far because of your love and support.

you can follow my art though a Twitter : @phenexhotfury

And feel free to ask me about the story ok? See you next time!

[yukidragon]

Hi yuki! You are my favorite sdj writer and I really love your theories and headcanons.

I want to tell you a theory about nick and I want to know what you think.

For some reason youtube recommended a video about the psychology of porn actors and it made me think of nick, he is a male dominator, i think he may have an only fans where he uploads videos of him having sex with other people or playing with sex toys.

I feel that him work may affect him personal relationships, the people don't want to date workers from the porn industry and if they do it's out of interest, I wouldn't be surprised if Nick had a bad time because of it, and if he tries to hide from us what is his job? fearing that we will think badly about him or try to take advantage of him?

I feel that Nick is afraid of being judged for his work and that they only see him as a porn actor and not for who he is, that they only want him to have sex but nobody wants to know the person he really is, reminds me in part of jack, after all they saw him as a pretty face and sexualized him despite being an actor on a children's show, I would not be surprised if the few relationships that joseph and nick could have were only for their appearance and their partners would not be interested in who they really were.

maybe nick just wants a friend or partner who loves him for who he is and doesn't just want to have sex with him.

well that's all, I hope you could understand all my english is not very good ^^'

Awww, thank you so much! That really makes me happy to hear that you enjoy my writing and theories.

Don't worry about your English. You did just fine, and your insight into Nick is really great. You've given me so much to think about.

You know what, I think you might be onto something with this theory. While I did come up with a theory that Nick is a yandere (along with all the other love interests) as well as a stalker, this is a much more likely scenario for where his story is going to go.

A major theme to the game is the entertainment industry and how it affects people. As you pointed out, the interview with Dan showed that celebrities like Jack are treated pretty poorly. There's almost this sense of entitlement people have towards them. Just because they're a public figure, the public can mistakenly believe they're to personal details or even an intimate relationship with that person, or at least to the person they assume them to be.

Nick, being someone who does sex work, even if just remotely online, would no doubt face people who felt entitled to him on a much more personal level without actually knowing him personally. He's the sexy dom, making money doing sexually explicit shows for his fans, holding contests where one lucky fan gets a one-on-one session with him, as we've heard in an audio drama posted on the Snaccpop Studios Patreon.

The person an actor portrays isn't the person they really are, and the feelings/beliefs/etc. they display might not align. Even this sexy dom personality he portrays might not be what he actually wants from a sexual partner. What he might want in his actual sex life is to be a submissive letting a dominant take control. It could just be acting like a dom online simply works for him to make a living.

It's entirely possible that MC catches Nick's eye because they're a cute person who doesn't know about his double life. They don't recognize his online persona, so they'd get to know him as Nick the shy guy in the yogurt shop, not as the sexy dom who streams pornographic content. He would get the chance to be, well, himself with someone, without them getting a mistaken impression about who he really is. That would make the idea of dating that cute cashier very appealing, I'd say.

Nick, or any actor really, will have trouble dating people who know them as their celebrity self first and their personal self later. There would be expectations based off this projected personality that might not live up to the real person on screen. Heck, it might be another reason why Ian is so desperate to get MC back after his affair. MC knew Ian before became an actor and model after all.

Jack seems to be embracing his persona in order to get love and - judging by the worst ending in the yogurt mini-game - he doesn't want to be anything but that character people saw him as. That persona was loved, but the real person behind the persona... well, it might not have been.

Nick could be self-conscious about what someone would think of him as, well, himself. The persona he plays is adored by many, but what about his awkward shy self? Would he be able to find love when he's not putting on an act?

Of course, at this point we don't know for sure how much of Nick's personality is that dom persona and how much is the shy one we saw in the demo. Which is the mask, and which is the real Nick? Are they both just different masks for different situations and the real Nick is someone we haven't even seen yet? For now all we can do is headcanon until the game comes out...

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[teabights]

Mosquitoes

Summary: youre a high school theatre teacher who meets JQ in a bar, having no idea who he is. You convince him to come to your school to help with the show, but then your students recognize him for his acting.

Warning: drinking

AN: this idea was cuter in my head. Also using *-*-* as time passing

"Can I have uh…. What would be good?" You say. "... tequila sunrise but make it a double."

"You got it boss. Tab?" The bartender asks.

You slide them a card. "Tab."

They take the card and start your drink.

Your eye scans the bar, watching people have conversations and smoke and do shitty karaoke songs. The bartender puts down your drink and you pick it up, mumbling out a 'thank you.' You walk over to a semi empty table of two men. You clear your throat to get their attention.

"Sorry, I was just wondering if I could grab a chair." You ask.

"Uh, go ahead love." The British accent rolls into your ears.

"Sweet, thank you." You say, grabbing the chair.

"No problem." His voice is soft.

You scoot the chair not too far from the table, but enough to give you space from two men. You sip your drink, pulling a little face. The school year started a couple months back and you hadn't had a drink since summer time. You need a break before you start the rehearsal process with your students. You reach into your bag with your free hand to pull out a script, you couldn't get away from work, especially not with the play. You read over it, sipping your drink. You are trying to think about the set up of the scene and blocking. You all of sudden feel eyes on you. You look up from your script to see the two men looking at you.

"What show are you doing?" The British accent asks you.

"Uh, it is Mosquitoes by Lucy Kirkwood. We had to hash the crap out of it so the school board would let us do it." You word vomit.

"Didn't you do Mosquitoes?" The other person chimes in, his voice is sweet.

"Yeah, it's a fun play." The first person says.

"Really? Did you like it? My kids aren't super excited about it, but it is so interesting." You nod your head.

"I did like it. It's been a while for me." He nods his head.

"Well, if you're in town long enough, you can swing by my school auditorium and help out." You say, a bit shy - ironic for a high school theatre teacher.

"I'd be absolutely honored. I am Joseph." Joseph finally introduces himself.

"I am Joe." The other one introduces himself.

"Nice to meet you Joseph and Joe." You chuckle. "I bet your friends love that."

"Oh yeah, especially since either one of us will respond to either." Joe says.

"Okay, well, I am going to uh, finish my drink, and uh, put this away for the night." You say, sipping your drink.

"Well, I hope everything goes well." Joseph says.

*-*-*

You go back to the bar every Saturday night, sure enough Joseph was there every time. He had a beer in hand and the last time had your drink ordered for you. You two got to know each other over the course of this time frame. Joseph doesn't let you know that he is a current actor for a TV series. He still goes off about doing local theatre in London.

"You have to come to Westlake High on Monday or Tuesday." You say with a small content sigh as you sip on your second double tequila sunrise.

"What time?" Joseph asks.

"4pm?" You answer him, a small smile spread on your lips. "Please Joey. You did this play already."

"Fine, I'll come by." Joseph says.

"All my students are really liking the play now. The guy who plays Luke loves the role. The two girls who play Alice and Jenny have created a real sisterly bond with each, which is selling the shit out of the play." You ramble on, tipsy at this point. You finish your drink, putting it down on the table.

"You want another drink?" Joseph asks.

"Uh, I am good. I should probably get home…" You say.

"Okay, do you need a lift? I can have Joe come pick us up? I've been staying with him and his girl while I do some work." Joseph says.

"I can order an uber." You say.

"Nah, nah, I insist." Joseph says.

That night Joe came to get you and Joseph.

*-*-*

You are watching the scene between Jenny and Luke, focusing on their blocking. They all of a sudden stop when they see a man walk into the auditorium, holding a small bouquet of flowers. You raise an eyebrow. You open your mouth, but then you see the flowers. You look over and there is Joseph.

"Hey, you came!" You say with a huge smile. You put down the director script you are working out of. You stand up and hug him.

"You said Monday or Tuesday at 4pm." Joseph says with a chuckle as he hugs you back.

"EVERYONE TO THE STAGE." You project your voice out and soon enough the stage fills with a handful of teenagers. "Everyone, this is Joseph, he actually did Mosquitoes back in London. I asked him to watch us today to give us tips. Best behavior today." You tell them.

"Joseph, like Joseph Quinn?" A student asks.

"Yeah," Joseph says. Oh no, everything was unraveling.

"Do the Eddie Monologue!" The same student asks.

You definitely aren't into what all the kids are into. You look over at him, his hand up on his neck as he rubs it.

"You never told me you acted!" You say to him.

"Uh, it never came up…" Joseph mumbles back.

"Ms. Y/L/N, where did you meet him?" A different student asks.

"He's doing press right now for Stranger Things, where did he find the time to hang out with Ms. Y/L/N." That first student who notices asks rhetorically.

"Well, we are behaving for Mr Quinn, so if you like your role or spot replaced, I suggest that we get back to what we are doing and if he'll let you, picture and stuff afterwards." You feel completely foolish. You watch the students disburse back to what they were working on. You had your Luke and Jenny stay on the stage.

"Did you want to get dinner?" Joseph asks.

"Are you going to lie again?" You whisper to him.

"Hey, look, I am sorry. I just wanted to know if you liked being around for me, not Joseph Quinn, an upcoming actor." His voice drops to a whisper.

"I like you for your intellect and your mutual love for the stage and performing. I've never even seen Stranger Things. I don't know who Eddie is or what the monologue is." You say softly.

"Oh, you'd love the monologue." He says with a grin.

"Just shush and sit down and help my students like I asked." You say firmly.

"Is that a yes on dinner?" He asks.

"Yes." You mutter. "ALRIGHT, LUKE AND JENNY, GO."

The rest of the rehearsal went well. Joseph helped a lot. He also allowed everyone to take pictures and did the monologue for you and your students. You were amazed at his American accent. You wouldn't have known he was British if you saw that first. You lean back in your spot, taking in all the marvel of this man, a random man you were destined to meet.

[byneddiedingo]

Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones in Duel in the Sun (King Vidor, 1946)

Cast: Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Herbert Marshall, Lillian Gish, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, Harry Carey, Tilly Losch, Butterfly McQueen. Screenplay: David O. Selznick, Oliver H.P. Garrett, based on a novel by Niven Busch. Cinematography: Lee Garmes, Ray Rennahan, Harold Rosson. Production design: J. McMillan Johnson. Film editing: Hal C. Kern. Music: Dimitri Tiomkin.

This is a bad movie, but it's one distinguished in the annals of bad movies because it was made by David O. Selznick, who as the poster shouted at moviegoers, was "The Producer Who Gave You 'GONE WITH THE WIND.'" Selznick made it to showcase Jennifer Jones, the actress who won an Oscar as the saintly Bernadette of Lourdes in The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). Selznick, who left his wife for Jones, wanted to demonstrate that she was capable of much more than the sweetly gentle piety of Bernadette, so he cast her as the sultry Pearl Chavez in this adaptation (credited to Selznick himself along with Oliver H.P. Garrett, with some uncredited help by Ben Hecht) of the novel by Niven Busch. Opposite Jones, Selznick cast Gregory Peck as the amoral cowboy Lewt McCanles, who shares a self-destructive passion with Pearl. Both actors are radically miscast. Jones does a lot of eye- and teeth-flashing as Pearl, while Peck's usual good-guy persona undermines his attempts to play rapaciously sexy. The plot is one of those familiar Western tropes: good brother Jesse (Joseph Cotten) against bad 'un Lewt, reflecting the ill-matched personalities of their parents, the tough old cattle baron Jackson McCanles (Lionel Barrymore) and his gentle (and genteel) wife, Laura Belle (Lillian Gish). Pearl is an orphan, the improbable daughter of an improbable couple, the educated Scott Chavez (Herbert Marshall) and a sexy Indian woman (Tilly Losch), who angers him by fooling around with another man (Sidney Blackmer). Chavez kills both his wife and her lover and is hanged for it, so Pearl is sent to live with the McCanleses -- Laura Belle is Chavez's second cousin and old sweetheart -- on their Texas ranch. It's all pretentiously packaged by Selznick: not many other movies begin with both a "Prelude" and an "Overture," composed by Dimitri Tiomkin in the best overblown Hollywood style. It has Technicolor as lurid as its story, shot by three major cinematographers, Lee Garmes, Ray Rennahan, and Harold Rosson. But any attempt to generate real heat between Jones and Peck was quickly stifled by the Production Code, which even forced Selznick to introduce a voiceover at the beginning to explain that the character of the frontier preacher known as "The Sinkiller" (entertainingly played by Walter Huston) was not intended to be a representative clergyman. There are a few good moments, including an impressive tracking shot at the barbecue on the ranch in which various guests offer their opinions of Pearl, the McCanles brothers, and other things. Whether this scene can be credited to director King Vidor, who was certainly capable of it, is an open question, because Vidor found working with the obsessive Selznick so difficult that he quit the film. Selznick directed some scenes, as did Otto Brower, William Dieterle, Sidney Franklin, William Cameron Menzies, and Josef von Sternberg, all uncredited. The resulting melange is not unwatchable, thanks to a few good performances in secondary roles (Huston, Charles Bickford, Harry Carey), and perhaps also to some really terrible ones (Lionel Barrymore at his most florid and Butterfly McQueen repeating her fluttery air-headedness from GWTW).

[dirtymartiniquinn]

Alias

part one - part two

Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader

Summary: You were supposed to guide David Harbour during the launch of the Stranger Things game that the company you work for created, however, he cancels at the last minute. His replacement? Joseph Quinn.

CW / disclaimer: rpf (don't read if it's not your jam), fem!reader, fluff

Author’s note: This is the kick-off fic for this page, so please be kind. I have several ideas in mind that I'm currently working on, so stay tuned for more!

Word count: 8k

“Ladies and gentlemen, Corendon Airlines welcomes you to Amsterdam. The local time is 9 P.M. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisle clear until we are parked at the gate.”

While this hadn’t been your first time visiting Amsterdam, the reason why was very different this time. Or perhaps not that different, were it not that you had a very personal reason why it was so different for you. The company you worked for, GED International, had developed an immersive multiplayer game to kick off the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. Aside from your love from the show, you also had a huge admiration for the cast. And while being a part of the release of Stranger Things: Invading The Upside Down was really cool in itself, the fact that you were pointed to be the guide of the one and only David Harbour had you jittery for weeks. It made sense that an actor would fly over to promote it, but you hadn’t expected it regardless. It just wasn’t how your luck usually worked. Not this time though. This time, you were the one who was going to show Jim Hopper around Amsterdam, as that was where the event would take place all around the city. You were well acquainted enough with the city, having spent several years working there on and off. It always felt like a weird coming home, although this time you would reside in a hotel for a couple days. One day for the event, two leisure days.

After waiting for a good twenty minutes, you were finally able to get up from your seat and out of the plane, on your way to get your luggage. Your colleagues already arrived earlier to set up several things, but since your task was literally getting David from A to B and entertaining him a little during, you didn’t have to be earlier than the evening beforehand. The wait for your luggage to show up was as stressful as ever, but thankfully the rollerband hadn’t disappointed you once and quietly (not really) provided you with your suitcase after some time. On your way to the hotel you decided to grab a quick bite from the popular fries shack that was quite literally on your way towards The Dam, along with what the Dutch call a “frikandel”, which was essentially a lengthy meat stick. It was a craving you had whenever you visited the Netherlands, which your colleagues thought was the funniest thing after you described it to them for the first time. The Dutch had more things you had a weak spot for though, such as “stroopwafels” and their delicious tiny pancakes that they called “poffertjes”. You’d probably indulge and get it the next day, if you had the time. Your hotel wasn’t far removed from The Dam, which was still bustling in the late summer evening, with their street artists keeping up the crowd. You had to unpack, iron your clothes and get ready for bed though, so there was no time to stick around.

You nearly bumped into a guy on your way into your hotel, who was so focused on holding his head down that he hadn’t noticed you and apologized with a quick and very British “sorry”, though not even glancing in your direction. You had been too busy saving your suitcase from falling down the stairs to whip your head around in time. The guy had already gone and with him, the familiar voice that left you wondering whether your mind was just playing tricks on you.

The event had just gone to your head. Of course you had hoped it would have been him to promote the game. His character’s return had already been announced in a subtle teaser that had the world in their grasp at the moment, so soon before the release of the last season. Besides, with him residing in London it almost felt like it made the most sense. You shook your head, it hadn’t been him. It was just a random Brit with a similar voice. They were out there. You realized you had been standing in the middle of the lobby where the receptionist had been looking at you with her eyebrow raised for a moment now. Time to check in.

Just as you came out of the shower, you received a call. It hadn’t been the first time they had tried to call you according to your phone and you were only just in time to pick up this time around.

“Deniz, hi, sorry I was just in the shower,” you explained quickly.

“All good. Listen, change of plans.”

“Change of plans?”

Now?! The evening before the event? You groaned inwardly, already dreading whatever changes he was about to inform you with. You sat down on your bed, dressed in the hotel’s bathrobe and waited.

“Yeah, so… David Harbour canceled. I know how excited you were about that, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. You felt your heart sink. There it was, reality coming right back to kick you in the face as usual. Of fucking course.

“I see, so… what’s going to happen now?” Were you just going to have a little vacation then? Would they let you join the event differently? Maybe it would mean you could sleep in. That would be nice.

“Well, miracles happened and another actor agreed to come. We just got the memo way later. David canceled earlier this week apparently so they’ve been making calls and such.”

“Who is it?” It was time for Deniz to drop the information you actually gave a damn about. Your mind immediately went back to the guy who had bumped into you. It couldn’t be…

“Joseph Quinn? I googled him quickly while I called you but I have no clue. Is he one of the smaller actors?” You had to bite your tongue not to lecture him on how Joseph Quinn was anything but. It didn’t matter. Deniz didn’t give a damn about celebrities, and since Joseph looked quite different from his character Eddie, you weren’t surprised he had no idea who he was based off of that.

“No. He plays Eddie Munson.”

“Hold up. The guy who died but then didn’t?”

“That’s the one.”

“That’s actually pretty cool. Looks nothing like him though. Insane.”

Tell me about it, you thought. You had spent enough hours ogling both his character and his regular appearance, still unable to grasp at how they were the same person.

“Okay so, I’ve emailed you the details of his PA Leah, she’s been briefed on when and where he’s expected. You’ll meet after breakfast in the lobby at ten sharp, same as the original plan. Just make sure you’re a little early, yeah?”

“Will do.” You continued your convo casually but eventually you cut it off because you really needed your sleep. And before you could do that, you needed at least an hour to silently scream into your pillow because you were going to meet him. Chances were that the hand that had quickly searched for balance on your arm earlier had been his. You felt a little lightheaded. This was a nightmare cocooned in a dream. Undoubtedly you were going to make a fool of yourself and he would hate your guts. Or he’d laugh at you. You didn’t know what was worse. All you knew was that while the change of plans theoretically would have been a dream come true, a nightmare had never felt more realistic.

The next morning you were fidgeting with the hem of your blouse as you waited in the lobby, half an hour too early. You had barely managed to eat breakfast due to your nerves but had forced a few things in your system because a grumbling stomach would be worse. Maybe you should have just eaten a bit more slowly so that you didn’t have to wait ridiculously long. It was killing you, perking your head up at every movement and often receiving an odd glance from the stranger who you’d been so eager to look at. Not with Joseph though. His voice alerted you long before the man even came into view. Laughter had escaped his lips and it sounded all too familiar. Granted, you had a bit of a crush on the man you had only seen through a screen so far. You were relieved he sounded chipper, as you had noticed that he hadn’t been so delighted at some other events he had attended. Those were all just assumptions, but you liked to think that your people skills gave you enough knowledge to assess someone’s body language at least a little. You turned your body in his direction at the right timing, where you wouldn’t have to stare for too long but had enough time to grab his attention. It looked like his assistant had received a photo from you, because recognition flashed her face and she walked up to you before Joseph had even noticed you. With a quick B-line, he followed her.

“Hi, you must be Y/N?”

“That’s me, nice to meet you,” you said politely as you shook her hand.

“Leah, you as well.”

Then, it was Joseph’s turn. Your smile faltered only for a second when he shook your hand and it was a good thing you already knew the man’s name, because his eyes were so distracting that you could only see his lips move and not hear a thing he said.

“Nice to meet you,” you managed to say to him as well and he let go of your hand with a subtle squeeze to finish off the greeting.

“The car should be up front soon,” you said as you checked your phone for the time. The nerves, which you would have had just the same if it had been David, we’re eating you alive from the inside as a silence pursued. All you had been briefed to do was getting them from location to location and you had no idea how much they had been told about the game already. To your relief the silence was cut short when you received a message that your ride was there. After announcing that, you went ahead and led Joseph and his PA to the car waiting outside. 

“Are you from here?” Joseph’s voice perched your ears and you turned your head to look into his curious brown eyes.

“I’m not actually. I’m from Y/B/P.” You had to bite your tongue to automatically ask the same question in return because you knew.

“Oh! That’s cool. I’ve been there once, on vacation,” he told you. “Would love to go back sometime.”

I’ll gladly take you back home with me, you thought, but instead you nodded.

“What about Amsterdam? You’ve been here often?” You asked to keep the conversation going. He told you about the two times he visited Amsterdam, how he hadn’t managed to visit any museums because his mates had wanted to get high and go out most of the time. Fun times, still, but he wanted to see if he could squeeze in a museum or two before he left again. Once you arrived at The Dam, a noticeable crowd had already gathered and their heads all turned towards the car. Oh boy.

“Alright, let’s go this way,” you decided and Joseph shifted in the seat to get out on your end, his assistant following suit. Phones were shoved into your faces and Joseph took the time to take a few photos and sign some things before he followed you towards the stage. His assistant stood on the sidelines, leaving Joseph alone with you and the host who would present the game.

“I had no idea what to expect but this is pretty big,” Joseph mumbled, gesturing at the game setup. There was a platform on which you could walk continuously without moving, a round treadmill so to say. It had a railing around the front and VR glasses hung over it.

“It is. They found it important that walking around felt natural, hence the big platform. It’s pretty cool.”

“Have you played it yet?”

“No, I’ve only seen some test runs.”

“The concept sounded pretty cool, like working together and all that. I believe it’s also available on other stuff right? PC and everything?”

You nodded and went into detail about how the PC version would be different, in terms of VR and without VR, but also the general difference in running around physically versus only digitally. Joseph seemed very intrigued at everything you had to say while they set him up with a microphone on his shirt. So much, even, that he nearly missed his announcement for coming up the stage.

“My bad. Hi everyone.”

You watched the conversation from the side between Joseph and the host, who explained the game again in detail and held a little presentation about it. Then, it was time for Joseph to actually join the game. Throughout Amsterdam there were several setups like this one, and a few lucky fans had been selected to take part in the immersive game together with Joseph. Each wearing a headset and being in a party together, all with a different task ahead. The people on the Dam could watch Joseph’s gameplay on a big screen behind him. Joseph seemed to enjoy it a lot, completely into the game as he stepped and jumped over things, running over to clues and communicating with his party. It was his task to gather camouflage to bring over to the others, who each had their own task to explore as well. It all went down on a timer and it was important that everyone finished their task in time. Of course, there were enemies as well which would progress into severity the closer everyone game to the middle, also known as their meeting point.

You loved watching Joseph do his thing, with his tongue darting out and making wild gestures at creatures that tried to attack him. He shouted, did his best not to swear and often went into a giggle fit when he did something silly. It was the most endearing thing to watch and while you thought David Harbour would have been a very funny candidate to watch as well, nothing could beat Joseph being Joseph.

“It says I can pick up an ally? I want an ally!” Joseph suddenly exclaimed, looking around as he perked his head up. “Can I?” He then asked a bit unsurely. His VR headset was soundproof, meaning he wouldn’t even be able to hear the answer unless he took his headset off. You watched the guy monitoring the screen discuss something with one of the developers and then nodded over to you. What? When the developer approached you, holding another VR headset, you felt dread seeping into your shoes. Oh no. You enjoyed playing the occasional game but you weren’t any good, and you definitely didn’t have a wide experience with VR games. This was doomed to make you look like a fool. Great.

“We’ll set you up if you want to join as his ally?”

You weren’t going to say no, of course.

“Sure. Just tell me what to do.”

The developer briefly explained that you would join the game as an extra help during fights, making your health double up. You were handed a stick that represented a bat in the game and were put on a similar platform like Joseph was. After connecting the two together, you would be launched into the same spot he was, and you would be able to play once you entered a nickname.

IN GAME: Your ally Y/N has arrived, Joseph

“Hello? Y/N?” “Hi, it’s me.”

“Oh! Hi! I didn’t expect them to insert an actual person, I thought they meant like an NPC or something. This is even better!” Immediately, he got back to business, as he took the game quite seriously. “So. We have to find our way through this forest, but there are demobats trying to kill us. And apparently wild dogs.” 

Joseph turned to you in the game, and it felt surreal to have a pretty decent looking Eddie avatar look at you and communicate with you in a British accent. You had no idea what your character looked like.

“Alright, we’ve got to get… Oh! You’re Robin, that’s cool. We need to go this way, it seems.”

You discussed your options and decided to look around first for any clues if you were going in the right direction. When a demobat attack forced you to run into the forest, you knew you had been right. It was pretty fun to use your bat to slam the demons away, but the VR aspect of it all was harder than you expected. It was a good thing you and Joseph were about two meters apart from each other in real life, or you would have played whack-a-mole with each other’s heads. At one point you had to run, which meant physically running in real life too. As if you wanted to be sweaty! Luckily, you soon met up with the other players, who had all achieved their tasks and slayed some enemies like you had. Now it was time for the final battle: Defeating Vecna. While you had expected things to be pretty hectic with at least four other voices outside of you and Joseph, it wasn’t all that bad. If anything, it made it feel more realistic to have several people shout their battle cries. It required working together and using each other’s strengths, timing them perfectly after one another. The person with Nancy’s character would shoot at him, while you threw bottles lit with fire, and Joseph had to use his catapult to distract Vecna and weaken his sight. Eventually, you managed to defeat Vecna without having to replay the game or anyone dying. You always liked how the developers made Eddie an available character as well, regardless when they knew if he was going to return or not.

Finally, you took off your headset and quickly fixed your hair, stepped away from the platform and found that Joseph joined you immediately. 

“That was fun,” he grinned, clearly wanting to share his experience with someone. His hair was a bit of a mess now, his curls no longer as tamed as before. After he noticed you looking he quickly ran a hand through his hair and you wondered if you had made him self conscious. For whatever reason his PA was nowhere to be found. Joseph was called over to give a quick review on the game and after that it was time to acknowledge the fans who had long since gathered at the barricades for some selfies and photographs. You could tell that he was in a good mood by the way he wore a relaxed smile on his face as he interacted with the fans. All you could hope was that it would stay the same after visiting the other locations. You never really understood why they wanted him to visit all locations, instead of just having everyone come up to one, but apparently they didn’t want to overcrowd any spot and considering people had to buy tickets to even get to stand near the barricades, it started to dawn on you. Of course these money hungry bastards took the opportunity and ran away with it in ten folds.

Joseph seemed to handle it all perfectly well until you were back in the car and he slumped in his seat. As it turned out, his PA had suddenly gotten sick and had gone back to the hotel. It was just you and him now, for the rest of the day.

“That was intense,” Joseph said softly, unsure whether he should even be sharing his thoughts with you. All you could do was nod.

“It was. I’m surprised you have to visit so many spots if I’m honest,” you admitted and Joseph nodded in agreement.

“I hadn’t expected that either. I just figured it would be one location and go, until we received the schedule yesterday.”

“That gave you little time to prepare then… I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh it’s alright. Can’t complain, it’s a great opportunity.”

You smiled softly.

“It’s fine to complain a little, even if it’s a great opportunity,” you assured him. That granted a smile out of him as well. You could imagine it was hard to cut yourself some slack when you had been so lucky, yet incredibly overwhelmed by it all. And he wasn’t even allowed to call it luck according to people because it was talent, but to him it sure had felt like luck.

When the driver stopped the car, you were surprised to see you weren’t at the next location yet.

“Roadblocks all around. You’ll have to walk from here,” he said apologetically. The thought alone filled you with dread. Joseph had been stalked in every place he had been and Amsterdam was about to become the next. They knew what he looked like down to the shoes he was wearing at the moment, so the watchful eye would definitely notice.

“Alright, not a problem at all,” Joseph told the driver before turning to you. “Is it far?”

“Ten minutes max, I think,” you replied, getting your phone out to find a route. Once you got it, you both left the car. The driver assured you he would be in the same spot in time for the next one, but you exchanged numbers just in case.

The first couple of minutes went fine. No one batted an eye. Not until one teenager shouted his name.

“Oh fuck,” you mumbled softly, watching as the many heads turned around frantically in search of the man next to you.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured you, as if you were the one who needed assurance. You were very ready to elbow these people in the head if they were behaving like idiots. It would cost you your job if you caused a scandal, though.

“Where do we have to go?” Joseph asked you, sounding a little hurried. You showed him the route on your phone and watched how he scanned the area quickly.

“Alright. Come.” Before you realized what was going on, he had grabbed your hand and guided you through the masses who were dawning in on you, taking photos and trying to get their picture taken with him as well. He greeted them kindly, effortlessly. Apologized for moving on and explaining you had to get to your destination quickly. You wondered if anyone else noticed how draining this seemed to be for him. His frown deepening, his lips disappearing into a thin line. His hand squeezed yours tighter every now and then, although he often relaxed it shortly after and grazed the top of your hand with his thumb, as if to apologize.

When you finally made it to the next stage, you let out a breath of relief. This unorganized shit show was a drag. Joseph let go of your hand and listened to the host of that location, who guided him to the fans where he could do his service of taking photos and interacting with them shortly. Then, he met with a handful of people who had won a meet & greet with him for a good five minutes and after that it was time to move to the next. Two down, four to go. It wasn’t until the transition from the fourth to the fifth that you and Joseph decided to skip the car and just walk all the way. You had been hopeful the other times that the car would actually be able to drop you off at a good spot, but it had become clear that Amsterdam wasn’t great to go through by car, especially not on a day like this. When you asked him about security, it turned out that he had turned them down as he hadn’t expected the getting from one location to the other would have gone so hectic.

“God that smells delicious,” Joseph exclaimed softly as you were walking through crowds, trying to blend in as well as you could. You had smelled it too, or at least you thought you did. If you were honest, you were pretty hungry after that lousy breakfast, considering it was way past lunch time already.

“The bakery, right?” You ask as you point into the direction of a bakery on the other side of the street.

“Yes. Mind if we make a quick stop? I’ve really got to eat something.”

“Not at all. Some more delay isn’t going to matter at this point,” you pointed out. You made your way towards the bakery that luckily wasn’t too crowded, and got yourselves a pastry , two in Joe’s case. He had been eyeing the croissants but decided against it because of the crumbs. Not that these pastries were any better. They were delicious though, you concluded, and Joseph seemed to agree judging by the sounds he made.

“Right, I needed that,” he said as he cleaned off his fingers with a napkin. Once you got closer to the last stage, he turned to you.

“Am I good?” He asked, gesturing at his face so you could tell him if he missed a crumb. He had, so you pointed it out with words, until he didn’t catch it at the third try and you lifted your finger to his face instead and gently took it off.

“You also have some…” he started, brushing his thumb over the corner of your mouth, “right there. All good now.” His gaze lingered longer than it should have and you blamed your burning cheeks for it. He probably noticed your shift in attitude right away. Despite that, he seemed unbothered and you entered the last stage, where Joseph did his thing again and you watched him do it all effortlessly. 

It was already way past dinner time when you finally made your way back to the hotel. That was it then, you thought. You had had fun, and it had been great to get to know him briefly, but you would have loved more. Somehow it made you feel greedy, though you blamed the man himself for being the exact way you had imagined him to be. All sweet and nice and gentlemanly. So annoying.

“Would you like to join me for dinner?”

The silence that hung in the air got way too much time to spread when you looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. God, please act cool for once, you thought to yourself. To top it off, he smiled softly at you and even seemed a little nervous. Why in the world would he be nervous?

“I— Yes! That sounds lovely, where would you like to go? Just here at the hotel, or…”

“Oh no. I’d prefer to get into the city if that’s okay. I heard you can get dinner on a boat, no idea if you have to book a spot for that though. We could check? I just want to change into something else once we’re back at the hotel, freshen up a little. Is that alright with you?” His eyes darted away as he spoke and his hand softly scratched behind his ear in a repeat motion until he finished his sentence. Absolutely endearing. Your conversation briefly paused as you left the car and headed back inside your hotel.

“Dinner on a boat sounds…” Romantic as hell. “Great! And if it’s not available I’m sure we can find a nice spot somewhere. At the canals maybe?” You offered, wanting to throw in your two cents as well instead of just completely going along with what he said.

“I’ll give them a call. The canals would be nice as well!” He agreed, and shifted his weight from one foot to another as he looked at you. “Meet down here in an hour?”

You agreed and both went opposite ways towards your rooms. His was in a much more luxurious area of the hotel, which made sense. Once in your hotel room you quickly turned your suitcase upside down in search of something appropriate to wear. Would a dress be too much? The rest all seemed too casual and you had no idea how fancy that boat restaurant was. The dress would have to do. It was a simple, black, a-line dress but it looked very elegant on your figure. You freshened up in the bathroom and reapplied your makeup, hoping it all looked fine. 

Miraculously you had some time to kill, which basically meant you sat alone with your thoughts. Those that hadn’t stopped running the same sentence over and over after he had said it. Would you like to join me for dinner? You were genuinely confused why he had asked you. Maybe he just didn’t want to eat alone because it would attract extra attention to himself. Yeah. That must be it. And you guessed you were deemed nice enough to have a chat with. Which was great, but everything else was just confusing and slightly stressful. When you finally allowed yourself to go down ten minutes early, you found that Joseph was already waiting there. Dressed in black pants and a dark blue blouse, he looked incredibly handsome. He immediately noticed you as you exited the elevator, his neutral expression lighting up into a smile.

“Y/N, thank god, you made it. I managed to get a reservation in twenty minutes, so I was secretly hoping you’d be early too. They happened to have a cancellation. Our uber is ready too.”

“Oh that’s great! I’m really curious about this restaurant. Is it just docked in one of the canals or does it actually fare?” You asked curiously, while trying to calm yourself down inwardly that you were going to sit in front of this handsome man for a whole meal. Oh god. What if you made a total fool of yourself?

They have a route that goes partially through the canals, so we’ll be able to do a slight bit of sightseeing if we’re lucky. It might be too dark outside already.”

He held the door open for you to slide inside the uber and then joined from the other side. Again. What a gentleman.

“Have you decided on what you might want to visit tomorrow?” You wanted to know. While you hadn’t made specific plans just yet, you wanted to check out some things as well before you had to go back. Your silly brain allowed yourself to hope that maybe you could do some sightseeing together. Not that you were going to ask him that, oh no. That was way too embarrassing. What if he said no?

“I have some time to squeeze in one or two things. Later tomorrow I have an interview through zoom with someone in New York though, and we leave again early the next day. So I have a bit of time but nothing too grand. Any recommendations?”

“I was thinking of visiting Anne Frank’s house. I’ve heard many stories about that. And Rijksmuseum, maybe. Those are things I’d want to do, but I can’t exactly recommend them because I’ve never been.”

“Those were on my list as well as the Vincent van Gogh museum. Haven’t decided yet.”

“I heard there was a special exhibition there, temporarily.”

“Oh, really? Can’t miss out on that now, can I? It’s not like I’m a very artsy person, I don’t necessarily feel things when I look at paintings, but I do appreciate the craft. And Van Gogh does have a nice style. I’ve got a small print of one of his works in my hallway. Sorry,” he winced and chuckled awkwardly.

“For what?” You genuinely wanted to know. He shrugged and avoided your gaze, disguised by looking out the car window for scenery.

“For going on a ramble.”

“Don’t be silly! I’m the same with art. Especially abstract pieces. I try to find a meaning in them but sometimes… a blob is just a blob.” You shrugged.

“Yes!” Joseph seemed happy that someone agreed. You briefly wondered if he was just always happy when he met someone like minded or if he simply had a lot of artsy friends. He seemed to relax after you didn’t make a fuss about him being talkative and suddenly mentioned how disappointed he was in the Mona Lisa.

“She’s just so small. I never expected a huge painting, but I also didn’t expect people to gather in rows and rows to catch a glimpse of this tiny painted woman,” he mumbled. When you arrived at the dock where the boat would set sail from, you both got out and Joseph gallantly held out his arm for you to take.

“I’ve noticed the streets can be pretty uneven here,” he used to reason as to why he provided his arm. You nodded, looking down at your low boots. There was a reason you didn’t wear heels. One, the streets. Two, Joseph wasn’t that tall and you didn’t want to be taller. Three, fine. Maybe you didn’t bring any heels.

“Careful, these stairs are a little slippery,” he warned you softly, making sure he held onto the railing tightly while continuing to hand out stability to you with his arm.

“You look really pretty. I wanted to say so earlier but words got away from me,” he told you right before you entered the boat. A blush tainted your cheeks and you smiled softly.

“Oh— Thank you. You look very handsome yourself.”

“Oh, stop it,” he chuckled abashedly as he let you go in first. After Joseph checked in with the waiter for your reservation under the name of Steven Johnson and sat you down near a window, you couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Should I call you Steven for the time being?” You asked him softly. Joseph covered half his face with his hand and groaned.

“I panicked when they asked for a name alright? I know it’s not the best.”

“It’s fine.”

When the waiter came over for drinks you decided on red wine, while he went with a dark beer. You discussed your food options thoroughly, with Joseph managing to get totally lost into his food related stories at nearly each one. You had had a short world tour of his experiences in several countries by the time you had both made up your minds, nearly able to taste it after Joseph’s detailed descriptions. His eyes lit up when the breadbasket was brought to the table and he eyed it eagerly, waiting for you to go first. You took the butter knife and added salty butter to one, looking up.

“Do you want one too?” You asked politely, holding the one you just smeared out for him to take.

“I’d— Oh, thank you,” he responded slightly flustered, accepting the slice from you and then watched you make another one. When the main course arrived, you were well into your third, maybe fourth topic of the evening. It all felt so natural that you sometimes forgot that you had been putting this man onto a pedestal for some time. Not that he didn’t deserve a pedestal anymore, he was an amazing guy still, but he felt more leveled. Equal. In reach. Quite literally so, but also figuratively. He was just Joe. That’s what he preferred to be called. Though you stubbornly kept the joke up and only called him Steven for the rest of the evening. Whenever there was silence, you would look out the window and admire the city, as far as the darkness allowed you to. The reflection of the windows in combination with the lights from both inside and out made it a tricky view, but a pretty one nonetheless. When Joe’s knee nudged yours, you turned your head to look at him but his eyes weren’t on you. After subtly nudging his leg back with your own, he kept it there. It seemed to be intentional. You decided it was late enough to go for a stroll on your way back to the hotel instead of getting a ride, and found yourselves admiring the pretty lit canals, where you were momentarily distracted by a stray cat. Joe watched you with a calm nature while he smoked a cigarette, passing the time until you had told the cat goodbye. Passing the Dam, you noticed it was still pretty lively, and you spent a bit of time watching a performer dance with fire.

“Oh, it’s my agent, hang on.” Joe excused himself and walked away from the small crowd that had gathered around the performer. While you were curious, you didn’t want to be impolite and stare, so instead you looked around the crowd. After what seemed like ten minutes, the crowd had thinned out and the performer was packing up his stuff. You stood there awkwardly, not wanting to ogle the performer who was clearly done, but also not wanting to bother Joe. Instead, you took some distance from both and sat down on a stone bench. It was obvious that Joe’s mood was sour when he returned to your side, slumping down next to you.

“Turns out I only have the morning left tomorrow. Change of plans. So I won’t be able to check out anything, not enough time. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me but unfortunately I can’t even do that.”

“Oh I’m sorry, that’s a bummer. Where do you need to be?” It was hard to keep your expression in check. To not look too disappointed at this news while in reality you felt down to cry. The fact that he had wanted to go sightseeing with you possibly made it even worse.

“You can’t tell anyone, but I’ve got a photoshoot for this magazine thing in LA.”

“That sounds, uhm, cool,” you tried to say enthusiastically but failed horribly once you saw his expression.

“Yeah, it is. Just not so fond of last minute changes.” He rubbed his palms onto his knees, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that welled up in his stomach.

“I get that. I don’t like them either. I guess I’ll have to enjoy tomorrow for both of us.”

“Please do.”

You would do anything to get that sad expression off his face. If only you knew how. A random idea sprung to mind and instead of thinking it through like you usually did, assessing the pros and cons and whatnot, you blurted out a question.

“Do you like reading?”

Joe frowned a little at the sudden topic change but nodded. 

“I do, yeah, why?”

“Would you like to check out a bookstore with me? We could have breakfast somewhere and do just that, before you have to leave? Unless you don’t have the time or,” you laughed softly, “don’t really want to.” Joe shifted so he could turn for a better look at you.

“I’d love to.” His voice was sincere. Much more sincere than you had heard him be all day. Apart from during dinner, maybe. It was a relief to see his clouded expression had lifted almost instantly. 

You decided that you both wanted to be well rested for the day after and headed back to the hotel, though there was a reluctance on both sides to work towards the end of today. It was obvious when the two of you parted ways, at the elevators, and even more obvious when you both stole glances from each other at different moments, convinced the other hadn’t looked at all. Even more obvious was the fact that neither of you could fall asleep, not until you accepted that the other person was going to be on your mind all night.

The last morning

Joe met you in the lobby dressed in black jeans, a white tucked in blouse and a coat that was already on his arm, his smile lighting up at the sight of you. 

“Good morning,” he greeted you softly, his voice a little hoarse still. He cleared his throat and reached for his vape, as if that was going to make it better. You smiled softly.

“Morning, Steven.”

“Oh stop it,” he groaned. “I’m never gonna get away with that, am I?”

“Nah. Especially not after accidentally telling me Steven is actually your go to alias and not just one slip up. From Australia, no less!”

“Think of a better name then, on the spot. Go. Go!” He urged you on with a youthful grin.

“Legolas.” You responded deadpanned.

Joe snorted and shook his head, already heading to the exit. “Oh come on, you didn’t even try,” he protested.

“I did! I was trying to think of an easy to remember name for you and couldn’t help but think about that massive cardboard you told me ab—”

“Now you’re just taking the mick,” he sighed. “I need more leverage to do the same to you, this is unfair.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

You and Joe made your way into the city to find a nice place to have breakfast at and you were quite relieved that you weren’t spotted. You loved watching him devour his breakfast, which was three times as extensive as yours, and see pure joy on his face at each bite he took. Time flew by as you shared more about your lives, and before you knew it you only had half an hour to get to the bookstore before Joe would be picked up to go to the airport. He was apologizing profusely, feeling guilty for messing up your nice idea to spend your morning, and you had to assure him it was okay.

“Honestly, don't worry about it. We had a great time at breakfast too, did we not?” You told him.

“Yes, but now there’s so little time left—”

“Would it be better if we skipped it altogether? I don’t want you to feel hurried,” you offered, as much as you would love to check out some books with him. Joe simply refused.

“No, we’re going to the bookstore. Even if I can only stick around for ten minutes.” He was steadfast and you decided it was best not to argue and lose more time. His concerned face was not something you liked to see on the man. The bookstore had several levels and wasn’t too crowded, but you noticed Joe wasn’t exactly relaxed either.

“Were you looking for something specific?” He asked after you reached the top level. You shook your head and shrugged.

“There are some books I still want to read, but… nothing specific in mind. Maybe The Midnight Library. It’s been out for a few years already but I still haven’t gotten around to it,” you explained. Joe hummed to let you know he heard you and the next moment, he had disappeared. For a hot second you worried that he had ditched you. Maybe for having a bad taste in books, or him suddenly realizing the time and not bothering to say goodbye. Neither scenario sounded very sensible, but your brain loved to make up scenarios that weren't sensible. You shrieked softly when he suddenly popped up next to you again, holding a paper bag with a book in it. The Midnight Library.

“A parting gift,” he said with a small, nervous smile. “A little hurried and a little lame, but there’s no time for something better. I had a great time with you so I wanted to give you a token of my gratitude.”

You stared at him, his big brown eyes peering nervously into yours to figure out your expression, when you suddenly hugged him.

“But I didn’t get you anything,” you mumbled next to his ear as you felt your cheeks grow warm when he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“We weren’t exchanging gifts, so there’s no need,” Joseph said softly into your hair, his hand coming up to the back of your head. There were so many things you wanted to say to him at that moment, but no words came out. Eventually you uttered a thank you as you held on to the embrace that was lasting way too long for it to not be awkward.

Except it wasn’t awkward at all. And you didn’t want it to end. Neither did he, it seemed, when his phone went off and he reluctantly let go of you to pick up.

“My ride’s here,” he announced sourly. You followed him outside, wanting to properly send him off despite the growing lump in your throat. You wanted to say something. Exchange numbers, or whatever, but your fear of having him reject you was too big of a risk. This was it. You should be happy, having gotten to spend so much time with him already, right? So why did it feel like you lost a part of you when he finally stepped into the car after one last, quick hug? When he looked at you through the window and smiled a smile that didn’t meet his eyes? You felt simply horrible. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It was always much better in fiction, you thought. With their sappy happy endings and people running out of cars or going to airports to confess their love to each other after spending a mere day together. You hated the unrealistic part of it, and yet you craved it like nothing else right now.

A week later

Things had gone back to normal again. All but for one thing. He was on your mind all the time. It distracted you from everything you had to do. Stupid man. With his stupid handsome face and his stupid pretty smile and his stupid gorgeous hair. You never expected to suddenly fly off into the sunset with him, but man did you wish it had gone exactly like that. Instead, you had watched him leave in a car with a sad expression on his face that told you he didn’t want to leave you either. Or maybe you had just imagined it. You never even brought yourself to do more than hold the book, only to put it back in the paper bag that you didn’t want to throw away. It was all you had to go with your memories. To remember it was real. That, and some photos on Getty Images that you found highly unflattering. You had saved them anyway. Deniz had comforted you when you told him about what had happened and he was convinced that you would meet him again.

“He likes you. It’s obvious from what you’ve told me. He invited you to dinner right away, didn’t want the evening to end, wanted to spend his only other free day with you as well and did so until the last minute? Come on. I’m sure the asshat just forgot to give him your number and is eating himself up over it. I promise. I’ll eat my keyboard if you don’t end up dating him.”

You laughed softly and shook your head at him, and you loved him for trying to make you feel better.

“Please don’t eat your keyboard, I am busy enough as it is without getting your tasks piled up on me as well,” you joked. Deniz wanted to respond but suddenly got distracted by a view that was coming into your direction.

“Who do you think that’s for?” Deniz asked, gesturing at the bouquet of flowers that was definitely larger than your head. You shrugged.

“Probably Melody’s. Or Petra’s,” you listed the two pretty blondes in the office. Deniz shrieked softly when the person holding the bouquet passed both their desks.

“Oh my god. Never manifested something so quickly,” he whispered to himself. When they finally stopped at your desk and handed it to you, you were at a loss for words.

“The card, check the card!” Deniz urged on.

You searched through a bouquet of beautiful gerberas, lilies and other flowers you didn’t know the name of and finally found a tiny card. You barely heard Deniz’s confused reaction about the name on the card, as all sounds seemed to die down instantly as you read the card.

Just in case the note I secretly put into your book didn’t make it safely to your hotel for whatever reason. - Steven x

Below his name was a phone number and you recognized the country code immediately. Definitely not Australia.

FIN

[mthguy]

Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney perform “Good Morning” in the MGM film Babes in Arms (1939)

Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland proved to be a dynamic duo on screen, appearing together in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) and Babes on Broadway (1941). The pair had an amazing connection, perhaps helped by the fact that they had a lot in common off-screen. They both came from theatrical families. Garland, born Frances Ethel Gumm, made her stage debut as a toddler in her older sisters' act; and Rooney, born Joseph Yule, Jr., had a vaudeville performer for a father and a showgirl for a mother.

Both had parents who pushed them into show business. Rooney moved to California with his mother in the mid-1920s to launch his career, and she even changed his name to give it more Hollywood appeal. Garland grew up performing with her sisters before landing a film contract when she was only 13 years old. MGM Studios boss Louis B. Meyer reportedly hired Garland without having her do a screen test. She, too, went through a name transformation to make her more marketable. From an early age, Rooney and Garland both knew all too well the ups and downs of the entertainment business.

Rooney may have only been a year or so older than Garland, but he had much more film experience when they started working together. He made his film debut in the 1926 short, Not to Be Trusted. From there, Rooney starred in a series of shorts based on the comic strip character Mickey McGuire.

Garland and Rooney first met in 1935, when Rooney was a rising star and Garland was just starting out, but it took a few years for the studio realize that Garland and Rooney would be a winning combination.

Garland made her first feature film appearance in the 1936 sports comedy, Pigskin Parade. Garland and Rooney made their joint appearance in the 1937 film Thoroughbreds Don't Cry. Garland later credited Rooney with giving her some of the best acting advice of her career while making this film. He told the talented young performer to perform her lines "like you're singing it."

Rooney had already made four popular films in the Andy Hardy series before he was joined on screen by Garland. Starting with 1937's A Family Affair, the series explored the lives of Judge James K. Hardy and his family. Rooney played his teenaged son Andy, and this friendly character who seemed to represent an all-American image quickly won over audiences.

Garland first appeared in 1938's Love Finds Andy Hardy as Andy's friend Betsy. Early in her career, she was marketed as a girl-next-door type. The two characters' relationship mirrored the actors' off-screen connection as well. Garland, just like Betsy, had a romantic interest in Rooney at the start, but Rooney, similar to Andy, was too busy pursuing other girls to notice her. He was involved with a number of other actresses, including Norma Shearer, who was 20 years his senior.

Garland's career soon started to take off. When Rooney and Garland appeared in 1939's Babes in Arms, the pair shared top billing. The musical, directed by the legendary Busby Berkeley, proved to be a huge hit. Rooney and Garland seemed to play off each other in a way that made their performances better, and moviegoers found them to be a compelling and magical pair to watch.

Babes in Arms is a film version of the 1937 coming-of-age Broadway musical of the same title. Directed by Busby Berkeley, in addition to Rooney and Garland, it featured Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes, and Betty Jaynes. It was Garland and Rooney's second film together as lead characters after their earlier successful pairing in the fourth of the Andy Hardy films. The film concerns a group of youngsters trying to put on a show to prove their vaudevillian parents wrong and make it to Broadway.

It premiered on October 13, 1939, and became one of the 10 biggest hits of the year. With all the adorable gumption of its young stars, Babes in Arms pays thoroughly entertaining tribute to the magic of show business.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role for Mickey Rooney, who was 19 at the time and became the second-youngest Best Actor nominee, and Best Music, Scoring by Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll.