#thanks to darren criss himself for the inspiration
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Glee star Darren Criss says he is 'culturally queer' thanks to San Francisco upbringing
When Darren Criss broke out on Glee, he instantly became a "teenage dream" for viewers — especially for LGBTQ+ audiences, who were able to see themselves represented in a new way in television.
Criss himself identities as a straight, cisgender man, but he says that his upbringing in San Francisco, Calif., helped him understand the importance of his character, Blaine, and his character's relationship with Kurt (Chris Colfer).
When asked at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), what it was like portraying the groundbreaking relationship on television, Criss replied, "It was f---ing awesome.... Nowadays, we just call it a relationship on TV. But to contextualize it, a gay relationship on mainstream Fox, that's a pretty cool thing to be a part of," he said, adding emphasis when naming the network.
"I have been so culturally queer my whole life," he continued while appearing on a panel over the weekend. "Not because I'm trying — you know, actually, I was gonna say not because I'm trying to be cool but I'm gonna erase that, because I am trying to be cool. The things in my life that I have tried to emulate, learn from and be inspired by are 100 percent queer as f---."
"It was in queer communities that I've found people that I idolize, that I want to learn something from," he said. "And I'd say that's a gross generalization, that's a lot of things and a lot of people. But I grew up in San Francisco in the '90s. I watched men die. There was an awareness of the gay experience that was not a foreign concept to me. So, it was a narrative that I cared deeply about."
Criss also clarified that he didn't feel any ownership or entitlement over the role, but instead, felt a sense of responsibility once he was cast. "[I wasn't] like, 'I'm the man for the job,'" he explained. "They hired me...They said, 'You're the guy,' and I said, 'Okay, I'm the guy, I will do my best. I will do my best to talk about it in the way I believe and a way that I'm passionate about.'"
Criss portrayed Blaine Anderson for five of Glee's six seasons. He was introduced as an openly gay student at Dalton Academy and a member of a cappella group the Warblers in season 2. He recurred throughout the season. In season 3, Criss was upgraded to a series regular and Blaine transferred to William McKinley High School, home of Kurt and the New Directions. When the series ended, Blaine and Kurt were happily married after many ups and downs.
For Criss, Glee's legacy of portraying a relationship on television that so many people hadn't seen before was the most meaningful part of his experience. "In many ways, I'm glad it was me because it was a thing I really liked showing," he reflected. "It meant a great deal to me and it meant a great deal to other people. Because when people say they were affected by that show or that relationship, it's not because of me, it's because of that relationship on TV and the risks that people took to put that on TV."
"It took the people watching it to have the aptitude for seeing beyond what was maybe given to them in other avenues of culture. People of all ages, all spectrums of awareness say, 'I didn't grow up with a show like that and it was a really meaningful thing for me to see,' and I go I didn't grow up with a show like that and that would've been very meaningful for me too. Regardless of the fact that I'm a straight kid. That has value. For anyone who's been an underdog, we all know, in any shape or form — sexual, religious, biological — it has value because there's going to be a lot of people who see that and say, 'Okay, I can now understand this in a context that maybe I wasn't able to before.'
"It was a f-ing privilege," he concluded, "and I love talking about it and I'm so grateful I got to do it."
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One Pair That I Recognized
Summary: The way Darren wanted Blaine Anderson’s character arc to end inspired this fanfic.
In which, Blaine sings a love song to Kurt because it’s the best way he knows to express how he feels.
Notes: Song used is Ben Folds’s The Luckiest. Shoutout to @sharicat for being the first to reply to my post about whether or not I should post this and thanks to @i-tripandstumble and @hkvoyage for encouraging it as well!
AO3
The only time Blaine sang off the stage was in their brownstone. No one caught him singing in the streets, busking in Broadway neighborhoods for money, singing at the Spotlight Diner while his boyfriend worked his shift, or at karaoke nights with his friends from high school and college. Only Kurt caught his evening shower performances, only Kurt found him playing the piano in the middle of the night, and only Kurt watched him play air guitar in the kitchen while he waited for the tea kettle to whistle.
So it was a surprise to everyone in Central Park on that Saturday afternoon in November when Tony Awarding Winning Blaine Anderson showed up with his husband Tony Award Winning Kurt Hummel and started to sing. He had pulled so many stings to get here today and had to persuade Kurt to even leave their house—“Blaine it’s the weekend and we don’t actually have to be anywhere for once.” It felt like his proposal at Dalton all those years ago. Glee clubbers from four different teams all coming together to celebrate one couple’s love.
They were standing in the mostly empty Summer Stage where Blaine put on a charity event every summer. There were people backstage waiting for the signal and there were bystanders, who had been walking around the park, peeking in to see what was happening. And Kurt—beautiful, wonderful Kurt—was smiling like a goof at his husband’s antics.
“What is going on, Blaine?” Kurt asked, as he was guided into the singular seat in the grassy area in front of the stage. “We’re already married so this can’t be a proposal.”
Blaine laughed. “We are married. This isn’t a proposal.”
“So...what is this?”
“Just watch,” Blaine said, kissing his husband’s cheek.
Of course as Blaine climbed the steps up to the stage, people started filling in the bleachers behind Kurt. He wasn’t about to stop them. No one bothered Kurt. No one tried to sit in grass where Blaine had put a chair for his husband. They just filled the actual seats in the place and quietly waited along with Kurt to see what Blaine had planned. Neither one of them cared because every single performance Blaine gave was always for Kurt. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t in the audience or not. Blaine sang and acted and did all he did for Kurt.
Kurt was...is...will always be his biggest inspiration. His reason for existing and putting the best of himself into the world.
A baby grand piano sat on the stage now. Blaine took a seat on the black bench and checked the microphone. He gave the backstage crew a thumbs up and the lights came down on him and he started to play a random tune on the keys.
“I’ve never been good with words or romance…”
“Lies!” Kurt shouted.
Blaine smiled and continued his little speech, “but I always thought I was a pretty decent singer and performer. I never thought I’d meet someone like you, Kurt. I didn’t think I deserved someone like you and every day I am grateful to love you and be loved by you. To be able to come home to you and climb into bed with you just to sleep at your side. To have dinners and play footsie under the table. To spend holidays with our families even though they drive us crazy. To know I’m your number one supporter in everything you do and you’re mine. This, like everything else I do, is for you.”
With a deep breath, he started to play the correct notes and opened his mouth to sing lyrics he wished he wrote.
“I don't get many things right the first time,
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns the stumbles,
And falls brought me here”
Behind his closed eyes, Blaine sees himself younger wandering the halls of Dalton fancying himself in love with a guy who works at the Gap. How naïve he had been back then because Kurt was right there in front of him and he managed to miss it. He stood in front of this amazing boy and didn’t know he was going to marry him some day.
“And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face,
Now I see it every day
And I know
That I am, I am, I am, the luckiest”
He remembers touching Kurt’s hand for the first time. Kurt was so obviously not a student but Blaine hadn’t cared. All he could think about was looking into this boy’s eyes. Wondering what had brought him here and why he chose Blaine to stop. Out of all the uniformed boys around them, Kurt picked Blaine. Did he know something Blaine didn’t? Did he feel the shot of electricity that Blaine did?
He must have because Kurt knew way before Blaine did that they were meant to be together. They were joined by some universal force that selected soulmates. It was clear to Blaine now more than ever that Kurt was always meant to be his and he was always meant to be Kurt’s.
“What if I had been born fifty years before you
In a house on the street
Where you lived
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike. Would I know?”
In another lifetime, Blaine might not have been with Kurt because of something arbitrary like age. Maybe in some universes in the infinite alternate lifetimes, Blaine doesn’t get to be with Kurt or even meet him. But this Blaine thinks any other versions of himself would know how special Kurt was no matter what obstacles keep them apart. How lucky is he to be the one of the lucky Blaine Andersons to be able to spend his life with Kurt Hummel?
“And in a wide sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know
That I am, I am, I am, the luckiest”
Blaine looked over at Kurt, who was smiling up at him. His eyes traveled over the crowd behind Kurt but he always came back to rest on those baby blues. The eyes that he knows the best, the ones that always shine with adoration no matter what, and most importantly the ones that stare back into Blaine’s hazel ones.
Those eyes that grow darker when Blaine pulls back from a kiss. The ones that follow him around the room when Blaine spontaneously breaks into dance and always manages to convince Kurt to put aside his magazines to join him in a weird version of a waltz that is so purely theirs.
“I love you more then have
Ever found the way to say
To you
Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties and one day
Passed away in his sleep,
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days, and passed away
I'm sorry I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong,
That I know
That I am, I am, I am, the luckiest”
If Blaine hadn’t already married the best man he knows, he would’ve asked Kurt right this second to be his forever. But he was lucky enough that Kurt had already promised that to Blaine. Instead, when Blaine finished the song he stood up from the piano and took a bow. The crowd that had gathered were clapping politely but Blaine only cared about holding his husband.
Kurt was already walking up into the stage to grab Blaine in his arms. They hugged and Kurt whispered into Blaine’s ear: “your version of romance is my favorite.”
Blaine pulled back and cupped his face. “I love you, Kurt Hummel.”
An ongoing joke between them was using their stage name instead of their legally changed names after they had gotten married.
“It’s Anderson-Hummel to you,” Kurt teased, “but I love you too, Blaine Anderson.”
If you asked anyone in the crowd who leaned in first, they’d all have a different answer.
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Rick and Morty Season 5: Bruce Chutback Gets the Show Back on Track
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Through five seasons of Rick and Morty, Morty and Summer Smith have been through countless existential science fiction threats.
In the show’s first season, Morty had to bury his own mouldering corpse in the backyard. Just two weeks ago Summer accompanied her grandfather on a sex tour of literal apocalypses! This week, the duo appear to literally kill Marvel’s Galactus. As such, every now and then Rick and Morty likes to remind us that Summer and Morty are just teenagers with teenage concerns. Enter Bruce Chutback in episode 5 “Amortycan Graffiti.”
As voiced by Darren Criss, Bruce Chutback is perhaps the most powerful character introduced in Rick and Morty season 5 yet. Yes, this utterly normal teen (who appears to own only one pair of pants) is more significant than Mr. Nimbus, Planetina, or the entire masochistic forces of Hell, itself. And that’s because of what he represents to Morty and Summer: a potential high school ally.
Rick and Morty isn’t always one for grand sociopolitical statements…unless you can somehow tie last week’s literal jizz fest to the dangers of climate change. One area of subtle commentary in which it’s consistent, however, is in its depiction of the youth experience as an utterly traumatizing affair. Morty and Summer have seen quite literally everything the universe has to offer. And yet, at least one or two episodes each season reveals that they care far more about fitting into the hierarchy of their school than exploiting a universe of infinite possibilities.
Morty is a little weirdo and finally, definitively blew his chance with Jessica when she became an immortal, all-knowing being. Summer’s only friend, Tammy Gueterman, turned out to be a spy for the coalition of planets. As the new kid in town, Bruce Chutback is Morty and Summer’s only real chance at building a friend group and gaining a foothold in the vicious high school pecking order. Series creator Dan Harmon best describes Chutback’s potential in his opening song*: “Bruce Chutback! Newest kid in school! Hasn’t done anything embarrassing yet. Unlimited potential! Anybody’s guess! No credit is perfect credit, Chutback is the best!”
Side note: “Bruce Chutback” is just a fun name to say. Many Dan Harmon-produced series enjoy introducing characters that would be a studio audience’s favorite sitcom character simply due to their name. Chutback’s songs throughout this episode are reminiscent of Preston Coogler’s post-credit trailer in Community.
Whether Chutback is the best is certainly debatable. By episode’s end, he goes through a truly transformative experience with Morty and Summer and yet still isn’t ready to commit to being their friend until he does his research.
“Just to be upfront about how I do this, I can’t really commit to a friendship for more than 24 hours,” Chutback says. “I need that time to get a general sense of your standing within your school’s social hierarchy. And if that’s solid, I’ll see you around. Otherwise, no news is bad news.
Morty and Summer’s focus on the high school hierarchy isn’t unique to just them. Every teenager in this world is singularly focused on their status within the group. And no amount of life-affirming journeys in a sentient flying saucer can change that. Youthful, Earthly concerns will always supersede science fiction. Though Rick and Morty has a tenuous grasp on its own continuity and various moral stances, that is one area in which the show has been consistent.
cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });
Criss is an inspired choice for the role, not only because he gets how appropriate it is to underplay Chutback but also because of his own acting history. Though the actor and singer is in his thirties now, to many he will be forever young thanks to roles in StarKid Productions various musicals, Glee, and American Horror Story. It’s all a reminder that though we leave high school, it doesn’t always leave us.
Ultimately, Chutback is not able to cut the chut and his lack of pants forever dooms him to high school obscurity.
“This place is a jungle. I hope he can find solace in his own company,” Morty says.
Morty is one of the very few kids on Earth to ever be in a room of many variants of himself. Perhaps it’s telling that he still doesn’t care to find solace in his own company and seeks out the company of others so consistently. Hell might not be other people after all.
The post Rick and Morty Season 5: Bruce Chutback Gets the Show Back on Track appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3zen5Ed
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20 Asian American Musicians To Add To Your Playlist Now
Over the past several years, the K-pop industry in the U.S. has grown exponentially. The fan enthusiasm behind bands like BTS has drawn parallels to The Beatles, and so many K-pop groups have received the same passionate reception. The attention is well-deserved, but Asian artists represent a multitude of musical genres (even just within the K-pop industry) — a fact that should not be overlooked. Whether you're a fan of indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, or dance music, you won't want to sleep on these Asian American musicians.
Asian artists have recently received some long-deserved recognition in the entertainment industry, primarily in film. In 2020, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won big at the Oscars. The following year, Youn Yuh-Jung won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Minari, which also scored The Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun a nomination for Best Actor. However, there's still plenty of work to be done within the music landscape to ensure equal representation is achieved.
BTS, most notably, has seen unprecedented success in the U.S. Still, despite being invited to attend the last three Grammys, they've yet to take home an award, highlighting the discrepancy between their immense success and the Recording Academy's willingness to acknowledge it. Additionally, Asian artists have a harder time landing record deals. As American Idol alumni Paul Kim explained to The New York Times, he was blatantly told by industry execs he would have been signed to a label faster had he not been Asian.
By streaming these artists, you're not only supporting them and their art, but you're subsequently showing industry insiders just how valuable they are. Consider this list sonic proof Asian artists are making exceptional, diverse music that can't be boxed into one genre or sound. Each of these artists prides themselves on breaking boundaries and creating their own rules. You may have heard of a few, but many have been flying under the radar for far too long. Your ears will thank you soon enough.
Melissa Polinar
Polinar got her start in the late 2000s when viral YouTube covers paved the way for success. While artists like Justin Bieber and Lennon & Maisy were sharing music covers, Polinar focused on posting her original music — and her soulful vocals were a hit. In 2019, the Filipino-American songwriter actually re-recorded one of the songs that propelled her career forward, "Try," on its 10-year anniversary.
Eric Nam
Born and raised in Atlanta, Nam moved to Korea to pursue music because he felt he had a better chance of succeeding there. “Even if you look at American Idol, or X-Factor, or The Voice or anything, it was always difficult to see an Asian or an Asian-American make it to a certain point,” Nam told TIME in November 2019. Today, Nam is a highly visible and respected name in the K-pop industry. While he's very proud of his K-pop success, he considers himself a pop singer first. He hopes to grow his success stateside and told TIME, "I want people to hear my music and say, 'I don’t know who this person is,' and I could be Black, white, Latino, Asian — it doesn’t matter, but it’s just a great pop song."
Clinton Kane
Kane's got every making of a great singer-songwriter, and his lyricism will make a fan out of loyal Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith listeners. The Filipino-American singer's impressive vocal range captivates, and his emotion-driven lyrics will melt your heart. One of his more popular tracks, "Chicken Tendies," has upwards of 2 million views and is a must-add to your heartbreak playlist.
Jhené Aiko
As a mixed-race Japanese, Creole, Dominican, and European woman, Aiko has proudly championed her diverse roots throughout her accomplished career. The R&B singer is a six-time Grammy-nominated artist and is well respected within the industry for her philanthropic endeavors. She launched the WAYS foundation in 2017, an organization dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families.
Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki is hardly a newcomer to the EDM scene, but as one of the most prominent DJs in the industry, and one of the biggest Japanese DJs ever, it would be a crime to leave him off this list. Aoki even has his own record label and, in 2016, Netflix released I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, a documentary about his career.
Karen O
As the lead singer for the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Karen O has solidified her spot as a rock music legend. Not only is the Korean-American singer's discography with the band a must-listen for any rock music fan, but her 2019 album with Danger Mouse, Lux Prima, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance.
H.E.R.
Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, H.E.R. (aka Gabi Wilson) has become one of the most prominent names in R&B. At just 23 years old, the singer-songwriter already has four Grammy wins and 13 nominations. Along the way, she's never shied away from praising her Filipino mother and Black father, Agnes and Kenny Wilson, for giving her the unique perspectives that propelled her musical success.
Toro Y Moi
Toro Y Moi is actually one person (Chaz Bear) and he's become the unofficial king of chillwave. Born to a Filipino mother, the South Carolina native later relocated to California to further his music career. If you need some chill vibes on your playlist, Bear's got you covered.
Ruby Ibarra
Ibarra is a Filipino-American rapper from San Lorenzo, California who also dabbles in spoken word poetry. Her music is meaningful in more ways than one. A number of her songs touch upon her experience as an Asian American woman. In April 2021, she released a powerful song and video called "Gold" with Ella Jay Basco, which exposed the harmful effects of the skin whitening industry.
Ella Jay Basco
You may recognize Basco from her appearance in Birds of Prey, but her music is not to be slept on because it's making major waves. Her song "Gold" with Ruby Ibarra highlights her Filipino heritage. As she told People, "From top to bottom, we wanted to make sure that our Asian-American community was represented with this project."
Mitski
Meet your new favorite alt-rock queen. Mitski's dreamy melodies appeal to the indie-rock crowd more than anything, and, if you're a sucker for a sad bop, this Japanese-American songstress has plenty of those stacked up.
Yaeji
Yaeji was born in Flushing, Queens in 1993 and grew up between the U.S. and Korea. Since she moved around so much as a kid, she found friendship on the internet, where she first connected with the bossa nova, jazz, and Korean indie music that drove much of the Korean DIY scene. She soon returned to the States to attend college, where she discovered a love for producing and DJing. Now, she meticulously blends hip-hop elements with her house-driven sound for a listening experience that is unlike anything else.
Hayley Kiyoko
Kiyoko has been given the nickname Lesbian Jesus since she’s so outspoken about LGBTQ+ representation in the music industry. The Japanese-American singer is a true trailblazer and her pop music genius has landed her hits with Kehlani, MAX, and AJR.
Jay Park
Park is an industry heavyweight. The Seattle native got his start in the K-pop industry as part of the band 2PM, but he went solo in 2009. Today, not only does the star have dozens of hits under his belt, but he has two record labels of his own that specialize in R&B and hip-hop music: AOMG and H1ghr. Park uses his superstar status to give others the spotlight, and he's put his support behind other artists like GOT7's JAY B and Yugyeom, and Raz Simone. Whether you're a self-proclaimed K-pop stan, or you're just recently getting acquainted with the genre, Park's discography is required listening.
Jin Au-Yeung
Born and raised in North Miami Beach, Florida, the Chinese-American rapper, aka MC Jin, has some seriously impressive accolades under his belt. After becoming popular among his musical peers for his epic freestyles, he was signed to Ruff Ryders in 2002 at just 19 years old, becoming the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label in the U.S. He's since parted ways with the label and now travels back and forth between the U.S. and Hong Kong, seeing success in both places. In May 2021, the rapper released a single called "Stop the Hatred" with Wyclef Jean to raise awareness about hate crimes toward Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Olivia Rodrigo
Rodrigo needs no introduction, but I'll do it anyway: This Filipino-American actress-turned-singer-songwriter's mega-hit debut single "drivers license" was unavoidable in January 2021. Its heartbreakingly relatable lyrics about a crush moving on with someone else struck listeners to their core and immediately soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also went viral on TikTok, before making its way into a Saturday Night Live sketch. Rodrigo's songwriting skills have fans likening her to industry heavyweights like Taylor Swift, so it's no surprise her debut album, Sour, is one of the most highly-anticipated albums of summer 2021.
Run River North
Run River North is not just one musician, but three. The band formerly known as Monsters Calling Home is an indie rock band from Los Angeles. The group has an eclectic sound that draws inspiration from each member: Daniel Chae, Alex Hwang, and Sally Kang.
ZHU
When ZHU first entered the electronic music scene, he used an alias and remained anonymous. By 2014, the artist also known as Steven Zhu was ready to share his identity with the world. ZHU got his start in San Francisco, California, but has made his mark on the EDM scene globally.
Darren Criss
Criss rose to fame starring on the television series Glee and he's since proven himself to be a true triple threat. His work can be seen across TV, film, and music. In September of 2018, Criss became the first Filipino-American to win an Emmy in the lead actor category for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He’s also got several full-fledged EPs under his belt.
Amber Liu
Amber Liu (also known mononymously as Amber) is of Taiwanese descent and grew up in Los Angeles. She made a big splash when debuting as a member of the K-pop girl group f(x) in September 2009, but has since gone solo. Her 2019 solo track "Other People" racked up millions of streams, and she’s gearing up to drop her first album of 2021, called y?, very soon. In the meantime, she’s continuing to grow her superstar following on social media, where she has 5 million Instagram followers and over 2.3 million on Twitter.
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Klaine Fic - 3 on 1
Author: darriness
Word Count: 19352
Summary: What happens when triplets each find the potential love of their lives...in the same person?
Author’s Note: This author's note is a little long but I ask that you read it all :)
Welcome to my story for the Glee Potluck Big Bang! I've had this story finished for a couple of months so I'm over the moon I'm getting a chance to post it a little early! The original idea for this fic came from a conversation I had with @ipwarn when I discovered that Darren Criss, Alex Brightman, and Henry Golding share the same birthdate. But, saying that, Blaine is still Blaine in this story (he's not Darren) and for Alex and Henry I used parts of their real life inspirations' general appearance as reference but they are completely made up characters. Most notably, and the reason I wanted to say anything, I know Henry Golding is actually Malaysian but Henry in my story is half Filipino.
Lastly but definitely not least I would like to thank @imrights for the AMAZING title art above that I am completely obsessed with. And as always I would like to thank my fantastic beta @darrenismydarcy - I could not do any of this without you!!
I hope all of the above makes sense! Enjoy the story! I, selfishly, love it a whole lot!
AO3 Link
3 on 1
What do you get when you mix an Asian banker with an Irish elementary school teacher?
Henry, Alexander, and Blaine Anderson.
That? Is Alex Anderson’s favourite joke to tell. It’s caused his brothers to roll their eyes more times then they can count but Alex still gets a kick out of it.
Now, Henry, Alex, and Blaine aren’t JUST brothers. I mean sure, looking at them you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell they share ANY genetic makeup. They are as different as different can be.
Henry towers over his brothers at just over six feet, for one. Blaine and Alex try to pass themselves off as five nine but...they’re five eight on a good day. Alex got all his features from his Irish mother. He’s as white as can be. Literally. His brown hair and brown eyes are the only things keeping him from being part of the Arian race…
Henry, on the other hand, is the spitting image of his Filipino father. His angular features, slightly slanted chocolate brown eyes, and deep chestnut hair are a proud marker of his Asian heritage.
And then there’s Blaine. A complete mix of them both. Growing up, he had to fight (once physically) for people to understand that he is half Asian. Unlike Alex (who to this day gets the quirked eyebrow when he tells people he’s half Filipino and will sometimes, depending on the company, not even bother to mention this fact), Blaine does have Asian traits. It’s just that he has enough caucasian traits to ‘trick’ the more ignorant population.
In the end, not only are these three completely different men brothers...they actually share the exact same birthdate.
Growing up as a triplet was an interesting experience. One that can only truly be understood by those who, themselves, grew up as a multiple.
For example, there really isn’t a way to explain the special kind of connection that sees one triplet farting on the head of another triplet while the third triplet holds him down.
Which is how we find the Anderson triplets now.
“Oh my God, get the fuck off of me!” Henry shouts, trying to bring his hands up to block the assault.
Alex laughs from somewhere above him, letting out a sigh as he completes the job, before moving from his straddle position.
“You can let him go, Blainers.” Alex says to Blaine who had been holding Henry’s shoulders and arms down.
Blaine releases Henry who immediately shrugs him off (like he had been the one to break the hold) and sits up, “I expect this shit from him,” Henry says, pointing to Alex, “but not from you.” He concludes, pointing to Blaine.
Blaine shrugs, “He had a justifiable reason.”
Henry rolls his eyes before shifting on the couch and picking up some of the papers in front of him. He’s got work to do. He’s not even sure why he agreed to have his brothers over to his apartment on the eve of potentially the biggest meeting of his career.
“So, we need to talk about what we’re going to do for Tiny’s bachelorette.” Alex says, sitting down on the other couch and picking up his beer. HE doesn’t have a high stress meeting in the morning.
But, right. That’s why they’re here. To discuss their little sister’s upcoming nuptials.
“We’re not her bridesmaids OR her maid of honour.” Blaine reminds, “Isn’t our job to go with the guys when they take Sam out?”
Alex stares aghast when Henry shrugs and nods along with the suggestion, “Ummm no!” Alex shouts, indignantly, “This is our baby sister’s wedding. Our ONLY sister’s wedding. If it’s not her big brothers’ job to take her out and get her drunk and danced upon by random strippers then I don’t know whose job it is.”
Blaine and Henry stare at their brother in silence for a moment.
“Ummm, it’s literally anyone else’s job but ours.” Henry says.
Alex rises slightly from his seat and sits down with an emphatic exhale, “You can’t be serious!” He exclaims, “To quote a very neurotic man ‘I expect this shit from him,” He says pointing at Henry, “but not from you.’” He finishes, pointing at Blaine.
Blaine’s eyes go wide and Henry can tell that Blaine’s people pleasing nature is taking a serious hit tonight. If there’s one thing Blaine Anderson can’t stand, it’s people not liking him and being disappointed in him.
“We are her *brothers*.” Alex emphasises again, “I think she’d be really hurt if we didn’t do something for her.”
Henry sighs, “But does that ‘something’ have to include naked men?” He asks, even though he already knows he’s going to agree to whatever Alex has planned. That’s how their relationship works and always has. Alex comes up with the crazy schemes, Blaine goes along with pretty much anything to stop people from being upset with him, and Henry usually acquiesces because if not...the other two would probably end up in jail.
Alex smiles like he knows he’s close, “Come on. You don’t think Tiny would get a kick out of naked men dancing for her? And besides, Blaine and I will enjoy it just as much!” He waggles his eyebrows lewdly. Alex really is a charismatic, nice guy...once you see past the frat boy exterior.
Henry sighs again as he shuffles his papers. He could mention that while Blaine and Alex (being gay and pansexual respectively) would get a kick out of a male strip club, he (as a straight man) probably wouldn’t. But...in the end he loves his brothers and sister too much to refuse…
...especially with Blaine now fully on board and the two of them looking at Henry like he has the keys to all of their hopes and dreams.
“Oh, fine.” He grumbles, even though he smiles.
The other two cheer and Henry rolls his eyes as they begin to make plans and he goes back to his notes.
-- -- --
Blaine leans over and gives Alex a brief hug as their cab pulls up in front of Blaine’s apartment later that night, “Night Al.” He says.
Alex smiles, “Night Blainers.”
Blaine’s got one foot out of the cab when Alex calls his name. He turns and raises a questioning brow at his brother, “Don’t forget to check your Tinder.” He waggles his eyebrows much like earlier. Alex spends a lot of his time waggling his eyebrows.
Blaine chuckles and rolls his eyes, “It’s not Tinder. It’s just...a regular dating app.”
Blaine’s not ashamed of the fact that he’s trying online dating. He’s a 26-year-old single man in New York City and at least half the world is online dating. It’s worth a try. And it’s not like he’s Alex who trips and falls (sometimes literally) over a new sexual partner almost every day or Henry who is married to his job. He’s just covering his bases.
Alex smiles, “Well, just be sure to check it. And remember, only swipe right if it looks like they have a big penis.”
Blaine rolls his eyes again before giving his brother the middle finger and getting out of the car. He stands on the curb as the cab pulls into traffic on its way to Alex’s apartment ten minutes away, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket after getting hit with the wind of a late September evening chill.
When the cab turns a corner and is no longer in sight, Blaine turns and makes his way into his apartment building. It’s not the most posh of buildings but it’s comfortable. It’s home. And Blaine is proud of the fact that he is able to afford it without having to rely on his parents’ money. They’ve offered, sure, but Blaine has never wanted to rely on his parents that much.
His building is quiet this late at night and Blaine doesn’t pass a single person on his way to the fifth floor. He lets himself into his apartment, toes off his shoes, hangs up his jacket, and throws his keys into the bowl on the front table before making his way to the couch and collapsing onto it with a sigh.
Despite his eye roll at his brother, the first thing he does upon sitting down is check his dating app, ConnectSingle. It’s definitely not Tinder, no swiping of any kind required, but Blaine enjoys the fact that both parties need to indicate interest (by clicking a happy face on their basic profile) before they can contact each other or even view their whole profile. And while he feels like it’s slightly shallow, Blaine has definitely used that function to weed out some of the less...aesthetically pleasing requests.
He’s actually only communicated with three guys so far and only met up with one in person (...it didn’t go well), but he’s optimistic he’ll find someone he can really connect with. And if not? Well, he hasn’t really lost anything in trying.
He first checks to see who has given him a smiley face today. Three men seem to enjoy the picture Henry had taken of him on the beach, sunglasses reflecting the ocean and curls loose and billowing in the wind, and he considers each of their pictures before deleting them all. He feels slightly bad but figures if you sign up to online dating not expecting to be rejected sometimes, you’re doing it wrong.
He then flips to his ‘daily matches’ - men the app thinks he might like. He hems and haws over their basic profiles and decides to smiley face two; a redhead named Andy (who appeals to the side of Blaine that enjoys larger men) and a brown haired man named Kurt (who has great hair, great eyes, and a smirk Blaine may be interested in knowing more about).
It’s not as immediately satisfying as he would like it to be, clicking the smiley face. Nothing happens other than a yellow smiley face rises slightly above his thumb and then winks out, leaving a static yellow smiley face behind, but he feels accomplished.
He closes the app and stretches on the couch, glancing at the clock to notice it’s almost 1 am. He doesn’t have anywhere immediate to go in the morning, perks of being an on call studio musician, but figures just in case he gets a call he should go to bed.
Without thinking of ConnectSingles again, he goes about his evening routine, plugs his phone in and is asleep twenty minutes later.
-- -- --
Alex could go home. It’s where he told his brother and, more importantly, the cab driver he’d be going. But as the cab driver pulls away from the curb he gets a text from his friend, Elliott, telling him he should meet him at a bar.
Alex shrugs and tells the cab driver to change his final destination. It doesn’t take much to convince Alex to go out.
When he gets to the bar, he finds Elliott leaning against the brick front wall. He’s got a foot propped up behind him, a bare knee poking out of ripped black jeans, and a cigarette burning from his lips as he looks down at his phone.
“I must reiterate - as a performer you really shouldn’t smoke.” Alex says by way of a greeting.
Elliott looks up from his phone and smirks as he pulls the cigarette from between his lips, “Old habits die hard.” He says with a shrug before flicking the mostly unsmoked cigarette to the ground and pulling Alex into a hug, “Good to see you, man.”
“You too.” Alex says returning the hug, “Any particular reason you dragged me out of bed on this cold night to meet you at a bar at 1 am?”
Elliott rolls his eyes, “If you were in bed, I promise that was the last smoke of my life.”
Alex purses his lips to hide his smile before sighing, “Damnit, fine, I wasn’t in bed.” Elliott laughs and puts a hand on Alex’s shoulder, pulling him forward into the bar.
The noise from inside the bar gets unsurprisingly louder as they enter but luckily not so loud that it makes talking impossible. They may have to raise their voices slightly to be heard but Alex knows he won’t be leaving with burst ear drums.
“We were just having a really great night and I thought you should be a part of it.” Elliott explains.
Alex nods, enjoying that Elliott thought to include him, “We?” He asks as they make their way to the bar.
Elliott shrugs, “Just a bunch of people from the theatre.” He calls.
It’s not wall to wall packed in the bar but it’s busy enough that Alex accidentally runs into someone on their walk from the door to the bar. He ‘oofs’ at the impact and then is immediately apologetic as the person he hit turns around.
The words die on his lips when a set of cool blue eyes make eye contact with him. An eyebrow is quirked above those eyes and pink lips wrap around a straw as they regard Alex. Alex notices the slight pull in of the cheeks attached to the lips as they suck up liquid.
He’s broken from his stare when Elliott laughs, “Alex? Kurt. Kurt? Alex.”
Alex feels Elliott pat his shoulder a few times before the other man is gone, leaving Kurt and Alex still looking at each other. Alex watches as Kurt’s tongue flicks out to play with the straw still between his lips and Alex is transfixed.
“Hi.” He breathes, suddenly wishing he had worn a better outfit to Henry’s than his faded jeans and white button up shirt with tiny rubber ducks on it.
“Hi.” Kurt answers back with a smile.
-- -- --
Henry fidgets the next morning as he sits outside the office the nice receptionist directed him to. His knee bounces and he shuffles through the papers in his folder, wishing he could stop the sweat he can feel building under his suit jacket.
He’s prepared, he knows he is, but a job interview for a large production company is a lot different than working out of a one room studio with guys you went to college with.
Henry checks his watch and realizes he’s probably got another ten minutes to wait - he’s always extremely early to all things, something he wishes he could teach his brother.
As if summoned by Henry’s thought, his phone buzzes in his pocket and a text from Alex pops up.
Alex
You got this brother! Now I’m going back to sleep.
Henry chuckles softly and doesn’t bother to respond. Alex is probably already asleep again.
He’s still looking at his phone when a second text comes in, this time from Blaine.
Blaine
You are more than ready for this, Henry. Call me after to let me know how it goes.
Henry smiles at the texts on his screen and feel bolstered by their support. He texts Blaine back to thank him and tell him he will call him after, before pocketing his phone and going back to bouncing his knee.
“Can I...get you something to drink?” A hesitant voice asks to Henry’s left.
He jumps slightly and turns to find a well dressed man with high chestnut hair and a soft smile looking at him like you might a spooked animal.
Henry chuckles and can feel his cheeks blush slightly in embarrassment at how ridiculous he must look, “The receptionist already offered and I’m good. But thank you.”
The man nods but doesn’t immediately depart. Instead he continues to look at Henry with a calculating expression, “Job interview?” He asks, finally.
Henry bites his lip, “Is it that obvious?”
The man shrugs and gestures to the seat next to Henry. Henry also gestures to the seat with a nod and the man sits, crossing one long leg over the other, “I don’t think anyone else would notice. I just recall with ridiculous clarity my own nerves when I interviewed for a job here.”
Henry nods, “But obviously it went well for you.”
The man seems to preen, his swooped hair swaying slightly as he shakes his head and Henry finds himself smiling, “Obviously.” The man says and while it should come across as cocky, it doesn’t and Henry finds his nerves easing. The man smiles and holds out a hand, “Kurt.” He says.
Henry takes the hand and shakes it warmly, “Henry.”
Kurt smiles, “Well, Henry, what do you say I take you out for a coffee to celebrate after your interview?”
And suddenly Henry is nervous again but this time it has nothing to do with his interview.
-- -- --
Blaine stretches like a cat in a sun spot and hums as he squints at the bright sun shining through his bedroom window. He loves to wake up to the sun.
His phone buzzes on the nightstand and he rolls over to grab it. He’s got three notifications on his phone. One is a text from Alex sent at 3:43 am.
Alex
Duuuuuude you will not believe the night I’ve had!
Blaine chuckles and figures texting Alex back now would yield no fruit. It’s only 9 am, Alex would be asleep for hours yet.
The second notification is reminding him that Henry has a job interview this morning. He silently thanks himself for setting the reminder and quickly shoots a text to his brother for support.
The last notification is from ConnectSingle. Blaine has a match! It’s not quite as exciting as it was when he first got the app but he’ll admit to a tiny thrill going through him at the prospect of mutual interest. He wonders if it’s Andy or Kurt from last night or one of the other people he’s smiley faced in the past.
He thumbs open the app and notices first that Andy’s name is no longer on his ‘pending’ list which means the other man deleted Blaine’s profile. It stings a little but then he smiles when he sees a green smiley face next to Kurt’s name and picture (indicating a reciprocated interest) and an email attachment. He presses the email and settles back against the pillow to read what his new match has to say.
Blaine,
Hi! My name’s Kurt. Though I guess you already knew that... (Blaine chuckles softly) Anyway! Thank you for ‘smiling’ at me. You have a great actual smile :) I’d be interested to learn more about you - your profile says you’re a musician? Message me back if you’re interested in chatting!
Kurt
It’s simple but it still makes Blaine kicky feet just the tiniest bit under his blankets. He bites his lip and reads the message again before opening a reply box and typing his own message back.
Kurt
Hello! It’s great to ‘meet’ you. You also have a really great smile and might I add you have stunning eyes (is ‘stunning’ too much for a first email?) I am a musician! I’m a freelance studio musician, which, believe it or not, makes me a pretty decent living. Your profile says you like cars - Driving them? Working on them? Sitting in them? (I promise not to judge if it’s the last one). Hope to hear from you soon!
Blaine :)
As always, Blaine reads his message four times before hitting send and then rereads it again for any stupid things he may have said. He’s pretty happy with what he sent though and as he heads to the shower he’s already anticipating Kurt’s response.
-- -- --
“You are a God among men!” Alex exclaims as he walks out the front entrance to his apartment building later that afternoon to find Blaine standing outside with a coffee cup extended in one hand.
Blaine chuckles as his brother takes the cup, slings an arm around his shoulder and noisily kisses his cheek, “Well, I figured you would have just gotten up.” Blaine says as the pair start to walk down the street.
Alex hums around a sip of delicious coffee before nodding, “Within the last hour.”
“I still don’t understand how you can sustain this lifestyle.” Blaine says with a shake of his head. He knows that, out of the three of them, Alex relies most heavily on their parents to make ends meet and that his job as an evening bread baker at a small bakery means he doesn’t work typical hours (though who is Blaine to talk?) but sometimes he worries that Alex isn’t taking care of himself as well as he could.
Alex fidgets with the beanie he has on over his undoubtedly messy brown hair and shrugs with an easy smile, “Hey, man, when it works, it works.”
Blaine nods to concede the point, for now, as they round the corner on the street the bakery Alex works at is on, “So, what was so unbelievable about your night last night?”
Alex perks up at the mention and seems to skip along next to Blaine, “I met someone!”
Blaine rolls his eyes affectionately, “You are always ‘meeting someone’.”
Alex nods but smacks Blaine lightly, “I know but this guy is different. He’s...amazing!”
Blaine smiles, “Well, I’m happy for you.” He says, “Are you seeing him again?”
Sometimes, Blaine gets jealous over how easily Alex meets people. Granted as a pansexual, his pool of potential partners is larger than Blaine’s, but there’s just something so magnetic about Alex and he doesn’t seem to have any insecurities holding him back.
Alex presses his lips together and nods, “Tomorrow night!”
Blaine tries not to let his shock show. For as often as Alex hooks up with people, he usually doesn’t see the same person more than once. Blaine has asked that question of Alex a lot and usually gets a shrug and a ‘probably not’. Now, Alex seems genuinely excited.
“That’s amazing. Did you sleep with him last night?” Blaine asks as they come to a stop outside Alex’s work.
“Now, Blainers, you know a man does not kiss and tell!” Alex scoffs but then smirks, “But...there was kissing.” And there is the eyebrow waggle.
Blaine laughs, “Well, you’ll have to keep me updated.” He says.
“Speaking of updated,” Alex says, “Have you heard from our enigmatic big brother today about his interview?”
Blaine furrows his brow, “Not since before it happened. I told him to call me afterwards.”
Alex pouts his lips thoughtfully, “Maybe it went so well he had to go home and masturbate to his work success.”
Blaine half laughs and half groans, “That is not a visual I needed.” Alex shrugs with a chuckle, “But I’ll message him and find out how it went. Have a good shift. I’ll see Friday at Mom and Dad’s?”
Alex nods, “Okay, let me know what he says.” Because texting Henry himself would be too much work?, “And you sure will see me Friday, baby brother!”
Blaine rolls his eyes again, “I am not the baby!”
Alex clicks his tongue and shrugs, “Last one out is always the baby.”
“I am literally one minute ‘younger’ than you.” Blaine huffs complete with sarcastic finger quotes.
“And what a glorious minute it was.” Alex says with a wistful sigh and then dodges when Blaine tries to hit him in the head.
Alex waves without further ado and then heads into the bakery to start his shift, leaving Blaine on the sidewalk to pull out his phone. He’s about to open his text app to message Henry when a red bubbled one by the ConnectSingles app draws his attention.
He opens it with a giddy flutter of his stomach to find a new message from Kurt. He starts walking down the crowded street while he opens the email to read it (he’s lived in New York all his life, he’s an expert at phone reading and dodging people at the same time).
Blaine,
‘Freelance studio musician’ sounds fascinating. Do you know how to play a lot of instruments? As for my interest in cars, it’s all about working on them (who enjoys just sitting in cars? :P lol). My dad owns a garage in my hometown and I’ve been fixing cars since I could hold a wrench. I think he secretly wanted me to take over the business but fixing cars was always a hobby, not a vocation for me.
...Is that an overshare for a second message? I’m fairly new to this online thing. If it is, pretend I didn’t say anything.
Musicals! (I’m very good at subtly subject changes…) Are you a fan of musicals? I don’t like to assume just because a person is gay but I love musicals. They’re a big part of my life. So, I like to know right off the bat if I’m talking to a like minded person.
Talk soon?
Kurt
Blaine can feel the goofy smile on his face and isn’t sure why he feels the need to try and tamp it down. It’s New York City, there are way weirder things happening than a guy smiling down at his phone. He can’t get over how adorable Kurt seems just from two messages. He usually likes to play it slow, wait a while after receiving a message before messaging back but he opens the return message box immediately and crafts a response at the next stop light.
Kurt
I do know how to play a lot of instruments. I’m kind of a jack of all trades but master of none type? My parents put me in piano when I was kid and it’s actually the only instrument I’m classically trained in. Everything else I just picked up along the way. I think my parents secretly wanted me to be a concert pianist but classical music was always more a hobby than a true vocation for me (I don’t think you overshared but just in case you still think you did...I thought I’d ‘overshare’ back :)
I absolutely love musicals! Don’t ask me to pick a favourite, I simply couldn’t. Do you have a favourite? Let me guess...Wicked? You strike me as someone who would really appreciate the brilliance of Idina and Kristin. But maybe I’m wrong - I’m happy either way!
Blaine :)
P.S. You said your dad has a garage in your hometown? Where’s that? I grew up in Manhattan myself.
Blaine’s almost home by the time he finishes typing and he hits send before he can second guess himself. On his way up the stairs, he dials Henry’s number only to have the phone go to voicemail. Blaine’s brow furrows as he gets to his apartment. It’s not like his brother always picks up the phone when he calls, it’s just unusual when he doesn’t.
Shrugging, Blaine texts Henry to get him to call him back when he has a moment and then he starts about making dinner. He tries very hard not to check his phone compulsively for a message from Kurt.
-- -- --
Henry is in the middle of an existential crisis.
He hates to think of it as such. Out of his brothers he’s the level-headed one. Always has been. Blaine has an existential crisis every second week and Alex is too laid back to have anything resembling a crisis of any kind about anything ever. But Henry is always the one who thinks things through. Who sees pros and cons and the black and white of everything and comes to a logical conclusion about all things...
...this afternoon had felt anything but logical or black and white…
He’d walked out of the two hour interview with shaking hands but a smile on his face and a contract in his pocket. He was elated if not a little shaken by the whole experience. He’d almost bumped into Kurt standing just down the hall from the room the interview had taken place.
“So?” Kurt had said with a hopeful expression, “Are we coworkers? Am I taking you out for celebratory coffee?”
Henry had smiled at the man and nodded, “They offered me a job.”
Kurt’s face had lit up and while Henry’s first thought had been to wonder why this virtual stranger was so invested in whether he got a job or not, Kurt’s obvious joy made Henry’s joy that much more palpable.
“Well, then, shall we head to the coffee shop? Drinks on me, obviously.”
And then he winked.
It had hit Henry suddenly, and probably would have hit him sooner had he not been so worked up about his interview, that he was being hit on. It hadn’t been the first time he’d been hit on by a guy and he likes to think even if he didn’t have one gay brother and one pansexual brother that he would have been evolved enough to not be offended or hostile but usually when faced with this situation he would smile politely and say he wasn’t interested.
At that moment, however, he hadn’t wanted to say ‘no’...so he hadn’t.
“That sounds great.” He’d smiled.
Their coffee date had been amazing. Henry had spent the first hour after getting home trying to tell himself it hadn’t been a date but has come to the acceptance part of his crisis. It had been a date. A date with a man. A date with a man he’d actually enjoyed.
Kurt had bought the drinks and then the pair had sat across from each other at the small coffee shop talking about the job Henry had just gotten and what Kurt did for the company (he runs costume design for the theatrical branch of the production company). They talked about musicals (Henry had actually mentally thanked Blaine for forcing him to watch so many over the years), and they talked about football (only briefly after Henry realized it wasn’t up Kurt’s alley).
When Kurt had said he needed to get home, Henry had actually felt bereft. He knew even in that moment he needed to go home and freak out about what exactly was happening but he also didn’t want whatever was happening to end.
They had exchanged phone numbers and Kurt had told him he’d see him the next day at work. And then he winked again. Henry can still feel the blush from that wink almost two hours later.
When his phone buzzed with a phone call from Blaine an hour and a half into his crisis, he’d let it go to voicemail. He wasn’t in a place to talk to his brother. He wasn’t even sure what he would say. ‘Hey, Blaine! Yeah, I got a job and a boyfriend today!’
That thought had caused a spiral that Henry has been in for the last half hour. He does NOT have a boyfriend and one coffee date does not an anything make let alone a boyfriend but the fact that he had the thought means he’s thinking about Kurt in that way. He’s thinking about a man in a romantic way. This is not something he’s ever experienced before.
And suddenly, Blaine seems like the perfect person to talk to about this.
He gropes from his prone position on his couch for the phone he’d tossed onto the coffee table when it had rung with Blaine’s call. He dials his brother’s number and puts a hand over his eyes while he waits for the call to connect.
“Hey!” Blaine answers, happily, “How’d it go?”
Henry knows Blaine is asking about the interview but again his thoughts go to Kurt. He shakes his head to rid himself of the impulsive thought and answers Blaine’s question, “I got it.” He says.
Blaine whoops on the other end of the line, “I knew you would! That is amazing!”
Henry smiles, “Thanks.”
Suddenly, Blaine’s celebration dies off, “Why do you not sound over the moon about this? Is this because of Vance? He was the one who told you to go for this!” Vance is one of Henry’s best friends, one of the men he works with (or he figures it’s now ‘worked’ with). Vance had indeed pushed Henry to interview for the larger company.
“No, no. It’s not about Vance.” Henry answers.
“Then what is it?” Blaine asks and the earnestness in Blaine’s voice opens a flood gate.
“I met someone today.” Henry confesses.
“Oh!” He can tell Blaine is suprised. Henry doesn’t date. Hasn’t had a girlfriend since his junior year of high school. He’ll unpack what exactly that says about him later… “And that’s upsetting?” Blaine asks.
Henry grimaces, “Not in and of itself, I guess.” He starts, “It’s just...it’s a guy?” He says it like a question and then feels slightly queasy afterwards.
The line is silent for a long time, longer than Henry can stand without starting to feel even sicker, before Blaine lets out a breath, “That’s...awesome.”
Henry scrunches his eyes closed, “I don’t know what I’m feeling.”
He can almost picture Blaine nodding on the other end of the line, “And nor do you have to.” Blaine reassures, “Just answer me one thing: did you have fun with him?”
“Yes.” Henry answers.
“Then focus on that.” Blaine says and Henry can hear the smile in his voice, “Leave the other stuff to the side for now. I know you, and I know you want to figure everything out and this puts a little bit of a kink into the careful order of your life but if it makes you happy then that’s all that matters.”
Henry lets out of a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding. Blaine’s words unravel a knot he’s felt in his chest all afternoon and while he knows he’s not done freaking out about this, he’s willing to allow the happiness to overpower it. Blaine had been the right one to call.
“And Henry, if you have any...questions or you just need to talk things out, you know I’m only a phone call away, right?” Henry nods into the phone, getting a little choked up at the offer.
“Yeah. Thanks.” He breathes out.
“Anytime.” Blaine says, “Now, do you want to tell me more about your job or your date?”
Henry bites his lip as he smiles, “Both?”
“I’m all ears.” Blaine says.
-- -- --
The next night, Alex leaves work to once again find a man on the sidewalk waiting for him but instead of his brother, this time it’s Kurt. He smiles at the man and waves as he approaches.
Kurt waves back before putting his hand back into the pocket of his jacket where it had emerged from, “Hey. It’s good to see you again.” He says.
Alex smiles, “Same to you.”
They stare at each other for a few beats before Kurt tilts his head over his shoulder, “I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat?”
Alex chuckles, “Uh, that sounds nice but I have to admit, working at a bakery means I rarely leave a shift hungry. Samples and all that.”
Kurt chuckles as well and then shrugs, “Then what did you have in mind?”
Alex has a few things in mind and when he smiles at Kurt, who smiles back, he figures Kurt is thinking the same thing.
“I have some snacks at my apartment?” Alex offers with a grin.
He can see Kurt’s cheeks pink slightly as the other man ducks his head in an adorably, flirtatious way, “Lead the way.”
-- -- --
Blaine scrolls through his messages from Kurt over the past four days on the train to his parents’ place. He’s got more messages in their thread than he does in all his other threads combined. He actually hasn’t messaged anyone else since he and Kurt started talking but even if he had, he is sure the frequency with which they chat would have surpassed any other conversation Blaine would be having.
The pair have covered so many topics in their messages that Blaine wonders if there is anything left to share. He hasn’t shared this much about himself so fast to another person ever, let alone a person he’s never met in person. Usually by the time he knows this much about a person they’ve been dating for a few months. He and Kurt have been messaging for four days…
He’s just finished drafting an email suggesting that he and Kurt meet up when he gets to his stop. He hits send and then pockets his phone before exiting the train and taking the stairs to the surface. The air is colder than he expected and he hunkers down in his coat for the five minute walk to his parents’ brownstone. His childhood home.
He’s turning onto their street when he sees Henry coming from the other direction. He throws a hand up in a wave that his brother returns and they make their way toward each other. They haven’t really talked since their phone call but Blaine knows Henry usually needs to work things out in his own head first. He’ll come to Blaine when and if he needs to.
“Hey.” Blaine says when they meet up outside the house, embracing his brother in a hug that has him standing on his tiptoes.
“Hey.” Henry answers before they pull away from each other.
“Everything...okay?” Blaine asks, not wanting to push.
Henry smiles, “Getting there, yeah.” He says.
Blaine smiles and nods, appeased for now, and the pair make their way up the stairs to the front door. It opens before they get there to reveal a tiny ball of energy on the other side.
“My boys!” Amelia Anderson shouts for the whole street to hear and then launches herself into first Blaine’s arms and then Henry’s.
Both men laugh as they absorb their sister’s hug. Amelia is four years younger than her brothers and at twenty-two years old is only five foot three inches tall, prompting her brothers to nickname her…
“Hey Tiny!” Blaine smiles.
Amelia smiles back before gesturing for the men to come inside, “Come, come. Dinner’s almost ready and Al’s already here talking to Dad about some new spice for bread?” She shrugs as Henry and Blaine take off their coats and shoes.
“Is that my other two boys?” The trio hear called from, undoubtedly, the kitchen before Fiona Anderson emerges.
“Mama!” Henry says, pulling their mother to him.
“Oh, it just fills my heart to the brim when all my babies are home.” Fiona gushes as she turns to pull Blaine into a hug and then Amelia even though Amelia lives in the house and has probably been there all day. Their mother is never short on hugs.
“It’s good to be home.” Blaine smiles.
Fiona reaches out and strokes his olive-toned cheek with her pale hand, “Go say hello to your father before dinner.” She says before shooing them in the direction of the living room.
When they enter, Blaine sees Alex showing their father, Daniel Anderson, something on his phone. Daniel looks up when they enter and smiles large, patting Alex’s arm in apparent apology before getting up to hug his other sons.
“My boys.” Daniel says reverently, cupping both Henry and Blaine’s cheeks in his hands and looking between them.
Blaine loves his parents, even if they act like they haven’t seen their children in months when it’s really been only a week. The Anderson’s grew up with family dinners every Sunday and the tradition continued even with the three boys moving out on their own.
“Tell me what’s new.” Daniel asks, sitting back down as Blaine and Henry sit next to Alex on the couch after saying hello and Amelia settles on the ground by the coffee table.
The five chat about work and other sundry topics until their mother calls them for dinner. They settle into their usual spots.
“No Sam tonight?” Blaine asks, noticing the spot next to Amelia, usually reserved for her fiance, is empty.
“He’s at work.” Amelia offers, “Though he has made me promise to bring him leftovers.” She says and Fiona laughs.
“I’ll wrap some up after dinner if your brothers don’t eat it all.” She says with an affectionate glance at the three men sitting along one side of the table.
Dinner conversation is more the same as their conversation in the den until Amelia gets a sneaky look on her face, “So...anybody dating anyone new?”
Blaine swallows and feels the weight of his phone in his jeans pocket more acutely. He’s not nervous to tell his family about Kurt, he just doesn’t know how to tell them and his family can be...a lot sometimes when it comes to relationships. Or anything really.
He glances at his brothers, who are looking back at him and then at each other. Blaine wonders if he’s the only one who knows they actually all have something to tell.
In the end, they all shrug.
“Nothing to report.” Alex answers, seemingly for all of them.
Mercifully, talk turns away from their dating lives and to Amelia’s upcoming wedding. Blaine’s actually surprised it has taken them this long into the evening to start talking about it (it sometimes feels like it’s all they talk about) and Blaine enjoys the excited squeal Amelia gives when Alex mentions their plan to take her out.
His phone buzzes in his pocket and he jolts slightly at the table. His fingers itch to pull his phone out but the rule has always been no phones at the table. He’ll have to wait until he’s on his way home. The waiting is torture even though he loves hanging out with his family.
When they finally wrap up the evening with several rounds of hugs, Blaine and Alex make their way to the subway together (after seeing Henry off in the other direction to a different train).
Blaine’s got his phone out as soon as he’s sitting in the, thankfully, sparsely populated car.
“Any plans for the night?” Alex asks as he lounges next to Blaine, munching on left over rolls from dinner.
Blaine doesn’t answer right away - instead reading the last message from Kurt.
Blaine
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels like I know so much about you before we’ve even met. I’d love to meet up in person. I know you said you’ll be at your parents house tonight but...any chance I can interest you in a nightcap? We could meet at Coffee Project whenever you're done at your parents? Text me if you’re interested :)
Kurt
212-967-1253
Blaine has no idea where Coffee Project is but he’s already looking up directions when Alex hits him.
“Uh, what?” He asks, looking up in a daze.
Alex quirks an eyebrow at him, “I asked if you had plans for tonight.”
Blaine smiles, “I do now.”
-- -- --
Blaine opens the door to Coffee Project a half hour later and even though it’s late, a few heads turn at the sound of the bell over the door. Blaine’s hoping one of the heads is Kurt’s and he has a fleeting moment to hope Kurt actually looks like his profile picture when his worries are assuaged by a swivelling head at a table near the back.
Kurt looks exactly like his profile picture except he’s even better looking in person. The way his eyes light up when he sees Blaine at the door is something you can’t really capture in a picture.
“Hey!” Kurt enthuses when Blaine gets close. He’s up out of his seat and pulling Blaine into his arms before Blaine can say anything.
It should feel strange to hug someone he’s never met but it doesn’t. He’s met Kurt in every way except the physical (not that he hasn’t thought about the physical...but he digresses), so it feels natural to hug him close.
“Hi.” Blaine whispers as they part and sit on either side of the table.
“I ordered you a medium drip with some cinnamon. I hope that’s okay? You mentioned it was your drink of choice.” Kurt seems a little nervous but he’s smiling excitedly and even if Kurt was just nervous, Blaine’s excited enough for the both of them.
“No, that’s perfect.” He says, lifting his cup in a cheers motion before taking a sip.
Kurt shifts in his seat, “So, I know this is technically our first date but every topic of conversation I could think of while I waited for you we’ve already covered in our emails. This doesn’t feel like a first date.”
Blaine shakes his head, “It really doesn’t.”
Kurt nods, “How was your parents’ house?”
“It was wonderful as usual.” Blaine smiles and Kurt smiles back.
They make small talk for a while, complete with goofy grins at each other, before Blaine scratches his chin and looks out the front window, “What is it?” Kurt asks.
Blaine coughs and loses his nerve at the last moment to ask Kurt back to his place. He may feel like he’s known this man for a lot longer than four days virtually and about an hour in person, but the reality is they don’t know each other at all. And Blaine’s romantic nature is screaming at him to take this slow because this could be the real deal. He doesn’t want his baser instincts to scare Kurt off.
He shakes his head with a smile, “Nothing. Do you want to go for a walk?”
It’s probably a little too cold for a walk outside but Manhattan seems to glow around them as they walk slowly through the still populated street. It’s one of Blaine’s favourite things about New York - it truly never sleeps.
“So you said your brother is taking over the garage from your dad when he retires?” Blaine says as they follow a path through a small park.
Kurt nods, “Yeah. I sometimes wonder if my dad is secretly disappointed I never wanted to take it over.”
Blaine shrugs, “Are you the oldest?”
Kurt pouts slightly before ‘ah’ing and then chuckling, “Did I not mention Finn is my step-brother? Not my biological brother?”
“You did not.” Blaine answers and the pair laugh.
Kurt stops at a rusty swing set in the park and sits down on one, curling one arm around the chain. Blaine sits next to him and mirrors his position. The metal is freezing under his palm but he leaves his hand where it is and rocks his feet in the sand to swing himself back and forth slightly.
“My dad remarried when I was fifteen.” Kurt shares, “To the mother of a boy at my school. Same grade as me. It was...interesting.”
“Were you two friends in school?” Blaine asks.
Kurt chuckles slightly, but Blaine’s not sure why the question was funny, “Not really.” Kurt answers, “At all. We didn’t run in the same circles. His circle was more interested in making my circle’s life hell. Me specifically.”
Blaine feels instantly angry at people he’s never met. He pictures a younger Kurt getting bullied and wants to punch someone. He tries to tell himself his anger comes only from his own similar school experience.
“He was never really someone who bullied me. He just...didn’t do anything about it either. But then things started to change. It took a while - even after our parents married - but now I sometimes forget to tell people he’s my stepbrother.” Kurt shrugs, “He’s just been my brother for a lot of years now.”
Blaine smiles at the soft smile on Kurt’s face before the other man’s face is scrunching up, “I’m once again oversharing too soon, aren’t I?” He asks, “I’m, honestly, not usually like this.”
Blaine shifts so he’s more fully facing Kurt on the swing, “Hey, no. It’s totally fine. I…” He hesitates, “I want to know everything about you.”
Kurt’s eyes light up and he gives a little inhale through a slightly open mouth. Blaine can’t be one hundred percent sure, because the lighting isn’t amazing, but he thinks he sees Kurt’s cheeks pinken.
Blaine shrugs, “And if it helps you any, I once walked in on my parents having sex when I was fifteen and they sat me down the next day and gave me a very indepth, and scarring, sex talk.”
His anecdote has the desired effect and Kurt laughs heartily. Blaine smiles at the lyrical sound.
Kurt puts a hand up to his mouth as his laugh turns into a chuckle, “Are you serious? Or did you just make that up to make me feel better about oversharing?”
Blaine winces slightly which just makes Kurt laugh more, “Unfortunately, I am completely serious. I couldn’t think of anything remotely sexual for months after.”
This admission only makes Kurt laugh again.
-- -- --
A half hour, and one slide down the red metal slide at the park for each of them later, Kurt and Blaine walk toward Kurt’s apartment. Blaine actually feels himself slowing his pace. Despite the late hour, he doesn’t want this night to end.
“I had a really good time tonight.” He says.
Kurt smiles, “So did I.”
They come to a stop outside Kurt’s building and they hesitate, facing each other with shy smiles and hands stuffed in their coat pockets for warmth.
“I’d really like to see you again.” Blaine says.
Kurt bites his lip slightly and, even though it’s a cliche, Blaine’s eyes dip down at the movement before flicking back up.
“I’d really like to see you again as well.” Kurt whispers and then Blaine can take it no longer. He’s been waiting all night.
Without preamble, he pulls one hand from his pocket and rests it on Kurt’s elbow before ducking in and up and pressing his lips to Kurt’s. Kurt breathes in quickly before he’s kissing back. It’s short but amazing and they pull back with equally breathless expressions.
“Good night, Kurt. I’ll text you.” Blaine whispers, still leaning into Kurt’s space.
Kurt blinks at him before smiling, “Night Blaine. And not if I text you first.”
And then with a wink, Kurt pulls away and walks toward his building. He turns at the door to wave at Blaine over his shoulder with another smile, and Blaine waves back before Kurt enters the building and out of his sight.
Blaine has to quell the impulse to jump and click his heels together in joy before making his way down the street to hail a cab home.
-- -- --
Two days later, Henry sits at a counter by himself. There are people around but none of them give much notice to the nervous man at the counter whose knee is bouncing so frantically that Henry is sure he’s going to injure himself.
He keeps glancing around, eyes darting around the room like at any moment someone is going to come and arrest him just for sitting. Well, if he’s being honest it’s not the sitting he thinks he’s going to be arrested for.
He shakes his head at the thought. He’s not going to get arrested for any of this. Ugh, he should have called Blaine again before this.
“Hey!” He hears from behind him and spins to see Kurt standing there. He’s unwinding a scarf from his neck and he looks...beautiful. It’s the only way Henry can describe him.
“Hi.” Henry says around a suddenly dry mouth.
Kurt smiles and looks around as he takes his jacket off, “So...bowling.” He says and his smile turns slightly confused.
Henry coughs, “Uh yeah. Is that okay? I...it felt like a good idea.”
Kurt smiles, “I haven’t been bowling in years, and I’ll admit I’m not at all good, but I’m willing to give it a shot...” He pauses and looks down the counter toward where a man is handing out bowling shoes, “as long as I can get shoes that go with my outfit.”
Henry laughs, nervously, before his eyes are once again darting around. He had almost convinced himself that his wandering eyes before had been in search of Kurt but now that Kurt is here…
His eyes land back on Kurt who is looking at him with a serious face. Henry shifts under the gaze and tries to laugh again but it comes out as more of a groan to his ears.
Kurt licks his lips (and Henry jolts when he realizes how easily his eyes followed the motion) before the other man is nodding, “Hey, I’m kind of hungry. Do you mind if we grab something to eat before bowling? I saw a little cafe down the street.”
Henry feels his chest expand and suddenly getting out of the crowded bowling alley seems like the best idea ever. He nods and grabs his coat while Kurt puts his own back on. They walk in companionable silence to the cafe at the end of the street and it is mercifully empty except for a kind looking waiter around their age and what sounds like a cook in the back room kitchen.
“Hi!” The waiter smiles, “Have a seat wherever and I’ll be right with you.”
Kurt gestures to the back of the cafe and the pair sit opposite each other in a booth. By the time they take off their jackets and lay them down beside them the waiter is at their table with menus.
“Can I start you with a drink?” He asks.
“I’ll just have a coffee.” Kurt smiles.
“Same.” Henry says when the waiter looks at him. The waiter nods and then leaves them alone.
The pair is quiet once they are alone and Henry can feel Kurt’s gaze on him. Henry is more comfortable in the cafe but he’s still not COMFORTABLE.
“Can I ask you something?” Kurt asks softly. Henry nods but Kurt waits while the waiter puts down their drinks, says he’ll be back later to take their orders, and leaves before continuing, “Are you married?”
Henry chokes on the sip of coffee he is drinking and he sputters and coughs. Kurt waits with a slightly quirked eyebrow and smirk while Henry calms and then laughs, “No. No, I’m not married.”
Kurt smiles fully, “Okay. That’s good. For my purposes anyway.” He says, “Can I ask you something else?” Henry indicates for him to go ahead, “Is this the first time you’ve gone out with a guy?”
Henry lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he’s been holding and can feel himself start to shake a little. Kurt folds his hands in front him lightly and just gives him a soft, open smile and slowly Henry calms enough to nod.
Kurt nods, “Well, don’t I feel special?” He says, swiping a hand over the chestnut swoop of hair on top of his head. The question makes Henry laugh which he assumes was the point and Kurt breaks character to chuckle with him.
“I’m sorry. I’m kind of a mess.” Henry says after a moment.
Kurt smiles, somewhat sadly, and shakes his head, “You’re not a mess. At all. And besides, you should have seen me at fifteen.” Kurt’s eyes widen briefly as if he’s remembering something terrible.
“Something tells me you were never a mess.” Henry says.
Kurt shrugs, “Well, okay, maybe you aren’t wrong.”
The pair chuckles and then smile at each other for a moment before Henry clears his throat, “I don’t really know what I’m doing but I...like spending time with you.”
Kurt nods, “Then that is what we shall do. Spend time together.” He makes a show of picking up the menu and opening it with a flourish before smiling over at Henry, “I like spending time with you too.”
Henry smiles and breathes easier than he has all day.
-- -- --
Over the next few weeks, final preparations for Amelia’s wedding are in full swing and the Anderson triplets are put to work doing everything from helping to make party favours (to which Alex had said: ‘We’re rich - can’t someone else make these?’), to helping create a playlist for the reception (‘Blaine, you need to help. Sam only wants country!’), to going to final tux fittings, among other things. They also spend a good portion of time planning their night out with Amelia. Alex is in charge of most of the planning for that but Blaine and Henry check in to make sure everything is under control and nothing planned is illegal.
They also spend more time with Kurt. Alex finds for the first time in his twenty-six years, he’s excited about the prospect of seeing where things go with only one guy. Henry is beginning to understand, and freak out less about, his feelings surrounding Kurt and he’s been dipping his toes into the experience (including but not limited to his first kiss with a man - a fact he only freaked out internally, and to Blaine, about a little bit). Blaine gets a breathless feeling whenever he thinks about Kurt, which is often, and he literally has to turn his phone off sometimes to keep from texting the other man continuously.
Somehow, even weeks later, none of them are aware that they are actually dating the same person...but they are all getting closer to asking Kurt to be their date for Amelia’s wedding.
“Hey Tiny?” Blaine asks one night as he and his sister sit in their parents’ living room tying bows onto plastic bags holding green and peach mints.
“Hmmm?” Amelia hums as she focuses on her current bow.
“Is it cool if I invite someone to your wedding?” Blaine asks.
Amelia looks up and lowers her hands, complete with bag and untied bow, to the table with a soft thud. Blaine had realized when he had thought of asking Kurt to the wedding, that because he’d never gotten an actual invitation (‘Your invitation is implied and your acceptance is non-negotiable’ Amelia had told the three of them) he wasn’t sure if he had been granted a plus one. Now, with Amelia looking at him with a shocked expression, he suddenly feels like a plus one had not been something she had intended to extend to him.
But then Amelia had slumped and hit him in the arm lightly, “Of course you can have a plus one!” She says and Blaine smiles before Amelia shrugs, “I had assumed you and Alex would bring someone and then felt bad for not assuming Henry would, so I just planned for three extra people just in case.”
Blaine chuckles, “Well I haven’t asked him yet but...thanks.”
Amelia smiles, “No thanks necessary, Blaine. But there is a condition to having a plus one.” Blaine’s eyebrows lift at his sister’s serious expression as she points at him, “You have to tell me about this amazing man who makes you smile like that.”
-- -- --
Blaine opens the door to his apartment later that week to find Kurt smiling at him from the other side. He smiles back and gestures for Kurt to enter. He watches as Kurt takes in the low lighting and candles on the table set for two in Blaine’s small kitchen.
“Wow! Colour me impressed.” Kurt says as he takes his jacket off.
Blaine chuckles softly and shrugs as he takes the proffered jacket and hangs it in the front closet, “I just wanted something a little...special.”
Kurt gives him a tiny, shy smile and Blaine smiles back before gesturing to the table, “Dinner’s ready so please, have a seat.”
Kurt smiles, “Mind if I wash up first? Subway germs.” He says, spreading his fingers in front of himself in a slight jazz hands motion.
Blaine chuckles, “Dastard subway germs.” He winks before gesturing down the hall, “Bathroom’s the second door on your right.”
Once Kurt has returned and is seated at the table, Blaine grabs the bottle of wine from the counter. He pours some into Kurt’s glass and his own while Kurt takes his napkin and lays it over his lap.
“Are you...planning to purpose tonight?” Kurt jokes when Blaine sits down after serving them each a bowl of pasta.
Blaine chuckles and shakes his head as he looks down at his lap, “It hadn’t crossed my mind, no.” He says looking back up at Kurt to find the other man smirking at him.
“Darn.” Kurt winks before lifting his glass and offering Blaine a toast, “To fancy non-proposal dinners.”
Blaine laughs again and clinks his glass with Kurt’s. They both take a sip, looking at each other over the rims of their glasses, before picking up their forks and beginning to eat.
Kurt moans at his first bite, “This is amazing!” He enthuses.
Blaine coughs at his body’s reaction to the moan before nodding, “Thanks. Old family recipe.”
“Well, if it wouldn’t make this whole situation completely inappropriate, I’d say I’d want to be your new brother just to get this recipe.” Kurt laughs.
Dinner passes with easy, flirtatious conversation and before long the pair is on the couch with their wine. They both have a leg pulled up and are sitting sideways, knees touching, and their bodies get closer and closer as they talk, and before long, they’re kissing.
They’ve shared quite a few kisses by this point but they never fail to take Blaine’s breath away. He curls in closer to Kurt and rests a hand on his thigh as they continue to kiss.
He pulls away after a moment and leans his head against the back of the couch. Kurt does the same and they stare at each other with soft smiles, “I wanted to ask you to be my date to my sister’s wedding.” Blaine whispers into the space between them.
Kurt’s eyes light up, “I love weddings!” He says.
Blaine squeezes Kurt’s thigh, still under his hand, lightly, “So does that mean yes?” He asks.
Kurt nods, “I’d love to.”
Blaine smiles before chuckling, “I guess I should tell you when it is in case you have a prior engagement.”
Kurt scrunches his nose adorably, “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
Blaine can’t resist leaning in to kiss Kurt’s lips at the expression and they kiss for another few moments before Blaine pulls away once more, “December 2nd.” He says.
“I’m there.” Kurt replies before lightly fisting his hand in Blaine’s shirt and pulling him forward.
-- -- --
Unlike Blaine, Alex had always assumed a plus one was just a given for him. He was sure he could find someone to go with to the wedding, and whether he went home with that someone, or someone from the wedding, well...he would just be keeping his options open. That, however, was before Kurt.
Kurt, who made Alex’s heart beat faster every time he thought of him. Kurt, who made Alex laugh and actually laughed at Alex’s jokes in return. Kurt, who was breathtakingly beautiful and enchanting in a way no other person had ever really been for Alex. Kurt, who made Alex understand what it meant to want monogamy for himself and not just as an idea that seemed to work for people like his parents and sister.
Kurt, who is biting his lip when Alex pulls open the door to his apartment and Alex wants to bite that lip himself. Until now there hasn’t been a lot of biting of any kind. Despite Alex’s usual MO, he and Kurt have done nothing more than share kisses, and Alex finds himself wanting more but being okay with waiting.
He must be growing up…
“Hey.” He smiles as he gestures for Kurt to come in.
“Hi.” Kurt whispers and Alex realizes that he’d been so focused on Kurt’s bit lip that he failed to notice how nervous Kurt is acting.
“Everything okay?” Alex asks as he sits on the couch and watches Kurt sit across from him and fidget with the end of his scarf that he hasn’t taken off.
Kurt takes a deep breath and looks up at Alex with a sad smile and Alex’s stomach drops in preparation for what he can sense coming.
“You’re ending this, aren’t you?” Alex asks before Kurt can say anything.
Kurt bites his lip again and turns to look at the coffee table in front of Alex’s couch. Silence stretches between them but Alex doesn’t know how to fill it. He’s never been in this situation before, and the longer Kurt remains silent, the more real the moment becomes. He’s being broken up with. And even though they were not serious (hadn’t even talked about exclusivity at ALL) it hurts in a way he’s never really had to deal with before.
“I’m so sorry.” Kurt finally says on an exhale.
Alex presses his lips together and nods, more to himself than to Kurt.
“It’s just...you weren’t the only guy I’ve been seeing,” Alex’s heart hurts a little at this admission even though he had just moments before contemplated their lack of exclusivity, “and things with the other guy have become more serious for me and I needed to make a decision.”
Alex nods again. He’s doing a lot of nodding.
Kurt looks back over at him with a sad smile, “I really like you, but...it just didn’t feel fair to keep going with this,” He gestures back and forth between them, “when I couldn’t give it 100%.”
Alex lets out a breath and chuckles, which causes Kurt’s eyes to widen slightly, “It’s fine.” Alex says flippantly, even though he feels anything but flippant. He waves a hand nonchalantly in front of himself, “We weren’t exclusive. We never talked about it. I do appreciate you letting me know, though.”
He kind of wants Kurt to leave. He’s not devastated? But he’s hurting more than he wants to in front of the man currently breaking things off with him. He almost laughs again when he remembers he had intended to invite Kurt to Amelia’s wedding tonight. How dumb would he have felt had he done that before Kurt broke things off?
“I really do like you.” Kurt says again.
Alex smiles, “I like you, too.” He says softly before coughing awkwardly, “But hey, good luck with the other guy. He’s...very lucky.”
Having never been in this position before, Alex isn’t sure how to act. He’s not sure that’s the right thing to say and Kurt’s awkward smile leads him to believe it probably wasn’t exactly the right thing, but Kurt does nod and then gets up.
“Thanks.” He says.
Alex walks him to the door and holds it open for him to leave - the shortest ‘date’ of Alex’s life.
Kurt smiles with a wave before starting to walk down the hallway, “Oh!” Alex exclaims and Kurt turns around in surprise. Alex leans out his door slightly and smiles, “And if things don’t work out with your other guy...give me a call?”
Kurt’s eyes widen slightly, again, and his awkward smile returns before he nods and waves again before making his way down the hall and to the elevators.
Alex sighs when he’s out of sight and leans his head against the door. Clearly not the right thing to say. Getting broken up with sucks. He doesn’t recommend it. He needs a drink.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and texts his brothers.
-- -- --
“Al…” Blaine says, coming up behind his brother who is sitting at the bar in Black Iron Burger the next day.
Alex turns with a sad smile and Blaine pats him on the back with a sad smile of his own before pulling him into a hug.
“I’m sorry, man.” Blaine sympathizes as he takes a seat next to Alex. He notices, briefly, that Henry hasn’t arrived yet before focusing back on Alex who shrugs and wraps a hand around the half drunk beer in front of him.
“Yeah, it sucks. I mean, it wasn’t like we were serious or exclusive, but I kinda thought it could get there.” Alex says before shrugging again and bringing his beer to his lips.
Blaine pouts his lips. He can tell that this guy was different for Alex. His brother has never called him to mourn the loss of a partner (aside from the one time he’d slept with a D-list celebrity and claimed he’d been ‘in love’ after one night but that they would never see each other again. ‘It’s like Romeo and Juilet!’ he’d, overdramatically, lamented). Blaine is the brother that gets attached. Alex isn’t. So to see him slumped slightly in defeat makes Blaine’s heart clench.
“He didn’t deserve you.” He says, laying a hand on Alex’s shoulder.
Alex smiles and chuckles lightly, “Yeah, maybe.” He says.
The conversation pauses so Blaine can order a drink and then the pair is quiet while they watch the football game playing over their heads. Blaine figures he’ll take his cue from Alex. He’s here for him after all.
Henry joins them a few minutes later looking more put together than he normally does for a get together with his brothers. Blaine notes, as he watches Alex and Henry hug, that while Henry is usually better dressed than Alex, he doesn’t put as much time into his look as Blaine does. Tonight, he looks polished and Blaine even notices cufflinks on the dress shirt he’s wearing. Even the fact that he’s wearing a dress shirt to meet with his brothers is slightly out of character for him.
Blaine shakes himself out of his thoughts as Henry turns to hug him and then orders a beer for himself.
“So what do you need from us tonight?” Henry says as he sits on Alex’s other side, “Do you want us to sit quietly and watch the game with you, demonize the horrible man who broke your heart, give you shoulders to cry on? Just let us know.”
Alex laughs softly and shakes his head, “I just wanted to see you guys and have a beer...or five. We can just chat.”
Henry nods as his beer is set in front of him. He lifts it slightly and tilts it toward the other two, “We can do that. Right, Blaine?”
Blaine nods and mirrors the gesture, “We can.”
The three clink their glasses together and each take a sip of their drinks before, simultaneously, replacing them on the bar top.
“Speaking of ‘chatting’,” Alex starts, “What’s got you dressed up so fancy? I know it can’t be me. My pain is not a formal occasion.”
Henry chuckles, nervously, as he adjusts his collar, “Uh, I actually have a date later.”
Blaine shoots Alex a nervous look at the admission, afraid of how his brother will react. But when Henry also shoots Alex a concerned look, the man in the middle chuckles, “Guys, I’m fine! I’m not going to break. We weren’t serious. I’m just slightly bummed and wanted to see you guys. I’m Alex. I don’t do ‘feelings’.”
Blaine knows he’s covering a little but trusts his brother to let them know how he’s feeling so he nods and turns back to Henry, “So, how are things going with your guy?”
He notices Henry blush slightly and smiles at the boyish way Henry shifts his eyes as he smiles, “Really well.” He admits and Alex whoops while Blaine smiles bigger, “I was actually thinking of inviting him to Tiny’s wedding. Do you think that would be...cool?”
“You should.” Blaine answers immediately, “No one will care he’s a guy, Henry.” He says, understanding why Henry is nervous, “They may be a bit surprised at first but they’ll just be happy for you.”
Henry nods and takes a deep breath, “You’re right.”
Alex lets out a breath, “So, Henry’s going to have a date to a family wedding. That hasn’t happened...ever.” He chuckles when Henry smacks him on the back of the head before continuing, “And we all know I’ll rally and invite some hot piece with me.” Henry and Blaine give the same ‘Of course’ hand gesture, “So, now we just have to find someone for baby brother.”
Blaine rolls his eyes at the moniker but then smiles, “I actually already have a date myself.”
Alex’s eyes widen and Henry lets out a low whistle, “The same guy you’ve been seeing?” Alex asks and Blaine nods with an even bigger smile, “Well, that’s great.” He says, offering his glass for another toast, “To each of us finding someone we want to hump.”
Henry and Blaine roll their eyes with their glasses held up but participate in the toast anyway.
“Oh! And to it being only two days until we take Tiny out!” Alex adds.
Blaine and Henry, more enthusiastically, cheers to that.
-- -- --
Henry feels his heart leap when he sees Kurt walking toward him. He had left Blaine and Alex at the bar a half hour ago after two hours of chatting and goofing around to meet Kurt for their date.
His teeth start to chatter and not because of the cold weather. He’s nervous. Alex was right. He’s never asked anyone to any of their family weddings. He hopes Kurt says yes!
Kurt’s face breaks into a smile when their eyes meet and Henry all but bounces on his toes when the other man gets closer.
“Hey!” He enthuses, swooping in to give Kurt a quick kiss on the cheek. The desire to do so is still so new for Henry. It both excites him and terrifies him a little. He hasn’t really gotten the hang of casual intimacy with Kurt. Any physical interaction is usually initiated by Kurt. But Henry’s trying. He wants to try.
“Hey you.” Kurt says with a sigh, a white cloud of air following his words due to the cold weather.
“You look great.” Henry smiles.
Kurt smiles back, “So do you. Shall we walk?” He asks, gesturing down the street.
Henry loves that their dates are simple. They’ve been to the coffee shop a few more times and spent an afternoon in Central Park by the pond. Today their plan is to wander around the city and see if anything strikes their fancy. It may be a bit cold to do so? But Henry loves how uncomplicated and safe it feels. A lot less stressful than bowling - Henry is still berating himself for suggesting that to begin with.
The pair start their way down the street, walking close enough that their hands bump every once in a while but never really hold. Henry would like to hold Kurt’s hand, his fingers are flexing like a teenager on his first date, but he thinks he’ll wait and see if Kurt grabs first.
“How was drinks with your brothers?” Kurt asks.
Henry smiles, “It was nice. Alex just got his heart broken a little so we were cheering him up.”
Henry notices Kurt pauses at this, to the point where Henry walks a few steps ahead of him before he notices the lack of Kurt beside him. Henry turns back with a questioning eyebrow raised to find Kurt staring at him with slightly wide eyes. A second later, however, before Henry can ask, Kurt shakes his head with a chuckle and moves to walk next to the other man again.
“Sorry, I just thought...nevermind. It’s not important.” Kurt says with another shake of his head.
Henry nods in acceptance as they round a corner, “So, are you excited about your presentation on Monday?” It’s not what he wants to ask. He wants to ask Kurt to the wedding, but he figures he’ll work himself up to that.
Kurt sighs next to him and it sounds a little regretful to Henry. Which is strange considering the nature of his question. He’d thought Kurt would be excited about the presentation.
“Look, Henry, can we sit for a bit? I wanted to...talk to you about something.” Kurt says around a grimace and Henry doesn’t like the words or the expression but he nods and allows Kurt to lead him into a small, quiet coffee shop on the corner.
They each order a coffee, even though Henry suddenly has a lump in his throat and doesn’t think he’ll be able to drink it, and he shifts continually as Kurt unwinds his scarfs from his neck.
“What’s up?” Henry asks when he can’t take the quiet any longer. Trying for nonchalance and probably failing epically.
Kurt swallows and rests his hands first on the wooden table top, then in his lap, and then finally decides to reach forward and grab Henry’s hands across the table. Henry looks down at their hands and while he realizes this is what he wanted to happen not even ten minutes ago, the current mood isn’t what he had expected or wanted.
“I don’t really know how to tell you this.” Kurt begins and Henry blinks at him, waiting for what he knows is coming but hoping that’s not the case, “I...need to end things.” And there it is. Henry feels his stomach sink to his feet and his instant reaction is to pull his hands from Kurt’s. Kurt won’t let him go though and Henry doesn’t try too hard, “It’s nothing you did. You are amazing.” Kurt continues and Henry goes back to blinking at him, his mind already whirling as he tries to focus on what Kurt is saying.
“What happened?” He asks around dry lips.
Kurt gives him a sad smile and Henry wants to say it’s pitying and hate Kurt for it but...he can’t, “I haven’t just been seeing you and things with the other guy have gotten more serious. I didn’t think it would be fair to either of you to pretend that wasn’t the case.”
Henry intellectually knows that at twenty-six, people date multiple people until things become exclusive but...Henry doesn’t really date. He was exclusive with Kurt from the beginning. It hurts, however irrationally, that Kurt didn’t feel the same way.
“I’m so sorry, Henry.” Kurt continues, squeezing his hand.
Henry shakes himself out of his own head and looks at Kurt, who is continuing to smile sadly at him.
“Would you like me to go?” Kurt asks.
Henry swallows. Does he? He thinks he does. He nods before he can think too hard and Kurt squeezes his hand one more time before pulling away and grabbing his scarf.
He stands to wind it around his neck and then reaches into his pocket to put money down on the table for his undrank (and actually still undelivered) coffee.
“You really are amazing, Henry.” Kurt whispers.
Henry nods, tries to smile, and then Kurt is gone.
Henry lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He tries to tell himself that people break things off all the time. Hell, he’d just come from an Alex cheer up session for the exact same reason. He tries to tell himself that he and Kurt weren’t serious, regardless of Henry’s personal feelings on exclusivity.
He’ll be fine. It’s not like the very first guy to ever catch Henry’s attention, to make him question everything he thought about himself, just ended things right when Henry was thinking of taking things to the next level.
Henry lets out another heavy breath. Fuck.
-- -- --
“Okay, while I love that you guys took me out? I have to say this is kind of depressing.” Amelia says, carefully, two days later.
She’s seated on the arm of a couch in the VIP section of a swanky club, dressed to the nines in a purple sequined dressed and hair and makeup on point, and while she’s valiantly trying to maintain a buzz...she feels its a bit of a travesty that she has to TRY so hard. She should be drunk out of her MIND right now or at least on her way to it.
She’s not sure if the club is all the night holds, but the way things are going she’s not sure she wants to find out what else there might be.
The only other person actually trying to have fun is Blaine. He’s also dressed to the nines, his bowtie the perfect accessory and has been tweaked by admiring girls AND guys all night. The constant blush on his cheeks at the action is both adorable and endearing. Blaine is currently off buying them more drinks, however, leaving Amelia with Alex and Henry.
It’s the other two members of their party that are being giant party poopers. Alex and Henry are at least dressed nicely for the event but considering this is pretty much all Alex has talked about for months...their mood is definitely off.
“Sorry Tiny.” Henry sighs from where he sits on the couch next to where she is perched.
Amelia sighs, “I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be happy!” She says, “Is whatever has the two of you down something you can maybe put aside for the night? Or is it something we can talk about, quickly, so we can move on? Because I’m pretty sure this night is costing you all a lot of money and...it’s my last night out with my boys before my wedding.” She doesn’t want to pout but...she’s the baby, and the only girl, and is used to using her pout to get what she wants.
Alex sighs, “I was ready to have a great night but then Henry had to go and get dumped, too, and...it reminded me how much that sucked.”
Henry lifts his hands, exasperatedly, as if to say it wasn’t his fault he got dumped a day after Alex did, “It’s not my fault I got dumped a day after you did!” He huffs and Amelia almost, almost giggles at her ability to read her big brothers.
Instead of giggling though, she sighs, “Look, guys, getting dumped sucks but get drunk and get on someone else! It’s not like you’d been dating these people for a year or more. You didn’t even tell your family you were dating them!”
Henry and Alex both stare at her after her exclamation and she would feel bad if she didn’t feel she was right. Henry’s mood makes the most sense. He doesn’t date and any seeming failure would be a blow to his dating confidence.
She’s most confused by Alex. Alex goes through men and women like they’re underwear sometimes. She’s confused why he would be so hung up on a guy he clearly didn’t feel serious enough about to introduce to his family.
“We’re sorry, Tiny.” Henry says.
Alex nods, “Yeah. We’ll try harder. This is your night.”
Amelia nods, glad to have them thinking the way she does, as Blaine comes back to the group.
“I’m pretty sure I counted four different people winking at me and/or touching my butt on the way to and from the bar.” Blaine says, setting their drinks down on the table in front of the couch.
Alex laughs as he reaches for his drink, cheersing slightly in thanks, “Well, you are looking very dapper this evening. But better watch it - your man might get jealous.”
Blaine chuckles, himself, as he takes a seat in a chair perpendicular to the couch the other three are sitting on, “Yeah, maybe I should have brought Kurt as protection.”
Amelia is looking at Blaine but becomes aware very quickly of how still the couch to her right has gotten. She turns to find Alex and Henry looking at Blaine but not in the casual way one might when another person is talking. They’re staring at him like he’s just said the most shocking thing they’ve ever heard.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Alex asks.
Blaine seems to catch on to their sudden mood and furrows his eyebrows and shifts as he answers, “That I should have gotten Kurt to come for protection. It was just a joke.”
“Kurt.” Henry says, flatly.
“Yeah. My….boyfriend?” Blaine says the last part questioningly. Amelia isn’t sure if it’s because he’s still confused by their brothers’ reactions, or because he’s not sure if the title is accurate for his relationship.
Either way, the clarification doesn’t seem to help Alex and Henry who continue to look at Blaine like he’s just stolen the last cookie (a criminal offense punishable by beatings from each other when they were kids).
Blaine chuckles nervously under the scrutiny, “What’s going on?”
Henry and Alex look at each other and then back at Blaine, and then back at each other. Amelia’s head is starting to hurt from confusion, but it looks like she’s not the only one who’s confused.
“What’s Kurt’s last name?” Henry asks.
“Hummel.” Blaine provides and again the space is silent which is hard to do considering the music pumping not far away.
“Oh god.” Henry moans, putting his head into his hands. Alex sits, frozen, staring at Blaine. Blaine, for his part, is looking back and forth between his brothers, and Amelia, with a look of distress on his face, unaware of the issue.
And then suddenly, Amelia gets it.
“Were you all dating the same guy?!” She exclaims.
Blaine’s head whips in her direction as Henry moans again.
“No, no, no.” Blaine says with a nervous chuckle as he looks at his brothers to agree.
Instead of confirmation however, Henry is still face planting into his hands and Alex looks murderous.
“No?” Blaine, feebly, tries again.
“I lost my chance to be with Kurt because of YOU?!” Alex yells and Blaine jumps back in his chair slightly at the loud exclamation.
Amelia gets up and puts her hands up in a calming gesture, “Now, just wait a minute. Let’s just...talk about this.”
“Did you know?” Alex accuses as he stares at Blaine.
“Of course not!” Blaine exclaims.
Alex scoffs like he doesn’t really believe his brother and fidgets on the couch. Henry hasn’t moved.
“I cannot believe this.” Alex huffs. He looks around the room before shaking his head and huffing again, “You know what? I can’t be here right now. I’m sorry, Tiny, but...I gotta go.”
Before Amelia can say anything, Alex is up out of his seat and out of the room. Blaine and Amelia watch him go, both looking distressed and confused.
“Henry?” Blaine asks after a moment, small and sounding very much like the ‘little brother’ Alex and Henry like to say he is.
Henry shakes his head before looking up, “I gotta...I’m sorry but I gotta...think about this.” He says and then he’s gone the same way Alex left.
Blaine and Amelia once again watch him leave and then turn and look at each other. Blaine looks close to tears and Amelia feels a tightness in her chest. She’s not sure how to fix what just happened, or even fully understand why it happened. She just knows that a night meant to celebrate very quickly turned into the very opposite of that, and she now has three brothers hurting.
She does the only thing she can think to do at the moment and moves to squish herself next to Blaine, pulling him to her and cuddling him close as they listen to the distant thump of music from the club on the other side of the wall.
-- -- --
Blaine feels like shit. It’s been three days since the disaster that was Amelia’s party and neither of his brothers are answering his calls. He can’t remember the last time he didn’t talk to his brothers for longer than a day, their almost constant back and forth something he took for granted until it suddenly wasn’t there.
He’s tried to text both of them multiple times but has not received a response from either.
He misses his brothers, but he’s also a little mad because he’s not sure their silent treatment/absence is justified. It’s not Blaine’s fault he met a guy. It’s not Blaine’s fault he and said guy grew close. And it’s not his fault that guy just so happened to also be dating his other two triplet brothers and decided to break it off with them.
None of this is his fault...but then why does he feel so guilty for seeking comfort in Kurt?
“I don’t know what to do.” He sighs, resting his chin on his folded arms which are resting on top of his kitchen island where he is sitting.
Kurt sighs from his spot next to him and leans over to kiss his shoulder before leaning his cheek on the same shoulder and smoothing a hand up Blaine’s back.
“I’m sorry.” He whispers.
“I don’t know what to say or do to make any of this better with them.” Blaine continues.
Kurt hums and Blaine appreciates that while Kurt may not know what to say, he’ll listen.
When Blaine had first told Kurt that he had been inadvertently dating Blaine’s triplet brothers, Kurt had thought he was joking. No way did the universe work that way. But after Blaine showed Kurt a picture of himself with Alex and Henry, Kurt had been dumbfounded. He’d sputtered some words that didn’t make a lot of sense and looked like his mind was reeling with a million different emotions and thoughts all at once. In the end, he seemed to finally land on pity and sympathy for Blaine, and while Blaine doesn’t usually like to be pitied...in this situation, he’ll take all the pity and cuddles he can get.
The pair is quiet for a few moments, both in their own heads, before Kurt lets out a breath, “I still can’t believe I was dating three brothers.” Evidently Kurt’s not completely done being dumbfounded, “No, wait.” He says, straightening up, “Triplets. Triplet brothers. Close triplet brothers. Triplet brothers who are close.” He moves away from Blaine to circle to the other side of the island and Blaine immediately misses his closeness.
Kurt paces from one end of the island to the other and brings a hand to his forehead, “And I’ve now hurt all three of them.” He seems to be talking more to himself than to Blaine, “All three are hurting because of me. How did I get myself into this mess?”
Blaine watches him pace for another moment before sighing. His sigh seems to snap Kurt out of his own head and he leans across the island to rest his hands on Blaine’s folded arms, “Oh my God, I’m sorry. You don’t need me having a mental freak out. This is about you.”
Blaine sighs again, “You’re allowed to be confused too, Kurt. I don’t think there is a rule book on how to handle this situation.”
Kurt pouts his lips, “Yeah, but I’m not the one who isn’t talking to his brothers. I’m the one who caused it all.”
Blaine unwinds his arms and grabs Kurt’s hands properly, “It’s not like you planned this. It’s not like you went out in search of triplet brothers, who look nothing alike I might add, to mess with. You dated, you got close to someone, and did the right thing by breaking it off with the others you didn’t feel as close to.”
Kurt nods and squeezes Blaine’s hands, “I think some of that advice could be turned around and given to you.”
Blaine bites his lips together and nods. He can’t be blamed for getting close to someone. He can’t be blamed for not knowing his brothers just so happened to be dating that same someone.
“Should I feel guilty for being happy about how it turned out?” He asks.
Kurt sighs and shrugs slightly, “Only if I should, too.”
Blaine shakes his head. This whole situation was out of their control and he can’t deny how happy he is to be with Kurt. He’ll figure out a way to make things right with his brothers. Everything will turn out okay.
“I like you a lot.” Blaine says, apropos of nothing.
Kurt smiles at him from across the island before circling it again and coming to hug Blaine. Blaine settles his knees on either side of the taller man and leans his head against Kurt’s chest as he wraps his arms around his waist.
“I like you a lot, too.” Kurt whispers into Blaine’s hair.
Blaine enjoys the hug for a minute before pulling back and looking up at Kurt, “Should you still come to the wedding?”
Kurt bites his bottom lip and tilts his head, “Do you want me to still come to the wedding?”
Blaine squeezes the arms still around Kurt’s waist slightly, “Of course I do, but that’s not really the point right now. Would it just cause more issues?”
Kurt shifts his arms so his hands are resting on Blaine’s shoulders and he looks him in the eye, “I would love to come to the wedding with you. I would love to meet your family or, you know, the rest of your family?” He scrunches one eye shut and the question actually makes them both laugh softly before Kurt settles into a soft smile, “But I do not want to do anything else that will cause you, or your brothers, any more hurt.” Blaine starts to speak but Kurt shushes him lightly, “Yes, I know the first hurts were inadvertent, but they still happened.” Blaine sighs and nods, “I will go along with whatever you want. If you want me at the wedding, I’m there. If you’d rather me stay at home, I can do that too. But your decision will not change how I feel about you.”
Blaine stares up into Kurt’s eyes and his feelings for him deepen even further at Kurt’s words. Beyond the external drama, Blaine is a little shocked at how quickly his feelings for Kurt have developed over the course of their short relationship. He’s feeling things he thinks he probably shouldn’t yet, and while he’s not ready to announce them to Kurt...they’re enough to make his decision an easy one.
“I want you there.” He whispers into the space between them, looking back and forth between Kurt’s eyes because they are that close.
Kurt smiles and leans in to press a slow kiss to Blaine’s lips. Blaine sighs and leans into it, pressing his hands more firmly into Kurt’s back to draw the other man closer still.
The kiss is deep from the start and the only sound in the room is their breathing and the wet sound of their lips and tongues coming together. There is something deeply intimate about their position to Blaine and he can feel himself responding and his heart rate pick up.
Kurt’s hands settle on either side of Blaine’s neck and he tilts Blaine’s head ever so slightly and, oh, that angle is so much better.
They make out for another minute or two before Blaine pulls back sharply, a thought suddenly occurring to him.
“Did you…” He pauses, unsure he wants to ask the question. Kurt, who is slightly out of breath with his cheeks flushed standing between Blaine’s legs, looks at him in confusion. Blaine decides he needs to know, “Did you...sleep with either of my brothers?”
He knows he’s broken the mood they were just in, especially when Kurt’s confusion turns to laughter, but he knows he couldn’t continue until he knew.
Kurt leans his forehead against Blaine’s shoulder and laughs heartily into it. Blaine soon joins him and the pair laugh in each other’s arms.
Kurt lets out a breath and hums to calm himself before pulling back and shaking his head, “No. No, I did not.”
Blaine brings a hand up to his forehead and wipes it dramatically, “Phew. I just had this mental image of you comparing our dicks and just...no.” He says and it causes them both to chuckle. Blaine scrunches one eye shut and looks up at Kurt, “Sorry for...ruining the mood.”
Kurt hums again, looks up at the ceiling as if considering, and then shrugs, “It’s okay. Probably wouldn’t be the best idea to sleep together right now. Maybe we should...wait.”
Blaine intellectually knows Kurt is right, but it’s hard to tell his body and heart that.
“We’ll have time.” Kurt whispers, leaning to press a soft kiss to Blaine’s lips.
Blaine closes his eyes and groans softly as Kurt pulls away, “We will.” He agrees.
-- -- --
“Hey. Hey Blaine.” Alex slurs a day later into his phone. He’s wobbling outside of a bar in the West Village and he thought calling Blaine would be the BEST thing to do at this particular moment, “Hey Blaine. Oh wait, I already said that. But hi. I’m mad at you. I think. Shouldn’t I be?” He scrunches up his nose and makes eye contact with another man on the sidewalk who looks at him with a quirked eyebrow and keeps going, “Yeah, I think I’m mad. You stole Kurt. You stole Kurt and his..and his penis!” He exclaims. Two young girls, in the process of passing Alex on the street, jump at the volume and then giggle as they speed walk away, “I had plans for that penis. Big plans because well...I’m sure it would have been big if you know what I mean.
“But you took him and I’m mad.” Alex sighs and then sits on the sidewalk, “And a little sad. I’m...I’m...I’m smad.” He pouts his bottom lip out and adopts a glare before giggling at his attempt to look sad and mad at the same time, “I don’t want to be smad. But I really wanted that penis. And the man it was attached to. But now you have the penis. And I just...I’m smad.”
-- -- --
Kurt’s not entirely sure why he’s here. Technically, he understands the logistics of being here, Blaine’s little sister’s rehearsal dinner, but he isn’t entirely sure he made the right decision agreeing to come.
Blaine had asked him to come. Or rather, Blaine’s sister, Amelia, had asked Blaine to ask him to come. Her thinking was that her family could meet Kurt in a less formal setting first, as opposed to having their first meeting be at her wedding (Blaine had said her exact words were ‘If you cause unnecessary drama at my wedding, I will burn all your bow ties’).
So here Kurt stands, in an admittedly fabulous outfit, next to Blaine outside the restaurant the rehearsal dinner is being held at. They are both fidgeting and side-eyeing each other.
The next time they catch each other's eyes, they both chuckle at the same time.
“Thank you for coming.” Blaine says.
Kurt shrugs, “From the sounds of things I didn’t REALLY have a choice. I haven’t even met Amelia yet and she seems like a force to be reckoned with.”
Blaine nods, “She can be.” He says on a sigh before looking back at the restaurant, “Ready?”
Kurt’s not sure he is, but he nods anyway, and the pair make their way toward the front door.
The hostess leads them to the private room the rehearsal dinner is being held in and Kurt is instantly hit with the sheer amount of people inside the relatively small room. Kurt’s not an introvert, by any means, but faced with a room of people he doesn’t know...including the family of his new boyfriend...he finds himself swallowing, thickly.
And then he remembers that everyone in this room isn’t a stranger and his eyes widen when the first people he lays eyes on are Henry and Alex. They’re hard to miss, right inside the door and talking to a short woman who, based on her physical features, can’t be anyone but their sister, Amelia.
The opening of the door draws their attention and the five of them (Alex, Henry, Amelia, Blaine, and Kurt) freeze. Kurt had kind of hoped to avoid any awkward interactions, but clearly luck isn’t on his side tonight.
“Hey!” Amelia says after a moment, breaking the silence and moving towards the pair, “You must be Kurt!” She’s hugging him before Kurt can even take his eyes off of Alex and Henry, and he hugs her back while still looking at them. Henry looks nervous and Alex’s eyes have narrowed slightly. Kurt coughs and looks away and down at the spitfire of a woman still hugging him
“Yeah. Hi. You must be Amelia. Nice to meet you and congratulations.” He says with a nervous blush rising on his cheeks.
Amelia steps back and hugs Blaine to her, who looks faintly ill as he looks beyond at his brothers.
“Thanks!” She enthuses, “Though I’m kind of glad the wedding is tomorrow. Whoever said planning a wedding was fun obviously hasn’t planned one before.”
She rolls her eyes and laughs, and while Kurt has been planning his wedding since he was six and can’t wait to put the plan into action, he laughs with her because he doesn’t want to be rude.
And then suddenly it’s like Amelia either can’t ignore the tension between the four men in the room, or she just realizes it, and looks between all four of them with a look of apprehension. When no one else speaks or even looks at one another, she sighs and puts her hands on her hips.
“This is ridiculous. Hug. Each. Other!” She orders with a glare at each of her brothers.
Blaine, Alex, and Henry all seem to collectively pout, but none move to follow the order of their little sister. Kurt’s pretty sure the order didn’t extend to him but...it’s so awkward he’s actually considering just going for it and hugging someone.
Amelia rolls her eyes before grabbing Blaine’s elbow, “All right. We are going to talk this out like the adults we all pretend to be. That way you can go back to normal and not ruin my wedding.”
She gestures for Alex and Henry to follow her and it appears this order they will follow. Kurt is simultaneously glad to no longer have to deal with this awkwardness, but also a little terrified that Blaine is about to leave him in a room full of strangers.
The siblings are almost out of the room when Amelia stops and turns back to Kurt with a raised eyebrow, “Are you coming?”
Kurt’s eyes widen in surprise and terror. His presence is required?
Amelia gives him a pointed stare before leading her brothers from the room. Kurt hesitates, momentarily, before deciding staying with Blaine is probably the best course of action (and not angering Amelia any further) and following them out to a quiet section of the restaurant.
For the second time this evening, Kurt wonders how he ended up here.
“All right.” Amelia starts as she looks at her brothers in front of her. The four men are standing in a loose square, with Kurt awkwardly standing to Blaine’s right, “You all need to get over this. I should not be feeling anxious over YOUR love lives and especially not the day before the most important day of MY life.”
Alex crosses his arms over his chest and pouts, “This is all Blaine’s fault.”
Amelia throws her hands up in the air in exasperation but it’s Blaine who answers, “Are you seven?” He asks, incredulously, and the question just makes Alex’s arms cross tighter, “Because that’s how you’re acting. This is like the time mom and dad bought us scooters for our birthday and you got pissed that I got the red one because you wanted the red one.”
Kurt furrows his brow, “Are you likening me to a scooter?”
His question goes unanswered as Alex huffs indignantly, “I really liked him!” He defends.
Blaine rolls his eyes, “Yeah, I got that much from the message you sent me. You know, at first I felt sort of bad for what happened, that maybe it WAS my fault. But it’s not really. I just met a guy and fell in…” He hesitates and Kurt turns to him wide eyed. Blaine swallows thickly and doesn’t meet Kurt’s eye before continuing, “I really didn’t need you talking about how much you want my boyfriend’s dick. Now I’M mad.”
Kurt’s wide eyes widen further before moving to look at the ground. He feels his cheeks heat up in an embarrassed flush. He’s not really shy when it comes to sex related topics like he was in high school, but something about this situation just makes it all the more strange.
The space they’re in goes quiet and Kurt isn’t sure if anyone is going to break the silence. He doesn’t really want the last thing said in this trainwreck of a conversation to be about his penis.
He coughs and all heads swivel toward him. He blinks at each face before landing on Blaine’s and biting his lip, “I...think I’m going to go.” He says, and it’s not until it’s out of his mouth that he realizes he had wanted to say those words.
Blaine’s eyes widen and he steps closer, grabbing Kurt’s hand, “Please don’t.” He whispers.
Kurt looks quickly at the other faces in the space before focussing back on Blaine. He really doesn’t want to say this with Blaine’s brothers and sister in the room, but again his mouth acts before his brain can catch up, “I don’t want to come between you and your family.” He whispers, pleading with his eyes for Blaine to understand.
Blaine shakes his head, “You aren’t.”
Kurt smiles sadly, “I am. I just...can’t be the reason why three brothers are fighting.” He looks around the room again, the other three faces looking on curiously, before turning back to Blaine who looks pained, “I’m sorry.” He whispers and then pulls his hand out of Blaine’s, “I’m...sorry.” He says a little louder to Alex, Henry, and Amelia, before he turns and walks out of the restaurant.
The fact that his heart hurts when he hits the parking lot doesn’t go unnoticed.
-- -- --
Amelia’s wedding is a beautiful, elegant affair the next day. The flowers arrive on time, no one trips down the aisle, Amelia and Sam both tear up during their vows, and if anyone notices the slightly subdued nature of the three men of honour...they don’t comment.
Blaine thinks he and his brothers do a pretty good job at keeping it together during the ceremony and pictures. They act like nothing's wrong and even their parents don’t seem to pick up on the fact that there is a giant elephant in the room.
During the reception, the three of them deliver their joint speech flawlessly (complete with jokes, heartfelt memories, and perfectly timed segways) and Blaine gives a sigh of relief when Amelia beams at them from her seat beside her new husband.
It’s not until the dancing begins that Blaine really lets his mask drop. He finds a seat at an empty table and nurses a glass of wine. He rests his forearms on his legs and lets the glass dangle between his knees.
Kurt was supposed to be here. Blaine was supposed to be introducing his new boyfriend to his family, cuddling up on the dance floor during sappy wedding slow songs, and maybe getting a little drunk and handsy. Instead, he’s spent the day pretending he isn’t hurting.
He sighs as the song changes (it’s a pretty damn good playlist if he says so himself) before he sees black out of the corner of his eye. He closes his eyes, ready to put on a brave face for whatever family member has decided to descend upon him, only to look up to find Henry standing in front of him.
“May I?” His brother asks, gesturing to the seat next to Blaine. Blaine nods and straightens slightly, something in the back of his mind finding it wrong that Henry feels he needs to ask permission to sit next to his brother.
Henry sits next to him with a sigh and looks out over the dance floor. Blaine realizes in that moment that Henry has been pretty quiet since they found out about their shared dating experience. He hasn’t said much on the issue or expressed his feelings in any way. Blaine really hopes he’s not about to get into a shouting match at their sister’s wedding.
“I freaked out.” Henry says. Blaine turns to look at him but Henry is still looking out at the dance floor, “Kurt was the first guy to ever make me feel something like that, and then suddenly he was calling things off to be with you, and I had this giant crisis. Had everything I felt been a lie? An experiment? For nothing?” He shakes his head before sighing again and looking at Blaine, “But my feelings have nothing to do with you and Kurt. None of this is your fault, Blaine. And I’m sorry if I made you think it was.”
Blaine sucks in a deep breath through his nose and holds it for a second before letting it out. He had been expecting tension, not an apology. He also can’t believe he didn’t think to check in on his brother. Of course he’d be analyzing what it all meant.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask how you were feeling about all of...that.” Blaine says.
Henry shrugs before smiling, “It’s okay. It’s not like me overthinking and freaking out is a NEW experience.”
Blaine chuckles softly, “Still. I should have asked. Are you...okay with everything?”
Henry nods looking out over the dance floor again, “I think I am. Or at least...I’m getting there. Maybe Kurt will be the only guy to do anything for me and maybe not. I’m willing to keep my options open.”
Blaine smiles and nods, “Good.” He says.
“I’m growing as a person.” Henry says, dryly, and they chuckle lightly. Henry turns back to Blaine and lays a hand on Blaine’s knee, “How about you? Have you heard from Kurt?”
The question makes Blaine’s chest hurt a little before he shakes his head, “Not since he left yesterday.”
Henry nods, “He’ll come around.” He says, encouragingly.
Blaine bites his lip to keep from either rambling or crying. He doesn’t want to do either. He’s not even sure how he truly feels or what he would even say...though he guesses when you ramble it’s less important what it is you actually say.
He ends up just shrugging and the pair go back to watching the happy people on the dance floor.
“Amelia is beautiful today.” Blaine muses.
“She really is.”
Blaine jumps slightly because it’s not Henry who responds. Both men turn in the seats to see Alex standing behind them. He’s got his hands in his pockets and his head tipped down, looking at them through his lashes.
“Hey, can I...talk to you?” He asks Blaine.
Blaine looks at Henry, who shrugs, before Blaine nods and gets up. He passes his glass to Henry and then follows Alex out of the ballroom into the main lobby. He’s not sure if he and Alex are about to fight again, and he’s not entirely sure if he WANTS to fight again, but all speculation flies from his brain when he sees Kurt standing by chairs in the lobby.
Blaine stops walking and stares open mouthed. He looks back and forth between Alex, who has also stopped halfway between Kurt and Blaine, and Kurt who is standing with his hands in his pockets and biting his lip.
“What…?” Blaine starts.
Alex sighs, “I called Kurt. Explained to him that I’m kind of an ass sometimes. But hey, it’s part of my charm.” He says with a wide, cheeky smile, before sobering again, “None of this was either of your faults. None of this was any of our faults. But what is MY fault was how I reacted to it.” He turns more fully to Blaine, “I’m sorry. I’m no longer mad, I’m no longer sad, and none of that should have been directed at you.”
Blaine nods with a slow smile. He doesn’t really know what else to do right now other than to hug his brother. He’s opened his arms and begun to move toward him when Alex puts his hand up to stop him.
“Just wait, I’m not done. We can hug it out in a minute.” He says.
Blaine’s brow furrows in confusion but he does stop and watches as Alex turns toward Kurt, “I wanted to say sorry to you too, Kurt. I should never have treated you that way...even over a voicemail to my brother.”
Kurt’s eyes are wide as if he wasn’t expecting an apology before he nods.
Alex nods too and then turns to Blaine, “All right. You can hug me now.” He says, opening his own arms.
Blaine chuckles before closing the distance and wrapping his arms around his brother, “I’m sorry for all of this.”
Alex pulls back, “You have nothing to apologize for. You met a boy and you fell in…” He pauses with a knowing smirk and Blaine blushes and diverts his eyes for a second, “I was the only one who had to apologize. And I did.” He smiles, “I must be growing as a person.”
Blaine smiles at the statement Henry said to him minutes before, though as opposed to sarcastic, Alex seems proud.
“You are.” Blaine agrees.
Alex tilts his head in Kurt’s direction, “Go get your man. I’m going to go see if Sam’s friend Mike is single and open to the attention of men.” He waggles his eyebrows and Blaine laughs. Still the same old Alex.
Alex pats Blaine on the arm and then he’s gone, back into the ballroom. When the door closes behind him, Kurt and Blaine are left in silence.
Blaine walks slowly toward him, “Hi.” He whispers when he’s close.
Kurt bites his lip again and smiles, “Hi.”
“So...” Blaine looks around as if he’s searching for something, “You...aren’t coming between me and my brothers anymore. Not that you actually were, but now you DEFINITELY aren’t.”
“It would appear that I’m not.” Kurt agrees with a nod.
“So…” Blaine says again, “does that mean anything for...us?”
Kurt shrugs and looks around the lobby for a moment. Blaine’s stomach drops at the shrug, but when Kurt turns to him with a smirk, Blaine’s stomach fills with hopeful butterflies.
“Come here.” Kurt says, grabbing Blaine by the tie and pulling him forward into a kiss.
Blaine melts into it and he’ll blame the stress and uncertainty on the needy moan he lets out.
They’re just getting into a groove, and Blaine may or may not be thinking about a place in this building they could go to truly be alone, when a ‘whoop’ sounds from behind them.
They both jump and pull apart, looking at each other with wide eyes before turning simultaneously toward the ballroom to find Henry, Alex, and Amelia leaning out of the door with wide smiles on their faces.
“Yay Blainers!” Amelia claps and Blaine and Kurt chuckle at her enthusiasm.
Henry puts a hand on his sister’s shoulder, perhaps in an effort to calm her, and Blaine feels his heart fill with happiness as his three siblings beam at him from the doorway.
Henry pulls slightly on Amelia’s shoulder and the pair turn to go back into the ballroom. Alex remains in the doorway, and while he looks to where his sister and brother just disappeared, he turns back to Blaine and he once again waggles his eyebrows with a wink. A moment later, Henry returns and pulls Alex back to the ballroom.
Blaine can hear Alex complaining about missing the good part before he turns back to a smiling Kurt with a smile of his own. He takes a deep breath and reaches out to grab Kurt’s hand, “Do you...want to come meet the rest of my family?”
Kurt squeezes his hand and jiggles it lightly, “I would love to.”
Blaine didn’t think his smile could get any bigger, and yet he feels his cheek muscles stretch even further, before he tugs on Kurt’s hand and leads him to the ballroom.
The End
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(Almost) Every Idea Ever
Although I rarely ever finish writing a fic, that never stops me from getting new ideas for them. Terrible, horrible, dumpster fire ideas. Okay, some of them are wholesome on occasion, but mostly it’s just filth. I've excluded a couple of things because either they were just too awful to mention or I’m currently working on them and I want it to be a surprise.
The first story I started to write this year was original fiction but with the main male character heavily inspired by Jim Hopper. It was about a recently married young woman having an affair with her father-in-law. This really set a precedent for the rest of my ideas and should indicate to you the level of depravity on this list.
Hopper x Reader:
Hurts So Good series - In 1982, Reader is Mayor Kline’s daughter and has a crush on Chief Hopper. She decides to pursue him and things don’t go quite as planned but they still end up having steamy, rough sex. A secret affair begins between the two of them but it eventually leads to heartbreak. Heavy emphasis on Dom/sub and pain kink.
- Initial pursuit, fingering in the car, sex (60%)
- Phone sex the following day (70%)
- Rough sex, bordering on consensual nonconsent (partially written)
- Introduction to Daddy kink (notes)
- Body worship (notes)
- Bruise kink (notes)
- Facesitting (50%)
- hurt/comfort throatfucking, an argument, angst/fluff (75%)
- Orgasm denial/control (70%)
- Possible gunplay? (Unwritten)
- Disciplinary spanking (notes)
Dress You Up series - In 1985, Hopper meets plus-size!Reader at JCPenney when he comes in to pick out a shirt for his date. After Joyce stands him up, he decides to come back and ask Reader out instead. Probably the cutest idea I’ve ever had for smut. Inspired by flamehairedwritings and flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash.
- 1st meeting, 2nd meeting, date, sex (50%)
- 2nd date, a continuation of My First Drabble (partially written)
- Meeting El and she’s standoffish (notes)
Domestic Smut - Reader and husband!Hopper are at the cabin alone together one weekend. After breakfast, she tries to wash the dishes but the sink is broken, the water squirting everywhere. A water fight turns into a tickle fight which turns into kitchen table sex. (50%)
Hopper blindfolding Reader during sex at the cabin (Notes)
Hopper blindfolding Reader during a blowjob in his office at the police station (Minimal notes)
Hopper rubbing a popsicle on Reader’s body then licking it off (Minimal notes)
Hopper coming over to Reader’s house, unannounced, late at night, in the rain, for a quick rough fuck. Inspired by one of the pictures from the Playboy shoot. (Partially written)
Licking Hopper’s hand and arm veins to get his attention while he reads the Sunday newspaper. (Unwritten)
Sucking Hopper’s cock while he smokes a cigar on the porch and either ignores you or looks at you with disdain. Inspired by a compilation video of David smoking a cigar on Instagram Live. (Unwritten)
Consensual nonconsent fantasy where Hopper touches Reader and tells her to say no to him while he’s making her cum. Rough, forceful sex immediately follows. (Partially written)
Bootlicker - anti-cop Reader has a secret fetish for cops and Hopper is more than happy to oblige them and keep quiet about it. (Notes)
Working out my own personal issues via smut, bigender-questioning AFAB Reader puts on Hopper’s uniform shirt and hat. Much to their delight, he says they look like a boy. He also says “If you’re going to dress like a boy, I’m going to fuck you like one.” Basically just incredible anal sex while Hopper calls Reader a good boy. Extremely niche subject but the fantasy of this is so affirming to me, I can’t not think about it. (Notes)
Hopper x Reader requests
A sequel to Little Magnum where the dog is a few years older. There is maybe also a cat? (Unwritten)
Fire & Ice - Reader is playing in the snow when it’s getting dark outside. Hopper tells them to come in but they don’t listen. Reader falls and hurts their ankle then Hopper gets angry at their disobedience. Not because he’s a jerk, but because he can’t imagine his life without Reader and doesn’t want to lose them. Angsty hurt/comfort. (~70%)
Replacement idea since Fire & Ice was much too angsty - Reader gets stung by a bee and Hopper freaks out. Reader is fine but he babies them nonetheless, because again, his greatest fear is losing them. Very cute and silly. (unwritten)
Freezeframe - Reader bought Hopper a Polaroid camera for his birthday and he hasn’t used it months later. Taking matters into her own hands, she uses the camera for some naughty selfies. Once Hopper finds the pictures, he decides to assume the role of photographer and gets some very intimate shots of Reader. (80-85%)
Morning Wood - Reader lets themself into the cabin early one Summer morning and sees Hopper in bed, fully nude, just a sheet covering the part they want to see most. Hop wakes up, invites Reader into bed with him, and a blowjob ensues. Very detailed description of his body. (Notes)
Hopper gets injured and needs Reader to patch him up. She gets pissed though for him being in yet another dangerous situation where he yet again gets hurt. Reader reprimanding him leads to confessions of feelings which leads to sex. (Unwritten)
Reader has been feeling ignored by Hopper lately and decides to make him jealous to get his attention. She flirts with another man at a bar while Hopper watches and seethes with rage. He punishes her by dragging her into the parking lot then spanking over the tailgate of his Chevy Blazer. Rough sex and more spanking goes down back at the cabin. Based on my jealous!Hopper headcanon post. (Partially written)
Principal Hopper - One of the worst ideas I’ve ever had, which is saying A LOT. High school principal Hopper catches one of his 18-year-old female students spying on him between classes and confronts her about it. Sexual tension bubbles up until neither of them can control themselves. Based on a fantasy told to me by a friend who I will not name. (Notes)
Hopper x Reader AUs
Messing Around With Jim series - A continuation of The Big Game, Afterschool Special, and Third Time’s A Charm. Modern!Hopper and Reader having all kinds of sex.
- Fingering, gentle sex, tender orgasm control (50%)
- Period sex, vibrator (Notes)
- First blowjob, a continuation of A Sampling (partially written)
- Hop eating Reader’s pussy for his birthday (minimal notes)
- Fingering in the car, truck bed sex (notes)
- Another blowjob, rough sex over the hood of a car (partially written)
- Pussy eating at the park (notes)
- Hop not understanding FaceTime, fluff, smut (unwritten)
- Roleplaying how they met, sex at Reader’s parents house (notes)
- July 4th fingering, rough sex, surprises (notes)
- Remote control vibrator (partially written)
- More pussy eating, this time in Hop’s cutting edge shirt (partially written)
- Yet another blowjob, this time in a movie theater (unwritten)
- Jealousy resulting in overstimulation/”forced” orgasms (notes)
- 4 part miniseries about butt plugs/anal sex (notes)
- Confronting her parents, angst (55-60%)
- Learning about Sara, ANGST! (notes)
Vacation series - modem!Hopper and Reader go on vacation together. That’s it, that’s the plot. Idea from David’s Croatian vacation pics and conversations with Tayler. All just notes at this point.
- Christening the hotel bed
- Bratty Reader getting semi-publicly punished
- Hopper taking care of drunk!Reader, humor, fluff
- Double date
carpenter!Hopper - Reader is recently divorced and hires Hop to make repairs on her house before she sells it. Graphic detail of him doing manly things like sawing and hammering. Porn with plot. Inspired by another friend, she knows who she is. (Notes in the form of a 500-word summary)
Detective Hopper - various bits and pieces of ideas inspired by David being digitally handcuffed to Darren Criss and Michael Stuhlbarg in Vanity Fair, plus a few pictures in 2016. (Unwritten)
Captain Hopper - a collaboration with @pkg4mumtown. She said she was thinking about fire captain!Hopper rescuing her from a burning building and I told her my pre-existing firefighter idea of being saved and then wanting to thank him in a variety of ways. Things snowballed from there and I decided we need to write it. Mostly just notes so far.
- Initial meeting, first date, sex
- Second date, making dinner together, sex
Hopper x Joyce:
There is a list of my Jopper ideas (Various degrees of notes)
Teenage Joyce and Hopper meeting in high school and their relationship that follows. Maybe a oneshot? Maybe a series? (Notes)
Hopper x Billy: (Over 18-years-old and no longer in high school!)
1940/50’s AU - Hopper meets expat Billy at a cigar club while on vacation in Havana. A familiar face, so to speak, in a foreign land. Hop pays Billy to take him back to his apartment and “keep him company”. Maybe two chapters? Inspired by a photo of Dacre Montgomery in GQ Germany. (Partially written.)
Hopper catches Billy “renting his time” at a truck stop outside of town and threatens to arrest him, but Billy bribes him with sex. (Unwritten.) I’m sorry but there’s just something about the idea of rent boy Billy that I absolutely love.
Hopper + Billy + Reader - completely implausible threeway (Unwritten)
David Harbour RPF:
AU where instead of being an actor, he’s a drama teacher at a high school in New York City and the kids from Stranger Things are his students. Pure fluff. (Please write this for me!)
Giving him a blow job before an important event. TWO different versions. Inspired by numerous photos of David wearing a robe. (Minimal notes)
Riding his thigh and everything that entails. Inspired by a picture of David from GQ Mexico. (Minimal notes)
touch-starved!David hires a sexworker during the pandemic because he’s lonely quarantining by himself. No sex. He literally just wants a hug and someone to be affectionate with him. Unconventional fluff. (Unwritten)
Other DKH-related shenanigans:
Let’s Ride sequel - Reader goes on a second date with Deacon from SoulCycle, they go out for sashimi and end up at his place. He has a cat that he inherited from a neighbor. Reader teaches him how to put her in a chokehold. (Unwritten)
Alexei Shostakov smut - some type of Bond Girl situation where Reader has to seduce him. Just an excuse for me to lovingly describe his large tattooed body in vivid detail. (Unwritten)
The Stranger - Reader has an ongoing affair with a mysterious man whose name is never mentioned. They meet at high society functions and hook up in fancy hotels. One night, he finds out that she’s married and punishes her for her dishonesty. Inspired by a photo of David looking annoyed in a tuxedo. (Notes)
Daddy Dom/little girl roleplay fantasy. Sweet, smutty, and slightly taboo. (Notes)
Daddy’s Little...Helper - Me, as submissive!Reader, watching Daddy jack off right in front of my face after he comes home from work. Based on a conversation with an Instagram friend and a picture of David in the play “Cal In Camo” where he’s holding a beer bottle between his legs. (65%)
Stranger Things x Twin Peaks crossover - Chief Jim Hopper comes to Twin Peaks to help Special Agent Dale Cooper solve some type of paranormal mystery. Perhaps a parallel between The Black Lodge and The Upside Down? I think this would work really really well, but I can’t write it myself. (Please write this for me!)
In conclusion: Yes, I know I need to have my head examined. Yes, I know I spend too much time thinking about Jim Hopper. Let me know if you LIKE these ideas. Please do not let me know if you hate these ideas.
Tagging: @manawhaat @strangest-hour @007swhore @kingphillipblake @david-harbour-arg @misshawkins1993 @oxforddrama
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1-15 for the writers meme for ‘With Every Broken Bone.’ (I’m in a rereading mood for fanfic and I’m thinking about rereading this). Also you know I love this one!!
Aww thank you dear <3 Now I won’t shut up about process and the ins and outs of writing, lol...
1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?
When season 6 came along, admittedly, I had a really hard time reconciling going from a happy ending in season 5 to broken in season 6. And writing about it kind of was an interesting cross-section of therapy and analysis. While I was figuring out the timeline of events -- I noticed that there were some interesting parallels/juxtapositions going on, and because I thought I may not be writing more Klaine fic after this one (ha) I might as well take my own spin on a few famous portions of Klaine’s story.
2: What scene did you first put down?
I tend to write chronologically, so the opening flashback scene was probably first. I can’t fully remember. I did have a whole outline, though, before writing.
3: What’s your favorite line of narration?
Hmmm, I’m not entirely sure, since a lot of the specific narration I don’t remember as much anymore. I do love the entire month of June chapter, though, which is mostly narration. I love that it’s Kurt finally getting what he thought he wanted -- to be alone -- and finding himself through that, but also that even he can experience loneliness when having too much distance from everyone else.
Also early in the story when Kurt goes dancing with a guy and he starts to connect to him -- feeling Blaine through him -- only to realize the dude isn’t Blaine and basically has a panic attack. That moment was always really clear in my head, and I liked writing that one.
4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?
Oh, ha, it’s, like, my favorite line of dialogue ever, cause it’s a delightful metaphor for Klaine’s story at the time (And I’m sure people aren’t really that impressed with what I find clever, and are sick of me quoting myself, but I’m still amused by it)
“You know what it’s like? It’s like I stubbed my toe. And my toe hurt. A lot. And I tried to ignore the pain in my toe, but after a while it got so bad that something had to be done. So, instead of taking care of my toe, I chopped off my foot. Do you know how much worse chopping off your foot feels? Of course it took me four months to figure out how much it fucking hurts. And now I don’t have a foot. Just a bloody stump. I shouldn’t have cut it off. I could have fixed the toe.”
In addition, I also really enjoy some of the convos with Mercedes -- the one where she’s discussing her break up with Sam, and how, in a way, the two break ups are similar. I also love the July flashback with Mercedes -- because it foreshadows a lot of the story, and I thought it was rather clever.
5: What part was hardest to write?
The July chapter! Oh god, I think I had most of the rest of the fic done and kept having to put that on pause. I wanted Kurt to have another romantic interest during the summer - and get a sense of what casual relationships are like, and discover what he’s like in relationships that aren’t with Blaine. And to have to do that, set it up, pay it off, go through the whole thing and have it be meaningful was really hard. It took a long time to figure it out.
Not as difficult, but still I found challenge with, the flash back to the first break up. Trying to figure out how Kurt felt differently, and exploring how it was a different thing in a short amount of time was difficult.
The September flashback was difficult, too, because I needed Blaine to be frustrated without being too needy, or too much a bad guy. I know betas and talking it out helped a lot on that one.
6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
This was my first big fic for Glee, and the first one where I felt like I was a decent writer. It also helped me figure out Kurt and the show in a way that I hadn’t before, and I love the character more from writing it.
7: Where did the title come from?
The lyrics of ‘I Lived’ -- I thought it was a nice touch that it was the last song on the show, and it fit with story I was trying to tell.
8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
Yes! A lot of my experiences of New York I wrote into it here and there.
Also the story about thunder being god bowling. I had a cousin who used to tell me that so it didn’t seem so scary.
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
Not really? The only big thing I cut out was an extension of the stuff with June Dalloway in chp 3 (?) -- my betas talked me into cutting that way down, and they were right to do so.
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
I mean, well, they’re who I write. The pairing picked the story.
11: What do you like best about this fic?
I really love the story it explores with Kurt in it. I’m proud of how Kurt grows in it, and how I feel it does bridge the two seasons nicely. I really love how it gets deep into Kurt’s psyche -- drawing on canon as much as I could to paint a full picture of who he is. I think he’s a fleshed out and flawed character, and he feels real to me in this one.
I also really love that I was restrained in my use of Blaine -- he’s a ghost that haunts this story, and I was fascinated with the idea. I think it really comes through. Blaine is always there, even when he’s not, even when Kurt’s trying hard to move on. You miss Blaine in the story, but that’s intentional -- because Kurt deeply misses Blaine.
12: What do you like least about this fic?
There are still some parts that feel a little clunky to me. Certain sections that maybe go on too long, or not long enough. I can tell it’s an earlier fic of mine -- I could have worked on better and more concise sentence structure in a lot of places. I could have fleshed a few ideas out. And the October chapter, which is all of season 6, goes on a little too long -- and it feels slightly out of place, but I knew it did even when writing it -- I’m not sure how I’d re do it, but it feels slightly different than the rest of the fic.
I give myself a lot of leeway because it was my first time writing one, but the sex scene was a bit on the simple side. It felt more like an obligation - and I was super scared to write it, and basically my betas had to help me construct it cause I had no idea what I was doing and felt funny writing it.
I also think the Nov. flashback is a little too cheesy, but I was trying to get in all the last minute canon references, so I left it in there.
13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
Yeah, I had a whole playlist for this one!!
Chapter 1 (March): Teenage Dream - Darren Criss
Chapter 2 (April): Shake it Out (Acoustic) - Florence and the Machine
Chapter 3 (May): Rockstar - A Great Big World
Chapter 4 (June): I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow
Chapter 5 (July): Daydream Believer - Mary Beth Maziarz
Chapter 6 (August): Dream City - Free Energy
Chapter 7 (September): Head Over Feet (Acoustic) - Alanis Morissette
Chapter 8 (October): Halo - Beyonce
Chapter 9 (November): I Live - Fate Under Fire
Each of the chapters kind of had a musical aesthetic going on with it! Also intentional were the use of Kurt solos as chapter titles -- those paired along with each chapter purposely.
14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
I have no idea - that’s up to them to get anything out of it.
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?
I did! I learned a lot about writing (which having a few fantastic betas really be strict with my writing helped a lot). I got myself out of some bad habits, and tried to be more introspective than I had been with previous writings. And I just felt like I stepped up when it came to writing. I think this is far from a perfect piece of writing, but I’m proud of how it turned out.
I also learned a lot about Kurt, he became a part of me writing this, and now his story is much more special to me than it had been before. And I learned a lot about Glee -- how it is as a show, and how it works, cause I looked at the structure of canon, and how it was written.
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This Is Your Song
Fandom: Marvel (Rock Star AU)
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Summary: Your best friend is the lead guitarist of the up and coming rock band, The Howling Commandos. You’ve been with him and the band since the very beginning and throughout that time, you’ve realized you’ve fallen in love with your best friend. And you’re not sure what to do anymore seeing that you’re the band’s assistant and you’re tired of seeing Bucky with other women.
A/N: Was inspired after listening to Sami by Darren Criss and I changed some of the lyrics a bit. Also, this is long af (nearly 6K words!!), so I’m sorry.
You watch from the side of the stage as the Howling Commandos finish off their final song, the crowd going wild for them. There’s screams, hollers, cheers, all of it for your best friend and his band. You’ll never get tired of hearing the enjoyment the band gives to people, nor will you ever get tired of the proud look on Bucky’s face whenever they finish a show.
“Thank you so much, everyone! We’ll see you next time!” Steve, the lead singer, shouts and the roar of the crowd grows as each member trickles off the stage.
Dum Dum is off first, and he ruffles your hair as he passes by. Jim and Gabe both give you polite smiles. Jacques takes your hand and kisses it, he was the biggest flirt out of all of them. James gives you a little hip bump which makes you giggle. Steve pulls you in for a hug. And Bucky?
“WOO! THAT WAS QUITE THE SHOW TONIGHT, EH, Y/N?!” he lifts you up and twirls you around making you squeal and giggle.
When he sets you down, you ruffle his already messy hair, “Yeah! They really dig you guys!”
“Alright, guys, let’s pack up and head to the hotel! We fly out tomorrow morning and you all need your beauty sleep...except maybe Dum Dum. He’ll always be ugly.” you all chuckle as the band’s manager, Howard Stark, pokes fun.
“Fuck you, Stark,” Dum Dum replies with a smirk, shoving his manager.
Everyone exited the building, heading towards the waiting van. There were already fans waiting for them outside. Screams and yells for each member’s name from different people. They all took a few pictures with fans, gave some hugs, and signed some things. You sat in the back of the band watching them with a proud smile on your face. They’ve come a long way from that small garage band.
Your eyes moved from each member and then landed on Bucky. Your smile wavered when you saw him accept a number from a very attractive woman around your age.
“Hey,” you look to your side to see Steve sitting beside you. He never really liked the crowds or the attention. He still saw himself as the small, shy kid from Brooklyn. Not some rockstar, “You okay?”
You put on a smile, one that you’re sure he knows is fake, “Of course! You guys did amazing last night.”
Steve looks at you with pity and you hate it. He’s well aware of your feelings for Bucky, “Y/N, you-”
You shake your head, cutting him off, “Just drop it, Steve. Please.”
Bucky is the last one to enter the van and he has a big grin on his face, probably because of how many numbers he received from some attractive looking fans. He looks back at you and immediately sees the worried look on your face, “What’s wrong?”
“Just tired is all.”
He scoffs, “Come on. You can’t be tired! We have our ritual!” Ritual meaning going to Bucky’s room watching crap reality tv while binging on snacks.
You shrug, “Sorry, Buck. But you need your rest anyway, like Howard said, we’ve got an early flight.”
He slumps in his chair groaning, “Fiiiiine. Guess I’ll be watching The Real Housewives of Orange County all by myself.”
You roll your eyes at his dramatics, “It’s only for one night, Buck. You can live without me for a night.”
He smirks at you, “You’re my best friend. There’s no way I can live without ya.” the way that he looks at you right there makes your heart beat faster. It’s just one of those things that makes you think, Maybe he feels the same way. But then you see how he flirts with fans and groupies and other women. Then that hope is gone.
Twenty minutes later, the lot of you are trekking down the hall towards your individual rooms. Yours is across from Bucky’s and right next to Steve’s. You pull out your card key and open the door, but before you step inside, Bucky stops you.
“Y/N?” you turn around to see him standing there, hands in his pockets. He then leans in and kisses your cheek, “Good night.”
You muster out a “Good-night” back and watch Bucky enter his own room, the door closing behind him. You look to Steve, who witnessed the whole thing, and he looks how you feel, completely in shock. You close your door and push Steve into his own, closing the door behind you.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!” you cry out, “That just happened.”
Steve snickers as he kicks off his shoes and catapults himself onto his bed, “Yeah. That happened. I told you he likes you. The whole flirty bad boy act is just that: an act. You’ve known him for ten years, Y/N, there’s no way that any other woman can hold a candle to you.”
You want to believe Steve. You really do, but you think back to all the other women Bucky’s been around. They’re so beautiful. And you? You’re just some girl from Brooklyn who’s been following her best friend and his band around the country. And you’ll only ever be that: Bucky’s best friend.
The excitement from the kiss has faded back into sadness, “He doesn’t mean it, Steve.” you mumble as you sit on the edge of his bed.
“Oh come on!”
“Steve, why would Bucky have me when he’s got all these beautiful women throwing themselves at him?”
“Well, for one, you know him like no one else. These women just like him for his looks and talents. They probably want bragging rights to say that they slept with a rock star.”
You look up at him, seeing him hugging a pillow, trying not to fall asleep, “How does Peggy do it?” you ask softly.
Steve’s eyes immediately widen at the sound of his girlfriend’s name. A small smile appears on his lips and his eyes soften, “I don’t know to be honest. Peg’s something else. She knows her worth and sometimes I feel like I’m not worthy of her. I’m gone a lot, on the road traveling. I’ve tried to break up with her a few times, saying that she deserves better. But she doesn’t want anyone but me. She loved me before the band even started and she loves me now. And-I don’t know, Y/N. Guess I’m just lucky to have someone as understanding and trusting as her.”
You stare down at your lap, “I love Bucky, Steve. I really do, but I don’t know if I can handle being rejected by him.”
Steve sits up and moves over to you, his legs now hanging over the edge of the bed, and he places a hand on top of yours, “You won’t be rejected. That guy love you, Y/N. I know he does. Sure, he hasn’t told me that, but I see it. So enough of this mutual pining shit! You walk out of this room and up to Bucky’s. You barge in there and you tell ‘im that you love him!”
You nod, “Okay! I’ll do it!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah!” Steve wraps his arms around you and gives you a big hug, “You’re not gonna need it, but good luck.”
You snort, “Thanks, and don’t forget to call Peggy before you go to sleep!”
“Right! Ha, I forgot. Thanks, Y/N!”
“It’s what I’m here for!” you give him a wave and then you walk out the door.
“Okay,” you mumble to yourself, “You got this, Y/N. You got this.” you walk the short distance to Bucky’s door and you knock on his door. There’s no answer. Maybe he’s in the bathroom. You look at the time and see that there’s no way Bucky could be asleep right now. He usually doesn’t go to sleep until late. So you pull out the key to his room, one that you kept only for emergencies and you walk in.
“Hey, Buck, I gotta tell you someth-” you stop when you see a woman roll off of Bucky. She’s naked, save for the panties she still has on. Bucky is down to his boxers.
“Y/N! I-I-”
You shake your head, “Sorry. Sorry, I-you didn’t answer and I didn’t think you-Sorry. I’ll go.” you’re heading for the door and Bucky’s crying out for you.
“Wait, Y/N! Don’t-fuck!” you hear a thud, but you don’t dare turn around. If you did, you’d see Bucky on the floor, scrambling to pull on his jeans. The necklace with his ring, the friendship ring you gave him, swinging around his neck, “Y/N! Wait!” the door shuts in his face and Bucky’s body fills with dread.
“She your girlfriend or something?” the blonde woman asks, sitting at the edge of his bed, looking unnerved.
Bucky runs his hands through his hair, “Get out.”
“What?” the blonde looks at him in disbelief.
“I said get out! Get dressed and get the fuck out!”
The blonde is pissed as she quickly throws on her clothes, “Can’t believe this!” and she pushes past Bucky and out the door she goes.
Bucky grabs his shirt and pulls it on. Not bothering with his shoes, he steps into the hallway. He takes two steps and he’s in front of your room. He hesitantly knocks.
“Y/N? Can-Can we talk for a minute?” he runs a hand down his face, “I just-I’m sorry you had to see that.” he lets out a shaky breath, “Can you please opent he door, Y/N? I need-please?” he presses an ear to your door and he hears nothing. No shuffling or footsteps coming towards him. You’re either ignoring him or just not in your room. He really hopes it’s the latter.
_________________________
Earlier.
As soon as Bucky stepped into his room, he felt a grey cloud loom over him. He didn’t like that he had to come to his room alone. After every show, you were always with him and you always did your post-show ritual. But now that was broken and he doesn’t really blame you. You’re tired and he doesn’t wanna force you to do something when you’re not in the mood to do it. So he let you have your rest.
He decided to go to the hotel’s bar instead. Maybe get a few drinks in to numb the loneliness that’s usually filled in by you.
He isn’t even finished with his first whiskey and he’s already approached by a beautiful leggy blonde.
“Hey, you’re in that band right?”
He glances her way and eyes her form. She’s gorgeous and maybe this is his chance to finally get over you, “Yes, I am. I’m Bucky,” he sticks out his hand with a smirk.
“Elaine,” she says in a low, seductive tone, “How ‘bout we get outta here, Bucky? Bet we can have a lot more fun somewhere private.”
Bucky licks his lips and nods, slapping down a few bills, not worrying about the change and pulling Elaine by the hand, towards the elevator.
Her lips are on his as soon as the doors close. She tastes a bit like vodka but he doesn’t care. He needs to drown out your smile, your laugh, your eyes. The doors open to his floor and he practically drags Elaine to his door, glancing at yours, before heading inside his room.
Clothes are discarded. Bucky’s on his back, down to his boxers and Elaine’s straddling him, completely topless. The kisses are wet and messy and-
“Hey, Buck, I gotta tell you someth-” at the sound of your voice, Elaine rolls off him and he sees you standing there wide eyed. He looks at Elaine and then you.
“Y/N! I-I-” he’s stumbling over his words, trying to find the right ones to say, to explain to you that-
“Sorry. Sorry, I-you didn’t answer and I didn’t think you-Sorry. I’ll go.” you’re heading for the door and Bucky’s heart is pounding.
He calls out for you, “Wait, Y/N! Don’t-fuck!” he scrambles off the bed, falling onto the floor with a thud. “Y/N! Wait!” he tries to run after you but the door shuts in his face.
This was a mistake. Why did he think he could do this?! He loves you!
He kicks Elaine out with no remorse. She should’ve never been there in the first place. Once she’s gone and he’s redressed, he goes to your door, pleading for you to open up. When he gets no response, he really hopes that it’s because you’re not in your room.
________________________
You’re crying in Steve’s arms. You should’ve never listened to him. Why did you listen to him? You knew the truth. Bucky Barnes will never have feelings for you like you have for him.
And now what do you do? You’re the band’s assistant and you don’t know if you can face Bucky. What are you going to do?
The next morning you and everyone else are packed into the fan, heading to the airport. You’re sitting next to Steve again, ignoring the Bucky’s pleading gaze on you. You put on your earbuds and close your eyes, drowning out face and the pain.
You don’t sit next to him like you’re supposed to. You and Bucky always sit next to each other on plane rides, but this time, you don’t. You seemed to have switched tickets with Dum Dum, sitting next to Steve and Dum Dum next to Bucky. Guess no rom-com movies with you.
The days seem so dull and slow now that you seem to be avoiding Bucky. He hates it. The ignored texts and calls. Being waved off to go help the stage crew. He just wants you to look at him, to listen to him.
He happens to catch you all alone in the green room. You’re setting up the band’s snacks while everyone else is doing sound check. Bucky said he needed to use the bathroom, but really, he was just looking for you.
“Y/N?” he sees your body tense and he hates that he’s the reason.
“I’m busy, Bucky,” you mumble, going back to setting up the snacks.
“Y/N, please, stop ignoring me.”
“I’m not ignoring you, Bucky. I’ve just been busy doing my job.”
“You don’t answer my texts or calls, you keep pushing me away whenever I try to talk to you, and you’re suddenly spending so much time with Steve? How is that not ignoring me. I’m your best friend-”
“Yeah, Bucky. You’re my best friend, not my boyfriend! I don’t have to text or call you or hang out with you every second of the day!”
Bucky tries not to let your words hurt him. You’re upset with him, that’s it, “Listen, Y/N, I just want to explain that ni-”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Bucky. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m not your anything. You can sleep with anyone you want. I don’t care.” You push him out of the way and head for the door.
“No, Y/N, please! You’re not listening to me!”
You look over your shoulder, eyes teary and lip quivering, “Just leave me alone, Bucky.” and the door slams behind you.
You march up to the sound booth where Howard is watching the sound rehearsal. He looks at you with a worried gaze, “You okay, kid?”
“After tonight, I’m quitting.”
“You sure?”
You nod, “Yeah. I just-I need a break from all this. I wanna go back home work on my songwriting.”
“Alright,” you know he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. His arm just wraps around you and he pulls you in for a hug, “I’m gonna miss you, kid.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
The show was a blur for Bucky. His heart wasn’t in it like it usually was and everyone could tell. The band kept asking him what was up and he just answered with the same thing, “Nothing.” He goes straight to his hotel room after that, just needing some sleep and hopefully, when he wakes up, it would be just a terrible nightmare.
It wasn’t. In fact, it was so much worse.
“Quit? She just-she just quit?”
Howard nods, “Yeah. Flew back home last night. Said she needed a break.”
This was it. After everything that you and Bucky had gone through, you were done. And it was all his fault.
______________________
3 months later and 2 months until end of tour.
Being in back in Brooklyn is so weird. You became so used to hotels and big arenas and now you’re back to your old apartment. Your roommates Wanda and Pietro still around, giving you comfort and support.
While working at a cafe, you continued to work on your songwriting, something that was a hobby you obtained whilst being friends with Bucky. You actually helped him write a few songs for the band and it always brought you joy to hear them play it, hearing the crowd sing along to the lyrics. But now the thought just made you sad.
You’re in your room, sitting in front of your small recording set up, guitar in hand as you strum the chords you’ve been practicing, as well as the lyrics:
I've seen your face, I've heard your name
I've lost my place and you’re to blame
And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes
And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise
I've heard music, I've heard noise
I wish that you could hear your voice
The way that I do when I go to sleep at night
And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake
You stop strumming to write down more lyrics into your notebook. It’s not much, but it’s definitely a big deal since this is your first song you’ve written without Bucky or anyone’s help.
Speaking of Bucky, according to Steve, he’s not doing well. You see from footage of fans and media outlets that he’s not as lively as he used to be. Sure, he’s smiling on stage and meeting fans, but people have come to realize that he’s not genuine. Are you worried about him? Of course, but you need your time away from Bucky. You can’t handle your feelings for him while he’s around so being away from him has definitely helped...despite you writing a song about him.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Bucky just loves to torture himself, it seems. He’s in his hotel room and the tv is on in front of him, but he’s not paying attention. Instead, he’s watching a video of you and him on his phone.
You and he are sitting on the couch in the green room before a show. The band is chatting away in the background while you and Bucky are tossing grapes into each other’s mouth. It was a competition to see how many you could catch in a row. You were winning.
Bucky watches as you throw a grap at him, the small fruit hitting his nose instead of his mouth, which resulted in you bursting into laughter. A sad smile appears on his face. He notices how he’s looking at you on screen. Eyes filled with so much amusement and love. He should’ve just told you how he felt instead of trying to push his feelings aside. Maybe if he did tell you, you wouldn’t have left.
“Hey,” he looks up to see Steve standing at the edge of his bed.
“How-”
“Stark let me in. I did knock.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Steve hears your laughter coming from Bucky’s phone and he shakes his head, “Stop it. You’re hurting yourself even more.”
"I miss her, Steve. She’s still not reading any of my texts or answering my calls. I love her and I fucked up.”
“Well, soon enough, the tour will be over and we’ll go back home. Then you can beg and plead and all that, but right now we have a job to do. So get off your ass and let’s go.”
__________________________
1 month until end of tour
You finally did it. You came up with the chords and the lyrics and you’re done. The song is done and you’re so proud!
You sit in front of your camera, guitar in hand and you smile, “Hey, Steve. I did it! It’s done! I spent all last night finishing it up and here it is! I hope you like it!” you clear your voice and then begin to strum your guitar:
I've seen your face, I've heard your name
I've lost my place and you’re to blame
And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes
And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise
I've heard music, I've heard noise
I wish that you could hear your voice
The way that I do when I go to sleep at night
And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake
Bucky, Bucky...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
The way your hair falls in your eyes
Makes me wonder if you'll
Ever see through my disguise
And I'm under your spell
Everything is falling
And I don't know where to land
Everyone knows who you are
But you don't know who I am
Bucky, Bucky...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
I see you singing on that stage
You look just like an angel
And all I do is pray
That maybe, someday you'll hear my song
And understand that all along
There's something more that I'm trying to say
When I say
Bucky, Bucky...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
What you're doing to me!
Bucky, Bucky...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
What you're doing to me..
“So yeah. That’s-That’s the song,” you chuckle, “Clearly, if I take this to the studio, I’m gonna change Bucky to, I don’t know, Baby. That makes sense, right? Anyway, tell me your thoughts and if I should change anything. Hope to hear from you soon!” you wave at the camera and then end the recording.
You then hook up your camera to your laptop and attach your video to an email, sending it to Steve with anxiety coursing through you.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Steve his on his laptop in Bucky’s room. His earbuds in and Bucky assume’s he’s watching youtube videos or something. Meanwhile, Bucky is trying to read an email on his phone but the format is all weird. He turns around and waves at Steve, who pulls out an earbud, “Yeah?”
“Can I borrow your laptop? Becca sent me an email and I can’t read it ‘cause the format is weird.”
“Uuuhh, yeah.” Steve clicks something and then pulls his headphones out, “Here ya go. I’ll be back. I’m gonna grab my charger from my room.”
“Yeah. Kay. Thanks, man.”
Bucky sits up and settles the laptop on his lap and moves the mouse to add a new tab, but he stops when he sees your name. He knows he shouldn’t read Steve’s email, but it was your name! Curiosity got the best of him and he began to read Steve’s email.
It sounds amazing, Y/N! I’m really proud of you and I’m very honored to be one of the first people to hear your song. Keep up the good work and I expect you to remember me when you’re famous.
Miss you a bunch,
Steve.
“Song?” Bucky mumbled to himself. He looked up the thread and saw that you sent him a video. He clicks on it and he’s greeted to your face, your voice, your smile. God, did he miss you.
He watched as you began to strum your guitar. Your mouth opened and there came that beautiful voice he loved:
I've seen your face, I've heard your name
I've lost my place and you’re to blame
And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes
And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise
I've heard music, I've heard noise
I wish that you could hear your voice
The way that I do when I go to sleep at night
And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake
It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. You wrote this all by yourself? Bucky couldn’t help but swell with pride as he hears you sing-
Bucky, Bucky...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
What? “She wrote a song about me?” he mumbles out loud. He looks up and sees Steve standing there, laptop charger in hand, “Why did she write a song about me?”
“The same reason why you’re so depressed that she left. She loves you.”
“She loves me,” he whispers to himself, “Did she send you an audio clip too?” Steve nods, “Can you send it to me?”
____________________
You knew that The Howling Commandos had their last show in Los Angeles. That meant everyone was coming back home, which meant Bucky was coming back home. You don’t know what you would do if you saw Bucky again. Would you apologize for walking out on him? Would you explain your jealous rage and heartbreak? Would you tell him that you love him? You didn’t really know, but you supposed you’d cross that bridge when you get there. In the meantime, you’ll continue working at the cafe during the day and then working on your songs during the night.
Tonight was open mic night. Anyone can sign up and perform for the cafe. It was usually busy on these nights, so you didn’t have much time to enjoy the performances since you were hustling to make drinks.
Your coworker Denise was the emcee tonight. So before and after every performance, she was there to announce the next act. Like now.
“Alright! Thank you, Kelly for the amazing cover of All Star. Now, our next performer is going to be singing an original, but not one he wrote. A special someone of his did. Anyway, let’s give it up for James!” the people sat around the small makeshift stage clapped and then gasped. You didn’t really care nor did you have the time to pause for a moment. You needed to get these drinks out.
“Iced matcha for Matt!”
You hear the faint strumming of a guitar over the espresso machine. When you hear some all too familiar lyrics, you freeze.
I've seen your face, I've heard your name
I've lost my place and you’re to blame
And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes
And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise
You excuse yourself from behind the counter. Your other coworkers not paying you any attention as you weave through the crowd, heading for the front of the stage.
I've heard music, I've heard noise
I wish that you could hear your voice
The way that I do when I go to sleep at night
And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake
You make eye contact with all too familiar eyes and the low melodious singing voice. There, sitting on the stool onstage is Bucky. He looks like he hasn’t slept and his clothes are disheveled. Did he just arrive from the airport?
Baby, Baby...
Why can't you see
What you're doing to me?
You continue to be captivated as Bucky sings the rest of your song, replacing his name with Baby, like you had mentioned in your video to Steve. Wait, did Steve show him your video?
After a few more minutes, Bucky finishes the song and the entire cafe erupts in applause and whistles. He nervously chuckles and thanks everyone for their time. Hopping off stage and towards you.
Your heart is pounding out of your chest and you feel like you’re on the brink of fight or flight mode. Mostly flight. You want to run away but your feet are planted to the ground.
“Hi,” Bucky says, standing right in front of you.
“Hi,” you mumble back. You feel everyone’s eyes on you and your anxiety is creeping.
“Um, is there somewhere private we can talk?”
You nod and have him follow you to the storage room. Again, your coworkers paying no attention because they’re too busy pushing out orders.
The door is closed and you’re both just standing there awkwardly. Bucky clears his throat and sets his guitar to the side, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, “I, um, I miss you, and I understand, truly now, why you ignored me and eventually left. I mean, I think I understand? That song, that beautiful song, says a lot, but I still don’t know. I can only hope what you truly mean by it? I don’t know, I’m rambling. I didn’t really think all of this through.”
You shook your head and gave a deep breath, “I thought, from the way that you behaved around me and wanting to spend time with me, that maybe you had feelings for me. But then you’re flirting and talking to other women, so I thought maybe not, and then I did. You gave me a lot of mixed signals. I was gonna tell you that night that I loved you. Then I saw you with-with her and I was just heartbroken. I couldn’t face you after that, or the fact that you didn’t have feelings for me the way I do for you.”
“But I do have feelings for you, Y/N. I have for years and-and that night should’ve never happened. You said you were tired so we didn’t do our post-show ritual and I got stuck in this loneliness. I met..her at the hotel bar and brought her back because I needed to get over you. I loved you, but I couldn’t have you ‘cause we’re best friends. One thing led to another and yeah, I almost slept with her. Then you came in and everything went downhill from there. And I was a mess.
“I don’t know if you remember, but that same night, I told you that I can’t live without you. And it’s true. I can’t live without you, Y/N. You’re my best friend, yeah, but you’re so much more than that.” he steps closer to you and cautiously take a hold of your hand, “I’m sorry for hurting you, Y/N, and I’m sorry for being confusing about my feelings for you. The truth is that I’m in love you. Period. No one else has made me feel the things that I feel for you.”
You sniffle, trying to hold the tears in your eyes from falling, but to no avail, they’re streaking down your cheeks. Bucky uses his thumb to wipe them away, hating that he’s causing you to cry.
“i really missed you, Bucky. I’m sorry I hurt you too.” you throw yourself into his arms and he tightens his hold on you.
“Sssshhh. I forgive you, Y/N. I’m so, so, sorry. Ssshhh. It’ll be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”
____________________
1 Year Later
Bucky is standing front and center on stage, his guitar in hand while the rest of the band walk off stage, “Alright. Hello, everyone!” he smiles when people cheer back, “So, we’re gonna take things a little slow now. Some of you may know this song, and if you do, sing along.” he begins to play a few chords, but stops, “Actually, wait. I think I need a little help with this one. So can I have Y/N to the stage please?”
The crowd cheers as you enter from stage right, hurriedly walking towards Bucky, with an extra stool in your hands. You sit down next to him and he smiles.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
You giggle, “Hey, Buck.”
“So you okay singing this song with me?”
“I mean yeah, I was the one who wrote it for you.” People scream out, knowing what song was coming up next.
“Right. Of course. Anyway, you ready?”
“Duh!”
He looks out to the crowd, “Are you guys ready?”
“YEAH!”
Bucky starts to strum the chords, his eyes not focused on the guitar or the crowd, but you, as you’re sitting there beside him, hand holding up the mic, and engagement ring shining in the spotlight.
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The past few days have certainly been interesting. It started with a picture published by the Daily Mail of D filming HW dressed as a gas attendant https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7812655/Darren-Criss-films-new-Ryan-Murphy-Netflix-series-Hollywood-costume-1940s-gas-attendant.html:
This is interesting because it very much leads me to believe his character is inspired by S/cotty B/owers who no question was either bi or pan. SB started his sex business from the gas station where he worked and not only did he act as a pimp, he participated and slept with quite a few men (and women, he makes it very clear that he simply loved sex).
So is Raymond going to be a straight version of SB? Or not inspired by him at all despite appearances? Seems like a stretch considering we know R/ock H/udson is a character, who was closeted, we know J/eremy P/ope is playing a gay screenwriter and recently it was revealed that D/avid C/orenswet’s character is inspired by 3 different actors, all of whom slept with men. Also, I have started the SB book and it is heavy on talking about the men he had sex with.
That leads to the next question. From D’s post on SM, we know he and RM conceived of and sold this series to N/etflx at the end of 2018 (RM had an earlier post and I very much assume it was sold in November).
And IF, and again, IF, i fully admit this is pure speculation, R/aymond is queer, why in the world would d say, seemingly a month after the series was sold:
There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful, But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role. (x)
And then i ask, how does this fit with the counter narrative (x) of the now “legally hitched” star (thank god them emphasized it was legal) buying a “family sized” home that “incorporates a children’s play area with an elaborate play structure” for his beard (a well known fact in HW and among many of his fans)? Very much implying the next step is babies (which does not at all fit with D himself recently stating that he would not have kids for a long time as he has no time for that).
All I am saying, IF Raymond is queer, D is going to be vilified if he continues with the bearding charade and asserts his straightness, as his team is well known for, at every turn, after declaring that he would no longer take queer roles away from LGBT+ actors. I really, really, really hope he and RM have a solid plan.
Next few months are going to be interesting. I have been saying for months I think HW is key and it is going to set the direction of the narrative for the future. Either the house is a massive pay out for her “instrumental” role in his career and a fake divorce is coming or D committed long term to bearding and is not coming out anytime soon if ever, and if that is the case, he best stay far, far, far away from all things queer and Raymond better not so much as look at a man.
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DARREN CRISS: "GLEE? A GREAT SERIES, BUT BLAINE AND I ARE DIFFERENT"
Coming from a sparkling season of prizes, Darren Criss, of passing to the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, tells Glee and his future.
INTERVIEW by CHIARA NICOLETTI
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In Italy we learned about it thanks to the TV series Glee , conceived by Ryan Murphy], in which he played Blaine Anderson, but Darren Criss started playing, singing, acting long before 2010, when he joined the series. At the Filming Italy Sardinia Festival the actor and musician has arrived by chance, allowing himself artistically already the evening of his arrival: Darren has in fact performed in an acoustic version, with guitar loaned to him by the actress and musician Violante Placido, by Tu Vuò fa L Americano .
While only the lucky guests of the festival conceived by Tiziana Rocca attended this show, the general public could instead witness another great moment: Darren Criss and Naomi Rivieccio (voice in the song of Jasmine in Aladdin's live action) that duet on the stage of Forte Village on the notes of Il Mondo è mio from Aladdin.
Darren Criss came out winning since the last season of the awards thanks to his interpretation of Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace - American Crime Story also taking home a Golden Globe but, despite the success, he is a sunny person, available, who under in the scorching sun he rehearses for an impromptu show. With an Italian (he studied in Arezzo) who is comparable, to quote Darren himself, " to that of a very intelligent four-year-old boy or one of twelve a bit stupid" , Darren Criss answers questions about success, about his personal and creative growth and getting stuck in a role.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP
Darren, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to do something that involved people and led them to be together. At the beginning I didn't know how to reach this goal but then when I discovered the performing arts I realized that this was the path I wanted to follow.
You have become famous thanks to TV, do you think there are still obstacles in working in the cinema for those who have worked on TV?
Maybe a few years ago yes but today we are experiencing a sort of television Renaissance, the boundaries between TV series and cinema are unstable and a storytelling can be of value both in the cinema and on TV.
Since you are a complete artist, which art represents you best?
I like to see all the arts in their entirety, in their entirety, as slices of a four-season pizza.
Is there a song you wrote that represents you more?
This question leads me to change the answer a bit earlier, in reality the art that represents me best is to write songs. The thing that fills me the most with joy is to write about others and inspire myself in the lives of others.
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FANS
You have many fans. Do you feel the responsibility of having to set an example for others?
It is not a burden for me but I like to think of it as a privilege. Being a reference for young people is certainly a challenge, I live to communicate, I believe that communication is important and I commit myself to send positive messages to young people. That's why I like to speak so many different languages.
How has your approach to acting changed, if it has changed?
I don't think an actor changes approach with the passage of time, I think it's the public that changes, for example, the audience that comes to see one of my shows definitely changes. On a personal level, change but the acting techniques remain more or less the same.
Speaking of acting and fans, have you ever been afraid, especially after Glee, of being stuck in that character or in the idea that the fans had made you?
I think this is more a perception of the public and the fans and often is not reflected in the actors' fears. Take for example the comments people make about the cast of Friends like, " I can't help but see Rachel when I see Jennifer Aniston ." I always reply to those who say so, that if they fail to go further, it is their fault and that she is a very good actress who can do many things. I understand that people need to associate themselves with a character, something, but I've never felt trapped in a character , if Blaine had been someone very close to how I am, if he had spoken like me, had combed like me, then maybe I would have felt stuck, but since he was always different from how I am as a person, I feel lucky. I'm an actor, literally jumping into other people for work. Anyway, even if I got stuck in the Blaine character, there are worse things or worse characters in which to feel stuck, I don't know, the character everyone hates inside some medical drama. Glee, on the other hand, was a great show, I played a very positive character and so if they keep joining me with Blaine, it's not a bad thing.
HARRY POTTER IN THE PRESENT AND IN THE FUTURE
What's in your future?
A Very Potter Musical , produced by me with my company, StarKid productions, is 10 years old and we will do a show for the anniversary. It's a personal thing, it's the project that brought me to the career I have today.
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Changing the subject, who is really McLeigh? I saw some posts with her but I wasn't on fandom when she was active. Is she an actress? Did she make a movie?
Michelle Leigh. She is a nurse who has a strong background in community theatre. She wrote and produced a movie called More Than Only which was a very thinly veiled Klaine fanfiction. She bowed out of the fandom-at least out of her active role- as she was drumming up financing for the movie right as Glee was ending. Abby slide into her role as Tumblr tinhat leader. Michelle loved to write long-winded posts about the Darren and Chris and weave in all sorts of nonsense about automatic nervous system reactions during Klaine scenes and conspiracy-theory based comparisons of the two. She wrote this answer where she blatantly steals Klaine’s backstory as Chris and Darren’s.
Anonymous asked:
can you explain crisscolfer to me? i'm new to the fandom
mleigh69 answered:
Once upon a time
There was a little boy named Darren Everett Criss - SanFrancisco born and mostly raised (few years in Hawaii)
And
There was a little boy named Christopher Paul Colfer (Raised in Clovis California).
Both boys LOVED theatre and acting and singing
Both boys raised in completely different environments of acceptance
Darren in an open loving atmosphere - no judgments
Chris bullied and mistreated by kids and teachers alike
Both boys chose different paths at 18
Darren went to college at University of Michigan (he will tell anyone this who will sit with him for 5 seconds and ask)
approx 3 years later (as they are not the same age - Darren was born in 1987/Chris in 1990)
Chris was slated to begin college - but got an audition for a new pilot - he not only was cast in the show - a role was written FOR HIM
Darren consequently auditioned for that same pilot - but it was not the right time or role - so Darren completed his senior year of school in Michigan
Chris found himself on the Juggernaut that would become a worldwide phenomenon
Darren would graduate and return to California with freinds from Michigan to began the pursuit of the dream - small roles here and there - even a regular role - singing in restaurants. Darren is one heck of a musician- he plays at least 7 instruments - the only one he was trained on (starting at 5years old) was the violin - the remainder he is self taught.
Chris found much success with his character Kurt - reaching out to populations of kids that have needed and wanted such a character for a very long time
with the success of season one - and season two locked in - it was time to expand Kurts story (back then the writing was decent and Kurt got the attention that he deserved)
it was time for a romantic connection
Darren Criss was chosen to play “Blaine” who would start as the openly gay teen mentor for Kurt - then they would evolve into the love of one anothers life
It was a sweet story for the ages - AND SO VERY NEEDED ON PRIME TIME - to show this loving gay couple
The thing is - NO ONE expected what was to occur on the first day (October 4, 2010) that Darren E. Criss & Christopher P. Coler were to meet.
They discovered that fate will not be thwarted when two people are destined to be together
Regardless of their upbringing, moving, dreams, motives and intentions
there was a connection that was undeniable
Their story has been far from perfect - mostly due to outside forces that they could not control or harness
but they have proven how very strong, committed and in love they are over and over and over again
This is CrissColfer
More than Only is a story about two gay men and the love they found in one another. She got the rights to Teenage Dream from Katy Perry and yes this is a scene from the movie.
Anonymous asked:
If this is based off Crisscolfer, why did you use white actors? Whitewashing isn't fun for anyone ://
1. NO
when the story occurred to me it had NOTHING to do with either Chris or Darren
HOWEVER, if I ever write their story - and thank you for the idea I just might (but right now I am writing two other screenplays - yes both are LGBT - no they are not both about two men)
I assure you the Crisscolfer story would bust open this entire charade they were forced to live for the past six years - it would be fun casting “Melinda” don’t you think?! (oh god and casting shurphy or Pricky) how in the hell would I even write the description of these characters for a post?!
2. I used the best two actors who came to my open audition call
3. White washing?
first - you clearly have NO idea about the actors, their nationalities or origins - so ignoring that comment now as it is born out of ignorance - but again - their ethnicity had NOTHING to do with casting choices
4. When I placed the casting call - I stated “ANY ETHNICITY”
In fact - here is the ACTUAL audition notice
Hi! I'm new to your movie and things, but it seems cute! I'm curious how much is inspired by crisscolfer? Thanks for yor time
Chris and Darren inspired as much as getting me interested in LGBT rights
Darren said “you fall in love with a person not a gender” (which is on my page) which changed my entire perspective on so many things
The story itself - was NEVER about either one of them - in any way
the use of Teenage dream was not something planned - it just happened when I was writing a medical scene and one character was asked “are you having pain” and the other replied “my heart stops when you look at me” - thus teenage dream was now in the movie - but each step it took to become a through line seemed natural and evolved into the three times it is used or mentioned.
The entire story was NOT planned - it really just happened scene by scene as I was writing - the progression always seemed like the next best step until it resolved itself
I have written Crisscolfer fanfiction - this could have easily fallen into that - but that isn’t where my drive to write the story was - this wasn’t about them
I had something to say about a subject matter that was personal and very real to many I knew - and Crisscolfer was NOT the way to say it
First line of the movie “My father only wanted two things; straight A’s and a straight son”
Final line of the movie: “My father only wanted two things - he could have had so much more”
Justin’s journey is going from being limited to the only things his father expects of him to realizing how much more he can be when not held down.
I never expected the film to get picked up - I never expected it to be made - I was excited that I wrote it - that readings were done - that the readings went as well as they did and it was well received.
the website has tons of info: WWW.MORETHANONLY.COM
thanks for the ask
Anonymous asked:
I've heard that the "you fall in love with the person" quote was actually from a fanfic and not from D himself :( though when I started tumblr it seemed common knowledge that he said it so I've been confused for ages.
Everything that I was able to find about the quote certainly seems to indicate that Darren himself said it
I found arguments about it- and I don’t know why anyone would argue if it was a fanfiction statement
If anyone knows - feel free to jump in with info.
MLeigh69- she stopped actively blogging March 2015ish.
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This week, Darren Criss announced he’ll no longer take on gay roles. The 31-year-old actor, who has famously played several queer characters including Glee’s Blaine Anderson and recently won an Emmy for his outstanding performance as Andrew Cunanan on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, tells Bustle, “I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”
Many people in the queer corners of the internet praised Criss for taking a stand to create space for openly gay entertainers, while others were simply shocked to learn Criss is actually straight and engaged to his girlfriend of nearly a decade. Though I, too, appreciate Criss for acknowledging Hollywood’s ongoing representation problem and sacrificing his livelihood for us gays, I think Criss, Claire Foy, Eric McCormack, Melissa McCarthy, Timothée Chalamet, Rami Malek, and any other straight actor who gets offered a gay role should take it and slay it.
First of all, you’re an actor. It’s your job to play someone else and make us believe it. If I wanted to watch a movie where an actor just plays himself, I’d just watch Adam Sandler. Second, you walking in those gay shoes will help us to run (or sashay) later. Third, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. In other words, yes, Hollywood needs to look at its casting problem, but it also needs to work on its lack of creative storytelling. Lastly, if you’re an actor who wants to be an advocate and an ally for the LGBTQ community, don’t give up your damn seat at the table. Invite gay actors inside from the picket line.
Criss absolutely killed (no pun intended) his role as Andrew Cunanan this year. And did you see Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant as queer con artists in Can You Ever Forgive Me?Didn’t Rami Malek totally rock you as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody? All of these performances of real-life queer people are strong contenders for awards heading into the 2019 award season. Bohemian Rhapsody is now the most successful music biopic of all time.
Queer lives are being celebrated, recognized, and are making bank.
And with films like Love, Simon, Call Me By Your Name, Boy Erased, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post accelerating acceptance by furthering the conversation on coming out and conversion therapy, young LGBTQ people are being inspired and empowered to come out and love themselves despite the hateful rhetoric being spewed by our very own leaders. Yes, it’d be nice if those characters were played by actors from the queer community, but is it the end of the world if it’s Chloë Grace Moretz?
What’s also great about the latest queer-themed movies is that the narratives are becoming more nuanced. We’re moving away from the tired-ass gay best friend and confidant (mostly), and we’re seeing our contributions to society and complexities as humans. Shows like Will & Grace and movies like Transamerica ran, so Pose, Call Me By Your Name, and The Favouritecould strut and death drop. We’re seeing nuanced gay characters who aren’t props, sidekicks, and punchlines, but protagonists who are owning their stories, helping young gays understand themselves, changing hearts and minds, and exposing viewers to someone who may not be exactly like them.
So what if it’s Armie Hammer in short shorts? We could do worse.
Yes, there’s much more work to be done. So if Criss wants to be an ally, he should wield his power and privilege to bring in diverse creatives to be in front, behind, and beside the camera when he’s given the platform—not give it up.
As NewNowNext writer Lester Fabian Brathwaite points out in his look-back at this year’s best in queer TV, “2018 was a banner year for queer television based not only on representation but the sheer quality of that representation.” Has there ever been so many choices across almost every entertainment genre and platform for queer audiences to “explore the entire rainbow of identities without feeling forced or contrived?”
Criss’ Blaine sang so Ryan Jamaal Swain’s Damon (Pose) could shine. Will Truman and Jack McFarland kissed so Kevin Keller (Riverdale) could cruise for cock in the woods.
This year, I spoke to many a filmmaker and actor about Hollywood’s representation challenges. Newcomer
Hank Chen
(Life Size 2) and Oscar-nominated Philadelphiascreenwriter
Ron Nyswaner
both told me about the consistent need to justify having a queer characters in scripts in the first place.
“I am optimistic there soon won’t be a justification needed for an Asian person or a gay person in a script,” says Chen. “They won’t have to have some sort of trauma—unless it serves the purpose of the movie—we can just be allowed to be ordinary people, too.”
Thanks in part to the success of films and shows helmed by straight actors, we now get to have creators like Lena Waithe and Desiree Akhavan who are now creating space for others. So, no, Darren, do not pass up the next chance to play gay. Take it. You’re giving the community much-needed visibility, you’re showing our stories and our lives matter, and you’re creating opportunities for more of us to come through the door.
And honestly, our stories may not get told at all otherwise.
#a different perspective - which I also kind of agree with - this issue is so complicated!#but I also get why darren made this decision after three major roles#media on darren#representation matters#newnownext
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Review: Met Gala 2019
Good morning to girls and gays only. Straight men can perish.
Well, the Met Gala has rolled around once again and all I can say is: I’m so glad I’m a lesbian. The theme for this year was ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ and my GOD did some men decide that this was the perfect opportunity to come in a bland black tux or worse.
Some of the biggest disappointments of the night for me have to be Rami Malek and Taron Egerton, who, having both just played some of the most iconic men in recent history who lived, breathed and ate the essence of camp, saw fit to turn up in black tuxes. Taron’s was kinda sparkly though and I still respect the dude for his general lack of typical masculinity elsewhere (more men commenting “phwoar” on their mates’ Instagram, please). Shout out to Frank Ocean who showed up looking like any bouncer you might find outside one of my local clubs on a Saturday night. He collaborated with James Charles to prove that while some gays showed their best, others certainly did not. The theme was CAMP, James Charles, and you still couldn’t deliver.
I appreciated the change in pace from Darren Criss and Harry Styles, but to be honest, Harry’s had camper looks in concert and Darren Criss…well, I loved his look, but it also took me a solid ten minutes to work out that it was him and not just Brendon Urie in his regular concert gear. Glittery jackets and statement eyeliner do not a camp icon make, I’m afraid, though you certainly did better than so many others.
Kim Kardashian was certainly…there. I’m impressed with the way she managed to make herself look like she’s just stepped out of the ocean butt-naked and dripping wet, but girl. You’re rich as fuck. There’s more than bodycon dresses out there. Also please smack your husband, he’s a dick and he’s wearing a black tracksuit. Kendall and Kylie were a little more flamboyant but honestly, they were single-colour knockoffs of things I would say you could find at a Rio street festival, except that would be an insult to Brazil and all the ways Rio festivals embody everything the Jenner looks were not. And to be real with you? For all the colour that was there, they were boring. What is it with these women and being afraid to be #Iconique? It’s sad that all they seem to know how to do is emphasise their boobs and hips in dresses with very little fabric to try and be daring. If they weren’t so rich and influential no one would pay them any mind because you can see the same look on anyone else.
While I don’t like Cardi B, I can appreciate her attempt to get into the spirit of the Met Gala, which she pulled off so well last year. I only wish her skirt hadn’t ended up looking like rows of theatre seating. Katy Perry was there as both a chandelier and a hamburger, which, while a step up from the Jenner-Kardashian contributions, leads me to wonder if she knows what ‘camp’ means, or if her foray into queer culture stopped once she was done appropriating sapphic sexuality for male consumption in 2008. Special mention must go to Benedict Cumberbatch who saw fit to show up dressed like some bizarre visiting cousin of Colonel Sanders who maybe definitely owned a plantation. It wasn’t a black tux but somehow I just wish it had been.
To get to the real stars of the night, I think it’s only fair to start off by saying this Met Gala was once again, Black Excellence. I cannot BREATHE for the number of incredible, powerful black icons taking to the pink carpet in works of art. Let’s begin, shall we?
Billy Porter showed up (and showed everyone else up) with six hot half naked slave dudes decked out in gold carrying him in on a black-and-gold chaise-lounge like a modern-day Cleopatra and, once he had both feet firmly on the floor, threw up the massive golden wings of Isis and owned the entire space around him. The crown. The wings. The copious gold sparkly shit. The gold bedazzled stuff on his face. Every other man should be ashamed of his failure to measure up to the king. Also every man in a tux found DEAD by the side of the road thanks to our Lord and Saviour Billy Porter.
If Billy Porter is the king, then surely, there are too many queens to choose from. From Laverne Cox’s strikingly shaped black dress with her brilliant blue-white hair and statement makeup, to Lupita Nyong’o showing up in the full neon spectrum of the rainbow, black women showed up to take the crown every single time last night. Janelle Monáe’s stunning artsy dress blew me away, from the Picasso-like features to the multitude of hats that I have no idea how she balanced, she’s a masterpiece. Lizzo stepped out looking like the Empress of Flamingos and I am absolutely here for every second of it. The colours are loud, bold, and the outfit is as large-as-life as Lizzo herself. Her hair was so stunning, I swear I thought it was a crown at first.
Black hair certainly had a starring role on the red carpet as well, from Tessa Thompson’s insanely long braid (she was carrying a WHIP to complete her outfit RIP all wlw) to Lupita’s impressive afro with its many golden combs. I adored Danai Gurira’s hair and especially loved her Oscar Wilde-inspired outfit: here is a woman who understands her brief and works from it to great effect, and I loved Keiynan Lonsdale’s gorgeous hair and butterfly gown – seeing him embracing his queerness with both arms since Love, Simon led him to come out has made my heart big.
I can’t move on from the black dominance and excellence of the night without mention of two of my favourite looks: Zendaya and Lena Waithe. If Billy Porter is the king and there are too many queens to count, then Zendaya stands out yet again as the living, breathing princess of the lot of them. I can hear the white tears over black girl magic Cinderella from here. She arrived in a whole Cinderella dress that expanded and glows from within, a pumpkin-carriage purse and her own fairy godmother to transform her with a little bibbity-bobbity-boo? She even lost her damn glass slipper on the stairs. A true artist. As they say in the LGBT+ community: um, wig.
Speaking of which: Lena Waithe. The lesbian icon herself, who showed up to last year’s Catholic-themed Met Gala in a pride flag cape, and who went hell for leather this year as well, putting every man in a tux to shame by not only out-classing them in how fantastic she looked in her lilac suit, but also paying homage to the origins of camp, with the back of her jacket boldly stating “Black Drag Queens Invented Camp” and the pinstripes on the suit actually being cleverly displayed lyrics to iconic drag queen songs. She really Did That yet again and I’m knocked dead.
This review is already long as hell and it’s about to get longer because there are more looks that I want to mention.
First of all: Lady. Fucking. Gaga. My girl did four outfits on the pink carpet in the space of 15 minutes and holy shit did she kill it. Starting out in a voluminous hot pink ballgown, followed by a more sedate but still impressive black one with a matching umbrella, then down to a slim hot-pink number, huge sunglasses, and statement telephone, and finally ending up in an iconic mesh and underwear set, all while sporting the most gorgeous gold false eyelashes that made the whole thing pop. The creativity and flair of everything Gaga does has made her iconic throughout the years and this event was no exception.
Ezra Miller FUCKED IT UP. Pinstripe suit with the sweeping train, glittering cage corset on top and a myriad of imitation eyes all over his face, carrying an eerie mask of himself on a stick? Phenomenal. The confidence in his walk as he moved and the way he displayed his look was so striking and seeing him own it so much made my night.
I loved Jordan Roth’s take on Billy Porter’s wings, allowing him to show up as a literal whole theatre. I loved Ryan Murphy’s sparkling pink champagne tux and high-collared cape. Florence Welch absolutely slayed in her glittering wing-collared cloak.
However, one of the standout looks for the night was Hamish Bowles. The embodiment of camp, with that magnificent fur-trimmed patterned cape. The look is absolutely dominating even when he’s standing still, and when he moves, the whole thing comes alive. Watching some of the dynamic shots taken of him having fun with his outfit, I felt like I was watching a bullfighter in a lion’s mane – and all of that is good. I can’t quite put my finger on why I felt he looked like a fabulous Mrs Doubtfire (maybe it’s the shoes) but the outfit was one of the best and definitely set a bar that so many men fell short of.
Final Words:
Can someone please tell cishet men to step their game up? Or men in general (I see you Frank Ocean and James Charles letting the damn side down)? They can stay boring if they want, however. The rest of us will be having far more fun without them, and the plain black tuxes certainly are no talking point of the evening.
#review#met gala#met gala 2019#fashion review#fashion#red carpet#zendaya#billy porter#ezra miller#lady gaga#i wanted to get this out in a timely fashion so it was relevant#also idk if you can tell but i'm eagerly anticipating macdoesit's review because his red carpet reviews are EVERYTHING and i think it shows#*it shows here#i am INFLUENCED because i love him
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20 Asian American Musicians To Add To Your Playlist Now
Over the past several years, the K-pop industry in the U.S. has grown exponentially. The fan enthusiasm behind bands like BTS has drawn parallels to The Beatles, and so many K-pop groups have received the same passionate reception. The attention is well-deserved, but Asian artists represent a multitude of musical genres (even just within the K-pop industry) — a fact that should not be overlooked. Whether you're a fan of indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, or dance music, you won't want to sleep on these Asian American musicians.
Asian artists have recently received some long-deserved recognition in the entertainment industry, primarily in film. In 2020, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won big at the Oscars. The following year, Youn Yuh-Jung won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Minari, which also scored The Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun a nomination for Best Actor. However, there's still plenty of work to be done within the music landscape to ensure equal representation is achieved.
BTS, most notably, has seen unprecedented success in the U.S. Still, despite being invited to attend the last three Grammys, they've yet to take home an award, highlighting the discrepancy between their immense success and the Recording Academy's willingness to acknowledge it. Additionally, Asian artists have a harder time landing record deals. As American Idol alumni Paul Kim explained to The New York Times, he was blatantly told by industry execs he would have been signed to a label faster had he not been Asian.
By streaming these artists, you're not only supporting them and their art, but you're subsequently showing industry insiders just how valuable they are. Consider this list sonic proof Asian artists are making exceptional, diverse music that can't be boxed into one genre or sound. Each of these artists prides themselves on breaking boundaries and creating their own rules. You may have heard of a few, but many have been flying under the radar for far too long. Your ears will thank you soon enough.
Melissa Polinar
Polinar got her start in the late 2000s when viral YouTube covers paved the way for success. While artists like Justin Bieber and Lennon & Maisy were sharing music covers, Polinar focused on posting her original music — and her soulful vocals were a hit. In 2019, the Filipino-American songwriter actually re-recorded one of the songs that propelled her career forward, "Try," on its 10-year anniversary.
Eric Nam
Born and raised in Atlanta, Nam moved to Korea to pursue music because he felt he had a better chance of succeeding there. “Even if you look at American Idol, or X-Factor, or The Voice or anything, it was always difficult to see an Asian or an Asian-American make it to a certain point,” Nam told TIME in November 2019. Today, Nam is a highly visible and respected name in the K-pop industry. While he's very proud of his K-pop success, he considers himself a pop singer first. He hopes to grow his success stateside and told TIME, "I want people to hear my music and say, 'I don’t know who this person is,' and I could be Black, white, Latino, Asian — it doesn’t matter, but it’s just a great pop song."
Clinton Kane
Kane's got every making of a great singer-songwriter, and his lyricism will make a fan out of loyal Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith listeners. The Filipino-American singer's impressive vocal range captivates, and his emotion-driven lyrics will melt your heart. One of his more popular tracks, "Chicken Tendies," has upwards of 2 million views and is a must-add to your heartbreak playlist.
Jhené Aiko
As a mixed-race Japanese, Creole, Dominican, and European woman, Aiko has proudly championed her diverse roots throughout her accomplished career. The R&B singer is a six-time Grammy-nominated artist and is well respected within the industry for her philanthropic endeavors. She launched the WAYS foundation in 2017, an organization dedicated to helping cancer patients and their families.
Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki is hardly a newcomer to the EDM scene, but as one of the most prominent DJs in the industry, and one of the biggest Japanese DJs ever, it would be a crime to leave him off this list. Aoki even has his own record label and, in 2016, Netflix released I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, a documentary about his career.
Karen O
As the lead singer for the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Karen O has solidified her spot as a rock music legend. Not only is the Korean-American singer's discography with the band a must-listen for any rock music fan, but her 2019 album with Danger Mouse, Lux Prima, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance.
H.E.R.
Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, H.E.R. (aka Gabi Wilson) has become one of the most prominent names in R&B. At just 23 years old, the singer-songwriter already has four Grammy wins and 13 nominations. Along the way, she's never shied away from praising her Filipino mother and Black father, Agnes and Kenny Wilson, for giving her the unique perspectives that propelled her musical success.
Toro Y Moi
Toro Y Moi is actually one person (Chaz Bear) and he's become the unofficial king of chillwave. Born to a Filipino mother, the South Carolina native later relocated to California to further his music career. If you need some chill vibes on your playlist, Bear's got you covered.
Ruby Ibarra
Ibarra is a Filipino-American rapper from San Lorenzo, California who also dabbles in spoken word poetry. Her music is meaningful in more ways than one. A number of her songs touch upon her experience as an Asian American woman. In April 2021, she released a powerful song and video called "Gold" with Ella Jay Basco, which exposed the harmful effects of the skin whitening industry.
Ella Jay Basco
You may recognize Basco from her appearance in Birds of Prey, but her music is not to be slept on because it's making major waves. Her song "Gold" with Ruby Ibarra highlights her Filipino heritage. As she told People, "From top to bottom, we wanted to make sure that our Asian-American community was represented with this project."
Mitski
Meet your new favorite alt-rock queen. Mitski's dreamy melodies appeal to the indie-rock crowd more than anything, and, if you're a sucker for a sad bop, this Japanese-American songstress has plenty of those stacked up.
Yaeji
Yaeji was born in Flushing, Queens in 1993 and grew up between the U.S. and Korea. Since she moved around so much as a kid, she found friendship on the internet, where she first connected with the bossa nova, jazz, and Korean indie music that drove much of the Korean DIY scene. She soon returned to the States to attend college, where she discovered a love for producing and DJing. Now, she meticulously blends hip-hop elements with her house-driven sound for a listening experience that is unlike anything else.
Hayley Kiyoko
Kiyoko has been given the nickname Lesbian Jesus since she’s so outspoken about LGBTQ+ representation in the music industry. The Japanese-American singer is a true trailblazer and her pop music genius has landed her hits with Kehlani, MAX, and AJR.
Jay Park
Park is an industry heavyweight. The Seattle native got his start in the K-pop industry as part of the band 2PM, but he went solo in 2009. Today, not only does the star have dozens of hits under his belt, but he has two record labels of his own that specialize in R&B and hip-hop music: AOMG and H1ghr. Park uses his superstar status to give others the spotlight, and he's put his support behind other artists like GOT7's JAY B and Yugyeom, and Raz Simone. Whether you're a self-proclaimed K-pop stan, or you're just recently getting acquainted with the genre, Park's discography is required listening.
Jin Au-Yeung
Born and raised in North Miami Beach, Florida, the Chinese-American rapper, aka MC Jin, has some seriously impressive accolades under his belt. After becoming popular among his musical peers for his epic freestyles, he was signed to Ruff Ryders in 2002 at just 19 years old, becoming the first Asian American solo rapper to be signed to a major record label in the U.S. He's since parted ways with the label and now travels back and forth between the U.S. and Hong Kong, seeing success in both places. In May 2021, the rapper released a single called "Stop the Hatred" with Wyclef Jean to raise awareness about hate crimes toward Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Olivia Rodrigo
Rodrigo needs no introduction, but I'll do it anyway: This Filipino-American actress-turned-singer-songwriter's mega-hit debut single "drivers license" was unavoidable in January 2021. Its heartbreakingly relatable lyrics about a crush moving on with someone else struck listeners to their core and immediately soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also went viral on TikTok, before making its way into a Saturday Night Live sketch. Rodrigo's songwriting skills have fans likening her to industry heavyweights like Taylor Swift, so it's no surprise her debut album, Sour, is one of the most highly-anticipated albums of summer 2021.
Run River North
Run River North is not just one musician, but three. The band formerly known as Monsters Calling Home is an indie rock band from Los Angeles. The group has an eclectic sound that draws inspiration from each member: Daniel Chae, Alex Hwang, and Sally Kang.
ZHU
When ZHU first entered the electronic music scene, he used an alias and remained anonymous. By 2014, the artist also known as Steven Zhu was ready to share his identity with the world. ZHU got his start in San Francisco, California, but has made his mark on the EDM scene globally.
Darren Criss
Criss rose to fame starring on the television series Glee and he's since proven himself to be a true triple threat. His work can be seen across TV, film, and music. In September of 2018, Criss became the first Filipino-American to win an Emmy in the lead actor category for his portrayal of Andrew Cunanan in FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He’s also got several full-fledged EPs under his belt.
Amber Liu
Amber Liu (also known mononymously as Amber) is of Taiwanese descent and grew up in Los Angeles. She made a big splash when debuting as a member of the K-pop girl group f(x) in September 2009, but has since gone solo. Her 2019 solo track "Other People" racked up millions of streams, and she’s gearing up to drop her first album of 2021, called y?, very soon. In the meantime, she’s continuing to grow her superstar following on social media, where she has 5 million Instagram followers and over 2.3 million on Twitter.
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Newer Songs I love:
1) Champagne Problems- Taylor Swift
my fav song off evermore. the story behind it is absolutely heartbreaking. I love how taylor describes the stigmatisation of mental health issues and the way society still treats people that struggle. We still need spread awareness for such an important topic! Thank you taylor for such a beautiful song🥺💞
2) Know me again- Cian Ducrot feat Cate
ABSOLUTE BANGER. The bridge is by far my favourite part of the songs. The way their two voices blend together still gives me shivers. A beautiful ballad about unrequited love🥺 CAN ONLY RECOMMEND!!!
3) Boys will be Boys- Dua Lipa
This song may be a bit „older“ than the rest of the songs but its still such a cool and accurate song. It also expresses how woman are still viewed as some kind of object of men‘s pleasure and how females have to grow up even faster than boys because we have to protect ourselves. The lyrics>>>
4) Dancing with the Devil- Demi Lovato
I have never been the biggest fan of demi but with this album she really evolved into such a honest artist. The lyricism is fascinating and i absolutely adore the „dancing with devil“ metaphor. A huge step for her and im so happy she shares so much about her past to inspire others. Im glad she‘s still here to fight<33
5) Its a Sin- Elton John and Yearsandyears
What a beautiful cover. From the vocals of both singers, the beautiful piano to the breathtaking anf by far best performance at the BRITs- it‘s an experience of a lifetime.💗💘💓💖💕
6)Mr. Perfectly Fine- Taylor Swift
I doubt i will ever forgive taylor for hiding this MASTERPIECE for such a long time. An amazing banger with great lyrics and heartbreaking story behind it. Not happy she ever has to rerecord (fuck🛴) but im glad we know have this beautiful song.
„Ive been picking up my heart, he‘s been picking up her“- the best lyric. no question.
7) Astronomy- Conan Gray
Indie at its best. The soft guitar, the mesmerising vocals. With this song Conan put himself on a new level. Will probably end up being one of my most streamed songs of the year. I can already see it🤠
8) Groupie- Cate
What a pretty voice!! My favourite song by such a good and underrated artist. Love it with my whole heart.🥺🥺🥺
9) F*kn Around- Darren Criss
Never in a million years would i have thought i would hear him coming back with such a song. Rock Darren has always had a big place in my heart since early glee days but with this track he has outdid himself again. The bass is so catchy im not getting out of my head. An absolute banger!!😌 AS HE SHOULD
10) good 4 u- Olivia Rodrigo
And again, a banger. I have to admit i liked driver’s license but didn’t really enjoy deja vú that much. But after this song came out i became really excited for SOUR. It gives me major „Forget me too- Halsey and Machine Gun Kelly“ vibes and im here for it😌
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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/naya-rivera-who-rose-to-fame-on-tv-show-glee-dies-at-33-the-associated-press/
Naya Rivera, who rose to fame on TV show 'Glee,' dies at 33 - The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Naya Rivera, a singer and actor who played a gay cheerleader on the hit TV musical comedy “Glee,” was found dead Monday in a Southern California lake. She was 33.
Rivera’s body was discovered five days after she disappeared on Lake Piru, where her son, Josey, was found July 8 alone on a boat the two had rented, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. The Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the body was Rivera’s.
“Rest sweet, Naya. What a force you were,” wrote “Glee” co-star Jane Lynch on Twitter. Steven Canals, who co-created and produced the FX television show “Pose,” tweeted that he was “heartbroken over all the stories that will remain untold.”
Viola Davis sent her prayers to Rivera’s family and Kristin Chenoweth said: “Thank you for what you gave the world.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that “as a Latina, it’s rare to have a rich, complex characters reflect us in media.”
Rivera began acting at a young age, but she rose to national attention playing a lesbian teen on “Glee,” which aired from 2009 until 2015 on Fox. She is survived by her parents, Yolanda and George; a younger brother, Mychal; a sister, Nickayla; and her 4-year-old son.
“Naya Rivera was a fierce talent with so much more to do and this is such a terrible tragedy. We are forever grateful for the indelible contribution she made to ‘Glee,’ from the first episode to the last,” said a statement from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Entertainment.
A native of Santa Clarita, California, Rivera began acting at 4, appearing in such series as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Family Matters” and “The Bernie Mac Show.” As a teen, she struggled with an eating disorder and had breast implants put in at 18 (“a confidence thing, not a sexual thing,” she would later write in her autobiography).
“I had the lowest self esteem in high school possible. I wasn’t popular, I didn’t have friends, but I would say it’s really important that you know who you are and you’re going to win in the end because of that,” Rivera said in a 2011 interview with The Associated Press.
She worked odd jobs as a telemarketer, a nanny, a waitress and an Abercrombie & Fitch greeter before landing the role of Santana Lopez on Ryan Murphy’s “Glee.” She auditioned by singing “Emotion.” The pilot offered her no speaking lines.
Rivera played a secondary character — the mean cheerleader with blistering put-downs — in the show’s first season, but became a show regular in the second season as she struggled to reveal her character’s sexual identity. Many on social media credited her character for making them feel better about their own sexuality.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d actually be playing a teen lesbian,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. “I didn’t think it was going to go this far. But I’m glad that it did, because there have been a lot of fans who have expressed that they’ve been going through similar situations in their lives. I’ve heard from girls that are in high school, they’re 16, 17, and they’re like, ‘I came out to my mom,’ or ‘I came out to my friends, and thank you for helping me do that.’”
Some of her more memorable songs on the show include a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” with guest star Gwyneth Paltrow, “Here Comes the Sun” with Demi Lovato, and a tearful cover of The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.”
Rivera’s “brilliance and humor were unmatched,” said “Glee” co-star Chris Colfer on Instagram. “She could turn a bad day into a great day with a single remark. She inspired and uplifted people without even trying.” Jenna Ushkowitz, another “Glee” co-star, promised “to help the legacy of your talent, humor, light and loyalty live on.”
Rivera struggled to get career traction amid the rising young talent on the show that included Colfer, Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Darren Criss, Amber Riley, Melissa Benoist and Dianna Agron. She was no longer a series regular during the sixth and final season of “Glee.”
“It would be an understatement to say that ‘Glee’ changed my life. It overhauled it. It got me out of debt. It helped to cement my career. And before the show, I’d never had a group of people I was that close with,” she wrote in her memoir, titled “Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up.”
“But while ‘Glee’ changed our lives, it didn’t necessarily change who we were. We started the show as a ragtag group of misfits, and six seasons later, when we filmed the last episode, we were still the same bunch of misfits. Just now wearing more expensive jeans.”
After the show, Rivera sought success in film and music. She made her feature film debut in 2014’s “At the Devil’s Door,” playing a woman caught in the middle of supernatural events, and released the single “Sorry” in 2013 featuring rapper Big Sean, a one-time fiance.
She and actor Ryan Dorsey were married in 2014 and their son, Josey, was born in 2015. She called her young son “my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him.”
Rivera was arrested and charged in West Virginia in 2017 with misdemeanor domestic battery after she allegedly hit Dorsey. The charge was dismissed because Dorsey did not wish to press charges. They divorced soon after.
Most recently, Rivera had a role on Lifetime’s “Devious Maids,” released her memoir in 2016 and played school administrator Collette Jones in the YouTube Red online series “Step Up: High Water” starring Ne-Yo. The show is about a cutthroat performing arts school in Atlanta.
Rivera’s death is the latest death in a tragic arc of “Glee” actors. Monteith died in 2013 — exactly seven years to the day before Rivera’s body was publicly identified — from a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin, and Rivera’s ex-boyfriend Mark Salling, who played a jock on the series, killed himself in 2018 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Rivera and Salling dated for three years and broke up in 2010.
In the preface to her autobiography, Rivera wrote that motherhood had changed her life and given it perspective. She said she was braver, too.
“Your life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to be proud. In fact, I think it’s the opposite: the more imperfect your life has been, the prouder you should be, because it means you’ve come that much further, and also probably had a lot more fun along the way.”
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This story has been corrected to show Rivera’s body was discovered five days after she disappeared, not six days.
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
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