#INCREDIBLE HAAAAA

[monicaalexandraaa]

SAM !!!!!! THIS ONE !!!!!!!! Saaammmmm !!!!!!!

I saw this posted and for some reason I just felt like I couldn’t do anything else before I read this and yeah I think everyone else should stop what they’re doing right now and read this. Oh my heart. My hearrrrrtttttt. The way you write your fmc’s is magnificent. I always feel like I’m in their brain and their heart. I felt for her sooooo much. You often cover such real and relatable struggles and you excel at it. This was phenomenal. The angst, the fluff, all of it. Just so so good. I feel like I can’t properly explain my thoughts (the tags may help) but WOW! 🩷🩷

Independent

~10.6k words

From me: I know it's a long one, but it's a one-shot.

Warnings: angst, fluff. I've got about a thousand tropes in this one. Coworker Harry, Roommate Harry, love at first sight, he falls first and harder, one bed if you squint.

Summary: “Go on a date with me,” he groaned.

“Because of the cookies?”

“No! Well, yes. Right now, yes, because of the cookies. But s’not usually because of cookies.”

She laughed. “I don’t date, Harry.”

Harry was tall, with soft brown locks that begged to have fingers run through them, and cool green eyes that reminded her of the sage green bridesmaid’s dress she wore to one of her friends’ weddings the year before. He wore a dark purple button down with sleeves rolled up revealing a bunch of tattoos on his left arm but only a few on the right. His voice was melodic. Smooth, like he was going to sing her a lullaby and warm like it could toast a marshmallow.

Her group chat with a couple of her office friends had been buzzing the moment Harry took residence at the desk across the aisle and one row ahead of her.

Holy fuck. Val texted. Office eye candy 😍

Do you hear that thundering sound? That’s my heart 😍 Rachel continued.

She smirked at the desks, shaking her head.

Don’t shake your head. Say something! At least you’re single, you have a chance! Val sent the messages in quick succession, making her desk partner, Hunter, look at her curiously each time it vibrated.

“Do you have an emergency?” He asked her.

She shook her head. “Nope,” she smiled. “Not at all.”

*

Harry met her and asked her out on the very first day he started his new job. They both worked in an office. Their desks only a short distance apart while they worked together. He assumed there were no rules against dating as there were several married couples within the office as he quickly found out from the shared last names and wedding photos of his coworkers lining one another’s desks.

It seemed, as long as it didn’t interfere with their work, there was no issue.

Which was fine by Harry.

He was happy to ogle her all day long and he would spoil her rotten outside of work. “Hi, m’Harry,” Harry took his opportunity to introduce himself when everyone else left for their lunch hour and she was finishing something up. Leaving them alone in the office. Harry analyzed her desk as quickly as he could.

Their office was wide open with desks back-to-back nearly identical on either side with a long aisle leading to the office of their boss at the back of the room. Her desk faced the front of the room while Harry’s faced his boss’ office. He was on the opposite side of the room, and he had a great view all day long to watch her profile as she worked. Her hair was half up, her beautiful eyes hidden behind glasses, and her mouth set in concentration as she focused on her tasks. He couldn’t see her whole body, but he watched her pull her sandy colored cardigan around her white shirt multiple times that morning, like she was chilled by the air conditioner. His eyes were drawn to her. Like she was a lighthouse, and he was out at sea. All he wanted to do was watch her, keep an eye on her, and admire how stunning she was.

She had a little plant near her window—a bunch of red poppies wrapped up in a burlap vase, tied with a red bow. He couldn’t tell if it was fake or not, but he suspected it was. There was a picture of a large group of friends right by her monitor where she was off to the side in it, one of her girlfriends had an arm around her. Her stationery was cool tones of blues, greens, and purples. Her handwriting was scribbled on a calendar in front of her and he thought the way she curved her L’s was loopy and pretty beyond belief and he wished he had one in his name just to see how it looked. But it made him want to know how she would write his name anyway. There was a date at the end of September that was marked with a heart and he wondered why. Was it an anniversary? A birthday? Or the day her favorite movie came out?

A book sat on the windowsill, and he wondered when she had the time to read it during the day or maybe it was a security blanket kind of thing. There were two paper trays stacked on top of one another to organize her work and sticky notes all over her monitor and desk with ideas, reminders, and even a couple that said things like, “we love you” and “you’re so sweet.”

“Hi, Harry,” she smiled up at him to introduce herself. “Welcome to the team, are you having a good first day?”

He nodded, smiled a little brighter and dove right in. “I think m’in love with you,” she released a laugh that was so unbelievably beautiful Harry thought it sealed the deal. “I wouldn’t laugh, kitten. M’serious,” he frowned with faux sadness. He knew he was being a tad bit ridiculous. Maybe it wasn’t right to say it while they were alone, but he didn’t want to say it in front of everyone either. Hopefully he could convince her he was harmless, even if what he said was true.

Her cheeks reddened and she smiled. “That’s... very forward,” she reminded him. “And you don’t know me.”

“I know,” he rubbed the back of his head. “I was going t’hold off on saying it until tomorrow, but m’unable t’contain it. You’re very beautiful and everyone seems t’go t’you when they need help, so I imagine you’re a lovely person,” he pointed at the sticky note that said we love you once more. She snickered again and looked away covering one cheek with her hand. “M’going t’go t’lunch before I embarrass myself further, but I jus’ wanted to tell you,” he shrugged, stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned toward the exit.

“Nice meeting you Harry,” she called after him a smile on her lips.

He grinned and turned briefly to wave before he exited. “Don’t forget t’eat, kitten,” he called.

*

But now that Harry admitted he was in love with her, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched while she worked. Her eyes darted to his side of the room often trying to see if he was staring at her. He wasn’t each time which only made her feel guilty and worse. Maybe her standoffish disposition deterred him rapidly. It was probably for the best, anyway. For a lot of reasons.

Was it disappointment she was feeling from his lack of attention? That didn’t seem right.

“Harry!” Val called from behind her. “Are you enjoying your first day?”

“Immensely,” did his eyes drift over to her and her desk? She stared at her screen pretending to work while she listened.

“Did you just move to town?” Rachel was much further towards the front of the room. He turned to give her his full attention. It made her heart skip a beat with how kind it was. His politeness was a massive turn on.

Even if she wasn’t going to let herself admire Harry from across the way just because they worked together.

“I did, m’actually looking for a place t’live if y’know of any places. M’at a hotel until m’on m’feet.”

Her heart started beating about two hundred times a minute because she knew what was going to happen before it did. She could feel the bubbling excitement from her friends on either end of the room. “Mary Poppins has a room!” Rachel shouted.

Her cheeks turned bright red.

“Her roommate just moved in with her boyfriend like last week! How perfect is that, Mary? You were all worried about finding a normal roommate. I even did his background check, so I know he’s good to go!”

Harry chuckled. “Um... who’s Mary Poppins?”

The whole office giggled. “Miss Poppins, did you not introduce yourself?” Someone else called. Hunter snickered across from her and she glared at him.

This was mortifying. Wasn’t this supposed to be a mortifying day for Harry? His first day and all? How come she was being teased? She took a deep breath and turned from her monitor to make direct eye contact with Harry who was already looking at her. Like he knew exactly who Mary Poppins was without his coworkers needing to tell him. “It’s a two-bedroom apartment. One bath. There’s a nice kitchen, all new appliances.”

Harry’s jaw dropped as she spoke. Like he was surprised it really was her. “Val looks like she’s going to bounce out of her seat,” Hunter smirked as he whispered under his breath to her while she tried not to panic at the thought of living with someone so unbelievably attractive and just admitted he was in love with her.

“Tell him about your living room!” Val sounded like she was bouncing.

“Water’s included.”

“She’s the cutest interior designer. It’s so homey it feels like a warm hug when you walk in. Like living with a rom-com character,” Rachel continued.

“Rent would be about twelve hundred,” she ignored her so-called friends.

“She bakes something once a week too, so it always smells like sugar and Christmas. It’s seriously the coziest place I’ve ever been,” Val kept going.

“In-unit washer and dryer.”

“Then she brings whatever she makes for all of us here to devour. It’s incredible,” Rachel’s sentiment was answered with a hum of agreement from the rest of her coworkers. She even heard someone say remember her apple turnover pastries?

“You get your own parking spot,” she tilted her head and looked at the ceiling to see if there was anything else she had forgotten. “I think that’s it,” she met Harry’s eyes once more, holding his gaze briefly before she turned back to her monitor.

“Harry you should totally move in, you will fall in love with the place.”

“M’sure I would,” he chuckled. “Could I see it sometime?” He asked. His attention never strayed from her face. She could sense his gaze on the side of her cheek the whole time her friends embarrassed the crap out of her. “Whenever you’re free. Doesn’t have t’be today.”

“Today’s fine!” Rachel assured him. “She doesn’t do anything on Mondays.”

She rolled her eyes. “Today is fine,” she repeated and smiled sweetly. She scribbled on a sticky note and headed to his desk to drop the address off with him. Then she made her way toward the restroom because she needed to get out of the room. Needed away from everyone teasing her good-naturedly.

But mostly so she could keep herself from telling Harry that she was quite, very possibly, in love with him as well.

*

True to her friends’ words, the place was cozy as hell. There was a basket of throw blankets next to a sofa that looked like it was comfier than his bed currently in his storage unit. Artwork dotted the walls, board games stowed below her TV, and curtains pulled back from the windows letting in the afternoon sunlight. It felt like a home.

There were three boxes in the middle of the living room between the coffee table and the TV, but it was otherwise spotless. “You’re very clean.”

She nodded. “I know, I’m sorry.”

He chuckled. “Y’don’t need t’apologize,” he put his hands in his pockets, so he didn’t do something crazy like hold her hand.

“I don’t want you to think I’m crazy, is all. You can be... messy... I won’t have a freak out or anything. Unless you leave food in the sink then we get bugs. Then I’ll be kind of freaked out.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t do that. I like t’think m’pretty clean myself,” he assured her. “I also...” he took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head. “Y’friends kinda put y’on the spot. I know what I admitted at lunch was kinda out of... out of the blue,” he bit his lip. “Y’don’t have t’feel obligated t’house me.”

“I don’t,” she promised. “I need a roommate and like Val said,” she shrugged. “She did your background check so I assume you won’t kill me, probably. At least not because you’re a serial killer. Maybe because I’m too clean.”

He shook his head with a smile on his lips making the most adorable dimple dent his cheek. She wanted to stick her tongue in it. “Thank you, m’really appreciative.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, Harry. Sorry we’ll be around each other a lot.”

That didn’t seem like a bad thing at all. “I think it’ll be okay. We didn’t really talk much today,” he shrugged. “If y’get sick of me, m’sure I can find another place t’live,” he winked.

She rolled her eyes. “Won’t be necessary. But okay,” she sighed. “You can move in whenever,” she grabbed her keys from the breakfast bar where she ate most of her meals and pulled a key off the ring and handed it to him. “I have a second job some nights, but if you give me a heads up, I can help you move your stuff.”

“S’very kind of you, kitten, but y’don’t need t’do that. M’not going t’have all that much stuff. M’friend Louis lives not too far from here. He’ll come help me.”

“Offer stands,” she assured him.

Harry’s eyes scanned the room again and landed on the three boxes once more. “Are those your old roommate’s boxes?” He asked.

She nodded. “Two of them. I’m supposed to bring them to her, but they’re super heavy so I’m like... working up my mental and physical strength to bring them to my car. It’s going to be two trips and I’m just being a little lazy about it.”

“I can bring them down,” he grabbed one. It was definitely heavy. It was evident Harry had defined biceps and triceps practically outlined by the pretty purple button down, but it was manageable for him while a struggle for her. “Still probably two trips,” he nodded.

“Oh, I can take—”

“No, no,” he shook his head. “Don’t want you t’hurt yourself. Let me,” he offered and snagged her car keys off the counter.

“Oh, thank you that’s... thank you,” she swallowed, feeling grateful.

“Not a problem,” he assured her and left immediately.

When he returned after putting the second box in her car to return her keys, she had opened the third box and begun laying out a bunch of fall items to decorate their place. “Do you mind decorations?”

“Of course not,” he smiled. “Can I help?”

She blinked at him and tilted her head. “Um... I can handle it. If you need to pack or go... get dinner or something.”

“M’fine,” he smiled, setting her keys on the counter and glanced around the room. He noted there were hooks screwed into the wall at various points. “Can I hang something for you? M’good for height.”

Harry wasn’t that much taller than her, she was definitely taller than the average woman, but it still meant she needed to drag out a stepstool when she wanted to put up her art and decorations. “That would be awesome,” she nodded. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem, kitten,” he smiled.

*

Harry had a dreamy smile on his face as they talked and got to know one another. He hadn’t brought up that he was in love with her. Nor did he make her feel the least bit uncomfortable. Like it had never happened.

Why did it feel like she was disappointed about the prospect of that?

Maybe he wasn’t in love with her. Maybe the initial reaction of seeing someone roughly the same age as him at work made his senses a bit wild for a moment.

No. She wasn’t disappointed. Everything about Harry being in love with her would be a recipe for disaster and it was for the best that he didn’t fall in love with her.

It was just something a little bit out of the blue to say to the only person who was single in the office. Everyone had a significant other they had met within the office or elsewhere. She was the last single person. The same was true with her friend group as well. Everyone in her life had been paired off except for her.

He was her coworker. He was going to be her roommate.

But right as he left, he sent her heart into a frenzy. They were by the door. She wanted to make sure he got to his car safely even though it was a safe neighborhood. It was just the way she was. “Will you go on a date with me?” He asked.

She stared at him in shock, her lips parting like she was mid-sentence, and he had interrupted. “Seriously?” She giggled reflexively, but her cheeks felt hot. They had a lovely evening together getting to know each other. Harry helped with all the decorations and yes, in its own way it was a bit intimate. But he couldn’t possibly think that it was a good idea to date his roommate.

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Harry, I can’t date my roommate.”

“Pretty sure s’how most rom-coms start,” he smiled. “S’okay. I’ll ask again later. Have a nice night,” he grinned with a wave and walked toward his car. Leaving her jaw slack, as she watched her roommate head off into the night.

*

Harry moved in later that week. He asked her to come with him to his storage unit to see if there was anything she would want in the apartment, but she had pretty much everything. It seemed silly to bring a double of everything when she owned all of it already.

But Harry would forever be grateful and indebted to his sister for her kindness as he watched her examine some of his belongings. One in particular caught her eye making him think that he had won the lottery with how excited she was.

She couldn’t believe Harry had a stand mixer and she was nearly in awe of all the attachments to help bake and cook easier. “I’ve always wanted one of these. They’re so expensive,” she blinked. “How do you have one?”

“M'sister got one when she got married,” he explained. “But she doesn’t bake and said it was taking up space in her kitchen.”

“Can we bring it to the apartment? Do you mind?”

The way her eyes lit up at the sight of it? Pure joy and happiness? Yeah. It was going to the apartment. If he ever moved out, he would probably leave it with her too just so she could always look that happy. “Course. Anything else?”

She looked around the organized storage room sifting through the items in different bins while Harry searched for some of his own trinkets that he thought he would want after his initial move. His room and bathroom items had already been moved in with the help of Louis. “This is stunning,” her voice full of awe once more, grabbing a print from behind a shelf. Harry wasn’t sure where it was from. He thought his mum purchased it to make his old place feel like home. “This would look amazing in the living room.”

“Bring it,” he smiled. She tucked it under her arm and continued searching. Harry grabbed a few more odds and ends and she plucked out a few more things she thought would work with the apartment’s décor and mainly helpful kitchen tools.

“It’s your place too, Harry,” she reminded him. “Is there anything you want there?”

He smiled, shook his head. “Y’seem t’have everything, kitten. M’not picky.”

“I don’t want you to feel like a guest,” she pouted. “Like you should bring these,” she gestured to pictures of his friends and family in a bin. “I can move some of mine to my room so you can put them up.”

He grinned. “Sure,” he shrugged. “If y’think s’what I should do.”

“Alright, could we come back in a few weeks and see if there’s anything else you want once you’re settled a bit?”

“Course.”

They gathered as much as they could, Harry would have to come back for the stand mixer. Harry closed the trunk and moved to open the passenger door for her before her hand fully pulled it out of the way. He waited until she was tucked into the seat safely and he handed her the car keys. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” she smiled.

“Hey kitten,” he said leaning against the door before he left. “Will y’go on a date with me?”

“Harry,” she laughed the same way she did the last time he asked her. The same way she laughed when he told her he was in love with her. “You can’t be serious!”

“Deadly,” he smiled at the delight on her face. The pretty pink color rising to her cheeks. “Will you?”

“I can’t go on a date with you, Harry,” she looked at him with a bit of sympathetic pity. Like he was ridiculous for asking. Again. Which he was.

“Then I’ll ask again another time,” he shrugged, closed her car door, and headed to get the stand mixer that made her happy.

*

“Hey Poppy, did y’want t’go get lunch with me?” Her eyes didn’t move from her screen. “Poppy,” he repeated. “Poppy,” he sang. She glanced around and realized she was the only one in the room.

“Me?”

He chuckled. “Yes, you.”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “Why did you call me Poppy?”

“Well, m’assuming s’your favorite flower,” it was a safe bet since there was a small bouquet right beside her. “Also, everyone else calls y’Mary, Poppins, or Miss Poppins. Which I still don’t know why, but I wanted t’be different. Want you t’know s’me when y’hear me talking t’you.”

Her heart raced. Harry was utterly adorable. “I see. Sorry,” she smirked.

“Anyway,” he came over to stand by her desk. “Do y’want t’get lunch?”

“Harry, I told you I don’t date.”

“M’not asking as a date. M’asking as your coworker who has never seen y’eat a bite of food while you’re at work. M’asking as your concerned roommate who worries y’don’t eat until y’get home for dinner. And I don’t even want t’think ‘bout how long y’go without eating when you’re at your second job.”

She smiled at his thoughtfulness. “I don’t go out to lunch with everyone,” she explained. “I don’t know if you noticed, but people always seem to need me while I’m here,” she gestured to her desk. “Lunch is the only time I get a minute to myself. And I can get caught up a bit before the afternoon and everyone comes back.”

“Well do you bring lunch?” He asked, his frown deepening still worried she wasn’t eating.

“I do, it’s in the breakroom. I’ll get it in a minute,” she promises. “Go, you’re wasting your lunch hour.”

“Okay,” he sighed. He stopped in the doorway of the entrance to the office. “Hey Poppy,” he smiled.

“Yeah?” She asked without looking up from her screen.

“Now that y’mention it though, will y’go out with me?”

*

At home, Harry took the trash out because he said it was a boy-job and she shouldn’t be out in the dark by a dumpster. It made his skin crawl just to think about it. He made her promise that she wouldn’t take out the trash and he didn’t mind if he had to go out twice in one day. She thought it was ridiculous. But she agreed.

He cleaned up after himself checking with her to see if it was up to her standard. Even though she assured him he didn’t have to meet her standard. His cologne overtook their bathroom, and it was so comforting she took long hot showers at night just to amplify the scent filling her nose. Harry stretched across the sofa and scrolled through various show options but often didn’t find something that piqued his interest. Instead, he would put on some background noise and read on an eReader. His eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

Harry bought groceries and didn’t ask for any money from them. “M’sure you’ll buy stuff too,” he shrugged. Plus, she already had all the cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, and the like. Harry hardly had anything useful so buying groceries was the least he could do.

Except the stand mixer. People moaned about her cookies. Harry got to see her make them firsthand and the very scene with an apron around her body, her smile bright as she tested various stages of the dough, it did wonders for Harry. Some kind of nearly pornographic idea that only Harry would think was pornographic. “Will you try one?” She asked, hope in her voice.

Was he supposed to say no to her? Absolutely not. So, he tried one. “Go on a date with me,” he groaned.

“Because of the cookies?”

“No! Well, yes. Right now, yes, because of the cookies. But s’not usually because of cookies.”

She laughed. “I don’t date, Harry.”

He frowned, faking his disappointment (although he was the slightest bit disappointed). “I’ll try again,” he shrugged and took three more cookies from her cooling rack before returning to the sofa to read.

*

“Mary!” Val sang. “Do you have the stain stick?” She called from behind. She opened a drawer, eyes unmoving from her screen and held it out behind her for it to be passed back by her other coworkers. Harry chuckled.

It killed her that she knew his chuckle without looking. “S’impressive,” he murmured quietly. But she could hear it from across the way.

“That’s nothing,” Rachel said from the other end of the room. “Miss Poppins,” she smiled delightedly. “I have a missing button,” she told her.

That was the other drawer, a small little sewing kit to fix a button.

“Hair tie!” Someone called from the other side of the room.

“Lint roller!”

They all called out items and she had every single one.

“Do you have anything stronger to put in this coffee?” Their boss was walking up the aisle and paused at her desk. She smirked, opened the bottom drawer and placed a mini bottle of liquid on the edge of the desk. The whole office laughed as he snatched it and headed to his office. “You’re getting a raise, Poppins,” he called.

Hunter turned to look at Harry. “I gave her the nickname,” he explained.

“I get it,” he chuckled.

“If you need it, chances are she has it.”

“If she doesn’t, she adds it,” Val explained.

Her smile was soft. Harry thought it was sweet how her coworkers adored her. It was clear she was loved by them. Her thoughtfulness was admirable. Harry wondered how he was supposed to top that. No wonder she didn’t want to go out with him. Why would she want to go out with anyone when she was ten times sweeter than anyone she knew?

*

Her best friend Josephine (Joey) was helping her in the bathroom when Harry got home from the gym one Friday evening. “Holy hell you said he was cute, not hot,” she gaped.

“Aw, y’think m’cute, Poppy?” He asked winking at her. Her cheeks flushed red, making it so she didn’t need any of the blush she was putting on her cheeks. He leaned against the doorframe; arms crossed over his chest. He was sweaty and really wanted to get in the shower, but he didn't mind a bit of time to stare at his sweet roommate.

“I should have known. Only a man that uses such high-end cologne would be this hot.”

“Didn’t you buy Matt high-end cologne?”

“Hence why I think he’s so hot,” Joey beamed. Her friend laughed quietly, shaking her head as she finished with her makeup.

“Sorry Harry, we’ll be out of the way in a minute.”

“Take y’time. M’not in a rush.”

“Oh, you should come out!” Joey squealed. “Harry, please! She’s always by herself keeping an eye on us it would be nice to have someone keep her company!”

“Thanks, Mom. I don’t need a babysitter,” she rolled her eyes. “No offense, Harry.”

“S’okay,” he chuckled. “I don’t want t’impose. Plus m’in need of a shower.”

“Don’t let us stop you,” Joey smiled widely gesturing to the shower.

“Can you not?” She rolled her eyes and looked at Harry with apologetic eyes.

He laughed again and shook his head. “Y’can call if y’need something,” he assured her.

“Harry, please come out! You can meet us there!” Joey said again.

She looked at him with a soft smile. A look in her eyes said he wasn’t going to get out of it. Not if he didn’t have a really good reason. But truthfully? He didn’t need a reason to get out of it. Spending time with her outside of work, outside of the apartment, and errands like the grocery store and running to the post office had him excited to see her in another frame of light. Did she let loose? He would love to dance with her. Even if it was only as friends, roommates, fuck as coworkers even. How did she act around her friends versus her coworkers? God, he was obsessed.

“I can wait for you,” she suggested, her voice soft. Harry smiled.

“Thanks, Poppy.”

*

Her eyes scanned for her friends as she sat on a stool at a high top beside Harry. It was like watching a teacher on a field trip counting heads to make sure everyone was still present. The table was littered with drinks all of which she minded just as intently.

Harry just gazed at her as he sipped his drink. He helped as needed pushing drinks toward her friends as they came back from dancing. “Y’don’t dance?”

“Oh...maybe later. I’m not very good,” she admitted. “I like dancing with Joey because she’s worse than me.”

She caught the eye of one of her friends, Hailey, approaching and she reached into her purse strapped around the front of her for something. Harry watched as Hailey made it to her. “Thanks Mary,” she gushed taking the bandage from her and made her way for the bathroom. It was pretty wild she could anticipate whatever her friends needed. It was like at work. Harry was a bit awestruck and looked at her with a surprised expression. She shrugged and continued sipping her drink.

Jaylen was next. Joey’s twin brother; they had the same facial expressions--mainly the smile that Joey had on her face when she suggested Harry shower in front of her and his favorite person.

The same smile appeared on his face and told Harry he was going to say something just as delightful as Joey had said of Harry. Sure enough, Jaylen draped an arm around her and leaned into her ear to whisper something over the sound of the music. She rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. His face turned serious and he whispered something again.

She frowned. Then reached into her purse again. Out came a tampon which he slid discreetly into his pocket and then she glanced at his outfit twisting her lips to the side in disappointment.

After a brief thought, she pulled her purse over her body and laid it on the table. The long cardigan she wore came off next, leaving her in a black tank top that tucked into her jeans. It hugged her curves like a glove making Harry’s mouth water and he glanced away worried he would look like a creep. He finished his beer before Jaylen grinned and thanked her profusely and walked away. She took a deep breath and put her purse back into position before wrapping one arm in front of he protectively, gripping the front of her shoulder.

“Are y’cold?” He asked.

She shook her head.

But Harry was sitting beside her. He could see the goosebumps on her skin. She selflessly gave her sweater to her friend for whatever reason (Harry wasn’t totally sure, but he suspected it was menstrual related). But she was going to pretend like she wasn’t cold? Harry was definitely in love. In case it wasn’t obvious by the moment he met her. Boldly, Harry reached below her bar stool and tugged it toward him. She jostled a bit but he maintained her balance. Then he draped his arm around her body pulling her toward him further and he couldn’t help but notice she didn’t pull away. She didn’t make a sound and her facial expression didn’t change.

But Harry felt her body relax into his side, her head dipping ever so slightly toward his shoulder. He smiled softly and brought his lips closer to her ear so she could hear. “Y’don’t have t’lie t’me, Poppy. M’your roommate and all. I know y’like the apartment a toasty temperature.”

She smirked and tilted her head up. Their eyes connected, their mouths only two inches apart. “Thank you,” she said kindly.

Harry really enjoyed holding her.

*

At the end of the night, she rounded up her friends ensuring those who said they could drive actually could and if they couldn’t she called for Ubers until everyone was safely on their way home. Jaylen’s girlfriend, Maya, had her green sweater wrapped around her white pants. She thanked her profusely, drunkenly.

Joey and Matt waved goodbye. “Bye Hot Roommate,” Joey called waving to Harry specifically.

“Jesus, Joey,” Matt rolled his eyes. “Nice meeting you Harry,” he called.

Once everyone was gone, she rubbed her hands on her arms to keep the blood flowing and warming her skin. Harry wrapped his arm over her shoulders again and tucked her into his side as they headed for her parked car a couple blocks away. “Go on a date with me," he spoke straight forward. Hoping if he didn't look, it wouldn't seem like as a massive deal--almost like he would trick her into a date.

She elbowed him. “I can’t go out with a coworker, Harry. Or my roommate for that matter.”

He shrugged. “I’ll ask later,” he boldly kissed the top of her head. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind. Harry was sure to keep that in his head for future reference. He would most definitely be kissing her again. “You’re an extremely sweet girl, Poppy. Selfless, lovely, kind,” he listed. “Whoever y’end up with, m’going t’be very jealous,” he assured her.

She snorted and laughed quietly under her breath. “Thank you, Harry.”

*

For months it continued with similar routines, feelings, and questions. They grew closer as friends. At work he admired her from his desk from across the office. When she didn’t go to lunch, he reminded her to eat and not work too hard. At home, he grumbled that her loophole of taking the trash out in the daytime was not the point of his promise. He still bought groceries each week trying to figure out all the things she enjoyed eating.  

He helped her clean the apartment and when it was getting cooler outside, she asked to join him at the gym. Her outfits were cute and made guys stare at her as she worked out, unbeknownst to her. She asked for help from Harry which made him feel like he won an Olympic medal. His face was smug as the men in the gym finally stopped looking at her. Thinking Harry was lucky enough to be hers.

It made him happy to help her figure out new machines and with her sets of weightlifting (even though she didn’t like it).

Everywhere they went, people ogled her. She was so kind. Little kids would smile at her in grocery store lines and wave like it was a game of peekaboo. Dogs tugged on their leashes hoping to get a pet from her around the loop she ran in the neighborhood. Their elderly next door neighbor tried telling her a hundred times that she had a grandson her age and he would love to date her (that one drove Harry the most crazy).

She had her head leaning in her palm as she watched the stand mixer beat the brownie ingredients like it was the most interesting thing in the world. But Harry was watching her; so he was, in fact, watching the most interesting thing in the world.

He leaned against the wall just beside the kitchen entrance. “Poppy?” He asked. She looked up at him. “Go on a date with me, please," his expression soft.

She was finally getting used to it. She gave herself a lot of credit. It was pretty crazy she hadn’t caved yet. Harry was so lovely. Not to mention attractive. At the gym, his muscles rippled and glistened with sweat. The outline of every abdominal muscle was sinful. It was a miracle she didn’t drop her own weights or fall on the treadmill when she caught sight of him. It drove her crazy that the women there gazed at him longingly; like he was something to eat. But was she really any better?

She smiled, the blush on her cheeks still prominent, but not as deep. She was used to her heart skipping a beat, the butterflies fluttering in her stomach each time he asked. “That's very sweet, Harry. But I don’t date.”

It was six months since he met her when he finally asked. “Why not?”

She shrugged. He thought she wasn’t going to say anything more, so he frowned, sighed, and headed for the living room to get back to his book. “I just don’t date, Harry. I like being friends,” she told him.

He grumbled something about still being friends even if they dated but she either didn’t hear or pretended not to hear. Either way, it was quiet for a few beats. “If I hadn’t told you I was in love with you that first day, would that have changed your answer?”

She giggled and shook her head. “No.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. Ever determined. He smiled widely at her. “I’ll keep asking then.”

*

When she got dressed up for a family wedding and clicked down the hall in heels and a dress that flowed over her like she was the bride (only wearing green of course, not white). Her hair was curled and pinned so prettily Harry thought he was seeing a real angel in the flesh. “Oh, come on, Poppy,” he groaned and covered his eyes with his hand dramatically. “S’not fighting fair,” he frowned.

She grinned, her cheeks warming more than they had in a while. “I look okay?”

“Stunning,” he grumbled. “M’so jealous I won’t get t’dance with you,” he pouted.

She shook her head. “I don’t usually dance at weddings when I go alone,” she explained.

“Well, y’should’ve told me. I would’ve been your date.”

“Harry—”

“Platonic date,” he rolled his eyes. “This is worse than when y’wore that pencil skirt t’work,” he reminded her. She snickered and shook her head while she looked at her phone. She sucked her lip into her mouth and sighed wincing slightly and then turned to her room again. After several minutes she returned in a different dress. She was equally stunning, but she looked a little forlorn. “An outfit change?”

She nodded. “Yeah,” she shrugged. “My sister is wearing green.”

Harry frowned. “So?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just...” she shrugged. “It’s alright. I like this dress just fine.”

But it wasn’t green. She looked so pretty in green. It complimented her skin tone so perfectly. She looked stunning. Like she was a queen. “But—”

“Seriously, Harry. It’s fine.”

The muted purple dress looked lovely on her as well. But Harry thought the green made her look otherworldly. He wanted the happiness back in her eye. The light that sparked when he complimented her. “Well when can y’wear it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Season’s almost over for a wintergreen like that,” she shrugged. “Maybe next year.”

Harry frowned. But then he had a wonderful idea to help both her dress and himself. “Go on a date with me, Poppy.”

The smile reappeared on her face, and she shook her head. “I can’t, Harry.”

“Please? Do it for the sake of that dress,” he pleaded. “We don’t even have t’call it a date. An outing. An adventure. Whatever y’want. Y’jus’ need t’wear it before y’can’t.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Harry. But I can’t.”

He sighed. “You’re welcome, Poppy.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow? I’ll steal you a cupcake. I heard they come from this bakery that I love and if it doesn’t make it home to you, then we’re going to have to go there anyway.”

It didn’t replace a date. But he liked the way she smiled. And going to a bakery together was inherently a couple-y thing to do. So he would take what he could get.

“Sure, Poppy. I’d love to.”

*

She didn’t need people. Needing people had only ever broken her heart. She never asked for help ever. Well...only when they were at the gym but that was a safety thing more than anything.

Even when she should have asked.

Harry didn’t notice until he drove her to a house party that her friends didn’t invite her too. She was sleepy, it was obvious. Leggings, oversized sweater. Her hair was braided loosely and falling apart because she had woken in the middle of the night to answer a message. Harry was in the middle of a good book. Unable to put it down when she ventured into the living room. A yawn falling from her lips. Her eyes barely open. It took several questions and repeated convincing to let him drive her since he was awake, and it looked like she was going to pass out while standing.

Harry insisted on coming in even as she told him to stay in the car, but he refused. She found her friends, her voice was soft as she encouraged Jaylen to leave. A little over his limit and Joey and Maya were about just as gone and unable to convince Jaylen to go with them. A guy from across the room made a joke about Mommy coming to save him. As her pugnacious friend made a turn to deal with the offensive person, she stopped him. She was quick, grabbed his arm, and held tight.

When they returned to the apartment she corralled her friends into their sleeping arrangements. Maya and Jaylen in her bed, Joey on the sofa. “Sorry I took your reading spot,” she whispered as she tucked a blanket around Joey. She snagged another blanket and curled into the only other chair in the living room. “Thank you for driving,” she smiled, closing her sleepy eyes.

“You’re gonna sleep there?” He asked. She nodded, barely moving. Like she was already half-way to dreaming. Harry snagged her out of the chair, cradling her and bringing her to his room.

“Harry,” she protested.

“We’re grown adults,” he reminded her. “We can share a bed without it being weird. S’like a hotel room.”

“Harry,” she repeated, her objection evident in her tone. “I can’t—”

“M’not letting y’sleep in a chair or on the floor. So, it’s m’bed or y’aren’t sleeping,” he shrugged.

She sighed. Too tired to oppose any further, thankfully. Harry laid her atop the covers and draped another blanket over her. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and slid beneath his sheets and glanced at the sleeping angel beside him. He smiled. He liked the way she looked in his bed. Liked the way she seemed comfortable and sleepy beside him. His bed felt warm with her beside him. Even though she wasn’t touching him. She smelled good in his room too.

“Night, Harry,” she mumbled.

“Good night, Poppy,” he answered, reached out, squeezed her hand before releasing it so she wouldn’t break a piece of his heart by telling him they shouldn’t.

It was easy to fall asleep with her beside him.

It was even easier to dream of her with her intoxicating presence in his room as well.

*

Harry noticed how drained she seemed when the weather continued to get warmer. Her friends all had birthdays around the same time, and she was a mess of scheduling and reserving birthday dinners and planning things for all of them. Did Harry miss her birthday? He would have to ask. He hoped he didn’t. He hoped her friends would take the time to plan for her the way she did for them.

Work was approaching a busy season, and everyone kept coming to her more and more throughout the day. He could see the anxiety on her face as her growing to-do list looked nearly unmanageable. Harry tried to go to others if he had issues. But every time he asked someone else a question, they called out for Mary Poppins, and she would glance up and look at Harry with a sad smile asking how she could help.

Harry was worried she wasn’t eating her lunch. When everyone else left, her eyes were hidden behind those glasses, her face concentrating and relieved for the reprieve from people calling her name for help with work or needing something like a pen or a screwdriver. Sometimes Harry hated his job. Not because it was difficult. But it seemed like everyone in the office was incompetent. Or weaponizing their incompetence and foisting their tasks onto the lovely woman who would never say no to them.

Her friends did it too. With all the planning and such.

The poor thing looked exhausted. She didn’t join Harry at the gym and her second job seemed like the only time she got to herself. “I miss reading,” she grumbled when she got home late from her shift. She kicked her shoes off and flopped onto the opposite end of the sofa. “My eyes are exhausted though,” she rubbed them for good measure. “I think I would fall asleep if I tried to read. I think I need to wake up earlier and read.”

Harry snorted. “Don’t burn yourself out, Poppy,” he rolled his eyes. “What are y’reading?”

“I’ve been trying t’read this book for months,” she pulled it from the shelf below the coffee table. He had seen it tucked there for a while. He grabbed it from her, skimmed the back of the book, and opened to the first chapter.

Then, he started reading.

Out loud.

“Harry,” she whispered her eyes wide.

“Yeah?” He asked, pointing at the sentence where he stopped and looked at her curiously. “M’starting over, because I want t’know what’s happening,” he smiled. Her face looked so shocked and confused. Sad even. Like she didn’t know what emotion she was supposed to feel.

“You don’t have to—”

He shook his head, and continued reading before she could finish her sentence.

Harry read three chapters before he carried her sleeping self to bed.

*

Something changed in Harry. He almost turned into a stalker. He tracked her movements and routines for a week. He knew most of them. But he really tracked them. The daily ones were easiest. She went for a run in the morning, he followed her lead and didn’t say a word. He went to her favorite coffee shop and paid for her favorite drink for a week’s worth of drinks in advance.

He wished they carpooled, but she was so busy. So he timed his arrival so that he was at the entrance door holding it open for her. When everyone left to get lunch, he heated up her food and brought it to her desk before leaving silently.

One day, there was a note on her dashboard saying she had a full tank of gas. When she arrived home after her second job, she noted her spare car key was on Harry’s key ring. At home, her laundry was in the wash. The shirts she didn’t like to put in the dryer were hung in the bathroom.

Harry could see it. She was cracking. It was the first time someone had done something for her it seemed. The first time someone so selflessly did things for her, anticipated her needs the way she anticipated everyone else’s.

Her throat felt tight as she looked at Harry in the kitchen, making her favorite dinner—a soup that took hours and hours to make.

He didn’t even know it was her birthday that day which made her heart feel sicker than ever.

“Poppy,” he smiled sweetly placing a bowl in front of her exhausted figure.

“Yeah?” She whispered.

If she wasn't so in awe, she would have realized where his tone was. What was coming next. “Go on a date with me, kitten.”

“I can’t.”

“S’not so hard,” he assured her. “You sit across from me and be yourself because m’already in love with you,” he reminded her sweetly. An impish grin on his pretty pink lips. That dimple she wanted to sink her tongue into on display. “I tell y’how stunning y’look, I pay for you t’eat. I feed you a dessert of your choosing that you’re probably too full t’eat and then I can kiss you wherever y’want. Lips, cheek, forehead,” he shrugged. “Then we come home, and I’ll read a chapter of your book. Y’can decide if y’want t’go on a second date.”

She giggled, her cheeks red. “I can’t, Harry,” she looked at him apologetically, but she felt herself melting as much as the soup warmed her insides. It was ridiculous to eat soup in the middle of the summer. But Harry made it for her anyway.

His heart deflated a little. He wasn't kidding. He was definitely in love. He had to be because there was no other way he could explain the feelings he had for her. Someone so thoughtful, so pretty, sweet, and funny.

Harry had asked her out at least a hundred times. Around Christmas, she got her hair cut and he always found her beautiful, but he asked her almost every day following her new hair style for a month straight. Each time she said she couldn't. She didn't date.

For the first time in the near year since he had first asked her, first met her, he realized she said she can’t go on a date with him. She didn’t date. That he was crazy.

Not that she didn’t want to. She didn’t say no.

Hope bloomed inside him.

*

She didn’t need anything. She didn’t need anybody. It was clear someone or maybe many had let her down so many times. He watched her doing everything she could to make this party as nice as humanly possible for Hailey. Not that Hailey didn’t deserve it, but no one had done anything like this for her. Harry only found out it was her birthday after the fact, and he felt like shit for it. Even though she assured him that was one of the best birthdays she ever had.

All he did was make her soup.

She deserved so much more.

It almost seemed too obvious that they hadn’t done anything for her remotely as lovely as she did.

“You’re staring, Styles,” she murmured without looking up from the chair while he lounged on the sofa.

“Go on a date with me,” he smiled.

She blushed, shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“You haven’t said no.”

"I've said no about a hundred thousand times, Harry," she rolled her eyes.

Why was it now? Why did he want to tell her what he was thinking about the whole situation now? But it was in his chest. He had to say it. Had to tell her.

“No, you’ve never said no,” he shook his head and looked at her head on, while she continued looking at her to do list, her planner. Her poor neglected book waiting to be read by Harry because her tired eyes couldn’t. She looked up at him and smirked. Ready to protest once more, but Harry shook his head again. “I remember everything you've said t'me. I would remember a 'no,' it would probably kill me t’hear y’say, no kitten. Y'call me crazy, y'say y'can’t or that y'don’t date. Never, not once, have y'ever said y'don’t want t'go on a date with me. Nor a flat out no. So m'going t’keep asking until y'say y'don’t want to. Because I think you do want t'go out with me but for some reason y'don't want t'allow yourself t'be happy. T'let someone else in. M'not going t'stop asking. Not until I hear y'say "Harry Styles I would rather die than go on a date with you. I never want to go out with you." Maybe that makes me conceited or creepy. M’sure it does make me crazy. But I don’t care. I want t'go on a date with you. I want t'go on a million dates with you, actually. So m'not giving up until y'call me creepy or y'say y'don’t want to.”

She swallowed like there was something stuck in her throat. Her eyes didn't move from her lap.

"Kitten," he murmured. She didn’t look up. “Poppy,” he whispered. She finally met his green-eyed gaze again. His expression soft, pleading. “Go on a date with me,” his voice was soft. Harry swore his heart stopped beating because if he was wrong, if she really was saying no all those times, he wasn't sure he could ever stop asking her. The idea he would never get to take her out to eat and order her favorite dessert. He wouldn't see a movie and wrap his arm around her shoulders and that was completely unfair. He wanted to offer his jacket to her when it rained and hold her hand while walking through a museum. "Poppy," he repeated.

She bit her lip, her lips opening and closing like she wasn't sure which word was going to pop out. “I can’t,” she whispered. Her eyes looking at him in a way that he could read right through her. They screamed at him, please don’t stop asking me.

As if he could ever. Harry smiled. "Okay," he shrugged, hope and adoration for her flooding him. "I'll ask again tomorrow."

A sad smile graced her face. "You're crazy," she whispered again.

"Only 'bout you, Poppy.”

*

Harry felt like he was getting sick. Probably due to the sweet girl in his apartment who had worn herself so thin and weary that she had inadvertently brought illness home to him. His head was killing him. His pillow was calling for him the way he wished his favorite stubborn woman would call him.

He didn't even know if she was home. But honestly, he was glad. If she knew he was sick, she would dote on him. Even if she was starting to fell unwell. The thoughts of her were never too far from his mind. He would never be too sick, too lost, too far away from her that she could leave his thoughts.

Sleeping was one of his favorite hobbies because he loved to see her in his dreams. Loved to see the unaffected, carefree, beautiful, stubborn woman. The angel that enjoyed affection both giving and receiving.

It was his nightly dream. The one where she snuggled with him, and it was like they had been together twenty years and not zero. The one where he could taste her lips (even if in his dream she tasted like nothing) he knew it was wrong. She probably tasted like chocolate or caramel or something deliriously sweet.

Unfortunately, his phone vibrated below his pillow pulling him from his perfect beautiful dream.

“Harry?”

He squinted at his phone. Head aching, throat sore. Curious as to why he didn’t have the number saved. “Speaking.”

“Oh, thank god,” the voice sighed. “It’s Joey,” she said. “Harry. Something’s wrong. She won’t stop crying and she won’t say anything but your name.”

He leapt out of bed. Illness forgotten even if he was dizzy. His heart thudded like a chorus of drums, and he didn’t even grab shoes as he raced out of his room, snagging his wallet and keys off the counter as he exited the apartment.

He listened to Joey say a few more things. Something about being out at a club. She never left the bar area. There was no way someone had hurt her. But Harry drove through the night with his heart in his throat like someone had hurt her. He wasn’t sure seeing her would even calm him. He knew where Joey lived, fortunately, so he sped as quickly as he could. The ache in his head and his throat was lost behind him along the drive.

He didn’t knock as he hurried barefoot into Joey’s apartment. Matt was coming from the kitchen and making his way down the hall. He looked at Harry sadly as he approached the main room.

“Poppy?” he whispered as he entered the room, her arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold herself together. "Kitten," he frowned and knelt in front of her. He picked her face up between his and he scanned her looking for signs of injury. Anxiety was in every inch of his body. But she fell into his arms before he could look any longer. Sobbing harder than when he entered. “M'here. M'here, baby. It’s okay. M'here," he kissed the top of her head, cupping the back of her head with one hand. The other arm winding around her and squeezing her tight to his body. “Oh kitten,” he sighed, sadness coating his voice. His heart ached. Like it was going to snap in half if she cried any longer. “M’sorry, baby. M'here. S’okay. Tell me. Please. I’ll make it better,” he promised.

Her sobs continued, like she was unable to speak. "Harry," she whimpered.

"M'here, Poppy, s'okay," he assured her even if it wasn't. "Baby," he frowned pulling away to look at her her tearful eyes. He tugged her back to his embrace and continued to soothe her. He rubbed his hand up and down her back hoping it was comforting as he hoped it was.

Harry caught Joey's eye, who looked over from the entryway and smiled weakly.

"You good?" She mouthed. Harry nodded and when he glanced back, her friend was gone.

*

Harry kissed the top of her head for the hundredth time. He continued rubbing his hand down her spine. His head was still screaming.

But she was well worth it. Her cheeks were streaked with salt lines. Her eyes puffy and red around the edges. He had pulled her to him so they could snuggle into the corner of the couch. Her body tucked between the back cushion and Harry's body. Like he didn't want anyone to see her if they entered the room.

“Harry?” Her voice was raw.

“Hmm?” He tucked her hair behind her ear and skimmed his fingertip along the same path repeatedly.

“Will you go on a date with me?” She whispered.

He smiled lazily. His heart exploding in his ribcage. “God, Poppy, I don't know. I have t'check m'schedule.” She smacked his chest with no weight behind it. He kissed the top of her head. “I’d take y’right now. Whenever y’want.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing t’be sorry for.”

"I have issues."

"We can work on them together."

"I don't know if you'll..." She trailed off.

"If I'll what?" He brushed his thumb on her cheek.

She took a deep breath. "I love love, Harry. I love watching people get married. I love when people have babies and grow a family. I want to have babies. I love reading romance novels and watching silly rom-coms where you can predict the ending before the movie even starts."

"Sounds pretty romantic and easy, Poppy," he murmured.

She swallowed continuing. "I will do a lot for you because I believe that's the way love is supposed to be. I want to make your life easier, and I want to do things that make you happy because I think happiness and love are in short supply and I want those books and rom-coms to be real."

Harry nodded. "Well—"

"I've never had that. I had a boyfriend for four years and..." she sniffled. "When we broke up, I said that I wouldn't do that again. I wouldn’t devote myself so completely to someone that wouldn't give me half as much. Then I met my next boyfriend and at first, I thought it was right, finally. It was equal. He loved me the right way, I mean. The way I thought I wanted, deserved... But then it was like he got tired of doing things. I don't know. Maybe my love language is acts of service. I don't know. I’m not making sense, I'm sorry. But..." she swallowed. "I broke it off after only two years that time. I just don't think I can be loved the right way... not forever. I don't know. I sound so selfish, don’t I? I don’t know why you want to go out with me so badly. I want someone to love me the way I love them, and I don’t think that’s...fair."

It was why she always had everything. Why she planned and hosted parties. Why she never drank and always took care of her friends. She loved everyone that was lucky to cross paths with her, with her whole, big, beautiful heart.

Harry tilted her chin up. "M’going to love you the right way,” he promised. “M’going to love you the way y’want because that's what y’deserve. If I love you anything less than you deserve then... well... I don't know what, Poppy. If that’s the case m’probably dead because s’the only possible explanation,” she snorted and tears dripped down her cheeks again but not like the night before. “But it's not going to be a problem, kitten. M’going to love you the way your books love. The way a rom-com loves. M’going to love you the way you love everyone that walks into your life. The way you so selflessly devote your kindness to them. M’going to love you the way you love," he promised. “Because s’an honor to love you,” he assured her. “S’an honor to be loved by you.”

She looked away from his gaze, closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his chest. His throat was aching again. He was really tired, but he would suffer her wrath and frustration of going on about this later. He knew that she would be beside herself knowing he was sick and dealing with her anyway. But where else would he be? "Harry," she whispered finally. He met her eyes the back of his fingers skimming her cheek.

"What, Poppy?"

"Do you love me already?"

"Of course I do."

She sniffled, her face crumpling with relief. Like all of it had been a trick up until then. "Okay," she whispered. “Can we go home?”

“Course, kitten,” he kissed the top of her head and moved slowly to get up from the sofa. All of his muscles ached from sickness and from the awkward but perfect position of holding her all night in the cramped little space.

He held his hand out for her to take as she stood next. “Harry,” she whispered softly.

“Hmm?” He hummed and looked at her with a soft expression that made her stomach flip, her heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, Poppy?"

“I’m in love with you too.”

--

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[emiqip]

what if bart needs some sort of enrichment on a regular basis? Maybe when speeding around suddenly becomes monotonous and he needs some new form of adrenaline inducing activity.

fear not silly guy! for Kon has a solution to your conundrum! is it safe you ask? ha ha ha haaaaa

"Throw The Imp" is a bulletproof remedy to every form of boredom your bart may be suffering from! Just grab your little friend and start spinning, add a good dose of extraterrestrial super strength and your handy-dandy tactile telekinesis and when you reach maximum velocity Throw. The. Imp. (always be sure to have an additional super powered friend to actually catch the subject or... splat yk?)

this method has showed outstanding results ! even the extreme non-believers will be convinced!

"I won't indulge you, Kon. This is incredibly stupid, even for you." Thank you Rob for the feedback!! :D

[birthfan]

Pregnant with twins. Your absolutely massive and a couple days overdue. Your doctor told you it would be a good idea if you went walking to help get them out. You decide to give it a try and go to your favorite hiking trail cause it’s always empty. It’s incredibly hot out so you figure you should be comfortable so you put on this loose but super short almost sheer top sun dress no bra even though your breasts are huge almost up a cup size from your normal DD. Your waddling down the trail listening to music not paying attention when you realize your miles from your car.

I always loved to go out in relaxing hikes in nature and figured this was my last chance before I'd be too busy taking care of my babies, so there I was 42 weeks pregnant on a lonely hiking trail.

Since I guessed no-one would be hiking and it was ridiculously hot this time of the year, I just had my lightest sundress on with nothing else, not even panties so I could feel what little breeze there was all over my body.

I had been feeling my belly contract during the hike but decided to not give it much thought, I was going to have a C-section in a few days since my babies had been taking so long, so I just thought it was Braxton Hicks as I'd been having them since my original due date.

As I kept walking and eventually reached the woods I felt a contraction much stronger than any previous ones, which made me bend over and clutch my belly "ooooofff hmm" I grunted.

I kept going and as I reached my favourite spot in the woods I took out my headphones and stretched a bit, as I was about to sit down I was suddenly hit by an incredibly strong contraction with a wave of pressure, soon followed by a wet sensation on the inside of my thighs and a loud splash.

"mmmnnnaa ooh god! T-this can't be happening!" I exclaimed panicked as I realized that my water had just broke, the pressure was constant and as I panted I slowly put my fingers inside me to measure my dilation.

As my finger tips were about to reach my cervix they were interrupted by my first baby's head "oh f-fuck hmmmm" I yelled as I felt another contraction, while I didn't push voluntarily my contracting womb made my first child slip lower into my birth canal.

"hnnng shit I need to get back" I saif I leaned on a tree clutching my contracting belly, as I tried walking I felt my legs being spread apart, unable to be closed as my baby's head started pressing on my vulva.

At this point I realized that no matter what I couldn't make it back in time, my car was three hours away and this deep in the wilderness there was no cell service, I'd have to push my babies out right there.

I felt another contraction and pushed with it causing my lips to open up under my sundress "huuuuu mmmnn" I moaned as I felt a burning sensation slowly but steadily building up as my labias stretched.

The sound of the birds singing offered a little bit of calmness in this terrifying situation as moved towards a tree stump. I lifted my dress' skirt up as I sat on the log with my legs spread open exposing my soon to crown baby's head.

I pushed with the next contraction causing my first child's head to reach it's widest point, stretching my vulva beyond belief "haaaaa nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggh haaaaa" I breathed out as my lips burned, feeling like they would snap like an overstretched rubber band.

As tears of pain fell down my cheeks my hand made it's way downwards to my labias, my fingers slowly massaging them hoping to help them stretch around the head, I felt my dress clinging to me from the sweat as my nipples were now visible, not that I cared as I was alone.

A contraction hit me and I pushed with it as best I could "hmmmmgggooooooAAAH Haaa haaa" I shrieked and panted as the head popped out of me spraying fluids all over as it dangled out.

I breathed and rested to prepare for the next push which would hopefully be enough to take this first baby out of me. I slowly lowered myself putting my elbows on the tree stump and resting my back on it as I could feel the leaves on the ground tickling my butt.

I prepared myself and pushed as I felt the next contraction "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggh hoooo" I groaned as the baby slipped out of me with a small wet thud onto the forest floor.

I picked up my baby as she cried, I cuddled her and cleaned her up while I exposed my sweaty breasts to feed her. I could feel her sibling already making its way down my birth canal.

"hmmm it seems your little brother or sister is excited to come out" I said as the baby felt smaller then its sister luckily. The second baby was already bulging out my vulva, though it didn't feel as bad as before.

As I nursed my daughter I got up to have gravity help with the second baby so that I could come out faster. It seemed to work as without even needing to push yet I felt myself slowly open up.

I pushed lightly bending my legs as a contraction hit me, I could feel my lips stretching, and as my free hand reached for the baby's head I felt that it had almost reached it's widest point.

As this baby seemed to not be as much of a problem as it's sister I decided to start walking back to my car. As I reached the perimeter of the woods I hadn't pushed again yet but I could feel my second baby crowning, the burn being much more manageable than the previous one.

While I kept walking, the main dirt road now in sight, I felt my second kid's head slowly come out about halfway as my firstborn suckled on my milky breast. Then suddenly the head came out with a wet pop, unfortunately soaking my dress' skirt which I had managed to keep clean up until now.

As I went down the main dirt road I could feel the head dangling in-between my fat wet thighs, I knew I'd still need to push for my baby to come out when the next contraction would hit.

As I felt my womb tightening one last time I squatted down, my free hand holding my baby's head to catch it "hmmmmmm huuuu" I panted as with this last push my second baby came out of me, I caught my son and held him up to my other breast as the remaining fluids spilled out of me making a puddle in-between my feet.

As both my babies were now quietly suckling on my breasts I kept walking back "thank you for being easier than your sister I said to my son as I kissed the top of his head and made my way back to the car.

[castlebyersafterdark]

ohhhh now you've got me thinking about angry byIer sex....they're having a fight, yelling and screaming in each others' faces, when suddenly they just go quiet and murmur "what?" while looking at each others' lips and it's just a FURIOUS makeout sesh from there. tearing at clothes, clawing at skin, its almost primal and mike has will caged against the kitchen counter and then he's dragging them both to the bedroom, slamming them down on the bed (they are both INCREDIBLY into this btw) and as angry as they both are they just wanna make each other feel good (begrudgingly) so mike's, like, mid (very intense) bj telling will that he drives him fucking crazy and will just moans and tugs at mike's hair and is like yeah touché. and then of course they finally end up fucking it out and it's dirty and messy and primal and they definitely woke up their neighbors in the next apartment over from how loud they were being but it really helped them get their anger out and so now they're just left tracing each others' skin and murmuring how sorry they are and they fall asleep in each others' arms <3 Anyway I might need to write a fic about this concept.

BABESSSSSS WRITE THE FIC WRITE THE FIC!!! I cannot take on anymore ideas until I wittle down my wips and prompts list but oooooh this is so delicious. This is the spicy spicy we love on spicy byler tumblr, indeeeeed. I have little to say other than offering a glazed over expression and two thumbs up. We KNOW they would have so much damn passion that it just spills over into so many situations. I love twisting and turning the "crazy together" mantra into a lifelong insane intensity together heehee real real real. Waking up the neighbors haaaaa love it. And the softness afterwards 🥹 Perfection.

[yamatossideboob]

ONE PIECE 1134 Spoilers!

This week's doppelgangers:

So this is a terrific colour spread as usual, but the fact it's likely a tribute to Kazuki Yao is very touching... enjoy your retirement ya old coot, you earned it 100 times over

Apparently this is Luffy doing a very old school yakuza greeting and manner of speech. Regardless its so funny to see him being so formal lmao

WE'LL PROTECT YOU FOR LIFE YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Soooooooooo we have Stella back now too 😒 not thrilled at yet another death being backed out of, but... this is a Stella from 20 years ago? maybe something interesting can be done here. I fuckin hope so.

Also this handily explains just how VP could get around while under surveillance. nice one Oda

Even more worrisome is the now-possibility of Oda backing out of Kuma's 'death'. Admittedly his is a little more ambiguous, but in the sense of whether he truly was alive when his will appeared to be shut down. I was hoping with many others to see him laid to rest in a dignified manner, but it seems Oda has other ideas.

"why are you a woman?" "who cares, I can explain later" yeah when you've transitioned publicly for long enough you really can just get like this, its so funny when no mortal danger is involved haaaaa

Maybe Kuma can be resurrected a lá Saul, but the track record is not brilliant wrt reneged deaths in this series!

MS. ANGE I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I really do hate how Oda designs like 90% of OP women characters bc 1) its so fucking blatant, the man is beating zero allegations 2) he CAN create fun and interesting female character designs!! Look at her!!!! She's so blocky and stout I adore her!!!!!

this is such a cute building design, i love walrus school

HEY! ZORO! LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!!!

hi Ripleyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy you're so huge and beautiful

So this is an interesting development: we have a longstanding warrior culture now being made to embrace trade, education and peace. Could this be something that factors into the arc conflict?

AND this king was the one killed by his son Loki... the intrigue heightens

in a One Piece first, a library displays inherited will.. Ohara would be proud, if it were sapient

The look on Robin's face is incredible... it must be such an amazing feeling to see your childhood literally rescued in such a way

Literally who could be on the other end of the snail.... This is going to drive us mental. Is the nickname Shaggy an indicator of who they are? And besides, their remarks on Loki's kindness... Those positing that Loki ISN'T the villain of Elbaph might really be onto something after all. This is bananas, we need answers pronto!

Speaking of onto something... the yahoos claiming that Shanks has a twin might have been right all along it turns out lmfao. Like... its just not likely that THIS is Shanks, since he was just here his usual way. and obvs the panel recalls that infamous page from hundreds of chapters ago, with ol' Redhair visiting the Elders. The teleportation sigil indicates this is the same individual, AND he has company, but who could they be.... This is such an ominous note to finish out the year on, what a fucking cliffhanger lads.

And on that note, thats all the One Piece that will be published in 2024. It's been a wild year between finishing Egghead and starting Elbaph! Many astonishing moments and reveals and twists and turns! Some questions answered, mostly questions asked! Oda continues his big story stew, bubbling away, and before we know it, the pot will be empty, scraped clean by our spoons. We must enjoy it while it lasts, and hope and luck, we can do just that in 2025. Maybe Oda can stick to his next Jump Fest promise lol.

Til next year nakama! 💪✖️

[thewolfisawake]

Random Headcanon Generator

Eriskyne has an incredible spice tolerance (Not really, considering where they're from spice is not all that used. So, unfortunately, they are not that great with it).

Eriskyne is afraid of doing anything without their parent's permission (Haaaaa, to some extent, yes? They do go about their life however they feel like. However anything regarding moves...yeah, they don't really risk it. Mainly because they will not jeopardize losing their father's trust)

Eriskyne gets bullied on roblox (Does not even have it so cannot be)

Eriskyne has half of a watermelon under their bed (They're too much of a neat freak for that. However they do have dried and stored things for when they are working long and do not want to stop to cook)

Eriskyne is a sleepwalker (While I personally think it would be an interesting obstacle for them to contend with, I don't see it happening)

Eriskyne is going to heaven (Interestingly, Eriskyne does not believe in returning to the land like most fae do. They are inclined towards a thinking of heaven and hell because that sort of faith was what they had grown up with and an unfortunate dealing with an iron cross sticks with them even if they understand now why it actually hurt them. To some extent, there is a thought that the world knew before them that there was no pleasant afterlife for them).

Eriskyne doesn't know how to say "no" (Towards their father, no. Anyone else, that is super easy).

Eriskyne cracks their knuckles very loudly (Honestly they're more likely to hurt their hands from doing that).

Eriskyne reads wattpad (They are, unfortunately, aware of the space. Completely to be blamed on a classmate friend that they asked about 'what are you reading?')

Eriskyne knows the lyrics to every Britney Spears song by heart (Nope. Can't say an artist they do know like that but they do know pop music!)

[pokespetrash]

nemona.

she’s covering her face, shielding herself from you and the crowd she herself had gathered to watch your ultimate battle. confused, you step toward her slowly.

“you…YOU DID IT!” she cries. she’s beaming from ear to ear. you hear a collective sigh of relief from the surrounding crowd—they had been momentarily uncomfortable seeing her wearing anything but a smile. they aren’t in close enough proximity to see the tears forming in her eyes.

“this is legit incredible! you’re the strongest out there!”

you swear you hear her voice quiver as she says your name.

“i mean, you knocked me flat, and i was giving you absolutely everything i had!”

the crowd has dispersed, appearing uninterested in her supposed typical antics about battling. they know it all too well.

“everything i…i…” her voice grows faint. you almost don’t hear her. you aren’t used to her whispering.

“HAAAA! HA HAAAAA!” the boom of her voice makes you flinch. you can’t help but wonder where this sudden change of character is coming from.

she glances around quickly to find that the director, the top champion, and a couple elite four members are still present. her eyebrows raise ever so slightly, almost as if she had realized that she let her guard down. maybe the crowd wasn’t entirely gone. “oh man. pokémon battling, am i right?”

of course she’s right, you think. at least, you want her to think that she’s right. now you aren’t so sure.

“it’s so much better—so much more fun than i ever even knew!”

you allow yourself to chuckle. that’s her, you think. there she is. you gaze at her as she extends her hand.

“thanks for that incredible match. you beat me for REAL this time!”

for real this time. every time you two battled, you won. a clean sweep of her assembled teams. you knew that she was a champion, and she was proud of it. she only used different teams each time she battled you to make it a fair fight.

or did she?

you smile at her and take her hand. her grip is crushing and you find yourself wincing in pain. the look on her face is heartbreaking. nobody else can see it, but you can. it feels like goodbye.

she quickly starts rambling about having another battle immediately after the one you two had just finished. the remaining crowd rolls their eyes at her in annoyance and they walk away. up until now, you thought that she was completely oblivious to others’ feelings about her fixation with battling. right now though, you still see the tears brimming and the light leave her eyes.

because she knows. she’s aware that she annoys everyone. she never lets it show, but it hurts her to her core. but it didn’t annoy YOU, so she saw an opportunity and hit the ground running. was it to prove something to herself? she would often sit up at night, wondering if something was wrong with her. that is, until you moved in. everything changed then. the pain became bearable and she actually had something to look forward to when seeing you. now that the two of you shared a (truly incredible, you can’t help but agree) final match, there was nothing else for her to grow excited about. she is devastated and thinks that she has lost her best (and only) friend. she plasters on a fake smile and turns to walk away, each step growing faster until she begins to sprint. you don’t follow her. this is how she knows it’s TRULY over.

she also knows that no matter how hard she tries, she will NEVER beat you. because she really did give you EVERYTHING she had.

[lizhly-writes]

ohhh novel recs pretty please? favs/best of a genre/best of 2022? love your writing so what you read must be great too

Hi there.

It has been a while since you sent this. I would like you to know I didn’t ignore it -- thank you very much for your opinion of my writing, by the way! It is simply… I wanted to recommend you a lot of things. I binged to try and find some things that I could 100% recommend with my entire chest! With no stipulations! With no regret!

I only found one thing. I panicked about only having one thing, and kept trying to find more things. In retrospect, I should have gone through completed novels, because that would have stopped me from going “this was good until this one thing happened”, like I did with... several novels, but hey.

I was actually going to reread all of these just to make SURE, but if I did that, I would probably accidentally make this into a best of 2023 list, SO. Here we go.

The one novel that I will recommend with my entire chest is!!!

Demon Venerable Also Wants to Know

'Second male lead' receives copy of the shitty romance novel he lives in and immediately goes "haaaaa why the fuck am I supposed to like this female lead". He starts investigating and comes to some wild ass conclusions. Some of them utterly ridiculous! Others that show that the original shitty romance novel is not quite as brain dead as it initially seems. I like the layers to this thing, the shenanigans they get up to, I even fully like the romance in here (BL, if you were wondering), which is kind of rare for me. Also, shout out to the most interesting og female lead in this genre I've ever seen! This novel is without flaw! Without any possibility of error! I really, truly, had zero complaints. If I actually ranked this novel on novelupdates, I would give it a full 5 stars!

Honorable mentions:

100,000/Hour Professional Stand-in

This is the kind of cnovel you read if you are just so, so incredibly tired of our dear sister transmigrator getting pursued by some weird possessive CEO. Our mc is very calm, very heartless, and perfectly happy to extort so much money out of the people in love with her twin sister. The ending drags a little, and there is a romance in there which I think is unnecessary, but overall, still very good.

Zombie University

Ta-da! The zombie apocalypse happens, and our main character has get deal with it with his ex hovering uncomfortably right there in his adventuring party. I have not finished this novel, and in fact, I am not even caught up on this novel -- I believe I must have left off around chapter 30? -- but it gets a mention here because I really like survival-type stories, and furthermore, I was frankly blown away by the characters and the dynamics between them. I pawed sadly at the novelupdates page for about two weeks before I accepted that I wasn't getting an update anytime soon. AND NOW I SEE IT'S UPDATED WAY MORE SINCE THEN SO I WILL BE CHECKING THIS OUT AGAIN.

Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

An unlimited/infinite flow novel, in which our mc is an NPC throughout various instances, or Nightmares, as they call them. I will admit that it can get repetitive, since a lot of the time, our characters are trying to figure out what the fuck is going on and end up reiterating some points, and then our mc is in a primarily passive role -- might be frustrating to a witty reader who is very good at putting things together themselves, but I personally liked it, haha. I was admittedly not very fond of the ending, but I enjoyed the characters finding out the mysteries behind the instances, and the larger mystery made me want to claw my hands through the pages to figure out what the fuck was happening.

I Ship My Adversary X Me

Guy ends up shipping himself with his fanon adversary. I find guy really eloquent in his narration, which only helps with the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Living in this guy's head is so fun. There is a manhua. It is cute, but read the novel, the vibes are way goofier. Uh, there is like... one nsfw scene, if I recall correctly, but it's easily skipped, if it bothers you.

When a Fanfic Protagonist Transmigrated Into The Original Novel (kinda nsfw)

Pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. This pokes fun at the tendency to warp ostensibly straight male characters into certain BL stereotypes in fanfiction. The translation is unfinished, but what was there killed me. It is really ridiculous and I love that.

Don’t Hide From Me! (also kinda nsfw no, i change my mind, it's not super explicit, but it's significantly more nsfw than the previous two up there.)

Character A plans to confess his crush on his homophobic best friend, Character B. The plot is the leadup and followup to that. Also blatantly ridiculous, because our Character B treats our Character A in what most people would consider very unplatonic ways, which confuse character A, and also me, and also everyone I liveblogged to, because I liveblogged the entirety of my reading of this on discord. Unfinished, but on this list anyway because I screamed a lot about it and shared exactly how ridiculous it was with everyone around me and ended up roping at least three people into reading with me. It was that kind of novel. If you read, I recommend reading with friends because you will want to shake someone over it. I certainly did.

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

thousand autumns donghua, episode 16~

HERE WE GO FRIENDS IT'S THE LAST EPISODE OF SEASON 1 i am both excited and sad ;A; so let's DO THIS 💪😤 we are at the border!!! idk which one, but we are at A border, and shen qiao is here to kick ass and go :) RIGHT SO in the previous episode, shen qiao killed a man called kunye and it was really hot. this kunye also warned shen qiao that yan wushi is in MORTAL PERIL!! so he's come to the rescue, even tho yan wushi BETRAYED him lol BAI RONG IS HERE!!! HI SWEETIE!!! she's so sweet, warning shen qiao that he doesn't need to help the man who treated him like rubbish but he insists!! he is polite but FIRM!! and he says that bai rong is better than her sect peeps, which is TRUE hulan gu?? somethinggggg valley??? idk lol ok we're here at hulan gu. idk where it is but it looks pretty cool!! sweet masonry bro. looks great!! AH DUAN WENYANG IS HERE TOO he searches for the scary monk--who STILL has yet to say emítuó fó‎, and i'm super sad about it ._. nice outfit mr monk, ur looking good!! OH NOES THE BEIMU WARRIORS SHALL MARCH SOUTH!!! toward the central plains and-- YOINK THE OLD MAN APPEARS!! HE STEALS THE SPECIAL RING and angers the monk lol monk: yws i am a nice man but u are pushing me past my limits OH SHIT NOW THEY ARE ALL FIGHTING TWO AGAINST ONE AND YAN WUSHI IS DESTROYING THEM god these fight scenes are incredible, i love them so much ;A; COME ON LAO YAN DON'T SCREW IT UP oh my goddddd they're so cool OH NOES YAN WUSHI IS WOUNDED THE OLD MAN TOOK A SWORD TO THE TIT NOOOOOOO NOT HIS TIDDIES oh look shen qiao is here 😊 yan wushi: damn!! that idiot almost took off my nipple!!! OH BIG JGY'S BACK!!! i wish he would treat his instruments more carefully ;A; do u know how much work went into crafting that. do u even care. big jgy get ur priorities straight OH MY GOD HE SCRAPED THE STRINGS SIDEWAYS WHAT AN AWFUL SOUND!! 😫 OUCH OH IT'S it's yu ai??? i forgot what he looked like lmao, he's the one who almost de-nippled the old man ok this is hardly sportsmanlike this is like four dudes against one, it's not fair at all OH NOOO DOnN'T YOINK OUT THE SWORD!! IT WAS KEEPING UR BLOOD IN!!! YAN WUSHI U DUMBASS oh shit he MAD. BIIIIG MAD damn wow ok he's a fucking badass motherfucker 💪😤 never seen anything like it!! GET EM KING lol they all are running after him like it's a game of rugby aww poor old man hobbling away…..oh hey weird beard man is back as well!!! and he shoved yan wushi down the stairs. is this big jgy's revenge??? lmao beard man celebrated a bit too early did he??? DON'T LOOK AWAY FROM UR QUARRY U IDIOT wait why am i helping him, i don't care for him at all LMAO YWS POKED HIM IN THE FOREHEAD 🤣 OWO WHAT THIS??? WHO ARRIVES LIKE A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE NIGHT??? WHO IS SO DAINTY AND DELICATE AND BEAUTIFUL LIKE HAITANG BLOSSOMS ON THE WIND???? IT IS HE!!! IT IS SHEN QIAO!!!!!!!! he's so cool omg ;A; ok yu ai u NEED to stop calling ur shixiong 'a-qiao' that is. SO disrespectful. u lil bitch >:V 'a-qiao a-qiao' go fuck urself yu ai >:( OH SHIT SHEN QIAO JUST RENOUNCED THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND SAID THAT YU AI DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE THEIR SHIZUN'S DISCIPLE!!!!! OHHHH SHIIIIIITTTTTT OH MY GOOOODDDDD SHEN QIAO U ARE. THE MOST AMAZING PERSON LOOK AT HIMMM HE'S BARELY EVEN FUCKING TRYING YU AI CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO COMPARE SORRY I'M YELLING SO MUCH BUT THIS IS HONESTLY SO AWESOME :DDD HAAAAA!!!! SHEN QIAO BROKE YU AI'S SWORD BROKE HIS FUCKING SWORD IN HALFFFFF HAAAA GOT EMMMMMM SHEN QIAO MARRY ME SHEN QIAO PLS MARRY ME AT ONCE he knows who he IS. he knows what he can DO. i am. SO IMPRESSED. SO PROUD. I LOVE HIM. SO MUCH ;A; yan wushi: lol why didn't u kill that dumbass?? shen qiao: ….shut up :) oh uh yu ai and beard man left, big jgy and dwy and the monk are still here tho duan wenyang: 'yan wushi give me the golden flower fingering!!' << actual subtitle in this donghua. AMAZING. HAAA SHEN QIAO WHACKED HIM AND DUAN WENYANG MADE THE FUNNIEST SOUND like 'AAAAAAAAAAA' omg i've replayed it like four times already it's so fucking funny

shen qiao: u run ahead, i'll follow in a bit :) yan wushi: ……am i having an emotion lol stupid monk thinks he beat shen qiao?? ok sure giant glowy hand vs giant glowy sword, who will win???!!! oh crap big jgy's helping the monk!!! …..bUT NOW YAN WUSHI IS TRYING TO HELP SHEN QIAO??!?!?! NO WAIT DON'T USE ALL OF UR EVIL SPIRIT!!! OLD MAN WHAT ARE U DOING omg are they just gonna die together??? that's so romantic ;A; 💔💔💔 PFFT he hit the ground real hard, it was a bit funny, sorry 🤣 yan wushi: *doing his best impression of a corpse shen qiao: …fuck :( i'm sad now :( AWWWWW HE'S TAKING THE OLD MAN AWAY WITH HIM IS HE LITERALLY FUCKING DEAD??!?!?! he walks very competently for a dead man awww flashbacks of their memories~ their uhhhh happy???? times together??? like shen qiao dying and yan wushi yelling at the forest!! i assume they didn't feel the need to show the wild passionate sex they had in the inn bc we already know about it lol WHY IS IT TRYING TO MAKE ME SAD 😭 I KNOW HE'S PROBABLY FINE BC THE BOOK IS LONGER THAN THIS SO. SO I'M NOT SCARED OR WORRIED. AT ALL. IT'S FINE. I'M FINE ;A; god the theme music is gorgeous btw i don't think i've mentioned how much i love it, it's so poignant and sweet ;A; and as we all know, birb LOVES a poignant tune, yes i do yes i do 😌👌 OH now they're by the river!! it's a good place to die :D AND it's where that other dude died last time!! :D OOH HIS FINGIE!!! IT TWITCHED I SAW IT duan wenyang is so sad!!! his shidi kunye is like super dead ;A; oh boy shifu's mad at him lmao. AAAAA AND THAT'S IT THAT'S IIIIIIITTTTT UNTIL THEY MAKE THE NEXT SEASONNNN AAAAAAAAAA ;A;

SO!!!

my thoughts overall???

EXCELLENT DONGHUA. really lovely animation!!! sometimes the models themselves were a bit odd or stiff, but the actual MOTIONS were smooth and pleasing to the eye!!! the music was GREAT, really well done!! and i love shen qiao and yan wushi and bai rong and shiwu!!! i LOVED IT!!!! 💚💚💚 9/10, WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!!! they lost one point for not having a SINGLE emítuó fó‎ however smh 😔 thanks for joining me on this lil journey~ hope u've had fun as well!! 😊

[kittenninja14]

HAAAAA THE THIRD ONE XDDDD

AND THAT 4TH ONE AS WELL

wheeze

I love these smmm xd

https://www.tumblr.com/kittenninja14/731916269075480576/hey-yall-i-just-found-this-incredible-video-and

Pride and Prejudice 1995 text posts, part 1 of ? - next set

More: Persuasion 1995 text posts | Sense and Sensibility 1995 text posts | Northanger Abbey 2007 text posts | Emma. 2020 text posts

[maybeimamuppet]

hello friend!

3, 15, 18, and 23 for the fic writer questions? or just pick your fave question, one you really want to answer! ^^

<3, sunny

hello dear tysm

3 what’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

don’t do this to me uhhhhh

i’m a big fan of and this burning inside me would usually fade (but it isn’t today) i’d say that’s the matilda one i reread most

or maybe mother

and thennnnn for mean girls i’m positive it’s gonna be one of two i’m currently working on that i’m gunning to post in december but of the ones i’ve posteddddd

ugh i don’t know it depends on my mood but for now because i read it a lot and it took years off my lifespan i’ll say i’ll be there for christmas

15 how do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

haaaaa hahahahaha. ha. bold of you to assume i come up with them at all

sometimes if there’s like a song lyric or a quote that works really well i’ll do that

otherwise it usually comes down to “it’s posting day! fuck.” titling is the bane of my existence i hate it forever

to illustrate how bad i am at it, some working titles for fics currently include:

SCIENCE

halloweeeee

incredible breath support: the fic

what am i dooiiiing

aaaaa

hnnngn movie

sank

sank 2

and everyone’s favorite: mmmmmm the sequel

18 what’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

ohhh i honestly have a lot of favorite like one-liners and poetic little moments i really love but i’d have to hunt for them

but the one that popped into my head first was

“Damian promptly picks her up and throws her in the lake.”

23 how do you choose where to end a chapter (if you have multi-chapter works)?

i have no say in the matter things end where they will i just kind of write until it feels right to stop. i have now started making like bullet point lists to make sure i don’t forget anything i want to include in a given chapter or oneshot so now it’s usually just like. whenever the last bullet point feels like it’s finished ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[alwaysthesitter]

B, N, R, T, V, X, Y <3

B - Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partners. Easy one, Steve's favorite body part on himself as well as on Richie is their dicks. He's a simple man. N - Something they wouldn't do/turn offs. Water sports, Steve doesn't get that, it's just weird. He's pretty vanilla, but also a complete service top, so he's willing to please his partner and try most things at least once. He does struggle being incredibly dominant, especially if that is partnered with being degrading. He's such a gentle lover, he has a hard time calling people insulting names in the bedroom even if they ask for it. And hitting a partner? He will do it under the right condition, but he will feel guilty about it for weeks. R - Are they game to experiment, do they take risks. Yes, I'd say Steve is a big risk taker. I mean look at how he handles the Upside Down - a lot of jumping into things without thinking. He clearly (canonically) has made public sex a thing (Lover's Lake, Skull Rock, etc.) so he probably isn't that scared of getting caught. But if it's a risk/experiment that could be harmful to either party, that would be where the risks settle down a bit. T - Do they own toys? Do they use them? Nope. Again, Steve is incredibly vanilla. Pretty much into the basic sex stuff. But he also kind of has this opinion that if he has such a nice dick, why would anything else be needed? (Which is such a terrible cishet perspective, Steven, do better). V - How loud are they, what sounds do they make? Steve is incredibly loud. He isn't one to hold back unless he has to. He will talk out loud about his partners, and whine and keen and gasp and moan. He sounds rather pretty, imo.

X - Let's see what's going on in those pants, picture or words. Haaaaa, well last time I tried to post a picture of Steve's dick claim, it got banned right away as a post so whoop. I'm incredibly bad at describing dicks, but uh....he's definitely circumsized. About eight inches. Pretty thick. Definitely lots of hair down there because that mean is a hairy beast, but he's also very hygienic so he tries to keep it as tamed as possible. If you ever want to see it, just add him on wire and I'm sure he will send it at some point. Y - How high is their sex drive? Ha. Hahaha. Hahahaha. Steve's sex drive is the highest out of any character I've written, and I've been a roleplayer since I was a wee lad of eleven years old. Basically sex is always on the mind. He's always down for sex. He's a player, no shame.

[theharrowing]

I think it is safe to say nobody has kinks to offer you because you feed us so incredibly well!!

I didn't know what sounding was! Or anal hooks?? Or sensory depravation! (Aside from using a blindfold or something like that, but I never considered having vision completely taken away along with most sound.)

Each time you include kink in your fics it is an eye-opening experience that teaches me so many things about people (and about myself?) that I never knew before.

haaaaa!!! i mean...that's fair. off the top of my head, i can't think of anything fun that i haven't already been writing. it would be nice to get some more input on what people specifically want more of, buuutttttttt i can't force it. 🥰

i'm thrilled that my fics have been a gateway drug for you!!! that's so exciting!!! 🥺💜💜

(sensory play is FUN. i highly recommend it with a trusted partner.)

what are kinks/types of play that you want to see more of in fic? let me know! 💌

[miimitranslations]

BeyoPhonic is the Best♡ Okamura Minami (23.05.02)

Everyone、good evening〜♪

I'm Okamura Minami 💓

For all of your likes and comments 💓💓💓

Thank you very much

They make me super happy ☺️💓

Today was！

『BEYOOOOOPHONIC』

Thank you very much 💓💓💓

It was so much funー😭💓💓

We performed with everyone from the Pacific Philharmonia Pops Tokyo Orchestra

And Matsuoka Miyako-san

And also Fujiawara Ikurou-san！

Being able to work together with so many wonderful people

Made me super happy 💓

I think we were able to show you a BEYOOOOONDS

That sparkled even more than usual 💓

Did you all enjoy it？

Ever since rehearsals

I knew that this would be something incredible！

So many people came to watch

And seeing everyone waving their light up conductor batons

Helped us to shine

Even brighter too 💓💓

Really thank you ☺️💓

Also！！

Today we performed a new song for the first time！！

It was a song with an orchestra arrangement

Written just for today's performance 💓

It's a super cute song💓💓💓

I feel like once again

BEYOOOOONDS' repertoire

Has gone beyond what we've done before ☺️💓

Haaaaa

Today was just really fun 💓💓💓

I can't stop reliving it。

It's been a day where I really felt

The power of people！

From here on I want us

To become a group

Who give power to lots of people 💓💓💓

We're sending out lots of power

So make sure you're collecting it up〜💓💓💓

🎀Miimi Talk🎀

Thank you very much 💓

Well then (・ω・)ノ

OyasuMiimi💓

[miasiegert]

What could it mean indeed @jellicle-chants?

There is one thing I can confidently share. I regret to inform all of you that Macavity will NOT be allowed on the Choo Choo Train.

Let's have a minute of silence for Macavity's Villain Origin Story.

Anyway, another late night (haaaaa) but I'm too wired to sleep and I *REALLY* want to do Sims stuff with the new kits... BUT CURSE MY NEED TO FINISH THE JORDAN FAMILY'S HOUSE FIRST! I think it's *enough* that I saved it but... does this mean... do I... do I work on... GOTH CAS or CASTLES? I vote Goth CAS. MAKEOVERS.

Oh, and in the spirit of announcements, actually have a not-CATS but big announcement. I have reverted rights to JERKBAIT *except* for Audible (where I am thrilled to announce that I have a new ten year licensing agreement). JERKBAIT will be searching for a new home, and hopefully the sequel from Robbie's POV.

What does this mean?

This means that JERKBAIT can only be purchased as an audiobook in the interim or I will not get royalties and I would like to pay for groceries since I'm hungry. The audiobook is INCREDIBLE and narrated by Raviv Ullman, aka Phil from "Phil of the Future." Am I bias? Yes. But many authors are mixed on their audiobooks and I *LOVE* what he did with mine, truly, with a passion.

One exception: I will have a couple paperbacks available that I can personally sell, but that's it. I'm hesitant to let go because JERKBAIT was my first book and... well. It's hard. I was immensely proud of it. I still am. I'm grateful for my first editor for it. But it's time to find a new home and get a new print. For a book with that many accolades that's literally around the world, I ended up with a $21.76 royalty check over a 6-month period--you read that correctly. A huge part of that was due to piracy, others due to reasons I won't discuss.

Audible is truly fantastic with royalties though and has been a joy to work with.

Additionally, SOMEBODY TOLD ME is going to have a HUGE announcement in... I honestly forgot which month. I'm so sorry. But something's coming up. What I can say related to it, if anyone is a book collector, I would *strongly* encourage you to pick up a copy of the book. That's the most I can do hint-wise. If in the US, I can send some bookmarks (I'm sorry, I can't afford Int'l shipping but if you're abroad and would like some bookmarks and are comfortable with int'l shipping, I can do that via paypal/venmo if you're comfortable with that).

SOMEBODY TOLD ME was downplayed because of the pandemic so I'm a little blue about it still but this pending announcement is a MAJOR cheer up. It might seem anticlimactic outside of book world but in book world it's a badge of honor.

For other book stuff, it's in my agent's hands. I trust her and it's a very different experience than with my previous representation so I'm nervous but there are leaps of faith.

I rambled. Blame the Delta 8 since no one has Delta 10 anymore. :(

Anyway, I will announce as soon as I can, I promise. <3 And I *really* hope that people will be free March-beginning of April, esp first weekend of March I believe. This is a strange bucket list item both David and I have had, and superfans absolutely would be welcome for a very fun experience.

And maybe if you twist my arm enough I'll pull out the OLD pics from when I used to be a superfan. ;-)

Cryptic Cats

Certain Hardcore Fans: Grumble about a Certain Thing, Blah Blah Blah, BLAHHHHHHHHHHHH, BOOOO. BOO, BOOOOOO, DIFFERENT THINGS ARE BAD! BOO, BOO ON YOU, SIR! BOO!

People: If only there was someone who could figure out how to [redacted]--

Me:

[hopezzy]

“We live such sad lives. We only do stupid things.”

Remember 15 — Episode 9