#also i dont really pay too much attention to who i reblog from

[angelicneonanime]

idk if you support tcest or not but hoberman was a big tcester

just letting you know

Can you at least provide evidence of this cuz you saying that a person supports xyz means nothing to me if you can't actually prove it

[theresivy]

PLEASE HELP: SIGNAL B*OST, D*NATE, OR C*MMISSION ME!!

Listed below are the TL;DR, How to Help, and Full story/Context. I’m sorry I had to resort to this but i have no other choice.

TL;DR version

Please help a mentally disabled fan artist’s family to pay for medical debts for c*ncer, insulin, maintenance meds (for depression, anxiety, etc), and cat food

How to Help

D*nations!!! - I only have P*yPal (also thru K*-fi) and GC*sh! Please dm me for the link or QR code

C*mmission me!!! - I really hate asking for help with nothing to give in return, so preferably please c*mmission me. I havent updated my new set of c*mmission sheet samples BUT heres a short, quick version attached on my post as a pic.

B*y my let-go collection of merchandise!!! (PH-based only please and sorry) - In order to try and make up for the em*tional ab*se me and my mom have to go thru on a daily basis just by living with dad, I ended up in a downward spiral and tried to buy things impulsively since 2020. So, now, we’re paying the price and I have been deeply regretting it ever since. So, plsase please please help buy my palugi (selling for a loss) let-go merchandise, theyre mostly official and am selling for a loss, we badly need the space and especially the funds. Weve only sold less than a half of my stock and it doesnt help that my dad keeps mocking me about it.

Share and S*gnal boost!!! - Tumblr is the only site where i have somewhat of an audience. Please please please help reblog, share, and signal boost.

Full Story/Context

Hi, I’m Theresivy (Teh-reese-ivy), I have been depressed and mentally impaired (among other things) who draws art as a multifandom self-taught fan artist, As of 2020 my mom’s tumor has turned into cancer that has only been given medical attention to in 2022 onwards. And as of then, i have indefinitely become a N,E.E.T for my mom and our finance’s sake while being there by her side. As of now she has gone through FOUR surgeries because more and more unexpected complications keep popping up. She doesnt deserve this, why couldnt it have been me,

We live with my emotionally abusive and manipulative dad (her husband) and our two fur daughters Pancake and Waffles (of which my cats and mom mean more than the world to me) while being forced to live in one of the countless apartment complexes my equally abuse maternal uncle (and his wife, my maternal A-I-L) as we have no other choice. And as such, my dad has been kissing their asses since we were forced to move here more than five years ago.

Both my uncle and my A-I-L took it upon themselves to become the defacto head of my maternal family ever since my maternal grandmother passed just because he became rich thru the means of evil entrepreneur practices. We cant do anything lest we want to get kicked and live on the streets. He is a real-life mastermind as he is always a few steps ahead of us, even making it so that his eldest daughter became his perfect pawn of being his personal lawyer. He always has connections and to them we are merely insects.

My parents and the rest of our family dont really see “artist” as anything that could get money rolling in (and day by day my failed attemptes have been proving them right), and on top of that, they see me being depressed and such as being the “freeloading couch potato”. So they keep bringing up how much of a failure I am. Weve been living in such toxic conditions that my mom has developed this sort of stockholm syndrome type relationship with my dad, and her younger brother (my uncle), and his wife (my A-I-L, her S-I-L). At first i thought i could try and save mom but shes too far gone that she strictly forbids me from fending for myself whenever either of the three try to berate me and drive me to tears and breaking down for the fifth time every week.

All i wish now is to be able to pay back at least some of the debt, for my mom and my fur daughters’ sake, and hopefully my own. I have been in a downwards spiral ever since i have been tolerating being the “odd one out” kid from school. in general, and even in the family, its been literal years and my entire life, im tired of being used and tossed to the side, im tired of being the punching bag of a cosmic joke, and im tired of my disabilities. im tired of being useless to the people i care for the most. so please. help us.

My wish now is to be able to help mom and our fur daughters move away from our domestic ab*sers. everything is an endless spiral of dead ends and im sick of it. ive been self sabotaging for years but a small part of me still has hope, please. i dont want to believe that this is where it ends for us. in this world of darkness and cruelty that spits on our faces, only my mom and our fur daughters have shown me the smallest glimpse of happiness. and even then ive failed them by becoming a barely functioning patient of depression. so, please, dont take my sunshines away.

[aiizaph]

I’ve woken up after a decent night’s sleep and, y’know, I kinda regret deleting the posts I made last night. I really deleted them because I let one guy (who I blocked anyway) who blatantly ignored my words and claimed that I hate aroaces get into my head and scared me to think that others would misinterpret, or even witch-hunt me over that incorrect message too. If anything, they just proved my point about how we aroallos are never listened to or are taken seriously.

What is aroace-phobia about asking people to not post asexual things as aromantic and not tag aromantic posts as asexual? I’m still shaking rn, and I have no idea why my anxiety is flaring up so bad about this. I haven’t had an anxious reaction this severe in at least over a year.

Ugh, I do admit, the original post’s wording was kinda vague and confusing and did make it seem like I hate aroace people if you weren’t paying attention or aren’t aware of the rampant aroallo-erasure on this site (or even just in general).

I don’t hate aroace people. I never have and I never will hate someone simply for being aroace. I identified as aroace for so many years. To the point that my siblings still accidentally think I’m still aroace. Hell, one of my siblings IS aromantic/asexual (I dont think he uses the aroace label specifically, but he is aromantic and asexual).

What I hate is the erasure of aroallos and other non-ace aros who are just trying to live their goddamn lives. It hurts even more that some of the vehement level of hate we get is coming from people who are also aromantic. I just wish we could all bond over our aromanticism and just get along. I don’t understand why fellow aromantics hate us so much.

I’m turning off reblogs on this post bc I can’t turn off replies, and I’d rather not get a bunch of nasty messages again. Though, I’m probably gonna take a break from Tumblr for quite a while just to recover.

[honeylikesyanderes]

Hiiii honey! I hope your having a fantastic day! If You want to answer then could I request yandere karma with a shy timid cute smart/nerdy s/o? They are intelligent but they don’t have friends so he doesn’t really need to manipulate them but they are both still in class e and teenagers so you know bullies and stuff and he’s just clingy and protective of them? Feel free to take your time or ignore bye bye!

hi my love!!

hmm i like your idea anon

i'm just gonna make this a highschool au!

karma and darling are both 18

that being said:

hope you enjoy!

18+ minors dni (like fr, there's violence and blood in this)

gender neutral reader/darling

likes and reblogs are highly appreaciated

if there’s something i missed or something that you're still curious about, feel free to send me another ask!

-------------------------------------------------------

karma as a teenager is a bit different from karma as an adult

he's less quiet and a bit more impulsive

but he's still very very charming

kinda like a boyish charm

karma is very popular in high school

especially since its a private school and everyone knows how influential his family is

he's still a lot more mature than his peers

that being said

assuming that darling is the shy intelligent type, teen! karma would be sooo into it-

i think his yandere tendencies with a shy darling would just start off as him being protective

he might not acknowledge that he's a yandere at this time

he might just assume that he's 'protecting someone who can't protect themselves'

then down the line, he gets to know you

and he falls so hard.

you're perfect.

everything he's ever wanted.

so he becomes even more protective

and more clingy

he follows you everywhere

and where he cant follow you, he's either sending bhodi or his sister to follow you.

and when they cant follow you everywhere, our dear karmichael gets an idea.

concealed cameras.

karma has always been tech savvy

so making tiny concealed cameras were a breeze.

(he attached them to your bag and phone when you weren't looking)

a few days after he installs the cameras, he realises that he needs to hear your conversations as well!

he doesn't want any boys asking his beloved out ofc

so after pulling an all-nighter

he created tiny concealed mics!

(he also attached them to your phone and bag when you weren't looking)

(you should really pay attention more to your surroundings darling.)

karma observes you through the cameras

<they're connected to his phone fyi>

btw teen karma is pretty violent towards bullies.

anyone that makes you feel bad for being intelligent/ a nerd?

they come to school with their head bashed in.

someone talking to you in a disrespectful manner cause they know you're shy and you wont say anything back?

they're suddenly seen wearing turtlenecks everyday for the next month.

(rumour says that they have handprints on their neck from an attempted strangulation)

another person touches you in any way without your explicit consent?

they come to school with the arm (or both arms) that they used to touch you spontaneously broken.

a love rival confesses to you even tho youre already his?

they randomly start vomiting blood in 5th period.

(karma's sister is good with poisons)

if darling is a scholarship student and someone makes fun of them for being less advantaged,

karma will report their parents company for tax evasion/fraud/embezzlement/money laundering

this will cause their accounts and assests to be frozen

and they will become paupers overnight.

then it becomes clear to the entire school.

dont fuck with y/n unless you're willing to face the consequences.

darling on the other hand knows that karma is behind the punishments given to their antis

(its kinda obvious, lets be honest)

and they don't mind it too much

they do beg karma to be a little less mean with the punishments

but teen karma is very stubborn, yet still very charming

so he'll manage to convince you that being mean is for the best

cause rich teenagers are dicks.

and they deserved to be treated as such.

basically, teen karma with a shy intelligent darling is basically just karma showing his true nature over and over again.

he's ruthless, unforgiving towards offenders and he is the judge, jury and executioner.

[tadpolesonalgae]

helloooo, i hope this isnt weird at all.

u really inspired me to start writing one of the wips ive had cooking in my head for 10,000 years with CBMTHY (i love your interpretations of all the characters across everything youve written, even dark! versions of everyone).

but how do you get the thoughts in your head onto the page :( its a little demotivating to not be as good of a writer as I'd like. so im terrified constantly that the story isn't coming off correctly. it certainly doesn't help that I've been stewing on this fanfic concept since i initially read acotar and tog, (crossover shit woo!) but the scenes are so vivid in my imagination that everything i can actually type out seems to fall flat or seems jumbled with the amount i try to include.

like, i posted a part last night after having it ready to go for months (there are several more im hiding 😭) and have reread it 3 times and have to remind myself its fine and i dont need to delete it. but idk if im just being crazy tbh. Im also very much the same type of person who needs feedback in order to continue with creative projects. however the idea of even asking about it here is intimidating, especially after your stories helped push this lil amateur to write. But any help would be so greatly appreciated, especially becsuse theres no one ik personally who enjoys the series who would be willing to chat about it 😅

again, i hope its not weird that im not sending anything in directly related to ur work and asking for advice 😅😅 but i hope you have a good rest of ur day/ night !!

haha, don't worry about it! I'm not sure I'm the best person to offer advice on this since I'm just kind of writing what I want to write though, but I'll try and help.

What you mentioned about struggling to get thoughts down on the page - I think an element of it is probably feeling comfortable enough to put them down there in the first place? That and also having the words to know what you mean? Read around, listen to music, chat with people if you can and see if you can find stuff you resonate with and then pay attention to what it is and try to figure out why. And it can take a while to find the right words, so let yourself breathe.

Suddenly jumping into a project you've been hyping up in your mind won't come out pristine immediately, it might be a case of writing paragraphs once, then writing them out again beneath that but trying to improve on what you've already written with a thesaurus in hand. It might also be a case of listening to music that simulates the emotions you want to write out and then trying to articulate them in the moment. Also writing without thinking can help. Or writing exactly how you're thinking, I guess? It doesn't always work though, so I'd sincerely suggest trying to write some smaller things to start with or have on the side to help practice.

In terms of trying to find people to give feedback, I think interacting with other writers can help. I'm not the best person for this since I like being away from my computer/phone as much as possible, but chatting to writers off anon, or if your writing blog isn't your main one then switching to your writing blog to leave a comment or reblog and leaving notes in the tags is a really great way to show other people you're interested in acotar/tog and writing. If the idea of coming off anon to interact with writers is (like I find it) absolutely terrifying, you can always keep anon on but sign off using a specific pseudonym or emoji that will be recognisable! That way you can get used to chatting without entirely compromising your anonymity and hopefully become comfortable. Asking other people what they do to help them get their thoughts down too can help since you'll be more likely to find someone similar.

I'd also recommend that if your story is long to try planning it out roughly as chapters or bulletpoints so you don't have to store it all in your brain. Have playlists on hand or boards on Pinterest to look over.

I think it's great that you've posted a chapter though - if you have a project you want to do well it's so easy to get caught up in wanting it to be a good as possible that you never actually get around to posting it, so I think what you've done is a great start. If you're unhappy with it after a few months or so you can always edit, nothing's written in stone.

And if you want to write in again please feel free to! I promise it doesn't have to be about my writing and I would think other writers would feel the same. If you want to turn off anon that's fine, and if you want to use an emoji as a sign off that's cool too, you can work your way up to chatting more openly about the stuff you enjoy :)

Also, if anyone else thinks they have some good tips for writing, getting thoughts down, keeping up interest/motivation with a project please add them!

And anon if you want to send in a link to the first part of your story feel free to, or if you want to chat with me directly I'd be interested to have a peek at what you're writing? I love acotar but tog still has a special place in my heart so I'd love to read more content around it too. I know how scary it can be sharing stuff you've worked hard on :)

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 17

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 17!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

Having gotten whatever they needed half of the crew of the Halcyon followed us to the Call Of The Damned,  which looked as imposing as ever.

Boarding the ship I could see Ronan getting tackled by Shalimar,  who after a hug decided to throttle him.

Yeah not my problem, also probably deserved.

Ignoring that I went to the front of the ship, where Cassidy had stood after Grella first emerged from Graves keep.

Should I tell him about the encounter I had with her? 

And what she'd told me? 

Ultimately he probably already knew what Grella had told me so there wasn't really a point.

The only thing I noticed here was that they had a pretty short Bowsprit compared to every other one I'd seen but that was all.

“Do you like sitting at the front of the boat?”

Came it from Robin who had followed me, heaving himself up to sit next to me.

“Sort of, i just like knowing where we are going, last time i didn't pay attention and couldn't even tell anyone where i was supposed to go to”

Also I was now pretty sure the stupid mast had given me a concussion, though a bit late for that now.

“Right, that probably sucked, wait what did you tell them where you wanted to go then?”

I shrugged, moving both legs to face the ocean.

“Back to Kamerasca, i figured if i couldn't manage to get to wherever you are i could at least wait back home,  i mean better than nothing right?”

Robin nodded to that.

“That's true, but i was really worried, i saw how the mast fell on top of you, and then you just didn't resurface, and then Rikaad wanted to help the sailors and i had to cling to him so he wouldn't run out again”

He had by now drawn his knees up to his chest, hugging his legs.

“Well, it turned out alright in the end, though very chaotic,  i'm still not sure if that all was even real”

I moved to mess up his ginger hair and he stuck his tongue out at me.

“If you mean the Kraken at the weird island, I've seen that too! Though i do wonder how all those little fires are doing, i mean they just wanted to warn us”

“Eh, they're fire they probably went somewhere that's a lot more dry than the ocean, also the island is called Graves Keep”

Probably because of all the shipwrecks that they couldn't really get to on account of the aforementioned Kraken.

“Mhm, what do you think Naroa island is like? I mean it is a colony of Kamerasca, do you think it'll be like back home or different?”

Good question actually, I didn't know very much about it though.

“Well, no idea but I think a good few things will be like Kamerasca,  it WAS built by citizens and volunteers as far as i know,  So I guess at least the architecture will be similar? 

But it's also an island so they probably had to modify stuff as well and built a few things that probably don't exist in Kamerasca”

It would make sense if they had taken what they were familiar with and modified it to fit their needs in the new place.

“Well, they probably don't have a castle as big as back home! 

I know the island is twice as big as Kariba island at least but a castle would take up so much space!”

That was true.

“Yeah, though I'm sure they at least build the mayor some stupidly big mansion or something! You think we get to sleep in that?”

“Yeah! It's probably built right at the beach! Oh we could go collect more seashells! You already have some cool big ones! I want some too!”

We talked and talked about what we thought the place looked like, which drifted quite a bit towards the end of the day with more and more unreasonable or straight up impossible things.

At some point as the sun started setting someone threw a stick at me.

Well, ‘someone’ the only one that could manage to get a stick out here was Jamie, who indeed was cussing us out and telling us we were missing dinner.

So we went to get that, which at least did not feature hardtack nor soggy bread to my relief, and then got shooed into a cabin to go to sleep.

I could hear though that Akeem was telling Cassidy he didn't need a cabin and was fine staying outside and keeping an eye out.

The end of that eluded me as Robin asked what part of the cabin would be his.

We hadn't even seen it yet so we walked there and Robin ended up getting the window bed.

At least that way I didn't have to deal with the morning sun shining into my face the next day.

Instead I was woken up by someone kicking the door open and for a strange moment I thought I was back at the castle in Kamerasca and that Nea had once again no regard for doors.

But no it was just Jamie who told us to get the fuck up as Naroa island was apparently within sight already.

Huh, the Call Of The Damned was fast, very fast.

Though not really a surprise,  The ship was big and I wouldn't put it past Cassidy to know some water spirits or even wind spirits that would help him out.

Walking half asleep I suddenly realized I had not taken the medication Oakley gave me, despite it being back in my possessions.

Well, there were no nightmares for once,  but I had the strange feeling that Grella had something to do with it.

It was debatable if letting her poke around my mind was a good idea or not but as long as that was all she did i wouldn't complain.

Besides, I was the one who let her so it was nobody's fault but mine.

But the island we were heading to was indeed already in sight,  and as far as i could tell had a more longish shape.

But it was indeed at least twice as big as Kariba island,  if not a tiny bit bigger.

Though it was more sparsely built on with more space between buildings,  the number of inhabitants seemed to be about the same, if not less. 

“Huh, not long till we reach it, hey how many people do you think got scared when the Call Of The Damned was first sighted by them?”

Robin giggled at that.

“Well it IS a scary looking ship! And probably the biggest one ever!

Let's go look for Rikaad!”

With that he climbed up on a crate, trying to spot the dark haired king.

“Robin, behind you”

Rikaad was in the completely opposite direction from where the ginger was looking, and right behind him though not on the crate.

“Huh? Oh hey Rikaad!”

“Robin don't climb random crates you don't know what's in them,  or if the wood will hold you”

Robin blinked and looked down at the crate he was standing on,  jumping off at Rikaads words.

“Oh sorry, didn't know, but hey we are already close to the island! 

Are you excited? I am! What are you gonna do first?”

Rikaad let the ginger ramble to the end before answering.

“I do admit to being intrigued,  i have never been here before and i am not entirely sure what i will do first, i'm waiting for more information at the moment”

Ah so he'd wait till we were actually there to make a decision,  probably a smart move not to set on one path if something else might come up as more important.

“How long are we going to stay there? A day or two? Or longer?”

Rikaad watched as the island got closer and closer,  appearing bigger the nearer it got.

“We will see, depending on what has to be done we could stay for two days or an entire week”

Also true, who knew how good the current mayor had been with paperwork, hopefully at least better than the old king, 

though it WAS hard to top that chaos.

As if reading my mind,  which was strange to think that someone, something? 

No, someone, else had already done Robin spoke just that aloud.

“As long as it's not as bad as the stacks of paper back home it shouldn't take long right?”

Rikaad just nodded at that.

“Hopefully so, though i am sure someone that would neglect the official affairs that much would have been replaced pretty quickly,  after all Kamerasca does get quite a few goods from this place”

Oh yeah, trading island and all that, hopefully the people here would be a bit more open minded about halflings and nonhumans.

They definitely were not, which was made very clear shortly after we debarked from the giant vessel.

Some onlookers could be heard shouting insults,  though strangely enough most weren't even aimed at me.

They were aimed at Jamie, who was right next to the way taller Akeem.

Rikaad did tell them to stop, though I doubted anyone here actually recognized who he was and that he was the new king.

Then again he wore no crown, only had once or twice.

Someone threw a knife at them, shouting something that sounded like 'Stupid Zoa’ but I had no idea what that last word meant.

Before I could think to ask anyone, Akeem had left the convoy to the mayor's abode, grabbed the knife thrower and tossed them a good twenty feet into a little stream where they landed with a splash.

Someone else tried to stab him in retaliation but the short sword didn't even scratch him, he gripped it and squeezed, the metal bending under his fingers like crumpled paper.

After that he went to stand back next to Jamie, who was hunched over and kept close to Akeem.

Ronan himself was somewhat hiding his ears next to Shalimar and Cassidy, wearing a headband that I was pretty sure used to be clipped to Shalimar’s messy belt.

Since I was pretty much in the middle of the people walking I had not been largely noticed, though the next street was a good bit narrower and people were still looking.

No hiding there.

Suddenly a triangle-esque hat was planted on top of my head,  hiding the top of my ears.

Looking forward again i could see it was the chicken guy,  who was still covered in layers and layers of fabric,  one of which was wrapped around his head, 

still hiding nearly everything aside from a strand of very dry hair the color of sun bleached flaxen and eyes that had slitted pupils with a way to green iris and no sclera to speak of.

I stared perplexed at him, the skin around his eyes wrinkling for a moment before he put a very thin sliver of gray silk over them, thin enough to look out of but also not letting anyone else see what his eyes actually looked like.

Smart, he must have been through something like this before.

I quietly nodded at him, making a mental note to properly thank him later if I got the chance, and of course give the hat back.

Also up close like this it was impossible to ignore that he was even taller than Fable, nearly seven feet.

And still holding the chicken,  who seemed content to just be held at the moment.

It wasn't long that we reached a larger and mostly circular place with a floor out of tile shaped rocks.

There waited some dapper dressed guy on a small wooden platform, confusedly looking at the people in the convoy before seeing Rikaad and bowing down in front of him after a few seconds.

The man himself was rather unremarkable, with pretty average features aside from a nose that seemed to have been recently broken.

“A good day and welcome to Naroa sir Rikaad Drayton,  King of Kamerasca, i am the mayor of this beautiful colony”

At least after that the surrounding crowd finally shut up.

Rikaad stood upright in front of them,  seeming taller in stature than even the guy on the small platform.

Rikaad sure had a way to make even the tallest people seem small next to him.

Must be the confidence,  he had way more than i did, or anyone else i knew really.

Even the mayor shrunk back a little,  walking off the podium to meet at eye level.

Well, eye level was good, Rikaad was about an entire foot taller than the man with the broken nose.

The Mayor started rambling something about how well they were doing aside from the pirates, which we had already dealt with, well Grella had dealt with them, and the people of Naroa might not even know that they were gone yet.

Rikaad simply watched and listened as the mayor praised every square of the island, which to me came off as that the mayor just wanted to look good.

Well, he kept rambling until a blonde woman walked out of the crowd with quite a few parchments in her arms.

She looked oddly familiar as well, kind of like a paler and taller Shalimar, probably her mother, whatever she was doing here.

The mayor stocked in his weird ramblings and praising everything to angrily point at the woman, shouting.

“That's the woman that broke my nose! Guards! Get her!”

Before anyone could properly react Rikaad had told them to put their weapons away, taking the parchment that the woman held out to him.

He read aloud a list of offenses, quite heavy ones as well,  including trafficking, murder,  and things that made at least two people in the crowd throw up.

Rikaad then looked the mayor straight in the eyes,  his own as icy as they had been back in the snow.

“Did I miss anything? 

Or do you spare us the paperwork and plead guilty?”

The mayor had gone into a fight or flight stance, frozen for just a moment before rushing forward at Rikaad with a knife.

He didn't get far with that as his pants caught fire and he got attacked by an oversized chicken that apparently could breathe fire,  because why not.

Sad to say it wasn't even the strangest thing that had happened,  also Shalimars mother shooed the chicken off only to punch the guys nose again, yeah that would not heal correctly anytime ever.

Rikaad ordered some of the surrounding Guards to toss the,  now former, mayor into jail, leading the rest of the people that came here with him to the biggest building.

As expected it had been used as the living place of the mayor,  though not anymore now.

Rikaad told us to take a break and that he had to carefully plan what to do now, go over the information the woman, who was named Marianna, had given him.

Marianna herself walked up to Cassidy, socking him in the jaw before pulling the taller man closer to her and kissing him.

I politely looked elsewhere.

There was quite an evident semblance to Shalimar, and not just the appearance.

Since nobody would try anything dumb as long as we were here i decided to hand the hat back to the Chicken sailor,  and finally ask for his name.

Robin had immediately taken a liking to a dog that lived here,  playing with the curly tailed canine.

Yeah he was fine, now where did the chicken guy go?

Looking around my eyes fell on Akeem,  who after noticing silently pointed at a balcony door.

Since nothing was going on and my presence wasn't needed I went outside as well,  seeing the man in layers and layers of fabric lean on the balustrade.

How the fuck did he not get a heatstroke?

I carefully took the hat, which was a little too big,  off and handed it back to him.

“Uhm, thank you for the save there, I'm sure I would have gotten stuff thrown at me as well, what's your name? 

I don't think i heard anyone say it”

He put his hat back on, tilting his head.

“That's because i don't have one”

My brain buffered for a good moment or two,  how could one NOT have a name?

“What, wait what do people call you then? 

How can it be that you don't have a name?”

The man tilted his head to the other side.

“You better be careful when dealing with Fae and how they word things, if they ask you for your name you better not give it,  sometimes they even trick their own brethren to give up their name”

I HAD heard of Fae taking peoples names,  but that they did it to their own kin was new.

“Oh, well getting the name of a Fae cant be easy,  you must have been tricked badly huh?”

He took his hat off again, pulling an arm completely out of the fabrics he was covered in, revealing a pale,  four fingered hand that seemed strangely chitinous.

“Oh yeah my sister had a knack for getting what she wanted,  Did you know Elves aren't actually Fae? 

Fae are never so naturally human like, Elves however are”

I stared at him, at probably the only true Fae I'd ever see in my life.

“I always thought it strange that most depictions of Fae had some insect things about them or horns while Elves didn't,  but that's new information to me,  wait what are Elves then if they aren't Fae?”

He shrugged, gripping the balustrade with his chitinous segmented hand.

“Not sure, but Elves are not Fae,  though they might be a mix of human and Fae, or had been once upon a time when there was less hatred in the world”

If that was true then, then every Elf was also a bastard,  yeah no wonder they had obscured that so much that they themselves believed them to be Fae folk nowadays.

“Well i guess i don't really have anything to compare,  but what you are saying does make some sense”

Though Fae being more insect-like did make sense,  most of the depictions I had seen, while crude,  had featured things like bug wings or multiple arms. 

Elves had none of those.

Well, what the fuck where Elves then? A question for later.

Suddenly I remembered something I had heard snippets of in Kamerasca a good two years ago.

“Hey about the name thing, why don't you get a new one? 

I've heard of people changing their names,  most times after a divorce though but it's just some paperwork,  well at least it's possible in Kamerasca, no idea about the isles”

I was not sure at all how the isles worked, not to mention that each island could have its own laws and the like.

The Fae man chuckled at that.

“A new name eh? Not a bad idea, I should have thought of that myself!

Though there are many to choose from, i will give it thought, and if i can't find an island to do it you might see me in your Homeland sometime”

Yeah, though I wouldn't doubt that Cassidy would specifically make that a possibility even if just for one instance.

“Well good luck thinking of a new name, does your chicken at least have one? Or is the feathery fella also nameless?” 

He laughed and picked up the way larger than average rooster with brown, orange and black feathers.

“This guy? Technically he's a Basan,  but yeah they look like chickens, eh bird either way,  his name is Basha because he used to Bash his head against me”

The Basan made some very chicken-like sounds,  bonking his head against the Fae man.

“There really are just things that look like other normal things but just aren't huh?”

“Well that entirely depends on what you define as normal,  your normal might be quite unusual for someone else”

That he was right in, especially in my case as the only other living Ardua had rejected to wear the bracelet, leaving it in Oakleys care.

“Yeah, you're right, also does sunlight hurt you like some Fae stories say? You are quite covered up, uh sorry if that's rude to ask”

He chuckled again, shaking his head.

“Curious huh? Well i can't blame you,  but the main reason im covered like this is that im ugly”

I stared at him, that being the LAST answer I had expected.

“Wh- what? That's a joke right? I know that big insect like things can freak people out but im sure its not that bad”

He full on laughed at that.

“Boy it's not because of me being an insectoid,  well i guess the mandibles would freak a good bit of people out,  but quite frankly, Nobody wants to see a mutilated man run around and showing off all his scars and stumps”

To emphasize he held out a second left arm right under the first, 

but the second one ended in a horribly scarred stump somewhere in the middle of elbow and where the wrist should be, the rest of the arm also adorned in strange silvery scars that had a slight bluish tint.

I stared at it confusedly for a second, so what? 

“So? If people don't want to see that they can look somewhere else, like, don't go out into the public if you don't like seeing people being people, also i don't think anyone seeing that would think you did that on purpose”

Now it was his turn to stare confusedly at me with his sclera less way too green eyes.

“I just mean, a lot of people have scars, i have some too,  namely on my back and shoulder, and one time some guy stole one of my kidneys so there's that one too, i don't think that scars necessarily make someone ugly or less of a person,  it just- it just shows you've lived”

He tilted his head,  at an angle that would probably have broken my neck if I tried it.

“It does sound like an age-old struggle of simply being deemed ‘other’,  I feel that you relate well to it,  even if your struggle with being ‘other’ has been different.

I suppose listening to those deemed ‘others’ would show things about myself I was not aware of, or would never be.

Also someone stole your kidney? How does that happen?”

Huh, yeah it was probably no matter what kind of ‘other’ one was,  they would find the same or similar reasons to shut those ‘other’ out any way possible.

Also of course he had to ask about the kidney thing.

“Yeah, some wannabe alchemist got it,  though i punched his face before he got anything else, i actually have no idea what happened to the guy, maybe he poisoned himself”

It was likely, that or someone else lynched him considering he'd been quite an asshole and did say something about testing on pets.

“Well, it looks like we both survive when we have to”

The Fae man stared out at the ocean,  gently scratching his chicken’s err, Basan's Head.

Then he ripped the cloth covering the bottom half of his face down, revealing what was indeed mandibles,  though more thin and boney and halfway folded into his maw.

One of his cheeks had a hole that was held shut by stitches and the other half of his face looked like someone had held a burning hot horseshoe against it.

Wait, iron, that was an iron burn, ouch, Fae did NOT take well to iron.

Aside from that there was a long and jagged scar going down the side of his nose, having blinded one of the secondary eyes under his normal ones, both of which were sewed shut like the hole in his cheek.

That man had been tortured,  There was no other reason for things to look like that as even multiple accidents wouldn't cause an iron burn this deep.

“I said i was ugly”

“What? No i'm just-i've never actually seen a Fae before, you weren't joking about the mandibles huh? Though i didn't think they'd be so thin”

He smiled, his face twisting weirdly around the scar tissue.

“Oh i suppose one would expect something more spider like,  however Spiders are arachnids and not insects,  ticks are also arachnids, but yeah i can move them individually”

To prove it he stuck one out and ‘waved’ with it,  then doing the same with another one.

“Wait, how do you eat with those? 

Don't you just bite your own mandibles while eating?”

“That's the question you ask? 

But yeah i guess sometimes i bite my own mandibles, though don't tell me you've never bitten your own tongue while eating”

Fair, to him it was just one more appendage he had,  not anymore strange to his own body than my tongue was to mine.

“Yeah fair, one time i nearly bit a chunk off because i fell out of a tree while eating, not exactly my smartest day”

At least it had healed quickly, but damn that had hurt.

“Oh we all have some dumb days,  and you know what i think i'm going to make this a smart one and go get some new shirts, and maybe a bandana for Basha”

“Wait then he's Basha the bandana wearing Basan all words with B”

He laughed and jumped on top of the railing, cradling said Basan.

“Oh I'm well aware! That's why I'm getting him one!”

With that he jumped down and I realized a bit late that this was built on top of a natural wall and thus went down about three stories deep even though it was technically ground level.

I rushed to lean over the balustrade,  but the Fae man had landed safely and was walking away while his Basan perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

Man the Islands were sure one chaotic place,  there was lots of stuff I would never consider trying on my own.

Then again the ones doing it weren't Human or elf and knew better what they were capable of than me.

Aside from Ronan maybe, he had to be frequently stopped from doing dangerous things that definitely would kill him.

I should probably head back inside,  I did want to see if the other ones were okay, 

especially Jamie who had rocks thrown at them among other things.

At least Akeem deflected the knife, and just threw a grown man twenty feet or so like he weighed nothing.

For someone that didn't even have muscles he was stupidly strong.

For a moment a horrified realization crossed my mind, if Grella was right about Magic Dying then what would happen to Akeem?

He was a statue come to live through some wayward magic, would he simply revert back to being a statue? Fall apart into parts and pieces?

Crumble to dust?

Or would it not affect him since he technically was some sort of gem and Grella did say magic could be stored in some of those.

I really hoped it was the latter.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[setoronini]

PLEASE READ IN FULL!!

Before making assumptions or stuff about me or what i like /gen

Would be appreciated!! ^.^

My name is Setoroni! He/Him + Neos that can be found in my Pronouns Page above

Actually all my info is in my Pronouns page. Well most of it

PLEASE TELL ME IF I DO SOMETHING WRONG I AM PROBABLY MISINFORMED OR STUPID

I talk too much. Or tyepe whateve

> TAGS

- Main Tags

#★ = Fav Posts, usually used for reblogs

#seto art = My art tag!

#seto translations = Mainly for @.expungedagalungagoo 's @.ask-unpleasant blog when I feel like being helpful

#backstage textposts = Explanatory. I talk.

#seto shitpost = similar to textpost but this is me doing whatever and acting like I'm talking to a close friend

#seto status = I update random people on the Internet on my wellbeing

- Misc Tags

#artfight creatives = Anything AF related

↓extra info under cut↓

My ssona..

His name is my name (seto) be nice

Why do i use chat and type in blue and white?

Because ican (scratches an itch in my brain and nice to look at)

Socials

Yah...

Only posting art on Artfight N Tumblr

↑ Yah if u see like 15 stars Thats Me Im Very Specific About It Being 15 Stars

I recommend good music trust. I have 1500 song playlist and their all vocaloid or old rock

Im mainly reposting on this becayse i post my art rarely.kinda. because im a BABY. But eh. usually repost infected art n stuff...

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

RAT LIST

(friend list on tumblr in order of chaos or something)

(go follow them)

@.kinoko-draws

My rat child that i hate so much i have known them too long

@.expungedagalungagoo

I found them and now we are friends its called telekinesis i think or something like that its magic.

@.fymo-blogs

Translation stealer

Do not test me

/playful

TBA as i get to run around with free access to the world

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some things to note ≈∞≈

I'm not diagnosed with anything but Anxiety due to my current situation, but I don't care if you make jokes toward me about (an)other disorder(s) (trust me I am way too used to it to gaf and find it a bit funny)

I will usually be online most of the time, and if I'm not I'm probably asleep or doing chores

I have a Disabled uncle with Epilepsy and Intellectual Disability (plus other issues) that I take care of, please take that into account

I take behaviors from people around me/i interact with

I cannot pay attention to multiple fandoms at once and stay heavily focused at one at a time (currently that'd be Regretevator)

I'm a Minor, mid-late teens

I have writing issues so I might use tonetags and misspell often!!

My brain physically starts crashing sometimes be patient with my dumbass

Ill make a card one day with Patience....be patient...

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

In reference to Ships :

I ship everything as long as it's legal and not weird as shit. If something exists i like it, if it doesn't i like it, most if not all ships will always be above "no opinion but i like it" or will be "never seen or havent thought much about it to have an opinion."

Plus im a really big polyam ship lover ← polyamorous person

WHERE THE HELL IS MY JEREMY X INFECTED X UNPLEASANT X LAMPERT X POOB X PEST ART. WHERE IT AT. WHERES MY TRASHED PARTY (™ (not really its fun to say)) AT.

I do enjoy ships with Infected more, but that's just because infected is my favorite and I project onto him too much.

^ any ship with the guys above this message is a win 4 me

In reference to my own Headcanons :

I dont push my hcs onto anyone, especially not with things like dynamics, sexualities, gender, etc. I'm the one who steals headcanons and projects onto my favs, and honestly a lot of people are super creative with their own headcanons.

Also I'm very fluid with my headcanons so I can't really state them? I do have genders and sexualities for some characters settled.

In reference to being Mutuals/Friends :

I literally classify anyone as a friend until proven otherwise*, If I am actually all friendly and comfy with you you are friend status. Which is everyone. Their mini-specifics in that but those aren't important everyone is a friend or higher if I interact/interacted with you

* proven otherwise in this situation meaning like basic dni criteria (?) (illegal stuff, in general being a weirdo /neg, not respecting other peoples boundaries). I am not good in agruments

[writingwhilequeer]

I wish I saw more either anti Naruto or critical looks at how Naruto embodies the violence of Konoha.

Even among "pro Sasuke" people, they are either in SNS or don't talk about Naruto very generally.

Naruto aggressively, and obsessively, pursues Sasuke throughout the entire manga and this is somehow viewed as romantic.

But Naruto is, in actuality, a villain! And I wish people really understood this and talked about him in this light.

There was a long ass post about Itachi that I reblogged yesterdag that finally has a bit in the end about Naruto who cant even articulate his goals in regards to Sasuke when he meets Itachi.

I actually don't consider Sasuke's emotional revelations in the end of the manga canon because we never see how Sasuke thinks about anything until the end. Sasuke is PURE metaphor, you have to really pay attention to him to see what his deal is, but all of a sudden we see that he was actually inspired by Naruto/liked him this whole time in these shitty flashbacks?

Bullshit. 🤬

I think these were added to give weight to Naruto's obsession; it can now be justified because Sasuke actually liked Naruto this whole time! And the reasons for their fight also give weight to this (Naruto is my only friend, etc etc).

Main characters are supposed to get what they want; that's kinda how it works. But the themes of Naruto, and Naruto himself (who embodies those themes), just mean violence when he wins.

I saw somewhere that Kishimoto intended for Naruto and Sasuke to always reconcile, but the state and the revolutionary can't reconcile. You either defeat the state or die at the hands of it. And in Sasuke's case, you get assimilated (and subsequently brainwashed). And many radicals also assimilate, typically into the academy, or through class ascension.

The ending is just really terrible, and Naruto is so thoroughly unlikable that I find it odd more people don't do deep dives into his dysfunctional and obsessive pursuit of Sasuke.

And although Sakura gets *a lot* of grief for chasing after Sasuke, no one ever complains about how Naruto straight up told Jiriya that he wanted to be recognized by Sasuke and that is what drove him to get stronger.

(When you code Naruto's obsession with Sasuke as romantic, then it becomes easier to accept this aggression. Especially when Sasuke rarely rejects him outright, which isnt the case for Sakura. But Naruto's interest in Sasuke is selfish, and actually has very little to do with Sasuke himself. Just like Sakura).

It feels VERY refreshing to see anyone talk about how violent Naruto is throughout the manga toward Sasuke. And in OG Naruto, the violence is more poignant/obvious because they're on the same team.

The main reason I think Sasuke almost never rejects Naruto outright is because it would have been a different story; for the current narrative to work, Sasuke has to on some level accept/acknowledge Naruto. I think it actually would have embodied some of the themes better if Sasuke HAD rejected him (ie chose not to fight him at VoTE - either one/didnt call him his friend to the Sage/etc).

I dont want to muse too much about it because the manga is done, we are trapped with Boruto and that show has DEFINITELY destroyed Sasuke (and every other theme from Naruto honestly).

All I am asking is to see more analysis about Naruto that depicts him as his is; a selfish, obsessive person who pursued Sasuke in his quest to be acknowledged by him.

(I might have to embark on this quest alone, but going forward, if I see any good, non-shipping related content to this, I will reblog).

[bee-ackerman]

Whats in the AOT Gangs Bag Modern AU Part 2

A/N: This is in my seaside city AU. Marley characters will be in the next part. I tried to keep reader as neutral as possible ~ Connie's part is my fave lol he's so chaotic, PLS why am I so mean to Jean I luv him~ REBLOGS ARE WELCOMED 💕

TW: Implied age gap relationship, mentions of alcohol

Part 1 - Includes the Vets

This part includes the 104 - (Y/N) aka YOU 😌, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Ymir, Historia

Eren

Certified gamor gorl 🙈

Broke his 4th phone cause hes a degenerate and now his dad refuses to replace it

Broke bitch but also rich bitch

Vapes

Sketchbook for option art class - plays switch during lectures

Went to university cause his dad made him but really he wants to be a streamer

Majors in finance at seaside city uni

Works part time at Levi's tea shop because of an incident that he'd rather not talk about

Has called Levi dad by accident more than once. Jean will not let him live it down.

Loses his bag a lot

Ends up watching video game streamers in class instead of paying attention

Has actually flown to LA for a meet and greet of his fave streamer just for said streamer to cancel 😔

Gets in a lot of trouble at Levis tea shop cause he's so short tempered, he's so bad at customer service.

Tried to arm wrestle a costumer once so Levi has sent him to work in the back instead

Armin

Handkerchief - never gave it back after getting it from historia

Doesn't like social media so flip phone is the vibe (still has it but it's on his ipad)

Intern for Hange

Studies bio and hopes to become a marine biologist

Lives in the same building as Moblit and Hange so he also has a key to Hange or Moblit's place just in case they pull an all nighter

Has mostly ocean pictures on his camera but also pictures of friends and a certain blonde who hes crushing on... *coughs* Annie

Is clumsy and awkward but gets serious when focusing on what he loves

Accidentally forgot water once while he was out on the boat with Hange and Moblit tryna study whale sounds and he was so parched he thought he was gonna die(dramatic). Hange forgot to bring water then chugged moblits. Lets just say their sea day trip was cut short.

Now religiously brings water in his bag wherever he goes

Mikasa, (Y/N), Jean, Connie, Sasha, Ymir, Historia after the cut off

Mikasa

Over the shoulder bag

Carries a wallet because Eren is always forgetting his so she carries his money too

Sea shells Armin gave her

Lives with Eren

Carries food for after her gym sessions

Make up for that same reason

Takes notes on her laptop

Majors in finance with Eren

Works part time at Levis tea shop as well

Has a scholarship due to her incredible athletic abilities

Is on the tennis team

Calls her parents everyday without fail and even calls Eren's parents so he and her can say hi

Knows that Jean is copying her mint brand but doesn't mind. Asks him for mints so that he doesnt have to eat them cause she knows he actually doesnt like mints.

Always has food for the gym but also for a Sasha emergency.

Has matching handkerchief with Historia because they saw them when they went shopping. They dont use them much but its the memory and thought that counts.

(Y/N)

Whats in my bag sticker given to you by Mikasa

Mikasa, Eren, and Armin are your childhood friends

You got the airpods as a birthday gift from Eren

The keys are Sasha’s cause you’re staying over at her, Connie and Jean’s place while you find a new place to live.

Yes it does get super chaotic and you sometimes have to go to Eren and Mikasa’s apartment to get some quiet time

Usually you go there when they both have a shift at the shop

You and Jean are both pre-law poli-sci students so in first year you meet the rest of the 104 through Jean and become friends quickly

You use a laptop for your notes

Your camera is full of pictures of your friends and candid shots of Levi that he has zero idea about and you will never tell him cause he’s gonna delete them.

He knows about them he just simps so hard he doesn't say anything.

Theres one picture of him climbing a fence like a pro because you both decided to sneak into the universities tennis court so he can drunkenly show you his tennis skills at 3am.

You got treats for Connie’s cat who literally has no name so everyone has different names they call him. Yours is Captain grump.

The dandelion is from Sasha cause she wanted your sandwich and she offered to trade with you. Obviously not a fair trade but you love her so you did it anyways.

Sasha

Cute and weird wallet phone case is really her vibe

Does not use the case as a wallet tho

Collects random rocks she thinks look like candy. The first time she encountered one she ate it... seriously, Jean had to take her to the doctor to make sure she's ok.

Always has food... ALWAYS

Messy make up bag but she always has a hair tie

Has a switch so she can game with the bois during break

When you and her get annoyed at their bickering over the games you just end up playing animal crossing together. Sasha always steals fruit from your island

Pranked you once by stealing ALL the fruit from your trees

Takes notes on her ipad and unexpectedly has really neat well taken aesthetic notes

A game boy for when she sneakily plays while on shift at Levi's shop

Majors in psychology, and wants to become a child therapist

On the University archery team, she's actually a archery prodigy and was offered a scholarship for it like Mikasa

Roommates with Connie and Jean

Connie

Actually rents a locker cause he does not fuck with back packs

If he needs to carry stuff he puts on his cross body fanny pack

What he can carry in his fanny pack: vape, adhd meds, gameboy, snack for his cat, polaroids he cherishes, a pencil and eraser, peice of gum, keys to his apartment and some cash, lastly his ipod and phone.

Keeps his switch in his locker till he goes home

Has a 6 month old drink in his locker he doesnt care to take out

Keeps textbooks and notebooks in his locker also but carries around one notebook while going to classes which is a bad idea cause he keeps losing them.

Thankfully he has permission to record his lectures so he keeps some notebooks in his apartment

Found a four leaf clover and i'm convinced this is why he hasn't accidentally flunked out cause hes so forgetful about everything. *cries* my poor child

Actually has good grades

Majors in psychology with sasha and bertolot and peick

Jean

Has a pink phone cause he likes rose gold

Says he doesnt believe in wallets but really doesnt have one cause the one he truly wants is like more than 1k

Has the same key chain as Mikasa cause they went to buy it together. Awe... SIKE bb is delusional cause it's more like everyone went as a group and he just got the same one she did ahhaha

Also gets the same brand of mints as Mikasa so he can start a conversation.

Keeps seashells armin gave him as well ( not cause mikasa does it but cause he loves armin also )

Keeps cat treats for Connies cat who he calls snuggles 😳. He will NOT say it in front of anyone but snuggles

Got a blue and red switch so he wouldn't match Eren's switch, cause gawd forbid they match like the besties THEY ARE.

Secretly has reading glasses but refuses to wear them near Mikasa cause he is self conscious about how he looks in them

Is a majoring in poli-sci and is hoping to go to law school - thinks of levi as his mentor and asks lots of questions when levi pops by the tea shop.

Jean stops by the shop a lot because he is visiting (stalking 👀) Mikasa and "studying".

Can surprisingly cook well so he cooks dinner most of the time for Sasha and Connie

His mom gave him that hanker chief. Secretly a mamas boy so he treasures anything she gives him 🤧😊

Marco

Got the phone case as a prize at the seaside city festival but has grown to really like it so he refuses to change it. Boi is emotionally attached like don't even touch it or breathe near it.

Unlike jean he actually doesnt believe in wallets - he gave zero reason’s

Has reading glasses and wears them often - they're actually full time glasses but he doesn't realize it. Jeans tried to tell him but Marcos too sweet he doesn't wanna upset him that he needs to wear them always. They hurt Marco's nose.

Journals every detail of his day

Photography major

Carries around polaroids of his closest friends

Only can finish half his food cause hes a really light eater (pls don't come for me cause of this joke)

Sasha gave him those rocks and he claims he forgot to clean them out but really he treasures them

Historia

Does not fuck with air pods or any ear phones cause they hurt her ears, she will blast her music and everyone lets her

Bought another matching hankerchief as Mikasa cause Armin committed theft and stole the other one. She holds a grudge secretly.

Loves green tea in all forms so she's a regular at the shop

Ymir won her the lil plush at the seasode city festival cause she thought it looked like historia

Journals religiously to the point she cant hear anyone else when shes deep in journal heaven

A history major who doesnt really know what shes gonna do after undergrad school

Thinks she might go to law school or grad school and become a professor

If you ask anyone else what she should do the answers would vary from “marry me” to “model or become famous”

Unknowingly she is one of the campus it girls

Sorry boys but shes a BISEXUAL QUEEN in a relationship with a woman - broke many boys hearts when her and Ymir were caught kissing during the university end of year party

The boys are still simping

Takes all her notes on her ipad and at first she tried to be aesthetic like Sasha but got bored and now just takes neat notes.

Has had Erwin as her prof a couple times and at first it was hard to pretend she didn't know him on a deeper level (her friend's boss who they sometimes party with)

Ymir

Not a uni student

She joined a cruise when everyone was in their first year of uni as a singer/performer

Hopes to become a movie director and music producer

For now works at zekes music studio as an intern

Has an old ass carrot 🥕 in her car but cant find it and doesnt know where the smell is coming from

Her and historia have to drive with the windows down because of the smell

Vapes pretty religiously

Her and Eren are surprisingly really close. They love pranking Zeke and Eren takes all the blame when they get caught cause Zeke can never be mad at his precious baby brother 💀

Loves making juice, especially the aesthetically pleasing ones she sees on tik tok when she's on historias phone

Isn't upper middle class unlike most of the 104 so she only has a flip phone and ipod so she can listen to music ~illegally~

Was able to buy a switch off Zeke for a low price cause it wasn't the colour he wanted so he was practically giving it away (rich man tingz 👀🏃‍♀️)

Now she games with the boiiis and WINS 😎

If you read it all I love you have a cookie 🍪 , forehead kiss and a good day!

[littlemisslipbalm]

“you make me so angry sometimes”

idk if this gif makes sense, but i feel like it will if you read the story, it just gives me that vibe. 

A one shot I cooked up idk, it’s about Harry and a makeup artist on DWD, it’s quite angsty, idk how that happened, it’s also very long, idk how that happened either, maybe i do a part 2, maybe i don’t idk lmk. Feedback is appreciated, not proofread. REBLOGS help writers tremendously and i love reading whatever you write in the tags its my favorite thing!! Love yall and Merry Christmas!

Word Count: 17.7k | Warnings: ENEMIES to LOVERS! swearing, angst!, some anxiety -like self-doubt, yn being mean to harry kind of a lot, i dont remember, nothing too crazy, Nick Kroll?, lots of conversation

-

When she pictured herself as a makeup artist in Los Angeles, she hadn’t pictured exactly what she was doing right now.

She had expected doing gorgeous makeup for gorgeous actresses or doing wildly fun stuff like in Euphoria. And because of that she had worked her ass off to get where she was today. She had practiced for hours, worked countless hours for free, and networked to the cows came fucking home.

So why the fuck was she using tattoo-strength concealer to cover up the maybe 60 tattoos some asshole musician turned actor had all over?

Don’t Worry Darling was her first major film to work on so she couldn’t complain. She was happy to simply be there. Well she had been. The first day she had showed up 15 minutes early and had worn her favorite power suit she had. It was dark navy with a white lace long sleeve turtleneck underneath. She hoped to look fun but professional.

Hollywood was all about impressions, especially first ones, even when you’re the makeup artist. She had quickly learned that she was one of six makeup artists. One of them being the friend who had helped her get the job, Angie. Angie was like her surrogate mother in Los Angeles that she had met on her first film job for something much less high profile than Olivia Wilde’s second directing project. Her braided grey hair and fabulous jeans had drawn Y/N right in and they had connected instantly.

Since Y/N was deemed the most inexperienced by the head of the makeup department, she was relegated to easier jobs: assisting the other artists on main characters sometimes, mostly dealing with minor characters touch ups (and full make-up if she was lucky), and the job nobody wanted: tattoo coverage.

Harry Styles was one of the leads for the film and besides his minimal acting, everyone knew he was a worldwide rockstar. With the rock and roll life starting off as a popstar life at the ripe age of 16, he had amassed around 60 tattoos in the past decade. Impressive by her standard normally. She usually counted herself as an appreciator of tattoos and their art, finding them similar to makeup and the self expression that came with both forms. Especially since she had a few of her own, but when she walked into Trailer #6 and saw a good amount of Harry’s tattoos, she wanted to murder every artist he’d ever been to.

She had to make an inventory the first day of all of his visible tattoos when he was just wearing boxers. He had been friendly, trying to make conversation, but as the time wore on, they both grew tired and silent. She had to write down the location and a description of every tattoo and as he took off everything but boxers she grew more and more annoyed with his random and dumb tattoos. Some of them were amazing, the eagle, the anchor, the butterfly, and the ferns were probably her favorites. But some of them, she couldn't hold back her rolling eyes and annoyed expressions. The “Big” on his right big toe, a miniscule lock, almost everything on his inner left arm (the packers logo, Pingu, etc.)

She traces at the rose and the ship and then flips his arm out to reveal his inner arm to her gaze. “That is a big fucking bee.”

He snickers, “Y’like it?”

She ignores his question. “For god’s sake, someone is needle happy,” she said as she examined his left arm, taking note of every permanent drawing.

He shrugs his right shoulder, uninhibited by her prodding. “Dunno, beginning to regret some of them.”

“I would hope,” she mutters, scribbling on her paper the various ones she had just seen on his arm. Next was his ribcage ones.

He scoffs, “Oi, it’s not like you haven’t got any.”

“How would you-” She looks at him wide eyed.

“Right…” he takes his right hand and pushes her hair past her ear to reveal three little red line butterflies following the curve of her ear, “There. At least.”

She huffs and knocks his hand away from her. Her hair falling back into its place.

“Maybe some located in a few more intimate places I’m guessing from the red rushing to your cheeks right now.”

“Can you just let me do my job,” she says, not giving in to his teasing or sparing him a glance as she feels his intense gaze on her face. She was studying his left rib cage where a few cool tattoos happened to be.

“You at least have some taste or persuasive artists because not all of these are shit,” she speaks again after just the sound of her pen on the paper filled the trailer.

“Gee, thanks,” he laughs unamused and rolls his large green eyes.

She thought he had some of the biggest eyes she’d ever seen. But she also knew to keep that to herself because he’d either take it as a compliment and think she was noticing him too much or he’d take it as a massive insult and get her fired.

His right hand taps at his thigh, tapping a rhythm she didn’t care to pay any attention too. She just wanted to finish the stupid inventory of the stupid tattoos on this stupid man.

“Take those off,” she says to Harry, looking back at her clipboard again, filling up quickly with her notes.

He stands there, staring at her stubbornly. He was entirely bored with this exercise, especially since his company was some of the worst he’s ever had. She spares him a glance when she doesn’t notice any slipping off of the colorful sweatpants he’s wearing.

She arches a brow at him, her pen tapping impatiently against the paper. “Go on. Can’t imagine you want this to go on longer than it already has.”

He rolls his eyes again, slipping his thumbs into the waistline of the pants and tugging down. Simultaneously, he toes off the dirty vans he seemed to wear everywhere. The fabric pools easily and he steps out of them and discards them on the couch behind him. He’s actually wearing black briefs. She chooses not to notice anything further than that.

“Socks...can stay on,” She tries to say as he begins to peel one off. He stops midway and nods.

She flings his shirt to him, not needing to see his naked torso for another moment, “I know you’ve got some feet and ankle tats, but I also know that you won’t be wearing anything that will expose them. Thank your lucky stars that I don’t have to makeup your feet.”

He catches the shirt easily and slips his arms inside before tugging it quickly over his head and over his expansive shoulders. The ferns disappear out of sight.

“Well then we’re almost done then. Just got the knee ones -”

“And the tiger. That’s gonna be one son of a bitch,” she sighs and examines his legs, not bothering to crouch.

“What the actual fuck dude?” Her tone is exasperate and like she would rather be anywhere else than here.

“I’m sorry?” He sputters, hands on his hips and eyes bewildered.

“Yes. No. Oui. Non. Who are you?” She rubs at her eyes and shakers her head.

“S’a little rude.”

“You’re right,” she semi-rushes out at his serious tone, ready to apologize. When a grin spreads over his face and he chuckles under his breath she really wants to smack him upside the head. He was exhausting. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Thought it was funny at the time. Kind of think it’s even funnier now since it’s got you all mad.” He leans over her shoulder to look at her notes and when she glances at him unhappily he just looks smug.

“Alright,” she finishes the scribble of a description and clicks the end of her pen, “All done. You can get dressed. I’ll see you bright and early for tattoo makeup. It’s gonna take about an hour to do all this, just so you can mentally prepare for that.”

“It was nice to meet you,” he attempts at a friendly and professional farewell. “See you tomorrow…” he trails off as he watches her turn on her heel and walk out of the trailer door swiftly. The door swung shut and bounced a little bit in her wake.

Harry sighed and adjusted his clothes and hair in the mirror. After a moment he shakes his head, an even louder sigh escaping him.

-

“Good morning!” She greets happily, walking into the trailer without a knock. Well-rested and happy at least that she doesn’t have to just inspect a body, she looks around the trailer.

She realizes no one is there and she’s taken aback. First of all, if Harry wasn’t there then he shouldn’t have left his trailer unlocked. And second, he was fucking late, the fucking twat.

She grumbles, setting her coffee on the countertop. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “In through the nose, out through the mouth” she mutters. She knew this was a big opportunity and having a big star like Harry in her corner could make her career. She needed them to get off on a better foot today.

“Good form, I’d say relax the shoulders a little more,” the door swings open carrying the California twang-British accent that she would soon become all too accustomed to.

Harry points at her shoulders and narrows his eyes regarding her in the trailer. She offers a strained smile through the mirror and Harry sets down his personal things on the couch.  

“Alright, well let’s get started shall we,” she smiles and turns to him, gesturing to the swivel chair next to her.

He nods, a twinkle in his eye as he regards her. He’s unsure of the tone and attitude she’s giving him today. She had been feisty yesterday, cordial at times, but mostly biting and witty. He had liked it. It had made the whole ordeal bearable whereas now she seemed to be laying it on a little thick.

“Just your hands and neck today,” she says, pulling out the makeup materials needed and a checklist of the tattoos she needed to make sure were invisible.

“Should only take..a little under an hour today. Just gonna remind you now though, other days we won’t be so lucky.”

Harry chuckles under his breath and rolls his head around his shoulders before sitting in the chair. “Were you tired yesterday?” He inquires.

“Why do you ask?” She throws a glance over her shoulder at Harry. He’s begun slipping off his sweatshirt and yawns as he does it.

“You seem different from yesterday and I’m just wondering which one is the real you.”

She continues working about the room and rolls her eyes to herself, “I’m always the real me. I come no other way, but this morning I woke up and thought ‘this is the job you’ve fucking wanted for ages, so stop being such a bitch so you don’t get fired, you prick’.” She pauses and turns to face Harry. “The ‘you prick’ was directed at me, that was still part of my thought,” she adds.

He throws his head back and laughs. Then he nods, still laughing lightly, “I get that. Sometimes I’m just so in my head and yesterday I was just so fuckin’ bored. Sorry if I got on your nerves.”

“Don’t mention it.” She waves her hand at him nonchalantly.  

Then she moves to inspect his hands and notices the lack of rings, unlike yesterday when she had to make him take them off.

“You have amazing cuticles,” she notices and mentions without any pretences. Harry mutters his thanks, pursing his lips as he watches her work.

She stops her inspection and places the clipboard on the countertop in front of them.

“Could you take your necklaces off? I need to cover up half of the swallows and the years, for when you unbutton your shirt a bit.”

He wets his lips and nods, hands going to fiddle with the clasps behind his neck. He slips off one of the necklaces with ease, a yellow eye beaded necklace that he lays gently on the countertop next to the clipboard. Then he takes his cross and pulls it over his head, no clasp needed.

“Could I put some music on?” Harry asks after five minutes of Y/N working in silence and Harry only being able to stare either at himself, her work, or nowhere.

“I can,” she stops her work for a moment, “Can’t have you messing up the makeup before it sets. Otherwise I’d have to kill you.” Harry can’t be sure if she’s joking or not. Therefore, he was intent on not messing it up.

“Any requests?” She stands at the counter now, instead of seated on a stool working on Harry's left hand.

He shrugs, like he hasn’t got the faintest idea about good music. She refrains from rolling her eyes once again because she feels herself in a test. She wets her lips, sifting through different things in her Spotify and then lands on her playlist titled “it’s your song” named after Elton John’s song. It had some other musicians, a mix of Queen, Bowie, and more and she was sure she would pass the test.

She presses shuffle and She’s Always A Woman by Billy Joel begins to play over her laptop. Harry nods pleased and she wants to shake her head at him.

She can’t hold back the scoff though after a moment of going back to finishing his hand.

“What?” His British accent thickens with his annoyance growing.

“Nothing,” she chirps, intently putting the final touches on his wrist.

“Seriously. What?”

She stands and sets down the makeup. “Can you unbutton your shirt?” She made a note to herself that from now on she’d have to have him take his shirt off before setting to work because if his hands got messed up she’d have to start over. Thankfully he was already wearing a button up this morning.

He stares at her, offering no movement, just inquisitively waiting for her to respond to his original question.

She shuts her eyes, taking another deep breath and then bites at her lower lip. “It’s just...you’re so easy to read.” She fears adding anything else and moves towards him with the makeup hoping to encourage him to unbutton his shirt.  

His right hand deftly pulls at the buttons as he regards her. His eyes are intent on her, she can see him clearly calculating her. Her green paisley button up tucked up into the back of her bra leaving a splay of her stomach. The semi-balloon sleeves cinched at the wrists leading to her slightly ringed hands. The oversized blue jeans that have no holes, just a tiny patch right next to the left pocket. The frayed ends of the pants laying over her rather pristine white old skool vans.

The Boxer fades in as she waits for him to finish the unbuttoning of the shirt. He’s still staring at her.

“Am I?” He finally inquires, voice pitched higher like he doesn’t believe her.

She gives him a serious stare and leans over him and adjusts the collar of his shirt. She adds paper towels to avoid makeup on his clothes.  

“Yes!” She laughs, “And you don’t even think so, which is like...of course.”

He hums, tilting his head back as she sets to work on covering up the swallows. He wiggles his hands that now both rest on the arm chairs.

“I don’t see it.”

“Of course you don’t,” she glances at his face, their eyes meeting for a moment. “You’re Harry Styles. Everyone is in love with this image you created for yourself and it has just enough of your true self that people feel like they really know you, but you also maintain the illusion. So you think you’re this mysteriously amazing, not like the rest guy, but you are just like the rest of them. Obsessed with yourself and rich so you’re deemed eccentric rather than crazy for all the extravagant shit you do. So when you want me to play music and don’t offer any suggestions I know exactly what music I need to play for you to like me.”

“I feel like that last part says more about you than it does me,” he quirks a brow at her, straining his neck to look at her face as she continues to work.

She flushes, his response both better and worse than she expected. She had gotten a little carried away in her response and she had no idea why. She truly wasn’t one to go off on people so easily and especially not with someone she hardly knew, but something about Harry had her on edge. She was just thankful he hadn’t gotten mad at her response, instead he took it in stride. Further proving her point that he was extremely smart and did things purposefully and she saw right through it all.

She grumbles, “It says that all anyone has to do to get close to you is understand the smallest bit about you and you’ll let them in.”

“That is just so completely wrong, Y/N, I hate to break it to you.” It’s Harry rolling his eyes now, unable to move much more of his body as she continues painting on the concealer to remove his tattoos for the movie.

“Fine. Enlighten me on what I got wrong.”

Their argument had all but drowned out their music. They both did love this music and ironically if they would just shut their mouths, they’d probably like each other a lot more.

“Might as well,” he sighs. “First of all, my image is authentic and of course I don’t want to give myself all away. I enjoy my privacy and for everyone to truly know me I’d have to give that up. Which I’m not keen on. So, I regret to inform you but I am the same guy everyone is “in love with”. Second, I know I am a little self-involved, how else would I get here if I wasn’t constantly taking inventory of myself and reevaluating who I am. As a musician, I want to give as much of myself as possible or else it just feels inauthentic. And the extravagant thing, I can’t help that I like nice things and my job has allowed me to afford those things.”

He stops to take a deep breath and she’s working in stunned silence, in disbelief that Harry is even telling her any of this or that he’s spoken that much and so quickly. Wasn’t he notorious for speaking slowly with barely even a sentence worth of actual information. He sounds tired and frustrated, but also, surprisingly, sincere.

He continues, “The music thing. Maybe it was a test, but still it doesn’t mean I give everyone a mile when they say their favorite musicians match up with mine or something. I note that they either did their homework or might be an interesting person to get to know.”

“So which am I?” She widens her eyes.

“Obviously the second even if you’re also making it painfully clear that you don’t like me.”

“You’re smarter than I thought, Harry. I’ll give you that,” she smirks slyly, finishing up the bird coverage now.

He laughs. “Thanks,” he drawls out.

“And I admit that maybe you aren’t as easy to read as I made out, but I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree about the whole being your authentic self. I just don’t buy it. I can see your mind working constantly, you’re not one to just let yourself be free in public. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I’m just saying, you shouldn’t pretend like that’s not what you’re doing.”

Her final thought leaves Harry silent. She pays no attention to his silence or at least she’s actively ignoring it. Instead she tunes back into the music that had gotten them back onto the wrong foot. This was going to be a long few months.

When she’s satisfied with her work, she has them sit there for thirty minutes to give it all time to set before Harry is off to hair and other makeup. They sit there listening to music. Neither of them have spoken again, except instructions from her and Harry’s hums of approval of songs.  

Harry stands up after thirty minutes as she stays behind to pack up some items. Just as he’s about to step out of the door, he turns and calls her name.

“For the record, I don’t think you’re giving me a fair shot. You said yourself that you’re different every day. That every version of you, is you. So I hope you’ll give me the same allowance, every version of me is me. In this trailer, in my music videos, on tv, in interviews, in my free time. It’s all truly me.”

She bites her inner cheek as he ducks his head and exits the trailer, not allowing her any response.

-

“You’re late!”

“Meeting ran over with Nick and Olivia. Sorry,” Harry says as he begins to undress.

It’s the first day she has to cover all of his tattoos. It was going to take forever by all accounts. It had been two weeks since shooting had begun and she had gotten the simple hands and neck down to 45 minutes so she could only dread what his entire body would take.

“It’s fine,” she grumbles, knowing there wasn’t really anything else she could say about him coming late from a meeting with the director and producer.

Over the last two weeks, they hadn’t grown any fonder of one another. Not at all. They at least had gotten into a system though and she was grateful for that at least.

They showed up, Harry got in his chair, she set up the music, and they got to work. Harry would practice lines on some days and he’d tell her that before she turned on the music so there were no interruptions. Sometimes they talked about stuff on set or music or she’d give Harry his line when he was trying to be off script and forgot one. She wouldn’t classify it as pleasant, but they weren’t at each other throats like they were originally.

Trailer 6 had gotten a little homier as the weeks went by, too. Harry began leaving some of his stuff there and he started putting up silly drawings he would make while on set or polaroids people had taken with him while he was there. He tacked up napkins of restaurants that catered the set and wrote funny jokes and quotes on post it notes. His personal assistants sometimes brought in snacks while Y/N was still working and Harry always offered her some. They were usually healthy, but sometimes she’d eat some. Jeff, his manager, had also stopped by on occasion during his tattoo touch-ups that had become a thing after shooting days had grown longer.

On first meeting, Jeff had said, “Y/N? Harry mentioned you.”

She had turned to Harry with an arched brow and he had shrugged. When she looked back at Jeff she didn’t see Harry give Jeff one of the deadliest looks he could muster. She had grimaced and said “Well we spend enough time together for him to know my name. So thank god for that at least.”

They had all laughed and she had gotten back to work on Harry’s wrist.

Today, she needed Harry in his shorts. It was the first day of shooting where his character would be only in his boxers so she had to cover up all his visible tattoos. Olivia had told the makeup department they actually had to cover up his feet tattoos as well. She wanted him sockless in the scene and Y/N had groaned immediately when she made it to the trailer and Harry wasn’t already there.

“But please, for the sake of my job, strip, dude.” She says, arms crossed over her chest and leaning against the counter as she watched Harry set his things down. Her soft green striped cardigan is open, exposing the white tank top sitting underneath. Her bright green shorts hang loose on her, cinched at the waist and folded over once. Her white high top nike’s tap impatiently on the floor, waiting for Harry to get moving.

He nodded, truly feeling sorry for his tardiness, knowing today was a long day. He was anxious and tired. Acting was a different experience to music and he just was really trying his best.

As he began to take off his shirt, he laughed. His arms pulled the shirt over his head and when it popped out from beneath it, he repeated, “Strip, dude,” attempting to mimic her American accent.

He had practiced his American accent in front of her while running lines, but it had a 50’s drawl to it. His acting coach had been drilling him for weeks before shooting and he still liked to practice. The accent he had just down was far off from that and far off from hers too.

“Do not,” she warned.

“What?” He asks innocently and flutters his eyelashes.

She knows his game by now and she knows she should just ignore him. She knows this after fourteen days. She knows this after hours with him. She knows this, but then she’s opening her mouth and playing into his teases.

“Sorry, what’s a word you would know? Mate?” She tries for a British accent with the last word, knowing she can’t win this.

Harry snickers and scratches at his nose with his index finger before starting on taking off his pants. “You’re so Californian.”

“Thank you,” she chirps, moving to sit beside him now that he had settled.

“I like your shorts,” he muses, crossing his legs, likely a little cold.

She glances down at her cotton shorts that showed more of her thighs when she sat for a moment before returning her gaze to his left arm. The longest task of the day was this damn arm.

“Thanks,” she mumbles, “Wanted to be comfortable today. Knew it was gonna be long.”

A smile bubbles onto his face, his pink lips parting to reveal his shiny white teeth behind them. “So true.”

The music is low today. She had chosen Joni Mitchel’s Blue album for the first pick of the day. She had quickly learned Harry preferred listening to albums in order. It tended to make him less jumpy when the same artist came on multiple times like an album. So when she tried to play just an album one day, she found him more cooperative and less irritable.

After thirty minutes of work, she can’t stop noticing how shivery Harry is. It was late October in LA, so it was still warm, but admittedly the mornings could be a little chilly. His shivering was concerning for many reasons. Mainly he was messing up her work and concentration, but she also didn’t want him to get sick or something.

“Do you want me to see if they have a blanket and slippers or something? You look like you’re turning blue.”

Harry turns his attention to her. He had been reading over the script for today again. “That’d be great. I can call…” He trails off trying to think of the name of one of his assistants, but apparently he’s too scatterbrained for it. She assumed it was the hypothermia traveling to his brain already.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll walkie someone.” She says as she grabs the walkie talkie, flicking to the personal assistants channel.

“Hey,” she chirps happily. Harry noted how she talked to other people. So sweet, yet sincere. With him, it was serious and sincere but more biting, callous at times. Less so lately, but she definitely was sharper with him. He didn’t know if it even bothered him anymore. She was engaging if nothing else.

“Is someone free to bring two blankets and men’s slippers over to Trailer 6? I’ve got a naked Jack and I don’t want him freezing before I’m done covering up his tattoos.” She takes her finger off the talking button and glances sideways at him, “Who knows, maybe that would improve his acting. Y’know on second-thought-”

“Alright, alright,” Harry tries to grab for the walkie talkie, but she turns from him holding a finger up signalling him to wait as she listens for a response.

Someone says a simple “On it” and she turns off the walkie talkie and gets back to work.

“I took my finger off the speaker before I said the thing about your acting. Relax, Harry.” She says when he’s still glaring at her. “Just love to see you squirm.”

He shakes out his short chestnut hair, some of it falling over his forehead. Instinctively, she reaches up without even looking and smooths it back. Like she was tucking her own hair out of her eyes, but instead it was Harry’s. She decided to say nothing and was relieved when Harry didn’t say anything either.

She finishes his forearm and moves to his outer upper arm. The rose holds her attention when the PA knocks on the door and she has to race to get it. Nothing could stop her from moving on this work. It was already an hour in and she wanted to scream.

She swings open the door and she wants to die. It was Autumn. Her least favorite PA, of course. She was insufferable and obsessed with Harry. Which was not why Y/N found Autumn insufferable. There were so many more reasons. So many. But that particular character flaw didn’t help her case either. Y/N tried to just take the blankets and slippers from Autumn, but the woman insisted that she come in.

“I’ve got it,” Y/N says.

“No, don’t want you to get makeup on anything,” Autumn’s saccharine voice grinds at her ears and she contemplates cutting them off.

Harry sat in his chair, legs crossed, nodding along to the music, his script discarded on the counter in front of him.

“Hi Harry!” Autumn practically yells, walking right up to him.

Y/N takes a deep breath at the door, letting it swing shut. She bites her lower lip as an attempt to bite her tongue as she walks back to her set-up. The set-up Autumn was conveniently blocking.

“Hello, Autumn,” Harry says kindly, making eye contact with her. “How’re you today?”

“So great! So great! Thanks for asking. How are you?” She points a finger at him like she might poke him and Harry squirms away from her a bit. She, of course, doesn’t notice this.

“Well, thanks.” His eyes flicker to Y/N, who is standing behind Autumn, hands on her hips and attempting not to tap her foot. His tone is clearly dismissive, but Autumn must ignore it. Y/N knows Autumn isn’t as helpless as she tries to come off.

Autumn asks, “Where do you want these?”, gesturing to the two blankets and slippers stacked on top.

“Just on the counter is fine, thanks,” Harry says.

Autumn does as he says and then stands there with baited breath. Y/N’s not sure what she’s expecting. For Harry to ask for her hand in marriage or something? But he just glances between the two women. His own foot begins wiggling in impatience.

“Busy day,” He attempts at dismissing her once again - with kindness.

“Oh my gosh, totally!” Autumn gushes, starting to go off on all of the tasks she has to do. She stands so close to Harry, Y/N genuinely thinks she’s going to sit in his lap. Y/N stares up to the ceiling, begging god or whoever to end her misery right there and then.

Harry sees Y/N’s expression and tries to maintain the neutral expression he’s had for the entirely too long interaction. A smile threatens at his rosey lips that had chapped from the morning air.

“Right, well,” he cuts off Autumn, “Y/N needs to get back to tattoo coverage, I think. So...have a nice day.”

Autumn’s eyes widen like she forgot that there was anyone else in the room and steps back from Harry. Y/N nods, a grimace clear on her face. Autumn gives her the same small she used to get from the popular girls in high school when she happened to be talking to their cool guy friend that they wanted to be more than friends with. Sickeningly sweet and completely fake. She could see the contempt in Autumn’s eyes that swirled just beneath the surface of her perfectly outlined green-ish eyes.

“Okay! You too, Harry!” She begins walking to the door and Y/N takes her seat again, closing her eyes and counting to ten. “And Y/N,” Autumn adds as an afterthought.

“Oh my fucking god,” Y/N sighs, her hands going to rub over her face and through her hair. “That was exhausting. Jesus Christ.”

“What? She’s nice. Maybe a little clueless,” Harry counters. “But she was so nice,” he confirms again, seemingly trying to convince himself of it as well.  

She grabs the slippers and slips them on the ground so Harry can put them on easily. Then one of the blankets that she drapes over Harry’s bottom half. He smiles at the gesture, a ‘thank you’ said in a whisper.

“Please, she knows what she’s doing,” Y/N scoffs, “And she’s obsessed with you!” She grabs the concealer to get back to work, “She was all over you and never took her eyes off of your body. It was like she wanted to touch you or something. It was icky.”

“You touch me,” Harry adds cheekily, adjusting beneath the warm blanket.

She laughs, a smile gracing her lips as she gives Harry a look. He was clever.

“It’s my job to touch you, Harry.”

Harry had really tried to not laugh, but it was just so funny. They both snicker, their eyes meeting for a moment longer than usual.

“Speaking of my job,” she adds after controlling her laughter, “Does she not realize just how long it takes to cover all of your bloody tattoos with this shit to make it look like you’re a pristine skinned 50’s psycho killer?”

She finishes the rose coverup and moves to the ship. Harry nods solemnly.

“It’s true...And it doesn’t help that you’re terrible at it, so it takes a thousand years longer than it should.” He adds, laughter overtaking his serious tone at the end.

“Oh my god!” She shrieks in delight, trying not to mess up her work, “That is so rude! I messed up one time - mostly because of you, by the way. And give me a break, this is so not what I thought I’d be doing as a makeup artist for movies.”

He nods again, muttering “Fair, fair.”

They grow silent, enjoying Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the album that she had queued after Joni’s.

“The body thing, I just learned to ignore it, I think.” Harry mutters, eventually, but it’s thoughtless, like he’s not revealing anything about himself with the statement. But it kind of shocks her. Her eyes widen and she stops her work to stare at his face.

“Harry,” she waits till his eyes meet hers, “That’s, like, not normal. Are you serious?”

“I mean, I’m very comfortable with my body, like I haven’t minded the last 45 minutes of sitting practically nude in front of you. And I have plenty of revealing photos out in the world. I just don’t notice staring anymore, it’s not, I don’t think it’s what you’re thinking,” he tries to reassure her. His eyes are intent on hers, full of seriousness that hadn’t been there a few moments ago.

“It’s one thing to be comfortable in your skin and another to be desensitized to objectification,” she insists.

He nods. “I know. Thank you. I would let you know if what she had done had bothered me, so don’t worry. I felt completely safe the whole time.”

“Good,” she nods back and concentrates again. “Good,” she repeats once more under her breath. There had been way too many distractions already today and she wasn’t even done with his arm yet.

As she continues to work up his arm, Harry sings along to some of the songs on Elton’s album. He happily taps his feet to the different beats, now safely tucked in soft fluffy slippers. She would never admit just how amazing it is to be in the same room as Harry’s singing. It was truly special to be less than a foot from him and hear him sing just under the unique voice of Elton - who was someone he actually knew, which was equally as cool.

He hit every note and knew every word. She was impressed. How could she not be when a literal rockstar sat before her? This was the first time she was truly starstruck by her charge, Mr. Harry Styles.

By two hours, they had moved onto an album by Dolly Parton and they were both singing. They strangely had no fights today, maybe some snarky comments from both of them, but no outright mean-spirited words were exchanged.

She stood in front of Harry, finishing up the swallows. She had finished both arms and the birds, all she had left was moving down his body. Up next, the butterfly.

“I love this tattoo,” she mumbles, twisting Harry’s standing body to face her and taking her seat again. This left her eye to eye with the butterfly on his stomach.

He makes a surprised face and raises his recently plucked eyebrow at his counterpart. “Oh really?”

“Don’t act so surprised. I told you day one that not all of them are rubbish and honestly they’re all pretty cool. I just was so annoyed that I had gotten tattoo coverage as my job and then I had to go and index them all.” She flicks her eyes up to his sculpted face and sees he’s watching her work. “Plus, I have some butterflies of my own, remember?” She grins.

“Yeah,” he ponders her words, “I don’t think that’d put me in a good mood either.”

He pauses again and she continues to work silently.

“So what’s your excuse for the second day then?”

“You provoked me,” she doesn’t spare him a glance, shrugging like it was the simplest answer in the world.

“Pardon?”

“Let’s not go down this road again, Harry.” She sighs, smoothing over the freshly covered butterfly tattoo. His sternum looked so naked, it was unnerving. Now the ferns.

Harry involuntarily shivered when her fingers traced over the ferns lightly, taking note of the expanse of skin she’d have to cover.

“You’re right,” he agrees, “But agree to disagree on the provocation.”

“Sure,” she says curtly, focusing on his skin and her job.

The expanse of skin that the ferns inhabited was slightly fleshy and especially soft. It bordered where his boxers began and she ignored that part of his body completely. It was of no importance to her and she really had no issue blocking it from her vision, even when it was right in front of her. She finishes one fern with Harry jumping only twice from her cold hands. He couldn’t put his robe on until the makeup had all set for half an hour so he’d have to be cold for possibly another hour still.

She traces the fern that is still visible and Harry shivers. She instinctively shushes him softly and his body quiets. As she works, her hair splays around her shoulders and Harry looks down at her working and doesn’t realize what his hand is doing until it’s too late. His right hand runs over her hair, smoothing it out of her face. It was rarely ever down, so it must have been the novelty of it.

“Sorry, I-” he chokes out when he jerks his hand back.

She sits back, slightly taken aback. Her body flushes just from their positioning and what a hair caress would mean normally in this position, but she’s a professional and she shakes it off.

“It’s fine. We’re even.” She assures him, breaking eye contact with his own wide eyes. “Seems like we’re both hair touchers.”

“It’s just so soothing,” Harry muses. “I think it’s human instinct to touch other people’s hair since it’s so enjoyable for yourself.”

“Possibly,” her voice raises, his thought was definitely plausible. Or maybe they were just two touch starved people who were very much in each other’s personal space 24/7.

At the two and a half hour marker, she gets a walkie message from Olivia’s assistant asking when they’d be done. She had just finished the tiger tattoo, which had been surprisingly easy. It took a while, but Harry didn’t shiver once and neither of them pet each other’s hair.

“Probably 40 minutes, sorry. He has a lot of tattoos and the makeup needs to set.” She says seriously and gets back to work, barely regarding the response of “Yeah it’s fine, just wanted an estimate”.

“Jesus,” Harry moans as she covers up his knee tattoos.

She groans in veiled disgust, “Did I just hit a secret erogenous zone? Is that why you have ‘oui’ there, you creep?” There’s a teasing tone behind the nickname she uses.

Harry laughs and runs his hand over his face, pulling at his jaw and lower lip. His jaw is so sharp, she watches him adjust it. “No, no. I’m just so goddamn tired of this.”

“And it’s not your fault,” he adds, feeling bad immediately after he said it. “It’s actually been nice today, but I’m feeling antsy, like I need to move. I don’t like to sit still.”

“I know,” she says under her breath. She simply nods in agreement.

Finally, the tattoos are all covered up and set. They had talked about George Michael when she got to his ankle tattoos that she hadn’t seen before and they laugh about the tattoos and chat a bit more. She helps him slip on his robe that he keeps in his closet in the trailer and then follows him out of it. They had decided they were hungry and he had been pushed back an hour since he had taken so long, so he had a free half-hour.

As they walked to craft services, they talked about actual things besides work. She was pleasantly surprised by what Harry talked about. It was more than music or the movie. It was the tv show he was currently obsessed with and how he hated LA’s traffic the most out of all of his dislikes for the city. She couldn’t help but grin at his Los Angeles slander. She loved this side of him.

-

Breakfast together after finishing his tattoo coverage became their regular thing. He would come into the trailer, racing from his morning meeting accompanied with tea for two, they’d get his tattoos covered as quickly as possible, and then they’d eat together.

They’d save their “in-depth” chats for breakfast. In early November, he joked about No Nut November and insisted he really wouldn’t have a problem with it - which had made her laugh. They worried together over the U.S. presidential election and meditated together in his trailer to Fleetwood Mac.

Around late November, Harry had requested that Y/N just do his face makeup as well, just to simplify his life a little more and the department had agreed easily. She had to spend extra time on set getting lectured on how to properly do Harry’s makeup, but after two days she stopped getting notes about it. She was so extremely proud and thankful to Harry for doing that.

All he said was: “I mean, you’re extremely talented so I’m not scared of you fucking up my face. Plus, it does make my life easier. Two birds with one stone.”

In late November, he told her about his favorite holiday drinks at Starbucks and what he was getting his mother for Christmas.

When the Vogue cover came out, he laughed over that woman who responded to his cover saying the world needed to bring back manly men. He joked that he was going to really push that from now on, that he was a manly man, and he would sputter with laughter every time he tried to say it with a straight face.

He hand delivered her a special ‘Treat People With Kindness’ sweatshirt that he only had for the cast and crew of the film. Most everyone got them from a PA, but Harry decided since you saw him first in the morning, why not.

He told her about him winning Hitmaker of the Year from Variety when he had left the award sitting in Trailer 6 and about how weird it was to film acceptance speeches in an empty room. His smile had lit up the entire set that day and the day he did his interview on set. He was so smiley she had to bump him with her elbow because he wouldn’t stop smiling at her and it was unnerving.

“Stop that,” She muttered.

“Stop what?” He smiles wider.

“That!” She squeaked, her head shaking as she ducked it to regard his anchor tattoo. “You’re smiling too much.”

“Oh no,” he says sarcastically, “God forbid I be happy.”

“It’s not that,” she bumps his thigh with her elbow, trying to keep her own smile off her face, “Your face is just so intense when you smile. Feels like you’re gonna burn a hole through me.”

He laughs, completely unconvinced, “You just don’t want me to be happy is what I’m hearing.”

She rolls her eyes, “Whatever, dude.”

She saw he was serious about the ‘manly men’ references when the Variety photos came out and everyone and their mom posted the pictures with some variation of that comment as their caption.

She still found that she rolled her eyes at some of the things Harry did, but she genuinely counted him as a friend by the time December had rolled around.

Over three hours, almost always completely alone, doing work for a job you both care deeply about can really make or break a relationship. And that first full-body coverage day had made them stronger together. After that, Harry and her would banter with one another, but there was never anything intentionally cruel. Just friends giving each other shit sometimes. Harry had been right, he had changed her mind about him. And she had realized that that was who Harry was. He was a deliverer. If you didn’t like him at first, he would try and try again until you did, but he did it in a way that wasn’t weasley or anything. It was terribly genuine and she saw it in every relationship he had on set.

On several occasions she had witnessed his friendship with Nick Kroll. A man she had regarded with dislike before the film. She had quickly realized that dislike was misplaced, but she maintained that it was just because she hated adult cartoons - citing that she literally refused to be friends with any person who willingly watched the Simpsons, Family Guy, and/or American Dad and all of those similar shows.

Nick was far nicer and less weird than she had realized. So she quickly shot her friend from high school an apology text for all the Nick Kroll slander she had spouted back in the day. Her friend had rejoiced but also said how jealous she was that Y/N got to see him regularly on set.

Nick and Harry got along great. Harry generally got along better with older people, she noticed when she was introduced to his friends on the somewhat frequent occasion. Trailer 6 was where Y/N saw most of these reactions take place. She would be introduced in the first minute and then she would smile politely and get back to the work of covering up Harry’s numerous tattoos.

Harry would say something simple and Nick, the literal famous comedian, would laugh. In the beginning she’d raise a brow, confused because it truly wasn’t that funny, but as Harry’s friend now, she kept her mouth shut.

Nick would come and sit on the couch while she’d work and eventually all three of them would chat. Sometimes she would get up to go to the bathroom during those morning chats and she would look in the mirror and think to herself “How are you casually talking to these two men right now” and then she’d think “Because you are a boss ass bitch, you got this” and go back out there with a smile on her face.

“Y/N, what are you doing tonight?” Nick asked on the first Friday morning of December.

She looks up from Harry’s cross tattoo that was half covered. Harry was reading, a book casually propped in his right hand and glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He glanced at the other two in the room. Nick had been getting some work done before he had spoken.

“No plans,” she states simply before getting back to work. It wasn’t full body today, but it was arms and torso, so kind of a lot still.

“You should come over for dinner at my place with Harry,” Nick smiles kindly. His scruff was really coming in today. “To celebrate us almost wrapping the first half of the movie.”

Harry had thankfully freshly shaved before he sat down. It was her least favorite part of her new job. Whenever he came in for touch ups and she had to shave his afternoon shadow. She was terrified she’d cut him and never live it down from her department or Harry. She had no idea which would be worse.

“My wife will be there too, of course,” he adds, hoping to entice her to say yes.

Harry glances between Y/N and Nick again before focusing on his book again.

She purses her lips, finishing Harry’s hand and moving onto the anchor tattoo. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know why I’d say no. As long as I’m not intruding on the throuple,” she grins up at Harry.

He stares at her with his big green eyes, slightly obscured behind his prescription glasses. He raises his brows and wiggles them a little bit, teasingly.

Nick laughs and slyly winks at Harry through the mirror. Y/N none the wiser as she removes all traces of Harry’s tattoos.

“Great!” He claps his hands and stands up. “We’ll talk or I’ll make sure Harry gets you the info or something. I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. My wife’s been wanting to meet you,” he smiles again and walks out of the trailer.

She tilts her head at the last part. He talked about her to his wife. Did he really count her as that close of a friend? She was just a makeup artist and he was a producer… She glances at Harry and he gives away nothing. His jaw looks extra prominent and she knows it’s because he’s clenching it. He did that when he was focused or angry, remembering it bulging on the first day they met and how clenched it had been then.

“Unclench your jaw,” she mutters, “It’s not good for you.”

Harry hums and unclenches it.

He stretches his neck by rolling his head around his shoulders and she glances at the movement. His skin is still beautifully sun-kissed and his pores look so soft, only his moles change the texture of his skin. She loves his moles though, they make him especially unique in her eyes. Not that he needed anything else to set him apart from the crowd. Still, she loved them. His collarbone is prominent as he sits there shirtless and she wishes she could reach out and brush at it. But she gets back to work, knowing the only time she’s gonna be brushing near that part of him is when she’s covering dates in those dips behind his collarbones.

“Y’know, I could just drive you to Nick’s tonight,” Harry says, putting his book down and taking off his glasses. He rubs at his eye with his free hand.

“You’re blind and British, how do I know you can even drive yourself?” She asks sillily, pointing to his glasses.

He shakes his head, “I’m serious, Y/N. Aren’t you staying in the same area as me?”

He asks because they had relocated to Palm Springs a little while ago and everyone had gotten rentals and it was hard to remember where everyone was holed up when they weren’t on set.

“Yeah, think so. But you don’t need to pick me up. I have a car.”

“Nonsense. I’ve been to his place before, don’t want you to have to deal with directions, that’s just silly.”

“I guess...” she resigns relatively easily. She had never hung out with Harry off the set or Nick for that matter. It felt surreal, but she knew the right answer was usually just say yes in these situations. So that’s what she says. “Yes, that’d be great, thank you,” she confirms and watches as Harry’s eyes glimmer softly before turning back to his book. A triumphant soft smirk rests on his face.

The words die out between the two of them as she works on. He hums along to the music and continues reading his book. When she’s done with his tattoo coverage and his face makeup, she sends him off to hair and the rest of his day. He gives a flirty wink as he walks out the door and she rolls her eyes in response. She tidies up her kit and then goes to do some other makeup work.

When she wasn’t working with Harry, she was assigned to some of the minor characters and doing their makeup. They were always her second concern, especially now that she did Harry’s makeup as well as his tattoos. As she works on them, she can feel her mind drifting to Harry. Harry and how they were friends now. She was pretty sure, right? They were friends. He had never really said a mean thing to her if she really thought about it. It was her… She had been rude and mean-spirited and he had just taken it. He rarely had even thrown it back at her. He was so good to her and patient and she realized that he had proven to her that he was good. He was better than good, he was kind and loving. Considerate. Wonderful. All of those positive superlatives, Harry filled them. And she had the audacity to be mean to him.

She paused the brush that was adding blush to an actresses cheek.

Lisa, the actress, looks at Y/N confusedly, “What’s wrong?”

Y/N twitches her head, refocusing on her task at hand. The realization of her pausing her work becomes clear as she looks between her hand and the cheek that has not enough blush on it. “Oh,” she breathes. “...I just realized that I was terrible to someone who doesn’t have a mean bone in their body.”

Lisa nods, “Apologize.”

“Yeah, I mean...We’ve kind of moved past the phase where we don’t get along. Like now we’re friends, but the realization just really hit me.” She sighs, picking up where she left off on Lisa’s makeup. “I’ll make sure to apologize next time I see them.”

Lisa smiles.

-

At the end of the day, Y/N realizes she left her tattoo coverage kit in Harry’s room after their touch-up session halfway through the day. She had run off to help with a makeup emergency for a tiny cut on a minor character’s face and forgotten to go back and grab her things. Another roll of her eyes and a huff of breath and then she’s walking back to Trailer 6, a place that seemed like a home away from home now. She knocks, patiently waiting at the bottom of the steps.

Harry swings open the door and props it with his hip. He’s got a toothbrush held in his mouth, slowly scrubbing back and forth with his left hand. His costume is somewhat taken off, he’s still got the pants on with suspenders hanging down, his chest was completely bare and he looked funny with some of his tattoos only being half covered based on what parts of his skin had been showing today. Her work. His skin looked half silky smooth and half tattooed like usual.

His naked skin seemingly left her breathless because as her eyes returned to Harry’s face, she breathed a soft, “Hi.”

“Hey,” a smirk twists onto his face. “Forget something?”

“Yes,” she nods, coming back to her senses and entering the trailer at Harry’s gesture.

She begins to pack up the kit that had been left haphazardly strewn around on his counter. “I’m sorry I left a mess like this, I got called over to something else and forgot.”

“Don’t worry darling,” Harry grins at his joke.

She looks up from her work and sees Harry in the reflection of the mirror. He’s wiping off the makeup from his chest and his beautiful tattoos reemerge as entire images.

She laughs humorlessly, “It gets less funny each time you use that.”

“That’s not true,” he looks at her through the mirror now, his green eyes trained on her face, “Everyone else still thinks it’s hilarious.”

“They’re humoring you and your fragile ego,” she winks and watches as Harry’s smirk twitches from his perfect face.

“You’ve got a very mean disposition, you know that?” He asks.

He finishes his chest and moves to remove the makeup from his left arm, glancing at the mirror every so often to check himself and to flicker his eyes over Y/N’s face.

She genuinely laughs at that, but scolds herself internally for being mean when she had planned to apologize the next time she saw Harry. This was the next time so why was she doing this instead?

“Rewrite sweet disposition for me?” Her voice honeyed. Clearly stubborn and terrible at saying sorry...maybe her and Harry were a better match than she realized.

Harry twists his lips as he slips on his t-shirt he was wearing today.

“Pick you up at 6:30?” He says as his head pops out from beneath the rainbow striped sweatshirt he slipped on top of the shirt. His chestnut hair had been toweled out and was flopping over his forehead slightly.

She sighs and zips close the kit, standing from the seat she had taken at his counter and turning to face him now.

“6:30 is perfect. Thanks again for doing this. I just can’t believe Nick Kroll is inviting me over for dinner!” She smiles, shifting to lean against the counter as she waits for Harry to finish up. She didn’t have to but for some reason she felt like she was in no rush.

“Are you serious?” He’s moved on to changing his pants now and he’s slipping on black sweatpants.

“Yeah…” She blinks and her eyes widen as Harry appraises her expression.

He straightens up after fixing a cuff on the pants and he can’t tell if she’s being genuine or sarcastic. It was always so hard to tell with her.

“I mean, Nick Kroll is like a huge celebrity and I know in the entertainment business you’re not supposed to get starstruck but when I was in college my sister thought he was weirdly hot and my friends and I would shit talk him. I don’t know, it’s just kind of surreal to be having dinner at his place. Like I’ve watched him on tv and now I’ll be eating with him...so weird.”

He shakes his head, beginning on his dirty vans now. A small laugh escapes his mouth and he glances between her and his shoe, scratching his head quickly. “I still can’t tell… It feels like you’re fucking with me right now.”

“I’m not!” She insists, her hands coming out in front of her in a confused fashion. “I used to watch that guy’s tv show then he’s my boss now he’s inviting me over for food? It’s a lot to process.”

“How come it’s not surreal to be having dinner with me then?” He asks semi-joking, a hint of offense tinged within it. It’s visible only in his knitted brow and twisted lip.

“Careful there, sailor. Venturing into some dangerously self-absorbed waters.” Her eyes light up, a quick raise of her brows accompany the shine, and she decides now is her time to head out. Especially as she thinks about getting ready for this soiree tonight. She needed to shower and pick out an outfit with less than two hours to prepare.

Harry sputters at her response and fumbles with his pink shoelace. “That’s not...that is - You’re being unfair. My question is valid.”

She shrugs her shoulders and skirts Harry’s attempt at grabbing at her arm to stop her from leaving. “Okay, Mr. Big Man On Campus. I promise you you’re the most popular boy in school.”

She blows him a kiss and walks out the door as he attempts to get her to come back by calling her name a few times and slightly shouting “C’mon! I wasn’t being insecure. That was a reasonable ask…”

He sighs and shakes his head again. Every interaction would end with one of them either rolling their eyes or shaking their head and usually a sigh on both of their lips. It was exhausting, but exhilarating too.

20 minutes later, Harry receives a text from Y/N: “You’re still picking me up right :))) ?”

He’s in his car, getting ready to finally leave after getting held up with last minute schedule changes that he had to be informed about by some PA that he had forgotten the name of. His lip quirks to the right and he closes his eyes for a second enjoying seeing her name on his phone screen for a moment.

He types back: “Of courseeee”.

“Fab.” She sends back, immediately followed by: “Fanks BMOC ;)”

A full smile rolls onto Harry’s face after he swipes his tongue over his lower lip. “Yeah, yeah, save it for the next guy” he types out quickly before throwing his phone gently beside him and driving back to his apartment. She made him feel young, not that he wasn’t young, but generally his friends didn’t text like she did.

-

At 6:28, she receives a text from Harry Styles - his name in her phone. A name she had never expected to see in her phone unless her Spotify was on shuffle. Yet, instead, his name popped up under messages and it read “Here!” followed by a quick “I think” and then a phone call coming through from the apparently anxious man himself.

“Hello Harry.” Her tone even. She throws little items into her purse, making sure everything she needs is there.

“Could you peek out your window? I’m not quite sure I’m at the right place and people are staring…” nerves laced in his rushed tone.

She ambles to the window and opens up the shade she had closed to change. Below her, she sees a sleek black Range Rover with a slightly disarrayed hairdo and big dark glasses peeking below the windshield. She ignored the instinct to retch at the sight of the Range Rover and peered at the lamp lit sight below her. It was definitely Harry, but she searched for the prying eyes he was worried about and saw none. Well, maybe a few, but it wasn’t a lot.

“I see you, I’ll be right out, dude. Just deep breaths, it’s mostly crew staying here right now so they’re just seeing that it’s you, another guy they work with. They won’t come up for pictures...I would hope.”

She hangs up with no farewell, snatches her purse from its place on the bed and races out the door. Harry smiles anxiously at her when she stands next to the passenger’s door and he unlocks it. She bites her lip and raises her brows, waiting to hear if anything terrible happened in the minute and a half it took her to come downstairs and out to the car.

“Hi,” he exhales.

A smirk crawls onto her features and her eyes sparkle with a bit of a childish glee that normally she didn’t exhibit as she glances at him. “Hi.” She says quietly. “Alright big boy?”

“‘M fine.” He huffs but balks at her smile that she maintains while she stares at him. “What?”

“Just happy to see you, I guess,” her smile returns after speaking and Harry glances between her face and the windshield in front of him.

He can’t tell if she’s being serious or not once again. But he fears that conversation of her either ridiculing him for thinking she is serious or being offended that he still can’t tell. Instead, he will keep his mouth shut. For the most part.

“Happy to see you, too,” his lips create a closed mouth smile quickly before turning out of the parking lot.

She watches him. Their first time together outside of work. And they were friends. She needed to get used to simply thinking that. He picked her up to take her to dinner with her other friend and his wife. This was normal life, just with big names behind those terms of relation. Jesus, she always said it didn’t bother her to be around celebrities so why did she think about it so damn much?

She twitches her head and refocuses on Harry and his driving. His jaw is clenched again and she wants to reach out and sooth it herself. Instead she starts to open her mouth to correct him, but stops herself from that as well. They weren’t at work and it didn’t feel like something just a friend would say right now. She refocuses on the view of his eyes that are barely visible while he regards the road. His large eyes that she had grown acquainted to are surveying what he’s doing, every so often drifting to the right side of the road to check out the lane beside him. But then, always back to right in front of him, leaving a crescent of green visible to her.

“Can feel you staring at me…” His voice sounds like it’s rolled around in gravel after the long work day. It makes her wonder if he’s supposed to have a vocal rest when he’s not at work, but then again it’s the weekend now so maybe it was fine. Maybe she should ask him. Or maybe she should stop worrying so much about him.

“Have I got something on my face?” His low register bumps her from her racing thoughts. He doesn’t take his eyes off the road, but she can see he’s widened his eyes in wonder.

“No! Of course not, I just was...making sure you weren’t going to crash us or something.” She grasps at straws, desperate to not be caught by Harry.

A low chuckle bubbles from his chest and he spares a small glance over at her bundled up in his passenger seat. She matches his gaze with something of distrust hidden behind her eyes. She hopes to convey that she’s being silly and when Harry turns back to look at the road unassumingly, she feels like she has won. The harmonies of the beginning of a Queen song take over the silence, Harry’s spindly fingers thrumming against the wheel.

They arrive at the Kroll’s Palm Springs residence at 6:50. 10 minutes early and the two twiddle their thumbs for a few minutes, trying to pass the time and not intrude earlier than they were supposed to. She appreciated that Harry liked to be timely but not early, similar to how she was.

“So what is the fascination with Range Rovers?” She queries, leaning against the door’s armrest. The back of her head touches against the semi-tinted window.

Harry shifts in his seat, seat belt no longer constricting him and no road requiring his attention as they sit in the driveway. He rushes a hand through his hair and lets a single strand of hair fall over his prominent forehead.

“Dunno,” he shrugs his shoulders and allows a hand to fall onto the steering wheel absentmindedly. “I don’t really prefer them anymore, but when I’m in LA and doing work, it makes things easier. My other cars are a little flashier...have more privacy in this.”

“Yet the effect is similar,” she muses.

Her head tilts to take in Harry’s appearance, sharp black silky button-up and dark green plaid slacks, and she rubs a hand over her jaw. His eyes flicker to the movement and attempt to really take it in, even in the dim glow of the lamp light outside barely peeking into the dark interior of the car.

“Effect?”

“Y’know…” She arches her brow at him. He feigns innocence or possibly the expression is genuine. She’s begun to realize Harry was as genuine as they came, but she just didn’t think he was that unaware. An assumption that was likely correct, but even Harry liked to pretend he was a completely unassuming individual.

“Forget it,” she finishes when he gives no indication that he knows what she is hinting at. She doesn’t want to get into it with him again. Especially when he plays at this game where he has no idea what she’s talking about. It made her feel like she was crazy for thinking he made these calculated decisions to get his desired outcomes.

They move on, neither of them quite sure what the other was getting at in that conversation. The two of them walk into the house a minute before their expected arrival time side by side and are greeted happily with Nick and his wife. They’re ushered in and Y/N is happily received by the happy couple.  

“So, Y/N, how’s it been for you working with these two? I know they can be more than a handful - especially together,” Nick’s wife, Lily, asks after a sip of wine.

The group of four had been eating for a while with Nick and Harry bantering for quite a bit at the beginning about whether or not Harry would be willing to hand feed Nick. The answer was settled at “another time”.  

Harry seems to have a very specific habit of watching whoever is speaking - no matter what. So after Lily has finished speaking, his gaze flickers to Y/N, the person his brain expects to speak next. He watches her attentively as she wipes her mouth on her napkin before speaking.

Her hair was styled differently tonight than it usually was on set, she had it down rather than up in a ponytail or braids. He hadn’t had time to really look at her when they had been in the car, his mind occupied with stress and exhaustion that he refocused into driving and deep breathing. Now, in the comfort of a trusted friend’s home, he was far more relaxed and able to truly take in her appearance, which he couldn’t help but think was beautiful. He’d have to tell her that at some point. That he thought she was beautiful. Not that he didn’t see her on set and think she was beautiful...he just hadn’t really thought about it before. She was his wily makeup artist who was critical of him most times, but occasionally sweet, who had an amazing taste in music and good aesthetic style. The beauty part of it all, he guessed wasn’t something integral to their relationship before.

But now he was sitting beside her at the Kroll’s nice dining table and she had her hair splayed in front and behind her shoulders with one side tucked behind her ear and her outfit fit her impeccably. The top she had on had capped sleeves that cinched with buttons at her delicate wrists and a severe drop to create a small sweetheart neckline just above the curve of her breasts. It was silky and shiny, a blush pink that complemented the high waisted dark grey slacks that flared over shiny black boots that he wasn’t sure where they ended beneath the pants.

“Well,” she starts, chuckling under her breath when she meets Harry’s stare, “Harry and I spend a lot of time together, covering up all his tattoos, and he yaps a lot. So, it’s actually pretty refreshing when Nick comes in, because Harry’s then talking half the normal amount.”

He huffs a scoff, while Lily and Nick laugh happily. Nick interjects an “ouch” for the bite she just took out of Harry, but she thought it was fine, he can take it.

Harry thought to himself that if she can serve it, then she can definitely take it. His eyes remain on her as he opens his mouth to speak, but then look at Lily when words actually come out. “Well, Y/N, she thinks she can read people really well, but it’s actually quite the opposite. She had me completely wrong when we first met, so I talk now in hopes that she’ll really understand me.”

His head tilts to her when he mentions her name, but otherwise doesn’t glance her way away again. He scrunches his nose at the end of his comment, implying he converses with her out of pity.

It’s her turn to scoff and stare at him unamused. Nick and Lily share a look, unsure of what was going on, they had concocted this dinner date idea in hopes to set the two up but the way this conversation was going, they seemed to be pushing each other further and further away from one another.

“That’s simply not true,” she says curtly and takes a sip of her quickly emptying wine glass.

“Which part?”

“Almost all of it, I’d say,” her eyes glaring back at him, fiery with a disdain he hadn’t seen in awhile. “You’re proving my original perception of you with every passing second,” she adds.

“Care to elaborate exactly what the original perception of me was for the class,” his eyes are wide and wild, any extra adoration he had started to feel towards her slipping away just as quickly as it had come, like a wave along the beach.

“You know, so why don’t you?”

“I want to hear you say it,” he grits out the command.

She shifts in her seat, glancing at Nick and Lily who are watching on and she has a feeling she won’t be getting an invitation again anytime soon. Lily gives her a semi-reassuring smile like she was sorry to have asked the question at all, but Y/N knows this is kind of her fault, not that she would ever admit that. Her comment could have been taken innocuously, but Harry’s pride wouldn’t let it slide. Like she said, she should have known better, the weeks of friendship were flying out the window and she was helping them along.

“And what if I don’t?”

“Have fun calling an uber at this time of night,” he shrugs, malice dripping in his tone.

She truly was taken aback at this. A slight sound of shock leaving her mouth. Harry was many things, impatient and anxious usually, but downright cruel with her, she had yet to see it. Arrogant and pompous, definitely, but this wickedness that was starting to creep from the shadows worried her. But the little fiery demon within her wasn’t going anywhere either - yet she might back down to save herself some money and hassle.

“Fine,” she raises her brows in a challenge to him and restates her original take on him - possibly adding a bit extra malice in her phrasing, “You are a shell of a man, held up by the people around you, creating the illusion of a completely genuine and down to earth rocker who dabbles in acting, philanthropy and all around goodness. No one’s ever had a bad experience because no one’s ever truly met you. Not the real you.” She takes a deep breath as she shakes her head in disbelief now, a sarcastic laugh leaving her mouth, “And I thought, I really thought, that I had been wrong. Because these past months you really fooled me with your sweet smile and deep eyes. But when it comes down to it, you tricked me just like everyone else.”

Harry stares at her blankly and she shakes her head once more, feeling foolish. For thinking Harry was someone he wasn’t. For thinking the past few months had been real. For thinking that tonight would go off without a hitch. And the shit part of it was that she had really hoped that all of it was true. She wanted this to be her life, but her instincts had been right. Beware of the picture perfect because it always is just a mirage of deceit and lies.

“All I’ve got to say is you’re a damn good actor Harry, so at least you’ve got that going for you.” Then she pushes back from the table and stands, turning to Nick and Lily. “I really am so sorry, I understand that you probably want me to leave, so I’ll just be going,” her voice faltering at the end, she wasn’t as strong as she liked to pretend and she was pretty sure she just ruined her chances of working again in Hollywood. You’d have to be an idiot to be an enemy of Harry Styles and she feels like she just became his first.

“No!” Nick says quickly, standing too, “I think things just escalated really quickly and some things were said that both of you didn’t mean. Um...just, let’s take a few minutes to cool off. Harry could you and Lily deal with the dishes and I’m going to talk with Y/N alone.”

Everyone nods and Y/N follows Nick down a hallway, a little confused but following after he beckons her with his hand. They go out a side door and end up on a porch in the backyard. He stoops down and opens a little sitting mailbox she didn’t see and pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He places one between his teeth and then offers one to her. She accepts, not usually a regular smoker, but right now seemed like a fair time to indulge in the bad habit. She needed to calm her rapidly beating heart.

He lights the cigarette for her when he sees her shaking hands and then in turn lights his own. They stand on the porch beside each other and stare out into the dark night sky.

“Well, this wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go,” Nick starts, after a few exhales of smoke.

“No,” she laughs nervously, her foot toeing at the wooden slate on the porch. “I shouldn’t have tried to make a joke.”

“No one’s to blame,” Nick says quickly, glancing at her, “You and Harry...you both have really strong personalities and I don’t think either of you are used to being challenged.”

She nods along, she definitely had to agree after the argument they had both willingly gotten into in front of other people.

“I think that can be a really good thing, challenging each other, because then you two can both grow. But what happened in there was more of a battle to the death rather than a friendly spar.”

“Yeah,” she exhales, flicking at the burning cigarette between her fingers, “I don’t know why he gets under my skin sometimes in a way I’ve never dealt with and it’s kind of uncomfortable so I lash out, I guess.”

Nick stays quiet, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“Ugh,” she groans, “I wish I hadn’t done that. We were doing so well, it’s like I don’t even really know what I’m saying, it’s like I can’t handle a friendly spar, I always end up going in for the kill - as you put it.”

She rubs at her face with her free hand and then takes a drag herself. Nick bites at his lower lip, trying to think of a solution.

“Y’know? Lily and I had concocted this plan to try and set you and Harry up tonight,” he says slowly, revealing the plan that had clearly been taken off the table as they just needed to attempt to salvage cordiality.

“Really?!” She’s in complete disbelief and slight dismay that the plan was seemingly ruined.

“Well,” he sputters, “When the two of you aren’t throwing verbal fireballs at each other, you’re actually quite sweet to one another. Those fond little glances you hope no one sees, well he does that too, and you both fail miserably because I see it all the time. I’m sure plenty of people do too.”

“Oh,” she states, visibly deflating. She looks to the ashtray conveniently on a table behind her and presses out the rest of the cigarette. “Should probably talk to him, huh?”

Nick nods, stamping out his nub of a cigarette as well. They go back inside and into the kitchen where Lily and Harry have plated dessert. Harry looks a little sheepish, likely having a similar conversation with Lily and she wouldn’t be surprised if her expression looks similar, if not a bit more flushed from the outdoor chill.

Lily murmurs that she and Nick are going to eat their dessert in the living room, a fair bit away from the kitchen and the two now deflated counterparts nod and then stare at each other, knowing what they need to do.

“Can we talk?” Harry rasps out, his voice even lower as he speaks softly, a mere foot away from her in the kitchen.

She nods, but moves further from him to lean against the counter and tuck her hands behind her. She’s lost her appetite and doesn’t want Harry to see her shaking digits.

He’s ducked his head and a stray curl falls over his forehead, laying there softly. He doesn’t move to fix it, just stares at his feet until she begins to talk. He can’t not look at her face when she speaks.

“So…” She slowly starts, not enjoying the tension in the room. Her eyes can’t meet his though, his stare dark and unnerving like usual, but almost painfully so now. “I can start.” She kicks at the tiling on the floor like she had done outside as well, trying to not think about the eyes trained on her right now. “I’m sorry I lashed out on you, Harry. I didn’t mean what I said, it was just a heat of the moment response.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Harry says immediately once she finishes speaking, “I shouldn’t have gotten upset over a silly joke and brought up a sensitive subject. Then it escalated…”

“Yeah, I really liked the friendship we’ve garnered these past few months and I just can’t believe I almost ruined everything - including my career…” she squeaks at the end and tears start to roll from her eyes. “Oh god,” she is hit with the gravity of all that she almost ruined as Harry stares at her again. “I’m so sorry, Harry, I really am. Do you forgive me? I don’t think I could stand it if you didn’t.”

She stands there and feels sobs wrack through her and her hands go to cover her face out of embarrassment. She had caused a scene and now she was making another one. In front of Harry.

In an instant his arms are wrapped around her frame and he’s hushing her cries. They had never hugged before, but now seemed like as good a time as ever. His arms were strong around her and she pressed her face into his chest, not caring at all about how she looked or whether this was worse than getting in a fight and running off.

“Of course I forgive you,” he says and then begins repeating her name over and over, trying to soothe her. He definitely had been hurt by her words, but it seemed like she was more upset about the whole situation than he was and he didn’t think bringing up what specifically had hurt him would help her frame of mind.

She settles after some time, her whimpers and tears subsiding after being rocked into a more peaceful mindset with the help of Harry’s calming voice and reassuring embrace.

“I really am sorry,” she whispers again.

Harry pulls his neck back and his head off the top of her head to look at her face. It was tear stained and her eyes were glassy, lips slightly puffy. He gave her a soft tight-lipped smile. “No more apologies,” he states sternly and then softens again at the slight quiver in her lip. He pulls from her a little more, leaving her at arm's length, with his hands still attached to her hips, fingers slipping over the plaid fabric. “I meant to tell you this earlier, before things…” he stares at her face again and she holds it this time, “You look beautiful tonight.”

She scoffs and her eyes immediately drop to her feet, “Definitely not anymore.” She doesn’t believe Harry.

“‘M serious,” he insists. His right index finger goes to rest beneath her chin and brings her face up to look back at him.

“Sure,” she says, still not convinced but not sure how else to respond. She feels herself warming at all the positive attention he’s pouring into her.

His gaze won’t falter from her face, he’s intent upon making her understand him. He whispers her name, “Accept the compliment.”

“You’re stubborn,” she notes.

“So are you,” he counters quickly.  

“Fine, thank you,” she sighs when he won’t stop giving her that look of his. That look that makes her want to melt into the ground because it feels like she’s the only person in the world. “Though you looked especially good tonight, too,” she adds, her hands rubbing over his shoulders softly.

“Thank you,” Harry states lowly, the words only traveling to her ears. His hands fiddle with the sides of her top, thinking about the night and where they were now. Her eyes were red from crying and overall she looked tired beyond her years. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“That’d be nice.”

They make a quiet farewell to Nick and Lily, as well as apologies from both her and Harry. They don’t speak in the car and the music plays loud enough for it to not seem unreasonable for them to be silent. Harry’s hands don’t tap against the steering wheel, they sit in their spots stoically doing their job and nothing more. She watches the window, legs crossed and hands clasped in her lap. She’s thankful for the music because she knows that even though they had talked, it wasn’t enough. What she had said was hurtful and one apology wasn’t enough for how she had behaved. She didn’t think her and Harry would be the same after tonight, but the silence made it possible for her to pretend none of it had happened.

Just as Harry’s car is pulling up the apartment complex that is far darker now, the harsh splatter of rain begins to fall on the pavement and the sleek black car the two are still sat in.

“Oh,” she comments offhandedly, just responding to what she had noticed.

The rain grows louder when Harry parks and then turns off the car. He glances at her for the first time since they got into the car. She registers the look out of the corner of her eye, her face still looking out at the rain. She loved the rain, but there wasn’t always a lot in Southern California, especially not in Palm Springs. It seemed that tonight was different.

“Well,” Harry breaks his silence, she thinks that’s her cue to leave and unbuckles her seatbelt, but he continues. “This certainly wasn’t how I expected this night to go.”

She stops moving, her hand hovering over the handle of the door. She sits back and settles into the seat, feeling her teeth bite into the plush of her bottom lip.

“That’s what people keep saying,” her eyes remain on the rain hitting the front of the car, the splatters of seemingly black liquid that form when the clear rain touches the onyx hood of the car.

“Huh?” Harry grows perplexed at the rather wistful tone of her and how she won’t look at him again. He was still hurt, but he had hoped them talking in the kitchen had straightened some things out. During the car ride he hadn’t wanted to talk, but it didn’t mean he was still angry with her. Just confused, and growing further confused by the second.

“Oh,” she repeats, “Didn’t Lily say? Her and Nick concocted that dinner in hopes to set us up.”

Harry hums, knowing that because Nick had left out a little part of that plan. That he had been a part of it. He had been talking with Nick about getting to know her better outside of work and how Nick had thought it’d be a good idea to have dinner so he had told Lily and they set it up like a casual dinner party. Harry didn’t know how to respond because her knowing that he was in on the plan might just make matters worse. He really didn’t think things could get much worse, but it seemed that they always managed to make it happen so in the end he decided to keep his mouth shut.

“I don’t know if we’d ever be able to work out differences out for that,” she decides to continue, when Harry stays quiet. She scans the interior of the car and watches Harry for the briefest moment before going back to looking out the window. “Nick said that we challenge each other to grow, but all I see us do is hurt each other.”

Her voice is just above the rain pattering outside the car and Harry thinks it sounds almost melodic if it weren’t for the sadness laced in every word.

“I disagree,” he states before wetting his lips.

“Of course you do,” she laughs in spite of herself.

“Even after all these months together and you still don’t get it. I like you.”

“You don’t like me, I don’t know how you could ever like me,” she shakes her head. “We just...we get under each other’s skin. You can make me so angry sometimes and I know I make you angry too. And when we’re not angry, we’re focussed on something that doesn’t have to do with ourselves.”

“I don’t think what you feel for me is anger,” Harry insists, “Just because something feels burning and fiery, frustrating even, doesn’t mean it’s anger.”

His body shifts closer to the center divide and she turns to face him finally. His eyes are extra dark in this lighting, which is barely there from a streetlamp a ways off. She longs for the comfort of his light green eyes, the soft pale glow of the moss that seems to have been trapped within his iris. Maybe for that reason she unknowingly leans closer to him.

“Then what is it?” She whispers, eyes blinking slowly as her breathing grows strained.

“Passion.”

Immediately, her head is tilting to meet his lips. Her mind knows one thing, she needs to be kissing Harry right now. And then she is. His left hand goes to cup her cheek as his lips attach themselves to hers. His soft lips press to hers in a long searing kiss. They stay there for a moment, pressing all of that passion and frustration into the kiss.

She presses impatiently forward, her lips starting to move more, wanting to kiss him deeper. Harry obliges, parting his lips and kissing her more vigorously. He licks into her open mouth and smiles at the sound she makes in appreciation for his actions.

She’s shifted to have herself kneeling on the leather seat and she’s leaning over the console. One of her hands finds purchase on Harry’s thigh and grasps tightly, her other at the back of his neck, pressing him closer if it were possible.

His chest is pressing against hers as he pulls her closer. He kisses her and his fingertips rub softly at the apple of her cheek. Eventually they run behind the shell of her ear and trail down her neck.

Eventually, she pulls away and stares at Harry. She watches as his eyes flutter open gently. His soft eyelashes dust his cheeks before moving away, allowing his eyes to peer at her in the dark.

Her breathing feels a little irregular after the kissing and she’s sure she is heaving her chest slightly, likely mirroring Harry’s chest as well.

“So, where to now?” She inquires, lips quirked up at her suggestion.

Harry giggles and scratches his nose against his index finger.

-

Harry doesn’t stay the night, he walks her up to her apartment door though. He kisses her chastley in front of her door and wraps an arm around her waist as he does so. He bids her a goodnight and a promise of seeing her soon.

They don’t see each other for a month. Both of them had been so blissful after the endorphins of kissing their person that they had forgotten that filming had wrapped. They weren’t set to work for a month. Harry texted her the next morning informing her that he’d be in England until filming resumed. She was still going to be in California, filming was moving back to Los Angeles, so she’d be back in her place there. Her family knew she was working, so they had sent her presents ahead to her place instead. Angie, her only true friend in the area, was spending her time with her actual family and Y/N didn’t want to intrude.

So the holidays were going to be spent alone. Those four weeks alone passed surprisingly quickly. She practiced techniques on herself, bought a tiny Christmas tree like the one in A Charlie Brown Christmas, watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and just about every other holiday movie possible. She fell in love with young Hugh Grant and Colin Firth for the thousandth time. She sang carols to herself and decorated her place with decorations from Target. She jammed out to the new Miley Cyrus album and held dance parties for herself in the house. She baked cookies and even attempted a trifle after watching a Great British Bake Off episode. She did and she did all in hopes that her mind wouldn’t wander to the guy who hadn’t called.

Harry texted occasionally, but it was infrequent at best. He was a busy person, she knew that. She knew who he was. And she didn’t want her mind to have enough time to feel sorry for herself. For her to think that she was just somebody to pass the time with while at work, because if she stopped doing things that’s where her mind would wander. Why did her mind spiral like it did? She had no idea, she’d always been like that.

His absence, their separation, made her question if her own feelings were even true. She wondered if when she saw him he would act as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t said their relationship was passionate and she had kissed him until she couldn’t breath.

Too much time alone, she needed some fresh air. On January 2nd, after an uneventful night at home and a lackluster countdown washed down with cheap champagne, she decided to go and walk around near her place. There was a coffee shop that wasn’t extremely expensive that she also liked that she figured she would get coffee from. After a brisk walk, she walked through the store's doors and ordered an iced green tea. As she waited, she watched the other customers around her, wishing to see a friendly face, someone she knew. And seconds later, she was met with half of that wish. Someone she knew, not necessarily a friendly face.

“Autumn.” She states with a grimace when someone taps her on the shoulder and she spins around.

“Y/N? It is you!” Autumn, one of the PA’s from Don’t Worry Darling who was especially in Harry’s business, exclaims overly happy as per usual.

Y/N bites the inside of her cheek and gives a tight lipped smile, trying her best to be cordial.

“How’s your holiday been!” Autumn asks.

“Great. You?”

“So great!” She’s quick to lean closer and say in a hushed tone, “But I miss working on set, especially getting to see that Harry everyday. He’s just so gorgeous.”

A breath gets stuck in Y/N’s chest at the mention of Harry’s name. Her brows can’t help but raise a bit at Autumn’s comment. Even lowering her voice didn’t make it feel alright to talk about Harry like this. He was her friend after all.

“Sure.” Y/N nods abruptly, realizing Autumn wants some recognition of what she’s just said. Y/N’s eyes glance around the room, hoping for an out like her drink is ready or something - no such luck.

“I mean,” Autumn keeps talking, of course, “You’re so lucky. You get to see him shirtless, like what? Everyday practically? Don’t tell me you don’t miss that just a little bit!”

“I miss working,” Y/N says, avoiding what Autumn is trying to get her to say. “And Harry’s my friend, could you maybe not talk about him like that with me?”

Autumn’s eyes widened in shock, her lips parted dumbfounded by her co-worker's response. Y/N’s name is called for her drink and she’s thankful for the serendipitous nature of that sound getting her out of the awkward situation she had just been in.

When she gets back to her apartment, she surprisingly has a text from Harry himself. She’s always telling everyone; speak of the devil and he will appear, in one way or another. It’s a Happy New Year well wish followed by a separate text asking how she was.

It was sent a minute ago so she decides to try and give him a call. She preferred talking on the phone over texting.

It rings a few times and then, again surprisingly, he picks up.  

“‘Lo?” His voice is nice and deep and sounding extra British after his weeks surrounded by family and such.

“Harry,” she sighs contentedly.

“Happy to hear your voice,” he says her name and she can tell he’s smiling just like she is, from ear to ear.

She bites at her lip, hearing him say her name.

“I’m well, thanks,” she says after a moment of happy silence.

“What?” Harry laughs, confused.

“You texted asking me how I was and I called to respond.”

“Got it,” Harry chuckles, and she hears him shuffling around, likely sitting down on something.

“How are you?” She continues.

“Good, starting to wind down for the day,” he lists off the things he’s been doing over the past few days. Some of it work related, some of it family activities. All of it fun, he insists. “What did you do today?” He finishes, knowing she was an avid activity doer based off of the snaps she had sent him over the past few weeks.

“Tidied my place, went to the coffee shop and got iced tea…” she tries to think and then she gasps, “Oh! And I saw Autumn, one of the Don’t Worry Darling PA’s -”

“The one who’s obsessed with me?”

“Exactly!” She laughs, “And I may have kind of told her off… accidentally.”

“Accidentally told her off?” Harry repeats, incredulous. “How’d you do that?”

“Well,” she doesn’t want to tell him the rest, but there’s also a tiny part of her that really does, “She was gushing about you, which, ew. And then she asked if I missed seeing you shirtless everyday.”

“Well do you miss seeing me shirtless?” Harry smirks.

“Oh shut up!” She’s quick to reply.

“So you do?”

“If I really wanted to see you shirtless, all I’d have to do is type in “Harry Styles sh” and it would come up,” she rolls her eyes even though she knows he can’t see them. “Wouldn’t even need the whole word. Guaranteed.”

“Uh-huh?” Harry questions still, “If you want me to send you shirtless pictures that the rest of the world hasn’t seen, Y/N, all you have to do is ask.”

“I do not want you to send me shirtless pictures of yourself!” She exclaims. She feels like jumping out of a window right now. This conversation had escalated so quickly and she felt herself flushing, maybe even perspiring a little bit. And she also knew that she also would probably like it if he sent her shirtless pictures, which made this whole thing worse.

“Offer stands,” he says, smug as he normally was, happy he got to banter with her again. It had been dull without her, if he was honest with himself. “If you ever find yourself in need, just send a cheeky text and I’ll whip one out for you, no matter where I am or what I’m doing.”

“See this sounds like you’re saying something sincere, but really you’re just telling me you’ll send me nudes at any time.”

“No one said anything about nudes!”

“Shirtless, nude, sounds like you’re getting too caught up in the details, hon.”

“No!” He protests, “You’re the one who’s supposed to be flustered right now, not me!”

“Aww, you’re flustered,” She coos.

Harry groans. “Whatever. I’ll be back on the 8th, be ready to go out on the 9th. I’m taking you on a proper date.”

“How do you know I’m going to say yes?” She bite her lip again, she’s really sweating now. She couldn’t believe he had just asked her out on a date out of nowhere. Out of them just joking about nudes. Maybe she didn’t know Harry as well as she thought.

“Because you called me,” he says confidently.

“I call everyone.”

“But I don’t offer shirtless pictures to everyone.”

“That has nothing to do with me saying yes to this date.”

“Or does it?”

She laughs at his words, at how his voice still manages to convey every facial expression and quirk of his lips. She knows there’s a smile on his lips as he stares in the distance, imagining her face just as she is his.

“Yes.” She smiles.

“Yes!” He repeats happily.

She hears him stand up and spin around possibly and she chuckles slightly, amused at the silly man across the world who had seemed to have stolen her heart.

“See you soon, Harry.”

“Not soon enough.”

-

On the Saturday of their date, Harry insists on picking her up. He meets her at her door and winks at her after pulling away from their short hug. He laces his hand in hers and she follows behind him as he all but drags her to his car that is downstairs. He seems giddy. His hair has grown out in the month he’s been gone and she knows they’ll cut it when filming resumes. He’s wearing Gucci flared blue jeans - she knows from the big logo on the bottom left pant leg - a ‘Waiting for Sunset’ graphic tee beneath a black cardigan with little animals and items knitted in it. And of course, his dirty ass vans. She had hoped that maybe Christmas would bring him a fresh pair from someone, but it seemed there was no such luck.

Either way, he looked good and upon scanning his outfit, she was pleased that she had dressed correctly for the occasion, knowing one of the sins of Los Angeles was being improperly dressed wherever you might go. Harry had said casual, but casual can always mean so many different things. She got it right with light wash high-waisted levi’s, a brown cream rib-knit long sleeve that buttoned like it could be a cardigan, and some fun chunky boots that added some height to her normal stature. She had contemplated between this and possibly twenty other tops and a few other bottoms. Landing on this felt right, plus it didn’t clash with Harry, the color of her shoes actually matched the color of the snake on the cardigan.

They both compliment each other on the way out to his car and she giggles when he stops and twirls her around. He says he didn’t get a “proper look” before for him to compliment her adequately. After the twirl, he nods and starts them off again, complimenting the specific pieces of her clothes and says she looks beautiful again. His giddiness was contagious.

“No Range tonight,” she muses when Harry stops them in front of a Mercedes-Benz cream convertible, top up.

“Not working,” he replies, unlocking the car with the key into the passenger’s side door handle.

She smiles and slides into the car and watches him jog around to his side and unlock it as well.

“Tonight is going to be fantastic,” he says, leaning over the console and kissing her cheek, just beside her lips.

And when he pulls away with that smug smile of his, she knows he kissed her there on purpose. But the little tease only makes her smile more. He was good at this. And he was right.

The night was fantastic. As was every night after. And she learned that Harry was so much more than anything she ever thought. She counted herself lucky to be loved by a man like him.

[coughloop]

vent/rant post about fash/cryptofash/reactionaries on tumblr under the cut dont reblog

im really frustrated with how things have gone down in the last week and im gonna ramble a lot, also im gonna use fash/cryptofash/reactionary and maybe some other terms pretty interchangeably cause they all feel like umbrella terms for the type of people im talking about.

I know we're all getting tired of blocking the same cryptofash accounts that keep remaking over and over again, as well as new ones that find their ways into the periphery of popular posters and have suddenly shoot into popularity until they post something super racist. And a lot of the time it feels so useless and futile, like half the time they have a backup ready to go and the other half just remake in under 24 hours. and like, what does it even do? its not fighting any real world issues, i have no idea what the social effect of having super racist people 3 degrees of separation from everyone on the site actually means, but I know I really fucking dont like it, I know it makes me super uncomfortable to see a mutuals reblog from someone who constantly reblogs and interacts with people that fantasize about beating up trans people on the street.

and now that people like me and some others are getting more and more savvy about noticing cryptofash blogs, it becomes harder and harder to not see how many people i follow that keep me 3 degrees of separation from them.

take ukrainianbimbo for example. they constantly reblog from terfs, transphobes, racists, misogynists and anti-Semites AS WELL as trans people, Jewish people, and people of colour. i blocked them from following me months ago after spending 30 seconds on their blog and recognizing multiple well known tumblr reactionaries. when they noticed i had blocked them and made a couple posts about how easy it is to not follow and reblog from fascists they went on a posting spree whining about how they dont check who they reblog from and why should it be their responsibility. wah wah wah, shut up. anyway, last week they got properly called out for this behaviour and badgrapple came to their defense, going on the dumbest tirade ive ever seen about how theyre sick of fake callouts for people who havent done anything wrong (tell that to your friend ukrainianbimbo who's reaction to being labelled an anti-Semite and a fascist was to triple down on telling a trans jewish woman that she was ugly and should kill herself (both of these things are very untrue shout out Agent, you dont deserve that at all)) and now both of them are going out of their way to interact with more bigots seemingly as a protest for being repressed over hanging with those types in the first place. Fuck off.

All of this then led into people i respect making random vagueposts like "feel like fash is a word being thrown around way too liberally on tumblr these days" and like, yeah, in a way i guess it is, but also people are acting like fascists! crypto fascists specifically because theyre never completely open about their beliefs. fash is shorter and less confusing however (thanks cryptocurrency for that) so thats what people genuinely call them. Why is that a bad thing? If you're posting things that people look at and say "woah dude, you sound like a fascist", maybe thats on you for doing things that other fascists on this site do, not on them for using the "wrong word" for it.

on top of all this though, people HAVE started making up unchecked callouts about people, like Declan smokeweedinbong, who was unfairly called a fascist by someone because declan responded to a comment on his post he didnt background check, thats totally unfair to declan but fuck the reaction from a lot of my mutuals was REALLY WEIRD. people didnt start posting in defense of declan, who again, did nothing wrong but not pay as much attention to a random person as he could have (ive done that too i get it!), but instead people started beating the "cancel culture has gone to far" drum, fucking again. why is that your response?? defend your friends, please! but why is it people who dont want to be exposed to racists and transphobes and anti-Semites ultimately receiving the pushback? its so dumb!

so now half the time i see someone getting an anon about reblogging from a fash, they respond positively but why do they always get follow up anons like "thats dumb who cares, i never look at who i reblog from" like maybe you fucking should?? shut up! people are so fucking stupid on anon it blows me away soemtimes.

i really have no idea where im going with all this, i just really needed to get this frustration of my chest. thanks for reading my run on sentences if you did, and sorry for being somewhat incoherent, i just am so fucking tired of all this, and it doesnt even mean anything. whatever

[wolfling06]

The Bigger they are, The harder they fall

Writer’s note: Hey! this is my first ever fic, I have dabbled some in writing but I have never written a full on fic so I apologize if there is anything wrong with it. anyways, Enjoy! (yes this is my original fic, please do not take it as your own and if you are to reblog or repost it, please tag me. thank you!)

Summary; Skid and Pump had quickly become the most well known of the extended group of friends as the most teasy, mischievous, and energetic lers. They were definitely a force to be reckoned with. And they both had their eyes on the tallest, strongest of the group. A true challenge to bring down, and one they both wanted to hear laugh. Whitty. (Lee!Whitty and Ler!Pump&Skid)

Warning: Slight language

  After the Lemon demon was defeated and all were saved, they began to hang out and visit one another more often, Pico, Keith, and occasionally even Carol would go with Whitty to the skate park or even do some graffiti with him, Gf would occasionally tag along but would also often spend more time with her parents. Skid and Pump were all over the place and visited everyone at the most random times, jumping in and occasionally even startling the others out of their previous activities. 

   The 2 were quickly known as the most mischievous and ones who would do anything to pull a good prank or 2. The only thing that could be matched with their love of pranks and adventure was their love of hearing their friends laugh.

   And oh, how they tried, they did many things. From bad jokes, to silly stunts, to even tickling. And once they found out everyone in the gang was even a little ticklish they both wanted to exploit this new discovery to the fullest. And they did, whether they had reason or not. 

   Many times they would target Keith, Pico, or even each other from time to time. Mostly because they were around their size and easy to get to. Carol and Gf were also similar in height but they saw the boys more often. However, that didn’t mean the duo weren’t up for a challenge. Whitty for example;

    Whitty was very tall, standing at only a single inch short of 9 feet, very tall and lanky with extreme strength and great self defense capabilities that his appearance would blind one from seeing at first sight. He was always calm and poker faced and he rarely smiled out of pure amusement. He was easily the tallest out of all of them. And, with Skid and Pump being the smallest of the whole group, that meant they were very much opposites. One would think it would be impossible for the 2 to take him down, especially long enough to successfully tickle him like they would the others.

  And at first, yea, it was very difficult. 

  Until they discovered a new approach to it.

  They first discovered this new technique while they had been visiting his place. They had stopped by on another one of their unexpected visits. At first, Whitty seemed a little bothered, but as it kept happening over and over and it seemed that no matter what he said or did, they always kept coming. He tried to keep polite about it but whenever he would win, he would get the kicked puppy look and they would slowly make their way out looking sad and dejected. Eventually, his guilt would take over and he would either let them stay or they would go and he wouldn’t even object to them the next time they came. Eventually, he just gave up trying all together and let them come and go as they please so long as they dont take or break anything.

   However, this time when they came they seemed a little...different.

They were energetic and chatty as usual, but they seemed a little more giddy than usual, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, a feeling he particularly hated. He let the 2 wander the living room a bit before they settled down on the couch, both shifting a little to get comfy. He made his way into the kitchen and pulled out a large bag of Dorito chips and poured it into a bowl, making his way into the living room once more and placing it on the coffee table before setting up the Nintendo Switch and popping in Mario Kart, offering the other 2 one of the controllers. Pump went first against Whitty, it was a loser trade where the person that lost had to give it to the next person that had yet to play. In this case it was Whitty against Pump, who paid more attention to the scenery of the game then that actual race. Skid shouted, clearly hyped up, and stood up on the couch and began waving his arms in the direction he wanted Pump to go. The pumpkin head only occasionally took his advice as Whitty sat to the other end of the couch watching the 2 out of the corner of his eye with a smirk, he was clearly much farther ahead then Pump with him being in 2nd place and Pump being in 8th. The only reason why he wasn’t in 1st already was because of the stupid Metal Mario character, who was practically cheating, and wouldn’t let him pass and it was starting to get slightly annoying.

   They went through a couple rounds, Whitty never losing while Skid and Pump passed it back and forth repeatedly. Though he noticed that, thankfully, they were no longer watching him so intently, that was a relief. He began to relax a bit, reminding himself that they were just children and he was much bigger and stronger than them. ‘C’mon, relax! They’re just children, stop being so paranoid.’ he thought to himself as he tried to focus more on the game then his own thoughts, he turned a sharp corner and nearly cursed when his avatar, Bowser Jr., almost went flying off the track. He managed to catch himself at the last second and made a slick recovery. However, hearing a sudden bark of a laugh paired with a whoop from the Spooky Duo didn’t make him feel so confident. He glanced at their side of the screen and noticed they had a blue spiked shell in their avatar’s hand. “Oh shit..” he muttered upon seeing it. Quickly, he slammed the breaks and let Metal Mario, someone he had just managed to pass, go ahead of him just as the shell went blazing by. He sighed with relief, glad it hadn’t hit him.

   “Aww, c’mon! That was reserved just for you!” Skid blurted, though there was no real agitation behind his words, allowing Whitty to give him a smug smirk and said “I have been playin’ this for a while, kid, I have seen all the stunts you ever even hope to pull.” He kept his eyes glued on the screen, unaware of the glint in their eyes and the small snicker the two exchanged. “You have seen all the stunts we hope to pull, you said?” Skid asked while Pump was still snickering slightly to himself. “Tch, yea, that's what I said.” He stated simply, not really paying attention to what they were trying to say. Until- 

“Now!” “Wha- hey!” Thwump!

The 2 didn’t wait, the game unpaused and still running, they tackled Whitty against the couch, being careful not to hurt him. They had to act quick, they had to! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have any way of getting to him. Before he had time to utter a single syllable, they attacked. Pump and Skid quickly hopping onto his arms to keep them pinned to the couch, they were sill sitting up but he was stretched out enough he might as well have been laying down, and proceeded to quickly skitter their fingers everywhere they could reach; ribs, stomach, sides, neck, somehow under his arms, hips. 

They moved quickly and held on for dear life, moving quickly and shifting their own body weight continuously, from sitting on his arms to his hips and at his side to just either side of him to both on one side-. They went everywhere they could, going all over the place so it would be harder for him to catch them or try to find a pattern and stop them. His laughter was loud, belly laughter. Though not unpleasant, he squirmed the best he could in an attempt to find some way to escape, but with them all over the place it was pretty difficult. 

“BAHAHAhaha! Whahahat are yohou twoho dohoing?? Gehet off mehehe!”

“Its working! Keep going Pump!” Skid called excitedly. Their plan was working! They continued, unintentionally forming a bit of a pattern, but not enough for Whitty to keep up or be able to stop them. He pulled his arms in and attempted to hug himself to protect the majority of his torso from the brunt of it all. His legs kicked out behind the other 2, though he was consciously making sure he couldn’t risk their wellbeing, he had enough self control for that. 

  “Stahahahap geheht ohoff of mehehe!!” he laughed out, attempting to carefully push Pump away from his side while trying to fend off Skid from his stomach. The 2 only giggled with glee, proud in themselves that this was working, and ecstatic that they had finally managed to successfully find a way to tickle their Object headed friend silly. 

 Skid glanced down and an idea popped into his skull, lighting his eyes up with great glee and an idea. Glancing down he noticed that, during his squirming, Whitty’s hoodie had ridden up some, revealing the pitch black, quivering flesh beneath. This was perfect! Taking a deep breath, he wasted no time and plunged his face into that thin like of flesh, pulling his hoodie up a tad for more lee way, and blew.

And by God, the shriek that followed.

 “SHAAAAAHAHAHA-! FAHAHACK OHOFF!!” he exclaimed, his laughter reaching a whole new pitch and in a newfound hysteria. Skid and Pump exchanged a look, man this was awesome!! No one had ever heard the bomb head laugh so hard! Skid proceeded to pepper more raspberries along his stomach, lifting his hoodie up some to spread around the love. Pump continued to tickle along Whitty’s ribs. Though, his curiosity got the best of him, he was aware that some people, like Keith for example, had ticklish hands, and other unusual places, maybe Whitty did too? It was a weird thought and definitely one only Pump would have had, but it was a thought nonetheless that he wanted to experiment on. He pressed a sweet spot into his ribs, earning a startled yelp and a hand planted into his chest in an attempt to push him away. Gently of course. But this gave Pump his window, dropping everything, he wrapped his legs around Whit’s arm for a better hold. Pulling his fingers back, gently of course, and fluttered his own fingers along the palm of his hand, from the ridge to the base.

“*snrk!* heheey! *snrk! *snrk!* Stahahap!!” Pump’s eyes widened, Whitty was snorting?? Oh my God, this child’s mind was blown. Skid had lessened the raspberries and had gone back to scribbling so that their bomb headed friend could go longer without reaching his limit, which explained why his laughter had calmed down some. Skid looked up in surprise and noticed what Pump was doing when an idea of his own came, he gestured for Pump to make a raspberry, The pumpkin headed kid was quick to catch on, before making his way further down the couch. Pump proceeded to bury his mouth into the center of Whitty’s palm. A sudden sort, slightly longer in duration that the previous, could be heard in response. Pump smiled and prepared to do it again when-

Quickly, it was soon followed by Whitty suddenly, bolting upright to emit an almost literal shriek before falling back clutching the couch in an attempt to not kick or struggle too much or hard, throwing his head back in absolute hysterics, his face a bright orange blush. Startled by the sudden reaction, he looked for Skid, finding him holding Whitty’s left ankle in a secure head lock, skittering his fingers along his sole. His other leg kicked out but, for the most part, hung off the side of the couch. There was a very evident struggle in the poor lee as he tried to keep from kicking anyone, or anything, out of reflex to the new found sensations. Pump smiled and, giving his hand one final raspberry, dove down to grab the other foot, giving it the same treatment as SKid was the left. 

“FAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!” Unable to form any coherent words or responses to this torment, Whitty was forced to just endure it, he tried to pull away, to break free somehow, but his strength had been dwindled down from earlier. Meaning, he was left to succumb to the maddening sensations at his feet. Throwing his head back as hysterical belly laughter poured from him as freely as a faucet. 

   “Coochie coochie coo~ Whitty! Heehee, your laugh is so loud!” Skid laughed, enjoying the reactions he was getting. “Heheh, yea! Especially when I do this!” Pump agreed, running his fingers under Whitty’s toes momentarily, earning a startled squeal before more peals of bellowing laughter followed. After what felt like an eternity, he felt their hands slow to a stop, releasing him and allowing him a breather. He had to admit, they were good at reading people, they must have noticed when he was beginning to reach his limit and had stopped just when he was really needing a break. He slumped into the couch, pulling his hood over his head, and pulling the laces so it closed around him, thus hiding the massive, practically glowing blush and face splitting smile there. Residual giggles and panting could, however, be easily heard. He pulled his feet away from them and bent his knees so as to tuck them underneath him best he could, his arms dropping onto the couch, going limp. The other 2 smile brightly. Yes, they had been keeping close watch. And both, the entire time in fact, had yet to hear him sound desperate or genuinely angry or upset. If anything, he almost sounded like he was enjoying himself. And the smile Skid could see through the small gap in his hood confirmed it.

   “Heheh, that was fun! We should do that again some time!” Pump giggled with glee, clearly pleased. “Yea! That was fun! Be right back.” Skid said, getting up and making his way to the kitchen, coming back a few seconds later with a glass of cool water in hand, handing it to the exhausted object head that rested on the couch. Whitty sat up enough to be able to drink it, losing the rim of his hood so he could so.

  “Hff hff.. Yohou both suhuck…” he panted, though both could tell there was no real malice in his voice. Upon being able to see his eyes, both smiled brightly. Why?

Because there was a glitter in them, one that reminded them of Keith, who was open about enjoying being tickled. Both could easily tell, seeing that glimmer alone, that he had enjoyed it. And Pump was the first to call it out.

  “Heh, I can tell you liked it, Whits! You look so happy!”

He paused for a second and gulped down that last mouthful of water before correcting the pumpkin head.

“I did not like it!” he protested. Though, the deepening blush on his face told them otherwise.

  Skid chuckled lightly, both still smiling brightly. “You go ahead and rest, Whitty, we’re gonna finish this round and make up all the lost time!” 

  As the 2 sat back down, recollecting the dropped controllers and continued playing, Whitty watched the screen closely as he grumbled to himself. That was humiliating! Taken down and rendered helpless by 2 measly children! Let alone taken down with only tickles! The ghostly after tickles were still there, but he ignored them, they weren’t as bad anymore and were tolerable. ‘But maybe….yea, maybe it… wasn’t so bad..’ he thought to himself, glancing down at the glass he had been given, now only half full. 

…

Yea, he would never admit it. But yea, maybe it was a little fun.

But still, he wasn’t gonna show it. Not by a long shot.

He sat up, a new idea forming in his brain and a smirk with a whole new meaning to it forming on his lips. Slowly he edged his way towards the other 2, setting down his glass and cracking his knuckles as he did. Pump glanced up momentarily to notice this before freezing entirely, his eyes wide and a nervous smile forming on his face as he did. His avatar began to slow down and Skid noticed, “hey, what are you slowing down for, Pum-....oh….heh...h-hello...” Skid looked over and noticed the predatory grin on Whitty’s face as he now towered over them. 

  “U-um, heheh…..bye!” Skid squeaked, dropping his controller on the couch, grabbing Pump’s arm and attempted to get off the couch, to make a bolt for it. But was stopped when he felt an arm wrap around him, pulling both him and Pump into the awaiting lap of the Bomb head above. Pump let out a startled yelp upon the sudden and deft swoop. Both looking up with anticipation and nervousness in their eyes and smiles. And a devious one in Whitty’s.

“Heh, where do you 2 think you’re going? Oh no, you 2 aren’t going anywhere..”  he curled his fingers to make faux claws, looming them over the 2 who now squirmed with anticipation. Oh, revenge was gonna be sweet! “Hope you two are ready, cuz you guys are gonna be stuck here for a long time.”

And he wasn’t joking. In fact, their squeals and laughter could be heard by pedestrians walking by for quite a while.

End!

Hope you enjoyed it! I am not sure of the quality of the end there. But still, hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you for reading!

[quarkcore]

im kinda charmed by the whole multi level tag referencing system weve got here like 

1) prev tags - you agree w what the last person said, but leave it optional whether other ppl see it. gives credit for whatever theyre saying without obligating u to repeat it. often used when for whatever reason you dont want to tag that post in the same way (eg to avoid repeated fandom tagging of non fandom posts). also often a silly little game where you have to click through however many blogs to get to a joke that may or may not be worth it

2) ‘xyz from prev tags’ - you love this addition! you love it so much that you want all your followers to see it - but you dont want to add it as a comment. maybe you dont want it continue spreading beyond you. maybe you dont want people to click to see the notes, and instantly see the  comment you/ the person you reblogged from made. maybe youre following arcane tumblr law with regards to when something may be added as an actual reblog. who cares! it gives a nice easy halfway house between ‘haha! i want my followers to see this’ and ‘haha! i want everyone to see this’.

3) adding an actual comment/reblog - you all know how this one works. if were imagining the comment-tag system as on a scale from private to public, this ones as public as it can get. people on your blog see it, people looking at the notes of the post see it, and you should assume op might also see it too (though many people also pay attention to tags on their original posts). this one is out there for all to see, and on a site with as many unspoken rules a tumblr, its not surprising people try so hard to avoid it.

i honestly love how weve got such a complex system going on here, and i think it really reflects just how flexible tumblr is as a platform - whether they intend it to be or not. on twitter, fb, etc, you just couldnt do this kinda thing in the same way bc there isnt the capacity - they far more carefully control the ways in which you interact with other people’s posts, because for them thats the primary source of profit. meanwhile tumblr more or less lets us go wild, and we create whole new ways of communicating because of it.

[squeiky]

Do not get me started on papyrus's "naiveness"

He has advanced shit as his favorite book. So dont start saying he's an idiot. Or his "intellegence" is low. Hes very smart and cool dude.

He knows what a lab is. Bro the "quantum physics book" could be his. He tells jokes/puns afterrall. And its neatly arranged in a nice ongoing pattern. I like it that way myself too uwu.

He knows what the sun is.

He straight up lied to us all on the surface. In the pacifist route. Everybody.

Need proof? Figure here:

Btw how do you know what a highway is? I thought this war was like years ago, like a millena. Not like 2012 or something.

(Of course @argentdandelion brought up a good point. Of how he might've heard descriptions in it of all the books he reads, but never actually has seen it. But either way, this is still gonna be up for some speculation)

You know what the surface is papyrus. The "human world" you are on earth papyrus. You know this. PAPYRUS. Just saying "human world".

(Of course he could also be referring to the "surface")

SANTA BETTER BE FRIKING CELEBRATED IN SNOWDIN OR IM GOING TO KICK DOWN YOUR DOOR PAPYRUS.

HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SANTAA???!?! You better not be covering this up..

And the "lets just say" part? Means your simplifying things. The "..." Means your evaluating it. And that worried expression of your face?

Yeah i see that expression papyrus. Your hiding something. By using flipping Santa an excuse. Why, just why.

(He already has some kind of relationship with gaster, actually its alot more closer than sans does. So its plausible that gaster just straight up gave he action figures from like.. Deltarune or somthing.)

(Or someone dressed up as Santa, went to the dump, and got him action figures. )

Oh and dont say this wont say anthying about him, beacuse this is the kicker. Out of everything i had listed this is one to pay attention too.

HE HAS AN ADVANCED PUZZLE BOOK. For crying out loud.

And no, this isn't some kindergartener kinda thing

This is complex, takes a bunch of thought put into it.

(Whoever owns an advanced puzzle book, please tell me how long it takes you to finsih the whole book. Cause i just searched it up on google and this thing LOOKS LIKE A FREAKING MATH BOOK. Like i just searched up, advanced puzzle book review and this dude speaking really fast, flips throw "puzzle mania" and im blown away by how much stuff there is in there. Its like a big ol math book.)

Also this book is one of his "favorites". Just search up some reveiws for yourself on advanced stuff.

Yeah, papyrus definetly gives off the "critical minds" with the well thought out lying, planned things he does, HIDING STUFF FROM HIS OWN BROTHER, AND STRAIGHT UP LYING TO HIM TO THE POINT WHERE HE TREATS HIM LIKE A CHILD.

Oh and dont get me wrong. The "treat me like a child" is the best way to cover up thise dirty secrets papyrus. As children are associated with "innocence" so you must be free of charge? Right?

The fact you know of the "lab" says two things.

You might even know of the "true lab" the most "brutal place" of it all. The experiments on souls.

Not to mention he might be the strongest one in the underground. Stronger than say... Undyne? Whos apperently stronger than the KING of monsters? Due to her training? Perhaps.. Perhaps not.

Though, this link does imply the fact that he might've considered murdering someone. Im guessing from what we see in genocide, he doesn't go through with it.

The fact is he considered.

https://batter-sempai.tumblr.com/post/146708963368/eroshiyda-ibelieveinfairytales606

Papyrus does say if you hadn't stop he would've blasted you too... Well im guessing pieces.

(Seeing as he has alot of 4th wall breaking logic, so im guessing he literally means he blast your floating heart into peices. (As that what happens)

So papyrus would, and can murder you. He probably considered it, once or twice. He knows that capturing you, would just.. Get you killed.

Actually! He was gonna kill you in the genocide run, but you caught him off gaurd.

Its only with horrible puzzles and pasta and becoming his friend, where he tries not to have you killed. But without that, i doubt anything different besides a bit of guilt crawling down his back.

I mean all the puzzles he sets up are deadly, even claiming that kids love those stuff. Yeah, deadly puzzles..... Hopefully that's something someone told him, and not him just thinking that on a whim. Beacuse then it can be justified.

But your capable of making your own decisions.

So what do you think?

(Ps: i edited it a few times, so I might be a little different with each reblog)

[black-mesa-slut-voice]

Bro your art tag is filled to the brim with solid gold, thank you for making such incredible benry content I tried to reblog as much I could I love it all..... do you have any frenry thoughts?

Thank you so much!!!! This ask made me super happy I’m :’’’’’3

But to answer your question, YES! I do very much. Unfortunately I’m bad with like... talking about things without direction? I usually need specific thoughts or questions to start with and I can sorta ramble from there. But as far as general thoughts....

I love the idea of them going from enemies to frenemies to lovers. Most notably- in my headcanons, I think the main reason they butt heads so much is because they’re not only different “species”, but think in such different ways that both their verbal cues and body language go over each other’s heads at best, and at worse mean the opposite. 

Sort of like how people who are used to dogs often mistake cat body language, and so they think cats are ‘evil’- for example, exposing belly. On a dog it’s an invitation of ‘please touch this’, and on a cat it’s saying ‘i trust you not to touch this’- so when someone used to dog body language sees this, they touch, and then get bit and scratched.

Same with Benrey and Gordon. For example- when Benrey doesn’t know the answer to something, he never says “i don’t know”- he’ll simply respond with a nonsensical answer. For example- Benrey breaks into Gordon’s house post-game. Gordon says “How are you alive?”, and Benrey... doesnt know! So he just says “i’m getting cereal”, cus that’s the first thing that comes to mind that he does know. It’s not malicious. Of course, to Gordon, this seems like Benrey is avoiding the question or just annoying him on purpose.

Another big difference is that Gordon talks so, so much- and Benrey doesn’t. Human languages aren’t his native language. That, and just... having some sort of auditory processing issues, It takes effort to actually process the words of what Gordon is saying. Thus, the ‘huh?”s so often. He genuinely just needs a second to think, but Gordon often doesn’t give him that second and immediately moves on to talking again, upset that Benrey ‘wasnt paying attention’ or whatever.

It’s the same from Benrey’s point of view though, too. To him, Gordon is unreasonably mean to him- he tries to listen and do things that he thinks is right and best, but because of that barrier, Gordon often snaps at him... and he doesn’t always understand why.

I think a lot of them going from ‘enemies’ to ‘friends’ involves them realizing that there is that barrier there in the first place, and slowly learning each other’s language. Not literal language, of course, just... their tics and mannerisms and body language and such. 

I love the trope i see so often of ‘benrey forcibly moves himself in’, because par tof the reason they never learned is because they were both in black mesa and stressed. In a comfortable environment where they can just hang out and observe each other in daily routines, they start to figure it out. 

Gordon starts giving Benrey a moment to think over Gordon’s words after he speaks, starts to realize that benrey sitting on his end table watching him sleep is him trying to be friendly and watch over him, he starts to pick out sweet voice color meanins when Benrey just cant find the words. Benrey starts figuring out just what insults are actually hurting and what’s acceptable teasing; he starts learning when Gordon is fake upset and loud or genuinely upset, he starts to work on properly answering questions and admitting when he doesnt know things, etc etc etc!

It’s once they start to understand each other that the actually become well and true friends. And from there it’s just a short slide into lovers, though i do love the idea of them never admitting it for a looong while lol

anyway i just rambled a lot i hop this makes sense. I just... really love the idea of two people being so so so different but learning to understand each other, to the point where if any outside looks in on them they have no idea whats going on. Gordon says “what do you want for dinner” and benrey doesnt answer for a solid 2 minutes before going “beans” and gordon goes “of fucking course you want the goddamn bean burrito supreme you ass. also use your napkin this time and dont eat it thats impolite” and then orders for both of them anyway. thats love bro

[katecarteir]

writing prompt masterlist #1

 Of course, there’s 75 million prompt lists out there but i figured there’s nothing wrong with making my own. Send me a category + a number + a pairing and i’ll write you a fic. Okay to reblog and use :) (x)

Fake/Secret/Etc Dating AUs:

my parents keep setting me up on blind dates but in reality I’m dating you and it’s so you help me get out of them

i hate commitment but my dad’s dying wish is to see me get married and you’re an old family friend i ran into at the airport on my way to visit him so hey let’s get engaged

you need a plus-one for your brother’s wedding so i’m going as a favor but there’s been a misunderstanding and now your whole family thinks we’re engaged

i’m mad at my parents so i ask you out because they wouldn’t approve of you and you’re well aware that i’m just using you but you agree because you find it funny but hey you’re actually super sweet

there’s this really creepy person hitting on me and i don’t know you but you pretending to be my partner completely saved my ass thanks how about i buy you a drink

we’re just really touchy friends and we get each other gifts all the time but everyone thinks we’re going out and we let them think that but why are you getting upset about me going on a date we’re not actually together? 

I’m sorry you always thought your love for me was unrequited but on to more important matters YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED IN THE MORNING SO YOU HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE YOU ASSHOLE!

Our mutual friend apparently has been waiting for us to get together and so they’re very angry/disappointed/upset when they find out that the reason we kissed last night was because we were black-out drunk

everyone thinks we hate each other and we keep that front up in public, so we have hilarious pretend fights and squabbles and pranks 

when we were little I accidentally mentioned that I had a crush on you but I always thought you didn’t hear me because you just looked at me weird and never commented but now we’re in high school and omg you just introduced me as your boyfriend/girlfriend/datemate wtf we never discussed this

friends to lovers aus

You’ve got a date tonight and you asked for advice on what to wear but I’m so in love with you and damn you look good in the outfit I picked out for you

You’ve liked me for ages and were really obvious about it and I didn’t like all the attention but now you’re over me I really miss it and fuck I think I like you too?

 You want us both to get in shape and I hate working out/running but your ass looks really good in shorts oh the things I do for my friends and their nice asses

Our best friends are that awful ‘cute’ couple that make-out in public and call each other “sweetie” and “sugar” and “babe” and god they’re awful let’s talk about how awful they are – develops into “shit we’re the awful couple now”

Celebrity/Famous AUs

listen, you may be a famous (and extremely attractive) guitarist, but that gives you no right to practise on the electric at two a.m when we live right next to each other.

We broke up and I used my feelings to write songs and now I’m super popular and you want me back

we decided to make a fake vlog drama for our subscribers and they all think it’s real but jokes on us we end up actually liking each other

I run a prank channel and you were some innocent bystander I pranked for a video but then it turns out hey, you’re also famous online haha shit

we met and started talking but i didn’t know you were a rising star until i noticed cameras following me wtf

you’re a reporter and i think you’re super cute so i’ll only give you personal interviews to help your career and also get you to talk to me more

I’m a celebrity and I have a secret social media account and we started talking online and now we’re close friends but you want to meet up oh shit

I’m a celebrity and I may or may not be following your blog which is dedicated to me. reading your comments and tags are hilarious and very flattering and I’m somewhat smitten  

You’re an actor/other famous person that I really admire and I just saw you in the street and as I was debating whether or not to say hi you came up to me and started flirting what do I do??

wedding/kids/marriage/long term relationship AUs

we’ve been dating forever, and you just caught the bouquet at our friend’s wedding

remember when we were in high school and we swore that if we were still single at 30 we’d marry each other, well hey guess whose birthday it is

i’m a runaway bride/groom and you’re driving my getaway car

I suddenly bumped into you after years and wow you look good but holy crap is that a kid?? since when?

you had a breakdown because the baby wouldn’t stop crying and you kept saying how you weren’t ready and how you couldn’t do it

whenever my kid starts crying I just hand them to you and then they just stop and start smiling

“i’m so sorry that my child pointed out how your shirt- actually nevermind i agree, that shirt is horrendous”

i always tease you because that’s just our thing we tease each other but for some reason you snapped at me and are you okay? what’s wrong?

my in-laws despise me GREAT but around you they’re super nice so you don’t believe me

neighbours AUs

You always complain about how loud I am (whether it be TV, video games or music/musical instrument is up to you) and this is the first time you’ve actually knocked on my apartment door and given me a lecture there rather than giving me a phone call, but I’m not really listening because I didn’t  realise I had such a cute neighbour

you never open your door for children on halloween so i always pay the kids to smear your door with shaving cream

my printer isnt printing anymore and my papers are due tomorrow so im on my knees in front of your door begging to use your printer when the old lady from above passes us and thinks im proposing to you

we always run into each other on the stairs but we’ve never said more than hello but when we found out that we both hate the other neighbours, we became friends

i came home drunk and wouldnt stop knocking on your door. when you open i keep telling you to get out of my apartment

after a rough party night i find you sleeping on the stairs but since im still a little asshole all i do is put a blanket over you and a pillow under your head

Please help me, I know you have a kid and my sibling just dropped their baby on me where’s the button to put them to sleep?

I’m stressed and sleep-deprived, please let me pet your cat. 

I have really weird dreams and you have really weird dreams so now we’re in this contest to see who has the weirdest dreams.

Strangers/Meet Cute (or meet very NOT cute) AUs 

We were sitting next to each other in a public place and I saw a mosquito on you and my instincts just acted before my mind.

We mixed up our clothes at the laundry service and I have nothing left to wear and every thing you wear is too big/small for me.

We’re at a comic book store and if you tell me your superhero is better than mine I’m gonna have to punch you in the teeth.

There are no table left at this restaurant and you let me sit at yours since you’re alone.

I’m a single grown-up with busy friends but I want to go to Disneyland so I drop a message on a forum to find someone like me to go wear silly Mickey ears headband and stuff ourselves with cotton candy.

My computer broke down so I called an IT and now I need to find a reason to call them back so I delete important files and download adwares and do all kinds of stupid things. 

I almost dropped something and in my fumbling attempts to stop it from hitting the floor I accidentally projectiled it at your face and it’s a really nice face I’m so sorry

first day at a new job and oh fuck my boss is the person I drunkenly hooked up with last weekend/night

I wanted to go on the ferris wheel but there has to be two people to a cart come on random person let’s go oh wait are we stuck at the top? Fuck

 Our mutual friend set us up on a blind date and I thought I’d hate it but you’re actually… kind of funny? But because I expected to hate it in no way am I going to let you change my mind just because you’re gorgeous and funny and intelligent oh no my friend is not winning this

college/high school AUs:

i went on a date with a boy who had plans to take me to dinner and drinks. but he lost his wallet at a pizza place so we just walked around the neighborhood, sat in the park and talked.

we’re in the same study group but we dont talk but you brought goldfish and im starving

we have the same notebook and we took the wrong ones home so i used your notes on my open book test

you were my elementary school crush but you moved away but somehow we end up miraculously going to the same college and i barely recognized you because holy hot damn you are more attractive than i remember?

I tripped over on my way to this party and I’m bleeding profusely from the grazes on my knees and you’re a complete stranger that pretty much jumped me the second I walked in the door to play nurse

ive had a crush on you for 3+ years and now youre going out with my best friend and i definitely havent locked myself in a toilet cubicle to cry

We’re in different debate classes and I was constructing a case on the board and I come in the next morning and you’ve replied to all my points really well?? But I don’t even know your name? And oh shit, we’re taking over the entire whiteboard, is that your phone number squeezed into the corner of the board there?

You have braces and I don’t and I keep forgetting you’re not allowed to have gum so every time I offer, you give this death glare

You sent me a text asking if I wanted to go to prom on the day of prom and I’m not in town

I’m a notorious goody two shoes and you look like you get into fights on a daily basis, so when you were in the library on the first day I was supposed to be a tutor, I assumed I’d be tutoring you. But, as it turns out, we’re both tutors, and the people we’re tutoring keep blowing us off to make out and we have to go round them up

we have a mutual best friend but they cannot find out how much i like you then they’ll tell you, but i need to find out if you’re single!

I sat down in the wrong class and I’m panicking but don’t want to get up and leave because the class has started and you think it’s hilarious 

You pissed me off in class so I threw a book at your head and now I’m in detention and jesus fuck I hate you so much and the teacher made me apologise and wait you’re cuter up close

soulmate aus

if one soulmate gets an injury, the other gets it as well.

Character A has a soulmate, but Character A died before they got to meet them. As Character A navigates the afterlife in their ghostly form, they discover that they can’t “move on” until they’ve met their soulmate.

 the very first words your soulmate ever says to you are tattooed somewhere on your body since the day you are born

when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever, it will show up on your soul mates skin as well.

You get an ‘impression’ of your soulmate when you turn 18 or something but all I got was a strong smell of bananas or something

you have a compass on your wrist and it directs you to where your soulmate is

i usually think i’m having a conversation with myself in my head but it turns out we’re telepathically connected

everybody is born with a map “tattooed” on their forearm that’s centered on the exact location of where they’ll first meet their soul mate