#and i did have a bit of a sleep deprivation issue recently

[strawberrypinky]

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed with negativity on the internet recently and thus I've decided to take matters into my own hands and spread some ✨love and positivity✨

And what better way to do that, than to recommend wonderfully written fanfiction I've come across this year? Admittedly, I haven't read as much as I would have liked, but I still want to share the few I did read. So without further ado, here are my fic recs of 2024 (thus far! Might add to this along the line):

Baldur's Gate 3 Fic recs:

O Fortuna [by @gufu-vire] on AO3 - Raphael x Dark Urge ❦ Plot: Post the events of BG3, a redeemed Dark Urge and Raphael renegotiate terms to fulfil a contract sworn upon during the crisis of the Absolute. An adventure fraught with tension, frustration, conflict, and more as the reader partners up with the devil you love to hate…

This is possibly a very biased mention on this list, because I consider Goof a very dear friend and moot, but it is a deserved spot nonetheless! I have yet to catch up with a majority of the chapters, but I'm enjoying a lot of sneak peeks and Gufu's creative process in private in the meantime. Between the conflict this story is utterly hilarious and witty and is a perfect balance between action and idle affairs. There are also so many intriguing takes on Raphael as a character & Harleep deserves a trophy on his own. I could talk a lot about this story, but truly, I cannot recommend it enough!

❦

Sleep Deprivation - [by @nyda-the-tav & Aisln] on AO3 - Gortash x Tav ❦ Plot: As Orin continues to harass the group of misfits trying to stop the Absolute, Ophelia (Tav) looks for safety in the arms of Gortash in an effort to combat sleep deprivation.

I've only recently started reading this story & both authors best believe that once I've caught up with all 50(!) chapters, I'll leave a more detailed review for Sleep Deprivation. But what I've read thus far has been nothing short of a joy, and I'm always down for a good Tav being absolutely ruined by Gortash himself. The dynamic between the supposed enemy and the hero is gripping, hilarious and not to mention really well written! Kudos to the authors! I'm really excited to read more of what you two come up with!

❦

His Star - His Queen [by @random-introverted-blog] on AO3 - Astarion x Tav/Astarion x Dark Urge ❦ Plot: An ascended Astarion kidnaps the Dark Urge/Tav from a different timeline, after loosing her in his. Desperate to save Tav/Durge from himself, Astarion follows her to rescue his love from certain suffering at his own hands.

I was recommended this story on TikTok (of all places, lol) and I wasn't sure what to expect - but holy shit. The first chapter alone had me on the edge of my seat, as you're really thrown into the action from the start, but the entire premise had me hooked as soon as Ascendant Astarion made his appearance. I often have issues with the ascended version of Astarion's character (I just looooove fixing him & I've got issues with the 'make him worse' story arc), but the exploration of what could have been in tandem with trying to save the heroine from inevitable suffering is beautiful & I can't recommend it enough. I've yet to catch up with every chapter (can you tell I've got trouble keeping up with fics, lmfao?) but either way, "His Star - His Queen" is deservedly on this list!

Note: This fic includes non-consensual sexual content

❦

Judgement by the Hounds [by @septembersummer] on AO3 - Gortash x The Dark Urge ❦ Plot: A look into the relationship of The Dark Urge (Seren) and Gortash, from their first meeting up to their shared end. "The rise and fall of the worst situationship of all time" indeed.

This one I actually finished (very slay), though I'm not sure I actually processed it. I went through all five stages of grief reading this and I'm not even sure I can say anything without spoiling the entire premise. Dear author, you have written possibly the most captivating and enchanting portrayal of Durge and Gortash & though I knew how it would end, I was wishing for a happy end through it all. There's nothing to say about this, other than it was utter perfection.

❦

Miscellaneous One Shot recommendations:

legacy with no memory by @discordsmuse on AO3 - Gortash x The Dark Urge The Weight of A Promise by @sserpente on tumblr [Part 2 is equally good!] - Gortash x Tav/OC kiddo. by @avocado-writing on tumblr. - Gortash & OC

to have and to hold by @littlejuicebox on tumblr. - Astarion x Tav

choices. by @deadtired-highkeyenergetic on tumblr - Astarion x Tav

how to win a custody battle in one easy step. by alltears on AO3 - Astarion x Tav

Dangerous by NaeveTheWizard on AO3 - Astarion x The Dark Urge

❦

Honourable Mentions:

I'm also giving a shout-out to @avani-telvanni & @infernaldaydreams, because while neither have written fanfiction I could recommend, I am obsessed with their respective artworks for Tav x Gortash/Durge x Gortash. You guys are absolutely amazing and I'm conistently in awe of what you create. You deserve all the recognition you receive and more 💕

Hogwarts Legacy Fic rec's: a very short list, but two are dear to me nonetheless!

Victory [by @jonquil] on AO3 - Victor Rookwood x Original Female Character ❦ Plot: Victor Rookwood is enraptured by the new, ancient-magic-wielding student attending Hogwarts - and Victor Rookwood always comes out on top.

Technically I started reading "Victory" in 2023, when it first came out, alas, it was finished earlier this year and I couldn't help but include it, because it remains one of my favourite fanfiction ever. To me, it's the best fictionalisation of "Enemies to Lovers" in a long time, as I was rooting for the villain to win from start to finish. From the wonderful characterisation of Rookwood to the alternative canon timeline and ultimately the victory of the villain - there's nothing like it and I was hooked from start to finish. I am still sad it's over, but I'm excited to read the prequel (as soon as I get to it, lmfao), because I know it'll be equally spectacular!

Note: This fic contains non-consensual sexual content.

❦

Invisible String [by @legacygirlingreen] on tumblr (though it can be found on both AO3 and wattpad too!) - Sebastian Sallow x Reader ❦ Plot: In an alternative, victorian-attitude-compliant timeline, Sebastian Sallow falls for the new fifth-year. This story explores the sweet beginnings of a tender love amidst hardships and battles ahead.

Admittedly, this is possibly the most biased fic rec ever, but I stand behind it nonetheless. While this fic started in March of last year & brought me and my platonic soulmate May, aka legacygirlingreen, together, it remains my favourite Sebastian Sallow fic to this day. The amount of love, time and creativity May put into this has me in awe time and time again. The sweet and tender love the two protagonists experience is perfectly fluffy and slice-of-life, yet the alternative version of the canon events of Hogwarts Legacy add the perfect amount of drama and action. I will always come back to this fic, because yes - It is that good.

[m1lflov3rrr]

Hi hiiiiii! Firstly, lemme just say I absolutely ADORE your fics on wattpad and im SO thrilled you're also here on tumblr now??!?!? An absolute treat, this is <3

Anyways as for requests— can I request Larissa and/or Marilyn dealing with Y/N who's got a really bad sleeping schedule thanks to having the WORST case of insomnia? (fluff most appreciated, but IF you want somth more spicy to deal it, I wouldn't say no to it hehe 💕 :3c)

Thank you sm <3

Thank you for the request and so sorry it took literally MONTHS!!! But here it is now!! And thank you for your kind words, means so much to me <3 I really hope you enjoy this, I made a few changes to it. I don’t have that much experience with insomnia, but with sleep deprivation so I wrote about that, I hope it is okay!

No Rest for the Wicked

Pairing: Larissa Weems x fem!reader

Warnings: sleep deprivation, health issues, fainting, worrying, fluff

Word count: 2.5k

Summary: Larissa tries to help you when she notices how little you’re sleeping…

You sighed deeply as you raised your gaze from your laptop and looked out the window. A heavy fog had descended on the school grounds, reaching as far as the tired eye could see. 

The fog was persistent, it was thick. 

You felt like your thoughts were similarly clouded. You smiled at the irony. 

Returning your gaze back to your work, you looked at the time, it was way past 4 am already. Larissa would wake up soon. 

For the past few weeks it had been like this. You were staying up late, only getting a few hours of sleep a night. And sometimes, like tonight, no sleep at all. 

You felt that you didn’t have enough time. The work load you had felt like the weight of the world rested on your shoulders. You had stacks of ungraded papers, lesson plans to finalize, and a curriculum to update. 

You were exhausted. 

You tried your best to hide it, you didn’t want Larissa to get worried. Because her concern would’ve broken your heart. 

Every day went like this: You ’got up’ at 6, prepared for your lessons of the day and started at 8, taught for 8 hours straight, got back to your shared quarters and spent the rest of the night with Larissa. And after she had fallen asleep, you’d finish your work and prepare for the next day. 

You didn’t have the heart to tell your wife how much workload you’d had recently and how overwhelming it was for you. You had had difficulties in the past finding time to spend together, and after months of you both trying to work it out, it was, indeed, working. 

But lately, it had become too much. With the work, of course. You knew that Larissa would get concerned and start panicking and rushing things to make it better. You didn’t want that. She had her own job to do, which definitely had a workload twice as big as yours was. You felt pathetic. Your wife does three times the work you do in a day and you’re still stressed? Yes, pathetic. 

You finished your lesson plans for the day, just to save yourself some time later. 

It was 5:13 am when you were done. You rubbed your temples to ease your already growing headache as you got up from the desk, swayed there for a bit before making your way to the bathroom. 

You winced at your reflection in the mirror. Your dark and puffy undereyes were still there, if not even more bad and noticeable. This was the first time in your 25 years of living that you had had eye bags. You knew it was bad. 

You hopped in the shower to keep yourself up and maybe gather some energy to get through the day. At first the cold water did wake you up a bit more. Then, when you turned it a little bit warmer, you realized how bad of an idea it was. The warm water relaxed all those tense muscles in your body and you closed your eyes to enjoy the feeling. 

And your eyes stayed closed for a bit too long. If you weren’t so tired, you would have laughed at yourself. The image of you half asleep, standing in your shower. What in the actual fuck, really? 

But something made you jump and push your body’s cries for help and sleep to the back of your mind. 

”Darling?” You heard Larissa’s hoarse morning voice call out to you from the door. 

”Mhm?” You hummed as you turned the water back to cold to not almost fall asleep again. 

”Nothing, just wondering how you’re up so early every morning this week, usually it’s a task itself to get you up,” She chuckled at her own words. 

You smiled to yourself and turned the faucet off, stepping out of the shower so you could see her. 

You noticed how she was checking you out, biting her lip as her eyes roamed across your body. You smirked at her as you took your towel and dried yourself, about to wrap it around your bare body. 

She quickly snapped out of her trance and stepped forward, taking the towel in her hands and unwrapping it, causing it to drop on the floor. 

”I don’t think we’ll be needing that.” She said in a low tone as she pulled you flush against her body by your waist, attacking your neck with her mouth. 

You hummed in delight and closed your eyes in satisfaction at the sudden move, wrapping your hands around her neck. 

You let out little gasps, you couldn’t even let out a simple moan because of your sleep-deprived state. 

And it felt so good, feeling your wife’s lips on your neck, still keeping your eyes shut, leaning into her, maybe leaning too much, starting to drift off, losing your balance… 

Your eyes snapped open when your heard Larissa’s sudden, loud gasp, as she had her arms tightly wrapped around your torso to keep you from falling to the hard floor. 

”Darling, what on earth just happened here?!” She asked in shock as you stood up. 

You took a moment to process what she just said, just because you couldn’t think as fast as usual. 

”What? M’sorry, just got a little.. distracted there, I think..” You responded hazily, trying to focus your eyes to look into hers. 

She ducked her head a bit, trying to get a closer look of you and inspecting your condition. ”Are you alright? You had me worried there, are you sure you want to go to work today? You can take the day off, okay?” 

Your eyes widened in panic, ”No, no, Rissa I am absolutely fine, and I will not be taking the day off. You shouldn’t be concerned, I am okay.” You said hurriedly and walked away, leaving your wife standing in the bathroom, extremely confused and concerned. 

-

”Okay, I think it’s time we all head for lunch, see you guys tomorrow!” You announced the class with a smile, packing your things and leaving for the dining hall. As you entered the hall, you seached for your wife with your eyes, as you always ate lunch together. She wasn’t there. 

You yelped loudly when you felt someone grab your shoulder from behind, causing some people nearby to look at your weirdly. You turned around, ”God, you scared me, Rissa,” You breathed out. 

She just responded with a laugh, sliding her arm to the small of your back and guiding you to walk together to get the food. 

As you sat down, you began eating in silence. You opened a can of energy drink, something that you’d been drinking a lot these days. You didn’t usually even drink those that often, but you needed something to keep you up and awake. 

Larissa sent you a scolding look, a frown tugging at her lips. ”Y/N, what’s this?” 

You widened your eyes, you didn’t want her to find out like this. Or any other way. ”Oh, that’s just an energy drink. Thought it might give me a little boost.” 

She narrowed her eyes slightly, ”A boost? Y/N, darling, this isn’t healthy. Are you not sleeping enough?” 

You smiled, but it was forced. ”Rissa, I’m fine. It’s just been a busy week.” 

She sighed, looking at you with worry-filled eyes. ”Y/N, I can see something is going on, don’t shut me out. Whatever it is, I’m here to help you. We’re a team, remember?” 

Your gaze softened, you were really lucky to have her. But you didn’t want her to know. You didn’t want her you worry about you, because when Larissa got worried, it was all she could think about. She couldn’t work, rest, do anything. She’d have to get to the bottom of it. 

You pursed your lips and took her hand in yours, ”I know, and I appreciate that. But I’ve got this, Rissa. Trust me.” 

-

It had been a few days since that, and your condition and fatigue were only growing worse. Your work load seemed to have doubled since that day. You were trying (and struggling) to stay awake with the constant consumption of caffeine. 

The fog was growing thicker and thicker. You barely could see where you were walking. 

Larissa had had enough. She had been watching your extremely concerning situation unfold in the past few days into something much more worrying. She couldn’t bear seeing you suffer like this for a moment longer. This had to end now. 

You were sitting in your classroom, head buried in your hands as you tried to take a deep breath so that the pounding headache you had recently gotten would go away. You’d taken more aspirin than you probably should have, but it didn’t do anything. You were feeling miserable, physically, and that way, emotionally, too. 

Your eyes began to feel heavier and heavier, and you almost didn’t hear the sharp knock on your classroom door. You flinched harshly at that, squeaking a quiet, ”It’s open.” 

You heard the door opening and the familiar clacking of heels filled the room. 

”Darling?” 

Her voice was soft, almost a little wary. 

You raised your gaze to meet hers, ”Yes?” 

Her eyes were filled with concern, barely hidden. ”I’m worried about you. I can see that something’s going on, and if you’d just please, please let me in, I could help you. Okay?” 

You pursed your lips. You knew this was coming. ”Larissa there is absolutely no reason for you to worry. I am fine, okay?” Your voice was a mixture of frustration and exhaustion. 

”No, you’re not.” She snarled, her tone of voice contrasting the one she had just moments prior. ”You’ve been running on fumes for days! Darling, this… this can’t go on any longer.” Her voice broke as her eyes held a silent plea. 

Your jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the floor. ”I can handle it.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep convincing yourself that. 

”Y/N you almost collapsed earlier! This can’t go on.” She stepped closer, reaching her hand out to touch your shoulder. 

You shrugged off her touch, ”It was nothing. Just a moment of dizziness.” 

Larissa scoffed, her patience was wearing thin. ”And what happens when it’s not just a moment? What happens when you can’t get back up?” 

Something in that comment did it. Your eyes flashed with fury as your tone of voice turned into one laced with venom.  ”You just don’t get it, Larissa! I can fucking handle myself!” 

Her brows furrowed and you could’ve sworn you almost saw her flinch a little. ”Look, I am not trying to belittle you. I just want and need you to take care of yourself.” 

Your head tilted as your eyes held nothing but defiance in them. You felt your breathing pick up, uncontrollably, and how that pounding headache seemed to double, you started feeling a little lightheaded. But you chose to do what you’d been doing for god knows how long now. You ignored it. 

”I don’t, I don’t need you constantly watching over me.” You said, out of breath. 

Your wife’s expression dropped as she realized your condition and what could be happening next. She approached you cautiously, attempting to try and calm you down. ”Y/N, darling, this is not about control. It’s about caring for you.” She told calmly, cupping your face with her soft palm. 

You shook your head, ”You suffocate me, Larissa! I can’t breathe with you hovering over me all the time!” 

Larissa’s heart sank at that. She never meant for it to come to this. She only wanted the best for you, to protect you. 

”Y/N, please, I…” 

Your breathing laboured and before she could finish, your legs gave way and you collapsed on the cold, hard floor. 

”Y/N!” Larissa’s voice came out as a terrified cry as she rushed forward to try and catch you, but she was too late. 

Tears welled up in her eyes as she knelt beside you, shaking you gently and trying to wake you up. ”Y/N, can you hear me?! Please, say something..” 

Your eyes fluttered open, but you couldn’t focus on anything. Your breathing was still laboured and the words you tried to speak came out as a strained whisper. 

”Y/N, I’m taking you to the infirmary.” She breathed out as she scooped you up in her arms and rushed out the classroom. 

-

Since then, you and Larissa made an agreement. Well, you didn’t have much say in it, since Larissa demanded it. 

Larissa began monitoring your schedule, making sure you were following the new schedule she had made for you. And there was no room for negotiaton, absolutely no exceptions. 

Larissa also began cooking more, preparing the meals with care and love, making sure each one was balanced with important nutrients to get your energy levels for the better. 

Bedtime was the most strictly monitored. As evening approached, Larissa would guide you through a calming routine. She’d prepare a warm bath with your favourite scents, she’d slip in as well and wash your hair for you, massaging your head to calm you down. Then, she’d dress you into comfortable pyjamas and lead you to bed, prepare you a nice cup of tea and dim the lights. 

And she’d lull you to sleep with soothing caresses and words of affirmation, telling you how much she loved you, again and again, kissing your whole body as she did so. 

And it worked perfectly. You were feeling both, physically and mentally better. The dark circles under your eyes were slowly fading away, your energy starting to gain back. You also growed to appreciate your wife a thousand times more.

One evening, you were sitting in your shared bedroom, by your desk. Your laptop was open and you were determined to finish grading some papers for your students. Then, Larissa entered the room, the stern look on her face telling everything. ”Darling, it’s time for dinner.” 

You sighed, closing the laptop as you didn’t want to argue about it. And you were starving too. 

You ate in silence with her, you occasionally stealing glances at her. The way she fussed about your portion sizes, making sure you got the right nutrients for your health - you heart warmed as it was all an expression of love. 

Once you were finished, she led you to bed, undressing you and helping you with your pyjamas. I could’ve done that myself, you thought. 

”Now, off to bed. You need your rest, dearest.” 

You smiled as she laid down next to you, caressing your hair and kissing you softly. And you kissed her back, again and again.  Soon, you fell into a peaceful slumber, under Larissa’s loving gaze. She laid a final kiss on your forehead, ”I love you, my darling.” She whispered before drifting off as well. 

And if you looked outside, you’d have noticed that the fog had finally cleared. 

[maochira]

Big brother!Barou helps you go through a breakup

Tags: gn!younger sibling!reader, hurt/comfort, reader had a toxic relationship with their ex, overprotective!big bro Barou (just the way I love him), a bit messy I wrote this in one sitting without proper thought before, maybe a bit ooc

Despite how happy you were throughout most of the time in your relationship, Barou always doubted a part of it. He never saw your ex-partner as good enough for you.

Despite his disliking towards your ex, Barou never explicitly mentioned it towards you and he tried his best to not be passive-aggressive of they were around. He wanted to let you be happy.

Despite how overprotective he is of you, he couldn't let himself interrupt and destroy your happiness like this.

But he can't deny the relief he felt when your relationship ended.

Something in the relationship had gone downwards for months, but you always hid it from Barou, only occasionally mentioning you had a fight with your partner.

But your ex, they never let you tell the entire truth.

"Your brother would hate me if you told him about that."

So you kept it to yourself.

Until you couldn't anymore.

You broke down in front of Barou, telling him how bad the relationship was going in recent times, and how awful you had been feeling for days because everything seemed to go downhill. Because you didn't feel good enough for a relationship like this.

Because your ex broke up over a small mistake you did.

It wasn't the mistake itself that led to them breaking up. Rather it was a buildup of unaddressed issues in the relationship.

And still, you tried running back to fix the relationship.

"Why are you fighting for the relationship, when they're not?"

Something about Barou's words made you come to a realization.

"I know you're strong, but you need to stop fighting if they're not doing it either."

You knew he was right.

The pain Barou felt when you kept running back to your ex, trying to fix things, breakup up again, then repeating that again and again for three days. He wanted to scream at you to stop. He wanted to smash your phone against the wall so you won't text your ex again.

He couldn't handle watching this cycle repeat over and over.

So he put an end to it. He couldn't keep seeing you like this, and he made you put a final end to this. He made you promise to not run back another time. And he was the one who deleted and blocked every possible way of contacting your ex.

Really, if it wasn't for your big brother, you would have continued begging your ex to take you back, to try again and do better this time - no matter how much you knew it could never work again.

And that's what destroyed you the most. Knowing it'll never work again. Knowing that love won't ever get another chance.

And it shouldn't get another chance.

That's what Barou kept telling you over and over.

"Don't even try again. It won't work. You've told me the reasons. Why do you want to go back? Do you really think they deserve you? After the way they hurt you? After how I watched you fight with all your mental strength when they weren't willing to at all? Don't even dare to run back another time."

Barou would always talk in a somewhat harsh voice, but always tried to be a bit soft towards you. He knew you were dealing with your broken heart already, so he didn't want to make you feel any worse with his words. But he needed to sound strict enough to make his points clear.

And for the following days, weeks, even months, Barou would be there for you at any time.

When you couldn't sleep in the first days after the breakup, when you woke up at 4 am and couldn't stand being in your room, at home, in such a familiar place that just felt as if it locked you in with your feelings - he was there to take you away.

He didn't mind if he ended up sleep deprived. He would rather suffer a bit over having you suffer a lot all on your own.

If it's for you, it'd be worth it.

Healing takes so long, especially from a heartbreak. But with your big brother on your side, it certainly was easier.

He didn't tell you "But you were so cute together" and "Maybe it wasn't that bad" like some of your friends did.

Barou made you tell the entire truth of what had happened throughout your relationship, and he kept reminding you of those things if the thought of running back ever returned to your mind.

That was exactly what you needed. Reminders of the painful truth to avoid thoughts like "It wasn't that bad" and "I should give them another chance." Even if it hurt, sometimes you needed to be reminded of your pain.

But of course, Barou also attempted to comfort you over the pain you had gone through. And he promised he'll never let anyone treat you like this ever again.

[biggestsimponhere]

Finally someone who loves Steve Murphy 😍 I feel deprived 😫 please could I get prompt 4 from the first list because we all know he has anger issues

Mine - Steve Murphy x (f)Reader, YES IVE LITERALLY BEEN SO SAD WITHOUT STEVE FOC SO I JUST DECIDED TO WRITE IT, also thank you for clarifying which list <3 makes it much easier. Again i gave connie a wife (yes i’m gonna keep changing her wife’s name it’s fun) - no i’m not sorry about it i’m also in love with her and would like to pretend she would fall in love with me

Prompt - “Hey in case there was any miscommunication, you’re fucking mine”

It’s that time of year again, the DEA’s annual party where everyone gets to mingle or whatever. You have no idea why they still throw this party when half the people don’t even want to be here but they’ve recently made it mandatory so here you are sitting at the open bar in a gorgeous dress waiting for any of your friends to appear. You were most excited to see steve, you’re not together at least you haven’t made it official. You’ve been sleeping together but the touches started lingering and he started spending more nights at yours. The forehead kisses and bringing you coffee while also saying you guys should just be friends wasn’t helping. You must have zoned out thinking about steve because someone tapped you on the shoulder.

Connie squealed your name bringing you into a hug. “I can’t breathe con” You choked out looking at Celina. She just smiled at the two of you. Connie finally pulled away letting you breathe. “Sorry, I just missed you” She said wrapping her arm around her wife’s. “I missed you too” You said smiling at her. “Why are you alone? Where’s steve?” Celina said scanning the area. “Steve’s not here, i don’t know where he is” You paused raising an eyebrow at her before continuing, “Why would i know where steve is?” They looked at each other before laughing. “What? What’s so funny?” You said looking between the two of them. “Nothing, come dance with us” Connie said pulling both your hands so you had no choice but to follow.

Having seen no sign of steve or javi you continued dancing with connie and celina who kept shoving shots in your hand claiming you all needed to get drunk together. Of course you agreed because you needed a bit of fun. After about four shots not including whatever alcohol was in the drink you had earlier you were getting pretty tipsy. Someone’s arms slid around you and you turned around hoping it was steve. It was not. It was some guy from the photo department you’re not sure why you don’t temper his name right now. It’s like James? Jackson? John! John that’s it. You removed his arms from you and stepped back. You were getting drunk just not that drunk.

Then another pair of arms slid around you except this time it was paired with a familiar and comforting sent. You leaned into it and steve kissed your forehead while glaring at john. “Hey in case there was any miscommunication you’re fucking mine” He practically growled into your ear. That sobered you up pretty quickly. Turning in his arms you smiled at him. He continued glaring at john before looking at you. He visibly relaxed as he caught your eye. John quickly took the hint and walked away somewhere. You didn’t care where you just kept looking at steve. “Did you mean that?” You asked softly. His eyes darted away from you before looking back and he nodded slowly.

You leaned up and cupped his cheeks before pulling him into a deep kiss. Cheering erupted from next to you and you both turned to see Javi, Connie and Celina whistling and shouting at the both of you. “Finally” Celina said throwing her hands up. Javi rolled his eyes before handing five dollars to connie. You and steve just rolled your eyes at their antics. “Let’s keep dancing” was whispered in your ear as you were pulled back into steve’s chest. Connie shoved another shot in your hand and you took it i mean you did say you were getting drunk tonight. As the night progressed and you kept drinking steve refused to drink more than one glass.

“Honey i think it’s time i get you home” Steve whispered to you. You giggled against his chest as he pulled you in. “Wait! i wanna say goodnight” You laughed pulling away to find Connie and Celina. After wishing them goodnight you made your way back to steve’s side. He finally got you into the car after a lot of convincing and the promise of food from that little restaurant around the corner for lunch tomorrow. Steve slid into the drivers side and you leaned against his arm as he drove. “Come on sweetheart, gotta get you inside” He said trying to help you out of the car. You giggled as he hit his head against the roof of the car.

“I’m coming, don’t worry” You said climbing out and throwing your arms around him. He tucked his arms under your legs and began carrying you bridal style. Wow he is much stronger than you thought. “Hey stevie?” You whispered into his chest. Or maybe you didn’t whisper because he laughed before responding, “Yes honey?” He smiled down at you. “Do ya know how much i love you” You said snuggling further into him. “I do” He smiled to himself. “Do you know how much i love you?” He asked his accent getting a little thicker making you laugh again. “I do” You said leaning up to peck his lips.

As he set you down on the bed in his apartment he walked over to his drawer to pull out some boxers and a tshirt when he looked over you were no longer in your dress. He set the boxers next to you and then helped you into the shirt. He smiled as you brought the collar to your nose and breathed him in. Once you had got into the boxers you sat back down. “Honey, we gotta go take your makeup off” He said pulling you back up. “I’m sleepy” You said leaning into his chest. He let you stand there for a minute as he held you before walking you to the bathroom. “Do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?” He said handing you the wipes. You looked up at him with the softest expression as you asked if he could do it.

He nodded and took the wipes back before ever so gently wiping at your face. You closed your eyes as he continued wiping your makeup off. Once he was sure your makeup was gone he leaned down and kissed you on the forehead. When he pulled away he looked at you and you were smiling up at him. “Let’s go to bed” You said grabbing his hand and heading back into the bedroom. You both settled in together with your head on his chest and his arms wrapped around you. “Goodnight, i love you” You mumbled into his chest. He replied “Goodnight, i love you” leaning down to place another kiss on your forehead before the two of you drifted into a peaceful sleep in the arms of your lover.

[jackdanielsripper]

ART SUMMARY 2024

I figured why not, because I want to show off how I've improved. It should be prefaced that this first batch from January aside from the first image was mostly me tracing for practice as I was extremely novice at the craft and needed to learn how to properly use the tools for digital art. Take those pieces' quality with a grain of salt. Also keep in mind I am mostly a horror artist and my artstyles aren't "pretty" or clean by normal standards. January looks the worst so bear with me.

JANUARY

January was interesting, I rarely went outside of the one artstyle I was doing, rarely experimented, likely because I was still learning at the time. The one time I did was that not-so-great portrait of Jonathan Banks. In a year's hindsight I don't really know why I kept the border around his features, but I didn't know what I was doing back then so oh well.

MARCH

We skipped February because of personal reasons. If you've been following me since before then you might have figured out some stuff is missing. That's because of said personal reasons.

March sort of marks a bit of a mental decline for me and a bit of a decline in productivity along side it. A few months might be missing.

I'm isolating this one to talk about it. This is one of the first appearances of my OC "Deathwish". Edgy name aside, this post has sort of marked a cornerstone in creativity for me, this is possibly my favorite piece I've done and the one I'm most proud of.

That's really the only notable thing about march.

APRIL

Shit hit the fan for me hard in April. I didn't really do any digital drawing in April, pretty much all of the art I did was with pens on a sketchbook. Most of it is too personal to show, but there's some I can. Namely some art of my OC Mr. NastyBags and some celebrity caricatures.

MAY

I seriously lament the fact that I wasn't able to really continue working on Project Pinhead, I wanted to keep going but developing a game while having issues with committing to long term projects sucks bad, frankly. Here's some promotional art. I'll pick it back up eventually.

JULY

I don't think I did anything in June, so here's what I will show from July:

Welcome Atymede!!! An OC from a failed project called Tower of Revelations. I was really sleep deprived one morning because of insomnia and I got really weirdly inspired to make a fucked up medieval fantasy universe. As I'm writing this I realized that this dude later became another oc that I made last month by the nickname of Fundead, with the medieval fantasy being replaced by a more grounded wild west comic book feel.

AUGUST

July into August and onwards for a time I was dealing with some stress related hand cramping I mistook for carpal tunnel. So productivity slowed down a lot more. I made One (1) drawing in August. Mina from hit game Noita. I was pretty into that game for a bit, it was fun!

Something weird happened in September

I also got my wisdom teeth removed in November, nothing noteworthy in October.

DECEMBER

Here's the most recent stuff!!!! Plus a sneak peek at a new comic thing I'm working on with Fundead, it's a rough sketch and improvements should be made. Note that the stuff I made with Fundead already are largely not going to reflect his final design fully, The comic version will probably be more accurate to what I want him to look like.

Thank you, everyone, and have a wonderful 2025!!!!!!!!!!

[dolphin1812]

I love how we just casually learn that Fauchelevent became famous in the Vatican for this burial.

Starting with Cosette was so devastating, though. She may be a bit better because she’s spent time with Valjean rather than the Thénardiers, but how rapidly she reverts to “crisis” mode- where she shuts down and doesn’t speak - is horrifying. Her abuse is still recent, and with a stressful night (they’d just escaped Javert) and the threat of the Thénardiers, it’s no wonder she returns to the “lark” who doesn’t sing as a way of maintaining her safety. I wonder if these events are linked to why the prioress says she’ll grow up “ugly.” It could be a literal statement; the convent doesn’t prize beauty, so its pupils aren’t going to be made to look beautiful. It’s also praise in that she thinks that’ll push her to be a nun (”girls who are conscious of their beauty do not easily become nuns”). But it could also be a reminder that while Cosette was beautiful as a toddler (because Fantine gave her everything), years of deprivation and fear have taken away that beauty. Jean Valjean has helped her heal a bit, but it’s likely that she still doesn’t look well, especially after 24 tear-filled hours without food or sleep. And this was heartbreaking:

“ But when, at the expiration of these lugubrious twenty-four hours, she beheld Jean Valjean again, she gave vent to such a cry of joy, that any thoughtful person who had chanced to hear that cry, would have guessed that it issued from an abyss.”

I’m glad she’s with him again and that she felt so glad in that moment, but I wish that she hadn’t been deprived of that security for so long.

I was also interested in this ending passage:

“Nothing of this triumph reached Fauchelevent in his hut; he went on grafting, weeding, and covering up his melon beds, without in the least suspecting his excellences and his sanctity. Neither did he suspect his glory, any more than a Durham or Surrey bull whose portrait is published in the London Illustrated News, with this inscription: “Bull which carried off the prize at the Cattle Show.”“

It’s telling that even though Fauchelevent’s fame reaches the Pope, it doesn’t actually affect him. What does impact him is the reputation he gains with people closer to him: the convent trusts him more, Valjean appreciates his help and works with him, and Gribier is grateful as well. The Pope may be important, but Fauchelevent’s local impact is felt more by these people and by him. His ties with his community, then, take precedence over his fame, despite his community being nuns and the working class and his fame extending to the highest rank in Catholicism (of course, part of this is that no one in the convent is going to tell him this - he’s very isolated from outside information - but it also demonstrates how these local bonds can be more important than fame and status). 

The comparison between Fauchelevent and a prize bull brings us back to the nuns’ image of him as a faithful laborer, as if he were a “farm animal” who simply obeyed their commands well rather than a person with his own schemes. Ironically, we know that he did what the nuns wanted in what would be, to them, the worst way possible: he did bury the coffin outside like they wished, but he also sheltered a man in the convent and used that coffin meant for a nun to help him legitimize his place there. Seeing him as a “prize bull” does recognize his value as a worker, but they’re able to imagine him like that because they underestimate his cleverness.

[dzpenumbra]

5/23/23

Today wasn't half bad. Low key, as usual. Got sucked into RP streams again.

I did a short but very intense yoga routine today... that I actually had to tap out of and take a breather. My shoulder kinda collapsed on me. I was supposed to do a side plank after a bunch of other plank-related stuff and it just... wouldn't hold. And that hasn't happened in a while. I'm not surprised, and I didn't really kick myself over it. It was just a bump in the road.

I've been getting more and more out of shape, and I don't feel like I can keep up with it. I'm frustrated about it because of how foreign it is to me. I've never had to deal with this, and... honestly, it's the fatigue that gets me. I have a lot of active exercise things I love to do. But I can't get myself to do them when I'm sleep deprived or depressed. And... that's a very chronic issue. So yeah, that's just something that haunts me and gets under my skin.

I'm gonna get to bed early tonight. Like... really soon. Just reminding myself to keep this short. I am tired, so I need to take advantage of that and use that momentum to inch my bedtime back. This 7AM shit just doesn't work. For some reason... 5AM and 7AM look the same for me as bedtimes. Like... both are way too late. By that, I mean the difference between 3AM and 5AM seems much bigger than 5AM and 7AM. Because once the sun comes up... it's just like... whatever. So... my goal is to be in bed and ready to sleep before 5. So... I'll keep this brief.

I added thin layers of Mod Podge to the yellow beads today. They look really good, actually. I think if I do thin layers, I don't have to sand them, really. Though... I'm not sure if it really evens out with how long I spend working on them. I'll see. But yeah, progress there. And I got myself to go out for a walk. I went out at like 8PM. It was well into sunset, I skipped the shower and everything. My primary goal was to get gravel for my mini garden thing I wanted to make in the terracotta pot I got. I got anxious about it again. Twice.

I got to the gravel road and there was a dude walking his dog and on his phone. So I went the other way and looped around, hoping to give him enough time to pass in a different location. But he did the most half-assed walk I've ever seen, it was like 50 feet down the road and back, on his phone the whole time. That poor dog. :( I actually ended up passing him, he started walking really slowly. And I felt really self-conscious with the idea of passing him, then taking off my backpack, pulling out a ziplock bag and shoveling gravel into it with my hands. Call me crazy, that made me a bit insecure. So I went to the parking lot at the top of the path and pulled my phone out and watched the stream I was listening to... and pretended I was scrolling something. And when he passed by, I went back to the path and filled the bag.

In the end, I wasn't really that anxious about it, and I got it done. What did make me anxious was later when I was walking back to my building... there was a person standing in a corner next to where the path goes under the bridge... and it was like... a cliche scene from a movie where someone would mug you. And I was wearing my glasses, so I couldn't see any fucking details of this person at all. So I speed-walked under that damn bridge. But besides that, I wasn't really anxious at all.

In fact, I was pretty damn confident today. I woke up to a message from my therapist who apologized profusely for the late message that he promised me. He was going to send me some custom crafted affirmations - mantras, if you prefer that terminology - to help combat my reflexive anxiety. Because it seems like a lot of it surrounds... a lack of confidence, an inferiority complex trained into me by people around me most of my life. I read a post from someone on here recently, a heavy confessional one, that sounded a lot like that too. So... if you're out there... and you get the whole... feeling like a fraud and you'll never be a "real adult" and all that nonsense... you're not alone. In fact, anyone that grew up being taught these things... you're not alone. There is not one definition of success. And I promise you... I am telling myself this as much as I'm telling this to you... if you follow someone else's definition of success, you will with almost absolute certainty end up miserable and disappointed. I'm really sorry, it's dark, it's heavy, it's disorienting, I know... but it's true. If I - as an artist, musician and poet - took self-help advice from a Navy SEAL? I mean... I'm not saying there aren't things that I could retrofit to be useful in my life, I'm not saying there's nothing to learn; only a Sith deals in absolutes. I'm saying... if I... as an artist/musician/poet... follow the step-by-step plan on how to be a happy, successful, "productive" adult crafted by a Navy SEAL... I would be miserable. Even if I succeeded. Because I would be building a life I don't even want. I would be laboring and slaving away to build someone else's life, crafted around someone else's goals, interests and desires.

What's my point with this? Get to know yourself. And learn to love yourself. Get past the "that's lame" reflexes there and try to understand that you get one fucking ride on this chunk of rock hurtling through space, and do everything you can to pursue the life that you desire. However you can. I wish society was crafted with more focus on that rather than... basically industrialized farming people and turning them into laborers... Ugh, politics aside... Step 1 - get to know yourself, what you love, what you want to do, what makes you happy. Step 2 - work towards being that person as much as possible. That's what I'm advocating.

My day started with engaging my brain in a form of focused meditation through a mantra. "It is safe for me to be my authentic self." And yeah, after years... a lifetime, really... of having my authentic self either hidden, emotionally beaten or shamed... It often does not feel safe being my authentic self. And that is the world's biggest understatement - I have had panic attacks that felt like I would be burned at the stake at a witch trial for being myself. But what I haven't really been able to convince my subconscious of lately... is that... the primary person in my life that is currently holding me back from being my authentic self... is me. Out of fear. Out of anxiety. Out of insecurity. Out of self-protection.

But today... I did much better with it. I still don't feel safe... in general. Which is a thing. But I felt a lot better just being... myself. My authentic self. My true self. The Me that I am behind closed doors, the Me that is... here. I felt more okay laughing at jokes in the stream in my earbuds as I walked in public, and not being worried about judgmental people I may pass by. And it felt... much more like home. It reminded me of times in the past when I was much more shameless (in a good way).

This is going on longer than planned, but I wanted to mention one more thing that was directly related. I watched a streamer that I really respect... that has been RPing for like... a decade? Who has streamed a ridiculous amount in her life... I watched her have an anxiety attack. A real anxiety attack. Live, on stream, in front of thousands of viewers. Because her character, who is a Captain in the PD, was going in for a final interview for Chief of Police. And she was legit having very real anxiety about it, audibly, and narrating it. And the support and empathy coming from chat (myself included) was so unbelievably heartwarming! And she nailed it! I didn't see the other interviews so I have no idea if she got the job, but she... she really deserves it. I am so fucking emotionally invested in this server, good lord! XD

So yeah, big theme of like... combatting and overcoming anxiety today. At very least, confronting. And what I gave to her as advice? Because she was talking about physical symptoms. I said "your body is just sensing something potentially unsafe, it's a biophysical reaction, you're gonna be okay." Something like that, I don't have the direct quote. I found it interesting that... that is what I decided to say. I don't know. I've been so deeply convinced in the power of narrative and will and choice, trying to dismantle and navigate the conscious thoughts, which is a crucial part of all of it... but like... this part of the nervous system is super reflexive. And it takes time and deliberate work to train your subconscious mind that things like this are safe. That you can handle it. And confidence helps a ton with that.

Alright, enough therapy talk. My plan is pretty much out the window, but I can still get to bed earlier than usual. Good day today, we'll see what tomorrow has in store. Have a good night!

[fussypaws]

3 days until I move in with my partner and away from my family! Stayed up all night taking Cecil's cage apart and putting it back in the box (and packing a box full of cage accessories, extra cage parts, pet medicine, ect) and setting up his travel cage. Got into a fight with my mom right after at like 8am because she has issues with everything I do. I'm just so stressed out and I was sleep deprived and it was the millionth time she made me feel like shit about how I'm packing and I guess I just blew up. I feel bad about it, I didn't mean to yell. I feel kinda like my dad (/negative). My eye has been twitching nonstop for the past 3 days.

Anyway, yeah, I cried a bunch on top of everything else and started feeling super sick so I crashed. Woke up a few times, once because I was nervous my partner wasn't awake for when the transporter got here but turns out she was in another room and also the transporter's mom got into a car accident and she wanted to see her in the hospital before she left so she showed up a few hours later. Thankfully her mom is okay. And then my dad got a new router so the WiFi was out and I was waiting for him to set it up for awhile. Turns out he put another battery in the scale so I can weigh my moving boxes to make the shipping labels. I get on the scale, I am apparently 20lbs more than I thought I was, I get off the scale feeling a bit worse than I did before but oh well. The router finishes setting up and I go back to sleep.

My partner wakes me up a few hours later to let me know that the transporter was almost to my house. I had a crazy dream that my partner's mom threw a pride themed costume party at her house but the house was more like a mall honestly and then I got beat up by these guys because they tried to give me a shot of horse tranquilizer and missed. At one point I tried to blend in with other people so they wouldn't find me and I dressed up as this sand witch guy in like a black cloak but they found me anyway and accidentally killed someone else with the horse tranquilizers. Anyway, the transporter got here and I packed my buddy and all his things into the car and said a temporary goodbye. I am very nervous but I'm sure it'll be okay. The transporter seemed nice, she had her little daughter with her amd she was very cute. I kinda thought there was another transporter maybe with the way this transporter's reviews say she hauls ass but I guess not. Maybe she's just a really efficient driver.

So that's where we are right now. I have to take a shower soon because I am so gross rn I've been so preoccupied with figuring everything out that I haven't showered recently and then I need to keep packing. I need to sort and pack my clothes especially, also my game consoles. So much left to do... I have my last therapy session tomorrow, hope it goes well. They have to discharge me, whatever that means.

4 days until I move in with my partner and away from my family! Today I have to finish packing, hopefully get the boxes weighed and measured so I can get the shipping labels made, and I also need to move my chinchilla to his transport cage and take apart his huge 110lbs, almost 6ft tall, $300 Critter Nation cage so I can put it back in the box and send it off with the transporter when she comes to get him tomorrow. I've asked a friend to come help but it is pouring today so we will see.

[fcrmula-moved]

me yesterday: i’ll do my asks tomorrow

me, today, at 7 pm: has only gotten one reply done and is sleepy again

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Oc! Oc! Oc!

Some yan oc hc with a cute chub GN reader

Yandere Serial Killer

Everyone was on edge. The amount of murders that occurred in your part of town amped up to a debilitating degree; to the point that the general public no longer walked outside. If the lack of people outside was bad enough, your buddy system was failing. Your roommate who worked at the same place used to walk with you from place to place only for them to recently have to move away due to family issues. 

Now you are on your own. 

To work. To school. To the store. You had to move as fast as you could. 

No more than 30…that's what you told yourself

30 minutes to do whatever you had to do before leaving. You couldn’t keep it together any longer. Suffering from the collective paranoia of the entire town you kept to yourself, no friends, no family, you were on your own. Even the people you know that you buy things from no matter how many times they smiled at you or offered their help. They couldn’t be trusted. No one could. 

“Oh (Y/n), how are you today? Everything okay on your walk over?”

It was Penn, the owner of the grocery store that was within 30 minutes. Smiley and bright before the events of the serial killer he was a known favorite. Even so you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything but the typical response.

“I’m fine.”

“How’s your jogging routine going? Are you still doing that?”

You huffed as you continued putting your items on the belt pretending to not hear the question as the same person that subjugated you to it in the first place. Before Mo you were fine with yourself exercising when you wanted and doing as you liked when you liked. But with a person like Mo there was no getting around it. Mo was your landlord, a nutty fellow that had an outward appearance of being a lovely parent over the tenants. In truth they were a crummy old person that liked to practice their helicopter parenting on everyone and her latest victim was you. 

Forcing you to run ‘to fix that weight of yours’ many times you had tried to inform them about the fact this was simply your body shape but she refused to listen. Promising to lock you out of your apartment if you should ignore their ‘advice’ again; you tested them one time and ended up sleeping outside your door before they woke up. 

You saw Penn make a face before ringing up the rest of your items. 

“H-heym you’re looking for a roommate…”

Your head snapped up as you were finishing your payment, as you cautiously asked. 

“How do you know that?”

He was blushing in embarrassment as he shuffled his feet.

“Your roommate suggested I ask you…I’m looking for a place.” Seeing the disbelief on your face he put his hands up in defense.”I-i have the money with me in cash if you want it right away.”

He seemed desperate and for as long as you’d known him never once did you question his character. Was it really okay to break your rule?

______________________________________________________________________

“Thanks so much for inviting me to take a look around (Y/n)! I really appreciate it!” 

Against your better judgement you let him come over and like a puppy he dashed around taking in every bit of the apartment. 

You shook your head as his eyes darted around the vacant room. A smile started to creep on your face as you thought of the possibilities…maybe he could be your new buddy. It’d be a shame if someone deprived you of that in these dangerous times.

Knock

Knock

“Hey (Y/n)! Who’s in there with you?!”

Your door unlocked and in came Mo smelling as if they dunked themselves in the worst smelling 

Perfume they could find. Trudging past you they came to look at Penn who was now also looking surprised at the gremlin who let themselves in. 

“Ohh my goodness is that you Penn? What are you doing here? I doubt they actually took the time to go ahead and invite you over.”

He laughed awkwardly as he sent a worried look over to you before centering back on the fast approaching landlord.

“A-actually they did. They let me come over to see the room I’ll be getting if they let me be their roommate.”

“Oh please, if you need a room I can do that and more for even half the price!”

Was your landlord really trying to hit on and steal your potential roommate? You just rolled your eyes as you leaned yourself on the nearby wall just waiting for Mo to get tired enough to show herself out. Unfortunately she didn’t plan to do that; and ended up attempting to flirt with him for nearly the whole afternoon. Looking outside it was getting dark out and you began to worry about Penn and against your better judgment you intervened. 

“Uhm Mo, hey I think you should be letting Penn leave seeing as it's getting late and a serial killer is at large.” 

“Oh you're such a worrywart (Y/n)! Penn’s a strong man; he'll handle himself. But if you want I can offer my room! It’s a suite–!”

“I-uh actually would rather not..if I was going to stay I definitely wouldn’t  be staying with you.”

“What?! And you’d stay with this chubby kid?”

You were going to blow it off, another statement to ignore but Penn apparently wasn’t having it. The man you’d never see so much as scrunch his eyebrows in anger held your landlord by their shoulders holding them at arm's length with a shadow on his face. Amazed and slightly worried for Mo you stepped in putting a hand on his lower back. Immediately he snapped out of it looking at you and his arms in surprise before releasing your landlord who grunted and angrily stpmped out of your door. You both sat in the silence of relief before you broke it. 

“I-if you do want to stay with me for the night, I don’t mind. And if you wanted to move in that’d be cool too, that is if she still lets you.”

“Ha-ha, thanks and if it's cool I’ll totally move in. But I can get home okay,” he headed for the door before turning with one last smile towards you. “I really appreciate it. I'll text you when I get home.”

“Sure, okay bye.”

You leaned against the door before leaning a bit as you imagined him being your roommate. 

Having someone around that defends you didn’t sound so bad. You shook your head as you went off to complete your chores. After all, you had to do some cleaning before your new roommate may start moving things in. 

____________________________________________________________

“Hah~hah (Y/n)--(Y/n)--(Y/n)-ergh! 

Disheveled and breathing heavily, Penn was sitting with his pants down in the hallway just outside your door. He tried to catch his breath while still replaying the euphoria that he felt just three minutes and 40 seconds before. Not only did he get to see your living space with the lights on but he even got to feel the plush warmth of your hand on his back. Penn growled silently as he thought of why you did but nonetheless it reminded him of his future plans for that night. 

He grinned as he sent the text to you before pocketing his phone and knocking on your landlord’s door. When it opened Penn batted his eyes and puckered his lips like he’d done so many times before.

“Oh Mo, I didn’t mean to be so aggressive earlier! I was just playing with you, I do want to spend the night and I want to do it at your place.”

“Were ya? Well I’ll be, make yourself at home handsome while I freshen up.”

Penn smiled, pulling back his hair and putting on his beloved latex gloves. 

“Take your time dear,” he spotted the decorative knife block on display in the kitchen. 

“Take your time…”

[captainsophiestark]

Pegasus

Maxon Schreave x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022!

Prompt: “Is this safe?”

Fandom: The Selection Series

Summary: Y/N joined the Selection, and against her expectations, fell in love with Maxon Schreave. Now that things are coming to a close and the Rebel activity is picking up, everyone's more stressed than usual, but Maxon has especially being running himself into the ground. He needs to take a break and take care of himself, but he hasn't been organizing that for himself. So, Y/N takes it into her own hands to give him a bit of a mental health recharge.

Word Count: 1,968

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I took a deep breath as I straightened my dress in the mirror, mentally running through a checklist. The food, the blanket, and everything else I'd decided to set up for the night were all ready and placed. I'd asked my maids to give me the evening, and they'd agreed while also promising to keep prying eyes and ears away. There was nothing else I needed to do.

When I'd first entered the Selection, it had been for my family. We'd needed the money, and it wasn't like living in the palace for a while was the worst thing in the world, if I did get Selected. When I'd been chosen, marrying the prince wasn't particularly on my radar.

Then I got to know Maxon.

He was without a doubt the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. Things felt easy with him, for some reason, and despite all the structure and official procedure that was supposed to come with the Selection, we'd quickly formed a close friendship that had turned into more.

If I'd told myself at the beginning of this thing that I'd be falling in love with Prince Maxon, and him with me, I would've laughed in my own face. And yet, many weeks later, here we were.

Recently, as the Selection worked its way to a close and Rebel activity had picked up significantly, I could tell Maxon was seriously feeling the stress. I'd barely seen him, and whenever he did have time to say hello to me and the other ladies, his mind was clearly elsewhere. He'd started to look more and more sleep deprived at meals, and so I'd decided yesterday to find a way to give him a bit of a break.

I couldn't do much, especially since I wasn't officially marrying him yet. I couldn't get officially involved in the meetings, politics, or anything else, and even though Maxon did consult with me about those issues sometimes, I couldn't actually go to meetings to help him deal with things. So, I'd decided to give him a complete break from the stressors in a way he probably didn't usually get to enjoy.

I'd gotten in touch with him this morning through a friendly castle servant to ask him to meet me tonight, a few hours after dinner. With the help of my maids, I'd spent the rest of the day getting everything together, and now all that was left was for Maxon to show up.

Right on cue, I heard a knock at my door. I smiled to myself and crossed the room to open it, then found Maxon, looking exhausted but still smiling at the sight of me.

"Hello, my dear," he said. I smiled.

"Your highness." I dipped into a curtsey as I said it, and Maxon immediately grinned and shook his head at my antics.

"Please. You know we're well past that level of formality."

"That we are." We shared a smile as I stepped aside to let him into my room, then shut the door behind him. He wandered into the middle of the room, looking like he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself, then turned to me.

"So... what did you want to see me about? Is everything alright?"

"I think that's my line," I said. I crossed the room and walked past him to throw open the doors to the balcony. I turned back to Maxon, only to find him staring at me with an eyebrow raised in question. "You've clearly been stressed out of your mind lately. I thought you could use a little break."

"You're not wrong about that, darling."

"Luckily for you, I know just the thing. Come on."

I motioned for him to join me on the balcony, which he did. He took a deep breath of the cool night air and let it out slowly, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders with it.

"It does feel good to be out here," he said.

"Yes, it does. But this isn't all we're doing." With that, I turned to the railing of the balcony and carefully moved to stand on it, using the wall of the castle to balance myself. I heard Maxon gasp, but I ignored him as I climbed the rest of the way up and onto the roof of the palace, above my room.

"Y/N! What on Earth are you doing?" he asked. I popped my head back over the edge of the roof to look at him.

"Giving you a relaxing evening. Now just trust me and get up here, carefully."

Maxon hesitated for half a second before I saw him make the decision to throw caution to the wind and follow me. He moved to the edge of the balcony to follow the same path that I'd taken, and I reached out a hand to help him. A few seconds later, and he was on the roof with me.

"Y/N... Is this safe?" he asked, hesitating a bit and looking behind him, over the edge and towards the long drop into the palace garden. I gave his hand a tug to get him to focus back on me and everything in front of him.

"Yes, I'm sure," I said. "I've been up here more than a few times myself to get some space from... well, everything about palace life, really. Balconies and gardens are nice, but as you'll soon see, nothing quite beats sitting on the roof, out of sight of everyone and staring up at the stars."

Maxon huffed a breath and smiled, and I could tell the idea appealed to him as much as it did to me. I stood and led him a few steps further onto the roof, away from the edge, where I'd laid out a blanket and set up a picnic with all of our favorite foods.

"Ta-da!" I said, gesturing grandly with my arm and facing Maxon with a beaming smile. He stared at the setup in disbelief for a moment, then turned to me with a dumbstruck look on his face.

"Y/N... did you really do all this for me?"

"Yes I did. You take care of everyone else all day long, me included. It's about damn time that someone else took care of you, pardon my language."

He laughed, a smile slowly spreading across his face as my words sunk in. He crossed the roof and closed the few steps of distance between us, wrapping his arm around me carefully and pulling me into his chest.

"Thank you, my dear. For this, and for everything else you do for me," he muttered into my hair as he leaned in to kiss the top of my head. I lifted my chin and met his eyes, then leaned up to give him a soft kiss on the lips. We'd kissed a few times before, but it still felt special and new, and I could feel tingles running through my entire body despite the fact that our lips only met for a few moments.

"I'm happy I could help," I said softly, meeting Maxon's tender gaze with one of my own. "Now come on, let's enjoy this beautiful night."

Maxon and I shared a smile, then moved to lay down together on the blanket. We made our way through all the snacks I'd gathered, then when we were completely full, we laid fully on our backs and stared up at the stars.

"Do you know anything about identifying them?" I asked after a few moments of peaceful, comfortable silence. "What they're called, or the stories behind them?"

"Not much," he replied, his tone full of regret. "Most of the stories have been lost or destroyed. But do you see that grouping of stars there?"

He pointed up, gesturing to a few clusters that were close to each other, and I hummed in affirmation.

"I read in one of the books my father keeps under lock and key that those stars are called 'Pegasus'. Pegasus is a great winged horse that flies through the night sky, and used to help the heroes and gods of stories told so long ago they've been completely lost to time."

"That's beautiful," I sighed, shifting closer to Maxon as I did. He wrapped his arm around my back and waist, and I rested my head on his shoulder and curled into his side. "Do you think Pegasus is still out there somewhere?"

"I think he must be," Maxon replied. "Roaming the skies or the stars, and waiting for someone to let the world remember him."

Neither of us spoke for a minute, and I could feel all of Maxon's frustration at his father and the way so many things in the kingdom were currently being run radiating off him in waves. I traced patterns over his chest, hoping to sooth him a bit by being there and reminding him that I was with him, no matter what.

"If that's the case, then I'm sure Pegasus will be back soon," I said, keeping my voice low but sure. "When you're King, Maxon, things will be better. You'll finally have the power to make them better. And it'll probably mean worlds more stress than you're dealing with right now, but it will be more of the good kind, the kind that comes with the business of affecting change. And much less of the bad kind, of being forced to sit by while people make decisions and create policy that makes you want to scream."

Maxon took a long, deep breath in and out, then wrapped his arm around me a little tigheter.

"Since when do you know me so well?" he finally asked, his tone light and joking. I smiled.

"Since I realized I might actually be persuaded to like a prince, of all things."

Maxon huffed a laugh, then pinched my arm in a bit of payback. I whacked his chest in revenge, but he just laughed again.

We relaxed back into comfortable silence, staring up at the stars and relaxing in each other's warmth and the temporary feeling that it was just the two of us in the entire world. Maxon's heartbeat echoed in my ears as I closed my eyes, feeling the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. I'd just started drifting off as a result of the feeling of complete security and relaxation when Maxon spoke again, his voice a low, quiet rumble.

"You'll be right there by my side, Y/N," he said. He absently rubbed circles on my waist with his thumb as he spoke. "The two of us will make the world right, together. King and Queen, in love, a perfect team."

I smiled and hummed, my heart practically ready to burst at his words.

"Darn right we will," I agreed. He pulled me closer to him, although that was hardly possible, and his hand squeezed securely on my waist, reminding us both we belonged with each other.

We were both young, and there would be plenty of challenges for us to deal with along the way. But I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that things would work out for us. Laying together under the stars, the two of us finding a moment of peace in a swirl of chaos, I was completely confident in our happy ending. We'd continue to fall for each other every day, get married, change the world, then find our peaceful storybook sunset. And nothing could possibly stand in our way.

[h-didanart]

Hey, thank *you* for letting me ramble with you about this topics. 

And no prob! 

Agreed, on both things, tho I don’t even remember him telling Sun he was sleeping well? I might be forgetting things, oh well. It did seem to me like a really bad bout of sleep deprivation, but it could also be general exhaustion blurring the lines between the dream and reality, we know Moon has been pushing himself very far and even if he had a day off recently that amount of stress wouldn’t leave his systems that quickly. It could also be the effects the dream animatronic‘s words had on him, waking up to a world that isn’t like your own and being told over and over by familiar faces that that is how it was and that you are crazy for stating that it’s all wrong is kind of a really, really, really bad thing for the mind, the sheer anxiety and paranoia that comes from that can certainly make anyone doubt the reality they live in. Horror movie stuff, yeah? Whatever the case, he had a realistic dream, he was under a lot of distress when waking, his paranoia is through the roof.

I mean, everyone has a different interpretation of the characters, it is true that some things one believes about a character could simply be not true and if that’s the case- well- it kinda hurts. I can see you hold Sun very close to yourself, and that’s fine I’m happy to see you have a character you can relate to, and I’m also glad you can notice that your take on him might not be exactly what the writers might intend. It can be very comforting to project onto a comfort character, but one must also be wary of accidentally replacing the projected character with the canon one.

Overall, just take care of your health, and if the projection is stressing you out too much then a small break should be in place.

Back to Sun— I- yeah- your points are a lot more solid than mine. As I said before, it’s been a while since I last checked the symptoms for bipolar, so I was mainly going off the change in personality, restlessness//high energy, irritability, and the comorbidity with psychosis. I do think I remember reading somewhere that not being aware of ones symptoms was something that happens, but I can’t remember which disorders that was for, yet being aware of something being wrong during psychotic symptoms is a thing I faintly remember as well. Granted, I took Sun not telling his siblings about his symptoms more as a ‘not inconveniencing anyone with his issues because he isn’t worth it’ thing and didn’t look past that, along with his fear of being judged because Old Moon. And you are correct, Sun hasn’t talked about what happened back then//what he still feels a lot, and yet we get glimpses of it, small snippets of Sun’s ideation, Sun hesitating when it comes to communication, Sun actually straight up saying that he feels guilty over everything that happened. (And nothing more coming from these) (for now)

Yeah, as I said, I haven’t reread the symptoms so I can’t exactly point out more than what I already have. And I too forgot that delusions of grandeur are the most common ones in bipolar. But thank you for entertaining the thought with me.

I suppose it would be simpler than what you have proposed, but either way, it isn’t everyday that you find a portrayal of psychotic symptoms that isn’t absolutely awful, and in a main character! It does suck Sun ironically gets less time of day than Moon, but— and allow me to be slightly positive about this— the sheer fact that he can be interpreted in so many different ways is great on its own! Well, at least I think it is, it lets us as the audience a bit of wiggle room to add our headcanons and theorizing, and— you know, the whole projection aspect of this

Also I strongly doubt that Moon is hallucinating/has delusions..

And I doubt he had psychotic break..

Probably Frank/Forkface was messing with him probably to show him what could've been.. This weird nightmare had a lot of Moon's fear included so I think that's that..

Nothing indicated Moon having psychotic break so it would be completely out of nowhere..

I'm slightly annoyed with people saying that Moon has psychotic break because they somehow didn't see Sun having it when Sun had shown signs of development of psychotic episode before having it unlike Moon..

[artistfingers]

There’s one ~silver lining~ of my iPad being broken: I’ve had loads of time to think about my many half-formed undercover phantom au ideas! Since I have no idea when or what will make it to comic form, here’s the lowdown…. AKA, everything that’s been rattling around my brain recently :P

For context: Danny, Sam and Tucker have never met, and nobody knows Danny is Phantom. When Vlad’s newest bit of tech gets Danny stuck in ghost mode (with the rest of his powers on the fritz to boot), he meets Tucker and Sam—who instantly see through his disguise and lend a helping hand. (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4!!)

So. After that, Danny—no, Phantom—becomes friends with them. It’s exciting! He was invisible at school even before the ghost powers; he was pretty isolated and lonely and being Phantom for the last year hasn’t exactly been a social boon. Kid’s lonely, ok?

But now… two human friends? Who’re his age & share his interests? It’s like a dream come true! If only they weren’t exclusively friends with his ghost self… and if only they didn’t wanna be so involved in his dangerous ghost hunting things…Uhhh. Hm. Could be a problem.

Danny angsts about the danger he’s putting his new friends in, and about not being able to befriend them as a human. He plays with the idea of telling them Everything but that’s… risky to say the least. He’s only known them a few weeks! ugh….!! it’s too much. maybe he should just throw the towel in.

Buuut Sam & Tucker don’t take no for an answer. Especially after they rescue him a third time.

Thus… Phantom friendship shenanigans!!

Sam filched some parts from the Fentonworks Lab when Phantom took them there, and later convinced Tucker to help her build a custom mini ectogun in case of emergency. They didn’t tell Phantom.

Danny is really sentimental about that DP hat he wore when he first met Sam & Tucker. He wore it as Phantom for a while but it got singed in a fight. He still wears it when he hangs out with Tucker & Sam but otherwise keeps it squirreled away for Sentimental Reasons.

“So Phantom, how old are you?” “I’m 15.” “15 now? Or 15 when you died?” “Yes.”

Tucker has a bunch of awful 90s button up shirts, and gives one to Phantom

They aren’t able to convince Sam to wear one too, but they sure do try.

Phantom won’t tell them when he died, so once he starts wearing 90s shirts they start using terrible 90s slang with him

“I am NOT from the 90s!!! They didn’t even SAY that then!!!” “methinks the lady doth protest too much…..home slice” “NOOO!!!”

“Phantom I have an extremely important question. Like, life or death. SHIT is on the LINE here. Are you listening?? I really need to know…. Do ghosts play video games”

The answer may surprise you (no it won’t)

Sam is completely convinced they can ACTUALLY get a good working guess of when Phantom lived and died based on the fact he liked Nasty Burger when he was alive, since NB’s a regional chain with a not-so-distant past. Tucker meanwhile thinks Phantom probably has a good reason for keeping them at arm’s length—but regardless of method, they can agree: they want to break down Phantom’s walls.

The next arc is less “Undercover Phantom” and more “Undercover Fenton” because the juxtaposition of him having to do hidden identities squared (squared again) is too good for me to pass up. It boils down to this: during a ghost attack at school, Danny finds himself stuck being “protected” by Sam and Tucker.

Sam and Tucker take their new jobs as Phantom’s ghost hunting companions too seriously to let this skinny stranger they just met run TOWARDS the danger. WHY does he keep trying to run TOWARDS the danger

NO YOU CANNOT GO TO THE BATHROOM THE SCHOOL IS ON G H O S T L O C K D O W N

Sam pulls out her ectogun.

Danny: WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!

Sam does not tell him.

“Wait, your last name’s Fenton? Like Fentonworks Fenton?” “No, the other Fenton.” “Oh… well, that’s too bad…” “YES LIKE FENTONWORKS FENTON”

Sam is initially wary of Danny because of his parents’ super strong anti-ecto views. Danny is clueless as to why she isn’t very friendly to him-as-a-human when she’s great with him-as-a-ghost. but she warms up after he helps resolve the ghost issue in a way that shows he doesn’t subscribe to his parents’ views.

afterwards you get this excellent situation where Danny is now friends with Sam and Tucker as Phantom and as Fenton, and they’re not connecting the dots as quickly as they did when it was just “that’s Phantom wearing a hoodie and a cap with his own logo on it”.

the potential here? *chefs kiss* here’s a few things but honestly? the possibilities are limitless

Danny pretending to not have a cell phone because he already gave them his number as Phantom

Tucker: *dials Phantom*

Danny, standing directly next to him: *frantically attempting to silence his phone*

Sam & Tucker try to introduce Danny and Phantom. Danny has to make excuses to avoid this happening in both forms.

Danny takes Sam & Tucker down to the Fentonworks Lab to get them some real equipment. Sam & Tucker pretend (very badly) that they’ve never been there before

Rooftop chill sessions as Phantom, late night teenage hijinks as Fenton, plus school AND fighting ghosts does not do any favors for Danny’s sleep deprivation. Tucker introduces him to caffeine pills with… mixed results.

Tucker and Sam teach Phantom some sign language. Later Danny slips up and uses it casually with them as Fenton

…. And many other silly mixups that I’ve yet to think of because I live for that shit

Sam & Tucker have theories about the Fenton-Phantom connection and they’re all wrong but somehow also plausible and that freaks Danny out just a little bit if he ever overhears them

Ultimately, I see this AU having a final arc where a New Situation occurs in which Danny-as-Phantom has to—once again—pretend to be human. This time, he’s with Sam & Tucker as Phantom from the get go, and can’t disappear or transform, even if being Phantom is extremely dangerous at that moment. Somehow this scenario would lead to the Fenton-is-Phantom (or, in this case, Phantom-is-Fenton) reveal…. But the details still escape me :P

so in short………… I really like hidden identities

[rex101111]

I keep thinking of an Arknights Side Story where RI hires a psychiatrist. Like on the one hand Amiya has shown some pretty good skill at managing mental health and dealing with trauma victims in Children Of Ursus, but on the other hand she already has to deal with So Much Shit so it would only be fair if they actually hire someone who’s actual job is to be support for any operator that feels like life is getting a bit too heavy lately.

So yeah I’m making an OC for AK because why not:

They get into work with the best intentions, they’re pro-infected and recognize how the recent events RI had gone through would be traumatic for just about everyone on board. They’ve suffered major casualties to their senior staff and new recruits alike, so they get into work ready to deal with some Real Heavy Shit.

They were not ready.

The psychiatrist, let’s call them Councilor, underestimated the sheer glut of disfunction even a landship this massive could contain. Between the Ursus’ Kids PTSD, Spector being functionally catatonic half the time, Nightingale’s nightmares, Nightmare’s DID, the many operators with anger issues, the whole medical wing’s odd habit of constantly depriving themselves of sleep to the functional biological limit, Warfarin being an entire thing onto herself, the entire Rhine Lab crew having a medical textbook’s worth of mental illness and disorders between them, Lappland...well being Lappland, and Rosmontis’...everything, they have their hands full to the brim on a daily basis.

Councilor is the highest paid non-combat employee on RI, but its still only barely enough to justify having to stick their head into the piranha tank that is the general state of mental health of Rhodes Island.

They’re here because everyone on this thrice damned ship needs their help, its a minor miracle, they think, that this crew of weirdos hasn’t torn itself apart before they showed up.

And that’s without getting into the senior and commanding staff of RI. All the Elite Operators are bad enough on their own. Each a heady cocktail of survivors’ guilt, PTSD,  and Gods know what else. But the three at the top are another kettle of fish altogether.

Amiya is the most well put together, but that’s speaking relatively. The girl spends half their sessions trying to council Councilor, suggesting that she take on some of their patients to lighten their load. Forgetting the fact that Amiya’s habit of absorbing other people’s trauma to help them was the whole reason Councilor was brought in to begin with, the fact that this child, and it doesn’t matter what crazy bullshit magic prophecy rumors going around say that’s what she is, is attempting to shovel more responsibility onto her already nearly spilling plate is very destressing.

Kal’tsit is....Councilor doesn’t think there exists a word suitable to describe Kal’tsit. Or, at least not any word that would make sense without an actual degree in psychology. Detached is the closest, and even that seems lacking. She scares them, honestly, but they’re here to help, help everyone, so as underqualified as they are to deal with the hot, immutable mess that is Chief Medical Director Kal’tsit, they’re gonna give it their all.

And Doctor? Oh hell. If Kal’tsit is a hot mess, Doctor is volcanic. The amnesia is the absolute least of it. The first few sessions went pretty much no where, since the Doctor just rambled on about random things that seemed to pop into their head without letting Councilor get a word in edgewise before the time ran out. But one day, they ask a question, “...ever felt like you weren’t...real?”

“...care to elaborate, Doctor?”

“...like, you’re just a big, empty cloak with a name someone came up with on the fly, that you’re only meant for the people around you to pour themselves into to see what shape they take?”

“...how long have you been feeling like that, Doctor?”

“....since I woke up, I think.”

“....you people don’t pay me enough, Doctor.”

“We really don’t, don’t worry though me and Amiya are gonna bring up a pay raise for you in the next budget meeting.”

“Joy.”  

[mistertf2xreaderfluffballcake]

~Scout's S/O sleep deprived because of wanting to finish a video game~

Part 2 for the writing Request from @that-little-sprout

I hope you enjoy :)

You were recently SUPER focused on this one video game you recently bought that you have been waiting for MONTHS.

Maybe TOO focused....

Scout got kinda worried. Like you were just not sleeping at all!!! It was worrying.

Scout didn't want to disturb you, he understood that mood you have when you wanna finish a video game but...

It was just not ok, you needed to sleep!!!!!

His first thought was to turn it off and help you sleep. BUT! That was exactly what is ma did to him!!! And when that happened he was pissed at his ma for making him sleep!!!!

As much as he loved his ma, he really didn't want to piss you off. I mean he knew it sucks to be pissed off.

So yeah! PLAN 2.

His second plan was to get some help from medic. I mean he would know a thing or two right...?

Hey doc- OUT scout OUT! Geez okay okay!!! Oh right, he is banned for a week since he smashed an expensive and valuable organ, two days ago. Well, he can't get help from doc...

He then asked engi, surely he would help right...?

Engi was not going to help scout. HELL NAW. Oh, can you please help me engi? Get out of my workplace scout! *sigh* Are you still freakin' mad that I and s/o pranked you? Darn right! Now get out scout! Oh but- I swear to god, I will put a wrench up both of your stupidass-OKAY OKAY, fine!

Nope, engi and medic were mad, and so were the others. *SIGH* Now how am I going to help!

DING! *lightbulb goes on*

I know what to do!!!!!!

*PLAN 3 starts :D*

You were tired as all fuck but just NEEDED to finish this!!!

You then heard the door open but didn't bother to look who it was.

*poke* *sound of someone dashing out*

Ow. You looked to the side to see a poorly made paper airplane. It seemed like it hit your head a bit.

*sigh* *presses pause button* What is this...? Open this* ? *opens the paper airplane. (Can come to my room, feel sick) ????

Oh no, it scout sick!? Let me go check! Geez it's been a while since I last talked to scout... *get up to go to his room*

*Knocks on his door*

Scout...? Come in!! Oh, I mean *cough cough* come in.... ???

You went inside to see him laying in bed looking tired??

Scout are you ok...? No. !! How so...? I feel sick. What kind of sickness? Cuddle sick. ... excuse me?

*sigh* Let me go to medic for he- *almost leaves the edge of the bed* Nope! Babe, you are sticking with me! ??? *scout pulls your hand at the last moment and spoon hugs you* S-scout!? *scout nuzzles your neck*

You were flustered. (what is up with him!???!?)

S-scout what is wrong? ...you have been not sleeping s/o! So I got worried! Worried? Yeah! You look tired and have black circles under your eyes s/o!! I am worried! Oh... ... sorry for worrying you, scout. My bad, it seems like I have been too focused on the video game haven't I? *nods while nuzzling in your neck* Hehe sorry about that. I will rest. But scout what do you mean by cuddle sick? ... So you are not going to explain hm? ... Well I might just lea- FINE FINE! *a little pause* I want cuddle. Of course scout :)

*Scout pulls you in bed and spoons you* By the way s/o! How has the game doing? Oh pretty well!! I just need to finish just a bit more- *grips harder* Scout for god's sake I am not leaving! ...really? YES! I am here to rest and cure your cuddle sickness so don't worry :D YEY :)

In conclusion, for that whole day you to cuddle and cured scout's cuddle sick issue and scout cured your stress. You both just laid in bed just talking about the video game lore, comic, etc. It was really fun. Not gonna lie scout was a bit embarrassed to say he was cuddle sick, but he is glad you played along and gave him a cuddle :)

WOOO! I am done babyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! I hope you enjoyed it! Scout oy just wants some cuddles since he is cuddle sick :< Lol. But anyway I gotta finish my lovely requests. Sorry for taking so long guys!! But I will finish it eventually!!

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

howard stern

I'M BACK BESTIES!!!!! i'm not totally back to my normal writing, but I finally got through a whole piece! anyways I really liked this and i hope you do too :)

warnings: howard stern being a bitch, talk of weight & body image

word count: 2.1k

"Hello Harry, how are you doing today?"

"I'm well, thank you," Harry answered with a smile. He was on the Howard Stern Show, his first interview since Stevie had been born. He hadn't really wanted to; Howard was kind of a prick. Everyone knew this, but Jeff was convinced this was the right move. He said it would be good for Harry to get back into the swing of things, and no one else was available on short notice. In the end, Harry only agreed because you had pushed him to, reminding him it wouldn't be a very long interview and then he wouldn't have to interact with the abrasive man again for a long time.

"That's good to hear," Howard said. "How have you been these past couple months? Have you been getting anything done?"

"Not much that's music related, honestly," Harry laughed. "I've been busy with family things."

"Yeah, you've kind of been hiding away from the world for a while here, what's that about?"

"Well, as I'm sure you already know, my wonderful wife had a baby recently, so I've been pretty busy... just navigating the world of fatherhood." A smile crept onto his face at the mention of Stevie.

"That's a lot, isn't it? Babies are awful at that age," Howard chuckled.

"Uh- I wouldn't say awful," Harry's smile dropped a little and he sighed internally. He already knew how the rest of this interview would go: thinly veiled insults, questions that were way too personal, and having to pretend he didn't want to get up and walk out of the room. But he knew that wouldn't be a very good look for him, so he gritted his teeth and tried to think of happy things. Specifically, the fact that he would get to go home to his wife and baby in less than two hours. "She's a very sweet baby, we're completely in love with her."

"Yeah, sometimes they're cute, but mostly they just cry and wake you up in the night, don't they?" Howard asked smugly, as if he knew Harry's baby better than Harry did.

"Well, of course she wakes up in the night sometimes. She's hungry, can't blame her for wanting food, can I?" Harry asked, trying to speak lightly and with a smile, but he could feel his patience slipping. He was ready to go home and he was not in the mood to pretend to be happy when this man was clearly insulting his child.

"Sure, I just wish babies could be a bit less annoying when they want something."

Harry nodded, plastering a smile that hopefully looked real on his face.

"So, besides the annoying baby, how's the family? Everybody healthy over there?"

Harry nodded. "Everybody's happy and healthy. A little sleep deprived, of course, but we're managing well, i think. And by we, I mean Y/N. She's truly... just amazing. I have no idea how she does it- she's the one keeping everything together. There's no way I could do any of this without her."

"Yeah, she seems pretty great! I remember though, at first we were all a little uncertain about her. She's not exactly like the other women you have a history with, is she?"

"She's-" Harry started talking, but Howard cut him off.

"I just mean, we were used to seeing you with models and actresses and the like, so it was a bit of a shock to see you with one of us commoners, you know?"

Harry huffed a small laugh, still trying to sound polite. "When you love someone, that's all that matters."

"Right, of course, but don't you get bored sometimes? You stopped going out so much when you got with her, almost like she was keeping you captive or something," He laughed.

"Are you asking me if my wife forced me to stop hanging out with my friends?" Harry squinted at the man.

"No, of course not, but..." He leaned closer with a malicious gleam in his eye, like he was about to hear some big secret. "Did she?"

"No," Harry said firmly. "She did not."

"Okay, okay, if you say so," Howard put his hands up, but then he leaned in again and spoke in an exaggerated whisper. "Blink twice if you need help."

Harry played it off with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's good," Howard laughed loudly. "Anyways, let's move on. Since you two are supposedly so happy-" He paused again, as if he expected Harry to cut it and give some dramatic confession about how terrible his relationship was behind closed doors. Harry only raised his eyebrows, signaling him to continue talking. "Tell us about that. When did you two get married again?"

"Almost 2 years ago," Harry said with a smile. "Our anniversary is coming up, actually, it's in 3 weeks."

"Oh wow, you guys moved fast with the whole kid thing, huh?"

Harry nodded. "We both knew we wanted kids and were ready to have them, so... yeah."

"Yeah, no point wasting time, right? How was Y/N after having the baby- Stevie, right?"

"Yeah, her name is Stevie," Harry smiled. "She was good. Again, she's amazing for going through that. She's- i'm just so lucky to have her."

"Did she bounce back right away?"

"I'm sorry?" Harry's brow furrowed.

"You know, did she get her figure back fast? I know that's a big issue for some women," He laughed again.

"Are you-" All traces of Harry's smile were gone now.

"I just mean, I hope she's working to get rid of the baby weight," Howard said casually, as if his words weren't extremely rude. "Just to make sure she can fit into her old clothes!"

Harry cleared his throat. He knew he had to speak very carefully, since this was something you had been very self conscious about. "Well, the two of us are concerned with the new life she brought into the world, not some old clothes, but she looks as beautiful as ever. The amount of pressure women face to live up to certain standards is disgusting to me, and it's especially bad for new mothers. My wife just went through an incredible process, she grew an entire human being in 9 months, then went through labor and the delivery, and she's being told to worry about her figure? That's wrong."

"Right, right, of course," Howard smiled, but Harry could tell he was annoyed at how he couldn't be tricked into speaking badly about his wife.

"I'm really over the whole thing, honestly," Harry said. "And I'm not even the one going through it."

Howard laughed nervously, seeming to finally take the hint that Harry was uncomfortable and annoyed with the topic. "Let's talk about your latest movie, why don't we?"

Harry was closed off through the rest of the interview; anyone could see that. He laughed less, his arms stayed crossed, and his answers were short. He was professional, but it went no farther than that. There was no more playful joking or easy conversation, just Harry trying to get through the interview as fast as he could. When it finally came to a close after his final song, Harry couldn't pack up fast enough. He made sure to say a polite thanks and goodbye before he hurried out to his car.

He sighed deeply before picking up his phone to call you.

"Hi baby!" your happy voice came from the other end. That was good, he assumed that meant you hadn't listened to the interview yet.

"Hi love," he smiled, his mood already improving just from hearing your voice. "Did you listen to the interview?"

"I have been- I couldn't right at the beginning, Stevie was crying, but I caught the end. Why?"

"Why was she crying?" Harry ignored your question, instantly worrying about his baby.

"Sometimes babies cry for no reason, Harry. She's okay, I promise. Anyways, what's up with the interview?"

Harry sighed. "Just the normal for a Howard Stern interview- he asked some very personal and rude questions. Just prepare for that."

"What else is new?" You laughed. "Are you coming right home?"

"Yeah, unless you need anything?"

"Nope, I think I'm good. See you soon!"

"Love you, bye," Harry said, ending the call and starting the car to begin the drive home.

-----

"I'm home," Harry called, removing his coat as he walked in the door.

"We're in here," you responded, not moving from your spot on the couch where you were nursing Stevie.

Harry walked in, a small smile on his face as he looked at the two of you.

"Hi," He sighed, plopping down on the couch next to you.

"That bad, huh?" You asked, taking in his dejected tone.

He hummed in response, leaning his head on your shoulder. "Those interviews are... always something."

"Yeah, I only caught the end, but you sounded pretty upset. What did he say?"

"He just..." Harry shook his head. "I don't think you should listen to it."

You turned your head to look at him. "Why not?"

"He's just very rude and pushy, as always."

"Yeah, i figured, but I wanted to hear your songs," you argued with a small frown. "Did he say something really bad, or...?"

"He just makes some very impolite comments about you and our family."

"Oh," You nodded lightly. "I think I'll be okay, baby. I appreciate you trying to protect my feelings, but I'm used to it at this point, and I really couldn't care less about his opinion of me."

"Alright," he sighed. "If you're sure." He pulled out his phone, checking his email and going through some messages while you started the interview from the beginning. You could hear him grumbling under his breath and huffing every time Howard said something rude, but you ignored it, just laying a hand on his leg to calm him down.

By the time it was over, Harry was clearly not too happy. "I can't believe I went back on that show," he shook his head. "I'm never doing that again. I'm so sorry about what he said about you, I honestly should have just left-"

"It's okay," you cut him off with a smile. "Also, it was kind of hot to hear you get mad at him."

"Yeah?" He smiled back. "I thought I was very tame, actually. I wanted to say some other things, but I figured that wouldn't be a very good look for me."

"Right, but the way you attacked him but stayed professional... very hot," you laughed, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," He smiled, turning his head to kiss your cheek in return. "Is she done? I really need to hold her after the day I've had," He sighed dramatically, throwing his head back.

"I'm sure," you laughed, handing Stevie over to him and pulling your shirt back into place. "She's all yours."

"Hi baby," he cooed, holding her close to his chest. "I missed you so much."

Stevie yawned in response, cuddling into him.

"Oh, you missed me too?" He grinned. "See that? She missed me."

"She did," You agreed. "She was looking around when she heard your voice on the interview, she wanted to know where you were."

"I'm sorry," he pouted down at her. "I'll never go away again, and I'll never let the bad man be mean to you again."

"I don't think she's too upset about it, Harry," you laughed. "She is only 3 months old. She didn't exactly understand anything that went on."

"Excuse me," he said, looking very offended. "She may only be 3 months old, but she's very smart."

"Right, she's a genius baby, how could I forget?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head at Stevie. "How could she forget how smart you are, hmm?"

Stevie yawned again, stretching her arms above her head.

"She's ready to take a nap," you said.

"Can I just hold her? I know it's not a good habit, to let her be held to sleep, but I don't want to put her down yet," Harry said, looking up with such pleading eyes, you couldn't possibly say no. Not like you would have said no anyways, but he didn't need to know that.

"Of course you can," you stood up, kissing his forehead before you turned away. "I'm gonna do the dishes, then we can watch something if you want."

"No, let me do those," he immediately protested.

"Harry, it's okay, I haven't done anything around the house since she was born-"

"And I'm not about to let you start now," he cut you off. "Come back here, please? Let's start that new show we were looking at the other night."

"Fine, but later I'm going to help you with the dishes."

"Fine," he smiled, agreeing with your compromise, even though you both knew he would argue later. "Now come back here."