#geeky advice for every day

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

PRIDE IS NOT THE OPPOSITE OF SHAME, BUT ITS SOURCE. TRUE HUMILITY IS THE ONLY ANTIDOTE TO SHAME." - Iroh

[brbzonedout]

E!42 Miles BF headcanons

Pairing: E!42 Miles x (neutral-ish) Reader

Warnings: Stalking? not really though.

E!42 Miles who’s love language is acts of services.

E!42 Miles who would notice your shoes untied before you do and get down to tie them for you.

E!42 Miles who has only kissed one other person when he was very young or never kissed anyone else before you.

E!42 Miles who always picks up snacks for you at the corner store if you didn’t eat breakfast that morning before school.

E!42 Miles who walks you home from school every day even if your house is in the opposite direction of his.

E!42 Miles who would make you listening to whatever music or artist he’s into at the moment. (I feel like he’d like more recent Labrinth music, like 2020 to now. Also here’s a playlist I made based on what I think he likes).

E!42 Miles who asked his mom for advice when he realized he had a crush on you. (she knew before he did.)

E!42 Miles who lowkey follows you as the Prowler if you tell him you’re going outside at night (Just to make sure you’re safe of course).

E!42 Miles who wants to box and play fight all the time. To the point where he’ll literally attack you once he gets comfortable.

E!42 Miles who’s not unaware of other people hitting on him but will completely ignore them if they keep on advancing.

E!42 Miles who has incomplete sketches of you from class when you noticed him staring.

E!42 Miles who braces himself for immense teasing when he brings you around Rio and Aaron.

“Miles pulled you? Y’all aren’t just partners for some marriage and family class or sum?”

E!42 Miles who presents is so calming you’re basically fall asleep whenever your in his bed.

That’s all! I made a playlist for him sometime today and i’m still adding to it so check that out if you want. I really enjoy calm, kind of nervy, geeky Miles so i’m trying to emulate that aspect more in E!42 Miles. Thank you for reading! Remember requests are open right now so feel she to submit.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

am i the asshole for leading a guy on an low-key manipulating his feelings? (🐺 so i can find it later)

trigger warnings for mental health issues, family death, and suicide mentions.

title is kiiinda dramatic, i know. and i should be clear that i know that what i did was definitely wrong to a degree, but idk how messed up it was.

for context: i (19 f) was freshly seventeen and had just returned to in person school for my senior year after doing my junior year online at home. the majority of my best and only friend had forgotten me almost entirely and abandoned me despite our texting throughout my online year. new social circles had formed in my absence and i had a very difficult time readjusting, especially because i had come out of isolation with worsened anxiety, depression, and lowkey suicidal idealization. to top it all off, my grandfather who i adored had just died. i was desperately lonely and at the lowest i had ever been mentally in my entire life. i say this all not to excuse my actions but to provide some context as to why i acted the way i did.

so i meet this guy (i think like 15-16?) who we'll call finn. finn is a year below me but we share an elective class. we were initially drawn to each other bc we were both the only alt/geeky kids in the room and hit it off really well. and at first things are going pretty good; we eat lunch together every day, share music, talk about our interests etc. normal friend stuff.

but here's the part where i'm probably ta: finn had told me earlier on that he's the type to catch feelings super easy, so i guess i should've expected it, but he tells me that he has a crush on me. not directly though--he starts talking about this girl that he has feelings for but doesn't have the courage to confess to. and the first time he brought it up i didn't realize it was me and ofc tried to hype him up so he could confess and all that. but by the second conversation we have about it, it dawns on me that he's definitely talking about me. and i'm like "ah fuck," because the last person i wanted it to be was me--i'm mostly into girls, and also saw finn as a little brother more than anything else. but i keep hyping him up anyways saying stuff like "oh c'mon the worst she can do is say no! and even then you can at least move on with closure!"

so he takes my advice and confesses to me over text. i turn him down as politely as i can. which is where this whole thing should've ended tbh. but it didn't. his confession (even though it was over text) really endeared me and made me feel appreciated and beautiful in a way i never had been before. i'm not conventionally attractive + a plus size girl, and had never had anyone confess to me before, let alone say something as sincere and sweet as finn did to me. i was always the girl guys dared each other to ask out as a joke, yknow? it felt nice to know that someone saw me as desirable. again, this doesn't excuse my actions or justify them. just context.

so i decide that even though i know i'm not going to pursue anything with finn, i don't want him to lose interest in me either. so i start acting like i might be into him. tell him certain outfits make him look cute, go on and on about how much i love his hair (he really did have nice hair tbh), lean in a little closer when we talked, and constantly reassure him that he'd get a gf soon because good-looking, sweet and funny guys like him don't stay single for long.

he definitely notices bc he (again over text) asks if it's ok to be more physical when we interact. like can he hold my hand if we walk down the hall or whatever. this is definitely where i should've stopped, but i didn't. i kept up the pseudo-flirting bullshit.

and then he confesses (you guessed it! over text) for a second time, insisting that he really thinks that i like him back now. i tell him i don't know what he's talking about but that i'm happy to keep being friends with him. again, i don't stop the flirting-that's-not-quite-flirting.

this continues all the way until the end of the year. he tells me before i graduate that he really cares for me and doesn't want to lose touch after i leave. i promise him we won't. at this point i'd realized the gravity of my actions and had come to regret the way i treated finn, and decided the best course of action was to let our friendship fizzle out after i graduate. so i stop responding as frequently to him, he eventually stops reaching out until finally we lost contact and i delete his number.

i know that what happened was kinda fucked up, but how bad of a fuck up was this tumblr?

(secondary question: is this something that would've had a lasting impact on him and his view of relationships? i hope it isn't. i hope he forgot about me quickly. i hope he's doing better and has found someone who actually likes him.)

What are these acronyms?

[theoddcatlady]

Blind Date

Fuck blind dates. Last night was the actual worst.

Let’s back up. The main reason I agreed to this was because I owed my sister a favor. Two days ago she cornered me in my bedroom and told me about her friend Martha. She is a year younger than me, was feeling super bummed because her last boyfriend just flat out ghosted her, and she is super nice.  

It was either I go on this date with a girl I didn’t know or pay my sister two hundred bucks. Out of the two, I’m picking the date.  

Martha and I chose to meet at a local pub. The moment I got there and saw here I knew this was going to freaking suck.

I’m a little superficial, but we all are when we date. We all have types. Martha… was really not my type. Calf length khaki skirt, itchy olive green sweater, cat eye glasses, hair done in two braids, she looked like a librarian. A very boring librarian. My type is a bit more flashy, a bit more fun.

I of course still sat across from her, introduced myself. Maybe the boring librarian aesthetic hid someone who secretly went caving on the weekends and loved sky diving.  

Hahaha. No.  

This book you absolutely could judge by its cover, and this book was a fucking Webster’s Dictionary. Every sentence that came out of Martha’s mouth was in a monotone, and she had practically no life. She went to school, she came home, she studied, she played with her cats (she has four- Aileen, Jane, Amelia, and Nannie), and she read nonfiction novels. She didn’t even have a TV. You’d expect a geeky looking girl like this to at least marathon The Witcher or The Mandalorian over a few weekends.

I was starting to sympathize with the ghosting boyfriend when I decided to give myself a break by offering to go up to the bar and get us something to drink. She asked for a soda. I was going to get something a little harder for myself.

As I stood at the bar, I heard someone clear her throat next to me.

“Rough date?”  

I glanced up and saw another woman, dark haired with the most dazzling amber eyes I’d seen on a human being, the color of a glass of whiskey. She laughed and offered me her hand. “I’ve seen that face a lot. Made it too. I’m Tanya.”

“David.” I shook her hand. “It’s a blind date.”  

Tanya grimaced and nodded. “Oooh. Say no more, I feel your pain,” She said, giving me a pat on the shoulder.  

“It’s not that she isn’t nice, she’s just not my type.” I took a deep breath. “I’m probably going to split as soon as dinner’s done, tell her it’s not working out.”

Tanya laughed. “That’s fair, but my advice? Better make clear pretty quick this will not lead to something more. Don’t wanna hurt her feelings, you know?” She said.

I nodded before scooping up our drinks. “If you’re still here after she leaves, buy you a drink?” I offered.  

Tanya winked. “We’ll see,” She sing songed.

I weaved my way back to the table. I just barely sat down when Martha blurted out, “You like her, don’t you?” It was the first time all night she actually had emotion in her voice, and it was not good.

Shit. I glanced over at Tanya, who was chatting with a few of her girl friends now. “We just chatted for a second,” I said.

Martha took a deep breath, taking off her glasses to clean them off on her sweater. “That’s not a no,” She mumbled.

Now I was feeling like an asshole. And yeah, I probably deserved to. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair and decided to just be honest. “Listen, you’re great-”

“But I’m not your type,” Martha interrupted, a bitter sounding laugh leaving her a second after. “I know. I fucking know, David. I’m going to the bathroom. Leave me alone.”  

She shot up and stormed to the bathroom, a tear trickling down the side of her face. I shrunk down in my chair, definitely feeling like an asshole. Here was this perfectly nice girl, maybe a bit socially awkward, but nice. And here I was, hitting on other girls while I was on a date with her. Wow. Crown me king of the assholes, because that was a low move.  

I spent the next several minutes planning my apology, imagining poor Martha sobbing her eyes out in the bathroom. I did her wrong and I had to make it right.

About fifteen minutes passed before I decided to go after her. I was getting worried, maybe she was really upset and needed to be driven home.  

Just a bit of context, the doors to the bathroom at this pub were known for being a little loosey-goosey on their hinges. Meaning I just reached up to knock and I accidentally pushed the door open.  

It was like time stopped when I looked inside.  

Martha was standing at the sinks. She wasn’t crying anymore, she looked… calm. Disturbingly calm, for someone whose hand had apparently melted over another woman’s face. This other woman had dropped to her knees in front of Martha, her whole body limp and only held up by the melted skin grip that Martha had on her. The woman’s skin was turning black down to her neck and I swear I saw it inch down in that second the door was open.

It took until the door closed until I realized I recognized that woman’s dress. Tanya. That was Tanya.

I did something potentially dumb, in that I just headed back to my table and sat down, texting my sister to pick me up, because I assumed I’d been drugged. There was no way I saw what I just did, right? That’s not even possible.

Another minute ticked by as I stared at my phone, waiting for my sister to fucking answer me, which ended me nearly jumping out of my skin when Martha plopped down in the chair across from me.  

“Hi, sorry I took so long,” Martha smiled, “I think we need to start from scratch.”

I glanced over at the bathroom. “Something happen in there?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Martha laughed, the first time I’d heard her laugh all night and it gave me fucking chills. The only thing I could pick out as different so far was that she’d taken her hair out of her braids, the wavy length coming down past her shoulders.  

I swallowed before glancing out the door. “Listen, I’m actually not feeling well- and no, I’m not trying to ditch you, I swear to god- I think someone slipped something in my drink or I’m getting sick, so I’m trying to get ahold my sister to take me home,” I said.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Martha reached across the table and rested her cool fingers on my forehead. “I think you are feeling a bit warm. Tell your sister not to bother, I’ll just drive you.”  

What was I supposed to say? ‘No thanks, I’ll just wait for someone who doesn’t have melty hands?’ Yeah, I had to let her drive me home. I’d make plans to pick up my car in the morning, when I didn’t feel like I’d been slipped LSD. 

Martha handed me a sealed water bottle once I was settled in the passenger seat. “Drink this, nice and slow. What’s your address again?”

After taking a sip I told her and then glanced at the dashboard, where a book was resting. I picked it up and read the title aloud. “Invisible Darkness?”  

“Yeah, a friend gave it to me,” Martha said as we drove out of the parking lot, “You remember when I said I liked nonfiction? Don’t assume I’m crazy or anything, but I actually really like true crime novels.”  

“I wouldn’t think you’re crazy for that,” I went back to thinking about Tanya kneeling on the floor in the bathroom, “Lots of people like those. What got you into them?”  

Martha bit her bottom lip before glancing over at me. “Well, I picked it up along the way from someone I knew. Sorry for the nothing answer, I mean, isn’t that how that always works? Most people are just pieces and parts of everyone they know, if you think about it.”  

It was then it hit me what was suddenly very different about Martha. You remember the glasses I talked about, right? They were gone. And instead of cornflower blue eyes that I did find kinda pretty… her eyes were amber. The color of a glass of whiskey.  

Just like Tanya’s.

By the time I was dropped off, Martha looked even less like herself and looked more like Tanya. Ever time I’d glance over, she was just a little different. Her cheekbones a little sharper, her lips a little fuller, her figure a little more hour glass shaped. I couldn’t get into my apartment fast enough.  

I don’t know what I saw last night and I’m not sure if I want to know. But Martha’s texted me, saying that we should try again this weekend. She says this time she’ll pick me up since she knows where I live now.  

I’m so fucking afraid of what she’ll take from me if I turn her down.  

[tarantasina]

Leedie life update: I'm thinking about doing something to get Air (I don't open windows almost at all and the construction on this building implies you either have do that or you should have old wood windows with fractures in the wood that let the Air in. In the last ~25 years everyone upgraded to Windows That Keep You Warm/Without Holes In Them, and now stuck with the need to open them 1 time a day at minimum (documentation says ideal would be once every 3 hours for 15 minutes, but no one has time for that)

So I've been looking into options! First glance told me that it's:

1) (relatively) Cheap option - you make a hole in your room, put a Small Box that has fan+heater+filters on it and call it a day

Good: very clean Air in, no need to touch windows

Bad: even the quietest models go wrroom wrroom, so if you have trouble sleeping (like me), sucks to be you

2) Man Oh Man You Are Made Of Money option - put a Big Box in another room that has one of the walls looking at the street (usually balcony), put a bunch of ventilation shafts from it to adjascent rooms you need air in, get electric cables to feed the Big Box - boom! Many airs, quiet, no need to do anything! Maybe change filters once in 6-12 months

Good: VERY many good Airs, very quiet

Bad: PRICE IS BIG OW. Requiers a little renovation to put holes and shafts (hehe) where they need to be and to put energy lines down to feed the hungry box. Also if the rooms you need air in are not adjascent to the Big Box room, it becomes 10x harder to do it properly

3) Did You Inherit The Emerald Mine Or Something option - go all in. Big box go in one room, shafts to getting the air in and then getting it out. Electricity costs to feed Big Box go way down, requires Big Renovation of the entire flat, absolute air control, can put Big Box anywhere since you are making all these shafts anyway

Good: Many Airs. All the Airs. Control over all the Airs. Price to feed Big Box goes way down

Bad: YOU CAN BUY NEW (small) HOME FOR THIS PRICE

I very much wanted option 1 to work, but looking at how I disable all the quiet devices every night I realized it was a path to sadness and plugging an extra hole later (not even in a sexy way)

So! Option 2. There's several models of the Big Boxes and I did not want to spend Many Moneys on something bad so I went into a rabbit hole of research crying over the fact that you can't trust reviews on product pages AND normal people dont buy Costy Big Boxes much, so there was little to no reviews anyway

AND THEN. SALVATION.

Apparently there's a forum of Geeky Manly Mans who discuss technology. And in there there's a section for discussing household appliances

7 ENOURMOUS THREADS FULL OF WAYS TO GET MANY AIRS TO YOUR HOME. 7 (SEVEN)!!! Because they talked so much previous 6 threads ran into post limits

I did not go through them all (the old ones are like 10 years old and so may be out of date), but I've read every message written in the last year and searched for the models. Learned a lot about different Small Boxes! Actually found out option 2 in here, because apparently "I don't want to use Small Box for Any Reason and Biggest Box costs more than I ever held or would have in my life" is a popular problem, and this forum is inhabited by industry professionals or experienced hands-on enthusiasts who dispense free advice , and it is acceptable and encouraged to ask for help

So I looked through a couple (a lot) of "need advice" posts, saw what information the Knowledge People ask for and put down HUGE post with all the information, my flat plan, what Small Boxes I looked into and why they are not for me and what Big Boxes I looked into and what questions/concerns I have on that, and the amount of moneys I am ready to spend on this

Look at the plan btw I had to spend like half an hour to google what the flats in my type of apartment building look like (I could spend 4$ to get High Quality Plans of my actual flat but who has this kind of money in this economy)

SO, I POSTED MY QUESTION YESTERDAY AND GOT 2 VERY IN-DEPTH ANSWERS ALREADY!!1!

First one listed a couple of options on how to get Airs:

1) Very cheap - dont buy the complete Big Box, get the fan, heater, filters I fancy and all the nitty bits on my own and then put the stuff together. He put it all in listed order with links and approximate prices, I was very impressed

Good: Cheapest option. As many Airs as a proper Big Box can give

Bad: Need to find someone who can put all this stuff together - and boy did he link details that needed some work, because the separate parts were not designed to fit together. I know that would be hard because a couple of companies, when I was searching for cheaper Big Boxes, flat-out told me they only work with stuff you buy from them (even if you got the same model, they wont touch it). Also, as with regular Big Box, this set-up needs you to put cables down to feed it. Also no remote control - you need to go there push buttons with your own hands like in Ye Olde Times if you need to change speed/heat

2) Costier but doable, basically: "Hey the room you want to put it in has old leaky wood windows, right? Change them to good windows so that the air wouldn't leak, put holes to your bedroom and the other room you go to, and put a Small Box there. Small Box will get Airs into that room and then through the holes to the places you actually need, no ventilation shafts required. Since Small Box will be considerable distance away and through the wall the noise shouldn't be an issue"

Option 1 is interesting if I ever do some renovation (I would be able to get cables there to feed the handmade Big Box Ensemble), but Option 2 is doable right now!! Small Box can just be fee through a regular socket!

Second answer tweaked the handmade ensemble a little and answered lots of other questions I had, and gave advice on Small Boxes

I probably won't be doing it for a while (I need my room without holes for the next 4-5 months), but I just wanted to share the story of how I went to Scary Forum With Many Dudes and got Good Advice

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

Hi Rachel,

I have a few questions and I’m going to do my best to keep it concise. 1. Do you have any advice for not tying your worth to your writing? 2. What would you tell young Rachel before she worked on her first novel?

Sometimes when I’m thinking out my story and sit with it too long. Without beginning the first draft. I start to question my story’s worth or validity. 3.Do you have any tips for writing even when your outlook on your story is grim? Is this normal lol?

4. I’m working on a story, for fun, but to also practice craft. What do you do to keep the writing process fun?

That’s a bit of questions, I hope you don’t mind.

(Off topic but I loved your video about your fantasy novel!!)

1. Do you have any advice for not tying your worth to your writing?

I've talked about this at length in some other asks, but not specifically for this question (which I think is a great q to have!). I think the main thing is that not tying your worth to your writing is an active effort. This isn't necessarily something you can just say will happen and it'll easily happen--in fact, a certain level of conscious effort may be needed in order to actually make this a practice. I used to do this a loooooot, and some days I just had to sit myself down and talk myself through it--if I wasn't having a good day writing, I literally went, "it's fine that you don't like this, you're not going to like everything you write, that doesn't mean you're a bad writer and therefore a bad/unworthy person." Eventually those little sayings worked, because I started to believe them. Sometimes we need a little more compassion for ourselves!

2. What would you tell young Rachel before she worked on her first novel?

Honestly, I would tell her nothing! She had the idea right--she was quite literally SO passionate about writing that nothing else mattered. All I wanted to do back then was have fun, and 13-year-old me knew how to do that with GRACE. Every day I try to honour her by prioritizing joy in my current writing process (so it's more like, what would young Rachel tell 21-year-old Rachel to do?).

3. Do you have any tips for writing even when your outlook on your story is grim? Is this normal lol?

Yes, this is super normal and happens to me all the time, especially after the shiny new idea syndrome has worn off a bit. See #1 for this, but sometimes it's just about having more compassion for yourself and for your work. If I could talk to 2020 me, I'd tell her Feeding Habits (the book I was working on at the time) is actually really profound, and that she'll see that soon (so to cut herself some slack!). I think the feeling of grimness is often a feeling of preemptive fear of judgement. When I started to worry less about others judging my work, my ideas stopped feeling so grim (though I do go through this now still, just not as severely).

4. I’m working on a story, for fun, but to also practice craft. What do you do to keep the writing process fun?

I make sure I'm actually having fun in the process (which is like... obvious, but let me explain!). If I'm not enjoying a scene, is there a way I can just zoom through it? Is there something I could add to make it *feel* better? This is going to depend on what makes you happy, so I can't really say specifically, but if I wasn't having fun, I'd try to get all geeky with language, do a deep dive on a sentence, make it more poem-y, etc, because I really enjoy those things. I know it sounds silly to say "just choose to have fun" but sometimes it really is about going "oh yeah... actually, I can just have fun with this for ten minutes."

Also happy you enjoyed the video! I'm always happy to answer questions. :)

[babymagi]

Random Shippy Headcanons With My Favs 💕

Hakuryuu actively loses braincells whenever he's around Morgiana, like he'll be emo or whatever when he's by himself or with others, but the second Morgiana enters the room this man is so in love with her that he just becomes so stupid and it's adorable

^^ Actually this is a hereditary thing because Hakuei does this with Yamraiha, Kougyoku does it with Myron, Koumei with Spartos, etc

Every single time they're out in public Myron HAS to let everyone know how awesome Kougyoku is, she'll say stuff like "Yes have you met my beautiful wonderful girlfriend the EMPRESS of the Kou Empire?!" and it flustered Kougyoku to no end

Tsugumi and Kojiro 100% stalk Michiru and Musashi's dates, they'll pull the sitting at a table a little bit away from them wearing sunglasses and fake mustaches and watching to make sure nothing goes wrong. They think they're being sneaky, but they really are incredibly obvious. Musashi is endless embarrassed by this but Michiru thinks it's sweet

Alibaba and Judar DESPISE being separated for long periods of time so if there's a point where they have to be away from each other for a while they are ENDLESSLY clingy for at least a day when they reunite

All Fanalis are biters, it's their love language. Hakuryuu and Kougyoku will constantly have random teeth imprints literally anywhere. Muu and Lo'lo get it the worst on both ends

Alibaba has a very hard time saying no to Judar, just in general. Usually that's just going out to eat whenever and wherever Judar suggests, or buying him things that he wants, or dropping whatever he's doing to cuddle/watch movies/makeout, etc

Sphintus wore a bandana ONCE to get his hair out of his face for some homework or something and the next day Titus gifted him like seven different ones because he thought Sphintus looked cute like that

Yamraiha will make nerdy and geeky jokes and Hakuei is the only one who laughs, Yamraiha takes it as a compliment because that means Hakuei actually listens to her when she rambles about this kind of stuff

So I have my crackheaded Musashi-Kojiro-Tsugumi-Michiru polycule thing which is absolutely perfect for a cuddle puddle so with that specific ship dynamic they absolutely cuddle and share a bed every chance they get

Ugo and Arba once teamed up to put Sheba's hair in really pretty and elaborate braids and Solomon nearly had a heart attack when he saw her, 100% mistook her for some kind of goddess

Judar gives Hakuryuu advice on how to be a good boyfriend sometimes but Hakuryuu's always like 'no what that's weird why would i do that Morgiana would hate me' and then fucking tries some of the shit anyways and gets hella embarrassed. Morgiana isn't complaining much

Hinahoho is very good at recognizing when Rurumu needs a break and, without saying a word, will take all of the kids off her hands and take them out so she can have a little time to herself to relax or just needs the kids to be away so she can get stuff done. Sinbad referred to this as 'babysitting' once and Hinahoho nearly ripped him a new one about how it's not babysitting it's him being a good father and a good husband

Kougyoku gets cold easily and sleeps with like six blankets while Myron, who gets warm easily, is sleeping ontop of all of these blankets but still snuggling as close as she can to her girlfriend

Seiroku is probably like the sole doctor in the obsidian eight and likely takes care of everyone if they get hurt badly or sick, but he usually does it quickly and begrudgingly, usually doesn't do any coaxing or sugarcoating... except with Shiro. When it's Shiro Seiroku always super gentle and talkative and making sure he's constantly checked up on so he can properly heal. Shiro has absolutely called out this hypocrisy but isn't complaining since Seiroku also brings him food when he's sick

[oh-for-fic-sake]

It’s A Match Chapter Two

Masterlist

Summary: as you and henry become closer he lets his family know there may be a new woman on the scene. And you surprize him by moving a little quicker then he had thought. Not that he is against it. He is all to eager to move along to the next step.

Warnings: RPF, Swearing, Angst, Heated Discussions, Fluff.

A/N: here is chapter two, this will only be a short fic maybe there or four chapters but i hope you all like it. This is just me writing down my fluffy fantasy.

Taglist: In Reblogs.

'Shes a big fluffy teddy bear, and loves hugs, even if Shes crushing me~' henry froze hands quivering nervously over the keyboard. You replied? You actually? Holy shit! He bit his lip sitting up straighter with a grin and smoothed his hair back. He wasn't sure why it made him so happy but? He had a reply, and actual reply from a person! A woman!

Now what?

He wracked his brain and frowned. What does he say? Does he ask questions or just talk about dogs? He didn't know all he did know is that he had messaged a complete stranger and she had messaged back.

'I can imagine moving her must be hard work if she's comfy'

'Yeah but on the plus side she's always warm~ a huge hot water bottle'

'A numb but warm set of legs then😂'

'Absolutely! That sounds like the talk of a man who's been there?'

'Yes I have an American Akita, a very snuggly boy that gives me atleast one dead leg a day😅'

'Aww I love Akita's, I was going to get one but them Amii sort of fell into my lap, and has stayed there ever since'

'Big or small a lap dog is a lap dog'

'Definitely😂' Henry paused. Shit what does he do now? Does he just ask questions? Explain a bit more about himself? Both seemed a little too juvenile... And it was scary... Awkward he wants a nice chat, for conversation to flow naturally. He didn't want to fuck up. There was another ping as you typed another message.

' I have to say I'm surprized I got a message on here, only been on here for a few days😅' henry was thankfull, you wasn't going to judge. You were both in the same boat. Both nervously talking to a stranger in the hopes of there being something more. It made replying a little easier, he hoped that things would get less awkward after breaking the ice.

'Really? I made mine today... not sure about all this new online stuff but will figure it out'

'Well I'd say your doing alright,  at least you had the courage to message someone, i made the profile then chickened out😅'

'I almost did, your the first profile that caught my eye'

'Was it Amii?'

'No, as cute as she is you lacked a duck face selfie, and you look very sweet and have kind eyes' henry froze after sending the message. Shit, shit! That was fucking cheese! Cringe and just a fuck up! He quickly wracked both hands through his hair and cursed trying to think of a way to get out of this but nothing came to mind... And then he saw it the tiny y/n is typing... At the bottom of the screen, he winced dreading the reply he was going to get. He bit his lip worried he hopes he hasn't tripped at the first hurdle.

'Thank you that's kind of you to say. And is a missing duck face that strange?🤔'

'Every woman has a duck face'

'Well I do not have a duck face'

'Really?🤨'

'Well not a good one 😅My duck face is sub par more a fish face, call me guppy😂' he chuckled, you did have a sense of humour which was good. He liked making people laugh and not having them take everything so seriously, it meant he could relax and let loose. To just have fun! He heaved a big sigh unconsiously petting Kal as he sat up and leant on his leg. He quickly began typing once more finding it easier chatting with a stranger with each message.

'🤣🤣 I got to admit I'm not sure what to talk about, this is my first time🤔'

'Well that makes us both online virgins😅lets start with the important things shall we?' Henry froze panicking. 'Oh god! Oh god! What ere you going to ask?!' He thought watching the little dots on the screen holding his breath dreading you'd ask for picture or something. He was put out of his misery with a tiny ping sound and your message popped up. He threw his head back and laughed outloud seeing the all important question.

'Who's your favourite superhero?' You were definitely a geek girl, just like he wanted. He bit his lip and typed without needing to think of the answer.

'Superman, afterall he is the grand daddy of all superheroes. You?'

'Oh your not gonna like this~ I love batman🤗' henry smiled at the screen and leant back wiping his mouth trying to massage the ache from his cheeks. He really was grinning ear to ear just from speaking to you so... Unguarded he was just being himself and it was freeing!

'Oh no!😱can I ask why?' He typed quickly not wanting you to think he was going to keep you on read? Was that what they called it nowadays?

'He proves that at 30 you can have a dramatic goth early midlife crisis and that regular assholes can be heroes too, all you need is money🤗🤗'

'🤣🤣 oh god! You know I never thought of it like that!' henry shook his head laughing out loud as he replied

'But you'll be happy to know supes is number three on my list'

'Well he makes the top three so that's salvageable😆'

'Yeah... Two is Captain America though'

'Rich goth with issues, man with an expensive tea tray, then supes got it 👌👍'

'Omg yes!😂that's sums it up beautifully🤣' after that the conversation moved on which he was a little thankful for. Not that he disliked geeking out but... it'd be easy for him to slip up on that subject. Luckily though he didn't have to think of a change of topic as you began chatting away casually about your day and he did in return before long the conversation was over too soon as you stated you really had to get on with filling out these payslips. So the chat drew to a close with promises of speaking tomorrow.

And you kept your promise. For the next week you both spent your evenings chatting away at one another becoming fast friends. That was when he decided to let his family know in the new weekly face time zoom chats.

He looked to the screen fidgeting as his family spoke amongst themselves trying to find the right moment to break the news. But his mother had noticed and asked him out right, leaning closer to the screen watching him worriedly.

"Henry? Are you alright your looking nervous?" The others stopped speaking at the question and henry heaved a sigh nervously twisting his fingers.

"Yeah yeah I... I just have some news... Is all" he said swallowing trying to find the words. He was worried, it had been a while since he'd tried to introduce someone new into his life and his family. He didn't want to alarm them but... he wanted to forewarn them that he was on his way to hopefully sharing his life with someone.

"News? Oh its nothing bad is it?" His younger brother asked, but his oldest paused straightening up with a smile already guessing his brother had taken his advice.

"No nothing bad... Its really good actually... I'm sort of... well I'm speaking to someone online... A woman"  he stuttered rubbing the back of his neck and called Kal onto the sofa with him stroking his fur trying to calm himself and fend of the huge grin that seemed to spread across his face everytime he thought of you.

"You did it?" His eldest brother called out clapping his hands excitedly. A ripple of confusion washed over the others and they frowned looking to one another unsure what had happened between the two.

"Did what love?" His mother finally asked not understanding what her sons were talking about

"I made an online dating profile" he said plainly drawing gasps from everyone.

"Oh gosh love are you okay? Your not being hounded are you?" His mother jumped immediately concern etched deep in her features. His father looked uncomfortable-hell they all did! Each worrying over him. He wasn't surprized they had seen fans both love and hate on him and his partners.

"No mum its fine-better then fine I'm really carful... I've covered my ass and no one knows its me, she doesn't know" he said trying to placate his family but instead he was rewarded with disappointed faces, tutting and small, cringing hisses. Fuck.

"Oh god Henry you haven't made a fake profile? Tell me you didn't- please tell me your not lying to this poor woman" his father scolded sternly. His dad may not be up to speed with all this new age online dating shenanigans but he did know that it was wrong to lie to a potential partner. Just thinking that one of his boys were doing just that left a bad taste in his mouth. If he could he would clip his son around the ear!

"Well no not exactly- its me and I'm myself on there I just... changed my name to Hank... And crop my photos so she can see me but not recognise me that's all! I swear I'm not lying or-or anything!" he explained willing then to understand but with the deep sighs and unimpressed looks he got it would seem they didn't understand or approve.

"Are you sure about this? What will she think if things get serious and then this young lady finds out you've been lying?" he father spoke up again wanting to hash this out. Henry faltered for a moment, he worried about that too. He was frightened that you'd get angry and leave him without even giving him a chance!

"I'm not lying, I just? just omitting certain details about my life, I'm being me I'm showing her the real quirky geeky side of me- this is? Its my one shot! The only chance I'm going to get to have someone look at me, not what they can get out of me... I'm not going to blow it or hurt her... if we get to that point then I will explain things- she'd understand she's really thoughtful and is logical" henry pleaded trying to convince both himself and his family. He cant ignore it, he was worried and had been telling himself over and over you'd understand. But he also knew it could really shake you up. But what he was doing wasn't wrong! It couldn't be helped, he thought they would understand!

"Well I hope so because you could break her heart son... And I want you to understand that, this woman could fall for you. You could really upset her when she finds out" his father finally spoke drawing the issue to a close not wanting to argue, but he still wanted henry to know what ever happens was his own fault good or bad. Not everything ends with a happy ever after, but he didn't need to voice that out loud. Henry knew, they all did.

"I know dad, I've only been speaking to her just over a week anyway, for all i know she will ghost me or something" henry nodded calming a little not wanting to fight but still it was clear to everyone henry hadn't appreciated the lecture.

"Ghosting?" he mum perked up trying to diffuse the situation not wanting this to blow up. Tensions were high and no one needed a family spat at the moment.

"Its when someone stop talking to you and ignores you for no reason" his brother revealed explaining the term to his parents. They both ahh'd in realisation but were still a little tense. So his younger brother spoke up deciding to try and be more supportive to him. And henry was thankful.

"Well how about you tell us about her henry. What's you lady freind like? What does she do?" henry quickly grinned forgetting the irritation. His family watched the sudden change as henry got the chance to boast about the woman who had caught his fancy. It was sobering to see, he was glowing with pride and excitement, overjoyed from just thinking about this mystery girl.

"She's just? God where do I start? Shes amazing and funny and wholesome... She doesn't live too far away- Shes pretty much on my doorstep! Shes really funny and nice we talk everyday and have soo much in common its amazing we like the same music and tv and just- everything! Its like talking to a female version of myself! And Shes a fan too" his family all seemed to warm to the idea of this woman until his final remark. Everyone paused. And so did he, what was so wrong about her being a fan? Why was that a red flag for them and not him?

"A fan? Henry... are you sure she doesn't know? If she's a fan she might know and be... making her answers more favourable" henry bristled at that and visibly leaned back brows furrowed and eyes glowing, showing as much anger as he dared show his mother who had spoken out against you.

"What? No! No she doesn't mum she hasn't got a clue- Shes not a fan of mine per say but? She likes my work, she's a huge lover of DC and fantasy so has seen the Witcher and she loved it! Shes really just like me! Is that really hard to believe? That there are women like me? That enjoy the same things?" what had started as a panicked explination quickly became heated and sour. His words slowly becoming uncharacteristically venomous. But Marie Ann new it was just him getting defensive, he was frightened. He had this silly belief he was an abnormality, that his interests will make him forever alone. The thing that did stand out was just how defensive he was about you. A woman he'd probably not even met yet, someone he was only chatting to. It wasn't like henry to take to someone soo quickly. It made her hopeful, that he really had found someone, found his soulmate. But she was a mother and couldn't help worry over him, no matter how old or huge her boys got they were just that. Her boys. And she will always feel the need to look after them.

"Henry please don't get angry, I didn't mean to upset you but... I worry" she said slowly trying to calm him before he got himself into a tizzy. She could see much more then he wanted her too. And right now he was anxious, probably questioning himself over this woman and the way he was approaching her. She could only hope her son was right and had covered his ass and that this woman was as understanding as he said. Otherwise henry was about to get a wakeup call like never before. It wasn't everyday a well known actor fakes a dating profile. It'd be a media shitstorm that he may not recover from.

"I.. sorry I didn't mean to- y/n isn't like that I... I just know alright she isn't after anything" henry apologized smoothing back his hair taking a huge breath and leant back once more relaxing.

"So why don't you tell us a little more about her son? You've been speaking for a week so must know a little more then her name and were she lives?" she said moving on wanting to coax more information about the woman.

"Well she has her own successful business that caters to dogs, walking, grooming and rehoming and is a kc registered breeder. Shes thirty years old and... Absolutely stunning- and no she hasn't filtered any photos either...wait here! See?! Isn't she beautiful?" Henry gushed quickly bringing up your profile picture he had saved on his phone and holding the phone to the camera. He heard a few compliments but could still see the worry in his family. He understood but he just new. He new that you were real, that you were honest and everything you said you were. You were blunt and didn't have time for games, you said life's too short for that crap. And he agreed.

"You have a photo saved already?" henry faltered at the question that had followed a round of compliments and quickly pulled his phone back flushing embarrassed he hadn't even thought of how that would look

"I.. w-well yeah... I'm gonna ask for her number soon and want a photo for my phone... We decided to stick to messaging for a while first and" he tried desperately to dig himself out of the hole he'd just unceremoniously swan dived into. But his brothers burst into laughter making whipping motions making him flush and shrink further. They were definetly going to busting his balls for this. But with a quick shake of his head he continued to gush about you wanting to side step this whole premature photo saving incident.

"she doesn't have Instagram or snapchat... she's just... I can't explain it she's just funny and sweet and genuine... I really like her.. I could easily fall for her" silence reigned after his admission and everyone saw just how serious and devoted henry was to trying to make this relationship work. His mum nodded with a smile, this was just a watch and wait scenario. This woman would either make or break her son, and all she could do was hope to god it was the former.

"Okay then love. I'm happy for you henry just be careful okay?" she finally drew the curtain on the subject and everyone sighed in relief.

"I will, I promise but you have nothing to worry about, I just wanted to let you guys know that i might have someone for you to meet in a few months" henry said eagerly, like a small boy waiting on Christmas eve. He was full of life and enthusiasm. It was nice to see this side to him again, she'd dare say he was well on his way to being loved up! Smitten.

"And we look forward to it henry, but take your time. There's no rush just enjoy yourself" one of his brothers spoke up jumping in on the conversation wanting to make it clear they all had his back whether this ended good or bad. For now they were happy for him.

"I will, we decided were wont meet for a while and just see how things go for the time being but... I have a good feeling, she's everything I've been looking for I'm really excited" henry preened trying to pace himself, he didn't need to be daydreaming in a family face time. Luckily he was pulled from the edge of his own fantasies by another question.

"You said she had a company?"

"Yeah here I'll send you the link its called Puptown! She's actually handled Kal a few times, I send him there for his nails and teeth" henry said quickly sending the link to his brother. He wasn't stupid they were going to look you up, they were worried. He might aswell sent them the link. There was a tiny bio on there of you- the owner on the staff page that had all the staffs qualifications and roles on there.

You moved through the groom room Amii was curled up under your desk fast asleep as you began taking a stock list. Recently you'd been getting more and more white dogs in for their groom so needed to top up on the bright white shampoo and it was tick season soon so had to double check you had all the tick removal forceps, and ear powder- lots of ear powder the poodle clients had doubled over lock down after all the new puppies bought in lockdown. Every dog deserves a professional groom. But poodles needed them.

"hey boss! You doing another check?" Mandy called as she hoisted a tiny black poem into the bath. Bella a regular and very few people could actually groom her out of the five staff only two of you dared to try. And you didn't blame them this dog was a tiny savage, but the trick was not to show fear.  

"yeah, trying to prepare for summer already, you know i think this will be our busiest yet especially with lord whiskey." you muttered nibbling the pen and moving a few bottles about. Flea treatment and some dry skin conditioner were quickly added to your growing list.

"lord whiskey?" Mandy asked louder over the sound of the shower instantly Bella began snarling like the hell demon she was. On walks and about the place she was a little soppy loving lap pup, but when it came to bath time? Different dog. You cant help thinking she had a bad experiance before she came here. You sighed and placed the pad and pen down standing along side the bathe and began petting the tiny dog.

"yeah they are the vet clinic for lower incomes... They want to set up a new clinic and have reached out" you explained you had to admit the request came out of the blue and you hadn't had chance to tell everyone yet. The staff meeting was on Friday.

"that would be good!" she said slowly wetting the snarling prom that was trying her absolute hardest to frighten you both off. But alas she was no great wolf, but a teeny cute little raging fluff nugget, and to her utter dispair neither you or Mandy found her scary at all. Even if she was trying to foam at the mouth.

"yeah that's what I thought, having a vet on site... We're still talking but if everything goes acording to plane we will have the mobile vet out front while setting up the small clinic... I was thinking in the old groom rooms? They had water and electricity already and its a littl out of the way so the unwell puppets can be separate from the healthy customers" you shrugged moving around Mandy to help tend to your most vocal customer.

"so business will be booming?" Mandy said moving to rinse underneath the small feral beast. You giggled and stood Bella on her back legs as she seethed but in between her savagery she was actually licking at you, showing a hint of the sweet girl she really was. You pet her praising her promising chicken treats and snuggles afterwards. You might even pop Amii in with the others in the small day care pen. Bella liked laying on her using the huge dog as a fluffy bed.

"yes hopefully, i mean were not taking anything for them, they are a charity but hopefully we will get a few visits in the shop? And the more people know about us the more likely they are to use us!" you said you had been weighing up the pros and cons about the new venture. More people visiting the premises, more footfall in the shop and hopefully you can draw enough people to have a little pet café. Your business was right on the edge of the huge woodland park you'd always wanted a small café that serves both animals and people you want a little empire to become a franchise company and give the little guys a chance.

"And how about you? Any luck on the online dating front?" she asked with a small smile. You sighed you half regretted telling her about it. Mandy has been with you since the beginning, she was your first employee and most trusted freind. And she has been hounding you about your love life for a while now. She wants you to take a step back from Puptown and find some time for yourself, and now that the business was established and ticking over nicely it was the time to do it.

"Ooo! Oh my god your blushing!? Bitch spill!" she squealed excited as you flushed and looked away not answering her. And by doing so answering her at the same time.

"I'm talking to someone~ Hank.. He is... Funny and charming we've been chatting each night for about a week" you revealed quietly making her beam at you. Thankfully Bella chose that moment to make a mad dive over your shoulder but you managed to catch her and pop her back into the tub.

"ooo yes get in girl, you have been pouring too much into this company! Its about damn time you focused on yourself" sandy began as she washed Bella lathering the pup with a rather expensive de-sheading anti tangle shampoo.

"Please don't start, I'm doing it now and that's what matters. He is... He messaged me first and things are going good and that's where I'm going to leave it okay? I will update you as we go... I promise" you said releasing the now wet pup as Mandy began rinsing her down. You stepped back to the shelves full of half empty bottles of product. needing to change the topic to avoid daydreaming and fucking up your orders. As great as the wholesaler was this was still expensive stuff and you didn't want to unbalance the books and get more then you needed.

"Oh Bella?~ baby girl its so bad isn't it? Being brushed and washed and massaged? Then getting yourself a blow out and having a nap in the nice cosy play room?" you called over your shoulder condescendingly at the pup who was still snarling out her displeasure. She really was a little brat in the bath.

Another week passed and you were lazing around the house having a duvet day, snuggled in bed with Amii on your lap. Normally your days off were all housework and finalizing orders or paper work but this week was different. With lord whiskey agreeing to taking the old groom room you decided to finally get an extra set of hands in management to take care of paperwork. It was strange at first but worth it. You now hade someone else to rely on, not that you didn't have managers to help out before but now you had a full time employee that's whole role was to take care of the business side and alleviate the pressure. So instead of the normal made rushes and mountain of paperwork you were in bed chatting away with henry.

He had just finished his work out and was relaxing, having a cool down before having yet another painfully boring sounding meeting with his own bosses. You sympathised. Practical work was the bomb! But the theory and paperwork kicked everyones asses. Risk assessments can eat shit! I'm a person and can asses the risk and decided to do it, why answer to a tick box system? But then again everything needed a tick in a box nowadays. You shuffled about grunting as Amii played dead on your lap so you couldn't move her from the comfy slump she was in over your thighs pinning you down.

'Soo you said you game?'  was the message that changed the subject, thankfully choosing to move on from speaking about work.

'God yes, when I can'

'What do you play? Sims and stuff?'

'depends if I'm on pc or xbox I'm more into fantasy and historic rpgs, but if I'm on my switch its little farming sims sometimes I branch out to things like shooters but not often, I like the big immersive fantasies!'

'So you really do mix and match are you playing anything atm?'

'I'm doing a re-run of skyrim with a load of mods just to spice things up. And just restarted Witcher wild hunt again'

'You like Witcher?'

'I adore it, Witcher skyrim and dragon age are my all time favourites, do you? Sorry I realise I'm just takeing over, I just get excited, I never really talk about this stuff 😅😅'

'No, no its fine I'm the same, I never really get to geek out anymore with work and stuff. I'm happy to have the chance, and I do love the Witcher too fantasy is my thing😄' henry paused for a moment. Should he? I mean you just said you were replaying it... Would it be big headed? To ask what you thought of the show? Of his performance... I mean it'd be an unbiased view, you wasn't going to try and butter him up you still didn't know it was him.

'So you've watched the show on Netflix I presume?' he typed and pressed send quickly before he lost his nerve.

'Absolutly, I binge watched it a few times.😅'

'You liked it? I know a few people didn't' henry couldn't help but dig a little deeper, he desperately wanted you to have enjoyed it.

'I loved it, but I think it was easier for me to watch bc I new what was roughly going on before hand. Most people that struggled thought it was going to be an easy watch? Like got'

'Oh come on, there must be something you didn't like?🤔🤔'

'😞okay you got me, I was a tad disappointed with geralts eyes you can do the toxic eyes and cat eye potion at least give me a teeny cat eye just a smidge🤏🥺'

'Yes I see what you mean, their could have been a little frame of it but there are always sacrifices when going from books to the big screen 😅'

'But henry's portrayal more then made up for it! That man was on point! I was so happy when they anounced it was him playing Geralt there was no way he was going to fuck it up!' henry stopped breathing. You liked it? You actually like him playing Geralt? His heart swelled and he laughed out loud for some reason you enjoying his work just... It meant the world to him! He was over the moon. Quickly his attention was drawn to his tablet again as another message pinged on screen.

'And I have a little fan theory over the whole eye issue😏'

'Hit me with it I'm all ears'

'Geralt has complete control of his eyes right? And is a softy deep down so my idea was he is always holding his pupils open so he doesn't scare anyone'

'🧐that is brilliant! It makes so much sense! 🥰🥰 its also nice to know I have a little conspiracy fangirl on my hands😁'  henry frowned heart clenching as you went quiet, he waited and waited minuets seemed like hours. His mind immediately jump to conclusions terrified you had caught him, that you'd figured out just who you were speaking to. Sweat formed on his brow as he frowned praying he hadn't got a little to close to home and given himself away. Then the dots appeared. You were typing.

'So I was wondering I know we agreed not to at first but since we've chatting every night I thought we could maybe exchange numbers? Only if you want to! No pressure. I'm just excited' henry slumped, melting into his seat. Thank fuck for that! His relief quickly became excitement at the prospect of hearing you! Actually speaking to you properly having an actual phone call? Fuck yes!

'��😊I was actually trying to find the time to mention it myself, i know its only been three weeks but it feels much longer.'

'Omg thank god! I thought you would think i was rushing you😅here xxx xxxx xxxx' henry was quick to pull out his phone and type the number in, not wasting any time in creating your contact info into his phone book. And whislt doing that also replied to you putting you at ease.

'No not at all, I'm excited I cant wait to hear you🥰'

'Oh god don't build your hopes to high I don't have the most attractive voice it may be the deal breaker😅'

'I doubt that anything could put me off you love, your gorgeous, smart, funny, kind everything I could of dreamed of and soo much more'

'I'm glad its not only me Hank, I have to say I was frightened by how quickly we have become friends, but I suppose it makes sense we are two peas in a pod' henry grinned reading the message and nodded to himself pressing the small green call button and held the phone to his ear feeling confident as he re-read your last message.

You hummed nibbling your lip, chewing it nervously after giving out your number. You couldn't help your mind dredging up all the horror stories of Ted bundy-esque creepy ass psycho killers, luring in prey on the internet... Fuck you were a bigger girl so easy to sweet talk. You whined and snuggled into the massive furry lump on your lap, lacing your fingers into the dogs thick fur. Petting her as your over active imagination conjured scenario's that could end up with you in a eight foot hole in someone's basement ,being told to 'put the lotion in the basket'. Jesus Christ. But it was fine right? He wasn't weirded out or anything? He seemed happy. You were sensible, or at least you thought you were.

You yipped at your phone suddenly vibrated in your hand, you almost threw it across the room. The screen lit up with 'unknown number' you swallowed eyeing the device then nodded answering the call heart beat thundering in your chest your breath picked up you made to speak but couldn't quite make sounds, unable to force the words to roll off your tongue. There was a deep chuckle, gorgeas and rumbling even if it was quiet.

"You have no reason to be frightened darling I'm just as eager to move on" you gasped as the thick voice spoke in slow syllables, calling you by the nick name he had taken to calling you. You'd asked a few girls at work about it, worried things were going to fast. But they had calmed you down saying it was his way of avoiding being freind zoned. You had to admit the cute little names always made you grin and blush, but this? God this was better then anything! His low timber and slightly more eloquent accent uttering the name sent a shiver up your spine.

A surprizing reaction in all honesty, you'd never really thought about voices much, never had a voice kink or really thought anyone could have an attractive voice. Well not a real voice anyway, sometimes characters on tv with low raspy voices got you going Geralt and Alcide to name a few. He almost sounded like the former if you thought about it... Just more refined? A regal soft lilt.  It was definetly a voice you could listen to all day, this man could read you a bloody take away menu and you wouldn't even gruff at the extortionate prices. You wet your lips and dug your fingers into the warm dog in your lap breathing deep, filling your lungs with air trying to ease yourself and draw in some courage.

"O-oh your? Really there? Really.. real?" you stuttered slowly. You chided yourself for sounding so silly, so childish. But you couldn't help it you felt completely unprepared. Which irritated you because it was you who'd offered your number, what were you expecting him to do with it? Use carrier pigeon? Of course he was going to call you.

"I'm most definitely real love" he spoke again with a small chuckle, he was clearly amused by your flustered question. You blushed and squirmed on your seat trying to breath quietly, you didn't want him to hear just how on edge you were.

"Oh gosh that's.. wow I cant even, I don't know what to say" you huffed trying to think of something- anything else you could focus on rather then the absolute sex that was his voice, then he spoke once more

"Now, now don't be shy love, I want to hear you, your voice is just as I thought it'd be" henry tried encouraging you wanting to hear you and revel in your sweet voice, wanting to commit it to memory.

"Oh? And what's that then?" you asked trying to be playfull but in all honesty you wasn't hitting the mark, you were to nervous. You'd never really thought about your voice, was it attractive? Or too high? Deep? I mean you were normal, you spoke normal and if anything sounded common.

"Pure and delicate, playful and charming all in one just like the woman it belongs to" henry's breathing hitched as you giggled. The sweet tinkling laugher warmed his heart and made him huff out a chuckle himself. He was so happy he could have cried. It was just so overwhelming to hear you finally, to put a voice to the amazing woman he was slowly falling inlove with. He sometimes grew wary thinking you were too good to be true, that you were a catfish yourself. But here and now he knew. You were as real as him and all it did was solidify his resolve, he was doing the right thing. He was falling for a genuine woman. A real woman with no strings attached, and with any luck you were feeling the same.

"well I think I just found my mans flaw~" you giggled once more blushing under the weight of all the compliments. He was really smooth, smoother then you'd thought and that was saying something.

"really darling? Care to enlighten me?" he quipped playfully you usual banter and teasing between you both flowing just as effortlessly as it had when messaging each other.

"your clearly deaf! Well have no fear, i will talk a little louder and learn some sign language for you~" you laughed out loud he joined you low echoing chuckles that sounded as if they came from a deep wide chest. It was enough to drive you mad with lust, but that may be the new found voice kink brewing.

"well its nice to know you are so committed to your man and his disability love" suddenly you froze and trembled panic and anxiety washed over you clogging  your wind pipe at his words... Fuck!

"oh god- no I? Your not really deaf are you? I'm sorry I didn't mean to make fun-" you began apologizing not quite picking up on his sarcasm. Henry was quick to cut you off and stop your guilty rambling.

"No love I'm not deaf I was just pulling your leg" his voice was strained as if he was trying not to laugh at you, but you couldn't really say anything. You were the one nervously crack jokes then immediately trying to take them back. Stumbling your wat through the very first real conversation with a man you were crushing on. God you were such a dweeb!

"oh Jesus you scared the crap out of me" you heaved a sigh wanting to bury yourself into the covers and hide despite knowing he couldn't see your glowing face.

"I apologize darling, I have only the purest of intentions... Well maybe not that pure~ but I don't want to scare you" he grinned when you gasped at his little flirtatious comment. And he wasn't kidding, he found you incredibly attractive and wanted to do all manner of very filthy things with you. It didn't help when you were sending him photos of you drenched nipples hard and drawing him in like a moth to a flame. You probably hadn't even noticed that and he was thankfull for it because you wouldn't have sent it otherwise. It was his favourite photo, apparantly it had been a husky escape from the bath as you switched his lead to another hook.

"your fine, I'm just a little nervous is all" you huffed finally somehow managing to sort yourself out and think clearly overcoming your excitement and nerves.

"I understand but just remember its just me love. So have anything else planned for today?" henry hummed sweetly before giving you a chance to change the topic, you'd never know it was because he was barely holding himself together. He was almost bursting at the seams wanted to laugh and cry and shout all at once. He was completely overwhelmed with joy and relief and wanted to listen to you as much as he possibly could.

Both you and henry then began the nightly ritual of phone calls and texted all day. He even had a new nick name. Puppy. And he couldn't be more thrilled you'd said it was because he made tiny cute puppy whines when you teased him. But he didn't care, he would happily be your puppy anyday!

The weeks became one month, then two and before you knew it you were one week shy of three months. And that was when it happened. Those fateful words left his mouth as he spoke to you just before bed. He had asked to meet, he was certain and confident he wanted to meet you and take this further, and he hadn't really planned to ask it just happened.

"So your really letting lord whiskey in your old groom space? That's incredible, I'm so proud of you for letting them in love. It says volumes for you and your business, that its not all profit driven" henry spoke down the phone as he stirred his tea getting ready to go up to bed.

"I mean it just seems right... No matter the income everyone should be able to get medical care for their animals. And I'd be lying if I didn't hope some people will come into the shop or realise that we are here and come back for our facilities." he smiled at that. You wasn't just trying to make a great profitable business, you cared and wanted to give everyone a reasonably priced alternative to pooch care. And he was right behind you, he loved that you were trying to give owners the chance to spoil their fur babies without breaking the bank. In slashing your prices you'd attracted more customers and been making a great profit, so much so that you could afford to just give away your old groom rooms to the charity for free.

"shop? You have a shop?" he pondered padding about the kitchen giving Kal his nightly biscuit treat and motioned for him to take it upstairs. Which he didn't need to do, Kal new the jig and was already carrying the treat to the stairs.

"yeah it opened last year? The year before maybe? Its small but here with food and treats a few toys and leads... I try to use smaller businesses the brands that you wont see in the bigger shops" you said slowly and he heard a small yawn and rustle of paper. You had said you were packing up and heading to bed for the night soon.

"I may have to pop over with the bear~" he teased coyly humming to himself as he sipped his tea.

"pop over? I.. Well you could I suppose?" you hummed quietly, henrys eyes almost popped out of his head were you inviting him to ask you out? He coughed quickly trying not to choke on the mouthful of tea and then rocked his head from side to side. I mean he could come over and see you.

"I'm only ten minuet's away darling, Kensington... I've actually used your grooming service once or twice getting the bears nails and teeth done"

"oh?! I didn't know that." you said trying to picture the owners of the akita you saw, but honestly? You had soo many customers now it was hard remembering everyone, that and you wasn't really front of house now, you had more and more to deal with back of house, even with the new manager.

"well you do now sweetheart... So? Do you want to meet up tomorrow?" he asked placing his tea down in favour of crossing his fingers hoping he had read your signals right.

"Yeah of course I'm covering for walking duty tomorrow... So I can't really do anything in the morning or early afternoon" henry fist pumped and grinned faking a silent shout of victory as he managed to wrangle a date.

"That's fantastic actually... I could meet you in the park? I'll bring the bear with me and we could walk the dogs and grab a coffee or something?" he said somehow managing to quell his excitement enough to arrange the date properly, placeing a hand on his heart as it beat wildly. The realisation that he could see you- meet you face to face!

"Yeah that sounds like a brilliant idea, will noon be alright? That's when we do a switch over and go back to feed the dogs in day care so I'll have an hour lunch break" you said stuttering a little when it began to sink in that this was happening!

"Its a date I will see you tomorrow at noon love" Henry anounced eagerly suddenly tomorrow couldn't come soon enough!

"See you then puppy, good night sweet dreams" you said needing to hang up and squeal into a pillow or something.

"sweet dreams love" as soon as he hung up he was already scrolling his phone selecting the number he was after and called in a tizzy.

"Piers?! Piers! I'm? Oh god- were meeting tomorrow and fuck- I'm freaking out already! What do I say? What should I wear- kal's coming too do I put his halti on or just his collar- fuck I don't know what to do!? Please help!" he yelped down the phone to the unsuspecting man drawing a deep sigh from him before he began talking him down.

[renjuseyo]

attention, attention ; s.coups

group: seventeen

pairing: choi seungcheol / reader (gender-neutral)

synopsis: seungcheol thought he would have to fight several boys and girls just to win you over. he’s a little more than shocked to find that his rival for your affections is actually an entire franchise of fictional creatures.

genre: fluff, crack if you squint

warnings: explicit language, implied sexual content

i may not be the most competitive pokémon player, but the anime and the games were my childhood. so here’s a little seungcheol fic i whipped up because i’m in my geeky pokémon phase right now lol. this is also kind of really bad... hoping someone at least gets the terminology and shit lol

despite being the leader of one of the largest kpop boy groups in the industry, seungcheol is a simple, twenty-five-year-old korean man with even simpler wants.

sure, he loves seeing stadiums light up a pink and blue hue, and he loves knowing how much seventeen’s music has helped fans get through trying times. as of a year ago, you’ve been on the top of his list of things he loves. but right now, getting your attention is what he wants the most, especially after a tiresome day at work.

seungcheol’s laying on your bed beside your upright frame, pouting. you’re too focused on your nintendo switch to notice, though, making cooing noises at something on the screen. it’s been like this for ten minutes since he’s arrived, and he’s fed up with it.

he sits upright, his tall frame instantly towering over your body. “bun, i’ve been here for ten minutes, and not once have you given me the time of day!” he exclaims, exasperated.

you don’t even blink. “shhh, cheol. i’m feeding taro right now.”

he gives you an incredulous look. “who the hell is taro?”

you mirror his look, finally turning away from the screen. you turn your switch so the screen is facing him, and when he looks down, he only deepens his look. staring back at him is a yellow mouse with red, circular cheeks, baseball hat perched on its head, who he presumes to be taro. it’s staring back at seungcheol with innocent, round eyes like it didn’t just steal you away from him. he recognizes it as pikachu, the popular mascot from the pokémon franchise. “you have got to be kidding me.”

you turn your eyes back to the screen, using your finger to make circling motions on its head. taro makes a noise of satisfaction, and hearts and sparkles and whatnot pop up. seeing how happy it looks receiving your attention feels like a slap on the face, because apparently a 2d mouse can captivate you more than your boyfriend can. “i love you, cheol, but i would die for taro,” you tell him as solemnly as possible.

“but it’s fictional, babe! it’a an electric mouse that leeches off of your attention and food, for god’s sake!” he refutes.

you give him your most offended look, bringing the switch close as if his words were a personal attack on you. “don’t talk to me or my son ever again,” you hiss, deliberately turning it away from him. “hear no evil, see no evil...”

“i’m your boyfriend?!”

as the leader, seungcheol has personally experienced stress and burdens unlike any other. not to mention, he’s the oldest in the group, meaning that the others rely on him not only for his leadership skills, but for advice as their older brother. while he’s proud to be of service, he can’t help but feel the stress of being everyone’s rock every now and then.

at least he has you.

(name) (last name), the human being who he can always look forward to on stressful days like this. the kind barista at the nearest café who gives him an extra croissant and a sticky note with adorable pikachu doodles hoping for better days when he feels sullen. the friend he can confide in without fearing judgement. the partner he can come barreling to, arms open, desperate for a hug. having you in his life keeps him a little more grounded.

seungcheol prides himself for having a strong resolve, but he swears he’s never crumbled so fast when he first saw you. he feels like a child all over again, giddily giggling over your every move. he thinks he’s incredibly lucky to have gone from a customer pining over the cute barista to being able to hold said cute barista in his arms every night.

he makes sure to remind you of this every day, too, sending you gifs of animals sending hearts or audio messages of him proclaiming his love in a sickeningly affectionate way. even when you’re shoving him out of embarrassment because he’s saying something cheesy, like comparing his love for you to the love the stars have for the sky, he doesn’t stop, relishing in your reactions. you would tell him how much you know he loves you, but the truth is you won’t ever know, because his love for you is incomparable.

s.coups is the leader and main rapper of seventeen. hyung is who he is when offering guidance and cheering up his fellow members. seungcheol is when he’s with you, sleeping in a warm bed with dim lights.

you’re the odd one out in your family. you’re the quiet in their loud, you choose the indoors over the outdoors, and you prefer having a few best friends than a pool of acquaintances. while your family and friends are explosive with multi color, you’re the monochromatic canvas.

while you’re grateful for the balance your family and friends provide, seungcheol is the quiet and comfort you’ve been needing. he’s the reminder that it’s okay to relish in the simpler things of life. if your family and friends are the heater on a rainy day, seungcheol is the warm cup of tea.

you’re not one to be so openly affectionate, but your pikachu doodles and occasional i-love-you’s gets the message across. he knows this, too, even making it a point to keep at least one of your doodles in his bag. you think it’s horrifyingly cheesy. his members think so, too, with jeonghan and joshua constantly making jabs at how sappy he’s become because of you.

he always makes it a point to talk about how he’s lucky to have you, but it must be the other way around, because how did you manage to snag one of the most respected leaders in the kpop industry, let alone start a friendship with him? you see a side of him no one else knows, and not to mention, you’re lucky enough to sleep in his arms as often as you want. at first, dating him stemmed many insecurities in you because of how different your lives were. but after one particular event, you stopped doubting his love.

one time he and the other members had a tour coming up and were busy with preparations. naturally you didn’t want to bother him, and aside from your reminders and encouraging texts, you didn’t see him for a while. it wasn’t until the night before the tour began that you found seungcheol standing on your doorstep at two in the morning.

“it’s two in the morning, cheol. why are you here? you’re supposed to get proper rest before your tour,” you told him.

he had walked straight past you, kicking off his shoes. “i can’t sleep.”

your grouchiness from being waken up was showing, proven when you squint at him and scoff. “how can’t you sleep? you have the comfiest beds in the world. not just one, but like seven or something. go home.”

“it’s not home without you.”

his response is so silly that you nearly laugh, the fact that he considers your small apartment homier than the dorms he’s lived in for years.

but you’ve never pulled him into your arms so fast.

because seungcheol thinks you’re an angel that’s graced the earth, he had been fully prepared to fight off several people just to win over your heart.

but now he’s sitting on your bed, dumbfounded that his rival for your affections is a fucking pikachu. how ironic is it that the very thing that drew you to him is the very thing that threatens your relationship?

(it isn’t threatening it in any way. seungcheol is just hostile to anything that you love more than him, even if it’s a fictional electric mouse.)

“babe, it’s been an hour. what is so important that you have to abandon me?” he asks, flopping back down like a fish.

you absentmindedly place a hand on his head, and he beams in satisfaction. you’re carding through his hair, and he thinks he’s won you over when you say, “i’m chasing down team rocket right now, give me a second.”

“a second? you told me to give you ten minutes, and it’s almost been an hour!” he feels like a brat, folding his arms and pouting to complete the look. but he’s tired and cuddle-deprived from the very person he wants, and right now that person is too occupied chasing down some pokémon thieves than giving him that attention. “can i not even hold you in my arms?”

you sigh and slot yourself in seungcheol’s arms. “i’m sorry cheol, was work stressful today?”

he makes a noise of happiness before squishing himself beside you. “yes. i missed you,” he whines.

to his dismay, your eyes are still trained on the screen, but he supposes it’s improvement. “after this battle, we can do whatever you want, okay?” he glances down at your screen and sees your character battling off against a lady with magenta hair that defies gravity and a man with blue hair with a rose in hand. they have a snake on one side and... two balls of purple things floating in the air, while you have your pikachu and an... onion turtle?

“the purple balls that are conjoined together are called weezing, the snake is an arbok, and that onion turtle you’re referring to is a venusaur,” you corrected. “how are we even dating? you seriously couldn’t even name a single first generation pokémon aside from pikachu?”

(arbok and weezing are supposed to be the enemy, but your pikachu garners glares from seungcheol.)

fortunately for him, you eventually kept your part of the bargain and spent a good hour in seungcheol’s arms. he had ranted to you about an argument he had with the manager about the workload poured onto all of them as you combed through his hair. playing with his hair had always put him at ease.

unsurprisingly, he falls asleep mid sentence, and you nearly laugh at how similar he is to a child. his arms are firmly wrapped around your waist and yours around his neck. you don’t fall asleep as easily as seungcheol, though it is a given, considering how many long hours he spends tirelessly singing, dancing, and doing all the other activities that being an idol entails.

unfortunately your switch had been placed on your bedside table, courtesy of seungcheol. since he had fallen asleep, you decide to follow suit. you crane your upper body to the best of your ability and grab at the pikachu plushie propped on the corner of your bed. unlike taro, this one has a detective hat on. vernon, one of his bandmates, had gotten it for you for your birthday a year ago. you both bonded through your reserved natures and your love for pokémon. at least he understands the wonders of the franchise, unlike your anti-pikachu boyfriend here. you slot it in between the small space between you and seungcheol and cuddle into it as you shut your eyes.

two hours later, when seungcheol stirs awake, he expects to see your adorable, sleeping face. seeing you sound asleep is one of the cutest sights he’s ever seen in his life, and he thinks he’ll never get used to seeing how someone could be so adorable. instead, he’s met with a yellow ball of fluff with beady eyes.

he scowls and grabs at the plushie. as he tries to pull the tiny barrier separating you two, he feels something clutching onto it. when he looks down, he sees your hands tightly wrapped around its body. he pouts in envy, seeing how you-

wait. envy? ...he’s seriously hit rock bottom if he’s envious of a stuffed animal.

he shakes his head in disappointment and looks back at your sleeping frame. he can’t help the soft smile that spreads across his face, seeing how impossibly small you look, cuddled up against pikachu. he slides back down to lay beside you, pushing some strands of hair out of your face. he doesn’t mean to awake you, but then you move ever so slightly, groaning when you shift in a spot where the sun gazes down at you.

“good afternoon bun,” he greets with a hum, leaning down to press a kiss on your forehead. you grumble in protest, though he knows it’s only because you’re disgruntled from your nap. he takes this as an opportunity to snatch the pikachu plushie away and slots himself between your arms.

“hey,” you hum, subconsciously sliding your arms around him. you don’t seem to notice that he’s replaced your pikachu plushie. he does a mental cheer, even smirking at the doll, its beady eyes staring back at him.

‘take that, rat.’

the last time seungcheol saw you was two weeks ago, when you both spent the whole day being unproductive and cuddling each other. but with seventeen’s comeback and your midterms drawing near, you two hadn’t heard or seen much of each other.

fortunately for you, you had already gone through most of the dreadful process that midterms brought along. as a way to enjoy the short period of freedom before returning back to school, you decided to surprise seungcheol and the members with food.

as you knock on the door to their dormitory, you glance at the heavy bags loaded with fried chicken. you knew preparations for comebacks meant long hours in the studio and in the practice rooms, but a day of indulging in fried chicken can’t hurt anyone, right?

the door swings open and there stands joshua. “oh hey (name)! seungcheol, your bun’s here!” he says the last part with such mockery that it draws cackles from who you guess are dokyeom and chan.

seungcheol rounds a corner and shoots joshua a glare, who returns the look by sticking out his tongue. he turns to face you and his face lights up. “hey bun, what brings you here?” he asks.

“i brought food,” you answer. “i wasn’t sure if you all would be here or at the studio, so i figured i’d drop stuff off here.”

at the word ‘food’, several heads pop up to stare at you. “did you say food?” soonyoung chirps.

you laugh with a nod and enter the vicinity. seungcheol immediately comes to grab a bag from your arms as the others gather around the dining table, eyes lighting up in anticipation at the smell wafting out of the bags. as everyone scrambles to find a seat, you realize there are only enough chairs for the thirteen members. you’re about to roam the house for an extra chair when a muscular arm wraps itself around your waist and pulls you onto someone’s lap. you don’t need to look back to guess who it is.

the other members look at you two with evident disgust. “you two are so gross,” seungkwan gags. “why can’t you just pull out a chair for (name)?”

seungcheol sticks his tongue out. “you’re just jealous you don’t have someone like my bun. besides, it’s comfortable for both of us.” you shrug in agreement; while you’re not opposed to getting a chair, sitting on seungcheol’s lap has practically become second nature for you.

“ew, your bun? possessive much?”

jihoon shakes his head as he pulls out utensils. “why can’t we just have one peaceful dinner for once?”

“you know, now that i think about it, isn’t it kind of unfair that we’re doing this battle two-on-one?”

“under normal circumstances, i’d say yes. but this little bitch just ko-ed taro, so we’re getting payback!”

vernon laughs as he shakes his head. “‘little bitch?’ dude, you’re fighting a kid.”

“they proved they weren’t one the moment their nidoqueen decided to earthquake taro!”

“attached much?” he snorts, browsing through his pidgeot’s move set.

“the moment you start crying about pokémon, you know you’ve gotten attached.”

he nods in understanding. “right... you’re talking about that scene in the movie where ash turned into stone, right?”

“i was talking about that one scene where jessie and james had to release arbok and weezing, but yeah, i guess that’s a close second.”

you and vernon are too busy reminiscing about your childhood with pokémon to notice seungcheol sitting on the couch, arms crossed and face contorted in a pout. you both are pulling out terminology he’s never heard of, and he’s pretty sure you two are making up words as you go. he knows that no matter how much he tries to learn about the things you like, he’s incomparable to his members that share the same interests. just as he and jihoon share a passion for music, and you and vernon share a passion for pokémon, and he knows it isn’t worth trying to compete.

after lunch, he was hoping for you two to catch up on what you both had missed out on the past weeks by cuddling... and maybe more, if he’s lucky. but to his chagrin, vernon had asked to see your progress on your game, and you were all too happy to oblige. so now you two are standing in front of the television, pulling out terminology and pokemon that are completely foreign to him.

seungcheol would never suspect you of being unfaithful, but seeing your eyes light up when you talk to vernon about some fictional creatures makes him wish it was him in his place.

“someone’s jealous~” someone teasingly whispers. he scoffs and turns his head to the side and sees jeonghan sitting beside him, arms crossed with a smirk. he isn’t sure if he’s smirking at the view before him or seungcheol’s obvious jealousy.

“no i’m not,” he denies.

“yeah, and i’m bad at lying. try again.”

seungcheol rolls his eyes. “why do you always relish in my demise?” he complains.

jeonghan gives him an incredulous look. “you’re asking this after we’ve lived together for how many years? i thrive off of drama,” he answers matter-of-factly. he glances at you, who screeches, having accidentally run into some... bird. “if you want your cuddles so badly, you should go and ask (name) for some alone time,” he suggests.

‘that’s not a bad idea,’ seungcheol contemplates. he’s about to thank jeonghan for his advice when he sees him wiggling his eyebrows, and now he’s suddenly aware of what he meant by “alone time.”

(...he isn’t going to deny wanting it, but admitting it to jeonghan of all people would call for relentless teasing.)

“you’re insufferable,” he says instead, to which jeonghan responds by sending him a cheeky wink. he looks at you and vernon, and he’s startled by you screaming and clutching onto vernon for dear life. you both are jumping and cheering about catching a shiny or whatever the hell you two are talking about. “on second thought, i shouldn’t bother them. they both look like they’re having the time of their lives.”

jeonghan shrugs. “suit yourself.” apparently there doesn’t seem to be enough drama for his tastes, because he stands up and hops off to bother someone else.

“cheol!! did you see that!!” you exclaim.

seungcheol pretends he doesn’t see you squeezing vernon’s hands in excitement. “um... yes?”

you frown at his half-hearted response. “dude, that was weak, come on now!” he grimaces at your usage of ‘dude.’ first you’d throw him under the bus for a pikachu, now you’re dude-zoning him? talk about unlucky.

“you’ve been hanging out with vernon too much if you start calling your boyfriend dude,” seungkwan hollers from the kitchen. vernon turns his head so fast he nearly gives himself whiplash, spluttering. you both watch as he stomps to the kitchen, presumably to smother seungkwan. you’re guessing seungkwan probably speaks from experience.

now that vernon’s gone, you flop down beside seungcheol, frowning. “you’ve been awfully quiet, cheol. i haven’t even heard a single complaint from you about being deprived of cuddles,” you observe.

he sighs, subconsciously resting his head on yours. “you know, i get that you and vernon can geek out about pokemon or whatever. and it’s endearing, even though i don’t understand a single thing you two talk about. but sometimes, i want to talk about things that just the two of us get,” he explains.

you nuzzle against him. “i guess that’s fair. i’ve been holed up at home either studying or playing pokémon as of late, so i guess we haven’t had much time for ourselves. sorry if i seemed too... distracted,” you apologize, gesturing at the game before you.

“don’t apologize, it’s cute seeing you get passionate about it.” he hums, closing his eyes. “but if you really want to apologize, how about we snag a room for ourselves? catch up on the past weeks.”

“i’d say yes, but i’m too lazy to move.”

at this, seungcheol hooks his arms underneath your legs and hoists you up, eliciting a squeak from you. “it’s a good thing your knight is here, then,” he jokes. you roll your eyes and toss part of the console onto the couch.

“cheesy fucker.”

he hums in response and walks you two to his room. some of the members see you two, some going as far as wolf-whistling. “how scandalous!” dokyeom moans in exaggeration.

you look over seungcheol’s shoulder and glare at him. “eat me,” you hiss.

seungcheol hums, leaning down until he’s hovering your ear. “gladly,” he whispers.

you smack him so hard he nearly drops you.

[fairy-writes]

Hello! I'd like to request for a Boku no Hero and Fullmetal romantic matchups, please. I don't have any preferred gender! ☀️

I believe I'm very goofy, charismatic, funny, playful, and a very, VERY energetic person always ready for an adventure! I'm childlike and I become bored easily. Normally I'm happy and cheerful! But I'm also very sensitive, I feel angry often. When the group is bored or sad, I feel like it's always my fault. I’m geeky and playful, but very impacient and stubborn sometimes. I seem very boyish and a little clumsy. I accidentaly hurt myself a lot.

I'm very optimistic and determined. I'm bad at hearing advices, I just do the same thing I wanted to in the start.

I love drawing! I draw on the walls of my room, in my hands and arms and at class all the time. All my notebooks are full of drawings. It’s rare to find notes from school subjects on them actually. I also love travelling and going on adventures! I like to sing and to write stories too. Also, i’m the type of person that adore their favorite color, like, i have to say every single day that my favorite color is red.

I really hate the cold, coloring/paiting my drawings (probably because I'm VERY BAD at it) and, sadly, reading... i also hate theory, I prefer action.

I'll love someone who is my best friend already. I found it hard to interact with someone just for a love interest. True love takes a lot of time and friendship always comes first! I like honest people that work hard for their true dreams and will be by my side in my adventures and have fun with me. Friendship will become a love interest, after that, mutual pining, and after that, my confession lol

The optional infos: I'm 164 cm (almost 5'4'')! I'm a Hufflepuff and my pronouns are she/her! ☀️

Thank you! I Hope this is not too big.

Hello lovely! I hope you like your matchups! 

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Matchup: I pair you with… Roy Mustang!

Our resident ladies' man (not really, he doesn’t get many dates, he just likes to pretend) is your perfect match! He loves all aspects of your personality! Your funny and goofy side helps him relax after a long day and allows him to be at ease in tense moments. He also loves your optimism as it parallels his pessimism! The both of you are incredibly determined, and it shows in your work ethic!

You doodle all over your papers when working at Central or East Central command, wherever you are working at the moment. Seeing as Roy works closely with you, he sees your doodles all the time and absolutely adores them :) He also loves your singing and writing! The singing helps him relax, and your writing makes your military reports so eloquent and beautiful to read!

Despite being a sort of self-proclaimed ladies’ man, Roy doesn’t get many dates and is the type of person to take it slow in a relationship. He is honest when he works with you (he only lies when he absolutely has to) and is incredibly hard-working! He’s a bit stiff at first, but your bubbly personality helps him loosen up and have fun adventures with you :)

My Hero Academia Matchup: I pair you with… Fukukado Emi!

Ms. Joke is initially introduced to you through Aizawa to get her to leave him alone, lmao. But the two of you hit it off quickly! You are both goofy, playful, charismatic, and energetic! Aizawa lowkey regrets introducing you to each other. But, she helps keep the boredom at bay with her jokes and adventurous attitude!

This gal isn’t huge on advice. Like yes, she’ll give advice to her students on how they can better themselves, but when it comes to adults, she doesn’t give advice unless it’s asked for. And if you don’t follow it? Oh well! No one was hurt, so Ms. Joke doesn’t mind. Ms. Joke loves your drawings! She loves watching you draw and offers her arms as a canvas cause she loves having you close via drawings :) She also loves reading your writing! Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much time to read with being a pro hero AND a teacher, but she always makes time for your stuff.

Ms. Joke is definitely the type to be your friend first before jumping headlong into a relationship. Unfortunately, she’s had way too many people date her for her status as a pro hero, so despite her bubbly and fast-paced personality, she likes taking things slow. So this relationship works out perfectly for you!

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say - Puddleglum

[soyouareandrewdobson]

…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4

Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.

Persistent Pam

 Curmudgeonly Carl

And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.

No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once

All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)

And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo

Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips

 And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)

 She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub

 Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.

As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.

In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.

Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.

 However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.

Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…

On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend

BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…

… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.

 Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.

But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.

Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.

Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?

 Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.

Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.

 The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen

Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.

Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.

BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.

 Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.

And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!

This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS

And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…

 You can frankly go and screw yourself.

On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.

Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.

I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.

But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.

There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…

And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.

 What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.

For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?

I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.

Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.

Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…

And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen

And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.

As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.

Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.

Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.

Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.

There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them

 You failed.

Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.

Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.

Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?

 Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.

The comic here is actually called politics. … ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.

Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.

Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.

When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.

Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?

And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.

It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!

… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.

 And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!

And that is it.

Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.

Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.

[existingispetty]

Hiii, hope you're doing great! I'd like to ask for a Haikyuu and Hunter x Hunter matchup, please! Thank you!

I’m 17, my pronouns are she/her and I don't have any preferred gender. I'm ESFP, a very energetic, stubborn and playful person! Everyone says I’m super funny and charismatic, but I get stressed out very very easily and my mood changes fast, but luckly I’m happy and cheerful most of the time. I’m geeky, boyish and very goofy, but jealous, selfish, stubborn and a little reckless and clumsy, I accidentaly hurt myself a lot. I'm very impatient and anxious. I consider myself to be very optimistic, resolute and determined. When something goes wrong for me, I gotta search for a solution! But, when I don’t want to change or do a thing, I normally will not do it for other people. I'm bad at hearing advices, I just do the same thing I wanted to in the start. My biggest flaw is to be so angry and childish.

I love drawing! I draw on the walls of my room, in my hands and arms and at class all the time. All my notebooks are full of drawings. It’s rare to find notes from school subjects on them actually. I also love travelling and going on adventures! I also like to sing and to write alternative universes. Also, I’m the type of person that ADORE their favorite color, like, I have to say every single day that my favorite color is red.

That's it, please take the time you need, and thank tou very much for your work!

Help! Thank you so much for the ask! I apologize for the wait and I really hope you enjoy it! +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Your matchups are… (insert really aggressive drumroll*)

Sugawara Koshi

Sugawara loves your energy, and he’s around stubborn people 24/7 so he’s learned a few tricks. You would immediately find a place in Sugawara's hard duty with your funny and charismatic personality. Sugawara would be prepared for any mood change you have and if it was a mood change for the worse he would try to cheer you up. Sugawara knows that all people can’t be perfect, people have sides to them that are full of bad emotions but he understands and he tries to keep you in your happy and energetic mood as much as possible. Sugawara is always worried for your health and wellness he’ll try and keep anything incredibly dangerous far far away from you but at times when you do get hurt, he’ll make sure he has something on him to help you. He also constantly gets nervous so he will understand the peril of overthinking. Sugawara can be stubborn at times so he would very much appreciate someone that could have determination in them. Sugawara can also be determined when he notices that you’re having trouble in a situation. Sugawara doesn’t expect you to change anything in your daily life if he needs to he will change but he doesn’t expect anything from you. Sugawara, he’s always willing to change his life for others so he wouldn’t mind that you don’t waver very much. Sugawara would make a little art gallery on his phone with all your drawings and he would show them to people telling you that you’re an amazing artist and that he can’t wait to see her next piece of art. Sugawara will admire all of your creations that come from hobbies. Soon Sugawaras' favorite color would become red.

Leorio Paradinight

Leorio it was around Gon and no one can beat Gon so really your energetic and bright attitude phase him much it would give him more energy. Leorio is also quite stubborn as you may know he doesn’t want to waver very much but, when someone important to him needs him to, he absolutely will have no hesitation. Leorio would be very impressed with your funny and Charismatic front. Leorio is always stressed as well because he wants to be successful due to the trauma of losing his friend. Leorio well understands your mood changes since he also changes his moods often. Leorio understands that not everyone can be perfect all the time so he really won’t mind iffy parts of you. Leorio Will laugh at your clumsiness but he will also be worried at the same time he might just try to avoid situations where you have the ability to harm yourself. Leorio gives up fast so you were determined and ambitious attitude would convince him to keep going, Leorio can be stubborn at times but when you’re really solid on something he’ll change fast it’s just in the beginning he’s like it’s my way or the highway. Leorio would treasure your drawings and he would actually buy them from you. Leorio and adventures are always interesting! Leorio would start to wear red ties.

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Valeria Jauregui, Deputy

Former Miss Teen Texas competitor and La Voz Kids USA finalist Valeria Jauregui is making her mark on the small screen with her role on the FOX drama Deputy. In the show, she plays the daughter of justice-hunting deputy Bill Hollister (Stephen Dorff), who gets thrown into the job of acting sheriff after the elected sheriff dies. We took the opportunity to chat with Valeria about Deputy, singing, and more. Check it out:

What drew you to the role of Maggie in Deputy?

 It's so funny I keep getting asked this question, and I think people have a very glamorous idea of what the actor's life looks like when it's actually quite simple. Figuratively, what drew me to the role was the audition. Once I got the role, I will say I was excited to play a teenager close to my age who had sass and sarcasm because I think we can all agree that's a fun part to play! Also, playing the daughter of Yara Martinez and Stephen Dorff was really exciting because I've always looked up to them.

 If you could be any type of animal, what would you be, and why?

I would probably want to be either a bird or a dolphin. A bird because I've always wanted to fly. I have day to day moments where I look up at the sky and admire the birds in the air. It looks so freeing to be able to just soar above everyone and everything. Birds also sing, and I don't think I could live a life where I couldn't sing. And a dolphin because they're brilliant animals and they live in the ocean. I love the sea.

You are a singer as well as an actress. What’s your favorite song to sing at the moment?

At the moment, I'm enjoying “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato. It's a tough song, but I love a challenge, and the lyrics are also so beautiful.

Do you have a dream role you’d like to play, either fictional or historical? What is it, and why?

I would love to play Audrey Hepburn in a movie of her life. I've always loved and admired her so much…getting to portray her would be a dream come true.

What do you like best about acting / what's your favorite part of the job?

My favorite part of the job is the research of my character before shooting a project. The preparation to take on the role of a specific person. Researching their skill set, their life, and how it affects their personality. The weird quirks they have. Relationships with everyone and anything. Speaking to the director about what they want and how they want the story portrayed, reading the script multiple times thinking about different things every time and taking notes—making a playlist for my character or a journal—basically creating a person. I could go on and on about this, but I'll stop by saying I love psychology and getting to create a character, giving them flaws, and their uniqueness fascinates me. There's nothing quite like it.

What three items would you bring to a desert island?

1. A flare gun to fire if I see a boat nearby.

2. A stainless steel knife with flint on the bottom to start a fire.

3. A tent for survival the first days, then I would build my own house and use the poles and material of the tent to get water.

If you could give any character from Deputy a piece of advice, who would you speak to and what advice would you give?

I would tell Maggie to enjoy her teenage years. She's very mature and understanding when it comes to dealing with her parents’ jobs, and she's also an only child, so I feel she's forced to grow up to be as understanding as she is. At the end of the day, as good as that is, I think she should also be allowed to make mistakes and not stress too much about being the perfect child all the time. And to chill out and not be so stubborn.

What do you geek out about? Are you in any fandoms?

So many. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, of course! I grew up with two older brothers, so I was forced into the fandoms of all geeky things.

Do you have any secret skills or talents?

I can memorize things extremely quickly. I like learning fast, complicated raps for no reason, and I always seem to have good luck when playing card games.

Thanks for taking the time, Valeria! 

Photo: Jorge Campos

[grazieschillivera]

You sort the boys into their hogwarts houses which leads to you arguing about your latest problems with one another...

Author note: maybe a bit self- involved

Word count: ca. 2000 words

,,No.You can't be serious even that one?Thats the silliest theory from all.'' you said when you entered with the boys your hideout.On your way back from a mission you and Hughie realised that the both of you had a lot in common especially considering geeky subjects.

You both were the only ones , who could have a happy conversation after this day.Butcher was furious due to some complications and Frenchie was dissapointed at him for not taking his advices.Hughie was a bit unsure owing to their fight, while you tried to stay positive, unlike Kimiko and M&M, who were just tired.

Later that afternoon, when everyone of the group sat together and ate you came back to your topic, due to the boring stuff on the TV and the remaining bitter mood.

,,What about Harry Potter?'' you asked Hughie breaking the silence.

,,Nah not the biggest fan.'', said Hughie still occupied with his food, that you looked at sometimes.

,,Not the biggest fan?Thats one of the most iconic book series since the last years.The spells, the love stories, all the background information, the castle, the house sorting!You don't know your house  yet!Thats almost like not knowing your purpose in life.'' you said.

,,Jesus, Y/N calm down.'' said Billy, when you didn't take a breath while enumerating your reasons.

,,I have to defend Y/N.The books are actually good.Whats your favourite one mon amie?'' Frenchie asked you, earning a lowkey challenging look from Billy.

,,Uhm to be honest.I only had read the first one and than only some parts from the rest of the books.'' you said embarassed, earing laughter from all sides.

,,But see thats also a point, that speaks for the books.The house sorting is truly effective.I bet Frenchie is a Ravenclaw he just read the whole series, while I know you can only read a certain amount of book and due to that have to chose wisely.''

,,Or you just start to read.'' said Frenchie with a grin leaning back in the couch.

,,See again, thats typical of a Ravenclaw'' you said pointing at him, already convinced.

,,What kind of fucking bird?'' asked Billy now giving up on enjoying his food in peace.

,,Its a made up name for one of the four houses.The sorting head, brings not only into account what your main trait are, also what you want to be.'' you said.

,,And Frenchies main trait is stubborness?'' asked Billy.

,,Come on Butcher, that one time after always listening to what you thought was right.'' Frenchie said still frustrated about the mission.

,,No Frenchie's main traits are wisdom and creativity according to his house.'' you said to prevent the situation from escalating.Fully of pride Frenchie smiled, like he wanted to thank you for those words.

,,Is that so?Can you also tell what I'm good in love?'' Billy asked you, with is typical grin.After some seconds with you being lost in his gaze you focused again and turned away.,,Besides everything I planed worked out just fine.'' he added to Frenchie.

,,Thats because Hughie and Y/N always prevent you from getting killed, while I'm doing the rest.'' Frenchie said.

,,Alright you know what? We won't argue tonight, I can't always hear the same stuff again and again.We will end this tonight.With the power of magic.'' you said with your brilliant idea in your mind, that just came in.

With still hot cheeks you sat down next to Frenchie on the couch and started to discuss who belonged in which hogwarts house.You kept your discussion as quiet as possible , while the others gave you and among themselves strange glances.Only after some minutes and no disagreement you came to your results, that Frenchie revealed whenever you held your hand above the head of each person, everyone besides M&M who went to sleep immediatly after you all got back.

Billy belonged to Slytherin, Hughie to Hufflepuff and Kimiko to Gryffindor.

,,And what do I get when I know that I'm a stupid snake?'' Butcher asked when Frenchie was done with giving quick information about the house colours, traits and animals, immediatly irritated with the Syltherin.

,,A Gryffindor does what is brave, a Ravenclaw what is wise, a Hufflepuff what is good and a Slytherin what is necessary.In other words you're very ambitious and cunning.'' you said, earning an approving eye roll from Billy as response.

,,At least someone.''

,,Wait aren't Hufflepuffs just those extras?'' asked Hughie earning a dissapointed gasp from you.

,,No we're not!We are the most adaptable ones!Just because no one expects much of from us doesn't mean we can't compete with the rest.'' you said.,,Quite the opposite.''

,,Oh Poufsouffle of course!'' said Frenchie to you and you made an exxagarated bow.

,,But Hughie has a point there.Hufflepuff might be the kindest ones but tend to be a bit useless.''

,,What about Cedric Diggory?He could beat Harry Potter, before Voldemort could achieve that, almost won the Triwizard tournament due to his pure talent.While a Gryffindor and a Slytherin try to kill each other, there is a Hufflepuff with almost the same power to get involved... before he gets killed.There is really no point in making us look misserable.'' you said with sad addition.

,,Hush!'' said Frenchie and held his hands on Kimikos ears.,,No spoilers.We will read the books mon coeur'' Frenchie said, the last part to Kimiko, who clearly had struggles to follow that conversation.,,Besides that only happened in a Quidditch Battle – you would know that better, if you had read the books.Thats speaks again for a Hufflepuff.''

,,But we are very good finders.'' you said to help Hughie accept his house with a bit more pride and ignored Frenchies pridness.

,,Finders huh?Then please tell me why the fuck you couldn't seem to find the compound V today, when the rest of us was a bit occupied with other stuff.'' Billy said.

,,Easy there Butcher.Y/N was clearly busy with saving your ass, once you had decided to change the plan.'' said Frenchie.

,,But again that wouldn't had to happen when you could cooperate with one another.Hugie and I can't always have an eye on you just in case you decide to mess up again.Oh and also, Hughie, we don't need to kill someone to make our stand.Thats something I find very good.'' you said to Billy.

,,Wait love.If you wanna say something to your defense about today then tell it to me in my face not via some fucking witch stuff.'' said Billy, who could find the reference in your words, that only got admired with an eyeroll.

,,I don't know, is there something I need to defened myself against?Again?'' you asked arms crossed but still with patience in your behavior.

,,Stands your Hufflepuff also for passive aggressiveness or for no ambiton?That would explain why you can't fucking arm.And I say it again Frenchie can't take advices'' said Butcher.

,,Same goes for you Butcher.You're way too stubborn to take my advices.If you had listened to me we could have the compound V.'' said Frenchie earning your agreement.

,,Stubborn?I just do what is necessary.'' said Butcher giving your a creepy smile, when he made his reference.

,,No one said that the necessary is always the best'' you defended yourself and formed a sorry with your lips.

,,Good!Because Frenchie does a poor job of doing what is wise, when he always runs after Kimiko, whenever she does the fuck she wants.'' said Billy that lead to Frenchie defending her.

,,It's also good that I don't always follow you, because even your plans aren't always the best Butcher.'' you said between their fighting.

,,Oh you even called me 'Butcher' you must be really mad at me now.'' said Billy with an angled head and mocking grin, making you already quiet again.You hated it to become angry.

,,I can't take this Bullshit.'' said Hughie standing up and leaving the hideout.

,,No Hughie come back we need to do this.'' you said but with no success.

,,Thats so odd, you being so commanding and present.You know what Y/N if the fridge wouldn't be empty every three days, I wouldn't even notice you in our group now and then.'' said Billy.

You gasped at his harsh words.

,,Don't you dare say that.Recently I dont eat at all.And thats all because of you and all the pressure you give us, I'm sometimes so angry at myself for not doing better, that I simply will stop eating.'' you said without acutually wanting to admit it.

,,So you lied to me!All the times I asked you whether you have already eaten , you lied to me!No wonder you're so tired and unfocused.'' said Billy angrily at you.

,,Alright let us calm down.'' said Frenchie.

,,No Frenchie.Y/N needs to do that.She always stays quiet.God knows what she all wanted to say.Let it all out love.'' said Billy to you looking at you with encouragment.

,,I mean it boys, we have to make a compromise about how we wanna approach our plan, always fighting fire with fire can't work out!Frenchie is sometimes way to proud to follow Billy ,when necessary and Billy does a terrible job at listening to the rest of us.And I suck at preventing those situations when they begin when I deicide to not become loud with you.And Kimiko could at least try to cooperate a bit more with us – but she is at least making good progress.'' you said and wanted to strenghten your point with another Harry Potter example but Billy stoped you right there.

,,Y/N is right we're just ignoring this situation.'' said Frenchie.,,Maybe we could have just stayed out of it.''

,,Well we might have started this situation, we can't go back now.'' said Butcher, offering you his asian food.First you hesitated but he insisted on you eating something.

,,Good.If you do that again I might buy you some of the candy you like.'' said he with the slightliest mocking tone but still seemed relieved.

,,Shut up Billy.'' you said ,even though the idea made you smile.

Nevertheless the emotional outburst and the words off you seemed to have an effect on the group.After some moments of silence Kimiko started to apologize for her running out of line, followed by Frenchie apolizing for his pride at the wrong times, after he had translated for her.Thats when you promised to not suppress your thoughts anymore and kick their asses when they would start to mess up again theirs missions.Everyone looked at Billy with a waiting glance until he said he would start from now on to listen more to your thoughts and plans.

The mood lifted immediatly after all of you had talked about your struggles and promises.After that you walked outside to bring Hughie back inside, telling him what had happened.Billy had followed you and looked after Hughie until he disappeard again, while stoping you from following him.

,,You're cute when you get angry.Maybe I should have done that a bit earlier our plan seemed to work out quite good.'' said Billy satisfied.

,,Our?It was me who started with the house sorting to- you little piece of-'' you said but always stoping yourself too occupied with processing the information.,,shit'' you said remembering your promise.

,,Ah carefull love, seems that Slytherin and Hufflepuff are quite good at working together.'' said Billy leaning against the door, still not letting you go inside.

,,You manipulated me.I thought I managed to reconcile ourselves among one another.'' you said now being disapointed.

,,But you did.Who else would be better in that than you?I just gave the necessary push to do it.'' said Billy with a grin on his face, you couldn't help yourself but giggle.

,,Did you also lie to me about not knowing Harry Potter?'' you asked.

,,Pff.What comes next the scarf of sexual preferences?'' asked Billy pushing himself from the door, leaving you a bit speechless.

,,You're still hungry?'' asked Billy giving a nod at his car's direction.With an eyeroll you closed the gap between the two of you and kissed him.

,,Was that for the question or for our secret team work?'' asked Billy keeping you in his arms.Clearly confused about your effection but also not disintrested.

,,Both.'' you said with a smile and looked up to his face, now knowing exactly why you liked him.

[la-li-lu-le-lol]

Hey. Are you mainly putting this blog and it’s posts on wordpress because of the way tumblr is? Since you said its very unstable as a platform. (Which I agree.) and since I honestly don’t pay too much attention to what’s going on, I’m curious as to what’s making you do this exactly. 😅 (also side note: maybe I am a little worried that tumblr would go down the drain one of these days.)

Also I figured some other people might be wondering the same thing, so that’s why I sent an ask. Sorry if I just missed something or didn’t see a post where you explained it. Either way, thanks for taking the time to answer, Lily. <3 you’re doing gods work if you put everything into wordpress. It sounds like it’s gonna be hard work.

(Disclaimer for anyone out of context: I am not leaving! This is just me talking about archival.)

Tumblr is showing a lot of the classic signs of circling the drain. When I was a teenager I watched several '00s message boards (and to a lesser extent, myspace) begin to draw to a close, and you learn to recognize the signs after seeing it happen enough times. The lack of staff moderation and presence, the uptick in bot activity, the site running worse than usual (money/upkeep problems), the overall morale of the users declining, all the new, more restrictive rules about content (and this won't be the end), they all leave a very bad taste in my mouth because these things happened to forums I loved that got shut down.

Tumblr isn't dying as long as the userbase remains relatively active on here, but let's face the facts: many users have left, it is most definitely in decline, and the staff are putting forth zero effort to stop that. Maybe because they can't, maybe because they don't see it worth the effort, it's probably all a big complicated ball of reasons with no clear villain.

This blog isn't going anywhere, I will never stop running it as long as people continue to use tumblr. But I am being wary and cautious just in case, and that's why I am trying to set up an archive. I have lost a lot of content I love to forums and imageboards closing, and I don't want that to happen again. Tumblr isn't going to die tomorrow, but my guess is that there will be a continued slow bleed of activity. 6 or 7 years from now, it could be just a domain name.

Anyway, my advice is this: don't panic yet, but if you would like to preserve stuff on here, take action sooner rather than later. This goes for every site: DO NOT ASSUME THINGS YOU PUT ON THE INTERNET WILL BE THERE FOREVER. Keep HARD-COPY back-ups saved of everything you make. The internet might FEEL like it's "forever" when you watch a youtube video uploaded fifteen whole-ass years ago or when you look at a BBS forum from 1999, but not all websites are created equal, especially not a niche, geeky website run on a shoestring budget with very server-heavy images and gifs.