#it’s also important to me that everyone knows

[soapzero]

If hitting your kid relieves your stress instead of making you feel like a cruel piece of shit then you are woefully unequipped to be a parent and should never have had a child in the first place. Good grief some people are fucked.

Also the real reason that being a parent is so stressful is because our society is designed to make every aspect of life harder in order to enrich the already wealthy. Hitting your kid is just attacking a scapegoat not unlike the way capital blames everyone but itself for the pain it causes.

Nuance here=i know it irreparably damages my child but it makes me feel good and what’s more important at the end of the day.

I’ll say it again, good grief.

this site is so funny you sound evil

[cherrycheolkat]

• random slutty CUTE thoughts - seungcheol •

the valentine’s day one with clumsy cheol

seungcheol has big plans for valentine’s day, but everything seems to be going wrong - he just wants to make it the best valentine’s day you’ve ever had, no matter what

seungcheol had plans for your valentine’s day evening - he planned the food, the jewelry, the flowers, literally everything PLANNED

but now he’s lying on his back in a hospital bed because he tripped in the bathroom - he wasn’t even showering - he just slipped and whacked his head on the tile and maybe got woozy when he saw some blood

it was so embarrassing, literally everything about tonight was supposed to be sexy

but when you come into the hospital room, worried and squishing his cheeks, asking if he’s ’okay’ and ‘what can you do’ - all he can think is how you’re so cute when you’re worried about him, cooing over him and petting him, calling him ‘baby’ and kissing his forehead - he certainly doesn’t hate it

plus, he’s usually the one who’s protective, but you’re kind of scary when the nurses can’t answer basic questions, like whether it’s a serious head injury or a mild concussion

he’s annoyed when the doctor says he needs to stay the night because he can literally imagine everything he planned sitting at home and going to waste, but at least they say you can stay the night too

you had planned for that, of course, and already brought some extra clothes for yourself and for him, plus a tablet full of downloaded shows and movies and the pillow he likes and an extra blanket

it’s funny to him how a few things from home and having you curled against him make a hospital room seem almost homey

he’s almost okay with things, but also he isn’t at all - tonight was important - he had been waiting to tell you something and this wasn’t the romantic evening he had planned

but when you lean up to kiss him, your warm lips pressing to his, he immediately feels all the warm, quivering feelings you always make him feel - he loves those feelings dearly

you lean back slowly, smoothing his hair and staring at him quietly for a few moments, he returns your gaze, adoring the gentle way you look at him, like he’s someone truly special to you

you lean down again, kissing his cheek softly, “you’re so sweet for planning everything,” you whisper

he flushes slightly, “you weren’t supposed to see that,” he whines

you just smile, “but i did and it was so perfect” —

he stops you, “i know, but then i fell and ruined everything”

you shake your head, “you didn’t ruin anything, cheol,” you assures him, “it’s just a special story we can tell everyone one day,” she smiles, “the day i realized i was completely in love with you,” you kiss him again, lingering for a moment before pulling back

his eyes were large, “i was supposed to confess today!” he whined again

you laugh softly, “so go ahead then - it’s not like we can’t realize it the same day”

he shakes his head, “no, i’ve known - i just wanted to tell you today so it’s romantic…special,” he pouted

you nod, “ah, so you wanted it to be memorable when you told me?” you giggle, “there’s nothing memorable about today, i guess”

he knew you were joking, but he still sulked, and you press closer, “cheol,” you stroke his cheek, “really, i mean it, i love you,” you whisper, “just you,” you press another kiss to his cheek

“maybe i’ll pick another romantic day,” he exaggerated his pouting, making you laugh softly

you nuzzle close, “at least i told you as soon as i knew how i felt”

he sighs, “i knew at christmas when you picked the matching necklaces and refused anything else they had”

she laughed, “that? can it be something else?”

“no - it’s just when i knew you were really the person i love,” he strokes your cheek

you smile, “i guess it’s okay then”

he rolls his eyes, “i love you too,” he finally confesses

you nuzzle closer, enjoying his warmth, “i love you more”

he swats your arm gently, “i’m injured, let me win,” he pouts

you grin, “of course you win, my perfect cheol”

────୨ৎ──── ────୨ৎ──── ────୨ৎ────

a/n: i just wanted something cute for cheollie

♡ kat

if you want to be tagged, go [here] my [master list] if you want to read more

[bombiikki]

𐙚⋆.˚　────  heart shaped box °｡⋆⸜

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ – non idol!danielle x fem!reader !!

synopsis: you’ve been yearning for danielle for years, and you’re never quite sure if she likes you too. you decided to gift her a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries for valentines, only to give it to her at the very end of the day and run off.

contains: fluff, dany/n just being homos, haerin the matchmaker/homo hater (depedns on how u perceive it), NOT PROOFREAD I REPEAT NOT PROOFREAD, the start is lwk ass from what i rememebr

a/n: after a whole lotta procrastination its here!! happy balentines day guys 😋😋 i also listedn to falling behind by laufey on repeat while writing this cuz i love luafey and i unforutnatley am falling behind

you sat down on an empty field. it was lunchtime by then, but you didn’t feel hungry enough to go to the cafeteria. instead, you took in the sunlight from the clear skies above. as you looked ahead at the field a figure had plopped themself down next to you.

“hi y/n! why are you just staring into the field like a weirdo?” hyein asked. she was younger than you by a few years, but you didn’t mind her company.

“c’mon hyein, don’t call y/n a weirdo. she deserves a title like—i’m actually out of ideas,” minji smiles, sitting on the other side of you.

you lay back onto the grassy field, sighing loudly before chuckling softly to yourself.

“you guys are the weirdos,” you snickered.

the three of you began chatting amongst yourselves, talking about anything and everything. a few minutes had passed as you were laughing with your friends, before you noticed another trio of girls making their way onto the field.

and there she was, danielle marsh.  danielle was always the light of everyone’s lives. she was the kindest, sweetest soul anyone has met. danielle was the type of girl to include and help anyone in need, and for that you always admired her. and when you say admire, you actually meant you’ve been yearning for her for years now.

you watched as danielle walked across the field with her friends, hanni and haerin, babbling about something as they listened. she turned her head towards your general direction, and she seemed to light up even more.

“hi y/n!” she yelled, waving her arm in the air.

you waved back with a small smile, watching as she continued to smile widely at you before turning back to talk to her friends.

“now what was that,” hyein teased. “i didn’t know you had friends outside of us!”

you rolled your eyes before pushing hyein onto her side. “whatever,” you mumbled. you took a deep breath in and exhaled before opening your mouth again.

“you do know i’m friends with haerin right? danielle’s no different” you shrugged, feeling a little warmth on your cheeks.

“you say that yet you’re blushing,” minji chuckled. you slap your hands onto your cheeks.

“what do you mean! i’m not blushing! you’re blushing!!” you yell quietly, your eyebrows furrowing.

you found yourself in class on a boring day. your teacher is explaining something that could be important but you aren’t quite sure. with your notebook open, you began doodling a little cat in the corner. then, a piece of paper was thrown onto your desk.

you looked around for the sender, noticing haerin staring you down. you scoffed a little before opening the paper.

“i saw you on the field you homo”

your eyebrows furrowed as you wrote something back, the note being thrown back and forth.

“well ofc you did you were literally there with danielle”

“yeah but i saw the way she looked at you”

“you mean the way i looked at her??? cuz i was being a lil homo”

“no i mean the way she looked at you”

“WAS SHE JUDGING ME HAE…”

“far from it unfortunately,” haerin wrote with an eye-rolling doodle next to it.

“dude you have to tell me how she was looking at me cuz im lwk scared now”

“BE SCARED. more fun for me”

“ok and your supposed to be my friend”

“erm actually it’s spelt you’re!”

“whatever just tell me PLEASE”

“i’ll tell you after school if i can run away from dani and hanni”

as soon as the bell rang, you got up from your seat and grabbed your stuff. it was time to go home and you were buzzing around the hallways to make it off campus.

as you made your way to the front entrance, you felt someone pounce on you.

“hey loser,” haerin smiled.

“why is everyone giving me nicknames,” you mumbled.

the two of you began to walk home together, considering the two of you lived quite close to each other. haerin has always been your friend. despite not being in the same friend groups this year, she always had your back.

“okay, so spill. how was danielle looking at me?” you questioned, watching as haerin began to smirk—something sinister glistening in her eyes.

“you know, i’m not so sure i want to tell you anymore!” she said blissfully. 

“then what was the point of walking and talking with me,” you frowned.

haerin looked at you as she began to pout. “did you not want to walk and talk with me?”

you chuckled softly before nudging her shoulder. “of course i did. i’m sorry i said it like that hae.”

“yeah, i know. i’m just messing with you,” haerin said, poking out her tongue.

you nudged her a little harder than before as you continued to walk and talk. when you made it to her front door, you waved her goodbye before walking to your house a few blocks away.

“wait, y/n!” you heard haerin call out.

“what’s up!” you yelled back.

“make a move!” haerin yelled with a smile before retreating into her own home.

you stood in place for a moment, trying to process what haerin had told you. make a move? what’s that supposed to mean? instead of pondering about it further, you continued to walk home.

as haerin jumped into her bed, she immediately called danielle.

“hey haerin! what’s up?” danielle said cheerfully through the screen.

“you’re a homo,” haerin said flatly. she heard danielle drop something before speaking again.

“what are you talking about! homo? me? no….” danielle chuckled nervously.

“i’ve been friends with you since forever dani, it’s okay,” haerin smiled softly. danielle exhaled through the phone before haerin spoke up again.

“you know who else i’ve been friends with since forever? y/n,” haerin added.

“what’s y/n got to do with me being gay?” danielle asked curiously. she heard haerin let out a big sigh from the other end of the phone.

“my eyes don’t lie. i know what i saw,” haerin said.

“what did you see?” danielle asked concerningly.

“you know what, i give up! you guys suck!” haerin exclaimed, hearing danielle’s confusion from the other line before hanging up.

you sat on the field again, not particularly feeling hungry. you looked out onto the field and spotted danielle once more. but, this time she was alone.

you watched as danielle smiled and walked over to you. you felt your heart begin to slowly rise and beat harder.

“hi there!” danielle smiled brightly, sitting next to you on the patch of grass.

you nodded your head and thinned your lips in response, not trusting your voice to say anything.

“do you know what’s going on with haerin? she was acting weird after school and you’re–like–her best friend,” danielle blurted out.

so she wanted to talk about haerin?

“me? haerin’s best friend? she’s around you so much i’m pretty sure you’re her best friend,” you chuckled softly.

“well, i’d like to disagree but seriously y/n—do you know what happened?” she asked concerningly, inching closer to you with a frown on her face.

you thought back to the day before and how haerin acted. she didn’t seem too out of the ordinary to you, though she was very secretive. you looked at danielle with her big puppy eyes before your heart began to pound through your chest. you hoped that she wouldn’t hear your heart beating out of your chest.

“i–um–i don’t know anything. she seemed a little secretive but overall quite normal,” you said nervously. “what did she do or say that made her seem odd?” you added.

you watched danielle intently as she began to sink herself deep in her thoughts. you watched as a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head and the way she looked into your eyes before looking away quickly with pink cheeks.

“it’s–nothing. it’s nothing important,” danielle said dismissively. she gave a small smile before getting up from the grass.

“i’ll see you in class y/n!” she said with one last smile. you watched her as she ran off the field.

see her in class you did! as you sat in your seat, you watched as danielle walked past your desk and flashed a smile. your heart did a flip before you rested your facial muscles and calmed yourself down.

the lesson itself was boring, and so was the next—but seeing danielle’s face in class made it more than worth it. the two of you don’t interact as much as you would prefer but when you do it always makes you giddy.

as the lessons continued to pass, you felt fatigued. but as the last bell rang, you shot up from your chair once more and grabbed all your stuff. you made your way into the crowded hallway and looked for a way to the front.

you gripped onto your bag of stuff and squirmed your way through the crowd, accidentally bumping into a few people in your attempt to get out of school. you furrowed your eyebrows as you managed to make it close to the front doors, bumping into one last person as you did.

“oh! sorry!” you exclaim, picking up your bag which had fallen to the floor. 

your hands touched another which was also reaching out for your bag. your eyes travelled up the hand, to the arm, and to the face in which it belonged to.

“oh, y/n! no, i should be sorry—i was just standing in the middle of the hallway,” danielle smiled apologetically.

she picked up your bag for you and handed it over, your fingers brushing over hers once more.

“thank you,” you mumbled, before noticing haerin standing off to the side.

“no, don’t mind me! just keep doing what you’re doing,” she smirked.

you watched as danielle’s eyes widened and the way her cheeks began to flush a red tint. she mumbled something to haerin which you couldn’t quite decipher. danielle looked back at you before waving goodbye, leaving you with haerin.

haerin took your arm as you both walked off campus together once more.

“what were you talking about with danielle?” you questioned.

“aw is poor y/n jealous?” haerin teased. “we talked about you actually,” she added.

your eyes widened slightly as you tilted your head to the side.

“you talked about me? what did you talk about?” you questioned further.

“oh—nothing much. just the fact that you’re a socially awkward single loser,” haerin snickered.

you unwrapped your arm from haerin’s as you smacked her on the arm.

“acting as if that isn’t the exact description of you too,” you scoffed with a small smirk.

“well, at least i can actually talk to danielle,” haerin shrugged.

you stayed silent for a while, still standing by haerin’s side. you hummed flatly as your eyebrows furrowed.

“do you like danielle?” you asked haerin quietly.

haerin’s eyes widened as she turned her head to look at you. her own eyebrows furrowed as her jaw dropped slightly.

“excuse me?” haerin exclaimed, clearly taken aback.

“no–nevermind. it’s whatever. it’s nothing and stupid!” you mutter, walking just a little bit faster.

“it is stupid! me? like dani? hell no!” haerin said strongly, matching your walking pace and nudging you in the shoulder. “she's amazing, don't get me wrong! but she's amazing for you.”

you blush at her comment before letting out a sigh of the biggest relief.

“they just let any oblivious homo fall in love with each other,” haerin commented, rolling her eyes.

“wait, what? who’s oblivious?”

“my point exactly.”

“y/n, how long is it going to take for you to ask out danielle?” minji asked on a sunny day.

you spat out the water you were drinking in shock—cleaning yourself up when you regained your consciousness

“excuse me?” you asked with your jaw dropped.

“no–’cause–i agree with minji,” hyein commented, pointing her finger up.

you pondered for a moment before your eyebrows began to furrow.

“i don’t even know if she likes me like that. i’m not risking it,” you sighed.

as if on cue, danielle began to walk onto the field along with her friends. she looked around the field before spotting you with your friends. you watched a smile grow on her face and wave at you.

“yeah, ‘cause she totally doesn’t like you back,” hyein teased, nudging you with her elbow. you nudged her back before whispering to her.

“she’s just nice like that,” you said in a hushed tone, waving back at danielle.

danielle turned back around to look at her friends. before squealing.

“did you guys see that? she waved back at me!” danielle said with a bright smile.

“didn't you wave first?” hanni questioned, raising her eyebrow.

“yeah, but she waved back!” danielle emphasised.

hanni looked over to haerin who had a smug look on her face.

“what's got you looking so smug, haerin?” hanni scoffed.

haerin paused.

“homos.”

“haerin!” you called out from outside her front door. you had been banging on the door and ringing the doorbell for a solid minute before she came out with tired eyes.

“what are you doing here? it's—like—5 am,” haerin said groggily, rubbing her eyes.

“i want to ask out danielle for valentines!” you said in a hurry, a blush spreading on your cheeks.

with your words, you watched as haerin seemed to regain all her energy—her eyes lighting up.

“finally! but why'd you have to come over at 5 am?” haerin asked.

you pushed your way through the front door and took off your shoes—making your way to the kitchen. haerin noticed a plastic bag in your hands and asked what was in it. you dumped the contents onto the kitchen counter before opening your mouth to respond.

“this is why i came over at 5 am!” you said with a smile.

on the counter lay a pack of strawberries, different types of chocolate, and marshmallows.

“did you wake me up just so i could help you woo danielle?” haerin teased, a smirk forming on her mouth as she brought up the marshmallows.

“also, why marshmallows?”

“well–y’know– danielle marsh. marshmallows!” you chuckled nervously. haerin rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips.

you searched through haerin’s cabinets to find yourself a glass bowl and a saucepan—filling the saucepan up with water and putting it on the stove.

“wait, isn’t this going to wake up your parents?” you asked in a hushed tone.

“they decided to go on a valentines trip last night so no one's home,” haerin shrugged, washing the strawberries for you.

“oh, to be in love,” you sighed. haerin glared at you from the side of her eyes before washing the last of the strawberries.

“hae, i might need to steal a few things. thank you!!” you exclaimed as you rummaged through more cabinets, haerin chuckling on the side.

as the bell went for the first period, you nervously peeked your head through the door. you noticed danielle already sitting by her desk and you wanted to take this opportunity to hand her your gift—that was until more students began to flow into the classroom.

feeling more anxious and defeated, you gently hid your gift away in your bag and went to take your seat. you looked over to where danielle was sitting as she looked straight back at you, smiling brightly with nothing but sweetness in her eyes.

you felt your cheeks grow warm before breaking eye contact—the teacher entering the classroom and beginning the lesson.

you sat lazily as the time seemed to pass by slowly, doodling in your book and jotting down some notes.

when the bell had finally rung after a very boring lesson, you didn't get up from your seat immediately like you usually would. instead, you stayed behind—taking extra time to pack up all your stuff. you watched as the students began to leave the class one by one—leaving you in the classroom alone with danielle.

she had also taken a while to pack up all her stuff before slowly making her way to the door. you thought that maybe this was your chance to give her your gift. you took a hesitant step before she opened the door to reveal haerin standing right in front of it.

“oh, haerin! you scared me!” danielle shrieked, haerin giving her an apologetic look before making eye contact with you from over danielle’s shoulder.

you watched as she gave you a look—danielle obviously noticing haerin glance over her shoulder. as danielle turned around, you hid your gift once more with a blush on your face.

“did you want to come walk around with us?” danielle asked you with a soft smile.

you felt your heart beat faster, wanting to accept her offer.

“i–um–i think i’ll have to say no to the offer. sorry danielle,” you said hesitantly. you knew you could not last hanging out with her, despite it hurting your heart as danielle frowned slightly at your response.

“that's okay! and, you can call me dani—that's what all my friends call me,” she said with another soft smile.

you nodded and gave her a small wave as she walked out the door with haerin by her side—haerin glaring at you before following along with her.

after walking a good distance away from the classroom, danielle looked around her surroundings—as if she were making sure no one was around. haerin looked at her with a confused look before danielle began to speak.

“did you see the pink on her cheeks or was it just me?” danielle giggled, smiling from ear to ear.

“okay, homo,” haerin chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

danielle continued to blabber on about how cute she found you to haerin—running into hanni halfway through and continuing her rant.

“wait, so did you just friendzone y/n?” hanni asked.

danielle furrowed her eyebrows and began slowly shaking her head—then it hit her.

“that's what all my friends call me… wait—i think i did,” danielle mumbled.

“did i fumble!?” she exclaimed, holding hanni by the shoulders.

hanni nodded slowly as haerin patted danielle’s back.

“mate, just straight up ask her out if you want to unfriendzone her. it is valentines day today,” hanni scoffed.

danielle’s eyes lit up at hanni’s advice before she began furrowing her eyebrows again.

“but, i don't have anything to gift her,” danielle pouted. “i can't just ask her out with nothing to give her.”

hanni looked at haerin who had a smug look glistening in her eyes.

“haerin, seriously, why are you always looking so smug?” hanni inquired. haerin shrugged in response as the three of them continued to walk around campus.

“she friend-zoned me,” you exclaimed in a saddened tone, bringing your hands to your hair.

minji and hyein looked at you with confused looks as you came to sit down with them. 

“um—can we get some context?” minji questioned.

“she said i could start calling her dani because that's what all her friends call her,” you said as you flopped down onto your back, the feeling of the grass hitting the back of your hands.

both of your friends winced in sympathy for you as you continued to rant about danielle.

“she's amazing and i’m so glad she sees me as a friend—but i want to be more than that,” you groaned.

“well, did you tell her that?” hyein asked. you shook your head.

“then tell her you dummy. no better day to ask out the girl you're in love with than valentines day,” hyein smiled.

“did you just ignore the fact i said she friend-zoned me?” you mumbled with a frown.

“yeah, but you planned on asking her out—didn't you?” she asked with a smirk.

minji looked at you as you slowly nodded your head—her mouth dropping.

“and why didn't i know about this?” minji shouted in disbelief. “when did you grow guts?”

you playfully slapped minji on her side as you chuckled softly. you closed your eyes as you felt the sun against your skin, sighing loudly.

“i may or may have not made chocolate-dipped strawberries for her,” you muttered—both minji and hyein still hearing every word.

they both smiled at you before dragging you up from the grass.

“c’mon then. let's bag you a girlfriend.”

minji and hyein dragged you around campus, searching every crook and cranny for danielle before spotting her from a distance.

“hey, danielle!” hyein yelled out, waving her hand in the air as danielle looked over to you.

the three of you walked up to danielle and her friends. you made eye contact with haerin and mouthed “help me” with furrowed brows as she smirked at you with her tongue stuck out. 

“rude ass friend,” you muttered to yourself.

danielle looked at you and your friends with a confused face, looking at you specifically before looking at hyein as she spoke once more.

“y/n here has something to tell you!” hyein exclaimed, letting you go as she went to drag haerin away—minji doing the same with hanni. “alone too by the way!”

you watched your friends drag danielle's friends away, leaving you standing in the hallway with danielle.

“so, pretty nice day isn’t it,” you nervously chuckled, fidgeting with your fingers.

“yeah, it's a pretty nice day—especially for valentines day too,” danielle beamed.

you felt yourself hiccup at the words valentines day, clearing your throat as you did.

“what did you want to tell me?” danielle asked with soft eyes. looking into them, you thought that—maybe—she knew exactly what you wanted to say.

“look—danielle–” you started. “um—i mean dani—i just wanted to say that i think you're really–” and before you could finish your sentence, the bell rang for the next period.

students began to walk through the corridors, walking straight passed you and danielle. your cheeks now burnt a bright red as you cleared your throat—danielle still waiting for what you had to say.

“you know what, it's nothing. i’ll see you in class,” you choked out with an awkward smile, lowering your head and leaving for class.

you raised your hands over to your cheeks before exhaling air you didn't know you were holding in.

as you sat in class, you watched as haerin walked through the door—glaring right at you. you grimaced as she tore out a piece of paper from her notebook and began to scribble something down. it didn't take long before she passed the paper over to you.

“what the hell did you say and why did your friends drag me and hanni away?”

“IDK WHY THEY DID THAT PLEASE BELIEVE ME but i feel like they wanted me to confess :/”

“im guessing you didn't cuz i saw dani right before coming to class and she looked oddly disappointed”

“disappointed? why was she disappointed?”

“use your brain y/n”, haerin wrote with a mad cat doodle on the side.

“idk i’m still confused but should i still give the chocolates?”

“why are you even asking? ofc you should and ask her out for real why you're at it”

“I’M SCARED”

“be scared idrc but you need to ask her out before i jump you with your own friends”

“minii and hyein would never! wait nvm they would”

“you have all day to think about it and if you don't plan on confessing then i’m stealing the strawberries for myself”

“WHAT”

“did i do something wrong?” danielle asked hanni as they walked out of class together. “y/n seemed like she wanted to tell me something but has been avoiding me all day.”

hanni watched as danielle pouted with sad eyes.

“no, you didn't do anything wrong—just trust me on that,” hanni smiled softly, placing her hand on danielle's shoulder.

“where's haerin?” hanni questioned.

“she told me she had to help y/n with something,” danielle mumbled.

hanni looked at her with an amused face. “are you jealous?”

“what!? no! what gave you that conclusion!?” danielle exclaimed—her cheeks growing warmer as she gradually became flustered.

“i just wish i knew what y/n wanted to tell me! that's it,” danielled chuckled nervously.

“wait up!” danielle heard from behind her. she turned around to see haerin walking towards her and hanni—alone.

“you look disappointed. did you expect someone else?” haerin snickered, pointing at danielle.

danielle pouted as she wrapped her arms in her friends. “nope! i’m just glad to have my friends,” danielle said with her chin up.

the three of them took a step off campus as they heard another voice yell from behind them.

“dani! wait up!” you yelled. danielle immediately unwrapped her arms from her friends as she turned around to look at you.

you ran up to danielle and her friends with a box in your hands. you stopped to take a deep breath before looking up into danielle's eyes. you swallowed down all your anxiety before opening your mouth.

“i just wanted to say something i wanted to say before and i’m sorry i haven't told you sooner—but i think you're really pretty and an absolute angel. you're so sweet it makes my heart skip a a beat and you don't have to reciprocate my feelings but—i like you, danielle,” you blurted out, lowering your head as you brought the carefully decorated box in front of danielle.

you looked up slightly with pink cheeks, watching as danielle's cheeks begin to flush. you pushed the box into danielle’s hands as you brought your head back up.

“okay! that's all i had to say then. goodbye!” you rushed nervously, running away as danielle was left stunned along with her friends.

“i told you—you didn't do anything wrong,” hanni chuckled lightly.

danielle was left standing in place, her cheeks rapidly growing warmer as she felt her heart pound in her chest. she blinked once, she blinked twice. danielle turned her head to haerin with wide eyes and red cheeks.

“did you know she was going to do that?” danielle mumbled as the edges of her lips began to curl up.

“maybe! just—open the box. it gets better,” haerin shrugged with a smile.

danielle opened the box with shaky hands, revealing beautifully decorated chocolate-dipped strawberries that sat on top of marshmallows.

“y/n wanted to tell you that she chose marshmallows ‘cause it has your last name in it—marshmallows, danielle marsh,” haerin commented.

danielle kept going red as she took a deep breath in. she looked at her friends who wore big smiles on their faces, clearly really happy for her. danielle moved her eyes to the box of strawberries then up to haerin’s eyes.

“can you tell me y/n’s address?”

after running home, you decided you needed to calm down your nerves—your heart still pounding from your sudden confession to danielle.

you set your bag down before hopping into the shower, feeling the water touch your back and the top of your head. you felt your muscles relax as the water continued to flow down your body.

you closed your eyes and began to imagine danielle's eyes, her smile, her face. you thought about the possible consequences of your confession and started to worry. what if you messed everything up?

as you finished up your shower, you heard your front doorbell ring. you quickly dried yourself down and put on a new change of clothes, bringing a towel with you to the door for your hair.

you ruffled your hair with the towel before opening the front door to reveal a face you were just thinking about.

“hi!” danielle said with a big smile that reached from ear to ear—her cheeks coloured in a cute pink.

“hi,” you breathed out, a warmth starting to spread on your own cheeks.

you watched danielle lower her head, rocking back and forth on her heels. she held something behind her back but you weren't quite sure what it was.

“i–um–i just wanted to say that—i think you're really pretty too,” danielle stuttered.

she brought her hands in between her and yourself, revealing a beautiful pink and white bouquet. she raised her head to look at you with her big, soft eyes—adorned with the softest smile that made your knees buckle. you felt your jaw drop and your heart began to race as she grabbed your hand to hold the bouquet.

“could i have the honour of being your girlfriend?”

[minus-plus-zer0]

Valentine's Day Special - First Chocolates

“Um… Happy Valentine’s Day, Bakugou!”

Bakugou gawked at you like you had grown two heads. There you were, in his bedroom, hands outstretched to offer him your best homemade chocolates. You knew nobody ever bothered to give Bakugou chocolates before, so you didn’t know what to expect next despite knowing the boy better than anyone. 

From his seat at his desk, Bakugou took the cute pink box from your hands and gingerly opened it, popping a chocolate into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. 

“Well?” you asked. “Do you like it?”

“‘Course I do,” he spat. “But… why’re you giving me these?”

You tilted your head quizzically. “…Because we’re best friends?”

Bakugou paused, scrutinizing your answer.

“You give any of your other ‘best friends’ delicious chocolates?” Bakugou asked, sneering at the thought. 

“I did give some to Kirishima, Todoroki, and Midoriya…” Bakugou’s face darkened with every name you listed. “But I made yours extra special! Because we’re so close!”

Bakugou’s face slowly broke into a wide grin. “S’that so? Sounds about right! Next year, you don’t gotta give those guys chocolates. Just give ‘em all to me.”

Bakugou spent the rest of the day eating your chocolates in front of all his lonely and single friends whenever they came to bother him. He also paraded you around Kirishima, Todoroki, and Midoriya in particular, often walking up to these boys and smacking his lips as he chewed through your super special chocolate to make his intentions quite clear. 

Of course, the Bakusquad swarmed Bakugou in the dorms and asked him one very important question that even Bakugou was still wondering about. 

“Are they friendship chocolates?” Ashido asked. “Or romance chocolates?”

“What, it ain’t obvious?” Bakugou replied, having no clue himself. “Such a dumb question.”

Bakugou looked away with a huff, but he could never give the Bakusquad a straight answer. Whenever they interrogated you for details, Bakugou not-so-discreetly glanced over his shoulder to check your response. 

You merely replied, “It’s a secret.”

This frustrated the Bakusquad (and Bakugou) to no end, but you weren’t quite yet ready to tell your true feelings to anyone, at least not in public. It wasn’t until much later that same day when Bakugou caught you for some alone time in your bedroom that he brought up the question again. 

“Hey…” Bakugou said, sitting alongside you on your bed with a concerned expression. “Next month, I’m gonna totally outdo the gift you just gave me. But don’t go taking gifts from other guys. I’m not gonna give anything to other people either. Remember, it’s just gotta be our thing, ya know?”

You hid your face a little in your hands to cover your embarrassment from his sweet statement. “Oh, okay! Anything for my best friend!”

“Good.” Bakugou steeled himself to say his next piece. “That means we’re officially exclusive from now on. And the only gifts we’re gonna give each other are gonna be special, right?”

He was genuinely wondering about your answer judging by the bit of desperation behind his words. He was so cute sometimes. You needed to tell him the truth.

You beamed at him playfully. “Well of course! I can’t just give everyone romance chocolates, now can I?”

Bakugou appeared surprised for a second before breaking out into a satisfied and proud grin.

“‘Course not,” Bakugou said, his heart pounding as he leaned over to eagerly kiss you.

(I still exist! I have just been busy with real life and I am sick. Thankfully I was able to get this post out in time!)

[emi-matchu]

I like and agree with this, and also one modifier I'll add is like

if part of your answer is "I want to waste less time scrolling or whatever", that's probably a good idea! the thing about it is that it's a serious project

it won't happen by means of just willpower and yelling at yourself when you "fail"; it'll happen by analyzing the contributing factors that have you falling into that coping mechanism on the regular, and working to address them

Idk I think it's definitely important to recognize that doomscrolling is often not a choice as such, to stop shaming ourselves for not just trivially being "better"; but also that it's often not just some untouchably disabling force of nature bigger than our own power to change, and we can actually treat it as part of our own lives as something to choose to shape

It's good to give ourselves permission to do less! and that's a lot of what I needed to hear the past few years. but now I'm in a life moment where doing less has gotten me about as far as it'll go, and what I need now is to trust myself to solve the puzzle of what's holding me back from doing more, and change it.

I of course do not know everyone's life or what is or isn't possible for them… I just know that, for a long time, I was wrong about what's possible for me.

And it's been going well 🌻

Remember that if you want to do more of something, you have to do less of something else. It's that time of year where people set goals for the new year and they have plans and hopes and it's always focusing on what they want to do more of. More studying, more exercise, more crafting, more socialising, more making things from scratch. Okay, great. What are you going to do less of in order to have the time and energy to do more of those things you really want to do?

[galaxymagitech]

You can’t tell me that Roy Harper, who has spent way more time than he wants to around Oliver Queen (and is angry with his mentor at various points in time), has not tried to create a sidekick (or protégé, if it sounds more palatable to him at the moment) union at least once.

I’m not talking a team. No. Like, a full, proper, federated union. With a bargaining committee and a contract and everything. They debate how to ethically go on strike, maintaining their lifesaving heroics while being as inconvenient as possible. (No post-patrol reports today, Batman—Robin is part of the Gotham branch of the Super Youth Union! Aqualad will not filling out Atlantian paperwork for the foreseeable future! Teen Titan PSAs have been temporarily put on hold!) There is at least one protest. The public is won over to the sidekicks’ side.

Green Lantern makes the mistake of stating on television that this is ridiculous, because the sidekicks aren’t even paid employees. And the reporters are like, what do you mean you aren’t paying minimum wage? The emergency press conference is a disaster. Afterwards, Flash suggests they say it’s okay because the sidekicks are working for a family business. Batman vetoes this, on account of protecting secret identities, even though everyone assumes he’s Robin’s father anyway.

Eventually, there is a contract. The sidekicks/protégés/whatever receive stipends, even though most of their mentors were giving them allowances anyway. They also get the right to have a union representative present during disputes with “management”, which Kori and Donna use to intimidate Batman and Roy uses to tell Ollie that they can’t talk because “there isn’t a union rep present, I know my rights!” (Yes I’m aware this isn’t quite how unions work, but it’s how this one, established by a bunch of teenagers, does.) The adults do manage to sneak in a clause about unsafe working conditions and limits on working hours, ostensibly for the benefit of the union, designed to prevent their sidekicks from jumping straight into danger or staying up for 72 hours straight. The sidekicks pretty much ignore this, though, because Roy caught it and made sure that this clause was only important if the union chose to enforce it.

(If Ollie wasn’t so proud, he’d be annoyed. Or if he wasn’t so annoyed, he’d be proud. Take your pick.)

[madebycloud]

No Erase

violet "vi" x female reader — 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬⠀𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

summary: on valentine's day, and you've finally worked up the courage to write a letter to your crush confessing your feelings. unfortunately, your friend accidentally gives the letter to the one person you can't stand. warnings/themes: fluff, one sided enemies, valentines, kissing cam, angry confessions, fast burn ig, mordern au words: 10.9k

You look at the letter in your desk, which you spent at least six hours working on to make sure it's perfect. Not just to make sure the words you're choosing are perfect, though—you want to make sure your handwriting is perfect enough that it doesn't look sloppy.

You grab the letter and read it over one last time… lovey-dovey bullshit, sappy stuff, romantic nonsense, etc.

You cringe at the last words, “Meet me at the bleachers... recess.”

It's so cliché, so stereotypical, and maybe you've had a couple too many cheesy romance movies in the past month. You've probably read a dozen fanfics that start like this.

If it were done by anyone other than yourself, you'd think it was absolutely dumb and corny as hell.

You know you could just message them through snapchat or on insta, or facebook, even just confessing through their email is a good idea… but, no, you just can't do that.

What if you say the wrong thing? what if you just happen to say something extremely cringy in your message? what if they screenshot it and put it on their story for everyone to see? what if they reply with “who is this...?” what if they start ignoring you?

Plus, you love your phone too damn much, and you know you're gonna end up throwing the damn thing because of the absolute panic you're gonna feel when your finger hits that send button.

You probably should have just sent a carrier pigeon or something… at least they could eat that.

Oh wait.

You forgot one thing.

You look around your room, trying to figure out what you left out. Your penmanship is on point, the words are as romantic as they could be, and the grammar is perfect... but what's missing?

The perfume.

The bottle of perfume is on your dresser, hiding behind the jewelry case. You spray it liberally, making sure the paper absorbs the smell of it, before finally folding it up neatly and placing it in the envelope. You seal the envelope with a kiss to the paper and hope it's the ‘special touch’ that it needs.

The smell is nice, just enough to have the paper absorbing it nicely, but not enough to be overwhelming (even if you love the perfume to death). You also want your recipient to be able to read the letter without cringing.

Okay, now it's really done. It's romantic, it smells good, and it's as perfect as you can get it.

Tomorrow's the day, and you finally feel confident. You have everything ready to go, you just have to figure out how to get your friend to deliver it to your crush's locker.

As you get ready for bed, the only thing you can't stop thinking about is how tomorrow will go.

Will they love the letter? will they finally realize the feelings you have for them and confess their own feelings? who knows?

—

“Come on,” you whine, begging Ekko for the fifth time. “Just do me this favor, please?”

Ekko just scoffs and gestures to the table. “I already told you, I have all of these-” he motions to the dozens of letters in front of him, “-that i'm supposed to deliver for girls that are crushing on Caitlyn.” He sighs. “I can't add any more to my to do list.”

“Please?” you beg, waving the envelope at him. “It's really important.”

Ekko groans and slumps forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. “Why can't you just deliver it yourself?”

“It's kinda.. embarrassing… for me to deliver it myself…” You fidget awkwardly.

“Ugh.” Ekko groans again but gives in. “Fine,” he relents, sitting up straight and grabbing the letter from you.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ekko waves his hand dismissively. He stands up and stretches out, letting out a deep sigh as he does. “Just remind me what locker number it is?” he asks, shoving the letters into his bag.

“Locker number is 13 C,” you reply, watching as Ekko slings his bag over his shoulder and starts walking out of the cafeteria. “It's pretty much right next to Caitlyn's, so you won't be missing it.”

“Got it,” he says, turning around and flashing a grin at you. “See ya later.” He gives you a salute before he disappears. 

Finally.

After months of keeping your feelings quiet, your secret would be revealed. You just have to hope that it doesn't blow up in your face.

—

Ekko walks down the hallway, scanning through the numbers above the lockers until he finds the one he's looking for.

Caitlyn's locker.

He scans the area for any sign of Caitlyn, and luckily for him, the coast is clear.

He pulls out the envelopes from his bag, each one slightly crinkled from being stuffed in there. He counts up the total- ten, no, twelve... wait. Fifteen? that's more than he thought, he could have sworn there were less. He dumps all the letters on top of the locker hole.

He looks down at the remaining letter in his hand. Right, that one isn't for her. He sighs and places the letter next to her locker, just like he was told to do.

He gives the locker one last look but doesn't give it a second thought and starts walking away, whistling as he goes.

But... what Ekko didn't know is that instead of placing it into the locker next to it, he accidentally dumped it into 11C, aka, Vi's locker.

—

You wait at the entrance of your school, impatiently bouncing on your feet. Valentine's day is tomorrow, and you can't wait for your crush to read the letter you poured your heart into.

Then, you spot Ekko, and you're quick to greet him. “Hey!” You throw an arm around his shoulders. “So, did you put it in?”

He nods, gesturing to the school doors. “Yeah, I did.”

You sigh, relieved that the letter is in your crush's locker and will likely be seen by them soon. “Thanks.” You give him a squeeze on the shoulder before letting go of him. “I seriously owe you one for this.”

Ekko just brushes you off. “It's nothing.” He shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets as you start walking into the courtyard. “Just doing my good deed of the day.”

“Mhm, hopefully tomorrow goes as planned,” you say, “I just hope they like it…”

—

Tomorrow finally comes, and it's the day you've been patiently waiting for. Valentine's day.

You're in your first class, waiting for your teacher to come in. You're distracted, your mind racing with thoughts about what your crush thinks of the letter.

Then, someone suddenly sits next to you, and you turn to look at-

“What the hell?” you blurt out, looking at Vi as she makes herself comfortable in the chair.

Vi smirks. “Hey,” she greets.

That smirk alone pisses you off.

You still haven't gotten over the fact that because of her, your grades had taken a nosedive. The two of you had been paired together in science class, and she'd somehow managed to blow up the experiment, all because she wasn't paying attention.

“What the hell are you doing here?” you snap, glaring at her.

She simply glances at you, then back at the desk she's sitting on. “What do you think? I'm sitting.”

The audacity? 

“I know that, but why are you sitting next to me?”

“Come on, don't act like you don't know.” She throws in a wink, and your disgust quickly multiplies.

“Excuse me?” you sputter, completely caught off guard by her sudden flirtatious behavior.

“You really gonna act like you don't know?"

“No?”

She scoffs and leans towards you, smirk on her lips. “I mean,” she adds, eyeing you up and down, “I thought you'd be... happy... to see me.”

You're stunned, confused, and quite frankly, grossed out. “Happy to—WHY ON EARTH would I be happy to see you?” you spit out.

She huffs and slumps back into the chair. “Oh wow, thanks for the warm welcome.”

“Well, what did you expect? You haven't exactly been... pleasant to be around.”

She narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to reply but stops short as the teacher enters the classroom.

She finally shuts up, and you're left wondering what just happened. Why in the world is someone who is a pain in your butt cheeks suddenly flirting with you? is there something wrong with her? or has she lost her damn mind?

—

It's recess, and you're sitting on the bleachers, waiting for your crush to show up.

Your palms are sweating, you're starting to worry that your armpits are going to start smelling, you're probably going to end up throwing up on someone's shoes.

The letter was probably too much. The words were too romantic. The whole cliché “meet me at the bleachers” thing was just cringe. Who wrote that? oh right... you did.

But even if the outcome isn't what you hope for, at least you've got a good story to tell later or maybe a good reason to drown yourself in ice cream and cheesy rom-com movies.

You look around the bleachers once, twice, three times. You try to avoid glancing at your phone, but the urge to check the time only grows stronger.

It doesn't help that a couple of assholes are sitting a few feet away from you, loudly laughing at some video playing on one of their phones.

Recess is almost over, and your crush is still not here. Where the hell are they?

Maybe they could possibly be in the bathroom, having a nervous breakdown like you were? or maybe they're just taking their sweet time, making sure they're looking perfect?

Or maybe they're not coming at all.

And then you hear footsteps coming your way,

THIS IS IT.

Is your hair okay? yes. Are your teeth brushed? yes, dumbass.

You quickly wipe your sweaty palms, trying to calm your racing heart. You turn around, ready to see the face of an angel, the face of a goddamn god-

But instead you see the face of someone you'd rather shove into a brick wall.

Vi.

Why the hell is she... smiling at you?

“Damn, you look good from this angle.” 

WHAT?

Why is this goddamn lesbian here with that stupid smile on her face?

“Why are you here?”

“Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see you.” She pulls out an oddly familiar envelope from her pocket and holds it in her hand, and you realize why it's so familiar.

Wait...  that's your letter!

The one you wrote to your crush. The one that's meant to be in their locker, not in her damn hands.

How the hell did it end up with her?

She looks at the envelope, studying the handwriting on it, and then her eyes lock with yours again. “This is yours, right?”

Your hand quickly snatches the envelope from her hand. “How the fuck did you get that?”

Vi quickly snatches the envelope away, holding it out of your reach. “Whoa, woah, wait-”

“Give me that!” You lunge for the envelope, but she sidesteps you.

Vi laughs, holding the envelope away from you. “Isn't this for me?” She opens the envelope and throws it aside, then pulls out the letter and starts reading it aloud. “Dear... what the hell, how do you... whatever. Dear blah, blah, blah, happy valentine's da-”

“-SHUT UP!” You try to snatch the letter again.

“Hey, I'm not done reading it yet! This is my valentine's gift, after all.”

“That letter is meant for someone else!”

“Really? Then why did I find it in my locker?”

“Wait, what? You found it in—you're joking, right?”

She shakes her head, waving the letter in front of you. “Nope, I'm not joking.”

“How did you-”

“Someone put it in my locker.”

“That's impossible! I would never—I mean to you? there's no way that was meant for you.”

Vi squints at the words in the letter, then looks up at you again. “But this is definitely written in your handwriting, right?”

How did it end up in her locker? and how the hell does she even know what your handwriting looks like?

Your eyes dart from the letter in her hands to her face. Yes, it's definitely your handwriting. Yes, it's definitely the same stupid letter you wrote because you're a hopeless romantic.

“Maybe,” you grumble.

“Maybe? so it is yours?”

You avoid her gaze, avoiding her smug look.

She starts reading over the letter again, reading it aloud. “Meet me at the bleachers, how goddamn cliché-”

“STOP READING IT!”

“Damn, I didn't think you could be this corny.”

“Shut up, just-” You try to snatch the letter out of her hand once again, but she pulls her arm away.

“You wrote this much for someone?”

“Why do you care so damn much, anyway? You didn't get a valentine gift or something?” and now you're just being bitchy as well.

“What are you, ten?” she retorts.

“And what are you, an idiot?”

“I'm not an idiot, unlike you.”

“Oh, wow, are we back in sixth grade now?”

She looks down at the letter. “I'm not the one who wrote a heartfelt letter for someone who probably doesn't even like you.”

“And how the hell would you know?”

“Have you even talked to them before?” She lifts her head, her smirk coming back when you didn't answer. “Since whoever the hell you have a crush on doesn't like you-”

“They could still-”

“See, everyone has a valentine. Well, almost everyone, which means your crush probably got one too.”

“Yeah, 'cause you got that letter they were supposed to receive.”

“Maybe I was meant to have it then.”

“You're seriously that sure that the universe wants you to have this?”

“Maybe it's a sign.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Are you just dumb on purpose?”

She grins. “I'm not doing it on purpose, and maybe it's a sign that I should be your valentine, that the universe is trying to tell you something.”

You roll your eyes. “Wow, so confident. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're actually serious.”

“And what if I am serious?” You look at her blankly as she shrugs. She actually thinks she's funny. “I mean, you don't have a valentine, which does kind of suck, and I don't have one, which is by choice, by the way, so I think the universe is clearly telling us something.”

What the actual hell is wrong with her today? she didn't get enough sleep or something, and now she's acting like... like this? this is weird.

She's being weird. 

“What, is the universe now trying to set us up? really? we're gonna get a movie based off this?”

“Hey, no one said this was a movie, maybe it's just a cute little high school romance,” she argues back. “Plus, you put a lot of work into this letter, and I'd hate for it to go to waste.”

“I'm not in the mood to start a cute little high school romance with you, okay?”

She heaves a dramatic sigh. “Look,” she says, holding up a hand to stop you from replying, “it's valentine's day, right? and we both don't have anyone, so it's just... for today, we can, you know... see what happens, and if it doesn't work out, then we can just leave it alone and go back the way we were.”

You blink slowly. “That sounds worse than your whole ‘the universe wants us together’ bullshit.”

“Wow, don't act like the idea of it is so awful. I mean, I'm not that bad, right?”

You're going to disagree with that with every single cell in your body, but you decide not to, instead, you just remain silent.

Vi seems to take your silence as agreement because she gives you this insufferable smirk like she just won something.

She continues. “It makes sense if you think about it. We're both single, you're already in a lovesick mood because of this,” she gestures at the letter, “so if we do, you know... we can get it out of your system, and you won't have to spend the rest of the school year pining over some person who is probably ignoring you anyway.”

Why is she making some sense? no, why is she sounding like... a good option all of a sudden?

“It's just for today,” she reminds you again. “We'll just see where it goes. Who knows, you might actually have some fun with me.”

This feels like you're cheating on your crush for even entertaining this stupid plan. 

“You're basically saying that we're going to spend one day together and then you'll ditch me?” you retort.

“No, that's not what I'm saying,” she corrects you. “I'm saying we're gonna spend one day together, and if it doesn't work out, then we go our separate ways. It's just one day, it can't hurt. It won't be such a big deal.”

“I'm not going to be your one day entertainment.”

“Who said you'd be my entertainment?” She rolls her eyes, shaking her head at you. “You and I both know you have no other options. What're you gonna do instead, go home and cry over this person who doesn't even know you exist, or just spend the day wallowing in self pity while the rest of the school is celebrating love and stuff with their actual valentines?”

You wince at her harsh words because...  she's got a point.

You don't have anyone to spend this day with, and the person you'd want to spend it with will probably spend it with someone else... so yeah, you have no plans, and yeah, you're probably going to just go home and wallow in self pity, wishing that today was over already.

What would happen, actually? if you go along with her stupid plan. You could finally have an escape from pining over your stupid crush who probably doesn't even notice you.

“Fine.” You snatch the letter back from her.

“Wait, what? really?” She's actually surprised. No wonder, she's the one who came up with this stupid plan in the first place.

“I am,” you say, “you don't want me to?”

She huffs out a laugh. “No, no, of course not. I just… didn't expect you to actually agree.”

“And why is that?”

“I don't know, I figured you'd still have a little bit of decency left in you.”

What a backhanded compliment. “I have plenty of decency left in me, it's you who I'd question, and besides... it's just for today.” You fold the letter and shove it into your pocket.

Vi hums, not taking that offense to your comment. “Just today,” she repeats. “Then tomorrow, boom, everything goes back to normal.”

You nod. “Back to normal.”

“I could kiss you right now.”

Whoa woah woah. Calm down. “Ew, what?”

“I didn't say I will kiss you,” she points out, “I said I could.”

You could say something mean to her words, you could try to change the subject or you could just walk away and forget this conversation ever happened.

But what you actually say is, “What's stopping you then?”

You hate how that sounds so casual. It wasn't meant to come out like that. What the hell?

You're not entirely sure, but something is definitely encouraging you to keep this going. Is it because you find everything she does annoying or that you've been pent-up over your stupid crush lately and you need to get it out of your system?

Vi raises an eyebrow at your words. “You want me to kiss you?” The words drip out of her mouth, like honey on a spoon.

“No,” you reply on instinct, because of course not.

But you can't stop the way your eyes flicker down to look at her lips. You look back at her face, and you know damn well she saw you look down at her lips, but she doesn't say anything about it.

“So now that it's official... you're my valentine, and today, we're going to have the shittiest, most awesome date-” she coughs, “-i mean hangout, that you'll ever have.”

“I doubt it.”

“Hey,” she says, “don't underestimate me, okay? I know how to have a good time,” and then she, god help you, she winks at you.

She looks like she's about to say something more, but she stops when the bell rings.

“Meet me at the parking lot after class?” she asks.

You find yourself nodding. “Yeah, sure.” You look at the field for a second and then look back, just so you can catch her reaction—and it's not at all what you were expecting. She's...  blushing?

It's subtle, more subtle than you'd think, but her cheeks are definitely red, and when she realizes you notice her, she looks away.

She looks embarrassed.

She's embarrassed?

“Anyway, see you there... valentine.” She doesn't look at you. “Try not to miss me too much.”

What? miss her? She sounds like she's trying to joke about it, but something about the way she says it sounds sincere? What the fuck?

She starts to walk away. You're pretty sure you see another smile on her face, and if you didn't like her so much, you'd probably like how she looks when she does.

But you remind yourself, this is Vi.

The same Vi you've known for years, the same Vi who made your grades worse because of a stupid experiment, the same Vi who you'd probably love to throw out the nearest window if you could, and the same Vi you can't stand.

You force yourself to turn away, and you start to walk back to the school building. You try to push the image of her stupid blushing face and her stupid pretty smile out of your brain because you are not... going to make the mistake of being attracted to her.

—

Time passes by more slowly than a snail.

What's the saying...? ‘A watched pot never boils?’ You're pretty sure you could watch paint dry, and it would move at a faster pace.

Why is time passing so slowly today?

You're not sure if it's because you have this... ‘hangout’ to expect at the end of the day or if it's because you keep getting distracted by the thoughts of what is going to happen later.

What you do know is that you end up spacing out way too much more than a person should.

Thankfully, you don't have any homework, but your notes for the day are just absolutely horrible, a mindless mess of scribbles and pointless words. You're definitely going to regret this later.

The last bell mercifully rings just as you're in the middle of doodling a small sketch of Vi's face in the corner of your notes.

You quickly shut your notebook and stuffed everything into your bag.

You need to find your goddamn common sense first, but it seems to have left the room before you could.

The hallway is a goddamn mess.

Kids are running everywhere in the halls, screaming loud as hell, some girl is trying to stuff her locker to the point where it's going to explode, and some kid has got a goddamn boombox and is blasting music from it. There's the hallway drama that everyone loves listening to even though they should be minding their own business.

Seriously, it feels like you're in the middle of a goddamn jungle with the amount of people screaming.

Walking to the parking lot takes longer than it usually would. When you get there, you see a familiar head of pink hair leaning against a red motor, scrolling through something on her phone.

She hasn't noticed you yet, and you find yourself unable to move your feet for a second.

She's just leaning back against the motorcycle, lazily swiping through something on her phone. She's even biting her lower lip slightly, and for some reason, you really don't know why that's such a good look on her.

Okay, what?

You need to stop letting your brain run away with these thoughts.

You are not going to act like a middle school idiot who just got caught looking at her crush or something. You're an intelligent, mature human being. You're definitely not some dumb kid with an embarrassing crush either. Definitely not.

The sunlight makes her glow, and when she looks up from her phone, you feel you're hit with a wave of goddamn sun poisoning because the sunlight hitting her eyes makes them shine.

She looks over and sees you, shoving her phone into her pocket. She gestures you over with a slight jerk of her head.

You force your feet to start cooperating and get your ass over there.

“Glad you came.” 

What kind of response would even be the right one for that? “Me too” would sound too enthusiastic. “Yep” sounds so disinterested, like you'd rather be anywhere else than here, when that might be partially true, but you're not trying to sound like a dick. “Same here” sounds like such a sarcastic tone, and “Of course I'm here, you're the one who forced me into this” would sound too rude.

Instead, you just say nothing, which she notices, of course.

“What, no smart shits today?”

“I have nothing to say to you,” you mutter as you turn your attention to the red motor behind her. You notice the scuffed up leather seat and the worn tires.

You then glance around the parking lot, wondering how many times you've seen this before. The motorcyclist who's always late to class, the seniors who smoke too much and are always ditching school, the students with cars who love to show off the brand new car their parents gave them, and the popular girls gossiping about some poor girl who can't afford nice clothes.

The sound of a motorcycle engine starting snaps you out of your thoughts, and you look up to see Vi getting onto the motorcycle

She pats the back seat behind her. “You getting on or what?”

“...is it like fast?”

“Is it like fast?"” she mimics in a childish tone before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, it's fast. Get on it and find out.”

“I just asked a question, no need to be a dick.”

“Are you always this bitchy?” she asks, then throws you a helmet. “Put this on.”

You catch the helmet, and you put it on. “Only around you.” You approach the motor and try not to comment on the poor condition and instead climb on behind her.

You have no idea what to do with your legs, so for a few seconds, you just awkwardly sit behind her, trying to position yourself like riding a horse.

“Are you gonna hold on?” Vi calls out.

“Hold on to what?”

“Me, dumbass. Grab my waist.”

“Hell no.”

“It's for your own safety.”

“I'm fine,” you shift around, trying to find a comfortable position.

Vi seems to start losing her patience with you. “If you want to fall off the bike mid ride and splatter onto someone's yard like a squashed bug, be my guest.”

That gets you to hold onto her waist out of pure spite.

“Just don't squeeze my abs too tight. I still need air.”

You scoff. “Who the hell is so narcissistic that they think something as simple as that would affect me?”

She huffs, amused by your snark, and puts on her own helmet. “It's not narcissism. It's just a joke,” she retorts. 

You scoff again, but your hand tightens around her waist reflexively.

She chuckles. “Knew you couldn't resist.”

You pinch her waist. “Just shut up and drive.”

She snorts. “Touchy, aren't we?”

“Yeah, I am,” you reply sarcastically, pinching her waist again.

“Hey!” she exclaims, then sighs. “Okay, fine. I'll stop, just stop it.”

She starts the motor, and the hum of the engine vibrates throughout your body. It's louder being sat on top of the thing compared to how it sounds when you're on the ground. You feel this rumble throughout your chest, and you really want to comment on the poor thing making that much noise.

“Just hold on tight.”

—

“FUCK YEAH! WOOO!” you shout, punching the air with your fist and standing up. It's hockey, but who cares? you're not a fan, not in the slightest, but you're still screaming and cheering, all in a bid to support the team.

Vi is right beside you, shouting as well, while she eats a hot dog and washes it down with soda. “I thought you hated hockey!” she shouts over the crowd's cheers.

You shrug, but it's impossible to respond. You can't hear each other over the sound of the audience's cheers.

A few of the people sitting in the same section as you give you some weird looks, like you suddenly went insane. Well, can you really blame them? it probably looks like you have the sudden urge to yell random things for no reason.

Vi is the only one who doesn't look at you like you're some lunatic, her gaze is focused on the game, all while cheering, and occasionally making comments about the players.

It's different compared to watching it on TV. You're actually there, in person, surrounded by people who share your excitement and are as loud as you or louder.

You're also next to the most annoying person ever, but you don't want to dwell on that.

You drop down, back into your seat, and lean back, stretching your legs out. Your thighs and legs are starting to feel like jelly from all that screaming and standing. “Damn,” you tell her, shaking your legs. “I think I just strained a muscle or something.”

Vi laughs and sits down on her seat. “You know, I've been around here for years now. I probably know some people here.” She glances around the crowd of people, scanning them like she's trying to find someone in particular.

“Oh yeah? who's that in the third row then?”

She follows the direction of your finger and immediately points at a random person. “That's Fred! I once went to elementary with him.”

You have no idea if she's making that up or not. “And what about the guy next to him with the big hat?”

Vi squints at the section you pointed at. “That's George.” She then points at a girl with a black jacket. “That's Sneha,” she pauses, her eyes catching someone in the distance, “and oh-” her hand abruptly changes direction, pointing forward, “-that's Jenny,” she says, waving her hand. “Yo, Jen!”

The old lady turns around and nods her greeting. “Hi sweetheart, how's it going?”

“Doing good, gramps. Just watching the game with this one.” She nudges at you.

The old lady turns to look at you, her face taking the form of a smile. “Ah, a girlfriend, I see.”

Girlfriend? What's she talking about? “Um, no. Just a friend.”

Vi's eyebrows rise as her whole mouth goes ajar. “Friend?” she repeats, “We're friends now?”

“Only for today. Don't get used to the idea.”

The old lady, Melinda, hums. “Is that so? well, enjoy the game, children.”

“Yeah, yeah, we will,” Vi responds to the old lady, and once the lady turns back to watch the game, she leans in close, bumping her shoulder into yours. “That's Jen. She's basically the team's grandma,” Vi explains. “She's been here for years, goes to almost every game.”

You watch the lady continue to watch the game. “So she's like a regular here.”

“Yeah, sometimes she talks about how things were better in ‘her day.’”

“You two seem close though,” you point out.

“She's old and friendly,” she says, scratching her cheek. “Plus, old ladies are always fond of me. I helped her one time with her groceries after one game, and now she thinks I'm a sweetheart.” Vi shrugs, taking another bite of her hotdog. “She's also a nice lady. Always has candy and stuff to give out to everyone.”

“Candy, huh?”

“Yep,” she swallows and smacks her lips to get any food out from her mouth. “She always has peppermint discs, peppermint sticks, and chocolate sticks in her bag.”

“Why do you know that?”

“Everyone knows that.”

“Why does she have candy anyway?”

Vi takes another bite. “Just something she likes to give out,” she says, between chews, then points at the old lady's lap. “That blue thing she's knitting is actually a hat. She likes to give that out too.”

“Really?”

Vi shrugs again, eating yet another mouthful of her food, still somehow managing to speak at the same time. “Yeah, and don't be fooled by the knitting and the candy. She could beat you in a game of arm wrestling. She's still really buff.”

You nod silently, impressed with this old lady.

When Vi swallows the last bit of her hotdog, she pulls out her phone and points it at you. “I'm gonna take a picture of you... and put it on Tinder.” The second the camera's click sounds off, it takes everything in you to not grab her phone and throw it across the goddamn stadium.

She continues taking pictures, each time saying something different, like, “Look at this one,” or “This one's really good.” She holds up the phone, showing you a picture that's... actually not half bad.  But you know giving her that reaction would just fuel her to do more, so instead, you scoff.

You turn your attention back to the stadium, trying to ignore whatever she's doing beside you. You look around. There are a surprising amount of men, guys, dudes, bros, etc. It's like they outnumber the women.

“There's a lot of dudes in here,” you comment. “Is it a testosterone fest over here, or what?”

Vi looks around as well. “Yep.”

“Do you think any of these guys like girls who love sports?”

Vi snorts. “Nah,” she replies, shoving her phone back into her pocket. “They're more interested in a girl who looks good in a jersey and knows how to bring them a cold beer.”

“So… basically they're only interested if we look cute and we don't open our mouths?”

“Pretty much.”

You groan. “I hate guys like that.”

“Hey, some guys aren't that bad,” she remarks.

“Yeah, and they're the ones in relationships.”

She thinks about it for a moment. “You know… I'm surprised you're not in a relationship.”

You give her a weird look. “Why?”

“Well, you're... y'know… cute.”

Is that a compliment or a fact? you are cute, you're aware of that, but still, it's weird how she said it and... did it look like there was a hint of something else in her tone of voice when she said that?

You force a smile, trying to brush it off. “Thanks.”

You both sit in silence for a moment, a silence you really want to fill with literally anything else than this weird awkwardness.

Just when the awkward silence couldn't possibly get more awkward, a sudden cheer from the crowd interrupts your thoughts. They're all looking up at something on top of the stadium. You furrow your brows before looking up, trying to see what it is they're looking at.

Your eyes land on the huge TV that's attached to the ceiling, and you see the words ‘KISSING CAM’ flashing in bright letters. The camera pans through the crowd, searching for a couple, and it lands on a couple who's sitting not too far from you.

“KISS! KISS! KISS!” You look over at Vi and see her cupping her hands over her mouth. She's standing up and shouting at the couple to kiss.

You watch as the girl looks up and sees the camera pointed towards her and her boyfriend. She whispers something to him, and it doesn't take a genius to know what she just said. The guy grins and leans in, giving his girlfriend a sloppy, wet kiss.

The crowd goes crazy, cheering and whistling. The couple pulls away from each other, both of them smiling.

You look at Vi again, who's still standing up. She seems to be enjoying this a lot more than you are, and you can see hearts in her eyes.

Once it seems like the camera has recorded enough footage, it moves to the next couple.

It goes to a couple sitting not too far away from you. The guy looks uncomfortable, but his girlfriend is completely eager to show some public affection. She grabs his chin and kisses him, but it’s only a quick, chaste kiss.

Vi yells out, “Come on, put some effort into it!” and then she sits down, leaning back in the chair.

The camera pans through the crowd again, skipping over several couples until finally landing on a group of guys. They look like they're having the time of their life, yelling at the camera and making rude gestures.

“Ah, boys…” an older man next to you sighs.

The camera captures the guys for a while, they're all laughing and having a good time.

The camera moves away from the group of guys and lands on Vi and a girl sitting right next to her. 

Vi immediately makes some hand gestures, shaking her head and probably saying no. “We're not-” but before she can finish, the camera moves away from them, unsatisfied with this answer, and lands on the other girl sitting next to Vi.

You.

Fuck.

“KISS! KISS! KISS!” you hear someone, it sounds like the same person who cheered on the other couples.

You look over at Vi, who's watching you with this stupid smile on her face. You glare at her, she's clearly enjoying this way too much.

You lean over to her, through clenched teeth, you hiss, “This isn't funny.”

She shrugs, still smiling. “I think it is.”

“Well, I don't.” 

“It's only a kiss.”

“It’s still embarrassing.”

“Oh come on, it's Valentine's Day!” she replies. “What? are you worried that you'll suck at kissing or something?”

“Excuse me? I am an excellent kisser.”

“Oh yeah?” She quirks an eyebrow. “Then why are you so worried about this? it won't be some gross open mouth kiss, it'll be just a little peck.”

You narrow your eyes at her. “Because I don't want to be seen kissing in public, in front of hundreds of people,” you say, lowering your voice, “And I definitely do not want to kiss you.”

“Come on, you don't have to sound so disgusted by the idea of kissing me.”

“Because I am,” you say simply. “I don't want to kiss you anymore than you'd want to kiss me.”

“I never said I didn't want to kiss you.”

That statement takes you by surprise, you had just assumed that she would be grossed out by the thought of kissing you.

The chants start to get louder as more and more people join in. “KISS! KISS! KISS!”

You hear the same guy from before. “Kiss! c'mon! it's just a quick kiss, do it.”

You hear another girl from behind you. “Oh, come on! one little kiss! what's the big deal?”

It's no big deal. 

But at the same time, you're starting to panic. You don't even know how to act right now, are you supposed to play along with this? are you supposed to ignore it? what the hell is happening?!

Your brain is starting to mush into mush because why are so many people chanting? why are they making such a big deal out of this? it's just a kiss, right? right… so why are you so nervous?

You turn your head to see Vi looking at you, her eyes staring into your soul.

“A kiss on the cheek will do,” she says aloud.

You're going to die.

Your heart is going to explode right here, in the middle of the stadium, and then your guts are going to spill out right in front of everybody.

Maybe it's best just to get this over with?

All you have to do is... just a kiss on the cheek. That's it.

You just have to get it over with before this turns into something bigger.

You're not really gonna enjoy this, you'd just get the feeling like you should have brushed your teeth harder in the morning.

Vi's not even attractive in the way that you would want to kiss her cheek, her skin probably sucks from waking up in the mornings, there's no way she remembers to wash her hair at least three times a week. What about her breath? There is no way that she actually brushes her teeth every day. Her breath probably tastes like stale cheetos and mountain dew. There is no way you're gonna get a single bit of pleasure from kissing her cheek.

But you do it anyway.

You press a kiss on her cheek, and it's... warm, and they burn under your lips. The smell of her body spray isn't overwhelming. It's subtle and pleasant. Her hair isn't as greasy as you imagined, and it feels kinda nice when your fingers brush against the side of her face. Her breath doesn't even smell like mountain dew and cheetos, it's actually minty and fresh, like she just ate a pack of gum.

You pull your face away before you let your brain get to you, but you just keep looking at her face because there is this huge grin plastered on her face that makes your heart beat faster. Her cheeks look red, and the tips of her ears are even red too.

The crowd goes nuts. You can barely hear the music or the announcers over the chanting. The kiss had lasted all but a few seconds, but the feeling on your lips linger.

You're both looking at each other like you've just seen each other for the very first time.

She's actually gorgeous.

How is it possible that you only now realized how beautiful she looks?

You look away, but even in your peripheral vision, you can see her looking at you. There's still a stupid grin on her face, and she looks happy.

She's actually happy that you kissed her on the cheek.

—

You and Vi are sitting in the parking lot after the game ends. Vi had bought some $5 pizza, but since the place is packed, you're now sitting in the parking lot with Vi's motorcycle parked behind you.

“I'm gonna be honest,” Vi starts, her face twisted up as she chews on a slice of pizza. “This is the best meal I’ve ever had.”

You hum, nodding along.

Vi takes another bite, a big one, and chews on it, her cheeks stuffed. She swallows and sighs contently. “Man, I should have bought two boxes,” she grumbles, looking down at the one last slice left in the box. Then, she looks up, straight at you, and grins. “You want the last slice?” she offers, holding up the box with the slice still left in it.

You shake your head, and she looks at you with skepticism. “Are you sure you don't want it?”

“I had three slices already, I'm fine.”

Vi looks at the slice of pizza that's still in the box, then at you. She looks like she's considering something, then shrugs and pops the slice into her mouth. “Suit yourself,” she says, the words garbled since her mouth is still full of food.

Something about this moment feels... comfortable. Strangely comfortable.

It's weird. You don't understand why you don't feel threatened or uncomfortable or annoyed or any of those things, even though she's sitting right next to you.

But, oddly enough, you feel safe.

Or maybe that's just because you can't think of anything to say.

Or maybe it's because the silence isn't awkward.

Or maybe it's because you're distracted by the way she seems to enjoy her food.

Because... it's so... weirdly satisfying, watching her chew her food, watching her swallow, watching her use the back of her hand to wipe off the sauce on her chin.

You have no idea why you're paying attention to those little details.

But... you are.

You're not sure when you started paying attention to those.

You're not sure why you feel so comfortable around her right now.

You're not sure of a lot of things, actually.

You're not sure how to feel at the moment, or when your dislike of her had dwindled down to... whatever the hell this is, to whatever this weird, unfamiliar feeling in your chest is.

You're not sure why the corners of your lips keep trying to twitch upwards every time she makes some stupid face.

You're not sure why you're fine sitting in the freezing cold of the parking lot. Not even on the motorcycle, but on the cold ass ground, just sitting behind the motor, back leaned against it.

You're just fine sitting here, and you're just fine knowing that after this, you'll have to go back home and deal with a bunch of bullshit again.

You don't get it.

What changed?

She used to get on your nerves, and you used to get on hers.

She's still the same, isn't she?

And you're still the same.

Everything, suddenly, feels... different.

The air feels different, the atmosphere feels different, the whole world feels different.

The only thing that hasn't changed is her.

Well, no, that’s a lie.

She has changed.

She feels different.

She's not the same girl you can't stand.

And you're not the same girl she can't stand.

Everything is just different.

Maybe the two of you had changed.

But you're not sure how.

You're not even sure when you started noticing it.

But those little details about her, those little behaviors and quirks and habits that you used to find irritating and annoying… they're not bothering you anymore.

She's still a pain in the ass, but she's... well, a tolerable one.

For now.

You don't understand.

Or, rather, you won't allow yourself, at least not yet.

Because you're not sure how to process everything.

And, honestly, you're afraid to even try.

You look at her, still eating on the slice of pizza, and there's a small smear of sauce on the corner of her mouth. “You've got something on your face.”

She tilts her head. “I do? Where?”

Your eyes slowly move down, from her eyes to her nose, and then... her lips. Then, you notice something... freckles. She has freckles. little ones, spread across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, and they're… really cute, really, really-

What in ever loving hell are you thinking?

“Hello? you alive over there?”

You snap out of it. You're not about to let her see you be weak just because she happens to have a pretty face. “You had something right… here,” before she can respond, you raise your hand, reaching for her cheek. You wipe the sauce off the corner of her mouth with your thumb. Your thumb accidentally brushes against her lower lip, and something in your chest twitches. 

Vi freezes, her eyes widening as you touch her lips.

Everything feels... slower.

You can hear the sound of her breathing as she exhales, how it hitches when you brush your thumb along her lower lip.

You don't know how, or when, but you find yourself leaning closer to her, your hand still cupped on her cheek.

Her gaze flicks to your lips, her own parting slightly.

...

Holy shit.

You snatch your hand away, realizing what you just did.

Damn it, what the fuck?

You quickly stand up, trying to regain your composure. “I-” Your voice comes out as a croak. You clear your throat, trying to sound normal. “I should... get home. I think it's getting late.”

Vi is still sitting on the ground, and then she shakes her head, as if waking herself up. “...right. Yeah, it is getting late.” She slowly stands up.

“I... umm…” you start awkwardly. “I should-”

“I'll... drive you home,” she interrupts whatever you were about to say. 

Your head snaps up, surprised by the offer. “What? You don't have to-”

“I want to.” Her tone leaves no room for argument, so you shut your mouth. You don't want to prolong this weird, confusing moment anyway.

—

Vi's motorcycle comes to a stop in front of your house. The engine making that clunky, sputtering sound before it finally dies.

“We're here,” you say, trying to break the awkward silence that has been between the two of you since you got on the motorcycle.

You manage to finally slide off the motorcycle, but unfortunately, you're still attached to the helmet. You attempt to unbuckle the chin strap, but the damn thing seems to be glued to your head.

“Ugh, this piece of crap,” you mutter, struggling with it.

“Here, let me-” she cuts in, reaching for the straps.

“No, I got it,” you insist.

“I know you can, but let me.” 

You glare at her, feeling stubborn, but it's not like you're getting anywhere. “Fine.” You let your hands fall to your sides as she reaches for the straps.

She unbuckles it with ease, finally freeing your head from its confines.

You take the helmet off and give it to her, trying to not make eye contact. “Thanks.”

There's a moment of what could be an awkward silence before you both speak at the same time.

“So-”

“I-”

You cough awkwardly. “Go ahead.”

“No, you can speak first-”

“No, no, I insist. Go ahead-”

“I'm fine-”

“Stop being stubborn-”

“Says you-”

“Yeah, I am stubborn-"

“Shut up-”

“Make me-”

What did she say? Was that... an invitation?

“Are you challenging me-”

She snorts. “Pfft, no, that-”

“Then why would you say something like that?”

“I don't know, thought it'd be funny.”

“It wasn't.”

“It was a little funny.”

“No, it wasn't,” you scoff. “Whatever. You were saying?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replies, shifting on the motorcycle. “I just wanted to say…” Her gaze shifts from you to the side, then back to you. “I just wanted to... say that I had... fun today. Yeah…” She shrugs. “What about you? what were you sayin'?”

Huh. “I guess it wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

“Wow,” she says, deadpan. “So glad you're not completely miserable being around me.”

“Don't get your hopes up too high, it's just for today, remember?” you remind her.

“Yeah, I remember, I'm not an idiot.”

“Could have fooled me,” you retort, and a smirk makes its way to your face.

“Watch it,” she warns, the corners of her mouth curving upwards. “I'm only tolerating you today.”

“The feeling is mutual,” you quip back.

The two of you share a look and then start laughing. You're glad she's starting to loosen up a little.

“Alright alright, truce?” She holds out her fist.

You roll your eyes but bump your fist with hers anyway. “Truce.” 

There's another silence, but it doesn't feel... awkward like the last ones.

Then, she speaks up, “Well... I guess I should go.”

“Yeah,” you reply. “I guess you should.”

“See you at school, then?”

“Unfortunately,” you grumble. You take a step back, getting ready to turn around and head to the front door.

“Hey,” she suddenly says.

You glance back at her, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Can I…” she starts, then hesitates, “...can I ask you something?”

You shrug. “Yeah, go ahead.”

“Just... promise me you won't be mad,” she hedges, not quite looking at you directly.

“I'm not promising anything-”

“Just... humor me.”

“Fine. I promise I won't get mad.”

She takes a deep breath. “Do... do you… do you actually hate me?” You're silent for a moment, trying to find the words, but she starts backpedaling. “Ugh, never mind, I shouldn't have asked, forget it, it doesn't matter-”

“No, no-" you interject, “I don't- I don't hate you.”

“You don't?”

“No... I don't hate you.”

“You sure?” she presses, leaning forward on the motorcycle, resting her arms on the handlebars. “Then why are you always so pissy whenever you're around me?”

“I dont-” you start, then stop. “I'm not-” you start again and stop again. “Remember that time in science lab?”

“When we lit the bunsen burner, the table caught on fire, we got three detentions, and everyone thought we were going to be expelled?” she recalls.

“Yes… that time.”

“Seriously? that was months ago.”

“I never said I was the most forgiving person.”

“It was a mistake,” she points out. “I didn't mean to do it, I was just being stupid.”

“It was still your fault. You didn't look at the instructions.”

“I was distracted,” she counters.

“By what, your big brain? cause you definitely weren't paying attention to the experiment instructions.”

She looks away, shifting uncomfortably on her motorcycle. “Actually, I was distracted by something…” her eyes return to yours, “-someone.”

“You're making it sound like it was a person you were crushing on or something.”

She falls silent, looking away again.

Wait.

Hold on.

What?

“Wait—wait a minute,” you demand, walking closer to her.

“What?”

“You were being distracted because you were crushing on someone during the science lab? That was the reason that whole thing happened? You couldn't keep yourself from being distracted because you were crushing on someone?”

“That's not fair to say,” she protests.

“Not fair to say?” you repeat, scoffing. “I literally got three detentions because you were more interested in staring at someone-”

“Fine! Whatever. Maybe I was distracted, maybe I wasn't paying attention-” she admits defensively “-maybe I was looking at-” she cuts herself off again. “Whatever, I'm going home.” She starts her motorcycle, not glancing at you.

“Hey-” you reach out, grabbing her arm. “Wait.”

“What do you want?”

“What was that person's name?”

“What does it matter?”

“Cause, I have a hunch.”

“Care to share this hunch with me?”

“Uh, Caitlyn Kiramman…?”

She snaps her head to you, eyes tracing up and down. “Are you actually this clueless?” she sneers, then drives away, leaving you alone on the sidewalk.

“Hey!” you shout. “Seriously, what is your problem?” you call out after her. “We were having a decent conversation, why did you-”

Suddenly, she stops, braking abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk with a quick skid. Before you can say, or think, she has her motorcycle facing you once again. She swings her leg over and hops off, walking up to you with a determined look.

“You want to know my problem?” she asks, coming closer. “I'll tell you my problem.” She grabs your shoulders, forcing you to step back. “My problem is that it's been years. Years, and you still have no idea, do you? you're still just as clueless as always.”

“What are you-” you stumble, struggling to keep your footing. Her hands are tight around your shoulders, holding you in place.

“You keep saying I'm the one who causes trouble, I'm the one who always makes your life harder-” she continues. “But you-”

You manage to find your footing and look at her face.

“-don't seem to get that you're just as guilty of making my life miserable.”

“Vi-” you start, but she doesn't let you finish.

“Every time you smile at me, every time you look at me, every time you talk to me.” She shakes you. “Every time you do something stupid, which is all the goddamn time,” she spits. “You don't seem to get that it drives me insane.” She huffs, letting go of you. “I've been right in front of you this whole damn time, and you just didn't even-”

“Didn't what?”

“You had no idea, did you? You don't understand why I’m so damn irritable whenever I'm with you, you don't get why I'm always trying to pick fights, why I can't just be civil, why I can't just be normal around you… you just think I'm a jerk!”

“Well, maybe you are. You did just grab me like a fucking maniac.”

“Oh, shut up,” Vi snaps. “Just shut up for a second.”

You shut up.

She takes a deep breath. “You think I enjoy this?” she asks, and the question sounds genuine enough that you regret the ‘maybe you are’ comment.

She scoffs. “I don't. I wish more than anything that I could just be calm and civil and… and nice around you. But instead, I'm always getting into your face, I'm always picking at you, I'm always trying to piss you off, because it's the only goddamn way I can get your attention.”

“Any time I try to be normal around you,” she continues, “I get... I get ignored. You act like I'm not even there. But the second I get in your face, the second I do something stupid or obnoxious-” she gestures at herself, “-suddenly, you're right there. You're looking right at me, you're talking to me, for once, you're actually paying attention to me-”

“Why do you even care about my attention?!” You don't mean for it to come out as angry as it does, but the pure confusion you feel causes you to raise your voice.

Vi looks away, a frown twisting her lips, before she snaps her gaze back to you. She sounds oddly embarrassed when she speaks. “Maybe because I'm completely, miserably, head over heels in love with you, okay?!”

Wait... what the actual fuck?

Vi looks away, the words leaving her in a rush. “I'm in love with you,” she repeats, quieter and slower. “There's no maybe about it. I've literally been in love with you since middle school.”

“So, instead... instead of just telling me,” you start, “you... you decided to be a jerk to me for the past six years?!”

“I was twelve!” Now her attention is fully on you as she gestures at herself. “I was a dumb kid, I didn't know what to do, but I was desperate for you to notice me. Every time I tried being nice, I got ignored, so... I guess I decided that if you weren't going to notice me in a good way, then I was just gonna piss you off and make you notice me in a bad way.”

“And then, I just kept doing it,” she continues, “because then, you would notice me, and you'd talk to me, and at least you weren't ignoring me. It became a habit. It was the same damn cycle every day. So, you know, I'm sorry if I don't suddenly know how to behave like a normal goddamn human being around you.”

She looks at you defiantly, she's expecting a fight, an argument, and the last thing she expects is for you to... laugh

You laugh. You don't laugh because you think it's funny, you laugh because you're so unbelievably shocked and overwhelmed that the only thing you can do is laugh. You try to cover it up, you try to muffle your laugh by bringing your hand to your mouth, but it's too late, you've already laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” she asks. “I'm being serious, okay? this isn't a joke, it's not some sort of prank. I am dead serious—I just confessed to you, and you start laughing? Jesus, you're actually heartless, you-”

You manage to get your laughter under control, your body still shaking with a few silent chuckles, but you manage to speak in between your breaths. “You have the worst-” and another chuckle, “-worst timing, I swear to god.”

“Oh I'm so sorry that my confession didn't please all of your fucking needs,” Vi says sarcastically, “but I've spent god knows how long in love with you, and I just had to take my shot. And what are you doing? You're laughing at me. Because your pride can't stand-”

“Would you shut up for like two seconds?!” you snap, cutting off her rant in an instant. “I'm not laughing because you confessed to me, okay?!”

“Then why are you laughing, huh? why is this so funny to you? because I don't find it very funny-”

“Because-” you sigh, and you're actually surprised by how... nervous you suddenly feel. “I never expected this, okay? I never expected you to actually... feel that type of way about me, and to top that, you're confessing to me in the stupidest way possible.”

“I didn't plan on confessing to you at all!” she protests. “It just... kind of happened. Plus, you've never been too keen on me.”

“I-” you begin because 'not keen on you' feels like an understatement. You've never liked her, or rather you've never let yourself even consider her as an option because your heart was set on one person only. “I just need some time to... process this.”

Vi scoffs, her face looking annoyed again. “You need time to process this? what's there to process? I just told you how I feel about you.”

“Yeah, well, I need to process that! Because you just dumped a lot of information on me, and right now I'm-” You pause, trying to pick just the right word. “...overwhelmed, okay?”

Vi's features soften, not quite fully, but just enough to show a little bit of sympathy. “Overwhelmed,” she repeats.

“Yeah…” you reply, “I mean... you just confessed to me, and I... I've never-” you gulp. “-I've never really thought of you... that way.”

“Never thought of me, or never let yourself think of me?”

Okay, woah, that's... a very accurate question.

She's right, and it's scary that she just pointed that out.

Maybe in the back of your head, you've wondered things, you've had thoughts, but it was all so brief, you've always been quick to brush them away. It never even crossed your mind that maybe you had been missing out on something.

You're not sure how to reply, and it gives Vi a chance to continue talking.

“You never let yourself think of me like that, huh?” she continues, “That's pretty sad, because I've literally been in love with you for the past six years.”

“Don't guilt trip me,” you snap. “It's not like I asked you to fall in love with me, is it?”

“I'm not guilt tripping you. I'm just trying to get you to understand how I feel. I'm just trying to make you see that I...care about you, okay? I'm not trying to—ugh!” She groans, rubbing a hand over her face. “I'm screwing this up, I'm screwing everything up, because apparently I suck at confessing and you… you mess with my head.”

“I mess with your head?” you repeat. “You're the one who's messing with my head! You're the one who's messing with my emotions, you—you just turned my entire life upside down, and you expect me to respond to it perfectly?!”

“Not perfectly!” she retorts. “You're seriously not getting it, are you? All I want is for you to-”

“What do you want then? you want me to say that I feel the same way about you? that I've secretly been in love with you for years and never said anything?”

“No, that's not what I— that's not what I want you to say at all!” She runs her fingers through her hair and pushes it out of her face because the haircut she has gets everywhere. “All I want you to say is that you'll even consider me as an option! I just want you to give me a chance. Is that so much for me to ask for?”

You groan to yourself. “Look, if you like me that much, then maybe you should at least make an effort… and then maybe... I'll give you a chance!” With that, you walk towards the front door.

Vi doesn't respond, not immediately, she just stands there watching you leave, a stunned look on her face. But she manages to shake herself out of that stupor in time to follow you.

“Are you serious...?"

“You want me? You gotta work for it,” you respond without slowing your footsteps.

“Woah woah woah, what? work for it?” she sputters, trying to keep up with you. “What more do you want from me?”

“I want-” You stop in front of the door, suddenly turning around to her. “-I want you to prove how serious you are. Just confessing to me isn't going to change everything, and if you're being serious,” you jab a finger to her chest, “then prove it.”

“And how exactly am I supposed to prove myself, huh? Please, tell me, because I'm really at a loss here.”

“I don't know, figure it out.” You shrug. “You claim to be in love with me, right? and if that really were the case, then you have six whole years worth of feelings inside that-” you point at her “-that heart of yours, and you better damn use it.”

“Fine,” she says, and her tone is determined. “You want me to prove it? I'll prove it. I'll prove it so much, you're going to be drowning in how much I prove it. I'm going to do everything just to win your heart. Just watch.”

That sounds cheesy, but... you'd be lying if you said you weren't intrigued. You scoff, turning around and opening the door, but not before saying, “We'll see about that.”

—

Vi stares at the closed door, her thoughts completely occupied with your words.

Prove it.

She shakes her head, a grin on her face as she walks back to her motor.

You and her have had a rocky past, but she's determined to wipe the slate clean.

Vi swings her leg over her motor. She grips the handles tightly and starts the ignition.

She's going to start from the ground zero with you.

And by god, she will prove herself.

[hardly-an-escape]

part two of this, originally inspired by @newtkelly's amazing art 🌹💕

The call is, blessedly, a very simple kitchen fire situation involving an aspiring but inattentive teenage cook and the charred remains of some former tacos. They clear the house, verify that there's no lasting damage and that all the smoke detectors are still working properly, and double-check the wiring on the stove just to be sure nothing drastically malfunctioned. Bobby gives the teen a friendly but compelling lecture on gas stoves and kitchen safety, and the cavalry rolls out.

The rest of the 118, to their credit, makes it a solid five minutes into the drive studiously not looking at Buck before the tension finally breaks.

"So," Chimney says.

"Flowers," Hen says.

"Lots of flowers," Eddie says.

"And a romantic ass speech," Hen says.

"In front of God and the captain and everybody," Chim adds.

"Shut up," Buck says, feeling his cheeks heat up, probably as pink as one of the carnations in the massive bouquet Tommy had given him.

Bobby says nothing, but his eyes in the rearview mirror are knowing and kind.

Tommy appears on the balcony as soon as the doors open and watches the engine back into the bay. His eyes seek out Buck's as soon as he hops off the rig, and Buck feels his heart leap in his chest. He changes out of his uniform in record time, and Tommy is waiting outside the locker room when he's done. He hands over the bouquet and takes Buck's duffel bag without a word, slinging it over one shoulder and wrapping the other arm tight around Buck's waist, and they walk out of the station like that, in lockstep with one another, out to Buck's car under the orangey-red Los Angeles sunset.

Buck is unusually warm when he wakes up on Friday morning.

It takes him half a second to realize why – that the extra heat is coming from the long, firm body wrapped around him from behind; that his bad leg is comfortably resting on a hairy thigh rather than the extra pillow he usually shoves between his knees; that the breath tickling his ear and the thumb stroking idly through his chest hair are both Tommy's.

God, he's missed this. They've barely been out of arm's reach of one another since Tuesday night, aside from when they'd both been scheduled to work, and yet all the time together isn't even a drop in the bucket of how much he's missed Tommy – missed his kisses and his voice and his dry laugh and his eyes and his body. He wriggles back against that body now, so naked and warm, and is rewarded by Tommy's arm tightening around his chest and Tommy's gentle laugh huffing in his ear.

"Oh, you awake now, sleepyhead?" he asks.

"No," Buck lies. "I'm fast asleep. I swear. You can keep watching me like a creep."

"If you insist," Tommy chuckles, dropping soft kisses along Buck's neck. "It's a shame, though. If you were awake I had some ideas for how we could spend the morning."

He grinds against Buck's bare ass, gentle and purposeful, and sucks an earlobe into his mouth, and Buck sighs happily and rolls in Tommy's arms so they're chest to chest and dick to dick, and kisses the laughter out of his mouth.

Some time later, Tommy's head is on Buck's chest and they're catching their breath, sweaty, the sheets kicked down around their ankles.

"Can I ask you something kind of silly?" Buck says.

"Mm. Go for it."

"How'd you know that I would be at work Tuesday evening?"

Tommy snorts. "Sneaked a peek at the citywide duty roster while Melton was in the john. I figured it was my best bet, instead of maybe missing you because you weren't home. And besides…"

"Besides what?"

"I felt like it was important to have an audience."

"An audience?" Buck parrots, confused.

Tommy nods against his chest. "I don't know, maybe that's not the right word. I wanted it to be witnessed. And I wanted you to know that everyone saw me come after you the way you deserved. Is that crazy?"

"I think you watch too many rom coms," Buck says. "But. It was also one of the best things that's ever happened to me, so I'll give you a pass."

"Nailed it." Tommy rubs his five o'clock shadow against Buck's chest and kisses the red patch it leaves behind. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"How come you didn't call, or anything? Afterwards? It felt – I know why I didn't. And maybe I don't have the right to ask. But is there a reason you didn't?"

Buck sighs. "I told myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to chase after people who weren't going to chase after me. And even with what you said that night, it didn't feel like you were chasing me. But I don't know, I kind of regret it now," he says, running a hand reflectively through Tommy's hair. "I missed you so much. I should've told you. Maybe we could've gotten back here quicker."

"I'm so sorry I made you feel that way, Evan," Tommy says quietly.

"It's okay."

"It's really not. But I meant what I said the other day. I'm going to do anything I can to make it better."

"This helps," Buck says, pulling Tommy a fraction of an inch closer.

"Then I'll keep doing this," Tommy says. He slings a leg over Buck's hip and kisses the patch of beard burn again.

Downstairs, three dozen roses overflow from the bowl of Buck's stand mixer – the only thing in his kitchen that had been big enough to hold them all. A couple of them are starting to look a little wilted, but most are still going strong almost three days later. He'll have replace the water today, pull out the spent blooms, rearrange the remaining flowers.

And he has to be at the station in a couple hours, and Tommy's shift starts an hour after that. It's Valentine's Day, but neither of them had bothered to request it off, so they'll have to get up soon; shower and dress and eat something and reenter the world once again.

But that's soon. This is now, in all its naked honesty: warm skin, and warm sheets, and kisses, and kindnesses, and the slightest scent of roses floating up to meet the morning light.

[astrasng]

kisses shared with ateez 𝜗𝜚

→ summary: ateez as type of kisses. they are down bad for you

→ warning: mainly fluff, nothing else

→ a/n: happy valentine's day to everyone ♡ make sure to treat yourself to something delicious and stay hydrated! ♡ ps: probably jongo's my fav from all of these 🤭

here's the masterlist to the event ^^

enjoy!♡

──── ⋆˚࿔ hongjoong || hurried kiss

hongjoong, the busy man he is, often forgets about giving you a kiss before leaving for work. and that often leads to hurried kisses, wanting to give you every single ounce of his love into one messy, i have to leave kiss before finally letting you go. he often can't control his feelings when it comes to you, especially when you are kissing him, your hands in his hair or around his neck, pulling him even closer, meaning that he's deeping the kiss too. starting with a soft kiss, that's what he thougth. it feels so good having your lips on his, so good that he can't let go even though he needs to go to work. and you know that too, but oh well, you're more important, right? because the minute hongjoong pulls away and whispers kiss me more in a hoarse voice tells you that you are more important than anything.

──── ⋆˚࿔ seonghwa || comforting kisses

seonghwa is simply someone who is a comforting person in general. his prescence often makes you calm whenever something stressful is happening in your life. the tone he's talking to you never heard being mean or sour,rather calm and warm. that also goes for his kisses. he often senses you being tired from a long day, only wanting to lay down on your shared bed or couch to sleep a little in seonghwa's arms, which he gladly accepts. whenever that happens, he can't help but press kisses all over your face, your temple, the top of your head or your closed eyelids which only makes you even sleepier. the feeling of his kisses spreads warmth all over your body, snuggling closer into his arms as he keeps his lips pressed on the top of your head. he feels so lucky to have you.

──── ⋆˚࿔ yunho || tingly kiss

the type of kiss that makes you want more and it leaves you feeling all tingly from yunho is just deadly. he always pulls away just before you could kiss him right back intensively, your hands still in his hair as his are steady on your waist. he smiles down at you, and then simply leaves. that's how easy it is for him, the control he has over himself making his ego even bigger when he knows how annoyed you feel at times like these. you can't help but touch your lips like in the movies, feeling your muscle still tingling in the best of the best of terms, literally still feeling his soft lips on yours. how lovingly he can press a kiss on your skin and lips, his body molding into yours to punctuate his unspoken words. in this way, not only his kiss, but his whole prescence makes you tingle with love.

──── ⋆˚࿔ yeosang || surprise kisses

yeosang isn't usually the one initiating the kiss first. he does, from time to time, but it always surprises you when he randomly kisses your temple, or your cheeks, god bless you your lips out of nowhere. even after all these years being together, still feels like it's a surprise feeling him walking up next to you or hopping down on the couch just to give you a kiss. it makes him often realize how rarely he makes the first move. it often makes him angry too, and often all those kisses are originally from him being beaten up on silly things like this. you told him once - don't be silly, i don't mind making the first move! making sure to reassure him that it really doesn't bother you. but still, it makes him want to initiate more things in your relationship, giving you everything you deserve because he loves seeing you being flustered by his sudden actions.

──── ⋆˚࿔ san || the i love yous

whispering i love you between kisses is san's specialty. doesn't matter where you are, or the circumstances. you can either be mad at him for some reason, or be in stupidly in love with him. he doesn't care, because san always wants to let you know how much he loves you. there isn't a time where he doesn't say it, or shows it to you. during cuddling or walking on the street - stopping in midsentence just to kiss you on the lips. deep, and long, feeling his emotions bored into that one single kiss. he whispers i love you when he feels like going in for a second kiss, or saying i love you so fucking much when you are both lost in a heated shared kiss which leads into multiple one.

──── ⋆˚࿔ mingi || kisses from behind

given mingi's height is easy for him to only drop his head lower and press kisses either on your shoulders, or the side of your neck. he grabs the opportunity when he sees you standing with your back to him,either doing something in the kitchen or looking at something at a supermarket. he loves walking up behind you and snaking an arm, maybe both, around your waist to pull himself closer and kiss your skin. it often makes you shiver just from his touch, feeling him behind you and hugging you from behind as he can't seem to stop pecking your exposed skin. sometimes he even murmurs I love your perfume or i missed you so much after a long day of not seeing you.

──── ⋆˚࿔ wooyoung || flustered kiss

wooyoung often sneaks kisses here and there, pressing a quick kiss before leaving on your forehead or cheeks. it doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that he always gives you a kiss before leaving. but when he's home with you and the air is a little hotter than it should be? woo can't help himself to disattach himself off of you, your perfume pulling him in every time for more kisses and cuddles. and because of this, it often leads him kissing his way up from your wrist all the way up to your collarbones and lastly your lips. he focuses on your lips so much that by the time you two pull away you have to fight for air. he feels proud when he sees your face all flustered and red, ears burning off under his stare as he murmurs cute under his breath.

──── ⋆˚࿔ jongho || palm kisses

he's the romantic type. even if he doesn't necesseraly shows it, he is. he thinks kissing your warm palm of your hand says more i love yous than any other kisses. pressing a long, meaningful kiss in the center of your palm, all the way to your fingertips and to your knuckles feels like he's trying to erupt all the butterflies in your stomach. and he does, because you are left with the deepest shade of red on your face and chest, seeing him smirking under his breath by how cute you are. it's not unusual that he does this, he's a gentleman at heart, but you can't ever get use to him being this flirty and affectionate when it's just the two of you. kudos if he does this little moves of his infront of his friends or family with a wink in your way, you know that you'll marry this man no matter what.

a/n: if you've gotten to this point of my event, thank you so much for reading! i hope everyone had a good time, i tried to go with a more suave feeling for valentine's. ik i had a lot of fun, thank you so much for the notes and reblogs!

taglist: @arunainluv @myraet @peterm4rker @chenlezip

important!: this is pure fiction, the act in this story is by my imagination and not based off true events. please do not copy the work.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

I LOVE VALENTINES DAY

[thedolmainblog]

hi!! i've been looking at your oc blythe and wreckofwafers yunie, they're so cute together! i wonder what they're like together, if you don't mind me asking?

okay funniest thing is that wreck told me they got a pretty similar question so either its a WILD coincidence or youre the same anon. i must say i admire your curiosity.....

so! what im gonna do is that im gonna explain things from blythe's point of view :3 here we go! under the cut bc it got long lol. as always, yuniekins and the art below belongs to @wreckowafer .

yunie essentially took the Sex route of romancing him, which basically is a series of lewd encounters between the two.....so yes before they even confessed their feelings yunie has given him a blowie, has been fingered multiple times by him and has been throughly thigh fucked.....that last part is what made him snap and finally take yunie for himself

blythe doesnt know this himself but yunie allowing him to take his virginity is a Huge Deal bc she's essentially handing him her highly important bargaining chips to him. but in blythes perspective he sees this as something very precious, something very important (not in the same way yunie sees it, but nevertheless) and seeing her halo crack because of him is. hes so normal about it is what im trying to say.

after the whole bunnyfuck sesh love claim, blythe isnt like. SURE what their relationship is at this point but he was sure of two things : he himself at the very least is very fond of yunie, and he doesn't want this....relationship to end somehow. and so the lewd encounter ensues!

but also he is treating her with small bits of affection. he doesnt want her to think hes a WEIRDO!!!!! even when his heart is bursting with love and affection. small kisses to her forehead, appreciative rub here and there, he protects her from people who bother her and the praises he gives her never ceases. he will get more Insane about it later. hes already happy with what they have going on!!!! and because he eases her into rather than just plunging her in she starts reciprocating the affection too, esp kissing u_u they start kissing on the mouth and both of them are obsessed by it!!!

the event that sealed them as a couple is blythe saving yunie instead of yunie having to save herself!! it was either kidnapping or a group of molester getting to her and blythe Just So Happen in the area, and of course he cant just!! let that slide!! and yall saw how he is when The One is hurt. he nearly beats everyone involved to death with one or two escaping. while hes mentally taking note of the one who escapes, he then turns to yunie to check up on her to see if shes okay (with blood on his hands still!!) and her response is to say i love you. ah.

with i love yous exchanged and yunie feeling safe in his arms 100% (he still thinks that he shouldve been able to prevent the whole thing from happening, but alas) they become rapechesters MOST ANNOYING COUPLE!!!! constantly in honeymoon phase, always near and touching each other. half of the people who know blythe is happy that he isnt grouchy all the time but also oh my god we can hear those two fucking in the back!!!!

like how i always describe blythe when he finally finds The One, everything else becomes a trivial matter compared to yunie. he starts prioritizing her over everything, why spend time doing useless things if he can take care of yunie instead? he has to provide a reason for her to stay with him. he also molds his catastrophic brain damage around HER brain damage and thinks everything she says is right. if they HAVE to be separated for a while, yunie already has a brand new phone blythe gave her to communicate. (somewhere, rhett is pissed off and has put blythe in his shit list for this)

yunie becomes somewhat of his assistant! she has no problem handling paperwork involving shady work and what is essentially money laundering. shes faster at it than he is, so shes always there when he deals with his shady practices. its also a good excuse to keep her near him at all times u_u people know not to touch her anyways

all in all everything she does (only smiling at him, confessing why she feels this way, clinging onto him constantly, wanting to be the goodest girl in the whole world when hes a bit mean to her during sex) only makes blythe fall deeper and deeper to the hole that is I LOVE YUNIE!!!!! he is never going to recover, and he is so, so happy about it. after everything hes been through, he finally found his true love.

[strangesmallbard]

i do think it’s interesting that severance fans often default to discussing the outties and innies as two separate people—like yes, functionally, they are right now. lumon does its best in-universe to separate outties and innies. for example: banning contact between outties and their innies’ coworkers, banning contact between outties and innies themselves. they create that distance and the fantastic acting also helps create that distance. it’s fundamentally important to the show that we acknowledge that difference.

and like. yes it’s a philosophy question: at what point do outties and innies become truly different people? is a person stored in their memories, their upbringing, or their instincts? etc. as we’ve seen so far, this separation creates some of the most fucked up consent issues you’ve ever seen. but also, and this is so easy to forget, there is also no separation. mark scout is mark s, helena eagan is helly r, and visa-versa. one is just missing necessary history and context to be the other person, but the vestiges remain. essentially: i don’t think they can truly become two different people and therein lies some tension.

for example: mark s has mark scout’s frankly impressive ability to repress any and all grief-related emotions. (i was wondering yesterday, actually, whether an innie who experiences some of the same life events as their outtie will eventually morph into them. like a manual reintegration.) another example someone else brought up: helly r has helena eagan’s entitlement and strong belief in her own personhood.

the outtie vs innie conception is particularly interesting when it comes to how fans discuss helly r/helena eagan. many people love helly and hate helena and it has me going “huh!” because, like. that could be the same gal! in different fonts. they both want to believe they’re completely different and want everyone else to believe that too. but we’ve been shown differently.

i’ve also seen some cognitive dissonance in discussing helly r/helena’s actions, which is also very interesting. there’s a very human urge to paint one as evil, the other good. but that’s never how it goes. yeah irving says “helly was never cruel” but he’s biased! (which is a good thing! i love when characters are biased). helly tried to kill helena last season (i know i just said they’re not separate people, but helly doesn’t agree with me). in season 2, helena stole her body and assaulted mark s. again, absolutely insane consent issues inherent in the severance process. (maybe it doesn’t come down to the good/evil dichotomy at all but rather: power. who has the power and when are they justified to wield or fight it)

anyway! no tl;dr. just food for thought. please try to enjoy each sentence equally etc

[secretmellowblog]

Inspector Javert is canonically a furry (not joking, not clickbait)

Inspector Javert from Les Miserables is canonically a furry and I’m not joking even a little. His fursona is extremely symbolically important, and you need to understand it to understand the book. I’m serious, let me explain. (You can also view this post in Video Essay format at this link.)

In the novel, Javert is always compared to a dog– but specifically, a dog who is the son of wolves. I’ll explain why in a minute. But the important thing is that Victor Hugo emphasizes this dog metaphor literally every time Javert is on page. I can’t overstate how much Hugo compares Javert to a dog at literally every single opportunity.  It’s the first thing we learn about him when he’s introduced;

he’s described as looking like a dog:

other characters compare him to a dog,

there are chapter-long extended metaphors comparing the way Javert hunts criminals to the way hunting dogs pursue their prey. 

His sideburns are described as whiskers, his hands are described as claws, he’s always barking, snarling, and growling. Any time Hugo sees an opportunity to compare Javert to a dog, or to have Javert act dog-like:  he takes it. Javert:

But like…why?

Let’s look at Javert’s first appearance in the novel. So when Victor Hugo first introduces Javert in Volume 1, he’s literally like “so this guy name was Javert and– wait, back up, I need to explain the concept of fursonas.”

Then Hugo interrupts Javert’s introduction with a multi-paragraph digression about how everyone has an animal that symbolizes their soul. And that animal is unique for each person. Sometimes people just are an anthropomorphic animal.

It is our conviction that if souls were visible to the eyes, we should be able to see distinctly that strange thing that each one individual of the human race corresponds to some one of the species of the animal creation; and we could easily recognize this truth, hardly perceived by the thinker, that from the oyster to the eagle, from the pig to the tiger, all animals exist in man, and that each one of them is in a man. (...)

And he goes on for a while, but if you know what a furry is, you already understand what he’s getting at. After explaining furries, Hugo goes on to explain Javert’s symbolically important fursona. Quote: 

“Now, if the reader will admit, for a moment, with us, that in every man there is one of the animal species of creation, it will be easy for us to say what there was in Police Officer Javert.

The peasants of Asturias are convinced that in every litter of wolves there is one dog, which is killed by the mother because, otherwise, as he grew up, he would devour the other little ones. Give to this dog-son of a wolf a human face, and the result will be Javert.”

So Javert is a dog who is the son of wolves. He is a wolf that has become domesticated– and is now a hunting dog, serving humans, devouring his wild wolf siblings. (That’s an edgy emo DeviantArt sparkledog backstory if I’ve ever heard one.)

But what does that symbolic backstory mean? It means that Javert is what the kids call “a class traitor.” 

In the next part of his introduction, Hugo elaborates that Javert was born inside of a jail, the son of an imprisoned mother and a galley slave father. He was born into the same traumatizing poverty, stigma, and intense criminalization as characters like Jean Valjean. In fact, Jean Valjean himself is often compared to a “wolf”-- because in the novel, wolves are often used to symbolize criminals, outcasts, and the people who society oppresses and treats like monsters.

 But unlike Jean Valjean, Javert turns his back on his ‘wolf siblings.” He turns his back on people from his class. He domesticates himself– by becoming a lowranking police officer, and enforcing the same system that imprisoned his family and destroyed his life.

 He rigorously defends a hierarchy that he is at the bottom of. He serves an authority that views him as subhuman, like a dog defending its masters. Society will never treat him as an equal, and Javert knows this–-  but society tolerates him because he is useful, because he hunts down the wolves. Javert would arrest his entire family to please authority, and he would do it with no other feeling except for the pleasure of obedience. He’s a dog, happy to devour his criminal wolf siblings.

And the reason Victor Hugo goes so overboard with the canine imagery is to emphasize how much the metaphor is the key to his entire character and how he interacts with other people from his own class.

And recognizing that metaphor really deepens your understanding of the novel. For example, it’s one of the many ways that Javert parallels Eponine– another character who describes herself as a dog from a family of wolves.

The dog imagery also has layers of meaning that change over time.  For example:  in the original book, Javert is not obsessed with Jean Valjean. The idea that “Javert makes it his life goal to catch Jean Valjean and spends all his time pursuing him out a personal revenge quest” is actually something that adaptations invented– largely as a way to avoid engaging with Victor Hugo’s systemic  criticisms of the police. [rant redacted.] In the original book, Javert follows up on Jean Valjean whenever he coincidentally happens to pick up his scent– and yes it’s described that way, as picking up his scent, because he’s a dog. Otherwise Jean Valjean isn’t really a person to him, he’s just an extremely difficult piece of prey. There's nuance, there are things that specifically stick out to him and frustrate him in a unique way, mainly the way that Jean Valjean is able to camouflage himself so well as a bourgeois. But overall-- no, he's not making a Sacred Promise to dedicate his life to finding him. Quote:

But after Jean Valjean saves his life, that changes. Javert suddenly develops deep intense wildly overcomplicated emotions for him, emotions that are described using the metaphors of dogs and wolves. The scene after they reunite, when Javert lets Jean Valjean go, is described like this:

 “He felt something between a wolf that has found its prey and a dog that has found its master again.” (...)  “To be the watch-dog, and to lick the intruder's hand!” (....) “He was tempted to fling himself upon Jean Valjean, seize him, and devour him– that is, to say, arrest him.”

{insert vore joke.] In a previous chapter he boasted about how his hands were claws:

In this chapter, he views his clawed hands with disgust and self-loathing.

But here’s the thing: it’s more than just a symbolic metaphor in the narration. The characters in the novel often seem to be aware that Javert is a dog. Like, Jean Valjean has that whole inner monologue about how Javert is quote a  “frightful hunting dog.” Javert describes his own hands as claws and thinks about himself in dog metaphors. When he’s being executed at the barricades, the rebels tie a rope around his neck to use as a leash. There's a bit where Javert's eyes are described as having "the feline phosphoresence of birds of the night," as if he literally has tapeta lucidum.  Javert also canonically wears a leather collar with a buckle— which I don’t think is supposed to be related to the dog thing, but it FEELS related. And I’m gonna be honest: I don’t know what to do with that. But Ao3 does. 

And in a very different way: so does Takahiro Arai, the creator of a recent Les Mis manga adaptation. Arai draws Javert’s soul as a massive frightening wolfdog, that emerges to symbolize his emotional state in critical parts of the story. And it shows how understanding the deeper meaning of this imagery leads to a more complete understanding of Javert’s character.

Thank you for reading! I feel like Javert being a furry is a Known Thing on Tumblr, but it’s gotten to the point where everybody takes it for granted. And so: a post was necessary, to archive the lore.

[But if you want even more furry Javert content, I recommend joining the @lesmisletters readalong! Les Mis has 365 chapters, and this email subscription sends you one chapter a day for a year. We also have a discord server linked in the pinned post on our tumblr blog! It’s never too late to join. ]

[troglobite]

If you are taking Spironolactone now, and wish to quit, please be warned — quitting Spiro suddenly without preparation is difficult and hazardous, and your doctor is very unlikely to understand some of the problems you will encounter.  You should be able to find some peer coaching on the practical aspects of quitting in the Facebook HRT group for more information. Also, experience suggests that most trans women on megadoses of Spiro (200mg or higher) can successfully suddenly drop to 100mg a day without rebound effects (speak to your doctor), but following that, a slower reduction schedule may be required. But the best solution regarding Spiro is to never start. ... The prescribers are saving their patients from a small risk by exposing them to a larger risk. It is bad risk-benefit judgement. I have written more on this elsewhere. (7) It is notable that the 2009 version of The Endocrine Society guidelines even include a mention of estradiol injection (19) but still refer to Spironolactone. One final thought, this time a speculation: it seems possible based on observations that high levels of testosterone provide some protection against the cortisol-raising properties of Spironolactone, such that testing of the drug on male volunteers might not have shown such a large side effect when the drug was originally tested, leading to a situation where heavy dosing of trans women led to these oversized effects. Would the original manufacturer’s dosing advice have been different if the drug had been more thoroughly tested with female patients? Something worth looking into, perhaps. ...Our observation is that these effects [visceral fat] do not begin until the patient is taking doses of 100-400 mg a day, and takes these doses for at least 12 months.  Transgender women are being exposed to doses which far exceed the studied levels being used to claim safety.  Our own observations seem to indicate that taking less than 100mg daily, or taking Spiro for 12 months or shorter time usually does NOT lead to visceral fat accumulation.  We are raising the red flag on a patient population exposed to a MUCH greater dose.  Finally, there is the inevitable labeling of our observations as “anecdotal evidence” (or even drug-blaming from patients unhappy about unrelated issues). Let me just point out that much important medical knowledge starts out as anecdotal. Collect a large group together, and those anecdotes become “group knowledge”, which can progress to shared beliefs and practices, and then to clinical experience, and from there it may become accepted into the bulk of accepted medical science. New knowledge always starts somewhere.

quotes from the end of the piece^^ for context, so that everyone knows where to look and how to safely stop taking spiro.

also be warned that there is some discussion of BMI, "ob*sity", and fat gain. it's shitty "medical" language and wanted to give a heads up for it.

ALSO there are ppl in the notes of this post sharing alternative antiandrogens, as well, which may be helpful to bring up at drs appts.

Hey, if you're currently on Spiro, drop it! Give this a read and then stop taking it!

[omorithedreamermod]

FEBRUARY DEVLOG - 1

The third DEVLOG has arrived...this time spelled correctly! Lots of progress has been made since the last update!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

So, about saves! I don't know if people noticed the edited DEVLOG from last time, but...it seems that you WILL be able to use your demo saves for the prelude! Testing looks good so far, so hoping it stays this way. Thank goodness, because now all those watermelons you collected in HEADSPACE won't be for nothing! Why is that...? Well! Hehe...

PROGRESS:

Remember how last time I said majority of maps were completed? That was incorrect. NOW the majority are done and only a couple are left. I've made so many maps this week. Thumbs up (fades into dust)

NPCs got cooked up. Basically all are complete, unless a couple more are needed, but for now, basically a done task. Some character sprite art needs to be made still, but not a lot!

All battle art is complete, including enemies, and portraits. They have also been programmed in, so they are fully functional, and battles are a done task! Wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, thankfully! Battlebacks still need to be made, but those are relatively quick.

OST...I said last time it was near complete. I was wrong. NOW it's near complete. At the moment, there are currently 44 tracks for the full dreamer prelude (including the demo tracks!). There's still a couple more to be made, but definitely mostly done ^^ It's going to be a LONG compilation video!

Writing was on the back-burner while I was focusing on creating assets. That doesn't mean there wasn't progress! Still, from this point on, writing and programming will be a main focus now that majority of assets are complete.

Portraits are not all complete. SUNNY needs more hospital portraits, and BASIL also needs new real world portraits! Those will take a bit...

Currently, all the mirror locations still need to be done, which means completing the battle-backs first. There is also a new title screen art that needs to be done. Along with that...a major, drawn cutscene, and another rougher cutscene...and maybe another short one, as well as art for the credits. A lot of art to do...

NOTES:

March is looking bright! Very bright! One part of the panic now comes from hoping I can program and write everything in a speedy manner, including NPC dialogue and miscellaneous stuff. Once again, a ton of the content is optional. But, like the DEMO, you are rewarded for you investment ^^ There's also a lot of secrets, so, good luck! Badges will be even more fun this time around!

Everyone really stepped up with the NPCs and I am very thankful for the sprite teams help! The OST is also coming along so well thanks to everyone. I've also appreciated the people who have taken the time to answer questions about programming and such that I have!

Still, the biggest point of stress is that I'm doing all the art, and I don't know how quickly I can do these cutscenes. One of them is very important to look clean and beautiful, and I have to do my best to stay very on style, which isn't as easy in cutscenes as it is with portraits. Along with that, real world portraits take longer than, say, STRANGER, who is monochrome. DREAMER was pretty time consuming, but I'm not as solid on real world portrait style yet. I'll figure it out, hopefully...

I'm also concerned once again about the trailer, and making art ahead of time for it for future events. I think it'll be okay, though? I usually pull through! And if need be, I can simplify the trailer a little.

CONCLUSION:

Currently, (along with completing the remaining assets) the goal is for me to complete all the writing/programming to start playtesting before March 1st, which means the PRELUDE will be completed and playable before March. This will NOT include the final art, such as cutscenes, and trailer art that aren't required for progression. So, while playtesting is happening, I will hopefully step back and really get all that art done so the mid-March release is possible!

There's still so much to do, but so much has been done, and I'm very proud of how things are going-to the point I even find the DEMO very lacking compared to the full PRELUDE! Please look forward to the coming release, and the next DEVLOG!

[aliwritex]

hi this is kinda weird request ig lol but since it's valentine's day could you make a franco fic where he goes to his bsf house (cuz she lives in monaco and he's in monaco now, at least was in this morning for business / might not be an important information but it could be an excuse for him to stay over at her house or whatever) and both are single so they're the only valentine option to each other ?

notes: i’m only an hour late i’ve seen people post kinktober in december have mercy 🙏🏽 this is also short but there’ll be part two with smut that’s how i’m choosing to apologize edit: changed the header to match pt 2

You thought another valentine’s day alone wouldn’t bother you so much – since it would be the 20th of your life. You had girlfriends over for dinner the night before and had planned to stay in on the 14th, do some crafts maybe and clean up the decorations from your ‘galentines’ dinner.

In fact, you were fine, you didn’t really mind till you opened up instagram and saw everyone getting flowers, then moved to tiktok for distraction and everything was valentine’s themed.

You just groaned and put on phone down, deciding to do something else, but just as you did it chimed. You picked it back up again, it was a text from your friend.

“wyd tonight?” “nothing i’m guessing”

“you don’t have to say it like that” “you’re alone too this year” you replied

“i just landed in monaco” “we should hang out, later tho cause now i need a nap”

You agreed on dinner, at your place – you figured all the restaurants would be too busy and you didn’t want to pass as a couple. So hours later you found yourself setting up the table for another homemade dinner in your tiny apartment.

Franco didn’t knock, he texted you that he was on his way and you told him the door was unlocked. So he caught you bringing the food to the table and called out your name softly to not scare you. It still scared you, but it’s the intention that counts. When you turned around he had a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

“I was feeling festive” he explained “also thought you deserved something since you’re the one feeding me”

“I missed you,” you moved to hug him and couldn’t help but enjoy inhaling his cologne and having his arms wrapped around your waist, “haven’t seen you since last year. You look-“ you stopped to take a look at him “tan”

It’s not that you had a crush on Franco, you just knew and acknowledged that he was a handsome man. And he smelled really good, always. The fact was, he was the only close male friend that you had so your brain was always confused about your feelings towards him. Certainly you’d say you loved your girlfriends and would do anything for them but it was different with him, you didn’t really know where to cross the line. Besides, your friends always say that someday you might just end up together.

“What a latin summer gets you. Can we eat? I’m starving and this smells amazing” he asked as soon as you let go of him.

“Yeah, yeah. Can you serve us and wait in the living room while I deal with the flowers? We can catch up while we eat “

Franco gladly followed your instructions and walked to the couch with two plates as you got your flowers sorted. It was really sweet of him to get you a bouquet, though you couldn’t help but think it was a bit uncharacteristic of him to do so. You had never hung out on valentine’s before, so maybe he was just, in fact, feeling festive.

You had to stop your overthinking by the time you were done with the flowers, so you served some wine and made your way to the couch.

Besides the crazy thoughts in your head, your friendship with Franco had always been easy. One of those that you can just sit and talk about everything, it came easy for both of you. So by the time you were done with dinner you had already been through a thousand different topics and you had your head on his lap.

“So, what has got you spending Valentine’s alone? Not even desperate girls begging to get dicked down?”

“Can’t I take the time to come see you?” he raised his eyebrows as he looked down at you.

“Oh, don’t flatter me. I’d rather it was someone else instead of you, too, so don’t feel bad”

“I didn’t wish it was someone else, I like being with you. Besides, I think we had a proper valentines, dinner, flowers, wine, we’re basically only missing one thing” he teased, but you didn’t catch it, too busy scrolling through netflix to find something to watch.

“The chocolate, right? I swear I hid a box from myself last week but I couldn’t find it earlier. Can you bel-“

“That’s not what I was talking about, ¡por dios!” he said, frustrated before bending down to kiss you.

You were in shock for a second, unable to move as his lips pressed against yours till he pulled away to look at you. Then you didn’t hesitate in sitting up and reaching back for the kiss. His hand reached for your face, pulling you closer and smiling when your lips brushed.

Your noses bumped before he kissed you again. You could almost taste the wine on his stained lips and it made you want more. So when your lips parted and interlocked you sighed against his, letting him kiss deeper and deeper into your mouth.

You hadn’t realized how much you actually wanted him till then but since you got a taste you couldn’t stop yourself. Your hands met the back of his neck, pulling him closer as his fell to your legs, guiding you to straddle him. In no time you were sat on his lap, making out, tasting each other’s mouths as you felt heat travel from your faces down to your cores.