#still gonna be super bummed for a little while though

[stylesloveclub]

Prose (part 1)

In which y/n's taking way too many units, and Harry's the graduate assistant for her Literature class.

+++

 It’s a gloomy autumn day, the sun nowhere to be found, the sky cloudy and gray. Y/n stands in front of Dr. Richmond’s door, nervously pulling back her hair and righting the state of her sweater.

The wind outside was not forgiving today, blowing harsh and cold and whipping her hair all over like she was caught in the middle of a god damn tornado. She tucks any stray pieces behind her ears and pats her wind-stung cheeks – oh gosh, she probably looks a mess.

She should’ve worn something more professional, she thinks to herself as she tugs her skirt down. Maybe trousers and a blazer– or at least a pair of jeans. Not this stupid little black skirt that keeps riding up, halfway hidden underneath her cream-colored knitted sweater. It keeps riding up, no matter how firmly she keeps tugging it down, and she’s got a horrible inkling that she might’ve accidentally flashed her bum at the workers in the street while she was walking to campus today. 

She looks down at her shoes, a pair of black mary janes, paired with some lacy white socks to decorate her ankles. They looked super cute when she put them on this morning – but now she’s worried that she looks like a kindergartener. Is she too old to be wearing frilly socks? They’re just so darn cute… but she doubts the sixty-something year old professor that’s on the other side of the door would think the same thing. 

Wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt, she takes a deep breath. It’s now or never. She lifts her hand up to the door, and nervously brings her knuckles down to knock. 

It took all of her confidence to come to Dr. Richmond’s office today. She’s not a huge fan of talking to professors outside of class – drafting emails to them literally sends her into a spiral of stress, and she always feels like she’s gonna shit her pants when she goes to office hours– but she has no choice but to come and directly talk to Dr. Richmond today. She’d sent him two emails already (both of them had taken her over two hours to send because she actually despises writing emails and is always nervous that she’s gonna make a typo, or call the professor the wrong name, or accidentally attach her sex tape ((even though she doesn’t have a sex tape?)), but he hadn’t responded to either of those emails and she needs a response from him ASAP.

The door opens before her knuckles even make contact with wood, a short stout man walking out of the office with his briefcase in hand. He’s balding, with only a thin circle of gray hair lining the back perimeter of his head, and a pair of classes sit on his large, oily nose. Y/n stumbles, her eyes widening as she embarrassingly lowers her knuckles from the door and takes a startled step backwards. 

“Oh– um, Dr. Richmond?” she stammers nervously, her voice at a much higher pitch than usual. She’d love to stick a pore strip on his nose and unclog all those blackheads.

“That’s me,” he grumbles, sighing heavily, not even looking at her. He’s the head of the English Language and Literature department, a busy man surely. Students probably pester him every hour of every day. Still, she wishes that maybe she could’ve gotten a more… enthusiastic response from him. 

“Hi, sir,” she says, swallowing thickly. “I-I was having some issues with enrolling in your English 270 lecture and– um,” she’s starting to lose confidence as Dr. Richmond blatantly ignores her, rummaging through his briefcase for his keys. “I was… wondering if you had a second to, um, discuss it?” Her voice quietly fades towards the end, not sure if Dr. Richmond was even listening at that point– as he’d taken out his phone and started replying to a text while she had still been talking. 

He takes a solid five seconds to type out and send his text before responding to y/n. “Take it up with Harry,” he mumbles, still not looking at her. “M’done for the day.”

“Harry?” she repeats, her voice confused and eyebrows pinching together. But Dr. Richmond’s already walking away from her, halfway down the hall. “Oh,” she mumbles to herself sadly, lips pouting. All that, for nothing. He literally just walked away from her. 

She sighs heavily, ready to turn on her heel and walk back to her apartment from this failed mission – but then a voice sounds from inside the office. "In here!" it calls out.

She peaks her head inside timidly. 

Behind the desk sits a boy, with chocolate brown curls swirled atop his head. “Hello,” he hums, putting the essay he’d been reading down on the desk and looking at her with all his attention. There’s a soft smile on his pretty pink lips, twisted to the side with a dimple poking at his cheek. His eyes are green and glimmer kindly, framed by a pair of dark tortoise shell glasses.  “How can I help you?”

This man is much more attractive than grumpy old (and oily) Dr. Richmond. 

Y/n struggles to find her voice. “Are you… um, are you Harry?” Her eyes flicker all over this attractive young man’s face, trying to figure out if this is a hallucination or if a boy that pretty actually exists in real life. 

“Indeed I am,” he chirps, his chair squeaking as he leans forward. She briefly remembers seeing the name “Harry E. Styles” listed as the graduate teaching assistant, underneath Dr. Richmond’s name on the course website, and is finally connecting the dots. He’s dressed in a white button up, the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to reveal tattooed forearms and an anchor on his wrist. His fingers tap against the desk rhythmically, and she finds her eyes drawn to the glittery rings decorating them. Her mind goes blank. 

It’s clear that he’s a few years older than herself – but not in a bad way. He just looks taller and broader and… smarter than most of the boys her own age. He has just the slightest bit of stubble on his upper lip, and his eyes just shine with wisdom and intellect.

“Did you have a question?” he asks, voice a little teasing as he jolts her out of her little trance. She tucks her hair behind her ear, embarrassed, and quickly averts her eyes from his hands.

“Yeah, um– Dr. Richmond said you’d be able to help me with my enrollment issues?” 

“Sure,” he crosses one leg over the other (y/n definitely notices the way his meaty thighs bulge) and leans back in his seat, hands folded neatly on his knee, “What’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to enroll in English 270, the Romantic Literature and Society lecture–” Harry nods attentively, “ –but the class is restricted to students in the Department of English Literature… which I’m not.” His eyebrows furrow hesitatingly, and she’s quick to defend herself. “I’ve taken all the prerequisites, though! I did well in all of them, and I emailed the department coordinator and they said that it’s fine for me to enroll in this class. It would just be a manual enrollment instead of the standard enrollment but they’ve done it for me for all the other literature classes I’ve taken that were also major restricted. All I need is a permission code and the professor's approval!” She pauses, taking a breath after her big ramble. “Or your approval, I suppose,” she adds as an afterthought. 

He’s silent for a bit, sitting there with furrowed brows and pursed lips, just staring at her. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, squirming under his intense gaze.

Finally he asks, “What do you study then? If not literature?”

“Um– I’m a psych major.”

“And… why would a psychology major need to take an upper division literature class?” he presses. Not trying to be rude, but just to understand. 

“Oh. I just… really enjoy books,” she says shyly. “It’s not for any credit toward my major. But I promise that I’ll stay on top of the work and participate and all that!”

He leans his forearms on the desk. His eyes are thoughtful, and he takes his time before speaking. “Your name was…?” he trails off.

“Y/n,” she fills in quickly. He nods.

“Miss y/n,” he sits up straighter, and looks her in the eye, “How many other units are you taking this semester?”

“Um…” she counts them off in her head.  “16?”

“So with this class you’d be at 20?” he confirms. 

She nods, nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek. That is a lot of units. The last time she took 20 units she had a mental breakdown so intense that she spent an entire night just crying to her roommate (Iris), incapable of doing any work or studying because she was just so stressed out and overwhelmed. She had to skip classes just to catch up on the work that she’d fallen behind on for her other classes, and found her weekends swamped with essays and studying and missed assignments. She only just barely survived, and as soon as finals week was over, she literally collapsed with exhaustion, her body and brain so burnt out that she was sick for weeks. She’d promised herself that she’d never do it again… and yet here she is not even two semesters later.

She can already imagine how stressful this semester is going to be. 

“You understand, miss y/n, that this is not an easy class?” He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and somehow it’s attractive. “We have weekly readings and essays and discussions, and the final paper is not a matter to be taken lightly. You truly believe you can manage that on top of all your other classes?” 

She gulps nervously, but timidly nods. He can tell that he’s laid it all on a bit harshly. 

“I’m not trying to scare you,” he says softly. “I’m just trying to be… realistic. You seem to be a highly motivated student – and I admire that you’re pursuing topics that truly interest you – but I’d hate to see you burn yourself out.” 

“I think I can handle it,” she says, quiet but confident. “It’s something I enjoy so it’s more like a hobby than a class. And I think it’ll be fun? I saw on the syllabus that we’d be analyzing Frankenstein, which is one of my favorites…” 

His lips twist in a soft, endeared smile. He also loves Frankenstein. 

“Very well then,” he murmurs, his eyes glimmering thoughtfully. “What was it you needed to get enrolled? A permission code? I think if you just give me your student ID number I can get that sorted out…”

+++

The weather today is better. 

It’s still cloudy and gray outside, but the wind is much more forgiving, just a gentle breeze rustling through the trees. Orange and red leaves fall to the ground, crunching underneath y/n’s feet as she walks to class. They match the red sweater that she’s wearing today, soft and knitted with hidden tones of orange and brown woven between the threads. The colors of autumn, her favorite season. 

A pair of wired headphones trail from her back pocket to her ears. She’s listening to her fall playlist, Lana Del Rey’s Season of the Witch setting the tempo of her walk to campus. In one hand she carries her book – The Secret History by Donna Tart – and in the other she carries her iced chai latte. Her fingers are freezing as she holds her iced drink, and a shiver crawls down her spine every time she takes a sip – but she doesn’t regret her drink order at all. She’ll have an iced chai in her hand no matter the weather. 

Wanting to make a good impression on the first day of classes, she got up extra early today to get a head start. She washed her face so that she’d look extra bright and awake, ate a proper breakfast at her dining table instead of her usual banana-on-the-walk-to-class, and put on an outfit that she thought gave… studious. Her autumn sweater, dark blue denim jeans, and white sneakers. She even chose her book to match the academic vibe she was going for today (she was between The Secret History and Happy Place, and Happy Place just felt too summery for such a gloomy day… plus The Secret History has been on her TBR for way too long.).

She arrives at the lecture hall approximately… 20 minutes too early. But it was on purpose! She’s only taken a few classes in the literature building (most of her classes are in the social science buildings) and wanted to have enough time to find the room before class started. How horrible would it be for her to be late on the first day, when she’s desperate to make such a good impression on Harry? And Dr. Richmond, of course– but mostly Harry. 

He was nice. And she wants him to like her. Ballad of a girl who craves academic validation.

The door to the lecture hall is locked, so y/n takes a seat on the floor right next to the door, and cracks her book open. She’s only 15 pages in, but she’s already enthralled. She can’t count how many times this novel has been recommended to her – always in those “best books to read in fall<3” tik toks, or the list of classics recommended by the New York Times – and she gets it. She zones in, her eyes flickering from one page to the next as her headphones softly play Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac. She’s not one to usually listen to music while she reads (she usually finds it to be too distracting), but she’s so engrossed in this world and these characters that she barely remembers that she’s still listening to music. The people walking past her in the hallway fade away, the fluorescent lights transform into the dark library her book characters are currently huddled in, and no sound passes through her wired headphones – not even the heeled boots clicking against the tile floors, getting closer and closer to her. 

She only realizes that she’s not alone when those brown boots stop right in front of her, shining brightly in contrast to her worn out sneakers. She looks up suddenly, yanking her headphones out of her ears. Harry towers over her, key in hand, which he sticks into the lock. A soft smirk twists at his lips, and his green eyes flicker to where she’s looking up at him from the floor. 

“Miss y/n,” he says with a pleasant nod, a hint of amusement in his voice, “You’re here early.”

She folds the corner of the page she’s on and stands up, gently shutting her book. “I didn’t want to be late,” she responds, fussing with her stubborn headphones, which refuse to tuck into her back pocket. “I don’t have many classes in this building… didn’t want to get lost or anything on the first day.” 

He opens the door and lets y/n in first, following in closely behind her. “Punctuality is good.” He props the door open. 

She looks around the lecture hall. It’s not nearly as big as the classrooms she usually sits in for her psychology classes – those classes are huge, usually filled with a bunch of freshmen from all sorts of majors trying to fulfill their lower division GE requirements and whatnot. Those lecture halls could fit up to 400 people. This one probably wouldn’t fit more than 60. 

Not a problem though, considering that this class only had about 40 students enrolled (she checked last night). 

She wonders where she should sit. Too far in the back and she’d make the wrong first impression… but too close to the front and she might be the annoying kid that asks too many questions. Third row is her best bet. 

There’s still about 15 minutes before the class is scheduled to start, and she’s still the only one in the lecture hall apart from Harry. She feels a bit awkward, being the person in the sea of seats, but Harry pays no mind to her, shuffling through papers and logging onto the computer at the front podium. Though her book sits opened on her lap, she can’t help but stare at him.

He’s wearing brown trousers, well fitted around his legs and cutting off perfectly at his ankles as if they were custom tailored for him. Cream colored socks adorn his ankles and those shiny, brown leather boots click against the floor with his every step. Very professional, but also casual with the way his white button up is rolled up at the sleeves and unbuttoned at the top. He’s missing those cute glasses today, though. 

She watches as he struggles to turn the projector on, his eyebrows furrowed as he presses all the buttons on the panel. The lights in the classroom turn on and off again, and the computer audio mutes and unmutes before he finally figures out how to get the screen to roll down and the projector to flicker on. Despite him being only a few years older, he looks like an old man toggling with the buttons and trying to get technology to work in his favor. She bites back a smile, and quickly looks down to her book when Harry’s eyes briefly flicker to hers. From her peripheral vision, she can see him laughing as well and shaking his head at himself. 

She traces her fingers over the pages of the book, clearly well loved and worn out. She got it from the library just last week, after having been on the waitlist for the book for the past month. She can see why it’s so popular though, already so engrossed by the plot. The pages are old and yellow, the edges folded and ripped with years of use, and it has that old book smell that she just adores. How old is this book? It was published in the 90’s, wasn’t it?

Harry’s voice interrupts her thoughts. “Reading something good?” 

She looks up at him with wide eyes. He’s managed to successfully display the course syllabus on the projector screen, and is now walking around the desk with a stack of papers in his hand. He stands in front of the very first row, leaning his weight onto one leg with a hand in his pocket. 

“Oh, um–” she falters, “I actually just started it. I’ve heard it’s supposed to be really good.” She sits up straighter in her seat, “Have you heard of it? The Secret History?”

Harry purses his lips, “Sounds familiar… haven’t read it though. You’ll have to tell me if it’s worth reading, alright?”

She nods, smiling shyly. Call her delusional but… it feels like a bit of an honor for him to trust her with a book recommendation. That takes a lot of trust, doesn’t it? To trust that someone will recommend a good book to you? 

She’s totally making a big deal out of nothing. She does that sometimes. 

“How about you?” she asks, her voice embarrassingly quiet. She’s shy, and nervous, and she’s not that good at small talk, and Harry is looking at her with these intense, green eyes that make her feel like she’s saying the most important thing in the world. She clears her throat, forcing her voice to not come out scared and shaky, “Read anything good lately?”

He grins, and she can tell this is probably his favorite thing to talk about.  “M’reading, like, five books at once,” he admits sheepishly. “Kafka on the Shore, if you’ve heard of it… Notes from Underground, by Dostoevsky for one of m’own classes…” he purses his lips in thought, “Started re-reading Paradise Lost as well. We’re analyzing it in one of the other classes im TA-ing, n’ it’s one of my favorites to teach,” he says with a shrug. His eyes are so thoughtful as he lists off the books that he’s reading, flickering green and gold. He’s just… beautiful.

“I haven’t read any of them,” y/n says regretfully, wishing that she could impress him with some sort of intellectual talk about one of these books. “I’ve had Kafka on the Shore on my list for a while, though.” 

He smiles. “S’a good one.” There’s a dimple in his left cheek that pinches cutely, the glimmer in his eyes a sight to behold. His pretty pink lips purse thoughtfully, his heart shaped cupid's bow twitching as though he has more to say – but then another student walks in. 

Harry’s head whips around. His jawline is sharp, and he nods politely at the new student. “Good morning,” he murmurs to the girl – that same welcoming voice that had made y/n’s heart flutter that first day that she met him. 

He turns back to y/n, and hands her a paper from the stack in his hands. “The syllabus,” he says, his eyes kind and warm.

She swallows thickly as he walks away from her, enamored already. 

+++

“Classes will be Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Dr. Richmond lectures from the front of the class. His voice is croaky and old, so he has a tiny microphone clipped to his shirt pocket to project his voice to the back of the class – despite the small size of the lecture hall. “Thursdays I’ll lead the class,” he drones on, “We’ll analyze the romantic era… how their literature was a reflection of their politics… how they set the foundation of modern day consumerism, capitalism, patriarchy, globalism, imperialism…” he waves his hand passively. “The works.”

 He takes a long sip of water, and his swallow echoes through the class, amplified by his shirt microphone. Y/n cringes at the wet mouth sounds as he smacks his lips together. 

“On Tuesday’s–” his voice booms through the microphone again, “you will come to a class discussion led by Harry. This means that you’ll have the entire weekend to do the readings…” 

Nearly all the eyes in the room flicker to Harry, who’s been standing quietly in the corner with his hands folded behind his back while Dr. Richmond continues to lecture. He gives a small, almost bashful wave to the class at the mention of his name, his eyes scanning the room of unfamiliar faces. Their eyes meet, and his lips twist into a smile. This is the third time she’s caught his eye during the lecture.

He stares at her for a second, eyes glinting as if the two of them have a secret that they’re not sharing with the rest of the class. It makes her heart race in her chest, smiling back at him secretly.

She breaks their eye contact when Dr. Richmond croaks out with the last of his voice, “Any questions?” 

He’s met with silence.

“No? Okay good, class dismissed. See you all on Thursday.” 

The class bustles with life, backpacks zipping and pull out desks squeaking as everyone slowly trickles out of the room. A line forms in front of Dr. Richmond’s podium, with students eagerly introducing themselves and asking questions about the syllabus, only to be redirected to the back of the new line forming in front of Harry’s corner. Harry smiles kindly at every question and speaks with eloquence, strikingly different to Dr. Richmond’s grumbling and groaning. 

It’s glaringly obvious that Harry is going to be a class favorite. 

In the middle of answering a redheaded boy’s question, his gaze wanders over to y/n, watching her as she packs up her things, eyes following her to the door. She tucks her book under her arm and plugs her headphones into her ear, throwing her bag over her shoulder. 

Her drink is finished, just a cup full of melting ice at this point, so she stops at the trash can right at the front of the door. As she throws it away, she manages one final glance back at Harry. He’s already looking at her. He grins when their eyes meet, and gives a small wave goodbye. 

She bites back a smile, then hurries out of the classroom before he gets the chance to see her giddy eyes and heating cheeks. 

+++

Y/n honestly doesn’t love going to office hours. 

It’s hard, because on one hand, she knows that she should go to them and form a relationship with her professors so that they can write her letters of rec in the future… but on the other, they’re so crowded and awkward! Every other student is there for the same reason as her, going into office hours to ask their silly questions and try to butter up the professor. There are usually at least a dozen college students in there, waiting for their one second interaction with the professor before they all get kicked out at the end of the hour. It’s annoying and a waste of her time. Plus, she doubts Dr. Richmond is all that into getting buttered up 

That’s why she chooses to go to TA office hours instead. Usually much more quiet and much more intimate. Not that many people like to go to TA office hours for some reason, which means she usually gets to have one-on-one help. And sometimes (if the TA is really cool) they’ll basically give her the answers to the homework – a good thing, right?

Well… not when the TA is this ridiculously attractive and charming boy with curly brown hair and pretty green eyes that she can’t help but have a teensy little crush on.

 Like… can you blame her? He’s smart and handsome, and so incredibly kind and sweet. His eyes glimmer when he talks about his favorite books and his lips are always curled into a smile that makes her heart bubble. Always so polite and respectful, doing gentlemanly things while his boyish dimples pinch his cheeks. His voice is slow and sultry like smooth honey – and you can just tell that his mind is a beautiful place just from the way he talks. 

He’s just… endearing. Straight out of some romance book– and y/n loves romance!!! She can’t help but have a little bit of a heart flutter when she sees him standing in the corner of the lecture hall, especially when their eyes meet and he smiles at her cutely. 

He’s just being nice – she knows that, and she is well aware that she’s very delusional and that nothing is going to happen… but still, the prospect of going to his office hours and potentially having a one-on-one conversation with him makes her giddy and nervous at the same time. 

She pulls herself together and shakes away all the silly thoughts clouding her brain. Hoisting her bag up her shoulder, she enters the small office, the gold plaque reading Styles, H. shining proudly as she walks through the door. 

Harry doesn’t hear her walk in, his brows furrowed behind his tortoise shell glasses. A red pen is in his hand, brutally attacking a freshman essay. He looks up, a tad bit startled, when she knocks on the door timidly. 

The furrow in his brow immediately softens and turns into that familiar, kind smile. “Miss y/n,” his eyes shine like the nighttime sky filled with stars, “My first student of the day.” 

“Oh,” she checks the time. “I thought office hours started like, thirty minutes ago. Was I wrong? Am I early?” She intentionally wanted to show up a little late, not wanting to seem too eager. 

“No, no – you were right,” he hums, putting his pen down. “Not many students tend to show up to our office hours, is all. Especially not during the first week.”

She bites on the inside of her lip and wonders if she should be embarrassed for being the only one to show up, but Harry is quick to continue,“I wish more people did come, though. Like– if nobody shows up, all I do is sit here and grade for an hour.” His lips purse out cutely, a thoughtful pout, “And I hate grading.” 

“Oh– I’ll probably be here a lot,” y/n says mindlessly. “I always have questions. And Dr. Richmond kinda scares me.”

Harry sputters out a laugh, and y/n’s cheeks heat up. Maybe that was inappropriate to say. But then Harry leans in and whispers, “He scares me too, sometimes.”

It’s these charming little moments that make him so endearing. She tries not to get too distracted by his dimples and how his fingers tap delicately against his thigh, hugged deliciously by another pair of well fitting trousers. 

“Um– if it’s not a bother, I was wondering if I could ask about the first assignment? I was kind of confused about what's expected from us for the free-write thing…”

“M’all yours,” Harry murmurs, gesturing to the seat across from his desk.

+++

Y/n’s fatal flaw is thinking that she can beat a rainstorm.

She actively knew there was an 80% chance of rain today. She saw the rainy streets. She heard the weather forecast. But did she bring an umbrella with herself to campus? 

No.

Somehow she rationalized in her brain that she didn’t need it. It was barely sprinkling when she walked out of her apartment, and the walk to class was only like 15 minutes! She’d make it to campus and then she’d be indoors all day and by the time she needed to go home the rain would probably have died down, and everything would be fine.

Oh how wrong she was. Silly girl. 

The rain is pounding down on her right now. Big fat raindrops soaking through her hoodie and turning her light wash denim jeans into a completely new color. She has many regrets. What had started off as a cute little walk in the rain has turned into her running through a fucking monsoon or something. The slight, gentle drizzle had escalated to pouring rain in a matter of seconds. She had left her apartment with her earbuds playing Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer, romanticizing her little stroll in the rain – but now her wire headphones are barely hanging on as half-speedwalks/ half-runs down the sidewalk with her head down. 

When she gets stuck at a crosswalk on a busy street, she glances frantically to her left and right, trying to find a tree or a building to take shelter under. But the sky is wide and open, no roof or canopy for her to hide under. She stands helplessly, the rain pouring down on her. The only thing she can do is pull her hood up and grip it tightly so that the rain doesn’t get in her face. 

The rain pierces through her clothes, and the wind feels extra cold against her wet jeans. Thank god she at least wore rainboots today, she thinks to herself as she stares down at the ground. This would suck even more if her socks were getting wet. She had thought far ahead enough to anticipate the possibility of puddles – and yet still didn’t imagine the need for an umbrella. The hems of her pants are soaked and feel horrible against her ankles, and she knows for a fact that she’s gonna have to let her hoodie air dry or something during Dr. Richmond’s lecture. Ugh. She hopes the lecture hall is warmer than it is out here.

She readjusts her headphones, pushing the earbuds further into her ear after they nearly fell out whilst she was running here. She likes this song, and it’s kind of romantic to be listening to it in the rain (it would be even more romantic if she wasn’t SOAKED TO THE CORE). If there’s anything y/n will do, it’s romanticize the shit out of any situation. 

Cars are driving past quickly, but she can’t hear them, her music loud enough to drown out their annoying engines. She stares at a nearby puddle, looking at how it ripples as each drop of rain splatters into it. She wonders if mother nature has a personal vendetta against her – if Earth had personally planned to make it rain super hard the minute that she stepped out of her apartment. Why does she always do this? This isn’t the first time she’s caught herself soaked because she was too lazy to bring an umbrella with herself – and it probably isn’t the last time either. She crosses her arms across her chest and hides her hands in her sleeves, hugging herself tightly as a feeble defense against the biting rain. Why won’t the stupid crosswalk turn on? Her slightly damp hair falls into her eyes as she looks back down at her boots, letting out an annoyed huff. 

The shadow of a new person tickles her peripheral vision. They brought an umbrella. She scolds herself once more. 

 It takes her a second to realize that, although she can still see the rain drizzling around her, splattering against the ground and splashing onto her boots… she actually doesn’t feel the gentle patter of raindrops against the top of her head anymore. She looks up. 

Somehow, she is now under the umbrella. And the person holding said umbrella… is Harry. 

He looks gorgeous as usual, dressed in a dark blue trench coat, black trousers, and some sleek black boots with gold buckles on them. Standing to her left, he holds his umbrella up between them in a way that shields both of them from the rain. He stares forward innocently, pretending like everything is normal – like he hadn't just snuck up next to her and shared his umbrella with her. She can see a slight smile tugging on his lips though, and when she stares at him long enough, he peeks over at her with a glint shimmering in his pupils. His pretty pink lips curl into that sideways smile, and he says nothing. 

Y/n can’t help but give a dumbstruck little laugh. Of course it would be Harry. 

He winks at her, ever so charming and mischievous, then turns back to face the road. The crosswalk switches from Stop to Go, and Harry takes a step forward. Y/n follows in his stride.

They say nothing, and walk to their lecture shoulder to shoulder.

+++

“So,” Harry says with a clap, his voice loud and strong, “I hope you all got the chance to do the first chapter of our reading.” Unlike Dr. Richmond, Harry doesn’t need a microphone to project his voice to the back of the class. All eyes are staring at him, ears listening intently. And all the girls are staring at his pretty pink lips, and how they curl over each word (y/n included). 

“I know life gets in the way, so if y’ever don’t get the chance to finish the assigned reading… tha’s okay,” he says with a quirk of his lips. “M’not gonna be mad. I just ask that you don’t let it turn into a habit, and y’don’t pretend like you read it. M’gonna know if you’re bullshitting me… so just don’t even try.” The entire class laughs, and Harry’s dimple pokes his cheek. 

“So– be honest– how many of you guys read the first chapter?” 

All the students raise their hands, and Harry nods approvingly, “Nice… very nice.” He’s a natural at the front of the classroom, entertaining and intellectual at the same time – confident and eloquent. His words are thoughtful and slow, but not one student seems to be bored by his slow drawl. No – instead everyone hangs onto his every word, dripping soft and thick like golden honey. He answers questions easily and plays off of student responses like a pro, and everyone seems keen on impressing him with fancy literature talk.

“You might have seen on our course page that I posted a series of discussion questions… I’ll try to have these up at least a week in advance so that you can have them in the back of your mind whilst you’re reading. I always find it to be particularly stimulating to be reading a novel with a question in mind… dunno, makes me feel sharper while I read. Does anyone else feel that way?” He talks to the class as if they’re all friends, mildly flirtatious in the natural, charming way that he is. 

The group of undergraduates nod back at him, enthralled by his smile and his wit and just everything about him. God, his smile is just so charming. “Okay... how about we get started with the first one? Wait– actually, before that… I’m just wondering, have any of you already read Frankenstein before?”

Two students out of the forty raise their hands – a boy wearing a Bob Dylan t-shirt, and y/n. 

Harry’s eyes meet y/n’s for the first time since they entered the classroom together. They’d walked across campus together in comfortable silence, past the campus Starbucks and the Social Science buildings, and when they got to the Literature department building Harry had held the door open for her, while shaking off the rain droplets from his umbrella. They walked through the halls side by side as well, Harry’s shiny boots clicking in time with the squeak of y/n’s wet sneakers against the tile floors. All he had said to her during the entirety of their walk was “After you,” when he’d opened the door for her. 

Now he looks at her for the first time in what feels like ages, and gives her an approving nod. He already knew that, from that very first day when she’d come to his office, asking for permission codes and what not. She feels her heart fluttering excitedly, just from that single nod. 

“Interesting… so it’s a first read for most of you. Brilliant! We’ll have a good time reading it together, I promise,” he says, his green eyes gleaming. “I love this book – it’s sometimes called the first science fiction book, written at a time where technology was first being introduced, and it’s regarded as one of the most famous novels of the Romantic era. Mary Shelly, the author, was a prominent Romantic era writer who shared the common Romantic appreciation for the natural world and how art can evoke emotions, which we can clearly see in her novel. We’ll take a few different approaches while analyzing it. Most prominently through a Romantic lens – but we’ll also do a feminist reading and religious reading, as well as a biographical approach… which brings us to the first discussion question – ‘Frankenstein is ultimately a novel about creation– a new and terrifying exploration of bringing life into the world. Based on what you read in the introduction, how can we see Mary Shelly’s personal experiences with life, birth, and death in the themes explored in Frankenstein?’” He looks up from the sheet of paper that he just read the question aloud from with bright eyes, “Anyone want to start us off?” 

The class is silent, the crowd of students suddenly much quieter compared to when they’d been going back and forth with playful banter to Harry’s jokes. Everyone’s a little too nervous to be the first one to say anything, and nobody wants to say the wrong thing. Harry holds his breath, and searches for a hand to save them from this awkward bit of silence. This kind of shyness is normal for the first day of classes – in fact, he’d expected it – but it still doesn’t mean it’s any less awkward. His eyes flicker from one side of the class to the other, from the front row to the back.

He almost misses y/n’s hand, timidly raising from her set spot in the third row. Harry’s eyes light up. “Miss y/n,” he murmurs, “go ahead.”

“Well, in the introduction we learn that Mary Shelly had a few failed pregnancies before writing her novel, and that her own mother had passed during childbirth complications. Shelly goes on to depict the cycle of life as destructive… Frankenstein’s monster is this disfigured creature that the creator is running from, which we see right at the beginning. The introduction implies that this “horrifying” birth and the death of the creator at the hands of what it created, might be symbolic of her own experiences.” 

“Excellent. That’s exactly right,” his smiles meet his eyes, and they twinkle, impressed. “The reason we have this as the first discussion question,” Harry turns back to the rest of the class, “is because I want you guys to keep it in mind while reading. Look for the ways Shelly describes birth –  take note of the strained relationship she creates between the creator and his creation. Also, recall how Shelly herself proclaimed this book to be her “hideous progeny” – to use such intense language whilst also calling it her “progeny” holds a lot of implications of what Shelly’s view on Creation is – whether is biologically or creatively. This is something that we’ll discuss further in depth when we get farther into the novel, so I want you all to start thinking about it now.”

All the students in the room nod intently, writing down what Harry said word for word.

“Furthermore, has anyone noticed that we’ve already seen a lot of references to fire? Pretty obvious symbolism, right?” The class nods. “Does anyone know why she chose fire, specifically?”

It’s silent again. Y/n looks around herself to see if anyone else might have the answer, but everyone stares up at Harry blankly.

“Don’t be shy on me now, guys. Promise m’not mean,” Harry smiles, “Just wanna get the discussion flowing.”

Y/n shyly raises her hand again. “It’s a reference to Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods – she even alternatively calls her story The Modern Prometheus.” 

 His eyes glimmer, a shine behind his irises that doesn’t show up when he looks at his other students – just y/n. As hard as he tries not to pick favorites… he can’t help but harbor a little bit of favoritism towards her. “Very good, Miss y/n,” he praises with a soft smile.

Y/n’s cheeks turn hot and she ducks her head down, unable to stop the reciprocating smile from spreading on her face. 

+++

“Miss y/n,” Harry calls out to her as the students file out of the classroom. “A word, please.” 

Y/n hoists her bag over her shoulder and makes her way to the podium where he stands. He’s packing up his own things, his own beat up copy of Frankenstein being placed delicately in his bag, along with a stack of other papers and things that he has to grade. A few other students have approached him, asking questions that they were too shy to ask during class, but with a sly smile he tells them to ask their questions at his office hours (Thursdays at 5 – but y/n already knew that!). Her fingers twist nervously behind her back as she stands awkwardly by his side as the rest of the students ask their questions and trickle out. 

He waits until all the students have left, and it’s just him and y/n standing by the podium, before he says anything to her.

“You were making some excellent points today in class,” he looks up at her briefly with a smirk, “I appreciate your participation. Class is always more difficult to lead when students don’t participate.” 

“Oh,” she blinks. She’s never been thanked for participating in class. “Erm– yeah. I-I’m happy to participate.” She readjusts her bag, tugging it higher up her shoulders, “S’just kinda like a big book club if y’really think about it.” 

“It is, isn’t it?” he agrees with a quirk of his lips. He zips up his bag, and pulls it over his own shoulder, “How are you planning on getting home?”

A strange follow up question, she thinks to herself. But she responds, nonetheless, “Oh, I was just gonna walk.” Harry peers out of the window, then looks back at y/n, his eyebrows raised. She follows his gaze, and realizes that it is still raining like crazy outside. 

A heavy sigh escapes her lips without her permission. Of course. “I guess I’ll just wait it out,” she shrugs, walking towards the door alongside Harry. 

He locks the door behind them, with her lingering closely by, waiting for him. “Do you live far?” 

“No, not really. Just a 15 minute walk.” They walk towards the building exit, and Harry pulls out his umbrella. “Not too bad, as long as there isn’t a monsoon going on outside,” she finishes with a petulant grumble.

Harry chuckles lowly, his dimples shining brightly. “I was just going to offer… y’know, since it’s still raining and you’re umbrella-less…” his eyes twinkle teasingly, “I could drive you home? Wouldn’t want you to get soaked again when you’ve only just dried off.” 

“Oh!” she bubbles, looking at him with wide eyes. “Really? You would do that?” He nods, but she presses, “Are you sure that wouldn’t be a hassle? I mean– like, really I could just stay here and read until the rain dies down–”

“S’not a hassle,” he reassures. “Y’don’t even know when the rain will be gone– could be all night. It’ll be cold, n’dark… it’d make me feel better knowing you got home safe, yeah?”

“Gosh that’s… that’s really nice of you,” she says, almost pouting. 

He just smiles, pushing the door open and opening his umbrella for the two of them to huddle under. His car is parked in the graduate student parking lot, so it’s not too far of a walk (although they’re doing more of a brisk speedwalk, trying to get out of the rain and wind as fast as possible). The rain patters harshly on top of his umbrella, but they manage to stay dry, shoulders brushing together and their warm bodies radiating heat onto each other.

He unlocks his car and opens the passenger's seat for her, making sure that she’s covered from the rain as she slides into her seat. He then runs over to his own side, quickly shutting his umbrella and throwing it into the backseat. His fingers are numb as he turns the car on, and he immediately blasts the heat for the two of them, putting his frozen fingers in front of the warm air. “God, not even three minutes out there n’ I’m already freezing m’bits off,” he mumbles to himself. He turns to her, and smiles when he sees her copying his actions, “Isn’t this so much better that walking home?”

All she can give is a nod, wriggling her fingers in front of his heaters. Her teeth are chattering as she barely manages to chatter out, “S’freezing.”

“Wind would’ve blown you away before you even made it home, I reckon.” He plays with the windshield wipers until they’re on the highest setting, but even then his windshield is blurry from the rain. He makes sure to drive extra slow and cautiously, reversing out at the speed of a snail and turning his high beams on.

It’s only when she’s sitting in the front seat of his car that a somewhat important thought floats to the forefront of her mind – “is this allowed?”

“Is what allowed?” He's half paying attention, half checking both sides of the road before turning left onto the street. 

“Like– I mean you’re sort of my professor, I guess,” she stumbles over her words, “Is it… would you get in trouble? For like… giving me a ride?”

Harry’s eyebrows pinch thoughtfully, “Well, first of all– Dr. Richmond’s your professor, not me. Secondly– I don’t see why it would be against the rules. S’just a car ride,” he shrugs. 

She relaxes in her seat, nodding. She supposes he’s right. It’s just a car ride.

“But– if anything,” he adds on with, turning to her momentarily with a mischievous glint in his eye, “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Y/n’s lips curl. “Okay,” she giggles. 

It’ll be their little secret. 

+++

HOPE U GUYS LOVED IT!!!!!! part 2 is up on my patreon already, and will come to tumblr next saturday (oct 14) pleeeeaaaase lmk what u rhink and give her a rb and a comment i love u guys so so much!!! more tarry to come!

Prose (part 2) is already posted on patreon! : In which not many students attend Harry's office hours, and y/n's kind of burnt out

Prose Masterlist

[crimsonwolf715]

Anaphylactic Response

(Not me having to read four of @Moonlight1234’s fics {on Ao3} to properly portray Damian 😭. Don’t worry, I talked with them about it first. Eventually I’ll be able to do it without help, y’all. 🙏 Thanks to my beta reader for reading over everything. 🎉 Also as a random little note, happy birthday to Barbara Gordon! TW: Anaphylaxis and hospitals)

Damian comes downstairs to find Barbara and Dick talking in the entryway. 

“Is something happening today?” Damian asks. 

“No,” Dick answers. “Barbara’s just here to help me.” 

“Help you with what?” 

“Making cupcakes for the police station’s bake sale to help something. The hospital if I remember correctly,” Barbara answers as Dick nods. “Do you wanna help, Damian? I have to because your brother will burn the house down, but you’re free to join us if you want.” 

“I’ve baked with Alfred once or twice, so I guess I could be helpful,” Damian replies. “As long as you’re fine with it, I’d like to assist.” 

“Of course you can help,” Dick says, giving Damian a side hug. A gesture that Damian returns with a small smile. 

Barbara and Damian work on the cupcakes. While Dick originally tried to help, he was banished to sit on a bar stool at the counter because he almost put salt instead of sugar in the mix. So he fills the air with conversation about the upcoming gala. 

“That sounds super boring,” Barbara says. 

“They always are,” Damian replies. 

“We can always get ice cream after,” Dick offers. “It won’t make the event any better, but something to look forward to, right?” 

Damian thinks on the offer, then nods. 

“That’s the spirit,” Dick says, ruffling Damian’s hair as Damian walks past. 

Damian swats at Dick’s hand. “Stop that, Grayson. Cleanliness is important.” 

“Fine.” 

“Alright, time for you to put yourself to use, Dick. Get the first batch of cupcakes out of the oven and if you drop them, I will cut you,” Barbara says. 

Dick sighs and rolls his eyes, then gets the cupcakes out of the oven. 

“Beautiful,” Barbara says. “Thank you, tough guy.” 

She pats Dick’s shoulder, then rolls over to Damian. “You good?” 

“I don’t like the way this whisk’s handle makes my hand feel. It’s irritating,” Damian answers. “I’m done with it though so there’s no need to worry about it.” 

“I’m glad that you’re good. Your brother does not look fine.” 

Damian nods, then gives them a sly smile. “He has FOMO.” 

Barbara nods. Damian looks up in enough time to see Dick smiling at the two. Damian hands Barbara the batter and she pours them into the wrappers. 

“Alright, let’s get the second batch in and once they’re done, I’m gonna head out. I promised the girls that I’d chaperon their trip. Thanks for helping, Damian.” 

“You’re welcome,” Damian says, then goes over to wash his hands to get rid of the irritating feeling. 

Dick pulls the second batch out and after being checked, Barbara claps. 

“Alright, we’re good to go. You have to frost those, but it’s just store bought frosting and Tim can help you if you really need it. I have to go, but I will see you guys later,” Barbara says. “You two should try the cupcakes before you send them.” 

“I will later,” Dick says. “I think I’m gonna nap.” 

“Lazy bum,” Barbara teases. 

Dick sticks his tongue out at Barbara, who laughs. 

She grabs Damian’s hand. “Goodbye, Damian.” 

“Goodbye, Barbara.” 

She gives his hand a gentle squeeze, then Dick walks Barbara out. Damian goes into the kitchen and looks at the two plates with a single cupcake on each. He grabs them and takes them into the living room. He puts them on the table. 

Dick walks back in with a smile. “I’ll eat mine a little later Dami, but feel free to eat yours now.” 

Dick sits down on the couch and leans his head back. 

“Are you tired, Grayson?” 

“Yeah, I haven’t slept the last couple of days. Been busy.” 

“Take care of yourself, or I’ll tell Father and he’ll make you stay here.” 

Dick laughs. “You wouldn’t.” 

Damian smiles. “Try me, Grayson. I’ll do it.” 

Dick sighs, but he’s still smiling. “Fine, I’ll get some sleep after patrol tonight.” 

Damian looks back at the cupcake on the plate, contemplating actually eating it. He meticulously unwraps it. 

“Any particular route you wanna take through Gotham tonight?” Dick asks. 

“I don’t care as long as patrol gets done properly,” Damian replies, then takes a bite of the cupcake. 

He puts it back down on the plate. Almost immediately after Damian feels like something is wrong with him. After a minute, his face starts to feel warm and he starts coughing. 

“Damian?” Dick’s voice sounds far away. 

He feels his throat start to close up. 

“Dami!” 

Damian’s legs give out and he falls. Someone catches Damian and he feels something stab into his leg. Instinctively, he lashes a hand out. It’s caught by the wrist and Damian doesn’t have the strength to fight back before blacking out. 

Damian wakes up to hear a worried voice. There’s beeping. He opens his eyes and sees hospital equipment. Dick’s in the doorway, talking to someone. 

The worried voice is his.  

Damian hears the beeping picking up speed, then Dick turns. 

“Hey, Dami.” 

He goes over and sits in the chair at Damian’s bedside. 

“What happened?” Damian asks, his voice coming out a little hoarse. 

Dick cringes. 

“You had a bad reaction to something in the cupcake. Considering the recipe, we’re leaning towards something in the avocado oil,” Dick says. “I’m so sorry, buddy.” 

“What are you sorry about? It’s not like you knew what would happen and gave it to me anyway.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“So don’t apologize. There’s no need. Is it just us?” 

“You wish,” Dick replies. “Stephanie and Cass are the only ones not here because they’re off with Barbara. Everyone else is here. Most of them just got here, but all of them are here.” 

Damian fights the urge to groan at his family’s absurdity. 

“Dad’s talking to the doctor right now for us to set up a time for you to get an allergy test. Damn, I feel stupid for not thinking of this before.” 

“It’s not like any of the rest of us thought of it. You’re too hard on yourself.” 

“Maybe,” Dick mutters. 

Jason and Tim poke their heads into the room and look relieved to see Damian awake. 

“Hello, Todd. Drake.” 

They settle down in chairs around the bed and Damian feels an odd sense of gratitude. Even though he feels that it’s ridiculous that almost his whole family showed up, he’s glad they’re there. Jason and Tim attempt to distract Damian until Bruce comes in. 

“How are you?” Bruce asks, standing behind Dick’s chair with his hands on the headrest. 

“I’m fine,” Damian answers. 

Dick and Tim raise an eyebrow while Jason scoffs. 

“Stop that, Todd.” 

Jason shrugs. 

Bruce and Damian make eye contact for a moment, then Bruce nods. “Alright, I’ll take it for now. The test is set for a month from now. They want you to have time to fully recover from this before they expose you to anything else.” Damian nods. 

“Thank you, Father.” 

Bruce nods. 

While listening to his family talking to each other, Damian falls asleep again.

[15-lizards]

Okay I’ve had some renewed ideas for kings landing fashion bc the whole city is just a separate ecosystem

When Rhaella and Joanna were still alive, they had this “classic” silhouette going on, Joanna bc Tywin wanted her to look both modest and elegant (bc the lady of the west isn’t gonna look like a hooker or a bum- Tywin probably) and Rhaella probably to cover up bruises (Aerys I will see you in hell). Anyways this kind of look probably originates in the westerlands, and since the Lannisters were big names in KL, everyone wanted to emulate them, and so all the ladies began to wear big skirts, wide sleeves, natural waists, and square necklines, often times with a kerchief and some type of hood for more modesty.

By the time Cersei’s queen, things more or less stay the same, as she wants to emulate her mother in some type of remembrance. Though fashion is noticeably a bit more gaudy/opulent bc Cersei loves to show off and of course everyone’s gonna follow her lead. However the silhouette is basically unchanged, and everyone still wears it, even Sansa when she comes down from the north when she tries to emulate Cersei (isn’t that picture on the right just so baby Sansa arriving at kings landing 💔)

And then everyone’s favorite shit stirrers (the Tyrells) pull up. They do nothing in moderation, everything is done in lavish extremes. Giant puffy sleeves at the shoulders that tighten at their wrists, waistlines that start at their sternums, boobs pushed up to high heaven, and cloth of gold and mother of pearl and silk and chiffon everywhere. It’s a hot girl long summer in Kings Landing when Margaery is queen

Men probably toe a real thin line for fashion in the city. They’re looking for a middle ground of tyrell/Lannister flashiness while still trying to look masculine and serious bc Tywin doesn’t want any little gay boys at court (sorry Loras). But the guys are probably divided by faction, so at any time you can see ether the bright colors and extra detailing of the Tyrells or the simple and sturdy but well made clothing leftover from the Lannister/Baratheon era.

And what I think is super interesting is that at some point, Margaery and Cersei’s respective influences have to collide. Over time, the city sees a combination of the two silhouettes as the two factions intertwine. It’s most popular with people trying to curry favor from both courts, those who want to impress Margaery but also stay on Cersei’s good side. The look is essentially a bloating of the originally Rhaella/Joanna look. Giant sleeves, puffy skirts, and super excessive detailing paired with the square neck, and natural waist of that classic look.

[20-th-centurygirl]

caught

mason mount x fem!reader

Warnings: smut, language

Summary: you're caught having sex 🫣

a/n: this was super rushed I'm sorry if it's bad <33 had to include ben in the gif too 🤭

Masterlist

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

"Fuck Mase right there" you breathed out as your back arched off the sofa. What was supposed to be a quick fuck before his friends came over turned into Mason beings determined to give you as many orgasms as he possibly could before you couldn't physically take it anymore. And naturally his way of getting most of those out of you was by eating you out. It was both of your favourite types of sex and it was rare you'd ever actually have sex without giving each other at least a little bit of head even if you didn't make each other finish through it.

His arm was draped around your stomach, your shirt had simply been hitched up and your jeans and underwear pooled at your ankles with mason currently fully clothed. "Mason they're gonna be here soon." You whimpered, though the fear of getting caught was fueling the fire inside you more than you cared to admit. "I know baby." He pulled away, sitting up as he pulled his joggers and boxers down just enough for his now painfully hard dick to slap against his stomach.

"C'mon." He whispered, a wide smirk appearing on his lips as he saw the way you struggled to get up with your legs being so wobbly. "Mase we have to be quick." You whined. "Cause you'll last long." He rolled his eyes as his smirk grew impossibly bigger and you playfully tapped his shoulder. You straddled him before lowering yourself down onto him, both of you moaning out in unison. He threw his head back to rest on the back of the sofa as you bounced up and down, his hands had an iron grip on your waist as he guided you up and down. "Fuck baby you feel amazing." He moaned out, bucking his hips up to meet you when you sunk back down. Your eyes rolled back when he brought a thumb to your mouth for you to suck on before bringing it to your clit and rubbing quick circles on it. "Fuck Mason I'm so cl-" You were interrupted by the front door opening. "Hi- oh my god fuck." Ben instantly ran back outside, the door slamming behind him. You knew your face was the exact same colour as a strawberry as was Mason's. "Mason I- oh fuck." You were interrupted as he continued his actions, aggressively thrusting into you. "Mason are you mad? Ben's waiting." You half moaned out, too desperate to get your release to care. "I'm nearly there it's okay. He'll wait till we go and get him." He panted out, moaning in between. You could only nod, your mind clouded by lust as you bounced up down. You saw stars when he took one of your nipples into his mouth, staring right at you. You tried to keep eye contact but it was impossible, your head falling back as desperate whimpers of Mason's name and curses tumbled from your lips. Your clenching around him triggered Mason's orgasm, him letting out whimpers that were muffled against your boobs.

He fell back and you slumped on top of him, both of you panting as his forehead slicked with sweat rested in the crook of your neck, him pressing gentle kisses to your neck. "You okay?" He asked as you crawled off him, still panting slightly as you pulled up your underwear and jeans before making your way to the toilet. "Yeah. That was hot as fuck." He simply laughed at that "I can't disagree with that. Better go and get Ben while you go and clean yourself up." He pressed a kiss to your forehead, slapping your bum lightly as you made your way upstairs.

Mason opened the door, and seeing Ben brought back all the embarrassment and his cheeks flushed instantly. "Hi mate, do you wanna come in?" Ben just burst out laughing at his awkwardness before following Mason into the living room and sitting down on the floor. "Why are you on the floor?" Mason quizzed, laughing at Ben's disgusted face. "No way am I sitting on that sofa ever again mate." He shook his head. Just as you made your way into the room Mason retorted with a comment that made your cheeks burn "wouldn't be the first time you've sat on there after we've had sex." You slapped his shoulder "Mason!" Ben groaned and hid his face in his hands "y/n I've heard you shout his name enough today stop triggering flashbacks". You simply rolled your eyes before cuddling you to Mason on the sofa, with Ben who was still situated on the floor making gagging noises.

[tickly-tufts]

Date Night

in which mj bullies miguel with thigh tickles cuz i have brainrot and wanted to treat myself

—

Unsurprisingly, it was Peter’s fault.

“I am… so sorry.”

Muffled through a palm that barely hid a grin, the apology was entirely unconvincing.

“Yeah, I can tell you’re just wracked with guilt,” Miguel deadpanned, feeling dead inside. He would’ve rubbed his temple if he’d been able, but neither arm was stuck close enough to his head. His next move might’ve been to use his claws, if he’d had the range of motion for it. Unfortunately, there was little one could do when they were half-encased in webbing.

It was the end result of a series of mishaps, comical for Peter, miserable for Miguel. In short, there’d been a Spiderman experimenting with new web fluid, high-strength to the point that it’d jammed their web-shooter. Much to everyone’s surprise, they’d turned to Peter B. Parker for help. Flattered, he’d promised to take a look at the web-shooter… then promptly misplaced it in Miguel’s lair.

And then, because the only thing worse than Parker luck was O’Hara luck, Miguel had been the one to find it.

On the floor.

By stepping on it.

“Wow, you’re super stuck on there, huh?” Peter tugged at the webbing on Miguel’s chest. It wrapped across his entire torso, too thick to simply pull apart. In contrast, Miguel’s lower body had nearly been spared, bearing only a handful of web clumps. Unfortunately, that still proved enough to bind his legs, trapping him in an odd lean against the wall.

“I can whip up a solvent in the lab, but it’ll take time,” Peter warned, getting serious. Then he exhaled ruefully. “Of course this happened on date night… MJ’s gonna be bummed.”

Honestly, Miguel was disappointed, too. He’d been looking forward to his evening with the Parkers. However, before he could consider admitting it, Peter suddenly brightened and lifted his watch.

“I just had the best idea.”

—

MJ had visited Nueva York before, but the portals were still a novelty to her. Stepping from her sunny living room into Miguel’s shaded sanctum resulted in some stumbling as her eyes adjusted.

“¡Cuidado!” Miguel hissed out in alarm when she nearly ran into a shelf. Quickly course-correcting, MJ followed his voice, eventually locating the correct corner.

“Oh, Migs,” she sighed when she saw him, reaching out to cradle his face. Instinctively, Miguel leaned forward, though he couldn’t actually get any closer.

“How much did Peter tell you?” Miguel asked while her thumb brushed soothingly against his cheek.

“Enough to know our dinner plans won’t be happening, but I can still keep you company while Peter fixes this mess.” MJ then paused, realizing something. “Is Lyla not with you? I thought she lived here.”

Miguel shrugged, or at least tried to. “She’s assigned to monitoring the multiverse tonight.” He scowled a bit. “I got her to call Peter, but that’s as far as she needs to be involved in this.”

MJ’s lips quirked up in amusement. “Because she’ll make fun of you?”

“…She already did.”

Miguel pouted, and unable to resist, MJ kissed him, nice and slow. “You poor thing,” she murmured when they parted, pleased to see him looking slightly dazed. “Anything I can do to make you feel better?”

Miguel raised an eyebrow at her tone. “Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but what can you do while I’m webbed up like this?”

MJ looked down, and Miguel followed her gaze, realizing then that she stood between his legs. There was some space separating their bodies, but it couldn't have been more than an inch. “Depends on how much you can feel through the suit,” she practically purred, giving his left thigh a squeeze. MJ had meant for it to be flirtatious... only to jump when Miguel jolted violently.

“Miguel?!” she cried out in concern, then registered that he'd also made a sound. Not one of pain, nor pleasure like she'd aimed for, but- “Wait a second, are you…? Here?”

Miguel froze as MJ reassessed him, eyes roaming curiously across his legs. Hyperaware of where her thoughts were leading, he barely suppressed the urge to shiver. He did shiver when she grabbed herself a seat, scooting in right between his knees. Placing a hand on top of each thigh, she smiled up at him... then started kneading.

“SHOCK!” Miguel screeched before he crumbled, cackling without any restraint. Both MJ and Peter had tickled him before, but no one had gone for the thighs since… well, Xina. It was even worse than he remembered, and he'd remembered it being pretty embarrassing. His ex had never let him live it down, and evidently, it was back to haunt him.

“How did we not know about this?” MJ marveled, alternating between legs. She massaged upwards from his knees, which might’ve been relaxing for anyone else. Miguel writhed within the cluster of webbing, eyes squeezed shut as tightly as possible. They shot back open when MJ moved inwards, pinching along his inner thighs.

“¡Mierda!” escaped him more like a whine than a curse, as he flung his head back, giggling uncontrollably. MJ only did this for a minute before withdrawing in astonishment.

“So that’s all it takes to get the fangs out, huh?” She could not have been more delighted. “Aww, no, don’t be shy!” she protested when Miguel rushed to hide them. Thinking fast, she switched to scratching, honing in on the thickest part of his thighs. Miguel promptly lost his mind, fangs flashing openly as he wailed with mirth.

Scratching eventually eased into grazing, granting Miguel a break, though not enough to stop smiling. He allowed his fangs to peek out from his mouth, if only to garner more mercy from MJ.

“Such a cute smile,” MJ cooed, smirking when Miguel turned his head away, flustered. She and Peter had realized quite early on that direct praise worked wonders on him. Speaking of which- “Peter’s really missing out… We’ll definitely have to fill him in later.”

Miguel tried not to think too hard about all the things Peter might do with that knowledge.

As soon as Miguel was reasonably recovered, MJ resumed her exploration with the backs of his thighs. Miguel’s legs trembled as MJ’s fingers climbed them, but that wasn’t the part that got him giggling again.

“Oh my god.” MJ couldn’t stop grinning when she finally noticed where her hand had wandered. “Seriously? Your ass is ticklish? Peter is gonna love this so much.” She was very tempted to linger there herself, but Miguel's position just wasn't ideal for it. Sitting back, she examined him again, contemplating her other options.

“Will I regret asking what you’re thinking?” Miguel questioned cautiously.

MJ looked pensive, then mischievous.

“There's just one more thing I have to try.”

—

The solvent was done sooner than he’d expected. Future tech really never ceased to amaze. Peter swung his way back to Miguel’s lair in record time, fully prepared to announce himself, until-

“¡POR DIOS, ERES UNA SÁDICA!”

The exclamation made him rear back. It had obviously come from Miguel, but what the hell was making him sound like that?

Peter’s spider-sense wasn’t going off at all, but just to be safe, he crept forward in stealth mode. He nearly abandoned it to charge in when he heard what sounded like a sob. Experience kept him grounded, though. If something bad was happening, he needed the upper hand. Then he finally rounded the corner, and apprehension made way for awe.

He’d seen MJ tickle Miguel before, poking playfully at his sides, or even nibbling at his neck. Peter and MJ had both picked up on the fact he never genuinely tried to stop her. It was one of Peter’s favorite discoveries about Miguel, even if Miguel rarely made it that easy for him. With all that in mind, though, Peter still wasn’t ready to find MJ tickling Miguel to tears.

“Nonono- ¡No puedo más!” Miguel was babbling between hysterics. Meanwhile, Peter’s very lovely wife was digging into the crease of his thighs. The webs holding Miguel showed off their strength, hardly letting him thrash, much less escape. Miguel’s desperation only intensified as MJ’s fingers migrated inward.

Mary Jane could be a menace. Peter had known that for years. He was pretty sure that after this, Miguel would never forget it either. With MJ scribbling right between his thighs, he broke down within seconds.

“¡No más! Please! Stohohop, plehease!” Miguel begged breathlessly, hitting his limit.

And because MJ was mean but never cruel, she pulled back without any hesitation.

Peter waited another minute for Miguel to calm down, while MJ gently brushed tears from his eyes. He couldn’t make out whatever she was whispering, but he could guess from the way Miguel nuzzled her palm. “Hope I’m not ruining a tender moment,” Peter piped up then, revealing himself. All attention snapped to him, and in greeting, he pulled out the solvent.

“…How long were you watching?” Miguel asked once he'd been fully freed from the wall.

“Pretty sure I heard you call my wife a sadist,” Peter answered cheerfully.

Miguel flushed. MJ laughed. Peter was incredibly in love with them both.

He did wish he'd gotten a turn, though... Maybe they could pencil it in next date night.

[celerydays]

could you walk us through what notebooks & journals & pens /etc you use - they look so good!

I would be SO happy to, you have no idea!!

Alright, let's fucking GOOOO~

Starting off with my current "workhorse" pens - I have like *checks notes* 36 fountain pens and a bit too many inked up atm, but these are just the ones I'm currently reaching for or have inked up more often than not:

TWSBI Go (F): Kinda ugly! But also kinda cute! It's cheap and works great (I friggin love TWSBI pens tbh) and it has a little hole on the cap where you can attach a lanyard or charms, like I did! Makes it cuter imo and it's kind of my emotional support pen these days.

Opus88 Pocket (EF): This 2022 edition has a little Moon tarot design on the cap so it's pretty much the pen I use exclusively for my witchy/tarot practice journals! A lil bummed the cap doesn't post, especially since its a shorter pocket-sized pen, but not a deal breaker and I still love it.

Pilot Custom 823 (F): My grail pen that I've literally coveted for years and just recently acquired at the DC Pen Show this weekend! It's only been a day but I think it could potentially become my favorite pen. Ever.

Pilot Prera (CM): This is my third Prera lol. I just think they're great and really underrated pens! Also a recent acquisition from the DC Pen Show and this cursive M nib is suuuuper fun to write with.

Pilot Vanishing Point (EF): My favorite pen for planning! Super fine-tipped for writing task lists and schedules and love that it's so convenient/quick-draw with the click mechanism.

(I'm totally a Pilot pen ho, can you tell? asdjflaglsg)

Journals/Planners/Notebooks under cut–

Sterling Ink B6 Common Planner: For a good chunk of this year, I was in this planner because I honestly love the size and all the layouts. Super practical and flexible as a system. 10/10 would go back. I've used it to plan, as a reading journal, as a tarot log...

But I get the itch to move around so it's been sitting a little unused since like June, oop.

Leuchtturm A6: I started craving something tiny and minimal so I've been bullet journaling in this pocket notebook for the last month or two and I'm really enjoying it!

Standard-sized Tomoe River Paper notebook: This is pretty consistent in that I don't change up the system itself, but I'm in and out of it for memory keeping/scrapbook journaling! It's almost always a Tomoe River paper notebook of SOME kind that I usually buy in A5 size to go to FedEx and get it cut down to standard. Though I'm thinking of getting a blank Midori MD A5 to have cut down next time - I've been liking the freedom of blank pages for journaling instead of anything lined or gridded.

I really need to catch up with it tbh, but I love sitting in an explosion of printed photos, stickers, and washi and going ham with the pages.

(I do have a flip through of my January-March 2022 pages on YouTube)

Midori MD Cotton B6 Slim: I also have this sketchbook that sorta turned into a visual sketch diary of sorts. I fell off a while ago but want to get back into it because it's super fun to work in and to look back on!

Wide-sized Cosmo Air Light notebook & A5 Filofax Malden: These are my tarot/witchy journals. Grimoires I guess? One is for journaling and all my messier notes while the other is more for reference and ease of organization.

A5 Leuchtturm: I didn't know if I should include this guy, but I've been writing it in a lot recently so I guess I will lol. This is like truuuly a miscellaneous™ notebook.

I got this A5 notebook back in 2017 to use as my very first bullet journal, then found out that this size is personally waaaay too big for me to use as a bullet journal so I hopped off of it pretty quick. It now sits on my desk because since it's mostly blank I'll just pick it up to use it to write literally A N Y T H I N G.

Most recently, I wrote like 5 pages in one night on notes for a fanfiction piece I was working on (I'm not a writer, this fic is never gonna see the light of day by anyone but me lololol. Hyperfixation is so wild; I've put 80k+ words within just 10 days into it so far and it's been hella therapeutic.)

That's all, I think!?

It's funny because I actually have a NEW notebook arriving tomorrow that I'm going to try out as a bujo/commonplace/omni journal of sorts?? I might write an update post after I've set that up and see how I like it <3

[sparks-and-smoke]

Would it be possible to get a fic about Bucky and his GF getting caught on a date by the media. The GF is Pluse size and maybe someone makes a mean comment about her size? Cue protective Bucky who LOVES his girl so much

This is precious. And while I am almost certain you mean normal Bucky I had an idea for a popstar reader soooo. You’re getting Bodyguard Bucky. Ooops~ hope you like it anyway. 🩵

Characters/Pairings: Bodyguard!Bucky x Plus size popstar! Reader

Content/Warnings: fatphobia, body image issues, and illusions to smut at the end. Bucky is gonna be super sweet, but if this kind of thing triggers you steer clear. Stay safe, babes!

Author Note: this is written on my phone, and not beta read. So… extend me some grace :)

It was almost preternatural in a way, the way Bucky could sense when you weren’t ok. The way he seemed to know the moment he walked in your door that he was gonna have to chase away storm clouds, but it never failed. Your bodyguard always knew. And he made it his life mission to keep his sunshine girl from flickering out.

“What have you been reading.” He asked, his face stern and jaw clenched but his eyes softer then they had any right to be.

You sigh, turning off your phone screen and setting it face down, “Nothing, just an article.”

“An article about you?” He asked, tilting his head to try and see your eyes. He already knew the answer, because he followed what the media was saying. From the moment you stepped onto the scene the topic of discussion hovered around your weight more then it had any right to be. It didn’t matter that you had a voice that gave people goose bumps or that your presence on stage could light up a stadium all on your own. Because you weren’t a tiny little Barbie doll none of that seemed to matter.

You had been a beacon of positivity through it all though. Using your platform and following to promote self love and healthy habits at all sizes. Focusing on moving your body and prioritizing health over weight or measurements. Bucky adored you for it. Thought you were an angel, deserving of the world. Ans he wished everyone else thought that as well.

“Stars did an article on me.” You admitted, getting up and heading to the kitchen for some water. Not meeting Buckys eyes. “They are covering my casting in hairspray.”

“Yeah?” Bucky followed closely behind. He was proud of you for landing that role. You deserved it, you were gonna be a perfect Tracey. “What about it.”

You still wouldn’t meet his eyes. “It’s nothing James. There just saying I’m perfect for the role.”

Jame. James?! You never called him James. He was always Bucky, sometimes Bucky baby if you were really in a mood. That’s how he knew whatever they had written had hit a chord. “Angel… what did it say.”

You just shake your head and down your water. It really didn’t matter. It wasn’t anything that hadn’t been said before. To be honest, you don’t know why it was bumming you out so badly.

Except you did know why. Because you had dreamed of being on broadway your entire life. Since you were a little girl. And now… that dream was coming true. But all anyone wanted to talk about was how the plus sized popstar landed the fat girl role because what else could she be…

“Angel. You’re thinking awfully loud over there. You gonna tell me or am I gonna have to pull it out of you?” He stepped in closer. His smoky sweet aftershave wafting around you, pulling your eyes up to look at him. His glacial blue eyes were begging, pleading you to talk.

“They-“ you sigh, shoulders drooping. “They got a picture of me coming out of rehearsal. I’m in sweats, it’s unflattering and the whole article is about how I’ve put on weight for the role. Which I haven’t, if anything I’ve lost some from constant practices. But that’s not the point..” your voice cracks.

“I’m tired James. I am tired of having to be put together all the time or the paparazzi makes it all about how I let myself go. I finally reached what I concider to be a highlight of my career-” You voice cracks. The damn that had been slowly cracking inside your chest finally breaking. “And all anyone wanted to to talk about is how my thighs look in my sweats!”

Bucky was already moving. Pulling you into his arms. Tucking your eyes up under his chin as you shake with anger and frustration. Smoothing your hair from your face and kissing your temple with a lingering touch. “There we go, let it out.”

He lets you rant. Pushing down his own anger and frustration. You were the most beautiful person he knew. Inside and out. He had worked for a couple different celebrities over the years and none had the same golden heart as you. None. “I’m so sorry Angel. It’s a load of shit and we both know it but I know thy doesn’t make it easier.”

He closed his eyes. Kissing your hair. “You are beautiful. Every inch of you. From the top of your head to the tips of your toes. I hope you know that.” He pulls back to look into your red rimmed eyes. Cupping your cheek. “You are talented and charming and you draw people to you like flies to honey. And everyone with a brain can see it. I promise. Whoever wrote that article was poking at low hanging fruit that anyone of substance doesn’t care about. You are perfect.”

His voice drips with sincerity as his eyes roam your face. Pads of his thumb wiping away angry tears. “I think you need to put down your phone for the day. Why don’t you give it to me or to Alice and we’ll focus on things that actually matte today ok?”

You blink away tears, considering it. You could hand off your phone. Let your assistant answer your phone for the day, she will let her know if it’s something she needs to answer directly. But, unplugging was hard-

“Come on angel, we will go punch some stuff at the gym. And then I’ll take you for froyo at that boba place you like.” He tucks your hair behind your ear. “And then you can shower and I’ll help you unwind before you have your go practice tonight. How about that.” His voice was laced with promise. With sweet dark temptation as he leans forward and whispers the thing he could do to help you feel better. And you bite your lip as you know he will follow through on every one.

“How about we shower first?”

Bucky smiles, guiding you back toward your room as his hands slip under the hem of your shirt. “Whatever you want princess, let me show you how perfect I really think you are~”

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Comfort in Making a Home

Summary - Part 57 in the Comfort series

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader, Reader x Sam (platonic), Reader x Bobby (father-figure), Andre (OG Character) x Reader (best friends), Garth x Bess, Sam x Eileen

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

A/N: Wanted to give you guys a bit of a fun one this week. I also tried to make it a bit longer than the past few. 1. In honour of Jensen’s birthday! And 2. Because I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to write and publish a chapter next week as I’m going to my first-ever SPN convention, SUPER EXCITED, I’m finally gonna meet J2!! But as such, I’m gonna be a little busy, so sorry in advance if I don’t get a chance to upload next week.

Feeling reassured that the threat of other hunters coming after your little girl or the presence of other monsters in town was all an overreaction, you and Dean spend the rest of the week cleaning, furnishing and decorating your new home. You let Destiny choose the colour for her room, a pastel violet. Her room is the quickest and easiest as you just set it up similar to how it was at the bunker. While the process seems like Deja Vu as you move the same furniture you only just bought and set up, it feels more natural and permanent here.

The rest of the house proves to be a more extensive project. Though Dean grumbles about taking measurements, the weight of furniture, and the hassle of shopping, his complaints are laced with a certain satisfaction. You can tell Dean enjoys the change of pace. It’s still hard, tiring work, but it’s free of blood and death and he gets to spend time with you in a place where he knows you’re safe. No demons, no angels, just the ordinary challenges of making a house a home.

Your shared bedroom comes together quite quickly with Dean insisting that you keep your bed, as the memory foam remembers you both. You chuckle at his childish antics but agree nonetheless. Neither of you owns a lot of clothes either, so it’s a simple task for you to arrange them in the walk-in wardrobe while he paints Destiny’s room. Multitasking and working together proves a breeze after years of doing so on hunts.

Destiny plays in her new room, arranging her toys while you and Dean focus on the rest of the house. As you work together to arrange the living room, Dean teases you about the throw pillows and blankets, but there is a lightness in his eyes and tone that speaks volumes. The simple moments of shared laughter and playful banter feel like a luxury compared to the life you’re leaving behind.

“I still think this is too many pillows, but if it makes you happy…”

You roll your eyes, playfully swatting his arm with a pillow. “It's called decorating, Dean. You'll get used to it.”

“I’m sure they’re good for something…” Dean muses as he picks one up and swats your bum with it. You retaliate until you’re both lying on the couch laughing and out of breath.

Dean grins, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close, his eyes scan the room with a sense of accomplishment. The house quickly transforms into a home, a safe haven where the threat of other hunters and monsters feels like a distant memory.

As the day turns into night, the glow of a lamp illuminates the living room. Feeling the exhaustion of the day's work, you sigh.

He kisses your head and then says, “Not bad, huh? Maybe suburban life ain't so bad after all.”

You lean into him, the sense of security in his embrace making the sacrifices of the hunting life seem worth it. “Definitely not bad. Not that it’s suburban up here in the mountains…”

Dean rolls his eyes at you and pinches your side softly. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. It's nice to have a place where we can just be... us.”

And in the quiet of your new home, surrounded by the echoes of laughter and the promise of a peaceful future, you know that this change of pace is exactly what your family needs. And as you and Dean sit on the couch in the living room, exhaustion replaced by contentment, you know you've found something rare and precious—a place where you can truly be safe and happy.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Early morning sunlight spills through the curtains of your new bedroom, casting a warm glow over your bed and the hardwood floors. Not used to having windows, the feeling is a little surreal to begin with, almost like waking up in a motel room. Dean yawns as he stretches and pulls you closer to his bare chest.

He kisses your forehead, “Morning, Beautiful.”

You smile as you snuggle into his embrace. “Morning, Handsome. It still doesn’t feel real, you know? Our own place…”

“We haven’t Christened the house yet, you know…And there’s no annoying little brother here to interrupt us!”

“Ah, true…But there is a little girl that could wake up any minute. And she had a bit of a rough night…not sure if you noticed me get up about five times. You, on the other hand, seemed to have the best sleep of your life. So much for man-of-the-house protecting us…I had to go protect her from the tree branches and animals in the woods.”

Dean slips his fingers under the hem of your sleep shirt, dragging them lightly along your stomach to trace the swell of your breasts. He trails kisses over your face towards your neck. “You’re my sexy, strong, badass protector. Let me show my appreciation.”

You playfully groan, “Dean…”

He takes your hand in one of his and guides it over his stiffening dick. “You feel that? I’m getting blue balls with all this waiting and stopping…They’re going to explode and kill me. You’re literally going to be the death of me.”

You let out a light chuckle as you shake your head. “You’re so melodramatic! You and I both know that’s a myth. I promise it won’t kill you. Plus, I heard you jerking it in the shower the other day.”

“Which is no substitute for the real thing, I’ll have you know.”

“I know. I also know I’m hungry and need coffee and we have yet to stock the kitchen here or buy a coffee machine…So, come on, Honey. Stow your blue balls and get up.”

He groans loudly as he flops back down on the bed in defeat. “This is like the chastity vow all over again! All I want to do is make love to my wife, is that really too much to ask?”

You lean over and kiss his lips. “What we need is a proper date night. Leave it with me. We got plenty of friends, I’m sure I can find a babysitter for one night…”

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

The sun is casting a beautiful pink and orange hue over the forest when your family finally returns from another long day shopping, dining out and picking up a few more belongings from the Bunker. Dean, clad in a worn-out plaid shirt and his trademark smirk, takes charge of arranging pots and pans, his culinary expertise evident despite his continued grumbling.

“I can't believe I spent another full day shopping and now am voluntarily ending it in the kitchen. This better be worth it.”

You shake your head and chuckle. Destiny, a bundle of energy despite the long day, eagerly pulls colourful bowls and plates out of the bags, her eyes wide with excitement. The kitchen buzzes with laughter as you and Dean share a glance, appreciating the normalcy of domestic tasks. With her arms overflowing, Destiny waddles into the kitchen as if trying to help. Dean notices her looking lost and rather than chastising her for being in the way or taking the bowls off her, he picks her up so she can reach the overhead cupboards and place the colourful wares inside. 

With all the new purchases in their new home and the kitchen looking more homely, Dean sets about preparing everything he needs to cook up a delicious feast for your first official meal in your new home. He ties on an apron before producing a matching one in a much smaller size. Destiny beams.

Wearing her miniature apron, she stands on a step stool, helping with stirring and mixing the gravy. Dean, despite his initial protests, enjoys the rhythm of chopping vegetables and sizzling pans, surrounded by the warmth of his family. You go about setting the new wooden table on the patio with the colourful plates, cups and cutlery Destiny helped to choose. It looks bright and welcoming, the opposite of everything you’re used to. The one piece of normality is the shotgun Dean leaned up against the corner of the patio, a single line of defence to make him feel more secure in the open space.

Just as Dean’s preparing to bring the food out to you the doorbell rings. Destiny jumps off the stool and pulls off the apron to show off the fancy new dress Dean bought her. It’s long sleeve with flannel designs and a frilly skirt that matches. He thought it was so cute that he couldn’t not buy it. Truly, it surprised you after his earlier whines about the lack of privacy and sex, he really sees Destiny as his little partner in crime during the day and revels in the way she looks up to him (both literally and figuratively).

“Can I get it!” Destiny asks brightly.

Despite being 99% certain of who’s at the door, you insist on going with her just in case. So, while Dean finishes delivering the food to the table you go downstairs with Destiny to get the door.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Tag list: (Leave a like or comment on this post or let me know below if you want to be added to the tag list for this series)

@bitchwitch1981, @muhahaha303, @justrealizedimmascifygurl, @mcdowell-123, @leigh70, @marvelsmarauder, @losa12308, @tapedeck-hearts, @luvjaida, @peachtxa, @ambearsstuff, @shadow-of-a-cloud, @slut-for-buck, @iprobablyshipit91, @sassy-pelican, @fallenlilangel99, @heavenlyhopeful0, @nelachu2423, @ladysparkles78, @canyouimaginethatstory, @mrlonelycat, @roseblue373, @staley83

[glowingbadger]

idk if this will be too specific so feel free to mix and match as you like, but 2, 16, 37, and 38 for Axel?

AXEL MY SPECIAL MAN I love him so much, always thrilled to write for him lol. And y'know, I've had this concept in mind with him for a super long while that, after he gets his heart back, he might have a hard time fully dealing with how intense his feelings for Reader-chan are, and how different it makes the sexual side of things feel for him, so I'm gonna roll with that for this and apologies in advance if it gets a bit longer than some of the other kink prompt drabbles~~

(Side note I wasn't sure who you wanted on the giving/receiving end of any of this so... I guessed lmao. Also because this was a lot of kinks for one piece, I played a little fast and loose with them and some are represented more than others. I was just kinda winging it idk)

Anyway man I spent too much time struggling to find any time to write lately so like if I have to come back to this in a week to fix word repetition and type-os then... so fuckin be it I guess lol

Axel (Kingdom Hearts) x GN! Reader

Kink prompts list #2 - body worship, #16 - praise, #37 - massage, #38 - size difference

NSFW 18+

Axel kisses you differently these days. Like the moment he feels your lips on his, he's struck by something powerful and compelling. Like he can't quite control himself. With his heart returned to him at last, you've quickly discovered the novel and enthralling sensation of it pounding rapidly beneath your hands when they come to rest on his chest. But then- just as he has every time since your reunion -he stops. The warmth of Axel's touch leaves you, and he pulls away even as your hands subconsciously remain clenched around his black t-shirt. You blink your eyes back into focus. He glows in the early evening light where the two of you have settled on a large blanket along the shores of the Destiny Islands. The stunning turquoise of his eyes still seems to sparkle like the sea itself, even as he glances away from you and sighs.

"S- Sorry," he mutters, his head hanging, "We should, uh, probably get back to the others, yeah?"

Your brow furrows, and you pause to watch him at first. It's impossible to tell in the bleeding reds and oranges of the coming sunset, but it almost seems as though his face is flushed pink. You wonder- have you ever seen Axel blush before? It doesn't seem like him. But then, he hasn't had his heart for very long.

Just as he starts to pull away from you, you find your voice,

"Axel- wait," you gently tug him back towards you on the blanket, and he follows so that he's made to face you, "Is... is everything alright?"

"Huh? 'Course everything's..." he trails off as he meets your eye. His expression falls, and you can tell he sees the pained concern on your face. He sighs.

"Sorry, I uh... Ugh," he runs a hand through his hair, exasperated, "Don't look at me like that, c'mon. I'll spill, okay? It's just," his posture deflates, "it's pretty lame."

You shift closer to him, straightening the scrunched up blanket as you do so you can pretend you don't notice the way his body tenses beside you.

"You've just... been worrying me a bit lately, that's all. About how you're doing and, well, about us."

"Woah, woah, hey now!" Axel frantically takes your hand in his, holding it almost painfully tight near his chest, "Don't go thinking like that! Don't ever think that! It's my fault- I'm... not used to actually feeling all of this."

You frown a bit, then your brows raise as you gradually begin to understand. As you process, he elaborates,

"Before, when I 'felt' things, it was more like remembering, or thinking about feeling. Like... when someone tells you something really sad, and you feel bummed about it, but you weren't really there, right? It wasn't your sad thing that happened."

You get the feeling that, for him, this is a frustratingly inadequate metaphor. Still, you understand well enough, so you nod.

"I got used to that," he says, his eyes low before raising them to gaze at you with a sincerity that makes your chest ache, "But now, it's different- I feel everything. I feel it so much- an-and, being around you, it... drives me absolutely nuts. My heart," he releases your hand and places his at his chest, "It just goes wild when I touch you, sometimes it's like it's about to go up in flames."

You look at him warmly, leaning close.

"Well, if anyone could handle that, it'd be you."

He gives a short laugh through his nose, and his gaze softens.

"Guess so. Anyway," he sighs, "it's super lame, so... I didn't wanna bother you with this. But I kinda blew it, huh."

"It's not lame, Axel," you say with a grin, "Honestly I probably should have thought of that before now- I'm sorry I didn't. It must be really overwhelming to be feeling so many things for the first time in so many years. You were just a kid when you lost your heart."

"Guess that's fair..." his body finally relaxes a bit, but after a pause, he adds, "Still, I feel like a jerk though. It's not that I don't wanna be near you, or... touch you and all of that," there's a heat in his expression as he speaks, raising a hand to tentatively graze his fingers down your jawline, "Man, I really, really do."

"Then... maybe you just need to ease back into it?" you lean into the feeling of his hand at your cheek, offering what you hope is a reassuring smile. He looks at you, confused but intrigued, and you say,

"Like, maybe you could just, you know, practice touching me. Take it slow, don't rush, and, well... touch me as much as you want."

The crimson of his face rivals his hair, and his voice scratches just slightly in his throat,

"Wha- like, like a massage?" he gives a short laugh, "I mean, I'll try, but I've never-"

"Sure, like a massage," you smile, and immediately begin undressing to only the bathing suite you'd thrown on beneath your clothes. He's seen your body before, back in his Nobody days- many times, and every inch. Now, you see his chest slowly rise and fall as he breathes deeply, watching you with something like awe in those bright teal eyes. A part of you dearly wishes you could fully understand how it feels for him. How world-shaking it would be to live without true emotions of your own, to somehow come close to love in that state, and then to one day regain those feelings and be confronted with the full intensity of it all. You wonder if he'll ever fully adjust; he lived without a heart for a decade, after all. But, at least for now, he seems very interested in that massage idea.

You lay across the blanket on your stomach and glance expectantly back at him over your shoulder. This seems to shake him back into the present moment, and he positions himself above you. Your body warms at the reminder of how much taller he is than you- the way that, in the past, he'd been able to manhandle you, touch any part of you, overwhelm you while you gasped his name. You shake the thought from your mind for the time being- he needs you to take this slow. For now, anyway.

Axel's hands come to rest tentatively at your shoulder muscles, and you smile at the familiar warmth of his touch. He's always been warm, though you suppose that only makes sense. Very gently- almost too gently- he begins to rub your shoulders up to the muscles at the base of your neck. You close your eyes and exhale, smiling while your heart flutters at the chance to finally feel this, feel him. Gradually, he works down to your shoulder blades, and you let out a groaning sigh as he works out a knot you hadn't noticed prior.

"Mmm, that's nice..." you murmur. You feel Axel's body tense behind you. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah," he says, too quickly.

Before long, those strong hands reach a firmer and more consistent pressure, and he seems ever slightly more sure of himself. You allow yourself a few happy sighs and groans to encourage him, commenting now and then when something feels especially nice. He takes his time, and you're patient, reminding yourself that, for as much as you burn and ache for more, he needs to be the one to guide your pace. Yet by the time his hands run down your back, tracing your waist and reaching your hips, you can't help the cat-like way you squirm beneath him. He's closer to you now, and you can feel his heat behind you. For a moment, you think you feel something else, too- something hard and warm at the swell of your ass.

"Damn, Y/N..." he mutters as he runs those hands back up your body, thumbs applying a wonderful pressure close to your spine, "You're gonna make me lose it with those noises..."

"Mmh, but it feels so good, Axel," you luxuriate on your words, mercilessly prodding at his lust. Perhaps it's cruel to tease him this way; already, you can feel the harsher grip of his hands, and you're certain you hear something like him biting back a groan of his own. With a playful look back at him, you arch your body and say,

"I missed this, you know. Having you on top of me."

"You little..." his words trail off, but his hands wander lower, briefly groping at your ass in a way that reminds you of how he'd grabbed and spanked you in the past.

"Sorry, sorry," you say with a small laugh, "Is this too much?"

"No," he grips your thighs and runs his hands upward until he's cupping your ass in both hands, spreading it beneath the fragile barrier of your swimsuit, "Now that I'm past that first barrier... it's nowhere near enough. Maybe that's what I was really nervous about this whole time."

At first, you only hum pleasantly as he fondles your body, your pulse racing with the thrill of his hands meticulously tracing your every contour. When you finally think to speak, you ask,

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." you feel Axel's thumb play along the edge of your swimsuit, just barely sneaking below the clingy fabric, "I mean that I'm so crazy into you that right now I can't think of anything but how badly I wanna show you exactly how my heart and body both feel about you. And once I start..." his body presses to yours, his lips brushing the shell of your ear, "I don't know how I'm ever gonna stop."

For a moment, you're mindless and breathless. The heat of him around you is intoxicating, warming you through to your core even as the sun begins to dip beneath the glassy ocean behind you. Axel props himself over you with one arm on the blanket beside you, while his free hand holds at your hip, tugging you against him so you can feel the pressure of his hard and throbbing cock against your ass.

"Please," you whimper, "Axel, I've missed you so much."

Without a word, he tugs your swimsuit out of the way and opens the front of his jeans. The head of his member presses to your needy, clenching little hole, then forcefully begins to spread you open around him as he thrusts forward. His impassioned groan is swallowed up by your gasping cry of his name, but for a moment, he simply remains sheathed in you. You'd nearly forgotten how big he is, and he seemed eager to remind you, but even so, you can tell he hasn't entered you to the base just yet.

"Sorry... for makin' you wait so long..." he grunts against your ear.

"Wo... worth it..." you barely manage to reply. The pain and pleasure of him stretching you around his iron-hard cock is mind-numbing. You feel the tingling sensation across your skin all the way to your fingertips. Then, just as you'd begun to get accustomed to his size, his hips begin to sway. Despite his desperation for you, he's gentle, carefully and gradually pumping into you at a pace that allows you to adjust as he fills you just a little deeper with each pass. Axel has always been so much more gentle than he wants anyone to know, but you adore the harsher things about him, too. When you feel the tinge of discomfort of his cockhead bottoming out inside of you, your ass finally meeting his lower abdomen, you sigh his name aloud in absolute bliss.

"How's... that heart of yours doing?" you half-sigh.

He's pressed against you, holding you with an incredible loving tenderness while his massive cock sends mind-breaking tremors through your core.

"On fire," he says, the pace of his thrusts picking up, his breath hot and ragged at the back of your throat, "I like it."

[sadfruittheatre]

Loss and Lots of Retcons: The Current State of Affairs and Moving Forward

So, now that things have begun to calm down, I want to talk a little bit more about various retcons and what's going to change, both in terms of this blog and the timeline. This is also a to-do list for me, because I have hella ADHD and get very overwhelmed without some kind of game plan.

So, to get the big thing out of the way, several characters are no longer going to exist and will have never existed. You're going to see the things on this list and go "woah, wait a minute! aren't all these guys like, super important to a bunch of things!?" and the answer is yes, but sometimes things happen in real life that affect the plot and that is just a potential consequence of working in collaboration with other people.

So, the casualties are:

Mara

Flann

Veroa

Kuroza (Fish)

Anzu

Carma and Kone

It's a lot of characters unfortunately, but we still have plenty left.

Cayenne

Bragi

Aneas

Tomor

Eugene

Mirin

Coulie

Dulze

Deeji

Letch

Mille

Mento

The character pages will be updated accordingly.

There will also be some new characters introduced in conjunction to the plot things that have been happening in the background, but I will not be elaborating on all that yet until I iron out this other stuff. But know that I am definitely looking forward to introducing you to these guys and their lovely creators!

But Kateh, I hear you ask, how are you going to have concurrent plot things going on when you have to retcon like, everything??? Well, you see, I'm basically doing my best to keep the overall trajectories of my OCs as close to the same as possible in broad strokes, even if there are different characters involved or some things just didn't happen anymore. Some characters are honestly completely unaffected by this (like Aneas, who wins by staying in his lane and loving his wife). Other characters, namely Bragi, and to a lesser degree, Tomor, need a lot of work done to fix the damage.

As for the art and writing I've uploaded, much of it is probably going to be taken down, because I don't feel comfortable having art up of characters I no longer have the rights to use for a continuity that no longer exists. Some things can be edited in small ways, and if I can salvage it, I will; plenty of other things will stay up, though the context for them is largely going to have to be rewritten to fit the new continuity. I'm definitely bummed that so much of this entire project has to be gutted, but I'm hoping to be able to slowly rebuild things going forward. Honestly not sure if it would be easier to delete and start over, but I'll try to fix things as they are before I do all that.

I do actually have some establishing comics in the works to get us all adjusted to the new vibes, so we can at least look forward to that!

Now, let's talk plot and characters. We've talked a lot about what's lost, but here's what remains.

Now, while there are still a lot of minor details to work out, the broad strokes are as follows:

Bragi's still being sent to Conton City to atone for his stinky boy crimes. However, the big difference now is that for better immersion in the mortal culture, he's staying with a host family, the already overcrowded teacakes house with Dulze and Yamcha. Deeji is his new best friend. #DeejiSupremacy

He's still going to slowly get his shit together until he's forced to confront Aneas and they reconcile. Details are still hella fuzzy as to how that goes down but Aneas and Coulie (and Eugene) remain largely unchanged. Still happily married. #FlowerBudsSupremacy

A lot of the stuff with Mento probably still happened, though the context of Mirin's existence and what led up to Mento's death is gonna have to change wildly to accommodate it. Bragi's existential crisis will definitely have to be adjusted.

The Anzu shit? Didn't happen. Bragi likely remains unstabbed, unless we find another context to stab him in. With that in mind, he's probably going to revert back to his pre-vest design because like, the whole reason for that is because he got stabbed. At least his godtube channel remains alive and shitty. Coulie can still systematically dislike all of his videos.

At the most recent point in the timeline, Bragi's at least a little more willing to open up to people he trusts because Kuroza/Fish isn't there anymore to fuck it up for him by being weird about his trauma. He's still got some trust and vulnerability issues tho.

Tomor needs an overhaul at least in terms of his own trajectory. Part of this is due to the plot things I'm sitting on, part of it is because he lost his comedic foil in the form of Fish. He will definitely continue to cause problems on purpose tho, probably with New!Mento.

The Mento with Mirin goop in her brain is still very much a thing btw. She's so silly and I love her. #MentoSupremacy

Some of this stuff is still subject to change, and whatever does change likely won't be as detailed as it used to be, but we're doing what we can. It's a hot mess right now and it's gonna take a lot of time to fix it, so uh, thanks for bearing with me 👍

[ivebeenmade]

I guess I need to get this down. I really don't want to go through it again. But I will not be gaslit by these people.

As any mutual following probably knows, my relationship has been spiralling down the proverbial shit hole.

Well 2 nights ago was, in my opinion, the worst thing.

We had been told to get ready to leave her mother and mother's boyfriend's home. Where we were staying while she healed from a broken leg, concussion, etc. Sucked but apparently the single loud argument we had (during late morning) was the "last of many".

Ok.

Happened to be the same day I get paid. The day before we were using some cash we had stuffed away to get the niece and nephew at least something little for the holiday. As we looked around I saw the Legends Wandavision Scarlet Witch figure. I'm sure I looked a little bummed but I refused her offer of getting it on that trip. Money is tight and we needed to get the kids something.

After many difficult hours of packing up, and her mother repeatedly verbally harassing and threatening me, my gf decided we *needed* to go to the store.

When we got to the parking lot she said "do you wanna come in or....?" I said sure I'll come in.

I remember being side by side when we went through the door. I remember trying to keep it held open so it wouldn't swing back on her at all. Broken leg. And I do that anyway. Later on there was a "nice gentleman who held the door while you were still in the car" she explained rudely.

Anyway, she made a beeline for somewhere, and me being good with intuition (and slightly psychic but I don't expect all to believe that) I had a feeling she was going for my Marvel figure (30+ years collecting comics and figures). The day before she had insisted she'd just buy it later if I refused then. Very sweet.

Well I gave her room but kept looking cautiously around the edges of aisles to see her beautiful auburn curls against that army green jacket she just got.

Finally I saw her pushing a cart towards the door. I had heard her voice and come near the front of the store but still kept distance.

She left. My bag and phone were in the car. It's not a fucking super Walmart so if we get split up we can just shout and find eachother. Maybe not even shout. It's the local drug store. 10 short aisles at most.

I waited a while longer. Maybe it wasn't her I saw? I was still pretty far away and surely she would have just quickly looked for me or shouted for me, even asked an employee to get my attention.

Nope. I spent 40 minutes in there, thinking, maybe she will come back. Maybe she had a phone call or another part of the present at the other store.

Finally I took a walk to where I work. The grocery store down the sidewalk. One of my managers say she came in crying, saying I ditched her by waiting for her to leave the car. And I left my phone and purse.

(When she was gone I missed the only chance I had to catch a call from my advisor for some college courses I'm taking-she is supposed to help me work on the grant. To my knowledge my partner didn't even pick up.)

She also told my aunt I had run away. And my cousin. They live in GA.

She made me look insane to the whole town even though she could have looked in the store. Easy.

I got ahold of her mother for a ride home finally. She got there before my gf did and said if I needed a minute I could sit in the back room. So I did. In the cart. Just sobbing.

When she got it to talk to me she said I was being "performative" and "rude". After all, she was buying me a present. I told her I felt abandoned. She had lied to her mother about certain details of the evening. Like she had said I told her I was leaving as she got into the store. Then, hmm, why would you stay in the store instead of talking to me? Because that didn't happen.

She proceeded to scream at me, and threw a little tantrum by flinging a full redbul and the large figure's box against my back.

She said when I left the room that I "was gonna get in the car right now to return it if I didn't like it". The figure is something I've desperately desired since I heard it would be made. I never thought I could have it.

There's more but I'm so tired and work soon.

This morning she fell asleep and crawled over to cuddle me. It felt so good. But I was quietly crying because it also hurts like hell.

I don't know man. I just don't know.

[whatyourusherthinks]

My Adventures With Superman Season Two Review

AND WE'RE BACK! If you don't know what we're doing here, than go read my Season One MAWS review, but I'm just gonna keep trucking along!

Season 2 Episode 1 'More Things in Heaven and Earth'

Interesting dream opening, and I like that Clark and Lois are still being cute. But hold the fuck up a second. Jimmy is in charge now? Him selling his YouTube channel to the Daily Planet made him one of the bosses there? Is this implying he's like a partial owner or something? ...Actually I'm okay with this. But why is everyone giving Clark shit for a "lame" date idea? Why do they care? This is why no one likes you Cat! And Jimmy, you were there in the first season and saw Clark way over plan his first date with Lois. And you gave him shit about it. So why are you doing the opposite now? Not only is this entire Valentine's Day plot just their for some no really funny jokes, but I'm more annoyed about that than the entirety of the Daily Planet staff being super investing in Clark and Lois's love life honestly. Jimmy was such a good wingman before! YOU CAN'T DISTRACT ME WITH A REFERENCE TO THE ORGINAL SUPERMAN MOVIE SHOW!

Oh hey the guy who becomes Cyborg Superman is in this episode. That will totally distract me from this weird opening. I do like that Jimmy tries to cheer Lex Luthor up, which he takes as inspiration to become evil. I'm gonna get more into it later, but they do a very interesting dichotomy. I like their version of Kryton in the show, it's another thing I'll get into later as the show reveals more about it. I'm bummed they aren't going to give Superman a Fortress of Solitude, it seems like something they were setting up in this episode, but I get why and I can't blame them for making this choice. I just think it would have been cool. Especially since Jor-El is super cool in this episode. Also, any guesses about who the "enemy" the could not defeat is? Given that those Kryptonian soldiers are killed by a laser that seemed to change directions, the Kirby-dot accents on said laser, and what the planet looks like from space, I think it's Darkseid/the New Gods. That would be hella dope. All the villains in this episode are kinda dumb. Slade has officially fallen into "goon" territory, and Damage... I'm pissed at what they did to Damage. Maybe if the show goes into his backstory in a later episode it could still make him work, but right now they took a antihero with an interesting and complicated relationship with both Superman and the US government and made him Big Punchy Bad Man.

Season 2 Episode 2 'Adventures With My Girlfriend'

Hey this opening is kinda cute, with Waller hyping herself up and bring General Lane cof- Hold the fuck up again, how does Ivo have the Parasite suit? Superman tore him out of the suit and they left the remains in the park, did Task Force X capture him again and stick give him the Parasite tech again? Even though last time he destroyed their base and Waller herself admitted he was going insane? Why would you not keep him out of the suit until you need him to be Parasite? He's not even restrained that well they just leave him in a cell! Ivo aside, this episode is the beginning of something that bothered me throughout the entire season. Lois and Clark spend the entire season needing to talk about various things, and the show just doesn't let them have a moment. It just makes for the most annoying kind of cheap drama. So do you hate the show now? What? No! I still love the characters and the writers know what they are doing with Superman himself. Case in point, this episode is basically Superman versus the Prison Industrial Complex. And it's great. There was more subtle social commentary in the last season, but they make it more in your face this season. Which I have absolutely no problem with. Break my nose with your ACAB propaganda Supes! Plus Lois and Clark are super cute while they are investigating together. I also had a little freak out when Atomic Skull showed up. Yes, he a random Task Force X goon with no set-up, but a) his backstory in the comics is sorta dumb so skipping it works for this character, and b) he just looks so damn cool! A creepy looking destructive force is all you kinda need from AS, so he's good. Also, I like Jimmy's subplot. The laugh Perry White give when Jimmy says the interns aren't aren't listening to him cleansed my soul, and I like that the Newskid Legion and Steve are trying to kill each other in the background. And is this first episode where Superman uses his super-breath? Cool. Also, FUCKING CALLED IT! EVERYONE DID! I DON'T CARE BUGGNUTZ I'M STILL SMART!

Season 2 Episode 3 'Fullmetal Scientist'

Oh HELL the fuck yes! This episode introduces STEEEEEEL~ And Cyborg's dad? That's a cool easter egg. But for real though, Steel is a super dope character and I am so glad they included him in the show, even if he looks dumb. This is what I mean when I say I don't mixing CGI and traditional 2D animation. That CGI mech body with the cartoon head sticking out looks completely ridiculous and makes all of Steel's motions look really weird too. I wish they gave him a mech suit like what Deathstroke has just with a more comic accurate look, or at least a helmet for this new one so he doesn't looks like an egg on a Gundam. I like John Henry Iron's design outside of the suit, I love that he's even bigger and broader than Clark is. I also love how Clark is a huge nerd about him too. And he's Flip's uncle? Okay, sure. I also like what they did with Metallo. It's vastly different to the comics, which is great. In my opinion, the only thing that Metallo has over, say, Cyborg Superman is the kryptonite heart thing, and even then it's not super interesting. Metallo instead being a bunch of drones which Lex improves their power cores with synthetic Kryptonite is a cooler idea. I wish they looked more different than the Task Force X or Kryptonian robots, but I like that they have laser-railguns. Railguns are awesome. I think the forcefield power Clark gets in this episode is cool. It's kinda in the comics, he has a bioelectric aura that just for hand-wavium for dinguses who are like "How can Superman lift a plane by it's nosecone without destroying the plane?" or "How can Superman's clothes stay intact when he's in an explosion?". But as far as I'm aware it's just something that's always on, he doesn't control it. But it's a power that makes sense for Superman to have. Way more than something like "Super Muscular Control".

Now for my problem with the episode: This episode that really made me mad about General Lane not realizing Clark is Superman. THEY'VE BEEN LIVING TOGETHER BETWEEN AND DURING THIS EPISODE AND THE LAST ONE HOW DID JIMMY FIGURE IT OUT AS SOON AS HE MET CLARK BUT A HEAD OF A BLACK OPS TEAM TRYING TO HUNT DOWN SUPERMAN DOESN'T. I wouldn't get so mad if the rest of his identity wasn't so reasonable. The only people who Clark interreacts with as both Superman and himself are Lois, Jimmy, his Parents, and General Lane. (Also I guess Ivo too, but a) they don't establish that he does know Superman's identity or not, and b) even if he doesn't know he's insane because of the Parasite suit so it's explained away that way.) And only the general doesn't know. HOW? I get that he sees Clark as a screw-up who doesn't deserve to date his daughter, but he's shown to be very smart, tactical, and always making plans. And you're telling me he would never even consider that Clark and Superman are the same person? HE VISITED THE KENT FARM AND A SPACESHIP RAISED UP FROM BENEATH THEIR CORNFIELD. Also, don't be surprised if a there is an episode next season where Clark is forced to interview/be in proximity to Lex Luthor and has to not give away his secret identity, only for either Lex to figure it out anyway or for Lex to completely dismiss Clark because he's too "wimpy". Given how the show has handled Clark's secret identity so far, I could see it going either way. But I think it would be way more interesting if Lex actually knows and plots to expose Clark as well as take him out.

Season 2 Episode 4 'Two Lanes Diverged'

THIS EPISODE MAKES ME WANT TO CRY! Not just because the first half of the episode is the sweetest friendship with Clark and Jimmy, not just because the darkest hour and the ending of this episode are gut wrenching, but also because we get Lois's backstory and it's so sad watching her try to connect to a guy who's such a dick AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH Alright, calm down Hayden Christensen. *Sniff sniff* You can't make me. Oh dude Toyman is in this episode! I mean barely and it's pretty much just an easter egg but his teddy bear exploded so I'm gonna count it. Why do you even like a guy called Toyman so much? He sounds lame. Gee, I don't know why'd I like a guy who's whole gimmick is Dr. Jekyll except he makes armies of killer robots- Wait. Wait. He's working on a tiny robot model of the Brain. Was he a member of Cadmus? Did he design the Brain's mechanical body!? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CONTINUITY?! Oh hey, this is the episode where they really establish Lex and Jimmy's relationship. Lex Luthor in this universe is like an evil opposite to Jimmy Olsen, and that's brilliant. I mean it totally make sense, right? Jimmy's Superman's Best Pal, and what's the opposite of a best friend? A worst enemy. I'm probably way over explaining this, but I like it a lot. I don't think these two characters have had a lot of crossover in the comics WRONG Read the 2019 run of Superman's Pal: Jimmy Olsen. Oh, uh... Sure, this seems right up my alley! (And I do remember one issue where it's revealed that Lex's biggest fear is being Jimmy Olsen, so there's that.) ANYWAY My point is that it's a cool angle to take these two characters and I hope they deepen it in future seasons. Also haha the show does another plot thread that sucked in BvS and works so much better here. Zack. I don't know if this is going to revealed as a lie, but Lex's motivation is really interesting. It's by no means unique to the show, but other stories usually spice it up with "he's jealous of Superman" or "he's cRaZy" and I don't really think he needs that. Paranoia is enough of a motive to plot murder. Also the fight at the end is dope as hell, I love that all the Star Labs gadgets they showed off earlier in the episode come into play and that metal backing track was awesome. I don't even have any nitpick for this episode. This is one's really good.

Season 2 Episode 5 'Most Eligible Superman'

On from the best episode of the season so far to the worst... But let's be positive first. This episode introduces Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl. And her and Jimmy are in love and have the cutest frickin' date and they are OTP! They better hook up for realsies next season I swear to Rao! Calm down, you're hyperventilating. Also, didn't know Wonder Woman has an enby villain. That's cool. So is the fight at the end. But the main plot of this episode is Clark having to pretend he's single so he doesn't accidently reveal his secret identity and also because Cat Grant is an idiot and Lois gets jealous because I guess Clark was supposed to violently reject this hot billionaire flirting with him while also pretending to be single and also because Cat Grant is an idiot. There's some funny moments I guess, but all this dumbassery is just to facilitate Clark and Lois breaking up at the end of the episode FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. Roan Lois breaks up with Clark because she felt overwhelmed and her insecurities took over after her Father left in the previous episode and she felt not good enough for him. Not saying it was aa good reason, but that's why it happened. ...Okay fine, but the next time they see each other they pretty much hook back up, so what is even the point? It's just annoying because most of the time the characters act reasonably and this just feels so contrived and without purpose. Look at Perry's face in the opening after Cat bursts into his office. That is my reaction to this entire episode. Also, there is a bizarre continuity error. Hank Henshaw (the guy who becomes Cyborg Superman) said he had a wife in the first episode of the season so why is he one of Metropolis's most eligible bachelors? Bleh, I'm just gonna kick this one aside and move on.

Season 2 Episode 6 'The Machine Who Would Be Empire'

Okay okay, shake it off. Let's start with saying this is my favorite version of Supergirl I've seen in anything ever. Admittedly, I'm not a huge Supergirl fan to begin with. She's fine, but I've never read or seen anything that makes me go nuts for her. (Although I've heard the Tom King's Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is really fucking good and I love his Miracle Man limited series. It's on my reading list.) But this Supergirl is amazing. Probably the smartest thing the show does is have the first episode with her super cute date with Jimmy, because it let's me overlook some of the mean stuff she does to Clark in this episode. But even then, you see her softer side. I like that she's really into exploring and seeing other planets, and I like that Clark immediately starts making fun of her when he finds out she has a crush on Jimmy. It's okay, she get him back. Their sibling dynamic is something we never get in the comics, and I love it. They're cousins. Whatever, get my meaning. I also like how Kara's a massive dumbass. Like it's not really her fault, she's been manipulated by Brainiac since she was born and part of that is he stunted her education, clearly. But the rest of the gang are pretty smart, both academically and emotionally, so it's a good a character who has no idea what she's doing. Ever. (And before anyone jumps up my ass, yes she obviously knows more about Krypton stuff than anyone else still alive, so she's not an idiot technically. But for like 90% of the plots this show has she'd be completely out of her depth.) And hey, speaking of Brainiac, I like what they did with him too. While it would have been cool if he did the bottling cities from the comics, but I still like his motivations. And him being Kryptonian is cool. I like the way he looks, his personality ("With ambitions so small they could fit inside a cradle"), and I like that he can possess Kryptonians. There's a cool symbiosis between Kryptonians and their technology as a whole, it's very transhumanist, I dig it. Also, I noticed Krytonians always have their powers, even on Krypton, for the first time in this episode. I kinda like that change actually. It makes sense with the ultra-conquering empire that they changed Krypton into, and it gives Kara an interesting argument for her perspective in the episode. Also, IS THAT A FUCKING GREEN LANTERN? A THANAGARIAN? A PARADEMON!? THEY LOOK FUCKING AWESOME!

Season 2 Episode 7 'Olsen's Eleven'

Oh hell yeah heist episode! And the Brain and Monsieur Mallah are back?! AND MALLAH HAS HIS BERET!?! This has gotta be the best episode of the season! Also, Livewire has a butch girlfriend now?

All seriousness, I love this episode. I love heist movies, my favorite characters are back, I thought the twist of the episode was great, the final fight was awesome too. This show makes the power of love cool. I feel like half the time "the Power of Love" just like brings someone's partner back from the dead or is a healing power, but I love it when a) the story shows that powerful love can be between anyone, not just romantic partners, and b) the power gives a character a strength boost or drives them to perform an insane feat of endurance. They do it a couple times this season, and they are usually the best moments of their episodes. I also like that Lois admits she was dumb in 'Most Eligible Superman', and I like Jimmy trying to prove he can solve most situations just by talking to someone. The backstory/explaining stuff montages are a cute extra animation style, but I don't care for the big-eyed expressions Livewire gets in some parts. You've already bitched about this in previous episodes. Yeah true, but if the show keeps doing it... Wait that nursing home has the name "Silver Age" that's hilarious. What was I talking about? How it makes no sense that Lois has the Kryptonite shard from the data ball. Oh yeah, how does she have that? It was in Clark's ship and I thought it got destroyed at the end of 'More Things in Heaven and Earth'. Didn't Task Force X get it? That's why they could make Kryptonite weapons and change the Metallos' power core. Okay, I had to go back and check, but Jimmy picked it up the shard and put it back in the ball at the end of the episode, but Slade still had some remnants on his sword that they must use to synthesize more. So not a plot hole.

Season 2 Episode 8 'The Death of Clark Kent'

Flash Bulletin! We got a name drop of the Black Mercy in this episode, which guarantees that Alan Moore absolutely has to hate this show. I, on the other hand, like this episode. Even though like the a quarter of the episode is basically clip show, and the way Kara says Kal-El was starting to grate on my nerves. But forget all that, 'cause JIMMY AND KARA ARE SITTING IN A TREE, WELL KARA'S PROBABLY FLO-OA-TING! Ow my ears, calm the fuck down dude. Shut up you don't have ears, you're a manifestation of my DID. Also, it's another kinda heist-y episode except instead of stealing something, they are rebooting Brainiac or something. Also Brainiac is really sassy in this episode and I like it. ("Now let's find your weakness. So I can kill you.") I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but I really like Brainiac's voice. The voice acting in the show as whole is alright, but the soft, lilting voice Michael Emerson gives him is perfect for the character. I like that Brainiac's plan is to mental break Clark so he can possess him, it's a perfect encapsulation of Clark's emotional journey and also there's an awesome Torquasm Rao refences with how he fends off Brainiac. (At least I think it's a Torquasm Rao reference. It could just be a "Power of Love" thing but it should be a easter egg.) I feel like he could have used memories of Ma and Pa to fight off Brainiac more easily. Eh... Could he have? He tried that with Kara and she easily shook his faith with them. Plus he's in his early twenties and is obsessed with Lois, she's probably the only thing on his mind like 65% of the time. And I super love the dark ending. Everyone on this website has already lost it over Possessed Superman, and yes his moob window is funny. But I actually like way Brainiac poses and moves while possessing Clark more than that. He's very regal, and every action seems calculated. Both Clark and Kara aren't uncoordinated at all, but Brainiac makes them both look like bumbling children. It's really creepy. And his speech at the end. Ugh his speech at the end. Not only is it the best worldbuilding information we get about Kryptonians, but that moment where he tells Kara he loves her right before smashing her into the floor is the best low point in the series.

Season 2 Episode 9 'Pierce the Heavens, Superman!'

Okay... So far the episodes with Superman's name in the titles have been the least good of all the episodes. Does 'Piece the Heavens, Superman!" keep the track record? Well it has a reference to Superman's pet Sun Eater from All Star superman in the first scene of the episode, so obviously it's the best episode so far, duh. I feel like your enjoyment of the show is too reliant on easter eggs and references to the source material. Didn't you knock Deadpool & Wolverine for the same thing? First off, use that title sparingly, I don't want to attract any unwanted guests. Secondly, both MAWS and D&W's use of easter eggs I think is symptomatic of the same thing, which is the writers understanding of the characters and the source material. Clearly both the writers of this show and that movie have done their research and understand what people like about both characters. The difference for me is that one is an pop culture icon representing the ideals of heroism and is a character everyone can and should look up to, and the other is a purposefully obnoxious meme that people like because they are stupid. Superman's the second one right? ...Yeah, now fuck off. But seriously, this episode is dope. I like time loops concepts, I like that Clark and Lois fall for each other all over again when they lose their memories of each other temporarily, and I absolutely love that when Lois realizes she can't be removed from the Black Mercy, she just becomes a pain in the ass for Brainiac. The B-Plot is awesome too. I love that the Daily Planet immediately formulates a plan to rescue Jimmy and Lois after they get arrested, and I love Steve's pep talk for Kara. Y'know, I take back what I said in the last post. I like this Steve Lombard. (Cat still sucks though.) And the end of this episode is probably the coolest "Power of Love" moment, not even just from this show but for anything I've ever seen. Sure, it's a little cheesy, but I am not gonna hate a couple in love working together to overpower a seemingly impossible challenge set to pop-rock.

Season 2 Episode 10 'My Adventures With Supergirl'

And this season's finale is DOPE! First, spoiler warning. Second, I like that all the villains are helping fight off Brainiac with Superman (which is something that happens in the comics from time to time but is much more cool here since it feels like they all want to help rather than have to). Third, the animation in Superman and Supergirl's fight is amazing, might be the best animated fight in the show. Even Brainiac postulating looks extra. And the music that plays when Clark says "Let's bring you home Kara." is so fucking good I can't even. And holy shit, I was so convinced that they were gonna kill Kara in this episode. I'm so happy she's gonna be back for the next season, seriously, she's my favorite character in the show, especially after this this episode. The episode ending with Kara and Clark playing catch in Smallville was perfect. Just like last season, I cannot wait for the next one! It's gonna have Superboy!

[mooodyblue]

I would love another caregiver!Austin ficlet or headcanons because they’re super comforting! maybe Aus finds out about the reader’s regression for the first time and is just… SOOO sweet about it because he really would be

i love love looove writing about cg!austin!!! literally one of my favorite things to write about, here's some headcannons for ya! 💗 said i was taking a break from writing today but i love writing headcannons okay!! this is gonna be a long one

cg!austin h.cs | finding out you're a little

masterlist

you've been a little like .. prior to dating/meeting austin. you'd never really been open about it to many people, not even austin

you always regressed by yourself at the end of the day, even after you spend the day with him

sometimes you wished you had the courage to tell austin. you spend too many nights crying to your plushie friends about it.

"what if aus thinks 'm weird? s'he gonna leave me?"

one time he comes over and finds one of your paci's laying on the kitchen counter. he asks you about it and you say "oh, my friend brought her baby over" none of your friends have babies

when he asks you to move in, panic arises. how are you going to be little when you're living with austin?

when you do move in, you keep all your little stuff in a box and always wait until he's not home to be little.

it happens when you have a really bad day. like really bad. all you wanted to do was be little and to hug your stuffie and watch your cartoons but austin was home, so you couldn't do any of that.

you were super on edge the whole day, making snide remarks and being very snarky towards him. that causes an argument, your first argument actually, and he leaves for a little bit to blow off some steam

that was your breaking point. you dug out your stuffie and emotional support blanket and curled up on the floor, crying, scared he wasn't going to come back and that he was going to leave you. you didn't want him to be upset with you, you didn't mean to make him angry.

he's very confused when he comes home and sees you in the bedroom looking lost in a childlike state of mind. he crouches down on the floor in front of you, "what's going on?"

"aus hates me. gonna leave me, thinks 'm mean."

austin looks at you confused. the sudden babytalk, the tone and all....he didn't find it weird, but he didn't really know what was going on. he went along with it though.

"i don't hate you and i'm definitely not gonna leave you." he replied with a soft tone, the same tone he used with his friends kids. his more 'fatherly' voice.

it was soothing/comforting having him speak to you in that way.

he asks you about the plushie in your hand, asking if they have a name and what they're like. all while he pulls out his phone and tries to figure out what's going on with you.

when he does figure it out, he's kinda bummed out that you kept this from him but he definitely understands.

he spends the rest of the day watching over you, snuggling up to you and overall just being the caregiver you always wanted. he decided to wait until he knew you were out of your headspace before asking you questions.

"baby? you still little?" "oh god. you weren't supposed to find out like this."

you have a slight panic attack but austin assures you that it's okay, he's here for you and he's not going to leave you

he lets you tell him when you're ready, he doesn't force it out of you or anything (although he's a little impatient about it, he just doesn't want you to slip again and he doesn't know what to do)

you sit him down and explain it all to him. why you regress, when it first started, what ages you typically regress to and all the dos and donts for when you're regressed. he takes notes in his phone so he can write it down later, which is very sweet of him!!! of course, he agrees to be your caregiver and apologizes in advance if he messes anything up

you show him all the things you've been keeping in your box, introducing your plushies one by one and him asking you about each one. he loves how excited you get when you talk about when and where you got each of your little plushie friends.

he always refers to your stuffies as "friends"

it was a rough start at first, but he got the hang of it very quickly!!

he ends up spoiling you rotten and you have no regrets about opening up to him about this side of you. he absolutely loves taking care of you and learns all your little triggers and such immediately. you couldn't have asked for a better cg 💗

i could go on and on abt cg!austin but lemme shut up now

[bishiglomper]

Sissy has been working so hard to clean up the downstairs. It was really bad. Like when my grandma had her own place, there was a tiny little horse path (like 8 inches wide) through the hills of junk and debris. We didn't even have a solid path...

I mean you could still see floor in some places. But the living room was really choked.

I thought for sure she was only going to be able to condense and tetris things more tightly. But it seems like she may be actually moving shit

I don't know what she's doing with it. But so far nothings piling up the walls.... 👀

I keep asking for jobs or if I can help but they say no. I practically beg just to make sissy coffee. They also come take the baby if she gets fussy. 🙄 (not crying. Just fussy.) Against my will, mind you.

Mom asked me to take care of a doom box the other day. I actually managed to do most of it.

I wasn't expecting to, honestly. The problem being we have too much shit that just doesn't have a home. But the bin was manageable. Mom was super pleased. And she asked me to dry and put away cups. There was a strainer full of other stuff so I did that too. She acted like I went above and beyond.

On one hand it's nice not to be expected to do things, it certainly makes the PDA quiet, but 👉👈 it would be nice to not feel like an entirely useless, mooching bum.

I know a lot of it is because I'm easily worn out and flarey. But Mom and sissy are too! I think mom works for a few hours and then goes to bed for a while. And then keeps doing that. Even after declaring bedtime. 🙄 And sissy is so emotionally and physically overtaxed. And that was BEFORE she started "babysitting" nearly every day. All day.

These people frustrate me

I've always let things go until they got a little bad but then I would get a bug up my butt and go into a major kick ass cleaning mode. Like whole ass get-ready-for-house-inspection cleaning.

But then people started sleeping in the living room. I feel my best at night. Also I get immensely frustrated and angry so I need to work alone otherwise I rage-quit.

And shit gets so bad so fast. By the time I want to do somthing about it, it's already paralyzingly overwhelming. Not to mention I just don't know what to do wth it. It's mostly sister's family's shit.

It's been years since I could work like that though. fibro and shit has gotten so bad since then.

But seeing the living room getting clearer.... seeing organized tables and shelves.... seeing a usable kitchen....

It makes itchy to do stuff.

I'm feeling hopeful and motivated instead of overwhelmed.

AND NO ONES SLEEPING IN THE LIVING ROOM

Niece practically lives at boyfriends, they've been putting nephew in my room on the bottom bunk. And sissy doesn't have the baby most nights, so she doesn't need the special chaise chair that makes cosleeping easier. 👀

Also I've had coffee tonight because I had a headache that wouldn't go away. So I'm caffeinated.

I dunno what to use this special, magical spoon on though. I do best organizing an area, with no bending down.

I'm gonna try to find something though.

I used to live for hearing people come down the stairs, stop and go "Holy SHIT" 🤣 it was the most satisfying praise.

Hopefully I can find something that'll at least gimme a "wow, sissy!"

But anyway all this is just so we can put our tree up and take all the "First Christmas " baby photos. We wanna go ham. Baby turns 6mos on Christmas eve exactly. 😁 fun times

[miqo-tales]

Dawntrail characters, fields, role quests

More thoughts on DT.

Again, spoilers!

Fields

Overall, very pretty!

I think Yak T'el might be my favorite, particularly the lower area. But, I don't like the music for Yak'tel. I don't know why though.

Shaaloani is a really close second.

Solution 9 is cool. Though I saw someone mention they wish the music there was more techno, or rave? I forget exactly, but I kinda agree? I like the music there, but I do wish it was faster, had more energy to it. I suspect Arcadion might have something like that though.

Living Memory was also pretty interesting, and I imagine for FF9 fans it's even more so. But man, I'm bummed we had to shut some of that stuff off. Like the rainbow pools, for one.

Characters

Krile

Krile's background is fascinating, but simultaneously kinda silly. I like it though.

Her getting to talk to her parents was great though. And I liked how they made it a genuinely awkward thing.

Koana

I'm glad he got over the "Sharlayan is SO COOL and we should industrialize like RIGHT NOW" thing. Though I was expecting some more discussion/arguing about it between him and Wuk Lamat. Or at least with Thancred and Urianger.

Bakool Ja Ja

I don't mind his character arc, but I wish they'd hinted at his motivation/trauma some a bit earlier.

But also, I don't get why he wasn't booted from the competition after he released the ancient super snake-bird of calamity?

Like ok, the contest is clearly a bit fair game, but I'd like to think even FIFA would disqualify a team if they released an ancient evil on the world in order to prevent their opponents from showing up to a match. (I mean, maybe they wouldn't. It is FIFA.)

Zarool Ja

Honestly, kind of a weird antagonist for me. His goal of "fuck the world so that it appreciates peace" was looking like an interesting angle, but then it pretty much went straight into "I'm better than my father". Which is fine, but like with Bakool, I'd have liked some more development of that earlier on.

Sphene

So I have to admit, they had me guessing with her a bit. When she first showed up (to talk, not her brief appearance before that), I figured she was evil. Or at the least, being really dishonest.

Later on, I started to think that maybe it's just a "hostage in her own kingdom" sort of thing. But then, y'know, "sorry, I'm gonna commit genocide to save my people" kinda put a pin in all that.

Also, little funny thing, it keeps throwing me off that her VA sounds like Krile. Or Meteion. I keep going back and forth on that. I know it's a different VA from either of them, but I just kept hearing hints of their voices in hers while playing through the MSQ.

Role Quests

By this point I've done all of the role quests storylines. They're ok! Mostly silly, but still some cute bits, and a nice way to include (slash remind you they exist) the Eorzean nations. And I'm looking forward to the eventual sixth one that finishes them up.

The only things I'd note:

Tank - I feel like they don't really do anything with the power of the artifact. I was expecting some mechanic in the final fight regarding it, buuuut, not really? It's also weird that they're requesting a tank to help when the guy trying to find the thing is also a tank?

Healer - Probably the only one where the job role is genuinely relevant. Also maybe my favorite one?

Melee - Might be tied for my favorite with healer, dunno. Final fight was fun.

Ranged Physical - I feel like this should have been the tank one? Again, I don't know why they specifically needed a ranged specialist. I was really expecting there would be some ranged need because of the "the barrier can explode at close range" thing, but nope.

Ranged Magical - This one is fine? I think it might be the weakest one of the five though. The artifact's power is not that interesting.

[snowieluna]

Random post popped up reminding me that Viibryd exists and I used to take it. The brain zaps were hell, and my doctor didn't believe that was a side effect 🙃

Life is weird. Last week I freaked out because JR is moving to the lab. Body had a "our powers combined" moment of shitty things that led to me crying in the bathroom at work, then continuing to cry at my station while trying to hide it. Period was early, I made a small mistake not cleaning the pill counter sooner, JR pointing that out triggered rejection sensitivity, and Daylight Savings seemed to be bringing on seasonal depression.

So when I found out he was going, I panicked. I got attached super quick and didn't want him to go. Also felt a little conflicted because I had decided to stay in filling rather than pursue moving to the lab partly because of him. I thought he was pretty cool and I wanted to get to know him better. But I learned that he's been wanting to move to the lab for months, and it feels shitty not being happy for him. But him leaving brought up a bunch of memories from CR leaving at the last job. How I had to go outside so I could cry in peace and try to breathe. That bad pain in your chest from being abandoned again. (Yeah dramatic brain is dramatic.)

So when I was back at my station and trying to calm down, I was failing. Because I'm partly focused on trying to breathe, trying to fill testosterone orders, and trying to not be super obvious with my current breakdown. So I'm breaking boxes from packing syringes when my brain goes to "I could cut myself with my box cutter. It could look like an accident. It might help. It'd be logical to be crying from a bad cut. And maybe I'd feel better. The pain is a little shock. And I deserve it, right? I'm a shitty friend for not being happy for him." But I pushed past the thought. And honestly later on, he kind of made me feel better. I'm not sure if he noticed that I was off, but he got me talking about music and it helped.

So onto this week. I went in, depressed that he was probably not going to be there, but he was still in filling. I heard bits of him talking to the others in Spanish, that he might be staying until our other coworker gets back from vacation. (Which tbh I kinda thought would happen. It doesn't make sense to have us down two people at night.) But he was kinda in an off mood, besides me still being in depression mode, so the vibes have been weird.

Now another coworker from the day shift has moved to nights, so that helps with us being short. So now JR is gonna start lab stuff on Friday. I've been trying to be less reliant on him this week. Bugging him less for help. A different coworker from the day shift joked that I should be asking JR for help when I couldn't reach something today, and I kinda shot back "Well he's leaving me, so..." So later on when I carried a bunch of meds downstairs, he was like "Hey! You're good. You don't even need me." It still kinda hurt, like no dude, I'm still gonna miss you.

Finally got the courage to be like "So I've had something I wanted to ask, but I didn't want to freak you out." Cue our coworker popping back up to drop off the pill counter. Yo my heart was pounding. Like damn I've been psyching myself the past ten minutes 😭 After she went back downstairs, I continued. "So you remember I said I was in an open relationship? Well, is that something you'd be interested in?" And he said right now, no, but it's nothing he'd freak out about. I said something like "That's fine. I had to ask, though. You're really cute." 🙈 He said he appreciated the directness, and we both agreed that signals are hard to read. He seemed a tiny bit flustered after, but we went to visit the pharmacist's bulldog downstairs. Then I babbled about cosplay, and it felt comfortable again.

Like obviously I'm bummed I won't get to do anything with him. Hell, he accidentally flicked me with his hair earlier when he turned quick and I was more like 😳 than annoyed I got hit in the face. He's still gonna give me the doki dokis tomorrow, but I'm glad I got to ask, and not keep thinking "what if." Plus he knows how I feel and if he changes his mind, I'm here 😆

So I guess that's the end of that? I'm hoping we still get to catch up more on breaks sometimes.