#though i guess i'm still not completely over A THING that happens about halfway through

[mikimeiko]

Books I read in 2023

From the Top of the World - Derin Edala (2023)

[hurtghul]

DISASTROUS DATE !!

⸻ Tim Drake , 1572 words.

The movie plays, the dark light of the screen playing on their faces as attentive eyes take in the scenes. You could hear the speakers increasing the sounds, the murmurs subsided and the cell phone screens went off.

Tim's index finger tapped anxiously on the bucket of popcorn, which they had already been emptying less than halfway through the movie.

Tim had been preparing this abruptly, feeling the necessary opportunity to be able to go out with you, as an apology since he had to miss the multiple outings that you were trying to have with him. His mission as Red Robin had taken up a lot of his free time to be able to have a normal life with you.

After playing for about half an hour, the movie was already getting boring. It was too horrible in every way and the plot was too cheap, Tim could guess the ending without having seen the title.

It was almost a bad joke. He had to plan everything, including tickets, your schedules, his schedules, asking Bruce for some time off, and working overtime on his missions to leave the rest less.

He did everything to be able to spend time with you, and in the end he feels like he ruined it.

Tim feels like he's been ruining every minute that's passed, and he thinks. Why didn't you do more research on the film? Oh, right, because he was spending constant hours without sleep doing his irritable hero job of taking on pesky villains and taking care of the city that was dying to pieces.

You're stared at the screen, attentive to the boring scenes of the movie on the big screen. For him, you are the most beautiful person in life.

“Hm…. Are you enjoying it?” He asked in a whisper. Tim felt guilty ruining the date with this movie. He could feel that he must be ruining the date.

You listen to Tim, and turns your head. Picking up a couple of popcorn and putting them in your mouth.

“I like it, and you?” It could be a white lie, but you didn't want him to worry.

“Hmmm.” He looked back at you as you ate your popcorn. He tapped his index finger on the table again as the movie dragged on. “This is soooo boring.” He muttered and looked over at you again. “You sure you're enjoying this?” He asked, still feeling a little guilt for dragging you into it.

“Well… the truth is that I'm dying of boredom.” You laugh, and continues eating the popcorn to kill time.

“Yeah, me too.” He said with a sigh. Tim knew he had failed at making this date special for you. They were just sitting here like two bored kids on a Sunday afternoon. His eyes looked back at the screen, waiting for something exciting to happen.

“Don't worry, don't worry. The good thing about this is that I'm with you.” You say and lean forward to kiss him on the cheek, which makes Tim tense.

“Do you want to leave? I mean… we could always go somewhere else.” He suggested, feeling bad about ruining your night. The flickering lights of the theater seemed to mock them, their desperate attempt to find something entertaining in this god-awful movie.

Tim hated disappointing people, especially you. You were the only bright light in his life, surrounded by darkness and chaos. And here he was, ruining even this little moment they had together. But then you speak, and your words light up the room for him. It's not how he imagined it would be; you weren't angry or disappointed. You even laughed about it.

“Yeah, let's just go somewhere else.” You answer to him, and he's feeling relieved. At least this date isn't completely ruined yet.

Tim stands up, offering his hand to you. He wants to make sure that everything is still fine between them. Even though he knows it's silly, he feels like he needs to prove himself somehow. To show that despite all his flaws, he can still make things fun and exciting for you.

He leads you out of the dark theater into the bright neon lights of Gotham's streets. The city never sleeps, but tonight it seems even more alive than usual. Couples walk past them, some laughing, others holding hands tightly. Tim feels a pang of jealousy deep inside him. Why couldn't he just be like they with you? He's like a ridiculous child.

Just as Tim had those thoughts, you takes his hand and looks down, looking at their intertwined hands, enjoying the touch. You looks at Tim and smiles warmly.

Tim's mind starts working fast like a complex machine. There's an idea brewing inside him, and he knows that if it works out, it might just save the date. It's risky, but hey, when you're on a mission to impress your girlfriend, how can you afford to take risks?

He sees the smile on your face, and it's like a ray of sunshine breaking through the dark clouds in his mind. It feels as if everything is suddenly okay again. Just seeing you happy makes all the stress and guilt go away for a moment.

His thoughts are interrupted when you squeeze his hand gently. You look up at him with those beautiful eyes, full of understanding and affection. He tightens your hand lightly, not wanting to scare you with how much this small gesture means to him. But he knows that, even though he tries to hide it, you can see the love and affection in his eyes. “Let's just walk around, maybe we'll find something fun to do.” Tim says, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.

They walk down streets filled with neon lights and loud music. There are people everywhere, laughing, talking, enjoying themselves. It's almost overwhelming after being stuck inside the dark theater for so long. The smell of hot dogs and cotton candy mixes with the exhaust fumes from passing cars. It's chaotic yet somehow comforting, like being part of a bustling ecosystem.

He feels guilty for bringing you here; this isn't how he imagined their date would go. They were supposed to have dinner at some fancy restaurant or something romantic like watching stars in Central Park. But they never seemed to have time for those things anymore.

“Maybe we could get some ice cream?” Tim suggests, feeling silly even asking such a simple question.

“I like the idea.” You nod with a smile as looks at Tim. “I love ice cream.”

He feels a sense of relief wash over him as you agree to his suggestion. It's not much, but it's something. Something that might just make this date worthwhile after all. They walk hand in hand towards the nearest ice cream parlor, both trying to ignore the cold wind that's picking up outside. He knows that this is his chance to make things right. To show you that he cares about more than just being a hero. That he can be a good boyfriend too.

They find an ice cream parlor not far from where they are, and Tim leads the way inside. The place is filled in the smell with freshly made waffle cones, vanilla and chocolate, and there are people of all ages enjoying their treats. It feels like a small oasis in the middle of the chaotic city.

As they wait in line, Tim takes the opportunity to wrap his arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You don't resist, and for a moment, everything else fades away. It's just the two of them, standing in line for ice cream on a Friday night. And it feels perfect.

Finally, it's their turn at the counter. Tim orders two scoops of your favorite flavor - chocolate chip cookie dough. As he hands you the cup, he leans in close and whispers in your ear. “You know what I love about this moment?” You shake your head, confused. “The anticipation,” he says, winking at you.

“Anticipation?” You repeat, chuckling softly.

“Yes!” he exclaims. “The anticipation of digging into this delicious ice cream.” And with that, he takes a bite of his ice cream as he hands you yours.

She lets out a laugh at Tim's actions, grabbing her ice cream as she smiles at her boyfriend. “You're silly.” She says teasingly as she began to eat her own ice cream.

“And you're beautiful,” he replies, taking a bite of his own ice cream. He watches as you savor each spoonful, enjoying the simple pleasure of this moment together. It may not be the most exciting date they've ever had, but it's something that neither of them will ever forget.

He watches as you eat your ice cream, enjoying the sight of your lips wrapped around the spoon. It's such a simple thing, but it fills him with joy. You look so happy, and he feels like everything is going to be okay. At least for tonight. He loved that smile and didn't want to see you cry over the ice cream, even when you dropped yours because of a stray dog.

As they walk back through the streets of Gotham, hand in hand, Tim knows that no matter what challenges lie ahead, he will always do everything in his power to make sure that you are safe, loved, and happy. And even if things don't always go according to plan, at least they can find comfort in each other's arms. Because in the end, that's all that really matters. Because with you, even the most ordinary moments can become extraordinary.

[damon-loves-pie]

“Thank You For Still Playing.”

Pairing: Eddie Munson x female reader.

Word count: About 3,300 words

Warnings: 18+, setting is mostly at a bar and all that goes with it, emotional talks about family, implied abuse but nothing descriptive, Enemies to lovers implied, fake relationship. (I think that is all. Please let me know if I missed something.) 

Summary:  Robin wants a fun night out and drags reader to Eddie’s show at the hideout even though Eddie and reader don’t always gets along. Steve meets someone who is insecure about reader and he states reader is dating the lead singer of the band, Eddie Munson, Not expecting the musician to join them. After talking both of them realize all their anger stemmed from something that happened in middle school. 

Author’s note: I am going to be completely honest, I didn’t plan for this story to end up like this. I had a whole different ending in mind but decided to go a different route halfway through. But I am actually super happy with how it turned out! 

I hope you enjoy as much I did writing it! 

Writing Masterlist

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"Come on (Y/N), it would be fun and you like that kind of music anyway." Robin begs while I'm stocking the romance section, looking like she's thinking about getting on her hands and knees.

She had been asking me all week to go out with her this weekend.  

"Why would I want to go see Eddie Munson's band play at some shitty little bar?" I ask her, glancing up from the pile of tapes in my hand with an eyebrow raised.

"Because the drinks are cheap?" She shrugs sheepishly making me roll my eyes in response since the drinks at my house are cheap too.

Feeling defeated Robin moves and leans against the rack I was working on.

"Come on, please. I just need a fun night." Robin pleads, as I shake my head in rejection to her invite.

"Aren't you going with Steve? He's fun sometimes." I shrug, placing the last tape onto the shelf.

"Yes, but he's Steve and I need someone who's actually fun and won't leave me to talk to girls." She explains motioning over to the register where he was flirting with another customer yet again. Sighing I turn back towards her, desperation screaming in her eyes.

I guess I could deal with being around Eddie Munson for a few hours.

"Okay, I'll-

"Yes! Thank you! Thank you! You don't understand how bad I need this." She thanks excitedly, clapping her hands together tightly.

"Only, and I mean only if you buy me at least one drink every hour we are there." I finish, pulling away from the rack.

"Anything you want, it's on me. I promise. We're going tomorrow since Becky and Keith are closing." Robin tells me, still smiling as we start to walk up to the register.

"And Steve here will be picking us up at eight." Robin continues, placing her hands on the counter.

"You actually got miss stick in her ass to agree to going?" Steve jokes, leaning towards us as I huff.

"I do not have a stick in my ass!"

"You do when it comes to Eddie." Robin admits as my mouth drops more.

"Thank you!" Steve says to her lifting his hand up.

"I do not have a stick in my ass when it comes to Eddie. He's just a dick to me for god knows what reason and I'm not going to force myself to be in situations with him on purpose." I say defensively seeing Steve rolls his eyes at me.

"I think you two just need to fuck out your problems if I'm being honest." He mumbles under his breath.

"As if that would ever happen." I grimace leaning onto my elbows, shaking my head.

"Wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen after everything." Robin reminds me as a customer walks in,  taking us back into the reality of our job the rest of the night.

It was leaning close to eight and I still wasn't ready to go.

If I'm being honest, I don't know what to wear tonight. Robin wants a fun time so do I dress up for that? Or do I dress down so Eddie didn't think I was dressing up see them play like some groupie?

Normally I wouldn't care what someone would think about what I wear and when but I already wasn't wanting to spend my night off at the local dive bar and didn't know what tonight actually had in store.

Settling on a short plaid skirt and plain black top I decided this would have to do tonight, slipping on a pair of fishnets and boots with it.  

It was not too much, but not too casual either which was perfect for what I was going for.

Steve and Robin arrived right on the dot, excited to go out for a change.

The bar was pretty full already as we arrived with it being a Friday night, the people of the town wanting to head out for a good time.

"Want a drink?" Robin asks us as we make our way to the bar.

"I need a drink." I laugh, eyes focusing on the crowd as I scanned threw.

Adverting my eyes to the stage I see Mr. Munson already staring with a smirk playing on his lips as we make eye contact.

"Oh god." I breathe, turning around quickly towards the bar.

"What?" Steve asks confused, turning around to see Eddie walking towards us.

"Hey, you guys made it to a show." Eddie smiles giving Steve and Robin a side hug while I tried to not look at them, tapping my fingers lightly on the counter.

"Well I wanted a night out and figured I could support a friend, a local business, and have a fun night all in one." Robin tells him, taking a seat onto one of the stools.

"Mmh, funny to see you here (Y/L/N)." He says directly to me,  leaning against the counter next to me.  

Adverting my gaze to his cocky brown eyes, I see the bartender approaching from the corner of my eye.

"You have Robin to thank for that." I say coldly to him before turning towards the pretty brunette who making small talk with Robin and Steve.

"Wouldn't dare to think you came here on your own will." He chuckles, leaning in closer to get her attention.

Tapping the counter he leans back,

"Lane, put these three's first round on my tab." He asks, backing away from the counter.

"These are my friends- well most of them." He finishes, sending me a wink as he goes to head back on stage.

"God he's such a dick." I tell them as I sip on straw.

"You took the free drink he bought you though." Steve reminds me as I knock my shoulder lightly against his.

"I would take a free drink from almost anyone." I argue as Robin laughs.

"Girls man." Steve shakes his head, spinning the stool to face the counter.

Giggling with Robin, I turn around to face the counter with him.

"Steve babe." I ask as he raises an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"Since you're already probably going to be spending some money buying girls who have no interest in getting laid tonight drinks, - why don't you start with buying a round of shots for the two you know are going home with you?" I ask nicely, batting my eyelashes.

Steve goes to speak but looks defeated waving Lane over.

"To tonight." Steve says, holding up his drink.

"To tonight!" Me and Robin cheers, clinking ours with Steve's.

3 shots in and a mixed drink, I was starting to feel really good. The anxiety about tonight faded away as I realized I started swaying to the sound of Eddie's voice.

"You know, their band actually isn't terrible. I think I would be okay coming again." I tell the two as they nod.

"From what I heard before we got too far away in the upside down, he was great." Steve agrees.

"They are starting to get more recognition, they've been playing weekend shows the past month because more people keep requesting them." Robin tells us, leaning in so we could hear.

Nodding, I take a sip of my drink seeing Robin tapping her foot to the beat of the music.

"Want to go dance in the front?" I ask as she smiles, clearly surprised as I stand up.

"You wanted a fun night right?" I tell her, grabbing her hand.

Turning towards Steve, I laugh.

"Consider the stick removed for the night." I joke, waving him off as we go to move to the front of the stage.

Standing below the stage I started to sway my hips, holding hands with Robin as we cheered with the rest of the crowd.

Sending us a quick wink Eddie continued singing, the vein in his neck sticking out as he belted out the lyrics.

He actually looked kind of hot like this, his bangs sticking to his forehead as his fingers moved skillfully up and down the neck of his guitar, the other hand plucking at the strings.

If he wasn't such a dick, he would of looked fuckable.

Shaking the feeling off I turned towards Robin, waving our arms up in the air with the crowd.

After getting refills we found a table since the bar was full, taking a seat as Steve came up quickly, bending over to whisper at me and Robin.

"I don't have time to explain but I may have to find you guys other rides home and (Y/N) the girl walking up thinks you're dating a member of the band because she was worried about you." Steve scrambles to get out as we're approached by a blonde in a red dress before I could even question why he would say that.

"Erin! These are my friends and coworkers, (Y/N) and Robin. The one's I told you about." Steve smiles as she waves.

We all exchange introductions while she took a seat, smiling as we all discussed how the night was going.

"Did you guys enjoy the show?" Eddie asks walking up to our table as Erin's eyes grew.

"This is your boyfriend right?" She asks me causing my mouth to fall open.  

Eddie chuckles nervously, eyes roaming the girl as he see's Harrington's hand on her knee.

"Steve, why would you tell her that?" I ask him sternly as Erin looked confused between us.

Steve turned pale stuttering when Eddie wraps an arm around my shoulder before taking a seat next to me.  

"It's okay sweetheart, there's no reason to keep it a secret anymore. It's not Steve's fault." He plays as Erin smiles.

I look at Eddie who motions his eyes to Steve.

"Right." I agree knowing I should help my friend, turning towards the couple.

"It's just we thought it would be better to keep our relationship private for the sake of the band's fans." Eddie explains to Erin.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I shouldn't of told her. How about I go get a round for all of us to apologize?" Steve asks standing up.

"I'll help you." I tell him, removing Eddie's arm off of me.

We smile to the others before heading over to the bar.

"Steve why would you do that to me!" I whisper yell at him, smacking his arm slightly.

"I'm sorry, Erin thought you were my type and wondered if there was anything between us. I panicked and that was the first thing that came to my mind." He explains.

"God you are so lucky I love you." I groan.

"I'll cover any two nights you want at work." He offers as I glare at him.

"Four." I argue.

"Three." He retaliates as I sigh knowing it wasn't getting any better than that. He had gotten used to arguing with the kids.

"Deal." I tell him as he orders the drinks.

"So (Y/N), Eddie here says you play the guitar as well?" Erin asks as we arrive back at the table.

"Yeah actually I do." I tell her as Eddie scoots closer to me.

"She beat me in our middle school talent show with her skills." Eddie informs her as I glance over at him.

"Oh yeah, I remember you won that year." Robin snaps pulling my attention towards her.

"Was a lot for a young boy to take." Eddie laughs, nudging his shoulder with mine.

"You two look like you work great together." Erin awes at us.

"Yeah, I look up to the relationship these two have. Hoping one day I'll be as happy as they are." Steve agrees as I shoot daggers at him.

Gareth walks up tapping Eddie on the shoulder, giving us a confused look as Steve pleads with his eyes, worried his cover was about to be blown.

Gareth shakes his head, not even wanting to know what was going on with Eddie now as he goes to speak.

"Hey man, the van is loaded up but I'm going to go ahead and head home in a little while." He tells him.

"Could I catch a ride with you actually?" Robin asks standing up nervously.

"Wait how am I going to get home?" I ask her, holding her arm.

"Why can't Eddie take you since he's your boyfriend?" Erin asks confused.

"Boyfriend?" Gareth asks turning towards us.

"Yeah boyfriend Gareth. It's alright, we're telling people now since Steve spilled the beans. The band's fans will be fine." Eddie tells him winking as Gareth catches on that it's Harrington's fault.

"Oh, okay well that's good to know. And yeah Robin I'll give you a ride, come on." He motions towards the exit.

"Yeah we should probably get going too sweetheart." Eddie asks, connecting his hand with mine.

"We should shouldn't we?" I agree, wanting to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

"It was great meeting you Erin, and I hope we get to spend some time together soon." I smile, standing up.

"That would be great! Maybe we all could go on a double date sometime!" She suggests.

"That would be great! Steve we can talk about it Monday at work." I tell him, grabbing Eddie.

"Hope you two enjoy the rest of your night and thank you for coming to the show." He smiles, bowing slightly as I grab his hand to lead him outside.

"God I'm going to kill Steve." I groan as the cool night air hits my face.

"Come on it wasn't that bad." Eddie chuckles, motioning his pack of cigarettes towards me.

"Yeah, I'll take one." I sigh, grabbing the pack and lighter from him.

"Guessing I need to take you home?" He asks leading me towards his van.

"Yeah," I sigh stopping as he goes to walk to the drivers seat.

"Wait, fuck." I curse, pulling on my hair.

"What is it?" Eddie asks, walking back towards me.

"I can't go home tonight. I was supposed to crash at Steve's." I tell him, throwing my hands into the air.

"God I am going to kill him." I say taking a drag, Eddie sits there quietly smoking his cigarette before he scratches the back of his head.

"Look, I know it's not ideal. But if you're going to get in trouble going home, you could just crash at my place. I'll sleep on the floor, it's not a big deal." He offers. Inhaling, I look at him.

"You would really be okay with that?" I ask him.

"I mean yeah, I wouldn't want you to get hurt or something." Eddie shrugs.

"What do you mean get hurt?" I raise an eyebrow as he blows out smoke.

"Look (Y/N), it's a small town. Everyone knows how your dad is." He says quietly as I go to turn around, not feeling like being judged.

"(Y/N), I didn't mean anything bad about it. Hell my father was the same way." Eddie tells me, grabbing my hand.

"I'll just wait 10 minutes and call Robin and ask if I can crash there." I tell him.

"Come on, you know Buckley is going to be passed out as soon as she see's her bed. She's such a lightweight." He reminds me as I sigh.

"God, you're right." I agree, moving side to side on the heels of my feet.

"I'll stay the night with you I guess." I tell him as he leads me to the passenger side, opening the door for me.

"Don't worry about getting in trouble here, Wayne won't care and he's at work tonight anyway." Eddie says letting me into the trailer.

"My bedroom is back here." He motions as I follow him through the kitchen and down the hall.

His bedroom seemed to fit him as he hung up his guitar.

It was defiantly messy, meaning he probably didn't expect anyone to come back with him.

Clothes were thrown around the floor, mello-yello bottles littered across the stand and dresser.

Posters and handcuffs on the wall? My eyes widen as he notices my gaze.

"Oh uh, one of Hopper's stupid deputies tried arresting me for a joint my junior year but I managed to get away from him." He chuckles, playing with his rings.

"It was officer Callahan wasn't it?" I laugh, raising a brow at him.

"Yeah, it was." He tells me, smiling as he headed towards his dresser.

"He totally sucks." I smile.

I watched quietly while he rummaged through his drawers pulling out a worn out Metallica shirt and some boxers.

"Here, I know that your clothes couldn't possibly be comfortable to sleep in no matter how much you had to drink. The bathroom is the next room over." Eddie says handing me the clothes.

"Thank you." I mutter going to change.

When I come back the room looks cleaner and Eddie himself was in an old t-shirt and boxers as well.

"Like I said you can have the bed and I'll lay here." He motions towards the partially made bed.

I crawl in being ingulfed by the smell of old spice, weed, and cigarettes, realizing that's what I smelled when Eddie wrapped his arm around me.

"Goodnight, Eddie." I say as he turns off the light.

"Goodnight." He tells me.

I close my eyes waiting for sleep to take over hearing Eddie rustle below me.

This goes on for about 30 minutes till I speak up.

"Eddie, you can just lay up here with me if you want. I know it has to be uncomfortable down there." I sigh.

"Are you sure?" He asks as I hum in response.

I hear movement as he places his pillows onto the bed before crawling on.

We both lay there quietly in the dark.

"Are you awake?" Eddie asks, turning his whole body towards me.

"Yeah, I'm awake." I tell him, looking over.

"I couldn't stand you in middle school." He admits to me.

"In middle school? I thought you couldn't stand me now?" I ask, turning towards him.

"I was so angry a girl as pretty as you, could sing and play the guitar better than me." He laughs as I smile slightly.

"So that's why you don't like me? Because I won our middle school talent show?" I question.

"To be honest, I think it's because I knew you wouldn't have noticed me back then. I didn't have much, my hair was buzzed and I constantly wore hand me downs my uncle found at the thrift store since my dad had just been arrested. So it was easier to act like I didn't like you." Eddie says to me.

"But we aren't in 8th grade anymore? Why do you still give me attitude ninety percent of the time." I ask him.

"Sometimes when I'm on that stage I think about how it felt to not win when that's all I had to be excited for at the moment and I'm realizing it wasn't your fault especially since you went through your own hard times. " He sighs, before continuing.

"I just want to say I'm sorry, and that I've actually always thought you were pretty awesome." Eddie finishes.

"Can I tell you something?" I ask him.

"Hm?" He questions.

"You were never invisible to me, even back then. Plus no matter how mean you've been, I've always thought you were pretty awesome too." I admit, moving closer to him.

Tension started to build as we sat there.

"Can I kiss you?" Eddie barely whispers.

"Please." I smile, feeling his hands wrap around to pull me closer as I grip his shirt slightly.

Eddie's breath lingered on my lips before he softly pressed his against mine, my hand resting on his chest.

The kiss was soft and tender, pulling emotion from the conversation that just happened while we let ourselves go into the kiss.

"Thank you for coming tonight." He thanks, pulling away.

"Thank you for still playing." I tell him.

[mcclens]

Alright I'm throwing my own view on Arajin as a character since I've seen people shade him and dislike him. The annoying thing about him is that (as Senya said lol) he thinks with his other head too much. Clearly he has no luck with women and only with men, which isn't something he's overjoyed about. For that idk, I think its kind of cute that he wants to love someone, but at the same time its sad that he's just being used lol. But I'm not a fan of the pervert horny trope.

But I mostly want to focus on his whole "I don't want to fight" thing. Yes, he's a coward, there's nothing bad about that imo, but I think they're setting up character development for Arajin in regards of that, since it's a big thing holding him down. As kids, him and his best friend Matakara used to practice to become honki people, and it was really fun for them until the day when three older boys made fun of them. Matakara thought he could take them on, and Arajin was cowardly and probably knew 2 on 3 fight (with clear age differences) wasn't gonna end good. He tried backing off but Matakara went on and attacked anyways. Arajin ran off crying, and the picture of Matakara beat up on the ground stayed stuck in his head.

Nowadays, it's very clear that Arajin feels guilty. He feels guilty that he got Matakara to believe they were strong enough while practicing, to the point he took up 3 boys by himself. He feels guilty that he was too scared and cowardly to help Matakara, that he ran off and left him alone, even though Matakara looked up to him. Matakara said that Arajin is a really nice, strong guy who doesn't like to fight others, and he still believes that, he still looks up to him even 5 years later, he still thinks of him as a friend and holds his best friend stone closeby. He doesn't hold a grudge against Arajin. He isn't mad at him at all. It is Arajin whos still stuck in the past. This whole thing is something Arajin has to get over by himself.

Every time Arajin is around Matakara he remembers the past, so he tries to avoid him or brush him off, but Matakara still wants to be friends and doesnt seem to understand how guilty Arajin feels. ("Matakara didn't deserve to be treated this way", true, but I don't think Arajin thinks Matakara deserves it either... He definitely doesn't think Matakara is a bad guy or anything like that. He thinks him treating Matakara badly (avoiding him, not talking to him) would make Matakara give up on trying to be friends. Clearly, its too rough for Arajin to be near him. And the one sided feeling hurts Matakara in return.)

Matakara knows Arajin is avoiding him too and guessed why correctly; "Is it because of what happened?", "I'm stronger now", but Arajin is still holding that guilt. So for them to come to an understanding, both sides should WANT to talk it out. But its clear Arajin doesn't want to, at least not yet. His character arc isn't there yet, which makes everything a little frustrating since we are halfway through the anime and things are just now getting down.

I don't personally think Arajin is a mean person, he's a 16 year old guy who wants to get a gf and be romantic and all that, he doesn't wanna be in gangs or fight or anything. I think he's just insensitive towards Matakara because he has his own issues he doesn't want to deal with. Totally unfair to Matakara. But I want to believe Matakara when he said Arajin is a really nice guy. The dude looks completely smitten. It also kinda sucks that only time we saw Arajin interact with a friend was in a flashback. Nowadays, he has no friends. He avoids Matakara, doesn't really consider anyone else but Mahoro (lol) his friend, so all his relationships are currently one sided lol

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

So, I still need to process, like a lot, but writing asks helps me, so...

Turns out I was wrong about pretty much everything regarding the 3 potential tragedies (well, Wyatt didn't die but at what cost! and his ending was the one that didn't really surprise me; as for Robert I was almost sure he would die one way or another but I actually thought it would happen between seasons; as for Gabriel I had come to expect it and the only thing I will say regarding it specifically is that I'm glad we had him and Carlos talk and hug before it).

I was basing my prediction entirely on how every other season ended up prettily wrapped up with a nice ribbon, but this time we didn't get it. I'm not exactly mad, per se, I don't think, not after all the series I watched over the years that ended with cliffhangers and I had no way of knowing if my favourite characters survived till the following year. And this isn't nearly as bad as that was. So it brings me back, though I didn't necessarily missed it. It's not completely satisfying, because there are storylines left open, but I guess they could afford to this this time since they were already sure of renewal. I really hope next season we get a follow up of all of them, not necessarily the murder plot (though I can see it being a new arc for Carlos that will push him forward professionally, and maybe even personally) but the grief involved. I'm left with the same feelings as it did all those times, a sense of loss and a craving for more, like right now 😂. But I'll get over it, at least I already know we'll be getting more eventually (and let's be real, it'll probably be January rather than autumn, but that's fine).

The only real critique I have now about the finale is that all of this probably deserved more space, like 3-4 episodes instead of just 2, but in the end I like they haven't delayed the wedding, because TK is the only thing Carlos is sure about (😭😭😭😭😭).

Thank you for bearing with my streams of consciousness ❤️

I'm very happy that I came to terms with Gabriel dying the last few days before the episode aired because if I had still been in denial about it, it would have been really rough! But I didn't expect him to be murdered like that...I thought maybe he would die in the line of duty, but I didn't expect it to be that intense! I also expected TK to be able to share his experience with grief over the loss of a parent more. He can still do that a bit, but Carlos' situation is a lot different with his father being murdered and not knowing who did it or why. I think this could be very interesting to follow up next season, though I'm a little nervous about how they will approach it. I'm nervous in general about next season! I hope Tim doesn't feel the need to constantly go bigger and more traumatic because if so, where do we go next?? I really want them to be able to be married and happy, at least a little bit! I know it's never going to be smooth sailing for them, but I'll take as much happiness for them as we can get!

I get what you mean about the storyline deserving more space. There was a point almost halfway through episode 18 where I was thinking, "How do we possibly get to a wedding???" It ultimately worked for me when we got there, but I could see there being a benefit to letting the storyline breathe a little. Maybe have Carlos investigating for a whole episode and then another episode with him going after the wrong guy rather than putting it all into just over half an episode, and also give him more space from being so upset he almost murdered an innocent man to deciding they should go through with the wedding as scheduled after all. However, I loved the scene of Carlos getting down on one knee and I loved that marrying TK was the only thing he was sure about. Also it was so heartbreaking to see Carlos like that so I don't know if I really would have wanted it to be more drawn out!

As for the wedding itself, I think I got everything I wanted out of it. I would have probably preferred them to be able to have a more uncomplicated happiness on their wedding day, but that's just not what this show is. They were never going to give us an episode that was just Tarlos having a happy wedding. What we did get was so sad and heavy at times, but there were so many beautiful scenes. And RAFA! He was incredible, as I knew he would be. This was really his season! I still need to rewatch and process more, but I think I'm overall pretty happy with the finale and the season as a whole.

[bylightofdawn]

Fic snippet

I am enjoying putting Cody through the emotional wringer so much in this fic. He's struggling with the dichotomy of the person he has in his mind as this cold and vicious traitor versus suddenly remembering he'd actually been an excellent sergeant and an ori'vod to shinies who'd come in greener than hell.

So it's kinda tearing himself into two parts over remembering this and feeling more betrayed by what he'd done but also a sort of reluctant compassion and fear that if he forgives even a little bit, it is a betrayal to the brothers who were hurt or killed by his actions.

I am a slight Slick apologist in that I think he really did believe what he was doing was for the greater good. And that he just wanted to end the war to save as many lives as he could but I also think that's kinda bullshit and he still did betray the people he claims he was trying to protect. Soooooo yeah. He is SUCH a fascinating character, I'm so upset they did literally nothing with him.

Uh context, I headcanon Slick and Dogma ended up in the same prison and Slick kinda reluctantly took him under his wing.

“Can I ask you? About Dogma? What happened to him?”

“What, you suddenly care?” The waspish response was halfway expected.

“Of course, I care. He was a good kid, tortured in a lot of ways but he did what he thought was right to protect his brothers.”

“It’s ironic you’re willing to give him a pass for using the exact same reasons I was giving you all those years ago, but you shut me out and threw me to the wolves.”

“He didn’t get his brothers killed or wounded. He made an impulsive and impossible choice in a terrible situation.”

Slick just scoffed and stalled as long as he could by taking a long and measured sip of his caf.

“I tried my damnedest to hate the little vaar'ika I didn’t want to risk getting close to another brother after everything that happened. But he was so stupid and naïve they were going to eat him alive and spit out the bones. I couldn’t just stand around and let that happen in front of me.” Slick admitted softly. “He didn’t know when to shut his mouth and when to pick his fights.”

There was an unmistakable fondness in the other clone’s voice despite him listing a laundry list of Dogma’s more intolerable traits.

Though he was loath to admit it even in the privacy of his own thoughts, Cody remember how the sergeant had been a good ori’vod to the freshest of shinies. Those so green they hadn’t even earned their battalion paint, and he’d always seemed to find some extra time to help them out, teaching them valuable tactics and information that often got overlooked or glossed over too quickly in training.

How to keep your head on your shoulders when the Seps were raining mortars down on your head. How to keep pushing forward even though your first instinct was to find cover. Or how to throw a droid popper to maximum efficiency. Little things that had helped keep the shinies alive long enough to learn the ropes so they didn’t just become meat for the meat grinder.

He was uncomfortable in remembering how many times he’d simply sat with a group of clearly shell-shocked recruits and talked them down from the precipice.

No, it had been so much easier to forget those parts of the man in favor of the negatives. Even now, the sting of betrayal was a dagger to the heart.

“But you loved him anyway.” Cody finally stated as neutrally as he could.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Slick grimace ever so slightly.

“I did. The little brat grew on me like a fungus I guess. And…it was nice to not be completely alone in there.”

Something akin to guild churned in Cody’s chest. The urge to say ‘I’m sorry’ hung on the tip of his tongue because he understood that sense of isolation now. How foreign and unnerving it was to be surrounded by unfamiliar faces when you’re used to the comfort of having your brothers around you. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that, couldn’t bring himself to forgive the man.

“You keep using past tense. What happened to him, Slick?”

[egginfroggin]

yet another AU

I had a thought. Never a good thing, that. Anyway.

Beautiful Decline AU, so named because I was listening to "Beautiful Decline" by Abney Park and it gave me a brainworm and now this mess exists.

Hisui isn't Sinnoh so-and-so many years in the past; it is Sinnoh centuries, if not millennia, in the future.

By this point, humanity has flown too close to the sun and gone through what is essentially the apocalypse. In the wake of humanity's fall (its decline, you could say), nature has begun to take over what remains.

Thoughts below the cut because this got long.

Paradox Pokemon exist in this era

This version of humanity could be considered Paradoxical, in that humans themselves have become part machine/AI/electronic

Few, if any, living things ever become completely inorganic and purely non-living; most everything had some small amount of life in it somewhere, from which things begin to reverse

Things are slowly beginning to revert back to their original forms; the inorganic parts of what nature has become are beginning to revert back to their organic versions

The fall of humanity is referred to as the "Decline," even though it is implied to have happened rapidly, rather than gradually

The remains of humanity live in the dilapidated ruins of civilization

They are slowly rebuilding, but they are nowhere near what they were during the games and anime and such -- the "present," we'll call it

The "present" is mainstream game era; the "future" is exactly what it sounds like, and can be used to refer specifically to the post-Decline era

Screwing with the fabric of the world at any point in the timeline will mess things up; Time is kind of important, and things can be altered no matter where in the timeline you are if you muck with it enough

I don't know exactly what's going on yet as far as conflict goes

Pokemon like Arceus, the Tao Trio, whatever Xerneas has going on, and the Forces of Nature -- Pokemon that there are only one of, and that play a role as the "embodiments" of concepts or who keep the world going as it should, such as Xerneas doing life things -- remain unchanged

As things become organic again, you have things that seem like they're caught halfway between being alive and being vastly inorganic; this is not always pleasant to look at or think too hard about

What remains of humanity are mostly caught at some point in this process of becoming organic; none are wholly organic yet, but most have external human aspects such as skin, hair, eyes, or entire limbs

Think, like, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, but make it Pokemon and make everything an amalgamation of machinery and flesh stuff

("Amalgamation of machinery and flesh stuff" sounds awful, I love it)

This is the closest thing to sci-fi that I think I have ever thought up and oh boy will this be weird to try to develop

How does the machinery come and go from living things?

I'm currently thinking of it as almost a genetic thing; as generations pass, things will become more and more organic again

And machinery could be considered some kind of virus, I guess, in that it started small and then spread until everyone had it and now it's "dying" off

Does this make sense? Who knows! I sure don't! I have no brain left at the moment, sorry

I will be talking more about this, because there is more that I want to say about it and some actual character stuff that I'd like to look at.

This really is another example of me chucking stuff at a wall in an attempt to get something coherent, though, and I am not yet at the coherent part of this development.

I'm still developing things, so this might be messy for a while, but feel free to ask anything; just don't expect the most in-depth or concrete answer. Progress pending, and all that, and I'm mostly character-focused, anyway.

Thank you for sitting through this. Drink some water. Go check out "Beautiful Decline," by Abney Park.

May y'all have a good day.

[garak]

here are my thoughts on the x-men movies since ive finished most of them

x-men (2000): in my top 3. love mags and xavier in this one mostly because its ian mckellan & patrick stewart. my main gripes are with the merging of magnetos and mystiques brotherhoods & the exclusion of destiny from the brotherhood. magneto being willing to sacrifice his life & another mutants for his dream to be realized seems pretty accurate but i feel like they didnt make it clear enough that if the plan worked he would have died too...? HATE wolverine trying to put the moves on jean grey but thats true regardless of whether its a movie or a comic or a stageplay for all i care.

x2: the plot of this one kind of lost me mostly because i havent read god loves man kills yet so i didnt have any basis to understand wtf was going on except stryker was there and hes evil. love maggy in the prison being emo and shit although them deciding when he can or cant fly or use certain powers seems pretty arbitrary... ? i feel like deathstryke is treated pretty poorly by the plot here seeing as shes you know kind of an important character who they never introduce properly. nightcrawler looks better in this movie than he does in the later ones but still not good.

last stand: ive already talked about the choice of angel & worthington industries as the villains in this one so i won't go over it again. i think its DEEPLY funny that scott disappears and wolverine finds his glasses (which he cannot live without) just lying around and doesn't think "hey i wonder what happened to cyclops" until jean is quite literally unbuckling his belt halfway through trying seduce him. why does no one in these films seem to give a fuck about what happens to cyclops he dies in the first 10 minutes of the movie and its never addressed. also prof x dies in this one and i dont remember how he comes back to life so what was that. also they fuck up bobbys characterization SOOOO bad like i know they didnt know he was gay and he is kind of a player but in the comics kitty uses him as a rebound then breaks up with him and then his younger self (teleported to the future from the 60s) is like "why arent you gay. i'm gay" and bobby is like "no i'm also gay. i just act straight because of irish catholic guilt". so having him cheat on rogue with kitty and pressure rogue into getting the mutation blocker thing so they can have sex is retroactively an insane plotline. sorry im bobby drakes number one fan and this is so fake. also beast is so hot in this movie. what? who said that. also the phoenix plotline sucks and also magneto was right to try and explode the factory or whatever

origins wolverine: INCREDIBLY funny movie serious excellent. completely unintentional in how funny it is but so enjoyable to watch. why was cyclops there? why was emma frost there? what is going on in this movie? why is wolverine naked all the damn time? why does he know the blob? why can he BEAT the blob? why is the blob in this movie? seriously what the fuck is going on in this movie? x-men origins wolverine does not have answers to these questions. its really great to see the awful cgi claws though. i liked that gambit was in this movie.

first class: i have a lot of questions on this one. why is hank here. why is mystique acting like a child when she should be over 70 years old at the least. why would they get my hopes up by putting banshee and moira in the same movie but then not give them a relationship. why the fuck is scott summers' younger brother here. however it does well by making you root for magneto and then being like "and everybody then teamed up with magneto because hes awesome and abandoned xavier except for hank because theyre both centrist democrats" like you know what. so true. i like how mags just starts drama constantly for no reason like why was he fucking w mystique like that... good for him i guess but hes so gay in this movie its not even funny. okay it is funny but only a little.

the wolverine: i fell asleep during this one so i don't know but it seemed weird and racist in many ways and wolverine was a complete bitch during it for NO reason as always. also its so funny to see him fail on screen with basic japanese when in the comics he gets mind wiped and regains the ability to speak japanese before he regains english like that guy is an r/whiteguyswithasianwives prodigy. i liked deathstryke in this movie the actress was very cool. why didnt wolverine take the deal to save his friend and not be immortal anymore when he fucking hates being immortal half the time like bro come on... i hate him sorry

days of future past: okay at this point they should have known bobby drake was gay. so why all that with kitty. also why blame MYSTIQUE for the creation of the sentinels dawg she had nothing to do with that in the comics. the sentinels were not purple enough OR big enough btw. also, where is rachel summers. you cant do days of future past without rachel summers. either way this was a pretty good movie. quicksilver was excellent.

apocalypse: guys. why is scott summers wearing raybans. here are some other questions i hate about this movie: why is cyke's backstory never properly discussed. why do they give cyke angel or bobby's personality. why does nightcrawler look so bad. why would apocalpse choose angel over literally anyone else. why is it never addressed that nightcrawler is mystique's son. why is psylocke here if theyre not going to do anything with her. why is xavier such an annoying liberal. why would they introduce a new magneto daughter when he already has like 3 to pick from. why dont hank and mystique just sort their shit out. why does mystique go to bat so hard for maggy. why does jean already have telepathic abilities when she and scott meet thus making the way they originally get together (one of the main reasons i give a fuck about their relationship) impossible. who is the girl with the yellow hoop earrings they hang out with. dazzler??? why does jean have the phoenix spirit in her if she hasnt died yet. why isnt storm in her home on the mountain at this point. why is moira not scottish. why introduce her son if theyre not going to do the moira son plotline. last but not least, why would they include any character in this movie who wasnt quicksilver when hes obviously the best character by a wide margin and all scenes that dont include him are basically worthless. otherwise i quite enjoyed it. i liked angels haircut and im so glad they FINALLY made xavier bald.

i will add my reviews of new mutants, dark phoenix, deadpool, etc. once i watch them

[starlostastronaut]

DAY 03 | A STATE OF MIND

PAIRING: bang chan x reader

GENRE: angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff

WC: 1.76k

CW: (not only) appearance insecuritues (chan), mentions of hate comments, implied panic attack/mental breakdown (chan), there's crying, and lot of kisses, y/n used like once, chan gets called baby

PROMPT: you're beatiful - the rose

well, the angst is here. trust me to take a cute song and turn it into this lol. i promise it gets better as we go, and i don't really go into much detail, but still mind the cw. i still hope you enjoy <3

title from you're beatiful - the rose

general masterlist here

<< previous | mctc masterlist | next >>

You knocked on the door to the 3RACHA + Hyunjin dorm. Tapping your foot against the ground, you waited for one of the boys to let you in. “Come on, guys, come on,” you murmured, growing more and more impatient with every second that passed. This truly was the worst time to forget your keys at home. But you were in such a hurry to get here that the thought of bringing anything but the absolute essentials, such as your phone or the keys to your own apartment, hadn't crossed your mind until you were halfway to the dorm.

When Changbin called you twenty minutes ago, begging you to come over, you weren’t thinking straight. As soon as Chan's name was mentioned, you grabbed your stuff and ran out the door. Poor Changbin didn't even get to finish what was so urgent, but that didn't matter. You will find out when you go there. What mattered was the fact that something was going on with Chan, and you were too far away from him. So there you were, in the hallway of the Stray Kids’ apartment complex, standing in front of the door like an idiot. Just as you were starting to entertain the thought of busting the door down, the doorknob moved and revealed Minho in a similarly distressed state as you. His hair was messy, his hoodie rumpled, and there were a few faint damp patches around his chest and shoulders.

“Thank god you're here.” Minho let out a sigh of relief, ushering you to come inside and towards Chan's room, not even pointing out the fact that you didn't take off your shoes. Oh, so this was really serious then. Minho was very particular about these sorts of things, so the fact that he now completely ignored one of his precious house rules spoke volumes on its own. Walking through the apartment, you noticed the rest of the members sitting or standing around, looking similarly uneasy. Hyunjin and Jisung paused their murmured conversation with Changbin to give you a small wave as a greeting, which you returned. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Seungmin comforting a crying Jeongin, but before you could inspect the scene further, you were dragged away by Minho. “Yongbok is with him right now, but he keeps asking for you,” the dancer said, placing a hand on your shoulder blade and gently nudging you towards the closed door.

“Um… Do you mind telling me what exactly happened? I kind of rushed here before Changbin got the chance to explain.” You ran your hand through your hair, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.

Minho didn't make a big deal out of it. “It's been a hard few weeks for him. And you know how he is, he never tells us anything and keeps it bottled up. I don't know what set it off, but with the deadlines closing in three days and the haters getting more active lately, I guess it got too much. He broke down about an hour ago, and we don't know what to do,” he explained with the same sad and worried tone he greeted you with. You nodded, and Minho carefully opened the door.

Felix raised his head to the noise, and his eyes sparked up when he saw you. Though it wasn't the usual spark in his eyes, this time it was much more bittersweet. I'm glad you're here, and I'm sorry I can't help more. “Chris, Y/N is here,” Felix whispered in English, gently running his fingers through Chan's hair to make him acknowledge the information.

Watching the whole scene unfold in front of you, you could feel your heart breaking into a million pieces. The two boys were sitting on the bed, Chan cuddled up to Felix. At least he wasn't crying anymore, so that was already a step in a better direction. He still had his face buried in the younger one's chest, though. One of Felix's arms was steadily wrapped around Chan, while the other was now massaging his scalp. Chan looked so small and vulnerable, curled up into a ball like that. You had to fight every urge to run over there, pry him out of Felix's arms, and never let go again. But you knew you had to approach carefully.

Kneeling down next to the bed, you gently ran your hand around Chan's back, letting him know you're here. "Baby," you whispered. “Baby, it's me. Can you look at me, please?’ you said, getting up on the bed as well. Felix gave you a weak smile, and slowly, with so much care, he disentangled himself from Chan, who immediately latched onto you, grabbing you with a force you didn't think he was capable of right now. You didn't even notice Felix and Minho leaving the room; all your attention was focused on your boyfriend the moment you saw him.

“Want to tell me what happened?” you gently asked, hugging Chan tighter when he shook his head, mumbling something about wanting to just hold you for a while. You nodded with a sad smile. “Of course.” He'll tell you later, if he wants to. For now, you would just hold him, knowing that just your presence helped him. He said many times in the past that just being close to you always made him feel better. But now that saying has reached a completely new, heartbreaking level. You watched Chan get comfortable with a stinging pain in your chest. It hurt to see him like this, clinging to you like he's drowning and you're the only thing keeping him above the water.

For a while, you just stayed, intertwined with one another. For the whole time, your fingers gently brushed through Chan's soft curls because you knew it always helped to ground him. As the minutes passed, you felt how Chan's breathing slowly steadied, and he was coming out of his current state. 

Feeling him move, you smiled and helped him into a more sitting position, but you still kept your firm hold on him. Reaching over for the bottles of water Minho brought in some time ago, you handed one to Chan. “Feeling better, baby?”  

He took the bottle and opened it, bringing it to his lips. He set it back down and nodded in response to your question. “I'm sorry… Don't know what…” he mumbled. “The deadlines and comments... It was too much.” 

“Shh, it's okay.” You began stroking his hair again. “They're wrong. Whatever they said to you, they're wrong.”

Chan looked at you. His eyes, always so sparkly and happy, were now heavy with sadness. “They said that I'm not a good leader. That I don't deserve to be an idol because I'm ugly with no talent,” he whispered.

You felt a burst of anger inside you. “Channie,” you said, more insistent this time. One of your hands came to rest on his jaw, your thumb gently caressing his cheek, while the other interlocked your fingers with his, holding his hand tightly. “They're wrong. You're a great leader. No one loves the boys more than you, and we both know you'll do anything for them. You take care of them, of me, of other artists in your company. You protect them when it's needed, and you help them grow and achieve their own success outside of the group. Are those the qualities of a bad leader?” 

Chan shook his head slightly. 

“Exactly. You are the best leader they could ever ask for.” You smiled at him, hoping to convey how much you loved and appreciated him with that one smile. And it might have worked. His face lit up a tiny bit. Blink and you would have missed it, but at this point in your relationship, you were so accustomed to Chan that you sometimes felt like you could read his mind.

“And I don't know who said that other thing, but they need their eyes checked,” you continued. “You are beautiful, Chan, inside and out. From your adorable curly hair..." You reached to kiss the top of his head. “Over your eyes, your nose, your entire face, to your lips.” After every feature, you placed a kiss on that spot, and your heart swelled with happiness when you heard soft giggles coming out of Chan at the fact that he was being showered with kisses all over his face. “And even if the haters don't think that, who cares? Their opinion doesn’t matter. Beauty is much more than looks. It's the personality as well. You have thousands of fans ready to tell you the same because it's true, but you need to believe it yourself. Please try, for me?”

You leaned in to press a final kiss on Chan's lips. When you pulled away, you noticed tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. “Oh god no,” you murmured. This was the last thing you wanted to happen. Just as you thought he was getting better, you made him cry again.

“Happy tears. It's happy tears,” Chan quickly said, noticing you getting into your head. “It's okay, you didn't do anything,” he assured you, a small smile creeping up on his face.

“I should be the one telling you that,” you chuckled, cupping his face in your hands and wiping the tears away. 

“Can't have you steal all the spotlight, can I?"

That did get a full laugh out of you. A joke. That meant Chan was coming back. “I'm glad you're feeling better,” you said, your voice sweet and sincere.

“Thank you. For being here and... and helping. I promise I'll try for you,” Chan said, and you lit up at his words. It was going to be a long and difficult road, for sure, but this was already a huge step in the right direction. Then he yawned and snuggled up closer to you. You stroked his back a few times. It was understandable. He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. “I'll go tell the boys you're okay, and then I'll come back so we can sleep, okay?”

You got a murmured okay in response. Smiling, you gently laid Chan down on the bed and gave him a last kiss into his hair before walking towards the door. When you looked over your shoulder before exiting the room, he was curled to himself just like before, but this time his breathing was slow and steady, his face calm, as his body was finally ready to let go and relax.

taglist: @stayconnecteed @saintriots @vivioluh @ivaneedssleep

©starlostastronaut 2023 | do not repost/translate my work without permission

[contralto]

hi. ok. i caved and made a teacher crush blog after months of having feelings for a gay guy twice my age who singlehandedly turned me from lesbian to bisexual and is also my community college voice teacher. he shall be referred to by 💎 from here on out.

call me susie. they/she/he. i'm 26 and i've been in community college for like 7 years on and off. it's complicated but the long and short of it is severe depression plus learning disabilities plus a wholeass plague can really lengthen your time as a student. i also tried a few other majors before this one but they weren't my cup of tea, so in the end i went back to my roots as a musician. not sure if i can hack it as a performer, but for 💎's sake i'm gonna keep trying, because he says he can see me doing great things.

i feel like this image ^ in the teacher crush community cause a lot of y'all are high schoolers and i'm halfway through my twenties. let me tell you, it's a completely different vibe when both parties are grown adults. i had a few (less significant) tcs as a teenager, one as early as middle school, and in retrospect you really really REALLY do not want those feelings to be returned at that age. even now at age 26 it would still be colossally weird if 💎 returned my feelings just cause of like... moral implications and whatnot. but it would not be straight up illegal.

idk where i'm going with this but uhhh. my breaking point for making this blog was that i recently sent an email to 💎 about my mental health-- it started as a "hey i'm gonna be absent today" email and quickly devolved into a "i'm so depressed and scared that the depression will affect me as a student and a performer" email. i got a brief email back offering to set up an appointment with a school counselor for me, and i was worried he had just kind of (uncharacteristically) shrugged off my concerns.

today was different though. i sang a piece of my repertoire in front of 💎 and the other voice students, as you do in studio class, and in return got a METRIC TON of praise about my singing voice from him in front of all the other students-- and a lot of agreement from the other students, too.

after class, just when i thought i was done profusely blushing, he made heart hands 🫶 at me and told me something along the lines of "hey, i got your email, i wanted to tell you all this in person instead of in writing." i guess all that praise was his way of reassuring me that he'll be there for me even when my multitude of issues make things difficult.

icing on the cake though? he offered to talk about the email more over coffee. off campus. we haven't scheduled a day to do that yet, but maybe over the weekend or something? i'll put aside whatever time i need to for him. he's worth it.

if you've read this far all i can really say is "thank you" and also "pray that my dumb ass doesn't accidentally let something slip whenever the coffee meeting happens". byeeeee

[cherrykindness]

let's make babies |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: you and harry are doing a live on instagram, you've drunk a lot of wine and now the world knows that the future Mrs. Styles is ready to make babies.

warnings: mostly cute, but the title tells you what you need to know 🤪

"What is your favorite song from the Fine Line album?" Y/N read aloud, twirling in her right hand the second glass of wine of the evening, the one already halfway through. "Adore You and Watermelon Sugar, of course."

Harry giggled, rolling his eyes upon hearing his fiancée's statement.

"Y/N will always choose Adore You because it was obviously written for her." He accused. "She wouldn't give that answer under different circumstances."

The comments climbed up the screen continuously, most fans gushing about how cute Harry Styles and YN/LN could be while the other part was concerned with wringing even more information out of the slightly inebriated couple who had decided to do a surprise live one early Sunday morning.

As expected after being away for some time to begin filming Don't Worry, Darling in Southern California, Harry enjoyed a lazy weekend in the house he shared with his fiancée and her pets. The days were filled with late naps and relentless Netflix marathons, sublime and ethereal evenings, marked mostly by unexpected declarations and rounds of sex that used to last until the beams of light were shyly coming through the linen curtains. They were not a monotonous couple, so this order could easily be changed.

"Watermelon Sugar is nothing more than about my love for watermelons, don't get too creative." Harry replied to a fan while sporting a corner smile, the message standing out among the rest for its dozens of emojis and large print, questioning the singer about erotic content behind the lyrics of his latest hit. "I really don't know what you guys are talking about."

Y/N laughed, shaking her head before leaning it against her fiancé's chest, propped up on the soft white pillows that were spread practically all over the bed. The air conditioner was on at a minimal temperature and a light rain whipped on the panes of glass camouflaged by the cream-colored curtain, that being the projection of Y/N's favorite nights.

"You can tell them, I'm not shy." She joked, nudging her fiancé's waist.

"You know what it was written about and who it was written for." Harry replied, raising one of his eyebrows. "That's what matters."

It went without saying that much of Harry's newest album, as well as some of his earlier work, had been done in exclusive dedication to his future wife. Y/N had been the muse for a vast repertoire of romantic songs, and even though the singer preferred to keep the story behind his more explicit compositions a "secret", the relationship the two had shared for more than three years was already solid and known enough for the media and fans to distinguish hidden messages in small details.

"It's a song about what usually comes before the act of making babies." Y/N laughed as he pointed at the display. "Honestly, you guys are impossible."

"No, we make babies every day." Harry joked, making a funny motion with his eyebrows. "I would spend my entire career writing just about that."

"Harry!" The actress exclaimed incredulously, slapping her fiancé weakly on the chest. "Children might be watching this."

"You don't want to have babies with me?" He asked falsely offended, accepting the cup that Y/N offered him. "Because I want some babies with you."

Y/N laughed, rolling her eyes as she watched the internet freak out at the dialogue that had suddenly emerged. Since the beginning of the quarantine, it was kind of inevitable that the couple of artists would not become the darlings of all social media; they were fervently active with photos, videos, and lives that depicted step by step daily life in isolation, gaining more and more followers and making the media more and more fascinated by the relationship they both shared.

The wedding was scheduled for the summer of next year and it was perhaps the most anticipated event in the tabloids. Bets about what the model of Y/N's dress would be and lists presuming who would be selected for the short list of guests stood out among countless news stories about the famous people influencing pop culture today.

The possible arrival of a Styles baby was an inevitable topic in interviews. Harry and Niall were the only members of the ex-boyband that had not become fathers yet, and because they had maintained a solid relationship and were seen as one of the most enviable couples during the last four years, Y/N and Harry had gotten used to all this openly asked questions. They didn't mind, they even had fun with the montages and all the anxiety that dominated the whole internet, often mentioning the fandoms' efforts to represent them as such "cool" parents in perfectly edited pictures.

"No, guys, I'm not pregnant." Y/N amusingly clarified the doubt of dozens of new comments. "Please don't believe so many controversial news stories that appear out there. I was on twitter last week and saw several people theorizing about a possible pregnancy, most of the arguments based on a website that used photos from the set of How to Get Away with Murder in the season where I was actually playing a pregnant woman as Laurel." She laughed. "It's so funny! I know you guys love to guess these things, but we won't hide something so special when it actually happen, I promise."

"Especially because Y/N can hide absolutely nothing from anyone." Harry accused, leaving his drink on the corner table before settling into a comfortable position for the two of them. "Anyone who's a Marvel fan knows that. That's one of her most characteristic quirks."

"They gave me a fake script for the last two movies." Y/N agreed, shaking his head. "For me and Tom."

"We agreed to keep the engagement a secret for a while. The plan was to travel to Holmes Chapel to break the news to my family in person, but guess who got a call at ten o'clock at night from an angry Anne because she learned of her son's engagement from an interview Y/N gave the next day?"

Y/N gave a guilty smile, winking gracefully at the camera. "It was all James' fault! I'm sure he already suspected something, those questions were very suspicious."

"Of course the questions were suspicious, babe. You literally said you had a secret that involved both of us but that you couldn't tell because it was important that our families knew first."

"I thought he would think about a pregnancy or something!" The actress defended herself, feeling very convincing in her intonation bordering on obviousness. "That's a mania I can't get rid of, it's in my genes."

"Did you all hear that? Further proof that you guys don't have to worry about guessing when Y/N's pregnancy will be, I'm sure our baby will make sure to tell you everything while still in the womb, mom's genes will make sure of that."

"You are so funny, Harry Styles." Y/N sarcastically stated, holding back a giggle as countless messages with laughing emojis were frantically up. "Yeah, I know I talk a lot and all, but you have annoying quirks too."

It was obvious that live would be news the next day. Although they were completely open about matters concerning their relationship, nothing seemed better than receiving so much exclusive information from a Harry and S/N drunk on expensive wine.

"You wake up in a bad mood and you're dangerously sexy, that should be illegal."

Harry laughed, holding his fiancée's waist a little tighter as he felt her tumble a little further to the side, getting closer and closer to the edge of the bed. Y/N was dangerously weak for drinks, and the singer knew that the actress' body was already near its limit.

"You're the only sexy person here, love." He declared with a corner smile, evidently finding the whole situation funny. "Do you want to go to sleep now?"

"No." Y/N shook her head. "Can we watch some movie? Can we watch Sweet Home?"

"Of course, love." He murmured, giving the woman a quick kiss on the forehead.

Even though Harry knew that his fiancée was unlikely to make it past the five-minute mark of the episode, he made sure to restart the korean series at exactly the scene where she had stopped, the first chapter still halfway through after Y/N realized that it would be impossible to watch such a macabre work without a drop of alcohol in her blood.

She had been so excited by the taste of Argentinian wine and the idea of updating her fans after a few weeks away, that she had forgotten the main purpose of the live. Harry and Y/N had been apart for a few days due to the new movie the Brit was shooting in North America, all happening in an unrestrictedly careful manner due to the restrictions caused by the pandemic.

He was slowly migrating towards acting and the future Mrs. Styles couldn't be prouder. Y/N had felt on cloud nine when Harry had given her the news of his upcoming job, but her only pronouncement on the subject had been a succinct post on instagram. Just a photo of the couple on a trip to Germany with a simple heart emoji didn't seem enough for the actress' exhibitionist soul, and coming to that conclusion was the main reason she decided to invite him, already relatively changed, for a live appearance. Y/N wanted to go on and on about how much she loved that man and work on that whole honeyed speech that would bring her (once again) the title of "cutest bride of all time," but of course Harry had to come home from his trip with his favorite red wine and poison her with those sweet caresses that took her out of orbit, turning the degree of alcohol content into the least of her problems.

"You're going to kiss Florence." Y/N exclaimed suddenly, as if only now realizing that her fiancé would share the screen with Florence Pugh, one of her closest friends in that industry. "Kiss on the mouth."

The MacBook was still open and hundreds of new comments were going up every second, but Harry didn't bother one bit to warn her about the possibility of her becoming a meme the next day. He was having too much fun with the situation to worry.

"Are you jealous?"

"Yes." She stated with a pout. "I am jealous, I just don't know if I'm more jealous of her or of you."

"But you kiss me every day, babe." Harry laughed. "And you've been kissing other people's men for almost ten years." He joked.

"But I only think about you, I already told you that."

Harry shook his head negatively at the camera, knowing he was sharing with the fans the funniest side of his fiancée.

"I know that, honey." He assured, lightly stroking the actress' back. "I think we'd better turn off the TV and go to sleep now, I'm sure you'll have a terrible headache tomorrow."

The brit planned to bid his audience goodbye and put an end to that recording, but Y/N was drunk and her sense of right and wrong had already gone to space. Harry should have been quicker, however, because his fiancée's speech would be cause for new tags and the only subject for the interviewers for at least the next few months.

"I don't want to sleep, how about we make babies?"

That's what Watermelon Sugar was all about, after all.

[familyofpaladins]

Random things from World Heroes Mission

(Spoilers ahead)

Action packed right from the very start

Also.. pretty dark beginning. Not gonna lie. A lot of innocent people die in brutal ways literally in the first 5 minutes

STEALTH SUITS! STEALTH SUITS! STEATH SUITS!!! :D

.... they wear them for like. 10 minutes. I'm so sad

Horikoshi sir. Please bring them back again. Pls

Also they never get called the musketeers at all, and I'm sad and lowkey mad about it

Ppgffhkcykxkhc WHEN WE GOT TO THE WHOLE "Deku is a wanted Mass Murderer" half the theater LAUGHED, even though it was framed very dramatically, because we all know it's just complete bullsh1t that deku would murder anyone, let alone innocent civilians

We get to see soem of his class react to the news and they all immediately go "No way!!! Midoriya would Never!!!!"

And I know a made a joke post a while back about, what if the class was just like. "Well hey if midoriya DID kill people I'm sure it was deserved". But the fact that they all just. IMMEDIATELY defended him, saying there was no way it was true, without knowing anything about what happened?? I'm just 🥺. They have so much faith and trust in each other 🥺🥺😭 I love it

PpfFLDJSOWNSJAK PART THAT KILLED ME THO- Todo is literally on the phone with deku asking what happened to him (they got separated chasing down robbers)

Deku explains what happened. TV immediately does the Mass Murderer report

And todo goes "Midoriya. What did you actually do??"

Ppffohfkgxgjxgkf TODO DONT YOU TRUST YOUR FRIEND?!?! I'm sorry it just killed me 🤣

RODY SOUL IS A GOOD BIG BROTHER AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM

also Parkour KING

Hes able to dodge Deku, who has Full Cowling AND Blackwhip!!!!

Someone PLEASE take the "Parkour. PARKOUR. Parkour!" Vine and dub it over his scenes , because that's all I was thinking about

PINOOOO

I dont think I've had a favorite quirk before. But I sure as heck so now, and it belongs to one of the villains (bow hand lady)

WHUMP. Soooooo much whump. Theres also a lot of blood. Too much blood. How tf are you guys a live by the end of this movie honestly???

Deku gets hit by an arrow at one point, and very Nice piece of whump. But the whump lover in me wishes they had done a little more with it, but oh well

I DO wish we'd gotten to see Todo and Baku react to finding out he'd been hit. But oh well. It still might not have been all that dramatic. They might have just gone "well you're still breathing and we have a job to do so suck it up!!!" that'd probably be bakugos reaction anyway lol

Bakugo, multiple times: DONT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!! >:O *does it anyway*

The tuskhfjgsugfohcfud scene of shouto hearing from deku and bakugo just walking into the room, but todo immediately grabbing his arm like "come now. We're going to find midoriya" and just draggin him out of the room. I love it

Todo: Midoriya, didnt you learn anythign from hosu?! You're codes are shit!!

He didnt say "shit" but he might as well have. The audience died laughing

.... does bakugo know about hosu????

We actually got to see some pretty cool new moves from todo and baku that we really haven't seen in the show

So like. Thank you for giving todo more moves than just. Ice Wall and Wall of Flames

He shot out flames from his fingers and it was hot enough to melt through metal/the wall 👀

Big Bad Villain: I'm rubber and you're glue! What ever you do bounces off of me and sticks to you!!

That's basically his quirk. And force or contact deku tries to make gets sent back at him. So he basically gets hit with his Own Smashes

So what's he do??

HITS HIM HARDER

DEKU. MY BOY. MY SON. WTF

I mean.... I guess it ended up working. (Parallel to All Might beating the nomu at the USJ)

Super Sayian Deku makes a reappearance

Halfway through the movie: deku, hey rody what's you're quirk? We dont get to hear what he says

The girls sitting next to me in the theater *whispering*: ????!?? So what's the quirk??!?! WHATS THE QUIRK?!?

Near the end of the movie: Pino expresses his actual thoughts/emotions

I want to rewatch this and pay more attention to how pi o reacts to things

Oh dang. Now I'm thinking about the scene where Rody tries to turn over the briefcase behind dekus back. But pino was yelling at him

He was arguing with himself!!! He knew he shouldnt do it!!! He really didnt want to!!! Pino woke up deku to stop him!!!! Aaaaaaaaaa I'm Emotional now 🥺🥺😢😭

Also at the end when rody and deku are saying good bye, and Rody's all like "yeah stay in your own country, you cause so much trouble 🙄"

But pino is all 🥺🥺😢🥺😢🥺😢🥺

AND THEN THEY HAVE A NICE HUG AND DEKU SAYS HE'LL VISIT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I'm gonna cry

Also before all that happens, right after they save the day, they sit there and start laughing a little hysterically. Me: that's the blood loss laughing. Seriously boys GO GET SOME HELP

Todo, Baku and Deku each get a big fight scene near the end and was very cool, but I wish they would have worked TOGETHER more

Like... COMBO MOVES

Bakugo ends up fighting his battle right outside the entrance to the bad guy headquarters and basically Collapses the entrance way on the bad guys

Me: Well I Sure Hope theres a back entrance, cause otherwise you just buried your friends alive my dude.....

Also I think he might have actually killed those villains 😳. I'm not sure. They could have survived, but also..... literal tons of rocks fell on them

I NEED A DELETED SCENE FIC OF THE BOYS BEING FOUND BY PARAMEDICS PLEASE

Bakugo and Deku lost So Much. SO MUCH BLOOD!!! How are you alive!!?!??!?! And Todo fell off a WATERFALL. How did they even manage to find him?!?

Oh is bakugo getting healing kissed by recovery girl and being mad about it just gonna be a thing now in the movies? I can accept that lol

Also.... did .... Recovery girl just. Fly halfway around the world to specifically heal Them?? Was she all ready there??? I have questions. Recovery girl has favorites

Ya know... they never specifically showed Deku being cleared of the Murder Charges (its assumed, because we see the evil police guy (who is the one we assume set up the framing) being arrested, that hey obviously this guy was trying to stop the heroes and framed a kid to stop them).

But like..... what if they didnt really make an announcement to the public to be like "hey btw that Japanese hero actually isnt a mass murderer, he was just framed by the corrupt police"

And the next time Dkeu comes to visit, he still gets looks of "wait shit. Didnt he murder people???"

And poor deku has to be like "No!!! I was framed and set up!!! I helped save the world!!!!"

I just think it'd be funny

Also I dont know if actual people died, and deku was framed for it, or if they just. Completely made it up. They dont say when or where these people were supposedly murdered

Idk this has been a lot I'll shut up for now (in this post anyway)

[sleepy-moron]

Literally just me spitballing ideas about the monologue ™:

- The article where the monologue gets mentioned said it was filmed near the end of shooting, so based on that we might be able to predict wether the monologue happens in Hawkins or it's with the Cali gang

- Most of Mike's big emotional moments involve him just sort of blowing up and yelling out some feelings, so the monologue is either going to heavily lean into this type of scene, or they're going to go in the complete opposite direction and we're going to get something a bit more similar in tone to the "It was the best thing I've ever done" scene

- This is completely unsubstantiated, but I just like....feel deep in my bones that this monologue is going to be in volume 2 (I'm calling ep 8 out now because parallel to it was the best thing I've ever done scene from season 2)

- If I'm right about it not being in volume one that makes me feel fairly confident in ruling out this being the m*leven breakup scene because if we do get a breakup scene it's gonna be before El goes away

- I know the apology for the Mike and Will fight from s3 is another popular guess but I really can't see them waiting until the season is over halfway finished to address the fight.... maybe they do a short apology scene early on and then readdress it later but I feel like this is unlikely....or they do this apology monologue in volume one and I'm just completely off base lol

- If (and it's a big if because I don't think we'll get this scene this season) Mike gets a coming out scene this is what the monologue is going to be....no doubt in my mind that if this scene exists it will be the most visibly emotional we have ever seen Mike. Also if this is the case then this is definitely a volume 2 scene....I think that if byler is endgame we'll get a lot of hinting at Mike being in love with Will, or confirmation of his feelings via show don't tell, but I don't think Mike gets a proper coming out scene this season (though if he did I'd guess it would be in the penultimate or last episode of the season)

- Some sort of eulogy or a speech about a main character dying....Which is definitely possible but I feel like this would be more of a group emotional scene rather than Mike having his own monologue about it, but I could be wrong

- A love confession of some sort....which would make sense but I just have a pretty baseless feeling this isn't going to be the case.....I could very much be wrong here though, this is just a gut feeling

(if it's to El I just don't care honestly, they already did that last season and it wasn't super super emotional and Mike literally either takes it back or straight up can't remember it, this would just sort of be disappointing for me if it's all "oh but he actually goes through with the confession this time")

(if it's a confession to Will, I can definitely get behind this making Mike so emotional, but I just don't think they'll be made aware of each others feelings this season....He could confess his feelings for Will to somebody else which would work but I still personally don't think Mike is going to actually verbalize his feelings this season, even if we are made aware of them)

- Some sort of rallying hope speech....I think this is definitely one of the more likely possibilities, even more so if this happens right after a big defeat or a major character death, but I also think this is probably one of the possibilities I like the least because I would prefer Mike dealing with his emotional issues in a scene like this

- And now for what I'm putting forward as my #1 prediction, even if it might be an anticlimactic answer since it could overlap with a bunch of the previous options: Mike addressing how he's been trying to grow up too fast and how he needs to keep believing he can make is dreams come true or he will wind up jaded and despondent and full of regrets (like his parents lmao). He definitely brings up the party and calls himself a paladin during this speech, you cannot change my mind

[thornescratch]

Hi! I’m really curious about the ‘I want to understand you, I study your obscure language’ one for the wip thing!

Ooof. So I don't really like Sidney Crosby, for a series of reasons that we won't get into because some of them come down to petty geographical sports reasons, and some of them come down to petty fandom reasons, but I have friends who do like him and I guess also tumblr followers as well, so I try to not be... awful or obvious about it. I used to be much worse! He's slightly more tolerable for me now that the Caps have a Cup.

It's honestly, like, only 500 words from being complete. I just keep putting it off. I’m kinda-- I can deal with fictional Crosby (and to be fair, fictional Ovechkin is also easier to deal with over real Ovechkin) but I worry that my attitude towards him bleeds through the writing, so I tend to second guess myself a lot while writing him, on if I’m being fair or not.

Anyway, the fic itself is quite short, and grew out of a double drabble request someone asked of me some years back and I think the prompt was something like Crosby and Ovechkin and conversations. The title is from a line of Pushkin poetry and it’s (supposed to be, anyway) relevant to their actual conversations. And so it was two very short little pieces about them and each other's voicemails, and I always thought it was sorta missing something. So then I figured, oh, thematically, there should be a closing scene where they talk in person. But what are they talking about? And, well it just happened on its own.

But there's something different about this, in a way. And then he knows, and Jesus fucking Christ, holy fucking shit. This is going to piss off so many people. This is amazing. Alex is actually kind of unable to talk from the sheer delight of it.

But as the silence drags on, Sidney looks even more agonized, and the dull flush of red starts creeping down his neck as well. "So, yeah. I know things are sometimes weird but. Even so. I guess I could have handled some things different, like better. But I can, I mean. In the future.

"If you want," he adds when Alex still doesn't say anything.

"With me," he tacks on after that, like Alex actually needs the clarification.

"Oh my God," Alex says blankly, still marveling over the hilariousness of it all. "Sidney Crosby, you love me. Like, in love with me."

And he starts to laugh his ass off.

Sid blinks and then makes the exact same pissy expression that he does whenever he loses a faceoff, which isn't an sight Alex usually gets to see this close up—he's usually been off to the side and watching the way Nicky takes the draw, while hoping for a one timer chance—but he almost can't focus on enjoying the look on Sid's face because he's still too busy being consumed with the enormous glee of it all.

"Yeah, well," Sid says grumpily, when Alex doesn't stop laughing like a maniac. "I thought you should know."

"I knew," Alex says, still wheezing.

"I thought I should tell you, though," Sid says. "You. I just. Thought I should say it."

"Oh," Alex says, "good," and then he swallows the last of his laughter down in a hiccup, so he can crowd in close, then reach out and touch the little furrow line between Sid's eyes; it smooths out under his finger. "I'm glad you did."

"Yeah?" Sid asks, eyebrows raised, still a little stiff and defensive.

"Well, you don't say it like I think you gonna say it, but you say it Sidney way," Alex says. "That's okay, that's best way, actually."

"Oh," Sid says. He frowns. "Uh. I guess we can do the classic thing. I love you. Is that better?" He shifts his weight from foot to foot. "I could, like, go down on one knee, I guess."

"It's good too," Alex says. "Actually, yeah, I want one knee." A thought occurs to him as Sid is in the process of going to one knee. "Oh my God, you already got a ring too, yeah?"

"What?" Sid says, frozen halfway down, and then looks shifty. "No, I don't have a ring on me."

Alex stares hard at Sid, runs that through his head, considers everything he knows about him, and then he starts laughing in helpless joy again. "You do, though. I bet you already buy a ring. Maybe not here, but I bet you got ring hiding, like, in sock drawer."

Sid looks grumpy again and stands up, arms crossed over his chest. "I wouldn't store anything valuable in my sock drawer."

"You got me valuable ring?" Alex says, still hiccupping with laughter. "Ooh. I wanna see."

"I'm keeping it now," Sid says. "I'm gonna take it back to the store."

"You wanna marrrrrry me," Alex croons, and right before Sid can get really pissed off, he swallows as much of his giggling as he can and says, "Okay, yes. Wait, no, you don't ask. Ask. On knee, you gotta do it right. Come on, come on." He gestures and snaps his fingers.

"Okay yes what?" Sid asks. The pissy faceoff loss expression is giving rapid way to more of a confused I just heard a whistle blow and I can't tell if the penalty is on my team or we're about to get a powerplay expression. Hope and dread mixing together in equal parts, and expecting chaos no matter what.

"Ask me," Alex says.

"…right now?" Sid says, still looking like he's trying to recover from the conversational whiplash. "I don't have my notes."

"You don't need notes, you already know I'm gonna say yes," Alex says patiently. He would like to see the ring first, because he prefers classic yellow gold even if everyone's into platinum these days, but Sid is weird and conscientious enough to probably already have a full folder of research on Alex's taste in jewelry and there's no chance in hell he doesn't know that already. Hell, he bets Sid's proposal notes have multiple versions that were specifically calibrated for optimal weighted outcomes based on geography, time of year, day of the week, weather, which of their respective teams won their last game against each other, point standings, and whatever other insane factors Sid thought would possibly affect the answer.

[0nlythrowharrybeaux]

Oooo 4 please!

Here it is! A little annoying husbandrry fluff:)

As much as Y/N loves Harry, he can be a handful. Especially when she is nearing her period, her mood is very irregular and lots of stupid little things that happen and some things he does irk her to no end. Like the fact that he had apparently unplugged her phone to charge his AirPods and her phone is still at 7%. And now, that she's trying to get ready for the day and she's realized that he's used up the last of her sunscreen. It's something so small yet it has taken her from peeved to completely irritated. She steps out of the bathroom and slips on her wedding ring before heading to the kitchen, where Harry is whistling a tune as he scrolls through his phone.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Morning." she mumbles and he immediately glances up as she walks straight to the fridge without giving him a hug or a kiss. He decides to let it go and resume scrolling through his phone until he hears it, "Harry, where's my yogurt?" she asks.

Now, Y/N has only ever called him Harry on three separate occasions. The first was on one of their first dates where he wanted to help her get over her fear of heights and they got stuck on the very top of the ferris wheel. The second time was when he'd secretly paid her rent, car note, and bills when she'd been laid off. And the third time was on their wedding day when he'd tried dipping her in a kiss while they took pictures (after she'd asked him not to) and he ended up stepping on her veil and tearing it. The underlying emotion in all of these events were anger. And now he can add eating her yogurt to the list, though he doesn't think it warrants that reaction.

"I ate before I went to the gym, sorry love." he responded and she sighed loudly.

"What am I supposed to eat now?" she mumbled quietly to herself and he answered despite his better judgement.

"Literally there's tons of options in the fridge, love." he said as he continued scrolling and then he heard the fridge door shut loudly and glanced up. She looked pissed beyond belief and he couldn't help but smile, "S'not that serious, love. I'll go get you more right now f'you want it that bad."

"For real?"

"If that'll make you feel better, then yes, of course."

"It would." she said and he got up from his seat.

"Alright, I'll be back." he said and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Love you."

"I guess I love you too..." she mumbled and he smiled as he walked into the garage.

******

It had been half an hour and Y/N was getting pissed. She went to check her phone to see his location and he was no longer at the grocery store. In fact, he was halfway across town and there was traffic. She groaned and dropped herself on the bed as she called him. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"Hey, love."

"Why are you halfway across town?" she asked and he chuckled.

"I had an errand to run."

"The yogurts probably all gross by now..." she groaned.

"Don't worry about that, love. I haven't even picked it up yet. I'm going to do that now."

"Harry...." she groaned. There it was again, he sighed.

"You're completely overreacting." he said, "I'll be there in a while." he finished and he hung up before she even got another word in.

"Dick." she groaned as her eyes teared up. God, she was a fucking wreck, crying over fucking yogurt. Next thing she knew her face was being caressed and her eyes fluttered open.

"Why were you crying?" Harry frowned.

"First you unplugged my phone, then you finished my sunscreen. But most importantly, you ate my yogurt." she mumbled, feeling so stupid but it was the truth.

"Your patience has been thin today." He chuckled.

"Don't make fun, I'm on my period and hormonal as fuck."

"Well in that case, you're gonna love what I've got downstairs for you." he said with a smile.

"It better be yogurt." she said and his eyebrows shot up.

"Shit, I forgot the yogurt..." he teased and her eyes narrowed.

"That better be a joke." she warned and he chuckled.

"It is. Alright, c'mon on then." he said helping her up and guiding her downstairs. She smiled when she saw a grocery bag and ulta bag on the counter. She peeked into the orange bag and saw some face masks and the little box of her sunscreen. "I know, I finished it, baby. They were sold out at the ulta nearby so I had to go to the one in Thousand Oaks." he said and she turned around and smiled at him.

"Thank you."

"So now you're being all sweet? Gonna stop calling me Harry now?" he asked and she narrowed her eyes.

"Nope, not yet." she said when she glanced into the grocery bag and it did not contain what she was looking for and he scoffed through a laugh.

"Baby, c'mon now. A little patience please."

"Don't test me. Patience is not a quality I'm known for." she warned as he chuckled, "Where's the yogurt?" she asked and he cocked his head to the side with a grin.

"Mmmm, I'll need a kiss to tell you that..." he said and she tiptoed and pecked his lips quickly, but he pulled her closer and kissed her again, more deeply this time, "I love you."

"I love you too. But where's my yogurt?" she mumbled against his mouth and he chuckled.

"It's in the fridge." he said and she smiled before kissing his lips once more.

"Thank you, Harry." she teased as she opened up the fridge.

"Babe!" He whined and she just laughed as she grabbed her yogurt.

"Thank you, my wonderful, lovely, handsome, annoying husband." she teased as she neared him and pressed another kiss to his lips and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, go eat your damn yogurt."

[hwrryscherry]

The one where model Y/N is attacked in Paris.

blurb: Harry and Model Y/N are in Paris for Fashion Week 2020 earlier this year. To celebrate her first time walking for Gucci, Harry decides to take her out for a dinner date when a crazy��youtube prankster attacks her while leaving the restaurant and Harry get furious as standing up to defend his girl.

word count: 3.5K

warning: rude and disrespectful attitude, invasion of personal space, violence, anxiety attack quote. DON’T read it if you feel uncomfortable.

author’s note: HIII, I know this took me a while. I was working on it when I got a cold and just couldn’t think of anything to finish writing this, but I’m much better now for god’s sake. I’d like to apologize with whoever requested this for taking such a long time to post it and say a huge thank you or requesting this too! This is completely inspired by what happened to Gigi Hadid in 2016(I guess) and I remember seeing this video and thinking why someone would do that, also, Gigi said once that the guy was lucky Zayn wasn’t with her sooooo I guess I just think Harry would be so furious because even though he’s a very chill guy, his girl safety and well being is the one thing that matters the most to him.

gigi’s video for the ones who didn’t see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjsPmjqmcvs

       February 27th, 2020

   Today was the first time that you ever walked for Gucci, and it was amazing, you were beyond happy because getting where you are today being a short model and only being 22 years old it's something to be proud of. It hasn't been easy all the time but you were slowly making your way to the top and that's more than enough. And you were highly grateful for Harry either, of course you walked Gucci's show because of your talent and hard working and no one doubted that, but Harry did a important role in your newest contract with Gucci because you met the team because of him and his Gucci obsession. But anyway, the fashion show was amazing, and you had Harry on the crowd cheering for you all the time and God, he was so proud! He couldn’t even handle himself. He was recording everything and even got up when you did the catwalk next to him as he kept taking multiple pictures. If you have to be real, almost 90% of those pictures looked really bad because he wasn't focusing on the phone but he also wanted to register this moment and when you'd look through them later you'd actually laugh because most of them had a very blur image.

    When the fashion show ended, he had to congratulate you backstage. As you were starting to take off your outfit, you listened to your boyfriend's rough voice making you turn around to face him and see the biggest smile on his face, you could clearly see his dimples on the side of his cheek. He walked over to you instantly wrapping his strong arms around your figure hugging you so tight that you were even afraid that he would get the feat of ruining the rest of clothes you still had on.

— You were so great, I'm so pround of you! — Harry said on a low tone next to your ear before breaking the hug and looking carefully to your face. You had this crazy green eyeshadow that were halfway gone by now which caused him to chuckle — I love your eye look, it looks fabulous! — Harry said making you bend over to stare at the mirror behind you only realizing now you haven't finished taking off your makeup yet. You stand straight again giving him a mocking expression as you grabbed the makeup wipe you were using from the makeup table behind both of you.  

— I know, I'm thinking about wearing this everywhere because it's just really fashion! — you ironically said taking a smirk out of him as you turned around sitting on the chair in front of the mirror so you could have a sight of how you're makeup were doing — But thank you, you know I appreciate it!

— I do! And that's why I'll congratulate you by taking you out for dinner tonight! — Harry said walking towards you resting his hands on both of your shoulders squeezing them gently as he bends over giving you a small kiss on your neck.

— Oh, like a dinner date? — You'd ask with a smirk on as you felt goosebumps on your kiss with his little kiss.

— Exactly like a dinner date! And later, we can have our own private celebration! — He'd say with a  smirk on his lips as you finished taking your makeup off — What d' you think? Sounds good? — He asked you and you nodded at him and just some minutes later you both were out stage going back to your hotel in Paris. Harry called Jeff and asked him if he could make a reservation for both of you for tonight around 8 pm and he glady did, so as it was already 6 pm and as you both were probably the one couple in the world who takes the longest to get ready, you'd come back to the hotel and started getting ready already.

    Jeff made an appointment for both of you to go to Le Cinq restaurant which is located near the Eiffel Tower and Arc of Triumph. You absolutely loved Paris at night, for some reason it seemed more magical and interesting to you. The weather, the lights, the fashion and the language that you learned to master well through the years warmed your heart whenever you’d go there. When you were a child, you got used to always hearing your mom tells you:’’whenever you’re in love, go to Paris’’, and for this reason Paris was one of the first places where you and Harry traveled together as couple. Harry didn’t use to travel a lot for by the way. MOst of the time, he used to travel for work, so this changed a lot since you started dating because you love to travel. You’ve always been a free spirit person, the kind of person that goes wherever the winds takes you so with the time Harry became like this too as you started taking him to do the craziest things on the craziest places around the world.

    You felt the car slower it’s velocity as it got closer to the front of the restaurant, and you both could see by the window that the front was packed. As it was Paris Fashion Week, there were a lot of celebrities in the city and usually, fans settled in front of popular places around the city hoping they’d have a chance to meet their favorite celebs and even though you were already used to crowds at this point of your life, they’d still make you a little nervous, especially when it was in places not well known to you like a city you don’t live on.

— You’ll have to guide me because these shoes are really high and I don't want to step on anyone's feet — You said to Harry while putting your phone in the small black Prada bag you carried with you with your head down looking carefully to it because you’ve lost the count of how many times you thought you had put the phone inside your bag and you didn’t.

— It's alright! Hold my hand because there are a lot of people here! — Said Harry bringing his left hand up to your face to put a lock of hair of yours that fell in your face behind your ear and you nodded to him. Harry was really protective over you, and he has been that way since the beginning of your relationship. He’d always put your safety first anytime you’d go out together. When it was his about his concerts, you’d usually discuss about the fact that you want to be in the audience and he wants you to be backstage. It’d taken you a few minutes to convince him that everything was going to be fine, but it would also have days that it didn’t matter how much time you try to convince him he’d beg you to stay backstage so he could be relaxed during the performance. But you were grateful for him being that way, you were grateful that he cared so much about your well being because you know exactly how much some relationships can be destructive and you felt lucky to have someone this good in your life. Of course he wasn’t perfect, neither of you were but who is? He tried his best and that’s what matters the most.

    But anyway, Harry held your hand tightly and opened the car door, immediately feeling the camera’s flashes burning your faces and listening to some fans starting to shout. Harry’s bodyguards got between both of you and the crowd guiding your way to the entrance of the restaurant and you felt the heat from the crowd instantly even though the weather in Paris was only 59°F, it’d feel lot warmer until you entered the place. And that is one special kind of a place, The decoration was perfectly splendid, gorgeous and marvelous if you must say. The touches of gold and light blue mixed with the yellow coloration of lights and the spectacular french food scent brought a cozy and elegant vibe.The restaurant was a little full, nothing out of the common and you observed the many different sizes of tables and the groups of people in it.

    You both were taken to your table that was located next to the windows but wasn’t actually on the windows at it still had people outside and it feels weird to eat with people watching you. Anyway, Harry as the gentleman he is pulled the chair for you as he always did even though you had told him there’s no need for that. You both ordered glasses of your favorite white wine, neither of you were heavy drinkers but as it was a celebration it was much needed. The date happened naturally, just as all the laughing, talking and even gossips. This the casual couple gossip that you two would have, but it happened naturally. None of you ever felt like you had to pretend to be anybody else except yourself around each other.

    During the night, Harry would get lost in your face admiring your features while you’re talking. He would admire the way your eyebrows move when you’d change expressions, the way your eyes would form a very tiny line when you tried to see something that was away from you, he’d admire your smile and the sound of your laugh anytime you’d remember of something funny or he’d tell you something funny and he’d think of how lucky he is to have you, because even though he knows that sometimes he can be a pain in the ass(just as you can too) , you’re very lucky to have one another and to have someone who would make you feel this great and free about who you are. Because who you are is exactly who you need to be. Of course both of you believes that changing and envolving it’s the most important thing to do and sometimes you’d be surprised to see how much you both grew from the beginning of your relationship until today and that would bring smile to your faces. He feels lucky to be able to call you his girl, and god you loved when he’d do it. You loved when he was about to present you to someone and say ‘’This is my girl Y/N’’, it’d cause you to open a big smile because it felt natural. You’re his and he’s yours, period.

    When you both decided it was time to call it a night Harry paid the check against what you wanted because you wanted to pay this time. You’d honestly hate to have people paying for you, and this would usually be a point of discussion between you and Harry. You don't know why but you hate it, and it's just the gentleman in Harry wanting to spoil his girl again and again until he get tired of doing it, but he never does.

   You were about to leave the restaurant when Harry slid his right hand around your waist bringing you closer to him very calmly to kiss your cheek.

— I know you want to say hi to everyone but just walk to the car, alright? — He'd lowly talk next to your ear making you look at him with a serious expression — It's for your safety, love! It's late now, and we don't know who's there. — And he was right, it was past midnight now and there were still some people out there. How can they stand there in this cold weather? But anyway, you agreed with him as you both walked your way to outside. You felt flashes again, blinding flashing lights making you look to the ground as Harry held his hand on the back of your back guiding you to the car.

    As you walked towards the car, you felt a small hand touch your arm and you looked over to see a little girl with probably 12 or 13 years. She pursued tired eyes, and your heart ached with just the thought of keeping walking back to the car because you had no idea of how much time she’s been outside waiting for you so you stopped walking and bend down a little to get close to her height which made Harry stops walking immediately looking a little surprised but he understood when he saw you taking a picture with the little girl and how your face lightens up after it. You asked her what was her name and her age and she answered that her name was Lily and she was 13 she told you that she wants to be a model just like you when she grows older and that melted your heart. You smiled at her and told her that she could do whatever she wanted to and told her that when she grows up and becomes a model, you’d love to walk a show with her. When you’d stand up again you saw Harry looking at you with a small smile on his lips. He couldn’t deny he loves your kindness to every person in the world. It made his heart happy to know that he’s with someone with the same life philosophy than him. So he turned around to open the car door for you when you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist lifting you up and you froze.

— What the fu... — You'd shout before starting to hit him on his arms with your elbows as you'd move your legs trying to kick him with your heels. You'd feel flashes on your face and heat on your body increasing. It was the adrenaline and you were furious at this point. — Get...Off...Me — You'd shout as you'd hit his face with your elbows as well, Harry looked over to you and stormed out. He'd swear he'd never been like this in his life, he'd basically run to behind the guy's back and put his arm around his neck, Harry'd give him a punch right in the middle of his back and a slightly kick on the back of his knee to destabilise the guy which put you free by the moment he started to fall. Harry's bodyguard would hold you immediately trying to push you away from the crowd as you looked at Harry pushing the guy away from you.

— What the fuck were you doing? — Harry'd shout right into the man's face and watch as the man started to walk away from the crowd but Harry would go after him. Harry swears to god he couldn't even feel his body at the time. He was completely numb, moved by adrenaline and all he wanted to do was to beat the shit out of that man. — WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? — Harry'd shout walking after him getting no response which just made him angrier. At that time he didn't care about the cameras or whoever was watching him, he couldn't calm down when someone threated his girl safety and personal space. It didn't even need to be you. If he saw anyone threatening a woman's safety, he'd freak out in anger.

   You felt the bodyguards strong hands trying to push you away from the situation because that's what Harry would want him to do. He tried walking you towards the car, but you were reluctantly screaming for Harry because he could get himself hurt if he didn't come back to the car now. The other bodyguard walked after Harry grabbing him by the arm and Harry turned over to look at him with so much anger on his look and you'd swear you never saw him like this but then he did started walking over to you again.

   You finally entered the car and closed the door. You felt in panic. Basically paralyzed, you felt your anxiety attacking and your hands shaking. You could literally hear your heart beating so fast and loud that it scares you.

— Go get him! Follow him to hell. I don't care! Take him to the police office! — You'd listen to Harry talks firmly to his bodyguards as he opened the car's door and entered in it. He took a deep breath and turned his face to look at you. His heart broke at that moment. You were a mess. You couldn't even feel the tears leaving your eyes, but he did see them. He saw your hands shaking and how scared your eyes looked and at that moment all of his anger left his body — Love... — He'd sigh getting closer to you while wrapping his arms around your now-fragile figure. He could feel your entire body shaking on his arms. He caressed your hair with one of his hands as he hugged you tight to calm you down. He'd look to the driver and make a sign for him to start driving back to your hotel — Are ya okay? You're hurt? Did he hurt you? — He'd talk on a calm tone squeezing you a little on his arms. You'd lift your head up to look at him with red wet eyes shaking your head to him.

— I'm sorry! — You'd say lowly. He did tell you to walk straight to the car, and you didn't listen to him.

— It's not your fault, love! — He'd say wiping some of your tears and then carefully kissing both of cheeks — Don't worry about it, everything's gonna be fine, alright? It's okay!

   You'd spent the rest of the ride in silence. A comfortable silence. You'd be laying your head on his shoulder while holding his head getting your breathing and heart back to normal and your phones would start buzzing with notifications of what happened but none of you would see it, not now.

   When you got to your hotel, you'd get out of the car in the garage. You'd both walk slowly to the elevator and slowing to your room. You entered the room going directly to the king sized bed and throwing yourself in it because you felt like getting in a coma and just waking up to a time where all this drama would go away. Harry'd walk towards you and sit in bed beside you. He'd put both of his hands on your shoulders massaging them slowly.

— I'll prepare you a bath, so you can relax a little before sleeping, how's that sound? — He'd say trying to cheer you up a little bit.

— Sounds great, thank you love! — You'd turn your head to look at him with a forced smile on your lips. Harry'd bend down to kiss your hair line before leaving to the bathroom.

   He'd try his best to make you feel the most comfortable to sleep tonight. He'd prepare you a bath. He'd give you a message, he'd brush your hair for you but actually, he loves to do that. He loves to brush your hair before you go to bed, it was more like a routine for you both. He loves to feel your long locks on his fingers and to feel the sweet scent of it. He'd cuddle you until you fall asleep too, he'd even be the big spoon tonight so you could sleep on his chest breathing his perfume because he hoped that'd make you have a good night of sleep.

   And after you did, he'd look on the things on his phone. All the posts about you being attacked in Paris and him beating the guy who did it were just too much and he felt sorry that you'd have to see and read all of those stuff as soon as you unblock your phone. A lot of your friends texted him asking what happened and if you were ok. He'd answer the closest ones only, like his mom and Gemma, your mom, Bella and Jeff. He didn't know what you'll decide about the next fashion shows you had to walk, but he also knows that no one would blame you if you just chose to come back home in NYC.

  Harry didn't sleep at that night at all, he couldn't stop looking for what happened and why it happened. The next day, it was everywhere in the media and later you'd found out that the guy was a youtuber and he was making a prank when he posted his stupid youtube vlog with "I pranked Harry Styles's girlfriend and he punched me" as a title. You'd sue him for sure. You don't like taking those kind of actions, but it was necessary, he had to understand that you cannot disrespect people like this, specially people you don't know.

  After that you'd probably understand why Harry is so protective over you and Harry would actually get ten times more protective, if I had to be honest. But as the time passed by and quarantine came you both would leave it behind and move on with your life because in the end of the day you both will still have one another.