#y’all are doing the same thing just in a different font

[dreadheadmadi]

Imma keep my ting brief:

You can’t get mad at Miles smut and then turn around and repost fan art of Miles with rock hard abs, Gwen with a big butt and large breasts, and Hobie and Pavitr making out.

Don’t like pedos on your page? Stop giving them ammo. Argue with your momma🤷🏾‍♀️

Edit: Not defending no one, both sides are ugly n nasty as fuck. Don’t @ me unless you got some real defense, n “but I’m a minor” ain’t shit.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

do you have any posts already or if not would you be willing to share any information about what the process of getting the website up and running was like? i'm really interested in getting a site going for some other photo/record keeping projects and i know a decent amount about website design and basic html, but not that much about the process of actually getting it online;^;

Happy to share!

To be clear, my level of coding skill began with teaching myself html for neopets and ended with cobbling together vaguely custom css for my OG personal tumblr in 2011. So in terms of the physical backend of the website… it’s just Squarespace.

Getting it online is pretty simple if you’re not writing the code yourself, but there’s some stuff you’ve got to figure out first: what the name of your site will be, what url (domain) you want it to have, where to buy it, and where you want to host the site (like squarespace or Wordpress).

Once you’ve got the details sorted, you get an account on the hosting platform you want to use, and then set up the site and connect a domain. Squarespace lets you buy domains directly through their interface, but it tends to be more expensive than buying it directly from a registrar company like Namecheap or GoDaddy. If you’re comfortable teaching yourself to navigate basic internet stuff via Google, it isn’t too hard to learn how to tell a domain you bought elsewhere to point at your site. (Everything I’ve done to run all my websites has been self-taught via Google and Reddit, with the assistance of some very patient techie friends).

Once you’ve got the crunchy stuff set up, you build the site! I use Squarespace preferentially over Wordpress because a) I like the aesthetic of the templates and b) it’s what I know how to use. Wordpress is cheaper but trying to navigate the visual layout of the site annoyed me to the point it wasn’t fun anymore, so I personally will pay for ease of access on layout and design stuff.

To build the site, I thought through what I wanted the user experience to be, and how I wanted people to navigate, and I built with that in mind. For the photo repository, my goal was very clean visuals that really showcased the photos, and I wanted people to be able to navigate the taxonomy both visually and from a list. Honestly, just play with it, and try different things until you find a layout you like.

Then you try to break the site you’ve built. Because there will be errors and bugs and as much as I do appreciate it when y’all send me problems you encounter, I’d rather fix it first. I always check a new site on a desktop computer, tablet, and phone, and then ask a couple friends running different operating systems to do the same. That’s a good time to get feedback on things like layout and font size and readability, too.

The biggest time sink for the project has actually just been the photo management. I had to figure out how I needed things organized to build the site, and then taking the time to upload them all is the major rate-limiting factor.

You can launch the site so it’s “online” at any point during this process after you’ve paid for hosting and the domain and set it up, but I tend to wait until I’ve built the site and beta tested it sufficiently.

I’m happy to answer other questions, I’m just not sure what else would be helpful!

[romiantic]

YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME !

NOW PLAYING…circus by summer walker

YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME, you love him but does he love you like you do?

INCLUDING hawks, pro-basketball player!aomine, singer!eren

READING: black!fem!reader

GENRE + WARNINGS: angst + suggestive, toxic nigga behavior from all characters

A/N: this was a very old wip I found which I gained a lot of motivation to write :). also eren is supposed to mirror drake in his part, I feel like fanon eren is drake in a different font 💀

HAWKS, the #2 pro-hero, the man who sends away smiles at fellow citizens and takes pictures with cheery children. The man who had girls squealing and wishing to be in his “entourage”. Just one night with the handsome man and they’ll be satisfied with life, maybe some money as well. Though, they don’t know that it’s the same man who had your head spinning like a damn wheel, wondering day in and day out why you are still trying to put effort into something that you don’t even know will work. But…he convinced you otherwise; giving you bouquets of flowers when he comes home, good morning texts, sweet loves by the night. If all this he does/gives to you, why aren’t you together? What’s stopping you two from an official label?

He pushes it off, he keeps saying he’s not ready. He doesn’t think he can juggle being a pro-hero with a girlfriend. Such a ridiculous and stupid reason but when you tried to talk yourself out of it, you were convinced by sweet talks that he needs you and you know your heart yearns for him. You couldn’t break his heart by leaving, could you?

AOMINE isn’t the best at displaying his love for you but he tries, rarely. He has stated himself that he isn’t really a lover boy but in his heart, he knows that you both belong together. He just can’t find it in himself to show you. Especially with the glitz and glamor of being an all star basketball player, love for him may not be suitable. Well, publicly being in love, to be exact. The blogs, the allegations, the scandals, it would all be too “out there” and Aomine has a very private life to abide by. Being famous and having people invested in his life is one thing but allowing his lover in the spotlight? Nah, he wouldn’t do that to her.

But then again, the gifts he buys you remind you that he still thinks about you and loves you dearly. The dainty bracelet from Chanel, the bouquet of roses he leaves on your nightstand, the occasional messages he sends, they all mean some sort of value. Even if the man who sends them isn’t ready to push his love further like you want it to be.

EREN, everyone’s favorite certified lover boy with the voice as comforting as the blues but the lyricism of an aching heart. Quite odd considering that the amount of love he displays to the world, mostly his fans, you don’t tend to see it? A questionable trait for a man whose songs are about girls who have treated his love like a used rag, but yet he has the similar traits to said girls. He sings constantly about wanting to be loved in a way that makes him feel unstoppable, safe, and comfortable but he rarely shows that with you. To make matters worse than they are, he would say that what y’all have is nothing too serious so why take it serious?

Though, the male singer will always remind you of how much he loves you when it’s just the two of you. You’ll always remember after his shows when the room is hot and full of his “love” with steamy kisses and bodies tangled up in this so-called “love” he wants to claim.

⭑ shoutout to tia for proofreading, thank you twinnnn 🫶🏽

⭑ *gasp* mia doesn’t write something spiderman for once 😱

⭑ lemme know which was y’all fave to read !

𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐏 💗: Ephesians 2:4-5

MAIN MASTERLIST

© 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟥 𝗋𝗈𝗆𝗂𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖼. 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗏𝖾𝖽

[henrysglock]

what vibes do you think the students get from teacher creelarke/how do you think they feel from henry? (examples dad, weird, fun, chill, neutral, uncle, etc?)

oh now THAT depends on who you ask

To most kids I think he’d come off a little kooky, a little reclusive, but not outright scary unless he’s trying to be (I know damn well The Stare can silence a room full of tweens). It’s really easy to get him on tangents, though, I’d think, so he would definitely be That Teacher who gets distracted from the actual lesson all the time. Definitely not super strict or outright mean. He’s got more of the "quiet older brother who became the Opinionated About Politics uncle" type vibe in general, I think.

(mind y’all this is canon divergence, so Henry is completely uninvolved with the villainous side of ST. There’s AU lore to that, but generally just note that Henry Creel has zero chance of being a Creep here)

As for the Party…they’d have mixed reviews.

Dustin clocks him immediately and is a Menace™ trying to prove that he and Scott are together. He does not fear Henry in any way. They’ve got the kind of relationship that a college kid might have with their favorite TA: He’s respectful most of the time, but definitely tends towards treating Henry like a peer. That man holds like Zero power over Dustin Henderson.

Mike, however, took one look at Henry and went “you ever see a man so soft-looking that there HAS to be something horribly wrong with him?” and that set the tone for their whole relationship. Coincidentally, that opens Henry up as a person Mike knows he can be a little asshole to and not incur Parental Consequences (see: El lashing out about Terry in NINA and being met with questions and engagement rather than punishment). They’re like two bitchy cats forced to share the same territory: too similar to coexist in harmony, but just different enough that they manage to make it work in a beneficial way. For them, it leans into that older brother dynamic in that they squabble, but Mike also Knows that Henry would come in with a steel chair if need be.

Lucas staunchly refuses to get involved in Dustin’s conspiracies (He already knows creelarke are all but married. He saw them holding hands once and that was all it took. He will not tell Dustin this, because it's far more entertaining to watch him rant and sleuth). He honestly just wants everyone to stop antagonizing the damn teacher so he can get his A without too much trouble. He sees Henry as weird, for sure, but generally harmless. It ends up becoming something closer to a “yeah this is the guy whose house we just…show up at whenever things start getting freaky again” type of trust.

Will and Henry have that gay-gay, artist-artist, autist-autist connection. Henry sees some of Will’s freaky gruesome DnD doodles on the back of his homework, and it’s like this scene from IASIP:

Henry with his black widow drawings vs Will with the dragon biting a guy's head off...They just Get It (and even more so once the actual plot sets in in 1983). "Same guy, different font" sort of thing. Henry sees Will go missing/get possessed in conjunction with HNL, and it's just "I think I've seen this film before...and I didn't like the ending".

[namor-shuri]

I swear your commentary on posts is hilarious af 🤣☠️ These video and photo edits are so cool too. Is there a reason why you don’t post more to Twitter (not that you have to, just an observation)? Thanks for everything

Hey 👋🏾💜 Thank you for the kind words. Y’all need to stop gassing me up. My dad jokes/ corniness will know no end lol.

With my Twitter page, sometimes I question whether or not people think I’m stealing work from this Tumblr page bc both my pfp and handles are not the same 🥲 I made my twt before I made this side blog so the handle and pic was a quick “slap together” choice. The phrase “be f*cking for real” is too funny to me so I just ran with it. And then my brain was completely uncreative and was like “namor-shuri” will do rofl. Hopefully people understand by now that I’m the same person, but alas.

To answer your question, I think it’s broken up into two parts. One chunk of it is that I rant A LOT so this platform makes it easier for me to do so while also being creative with color fonts and all that jazz. I also just love the freedom of layouts and stuff like that. From a creative perspective, of course it doesn’t help that Tumblr messes with quality but what I lose in quality, I gain in possibilities [I swear I don’t work for Tumblr and this is not me promoting them rofl].

The other half of the pie is the stark difference of engagement on Twitter vs Tumblr, in my personal experience thus far. Like I said, I made my Twitter first back in late December of last year. It was kind of a random decision but once I realized I was super into the Namor x Shuri ship, I wanted to engage with the fandom more directly and pour into it. Since then, I’ve been able to have a lot of fun with making different artworks, edits, videos, playlists, you name it! Ya girl has been BUSY to say the least lol And what’s been dope is that this fandom has been a fun outlet outside of my professional artwork and stuff like that. All that being said, what slowly became apparent to me was that I wasn’t feeling as included or apart of the fandom as I initially hoped I would. I would try and engage with people or joke here and there and most of what I would get back was crickets, whether it would be on my own posts or my commentary on others. And to be fair, I know it takes time for people to get to know you and build community but it just felt slightly strange. Especially when I would see new pages pop up and everyone would immediately flock to engage with them. I say this to say that absolutely NO ONE owes you anything in life so to be upset that someone isn’t your friend [whether it’s in person or online] is a human experience but you have to understand that not everyone is going to jell with you. There are billions [billions? *does quick google search] of people on this planet. Someone is bound to hate you, while another will worship the floor you walk on. Someone’s going to think you’re okay, while you being your raw and authentic self makes another person’s day. It’s nothing personal. It’s simply a numbers game. So inherently I understood that but it still hurt the 3 year old in me that was just trying to make friends at the playground, you know? lmao But I think what set it off was when I would look up and then see my edits used for people’s banners, fan art, post ideas, etc without asking me or giving me any credit knowing that they also aren’t following me or even engaging with me in any way. It still wasn’t cool but I think what would have made the whole thing feel a little different is if I was more “in the group” but because I’ve been on the outskirts the majority of the time, it just made it sting that much more.

Then I started to get slightly paranoid and wondered if I was missing something. Did I do something wrong? Did I say something that was off? I felt like a message was being sent and that confused the hell out of me [and lowkey still does]. BUT SOB STORY ASIDE lol I brushed my shoulder off, switched gears and thought “f*ck it, let me make my own side blog and do my thing on there” and that worked for me! I got traction after that, people were responding to my stuff and throwing in their own ideas/commentary/analysis etc. I felt like I could engage with people more, even with the limitations Tumblr puts on side blogs. And just the whole vibe overall started to feel really f*cking good. The funny thing too is that I’ve noticed that a lot of Twitter is on here and vice versa so it’s the same folks but for some reason I think this platform has opened up more possibilities for engagement in my experience. Twitter lends to a wider audience than Tumblr unfortunately but I’ve accepted my humble abode on here.

This rant is getting super long so I’ll end with this; I have nothing against the Nashuri fam on Twitter. Just because I’m not necessarily apart of the “crew” doesn’t mean that I don’t find everyone hilarious or amazing in any way. If you think I’m funny anon, you need to read what these girls say because it is SUPERB *chefs kiss* The talent from artworks to fics to think pieces and everything in between is incredible and oozes from that community. But for me, I think I just haven’t found my footing or people over there and as much as it’s been a bummer, I’m still going to be on there to support the dope stuff that comes out of it. I also want to say that just because this has been my experience doesn’t mean it will be yours. I fully encourage you to branch out on different platforms and try and engage with as many people as possible [fandom or not]. I think I just got my finger burned once and immediately gave up rofl. One of the biggest blessings that have come out of the Nashuri fandom in general is it’s vast bipoc community. As a black woman myself, I haven’t experienced this level of inclusivity when it comes to race, gender, language, culture, ages etc in other fandoms. It’s beautiful and I will always be thankful for that.

I also want to drive home that everyone needs to find what works for them. You owe yourself that. If you feel like your aren’t getting what you desire out of Instagram, move to Twitter and see what happens. If Twitter isn’t cutting it, move to Discord. Move to Tumblr, you name it! I think that move for me made a HUGE difference and honestly made me feel better about being in this fandom in the first place. And also this just goes for life in general but just because you might not feel included somewhere doesn’t mean you or the place is a problem. You might just need some scenery change.

Ps: If you are in the fandom and are on Twitter, definitely hit me up and add me! I would love to be mutuals. I’ve seen some familiar accounts from Twitter add me on here and vice versa and it’s been really cool. I appreciate the blogs that engage with me on there and all that jazz. I’ve never had a Twitter before so I’m lowkey new to that world still but grandma’s getting the hang of it slowly but surely.

Thank you 💘

[phantomram-b00]

Y’all, I know the Coffee Theory is kinda a mixed bag. But man, I have never wanted a theory to be true in my entire life….buttttttt I think it unlikely for this to be confirm and I’m content with this.

(edit: warning! If you haven’t seen Season 2/1 of Good Omen or just new, please be warn that this does contain HEAVY SPOILERS for the show don’t read this just yet or you can read it, you’re free to do whichever :)) just don’t say I didn’t warn you)

See here the thing, this theory, does sound interesting, it could work within good omen….on paper. Only because, I don’t know exactly how it would work for Aziraphale’s character; considering the more I think about it, the more I am realize it wouldn’t have matter if the coffee was miracle,drugged or anything. Aziraphale is still an Angel, I made a post of it where I’ve mention that Aziraphale, yes, he understand/realized that Heaven is just Hell in different font and colors; he still is grasping onto the hope that hopefully that there still good within them. But also Aziraphale would do ANYTHING to make thing better for not only humanity but for Crowley as that just how hospitable and selfless he is; and it to a fault and that’s what make Aziraphale such a complex character and why he’s absolutely my favorite character (besides also Crowley they both my favorite idiots). He might be good and have good intention but good intentions ≠ good moral. Especially since this isn’t exactly the first time he choose heaven above everything for the sake of wanting to be “good” and not Fall, he literally had a panic of possible falling just because he lied even though Heaven (during the Job episode) and the Archangels treat him like he odd one out (hell, even Crowley had to endure that even when he was aziraphale in disguise in Episode 6 of season 1 when Gabriel said “shut your stupid mouth and die already” and other insult but that one as you see in season 2 really got to Crowley.) this is all Aziraphale’s religious trauma coming to light and also his response to it all; this is him going through a character development and I’m excited for season 3 to see where it goes and just hope he and Crowley get the happily ever after they so honorably deserves like all the couples we’ve seen in this show.

Now with that out the way, I will give this theory some merit/defense: if this theory is true, this could be an interesting move on heaven as it will show…just how far they’re willing to go to make sure they make Armageddon and win this holy war against Hell. So them possibility mind-controlling Aziraphale just show their morals are, but frankly, who didn’t know that heaven is bad? They’re the same people who was going to kill Jobs kids and everything he owned to turn around and say “at least you can get more” with a pat on the back. And you know, this theory does make aziraphale less responsible for his decision which ultimately will make episode 6 of season 2 possible more sadder as this wouldn’t have been Aziraphale’s choice, (then again he didn’t exactly have a choice to begin with.) as well as giving Crowley more justification as why he could never say he 100% good and also maybe give Aziraphale more trauma. But I do understand for those whom want this theory to be true as it could give a reason of the coffee and also a reason to want to write heaven and all the archangel on the death notebook, as i do have those moment to maybe make the situation while just as heartbreaking for both Crowley and Aziraphale also give hope that this wasn’t exactly 100% Aziraphale’s choice. (But also give people who like protective Crowley to rescue Aziraphale, which ngl I can see it whether theory is true or not considering something Crowley said while Aziraphale was in Scotland)

Honestly I’m torn with this, I wanted to rant about this since while I do think the theory can be a interesting plot twist to have though I do think it kinda diminishes Aziraphale’s character and his arc as a whole. But I will say, Crowley would most definitely go feral and deliver his revenge serve cold.

[simonesjordan]

“Simone wasn’t just my friend, she was my wife!”

Simone is on Homecoming angry at Layla because she crossed into their relationship and she had no right to do that. That it is not okay. Jordan is on All American the literal next episode telling Layla the exact same thing different font, that Layla crossed into their relationship and what was supposed to be between them and she had no right to do that.

How do people not see it’s giving THEM VS HER

It’s THEIR RELATIONSHIP + HER CROSSING INTO IT so they get mad at her. This relationship is not centering around Layla, she’s caught in the middle. Jordan and Simone continue to be eating Layla up for it left and right and using her in a way that should make you uncomfortable if you are paying attention. The emphasis on wife was uncomfortable given where Layla and Jordan are in their relationship and especially given his tone just because Layla spoke to her own damn friend. A simple, I wanted to be the one to do it would have sufficed or even better, worrying about your actual girlfriend in the situation and not your ex. But he gets so mad when it’s about Simone.

I don’t know how much longer people can excuse scenes like that and make excuses for how Jordan talks to Layla and how he keeps showing who comes first. Jordan (who is supposed to have moved on with Layla at this point) was not punching Damon because he ships Damon and Simone so much he wanted to see them together and was disappointed when they weren’t together. A lie y’all tell yourselves that doesn’t even make any sense. Like that was a weird scene that he must ship Dimone. NO. As he said, HE MAKES HIM SO MAD. He doesn’t root for him with Simone. He makes him mad because he feels he watched him take Simone from him just like Layla took away a moment he wanted to have with Simone. When it comes to Simone he gets so mad when people are interfering and that includes Layla. So how is she coming first? 

A rebound is a rebound is a rebound

[keeping-up-with-the-sanders]

WHAT IS UP EVERYBODY

welcome one and all to the official intro post of this account

while this is a Cosplay & AU centered Account it also functions as an RP account so without further ado-

God, can we just get this over with?!

damn, touchy. Well alright, introduce yourselves ig

Do we wanna go in order or something?

Sure, rainbow?

Ugh, why do you get the fancy font? Alright, I am the grand prince Roman-

Just because your family’s rich doesn’t mean your a prince

My darling spider, I love you but hush. Back to the topic at hand: I’m Roman, Remus & Pryce’s sibling. I work at this kinda shitty office job that I don’t want to talk about and an actor on the side. One random fun fact about me: My legal name is Roman Creatil Triton the III.

I guess I’m next, ugh, this is stupid!

Come on tangerine, please, for me

Don’t “tangerine” me, your still in trouble for that stunt you pulled earlier. For fucks sake, let’s get done with this! I’m Orange, you don’t get my real name. I’m the lead of a band and work at the Shell near the house. “Fun” fact: I once broke someone’s kneecap with a chair.

*Eyebrow waggling* damn, you like to play rough~

My my, Your text looks different.

It alright, hon. You don’t have to. :3

Wait, why does he get the Minecraft achievement thing and I get red

And any chance of rainbow order is fucked so I’ll go, I guess. I’m Virgil, y’all can call me like virg or whatever. I’m Andy’s twin brother, the older-

By half a minute!

Whatever you say, bro. Anyway, I work at a hobby lobby a little ways from the house. Fun-ish fact: I have a spider plush named Kat because Patton refused to allow an actual spider in the house.

It appears we’ve abandoned any form of structure with out introductions or as, Virgil put it, “Is fucked” so I volunteer to go next. My name is Logan Logios Istrailt. I work at a high school roughly thirty minutes from our house. I will not be revealing the name of the school for privacy reasons.

so serious, teach. Lighten up!

*Long deep sigh* For the fact: I am legally blind without my glasses

Anyhoo, I’ll go next! I’m Remus, Ro-ho and Pryce are my sibs.

Why do I get “Ro-Ho” but Pryce doesn’t.

I’m just better

Die.

No thanks.

So, hoes, I work at the same bar as Janny, but a different job obvs. I work the stage while our favorite double D snake boi’s a bartender!

Mhm. Welp, fact time! I make my own cleaning products!

He’s allergic to a specific ingredient that’s in most soap.

remember that one time he accidentally got stabbed with that soap covered knife.

nice of you to finally join us, Emilie.

oh, are we doing intros?

Yeah. Your up.

Yeah, thanks Dai- Orange, man I gotta get used to that name.

Yeah, whatever, I’m out.

Ok… Well, I’m Emilie! I work as a therapist at a building a bit away from the house and I really like cotton candy.

Wow, we’re shocked.

Roman! Be nice.

Sorry, love. Oh! You should go next!

Well, alright. Hey there, I’m Patton! I’m a kindergarten to Second Grade teacher at the Elementary School a block away from home. Like Logan, I’m not gonna say the name or anything, wouldn’t want to accidentally put any of the kiddos in danger

Is that everyone?

Hey lo. And yeah I think so.

What about the others?

They’re busy right now

Which reminds me, we need to go!

Coming!

Yeah, we better go too, I’ve got to grade papers.

GOODBYE

[arsenic-catnep]

you and mylestone feel like same font different blogger with the asks y’all both get from people who didn’t bother reading your pinned

I have no idea who that is but I'll take your word for it lolol

Yeah I get people requesting fics despite the fact I no longer write.. I just do art comms now

I also get people being squicked out by the kinky and dark shit I post despite the fact that I have it bolded and it's one of the first things in the pinned post

Idk reading comprehension is just lacking nowadays

Some people drop a follow not realizing and then just unfollow or block me and that's fine. I do the same sometimes. It just irritates me when people then come to me all upset or disgusted with me because they didn't read the fine print

[snakegentleman]

Here’s one of my favorite projects from school this year! It’s an amalgam of a few red dead train stations(mainly emerald station) and I did it for my perspective class. Did y’all know there’s a formula for reflections when you’re doing perspective properly? Anyway, here’s some process photos below because oh boy does this take a lot of steps/work:

1&2: initial sketches-these were free handed studies from reference in the game. I was working out composition and details like the sign font. Also, I had to include organic beings and a reflection so I was working out how to include that and the other requirements

3: block-in- so there’s actually a step before this that’s just drawing in the vanishing points which is the math and geometry section. I put a piece of tracing paper over and draw out the big block shapes that everything will fit into. Everything has to be drawn with a ruler and t-square for correct angles and proportions

4: new piece of tracing paper, I use the block in as a guideline to draw the station. The roof has to have a new auxiliary vanishing point for proper perspective as does the ramp. I drew in the rails to act as guidelines for the tracks that will have to use a special technique to make sure they are evenly spaced according to 2pt perspective and the same size in 3D space. I also penciled in some of the details and organic shapes. Much of what I did here had to be reworked because I forgot about auxiliary vanishing points and drew my cylinder the wrong way. The crossed wood below the deck of the station was also incorrect

5: big leap of progress here. Nearly everything is in place and ready to be traced onto my final paper with a light box( my dorm window). The one major difference is that Arthur is way too big here. I had to cut him out of his slice of tracing paper and move him down the page, giving him the illusion that I drew him smaller so his legs weren’t six feet long in perspective. I sort of just winged the background which tuned out great. I also think I had to completely redraw the tracks because there wasn’t even spacing which was a bitch to do.

Final: Line quality is everything in a drawing where I’m not allowed to shade anything. I started by lightly tracing the whole drawing with a 2H pencil and then slowly built of the thickness and darkness of lines. You want to stay consistent throughout the drawing on which types of lines are thicker/darker. I chose outlines of shapes to be darker and details to be lighter. Things closer to the “camera” were also darker/thicker. I actually plan to maybe go back and darken everything a bit more since I only went up to an HB pencil before I turned this in.

Hoped you enjoyed me explaining my process! This class alone made me improve by tenfold, and made me realize how important learning high level perspective was. I can not rotate references in brain which is a super useful tool!

[yall-mothafuckas-need-misha]

Okay, genuinely honest to god thank you guys for your suggestions

I do have a OneDrive account already that I haven’t used in a hot minute. I can’t edit documents in it, I have to have the Word app or like Microsoft 365, but it will hold my documents. So already, that’s pretty much just Drive and Docs in a different font

(I feel like OneDrive didn’t used to be a part of Microsoft. Like, I feel like I got it as an alternative to Word. Am I crazy?)

Also, the free version of OneDrive is only 5 GB, which is a third of the free version of Docs, so that’s not great.

I already have a notes app that probably does just as much as Docs without the predictive text, which is the problem. Like, everything else Docs does that’s annoying I can live with, but that is just the icing on the shit cake and it genuinely is making me insane. Like, I don’t even really care that it’s ‘learning’ my writing, I just don’t want it to try to tell me what it thinks I want to say because then I get derailed and my writing flow is disrupted.

The thing is, at this point, I think it might be far more of a hassle to try and move everything somewhere else. Like, I feel like you guys don’t understand, I have SO MANY documents. Like, I write like a woman possessed. I literally started a new Doc today, after spending the last three days writing 20k words of a different one, and that’s pretty typical for me

Not to mention, I’m fucking crazy as shit and changing to a different app will make my brain short circuit. I mean, even just downloading one drive and logging in made me panic for no fucking reason

When I tell y’all having an anxiety disorder is ruining my life, this is what I mean. This right here.

It shouldn’t be hard to write the same way I always do using a different app. But here we fucking are.

Honestly, I think this is gonna be about getting my brain to cooperate, whether that’s to get so used to predictive text that it stops getting in my way, or transitioning to one of the other apps suggested

For now, I’m gonna go pretend I’m not a person with problems

Apparently, google docs has a predictive text feature. I dunno if it’s new or not, but apparently it’s the default now and tHERE’S NO WAY TO TURN IT OFF ON MOBILE I’M ACTUALLY LOSING MY FUCKING MIND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I CAN’T. TURN. IT. OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

[itsravenbitch]

i’m officially leaving the community bc i just feel i am the only answer i need. but i’d like to say this. <3

often, it’s always “but what if it doesn’t happen?” shit isn’t going well now, so why not give it a FULL SHOT ?! right this second, cut the bullshit & just fully live in the end. i spent all this time from success story to blog. one, we don’t know these people up here. 😭 anything could be anything. two, we all have our own ways we want to live. recognize how seeing all these success stories isn’t enough? recognize how seeing these blogs say the same thing in different colors & fonts isn’t doing anything? bc it’s literally us y’all. we have to do it within. it’s not enough because YOU need to be enough. shit, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. this may not be enough to get some of you outta of this loop of needing to see success or what blogs or whatever tf anyone has to say, but i really hope it is. what got me here?? i sit and lay in my room fucking pissed and say “what if it really doesn’t work??” “what if people are lying?” what if this & what if that. and i finally told myself, bitch what if you actually do something? 💀 i’m sorry but i literally just went off on myself. you sitting here on your ass & feeling bad for yourself bc your sad about the 3d & you don’t know if it’ll work. what is this doing tho? nothing good. shit isn’t working right now, so why not see if it does work??? why keep being in a loop of not knowing when you could just try? so that’s it. i’m on my fucking way & i got my shit together. 🤣 truth be told, we don’t know anybody on this mf. 😭 so if you believe anybody, you better believe in yourself. quite frankly, who even cares if people are lying?? you’ll move on to the next person to give you hope & wanting it to work. so make it work fr. if you’re here because you don’t believe or some other negative shit, how is that helping?? GO. GO DO YOUR THING. we got this. enough is enough, isn’t? LIVE IN THE END RIGHT NOW. it’s better than the loop. be real with yourself and let everything go and JUST LIVE IN THE END. again, we got this! ⭐️ why did it take so long to get here lmao? it’s all within fr. is anything i’m doing giving me a good result? so why not do something that could lead to a good result???? anything is better than being sad & doubtful each day. law of assumption is real. but you need to be real with yourself first. how are you really feeling? what is the issue? are you truly living in the end?? and go from there. fix it & LETS GET IT.

“truth be told, we don’t know anybody on this mf. so if you believe anybody, you better believe in yourself” 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 EXACTLY! not saying anyone is lying, but y’all believe blogs when they tell you they manifested this and that. so why can’t you give yourself the same exact energy??

i love how you worded this too, anon. hopefully this’ll give someone whatever push they need to manifest what tf they want!! do you really want to be stuck in the same loop that you complain about, but also do nothing about ?

some of y’all HATE your current life and don’t do anything bc it’s “comfortable” and its all you know. but comfortable doesn’t mean that situation is the best one. there is so much more than the 4 walls around you. and when you realize that, you’ll literally be unstoppable!

[unfriedough]

Greetings fellow Zuko enthusiast. You say your ✨desperate✨ eh? Well, I’ll give you three ideas and you can just choose which one/ones you want to write (if you yk, feel like writing them at all 😳)

1. Hcs where Zuko joins the gang and falls in love with the kind and caring earthbender? Ik they already have Toph but idk maybe this earthbender could specialize in like herbology or plants. Idk, it’s whatever you wanna do.

2. A oneshot with Lee (Zuko but in ~different font~ lol 😂) where him and his uncle have competition with the coffee shop across from them. So Zuko *ahem* pardon me, Lee, goes over there to see what it’s all about and ends up like meeting the manager of the place and low-key hating them at first. But then, they like….slowly grow on each other from seeing each other around and running into each other. Eventually they start dating and well….you can decide how it goes from there.

3. Hcs for Zuko with a librarian s/o? Maybe they manage the palace library and where like just hired or smth?

Just some of my random useless thoughts. Hope your morning/evening is going well, take care of yourself! 💞

‘Flower Field’- Zuko x fem!reader

Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REQUEST YOU MADE MY DAY <3

Imma do them all I think but I’m starting with the first one for now :)

Summary:

See request number 1.

Warnings: None.

When Zuko joined the Gaang™ you were practically the first person to be nice to him.

It was in your nature what can I say

But like? He didn’t really get it?

Because the only other earthbender he met was Toph, so he kinda expected the rest to be the same-

So like, not only were you kind and caring, but also, a herbalist.

So technically a healer.

Very confusing concept for Zuko

But eventually he warms up to you too.

When Azula attacked y’all at the temple, Katara didn’t wanna heal his small burns and whatnot.

So you did.

In your tent.

Safe to say he was dying.

That’s when he realised he was crushing on you

And his reaction was just to get super flustered-

Anyways, you healed him using plants obv

“Uhh thanks.” he fiddled with his hands

“Oh don’t worry about it, cutey.”

AHHHHH

Words came out of your mouth before you could comprehend it.

Trying to play it cool though

Zuko is literally dying.

You give him instructions and whatever about what he needs to do to heal fully, then he leaves your tent.

He gets jealous when you heal Sokka or literally any other guy that could be a love interest.

Ahem Haru Ahem

ANYWAYS-

Like you would be healing Sokka after sparring and he’d be in the distance like: >:(

Sokka, Toph, and Katara catch on.

Aang does not.

Sokka ships it 100%, Toph thinks it’s funny, and Katara is not fond of the idea.

“I HAVE A PLAN, LET'S MAKE THEM BOND OVER HEALING!” sokka says

“Zuko isn’t a healer,”

“I know,”

“Are you saying we should hurt Zuko!” Katara yells

“It would be my pleasure!”

“TOPH! NO!”

She spars with Zuko and defeats him

He’s hurt

Sokka’s like “oh nooo! I’ll call Yn!”

He brings you over and you inspect the wound.

“Hm, I dunno, maybe Katara would do a better job on this one”

“KATARA’S BUSY!”

“Doing what?”

“Training!”

You eyed Sokka, knowing he was lying. What on Earth could he be up to?

“I’m sure she can pause training to help Zuko,”

Zuko is just behind you, completely flustered and dead inside.

“Nope she can't,” Sokka added.

“Okay” you sighed, not having the energy to argue.

Plus you get to spend more time with Zuko so 🤷‍♀️

You brought Zuko to your tent, and began collecting your things.

“This is going to hurt a bit” you smiled, as you gave him your hand.

Could you have given him something else? Probably. Did you want to hold his hand? Yes.

He took your hand, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

When you began healing him, he squeezed your hand really tightly

:)

So cute.

After you're done, you wrap it up.

“All done!”

Ok time skip-

So he was definitely teased a lot by Sokka. Like he caught on to the fact that Sokka caught on.

Even angstier than usual :(

You notice.

It seems like he’s avoiding you like the plague,

You are sad, bc your in love with this grumpy idiot

So one day, you invite him to get plants with you (for healing because you ran out)

He doesn't want to.

“Please, you’ve been avoiding me and I miss hanging out with you.”

He feels SO BAD

“Okay”

Yay

So y’all are picking flowers and whatnot

And you take one of the prettiest flowers there, and put it behind his ear.

Then you laugh at him because he’s blushing, but you’re covering your mouth to try not to laugh.

But your laughing makes him blush even harder.

After a while, you guys decide to sit down and chill for a bit.

“I’m sorry I ignored you,”

“It’s okay, but did I do something wrong?”

“No no you didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Oh. Then, why’d you ignore me?”

He stares for a bit, before sitting facing you.

You are so confused

He sighs

(Think of it as the gif in the start. like that's how he looks)

“It’s because I like you. I like like you. Like more than I would like a friend. I like you like a-”

You cut him off by crashing your lips into his

It takes him a second to understand but he gets it

He kisses you back with so much passion.

Then when you separate, you say:

“I like like you too,”

He’s so happy.

When you guys go back to camp, Sokka notices Zuko not avoiding you anymore.

You walk Zuko to his room, and give him a goodnight kiss.

“Goodnight!”

Just as you're about to walk away, Zuko grabs your wrist lightly.

“Can you actually stay?” he says avoiding your gaze.

Ofc how could anyone say no-

You guys cuddle all night.

Katara comes to wake y’all up in the morning.

“Oh my god, Sokka was right.”

An: I really hope I did a good job with this lol. Again, Thank you so much for the request. As always, hope you enjoyed reading, SEE YA! <3

[uglierdaikon]

All right bitches I said I’d do it so let’s go - what children are actually doing at different ages (for the unfamiliar writer)

Source: I’m like a few months shy of a master’s degree in speech pathology, I’m my own source

This will not be fully comprehensive, because I cannot adequately give you all the information I’ve gathered over the course of earning my bachelor’s and master’s in a single textpost. But we do our best (and y’all don’t want the nitty gritty anyways). Buckle in though suckers, because this turned out really long anyways. 

General development of babies and toddlers:

Fresh out the oven: this baby doesn’t do anything except poop, pee, eat, cry, sleep. They’re living the dream. It should be noted that they can’t actually poop, pee, or eat that much though, because they have such wee little stomachs! That’s why they have to do all three of those things so often—their body can only take a little at a time! So they’re doing all of those things every few hours.

1-3 months: This baby still isn’t doing much. They have to do tummy time now and everyone hates that. This means their parents put them on their stomachs to help their bodies develop. NOTE this is only done when the babies are awake, never when their asleep (“Back to sleep” is a good way to remember this—babies sleep on their backs, until they’re able to roll over on their own. This helps avoid suffocation and SIDS).

“But Erin,” you ask. “What does the baby actually do and say at this age?” Great question! Not much! They’re beginning to coo, but no babbling is happening yet (so no “goo goo ga ga” nonsense when you’re writing these wee fellas). They start to smile and laugh at around this age for reasons other than gas though, which is nice

We want them to start learning to roll over though. This is the point of tummy time. They cannot crawl and won’t for some time

3-7 months: this baby is doing a little bit more! They’re laughing, they love their parents, they might find older siblings or pets vaguely fascinating. They also might start making sounds

a note on phonetic development in children: they learn the easy, visible sounds first. So, as you might already know, “m,” “b,” and “p” (which are all secretly the same sound in different fonts) are some of the first. Kids also say “g” and “k” pretty early because these sounds are easy to make accidentally when they’re laying on their backs!

This sweet lil bear wants to crawl so bad. They’re trying. They’re not quite there yet but god damn it they’re trying

They’re starting to sit up on their own though! Building that good core strength. But they’re wobbly, they need a lot of supervision

Babies this age also start to try “solid” food (which is just, like, applesauce at first, but it counts!) They might even eat some dissolvable solids like Gerber puffs (babies go nuts for Gerber puffs)

7-10 months: babies gone wild. They start doing stuff in earnest at this age and we are at their mercy

Around 8 months this stinker will start crawling (army crawl usually comes first, and a lot of babies stick to that because it’s faster lol, but they’ll crawl on all fours too like you’re probably imagining). Then they’ll start pulling up to stand on their own, walk using parent help/a walker/the couch. Once they start walking on their own it’s all over for their poor parents.

Who am I kidding, kids are menaces when they can crawl too

Babbling has progression. No one will tell you that but there’s stages. So at the beginning of this period, they’re doing what’s called reduplicative babbling (that’s your “mamamama” or “gagagaga” sounds, so they repeat the same syllable over and over), but over time they’ll move in the direction of what’s called “jargon” (this is when you can tell the baby knows what they’re saying and really believes that they’re communicating and that you understand them, bless their heart)

You might hear a first word in this period, but most kids won’t do that until a while later

These poor little angels are going to start getting teeth toward the end of this period, too. God help them, they’re going to be so sad about it. Lots of slobbering, crying, gumming on things in this time (whatever they can get in their mouth). My nephews got a lot of fevers when they started teething, too. HOWEVER the more teeth they have, the more solid foods they’re eating. Wee babies this age are having some soft solids (but they’re still drinking a lot of milk, that’s still very important nutritionally at this age). Note, these babies are not eating anything difficult to chew. If your grandpa can’t eat it with his dentures off the babies can’t eat it with their wee little teeth and bad chewing skills. They may start drinking water on its own though in place of milk once in a while

At this age they’re also more likely to sleep through the night. This is because they’re actually able to eat enough during the day that they don’t have to wake up to eat more. Remember, they have those wee little stomachs that only fit so much.

~1 year: oh lordy lordy, these poor parents. This baby has places to be, they’ve got things to do. A lot of kids are walking at this time. They may try to run but they are bad at it; however toddlers are slippery little bastards and are hard to catch in spite of this. This sucker has more teeth (still not a full set) and they know how to use those chompers. This baby can have pizza (with the crust removed). That is the most important milestone in my opinion

You’re gonna hear first words around this time. Some kids talk earlier and easier than others. My littler niece has never talked much, but what she does say she says perfectly. My older niece is still practically incomprehensible at two and a half. There’s a lot more variety in what kids can do as they get older. In general, we expect first words by a year and a half, and most kids do start earlier than that.

This being said, there’s still a lot of babbling! That doesn’t stop just because they know a few words!

Babe, look me in the eyes right now. If you have a one year old stringing sentences together in your stories I don’t know how to help you. They don’t do that. You might hear some two and three word phrases as they get closer to two, but there will be no sentences.

2 years: Can and will talk your ear off. They know some body parts, maybe some colors. They’ve got those two to three word phrases, and they’ll start to build on that. They can run, but jumping is hard. Forget about skipping, it’s not gonna happen. These lil bears still aren’t potty trained but they’re working on it! It’s hard work! The downside of this is that suddenly the person whose ass you’re wiping has opinions.

3 years: now we’ll get some sentences. Kids this age are still clumsy, but they’re doing more of the little kid stuff you expect.

 General principles about kids overall

So those are the only ages I’m going to get into detail about. Like I said, there’s a lot more variety in what kids can do as they get older, and it’d be a whole mess to try to summarize that all in depth beyond preschool age. However, I do still have more general guidelines to help you out with stuff beyond this.

Language development in kids

a.      Note: everything I know is about language development in English. I don’t know any more than you do about how kids talk in other languages

b.      So, the thing is, kids expect English to make sense. It doesn’t. This is a very important guiding principle in writing child language.

c.      This means that little kids won’t understand exceptions to grammatical rules as they start learning to speak more. This is where you’ll run into “I runned to the park” or “I see-d the mouses.”

d.      Very young kids will speak mainly in nouns. They’ll name the objects that they’re talking about and babble for the rest of it. You learn to put it together. For example, one of my nieces likes to draw my attention to her dog by saying “pup!” and when I say, “yeah, that’s your puppy!” she nods and says “woof woof.” She’s about a year and a half old, for context.

e.      As they get older, they’ll start to include verbs. Basically, they start with the essentials and add everything else later. Imagine how you would talk in a language you don’t know well. When I try to speak Spanish, it’s a heavy reliance on nouns and some very basic verbs. Kids do the same thing.

f.       Adjectives and prepositions come next, adverbs way down the road. Kids love an interjection though. Both of my nieces think it is very funny to point to my nose piercing and yell “Nose uh-oh!”

g.      Very little kids won’t say much more than four or five words in a sentence. It takes a lot of effort to string those words together! Cut them some slack!

h.      A lot of very common grammar mistakes you see in children’s speech in fiction is inaccurate. Again, kids expect English to make sense. You won’t hear a lot of “me do it.” You will hear more funny mistakes that come up when a kid doesn’t know how else to say what they want to say. Again, though, if you actually think about it, these mistakes make sense when you consider they’re trying to learn the rules of English, not every single possible usage of a word or phrase.

Speech in children

a.      I already told you that they learn the easy sounds first. Now let’s talk about where they might run into trouble.

b.      Gliding – this is a type of phonetic error when “l” and “r” are replaced with “w” or “y.” I’m sure you’re familiar from the uwu cutesy memes. It should be noted that they typically only do this to “l” and “r” though.

c.      Final consonant deletion – kids leave off the end sounds of words all the time! This has to do with the way we articulate sounds in English even in adult speech, but I won’t get into that

d.      Velar fronting – this means they’ll change “k” and “g” to “t” and “d”. For example, they might say “tootie” for “cookie.”

e.      Cluster reduction – it’s hard word to say a whole bunch of consonants together. So you might hear “I tong” instead of “I’m strong” (which also gives an example of that final consonant deletion I just talked about).

f.       Substitution – in general, substitution errors are everywhere, and this just means that kids replace a difficult-to-make sound with something easier. Gliding and velar fronting are both common examples of this, but some of them are individual to the kid. Some examples of “hard to make” sounds are “j,” “g,” “k,” “l,” “r,” “th,” “ch,”and sometimes “s.” R especially is a bastard. R is ten sounds stacked on top of each other wearing a trench coat, and that’s why it’s so common for people with different accents to say “r” differently.

              ��                                     i.     Anyways, the sound that they replace it with is often a sound that is produced in a similar place. “th” might become “t” since they are produced at the front of the mouth near the teeth. “ch” will also probably become “t,” “j” often turns into “d,” etc.

g.      In general, kids don’t mess up vowels. They’ve got vowels down pat.

h.      These sounds can get messed up everywhere in a word. However, as a kid gets older (or as they go through speech therapy, self-plug for my field), they’ll start to make it less often at the beginning of words. It’s harder to shake from the middle and end of words though, because of all the other stuff that they have to focus on in other parts of the word. Sounds at the beginning are easier!

Stutters  

This is a fluency disorder, not a cute little quirk to give to a shy kid. People who stutter really struggle with the stigma around it, and it’s much more complex than just repeating a sound now and again. If anyone’s curious I can talk more about this, but in general? Be respectful. A lot of people who stutter deal with it their whole lives, and they already deal with enough anxiety before we get into all the stereotyping and infantilizing of stutters. Soapbox over.

Social development

a.      Kids in general are hyperactive. As soon as they’re able to move around without your help, that’s all they want to do. If you have a very little kid in your story who sits very nicely and listens to stories without interrupting or moving around, I have questions for the little kids that you know—or better, for their parents, because I wanna know their secret. That sucker is on the move. I haven’t gotten any of my nieces or nephews to sit still for a whole book since they learned to crawl, and I don’t think I’ll get them to again for quite a while.

b.      Little kids don’t play together—they play next to each other. They’ll show each other what they’re playing with, they’ll take toys from each other, they’ll watch each other play. But their play isn’t interactive until they’re about four.

c.      Kids are smarter than we give them credit for, but also they lack the background knowledge and context to use that intelligence effectively. What this means is that they’ll come up with their own explanations for things that make sense given what they know about the world. But these explanations are often ridiculous. For example, as a small child I didn’t know that some people have different *ahem* body parts that they urinate with. So I thought that the way people could tell if a baby was a boy or a girl was by a blood test. Lord knows how I knew about blood tests but not genitals.

d.      Moral development in kids. I won’t get into this in depth, but in general

                                                  i.     Little kids (like, 7 and younger), are very self-centered. This is not a mark against them! But they are not taking other people into account very often. That’s something that’s taught, and that’s okay. Some kids learn this faster than others

                                                   ii.     As they get older, kids define morality by the rules, and nothing else. Some people never leave this stage of moral development, but that’s a topic for someone else to handle. I just deal with kids. So, by this token, if you ask a kid whether it’s okay for someone to steal food so that a starving child can eat, a lot of kids would say no. Because that’s against the rules. (Unless they have experiences telling them otherwise, but that depends on the child/character).

                                                  iii.     It’s not until around puberty that kids start to be able to understand nuance in those situations

e.      Kids of all ages want to be very independent. Their definition of independence will change as they get older, but that’s easier to figure out. Two year olds want to pour their own milk for dinner. Ten year olds want to walk/ride their bike to school with their friends without their parents there. All relative.

Aaaaand scene!

This concludes my brief lecture on child development for all you writers out there! I hope it was helpful, please let me know if you have any questions! Honestly, this is great review for the Praxis exam and I’m supposed to be studying for that anyways.

[world-of-fire-and-flight]

Visitation Rights

A/N: I saw this prompt and my mind instantly… well you’ll see😆Anyway, thank you to @nuttynutcycle for this prompt — this probably went in an entirely different direction than any one of us thought it would (if y’all are looking for something amazing and kinda dark for the same prompt, check out @yourheartonfire's prompt fill), but that's why I love writing prompts - you never know what you'll get!

Prompt is in blue font! | Warnings: minor violence, (verbal) fighting, Villain’s heart melting/wholesome fluff, language, about 2.5k words…. I didn’t mean for it to be this long….

My masterlist

Villain straightened and took a half step back to admire his work. The sunlight glistened over the lake outside, his own little slice of paradise, and warmly streamed in through the unobstructed window, pooling right on the fluffy white cushion. It was utterly perfect.

Crouching down he packed up his tools, sliding the drill bit back into its place amongst the others in the hard case. Pencil, measuring tape, level, and —

Villain reeled back, jumping to his feet. Adrenaline coursed through his blood as his eyes landed on the source of movement he’d scene in his peripheral vision. Spotting the jet-black cat circling around the top of the newly mounted window seat, Villain’s muscles loosened.

Tsking, Villain wagged his finger at the unblinking creature. “Vengeance, what have I told you about sneaking up on me like that?”

Purring slightly, the cat answered with a wide-eyed, affectionate tilt of her head, pausing in her ritual of settling into her seat as Villain had previously seen her do. Who knew he’d be a cat person? Who knew that ruthless, destructive, utterly evil Villain would take pity on a sopping wet cat with fear in her eyes, roaming the city streets just miles away from here?

Certainly not Villain.

Sighing, Villain gestured to the window seat, though more specifically the view outside the window as Vengeance turned her back to the room and laid down in the patch of sunlight streaming in through the window. Villain’s heart melted at the sight.

So small. So precious.

It was utterly devious — not to mention embarrassing — how such a tiny creature had managed to waltz her way right into his heart. And it’d only been a few hours! Not days, not weeks, but hours! And already he’d been convinced to install a permanent fixture in the middle of his picturesque living room all for one little black cat with a sob story.

Pathetic.

There was no other word for what had happened to him and his villainous integrity in the last few hours once he’d managed to get the poor thing washed and dried…

And then he’d had to bandage himself up. Big cats might like water, other cats might like water, but this cat certainly did not.

But once Vengeance was dry and had began to calm down…

She’d started to mewl. And then she’d started to weave between his legs, pawing at his ankles as she looked up at him, staring straight into his soul.

And that’s how he’d sent six henchmen out to find cat treats and toys and this window seat before dismissing everyone for the day and retreating to his lake house for… well he didn’t have to figure everything out this afternoon. He could make adjustments to his schedule to accommodate Ven as soon as he knew how much work a cat could be.

Leaving his tools to be put away later, he bent over so his face was level with Ven’s and scratched behind her ears as they watched out the window together. She immediately began purring and leaning into the touch, and Villain swore, nothing could ever make him happier. People, even other animals, tended to flinch away from him. Though he supposed the mask and cape and his reputation did that. Even his own henchmen, people he’d known for years, had grown weary and antsy around him. But Vengeance didn’t seem to mind him one bit.

Still, it didn’t stop the scratch marks she’d given him while trying to clean her up sting any less.

“Isn't it beautiful?” The villain gestured to the view below. “Your own window. See, when you're good you get treats.”

Not that he’d actually denied her a treat when the henchmen had come back to their warehouse lair loaded down with bags from the pet store. It was the only way she’d get in the cat carrier.

The cat only purred louder, resting her head against the cushion and turning onto her back, exposing her stomach. The ultimate symbol of trust.

“I think we’ll get along just fine, don’t you, Ven?” Villain smiled, indulging her.

They both flinched, coming into full alertness when the door bell rang throughout the entry way and down into the sunken living room. Villain stood and glanced at the cat, asking if she knew who it might be. Vengeance didn’t provide an answer.

Cautiously, he made his way to the door. Staring through the frosted glass, he could only make out the figure of a woman with wild hair and an average stature.

So much for the remote location and lack of neighbors.

The bell rang again.

Pursing his lips, Villain reached for the doorknob, summoning his power to easily infiltrate the intruder’s mind and wipe the memory of this place — and him — from their mind, all before they could get a word out.

As soon as the door opened partway and he got a glance at the person standing on his front porch, Villain cursed.

“Yeah, well, I’m not the one who stooped so low as take someone else’s cat!”

“Your cat?” Villain started incredulously. “I would’ve never thought the city’s darling hero would let their cat run amok through the city, scared and alone!”

“I didn’t!” Hero stepped closer, gesturing frantically as she didn’t even leave Villain time enough to get another word in. “Shadow got out and I couldn’t find her and I’ve been looking everywhere for her! I finally just got access to her chip and why shouldn’t I be surprised to find out that you took her!”

Hero’s voice turned from distressed to angry in a matter of seconds, and as the city’s only other telepath, there was nothing Villain could do to make her go away or see if she were lying about Ven—Shadow being her cat without having to talk it through.

Holding a hand up, Villain forced her to pause her barrage of words and to keep her from pressing any closer and storming inside his sanctuary.

“First off, I would never stoop so low,” Villain chastised her, “and secondly, we may both know things about the other’s civilian identities we wished the other didn’t, but I would’ve never cared about a cat, and lastly,” he paused, taking in the irritation marring her face and how her hands had clenched into fists at her sides, “you chipped your cat?”

Rage sparked in Hero’s eyes. Shoving him back, Villain stumbled at the unexpected force, but Hero didn’t yield. Each word was punctuated with another shove until he’d knocked into the wall beside the door. “Where. Is. My. Cat?”

Meow.

Hero blinked.

“As you can hear, Vengeance is fine, thank you for asking.”

“Ven—” Hero’s lips twisted into a frown as she screwed her eyes shut. The grip on his shoulders didn’t ease as she kept him firmly pinned to the wall. The padding of paws over the hardwood floors filled the otherwise silent entryway. He watched as Vengeance leapt up the steps and fixed her gaze on their current situation. The cat’s eyes seemed to glisten with recognition.

“You did not rename my cat ‘Vengeance,’” Hero said through gritted teeth.

Villain smirked as her eyes flew open when Vengeance bounded over to them and started to weave her way between Hero’s legs and then between Villain’s until the cat was basically going around them, stepping over their shoes in a figure eight to encompass both of their stances.

“Well,” Villain said, glancing down at the black furball purring and still weaving her way between their feet, “I’ll admit, I was going to make you prove Vengeance was your cat, but I guess this is all the proof I need.”

Hero watched her cat for another second longer before she eased away from him, allowing Villain to peel himself away from the wall. He heard her grumble under her breath, “Of course you’d like him, you traitor.”

Chuckling more to the cat than Hero, Villain stooped to pick Vengeance up, meeting the pained eyes of Hero as he straightened. “What can I say, I’m a very likeable person.”

“No,” Hero argued, “you’re a manipulator who stole my cat!”

Villain groaned, which caused the contented cat to squirm in his grasp. Letting her jump down, he reached passed Hero and shut his front door. “For the last time, I didn’t steal your cat. I found her and took her home. Big difference!”

“You didn’t even check to see if she had a tag or had been reported missing?”

“She looked like she’d been out on the street for days! How was I supposed to know she wasn’t a street cat?”

“I don’t know, Villain, maybe you should’ve read her mind!” Hero snapped.

“Hey, there’s no need to bring work into this!” Villain snapped back. “Besides, I can’t. Animals aren’t my thing. Different skill set entirely.”

Hero rolled her eyes. “Look,” she started, looking away and toward where the destroyer of everything peaceful had padded off to. She rolled her shoulders and tried to ease the fight from her stance into something more… casual. “I didn’t come here to argue, I just came to get my cat back and go home. That’s all.”

The pleading tone had returned, and something else had crept into Hero’s voice too. Villain easily identified as resignation. He might not be able to burrow into Hero’s mind, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use this situation to his advantage. Same tricks, different method of manipulation.

“I don’t know,” he started coyly, stepping closer to her. “You don’t sound as though you love Ven as much as you should. How do I know you’ll treat her properly, I mean she’s already gotten out once, hasn’t she?”

Hero swallowed, matching his step forward with a small step in retreat. “Villain, just give me Shadow back, and let us leave in peace.”

“Still doesn’t sound like you’re as desperate to get her back as you claim to be,” he sang, taking another step forward. This time, Hero didn’t back down. His eyebrow arched questioningly.

“What do you want from me?” She asked quietly, never once breaking eye contact with him. But it seemed her faded anger had made her smaller, more vulnerable. Vulnerability wasn’t something Villain would’ve ever associated with his nemesis.

It was certainly something new. Villain relished it, the brokenness in her tone, but also his nemesis’ final stand. Who knew it would only take a cat to get Hero in the palm of his hand.

Villain smirked, contemplatively glancing over Hero one last time before saying, “I was going for ‘please’, but—”

“Villain, please!” She interrupted desperately.

He tsked. “Too late, you’ve already asked me what I wanted from you, and now I get to decide what that is.”

Teardrops blossomed in the corner of Hero’s eyes. Quickly, they darted away from him and he followed her gaze toward the cat resting peacefully once more on the new window seat. Satisfied that Hero was exactly that desperate, he waited for her to meet his eyes again, ready to put on a show when she did.

Slowly, her attention slid back to him.

He tilted his head, eyes boring into her as if he could see her at a molecular level. Maybe this was the cruelest form of torture he’d ever enacted on someone, and surely it was the worst thing he’d done to someone who was, admittedly, undeserving of such cruelty. Sure, Hero had made it her life’s mission to stop him, but he was criminal mastermind after all. A criminal mastermind, with a cruel reputation that preceded him in every way.

At last, just when he knew Hero couldn’t take the suspension any more, when the tremble of her lip turned into an unsteady wobble, he grinned. He saw the moment she sucked in a final breath and held it, waiting for his answer.

“I want,” he said slowly, forcing a glower to his face, “visitation rights. No questions, no limit, and not a single word about any of this to anyone.”

Hero let the breath she’d held out in a shuddering burst of air, completely sagging in relief.

“V-visitation rights?” she sniffled.

“Yes.”

Meekly, she tried to wipe away the tears that had threatened to spill as if he couldn’t see her movements at all. “No questions, no limit—”

“As in, for an undetermined amount of time. You can set time limits for each visit, of course, but they can’t be revoked,” he clarified at her hesitancy in her eyes.

“Ever?” she questioned.

“Exactly. Not in two weeks, not in two months, not in two years,” he reaffirmed. “I get to visit Shadow whenever, for as long as you’ll allow me to per visit, for the rest of eternity.”

Hero sighed. “And not a word to anyone.”

“Correct.”

Hero fidgeted under his unwavering gaze. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, he could see the thought process taking place written plainly on her face with each minute twitch, twist, furrow, or purse that shifted in her features. “Fine. You can have secret, limitless, visitation rights with Shadow.”

Villain grinned again. “That’s all I ask.”

They both glanced over at the cat in question, finding her blissfully asleep on her sun-warmed window seat.

“Well… I guess there’s no sense disturbing her now,” Villain said in a quiet tone he hadn’t thought himself capable of. He’d just held a woman in suspense to within an inch of her composure, but now he was shy?

“You get until she wakes up, and then we’re going home.”

“Fine,” Villain agreed, “might as well make yourself comfortable too. I hear cats can sleep for a long time. Besides, it sounds like you had a rather trying day, losing your cat and all, finding them at your nemesis’ house. Must’ve been truly awful.”

Hero grabbed his shoulder harshly, stopping him in his tracks when he’d meant to join Shadow in the living room to watch the sun set over the lake. Turning back, he saw the hero’s face had sharpened seriously, a look he knew and hated bitterly from her day job as the savior of the city.

“Look,” she started dangerously, “just because you have visitation rights for my cat, doesn’t mean we have to be friendly. I’m not falling for one of those bullshit can’t-stand-each-other-to-confessing-their-love-for-each-other stories you only see in books or movies, so aside from Shadow and fighting each other while masked up, just stay out of my life.”

“Oh, Hero,” he frowned sarcastically, “you wound me.”

“I mean it, Villain,” she hissed, poking him in the chest, “just leave me alone!”

“Sure, now if you’ll excuse me,” he said, once again starting for the comfy couch positioned right in front of the floor to ceiling windows. “I’ve had a long day too and would like to enjoy my quiet visitation rights.”

Behind him, he heard Hero sigh heavily and couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his lips. “Whatever.”

[tobesobri]

When the Lights Go Out (Halloween fic; 8k)

𝖆/𝖓: first off, happy Halloween yall! This is my second favorite holiday and so I really wanted to get something up in celebration of it! I’ve talked a lot on here about having trouble with writing recently and so I do what I normally do with writer’s block and I just leave what I’m stuck on and go off to write something random, which is what this ended up being. So, my writing style is definitely different and maybe not great, but this is just for fun so I don’t care! I still hope you enjoy! There’s spookiness (not too much), enemies (frenemies) to lovers, pumpkin carving, smut, alcohol consumption, and giant skeletons 💀 (oh and Harry dressed as Tarzan 🥵)

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𝕸ost people’s Halloween traditions weren’t too complicated; usually involving cult-favorite scary movies—ranging from Halloweentown to Nightmare on Elm Street—handing out Snickers and Kit-Kats to tiny trick-or-treaters, or just getting wasted at a friend’s haunted house party down the street. Their friend group, on the other hand, opted for a pumpkin carving contest every year on Halloween at Jason Hallow’s house, and, yes, his favorite holiday is Halloween because of his last name. And so, a few years ago when they were all undergrads together, he began hosting the annual carving contest at his house, in which they all paired up and, at the end of the night, whichever pair’s pumpkin came out the best—as judged by Jason, the resident Jack O’ Lantern expert—won whatever candy was leftover. That and marathons of R-rated horror flicks as well as occasional breaks to go out in the neighborhood and scare some of the kids while dressed in terrifying monster masks and slightly drunk off their asses from too much Tennessee whiskey.

Jason’s house was, hands down, the place to be in their neighborhood. Everyone who came by always wanted to join in on their festivities, and one year, they’d been just drunk enough to let a few of-age neighbors join in. This year, though, it was different. The stakes were higher. They were competing not only for the candy, but also for the much envied twelve-foot tall skeleton Jason had found at Home Depot which currently sat in his front yard amongst his other outrageous decorations. The skeleton was definitely the most noteworthy and had been the center of plenty group photos from just about every one of his neighbors since he had brought it home and especially tonight. In fact, every time the doorbell rang and he greeted another group of kids in his gory doctor costume—because Jason was in med school after all—every one of them squealed about how much they liked his skeleton. And so it almost pained him to have to give it to one of his friends after tonight, but if he’s being honest, he has nowhere to store it—he’d purchased it completely on a whim—and next year they will compete for it all over again anyway.

Tonight is also different because Harry and Y/N are not getting along. They all knew this beforehand, but simply brushed it off until they realized it was much worse than anyone had imagined. They had a horrible friendship—if one could even call it that—ever since they’d met as freshmen pre-law students six years ago. Sometimes they got along, but mostly, they bickered non-stop at each other, which all their friends took as misguided flirting. They got along for about six months once, after a drunken hookup, until, of course, Y/N hooked up with someone else and set off the volcano that was their relationship all over again. It had been calm recently with both of them needing each other’s help through their vigorous law school studies. So, a truce had been made and they tolerated each other at best. Tonight, though, the monsters had truly been unleashed and neither one of them had stopped picking at each other since they’d arrived.

It began on the street, when Harry took the spot Y/N had wanted to park in. Then at the door, when he asked her how her midterms were going and she felt like stepping on his toes until she crushed them. Which was perfectly logical since his was barefoot and mostly naked in his stupid Tarzan costume he’d recycled about four times now since they’d all known each other. He only wore it when the weather was warm, as he claimed, but they all had a suspicion he wore it so that he could watch Y/N drooling over him all night.

She wasn’t innocent either, in his defense, at least not this year when she came dressed in a sexy Beetlejuice costume, something none of them ever thought was possible. But she made it happen. She wore a too-short black and white vertical striped t-shirt dress—which had rips in all the right places, particularly across her chest—and a pair of neon green boots that were Doc Marten knock-offs she had found online. Other than that, she had spray painted the front bits of her hair a grey-green color and did her makeup to match the theme, dark purple smokey eyes and a green color used as contour. It looked good, she looked good, not that Harry would ever say that out loud.

Jason’s entire living room and dining room floors were covered with plastic tarps. He’d set up the usual fold-away tables and chairs for everyone. It was an easy clean-up job that wouldn’t leave pumpkin guts smudged into his hardwood floors or, even worse, the beige carpet in his living room. And, as always, he had a line up of various pumpkins on his kitchen counter—and the necessary kit of carving tools—ready to go. They usually didn’t start until nine-thirty or ten, once everyone arrived and had a few drinks in them and they had all agreed on what movies to watch. This year was a marathon of The Conjuring franchise, because Jason had spent way too much money on a box set and he would not be wasting them. Nobody objected anyway because the movies held a sentimental value to all of them. Every year since the beginning when a new movie came out, they all managed to go see it together, and also cause a horrible ruckus in the theater. Although they’d almost been kicked out a couple times, it was still some of the best memories together they’d ever had.

There was also that one year, when Annabelle Creation came out and Y/N and Harry were getting along on account of the LSATs, that they’d secretly gone home together. And then, of course, pretended it never happened.

That had been the second time they slept together, the second time she’d woken in his bed, with Harry’s annoyingly toned arm wrapped all the way around her, and the last as well because Harry got into a serious relationship their first year of law school and that had been the end of things.

Well… not completely the end. At least not until tonight.

“Okay we’re getting started!” Jason announced over both the music and the television, which someone turned down before Jason continued. He stood, wobbling, on one of the foldable chairs, for no other reason than the bottle of vodka in his hand. He was teetering on the edge sobriety and really didn’t give a fuck if he fell off. “Y’all know the drill! Isa’s handing out the cards. No whining. No trading. Or you’ll be disqualified.”

The cards in question were riddles that they had to match up with the answer. Half of them got the riddle card, the other half an answer card and that would determine who their partner was.

Y/N both wanted Harry as her partner and detested the idea at the same time. She was all for it because, well, he was hot dressed in nothing but his small piece of brown loincloth fabric hanging loosely on his hips. But at the same time, she knew they wouldn’t win together and she really wanted that skeleton.

The riddles were all hand-made by Jason on his computer and then laminated in his girlfriend’s school’s teacher lounge however many years ago. They all knew every answer to every riddle by now, but it was still a much more fun way to pair up than picking names out of a hat.

Y/N read her riddle twice, having absolutely no recollection of the answer to it, however—which was probably due to the alcohol she’d consumed herself within the past hour. She wasn’t all to blame, though, Harry had a lot to do with it too. She was still mad at him, for what she wasn’t sure, but she also could not stop herself from stealing glances at him and the only way to stop feeling so many confusing things about Harry was to drown it all away.

She read her riddle one last time: The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?

Her brain felt like mush after the third read and she hoped someone would find her first and give her the answer. She peeked around at people’s cards as they all tried to find their pair, some of them meeting up immediately and getting the prime pick of the pumpkins. It had dwindled down to just a few of them and she finally waltzed herself up to Harry, grabbed his card from his hand without his permission and read it.

In bold, 16-point Helvetica font, it read: A coffin.

Of course.

She rolled her eyes, shoving his card against his stupid bare chest and groaning audibly. “Figures I’m stuck with you.”

When she finally looked up at him, though, she wasn’t all that upset about her odds as she pretended to be. Not with the way his face set into a devilish, wicked, up-to-no-good look that made her want to rip him from the room and rip his useless Tarzan costume off too while she was at it.

He had also been drinking, which was made even more clear when he opened his mouth. “You’ll always be stuck with me.” And then he leaned in a little bit, his smirk widening and his eyes darkening and the sweet smell of vodka on his tongue strengthening, “Forever.”

She hated the buzzing in her stomach he caused, and hated that she liked knowing they probably would, at the very least, know each other for the rest of their lives. It had already been six years since they met and she still hadn’t managed to shake him off. And now they were finishing up law school together and getting offers to work at the same firm together. There would be no escaping him, not that she really wanted to.

The only time she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him was when he had a girlfriend. She hated seeing him in her classes, in her study groups, her circles, at her internship. He was always there, though, rubbing it in her face as she had once done to him. Hers was just a dumb hookup, partially just to spite him, and his was… well he dated the girl for entire year before they broke up and he seemed genuinely heartbroken over it. It had been serious, and Y/N had been seriously miserable the entire time. Even more so when she found out they’d split up and she just about threw a party while Harry moped around campus. She couldn’t help it, though, she’d liked him ever since they met, but then they just sort of… didn’t get along all the time.

She knew he liked her too, at least a little bit, or he’d never have slept with her twice. How much he actually liked her though was still up for debate, and so she chose keeping their weird hate-love relationship over ruining all of it by admitting her feelings for him. Plus, she liked working with him and getting his help on exams and papers too much to ruin that as well.

Y/N grabbed the third to last pumpkin, an unopened carving kit, and led the way to two lonesome chairs. They sat closest to the door, and farthest from the dining room and Jason, in their own little corner where they had enough room to stretch out given that no else had laid any claim on the other side of their table yet.

“So,” Harry began once they were settled and Y/N began opening the kit of tools, “what are we making?”

Before giving him an answer, she laid out all the tools on the table in front of them, next to their poor misshapen pumpkin, and then reached down into the side of her boot and pulled out a black sharpie; she’d learned a couple years back to start brining one. It might have been cheating, sketching her design beforehand, but Jason never outlawed it.

“I’m making Jason’s favorite Tim Burton character and you’re in charge of the guts.” She dictated confidently, slapping the sawing tool and the large orange plastic spoon in front of him so he could get started right away.

He eyed the tools for a moment, then the pumpkin, and then finally her. “Absolutely not. I’m not doing all the shit work while you do the fun stuff.”

“Thought you’d be used to that.” She half-mumbled, but he still heard her over the rest of the noise in the house. And, frankly, she was right. When they had interned together last year, she always handed off the demeaning tasks to him, like getting the coffee or making copies, while she did the much more interesting parts of the job. What she didn’t know was that she didn’t make him do anything. He always did it so she didn’t have to.  

He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, arms that her eyes—which were completely out of her control at that point—glued to immediately. He’d been working out ever since the break up and finally filled out the Tarzan costume a lot better. He’d always had a nice body, she knew that, but now… now he made her dizzy.

“I’m not doing it. Least not all by myself.”

She gave up then, mostly because she lost her will to argue against the pout of his lips and the flexing of his biceps—which weren’t ridiculously big, but they were subtle and modest and very much bigger than they had been this time last year when he’d dressed up as a shirtless baseball player. Most all of Harry’s costumes involved some level of nakedness and not much sense, but she didn’t complain too loudly. And his arms were definitely bigger now than they had been the last time she was in his bed and he was over her.

“Fine.” She groaned, grabbing the mini saw tool and then standing to begin carving a hole at the top of their pumpkin, around the stem. She made it big enough for them to be able to stick their hands inside, and then once she was finished, pulled the stem piece off and set it aside for later, chopping off some loose bits of pumpkin shreds first.

Despite his earlier protests, he was the first to dig into the pumpkin, standing as well and going hands first into the thing where he pulled out fistfuls and dumped it into a pile on the table. They went back and forth digging out the insides of the pumpkin until finally, Harry grabbed the spoon and really went in. And she didn’t even bother offering to help, and instead stared, again, at his stupid biceps and especially at his hands, which were slick from the pumpkin juice. She shuddered remembering where his hands had once been, and then pulled herself together remembering how long ago it had been and how very little interest he’d shown in picking up where they’d left off pre-girlfriend.

Once the pumpkin was fully gutted, they both sat again, and cleaned their hands off on the paper towels Jason had set up on each table.

She was the first to begin the process, sketching out the design with her sharpie of Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She’d carved the character before, but still needed a reference picture on her phone to get all the details right. And Harry watched her the entire time, memorizing her face for the millionth time while she concentrated, and sometimes he stared at her hands, too, hands he also found himself reminiscing over, to the point of needing to cross his legs so it wasn’t made visibly clear what he was thinking about. He was starting to regret recycling the Tarzan costume.

While they all worked, Jason answered the door and handed out candy about once every five minutes. The best part of their tradition wasn’t the pumpkin carving itself, but rather, the atmosphere. They loved the feeling, the adrenaline rush of it all. How messy everything would eventually get, how loud they all were. The anguished shouting when someone messed something up. The sounds of Thriller playing in the background mixed with the loud jump scares from the horror movies played all night long. It was heaven to any lover of Halloween (and they all loved Halloween).

She’d let Harry start the carving of the design, informing him what parts were staying and what parts needed to be cut away, before she ventured into the kitchen to grab them both a drink. On her way back, she paused for a moment, just watching Harry work over in their corner. The sight of him almost made her want to finally admit how she felt. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if he rejected her, at least then she’d know.

But then Zoe plopped down into her empty chair next to Harry and crushed everything back down like an aluminum can being recycled. She tossed back about half of her Smirnoff after Zoe had scooted closer to Harry and grazed her fingertips across his arm—the one he wasn’t using the carve the pumpkin. And at first, he ignored it, but then he set down the tool, pushed his hair back with his clean wrist and offered Zoe one of his annoying little smirks that Y/N always thought he saved just for her. But now, seeing him use it to flirt with Zoe, she felt stupid and betrayed. And stupid again for feeling betrayed.

She had no claim to him. She just had her memories, as inconvenient as they were at times. But that was nothing and it’d been so long that he showed any interest in her, in anybody, that for her to be jealous now was just pure selfishness. As much as she hated Harry sometimes, she still wanted to see him happy again.

Y/N made her way back slowly, eying what others were doing, until finally joining Harry again just as Zoe went back to her own pumpkin.

She was quiet for a moment, sipping on her drink, watching him as he got back to carving, before cleaning her throat as she finally said something, “What did Zoe want?” And she tried not to sound anything other than curious, but the way Harry glanced at her, with a raised brow, she knew she needed to be so much more subtle.

He took the other cup from her that she hadn’t drunk from and replenished his blood alcohol level. “She just asked me what I was doing after this.”

Instead of opening her mouth and being obvious, she just set her drink down and grabbed both the carving tool and the pumpkin from Harry to take over. He’d already done way more work than she had, so it was about time they switched anyway.

He eyed her curiously still, even though he allowed her to continue where he left off as he leaned back in his chair and took a break, downing what was left in his cup as she worked.

“You’re not jealous are you?” He finally asked, after a few moments to let his brain marinate in the alcohol in order to brave that question in the first place.

“No.” It was sharp. A piercing rejection he felt dig its claws deep into his heart. He couldn’t tell if she was lying or not, but if not, it hurt. More than he was willing to admit, even to himself. He wanted her to be jealous. He always did. That was part of the reason he’d gotten a girlfriend. And of course she was also part of the reason they broke up, if not all of it.

He nodded, “So it wouldn’t bother you if I went home with Zoe?”

He noticed her brief hesitation, when her hand stopped moving and she took in a breath of air, but then she settled again. “Doesn’t bother me what you do, Harry.”

Again, he nodded, still watching her just to get a sense of her reactions. Of course he had no plans on going home with Zoe. He just wanted to know. Where they stood. How Y/N felt about him. Whether she thought about their nights together as often as he did. When they were studying together and she’d shift her hair behind her shoulder and he’d get a whiff of her shampoo and be taken right back to one of those nights, and the nights that came after that when he got lost in that scent on his pillows until it eventually dissipated and left him craving more.

He tried again. One last time. If he still didn’t get the response he was hoping for, then he’d give it up and leave her alone. So, he sat forward, crossing his arms on top of the table, close enough to her now that the buzzing in her stomach reappeared even though she never braved a single glance at him. He was close enough that the smell of his cologne overtook the odor from the pumpkin. Close enough that she felt his breath on the side of her face when he spoke.

“So, I’ve just been imagining the way you’ve been looking at me all night then?” His voice was just above a whisper, and soft, caressing her ears as the sound crept its way inside of her. As it seeped into all the places the alcohol had been, although Harry was always something way more potent than whiskey or tequila. He made her head spin, made her feel everything and nothing at the same time. Made her heart flutter so much at times it hurt.

His words sunk in and all her motions stopped as she froze in place. She stopped carving their pumpkin, stopped blinking, stopped breathing. Staring blankly at their half-finished design until he was wrung out from her system completely. That never really happened, though, because he was staring at her, watching her with those glinting, impatient eyes, waiting for an answer. There wasn’t even the familiar hint of a smirk or a bit of amusement on his face anymore, either, that might have calmed her nerves. Because at least if he seemed to just be messing with her, she could play that game with him, but this was different.

He leaned forward a bit, trying to get her to look at him, to say something, anything, really. He’d be satisfied enough with her lies at this point. But he also knew the absence of an answer alone was all he really needed. He didn’t feel like he was getting ahead of himself, seeing the way her body reacted to him, by assuming that she felt, at least somewhat, the same way he did about her. Because if she’d been the one to ask if she was imagining how he’d been staring at her all night, he wouldn’t deny it.

Just as she opened her mouth, just as she had gathered enough words to form a coherent sentence, the room went dark. Pitch black, actually. The lights all around them flickering off, the television going blank, the music cutting out. And once the startled gasps and dramatic, drunken yelling had subsided, they were left in a ringing silence, so completely opposite to what they had been moments ago that it was painful for their ears to adjust to.

“What the fuck?” They heard Jason’s voice in the darkness and then, finally, a bit of light as he turned his phone’s flashlight on.

“Did the power go out everywhere?” Someone else asked.

And while everyone panicked, all Harry cared and thought about was Y/N’s hand wrapped tightly around his own on his lap. He wasn’t exactly sure when she’d grabbed for him, but once he realized she was there, he didn’t really care too much about the lights anymore. What he did care about still, however, was whether she’d ever answer his question now. If he’d ever get to hear what she was about to say just before the darkness cut her off.

A few of them stumbled about, making plans to go outside and check on things while everyone else stayed inside and waited. The room went dark for a few more moments as Jason left, but then someone else turned their flashlight on, and shined them at the ceiling so that there was at least enough light so that they didn’t have to sit in complete darkness.

If it wasn’t Halloween, the power going out wouldn’t have bothered her so much. Outages happened happened all the time. But now, in the middle of the second Annabelle movie with all sorts of other spooky shit around them, she couldn’t help but be terrified and imagine the worst. Like… what if there was a killer on the loose who had cut their power. What if the killer was chopping up Jason and the others and then eventually heading inside to do the same to all of them?

“Hey,” Harry mumbled beside her, inching closer and rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, realizing she’d grown tense when her grip on him had tightened. “You alright?”

Hearing his voice again, she let out a breath of air and tried to relax. She watched way too many scary movies and this was most definitely not one of them. Just a power outage, possibly due to everyone being home and using lots of extra electricity on their lights and decorations. She had no reason to panic. Although it could be blamed on Harry as well, if he hadn’t made her an astronomical amount of nervous just before.

She nodded until she realized Harry couldn’t even see her very well. “I’m fine.” She finally affirmed, and, to his dismay, took her hand away from his.

They sat in their own silence for a while, listening to the quiet conversations around them, particularly to Zoe and Julie who were trying to look up any information they could even though their phones were slow from the lack of Wi-Fi and service.

After a little while, she found his hand again in the dark, and this time, she wasn’t afraid from the power going out, but rather what she was about to say. Because if there was ever an opportunity to spill your guts to Harry Styles, it was in a dark room where his grassy green eyes weren’t all over you, sucking every ounce of courage from your bones.

Her voice was in a whisper, and she finally looked at him, or rather in his direction. To the outlines of his face, of his nose and his cheekbones. Even though she couldn’t find the green, she knew he was there, waiting, listening.

“You haven’t been imagining anything.”

She couldn’t quite see it, but his eyebrows had hit the ceiling and before he could question her further, she continued.

“I was miserable when you were seeing Liv and so fucking happy when you broke up.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t let that stop her, “And then miserable again because you didn’t want me. And maybe you still don’t, but it would really bother me if you went home with someone else.”

The quiet almost ate her alive for the next few seconds when he said nothing and she didn’t have his features to go off of. But then, she felt him getting closer until, finally, his lips were at her ear.

“I’ve always wanted you.”  

The buzzing was back but this time it was debilitating. Especially when he faced her and cupped his free hand along her jaw. And especially when he tilted her head back slightly to meet his lips, which had pretty good aim given their predicament. She missed the way he felt, she realized, once he was kissing her. Once he had scooted closer and released his hand from her grip on his lap. Once he grabbed up the other side of her face and pulled her closer. And then her hand was left to fend for itself on his thigh, and she, almost unconsciously, drifted her touch closer and closer and closer…

He moaned softly into her mouth when she toyed with the flimsy piece of fabric tied around his waist with her fingertips. And finally, she pulled apart from him, catching her breath before whispering, “Do you think they’d notice if we left?”

He shook his head, “Don’t think I care if they did.”

And so they were off. Trying not to draw too much attention to themselves even though she slightly tripped over the leg of the chair and he tried not to giggle too loudly while helping her. His hand fell into hers again as he led the way out of the living room, down the hall and into Jason’s guest room, closing them both off from any light source completely, not that they really cared too much about seeing each other; they just wanted to feel each other again.

And as soon as Harry had closed the door behind her, that’s exactly what they did. As she wrapped her arms around his neck; as he felt his way around her waist, he kissed her like he hadn’t kissed anyone in years. Like he was a dry, cracking desert and she was a vast river flowing through him.

He took brave steps towards the bed blindly, backing her up further into the dark room and managing to not trip over anything when he finally made it to the bed. They’d both, on separate occasions, spent the night in Jason’s guest room before, which helped when maneuvering around in the dark. For instance, Harry knew that Jason kept his secret stash of condoms in the bedside drawer. Harry had no idea why, but he was thankful for it right now, when, after laying her back on the bed, Y/N had already begun undoing his costume—with such quickness, he was sure she’d studied how the thing was connected to his body so that she knew exactly how to get if off if need be—and, within the next few seconds, tossed the flimsy Tarzan loincloth out of sight.

Which left him in just the black thong he wore underneath. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have even bothered with it. But, when he had first gotten the costume and tried it on without anything, he imagined all the wardrobe slips and potential boners might not be in everyone’s best interests. So, he went out and bought the smallest pair of underwear he’d ever owned, tucked himself inside of them, and called it a day.

Those, too, were stripped from his body in a matter of seconds, or at least pushed down his thighs to where they no longer covered what they were intended to cover. But then she flipped them around, so that Harry was on his back this time, splayed across the bed and she was finally ridding him of the thong all together and not wasting any time getting her hands on him and he wondered, with how quick she was to get to this point, if she had been thinking about this all night. And if she had, then he would definitely have to whip out the Tarzan costume more often.

He seemed to sink into the mattress once he felt her mouth close on him, his eyes fluttering shut and his mouth hanging open involuntarily when he hit the back of her throat. He had no idea how he’d gone so long without her, or why either. Why had he been so stupid? Why did he let her think he didn’t want her? Why did he deprive the both of them of this? Of the way she felt circling her tongue around the tip of his cock, the way he knew she was looking at him even though he could physically not open his eyes or come down off his cloud long enough to tell her how good she felt. How much he missed it. How much he was probably in love with her, even if that might have been crossing some sort of line.

“Forgot how big you were,” she whispered, giggling almost shamefully after wiping her mouth on the back of her hand and giving him a break to actually breathe properly again.

“Think we both know that’s a lie.” He was out of breath already and he was right, although she wouldn’t feed his ego no matter what he said. Although she remembered his cock perfectly fine, she wasn’t exactly used to it. And maybe she had momentarily forgotten what he had hidden under his costume. It’d been two years since they slept together, and the first time it happened they’d been drunk.

She didn’t say anything else, just tried to hide the blush on her face—even though he couldn’t’ see it anyway—by taking a mouthful of him again. She didn’t let him come, though, of course, and he didn’t expect her to either. She never had before. She always led him get right to the edge, to where he was panting and writhing and digging his fingers into her hair, on the verge of screaming her name into the dark, and then she’d stop. Pull him from the back of her throat and leave him a sopping, moaning mess.

He’d somewhat recovered when she crawled on top of him and and sat on either side of his hips with her hands planted on his chest. And now that their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she could see the curve of his lips as he smiled up at her and even the sinister little twist of his mouth just before he grabbed hold of the hem of her dress and ripped it off over her head, letting it fall onto the bed next to him. He wished they had just a little bit more light, but at the same time, it turned him on having to see with his hands instead. Having to reach up and cup her breasts in his palms and rely on his memories for a better visual than the one he currently had. And as she came down to kiss him again, there was one thing for sure he didn’t need any light or anything but his fingers to do.

He tossed her bra into the same vicinity as her dress and within seconds had his hands all over her again, and his tongue as well, wishing she was on her back so he could worship her in all the ways he desperately wanted to, but also aware that the power could flick on at any moment and he really didn’t have the time.

Not that she had asked, and maybe she just hadn’t thought of it yet, but he still, while continuing to make out with her, reached over, pulled the drawer open on the nightstand and reached inside to locate the box of condoms.

However, once he did, and he didn’t find what he was looking for, he sat up and pulled apart from her, twisting himself a bit in order to see inside the drawer. His other hand held onto her hips so she didn’t fall off of him as he searched the drawer. But, soon enough, he was laying back again, groaning as if he was in physical pain.

“There’s no condoms.” He muttered between his teeth and just that one little sentence ruined his entire night.

“It’s okay.” She assured, continuing to whisper just as he did so that no one would hear them through the thin walls. “I mean… we’re clean right? And I’m on birth control…”

He ran his fingers through his hair, looking up at her and trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. She was right, of course, but even so there was always a possibility. Even with condoms there was always that same possibility too. He knew one thing for certain. If he remembered correctly. There was absolutely no way in hell he’d be able to pull out, so that really wouldn’t even be an option either.

“If you don’t want to though, that’s fine.” She spoke again amongst his silence. It’s not like he would hate the potential consequences, and of course he would not hate feeling her without a stitch of anything in between them, he just needed to be reassured that’s what she wanted, truly.

“I do, just um… are you sure you’re okay with that?”

She nodded first and then, confidently, “Yes.” As she fell back into place over him, her lips came to his ear this time, “I want to feel you coming inside of me.”

His whole body shuddered, needing her more than he quite possibly ever had. And as she tucked her panties to the side and guided herself onto him, he would most definitely go outside and cut the lines himself if the power decided to come back on before they were finished.

“Forgot how wet you are…” He whispered, heart fluttering at the way she laughed while fucking him. He never forgot either, not quite. But feeling her again now, pooling around him, warm and snug, he again wondered why in the living hell he kept himself from her for so long. Sure, they didn’t like each other most of the time, but their first time together had been hot, drunk hate sex and ever since then he’d chased that feeling with other people, none of them ever quite adding up to her. He wondered if she thought the same. No one ever making her feel the way he did either. If, when she was with someone else, she thought of him instead.

He knew he wouldn’t last long the second she put her greedy hands on him, and so her being in control now was slightly dangerous. He wasn’t ready for it to be over, even if he was racing the clock, even if he could just take her home from here and do it all over again, properly. He didn’t want it to end as quickly as it started.

So, he flipped them back over, getting her on her back like he’d wanted to earlier. Slipping a pillow under her backside to get a better angle and letting her sink all the way through the mattress this time. He remained inside her the entire time, only making quick, shallow movements to avoid the sounds of their skin slapping against each other. But he gave up being careful about their noise level after she begged him to go faster, after he reached between them and rubbed his fingers over her clit to catch her up with him.

She tugged at his hair while he kissed her, breathlessly and without much of a second thought this time about how loud they were being. He assumed all their friends knew about them anyway, even if she chose to be ignorant to it. They all speculated about the secret hookups and the mindless flirting that was disguised as harmless bickering. So, he just stopped caring the closer and closer he got.

That was until he buried himself as far as he could inside of her, his hand wrapped around her throat the way he remembered her liking, and he felt the scream building beneath her skin, beneath his palm. Quickly, before her noises led to everyone barreling into the room to find out what was going on, he clasped his hand from her throat to her mouth instead. Holding tightly as she let it out, his eyes pouring into hers like a lake of shining emerald waters getting her to stay there in the room with him. So that she didn’t close her eyes and float away like he had before.

He titled her head to the side, kissed up her jaw to her ear. “Mm, I missed the way you sound.” He wanted to tell her how he thought about her pleads and her moans and her yells late at night when he was feeling particularly alone. When he wanted nothing but her, to either be inside of her, or to just have her there next to him. But all of that got caught in his throat, and instead, as he continued burying himself into her, he whispered like a growl in her ear, “Missed how well you take me.”

And although it made her moan, made her eyes cross and her fingernails scrape across his shoulder blades, he wanted to tell her that he missed how they fit together. How where he ended she began so seamlessly no one else could hardly compare. There had always been a seam with everyone else, with Liv, a visible divide between him and them, soldered together haphazardly. But with Y/N, it was smooth, flowing together as if they were the same person.

His hand slipped from her mouth as he began losing control, and soon she was the one having to cover the noises. Though, this time, she just simply pulled his lips to her own and felt all the vibrations escape from his throat against her skin, her teeth, her tongue. She breathed in nothing but the air from his lungs, and held onto his tightly as she began to unravel.

His moans quickened and quickened until she felt his release, warm and deep inside of her, just as her own gave way, until his body began to give out, until he was panting and no longer able to hold himself up over her. And so once they both descended from their cloud, once their wave had crashed onto the shore, he planted himself beside her, their chests in rhythm as they cough their breath.

And before either of them even managed to open their eyes or breathe steadily again, the surge of the power coming back on dimmed the haze. Their room was still dark, but light seeped under the door and the rest of their friends cheered from the other room as the music began again. And for a brief, stupid moment, Harry thought about fucking her again and letting her scream all she wanted, but that fantasy was cut short when he remembered their friends would soon realize they were missing.

“We should get back.” She mumbled. Although she made no sudden movements to get up. She even closed her eyes again, still off in another world.

And so Harry risked it, just for a few more moments, anyway, where he rolled closer to her and slid his hand up her jaw softly, pulling her attention toward him again as her eyes fluttered open, waiting.

“I was miserable when I was with Liv too. And we broke up because she knew I spent all my time thinking about someone else.” He swiped his thumb across her cheek, realizing for the first time that he’d probably royally fucked up all her makeup and then hoping she wouldn’t come to her senses and kill him for it.

“And who might that be?”

He smiled, sweetly this time unlike all his asshole smiles, and just as he glanced at her lips, ready to kiss her again, he was cut short.

“Yo, where are Harry and Y/N?” It was Jason, loud and clear and possibly headed their way to investigate his missing party guests who had snuck off together in the dark. Jason didn’t know that yet though, and as much as Harry would like none of their friends to find out, it wouldn’t exactly look great the two of them waltzing out of the guest room together. Harry’s curls in shambles, fresh scratches all across his back, and Y/N’s makeup smudged. There was simply no use in hiding what they’d been up to, it was written all over them.

Harry grabbed her clothes and handed them off while he went on a search for his own tiny pieces of costume. And just as they got decent again, there was a knock on the door.

“You guys in there? You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.” Jason warned and Harry and Y/n looked at each other for a moment before busting out laughing.

Harry got to the door first, throwing it open to a very surprised Jason, who then narrowed his eyes when he saw Y/N come up behind Harry.

“God, not in my guest room!” He whined as Harry pushed pass Jason, a looking Y/N following shortly behind, “Now I have to clean the sheets again! I just did them yesterday.”

“Sorry, mate!” Harry called over his shoulder, glancing down at Y/N quickly to give her one of his cocky little winks. And once they had reached the main room again, as he fell back into his chair, she realized just how many scratch marks she’d left on him, and wished he’d worn a costume with a shirt to cover it up.

She drowned out all the whistling and the comments about how everyone knew she and Harry were up to something, about the bets won and lost. All she heard was Harry’s voice in her ear, telling her how much he missed her and she wondered if it was real. If he really did miss her, or he just missed fucking her. If, when it was no longer October 31st, they’d just go back to normal. Like the horse-drawn carriage turning back into a lumpy, ugly pumpkin.

Harry noticed this, of course, because he’s a law student and notices everything, but just as he leaned in to ask if she was okay, she pulled away.

“I just, uh, need some air.” And then she was gone before he could do or say anything. She used through the front door, abandoning their poor pumpkin and headed toward her car. She’d left the keys and her purse inside, but it didn’t matter. She just leaned against the passenger door and gazed up at the stars, thankful for the clear night and warm weather.  

And, of course, he was beside her not too long afterwards. She’d heard his footsteps against the pavement, knew he’d probably follow her out anyway.

He cleared his throat, half watching the same stars she was and half glancing at her. “Did I do something?”

“No, it’s um…” she faltered, her eyes falling to her feet. “Think I just had too much to drink.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. I—” she cut him off before he got too far in the wrong direction.

“No, I mean…” she pushed off her car then and faced him, “Are we just going to go back to how we always are after tonight? Because I don’t know if I can do that. But I never know what you’re thinking, Harry. Do you even like me or do you just like sleeping with me sometimes and arguing with me all the rest of the time?”

He continued to watch her for a moment, almost waiting for her to tell him she was kidding. But when she just ran a nervous hand through her colored hair, he realized she wasn’t.

He waited for a group of kids all dressed in various Star Wars outfits to pass by them before he began. “I guess I thought I was clear, but obviously not enough… I don’t just want to sleep with you every couple of years and pretend we don’t like each other in between. I think we’ve already wasted enough time, don’t you?”

She nodded once his words sunk in.

“Can we go finish our pumpkin now? And win the stupid skeleton. So I can take both it and you home with me?”

Again, she nodded, but this time it was matched with a smile. “Who says I want to go home with you?”

He rolled his eyes and threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close enough to kiss the top of her head as he steered them back toward the front door. “Guess it’ll just be me and the skeleton then.”

They both glanced over at the giant thing stuck in the middle of Jason’s front yard, still attracting every young person like it was a princess at Disneyland, and then she looked up at him again. “On second thought, I might like to see that.”

He shook his head, opening the front door for them, “M’sure you would.”