#one direciton

[1d1195]

Made to be III

Part I Part II

Warnings: shitty boyfriend, toxic relationship, signs of abuse, lots of crying and anger

Of course, in a time when she should just be worried about herself, she was thinking about someone else--Harry at that. Harry wanted to scream into a pillow. He wanted to gather her in his arms and squeeze her until she begged for him to let her go. She needed to be protected at all costs. She was too much but in the sweetest most wonderful ways. “Kitten, I’ll set myself on fire for you.”

November/December

“Hey there,” he said as she entered through the gate. He smiled at her brightly holding a hot cup in each hand. “I got you hot chocolate,” he said. “Keeps the hands warm,” he told her. He looked like a model for a ski magazine. A warm pea coat, a beanie hat, a pair of gloves. She was glad it wasn’t snowing because if she even saw a flake in his hair she probably would have died—spontaneously combusted at the sight of his pretty eyelashes fluttering with snowflakes. Plus, she didn’t realize how cold it would be at the football game and she didn’t have enough layers.

“There’s a staff section,” he shrugged. “I...I usually find a spot down by the fence,” he explained tilting his head toward the fence. She grinned and nodded at him eagerly. She would much prefer to spend time with just him and chat while they watched their students.

Some kids stopped and interacted with them. They were excited to see the pair at an event together. Wondered if they could have an extension for a paper since everyone and their entire family was at this game—Harry said ask him again on Monday (when the paper was due, so they groaned), she was too gracious to say yes or no either way and just said “do your best to get it done on time, but I won’t hold you to it.”

One brave pair even asked them if they were on a date. Harry just rolled his eyes, but the sweet girl didn’t miss a beat. “You’re here with him, are you on a date?” She asked with a smirk. Harry chuckled and the poor girl’s cheeks burned bright red. Harry was nearly certain they were on a date and the teenage boy looked awkwardly at his teachers.

“Er...they’re about to start in the student section,” he said grabbing her by the upper arm.

“That was brutal,” Harry said softly to her with a low chuckle.

“Someone had to do it,” she shrugged but the mischief in her eye was adorable. Harry smirked as he leaned against the fence as the kickoff started. Harry leaned against the fence with one arm and smiled.

“I don’t even understand this sport, I just show up t’support the kids,” he explained.

She giggled as she sipped her hot chocolate. “Well, don’t worry. M’quite the football fan,” she said to him.

“Yeah?”

“It was either learn to love football or you couldn’t watch TV on Sundays at my dad’s house,” she explained.

Harry smirked. “S’not even real football.”

“Oh, shut up,” she rolled her eyes.

“Y’don’t even play with your foot!”

She shrugged. “Just...would you?” He was quiet for a few moments. Watching the high schoolers on field yell, tackle, and the students in the stands shouting like their life depended on it. After a couple plays, she listed off some of the more basic moves and strategies. She told him the goal and how some of their students were actually quite good. She had heard several were up for scholarships.

“Your boyfriend is a very lucky guy, kitten,” he said sweetly.

She felt her face burn of his assessment and she nodded. “My dad says the same thing,” she smirked and rolled her eyes. Harry thought she was too adorable. She looked so warm despite cold. Her nose was a bright pink from the chill in the air, her eyes glassy because they kept watering from the freezing breeze that skimmed over them every few minutes. It just made them shine more—practically magnified how beautiful they were, and Harry couldn’t look away. Her hair flowed around a headband that kept her ears warm and Harry wanted to take her to a ski resort and have hot chocolate in peace, and maybe--just maybe if she was up to it--find a way to keep each other warm.

They weren’t really near anyone. A few parents lined the fence as well chatting with one another and they simply enjoyed the game and each other’s company while they watched their students live their best lives. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a deep breath as she responded to a text. She put it back in her pocket for only a moment. Then she took it back out, slid her thumb across, and pressed it to her ear. “Hi,” she said. She stared straight ahead, sipped her hot chocolate. “School...School football game,” her voice was bordering on irritated. “Well, I texted you about it. And I promised the kids,” she said. “I don’t know...an hour? An hour and a half?” Her eyes were searching in front of her, and her eyebrows pinched together. “I didn’t know you were going to be home. You’re never home,” she reminded him. “Look, I’ll...I’ll be home in an hour and a half, okay? Okay...” she sighed. “M’sorry,” she whispered quietly. “I lov—” She blinked as she pulled the phone from her ear. Clearly it had ended, and she dropped it back into her pocket without a word.

Harry tried not to eavesdrop, but he would have killed someone for her to say she loved him. For him to not even let her finish her declaration of love—even if it was just the end of a phone call—was ridiculous. He wanted to say it to her right then and there. Wanted to profess how much he adored her, and he was writing poems upon poems about her in his free time at home in between grading student papers. He wanted to tell her he would make her happy and wouldn’t even let poor reception stop him from hearing her say the three most beautiful words he wanted to hear from her. “Everything okay, love?” He asked quietly.

She nodded. “Just peachy,” she answered softly. There was no bitterness in her voice.

Harry nodded in agreement. “Do you want another hot chocolate?” He asked.

She turned to face him. The phone call was already forgotten. The smile on her lips, the cold nose, the shiny eyes...Harry was so lucky he had self-control because he just wanted to kiss her and maybe never stop kissing her. He wished he knew her when he was a teenager so he could have been as love drunk as his students were about each other. He would have pretended there was nothing else in this world but her and her beautiful smile and even going off to college wouldn’t be a problem if she was around.

“I will never say no to hot chocolate.”

*

Harry was aching to see her. There was even less time than usual between the last time he saw her on Friday night and that Monday morning. Somehow it managed to feel worse than it usually did. Maybe it was a tease getting to see her outside of school (but not really) and getting her hot chocolate until her heart (and stomach) were content. It was only 50 some odd hours without her this time. But after the game he went the whole rest of the weekend without a single text from her. He sent her a couple: a picture of the food he made that she liked, the recipe to go with it, and one just telling her about the book he finished that he thought she’d like. Along with an email of the schedule for the week since there was an assembly planned and he wanted to know if she would be interested in having her students collaborate with his on an inter-disciplinary project.

So, when she replied to nothing all weekend, Harry felt a little frustrated—not at her...not really. He only felt frustrated because he adored her so much and wanted her attention. He was definitely not worried. However, that Monday morning, he didn’t see her in the parking lot, didn’t see her in the hall before first bell, nor the next bell. He was getting more and more anxious, and he didn’t know why. His pulse thrummed rapidly in his wrist, and he was tapping his shoe against the tile while he took attendance on screen at his computer during the third block still not a peep from the woman he adored across the hall.

“Mr. Styles,” it was the boy who ate the snacks in his room back in October. He didn’t have Harry as a teacher but that didn’t stop him from coming into his room. “Can...can you sign this pass for me?” He asked. Harry squinted at him in confusion and grabbed the piece of paper from him.

His eyes scanned it, his stomach dropping at the words.

Something’s wrong with her.

He had to play it cool, so he just blinked in surprise before scribbling on the pass for the student to get back to his class.

“Is... everything okay?” The teen wondered. Harry could tell he was worried. And he knew why: it was his favorite teacher after all. The only one that knew his secrets and made it better. She got him snacks every day he needed them and made sure he had food for the weekend. She promised him that everything would be okay, every single day. The teen was very preceptive to her mood. He could tell it crushed her when students were discouraged or sad. He yelled at his peers when they gave her a hard time and she seemed to be having a bad day. He hung to her every word—he never thought he would love school, but he loved being in her class. Knowing that everything she did was to help him. She was the best teacher he ever had. He felt strangely protective of her—not in a weird way. He wasn’t in love with her or anything, she was just a good person. She was too good to be a teacher. And he didn’t know why, but he could tell from her voice that she was lying about something. It felt like he had to do something. Even if it was nothing. He wanted to be sure. He also knew that Mr. Styles would know what to do for her.

“It will be,” he said definitively. The boy nodded, thanked him, and scurried off to class. He was relieved.

Harry glanced at his class working on their journal before he hurried across the hall. He just had to see her, just for a minute. He poked his head in and saw her staring at her computer screen. “Hey,” he said.

She turned before she could stop herself. She froze when she realized she did. Harry’s heart leapt to his throat and his blood boiled through every vein in his body. “Hey,” she said softly.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Hadn’t seen you yet today...just...saying hi. I’ll...see you at lunch,” he said.

She nodded. She did a good job of hiding it. If it wasn’t for the note the boy gave him, he wouldn’t know to look, and she might have even gotten away with Harry not noticing. However, if she planned on avoiding him all day, that wasn’t going to happen. He would have noticed surely by the end of the day. He wondered what she was telling students because obviously someone noticed.

But even a Hollywood makeup artist couldn’t hide the black eye she was sporting.

*

The minute the bell rang he waited patiently for her to enter her classroom. It was the longest ninety seconds of his life. As her foot crossed the threshold, Harry shut his classroom door, pulled the shade over the window, and put a desk in front of the door leading to the next classroom. “Lemme see,” he said hurrying back to her side. He couldn’t stop himself. He cupped the sides of her face with both hands, letting his fingers brush her skin and he massaged small circles into her scalp just behind her ears. He brushed his thumb along her swollen cheek. She shivered involuntary at the feeling.

Harry pulled back a little, his fingers untangling from her hair. He dropped them to her shoulders, so his hands could lightly press massaging circles against the curve of her neck. She nearly gasped and whined when released her face. “M’sorry, did I press too hard?” He asked. His heart was aching at her injury. Never had he ever been so mad. Harry wanted to scream.

She shook her head. “No...” she closed her eyes, and her voice was shaking something awful when she spoke. “Feels nice...haven’t...” she swallowed. “Haven’t been touched like this in a while,” she said savoring the feel of Harry’s hands on her shoulders. She felt so delicate, and Harry was so gentle. It felt like heaven.

Harry felt shattered, his face crumpling. “Oh,” he said simply. She didn’t say anything for a moment. Harry’s hands resting on her shoulders. Her breathing slow. Her lips parted slightly. “Oh, kitten,” he said gently.

“I feel so safe with you, Harry,” she whispered. “When it happened...I just wanted to...” she shook her head not wanting to relive the weekend. “I wanted to call you, so bad,” she admitted. “That’s so not fair. I...I haven’t seen any friends because of him...I don’t...I feel like I don’t...it’s like there’s no one else but you. You’ve...you’ve changed my whole life in such a short time, and I feel like you’re... you’re just made to be in my life...but I’m too much. I just have all these problems and baggage and I can’t possibly put any of that on you—” She rambled so much in one minute it broke his heart over and over. Every word she said made his heart break.

“Fuck, kitten,” he pulled her toward him carefully, pressing her good cheek to his chest. He wound one arm around her waist, and he cupped the back of her head with his other hand. He was being gentle with her. He was terrified to hurt her even by accident. “I wish you did; I would have gotten you in a heartbeat,” he promised. “You’re not too much...you are...you’re everything, kitten.”

“I’m sorry.”

Harry winced as if she just slapped him. “Please, please, please, do not apologize,” he whispered. “Not about this...not ever,” he begged. “You...” he sighed deeply. “You are so important to me,” he whispered.

“...yeah?” She asked.

“Yes,” he nodded firmly. He wanted to say more. Maybe she knew that. Part of her wanted to say it to him but she couldn’t. Not like this, all battered and broken. “Very much so.”

*

Harry was helping her gather as much of the stuff as she possibly could that was hers. He made several trips to their two cars in the parking lot. Her hands were shaking as she watched the clock on the stove anxiously. Harry assumed that she knew he would be home soon. But Harry wanted to be out of here before they had the chance of running into him. He was certain he would kill him. Immediately. But even still, he would do anything to protect her. And there wasn’t a chance he would let him near her. He certainly wasn’t going to leave her alone in the next hour.

“Kitten,” he said softly. He tried to look at the apartment as a home. All her things that made it homey. But it was hard. Her stuff was there; it was easy to decipher which items belonged to her and which didn’t. The “woman’s touch” was evident in the room, and he wished with everything in him that this was theirs. He would never let her feel inadequate or worry. She was everything in his eyes and she made everything in life so beautiful and he had barely scratched the surface of having her in his life. So, when he looked at the apartment that was supposed to be home, the one place she was supposed to feel safe, he felt filled with rage, worry, and it made him feel sick. “M’not going to let him hurt you,” he said as her eyes darted back to the clock.

She swallowed nervously. Tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over. “I... I don’t want you to get hurt,” she closed her eyes as a pair of tears rolled down her cheeks.

He shook his head and grimaced. He was glad her eyes were closed. Of course she was worried about that. Of course, in a time when she should just be worried about herself, she was thinking about someone else--Harry at that. Harry wanted to scream into a pillow. He wanted to gather her in his arms and squeeze her until she begged for him to let her go. She needed to be protected at all costs. She was too much but in the sweetest most wonderful ways. “Kitten, I’ll set myself on fire for you.”

She opened her eyes to look at him. Her eyes searched him, and her face just looked so broken, her eyebrows pinched together and her eyes, her beautiful eyes so sad but still so lovely. “I don’t deserve you,” she said simply.

“Oh, love. You...” he shook his head. “I adore you,” he reminded her.

“M’scared.”

He couldn’t take it. He couldn’t stop himself. He slid his hands around her waist, and he pulled her to him just like he did in the classroom today. It was getting easier to touch her. But she kept sighing with relief so evident in her body language. It crushed him. He knew she hadn’t been caressed like this in so long. She said as much, and it was clear the way she nearly melted into his touch. “Kitten,” he said above her head. “You can be scared, but I’ll do anything to protect you. I promise, you’re...”

“I’ve never needed to be protected before,” she interrupted softly She looked pained, and Harry wanted to smooth away the discomfort on her face with his thumbs, but he was still nervous to touch her face. “I... always took care of my sisters, my mom, my dad even. I take care of kids and I took care of my friends.”

“So just let me protect you. Just for today,” he whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It was silent for a moment. Then she spoke. “He never hit me before.”

They had been avoiding it out loud up until this point. She was quiet and waited for Harry to speak. “He’s never going to. Never again,” he said firmly.

“Harry...” she trailed off nervously.

“Kitten, respectfully. I’ll kill him,” it was a promise. It was simple. His voice was even. He didn’t even flinch. Her words died in her throat with a squeak. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and squeezed around her waist gently. “Let’s get your stuff and get out of here, angel. M’gonna keep you safe,” he promised.

*

In the least demanding way possible, Harry watched her submit her absence for the following day. He was insistent even though she didn’t want to. It took nearly an hour of convincing as she stared at the laptop writing in notes about lesson plans and she thought about just sucking it up and going. It would help her avoid anything she threatened to feel, but it was the only thing Harry felt he would demand of her.

He promised to keep an eye on her classes and make sure all the copies were done. Unfortunately, he would have to go in. It was a small price to pay knowing she was safe at his apartment. Harry was sure to block her location from his view and made sure he had no way to contact her. But heartbreakingly, she said he probably wouldn’t try to reach her anyway.

Once all of that was settled, she changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized t-shirt. She looked so small and broken and he knew she was, but it made Harry’s chest ache anyway. They watched a doctor show, mindlessly, not really paying attention for a little bit. Her eyes kept drooping shut and Harry watched her from one end of the couch. There was so much space between them, he wanted to cry. When her head finally bobbed to one side, and she woke up with a start he smirked at her. She blushed shyly and shook her head with a small grin on her lips. “I... I think I should sleep,” she whispered.

Harry nodded and he got up to show her to the bedroom. Quiet as she was, he didn’t realize she wasn’t following. He shook his head returning to the living room where she was snuggled in the corner, tucked under a blanket that was previously thrown over the back of the sofa. “Kitten,” he admonished.

“What?” She asked innocently.

“Please sleep in the bed,” he begged.

“Harry,” she rolled her eyes at him.

“Kitten.”

She sighed looking too tired to argue but she didn’t know what else to say at this point. “Harry, I would feel more comfortable on the couch.”

“M’mum would shoot me if she found me in bed and a lady on the couch,” he told her. “I don’t—”

“Harry, I’m really overwhelmed, and I’d like to sleep on the couch,” she said closing her eyes nervously.

Harry swallowed the words on his lips. He nodded, of course she was. He should have known. He shouldn’t have pushed. “Course, kitten. Of course...I just want you to be comfortable,” he said.

“I know,” she shook her head. “I’m—I’m sor—”

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize,” he said gently. He meant it too. She never needed to apologize for what made her comfortable.

She looked physically pained to not say sorry. To not take his bed. He could see the sadness in her eyes. “I should just take the bed; it was so nice of you to offer,” she whispered. “M’just...”

He grimaced knowing she was trying to appease him. But he knew she would try to be overly-accommodating. He stilled her, one hand on her knee as she shifted to get up. He squeezed softly. “Whatever you want, angel.”

She thought for a few moments. “I’ll...just stay here,” she said.

He nodded. “Sure, love,” he busied himself setting up the couch properly and making sure she had everything she needed. “Are you comfortable?” He asked when she was standing in front of the couch. She looked anything but comfortable and Harry knew it. She nodded anyway. Harry nodded back once and then took to the bedroom to get a pillow, another blanket, and then to the kitchen.

“Harry?” She whispered.

“Yes, m’love,” he murmured getting her a glass of water. He put the remote and the book he finished over the weekend on the coffee table. Whatever she wanted to do, he wanted to make sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed. It was pretty early, even for a Monday. But she had to be exhausted emotionally. Harry was devastated for her. It saddened him he would have to go to school without her tomorrow, but some part of him was glad he would arrive home and she would be there.

“I might cry,” she whispered.

“I would expect nothing less, kitten,” he said. He bravely leaned forward and pressed a kiss on her forehead that lingered for a moment longer than he should have but it felt so right, and he could feel the tension leave her body as he did so. “M’down the hall. You are not a bother. Come shake me awake if you need anything. Even if you want to talk,” he told her.

She nodded but didn’t say anything. Harry turned the lights off and let her be alone. He kept his door cracked maybe a centimeter. He could hear her sniffle a few times and it made him want to throw up. His stomach knotted and he closed his eyes trying to breathe deeply through his nose. He wanted to march up to her apartment that he forced her to leave and pummel him until he couldn’t move. He laid there in near agony, dying to scream, listening to her cry while he tried to fall asleep.

Fortunately, it only lasted a few moments, “Harry,” she croaked.

Harry tossed the covers back and nearly flew out of bed and came back to the living room. He turned on the small table lamp rather than the overhead light. She was draped in a warm yellow glow thrown from the bulb. “What do you need, angel?” He asked and sat in front of her on the edge of the coffee table. He wanted to just pull her into his arms and hold her for the rest of their lives.

She had a teary face, but she looked like she was trying to hold back most of her emotions for Harry’s sake. “This is so horrible of me to ask you...but...”

Harry shook his head quickly. The way he looked at her made it seem like he was looking right into her soul. Her heart fluttered. “Kitten, you can ask me anything...I will do anything for you. I...” he swallowed before he said something ridiculous like he loved this poor girl who just lost her boyfriend, her apartment, and a good chunk of her dignity, he’s sure that was how she felt—even if it wasn’t true. “I adore you, sweetheart,” he said softly. “Y’said I was made t’be in your life... kitten, you were made t’be in mine,” he breathed.

She was so quiet, her face twisted in sadness. She looked down at her hands in her lap. Harry waited for what felt like hours but was only seconds. He could see her thinking over her question. “I...” she started and took a deep breath. It caught on a small shaky exhale that made his heart sink. “I haven’t been...touched so gently in so long...it...it makes me...” she shook her head and Harry had trouble making sense of her thought process, but she cleared it up immediately with her next question. “Could you hold me?” She asked so quietly. Her voice so small. Like he would ever be able to say no to her. Like he would ever deny her of being held like the most precious gemstone he had ever been lucky enough to find.

“Oh, angel. Yes.”

He took nearly no time at all to carefully wiggle himself into the corner of the couch behind her. He placed her between his legs and then scooted her up, so her head was against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her back and threw the blanket back over top of them. She sighed pressing her face right over his erratic heartbeat. Harry sighed as well. It was like she was made to fit in his arms like this. “Wow,” she whispered.

“Wow?” He repeated. “S’matter, kitten?”

She took a shaky breath in. “I dated him for seven years...” she said softly. “Never once felt like this...”

He frowned and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Good?” She nodded without a word. He was silent too, he let his fingers dance across the length of her arm. He felt so much more at ease having her in his embrace if it wasn’t such a sad reason, he would have told her it felt like she was made to lay with him like this. “Kitten,” he said softly.

“Yeah?”

“I will never hurt you. And I will never let anyone hurt y’like this ever again,” he promised into her hair. He kissed her silky locks and reached behind him for the table lamp, clothing them in darkness. She was still silent, but Harry could feel his shirt dampening beneath her eyes. He let her cry as long as she needed to.

It would be the last time she ever would while he was around.

*

The next morning was tough to get off that couch. It was a good thing he left his phone in the other room because without his alarm going off at 5AM he really wouldn’t have left the comfort of his couch with her in his arms. Even still, it was nearly even harder to leave his apartment with her staying on her own. He gave her the spare key, told her he would call her every chance he had and text in between all the chances he didn’t. “Should sleep some more,” he said quietly.

Despite being cramped together, it was easily one of her best night’s sleeps. She didn’t want to leave his arms, but she did when his alarm sounded, he had to move from behind her to shut it off. He showered quickly and she helped herself to making tea and coffee while he did. He was back in the kitchen before he knew it.

His heart softened as she poured the hot water into his mug with the tea bag. She looked so...perfect. Right at home in kitchen—he didn’t even tell her where the mugs were or where to find the tea. She just helped herself. Turning carefully with the hot beverage she presented it to him nervously. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He shook his head at her taking a sip of the warm drink. “Thank you,” he said. “Y’could’ve gone back t’sleep,” he reminded her.

She shrugged. “Maybe later.” She seemed a little more herself this morning. “I...I feel bad you’re going to work and I’m not.”

“Don’t think anything of it, love,” he said softly, he tilted her chin up with one finger. “Y’okay?”

It was too domestic in here. It was making her woozy. Harry going off to work. Her making tea even though the sun hadn’t even crossed the horizon yet. She nodded. “Much better,” she whispered.

“Can...” his eyes flicked to her lips, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. He didn’t think she was ready for that yet. “I should have asked last night to do this,” he shook his head quickly. “M’sorry I did it without asking,” he said nervously. And yeah, he had pecked her cheek twice before last night, but that was before he knew what happened after the football game it was different in a lot of ways and he wanted to be more gentle with her than ever. “Can...I kiss your cheek?” He asked his eyebrows furrowed together, hopeful look in his eyes. Her heart fluttered and she nodded. She didn’t trust her voice to say it was okay. No one had ever asked to kiss her cheek before. “Good,” he said quietly, a relieved breath escaped his lips. He gently turned her bad cheek away and he pressed a slow, warm kiss to her soft skin. He pressed another one a beside the first one, edging toward her nose, then he kissed the bridge of her nose, the tip of her nose and carefully with the touch of a feather, he kissed her still swollen cheek. He cleared his throat pulling away.

“You,” she said a bit breathlessly. “You don’t have to ask to kiss me,” she said looking at her feet. “Not...not like that,” she amended.

He smirked, grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips as well. “I’ll always ask, kitten.” he explained and let his lips drag across her knuckles and skimmed across the back of her hand.

She sighed dreamily as she watched his lips move over her skin. “I’m really glad I met you, Mr. Styles,” she murmured in a daze.

He chuckled not moving his eyes from her hand as he kissed the length of each finger. “Me too, love,” He repeated.

“Harry,” she whispered. She wondered if it was possible to pass out from a kiss on her finger. Somehow this felt more intimate than sex and she immediately shook her head to get that image out of her brain. She just left her boyfriend of seven years and she couldn’t stop thinking about Harry’s pink lips.

“Yes, kitten?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

His eyes looked up at her and she was already gazing to meet his eyes. His heart fluttered. “Kitten...I...I think y’saved me,” he whispered. “I’ve got t’get t’work,” he said. “Make yourself at home, go through m’cabinets, trash the place,” he smiled. She giggled at him, and he felt so relieved at her happiness.

Nodding, she said the sweetest words he thought he ever heard. “I’ll...be here,” she smiled.

And despite everything—despite how angry Harry was, how heartbroken he was. Despite how much he wanted to kill the man that hurt her and how much he didn’t want to go to work—he was really looking forward to coming home and seeing her in his apartment waiting for him.

*

“You okay?” He asked at lunch. He tried distracting her from her thoughts by telling her about her classes, her students said they hated the substitute and missed her. He checked over the notes so far from the sub to be sure nothing too crazy had happened. He was seated at his desk scribbling down a few notes to make sure everything was in order.

She nodded and then realized Harry couldn’t see her nodding. It was only a few short hours before he would be home. “I’m okay...Um...my mom is coming to see me...I hope that’s okay,” she said. “M’sorry. I should have—”

“Kitten, of course your mum wants t’see you. Of course, s’okay,” he said easily.

“Yeah?” She asked a breath of relief sighed from herself.

“Love, yes, it’s...m’sorry, I haven’t cleaned in a while—don’t even think about it,” he said knowingly. She giggled in response, and it made the relief from this morning continue. It was already getting easier and like before, but also better than before. “There’s...m’not sure what’s in the fridge. Need t’hit the grocery store soon,” he said. “I’ll stop on the way home. Jus’...can you text me when she gets there so m’not...freaking out if you are with her and don’t have time t’answer?” He asked. “Not in a possessive way!” He said quickly as soon as he thought about how it sounded. “Y’can do anything y’want...m’jus’... I’ll be—”

“I will text you when she gets here,” she whispered easily. “I promise. Thank you,” she said sweetly.

Harry sighed with relief. “You’re okay?”

“I’m very okay, Harry. Thank you,” she said. “You’re...a knight in shining armor.”

“Yeah?” He couldn’t help but grin. His cheeks felt warm, and he felt like an idiot, blushing like a lovesick fool on the phone during lunch talking to the girl of his dreams.

“The very best,” she promised.

And he felt he really was a lovesick fool.

*

Harry returned home about an hour after school let out hidden by a bouquet of flowers from the grocery store along with the other bags of groceries.

Harry, it’s so nice to see you again. Thank you, thank you, thank you, her mother was nearly crying when he entered the apartment and gave him a big hug. His sweet girl—and it felt so stupid to say his sweet girl in his head...she wasn’t even his—busied herself with finding a vase and Harry noted that she did clean...at least dusted or something. He quirked an eyebrow at her and ran his finger along the counter and then looked at her knowingly. She grinned.

“I couldn’t just sit here all day doing nothing.”

“She would’ve done it even if you told her not to,” her mum said her eyes bleary and a little red around the corners, as he expected. He pretended to not focus on the crying woman and noted that while her mum was a mess, her eyes lacked the same puffiness and redness—a good sign. But part of him imagined she didn’t want to cry in front of her mum and worry her more.

Rolling his eyes at her inability to sit still, he started to put the groceries away. “Do you want to come home with me?” Her mom asked. Harry didn’t pause putting the items away, but his heart nearly stopped thinking about being separated by a two hour car ride.

“That...wouldn’t really work for my work schedule, Mom,” she said softly.

“I know...but...you could...I don’t want to say quit, but if you can’t stay—”

“Uh...” Harry perked up quickly. “Y’can stay here,” he said quietly. “I’ll...m’happy t’have you,” he promised.

Her face looked so grateful, but she clearly wanted to say something about getting out of his hair. Fortunately, her mom stared at Harry for a long time and then turned to her daughter before she could protest. “I liked him more from the get.”

“Mom!” She covered her face with her hand. Harry chuckled with relief but couldn’t help the way his cheeks burned under her mom’s praise.

She glanced at Harry nervously and smiled sheepishly. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“Always, love,” he winked at her and continued with the groceries, the smile warming his face while he thought about how much he would love living with her and coming home to her every day.

#harry #harry styles #harry styles writing #fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles blurb #harry styles blurbs #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles smut #one direciton #one direction writing #one direction fluff #one direction angst #one direction blurb #one direction blurbs #one direction imagine #one direction imagines #one direction smut #made to be

[obviouslypenni]

#233

harry *wakes up*: where am i?

louis *sarcastically*: in heaven 

harry: oh

harry: ...

harry: didn’t think you’d be here

louis:

#harry #louis #larry #larry is real #one direciton #1d incorrect quotes

[angelsaxis]

i get annoyed when i see people complain that "all the gay media" now is sanitized and pretty and problem-free. ik there's huge amounts of like censorship in fuckin. marvel movies or whatever but im talking about actual gay media, not easily cut scenes or side characters. for several reasons, I hate the "i want messy gays who suck and fuck everywhere!" cause so far 99% of all these writer rooms are filled with cishet people anyways so is that something yall should be asking for now. also the state of wlw content being all soft and pretty and sexless is absolutely overblown, i hardly see a lesbian just exist in a TV show aimed at adults, im pretty sure its bias from most wlw content being from fucking kids cartoons and not shows in our age group (in which case its not really "sanitized" its just age appropriate lmao).

also like you know what happens when I watch some shows that have gay characters? fetishization and stereotyping. the "messy gays" just becomes unhappy horny gay men written almost entirely by straight people. which yall hate anyways. and which we're getting too much of as it is. same with wlw content. cheating, indecisiveness, shallow personalities, all that.

i get the sense that this may be speaking past/semantics because perhaps yall want messiness that isn't attached to their sexuality (in which cause why not just say that lmao) but like i have yet to see two happy Black lesbians at the center of a TV show. i havent seen that. im waiting and ill honestly probably make it myself, but I RARELY ever see Black gays in a non homophobic environment in the few pieces of media they do show up in. where's my sappy black lesbian romance. where's my cute and corny high school romantic comedy. white gays got all this and more. they have the full spectrum of bland and three dimensional and messy and sanitzed gay rep. like can I have my piece before yall start trying to change the whole meal goddamn

#angel posts #long post #its past midnight so imma hold this in #drafts #but like thats one of the bubbles of this site i think #like yeah there is a lot of very ''proper'' gay media out there #but the solution isn't to swing in the other direciton #if youre tired of ''uwu hand holding sapphic wuhluhwuh'' just follow different people 😭 #that shit is not showing up in the regular in mainstream media yall have me cackling 😭😭😭

[landoom]

F1 FANFICS REC LIST - Landoscar AU's

(this list doesn't contain Highschool/Uni AU's as there will be another list dedicated to those)

Capturing Your Heart With A Loud Click. (12088 words) by cxrnlia Rating: Mature Summary: Oscar is the guy at the park who takes walks to calm down, Lando is the guy who takes pictures at the park, but can't help but take pictures of Oscar instead.

oOoOoOo

what’s up, danger? (can’t stop me now) (12648 words) by startosphere Rating: General Audiences Summary: “What type of race?” He lets his phone down on his thigh, focusing fully on the conversation and suddenly more interested. “The type that you can’t do, y’know?” George says with a suspicious grin. Lando tilts his head because what in the world are they even talking about? ”We’re talking about street races, Lando,” Charles takes pity on him and starts a little explanation, “There are laws against it so you better shut up about this, I mean it, could get Oscar in real trouble.” Lando can’t help but let out a huff. Perhaps he slept on the couch and this is all some type of strange nightmare, it doesn’t seem right when his brain starts collecting and comprehending what they just told him, for some reason, he can’t believe that.   Or, Oscar is a street racing driver, and Lando needs to see before believing.

oOoOoOo

You Bring Me Closer to God (9808 words) by wanderingblindly Rating: Mature Summary:

They’re still close enough to whisper, Lando’s hand holding him in place as he grins wildly. “You like it rough, Osc?”

He doesn’t even care if it’s just a bit, just Lando’s stage persona washing over him like it does all his fans. Looking up at Lando, looking at the lipstick he smeared across his cupid’s bow and chin – it’s like he’s seen god. Felt it on his lips, tasted it on his tongue. Oscar grabs him by the nape of the neck without a second thought, pulling them together just as viciously as the first time.

Or: In which Lando is a very slutty front-man for a small band seeking their big break, Oscar is an enamored bartender, and Jenson's bar brings them together.

oOoOoOo

come feel this magic (i've been feeling since i met you) (10670 words) by lemonadedino Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Lando is a faerie and doesn't know it Oscar is unequivocally in love with him and figures it out along the way

oOoOoOo

mistletoe wishes (5519 words) by 14CookiesGone Rating: General Audiences Summary: Oscar glances up and he sees the offender. The small sprig of green and white that Lando has been trying to avoid all evening, that they’re now standing directly underneath. They have two options. They can laugh it off and ignore it, despite the fact they’ve been playing at being doting boyfriends all evening. Or - OR Lando asks Oscar to be his fake date to his office Christmas party. It turns out to be a little more than fake.

oOoOoOo

the pacemaker blues (2233 words) by Anonymous Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: Carefully, slowly, Oscar moved to the other end of the couch, trying not to show the tension he felt. “So you got yourself cursed?” Lando yelped and dropped his phone. It laid on the floor, suddenly dead. “Shit.”

oOoOoOo

you wear it well (2080 words) by Anonymous Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: “I need to borrow one of your hoodies,” Lando says, as he makes his way into Oscar’s apartment and flops down on the couch, kicking off his shoes in the process. Oscar squints suspiciously in his direciton. “Why?” Lando sits up so his head pokes over the back of the couch. “Because I need George and Alex to think I have a boyfriend."

oOoOoOo

invocations one fall away from the concrete (10561 words) by debrief Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: “Okay,” Lando says. “What’s your power?” “Telekinesis,” Oscar replies a little too easily, like he’s trying not to make a big deal out of it. In fact, he’s already looking back down at his form. Lando doesn’t miss the way he seems completely stumped by the ‘Birth date’ square though. Telekinetics are far and few between. You’re probably more likely to be struck by lightning twice than to meet a telekinetic. They’re so highly sought after in the hero industry that any telekinetic baby would automatically have a net worth of at least three hundred billion US dollars the second it was born. Moreover Oscar's an Oxy. It’s like, the jackpot of jackpots. This guy’s simply unreal on paper. Lando scrunches up his face, rolls his eyes and says, “alright.” He shrugs. “Nothing to write home about, then.”

oOoOoOo

carried away (22168 words) by venerat Rating: Explicit Summary: "Oscar," Lando said. "Don't hate me, alright, but I've—”

oOoOoOo

only found (6872 words) by debrief Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Summary: “Hey, well. No strings attached, right?” Oscar says, strategically. Lando smiles and says, “hell yeah. And now that that’s established, what’s your stance on aliens? Also, do you still want your cake?” -- cinderella soulmates au where whatever you lose, your soulmate finds. except: oscar has a soulmate and lando is a No-Match, a person who doesn't have a soulmate.

oOoOoOo

soft vanilla foreplay (7035 words) by Anonymous Rating: Mature Summary: “Oh shit, you’re,” Lando gasps, smiles. “You’re a. You’re Robin Hood. You’re a kitty Robin Hood.” Oscar stops grinding. “Can we have this talk tomorrow?” Lando laughs and comes down to place a kiss on Oscar’s lips. “Yeah. Oh yeah. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be great. I’m sooooo busy right now. Hmm.”

@hc-dutch

(let me know if you want to be tagged in my upcoming reclists!)

#f1 #formula 1 #lando norris #mclaren #f1 rpf #f1 fanfic #oscar piastri #landoscar #f1 rpf fic #formula 1 rpf #formula 1 fanfic #f1 fic rec #fic rec list #rec list #fic rec

[socksandbuttons]

If solar dies I will lose it

But if SUN dies.. I will die of crying

they wouldnt

like

actually kill solar would they (no... no they WOULD. and then bring him back cause the world would riot for that man) TO KILL SUN THO... HE IS.... TECHNICALLY THE ONLY OTHER ONE WHO HASNT... they also wouldnt kill him off for good

i assume

i hope?

god knows their direciton

#the world will cry for them

[brucespringsteendotcom]

if i could go to one direciton night at the club everything would be different

[bluewinnerangel]

Initial response Faith In The Future per song not really getting into the lyrics just the feeling ok ok:

1. THE GREATEST - OH BITCH WE HAD A DEMO WE. HAD. A. DEMO. 2. WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE - HOLY SHIT. HEY BABE? THIS IS SO HOT. Mardy Bum but you look good on the dancefloor. 3. BIGGER THAN ME - IT IS IT IS BIGGER THAN YOU 4. LUCKY AGAIN - BITCH WE HAD ANOTHER DEMO 5. FACE THE MUSIC - nothing matters let's dance <3 6. CHICAGO - cherry [louis' version] 7. ALL THIS TIME - FUCKING LOVE HIS VOICE no idea what hes saying but also DMA'S! 8. OUT OF MY SYSTEM - AFTER ALL THIS TIME????!? BEFORE HEADLINE?? 9. HEADLINE - rn this is like the boppy intermission between meltdowns but give it a few hrs and ill meltdown over this one too 10 SATURDAYS - Saturdays and Silver Tongues are one piece they go together like wamalamadingidingidong. DO NOT SEPERATE. And the fucking bit from 3 mins in? The Fuck? HOT HOT HOT. Cries in 1D 11. SILVER TONGUES - coming of age crying in the club but in a good way saturdays tears of tears turned to tears of joy 12. SHE IS BEAUTY WE ARE WORLD CLASS - when I said Silver Tongues reminded me of DMA'S - Life Is A Game Of Change yesterday I wasn't prepared for it to be followed up by an actual Life Is A Game Of Change ok what GOD FUCKING FUCK FUCK GOD THIS IS IT MY KITCHEN IS A CLUB FOR THE NEXT 28 YEARS 13. COMMON PEOPLE - oh babe 14. ANGELS FLY - crying over one direction part one 15. HOLDING ONTO HEARTACHE - crying over 1d part 2 ONE DIRECTION = HEARTACHE. SHIT. 16. THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES - BATHING IN THE PUDDLE OF ONE DIRECITON TEARS

Initial reaction recap: when he mentioned DMA'S - THE GLOW during the promo for this album I really think yes. Also that's a lot of crying over one direction.

#I'll revisit this later and laugh.

[mothman-can-write]

i saw you asking for maria hill prompts and well.. here's one (i know you asked for fluffs but my mind have nothing happy after the secret invasion ep 1 ending)

so it's the same setting as the secret invasion, maria has been shot(and frankly dying) but instead of fury, gravik shapeshifted into nat..

you don't have to write it if you don't like it and idk how well it would work tbh. i just want blackhill angst to cry over

Thanks for the prompt! I'm writing this at like 1am so I have put absolutely zero thought into this just angst, but here you go! I hope this is sufficiently painful for you :)

804 words under the cut

The smoke is heavy in the air and Maria stifles a cough into the collar of her jacket, trying to decipher her surroundings through the tears in her eyes. People are panicking, running and crying, and no one really knows which direciton is safe. She doesn't really blame them at the end of the day. When there's bodies at your feet the normal instinct is to run.

Someone calls out beside her, sprawled out on the floor and caked with debris. She wonders if she looks the same to them, face face stiff around cuts and dirt.

"Please," they grind out, a hand outstretched, and she's beside them before they can get another word past their lips, her arms under theirs and hauling them to their feet.

"Go," she says, nodding towards the exit remaining, and they nod back a little dumbly.

Her arms are still half raised, making sure they've found their footing before they leave when she sees another figure in the settling dust.

They aren't running, and it strikes her as odd even as she stands there herself. Their form is hazy in the wash of rubble and pollution in the air, swimming in her vision like some sort of hallucination. She thinks it might be Fury at first, maybe one of Gravik's men, and she squints harder into the smoke.

At first, it's only a flash of red. Colour in the smog where there wasn't before and her heart gives a tug in her chest for the red she used to know so well, a beacon in the rubble in so many missions.

And then, she's not just a memory. She's not just the ghost that haunts her every living day. She's standing right in front of her for some unfathomable reason that her brain simply isn't equipped to deal with right now.

"Natasha?" she says, too quiet for her to actually hear.

Her feet are moving before she can stop them, rubble crunching under her boots. And Natasha is walking towards her, that stupid smirk on her face every time she'd terrified her half way to death on a mission only to appear unscathed on the other side.

Her tears blur in her vision and she blinks them away, stumbling forward over bricks and bodies and everything else broken around them. None of it matters when she's here, she's right in front of her after all of these years and it doesn't even matter how just that she is.

"What are you--" she starts once they're close enough. She doesn't register the deafening crack until Natasha's arm is already raised, gun still smoking between them.

It hits her like a freight train, bursting outwards from her stomach, and it's all she can do to stare back at her, a question in her expression that she doesn't have the breath to ask.

Natasha's face doesn't betray any emotion, no clues for her to consider her motives besides the ripple of something in her peripherals, the edges of her crawling like Maria is the only thing holding her together in front of her before the world tilts to meet her.

She doesn't know what she expects, some childish, hopeful part of her holding out that this is all a mistake, that Natasha will come running over all tears and apologies and frantic hands. But she doesn't. She walks away without a second glance, coat swishing in the wind before the smoke in the air takes her once again and Maria is left wheezing around the blood in her mouth, wondering what went wrong.

Even here, it's all Natasha. It doesn't matter that it's her lying on the floor, it doesn't matter that Natasha was supposed to be dead. Her heart still aches for seeing her so cold again, so close to the Natasha she'd worked so hard to remove herself from. She wonders what could have happened, what went so wrong without her there to keep her safe. She wishes she could have known, wishes she had even one chance to help.

There's hands on her then, hesitant and sure at the same time, and then Nick's face appears above her too, his features pinched in more emotion than she's ever seen on the man.

"Natasha," she drags out of herself, reaching for his arm. "Where did she go?"

"What?" he asks, his eyebrows furrowing impossibly further. "Hill, there's no one else here."

She squints up at him, her vision blurring out like watercolour. "She was just..." Tears spring to her eyes again, too many emotions to feel here on the floor, here in Fury's arms.

He squeezes at her, halfway desperate. "Hang in there, Hill."

She almost laughs for it. She thinks she'd bully him about it if she was only there to do so, but even she isn't so bold to believe she'll make it now. She means to say something about it, something reassuring for him maybe. She really does, but her breath seems to escape her before she can form the words, her mind losing its grip on them too.

Maybe this is a fitting way to go, she thinks. She always did say she'd be the death of her.

#maria hill #blackhill #natasha romanoff #maria/natasha #words #tumblr exclusive #secret invasion #secret invasion spoilers #angst #hurt/no comfort #drabble

[transgenderer]

REALLY love the art direciton for the zonai in tears of the kingdom. it was already good in BotW but the way the new one brings together disparate influences, obviously heavy japanese stuff but not just (pre)modern japan, a lot of the zonai stuff has a jomon influence, but it connects the sort of jomon line style to both the nazca lines and the line-heavy aztec style and then through there uses a bunch of turquoise tiling reminiscent of mesoamerican turquoise tiling. its so great! feels both distinctly alien in that no cultures art really looks like exactly like that but also very grounded in real art

[crybbyology]

Okay so, Ever since I moved to Florida (Back in 2020) theres this one old man in my neighborhood whos always watching me. Everytime I walk in the direciton of his house 80% of the time hes outside and he starts staring at me, like i dont know if im just being dramatic or paranoid. One time he had saw me coming his direction and he followed me around the bushes so he could look at me, and I remember panicking so hard and speeding up my walking to get out of there. Another time he had drove up next to me with his window down and started smiling at me and drove next to me until I reached the corner,i've been dealing with him watching me for 3 years now. I'm highly uncomfortable with him everytime I go out because I cannot avoid his house due to the sidewalk leading up to his place, there was a point where I didn't see him for a while and I felt so much relief whenever I would walk out. But now apparently hes back and he comes out way more than before, and I cannot tell my parents about it due to personal reasons. But everyday he either follows me in his car or he'll watch me from his gate, and I dont know what to do.

[entropy-game-dev]

v0.04a patchnotes and testing

The test of v0.04a ended a week ago, and while there were a few more crashes and bugs, the game is getting surprisingly stable (thankfully!!) thanks to my poor friends who kindly volunteered to test it! Some of the highlights of this test were as follows:

An actually awesome moment where my friend decided to unexpectedly extend their exploration by going down to the second floor, then immediately falling through a hole taking them to the completely unmapped third floor. His oxygen at this point was half, and so I told him, he should probably find his way back if possible.

The enemies on the lower floors spawn in greater numbers, and so it was quite tense, but he was relieved to come across the stairs leading upwards. Back on the second floor, he was able to find his way through an unknown map back to the first floor, but started to run low on oxygen. Finally, his oxygen ran out a few steps before the exit. The suit’s life support system kicked in, draining an increasing amount of energy with every step. Finally, with one step to go, his energy ran out, and took a tick of health damage. But just one! He got back to the ship just fine and breathed (pun not intended) a sigh of relief.

And let me tell you, the first hint of some emergent gameplay that I envisioned with the systems I had implemented, it felt really good! As for funny bugs/polish issues, he found a few:

When enemies are reduced to 0 hp, they begin exploding and don’t stop until it’s their turn (as they might want to talk to you and get recruited). However, we were discussing something and having the explosions play constantly at full volume was very distracting! (Explosion sfx volume fades out now after a while and enemies take their turn instantly when they have 0 hp.

Enemies that are forced to move to the upper row of the battlefield flip their sprite (so it looks like they’re standing on the ceiling), but I had the coordinates wrong so they were shifted too far up, and outside the viewport!

There was also this one really dodgy-looking mining node sprite (actually needs a rework, it looks awful), and my friend kept running into it and asking “what the hell is this” everytime he saw it, as it really does not resemble anything, and we were both cracking up laughing each time.

v0.05 is almost ready to go, and I expect balance testing will be happening soon!

And now, the full patchnotes of this version below the cut...

Features:

Access the options menu in the prologue by pressing spacebar!

Reset the game from the options menu!

Stars don't show up on the screen if you have a save game!

Most moves now have a 1 turn cooldown to prevent enemy (and player?) spam

Screen glitch effects now fade in and out!

Save games backup now (10 backups!!!!!!!!!!)

Hold shift + press a move key to direcitonally inspect something

Polish:

Inspecting enemies was locked behind an upgrade but it's important - replacement ability to come later

Removed erroneous space in epilepsy warning

In the navigator, no longer makes a beep noise if you press L/R but there are no other locations to select

Made numbers animate based on what elemental affinity was hit

Scan move description text shortened

Rounded position of option text to avoid subpixels

Tutorials only show after you reach the ship for the first time

Minimap tiles now update immediately when colourblindness colour is changed

Inspect text on empty/unexplored tiles changes depending on exploration status

Mining nodes don't output the mining interaction text if you don't have the ability to mine

Disabled data gained output when not researching anything (Data does nothing without ongoing research)

Battle win tutorials now only show when you win the battle (i.e. gain xp) and not when you're running

Capped the move name length on the small information panel

Help overlay is now on F1 + tutorial message explaining that

Reduced sound effect of some of the metal step effects

Disabled random stepping text during the prologue

Fixed grammar error in interaction text for draining scrap

Swapped rotate/strafe controls, added confirm and cancel to left side​

Bugs:

Debug research bypass removed

Debug control T to damage allies removed

Combat now has a reachable game over state

Hypnagogia ability was targeting the top row instead of the bottom

Enemies with the conducting affinity, spreading an attack to allies no longer crashes the game

Explosive spread now shifting enemies correctly on the vertical direction

Recruiting conditions relying on other units no longer crashes the game when triggering

Fixed targeting of summon moves

Changed defensive % modifiers to be multiplicative

Calming Wave and Optical Trap ranges (and animations) fixed from all cells to aoe

Hid all strengths/weaknesses/recruitment at the beginning of the game

Stopped crash when viewing recruitment of allies

Tutorials are now enabled by default

The right location's feature is now being deleted when interacting with treasure chests

Debug control for launching a cutscene (V) is now disabled

Dungeon features now properly fade out when collected

Dungeon features that steal resources now actually do so

End of battle results now displaying all XP, scrap, and parts given

Move execution code reordering: before, self-destruct was not working because it'd take away the HP as part of the move effect and then not execute the move due to missing HP

Parts category refreshes properly when you swap characters

Can no longer detect liquids ahead of you when the space hasn't been explored yet

Shader intensity option is now respected by shader

Can now interact with one time use machines

Fixed crash when removing unit from party

Ensured equipment was associated with the right slot when moving units around

Friendly robot dungeon features can now be interacted with again, made exception for robot not having sprite in the db

Fixed a crash when inspecting enemies

Fixed a crash when going into the options menu due to missing text

Fixed targeting being inverted

#indiedev #gamedev #gaming #pixel art #scifi #space #gamemaker #programming #rpg #robot #devblog #game #videogame

[obviouslypenni]

#166

louis: harry you really have to stop making things hard

harry: 

louis: it’s me, i’m things

#louis #harry #larry #larry is real #one direciton #1d incorrect quotes

[lavendermanna]

concept for an rpg: competetive collaborative storytelling. instead of playing individual characters, everyone has a GM-like power over the game universe and NPCs, but also everyone has a different goal for what kind of story they all are trying to create and tell together. instead of having a player class, everyone picks a different fiction genre they're trying to create which defines their end goal and gives them the power to change and redefine aspects of the narrative according to the tropes and themes and literary devices used in that genre. so like the horror player's goal would be to slowly kill off characters in interesting ways until only one survivor remains, but the romance player is trying to like, invoke meet-cutes and get characters to fall in love by the end, etc etc and you'd def need some kind of mechanic for determining who gets narrative control when and and what different direcitons u can twist the story into while still keeping it coherent idk but i just love this concept

#lavender manna #rpg

[lacktastrophe]

Not sure what to bring up that hasn't already been asked here before. But I need to know, what are your predictions for what could happen in BCB going forward? What story points are you looking forward to the most at the moment? Personally, I'm anxiously awaiting the day where 'Confrontation' repeats itself, which might end up being the climax depending on how events in the story unfold.

Oh god, I'm going to have to think about this one. The things that I think that will happen, or the things that I want to happen? LOL

With Mike and Lucy, things are looking pretty similar to how things were years ago, except it's very much shoe-on-the-other-foot, with Mike being the one trying to hide these days. It's hard to say what's going to happen with James here. I did not anticipate him becoming part of the story, let alone becoming involved with Mike of all characters, so that is a bit of a twist to things. James also having a thing for Mike adds to the big pool of potential love interests and conflict for Mike to deal with. Or Love-Pentagram if you wanna consider Paulo in Lucy are both still in this mess of potentialities.

I have a feeling things are going to coast along for a while, but eventually I feel Mike's shame for betraying Lucy will get the better of him and he will attempt to apologise again, whether or not Sandy pulls another disappearing act or not. Because you know, that's what he does. What will come from that is anyone's guess but my prediction is that hopefully Mike resolves to apologise, but the friendship has to ultimately end with these two resolving to move on from each other. I can't begin to imagine how Lucy is going to react when Mike implies she still has a thing for him even though we know that's absolutely true still, but I don't think Lucy's going to be capable of moving on on her own. Mike's gotta be the initiator and just telling her to let him go. The idea of things going back to the way they used to before Sandy would be this nice fairy-tale ending where friendship will ultimately prevail, but considering where this story has gone and the deep rooted feelings Mike's been showing recently, not only has there been this back and forth between doing what's socially right and what's right in Mike's mind, there's been a suicide attempt too. The bed's been made and there is nothing healthy about it.

Eyes are on what Lucy does at this point and whether or not she's given up on him or not. I'd want to hope so, but I can't think that this is going to be enough and she /still/ has feelings for him. Mike is not only toxic to them both, but inhibiting her real growth. My personal feeling is she doesn't have the sheer will-power and her developing it so soon would be astounding. But I want to hope she's not just going to sit on this like she did on the past and would be fucking facinated if Augustus finds himself managing to convince Lucy to go see a therapist, and then Lucy being the one initiating the talk and then telling Mike to let her go.

In either direciton it goes in, part of me also feels having these two get together again would do a lot to undo the realists who've graced the comic, like Zachary and Augustus, who've shaken the characters out of their daydreams and out of their comfort zone. Going back to the way things used to be is something that just doesn't feel like a good way for either of them.

-

Eyes are back on Paulo and what he's going to do now considering it looked like the only thing he cared about was Lucy and he is willing to sacrifice friendships to attain that happiness. You'd hope after 'Double Down', 'After You' and 'High Expectations', there's gotta be a point where Paulo finally takes the hint; it's just not happening in this lifetime. It's not a matter of 'This is why you'd never be good enough for her', it's just 'You don't have a chance with her.'

I'm really hoping Paulo's end isn't going to be 'Well I wasted Highschool'. I kinda wanna hope we're coming to the chapter where Paulo starts building up some self-respect and either starts looking at his academics seriously or just finds someone who will take him for who he is, whether thats Daisy or Rachel or some other wildcard.

-

I'd honestly be more than happy for Confrontation's return to be subverted in some fashion like Augustus just clicking on the TV and Alejandro is on the news being arrested for trying to shoplift on his own or skipping rent or whatever because he's just that fucking hopeless. Just, everyone's like "Oh shit, that guy LMFAO". I feel there doesn't really need to be this "epic" showdown from a character who's been mostly removed from the story with the exception of anything to do with Augustus. I get most people still want to see one, but I feel like BCB's farther evolved from that now and I'd want to feel people are far too invested in the kids to really care for Alejandro. The world being equally as big, I feel it's just as possible to send the message that the world's movements don't always have to revolve around the kids.

But yeah, that's all I got. We're definitely at crossroads, we'll have to wait and see what direction everyone's moving in before I can guess where the story's heading.

#bcb #bittersweet candy bowl #bittersweetcandybowl

[rxskeeter]

where: three broomsticks lavatory

who: @chxritysburbage

she's dressed as tinkerbell. peter pan is one of the few muggle films she watched as a child, primarily with her mother before she'd passed away - rita had been tinkerbell when she was six years old, as well. the tribute is both reminiscent of the best years of her life, but also of the worst that had begun a few years later. still, she finds comfort in the little blonde sprite - she was dedicated, fierce, and had major attitude. rita loathes crowds. they're suffocating and she can't seem to catch her breath in them. usually hogsmeade wasn't all this crowded, but the fair had brought people from everywhere, it seemed. the three broomsticks never felt so tiny, and the blonde finds herself itching for a way out. but sh'e's just made it to the front of the bar and waiting for her drink, was leaving already worth the trouble? she takes a deep breath, thanking the bar keep as her bottle of ale was handed to her. it only takes a few moments for her to decide that she needs the space from the bodies pushing around her, so rita grabs the bottle by the neck and makes her way to the bathroom. it was the wrong place to pick - too popular with the rest of hogwarts. rita doesn't so much feel like interacting with her peers right now. there's only one pair of feet peeking out from beneath the stalls, and rita pays little attention to them as she makes her way over to the sinks in the center of the room, smoothing her hair down as she grimaced at her own reflection. "you look like you haven't slept in days," she scolds herself,fingers lightly running over the light purplish bags under her eyes - it's true, she's been having issues staying asleep and many of her nights had turned into very early mornings. she's washing her hands when she hears the occupied stall open, and barely glances up at the sound - when she does she momentarily locks eyes with charity, and the blonde immediately swoops her head back down to stare down at her hands, her anxiety instantly spiking to the highest of levels. charity, charity, charity. rita is suddenly plagued by an onslaught of the memories of their times together, and she tries to will them away but something digs its claws into the thoughts and drags them back, slowly, into rita's head. the water is scalding hot at this point and the blonde finally realizes, pulling her hands back with a painful hiss as she tries to turn the knob in the opposite direciton. "ow," she sighs in frustration, wringing her hands out.

#c: charity #//hope this is okay! #no need to match! #nox;event

[isupportzaynxliamxziam]

Thursday, 8 September 2011

Awaiting the relase of What Makes You Beautiful, One Direciton does a countdown teasing the fans with a snippet of the music video

#Thursday 8 September 2011 #One Direction #What Makes You Beautiful teaser #YouTube