#yes this is about That Post i reblogged earlier saying i’d make my own

[poetrysmackdown]

some informal thoughts

hello! hope the holiday season has been kind to all of you. and i hope all my jewish followers had a lovely hanukkah! anyways, since i said a few months ago that i’d pick poetry smackdown back up sometime around this time of year, i thought i should make a post. the gist of it is that i’m still quite busy, i have a break that’s about three weeks shorter than I was planning on, and i don’t currently have the mental bandwidth required to read, contemplate, and sort through poem submissions in a way that does justice to them, even if i were to recruit some friends to help out. since running a tournament format requires at least five weeks of continued engagement once it’s underway, and since i’m not at capacity to offer that right now due to the change in my schedule, i’m gonna have to bow out for now. sad bc i was looking forward to it!

my hope is that i’ll have some more time over the summer to hunker down with it, in which case you’ll be hearing from me. it’ll frankly depend on the kind of job i land in for the summer, but i find that my unemployed spirit can typically keep me doing stupid shit regardless of workload...to a point. i don’t want to make any promises because i don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up just to let them down again LOL. i do admit the amount of exposure the first tournament got has made me feel like more of a perfectionist this time around, doubly because i don’t feel that i’m very suited to being a public online presence (even a relatively quite small one)—i’m bad enough at responding to emails for my own real life responsibilities, let alone tumblr asks for the silly responsibilities i invent for myself lol. that’s not to say i no longer want to do it, or i don’t enjoy it, or even that i don’t feel capable of making a really interesting bracket—just that if i am working to put something new together, and if people are taking the time to submit poems they care about, then i don’t want to half-ass it.

my second admission is something like this. I made the original bracket as a celebration of poetry and our relationships to it. yes it was silly and competitive, and the poems were very tumblr, but still, celebration was the intention—I wanted to have conversations about poetry. I stand by the bracket format as a fun and valuable way to foster conversations about poetry, but truthfully, the poems i’m wanting to have conversations about right now—the poems that we should be talking about right now—are ones that i'm not comfortable putting in a bracket. I reblogged The Baffler’s Poems from Palestine collection on here earlier, and Najwan Darwish’s “Who Remembers The Armenians?”, which I still often find repeating through my head when I'm traveling from one place to another, walking home or riding the bus. I came across this beautiful thread recently where people have been translating Dr. Refaat Alareer’s “If I Must Die” into their own languages (this just makes my translator's heart sing!!!!!!). @havingapoemwithyou has been posting some great poems from and for Palestine as well—check out their tag here.

There's always more to add, and I'll be posting more on here as I come across it, but that's what I feel anyone should be focusing on right now when it comes to poetry. i think poetry can be an escape but it should never be a distraction. does that make sense? i wouldn't be against doing a one-off poll here or there, but it feels weird to be making a tournament for poetry right now, or anytime soon. i feel like what free time i have right now is still best utilized helping my friends with organizing in the real world. and god, a bit off-topic but while I'm talking, fuck poetry foundation—I have so much respect for all the poets keeping up the boycott, because while i think it's a simple decision, it's not always an easy one (Aurielle Lucier discussed that here).

anyways, if you read all of this, thank you for your time!! I could go on and on, but really this was just meant to be a message telling y'all that there won't be another tournament for a while lol. even so i'll be trying to use this small silly platform as best i can until palestine is free because that's the absolute least i can do.

#not a poll #also i'm closing my ask box for now because i know i don't have the bandwidth to answer anything rn. sorry :( #but feel free to reply here with your thoughts and any resources and i'll do my best to respond #or even messages might be fine. something about the ask format just gives me anxiety sometimes lmao #cannot stress this enough i am so so so bad at responding to things #even when i want to or enjoy doing it

[dandelionprints]

You’ll Catch A Cold

Pairing: Tommy x Y/N

Summary: Y/N catches a cold and it’s up to Tommy to look after her

Warnings: Fluff, explicit language

Word Count: 3060

A/N: I currently have a cold so I’ve used it as ‘inspiration’ for this one shot, I hope you enjoy!

I do not give permission for my work to be posted anywhere else but reblogs, comments and likes are greatly appreciated!

Tag list is here if you’d like to be added to it

Credit for GIF to creator

A warm glow from outside shone through his office window as the sun was beginning to set. He’d been stuck in his office all day making various phone calls and writing letters to people he’d rather brush off to his secretary, but he couldn’t do that, he was Thomas Shelby OBE. A politician had to keep up appearances and at least pretend they gave a shit about what other people in power had to say. Yes, he’d worked hard to get to where he was today but he couldn’t deny that he’d rather have spent his day with his wife, Y/N, out in the autumn sunshine catching the last of the years warm rays from the sun, for no doubt the mornings would soon be filled with frost and the skies clouded over with sheets of white by early afternoon.

He reached into his pocket to check the time on his pocket watch. Five thirty PM.

He took a cigarette from its holder on the desk, rolling it slightly on his lips before placing it between them and lighting it. He took a pull and allowed himself to slump a little further into his chair, exhaling as he did so. Sure, five thirty was a lot earlier for him to finish work for the day than usual but he decided that he’d allow himself that luxury. He missed Y/N.

He continued to pull on his cigarette, not really enjoying the taste any more but still craving the nicotine he was getting, as he stood from where he was sitting and began walking over to the door, grabbing his coat on the way.

“Mr. Shelby, sir”, came the voice of his head maid, Frances. She’d been on her way towards his office and looked almost surprised to see him already exiting his office so early in the day.

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Mrs. Shelby is? I haven’t seen her since early afternoon. I thought she might have popped out with Ada but I saw Ada leaving on her own not too long ago”

His heart started to pick up pace a bit although he was sure Y/N would be absolutely fine, she’d probably gone for a walk around the grounds of Arrow House as she quite often did, or to the stables where he often found her when she was feeling down. ‘The horses listen, I don’t need to try with them. I can just talk and talk without the fear of judgement’, she’d say.

“No, I haven't seen her, Frances. It’s okay, I’m just on my way outside to find her. She’s probably in the stables grooming her horse”

“Yes Mr. Shelby”, she nodded, “I’ll pop the kettle on and make some tea, I can imagine she’ll need to be warmed up after being out there, the temperatures dropped something rotten”, she turned on her heel and started walking towards the kitchen.

Tommy continued to make his way towards the door leading out onto the grounds forecourt and made sure to grab his peaky cap on the way. He couldn’t deny the truth in Frances’ words as he stepped out onto the gravelled floor, there really was a bite in the air. The sun looked deceiving as it shone through the slowly yellowing leaves on the trees, you’d think you could still go without a coat if you knew no better than to trust the inconsistent British weather. He threw his now burnt out cigarette onto the floor.

The stables weren’t too far from the house and as he made his approach, he could hear his wife softly singing to herself, or to the horses in fact, a sound that he always loved. A smile crept onto his face as she came into view.

“Thought I’d find you here”, he spoke.

She jumped slightly at the sudden sound, bringing up a hand towards her chest.

“God, you fucking frightened me!”

Tommy only let out a chuckle in response and made his way over to his wife, the smile from the sound of her singing still placed on his lips.

“I love hearing you sing to yourself, it’s one of my favourite sounds in the world you know”. He placed a hand on either side of her waist and pulled her in slightly to give her a kiss as her hands gently reached up to grab his coat by the lapels.

“What time is it? It’s still light, I didn’t think you’d be finished with work until much later this evening”

“Five thirty or thereabouts. I thought I’d give myself the evening off to spend with my beautiful wife who I’d usually be happy with not wearing many layers of clothing but who in this instance I’m worried is going to catch a cold from the lack of layers”

She was wearing a light blue summer dress with no tights and a cream coloured cardigan, not nearly enough to keep the late autumn chill off. She’d fallen victim to the deceit of the sun, believing it to be a lot warmer than it looked outside that morning when she’d rolled out of bed alone and stood in front of the window that had the curtains already pulled apart slightly. She knew Tommy must have gotten up and gone over to the same spot that she was now standing in to check that no unwanted visitors were outside, he did the same thing every morning.

She couldn’t deny that she’d begun to lose the feeling in her fingertips and the tip of her nose felt numb from the bitter bite of the breeze that came in through the slats of the stable door, she could just about feel her nose dripping slightly. She quickly gave her nose a swift wipe with the handkerchief that she kept up her cardigan sleeve.

“I figured that it wouldn’t be as cold as it is and I didn’t plan on being out here for too long, I only came outside to wave goodbye to Ada then I thought I’d check on the horses, before I knew it I’d been out here for at least an hour. Y’know, you get quite used to the cold when you’re distracted. The horses are good company”.

“That they might be, love, but I need to know that my wife is looking after herself and isn’t suffering from hypothermia, now c’mon, lets get inside. Frances has made you a fresh pot of tea”, he was already removing his coat and placing it around Y/N’s shoulders.

“Tea sounds delightful Mr. Shelby, will you be joining me?”

“It would be my pleasure, love”.

He playfully smacked her bum as his signal to start moving towards the stable door and back to the house. She giggled and did as she was instructed, wrapping Tommys coat tightly around her frame.

***

Once inside the house, Tommy had insisted that Y/N go upstairs to their bedroom and get into something warmer. She’d chosen to go for a pair of his boxer shorts and one of his knitted jumpers that he only wore when it was the two of them, usually during the winter months in the evening when they were relaxing in front of the fire before bed. Sure the items of clothing she’d chosen certainly weren't the warmest but the boxers felt comfortable and the jumper was big on her, perfect to snuggle up in. She lifted it up towards her nose and tried to breathe in his scent, only to find that her nose had now lost its ability to smell and instead was now completely blocked. Shit.

‘Tommy’s not going to shut up about this, guess I’ll have to try and pretend I’m not ill’, she thought to herself.

Putting on the boxers and the jumper, she went to the chest at the end of the bed and took out her favourite blanket, the one that Tommy had bought her for her birthday knowing that she loved nothing more than to be wrapped up in a blanket in front of the fire with a cup of tea when the nights were chilly. She smiled at the memory of opening it on her birthday, the joy and excitement that came with it, as she wrapped it around herself and sat in front of the already lit fire. Frances must have been in to light it just before they got back into the house.

“One cup of tea, Mrs. Shelby”

Tommy walked into the room holding a cup of tea on a saucer in each hand, a biscuit or two placed next to the cups.

“Oh why thank you, my love. You do spoil me”, she reached out and took one of the saucers, giving Tommy a peck on the cheek as she did so.

“That’s my job, to keep you happy”, he bent down further to place a soft kiss on her lips.

Frances had insisted on bringing them the tea herself but Tommy had told her he wanted to spend the evening with his wife alone and that although he was grateful for her help, he wanted to be the one to do the basic everyday things he quite often forgot he used to do before the money was rolling in and maids were there at the drop of a hat to tend to his every need. Even if that was something as simple as bringing a cup of tea to his wife.

He took a seat opposite Y/N in front of the fire and placed his own cup and saucer down onto the table that sat between them.

“How was it with Ada? What did you talk about?”

“Oh you know, the usual. About the kids, about politics, about how you work such long hours…”

“You know I have to, Y/N, there’s business that needs to be done”

“I know, Tom. I’ve heard it all before, business first, personal life second, I should really be used to it now”, she paused, “it’s just, I wish we could have at least one day a week where you put the business second and personal life first, just one”

“So that’s why you were out with the horses? To talk to them about your thoughts?”

She nodded in response and he felt his heart drop, he hated the fact that his wife was feeling the way she was and it was all because of him.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. I shouldn’t be putting business first all the time, I know that. It’s just, I’ve worked so fucking hard to get to where I am I’m afraid that if I slow down, even for a second, that I’ll drop the ball and it’ll all be gone”

Y/N stood from her chair and closed the small gap between herself and Tommy, cupping his face with one hand and holding her blanket around her with the other. Tommy wrapped both arms around her.

“That, Mr. Shelby, won’t happen. You’re too headstrong and determined to let that happen. All I ask is for one day a week where you let yourself relax and at least spend a bit of time with me, I feel like I spend most of my days missing you”

Another pang to his chest.

“I miss you too, I really do. I’ll do everything I can to make sure I spend as much time with you as possible and I’ll start doing the one day a week thing too, someone’s got to make sure you bundle up before you go outside”, he chuckled as Y/N tried to hide her smile, giving him a playful nudge to the chest.

“Thank you, it’ll mean the world to me”, she bent back down so that her face was level with Tommy’s, giving him a kiss before standing up straight again.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Is that my jumper?”

Y/N took the two steps back towards her chair and sat down, picking up her tea and taking a sip. She jokingly looked around the room, ignoring his gaze as his eyes bore into her chest, the cream coloured material showing through the gap between either side of the blanket that had come away from each other.

“Hmm, thought it was”, he chuckled and shook his head slightly, he couldn’t give a fuck if it was his or not, he just knew she looked good in it. Then again, he thought she looked good in anything she wore.

His eyes wandered upwards and began to study her face properly, he noticed that her eyes looked a bit glassy and that her nose was slightly red, he could see her fighting the urge to sniff.

“I knew it! I fucking told you! You’ve caught a cold”, he seemed almost smug that he’d been right about the amount of layers she’d been wearing earlier, “looks like you’ll be getting the Doctor Shelby treatment”

“I have not!”, she exclaimed, her eyes widening, so much for trying to hide that she was ill, “Anyway, what's the ‘Doctor Shelby’ treatment?”

“Well“, it appears that you are in fact ill, and will be requiring someone to look after you. Therefore, I see it as my duty to fulfil that post and tend to your every need. I shall bring you cups of tea, fetch you more blankets, bring you tissues, run baths and lay in bed with you for as long as you so wish. You may not lift a finger to do anything, your husband, or in this case, doctor, will do everything for you”.

“Well doctor, that all sounds amazing! And how long may I ask is this service valid for?”

“For tonight and tomorrow, my love. Shit, sorry, that was unprofessional. You have my services tonight and tomorrow, Mrs Shelby”

“You mean you’re taking the day off of work to look after me? What will you tell them? That your idiot wife didn’t wear enough layers outside and that you’re now stuck at home while she lays in bed sniffing and sneezing her pathetic little nose off with a cold?”

Almost as if to give an example, her nose began twitching and she let out a sneeze, managing to stop herself from making as loud of a noise as she could have. Tommy handed her his handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket.

“Yes I’ll tell them exactly that”

She rolled her eyes and smiled, bringing her now cooling cup of tea to her lips again.

“Do you really think that’s wise? Missing a day off work because I have a cold? You’ve got a reputation to uphold. I mean I know I’ve just said to you that I want to spend more time with you but it doesn’t need to be for you to look after me. Please, Tom, go to work. I’ll be fine! I’ve got Frances and the rest of the staff I…”

“No I won’t hear of it, I want to take the day off to look after you. Besides, when was the last time we actually got to spend time together, eh?”

She pondered for a moment, she knew that he was right. Tommy would get up so early in the morning that she either slept right through or was half asleep when he’d roll over to her and place a kiss on her face before pulling himself out from underneath the covers and to the bathroom. The only times she’d see him in the day if he was at home would be when she’d go to say good morning once she’d gone downstairs, sometimes at lunch when she’d convince him to stop his work for fifteen minutes and get some food down him and then again in the evening once work was over if he’d finished early enough to catch her before she went to bed. She’d lost count of the amount of times she’d stay up waiting for him to come to bed, only to find her eyes growing heavier by the minute, finally allowing them to close fully and drift off into a much needed sleep. She would often wake in the middle of the night to find a blanket draped over her along with Tommy’s arm pulling her in towards him.

She couldn’t deny that getting to spend a whole day with him at home sounded like an absolute dream, even if she was ill.

“Okay, but promise me you’ll come up with something better than ‘my wife is an idiot’ when you tell them you won’t be in please”.

She sniffed again as she felt her nose tickle, trying, but failing, to stop another sneeze from coming.

He laughed, “yes love, don’t worry about that. Besides, I’m Tommy fucking Shelby, I do what I want, when I want”, the cheeky smile that she loved so much appeared on his face and she felt her stomach flip.

She composed herself and managed to utter the words, “Oh, is that so?”

“You know it is, love”

“Well then Tommy fucking Shelby, what is it you want to do now?”, a smirk was playing on her lips, she loved watching his mind race, it was almost as though she could see it happening behind his bright, blue eyes.

“That’s doctor Shelby to you”

“Oh yes, sorry ‘doctor’ Shelby, how are you going to cure me?”

“Well, first things first, let’s get you into bed, you need your rest”

He stood from his chair and made his way over to Y/N, scooping her up in his arms, blanket and all. He softly kissed her forehead as he felt his arms wrap around her.

“It’s still early, you haven’t even had a sip of your tea or had your supper yet”, Y/N wrapped her arms around the back of Tommy’s neck, enjoying the warmth that she could feel radiating from his body.

“That's okay, I’m about to do something really unprofessional and have a snack”

With that he threw Y/N onto the bed, ready to devour her, every inch.

#tommy shelby #tommy shelby imagine #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby x reader #john shelby #peaky blinders #arthur shelby #michael gray #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinder headcanon #peakyblinders #cillian murphy #polly gray #tommyshelby #arthurshelby #tommy x reader #tommy x y/n #tommy x you #tommyshelbyimagine

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

For your birthday celebration: can you do a biker!au of any one with the prompt “Babe, you look like you’re about to pass out”

Oooh yes I’d love any opportunity to expand my Biker!Ari universe! Its gonna need its own masterlist before long!

The Flu - Biker!Ari Levinson x Reader

You can check out my other Biker!Ari headcanons here and here!

Warnings: Flu! Biker Ari! (Because he needs his own warning!

Masterlist

The Flu

Ari decided to get the the bar a little earlier than usual today, hoping to spend a bit more time with you before your shift started

But as time ticked on and drew closer to your usual starting time, you had yet to appear

You arrived a whole 5 minutes late which was Ari’s first indication that something was wrong

He watched you shuffle behind the bar, shivering slightly despite the fact it was pretty warm out, tugging the sleeves of your shirt down.

“Hey Ari” you greeted “the usual?” You ask already grabbing the bottle of scotch, your voice all stuffy and tired.

“Uh yeah… is everything okay? You don’t sound great” he says his brows pinching together in concern.

“Yeah” you say waving it off “just a small cold, i’ll be fine once I get going and the meds kick in”

“You shouldn’t really be working if you’re ill, you’ll only get worse” Ari says shaking his head

“Yeah well nobody is available to cover so its this is or close the bar” you shrug as you move to wipe down the sides.

“I could cover” Ari offers but you shake your head.

“You’re not even an official employee, I can’t keep letting you work for free” you tell him.

“Well lets sign some paper work then” Ari shrugs.

“No Ari I’m fine I promise” you state making Ari huff but he decided to trust you.

Despite that he made sure to keep an eye on you.

Every time you caught him you would tell him you were fine but you definitely weren’t fine, Ari could see you slowly getting worse

It was when you stepped out from behind the bar and stumbled over your own feet that Ari stepped in. His large hands easily catching you and keeping you up right.

“Babe, you look like you’re about to pass out” he said, concern lacing his voice as he took in your pale, sweaty complexion and droopy eyes.

“I’m- i’m fine, just a funny five” you reason but you were still swaying.

Ari frowned holding the back of his hand to your forehead and hissing when he felt how hot it was “fuck babe, you’re burning up, you must have the flu”

“No its-its just a- just a head- head cold” you slurred blinking slowly as you tried to look up at him.

“You’re getting some rest now” Ari states scooping you up into his arm “and I’m gonna take car of you”

“Bu- but the bar” you managed to say already half passed out in his arms

“I’ll call in a couple favours, don’t worry they have experience” he promises

“M’kay” you murmur practically half asleep in his arms.

For the rest of your shift Ari split his time between caring for you in the back office and keeping an eye on the bar.

He made sure you took some medicine and brought you cold rags to place on your forehead to help cool you down.

When it came to the end of your shift he took you back home to your place and slept on your couch just in case you needed him in the night

SEND ME SOME BIRTHDAY PROMPTS!

Sleepy Prompts

Masterlist

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!

I don’t have a tag list but follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications to stay up to date!

#niamhwrites #24 is knocking on my door #Biker Ari #Biker AU #ari levinson #ari levinson x reader #ari levinson x you #ari levinson x y/n

[waitmyturtles]

I want to take just a quick second to talk about the Wat x Sani ship in The Eclipse and Our Skyy 2: The Eclipse, which prompted a little conversation among drama friends today. (As well, thanks to the dear @aprilblossomgirl for the lovely reblog and tags partly on this topic, too.)

The teacher/student ship is obviously a controversial one, and citing from my conversation with drama friends earlier today, the boss/employee ship may also fall into this controversial category as well.

WHY? What are some factors that get people jibbly about these kinds of ships?

Clearly, the power dynamic between the dyads: with implied or explicit hierarchy, it may be assumed that the uke in these situations may be heavily influenced by the power dynamic and may feel a NEED to participate in the dyad.

There may also be age bias against a woman, if the dyad is het and the woman is either older and/or a seme. 

There may also be what I call implicit or explicit compassion bias against a uke. This is what I want to really unwind in this post.

Do we assume that because Wat is younger than Sani, that Wat should be “protected” from the potential ship, because Sani is older and a teacher? 

I think I want to be careful of making assumptions there. WHY? Because I think Golf CLEARLY knows what they’re doing here.

I’d be jibbly of this ship IF Sani is demonstrating behavioral tics that are typical of a worrisome power dynamic, such as grooming and/or gaslighting. 

That didn’t happen in The Eclipse: The Series or OS2. Sani is clearly a mentor and friend in this situation. Sani is also closer in age to Wat than we might assume because, remember, she was just starting at Suppalo when the series started. So she might have a better read on what the boys are going through, emotionally, than the older teachers.

Besides Sani, there’s Wat. More implicit in the series, and explicit in OS2: Wat is nostalgic for his time spent with Sani, and how they’ll keep in touch after he graduates.

Now before I jump into my main bias point, I just want to say that I *think* Wat and Sani’s movie bit will indicate that Sani will friend zone Wat -- that’s how I *think* this’ll end. But, to my main bias point:

Last year, when I wrote about Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Utsukushii Kare: Season 1, I noted that Woo Young Woo and Hira are two potential subjects of implicit compassion bias. We as viewers may have unknown sympathy or compassion for Young Woo and Hira -- that may then PREVENT US from BELIEVING that they can make decisions on their own, with their own agency. 

Therapists are trained to be aware of this compassion bias. It’s a POWER THING on OUR end as therapists/parents/drama viewers. We might feel SO protective of our simps that we’ve CONVINCED ourselves that they NEED to be protected.

That’s no good. Young Woo was perfectly capable of making all her own decisions and didn’t need our sympathy/compassion. (Jun Ho knew this, and that’s why I think he was so confident in going after her.) Hira may not have had full social awareness for how much Kiyoi loved him, but Hira didn’t need our protection and sympathy. Yes, Hira was bullied, but he could also bully back. 

So, to Wat. My man. He knows what he’s doing. He’s calling Sani, telling her his feelings. He’s either an adult or on the cusp of being an adult.

If I’m Wat’s counselor -- or HIS MOTHER, gasp -- I’d wanna know this entire deal. (Okay, as his mom, I’m lookin’ at Sani CLOSELY, but not making a blanket judgment.) I see Sani NOT grooming or gaslighting Wat. I see Sani listening to Wat. I see Sani supporting Wat in his dreams as a filmmaker and giving him advice and guidance.

And I’m letting Wat unwind this. Again: Golf knows what they’re doing. Wat’s an adult. The boys have become adults. Young adults, sure, but they’re adults, who deserve to operate under their own agency.

One thing that I am loving about my road trip through the old Thai BLs -- especially in watching Make It Right right now -- is that these filmmakers are ALLOWING YOUNG ADULTS to young adult. Teenagers have sex. (Oh, oh yes they do, in Make It Right, oh yes.) And young adults may fall in love with older adults! It certainly happens. Young adults may even have their first sexual experiences with older adults.

I like that people like Golf and New Siwaj are letting this happen for their characters, because I do believe it reflects reality, and it challenges some assumed characteristics of dyads that many viewers may feel jibbly about and may not want to see in their art.

These filmmakers are not afraid of the jibbly stuff. Wat doesn’t need our protection. Sani is not behaving in a way that’s concerning. I think she’s being presented as perfectly reasonable and supportive of Wat. Nothing’s happened to indicate that she’s behaving problematically towards Wat. If Wat wants to crush, let’s let him crush, because it’s a safe environment for him to learn about himself. And even if they get together (again, I’m not calling that by what I saw in episode 1 today), I’ll be fine with it, because I think Sani is behaving perfectly reasonably, and I’m aware that I don’t want to have an age bias against her for being an older member of this dyad. (And Wat’s the seme here, btw, clearly.)

That’s my two cents on this ship. I’m supportive of it. Let’s see if it goes tomorrow, and to where.

(CC @lurkingshan, @shortpplfedup, @ginnymoonbeam, @bengiyo, and I don’t know if @wen-kexing-apologist or anyone else might have thoughts on this, too!)

#the eclipse #the eclipse the series #our skyy 2 x the eclipse #wat x sani #sani x wat #implicit compassion bias #our skyy 2

[arcxnumvitae]

Who/What inspired my muses

Part 3 what do unbroken fingers feel like

Minglian: Okay, so this was around the time all the stuff with Qingshan went down. As I had established with Zhaohui earlier, I was going to need a replacement Red Eye. Minglian actually became a concept around early 2020 and didn’t actually come into play until maybe October or so of that year? Later on, at least. She went without a name for a while too while in the simmering stages. At the time, Huaxiu was a kind of different person in his capability for sweetness and caring, so with the thought that now he’d be the one to be the teacher and the guide for this new being, I just kinda thought of all the ways in which that would affect him. From the get-go, Minglian and Huaxiu were meant to have a special bond, and it was through his care Minglian that a lot of the jagged edges left from some of Huaxiu’s past trauma began to smooth over.

Zhaohui: Here we go. Like I had said earlier, Zhaohiu was actually created years before, around when Huaxiu was. It started when I reblogged one of those “send in a fc and I’ll make a muse from it” memes. Angie sent in the fc and I didn’t know anything about the series he was from other than knowing it was some books that Kirei cried sitting in her car once while reading? I actually have the original notes where I was jotting down ideas for him! (I actually have them for a few muses now that I’m looking). Basically, my thought was still of someone who had a job, screwed the pooch (seriously, what is up with that saying?), and was punished for it. A curse of some form was also involved. Mainly, I made Zhaohui to be a double-agent in what was going on with Qingshan, someone who sided with her but planned to throw her to the wolves for his own machinations. He wasn’t fully a Red Eye at the time of plotting but he ended up one as time went on. After Qingshan’s stuff happened and his curse was removed, I was already adding Minglian and decided, eh why not, and added him too.

Ruaidhri: I realized I hadn’t added a single fae past Aur? Not a single muse from where he was from? I decided to rectify that. This is also where you can see my little brain starting to do some schemes with the overarching plot regarding the fae.

Zhifeng: As Kirei said in her post, she said something to the effect of “wanna do two con muses based on The R.oad to E.l Do.rado?” And who am I to refuse? Zhifeng really started to take form after we watched the movie, and really started to solidify as I was listening to Annapantsu’s version of It’s Tough to Be a God. Especially the line and especially the tone in which she sang, “And who am I to bridle if I’m forced to be an idol? If they say that I’m a god then that’s what I am!” I remember playing that part over and over again just luxuriating in the inspiration juices that flowed from it.

Eilidh: Baby I’m making the fae brown too. Plus, H.ades and P.ersephone from H.adestown. Specifically their “Chant” songs. And, while they’re not the same types, of quirky, I think some of her quirkiness came from Amber Gray’s amazing portrayal of P.ersephone. Go listen to H.adestown. Oh! Also F.earne from C.ritical R.ole.

Aodh: The other half of the duo of H.ades and P.ersephone from H.adestown. Particularly the way H.ades is, like, super in love with his wife. I was thinking the pining from the Epics, Epic III specifically, and super the bitter tone from Hades’ parts in Chant II and Chant Reprise linked above. Unfortunately, Aodh didn’t end up nearly as cool and “weighty” as H.adestown’s Hades.

Tomoe: I had been going really hot and heavy with the supernatural muses so I thought I’d buff up the normal human section to give more of a selection to any mutuals who wanted more grounded stories. And, sigh, yes, Steph, my ongoing love of R.iza H.awkeye and my love for her dynamic with R.oy hahaha.

Kasemchai: Babes, I wish I could tell you. I saw the fc and wanted to use it, from there I thought a naga would be interesting, a constant theme you’ll notice.

Tara: I wanted to explore things from Aur’s sister’s pov, since all that had been presented was his knowledge and thoughts on her plans to assassinate him. Inspirations? Mary Derrington from C.ritical R.ole (Taryon’s younger sister). And A.zula from A.vatar. So, a lot of better suited/kinda cutthroat younger sister vibes clearly.

Zaisan: Another one from Angie’s deity pantheon. Specifically me tying him into Matthias’ backstory as the one who took his eye.

Saori: @strawberryxdreams wanted to do sibling muses! So we worked out the background and home stuff together.

Etienne: I have a pretty and otherworldly fc but what if he was literally just a Dude?

Amelie: Arata’s daughter! If we sort of time jump to the future where she’s older! I thought her story was an interesting one and seeing how it played out in the future would be interesting too but she was like an npc and also 7, pft. The more interesting things happens when she’s older though since I have already actually worked out future stuff for her, so I said there was no other way to get to the good part other than jumping there.

Iomhar: What if I made a fae gentry and also made him a himbo? I thought it’d be a funny foil to how duplicitous the fae are usually portrayed as.

Taichiro: It was posed to me, “you’re going to become a lawyer, how come you don’t have a muse that does law?” Which was a thought. That I then completely undermined by placing him in an entirely different country with its own legal system so that my three years of hard-earned knowledge meant absolutely nothing anyways. Whoops? I also wanted to add more players to Tomoe’s stuff and the Kurosawa group that she works for.

Kaisei: Horns. No, no he has to be human because of the lore, no horn. But....horns? 👀 Gentle giant. Sorta came to be influenced by a joke of a guest character in C.ritical R.ole, Calianna, someone who’s 1/10 dragon-- “Okay, which ancestor climbed something they weren’t supposed to?”

Anja: More Bastion and also what if I made a snarky little shit for funsies. The last name was just a fun little nod to G.enshin’s K.aeya.

Ed: “I want another god-touched.” Also, what if I had a muse that was just, “’women’.” That’s it, that’s the inspiration. Athena’s always been my favorite of the bunch since my middle school beginning PJO days so it was high time I did something with her.

#{Dash Games #{Minglian Headcanon #{Zhaohui Headcanon #{Ruaidhri Headcanon #{Zhifeng Headcanon #{Eilidh Headcanon #{Aodh Headcanon #{Tomoe Headcanon #{Kasemchai Headcanon #{Tara Headcanon #{Zaisan Headcanon #{Saori Headcanon #{Etienne Headcanon #{Amelie Headcanon #{Iomhar Headcanon #{Taichiro Headcanon #{Kaisei Headcanon #{Anja Headcanon #{Edwina Headcanon #I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel #tell Luna I love her

[blackberrysummerblog]

Another week, another WIP Wednesday. Same SnowBaz AU as last time, on a different night.

Thanks to everyone who liked/reblogged the last snippet; it’s really encouraging! I don’t think I’ll post on AO3 until I have the whole thing finished, because I’d hate if it took too long between updates. I can’t rely on how my work schedule will leave me energy-wise these days. Still, I’m enjoying writing this fic and it’s always nice to see that other people like it as well ❤️

Baz

When I emerge from the en suite, Snow is nowhere to be seen, although there’s a suspiciously huge lump under the duvet on his side of the bed. The red tip of one wing pokes out against the pillow. I have to press my lips together tightly to stifle a laugh as I regard this thoroughly Snow-esque subterfuge.

“Huh. Must’ve gone to the kitchen for a snack,” I say, pulling back just my own side of the duvet and sliding in.

“Psst, hey Baz,” the lump hisses. “Can you tell I’m under here?”

“Wahaagh!” I yelp, jumping a bit. A small, satisfied laugh rumbles beneath the covers, and Snow flips the duvet up just enough to reveal the top of his hair and one shining blue eye. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the eye blinking at me—not the size or shape or colour—but it’s Simon’s, and full of mischief.

“Come here,” he invites me, and I can hear him patting the mattress. “We always end up wrapped around each other anyway.”

“I was going to read,” I tease, lifting a book from my night table and holding it up. I don’t mean it, but Snow nods in acceptance and starts to wriggle towards me. He struggles a bit to make forward progress, what with the duvet draped over his wings, but determination wins the day at last. When he gets to me, he throws an arm over my stomach and rests his head on my chest, right where my heart still, on occasion, beats.

“There,” he pants, somewhat out of breath. He looks up at me with an accommodating grin. “I came to you.”

“So you did. Shall I read to you?”

Snow reaches up and turns my wrist to look at the book’s cover. It’s Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, a translation, but he’s wrinkling up his nose nonetheless. “I won’t understand any of it,” he tells me, “but I like listening to your voice.”

I push the curls from his forehead just long enough to kiss the mole above his eyebrow, then take hold of the hand resting atop my stomach. Snow closes his eyes and smiles that secretive, pleased little smile that I don’t know what to make of, so instead I brace the book against our forearms and begin to read.

Simon

It’s nice, lying half on top of him like this. I can feel his voice vibrating from his chest and through my cheek, the rhythm sure and steady. He understands what he’s reading, I guess. I don’t. Some bollocks about moral virtue as a conscious choice, exactly the kind of thing I generally try to avoid thinking about, but maybe ancient philosophers didn’t find themselves constantly in the thick of life-threatening missions and up against benefactors who wanted them to slay their fit husbands. Those sorts of things really bog down a bloke’s desire to sit around debating the fine points of virtue.

I wonder if Baz still plans to kill me someday.

I wonder if I’ll let him.

I wonder if he was just humoring me about not knowing I was hiding under the bedcovers earlier. I don’t think so though, he sounded well startled. I snicker thinking about the sound he made, and he gives my hand a little squeeze but keeps on reading. Merlin, this is rubbish.

Baz

Perhaps I don’t give Snow enough credit. He started off just rubbing his cheek against me like a cat, yes, but eventually he settled in and seemed to be getting interested in Aristotle’s central arguments. He laughed at the bit about habitual actions only becoming virtuous when good is chosen deliberately, which—I wouldn’t call funny, per se, but I suppose it’s each to their own.

“Ready for bed, little nemesis?”

He grunts and lets go of my hand to deliver a weak slap to my chest. “Don’t like that,” he grumbles, sounding sleepy. “’m not little. Probably weigh more than you do.”

I consider telling him that “shorter but heavier” is an odd boast, but I’ve gone disgustingly soft of late and instead I find myself stroking Snow’s hair. Whether it’s to soothe him or myself I couldn’t say. He responds by sighing, stretching, and throwing a leg over me, which does nothing to encourage my resolve; surely, it’s a bad idea to keep up this...this bonding.

I’m weak.

The Families still expect me to kill him. I wonder what they think I’m waiting for, when nothing would be easier than to end it here, in the bed while he sleeps. I could smother him, or stab him, or…

Crowley, my stomach’s gone off. I probably ate more than I’m used to, trying to placate Snow’s conviction that I don’t eat enough.

I turn off the light and slide down the pillows I’d propped up behind myself, elbowing Snow off me and folding my arms over my chest.

“Nnngh,” he objects, then snuffles his face into my shoulder. “Baz.” I don’t answer, but I keep my gaze on him anyway; I can see him far better than he can see me, and he probably can’t tell that I’m looking at him. I hate him. I hate everything about him. (Stupid messy curls and broad nose, broad shoulders, all pressed against me. He’s radiating heat.) His eyes are open, searching the darkness for the shape of my features. “Baz,” he whispers again.

“What, Snow?” I snap, but the sharp tone is undercut when I roll onto my side and reach up to cup his cheek. I feel the tension relaxing out of him at my touch and hate myself again. Why can’t I be unkind to him?

“Do you really read that for fun?” he asks, looking more or less into my face.

I sigh. “I’m not reading it for fun, Snow, I’m reading for my edification.”

“What’s edification?”

“It’s...intellectual improvement, the satisfaction of education,” I say. His brow is furrowed up now. He’s cute when he’s confused—which is always.

Snow pushes away from me, still frowning. “Well, what do you do for fun, then?” he demands.

Chomsky take it: I can’t help myself, my arm hooks around his waist and tugs him back before I even register what I’m doing, and the second he’s good and curled into me again, I kiss him. It’s good (it’s always so good), and he feels like he’s scalding right into me, his stupid solid body a ball of fire in my grasp. (I’ve always had a way with fire).

Snow draws back just enough that I can feel the curve of his smirk against my lips, and he says, “Very edifying to know that,” with such an air of self-satisfaction that I kiss him again, harder this time.

He throws his leg over me once more and frames my face in his hands, his fingers pushing back into my hair, and there’s something almost frantic about the way he’s pressing against me—frantic in a way that I know is only going to overwhelm me if I don’t put a stop to it now. (I don’t want to put a stop to it.) (Merlin, the way his tongue feels when he trails it up along the roof of my mouth). (I’m dying; if I weren’t well and thoroughly dead already, I would be now). With every ounce of self-control in my limited possession, I take hold of Snow’s wrist and move his hand from the nape of my neck to my waist as I flop onto my back, pulling away without pushing him. (Because I don’t really want him to leave). Simon hesitates a moment, but then sighs through his nose, quietly enough that I know I’m not meant to hear his frustration. He cuddles in against me and plants a soft kiss on my chest before resting his head there again. We’re right back where we started, but this time I hold him tightly.

I have to tell him the truth about what I am. I may actually combust if we keep going like this, but it wouldn’t be fair to expose him to the risk of my losing control without telling him first. Like he’s not going to feel like he was at risk anyway, my brain supplies helpfully. Making out and groping at each other two-thirds of any given day, Snow sleeping innocently beside me all night with no idea of what I might do to him.

#WIP Wednesday #WIP #fanfic #SnowBaz #Baz pitch #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #Simon snow #fanfiction #simon snow series #Simon snow trilogy #carry on #fic #AU #m/m #am writing #will i ever finish? #hope so #carry on countdown #carry on countdown 2022 #fluff

[science-bastard]

if you think that someone being autistic makes them inherently unfunny or unable to tell jokes, or that they can never understand other people, or are inherently worthy of ridicule because of the way they act, you need to sit and have a long hard think about why you think autistic people are not, in fact, people, and refuse to treat them as such

we do tell jokes. we do understand jokes. we have senses of humor. we are fucking funny! we like to laugh and make other people laugh just like non-autistics do! yes, sometimes we will tell a joke and it won’t land, but non-autistics do that all the time too! and quite frankly, the autistics i do know (myself included) are hilarious! non-autistics are missing out!

yes elon musk is a piece of shit who exploits millions, hasn’t even heard of the concept of ethics, and can’t tell a joke, but these things exist separately from him being autistic and non-autistics need to recognize that right fucking now

#actually autistic #autism #aspergers #elon musk #snl #yes this is an incomplete thought and poorly worded #but i’m MAD #yes this is about That Post i reblogged earlier saying i’d make my own #i am purposefully not using the term asperger’s because i personally don’t like it but i do not in any way speak for all autistic people #this post is on no way pro elon musk btw. i just really don’t like the way a lot of people on this hellsite talk about autistics. #personal data

[juletheghoul]

Burning Hour (Part 3)

This series has completely taken over my life and I am so happy you are all enjoying it so much - thank you for all of the lovely messages and comments - I treasure them deeply.

So - you shouldn't be surprised that this particular moment on the red carpet absolutely inspired a scene in this story and I regret nothing. Hope you all enjoy this fantasy that's keeping me going lol.

Din Djarin x F!Reader (Virgin reader)

Pairing: Din x F!Reader

Word Count: 4.9k

Warnings: (18+ NO MINORS) Angst, pining, slow-burn, implied arranged marriage, language, age-gap (about 10-11 years, legal, reader is of age) Yearning, jealousy, fingering/touching / slight dirty talk (slightly possessive)

Let me know if I missed anything!

reblogs are appreciated

Masterlist Series Masterlist Part 4

—

You floated through the morning.

Your dreams were full of kisses, of declarations of love and beskar glinting under the sun and it was hard to concentrate on anything.

You smiled to yourself as you broke your fast with warm bread and butter, feeling his eyes on you from his place behind your father.

“Your highness-” Your father’s advisor came through the door holding the usual paperwork, things for him to look over, letters to read. “-A letter has come for the Princess.” He turned to you then with a smile. He was an old man, grandfatherly and sweet. He handed it to you and you noticed from the corner of your eye Din’s helmet turn towards you.

It was a small letter and you noticed how beautiful the script was as you opened it.

Dearest Princess,

I would be honoured if you were to join me here at my home for dinner. My messenger awaits your response and if you agree, I will send my personal household guard to accompany you. I also imagine your knight will be in attendance, I welcome him and whoever else you choose to bring at my table. Ruby as well of course.

Hoping you’ll say yes.

Ever yours,

Poe. D.

“It’s from Poe, he asks that I join him this evening for dinner.” You were frowning at the letter, conflicted because you wanted to stay home, wanted to meet Din in the garden again. A tiny part of you however, the tiniest part wanted to say yes - wanted to see how Poe would behave. Part of you wanted him to do something unforgivable to wipe the smiles off your parents faces.

“Oh but you must go!” Your father’s voice boomed through the room and you imagined that you could almost hear Din’s jaw clenching.

“Yes my darling, you must go. What does the letter say?” Your mother held her hand out and you handed it to her. She smiled as she read it. “Din, you must accompany her.” She was smiling big, excited at the prospect of a match having been made. No one bothered to ask if you wanted to go.

“Yes of course, let his messenger know that the Princess will be in attendance. She will go, Din- I leave her safety in your hands. Take you who must.” It had been decided for you, and you had to accept it. You felt Mila’s hand grasp yours under the table in understanding.

-

“Which gown would you like to wear your highness?” She asked sadly as you put on your undergarments and you sighed.

Whichever one makes everyone leave me alone.

“Whichever you think would look best sweetling, I have no preference.” You said the words and they were honest. Yes - Poe was charming and sweet, handsome and in another life you would have been faint with excitement at his interest in you but you were in love with Din. He was the one you wanted to share a meal with. He was the one you wanted to kiss in the open - to have holding your hand as you sat together in front of the hearth. He was the one you wanted in your bed.

“How about this one?” She held out a lovely powder blue gown. You would have said no, something more plain but you had to be seen to be making an effort.

“Yes, that will do nicely.” You smiled but it didn’t reach your eyes. She didn’t comment on it.

“I will tie a blue ribbon around Ruby’s neck to match, and I think you have some sapphires as well.” She brought over a tray of jewelry for you to peruse while she laced up your gown.

Your mind drifted to an interesting place. You imagined you were preparing for dinner with Din and imagined your knight picking out jewels for you to wear.

Would he prefer diamonds? Would he like me better in opals or emeralds?

You had a feeling he wouldn’t mind either way, but it was lovely to pretend even for a moment. She placed a dark blue cloak about your shoulders and stood back.

“You look beautiful Princess, the blue looks lovely against your skin.” She held up a silvered looking glass and you saw the reflection of a happy woman, although why she was happy - no one could know.

“Thank you sweetling, let's get this night over with shall we?” You smiled at her as you both made your way outside.

---

Din, along with five of his best knights, waited for her to set out for Damerons home. Damerons own household guard waited as well, having been sent to accompany her and he surveyed them. They seemed competent enough, he gave them their space nonetheless.

It was getting more and more difficult to put the future out of his mind - he knew that the Princess would marry at some point, it was her duty as Queen. She might even marry Poe - he knew that objectively they were a good match but his mind simply couldn’t stay objective. Not when it came to her.

This whole thing was moving faster than he hoped and he didn’t know what he could do about it.

You have to face facts Djarin, you’ll never marry her. You are a knight, she is a Princess, there is no place for you. Maybe you should just let her go.

It was in him to do so, to ignore his feelings for her; to find Gisela and ask her to marry him - have a couple of little ones and pray for things to work out. The harsh words to get her to hate him on the tip of his tongue but they evaporated like dew on a sunny day when he saw her come out to meet him.

She was a gem- a bright, glittering thing that he wanted so desperately to hold onto.

“I am ready Sir, shall we?” She smiled shyly and he nodded.

“Of course Princess, allow me.” He guided her into the wheelhouse, dreading and cherishing every single second.

--

The ride was uneventful, the road was quiet thankfully with nothing to see but long swathes of trees and greenery in the gloaming of the evening.

Ruby was napping softly in your lap but woke quickly when you arrived, her little tail wagging happily at the prospect of exploring.

“Yes my little darling - we are here.” She was in Mila’s arms when you pet her, the two of you waiting for the wheelhouse to come to a stop.

Din opened the door for you, he was helping you climb down when you heard Poe’s voice sounding out.

“Princess, I am so pleased you agreed to come-” He was striding over, his squire on his heels. “-I am happy to see you all. Please - be welcome.” He was smiling big at everyone as his guards retreated, no doubt returning to their posts. He crouched quickly to pet Ruby before approaching you.

“Hello Poe, I thank you for your invitation.” You smiled as you took in your surroundings. His home was a beautiful sprawling estate. He must have been wealthier than you thought. “You must give me a tour of the grounds - I would love to see the gardens.” You smiled at him as he offered you his arm.

“Of course Princess, I will show you whatever you wish after our meal - unless you’d like to go now?” He paused for a moment.

“After dinner would be just fine.” You answered as he guided all of you inside.

--

You weren’t sure what to expect about his home when the letter had come in earlier but it was a pleasant surprise. There were fresh cut flowers everywhere, painstakingly detailed tapestries hung up on the walls as you made your way to the large dining room. Lush carpets and plush chairs, truly a man who enjoyed his comforts.

“You have a lovely home Poe.” You smiled as he led you to your seat.

“I thank you Princess -“ He turned to Din and the other Mandalorians waiting by the table. “-Please, sit with us. I meant what I said, you are all welcome at my table.” He gestured to them to sit.

“I do not wish to intrude, we would be happy to eat with the rest of your household guard.” Din replied, his voice was clipped however.

“Nonsense. I insist, I dare say the Princess would be more comfortable if you were to join us.” He said it with an easy smile and Din hesitated slightly before agreeing. They all sat, lining their helmets up before them.

Din barely spoke.

He had never been one for long speeches - you were unsure whether it was because of the helmet, or just his nature. The other Mandalorians were friendlier and Poe took it all in stride. You could see that he took nothing personal and treated them just as he treated you.

Aside from Din’s cool demeanor and Poe’s etiquette, the dinner went well. The food was wonderful and you didn’t fail to notice some of your favourites on the menu.

“I took the liberty of finding out what you like to eat.” He said it quietly, not wanting to draw attention and you favoured him with a smile. It was hard not to like him, he was very thoughtful.

Once the meal was done, he fulfilled his promise and escorted you outside. It was much more open than the gardens back home - everything illuminated by torches and lanterns. There were flowers and neatly pruned shrubbery surrounding the large building. You noticed a stable on one side, as well a modest greenhouse on the other.

“It’s nothing compared to what you’re used to but I enjoy it. The kennels are just behind the stables and there are flowers and different fruit trees just to the right there - that’s where they get the most sun. I’m afraid the night doesn’t do it justice, it’s much lovelier during the day.” He was walking you through the grounds, your arm tucked under his as your party followed.

“It’s lovely, truly.” You were sincere and you couldn’t help but look up, the sky awash in stars. “I would imagine you must spend a lot of time out here.” You let him guide the way.

“Not as often as I'd like to, but I try. Perhaps when we marry I’ll make more of an effort.” He said it with a wink and you scoffed loudly but without malice.

“Oh is that so? Well then I suppose I’ll have to change some things around since in your mind I’ll live here hm?” Your tone was playful but sarcastic and you were acutely aware of Din following the two of you.

“Oh yes Princess, I am quite sure. My home is yours and you may do with it what you will. I live only to make you happy.” He was just as playful and as annoyed as you were that he was so confident in your union, it was also aggravatingly refreshing to be able to speak to someone so honestly - better yet for them to respond in kind.

You ignored it, Poe was charming, that’s all.

Much to your annoyance, the night was enjoyable. Poe was an excellent host and it was later than you had originally planned when you set off for home. The woods were pitch black in some spots, it made you anxious to ride in the wheelhouse while the world outside seemed like it didn’t exist. The soft light of the moon doing nothing to pierce through the darkness of the road at times.

Reaching the palace had been a relief and you said as much when you stepped out.

“You should have told me Princess, I would have ridden in it with you - if it would have helped.” He spoke as he guided you inside. You had wanted to, but the temptation of having him so close would have been too much - and as much as Mila knew about your feelings towards him - you didn’t want her to see you kissing him.

You patted his arm in silent thanks and he said nothing else.

When you reached your room you hesitated at the door, wanting him to pull you away somewhere but he didn’t - instead he waited until Mila got in. He took his helmet off and you smiled at the state of his hair. Your fingers itched to ruffle through it.

“Princess, if it’s not too late, I would ask you to join me for a midnight ride.” He waited for your answer and your smile widened.

“Of course! Would you permit me to change quickly?” You didn’t want to ride in such a stuffy gown - as beautiful as it was.

“I will wait however long it takes.” He motioned for you to go and you did - urging Mila to help you once you reached your bedchamber.

“The soft linen dress I think - with the long shift and the heavy cloak. I want to be comfortable and warm.” You changed as fast as humanly possible - all but ripping the jewelry off and within a few minutes you were rushing out the door. The two of you making your way towards the stables as silently as possible.

You watched him work deftly, his skilled hands saddling his horse with ease. One horse, not two.

“Are we to ride together?” You looked at him confused.

“Is this a problem for you Princess? I thought it might be quicker to get us to safety should something happen if we were on the same horse. I could saddle you your own if you prefer - we just wouldn’t travel too far.” He hesitated momentarily and your heart leapt at the thought that he would be holding you so closely.

“I trust your judgment Sir, one horse it is.” You kept your voice neutral and he nodded, finishing his work quickly. Once he was done - he helped you up and pulled himself up behind you. The cool beskar pressed up against your back as his arms reached around you to grab the reins.

Your dress pooled up around your thighs slightly, but your legs were covered by your big cloak but it was exciting nonetheless. You felt exposed, with his proximity it excited you way more than it should have. It felt forbidden, taboo and thrilling to have it feel like he was holding you. You couldn’t stop yourself from leaning back into his body slightly but he didn’t complain.

The ride through the forest was quiet except for the sound of the night birds, the crickets and the creatures that prowled at this time. The sound of the horses' steps, the sound of its breathing mixing with yours as well as Din’s. He rode through trees, through the little paths only he seemed to know and after a while you were beside a lake. The soft sound of the water kissing the shore added to the nightsong and you were happy that he had brought you here. He had been silent the whole ride, but you felt him take his helmet off behind you and secure it somehow to the saddle.

“You should know that you looked exceptionally lovely today Princess, blue is your colour.” His breath tickled your neck and you shivered. You turned slightly to look back but you couldn’t fully face him, the angle awkward but he kissed you just under your ear to let you know it was okay.

“I thank you Sir, I hoped you would like it.” You leaned back into his arms to tuck your head under his chin.

“You wore that for me? I thought you wore it for Dameron.” His hands came up to hold onto your arms as he pressed little kisses to your neck.

“I always dress for you.” You left it at that, hoping he would understand that despite everything- he was the one you wanted.

“Can I confess something?” His hand came up to slowly undo the cloak tied at your throat.

“Yes, anything.” You answered almost breathlessly, watching his hands open up the cloak to expose your shoulders, the skin of your thighs poking out where the dress had bunched up even more.

“You might think me wicked but, I thought about what it would be like to kiss you.” His hand trailed down as he spoke, rubbing at your thighs over your dress and you watched them in the low light of the moon, mesmerized.

“You’ve kissed me before Sir, you could kiss me now.” You turned a little more but he stopped you.

“I wasn’t thinking about kissing your mouth lovely girl, I was thinking about kissing you somewhere else.” His hands slowly gathered the fabric of your dress, bunching it in his fist - lifting it inch by inch to bare your legs to him. “May I show you where I want to kiss you?” He stopped but you clung onto his arms around you.

“Yes - please show me.” You felt is other hand join the fray and soon he had exposed your lower half to the cool night air. Your undergarments were damp you knew it - the arousal pooling low in your belly at the thought that he might touch you where you most wanted him to. He didn’t disappoint.

His hand trailed up your inner thigh lightly, slowly, up until he skillfully slid it into your undergarments. He groaned deep in his chest when he touched your bare sex.

“Right here. I long to kiss you, taste you here.” His touch was feather light on the lips of your womanhood, slipping along the seam of you. You whimpered, no one had ever touched you here and you felt the slick dripping out of you as you let him explore. “Would you let me Princess? Would you let me bury my tongue right here?” He dipped his fingers low, parting you slightly to dip his fingers just at the entrance - collecting your arousal onto his fingers before slipping them out and bringing them to his mouth behind you. You moaned at the sound of him sucking you off of them and you nodded frantically.

“Yes Din, I would let you - I’m yours.” You moaned the words and his other hand held you in place.

“And I am yours.” He responded before bringing his hand back to where you craved it, this time he spread the lips of your cunt open wide, honing his middle finger on the pearl of your sex. He rubbed tight, slow circles around it and you moaned - trying desperately to open your legs wider. He chuckled darkly behind you.

“Does that feel good Princess?” He turned your face with his other hand, twisting his upper body enough to capture your mouth in a messy kiss, not quite aligned but it sent a shiver of arousal through you and you felt yourself climbing higher and higher- his finger relentless as he sped up a little.

“Yes - Gods yes - it feels so good Din, I thought about you too.” You moaned the words into his mouth. “I think about you touching me like this, when I do it to myself.” He groaned at your confession, his tongue thick in your mouth when he kissed you again.

His finger dipped low to collect more wetness and the glide of it was just right, just slippery enough to send you over the edge and you almost screamed. Your body seizing up with pleasure as your sex clenched around nothing. He cooed into your ear as you rode it out.

“You are intoxicating my lovely one.” He kissed your neck, as he lowered your skirts.

You watched him, blissed out and boneless as he licked his fingers before grabbing the reins again and slowly making his way back to the palace.

-

Mila was snoring softly when you slipped into the room and you were careful not to wake her and as tired as you were from travel it took you a long time to fall asleep. Your heart full of love for Din and a hunger you couldn’t satiate filled your belly. It was a craving for his body, for his kisses, for physical love a woman shared with her husband. You fell asleep hoping - though secretly knowing- that he craved you the same way.

—-

As happy as you were when you awoke the next morning, it was quickly dampened - your father informed you that Poe was to arrive at the Palace as his honoured guest. That he was to stay for a time as a gesture of good will.

You saw right through it.

Your parents had decided that Poe was the suitor they wanted for you and they weren’t being at all subtle.

They informed you with big smiles on their faces, no doubt in hopes of pushing you towards him. It was exhausting - this constant reminder that you would never be truly free to live the life you wanted with Din.

When Poe arrived, he was happy - taking this as a sign that he was winning you over.

“Greetings Princess, I cannot tell you how happy I am to be able to spend more time with you.” He was all smiles and you had no choice but to smile back.

“It will be interesting for sure.” With the way you felt about Din, the intense desire to be around him was at the forefront of your mind. As well as the way Din behaved around Poe, it would definitely be interesting to say the least.

—

Your father invited Poe to dine at your private table, and he engaged him in conversation almost the whole night. They spoke of the future, of how Poe would help rule if he were indeed to marry you. Your mother smiled silently, happy to let the conversation center around the two of you.

Din stood still behind your fathers chair and you wanted nothing more than to pull him to sit with you. To talk to him, kiss him and feed him from your own plate.

“I would want to help people to be quite honest, extend a hand to those that aren’t as fortunate as us. There are people out there starving and that doesn’t sit right with me.” He was honest, to a fault like he said but you admired that.

“That’s very noble of you my boy.” The king nodded.

“It’s very honourable isn’t it my darling?” Your mother smiled at you and you smiled back, nodding around a bite of your food.

“I’m sure the Princess and I could do much and more to help the people who need it the most, if she would let me that is.” He had a shy, genuine smile for you, tentatively reaching over and taking your hand in his. You couldn’t very well snatch it back but you felt Din’s eyes burning into the interaction.

This could get messy.

“Princess, I would humbly ask that you accompany me for a walk through the grounds - chaperoned by your knight of course.” He asked as the remnants of the meal were taken away.

“Oh I’m sure she’d love to join you wouldn’t you sweetling?” Your mother cooed, and you smiled and nodded.

“Yes of course.” You let him guide you, Din following closely behind.

—

“I hope I’m not intruding - I know that the King and Queen are very keen for this to work between us.” He held your hand as you walked arm in arm and you couldn’t help but sigh softly.

“Yes they are aren’t they.” Your tone came out a little more exasperated than you’d hoped but he was well aware that you were not to be swayed by him so easily, you knew he should expect some hesitancy from you.

“I understand that you aren’t impressed and that I am most likely not your first choice. For all I know you might already have your eye on someone else.” He laughed and you couldn’t help but look over your shoulder at Din. “Regardless of that Princess, I know this must be difficult for you but I beg of you to give me a chance to show you that there is potential here. I believe that in time you might come to love me.” He pulled your hand up to his mouth and kissed your fingers.

“You are selling yourself quite hard Poe, I appreciate that you understand that my feelings for you aren’t where you want them to be.” You looked up at him apologetically, expecting him to have a sad look on his face but he surprised you; he was smiling - content to listen to you speak.

“I know, it’s not in you right now but I believe you will see me in a different light. I have faith.” He left the conversation there.

——

It was hard to find time to meet with Din, Poe seemed to be everywhere and his determination seemingly had no bounds.

Your mother found you as you dressed for the day - she had a note from Poe. He was asking you to accompany him into town to hand out some supplies. You couldn’t refuse him, not when your mother had delivered it herself.

“Will Din accompany us?” You asked it offhand, your voice neutral - your face a mask of nonchalance.

“No your father is going on a hunt and Din will be protecting him, there will be other guards with you.” She said it with a shake of her hand as she searched your wardrobe for an appropriate dress. “This will do nicely.” She picked out an off the shoulder, deep berry coloured dress that was not at all practical for a day out in the city.

It would have to do.

-

He had taken you to an orphanage in the heart of the city. There were kids running around of all ages and the older ones ran towards Poe when you entered - recognizing him. He had a big smile on his face as they hugged him around the middle, all decorum forgotten.

“Poe did you bring us anything?” A boy of about twelve years was eager, looking around you to the entourage of guards waiting behind you.

“Of course, brought all of you some good stuff like I always do.” He ruffled the boys hair before he held his hand out to you, you smiled and stepped forward. “I have someone very special here with me today, this is the Princess. Come on over and say hello.” He called them over to you and you saw some of the little girls eyes light up. They flocked to you, asking you if you were indeed the Princess. Asked you if you had a crown, and most importantly why you were there. They were precious.

“She’s here to help just like I am.” Poe answered for you.

A little girl of about six pulled on your dress and you lowered yourself slightly to be at her level.

“Princess, I like your dress, you’re so pretty.” She was smiling at you, her hair was a tangle but her eyes were bright.

“Thank you sweetling, you are much prettier I must say.” You moved the hair out of her eyes and she smiled wide, her little hand clutching at a makeshift cloth doll.

You helped Poe hand out toys and new clothes and there was food for them to eat. You spent the day playing with them and learning about their lives. The women who ran the orphanage knew him and you saw that all of the talk of helping the less fortunate was real, he had already been doing much more than you had ever even imagined.

It was hard to deny the little spark of something that he held within you.

He was handsome, he was kind and smart- funny and generous and with the way his eyes found yours throughout the day; he felt something for you. His eyes were piercing, dark and mysterious and for the first time, he gave you butterflies.

One of the little ones was showing you his space within the building, his bed and his tiny toy horse. He was waxing poetic about how one day he would be a knight. You were smiling at him when Poe stood next to you, his gaze heavy and it sent a flush crawling up your neck to light up your ears.

The fabric at his neck was crumpled and you couldn’t help but reach up to fix it, your arm extended over to him and his gaze focused on it, reached up to hold it to his neck. He placed a delicate kiss to your bicep and pulled you closer. The act was small, but so intimate it did something to you. Melted a tiny piece of you that up until now was frozen to him and he saw it on your face. Felt it in the way you let him hold you close, your arm still around his neck, his hand moving down to hold onto your waist.

The little boy was in front of you now, asking Poe if he would ever give him a real horse and he laughed, not unkindly.

“One day my boy, one day I will give you a horse - only if you promise to behave and be on your best behaviour. Can you do that?” The little boy nodded sagely promising he would. You didn’t pull your arm away, and you couldn’t pinpoint why.

—-

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[littlemissnoname13]

Fortunate Misfortune (D.M. x Reader)| Chapter 5: A Bloke Named Shakespeare

Summary: Its his last year at Hogwarts and former Hogwarts bully, Draco Malfoy just wants to clean up his act and get through the year. Maybe even apply for a potions fellowship and date Astoria Greengrass. His plan seems perfect on paper except for a minor hiccup in the form of a feisty Hufflepuff girl...

A/n: This multi-chapter has been in my Drafts since before I started posting on here and I’ve used so many scenes from it and turned them into one shots in the past. The series is almost completed and ill just be dumping it on my blog because I don’t know what to do with it. Please do not feel pressured to read it. 😅🥲.

Thank you to everyone that has read it so far. Your feedback makes me so happy.

Reblogs and Feedbacks are always welcomed. :)

Warnings: none except coarse language and mentions of food and one mention of implied smoking (No voldy AU)

Word Count: 1700ish

Chapter 4| Masterlist| Chapter 6

For once, you were not at shady ol’ Four broomsticks on a Saturday.

Astoria of all people, had stumbled across you basking in the sun all alone and invited you to go to the Three Broomsticks with her.

And although you wanted to politely decline her offer, you knew you could use this occasion to find out if she liked Draco...subtlety was key of course. 

The blond ferret wouldn't let you hear the end of it if you accidently blabbed about his feelings for her. Besides, they weren’t your feelings to share. They were Malfoy’s and you respected that. 

Astoria was one of the limited few that didn’t believe in the “curse” of “misfortune” baggage that you apparently brought with you wherever you went. 

Yes, you knew all about the rumours.

It started back in the second year when you’d gotten paired up with Lavender Brown for Herbology. Before parting ways after class, you wished her a good day and apparently she ended up having the worst day of her life.

Legend has it that Lavender tripped from a steep flight of stairs and broke several bones that day. It was said that she was on Skele-Gro potion all day. 

You obviously felt horrible when you found out but it was baffling that none of these people had even taken a moment to consider the factor of coincidence. 

It was funny how the rumor mill could churn something as simple and harmless as “she ate toast for breakfast” to something like “the toast ate her for breakfast.” 

“Butterbeer, y/n?” Astoria asked, interrupting your inner monologue. “On me of course.”

“I’d like that, actually. Thanks Astoria.” You gave her a grateful smile as she walked away to fetch you both the beverage she’d promised. 

~~~

“You know, I haven’t seen you this distraught since that one time you had turned into a ferret.” Blaise commented about the quidditch match from earlier that morning as they walked towards Three Broomsticks. 

Blaise was right. 

Draco had lost sight of the Snitch allowing Ravenclaw to win by a landslide.

Most of his team members were halfway understanding about it and gave him a pat on his shoulder as they exited the locker rooms like they felt sorry about his complete inability to locate the snitch, let alone catch it. 

“Can we not talk about the Ferret thing, Blaise?” Draco gave him a dismissive huff before proceeding to enter the inn. 

Three broomsticks was always crawling with students from Hogwarts on the weekends. Just upon entering, he saw several familiar faces crowding the booths and tables. 

As his eyes scanned the premises, they landed on someone he was least expecting to see there. 

Absent-mindedly Sipping on butterbeer, oblivious to the foamy mustache that had formed your lip while you nodded eagerly to whatever Astoria was saying, as she sipped on her own drink next to you.  

Wait, Astoria was next to you?!

Astoria’s curious eyes caught him for a millisecond and he quickly felt his blood rush up to his face. In a desperate effort to conceal this and bring his blood pressure back to normal, Draco decided to look at you. 

You seemed to have noticed this, mid sip because your eyebrows arched in surprise as you quickly wiped the foam mustache off from your lips.

It was then that he realised that looking at you somehow was inducing more damage because he suddenly felt like he had a raging fever with his ears all hot.  

I hate this. I hate it here. 

“Draco!” You swiftly stood up from your seat and waved at him. “Over here.”

You had the same cheeky looking grin on your face from when you had asked him to go to the owlery. 

You were up to something. 

~~~

You wished you had thought your sudden burst of ideas through because the arrangement was awkward to say the least. So very awkward.

You weren’t expecting to see Blaise or even Draco. Draco had mentioned something about a quidditch match the night before but you didn’t think he’d come to Three broomsticks afterwards. 

As you quietly sipped on butterbeer next to Draco, Astoria and Blaise managed to  enthusiastically discuss everything from sports and entertainment, to classes, to current affairs like they were news reporters reading from a teleprompter. 

It wasn’t that you didn't want to contribute to the conversation. In fact, Draco kept nudging your leg with his knee under the table implying that it was your “big chance” to have a conversation with Blaise. 

However, no matter how much you pushed yourself, even the simple task of arranging words to form a halfway decent sentence seemed like a complex conundrum in front of Blaise. 

It was never like this when it was just you and Draco. Conversations were free flowing, they were easy and sincere.

Maybe that's what he meant when he said things were easier with you because right in that moment, the hard line on Draco’s clenched jaw told you that he was having a tough time too. 

But you weren't willing to waste this opportunity that easily so you did the only thing you were capable of doing as a last resort. 

You purposefully dropped a teaspoon on the floor and bent down and under the table cloth to pick it up. 

“Draco...” You whispered, poking his leg with your pointer finger. “Draco, are you going to talk to her?”

His face paled and his entire frame turned rigid when he heard your whisper before he quickly ducked his head underneath the table with you. 

“Remind me that when you manage to get a word out of your mouth, yeah?” He whispered, Clearly annoyed. 

“I would, If I had enough knowledge about quidditch.” You sighed in defeat. “Just add to their conversation. I don’t know, tell them that thing you were telling me about the Falmouth Falcons the other day.” 

“Easier said than—”

“Well, Well…” A voice cut him off mid sentence and a clicking sound of high heels approached your table. 

You didn't even need to think twice to know who that perfectly shiny and pristine pair of leather boots belonged to. 

“I knew something was up with these two when I saw them canoodling in the courtyard last night.”

Blaise and Astoria stopped chatting to look at the two of you questioningly after you emerged from under the table. 

“I uh..dropped my spoon?”

“Are you sure that was all?” Pansy interrogated, observing her freshly manicured nails in the process. “Because it looked like—”

“How about you mind your own business Pansy?” Draco seethed.

“Okay. Okay. Fine.” She said, placing unnecessary emphasis on random syllables, sounding like she was taunting him. “Then I guess I won't even bother to ask why she is wearing your sweater.” 

You turned to look at Draco who now looked uncomfortable and ready to storm out any minute. 

If that wasn’t enough, there was this added tension around the table. 

Blaise kept looking at you with a confused look on his face and Astoria kept drumming her fingernails at the top of the table,looking at everyone but Draco.

Pansy on the other hand had dragged a chair to the table and was sipping on Butterbeer looking proud of herself for her so-called discovery. 

“Some more Butterbeer?” Astoria finally asked, feebly attempting to shatter the tension barrier. 

“Sounds lovely.” Blaise added. 

“Perfect.” Astoria cheered, getting up for her seat next to Blaise while she looked at Draco the whole time. “Although, It would be great if someone could help me carry the drinks back.”

You quickly nodded your head and nudged Draco. “Malfoy?”

“Right.” He muttered and quickly stood up to follow her. 

~~~

When Draco and Astoria came back with another round of drinks in their hands, you noticed a bright purple and excessively glittery flyer of some sort in Astoria’s hands. 

“The Muggle studies club is hosting a party next week.” Astoria explained as she placed the flyer in the middle of the table. “The theme has something to do with a bloke named Shakespeare. I’m not very sure myself.”

A Midsummer Night's Dream. Join us as we celebrate muggle literature, with fine food, dancing and music. Friday at Six O’clock. Hogwarts Courtyard.

“Sounds a bit pretentious don't you think?” Draco scoffed before taking a long sip of his drink. 

“I don’t know Malfoy, it does sound interesting to me.” Blaise commented with his deep set eyes directly fixed on you. It was a good thing you weren’t sipping on your drink because you would have probably choked on it. “What do you think, Y/n?”

~~~

Late Sunday evening, Draco heard a knock on his door. 

He hadn’t seen or talked to anyone since Saturday afternoon after Blaise asked you to the party. Although he made a mental note to ask Astoria, he had been a bit busy skimming through as many books as he could. 

His unfinished application was buried under a stack of loose parchment and he had accumulated a mass of crumpled paper, broken quills and cigarette butts next to him. 

He had also used up his clean mugs and he was only left with a silly mug that had the words “hot stuff” written on it. It was a gift from Theodore and Blaise and the imbeciles had charmed the letters to glow each time he took a sip.  

“Come in.” He muttered, eyes still glued to his book while he used his wand to unlock the door when the knocking continued. 

“Someone’s been busy.” He heard you say before he slammed his book shut to look up. 

Your hair was held up at the nape of your neck with your wand and you had used your school robe to cover all of your body. 

“What do you want, Y/n?” 

“I need your help.” You said nervously, as you slowly shed the robe, letting it fall to the ground. 

From your exposed shoulders, to the sweetheart neckline of the soft orchid coloured dress you were wearing, everything was….

“So, how can I help you y/n?” He asked, clearing his suddenly dry throat as he reached for his tea. 

“I need your honest and brutal opinion.” You said, turning around to reveal the open back of the dress.

He took a few minutes to think of an appropriate answer and took a huge gulp from his mug, which in turn made the words hot stuff glow a neon pink.

Fuck you Theo and Blaise. 

“Perfect.” Draco finally managed to say, shoving the mug as far away from him as possible. “You look perfect.”

~~~

🏷 Series tag list: @writeandtranslate @louweasleymalfoy @silentkiller2374 @badass-yn @lilmissquackson @sycathorn-slush @mzmalice3 @mvdbldd @emptycanvasthings

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[s0ckh3adstudios]

They’re fresh! They’re dead! They’re ghost kids ruling over a forest! It’s the Haunted Hats Subcon Squad! Woo!

Redrawn refs ready for 2022 babbyyy. Do reblog and show, introduce more ppl to the squad and the AU >:3

Look down here for info, music ideas, and idk stuff. I’m mostly copy pasting stuff from old posts and google docs, but I’m editing some stuff.

THE HERO

She believes she’s a hero, anyway. The princess of Subcon Kingdom, Hero is a ghost with a temper who doesn’t appreciate trespassers in her forest kingdom! Do that crime, you gotta do some time.

When Beta enters Subcon Kingdom, Mu forces her to sign a contract to agree that she’ll help out with chores and other tasks around the forest as punishment for trespassing into the forest and causing a bit of damage by accident. Hero is doing her best to make Subcon Kingdom a better place (though is failing) and now Beta needs to help. Unfortunately, she should have read the fine print of that contract, because now she lost ownership of her soul for awhile. Peck.

Music (underlined words have links to music):

So, Hero’s got several different motifs to go by, but with the role she’s in she only needs like a couple songs so let’s go in order.

1: Snatcher’s Contractual Obligations! This counts yes it does. When you meet Hero, it goes similar to how you meet Mu in the game. You see her, you start going in her direction to follow her, then suddenly you get into her version of Snatcher’s purple vine area as she says “HEY I SAW YOU STALKING ME YKNOW”. Hers wouldn’t sound as intense? Because she’s not necessarily trying to be evil? It might sound a little condescending, she means business. You trespassed into her forest which is a crime, now you’ve gotta make up for it.

I feel like with that song... I first thought hers could be made with A New Friend In Mafia Town, but after thinking about it, I honestly think with Snatcher’s Contractual Obligations it would work better with the tune of Judge, Jury, and Executioner. I was thinking about this earlier and I honestly think this song could be really cool, even if the song isn’t used often.

2: Okay, so remember So, What’s The Plan?  HERO COULD GET HER OWN SPOOKIFIED VERSION OF THIS WHEN SHE’S MAKING YOU SIGN CONTRACTS AND TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO… That’d be cool. I guess it could keep the tune it already has but just sound spookier for Subcon?? idk man.

3: Let’s talk about the theme of Subcon Forest itself! Sure it could be the same but I think it’d be fun if it had more Mu motifs since she’s (1) the main leader of Subcon and (2) the one who actually has lived there all her life. I think it could have several different motifs, BUT THE MAIN ONE WOULD DEFINITELY BE Judge, Jury, And Executioner . Judge, Jury and Executioner my beloved… It’s one of my top favourite AHIT songs, if you didn’t know. Anywho yeah the HH Subcon Kingdom theme would def still contain some of it’s og themes, but also Mu ones.…honestly, no no, it would also include themes relating to the other ghosts :0 some Her Spaceship motifs for Collector and Hoarder, and… idk, something for Haunter. Timmy doesn’t have music.

4: Oh, It’s You! Oh yeah. Maybe Hero’s would be a lil more triumphant, a little royal since she’s acting as the “Queen/Princess” of Subcon? Not sure which of her songs would fit best with it.. But I’d be interested in hearing something like it. Maybe A New Friend In Mafia Town since that’s her most chill theme, with hints of like Judge, Jury, Executioner in there.

5: NOW FOR HERO’S BOSS FIGHT. Mu literally has 3 separate battle themes, mix one or all of them into Your Contract Has Expired and you’re good. Probably Segment 2, it’s the best. I guess some segment 3 could be in there but like... that one is more like for Hat Kid having the rush and triumph and almost saving the world. Ofc the battle theme could also have all her other themes thrown around in there too.

THE HAUNTER

The spooky, coat wearing spirit who haunts the abandoned manor within Subcon Kingdom! It’s said that he took it over shortly after he got here and turned it into the most haunted building in the land, with over a hundred rooms and maze-like corridors. It’s also said you can hear the rave music from the ghost parties that go on in there from miles away. He’s not exactly the most intimidating ghost, but he tries to be!

You don’t get to fight this ghost, nope! He’s just not into that kind of activity. Instead, he gives you the challenge of getting through his haunted manor in order to get a Time Piece reward! Not only that, but there may or may not be a couple more hidden rewards within the many halls and rooms of the manor. More Time Pieces? Stickers? Remixes? Dyes? They’re all hidden somewhere! But the place is a maze of rooms, how are you supposed to find anything in there, especially your way out? 

Music (underlined words have links to music):

just KIDDING I GUESS I CAN’T REALLY DO THAT THERE IS NO MUSIC RELATED TO HIIIIMM…

Well, he can have an Oh, It’s You ofc. Again, really not sure about his motifs.

Maybe since he was cut co-op he has some similar motifs to Coco and Hoarder? Ooh, that’d make sense... the three other ghosts having similar motifs. Maybe stuff like the title screen. Oh, and also Tim’s unused theme. Honestly? Something like that could be fun with an Oh, It’s You. Would make sense since he’s Tim’s kid.

The only other theme Haunter would have is for his haunted manor. Basically how it works is you have to go through it to get a Time Piece from Haunter if you manage to get out of the maze of a haunted house. Inside are lots of rooms, puzzles, parkour, etc. It’s bigger on the inside. You can find stickers in there, yarn, more time pieces, coins, secrets ;).

So the mansion theme would be of similar instrument and vibe to the usual theme for Vanessa’s manor, but not AS creepy, yknow? A little fun spooky? Mysterious? What’s around that next corner? What’s in the next room? What’s gonna pop out next? Maybe a song similar to that of Gloucester Carousel from Mad Rat Dead. Not AS upbeat, way more spooky and curious, but it has that goofy vibe as if this is a game.

THE COLLECTOR AND THE HOARDER

This hat-wearing ghost may just be the smuggest ghost of them all! What’s her and Hoarder’s goal? To collect! Collect what? ...Well, everything! Originally, it was just Time Pieces, but their ghostly corruption and boring afterlife led them to want so much more!

As her name suggests, she collects things! She enlists in Beta to help her collect Time Pieces, much to the kid’s dismay. You do end up fighting her to get all the Time Pieces back for yourself, and Collector has all the different hat abilities. Yes, EVEN Time-Stop. She’s a tough foe. When she’s not being smug and laid-back evil, she can be devastating to your HP.

The Collector’s ghostly little sister and helper, the Hoarder, is a shy spirit who doesn’t do as much collecting as her sister. She does more of the organizing. Everything has to be in its place! Her presence in Subcon Kingdom isn’t as well known as the other ruler ghosts, and her existence is often forgotten as a whole. But, don’t be fooled! She can be just as smug and frustrated as her sister!

After finishing up the tasks with Collector, Beta goes into Collector and Hoarder’s abandoned spaceship hide-out to retrieve the Time Pieces that have been put there. Just when you think Hoarder isn’t gonna be a threat to you, just wait! She’s the obstacle you’ve got to watch out for in that hide-out. She’s doing some organizing and cleaning as usual, and you have to sneak past in order to get to the room the Time Pieces are being kept in. In order to distract her, you’ll have to use the brewing hat to knock down items from shelves so Hoarder will be focused on fixing and putting the item back for a few seconds. If you’re spotted however, you have to hide quickly, or else Hoarder will call Collector back to the hide-out for her to give you a game-over.

Music (underlined words have links to music):

Honestly? They have more of the Vanessa’s manor activity than Haunter does. So, for these two, they love to collect things, especially time pieces. So you have to go collect that stuff for them. Now, you wanna go and get that stuff back in the end.

C and H live in their crashed spaceship which they use as a house. It’s full to the brim with shelves of collected items, and you have to sneak through it and get all your belongings while heading to the room full of Time Pieces. (There’s actually two variations of Time Pieces so Beta knows which are hers.) But as you’re sneaking through their hide out while Collector is away, Hoarder is there to guard their treasure. So you have to be careful for her to not see you. If she does, Hoarder will call Collector, and they’ll both give you a game over. Which nobody wants. So you’ll have to distract her by making sounds in different spots to distract her, sneak around, etc.

SO. SO. Since this is in their spaceship. Maybe the music there would be like… Her Spaceship sounding creepy and sounding like the manor music? :0 Oh that would be so cool.

They both have an Oh, It’s You! of course. They’d probably share one, but that’s... boring. Idk. Collector’s would be smugger, Hoarder’s would be softer. Probably would have elements from Peace and Tranquility, maybe the menu theme. Coco and Hoarder have a lot of motifs to choose from as the protagonists of AHIT algkjkglh.

Then there IS boss fight with Collector, and she has access to all the hats so that also makes her tough. Again, lots of motifs for what her song could be. Of course it would also sound like Your Contract Has Expired, but there’s a lot of Hat Kid themes. Maybe hers would have the Segment 3 from You Are All Bad Guys mixed with her other themes like the spaceship theme, menu theme.

#ahit #a hat in time #ahit au #a hat in time au #ahit haunted hats au #ahit hat kid #ahit bow kid #ahit timmy #ahit mu #ahit mustache girl #ahit the hero #ahit the haunter #ahit the collector #ahit the hoarder

[dathen]

Does Jon deny all the statements/the Supernatural ROUND THREE:  TMA 11-15

Chugging right along!  We got some fun ones in this batch.  (previous two posts linked in reblog)

- TMA 11 - Dreamer:  This is arguably the most significant episode for this analysis.  Oliver’s statement was about something the Institute didn’t even allow as a story, let alone evidence, came from a fake name, had no potential for corroboration or verification.  AND YET.  Jon doesn’t even pretend that he isn’t extremely shaken.  He makes a feeble suggestion towards “maybe someone is pranking me?” but immediately follows up with changing the Archives process so that he can make sure to hear any similar predictions for himself firsthand.  “If anyone comes in ranting about dreaming my death, then I very much want to hear about it.”  Conclusion:  Not dismissed

- TMA 12 - First Aid:  “There’s obviously a lot to unpack here,” Jon starts, and then launches into all sorts of follow-up--but not a word of skepticism or dismissal.  In addition, Jon reviews the camera feed they obtained to line up what it shows with the details of the statement, pointing out where it lines up.  This was also not a lazy effort; he adds “I personally counted twenty-eight people” in the shot of the emergency room emptying.  Conclusion:  Not dismissed

- TMA 13 - Alone:  Ah yes one of the notorious ones...and very mischaracterized ones.  This one starts with the statement-giver insisting it’s “all in her head,” an expression of emotional trauma, while JON counters with a piece of evidence she brought in with her.  The ever-controversial argument at the end began with “We’ll need to do some investigation into a few of the details that you raised, but at first impressions...”  Not “you’re lying” or even her own words of “it’s all in your head.”  That is then immediately followed by “Beyond that, it’s difficult to prove either way, but I would suggest you leave the stone with us, so we can study it.”  You have a very noncommittal answer with the promise to investigate, which gets taken as some sort of mockery.

The post-statement follows the same format as many of the earlier statements; there is a fair amount of evidence against the statement, but Jon concludes, “I’d be tempted to chalk this one up to a hallucination from stress and trauma, if it wasn’t for the fact that...”  The stone itself ends up in Artefact Storage as an Officially Spooky Item.  Conclusion:  Not dismissed

- TMA 14 - Piecemeal:  Researcher Jonathan immediately begins with “It doesn’t look like this case was ever properly followed up,” which of course his team is amending.  He gives a long list of details they learned in their follow up, and despite difficulties gathering information doesn’t say a word of skepticism.  Conclusion:  Not dismissed

- TMA 15 - Lost John’s Cave:  Here is another one where nearly all the evidence they found contradicted the details of the statement, but even then Jon doesn’t dismiss it.  He points out all of the spooky details, admitting how unnerving they are, and then concludes with “I have made the decision not to follow up our findings with Ms. Popham”--given the tone of voice, this arguably was a decision made out of sensitivity rather than disdain.  Conclusion:  Not dismissed

No new dismissals in this batch, and Jon barely even performing any doubt.  And one that he took so seriously that he continued to try to change the Institute’s processes so he can have more immediate access to similar statements!

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims

[atlafan]

Office Neighbors - Part Twelve

a/n: a lot going on, but a happy time all around, enjoy! (reblogs and feedback are super helpful!) not proofread, sorry!

warnings: angst, fluff, smut...the word “homo” is used negatively. If that makes you uncomfortable, then please don’t read, or skip over that scene, you’ll be able to tell it’s coming. 

words: 16K

masterpost

Harry made love to you, quickly, before Andy got home. You both were just getting yourselves cleaned up when you heard the front door open and close.

“Hello?! I thought you guys were going to the pub.” Andy says and you both hustle out of the bedroom. “Did you say yes?”

“I said yes!”

Andy beams at the two of you and rushes over to give you both a hug.

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks, buddy, thought we all could go out and celebrate together.” Harry says. “Wanna go wash up?”

“Yeah!”

The three of you all go to the Thai place for dinner, and then head home to enjoy the ice cream cake. You were beyond excited, and you promised yourself you’d call everyone tomorrow to give them the good news.

“When are you gonna tell Mum?” Andy asks Harry with a mouth full of cake.

“Um, m’not sure yet. I’d like to tell my own mum first.” Harry chuckles. “I’ll have to FaceTime her when I first get up tomorrow.”

“I’m sure we’ll tell your mom soon, Andy.” You smile at him.

“What kind of wedding do you wanan have?”

“Small.” You and Harry say at the same time.

“Just close friends and immediate family.” Harry says.

“I thought girls liked big weddings, though?”

“Not all girls.” You laugh. “I think it’s more special when it’s intimate. When you have giant weddings you care more about making everyone coming happy when the days is supposed to be about you and your partner.”

“What did Phil and Julian do?” Andy asks.

“Oh, they’re not married. They’re in a civil union. They were rings, but they’re not married.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “It just wasn’t something they wanted to do. Not everyone needs to get married. I think it depends on your values and stuff. Your dad and I both really like the idea of marriage, so we’re getting married.” You smile.

Andy nods and continues on with his cake. Later on, after Andy goes to bed, you and Harry find yourselves having a little make out session in bed. You were straddling him, and he had his arms wrapped around you.

“Can I ask you something?” You breathe.

“Yeah.”

“I love the ring, I really do, but…” You bite your bottom lip.

“But what?”

“I just wasn’t expecting it to be so big.”

“That’s what she said.” He bursts out laughing and you roll your eyes with a sigh. “Sorry, I had to.” He strokes your cheek. “I figured that since we won’t be spending a lot on a big weeding that I could go a little extra on the ring.” He pecks your now swollen lips. “I thought you deserved a nice, big rock to go along with my nice, big co-“

“If you finish that sentence I swear to god I will pack up and leave.” Harry laughs and grins at you. “You’re in a goofy mood tonight.” You run a hand through his hair.

“I’m giddy, babe.” He kisses you again. “I’ve never had a fiancé before.”

“Hmm, me neither.” You smirk.

“Look at us, having a real first together.” He boops your nose and you can’t help but giggle. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

You lean back in and lightly bite down on his bottom lip. You suck on it before licking into his mouth. He squeezes your hips before sliding his hands to your ass. One of his hands traces around your stomach and inside your leggings. He tugs on the band of your panties and slips his hand inside there as well. You grunt against his lips, but let him continue. His fingers slide between your folds, and you tug at his hair.

“Sure you’re not too tired for this? You’ve had a long day…” He says as he looks up at you, still feeling around.

“Yes.” You groan. “Then when we’re done I’ll be about ready to pass out.”

“Okay.” He cranes his neck to kiss you, and he slides two fingers inside you.

You gasp into his mouth from the feeling. He drags his fingers in and out of you slowly and rub his thumb over your clit. You rock your hips back and forth at the same pace as his fingers. You grip at his shoulders as it becomes more intense.

“Put one of your hands back in my hair, babe.” He grunts. You were soaking his fingers and he was trying to not lose it in his pants.

You do as he says and get a good grip on his locks and he moans softly. You press your lips back to his, not wanting to be too loud, and continue to ride his fingers. He curls them up and pets them against your front wall and you gasp again. You continue to moan into each other’s mouths as you get closer to your breaking point. The hand you have on his shoulder slides down his torso, and you tug on his jeans.

“No, it’s okay.” He tells you. “This is just about you, Y/N.”

“But it’s gonna hurt if I don’t.” You whimper.

“It’s fine, baby, just wanna get you off.”

He bites your bottom lip and your eyes roll into the back of your head. You come around his fingers and ride out the shocks. He slowly removes his hand from you and he sucks his fingers into his mouth as you catch your breath.

“Harry, are you sure you don’t want me to-“

“No, sweetheart.” He pecks your lips. “You were gone for so long, just missed you.”

You kiss him again and get off of him to go clean yourself up. Truth be told, even if Harry had let you rub and tug at him, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to come. He was fine earlier, but the conversation during cake was distracting him. How was he going to tell Paige has engaged, and more importantly, how was he going to tell her she wasn’t invited?

//

Harry had sworn Andy to secrecy. He explained he wanted Paige to find out from him. Anne and Gemma were overjoyed with the news, as were your family and friends. You sent them all pictures. You even had Andy take a few pictures of you and Harry together in the backyard as a makeshift engagement shoot, it was fun. Andy blew bubbles to add some aesthetically pleasing effects.

“I swear if he doesn’t go to a college for art, it would be a damn shame.” You say as you look through the pictures. “Might post this one on my insta.” You show Harry a photo of you and him, he was holding you from behind and you both had big smiles on your face.

“Whatever you want, babe.” He kisses your cheek.

“So, there’s something I wanna run by you…” Andy was over at Caroline’s today so it was the perfect time to chat about wedding stuff. You were outside with him as he was gardening.

You enjoyed sitting in a chair while he would tend to the flowers. He always looked so cute with his bucket hat and tools.

“What’s up?” He says, turning to look at you. He takes his hat off and wipes some sweat from his forehead.

“How long do you wanna wait to actually get married? I mean…there’s not rush, but I don’t know if I wanna wait that long.” You look down at your lap and twiddle your thumbs. “I’m one-hundred percent sure about us…”

“So am I.” He scoots over to sit in front of you and he takes your hands in his. “Wouldn’t have proposed if I wasn’t. I just figured we’d be engaged for a while so we weren’t planning while you were working. This is a big year for you.”

“I know…but planning a wedding could be a good distraction for me. It’s like you’re always saying, I probably don’t have a great work-life balance. I could carve out time to work on both.”

“Alright, when are you thinking, then? This spring?”

“I was actually sort of thinking later this fall.” You mumble and look at him. His eyes widen and his mouth suddenly feels dry. “Like beginning of November? I was thinking maybe we could have a really small ceremony at the Boston Commons, and then Julian mentioned on the phone he could get us a deal at the hotel. It would be perfect for your family and whatever friends you’d want to have fly in. He said we could use one of the smaller function rooms for the reception. It’s still warm enough in Boston in November to be able to do something outside too.”

“Would…would just a couple of months be enough time for you to get an outfit together. I know you said you weren’t sure if you wanted to wear a dress, but fittings take time regardless.”

“Honestly, I was thinking of just taking a trip down to Macy’s with Nora and looking at some stuff there. I might wear a dress, but if I see a pantsuit I like I may go for that. I’ll wear white still, I think, I don’t really like the blushes or the peaches…” You try to read his face, which could be very difficult sometimes. “Are you having an internal freak out? Is this all too soon for you?”

“No, not at all…um, people just might think you’re, uh, pregnant since we’re rushing a little.” He swallows. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“What? No, I would tell you if I was, babe.” He nods at that. “I just, I mean, it’s nice to be your fiancé, I just can’t wait to be your wife, that’s all.”

His features completely soften. He felt like a puddle of mush. He was so fucking in love with you, and that love, for the first time in his life, was actually being reciprocated. Truth be told, he’d take you right to the courthouse now if he could. He definitely didn’t want a long engagement, he just didn’t want to add to your stress. He stands up and cups your cheeks and presses his lips to yours in a tender kiss.

“Come on, let’s go inside.”

“But you’re gardening.”

“I’ll get back to it in a minute. Let’s go grab my planner and see what weekend could work best in November.”

“You’re serious?!” You nearly squeal as you stand up.

“Yeah.” He smiles. “I wanna be your husband as soon as possible too.”

You wrap your arms around Harry’s neck, and he hugs you back briefly before you go inside. He grabs his planner from up in the loft and you both go into the kitchen to sit at the table to look at it.

“Here.” He taps on a date. “November 6th…”

“Oh, and it’s a Saturday, that’d be perfect, baby.”

“You really wanna get this all together by then? It’s gonna be a lot.”

“Julian’s got my back with the hotel, and Phil said his restaurant could cater the buffet. We’ll save a ton of money. Also, Mark’s part-time job is a DJ, so music is covered too. We just need to get your family here, essentially.”

“What about a honeymoon? Do you wanna take a trip or something?”

“Andy usually goes to Paige’s for Thanksgiving, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what if we just take that entire week off? We could go somewhere warm if you wanted…or, I mean…I’m sure I’ll be spending the holidays in London with you, we could go on a trip then?”

“No, that’s a family thing, and yeah, you’re definitely coming.” He ponders for a moment. “I think a trip during Thanksgiving week could be fun, actually. You won’t miss your family?”

“I mean, I will, but we’ll see them at the wedding.” You shrug. “I’d much rather take a little vacation with you.”

“Where would wanna go?”

“On a gigantic level if money was no object? I’ve always wanted to go to Greece, but I know that would be tough to swing, especially on such short notice…”

“Hmm.” He puckers his lips in thought. “Yeah, that’s something we should really plan out…maybe we could save that trip for another special time.” You nod at him. “Somewhere warm…oh! What about Florida? That’s a perfect time of year to go, and hurricane season will be over. We could go to Miami or something.”

“I’ve never been to Miami! That would be a lot of fun, there’s so much to do there.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.” He slaps his hand down on his planner playfully. “We’ll get married in on the 6th, and then we’ll go on our honeymoon during Thanksgiving. I’m a master at planning flights, so let me take care of that, yeah? If Phil could get us a menu or something I’d like to do a tasting…”

“Agreed.” You were smiling ear to ear. “Oh my god, we just set a date!” You squeal and throw your arms around him. “I love you.” You kiss him. “I love you so much.” You kiss him again.

“I love you too, baby.” He kisses you. “Now, let me go back to tending to my flowers, I’ll be pissed if my roses get fucked up.”

He gets up and you can’t help but giggle at him.

//

It was time for the annual back to school shopping trip. You stayed back since it was a tradition for Andy to go with just his parents. You didn’t mind. Andy not only needed new school supplies, but he needed some new clothes as well. He had grown another few inches over the summer. His doctor thinks he’s going to be about six feet by the time he’s a sophomore in high school. Harry and Paige decide to meet up at Old Navy for the shopping spree.

“Okay, Mum and I are going to hang by the changing rooms. You can go around the store on your own, look for sales, and then you will try on the clothes for us.” Harry says firmly.

“Fine, but no coming into the room with me.” Andy mutters. “It’s embarrassing.” His voice cracks slightly and then he clears his throat.

“So you want me to tug on your jeans out in the open? Alright.” Paige shrugs.

Andy makes an exasperated noise and walks away, making Harry and Paige laugh. The two make their way to go sit at the chairs outside the changing rooms.

“I’m surprised you’re not looking around yourself.” Harry says to her.

“I have plenty of clothes.” She chuckles.

“Listen, uh, while he’s busy looking at clothes, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” He takes out his phone and shows Paige his lock screen, which was now a picture of you two kissing, and you were cupping Harry’s cheek with your left hand to showcase the ring. Andy had given you about two seconds to stage the photo.

“Um…why are you showing me a picture of you two kissing?”

“Look closer, at her hand.” He sighs.

Paige squints and then gasps, putting a hand over her mouth.

“Oh! You…you proposed to her already? That’s great! Congratulations.” She moves to hug him, but he shakes his head no.

“We’re in public.” He mumbles. “Anyways, yeah, we’re engaged now.”

“That’s incredible, I’m really happy for you.” She gives him a sincere smile. “Andy knows?”

“Yeah.”

“When did you do it?”

“A week or so ago.”

“And you’re just telling me now?”

“No offense, but you weren’t exactly top of my list of people to tell immediately. I was waiting until I saw you for this. We’ve been busy figuring things out. What Andy doesn’t know is that we’ve set a date already. We plan to tell him later. We wanted to make sure everything could happen where we want it before we started telling people.”

“Holy shit, you already set a date?” She puffs out some air from her lips. “Well, that’s great. When is it? I’ll put it in my phone now.”

“You don’t need to do that.” He puts his hand over hers to stop her from taking her phone out. “We’re keeping it really small.”

“So?”

“So…immediate family and close friends only at the ceremony and then a few extra friends at the ceremony.” She gives him a confused look. “You…you’re not invited.”

Before she has a chance to react Andy comes over holding a pile of clothes.

“Do I need to try every little thing on? Or is one outfit okay?”

“One, um, one outfit’s fine.” Paige says. “Go on.”

“Mum, are you okay, you look pale?”

“The, uh, leather from the shoe section is wafting over here and it’s giving me a headache. I’m fine, baby, go try your things on.” They watch Andy go into the dressing room, and she turns to look at Harry. “Alright, run that by me again.”

“You heard me the first time.” He says quietly. “You may have wanted me at yours, but I don’t want you at mine. Do you know how embarrassing it was to be put at the old college buddy table?”

“I thought you’d feel more comfortable there! Where did you want me to put you?”

“How about with my son?!”

“Okay.” Andy says coming out in a tee shirt and jeans. “Tug away if you must. They fit really well, though.” Paige huffs and stands up to check out the clothes. She tugs on the waist of Andy’s jeans and nods. “Can we go to the shoe store after? I was thinking I could get some boots for fall.”

“What kind of boots?” Paige asks. “You have two sets of snow boots, and rain boots already.”

“Like…like the boots Dad wears.”

“I can order you some online, I get them from a shop in London.” Harry says. “I like this outfit on you, go ahead and change and then we can check out.”

“I don’t know why you thought now would be a good time to bring this up to me.” She says. “You’re really hurting my feelings, Har.” She says quietly as Andy goes to change.

“I knew I’d be seeing you.” He shrugs. “I…I can’t keep doing this with you.”

“Doing what?”

“Pretending like we’re best friends who hooked up once and accidentally got pregnant. We were in a relationship for two years, and then you decided to walk away. Fine. We see each other and do this co-parenting for Andy. I feel like I leaned on you for a long time because you were around, but I have someone else in my life now to fill the hole you created.” He runs a hand through his hair and blinks a couple of tears away. “You have no idea how hard it was to sit there and watch you walk down an aisle that didn’t lead towards me.”

“Harry, I-“

“Okay, all set.” Andy says. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s my allergies, let’s go checkout.”

“Can we get lunch before we go to Staples?” He asks, and Harry and Paige look at each other.

“I don’t have time for that, honey.” Paige says. “Um, are you starving? I could get you a pretzel for a snack?”

“Okay.” Andy shrugs.

Paige and Harry split the payment for the clothes. Andy carries his bags out of the store, and Paige pulls Harry to walk next to her, behind Andy.

“This conversation isn’t over.” She says quietly to him. “Clearly you’ve been keeping some things buried and we need to hash it out.”

“Fine, but I’m not changing my mind about the wedding.”

The rest of the afternoon Harry and Paige said about two words together. She hugs Andy goodbye before she gets into her own car. Andy climbs into the back seat of the car.

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“When can I start sitting in the front seat?”

“Hm, I don’t know, they change the safety ages all the time. When you’re thirteen I think? I can check when we get home.”

“Okay.” Andy picks at his bottom lip, a habit he picked up from Harry. “Is everything okay between you and Mum?”

“Never better, why?”

“Things just seemed weird with you both today.” Harry sighs at that. He’s not sure how honest he should be with Andy about all this.

“I told her about my engagement, and she was really happy for Y/N and I…but then I told her we set a date.”

“You did?! When?!”

“A couple of days ago, please act surprised, Y/N and I wanted to tell you together.”

“Okay.”

“So, Mum wanted to know when the date was, and I told her she didn’t need to worry about it because…I wouldn’t be inviting her.”

“But she invited you to hers, how does that make sense?”

“Andy.” Harry sighs again. “I only went to hers because of you. I wanted to see you all dolled up and walk her down the aisle. I also knew she just needed a little extra support because of Gramp not physically being there.”

“I’m…really confused…I thought you were, like, friends.”

“I know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Mum and I are friends, but sometimes she acts like we’re best friends, and it makes things difficult for me. I think she forgets that she…that she broke my heart, and that since it’s been so long it shouldn’t matter anymore, and I should just be over it, and I am, in a way, but I don’t like getting too comfortable with her.” Harry pulls into the garage and turns the car off. He turns to look at Andy. “I know you don’t know the full story, and you don’t really need to. Mum and I are okay, you don’t have anything to worry about, alright?” Andy nods at him. “Good, now, let’s go inside, Y/N will want to see all your new things.”

Andy acted as surprised and excited as he could when you and Harry told him about the date for the wedding. He was shocked that it was happening so soon, but happy for the both of you. He was excited to be a part of another wedding since his mother’s ended up being so much fun.

“Will I be allowed to bring friends?” Andy asks.

“You can bring one friend.” Harry says. “That’ll be fun, a little sleepover in a hotel.”

“Yeah! Wait, the Ariana Grande concert is in November…”

“No worries, Andy, it won’t conflict with anything.” Your assure him.

“Okay good.” He sighs with relief. “Caroline’s coming with me to that, so I guess I’ll invite Brandon to the wedding.”

“We’ll make sure to put you both in a suite with Grammy and Auntie Gem. You, Brandon, Ritchie, and Lizzie can all have your own party.”

“Cool.” Andy smiles. “I’m really happy for the both of you.” He gives you both a hug, and then goes into his room to put his things away.

“Well, he’s certainly handling things better than when Paige got engaged.”

“I think this is different with him. He had her to himself his whole life, and then all of a sudden he didn’t. I’d probably be resentful too, but he said he had a really great summer with Noah and Rachel, and that’s all that matters to me.” He looks back towards Andy’s room. “Can we go chat up in the loft?”

“Yeah.” You follow Harry upstairs.

“Just wanted some privacy, um, I told Paige we were engaged today.”

“Oh! How did she take it?”

“Good…at first.”

“What happened?”

“I told her we had set a date already, and she wanted to know what it was, and I told her it didn’t matter because she wasn’t invited.”

“And you thought a good time to have that conversation was while you were clothes shopping with your son?” You ask flatly.

“Everyone’s always telling me to rip the band aid, so I did.” He huffs. “We’re meeting tomorrow to talk more, she’s not happy with me right now, I sort of started to tell her off, but she just wasn’t understanding.”

“What else is there to talk about?”

“She seems to think we need to hash some things out, or whatever.”

“Well, there’s clearly some unresolved shit buried between the two of you. Where are you going to meet her?”

“For coffee in the morning…are you alright with that?”

“Yeah, I can hang out one on one with Andy for a bit. We can watch TV and eat pancakes.” You smile.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” He takes your hands in his. “I hate that I even have to deal with this bullshit.”

“Harry…” You nuzzle your nose to his. “It’s okay.” He pecks your lips and sighs.

“Thank you for always being so cool about all this. I don’t know I’d do if you were a classic psycho.” He laughs.

“Oh, I’m plenty psycho, just not about stuff like this.” You smirk and kiss his cheek as he laughs more. “This isn’t something I have much control over, you know? It is what it is.”

//

Harry wasn’t really looking forward to coffee with Paige, but he gets up and goes like he said he would. She was there waiting for him already, sipping on a piping cup of tea. He sees that there’s a second cup on the table already.

“Hi.” He says.

“Hey.” She says. “I got yours…black coffee.”

“Thanks.” He sighs and sits down.

“Okay.” She sighs. “I don’t want this turning into something heated, I think we can both have a mature discussion, we’re adults.”

“Right.”

“What you said to me yesterday, I…I didn’t realize you were still harboring those kinds of feelings. It’s been so long, Harry, I thought you were over all of it.”

“I am.” He says as he sips his coffee. “But I can’t help it when memories come back and I’m reminded that I wasn’t good enough to be the one to put on a wedding for.”

“We would have just gotten divorced, and you know it.”

“Did you ever even love me?”

“Of course I did! I just thought it was puppy love, infatuation…lust.” She chews her inner cheek. “I didn’t think I’d be spending the rest of my life with you, I was twenty-one years old! I still wanted my life to be my own. We had an accident, a happy one, and I don’t regret a thing, I love Andy with every fiber of my being, and I’m happy you’re his father.” She looks away and then back at Harry. “We wanted different things, Har.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“You wanted to get married and have more kids, did you not?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I didn’t.” She says bluntly. “I certainly didn’t want to have more kids.” She scoffs.

“But you’re such a good mum!”

“It’s my choice! I never wanted to have kids!” Harry’s eyes widen at that.

“Then why did you?”

“Because…because when I looked at all of my options, I just couldn’t…I don’t know, I looked at it as fate or something, like I was meant to have Andy or something. It was a perfect storm, Har, the condom broke, and it never had before, and I gotten off the pill. I was supposed to be Andy’s mom, and that was plenty. You deserve to be with someone who wants the same things as you. Part of why I ended up with Noah is because I knew he didn’t want more kids either. I also like that he’s older, but that’s a whole mixed bag that I won’t get into.”

“Right, because I’ll always be the immature punk?”

“You’re a fucking year younger than me, get over yourself.” She rolls her eyes. “You really don’t want me at your wedding?”

“No.” He sips his coffee. “The last thing I want to think about that day is you. It was nice of you to invite me to yours, and because of Andy and Y/N I went. If I didn’t have her I honestly don’t think I would’ve gone. I’m sick of carrying around all of this baggage, Paige. I’ve known you for fifteen years, or at least close to it, and I feel lucky that we don’t fucking hate each other, but we need to distance ourselves more.”

“How do you want to do that?”

“No more family vacations.” She frowns at that. “You can use the cabin whenever you want, I don’t care about that, but Andy’s not a baby anymore, we don’t need to do every little thing together like we were doing. Unless it’s his birthday or a holiday, we don’t need to do something as all of us together. I feel like we lean on each other for things more often than we should because we were such good friends at one point, but you have a husband now…you don’t need me.” He swallows. “And I don’t need you.”

“I see.”

“Do you? I feel like you live in a fantasy world sometimes, and I enable it to not make waves. You never ask if something is awkward for me, or-“

“So if we have a party or something on the boat for Labor Day, you wouldn’t come to something like that?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “I’d have to ask my fiancé about how she would feel.”

“I just think it’s important to make memories with Andy with the two of us so he has that when he’s older.”

“And I agree with you. I’d like to continue doing our annual back to school shopping spree, and similar traditions. I think we’re really good co-parents, Paige, but that’s where it needs to end with us.” She blinks some tears away and then she chuckles.

“Feels like you’re breaking up with me. Must feel good.” She smirks.

“It does, in fact.” He smirks back at her. “You do understand where I’m coming from, though, right?”

“Yeah, I do.” She sighs. “I’m so sorry if I’ve been making things difficult for so long. I felt like because I left I needed to make sure you were okay, and that’s why I made sure to keep you so involved with everything. I wanted you to feel like family since yours is so far away.”

“And I appreciate that! Really, I do. I think for a while that worked for us, and maybe I was sort of relying on it because I was so focused on work, and I wasn’t really meeting people I wanted to date for long periods of time, but Y/N…she’s changed everything for me.” He takes a deep breath. “For so long I felt like I was never going to fall in love again, and that I somehow fucked up and missed my chance at having the love of my life, but I don’t believe that anymore. She’s the absolute love of my life, Paige.”

“I’ve never wanted anything more for you, Harry, please know that. I never wanted to hurt you, and I know it hurt like hell when I ended it. I knew things would work out for you eventually. I’ve loved seeing you so happy. You’ve got a pep to your step again.” She smiles. “Just like you used to.”

“So, we’re on the same page then…about us sticking to more boundaries?”

“Yeah.” She nods. “I think it’s for the best all around.” She sips her tea. “Will you at least send me pictures? I wanna see what Andy’s going to wear and all that. Oh!” She goes into her bag. “I don’t know if you want these, but I have some photos from the wedding. Ones with all of us, our friends, and a cute picture of you, Y/N, and Andy.” She takes out a baggie of pictures for Harry.

“Thank you, I do want these, actually. And I’ll make sure we send you pictures.” He smiles.

“Okay.” She smiles back. “Well, I’m glad we could just get it all out there and clear the air a bit.”

“I’m sorry I brought it all up while we were shopping with him, it wasn’t great timing.”

“It’s alright, I would have probably done the same thing if I were in your shoes.”

“While I have you…Andy asked me when he could start sitting in the front…”

“He did?!”

“Yeah, I told him I’d look it up. It’s thirteen, right?”

“I have no clue, those safety regulations change all the time. I’d say thirteen is good.”

“He’s gonna be so annoyed.” Harry chuckles.

“Just wait for him to bring it up again, and then tell him we said thirteen.” She crosses her arms. “And if he pulls some bullshit with you like he did with phone, you just send him to me and I’ll straighten his ass out.” She smirks.

“We’re excellent parents.”

//

With everything officially smoothed over with Paige, it was easy living for Harry. He was proud of himself for finally just laying it all out there. It made him much more chipper during syllabus week. It took your classes about two minutes into your lectures to realize the rock on your finger was an engagement ring, and many of your students squealed and congratulated you. Many that came by to see Harry congratulated him as well.

“Hey.” You say as you slip into his office, closing the door behind you and leaning against it. “Got a second?”

“Course, darling, what’s up?”

“Are we inviting our colleagues?” You whisper.

“To what?” You roll your eyes at him. “Ohhhh, our wedding.” He smirks.

“You’re not funny.”

“And yet, here we are, engaged.” He grins.

“Not for long.” You cross your arms.

“Alright, alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist. Would you like to invite them?”

“I mean…maybe to the reception? I really do want to keep the ceremony small.”

“I think we should invite them to the reception, yeah. They’ve been a part of our love story since the beginning, babe.”

“Especially Janette.” Harry nods at you. “Okay, so it seems like we’ll need to order some very specific invitations.” You chew your bottom lip.

“Y/N.” He hums. “This is supposed to be fun, remember?”

“It is!”

“You’re getting stressed.”

“I’m not!” He gives you an unconvinced look. “It’s the good kind of stress. The more we do, the more we get to check off, and then there’s no stress. I’m going shopping with Nora in a couple of weeks, I can’t wait.”

“Are you going to have a bach-“ There’s a knock on his door, and you open it.

“Oh…sorry to interrupt.” Andre blushes.

“You’re not!” You say. “We were just discussing, um, something not work related, I’ll just go.” You slip out.

“She can be a bit squirrelly sometimes.” Andre chuckles and Harry hums his response.

“What’s up?”

“Got an overload request from one of my students, and you’re his advisor so I need your signature.”

“Ah.” Harry waves him over and he signs the form. “They should really make these paperless so it’s les work.”

“I know, an email could easily suffice, thanks.”

Harry gets up and goes into your office, he closes the door and sits down in one of your chairs.

“Yes?” You chuckle.

“Has your hand been hurting at the end of the day?”

“No, why would it?”

“Well, it’s got so much extra weight on it now, I wanted to make sure.” He smirks, and you sigh heavily as you look at him. “Anyways, I was going to ask you if you plan to have a bachelorette party.”

“Oh, of course I do. Nora’s gonna plan the whole thing. We were thinking over Indigenous People’s Day weekend since most people will have that Monday off, do a long weekend type thing.”

“What do you think you’ll do?”

“Bar hop most likely.” You shrug. “Dance, drink, that sort of stuff. Are you going to have a bachelor party?”

“I don’t know who I’d have it with…” He twiddles his thumbs. “My two best mates live overseas, and I don’t want to ask them to fly twice, that would be insane.”

“So have them fly in a few days early and do something fun with them then. Our parties don’t need to be on the same day, you know? I’m sure we’ll be having lots of little parties between now and then.”

“True, Lucas sent us two different calendar invites.” He chuckles as he stands up. “Just promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“No strippers.” You burst out laughing at that. “Or exotic dancers.”

“What century are you living in?!” You wipe a tear away. “Harry, the only man I want giving me a lap dance is you, okay?” He nods as you bite your bottom lip.

“What?”

“Would you ever give me one? Do a little strip tease?”

“Maybe on our honeymoon.” He turns to walk towards your door, and then he looks at you over his shoulder. “And only if you’re a good girl.”

A chill goes up your spine as he leaves your office.

“What a fucking menace.” You say to yourself as you try to shake his words off.

//

Seventh grade was off to an interesting start. Harry annoyed Andy by taking first day of school pictures before he dropped him off. It was a new hallway and a new locker to get used to. Mostly everyone he had homeroom with the year prior was in his homeroom again. He noticed that some people had gotten taller, some voices had gotten deeper, some people’s skin had started to break out, and some of the girls looked…fuller. Andy hadn’t really noticed the changes amongst himself or his friends. Caroline was still as sweet as ever, but she did tell him in confidence that she started getting her period, so if sometimes she got snappy with him that may be why. Andy knew he had gotten a little taller, and he knew his voice was starting to crack, but he was thankful nothing else had really seemed to change.

He walks into his new homeroom, and sits down. Every year it was the same thing. The teacher would ask everyone their named, they’d give out locker information, and then the school handbook. Brandon comes in and sets next to Andy. This year Andy’s homeroom teacher was a science teacher, so it was all bench seating with two to a table.

“Hey.” Brandon yawns. “It’s crazy, every year I think I can get up early for school no problem, but here I am, running late.” He rolls his eyes.

“My dad makes me go to sleep and get up early at least a week before school starts. It’s annoying, but it helps.”

“It’ll only get worse, too.” Caroline says as she sits down with Tyler at the bench next to him. All of the tables were set up around the perimeter of the room. Andy was happy he’d be sitting next to his two best friends. “My sisters get up at 5:30 in the morning just to get ready for school.”

“Shit, why that early?” Brandon asks her.

“Shower, hair, makeup, and breakfast that my mom forces us to eat.”

“Luckily, we don’t have that problem.” Tyler says. “We can just roll out of bed.”

“Speak for yourself.” Andy scoffs. “I have to get up early to do my hair.” He runs a hand through it. Brandon smirks and ruffles Andy’s hair. “Quit it!” Andy giggles, and does the same to Brandon.

“You quit it.” Brandon giggles, and the two smile at each other.

After homeroom, it turns out Andy and Caroline have math together, and the teacher says they can sit where they like. They sit next to each other, and she smiles at him.

“What?”

“You know, you never told me what happened with you and Brandon after I left the wedding.”

“That’s because nothing happened.”

“So you didn’t dance with him?”

“No, we danced, but that was it…his dad called to tell him to be ready.”

“And nothing happened later on? I mean you both hang out all the time.”

“The timing just hasn’t been right.” Andy shrugs. “Playing basketball and skateboarding isn’t exactly romantic, Caroline…” He mutters.

“Sure it can! Remember when you were showing me? You had to put your hands on my hips and hold my hands.”

“That was so you wouldn’t fall!” He blushes. Andy remembers that day really well, and even though he asked Caroline first if he could touch her, he definitely enjoyed being able to show her a thing or two.

“Mhm, sure.” She smiles. “All I’m saying is, anything could be turned into a date.”

“Well…you know how my dad and Y/N are getting married in a couple of months?” She nods yes. “It’s gonna be in Boston, and I wanna invite him. They said I could have one friend come.”

“Oh, that’ll be great! I bet-“

“Alright, class, settle down. I’m hoping you all did your summer math work as we will be going over that after I take attendance. Welcome to pre-algebra.” The teacher says and everyone gets quiet. “Once we’re done with that, I’m going to give you all a pre-test to see what you remember.” The majority of the class groans. “I know, I know, a test on the first day, but it’s just for me to see how I can best help you.”

Andy takes his planner out and flips through a few months.

“What are you doing?” Caroline whispers.

“Counting down the days until art starts.” He side eyes her and she has to bite back a laugh.

After school, Brandon and Andy stand together as they wait for their rides. It was only a half day, but they were both exhausted.

“I’m really glad we have science and history together.” Brandon says to him.

“Me too. I have some classes with Caroline and Tyler too.”

“Same here. And there’s gym too for all of us at least.”

“I’m just glad we’ll still be able to call each other to do homework. I’d be really lost without you, B.”

Brandon smiles at Andy, and before Andy can say something else, he sees your car pull up. The boys say goodbye, and Andy climbs into the backseat.

“How was your first day?” You say to him.

“Okay.” He shrugs. “I think math is gonna be tough this year.”

“Well, lucky for you I’m pretty good at math, so don’t be afraid to ask me for help.”

“Thanks, Y/N. Is Dad teaching?”

“Yup, he’s in the middle of class. He’ll be able to get you tomorrow.” She grins. “I thought we could be a little adventurous and go to McDonald’s for lunch.”

“Dad doesn’t let me go there…”

“Well, you’re not with Dad, are you?”

“Can you even get anything there?”

“There’s a flurry and a large fry calling my name.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the best.”

//

Harry comes back from his class to see Andy sitting in his office. He was munching on some apple slices.

“Hey, buddy, how was school?”

“Good.”

“Did you have anything for lunch, or do you need some money?”

“No, Y/N took me to get something to eat quick.”

“Yeah?” Harry smiles. “What did you have?”

“Um…well…I don’t wanna get her in trouble…” He swallows his last apple slice as Harry furrows his brows at him.

“What do you mean?”

“She took me to McDonalds.”

“Andy.” Harry sighs. “Why would you ask her to take you there when you know I don’t want you eating that stuff?”

“She asked me! I told her you didn’t really like it, but she said it would be fine. I didn’t even get fries! I got a happy meal with apple slices.”

“That burger is gonna sit like a rock in your stomach.”

“I got chicken nuggets.” He mumbles.

“Whatever.” Harry huffs and sits down. “Your classes went alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Later that night as you were getting ready for bed, you could tell Harry was a little tense. You brush your teeth and look at him through the mirror.

“Any particular reason why you’re staring?” He asks as he spits the mouthwash he was swishing into the sink. He turns around to look at you.

“I’m just trying to read you. You’ve been sort of quiet today. Are you alright?”

Harry crosses his arms and looks at you intensely. You hated it when he looked at you like this. His features were hard, and he just looked intimidating.

“Why did you take Andy to McDonalds after he told you I don’t like him eating there?”

“Are you serious?” You laugh. “I just wanted to have a little fun with him.”

“By undermining me? Didn’t we have a chat about this, like, a long time ago when I did it to you? And that was by accident, you did this on purpose.”

“You act like my intention was malicious. What’s the big deal? We eat out all the time?”

“Yeah, we get pizza from the place downtown that uses locally sourced ingredients, or we get Thai food. Not fucking-“

“He got chicken nuggets and apple slices, it’s not like he pigged out.”

“Because he knows better.”

“You know, you never exactly told me he couldn’t eat there.”

“Well, he told you, and you went anyways.”

You had a couple of options here. You could easily argue with him. You could tell him how stupid it was to be upset over something like this, but if you did that you wouldn’t be validating his feelings. So, you swallow your pride.

“I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.” He scoffs.

“Harry.”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t want me to be upset anymore.”

“You’ve been keeping this bottled up all day.” You sigh.

“Because I didn’t want to talk about it in front of him.” He looks away.

“Say it, Harry.”

“Say what?” He looks at you again.

“Tell me he’s your kid and not mine, and that I had no right to just change the rules.”

“Y/N.”

“It’s okay, that’s what you’re thinking, right? It’s not like that’s false. He’s your kid, and I’m his buddy. Maybe that’s all I’ll ever be to him, but someday you and I are gonna have a baby, and I’d like to treat that eventual kid once in a while with some fast food.”

“I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it.” He plucks at his bottom lip. “You’re more than just a buddy to him, you have to know that. That’s not what I was trying to say, I just wished you had asked me first.”

“You were in class! I just, ugh, I had a craving for fries and ice cream, I really am sorry.”

“A craving, huh?”

“Don’t even go there. You never crave food?”

“Sure, I crave things all the time, doesn’t mean I always indulge.”

“I won’t take your son there again, okay?”

“Stop it.” He puts his hands on your shoulders. “He’s yours too. And maybe I should have told you I didn’t want me ingesting that crap.” You roll your eyes at that. “But I know he sees you as a mom.”

“I mean, one time he told me I’d make a good one, but-“

“He referred to you as ‘Mum’ once.”

“He did?! When?”

“When we went to Boston over April vacation, when I had to put him to bed…he said he was having fun with me and ‘Mum’…he was like half asleep, but still.”

“Maybe he just got me confused with Paige.”

“No, baby, he knew who he was talking about.” Harry hugs you, and cups your jaw. “He loves you and he knows you love him too, and I love knowing that you two are bonding. Take him to Sub Way next time, yeah?”

“Okay.” You smile and he kisses you. “I really am sorry, I didn’t think you’d be so upset.”

“It’s alright…we’re on the same page now, right?”

“Yeah.”

He nods and lets you go. You both get into bed and curl up with each other. You turn over to face him, and you nuzzle into his chest. He holds you close to him and strokes your back. He kisses your forehead and basically lulls you to sleep. Times like this you didn’t mind being babied at all.

//

“Look at that size of that thing!” Nora exclaims when she meets you at the mall in Manchester to go shopping. “Makes sense that he got you something so massive. Big dick, big ring.”

“Nora!” You squeal and nudge her. “Shh, come on, let’s go look at clothes.”

“Still thinking you might wanna do a suit?”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ll be the most comfortable in that. I feel like I’ll just look classy, you know?”

“You’ll look stunning.”

You both walk through Macy’s and look at all of the options. The pants were the easiest part. A high-waist pair of slacks would look gorgeous, it was finding the right top. You didn’t want to wear a body suit or a corset.

“Oh! What about this?” Nora says, waiving you over. “It’s lace, so it’ll add some texture.”

“It’s beautiful. I like the spaghetti straps. Let’s see if it works with the pants and blazer.”

“And the heels. You’re gonna be a show stopper.” You both giggle and go into the dressing room. You try everything on and step out. “It’s gorgeous, it’s so you in every way.”

“You think so?” You bite your bottom lip. “I think a bun and a veil will look great with it. I love it.”

“Harry really doesn’t care you won’t be in a dress?”

“Nah, I was actually thinking of changing into a short dress for the reception. Something simple.”

“Oh! I saw a cute short, white dress out there. Let me go grab it. It had a high neckline, but it was open in the back.”

“That sounds perfect!”

You buy everything, and have them put into nice dress bags. You and Nora decide to grab a bite to eat.

“So…can I ask you something?” Nora says to you.

“Of course.”

“Not that I’m not over the moon happy for you, but is there a reason you’re getting married so fast? I know you’ve known for a couple of years, and things are different at our age, but…you’re barely going to enjoy your engagement.”

“I’m enjoying it plenty, trust me. I just didn’t want to wait until after I got my doctorate, you know? I…I wanna start trying for a kid as soon as I get my degree, and I told him I didn’t care if we were married or not, but I think I do care. I wanna be married and have that extra security if I’m going to have a baby with someone. We love each other, why wait?”

“And he’s okay with all this?”

“Yeah! I think sometimes it’s tough for him to accept how much I wanna be with him because of his ex, but he’s coming around. He’s really excited. I mean, I am too. I’m finally going to meet his family in person, and his two best friends.”

“Maybe one of them will fall in love with me, and I’ll have my own British man to sweep me off my feet.”

“One of them’s Irish.”

“Mm, even better.”

You both laugh and continue eating before you part ways. Harry had taken Andy out for the day, so you were able to slip inside and hide your new things in the back of your closet.

//

“Dad, today was awesome!”

“Yeah, wasn’t too embarrassing going bowling with your old man?”

“No way, we haven’t gone in forever, it was fun. And I broke my high score on the pinball machine.” Andy was biting into a slice of pizza while Harry was sitting across from him smiling, resting his chin in his palm. “It’s kind of like when I used to just see you on the weekends.”

“Yeah, I really was your classic weekend dad, huh?” He chuckles.

“No, weekend dads let you eat candy until your teeth rot out and let you stay up really late. You still made me follow all of Mum’s rules.”

“Because I respect her, and she respects me.” Harry sits up straight. “Listen, there’s something I wanna ask you.”

“What’s up?” Andy wipes his mouth with a napkin and looks at Harry.

“Well…I was chatting with Uncle Niall and Uncle Louis the other day about the wedding. They’re itching to know who my best man is going to be.”

“That’s gotta be hard to choose between the two of them. You guys are like the three musketeers.”

“We are! But my choice is pretty easy because I don’t want it to be either of them. See, there’s this other man in my life I think would make a lot more sense to be my best man.”

“Really, who?” Harry grins at Andy and his eyes widen. “Me?!”

“Yes, you. No one else felt right.”

“So, will my suit be different that the others?”

“Of course.”

“Can I have my nails done the same as you?”

“You really want to?”

“Yeah…I wanna get into painting them more. I think it would be cool if we matched.”

“Definitely.”

“I’m really excited, Dad, thanks…this means a lot to me.”

“It means a lot to me that you wanna do it. You’re really becoming a nice young man, Andy.”

Andy gets up and hugs his dad. Today was a really good day. He can’t wait to tell you the good news when he gets in.

“Babe! We’re home!” Harry says as him and Andy get inside.

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite guys.” You smile as you come down from the loft. You kiss Harry’s cheek and give Andy a hug.

“I take it the shopping went well?” Harry asks.

“Very well, so no snooping through my closet.” You say firmly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Y/N, guess what?” Andy says.

“What?”

“I’m gonna be Dad’s best man.” He beams at you.

“That’s amazing!” You hug the both of them again. “It’s all coming together.”

//

“Andy, if you move, I’m gonna mess it up.” You tell him as you paint his nails black. He asks you to leave his pinkies purple.

“Sorry.” He watches you. “You don’t think I’m gonna get made fun of, do you?”

“Lots of guys are painting their nails nowadays. Just look at your dad, no one makes fun of him.”

“Yeah, but he’s big and strong, and could knock someone’s lights out.”

You swallow at that. It was true. Harry was a boxer, and if he really wanted to, he could beat the shit out of someone.

“You know violence isn’t the answer.”

“I know…I’m just not as intimidating as he can be.”

“You have his eyes, you just need to learn how to stare someone down the way he does and you’re golden.” You wink at him and he chuckles. “Are you really nervous about someone making fun of you?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Wearing a bandana or clipping back my hair is one thing, I just don’t wanna come off…girly.”

“I take offense to that. I’m a girl, what’s wrong with looking like me?”

“I guess nothing.”

“I’ll paint mine just like yours, would you like that?”

“Yeah, thanks, Y/N.”

You and Andy had gotten into the habit of nail time. Harry would sometimes join in, which was fun, but it was something the two of you could do together. It was a Sunday evening ritual. Andy’s friends loved the different combinations he would go with. Andy blushed when Brandon held his hand to look over a design you had managed to get on his thumb one day.

Then one day during locker break, Andy was switching some books out that he wouldn’t need for the afternoon. There weren’t a lot of people around.

“Hey, Styles.” A boy, Greg, and some other boys come over to him.

“Oh, hey, Greg.” Greg slams Andy’s locker shit. “Um, I wasn’t finished in there…” He goes to turn his combination but Greg grabs his hand. “You better not have this when basketball season starts back up.”

“What do you care?” Andy yanks his hand away. “Don’t like it, don’t paint your nails.”

Greg looks at his friends and laughs before shoving Andy up against the lockers.

“What are you, a girl now? Is Andy short for Andrea?” Greg smirks.

“Obviously not, you idiot.” Andy huffs. “Let me go, Greg.”

“Make me.” He shoves Andy harder against the lockers. Andy tries to give him his most intimidating gaze, but it’s not doing much for him. “You know what else makes you a girl? You like boys, Andrea.”

“Don’t call me that! And who even told you that?”

“It’s so obvious you have a thing for Brandon. You two are always all over each other.”

“What do you care?!”

“It’s annoying to watch.”

“Hey! Let him go!” Brandon comes racing down the hall and yanks Greg away from Andy. “What is the matter with you?!” He shoves Greg.

“Oh, look, your boyfriend came to your rescue, how nice.”

Before he has a chance to say or do anything, Andy watches as Brandon’s fist connects with Greg’s jaw, causing Greg to fall to the ground.

“Boys! What is going on out here?!” One of the teachers says as she rushes to the scene. “Principal’s office, now!”

Andy and Brandon look at each other, and then make their way down the hall. They sit on a bench outside the principal’s office to wait their turn. Greg had to be brought to the nurse.

“Why did you do that?” Andy whispers.

“He was being an asshole, obviously. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…he was being really…homophobic…” He shakes his head. “I didn’t think people were still like that.”

“Well, they are, and it’s scary.”

“Maybe I should stop painting my nails.” Andy looks down at his hands.

“No!” Brandon puts his hand over one of Andy’s. “I really like it on you. You rock it. You’re, like, so cool.”

The boys are both called in to give their side of the story, and then Greg is brought it. When they all come out, Andy’s eyes widen when he sees everyone’s parents in the lobby. You, Harry, Paige, and Noah were all trying to keep cool as you chatted with Mr. and Mrs. Stewart. Greg’s father was keeping to himself.

“Andy!” Harry yelps and rushes over to him. “Are you alright?” He puts his hands on Andy to check him over.

“I’m fine, can you stop?”

“Honey, what happened? We got a call that you were in a fight.” Paige says.

“Excuse me.” Principal Morrison comes out of his office. “If all the adults would like to come in.” He sighs. You and Noah start to walk forward. “Just biological parents please.”

“Principal Morrison, that’s my step-dad, and my almost step-mom, they can both go in.” Andy says.

“Andy, it’s fine, we’ll wait out here with you.” You tell him.

Harry nods at you and goes into the office with the other parents.

“Right, well, it seems that Greg picked a fight with Andy, and Brandon stepped in when he saw what was happening. Greg said some hurtful things to Andy.” Principal Morrison explains.

“Like what?” Harry asks.

“Apparently he started calling him Andrea, and was making fun of his nail polish.”

“Well, there you go then.” Mr. Foley, Greg’s father, says.

“Excuse me?” Paige says.

“What’s a boy wearing nail polish for?”

“Um…” Harry holds up his hands. “It’s pretty common, mate.”

“It’s not like Brandon to be violent.” Mrs. Stewart says.

“He seemed to be defending Andy.” Principal Morrison says.

“It’s not common, actually, it’s odd.” Mr. Foley says. “Boys shouldn’t be painting their nails. I see how your boys are at basketball, it’s inappropriate.”

“They’re best friends.” Mr. Stewart says. “They’re close, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“They seem a little too close if you ask me.” Mr. Foley scoffs.

“Well, none of that should be any of your concern.” Harry says. “What my concern is,” he steps forward, “is that you seem to be teaching your son it’s okay to bully other people for being a little outside the box, and it’s borderline homophobic.”

“Maybe don’t raise a homo then.” Mr. Foley says bluntly.

“Gentlemen, please.” Principal Morrison says.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Paige says, also stepping forward.

“I said, don’t raise a homo and my son won’t have a problem.”

“Right, that’s what I thought.” She smirks, and lunges at Mr. Foley. Harry hooks an arm around her waist to hold her back. “You piece of shit, you think you’re this big tough man, teaching such awful values to your kid? You’re a piece of shit, and your son is following suit!” She struggles in Harry’s arms. “How fucking dare you!”

“Paige, settle down.” Harry says and she takes a deep breath as he lets her go. “Clearly Greg instigated things. Andy wouldn’t pick a fight with anyone. He knows how to use his words if he has a problem with someone.”

“Didn’t learn that from his mum now did he?” Mr. Foley smirks.

“Fuck you.” Paige spits.

“What can we do, um, moving forward? Are the boys going to be suspended?” Mrs. Stewart asks.

“Greg will be given in house suspension for instigating, and putt his hands on Andy. Unfortunately, because Brandon did hot Greg, he will be suspended for the rest of the week, and when he returns we have to give him a week of in house suspension.”

“So, even though he was just defending his friend, he’s going to get punished more?” Mr. Stewart asks.

“That’s the policy.” Principal Morrison sighs.

“What about Andy? Who’s to say that little fuck won’t bother him again?” Harry says. “I won’t have my son being afraid to go to school.”

“Andy wasn’t fighting so he won’t have to face suspension. His teachers will be alerted, and an eye will be kept on him. We have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of thing.”

Harry and Paige look at Mr. Foley.

“Tell your son to stay away from ours.” Harry says.

“No problem there. Don’t need any of what Andy’s got going on rubbing off on Greg.” He scoffs. “Are we done here?” He says to Principal Morrison.

“Yes.”

All of the adults leave the room, and everyone waiting looks at them. Mr. Foley grabs Greg’s arm and pulls him out of the room entirely.

“Brandon.” Mr. Stewart sighs. “You’re being suspended for the rest of the week, and then you’re gonna have in house suspension.”

“What?!”

“I know it doesn’t seem fair.” Mrs. Stewart says. “We’re proud of you for standing up for Andy, but you really shouldn’t have hit that boy, okay?”

“I’m really sorry, Brandon.” Andy had tears in his eyes.

“Don’t be.” Brandon says to him. “I’d do it again.”

//

The car ride home was quiet. You and Harry had to cancel the rest of your classes for the day. Paige and Noah were coming back to the house. Everyone sits down at the table when they get inside your home.

“Andy, I’d like to hear the full story, if you feel comfortable.” Paige says, putting her hand over his.

“I was at my locker, minding my own business, when Greg came over and he started up with me. He slammed my locker door shut and shoved me up against it. I told him to stop and he wouldn’t. Then he asked me if I was a girl, and I called him an idiot, and then Brandon ran down the hall and pulled him off of me, and then….ugh, then he called Brandon my boyfriend and that’s when he hit him.” Everyone looks at Andy with sad eyes. “I’m not gonna stop painting my nails, I’m not changing anything. Greg can go fuck himself.” He huffs, and you crack up first laughing, and then everyone else has a chuckle.

“I’m so sorry that happened.” Harry says to him. “Kids your age can be so mean, and he seems to be getting a negative influence from his father.”

“I wanted to slug him.” Paige says. “What a prick.”

“I feel bad that Brandon’s being suspended.” Andy says.

“I know.” Harry sighs. “Something tells me Principal Morrison won’t be putting it on his permanent record, though.”

“Do you all mind if I go lay down? I’m a little tired.”

“Of course, honey.” Paige hugs him and kisses the top of his head.

They all watch as Andy stands up.

“Um…it was nice having all four of you there…thanks.”

“What exactly is going on between him and Brandon?” Paige asks quietly.

“Nothing.” You say. “He would have told me if anything serious happened between them. I think something’s bound to happen at some point. I think they’re both still figuring it out.”

“It’s good Andy has such a good friend in his corner.” Noah says. “Everyone needs someone like that.”

Paige and Noah eventually leave to go be home in time for Rachel. Andy was asleep when they said goodbye. Or he was pretending to be. He was texting Brandon under his covers. He wanted to make sure he was alright.

“Andy?” You coo as you go into his room. “Dad made tacos if you’re hungry for dinner, honey.”

“Yeah, okay.” He sighs and gets up. “Thanks, I’m just gonna wash up.”

You nod and go back out to the kitchen.

“Is he coming out?” Harry asks as he gets everything on the table.

“Yeah.”

Dinner is mostly quiet, but Andy seemed to be doing okay. You and Harry cozy up on the couch with separate books, and Andy comes out.

“Can I watch TV?”

“Sure.” Harry says, handing him the remote.

“Can I…sit between you two?”

“Of course!” You say and scoot away from Harry to make room.

Andy plops down between the two of you, and puts on some show on Cartoon Network. You and Harry keep mindlessly reading. You were half expecting Andy to lay in your lap, but about twenty minutes in you look over and see Harry watching the show with him, his arm around Andy, and Andy’s head nuzzled into his chest. It was so sweet you thought it was going to give you a cavity. Harry was eating it up too. Even though he knew this was a really tough day for Andy, he was happy to be having this moment with him. He knew as Andy got older they would just become fewer and farther between.

“Andy, if you don’t wanna go to school tomorrow, it’s okay to stay home.” Harry says to him.

“It’s okay, I’ll go. I’m not scared.” He yawns. “I’m gonna go read before bed, goodnight.”

“Night.” You say as he walks off. “I hope he’ll be alright.”

“He will be, he’s tough. Come on, we should go to bed too.”

You nod and follow him into your shared bedroom. You both go through your nightly routines and get into bed. He holds onto you a little tighter than he normally does. You knew he had have been worried about Andy, but he was trying to keep it cool for everyone else’s sake.

“Harry?”

“Hm?”

“How about I be big spoon tonight?”

“Alright.” He rolls over and you wrap yourself around him. He’d never admit it, but he needed this tonight.

//

Harry’s alarm goes off at five in the morning. You groan and roll onto your back to let him get up, only he turns it off and turns on his side to look at you. He reaches to stroke your cheek, and he takes your out stretches hand to his lips. He kisses on your palm and wrist.

“You’ll be miserable if you don’t do your yoga.” You mutter with your eyes closed.

“Don’t feel like it.” He mumbles as he continues to kiss on your hand.

You turn your head and open your eyes to look at him slightly. You move your fingers to his mouth and he sucks on your pinky. A small whimper leaves your lips and that’s when he knows he has you. He lets your pinky go with a pop and shifts under the blankets to get on top of you. You were naked, since that’s how you slept, and he only had boxers on. He mouths at your neck and licks up to your earlobe. He grinds his hard length against your center and he groans.

“Can feel how wet you are already.” He says into your ear. “I wanna fuck you.”

“You do?” You say innocently as he continues to grind himself against you. You move your hips up to meet his and he moans.

“Yes.” He kisses on your chest and sucks on one of your nipples. You push his hair back for him and you bite your bottom lip as you watch. “Can I?”

“Can you what?” You smirk.

“Fuck you. Please? I really want to.”

”Yes, Harry.”

He sighs with relief and rips the blankets away. He gets his boxers off and grabs a condom to roll on. He quickly gets back between your legs and you grind yourself against him.

“Like feeling me between your folds?”

“Yes.” He bites his bottom lip as he slowly pushes inside you. You moan out as he comes down to you, chest to chest. “Love it when you’re like this.” You pant. You move in sync with his thrusts and it has your eyes nearly crossing.

“Love it when you’re so good for me.” He moves to sit up on his knees, and pushes your thighs together. He grunts and his head rolls back. You take great pleasure in watching him lose himself. “You’re so fucking tight, Jesus.”

He lets your legs fall open and grips your sides as he continues to fuck in and out of you. You so a slight glute raise to give him a better angle, and you start rubbing your clit.

“Fuck, Harry.” You groan.

“Oh fuck, Y/N, oh god, shit.”

You both cry out and come at the same time. Your orgasm was so strong it just about brought you to tears. You cling to him as he falls on top of you. Your aftershocks cause you to clench around him a few times, but he continues to stay inside you. He kisses your forehead and you wince as he pulls out.

“Can we cuddle for a bit?” He asks as he throws out the condom.

“Yeah, let me just pee.”

You get up quickly to clean yourself up and then you get back into bed with him. He rests his head on your chest and you scratch his head, running your fingers through his curls.

“I should have Andy stay home today…I know he said he’d go, but…”

“Harry, if he doesn’t go the bullies win. If he really didn’t want to go he would tell us. If he doesn’t go today it’ll just be more difficult to later.”

“I know, you’re right.” He sighs. “I just…I admire him so much. When I was his age I just dressed like everyone else, I never did anything out of the ordinary because I didn’t want to get made fun of. I didn’t become myself until uni. People still gave me looks, but I was old enough not to care. He’s only twelve. He may be brave, but he’s only twelve…I’d hate for any of this to break his spirit.”

“Well, luckily for him he’s got a great dad for a role model. He’s able to be himself because he sees you doing it every day.”

“I…really don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.”

You kiss the top of his head and use your other arm to hug him close to you.

//

Andy was very brave at school. Some of Greg’s friends glared at him, but he had Caroline and Tyler by his side. When Brandon returns to school, and into the actual classroom, Andy feels overjoyed when he sees him sitting in homeroom.

“Hey, B.” He says as he sits down.

“Hey.”

“Did you get all your work? They wouldn’t let me be the one to drop off the worksheets because of Greg.”

“Yeah, I’m all caught up, thanks.” He rests his chin in his palm and puts his other hand over Andy’s. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Andy’s cheeks were on fire.

“Let’s see what we’ve got this week.” He looks at Andy’s nails. “Dark green?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s…that’s my favorite color.”

“I know.” Andy smirks, and now it’s Brandon’s cheeks that are on fire. “Are your parents mad at me or anything?”

“What? No, not at all. They were pretty cool about everything, actually.”

“Oh, good…”

“Why?”

“Because, um, when my parents get married, I mean, when my dad and Y/N get married, they said I could invite a friend for the weekend. It’ll be really fun since we’re staying in a hotel suite. We’ll be with my cousins Lizzie and Ritchie.” He swallows. “Would you want to go?”

“Are you serious? Yeah! I’ll ask my parents when I get home. When is it?”

“November sixth.”

“Cool.” Brandon smiles.

“Cool.” Andy smiles back. “My dad asked me to be his best man, too. It’s gonna be awesome.”

“Makes sense since you’re literally the best.”

“Brandon.” Andy giggles as he blushes.

“What?” He giggles too. “It’s true.”

//

“Have loads of fun, babe.”

“I would, but you won’t let go of me.” You chuckle.

This weekend was your bachelorette party, and Harry was hugging you goodbye out at your car, and he hadn’t let you go yet.

“Sorry.” He clears his throat and steps away from you. Then he steps closer to you again to kiss you for the millionth time.

“Har.” You giggle.

“I know, I’m being clingy, I’m sorry. I thought I’d have Andy for the long the weekend…I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with myself.”

“Why don’t you hang out with Andre?”

“Yeah, I might catch a movie with him.”

“Good.” You smile. “I have to go or I’ll be late picking Janette up.”

“Alright.” He kisses you one last time and lets you get into your car.

You pick up Janette and you both squeal as you make the trek down to Boston. You were extremely excited. You’d be sharing a hotel suite with your friends, and the best part was Nora graciously planned the entire thing for you. You couldn’t have asked for a better maid of honor. Next weekend would be your bridal shower, which would be more casual than anything because you and Harry didn’t even put a registry together, you just had a honeymoon fund. You two really didn’t need anything since you were already living in a home together and bought what you needed. So the bridal shower would just be a casual luncheon in the back room of a grill in town.

The second you and Janette get inside the hotel room, Nora starts making frozen margaritas. You look around and see that the theme would be cinco de mayo, very cool. She puts some beads around your neck and hugs you.

“I hope you’re hungry because we’re eating at Fagitas and Ritas tonight.” Darcy says.

“Thank fucking god, I love it there. Everyone, this is Janette.”

“It’s so great to meet you!” Nora says. “Nice to finally meet the work bestie face to face.”

“It’s great to meet you all too. Y/N’s told me wonderful things.”

Janette gets acquainted with Claudia and Mark as well. You weren’t worried about anyone not getting along. Janette reminded you a lot of your friends in general, it’s probably why you clicked with her off the bat.

“Y/N, is Harry doing anything fun this weekend?” Mark asks.

“I’m not sure. He thought he had Andy this weekend, but it’s Paige’s weekend, so he may make plans with his other friends.” You shrug. “He can’t do his bachelor party until right before the wedding when his friends fly in.”

“Paige couldn’t have just switched up the weekends?” Darcy asks.

“She’s supposed to get him for long weekends since Harry has him during the school year. That’s how it used to be when she had him during the school year, so he just wants to do what’s right. He’ll make his own fun, it’ll be fine.”

You all get ready, take a few pictures, and head out. You take the green line to Park Street, and then head down the alley to the restaurant. It was an incredible place. They served liter pitchers of frozen margaritas for groups to share. Your friends would come often, and would get sneaky, often taking an entire liter to the face, and that was the plan for you tonight. You got your tequila lime shrimp tacos, and you all told stories as you downed your drinks. You lean into Nora.

“You’re not taking me to a strip club or anything like that, right? Harry was pretty adamant that he didn’t want me doing that.” You slur.

“No, babe.” She chuckles. “I was thinking a drag show at first, but you always hear about how they can’t stand bridal parties, you know? And then I was thinking of asking Phil and Julian about that gay bar you go to with them, but again I didn’t want to be annoying. We are going to a club for a bit, and we are going to see some men dance, but I wouldn’t call them strippers.”

“Exotic dancers, if you will.” Claudia says. “They stay on the stage the whole time, so you don’t have to worry about a lap dance.”

“And we already took out plenty of cash to throw their way.” Mark says. “I’ve been before, it’s fun.”

“Harry doesn’t need to know.” Janette winks.

“Would you care if he went to a strip club with his friends?” Darcy asks out of curiosity.

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “He’s really not the type to ogle women, he’s too shy for that I think. He’s a bit possessive in that I don’t even think he would enjoy going somewhere like that because none of the women would be me, you know?”

“Jesus.” Mark says. “Got yourself a good man, I have to say.”

You all raise your glasses to that, and when you’re done you head out, thankful for the cool October air hitting your skin. You hop back on the T to get to the place Nora had set up reservations for. Watching the men dance made for a lot of squealing and blushing on your part, it was all good fun. They showed a little skin, but weren’t stripping, and they really did stay on the stage.

Four men come out dressed in slacks and cummerbunds. I Wanna Sex You Up begins playing, and the choreography looks oddly familiar. Your jaw drops when it registers.

“Nora, you didn’t.”

“I had to.” She chuckles.

“I’m very confused…” Janette says. “Delighted, but confused.”

“In the first season of Glee a few of the guys get together for an all-male acapella group, and this was a memorable scene for Y/N.” Nora explains. “I requested it in advance, let’s tip well.”

You sway back and forth in your chair and sing along with the song as the men continue to dance essentially for you. You were laughing so hard you were crying by the end of it, and you hug your friend. Once you all have had your fill you head to a club so you all could dance.

Now you really felt like you were in your element. Nora had reserved a VIP sections at one of your favorite clubs so you could all dance freely without bumping into a bunch of sweaty strangers. You were sticking with tequila tonight as to not get sick. You were having loads of fun, but you couldn’t help but wonder what Harry had gotten up to, so you tell your friends you need to use the ladies room quickly. The ladies room in the VIP section was actually clean, you were shocked. You may pee just for the hell of it. You take out your phone and call your fiancé.

“Y/N?”

“Hey, baby!” You slur. “Just checking in, whatcha up to?”

“Well…it’s one in the morning, so I was sleeping.”

Oh, shit, you think to yourself. You hadn’t even checked the time on your phone before you called. Now you felt like a proper dick.

“Shit, Har, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize how late it was, and I was thinking of you, and-“

“Babe, it’s alright.” He chuckles. “I went to a movie with Andre and Sandra and then we went out for drinks and a bite to eat. It was fun.”

“Oh, good! Any plans for tomorrow?”

“I’m hoping to get up and go for a run, and then I’m gonna work on my manuscript. Then I may have dinner with Lisa and her husband, but we’ll see.” He yawns.

“I’m really sorry I woke you…”

“I’ll fall back asleep don’t worry about it. What did you all get into tonight?”

“Drinking, dinner, more drinking, we went to, um, a show, and now we’re drinking more at a club.”

“Ah, so you’re still out?”

“Mhm.”

“Go be with your friends, baby.”

“I know, I just…wanted to hear your voice, that’s all.”

“Mm, well I’m glad you called, then.”

“I love your sleepy voice.” You pout, not that he can see it.

“Y/N, you’re gonna give me a stiffy if you keep talking like that, so, please, go back out and have fun, yeah?”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You sigh and go back out to continue dancing with your friends. You all get back to the hotel around three in the morning, and everyone crashes. The next day was all about recovering cozily. Room service was ordered and many movies were watched.

“Do you think things will change much once you and Harry are married?” Mark asks as you all do face masks.

“Nah, the biggest change will be going onto the same insurance plan.” You laugh. “We’ll start having kids, I know that much.”

“Do you have any big plans for after you get your doctorate?” Darcy asks.

“Mhm, we’re going to take Andy to Disney World as a combined celebration. Harry’s been dying to take him there for, like, and end of middle school thing, but we really wanna go before we have an infant on our hands, so he’s gonna say it’s for his thirteenth birthday instead.”

“That’s the perfect age to go.” Janette says. “He’ll remember way more, plus I bet he’ll enjoy the alone time with the both of you.”

“He’s gonna be so surprised.” You say. “I love that kid.”

“Any tea to spill about him and his friend?” Claudia asks.

“He hasn’t told me much recently.” You shrug. “Which is perfectly fine. He’s coming to the wedding with him, that I know for sure.”

//

Harry wasn’t home when you got back from your bachelorette weekend, so you take the opportunity to have a long shower and get into some comfy clothes. You hear the front door open and close, and go out to see Harry coming in with Andy.

“Hey, guys!” You say brightly.

“Y/N!” Andy says and comes to give you a hug. “Did you have a good time with your friends?”

“I did, yeah. How was Mum’s?”

“Good, we went shopping for a Halloween costume.”

“And what are you planning to be this year?”

“A rock star, so, so she got me a blow up guitar that has a strap, and I’m gonna wear all black. It’s gonna be sick.” He heads down the hall into his room.

“Is he going trick or treating?” You say as you wrap your arms around Harry’s neck. He hugs you for a moment before giving you a lip smacking kiss.

“Yeah, he’ll go out for a bit with his friends, and then I guess Caroline is having a little party at her house.”

“Oh, my…a boy-girl party, huh?”

“I know.” Harry sighs and grips your hips. “He’ll be picked up at 9:30 and not a moment later.” He kisses you again. “How was your weekend?”

“It was a lot of fun, it was so good to get away with them for a bit. Just another reminder of how excited I am to marry you.”

He squishes his nose to yours before letting you go. The evening is cozy as the three of you decide to play a board game before Andy goes to bed. It was an incredible game of Scrabble. Harry tugs you into your bedroom about twenty minutes later, and gets you undressed. You giggle as he kisses on you. You shift to get on top of him, and you pin his wrists to the pillows. You suck on his bottom lip and he groans before you lick into his mouth.

“God, I wanted you so bad this weekend.” You say to him as you kiss down his body. “Miss me?”

“Course I did.” He holds your hair back as you wrap your lips around his throbbing dick. His breath hitches as he feels your tongue run over his slit. “Fuck.” He breathes.

You bob up and down on him for a bit before he has you on your stomach. He pulls your hips back and starts fingering you from behind. You clutch at the pillows. You feel him open your cheeks up and his free thumb starts rubbing on your other hole. He hadn’t done this in a while, you almost forgot how good it felt.

“Shit, Harry.”

“Like that?”

“Feels so good.”

He was knuckle deep inside you, petting against your g-spot, and he gradually starts to work his thumb inside you. You gasp, but let him continue. You suddenly feel…full! It was sending you. You fuck yourself on his fingers while he continues to work his thumb into you.

“Alright? Still feels good?” He grunts. His tip was leaking just watching you.

“Yes, fuck, don’t stop.” You moan out into the pillows so you’re not too loud. You completely lose it around his fingers, and he gives you a moment before retracting himself. You wince a little when you feel his thumb leave you. You stay in position for him while he rolls a condom on.

“You good like that, babe? Your knees don’t hurt?”

“No, I’m good, please, give it to me like this.”

He nods and leans down to kiss you before getting back behind you. He grips your hips and pushes his thick tip inside you. Your back arches once he bottoms out. His pace is slow at first, wanting to ease in and out of you. You start moving on and off him at your own pace.

“Impatient.” He grunts as he lets you use him.

“You weren’t going fast enough.”

“So just tell me to go faster.”

“Thought you liked it when I used you.” You smirk at him over your shoulder and he bites his bottom lip.

“Will you get on top?”

“Yeah.”

He pulls out of you and gets on his back. You swing your leg over and sink down on him. You pin his wrists against the pillows again, and bring yourself down chest to chest. You lick into his mouth as you move on and off his hard dick. Your fingers intertwine and he squeezes your hands.

“Let me rub your clit.” He groans.

“Ask nicely.”

“Can I rub your clit?”

“Yes.”

You let go of one of his hands, and he snakes it between the two of you. You gasp into his mouth as he rubs circles into you. Sweat pools between your bellies, and you both lose it. You rest on top of him for a few moments before getting off. Once you’re both cleaned up you snuggle up to him in bed and lay your head on his chest.

“Slept like shit without you, if I’m being honest.” You tell him and kiss on his tattooed collar bones.

“I had to use my body pillow for the first time in forever.”

“I wrapped myself up in my little blanket burrito like I used to, but it just wasn’t the same. I enjoy your heavy body way more.”

“I’m always afraid I’m gonna crush you.” He chuckles.

“Oh, like when you lay fully on top of me? I fucking love that.” You smirk and he shakes his head.

“You’re suck a little freak.”

“Yeah, but I’m your freak.” You kiss his cheek. “I’m also not the one that enjoys giving people rim jobs, so I don’t wanna hear it.”

“I didn’t even do that tonight!”

“You still got in there.”

“And you liked it, so don’t kinkshame me.”

“I’m not! I like that you’re a little kinky.” You giggle.

“Just so you know, I don’t do that with just anyone…” He mutters.

“Aw, well don’t I feel special.” You say sarcastically. “It’s so good to know you’ve only had your tongue up a few people’s asses.” He blinks at you and you start laughing. “Chill, I’m just teasing.” You peck his lips and turn over, and he turns with you to wrap himself around you.

“You’re lucky I think you’re incredibly cute, you know that?”

//

Trick or treating was fun, but short lived. Andy his friends hit up the houses they knew that had the best candy, and then made their way to Caroline’s. You and Harry were at a Halloween themed game night at Mateo’s. Caroline’s house had a finished basement, so it was the perfect spot for a little party. Most of Andy’s homeroom was there. Her sister’s had helped set up donuts on strings for a little contest. There was music playing, and everyone was having a good time. There was even a wall with decorations for people to take pictures. Andy takes plenty with his friends.

Once Caroline’s sisters go upstairs, the kids all get into a game of truth or dare. They all sit in a circle on the floor, and put a bottle in the middle. The dares were lighthearted at first, someone had to cluck like a chicken, someone had to chug a can of soda, someone had to see how many marshmallows they could fit into their mouth, normal kid stuff. Then it got a little more serious. Some were daring others to go into the closet for seven minutes, others had to admit to having crushes.

“Okay, Brandon…” A girl named Maggie says, “truth or dare?”

“Dare.” He shrugs.

“Alright, I dare you to go into the closet with Andy for seven minutes.”

Andy nearly chokes on his drink, and looks wide eyed at Brandon.

“What exactly do you want us to do in there?” Brandon asks.

“Doesn’t matter, whatever happens is between you two.” She shrugs.

It wasn’t like they were the only same sex people to be asked to go into the closet. Some kids were out already, but things weren’t as obvious for Brandon and Andy.

“Do you want to?” Brandon asks him.

“I guess.”

They both get up, and go into the closet. Someone starts a timer for seven minutes. Andy leans against one of the walls of the closet. It was roomy.

“It’s too dark in here.” Brandon says as he turns the flashlight of his phone on. He sets it on the floor so it’s not blinding. “There we go, now I can see you.” Andy gives him a small smile. “Have I told you how cool your costume is?”

“Thanks, my mum helped me put it together. Although, Y/N helped with the eye liner.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I like yours too.”

“I don’t know, I thought it was kind of lame.” He chuckles. “A baseball player isn’t exactly original, but my mom wanted to make sure I was wearing pants.” He sighs.

“I know! Parents are always so worried about us being cold. It’s not like we were out that long.”

“Hey, remember when we were thing one and thing two in elementary school? We had to meet up like every weekend to make sure everything matched!”

“Yeah! I’m so glad we don’t have to do that anymore.” Andy stands up straight. “How long do you think it’s been?”

“Just a couple minutes.”

“This is such a weird dare…feel like I’m in an eighties movie.” Andy scoffs.

“I know, it feels like a force.” He sighs. “M’not gonna kiss you in a closet. That’s just what everyone wants. Then we’d have to walk out of here all awkward.”

“I don’t want you to kiss me in here either.” Andy chews his bottom lip. “But I do want you to kiss me, Brandon, really bad.” So many things had been left unsaid between them, and this was the first time Andy really said it to his friend.

“Maybe we can find somewhere else to go, somewhere less obvious.”

Andy nods, and the door opens. A few people frown as they can tell nothing happened between the two. It was getting closer to 9:30, and neither Andy nor Brandon wanted to get interrupted by a call from a parent again. Brandon watches as Andy goes over to Caroline.

“Is there somewhere private he and I can go?”

“Weren’t you two just alone?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, but it would have been so obvious…”

Caroline looks around. She thinks to tell them to go to the bathroom, but that would be obvious too. Her basement was a walkout, and the outside portion had been screened in for bugs. They could go out there for a few minutes. They could just say they’re getting some air.

“Go outside for a few minutes.” She nods over to the sliding door. “I’ll standby to keep watch.”

“You’re the best.”

Andy and Brandon go outside unnoticed by anyone else.

“You’re okay out here…like this?” Brandon asks.

“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath. “I need to know something before we do this, though…I mean, how do you feel about me? Because I like you, Brandon, like really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know when it started exactly. I just know that I do.”

Andy smiles at him and backs up to the siding of the house as Brandon walks towards him. Andy reaches up and turns Brandon’s baseball cap around so it wouldn’t get in the way. They both chuckle out of nerves. Brandon cups one of Andy’s cheeks and leans in.

“You’re sure?” Brandon asks.

“Yes.” He breathes.

Andy closes his eyes, and braces himself. Brandon’s lips press against his. The first thing he notices is how soft Brandon’s lips are, but he wasn’t surprised because he was always using chapstick. The second thing he notices is how he feels warm all over. He had butterflies in his stomach, but they were the good kind. He reaches up to cup one of Brandon’s cheeks so he won’t pull away. They stay like that for a few moment, kissing innocently. Brandon pulls away to get some air and presses his forehead to Andy’s.

“How was that for a first kiss?” Brandon looks at him.

“B-better than I ever imagined.” He tugs on Brandon’s jersey to pull him back in and they kiss once more. They both giggle afterwards. “H-how was I?”

“Best kiss I’ve ever had.”

“Jesus.” Andy blushes. “We, um, we should keep this quiet until after the wedding. If we say anything to our parents they may not let us share a hotel room or they might add more rules or something.”

“Shit, you’re right…yeah, let’s keep it to ourselves for now. I…I mean, I don’t even know what this all means, like, are we gay?”

“Well…you could be, but I like boys and girls.” It was wild how easily he was just able to admit it. “It’s called bi, or whatever, so that’s what I think I am. Does it matter? I like you and you like me, that’s it.”

“Right, that’s all that really matters.” Brandon smiles.

Andy feels his phone buzz in his pocket, and he takes it out to see that Harry texted he was out front.

“I have to go, my parents are here.”

“Okay.”

The boys hug and then kiss one more time before going inside. Andy and Caroline share a knowing look, and then he makes the rounds saying goodbye. He heads upstairs and thanks Caroline’s sisters for having him, and then goes outside with all his candy. Harry would need to inspect it when they got home. He climbs into the backseat of the car. You were in a giggly mood from the wine you had drank at game night.

“Andy! How was the party?” You ask him as you turn around slightly to make eye contact.

“Oh, um, it was good, really, really good.”

#harry styles #office neighbors #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #singledad!Harry #professor!Harry #professor!y/n

[aerion111]

Saw someone comment on tasks requiring more steps some days than others (the one I reblogged right before making this post, I just figured I ought to make my own post rather than say this in that ‘thread’. Barely make any original content anyway, could use the excuse to do so.)

For me... It’s more a matter of ‘autocomplete’, or ‘ease of use’, as if I’m piloting a partly autonomous ‘avatar’. (And if ‘I’m’ the conscious me, then I kinda am. If ‘I’ exist at all, but that’s a different matter. Though I feel more like an ‘organic robot’ than a video game character, video-games made for easier analogies.) Like the difference between cooking in ‘cooking simulator’ and cooking in Harvest Moon (I’m actually thinking of Rune Factory, but Harvest Moon’s more well known) (I’m pretty sure I could chop better IRL than in cook-sim, and I’m not a good ‘chopper’ IRL. The human body has ‘QoL improvements’ for precision and repetitive actions, that cook-sim doesn’t.)

On a good day, I don’t even have to click ‘make coffee’ to be told I’m out, I get the popup ‘you used up the last of the coffee, do you want to add it to the shopping list?’, buy it the next time I’m at the store (if I remember, I do have a percentage chance of forgetting thanks to taking the ADHD drawback), etc. And then I do just click ‘make coffee’, and click yes on each popup as it prompts me with stuff like ‘the coffee pot is empty, fill it with water?’, ‘you have coffee in your inventory, use it to craft?’, etcetera. Maybe at most having to step in when it tries to fetch an item from the wrong container and doesn’t find it. My impression is that this is the ‘normal mode’ most people ‘play’ on. The ‘neurotypical’ mode.

On a more regular day, I click ‘make coffee’ and get a popup of ‘error: you lack the required item (Coffee Powder)’. If and when I buy more, I can click ‘make coffee’ and be presented kinda with that ‘assembly’ minigame made popular by House Flipper. Where the tasks are presented for ease of play, but you do still have to go through the tedium of doing them. And just like I sometimes go ‘no, I’m not touching the dirty windows’ in House Flipper, and other players sometimes similarly refuse to lay wall-tiles, I might decide ‘no, I’m not making coffee, I’m sick and tired of that bloody minigame’. But it’s still leagues easier than those ‘realistic’ sim-games, since I can use my intuitive human body instead of clumsy keyboard controls and janky physics.

On a bad day, I click ‘make coffee’ and get that same popup. Then I go to the store and the mission-marker is pointing to the shelf of flour (where there’s no coffee). I finally find the coffee powder manually and bring it home, but when I click ‘make coffee’ it tells me ‘error: no water’. Fill it with water, click again. ‘Error: no filter’. Try to insert filter? ‘Lack required item (Coffee Filter)’. I give up and don’t make coffee for a couple days, until next time I go to the store. I’ve now got coffee powder, filters, everything! It’s plugged in, the heating elements are dry, it should be fine. I go to click ‘make coffee’, but get a warning of ‘warning: stale water, small risk of food poisoning’ since the water’s been sitting there since I filled it. Which may or may not be accurate, as poor stress-management earlier in the playthrough has left me with enough levels of the ‘anxiety’ flaw that it sometimes exaggerates dangers. But I’d suffer painful morale penalties if I drank ‘dangerous’ water without being desperate, as if I’d slurped up puddle water. So I change the water. I click ‘make coffee’ one final time, and finally the timer starts! Later in the day, a popup says ‘Mission Failed (Make Coffee): Timed Out’, because I forgot all about the coffee and either it’s gone cold (if the coffee machine shut off automatically) or it changed to ‘old coffee’ (’small risk of food poisoning’, of course) which counted as destroying the ‘fresh coffee’ mission item. Then I go back to buying pre-made, high-sugar, ice coffee like I should have done in the first place. Normal coffee’s too bitter for me anyway. Some months later, I remember to throw out the now-moldy bag of the remaining coffee powder. Next time I’m tempted to make coffee, I might buy some ‘coffee simulator’ game instead. At least that way, I can’t leave moldy food around, and the game probably has in-game timers and hints.

This isn’t THAT different from the ‘number of steps’ view, but I feel it’s still a substantial difference in how it feels. All the steps are there, I just don’t have to expend any willpower or navigate any menus if I’m in a good mood. (Well, a ‘can do stuff’ mood. Bad moods are rarely ‘productive’ ones, but not every ‘happy’ day is a ‘productive’ day. Sometimes I’m ‘happily’ frozen in executive dysfunction.) Notably, my ‘quest log’ doesn’t update in either case. I don’t get a convenient list of tasks. If I did, maybe it’d be easier to do it the ‘hard’ way. Instead, I get the same single-step ‘make coffee’ task that at best updates with sub-tasks after the popup, but probably doesn’t even do that. And like I said, on bad days the quest marker points to the wrong place. If I even get a quest marker and we’re not back in Morrowind days of having to remember the description.

#my adhd #adhd #executive dysfunction

[potteresque-ire]

Here’s my response to @pussyibo, who tagged me on a post about Gg’s Li-Ning brand endorsement. 

First of all, I’d like everyone to please read @accio-victuuri‘s wonderfully written, detailedly researched post on the Li-Ning brand, the Xinjiang cotton support rally on Weibo, and the narrative the state has spun on the issue. I would’ve provided similar information in my response as well—although no way I could’ve laid it out as clearly, as to-the-point as @accio-victuuri did—because this background is critical in explaining my thoughts on this issue.

I haven’t reblogged the Li-Ning ads, but I must confess that the decision had little to do with politics. I’ve always leaned towards re-blogging art than real people.

That said, however, Gg’s Li-Ning ads have, of course, crossed my dash. And I’d be honest and say this as well: I haven’t really found them—or by extension, the idea that Gg was endorsing the brand—offensive, precisely for the reasons @accio-victuuri laid out. Li-Ning is a legend in China; a highly decorated olympic gymnast, he was the national pride chosen to be the final torch-bearer and torch-lighter for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His company, established in 1990, was among the first Chinese brands with name-recognition overseas and has won high-profile international sponsorships—rare achievements among Chinese-owned enterprises, even to this day. 

Based on Li Ning’s identity and his company being a National Brand, I’d be more surprise if the Li-Ning brand doesn’t use homegrown, “patriotic” cotton, before even considering the practical reasons—Xinjiang cotton being a domestic product that eliminates the costs of shipping, tariffs etc; that it’s of such superior quality that international brands touted its use—a reversal of the usual downplaying of their products’ Chinese origin, due to the common associations of “Made in China”=“Bootleg”,“awful quality”; that makes up ~20% of worldwide cotton production—ie. most Chinese families are probably already using products with cotton from the region (blankets, for example). 

From that perspective, therefore, I’ve viewed the endorsement as little more than a case of a high-profile Chinese celebrity endorsing a high-profile Chinese brand, named after a national hero and targeted towards the local market. I breathed a little sigh of relief for Gg, admittedly—imagine if his new endorsement over those same few days had been for a brand under the Better Cotton Initiative; he would’ve been flayed alive, if the antis’ words were knives.

(And who said they aren’t?)

As such, I also haven’t considered the Li-Ning brand as “morally inferior” to Gg or Dd, or, the other way around, that Gg or Dd are “morally superior” to the Li-Ning brand. I haven’t considered drawing a moral ruler along this axis. I either believe they’re all doing what their sociopolitical environment has taught them, guided them, demanded them to do, or I don’t. Li Ning (the person and the brand), Gg, and Dd all have a celebrity status attached to them. They’ve all flourished in that one sociopolitical environment—that one they also call home.  

Ultimately, Gg and Dd belong to China. They’re the product of the country, its all powerful, all controlling regime. No one can be isolated from their backgrounds—my background colours every word I say here; likewise, there’s no place I can draw a line and separate Gg and Dd from the Communist Red behind them. I wouldn’t have posted about China’s sociopolitical environment, researched on it as a GgDd fan otherwise. 

I either walk away from them all, or I don’t. I either stay a fan, or I don’t. The latter is my choice. Every minute.

Have there been instances in which news about Gg and Dd make me especially uncomfortable? Yes. Photos of Gg in PLA (People’s Liberation Army; Chinese army) uniform for AT, or Dd in police uniform for BAH, for TTXS still give me stomach churns every time I see them. A violent squeeze of the heart.

Visceral reactions that come from, I suppose, the amyglada. More organic, primitive than thought. 

I’ve seen those uniforms in RL action—uniforms worn by those who’re truly responsible for the labor camps and mass surveillance, the torture, the unreported deaths, the disappearances; uniforms Gg and Dd have expressed support outside their drama, their host roles:

Translation: #I support Hong Kong Police too# (On red banner) “I support HK police. You can beat me up now.” What a shame for Hong Kong.

(Dd reblogged the same post originated from People’s Daily, the State-Controlled Newspaper).

I’m going to go on a quick detour and provide the backstory of this red little box, this piece of propaganda that is much more blatant than a clothing ad. I’ll explain why in a bit.

Here’s an article that explained the incident from which the quote was drawn, that occurred on 8/13/2019 during the Hong Kong Protest and the airing of The Untamed. Essentially, a Chinese state media reporter was suspected to be a spy among the protestors after taking photos, refusing to show his press pass (he was found to have one but not his own), and possessing a “I love HK Police” shirt; he was tied to the luggage cart and beaten up. The reporter said the quote in the red little box; he suffered mild injuries and was soon discharged by the hospital.  What was the background of this story, however? Why did the protestors beat up someone who could be from the press—who, regardless of their affiliation, protestors know should be protected? The protests began in June, 2019. Hong Kong had had another large scale protest in between September to November, 2014 (aka the “Umbrella Revolution”). Spies had always been an issue. Why didn’t a spy beating happen earlier?

Here’s an English-subbed documentary (warning: violence) that offers insight of the background—the fear and fury of the protestors. The subject is what is now known as 721 Yuen Long incident, or the evening Hong Kongers—even those who had not been involved, who had been unsure about the protests—lost their trust of the Hong Kong Police, once known as “Asia’s finest”.

That evening went like this. On 7/21/2019, the local mafia violently attacked the passengers of a late night train in Yuen Long station—passengers who weren‘t protestors (who wore black)—while the police ignored the multiple emergency calls from locals who’d spotted something suspicious, and didn’t show up on the scene while the beatings occurred. Evidences, which the documentary detailed, pointed to the Hong Kong Police, and the government that backed it, endorsing the beatings, therefore working with the local mafia to deal with the protests. 

By 8/13/2019, therefore, protestors were convinced that their opposition wasn’t beyond using very low blows to get their way. One could argue that they overreacted to the spy-reporter; the Western media, who had long trusted HKers to know what they were doing, expressed its disappointment, and the protestors soon apologised. The Chinese propaganda machine, of course, jumped at the chance of casting the protestors as bad people, and the online rally on Weibo ensued (It lasted for at least three days; Gg and Dd reblogged post about HK between 8/14/2019-8/16/2019).

That was, briefly, the story behind Gg and Dd’s Weibo reblog.

Why did I make a detour and write up this story? Because I’ve actually posted blatant propaganda on my blog—the Weibo post, with its red little box. However, does it still feel like propaganda with the story?

Therefore, I haven’t, and don’t plan on pressuring anyone to stop posting and re-blogging specific pieces of GgDd information—be it an ad as in this scenario, or propaganda material from films, series, government/state-controlled media announcements etc. That I believe everyone should set their own boundaries, be their own judge of what they’d like to share on their own blog aside, I think—and this is where my opinion may deviate from many—“canceling” falsehoods often isn’t the best way to deal with them. 

This opinion is likely, again, coloured by my background.

My observations have been this: “cancelling” is effective only if the cancelling force is, overall, significantly stronger than the force being cancelled. In the scenario that prompted this post, making Gg’s Li-Ning ads disappear from the dash is only possible if there are more fans who ignore the ads than those who post and reblog them. “Canceling” is therefore a competition of headcount, with tactics for sidekick—the side with more people, and people who are good at disseminating information, decides the outcome: whether the intended-to-be-cancelled material go viral within the fandom, or whether they die out.

I’d like to highlight this word: headcount.

This isn’t the most favourable kind of competition to participate in, therefore, if the potential opposition belongs to the populous country in the world, its members, people who may have participated in fan circles, which are essentially fan armies who’ve been used to organising, battling on social media for their idols. I’ve previously set up a hypothetical scenario, in which Dd’s supertopic members were encouraged by their government to scale the Great Firewall to Twitter, spread their support of Xinjiang cotton—a scenario that is not totally unrealistic, given that the Chinese government has previously mobilised fans for propaganda purpose. 

We’ll use this thought experiment again ~ please bear in mind, once more, that this is SJD; a figment of our imagination.

Since we’re talking about Li-Ning brand, let’s add Gg’s supertopic members to the mix. The total supertopics member count is 6.11 + 8.34 = 14.45 million, as of today (2021/04/04). 

Let’s say, only a tiny, tiny percent—0.01% of them are mobilised; that’s 1,400 people.

Is it possible to cancel the voices, the retweets of 1,400 in Gg and Dd’s i-fandom? Cut down another 90%, reduce the opposition headcount to 140. Is it possible?

There are also overseas Chinese who do not intend to spread propaganda, but believe in the story and have no qualms disseminating the information. There are also fans who wish to remove politics from fandom and pass all information along.

Here lies the frustration of those who’ve tried to raise their voice of concerns re: the policies and practices of the Chinese government on social media; and this is why I mentioned that my background informed my opinion. On social media, where headcount and whoever shouts the loudest, retweet etc the most wins the exposure game, it’s nearly impossible to win against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda machine, if the party chooses to have the machine running. 

Their side has so many people.

One more RL example: here’s a scholarly article detailing how Diba (帝吧), an old, popular online forum in China with 20 million members, mobilised, collectively scaled the Firewall and engaged in a cyberattack of the Facebook page of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen on January 20, 2016 — the day of President Tsai Ing-wen’s first inauguration; they left a total of 26,000 comments against Taiwan independence, using Simplified Chinese (which China uses) for their font instead of Traditional Chinese (which Taiwan and Hong Kong uses)—ie, the commenters didn’t even pretend to be not from China. They were proud and open about their "Expedition”.

(China’s state-controlled tabloid Global Times—yes, the same one involved in the Hong Kong airport incident above—”concluded the campaign was a “fun normal incident” that showcased young people’s passion for politics”)

Is it possible to try to cancel something of that scale? Is it realistic?

Personally, therefore, I’ve always advocated for “immunisation”: rather than protecting a fact by wiping out its associated lies—the idea behind “cancelling” a message, not having it show up on the dash—I prefer to do so by allowing it to be visibly challenged, until observers are no longer easily swayed by falsehoods. I used Gg and Dd’s Weibo reblog re: Hong Kong police as an example—is the red little box propaganda, a challenge to the protests? Yes. Is it information that I deeply disagree with, something I wish I’ll never see again? Also yes. But by providing context to it, I’m hoping to turn it into a vaccine—something mimicking the virus, the potentially viral piece of information, but doesn’t function the same way anymore. 

Hopefully, this vaccine will also encourage stop-and-think moments that boost future immunity; hopefully, with a few more boosters, questions will come automatically with such red little boxes reappear— questions about the context, the purpose, the message. 

Questions like these, for this incident: why did the State media make this incident the “Gotcha” moment in the Hong Kong Protests, important enough for People’s Daily to make a rally-starting meme? Why was the reporter, Fu Guohao hailed as a hero, when he’d just got ... beaten up? 

What did People’s Daily, and the government behind it, want people to find when the red little box popped up everywhere on Weibo, including the Weibo of the fastest rising stars from the hit summer TV series? What belief could be expected to be instilled into the audience with this photo, published by China’s state TV station (CGTN), of the reporter tied up to a luggage cart and surrounded by black-cladded protestors?

Who looked like the strong, evil side? The meek, good side? Why, finally, was the tag about the Hong Kong Police, when the conflict was between the protestors and an alleged Chinese state media reporter?

By then, Hong Kongers were already suspicious that the Hong Kong Police had been infiltrated by China’s law enforcement arm, from hints from the different dialects the police used, how they handled the protestors etc. It was the start the final break down of Hong Kong’s autonomy. Their suspicions were not wrong. Now, with the National Security Law having taken effect since July 2020, Hong Kong’s transformation into a police state is well under way.

What does the tag #I support Hong Kong Police too# mean now?

[Please excuse my using many examples from HK because 1) I’m familiar with the details; and 2) it’s the only instance in recent history in which the outside world can see, with relative clarity, a large-scale protest against the Chinese government and its outcome.]

Here’s my humble wish: next time, when a government-sponsored memes like this get translated and posted, be it originally reblogged by Gg, Dd, or other c-ent stars, be it on Twitter or Tumblr, the vaccinated, immunised will pause and wonder: What’s the story? What’s being told inside the Great Firewall, and outside? 

If this happens, red little boxes on my blog, unpleasant as they are, are 100% worth it.

The Li-Ning ads are therefore worth it too, IMO, if they spark a conversation, a dissemination of facts and perspectives. To me, the latter is especially precious in this fandom, where significant language and cultural barriers exist.  Fans who move Gg and Dd’s news and candies from Weibo are the pillars of this fandom. Sieving through that website is hard, translations harder; it’s unfair and unrealistic to ask them to also be the background knowledge deliverers. 

I’ve tried to do a small part, but I’m ... slow. Very, very slow. However, even if the background isn’t available, I’ve found being careful, skeptical about the information is already a very good thing. At heart, this is no different from the lessons from media literacy here, except there are even more falsehoods and half-truths to wade through given the country of origin of Gg and Dd’s material, and trustworthy sources are not always available. Li-Ning brand is an example that things do not need to be blatant propaganda to carry a pro-CCP message. 

What can i-fans do then about the Xinjiang cotton situation, if competing against the Chinese government propaganda machine on social media appears to be a losing game?

My thoughts are these, at the moment. First, please consider not dwelling on the competition, especially within fandom. Remember: getting several fewer fans to buy Li-Ning brand isn’t going to change the big picture.

Instead, if this is an area of activism you choose to participate in—please consider channeling your effort to watching the companies in your country. Put pressure on sustainability & good practice certification companies like Better Cotton Initiative, make sure they don’t, can’t have it both ways. Xinjiang cotton is either certified or it isn’t. There’re suspicions of forced labor on its production or there aren’t. The answer should be a simple yes or no, not whether the office is in Geneva or in Shanghai.

This is an answer that we, as consumers, have the right to know. Transparency in China isn’t for us to demand; we can, however, demand transparency in our own country. Remember too: it makes a far, far greater difference for one international company to re-consider its cotton source, than for one fandom to do the same. 

Meanwhile, and again, this is my humble opinion—please do whatever you’re comfortable with, that is within your ability, to fortify your stance. Should you choose to speak out online, you’ll likely meet opposition. Responses on current events from the Chinese Foreign Ministry (you can also find the spokespeople on Twitter) can offer a glimpse of the counterarguments you may meet. How will you answer them? Here’s a clip of one of the spokespeople arguing that the US used to use black slavery to pick cotton in the past. If you’re American and this is presented to you—what would you say? (Does mistakes by one country in the past mean mistakes by another country in the present is automatically acceptable?) The opposition may also use vicious words, the most extreme of which is probably “racist”. If someone call you racist—if many Twitter users scream racist!!!!!!!! at you at the same time for your critique—can you stand firm? 

[The pro-CCP camp has been taking advantage of the West’s effort to move forward from its racist past to stop any criticism of the Chinese government. It already knows the easiest way to silence the criticisms is to call whoever makes them racist.]

[If everyone fears the racist allegation, allows the conflation of Chinese government and Chinese people to take root, will there be more or less anti-Asian sentiments in the long run?]

[I’ve been called racist by writing these metas.] 

The last thing I’d like to say is this: please be kind to your fellow fans who’ve kept mum, or been hesitant about making their stance known. Some may be closely connected to China, others may not be in a psychological / health space to deal with the politics. Also, and here’s my default way of looking at this: I disagree with the idea that anyone owes anyone else a declaration of their political beliefs. I can’t imagine this issue to be an easy thing to think about for many Gg and Dd fans, myself most definitely included ~ as a (former) Hong Konger, a uniformed Gg or Dd gives me an unpleasant visceral response, but at the same time, it also means I’m used to accepting, even genuinely liking people on the other side of this political ... Grand Canyon. I can imagine the conflict, the pain this issue may have caused some fans who’re not accustomed to the latter, as being a fan, IMO, is never purely logical ~ and I mean that in the best of ways. 

Passion is the magic ingredient that separates a fan and a consumer. It’s also what makes choices difficult, when conclusions from logic, political stance included, conflict with it. Some make the hard choices quickly; some, slowly. Some make them in one go; some, piece by piece. Some never make them, let time be the decision maker.

As Dd said so famously and wisely, about the conflict between passion and logic: 愛就是這樣，沒有辦法 Love is like that. Nothing can be done.

The only common denominator is this: we’re all made to love.

❤️.💛.💚.

#pie metas #yizhan #bjyx

[redrose-arrow]

Duncan x Halt anon back here again to elaborate on some other points!!! Firstly I’d like to say: TY FOR LISTENING TO MY RANTING MWAH MUCH LOVE <3 AND TO THE QPR CROWLEY/HALT/DUNCAN ANON: GALAXY BRAIN TAKE IM SO INVESTED IN HEARING MORE (particularly about Halt working for morgarath before meeting Crowley and Duncan......I GASPED WHEN I READ THAT. ITS SUCH AN AMAZING IDEA)

ANYWAY TO THE ELABORATION: The thing about Halt & Duncan, AKA the Thing that gave me the ship idea, is that Duncan seems to find Halt’s disregard for authority more amusing than anything. In one of the Brotherband books there’s this exchange between Duncan, a few of the Brotherband members, & Gilan:

“And if you think these two are bad, you should see Halt. He’s a senior Ranger and he shows no respect for me at all.”

“That’s not quite true, sir,” Gilan interjected. “He has enormous respect for you, so long as you agree with him.”

“Yes. That’s true. [...] Alright,” [Duncan] said at length, “let me think about what we’ve discussed here.” He looked at Gilan. “I’m still inclined to the idea of sending you with some reasonable force.”

Gilan shrugged. “That’s all right, sir. You’ll soon see the light of reason.”

Duncan sighed. “I suppose so.”

So the whole “we know better than you” thing the Rangers have going on doesn’t bother Duncan enough for him to get upset about it—I think it’s like a joke between all the Rangers and Duncan, that they (Halt especially) serve the King in an official capacity, but beyond that they’ll basically just do whatever the hell they want because 1) they’re skilled enough & smart enough to do it, and 2) Duncan knows that whatever they’re doing it’s for a good reason, and ultimately it’ll turn out better for everyone. And I think Rangers are quite high-ranking, actually, if they answer ONLY to the king (are they above barons? It’s not clear but it feels like they’re definitely up there), so all of that combined means that Rangers in general would get a lot more leeway from the king than a knight or even a baron might get. And Halt isn’t just any Ranger, he’s one of the twelve who helped Duncan regain control of his kingdom & win a war against Morgarath (TWICE), AND if I’m pairing this with my AU where Duncan knows Halt is ex-royalty then Duncan beyond a doubt sees the man as an equal—though I‘d say he sees him as an equal regardless of whether or not he knows about his royal background specifically because of all the crap he’s let Halt get away with lmao. We also saw in the infamous banishment scene, Duncan was more than willing to let Halt off the hook, but his chamberlain insisted that the rules be upheld for the sake of preserving his authority; which is obviously what Halt was banking on. So essentially it seems to me like Halt and Duncan are very good friends but they can’t make it LOOK like they’re friends (or make it look like Duncan doesn’t mind Halt doing questionable stuff) for the sake of appearances or whatever, so in public they’ll act their part of royal-leader-and-loyal-follower but behind closed doors it’s no harm, no foul. (Duncan gives off the vibe of like, someone who has to ACT formal to uphold tradition but really doesn’t care either way? Like someone who maybe didn’t want to be king in the first place but stepped up because it was expected of him & there was no one better to take the throne, but because he was never 100% invested in being king he doesn’t care about the etiquette or whatever—which is what I’d imagine Halt would’ve been like as a king BUT THAT’S A WHOLE OTHER STORY, MOVING ON) Halt will do a bunch of illegal sh*t and Duncan will look the other way because by now, he knows the man well enough to know that he’s doing it for a good cause and his methods may be questionable but he gets 👏 it 👏 DONE. And really, who is he to get in the way of good results? (I mean, he’s the king, but whatever. Halt can get good results without TOO much chaos so it’s all fair game, as far as Duncan’s concerned)

That’s not to say Halt doesn’t respect Duncan at all—Duncan’s put his foot down on a few occasions, most notably when it comes to his family. Whenever it’s a matter of keeping Cassandra or even the late Queen Rosalind safe, he was very firm in his instructions about keeping them safe and the Rangers never defied his orders when his back was turned. They may have negotiated or tried to reason with him, but he had the final say and they all (Halt included) respected it. So there’s just a lot of mutual respect & understanding abt where they stand with one another and I just LOVE IT SO MUCH THEYRE GREAT

ANYWAY WANNA HEAR ABOUT MY HC OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HALT’S SISTER DIES AND DUNCAN FINDS OUT BEFORE HIM BC WHENEVER SOMEONE ROYAL DIES THE NEIGHBOURING KINGDOMS ARE ALERTED????

(I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's Duncan-dealing-with-his-Rangers-appreciation time).

I wanted to post this right away because it plays into @vilewile 's reblog of your earlier ask but to be quite honest I am rather speechless and overwhelmed and processing but it's only because it's all so good???? You made me go from 1 to 10 on the shipping scale with two asks and now I cannot let go. Imma need to come up with my own headcanons soon........

about that last thing in all caps - ANON I LITERALLY SCREAMED WHEN I READ THAT OF COURSE I WANT TO HEAR THAT

and of course you're more than welcome!!! I genuinely love reading these all and I'm honoured that my inbox is your outlet ahaha :)

#i'm not kidding #when i'm all alone there's nothing that can stop me #so i did in fact scream #anon where is all of this coming from it's so good #so so good #ranger's apprentice #rangers apprentice #john flanagan #ask redrose #ask redrosearrow #also i lowkey don't want to move on from Halt being a king but alright