#it's basically a slightly easier version of college

[sincerity--extreme]

So... Guess who had a sudden urge to change her life that this lasted long enough for her to get into college....

[phantoms-world-and-more]

An idea came to me reading a fic where Danny was a kryptonian. What if Amity Park instead of being a city in the USA on Earth was once a city on Krypton (in what would be a kryptonian version of early 21st century or at least about 100 years before the planet blew up). Basically almost everything that happened in cannon DP happened and everything is mostly the same but with a more alien then earth tone to it.

After Phantom Planet Danny's parents except him being part ghost, the government overturn the Ecto Acts, and he able to finish high school and goes on to college after which he is happily welcomed to for work for KASA (Krypton Aeronautics and Space Administration). He becomes an Astronautical engineer. Danny is in his early thirties when he is testing out a new experimental space ship engine for KASA. While doing a flight test Danny's ship losses signal and no one can find it (kind of what happened in the show Farscape).

100s of years go by Krypton explodes baby Kal-El is sent to Earth where he grows up to be Superman. The JL suddenly get a signal/warning about some alien tech on the edge of the solar system. They send one of the Green Lanterns to take a look, where they report a spaceship dead in space. They don't expect any life forms but surprise because of his ghost half Danny was in a sort of suspended animation. He is brought back and wakes up in the Watch Tower.

Just Random ideas...

Kryptonite is the crystalized form of ectoplasm because of this Danny is not effected by it.

Danny's kryptonian name is Daniel Fen-Ton

The phantom zone projector was originally called the Fen-Ton zone projector or is was based off a Fen-Ton gadget.

Years after Danny disappears Krypton starts turning on ghost again, so the town of Amity, which now has a symbiotic relationship with ghost, vote to pull the whole town into the Ghost Zone. So it is not blown up like the rest of the planet though Danny does not know this in the beginning.

Danny has an easier time learning to use Earth technology then he does the Kryptonian technology in Superman's Fortress.

Danny also has slightly easier time when getting the regular Kryptonian power set due to the yellow sun because he went through something similar when getting his ghost powers.

Danny adopts Connor almost immediately. Maybe during Danny's time there was laws about cloning and clone rights on Krypton. Also while Connor is not a replacement he sort of fills in the void of losing Ellie.

While Superman has no idea who Danny is, Kara/Supergirl has a faint idea because he was briefly mentioned in her Krytonian History class. Also she is happy to have someone who can natively speak the kyrptonian language even if it has older vocabulary. Don't get her wrong its great to speak it with Kal-El but he learned it later in life.

Holly char this is amazing!

How many people will have a stroke when they see Danny casually pick up a piece of kryptonite? Batman? His normal Kryptonian contingency plan won't work. Luthor? There's a version of superman IMMUNE to Kryptonite. Clark? What the hell do you mean you can touch kryptonite

I think after Danny explains everything about his past and species so many people are going to just...give up. Hahaha a stronger version of superman who isn't effected by kryptonite, goodbye world

Connor will be ecstatic, Danny will do ALL the dad stuff, teaching him their language, proper training, engineering lessons and you bet he's going to use jazz's psychiatrist stuff on this kid

Danny's probably going to get mega-depressed, all his hard work breaking the racism against ghosts only for that to come back a few years after he left? And he can't even fix it again because their world went bye-bye

Also- here me out

Co-pilot Valerie

[dilftesbiggestfan]

more dante pookie hcs plz its rare to see dante stans

on it bro I’m giving u mys and diaries hcs cuz why not we gotta be more annoying like laurence stans

Mystreet:

he gets Gene gifts every Father’s Day since from his perspective he was the one who raised him alongside his mom and was the only father figure he had :,)

Has like 12 guitars (this isn’t over-exaggerating)

started dyeing his hair blue after freshman year of HS, his natural hair color is black

he was a late bloomer so he looked more feminine while the others looked masculine and were developing quickly, Nana thought he was adorable which is why she dated him also at some point Zenix thought he was a girl 💀 after 16 he started developing quickly and becoming more masculine till he finished puberty at 20

grew up in Nashville before moving to the city pdh is located in then he went to college in Spain then he moved to wherever Mystreet is (still haven’t decided but its the USA).

has a masters degree in engineering, and has a great paying job which makes it easier for him to travel a lot, he always takes Gene and his friends/family with him though, he hatessss travelling alone

ages gracefully currently he’s 34 in my rewrite and he still looks 24 same goes to gene (but Mystreet seasons 1 - 3 takes place in their early 20’s and mid 20’s; which is the past I know it’s confusing but so is my head so yeah. If ur wondering seasons 4 - 6 don’t exist and never will be canon to me :))

pretty masculine but still uses makeup and “women’s” perfume / skin care doesn’t care tho

cooks really well but he’s not the best because Laurence is and no one else can compete

when he was dating nana he learned Japanese for her and can speak around 80% of it, basically he can hold up a long conversation he can also speak other languages:

English (obviously, American accent)

French 65% Spanish (Mexican dialect cuz he’s Mexican)

(Spain dialect, he learned the European dialect first then worked his way up to Mexican dialect, he can switch between dialects easily)

he can also understand some Portuguese :)

very picky with fast food, he prefers healthy food but he does like pizza

really calm and chill (unlike his canon version) opposite to Travis who’s extremely chaotic and messy

long hair and refuses to cut it

Eventually he does dye his hair back to black in his 30s after feeling like he damaged it (thankfully he didn’t and won’t be balding like dilfte 😇)

Favourite band is Metallica

nerd when it comes to astrophysics and astronomy

only ex he’s in good terms with is nana who he dated for a while in HS before they decided to mutually split up (no he never dated Nicole I hate that ship)

MCD:

Loves wolves and tames them he treats them like puppies even though they can rip apart peoples flesh :3

is 7’2… …. ..

insanely beefed up because bro ran a village all by himself for 15 years and trained hard everyday also he canonically beat both laurence and garroth in a fight after the timeskip he’s a beast

ambidextrous and can use both arms efficiently when it comes to combat and fighting

Dilfte rarely shows his face like how Garroth used to wear his helmet back in s1? it’s like that

Extremely gentle and cautious with his wife and kids because of his size

has 7 kids including Dmitri and naoki (so 5 other kids) yeah he been busy

in s2 he’s in his early/mid 30s but in s3 of MCD and afterwards he’s in his early/mid 40s

Still madly in love with his wife and still in that honeymoon stage

Unlike Nicole he let Dmitri pick who he wanted to live with and Dmitri chose Dilfte and Nana

Wraps injured people up in his cape and carries them in it

physically very strong slightly above garroth (if we’re counting physical strength and not magic)

as intimidating as he looks he’s super sweet and wouldn’t hurt a fly

likes to go on picnics with his kids and wife

Extremely supportive of his kids and very progressive (keep in mind this is the medieval ages so it was rare)

finds lizards intimidating

bisexual but he doesn’t know what it means all he knows is women and men are both hot

Moved on “quickly” from Nicole because they already were unhappy and distant before breaking up, for months he thought they’d break up the next day so he spent that time wallowing and grieving their relationship until she broke the news to him and left him alone, then he moved on with Nana 2 months later. Which isn’t even quick if we’re being historically accurate.

limits drinking and refuses drinking around any kids, not that he’d go crazy and hurt anyone but still he’s extremely cautious.

Dilfte is probably the only dad who wants his kids to surpass him in the series 💀 he’s very proud of them no matter what though

long hair he puts it up usually (balding and short haired dilfte/dante ur dead to me.)

beard

Still tried to talk to Gene using the amulet even after the incident, Gene would always listen but never respond.

thanks for fuelling the hyperfixation

[garthofshayeris]

How can all of Garth’s personality, relationships, and history became irrelevant to the current comics runs? What happened?

Great question! After Flashpoint happened, the Dc Universe reset. For a lot of comics, there were no major character or lore changes. However, the Aquaman comics got a major overhaul.

It’s important to note that Aquaman lore has changed over the years, but the changes were either slow or the kept much of the same characterization, but updated certain aspects. For example, although Death of a Prince takes place in the Bronze Age of comics, it was playing off dynamics already established in the Silver Age, and the story was tweaked slightly when the post-crisis reboot happened, so the events were still relevant in Volumes 4-6 (80s-early 2000s). The lore expanded to say, these major elements are still here! We have changed some things, and here they are! And this is how it effected what you might be familiar with, etc.

Then comes the New52. In order to make the comics easier for newcomers to read, about 90% of the characters and Atlantean history were removed completely from canon. This includes Garth, who was the longest-running humanoid supporting character!! (Topo the octopus is the longest-running returning character, and for the record they also got rid of him)

They re-did Arthur’s backstory (adapted to something similar to his Silver Age origins) and some characters, like Orm, were completely re-done as well to fit the new lore. They did not do this for Garth; in fact, every major element of his character that tied him to the story was removed. His kingdom I mentioned in that last ask? Gone. Atlan, the wizard who trained him? Gone (although they do re-use that name, the New52 character named Atlan is not Atlan from previous stories). The rumor about purple eyes? Actually not gone, but they did completely change what it meant and when we meet an entire community of purple-eyed Atlanteans, Garth is not among them. (Purple eyes have been an element to his character since his introduction, btw)

“But comicvine says Garth appeared in the New52!” I hear you cry. Technically true. But here’s a fun fact: they “teased” his return on the last page of one comics, and his design was so off from all previous versions that the fans did not know who he was supposed to be. Why? He was wearing a color Garth was never seen in, sporting a strange tattoo on the wrong side of his face (those lines aren’t a tattoo in pre-flashpoint btw…it’s a scar, that Atlan gave him) and because Garth had always, always, always been the child that Arthur adopted…the fact that he showed up as a fully formed adult with no connection to Arthur was so strange that even the Aquafans did not make the connection!!

This character, a mercenary who never spoke to Arthur, appeared a few more times before being quietly re-set in Rebirth.

Now, let’s recall that the comics removed all aspects of this character’s connection to the story, including the very fact that he was essentially Arthur’s adopted child. This is STILL TRUE in Rebirth. I cannot think of a time that Garth spoke directly to Arthur in any of the comics, but Mera said once that Arthur basically paid for Garth to go to Magic Underwater Wizard College, which is something that exists for some reason. Also he dropped out of Magic Underwater Wizard College because his girlfriend died, but we don’t know that woman’s name and he has literally never brought it up outside that single comics.

I want to say, I am not against changing backstories. Garth has had two and a half backstories since the 60s! But they grow and expand to fit the new world they live in. The writers took time and energy, they poured their hearts into making this new character appeal to their brave new world. But DC has not given Garth that same grace these past 15ish years. They had so, so many chances as well! They could have rewritten him in a way that was satisfying to his old fans. But they do not give a shit about Garth.

You see. DC wants to trick you. They want to say “everything is canon now” and not have to put in any effort. except my dears, the Aquaman comics are so complicated that they cannot exist at the same time. Because sure, maybe we can say Garth is no longer royal, because that kingdom his parents ruled no longer exists. But without that bloodline, why is he the most powerful Atlantean sorcerer? Did he never complete a highly emotional task of claiming his birthright, and accepting the death of Tula so he can heal his emotional wounds? Oh. Tula is alive? And now related to Orm? And they hardly know each other? Well, he just went to Magic College and he’s good for absolutely no reason at all. Is he still close with Arthur? I’m not sure. Arthur paid for college, but has never spoken to Garth. Garth is absent from all major life events in the Aquafamily. He has never met Arthur’s biological kid. He has no useful role inside a comic that he used to be an integral part of, his usual role has been split among others. So there goes his backstory. There go his emotional connections. Goodbye to the major emotional highs and lows as well. Goodbye to his personality traits, intentionally written to be played off of Arthur’s. Goodbye to any kind of role in the narrative; when you can replace his character with a nameless extra, is he really part of the story?

And when you remove all of that…what is there to like about this character, anyway?

[docholligay]

Doc are you concerned that AI's will soon be able to write novels?

I was actually talking to someone about AI this morning and it reminded me of this ask.

I am hoping that the whole art AI thing blowing up has made people actually realize what AI actually does and why we all should have been against it in the first place, and maybe, just maybe, this will work, but I actually doubt it.

Like, AI does now, and always has, simply scraped information from the internet and reconstituted into the fast food version of whatever it's being asked for. I do not like this, and I did not like this when it was stealing work from translators, but apparently that made me hysterical and anti-technology and classist or whatever.

So I am a little annoyed that people are now like, "I never thought leopards would eat MY face!!!" about AI, basically because art got involved. But honestly I don't care as long as people actually do turn the tide on it. I can be annoyed. It's a survivable condition.

ANYWAY, am I concerned? I'm not a novelist, and I am lucky that the writing I do about TV shows would be very difficult for an AI to replicate. I'm not a copywriter, another job that is in a lot of trouble from this. So, from a job perspective, no, I'm not concerned. As far as fanfic writing, well, I've read some AI generated fiction writing and I like to think I'm slightly better than that, at the very least. But if I'm not I can probably still feed myself.

I do think YA writers should be concerned because it's a much less complex and formulaic form of writing that's much easier to replicate, and I don't mean that in a shady way at all, children's authors and picture books are in the same book.

But you know who should really be concerned? Colleges. Because you know what is the easiest form of writing to AI generate? Basic paper writing from kids that don't have a lot of analytical skill but can definitely regurgitate simple ideas in a format asked for by the prompt. College degrees are meaningless NOW, I can only imagine how much worse it'll get.

We're living in a hell of our own making! It's kind of like when I was telling everyone, YEARS ago, that putting a whole bunch of connected tech in our cars was bad, got called a grandpa, and now people are like, "BMW can just shut off your heated seats??" and I'm rolling my eyes in my 96 corolla that could be run off a potato.

I'm often accused of having a pessimistic attitude about tech, but in fairness, I'm not often wrong.

So I'm not WORRIED, in that it is not yet my job on the line, but I am so frustrated that I feel like fucking CASSANDRA about this tech shit, and everyone is like, "lol silly Doc!!"

Like when I say a cashless society is bad, actually, and makes you more easily trackable, every single transaction, and that it hurts poorer and homeless people, and that we should be resisting it, everyone is like, "But I love tap to pay!" and laughs at me for using cash everywhere.

We live in the world we deserve, I guess.

[ulubionywuja]

So I'm graduating an art academy in 4 days...

I'm defending my master's thesis on Tuesday, 11 am. It's been five years since I started this college (technically it's an academy,not university, not art school, it's an art academy), and thought I'd share my thoughts on my time there in a sort of written blog-ish format. I had written blogs as a teenager and younger adult, there were three, and the last one is still there for people to read. (It's mintwmb.blogspot.com, it's in Polish + I was still younger, slightly more cringe and much less bitter when I was writing there. Still love that blog tho.)

I started uni (I'm gonna call it that, it's easier) in 2019 in October. In Poland, academic year has two semesters - a winter one which runs from October to January/February and a summer one, from February to June. I started as a graphic design student, but graphic design was only available as an extramural studies course, which I was ok with... until I learned that it wasn't free, which in a standard in Poland. It was 600PLN/150USD per semester, so 1200PLN/300USD per year. Not really that bad, but still I wasn't having any of it. It was too late to move to general graphics, which is free, so I payed for a year and moved for year 2.

The design course was awful for me, I hated it. We mainly learned how to use Adobe programs, basics of typography, basics of graphic design history etc. There was almost no drawing or painting - duh it's a DESIGN course, but it wasn't that obvious for 19 yo. me. Also I didn't really like the people there, but I think it was also a me problem, not a strictly them problem. I was incredibly depressed during year one, but it's not like they were saints. I knew that they talked shit about me behing my back when I wasn't in the room, but that wasn't really a problem for me? I've been goth for 11 years ffs, I'm used to that! Also I didn't value them as people and I still don't. It's not like we could really get along. I had one friend, her name was Hanna, she liked a lot of stuff that I did. She became friends with the other girls from our year at the end of the summer semester, which I saw as betrayal, but I don't think it's the case now. I wasn't exactly likeable during year one.

The lecturers were weird. One lady, who we'll simply call A., was a nightmare. She glamorised being overworked to an extreme deegree, she even asked people from my group to tell her the time they were going to sleep. She was only impressed with people who had unhealthy sleep schedules because of work and treated it like competition.

I moved to general graphics for year 2. The course includes printmaking (like eatching, linocut etc.) and graphic design. Why put these two together you might ask? Well, in Polish they're both called "grafika". That's the reason. A castle and a zipper are both called "zamek" and nobody confuses these two, so why put such different things into one course? We'll never know.

Me and Hanna during class, year one of Academy

To this day I think I chose my uni course (both of them really) poorly. As a 24yo woman I'd choose something like ethnology, history or cultural studies on Wrocław University, but at that time, a dumbass, late teen version of me thought that a fondness for drawing is enough to go through a Fine Arts Academy without major mental health consequences. It's really not. You need a real appreciation for modern high art (no, not furry fanart), some understanding of it, and most importatnt, a need to create it. I have a need to draw whatever I like at that point, be it a historical era, classic gothic horror icons or even some anime fanart, but no need for fine, modern art. But also, ngl, I feel like painting something pretentious after I learned about it...

Anyways, years 2-4! I moved to general graphics. I was on the same course as my boyfriend. I had a bit of catching up to do... or I could have, but COVID happened. I was so happy when it did, I could finally isolate myself from these people without consequences. I already hated this uni and considered to drop out, but I actually really enjoyed online classes and lectures.

But. I had one particular subject that I hated with burning passion - creative drawing. In this academy you choose two main workshops alongside other classes like photography, typography etc. Workshops are divided into prntmaking workshops and design workshops. At that time we were choosing multiple design workshops but only one printmaking - mine was creative drawing, which is basically a very pretentious mix of modern art, drawing, painting and prontmaking. I was really shit at that ngl. But I wasn't alone there.

There was another girl who moved from graphic design to general graphics and ended up in creative drawing - my to this day bestie Pamela. We are polar opposities, she wears 99% pink and is a dancer, I'm a goth and currently a museum lecturer. At that time neither of us had a job, but I was interested in history and she liked K-pop.

I chose to change my printmaking workshop for Intaglio (mixed media but in the printmaking realm, the professor is a great artist and besides being VERY demanding, a nice man).

An acid etching print that I made in 2022, the plate measures around 100x60cm I believe.

I made a very bad decision called "artbook design workshop" during year 3. The lady leading the workshop was A., with all of her overworking yourself to death bullshit. Our assignment for the semester was making a pocket calendar inspired by the Academy (so they can sell it and never give us a penny). I made one inspired by the Academy's iconic neon sign, known widely in the city. I was getting standard critique sessions every week and showed the so overworked A. and her two assistants, K. and M. my progress. It was all online, so I shared my screen with Adobe Illustrator every time. People who do graphic design will probably be suprised - Illustrator is for designing vectori shapes, like logos. InDesign is for books, you can't make a book in Illustrator. Well, it was my first time making a book and I didn't know. When they realised what I was using, AFTER AT LEAST TWO MONTS OF SHOWING MY SCREEN WITH ILLUSTRATOR OPENED, they lost their shit. And it was all my fault. For not knowing. I re-made it in InDesign but it did cost me a lot of stress and I hold a massive grudge to this day.

The neon calendar made it to an exhibition called Bookmakers 2022, but at what cost.

During year 4 I got into a final leg of an art competition, which required me travelling to Northeast Poland aka Podlasie. The place was nice, but the organisation of the final exhibition was hell and again, made me incredibly stressed out. Also the organisers were almost allergic to listening waht others have to say.

Year 5, doing my master's.

The genral graphics course doesn't give you a bachelor's, it gives you a master's. Extramural graphic design is divided into bachelor's course first and then master's, but for genral, you just make master's. Actually, two of them, in design and printmaking, so I'm gonna be a double MFA in four days. BUT AT WHAT COST. During year 5 it was normal for me to work 15-16 hours per day with one meal break + tiny bathroom / making tea breaks. Also I started my museum job, so sometimes my workday lasted about 20 hours at worst. For a year. When I wasn't doing my museum lectures, I made prints and worked in Illustrator and InDesign. The stress was insane with all of that + paperwork, I have many physical health problems to deal with because of it too. But it's over now! Almost. I spent $400 on printing my design diploma and $70 on chocolate for my promoters (it's a thing you don't technically have to do, but practically, you have to. My bf was the only person who didn't give chocolates to the promoters and he's the only one who got a lower diploma grade <3 Still a 5 - we have a scale from 2 aka failed, to 5,5 aka best grade - but everyone who had gifts got a 5,5). I hope my defense will go well.

My last uni photo, made in the Academy's garden. Had to fill in my thinning-from-massive-stress hairdo in an app, so that's fun :))))

So yeah, that's my uni. I'm so happy to graduate and just work in the museum <3

[nealholgersen61]

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[ay0nha]

10-4 | P.P.

Part 2/?

!!!!!Post Spider-Man: No Way Home!!!!!

Summary & Title (WIP/TBD): Basically a story of how Peter meets his M.J. Set when he first became Spider-Man, then following No Way Home. Plan to focus more on Peter Parker than Spider-Man. ***which disclaimer I know other people are writing about MJ and I’m not stealing any ideas and credit goes where it goes this is my version of the idea***

Pairing: Andrew Garfield!Peter Parker (college age) x femme!OC (M.J.)

Word Count: ~3.5K Warnings: mentions of blood, injury, pain, cursing

A/N:  Did not expect people to enjoy this, but thank YOU for that! Wrote this today, Happy Holidays everyone :))) love u ... I’ve had a couple people ask to be added to a taglist, so after this I won’t be tagging for exposure (which THANK YOU) so please let me know if you’d like to be! Tags for exposure (thank you in advance for your time): @mypalbuck  @amara-moonlight @marimorena06   @chims-kookies  @angelcritterz   @jjlevin     @importantstarfishchild   @noblemaidenheart  @lazysheepperfection   @jasontoddthezombie  @msjadethirlwall   @her-name-is-rio   @peanutbuttermoony    @lokimischrf   @parkfeatchimmy   @weasleytwinscumslut   @dark-moocha   @scytherella   @uglyasswoman   @dreamslittlebitch   @sammmmm133233    @its-yasbxtch    @desiree610 @swaggysposts @watersofmars @cinnabunsprincess @sophielouiselol @peanutbuttermoony @borky-barnes @theexhaustedpineapple @chenellearose @silverwindptv @humongouslawyerskeletongoop @poeandtheporgs @gloriousflapprofessorturkey @joesuggxzalfiextroyler @crowdthena @j @cyrusandhiscollaredahirts  @wrdlittlegirl @floup-doodles @pinkybee926 @seaweedthewhale​

"Peter? I mean-Spider-Man?" I looked up to see Peter tripping over his feet to lean on the nearest light post, "What are you- Are you okay?" I looked at him as he breathed heavily under his mask. I wanted to suggest he take it off, but as people walked by they did a double-take realizing who I stood with I kept my mouth shut and looked nervously around to see if any danger had followed him.

"Oh, hey, how was the retirement party?" He asked me genuinely. Now of all times, he remembered my plans. I had just snuck out of the party, getting tired of socializing, but part of me was kicking me for not staying. If I had I would have been subject to yet another round of listening to bad karaoke.

"Are you alright?" I repeated, stepping forward slightly as he used the post for support, almost slipping from it, but once he regained his posture some I back up again. I made sure to spot him slightly with my hands, weary of his state.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He shook his head quickly, his hand waving in the air acting as if there wasn't a small stream of blood  running down his arms to his fingers onto the concrete, "Yeah, never better, never better, just, you know, on the clock..."

"I think you should clock out for the night," I implored worriedly. My mind was screaming to leave, but my body was firmly planted.

"No, no...I'm good, I'm good," He said with a sharp inhale of breath. I prayed it wasn't a broken rib, but by the way he wheezed I could tell it wasn't anything good. I could see how he was close to shaking due to the pain.

"Peter, you're bleeding on the sidewalk," I whispered as it started to collect in a small pool by our feet.  I was sure he had experienced worse, but seeing him the way he was didn't make it any easier to watch.

"Oh this," He laughed lightly trying to brush it off, only smearing it more on his suit, "It's nothing."

"People are starting to stare," I noticed as a small group gathered across the street to see what was going on under the dim, yellow light, "Let's-Let's just get you out of here...You have somewhere to go?"

"Just give me a second, I'll be out of your hair," He pushed himself from the post and tinkered with the devices on his wrist. I grabbed his wrist before he could do anything, already a step ahead of him.

"Don't tell me you're going to try and swing right now," I scolded him quietly, pulling his arm around my shoulders to get us moving along since people started to get closer, "C'mon, let's just go."

Peter was able to keep a good pace as we took off away from where we stood. However, I was sure we were a sight to see as we passed a few people along our journey. What am I doing? The question repeated louder and louder in my head with each step.

"Wait to hold on," I stopped the two of us before we hit the closest subway stop. I shuffled our bodies out of the light and leaded Peter against the closest building wall for support, "You need to ditch the mask."

"Wait...Hold on-... We can just-

"Trust me, if we're going on the train-

"The train?"

"I've only got money on my MetroCard, I don't have enough on me for a taxi," I said as I pulled off my jacket, planning to put it on Peter to make him look less conspicuous, "I mean you don't happen to carry your wallet in your spandex, do you?"

"Point taken," He winced as I pulled his arms through the rain jacket. I shuffled through my bag, getting everything ready to make it down smoothly. I noticed my hands started to shake from the newfound responsibility of Spider-Man. There was no imminent doom happening, but my body's anxiousness started to take over. Then without my help, Peter tugged on his mask to reveal his face and get a breath of fresh air.

"Oh god, Peter," I said once I saw the bruise that ran along   his temple down to his chin had already settled on a deep purple. I was tempted to reach out and touch it to see if it was real, but I held back and took his arm again.

"It's worse than it looks, promise."

Luck seemed to follow Peter indefinitely as the platform was practically empty thanks to it being a late night. However, now would be the perfect time for that one reporter to be working later to catch the story of the year. But it was New York, either way, people would probably have seen worse than what Peter and I looked like standing arm in arm for the train to arrive. As we stared at the map in front of up I was sure the worried expression only became more defined on my face.

"Alright," I sighed, collecting myself some to speak, "Where are we off to?"

"Forest Hills, Queens," He pointed where he lived with his head.  

"Queens?" I looked at him, my eyebrows shooting to  my hairline, "What are you doing all the way over here?"

"I travel for work."

"Funny."

I trailed my finger across the different colored lines, seeing which were still running and which route would be the quickest. Once I figured out the path of least resistance, we waited. The waiting was the worst part. We stood in Peter's pain having no other option as the metal car was ten minutes out. I had to shift every so often so my frame could fit his. My mind was racing with thoughts. I debated small talk, but even in a normal situation, it was the bane of my existence. By the time I thought I had built up the courage, the car stopped in front of us, doors opening.

At the next stop, a cold air wafted into the train, making me shiver. I took a deep breath, hoping it'd clear my head a bit. I surveyed the people within and it was yet again the rare occasion there were a limited amount of people. Across from Peter and I sat a mother and young son. His mother looked tired, her head back, eyes closed as she held her little boy's hand. It was a funny juxtaposition to sit across from. Peter kept his eyes trained on the boy, winking at him once the little boy looked down and saw the exposed part of his suit. I nudged Peter to tell him to leave it be, but it was like it only further encouraged him. Once again, he tinkered with the devices on his wrists, then shot a few strings of webs towards the child creating a little trinket for the boy and finishing it off by holding his finger up to his lips to keep it a secret. I would have thought it was endearing if it weren't for the new, unwanted attention. I cleared my throat as I crossed my legs in an attempt to cover Peter up better. The man at the end held onto the railing and nodded his head towards us. Hopefully, it was an unspoken understatement as I wasn't sure if I could handle more commotion. The headache from not drinking enough water made itself noticeable  when the doors beeped loudly, amplified the sound, and knocked it against my temples. With two fingers on each side, I tried to gently massage the pain away, hoping for relief. Thankfully, getting off the train and to his place was fairly easy, just slightly inconvenient and out of my way almost completely. I prayed I had money left on my card to get me back into the city. I'd have to stretch beforehand if I needed to hop the turnstile. When we finally approached the address he had directed us to, I wasn't sure if it would be wise to leave him at the door like a baby at a fire station.

Peter stopped as we made it up the short stoop, "I live with my aunt."

"I live with my brother," I spoke without thinking. There was no point in why I said it, especially the way I said it. But I understood. I'd never been able to live alone no matter how much I'd want to be left alone.

"She doesn't know," He continued, stopping as we reached the door, "I have to go through the window."

"You're joking."

"I wish I was."

"Can't we just sneak you up the stairs?" His eyes went back and forth between my eyes telling me no. Then I let out a shaky breath to say, "Ok, alright, then what do we do?"

It was a dumb question in hindsight. I knew better than to think we'd walk up the stairs or go through the back. Without verbally answering, Peter, with the arm that was over my shoulders, placed his hand under my arm and lifted it enough to be partially over his shoulder. It happened before I could react, our bodies springing upward and through the window in an almost seamless motion. Wordlessly, Peter detached from me heading to close his door which was locked by a system. Within a matter of seconds, he was smearing blood everywhere again. I stood by the window awkwardly unsure of when to step in if it was even needed.  But I could only wring my hands so many times before stepping in.

"You're getting everything dirty," I scolded quietly to cover my nerves, before instructing him to sit down by leading him to his chair, "Please tell me you have bandages."

"I should have some gauze in that drawer over there."

Pulling the drawer open I could see how this was a frequent enough occurrence for him that he was stocked up on medical supplies. Smart boy. There were rolls of gauze, sterile pads, and other things for disinfection. I could feel Peter's eyes on me the entire time I rifled through his things picking out what I thought fit. Neither of us expected me to make it this far, let alone stay this long. But as I made my way back to him, I knew I had to see it through some. I looked down at his suit searching for anything that indicated a zipper or button fixture to get it off but Peter was one step ahead peeling off the top half himself. I cringed slightly at the sight of his worn body. He needed medical attention, someone, that could properly wash his wounds and dress them. I wasn't sure if I was helping or hurting at this point as I dabbed him clean.

"You weren't following me tonight were you?" I finally spoke up as gently as I wrapped the gauze around his chest and back, almost done with the entire process. He shook his head innocently. I was confident he was telling me the truth but this bump in wasn't sitting well with me, "So I was just lucky enough to walk down the very same street you were on?"

"Honestly?" He looked up at me waiting for my confirmation before continuing, "I've had an...interesting... past couple of weeks. I don't really question fate anymore it just does its thing and I'm just along for the ride."

"I don't know if I believe in fate," I hummed honestly, "Especially since it's awfully convenient that you've come into the library almost every day this past week. Do you even like to read?"

"Here and there," He nodded, bringing his head side to side to match his words.

"As much as I'd like you to keep your distance," I started with a big breath, then finally made some eye contact with him, "You do know you are actually allowed to check out a book... I won't bite."

"Noted." Just being able to sit clearly helped his physical situation. However, I hit an especially tender area, "Sorry."

"You're sorry?" I asked him incredulously, scanning over his body to see if I had done any more damage, "I just-I...I don't think I should be doing this..." I started to back away, reality hit me like a ton of bricks, "I'm not a doctor, you should see a doctor."

"Don't worry, I'll be good in a few hours."

"I shouldn't be here...This is a bad idea..." I only continued to shake my head profusely. The adrenaline had run its course now and I was thinking more clearly than I had moments ago,  "A really bad idea."

"MJ-

"I-I should go."

--

The headphones over my ears dulled every sound even though the music that had been playing from them not too long ago had died. It was difficult to keep my eyes open for longer than a few heartbeats as I stared down at the paper in front of me. I lost count on how many times I reread the problem.

"Sleeping on the job?"

I perked up at the sudden noise, the sudden question. I was in a haze, for a second possibly thinking I had been caught falling asleep. However, the feeling dissipated when I saw the boy who had sat down in front of me, "You again..."

"Me again..." Peter smiled cheekily, all his teeth on display in a slightly nervous and predictable manner. I hadn't seen him since I had left him half wrapped in his bedroom. The bruise on his face was significantly better than the other night, but it was still nasty and prominent. Now, in the light, I could see how both of his eyes had broken blood vessels. Few hours my ass.

"You have to stop-

"I know, I know," He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the long table as to not disturb the other people around us. His nervous laugh returned at my unamused expression, "I just wanted to thank you for the other night and I knew you'd be working today because, well it's Monday."

"No problem," I nodded my head firmly, eyes going back down to the worksheet in front of me.

He proved to be more observant than I thought. I kept my eyes trained down, knowing if I gave him an inch, he'd think he was a ruler. However, I hadn't realized he had come in with determination. He stayed sitting in front of me, drumming his fingers on the table, each beat more encouragement to speak up again, "Are you not working today?"

"I traded shifts," I stated bluntly. I wasn't sure why I was entertaining the conversation, but I did know part of the reason was pure procrastination.

"But you're still here?"

"I thought this would be a nice quiet place for me to get this done," I sighed, placing my hand down and looking up at him again, "But apparently not." Then I gave him the answer he was looking for, "I'm studying. I have a mid-term coming up and I cannot figure this..." I trailed off thinking I had finally solved the equation, "It's so frustrating that this math class is a requirement," I let out my complaint, as I erased the entire thing to start over all again, "I mean I'm studying for a liberal arts degree, I thought this would be an easy gen-ed for my math requirement..."

Peter seemed amused by my frustration. It was probably the most he'd heard me speak that wasn't reprimanding him or protests towards him. It was his turn to look down, examining the paper on the table for a moment. The way his eyes shifted told me he was familiar with the subject, at least much more than I would ever be.

"I can help you, you know, as a thank you of sorts," I eyed him carefully, not sure what to make of his offer. But he wasn't exactly taking my hesitation as a no as he slid my notebook toward himself and took the pencil out of my hand to say, "I can give you a little cheat sheet, helps get the nonsense out of the way."

I watched him intently as he scribbled away. Every so often he'd glance up at me to assure him to continue. He was acting as if he were my TA. As if we were friends in the same class. As if we really did know each other and we met up here specifically to study. As if we knew each other. He was getting more comfortable by the minute but we were still trying to find our footing in how to interact.

"So, where do you go?" He asked me, multitasking as he erased a few of my mistakes. At this rate, the paper would be blank and I'd be starting over once again.

I finally pulled off the headphones around the neck to succumb to the interaction, "The community college down the road."

"Nice, very nice." He wanted me to say more, but there was nothing more for me to say. I was too distracted by how expertly he did the problems himself as if seeing if he still had it.  Double-checking his own work quickly to make sure he could guide me correctly. He finished up his scribbling, sliding the paper back to me, "You should be all set now."

"Alright, well, Peter, as always, nice to see you," I said sarcastically, shielding my paper a bit as I finished by saying, "But I've got to get back to studying."

"Try them again," He pointed to my paper, he wasn't budging an inch, "Then I can check it."

I had missed office hours. I needed any help I could get because I waited until the last minute to do the study sheet. It was proving my mistakes in real-time. He was studying my face as I tried the problem again. I wanted to ask what he was looking for, but I just tried to ignore the feeling. I glanced up at him every now and then. He had encouraging eyes that made me squirm. He rested his head on his arms as he watched me. It was like he wanted to say something to me, tell me something, but he wasn't sure if I was ready to listen.  He rubbed his lips with his finger in thought right before catching my gaze on him. I hadn't meant for it to linger but it was hard not to. His demeanor held my interest. I hadn't even noticed how my eyes naturally drifted over to look at Peter again.

"I can't focus with you staring at me the entire time," I scowled slightly, my eyes flicking between him and the notebook. I barely wanted to admit to myself that his eyes on me caused a small, almost non-existent blush to creep up my neck. I doubted it was due to him, more due to the embarrassment of still not understanding the equation even with his so-called 'cheat-sheet'.

"Sorry," He mumbled, closing his eyes languidly while keeping his chin rested on top of his arms.

What had started out as playful joking quickly turned into a deep slumber. No doubt his body was exhausted from doing whatever he had been doing. Looking at him now made me realize his insane duality. I assumed he was roughly my age, just someone young who runs around with a skateboard and backpack. If there was a line up he'd probably be the last I'd pick to embody the Spider-Man. With each interaction, I craved more information about him. I didn't care how he got the way he did. I didn't care who had given him such a beating. I cared more about finding out about Peter than I did Spider-Man. But it was hard to distinguish the two since they're so intermingled. Even now, as Peter slept peacefully in front of me, his face showed the residue of Spider-Man.

"Alright," I whispered harsher than I meant to, poking Peter with my pencil, trying to rid my previous thoughts. What a hypocrite I was.

It took one more poke for his eye to flash open, his body sitting up in the same manner as he cleared his throat ready to inspect my handiwork. I regretted handing it to him because he was quick to break the bad news to me, "Well...They're all wrong."

"Fuck," I muttered to myself, then quickly went to grab the book back out of embarrassment, but Peter moved faster, "Forget it, it's fine, I'll figure it out."

"Don't worry, we can figure this out," He tore out a piece of paper, getting ready to settle into a math lesson with me, "We just need to figure out your thought process is all, I mean if you…”

I chewed my lips, debating if I should accept his help or not until I ultimately folded, "Please."

[autumnsart22]

Flat Tire: Suna x fem reader

SMUT 🔥🔥

This is technically a part 3 of First time in College: Suna x reader, but I decided to make it a stand alone. You can read the other parts if you’re interested. Also, I left the ending kind of open, so I would be super happy to continue it if anyone wants me to...

P.S. I feel like it’s rare to have someone look this fine when it’s NOT EVEN FANART BRUHHHH

Suna was late to pick you up for your “date” (was it a date? He hadn’t made it particularly clear), which wasn’t a good sign. You had spent the hours after your class at 3 pacing around, trying to figure out what outfit to wear, and questioning your whole existence. Your roommate, Kiyoko, didn’t make things any better. When you had explained how you had met Suna at the frat party, how sweet he had seemed, her mouth had dropped and her eye practically popped out of her head. 

“Out of every guy you could have picked, you chose Suna Rintarou?” She sighed, burying her face in her hands. 

“What? Is he...bad?” You asked, suddenly nervous. You liked Suna, from the amount you knew about him. He seemed like he was pretty arrogant, and also kind of lazy, but he was nice to talk to. You knew you’d be disappointed if he ended up being a piece of shit. 

“He’s just...you know…” Kiyoko was clearly trying to find a way to phrase it. “He’s ditched a lot of different girls, sleeping around and then never speaking to them again, that sort of thing. Typical frat boy behavior.” 

You sighed, since it was exactly what you expected. “Well, it’s fine. We’re just going to eat, so I’ll just get it over with and then be out of his life.” 

“Ok. I just don’t want you getting hurt.” 

You waved her off. “I know, I know. Don’t worry.”

Unfortunately, six o’clock came and went, and no sign of Suna; suddenly, despite my dismissal, “getting hurt” seemed like a distinct possibility. By 6:30, you ditched your shoes and coat, crashing on your bed and starting the newest episode of Attack on Titan. Fuck Suna and his dumb pretty face. You were good with Levi. 

Halfway through the episode, there was a knock at your door, and your muscles tensed so suddenly that your neck twinged. 

“Uh, who is it?” You yelled as you rolled out of bed, stumbling to the door. 

“Su--” You opened it and blinked up at the guy outside in shock. “--na.” 

“Oh.” You raised your eyebrows. He was wearing black pants and a black crewneck, a white collared shirt underneath. 

“Hi,” he panted, completely out of breath. “Sorry.” 

You snorted. “Um. It’s late.” 

“I got lost.” 

“Did you now?” 

“And I had to go back home to change.” 

“You could have texted me!”

“...I don’t have your number.” 

You opened your mouth, but you had nothing to say to that. “Well, fuck,” you muttered, turning away. 

“Sorry. You’ll still come to eat though, right?” 

You wanted to curse him out for making you wait so long, for making you think he ditched you for the night and forgot. 

“Fine. But you’re a dick.” 

He grinned lazily, leaning in the door frame as you grabbed your shoes and jacket again, scooping up your purse as you exited your dorm. 

“What?” You said as you finally approached him, blushing as you met his eyes despite how hard you tried not to. 

“Nothing.” 

He led the way to his car in silence, and it was a strange mix of awkward and comfortable. Suna didn’t seem like the type to be super talkative, but at the same time you felt like you should be making conversation. 

When you got to his car, you took a deep breath to calm yourself down before sliding into the passenger seat. Of course, the whole car smelled like weed, but it wasn’t overwhelming and honestly kind of nice.

“So, you’re a freshman?” He asked, pulling out of the lot, and you nodded. 

“Are you?” 

“Sophomore.” 

“What’s your major?” 

“Undecided, but I enjoy photography. Not the best career path though…” 

“Wait, that's really cool.” You glanced at him, impressed. “What do you take pictures of?” 

“Anything, but people mostly.” 

“You’ll have to show me some time.” 

“Only if you forgive me for being late.” 

You crossed your arms, snorting. “Fine.” 

The car suddenly jerked, and you gasped as you heard a rush of air coming from the rear. 

“Oh...fuck,” Suna muttered, pulling off to the side of the road. “I think we just got a flat tire.” 

“How????” 

“How am I supposed to know?” 

You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms. “Do you want me to call someone?” 

“Hang on, I might be able to…” He hopped out of the car before finishing, and you sat in silence as you heard him walking around to examine the damage. A moment later, he re-entered the driver's side with an annoyed expression on his face. “Yeah, it’s flat. Shit.” 

“What are we going to do?”

“My friend has a spare tire, but it might take him a bit to get here. Are you ok with waiting?”

You shrugged. “Sure.” 

“Sorry, this is the worst night ever.” 

“It’s not your fault. We can just hang out until your friend gets here.”

Suna’s expression didn’t change, but you thought you saw his shoulders relax a little. In the darkness of the car, you couldn’t help but admire his profile as he turned off the car and shoved his hair back from his face. 

“What?” He said, turning to look at you, and you went beat red. 

“Huh?” 

“You’re looking at me.” 

“N-no.” 

“Really?” He smirked, leaning towards you slightly. 

Your heart stuttered, practically stopping at you stared into his pretty yellow eyes. Oh my god...

“I--” 

Before you could answer, Suna sat back, still smirking. A car drove past you on the dark street and you used the momentary distraction to try and get ahold of yourself. 

“So, what do you want to do?” Suna asked, and you looked over at him again. 

“You say that like we have another option besides just sitting here.” 

He shrugged, pulling a THC pen from his pocket and holding it out to you. You took it from him, hitting it twice before handing it back. 

“What’s your major?” He asked, holding the pen to his lips. 

“Political economics right now, but I’m considering switching to english since I like writing.” 

“What do you write?” 

“All kinds of things, although mostly short stories. I’ve been working on my second novel too, and the first draft is almost done. It’s really shitty right now, but hopefully once I go back and edit it…” 

You paused, suddenly embarrassed. Were you rambling? You could talk about writing all day, but most people didn’t care enough to keep listening beyond the first sentence. 

“Yeah?” Suna said, waiting for you to finish.

“Oh. That was it.” You glanced away, waiting for a subject change. 

“What’s your novel about?” He paused, laughing under his breath. “I can’t believe you wrote a fucking book. That’s so sick.”

You couldn’t help the smile that pulled at your face, and you covered your mouth with your hand. “Ok, short version--” 

“Short version? Why? We’ve got plenty of time.” 

You opened your mouth, and then paused. No one actually ever asked to hear about your writing beyond just the basic formalities, and you couldn’t believe how happy it made you feel that someone seemed genuinely interested. 

Deciding to abandon all pretenses, you jumped into a long scale explanation of the plot you were writing, all while Suna watched your face intently. 

“...And yeah! That’s basically it,” you finished finally, smiling brightly at him. “Sorry if that was super boring, I didn’t mean to…” 

“Can I read it when you finish? I’m invested.” He took another hit off the pen while watching you, and you smiled to yourself. How was this boy saying all the right things? Fuck. 

“I suppose.” 

“You suppose?”

“Depends on my mood.” 

“What can I do to guarantee you’ll let me read?” He reached over to grab your chin, stroking your cheeks gently with his thumb, and your breathing hitched. “Ha, you’re cute when you’re all red like this.” 

You snorted, but didn’t pull away. “Flattery doesn’t work on me.” 

“Really?” He leaned closer to you, until your faces were only inches apart in the darkness.

“N-no.” Your heart thundered. 

“Hm,” He murmured. “I’ll have to try to change that.” 

And then he was pressing your body back into the seat and kissing you hard on the mouth. 

 Oh my god, it was heaven. He tasted like minty chapstick and weed, and you sighed, your mind going blank. 

His long fingers tangled in your hair, dragging you closer, and a low noise came from his chest as you opened your mouth. You pulled away after a long minute, gasping, which only prompted Suna to trail open mouthed kisses down your neck. 

You leaned your head back to give him easier access, letting out an embarrassing noise as his hand slid under your shirt to trace the skin of your stomach. 

You weren’t a virgin, but you had only had sex with one person--your previous boyfriend--and it had been less than satisfactory the few times you had done it. Apparently you had missed the physical contact more than you thought. 

You sat up, and Suna pulled away, his eyes a little glazed over and his hair messed up. God damn, he was fine. 

He smiled slowly as your eyes trailed down his chest to his crotch, and he slid his seat all the way back so there was enough room for you to crawl into his lap. 

It was awkward, and you slammed your head on the roof of the car hard enough to make you yelp in pain as you tried to maneuver over to him. But any embarrassment you might have felt washed away as he burst out laughing and kissed you gently on the mouth. 

You tugged at his shirt in annoyance, suddenly pissed that it was still in place, and he awkwardly pulled over his head. 

“Pushy,” he muttered, and you flicked him hard on the forehead. 

“Dick.” 

“No need to beg, sweetheart. You’ll get it soon.” 

You swallowed hard and your thighs clenched in anticipation, even as you rolled your eyes. 

Any annoyance you had flew from your head as he slipped a hand down your pants, the other coming up to tangle in your hair. Instead of touching you where you needed him to, he traced along your inner thighs, kissing your collarbone. 

“Suna,” you mumbled, suddenly impatient as you shifted your hips, and he grinned into your skin before you felt his fingers shove the thin fabric of your underwear aside. 

“Oh go--”  Your eyes rolled back as he slowly eased a digit into you, wiggling it as he slowly widened you up. 

“S-Shit,” you gasped, your hands grasping at his shirt as he added another finger, circling his thumb at the same time on your clit. 

“You’re already so fucking wet,” Suna grunted, kissing up your neck as you began to roll your hips, riding his hand. 

“Don’t stop,” you gasped, but he grinned wickedly and immediately pulled his hand from your pants. Your eyes widened in outrage, but you stopped when he held up his fingers, covered in your juices, and shoved them in his mouth. You almost came from the sight, clenching around nothing as your heart stuttered. 

“Fuck, you taste good,” he mumbled, and you felt his dick twitch beneath you. It was hard as a rock in his pants, and you could feel it straining against the fabric. It was pretty big, if the bulge was evidence enough. 

You quickly fumbled to get his zipper open, needing to have him inside you right now. His fingers were good, but you needed... 

Suna smacked your hands away. “Take off your pants,” he ordered, and you obliged, choosing to ignore how hot you got at his commanding tone. You could unpack that later. 

It was a struggle to get the fabric off in the small space, but finally you were back in his lap, and he was holding your hips, and his (long) cock was free of his pants. You reached down, stroking it slowly and rubbing your thumb gently across the tip, spreading the precum that had gathered already. 

“Jesus christ,” Suna said, his voice strained, and he twitched in your hand. 

“Jesus wouldn’t appreciate his name being used in this context.” 

“He’d be jealous of me right now.” 

“You’re definitely going to hell for that.” 

“And you’re not? You little slut.” Suna shoved his fingers in your mouth while his other hand fumbled with a condom which he tugged from his pocket. He slid it down over his length with expert speed, clearly having done this many times before, but you shoved the thought from your mind.

Suna held your hips tightly as you positioned yourself over him, helping you as you eased yourself down onto his dick. He was larger than your last boyfriend, and it burned for a moment as you adjusted to his size, but Suna held your face and stroked your hair as you breathed through it. “You’re such a good girl, taking my cock so well,” he groaned in your ear. “Fuck, you’re tight.” 

His praise made you clench around him, the pain easing away, and you rolled your hips experimentally. The friction on your clit and almost made you cum right away, and you let out a moan into his neck as your head dropped onto his shoulder. Holy motherfucking shit how did it feel so good...

Suna buried his face in your chest as you began to ride him, shifting your hips slowly as you felt his full length hitting points you didn’t even know existed. When he ran his tongue along your nipple, you let out an embarrassing noise and fucked him faster. 

Your legs began to burn, but Suna took over easily, thrusting up into you while you held onto his shoulders. Your moans and the sound of sex filled the car, and your hand slid across the fogged glass of the window as you grasped for anything to hold onto. You were so close to coming, you could feel it all the way down to your toes. 

“You’re doing so good, baby, you feel so good,” Suna groaned, reaching down to rub your clit, his tongue circling your nipple at the same time, and with his voice in your ear, it was enough to finally send you over the edge. You clenched around him, your mouth opening in a silent scream as you came hard all over his cock.  It was easily the best orgasm you’d had during sex, possibly the best ever. Suna didn’t take his eyes off you as you came apart, relishing in how it was him who put that expression on your face, and how only he was seeing you like this right now. 

“And you said flattery doesn’t work on you,” Suna laughed, but you couldn’t even make yourself glare at him. 

“Idiot.” 

You panted as you came down from your high, but Suna still wasn’t finished. You could tell he was getting close by the way his pace picked up and how he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him as he thrust up into you. His groans were deep and sexy in your ear, making your overstimulated clit throb as your nails dug into the skin of his shoulders. 

“F-fuckkkk…” He panted, kissing you again and shoving his tongue in your mouth. He held onto your hair, tangled around his fist, forcing you to lean your head back as he created hickies all along your throat.

He finally came with a groan, his cock twitching as he held onto you tightly, head falling on your shoulder. You both stilled, panting, and you couldn’t help the slow smile that tugged at your lips. For a moment you were too tired to move as you felt his dick soften inside you, so you gently stroked his hair instead. 

“Are you ok?” He murmured, finally lifting his head to meet your eyes. His cheeks were flushed, his hair a wreck, but you were sure you didn’t look much better. 

“I’m great,” you said, smiling. “Are you?”

 Suna blinked, looking dazed for a moment, but he nodded. 

You shifted, trying to get off his lap in the most graceful way possible, but your back slammed against the wheel and the car honked loudly. 

“Jesus!” You cursed, flinching, and Suna rolled his eyes. 

“You just woke the whole neighborhood.” 

“Ugh,” you glared at him as you pulled on your pants, readjusting your shirt to cover your chest once again. 

The car suddenly lit up as headlights pulled up behind you, and you whirled to face Suna. 

“Is that your friend? Wait, where’s your shirt?!” 

He wasn’t listening, casually tugging it over his head as he opened the driver’s side door. You heard a door slam from behind you, and then a guy with grey hair and dark tips leaned down to wave at you from Suna’s side. 

“Hi. Sorry it took so long, but I have the tire.” 

“Thanks,” Suna nodded, and then gestured to you. “Kita, this is Y/n L/n. Y/n, this is my friend Kita Shinsuke.” 

“Hi, nice to meet you,” you said, but you felt your stomach drop as Kita’s eyes went to the fogged windows, where your hand print was still visible. 

“Yeah…” He raised his eyebrows. “Nice to meet you too.” 

Suna crossed his arms, looking bored. “Wanna help me change the tire?” 

The two boys left you alone as they went to swap out the flat, and you worked on trying to get your face to stop burning. By the time Suna finally got back, you felt decently less embarrassed; he probably did this all the time, so for Kita, it was definitely nothing new. He probably wouldn’t even remember your name. 

“Hey,” you looked over at Suna in surprise as he slid back into the driver’s seat and gently grabbed your face, kissing you slowly. 

“What was that for?” You sighed when he pulled away. 

He shrugged, smirking. “Are you still hungry?” 

Part 1 

Part 2

[cinnawrites]

Signs of Attraction

A/N; This is a oneshot version of a longer Settphel fic I’m planning on writing. I really do love writing quick and sweet pieces, but I loved this concept so much that I’m turning it into something longer. We’ll see if I ever even go through with that idea (99.99% sure I will).

Aphelios never liked to speak.

Sure, he’d talk to his sister, Alune, when they were completely alone, but otherwise he wouldn’t utter a word. He picked up on sign language to compensate when he was really young, Alune’s idea. This led a lot of people to believe that he was deaf, the sign language really didn’t help his case. A lot of people including his closest friend, Sett.

Aphelios never bothered to talk to Sett either. Part of him didn’t really care if he also thought he was deaf, it didn’t change anything either way. Things were complicated when they first met, but eventually they understood each other.

“Sorry, what now? Think you could speak up or somethin’?” Sett asked in complete confusion. They first met in one of their college classes, Aphelios couldn’t remember which. He was kind of scared of Sett to be fair. Having a title of ''Beast-Man-Bastard'' wasn't very friendly. He had tried signing what he wanted to say, but Sett didn’t understand any of it. He quickly reached down into his bag, pulling out a notebook and pen and writing down what he wanted to say.

“I’m Aphelios. Your partner for this project.” Aphelios wrote on the paper, carefully showing it to Sett, “I’m deaf, so please write what you want to say here.” Aphelios didn’t want to lie, but it was much easier for him to go along with what everyone was saying about him.

“Shit, sorry,” Sett said under his breath. Aphelios heard him and smiled softly. Sett took the notebook and pen from his hands and wrote what he wanted to say, muttering the words as he wrote, “Sorry, I had no idea. I don’t know sign language or anything so I guess this would be easier.”

Sett’s handwriting was messy, only being somewhat legible. Aphelios squinted, trying to read what he wrote. He looked back up at Sett and smiled.

“It’s fine.” Aphelios scribbled onto the paper, “Would you like to start working now?”

The two began working on their project, Sett occasionally forgetting Aphelios is deaf and trying to talk to him. Aphelios found it kind of cute when Sett would immediately reach for the notebook and start scribbling down what he was trying to say. He’d occasionally even hear Sett mutter to himself while writing. To think someone like him would be this gentle when not punching people into the ground was strange. Here he was though, not so threatening up close.

Aphelios felt comfortable around him.

The two met up a few more times after that to do their work. It was kind of a long project, requiring lots of time to work on. Neither of them seemed to mind it though. Sure, Sett’s friends were annoying him for leaving them to do work, but he couldn’t care less. As for Aphelios, he never really had much to do in the first place, so this was refreshing. Except for constantly being around Alune. He finally had someone else to hang out with.

“Are you sure about him? He isn’t being mean to you or anything?” Alune asked him, concern laced in her voice, and gripping tightly on his shoulders. They were, for the most part, alone, so speaking was fine for the both of them. 

Aphelios used to get bullied for being ‘deaf’ and Alune would always defend him. He never wanted to speak up for himself, he didn’t find the need to. He could ignore them, continue about his day, but Alune wasn’t going to let that happen. She cared too much for her brother to let that happen to him. He loved that about her regardless of the trouble it’s gotten her into.

“I’m fine. He’s fine. He hasn’t been anything but nice to me, Alune. You have to trust me on this,” Aphelios assured her in a whisper. She let out a deep sigh in response.

“Just, please be careful,” Alune said, tailing her hands on Aphelios’ arms down to his hands. She held them tight before turning away. He sighed and went on his way as well. 

He was happy to have Alune by his side, always looking out for him. He found it comforting having one person to rely on. He found it comforting not to have too many people to care about. It was Alune and Aphelios against the world, and he liked it that way.

He felt like changing that.

He wanted to trust Sett as much as he did Alune. They had only been hanging out to do work, the both of them being with each other in silence. It was all just for school work, but Aphelios really enjoyed his company. He wanted to stay around him more, but couldn’t find a way how. 

Well, that was until Sett changed that first.

Sett pulled out a paper from his pocket and handed it to Aphelios. It read, “Could ya teach me sign language? Might be easier than this whole paper thing.”

Aphelios was shocked by the suggestion, but didn’t turn it down. He was waiting for an opportunity like this, where the two of them would have to hang out more. It’s almost like everything was going the way he wanted. Sign language is difficult to learn, it’ll take years for Sett to become fluent. That’s okay though, Aphelios would try his best to teach him the important parts. Maybe they’d even get to do things together outside of just learning sign language. 

Aphelios sat him down immediately and began teaching him the basics.

Sett struggled a little with the hand movements. He had never done anything like this before, but was still trying his best at it. Aphelios smiled watching him try and get the hang of it. He’d occasionally lean in and fix Sett’s hand placement and movements, carefully trailing his fingers along his. Sett’s hands were rough, probably because of all the fights he’s gotten into. His touch didn’t feel so bad though. Aphelios liked it quite a lot.

They began meeting up at other places, whether it be around campus or not, to continue their sign language lessons. Sett seemed to be getting the hang of it. Aphelios congratulated him for it. He’d still go ahead and fix up his hands and repeat the movements to help him out. There were rare moments where Sett would ever so slightly hold onto his, quickly pulling away. Aphelios did the same at times.

They were getting closer and closer by the minute. Just what he wanted.

It came to a point where they stopped just meeting up for sign language lessons. They'd actually spend time together, doing things they never expected they would. People never expected to see them around each other like this, but it was normal. This was now normal. 

And now here they were, hanging out as usual. They were together almost all day, having fun and all. Eventually, they decided to just relax and watch the sunset before they would part ways again. 

"The sunset's beautiful, isn't it?" Sett signed. His previous mistakes and difficulties with signing were almost completely gone, he could make coherent sentences. Aphelios mentally gave himself a pat on the back for teaching him so well.

"Yeah it is." Aphelios signed back, smiling softly. He looked away from Sett, observing the view carefully. It really was pretty.

"Not as beautiful as you though," Sett said out loud. Aphelios' eyes widened, but he quickly calmed himself down as to not blow his cover. Luckily for him, Sett wasn't paying too much attention to him, "Ah, I'm such a coward. That was so corny too. If only I could tell you how much I loved ya'. Guess that'll have to wait until later on, huh?"

Aphelios sat there in shock. Sett knew he was deaf. Well, more so thought he was deaf. His breath hitched, the heat rising to his cheeks. Sett turned to look at him and noticed his expression.

"Aphelios-" He stopped mid-sentence, remembering he couldn't speak to him. He moved his hand over to nudge at his shoulder, but Aphelios turned to face him before he could.

"What?"

Aphelios never liked to speak.

He went along with being deaf for years and years on end because it was just easier.

This was finally the one exception.

[date posted; 22.01.21]

[dawnblade]

Okay hi you're like.

One of the only destiny players I follow, and I enjoy watching your commentary and stuff like that!!

Anyway, my boyfriend in the past month has gotten very into destiny 2 and Im starting to want to play too.

Any tips for a new player? 🥺

lord forgive me for the college thesis ive just written

thank you so much, im glad to hear youve enjoyed what ive had to say about this game!!! so, as for tips:

☆first off, ive heard the starting missions dont do a great job of easing new players into the game, so i think my advice for that would be that after you complete those, if you have any of the purchaseable big expansions (forsaken, shadowkeep, or beyond light), play through their campaigns so you can have a more "on rails" guided experience as you learn

if youre playing the free base game, you might have to set more goals for yourself. you can start by playing strikes, crucible, or gambit, OR you could explore each planet and see what they have going on. (i think to get to new planets you need to increase your power level, so thats a goal to shoot for!)

▪strikes are pve, essentially super short linear self-contained stories. you get matched with two other people and do some light combat with a boss at the end to get loot. its very casual and chill

▪crucible is pvp, you have different modes within the crucible to choose from, which are explained in-game. you can play matches for valor- which is more casual, or glory- which is more competitive

▪gambit is a mix of pve and pvp. your team and the opposing team fight enemies to collect something called motes from them. whichever team collects 100 motes, then summons and defeats the final boss first wins the match!!!

**there are also much harder versions of pvp and pve activities (raids, trials of osiris, grandmaster nightfall strikes, etc) but thats all endgame content and you probably wont get into that stuff until youve spent a good amount of time with the game

if you like checking things off a list, there are things called triumphs, which are basically in-game achievements, so completeing those could be your objective. theres a TON of those to complete, so you definitely wont run out of stuff to do LOL

●○●○

☆weapon and armor drops might be confusing and overwhelming to a new player, so personally i wouldnt worry about them too much until you get some experience with the game and start getting into endgame content. getting something with good perks will really help you out later

when you wanna start grinding for better guns, looking up the best perks for each gun is absolutely recommended

trial and error, licherally just messing around, is also very useful to find something that suits your personal playstyle

●○●○

☆the fastest way to up your seasonal rank is to be constantly doing bounties and seasonal challenges

seasonal ranks are mostly just for rewards and include resources and cosmetic items, but also provide some passive gameplay perks that can help you with a seasonal activity or getting better weapon + armor drops

●○●○

☆the fastest way to up your power level is by doing weekly challenges for each activity (strikes, gambit, crucible, etc) and getting powerful gear from them

power level directly affects how hard an activity is going to be. if your power level is too low, enemies will be immune to damage, but if you are just slightly underleveled it can make for a more challenging activity if thats what you want ^_^ otherwise, if your power level is equal to or above whats required, enemy power will scale with you.

●○●○

☆try to have a variety of weapon archetypes (like smgs, hand cannons, snipers, etc) and energies (solar, arc, void, and stasis) in your inventory.

there are third-party apps that let you bring and send weapons to storage without having to stop at the main hub world, but sometimes its just easier to be able to quick-swap for different situations.

having a few armor loadouts is useful as well but again, personally i wouldnt worry about armor modding and weapon perks TOO much when youre just starting out

●○●○

☆if youre not sharing your account, you should use all three character slots on a warlock, a hunter, and a titan. obviously you dont HAVE to, you can be Oops All Hunters if you want, but ive found its super useful to have an understanding of how each class works, especially for endgame content

●○●○

and finally, this game's campaigns tend to be pretty cool, but the lore is absolutely batshit and i recommend reading lore books and lore tabs and such when you can because they are super interesting. theres so many of them though i dont think its possible to actually read all of it, in which case i HIGHLY recommend watching "My Name Is Byf" on youtube if you want all of that information compiled neatly and explained thoroughly to you. or you can read the wikis or a site called the ishtar collective to learn more about aspects of the lore you might be interested in. the lore stuff you read about is mostly gonna be pick and choose regardless

●○●○

SO, i think thats about all i can think of. i hope none of this was confusing, if you need any clarification id be glad to explain more!!! this game is a lot of fun with friends, so def play it with others when you can ^_^ plus, theres tons of resources for you to learn from, on youtube or reddit or wikis OR asking folks like myself!! a lot of veterans with more experience than me are also very willing to help you out, so totally dont be afraid to ask!!! i hope you have fun with the game!!!

also, if any other folks have some new player tips, do feel free to share!!

[unmanageable-day]

Come to me

previous chapter. 1

PART 2 - next

Summary. After what happened in a relationship in the past, you found  it difficult to trust someone with the gentleman image.  'Gentleman' seems like merely a concept and it was probably impossible  for someone to be a genuine one. Now that you're stuck with the number one gentleman at campus for a  group project, how would you cope with the one and only Joshua Hong?

Genre. College!au, non-idol!au / friends to lover

Pairing. Joshua x y/n x a little bit of S.Coups, and a sprinkle of Wonwoo

A few days later, you and your groups gathered again to discuss more for the project assignment. You and Joshua came early to a secluded spot in the library. You were worried if things were going to be awkward, but unexpectedly he was always the first one to talk to you. While waiting for Suhyun and Johnny, both of you managed to look over your schedule to find out which time should work without disturbing each other's activities. You almost dropped your jaw when you realized he almost always matched all gaps between classes, which was because you were in the same class most of the time yet you had no idea.

"I didn't know that we're in the same class like almost for all subjects," you uttered. Again, the mixed feelings of guilt, nervous and awkward made you unable to directly look at him.

He slightly smiled at your obliviousness. "Because you always sit in the front row and don't even bother to look around."

"Really?" You nervously faked a chuckle. Not even your friends had called you out like that despite what he said was actually true.

"But anyway, it's easier for us, don't you think?"

"That's right." Another nervous chuckle slipped out of your mouth. This was the time you vigorously typed a message to Johnny and Suhyun to come quickly. However you can't even be on your phone for too long since this guy literally kept talking to you, which you found it odd. This guy should hate you if he remembered the first encounter. Suddenly you were reminded of Johnny once saying one of Joshua's nickname that made him even more famous than just a 'gentleman'. The holy Jisoo.

Neither you did believe nor care about that. Sometimes you had to beg Johnny to stop talking about him as if there was nothing else to talk about. Now that you think about it, probably being forgiving could be one of the trait of 'the holy Jisoo'. But still, it was not that you care.

"Hey, now that we're classmates for almost every class, is it okay if I ask you to study together sometimes? Especially for Professor Kwon's class. I mean, I heard that even getting B from his class is already considered good."

"I know right. I don't even know why I take that class." Wait, does this mean I agree to study together with him? Wait, what?

"How about this weekend? We can finish this one quickly and proceed to discuss for other subject."

"This weekend is no good," you quickly answered. Secretly you were relieved you had other stuff to do. "Got essay due Monday and another group project assignment too before finals."

"Oh, okay. No problem. Which class though?"

"Professor Kim Jooyong it is. I believe you don't go to this class, right?"

"Yeah, no. But I think I know someone there."

"Yeah?" You raises both of your eyebrows, slightly showing curiosity.

"You know Jeon Wonwoo?"

An excited gasp slipped off before you spoke. "You're kidding! He's my partner for the group project."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he's a life saver," you answered enthusiastically for the first time ever. "I take this class unintentionally. This guy thankfully makes it more bearable."

Without words, Joshua smiled. It was a different smile from earlier before the topic of Jeon Wonwoo arose. Of course, you wouldn't notice. The way you talked about Jeon Wonwoo definitely made him feel something. It just made him wonder if someone asked you about him, would you look that cheerful and excitedly say something good about being his classmate?

--- after hours working on the group project

"This doesn't look like we're able to finish any sooner. Should we continue tomorrow?" Suhyun stretched her arms and tilted her neck.

"You're right. I still have my essay to do," Johnny complained to himself. "I don't think I will sleep tonight."

"I told you you should have started as soon as Professor Jung gave it," you scoffed.

Suhyun and Johnny quickly packed their stuff and left. Meanwhile Joshua was a bit slow for unclear reasons. Basically he came the earliest and left the latest, which you found it odd. Again. Yes, you got a bit closer within such a short time when waiting for Johnny and Suhyun. But you still felt uncomfortable being with only him. And you can't confront him and ask 'what take you so long?', can you?

"Tomorrow we finish the class at 4, right?" Again, he was the one to break the silence when he was about to depart. "Want to continue our discussion tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." This was a scenario which it would turn out weird if you say no. "Library?"

He paused. His face showed that he was thinking of something. "Sometimes it's crowded in the library. We got lucky today. Do you know a small cafe near the campus gym?"

"There's a cafe?"

"Yeah, it's not very popular. But it's quiet. I usually study there."

"Okay, sure. We can be more focused then," you said, nodding your head although you had no idea where the place he suggested. The last thing you wouldn't even want to imagine was this gentleman turned out to be a psycho who would abduct you in an unknown, quiet place at campus.

"Anyway, can I sit next to you tomorrow in class?"

Again, a scenario that would turn out more awkward than it already was if you say no. "Well, yeah, sure.." This dude must know that many people avoided sitting in front row seat, so your side was empty most of the time.

"Okay, cool. I'll see you tomorrow?" He flashed you a smile.

That was the first time you noticed the way he smiled. You had no idea he looked like that. Now you know why everyone always calls him a gentleman. That smile and the way he talks softly explained his nickname perfectly. That smile made you look away because suddenly you got too shy to look at him.

"Yeah. See you."

--- the next day

Joshua was right. The small cafe near the campus gym was quiet, as if it was located outside the campus. You wondered what makes this cafe underrated. Was it new that no one knew? Was it that secluded? Was it too far? Well, Joshua and you had to spend at least 10 minutes of walk from your building to this place. Honestly that was the most awkward walk you've ever had. You kept your distance, but he kept going closer every time you took a step away. You were nervous most of the time. You were really worried if he would try to do something funny you wouldn't even want to imagine. You actually had Johnny's number ready to be dialed if there was a sudden emergency.

"This place is not so bad, right?" As always, he started conversation while you prepared your notebook and laptop.

Flashing your smile with your best effort, you nodded.

"Oh! It's Shua!" An excited exclaim filled the quiet place. "And it's Park Y/n!"

"Seok-Soon, is that you?" You got excited too as two guys, a black haired one with a well-built tall body and the other one with dark blonde hair, paler skin and slimmer figure proceed to your seat. The three of you hugged and cheered loudly, happy to reunite again. "I miss you guys. What are you doing here, Soonyoung? Seokmin?"

"We should ask you the same." Seokmin broke your group hug.

Soonyoung darted his eyes to you, then to Joshua. "I didn't know you're close with Shua hyung," he said, flashing his hamster teeth.

"’Shua’?" you asked back in confusion. Soonyoung nodded, gesturing at Joshua with his head and his expressive eyes. That was a clear hint that the guys were close friends.

"I didn't know you guys know her." Joshua managed to stay calm, totally contrast with the rest of you.

"Yeah, we met during the orientation week," you explained happily without looking at him. Your attention was now fully on the other guys. Your linking arms with the Seok-Soon duo proved how close you were with them.

"And after that the class schedule always separates us," Soonyoung responded dramatically, faking a sniffle.

In Joshua's eyes, this was the brightest version of you and your smile. He noticed the drastic change of your expression when Soonyoung and Seokmin entered the cafe and called them. To him, you were like a chameleon. Your expression, the way you talk, and even your behavior kept changing as if you were adapting to who you were with. Soonyoung and Seokmin were famous to be the mood maker, they barely can keep quiet or stay still. You kept giggling at whatever they said since they joined your table, kinda forgetting that you were supposed to get your work done with Joshua. It didn't look like he minded though. In fact, he could use this time to quietly observe the new side of you. He remembered even when with Johnny, you never looked this cheerful and hyped up. No wonder you always became much more quiet when it was only him. Compared to Johnny, Soonyoung and Seokmin, he was indeed the calmest.

Soon, another guy came in. Soonyoung called his name and the new guy joined you immediately. With a big, mischievous smile, you stood up and bowed, singing his name, "Kim Mingyu sunbaenim."

"Oh, hi, Park hoobaenim." He raised a hand waving at you with his smug smiley face, trying to give more of the sunbae vibe, which always made you and the others almost lose it. "Long time no see," he spoke in English with his strong Korean accent.

Soonyoung and Seokmin still laughed at how you and Mingyu addressed each other, leaving Joshua puzzled by himself. Basically it was their inside jokes within the guys only, so it surprised him how you had any idea about it. It also confused him how you got to know his bestfriends.

"Mingyu repeated the history with Jeonghan hyung. He thought she was a freshman at the first day of school after spring break. So he was like, 'Oh, are you lost? Let me help. Oh, by the way, my name is Kim Mingyu. You can call me Mingyu sunbaenim.' when she was standing in front of Communication 101 class."

"She really looked like she was lost though?" Mingyu defended himself when the others recalled that dark memory.

You blended very well with the boys that it felt strangely nice for Joshua. It was kind of odd to feel alienated when the guys were his best friends, yet they seemed closer with you. But again, he didn't really mind that. It was just for him, to click with someone new was never easy. Moreover, his instinct could tell easily that you were not comfortable with him. That was why he always tried to speak first. Seeing you obviously close with his best buddies made him want to know more about you. Now he needed to boost his confidence to be more open up. Starting from you as a groupmate.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

ODAAT S4 POLL RESULTS

thank you so, so much to everyone who answered this little survey!! here’s some basic info gleaned from the 43 participants:

no one said that season 4 is better than seasons 1-3

more than 95% think it’s worse than seasons 1-3

no one said their faves are fully getting the attention they deserve

exactly one person is ‘loving’ s4, another 9 ‘kinda like it’

the remaining 3/4 are indifferent to it, dislike or hate it

slightly more than 1/3 have given up watching s4 already

the final question was What's one of your favorite or least favorite things about S4 so far? 9 participants listed a favorite thing. 37 participants listed a least favorite thing. (some people included both a favorite and least favorite in their answers.)

the most commonly mentioned ‘favorite thing’ was alex’s character development in s4. 

the most commonly mentioned ‘least favorite thing’ was the schneider/avery relationship including the pregnancy, followed closely by s4′s lack of emotional depth, schneider’s previous arc being minimized, and the penelope/max relationship. 

you can see all 43 anonymous answers behind this cut:

Idk 

Alex

i think the problem is they’re starting conversations to then finish them too early. like i was really interested to see where they went with sydlena with elena going to college but then it was just taken back so quickly..

Fave: the show continues; also, Alex’s girlfriend. Least fave: the way Penelope and Max’s characters have been changed to make their relationship fit the new budget

The relapse in Penelope and Schneider’s friendship esp after how S3 showed SUCH growth. Not to mention, the lack of emotional depth. It’s just. Different.

Idk

.

Least favorite:Penelope and Max make no sense??? Explain the kids issue??? Also why is Avery pregnant.......I don’t like her character

they basically took away schneiders character arc

Don't have one

The demolishing of Schneider's characters growth is the most maddening thing

it doesn't have the same feel as the 1st 3 seasons.

My least favorite thing is how rushed some development is, particularly in relationships, to show that everything is fine, but also ignores the issues and struggles we were introduced to in previous seasons regarding characters. For example, Schneider and Avery are all in love and totally fine, but what happened to his addiction? How does he feel about being a father? How did they move past their breakup from when he relapsed? And with Penelope, while I loved that they showed that she could be happy with her family and still want romance, why Max again? How do they resolve the fact that he wants kids but she doesn't want more?

Penelope and Max's reunion was too rushed and Schneider and Avery's relationship is too rushed too

favorite~ alex being given some sort of storyline (the whole clothing thing and feeling insecure in the family) cuz he’s never given attention and then least favorite~ how schneider’s alcoholism has been completely sidelined and max and penny not discussing the whole kids thing. also how cuba wasn’t brought up until the mid season finale when s3 literally ended with that

My least favorite thing about season four is that it doesn’t feel like the first three seasons. I feel like the bonds that the characters have built over the years are breaking.

Schneider suddenly needing to have a baby with avery to have a family when he's been part of the alvarez fam the whole time :)))

i don’t like the lack of emotional stuff and the random bringing back old love interests without explanation

none of the characters feel like the same people or like they've regressed and lost character growth

max and avery least favorite :(

I don't like the fact that it feels like it has to explain a lot about older seasons, it feels a bit forced, but I also understand why it happens, if/when there's a season 5 I think I'm going to like it better than this season (same thing happened for me with seasons 1, 2 and 3, my favorite being the last)

Least favorite: I feel like we've lost Schneider's story. Between retconning aspects of his relationship with Avery (like them saying they've never broken up or that their first fight happened this season). It suddenly feels like he's not a member of the family like he was in S3.

The way they’ve completely regressed all the character arcs and storylines for a lot of the characters, especially Schneider

Character continuity seems to have been thrown out e.g. schneider has regressed a lot and there is no follow up on his s3 plotline

I really wish they could be longer - I do think the episodes need to be longer for storyline purposes. I think that’s why this season feels slightly different to me. Favourite thing is seeing Schneider and Avery be happy. They seem to be moving quick but it also seems to be working for them.

it used to make me FEEL. now it’s flat

That Max came back and he and Pen still haven't addressed the child-sized elephant in the room but that's okay because he's awesome /ends sarcasm. Also the baby pregancy storyline was WAY out of left field. Also what happened with Schneider's sobriety? Is he still going to meetings?

I'm happy Alex is getting good storylines and Elena and Syd are adorable but Schneider and Penelope's relationship with Avery and MaX IS TOO MUCH TOO SOON

Pen had worries about her date and ran immediately to her BFF to help her sort it out. YOU KNOW, THAT SEEMED PROMISING.

Just the overall lack of depth

Everything about Schneider/Avery has been handled extremely poorly imo

My least favourite thing is how they dismissed Schneider’s sobriety storyline

I loved the final live action episode that aired before the pandemic took over (ends on the roof garden not sure the number/title) but otherwise it's been feeling like it's skimming the surface of most serious issues that they used to tackle head on. Hoping this is just an adjustment period/growing pains but we'll see.

The baby storyline is way too rushed, and I really don't like it

Favorite: Alex taking sewing classes, least favorite: Avery/Schneider

Everythings too superficial

I hated that they didn't get to the end of season 3 Cuba reveal until episode 6, and that they've regressed Dr. B & Lydia's relationship again. Either put them together or make clear you never well, damn.

schneider/avery feels rushed and lacks emotional depth. At the end of season 3 they were broken up, barely a quarter into season 4 they've moved in together and are pregnant. It doesn't make sense. Avery is just a cartoon version of Schneider. They don't feel real.

Least favourite: The storylines aren't as deep/handled as seriously. I don't like what they have done with Schneider. I don't think they explored his relationship with Avery well enough for me to be invested in it. I also don't think now is the right time to explore them having a child.

We're halfway through the season and there has been no character growth for anyone. It's a typical sitcom. Every emotional arc has been abandoned or ignored. Why are we not seeing Schneider freak out about becoming a parent, considering his history? Why are Penelope and Schneider not as close as they once were?

The meta/4th wall joke from animated special about tv shows being animated & least them telling Schindler he’s not part of the family.. like wtf multiple times too. Also the dropping of storylines (Sobriety/Cuba) & the ex partners back and everyone is happy

Alex got some much needed character development, but they basically hamstringed Penelope and Schneider

The episodes are shorter and the comedy seems cheaper and easier, the jokes don’t have the depth they used to

[chemiste]

Foresight ~ ch.4

a/n: heyooooo, it’s chapter 4! btw, if y’all have requests send them in!!

masterlist

Once at the tour bus, you were met with various sleepy stares from a couple crew and the band members.

Sarah came up to you and basically melted into your hug, “I’m so tired…” She mumbled. You agreed with her as a crew person came up to take your suitcase and store it under the bus.

You realized there was more than once bus and wondered where you were supposed to go, “Hey Sar, do you know which bus I’m supposed to go on?” She rubbed the sleep out of her eye, “You’re probably on ours cause you’re Harry Styles ‘best friend’ right?” You nodded at her prediction and started to wonder about the friend thing.

Are we just going to pretend? Or does he actually wanna be real friends…

You were interrupted from your thoughts by Jeff tapping on your shoulder. “Good morning sunshine.” “Hey, Jeff.” “There’s an extra bed in the band’s bus you can take that one.” You gave a smile to him, “Thanks.”

Everyone climbed into their respective buses so they could start the 5-hour drive right on the dot. The bus was a lot bigger than you expected.

In the front behind the driver's seat was a long couch that sat opposite its twin couch, it the left corner close to the bus door was a tv drilled into the wall that sat diagonally. Farther back was a booth and table and then a mini kitchen on the right side. You walked farther back and saw on the left the small slide door to the bathroom and then another sliding door in the middle of the hallway opened to show the 4 sets of bunk beds, two on each side.

Each bed was covered with a curtain you could pull back. All of the beds thankfully, had their curtains open so you could see which one would most like be yours. It was the last bottom bed on the left side, it was the only one that didn’t have any pictures stuck on the walls inside around the tiny windows. One bed had fairy lights taped to the ceiling and another had a poster of Fleetwood Mac.

Putting down your backpack, you sat down onto the teal duvet that was too soft to be real.

“Innit comfy? 100% Egyptian Cotton.” You looked up to find a very cozy looking boy. Harry was wearing grey sweatpants and a tour hoodie.

His hair was sticking out from different angles and you could see the faint shadow of a beard growing. “Hi Harry, how are you feeling?” You asked as he sat down on the bed across from yours and started to take off his shoes.

“I’ll be better once we’re on the road.” Something about this tone made you wonder if he had a rough night but you didn’t ask anything else as the engine started up and the rest of the band came into the sleeping area to try and sleep the whole trip to Amsterdam.

Someone hit the lights off as the bus started to move and everyone’s curtains closed sans yours and Harry’s. You pulled your noise-canceling headphones you’d gotten as a present from a friend the year before and connected it to your phone to play some tunes to drown out the hum of the engine.

Little streams of light flashed in from your tiny window every so often so you pulled the black-out blinds shut and climbed into the XL twin bed.

You gave a little wave to Harry who had set up with a book and closed your curtain to try and sleep.

At some point on the drive, one of the turns the tour bus had taken jostled you awake. You pulled your blinds up a tiny bit to see that the sun was just breaking over the horizon.

You pulled your headphones off and took your hair down to brush through with your fingers. You contemplated going back to sleep but decided not to so you could enjoy the sunrise as you rode through the lovely landscape of Europe. You closed your blinds again and pulled back your curtains to get out of bed.

What surprised you was the bed across from you was empty, the curtain pulled back all the way and the conformer kicked down towards the end of the bed. After glancing around to see all the others were closed, you tiptoed out of the corridor and slipped out the sliding door, softly closing it behind you.

“Wha ’re doin’ up so early?

A British voice asked as you turned around to see the man of the hour sprawled out on the left side couch with a bowl of oatmeal in hand.

You padded over to the opposite couch and sat down into it, admiring how it swallowed you up.

Sorta like the cat bus in Totoro…

“Just got jostled awake by a turn, I wanted to watch the sunrise.” He hummed at your response and took a scoop of oatmeal.

You glanced over your shoulder to see the horizon painted with rays of yellow, orange, and peach.

“Sorta looks like a Sunflower doesn’t it?” You said aloud to him, still watching the new bursts of light dance around on the land below it. You heard the tap in the kitchen run and looked to see Harry rinsing out his empty bowl.

“Why are you up so early?” You finally asked, after swaying between thinking it might overstep boundaries or not. He shrugged and sat down, this time sitting on your couch. He rested an arm on the backrest and watched the road.

“Not sleeping well I guess.” You didn’t say anything, just watched out the window with him, not wanting to scare him if he decided to elaborate.

After a few minutes, he finally did. “I had a phone call last night that I wasn’t expecting and it just, messed with my head. Didn’t sleep very well s’all.”

Frankly, you didn’t know what position you were in to give advice but he seemed pretty torn up so you decided to give it a go.

“When I get into an argument with someone, I try and think of the qualities of them that I love them for and try to see my side from their point of view. Sometimes it infuriates me to the core cause I can’t see a different version of the story than mine, but once I do its easier to work things out cause then I can address the points that, if I were in their shoes, would upset me.”

He didn’t say anything, so you continued. “But Harry,” you put a hand on his shoulder and he turned his face ever so slightly to look at you, “remember that sometimes the other side of the argument may not be true and you can’t do anything about it. So if you can’t do anything to change it, don’t let yourself be consumed by it.”

You cracked a small smile, “Plus lavender and chamomile tea always put my mind at ease and it’s easier to sleep after a cuppa I think.”

The conversation ended without his response because Mitch and Sarah came into the main space to make coffee and breakfast. While the three musicians chatted, you slipped back into the cabin to grab your toothbrush and went into the bathroom to brush your teeth and do other things. You curled your eyelashes again, just in case.

After putting your makeup bag back in your backpack, you pulled your laptop out and sat down on your bed after pulled the blinds up. You didn’t get under the covers because it started to get warm in the bus.

“Clare?” The woman in question looked down at you from the top bunk that sat diagonally opposite yours. “Is there wifi on the bus?” She smiled and answered. “Ya, connect to the router ‘only’ and type in for the password ‘angel’.”

You snorted at the namesake of both titles and gave her a thanks. You opened your email account and sent an email to both of your college profs to plead to ask to transfer your work online.

Hello prof!

So, a situation has occurred and I’m going now to be in Europe for the next month. Is there any way I would be able to transfer my classes online for the time being?

Let me know what actions I need to take.

Y/N L/N

After re-reading it a couple times, you sent it off just to get out there before class was supposed to start again.

For the next two hours, you went over the syllabus and tried to find things you’d be able to write about or take pictures of incase your teachers needed a bit more convincing.

You had pulled out your camera and were looking through some of the recent pictures of Europe you had taken for the extra credit assignment your photography teacher had given you when Harry walked back into the sleeping area.

He sat on his bed and pulled his feet into a crisscross applesauce position.

“You’re a photographer?” He inquired. You glanced up at him for a moment and then looked back down in concentration on the picture in front of you and the screen of your laptop.

“Yeah, for class.—Damn, I don’t think this photo qualifies.” “Huh?” Harry hopped off his bed and peaked down to what you were looking at.

“Scoot over.” “What?”

He rolled his eyes are you and squished onto the bed with you. “What are you working on?” He asked with what looked like, honest interest. It surprised you a bit, since why would he care?

He could be doing so many, probably more important things on the ride than sitting with me.

“Well, I’m taking a photography class in college, one of my last actually. I did dual credit classes in high school and only needed a few to technically graduate with my degree.”

“Wha’s your degree ’n?”

“Photography and Media Arts with a minor in Creative Writing.”

He blew a larger breath out and sat back against the pillows you propped up against the wall, “That’s a mouthful innit?”

You smiled and held the camera up a bit to zoom into the picture. “I love it, I actually take photos for a few companies in New York which is exciting. It’ll help that I already have clients leaving college.”

“Where do you go to college?” “NYU.” “Very cool aren’t yeh?” You pushed a strand of hair behind your ear and smiled at the compliment. “So what’s wrong with the picture?” He asked.

“I’m working on an assignment—” “during spring break?!” “—an extra credit assignment, and basically for each of these words I need a picture that correlates to it. The crossed off ones I’ve already completed.”

Harry leaned forward to read the words off your laptop.

Extra Credit Work

Please take photos over this month and relate at least one picture to each word below. Each picture is worth 10 points. You can add a caption about the picture to help it associate in need.

Joy

Sour

Chaos

Silly

Bright

Anguish

Erotic

Heavenly

Red

Enigma

Due May 1st.

“This is the photo I wanted to use for Joy but I don’t know if it's too generic or not.”

You gave him the camera, the photo was of Maggie on the first day in Paris. She was leaning backwards, looking at the Eiffel Tower.

“See, you can’t see her face, which is okay but the body isn’t giving that much expression either so I’m not sure if it will come off as stiff or not.”

He spent a few more moments looking at the picture and then the word. “I think it represents joy perfectly.”

You tilted your head and gave a quizzical expression.

“Look,” he started, “your definition of joy is different from someone else, right? But it’s easier to see that the focus of the photo is in a carefree state, leanin’ back, hair down. An’ I don’t think her body is stiff, ’t’s just relaxed. You can add a caption too if you want right? Maybe add somethin' like, the true feeling of joy ’s when you can finally throw your head back an’ not worry about hittin a wall or som’hin like that.”

He handed you the camera back and you looked at the picture again with a different view on it. “Wow—thank you, that’s honestly just what I needed to hear.” He looked down to his fingers, “can say the same fo’ this morin’, thank you fo’ that.”

Close it quickly Y/N….

Close them…huh?

“Blinds!”

Someone yelled from the main corridor. Harry jumped up from the bed and you pulled your blind shut as he pulled his shut and checked the others.

“Wha’ is it?!” He yelled into the other room, you trailed behind him after putting your things back into your backpack. Adam had a clicker in his hand that put down a black veil over both large windows in the main compartment.

“This bus has blacked-out windows, why the veils?” You asked.

“Cause if fans come up to the bus with a flash camera, it can still take a picture of the inside, this way the veil blocks it out.” The veils still allowed you to see through them sorta and you gasped at the sight before you. It seemed as though hundreds of people had mobbed the as the bus was trying to drive through.

“We’re in Amsterdam.” You stated.

 “Yeah,” Mitch replied, “seems as though the fans were tipped off of which hotel we’re staying in or something.” After hearing that, the whole room filled with a slight tension that caused you back to ache.

Clare glanced at her phone, “Jeffery is telling us to brace ourselves cause the hotel doesn’t have a private entrance we could drive through, we’re gonna have to go through the crowd.” The band dispersed to get their stuff.

As you packed up, Harry’s phone started to ring.

“Yeh? Mhm, yeah—fuck you’r right.” The British heartthrob turned to look at you which made you wonder who he was talking to.

“Will do, bye.” He ended the call and took his black hoodie off.

“Give me your sweatshirt, Jeff says we’ve got to make sure you don’t draw too much attention to yourself cause we don’t want a riot since we don’t ‘ave security wit’ us.”

You nodded and shrugged off the pink long sleeve. Once you got the hoodie over your head, you noticed how it engulfed you slightly.

“Got any sunnies?”

You pulled some out from a case in your bag and slipped them on. “We’re as close to the door as we can get, it’s time to go!”

Sarah called out to the band. “Hold you’r backpack in your hand, don’t want them to grab the handle and yank you back.” You only nodded and tied your tennis shoes before following the rest of them out to the door.

“Ready? Open, open, open!”

<3

masterlist

[heyyyharry]

Chapter 16: Falling Like The Stars

(from the Flatmate Trilogy: Two Hearts, One Home)

…in which their best friends get married.

Word count: 6k

Chapter 15: 🎃 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 🎃 Fright-day Night - Another Halloween treasure hunt.

Wattpad link

A/N:

- We're so close to the ending already! Grab some tissue and get ready to say goodbye to these beloved characters. The final chapter is called 'FLATMATE' and it comes out on November 6 😿

- After Flatmate, I will take some time off and return in December with a new series called The Conman And The Maid. Feel free to talk to me about it or ask me questions. 

Listen as you read:

- when Layla walks down the aisle

- when Harry and Y/N slow dance

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.

.

"Wanna do something bad?"

"Right here?"

Harry got a glare and a pillow thrown at him for that reply. "No! I'm going to meet Layla's parents this morning," Y/N said as she joined her husband on the couch. "The wedding is tonight. I have to make sure they'll be there."

"But wouldn't Layla be mad if she found out we were going behind her back?" His face contorted as he pondered.

"Yeah." She gave a half shrug, pursing her lips. "Layla is too proud to admit that she wants them to be there. I know she constantly says she hates them but I also know she doesn't really hate them, otherwise it wouldn't bother her so much that they might not come to her wedding."

Harry tossed his head back and heaved a sigh. "Well, should we at least tell Niall?"

"I already did." Y/N grinned. "He gave me their addresses."

"Wait, so we're just...going straight to their houses?"

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow as her husband did the same. "What? You thought I was going to call them and formally invite them out for lunch?"

"Uh...yes?"

"Well, no. They would make excuses to say no like they did when their own daughter invited them to her wedding. We're going straight to their houses."

"I haven't even said I'd do it."

"You're doing it." She got to her feet and pulled him up by the arm. "We're in this together. For better or worse, remember?"

"This isn't what I meant when I said that!" Harry whined, but his wife had already thrown on her jacket and grabbed his car key.

"Either you go with me or you can't talk to Ria tonight."

"You're a monster," he gasped, making her giggle.

"That's just marriage, baby."

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.

.

Layla's mother lived only an hour away from her so Y/N couldn't understand why she'd never come to visit her daughter. Y/N was not yet a mother herself, but she knew when Asteria grew up and finally went away to college, she wouldn't mind the distance to come visit her once in a while. But maybe not all mothers were the same. And sadly, not all mothers loved their children, either.

Y/N had never seen a photo of Layla's mum, and all the basic information she'd got was from her best friend's depressing stories about her problematic family. The woman's name was Maureen. She used to be an alcoholic, and now she was living alone and only occasionally drunk, or so Y/N hoped. The lady was sober when she answered the door, but it was easy to spot the empty bottles and packs of beer under the small eating table.

"Who the hell are you?" Maureen asked in an obnoxious tone. She had fair skin, dark brown hair, and light eyes similar to Layla's. She could be an older version of Layla if it was in an alternate universe where Layla didn't care about clothes or makeup or a healthy lifestyle.

"I'm Y/N and this is my husband, Harry. We're both friends of your daughter's," Y/N said cheerfully as she put on a smile, whereas Harry gave the woman the same frown she was giving them.

"My daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am." Y/N nodded. "Your daughter is getting married today and—"

"Why aren't you at the wedding?" Maureen cut her off, looking doubtful as she gripped the handle. Y/N was just waiting for her to slam the door in their faces, but gladly, she didn't.

"The wedding is tonight, actually. Um...I just came to make sure you were coming because—"

"Did she ask you to?" Once again, she didn't let Y/N finish. She seemed indifferent, so it was hard to tell how she really felt about this, or if she felt anything at all. She crossed her arms and leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, ready to have a conversation right there. Y/N didn't think it was rude, because why would she invite two complete strangers into her home?

"Did my daughter ask you to come here?" Maureen repeated the question when she didn't get an answer.

"No, ma'am," Y/N said.

Shaking her head, the older woman laughed. "Right, and I suppose you came all the way here because you felt bad for me?"

"No, I—"

"You seem like the type of person who loves sticking her nose in other people's business."

"Hey!" Harry stepped forward, a frown overtook his face. "Do not talk to my wife like that."

Y/N tugged at his arm as she told him to calm down, yet Maureen seemed very chill and indifferent to his attitude. Ignoring him, she went on with a sly smile, "I'm not going to the wedding. It's not like she wants me there."

"She does."

"Well, did she tell you that?"

"No, but—" Y/N bit her lip, but before she could continue, Maureen waved her off.

"My ex-husband would be there and the last thing I want to see is that son of a bitch's face."

"That's the problem," Harry finally spoke as he was too upset to remain silent. "Neither of you would come because you're both afraid of running into each other, but it shouldn't be about you. It's your daughter's big day and you should be there for her."

"The last time we met, she called me an embarrassment. I'm doing her a favor by not coming to her wedding."

"I know Layla," Y/N said, clenching her fists. "She doesn't express her feelings the way people expect her to. She says no when the answer is yes, and maybe when the answer is no. She's very unpredictable, but it's not so hard to read her mind once you've known her well enough."

Maureen scoffed as she looked down and pinched her forehead. "I don't need you strangers to lecture me on Layla. I'm her mother."

"Then start acting like one."

From Maureen's and Harry's reaction, Y/N knew neither of the two had expected someone with her personality to say something like that. But she didn't care. Mumbling, "have a nice day", she took Harry's hand and pulled him back to the lift.

Once the door had shut and the couple had left, Maureen was still standing at her front door.

.

.

.

Layla's father lived in a mansion that looked like a cutout from Architects Today magazine. It was one of those dream houses in which Y/N had imagined her, Harry and their two children living a few years from then, when they could afford that expensive life. They weren't poor now, but this place made them feel like they were.

Unlike Layla's mother, her father — Daniel Scott, or Dan, as he had asked them to call him, had invited the couple into his living room for tea as soon as he recognized Harry. Layla had taken Harry with her to lunch with her dad and his other family once, because Niall had been busy that day. However, Harry had hardly interacted with the man to say that he personally knew him.

"Believe me or not, Layla has never invited a friend over. Well, there was Niall, but they're getting married so it doesn't really count." Daniel laughed, shaking his head.

Y/N was slightly confused because this man wasn't at all how she'd imagined he would be. He was handsome for his age and he was also polite and calm, yet the image Layla had constructed in her head was this angry and selfish man who didn't give two shits about his family. But if there was one thing Y/N had learned from a thousand mistakes in the past, it would be not to draw a conclusion about someone you had just met five minutes ago.

"About the wedding," Y/N began as she put her teacup down on the coffee table, placing her hands back on her knees. "It's tonight, and we hope you can come to congratulate her."

"Layla has already told me about the wedding," said Dan. "Unfortunately, I cannot make it. I'm a very busy man and—"

"Sir, I know what it's like to be drowning in work and deadlines and thinking you don't have enough time for anything else," Harry cut him off. "But it all comes down to priorities. Don't you think it's worth it to put everything aside and celebrate this important day with your daughter? It's just one night."

As Dan pressed his lips into a smile and rubbed his palms together, Harry was hoping that the man would reconsider and change his mind. However, Dan's ringtone tore down the silence and he excused himself to go answer the phone.

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Y/N asked once he'd left the room.

"Hope so." Her husband lifted his shoulders in a half shrug. "I mean, he seems much easier to talk to than his ex-wife so—"

"Sorry, kids. I gotta go now. Duty calls," Dan told them as he walked in with the same big smile which had begun to freak Y/N out.

"But Layla's wedding—"

"I can just come to her next one," Dan said, causing both Harry and Y/N to drop their jaws, but their reactions seemed to mean nothing to him as he added, "I know my daughter, okay?"

No, you don't, Y/N thought to herself and rubbed Harry's shoulder as she spotted him giving Dan a black look.

"My butler will show you the way out. It's nice talking to the two of you."

Dan turned away as the butler showed up and asked them to come with him. Harry quickly followed the tiny man, but Y/N stayed when a young girl, who she assumed was about sixteen or seventeen, rushed down the stairs.

"Daddy, daddy!" she called Dan. "Mum is coming back from Milan tonight. Do you think we can go shopping together? I desperately need new clothes for school."

Dan pulled his daughter into a tight hug as he pressed his lips to her forehead and said, "of course, sweetheart. Anything for my little princess."

"Y/N!" Harry's voice got his wife's attention. When she looked back at him, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew what she was thinking of. She walked up to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they followed the butler out of there. "It's okay," Harry whispered. "Layla would be better off without them."

.

.

.

"So this is what it feels like to be invited to the royal wedding."

Y/N gave her husband a nudge and waved hello to another wedding guest she recognized. Layla spent too much time with her and Harry that sometimes she forgot how popular her best friend was. After all, she was Layla Scott. She was born to receive attention, just not always the kind she would value. So the more she got, the more she craved. Y/N supposed some guests here today hadn't come because they cared about Layla, they'd come because it was her wedding. It was every high school in movies. People voted the most popular girl for Prom Queen, not because they liked her, but because she was cool. That was how Layla had remained 'the popular girl' ever since she could walk, but it wasn't until she got to college that she learned what it was like to have real friends.

It was thirty minutes before the ceremony and Y/N was asked to go check on Layla. Nobody knew what had happened, but the bride had locked herself in her dressing room and everyone that was part of the wedding planning was freaking out.

"Layla?" Y/N knocked on the door as the other bridesmaids gathered around her. "Layla, is everything okay? It's Y/N."

"Come in. Just you."

With a turning stomach, Y/N asked one girl to go outside just in case something happened and they needed someone to reassure the guests. Then, she turned the doorknob and entered the room.

Layla was sitting in her wedding dress with her phone in her hands. Though it wasn't from personal experience, Y/N had heard about some brides having a mental breakdown right before their wedding. It was understandable. The thought of starting a new life with a new identity could be overwhelming. So when Layla looked up at Y/N with her glassy eyes, Y/N assumed her best friend was going through the same thing.

"My father posted a photo of him at dinner with his other family," Layla said, proving her wrong. "He's with them on my wedding day."

Not knowing how to respond, Y/N chose silence as she stood against the door with her hands behind her back, and started second-guessing what her best friend might say next.

"That asshole..." Layla scoffed as she shook her head. "I hate him. I fucking hate him! I-I don't know why I even expected that he would show up tonight. I knew he wouldn't. So why am I still disappointed? Like...God, I...Do you know that he didn't come to my high school graduation because he was in Bali with that whore that's now my stepmother?"

Y/N silently shook her head.

Layla's parents hadn't come to her university graduation either. Niall had told Y/N and Harry not to ask Layla why, because it would only upset her. But now Y/N knew even when nobody brought up her family issues, it would upset her anyway. Her terrible parents would always matter to her despite how many times and how much she'd said she hated them.

"And my mum is always drunk." Layla released a harsh sigh. "It'd be a miracle if she could get her ass off the couch let alone attend my graduation or wedding."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Y/N said as she stepped forward and pulled a chair to sit down in front of the bride, who lifted her face as Y/N squeezed her hands. "This is your big day. So if your parents would rather be anywhere else but here, then it's their loss. You don't need them. I mean—Your entire family is already here. You have Harry, Lou, Liam, and Trix, and you have me. And Niall is probably freaking out right now because he cannot wait to start this new life with you."

Layla scoffed and rolled her eyes. "And Harry's probably trying to help but he's only making it worse. Those idiots."

"True." Y/N nodded as they both giggled. "And...this will be Asteria's first wedding experience. Wanna feel her?"

Layla nodded and let Y/N guide her hand to her baby bump. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, her eyes lit up. "She's moving!"

"Yup, I think she's very excited." Y/N beamed. "Who needs your shitty parents when you have a big family who will support you no matter what, right?"

This time, when Layla teared up, Y/N knew she was happy. She squeezed Y/N into a hug before pulling away and her expression hardened.

"Let's do this," she said. "Let's go out there and lower everyone's self-esteem by being the hottest people in the room."

"And she's back!" Y/N chuckled as she helped Layla get up and straighten her dress. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Be right there!" Layla shouted to the person, who replied immediately.

"Layla, it's me. Your mother."

The bride crossed her arms and laughed slightly, but then she saw the look on her best friend's face, and that was how she knew it was real. Without saying a word, she bolted to the door. The second between the moment she turned the doorknob and pulled the door open, fear was rising inside of her as she didn't want to make a fool out of herself by falling for one of her evil cousins' pranks. But she wasn't wrong. It really was her mother.

Y/N tilted her head to see the woman, yet she still couldn't believe in her own eyes. Maureen looked far different from how she had earlier that day. She looked put together, with her makeup and hair done, a classy dark blue dress that fit her so well and a pair of high heels. Now she looked like the woman Layla would one day become.

As Layla was still speechless, Maureen gasped as she eyed her daughter from head to toes. "Wow, you look—"

"What are you doing here?" Layla cut her off fast. The question took her by surprise, but she managed to keep her composure.

"I'm here to walk my daughter down the aisle," she said. "Well, only if she allows me to..."

Y/N was fidgeting with her own hands, her lips pressed tightly together. It was so awkward to be present while those two were having a mother-daughter moment, but she knew it'd be more awkward if she asked to leave. Besides, she needed to make sure Maureen wouldn't say something that would break Layla's heart.

Not getting a response, the mother continued, "I know I haven't always been there for you, and after talking to your friend here—"

Layla shot Y/N a questioning look, and the bridesmaid could only answer with an apologetic smile.

"—I realized that when I got a chance to be a better person, a better mother, then I shouldn't let it go to waste. That's why I'm here. I hope it's not too late to be there for you."

Y/N had a feeling if Layla remained silent, Maureen would burst into tears. Fortunately, she never got to find out if it was true. When her mother finished, Layla took a deep breath and began right away, "I was six when I came home and found you unconscious on the kitchen floor." Her voice trembled even when her head was held high. "I thought you were dead. I was so scared. They took you to the hospital and...later on, I heard from grandma that you'd drank too much that you'd passed out. I was six years old, mum. Who the fuck let their six-year-old daughter see them like that?"

Maureen opened her mouth to speak but Layla didn't let her. "When I was sixteen, I won a beauty pageant. I wanted to feel proud of myself because I'd accomplished something even if it was small, but that night I ended up crying all the way home because the other girls' parents were there, and mine were not."

Y/N's eyes fell to the floor as she sighed into her palm. Her chest felt stiff and heavy, but she believed it wasn't half as bad as how Maureen must have felt then.

Layla swallowed hard and wetted her lip as she carried on, "I'm going to turn twenty-six soon. So...here's your chance to be a part of my happiness for once. Now fix your makeup. You're not walking me down the aisle with smudged mascara."

Maureen's eyes gleamed as she heard those words. She pulled her daughter into an unexpected hug, and even though Layla's arms stayed glued to her sides, Y/N could tell she was also very happy.

The bridesmaid let go of a sigh of relief as she clasped her hands together and pressed them to her chest. But her elation faded as soon as the bride turned back to look at her. She assumed she was in trouble for going to see Maureen behind Layla's back. However, what she got was a "thank you" and the brightest beam she'd ever seen on her best friend.

"I love you," Maureen told her daughter. "I rarely said it. But I do. And from now on, I will do my best to prove it."

"Well, I also don't hate you." Layla's response caused Y/N to giggle and Maureen to widen her eyes. "Sorry." The bride chuckled. "Baby steps."

.

.

.

It was a few minutes before the ceremony. The guests were already in their seats as the exuberant chatter and laughter contributed to the ecstatic atmosphere. Y/N was waiting in her position on the other side of the closed double doors as she would be the first bridesmaid to make an entrance. Knowing she was nervous, Harry stayed with her as they waited for the ceremony to begin. He held her close as if he hadn't seen her in years and mumbled, "I missed you" into her hair.

"I was gone for a minute." She scoffed.

"The longest minute ever!" he exclaimed.

Clicking her tongue, Y/N pulled back to adjust his tie. Harry cocked his head to kiss her mouth, but she dodged his kiss and warned him not to smudge her red lipstick...again.

"So I was with Layla." She tugged at his collar and smoothed down the jacket of his suit. "She was having a mini-breakdown because she found out her dad was with his other family tonight. I comforted her, and guess what?"

"What?"

"Her mother showed up."

Harry stilled. "Like...her actual mother?"

The look on his face cracked her up as she nodded fast. "Yes. But don't worry, she was sober."

"What about her father?" Harry asked, and she only gave him a shrug. "Oh well, who needs a father like that, anyway? I'm glad she's okay now."

"She seemed very happy. Good for her," Y/N said, biting her lip and batting her lashes at him. "Not everyone is as lucky as baby Ria. She's got such an amazing father."

Smirking, Harry brought his hands up to stroke Y/N's bottom lip with his thumb. "Don't look at me like that, or I'll have to take you somewhere else and make another baby."

"Is that how you dirty talk now that you're a dad?" She raised a brow, hands on his chest.

"Does it work?" He licked his lip. "Does daddy make you wet already?" As he lowered his head to kiss her cheek, he remembered something and jerked away. "Holy shit, Ria can hear us!"

The genuine terrified look he'd got had his wife cackling. Y/N had to reassure him, "she doesn't understand us."

"I think she also heard me fuck you last night. What if it traumatizes her?"

"Harry—"

"What if I accidentally poke her with my dick?! Oh my God!"

"Baby." Y/N pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated, but at the same time, amused by how it'd taken him a whole day later to start worrying. "For the hundredth time, your dick isn't that long."

"Heyyyyyyyy! It's long."

"What's long?"

Gemma's voice caused the couple to jump and Harry blurted out, "the line in Starbucks this morning!"

Y/N was in hysterics when Gemma squinted her eyes at him. "Okay, weirdo. Get back in there. We're about to start," she said and jerked her head toward the door, making him groan like a little boy who was forced to go to bed early.

The couple exchanged a few more cheek and forehead kisses and then Harry snuck back into the room to join the other groomsmen at the altar. The guests began to quiet down as a romantic piece of orchestral music began to play, and the double door opened in front of Y/N. Shoulders back, chin up, she strutted down the aisle, holding the bouquet close to her chest as all eyes fell on her. But as always, Harry was all she could see.

The floor was covered in rose petals, and the music made it feel like she was floating to heaven. Somewhere in the crowded room, someone (possibly Trix) exclaimed, "aww, Harry's crying!" And she saw her husband put on a bashful smile as blood rushed right up to his face. He sucked in a shaky breath but his eyes remained on her. Y/N didn't know it was possible to fall in love with the same person over and over again, but this man had proven her wrong.

Once all the bridesmaid had stood in a line at the altar, mirroring the groomsmen on the opposite side, the music built up to the epic climax as Layla entered the room with her mother by her side. She was the center of attention like she always was, but she had never seemed more unbothered by her surroundings than she was now. She held eye contact with Niall, who had to wipe his own tears with the back of his hand.

The wedding ceremony was formal and flawless, since Layla had made sure they'd rehearsed it at least ten times before that day. But Niall, being Niall, had to include some silly jokes in his vows and high-fived Harry when the audience roared with laughter and his bride gave him a warning glare.

Time seemed to slow down for the exchange of rings, and when the preacher pronounced Niall and Layla husband and wife, Y/N was looking at Harry. Somewhere inside her head, she could hear the voice of the narrator saying, "and they lived happily ever after" like an epic ending of a Disney movie. She felt like her heart might just combust with pure delight.

"I love you so much," Harry mouthed to her when the glitter fell on top of them like snow and the crowd roared to congratulate the newlyweds.

"I love you more," she mouthed back to him, knowing he could hear those words loud and clear in the back of his mind.

.

.

.

Y/N and Harry were asked to give a speech at the wedding reception. It wasn't a problem for an extrovert like Harry, but Y/N felt like she'd spent her whole life practicing public speaking just for this day. She was terrible at it. If Harry hadn't been there to hold her hand, maybe she would've stuttered or bitten her tongue off, or even worse — burst into tears in the middle of the speech and never got to finish it at all. She thought she'd done a good job.

She'd cracked some jokes about Layla's obsession with wedding flowers and cutlery and made the wedding guests laugh. But she also saw some guests wipe off their tears when she talked about how much Layla meant to her.

"You're my best friend, my older and younger sister, my overprotective mum, and my grumpy aunt, all in one. You're one of the best things that have happened to me, and I hope you'll always be happy like this. But if there are times that you're not, I'll always be there for you."

As the crowd cheered and raised their glasses and Layla stood up to applaud her best friend, Niall turned to Harry, eyebrows furrowed. "You said like two sentences about me!"

"Technically, Y/N also said two sentences about Layla. Hers were just longer than mine," Harry argued, and Niall almost pushed him off his chair for that answer.

The wedding reception started out as a lovely and formal dinner, but afterward, it turned into a frat party with everyone being drunk and dancing like mad. Niall was carrying Layla around on his shoulders while Louis and Liam were dancing on tabletops. Gemma was taking shots with Jack and Olivia, who was there as his plus one. Ben and Nam were snogging in the corner of the room. Meanwhile, Trix had made a new friend named Alice, and the girl was so wasted she kept following Harry around and telling him how much she liked his new movie. It was a scene of madness, the good kind. But eventually, everyone settled down for a slow dance.

Harry and Y/N were sitting at their table, holding hands, when Layla and Niall came up to them and suggested that they switched partners for this song.

"Okay, but be careful! Do not spin or lift my wife up!" Harry warned his best friend, who gave him a thumb up as he led Y/N to the middle of the room and left Harry with Layla.

Turning back to the bride, Harry said, "shall we?" And Layla rolled her eyes and placed her hands on top of his.

Dancing wasn't Harry's strong suit and he knew Layla was good at it, so he kept staring at his feet to make sure he wouldn't step on hers.

"You're not performing surgery, you dumbass," she said, snickering at how he was panting.

"Shut up, I'm trying not to step on your feet!"

"God, how did Y/N fall for you?"

"I have a similar question for Niall."

The bride leered at him as she snorted and shook her head. She seemed a lot chiller than usual, probably because it was her wedding, but Harry thought it was weird to not have her insult him for everything that came out of his mouth.

"Look," Layla trailed off after clearing her throat. "Thank you for what you guys did for me."

"You mean coming to see your parents? That was Y/N's idea, I just—"

"She told me that you told Dan to choose me over his job," Layla cut him off. "It wasn't his choice in the end, but thank you for trying to change his mind."

Harry shook his head as he chuckled. "No problem. I know what it's like to have a terrible dad so..."

"Devlin loves you, he's just bad at showing it. I suppose Dan is also good at being a dad, just...just not mine."

Though Layla had said it with a tone of humor, she was never good at hiding how she was feeling inside, just like Harry. To say she had no common at all with him would be incorrect, because they were more alike than anyone could imagine. That was probably the reason they'd stayed friends for so long, not only because of Niall and Y/N.

"You'll go back to mistreating me after tonight, right?" he asked, making her laugh.

"Yeah, you're making it hard for me not to that right now," she joked as her nose stuck up. "And since everything will go back to normal tomorrow. Listen carefully because I won't repeat this."

"Okay."

"Okay, so...I know that I'm a bit mean to you sometimes—"

"Sometimes?"

"Fine! Very often." She rolled her eyes and Harry's dimples appeared as he told her to continue.

"But to me, you're like...like a...brother...a big brother, and um..." Layla stuttered like a baby just learning to talk. Every word came out with such difficulty that Harry had to press his lips together so he wouldn't laugh and have her yell at him. She tapped her fingers on his shoulders now that they had stopped swaying to the music. Eye contact suddenly became so hard for someone as confident as her.

"And...um...yeah...I-I love you."

"What did you say?"

"You're like a—"

"No, the second part." Harry looked dead serious as he turned his ear to her face and pointed at it. "I have hearing issues, you gotta speak louder—Ouch!"

Layla hit him again, harder this time as he jumped away and put his palms up. "I thought you said you loved me!"

"Tough love is still love," she told him with a massive grin. But he knew she wasn't lying. Tough love was still love, at least to Layla.

I swear to God, when I come home I'm going to hold you so close I swear to God, when I come home I'll never let go

Another song came on, and Layla returned to Niall so Y/N could dance with her husband for the first time that night.

Like a river, I flow To the ocean, I know You pull me close, guiding me home

"It's been a while since we last danced like this," she said, placing her hands on his neck as he pulled her in by the hips.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Your partner is a professional."

The smug look on his face earned him her gorgeous smile as she scrunched up her nose. "You can't beat my previous partner. Niall was really good. Layla made him take a two-week dance class for the wedding."

"Psst, who needs a dance class when you can just learn from your own experience? Now shut up and dance with me!"

The song reference cracked her up and so she pulled his face down to kiss him again and again, until they both got lost in their world and all the other people faded away.

I swear to God, I can see Four kids and no sleep We'll have one on each knee, you and me

And when they've grown up You're still the girl in the club When I held your hair up, 'cause you had too much

"What?" Harry stopped singing as he pulled back and arched an eyebrow at his wife. She lifted her head from his chest, giggling at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she whispered. "I just love to hear you sing."

"I sing to you and Ria every night though. Thought you were tired of my voice already."

"No, I love your voice." She pulled his face down so their foreheads touched. "The first time you sang to me, we were also slow dancing at a wedding, remember?"

"How could I forget? You remind me all the time." Harry chuckled and pecked her lips. "That was also the first time I'd sung to someone other than myself."

"Glad to be that someone."

"Glad that you were that someone," he said and tapped her slightly on the nose.

And I need you to know that we're fallin' so fast We're fallin' like the stars, fallin' in love And I'm not scared to say those words with you, I'm safe We're fallin' like the stars, we're fallin' in love

The music took over their conversation for what seemed like forever. Harry raked his fingers through his hair, looking at the other couples dancing around them before turning back to Y/N and said, "I'm a bit drunk and this might sound cheesy as fuck, but..." He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "I'm so thankful that of all the people on this planet, I got to fall in love with you."

"Aww. So am I, baby. So am I."

When Y/N leaned in, he cocked his head to the side, pouting and not letting her kiss him because he hadn't finished expressing his love.

"I keep thinking about all the years I've spent with you," he said. "From the day I first met you, to the night I confessed my feelings for you, to the first time we made love, to our wedding, and to this moment right now. It seems like it was yesterday that I was rambling on with Niall about this annoying girl who was about to be my flatmate, and now she's six-month pregnant with my baby." He breathed out a quiet laugh. "Maybe next year or a few years from now, when I look back at this moment tonight, we'll be expecting our second one. Maybe Jasper?"

"You just knocked me up six months ago, Harry!"

"Shhh! I'm just drawing up a plan in my head! Don't ruin it!" He covered her mouth with one hand to stop her from interrupting him. She was shaking with muffled laughter as he went on, "and maybe Asteria could be a bridesmaid at Gemma's wedding. Get it? Because Gemma would be so oldddddd."

Y/N gasped. "You're lucky she didn't hear you say that!"

"I trust you not to tell her. That's why we're married. It's all about trust." Smirking, he continued, "then one day, we'll be at our daughter's wedding or maybe our son's. And I'll still step on your feet as we dance like this and embarrass them with our terrible moves. Then many years later, at our grandchildren's weddings, I'll be dancing with you again, but I might need a stick, or maybe we'll be in our wheelchairs wheeling around to one of the songs that are too loud for us but the kids think it's cool."

"What if we're the cool grandparents who keep up with trends and actually enjoy those songs?"

"Don't expect too much from me, I hate most of the music today and I live in today."

Y/N dissolved in laughter as she pressed a kiss to his chin and circled her arms around his waist, her eyes closed and chin on his shoulder. Now she couldn't stop imagining them being eighty years old and slow dancing in their bedroom to one of the old songs playing on the radio.

"I love you," she told him for at least the twentieth time that night, "don't you ever forget that, baby. You're my whole world. "

"And you are mine." He lowered his head to kiss her neck and whispered those three words to her again and again.

Oh, I'm in love Oh, I'm in love Oh, I'm in love

[septembercfawkes]

Okay what are styles? Because now I’m confused, for at least the last decade, I’ve believed that style and voice are pretty much the same thing. To see it is more to do with grammar is... weird. Especially since after reading the Color Purple (close to a decade ago) I decided that a voice/style can be anything as long as it fits the story itself and is consistent... So yeah, would like to know more about these styles you’re talking about.

Hi @ouzoathena11​, I hope it’s okay I answer this publicly, because you brought up some points I need to clarify for others!! (And did not even think about) Okay, so “style” is a term with multiple meanings.

1. You are absolutely right in thinking it has less to do with grammar. You are talking about style as in writing style. Like Lord of the Rings is written in a different style than The Color Purple or the Lightning Thief has a different style than It. This is usually what people mean when they talk about style when talking about creative writing.

2. When I’m talking about style and punctuation and grammar, I’m talking about what are called style guides. Style guides are specific ways punctuation and formatting are handled (usually for publication). For example, for publishing fiction, most people here in the U.S. use what’s called The Chicago Manual of Style. It’s a big fat book that answers absolutely everything (common or obscure) about how to handle punctuation and grammar and formatting--according to that style guide (Chicago). Most things will be the same everywhere, because that’s just what is correct for English all across the board (like basic grammar rules). But some things will be different depending on which style guide you are using. Ellipses and citations are some examples that are different depending on style guide. Other famous style guides (U.S.) include MLA (this is what I had to use all the time in college, where we had to do crazy citations), which is used more for liberal arts papers and research, and APA, which is used for scientific papers and scholarly journals and such. And also AP, which is for newspapers and the press. According to the Chicago style guide, the ellipsis would have a space between each dot. But in the APA style guide, it has no space between each dot. Historically, AP has some unusual or different guidelines because back in the day, since it was all printed, they wanted to save on space and ink, so did things, like say, ax the --’s on names that end with s.

Nowadays, it seems like life would be easier if all writing followed all the same style guide, but historically, they evolved different ways and for different reasons.

On top of that, some publishing houses will have their own “in-house” style guide (their own personal guide they came up with). Meaning, the publishing house itself may prefer to ax --’s on names that end in s for their own reasons, or, they may handle numbers differently (when to write it out as a word vs. put in the actually number symbol). So while fiction should follow Chicago, if you get accepted by a publisher, they might publish it slightly different than Chicago because they have their own way of handling things.

These are all things that are usually minor, like ellipses, numbers, s possessives, quotation marks (AP uses them differently)--unfortunately, I would argue that this actually just makes things much more confusing and difficult for everyone to understand (and perhaps unneeded in the digital age). This is why so many people seem confused on how to handle such things, such as ellipses, --s’s, quotations marks, when to spell out a number--because what is right and what is wrong depends on which style guide you are using. In one, . . . is right while ... is wrong, and in another . . . is wrong while ... is right. In one, what’s called the oxford comma or serial comma (I ate ham, bacon, and avocado <-- the last comma is an oxford/serial comma) is considered right, when in AP, it is considered wrong (I ate ham, bacon and avacado).

So basically, this is why it’s confusing and why you see different versions of “right” and “wrong.” For anyone interested: Chicago Manual of Style: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicago_Manual_of_Style

MLA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLA_Handbook

APA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APA_style

AP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Stylebook (don’t tell my old professor I just used wiki links)