#keeping things pretty basic for the first day

[deoidesign]

Happy webcomics day!!!

I'm not home (on a trip right now with family), but I still want to talk a little bit about my process, so I did what I could to find some wip shots 🧡

Plus, I'd also like to update my extremely patient readers with a little taste of what's to come!!!

Step one, of course, is writing.

When I'm writing I have four documents open. A "dump" document, a "yes this!" Document, an outline document, and a drawing canvas!

In the dump document, I put ANYTHING. complete stream of consciousness. The 'yes this' document is where I put anything useful from the dump document, and the outline is, of course, the outline. The drawing canvas is for me to sketch out problems and ideas and get sort of a different angle on things, since I can't really visualize.

Once I have a book completely written, I start thumbnailing!

My thumbnails pretty much look like this. Text, sketchy poses, indications of expression and maybe environment...

I thumbnail the entire book at once. I don't let myself do any edits on it until it's done, but I take note of edits I'd like to make! Then, once the first draft is out, I edit.

I'll move entire scenes, delete whole episodes, bring in bits from the end to have proper foreshadowing... Etc! It's a long process that makes my arcs feel much more complete and something I can be really proud of.

I can only do this when I'm really ahead, though, so that's why I've been on a long hiatus!!! I was forced to work without my process for a few arcs, and the difference is so huge to me that I refuse to let myself do it again. It makes a loner hiatus, but work way more worth waiting for!

Next step is lineart!

Yes, I skip sketches! I go right into lines.

I save every head I've ever drawn, and that lets me copy paste in a basic head angle. Then I redo the face, fix up the hair, etc. so it fits my panel, and then I draw the rest of the body!

This seriously saves me so much time, but less so for the drawing (i still draw a ton of heads and I'm very fast) and more just for helping me skip sketching entirely!

Then I do character flats, which since all my lines are closed that goes pretty quickly (slowest part is Steve's hair, I refuse to use a brush cause every one I've made looks terrible!!!)

And then I draw the backgrounds!

Which, I keep layered, clean, and HUGE so I can use them throughout the arc.

I used to feel bad doing this, but then I realized... It's not like backgrounds "change" irl. So why make them change in my comics...? It saves me so much time, but it ALSO lets me put in more detail per background! I draw probably 3 very large backgrounds per episode like this, and then I draw maybe 5-10 unique backgrounds for single panels per episode as well. I save these too, but they're rarely re-used.

And then my panels are done!!!

So there's a bit of my process for you all!!!

Happy webcomics day 🧡🧡🧡

And here's my comic, if you haven't read it and want to see the end result of this process, or if you have read it and would enjoy a re-read with the extra knowledge:

Or, if you would prefer books I have those too!

Happy to elaborate on any step, as well!

I make comics extremely quickly and as my full time job, and my process allows me to easily manipulate my format as well. I'm happy to share any of my knowledge if you have questions!!!

[blossomthepinkbunny]

Hazbins bad character design

I feel like there is a definitive lack of varitey when it comes to the designs in HH as well as a problem of characters' designs not fitting them or what the show wants us to assume about them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again (like lots of other ppl already) but the designs in HH specifically mostly don't work. They're fine if you look at them disconnected from the show. Maybe as just random characters who don't really have to carry a show visually. But they don't work if you actually put them into context and into the background of Hazbin Hotel.

Obviously this stuff is very objective and if you do like the designs thats fine (which I shouldn't even have to say). Also I didn't study art or character design and I don't think you have to to be good at it/be able to form opinions on it and this is mostly just me compiling what I don't like while using some basic knowledge on how shapes, colours etc work.

(rant under the cut)

One problem I really have is, that as soon as you have a design there are immediate assumptions about the character. In the sense that if person A is very muscular and fights against person B, who is maybe slimmer or less buff, you would probably immediately assume that person A wins, atleast in physical combat. Whereas person B would probably be the assumed winner in a stretching or flexibility competition. Often characters are designed with these assumptions in mind. Muscle, height, weight, age, clothes etc. give way into assuming stuff about people, their condition, lifestyle or personality.

The expectations that are set up by the design choices are usually either picked to genuinely represent something about a character or to be subverted and shock/confuse the audience.

Like how a lot of fighting types in Pokémon will either be more muscular or have other details relating to certain fighting styles/sports and the fairy types are usually pinkish, fluffy and cutesy. Because these elements are something typically associated with these types and when we look at them we can pretty easily tell which type they're supposed to be.

Otherwise, Monster girl from Invincible is drawn as a twelve year old girl, so it subverts expectations when she turns into a big green monster and generally doesn't stray away from violence, because it's something you wouldn't have assumed about her from her appearance.

In Hazbin Hotel most of the time the character designs don't necessarily fit what they're supposed to be and they also don't use the other design choices as subversion (the one that would probably count here is Nifty with looking and acting very childlike usually but then also acting violent/crazy sometimes).

The first thing would probably be that characters don't look their age mostly.

Charlie and Valeria (Vaggie, but I really don't wanna keep calling her that so she gets a new name) look fine as they're supposed to be around 20. Rosie and Carmilla also look alright for what we can assume their ages are supposed to be. But Alastor is in his 30s or 40s (what it says on the fandom wiki) and he looks around 20 as well. The same thing goes for Lucifer. He looks so young that he could also count as just Charlies brother or friend rather than her dad, because he doesn't look like he could be the dad of a 20 year old. This makes the song "Hell's Greatest Dad" a bit awkward because these men are singing/competing about who is better as Charlies father but they don't look a day older than her. Husk also looks way too young for someone in his 60s-70s (again from the wiki).

The body types being all the same also doesn't help.

Mimzy and Adam are pretty much the only more relevant characters who aren't like all the others in terms of body shape. All the other relevant women in the show have a tiny waist and either big boobs/big hips or just a slimmer build in general. All the men have thin waists and then broader shoulders.

And for some characters it makes sense. Like Angel is really flexible and his more lanky body fits with being a spider. But why are Lucifer and Valentino like that? Other than the fact that Viv doesn't like drawing muscles there is really no reason for them too being build like every other skinny man there. Valentino is supposed to be intimidating not just by how he acts but physically too. He seemingly has a bit more muscle than others but his arms are still super thin and look like they could snap if I look at them wrong. I'm not trying to say that abusers all have to be buff, but simply from a design perspective the scenes with him would be a lot more effective if we saw him actually have a big physical advantage over Angel and others, even when he isn't necessarily threatening them. As soon as he comes on screen, we could see him as a much more intimidating presence, especially when all the other characters look like sticks. Or they could make it so, that he hides his muscles under his coat and when we get the reveal of him actually removing it, it's more shocking and immediately makes the situation more tense.

Lucifer could've had a more confident frame as well. He's the king of hell and the strongest being in hell, so just for the diversity I would give him some muscles too. Husk is also super skinny and for someone who only sits around and drinks alcohol all day, he should definitely have a beer belly (please I swear to god I wanna see more men with bellies, Mammon was great). Also for Valeria and Lute and pretty much all the Angels I don't get why they wouldn't be more buff either. Valeria is a fighter, she's Charlies bodyguard but she looks like all of the other women there. It's stated that Angels fight so wild because they don't know they could get hurt. And while I know that the Angels can really only get hurt by angelic weapons, having this whole reveal that they can be injured would've definitely suprised me more, if they actually looked like they couldn't be injured in the first place. But then again, Valeria looks like her arms would break as soon as a breeze hits them too hard. In some episodes her thighs look a bit more muscular, but not notably and she also doesn't fight using her legs (like Carmilla) so only her thighs being bigger sort of doesn't make sense. In general, she or Lute don't show any difference to the women who aren't physical fighters. And obviously just to have a more interesting show to look at, including different body types would do a great job at making these characters stand apart from eachother more.

While we're on the topic of diversity, another obvious thing that makes the characters redundant and borig (sometimes ugly too) is the reused colour pallette. Colour coding is probably one of the easiest things when talking about character designs and it's something atleast Helluva Boss understands.

What effect warm/cold tones have or what feelings we associate with different colours is a great way to bring stuff about characters across without being too on the nose. Obviously colour can also be used to either connect characters or to make them very distinct. Shape language also plays into that of course. In Inside Out the emotions are mostly characterized by their respective colour and by their distinct shapes.

Joy = yellow (bright colour often associated with the sun/light)

Sadness = blue (cold colour often associated with tears/rain)

Anger = red (very strong colour with aggressive association with fire or when someone turns red because of anger)

Fear = purple (light colour here, mix between red and blue as fear often falls into a more angry or sad feeling)

Disgust = green (colour of most dirt or puke or other stuff people usually see as gross)

Or in a show like Bluey, where different patterns, shapes and colours show the breed of the dog and also how characters might be related to eachother (same breed/mix of breed = usually related).

Or how colours can be used as lighting effects to create cool shots when the colour pallette changes all of a sudden. In JJBA these changes happen often when someone is in distress or unsure of themselves. Also in tense moments to make them seem more exciting and interesting.

Hazbin Hotel has very limited range when it comes to the colours of the main cast. All of them feature some form of red and that usually in combination with black or white (if they aren't just purely red like Alastor or Rosie). This makes them not stand out from eachother and creates very similar colour pallettes which get boring once you've seen them repeated over and over again. It also makes the visual connection between characters who are actually related (like Charlie and Lucifer) a lot less strong because so many characters share similarities already.

Also they just hurt to look at sometimes because the background is mostly red as well and with a lot of them being very overly detailed. People have also spoken before about the show being pretty inaccessible for colour blind/vision impared people due to these issues with the colour.

And now you might say that it's hell and therefore it makes sense for all of them and the background to be red. But firstly, I don't think that there is a definitive source which decides that hell is red and can only be shown/interpreted as red. And also there is another show, also set in hell which actually does a much better job at that and actually shows different colours in hell. Like in Helluva Boss the rings are all colour coded.

And I know, that HH plays in the pride ring fully, but imagine how cool it would've been to see sinners have colours similar to the sin(s) they committed. This could lead to them looking distinct from eachother and the background and would also lead to us being able to assume stuff about them, if we're familiar with the colour coding. In "Hell's Greatest Dad" they do a fun colour change with different light and it's really refreshing and I just wanted to see more variety like that (of course I kinda get that the colour changing isn't really part of the shows design but it was pretty cool to see in that song).

There also is the issue with characters that are supposed to be animal-like sinners not looking like the animal they apparently take inspiration from. The thing is that the animal/object parts don't necessarily have to be visible to understand a character. But in the show, how sinners look in hell is often influenced by their life on earth. Vox's head being a TV is because he was a Tv-show host when he was alive. Nifty also is supposedly a bug, which makes sense because she hates bugs and probably hated them in real life too. But that is where it would be great to actually have Nifty resemble a bug, instead she has no features of one and just looks like a regular humanoid sinner. The same thing happens with Alastor being a deer, Valeria a moth, Charlie goat-like and Angel a spider (also Mimzy is apparently based off of a chicken). Like I said, the animal inspiration isn't essential to the characters, but emphasizing these design elements could help the characters stand out instead of them all just looking like sort of human characters. Sir pentious and Husk work the best in terms of presenting their animal inspiration (though pretty much everything else about Husks design sucks ass).

And then there are complaints about the characters that are supposed to be people of colour not having any features that resemble their race. It's just a bit weird when a mostly humanoid sinner doesn't really seem to resemble how the person looked in real life. Black characters have really desaturated and sometimes just straight up grey skin in HH. Alastor is probably the most egregious in that regard, but also Emily has just light blueish gray skin and no textured hair or other black features like the nose or lips or palms. Velvette and Sera have darker skin but also no other features (except for when we see Velvette's natural hair texture in like one shot at the end of the season). I know there are other things wrong with how Voodoo is presented in HH or with Mimzy's design often being seen as a jewish caricature, but I don't wanna focus on that fully, because I feel like there are people better suited for talking about that (black people or jewish people ofc).

In general HH is a show with pretty bad designs (imo). That's actually a thing I prefer about Helluva Boss, because there the designs are mostly okay or actually sometimes pretty good. Striker is probably my favourite design in both shows (he reminds me of Dillon and that's cool).

I like Mammon, Asmodeus, Octavia and Loona as well. I would still probably change a bunch if I were to redesing the HB cast but they overall look more solid than the HH cast.

This was another post which pretty quickly became an excuse to talk about other media I enjoy. I might do that more often, because comparing elements of HH or HB to other stuff makes it kinda easier to articulate my feelings. Also just because I enjoy talking about other stuff too.

[nunalastor]

A million plus one years ago I sent an ask about a mistaken DFF scenario. Basically, after Charlie finally gets Alastor to sleep by drugging him, his sleep deprived ass falls into a coma and she panics and instructs everyone in the hotel to hide the fact that Alastor's in a coma so that none of his enemies will try to take advantage of his vulnerable state before she can figure out how to fix things. But the secret-keeping causes Rosie and some others who care about Alastor to grow suspicious and they eventually come to the conclusion that Charlie and her people are keeping Alastor prisoner and mount a rescue.

I'd like to expand on that.

At first when Alastor falls into his deep sleep, Charlie is relieved. Finally! No more talk of ceiling children! Sure, Alastor will probably be pretty annoyed with her when he wakes up but one he realizes how much better he feels after a full night's rest he'll forgive her, surely. The next morning Alastor doesn't wake up but that's fine. He's gone years and years without sleeping, he's allowed to sleep in now. It's not like people are lining up to attack the hotel with Lucifer Morningstar living there anyway. She later checks up on Alastor in the afternoon to find him still asleep and, well, maybe it's a bit worrisome, but she can leave him a bit longer, right? He looks so comfortable curled up on his bed - rather, the bed she asked Lucifer to conjure up for him since Alastor didn't even HAVE a bed in his room - she thinks he's probably fine.

A full twenty-four hours has passed and Alastor's still not awake. Charlie begins to worry. She shakes his shoulder. Gently at first, then harder, and then she's calling his name louder and louder and then suddenly Vaggie's there asking what's wrong because Charlie didn't realize that she was shouting so loud that the others in the hotel could hear, or that she's begun crying.

Vaggie calls everyone up into the room and Charlie explains; she was worried about Alastor hallucinating from the lack of sleep so she slipped him a sleeping pill and now he won't wake up and she doesn't know what to do. Niffty tries, shaking Alastor violently while screaming in his face before Husk pulls her off. Angel Dust asks if he's still alive which Vaggie confirms.

"He's not dead, just dead asleep."

So the question is, what do they do? If they can't wake him up is there some kind of doctor or someone they can take him to? Husk offers a surprising amount of insight, describing sleep deprivation as a form of torture he's personally witnessed, maybe even experienced, and that Alastor may need a lot more than just one day's sleep to recover if that's really what he's been doing to himself.

"Truth is, I didn't even know the bastard did sleep. I'm willing to bet he's been keeping this bullshit up near as long as he's been in Hell."

Charlie's heart breaks hearing that. Torture. Alastor's been torturing himself practically since he got to Hell because... why? She can't wrap her head around it. And if he's really been doing this for decades, how many years of sleep will it take for him to wake up?

Lucifer pulls Charlie into a hug, reassuring her that this isn't her fault. They'll make sure nothing happens to the tacky piece of shit while he's sleeping. Then he cracks a joke about Alastor being more tolerable asleep, which doesn't get many laughs.

Months pass. Everyone's collectively agreed to hide the fact that Alastor's comatose. As a former overlord, Husk makes it clear that there are plenty of sinners who would jump at the chance to take out Alastor while he's in no shape to defend himself. So they don't tell anyone, not even Alastor's known friends. Just because Alastor calls them friends doesn't mean they won't take advantage of a moment of weakness, Husk cautions.

Even Husk finds himself tempted. When it's his turn to watch over Alastor's comatose body, his eyes find the other demon's throat. He pulls out his angelic steel-lined playing cards, holds them to Alastor's skin, imagines the feel of his collar falling from his own throat as he splits open that scrawny, defenseless neck...

Ultimately, Husk doesn't go through with it. He's too attached to Angel Dust and the hotel to jeopardize his place there. Besides, as evil and fucked up as Alastor is, he wouldn't go after a sleeping target. Husk can at the very least return the favor. But he does say that he probably shouldn't be left alone with Alastor in the future.

Over time though, other overlords begin to take notice of Alastor's absence in public. Vox goes on live television to mock Alastor's defeat at Adam's hands while broadcasting the video and accusing Alastor of hiding away out of cowardice. Zestial's eyes linger on Alastor's empty seat in the meeting room. Rosie sends invitation after invitation for Alastor to join her for coffee to catch up, only to receive apologetic notes back that are distinctly not in Alastor's handwriting.

After nearly a year Rosie becomes convinced that something unscrupulous is happening at the hotel. So, without giving Charlie or her little gang any forewarning of her arrival, she drops in before they can have a chance to try to hide anything from her. And they are mot definitely trying to hide something from her. Unlike her father, Charlie is not a good liar, nor is her exorcist girlfriend. When Rosie asks where Alastor is they sputter and make excuses before Lucifer cuts in and takes over the conversation. He's much more eloquent than the girls are and easily redirects the conversation, but Rosie can clearly see that he's diverting her attention away from Alastor. She doesn't call him out, however, because what's she going to do? Fight the King of Hell? No, she lets Lucifer take up her time, thanks him for a lovely visit, and leaves when he directs her to. But after walking out the doors she's absolutely certain of one thing; the Morningstars have done something to Alastor. And more than likely, they're keeping him trapped in that very hotel, away from prying eyes.

She goes to Zestial to request his help in liberating her friend.

👀

[gutterfuuck]

i’ve been fiendingggg for some more perv incel mark with a perv reader hehehe 🙈🙈🙈

-🎀

idea was copied over from one of my drafts!! it just fit the ask so well!! also hello bowtiful anon! i hope you are very well!!

cw: mdni, mutual masturbation(?), i wasn’t sure how to tag this, the ask is basically the premise haha, this one is quite short again, so sorry!! i am a dark blog so bare in mind before reading or clicking on other works!!

you’d be home soon, he knew it. that’s why he’s been jerking off on your bed since he got the text telling him to set the movie up before you got back. mark hasn’t even put the disc in the dvd player, he was too busy taking in your scent and rubbing his cock on your pillows…

he’d felt something hard under the blankets as he shifted his knees, curiosity getting the better of him, pulling back the sheet and grabbing hold of the object. ah. a vibrator, a wand… he couldn’t believe you were one of those girls; sitting up at night and grinding your clit into the vibrating head of the pretty pink wand, trying to keep your moans silent. mark groaned as he imagined how you’d moan out his name, his thumb looking for the on switch, watching as it started shaking to life.

fuck, you’d had this on your cunt. he bought it up to his mouth, tongue lolling out to lick it, thankful that you’d forgotten about it under the covers so he could still taste you on the toy. it didn’t take long for him to inch it closer and closer to his dick, hips jumping away at the sensation… gosh, he was so sensitive. mark couldn’t hold the vibrator on his cockhead for longer than a second before he felt like his body was going to burn, warm tears brimming in the corner of his eyes as he tried harder and harder to keep it in one place.

because of the combination of the semi-loud vrrrrrrrr-ing of your vibrator and being lost in his own thought, mark hadn’t heard your bedroom door creak open as you took in the sight in front of you. “uh-hhn-“ mark sighed, eyes closed tightly as he focused on how your vibrator was about to bring him to an orgasm. so, so lost in his own pleasure, he hadn’t even seen you enter nor keep your eyes on his shaking body, desperate pink tip leaking pre onto your vibrator. “c-cum..min’- ah— y/n—“ he cries, stomach tightening before you make your presence known.

“yes?” you answer, making mark turn his head to face you, embarrassment taking him over before a wave of pleasure swept him off of his feet, too drunk on the pleasure to realise the gravity of the situation. “s’sorry—‘m sorr- oh, fh-fuuuuckk-..!” he babbled as he shot his load all over your bed, dirtying your pillows and blankets. mark let go of the vibrator limply, tilting his head up to look at you with a guilty plea in his eyes. you’d caught him a few times doing things like this, this was just how friends would hang out sometimes. not a big deal. maybe mark wanted to hang around you all day and sleep in your bed and snoop through your things so he can cum all over your newly washed sheets, some friends are closer than others.

“l-let me— ah, explain,” mark stuttered, thighs twitching as he looked at the mess he’d just made. god, he was so dirty. couldn’t believe he’d done this to you, once again. he couldn’t help it! it was like a drug, he just couldn’t help but keep coming back to you!! you shake your head, smiling at him as if you hadn’t just watched him cum all over himself and your stuff and sounding like a fucking pornstar. “d’you want me to show you how girls cum, mark?” you ask innocently, smile widening as you watched his stare at you blankly through thick framed glasses, familiar glistening crimson trickling down from his nostrils as his cock twitched back to life. god you were killing him. you always pulled some shit like this, he wondered why you didn’t just date him already!! he couldn’t make the first move, he was too shy!! he’d think about that on a different day, opening his mouth to breathe out a quiet, “fuck yes, please.”

before you know it, mark’s tip is pressed against your clit, the warmth from your pussy making it hard for mark to keep his composure, he wanted it in, it wasn’t fair! you slide your vibratior between both of your crotches, looking up at mark for a second, taking off his stupid little glasses so they wouldn’t fall off and inevitably hit you in the face while you were under him. when you’d placed them on your desk gently, you flicked the switch of your vibrator, tummy concaving a little at the feel of the vibration on your sensitive bud.

mark looked gorgeous, his lip pulled between his teeth harshly, eyes half lidded with cheeks glowing red, trying to stop himself from collapsing on top of you. so, so, so sensitive. typical mark. you tutted, pressing the switch further as you mewled with the sudden increased speed, watching as mark’s mouth hung open on a guttural moan, pulling his hips away as he panted with short breaths, resting his head next to yours, “t’much, please, it’s too m-much..-“ he whimpered, avoiding the vibrator every time you tried to press it on his dick. you pouted, looking up at him with big doe eyes, “one more, for me? c’mon, then we can watch the movie, i haven’t even cum yet..!” you teased, scanning his face as you felt pre drip onto your tummy.

“fine..” he says eventually, avoiding your gaze, pressing his hips into yours so he can grind against the vibrating sensations between you both, trying to stop himself from letting tears roll down his cheeks as he worked himself into overstimulation, just for you.

[babymochibeargyu]

Look At Gyu

POV:Gyu is ur bestfriend’s, Soobin, younger brother who you’ve never taken a notice of until you guys went to the waterpark

wc:~2.47k

You were the new kid that just moved in. Luckily you transferred over when the new term started because if you joined halfway, you probably would have a lot of things to catch up on. Nevertheless, it took you some time to adjust as you just moved from the States and Korean wasn't your first language even though you were half Korean. Thankfully your mom had taught you some basic Korean as you were growing up so you weren't that clueless when your classmates tried talking to you. 

You ended up becoming friends with Choi Soobin, who was the class president. He seemed friendly and didn't feel like he had any ill intentions of becoming your friend. 

On the first day of school, you guys realized that you were both neighbors. Your family had just moved into the house beside theirs and you were so happy because you felt that school got easier with a friend by your side. 

One day Soobin invited you over to his house to have lunch and study together. Which your mom allowed since you guys were neighbors. 

After you rang the doorbell, a small figure opened the door. It wasn't Soobin. You thought it was the wrong house at first but then you saw Soobin behind him. 

"Hi Y/N. This is my brother Beomgyu."Soobin introduced.

"Hi Beomgyu," you said to him. 

But Gyu just stood there in silence and then ran back to his room.

"Don't mind him, he's usually really shy around people that he doesn't know. Come on in." 

What you didn't know was that Gyu was too stunned to speak. Yes, he was shy around people he didn't know but he thought you were the prettiest person he had ever seen, and that was why he ran back to his room. He never found anyone pretty until he saw you. This was when he was 9 and you were 10. 

You would think that things would change once you were in different schools with Soobin, but nothing changed for 11 years. You guys would still hang out together at his house or your house, depending on whether you guys wanted to do work or play games together. 

Also when you and Soobin are hanging out, Beomgyu would ask you whether he could hang out with you guys too. Over the years, Soobin would usually say no to letting Beomgyu hang out with you guys because he wanted to hang out with his best friend without his brother. But you couldn't say no to Beomgyu, he would always look sad when Soobin said no, so of course you had to say yes. 

So now when Beomgyu asks you, Soobin can’t be bothered in denying him to hang out with you guys, because you always had the final say anyway. Still, Soobin was getting suspicious of Beomgyu. While Soobin always hung out with you, he has never seen Gyu bring a friend back to the house, much less date a girl. If his suspicion was right, he would say that Beomgyu likes you. Because there's no reason for the Choi brothers to look this good and not get any ladies. 

He wanted to ask Beomgyu about this but decided on keeping his mouth shut first since you were over. 

You didn't find anything wrong with Beomgyu hanging out with you guys. Usually, when you were over, you would be playing video games with Soobin. And not gonna lie even though Soobin loves playing video games he wasn't the best, Beomgyu was better but you kept that to yourself. You felt that you had much more fun when Beomgyu was playing with you guys. Because whenever the brothers bicker, Beomgyu would always go to you for protection. There was one incident when y’all were younger, Soobin and Gyu had bickered over a game. Beomgyu then said "See Soobinnie Hyung is bullying me, why are you still friends with him? Be my friend instead." 

"Yah why are you trying to steal my best friend? Go and find your own."Soobin responded.

"Don't wanna," Gyu said.

You just laughed at how childish they both seemed. Fighting over you was something you hadn't experienced before. 

You don't know when it started, but you realize that you would often catch Gyu stealing glances in your direction. When you felt that there was a pair of eyes staring at you, you would look up at him. But by the time you did, he would've pretended that he wasn't looking at you. 

It started to get hot these days, so Soobin suggested going to a waterpark to cool yourselves down. Of course, Beomgyu overheard that conversation and decided to join you guys which Soobin gave up in stopping him. 

So here you guys are at the waterpark. You were so happy because it was much needed. It felt like you were on the verge of crying every day due to how hot it was. You changed into a T-shirt and some shorts because you didn't have any swimming clothes and luckily the water park wasn't that strict about the attire. Soobin and Beomgyu were also wearing some t-shirts and shorts because they were too shy to show their upper half. 

When all of you were done changing, y'all began your time at the waterpark. Y'all decided to sit on the ride where it went one full circle while sitting on floats, and y'all will be just pushed by the current without lifting a finger. It felt so good. The cooling water on your skin on this hot day. Nothing could get better than this. 

Afterward, y'all went for a ride where you guys had to sit in a circle float(was big enough to fit all 3 of you)and hold onto some grips, and the float would go down the slide. Y'all were holding on for dear life because if you let go, you were a goner. It was pretty fun you thought and wanted to go again but the guys seemed like they wanted to go for another ride, plus the queue for the ride you just sat was long. So you just gave up going for the float ride and went along with what the guys wanted to do.

The ride that Soobin and Gyu wanted to go for also involved a float. But this time we would have to position ourselves with the float and wait for the big current to push us behind. 

So y'all did just that. You guys were waiting for the big current to happen when suddenly you saw that the people nearest to where the current was happening started gaining movement. So you prepared yourself for the worst-case scenario. You could say when it happened, you were washed away. You were fully wet now, from head to toe because when the current came the wave was so big that it covered you. 

When that was over, Soobin told you guys that he needed to go to the washroom. So you and Gyu decided to wait in the shallow water, where children were running around. 

"Are you having fun Gyu?" you asked as you didn't want to be sitting in silence while waiting for Soobin to come back. 

"Yes noona, I'm having a lot of fun today. Maybe because I'm here with you, I feel happier today." 

Noona? When you heard him call you that, not gonna lie, your heart fluttered a bit. Usually, when Soobin is around, Gyu would just call you by your name since you weren't that particular about the honorifics. You were spaced out after that happened. 

When you came back to your senses, you saw that Gyu was just staring at you(the video clip above). It was most probably because you didn't respond after what he said. When you saw that look on his face, you thought to yourself, when did he grow up? You had spent almost your whole life with him, but you didn't notice that he grew up into a fine man, until today.

With his hair being wet, and slick down and him just staring into your eyes, if strangers didn't know, they would think that he was in love with you or something.

As you were about to respond, you saw that Gyu was looking somewhere else now. So you turned in the direction he was looking at and realized that Soobin had come back. 

Without any words, Gyu eye contacted you with pleading eyes to not say anything about what he had said to you while Soobin was gone. You nodded and then he went on to pretend that nothing happened when Soobin reached both of you. 

"Let's go, guys! I'm feeling hungry" Soobin said. 

So you stood up from where you were sitting in the water. And as you were standing up, you felt that Beomgyu was staring again. Then you looked down and realized that after standing up, your t-shirt was hugging your body, showing off your figure. 

While Soobin realized that Gyu was staring too long, he splashed water at his brother. 

"Yah stop staring at Y/N let's go now." Soobin went and grabbed Beomgyu out of the water walking in front of you. Sometimes you think that Soobin was your brother instead of Gyu being his brother. From the way that Soobin was so protective over you, it felt like you had an older brother. 

After the waterpark outing, you didn't know this as Soobin did not tell you, but Gyu began asking him when was the next time you were coming over. Something he had never done for the past years. 

Soobin couldn't take it anymore so he popped the big question. 

"You like Y/N right?"

Gyu was stunned. He was thinking how did his brother find out? Did you tell Soobin about the conversation you both had when he was in the washroom? No, you weren't like that, you said you wouldn't tell. So how did Soobin find out? 

Gyu wanted to deny it but before he could even say anything, 

"Don't even try to deny it. I know you like her from the way you've been acting. How can you, my brother not have any girlfriend yet when you look like this?" Soobin said pointing at his brother. 

"And when Y/N is over at our house, you always stick to her when I've never seen you interact with any girls in my life."

"Alright fine, yes. I like Y/N. I've liked her since the first time she came over to our house. That was why I ran away. She was too pretty I couldn't handle my emotions. I never felt that way before and I didn't know whether I could confide in you because we always fought and Y/N is your best friend. So I was afraid that you would've said something if I told you anything."Gyu replied. 

Needless to say, Soobin wasn't shocked when Gyu admitted that he liked you but was surprised to find out that Gyu had liked you from the start. 

"Of course, I wouldn't say anything to Y/N if you didn't want me to Gyu. You're my brother after all. So let me help you."Soobin said. 

"Help me out how?"Gyu asked. 

"You'll see." Soobin said with a cheeky smile. 

After what seemed like a confession from Gyu liking you, you started to think about him. Did he like you and mean everything he said? 

So here you were, over at their house again wanting to know the truth. 

What you didn't know was that Soobin was going to leave you two alone and come up with an excuse so that Gyu could spend alone time with you. 

You thought that you were coming over to do work with Soobin and play games after. But Soobin said something came up and that he had to leave for a while. Hence leaving you and Gyu together in Gyu's room. 

As you were doing your work, you saw that Gyu was just sitting there looking at you. You were getting kinda shy because you didn't know how long he had been staring at you like this. 

"Is there something on my face Gyu?"

"Hmm.. maybe beauty?" after he said that, he hid his face in embarrassment(the pic above). 

He wasn't the only one that wanted to hide their face. After you heard his response, you realized he had a crush on you. You were quite shocked by that reply as you didn't expect that. 

"Hey Gyu, could I ask you something? Do you like me?" you just went straight for it. You don't know what took over you but your curiosity was killing you.

When he heard you ask that, he just put his fingers at his lips and looked at you(like the pic above) thinking whether he should just answer truthfully. 

Honestly, he looked hot when he did that. Wait what were you saying? Choi Soobin your best friend's brother Choi Beomgyu? Hot? Oh, what is going on with you right now? 

"Noona, what would you say if I do like you," Gyu said as he leaned onto the table where you were doing your work, with his face in his hand(he was trying to act cool)(the pic beside his fingers on his lips).

Your head was spinning, his face was too close right now. You couldn't think. What did you want him to say? That he likes you? Was that okay? He was a year younger than you and your best friend's brother. 

As you wanted to respond, Gyu stood up and ran to his big teddy bear that he had in the corner of his room for emotional support(in case he got rejected). 

Oh, what were you gonna do with him? He was too cute for you to even reject him. You stood up from your spot, walked up to where he was, and squatted right in front of him so your face was directly at him if he were to look up at you. 

"Gyu look at me" When he didn't, you just took his hands in yours, and that immediately made him look up to you(the bottom left pic). Please why was he so cute when he was pouting, you wanted to see him like this more. He had your heart already. 

"Well Gyu, I would say I like you too but what would Soobin say if he found out?" that was the part you were worried about. 

"Oh, Soobin? He already knows. Didn't you think it was weird that he suddenly said that he had to leave for something when he was the one who invited you over?"Gyu said. 

"Ah, now it makes sense. I was wondering why he suddenly made that terrible lie." 

"So noona... are we dating now" Gyu asked while acting cute, squishing his cheeks together, while looking into your eyes. 

"Yes Gyu, I guess today is our first day."

Ahh I'm Gyu right now with his hands hiding his face. This was too cute to write. I'm actually cooing cause I can actually imagine him acting this way T-T. Anyways hoped yall like this one too hehe. Give it a like if yall enjoyed it! See yall in the next one🥹🫶🏻

taglist- @moagyuu @heyanonymous123

[lowkeyremi]

𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 !

pairing: k. bokuto x lene (fem!reader) note: this is a writing commission (trade) for my beautiful mootie lene!! (@satorisoup) I really hope you enjoy it lovely girl ! (anyone can read but the reader has an assigned name and gender + hair color) summary: you and bokuto have been talking to each other a lot at school, one day after he wins his game he asks if he can kiss you ! content: high school au, getting together, kisses, fluff (lmk if I missed anything!!) wc: 1.4k

At this point you aren't surprised to find a little note card wedged in your locker anymore. It's become muscle memory to see little, white cards with the scrawled hand-writing on it. Without much though you pick up the card and quickly scan over it.

Will you make it to tonight's game? I have a surprise if we win..

-KB :)

Bokuto's notes are usually very detailed, with ink splatters and scratched out words because of how excited he is to have you read them, so it's quite unusual for him to send such a neat note with no excitable writing. And what does he mean by a surprise? Well, you're bound to find out if he wins- no- when he wins his game.

"Hurry up, Lene! First period is starting soon," A good friend, Maya is waiting for you by the entrance to the building of Fukurodani. That cheeky girl has been entertaining the thought of you and Bokuto dating for some time. Ever since she saw him ask you out to homecoming (as a friend his words not yours) she has been teasing you about your crush on him.

"I'm coming! Let me change into my inside shoes!" You quickly slip out of your own shoes and put on the ones the school provides for wearing inside of school. It helps with the school's cleanliness.

You and Maya make a quick trip to your locker so you can get all of your textbooks and notebooks. "Sooooo, what did today's note say?" She's also very nosy, but how could she help it when she believes that she is the sole reason you and Bokuto are talking to each other? Maya believes that she's some kind of matchmaker.

"It said mind your business!" She leans in closer thinking you were going to actually tell her just to sigh and roll her eyes when you don't.

"Come onnnn I tell you all kinds of things." You've already decided once you've read it you would tell her, but what's the fun of saying it out right? Some teasing can occur.

"Fine fine, he asked if I would come to his game tonight." The nosy girl gasps in surprise, excitement laced in her next sentence, "Well, are you?!"

Her voice carries when she gets excited. A few looks are thrown your way, she quickly apologized before turning back to you for an answer.

"I don't know... i'm kinda busy tonight." You aren't busy at all, so you're pretty sure you'll go, but once again, it's quiet fun to tease her.

"Lene, you have to!! That's basically him asking you out on a date!" Her antics make you laugh a little bit, "That's a little extreme dont'cha think?"

"Nope! Not at all. Considering he didn't invite any of us, only you. Every time he has a game he'll ask all of us, but this is the first I'm hearing of a volleyball game." She's right, it's unusual for Bokuto to only ask you to go to one of his games.

Maybe there is a deeper meaning to his note? You're sure hoping so, because you've liked him since the your first year of high school.

"Okay, I'll go." A little smile blooms onto your face when you see your friend smile.

"Keep me updated!!!" Maya says whilst dragging you down the hall. Of course you will, because even if you don't, she'll figure out a way to get a status update.

It's around 5:45 pm when you reach the gym for his game. It started fifteen minutes ago but you had some homework that was calling your name. Once all of it was completed you had hurried to make it to the gym without missing too much of the beginning.

As of now Fukurodani is in the lead with seven points, but don't let that fool you Nekoma is right on their tail. Also, it's only the first set, this could be anyone's game.

The whole time you're on the edge of your seat, because of how exhilarating the game is. Both teams are extraordinary, Nekoma's been holding the lead but Fukurodani is able to keep up with them.

It's the last set each team has one point, so whoever wins this set will win overall. It's Bokuto's turn to serve, and before he makes his serve he looks around the crowd until his eyes lock on you.

Your cheeks immediately flush and you mouth, "You got this!"

The ace's grin almost doubles and covers his whole face. Hopefully your encouragement will help him make these serves.

The whistle blows almost immediately flipping a switch in Bokuto's head. He bounces the ball three times before tossing it up to hit it over the net.

Yaku, the ever relentless libero of Nekoma, receives Bokuto's serve. Bokuto does frown at this, Akaashi had to remind him that Yaku barely made the receive.

The final whistle blows and all of Fukurodani's supporters and cheerleaders start to scream out in joy. All the boys on the court are sweaty and somewhat tired, but they still have energy to shake hands and yell out, "Good game."

Kuroo daps up Bokuto, they give each other a pat on the back and Kuroo whispers something into Bokuto's ear that causes his cheeks to flush. The captain of Nekoma has a sly smirk on his face.

What could Kuroo have told him that has him embarrassed like this?

Everyone starts to leave the gymnasium, you stay seated though, Bokuto's note replaying in your mind.

After a few minutes the man in question appears in front of the bleachers.

"Lene! You made it!! Did you see me? Did you see us?! We won!!!" Excitement bounces off of his voice. He's so adorable that you can't help giggling.

"I did, you did amazing, Kou-kun." You two have been on first name basis for some time now.

He smiles brightly at your praise. With haste you make it down from the bleachers to meet him down on the court. His golden eyes stare into yours and you aren't really sure what to do at this point.

"Heh, I'm guessing you got my note, huh?" You nod briefly, clasping your hands together behind your back.

"Lene- I-" He pauses, frustration takes over his face. You give him time though, he needs to process his words.

"Lene! I really really like you! Like not as a friend- wait! I mean I like you as a friend but I would really like you as my-"

He suddenly stops ranting and avoids your eyes. Maybe Maya was right about why he wanted to see you. You take in a slow breath before finishing his cut off sentence.

"Girlfriend?" He smiles nervously while nodding furiously.

"Yeah, I really do like you a lot. The way you smile or laugh, your voice, your kindness, even when you scold me for something, I find myself being in awe." Your eyes soften at his confession.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend, Koutaro." Those funny eyebrows of his raise up to his forehead in shock and excitement.

"Really? Gosh I must be the luckiest guy on earth!!!" Without thinking he embraces you in a hug. It's warm and inviting, and even though he does smell of sweat, it smells awfully a lot like home to you.

The athlete keeps you in his embrace for a few minutes. He suddenly breaks the silence, "Hey, can I give you a kiss? Or is it too soon?"

You want him to kiss you, so you shake your head furiously fast. "It's not too soon. I'd be happy to kiss you Kou."

He loosens his grip on you to connect his lips with yours. It's awkward and unfamiliar at first, but after the first few pecks it feels right, like his lips were made for yours.

He pulls away first in a pout, "Gosh I don't know what I'm gonna do when I become a professional athlete and I have to leave for away games. I don't think I'll survive without your lips." He's not even joking either, the way he pouts is absolutely adorable.

"I think you'll live, I'll give you plenty of kisses before you leave and plenty when you return." Butterflies swarm your tummy when you realize that he's thinking of his future with you.

©𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐊𝐄𝐘𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈 All works are written by me! Please do not copy, translate, or upload onto other sites thanks!

[friend-crow]

The Ace of Cups from The Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans

Weirdly enough when I went to go fish this card out of my deck for today's challenge it was already on top. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The aces represent new beginnings, while the cups suit deals with emotions and relationships. As such, the appearance of this card can indicate an opportunity for new relationships (not necessarily romantic ones) and positive feelings.

New beginnings often come out of endings, and the ace of cups can also represent letting go of emotions or relationships which are negatively impacting us, so that we can move on.

In general it tends to be a sign of good things to come, and a message to be receptive to new possibilities.

[dutybcrne]

Huffman was definitely the first person Kae'd ever slept with, and had to spend a great deal of time talking Huffman out of proposing bc the man wanted to 'take responsibility', send tweet-

[thethingything]

so we use these little packs of disposable travel toothbrushes that we can keep next to our bed and don't have to rinse after using them or anything because between executive dysfunction, sensory issues, and fatigue, this is basically the only way we can keep up with brushing our teeth regularly.

anyway, I realised we'd almost ran out and went to buy more and they suddenly aren't available anywhere. we'd get a pack of 24 for relatively cheap and now all I can seem to find are packs of 1 or 2 "travel toothbrushes" that are basically just normal toothbrushes for the same price as a pack of the ones we normally get. the brand that made them has nothing about them on its website besides a pack of 2 toothbrushes listed under the same name that aren't the same product.

so anyway now I need to figure out an alternative for the sake of actually being able to manage our dental hygiene because the one thing that was letting us do that somewhat adequately isn't available anymore

[stargazeraldroth]

Current craving: Ink as a self-aware yandere who becomes fascinated with us.

Platonic, romantic, I don't particularly care which one it is but I need it so desperately. I need it, and yet I can't bring myself to write it. Not because it makes me uncomfortable, but because I am experiencing detrimental writer's block as my mind is being overrun by Kieran from Scarlet/Violet, just the Forces of Nature from Pokémon in general (Tornadus my most beloved of the quartet), and Olivia Rodrigo's "Vampire" playing on loop 24/7

Maybe this is some Y/N type stuff, but being cringe is dead and life is hell, so let's enjoy whatever we can get our hands on

[sysig]

Many months of paper review (Patreon)

[seekingthestars]

happy wednesday, going bss is the best thing and also i've been so tired this week i don't wanna do anything also i have a ton of projects at work and i'm just sorta. existing. vaguely.

[alphalesbian]

.

[teaboot]

This is gonna sound rather conceited but I feel like it highlights an issue we have in Art.

I'm good at art. I've never had a hard time making art. I started using crayons before I could walk. Painting, Beadwork, sculpture, sketching, stippling, whatever- once I have a feel for the material, it doesn't take long to start doing what I want with it. It's been a common theme my whole life.

(Y contrast I'm awful at things like dancing, performance, sports, etc- in all things there is balance, right?)

Now, I've taught myself to use so many artistic mediums now that I KNOW how to most efficiently integrate them into the brain database. Once you really *understand* a material, it's much like memorizing the layout of your house, or flexing a muscle, or something in-between- it becomes PART of your brain in a way I cant quite articulate. But to get there involves just fucking around for a bit doing nothing in particular.

And I've found, especially in group settings, that nobody seems to be able to see you make something badly and leave you alone. Even if you say you're fine, you don't want help, you're happy, you're having fun, it's fine, they gotta ride your ass and hover.

I was at a class the other day for something I hadn't done before. The medium was one I've never used, so once the instructor told us the basics I started experimenting with weight, gravity, texture, viscosity, saturation, temperature, etc. The instructor had given enough info to know what was dangerous and what was safe, and beyond that I just wanted to absorb what I could about it.

And no insult to the instructor, but they kept checking in. Which was fine the first few times.

But then, without asking me what I was trying to do, started giving tips. That I told them I was grateful for but didn't really need just yet. If I had a question, I'd ask.

But they kept coming over. And touching my shit. And manipulating my project. And touching my hands. And using my tools. Without fucking asking.

And this happens every time. EVERY TIME. And by now I know the best way to get them to fuck off is to make something way beyond their expectations so they know I'm capable, then go back to doing what I want.

So I did. I wanted to keep having fun and learning, but instead I made something beautiful that I really didn't want to make, and wasted my time, and really didn't learn what I wanted to learn at all. I knew the formula to create a beautiful thing, so I followed that formula the same way I have a hundred times before, and didn't get to try anything spontaneous or ugly or exciting, just so I could be left alone.

And I know when I was a kid, I was aware aware people saw me puttering alone on something ugly assumed I had a special issue and treated me like I was stupid because of that. (I was neurodivergent.) And at at time I knew that I could do a neat trick for them like a trained pony and they'd go, "Oh, surely they aren't defective if they can do something like that!" And piss off.

But what if I hadn't known how to do that?

What if I hadn't been talented, or "special"?

What if I'd been just any other average kid trying to learn, and I couldn't pop something pretty out of my ass to get them off my back?

My problem my whole life has been that I haven't been allowed to make anything ugly in peace. I'm capable of beauty, so I have to make beauty, or get stepped on. And once people see what I can do, they get loud about it. "Look at this! Look what they did! We all know who the best is, don't we?". And that used to feel good, but it's tiring.

And how many people like me just wanted to play? Just wanted to have fun and experiment? Who were having fun with no goal in mind, or just took longer to learn, who gave up because of all the obnoxious helpers breathing down their neck with no way to shake them off?

How many of us are made to feel defective because we aren't doing things beautifully?

I have a lovely piece of art I didn't want to make.

I think I'm gonna frame it.*

(*I think I'm gonna burn it in my yard.)

[monsterblogging]

"I know JK Rowing is a terrible person but her books are so good-"

You sure about that?

I mean, just for a start, have you taken a good look at her fantasy creatures lately? A whole bunch of them are straight-up based on malicious and dehumanizing stereotypes about actual people.

Remember the werewolves? And being a werewolf was made into a kind of metaphor for having AIDS?

And you know how AIDS was first associated with gay men? And how conservatives back in the day were claiming gay men were preying on children in order to convert them to gayness?

Remember how Fenrir Greyback preyed on children in particular? Yeah, she put that subtext in there. She was an adult in the 90's. She knew damn well what she was doing.

Remember the house elves? Remember how most of them loved to serve and needed to have a home and a master or else they just wouldn't know what to do with themselves?

Did you know that's literally what slavers in the American South said about the Black people they kept enslaved? Go look up the happy slave myth.

Do I even need to get into the goblins and the antisemitic tropes they're based on? No, folkloric goblins were not gold-hoarding bankers waiting for their chance to stab humanity in the back.

"But the characters are so good!"

Are you kidding me?

Most of her characters are pretty one-dimensional, including Harry. Her idea of making a morally complicated character is giving a tragic past to a bully. Numerous characters are little more than stereotypes. (Looking at Fleur right now.) Literally anybody, including you, can easily make dozens of characters just as good, if not better. (It doesn't exactly take a lot of character designing skill to go, "hey, actually, having a sad backstory doesn't make it okay to bully children" or "hey, maybe I should not base a character on the first stereotype that pops into my head.")

"But the rest of the worldbuilding!"

Sorry, but her worldbuilding is just as basic as her characters. Magical castles and secret passages are stock tropes. Magical people who keep their true nature secret from humanity is the premise of pretty much every White Wolf TTRPG. Most of her fantasy creatures are just common European fairy tale and folklore creatures with shitty stereotypes projected onto them.

I'm not saying "basic worldbuilding bad." I'm saying, you could do just as good, if not better, with minimal effort.

Also there's her magical bioessentialism, where only Harry's abusive blood relatives could provide him with supernatural protection from Voldemort. Rowling thus effectively declared that non-biological family isn't quite real family, and that abusive biofamily can give you some essential thing that a loving, supportive family that isn't related to you just can't.

The Hogwarts houses are one of the most insidious elements of her worldbuilding. The idea of being sorted gives you a little dopamine hit because wow now you have a li'l niche where you belong!

But the actual function of the houses and sorting system and the House Cup is teaching children to see each other as rivals, and ensure that the most toxic views of the upper class get passed on to every new batch of kids sorted into Slytherin.

Hogwarts effectively prepares children for a dystopia where magic serves to distract its citizens from how nightmarishly awful it is. Economic inequality is so bad that people like Arthur and Molly Weasley can barely afford to put their kids through school, casual sadism is just an accepted norm in everyday society, and non-humans are second class citizens. Rowling sorta acts like she thinks this is a bad thing with certain lines she gave to Dumbledore, but in the end, her special boy protagonist becomes an auror; IE, a defender of the status quo. So.

If you've never seen it, Lily Simpson's video goes into even more detail on how the worldbuilding of Harry Potter is actually incredibly fucked up, and how it betrays small-minded attitudes on Rowling's part. There's no separating the art from this artist, because Rowling's rotten values pour out of nearly every page.

Yes, there are many things in Harry Potter that evoke feelings and inspire people, but there's absolutely nothing in it that this series has a monopoly on. You can find those same experiences in much, much better media.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

UPDATE What's up, it's the proposal guy. You said you wanted to know how this turned out, so I figured I'd tell you. First some context though, because I'm mean and I wanna keep you in suspense longer.

1- I don't wanna doxx us so I'm not telling you where we live, but suffice to say, neither of us are American, and gay marriage has been legal here for less than five years. For both of us, this is the first relationship we've had where marriage was even an OPTION, and I think that's where we've been getting some of that whole 'this has to be a REAL proposal with EVERYTHING' idea.

2- I gotta figure out how to explain this properly. So, I'm pretty used to being the GUY guy in relationships? I was always the one who did the nice gestures, not the one they got done for. Before I met my dream guy, I didn't really notice or care that it was such a thing, I just assumed that's how shit worked. Also, I promised I wouldn't talk a lot about his stuff here, but his last boyfriend before me SUCKED. Anyway point here is, it turns out we both REALLY like feeling swept off our feet sometimes, and a big part of finding each other has been getting to feel special for once? That's a stupid sappy way of putting it the point here is I think all that's what morphed into "I need to be the one getting proposed to, also it has to be completely perfect", and then our Petty & Extra genes got involved.

So I'm sitting in bed thinking about all that up there, and watching all the comments coming in basically being like "Dude, you are BLOWING this" on repeat, and telling me to compromise, and I look up and see him flossing in the bathroom and making all these doofy faces at the mirror, and it's like a switch just flips in my brain, and I'm like "Oh, I'd rather he gets to have his perfect proposal than we both have an okay one". I'm gonna do it.

Morning rolls around, and while I'm 'out for my jog like normal' I hit up a pawn shop for a temp ring (the ring pop thing is cute but NOT HIM). I found one I was at least confident wouldn't get ruined the first time he got his hands greasy (he fixes old machines as a hobby it's hot as hell), got back home, and hid the box in the toe of my nasty ass workout shoes in the bedroom closet, since I figured he'd check there last.

He was still asleep, because he stays up late no matter what and then is SHOCKED he's tired the next day, so I called and booked a table at our usual anniversary spot. (Side note about the 'he picks bad restaurants' thing. This isn't an 'I like Greek, you like Chinese' situation, dude's just BAD at finding places. He either assumes pricey is tasty and I get to eat some overrated gourmet bullshit, or he'll try and find something hip and underground and risk giving us food poisoning again, and he REFUSES to give up and pick somewhere we've been before when it's his turn to plan date night. I'm obsessed with him <3.) Date was set, I'd propose on the 21st.

Some of you might have noticed this, but fun fact! It's currently the 16th.

Last night I'm doing dishes and he's been sent to our room for mug collection duty, and he's taking FOREVER, so I go check just in case he found the ring, because the man's a gift tracking BLOODHOUND. Turns out he hasn't, he's found my Angry Box.

I assume other people have an Angry Box? Basically, we had this huge messy fight right when we first moved in together, and I never wanna let it get that bad again, so I have this shoebox where I keep a bunch of our stuff I can look at if we're fighting and hopefully cool off. There's one of those photo booth roll things, letters we wrote when he moved back with his parents for COVID, the wine cork from our first date, shit like that. Anyway, he's just sitting on the floor staring at it, and I explain about the Angry Box, and then he! Proposes!!! Kind of.

He definitely didn't have anything prepared, because by 'propose' I mean 'ugly cried & rambled at me for several minutes before I figured out it WAS a proposal', but once I got on the same page it was amazing. I said yes, and he had to admit he didn't have a ring for me because he was CONVINCED he'd win and I'd do it, so I grabbed mine because, yeah, he was right. He was like "this is the ugliest ring I've ever seen" and I was like yeah well the plan is to replace it later and he went "No. You can pry this off my cold dead fingers. After I'm buried with it." So I guess it's not a temporary ring anymore.

I'm just gonna go ahead and skip to this morning. I pointed out we still have the reservation, and he said I should propose there anyway because "We can get a free dessert. They have those creme brulee shot glasses you like. And for love, or something" and I said ok deal, but that means you gotta get me a ring to keep it fair, and his eyes LIT UP. When I swung by his work for lunch he was still on the phone with a jeweler and he had a whole page of notes on three other ones. Pray for me.

OH PS: I was RIGHT that he'd been the one behind the cat biting me, but it wasn't about the proposal stuff, it's because I paid my baby sister three dollars to shout 'fuck you' every single time he enters a room she's in for (if you ask me, he should be madder at my sister for charging so little), and he did it by giving her a bunch of treats for biting his hands too, so now neither of us can pet our baby girl without oven mitts on. HOLY SHIT I love this man.

Oh my goddddddd I love everything about this <333 I awwww'd out loud on a voice call, like, six times while reading. You two are friggin perfect for each other and so obviously smitten with each other and I wish y'all all the happiness in the world

PS Are y'all planning to have a big wedding? If so oh boy I can't WAIT to get that one in the inbox

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