#louis yeah but Im not sure about the others

[femalemusketeer]

Okay guys and gals the last LLS with Corden is within the day, I hope you all have your makeup on and your clown shoes polished

[carbonateddelusion]

I'm NORMAL (thinking about the fruit dads/the poly boyfriends with Eddie bc I remembered the picture of Max screaming at Chuck)

[suffarustuffaru]

Hey, how are you doing? Firstly, i'll understand if you choose not to answer this ask since the subject is controversial and kinda heavy

We currently have at least two pedos in the story, like, actual pedos (the guy obsessed with Liliana and the creepy butler that i forgot the name) and then tappei's writing in some things is just... weird?

I get that subaru and beatrice are supposed to have a sibling relationship, but it just weirds me out

And he keeps adding loli characters with questionable designs too

What is your opinion on this? Its something i manage to ignore, but it still weird me out a little

hi anon!! :o thanks for asking how im doing pfft im doing pretty well - though i am a college student and its This Time of Year (end of semester) so im hanging in here lmao 👍

also ok as for the topic at hand!! yeah no i 100% hate it. ive been thinking about rezeros flaws lately because the further you get into watching/reading rezero the Clearer it gets. its mostly fine at say, arc 1, but by the time you get to arc 5 or arc 8 its like. What the hell. This again?? so yeah its 100% understandable to be weirded out and uncomfortable by it because tappeis writing is frankly Gross sometimes.

(okay also yes this ask has minor or major arc 5+ spoilers yes and also. You know. detailed discussion regarding rezero sexualizing children.)

yeah so tappei writes problematic things into rezero regarding both women and children especially, and while theres exceptions its like. very Prevalent in rezero. i talked about it a bit in my last ask if youd like to check that out!! but yeah like. i hate how children are treated in rezero. its very Problematic a lot of the time.

tappeis writing follows very similar patterns regarding treatment of children and women that you see in a Lot of other anime/manga/japanese media - and media in general, really, but im sure most anime watchers / manga readers will know what im talking about because its unfortunately That common. we're all seen this. like fan service shots, lolis and shotas, etc etc. but rezero is a little more insidious i think, just because tappei is capable of writing good characters regardless of age or gender. and theres Less of stuff like fan service - or at least rezero is a little less obvious about it or its just seen less in rezero, but thats also because media in general is so in your face about it and Unfortunately Common so rezero looks like a tiny bit of paradise in the middle of a barren desert.

i mean look at the amount of people who've thought rezero was a harem anime until they watched rezero - rezero seems like an outlier but thats only because its just a tiny bit less gratuitous and it still has a lot of good writing. and also because i am pretty sure the bar for media like this - especially media in rezeros genre (isekai) is Extremely Low. like depressingly low. and despite rezero being a deconstruction of isekai, rezero also contradicts its own damn messages sometimes about treating others like the People they are, respecting others Personhood, treating women well, etc. and its easy to see that the moment you look at some of otsuka's artwork and designs for rezero or if you look at all the rezero merch mainly based around the girls and Sexualizing the girls and its like. my god this is a little depressing to look at. rezero is just a tiny step in the right direction away from say, misogynist shounen/seinen media thats also weird about kids or something, but then rezero trips and falls on its own face after taking several right moves.

the problem is that these problematic aspects are still there, theyre still clear to see if youre paying attention, and often character arcs start well but then fall flat despite the good foundation. and then the problematic aspects hammer the already Poor/Inconsistent Writing into the ground which it makes it Even Worse.

like louis is a great character. shes fascinating, really. and then you hit arc 7 and she regresses immediately into the mind of a toddler so we only get to see her amnesiabaru/Suffering From Rbd arc in arc 6, her confrontation with subaru, and then BAM its arc 7 time and now she is an entirely different person????? i remember raging the further i got into arc 7/8 and realizing she hasnt gotten any development, she just changed instantly. it just feels lazy to me!! unless tappei proves me wrong and writes her developing but right now louis has spent two goddamn arcs being subaru and rems loli prop/daughter prop/a plot device to use in battle, basically. okay sorry i got passionate there but i SWEAR it gets on my nerves a bit. the louis/spica conflict now would feel so much more thrilling if she didnt have her weird half assed arc 7 development.

like if i was really in the fantasy world, of course i wouldnt vote to kill spica, shes innocent now. she doesnt know shit about her crimes, shes a whole other person now. she didnt do those things. she is an innocent child. i did a poll on this a while back actually haah and yeah a lot of rz tumblr, including myself, voted to let her live for this reason!! but also like. narratively speaking. i do not care about spica at all. shes a blank slate, shes just there to move the plot, she is taking up space in the plot right now and she does not need to be here forever. i 1000% want her dead hah. yeah shes this cute little kid now, but again, she got zero development. why should i care about her?? all the interesting things about her in arc 6, all the potential that couldve happened out of her gradually going from her arc 6 self to someone who genuinely cares about rem and subaru is gone. If we actually saw this change, personally id care more about spica and be invested in her character but as it stands im really Not. and i think if we saw her actually Develop a lot of us readers would be more invested to see this conflict out - not only because our Favs are fighting over it, but also because we’d actually care about spica. Like. im not sure how many people actually care about louis past arc 6, but yeah thats just my personal thoughts on it.

And also the Other big flaw with louis’s character is tappei once again being creepy regarding kids and. Okay im gonna show an excerpt from the arc 6 WN (iirc ch60 to be exact?) and yeah fair warning because it is once again sexualizing a child (louis). But also im putting it here in case anyone wants to see some vivid proof of rezero being weird about kids. Im not sure if this was cut from the LN version or not but the fact that it exists At All makes me want to put tappei on a watchlist.

And okay i know you might be thinking about how louis represents the sin of gluttony anyway and gluttony includes sexual or romantic desire too and how having louis, who looks like a child, say this makes it even more Offputting - like. Yeah. but is it Necessary? because making louis, WHO LOOKS LIKE A CHILD, say all this and then use descriptors like “expressed a bewitching smile unsuited to her age” - is this Actually necessary? You have to be careful writing this sort of thing, because a child/character who looks like a child saying things like this due to being, you know, Mentally Unwell, is different from Emphasizing What Theyre Saying By Sexualizing Them via the narration and descriptions. And why is the sexologist line there?? its just frankly uncomfortable, to an unnecessary extent, i think. I just dont think we need all this emphasis on louis’s body, louis’s apparent “arousal”, or how her smile is “unsuited to her age” (this is the narrative once again sexualizing a child), and plot-related sex/sexual content in rezero is kept to a minimum anyway so you could also literally just have louis be weird about “loving subaru” without the sexual aspect. Because she literally just said that she was aroused by him. she looks like shes twelve at most and then in the arc immediately after this one she regresses back to having the mentality of a toddler!!! and then shes subaru’s daughter there.

And again, i know that the whole point of this scene is to be off-putting and disturbing and wrong in all sorts of ways (and also subaru tries to kill louis a page later so like.) but i think if youre going to keep the appetite=sexual desire detail (which IS a good point about gluttonys nature, on its own), then this scene absolutely needed to be handled better than what we got when the character saying this is a child. you can write a child sexualizing herself because shes frankly Unwell or Doesnt Know Better, because this is fiction and you can write sensitive topics like this with proper care, but if you, the author, are sexualizing this child, then that is a Whole Other Thing.

or you can entirely dodge this whole debate over whether or not this is actually okay to write by making louis look older. but tappei went with this route once again in a sea of rezeros various child characters despite the fact that tappei then decides to link sexual desire to the sin of gluttony, which is a sin occupied in rezero by three children. I know ley has a very traumatic backstory, and the specific details are escaping me but iirc he was likely a slave or something along those lines, with implications that hes been abused by adults, so you could delicately handle what kind of abuse he Couldve unfortunately had to go through, and also of course roy and louis are clearly not okay in the head either, but. Once again. Children in rezero Not Being Sexualized in some way is a rarity. Unfortunately.

you see this pop up again and again and again. petra? Yeah iirc theres a side story where shes weird about subarus underwear. Correct me if im wrong on that but also i would not be surprised if that was a real side story. Unfortunately. Also theres Uncomfortable lines regarding petras chest.

according to rezero wiki, schult is… well iirc al makes creepy comments about schult being a shota (and of course this isnt really called out in canon), and theres also these two details about schult:

also regarding sin archbishops who look very young, capella represents lust and yet she also looks like a child. i know the point of her design is to make her a bit grotesque, but you can get that point across without making her look fifteen years old at most. this is the sin of lust too. and shes already called “Mama” in canon—she doesnt need to look that young!!**

also side note about pandora. she also looks like a child, which—its okay with her, except for the frankly lazy outfit design imo?? why is she wearing a bedsheet??**

** another edit: its easy to see capella and pandora as women also, but again, tappei and otsuka In General keep mixing up short/young women and Children and it should be easy to tell if pandora and capella are children or young women or not. but i dont feel that its clear enough given tappei and otsuka’s Track Record.

and typhons design with the see through skirt is so creepy and disturbing that im Really glad the anime fixes it most of the time. heres the fixed version:

but also the anime Really doesnt fix it as much as it probably should, because her dress is Still see-through in some shots. you can even see a bit in this shot—we dont need to see her lower body area like That!! this skirt doesnt need to be see-through!! and the bar was already in hell anyway because otsuka makes typhon’s skirt Really see-through.

theres also this photo of typhons design and its Way better without that see-through skirt.

granted, there is some good child character designs—felt’s arc 1 design frankly sucks though purely because of the way her outfit is handled. like its Really bad. it takes only like one look to see that. but her arc 5 design is a Huge Improvement:

characters like meili, schult, child subaru, etc have good designs too, but you know, this doesnt change the Creepiness regarding children, because this also applies to subaru and Some Lines about him in arc 8 iirc. if i find them again ill talk about it another time (or if someone else finds it feel free to add on to this post?) but yeah just. urgh.

regarding felt again, theres a scene in a felt camp side story where she wakes up naked in bed, post arc 1, after reinhard kidnaps her to his mansion. and yeah, the whole point of the scene is to show reinhard is kind of dense and bad at reading social cues because hes still trying to talk to her very civilly while shes covering herself with the bedsheets and she Literally just got kidnapped by him, but, say it with me, she doesnt need to be naked. she couldve woken up in bed in her usual clothes and the point still wouldve come across!! WHY is she naked??? shes fourteen.

and also like capella, liliana looks like a child. and of course theres kiritaka, as anon said, whos obsessed with liliana, and then theres clind, the creepy butler. and of course tappei has “deniability” because lilianas not Really a child (she STILL looks like one), and clinds not Really a pedophile, he just likes youthful souls!! (this is literally disgusting.) and clind may have interesting lore or whatever about how hes kind of involved with the sin archbishop of melancholy but i just dont give a shit about him when hes a pedophile that tappei keeps excusing.

also mimi? mimi is a Special Case.

the thing with mimi and her brothers is that its implied in the kararagi girl and cats eye side stories that kittypersons (??) are fully grown by age 1. theyre rescued from dying on the streets but they insist theyre “fully grown” (at age 2-3). they havent changed physically at all. and they dont change physically at all later, because now in the Present Day they all look Exactly the same as they did when they were 1, 2, 3 years old. did they grow mentally???? theyre like 14-15 in the main route. and then you look at aganau route from the lost in memories mobile game which takes place around twenty (??) years after arc 3, and mimi is a grown woman and she looks exactly the same as she did when she was 14 or 2 years old. and then this makes her romance with garfiel a little weird because hes a normal fourteen year old??? but mimis been fully grown all this time??? what??

this is mimi. yeah, she and her brothers look EXACTLY this age their WHOLE LIVES.

and meili? yeah shes definitely one of the better child characters, though she does have an Extremely Traumatic backstory and has had a habit of copying elsa. this on its own is fine and understandable. elsa was her only support and shes a child, of course shes gonna copy elsa. though iirc she also copies elsa’s “flirtatious” aspects, which is honestly also understandable given elsa is a Questionable Influence, but this detail about meili’s character gets worse when you think about it in the context of all the other child characters—

why is it that all the children tappei (and otsuka) keep sexualizing are in the same age range? theyre about 9 or 10 to 14. louis stops being sexualized when she reverts to being a toddler and becomes subarus daughter. felt stops being sexualized when she turns 15 in arc 5. emilia is the main love interest to subaru and shes apparently “mentally 14”?? and shes tappeis favorite character too? but also mimis case is so weird because shes been “fully grown” since the tender age of ONE YEARS OLD?? well also i sure hope im wrong on this point but given the amount of child characters that fall in this age range and also how Often theyre all sexualized and also the majority of them are Young Girls—yeah its. its not a great look.

(and again a side note about meili again—tappei uses similar descriptors that he used for louis: that its “inappropriate for her age” and that she’ll “attract many men in the future”. tappei stfu. please.)

subaru’s lolimancer title is kind of funny. maybe. until you remember rezero being creepy about kids. and also like—i dont like the idea of tying a word like “loli” to the literal main character of the story anyway skdnd. theres just Connotations to it.**

**EDIT: i was told that “loli” is apparently a fan translation thing, while in japanese its “little girl user”, but in an inoffensive way (like Jojo’s “stand user”). make of that what you will!! (not great that the fan translation makes rezeros already poor treatment of kids Even Worse.)

and also—was subaru, al, medium, etc turning into children really necessary?

like in subarus case, its so he can have more ego, more confidence, more recklessness while being nerfed a bit and being mistaken as the emperor’s son—but at the same time, this just feels like a watered down version of the amnesiabaru arc to me where he has more ego, more confidence, more recklessness, and hes nerfed, but then he learns to love himself more. it just feels too similar to the amnesiabaru arc imo. him turning into a child feels very unnecessary imo and it doesnt look great when you remember tappei and otsuka’s fixation on children. literally arc 8 would be exactly or almost exactly the same if subaru was back to his usual 18/19-year old self. but he has to keep being a kid right now because Plot, apparently. then again if anyone disagrees with me on this feel free to explain your stance!! but yeah as of rn i just want subaru to be back to his usual age.

also tappeis weird about young priscilla/prisca and lamia but i havent read the ex novels about them yet so i cannot go in depth 👍 but just know you get nice lovely lines (sarcasm) like “flirty way she caresses her own thighs”. great!!! thanks tappei for fanservicing underage teenage girls once again!!

and again, treatment of child characters / characters who look younger than they are in rezero—this is so so creepy also as someone who does in fact look younger than my age. and im also Very Short (4’11) too. so like. thanks tappei and otsuka!! i feel very comfortable right now 👍

and women are often infantilized in rezero which you can. Easily connect to the pedophilia, yeah. theres also age gap romances in general, and i mentioned emilia already (yeah. emisuba is an age gap romance.), but theres also ram and roswaal, frederica and clind, anastasia iirc gets described Weirdly sometimes because shes a short flat-chested woman, and recently theres been madeline and balleroy having a small moment (that feels. Romance coded. iirc.) in an arc 8 chapter.

they look like this by the way:

thanks tappei and otsuka once again for the creepy writing and designs that actively work against all the good parts of the damn story 👍

on a lighter note, i think beatrice in general + beatrice and subarus relationship is one of the better parts of rezero—iirc theres nothing creepy about it, and beatrice and subaru are very easy to read as a sister and brother relationship. theyve helped each other out in many ways, and theyve grown Very close by the time we see them in arc 5!! you could. Technically see their relationship as a father-daughter one too, but i dislike that take—not for bad reasons, but just because i feel like it doesnt fit them.

the thing with beatrice though is that shes simultaneously A Child but shes also like. 400 years old. so i do wish the narrative balanced that more post-arc 4–not in a creepy way of course. god no. but in the sense that shes mature in a lot of ways!! shes familiar with death and suffering!! shes intimately known Isolation!! that sort of thing. shes the one whos closest to subaru because of how he helped her in arc 4 (“choose me”), and also because she knows about his self-harm and heals his injuries. shes someone who can deeply understand subaru in a lot of ways in this sense, at least. the way they support each other feels more like a sibling bond to me and not a Parent-Child one just because youre not Really supposed to be leaning this much on your child for support. theres a power dynamic to a Parent-Child relationship, and beatrice and subaru are Equals.

plus echidna gaslight gatekeep girlbossed both of them, so theyre also siblings in that sense hah…

but yeah correct me if im wrong on that though regarding beatrice and subaru and im missing something?? but yeah as far as i remember and as far as i can tell, i think theyre actually one of the least creepy parts of rezero hah :,)

and then because this sort of thing is Unfortunately so common in media like rezero, we’re kind of conditioned to try and ignore it so we can keep reading or watching because its Everywhere. i still enjoy some of rezero, but its hard to ignore All Of This. and i think its important not to turn your brain off to it and recognize whats Wrong here, yeah. (unless it makes you so uncomfortable that you have to stop looking at rezero, which is very understandable.)

but yep. thats rezero for you.

[sweet-creature101]

Good Girls

summary: Harry finds out that his goody two shoes neighbour is actually quite far from that. Based on the song, Good Girls by 5 Seconds Of Summer.

fratboy!harry era; a frenemies to lovers trope.

warnings: mention of alcohol, sex, the pressure to be perfect

“Good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught.”

Harry enjoyed walking at night. He enjoyed strolling through his neighbourhood, which consisted of two parallel rows of houses, separated by a black strip of road. Harry was content and blissfully silent as he walked with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and a sweet melody of a song he just recently heard swirling in his head.

“Jesus…. Fucking….. Christ.”

Harry heard someone mutter these words under their breath, to be more particular he heard a girl. He recognised the voice but wasn’t quite sure of his assumption as he whipped his head in the direction of that voice.

He saw a girl climb down the window of her bedroom. Muttering ‘fuck’ or ‘shit’ at every misstep of hers. He saw the girl skilfully yet so clumsily climb down, placing her hands in the nooks and corners of the brick lined house.

The girl jumped down and ran a hand over her jeans. She looked into the window, squinting to look at herself and ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it to messy perfection.

Harry finally recognised the girl, it was y/n. You looked different, very different from the girl who goes to ballet practice every morning before school, very different from the soft spoken girl in school and very different from the girl his mom spoke of with such fondness everytime you dropped off brownies, which was usually once a week.

“Y/n? What a surprise.” Harry smugly said.

You turned around with a look of shock on your face. Your eyes were wide open. You looked at him with a sheepish smile and began to go through excuses.

“Never imagined to see you sneaking out.” Harry added, crossing his arms over his chest a sly smile on his face.

“It’s for…. It’s for science.” You quickly said, your hands going behind your back.

“Oh yes yes. Forgot about the assignment, silly me.” Harry deadpanned. You roll your eyes at his response and huffed a breath.

“Listen, im sure we can come to an agreement or at least a conclusion yeah?” You reasoned.

“What?” Harry asked you, confused.

“You can’t tell anyone you saw me. No one. Not even your best friend, Lewis was it?” You mumble the last part under your breath.

“Louis.” He corrected you.

“Same thing Styles.” You rolled your eyes.

“Glad to see the mask is off.” Harry said, musing at your behaviour.

He had interacted with you plenty of times but none of those interactions were like this. He had seen you around school, hugging your books as you walked through the hallways with a smile on your face chatting with your best friend. Other times, he saw you at the doorstep of his house with your brownies in hand which he loved but wouldn’t admit. You always seemed to have a quiet, and soft spoken demeanour so seeing you like this, sneaking out and dressed up in something which wasn’t your school uniform or your ballet clothes was a surprise for Harry. Moreover seeing you sneak out of your bedroom window caught him off guard.

“Mask? What mask?” You joked, knowing well that Harry didn’t expect this out of you. “Well, pleasure meeting you at this hour Styles but I have places to be.” You said nodding your head.

“For the science project?” He asked you, a sly and knowing smile on his face.

“Exactly. Need to observe human behaviour in a club. Possibly even document the outcomes of underage drinking.” You said chuckling.

“Well, I won’t keep you from doing your homework then.”

“Great. I’ll see you around.” You said smiling as you booked a cab from your phone.

—————————————

Harry wondered about you after your little impromptu interaction with him. He saw you around school but you were always busy, your nose either stuck in a book or in school assignments.

You both made eye contact now in the hallways, but you would quickly divert your gaze after giving him a small smile. Harry wanted to be friends with you. He had no reason as to why. He simply wanted to.

Harry’s train of thought was disrupted when his phone began to rang. Ems the caller name displayed. Emily and Harry had a peculiar arrangement, they would have sex, go to parties together and were almost always together yet they weren’t dating.

“Hello?” Harry spoke.

“Harry! You forgot to pick me up from ballet. We’ll get late for Jaspers party!” Emily huffed.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Harry said, getting up from the comfort of his sofa.

“Great, I’ll stretch some more then.”

Harry reached the studio in a matter of ten minutes just as he promised. He searched for Emily and found her laughing with a few girls. Emily spotted him and ran towards him, a smile on her face.

“Oh my God, thank fuck you made it in time.” She said with a breathy laugh. “I’m a man of my word.” Harry replied. “Give me fifteen minutes, need to change and all.” She said and hurried off.

Harry roamed around the studio. He heard the sound of a piano playing accompanied with a few frustrated groans. He saw you, dressed up in a white leotard with a baby pink flowy skirt. Your hair was in a braid, you put it in a bun harshly.

“Listen y/n, you’ve been at it for the past two hours. Take a break.” The man at the piano reasoned. You shot daggers at him.

“Start playing.” You simply said.

The man started to play. Harry saw you twirl and move with more grace than the pianist. Your face was etched in an expression of pain and a few quiet whimpers left your lips with every twirl yet you kept going. You powered through and once the piece was over, you fell to the ground, your chest caving in with every breathe.

“Listen Matt, we just need to go through the part before the temps de l’ange.” You said, still breathless.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself y/n, you’re really doing good. I’m going home now, so should you.” Matt said picking up his stuff and leaving you on the floor.

You sighed and got up. You winced with every time step you took towards the door.

“Need any help?” Harry asked you. You look at him with an expression mixed with exhaustion and surprise.

“Why are you here?” You ask him.

“I’m here to pick up Emily.” Harry said. You grimaced at the sound of her name and mumbled a ‘right’ as you continued to walk.

“You won’t make it all the way to the door like this.” Harry said, an edge of concern in his voice.

“Don’t worry. I’m used to it.” You curtly said.

It didn’t take long for you realise that he was right. You simply sat down on the floor without saying a word. You began to remove your shoes and whimpered with pain.

“That doesn’t look good.” Harry said, his eyebrows scrunched in concern as hovered over you, his gaze fixated on your bleeding feet.

“Thank you Harry.” You said sarcastically.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Just leave me alone. I’m having a shit day.” You said in frustration. You let your bun fall down, cascading into a loose and messy braid.

“Come on,” Harry said stretching his hand out to you. You debated on whether to take it or not. You decided to take his hand since he was right, there was no way you would make it to the door without hurting yourself.

“Ow..ow.. you’re too fast Harry slow down.” You said in between breaths of pain. Harry slowed down, your hand still encased tightly in his as he made you walk to your bag. You picked up your bag and slipped into more comfortable shoes.

In this distance, you saw Emily walking towards you and Harry dressed up in a tight mini dress. You had nothing against wearing tight dresses but seeing Emily wear a dress that looked as if it suffocated her made you scowl.

“Y/n hi, i didn’t know you and Harry are friends.” Emily said, eyeing Harry with a hardened gaze.

“Because we aren’t.” You said firmly. Harry stiffened a bit at your words. However, the reality of your interactions with him was that they were by coincidence, being in the right place at the right time perhaps. Harry understood this, he understood that you two were nothing but mere acquaintances and the more ironical thing about your circumstance was that you stood a far better chance at being friends with his mother (which you were) than with him, unlike his other friends.

“Oh.” Emily said curtly. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gestured for Harry to come to her side. “I’ll see you around.” Emily mumbled as she left.

“Will I see you at Jasper’s tonight?” Harry asked you. “I’d rather die.” You replied back, a slight smile on your face. “Till we meet again Styles.” You said, extending your hand to him. He shook your hand and replied with, “till we meet again.”

——————————————

The night sky felt alluring. You could feel it’s magnetic field reach out to you and call you. The air was cool and gentle as it blew around your bare arms and legs. You sighed contently and took a hit of the cigarette perched in your hand.

You were sitting on the grass, your legs stretched out to the road. You liked how quiet it was.

You took a hit of your cigarette, watching the smoke circle above your head. In the distance, you saw a muscular figure make its way towards you. You were about to get up but you heard the figure shout out your name.

“Y/n!” It was Harry.

He ran up to you and scanned his eyes over your relaxed figure.

“We need to stop meeting like this.” You said making Harry crack into a bright and pearly smile.

“Wanna sit?” You ask him, as you patted down at the free space next to you.

“Sure.” Harry said while he sat down, his legs own bare legs touching your cold ones. You felt your whole focus narrow down to the part where your thighs touched.

“Didn’t know you smoked.” Harry said, his eyes showing an incredulous look.

“There’s a lot you didn’t know.” You said shrugging lightly.

“Seems so. I didn’t know that you sneak out, drink, smoke-”

“I get it Styles.” You said, halting Harry’s long list of all the things he didn’t know about you. Harry chuckled at your response.

“How’s your foot?” Harry asked you. You only rolled your eyes as you disposed off the cigarette.

“It’s fine. Nothing big.” You said, your eyes set straight at the road.

“I don’t like Emily.” Harry blurted out, his words a bit haywire, an indication that he was drunk.

“You’re drunk Harry.” You said.

“Tipsy.” He corrected you before he continued, “don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty and nice but is it so scandalous to admit the fact that she tires me?” Harry sighed.

“Tires you?”

“Like a record player you know. At first, you’re fascinated, then you like it and then you’re obsessed but after a while you realise, ‘shit, it’s the same thing over and over again’ and then you want something different. Something real.”

“Wise words Styles.”

“You don’t understand me.” Harry grumbled rolling his eyes.

“What, I do!”

“No you don’t.”

“I understand how it feels when you’re living your life according to the likes of others. I understand how it feels when you’re walking on eggshells, afraid that one wrong move and everyone’s going to see who you are under that facade. I understand how it feels to be suffocated. I understand Harry.” You mumbled the last part in a quiet voice.

“Shit man, welcome to the club.” Harry said, slinging an arm across your shoulders as he brought you closer to him.

—————————————

As the months passed by, you and Harry became attached at the hip. You no longer passed him small and shy smiles but would wave at him with full enthusiasm and he would often steal you away from your friends just because he needed a dose of ‘reality’ when he spent too much time around Emily.

Tonight, you had promised Harry to take him to the places you would vanish to in the night. Harry was apprehensive at first, any experience he had when it came to drinking and partying came from high school house parties. You somehow convinced him with a few hugs and slobbery kisses on his cheek.

You climbed down the balcony of your house, Harry watched you intently with every step his hands open to catch you if you fell. You got off with a jump, running your hands over your skirt.

“Graceful.” Harry said. He offered you his hand which you took, ignoring the faint warmth that rose up to your cheeks.

It was a ten minute drive to the club you usually went. Harry couldn’t help but wince at how loud the music was at first but as time passed he began to let lose. You both had downed a couple of drinks and spent the night in each others arms, close enough to have your hearts beat in synchronisation.

“Have I told you how pretty you are?” You said to Harry as you put a hand on his face. Harry leaned into your hand and closed his eyes giving you a lazy smile.

“No.” He said.

“Well I think you’re really very pretty.” You said hiccuping, a slight giggle passing through your painted lips. “Keep it coming y/n.” Harry said, a smug smile on his face. You roll your eyes and draw your hand down to your side.

“We should head home. Got school tomorrow.” You said and Harry groaned. “We can skip.” He said, a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. “Nope.” You said shaking your head no. “Why don’t you try skipping school.” Harry pleased and you immediately shut him up by placing your hand on his mouth.

“We’re leaving now and I’ll pick you up for school tomorrow.” You said. Harry licked your hand and you squealed. You took a step back but Harry pulled you closer, a hand on your waist as he tugged you towards him.

“Fine.” He said defeated. You smiled and kissed his cheek.

You wanted to stay here, in his arms and not leave his warm and strong embrace. You mentally slapped yourself in the face for thinking like this. You told yourself that Harry didn’t want you. He wanted someone pretty, someone who would got to house parties and post about them, someone who everyone admired, someone who everyone loved and wanted to be friends with.

He didn’t want someone who hides behind a carefully curated identity of ambiguity, he didn’t want someone who would purposely go into self destruct mode, someone who buried themselves in work, someone who no one liked, someone who no one knew about and more importantly he didn’t want someone like you.

Harry one the other hand was fully convinced that he wanted no one other than you. There was nothing more he wanted than to hear you laugh because of him, to spend his days with you and simply bask in your presence.

“You there?” Harry asked you, bring you out of your trance. You looked up at him and gave him a smile. “Yeah.”

You needed to get away from him before you fell even harder.

————————————

Harry wondered what went wrong.

The two of you had last talked a week ago. Harry noticed that you had been running away or at least seemed to run away from him. He had seen you once or twice when you came to drop off your brownies. Other than that, you were usually drowning yourself in school work and spent your nights studying rather than sneaking out. At least that’s what Harry thought.

You would sneak out every night or two around one or two a.m and would return by four in the morning which gave you three hours of sleep in total. You spent your time in school studying and answering all questions asked in class diligently, like the person everyone in school thought you were. You practiced ballet every day, until you felt your bones and legs cleave into two, hoping to suppress the roaring in your head whenever you thought about harry.

Today however had been a difficult storm to hone. You had finished baking your batch of brownies and headed to Harry’s house. You hoped he wasn’t there although it was a holiday. A part of you wished that he were with his friends or even Emily while the other part of you missed him. Missed him in a way that you believed was best left unattended to.

You rang the doorbell of his house and were greeted by the warmth of his mother.

“Y/n! Oh how I missed your brownies.” Anne said hugging you tight.

You smiled at her and handed her the container. “Made them the way you like.” You said.

“With extra love?” Anne asked you, a glint of happiness and adore in her eyes.

“Of course. Always with extra love.” You said, shoving your hands in the pockets of your jacket.“Well I best be going.” You said.

“Nonsense. Come in for a cup of tea. It’s the least I can do for you.” Anne said, holding the door wide open for you to enter. She didn’t give you the time to say no or to even think about her offer as she pulled you in and shut the door close.

Harry’s house always smelt like fresh cut flowers and honey. It was warm and welcoming. You followed Anne to the kitchen, a wince forming on your lips as you walked owing to your swollen ankles. You were over worked and exhausted but you needed to an escape from the plague of thoughts Harry left in your head.

But here, standing next to Harry’s mother in his own house was no remedy to the illness that plagued you in your head and heart.

“How is school going?” Anne asked you as she brewed tea. She set down three cups instead of two on the counter top.

“School is good. Just a lot of work and studying.” You said shrugging cooly.

“If Harry worked half as hard as you, I’d more than happy with him.” Anne choked on a laugh. You gave her a weak and small smile.

“I’m glad that such things are being said about me.” A voice from the stairs said.

It was Harry.

You turn around to meet his gaze. He looked effortlessly beautiful in a plain white tee shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. You wondered if he knew that fact about him since there was no one to tell him that other than your occasional drunken self.

“Hi.” You breathed out.

“Hey.” Harry said, his eyes narrowing at your frame. He walked closer to you, his eyes not leaving your face. You felt yourself burn and heat under his gaze but you kept your posture high and stiff.

“Can we talk?” Harry asked you in a quiet voice.

You never noticed how close the both of you stood to one another until today. You never noticed how you would find yourself leaning into him, as if it were second nature until today. You never noticed that there was an undertone of love in his eyes when he was around until today.

“Yeah.” You said. Harry held you by his wrist and took you up his room.

You sat down on the edge of his bed as he stood at the doorframe, his arms crossed and lips pursed in contemplation as if he were wondering what to say.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Harry asked you, breaking the icy silence between the both of you.

“I’m not.” You replied, your voice far and distant.

“Bullshit.”

“It’s… it’s difficult.” You said.

“Not if you explain it to me y/n.” Harry said, walking close to you and held your hands in his. A silent plead. A whisper of love. A promise of acceptance.

You hated this. You hated being so vulnerable in front of him. You hated knowing the fact that he could strike where it would hurt the most with only words.

But you had to. You had to wear your heart on your sleeve just as he had done repeatedly. If not for him, then for your own sanity.

“I like you Harry. Fuck, do you know how difficult it is to fall for your best friend and also be aware of the fact that you’re not good enough for him?” You said. Harry’s grip on your hands only tightened at your confession. He was silent. Quiet.

“Say something. Please.” The last word came out as a weak whisper. Harry brought his head closer to yours, your eyebrows touching each other as he held you in the embrace of a lover who had longed for this, longed for you.

“Y/n, you’re far too good for me. Screw Emily, I don’t want her. I don’t want any of the things people think I do. You’re the reason I smile everyday and it pains me that you don’t know that. I love you y/n, like it or not I do and there’s nothing you can do or say that’ll change that. If anything, I might be the one who’s not good enough for you.” He said, his eyebrows scrunched in sorrow at the thought of you thinking you’re not enough for him.

“What! No Harry. You’re everything I want. Don’t ever think that.” You said.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked you.

You didn’t let him speak further as you crashed your lips onto his, letting pure and sweet oblivion sweep away every thought of insecurity and uncertainty that crashed through you.

This was real.

He was real.

Harry broke the kiss, his hand caressing your face.

“I promise to take care of you y/n. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” He said before kissing you again.

———————————

authors note: thank you so much for the overwhelming response to kiwi! Let me know how you liked this. Interact with me, send me asks, requests and whatever you wish to, it means a lot and always brings a smile to my face! All the love!

[cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut]

WEDNESDAAAY. Thanks to @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @sznofthesticks @redshirt2 @lemonlyman-dotcom @bonheur-cafe @strandnreyes @heartstringsduet @carlos-in-glasses @alrightbuckaroo @theghostofashton @birdclowns @louis-ii-reyes-strand and @whatsintheboxmh for the tags! Here’s a little more of angsty smut fic, First Time After.

They don’t have to talk about how they want it. TK lies on his back for Carlos, and Carlos slides under the covers alongside him, lays next to him long enough to reach for him, to find him thick and hard once more. He’s aching there, his balls tight and his c*ck straining for Carlos, precome spilling almost lazily from his slit. The base of his c*ock is pale, the rest of him as red as evening sky. He’s hot to Carlos’s touch when fingers skirt over his sensitive skin again — he must be. He can feel the heat of himself just as he feels Carlos’s own, the way Carlos tilts his hips just to press his er*ction against the side of TK’s thigh, grinds slow against thick, bare muscle and strokes TK at equal pace to his thrusting. Carlos offers him three long strokes, and the gentlest press of his teeth into TK’s shoulder. The pain is quiet but sharp, and it grounds him the way it always does when Carlos sets his teeth to him like this. The immediacy of it carries a strange sort of warmth, the way TK’s brain is wired to take pain at Carlos’s loving hands, and turn it into pleasure. It slides through every crevice of his mind, and drowns out the whirring din of reality.

They moan together, TK sliding his leg barely an inch across the mattress, making use of what little space still exists between them, and pressing his leg hard against Carlos’s c*ck. He feels his boyfriend’s wetness, hears the way his moan cracks and splinters in response, a fault in his careful armour of steel. TK adores it, uncovering Carlos in this way. Carlos told him once, after an extra glass of wine with dinner, that he’d more or less enjoyed sex before TK, but that he tended to spend a lot of time in his head during the act itself. He’d be so focussed on being a considerate top, a good lover for the other person, that there were times his own arousal fizzled out before he could climax. He’d shrugged when he said it. TK had reminded him that these things do happen, but that if Carlos ever felt neglected by TK in bed, that was something different, and TK trusted him to speak up about it — needed him to.

“I’ve never felt like you’re neglecting me,” he’d said, not drunk enough to slur his words, but tipsy enough to smile crooked as he spoke them. “Most of the time I just get lost in you. In — hm, yeah — in a good way. It’s amazing, actually.”

And TK, with as much eloquence as his astounded heart could muster, breathed, “Fuck, baby.”

He makes sure not to neglect Carlos tonight either.

No pressure tags below cut 💛

@paperstorm @orchidscript @welcometololaland @carlos-tk @catanisspicy @lightningboltreader @liminalmemories21 @rmd-writes @rosedavid @reasonandfaithinharmony @ladytessa74 @sanjuwrites @chaotictarlos @goodways @detective-giggles @fitzherbertssmolder @herefortarlos @mooshkat @inflarescent @meditating-honey-badger @velvet-ink @three-drink-amy @thebumblecee @wandering-night19 @wtfuckevenknows @thisbuildinghasfeelings @jesuisici33 @inkweedandlizards @reyesstrand and YOU if you’re not tagged and want to play!

[ha1taniwh0re]

What a night

Request from @hai-kbai <3

Fandom: Moriarty the patriot

Character:Irene Adler x fem reader

Warning: (dom)Irene, (sub)reader, modern AU, fingering, oral, cum, vibrator, lesbian sex

"Do I have to?" I asked.

"oh come on (name) you need some fun in your life" Alica said.

"Yeah all you do is work let someone do you babe" Bella said.

"Ugh alright" I said.

"Okey so we know you don't have any club clothes so we bought some for you" Bella said and showed me bag.

(outfit1-you, outfit2-irene)

"Amm are you sure about this?" I asked.

"OMG YOU LOOK SO SEXY" Alice said.

"We are getting free drinks tonight" Bella said.

After we finished our makeup and everything we went to some fancy club. When you are women you can go everywhere even some rich private club. When we got inside I already knew I won't like it there.

/two hours later/

"Can we go now?" I asked.

"Noo it's fun babe" Bella said.

I rolled my eyes and than I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I looked to left to see who is the person and I saw a boy maybe a year or two older than me.

"My boss called you to VIP room" he said and showed to VIP room.

I looked up and saw a blonde man in suit with glass of wine in his hand smiling at me and waving. I gave him wave and fake smile.

"Im sorry but Im with my two friends I can't leave them"

"He said that you can bring them too"

"We are going for sure, lead us to door" Alice said.

I didn't get a chance to say something because they dragged me to VIP room. When we entered that boy didn't enter with us but we met with other people. There was big sofa and there were 3 man and... 1 women?

"Hii there" a blonde man from before said with smile.

"We appreciate your offer for this but we should get home you know" I said with scared smile.

I heard someone laughing. It was that women.

"Relax love, we called you here to chat and have fun nothing more. It's not what you think, but if you want that we can figure something out" she said and looked at me from bottom to top.

I felt my cheeks burning.

"Irene don't scare her more" a brunette man said.

She smiled at me and went to pure more wine.

"Hi my name is Albert, this two blondes are my younger brothers William and Louis, this man is Moran and lady who spoke to you is Irene"

"Im Alice, this is Bella and one who spoke to you guys is (name)"

"(Name)? What a lovely name sweetie" Irene said.

"Irene we know that you like her but let her to relax first, she got scared" Louis said and took a sip of his wine.

Irene came and gave us a glass of wine.

"You like me?" I asked.

"Yeah why? Does it makes you uncomfortable? You don't like girls?"

"I have never kissed a girl to know if I like them but it doesn't make me uncomfortable. It's just I never heard that someone like me"

"Damn baby it's someone else's loss than because you are hell fine"

"Irene relax a bit" Moran said.

"Fine" she rolled her eyes.

She is hot while doing it.

"You like how she rolls her eyes huh (nickname)?" William asked.

Oh shit they caught me. Irene looked at me with smirk. She layed me down on sofa and got on top of me.

"Oh so you like me too"

I looked at her face, eyes, lips and than I felt something on my lips. She kissed me. I started to kissed her back.

"Woah there get a room Irene" Moran said when he paused kissing Alice.

"Sure" she said and took my hand.

We got out of room and went to some room. When she closed the door next second I felt my back on wall and my legs around her waist. We started kissing. My hands were around her neck while her hands were grabbing my ass. She took us to bed and started to undress me. Because of my outfit she didn't had much to take off. I released that she didn't take off my skirt when I wanted to take it off she grabbed my arm.

"Leave it you look so sexy with that skirt on"

That sentence turned me on more. I smirked and started to undress her. When we were both nacked she started kissing me but than I felt something inside me and that were her fingers.

"OH MY GOD" I moaned into her mouth.

"You like it babe?"

I nodded and she smirked. After just two minutes I cane on her fingers and it was the best orgasam I ever had. I rolled us and started to eat her.

"Oh shit you know what you are doing" she said and put her hand on my head to pull me closer.

She didn't take much to cum too. I thought that we were finished but than she got a dildo from somewhere.

"Ready babe?"

I nodded and she put it inside, but thing I didn't know it wasn't dildo but vibrator.

"Oh shit"

I took her by waist and put her on my face. While I was eating and fingering her she was messing with me.

"Oh shit Im close"

"Come on baby, cum on my face"

That was a button and she came on my face, I ate all her cum.

"Now you" she said and went down on me.

Vibrations and her tongue were enough to make me cum.

"OMG IRENE!!"

She ate all my cum and went to kiss me. We were cuddling.

"I know that we don't know each other for a day but do you want to be my girlfriend?" She asked.

"YESSS!!" I said.

[hulahoopsoupgroup]

good evening everyone. i have decided that i need to write more, so ive made a list of ships/other platonic dynamics from genshin and hsr that i like, and i'll be writing some short blurbs about them over the next month or so

day 1: cyno x tighnari

tighnari quietly peered over the book he was reading, some 500 page tome about plants that nobody else in the house except himself understood. cyno stumbled into the living room, his red eyes dim with fatigue as he put his bag down beside the front door before going straight to tighnari, flopping down on the couch beside him and leaning his whole bodyweight against him.

tighnari put the book down onto his lap and brought one hand up to gently comb through cynos hair.

"rough day at work?"

"just very tedious. people are stupid sometimes," cyno muttered, sitting up to grab the tcg deck that he always kept on the coffee table. he quietly shuffled through the cards, arranging them on the table in different teams. tighnari could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he mulled over the best teams at his disposal, eventually pulling out a sketchbook and messily scribbling the shapes of a few exotic plants.

"how was your day?" cyno asked after a while, "hows that new class youre teaching?"

"its alright, i suppose," tighnari muses, eyes not leaving the page, "much less stuffy than the akademiya, thats for sure. less pretentious, too. i think itll turn out alright."

one of tighnaris ears twitched at the sound of quiet footsteps coming down the stairs. a timid collei crept into the room, eyes landing on cyno and tighnari. she nearly walked right back up the stairs, something the botanist had learned was a habit of hers from her old house, but tighnari softly called to her,

"hey, its alright. you can come down here if you want." he watched as the girls body language started to become more relaxed, and he began to relax as well. the past month had been quite rough on all of them, especially with the legal battles of getting custody of the 13 year old and putting her poor excuse for a father in prison. however, moments like these provided even the briefest moments of respite and glimmers of hope of a future that needn't be plagued with anxious tremors or jolting flashbacks of the past in the dead of night.

collei quietly made her way over to the couch, sitting on the side opposite to cyno and tighnari.

"how was your day, collei? did you do anything fun?" cyno asked, trading his tcg deck for a regular deck of cards and beginning to build a tower out of them on the coffee table.

"it was...good? im learning a lot of science-y stuff from mister tighnari," the girl mumbled quietly.

"your handwriting is getting quite good," tighnari said, glancing at her with a soft smile before returning to his sketches of plants that now littered the page in front of him, "almost better than cynos," he added with a chuckle.

cyno glared at him, adding another tier to his house of cards. "your handwriting is a slew of cursive, not much better than mine." tighnari elbowed him in the ribs, but cyno remained steady, and his tower of cards stayed upright.

"oh, by the way, what music were you playing in your room earlier?" tighnari asked.

"oh, i- uh," collei stuttered, "i can turn it down if you want. sorry if it was too loud..."

"no, it wasnt at all. it actually sounded familiar. i liked it a lot."

"oh. it was a lot of stuff from the 1950s, like," collei paused to remember the names of the artists, "nat king cole...frank sinatra...louis armstrong."

"i have a cd of frank sinatra in our bedroom," cyno mused as he added yet another tier to his card tower, "do you want to borrow it?"

"s-sure...by the way...is there any food in the kitchen i could use to cook? i didnt eat dinner earlier..."

"yeah, of course," tighnari said, already moving to get up.

"...i didnt have time to eat at work, either," cyno quietly said.

"then come on, you too. looks like im going to be the chef again tonight."

[cherryxcadbury]

hi! hope ur doing alright. Can I request for kylian? Something around him seeing you for the first time at a party/club/bar and he’s captivated by you at first sight or something of that sort? 💗

this is such a mess and long af but it’s honestly my fave thing I’ve ever written

Y/N: Your name 

2nd person pov 

"If I don't get food right now I'm going to assault someone." Ayaan groaned from the backseat, beginning to curse in Spanish.

You and Asami looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"We told you to eat something at the metro station." Phoebe mused, examining her cuticles.

"That's besides the point." Ayaan complained. 

He was quickly silenced by Asami who intwined her hand with his. A small smile playing on both of their faces.

You rolled your eyes. You were seated next to Asami who was next to Ayaan. The two of them happened to be dating. Phoebe was in the passenger seat with Louis driving, as he was the only one comfortable on the Parisian streets. 

"How much farther are we? I'm sick of third wheeling. And I'm kind of hungry too." You asked Louis and Phoebe.

"Less than a kilometer." Phoebe answered, showing you her phone screen.

"So, who exactly are we meeting?" Louis questioned.

Ayaan shrugged his shoulders, "My cousin Arra and whoever he's with." 

A comfortable silence fell upon the car. You all had decided to go on a trip to Paris for about a week after Asami's, yours, and Louis's exams ended. Ayaan was two years older than you, he'd graduated from university two years ago. As for Phoebe, you really didn't know how you met Phoebe. She was someone's childhood friend. But, you all just clicked. She had graduated a few years prior. 

Within a few minutes we were off the motorway and pulled up to a busy street street, lights and music blaring. 

"Keep going forward. Then turn left." Phoebe instructed, reading off her phone.

Louis did as told and drove down this path until a building was in sight. 

"Here we are." Ayaan exclaimed with excitement.

"Donde esta mi primo? No puedo esperar." He quickly got out of the car, gesturing for someone to hand the keys to the valet.  

The rest of you followed suit. Ayaan seemed to know what he was doing. 

You gaped at your surroundings. The building looked a lot like a five star hotel. 

"Where exactly are we?" I turned to Phoebe and Asami. 

"Bout twenty minutes away from Bondy, half an hour from Paris's city center." Asami informed.

"Bondy. The home of Kylian Mbappe." Louis stated.

"Yeah fuck him." Phoebe mumbled, still angry about the World Cup. 

"You best not go in there with that attitude." Ayaan advised.

 You quirked an eyebrow at him before shrugging your shoulders.

Ayaan led you five in through the multiple doors, immediately making his way over to the reception. You were all directed to the loft where Ayaan pressed the lowest button. 

"Are you sure there's a party here?" Asami questioned with suspicion. 

"Yeah it's completely silent." Louis nodded in agreement.

"Just you wait." Ayaan smirked. 

Within thirty seconds the doors opened to reveal a long hallway. At the very end were a few people in line and a bouncer. They were all dressed like kids whose parents made a fortune and let them take their private jet out on weekends.

"Come on." Ayaan beckoned to us, Asami's arm linked with his. 

"Identification." The man said gruffly.

You all did as told and the bouncer gruffly flicked through them until he landed on Ayaan's. 

"Hakimi?" He questioned Ayaan.

"My cousin." Ayaan answered with a huff of annoyance. 

The bouncer nodded briefly and gestured for you all to go in.

"This is some rich people shit." You mumbled to Louis and Phoebe, who were judging the place as well. 

On the inside it looked like a normal club, except that it seemed like one strictly for rich people. 

"Im getting a drink." Phoebe started off into the club just a few steps behind Asami and Ayaan who'd already started wandering.

It was just you and Louis. 

"Food?" He asked. 

"Always." You responded nudging him towards the direction of the bar. 

You both walked up to the bar which Louis leaned on and spoke rapid French.

He turned to you, "They don't sell food." 

You gaped. You were so so hungry. 

"It's a bar? And they don't sell food?" You questioned.

Louis shrugged his shoulders.

"I can get us drinks?" He offered, some fear in his eyes based off of your demeanor.

"Whatever will do." You mumbled, stalking off to an empty booth. 

You sat down, scooting far into the middle. You took solace in the fact that Asami and Ayaan were in view. They were talking to a group of people whose backs were turned to face you. 

You sighed a bit. Going up to them when there was a bigger group was a bit too intimidating for your liking. Clubs or parties in general, while fun when you were with your friends, weren't necessarily your thing. 

You really shouldn't have left Louis at the bar. Because then at least you'd have someone to talk to. But you'd let your hangriness take over. You and Louis were both big introverts.

You looked around for Phoebe but she was nowhere to be found. You really did not want to look lonely, so you opened your phone and scrolled through instagram, pretending to look busy. 

Meanwhile on the other side of the club, someone's eyes were fixated on you. Absolutely captivated by your beauty. 

Kylian Mbappe stood talking with his best Achraf Hakimi, Achraf's cousin Ayaan, and Ayaan's girlfriend Asami. 

His eyes were encapsulated by the beauty who sat alone at a booth, engrossed in her phone.

"No but NYC was very fun. Kiks and I had a great time." Achraf spoke.

He nudged Kylian who was turned around, facing the opposite direction.

Kylian regained composure, nodding at Achraf's words.

"You have your eye on someone Kylian?" Asami asked, a small smile playing on his face.

Kylian's face faltered. 

"Uh well I..." He began to speak 

"Who is it?" Achraf questioned with a chuckle.

His friend never got starstruck by anyone. 

Kylian stared at the ground. 

"The girl sitting alone in that booth over there. Short black dress. Long wavy hair. Beautiful sparkling eyes." He mumbled.

"No way." Ayaan began laughing.

Kylian's head shot up.

"What? Don't tell me she's related to you or something?" 

Achraf turned to Kylian "Bro what?"

Kylian shrugged his shoulders, "I mean she's kind of tan?" 

Asami interjected with a grin, "That's Y/N. She's my best friend." 

"And mine!" Ayaan added.

"She's very pretty." Kylian's eyes went wide with adoration when he turned to look at you.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" Achraf smirked, asking the question he knew Kylian needed the answer to.

Before Kylian could slap Achraf for his bluntness, his smile fell when he saw a well dressed man come over to you with a drink. 

"Boyfriend." He murmured. 

Ayaan put his hand on Kylian's shoulder causing Kylian to look back at the group he was with.

"That's Louis. Our other best friend. And not Y/N's boyfriend." Ayaan informed.

"Are you sure?" Kylian asked, looking at Asami for confirmation.

"Two hundred percent sure. In fact." Asami paused briefly before beckoning over a small girl with deep ebony skin.

"This is Phoebe." Asami introduced the girl to Kylian and Achraf.

"Hello Phoebe!" Achraf smiled.

"A pleasure Mr. Hakimi, I'm a big fan." She confessed shaking his hand.

Phoebe turned to Kylian and scowled at him.

"What'd I do?" He inquired, hands up in the air.

"You beat England you bloody bastard." She gave him a wicked look.

"We got beaten by Argentina anyways. Consider yourself avenged." Kylian defended himself.

"Fair." Phoebe concluded.

"Now why'd you call me over?" 

"Kylian here has a little crush on Y/N." Ayaan smirked.

"Little crush? More like he's in love with her." Achraf emphasised. 

"Tell the whole world why don't you!" Kylian rubbed his temples.

"You have a crush on Y/N." Phoebe sniggered.

Kylian stayed silent, becoming embarrassed very quickly. 

"He does! But he's afraid Louis & Y/N are a thing." Asami explained, gesturing at Phoebe to say something.

"Ahhh yes. Fortunately Kylian, that is impossible." Phoebe answered.

Kylian cocked his head to the side with a look of confusion.

"Louis and I are uh. Friends with benefits to put it briefly." Phoebe responded, throwing off even Ayaan in the process.

"I didn't know this!" Ayaan exclaimed.

"Your brain has limited capacity to begin with. Don't need rubbish like this taking up extra room." Phoebe joked. 

"Go over and shoot your shot Kyks." Achraf advised.

"I don't know man." 

"Then let's call her over here." Asami shot him a smug look.

Kylian immediately turned around so you didn't catch him staring. 

"Y/N! Louis! Over here!" Asami waved you and Louis over.

You whipped your head in the direction of the group which now contained Phoebe as well.

"Ready to meet new people?" Louis questioned, quirking an eyebrow at you.

"Never." You sighed putting your drink down and walking to the group with Louis.

"You know I felt very very stared at today. Like I don't know if I'm paranoid or something but I swear to god someone was staring at me." You mentioned to Louis.

He scoffed, "Don't tell me you didn't notice."

"What do you mean?"

"Jeez Y/N. You are so oblivious." 

"So someone was staring!" You exclaimed.

"French men are pigs. Eyes have been on you since we got in here. Probably because of the dress you're wearing. Lots of sequins." Louis broke the news to you. 

(if u guys wanna a pic of this dress lmk, I'm obsessed w it). 

You groaned, immediately feeling self conscious. Your usual uniform of tees and sweat pants never really attracted much male attention. So times like this when you dressed up has always felt a bit foreign to you.

"In my defense I borrowed this from Phoebe who by the way, is a lot shorter than me." 

"Phoebe would do more justice in it than you." Louis tried to rile you up.

"Oh fuck you." 

"Might want to pipe down before they hear." Louis gestured to the group you approached.

It was Asami, Phoebe, Ayaan, and no way. No fucking way. Achraf Hakimi & Kylian Mbappe.

"Y/N! Louis!" Ayaan smiled.

"Meet mí primo, Achraf. And his best friend, Kylian." 

Louis greeted them before you, as you grew nervous very quickly.

"Nice to meet you, big fan." You grinned, shaking Achraf's hand.

Now, you turned to Kylian.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." You smiled softly.

Kylian stared into your eyes for a second before returning your smile.

"You as well Y/N. May I say that you look very beautiful tonight." Kylian replied.

You felt your heart began to beat rapidly. 

"I uh thank you." You shot him a grateful look, turning red quickly.

"Y/N you remember the 2018 World Cup don't you? When you had a huge crush on Kylian an..." Louis began to speak before you kicked him.

"Louis what the hell!" You whisper yelled to him. 

 "Care to get a drink with me at the bar Y/N?" Kylian requested, back to his usual confident self.

You nodded numbly, following him there. 

You two ordered your drinks and stood at the bar. You patiently waited for him to start the conversation. Because you sure as hell weren't going to.

You fixated your eyes on something. Someone had left a copy of Lord of the Flies on a nearby table. You loved that book.

"You like Lord of the Flies? It's one of my favourites." Kylian spoke suddenly.

You turned to face him with shock.

"You read?" 

He shot you a playful look of annoyance, "Just because I'm a footballer I can't read?" 

His eyes danced with curiosity.

"I mean yes! No offense, but besides Xavi and Iniesta, you all seem pretty mediocre in terms of intelligence. Or intellect if we're being honest." You confessed.

"I was very smart boy in my school days." 

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." 

He shook his head with a chuckle, "Name another book." 

He downed a shot. Eyes almost taunting you to compete with him.

You smirked at the little competition.

"Crazy Rich Asians. A new classic." You replied, with your first shot.

That stung, a bit.

"China Rich Girlfriend. Colette Bing's a bitch." Kylian replied with another shot.

"You've read it?" 

"All three."

You were in shock.

You surrendered, "You win. I'm not going to even try." 

Kylian smiled, his competitiveness had taken over.

"How long are you in Paris for?" 

"The next week. But I don't live too far away to begin with."

His face became lovestruck again.

"Um Id love to show you around Paris one day if you have the time?" He offered, scratching the back of his neck.  

You wanted to laugh at what he was dancing around the idea of.

"I'd much rather you be straight to the point." You shot him a smug look.

He took your hand, you were caught off guard.

"Will you let me take you out tomorrow?" He asked softly.

The look in his eyes. He could bring you to your knees. You wanted to tell him he could do anything to you with that look and that voice.

"Yes." You responded breathlessly.

***

"I was in love with him from the very beginning." You told the young boy and girl who were seated on the floor.

"And he was enamoured with your mum too." Asami told the kids.

"Papa and Mum were in love!" Your son exclaimed.

"Papa and Mum will always be in love." Kylian announced, coming from the kitchen to wrap an arm around your waist.

He looked at you with the same adoration he had in that club, all those years ago. 

And you couldn't help but return it. 

to the few who dmed me abt smut writing, it still makes me uncomfy but I hope the “he could bring you to your knees” may partially suffice ;)

[ughgoaway]

Hey lovely, I'm really enjoying the smutty blurbs and would love to hear about Matty and teachers first time together.

Also I've just got home from the most stressful Christmas with family, and would be interested to hear about teachers family and whether she is as close to them as Matty is to his

🎄

hi angel!!! so sorry for this late reply, but im so glad you're enjoying the smutty blurbs. They're so fun to write!! I'm actually planning on doing a full fic for their first time together, so hopefully, that will be coming soon!!

oh I'm sorry about stressful Christmas, it's always a fucking rough time going back home and dealing with everyone.

this is something I have thought a little bit, and I think that in the teacher au, the family relationship is a bit strained.

I think your family are so overbearing, constantly trying to insert themselves in your life in ways you just don't need. every time you see them, it's followed by an onslaught of questions,

"do you have a boyfriend yet?"

"are you still doing that teaching thing?"

"when are you going to have kids? you have only got so long now darling"

so Christmas was always a stressful affair, trying to juggle judgmental aunts and uncles with parents who want to know every detail of your life so they can comment on it.

I think you're as close as you can be, but some distance is necessary for you to stay sane. you love them, but sometimes you just need space to exist.

but Matty's family is a breath of fresh air. The first Christmas you spent with them made you realise it can be enjoyable to see your family.

Denise is so welcoming, ushering you in and plying you with biscuits and tea. she chats about matty, and she tells you that if he ever does anything stupid, tell her, and she'll give him an earful. which earns her an eye roll from matty and assurance that he won't fuck this one up.

Louis is easy to get along with, and he feels like your little brother too very quickly. Tim is hilarious and kind, and all of Matty's extended family are so welcoming and sweet that you don't quite know what to do with yourself.

I think at some point in the night, you wander off, and matty notices you skulking away and follows you out into the garden. you're leaning on the wall outside, staring up at the stars and trying to breathe a little bit better.

"You alright, darling?" matty walks up to you and wraps you in a hug, already noticing your shivering body.

"Yeah, sorry, just needed a minute," you say softly, leaning your head on mattys shoulder and humming comfortably.

you stand in silence for a few minutes, watching your hot breath vaporise in the air and warming each other up.

"Is it always like this for you?" You break the veil of silence, looking up at matty curiously.

his face immediately scrunches in confusion, "what like all of us hanging out and drinking? yeah, that's a pretty average Christmas for us. " he laughs and pulls you in closer, rubbing up and down your bare arms with his hands, desperate to warm you up.

"No, no, I mean, is it always so... Nice? calm? no one is badgering you with questions and making judgemental or petty comments." You say softly, almost hoping matty doesn't hear your words.

but he does. He pulls back and looks in your eyes and his immediately soften. he tugs you in impossibly closer and presses a kiss to the top of your head.

"Oh, sweetheart. m'sorry your family are a bit exhausting. but the good news is, next year, you'll have me to drag along with you. hopefully, they'll start badgering me about my "silly rockstar job" and leave you alone, hmm? and I'm sure annie will be distraction enough, she will corner your aunt susan and talk about horses for a good hour" matty smiles as he imagines meeting your family.

he always tries to envion what your childhood room looked like. Were the walls covered in posters like his? or were you more organised? did you have teddy bears lining the bed that you don't have the heart to get rid of? he can't wait to tease you for all the old photos and embarrassing clothes.

you giggle and burrow your nose into matty, "already planning for next year, huh? you planning on sticking around that long?" You tease, hearing matty talk about the future so confidently had butterflies hammering at your ribs.

"Of course I am. I'm afraid you're stuck with me for a longgggg time now, sweetheart. " You hum happily and squeeze matty.

[seeingivy]

method acting asks!

wait i totally agree. i think for the last of s4 press he would want to grow it out to the manbun again cuz that's kind of the iconic look but after that y/n would give him a haircut every time it started to get too long and he was kind of getting annoyed by it.

and yes, louis partridge my beloved is my perfect eren. when his hair was a little bit longer (before he cut it currently) it always made me giggle when olivia's fans referred to him "as the bob" and I totally think y/n's fans would do the same

hehe. more margaret and bruce references in the next chapter. but yeah they're literally always going to be so famous AND im so excited for the next chapter I have been WAITINGGG to use margaret by lana del ray

I posted the tracklist a little while ago. i've linked it here!

that being said, I am also so so emotional about only having one chapter left. I was rereading chapters last night just to make sure I cover all my bases and mention everything I want to for the last chapter and weirdly enough I got so nostalgic and just started crying LMFAO. really though, i've been writing this fic since last july - and i've lived a hundred lives since last july. truly this academic year has been the hardest i've pushed myself and generally struggled the most - and I always found myself running back to this fic and writing it whenever I was really down. getting to watch people nitpick and find all the little easter eggs I was leaving really made my day when I was down in it.

and in general, the fics I wrote before method acting were really soft and sweet - but with little depth of topics that were discussed? if that makes sense? and i'm in no way shitting on my own work, because I am really proud of my work (all of it, no matter how bad or good I think it is now), but this was the first time that I really got to push the limits and kind of talk about other topics and lessons i've learned in my little old twenty years of life. even yesterday, I was rereading the beach and remember that I wrote that whole dialogue about how your life is not meant to be a punishment and you're meant to move forward - and how deeply delighted I was when that was the line that most of the readers resonated with. it's sweet to feel like i'm pouring my love and heart into a fic and have people enjoying it on the other side.

anyways, sorry @tangerine-neonlight this is so long and i'm emotional and i'm about to start working on the last chapter so i've been feeling all types of ways.

here are my no context spoilers for the last chapter:

lover by taylor swift BUT ACTUALLY in the worst way you could possibly imagine it

connie girlfriend reveal (spoiler not spoiler, but we've met her already, and dare I say, she's quite the fan favorite)

the seattle aquarium

SNL host eren l/n-jaeger ft musical guest y/n l/n-jaeger (YUPPP)

eren and y/n releasing songs about fucking each other on the same day again. yeah <3

[louisisalarrie]

I get that fans are upset with him but sometimes this boy appears so traumatised to me. All these poor PR moves outside of urgency etc as you rightly point out. I am pretty sure also that he and harry both must be pretty annoyed by a large group of the Larry fanbase and their behaviour. It must be quite challenging to navigate this environment when closeted, under various pressures and wanting to grow your own career.

Oh boy. Yep. That boy has been through so damn much. Let’s talk about Larry coding, and fan demographics/reactions. I think i can kinda hit all of your points in here with that. Anon, welcome to the show.

So, i can totally understand and agree with you about a small amount of larries who… take it too far isn’t really the right phrase, but just… reach? Massively? And are awfully loud about how Louis and Harry are always doing something that relates to each other? And.. that can be frustrating.

Navigating a closet in an environment where a huge amount of your demographic are larries, is no easy task. I don’t envy him whatsoever, and yea, he has absolutely been traumatised by Simon, previous PR managers, the 1d mgmt team… it’s just awful. He can’t be himself, and he’s trying to express himself however he can, but… everything is related back to Larry. And i actually don’t see these reaches on tumblr. We actively analyse and of course we talk about blue greening and stuff, but my god some of the theories on twitter are actuallly delusional. It makes Louis have to think 400 times before he does anything, because these “famous” larrie accounts are analysing it to an insane degree and a lot of other larries are eating that shit up. The analysis of the most simple things he does, being taken into a wild and ridiculous theory, is not helping him. I’d wager that that’s the bloody conspiracies he’s talking about.

And no, im not shitting on other larries. We are all fighting for the same thing. Freedom. But my god some of these twitter folk genuinely don’t give it a rest. Every. Single. Little. Thing. And yes, people reach because we aren’t getting any clear content at the moment. I get it. But sometimes this shit is actually pushing it, and Louis and his team would be seeing that.

They are seeing his career, every step he makes, being analysed and almost unsupported by some larries because they’re immediately making it out to be about Harry. I’m not saying neither of them Larrybait, but not everything is Larry coding. And i can imagine how frustrated that would make him. He’s trying to go out on his own, and of course Harry would support that and of course they do still wanna communicate with us, but damn. I hope they see tumblr shit, or at least see the good side of larrie twitter, because genuinely it’s too easy to lump us in with the folk who are truly taking it too far.

Yeah, anyway, he is 100% traumatised by being forcibly closeted and truly exhausted by this all, and throughout the continuous stunts and fame and threats and contracts and NDAs, still trying to do what you love can be hard.

[twopoppies]

Heeey sorry for ruining your other post, i was referring to this incident in the photo im sending you. :)) How can we be sure it's not louis? If you have seen the video (im sure you have) you can't deny that guy was moving exactly like louis

You didn’t ruin anything. I just had a feeling we were talking about two different things (which we were). Yeah, I remember this, but don’t really recall anything about the way the person “moved”. I just feel like it’s kind of silly to think Louis would visit Harry on set not only at the height of the pandemic, but then also leave by what is essentially the front door, and do it right in front of paparazzi and fans. Why on earth would he do that?

I don’t have any proof about who this person is, but I’d sooner think it was David than I would think it was Louis.

@daisiesonafield-blog do you remember this day? I feel like there were some posts about it at the time.

[allwaswell16]

Hiiii girly, do you know fics that fit the "grumpy x sunshine" trope? I picture H as de sunshine one, but im open to anything thst fits the trope haha thank you so much love

EDITED TO ADD: ffs I thought this was to my other blog sorry lol. I didn't notice until after I published it. so that link below is to a rec I did there. But if you end up wanting a longer rec than the 6 fics I'm putting here, feel free to send me another ask and I'll put it on my pinned post to do list! Hi, anon! You're very welcome! So I have this rec:

✤ Grumpy Harry/Sunshine Louis

And here are a few with it the opposite way...

You're Not My Type (still I fall) by Imogenlee / @imogenleewriter

His mum is going to kill him!

Well, not kill him. Just give him a right telling off, make him admit she'd been right, then try to confine him to his room until they found a hefty Alpha to look after him and rein him in or something.

She wouldn't manage, of course. Harry is only twenty-four and has no inclination to settle down at all, especially not at the behest of an Alpha.

But, as his mum would point out, that was the same stubborn attitude that got him here: in his car, in a thunderstorm, on the side of a forsaken lane of some little countryside town in Yorkshire. His mobile's got no signal, his GPS isn't working, and he's running low on petrol, so he can't even use the heater.

Oh, and most importantly, his car is stuck in the mud, so even if the GPS was working and he knew where to go, he wouldn’t be able to.

He's been in stickier spots; he reminds himself. Way stickier. This is just a bit of rain; it'll blow over. Then Harry will just... well, alright, he isn't entirely sure what to do when the rain stops because he'll still be stuck and lost. But, hey, there won't be any rain, which is something to cheer about.

Hidden Gardens by pinky_heaven19

Harry burst out laughing, the sound mixing with the loud chatter as more people entered the pub.

“I knew you'd say that! It's just too easy to get you riled up, isn't it?” Harry took another sip of his beer, cleaning a little foam off his upper lip

“Why do you like to piss me off so much?” Louis said, rubbing his closed eyes with the tip of his fingers. He didn't feel as angry as he looked, but apparently he had a reputation to keep.

“Believe me, the only time I did it on purpose was just now. Hey, is this going to be our dynamic forever? I come here, you snap at me for no reason at all, throw me out and I come back? It's getting pretty predictable.”

“Why do you keep coming back, exactly?” Louis said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I like your pretty face. And Niall has sick jokes. The beer is fine, too."

OR the one where Louis owns a pub and Harry is a photographer who needs his help for a project. Louis is grumpy, Harry is not. Louis has a secret. There is some pining and a lot of fluff.

and then there was you by littlehazandlou

"Well Louis who broke into my garden. I'm Harry. This is my garden." the guy, Harry, says, his face breaking out into a bright grin and spreads his arms wide to gesture to the garden.

"Uh... Yeah. 'S nice..." Louis mumbles, looking at the guy suspiciously, "You aren't angry?" He asks "I just broke into your garden."

Or, the one where Louis is a grumpy author and Harry is the hippie who lives at the end of his garden. Sort of.

[suffarustuffaru]

I disagree with that anon, the childification of the characters is just Tappei being weird

Like tappei has been out of pocket this arc and im afraid for the future of the series, the loli general dragon crying and yelling that she loves the 40yo grown ass man that died was SO BAD

Maybe they will fix it in the LN... Editor-san save me......save me editor

no yeah, tappei has a Consistent Pattern Of Being Weird About Kids And Occasionally Women. if its written in story to be a properly addressed issue, sure. if its a writing flaw that consistently shows up across multiple characters (clind, kiritaka, al, a few louis moments, other moments with the other kids, arcs 1-3 wn subaru being so bad even tappei kinda agreed), then its like. a Problem with the author.

AND GODDD ANON YOU JUST REMINDED ME ABOUT THE GENERAL DRAGON WITH BALLEROY 😭😭😭😭😭 THAT WAS AWFULLLL i remember going to my mutuals in rezero discord servers and metaphorically bawling my eyes over it. it was sooo bad jfcccc 😭😭😭😭😭 i dont like the romantic (not in a Nice romantic way) undertones of it !!!!!! i really dont !!!

and while i appreciate childbaru being a narratively significant arc!! i once again Hate 12 yr old preteen adoptive dad subaru being canon. the part where he adopts louis as spica is In Line for him, the 12 yr old preteen adoptive dad part made me wanna cry though. BUT childbaru is narratively significant at least :,,)))) im not so sure about al medium bc it Did Not leave a lasting impression on me though my opinion may change on that :,)) cecilus’s kidbaru arc was alright though, i enjoyed the rest of his arc more :,)

but yeah save me editor :,,)) save me anime staff who graciously fixed capella and liliana’s designs :,))))))) save me :,,,,)))))))))

but anyway im glad to hear from you anon so glad to know im not tweaking and genuinely see tappei being Weird :,))) like okay ill give him credit where credit is due—childbaru for the most part is really interesting, characters like meili are interesting, etc—but tappei is still weird about kids for sure :,))) theres just So Much Evidence.

[rudnitskaia]

Sorry i got so excited to ask questions i forgot to specify but maybe a drabble for 3, 6 and 19. And a drawing for 18. But if you feel specifically inspirred to do something different im not complaining. Love these goobers so any kind of romaunce content is a win for me😁

Hey-hey, Edd! 💖 Tysm for the ask, I'll cover all the numbers, I promise! ✨😭✨ These are very interesting topics for me, so count it as part 1/?. :3 I'll tag your main and your new @acesandocs acc so you won't miss it. <3

I hope you meant numbers from that list, but if you meant the other - DM me, please.

I'll start with the number 19, "Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?"

And I came up with two ideas, so I post the two-parts answer in a row. Because I headcanon that it's Freckle who was the first one to suspect his cousin develops feelings for a certain Italian waitress, but technically the one who got the confirmed information about Rocky's and Mau's relationship would've been Augusto. So I did both.

First story will be from the Freckle's side. I once started to do a comic from it, but gave it up. So now behold this ancient scenario in a ficlet. :D

The Right Moment

“And what a pizza they have!”

“Pizza?”

“Yeah, sugary pizza!”

“Is this... thing really worth it?” Calvin sighed, deciding not to clarify what that ridiculous phrase meant.

“Oh, true ambrosia. You'll be flabbergasted!” Rocky exclaimed, keeping up his pace. Calvin felt that he had been trying to catch up with his cousin through the streets of St. Louis for about an hour, and he feared that he was going to spend just as long on the heat as he already had, but fortunately Rocky finally turned around the corner and confidently swung open the blue door of the little eatery. Calvin followed him inside and found Rocky waiting at the counter, but finding no one at it, he sat down at the table that was nearest to the entrance, placed his fedora against the wall, and drummed his fingers impatiently on the countertop. Calvin sat down across the table and studied the details of the unassuming establishment. Since when had Rocky developed such a fondness for Italian cuisine…?

“Why, if it isn't Mister Rickaby himself!” A lively woman's voice with a quavering “r” sounded over Calvin's ear.

“Miss Maura,” Rocky grinned. “How else could it be? Your cozy place is an oasis that shelters travelers from the scorching sun. I've even rescued one suffering man along the way. Working for the good of your enterprise, so to speak. Meet my cousin, Freckle.”

“Freckle?”

“Calvin. McMurray,” he habitually corrected Rocky, and finally turned around, meeting his gaze with the tall, young Italian woman. Calvin stared at her face and lean figure, but by the time he realized he was doing it for too long, thankfully, she was already looking at Rocky.

“We'll have two glasses of lemonade, please, your incomparable sugary pizza…”

“And a sandwich, please. Any kind. Not sweet,” Calvin added hastily.

“Not sweet? Are you sure he's your cousin, Rocky?”

“Oh, yeah, he is. He just doesn't realize what he's missing,” he waved it away. “You know for yourself that pizza's an undoughbtfully subtle thing.”

Mau laughed out loud.

“Oh, come on. I'm the one who knows batter that it’s just your oven self that works on a different fuel.”

“Hey!” Rocky chuckled with feigned indignation, but Maura was already heading past the tables toward the kitchen. Calvin stayed silent as he watched Rocky's eyes on the girl. He didn't say a word when Rocky again engaged the waitress in banter when she returned with the order. He preferred not to evaluate the flavor of the monstrous slice that was aptly called ‘sugary pizza’, but the sandwich and lemonade were very good indeed. Calvin kept his mouth shut even when Rocky, leaning against the counter, took a few good minutes to say goodbye to Mau. Only on their way back to the Little Daisy Café he surrendered to his curiosity.

“So… about that ‘sugary pizza’.”

“What, do you regret not trying it after all? I knew it! I knew you'd bite your head off. Well, I'll ask Miss Maura make more next time.”

“Next time, yeah. How long have you been visiting this place?”

Rocky pondered.

“A month? Or about two… something like that.”

“Only for sugary pizza?”

“No, why, they have good coffee, lemonade, and…” Rocky began to list without a backward thought, but then suddenly frowned. “Wait, what are you implying?”

“Nothing,” Calvin looked away and smiled involuntarily. Rocky squinted.

“Don’t tap dance with me, sneaky gingerbread. I can see right through you.”

“Well… uh. Neither of us are blind. Miss Maura probably… it seems she likes you.”

Shaking his head, Rocky ran a hand through his hair in relief.

“Oh, Freckle. You don't understand anything. Miss Maura… she's always like that. With everyone. Gives away words like hot cakes. Mine may be puncakes, but they aren’t served with any ‘additional syrup’.”

Calvin stared at the passing cars for a while, thinking if he should try to change his cousin's mind. But suddenly Rocky cautiously asked:

“…you really think?”

Calvin shrugged. Was he sure of what he was talking about? It was hard to tell. But what he'd seen in the eatery certainly… brought up some thoughts.

“Why don't you ask her out, since you two have been in touch for so long?”

“It's not that simple, Freckle,” Rocky sighed and gestured vigorously. “You have to be thorough, have to pick the right moment. Besides, have you seen her grumpy old man? A glancekiller. It's like rescuing a princess from a dragon's lair. And you're suggesting I just walk up and say…” he stopped in the middle of the street in a deep bow with his hands widely outstretched to the sides, “…do me a favor, my fair maid, go with me on a promenade!”

Suddenly Rocky felt how something was lowered on his left hand. He turned his head in puzzlement and found his own fedora hanging there. But it wasn't that that surprised him, it was… Maura. She was looking at him and Freckle with amusement, and Rocky had no idea where to get away from that look. And he wanted to get away. Wanted it desperately. Preferably somewhere under the ground. But before he could say anything, Mau nonchalantly stated:

“Well, if you promise to be a faithful knight, toss a pebble into my window at night.”

Calvin, who was watching all this, began to quietly laugh. Maura waved to him with a mockingly innocent smile.

“Goodbye, Mister McMurray, it was nice to meet you,” and, without waiting for Rocky's reply, she headed back toward the eatery.

Calvin's laughter grew louder the longer he stared at Rocky's confused face. It was simply impossible to hold back. Calvin felt like he was choking, but he didn't stop chuckling even when Rocky elbowed him in the side and exclaimed:

“Stop cackling, you!”

Rocky took a deep breath, covered his face with the fedora and let out a muffled yell. As Calvin continued to laugh, he patted his cousin on the back a few times, either sympathetically or encouragingly; it was also hard to tell.

Though one thing was definitely undoubtful: now Calvin had not a single regret about that visit to Italian eatery. At all.

[jennylaufeyson]

Another ted talk by yours truly

I have so mucn beef wiith myself about this whole larry denial . Let me tell you something. I've been in this random since 2012. That one random time Harry tweeted, and it was like a before and after of a pic of Louis, i was there for that. I was there for them being besties and then acting like they didnt fucking know each other. And i thinks thats what made Larry real for me. Becuase why? Why live with each other and literally have this bromance that had so mucb spotlight and then have to act like you hate each other? The only other reason that i can come up with for having to do that is that they got into a fight, and again thats a murky reasoning. These boys were literally on top of each other. How do you go from that to never even looking at each other. That's crazy to me. Now, I've been a hardcore Larry shipper for years, but i keep it to myself. I see shit online. I've been there for the gfs and all that, and i just mind my business. Why? Because their personal lives are theirs. Would i like to know whether I've been delusional or not all these years? Yes, of course , but they do not owe me that. Lou said the other day in an interview that the only people that understand what they went through are only them 5, and i honestly agree. Who knows what kind of fucked up shit they had to go through? I mean, Zayn left the band and has been mia ever since, apart from releasing music until now, where it looks like he's finally reached a point to be out in public. The truth is we dont know what happened behind closed doors, and maybe we never will, but i think part of being in this fandom is supporting our boys because of their music and talent. Lou should not have to go on stage and talk about how people questioning his son irritates him because, yeah, of course it does. That is a child who one day will have access to all of this and forget the fact that it says their dad is gay it also questions whether its his actual dad or not. Dont you think he has it rough already? His parents aren't together, and his dad is a world-famous singer who im sure can't see him as much as he would like.

I get asked whether I actually still believe in Larry. The truth? I would like to. But i dont know, i think at this point its like a comfort blanket. Its all ive known and its brings ME comfort. I have no idea if one day itll come out that we were right all this time, in the end all i want is for the boys to be happy and healthy and successful. I love both Harry and Lou and i think fandoms all over need to realize that our idols dont owe us shit about their lives. Their famous because of their talent and personality not because of who they date. And it should be enough. All this and i choose to believe in Larry and let it bring me comfort in private while supporting them publicly in whatever that requires. As always ,love my boys ❤️