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mecachrome · 2 months

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omg k i just saw ur top 3 landoscar moments post from october 2023... any changes/updates since then? new moments made it onto the list? or if not... favorite moment of 2024 so far? (i just like hearing (reading?) ur thoughts it's like reading an intellectual (but still sappy in my fave way) bedtime story 🥰)

hklsdfhlsfhd naurrr... this is so embarrassing why am i still deeply landoscarpilled 6 months later 😔

but honestly i have been thinking about this and the sheer volume of crasyinsane material and lore we've accrued since last year because now i'm like how would you even begin constructing a top 3....... the possibilities are endless!!!

in terms of pre-october content that i might have missed before, i'd say most of this ask still holds (lando's biggest fan dot mp4 will NEVER lose its insanity to me. quintessential landoscar meta as far as i'm concerned) but now i also desperately need 2 shout out portrait painting challenge...... when it came out i was of course susceptible to the "you look beautiful" bantz though mostly just wrote it off as shipbait and since then i've looked back on this video multiple times and been like ?! why was oscar's deference to lando so insane actually.... i've alr mentioned this b4 but 1) oscar taking lando's intro in stride and immediately responding i am ready lando norris 2) oscar playfully acquiescing and letting lando use purple after he'd already chosen it 3) >like 5 seconds later. "you like purple don't you?" "uhhhh... i can do now" (who says that.) 4) another stunning display of lando Nooticing and fixating on oscar's hair swoop and last but not least 5) the way oscar FOLDS OVER and giggles helplessly when lando tells him i've just done you all pink ??? like. OKAY. cheers

looking @ recent content..... personally i find 814 so fascinating because while there are many Discrete Moments i can point out that make my brain explode i also feel like to some degree the reason we (? or maybe just me. again i apologize for the nonsensical drivel i create) love to make parallel gifsets of them is because they have such an understated dynamic built off many minute unspoken habits and wordless exchanges and essentially Patterns so there is less of like... a need for spontaneous intimacy.... if that makes sense. it's about the consistency of reciprocal comfort... iterations..... palisades palisades......... ok this is totally not related to the ask i've just been rotating it in my mind

anyway 10 personable favs !!! arranged chronologically

finish the lyrics (oct 2023): a deeply obvious one but you can't Not include it 😩 i can't believe this came out a week after i answered that because seriously what da hell. @ OSCAR PIASTRI WHAT IS WRONG WITH YEWWWWWWWW. there are sooooo many things i could mention here that i feel have already been exhaustively expounded, the most obvious of course being the classic ojp Heart Eyes moment(s) (Many such cases......but also specifically the love story one) (like i'd argue silverstone was mostly responsible for getting 814 off the ground BUT this video was when their dynamic became the most "mainstream" and accessible to fandom as a whole... the amount of non-f1 fans i saw qrting reups of that clip!!!!) anyway but then you also get 👉 whatever the inside joke they have about old town road is. oscar saying "i reckon you'd be unreal in a karaoke bar in japan" which i still think is such a Line... just me ??? the way he verryryryyyy softly sings "yes" with lando at the end of their love story karaoke and the insane camera angle of him just out of focus. like. really in general there is just such a soft and lighthearted and Fun air to their dynamic in this video that makes me ;__; AND this is another prime moment of lando narrating oscar's firsts for him (singing on camera at mcl!!!) . ALSAURR lando tapping oscar on the bicep while sarcastically complimenting him. once again for two guys who never touch it compels me... actually i could go on about this video tbh like how oscar nearly falls off the couch giggling at lando playing the songs together and then it cuts to the next one and he's suddenly all flushed and his bangs have gotten all fucked up. he's so... they're so... let's move on.

splunk sim city challenge (nov 2023): many classic lines such as "i haven't even distracted you yet!" + oscar knowing his podium year and lando saying "you're a nerd!" + lando going ":) :o are you okay?" and so on... general setup of this challenge was crasy tbh. how it revolves around disrupting the other person's focus and the visual asymmetry of one being sat higher and having to lean over to distract them and how oscar just giggles goodnaturedly when lando sticks his cue cards in front of his face instead of getting annoyed and—SO ON. also forever obsessed with how oscar wordlessly lifts his eyebrows at lando at the end lol

that one sticker video (nov 2023): this video is insaaAAANEEEE to me. ANYONE ELSE??? first of all oscar and lando gingerly standing across each other on either side of the flower bed (while zak brown assumes a power stance directly on it lmfao) is already so visually overwhelming but then the way oscar glances up as he's removing the sticker from the cap, how you can seeeeee him calculating the move the entire time and being adorably pleased about it, @__@ the way lando grins at him afterward... (also crying at zb glancing at them and being equally charmed by their antics) wahhh TT__TT the vibes of this clip... immaculate

oscar thanking lando in their final post-race message (nov 2023): honestly the entire message in general but :__) one of my fav 814 moments OAT is oscar including lando in his thank you speech and lando not really expecting it and being genuinely touched by the gesture. lando is so endearingly fidgety the entire time honestly and the way he perks up a bit and wrings his hands together and playfully smiles at oscar when he mentions him... okayyy. anyway 2 me it's reminiscent of yes/no challenge "am i the funniest teammate you've ever had?" "(shyly) yeahhh... you're up there" (said in the same baby-ish voice as "so... lando?" UGH. UGHHHH) and how lando genuinely gets a bit awkwardly flustered by it like!!! god. wait ALSO i don't have the space for this so i'm throwing in end of season awards MMMM debatable + how gleefully lando threw oscar under the bus and in general just the incredible expression work going on for both of them during this exchange. God [2]

si rapid fire questions (dec 2023): this video was crucial in determining that oscar... well. is obsessed with accommodating and mirroring lando. many things we already knew (aka listening to whatever music lando listens to; insert prema lap "maybe i should move to an english team because the music's better" moment here) but equally important is oscar "stealing" lando's dinner, how lando presses him on the back to the future question until oscar just changes his answer to his, and of course as you know per my blog title NO I'M GOING TO KEEP YOU HAPPY is in my eyes top 5 most insane things oscar piastri has ever said. likeee... lando showing a bit of jokey remorse over enforcing his rules (don't even get me started about lando and game/challenge rules...) but oscar being sooo determined 2 honor his teasing 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 :melting_face: x100!!!

need to split this into two lists because apparently there's a div character limit 😔 continuing on

hilton spa ad (feb 2024): of course this pained me because of This Moment (specifically lando bringing his hand back down when oscar tried to lift it from beneath him 😮‍💨) but that is neither here nor there. obsessed with the salmon at the engineering table anecdote because the most logical explanation for oscar Not doing that anymore is because lando didn't like it... or he just eats different things now but we already know that he's adopted lando's preferred meal b4 so that's equally a lot 2 digest !!! also >the callback to their one million LOOK AT YOU/HIM moments >how they touch shoulders exactly Once when they sit down and then never again despite lando continuously leaning into oscar's space to get to the button... eugh. also just top tier oscar faces + hair 🥰

opening title behind the scenes (mar 2024): thinking about all the hilarious gifsets of this moment that i ate up deliciously 🧡🧡🧡 this was such a significant reminder of how 814 have just gotten like, exceedingly comfortable around each other & have learned 2 communicate via the most inscrutable expressions and noises and gestures that somehow suit Them perfectly x__x although i doubt they will ever really become ~effusive~ with each it's frankly even more devastating that they both help each other care less about maintaining appearances / how they often get so sucked into their interactions (see next bullet point) that everything else kind of just fades away in that instant.... all right ⚠️⚠️⚠️ maybe that's a bit of a stretch but we can pretend for the rpf lens!!! see also my tag spiel in this beautiful tuva gifset.

photo day antics (mar 2024): do you ever just...... what went on in bahrain. honestly. more from this weekend in a second but this video plus the accompanying photo encapsulate their dynamic so perfectly it makes me scream... how 814 are not only so annoyingly focused on each other all the time but also stand SOOO UNNECESSARILY CLOSE while every other teammate pairing is spaced out normally. yuki and checo glancing at them alksfdhdf 😭 truly so ridiculous that the poor photo person tried to get lando's attention and they pretended to comply for two seconds before oscar was lifting his foot to show lando his boot again. also why did it take oscar a million years to step away from lando and put a more appropriate amount of space between them...?! and even then it was barely that much........... (10 paragraphs of speaking later) I prefer really not to speak.

accidental waist grab (mar 2024): this gave me psychic damage so bad i should be lobotomized. we've already spoken about this perhaps erm excessively but why did lando feel the need to stand JUST as close to him if not closer after they broke apart. there was truly no need...... honestly the way this ship will have us looking up driver cams and staring at esteban ocon's ass as he gets out his car just for a single glimpse of their parc fermé dynamic.

bahrain post-race interview antics (mar 2024): You already knowwwww. the sky sports "he follows me everywhere" moment is equally important but the f1tv interview giving us horrifically natural banter (juxtaposing this with their previous interview moments...), lando's dumb faux australian accent and oscar playing along as always, and most of all them HIJACKING THE INTERVIEW & commiserating on camera together ❓❗️ lichrally the grid photo all over again. often when i have emotions over an 814 moment i worry that i sound overly He_Only_Got_Two_Eyes.jpeg but truly sometimes two people are just objectively insane. plus land of piastri/lando piastri.....

also runner up is the f1tv interview with lawrence aka lando's cooing noise @ oscar discussing lily (anyone else frame by frame color pick oscar's face to see how badly he flushed... no? just me?) + the beautiful self-aware surfacing of the CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS of their relationship...... !!! love when 2 guys expose and confirm their own sincerity in trying to verbally resist it. hem

is this anything. sorry eve LKSFDHLDHSF thank u for the ask & pls lmk what ur fav moments are too 🧡

#ask #i need to stop answering asks like this. sorry

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ominoose · 2 months

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𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

Pairing: Android!Nathan Bateman x GN!Depressed!Reader Summary: Your therapist advises you buy an android as a companion. He's a pain. Warnings: None, just fluff. WC: 1.5k Thank you @jinjersnapz for beta reading :*

The moment he stepped out of the box you wanted a refund. Thinly veiled disappointed creased his eyebrow and tugged down his lips as the android, Nathan, took in the cabin. It wasn't much, that you'd concede, wooden floors, walls and roof with a bathroom, office, kitchenette, living room and bedroom. The basic rooms filled with what one needed to live, or as your therapist called it “bare essentials” and “not willing to take up your own space”. Bullshit, essentially.

And now the result of not listening to said bullshit was taking in your abode like it was a one star Air BnB that posted fake five star reviews. He probably wanted a refund as much as you. That was an accurate description of life since he was shipped into it, ‘I want a refund.’

“You're wasting time.” Said the most annoying alarm clock since the creation of alarm clocks.

You only responded by turning over and pulling the covers over your head before they were ripped off the bed and cold air attacked your now exposed and cold skin.

“Stop spending all your time in bed just to go bitch to your therapist about how you're worthless and your life has no meaning. Either get your ass up or I'll dismantle the bed and hide the screws.”

The petty, blunt asshole would. Last week he messed with the dryer's wiring, leaving your bed sheets wet until you finished your book (that he'd recommended, ordered on your Amazon and held you at laundry point to read), citing “intellectual enrichment” as the reason.

Getting out of bed was rewarded with him asking for a cup of coffee while he worked out (apparently the extra use of his metal tendons strengthened them over time), knowing full well he'd only complain about it being cheap. It was a hellish routine, but a routine nonetheless, as your therapist annoyingly felt the need to point out every session. Begrudgingly, you'd also be forced to admit it was the truth. He got you out of bed, engaging with the house, energizing yourself and having some sort of start for the day.

“Why don't we go out for a hike?” Nathan rounded you to grab the steaming cup of coffee, grimacing at the taste.

Broad shoulders rolled openly, clad in simple grey tank top and black joggers. Despite knowing he had no skin, no actual flesh underneath the tanned synthetic layers stretched over his biceps looked soft enough to bite. Not that you'd let the android know.

“A hike? Outside? Today?” The spontaneous request caught you off guard, already openly reluctant.

The deadpan stare he gave you behind the silver frames wasn't fond.

“You live in Butt-Fuck Nowhere and want to just sit in this shitehole. Wasting your innate opportunity to explore nature's beauty.”

“Yeah, I do. Have a fun hike Nathan.” That statement was meant to be closed by you swiftly turning and walking back to your room, but a warm, calloused hand gripped your arm sternly and rooted you to the spot.

“How am I meant to have fun if you aren't there to bug? A walk in nature is an easy hack to ease your disease riddled brain and you don't take advantage of it. It's a wonder androids haven't taken over yet.”

The way he refused to handle you and your depression like a porcelain doll was something you loathed to love about him. How odd that an arrogant android treated you with the most humanity.

“I'll upload a virus into your cloud if you don't let me go, see who has a ‘disease riddled organ then.”

“An STD threat, how cute. Try successfully updating your Sims mod folder and I'll personally walk you through the virus myself.” Logically, there shouldn’t be a lively spark in his eyes, but it was there all the same, goading you into spats with him, time and time again.

“I bought you, the least you could do is fix my Sims!” Another thing you hated needing from him was the way he fed and stoked your fire, turning you from dying embers to a roaring bonfire. It always happened before you were aware of it, always when he got that cocky smirk as if this was exactly what he wanted.

And following routine he simply walked away, rolling those ridiculously handsome shoulders to add salt to the wound and leaving you to seeth.

“Hurry up and get ready.”

When you finally crested the hill, sun shining down through dark pine trees, birds chirping around you, part of you conceded it was worth it. The other part was whining over the stitch aching at your side.

“God I feel like death.” The panting breaths came out as a fog in the cold forest, but Nathan paid no mind to the temperature or your whining.

You never once questioned his ability to enjoy the cold whistle of the wind, whether or not he could feel the numbing chill in his finger tips. Why did it matter why his favourite spot was the waterfall, always cold no matter the season, a hint of a smile plucking at synthetic lips when the mist tickled his beard. It didn’t occur that it should matter, but it was noticed by him the way your mouse didn’t entertain the news articles discussing the ethics of how closely androids now resembled a human, drawing comparisons to fictional history of Dune.

Nathan knew more than anyone that you weren’t the academic, whizzkid genius he was. Your mind physically could not scramble through numbers and piece together advanced mathematic equations. You weren’t book smart, but it wasn’t something he considered lacking.

You dismissed stupid opinions (like the aforementioned article) as if they didn’t exist to you as easily as you stood toe to toe with him to defend other stupid opinions (Aristotle was just some annoying old guy). You were acutely aware of your depression, the way your mind functioned against you and plodded on, taking it in your stride your own way.

As you keeled over, huffing out cold whisps, his dark brown eyes scanned every inch of you. There was no part of you he hadn’t cataloged and stored carefully in his memory banks, no quirk or habit was unfamiliar to him. Yet it always felt like a small surprise to see them unfold in the intimate privacy of the small bubble you both shared.

“Why’re you staring? You better not say I told you so, I’ll ship you back and enjoy going back to my solitude inside.”

“You wouldn’t have to be alone. You’re pretty enough to coax someone into your little hovel.” Said like a passing comment on the gathering clouds.

“Pretty?” Said as a reaction, completely caught off guard.

“Yeah? How many times do we need to go over how your mind will distort how you perceive reality before you finally listen to me, sweetheart?” How was he managing to still be so condescending while arguing about how beautiful you were, how the softly filtered sunlight through the trees settled against your hair like the sun was made to do just that

No wonder humans had wasted so much time on artsy poetic bullshit since the BC’s, beauty really could be all you had the capacity to think about.

“Based on what? I thought you didn’t abide by societal constructs Mr Bateman?” It was a shoddy attempt at acting normal, but the supercomputer android would’ve already noticed the quiver in your voice and the red dusting your face. Maybe if you pretended you didn’t know he could do that, he just wouldn’t.

“I’m abiding by my standards.” His eyes stared right into you. The words words hit you right in the stomach, no time to brace.

And he takes advantage of the hesitation.

“We both know I’m capable of noticing when you ogle me when I work out. We both know I'm equipt to sense when your heart rate picks up, which it does every time I lean over your shoulder to correct your shitty work. We both know I can literally measure the heat in your cheeks right now, want me to?”

The speed at which your head shook had your hair lashing your face, something that only grew his smirk.

“You sure?”

“Fuck yo-”

His lips were warm when they cut you off, subtly soft in contrast to the calloused hands cupping your face. Your mind instantly jumps to satisfaction that you’d been right in your assumption about the feel of his lips until the actual realisation that he was kissing you kicked in, and by that point he was already pulling away. You didnt even have time to savour how the cold metal of his glasses pressed against your nose.

“Lets go, it’s gonna start pissing down and I hate fogged up glasses.”

Nathan was already walking back home, back turned until he realised you weren’t already trailing after him. He turned. You were still staring, lips slightly parted and wide eyed, not yet finished processing what had happened. His smirk turned soft.

“C’mon sweetheart, I need my shitty cup of coffee.”

#nathan bateman x reader #oscar isaac #omiwrites

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dangowon · 1 year

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title » boyfriend hcs !

pairing » yang jungwon x gn!reader

requested? » yes

genre » fluff

word count » 1.2k (kind of got carried away)

a/n » i'm really sorry for not having posted for so long, i've been busy with school. i lost the request for this since the person deactivated, so i can't link it to the post :( but either way, i hope you enjoy this <3

✧ jungwon is the sweetest person ever, and he'd be even sweeter as your boyfriend

✧ as a leader, jungwon is expected to be on his best behaviour and he's expected to show maturity. with you though, he feels comfortable enough to show more of his child-like side, and it's apparent in the way he whines when you don't give him attention or how he swings your intertwined hands forward and back while you walk.

✧ when you're offering him some of your food, he'll expect you to be handfeeding him and if you're not, he'll pout until you do. at the beginning of your relationship, he found these things 'embarrassing', but as time went by, he was able to be his true self around you.

✧ fancy dates aren't really his thing (although he wouldn't mind it for a special occasion like your anniversary), so most of your dates are spontaneous and unplanned. sometimes when you can't sleep, you two will go on walks in the nearby park and enjoy the peace and quiet.

✧ he also loves picnic dates so much, he'll make sure it's perfect for you; he'll bring bowls of cut-up fruit that are shaped into hearts, your favourite sandwiches (jay helped him make them, but you don't have to know that) and pastries from a cafe that you both visit often.

✧ he didn't think he would love stargazing with you as much as he does, but it feels so natural for you two to lie down and talk while admiring the night sky. though secretly, he'll stare you while you're busy counting the stars present that night despite there being too many. because to him, no star will ever be more beautiful than you are.

✧ due to his busy schedule, it's common that you can't see him that much during the day. to compensate for that, he'll spam you with selfies of him doing random things like drinking water or he'll bring his face really close to the camera, open his eyes wide and lowkey jumpscare you.

✧ he will also update you with whatever happens during his day — you'll get texts talking about him seeing a new restaurant that opened up and saying that you two should try going there, or him saying how he saw a cute cat on the street and pet it despite his allergies.

✧ he can't shut up around you. like, at all. during comeback season, he will do exactly what the company told him not to do and literally tell you every detail. he shows you the whole choreography and sings the song to you because he's just so excited.

✧ he does well with balancing his work as an idol and taking care of himself, but when the pressure, fatigue and stress hit him all at once, he can't help but feel under the weather. he'll try to act like he's fine, but you can tell in the way his movements are more sluggish and by the dark circles underneath his droopy eyes.

✧ sometimes people forget that he's young, and shouldering so many responsibilities every single day is hard on him. he feels safe when he's with you, he feels safe when you open your arms for him to lay between and lend him your shoulder to cry on when he needs it.

✧ the way you rub his back gently while whispering sweet words into his ear is everything he needs to feel whole. he doesn't like showing vulnerability, but he's beyond glad that he has you by his side, constantly reassuring him that things will be fine.

✧ of course he'll be there for you as well when you need it, he always is. if you're feeling sad, he'll drop whatever he's doing to comfort you, kissing your forehead and asking you what's wrong. even if you don't want to talk about it, he'll do whatever it takes to see your pretty smile.

✧ his cuddles are the comfiest, you two spend hours just laying together in bed with your limbs tangled and your head resting on his chest. sometimes he prefers for you to hold him, especially if he's tired. he'll trap you with his arms around your waist, he's stronger than he looks and he will not let go of you.

✧ as sweet as he is, he can also be quite the mischievous person sometimes. if you're too busy on your phone (a.k.a, not paying attention to him for 5 seconds) he'll take it and hold it above your head if you're shorter than him, telling you to give him at least ten kisses if you want it back.

✧ if you're taller, he'll grab it and run around the house while you chase him — he runs really fast, it's actually kind of scary. he'll pucker his lips at you and once again, tell you to kiss him if you want your phone back.

✧ he loves kissing you so so much, and he'll do it anywhere, anytime. when he wakes up and sees you beside him, he can't help but break out into a smile and press his lips onto yours shortly before nudging you awake. he gets all blushy if he finds out you were awake while he kissed you.

✧ he doesn't go shopping that much, but if you've been wanting something for a while, he'll buy it for you and pretend like it wasn't him. oh, that one phone you were thinking about buying suddenly ended up on your desk? he has no idea how it got there.

✧ matching rings are a must. you two got matching rings 6 months into your relationship, and he never takes his off. even if he's live, he'll keep it on because he likes the reminder that you're his and he's yours.

✧ he doesn't let it show often, but he gets jealous quite easily. whether it be somebody staring at you or a person being bold (and stupid) enough to come ask you for your number, he'll wrap his arm protectively around you, making it clear that you are in fact taken.

✧ and if that's not enough? he can't physically fight them, mostly because he's a public figure, but his words are sharp and he'll find a way to humiliate that person so that they'd go away. afterwards, he'd press a kiss to your cheek and smile cutely at you as if he didn't just decimate someone's ego.

✧ he can't stand not being around you for long amounts of time, so when he's on tour and you can't come with him, he's miserable — and dramatic, at that. he'll constantly text you that he misses you with frowning emojis and says that he wishes you were with him.

✧ when he gets back, you can bet that he'll be all over you; peppering kisses on every inch of your face, clinging to you for hours on end and he even makes you sleep over so that he can cuddle with you the entire night.

✧ he doesn't feel complete without you around him, you're one of the most vital things in his life and he doesn't think that he could ever fathom a life that doesn't have you in it. the thought of you alone is enough for him to get through the day and he hopes that he'll be able to be with you for as long as you'll allow him.

✧ your relationship is just the cutest thing ever honestly <3

#✧ yun writes #enhypen #enhypen x reader #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fluff #jungwon #yang jungwon #jungwon x reader #yang jungwon x reader #jungwon x you #jungwon x yn #jungwon imagines #jungwon scenarios #jungwon fluff #enhypen drabbles #jungwon drabbles

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thearchercore · 4 months

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After reading your essays about Charles and PR, I have a bit of a rant when it comes to Charles’ image rn, and how (I believe) him and RBR are working together. I mean, it could be very likely considering his and RBR’s posts.

Let’s have a bit of a look at the 3 accounts that are posting Charles almost all the time rn. Ferrari, Charles himself and Red Bull. Ferrari’s posts are 1. Not much, considering he is their driver, and 3. Are either way too polished or just a thirst trap. Considering that Ferrari is his team, they aren’t posting Charles much, since the beginning of the year. And they haven’t changed their tactics, their posts are too polished, too stuffy if you could say, with the inly non-stuffy one being a pic of Charles falling while playing Football and Skiing, and even that doesn’t look authentic or like they’re really pleased about it.

Now, let’s see Charles. Since the beginning of 2024, there has been a shift in Charles’ social media, it isn’t all theist traps, or any of that shit. I mean, yeah he had a few posts that showed his adventurous fun side of his personality, but they were very limited compared to his curated posts, the posts that are what we could consider “safe” and “according to Ferrari’s agenda” kind of. But since ten beginning of the year, there is only one post which falling in this category, which is a post made by his sponsor, APM Monaco, for a shoot. The rest are, charles is drunk, relatable in LA, being goofy while skiing. Almost as if Charles is trying to detach himself from the Ferrari image if that PR robot who only has looks.

Now onto the last side of this, Red Bull. RBR have always been known as fun, spontaneous, almost chaotic. I mean, their slogan is and always have been and always will be Red Bull Gives You Wings. They have been the ones who never restricted their drivers, Max, Checo and Daniel can post whatever they want. But lets be real, I don’t think Max and Checo use their Socials much (with the chance of Max having a private account which we all knew from his twitch saga 😂, but its mire because Max is a private person).

Back to Charles, Red Bull is posting Charles in a way that shows that he’s a beast on track, only him can battle Max, but also in a way that shows the fun aide, the sticker war?? And I believe RBR and Charles are working together in that sense, RBR showing the dynamic between both, as well as highlight the fact that the ones with the most battles with Max that are the most entertaining is Charles, while Charles is detaching himself from that stuffy Ferrari thirst trap-y agenda into the more fun loving, spontaneous person.

And I think they’re doing that in order to prepare for something. Like Charles to RBR announcement when bestie??

yeah, something may be going on behind the scenes! i mentioned charles' rebrand from ferrari-focused posts to more individual approach here and the recent change of posting patterns (ft. posting charles) on the RBR socials here

i got a bit caught by surprise on thursday -- a day where ferrari is known to post contract announcements -- in the morning f1 posted joint post with ferrari about charles' monza win, then posted a pic with charles' monza helmet quote "one team one dream" (which was rumoured to be his OG renewal helmet, renewal got obviously postponed). all posts lead me and my friends to believe that an announcement is imminent and i patiently waited for the charles renewal announcement to drop.

nothing happened.

the same day, however, we got a new article that updated that carlos' negotiations for a new contract aren't working out the way they wanted. apparently ferrari only wants to give carlos a one year long contract, carlos wants a multi-year contract. that once again delayed the contract renewal announcement.

remember that fred mentioned he wanted to have the contracts locked by christmas so they're ready by january.

also seems like carlos' deadline for contract is the testing in bahrain. they want to announce before the testing starts.

there were also rumours that because of that, ferrari is eyeing alex albon as a possible second driver.

again, it's all quite messy and not fully confirmed but just the delayed timeline shows how many complications ferrari may be facing right now.

is red bull part of the game? maybe, maybe not. we can't tell, we can only follow their social pattern and see how they move in the future.

#lestappen gate 2023 #charles leclerc #formula 1 #f1 #lestappen gate #2024

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matan4il · 5 months

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Daily update post:

In my daily update post yesterdy, I mentioned two attack drones sent by Hezbollah, that invaded Israel's north. It was later published that one of the drones managed to carry out its attack, and it killed a 53 years old man, Yechezkel Azaria.

It's not surprising anymore, but the IDF found another terror tunnel shaft hidden underneath a baby's crib in Gaza.

The Iranian Islamic regime, which has been murdering girls and women for "immodesty" (meaning, if they happen to wear their hijab improperly), has been using a network of Iranian girls to seduce Israeli soldiers with nude pics of themselves, while fishing for info, according to the Iranian oppositionary website, Iran International.

For the first time since the start of the war, aid trucks entered Gaza directly from Israel, rather than be checked here, and go into Gaza through Egypt.

Two days after rockets were fired from Gaza into Jerusalem, some of the debris was found, including in a kindergarten's playground.

A Canadian teenager has been arrested for his part in an intended terrorist attack against Jews in Ottawa, for passing on instructions regarding how to build explosives, and orders to carry out the attack. This teen is the fifth to be arrested for terrorism related activity in Canada since June. Looking forward to people condamning Canada as a terrorist state for arresting kids.

Just a small reason to smile... Israeli soldiers from the Jewish Yemenite community, were walking through the Machne Yehuda market in Jerusalem, when they happened to catch Jewish Yemenite music being played, and they spontaneously started dancing to it. One of the steps they're doing is known in Israel as "the Yemenite step" and it's very popular among non-Yemenite Jews, too (this is also the daily reminder that Israeli Jews are not European. As a side note, based on their shoes, they're either paratroopers or completed a parachuting course).

Here's a vid from Daniel Ryan Spaulding, a gay, non-Jewish comedian, who has decided to take a firm stance against antisemitism. Most of his vids are hilarious, this one is from a serious panel he participated in, and he speaks about the rage people felt, when he dared go to the UN to hear the testimonies about the sexual violence committed by Hamas on Oct 7.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BREAK THE HATE (@breakthehate.world)

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Lastly, this is 27 years old Inbar Haiman.

Inbar was a student, who was volunteering at the Nova music festival when Hamas invaded. She was taken hostage, and yesterday we got confirmation that she was murdered in captivity.

The past 70 days have been a nightmare of on going trauma and grief, because every single day, we learn of more people we've lost due to the Hamas massacre. Every single day I listen to the news, to the loved ones of those who are gone, giving interviews, or their eulogies being broadcast, I hear their voices breaking, and my heart breaks along, and it's 70 days of this hell, and it's not going to stop any time soon. Nothing that I write on Tumblr will ever convey the full impact, loss and pain of Oct 7, lasting 70 days and counting.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #Instagram

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ybklix · 5 days

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Salvatore

♡ hwang hyunjin

⤷ intro

⋆cw: mention of suicide ⋆notes: narrated from fem character’s pov. the character narrates the circumstances that lead her to meet hyunjin, in later parts. updated masterlist here! •⩊•

a/n: i had this in my drafts i just decorated a little to post it (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

chapters one & two

ONE

word count: 986

The world seemed to move the same. But it wasn't, she was missing. The days are long and the nights are a living nightmare. I don't think I'll ever get over something like that. The huge emptiness, the deep sadness and the endless constant guilt that kept repeating in a loop and managed to slowly consume me as I lamented over and over again for not being able to avoid something as terrible as death. Suicide.

A supposed suicide.

But it happened. And there was nothing else to do. The important issue, is that I would never see her again, or hear her, in the presence of her.

I think every second of the day I found out and the heartbreaking memory it was to say goodbye to my sister forever. The desperate, heartbreaking screams of my mother, dressed in traditional clothes on the most horrible day of our lives.

I don't think anyone ever thought something like this would happen. Much less in the way it happened… it was totally bizarre, as if I suddenly didn't know the person I was bound to by blood, forever; until now. Suddenly everything got weird, she stopped calling home, but I tried to go on with my normal, carefree life; as I didn't want to intrude and I assumed she had a busy life now, plus the time difference could be annoying at times.

Even so, what kept me motivated was that soon I would go to see her, it was only two weeks away… I would go to visit her, I would see her apartment and we would walk around the city. But suddenly nothing. Just a great upheaval in my soul.

Even so, in my ignorance, I continued with my activities. I was visiting my friends, graduating from high school and getting ready for what was next in my life, a university life, in the career I had shown interest in for a couple of years; unlike my sister, for me it was in the city near our childhood home, only a little more than 2 hours away in Rome.

It had been a while… yes I was curious about what was going on in her life; but with Bethany you never knew what her next move was. She was like that, spontaneous. Quite the opposite of what I thought I was. At 16 she left home, with the help of my parents convincing them to study out of the country, to a place far away but not foreign to our family.

She loved to talk, to explore, but with my parents she was always serious and distant, almost as if they dulled her glow. So taking advantage of them to alienate herself was the best decision she could have made. She shone on her own, for a period. Until it managed to extinguish itself so suddenly. Without explanation, leaving a huge void in the people who truly appreciated her, in me.

I guess things like this just can't be explained.

I can't even process it, my empty stomach is spinning, the insomnia became real and the tears are hard and burning as they slide down my face.

Despite all the chaos formed; seeing my sister there, lying motionless and lifeless —an action I didn't have the courage to take until the last moment before she was taken away—… I thought and thought about certain things, like how we were somewhat alike, about the fact that when an idea gets stuck in our minds… it's impossible to get out of there. I was more rigid; I wanted answers and kindness was not my forte, as she was. Charming, pretty, brave.

This couldn't stay that way. Not just like that. There had to be an explanation and I wasn't referring to needing it for my loss and despair. I was thinking logically, I guess, I need her. This wasn't just happening for the sake of it.

I hadn't slept in days. I guess I was losing track more and more, if it was Wednesday, if it was the fourth; not since what happened. I guess when this kind of thing happens you really seem to tune out. During the dark nights of that hellish summer I manage to remember moments… of which keep me afloat and think how sad it is that I haven't spoken in days and no one seems to notice. Everyone was immersed in their own world dealing with something like this; just like now.

I remember being 6 years old and she was 11, playing that we were looking for a reward chest, mysteries to solve that after all I took a great liking to… as Bethany explained that if it something happened there would have to be a reason, even if it was pure spontaneity… there was the cause. So why… why leave without even a letter. Should I have been a better sister and noticed the signs of depression? If I had paid attention, so I could have avoided it, none of this would be happening?

Why would the person who since she was a little girl kept firm and mature ideas standing, determined to her philosophy suddenly decide to leave like this. Something strange was going on… or she was just going through a mourning that was hard to accept.

The whole world was going absolutely crazy. Or at least mine. Because that was all I have. All I know, unlike my sister, I wasn't as adventurous, or a born visionary as she was.

I just lived in the present and that was my problem. Bethany always seemed to have a bundle up her sleeve, just something new and fun so she would never get stuck and bored.

But my days in my comfort zone were coming to an end. From now on. I would finish whatever Bethany couldn't and find out the truth because something deep down inside doesn't seem right, my heart tells me so.

And when an idea like that happens… the universe knows I could become someone else.

TWO

word count: 1.7k

It all started a while ago, years ago. 7 years ago to be exact, during the spring. Bethany was enthusiastically showing me, with a big smile on her face and her school uniform on, pictures taken in the park near her high school, with 3 of her friends, Mia, Isabella and Chiara. She had told me how Mia was able to buy a digital camera and then take them pictures, she thought it was so much fun.

I know now, that that evening was more than just one of her types of goodbyes, as she was planning something that day that suddenly changed everything.

We had just left school. She was leaning on my bed holding the pictures she had taken with her friends gently passing them, one on top of the other. I don't remember the day but it was maybe, sometime in April.

Bethany asked me if no one else was home besides me, leaning against the edge of the doorway before making herself comfortable in my room. I replied that our mother had most likely gone out to buy something.

I asked her about the sudden interest, more as an automatic response than out of curiosity, “why?”, “I have to tell them something”.

I didn't make a big deal out of that sentence, I didn't want to intrude plus she quickly changed the subject. At the time I was eleven and Bethany was fifteen, a month shy of her sixteenth birthday.

She told me about her friend’s plans, Chiara's trip to Ibiza, Mia at her grandmother's vineyards and Isabella's summer job helping her mother at her store. When I asked her what she would do a grimace appeared on her face, unsure and doubtful of what could be the right answer; from which I assumed it was because of our parent’s sudden change in not spending the summer in Seoul, as every year, but to wait until the winter vacations, where it would now be with our aunt, for the island. It was usually on both occasions when we would visit South Korea, to be connected to that part of the family we shared with our mother.

I remember suggesting to her to go to the beach, both of us; which she complied with at the end of May, a week before she left home. We had our 3 days at the beach, under the Fregene sun, eating soft ice cream. Only 40 minutes from Rome by bus, and just over an hour by train. I remember everything so well. The sound of people talking, the sound of the sea, Bethany's noisy sandals slapping the sand and my mother's sudden cursing in her first language, sitting in that blue beach chair with her hat. I loved the beach, every aspect of it… My sister seemed to be darker, and tended to like to play hide and seek, being a big part of the crowd, under the city lights, I always thought the town we grew up in was never for her. So she found her place once she got away from us.

After the first day Bethany's friend had joined us, Isabella. At times I watched them primp and preen, in awe; ready to stroll through the noisy city, leaving me wondering what two teenagers were supposed to do when you feel the city belongs to you. Giggling, putting gloss on her lips and high heels, glittery eyeshadow, fixing her hair between the two of them, once again leaving me with ideas in mind, like whether I would ever do those simple little things with my older sister once the age difference is not so stark and when I'm no longer a child. Once I start getting interested in those things more and more; maybe when I'm 15 too. But Bethany wasn't around after I turned eleven. I did get interested in those things and I did it too but with friends. During those nights, I would just stay up late with my parents, watching TV; waiting for Bethany to come back. But that day in April, after dinner, with both parents gathered; after clearing the table and cleaning up, when I was finally supposed to go to my room, I stopped to listen to what Bethany had to say.

The sentence was as simple as: I want to go to study in Seoul. Finish my high school and start college there. And all of a sudden. Silence. I couldn't see them but I could perfectly picture the scene in my head; of which it was approximately like this, with the two of them sitting, slightly leaning on the table, Bethany standing in front of them, with her hands together, a gesture she used to make when announcing something. The bright light of the room reflecting on my sister's forehead and the confused face of my mother, who suddenly started speaking to her in Korean, in confusion, her confused expression permeating my mind even though I didn't see her, what, "what are you talking about", she would suddenly say in her strong korean southern accent.

I can't quite memorize what my exact thoughts were at the time… as I just wanted to hear everything and then generate an opinion. I guess it just took me by surprise too.

She went on to explain that, for some time now she has been in close contact with Joomi, a cousin a year older than Bethany whom she is very close to, and spends all her time wiith her, whenever we go to visit. She said that they talk a lot on the internet and that she somehow managed to convince her to study there and rebuild her life in that faraway place.

She argued with a tone that tried to persuade them, saying that she had all the support of my uncle's family, my mother's brother. That if they allowed her to have that opportunity there would be no reason to let them down and she would finally be fully connected to her roots that our mother instilled in us so much.

Her answer was no. No from my mother. A 'I don't know' from our father.

2 days later, Bethany received the final answer. She would finish the rest of the school year and leave for the summer to try to adjust and go to study at the same school as Joomin, living under that family's roof.

My mother just wanted her to suddenly connect with what she suddenly felt was lost and out of her hands, among her other two older siblings, she had been the only one to marry a foreigner, migrate and raise two of her daughters in a different culture than her own… and suddenly her first born had the idea to take a big step… it was hard for her; especially when her future was strictly planned, to graduate at the top of her class and continue her studies at the university in Rome. It was surprising the sudden change of plans, especially when my mother had everything in the palm of her hands and with how extremely stubborn her character was; but her older brother managed to interfere and persuade her; he promised to take care of her and love her like another daughter.

And I knew all this from Bethany's spontaneous change of mood, her smile was bigger, her eyes sparkled and she had her characteristic grimace of when she manages to win or something goes as planned, in victory. I was told in detail a week after confirming to her that yes, she would be leaving.

Honestly at the time I don't think I said any words; there was nothing clear to say… other than "wow, I really hope everything goes very well". And I meant it with my biggest will and heart.

I guess I stayed in shock for a while until I saw her leaving, boarding that plane; that's when I could finally come to my senses. I saw my mother and then my father, simply letting his first 16 year old daughter leave. It was all confusing, I thought everyone over there was trying to run away from the school system… I guessed Bethany really had a plan.

And she did. She even managed to get into college… but the career of her choice was not at all satisfactory to my parents. It was, to a certain extent, disappointing, causing Bethany great sadness, I could feel it in her eyes that summer when we went to visit her. Suddenly she would contact us less, making excuses that if we were to see her that summer, her stay would be short because she would be very busy… which, what was once an annual visit, became a very irregular tradition, every two years… separating us little by little.

The first three years were strictly adhering to the family rule of our annual visit to my mother's and Bethany's home country, who unlike me, I was born in Italy, like my father. During that period everything seemed fine; my talks with Bethany consisted of being amazed at how much I had grown up, apparently, what I had made of my life in Italy and simple things like that… until the year she entered college, during that summer, the pressure from my parents was very high; Bethany tried to remain calm, but nothing worked out for her. The following year, she announced the news of her career causing discontent. I tried to cheer her up and that somehow created a bond again in us that I thought was lost, since she left I felt she was not the same person I admired so much, suddenly her life was a mystery to me, who her best friends were, her life at school, her daily routine, even everyone knew her by her Korean name, she seemed like someone else.

The change in her was there. For good, while she could. And for bad when the poor thing felt she was the family failure. Despite the estrangement between our parents; Bethany always tried to keep in touch with me, calling constantly, leaving e-mails in my inbox, giving me little things that reminded her of me… the truth is that I found it tender and funny the way she didn't know me, since with her demonstrations of affection she reminded me how much she was stuck in my tastes when she was 10 or 11 years old. But that quickly and without warning turned into 15, 16… the age when she left.

Despite all the ups and downs… I never really knew the way her life was, her own life thousands of miles away from me, still, I tried to be close.

#hwang hyunjin #hyunjin #skz smut #hyunjin scenarios #skz #stray kids #skz fanfic #hyunjin skz #hyunjin stray kids #stray kids fanfic #hyunjin fanfic #hyunjin fic #hwang hyujin imagines #skz fic #hyunjin series

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ataleofcrowns · 1 year

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Chapter 11 Progress [25/MAR]

Hey everyone, I hope your spring has started well 🌻

As for me, I have a lot of good news to share!! After a short writing break post CH10 release, I wrapped up some uni coursework, which freed up my schedule for the next several months. Starting from this week I'm full steam ahead on CH11, and have already written 13k words for it!!

That's way more than I estimated I would have for March, so I hope I'll make it close to 20k by the start of April. If I can keep this pace up for the next two months, then I'll be able to post CH11 by early June 🙏🏼

What you can expect from CH11

As you can probably tell from how differently CH10 ended depending on your LI, each LI route will have very different opening scenes as a result.

It also has additional, major varying scenes depending on if your Crown has a high romance or a low romance. The low variants for the romances haven't had major consequences so far, aside from some differences in how the relationship is progressing, but CH11 is where it gets REALLY real.

I sincerely hope you'll consider having a separate low romance save for your Crown, because the differences between a low and high relationship in CH11 are going to be pretty huge.

Not irreversibly huge, mind you, but "this scene has a separate variable that will make the game remember whether your relationship was high or low at this point in time and how it all went down" in the future. Even if you switch to a high romance later on, your LI will still remember how your Crown handled this scene 👀

And don't worry, the choices regarding this scene will be VERY clear in terms of their effects on the romance. So if you want to intentionally craft a messy route that still leads to a good ending, or if you just want to go for a complete trainwreck of a romance, here's your chance lol.

First up: X's route!

In terms of specifics, I've written bits and pieces for each LI over my supposed writing break (lol), but since I've started working on CH11 in earnest, I've started off with X's route first.

This is because X's route has the most ANNOYING variants in it haha. The opening for X's route features the Imperial Court, which has to take a lot of player choices into account (Office of Law, Lady Naza, possible alliance with the royal historians).

It is a relatively short scene since the court meeting is very spontaneous, and players on other LI routes will also see the choices they made reflected in the Imperial Court on the main plot path. But it involves a lot of writing, especially since I have to write a low romance variant and a high romance variant for it 😭

On the upside, I'm practically done with it!! I'm hopeful I'll be able to move onto writing X's major romance scene tomorrow, then switch to another LI's opening scene by the end of next week. I'm thinking R next.

That was it for this update ✨

I'm posting further updates and CH11 previews on the Patreon for all tiers, as well as all sorts of fun extra LI/Crown snippets, so if you'd like more AToC content while you wait for CH11, consider pledging!!

As always, thanks so much for your patience and support 💖

#progress report #a tale of crowns #interactive fiction

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sotwk · 4 months

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WIP Snippet Game: Taken (Eomer x Reader)

I was tagged in a few snippet games last month, but I haven't had anything decent to share until now!

Thank you for the tags, @hobbitwrangler @lathalea @sverdgeir @cuarthol! (and I might have missed someone else, it's been that long, LOL). And a tag for @scyllas-revenge is mandatory at this point.

Snippet from Taken, Part 3

It is only for several weeks, you told yourself, to ease the weight of doubt that sat upon your chest. As you turned to walk back toward the cottage, a fierce wind rose and ripped off the cloak that was loosely draped over your shoulders. With a startled cry you grabbed for it, but not quickly enough to save it from landing in a large puddle. You retrieved the soaked fabric from the mud with a sigh. A fat raindrop landed squarely on the top of your uncovered head, and was immediately followed by another and another. Spontaneous rain had been pouring on and off over Gondor since the King’s coronation, and you heard the locals welcome and praise this tumultuous weather as a blessing, a sign of war’s filth being washed away to cleanse the lands for rebirth. Shielding your eyes from the sudden deluge, you looked up at the roiling clouds overhead, further entranced by the sight of jagged lightning flashing over the White Mountains. But when your gaze dropped back down to the horizon, you were alarmed to notice a horsed figure crossing the fields through the storm, approaching fast, in your direction. It was him. Without proof of his face or voice, or even the support of logic, you just knew. It was him. The very thought of that froze you, mind and body, in place. Pale and immobile and increasingly drenched, you stood like a deeply rooted tree while the rider drew closer and closer, on a horse powerful enough to sustain its determined gait over the sodden ground and lashing winds. Dumbfounded and dazed, you remained, until at last he came to a stop just several yards away. He dismounted Firefoot, his heavy boots squelching in the muck, and that sound snapped you to your senses. “My lord,” you rushed forward with the soiled cloak twisted uselessly between your hands. “The stables are around the back. Let me take Firefoot there while you get out of this rain.” “I shall stable him,” Éomer said sternly, but not unkindly, to warn you against arguing. “Go and wait for me inside the house.”

The Tumblr post for Taken (Part 1) is just 3 notes away from 500 notes, which is the highest count by far that any of my fics have!

I am so happy this story has resonated with readers and Éomer lovers, and I am so grateful to everyone who continues to support it even though I'm so very slow with updates.

I keep your kind words in mind as I work hard to finish this "last" chapter. <3 Please wish me energy and inspo. Lots of love to you all!

#sotwk wip #fic wip #sotwk fanfiction #sotwk fic: taken #sotwk update #tag game #wip snippet #wip tag game #eomer #eomer fanfiction #eomer x reader #wet eomer trope

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personasintro · 1 year

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6th March | update?

With everything that has happened recently, a few things have changed and made me think. As you guys know, I've been working on some projects that I haven't shared yet. Not entirely at least. But! One of those projects was possibly more stories that would eventually join Mutual Help. Which means these stories were designed to be posted on Wattpad. I have a very specific vision for each of my stories. I recently talked about how each story suits on a different platform and with MH's success, I wanted to try more long and slow-burn stories that are not exactly suitable for tumblr. Imagine 50+ chapters on tumblr 😳. I do repost these stories but combine more chapters together, so they can be posted on a platform such as tumblr. Anyway, I had a vision and with recent events, I've been thinking a lot about it. There are some things that I can't talk about because they're not 100% sure yet, but those who know me, you guys know sometimes I do things spontaneously.

Since I wanted to try writing more long stories that would be suitable for Wattpad (and then I'd just repost them on my other platforms when there are more chapters, so I could combine them), that was my original plan.

Look at me rambling again 🙄

What I want to say is that since Wattpad deleted MH, I'm not sure how I feel about that platform. I'm so upset with them to the point I don't feel like posting stories there. I know that's just the bitter side of me. But! I do have a huge following there and I know many of you prefer that platform when it comes to reading stories. With my original plan and vision, I can see myself posting new stories there (Even tho I'm a petty bitch and I don't want them to win 🥴).

First of all, I wanted to know your opinion about it. You guys know I care for what you guys think when it comes to stuff like this and since I can't seem to properly decide, I've decided to make a poll to see everyone's opinion about it (or a few, we'll see!). I'd like for you to join! I'm merely just curious and I still think about how I want things to go.

This post is way longer than I wanted it to be, but I just wanted to explain everything thoroughly.

Please join the poll(s). You guys can be a part of this decision too! Thank you for supporting me!

I’ll make the poll in another post since tumblr won’t let me publish this post for some reason 😤.

THE POLL IS HERE

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morpheus-the-sandman · 3 months

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Hello guys I know I didn't posted much sorry about that I trough id make a post explaining why

Simple put I have more then one thing I love doing atm for one it's poppy playtime, then there is hazbin hotel and wh ngl my hype for wh is slightly down but I'm not backing out of it I love wh with all my heart I hope the hype goes back up once the new website and update comes out uwu

And I'm just kinda doing more atm with my other aus since they need spotlight too dw I will work on morph stuff and the other Blogs it's in work I have like animations and stuff my problem is honestly just that I switch between things I do I have 1 idea and do that sketch that out and then a different idea I had for so long I do then and then I also do a ton of refs like I'm just really spontaneous I'm sorry xd and also then there is that thing with me switching atm between fandom like I just have 1 singular song on from like poppy playtime and I instantly get brainrot about it or hazbin hotel, wh aaaaaaa save me

Anyway here something as an apology I don't think I posted those drawings yet so yeaaah

#morphthesandman #askmorph #welcome home artist #wh multiverse #welcome home arg #welcome home #welcome home au

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bellofthemeadow · 11 months

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Summer of '03 | Joel Miller x Female Reader

Series Masterlist

Rating: M for Mature (18 + no minors allowed)

Word Count: 2.8K

Warning: All warnings on the Series Masterlists, will update if necessary (Re-iterating, no minors allowed! Thank you)

Chapter Summary: You finally arrive in Texas, a world so different from your home in New York. You find that living next door is a man who confuses you. You can't figure out if he's just a stereotipically angry Redneck or the man of your dreams. Ah well, you've got the summer to figure the puzzle that is Joel Miller.

Notes: Hello everyone, welcome to my new story :D This one is going to be quite different from my last story as I am delving into the realm of enemies to lovers! I am so excited as I don't think that any other PedroBoys fits the bill las well as Joel Miller!!! LMK what you think of it, I always love to read what you think of my work and I would also be really stoke to speak with all of you.

I am also working on a taglist at present, so I should make a post probably tomorrow, so if you want to be added to the tagged post, let me know and I'll be happy to add you!

Hope you all enjoy :D

Welcome to Texas

Apparently, your entire life fits neatly into an 8x6 cardboard box, which is somewhat embarrassing. When you made the spontaneous decision to uproot your life and leave New York, little did you know that packing would only take 25 minutes and leave you with so little. However, every item inside that box was a testament to your independence. You had purchased each item with your hard-earned money, not relying on your parents or receiving them as gifts from an ex-boyfriend. Every single thing inside that box was truly yours.

As you set down the box in front of the small suburban house, you squint your eyes taking in your new home for the foreseeable future. You had to admit, it had a certain charm that you found refreshing. The tiny house was a stark contrast to the high-rise condo your family had in New York or the overly opulent summer home in the Hamptons where you’d spend your summer. This place felt nice and quaint, exuding a sense of simplicity that you were craving. The row of houses boasted a similar style, either one or two floors tall, constructed with reddish-coloured brick. The driveways were impressively large, accommodating even bigger trucks. It really does seem like 'everything is bigger in Texas'.

Everything about this neighbourhood screamed quiet suburbia. Since it was still early afternoon on a Sunday, you spied some kids zooming down the street on their bikes like a wild bunch of Tasmanian devils, while a cluster of older ladies powerwalked on the sidewalk and seemed deeply engrossed in their gossip. The sight made you chuckle, they kind of looked like a swarm of salmon with their pink velour tracksuit. You were kind of impressed. In this heat, the only thing you wanted to do was lie down on the cold floor for at least two hours or stick your head in the freezer for a minute—the jury was still out. But that was probably because of your New Yorker sensibilities. Most of the people you spotted going about their day seemed completely unfazed by what you would categorize as temperature from at least the 4th circle of hell.

You sighed and put your arms high above your head, interlacing your fingers and giving your back a much-needed stretch. As depressing as the sight of the lone cardboard box holding your entire life was, you were glad that you didn't have a lot of stuff to take with you from New York. The drive had been almost unbearable. As a New Yorker, you didn't have many opportunities to drive that often, and this trip had actually been the first time you had driven your brand-new Alfa Romeo GT. It was a Christmas gift from your grandma, chosen for both sentimental and practical reasons, and you decided to take it with you as you up hauled your life to literally the other end of the country.

No one in your family had understood why you wanted, no, needed to leave, except for Granny Mabel. While your parents scolded you as if you were still a pigtailed little girl, timidly requesting seconds at dinner, Granny Mabel simply glanced at you, winking beneath her oversized Givenchy glasses, as she took a generous sip of her red wine. In that fleeting moment, you knew that no matter what unfolded, you would have the approval of the lionesses of New York’s Upper East Side.

But after what felt like three days of almost non-stop driving, you were ready to declare that you didn't even want to look at your car for at least a week. You felt like you had your share of driving to last you a lifetime. Although you knew that wouldn’t really be possible. After all, Texas was not known for the same kind of public transportation as New York. Ah well, when in Rome—or in this case, Texas.

As a few neighbours started to cast curious glances your way, you became aware of the possibility that loitering around an empty porch on an early Sunday afternoon might raise suspicions. You opened your handbag and rummaged through it, moving aside packages of half-eaten candy bars, a couple of lipsticks, emergency wet wipes, and tampons before you finally found the paper your friend Robbie had given you before you left three days ago.

Scrawled in your friend's messy chicken scratch, were an address and a name: "Joel Miller." Beneath it, a hasty note explained, "Joel was Great Aunt Ruth's neighbour. He was helping her with the property ever since he and his daughter moved in next door. We asked him to hold onto the keys until someone could come to take care of the house after Aunt Ruth passed away. Joel knows you're coming. Take care, my dear, and I'll miss you. New York won't be the same without your judgy ass!"

A smile spread across your face as you read the words. Robbie had been the most important part of your life in New York. You both met during your first year of college. You were studying pre-med, while he pursued performing arts at NYU, dreaming of a future on Broadway. Instantly, you connected with each other. Despite your family's legacy of surgeons, you had always yearned to be on the stage. So, in your first year, you took a theatre elective and met Robbie. The two of you became inseparable. His apartment in Brooklyn provided a refuge from the suffocation you felt at home, and you ended up spending most nights there. By the fourth month of your friendship, you even started contributing to some of the utilities, although Robbie insisted you didn't have to. But you didn't mind. Your parents had money, and you used a lot of hot water, so it was the least you could do.

And now, here you were, on the other side of the country, ready to take a break and maybe have some fun! You silently prayed to any gods out there, hoping they would listen and guide you toward figuring out what you truly wanted in your life. Happiness seemed to be slipping away with each passing day, and you hoped this summer would bring some clarity. You looked back down at the piece of paper, making a mental note to call Robbie once you got inside the house to thank him and reassure him that you were alive after that long trip.

For now, you needed to escape the scorching heat before you melted away. Your hair was beyond recognizable because of the frizz humidity brought out, and sweat patches were forming under your armpits. You cringed at the situation but tried to reassure your growing anxiety: "Who cares what Joel Miller thinks? You thought. You've been through more embarrassing moments than being sweaty in front of a middle-aged dad." Memories of laugh-snorting vodka cranberry all over your crush Colin Robertson's shirt at a post-finals party two years ago came rushing back. You were convinced you had permanently stained his favourite white Lacoste polo with cranberry, judging by the disdainful looks he had given you ever since. So, dealing with a middle-aged redneck should be a breeze in comparison.

You hurriedly made your way to the neighbouring house, desperately hoping that Joel Miller would be there. The thought of being stuck outside indefinitely made you want to cry. You tugged at your jean shorts, which clung uncomfortably to your sweaty thighs, and adjusted your oversized "1991 - Walt Disney" t-shirt, a hand-me-down from your older brother. You tied it in a knot at the front, revealing a sliver of midriff. It dawned on you that you needed to buy more weather-appropriate clothes—an item added to your ever-growing to-do list.

As you stood in front of Joel Miller's house, you hesitated. What if Robbie had forgotten to inform him about your visit? Would Joel think you were some kind of psychopath? He’d definitely think you were a little crazy. Taking a deep breath, you firmly knocked on the wooden front door. When, after a solid minute, there was no response, a sinking feeling of disappointment washed over you, suggesting that Joel Miller might not be home after all. You decided to try ringing the doorbell—once, twice. As you debated whether to attempt a third ring or call Robbie, you heard noises from behind the door, followed by a loud exclamation, "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, give me a minute!"

You felt yourself turning pale, and you began fidgeting with your rings, mentally preparing yourself for whatever was about to happen next. The door was ripped open, and your temperature skyrocketed as you faced the man in front of you. Joel Miller was... not what you expected. He loomed before you, tall and imposing, with a mess of dishevelled brown hair crowning his head. What you first noticed was the broadness of his shoulders, it made your mouth go dry as you started to imagine what it would feel like to hold these shoulders in the throws of passion. You could almost picture yourself under him, naked and sweaty, holding unto him and leaving kitten scratches on his powerful back. Your eyes started to take the man in front of you, he was clad in low-hanging sweatpants, his powerful thighs and defined waistline were accentuated. Your gaze was transfixed on him, unable to look away. You were certain you spotted what had to be an impressive bulge in the front of his thin pants and you wanted nothing more than the check if he was as well endowed as he seemed to be. Joel Miller was a man unlike any you had encountered before, emanating a potent blend of masculine confidence and ruggedly handsome charm. You felt insignificant and childlike in your own outfit. What would he think of your sweat-soaked Disney shirt, your perspiring face, and your overall dishevelled appearance? You wished you could rewind time and change into one of your nice little baby-doll dresses, the one that deliciously played on innocence and sinful seduction, you always felt your most confident in them. At least, you wished you had freshened up before meeting this man. Your mother had always emphasized the importance of first impressions, and now, as you observed the fury in his warm brown eyes, it seemed like you had utterly shattered any chance of making a favourable first impression.

The deep baritone of his voice snapped you out of your reverie, as he demanded, "Who the hell are you?" You stammered, "Ehh, I am so sorry to bother you..."

"You better not tell me you some kinda salesman? 'Cause if ya woke me up from the only full sleep I’ve had in two weeks to sell me some bullshit air conditioning, Imma get real fuckin' mad!” You gulp and squirm under his angry stare. "I reckon the appropriate term is salespeople, to be inclusive, you know." Your voice squeaks in an embarrassing sound. What the hell was wrong with you? You weren't some kind of shrinking violet, but at this moment, under Joel Miller's hard stare, you felt like dying. Or at least digging a hole and hiding inside.

"I am really sorry to bother you, Mr. Miller," you try to muster a modicum of confidence, "I am a friend of Robbie Levitt." When Joel's face remained impassive, you felt like it was his permission to keep going. "He is… was Ruth Kaplan's nephew… ehh, the lady who lived…"

"I know who Mrs. Kaplan is," Joel Miller cuts you off and stares at you, squinting his eyes. "You that rich kid from New York?" You feel yourself groan inside, fucking Robbie babbling about your business to everyone. As much as you loved the guy, he was a complete gossip. You simply nod your head, feeling quite unable to say anything, completely tongue-tied.

"You’re late," Joel Miller's words are biting and sharp, and they are cutting into you, making you feel small and childish. "Late for... what? I'm not sure I follow," you say softly.

Joel Miller sighs loudly and shakes his head. "That Levitt kid told me you'd be here yesterday evening, waited late for you to come around, princess." You feel yourself grow even hotter, either from the embarrassment of seeming flaky or from the nickname; you aren't sure yet.

"Oh," you softly say. "I am sorry, I didn't realize. Robbie just said to be here over the weekend. I didn't realize you'd wait for me."

"So , what? You thought that because you some kind of rich important lady from the city you could waste my time? ‘Cause I’m just some redneck contractor from Texas, right? Who cares if you waste everyone’s time, imma right?” His stare is hard and you don’t know what to do or say without making him even more mad. “It’s not like that, I never thought… I am really sorry.” You settle for, thinking it’s your best bet so as to not antagonize him further.

A low growl, “It's fine," he responds curtly and abruptly. It doesn’t sound fine; you think as he looks like he is 5 seconds away from slamming the door in your face. But my god, everything about this man is hard, his words, his face… his body. You don't know if you should love it or hate it, but as your eyes fall to his hard pectorals you feel yourself falling into the former category. "Wait here." He disappears inside his house before returning with a set of keys he promptly drops into your hands. "Here you go."

"Thank you ever so much, Mr. Miller. And I am really sorry again about last night… And for waking you up and everything" You cringe as a dismissive twitch of the head serves as his feeble reply. As you pivot away, trudging along in a pitiful display of humiliation toward Ruth's house, the air fills with Joel Miller’s deep voice once again “Here's a life tip, sweetheart. When someone doesn't answer the door, maybe ya need to take a hint. Not all of us can afford endless days off or live in a rent-free house. Some of us have real jobs, princess, and those of us that do appreciate every bit of peace we can get.”

You feel like crying, tears gathering up in your eyes, but you won't let them fall. You won't give Joel Miller the satisfaction of knowing that he made you cry. So, you settle, "Sure... I apologize for everything. I didn't mean to be a bother." No answer, so you take it as your cue to leave, feeling dismissed like a child at school.

You turn around and try to muster your best fake smile, the same one you used for your mother and father and give a little wave. "Hope you can get back to sleep soon. I'll make sure to not be in your way again." And you scurry away as fast as your legs can.

Summer of fun and discovery is off to a great start, you think sarcastically, as you rip Aunty Ruth’s door open and let the tears fall. Goddamn it, why did you have to antagonize the most handsome man you'd ever seen in your entire life? Joel Miller, you think. You should despise him. He was unnecessarily mean and condescending. Sure, you had been in the way, but how were you to know he would be sleeping at 1 pm on a Sunday? You groan, at this point anyway, he probably loathed you. Yet, strangely enough, you had never encountered a man who could twist your insides as intensely as he did. In the 5 minutes conversion you had with him, you felt your inside growing hot and your belly erupting in a million of butterflies. You wonder what his eyes would be like if they weren’t hard and angry. They were brown and warm, so you imagined how they would feel raking over your skin with longing or desire. Yeah, that’s not going to happen, you think as your mind cringes back to the awful words he said.

Joel Miller. Even the mere sound of his name left a strong, lingering flavour in your mouth. You squirm, feeling conflicted, not knowing whether to yearn for his strong domineering presence or simply try your best to avoid him like the plague this summer. You shake your head, you'll sort out your feelings, or whatever hormones this man triggered, later. Right now, you just need to find the damn freezer and try to cool down. However, after meeting Joel Miller, you're well aware that the fire inside you will continue to burn hard for some time.

Next Chapter

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thenewsuburbia · 1 year

Text

What had originally been pitched to me as a spontaneous catch up and a few drinks was starting to feel a little more… deliberate. The girls pulled me along the sidewalk, illuminated by the streetlamps. It was very late and the normally boisterous neighborhood was quiet except for the giggles of my girlfriend and her bestie.

—------

(2 weeks earlier)

“Come on, Gabriella is only in town for one night! It’ll be fun!” Mikayla had said, twirling her blonde hair playfully between her fingers.

I had my reservations, sure. Mikayla and I had been dating for the last 4 years, ever since college, and we had been living together for the past 6 months. Gabriella had been her college roommate, and they were inseparable, like sisters. Total “besties” still even though they now lived a few states apart. I had always thought Gabriella was fun, but her interest in me had always made me a little…uncomfortable. Before I started dating Mikayla, Gabriella (or Gabby as we called her in college) had come on to me pretty strong a couple drunken nights at parties. I thought she was cute, but we never did anything, because while slender little brunette Gabriella was always sweet, everybody knew I was not-so-secretly-obsessed with her big titted blonde roommate….Mikayla.

Hence, my hesitation. Since college all that had changed. Gabby had started on 'The Product' very early on. She’d been very vocal about it on her social media. At first it looked like she was involved in some weird MLM campaign or pyramid scheme. All her posts were about psuedo-science-y health supplements that “helped women ascend” or “become the most feminine version of themselves.” Whatever the fuck that meant? But then, I couldn't help but notice something.

Were her breasts getting slightly bigger in each post? It was almost imperceptible at first, but I saw it. Only a breast-obsessed weirdo like myself would notice something like that I thought. Maybe she was just a late bloomer? Maybe it was a push up bra or a new insta filter? A trick of the light? But as the weeks and months went on it became clear. There was no denying it. Cute little Gabby was becoming an absolute bombshell!

Gabby had asked everyone to start calling her Gabriela around the time I moved in with Mikayla. By that time her tits were looking almost as big as my girlfriend’s. That was also around the time that she started dating Chase, some ex-jock looking guy. Her posts about 'The Product' started to become less frequent. She'd gone relatively quiet on instagram. Not that it really mattered at that point as about 20% of my feed was now filled with women raving about 'The Product' and all its fantastic 'virtues'. Though none of them seemed to have grown as much as Gabriela. Not yet anyway.

Gabriella’s growth was most evident in her chest. But it was increasingly obvious that she was getting bigger and thicker all over. Was she getting taller too? I wondered with an equal mix of excitement and guilt. But her growth seemed to have plateaued recently, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. My obsession with her had been growing along with her bust. I was already ashamed of my inflation with her growing chest, and I was nervous of how far it would go.

I had always been a breast-man. Even in college the girls often teased me about it, but my fixation with Gabby’s chest was on a whole other level. I felt enslaved by it. While Mikayla was asleep,I found myself screen-shotting Gabriella's most breast-centric posts

and fapping to them later. I regularly checked her insta story as soon as I woke up for updates. And, while Mikayla and I were perfectly happy, and in a very good place, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about my growing desire to get up close and personal with her best friend’s tits. I couldn’t help but imagine what Mikayla would say if she knew how her friends growing bustline had affected me.

So, understandably, 2 weeks later, a couple days before Gabriella’s arrival, I was feeling a little uneasy, and even though I gave some noncommittal “mmmhmmms” and “we’ll sees” for most of the week, Mikayla had been surprisingly insistent that I attend their little reunion. I encouraged them instead to have a girls’ night, but she effortlessly brushed off these suggestions with a laugh and a wave. By Saturday I still hadn’t found a solid out from their night out on the town, and as loath as I was to admit it, part of me was very much excited to see Gabriella’s new lushness in person.

In hindsight, the first red flag was when Mikayla was getting ready.

“Wow… you… you look great.” I half mumbled, my mouth slightly agape. She was wearing a low cut black top, showing far more cleavage then I was accustomed to seeing. If I haven’t mentioned it before, my girlfriend had an incredible rack. Big perky tits that looked even bigger on her tight athletic frame. She had been absolutely stacked in college, which was one of the reasons so many guys (myself included) had been infatuated with her back then. Today though , her bra made her girls look enormous. They strained against the confines of her overmatched bra and top leaving almost nothing to the imagination. She almost never wore anything this revealing. I couldn't help but wonder: Was she feeling slightly competitive? Jealous? Of her old friend's burgeoning bust?

She took my open-mouthed stare as a sign of gratitude.“Awwww thanks babe” She purred, “Tonight is going to be soooo much fun! Now hurry up and get ready, our dinner reservation is at 7. Gabriella is meeting us there and I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

And so we arrived at one of our city’s better Italian restaurants, 15 minutes early, and ordered drinks while we waited for Gabriella to arrive. My back was to the door, and I tried my best to stifle my excitement as I fought the urge to glance furtively backwards.

“Are you excited to see Gabriella? She’s gotten so huge we might not even recognize her” Mikayla asked as she stared into my eyes, looking to gauge my reaction.

*Gulp* While Gabriela’s growing bust wasn’t exactly a secret, it certainly wasn’t something I was stoked to discuss with my girlfriend, especially given the boob-jealousy I had picked up on earlier. I tried to steer the conversation back towards less-charged waters.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to catch up. I’m excited to hear about her new job, and oh what about her boyfriend?” I said, hoping to distract her with some gossip and set us on course for an incredibly boring PG script for this evening.

“Yeah, I hear her new job is big money. She replaced some senior level guy at the company, and she's still so young, and Chase sounds like a total sweetheart. She told me he’s like a cute lil puppy dog around her.”

That characterization struck me as odd. It certainly didn’t align with my preconceived notions of the aggro / alpha looking jock I'd seen in her photos. I racked my brain trying to remember his social media… hadn’t he been on his college football team? Nothing about the dude in the letterman jacket with his arms around two girls at a party screamed “puppy dog” to me, but maybe I was unfairly labeling a dude I had never even met.

Before I could think about it too much, my thoughts were interrupted by a shriek of joy from across the table.

“Ahhhhh GABBY!”

“MIKAYALA!”

Mikayla practically jumped out of her chair as she ran towards the door to hug her friend. I turned around just as they were breaking their embrace and my jaw must’ve hit the floor.

Lil Gabby wasn’t so 'little' any more. In fact, lil Gabby was gone, and in her place stood Gabriella. What a woman! Gabriella was MASSIVE. Oh. My. God. Her tits were twice as big as I’d seen in her posts! They were displayed proudly nestled in a lacy magenta top, which was low cut to the point of obscenity. So much creamy, mouth-watering cleavage! Holy shit, my girlfriend’s sizable rack looked rather bland by comparison.

Was she wearing heels too? I didn’t remember her being so tall? I was literally speechless as the two of them bounded over to our table, chattering away with girlish glee.

I maybe mumbled some 'hellos' as the girls took their seats at the table. I was trying my best not to stare but finding it exceedingly difficult. Gabby was not only huge, but she seemed overall much … I don't know… softer. Her ballooning curves strained against every seam of her outfit, putting her body on full display as she moved. She had this aura of…matronly confidence…about her. She was glowing and giggling and as she glowed and giggled, her luscious, all-consuming, breasts glowed and giggled with her. I was transfixed, and I found myself hanging on to her every word as she went through the motions of catching us up with her life.

A bottle of wine was ordered with appetizers. I found myself drinking wine a little quicker than the girls mostly to calm my nerves. I was fidgety, and I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. I found myself drinking wine a little quicker than the girls. The girls were talking very quickly about all manners of things, and I did my best to keep up, however, after our entrees and my third glass of wine, (when had we ordered a second bottle?) I found myself falling under the spell of Gabriela’s movements. Her every sway and jiggle captivated me, and as I poured myself yet another glass of wine, I noticed a smirk creep over Mikayla’s face. Did she just catch me staring? I might have been imagining things, but I could have sworn I just saw Mikayla and Gabriela share a satisfied glance.

“What?” I asked dumbly.

*Giggles*

“Oh nothing. We’re just glad you’re here, and having a good time. Should we order some cocktails with our desserts?” Mikayla asked sweetly.

“Oh, I don’t know. This has been quite the lovely meal, but honestly, I’m feeling a little tired and I'm about ready to go ho—“

“Bullshit” Gabriela cut me off with a smile. “How many times in college did the 3 of us stay up till sunrise? Now that you’re all grown up you’re ready for bed at 9pm on a Saturday?”

“I… I don’t know. You two should just go ahead and have fun tonight. I think I’ll just catch an uber after the check.”

The girls looked at each other and turned back to me with mock pouts. Their eyes glowed mischievously as they leaned in towards me, the closeness amplifying their dramatic curves.

My god, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t steal a glance at both their chests. I wasn’t used to seeing this much cleavage from my girlfriend and Gabriella’s tits were pushed together so dramatically with her sultry pouty pose… she looked like she was about to explode out of her top!

“Awww come on, baby”

“It’ll be so much fun!”

They took it in turns slowly breaking me down, first one and then the other as they both stared at me with pouty little faces.

“We have so much to talk about.”

“ … just like the old days!”

“Pleeeassse”

“Yeah, preeety puuuh-leeez”

It was a trick they both used to pull on me back in college when they wanted me to do something…and it still worked.

What could I say? With one more quick glance at their cleavage I gave in with a sigh.

“Ok… fine.”

“Yaaay!” They were giggling and smiling, clapping their hands in joy as they jumped up and down… and their tits jumped right along with them. I felt a sinking feeling in my chest as my eyes couldn't help but follow the bouncing boobs. What had I just gotten myself into?

“Ok, so here's what I’m thinking: We order some cocktails and have ourselves some desserts. Then we go out for a bit of drinking and dancing. Oh, and don’t worry about the check. My new 'big girl' job came with a huge signing bonus, so this is all on me!” Gabriella smiled proudly.

I was secretly thankful she offered to pick up the check. Although we were doing alright, financially, Gabriella had ordered 2 appetizers, a giant entree, and three desserts (“all to share of course”). Boy could she eat! Apparently her new body required plenty of fuel to keep her going, and to keep her growing.

“Yay, tell us about your new job!” Mikayla chimed in.

“Ok, well, first off its huge money, but more importantly, its like, a super important position within the company. This guy, Mr. Reeves, well he used to oversee this entire department with like 50 employees, and I was hired to be his assistant. You know, sending emails, keeping track of his appointments, and things like that.” She said, talking fast in between bites of tiramisu.

“Anyways, he started getting…ummm… let's say a bit distracted. He was letting things slip and spending a lot of time in his office with the door locked. So, I started taking on more and more of his responsibilities. It was really unfair because I was basically doing his job, but still getting paid as an assistant while he sat inside his big corner office.”

“I was going to quit, but then this new lady became CEO. She was older than me, Mrs. Banks was her name, but I actually knew her from some Product meetups. We weren't like, friends, or anything… but I had seen her before and we chatted once. Anyway, Mrs. Banks is so pretty and easy to talk to…even though shes a total boss bitch, and she brought this whole new energy to the company! One day she called me into her office and asked me to help with a performance review for Mr. Reeves. She was so nice and I told her everything as honestly as I could, and the next week she told me I’d been promoted! To his job! And he was being asked to stay on as MY assistant to ‘help with the transition'!”

Mikayla giggled so much she snorted. “Oh my god! And he stayed? That's so embarrassing for him! Is he still … distracted? Like, why would you even want an assistant who was so absentminded?"

“Oh, he’s much more efficient now. I think assistant life suits Mr. Reeves…. or Tom as we call him now. He is so eager to complete the assignments I give him and he always gets my coffee order just right. Mrs Banks told me the secret to her success is knowing how to motivate her underlings.” She paused for a sip of wine and a dramatic smirk. She spoke in a syrupy sweet baby doll voice “And lets just say I know exactly how to motivate my lil Tommy.” She chortled, sending her tits wobbling. And glanced up into my gaze.

I had been semi-aroused for all of dinner, but this last story had an unexpected effect on my hardening member. My cock had fully sprung, throbbing against my khakis as she stared into my eyes. What the hell was she doing to me?!

With desserts finished, the work talked continued up until our bill arrived. Gabriela snatched it quickly and pulled a heavy looking black American Express out of her clutch.

“So…” She smiled back at us, absentmindedly adjusting her top. “Where's the best place to go dancing around here?”

———————

We had agreed to go to Cache Cache, a kind of salsa bar with live music and DJs. The place was packed, but after a little scouting we found a booth (both the girls sat across from me) and we ordered some margaritas. Boy, I needed to be careful. It had been a while since I had drank this much. I was once again struggling to hold up my end of the conversation. I was never a sloppy drunk, but after a few too many I tended to get a little slow and glassy eyed. The girls, meanwhile, were showing almost no effects from the alcohol. Had they been drinking as much as I had? They were absolutely glowing, both of them, chatting animatedly and giggling. As I became less and less of a factor in their conversation, I began to fixate on the girls’ body language. The lean-ins, the arm crosses, the way they were posing. It all seemed rather deliberate.

Was Gabriella trying to show me what I missed turning down her advances all those years ago? Her posture and glances and smirks seemed to scream:

“You didn’t want me because I wasn’t busty enough for you. Well, look at me now. Am I big enough yet? Take it all in. Stare at my huge, fat titties. Look how much bigger I am than your girlfriend.”

My girlfriend, meanwhile, seemed just as eager to keep her chest front and center. Like, right now she was pulling her shoulders back and fiddling with her top. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed like she was feeling a little competitive. She, of course, knew all about my breast-fixation, and having this busty goddess here (especially a busty goddess who, she knew, had once tried to hook up with me) had her vying for my attention, it seemed.

But, while the ladies’ body language was screaming pay-attention-to-me-cat-fight, their tone and conversation could not have been any more different. They couldn't stop laughing or cracking jokes. They shared stories and gassed each other up. They seemed like the very best of friends having the time of their lives.

I tried to ponder this dissonance , but only managed to land on “maybe women are just weird and you don’t understand them at all.” While something was certainly up, I found myself too distracted by their large womanly chests to care. I was content to sit back and watch the show.

“So, why isn’t Chase here? We wanted to meet him.” Mikayla questioned, pulling me from my revelry. I knew nothing about the guy, but I was very interested in what kind of guy could land this bombshell sitting in front of me.

“Oh, he’s at home. He’s so sweet, you’re going to love him! He treats me, like, so so well and he's so handsome.” Gabriella couldn’t hide the pride in her voice. “It’s like… he does everything I ask him. He takes me on expensive trips, and gives me back massages, and buys me presents. Sometimes it feels like he worships the ground I walk on!” She laughed, an arrogant smirk creeping across her face.

“Sounds like Mr. Reeves… sorry I mean… lil Tommy might have some competition for your assistant soon!” Mikayla chortled, laughing so hard a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Well, Chase definitely knows his place. He LOVES serving me. He has been so supportive of me being on The Product! A lot of guys would let their fragile male ego get in the way, but he loves seeing me get bigger and bigger… becoming more woman for him. More woman than he can handle. It seems like the bigger I get..” She cupped her breasts and gave them a demonstrative shake “the more he’ll do anything to keep me happy.” She was practically purring.

“OMG!” Mikayla was laughing so hard her eyes were watering “He must REALLY want to see you happy now. Girl, your tits are absolutely massive!”

“Ummm yeah, ya think?! At first I thought they were TOO big, but between work and Chase and everything….. I don’t know… everything has just been going so well since I got on The Product. Guys seem to love it. ‘Bigger is better,’ right?” She turned to me with a knowing smile. “What do you think? Do you like them or do you think they’re too big?”

My face flushed scarlet. I glanced back and forth between the two girls. How the hell was I supposed to answer that?! Mikayla was staring at me inquisitively, waiting for an answer. Gabriella smirked with her chest displayed proudly. Given the semi-competitive nature I had picked up on, how could I answer? Should I be honest? Should I lie? How could I make sure Mikayla didn’t feel insecure, but also not insult her best friend's body?! Both their stares intensified and I knew I had to say something.

“I…uhhhh, well, I think its, ummm, important to, you know, like… feel good about your own body.” I finished lamely, desperately trying to look anywhere but at the girls.

Both girls broke into hysterical laughter. Mikayla was full blown crying and Gabriela had to put her fist to her mouth to try to gain control. This was not the reaction I had been expecting to my lame platitude about body positivity.

“OMG, see Mikayla, he can barely talk! Boys just get so cute and flustered when you talk about your titties getting bigger!”

“Well, he always gets cute and agreeable when I wear something that shows off 'the girls'” She gestured towards her chest. “But when you walk in here with those bazookas, the man can’t even speak!”

*More giggles*

“And you know, I LOVE it when boys want to keep me happy. I LOVE it when the cats got their tongue. At work, at home. Everywhere.” She was leering at me like I was her prey. “So I’m just going to keep getting bigger and bigger!”

“GIRL!” She snorted again “HOW MUCH BIGGER CAN YOU GET?! You used to be so much smaller than me, I couldn’t even fit into your sports bras. And now you're making my girls look puny!” She cupped her breasts and pushed them up, turning to Gabriela as if for comparison.

“Oh, your girls are doing just fine, hun. But if you wanted to get a little bigger you could always try The Product.” She leaned towards Mikayla, mirroring her cupping. Both their breasts were fully on display, side by side. Her tone, which had been so playful all night went down to a lower, more serious octave. “But if you want to get really big, like… huge…you have to try The Program.”

Had I heard of this Program before? I racked my memory, it was something from The Product people, I think, but I couldn’t remember any details.

“Whats the Program?” I asked, trying to sound academic about the question.

This brought another fit of giggles and a playful eye-roll from Mikayla. “Oh my god, you sit there mute and practically drooling for the last half an hour and OF COURSE your first contribution to the conversation is to ask about The Program that would make my tits huge!”

“No no, it makes sense. Its normal for guys to be curious about this kind of thing.” She tucked some hair behind her ear and turned to face me in full now. “The Program is from the company who make The Product. Its new, I only started on it a few months ago when I met Chase. The program is for partners, you see.”

I thought back to her insta. How she had seemed to stop growing about 6 months ago, only to see her bigger than ever here today. Was this all from The Program?

“The Product is just supplements.” Gabriela continued, answering the questions implied by my furled brow. “Vitamins and hormones and estrogen and other proprietary stuff that make a woman experience a kind of second puberty. any girl can get them. In fact, the company is planning on it. The Program, however, is a full routine for women and their partners, and it's much more exclusive at the moment. There's still supplements, of course. Different supplements though, some for me and some for him. But it also comes with therapy and couples treatment sessions. Sometimes we do sessions together, sometimes separately. I always come out of my sessions feeling so confident and fresh. I don’t know what his sessions are about, but when he gets home he is just the perfect little boyfriend…so eager to please. I can tell he wants my breasts, he’s so on edge and tense. It's like he wants to beg me for them, but doesn’t know how. So he begs quietly, with his eyes and actions. Oh I just love it when he whimpers! This program has just made us so much closer and we're both so happy! He is the perfect little boyfriend for me and when I finally let him see the girls… it's like pure joy for him. He's gotten to the point where he can barely contain himself!...for now” *Giggle*

I realized I’d been silent during her whole speech. While Gabriela and I had locked eyes for her description of The Program, Mikayla’s eyes had been staring at me, reading my reaction. Was this competitiveness, or something else?

Gabriela continued, unfazed by my growing discomfort and poorly hidden arousal. “The Program is about balance. It's about rebalancing outdated gender roles. Mankind has been in charge for about…2000 years now, I think it's time for women to take the reigns.For womankind to ascend, mankind needs to wane, and as I strive to become so much more, Chase strives to become so much less. Some guys, the dumb alpha guys, might think that's weakness, but women like me know that it takes incredible strength to give everything to us. To give up all that Power, to give up all that Control that men have had for so long. He wants to help us- he wants to help me- become the best version of myself, and that strength… the strength to concede'' Her voice took on an aroused husky lilt “makes women like me very, VERY, Happy.”

"And when I'm happy, he's happy, you see? I take care of him and all his 'little' problems. All his little male urges…as I’ve gotten bigger his appetite for me has become so much more overwhelming for him. He's so hungry. Every deep breath, every low cut blouse, every new bra… it practically melts his little brain. He’s gotten so…so fixated… on my body…on my breasts. And I can give him exactly what he wants, his every urge and whim is completely satisfied. And in exchange…he does everything I say. Everything is so easy for him now. Everything is less complicated now that his only focus is my happiness and the pleasure I can give him. Now doesn't that sound like a good deal? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone take care of you and all your silly little needs?”

She grabbed another margarita, seemingly out of thin air, and handed it to me. Wait, had they not ordered one too?

“But come on” Gabriela’s voice took on her playful tone again, turning back to her friend “Did we come here to talk about my relationship or did we come here to dance?!”

———

The dance floor was a blur. The margaritas seemed to be really catching up to me. My head was swimming, and I found myself floating from one moment to the next with no real memory of how I got there.

The girls pulled me along and made sure I got to where I needed to go. All 3 of us were dancing together, nothing sensual, just kind of boppin’ around and vibing on the dancefloor. The DJ was really good, mixing some house tunes with latin sounds. The tempo varied, sometimes slow and passionate, other times more upbeat.

It was crowded, hot and sweaty, but not necessarily in a bad way. The atmosphere felt charged and electric. The two girls were radiant, moving rhythmically, drawing the glances of men and women alike, but often for different reasons. Women gave them jealous looks while men lusted after them, but they didn't seem to care. They loved being the center of attention. It's where they belonged.

Soon, the beat picked up and Mikayla pulled me close. With no hesitation, she laid a searing kiss on me. It wasn’t the kind of kiss I was expecting, it wasn’t a sultry-sexy-dancefloor-kiss, it was romantic… dare I say… sweet. It was more than a peck, for sure, but it was tender. Her lips moved playfully over mine, and when she broke the kiss, she smiled at me. It was a cute and compassionate smile, again not what I was expecting. It caught me off guard. She put her arms around my neck, and pulled me close.

“I really love you and appreciate you.” She whispered into my ear, her tits pushing into my chest below. “You deserve a little reward, I want you to feel really good tonight.” Her hand reached down between us and gave my bulge a playful squeeze. “You’re already hard, huh? Hope that's for me and not for Gabby’s huge tits.” Before I could respond, her tongue invaded my ear, and slowly moved its way down to my neck.

I was momentarily speechless, this was so unlike her! Wasn't she supposed to be mad at me? Hadn't she caught me staring at Gabriela’s new vastly superior curves? As she pulled away I saw she was still smiling sweetly, with no trace of malice in her eyes. Now I was really confused. Seeing my perplexed expression, she smiled playfully before turning around and starting to grind against me. I had always been a tit guy, but there was no denying Mikayla’s amazing rear. Her athletic yet supple backside (the product of 3 yoga classes per week) pushed back against my hardness, moving in sync with the music. I began to reciprocate, slowly grinding back into her as my arms wrapped around her and pulled her in closer. She moaned in unfeigned pleasure allowing me the opportunity to look over her shoulder and down into her deep inviting cleavage. Her breasts glistened and bounced in the hot and crowded nightclub, which only served to heighten my libido more. Unconsciously I redoubled my hip motion against her.

“ Ahhh! Oh baby, did looking down my top get you excited?” She purred breathlessly “Does it get you hot looking at my big titties? Good. I wore something really low cut to get you all hot tonight.”

We continued like this, dancing wrapped together like two serpents for several songs. I was absolutely throbbing, I had no idea what had gotten into her. Maybe the drinks were finally starting to catch up with her too. No matter the reason, I was enjoying myself too much to worry.

“Mind if I join you two love birds?” Gabriella had come up in front Mikayla. “The guy over there in the basketball jersey keeps creepin’ on me.” Mikayla just laughed and pulled her friend into our space.

If I thought they were jockeying for my attention before, the two of them were bringing it to a whole new level now. The two of them seemed to be putting on some kind of show, both of them determined to inflame my desire further. But whether their motivation was competition, or something else, I had no idea.

My girlfriend's hips pushed back into mine, the softness of her rear pressed against my hardness, while her best friend's tits swayed rhythmically in front of me. Gabriella came in closer still, her chest pushed against Mikayla’s. I couldn’t help but stare at their racks pressed together as Mikayla’s ass became more insistent against my length. The brunette’s dark eyes locked on to mine as she adjusted her top, pulling it down a bit to show more creamy cleavage. My eyes responded immediately, darting down to her undulating breasts. My girlfriend slowly turned around, still keeping our hips pressed together. Her hand reached down to my shaft as her lips and tongue played roughly on my neck.

Between the drinks, the dark dancefloor, and Mikayla’s newfound aggression I was in a bit of a haze, I maybe rutted into her hand, a bit eager to get relief. Her lips moved up to my ear.

“Gabby has gotten so big, hasn’t she?” She whispered huskily. I looked up, Gabby was facing me, eyes locked directly on mine with a sultry expression on her face. The way she moved was so sensual and hypnotic. “Just look at her” my girlfriend continued “Look at how her body moves.” I was looking, no doubt, at how one part of her body was moving. Her breasts were swaying lasciviously, bouncing and jiggling with the beat. Every movement seemed designed to draw my gaze, the way she leaned and crossed her arms and arched her neck and shoulders… all of it seemed so coordinated. All the while, my girlfriend's hand was still on my girth… not stroking, but just sort of fondling. My mind raced as my breath quickened.

Mikayla’s hands, Gabriela’s breasts, Getting Bigger, Gabriella Ascending, Growing Tits, Those Jiggles, Mikayla’s hand squeezing a little more insistently.

I groaned, fearing I was too far gone to stop myself from orgasming right here on the dancefloor, but as if sensing my upcoming eruption, Mikayla let go and stepped away.

She smiled at me playfully as I let out an embarrassing pitiful whimper, my balls clenching to prevent what would have been a shameful blunder.

As if unaware of my plight, the girls carried on dancing. They moved towards each other, giggling.

“God” Mikayla huffed, “you are so big!” Her hands reached up and cupped her brunette friend's chest. Both girls smiled hungrily at each other. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned forward and kissed her bestie.

The girls had made out twice in college, that I knew of: once on a dare at that random frat party when they were freshmen, and then again at a drunken after-hours a couple of years later. The second one was unprompted, but they both denied remembering it when I brought it up the next morning. So…maybe this wasn’t completely out of character for them…but it still caught me off guard. While Mikayla and I’s earlier kiss had been sweet and loving, this one was sultry and passionate. I stood there dumbly, just watching their dancing tongues while Mikayla’s hands explored her friend's body. They broke apart, smiling devilishly at each other before turning to me.

“Shots?” The both suggested in unison, before breaking into another fit of giggles.

After another trip to the bar, I followed the girls’ swaying rears back on the dancefloor. One or both of them led me by the hand at all times now. I was once again struck by how drunk I felt versus how sober they seemed to be.

My memories for the rest of the night started to get muddy. I couldn't remember much, just flashes of sweat and softness. I was making out with Mikayla, Mikayla was making out with Gabriela, Gabriela and I were making out. All our bodies writhing and gyrating into each other. I remember a cocktail of feelings: confusion, guilt, pride…. but more than any other, I remember being filled with unbridled lust. My hands pressed into the girls’ softness, their bodies pressed against mine. And, of course, I remembered tits. Their breasts were front and center, dancing in front of my gaze as I fell deeper and deeper under their spell. Mikayla’s mouth was on my neck, her breathy voice was in my ear.

“Isn’t she so big?”

“So soft.”

“Sooo nice.”

“It’s ok to stare.”

Tits were swaying rhythmically and I couldn’t look away as my girlfriend’s words seeped into my brain.

“Thinking is hard.” A hand grasped my hardness.

“Staring is easy. Don’t you want things to be easy?”

“Don’t you just looooove how big she’s gotten? Look how massive she’s become. She’s sooo much woman. Do you think you can handle that?”

“You want to be under the spell of a big and powerful woman, don’t you? Say it, baby….”

“Y-yes.” I breathed.

Two devilish smiles and a knowing glance between them.

"What was that honey? We couldn't quite hear you.

"y-Yes!" I sputtered enthralled by the idea of being under the spell of a giant woman and her equally giant tits.

One of the girls-Gabriela I think-pulled out her phone and said the bar was closing soon. She suggested we go outside for some air before closing our tab. I nodded along as Mikayla grabbed my hand, following her friend, and leading us to the patio area.

They carefully sat me down on some metal patio furniture across from them. They continued chatting, and glancing at me, while I just smiled stupidly back at them.

Honestly at this point I had no idea what was even going on. I just knew I felt…good…and I wanted to keep staring. I wanted to keep following their lead. I wanted to do…whatever they wanted.

“Ugh, that was SO MUCH FUN” one of them chirped.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my hands off your tits.”

“Yeah, they're kind of hard to avoid these days.”

Even though I wasn’t adding anything to the conversation, I was well aware that both girls were looking at me… even though they were talking to each other. Feeling a rush of drunken spins coming on, I decided I needed to settle my focus on something, and (to nobody's surprise) I settled right on Gabriela’s tits as I nodded along to their chatter.

“All those guys in there were so annoying. They were flocking to your new big titties like magnets.” More giggles. “Doesn’t it get annoying?”

Gabriela took an inflating breath. “Annoying? No. Quite the contrary, actually…”

How were they stringing sentences together like this when I felt so dumb? Still, I stared directly at the cleavage in front of me.

“It makes me feel…” Her shoulders pulled back, and she took another inflating breath. “Powerful.” She said in a confident tone that reverberated through my cock and sent tingles down my spine.

“But…” Gabriela continued. “You should know all about that. My tits might be new but you’ve had that rack since freshman year!”

Mikayla hmmm’d for a little bit.

Something about this discussion felt…. I don’t know… rehearsed?

“Well, I’m big. But you’re massive. I’ve never felt that power before.” I could feel her eyes boring into me. “But, I think I’d like to.” She finished devilishly.

Wait, what was she talking about? My ears perked up and (with tremendous effort) I pulled my gaze out of their cleavage, and gave a concerned look to my girlfriend of 4 years. Was she talking about getting on the Product?...Or…even more concerning, The Program? My mind, perhaps in self-defense, recalled Gabriella’s description from earlier, ‘for womankind to ascend, mankind has to wane.”

GULP. I didn’t want that! (Did I?)

Gabriella was talking again, both girls still looking directly into my soul.

“You’d get so, so big. So much bigger than me, so much quicker.” Her voice was husky and hypnotic. “I was barely a full B-cup when I started. You’re already stacked. You’d be bigger than me in no time if you started The Program. God, the feeling of getting bigger and more powerful feels so fucking good. I want that for you so badly.”

“What about you, honey?” Mikayla asked, her voice dripping with sweetness. “Do you want to see me grow bigger and more powerful? Do you want to see my breasts swell a little bigger each day? I know you're such a breast man… would you like to see me outgrow my bras? I know how much you loooove my big bras.” She smirked knowingly.

God, I tried not to think of that time she had caught me sneakily masturbating with her bra. I had hoped she had forgotten about that.

“I could try on some new bigger bras for you, when I start growing? Let you see my progress?”

A smarter man than me, or perhaps just a more sober man, would have put some of these puzzle pieces together. Far from being in competition with each other all night, the two best friends were working together from the start. Together they had spun a beautiful boob web, and I was the fly stuck in it. But I was not that smart, and not that sober. I didn’t see the trap. And as much as the idea of my girlfriend getting even more chest-heavy appealed to me. A part of me (perhaps my male ego or sense of self-preservation) still felt very conflicted by this whole indecent proposal.

Something about it felt…unatural…and downright terrifying. It felt like jumping off a cliff, and never being able to go back.

“Well, honey? What do you think?”

“I… I dunno.” We both knew about The Product, sure, but, honestly, we had never talked about it, and this hardly felt like the time and place to do so. As I found my voice, I decided to serve up some platitudes rather than make any big decisions. “I want you to be happy, but you’re already so big.”

“Yes, but imagine if she was even bigger!”

“Yeah, well… I dunno…” I gulped. Already in our relationship I felt a little powerless around Mikayla’s tits. It was a great fear of mine that she’d realize the power her chest held over me…. She might even take advantage of it, if she wasn't already. Did I want this unspoken power dynamic to be spoken? Did I want her leverage over to become even BIGGER? Did I want to be her doting little puppy dog boyfriend?

“I can see you’re thinking about it. How about this….why don’t the three of us go back to our place. We can have some drinks, put on some music, have a little fun. I want to absolutely spoil my little breast man. Tonight, our titties are going to be your whole fucking world. You can worship at the altar of boobies all night. Getting up close and personal with Gabriela’s girls might help you learn to appreciate what I could become. If you're man enough to go through with it, that is.

You can spend all night experiencing the benefits of a bigger Gabriella, and imagining what life could be like for us. Maybe that’ll help you make up your mind?”

I stared at her utterly speechless, unable to think. I backed away slightly shocked and confused.This could not be real!

"Don't you worry." Gabriella said as she snuggled her chest close to me. "We can just…talk…" Mikayla my girlfriend, took her hands and cupped her best friends giant tits, making them look bigger than ever. She gave them a demonstrative wobble with a smirk.

"We will help you come to the right conclusion no matter how many times it takes.”

"That’s it. That's a good boy."

"Let us…take care of you…"

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avatarmerida · 1 year

Text

Sorry it’s been a month since the last update! But life has been crazy but rest assured, we shall keep advancing the friendship! Hunter is searching for the perfect way to ask Willow out, but of course he must encounter obstacles. Read on AO3 or under the cut!

“I don’t know what to do!” Willow exclaimed as she frantically started pacing the room once she was sure Hunter had left. “This whole time, this whole entire time I thought he was my boyfriend! But apparently not? I mean, I guess we never said it officially or anything but still! Oh my Titan he must’ve thought I was crazy!”

“I mean, he couldn’t have been that upset right?” Amity pointed out. “I mean, he did confess to you eventually.”

“Yeah I guess,” Willow said as she flopped on the bed. “And then I basically slammed the door in his face!”

“Yeah, maybe not your best move?” Said Amity, sucking her teeth.

“I guess just… I dunno. I thought kissing him at Grom was a pretty obvious sign that I liked him. But I guess he thought it was just a Grom thing.”

“Aw Willow, he’s so stupid,” Amity said as endearingly as she could.

“I know!” Willow groaned, covering her face with a pillow. “He’s so cute it makes me furious!”

“I mean, in your defense, it definitely seemed like you were dating. I mean,just look at what he posted right before the game!’ said Amity, taking out her scroll to pull up Hunter’s latest penstagram post. “It’s a picture of you two and he wrote: ‘She’s amazing #wcw always.’ He literally just called you his crush. That’s a pretty public declaration of feelings.”

“No, he thinks it stands for ‘Willow can win.’” Willow explained with a smile as she traced the pattern on her pillowcase with her finger. “I just thought it was cute so I didn’t correct him.”

“But just look at this picture,” said Amity, turning her scroll around to show Willow. “He can’t take his eyes off you. Even with the face paint you can tell how red his face is. It’s the same goofy face he had at Grom.”

“Hmm yeah, it is pretty goofy,” Willow chuckled as her face adopted a goofy grin of its own to match. She let out an aggravated sigh as she leaned back to hide beneath the pillow again. “Ergh, but now he thinks I’m upset about the kiss,” groaned Willow. “Which of course I’m not! It was a great kiss! It was a really great kiss.”

She felt tense and relaxed at the same time thinking about the total euphoria of Hunter spinning her around in the sunshine,laughing and smiling before pulling her in and pulling away far too soon. She had been riding that high the whole night up until what she thought a spontaneous romantic rendezvous had turned into an apology. He had apologized! Did that mean the kiss didn’t make him feel the same way? He said he had done it because he liked her but what if kissing her made him realize-

“Amity, what if he didn’t think it was a great kiss?” Willow asked in a panic, shooting up from the bed. “And that’s why he came over? W-what if I didn’t let him finish and he was going to say ‘I kissed you because I liked you but now I realize I don’t anymore, sorry.’”

“Uh…”

“I should’ve just told him I liked him back,” groaned Willow. “Then we could’ve just started over but I was just so caught off guard that I just left! Ahhhh!”

Amity watched her friend scream into her pillow and knew the feeling all too well. It seemed like just yesterday she was hyperventilating about kissing Luz on the cheek outside her house. Willow had been there for her then, even though they were still on shaky terms. But now their friendship was stronger than ever and Amity was determined to be the amazing friend that Willow deserved and had always been to her.

Amity gently lifted the pillow off her friend’s face so she could hear her better. “The other day Hunter and Luz came over and we were hanging up all the photos my mom never let us display because they weren’t ‘perfect’ enough. We were going through the photos from when we were little and he found a bunch of you and I from when I wasn’t terrible yet. And he just like… stared at this one photo of you in the garden like it was the most precious thing he’d ever seen in his life. I’m pretty sure he only hung up photos that had you in them.”

“Well I was a very cute child,” Willow replied with a sly smile. She had caught him doing the very same thing at her house many times, her fathers teased her about making him copies. She wished she had a photo of baby Hunter to fawn over. She knew none existed, she had pestered Darius about it and while he was able to confirm that while Hunter had indeed been a child wreaking havoc in the castle, Belos had chosen not document this (much to Willow’s dismay.) Hunter’s lack of memories to offer any additional insight had driven Willow to imagine what them meeting earlier would be like. She imagined he always had his gap tooth, growing up with a lisp that forced him to practice his vocabulary in the mirror until he-

But why was she thinking about this when she was trying to figure out how she was supposed to be feeling about Hunter now?

“What I’m trying to say is,” continued Amity, once she was sure Willow had left the mini daydream the story had inspired. “Hunter is crazy about you and has been for a long time. He knows you and cares about you and it would take alot more than a bad kiss for him to stop feeling that way.”

Willow sat up and squinted skeptically at Amity. “Are you saying I’m a bad kisser?”

----

At school the next day, Willow was doing everything she could to fight off the vines that tried to form around her feet. She knew that their interaction would be different today; she just didn’t know how. After his confessions and her apparent confusion, she didn't know if they were on the same page about what they were. Would he be shy? Embarrassed? Would he make the assumption she had made a month ago and act like she had? Regardless, she decided that no matter how things changed, they could talk this out. Sure, it might be a tad bit awkward to tell someone you thought you were dating for the past month while they thought they were secretly pining for you, but maybe it could be something they laughed about together?

“Hey, it’s no big deal!” Amity assured her as Willow tried to summon the strength to walk into school. “Just act like you used to act around Hunter.”

“I don’t remember how I used to act around Hunter!” Said Willow in a hushed panic. “I liked getting to act like his girlfriend, I don’t know how to go back!”

“Okay, then act like his girlfriend.”

“But I don’t know if I’m his girlfriend!”

“Okay then stop asking me for advice!” Said Amity in a panic. “Sorry! I just… I don’t know what to say here.”

“Well how did you act around Luz after you kissed her?”

“Uh, not great?” Amity winced, remembering the utter mess she had been. “Maybe just follow Hunter’s lead? I mean, I don’t think you can act weirder than him.”

“Yeah, okay.” said Willow, doing the signature Park breathing technique to calm her nerves. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just see how Hunter feels and go from there.”

But Hunter never came.

At first, Willow was worried that he was avoiding her, that he had taken her reaction to his confession the wrong way. But then she found out he wasn’t in school at all, which seemed too extreme for Hunter, so she knew something else must’ve been up. He didn’t respond to her messages. Then Gus said he wasn’t responding to him either. Willow began to worry.

“Oh no, he’s at my house,” Luz said casually as she greeted them outside the school when Willow shared her concern.“Darius brought him over in a panic because he didn’t know what to do and then mama called Eda because she kind of knew what to do but it was a demon realm thing and when I left for school this morning they were all making him soup. It was very sweet.”

“But he’s okay?”

“Oh yeah he’s fine, he’s just a little sick is all,” said Luz. “He’s been sleeping all day, Stringbean cuddled with him while I was at school. Mama sent me a picture, see?”

Luz showed them the photo on her phone and Willow felt her heart flip. Was it weird that she missed him? She had just seen him and was so worried about seeing him again today but darn it when she didn’t she really missed him. He looked so peaceful and she was thrilled anytime he got extra rest, but she wished she had known he wasn’t feeling well. She wondered if things weren’t potentially awkward between them right now if he would’ve told her.

“Oh, well since he’s at your house did you wanna take his homework to him?” Willow asked, slightly downtrodden. “I know he’ll be panicking all weekend worrying he’d fall behind without it.”

“Very true but uh actually, I don’t know if I can,” said Luz, sensing Willow’s sadness. “Amity and I have plans and I might… forget the books somewhere? Sure, but if you wanna stop by… well he’s been out cold most of the day but I’m sure just knowing you came would make him feel much better.”

Willow smiled, grateful for the excuse to see him. Luz knew she would be and thought about asking the details of last night after everything that happened but felt it best to wait until Hunter was conscious so she could hear both sides. She had to assume Willow wanting to see him was a sign that things were improving and maybe the not so subtle mumbling of her name that Hunter did in his sleep meant he would be waking up in a world where he was less anxious about his future with the plant girl. Either way, it was one less task for Luz.

---

When Willow arrived at the Noceda household, she was very surprised when Darius answered the door. She knew Luz had mentioned he had brought Hunter over but she didn’t realize he had stayed. She smiled as the look on his face suggested he had slept very little, most likely in favor of ensuring Hunter’s comfort.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up,” he said with a smirk. It was the same smirk he wore when Willow would come pick him up from Darius’ house, a smirk that suggested her name often came up and he had been instructed to not mention how.

“Hello Darius,” said Willow, clutching Hunter’s books to her chest. “How are you?”

“Hmm, are you sure I’m the person whose health you came to inquire about?” he teased.

Willow couldn’t help but blush. “So… how is Hunter?”

“Oh he’s doing much better, dear,” said Camila, appearing in the doorway beside Darius. “Please come in, Willow. Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’m okay, thank you,” she said, following them down the familiar hallway. The walls were covered in newly framed photos, most of which she had taken. As saddened as she was about Hunter’s condition, she was glad she was in this house surrounded by so much love. “So what happened? He’s not hurt is he?”

“He was out late last night without his jacket and caught the common mold,” said Darius as he checked his cuticles. “Nothing overly serious, but for now he’s quarantined in the dungeon.”

“Basement,” Camila corrected him for what was obviously not the first time. “He’s doing fine, cariña, he’s just a little… loopy when he’s awake.”

“Yes, but between my knowledge of demon realm ailments and Ms. Camila’s natural nurturing abilities, he couldn’t be in better hands.” Darius said proudly, having declared himself a master of co-parenting on more than one occasion. “Plus Eda came by with a potion to ensure he’s very comfortable.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” said Willow. “I just wanted to bring him his homework and see how he was doing.”

“Of course dear, he will be so happy to see you,” said Camila as she got something out of the drawer. “Just wear a mask when you go down, okay? He still might be a little contagious.”

“And no matter how many times he asks, I will not tell him where the sewing machine is hidden,” Darius said sternly. “Not until his fever breaks.”

“Of course,” Willow said as she slipped on the mask as she turned to head down to the basement, just as she used to do daily not too long ago.

“Okay, now can you tell me how your hair does that thing?” Willow heard Camila whisper to Darius when they thought she was out of earshot.

Willow chuckled to herself, eager to talk about this new friendship developing upstairs with Hunter as soon as he was well enough to. She caught sight of him from the staircase and felt her heart melt. He was resting, a small snore whistled from the gap in his teeth as he clung to the oversized pillow Camila had given him. He looked utterly adorable and Willow did not want to disturb him. She tiptoed down the stairs to place his books on the end table beside but she couldn’t help but linger beside him to admire the unfiltered smile on his face up close.

She noticed during his tossing and turning, his blanket had fallen to the ground. She bent down to pick it up and place it back on him, but despite her best efforts, the action disturbed his slumber as his eyes slowly flickered open to find her.

“Sorry! Sorry!” She harshly whispered. “I was just getting your blanket, you can go back to sleep I-.”

“Doctor! Oh my Titan!” Hunter exclaimed as his eyes shot open, his voice bouncing and snuffy. “Did you know you have the most beautiful eyes?”

“I’m not a doctor, Hunter,” she chuckled. “It’s Willow.”

“Willow! Oh, Willow!” Hunter said it was the lyric of his favorite song. “You do have eyes like Willow! Willow has such soft eyes. They’re green. A soft green. Like a periiiidot. But those are not a soft things, they are rocks. And they’re juuuust like her eyes. Ah!” He turned his head dramatically as though the very thought of Willow’s eyes was just too much for him.

“How are you feeling?” Willow asked, her aforementioned eyes sparkling.

“I’m fiiiiine,” he sang, moving his arms in the air like noodles. “I was just out seeing Willow and then I left and forgot to remember to wear a jacket and I walked around too long. But it’s a common mold. How much can it even?”

She finished piling his blanket over him and looked down at him, concerned. She could tell the combos toon of the common mold and Eda’s ailment had done quite a number on him. He had no filter or real grasp of how to say what he was trying to say, but at least he wasn’t in any pain.

“You didn’t go right home after seeing me?”

“The healer said they didn’t know how it would affect a grimwalker but we came home after,” said Hunter, referring to Darius’ taking him to the healer to be checked out before seeking Camila’s wisdom. “But when I saw Willow I couldn’t go home because I was too much thinking.”

“Thinking about Willow?”

“Mhm-Hmm.”

She hesitated to ask specifics. “Was it good or bad?”

“She is always good,” he said, making sure to emphasize each word. “I’ve always thought that. But I just said the thing and then I was like in unbelieving of it.”

Camila was right, he was loopy.

“Is that what you were thinking about? About what you… told her?” She hoped he hadn’t been in too much distress. Hopefully not in regret.

“I was thought about … how? How is what’s next, you know? Like where do I take her?”

Willow just smiled, able to put enough pieces together to understand the gist of Hunter’s mumbles. It certainly wasn’t regret.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine going anywhere with you.”

“It’s like, I told her now I have to ask her but then my head got fuzzy and it’s been so many time since then,” he sighed dramatically, trying to focus on the ceiling. “And I’ll feel fine once the room stops moving!”

“So you weren’t… upset?”

“About liking Willow? Noooope!” he popped his “p” dramatically and chuckled to himself like it was the silliest question he had ever heard. “I mean I know I hide it pretty well, so don’t be surprised, doctor, but I like her like a lot. And I don’t wanna keep it secret ‘nymore.”

Willow was glad she was wearing a mask because she was sure the smile on her face was embarrassingly wide and she didn’t want Hunter to think she was happy he was ill, but how many girls got to say they got more than one heartfelt confession from their crush?

“She is just so…” Hunter started to say but his brain couldn’t seem to focus long enough to find the perfect word to finish his sentence. Instead he let out a dramatic sigh as his eyes fluttered, like the very thought of her made him closer to entering a dream. She remembered he had said the same incomplete wonderment that day on the flyer derby field with that same goofy grin.

Willow carefully sat on the couch’s arm, knowing she should be keeping her distance from him in his state, but she just didn’t see how she could do that. She wanted nothing more than to sit on the couch with his head on her lap and play with his hair and tell him all the things about him that made her feel goofy and dreamy as they watched human movies they didn’t really understand but she knew that would have to wait. Hopefully it wouldn’t have to wait too long.

“Oh, it seems so silly that you were walking home without a jacket when I still have your suit jacket from Grom in my room,” Willow sighed, sad she could’ve prevented this from happening as she readjusted his blanket on his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to give it back to you.”

“Whaaaat? No! Don’t be sorry,” Hunter slurred, looking up at her with soft assuring eyes. “Darius says all the suave gentlemen give their dates their jacket. Plus he does not want to see that back in the house he says. He said ‘Little prince, you want her to see you as a competent suitor, not a silly clown covered in flowers.”

Willow giggled. “Well, I’ll be sure to let him know how very not silly I thought you looked,” she assured him, remembering how her heart absolutely fluttered when she first saw him in his suit, a suit she knew he had lovingly made with her in mind. How could she be anything other than impressed?

“Okay, wait, you know what is actually silly though?” Hunter said as though he was a stand up comic entering a well known bit, propping himself up on his elbows to see her better. “Is how I kissed her.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” Hunter chuckled at the joke only he understood. “Because like what even happened? I wanted to kiss her? And then I did? Whaat?!”

“Yeah it was uh preeeettty silly.” She said, trying to see how that was silly exactly.

“Cause like I’ve wanted to kiss her tons of other times but I didn’t, so like how did I even know how to, ya know?” He said as he rested his head back on his pillow, barely able to keep his puffy eyes open.

Her face lit up. “What?”

“Like I wanted to kiss Willow soooo many times before but I didn’t but like that’s the time I did? That’s crazy. It’s banana crazy. I wanted to kiss her that time we got bananas but I didn’t even know why. Who kisses in the banana aisle? No way!” He chuckled at his ramblings as though unaware they were occurring aloud with an audience. The audience in question was elated as these thoughts were not exclusive to the loopy boy looking up at her.

“Hmmm, why didn’t you?” She couldn’t resist asking as she leaned over the back of the couch and rested her cheek on her hand.

“I would’ve messed it up,” he said with a large sigh, sad that he was certain of it. “Luz said people are always falling over bananas, I couldn’t risk it.”

“I see.”

“Ya know we used to message all the time and I was gonna kiss her hand did you know?”

“No, I didn’t actually.”

“Yeah, it’s true,” he said with an air of cocky confidence she had not seen from him in awhile. “I was gonna. I was gonna run into her accidentally on purpose and then take off my mask helmet and kiss her hand and say something cool.”

He had never told her this before. Depending on the day he had intended on following through on this, there was a very good chance Willow would have combusted.

“What would you have said?”

“I’d say ‘oh hello’ like I was surprised and not even a little bit sweaty and walk her home or wherever she wanted and then before I’d leave I would say like ‘what a plant you are” his voice got deeper as he misquoted himself. “But I don’t know what I’d say between that, I didn’t get to practice that part.”

Willow scrunched her nose as she tried to connect why Hunter’s words sounded so familiar. Then it clicked: in his sickly state he had rearranged the words a bit,but it was like he was attempting to reenact a scene from a book they had talked about. She remembered how he was telling her his Ruler’s Reach theories and she was recommending other books he could read while he waited for the sequel.

She had briefly mentioned (mostly as a joke) one of her guilty pleasures she had read countless times when she was younger. It was a cheesy young adult book about a botanist and a cursed young noble that Willow liked mostly because of the accuracy of how rare plant care was depicted. But she’d be lying if it hadn’t formulated most of her notions about what romance was. Probably the most famous scene was when the monarch comes to the greenhouse looking for a plant that could possibly lift their curse that only the botanist could manage to grow.

“Please be careful with them,” the botanist says as he gently places the pot in the noble’s arms. “They’re very precious to me.”

The young noble pulls down their scarf that they wear to hide the effects of the curse to respond to him in a low, cool voice: “I shall, you have my word.”

The botanist looks up to them with wide, shimmering eyes. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”

They pause (this story had a lot of dramatic pauses and Willow didn’t understand them until much later when she was the one waiting on the other end) and steps closer to him, both of their fingertips lingering on the pot’s edges as they barely touched.

“It’s a beautiful flower,” the royal says quietly.

“It’s the most beautiful flower I have,” he responds, his voice quiet and raspy as his finger lovingly strokes one of the petals. “I hope it will be enough.”

“That’s not the flower I was referring to.” They slowly remove his gardening glove from one of his hands and bring it to their lips and press a gentle kiss to his knuckles, never removing their eyes from his matching gaze. “Thank you for allowing me to be the presence of such a lovely flower.”

Was it cheesey? Yes. Did she read that passage over and over again every night before bed? Yes.

She didn’t realize Hunter had taken her request, she certainly didn’t suspect he had been planning on using it to woo her. It would’ve worked too. Titan, it would’ve worked very well. Willow was thankful her mask hid her blush. She had suspected for awhile that Hunter returned her crush but she didn’t think he had liked her for that long.

“But I never got to because then I got trapped in a mind and then I saw her but it wasn’t her and then when I did I wasn’t in the mask so it wouldn’t be as cool.” Hunter continued to explain, acting as though the poorly summarized series of events was more of an inconvenience when it came to flirting with her and not a major source of trauma. Willow remembered mentioning how seeing him wearing his mask in posters around town reminded her of the noble concealing their identity. She saw now he had taken that small comment as indication that his plan had even more romantic potential.

“Ah! But then I skipped so much! I did it out of order!” groaned Hunter, flopping back onto the couch as his mind reminded him how he had arrived at this tangent.

“What do you mean?”

“Doctor, I kissed her,” Hunter explained with wide panicky eyes. “Like… a real kiss.”

“So? What’s wrong with that?”

“Doctor, you can’t just go around kissing people, what will they think of you? If I kiss Willow and Willow and I aren’t dating then she will think I kissed her because I like winning and she won. I do! I do like winning but I also like… her facccce.” He hissed the soft c on the word as though just mentioning her face hypnotized him. “But I don’t even know if she wanted me to kiss her! And also there might be a curse about kissing your captain! And then I just…ahh! How could I?!”

“But what about when Willow kissed you at Grom?”

“Pssssh, that’s just a Grom thing!” Hunter said as though it was no big deal. “That can’t count because she didn’t even know that I liked her!”

“What if… she kind of did?”

“Wha?”

“What if she did know that you liked her when she kissed you? Would it count then?”

“Well, theeeeen it would uh…” he stopped, clearly speaking before he knew the answer. He considered it, what such an action would mean if Willow knew what he knew. “Well, then that would mean that she… uh… hehehe.” He couldn’t even finish now as he began to laugh hysterically. It was nervous and loud and full, as if it was unsure what it stemmed from, only knowing it was too bostorius to contain. “I mean if she… then we could… I mean… hehehe…”

He lulled himself into a fit of giggles as he indulged himself in the very true hypothetical. Willow had her answer, she had more than enough to reassure her. Nothing was weird between them, well no weirder than it was before their series of misunderstandings. He was still a dork who wanted to be her dork, and he was still planning on striving for that goal. She smiled wide beneath her mask, his giddiness contagious. Then she remembered that was not the only potentially contagious thing about him.

“Well, you should get back to sleep,” she said, seeing him fighting the urge to yawn. She hopped up and made haste of tucking him back in, wanting him to get better as soon as possible. “I should probably get going anyway. Message me if you need anything, okay?”

“Oh I can't, Darius took away my scroll.” Replied Hunter as he buried himself in his vast collection of pillows.

“Really? Why?” She laughed.

“Uh, because he wants Camila to think he’s a good dad,” said Hunter. “She found out how much sugar he lets me eat and she was nooot happy. No feliz.”

“Okay then, just get better soon okay?”

“Yeah, I gotta go get better so I can gotta go and talk to Willow.” He said as he tried to fight back the sleep he so desperately needed. “Goodbye, beautiful eyes. I’ll beam you up, okay… you and your eyes and your dimples and your…” sleep took hold in the middle of his sentence.

“Sweet dreams you dork,” she whispered, blowing him a kiss before heading back up the stairs.

“... who said I was bald? I’m definitely not bald,” Darius finished telling Camila as he sipped his cup of tea as she sat across from him at the kitchen table trying to surpress her smile.

“Hunter said you took away his scroll,” Willow said as she went to cover her ears beneath her hair before heading back out. “How come?”

“He kept writing novels beneath your photos on penstagram,” said Darius, summoning Hunter’s scroll to show her. “Normally, I’d try to help him save face but the little prince ratted me out to Camila and now no one is allowed to have espresso so he’s on my bad side.”

“And here I thought you didn’t have a bad side,” teased Willow as she went to see Hunter’s fever driven words.

Darius smirked. “Ah, I knew there was a reason I liked you, flyer derby girl,” he said. “Hopefully your wisdom will continue to rub off on him.”

“Darius! ¿Qué estás haciendo? You can’t show her those!” Scolded Camila, wiping the smirk clear off Darius’ face. “Ah, why must you embarrass the boy more?”

“What? You were the one who said you’d wanna see the look on her face when she saw them!” Darius countered, angrily sipping his unfortunately non caffeinated beverage.

Camila shook her head in disapproval before revealing a small grin meant only for Willow to see. She giggled. “Oh, but look! He even tried typing some in Spanish!” Camila pointed out excitedly, Willow spotted the words “bonita” and “hermosa” among a collection of usual Hunter misspellings and ramblings.

She looked at the photo he had chosen, it was one he had taken of just the two of them after he had been made lieutenant. Hunter smiled so wide his eyes were closed, his gap tooth on full display. She had her arm around his shoulder, their cheeks pressed together as her eyes were focused on him, captivated by his joy. She remembered she was fighting the overwhelming urge to kiss him and she wondered if he would ever look back and realize that. They were so happy. Regardless of what came next, Willow was certain that wouldn’t change.

—-

“So how are things going with our little plant girl?” Dell asked Hunter as he walked up the hill to his makeshift workshop.

“I mean they’re… going, I guess,” Hunter sighed as a collection of paliman hopped onto his lap, happy to see him after he had been away for so long. “I… told her how I feel.”

“There we go! That’s my boy!” said Dell with vigor and pride. “So when’s the wedding?”

Hunter chuckled nervously as his ears turned crimson. “Well I… told her how I feel but I haven’t asked her anything yet. I got sick so I haven’t been able to plan how to do it so it’s perfect and special and-.”

He was cut off by Dell laughing as he went over to water another palistrom tree. “Oh, we should start a club, you and I,”

“Really? Why?”

“We both fell for strong, vibrant women,” he said fondly. “Why, when I met Gwen I didn’t know which way was up I’d get so nervous around her. But her? Oh, she was always this bright outgoing thing, I thought there’s no way she’d go for someone like me. So one day, we spent the whole day together doing all our favorite things and I walked her home and I’m so nervous I’m sweating through my new dress shirt. I was determined to tell her how I felt if it killed me, and with the way my heart was beating I thought it just might. I’m rambling and saying too much and nothing at the same time and she just stands there, not opening the door. I know she has a curfew so I’m rushing but she doesn’t seem in any kind of hurry. And so I ask her ‘did you forget your keys?’ Thinking she left them somewhere and I’m gonna go retrace our steps and see where they might be. And she says ‘no, I’m waiting for you to stop talking to I can kiss you.’”

“So what did you do?”

“I’ve never shut up quicker in my life,” he said with a grin. “My point is: I understand wanting to do it right and make it perfect but at the end of the day, the important thing is that it happens. That’s what she really cares about.”

“Really?”

“I’ve seen the way she looks at you,” smirked Dell. “I’ve heard her talk about you when you’re not here, the way she asks about you, she’s quite taken with you.”

“Oh, well I don’t know about that…”

“While you’ve been away, she’s been coming by and singing to the trees,” Dell recalled, “There’s a new spring in her step, and given what you’ve told me I think I know why.”

Hunter’s face turned totally crimson. He had been told Willow had come to see him a few times, but his symptoms went strong for a solid three days and those days were very much a blur. Luz confirmed she had stopped by but said he had slept the entire time, but the new plant that would appear beside his bedside confirmed that she had been there. He wanted to see her now that he was well, but he didn’t want to delay this next step. When he saw her next, he wanted to be ready.

“I just… don’t know what to ask her.”

“What do you mean? You just ask her if she wants to go out with you, don’t you?”

“Okay, but do I ask her out or to go out?”

“Uh… what’s the difference?”

“Well, she knows I like her so the next logical step would be to advance the friendship past simply being just friends,” explained Hunter. “But, do we need a trial field experience before officially labeling it?”

“What?”

“Okay, do I ask Willow out on a date to see if she would be able to return my feelings or do I simply skip that and jump right into asking her to be my girlfriend?” Said Hunter as he stood up and began to pace, the paliman following closely behind. “Because if I ask her to skip too many steps too soon it may come off the wrong way. Like, if I ask her to be my girlfriend and she’d rather go on a date first, she might feel rushed but if I ask her on the date and she’d rather skip that part she might think I’m not confident in our future together.”

“Courting certainly has changed since my day,”chuckled Dell as he saw the confusion spread amongst the palisman that rested on his shoulders. “I’m sure she’ll say yes to whatever you ask her.”

“But I wanna ask her the right thing,” said Hunter in a low voice, as he sunk back into his stump.

“Ya know, you remind me of another teenager I knew who agonized over the same thing with another headstrong, mischievous witch.”

“Really? What did they do?”

---

Hunter frantically pounded the front door of the Owl House. “Hello?” he called as though it was an emergency. “HELLO!

“Hellooooooo.” said Hooty as he entered his window twisting and singing as his energy directly contrasted Hunter’s.

“Hooty!” said Hunter, trying to see past him. “Is Raine home?”

“Whyyyyyy?”

“I was hoping they could help me with something.” Hunter said, knowing it was always best to give Hooty as little information as possible.

“Tell me more, tell me more,” sang Hooty. “Knowledge is power!”

“I want their help with a song,” said Hunter, not wanting to waste any more time. “Dell told me that’s how they asked Eda out when they were younger because they didn’t know what to say and I thought that maybe they could-.”

“Oh! Are you trying to learn how to play the violin?”

“No! I want to ask Willow out!”

“Willoooooow! Hoot hoot! Bout time you two made it official, huh?” Hooty asked, raising his eyebrows and making Hunter blush in frustration. “This is a big moment! Can I sing at your wedding?”

What was it with everyone jumping to marriage so suddenly? “Look, is Raine home or not?”

“No! Sorry! Oh! But Lulu is here! I can get her! She knows eeeeverything!”

“What! No! I- er!”

A few moments later, Lilith arrived at the door.

“Oh, hello Hunter,” she said, still adjusting to using his name and not his title with clear disdain in her voice. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Raine because I need help asking Willow something,” summarized Hunter.

“Oh, yes Hooty mentioned you held romantic feelings for her,” said Lillith, adjusting her glasses. “When he found me he was crying about how adorable your children will look.”

“Listen, I can come back later if you can just tell Raine that I stopped by or better yet let me know where they-.”

“Well, are you two compatible?”

“What?”

“Well, I know you have some… hormone thing occurring,” said Lilith, gesturing vaguely to all of him. “Which, based on her pupil dilation when you’re around each other and the giggly suggestion of your peers I can assume is somewhat mutual. But a relationship of any sort requires structure. Romance can only last so long, I assume. But is there a base for a solid partnership between the two of you?”

“Yes? I mean, we’re good friends and I really like her-.”

“Are you aware of any allergies she may have?”

“Um… shellfish?”

“Do you happen to know the prescription for her glasses?”

“Um not off the top of my head but I have her old pair in my flyer derby bag in case the gold ones break if-.”

“And who would be her primary emergency contact?”

“Um her dads, I think I have Harvey’s- wait, what is this for?” Hunter demanded, realizing she was writing his answers down.

“Oh, for Hooty to better compose your course, of course.”

“What?”

“Well, when Luz and Amity first became a couple, Hootsipher wrote to me and explained how he was an integral part in the occurrence,” said Lilith with utter delight. “So it stands to reason that he would be the best one to assist you and Willow as well!”

“What? No! I didn’t want Hooty’s help. I came here for Raine!”

“Oh, well Raine’s not home.”

“I know that, I just-

“Well if you knew that then why did you fill out our questionnaire?”

“I didn’t want to fill out any questionnaire! I didn’t want Hooty’s help at all!”

“Oh…” said Lilltih, looking behind Hunter with a worried face. “Well, I’m afraid it may be too late for that.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s just arrived with Willow.”

“WHAT? HOW DID HE-.” but before Hunter could finish his question, he was swept off his feet by an overwhelming force. Everything went black.

When he came to, the first thing Hunter realized was that he had no idea where he was. The walls were tall and dark as though he was in a cave. The ground where he sat was cold and hard, and he could not locate a breeze which suggested they were deep under the ground. He remembered Hooty was involved so he didn’t feel as though he was in imminent danger, but he still felt uneasy.

The second thing he realized was that he was not alone.

“Ugh, what happened?” said the disoriented voice beside him. Directly beside him.

“Captain!” exclaimed Hunter in a panic, rising to his feet when he realized how close they were. When Hooty had so unceremoniously dumped them on the ground, he had placed Willow atop his chest. Hunter had no idea how long they had been here. “Willow! Hey! Hi! You’re here!”

“Hi,” she chuckled, reaching up to take his hand as he offered to help her off the ground. “So where is ‘here,’ exactly?”

“HIIIIIIII!” echoed a high pitch yet menacing voice that seemed to come from the very walls themselves.

“Oh no,” Hunter whispered. “Willow, I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“For this!” replied the bird tube thing, emerging from the shadows to capture them once more. He quickly ran a circle around them to wrap himself around the pair, trapping their arms at their sides and them beside each other.

“Hooty?” said Willow, his presence always offering some form of confusion.

“That’s riiight! Hooty and Hunter! Call us the H-Team!”

“Please do not call us that,” whispered Hunter.

“Hooty, what is this? Where are we?” Willow asked.

“You’re at the first day of the rest of your lives!” Hooty said with delight as he proceeded to move forward. Still holding onto the confused pair, they only became closer in Hooty’s grasp as he transported them to their destination at full speed.

“That didn’t answer my question,” said Willow, the side of her face smushed against Hunter’s. His eyes were wide in horror and his cheeks were flushed at the close proximity to Willow. He became more confused by the second.

“Oh I think you’re the one who will be answering a question hoot hoot!” Hooty said, trying to suppress his giggles.

“What? What do you- woah!”

Suddenly, Willow and Hunter were sailing back to the ground. It was just as hard and cold, but the air was different somehow. Instinctively, Willow and Hunter rose to their feet and delved into a fighting stance, ready for anything. Willow summoned a vine to guard her and Hunter as Hooty sunk away into the darkness. Suddenly, the darkness vanished into a sea of green and gold neon all around them.

CAPTAIN OF MY HEART

WILL-OW YOU BEE MINE?

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER IN THE GARDEN

“Hooty! Take us back to the Owl House, please!” Hunter called into the void, panicking at his inability to hide the drafts of his confessions from Willow’s view, unaware that she was absolutely captivated. “Now! Haha, or better yet back in time!”

“Love eternal or your money back guaranteed, hoot!” Hooty said happily from somewhere unknown, ignoring Hunter’s frustration.

“I didn’t give you any money!” Hunter insisted before turning to Willow. “I didn’t give him any money, I swear I had nothing to do with this… whatever this is.”

“Hooty’s tunnel of love has a 100% success rate,” said the bird tube, his voice moving from one side of the room to the other. “And it’s about to have 200%, hoot hoot!”

“That’s not how percentages work!” Hunter exclaimed, his face reddening.

Willow could tell Hunter’s latest attempt at a grand gesture had been hijacked by Hooty. She took it as a good sign. Not the hijacking, the fact that there was something to hijack. It meant he was ready, that she hadn’t been rushing him. He wanted the moment to be memorable, private, unique. Two out of three wasn’t bad.

As far as Willow was concerned, it didn’t have to be perfect. It would be perfect so long as it happened.

“Hunter, you don’t need to be-.”

But before Willow could finish, the ground shifted beneath their feet. It slanted, quickly launching them both down as they attempted to steady themselves and regain their balance. It was then Willow realized Clover was not with her and she could not simply fly her and Hunter to safety. She adjusted her footing and reached out to find Hunter’s hand as they helped steady themselves preparing for the impact of the incline ending.

“Well,” breathed Willow with a smile once they reached level ground again. She gave his hand a gentle squad e, as though to prompt him to do the talking before Hooty reentered the scene. “That wasn’t so bad, right?”

“Right,” chuckled Hunter, finding the strength to squeeze her hand back. “I uh, I don’t really know what’s going on.”

Willow laced her fingers through his, pulling him closer to her. “I think I do.”

He took a deep breath. He could just say it right now. Things were quiet, and peaceful. There was no reason to keep prolonging it, there was no reason not to seize this moment with just the two of them, there was no-.”

“There’s fire?” Willow said, both horrified and intrigued. Hunter turned his head and saw that she was right as a ring of fire formed around them and began to rise.

“The fires of love!” Hooty exclaimed in a dented laugh and the flames grew higher. Didn’t Amity and Luz get a boat ride? The fire was a step up, Willow had to admit.

Before she could summon a flower to carry them away or remember a spell for something to douse them, Hunter leapt forward and teleported her outside the fire wall. She heard a collection of explosions echo around them, suggesting Hooty had planted several fire pits throughout the void as she felt Hunter dodge and run between them to secure a safe spot. He stopped for a moment to check on the plant girl residing in his arms, attempting to continue shielding her from the rapidly random dangers around them as he held her in a small but secure dip.

“Are you okay?” He panted.

“Uh huh,” she said so faintly it was almost inaudible. The blaze of the fire traveling behind him made his brown eyes shine like amber embers. He held up mere inches above the ground, one hand securing her waist and the other cradled her head. Despite the chaos occurring around them, Willow felt safe in Hunter’s arms. She couldn’t help but think that if he just leaned down a little more they would be close enough to-

“Hold on, I’ll get us out of here,” said Hunter effortlessly scooping her into his arms. It wasn’t the first time he had done this but it made her heart race all the same. They way he held her like she was something precious, like he wanted her close but was afraid of holding her too tightly. She remained there in stunned silence for a moment, taking in his profile up close. She had always found his sharp jawline so incredibly handsome, and under the circumstances he was too distracted to see her swoon. There was no other word for it, his determination shone so brightly in his face and features the same way it did when he was focused on a book or match. Willow could see no higher honor than being something Hunter focused on.

She knew that despite Hooty’s… hootiness, they were most likely not in real danger. They had definitely been in deadlier situations. Or maybe that was her brain making excuses so she could ogle him without being interrupted. Or maybe this was part of Hooty’s plan. Either way, she was gonna do it.

Just as they were certain they had escaped the fire portion of it all, Hooty sent a collection of spheres hurtling towards the pair. Hunter dodge them but they seemed to come from every direction and he couldn’t focus on dodging them and looking for an exit simultaneously. Willow recognized them as grudgby balls and figured they were probably Eda’s from when she used to play. Willow had plenty of experience dodging these and leapt from Hunter's arm to summon a large flower to catch the first one before it could hit them. The balls came quicker and in larger quantities as Willow skillfully surrounded them with a garden of protection, the flowers catching them and spitting them out toward an unseen attacker. She was too focused on protecting Hunter to see him staring at her with wide, adoring eyes.

“Look for a way out!” She called, having no difficulty capturing balls but having a feeling that this could go on for hours.

“Right!” Hunter said with a nod as he tried to see past the lights of neon and fire for something that looked out of place in the unique collection of chaos. Above them, he saw a glimmer of dull light. It seemed unfitting of Hooty’s aesthetic and Hunter knew that must be the way out. He leapt forward and grabbed Willow’s waist as he laughed them into the air towards the freckle of light.

They found themselves safe and sound outside the Owl House, collapsing to the ground as they tried to catch their breath.

Willow thought this would be a funny story they told the way Amity and Luz did, a jump start

“I’m sorry Willow, this was a disaster,” groaned Hunter, much to her surprise and dismay. “I ruined everything. I had one shot and I blew it. Luz was right, I do overcomplicate things.”

“Hey,” said Willow as she say up, placing her hand atop his. “You didn’t ruin anything. I know how Hooty can be and we’re okay and I mean, it was at least interesting, right? It was a good training regime, maybe we can incorporate it into practice.”

He smiled in spite of himself. She always had a way of making him smile even when he had no right to. She was too good and she deserved the world, and he couldn’t even give her a decent confession.

“It’s just that I… wanted to ask you something and I thought that if I made a big enough display it might impress you so you would-.”

He stopped himself when he looked up and saw how close her face was to his as she clung to his words with wide eyes and baited breath. “So I would …what?” She asked softly.

“So you would… nevermind.” but just as he was gaining momentum, he lost his nerve. How could he possibly confess his adoration in the shadow of his failure? He swore the next time he saw her, he would sweep her off her feet. Instead, his feelings had nearly gotten her killed. Surely if she didn’t turn him down now it would be out of pity. Hunter stood up, fists clenched as he tried to shake his frustration enough to continue talking before he went to teleport away. “Clearly that wasn’t the way either. Maybe there just isn’t… I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, Captain.”

No! He was so close! How could he not see how totally crazy she was about him? That she didn’t care what they did or where they were as long as they got to be together. But it didn’t matter how many times she said she was having a great time becuse he wasn’t listening to her, he was trapped in his own head. He was so stuck on his high expectations that he couldn’t see that she didn’t care about the bells and whistles, she only wanted him. She didn’t care if it was awkward or rushed or messy so long as it was real. So long as it happened.

She knew that getting this right was important to him. But she wouldn’t let that happen at the expense of his self worth. She wouldn’t hold her tongue a minute longer, not when the sweetest person she knew felt like he wasn’t good enough for her.

He had tried doing it in so many different ways, asking other people for advice. But at the end of the day, there was only one side-fire way to assure him this was the right time.

“Hey, you!” She called before a Hunter could get too far away. He stopped to look down at her but before he could respond, he was captured mid- teleport by a mighty vine. It wrapped around him, trapping his arms to the sides before pulling him down to earth and dragging him through the dirt before landing a few feet in front of Willow.

She had her head down, which allowed her eyes to be hidden and the light glared in the lenses making her face unreadable. Hunter prepared himself for the worst. Would she call him a fool? Would she tell him to give up?

Hunter held his breath as she slowly lifted her head, bracing himself for a swift rejection.

“Do you wanna be my boyfriend?”

#huntlow #huntlow fanfiction #toh #the owl house #winter toh #Willow park #Hunter toh

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