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kuni-is-daddy · 11 months

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Hi thank you for taking my request if it's all right can I please ask for a part two where he finds out the darling is good and stitching/customizing and

Where he find the darling making a doll of him

So they can hug it when he isn't there

YANDERE SCARAMOUCHE X FEMALE READER.

1.43k words. Scara masterlist

TW:? Signals of anxiety, Bl00d mentions, Threatening. Shameless manipulation

Featuring?: Childe. Mentions of scaras fatui life and backstory/Inazuma spoilers.

Scara's oufit for your 'date' ->> Link

First part -> Jirai Kai

Kuni pulled away from the kiss to observe your fragile body against the tree. "Hah. Never though you could make the taste of dango better my love. We should have more dates like this~" you blushed and looked away from him. "I-it wasnt a date! We we're just going to pick up your package. i-i didnt even want to come out.." "Oh really? but im sure you did enjoy the little show i put on for you, didnt you?" he snickered at your silence, then licked off the woman's blood from his hand.

"You liked talking to that sneaky youkai as well.. Why didnt you tell me those two humans we're bothering you. I would've got rid of them right then and there." He roughly cupped your cheek, Giving you no choice but to stare at his dead indigo eyes and bloodstained choker. Until You we're interrupted by the sudden roar of thunder. "Ugh. How irritating.." He then pulled away from you to look back at his 'masterpiece' "Lets head back through the way to tenshukaku darling. Then im sure you wont have to worry about anyone else~" you smiled at his suggestion, only to be startled by the sudden drop of rain. You turned and kneel'd down to open your pastel bag. It had a small umbrella inside, plushies, snacks, 1 energy drink and your empty sowing kit. You pulled out the small umbrella, sighing at your empty kit. Meanwhile, Scara was still in a daze. Wondering if one day he could show you his work within the fatui personally. You nervously tapped his shoulder. to which he immediately turned around to. "Hm? Whats that love?" the water and blood began to mix, draining down his overshirt. "…I brought an umbrella just incase..Do you want to walk together Sca- Kuni?" A warm smile appeared on his face. It was rare, but something about the way he'd smile would always warm your heart. It was a pure and innocent smile as if he never committed the 100s of atrocities he's done. He took the umbrella out of your hand and wrapped his arm around your waist. Holding you close while guiding throughout the path to tenshukaku.

You walked through the city again while getting a couple of stares and laughs over how kuni looked, making you cling onto him even more. The anxious pit in your chest felt as if it subsided a little. It was still their and it wasnt easy tuning it all out but you felt a mysterious comfort with kuni around. //The two of you first met at ogura muro's kimono shop as you we're browsing for dark sakura patterns to use as doll fabric. Your hoodie was still over your head. "Excuse me? Do you mind helping me pick out some fabrics. A friend of mine also has a interest in those colors you have but.. I cant seem to know which one is right." He smiled but you didnt reply. The counter woman giggled.

"Sorry dear, Y/N always has her headphones on." She smiled. 'So it is her.' Kuni thought. He already knew who you were beforehand but never intervened. He looked at your beautiful choice of style. In inazuma their rarely was any unique styles of clothing, being deemed as inappropriate. but he couldnt get over how astonishing you looked. from your stockings with little hearts that matched your black footwear, to your cute sanrio trinkets and keychains along your bag.

Fantasizing over the two of you walking throughout inazuma in matching outfits, exchanging tastes in music, or even coming to your house for dinner. He wanted you from the beginning. You lived in his head rent free while he was in schneznaya for a year. It pained wondering anxiously if something happened to you due to the laws. He wasnt the best artist but to calm his worries during breaks on missions he'd draw pictures of you in his clothes and the wet fantasys he'd have of helping you take them off.//

You browsed through your phone, hoping to distract yourself from directed stares. "Hmm. Your being awfully kind arent you? Im surprised you didnt let me walk in the rain myself." he looked down at you while you scrolled through your gallery of dolls. Tuning out his words just as you first met. Eventually walking past ogura mio at her textiles and kimono shop, You tugged at scara's shirt. Then pointed to the shop. "Of course, darling." You rushed with a smile on your face. Searching through layers of fabric while he was amused with your 'childish' reactions. After finally picking out things you liked, you walked towards the counter hoping to see Ms Ogura again. After all..It has been 3 years since Kuni kept you. Your smile turned to a frown after realizing she wasn't there. Her daughter, Mura Mio was lazily taking care of the family business. Headphones in ears and reading manga "Um..Excuse me.." Mura didnt reply, mearly looking you up and down with a tsk then turning back to her book. The pit swirled in your chest from the awkwardness. You held the cloth and thread in your hand then walked back to kuni. He looked up at your grim eyes and immediately put his cold hand on your shoulder, Bringing you back under the umbrella. "Whats wrong baby? They didnt have anything you wanted? I thought this was your favorite store." You looked down. "...l-lets just go home kuni...its closed." Kuni then gave the umbrella to you and walked back towards the store after looking then seeing mura. "N-no kuni its fine lets just go home please-" You shieled your face in embarrassment, Hoping he wouldnt make a scene.

He walked up to Mura's desk. Watching her look him up and down. "Hi welcome to ogura-" she glanced behind him to read the sign but saw you. Realizing the both of you had similar outfits on, She sighed again. "I dont know why your girlfriend had to send you in here to make a scene." Kuni leaned over the counter, resting one of his hands on it. "Are you deaf or just stupid?" "Ugh- Excuse me?!" Mura leaned back in her chair as he got closer to her uncomfortably. "My Wife, wanted to buy something from this-" He looked at the run down markings in the floor. "Store. But you act like you cant do your own fucking job-" Mura cut kuni off. "i dont even want to work here, And i dont really care what that…other freak is to you, and-" She bit her tounge. A faint smell of metal began to come from kuni. "What? You Dont have anything else to say to this Freak?" Blood countined to drip down his choker, Pattering onto the pages of her manga. Mura shivered as the metalic smell and taste from her tongue overwhelmed. She looked down at the picture then back at the male. His indigo eyes then began to glow with a purple tint, disappointingly looking at mura. "Humans like you truly are pathetic, A complete waste of space." Mura froze in fear as Kuni began walking around the counter and towards her. Still stuck in her chair. "You act tough and degrade a person behind their back or even to their face, Yet When I come around, People like you regret ever being like this to my darling." "P-please..i-..Im sorry. T-take whatever you want from the store! Bring her in and!-" "Orders? Hah. Your telling me what to do with my love? You sure have a mouth to run dont you? How about…I cut it? Watch you choke on your own sloppy-" He stopped talking to look back at his darling, sitting at another dango stall with the umbrella and eating. 'My love, Your so precious. Too delicate for this world. Why did you leave me? Dont you remember when we first met here' At the sudden thought he then remembered that this was ogura's daughter. The glow in his eyes faded, he walked throughout the store picking out things similar to the items you chose. loving how humans would fear him. Especially after an act like Mura's. He still paid for what he bought out of respect for Ogura since you actually cared about the woman. He looked back at Mura. Both knowing her demise.

Kuni walked towards you sitting with your umbrella closed, The rain finally stopped. "My love~" You shuddered at the sudden call. Internally sighing that the nice silence you had was over "Y-yes kuni?" "What do you even need this shi- this stuff for anyway? Do you make clothes or something?" He looked through the bags then glanced at your now starlit eyes. "Oh! i- i like making dolls. Even customizing! Some of the keychains on my bag I made them too! S-sorry if its a boring hobby.. I know hobbys are for 'idle bodys' as you'd say." He flashed the bags in your face, Insistingly. "Take it and have fun." "W-what..?" "I said, Take it and have fun. Do i have to repeat myself?" He sighed as you giggled and looked through the bag. "Back when I was kubuki- I mean, Traveling. I met a boy, A fledgling just out of the nest..He gave me a doll he made that looked just like me." He then sucked his teeth after realizing he started to get emotional. Reaching to comfort his eyes until you ambushed him with a hug. You didn't know why you hugged him, Countless thoughts we're telling you not to after he kidnapped you, killed your entire family and livelyhood but you didnt listen. staining your beautiful outfit against his bloodstained clothes. While the bags buckled against his back as you wrapped your arms around him. He immediately pulled you into a kiss. Ignoring the now tolerable taste of dango. "Your mine Y/n." Your heart swelled, falling into Kunikuzushi's trance once again.

"Turns out this Mura chick fled out to sumeru, Sucks.. She's kinda hot." Childe Breezed through the papers while the boat rocked. "Wouldn't expect anything less from you Childe, In love with the weak. Explains why your the 11th." Scara turned in his seat. Looking as the view of the tallest point of the academia was visible through the ocean waves. "Hey, At least ill be sure the one I have really loves me~ I wont have to go through any extra killing or-" "Living off of lies wont do you any good Childe, This is why your still single." Childe laughed 'thats ironic' he thought. "Comrad its called, Waiting for the right one. Besides, being this rude wont give you a free month of me doing your missions so you can hang out with y/n!!" he poked scara's shoulder as the boat rocked again, Making his hat tipple over a bit. "Do me a favor childe." "Sure comrade!" "Jump off the boat." "Aw cmon kuni, be nice. 3 more weeks with me will be fast." Kuni then glanced down at the electro crest on his fatui uniform, And the dangling feather his mom gave him when he was first born. He swore he'd never take it off, Along with the mini doll keychain you gave of him. Kuni was pouting as his hat was halfway hanging onto his head, Unlike the one the little boy gave him, it was if he was smiling this time, Human emotion. Something he'd only show for you. He smiled then looked back at childe.

"I look forward to that."

Authors note/ Thank you for reading if you made it this far :) Ive been posting off and on because I still have responsibilities, but summer is here babes so im free! Have a great day everyone :)

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shaisimp · 4 months

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Asking Assassination Classroom boys for their permit to play with their hair.

(second post. Gender neutral reader x Assassination Classroom boys. Part 1?)

Asano Gakushu

“Shuu.”

“Yes?”

You gaze at the strawberry blonde, wanting to play with his hair for awhile now. And it's been itching your hands, curious of how soft and fluffy his hair might be.

“Quit staring and spit it out.”

It makes you internally roll your eyes at him, ofcourse there goes his sassy demeanor. Though, you should consider yourself lucky you managed to get to know this school stud.

“Can..I play with your hair?”

He freezes from writing. Possibly doing his homework or studying. This dude's an addict for studying — you wouldn't be surprised if he grew workaholic.

“Leave.”

He spoke. You felt dissapointed but respected his decision. Heading towards the kitchen of his residence to probably snack on something. Anything.

But before you could step away from the living room, you felt a hand squeezing your wrist and snap your head back to see a sight of Asano looking as if he's in distress.

“Are you leaving so soon?”

“Going to grab a snack.”

He felt angry at himself for thinking you'd leave just because he rejected your request. Moreover, why should he care about you!?

“Can you..let go?”

He felt his eyes widen and immediately let go of your wrist before clearing his throat then turning away.

“Make sure you wash your hands before and AFTER eating. You can play with my hair.”

You felt a twinge of happiness rush through you as he agreed.

“I don't want to feel your dirty unhygienic hands on me.”

—His additional sentence might've took away your slight hint of happiness, nevertheless you're not complaining.

Karma Akabane

This wasn't the first time you're playing with his hair, but you felt like trying something out.

As he rest and sitting still on the bench to watch Nagisa and the other's continue playing baseball, you decided to play with his hair. Combing it as if you were grooming it with most care possible.

“Karma,”

“Hm?”

You gaze down at your pockets, but he already figured out what you were implying. He's a know it all after all. What do you expect from this genius?

“Go crazy with it.”

---

And that's how he ended up having small braids and tiny bows with the color of white to have a little contrast of it from being on his hair.

He's not ashamed, not embarrassed about it. Though, he's most certainly not showing he's proud of it.

(he loves it.)

Yuma Isogai

He was getting ready for work as school hours ended not too long ago and you were walking with him along with fellow E-class students.

He excused himself in the bathroom and you him in his work uniform once he got outside, combing his hair.

You felt shy to ask him for a favor, but you wanted to help.

“I..can help you with that Yuma.”

“Oh, thank you!”

He accepts it with such an open mind. So you sat him down on one of the nearby chairs as you combed his hair and thought of what to do with his hair. Clip it? Style it? Braid it?

“Hey..Y/N?”

The way he called out your name made you snap back to reality and focused your attention on him.

“Yes?”

“If it's not much to ask..just a simple comb will do.”

You felt internally dissapointed, realizing you offered help to fix his hair but you obliged. You ended up combing his hair as you stroke the strands of his hair.

“Your hair is silky,”

“Ah, you're flattering me!”

You managed to hide the fact you were completely playing with his hair, rolling your finger with his hair with occasional pats before letting go.

“Thanks again, Y/N.”

“It's no problem.”

#assassination classroom #karma akabane #akabane karma #yuma isogai #isogai yuma #asano gakushuu #gakushuu asano

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comicaurora · 1 year

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This is probably a weird question, but what are some tips you could give on character design? I've been trying to feel confident with my own designs, but they feel kind of bland... what kinds of things would you suggest to help make designs stand out more?

Hoo boy. Hm. I feel like I am not the right person to ask about this because objectively I do almost nothing you're "supposed" to, but if it's working I guess that means I might be onto something?

A lot of my design considerations are practical. I don't want to give anybody a design that's going to be a nightmare to draw over and over again. I've done enough commissions in my time to know when somebody is overdesigned and therefore hugely annoying to draw, and that's a no-no. So I tend to stick with simple patterns at most, not too many layers, no need for five million belts, no need for incredibly intricate hairstyles, etc. This is a practical consideration for the medium of comic art, but other mediums have different considerations - 3D-modeled art, for instance, can overdesign the characters as much as they want because they only need to model them once, and a lot of visual novel characters are limited to a very small handful of poses and some interchangeable expressions, meaning it isn't prohibitively complicated to make them a little Extra. The most time-consuming and frustrating commissions I've ever done were for characters who were frankly never designed to be drawn more than once. A quick sampling of highlights for the design features I swore to myself I would never deal with again-

So on a basic level, if you're designing a character to draw over and over again, it needs to be something you're willing and able to draw over again. Intricate patterns, a lot of interlocking plates, anything with lace - those are all things I try to avoid.

I've often seen the advice that character silhouettes should be super visually distinct, that characters should be very strongly shaped like different things. I think that's great if your style is that flexible, but if you kind of want everybody to be shaped like a human being with a skeleton, this advice is not very useful.

I think a diversity of body shapes is great, but the style I favor requires the anatomy to at least sort of makes sense, which means while there can still be a lot of variation in the distribution of muscle and fat, everyone's bones are gonna be in roughly the same place. I can't just draw a square and fill it with a dude. So instead I try and distinguish my character silhouettes in other ways.

Everyone's hair is different, and because most characters have big hair, this plays a large part in their silhouette. Falst and Erin both have short hair, but Falst's is a bristling mane while Erin's is usually more swept and soft-looking. Dainix and Kendal both have long hair, but even when Dainix's hair is loose it doesn't hang or flow the same way Kendal's does - it gets in the way, drapes in front of his face and overall doesn't move the same. Alinua's hair is bouncy curls. On top of that, everyone's outfits are fairly simple, but no two of them are exactly the same - Erin has a monopoly on poofy sleeves, Kendal has cuffed boots and the back-slung sword, Dainix has the poncho and the poofier pants, Alinua has the v-neck top with slightly pauldron-y shoulders and the slippers, Falst's clothing is ragged at the edges, etc. Even without getting into their distinct color palettes, everyone's at least a little bit distinct.

And this is another place where I purposefully try to avoid overdesigning. If everyone has too much going on it can circle around to being hard to tell the characters apart, because too much is happening. Who can pay attention to the fact that one character is sleeveless and one has asymmetrical boots and one has a mullet when everybody is wearing eight layers of embroidered fabric with four belts and half a breastplate on top?

Avoiding same-face is hard, and I'm not very good at it. But I do try to make sure everyone's face shape, nose and eyes are at least slightly different from everyone else's. It might not show from a distance and it might not be as extreme as a pixar design sheet, but it's something.

Ultimately the main consideration I keep in mind when designing characters is - perhaps a bit redundantly - their character. Who they are as people, and how that will impact the way they look. Everybody stands differently, and shifts their weight differently when a situation is changing.

Despite both being short, lightweight guys with short hair, Falst and Erin are wildly different people and are not going to dress the same, make the same facial expressions or hold themselves the same way. Despite both being tall, long-haired, generally friendly warrior badasses, Kendal and Dainix carry themselves very differently and react to things in very distinct ways. Tess and Erin have the exact same haircut and nobody noticed for ages because of everything else.

The designs aren't complicated, and compared to some, they aren't even that distinct. But I try to make sure that their personality is visible in every aspect of their design. Every "why?" in their design has an in-character answer, and since they're all quite different on the inside, keeping things simple means that starts showing through on the outside.

This is also how I can visually distinguish between Vash and Kendal, who have the exact same body and clothes.

we can never underestimate the importance of ✨body language✨

#asks #aurora #art stuff

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valeriefauxnom · 9 months

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Random Art Quirks or Minor Royal Details?

One thing that caught my eyes very quick when playing Dragalia, to put in brief, was Euden's. It's usually subtle, but in nearly every single piece of artwork involving him, he has a red fleck (usually) to the right side of each eye. Now, I might be inclined to dismiss that as some form of shading, but this reflects even in all his models:

But when I mean it's everywhere, I mean everywhere. Even in wyrmprints, who were made by a whole host of vastly different artists, preserve this quirk when he's close enough to the front to be able to slip in. Enough to make me think it's in his character notes or guide for artists.

...But he's not the only one with this trait in the royal family.

We've:

-Zethia

-Chelle

-And, perhaps most interestingly, Phares, as his are purple instead of red.

Nobody else has it. Leonidas' eyes are bright green enough and plenty intense as it is, Valyx's are a plain brown, Beren's are purple/pink completely, and Emile's are a bright blue. Nedrick technically fits in that he's got red and green, sure, but he's...odd in many ways, and his default eye color without all the bad Bahamut vibes seems to be like Leo's, bright green with absolutely no hint of red.

When I first looked all the royal fam after I noticed this trend (for me, Euden to Zethia to Phares), I thought, "hm, is this a sign of possession, a joke among the artists that this character is or will be possessed?" Especially because Morsayati does that 'whole eyes to red' thing, and when Zethia is possessed, where should be her red fleck turns to a green one. And maybe Phares' are purple to signify the Progenitor instead of Morsayati.

But Chelle bucks that trend entirely, escaping scot free from any such shenanigans. So what is it, for such a small trait to be so consistently portrayed in these 4's art?

First, I thought it simply might be a trait from King Dad (AKA Aurelius, in my set of nicknames I use to communicate to my best friend who never played dragalia...) But no, Aurelius does not have the red fleck, just a deep deep blue/teal.

So I looked even further back in the bloodline, and for that, I turn to King Dork, AKA Alberius, -who may be the originator of this whole quirk!

Voila! If it is a trait that's been passed down through him, I got to thinking even more. What if the colored fleck was a result of him sealing Morsayati in the blood, and perhaps a greater concentration of it or something similar was what manifests a red fleck in the eyes? Ah, but alas, this is immediately disproved by the fact it's in this model, too, before he sealed the demon.

However, that doesn't mean it might lack entirely for significance. Perhaps it's an occasional feature of dragonblood, since they seemed like they kinda wanted to make the family have a bit more 'draconic' traits sometimes or otherwise have physical effects dragonblood brings, like how rarely some of the royal fam seems to have rather pointed/pronounced canines compared to the typical style in dragalia, like Leonidas and Emile here (alas, most the family doesn't often show off a full toothy grin, leaving us with the more emotive ones when they're really mad), or concept art of Euden who seems (to me, at least) to have slightly pointed ears:

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, but I think it'd be interesting to explore if the family had other traits because of their dragonblood! It's noted in like one place to give them some different veins, like literal new veins, not just the composition of blood in standard ones flowing, so I don't think it's entirely off the table. I myself kinda play a bit with this idea in my one dragalia fic, Scaling the Walls of a Mystery on AO3 because it's just so cool to me (Which I'm working very hard on getting an update ready soon!), but I'm always down for more speculation!

So yeah, red or purple flecks in the royal family's eyes is surprisingly common. Did you notice that when playing, and/or speculate as to a potential import? Or is it just artists adding a quirk for the sake of it?

#dragalia lost #dragalia #listen the royal family are disasters in unique ways but I love them okay?#I love the fact they went full in to the 'huge #messed-up royal family' trope since most royal families I see in fiction are pretty small #...And somehow managed to do that with a atypically good and overall wholesome and loving father for the genre and trope!

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moralesmilesanhour · 3 months

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I'd love to hear what fundamental issues you have with spiderverse... 🎤

Hm I'm just gonna rattle off a few from most to least important before I forget (note: some of my issues with spiderverse are less about the concepts or characters themselves but more about how the writers or producers chose to handle them, or even just exploring the possibilities of what could've been. I still think it's a really excellent movie and complex story.)

If you're someone that skims through longer paragraphs a lot, I've also put my most important points in italics so that you get the gist of what I'm saying :)

Making Miles' story about everyone else but Miles. I understand that Miles' whole thing in Spiderverse is that by defying the odds, he inspires the people around him. But there's a certain point where the story become *about that* and the other characters more than him and his interiority. In its efforts to focus on his growing into the mantle of Spider-Man, the films only kind of allude to the fact that he has a life outside of the mask. His mental health and relationship to his community are pushed to the wayside so much that even Ganke is only on-screen for a few minutes at most.

(This is a long one sorry) Spiderverse as a movie doesn't seem to know for sure whether it likes cops or not. It presents the literal police and policing as a concept as something that is inherently neutral, likening it to the mantle of Spider-Man where they simply have power that they have to use responsibly, and that there are just "bad apples". But the way that Spider-Society operates quite closely parallels how policing and criminality work: you have a bunch of spiders go out and detain people and send them where they're "supposed to be" under the guise that a) the order of things will essentially fall apart if you don't, and b) there is a specific way that your story is supposed to go, and you should be willing to sacrifice lives to maintain that status quo. There's also the categorization of those who break those rules as an Other (anomalies), and the fact that Spider Society reacts to the presence of the anomalies instead of addressing the thing that created them (the collider. HELLOOOO). With all that being said, Miguel and the rest of Spider Society are clearly framed as anatgonistic forces by the film and even has a punk anarchist character calling them out and being right about it. The movies simultaneously critique policing metaphorically through Spider Society while trying to justify it in the real world.

Girl where is Pavitr. His character is literally perfect for Miles to interact with, but we don't see him again until the very last scene. Same thing with...literally everyone we just met. The movie is over two hours long, where did all that time go--OH WAIT

Gwen and the scene with her dad take up wayyyy too much of the movie's runtime, I'm sorry. We spent the entirety of the beginning of the film learning information about Gwen and her dad that could've been quickly conveyed in much less time. Not to mention that, apparently, Mr. Stacy literally gets fired in the comics for letting Gwen go, so that whole plotline didn't even need to happen. Why change that? To say he's a 'good cop' that does his job? The trauma of losing Peter would've been present in her story either way.

The art style. No, this doesn't mean what you think it does. I do not have an issue with the 3D and 2D hybrid style of animation obviously. Spiderverse has literally revolutionized the field, but there are some limitations to it that were made especially clear once TMNT:MM came out. You may or may not have noticed, but isn't almost everyone in Spiderverse...kinda gorgeous? Hear me out here. Someone has pointed this out before me, and it really changed the way that I look at aesthetics in animation. In Spiderverse, everything from the environments to the way that things are shaded and colored is extremely stylized and pushed quite far...until you get to the main characters. Yes, there is diversity in features the likes of which we haven't seen 'till recently, but I'm purely talking about the style in which they're drawn. Compared to everything else, they look closer to something Disney or Pixar might produce. This is not inherently problematic or "bad", but I do wonder how much cooler and cutting-edge and comic-y we could get if it wasn't so pre-occupied with beauty. You can disregard this one, it's just a thought. Apparently the idea that not every cartoon character you see on the big screen has to be hot makes people very angry.

I think those are all the big ones. I'll reblog with new additions if for some reason I come up with new things to complain about lmao

#another long post sorryyyyy #blabbering #not tagging this bc ummm no <3

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tamelee · 2 months

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I love your artwork, it's so cool! I'm an amateur in art, do you have any tips? Thank you!

Thank you so much! 💕 And sure! (Have you seen my other posts as well?) It’s a bit easier when it’s more specific >< But I’ll try my best;

- Keep notes about the things you want to learn as you draw! Someone gave me a tip to have an art-goal so you know what to work on and then improve these particular things as you go, but for some reason I found it really hard to set these goals? (Am I the only one?) I kept thinking I just wanted to ‘improve’ everything, but that’s not very tangible and I can’t effectively measure whether I’ve succeeded… (it’s also not always easy to see your own improvements… at least I rarely can ><)

But when you draw and you come across these little things that make you go “hm, I wish this was easier” or “I really love this sketch I made, but I’m not sure how to go about coloring it”, anything like that— then your desires regarding your art or your process become a lot more specific, right? Write these down! What specifically would you like to improve on?

I’ve noticed for myself and many others talked about it as well that once a piece is done, it’s like you forget a lot about the process and your mind is set on a new project. (Also, yay! You were in the zone~) You can either use your current project as practice (all of them are in a sense, really) or start a new one later, research what you need (on YouTube, books, or perhaps a course from an artist you really like if you can afford it) and work on your goal!

- Also keep notes for any ideas you may have. We always think we’ll remember something and then we don’t. These sudden, often spontaneous glimpses you receive seemingly out of nowhere can be some of your best and it’s a shame if they fade back into the void. This also applies to anything that inspires you.. it can really be anything. I think I’ve said this before, but if you do this, try and organize a bit. Otherwise you’ll end up with a bunch of notes that’s more overwhelming than anything else.

You can use folders to keep images, notes, a dedicated Notion page perhaps or if you can afford it, keep an extra external SSD for this.

- Well, this also applies to research or video’s you’d like to watch. If you end up with too many tutorials or books, or they aren’t goal-oriented specific to your art desire, it may get really hard to get you started on something. If you’re like me and it’s hard to focus, I’d highly recommend taking some time to sit back, think about the thing you really want, organize and structure a way towards it and go. That way you don’t have to make all these decisions along the way— you know what to do already, it’s written right there!

- And that also applies to tools and brushes xD I know it’s really fun to download all of it because many are free and what if there’s ever a time you may need this specific texture on a brush? What if you can’t get this style that inspired you with the brushes you already have? But truth is, you don’t need them all and if you do, you’ll notice there are many you won’t even touch. And well… as you can see in my art as well, apart from the pencil ones, it doesn’t necessarily encourage consistency if that’s what you strive for. If you want to practice, most often the basic round brush will do, the less opacity or blend, the more you can practice shapes and clarity. In that case I’d stay away from the airbrush whenever possible.

- Depending on the program you use (CSP has their own), you can use these to help you with facial angles, or this if you rather prefer a basic skull. You can use the site if you can’t get the angles quite right for many things.

- For coloring I highly recommend James Gurney’s articles or book ‘color and light a guide for the realistic painter’, even if you’re not a realistic painter, it still contains most (all?) of what you need to know about color.

- A great way to experiment is to just… open a blank document and do whatever. I know it often feels like you have to draw something (preferably something good), but you can actually learn a lot by just scrabbling away. Here’s also often where you find the things you feel like you need to improve. Certain angles are especially hard for me, but I hadn't known that if I didn't try >< Oh, I also found this site by accident and I haven't read it all, but it covers many subjects! Hope these are helpful! 🌷

#asktamelee #art talk #art tips

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wheels-of-despair · 9 months

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Always Worth It | Ralph Penbury x You | Series Masterlist

Christmas in July Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Penbury get another chance at a perfect kiss under the mistletoe at an unexpected time of the year. Words: 1.7k

"Mail's here," Ralph announces, sinking into the sofa next to you. He hands you half the stack, and you begin sorting through it together.

You find twin envelopes in your pile, large and red, and hold them side by side to compare. Once you realize what they are, you scoff.

"What is it, love?" Ralph leans his head on your shoulder to see what you're seeing.

"Something from London's most respectable gossip group."

"They sent two?"

"I love how they used my new address, but my old name."

"Why would they… oh. Your mother."

"Of course."

"Well, what's inside?"

You hand Ralph your envelope with a smirk, and begin tearing into the one addressed to him. What's yours is mine, right?

You soon hold in your hands two matching invitations to the Christmas in July Ball.

"Why would they host a Christmas Ball in July?" Ralph asks.

"It was called off last year, on account of everyone being ill. They probably wanted to use the decorations before they go out of fashion," you hazard a guess.

"The decorations were out of fashion when they bought them," Ralph snarks, causing you both to snicker.

"Shall we go?" you ask, dropping the invitations in your lap and reaching for his hand.

"Do you want to?" Ralph counters, giving your hand a squeeze.

"I asked you first," you lean your head against his, where it still rests on your shoulder.

"Hm," he hums, staring at the invitations in your lap. "Why not?"

"Alright," you smile.

"You know, I was going to ask you to last year's Christmas Ball."

"You were?"

"I was. I was so nervous. I planned it for a month… and then it got called off when the flu struck. I was devastated."

"But you worked up the nerve to ask me to the Valentine's Day dance," you remember fondly, playing with his fingers.

"And was turned down."

"I seem to recall all that working out for us in the end," you tease.

Ralph lifts his head from your shoulder, and you turn for a kiss.

"My darling, would you do me the honor of attending the Christmas in July Ball with me?"

"Oh, I'm… I'm sorry, Ralph. I wish I could. But what would my husband think?"

Ralph lets out a low growl, then lurches forward and tackles you sideways. He crawls on top of you on the sofa, in your half-lying position, and begins peppering kisses on your exposed neck.

"Alright! Alright! I'll go with you!" you laugh. "But if we get caught, you'll have to be the one to explain our love to my husband!"

He grins down at you and plants one final kiss on your cheek before clamoring off the sofa. He holds out a hand. "Shall we visit your dear Anna and discuss dresses?"

As always, Anna came through. You'd looked through a catalog together, and found the perfect dress for a Christmas in July event - festive colors, but styled for summer. You had no intention of suffering through a heat stroke at this event.

The last Christmas Ball you'd attended had been a disaster - Ralph's night hadn't gone exactly the way he'd wanted either - and you both saw this as a second chance to get things right.

You were putting the finishing touches on your make-up when Ralph entered the room in his tuxedo. You watched him in the mirror with hunger, forgetting all about what it was you were meant to be doing. His tie and the detailing on his dark jacket matched your dress perfectly. He was breathtaking.

He caught your eye in the mirror and came to you.

"You look beautiful, love," he whispered, bending over to ghost his lips over the side of your neck. You were temped to call off the outing right there. If only you hadn't already gone through all this trouble.

You somehow finished the task in front of you and made it out the front door on the arm of your handsome husband.

"This looks an awful lot like the last Christmas Ball," you whisper as you enter the venue. You honestly couldn't spot much of a difference: the place was still lined with red and gold.

"So much for not going out of fashion," Ralph giggles in your ear.

"Hello, dears!" You both wipe the wicked grins off your faces when Ralph's mother greets you. "Doesn't it look fabulous? Feels just like Christmas!"

"Yes, Mother, it's lovely," Ralph says with a fake smile.

She pats him on the cheek and goes to greet someone else, and you share a look.

"Punch, my darling?" he asks.

"Who, dear?" you joke.

Ralph laughs and escorts you toward the refreshment table. With two cups in hand, you find an empty table and settle in to watch people for a bit. You sit close and sip your drinks, muttering comments to each other under your breath. Ten minutes later, you were prepared to declare this the best mother-sponsored event you'd ever been to.

Well, perhaps the second-best; that first Valentine's Day together would be tough to top. But any event with Ralph is automatically ten times better than one without him.

You and Ralph decide to be sociable and mingle a bit, and when that grows tiresome, he asks you to dance. When you step onto the dance floor and lose yourself in the most mesmerizing pair of eyes you've ever seen, the rest of the room melts away. You move as one, in perfect harmony, for what feels like hours. When you finally return to your seats, you notice that the room has become considerably more crowded.

Ralph drapes his arm over the back of your chair, and you sit close and watch the other couples dancing.

"Look," Ralph says, nudging your thigh with his. You follow his eyeline to see the back of a big blonde head belonging to Donald Andrews.

"Oh, no," you groan.

Donald turns, and you see that he's dancing with a short redhead.

"Isn't that…"

"The girl who humiliated me in front of everyone on Valentine's Day?" Ralph grumbles. "Yes."

You lean into him and sigh. "I almost think we should thank them. If those two hadn't made us so miserable, we might never have found each other."

Ralph gives you a squeeze with the arm around your chair, and you watch the dancing couple peacefully. Maybe there really is someone out there for everyone. You're glad you've found yours.

"There you are! Mother told me you were here somewhere!" You both straighten as Victoria and her crew of gal pals start noisily pulling chairs toward your once-quiet little table. "We've only just arrived. We met this fabulous band who invited us to another shindig later on tonight, you must come with us! Or are you too boring to enjoy parties now? Has marriage sucked all the fun out of you? I haven't seen you in forever, dear brother!" Victoria pouts, then catches sight of someone in the crowd. "He's coming home with me tonight."

Victoria gets up to pursue the man who caught her eye, and her minions follow.

You and Ralph look at each other with amusement.

"Well, that was a thrilling conversation," you chuckle.

"Almost like our presence wasn't required at all," he grins, glancing at the clock. "Would you like to go home and be boring together, or wait for Victoria to capture her prey and drag him back here?"

"I can think of a few things to do at home that wouldn't be boring," you wink.

A wicked glint appears in Ralph's eye, and he drains the last of his drink. "Shall we, my love?"

"There's one more thing that needs to be done before we leave. Let me visit the powder room, and I'll meet you under the mistletoe?"

Ralph's eyes brighten, and he nods in understanding.

"Be with you in a moment, pup," you whisper, planting a kiss on his cheek that leaves a faint lipstick stain.

You dodge dancing couples on your way to the restroom, freshen up, and remember the last time you were here. You'd been on the worst date of your life, not in your right mind, and were desperate to get home. But still… fate had put Ralph Penbury in your path. Literally.

Your only regret was that it took you so long to realize it.

Checking your appearance once more in the mirror, you pushed through the door, determined to right that wrong.

Ralph was standing beneath the mistletoe, just like you'd asked. His eyes were on the dancing crowd, which allowed you to surprise him.

"Excuse me, sir, but I couldn't help but notice that you're standing under the mistletoe."

Ralph fights back a grin and glances upward. "So I am, miss."

"I believe the laws of Christmas in July state that you must kiss me."

"Oh, I'd love to. But I'm married, you see," he flashes his wedding ring at you and returns his gaze to the crowd, "and my wife would never allow it." He's putting so much effort into keeping a straight face through your little charade, you expect him to burst at any second.

"What if we don't tell her?" you ask deviously.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I must decline. I'm quite in love with my wife, and would rather die than betray her." Ralph sticks his nose in the air and looks in the other direction. "I bid you good evening, and ask that you please leave me be."

"Ralph," you laugh with a good-natured roll of your eyes, wondering how long he's going to keep this up. He turns his head toward you, does a dramatic double-take, and lets his jaw drop in surprise.

"Oh, it's you!" he giggles, finally coming down for a kiss. You wrap your arms around each other and don't break your mistletoe kiss until you hear the familiar sound of your mother clearing her throat.

"Merry Christmas in July," he breathes when you part, your mouths still only centimeters apart.

"Are you two finished?" your mother snaps through clenched teeth.

"Not quite," you answer, coming in for another peck, then two, then three... since she asked. Ralph doesn't seem to mind.

"You are making a spectacle of yourselves!" she hisses, before whirling around and putting distance between herself and your scandalous display of affection.

"Ready to go home and be boring, love?" you whisper.

"My plans for you tonight are anything but boring," he grins.

#writings of despair #ralph is worth it #ralph penbury #ralph penbury x you #ralph penbury x reader #ralph timewasters #ralph timewasters x reader #merry christmas in july in august #totally didn't start writing this months ago and just remember it this week #that's not what happened at all

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inventors-fair · 4 days

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Trigger Happy Casters: Winners! ~

Congratulations to @corporalotherbear, @izzet-always-r-versus-u and @wildcardgamez for winning this week's contest!

@corporalotherbear — Keranos's Conduit

I was really hoping for weird cards like this, and boy howdy is this card weird without actually being weird. I think that because I get exactly how the name, setting and ability come together, this is one of those cards where the mood presupposes the vibe even without a visual. Kinda funny because you're using stormless storm with the God of Storms, right? Heh. Anyway, though, this card can swing games like nobody's business. Limited means your Auras and "heroic" triggers—and also Constellation triggers!—become that much more radical. It makes having a lot of bodies and limited Auras so much better.

In terms of random constructed thoughts, can you imagine this with something like Etali's Favor? Because it's a cast trigger, you'll discover so much that you can hit and cast all the smaller Auras, which will get all of those other triggers if they got 'em, and so on and so forth. Sage of Mysteries, major mill? Wicked Visitor end step triggers? There are lots of ways to make this card fun and brewable and I'm really impressed by how much this card can be fun at the helm of its own deck. What a rockin' card and what a cool idea.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — The Cozen, Syndicate Enforcer

PUNISHMENT. I love punishment! I love punishing people for their crimes of free-casting! Being symmetrical is kinda funny but at the same time reasonable for the colors. I'm thinking of cost reductions, Omniscience punishing, Force punishing, Elemental punishing—hm. I do actually wish this wasn't fully symmetrical but it don't matter because hnnnnng. Having this be so situational probably means that it's not going to have a massive effect on the various limited formats. Are there any common ways to reduce costs? Hm... Affinity, Convoke, Cascade and Discover, Cipher, Delve... Heh heh heh. Okay, it's environment-dependent, but still. Oh gosh, and Plot too.

I was also shocked that this specific flavor text hasn't been used because I could have SWORN that I've read it before. But you know, taking a character from flavor text and turning them into an actual card is one of my personal favorite things that people pull out from time to time—if done properly—and a debt collector punishing people for not paying their costs is pretty perfect. I honestly think this card is missing flash, though, and I don't know if that's negligible. It would make such a massive difference, and yeah, the body or cost would have to change, but having that kind of interaction almost feels necessary for the environment in which this card needs to be. Almost. I'm willing to hear arguments against it, though, so you know—invitation to discussion and all that.

@wildcardgamez — Galazeth's Whelp

You know, what I like about this card is that functionally you can pay the mana and get a Treasure regardless of whether or not the spell resolves, and that works similarly to the pitch cards from Prismari that would help you get to those massive spells eventually. People...definitely cast those. For sure. Anyway. I'm curious about if the dragons on Arcavios actually could have offspring, but I guess this card is the answer to that, right? Or maybe this is just a manifestation, or a dragon in the same clan, or whatever. Doesn't matter—this card is a functional card that does a LOT of work. I absolutely love how well this card functions in a spellslinging deck.

My Magical Christmas Land scenario would be to chain together spells like Sudden Breakthrough and Ancestor's Aid, deal an insane amount of damage, draw cards if you have cards like Flick a Coin, etc. I think it might be too slow for prowess-style decks but in terms of just Izzet Spells, this card's a limited bomb and a constructed possibility. Magecraft to damage is an awesome combo and this card does all those little pieces right. Sometimes the right combination can make some wonderful work happen. Flavorfully, too, it's all the best parts of artifacts and spellslinging together. Great job overall, I'd say! ... Just capitalize "Treasure" in the future, comrade.

Runners comin' up soon. @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #winners #cast trigger contest

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zarvasace · 10 days

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For the ask game - 15, 17 and 30?

15 - do you know first aid or have magical healing skills?

I have super glue for holding together minor cuts. That's kinda magic, right?

17 - have you ever cosplayed as a LoZ/LU character or do you plan to someday?

I have two and a half LoZ cosplays! Sort of. They aren't very good but I did have fun with them.

The first is BotW Zelda's royal blue dress, which turned out much better than I thought. The belt didn't hold up very well, though, because the fake leather I got didn't glue very well. I wore it to a mini anime convention a few years ago with a friend who dressed as Link. XD

The second is based on super smash bros ultimate Zelda, which is based on Link Between Worlds Zelda. This one was for Halloween, and my first experiment using foam pieces. It worked out pretty well for what it is, and wearing a cape was fun.

I have a lot of pieces for Skyward Sword Zelda as well! She's almost done, in fact, but I don't have her dress yet. I do have most of her accessories though, including pockets in her blue waist apron thing and a sailcloth :)

I don't currently plan on any more LoZ cosplays. I've thrown around the idea of doing a BotW/ToTK NPC, but I currently have an FE3H Hilda technically in-progress and don't want to add another yet! (My workspace was taken over so I haven't made progress on it in a while.)

30 - tell me a story about an adventure you went on!

Hm, not a lot of weird stuff happens to me, but how's this!

A few years ago, I was very active on the institute council, and helped plan a Halloween activity for the young adults in my area through my church. It was essentially just music in the gym of the big building, that isn't the important part. The important part is that I went off on the outfit and hair:

It was a lot of fun! I enjoyed dressing up and from what I remember of the event, it was nice. I enjoy being involved in organizing events. (I met sir King👑of🌹Goth💀 there, too, that's a different story though.)

Wellllll as you can see, my hair that night was both colored black and backcombed a lot. The black was from a jar of semi-permanent color (I'm not sure the brand sells black anymore, to my dismay) and the backcombing was courtesy of my sister. I needed some clarifying shampoo to get the color out and some strong conditioner to help get the teasing out.

So after the event, at like 2 AM, I went to Walmart with my friend. Nothing unusual happened, besides the few people also shopping giving me looks. But it was 2 AM at a Walmart around Halloween, so.

I don't really dress up as dramatically as this every day, but I have become a lot more comfortable dressing the way I want to! Honestly a lot of my favorite outfits are amalgamations of pieces I've gathered since high school, over nearly 10 years now. It's taken a while to curate a closet I like, but I like where it is, and how it's going!

(Clothes and the way I present are important to me, and I want to emphasize that it's taken a while to get to where I am, and I'm still not where I always wanted to be! If clothes are important to you, too, let me say: high school is only the beginning. Collect stuff you like and don't be afraid to let go of stuff you don't. You don't need a single style and it's a good idea to experiment! I have a lot of goth type clothes, but I've also collected a fair amount of stuff in the vein of different vintage and academia styles. Some of my favorite clothes don't fit into my usual goth outfits. Just... If clothes are important to you, know that you can get where you want to be. Experiment and don't think you have to conform to any one or two styles. You're unique and so are your choices of style!! Sorry for the long paragraph. This is something I wish I could tell my younger self! You don't need to be perfect right now. You're not falling behind. You're doing great. :) You'll get there.)

Anyway that's the story. Not much to it. I went to Walmart at 2AM for shampoo with a faux deathhawk. I went to Harmon's once last year with an Iowa Hawkeyes hoodie and a full face of dramatic goth makeup too. It's fun. I've had mothers scoot their kids away from be before and I think that's hilarious

#lu ask game #i speak from the coffin #long post #do i have a clothes tag #my clothes #if i dont now i do

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kaylinalexanderbooks · 16 days

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🍰 (this is cheesecake apparently) for the sweet ask game?

Hey MK thanks for the ask! (From this sweet themed ask game)

🍰Cheesecake ~ What is your process to making and developing a character?

Well the making of the character usually is just "hm, I need a character."

I usually go to Behind the Name to think of a name. Usually, I'll filter by ethnicity + gender (inc unisex), but especially ethnicity, maybe meaning. But I do pay attention to meaning for SOTL names. Sometimes I will think of a name off the top of my head, but not always. For background characters, I usually recycle a dumped character name or have a fun reference to something.

Character design and personality don't have a process exactly, it's usually just Vibes. For TSP, the cast made me work super hard to make everyone distinct, and I like the way it turned out. I spent a very long time crafting basic stuff for everyone, putting down basic traits, how they'd react to X emotions, etc in order to make it work. How they get angry/express anger, what makes them anger, how likely are they to express it. How secretive are they. Confidence level? How easily bored are they? What makes them bored? How are they at their best? Their worst? What gets them to that point? How do they deal with stress? Etc.

I've changed names when I find the name boring/it's just not working. Similar process. I also think really hard about character design if I'm also bored with a character's design. Niri is the most recent example of this. Changing his wardrobe and hair did wonders.

Developing a character takes time, and despite taking months of time focusing on them, I'm still finding myself adding things. Recently focused on their music tastes and in the background am thinking about what their bedroom looks like. Multiple outfits are hard for me to think of, so I gave everyone a basic style and swapped things out occasionally, but also gave everyone a different color palette.

Working on character dynamics with each other is also helpful - what do they have in common vs where do they clash? Perfect for thinking up fun scenes to highlight their differences and/or similarities - which leads to pairing characters I never considered.

Hope this was comprehensive enough!

#character writing #my characters #my ocs #niri shyaka #the secret portal #tsp #teaspoon #sotl #school of the legends #writing ocs #writing ask game #oc ask game #writers on tumblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community

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itisannak · 1 year

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Rose-Colored Glasses, Vol.2, Part 6: New York, Zurich, London (Sugar Daddy!Harry Styles)

Summary: (Y/N) has some major career choices to make. Harry takes her along on an investors' tour, and they have a big discussion about their relationship. The penultimate part. This is an NSFW story. If you feel uncomfortable reading content like this one, feel free to scroll through my Masterlist to find something you might like. (Smut / Teasing/ Oral Sex; Female Receiving / Breeding Kink / Semi-Public Sex) (Words: 8.4k) Vol. 1, Part 1: New York City / Vol. 1, Part 2: New York City & Aspen / Vol. 1, Part 3: New York City & Amalfi Coast & Rome / Vol. 1, Epilogue / Vol. 2, Part 1: New York / Vol.2, Part 2: New York, Upper East Side / Vol.2, Part 3: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City / Vol.2, Part 4: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City / Vol.2, Part 5: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City, Winter Wonderland / Epilogue; Hawaii / My Full Masterlist / Rose-Colored Glasses Masterlist / My Ko-Fi

It has been about a year since that conversation with Harry. Another Christmas went by, with everyone's eyes glued on my ring finger, to find out whether Harry popped the question or not. It is not just his family and our friends anymore. Every time I accompany him to business dinners or trips, every time I visit his office, everyone is looking at my hands, scanning for a sparkling stone on that finger. At first, I was getting annoyed, and frustrated at the invasion of privacy. But now it is just funny, everyone is so obsessed with our relationship, so amazed by the fact Harry is in the longest relationship of his life -at least by Lita's sayings.

"Well, I will be damned..." I hear a familiar voice from the entrance of the design room. I have been helping from the game studio's headquarters lately, so I have been meeting with a lot of people. I raise my gaze to find Chimera, my old professor from my bachelor years. "Professor Fisher... It is so good to see you again. How have you been?" I ask her, leaving my pad on the desk to walk toward her. "I have been fine, Ms. (Y/L/N). Last I heard of you, you were moving out of New York." She shakes my hand. "Yes, but now I am back. I apologize for not attending our meeting all the way back." "The past is in the past, (Y/N). Tell me, what are you doing here?" She asks me. "I help with the gameplay dialogues and info, check the validity of information, you know, putting my knowledge to any use I can." I explain to my old professor who is now looking at me as if she is scanning me, looking for any excuse to judge me. "I see." "What are you doing here? This is the last place I expected to see you." I ask her. "The studio wants to recruit one of my students, apparently as your assistant, as part of their dissertation. As the head of the department, I had to check this place out." She replies. "Oh, that is amazing. I could use some help around here. And I am glad I will get to work with a fellow NYU student." I smile at her. "Now that I have found you, what about we go grab some lunch and discuss how you like it here? Maybe we can have that meeting we didn't have all this time back." She suggests. I check my wristwatch, seeing that I have at least 45 minutes until my lunch break. "I will have to ask my supervisor if I can have my break a bit earlier." I smile and point to the supervisor's office.

"What's up with you today?" Chrissy asks, pulling out a lace bodycon from the rack and holding it before my body. "Hm?" I realize that I have been holding onto the same pair of satin panties for the last 10 minutes, mindlessly feeling the smoothness of the fabric in my hand. "I am asking what is going on inside your head... You are off today. What is so much more interesting than lingerie shopping?" She chuckles. "I saw Chimera today... Professor Fisher." I state, placing the pair of panties in my shopping basket. "You did? And what, she sucked the life out of you?" She asks jokingly. "No... I mean, she was actually very nice. She bought me lunch." "Well, I mean, she always liked you. You were her little teacher's pet." She teases me, knowing that I am dying to hear praise from any authoritative figure. "Still, she was very difficult to deal with, you remember." "Anyways, is that the reason you are off today? Because Chimera bought you lunch?" She asks with a scoff. "I was supposed to have a meeting with her when I got back from Italy." I explain, avoiding eye contact. "(Y/N), baby. I love you, but I can't keep pressing you to extract information. You have to be the one to tell me if you want to let it out." She comments and I sigh. "She wanted to suggest I start my Ph.D. back then. She said that my research project was riveting for a bachelor student and that skills and insights like mine should not be limited to developing a mobile game. She said that if I am up for it, I can apply tomorrow morning and start next week because she will vouch for me." "(Y/N), baby... That is amazing. Oh my God, I am so proud of you, but oh, oh so jealous. You should be celebrating, not sulking." She encourages me, hugging me in celebration. "What are you thinking? Are you doing it?" She asks me. I sigh, feeling my eyes brimming with tears. "I can't afford it. I have to pay off my student loan. She said we could look for partial funding, but it is not enough for me to not go into complete debt with my current salary." I reply, feeling a tightness in my stomach. I really, really want this, but I can't have it. "Why... Why are you not... asking Harry for money? He would be more than happy to help, you know that." She suggests. "We made it very clear when we first got back together that he will not treat me like a sugar baby again." "Yeah, ok. But this is not like that and you know it." "It will feel like that to me. I won't even tell him about meeting with Chimera today. And I'll just forget about it. I have to focus on other things either way." I reply and she looks at me with a furrow on her brow. "Other things?" "I mean the game. I'd tell you if I had to plan a wedding, don't worry." I roll my eyes, showing her my still-ringless ring finger. She just hums and places the bodycon in my basket, moving to the next rack. "You know, sometimes I feel like your personal Barbie doll. You dress me up and then send me home for Harry to enjoy." "I am on his payroll for exactly that reason." She jokes. "That explains a lot, actually." I mumble and follow right behind her.

It has not been easy for me to move past this. I have always thought of myself as a scholar, as a person active in the field of research, someone who helps the next generations understand art a little better, and a person who helps all those stories behind artworks to be told to the world. So it is not easy for me to kick away this opportunity.

"Sunshine, you are still not ready?" Harry asks, emerging from the closet. He is trying to fix the cufflinks on his shirt's sleeves but he is struggling, so I gesture for him to come closer so I can do it for him. "I am not really feeling well. I think I am staying home tonight. Give my apologies to the company." I murmur, fixing the little decorations on his crisp, white shirt. "What is it, princess? You have been under the weather for a while now. Have you been to the doctor?" "It's fine, it's just tiredness." I assure him. I don't like lying to him, and I certainly don't enjoy watching him worry about me, but it is not really a lie. I am feeling sick, and being with his nosy business partners will not help me feel better. "Baby, have you... Have you taken a test?" He asks me. I can sense some hope in his voice. He has expressed that he wants us to have a family, but we have agreed to not rush it or force it. It will come in its own time. "A test?" I ask him. "A pregnancy test." He clarifies and I chuckle. "Harry, I am not pregnant." I hate to crush his hopes. "Are you sure? I can ask Vinny to bring you one." He offers and I nod. "I am sure. I had my period 10 days ago, remember?" I ask and he huffs. "I am just tired. I am sorry." I smile softly at him, running my thumb over his knuckles. "I'll cancel tonight. I'll stay with you, cook you a healthy soup, and we will sit and watch something on the telly." He begins unbuttoning his shirt but I stop him. "No. You should go. I will be fine for a couple of hours. I'll drink some tea, take a melatonin gummy, and go to bed. Tomorrow I'll feel better." I assure him, standing up to give him a short kiss. "Are you sure about that?" He asks me and I nod my head. "I will be fine, baby. I just need to rest. Go, have fun. I will see you during breakfast." "If you need anything, just call me." "I know." "I mean it. I will keep my phone on." "Okay, Harry. Now go, don't be late for dinner." "Fine. I am going. Oh, I can leave Vinny here. Just in case you need anything. He suggests but I shake my head no. "I will be fine on my own, Harry. But thank you for being so considerate." It is sweet of him, I can't lie. "Alright. I'll try to get out of it as soon as possible. Bye, baby. I hope you feel better soon." He moves out of the door hesitantly, leaving me alone in the empty house.

A knock on my office's door brings me out of my zone, stopping my typing mid-sentence. Harry stares at me through the glass door, waving at me happily. I smile and gesture for him to enter, watching him as he tries to open the door with his body. "I come bearing gifts." He announces as he walks in. And he truly does. A bouquet of fresh daisies, a large, brown paper bag from our favorite takeout place, and a smaller bag from the french patisserie near his office, all carried by him and placed on top of my desk. "This is a surprise." I state, standing up from my chair to hug him. I know that the glass door and the window divider don't give us much privacy, but I don't mind being seen hugging my man. "Is it a pleasant one?" He asks me and I hum. "Always. What are you doing here?" I ask him, inviting him to take a seat on the small, 2-seat leather couch in the corner of the room. My office is not as impressive as his, it is way smaller, way less private, and more minimalistic than his, but at least it is all mine. "You haven't visited my office in a while. So I thought I should pay my busy girlfriend a visit." He starts taking the takeout out of the bag. "You know I have been swamped lately, bub. And you see me at home all the time. Is that not enough for you? You'll wound up tired of me in the end." I joke as he hands me a lunchbox. "It will never be enough for me, no matter how many hours a day I see you. I just wished I would see you happier a lot more often." He hands me a travel mug with coffee, my usual fragrant cappuccino feeling warm in my hand, despite the isolation of the mug. "I've been feeling a bit off lately, that's all. I'll get better once spring takes over." I try to make up an excuse, but Harry is smarter than that, he doesn't buy it.

"Why didn't you tell me about the Ph.D. offer?" He asks me, sitting across from me on the couch. Well, due to the size of the furniture, we are pretty much one upon another. "Harry..." I don't know what to tell him. I didn't even realize he knew that much. "(Y/N)..." He insists, prying my head up with his pointer and middle finger. "Chrissy told you?" I ask him. "Only after I told her how miserable you've been lately. She is worried about you. I am worried about you. I thought you wanted to break up with me and didn't know how to tell me." He explains. "Harry, no. Of course not. I just... I can't afford to do it now. So what use would there be telling you? I wanted to suppress it, I wanted to forget it even happened." I admit, fidgeting with my rings. "If there is one thing I learned from therapy is that the more you suppress things, the stronger they return when they resurface. You can't ignore a smoke alarm, the fire will catch up to you. Yes, you wanted to suppress it, but it took away your happiness." "Ok, yeah. It happened. But even now, nothing has changed. I still can't do it, and now you know about it, so every time you'll look at me, you'll pity me." I sound frustrated, more so than I thought I would. "Is this Ph.D. something you want to do? Is it something that will bring happiness back to my favorite person?" He asks me and I sigh. I simply nod my head, biting my lip to stop myself from crying. "Then you should go ahead and do it." "You know I don't get paid enough to pay off my student debt and start a Ph.D." I chuckle and he scoffs. "I'll fund it." He states. "Harry, no. We have agreed you wouldn't treat this as a business deal. This is precisely why I didn't want you to know in the first place." I try to sound definite about this and cut this option off completely, but Harry remains calm and just looks at me until I am calm enough to listen to what he has to say. "I am not doing this to control you. I am not doing this to own you, or because I want you to feel in debt to me. I am doing this because this is the sort of thing you do for the person you love. I love you. And if this is going to bring the smile back to your face, I am going to pay ten times the fucking tuition." "What if we break up?" I ask him and he tilts his head to the side. "Are you planning on breaking up with me, (Y/L/N)?" He asks me. "Of course not, Harry. But shit happens, you never know. You might get bored of me, you might be the one who will want to break up." "(Y/N), baby... I will never get bored of you. I don't ever plan on breaking up with you. And believe me, if you ever decide to break up with me, the last thing I will care about will be the money. So, (Y/N) (Y/M/N) (Y/L/N), do this sad, sad man a favor and apply for the Ph.D., because every second I don't see the light in your eyes, I lose my happiness too." He takes my hand in his, bringing it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss on it. I smile and nod, moving closer to him to press a kiss on his lips. "I don't know how I will ever repay you." I whisper. He strokes my face softly, looking at me for a moment, staring deep into my eyes. "Love me. It is enough for me. Love me, because your love makes me a better person, and it makes the darkness go away. So, just... Love me." He states, stroking his thumb over my cheek. I nod my head, feeling finally ready to burst into tears. I have been holding myself for a while, trying to deny the pain I have been feeling. But now I can finally let go, I can finally admit how painful this has been for me.

"Is that the necklace I got you back when we first met?" Harry asks me, holding up the chain with the rose-gold plated dove necklace. I am currently finishing packing up for our trip to Europe, for an investors' tour. Harry is checking the jewelry I have packed for the trip, bored out of his mind now that he has finished with his own obligations. "It is." I smirk, looking at the dainty necklace. "You still got it?" He asks and I nod my head at him. "I thought it had long been buried in Arlington's grounds." "It is way too pretty to be buried." I reply. He hums, closing the box and placing it back into my luggage. "I hope this one is not packed to be worn in public..." He holds up a lace teddy, a baby pink, nearly transparent one, which of course Chrissy chose for me, but I couldn't agree more that I have to wear this. "Oh, this one? This one is for dinner with your parents... This, the pair of gladiator lace-up Amina Mauddi high heels you got me for Valentine's, and the silk romp Chrissy got me for Christmas... The perfect outfit for the in-laws, don't you think?" I ask him, folding in half the protective fabric bag that has one of my formal dresses inside, and placing it in my suitcase. "For the in-laws?" He asks, cheerful about the phrase I used to describe his parents. "I meant your family." "You said the in-laws, though..." He teases, walking closer to me. "I meant your family, Harry. Don't make too much of it." I scoff and he shakes his head at me. "You said the in-laws..." He grabs me by the waist, pulling me close to his body. "You said the in-laws." "Harry..." "No, no, no. Don't ruin it for me now... You said the in-laws. Which means, you are thinking of me as your husband. Tell me, (Y/N)... Are you thinking of me as your husband, baby? Are you thinking of becoming my wifey, Ms. (Y/L/N)?" He asks me, gently pushing me onto our bed. "I have to finish packing... Or else the teddy will be worn during a business dinner." I giggle. He pins my hands onto the mattress, hovering above me as he smiles. "Don't threaten me, 'cause I will call Gemma and have her send a dozen outfits to Switzerland before we land." He teases me, leaning down to bury his face in my neck. "Harry, I have a shitload of things to do." I purr, but Harry knows better than to back away. "You wanna be called Mrs. Harry Styles, baby? Cause I can arrange that... Pretty much right now." He nudges his nose on my sweetspot, causing me to sigh at the sound of his last name as mine. "Harry, baby..." "Oh, I know, I know... You want me to put a baby inside you, hm... You want that even more, don't you?" He asks, letting go of my hands and raising the hem of my sweater until it is off my body. "I just want you." I admit, succumbing to the way his lips are working on my skin. "I knew that already, baby. If you could, you would have me fuck your tight little cunt all the damn time, wouldn't you?" He asks me, moving his hands now to take off my biker shorts. "I bet this little pussy of yours is already soaked, isn't it sweetheart? Just imagine how much needier you will be with those pregnancy hormones. Fuck, we will have to build a bed in my office for our little mid-day meetings." He toys with the hem of my panties, grazing the very tip of his finger over my bikini line and sending shivers all over my body. "Damn, your impregnation kink... You know, rich guys tremble at the idea of producing spawns with random women, in case they demand a fortune for their paternity." I manage to gather enough coherence to tease him. "You've taken all logic out of my brain, princess. I don't care if I am left with a single penny after I put a baby inside you." "Now, do you want me to put a baby deep inside you? Do you want me to put a baby right here?" He asks me, kissing my lower stomach. "Yes, please, daddy." I moan, feeling his hot breath on my skin. "How much do you want me?" He asks me, lowering his lips until they rest on my still-clothed mound. "I want you so much, I can't even find the words. Please... Look how messy you've made me." I groan and Harry chuckles. "Oh, princess... But you have to pack your luggage." He slithers away, smirking victoriously. "You little shit." I protest, nearly jumping up from the bed. "Weren't you the one protesting that you have to finish packing?" He asks cockily, walking into the bathroom with a toiletry bag in hand, whistling a tune in faux-mindlessness. "Get back here, Styles." I groan, folding my arms before my chest. "We have to finish packing, sunshine. Get back to it." He sounds too smug for my liking like he knows he won this round. Fuck, this is the last time I play hard to get when I want him that bad.

"I can't believe I won't see you for 3 whole weeks." Chrissy sighs before pouting at me. I roll my eyes playfully, knowing how dramatic she is right now. "Chrissy, we have gone way longer without seeing each other." "Not since you moved back to New York..." She mumbles. "I'll bring you Swiss chocolates to make up for the lost time." "Bitch, you keep your Swiss chocolates. You'd better bring me a Swiss watch." I laugh at her comment, earning looks from the jet's crew who are impatiently waiting for me to hang up. "I'll do my best. Chrissy, baby, I gotta hang up. We are preparing for takeoff and I need to switch to airplane mode." "Fine. Stay safe, call me when you land." She demands. "I don't know what time it is going to be here when we land there, honey." "I don't care... You call me. Love you, be ok." She greets me. It is adorable how much she worries about me, it makes me feel like someone has my back.

I would be lying if I said I don't get why she is so worried; the last time I left for so long with Harry, it was for that trip to Italy, and we all remember how that went. Of course, Harry and I have traveled abroad again since we got back together. But it is the first time we are going to be gone for so long. And it is the first time we are traveling for business. I can feel the nervousness in my stomach, and a burn in the back of my nose. It feels awful, and I am glad I share the feeling with Chrissy, because Harry seems on cloud nine, completely in his own fucking world, and not too bothered by what is clearly on my mind.

I put my phone on airplane mode and grab my journal -a beautiful recycled leather journal that Chrissy got me for my research-, and my laptop. With around 80 academic journals, articles, and pdfs, I have enough to entertain myself during the long flight, the long trip to be honest.

"We are all set." Harry announces, plopping down on his seat. The comfortable seats allow me to sit fully curled on mine, my laptop resting on my lap. I know it is not the best position to study in, and I will soon have to change it, but for now, it will have to do. "When are we taking off?" I ask and he chuckles. "Eager to get up high, sunshine?" He asks me with a soft smile. "Not really. I am just craving coffee and I know they are supposed to serve us after takeoff." "Oh, they are not?" He asks as he motions for a flight attendant to approach us. "Can you please bring us some coffee? The pretty lady over there needs a caffeine boost, she is an academic..." He comments, looking at me adoringly. I cock an eyebrow at him, opening my laptop to access the folder. "Right away, sir." The flight attendant smiles and walks to the front to execute Harry's request "You didn't have to do that. And I am not an academic." I mumble and he chuckles. "You are a Ph.D. candidate, correct? And you wanted some coffee, right? We are passengers on this flight, we can have some coffee." He states. I just hum, focusing my gaze on the text before me. "Is someone a little pissy today?" He asks me, leaving his seat and walking towards me. "Nope." "Oh my God. Are you mad at me?" He asks me with a sly smirk. "That I am." I admit. "Look at my perfect doll, owning up to how she feels... I am so proud of you." He licks his lips, sitting on the arm of my seat. "Aren't you going to ask why I am mad at you?" I ask him and he shakes his head, stroking the side of my face. "Oh, I know why already..." He scoffs. The flight attendant brings a tray with coffee and paraphernalia. "Oh, you do? So tell me, Harry, the all-knowing, why am I mad at you?" I ask him, peaking at the pot of coffee to avoid eye contact with his smug, stupid face. "It is because I haven't fucked you in the last 4 days, isn't it? Your little cunt is so wet, desperate, and hungry for my cock that you've turned horniness into anger. You crave me so much that you are pissed you can't have me." He states. My eyes dart straight to the flight attendant, who backs away with wide eyes. "People can hear you, you know..." I mumble, but Harry seems to not care. "I am telling the truth, am I not?" He asks me. "Yes, yes... I am pissed at you for not fucking me, Harry. You have been teasing me for days now, and you have been leaving me high and dry. How is that fair? You know, it reminds me of the stupid bet we had last year before Christmas... And if I remember, we both did not like that time of our life." I clench my jaw, making Harry chuckle at me. He grips my chin, making me look at him and calm down from my fluster. "4 days without my cock inside you and you are spiraling... Oh, dove... I should have known how desperate my wife gets without feeling me inside her." He teases me. "I am not your wife." I protest and he hums. "From all I said, you chose to protest the wife part... Interesting." He states and I shrug. "I want you to count 75 minutes from when we take off. After 75 minutes, I want you to get up and head to the bathroom, wait for me there... I promise you, I am going to make it up to you for the dry spell." "We are not having sex on this plane." "Yes, we are. I have always wanted to join the mile-high club. And now, I have the most perfect partner to do so. So, we either do it in the bathroom, or I take you right here, with only a lap blanket hiding what this mean, big man is doing to this sweet, little angel." He cocks an eyebrow at me, expecting an answer. Despite the idea of him fucking me before everyone's eyes is turning me on to the point I have to press my thighs together, I am way too shy to ever do that. "Fine. 75 minutes." "Until then, I want you to focus on your bibliography." He reaches for the pot, pours me a cup of coffee, and hands it to me. "You are a huge dick, Styles." I roll my eyes, taking the first sip of coffee. "Oh, I know that." He winks at me, moving back to his seat.

I could not stand still while waiting for time to pass. I thumped my pencil on my journal countless times until I filled a page with random lines from thumping. What was worse was that Harry seemed too focused on his tablet, not even throwing me an accidental look. I hate that he looks so casual when I know he burns for me.

I followed his instructions down to the very last word. I took my refreshing cosmetics pouch that I had packed in my backpack for a touchup before landing and headed to the bathroom, which seems way more spacious than the ones on commercial flights. Of course, Harry had to tease me, making me long for him even more. He calls it delayed gratification, I call it torture.

A knock on the door, and then my heart pounding that someone might need the bathroom, and I got excited over nothing. "(Y/N), baby... It's Harry. Let me in so I can help you. Is it your travel sickness again?" He asks me from the other side of the door. I am confused, eyebrows furrowed together, but I decide to play along without phrasing my bewilderment. I open the door for him, allowing him inside the bathroom which now feels not-so-spacious. "Since when do I get travel sickness?" I ask him once he locks the door. "Since we need a cover. I needed a reason to join you. Would you rather if I said morning sickness?" He asks me, gently cornering me against the wall. One hand rests on my waist, the other on my face, and he is looking at me with a dominant expression. I love that expression, I love it on Harry and Harry only. "Smart, Styles..." I comment with a soft smile. "Just creative, dove. Very creative when it comes to pleasuring my wife." "Not your wife..." I comment and he smirks. "Right, not yet." He states, slipping his hand into my culottes. I gasp when his fingers find their way to my panties, toying with my cunt that is still covered by the thin, cotton undergarment. "Oh, look...My favorite cunt is so wet, it has a damp patch already." He chuckles and coos, rubbing his fingers along my slit. "Are you here to tease me, Styles?" I ask him, too desperate to even try to hide it. "Part of my job description is that, yeah..." He states, kissing the nape of my neck. "Styles..." "Styles..." He repeats at me, making me roll my eyes at him. "I go by (Y/L/N)." I remind him and he scoffs. "You'll go by Styles, just for me..." He kneels on the floor before me, lowering my bottoms along my panties. "Just for you?" I ask him, feeling his breath on my thighs. "Just for me. Only I will be allowed to call you Mrs. Styles. Mrs. Harry Styles. Deal, baby?" "Deal." I whimper as he fixes my leg onto his shoulder, allowing him access to my sex. "That's my good girl. Mon soleil. And now, I am going to reward you." He goes straight in, his tongue lapping up my sex, circling on the tip of my clit obnoxiously slow.

I know I have to keep quiet because there is no soundproofing in this shoebox of a bathroom. I know that a few feet from us are top executives of Harry's corporation. I also know that what we are doing is technically illegal. I know all that, and still, all I want to do is scream at the top of my lungs how good his mouth is at pleasuring me. I feel my heartbeat in my stomach and I can tell that it will only take a couple of seconds for the whole plane to hear me beg for more if I don't do anything to shut myself up. So I press my hand against my mouth, biting it until I feel my teeth leave marks on my skin. Harry moans lowly, enjoying himself as he savors me and sends vibrations to my sex. The sensation travels all across my spine, making my scalp tingle. "Harry..." I call for his attention. In return, he brings his gaze to meet mine, his beautiful, bright, green gaze fully on me. "I need you inside me." I beg, as quietly as I can. I need him, I need to feel him, all of him before I burst. "Oh, no, sunshine... We are having the main course when we land. Now it is just a little treat, a small preview." He kisses my inner thigh as he speaks, using his fingers in lieu of his mouth, pumping 2 fingers inside me. "But I need you... And is it really the mile-high club if it is just oral?" I ask him, my hand traveling to his curls. "I am sure the club's board won't be upset." He states, his mouth joining his fingers in pursuit of my high.

I understand there is no point in begging him for more now. He is going to give me what he has been planning to give me, and Harry is not one to go against his plans. Well, he wasn't, until he met me. And since then, he has been persistently failing to keep up with the precalculated path. We were not supposed to have sex, and then he succumbed to my seduction. He was not supposed to fall for me, yet he couldn't move on after we broke up. He was not supposed to wait for me, and yet he changed himself in preparation for my comeback. We were not meant to become addicted to each other, but here we are, unable to spend a day apart. "Deeper, please. Please, Harry." I mumble, sufficing to just the feeling of his fingers in that spot deep inside me. He seems to follow my wish, dipping his fingers knuckles deep inside me. "Are you going to cum in my mouth, sunshine?" He asks me, only parting from my sex momentarily. "I don't think I will be able to keep quiet. Edge me." It hurts me physically to ask for that, but we have no option. "Oh, no, honey. You are cumming for me. I don't care if everyone hears how good I eat this beautiful cunt." He uses his free hand to grab onto my hips and keep me there as he brings me to my breaking point. My sex glues to his face as I reach my spine-chilling high, eyes shutting tightly as I bite onto my palm. "There is my delicious girl... God, look at my honey, look how good she looks when she cums." Harry stands up, pressing me against the wall as he brings his lips to mine. "Do you think we are going to get arrested?" I ask, cradling his face softly in my hand. "For what?" He asks back. "For fucking in public..." "No one knows. And if they did, they would have burst in to stop us. We'll be fine, my love." He assures me, kissing the tip of my nose.

"You look so hot in just a towel..." Harry whispers in my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You think I look hotter without it." I chuckle, scrunching my hair with the microfibre towel. "Look who's turned cocky." He turns my head, bringing his lips to mine. "All the worshipping you do has finally gotten to my head." "Objective completed then." He peels the towel off my body, letting it fall on the floor. "Harry, we have dinner with Gemma in an hour. " I remind him as his hand snakes down to my sex. "Yeah, I remember that." He rubs his fingers in circles on my clit, slowly inching them down to collect some wetness from my entrance. "I have to get ready for it. And you are a distraction, currently." "Oh, I am a distraction? Like you were when you wore that high-slit gown for dinner with the Dewis family?" He asks me, still moving his fingers slowly. "Oh, is that it?" I ask him, using my teasing voice, just to get on his nerves a little more. "All fucking night, all I could think of was your fucking pussy. And you made it even harder when you handed me your damn panties. Do you even know what it took for me not to blow everything up? Do you have any idea how much you could have cost me that night if I did not salvage the situation?" He is working his fingers faster, yet his voice is very calm, almost soothing. "And what's worse, princess, is that I would not give a damn if I lost money that night. All that mattered was the fact I had to have you. That's what you are doing to me, Mrs. Styles. That's how hooked you have me." He growls by my ear, stroking my clit faster. "Harry..." I whimper, gripping onto his forearm. "You can go ahead and get ready. I'll just have my fun with you." He sounds serious, his fingerpads pressing onto my sensitive bundle of nerves. "Harry, you know I can't concentrate on anything else with your hand between my thighs." I protest, my head falling back onto his shoulder. "Now you know how that feels." He is satisfied with himself. "Harry..." I purr, in a final effort to win this argument. "Time is passing, baby. We don't want my sister to wait, do we?" He chuckles, slowly teasing my sex. "You are so paying for this..." I whimper, bucking my hips on his hand. "Oh, princess...l don't think you understand... You are paying for what you did yesterday." He strokes my cheek with his free hand.

"You seem to have forgotten your manners, Styles." Gemma greets us as we reach the table reserved for us. "Sorry, darling. Someone took all night to get ready." Harry kisses his sister's cheek before allowing me to hug her. "Oh, no, baby... You are not putting the blame on me... Your brother seemed to have his hands full with obligations, Gem." I turn my head to watch Harry's reaction with a smirk on my face. He bites the inside of his cheek and shakes his head, keeping a playful smile on his face. "Oh, sweetheart, I believe you. You can take Harry out of the boardroom, but you cannot take the boardroom out of Harry." Gemma chuckles, taking a step back to check me out. "You look amazing, (Y/N). My God, how long has it been since the last time I saw you?" She asks as Harry pulls a chair out for me. "You never visit, Styles." Harry comes back, making her hum. "Thank God you conduct business in Europe and we see you once in a blue moon." "Are we here for you two to bicker back and forth?" I ask, picking up the menu card. "That's our love language, sunshine." He responds, kissing the back of my hand. "You would know if my brother didn't hog you all to himself at every visit." Gemma cocks an eyebrow at Harry, picking up the card as well. "Gemma, babes, can you stop staring at (Y/N)'s hands? We'd tell you if we were getting married." "Mum's raised the bet. If I lose half a grand because you cannot commit..." "Half a grand?" I ask, eyes going wide at the new information. "You can understand the kind of stress I am under. We are talking about good money." "What's your bet, Gemma?" I ask, biting my bottom lip. "Under 3 months." She replies. I turn my head to look at Harry who tilts his head and shrugs. "You might win it." I mumble, going back to the menu to make up my mind about what I want to eat tonight.

"Help me out of my dress?" I ask Harry who is already out of his shirt and drinking his last drink of the night. "Gladly." He leaves his glass down as I gather my hair up to reveal the zipper of my dress. "My sister made you feel uncomfortable, didn't she?" He asks me, slowly unzipping me. "No, it was actually nice. I like hanging out with Gemma." "I am talking about the stupid bet. It was fun at first until they started betting money. Now it is just annoying and creepy." He comments, grazing my spine with the knuckles of his fingers. "Same goes with your business partners... They were so pushy about the marriage topic. Everyone keeps on asking the same question; when is the wedding..." "They are worried you might realize you deserve better and leave me." He kisses the base of my neck before I turn around to face him. "This is nonsense, Harry. I love you too much to walk away." I place my hands on his chest, looking up at him as he touches my cheek softly. "Shall we do it then? So they stop asking?" He asks me, his face calm and voice steady. "Are you asking me to marry you so others stop asking?" I ask him back with a chuckle, but my heart is pounding in my chest. It is happening, for the first time he is honestly asking me to marry him. "Well, we already live like a couple, where is the hurt in signing a paper?"

For a moment my stomach sinks; it is just a formality. "Besides, I don't want to spend my life with anyone else but you. And I would very much like for everyone to know you are mine, and just mine." He kisses my lips tenderly, only for a second before he pulls away a few inches and stares at me. "Is this an actual proposal? Do you need an answer?" I ask him. "I...I mean... I know I don't have a ring and that it is spontaneous, but I..." "Yes, Harry. I want to marry you. Fuck the ring, fuck the prep, fuck everything. I'd marry you with paper rings tomorrow morning in the mayor's hall." I reach up, cupping his face in my hands and kissing him deeply. "Did you mean what you said? About marrying me tomorrow morning in the mayor's hall?" Harry asks me as I stroke his hair hazily. "And the paper rings part." I reply, still not able to wrap my brain around the fact he proposed. Harry, the love of a lifetime, the love of my life, asked me to be in his life forever. "You don't want a big wedding?" He asks me and I shake my head. "I never did, to be honest. Ideally, I'd like it to just be me and you. But we have to have witnesses." I roll my eyes and he hums. "Me, you, the mayor, Vinny, Chrissy, and Gemma." Harry counts on his fingers. "What are you thinking?" I chuckle and he smiles at me, kissing the tip of my nose. "Let's get married when we get back to New York. My assistant will do all the paperwork, we will buy whatever we need from here, we will invite just our witnesses and get married in New York, Saturday morning." He suggests. "Don't you want a big wedding?" I ask him, biting my bottom lip. The idea of a quick, no-fuss wedding excites me. "No, fuck that. We will sign our paperwork, and then I'll pick you up and leave for our honeymoon. Fuck anything else." He states. "If we invite Chrissy, we will have to invite Adrian." "Sure. But no family. Just Gemma because she is going to neuter me if she is not there at our wedding." "Deal. I'll call Chrissy. Saturday morning?" I ask him and he nods. "Friday we are going to be back in NY, Saturday I am marrying you." He says excitedly, placing a hand on the small of my back and pulling me closer to him. "Let's call Chrissy. But you will be quiet and go along with what I say. Promise?" I hold my pinky up for him. He chuckles and links it with mine before I blindly reach for my phone by my pillow.

Chrissy doesn't take long to pick up the phone. Her cheerful voice fills our hotel room, making Harry chuckle. "Hey, babes. What are you doing up this late, little minx?" She asks, singing at the phone almost. "Hey, Chrissy. I've missed you and I know you get off work around this time of the day. How are you?" "I am ok, missing my best friend and thinking of all the gifts she is bringing me from Europe." She says suggestively. I hum and roll my eyes, not that she can see my reaction. "Hope you like fridge magnets and keychains." "That's how much I am worth for you?" She gasps playfully. "Such a drama queen. Anyway, I didn't call you to discuss that. As I said and went unnoticed, I have missed you. And I was wondering if you and Adrian would like to join Harry and me for brunch on Saturday. There is this cool place across from NYC's town hall we've been dying to go and we thought it would be perfect to see you there when we return." "Oh my God, yes. What's that place? Have I heard of it?" She asks. "Nope. It is fairly new and exclusive. So dress up nicely and have some ID with you, they are pretty strict." "Oh, fancy. What time should we meet?" She asks me. I turn to Harry who just shrugs. "We have to make a reservation, so I don't know the time yet. I'll have to update you on that..." "OK, cool then. Will you find a reservation on such short notice?" She asks and I scoff. "Please. We have Harry's name opening every door. Who wants to piss off the mighty mister Styles?" I ask. Harry pokes my ribs playfully, causing me to slap his hand away. "Sometimes I forget you have one of New York's most powerful men wrapped around your pinky." She laughs. "Hm, only because he has me wrapped around his as well." I wink at Harry who just shakes his head. "You guys are sickeningly cute." "Said the girl who rejected her hoe side and married a year after meeting her husband." "I am not to be compared. Anyways, I have to go pick up dinner. Adrian will eat me if there is no food on the table in the next 20 minutes." "Since when do you complain about Adrian eating you?" I ask with a cocked eyebrow. "Your head is so deep in the gutter, (Y/L/N)." "I try my hardest, babes. K, bye. I have to go to bed." "See you on Saturday." She sings before the line goes dead.

"I think she is going to be pretty pissed when we don't have that exclusive bruncherie." Harry comments as I leave my phone down. "I think she is going to get over it when she signs as a witness to our wedding. Besides, we are heading for brunch after the wedding." I place my leg over his thigh, nesting my head on his chest. "Whatever the boss wants." He strokes his hand down my back. "I am the boss?" I ask, placing a kiss on his sternum. "Who else?" He asks back. "Why didn't you tell her about the wedding?" He asks me and I sigh. "She would make a big deal out of it. Plus, she would try to find a way to throw me a bachelorette party and I really don't want to spend a night away from you..." I explain and he coos. "So obsessed with me, my baby." He kisses the top of my head as I feel my eyelids become heavy. "We need to sleep... We have a big day tomorrow." "I thought the big day was on Saturday." "Yeah, but tomorrow we have to get the rings, the outfits, arrange for the paperwork, all the details. Plus, you have meetings, don't you?" I ask him and he groans. "Let me call my assistant for the paperwork." Harry tries to reach for his phone but I grab his forearm to stop him. "In the morning. Let him sleep." I smile at him, earning a sigh from him. "I can't wait... You are going to be my wife, my Mrs. Styles..." He strokes my cheek, smiling brightly. "Sleep now, Mr. Styles. We have a lot of things to do tomorrow. And I would hate for you to not look fresh and rested in our wedding pictures." I kiss the side of his neck and wrap my arms around him.

"Oh, we have to look this fancy..." Chrissy comments as she approaches us on the stairs of the town hall. I smile at her, hugging her and giving her a cheek kiss. "Thought I dress up a bit." I shrug my shoulders as she scans me from head to toe. "It suits you. I love the oversized blazer and the pant line. Though, creme looks a bit bridal." "Oh, no, honey. We can't have you looking like a bride without being one. We must do something about it..." Harry gasps dramatically, faking a shocked look. "You are absolutely right, baby. But what can we do... What can we do..." I shake my head. I must look ridiculous. "Oh, I know. Let's head right in there and get married. We have to, there is no other option now that you are dressed like that." Harry suggests, pointing at the town hall. I don't know who is a worse actor, him or I. "Excellent idea. Let's go." I giggle as Harry brings the bouquet of flowers from behind his back. "This was all a setup..." Chrissy gasps, jumping forward to hug us both. "I owed you a setup for what you did on your wedding day." I tease her and she scoffs. "If it wasn't for that set up we wouldn't be here today." Adrian chimes in, defending his wife. "That's why we thought it would be nice if you were our witnesses. It would actually be our honor if you accepted." Harry suggests, looking eagerly at our friends. "I would never talk to you again if you didn't ask us." Chrissy is on the verge of crying, right where I am too. "We should head in. Gemma and Vinny are waiting for us." Harry states, putting a pause to the crying session. "The mayor too." I giggle. "You two should head in. I'll give her away to you." Chrissy orders the two men, focusing on fixing the collar of my blazer. "Chrissy..." Harry protests, showing her his watch. "Styles, I spoke." She digs her heels into the ground, staring down at my very soon-to-be-husband. He raises his hands in defeat as Adrian pats his back. "Come on, you are not winning this argument. Chrissy, baby... Don't drag this out, yes, love?" Adrian requests, to which my friend hums. "Just a super quick bachelorette to give her the chance to change her mind... Just kidding. We will be right behind you." Chrissy assures them, dismissing them with a motion of her hand.

"Are you sure about this?" She asks me and I nod my head. "I am. I have never been so sure about anything else. He is the one. And I have to thank you for our second chance. If it weren't for you insisting he has changed, I would never even talk to him again." "And if it wasn't for that one night out, I would have never met Adrian, and there wouldn't be a wedding to invite you both to and bring you together again. Harry and you are meant to be, and everything has happened for that reason. Alright, it is time I hand you over to Harry. And I might be giving you away to him, but I am never giving you up. I love Harry and he is perfect. But I will always love you more, I will always choose you. A phone call away, and I will bust his head open." She strokes my cheek as I look up to avoid tears spilling from my eyes. "No time for tears, my bestie is getting married and I have to make sure she doesn't run away at the very last moment." Chrissy holds her hand out, inviting me to link my arm with hers.

Vol. 1, Part 1: New York City / Vol. 1, Part 2: New York City & Aspen / Vol. 1, Part 3: New York City & Amalfi Coast & Rome / Vol. 1, Epilogue / Vol. 2, Part 1: New York / Vol.2, Part 2: New York, Upper East Side / Vol.2, Part 3: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City / Vol.2, Part 4: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City / Vol.2, Part 5: Harry’s Apartment, Upper East Side, New York City, Winter Wonderland / Epilogue; Hawaii / My Full Masterlist / Rose-Colored Glasses Masterlist / My Ko-Fi

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