Tumgik
#Why scrolling Tumblr leaves me hungry at times
trivialbob · 1 month
Text
When you Tumblrs mention a restaurant or bar that is not in the Twin Cites area but I can find online, I read its menu. Then I decide what I'd actually order, as if I were actually dining there.
I also use Google Street View to see the front of the restaurant and get a feel for the neighborhood. How is parking? Is there a bike rack nearby? What can I could do before or after the meal? Any fun shops around? I like finding a local bike store nearby; those are fun to visit. If the first restaurant is too busy is an interesting backup nearby? Oh, I'd better peruse that menu too.
Sometimes I even search the neighborhood in Zillow, to see if there's a cool home within walking distance of the restaurant. I like walking or biking to restaurants and bars.
50 notes · View notes
mommyownsmee · 9 months
Note
mommy are you good at aftercare? is there anything specific that you do when it comes to that?
i’m a virgin but i feel like after sex i will sub drop or something. like, sometimes when i think of someone having sex with me, i feel really subby and dependant on them.
Sub Drop is something that sadly happens really often because there are so many egoistic/selfish Dom/me‘s or Dom/me‘s that think they know everything. They mostly have no clue what they‘re doing and that‘s the worst mistake a Dom/me can make!
It‘s easy to prevent if your Dom/me keeps an eye on you as a Sub and human and respect your feelings the same as you respect their‘s.
Sub Drop isn‘t something that goes away again easily and sadly it‘s something that can happen from one second to another.
I personally keep an close eye on my Sub before, while and after each sexual and non-sexual interaction.
Sub Drop can even happen from non-sexual interaction, for excample after a fight or an punishment. It can even happen during cuddles, if my Sub suddenly experiences self-doubt or remembers bad memories she made with other Dom/me‘s.
The best way to prevent Sub Drop is communication:
Talking about mistakes that other Dom/me‘s made, so that I simpely can make it better.
Finding things that triggers my Sub (words or sentences, memories, touching specific body parts, the way I maybe speak sometimes, places or even kinks that my Sub normally likes can be a trigger).
Making rules for both parts and strictly keeping them in (no breaking of rules or only on special days or in special moments).
I‘m constantly checking in on my Sub, which means I try to do my best to make sure she‘s happy. This can be just by talking and keeping an eye on her way to write or speak, or by asking if she‘s alright.
If my Sub gets a Sub Drop even though we did our best to prevent it:
I do immediately switch from Domme to girlfriend and keep all the Bdsm stuff out of sight. Out of sight = after a while out of mind.
I try to change the topic if she wants it, or we talk about what happened and find out why it happened.
I reassure her constantly, that what happens is totally okay and she doesn‘t have to be ashamed.
I ask her if she needs something (tea, stuffie, blanket, cuddles, or just silence or even if I should leave her alone for a while).
Aftercare is a really important thing after sexual interaction (as long as my Sub doesn‘t say she doesn‘t want it).
I like to just spend time with my Sub.
Aftercare isn‘t too much. Please don‘t be afraid to tell your Dom/me you want or need it.
Aftercare involves for me:
Cuddles and kisses and a lot of praises.
Cleaning my Sub up and taking her to have a nice bath (IT‘S ME WHO FILLS THE BATHTUB!) or a shower, if she isn‘t too tired.
Taking her makeup off if she‘s too tired to do it herself, so she doesn‘t have to do it herself.
I even pick her up and bring her to the bathroom if needed (THAT‘S. NOT. TOO. MUCH!).
Watching a movie or series together if wanted or just play a (video) game or listen to music. Maybe scroll Tiktok or Tumblr together -or read a book or comic together.
Cooking her food! Hungry Sub = Sad Sub! Even if she doesn‘t want. As soon as she sees the food she wants it.
Talking about what happened and reassuring her that all we did was only some kind of roleplay and that all I said was only said because it brought her joy!!
Letting her sleep on me if she wants. It‘s so cute and makes me so happy and proud.
Aftercare is really important! And it even helps us Dom/mes to prevent a Dom Drop. 𝒙𝒙
Don‘t be afraid of talking with your Dom/me about Aftercare or a Sub Drop. Don‘t keep it in! It will get worse and affect every single interaction with your Dom/me and can even lead to heavy depressions!
147 notes · View notes
hughungrybear · 4 months
Text
15 people, 15 questions
I got tagged by @telomeke (the link to their post is here). Thanks for the tag! 😊
1. Are you named after anyone?
I came from a predominantly Catholic country so it is common to name babies after saints. Ironically, despite my saintly name, I was a real Tasmanian devil to my parents, teachers, and peers 😅
2. When was the last time you cried?
The last time that I sincerely cried was when my Dad passed away. I was eleven. After that, every event that made me "cry" barely wet my eyes 😅
3. Do you have kids?
No, and I don't plan to have any. I like kids - especially when I can hand them back to their respective mothers 😅 I don't have anything against motherhood, but I can barely support myself. Under the circumstances, it is not wise to bring another life into this world that I cannot support.
4. What sports do you play/have you played?
Oh boy. I used to do track and field, basketball, and soccer (football) when I was still in elementary (grade) school. However, my conservative home country deems these sports as too "manly" and therefore not appropriate for a growing 'lady'. So, they made me switch to cheer dance😤. Well, let's just say I have never danced again ever since lol.
5. Do you use sarcasm?
Let's just say that sometimes, using sarcasm is the only way to retain my sanity 😅
6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?
The tone and shift of voice when they talk. Not entirely sure why though 😅😅😅
7. What’s your eye color?
Hazel brown with hints of darkest grey.
8. Scary movies or happy endings?
Definitely happy endings. I will not subject myself to torture by watching horror films/series no matter how critically acclaimed it is. That's because I have a very vivid imagination and I really love a peaceful sleep 🥲
9. Any talents?
Does mixing chemicals and formulating new adhesive products count? 😅 I can play the keyboard, and write poems and short stories (although, it's been a long time since I wrote my last one). I also do embroidery during my spare time.
10. Where were you born?
Funny story. I was born on the eve of our town's patron saint's day. Before the feast day, the town's roads are closed in preparation for the upcoming festivities. Unfortunately, my mum's water broke during an intense cleaning session of our house on the eve of the feast. Since the roads were closed, my father and grandma (my mother's mum) were forced to call a midwife and perform a home birth. Curiously, I did not cry as my mum pushed my small baby form out of her womb. Fearing that I was a stillbirth, the midwife had put me near an electric stove to help warm me up. It was only then that poor baby me started to cry (to the relief of everyone around)😅
TLDR: I was born at home but only showed a definitive sign of life in our old family kitchen.
11. What are your hobbies?
Reading books, scrolling through various socmed (Nowadays, though, it's mostly Tumblr and Reddit), and listening to some brand new music.
12. Do you have any pets?
When I was still living in my home country, I used to have dogs. However, moving to Australia, I was forced to leave them behind with our trusted relatives. We still Facetime though, so there's that.
13. How tall are you?
Sadly, I'm five feet flat, I am still hoping for some (miracle) growth spurt even in my thirties lol
14. Favorite subject in school?
I love history. I love reading about the beginning of things. I also had high grades in literature simply because I am an advanced reader (that is, I have already read the books on my teacher's list even before they have released them to the class).
15. Dream job
Somewhere where deadlines are a mere suggestion lol
Onward tagging (I know some of you have already done this, but give this poor hungry bear a break, I'm running out of people to tag: @lost-my-sanity1, @sparklyeyedhimbo, @imlivingformyselfdontmindme, @waitmyturtles, @dimplesandfierceeyes, @plantsarepeopletoo, @actually-yikes, @dribs-and-drabbles, @ablazenqueen, @alan-apologist, @ellasaru12, @queersouthasian, @lamonnaie, @rei-the-head-shaker and anybody else who wants to play😊
9 notes · View notes
Text
Blake and Mateo’s Backstory
summary: Blake is a panicked guy who has anxiety and his parents are the best
Ch 2
At home, Blake disappeared to his room. Something about sitting with Mateo had him on edge. Why was he so distant?
“Blake?” His mother’s voice rang through the house. Knowing better, he padded down the carpeted stairs.
“Hey, what’s up?” His mom didn’t look up from her book, her smal rectangular glasses resting far too low on her nose.
“How was meeting Mateo? Danny told us all about it.” Blake leaned against the wall.
“It was fine. He doesn’t seem to like me.” She looked up now, taking off her glasses and placing them on the coffee table.
“He’s a sweet boy, I highly doubt that. Are you sure you weren’t doing that thing where you think you look nice but you actually look like this?” She contorted her face into a deep glare and Blake rolled his eyes.
“Yes, I was friendly and kind and even said goodbye and he just nodded at me.”
“Maybe he feels threatened by you?” Blake scoffed.
“Nope. I bet he just doesn’t think I’m good enough.”
“Prove him wrong then.” She said, rolling her eyes back at him. Blake thought for a moment, maybe that isn’t such a bad idea.
“Yeah alright.”
“Love you honey.”
“Love you too mom.” Blake replied, walking back to his room.
Danny sat on his bed, his legs politely criss crossed.
*Can’t I get three seconds of privacy?* Blake thought, holding back a massive sigh.
“What’s up Dans?”
“Mateo wants to meet up with you again.” He said, kicking his feet excitedly.
“Oh lovely.” Blake growled. Danny cocked his head to one side. “He just didn’t seem to like me much, that’s all.”
“Well he did mention something like that to me I guess.” Danny shrugged. Blake sat with him, making the mattress bounce.
“What did he say?”
“Just that he wants to make sure you’re taking care of me.” Danny said, standing up from the bed. Blake wanted to ask more, but his desire for alone time overpowered it. He let Danny leave, and flopped over face down in his pillow.
His phone buzzed loudly on his bed, causing his crisis to pause. An unsaved number had sent him a message. Ready to troll some scammers, he eagerly opened his messages.
[hi it’s mateo danny decided i should have your # ]
A million potential responses ran through his mind.
[👍]
He repeatedly knocked the heel of his palm against his forehead. Mateo read it, and didn’t respond. That’s probably for the better.
The rest of the night Blake spent zoned out in his room. He did things, cleaned up a little, scrolled tumblr, texted Leo. He opened his painfully awkward messages with Mateo a few times, only succeeding in wanting to make him throw his phone against the wall.
“Hey kiddo how’s it going?” His father’s figure filled his doorframe. Blake whipped around to look at him.
“Hey dad, fine. How was your day?”
“Eh- it was work. Mom told me about meeting Mateo.” Blake sighed.
“Yeah.”
“Trust me, building a friendship with him wouldn’t hurt.” His dad added with a smile.
“But dad-“ Blake whined, “He’s a jacked straight boy.” His dad snorted.
“Oh shush. He’s a good kid. He’s just protective of Dans, and it’s valid. Building a relationship with both Danny and him could help you out here.”
“I hate it when you’re right.” Blake groaned. His dad laughed lightly.
“Just think about it, love you goob. Want me to bring dinner up?”
“Nah, I’m not too hungry.” Blake admitted, thinking about college apps and his future had destroyed his appetite.
“Okay, just make sure you drink some water and keep yourself safe.” His dad sounded chill, but his brow furrowed with concern.
“I will. I love you dad.”
“Love you too.” He left the door slightly ajar and Blake listened as his muted footsteps faded out.
He opened his phone again. The soft sound of frantic typing was the only sound other than the quiet hum of the radiator.
His thumb hesitated over the send button for a second.
[Hey, would you wanna meet up for coffee with Dans and I tomorrow (he likes the pastries at the cafe on eighth street) We’re thinking of heading over around 9:30]
*sent*
7 notes · View notes
Note
Concept plss
Matty finds out reader writes matty related fan fiction on tumblr and decides to make some of her sexual fantasies true
🫡🫡
So, umm, I didn’t know how to describe it cuz my brain isn’t braining after the all-nighter. But I did turn it into this little thing. Apologies for types I’m literally falling asleep lol.
———
“Hold on, Jamie. I’ll just ask her.” Matty spoke into his phone rushing down the hallway of his home, looking around for her. “Babe?” He called out, pulling the phone away from him out of caution for Jamie’s hearing. “Honey, where you at? I have a question about-“ Matty walked into their bedroom and fell silent when he realized that she, too, was on a phone call of her own.
He winced, bowing his head apologetically at her as she frowned.
“Listen,” he whispered this time. “Sorry to bother you, but, any idea where the flight reservation numbers for next month are? Jamie kinda needs them right now.”
She gave him a silent shrug, trying to split her focus between her coworker on the phone, and her helpless, disorganized boyfriend, once again, losing track of his documents.
“When did we book them?” Matty mumbled to her back as she’d turned around, clearly no longer paying attention. “Wait, I think we did that from your laptop, didn’t we? Yeah cuz we were stoned and hungry, and I got the food and you booked the flights.” He narrated the memory as it came back to him, in a hushed tone. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, must be on your device then. Alright, babe. Thank you.” He gave the back of her head a sweet kiss and rushed out of the room and into her home office.
“Alright, Jamie. I think I’ve got the numbers right here. Let me just…” Matty swiped his finger across the mouse pad, causing the laptop screen to light up. His eyes landed on what appeared to be an innocuous word document. Probably a work-related matter that his girlfriend had been working on. He moved the cursor over the “minimize” button to leave that window and get to the travel folder, but just as his finger was about to click the button, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw his name.
His eyes scanned over the document quickly, his eyebrows shooting up, surprise stunning him. His heart rate shot up as he lingered on the words “rope,” “Matty,” and “wax.”
“Uhh, Matty? Bro, the suspense is killing me! Can I have the fuckin numbers, please?”
Matty’s lips curved into a sly smile as he scrolled down the document to continue reading. “Jamie? I’ll call you back.”
“Wait, what the f-“ the line went dead. Matty leaned closer to the screen, placing his phone on the desk to give his undivided attention to his discovery. vividly imagined and attentively described scenes flashing through his mind. He was both stunned and titillated, thinking about the endless possibilities that this revelation about the love of his life has created.
“Matty?” He heard her voice from the doorway. “Oh my- Matty!” She practically screeched, running over towards him and slamming the screen shut. “What did you- Why did you- holy fuckin-“ she buried her face into her hands hiding the quickly deepening red tint in her cheeks.
“Baby? Could you look at me please?” Matty spoke softly, but, to her great surprise, there was a hint of a smile in his voice. She’d expected shock, disgust, confusion. Not a smile.
She shook her head, her pony tail swinging. “Don’t think I can.” She mumbled, her voice muffled by her own hands. “Don’t think I’ll ever be able to look you in the eyes ever again.”
Matty couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well that’s too bad. Cuz I was gonna say, I know where we can find some rope….”
24 notes · View notes
jasgirl-creations · 2 years
Note
You’re getting so fat, jasmine!
Ohhh, I know. I can't help it. I try to exercise and watch my calories. I want to be fit and sexy! But Its so boring working from home every day, and so hard to keep track of meals. Did I already eat lunch? Well, this sandwich will be an early dinner. Oops, now its diner time and I'm so hungry! I'll put this pizza in the oven. Now its late and I'm bored and horny. I'll have a fudgesicle while I scroll through tumblr, edging the night away. I spend so much time edging. I'm supposed to be working from home 8 hours a day, but most days I'm lucky if I get 2 or 3 hours of work done. One hand in my panties for hours and hours while tab back and forth between work spreadsheets and twitter and tumblr and onlyfans and AO3 and DA. After an hour or two its time to take a break. I really should workout. I bought some cute pink weights and a Yoga mat and a workout outfit! but really the outfit is getting tight, and I've barely used the mat and weights at all. Instead I tell myself I'll drink some water. But why not a fruit smoothie instead? I'll just add a scoop of icecream to it. Well, 3 or 4 scoops. And some peanut butter. Ad chocolate syrup. Ohh, there's no room left for fruit! Edge and snack and cum. How many times a day do I cum? 4? 6?By the time I'm "done" with work I'm so tired I don't want to leave the house. No gym. No club with friends. No dates (not until I lose some weight). I'll just make dinner and watch Netflix. Except, I'm not really in the mood for anything with a plot. How about some comedy? no, I don't want to pay attention. After all, my hand will be down my panties as I scroll through twitter. Pornhub? Hmm, I'll put on my Pornhub playlist and just relax and have a nice quiet dinner. and desert. And snack. Mmm... I'm still hungry. I should put a pizza on. Its so easy to gain. I feel like I'm barely holding it back. the little bit of exercise I do, the days where I feel guilty and barely eat anything at all, that's the only thing that's stopping me from ballooning into a real fatty. I worked so hard to lose weight before the pandemic, and now its all going to come back, I know it! I feel so soft now. My belly is softer, my thighs are thicker. My butt is actually getting bigger too. I can feel the fullness of my butt cheeks. My face looks softer in the mirror. My boobs are a little fuller. I want to be fit and sexy. But gaining weight like this is... seductive. I feel a real urge to just give in and stop trying. I've been so lazy and tired lately, why not just accept that's who I am? Its not to late. i could go back to the gym every day. I could eat healthy, and stop snacking. I could stop spending hours and hours every single day edging myself toward cumming while I browse weight gain stories and watch feedees moan about how sexy they feel as they rub their bloated stomachs. Do I even want to stop?
Tumblr media
69 notes · View notes
kyofsonder · 1 year
Text
Find the Word 1
I’ve been tagged by several people over the last… 3.5 weeks to find select sets of words in my WIPs, and this time I’m not combining them into a single post. That would be endless to scroll through. So I’ll start with a tag from @inkspellangel and find those words first. Thank you for the tag, for your patience while I was away from Tumblr, and for the chance to play this game!
My Words: hate, understand, bridge, against, people
I’ll Tag: @on-noon, @saltysupercomputer, @calicojackofficial, @midnight-and-his-melodiverse, @junypr-camus, and as always anyone else who wants to join in can use these words (or words from my other upcoming FtW posts) and say I tagged them!
Your Words: pretend, accept, offer, aware, hollow
I have a lot of backlog to get through, but I’ll still put the excerpts themselves under a cut as always. 
I found hate in my Danny Phantom fanfic “Lingering Scars”: 
"As much as I hate to say that you're ever right about anything..." he fakes a shudder, overplaying the movement just enough to earn him a classic Jazz Fenton eye roll, "I definitely would've kept quiet if you'd let me, you're not actually wrong there. I'm the type of guy who's bad at... not doing that. I don't know if it's good or bad that you made me talk, but now that we're digging into the really secret stuff... I have to do this right. There's a place where I can do that, but it's not here. If you can trust me long enough to go there, I'll tell you both what happened to my neck and some other stuff I tried to cover up. I'll show you why I won't disappear on you, or leave either of you alone." 
I found understand in my novel WIP “Apricots”:
Ian takes another long, deep breath. He's not angry now. He's not even annoyed, not really. He's... is there a word somewhere between determination to help someone you care about and resignation to sign yourself up for something you don't fully understand? His emotions are somewhere in that area, trying to settle into something more defined. Not unclear, but... imprecise. It's probably the best he can manage. 
I found bridge in the rough draft of my Given fanfic “Present Tense”:
The height of their hands shifts as they lean to look into his eyes. Disrupting the flow of time he's been watching. His vision is filled with silver instead. A kind of silver that should have its own separate word, as a color all its own. There are places where the silver itself seems slightly worn, seems grey or almost black. This is the bridge that goes there, to the place in their hands that holds time itself. This is how they pull everything into their grasp. Through this silver that isn't just silver. Through these eyes that aren't usually eyes. Looking at the world in a way Mafuyu would never think to try for himself. Still unable to speak, he nods thoughtfully.
I found against in my short story “Hidden Talent”:
After all, rather than emptiness within Vance himself, it's more like an awareness of all the empty spaces around him. He doesn't need to fill himself with something that's missing. He needs to do something about that awareness itself. Noticing the empty places in a room or a building or even a park, the areas that look blank or vacant. It's those blank spaces that are hungry for something to give them color or presence. They're fading away. They need something to anchor them, to bring them back, and he becomes so hyper-conscious of that need that it makes him hyper-conscious of his own presence, too. His head so full of thoughts, his chest so full of emotions, he ends up feeling like some kind of moving painting himself. Standing out against these spaces that have nothing. It gets under his skin every time, to the point he starts to feel sick with the infuriating need to balance the vibrant and the vacant. The bright and the blank. Give a little paint from the place that has too much and deposit it in places that don't have enough. Wash the excess layers of it off himself and reset. Recolor. Rebalance.
I found people in my Given fanfic “Present Tense”:
A Gibson Hollow-Body, Uenoyama-kun had said. It's been awhile now since he first heard the term, but it still rattles around in Mafuyu's head sometimes. As if his head, too, is hollow and he's desperate to fill it with words -- with the ideas and voices of other people. Maybe that's the right way to learn an instrument, or to have friends, or to be a lover. Maybe it's just a way to distract himself. Maybe it's a way of collecting things that someone else has said, until he can say something on his own. The way he does when he sings. The way he gathered so many of Ugetsu-san's words and his band mates' feelings to make his last song. He's not sure what he's actually trying to do, one way or the other; but he can feel the downward slope of this particular word as it settles into a more or less set position in these early morning thoughts. Hollow.
It took me a long time to get to this one, but I did find every single word on the list – the words against and people showing up so often they stopped looking like real words – and I had fun figuring out how to keep my excerpts short while also sharing what I want to share. Thank you again for the tag!
9 notes · View notes
Text
After wind-chill the temp outside is listed as "feels like 25°F" UUUGGGHHHHH. Thank god we turned on the heat last night, but I am still so tired and want to go back under my blankies. It is only mid October!!! Actually temp is 34°F though, so that on par, but BOO.
It is now 5:47AM My plan was to take care of journaling I did not complete last night. But I scrolled Tumblr instead. Ooft. I may be getting Starbucks today..
...
Well, after 28min of looking over the drinks I have made my Starbucks order 🤦‍♀️ ooft. Menus and decisions are very hard for me. I should be excited for today, it will be the return of my favorite co-worker! And I need to be at work early. But now I am stuck in the bathroom... Too much Cabbage this weekend I guess?? Owie. I should technically be leaving, like, now ish.
...
It is flipping snowing... I love snow, but not the second week of spooky month.
...
Day is better!! Co-worker is here and she is happy and it is contagious 😁 feeling better. Going to work on my favorite concept/job #
...
Excitement wearing off. I want to eat literally any and everything. I am not hungry. But I want to consume all the food.
...
I put in my headphones and and listening to a audiobook. My mind almost immediately calmed and I am able to focus. I do not understand how that works. But it consistently does. But I never want to start listening for some reason.
....
On and off stressy-depressy-lenom-zesty staying with simple tasks. First meeting of the day in 30min. Venti with 4 shots of espresso almost gone. Not sure if it had an impact.
...
OOOOHHHH now I feel the coffee! Hello caffeine headache! How have you been?? Now to drink water to counter act it.
...
Ate my lunch (it is/was 12:05-12:30). Was not over hungry, but it was lunch time and I wanted to eat. I now once again feel the absolute NEED to go eat, especially eat chocolate if I could get it. I am not hungry, I know I have had plenty today. But I feel I NEED to devour something or I will implode.
I would like to drink water, but I cannot seem to make myself. I will keep trying.
...
12:35 - Oh look!! My heart rate just jumped up 15bpm and increasing. Hello panic 👋👋. Why yes! I did just drink water! Please calm down... Back to headphones?
...
Why is focusing so damn hard? Just do one task at a time. Just recall the damn task and do it.
I just want to go run and jump and move, anything but the task at hand.
...
In bed by 6pm.
...
Up and showered at 8. Feats includes: putting soap on the wash cloth and rinsing it back out. (Twice...), Tried to out my ear pods pointy side in.
9 notes · View notes
kalyri · 1 year
Text
Yet another “I suddenly remembered” from me—after midnight when my brain just decides to randomly go off on its own, wandering through memories.
This one’s got transphobia and I hate it.
I was a trucker for the last four years of my life, and during my… second year? I think? Yeah, I was in my automatic instead of the manual. Anyway, I’d worked all day, probably close to 10 hours driving so like a 12 hour work day. Pretty typical of my mid to late work week at the time.
And I wanna say I was in Alabama. I could probably tell you exactly where this Pilot was, but I’ll leave that out. Anyway, I was exhausted, I was hungry, and I really had to pee, so I went into the bathroom. And I tended to sit in there for a good long while because walking the half a mile from my truck to the store to pee wasn’t something I wanted to do more than twice in a night. So I’m sitting there and I’m not paying attention to anything, people come in and leave. It’s a bathroom, most people are in there for 1 of 2 things.
Well, suddenly someone’s banging on my door. I make a noise, like mm? And she says something but I don’t fucking know what it was, I’m hard of hearing. So I ask her to repeat it and she says it again, but still not loud enough and I said “I don’t know” or something. Idk. I had no idea why she was knocking on stall door, there were like 4 stalls and I was the only one in there before she came in.
So I think nothing of it, but she’s being loud with her children—what I assumed were two boys at the time. She leaves soon after and then maybe five minutes later someone else comes in and pounds on the door and asks me a question. I ask him to repeat it and he does: “what’s your gender?” In more words than that, but you could tell he was uncomfortable. And I asked him why? He said he just needed me to answer and then like the bottom dropped out from under me. Because I could simply answer what he wants to hear—but I instead say “why does it matter? I’m using the toilet.” And he tries to get me to answer again, I don’t and he sighs and leaves.
And I continue scrolling like Facebook or tumblr or ao3 or whatever and then I think about it—I’m in Alabama… they could call the cops on me, lol. So I say fuck it, wash my hands, and leave. And I can feel eyes on me. The ladies behind the check out counter—my plan of getting McDonald’s goes out the window and I leave through the trucker entrance. And I call my mom. Because I’m shaking.
This lady knew nothing about me, but made an assumption based on the only thing she could see—my work boots. And then made another assumption on the only thing she knew—the pitch of my voice, which isn’t high on a normal day, and definitely wasn’t that night because at the end of a long work day, the last thing I want to do is mask for strangers. So I don’t.
I’m non-binary. Visibly not feminine, but not exactly masculine. I was wearing jeans, tshirt, and my work boots—which just looked like low-rise hiking boots because my feet are weird and I can’t wear calf high footwear.
Like it doesn’t surprise me that it happened. Some people are just hateful and refuse to mind their own business. But it’s so much different when it happens to you. And I was reminded of that just a few minutes ago because my brain just likes to throw random memories at me for no reason some days and today it was that one.
I made a point of avoiding that truck stop for at least a month afterwards. There’s a few more on that stretch of interstate that are better anyway…
2 notes · View notes
queen-of-seventeen · 2 years
Text
Abandon who you love, love with abandon
Hungry mouths
Hello you can read chapter 1 and chapter 2. This fic updates every sunday and you can find them on my tumblr under noa writes tfc or read on AO3
 Neil had gone to the airport two hours before his plane was set to leave. He’d delayed coming in the hopes that it’d trick his father’s people. If they couldn’t find him there they’d either assumed he’d already caught a plane or that he’d never come at all. That’s what normally happened but maybe even people as stupid as them learned from past mistakes.
 When you sneak around airports as much as Neil has, you learn to spot and avoid security cameras. Everything had a blind spot if you looked good enough. And if you hacked the cameras with your laptop beforehand. That was part two of why Neil needed the hours before his flight. He sat in a corner on the ground looking for everyone in the world like he was just waiting for his flight. Just another man who couldn’t find a seat.
 Texts scrolled over the right side of his screen. One by one tiny camera views flickered on the top left field. The bottom held his playlist. Zayde Wolf scalded through his left earbud and he did a cursory glance over the top of his screen. No familiar faces yet.
 No Plank, Malcolm, Patrick to be found. Most of all, no father.
 Neil looked back on his screen. The text stopped scrolling and he adjusted a string of cameras leading up to his gate. It would leave a small track but he was using airport WiFi and it shouldn’t be able to track him.
 One by one he created a blind spot for him. He put a timer on it, setting them back an hour after his plane had left.
 It was a big ask hoping nobody would notice until then but he needed the time for plausible deniability that it was his flight.
 Neil shut off his laptop and put it away. Zipper open, shoving his clothes to the side, zipper shut. Carry on only. Only what fits beneath the chair in front of him. Always his laptop. His mother had hated his obsession with technology as he was growing up but the moments he’d been able to go to school had given him an obsession with coding that couldn’t be equaled with anything else. Now that his mother had passed away it even became useful. Neil didn’t have all the contacts she had and his money steadily ran out as prices increased and his life on the run continued. He’d never expected to be twenty-five and still being chased across the world by his father.
 On all accounts he should be dead by now.
 The bag zipped shut and slung over his shoulder as Neil stood up. It was heavy but that was a necessary evil when he’d had to leave his new backpack behind. He’d steal another in the United States. Maybe one of those backpacks that couldn’t be cut through with knives that the airports kept trying to sell him. It seemed fitting for the situation.
 Neil slowly made his way through the crowd. He made sure to keep to his blind spot when he heard the same deep voice from yesterday call out to him. “Junior? Is that you?”
 He could hear the mirth in Romero Malcolm’s voice. It was easily matched by Lola’s. “So sorry, that’s my nephew and we haven’t seen him in a while.”
 Now Neil was neither her nephew, or related at all to her. But he didn’t want to see her either. He pulled up his hood and walked faster. He could imagine them cursing right now but he didn’t look back around to check. They might just be chattering about their      “nephew”    .
 Their voices came closer again and Neil had to make a decision. It happened in a split second and Neil started running. Fingers glanced off his coat as he burst through the crowd straight into the path of the security cameras. He bumped into people left and right. A suitcase knocked into his knees and almost sent him sprawling.
 “Junior, get here!”
 “Get away from me! I don’t know you!” Neil yelled over his shoulder. He tugged his arms through the short straps of his duffle bag. He had to slow down a bit to do so but it was better than feeling it bump into his leg every step of the way.
 “Junior, please,” Lola called. Desperation coated her voice like thick paint on a new canvas. Lumpy and with a shaking hand.
 Neil saw a wall coming up and a big crowd near gate two. He needed to get to seventeen.      Fuck. Duck. Run.    He reached a hand into his Hawaiian shirt and grabbed a butterfly knife. He’d only have one chance to do this without getting caught and that was the element of surprise.
 His heart beat in his chest. It felt like it would reverberate out of his chest. The heavy thumbs shook his bones and his blood sped up. A staccato rhythm filled his very being as his father’s people chased him through the airport.
 He ran up right to the wall and kicked off it with a flip that was more reckless than necessary. He used it to turn back towards Lola and Romero. They didn’t slow down their run as he charged. A couple feet in front of them Neil’s plan finally formed in total. He sank into a slide right between them and used the butterfly knife to cut Romero’s bag off his shoulder. Neil grabbed its straps and stood up to dash away.
 Ten gates down he disappeared into the bathroom. He slipped into an empty stall and tried to calm his breath. He needed to get out of here. A bus wouldn’t be enough. They could probably guess what plane he’d want to take as well. He’d need to be smarter.
 He upended Romero’s bag. Documents, clothes and finally money. Neil quickly shrugged off his shirt and hoodie and stuffed them into his bag with the documents and money. He’d check them later and he was already through security anyway.
 Neil put on a sweater of Romero’s and stuffed the rest of the clothes in the bag. He took a minute to carefully hang it on the back of the door and calmly left the stall. He put on the hood and cap he’d stolen and left the bathroom.
 His bag couldn’t be disguised but it would have to do for now. He took out his phone and pulled up his boarding pass and documents. The line was long when he got to gate seventeen and he didn’t yet see Romero and Lola. Belatedly he realized they would be checking all the gates. They wouldn’t be fast enough.
 There was a chance that Neil could actually get out of here.
 Neil checked the board above his head. Ten minutes before take off. He slowed his pace to a jog and went up to the desk. "Hey, am I still on time?"
 He reached into his bag for his papers and handed them to the lady.
 "Just. We were beginning to close off mr... Barry." She had a thick Australian accent and after months of living in Australia Neil had to force himself to shake it off and affect his American one.
 "Thank God, am I right?"
 The lady let out an awkward chuckle and let him through the hallway. Neil went into the plane and slipped into a small seat flanked by an old man near the window. Neil had an innate distrust of man his father's age and the neck pillow and fleece blanket did nothing to dissuade that trust. He'd seen how his father acted around other people when he was young. He had the scars to prove how he acted afterwards.
 Because he had never been enough. Never quiet or still or obedient enough for the guests.
 But he didn't have to worry about that anymore. He'd never see his father again. The only way he'd do so was in a bodybag after fighting for his life.
 He swallowed through the ascend of the plane and tried to sleep through the entire flight. Worrying won't do until he touches down again.
 --00--
 Andrew would never admit he had an obsessive personality. It wasn’t something he did. He didn’t get attached, he didn’t want anything and he most of all didn’t obsess over anything. Besides maybe the poor romantic life of his twin but it wasn’t his fault Aaron was a loser.
 This moment would be seen as factual proof by his boss and colleagues that not only was he obsessive it was addictive. Renee had left the office a couple hours earlier when nothing was turning up. She trusted the security at Sydney airport to forward them the correct information if they found something. Andrew didn’t share her senseless faith.
 His head made a loud      thunk     when he dropped it on his desk.      Thunk. Thunk.     He had to think better. He had to be smarter. He wouldn’t be outsmarted by a guy who hadn’t even gone to school.
 There had to be a reason why Nathaniel didn’t show up on any of the camera feeds. Renee and Andrew had been combing through footage for hours before she gave up for the day. But none of the cameras showed the guy.
 Andrew dropped his head once more. Sparks showed on the backs of his eyelids when a thought shot through his head. He scrambled to grab it by its coat tails before it dissipated to smoke once more.      Blind spots.    Nathaniel had gotten away through a blind spot. All Andrew had to do was find them.
 He returned to the same images that showed on the screens in front of him all afternoon. One by one it started clicking in his head. He couldn’t move the images anymore but he could see how the images shifted slightly at two certain time marks in multiple spots leading up to gate seventeen.
 It was a straight line without a view. Andrew debated with himself to invade everyone's privacy and check the bathroom camera's before remembering Australian laws. There wouldn't be any footage in there.
 Fuck.
 His fingers were typing again before his plan had fully formed and Andrew was checking security breaches for the IP address used to infiltrate the system.
 Andrew called his roommate Kevin as he did so. The phone only rang once before it was picked up.
 "Andrew."
 "Yes, yes, have you fed Miss Furball already?"
 Andrew could hear the heavy sigh through the phone. "Yes, I fed your cat. Does this mean you're not coming back for her tonight?"
 "Bring her here."
 "Chuck won't allow you to have a cat at work."
 "My evil plan has been foiled. Bring the cat." Andrew hung up and stared at the codes in front of him.
         He wasn't done looking before Kevin showed up with a bag and a tray of food. It was all placed besides Andrew and he reached into the bag to grab his pet before continuing his work. Miss Furball, a dappled gray thing with a face that looked like she’d been smashed to a wall, purred on his lap and kneaded his leg before plopping down.
 It calmed Andrew enough that he was able to find the leak, even with Kevin looking over his shoulder.
 Kevin circled the room and stopped not just at the clue board but also at the still frame Andrew had of Nathaniel's face.
 "So that is the kid?" Kevin asked.
 "He's twenty five. Shorter than his dad and doing everything in his power to get away from his father's people," Andrew replied.
 Kevin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "He's kid sized. I don't care that he's supposedly smart."
 "Supposedly?" Andrew clicked through and saw the airport wifi was used to modify the camera's. But maybe he could find the laptop used, hoping it didn't get ditched after use.
 "If you're right and he's not working with Nathan he has to be a genius to have survived this long. He may be a greater threat than his father."
 "He's also a free runner."
 "You don't say." Kevin dropped into Renee's chair and grabbed his salad. He'd long since given up trying to feed Andrew anything but burgers, chicken nuggets and milkshakes while he was working.
 Finally Andrew got through and he wrote the information about the used laptop down.
 Andrew chewed down two nuggets before checking what flight would've gone from gate seventeen at that moment.
 San Francisco. He could work with that. Andrew didn’t say anything to Kevin as his roommate continued to talk about his usual work troubles and the mess Wesninski had left for them on half of the globe.
 Andrew didn’t feel sad for his friend, not even when he hacked into the San Fran airport security cams and set up a ping for security threats. Andrew would fix everything for Kevin anyways. That’s what he always did and it’s what would happen when Andrew’s computer lit up as Nathaniel tried to mess with the camera’s. He was ready for it.
 He would find Nathaniel.
4 notes · View notes
k-u-m-a-c-h-a-n · 2 years
Text
Shopping?! (DISCONTINUED)
Bakugou Katsuki x reader one-shot (unfinished) (crossposted)
Check the original link to read the A/N if you want
Before reading this, keep in mind that:
I am by NO MEANS a (good) writer, writing is not my passion, I simply enjoy doing it for fun, sometimes (rarely)
I wrote this story a few months ago, I just wanted to post it on my Tumblr account too
If you find any grammatical mistakes, tell me!
Crappy fanfic or not, please do not repost this anywhere
I literally just copy and pasted it (a.k.a. I didn't re-read it)
It's very...cringy
Reader is female! (this is why)
For the third time, the story is not (and will never be) finished
Tumblr media
"Man, I'm hungry." You stated, looking around your kitchen. "I wonder if I have any snacks left?". You started looking through every cupboard and drawer, only to find absolutely nothing....well, nothing is an overstatement, you found some empty containers, like boxes of cookies and bags of chips, which you couldn't bring yourself to throw away in the trashcan for some reason. " Okay...so no snacks...I should cook something then." You spoke to yourself, feeling rather depressed because of the lack of snacks in your house. You trotted your way to the fridge, praying to see something devour-able, or at least something to nibble on, but alas, your prayers have not been answered. God decided to put you on a diet, for he said "It's for character development.". Needless to say, you were NOT happy with your current situation, but you weren't going to throw a hissy fit like a toddler either. So, as a reasonable person, you took this matter into your own hands and said the following: " Guess I'll die. " No food, no life, am I right or am I right? With nothing to eat, you chose to starve to death. (A little over dramatic,huh, (y/n)?) Going back to your room, you sigh and flop on your bed, ready to welcome your demise with open arms. There was nothing better to do than get under the covers and accept your dea- *BZZZ* "Hm?" *BZZZ BZZZ* Your tablet suddenly buzzed, notifying you of your new messages. "I wonder who it is... " Grabbing your medium-sized piece of hardware, you turn it on to see who, exactly, wishes to talk to you at this time of the day. Man, you hoped it wasn't some kind of invitation. You never liked going out, mainly because you didn't really have anyone to go out with, so of course you got used to the loneliness and refused to go with the others. Hm.. The only occasion you get out of your house with the rest, for example, Shinsou, Todoroki, Midoriya, Mina, Bakugou, etc., in groups or separately, is when going to the store. It's not because you want to make them pay for you or anything like that (*rolls eyes*), but because you simply cannot talk to the cashier yourself. And 'why' is that? Well, you see... 1. You don't speak Japanese, and not all cashiers speak English. 2. You're socially anxious, so interacting with a cashier is a big nono. Obviously, you didn't tell your friends DIRECTLY that you 'think' you're socially anxious, when they asked you why couldn't you do it by yourself, you always shrugged it off and said that you just didn't like talking to cashiers, which sounded a little bit too specific, as if you're holding a grudge against the poorly-paid employees (do cashiers in Japan have a decent salary?), so you corrected yourself and said that you just didn't really like talking to strangers, and people in general, to which Mina replied "Haha, classic (y/n)! ". Ahem.. Opening up your instant messaging app, you scroll down and see that the one who yearns to speak to you is none other than... Bakugou Katsuki. "Hey, you" "My old hag made me go shopping" "Wanna come" The stars couldn't align any better than this. Thinking about all the snacks you could buy with Bakugou, you started typing your response, but just when you were about to hit the send button, your device vibrated one more time, snapping you out of your daydream. "DON'T LEAVE ME ON READ, YOU DUMBASS" Chuckling at his impatience, you pressed the send button, your message appearing on your, and Bakugou's, screen. "Yeah, sure, I'm hungry anyway" "Let me just grab my wallet" "And change clothes " "Well, hurry up" ''Don't rush me'' ''I'll rush you if I want to''
Leaving your piece of hardware on your bed, you walk over to your wardrobe and look inside, trying to find something nice to wear, something...that isn't one of the 3 pieces of clothing you usually wear. Five minutes pass and you're still staring at the guts of your closet, sighing, you grab a pair of black sweat pants, a white T-shirt with the word 'hello' printed on it, a white flannel shirt, a white checkered scarf, a black beanie, and the cherry on top...a skull ring. (OR anything else you prefer) You snatch your tablet one more time to tell Bakugou that you're ready to go and that he may now come and get you. You were about to open another app, but you didn't have enough time to do so because: "Lmfao 'come and get you'? YOU'RE coming to the store by YOURSELF" Confused and 'heartbroken' by his reply, you answer: "HUUUH?? B-but?? I don't even know WHERE you are rn and I'm babey 🥺 I can't go out by myself, what if a villain kidnaps me? How would you sleep knowing that I'm dead? " "Like a baby" "BAKUGOUUUU please pick me up :( I'm staaaaarviiiiing" Bakugou huffed, you have always been such a crybaby... Well, not really, but Bakugou, being the bully that he is, would always call you names the second he would hear you whining about 'insignificant' things, of course, you'd insult him back.
*beginning of flashback*
 "Tsk, I can't believe they ran out of Pocky, I've been craving them for a week! " you whisper-yelled. "Aw... Don't worry (y/n)! They'll restock soon enough! " Mina, the person you chose to help you out with the cashier, exclaimed. "No, Mina! You don't understand! Everytime I walk past that store, they have endless flavours of Pocky! I can see them through the window! But when I try to buy some, they're mysteriously sold out? HOW is that fair? Tell me, Mina. HOW is that fair? " "Hmm, well, I'm not saying that's fair, but I'm sure you'll get them next time, yeah?" She positively said, snaking her arm around your shoulder. "MINA, are you listening to me???? I want Pocky NOW." You groaned. "STOP WHINING YOU CRYBABY BITCH!!!" "HUH???! " Whipping your head around, you and Mina see Bakugou walking towards you, with his hands in his pockets, and a scowl on his stupid little face, as usual. "You heard me. Stop whining and grow up." "Don't tell me what to do. If you don't want to hear me whining, you're more than welcome to leave, asshole. " you told him off, walking away from him. "YEAH, what she said! " Mina chimed instantly, going in the same direction as you. Rolling his eyes, Bakugou started walking in the opposite direction, straight to his house.
*end of flashback* You see Bakugou typing away his message, most likely an insult or something to make you - (end of one shot)
5 notes · View notes
dasomlimie · 3 years
Note
Heyyy! I hope ur doing okay if ur requests r open can l request reader asking if she can see whats under sanzu’s mask like that one scene in naruto where he tried so hard to see kakashi’s mask something similar and funny like that take ur time l love ur work <333
%% BEHIND THAT MASK! #!/
characters : aged up!—Sanzu Haruchiyo
a/n : i cant believe im rewrtiting this sorry if this is half assed tumblr didn't save my draft earlier, enjoy ig
Tumblr media
Sanzu Haruchiyo..... your masked bf sometimes you were wondering what behind that mask but ofc you wanted to respect his boundaries and dont want to make him uncomfortable, but curiousity start to eat you alive so you have a little plan in your mind
sometimes there's a lot of idea in your mind on why Sanzu didn't remove his mask, maybe he have big lips that unmatched with his face future? or maybe he have crooked teeth? or even worse he doesn't have mouth! but you scratched the last idea since how did he speak if he doesn't have mouth? his nose? yeah that idea once stuck in your head but you decided to remove it because it doesn't make sense at all
Tumblr media
you called Sanzu to meet you up infront of a restaurant which he agreed since maybe you were hungry and he is too, you greet Sanzu before taking his hand and walk into the restaurant with him
"today is my treat" you said smiling he raise an eyebrow you were cheerful more than usual "did something good happen?" he ask you shook his head "nope i just wanted to spend time with my lovely boyfriend" you said he nodded start looking at the menu
"are you ready to order?" he ask after a few minutes you nodded letting him call the waiter, you both said your order as the writer write down your order, you noticed Sanzu's order was a heavy meal he probably going to remove his mask
you smile to yourself before mentally patting yourself for coming up with this idea as soon as your food arrived you stare at Sanzu causing him to raise an eyebrow "whats up my love?" he ask you shook your head "nothing eat up" he nod "you too" you nod
you stare as he was about to remove his mask until your phone start ringing you look at the caller ID noticing it was your boss you look at Sanzu "eat first i have to answer this call" you said he nod as he watch your figure walking out from the restaurant
you listen to your boss rant about how her husband keep cancelling their date and how she think he was cheating on her while you were wondering why the hell your boss telling you all of this as she finally hang up you walk into the restaurant only to be greeted by Sanzu scrolling through his phone you blink
"oh baby! what took you too long? oh and im sorry i finished my food first i haven't eat since yesterday" he said giving you closed eyes smile you nod sitting "did you forgot to eat again?" you ask he nod "im very busy yesterday and just go to sleep as soon as i got home" he said you nod
attempt 1 : failed
"want some?" you ask offering your food he shook his head "im full already" he said you nodded visibly deflated "whats up pretty girl? you were all cheerful a while ago" he said chuckling you shook your head from side to side finding a reason and decided to use your boss phone call as your reason "she did it again" you said he pat your head
"did she start ranting to you again? what was is about?" he ask you sigh "about her husband this and that you know the usual why don't they just divorce?" you said leaning to your chair
"maybe you should find a new job if you were that sick of your boss personal life rant" he said you nodded "yeah i should" you said
Tumblr media
the second attempt might make him mad but what is life without a little thrill and spice right? right.
you took a deep breath before apologizing gripping the tray in your hand you walk inside the room smiling at Sanzu you walk toward him then purposely trip yourself
you watch everything happen in slow motion how the juice flew and wetting his mask you cheer silently before your face kiss the floor you groan but being muffled by your carpet Sanzu gasp ignoring his wet clothes and mask
"y/n?! are you okay? oh my why are you suddenly become clumsy?" he ask as he help you to get up you have to swallow your image its not even 6 month into your relationship here you are doing stupid things just to what behind his mask
he hiss when he saw your red forehead with a little bloody lips "we should get that lips treated" he suggest you nodded "let me put this away your hoodie was in my closet along with extra mask" you said silently before walking out from the room leaving a little space for you to peak in
you feel your cheeks heat up as you watch his half naked body you silently cheer as he was about to remove his mask when your doorbell rang causing you to curse silent
you keep debating either to look and discover what behind your boyfriend mask or to answer the door you were deep in thought when Sanzu clear his throat his cheeks tinted with rosy pink just like his hair
"i didn't know you're that type of person" he said clearing his throat again you look up before cursing yourself "oh no you got the wrong idea let me go and answer the door ok?" you said walking a little bit too faster "be careful!" Sanzu called as he look you who almost tripped twice
attempt 2 : failed
Tumblr media
you look at Sanzu as you keep following—more like stalking—him you tried to make sure you didn't lost him maybe he would remove his mask at the most random time especially when he's alone? yeah thats what you think ,you were now dressed in all black outfit paired with black cap and black mask
yup much like a stalker
you watch him keep turning and leading you to a dark hallways wondering what he was doing here, little did you know he noticed you following him but didn't have any idea it was his girlfriend
"fuck" you curse silently as you lost him you were about to take another turn when someone pull you to opposite turn you yelped both in suprise and pain when your back make a harsh contact to the cold and dirty wall you hiss from how strong someone's grip on your hands is
"who are you and why are you following me?" he ask you stay silent too scared to answer him, Sanzu chuckle "why are you all silent? acting all scared are we?" he said you shiver under his sharp gaze
"i ask you questions" he said you shut your eyes he sigh annoyed and start to loose his patients then decided to remove both your mask and cap you felt his grip on your hands loosening
"y/n?" he said in softer voice than earlier you still shut your eyes tightly slightly trembling "darling look at me" he said as one of hand slither to your waist while the other cup your cheeks thumb caressing your cheeks "open your eyes my love im not going to hurt you" he said you open your eyes slowly meeting his soften gaze
"why are you following me like that? i thought you were one of those people who tried to get me again" he said chuckling you didn't answer instead hugging him burying your face into his chest
"did i scare you that much?" he ask you shook your head as a no, you were actually embarassed of yourself for doing dumb thing to get him to remove his mask
"then why?" he ask hugging you close to him "im sorry" you said he raise an eyebrow "why?" "im sorry for doing dumb thing lately and following you like earlier" you said he chuckled you look up to him
"i get it now" he said removing you from him gently then cup your cheeks with both of his hands "you know you can just ask right?" you pout "i just dont want to make you feel uncomfortable" he shook his head
"you will never im actually waiting for you to ask me by yourself" he said you nodded "then can i uh you know" he nod letting you remove his mask
heart beating loudly Sanzu was prepared from any insult from you yet nothing came our from your mouth, does he freak you out? he was about to apologize when you whispered out a very unexpected word he expects you to say
"beautiful" you said he froze not believing what he just heard "what?" he ask for confirmation "i said beautiful" you repeat before caressing his scars with both of your thumb he sigh in relief
"really? i thought you were going to freaked out" he said you shook your head with confused face while your attention was still on his face "why would i?" you ask
"people always told me its disgusting i thought you would too but apparently not im relieved" you heart broke a little from his words "who the hell said your scars is disgusting?! let me beat them up" you said with determination he shook his head "its okay you were an absolute angel i cant imagine you beating people up" he said pressing a kiss on your forehead
"you look hotter without mask" you whisper he smile "is that so?" he ask you nodded then cover his face with his mask "and only me can see you my beautiful and handsome and hot boyfriend without his mask no one can see your full face they would fall for you" you said he chuckled before ruffling your hair
"whatever you say angel" he said you smile as he lead you out from the hallway just so your know he would use your silly attempt to tease you in the future
attempt 3 : successfully failed
Tumblr media
!%! © HNEULWH— i did not allow my work to be used or adapted in any form without my permission !#//
Tumblr media
201 notes · View notes
fockfjdkfncnfn · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Quite the ride | Luke Hemmings smut
summary: it’s a normal day and you didn’t have much plans except for dropping off some overdue books at the library. on the way, you decide to stop by at a cafe and you meet Luke there for the first time. you hit it off really well and on a cute date with him to a carnival and then things escalate.
warnings: unprotected sex, sex on the first date, oral uhmmm yeaaaa
requested: YES!! this is my first request from one of my friends i’ve just made here on tumblr! <3 their @ is @lukeshemmo. they write too so go check their stuff out!
word count: 3125
A/N: hiii!! thank y’all so much for 36 notes on my first smut!!!! i was really shocked to see so many people had read it and liked and tevloghed and stuff so thank you so much and i hope you enjoy this one <3 remember, requests are open to feel free to leave some!
ps. the book/cafe names i used in this are random ones that i just found in google lolol okay enjoy!
——————————————————————————
It was a chilly winter morning and you were woken up by the sounds of your bed creaking as you were rolling over. You fluttered your eyes open and looked out the window to see the frost on the corners of your windows and the slightest bit of sunlight shining through the tree branches outside. “So cold” you whispered to yourself as you reached your arm out from under your warm blanket to grab your phone. as you took the charger out from your phone, you saw the screen light up, showing a reminder you had set for yourself the night before so that you could see it first thing in the morning. “Return books to the library,” it said. annoyed, you groaned and set your phone down beside you. You secretly wanted to stay in bed all day because of how chilly it was, but you knew that if you didn’t take the books back today you’d have to pay for it. 
With that thought in mind, you sat up and stretched your arms above your head and planted your feet on your cold hardwood floors, and made your way into the kitchen. You wanted to have a quick and simple breakfast since you weren’t feeling too hungry, so you settled on a bowl of cereal. 
you grabbed out a white bowl and poured your cereal and milk into it, thinking about what else you could do for the rest of the day after returning the books. You sat down at your kitchen island and started to eat. as you were eating, you scrolled through Instagram on your phone and an ad caught your attention. 
“Groundup cafe! grand opening happening today downtown! Come visit and enjoy some fresh, deliciously made coffee”
“That sounds interesting,” you thought to yourself as you ate another spoonful of cereal. You did some more research to see where the cafe was located and noticed that it was only a couple of minutes away from the library you were going to. “Maybe I’ll go after'' you thought to yourself as you finished the last of your cereal and put the bowl in the sink. 
You made your way into the bathroom and took a quick shower and brushed your teeth. You wrapped your hair up in a towel and one around your body then walked out to go to your closet. “Hmm what should I wear?’ You thought to yourself. Outside it was lightly snowing, so you decided that layering up would be a good idea. You decided to wear some cream white corduroy jeans, a black turtleneck and a short black puffer jacket with some high top docs. For makeup, you didn’t wanna go too heavy since it was a cold snowy day, so you just did some foundation and mascara. To finish the look off, you dipped your ring finger into a pot of tinted pink lip balm and spread it across your lips to give them some life, and used the residue left on your finger to spread on your cheeks to bring some color back into your face. You dried your hair and curled it, put on some earrings and you headed out the door with a tote bag that had the books in it. 
Since the cafe was on the way to the library, you decided to stop by there first and maybe get a drink since your hands were numb from the cold wind.
When you arrived, you put your hand out to grab the cold copper door handle and pushed it to make your way in. 
You were greeted with the smell of coffee and the sound of people talking amongst themselves, not to mention the noticeable temperature change in the atmosphere which was comforting. You went up to the counter and looked up to see what drinks they had on the menu. Your thoughts were interrupted when the barista started talking to you. 
“Hi! What can I get ya?” They said with a cheery smile on their face. 
You shifted your eyes slightly down to meet theirs and as you opened your mouth to respond, you suddenly got pushed, and then you felt hot coffee run down the arm of your jacket. “Fuck” you said with an annoyed tone. as you tried to use your other arm to wipe the coffee off of yourself,  You looked up to see who had rudely bumped into you, but your rage quickly melted away when you were met with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes. 
“I am so sorry,” he says with a sense of urgency in his voice. “I didn’t mean to, the person behind me was in a rush so I tried to move out the way and I accidentally bumped into you, let me go get some napkins for you and I'll buy you your drink,” he said as he quickly turned to get some napkins. 
as he was walking away, you couldn’t help but notice his beautiful golden curls and also how tall he was which was one of your biggest turn-ons. confused at what had just happened, you quickly turn to the barista and say “I’ll just have a peppermint mocha please” with a soft smile and you sit down at the nearest table. 
You see him walk towards you, drink and napkins in hand and a look of remorse on his face.
“I am so sorry for what happened back there,” he says as he gently places the drink in front of you and hands you the napkins. “Are you okay?” He asks 
“Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you” you say as you take the napkins from his hands and try to wipe the already dried coffee off of your sleeve. 
For a second it got a bit awkward because he was just standing there, but he gave you a little smile and glanced over to your bag which was open, putting on display the books you had in there. 
“Is that the east of Eden??” He says as his face lights up with excitement 
“Yea!!” You respond smiling and looking up at him. 
He quickly sits down at the empty chair across from you and you both start talking about the book. He asks questions like “what's your favorite chapter?”, “who’s your favorite character?”, “do you like the ending?” And before you could even catch each other's names, you both noticed that the cafe which was full when you first arrived was now empty, the only other people occupying the space being the workers cleaning up the machines and floors. 
“Woah, I didn’t even realize we had been talking for so long!” You say as you glance down at your phone to see the time. 
“Yeah me too” says with a soft laugh.
“What was your name by the way?” He says, looking at you with his bright blue eyes 
“Oh, its y/n” you say with a smile 
“Well, I'm Luke,” he says, playfully offering a hand out to you for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, beautiful”
After those words fell from his lips, you could feel butterflies swarming your stomach and blood rushing to your cheeks. 
“Nice to meet you,” you say giggling, taking his hand, and shaking it. 
His grip was strong but caring. You knew that it was crazy to feel such a strong connection to a person you had met only a couple of hours ago but when the workers informed you both that they were closing, you just didn’t want to leave. 
As you grabbed your bag and now empty coffee cup he stood up and asked,
“What are you doing tonight?’ 
It was like he read your mind and felt the connection too 
“Nothing” you quickly blurt out
“There's this carnival happening tonight just across town, would you maybe want to go?” He said hesitantly with a shaky voice 
“I'd love to!” you say, smiling up at him. 
You both walk out of the cafe and he leads you to his car. As you were approaching his it, you saw the library that you needed to go to. The whole reason why you left your house in the first place, but this was much more important, you thought to yourself. 
You hopped in his car and he drove the both of you to the carnival. It was dark now, still cold but not as windy and it wasn’t snowing anymore. You saw bright flashing neon lights, children running around with their families, and young couples going on their first dates. “what the hell am I doing,” you thought to yourself for a brief second. When he hopped out of the car, you watched as he made his way around to your side to open the door for you. As he did, you took the few seconds you had to yourself to process what was happening. You planned to go to the library today, met some random stranger who spilled coffee on you and now you’re going on a kinda date with him to this random carnival. “But how could I turn this down?” you thought to yourself “he’s my ideal type. I mean, he’s tall, handsome, has the most hair, we talked non stop for like four hours, it's hard to find a connection like that with anyo-'' your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the car door opening. 
“The carnival awaits” he says holding the door for you and offering you a hand to help you get out
“Thank you,” you say giggling, taking his hand, and stepping out of the car. 
The whole night was filled with laughter and youth as you both chaotically ran around the carnival like little kids and going on ride after ride. The connection between the two of you became stronger despite how little time you really had spent with each other. Everything was starting to quiet down and you both decided to finish the night off by going on the Ferris wheel. While waiting in the line, Luke turned to you and rest his hand on your shoulder 
“I'll be back, I'm just gonna.. go to the bathroom” he said in a suspicious tone, a grin displayed on his face. 
You didn’t think much of it and just waited in line till he got back. You had your hands behind your back, rocking back and forth from heel to toe smiling out of pure joy. You hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. 
When it was finally your turn to go on this Ferris wheel, Luke just got back in time and you both hopped in and looked at the sky as it started moving, bringing you both closer to the stars.
“I had a really great night tonight,” Luke says with a soft smile. 
“Me too” you say, returning the gratitude. 
You felt the butterflies emerge again as the ride stopped. you were now both at the top of the Ferris wheel and looking into each other's eyes. 
“Can I kiss you?” He asks with a soft and gentle tone 
Without any thought, you leaned in to connect your lips to his and as they did, you felt sparks going off in your heart. your hands gently cupped his jaw as his hands gently wrapped around your waist. as you break away from the kiss, you both look at each other for a second and giggle. 
“This is crazy” you say giggling, still cupping his face 
“I know,” he says laughing. He looks down and away for a second and his eyes shoot back up at you.
 “Would you possibly wanna come to my place?” He asks, looking at you with the eyes of a puppy 
“Sure” you say softly, smiling.
The Ferris wheel eventually started moving again and you slowly felt the grass under your feet again. He helps you out and instead of letting your hand go, he keeps it there, and your fingers intertwine. 
“Wait, before we go,” he says. “I have a surprise for you” 
Confused, you look at him with furrowed eyebrows. “A surprise?’ You say. 
He unties his fingers from yours and reaches around his back and pulls out a rose. 
“For you” he says 
You look at him, mouth slightly open realizing that when he was going to the “bathroom” he was really going to go buy you a rose. You stood there saying nothing because of how sweet this gesture was. He playfully turns around to see the flashing colourful lights. 
“The lights are interesting than this flower?” He says jokingly 
you laugh. “No!! I just, this is so sweet” you say. “Thank you” you say quietly as you take the rose from him.
“Of course y/n'' he says. You liked the way your name rolled off his tongue. It just sounded right. 
When you finally leave the carnival and make it to his house, he opens the door and moves aside so that you can walk in first. His house felt warm and welcoming, despite the fact that you had never been there before. 
“This is my home!” He says smiling as he shuts the door behind him. 
“It's beautiful” you say in admiration, looking around. 
“Not as much as you” he says as he walked towards you and wrapped his arms around your waist. His lips crashed onto yours and your hands wandered around his broad back. As you were making out, he picked you up so that your legs were wrapped around him and you giggled into the kiss as he carried you to his bedroom. Once he was there, he set you down gently onto his bed, using his arms to support you on the way down, and kissed your forehead once you had landed. 
“Is it okay if I take your shirt off?” He asked with a soft and loving voice 
“Of course” you say smiling, knowing what was about the unfold 
He started kissing your neck and making his way down to your breasts and you quickly unhooked your bra and tossed it to the side. He wrapped his lips around your left nipple while his hand cupped the other. You let out a small whimper at the feeling of his tongue swirling around your nipple. You felt his other hands move from your waist slowly down to your core, stopping just above your pussy as if to ask for permission. He looked down to see where his hand was and looked back up at you. you nodded, letting him know that this was something that you were okay with. 
He moved down so that his face was now in-between your legs and he unbuttoned your pants. You bucked your hips to help him pull them down along with your underwear, leaving you now completely exposed. 
“God you’re so beautiful” he whispered before diving in to eat you out
Your breath hitched as you felt his lips wrap around your clit and his tongue swirl around, making you become even wetter for him. 
“Ugh, right there” you moaned out as you tangled your fingers through his hair and moved your hips to match his movements. He moaned into you, making you feel the vibrations. 
He inserted a finger into you making you squirm in pleasure. 
“Fuck” you say as he pumps in and out of you. 
“I'm close” you say as you throw your head back onto the sheets. 
After he hears that, he stops, and before you can complain, he crashes his lips onto yours, forcing you to taste yourself. He moaned as he rubbed his bulge against your body. 
“You're such a tease,” you say with a grin as he breaks away from the kiss. 
he giggles and quickly takes off his shirt, along with his jeans and boxers exposing his length that was extremely hard. 
“Need a little help with that?” You say as you stand up and go on your tippy-toes to kiss him. You loved how tall he was compared to you. you watch as he sits down on the bed and you situate yourself between his legs and get on your knees. You lick a stripe from the base of his cock to the tip and he lets out a moan which makes you want him so bad. 
“Fuck it, just get on top of me” he says, lust-filled in his eyes as he looks at you with a hungry expression. 
You’re quick to follow his orders and stand up and get on the bed, your knees now on either side of his body. 
you lower yourself onto his length and you both moan out in pleasure. You start rocking back and forth feeling him inside of you. 
“Fuck y/n yes, don’t stop” Luke moans as he grabs your hips to help you move with him.
“Holy fuck” you moan out as you continue to move your hips faster. You start to lean forward, placing your hands on his chest and he bucks his hips up and down to pump into you. 
“Oh my god Luke” you moan shakily as he roughly thrusts into you, getting the perfect angle to hit your g spot. 
“Rub your clit for me baby” he moans and you do as you're told. 
The feeling starts to become overwhelming and you could feel your walls tightening around him. you felt your high coming and you knew that you were close. 
“I'm close Luke” you moan out breathlessly as you continue to rub your clit and feel Lukes long and thick length pump in and out of you. 
“Just hold on a little longer” he moaned out as he started to thrust into you even faster. 
He moved his hands from your hips to your back and flipped you over and pounded into you 
“Fuck Luke” you moaned with each thrust. He loved hearing his name fall from your lips.
“I can’t hold on much longer” you barely manage to say as you were trying not to cum before him 
“Cum with me beautiful”
That's all it took for you to let go. You moaned out his name, making it echo in the room. He came with you moaning out in pleasure and satisfaction. He sloppily thrust into you so that you could both ride out your highs and then flopped down next to you. 
Once you caught your breath, you turned to see his beautiful face and you reached your hand out to move a curl out of his face so that you could get a better view. 
“Out of all the rides we went on today, you were the best” you say giggling into his neck 
“It definitely was quite the ride” he says as he wrapped you in his arms.
206 notes · View notes
eldritchteaparty · 3 years
Link
Chapters: 17/22 Fandom: The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Characters: Martin Blackwood, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Rosie Zampano, Oliver Banks, Original Elias Bouchard, Peter Lukas, Annabelle Cane, Melanie King, Georgie Barker, Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Basira Hussain Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Scars, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, I'll add characters and tags as they come up, Reference to injuries and blood, Character Death In Dream, Nudity (not sexual or graphic), Nightmares, Fighting
Summary: Following the events of MAG 200, Jon and Martin find themselves in a dimension very much like the one they came from--with second chances and more time.
Chapter summary:  Tim joins everyone at Elias’s house and pressure builds.
Chapter 17 of my post-canon fix-it is up! Read above at AO3 or read here below.
My tumblr master post with links to other chapters is here. 
***
The rest of the first full day ay Elias’s house passed in relative isolation; Martin had a feeling it wasn’t unintentional that Melanie, Georgie, and Sasha spent so long away from the house when they went to the store. Jon seemed intent on mulling over whatever thoughts their talk with Elias had put in his head that morning; Martin tried to break him out of with conversation a couple of times, but ultimately he felt like more of an annoyance than a help. He went back to their room and scrolled through social media until his brain couldn’t process posts anymore. When everyone came home from the store, he helped put the groceries away, but he couldn’t come up with much to say even when Sasha pulled him aside to ask him how he was. All right was the only thing he managed.
When it got late enough that he realized everyone was not likely to be eating dinner together, he made a sandwich for Jon and brought it to him in the great room. They were alone; he leaned over to set it on the table next to the armchair.
“Hey,” he said, lightly kissing the top of Jon’s head.
“Hm?” Jon looked up, and Martin redirected his attention to the sandwich. “Oh—thank you.”
“Take a bite, while I’m here.”
Jon did as Martin asked, still too distracted by his thoughts to make a fuss. “Did you eat already?”
“No,” Martin shook his head. “I’ll have something later. When I’m hungry.”
Jon gave him a look that Martin now understood well, but he simply squeezed Jon’s shoulder as he turned to leave.
“Wait, Martin—are you—” Jon grabbed his hand before it slid away. “I’m sorry. That I’ve been like this.”
“I get it,” Martin said, as reassuringly as he could. “I know this isn’t easy for you.”
“That isn’t the—” Jon sighed and let Martin’s hand drop, along with his thought. “What are you doing?”
Martin answered the question more generally than he knew Jon had intended it. “Waiting.”
“I think we all are,” Jon said. “But I was actually asking—”
“I know. And I don’t know what I’m doing. I was just going to head back to the bedroom, I guess.”
“All right. I’ll—I’ll be in before too long.”
Martin lay awake for a long time that night, even after Jon had fallen asleep.
***
When he woke in the morning, Jon was propped up on an elbow and looking at him.
“What’s going on?” Martin asked, slightly alarmed, trying to shake off the sleep.
“Nothing,” Jon said.
“Try again.”
“I just meant—nothing new.”
“Oh.” His eyes drifted closed, and he promised himself he wouldn’t let them stay that way very long. He felt Jon’s hand brush his cheek and travel gently up to his hairline; the feeling roused something in him.
“Wait,” he said. “Was I dreaming?” He had the vague impression he had been, although he couldn’t really remember it. He’d been looking for something, maybe. Trying to get somewhere, or find someone. Maybe someone had been lost. It was the kind of dream that made you feel like you hadn’t slept at all, and the more he tried to remember the more disquieted he felt.
“You were,” Jon said.
“But—wait, it wasn’t—”
“No,” Jon shook his head, pulling his hand back. “It was your dream.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” They both knew it wasn’t fine, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it. Martin closed his eyes one more time, but his mind wandered as he felt Jon breathing next to him, and he opened them again sharply. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought about this before.
“Jon?”
“Hm?”
“Do you—you need the statements, right? You need to read them?”
“I—more or less.”
“So yes, then.”
Jon nodded reluctantly. “Yes.”
“And? How are you—doing that?”
“I brought a few with me when we left the archives.”
He sat up, prompting Jon to do the same. “I thought you were basically out of statements. I mean, they don’t really go back that far here.”
“There were—well, there were a few I’d just—skimmed before. I’m sure if I give them a proper read—”
“Jon.”
“I’m doing fine.”
“But what about when you’re not?”
Jon didn’t answer him.
“Jon.”
“Stop doing that.”
“Oh come on, you Martin me all the time.”
Silence fell between them again.
“Ok—what if—” Martin had to try several times to give voice to his thought. “If you need it—really need it—could you ask me to give you a—statement?”
To be fair, he hated the idea himself, and the pit he felt in his stomach was firmly reflected in Jon’s reply. “No.”
“Why not? You basically just asked Basira for one. I’ve given you one before. A few, depending on how you count. It—it wasn’t that bad.”
He ignored the part about Basira. “Absolutely not. That was—that was before. I don’t—I don’t even know that you can really give me a statement at this point.”
Jon was still a terrible liar.
“Look it’s—it’s not like I want to do it, ok? I really don’t. I just meant—what if you get really sick?”
“Then I get sick.”
“Jon—”
“It is not an option.”
“Look, I get that you don’t want—but we’re doing this together, and we need to weigh both—”
“No.” Jon slipped to the edge of the bed and was standing before Martin realized he was getting up.
“No what? We’re not doing this together?”
“Not that.” Jon pulled on the pants he’d worn yesterday, and grabbed a fresh shirt from the drawer he’d thrown them in.
“Oh,” Martin said, watching Jon head toward the bedroom door. “Good to know.”
Jon began to open the door, but then closed it. He did not turn to face Martin. “I realize that—” He stopped again.
“Go,” Martin said. He wished he was saying it for Jon—offering Jon time to gather his thoughts—but he knew he wasn’t. He knew was saying it out of hurt. Worse, Jon knew that was why he was saying it; he had to know. Either way, though, he supposed it achieved the same end.
After Jon left, he took a quick shower; Jon was not back when he was done, nor had he expected him to be. He got dressed and headed toward the kitchen. No one was in the hall or in the great room; Jon had probably gone for a walk, and it was just as well. He rummaged through a couple of cabinets and triumphantly emerged with a kettle. It wasn’t even electric, it was the kind that you set on the stove, and that was perfectly all right with Martin. It will boil water properly, he thought.
He had no intention of repeating the previous day; despite how big the house was, he had already started feeling claustrophobic. After his tea was ready, he left through the back door in the great room, walking across the relatively modest back porch to stepping down to the back lawn. Like the side lawn, it was expansive; unlike the side lawn, there were more than a few trees dotting the view. In fact, as Martin walked down and out on a dirt path cut into the lawn, he realized there was what amounted to a pretty legitimate wood behind the house. Not far in there was a small creek—so small that the little  bridge passing over it seemed ridiculous and unnecessary—but it was scenic, nonetheless. A wooden bench, upkept with enough frequency that it remained sturdy if not pristine, stood nearby.
I would have liked this, Martin thought, as he sat down on the bench. I would have written poems about this.
Spring was finally in effect. The trees weren’t green yet, but they were starting to sprout small leaves; a few had tiny buds with hints of pink and white protruding from their smaller twigs and branches. It wasn’t exactly warm outside, but it was comfortable as the light shown through the trees in a mottled pattern on the leaf-covered ground. He sipped his tea and watched how the sun hit the water in the little creek. In some parts it shone straight to the bottom, and he could see small rocks and pebbles and silt; in others, it seemed to dance as it reflected off the top of the water.
It helped, to sit and breathe. After a while, he started to notice birds chirping in the trees, and the sounds of small animals—probably squirrels—rustling in the leaves. It reminded him how when he and Jon had come here, the first sign that they were really somewhere, that there were things that mattered here, had been the sound of birds chirping.
He was glad they were here, he realized. He was glad they were here because they were alive—or more accurately, because Jon was alive, and Martin was with him. They were together. That was what Jon had given him when he’d told him how to end it, and despite himself and everything they had brought with them, he was still grateful for it. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t let himself think about it much further than that; he had a feeling there would be plenty of time for that when they all finally started talking. He could decide then what he’d be willing to do again, what he regretted. There would be plenty of time for regrets. It’s not like having a plan had really helped before. Jon had done what he had done; likewise, Martin had done what he had done.
At least now they knew what mattered to them.
He wasn’t sure if he dozed off or just got lost in his thoughts and the woods, but when he finally checked his phone he was taken back by how late it was. He’d come out mid-morning, and it was already mid-afternoon. He hadn’t meant to stay away for that long—what if Jon was—well, no, Jon could pretty much figure out where he was, and he supposed technically any of the rest of them could message him, but it just didn’t sit well with him that he’d stayed out there for so long.
When he got back in, he found Jon alone, on the sofa in front of the fireplace; like the day before, it seemed no one was particularly eager to tackle the big conversations yet. Martin was glad, for several reasons.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“If you’d like,” Jon answered, not looking at Martin.
Martin took him at his word and sat down next to him. The sofa was wider than he was used to, and he felt like he was just a little bit too far away; he moved closer to Jon, and awkwardly ended up straddling two cushions.
“I didn’t mean to push so hard this morning,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s settled, but—”
“Wait,” Jon said. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I mean wait. I’ve been thinking of the words to explain.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Martin—”
“Ok. I’m listening. Take your time. Just didn’t want to push again.”
“I—” Jon paused. “It’s difficult.”
Martin started to tell him it was ok, but changed his mind. Instead, he reached for Jon’s hand. Jon looked down as he did, watched their fingers intertwine, and seemed to find the words—some words, anyway.
“I—like—the statements. Or I don’t, actually, but—I do. Does that—do you understand?”
“Not totally,” Martin said honestly. “But I guess I really can’t. I’ve seen how they affect you, though. I know they help. I know you feel better after you read them. You—like feeling people’s fear. But I mean, I know you don’t, too.”
“Do you know how I felt after we spoke with Elias yesterday?”
“I—you seemed upset.”
“I was. What he was saying was terrible, and wrong. But also there was that part of me that felt—it felt—”
Martin hadn’t realized that. “Jon—you don’t have to say. Please. I—I get it.” It’s not your fault, he wanted to add, but he stopped himself.
Jon nodded and cleared his throat. “I never want to feel—I never want to feel that because of you. And if I don’t—if we don’t—I can still tell myself I wouldn’t. I can tell myself that it’s not so bad. That I’m not so bad. That I can still be—”
Jon’s next words caught, and Martin automatically wrapped his arms around him, the gesture made clumsy by the empty mug he was still holding. “It’s—it’s all right. You still—you heard him, you know—ok, this isn’t about that, really, but—I’m sorry. This isn’t helping. Let me—” Flustered, he somehow managed to set his mug down on the coffee table without entirely letting go; he turned his head to kiss Jon’s mouth, then kissed him again.
“I’m all right,” Jon said. He did not look all right to Martin.
“If I—if I got you some tea, would that—would you like it?”
“I—yes.”
Martin stood up, grabbed his mug to bring back to the kitchen, and then bent down to kiss Jon one more time. “Wait, did you—were you done? I don’t want to—”
“Martin, tea. Please.”
“Ok. All right.” The coffee machine that didn’t really boil water would have to do; in his heart, Martin knew Jon couldn’t really tell the difference anyway. It was the fastest cup of tea he’d made in a while. The supply of coffee cups that had been on the counter had dwindled, and Martin simply rinsed out the one he’d used rather than go searching for a clean one. It wasn’t like that had never happened at home.
As he walked back through the breakfast room, he heard a voice that wasn’t Jon’s, and based on volume alone he was pretty sure they weren’t happy. Just before he turned the corner, he realized who it was.
“—and here’s Martin with the tea,” Tim said. “Are you all on holiday? Having a nice time out in the country? Where is everyone?”
“Tim?” Sasha, who must have been in her room, had also heard Tim and spared Martin from having to answer him. “You didn’t tell me you were coming out today. I could have warned everyone.”
“What is going on? I thought you’d be at least halfway to figuring this out by now, and here everyone’s hiding. What are you all even doing?”
“Coping, Tim. Adjusting to the situation. Which is exactly what you’ve been doing, if you don’t mind me pointing it out. Welcome, by the way.”
Tim took a deep breath, looking as if he were going to resume at full rant volume, but then let it out again. “Ok, fine. That’s fair. But I’m here now. Get everyone. Come on.”
“Tim—”
“Look, is there a reason not to?”
Sasha sighed. “Fine. Hold on. I’ll go get Melanie and Georgie.”
Tim dropped the oversize bag he was carrying right where he was, and walked back in the direction of Elias’s room. “You two—stay.”
“Where would—” Martin was pretty sure Tim wasn’t listening, since he was already shouting Elias’s name in the hallway. He turned to Jon and pressed the mug into his hands. “Here. Sorry, I was hoping—”
“It’s all right. This is—this is good.”
Within a couple of minutes, everyone had converged on the great room. They stood, ignoring the awkward furniture. Georgie and Melanie stood back from the group a little way, Georgie’s arm over Melanie’s shoulder; Elias, in a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts, seemed much more relaxed than the last time Martin had seen him.
“All right, Tim. We’re all here.” Sasha crossed her arms and implied she was waiting for Tim to speak.
“Well—don’t look at me. What are we doing about this?” He turned to Jon and Martin.
“Tim.” Sasha’s voice was stern, but Martin realized Georgie and Melanie had also turned to look at them.
“Oh, come on. Don’t act like the rest of you don’t feel the same way. At least I’m being honest about it.”
Sasha snorted. “I don’t feel that way, Tim. I think I can honestly say—”
“Sasha,” Melanie interrupted. “Tim has a point.”
Sasha closed her mouth as she turned to face Melanie; Martin instinctively took a half step closer to Jon.
“I’m just saying—they brought this here. We didn’t have anything to do with it. And if they aren’t fixing it—”
“What Melanie is saying,” Georgie said, with a quick look at Melanie before she turned back to Jon, “is that the two of you are the most familiar with—this. And if you don’t have any suggestions to stop them—it’s not likely that the rest of us are going to come up with something on our own.”
Melanie frowned. “That’s not exactly what I was—”
“Melanie, please.” Georgie squeezed her arm, and Melanie stopped, although she didn’t look happy about it. “Jon, is there—is there a point to this?”
Jon took a breath before he answered. “I’m—I’m not sure there is.”
“A point?” Tim broke into the conversation again. “You all want a point? Ok, here it is. I just went to go visit my brother. I had every intention of telling him about this, right after I figured out how, and—you know what? I didn’t. I didn’t figure out how. And I’m not going to. I’m never going to tell him about this. We’re going to fix it. You want a point? Danny’s the point. And—and Sasha’s the point.”
Sasha face softened slightly as Tim gestured toward her. “Tim—”
“Jon, Martin’s the point. Surely you understand that.”
Martin started to protest. “Tim, you’re missing the—”
“I’m not missing anything. You are. You’ve given up. Both of you have given up. And at some level, I can understand that. You got beaten, really badly, and I’m sure it hurts. But I can’t give up. I am not going to give up as long as I have Danny—as long as we have Sasha. I understand that you’ve been through this, and maybe you want to be done. But we’re here too, and we haven’t had a chance. And I hate it, but Georgie’s right, we can’t do this without you. For better or worse, Jon is the only one with any real power in this situation. You can’t just sit back. Give us our chance.”
Martin did everything but literally jump in front of Jon. “Hey. No one is sitting back and—”
“Martin,” Jon said quietly, touching his arm.
Unable to silence himself, Martin turned to Jon instead. “He has no idea—”
“They deserve to feel like they’ve had a chance.”
Martin had more to say, much more—but he wasn’t prepared to say it in front of everyone. Tim seemed momentarily surprised, but quickly recovered. “Thank you.”
“Where do we start then?” Georgie asked.
“I have a proposal,” Sasha said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use an actual meal. So—I’ll go start putting something together, and maybe we can have an early dinner after everyone takes a break.”
Georgie nodded. “What are you going to make?”
“I—” Sasha sighed. “I have no idea.”
“That’s what I thought,” Georgie said. “I’ll help. Melanie, want to come sit in the kitchen?”
Melanie looked pained. “I—I guess?”
As the three of them headed in that direction, Elias, who had really only watched everyone else talk, started back toward his room.
“Nope,” said Tim, grabbing his arm in both hands and redirecting him. “We are headed outside for some fresh air.”
Elias shrugged. “You know, I don’t really remember my mother, but I imagine you—”
“Funny, boss,” Tim said. “Move it.”
Martin thought this was extremely strange, until the two of them passed by him. Martin wrinkled his nose after they were gone.
“That smell—was that—”
“Yes,” said Jon.
“Everyone always has to tell me, I can never—never mind. Jon, what—what was that?”
“Um—weed? I though that’s what—”
“No. Back there. I know you don’t think we can stop the fears.”
“Oh. I don’t.”
“So then why—”
“What Tim was asking isn’t unreasonable. I wanted a chance—even if all I learned from it was that there never was one. Of course they want theirs.”
“And ok, I’m glad you’re considering them. I mean, I kind of asked you to. I just don’t like—I don’t want that pressure on you.”
“Hm.”
“What?”
“You mean you don’t want them pushing me, because you’re afraid of how that will end.”
“It’s—” Martin swallowed. “It’s both, all right?”
Jon was quiet for a moment, then moved toward the couch. “Sit with me?”
“Yeah,” Martin said. “Yeah.”
***
They moved the chairs and the couch out of the way and spread out on the floor. Martin had to admit it was a better use of the space. Now that some of the tension in the group had been so forcefully broken, there was again a sort of comfort in the conversation, in the company, at least at first. It didn’t feel so empty and dark.
“So… I was thinking about where to start,” Sasha said, after everyone was settled. “And maybe—we should start with the options you talked about before—in that other place—for what to do. Talk about them together, so there’s no misunderstandings.”
“Ok, but it’s important to keep in mind that—that was different,” Jon said.
“How?”
“There was—there was an apocalypse.”
“What about before the apocalypse?” Georgie asked. “Did you ever think about destroying the entities then? Getting rid of them or whatever?”
“No. Not really.”
“That’s weird, honestly,” Melanie said. “I would think that would be the first thing you’d consider. Why not?”
“A lot of reasons, I suppose.” Jon considered. “Mostly, they were just the way it was. We were much more worried about the people and the—things they acted through. And once we really understood, we were simply trying to avoid an apocalypse.”
“Think about a bad storm,” Martin added. “You don’t stop the weather. You just try to make sure there aren’t any trees that are going to fall on your house.”
Jon turned to look at him.
“What?”
“That—that’s a good metaphor, actually.”
“Why does that always surprise you?”
“I—”
“So,” Melanie said, “one option is to deal with it and just try to avoid the worst.”
“Yeah,” said Martin.
“No,” said Tim. “Danny, Sasha, Elias—all of that—that all happened before the apocalypse.”
“And you,” Jon added, but Tim did not acknowledge it.                                        
“But they didn’t know about the—entities,” Sasha pointed out. “We do. That could change things.”
“But some people knew about them. Jonah Magnus knew about them,” Tim said. “I don’t think knowing about them is points in favor of dealing with it.”
Georgie spoke up again. “Jon, you also said you tried to avoid the apocalypse—objectively the worst part, if we’re trying to avoid the worst—and well, obviously it happened. So what about that? Could it be avoided this time?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you think, though?”
“My belief is—no. No, I don’t believe it can be avoided.”
“But it could take a long time,” Martin said. “And people might—might figure something out that we don’t know now.”
“So you do think it could be avoided?” Georgie asked Martin.
“I, um—” he glanced at Jon, whose face did not change. “Maybe.”
“All right,” Sasha said, redirecting the conversation. “So option one, live with it and try for the best.”
“No,” Tim shook his head.
At least Tim and Jon can agree on that, Martin thought.
“It’s an option,” said Sasha. “We’re just laying out options. So after the apocalypse—that’s when you thought about destroying the fears themselves.”
“Destroying them?” Jon said. “No, not really. I don’t think that was ever a possibility.”
“Then—what?”
“There were, in essence, two options. Open the door to the other dimensions, let them go—or don’t.”
“We’ll come back the first one. If you hadn’t let them out—then what?”
“Then Jon became god,” Tim interjected.
“That isn’t fair,” Martin responded. “What you have to understand is—”
“Wait, I have been wondering about that,” Melanie said. “How exactly would that have worked?”
Jon replied before Martin could continue. “Well—first, to be clear, there was another choice. We could have let things go on. Just let the apocalypse continue as it was. That—seemed bad.”
“Ok.”
“Otherwise, I—we—could kill Jonah.” Martin’s stomach twisted in a way he hadn’t anticipated, and he set down his fork. “The Eye would then choose me as a replacement.”
“Because Jonah was in charge before that?” Melanie asked.
“In charge? No.” Martin thought he could hear a slight scoff in Jon’s voice, although he could have been imagining it. “It was never his place.”
“But it would have been yours?”
“Yes. More so, anyway. I—I couldn’t stop it, but I could have—changed it. Redirected the suffering.”
“So you would have actually been in charge of—torturing people. Choosing which people to torture?” Georgie frowned. “Forever?”
“Not forever. It would have ended eventually. Death is one of the fears.”
“Well, that’s messed up.” Melanie wiped at her mouth with a napkin. “If you were going to do that, it almost seems like it would have been a kindness to end it faster.”
Martin almost choked.
“Food goes down the other tube, Martin,” Tim said, unaware Martin hadn’t been eating.
“Right. Sorry.”
“Ok,” Sasha said, “so another option you considered was—taking over from Jonah. Making the apocalypse—better, I guess.”
“Is that what you heard?” Tim asked.
“In any case, that’s not something we need to consider,” said Sasha. “There’s no apocalypse.”
Martin’s chest tightened.
“So the last option—also after the apocalypse—was to let them out.”
“Right,” Jon said quietly.
“And ultimately, that’s what you chose.”
“Yes.”
“No,” Martin said. “It’s what the rest of us chose.”
“In the end, I chose it too.”
Silence fell over the group; Martin realized they were waiting for one of them to say more. He willed the tightness in his chest to dissipate.
“So the thing about that is—we didn’t really know. At the time, we’d only just learned there were other dimensions. And we still had no idea—what was in them. Or if there were other entities just like ours already out there, and maybe what we did didn’t matter so much. All we knew for certain was that we could end the apocalypse in our world. This—sending them here—we really didn’t know.”
Next to him, Jon remained silent.
“I’ve been thinking,” said Tim slowly, “and—given the options—if we could send them somewhere else again—that really doesn’t seem like the worst thing.”
“We’re not making any decisions right now, Tim.” Sasha was firm. “We’re just laying out options.”
“And if the options we are laying out are do nothing, Jon becomes god, or we get rid of them—getting rid of them seems reasonable. Why should we be the ones to live with them?”
“For one thing, as Jon said, this is a different situation. For another, we are not done with the options. There—there must be others. We’re just starting with what they considered before.”
“Sasha, that—that’s hopeful,” Melanie said, choosing her words carefully. “But I’m kind of wondering if Tim isn’t right.”
“Melanie.” Georgie sounded slightly reproachful. “Think about that, though. It’s not like they just disappear into the air. They—they go somewhere else. That’s how they got here.”
“But maybe they’d go somewhere—I don’t know, somewhere where they couldn’t really do any harm.”
“No.” Martin felt them all shift their attention to Jon when he spoke, but he continued to stare down at his plate. “They wouldn’t go somewhere next time. They would go everywhere. An infestation of fear, affecting thousands of worlds. I won’t allow that.”
“Now, how do you know that?” Tim asked.
“I just do.”
“Through your creepy monster powers?”
“Yes.”
“Let me guess which option you want, Jon,” Melanie said.
Martin jerked his head up. “You really don’t get it, do you? I mean, of course you don’t, but—”
“Stop.” Sasha dropped her fork onto her plate with a deliberate clang. “All of you. We’re taking a break. Eat your food.”
Martin looked back down at his plate; his whole body was tense. He felt Jon touch his arm.
“Eat,” Jon said softly. “Come on.” He broke off a piece of a roll on his own plate, and chewed and swallowed in demonstration. Something about watching Jon do it helped, and he was able to relax enough to get down a few mouthfuls of the dinner that seemed to have turned to cardboard. He had been hungry when they had sat down.
Ten minutes passed in silence, except for the clinking of forks and glasses; eventually plates were emptied, and Sasha cleared her throat.
“Are we all—ready? Does anyone need a longer break?”
No one answered.
“All right. Then—I want to ask something. To Jon and Martin.”
Martin looked at Sasha and then at Jon.
“Go ahead,” Jon said.
“I think—I know a few of us have been—what actually happened? At the end?”
“Yeah,” said Tim. “I have been wondering about that.”
“Tim—”
“I’m being nice.”
“Good. Stay that way.”
Jon looked at Martin, asking permission with his eyes. Martin steeled himself and nodded.
“We—those of us who had survived—we talked. And it was decided that we would let them go. Martin would kill Jonah, severing the primary link between our world and the fears; Georgie, Melanie, and Basira would blow up the gas main underneath the panopticon, destroying the tower and what remained of the archives. That would release their power, and allow the fears to access the—the gateway to the other dimensions.”
“But it didn’t quite go like that,” Tim stated.
“Correct. I changed my mind.”
“Why?” Tim asked.
“Because I couldn’t live with it. It wasn’t right.” Martin was grateful he left out the part about his nightmares.
“So you snuck up by yourself, stabbed Jonah and—took over.”
“Yes.”
“But then you changed your mind again. Why?”
“I hadn’t accounted for everything. I didn’t realize that they could blow the gas main without my—help. There was—there was—” Jon stopped. “I don’t remember how they did it, honestly.”
Martin could never quite remember that part either. All he remembered was that he had told them to go ahead and do it. “It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Ok—just—what happened?”
“I told them to do it,” Martin said, “and then I went up after him. I didn’t think he’d—I thought I could stop him. I thought—I thought we could still leave. But we couldn’t. He couldn’t. He was part of it.”
“So they blew it up, and you lost control?”
“No. I could have kept them there. I could have. I was strong enough. If—” Jon looked at Martin and stopped. “I changed my mind. I let them go.”
Tim ignored the finality of Jon’s tone. “But why? How? And why was there so much blood? You said it was yours. Granted, you also said you didn’t kill anyone and you very much did—”
“He didn’t count,” Jon said disdainfully.
“Agreed, but that—that didn’t all come from Jonah. What happened?”
Jon sat back. “That is between me and Martin.”
“It’s ok,” Martin said. “You can—you can tell them. I just—I have to—I need another break.” He felt dizzy as he stood up; there wasn’t enough air.
“Martin?” Sasha started to get up too. “It’s all right, we don’t have to—”
“It’s fine. You should know why things are like this.”
He meant to go to their bedroom, he really did, but somehow he found himself in the hallway bathroom instead. Tears began to fall as soon as he closed the door; he sat on the toilet, the only real seat available.
“Jesus,” he said out loud to no one, as he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, willing it to stop. For once he was glad that Jon knew how he felt; Jon would stay, and he would tell them.
You bastard. His own words. He understood now why Jon had done it, but it still hurt. Understanding didn’t undo the past and what he had felt then. The moment he had seen Elias’s body on the ground—the moments afterward as the realization had dawned on him—
You bastard. He still didn’t know how much of Jon had been left then, how much would be left again if it came down to it. Maybe less this time. Maybe none. How long could a person stand up to something like that?
You bastard. In his mind, he felt the pressure of a body giving way at the point of the knife, heard Jon gasp as it entered his chest. He was so tired of feeling it, so tired of hearing it, and it was always there—it was part of him now. He could ignore it sometimes, most of the time, even, but it was always there. It was always just below the surface, just waiting for a moment like this one. He would always know now what it felt like to take the life of a person, the person, who loved him. It was the only thing he had said he wouldn’t do, yet in the end it had been the only thing he could do.
It had just gone so wrong.
He breathed; he tried to breathe. Breathe in a square, he told himself. He didn’t know where he’d learned it—maybe the internet. Probably the internet. He breathed in, held it; breathed out; held it. In, hold; out, hold. Slowly, gradually, he was able to take full breaths. He almost had control again when there was a knock on the door.
“Hang—hang on,” he said. “Sorry, I should have—”
“Martin?” It was Melanie. “Can I—can I come in?”
“Um—”
“Please?”
“It’s unlocked.”
Melanie slipped in and closed the door behind her; she walked slowly to the edge of the tub and sat down. They looked at each other for a long moment.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be.”
“I just—I didn’t know.”
“We didn’t tell.”
“But I should have known. I mean, not the details, but—of course it had to be terrible. I think maybe I didn’t want to think about it.”
“What do you mean? Think about what?”
“I think—I think it was easier to imagine that you were hiding things because—well, Georgie said Jon wasn’t like that, but—” She shook her head. “When it comes down to it, I just didn’t want to think about how bad it could be, how bad it could get. I wanted to think I’d already seen the worst. I can’t imagine if Georgie—god. I’m just so sorry.”
“Me too.” He went to take another deep breath, but this one hitched at the top.
“Wait—hang on. I’ll be right—just hang on.” Melanie slipped out again, but quickly reappeared, this time with a large ball of black and white fluff in her arms. “I know this might be a bit silly, but—I don’t know. He really helped me after I—I mean, it feels like nothing now, but at the time—”
“It wasn’t nothing. I mean, that’s kind of the thing. It’s all awful.” Martin watched as Melanie set the Admiral down on the bathroom floor. The cat was cautious for a moment; he sniffed at the edge of the tub where Melanie had resumed her seat, then at the cabinet under the sink. Then, with no warning at all, he plunged his face against Martin’s legs, running his whole body along them before turning around and doing it again.
Somehow, Martin smiled.
“See?”
“Yeah.” He reached out a hand, and the Admiral sniffed it before he began to rub his face against it furiously. “Is he—is he purring?”
“Yeah. He’s weird,” Melanie said. “It’s pretty great. I didn’t think I was a cat person before I moved in with Georgie, but—he’s changed my mind.”
“I can see that.” He dangled his fingers above the Admiral’s face, who swatted at them with a soft paw. “Is Jon—ok?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s fine. He had a moment, but—he was talking to Georgie when I came to look for you.”
“Good.” He pulled his hand back, and the Admiral quickly switched his attention to something in the corner of the room that Martin couldn’t see. “Listen—are they still—do you think I need to go back out?”
“Oh—no. Not if you don’t want to. I mean, they’re still talking, but I think everyone’s had enough of the serious issues for tonight. Even Tim.”
“I think—I think I might go to bed early. Do you mind excusing me to everyone?”
“Not at all,” Melanie said, gathering up the Admiral; he protested with a small squeak. “I think they’ll all understand.”
“Thanks, Melanie. Sorry for the trouble.”
“No trouble.” She opened the door, and they both stepped out into the hallway. “Goodnight, Martin.”
“Goodnight.”
He took one more deep breath, and headed back to their room. He was very, very tired.
16 notes · View notes
katahnisharma · 4 years
Text
gone (4) | t.h.
Summary: tom is back from shooting cherry, but he’s not okay.
Warnings: this started as my entry to the lovely b’s writing challenge @worldoftom, but you guys were so amazing and wanted a second part. this is a very emotional chapter and there are mentions of anxiety, depression, and overall intense emotions so please be careful loveys ♡
A/N: hey guys it’s been a while but life has been really really difficult so i'm sorry for the wait! i'm not entirely sure if anyone still cares about this series so here’s hoping :) for this chapter i listened to light of love by florence + the machine and all good things come to an end by the og queen nelly furtado lol. also Tumblr apparently won’t let me link certain things so if you’re looking for my masterlist or playlist it’s in my bio ♡
IF YOU’RE STILL INTERESTED IN BEING ON MY TAGLIST PLEASE FILL OUT THE NEW FORM IN MY BIO BC I WILL BE REVAMPING IT!
Tumblr media
gif by @hllands
“Hey, did I leave my notebook in the living room?” You asked, letting your tea bag soak in the mug Tom always saved for you. It was an unspoken rule, that dark blue cup with the constellations on it from his mother was yours only. You mentioned how beautiful it was once, and Tom remembered.
It went on the list with the others.
“You mean the one with the polaroid on the cover? No, it’s not in here.” Tom called back, scrolling through Netflix to find a movie for the both of you. He’d just come back from the junket for Spies in Disguise, and he immediately called his best friend over to spend the day with him.
Well, it was supposed to be more than just another day.
Because today he was going to tell you he loved you.
“Hmm, maybe I left it in my bag upstairs. I’ll get it when I’m done with the tea.” You said, setting your mug down on the counter. It looked like it needed sugar, so you rootled around for the little jar Tom kept in one of his cabinets.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go get it!” Tom said from the couch, his nerves beginning to make him jittery. He thought that while you were in the kitchen, picking a movie would help him calm down. But he couldn’t focus on any of the descriptions, and Tom could feel his heart beat faster and faster.
He needed to get up for a few minutes.
“Are you sure? Do you want me to pick the movie then?” You teased, knowing very well Tom hadn’t found a movie yet. It was a bit of a running gag, him never being able to pick a movie. You would bite your lip to stop from laughing when he eventually got frustrated and handed you the remote.
And even in his nervous state, Tom still grinned because of you.
“Yeah, yeah, like you’re any better. We’ve seen The Avengers twice!” He shot back, a smirk on his lips when he heard you scoff in the kitchen. Apart from your smile, making you jokingly annoyed was Tom’s favorite thing. He liked how cute you were when he teased you.
“Shut up and get my notebook, Tommy!” You laughed, and Tom felt his cheeks warm at the sound.
God you were so fucking perfect.
When Harrison woke up, he almost forgot where he was. But then his vision cleared and there you were, lying in the hospital bed. Harrison’s heart clenched at the sight, remembering the events of last night that landed you here with an IV in your arm. He sat up and stretched, the old wooden chair squeaking against the floor.
The sound was what made you stir, your mind waking up from the dream.
“Harrison?” You whispered, your eyes adjusting to the dim lights in the room. The hospital bed you’d fallen asleep in the night before seemed to glow next to you, but you realized it was just an IV hooked up in your arm. Harrison smiled softly, getting up and coming to stand by your side.
“Hey, you were out like a light.” He said, handing you the glass of water a nurse had brought. You gratefully brought it to your lips, feeling a little dehydrated from whatever fluids were in the IV bag. Harrison gave your free hand a squeeze before crossing to the windows, playing with the blinds to let some sun in.
“How long have you been here?” You asked, playing with the sheets mindlessly. Harrison thought about lying, telling you he’d only arrived a few minutes ago. Because he knew you’d feel bad about it, but you could always tell when he lied.
“Since last night. I stayed here, didn’t want you to be alone.” Harrison replied, and you frowned almost immediately. You felt bad enough that he’d driven you to the hospital on his day off, but knowing that he’d also spent the night sleeping in an uncomfortable, crappy chair didn’t help with the guilt.
“And before you say ‘you shouldn’t have’, just remember you would have done the same for me. So stop beating yourself up about it.” He said, going back to his chair. You winced when it made the same creaking sound, like it was about to break. Harrison noticed, and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
“But this chair was really unbearable.” He chuckled, and you finally smiled again.
“Shut up, you idiot.” You giggled, chucking a pillow at Harrison right as the nurse peeked in. You felt your face burn as she smiled at the two of you, Harrison picking up the pillow sheepishly and biting back a laugh.
“Glad to see the patient is feeling better. Can I get you anything, love?” She asked kindly, picking up the now empty class beside you. You smiled at her, shaking your head. You really just wanted to be discharged so you could leave, hospitals always made you nervous. The smell of disinfectant and the general sense of uncertainty were not your favorite sense overloads.
“No, but thank you for everything. Do you know if I’ll be able to leave today?” You asked, and the nurse nodded her head.
“You should be all set to be discharged in an hour. The doctor will check in on you in thirty minutes and then you’re all free to go.” She said, taking the pillow from an embarassed Harrison. You giggled a little when she fluffed the pillow, and returned it to your bed.
“Great, thank you again!” She gave you one last smile before leaving the room, and Harrison breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank god, I’m really hungry.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For Harry, last night would probably be one of the worst and strangest of his life.
After Tom broke down and sobbed into his shirt for two hours straight, he became so frenetic that Harry was afraid he would end up accidentally hurting himself. Tom tried to pack a suitcase to go after you, but he almost slipped in the shower and was so disoriented that he ran into the bedroom wall. Then he tried to cook something on the stove for Harry, but left the fire on while he got distracted trying to find your favorite cereal. Tom wasn’t completely all there, and it was pretty obvious to Harry that he was having some sort of episode.
So once Tom was focused enough to eat the banana his brother opened for him, Harry called his mother.
“Mom, I need you to tell me the name of that anxiety medicine. The one that sometimes works as a sedative.” Harry cast a glance at Tom on the couch, watching him slowly chew the banana with glossy eyes. He had been silently crying at odd times this morning, and it was definitely making Harry nervous.
“Why? Harry, what’s happened?” Nikki immediately sounded worried, running over to the medicine cabinet. She kept the anxiety medicine mainly for Harry, who used to have pretty severe bouts himself. The episodes became few and far between, until they stopped altogether.
But now Nicki was concerned Harry was having them again.
“It’s not for me, Mum. It’s for Tom. I think he’s having some sort of breakdown, and I’m afraid he might accidentally do something stupid and hurt himself.” Harry said, looking over his shoulder to see Tom staring at the banana, almost lifelessly.
“For Tom? Harry, please tell me what’s going on.” Nikki said, clutching the bottle in her hand nervously.  
“I think Tom and Y/N might be over.” Harry said, and the words had more weight than he thought they would. Like it was finally a possible reality, one where you and Tom weren’t together anymore.
“Okay, I’m on my way.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Can you get in the car alright? Need any help?” Harrison asked, hovering over you as the two of you walked to the hospital parking lot. You rolled your eyes, smiling at his protective behavior. He’d been like this during your dischargement too, and it was sweet but definitely unnecessary.
“Haz, I told you. I’m perfectly fine, I swear. It really doesn’t hurt that much, and I can absolutely get into the car on my own.” You said, patting his shoulder reassuringly. Harrison sighed, biting his lip a little worriedly.
“Okay, okay, just making sure. I just don’t want you to aggravate the injury or anything. At least not until we get you home and set up.” He replied, and you couldn’t help it. You leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, watching Harrison’s mouth immediately drop open in shock.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“To thank you for being the world���s greatest div. I love you, idiot.” You said, laughing when Harrison slung an arm around your shoulder. He rolled his eyes at you, smiling playfully.
“You know I love you too, but you really didn’t need to give me that weirdass kiss.” Harrison chuckled, immediately ducking into the car before you decided to throw your purse at him. Scoffing, you got into the passenger seat and punched him in the arm.
“Ow! That hurt!”
“I’ll have you know my kisses are wonderful!” You giggled, clapping a hand over your mouth when Harrison started to fake cry and clutch his arm.
“If I agree, will you leave me alone?” Harrison laughed, starting the car and reversing out of the parking lot. You smiled wickedly, reaching up to ruffle his precious hair. Harrison recoiled instantly, whining at your little stunt.
“I take it back, I actually hate you.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Where is he?” Nikki asked, rushing into the living room. Harry jumped up and led her to the bedroom, where Tom was curled up in a ball. Under the covers, he was crying softly and clutching what looked like a sweater. It seemed too small to be his, and Harry immediately realized it was your favorite sweater. The one Tom loved on you because it was what you were wearing when both of you met for the first time.
“Tom? Love, look at me please.” Nikki whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked over at Harry and mimed a glass of water, which he left to get from the kitchen. Once they were alone, Nikki gently pulled the covers back. Tom lay there, tears streaming down his face and the front of your sweater soaked.
“She’s gone...” Tom whimpered, trying to pull the covers back over his head. He was completely spent, the possibility that you were really gone hitting him like a train. Tom had pictured the rest of his life with you, and now nothing seemed worthwhile anymore if you weren’t there beside him.
“Y/N? Tell me what happened, Tom.” Nikki said, running a gentle hand through his hair. Tom relaxed under her touch, reminded of all the times in his childhood that he lay in bed upset. Breakups, rejections, failures, his mother had seen them all. And she'd always been there for him.
“We got into a fight...a big fight….and I threw my phone….”
“At her? Tom, how could you do that?” Nikki gasped softly, and Tom’s eyes widened. He found the strength to sit up, looking his mother right in the eyes.
“No...no! I would never hurt her! I threw it at the wall and I locked myself in the bathroom. But….when I came out….she was gone and there was b-blood on the f-floor and...I think-I think I-” Tom couldn’t get the rest of his words out, and Nikki knew enough to envelop her son in a hug.
“It’s okay...it’s okay, Tom.” She sighed, holding her eldest son close. The whole thing was confusing, but if Nikki knew anything about your relationship with Tom it was that it had been the best one he’d ever had. You were kind, intelligent, and strong, exactly what she had always wanted Tom to have in a partner. But hearing Tom cry and work himself up meant she knew what she needed to say. Tom had to stop living in his head.
“Tom? I want you to listen to me, it’ll be okay.”
“But….she’s gone and I hurt her….I can’t ever forgive myself…” Tom sobbed, but Nikki was adamant she would speak and get through to him.
“Look, the past is the past, it’s not in our hands.  You have the chance to ask for her forgiveness, and explain what you’re feeling right now. Don’t let your past actions dictate the future, love. That would be a mistake, because I know Y/N. She loves you and she wants to be there for you. She’ll understand what you’re going through because she cares, that’s what a real partner does. They want the best for you because it’s you. You need to forgive yourself so that she can help you heal.”
“But what if she doesn’t w-want me anymore? I know I scared her….I never wanted to do that b-but she’s been hurt and left because of me….I’m afraid Y/N won’t love me anymore!” Tom cried, his body shaking a little. Nikki rubbed his back and took the water glass from Harry, who’d reappeared in the room.
“Darling, you have to try. You have to fight for the love you want. You don’t think your father and I have gotten angry with each other? We fight and that’s normal, but at the end of it all we come back to each other. I put my feelings aside and listen to him, and he does the same. That’s how it works, we love each other so much that I’ll forgive him and he’ll forgive me.”
Nikki took Harry’s hand and held it, and Tom was finally still. There was no more crying, no more shaking. It was just a moment frozen in time, the three of them together in a little room. Harry hugged Tom and Nikki kissed his forehead, and for the first time in 36 hours Tom wasn’t afraid anymore. The fight wasn’t plaguing him anymore, and neither was the aftertaste of filming that had been slowly poisoning his mind. All he could see was you, like a vision before him wiping his tears away. With that same smile that he had fallen in love with so easily, because it was purely yours.
And that was enough for Tom to be at peace with himself.
“Thank you.” Tom whispered, and Nikki was able to smile again. Harry ruffled his hair, making Tom punch him softly in the arm. He reached for the water glass and the pills in Nikki’s hand, knowing that he needed to take them.
“Take these two and it’ll help a little with the anxiety. It’ll also make you a little drowsy, but it might be good to sleep it all off properly. I’ll stay here with Harry until you wake up, okay?” Nikki said, and Tom let him expend enough energy to nod and smile.
“Just...just please make sure Y/N is okay? Make sure that nothing’s wrong?” Tom said, and Nikki squeezed his right hand. Harry had his left.
“Always. Now get some real sleep, you’re going to need it...”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Can we please listen to something other than your terrible daily mix?” You laughed, Harrison clutching his chest to feign offence. He reluctantly handed you the aux cord and you smiled, knowing exactly what you wanted to play. Taking a couple seconds to sift through your own playlists, you found the song you were looking for and pressed play. Harrison smirked at your choice, rolling his eyes at the songs you played over and over again. He attempted to steal the aux back from you, but you dodged him quickly.
“Hey, focus mister! I’m not about to get into an accident right out of the hospital!” You said, giggling as he started to belt out the lyrics and dance. He laughed, rolling his eyes as he focused on the road again.
“I’m a great driver! I’m just trying to save myself from your shit music taste.” He said with a smirk and now it was your turn to roll your eyes. Harrison wasn’t a bad driver, but he definitely wasn’t a great one. The first time you had gotten into the car with him had been to get groceries and it was a disaster. He forgot to turn around before reversing and nearly hit a little old lady with her cart, and almost got hit merging onto the highway. After that, you were careful to look out for him even if it meant you became a backseat driver.
“Sure, Haz. Whatever you want to believe. Just please get us home in one piece!” You laughed, leaning your head back and letting the sunlight warm your face. If not for the events of the previous day, you would have basked in the glory of such a beautiful day.
But your mind turned to Tom, as it always seemed to.
“Hey, is my bag in the back?” You asked, suddenly desperate to check its contents. Harrison turned down the music, furrowing his eyebrows at your change in mood. You turned to look at him, a slight fear in your eyes. Harrison nodded, gesturing to the backseat.
“Yeah, it’s there. Why? What’s wrong?”
“I just...I just need to make sure something is in there…” You trailed off, swiveling in your seat to grab at your handbag. Harrison watched from the corner of his eye as you set it on your lap, rootling through it quickly.
“Whoa, whoa. What are you looking for?” Harrison asked, a little concerned by how frantic you seemed to be. With a sigh of relief, you feel your hands grasp what you’re looking for and you pull it out slowly. Harrison’s eyes automatically soften, seeing your eyes water with your most prized possession in your hand.
“Is that the notebook Tom bought you? The one he bought you when he found out you wanted to be a writer?”
“Y-yeah...it is. I just wanted to make sure it was still there, you know? That’s dumb, isn’t it? I mean...he probably doesn’t even want to be with me a-anymore. So...so why am I….why am I holding on like this?” You felt the dam break finally, the tears streaming down your face. Harrison bit his lip, pulling the car over and unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Hey...hey...look at me.” Your tears were staining the cover, the little drops of water creating little streams on the surface. It felt like someone had pulled the rug from underneath you, and that you’d discovered there was no floor. What would you do without Tom? You loved him more than anything, but you were no fool. His anger couldn’t have come from out of the blue, it was something repressed that Tom had been feeling for a long time. Without warning, your insecurities began to mount.
Maybe he was bored of you.
Maybe you annoyed him.
Maybe he’d found someone else.
Maybe you weren’t good enough and he’d realized it.
And then the worst of them all.
Maybe the rest of the world was right.
“I’m losing him.” You whispered, and Harrison’s heart clenched at your words. He knew you were always insecure about dating Tom, but you’d never vocalized anything like this before.
“No, no you’re…”
“I’m not an idiot, Haz! I’ve seen the signs! H-he’s done with me….I’m just d-delaying the inevitable. I should have….I should have known I wasn’t good enough for him. He’s him and I’m j-just me, who the hell was I fooling? E-even the fans knew it!”
“Y/N...come on...that’s not-”
“He hasn’t wanted to spend any real time with me since he came back from Cherry. It’s like I don’t even exist to him, I’m invisible until he has to talk to me. I’ve tried five times to get him to have dinner with me and he rejected me every time, Haz. All I’ve heard for two months is ‘I’m going out with the boys, sorry’ or ‘Just going to sleep, don’t feel like eating’. And I tried to understand, I really did. It must have been so hard shooting a movie like that, it would be emotionally draining for anyone. Hell, even the book is emotionally draining-”
“I don’t think...”
“Let me finish, please? Haz, I can’t do this anymore. I’m tired, I’m so tired. I can’t fight for this relationship anymore when I’m not even sure if he wants it. He pushes me away all the time and it hurts me to see him like that. Tom isn’t happy, and I think it’s because of me. So I won’t hold him back anymore, I’ll just quietly disappear. No drama, no fighting, nothing. I can’t bear knowing I’m the reason he’s unhappy, it would kill me to think that.”
You broke again, the tears burning your eyes as you clutched the notebook tighter to your chest. It brought you a little comfort, knowing what you would have to do next. You needed to leave Tom, to let him live his life and be happy. You clearly couldn’t make him happy anymore and though that was something you’d struggled to accept in the last few hours, it was the right thing to do. You had no delusions about the way you looked, you always felt rather plain and boring compared to the beautiful women Tom was used to being around. He would be better off with someone else, someone as amazing as him.
Someone who isn’t you.
Harrison’s throat went dry as you slowly raised a hand to wipe at your tears, your eyes glossing over as you stared lifelessly out the window. He had a horrible feeling that you were serious about what you had just said, and he wasn’t sure how all this had happened. How could he have let you feel like this?
How could they not have noticed?
“Please, please don’t say-”
“Harrison, I have to. I can’t do this anymore.” You whispered, and Harrison stopped mid sentence. You never called him by his full name, it was always just Haz. He squeezed your hand as you cried, sobs wracking your body that made him cry too. You barely got the words out, but Harrison knew them before you said it.
“I have to leave because I love him.”
IF YOU’RE STILL INTERESTED IN BEING ON MY TAGLIST PLEASE FILL OUT THE NEW FORM IN MY BIO BC I WILL BE REVAMPING IT!
TAGLIST (PLEASE ONLY SEND AN ASK OR FILL OUT MY FORM!!): @tommyparkerr @grandmascottlang @toms-order @domestic-void @tomhollandsgirlfriend @cutiehollands @peeterparkr @jupiterparker @inlovewithmob-tom @veronicas-littleworld @da5haexowin @sergeantbxrnxs @hazsterfield @itsholyholland @underoosstark @stormyholland @let-me-luve-you @musicgirl234 @its-livelovelife @steve-thotgers @tiny-friggin-human @lavcnderparker @lucille-lovely @yeahbutmarvel @lokiislowkeyhot @spideymood @yoharryyouawizard @tomhollanders2013 @starlightseoksmain @jnej @spiderman-n @positiveparker @winterssoldierrs @heycreehere @galaxy-parker @sdrecsfics @doimakeitthroughthenight @wronglanemendes @brokensimpson @spnsoap @ninetypoundsofasthma @quitetommy @voltronshepard @marvelismylifffe @iluvmesomemarvelndc @annathesillyfriend @tiredfeels @scarlet-spiderr @hedwigthelegend @renesniajazza @bibliophile-grasshopp @tomhollandswhore @yeeterbenjaminparker @juliabuenooo @paradoxparker @pokeloisfk @machomango13 @nobledoritoman @cosmicdaya @hey-its-grey @toms-gf @cutesparker @whypeterparkerwhy @blissfulparker @xxtomxo @pastelpeter @hilllsnholland @hopespym @peterstrainingwheels @stuckonspidey @jacobsbatalon @steveroguhrs @spideypeach @spxderbarnes @stealth-spiderr @uglypastels @darlingtholland @spideyflicker @thollandss @out-of-my-way-extras @trustfundparker @clockblobber @asmilinghopelessromantic @zaynjawy @sholla4-314 @lemondropirwin @angelbabymed @in-the-corner-coffee-please @peterbparkcr @william-stanley @greenarrowhead @squishyhyunjin @starz-23 @spoopy-spooderman @whatevsholland @aestheticstom @tomzfrog @bebegomie @embrace-themagic @joshuaparkers @dancingoncrackedhearts @mlt2000 @spidergirl007 @headsup-itsmostlypeter @sspideytom @kisses-holland @hardestbattles-strongestsoldiers @infamousmany @theefactorygirl @aelinashryvver @sarah-moss2015 @honeybucks @fandomdarlings @yourwonderbelle @rexorangecouny @deni-gonzalez @mylifeasafangirlforever @random-writer06 @whitewolfandthefox @sweetlyth @notethereal @play-morezeppelin @fandoms-stuff @petesrparker @yavinmoon @sweet-baby-cakes @noswagswag @peteunderoos @jackiehollanderr @yadekms @practicallylivesonline @i-tried21 @stasye @unorganizedasf @tomshufflepuff @mejustbeingme @fanboy-tom @mimaligrl @theimpossiblehologramtree @diamonddia-mond @qrangr @parkeroffline @peterpumpkinparker @rosieredcheeks @delicately-important-trash @zabdisamor @peterbrokenparker @the-lost-fairy-tale @everestluke @gigilame @youllbemineandillbeyours @cherryblossomcharlotte @paintingbellarke @teawithbucky @tomhaz @multi-worlds @clara-licht @ppkrtingle @laurxn-robinson @lulueliott @lostinspidey @starlightparker @ddaeing @sincerelymlg @officiallygeek @maybemona @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @lowkey-holland @particularsof @saturn-aka-six @elysianparker @fangirlingisajob @hypnotized-so-mesmerized @deathofthrones @th0ttie4tommy @orowit @lauras-collection @itseightbeats @thomasholyholland @h-arrystyles @softboyparkerr @darlingxholland @marshyrebelcloud @kristinathecarat @florencxs @definitely-not-black-cat @spdys @wazzupmrstark @farfromhaz @plushparker @princepeteys @afterglowparker @softspiderling @geeksareunique @sltwins @belladonichaze39 @emmmybear @melrosaeparker @crazymexicanfangirl @beequeen8020 @escapetheshackles @siriuslyslyslytherin @eilishparker @violet-lilyy @w-jhxk-yj @doctor-spence-reidd @spacebitch2 @folkoftheair @himynameishooman @temptingholland @miraclesoflove @marvelobsessedteenager @hollandosterfieldfanfic @biebsmylife95 @hannihannelora @getmebieber @angiexyoung @markleehee
Gone Taglist: @tshdarling @hestoosirius @ana-cxst @aeciru @play-morezeppelin @bobo-bush @itsjusttor  @iam-thevillain-of-thisstory @autty0314 @name-me-regret @prfctdayas @youngblood199456 @fab-notfat @technolilly @hollandinq @theetherealbloom @littlebookbengal @spideyyeet @midnightbarnes @3prettyinpink3 @lulueliott24 @spxder-bxcky @spiderbibby @ietss @winterseba @sehunights @blahhhhhhhaaa @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven @sixwyrxstuff @noelleivy @madeinthemidnightmemories @tryn25 @iriaaarb @marvelobsessedteenager @eleanornicolelocke @breakingnasa @iwishitwasthe-80s @wesleypiper @ihopethatwemeetinanotherlife @1dstark-blog @totesem @itstomhollands @stxfxniexreads @astrobxbeee @magicianraging @reveluvspecial @be-cautious-around-bri @audreylovesashton706 @whereverigoimightstay @natasha-stark-parker @jacksnoodlez99 @lifeisabitchandsoareyou @stabbyhat @blackeighteen @itisjustpaula @caitsymichelle13 @herondalism @ameliathackray @pluckypete @rachaeldonnaspiteri1 @farfromjustordinary @cosmicmndes @farfromhoran @giveme-gaskarth @likeit-or-leaveit @captured-firelight @spnsquirrel @some-random-stranger-007 @silver-bubbles @thevelvetseries @screeching-student-unknown @melrosaeparker 
Moots Tag -let me know if you want me to take you off :)- @angelic-holland @fairytaleparker @honeymoonparker @screamholland @hollandstom @calmholland @spiesindisguise @neverlandparker @nnatasha @parkerpuff @the-claire-bitch-project @angelhaz11 @farfromhaz @blushypetey @hazinhoodies @spiderrpcrker @yeahimcrying @definitely-not-black-cat​ @quackeroos @ts-holland @t-holland2080 
674 notes · View notes
luminous-studiess · 3 years
Note
Ummm so I'm new to tumblr so don't judge if I did something wrong.Ummm how can I be like you? Like you know? Productive and smart.I always push myself but ended up being distracted by things (I have adhd and depression).I can't even remember anything after.I suffer,and continue suffering, from my mental illnesses.I just can't keep myself on track.My family makes fun of me for trying.I'm actually trying to find a part time job here but nothing hires minors.Idk please help meee.
hi, friend! answer under the cut because this will be long. 
please know you’re doing nothing wrong, and that the fact you keep trying to become better and to push yourself to always get things done despite difficult circumstances already shows that you ARE already productive and smart. 
second, it also helped me when i was struggling very heavily last year to learn  two things: 1) there will always be particularly bad days when you live with mental illness, but all the little efforts you take, it slowly does get less difficult. getting better does not mean completely getting rid of all the symptoms you experience, but mostly just learning the best ways and small, gentle things you can do for yourself to manage your condition. this really requires a gentle but firm balance between pushing yourself to do the things you absolutely need to do, but also knowing when what level of work/school/self-care or hobbies is the limit, so that you don’t get too overwhelmed.  this means most of the time, you don’t have to worry about being productive for its own sake. it helps me when i feel like i’m drowning to know how little i can do/the most non-negotiable bare minimum, that still helps me not to fall behind.
Tumblr media
^ this is a small, cheap pad of sticky notes i carry with me throughout my entire day. it’s only big enough so that i can only write a few school tasks/personal things i need to do/chores, which helps me evaluate what exactly i can only get done, especially on days where i don’t feel well. checking off absolutely everything on my tiny list makes me feel like i’ve accomplished a lot, because i i have-- they aren’t necessarily a lot of tasks, but they’re the ones that i know really do need to get done. it also helps me focus when i have a lot of nervous energy, and have a panicked sense of “so many things need to get done!!!?” because i can give myself a bit of time to sit down, maybe turn on an episode of a show i like or make some coffee, and write down my tasks. it really helps me with the faint, tiny guilt and dread i used to feel day by day that i was being unproductive or lazy, because now i know i’ve fulfilled all my obligations to myself (everything from doing laundry, to making dinner) and to other people (schoolwork and other tasks). it’s okay to move at the pace that’s only possible for you right now. it’s better to feel comfortable with the smallest things you can do, and build on that as the days come. 2) getting distracted is normal, given Everything Happening Right Now, plus with a mental health condition that makes it hard to focus. it can also be hard to remember things when i study, because of my own health conditions, but i’ve found that the following things have helped: regarding distraction - use a small system that keeps you from accessing any distractions when you need to get something done. i try to leave my non-essential device in another room, and set up a timer-based blocker, to limit the websites i access. - i try to acknowledge the distractions as they come, and try to figure out why: am i hungry? am i tired? have i gotten enough sleep? do i need a break? if it isn’t anything serious, i just acknowledge that i’ve gone briefly off-track-- without guilt, without judgment. then i try to turn my mind back to the task at hand. - a good ambient playlist can make me feel more focused during hard tasks in the sense that i have some form of stimulation to keep the “itchiness” at bay. video game soundtracks and film soundtracks are also wonderful for long, tricky tasks.  - sometimes i just have to start to feel motivated-- the focus actually comes in in the middle of the task. the fact of starting something may actually make you feel motivated.
- procrastinate productively: sometimes when i really don’t want to study i turn on a movie or a show and use the time to clean my room or fold laundry. my life still feels put-together, and i enjoyed myself! win-win.
- and sometimes i realize that focus may be impossible at the moment: take a break, go for a run, do something you like, take a nap.  regarding learning and remembering things i used to have the worst time recalling things for school, until i prioritized two things: SLEEP, and not cramming. i used to get extremely poor grades in my first year of law school because i would put off studying at the last and latest moment-- a few days before exams, pulling all-nighters right up until the hour the exam started. i would also just use my free time to scroll on social media, instead of taking a nap or going to bed early. this was absolutely wrong. during the exam, i couldn’t recall anything because i was too tired, too frazzled, probably didn’t have breakfast, and because i had started and finished half a semester of reading in one night. my grades have gotten much better lately-- i’d like to think it’s because i’ve centered it around two things: (a) getting enough sleep every single night (helpful ESPECIALLY if you have health problems-- mental or physical), and (b) making exam day the least stressful it can be. how do i do this? - this means not only learning things for the exam, but also for classes on a daily period. you don’t have to study particularly hard, but you just have to study enough that you can understand what the professor is saying in class. set definite study hours every day, stop at a very specific and reasonable hour, and go to bed. try to get at least 6 hours of sleep. sleep helps me absorb everything better (idk science but this is from experience and also some very smart people i know ALSO prioritize getting sleep). wake up at a reasonable hour.  - how to study: read the syllabus, and try to get a decent overview of all the topics you need to cover before you start testing/making flashcards/doing active recall (which is IMPORTANT bc this helps you actually train your brain to retrieve information). imho as someone low-energy i find that rewriting notes/making reviewers/making flashcards makes me very tired and leaves very little time for actual studying, so it just helps to test myself by looking at the syllabus and trying to explain the concept to myself, then peeking at the textbook or materials to see what i’m missing. mind-maps are also energy-efficient ways of figuring out how concepts fit together. - how to study for exams: the very latest you should start is a week ahead. two weeks ahead is ideal. map out how much information you need to re-learn from the syllabus. move slowly with the aim of finishing the coverage by the first week. the second is for reviewing and RESTING. - THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM: do a final, gentle survey over the topics you may not understand. stop at 10 pm. go to sleep.  - EXAM DAY: you’ve done the work. take the time to eat breakfast, test yourself SLOWLY AND GENTLY (avoid reading huge chunks of textbook at this point-- youll only confuse yourself), and set up your workspace to take the exam. crush said exam. as a final note: it can be hard to get things done when the people closest to you aren’t supportive. try to reach out on studyblr and find discord study with me servers, or study communities on reddit (they’re actually really nice), or with students in your class. if you need to talk, just dm me. you can do this friend, okay? take care always. gentler days will come. 
33 notes · View notes