#I was trying a bunch of new techniques and they worked really well

[rogersideup]

I'd like to drop a prompt:

The avengers have a night off in Las Vegas after a mission. Thor makes sure Cap has his fair share of Asgardian liquor so Steve ends up drunk and wanders off alone. He meets our dear reader who just got dumped by her friend group and is equally drunk. They hit it off and decide to get married. The next morning both of them are confused but decide to make it work as memories of the night before come back to them. (Surprise surprise dear reader is from New York too)

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Steve Rogers X Reader

Masterlist

Summary: Steve gets himself into some trouble while having a night off in the city of sin.

Word Count: 4,717

Warning: My blog is 18+ only. All minors or blogs without an age in bio will be blocked. Minors DNI.

"Miss?"

Flashing lights separated and splayed through the drying tears in your watery eyes, music and ringing from hundreds of slot machines overstimulated your senses as you simultaneously pulled your dress up and down in different places.

"Excuse me miss? Can I get you something to drink?"

Coming back to your senses, you turned around to face the bartender. "Yeah, uh..." really, you tried your hardest to think of something, literally anything to help move along the buzz you were already riding but no proper words made it to your brain. "Sorry. I'm not sure what I want. Can you just make it strong and fruity?"

"Sure thing." The bartender agreed, already grabbing bottles off the shelf.

Watching him masterfully work helped you zone out and relieved all of your overwhelmed senses. Pouring, shaking, more pouring, a garnish, then a fruity elixir of a bunch of liquids you most definitely could not pronounce was placed right in front of you atop a cocktail napkin. Not a single drop was spilled, even the ice was perfect.

Reaching into your purse, you handed the bartender your card and shouted to try and compete with the volume of drunken gamblers and rolling dice. "You can close the tab."

"Don't worry about it. This one's on the house, you look like you need it." He kindly denied your form of payment.

You chuckled to yourself. "That bad, huh?"

"No, but I know a sad chick when I see one." He noted. "Happens pretty often in Vegas."

"Well, thank you, I appreciate it." You raised the glass. "Cheers to you and all the bartenders making the world go round."

"Amen to that" He smiled before walking off to serve yet another drunken customer.

You sat at the bar on a little leather stool fully contemplating how you ended up in this situation as you looked out into the hotel casino and nursed your drink. It didn't take long for you to realize that the Vegas bartenders didn't take the word strong as a joke. Because every sip stung your throat and swirled your thoughts around in slow motion.

The speed at which your thoughts came at you didn't help the fact that every single one of them revolved around nothing but yourself.

What were you going to do now? Where should you go from here?

Drinking wasn't the answer, but not drinking wasn't the solution. Finding shelter in the Caesars Palace hotel was a good enough temporary fix to your problems, so you ignored that you were on the complete opposite side of the Las Vegas strip that you actually needed to be on.

However, getting to your hotel on the complete opposite side was the problem. Your shitty friends completely ditched you, or maybe you ditched them. The details were all so unclear, but the fact was they were all making stupid choices and you couldn't stand to stick around long enough to see the end results of them.

But now you were all done up in high heels and a small little dress in a city you had never been in before, notorious for sex, drugs and alcohol. Luckily, pepper spray in your purse and a back pocket full of self defense techniques that have been drilled into your head ever since you were a little girl were amongst some of the better choices you made tonight.

Then came along all of the dumber choices you would make tonight in the form of yet another fruity drink, and a tall, blonde man looking painfully confused at the roulette table right in front of you.

He was tall and broad, even more handsome than the massive statues of Roman men all around the hotel. But much like the statues around you, he looked like he was carved from marble. The muscles you could see sculpted through his suit jacket could've only been a result of a piece of fine art.

It was easy to pick up his wholesome sweetness behind his big blue eyes, that also did a lot to tell you how drunk the man was. He towered over the table and watched a few rounds, trying his hardest to understand what was happening. Much like him, you watched the ball spin round and round before landing in a slot.

Some of the players would moan and groan at their fate, while others would cheer happily and exchange loud laughter and high-fives.

Mesmerized by the game, you missed the glances the blonde man snuck of you. He really couldn't help it though. His friends had left him all alone while his capacity to make good decisions was at an all time low, and you were just so pretty and maybe a bit sad.

Another round was about to start, so the dealer started taking bets. Everyone around the table started placing their chips on a color and number, and the blonde was still confused.

He looked around again before his eyes met yours, and a stupid invasive smile smeared across your lips. When he noticed your friendly demeanor, he took a few stumbles over to you.

"Do you have any idea how to play this?" The man asked you.

Now you could smell the expensive yet deliciously pleasant cologne he was wearing, and you could take in all the details of his black suit.

Giggling at his cluelessness, you swallowed down the sip of cocktail in your mouth. "I do. Would you like some help?"

"I'm assuming you have to guess if the ball lands on red or black?" He asked as his lopsided smile and squinted eyes told you everything you needed to know about his sobriety... or lack there of.

"That's exactly it, good job." You nodded. "But you can also guess the number, or a group of numbers it'll land on. The payout at the end is based on how accurate your bet is."

"So what should I bet?" He asked you, having already built a strong sense of trust for you in the few minutes he had been observing.

"Oh no, that's not up to me." You shook your head before taking another sip of your drink. "You gotta trust your own gut."

The man's eyes darted around the table once more before his arms motioned to it. "But look around! All of these men have pretty girls telling them what to do, and that's why they're all winning money. You guys are so much smarter than us, and I'm alone so I need you to tell me. Red or black."

Usually, a statement like that from a man like him would have you rolling your eyes and cutting the conversation short. However, either your gut or the alcohol was telling you that he wasn't an asshole.

For some reason, you felt calm and comfortable in his presence all while being unable to wipe the dumb smile off your face. Something about his hair that was once perfectly styled now being a little jostled, and the twinge of pink in his cheeks made him seem so distantly familiar.

"Well thank you for that backhanded compliment." You laughed. "I think you should bet red."

He nodded, trusting your opinion far more than he trusted himself. "Should I place a more specific bet too?"

You thought for a moment, but you were in Vegas so... fuck it. "Yeah. Give me your chip"

The man happily placed the roulette chip into your hand, you stood up in one big sweep and started walking away from the bar. "Woah, don't leave your drink!"

Pleasantly surprised that he had your best interest in mind, you mumbled out a statement of gratitude as he handed the glass to you too. Approaching the table, looked at it for a few moments and tried your hardest to contemplate the best number to place a bet on, but once again no rational thoughts occupied the empty spaces of your brain.

So, you threw the chip on your favorite number, lucky 25.

"There ya go!" You used your free hand to pat the man's shoulder. "Good luck, Blondie."

"What happens if I win?" He asked you, smiling as you let your hand linger. Even with your highest heels on, you were nowhere near as tall as him.

"Then it's your lucky day, and you'll get a shit ton of money." You giggled at his question.

"And if I lose?"

"Then you're unlucky and you're about to lose some money." You snorted.

"That's not going to happen, you're my good luck charm." He declared.

"I don't think anything about my night tonight is radiating lucky energy, so I doubt that."

"What? No way! I feel like I've been the luckiest guy in the whole world today, so maybe I'm your good luck charm."

"I guess we will let the roulette wheel speak the truth of the universe tonight." You shrugged.

"Should we place our own bets on the bet?" The man asked.

"Like what?" You questioned, hoping this wasn't the moment the sweet stranger turned weird and pervy.

"I think if I lose I should probably call it a night and go back to my room because this is the drunkest I've been in probably 80 years." He stated. However, his words flew over your head figuring his drunken words were exaggerated, and you found yourself to be a little sad that your time with the stranger would be cut short so soon.

"I think if you win, you should stay out for a little while and have another drink with me." You smiled, going way out of your own comfort zone.

If you were sober, or maybe even drunk in a bar anywhere other than Las Vegas, you would've been caught dead before being caught to be so bold. But he was pulling you in faster than you've ever felt, and something about him felt so natural and warm.

"Deal." He agreed.

"Look, they're about to spin the wheel." You pointed at the table.

The dealer spun the wheel, and the ball was moving so fast that you could barely even follow it. Even as it slowed down and started to tease each individual slot, the motion of following the sphere going round and round was quite honestly making you a bit dizzy, so you squeezed your eyes shut in anticipation.

"No way." The blonde stated. "No fucking way!"

His arm wrapped around you from behind and his big warm hands very gently shook the tops of your arms. "Look! It's on red! I can't see the number, but it's on red!"

You giggled and tried your best to keep your balance as he shook you around. When you opened your eyes you could see that the drink in your hand was sloshing around and spilling over onto the impeccably maintained carpet beneath your feet. But the loss of some of your drink was a small price to pay when the dealer picked the ball up out of the wheel and announced "25 Red!"

Simultaneously, you and Blondie let out little screeches in surprise and joy when you realized you had actually placed a winning bet. In all your years on this planet, nothing like this had ever happened to you. You never even won $5 on a penny slot, let alone a fat wad of cash that was being placed into the man's hands.

After the cheering celebration and laughter died down, he turned to you. "See! I knew you were lucky!"

"You trusted your intuition, and you won!" You noted with a smile so big and long lasting it was starting to make your cheeks sore. "Good job."

"Here! This is yours." He placed the wad of cash in your hands.

"What? No. You bet your own money, it's yours." Not being able to accept it, especially when you saw it was all $100 bills.

"No it's yours! You placed the winning bet, you knew the magic number so I want you to have it." He explained kindly. "You said nothing about your night was lucky, so consider this your sign from the universe."

"I can't just accept all of this money from a complete stranger." You denied once more. "You're very sweet, I would feel so guilty taking this from you."

"Fine, if you can't accept the money for yourself, how about we go spend it together?" He offered. "I owe you another drink anyways, then after that the Las Vegas strip is our oyster!"

"That's a little better" You agreed with a smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't even get your name."

"O-oh!" The man seemed to be taken back by that statement for a second. A look of momentary confusion furrowed his eyebrows before a happy smile returned to his kind face. "Sorry, I'm Steve!"

You made a small mental note of his initial shock that you asked for his name, but your drunken brain didn't hold onto that for very long.

"Alright Steve, here's the plan." You rocked up on your tippy toes and kept yourself braced with a steady hand on his solid shoulder so he could hear you better in the loud and chaotic environment. "Half my drink just ended up on the floor when you won, so I'm going to order another one. Then after that, I somehow need to end the night at my hotel on the complete opposite end of the strip without getting taken or murdered. So if we can somehow make it from here to there while blowing through that money you just won, then I'd be more than happy to help you spend it."

Steve's eyes went wide in concern at your statement. "Where are you staying?"

You narrowed your eyes at him. "My gut is telling me not to tell a strange man where I'm staying."

"Smart girl, but I'm not letting you walk down the strip alone at night. The people here are crazy." He challenged. "No funny business. Pinky promise."

Steve raised his pinky for you with a genuine look of promise and concern on his face. "Do people often trust you to get them to safety?"

His cheeks turned pinker, and he let out an adorable giggle. "Yeah, I think most people find me to be very trustworthy."

"No funny business." You lifted your hand and wrapped your pinky around his with a quick handshake. "I'm staying at New York, New York."

"Oh wow, we have a long way to go with lots of chances to blow through that stack." He smiled. "What are you drinking? I'll order you another one."

"Honestly, I have no idea." You admitted, smile coming back to your face.

"Okay great! That helps me a lot" The blonde laughed.

"Excuse me" You politely flagged down the bartender. The same one from earlier coming back, you showed him your glass. "Can I get another one of these please? And whatever he wants?"

You looked to Steve who looked between you and the bartender. "Just two waters please."

"Sure thing." The bartender agreed.

"What? You're not going to have a drink?" You questioned.

He pulled a copper flask out of the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket. "I'll drink more, but this is stronger."

"Oh, nothing here is strong enough for you?" You raised a brow, your smile growing just as lopsided as his.

"Nope. This stuff is special, it comes straight from another realm."

Laughing at his joke, as you handed the bartender cash straight from the wad Steve gave you. "That's funny, because I hope this is strong enough to make me feel like I'm no longer in this realm, so cheers to that!"

You and Steve sat at that bar for a solid two hours as conversation topics flew at the two of you unexpectedly fast. Each one new topic was short lived as an enthusiastic response would happily slip off one of your tongues, so excited that the two of you had so much in common.

Then, Steve decided to start the shopping spree. He offered you a hand to help you off the stool, which quickly turned into a protective arm around you, or ushering you the entirety of your time together. He knew that the men on the Vegas strip were pigs, but he underestimated how bad it really was.

But the cat calls, whistles, and lingering eyes were drowned out by the city sounds and the big flashing marquee lights that littered the sides of every building you passed. It was just as mesmerizing as the night before, skipping down the streets in a drunken haze with your best friends.

Now you were mesmerized by not only sin city, but the mysterious man you were following around as if you'd known him your whole life.

With a sense of childlike wonder the two of you ended up in silly places like the M&M's store, and the Coca-Cola store, but you also ventured into more classy designer establishments where you convinced him to buy a lovely new belt at Louis Vuitton.

It looked good, he looked good. You had to work really hard to contain the drool in your mouth as you watched him take off his old belt to replace it with the new one.

He tried to buy you a new bag, but once again you were being stubborn and were having a hard time accepting such a generous offer.

So, you suggested another drink. Just one more.

More sitting and chatting with Steve, you swallowed down the liquid in your cup while he shot the rest of the liquid in his flask.

That last drink was the worst of your poor decision making that night, or so you thought.

Because the last memory you had was sitting at that bar and really admiring him.

The alcohol had turned his cheeks and the tip of his nose a rosy pink color that somehow made his blue eyes shine even brighter, and add to the wholesome energy you felt radiating from him.

Sweet, silly, carefree, handsome, safe.

Then, you woke up.

Slowly at first. Your eyes opened and the dull pounding at the back of your skull wasn't nearly at bad as you deserved. The air conditioning did wonders keeping you comfortable, the light peaked through the black out curtains, and your belongings scattered across the room confirmed that you were definitely in the right place.

You looked around more. M&m's bag, Louis Vuitton bag... Converse bag? You didn't remember buying shoes. Wait... how did you get here?

Only then did you wake up FAST. You sat up, and your heart pounded as you realized that Blondie was in your bed. The sudden movement made your head pound even harder, but the good news was that he was fully clothed and was sleeping above the covers.

You were also asleep and fully clothed, but both of you were in different clothes than you had on last night. That's probably what those shopping bags in the corner were...

Carefully rolling out of bed to try and make yourself somewhat presentable and aid along trying to process what happened last night, you walked into the bathroom.

Wash your face, brush your teeth, fix your hair.

By the time you came out, Blondie was sitting up in bed with his legs on the floor, shooting you an apologetic look. He was apprehensive, scared to gauge how sick and unenthusiastic you would be by his presence this morning.

"Good morning." He said quietly, voice deep and raspy from inhaling the dry air and residual cigarette smoke.

"Morning." You tried to be polite, clutching the side of your head. "What happened? How did we- how did any of this-"

"Nothing happened." Steve reassured you. "I would never take advantage-"

"Okay, okay." You nodded slowly, feeling slightly relieved. "Advil. I have Advil."

Waking over to the table in the hotel room, you grabbed the bottle of painkillers and a water. You opened both and popped two little pills in your mouth, washing them down with water.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember much either. It's been a really long time since I've gotten drunk. This is really out of the ordinary for me." He explained.

"I guess we're on the same boat then." You agreed with him before a couple pieces of paper catch your eye.

"I guess I should probably go?" Steve stated, but it was more of a question. This was the first time he ever found himself waking up next to a stranger.

"No, you stay right there." You insisted frantically, picking up the piece of paper.

Certificate of marriage.

Your name signed at the bottom next to another signature that read Steven G Rogers.

Your heart sank to the pit of your stomach.

You studied the signature, looked at his face, looked at the signature, then his face again.

In the table, there was a picture of the two of you kissing. Him in his suit, you in the dress you wore last night but also a veil.

"Oh my god" You exclaimed, so much information to process.

"What?" Steve questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh my god!" You pinched the bridge of your nose and took a deep breath.

"What happened?"

"You didn't tell me..." You puffed out a breath, then an unexpected giggle left your throat. Of course, this would happen to you the one time in your life you didn't behave like a perfect angel. "Captain America?"

"Oh... Guilty?" Steve's shoulders sunk. "I introduced myself, no?"

"As Steve." You exaggerated.

"Yeah, I'm Steve." He agreed.

"Well, at least I was safe." Finding the benefit of the doubt. "Do you remember getting married last night, Steve?"

You passed the paper and the picture to him, and his face contorted into an expression you couldn't quite read. "...wow."

"Wow?" You questioned. "I unknowingly married Captain America last night and all you have for me is wow?"

"Holy shit." Steve looked up at you.

"That's better." You nodded.

"You don't look panicked" Steve noted.

"I'm not panicked because at least you're a superhero." You explained. "That counts for something right? Like people won't think I'm totally inane for marrying a stranger when they find out it's Captain America? And like... a superhero means you have people who come and clean up after you right? Someone can fix this right?"

You watched the gears turn in his head. "... I have to call Tony."

Tony. Who's Tony? Think. Superhero, avengers, Steve, Captain America. Tony... IRON MAN.

"Stark?" Your eyebrows raised. Steve nodded, pulling out his phone. "Now I'm freaking out. I'm really freaking out."

"It's okay, give me a second." Steve said calmly.

You nodded, the remembered you should check your phone too. As he spoke quietly to Tony, you looked around for your phone before finding it on the night stand, flooded with dozens of missed calls and texts from friends wondering where you were. You quickly sent off a text in a group chat saying you'd explain later, and that you were okay.

Eventually Steve ended the call. "He said he'll be here in a minute or two."

"Oh, okay great." You said exaggerating your nonchalance. "No biggie. Iron man coming over to read my marriage certificate to Captain America."

Steve giggled at the ridiculousness of the situation. "My mother would be over the moon to find out I'm married."

"My mom might have me 6 feet in a grave if she ever finds out about this." You sat back down on the bed next to him.

"When do you leave Vegas?" Steve questioned.

"My flight is at nine tonight. What about you?"

"Flying home at six thirty." He informed you. "Where do you live?"

"New York" You said simply. "Queens."

"We both live in New York and we’re staying in a New York themed hotel? What a small world." Steve noted. "Maybe we don't have to fit in a divorce before this evening."

"I mean... you are very handsome so I definitely wouldn't mind staying married to you for a few days until we get this figured out." You grinned.

A small blush stippled his cheeks at your compliment. “You’re so pretty I would’ve never had the courage to talk to you if I wasn’t drunk.”

Just like him, you blushed at his admission, and giggled at his words. “This doesn’t feel like real life.”

“Maybe I should’ve gotten you a ring instead of whatever the hell we bought last night.” Steve thought.

You looked down at your left hand, and sure enough, there was a pretty ring on your finger. You lifted it up to show him. “Looks like you were two steps ahead of yourself”

“Oh, good.” He chuckled. “At least there’s that.”

Then, there was a knock at the door.

You looked at Steve with wide eyes and nervousness building up in your tummy at the thought of being in the same room with one third of the Avengers.

“I’ll get it” He reassured you, standing up to answer the door.

Before you knew it, Tony Stark confidently barreled into the room. Firing some teasing words at Steve, you knew the poor guy would never hear the end of it.

“Oh look, here she is!” Tony announced.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Stark.” You shook his hand.

“Trust me, the pleasure is all mine Mrs. Rogers.” He smiled.

“Tony” Steve warned with a glare.

“Where’s the paper work?” Tony asked.

You quickly handed him the picture and the signed document that was on the table. Steve stood right next to you as you both watched him read over it, and evaluate the legitimacy.

Tony took out his phone snapped a few pictures, and made a weird face. Nervously, you his your face in Steve’s arm and he instinctively rubbed your back to comfort you.

Then, Tony started laughing. “Rogers you’re an idiot.”

“I’m aware, but what’s so funny?” Steve complained.

“It’s fake.” Tony said.

“What?” Your head popped up.

“Little white chapel, married by Elvis just for the gag type of thing. There’s no marriage license, it’s not a legal marriage.” He explained, handing you the papers back.

Both you and Steve let out a huge sigh of relief. “Maybe I’m not that much of an idiot after all.”

“No, you’re still stupid.” Tony denied. “Out of all the people in the world I would’ve never expected this from you, Cap.”

“This is Thor’s fault.” Steve pointed his finger.

You didn’t understand how the god of thunder had anything to do with this, but you had no mental capacity left to even ask.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter. Just be on time for the flight home and stay out of trouble.” Tony told him. “Hope to see you around again soon, Mrs. Rogers.”

And just like that, he was out faster than he came in.

“I know Tony made it seem like everything is okay, but it’s not and I have a giant mess to clean up with the team.” Steve explained to you.

“Yeah, I’d assume so.” You smiled.

“Which means I really should go.” He let you down. “But regardless of this fiasco, and from what I do remember, I had a lot of fun with you last night. Would you want to exchange phone numbers and maybe hang out again when we get home?”

“I would love that, Steve.” You agreed.

He handed you his phone and you handed him yours. Both putting in your phone numbers and names before swapping them back.

At the same time, you both burst out laughing at the contact names.

Unplanned, he put his name as Husband, and you put yours as Wife.

“Ridiculous!” You laughed, walking him to the door.

“Maybe we really were meant to be.” Steve pondered.

“Maybe.” You agreed. “But in all seriousness, thank you for getting me home safe last night. I was really lucky to run into the right person at the right time.”

“Of course.” Steve grinned. “Travel safe, and let me know when you get home so we can set something up.”

“You got it.” Rocking up on your tippy toes, you kissed his cheek. “Have fun cleaning up that mess, Husband.”

“Don’t tell your Mom about this, Wife.”

You locked your lips and threw away the key. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

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[amsznn]

can you do one with dad matt?

him and the reader have a potty training toddler who walks around with a naked bottom half for easier access to the potty 😭 .

the kid has to tell the reader or matt when they need to use the potty so they can take them and theres a lot of accidents and stuff and its really cute

ACCIDENTS - m. sturniolo

it was a regular sunday evening for you and matt. at least, it’s your regular. typically if it was two years ago you and matt would be cuddled up on his bed enjoying the sweet silence and each other’s company.

well those times have changed. especially with your new edition to your family. your baby girl, aria, brought a whole new world to you and matt’s life. bringing joy and sometimes destruction.

and as of right now? she’s bringing destruction.

all you were trying to do was relax a bit on the couch. no matter what anyone says, parenting was not easy. especially not chasing around a toddler that refuses to use the bathroom.

“aria, baby, i need you to go potty.” you try and plead with the stubborn two year old. but she only pouts and turns her back on you letting out a stern, “no!” before running off again.

you heavily sighed before walking towards your daughter. swiftly picking her up, you removed the diapers that were on her. she needed to learn how to use the bathroom on her own eventually. you set your baby down, now bottomless, watching as she ran towards her dads room.

aria bursted into matt’s room as you followed behind, plopping down on the bed. “dada!” your girl’s sweet voice rang through the room before she collided with matt’s leg as he was seated on his desk chair.

“hey my beautiful girl, where are your diapers?” matt questioned softly before holding her up by her armpits. aria only pointed at you that was nearly passed put on the bed from exhaustion.

“she didn’t wanna potty.” was all you mumbled before dozing off. matt could only chuckle but somewhat felt bad since youve been battling with the girl to potty on her own for weeks now.

matt rose up from his seat and carried his daughter to the bathroom before stopping infront of her potty that was next to the big toilet. he sat her down and she only looked at him in confusion.

“sweetheart, if you go potty ill give you ice cream, okay?” maybe bribery wasnt the best parenting technique, but hey, you seemed desperate and worn out so if this could work maybe it could help you. at least thats what matt thought.

“okay, dada!”

matt smiled and nodded before walking out towards the door, making sure to leave it open just in case. “i’ll be right here sweetheart.”

a couple of minutes had passed before matt heard aria yell out, “done!” matt smiled to himself before yelling back. “did you wipe?” the girl answered back with a yes and matt walked into the bathroom.

lets just say..

she did go potty,

she just missed.

the potty.

after cleaning up both the bathroom and his daughter, matt made sure to put a diaper back on aria to avoid the same outcome. by the time he was done you had already woken up to see both your husband and your daughter eating ice cream on the kitchen island.

“guess what?” matt said as he saw your figure emerged from the room. “i went potty, mommy!” your baby proudly said with a mouth filled with ice cream. you couldn’t help but smile and give her a bunch of kisses on her chubby cheeks that you loved.

you also gave matt a bunch of kisses as well as one on his lips, as a thank you.

“i can’t believe you did it.” you said in disbelief as you also grabbed a bowl for ice cream.

“yeah well, there were some accidents.” both your husband and your daughter started giggling like a secret was shared but just for the two of them. you only shrugged, just happy about this milestone.

-

a/n: ugh this was so cute chat i love dad matt

[soularsss]

Drawing Likeness: with Tem!

okaay since a few people actually showed interest in me sharing a bit of what I've been doing to figure out how to really capture likeness, specifically Temuera Morrison, I figured id do my best to write it out

I am also going to entice you with some of my recent clone art! (oooh some of it is unreleaaasedd)

I am putting the whole thing under the cut because I have a feeling its going to be long:

Read more!!!

a couple disclaimers before we start

-This is not some definite post about how everyone should be drawing clones, nor is it in any way claiming that this is the right way. This is just my musings as I stare at a mans face for way too long and try to replicate it

-I am inexperienced. As kind as you all are to me, drawing real people is relatively new to me, capturing a persons identity through their features is difficult for anybody, and I am no different. I have watched many a video on likeness and had my share of classes, but If im being honest, i rarely put it into practice successfully. So there'll probably be errors in this post or things i will come back to in a few months and wish I had said/done differently

ANYWAYs you guys get my vibe im just here to ramble and today we are rambling about mr copy paste. I am doing this for Law, my clone boy, because I plan on delving further into oc fanart and I want to put effort into representing him correctly!

SO LETS BEGIN

Before even deciding what specific pose of a person I want to draw, I tend to grab a bunch of references and compile them like so

(all of these can be found on my pinterest)

Why so many? Well, we are about to delve into facial features, so when we are dealing with photos we have to take into account that there are an abundance of circumstances that will influence how a persons face will appear, some of these include:

focal length: All of these are taken on different devices, and focal length can play a big part in distorting faces

age will play a part, your face changes a bunch throughout your life!

lighting, while not as major, can muddy the waters and make it difficult to interpret facial planes and features

SO, to make sure we get a proper grasp of what's really going on, I like to make sure we have lots of options to compare and contrast with.

Next up! What I like to do is block out the main facial features with colour on different layers, the features I block out usually are the general face shape, eyebrows, eyes, nose and lips. But what you are looking for is the defining features of a person, so that could include other things! Maybe a scar, or some particularly prominent cheekbones.

I dont have any rhyme or reason when it comes to picking my colours, all that matters is you can see all the shapes clearly.

Now I may be biased, because Ive been staring at these for 4 hours, but notice how it still looks like Tem? :D

Anyways, now we can break these parts down, and you'll see what I mean about compare and contrast:

We'll start with isolating the facial shape, putting all these next to eachother you'll notice they arent exactly the same (partly because of my shoddy work) But the distinguishing features run through each shape! Namely the very soft rectangular shape I sketched out in the bottom right there. Along with his soft, wide jaw structure.

I did the same for the rest of his features!

You'll notice I highlight the prominent shapes and ratios,

When drawing anything, it is important to start from the very base shapes and build up.

When drawing something you want to look like someone, those shapes relative to other shapes is what makes it look like them.

I didnt use the same technique with his eyes and lips, but I wrote out some helpful info for them! More importantly for his eyes.

When drawing eyes, I find the most important part is where exactly I draw the creases, (along with the overall shape of the eye itself) it is important to understand where those will present themselves with hooded eyes.

NOW, with an understanding of his facial features in place, lets take a detour to colours:

before I start, a couple things to note:

-Temuera morrison versus the clone troopers in the animated shows:

While I love the animated shows they don't exactly stay close to their source material. Im going to link here to an excellent post discussing whitewashing specifically in relation to the clones.

Temuera is Māori, of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue) and Tainui (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rarua) whakapapa, and also has Scottish and Irish ancestry.

The Māori people are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (Aotearoa). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia. Māori people often vary in skin tone, Skin colour doesn't determine ethnicity. There's often a correlation but it's not a requirement.

But that is a tangent! What we are aiming for is to stay true to Temuera.

Bringing back my reference photos from before, Ive colour picked a buncha values and theyre all over the place. Why doesnt this work?

Similarly to earlier, you have to take into account the photos themselves. Many things like lighting, colour grading (when it comes to filmography) and makeup, can alter how a skin colour presents in photo.

You can attempt to get true to life by swatching from certain places on the face. Here I've tried to pick some photos with good lighting, and I've also tried to avoid overly lit/shaded areas.

Tem has a very warm, tan skin tone, Instead of colour picking I tend to try and replicate it myself, but I do often bring in references to make sure Im staying true to the source!

a brief intermission to talk about colour theory, something I myself struggle with alot. Often, when putting in flat colours without a background, I will forget to make sure the colours i intend to use will work with the skin tone i have picked! (something that is apparent in older works of mine, not just in relation to clones, but in general, the colours I end up with stray largely from their original sources and it is something I am doing my best to keep in mind and improve in! Although I don't think i am nearly experienced enough in the topic to say I have succeeded yet lol.)

anyways back to Tem :))

Now we can put all of that into practice! Things to keep in mind when drawing out a piece next to a reference like this:

the distance between the eyebrows? how far down his face does his nose go? Basically just, in relation to eachother, where do all those shapes we found earlier, sit?

The screenshot above is from before I did it myself, but instead of directly tracing from the reference, a handy trick I use it to complete your sketch first, and then overlay a traced version to see where your inconsistencies are! Alternatively, you could move your sketch over the image, but I didnt do it that way so!! uh!! im sure it works exactly the same!!!!

When it comes to a final illustration, or any sketch that isnt a direct study, of course you can push and pull and stylise! You'll see below that I'm not exactly 1:1 to my reference photo either.

The important thing with stylisation, or at least my own personal understanding of stylisation is that you need to thoroughly understand the thing you are stylizing! "You need to know the rules to break them" and all that. While shapes, lines and rendering can change, when it comes to drawing someone, and making it look like them, you have to make sure to keep their core features true to source. Caricature can capture a persons vibe whilst drastically exaggerating features, but it will only look like them if you KEEP THOSE FEATURES!!!! SHAPES!!! AHHH!!

But that is just my perspective on the discussion of style versus realism, please dont take is as Law, I dont know what Im on about half the time!!

anyways, after fixing your sketch, add local colours!

I rexified him because why tf not! But this is where you can go crazy with that clone personalization!

And then here is a very very barely rendered version (if you guys want me to explain how i RENDER that would need to be a completely different post, and I havent had anyone ask about it yet so who knows! maybe one day) But I digress, hopefully you learnt something new through my ramblings! It has certainly helped me organize my thoughts and I have also found some areas I would like to focus more on in the future to improve my own art!

TLDR: In order to understand an object, be it a face or a building or literally anything, you have to break it down to its simplest forms, understanding LARGER shapes will help you immensely in the long run

If you guys like this sorta content do let me know! I'd be down to do similar things for armor/anything really, I am very anti gatekeep so really anything at all you want to know! Send me an ask :))

also if you see a spelling mistake.. i don’t know how that got there

[alchemistc]

Tommy, still a little uncertain despite Evan's very obvious and frequent heart eyes, despite Evan's frequent reassurances, despite the feeling curling under his own ribcage. Tommy's dated a baby gay openly twice before and been subjected to the pain of a partner tucking him away, or a partner more interested in the scene than anything genuine, Tommy who remembers all his time in the closet and how hard he'd had to work to pull himself out and keep himself out.

Tommy who thinks "he's adorable, this will be fun" and cuts a date short for both of their benefit because he doesn't Want That anymore.

Tommy who agrees to meet for coffee because he does feel a bit bad about the closet comment, he does genuinely like Evan as a person, trying to convince himself he'll be good when Evan says thanks but no thanks, I wanted to clear the air so you can stay friends with Eddie, I actually don't know how much I like men.

Tommy who says yes to a date to a wedding and suddenly has a screenshot of Evan Buckley's calendar open on his phone, gaze darting through his own plans to find time in between to meet - next Friday he's out with some of the harbor guys, but he could probably tell them his plans changed - but no, bc they'll know something and he's not ready for them to know something. Tuesday Evan has his niece, but maybe Tommy could bring them dinner? (Christ Tommy Slow Down).

Tommy who takes Evan to a trendy gay bar expecting him to at the very least soak in the experience, even if he's not actively checking out every hot guy (and girl) in the place, only Evan is So Invested in whatever story Tommy is telling him that it actually takes him an hour and a half to realize this isn't a run-of-the-mill dive.

Tommy who takes Evan to brunch expecting him to maybe hit on a server or the cute girl in the sundress across the patio (unfair, Tommy, you've seen literally zero evidence he's like that, except Tommy's still testing the waters and this is still very New) only Evan is critiquing the technique of this chefs pain perdu and gently coaxing a server over because he noticed Tommy's Bloody Mary was running low (They're Bottomless, Tommy, I'm not saying he's bad at his job I'm just saying it's busy and we should get our money's worth out of these bottomless drinks).

Tommy who is startled every time Buck grabs his hand in public, or presses a kiss to his cheek, or leans his forehead into Tommy's jaw with a huff of laughter like he's Enchanted by Tommy's dry humor.

Tommy who forces himself to remember once, twice, three four five times that this is new for Evan and he shouldn't push it, until he maybe forgets that he was testing Evan, a little. Unfair, again, but he's not sure Evan actually noticed.

Until some time after the wedding date, a night out turned hot and heavy in the elevator up to Evan's loft, they're giggling and grabbing handfuls of ass and when Evan slips inside the loft and presses Tommy to the inside of his door and sucks a mark into the skin of his collarbone (he noses aside the open neck of Tommy's Henley so it's not visible without some work, which Tommy appreciates) and darts a gaze up through his eyelashes and asks Tommy if he's passed all of Tommy's tests.

"I haven't --."

"You have, but I get it, Tommy you took me to a bar full of eligible queer people and I was so distracted by you it took me two hours to notice that guy hitting on me every time you went to the well to grab us drinks."

Yeah, he'd noticed that too. A lot more quickly than Evan, apparently.

Tommy who's never really dated someone so Into Him before having to reassess a whole bunch of things about himself and his comfort level with intimacy and pda and lovelorn looks sent in full view of strangers and friends and coworkers because despite best efforts to keep his expectations reasonable he's being romanced and Evan makes it feel effortless to accept it and respond in kind.

[rrrrinmaru]

picasso (marius x fem!reader) (nsfw)

wc: 5.7k rating: E warnings: nsfw, vaginal fingering, handjob, squirting, they're both freaks for each other

“I think it’s pretty,” you say plainly. “I like the look of it. I’ve always had a soft spot for ink wash works.”

The exhibit is held in a famous glass museum in downtown Stellis. There had been a controversy about the full glass walls and privacy issues a few years ago (you had read this case once, out of curiosity, and never again), but that was eventually resolved and now the first floor of the museum was regularly used for art exhibits. 

Before you knew Marius’ secret identity, you had invited him to visit one of Z’s exhibits. And Marius, the most shameless man to ever walk this Earth, had agreed. 

Fortunately, you learnt about this secret before you bought tickets for the exhibit. Not that you wouldn’t want to see his works displayed in the gallery, but the thought of you gushing over Z’s artwork in front of Marius without knowing the truth… 

It’s embarrassing. 

Today, however, it’s a different artist’s work on display. Thomas Mikeden, a foreign painter who’s been going on an exhibit world tour. Stellis is his latest stop, and everything just lined up. Both of you had the day off and tickets were on sale. You had invited Marius to the exhibit, excited to hear his artistic insight about the paintings, but Marius has been… a little petulant.

“I can’t believe we’re looking at a Mikeden painting,” he mutters, arms folded across his chest. “The first time you invite me to an art exhibit and it isn’t even mine; I can overlook that, but Mikeden?”

“What do you have against him?”

“We’re friends,” Marius says solemnly, looking like he doesn’t even believe the words coming out his mouth, “but we suffer from creative differences. Severe creative differences. If I ever have to see the way he mixes his oil paints again, I’d end up on the news for criminal activity. And he said if he ever had to see me try to sculpt a pot again, he’d wring my neck himself. He said my clay pots were an abomination against God.”

You blink at him. “You know how to do pottery?”

“According to him, I don’t.”

And suddenly, you get it. Creative differences, more like a bunch of children arguing over who does something right, or who does something better. Like kindergarteners fighting over whose parent made them the better lunchbox. 

“What are your thoughts on his ink wash painting?” 

Marius gives you an appraising look. “Not his worst work. He’s alright with ink wash. I've personally dabbled in ink wash before. It’s not my preferred medium, but we learnt it as part of our curriculum.”

You turn to look at him, eyes bright. “Really? Do you still have those ink wash paintings hidden away somewhere?”

“Of course. I never throw my works away. I’ll bring you to one of my storage warehouses one day.” 

One of his storage warehouses? It never occurred to you that painters would need a lot of space to store their paintings, even more so if they were particularly diligent and practiced different painting techniques often. With how many easels and canvases were strewn about Marius’ house, you suppose you should have made the connection.

“I’m looking forward to it.” 

The next few works are insightful, to say the least. Marius gets up close and personal with one of them to sneakily point out to you a place where Mikeden allegedly made a mistake and had spent hours trying to cover it up. 

“This is from when he tried to lean into the Baroque style,” Marius says, using his thumb to frame certain parts of the painting to draw your eye to them. “The colors here, see, the stark contrast between the light and the dark? That’s the use of tenebrism, popularised by Caravaggio.”

“Hm,” you note, eyes wandering around the painting. It’s a stunning piece of work, and Mikeden captured the likeness of the male form well. The extreme contrast almost seems to frame the figures with a halo, a light that blooms from their very center to strike at the viewer’s attention. “They’re quite handsome.”

Marius makes a sound at the back of his throat. “You’re more into modern men, jiejie.”

You hide your laugh behind a cough. He’s like a needy kitten pawing at you for attention, and you’re helpless against someone this cute. 

“Yes, yes, look at how handsome you are,” you say, turning around to face him head-on. You reach out, smoothing the non-existent creases away from his button-down. 

Without really thinking too deeply, your fingers linger on the stretch of the fabric across his chest—the thought that you can see them if you squint hard enough comes unbidden to your mind. The small bumps under the fabric, stiff from the slight chill of the room. 

It’s the kind of thought that grips you by the throat, sitting in your mind and taking up space, holding you captive until you do something about it. 

You brush your thumb against one of them, just because they’re right there, because you can, because Marius’ hands are on your hips and you’re feeling a little… playful. 

Immediately, a hand catches your wrist. It doesn’t stop you from pressing the pad of your thumb lightly against that raised bump, and Marius’ breath hitches. His fingers flex against your wrist, hard enough that you can’t help but smile. 

He’s usually the one making you flush in public, so you mark this as a victory. The sight of him, red-faced and pouting, heart pounding so desperately you can feel it through his chest—you pull your hand back, and he lets you go. That hand drops back to your waist as you bring your thumb to your lips, and you hold Marius’ gaze as the tip of your tongue darts out to lick your thumb.

Marius goes still. It’s as if he’s nothing more than one of the paintings hung up on the gallery walls, with how still he is; his pupils are blown wide and he gives you this shaken look, as if you’ve completely disarmed him. Swept him off his feet and left him grasping at straws to find the words to say. 

Eventually, you go back to smoothing out his shirt. Properly, this time. No messing around.

“You’re driving me crazy,” Marius murmurs, his breath puffing against the curve of your throat as he leans down. His voice is soft, barely louder than a whisper, but it somehow feels deafening in the quiet of the room. 

Your hands tighten around the front of his shirt. “Marius?”

“Be quiet for a moment,” he says. His fingers rest on your hips and you swear you can feel the heat radiating off his palms. It makes you want to shuffle away, pull back and put some space between the both of you—he doesn’t do anything, doesn’t tighten his grip, but his hands somehow get heavier. Like a weighted blanket resting around your waist, shackles holding you in place without really holding you at all. 

Your heart kicks in your chest. It isn’t often that Marius gets this way, so quiet and possessive, like he has to cage you in a small corner and watch you to make sure you don’t get away. His forehead rests against your clavicle—it’s not a comfortable position, not when he’s so much taller and he’s pressed up so closely against you that you can feel the way his chest shivers when he drags in a long breath. 

“Jiejie,” Marius whispers, voice quiet. “Sometimes, I wish I could wrap you up like a piece of art and hang you on my wall.”

He’s crazy, you think, and you realise even your subconscious thoughts have taken on this air of fondness when thinking of him.

“Is that so?” You reply, voice just as hushed. From the corner of your eye, you can see another patron glance at the both of you—they glance away, then look back, as if doubting their gaze. Yes, you think weakly to yourself, Marius is indeed clinging to you in the middle of a public gallery for expensive artworks that easily go for three times the price of your apartment. “Which wall will you put me up on?”

This time, Marius’ grip tightens imperceptibly on your hips. “Any wall that jiejie wants to be put up on,” he says huskily. His voice has dropped an octave, and the tone he takes is one that you’ve become very familiar with when you tease each other. Never enough to really commit to anything, not yet, but enough that Marius gets that look in his eyes like he’d very much want to stop being a gentleman about things. 

Abruptly, you notice the double entendre. “Marius!”

“You asked,” he says smugly, lifting his head so you come face to face with the smirk pulling at his lips. He tugs you in to press your body fully up against his, hip to shoulder. “Is jiejie shy now? I can tell you about which walls I’ve thought about you up on—my bedroom, naturally, but the living room is a strong contender.”

You gape at him, too shocked to say something smart in return. “You—! Not so loud, we’re in public!”

“No one’s listening.” Marius tilts his head, giving the surroundings a cursory once over before catching your gaze. “They’re busy looking at the art on display. I’m looking at a different kind of art on display.”

He’s so shameless that it makes you want to burst out in laughter. A different kind of art on display? Who does he think he is, a host from a host club? Where did he learn these phrases from? The Internet? His brother? Worse, Vyn? 

The thought of Marius asking the one and only Vyn Richter for advice on how to pick girls up makes you laugh. 

“You think you’re so smooth,” you say helplessly, lips curving up of their own accord as you reach up to loop your arms around Marius’ neck. “You think I’m going to fall for that?”

“I’m not a gambling man,” Marius tells you, a confident glint in his eye, “but I’ve always been lucky.” 

He puts up a strong front, but you know better. The back of his neck is hot from embarrassment. The tips of his ears are flushed red. You brush a stray strand of hair past the shell of his ear and pinch the crimson tip along the way. 

“Jiejie,” Marius whines, caught in the act. “Come on, let me pretend for a bit. Don’t you want to come home with me and have a better time?” 

He gives you this beseeching look, brows furrowed and lips turned down. You’re weak to that look—it’s suckered you into agreeing to far more things than you normally would have agreed to. But how can you say no to a face like that? To a man built like that, shoulders so broad they could dwarf you in a hug, fingers so long they could encircle your wrist, a face like God himself came down to carve it from marble—when Marius looks at you with that pleading gaze, millimeters away from begging, how can you say no to anything he asks for? 

Perhaps a stronger man would be able to resist the power of Marius’ visual attack. But you never proclaimed to have a strong willpower, and you fold like a castle of cards in a stiff breeze. 

“Let’s finish looking at all the works first. And no, just because you know who the artist is and insist that you could bring me over to his studio to see his other works—that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the works exhibited here.”

“His art isn’t even that good,” Marius says, just to be contrary. “If you really wanted to see something from him, you should see his sculptures. I’ll admit those are impressive.”

“Finish the gallery, and then we can go home. You get to pick dinner.”

He perks up. “Italian or Chinese?”

“Later,” you insist. “I want to see this painting—” you glance at the title, raising an eyebrow when you catch sight of it, “—Lotus III.”

“Inspired by the same lotus garden that was featured in Lotus 0, Lotus I and Lotus II,” Marius grumbles as he takes one hand off your waist. You slide your hands down his shoulders, his chest, and furtively pat him on the ass before letting him go. 

He jumps, eyes wide as he swivels his head around to look at you. You give him an innocent look in return. 

“If you insist on being naughty, jiejie, don’t be surprised if I snatch you away and kidnap you back home.” The hand still on your waist squeezes in warning, and heat slithers down your back at the tone in his voice. 

You put a hand over the one on your waist, sliding your fingers in between his. “Be good.”

“Good boys get rewards. Is there a reward waiting for me later, jiejie?”

Naughty, you think to yourself, side-eying him. There’s a charming smile on his face, not even bothering to hide the playfulness lurking beneath his eyes. He’s testing you, pushing and pulling at your limits to see how far you can bend over backwards. 

“Maybe,” you reply. It’s never a good thing to reveal all your cards too early when dealing with a von Hagen in a playful mood. 

Marius laughs, leaning in to press his lips against the side of your head. “I’ll be good, I promise.”

The way he practically attaches himself to your hip, thumb rubbing possessively over your waist—you can’t help the flush crawling up to your cheeks, or the heat that flares between your legs. His hold on you isn’t tight, but it isn’t loose either. It reeks of a promise, and you can’t help but look forward to what that will happen once the two of you get back to his house. Or what will happen once you get into his car, when Marius has you right where he wants you to be and there’s enough privacy for something to happen. 

You shift, thighs rubbing together involuntarily at the stray thought. Desire slips through your body like a snake coiling in your veins; if you cling a little tighter to Marius in return, your mind only half-focused on the works displayed on the walls, well, no one will know. 

You think Marius might suspect something, though, going by the way his smirk grows larger with every glance he shoots you from the corner of his eye. 

Like he’s found something he can’t take his eyes off. Like he’s found something he likes. 

You fail to give Mikeden the attention his works deserve for the rest of the time you spend in the gallery, but he’s truly friends with Marius then you think the man won’t mind too much.

==

To your surprise, Marius doesn’t immediately scoop you into his lap when you get into the car. 

He leans over to help you pull the seatbelt, and very conveniently buries his face in your neck for half a second before he pulls back. Long enough for him to press his lips against your collarbone, the tip of his tongue swiping wetly against your skin; short enough for you to wonder if you hallucinated it.

But the smug look in his eyes as he pulls the seatbelt over your chest to click it into place tells you that you most definitely did not hallucinate it. 

“Home first,” Marius tells you, pretending to be casual as he leans back in his seat and does his own seatbelt. “If you keep looking at me with those eyes, jiejie, I can’t promise I’ll keep my hands to myself while we’re on the road back.”

Right, you think dazedly. You’d forgotten Marius had decided to drive the both of you here—it wasn’t far from his place, and the both of you typically take a chauffeured car, but Marius wanted to do something special today. You haven’t been on a date in a while due to your unfortunate work schedule, and it definitely surprised you when Marius pulled up to your apartment in the driver’s seat, the window wound down, sunglasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he grinned at you. 

“What a shame,” you murmur under your breath, watching as he does his own seatbelt before pulling out of the parking lot. 

Your words make Marius stiffen. He glances at you from the corner of his eye, one hand resting lazily on the steering wheel as the other finds its way to your knee. 

Again with that loose grip that feels like a shackle holding you in place. Marius isn’t doing anything more than just placing his hand over your knee—there’s not even any real pressure behind, no force or flexing or tightening of his grip, but you feel weighed down. You feel held down.

You wonder, a little stupidly, if Marius would do something if you spread your legs apart. 

But you’re on the road. Despite the heat flaring insistently in your gut, you’re not actually ready to risk it all while Marius is behind the wheel. It would have been a different story if the both of you were in the back seat with the partition drawn up. The ride back is what, ten, fifteen minutes? There’s a lot you can get done in that period of time.

Right as you resign yourself to a normal, quick ride back home, Marius’ hand slips a little.

Just a little. It’s so subtle that if it weren’t for the heat practically bleeding through his palms, you think you wouldn’t have noticed. 

His hand goes from right above your knee to cupping the inside of your knee. 

You eye him speculatively. Was it inertia? The car made a turn and his hand simply slipped with the centrifugal force? 

His lips quirk up. “I’ll get shy if you keep looking at me, jiejie. I need to focus on the road.”

“Hm,” you say, feeling your cunt clench involuntarily when Marius’ hand moves further up your thigh. It’s not in direct contact with your skin, not when there’s your silk dress in between, but the material is thin and you swear you can feel the calluses from Marius’ fingers rubbing gently against the sensitive inside of your thigh. 

Fifteen minutes, you think. Surely you can’t die from a little fun on the road. 

“Your hand’s on the wrong place,” you murmur, gently placing your hand over his. 

Marius hums at the back of his throat. “Ah? Sorry, I—jiejie.”

You lift his hand off your thigh for a quick moment, draw apart the slit of your dress, and slide his hand under the fabric.

Directly on your thigh. You even curve his fingers back down so he can maintain that grip on you.

You can see his fingers flex. They’re stiff, knuckles tense as if he doesn’t know what to do with himself. When you peek at him, his ears are flushed a bright red and his Adam’s Apple bobs furiously, like he’s swallowing desperately. 

And right between his thighs, you can see a tent in his trousers. You kind of want to reach out to touch it, but you hold yourself back. 

“Jiejie,” he whines, and chances a glance at you before reluctantly dragging his eyes back to the road. “I was joking—you can’t distract me while I’m driving.”

“I’m not doing anything,” you say mildly, burying the laugh that threatens to escape when his fingers squeeze pointedly around your thigh. The grave you dug is for both of you; his hand is higher now, on your thigh, so close to your core that one road bump would probably be reason enough for his fingers to slide right home. 

You almost want to pretend to jerk forward. But you have enough of your wits about you to recognise that if Marius felt the heat of your pussy through your panties press up against his fingertips at this moment, he would probably drive the car into the nearest building. 

“I’m trying to be good,” Marius complains. His fingers keep twitching against your skin, as if he’s really, physically holding himself back from doing something. 

“Good boys get rewards,” you echo, patting the back of his palm. “We’re almost home, see the gates up in front?”

He clicks his tongue. “As if I can focus on anything right now.” To prove his point, he speeds up, leg bouncing impatiently as he turns into the driveway. “Park, I have to park…”

The whole time, his hand doesn’t leave your thigh. And there’s something really sexy about it, you can’t help but realise—the slant of his jaw from the side, the way driving comes so easily to him, where he only needs one hand to maneuver the wheel. Even the way he looks over his shoulder as he eases into his parking spot makes you want to press your thighs together in a useless attempt to stave off the heat building in your core. 

“Good enough,” Marius declares, switching the engine off. “Out, out, come on—”

He snaps the seatbelt off and practically flies out the car. You’re so taken aback that you’re still in your seat when he comes to your side and yanks the door open, petulance written all over his face when he finds you still strapped in. 

“C’mon,” he whines, reaching over to unbuckle your seatbelt. “Jiejie, come on, come on—”

“Impatient,” you chide, even as you reach out to steady yourself while you exit the car. “Hold on, my heels—”

“Jiejie,” Marius says, and he seriously sounds like he’s about to burst. 

In that split second, you make a decision. Your panties are ruined as is, and you really, really want to be filled right now. You’re not sure if you can make the distance from the car to the lift, especially when the garage is so fucking huge—

“Backseat,” you murmur, and Marius reacts much faster than you expect. He pulls you up and into his chest, making you let out a sound of surprise at how aggressive he is, but he’s surprisingly gentle when he cups your jaw and slants his lips over yours. 

It’s a desperate kiss. Marius licks into your mouth, hands tight around your waist as he pulls you in close. The bulge in his slacks feels like it’s burning a brand into your hip—you want to skate your hands down, cup that swollen cock and rub your thumb over the tip. You’ve never seen it, not yet, but the two of you have fooled around every now and then so you’re somewhat familiar with the curve of his cock through his pants. 

It’s a hefty weight in your fingers, and Marius always makes the most delicious sounds when you rock your hips against him, squeezing around his thigh between your legs as you trace over the outline of his cock. 

“Fuck,” Marius curses. His fingers dig greedily into the sides of your body—the grip now is entirely different from the one at the museum. The positions are roughly the same, but this time he holds you like he’s trying to burn his brand into you, leave an imprint of bruises around your waist so you ache every time you move tomorrow morning. “Fuck, jiejie, your mouth—”

“Mmhmm,” you hum into his mouth, shoving one thigh between his legs so you can get a good seat on Marius’ thigh. It’s as if Marius has a direct line of sight into your mind—he hikes you up on his thigh so the hard line of his muscle presses right into the swell of your clit, and you groan out loud as you start rocking against his thigh. 

Fuck, you think you could cum like this. Marius’ hands have dropped lower, cupping the curve of your ass and every squeeze he makes goes straight to your cunt like there’s a livewire connection. He pulls you so high up that you’re struggling to keep your toes on the ground, and Marius is practically pulling you back and forth on his leg, helping you rut against him. 

His breath is hot. His kisses are searing, and it feels like there’s a nonstop feedback loop where your arousal pours into each other over and over again. It’s a fire in your gut, threatening to eat you alive, and when he pulls back to catch his breath, he immediately bows down to lick against your jaw. 

Marius sucks at your skin, bullying a bruise into the underside of your jaw. He isn’t satisfied with just one, and he just keeps going down the expanse of your neck, biting at any patch of unblemished skin. 

“Baby,” you whisper, one hand trailing down to press your palm over the tight bulge begging for attention. The lightest touch is enough to make Marius groan, hips stuttering as he chases your touch. “Can I—can I touch?”

Marius freezes for a heartbeat. Before you can second guess yourself, he moans into your neck, hips jerking as he pushes his clothed cock into your palm. “Yes, yes, yes,” he chants, nodding while avoiding eye contact with you.

His ears are crimson. So cute, you can’t help but think through the fever in your mind. It’s almost too easy to find your way around the button in his pants, and there’s some trouble with getting the zipper down from how hard he is. His briefs get caught for a moment, long enough to make Marius groan from frustration, but you shush him with another slide of your hips, cunt wet enough to drench his slacks, and Marius shuts up. 

“Good boy,” you murmur breathlessly, arching your back so you get a better angle to grind your clit against his thigh. “Be good, come on, let me—”

Unfortunately, there are no flaps in briefs for you to pull his cock out from. You reach in instead, shivering at the proper weight of it in your palm—skin on skin, you think deliriously to yourself, cunt clenching at the feeling of Marius’ cock in your hand. His cock, so thick that you can’t even really wrap your fingers around it properly, and the head is dripping. 

Marius sucks in a tight breath, cursing as he cants his hips up, almost bouncing you on his lap from the force. 

“Jiejie,” he begs, plaintive and desperate. “Nngh, please, the tip, you need to—fuck, I’m not going to—I’m going to cum, jiejie…”

And you stop thinking. You grab one of his hands and drag it to your front, so commandingly that Marius’ head flies up. His eyes are red, lips parted as he sucks in a shaky breath every time you swipe your thumb across the sensitive slit at the head of his cock. 

“In, inside,” you whine, rising as high as you can go on your toes. It’s not very high, given how far up Marius has pulled you onto his thigh, but it’s enough for your to drag his long fingers under your skirt and press them up against your cunt. 

Marius’ eyes are blown wide. “In-inside?” He stammers, fingers crooking automatically to press against the throbbing bud of your clit. Such clever fucking fingers, already familiar with the shape of your cunt to know where your clit is. 

Without needing much direction, he uses two fingers to drag your soaked panties to the side and rubs the knuckle of his index finger against your pussy. 

“A-ah,” you cry out, hips jerking. Fuck, you understand now why Marius reacted like that when you got your hand on his cock—there’s something about the texture of his skin, the calluses on his fingers that’s stroking the sides of your pussy, the sheer heat radiating off him—and the knowledge, the knowledge that it’s his hands on your cunt. After months of frotting, the most you’ve done being Marius’s palm flat against your cunt while you held eye contact and grinded against his shaking palm until you cummed—

“Inside, baby, come on,” you plead, rocking your hips insistently against his curious fingers. 

Again, it’s like Marius gets you. He sinks his index finger in; you think he wanted to go slow, because he tentatively pressed up into your cunt, but you’re greedy and you’ve been thinking of being filled since Marius made that joke about putting you up against a wall and you whine, rocking forward until you sink down, down, all the way down to the base and Marius’ breath is hitching in his throat. 

“You’re—” his finger bends, the tip brushing against this spot inside you that makes your entire body shiver, threatening to bend in half from the electricity that surges through you. “Shit, you’re—fuck, jiejie, you feel fucking incredible.”

“One more,” you beg, holding his wrist in place while you clench around his finger. Christ, you didn’t think it could feel this good. It’s so foreign, so much longer and thicker than your fingers—and again, the knowledge that it’s Marius’ hand, Marius’ finger is enough to make your gut tighten and sparks burst at the very end of your fingertips. “One more and my—”

You break off, thighs trembling when he swipes against your swollen clit with his thumb.

Marius groans at the sight of you, leaning in to bite at your lips. “One more and my thumb on your clit? Is that what you want, jiejie? Is that what you need?”

“Mmhmm—ahhhhhn, fuck, Marius—please, please, I’m so fucking close—!”

You’re not even sure if you’re still stroking the length of his cock. All your senses have narrowed down to your cunt, the pressure on your clit and the way his fingers have gained confidence with every stroke—he fucks up into you with such surety, so certain that he knows exactly where to hit to get that same, body shivering reaction from you.

The worst part is, he does. It barely takes one, two, three strokes while he whispers filthy things about how hot and wet and slick your cunt is, about how it’s soaked through just for him, about how he wants to bury his face in it, please jiejie, please let him put your thighs around his ears and eat you out, and you’re gone. 

It hits you so hard you think you almost pass out. The ascent comes too quickly; it almost feels like the orgasm is ripped from you from clever hands that know you better than you know yourself. It leaves you breathless, your entire body jerking uncontrollably as you whine, pussy clenching around those two thick fingers buried in your cunt. You’re mumbling nonsense, not even sure what you’re saying as your cunt gushes around Marius’ ruined pants and when you resurface, Marius looks at you like you’re the second coming of Christ.

It takes you both a while to get your breathing under control. Marius recovers first, gently sliding his fingers out of your cunt. You’re a little embarrassed at the absolute mess you’ve made, but Marius eyes the wetness dripping over his palm, down his wrist, and decides to drag his tongue along his skin to lick it all up.

He even looks right as you as he does it. The sight is enough to make your clit throb, as if gearing up for a second round. Oh, you could definitely do a second round, but you think you’d prefer for it to be in a room with a bed and not a garage.

Almost absentmindedly, you start to rub your thumb against the cockhead in your grip.

“F-fuck,” Marius groans lowly, free hand reaching out to grab your wrist. “Wait, wait—nnngh, sensitive. Give me a moment.”

You pause. You look down.

His briefs are stained. There’s a massive wet spot at the front, and when you drag your fingers out, they’re coated in a sticky, white fluid. 

You look Marius in the eye as you, too, lift your fingers to your lips. You stick your tongue out, wiping the threads of cum on your tongue so Marius can see how white looks in your mouth—and he flushes even redder than he already is, eyes darting away before darting back, as if he can’t decide whether he wants to look or not—and then you swallow. 

Marius is speechless for a while. 

“That was really hot,” he says eventually, voice hoarse. “I—fuck, jiejie, I can go again. I’m serious, just give me a minute.” 

You suck on your fingertips for a moment. You’re clearly ready for a second round, but you know he gets more desperate when you keep him hanging. And a desperate Marius is always a delight to work with. 

“Bedroom?” You suggest, and your cunt tightens at the way his eyes immediately go dark with desire.

==

© rrrrinmaru 2024 | no unauthorised publication or reproduction allowed

[azure-cherie]

PAC : General messages for you

Hello loves , i hope you are doing well 🥰❤️ , choose with your intuition, take what resonates and leave the rest since this is a general pac , you can choose multiple and choose another if one doesn't resonate with you . Hope it helps 😉

⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ 🔮⭑�� 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ 🔮⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ ⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 🔮𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ ⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 🔮𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ ⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 🔮𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ ⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳ 𓂃 ⴰ ࣭͘ 🔮⭑ุ 𝁼 ✷⭑ࣶࣸ ֺ✦⸼࣪⸳

Pile 1.

You are going to face some challenges soon however you should know that you're fully capable to face each one of them i feel the challenges are either financial or educational , you need faith the most this time and it will be provided by someone close to you , there is a chance of unexpected help coming to you , be mindful and beware you are manifesting great things , it's just the tower moment before the star arrives , keep pushing through you're almost their . Don't let your ego drive through this situation, listen to someone whom you can trust or listen to your own inner intuition. Your intellect is tested here , practice as much as you can , practice will give you everything, i think this pile also has people who have competitive exams soon , i keep hearing pomodoro technique, recapitulation etc , i also feel really sleep be mindful of your body sleep more , you can remember more that way , don't put so much pressure onto yourself. I feel some people here have been too protective with their resources it's like they never want to share what they have , spirit is telling you to be generous, the more you give the more you get . Like being a miser right now may lead to some financial instability later as a karma i feel, so like to use it correctly. For the other bunch of people i feel there's someone who is coming to aid your financial problems and give you support in that area . I get the message that some people here must change the layout of their door decoration like the elements i suppose , you can install some money attraction signs i feel , change your curtains and also your purse . Gift chocolates to your loved ones and consume walnuts . A deer symbolism is coming through as well . All the best loves.

Pile 2 :

As i start the pile i get the song lyric in my head " I am laughing on the outside crying on the inside coz I'm so in love with you " , i feel recently you have gone through a heartbreak or a breakdown of some kind like something has really shattered for you , however know that this ends here , you have a period of love and stability beyond but it starts with self love first , you will have to work on yourself and heal yourself then only the spirits will send someone to be in your vibration and stay with you or else you are going to attract energy vampires . You will soon earn a reward probably a promotion or a medal or trophy of some kind , it's all a result of your hardwork you deserve it love , you also should work on your mindset a bit , you have great things to receive don't block it by overthinking everything. You could get a new best friend they will be your ride or die and help you in every situation they are wiser and will fight anyone who tries to harm you . They could also be a familiar spirit or someone in the astral realm . Beware of infidel people , okay one second i feel though this friend of yours is coming in your life , in the astral realm it could also invite people who are into mischief and pretend to be your friend, you have to be careful of them , like be mindful who you are inviting, use your discernment, you need it now . Try doing some protection for yourself. There's so much celebration around like promotions, spiritual upgrades, even a birth of a child in your family ( i feel they could be the rebirth of some ancestor of yours ) . Btw your lashes are looking great and your skin needs some nourishment. You will be blessed with greater intuition and many great opportunities are coming your way for you to grab them hehe so happy for you .

Pile 3:

New opportunities are coming for you soon , some of you may buy a new house or restaurant , move to a new place or a new college i feel . For some of you a guru is coming to help you , maybe in your spiritual path you have met some weird people and that's why you have lost your faith in gurus however the next person is divinely sent and is here to help you , it could be an archangel as well . If you are waiting for initiation into a spiritual field you will be getting it soon , there could be shamanic experience for you in about 8 months to a year. Look at you getting the rewards for your hardwork look at your smiling face you deserve it all , i think your past good actions will be rewarded soon , your rewards were delayed or are being delayed because of your limiting beliefs , let them go and see it coming through. There's someone who is going to reconcile with you after a long time , i think you should stay away from them , they are just adding upto your busy life , you should be focused on your goals for now , i mean you can still let them in but are you ready to take the burden they bring. Pay attention to your dreams maintain a journal , they are so important to you right now , people have been communicating to you but because you have been kind of distracted you haven't been receiving the messages, take some time to immerse yourself into transcendental meditation i feel it will help . You are going to completely transform yourself it's going to be so good for you love . You're coming out of the period of stagnation and giving yourselves the world and wait wait you could get a partner as well , loves around the corner babes !!!!!! You could get married if you're also looking for it :) . Love love love for you.

Pile 4 :

Things have been chaotic for you lately and yes i feel someone has been trying to do magic on you for your downfall could be a young women who is really jealous of your success or your beauty, in the past you may have someone whom you both used to love and now they chose you over them so they are doing this to be resentful against you this also could be someone who is very jealous of your wealth. Some people around you feel you have let the success around you get to your head , you might have lost some friends you were genuine, you should ground yourself now . Good things are coming for you as well like new projects and investments . Something about jewellery youll be gifted soon, you can start a jewellery making business it will be successful i feel so . Even though the other person has been trying so hard to see you fall , the universe is saying you must learn to protect yourself, don't be unbothered do something about it soon it will help really , your hope is the way through, you will get through this , there are some losses and they are unavoidable, it's a rock bottom thing you have to reach in some sphere of your life , for example: your career field could flourish but the other fields are going to be in a low state , it could differ from person to person. You will go through minor conflicts, you really need protection, whoever is doing this against you wtf they're nasty as hell , they have a lot of power but idk why are they using it against you coz I feel this is affecting you in ways you don't even understand, you feel as if it's your karma but it's not it's actually ulterior forces . Surrender to the spirit and ask your guides or the gods you pray to for help , you could do some protection spells as well so it ASAP . The good thing here is after this ends , you will go through a major change in your life for the better , you will become a better person and will establish yourself more . I get you might buy a car soon , some of you could also get famous for your strength and for having a beautiful body like a modelling contract i guess . Sending hugs .

Thank you for reading 🧡 have a great day/night ahead ✨✨✨

[missvelvetsstuff]

No Benefits

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Reader and Bucky are best friends until a drunken hook up. Bucky wants a friends with benefits situation because he doesn't feel ready for a relationship but reader knows that will lead to a broken heart.

Then Sharon Carter comes to work with them.

Notes: Steve and Tony are around but retired, everything else is mostly canon

Chapter 8

Warnings: swearing, angst, references to sex

The compound was tense the week after Cookie left. Tony was still pissed that she was gone and he couldn't get his favorite cookies. On top of that, fixing the Avengers gym was a major undertaking thanks to the holographic projectors that were used for team training simulations. Tony stood and watched as Bucky did most of the clean up before the tech team went in to replace everything he had destroyed.

Everyone was walking on eggshells as they waited for Nick Fury to return from off world. Of course he already knew what happened but was looking forward to bitching out the people who pushed her to leave. He was due sometime this week.

Sharon tried to get close to Bucky but he wanted to wallow by himself. He also shunned Nat who tried to distract him with her Widow seduction techniques. Anytime they were in the same room with Bucky, they were trying to get his attention. They would flirt, wear sexy and revealing outfits, act helpless so they could turn to him to open a jar or reach a higher shelf or something equally dumb. Bucky didn't really see through their efforts like the rest of the team did, he just didn't care what either of them said or did.

One morning Nat slid up to Bucky and started rubbing his arm as he drank his coffee. He looked at the hand on his arm then picked it up and pushed it away from him like it was diseased. Sharon stepped in and tried to get between him and Nat but he rebuffed her as well. It ended in a fight in the common room, both women ended up in medical, Sharon had a broken nose while Nat had cracked ribs and both had various scratches and bruises.

Bucky had just turned away from them and leaned on the counter to finish his coffee, seemingly oblivious to the women fighting right behind him.

Tony had enough and had Friday lock both women in their own rooms until Fury returned and decided what to do with them. He snapped at Bucky "I'm getting really sick of your little harem with their attempts to seduce you and fighting with each other. You need to find a way to convince them you aren't interested."

Bucky shrugged "I don't know what you want me to do, Stark. I don't speak to either of them, except to tell them to leave me alone and I don't do anything to encourage them. I don't want either of them and I keep telling them but they won't stop." He sighed "I just want Cookie."

The morning after Cookie went to the Harlan Thrombey book launch, Bucky was sitting next to Steve, both eating the omelettes Sam made for them, when Nat entered the room "Gee Barnes, looks like your precious Cookie has moved on already."

Bucky sighed and shook his head but didn't say anything.

Nat took that as a sign to keep going "She ended up in the gossip pages, seen leaving a book release party with Boston's most eligible, and notorious, bachelor." She smirked when she heard Bucky's breath catch "Ransom Drysdale has a different debutante, model or actress on his arm every week but this new woman is a mystery." She quoted the article she was reading on her phone. "There's a bunch of pictures of him with other women. Cookie was definitely a step down for this guy."

She snapped at Bucky "Why are you pining for some dumpy little analyst when I'm right here?"

Bucky could feel his control waning he turned and snarled at her "I don't fucking want you! Leave me alone. What the fuck are you doing out of your room?"

Nat shrugged "I have my ways"

Tony skidded to a stop, out of breath "There you are, Romanoff. Do I need to put you in a holding cell? The big guys room? Stop trying to stir up more trouble and leave Barnes alone!"

Nat scoffed "Fine, I'll go." She rubbed her shoulder against Bucky and purred "You know where to find me."

Bucky pulled away from her, then looked over at Tony in shock, he never imagined Tony would stand up for him. He softly spoke "Thank you, Tony."

Tony nodded "I think we need to have Romanoff and Carter checked by medical again."

He looked at Bucky and smirked "You're not hideous but they have a level of obsession with you that doesn't seem natural. I want to be sure they are both completely clear of that serums influence before we even consider putting them back out in the field."

Bucky nodded, thinking "It's interesting that I'm fine and we haven't had any problems with Yelena, maybe she'll know something more about that serum and the 'cure'."

Tony hummed "Well, you have the super soldier juice and they mentioned having to dose you repeatedly but yeah, maybe Yelena can shed some light. Friday, where is Miss Belova?"

"She's in her quarters, boss. She hasn't left since returning from kidnapping Cookie."

Tony nodded at Bucky "I'll let you know if I find anything. If Romanoff bothers you, tell Friday and we'll put her in a holding cell until Fury returns."

After talking to Yelena and consulting with Bruce and Dr Cho, And a trip to Antonia's holding cell, Tony discovered that Antonia had used an updated version of the serum after Yelena released all of the widows. The cure worked but only partially, and it seemed that the orders that Sharon and Natasha had been given were still floating around in their heads, making them act out. Yelena had voluntarily locked herself in her room after all the drama with Antonia, as she took being controlled again very hard and didn't trust herself.

Tony called the team to move Nat and Sharon to holding cells since Nat had escaped her room once but when they went to find the women Sharon was still in her room but Natasha was nowhere to be found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That same morning, outside of Boston...Cookie woke up, closing her eyes as quickly as she opened them. Too bright, the room was all windows. She groaned as she became more aware, she felt some new aches in her body, most noticeably between her legs. She also felt an arm around her waist and that she had no clothing on.

A warm body behind her moaned "Relax. It's early and Sunday." Pulling her closer.

Cookie turned to look at him, in the early morning light and with his messy bedhead, she realized the man looked a lot like Steve Rogers. The thought made her giggle, until he turned her so she was facing him and pulled her close until she felt his morning erection pressed up against her "I know you're not laughing at me, sweetheart." He started kissing down her neck and grinding up against her until they were caught up in each other again.

A few hours later Cookie felt her stomach grumble "Ransom" she whispered with no response "Ransom."

She pushed on his shoulder and he groaned "nooo"

She started tracing down his side until he choked back a laugh and grabbed her hands "What is it, Cookie? I'm tryna sleep here."

"Ransom! I'm hungry so you need to feed me or I need to go home and get some food."

Ransom started pushing up against her "I've got something to feed you, right-"

Cookie elbowed him in the ribs "Really Ransom? What are you, 12? I need some food." She sat up "I should get home, I've got chores to do"

Ransom scoffed "Chores? That's what maids are for."

Cookie got up and found her clothes "Yeah, well not all of us have trust funds so we can afford to hire help."

He sat up and watched as she dressed.

Once she was somewhat respectable looking, for a walk of shame, Cookie turned to Ransom, who had started playing with his phone once she was dressed. After leaning down to give him a kiss she stood to leave "Thanks, Ran, I needed that. It was fun. Maybe I'll see you around."

Ransom looked up "Do you need a ride or something?"

Cookie smiled "No, my uber is almost here, I'm good."

He leered at her "I don't do relationships, baby, but you have my number if you wanna do it again."

She giggled "Yeah, sure. I'm going to wait out front for my car, so I'll see you."

When Cookie arrived home she took a long hot shower and went over her memories of the last 24 hours. She certainly never expected to meet Ransom Drysdale and spend the night with him. His reputation was justified, the man had a wicked tongue and impressive stamina for someone with no enhancements. He definitely satisfied but wasn't someone to get caught up with, as his reputation also warned. She wasn't in Boston to find a new man anyhow, she was getting over one. He didn't compare to Bucky but she tried not to think about him, everything was too confusing and messy.

Cookie sighed, she missed him and the friendship they had before Sharon showed up to ruin everything. Even though she knew it wasn't really Sharon's fault, Cookie couldn't help the anger that tried to bubble up. She pushed it back down as she dried her hair and went downstairs to find something to eat.

Cookie didn't feel up for cooking so settled for a bowl of cereal, sat at the dining room table and picked her phone up only to be hit with dozens of notifications. She felt her stomach drop, apparently Ransom was big gossip and the new unknown woman he left the book launch with was Boston's biggest mystery. Some of her coworkers were asking if it was her while Annie just tagged her with a winky emoji. Maria Hill texted a question mark and 'call me'.

Cookie's head fell into her hands, she knew she wasn't in any trouble but hadn't expected her little fling to get so much outside attention. This was a potential complication that she didn't need. At least she knew Ransom was on the same page and didn't expect anything more from her.

She jumped when her phone rang but was relieved to see it was Sam.

"Hey babygirl, sounds like you're having some fun in Boston. Don't forget us little people while you're hanging with the world famous writer and his family."

Cookie laughed "Please, it was one party. I'm still the nerdy intel analyst you know and love."

"Well I hope so. You didn't hear it from me but Robocop is turning green."

Cookie scoffed "Right, he has them to keep him occupied."

"Yeah, they are fighting over him and he's ignoring them. It's almost entertaining, at least until I had to help pull them apart. I got scratched in the face, those ladies are ruthless."

Cookie laughed "Poor, poor, Sammy. Beat up by those mean ol girls. I'm sorry I'm not there to stitch you up."

"Pffft, wasn't all that. Just annoying." Sam whined "I miss you, when are you coming home?"

Cookie sighed "This is my home for now. I miss you too Sammy but the compound was just too much. You should come here, there's lots of history."

They ended the call with Sam promising to visit when he could get away after Cookie told him she would make his favorite cookies.

After they hung up, Cookie started going through her mail. A plain white envelope with the compound as the return address caught her eye. The simple block writing made her heart race as she realized it was Bucky's writing. It was the first time he'd tried to reach out to her since the night they spent together and she was afraid he was finally rejecting her friendship outright instead of just ignoring her. Being ignored had hurt but there had been some hope, however foolish it might have been, especially after learning that he had been drugged, but if he told her he didn't want her in this letter that would really be it.

Cookie's mind came up with all sorts of awful things he could say and what his words could do to her and she felt a panic attack crawling up her spine. She dropped the letter like it was on fire and backed away without opening it. She wasn't ready to read what Bucky had to say yet and left it on the table as she started her laundry and straightened up her townhouse.

@erelierraceala @capswife @ozwriterchick @cjand10 @wintrsoldrluvr @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @browneyedgrli @greatenthusiasttidalwave @hhiggs @dontworryboutitsweetheart-blog @behindmygreyeyes @pattiemac1 @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @calwitch @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 @ordelixx @blackhawkfanatic @casey1-2007 @scott-loki-barnes @selella @hiireadstuff @winterschildren8

Every time she walked past the table she could see it out of the corner of her eye. It seemed to grow and catch her attention no matter where she went in the house but she just couldn't bring herself to open it yet.

Chapter 9

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 15: Feral FOMO

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

"Llllleeeee--- ohhhh? Llleeeo! LEO!" Mikey shouts, tail flapping wildly and threatening to smack someone upside the head.

"You did it, bud!" Leo squeals, grabbing Mikey and hugging him close. "Ahh, music to my ears! My name has never sounded so good!"

Mikey giggles and sqeaks with joy before pointing to Donnie.

"Ee! Eee!" he says, hoping they get the hint.

"You wanna learn Donnie's name?" Raph asks. Mikey nods.

They spend the next ten minutes working on enunciating the 'D' in 'Donnie'. It's harder than they expected, and Mikey mostly uses the 'T' sound as a cheat. His voice is gravely and scraggly, worn out and scratchy. But it's there. Just a little out of use.

The vocal exercises and enunciation techniques slowly start to get on Mikey's nerves. He's trying, it's just so hard! And to him, he thinks he IS saying properly, it sounds right! But not good enough for the others.

But it's worth all the irritation, because when Mikey finally makes that 'D' sound, the room erupts into cheering. Mikey is elated.

The rest of the afternoon is spent teaching Mikey to speak again. They focus on sounds, pronouncing them as best as possible. Mikey understands the language, he just has to re-train his throat and vocal chords and tongue. But by lunchtime, he can say various basic words and phrases, such as his own name, Leo and Raph and Donnie and Splinter and Casey, food and cold and human, hurt and happy and scared and angry, among others. Simple things to help him express himself in quick moments. He's getting the hang of it pretty well.

Lunchtime is fun, Mikey shows off his new vocabulary to Casey, who he was calling male human until he learned his actual name. Casey looks a little hurt by that admission, but is blown away when Mikey says his actual name to him, not just signing! Splinter actually starts crying when he hears Mikey's voice, withered and hoarse as it is.

After lunch, Donnie insists on doing some work and suggests that Mikey have fun with the others, looking at Leo specifically.

Leo takes the hint and goes to get a bunch of puzzles, books, memory games, etc. Things to help Mikey exercise his brain.

Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Casey try to work out a huge jigsaw together in Mikey's room. Mikey seems to understand it well, his eyes moving fast and brain piecing it together. His problem-solving skills are on point. The only issue he comes across is getting to pick up the pieces. His talon-like fingers are too big and sharp, he ends up tearing the paper designs on top of the puzzle pieces. The others help him as much as they can, and soon enough they're halfway through.

Until Donnie walks into the room with an enormous grin on his face.

"If I might have your attention for a moment, I believe I have created something quite ingenious!" he states with excitement.

Mikey knows this excitement, he recognizes it well. He remembers having this same excitement whenever he finished a really good drawing or came up with some new... what was the word... razzmatazz!

It's why he and Donnie hung out a lot before... they were both imaginative creators, and wanted to share their work with people who they knew would appreciate it.

Mikey jumps from his seat and runs up to Donnie, purring and circling around his feet in anticipation.

"D-Dee! Dee make? Mikey see! Mikey see it!"

Donnie smiles enthusiastically and leads him to a room filled with ramps and skateboards. The rec room. They look around in confusion, wondering what Donnie's come up with this time. Dee halts, turns around dramatically, and points upwards.

Mikey cranes his neck and gasps in pure delight.

From the ceiling is hanging hoops, bars, levers, huge tubes with windows, rope swings, ladders, and even a slide! Donnie made him a jungle gym!

Leo whistles in astonishment.

"Geez, Donnie, when did you have the time to make this?"

"After the conversation about the importance of physical exercise yesterday, I got to work on blueprints and designs. I made most of the materials last night, and finally finished setting it up about half an hour ago. It is ready for use!"

He turns to his mutated brother.

"Would you care to do the honour of breaking it in?"

Mikey shrieks in delight and rushes for the gift his brother made him. He leaps up and grabs onto the rope dangling from the ceiling, scrambling up with light speed and swinging as he does. He jumps from the rope to a tube tunnel, scurrying through it and then leaping to the monkey bars, doing all kinds of gymnast moves and even using his tail as an extra arm before swinging to the slide and whooping on the way down.

"Well, that didn't take long," Leo jokes.

"Do you like it?" Donnie asks with anticipation in his voice.

Mikey squeals and shrieks in delight, rushing to his brother and pouncing on him, twirling around and around in his arms.

"MIKEY LOVE!!! Dee make... make Mikey happy! Mikey LOVE DEE!!"

Donnie grips him tightly, hoping to hide the tears in his eyes as his little brother shouts in his ear. He doesn't care, he doesn't mind. Anything for Angelo.

Mikey lets go of Donnie and dashes back to the upside down jungle gym and plays with it over and over again, looking down at them from the windows in the plastic tunnels and chirping at them, as if asking them to join in the fun.

Leo smiles and ribs his twin.

"Well done there, Don-Tron."

.

.

.

"How's its heart rate?"

"Doing well, Dr. Timothy."

"Good. Dr. Chaplin is coming in for an examination, you know how invested he is in our little pet project..."

Mikey runs as fast as he can on the treadmill. He's not getting tired, but he is getting bored. You can only run in place for so long... Cords and suctions and beeping things are attached to his wrist, chest, neck, and head as he runs and runs and runs. There are numbers on the small digital screen connected to his arm. The numbers are pretty high, at least that's what the doctors say.

"80 mph and going steady, Doctor."

"Wonderful! And how long has he been running for?"

"Almost twenty minutes... we've only just started."

"Good. Keep it up, Abigail."

A door opens and another man in a white lab coat walks in.

"Ah! Dr. Chaplin! Good to see you..."

"Mmm. Dr Timothy, Dr. Finn," the man hums, his gaze fixated on Mikey. "How's our little miracle monster doing?"

"Wonderfully, considering we've completely rewritten his DNA and molecular structure. We're testing endurance now. He's holding up fairly well -- health is good, stamina great... he's lost a lot of weight, though."

"Will this be an issue, Dr. Finn?" Chaplin asks, turning to look at the young woman with a tablet.

"Not to my knowledge. If it goes down any lower though, we may have a problem."

"Hm. Keep me updated on that. We want him healthy and strong. Speaking of which, let's place him in the Interaction room after this, Prof. Honeycutt has been good enough to create a new batch of machines for the training simulator, and I would like to see how this 'Mikey' creature handles them."

Abigail Finn nods and turns her attention back to Mikey. This poor dumb animal has no idea how terrible his day is about to get...

.

.

.

Mikey is dozing off a bit, letting his thoughts seep in like molasses, slow and sticky and enveloping him completely.

He had been enjoying the privacy of the tubes, resting in them for a bit as his mind wandered and he watched Raph and Leo teach male human Casey how to skateboard. They'd been doing that for a while, and it is now early evening, possibly around 5PM or so...

He comes back to reality when the memory of the labs is interrupted by April calling for Leo.

"Leo! Hey, 'Neon Leon'! Where IS everyone?"

"Rec room," Leo shouts back.

Mikey pokes his head out of the aperture and watches as April runs in, sees the jungle gym and stops to point at it, her mouth opening in surprise as she wants to ask a question before shaking her head and staying focused on topic.

"Leo, Cass just texted me -- there's an issue happening at the Chelsea Piers! It looks like that komodo-mutated Kristoff Van Bradford, and all-star player turned billionaire owner-slash-coach-slash-recording artist, Tim Dunkman!"

"Those guys?" Leo asks, riding his board up the skate ramp and landing with a twist. "Wow, whou'da thunk we'd hear from them again!"

"So I guess it's hero time, huh?" Raph calls back, jumping down from the opposite ramp and tossing his skateboard onto a nearby bench. "Alrighty then! Let's get our gear and --"

Raph pauses, and turns to Leo.

"Sorry. Uh, what's the move, leader?"

"April, text Cass to try and hold them off but stay safe," Leo responds after thinking it over. "We'll be there soon, just need to figure out a few details."

"On it!" she calls, grabbing her phone out and typing quickly.

"Okay, next up... someone has to stay and keep Mikey company."

Mikey yells his protests, swiftly clambering down from the jungle gym and expressing his utter disinterest at being left behind. Leo seems to ignore him as Casey walks over.

"I can stay, if you need me to..?" he offers.

"Great. Mikey, is that okay with you? Do you feel comfortable with CJ?"

Mikey utters sounds and scoffs as he tries to think of words that can help.

"Mikey... g-go! Mikey... angry, Mikey go! Mikey... not love alone, Mikey go w-with brothers! Mikey... ssss... ssssstttt... stttrrrong! Mikey strrrong, Mikey not, not..."

"Weak?" Raph offers, trying to help with word association.

Mikey nods at Raph. "Mikey... help! Mikey good help, Mikey not weak!"

"It's not about strength or weakness, bud," Leo says, crouching to lay a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I just don't want to risk losing you again. And I 100% believe that you could kick their butts no problemo, but you need your rest. The last thing you need is to go on a mission and risk getting hurt while you're still recovering."

"Awwwww!" Mikey whines loudly.

"No buts, mi hermanito," Leo says firmly, standing tall. "You're staying here for now. We'll only be gone for a short while, and then we'll be right back."

Mikey pouts and crosses his arms, hoping this will change their minds. It doesn't, and Leo starts to lead Raph and April out of the room to go and fetch Donnie.

Mikey chirps sadly at them and tries to follow before Casey places a hand on his shell, causing him to pause. Mikey whimpers at him, begging him to stop them, or let him go. But Casey doesn't lift his hand. He strokes his shell softly, but seems kind, sympathetic. Mikey sits.

Mikey gazing sadly as his brothers walk out carrying weapons. Donatello stops to glance back at Mikey, a worried expression on his face. He keeps walking, though. Mikey follows after them quietly, watching as Leo swipes his sword and creates a portal in the air.

Mikey's eyes widen.

When did he learn to do that?!

The three others step through the portal before Leo, who turns back to see Mikey giving him a sad expression.

"We'll be back soon," Leo promises, a soft smile on his face.

Mikey takes in the smells sifting through the portal. Water. Fish. Smoke from cars and boats and machines, something like rubber from balls like the ones he and the other experiments were given to play with...

Leo steps through, and the swirling blue light vanishes. Mikey yipes a quick whinge, then runs to where it was a second ago.

"Don't worry, they're okay, they'll be back!" Casey promises.

Mikey is not happy about this. He wants his brothers back now.

They left you again. I knew they would. Betrayal. Betrayal. Betrayal.

Mikey starts running immediately.

"Wait, Mikey!! Where're you going?!" Casey calls after him.

Mikey isn't sure. He's following his nose for now... He dashes back and forth, looking for the exit...

He finds the garage where the tank is, but doesn't understand how to navigate the tunnels... Casey runs in after him, out of breath.

"Mi-- wheeze, wheeze -- Mike, Mikey! Would you -- gasp, gasp -- would you slow down for just a second?!"

Mikey can't. Mikey has to be fast. Mikey has to be swift. It will be bad otherwise.

The labs taught us that.

Mikey finds a hatch high up in the ceiling. There's a ladder. Mikey runs to it, despite the shouts of disapproval Casey yells. Mikey makes it all the way to the top and inspects the hatch.

Unscrew. Lift. Simple.

It is simple. Mikey twists the manhole cover and pushes it up. He climbs out and looks around.

LOUD. VERY LOUD.

Mikey ignores the blaring sounds of traffic and the overwhelming smell of bad humans. It's everywhere. He crawls out of the manhole and slinks to the shadows, watching. Looking. Smelling.

Saltwater. Fish. Smoke. Rubber. Look for those. SMELL.

Mikey smells. He can very faintly pick up the scent. He hears Casey yelling after him as he climbs the ladder rungs to give chase. Mikey dashes away over the wire fence behind him before the male human can take him back down.

Mikey is swift and unseen. He manages to snake himself about in secret, dodging all eyes as he follows the scent of saltwater and fish to the pier. Once there, he finds the smells of rubber and smoke. He follows it to a section of the pier where several warehouses and complexes are being evacuated as a reptilian man with long blonde hair, and a tall and thin man wearing a mystic amulet around his neck are demolishing the place.

"Dis will teach you imbeciles to underestimate Kristoff Van Bradford!"

"And I will not let my career be a shambles! If I can't have the basketball championship, then NO ONE CAN! Nobody one-ups 'The Dunk'!!"

The two men create chaos and smash the sports equipment as a young woman fights against them, drawing their attention away from the crowds.

"Kaliiii MAAAA!!" she yells, flipping as she dodges their attacks. "Is that the best you can do?! A BABY COULD FIGHT BETTER!"

Mikey ducks in and watches from a corner. This female human smells like the male human he ditched back at the lair. He wonders...

Mikey suddenly hears a familiar sound. A roar that should terrify him, but instead fills his chest with warmth and a joyful feeling of comfort and safety.

Raph lunges forwards, his entire body covered in red light as a ginormous version of himself that covers him up like armour slams his fist into the komodo man. He flies backwards and lands in a basketball store.

"This would be a lot easier if you'd just show us how to do the Seven-Deadly-Vipers move!"

"Kinda in the middle of something, now!" April shouts back.

Mikey sneaks in closer. His brothers are here. Mikey wants his brothers.

But they betrayed you, and left you...

Never.

Leo slides in, his moves quick and calculated. He slashes the air as Raph throws an entire canister of baseballs into the portal he creates. A separate portal activates across the way and slams into the back of the man wearing the amulet. He yells in pain before clutching the amulet tightly, his body contorting in odd ways before transforming into a giant cyclops creature.

"I am SO glad I kept the magic jewel from that archway!" he cackles, grabbing several of the balls and tossing them back at lightning speed.

Leo dodges them, creating a new portal that lands him on top of the cyclops. As the Dunk struggles to reach behind him and grab the turtle, Donnie creates a huge ray gun that sucks up the Hudson River and shoots it at the two villains, soaking them both and slamming them into a wall. Leo creates one last portal behind the Dunk which reopens above a dented basketball hoop. The celebrity flies into the portal and falls into the net, getting stuck upside down in it. The amulet slips off of his neck and clatters to the floor, the one-eyed monster transforming back into a man with a groan.

"Now that's what I call a slam DUNK!" Leo proclaims proudly, doing a quick fistpump.

Meanwhile, Kristoff Van Bradford crashes into a soccer goal and becomes tangled in the net. Raph grabs the two ends of the goal with his hologram form and wraps them around the man, effectively tying him up.

"All wrapped up, eh?" Raph tries.

Leo boos him in jest.

"The jokes are my thing," Leo scorns. "The hero speeches are yours."

Raph rolls his eyes and smiles as he hangs up the green-skinned actor and pet komodo dragon next to Tim Dunkman so they can't escape.

"Is that everything?" Raph asks.

"I think so," Leo sighs, turning to Donnie. "What's the damage?"

"Structurally, not as bad as it could have been. As for the publicity, I think a few people snapped some chats of us," Donnie informs, clicking away on his wrist tech. "But nothing substantial. We're in the clear. The police are on their way now, so we should get going."

Leo nods, ready to lead the way when he stops, his gaze catching Mikey's eyes glittering from the shadows. He peers at him before his eyes widen and his mouth falls open with shocked anger, realizing what the glowing eyes belong to.

"MIKEY?!"

Uh-oh.

The others turn to watch as Leo storms over to where his brother is hiding. Mikey slowly creeps out with soft chirps, hoping it will smooth things over with his infuriated older brother. It doesn't.

"Mikey, what did I tell you?!" he shouts. "I said you needed to stay home! I said we'd be back soon! How in the f--"

"LANGUAGE!" Raph shouts quickly.

"--ffffffffrrick did you get here?!" Leo grumbles.

"Mikey smell brothers, Mikey follows," he explains. "Mikey no like alone. Mikey want brothers."

He looks at the expressions of the people watching his scolding. They don't like that he's here, either.

"Mikey... do bad?" he asks hoarsely, looking up at Leo with sad puppy eyes.

Leo stares back at him, trying to keep from falling for those big eyes again.

Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it...

He lasts five full seconds before closing his eyes and sighing, relaxing his tense shoulders and kneeling down next to his brother.

"Mikey... I just want you to be safe. I can't lose you again."

Lost. Not betrayed. Mikey was lost?

He stores that information away to ask about later...

In the meantime, Leo hoists him up and lets him ride on his back as he takes him home.

"Come on guys, let's get outta here..." he groans.

"I need to stop at the junkyard," Donnie announces. "I need more supplies for some of my tech."

Leo gives a nod and the group hurry away from the pier, avoiding the crowds as they travel to the Repo-Mantis scrapyard.

Mikey clings close to Leo, feeling guilty for making him mad and disobeying him. He whimpers softly, nuzzling closer and resting his cheek against the area between Leo's shoulder and neck. Mikey vibrates his throat, murmuring his self-pity and hoping Leo can tell how sorry he is.

The group arrive at the scrapyard. It's quiet.

"You think he closed for the night?"

"Not like it matters," Donnie says as he slips through the entrance. "I'm not paying for his scrap metal."

The team wander into the area as Donnie flips his goggles and begins scouting for the items he needs. After a few minutes, something in Mikey stirs. He lifts his head high, sniffing the air.

"Mikey? What's up? Something bugging you??" Leo asks, feeling the change in his attitude.

Mikey's tail spikes raise. The scales on his shoulders lift and curl into quills.

Donnie's goggles sight something in the distance as well, and he grips his tech-bō.

"Be on alert, there's something up ahead..."

Mikey starts to growl.

"What--"

The group are suddenly ambushed as a series of pink and purple people start charging them, climbing from the trash and rubble and rusty metal, roaring and snarling. Their bodies are covered in eyes, globs of putrid flesh and veins, claws that protrude at odd angles, spines and extra arms and faces where they shouldn't belong.

"AGH! Krang zombies!" Donnie screams.

Mikey roars back at the creatures and leaps off of Leo's shoulders at them --

Only to be caught midair by Raph, who grips him tightly and pulls him back.

"RUN!" he shouts loudly.

The team runs away from the horde, seeking whatever shelter they can get. Another group of krangified zombies start running from around a mountain of crushed-up cars, herding them towards the very back of the landfill.

"This way!" Donnie yells, leading them to a small building that Repo-Mantis works out of, trying to open the door. "It's locked!"

Raph creates a giant fist and punches the door down, revealing a cowering Repo-Mantis from the inside.

"Ack!! What're you doing here?!" the mutant bug man yells, jumping away from them. "What the heck is that thing with you?! It's not one of them, is it??"

"Donnie, get the door!" Raph bellows, ignoring the frightened villain and carrying Mikey over to another area of the room and setting him down. "Mikey, you stay here!"

Repo-Mantis stares at the double-mutated freak in fear, slowly scooting away.

"How long have they been here?!" April shouts as she helps to board up the windows, while Donnie creates a special ninpo door that bolts into the framework of the building.

"Three days!" Repo-Mantis sobs. "I've run out of onion rings and pork rinds!"

"You've been holed up for three days?!" Leo yells. "How are we supposed to get out of here?!"

"Why not use your portal swords?" April points out.

"Take me with you!" Repo-Mantis weeps, crawling on his hands and knees as he begs the heroes. "Please! I need to use an actual bathroom so badly!"

"Okay, ew."

"We can't just leave these guys here!" Raph rebukes. "We gotta take care of the horde, or else they'll just go after other innocent people!"

"Right, okay, so if I can make a quick portal to the lair -- April, Cass, you go get the formula and --"

The door shakes. The walls pound loudly, drowning out anything Leo says. The ceiling starts to cave in.

"Here they come!!" April screams.

Raphael stretches his arms out and backs everyone away from the door. One last stand...

The door holds. But the walls and windows do not. The monsters crash through, growling and howling as they all burst into the shabby shack.

Mikey unexpectedly scurries underneath Raph's legs and approaches the zombies. He roars at them, his scutes, scales, spines, and quills raised high and sharp, his talons extended and his fangs to their full length as he snaps and snarls at them.

"Mikey!" Raph yells.

Suddenly, he's back in the hall, and Mikey is about to fight an army of mutant, mangled animals, and turn into something terrifying that he should never have been forced to become...

"No! Not again!"

Mikey roars loudly at the krangified, and the horde freezes...

They stop.

They stare blankly at Mikey, who stands in between them and his family. He clicks angrily at them, his tail cracks like a whip. The horde slowly backs away. Mikey moves forwards, pushing the zombies back and out of the broken down hut they were invading. One of the bigger krangified zombies staggers forwards, growling at him, barking in defiance. Mikey roars in response.

Raph, Donnie, Leo, April, and Cassandra stumble outside to watch this strange altercation. Each member of the team dazed and confused as they watch Mikey. Repo-Mantis just runs the heck away while he still can.

The larger zombie rushes Michelangelo, who is more than ready for him. He swipes his tail under his legs, knocking him down instantly. His tail grabs the zombie and whips him around, throwing him into a pile of metal with a loud crash. The creature staggers and whimpers as it embarrassedly limps to the back of the horde...

Mikey howls at them again, and the krangified stand at attention, cowering under his gaze. Mikey's throat makes a deep and guttural clicking, a warning for them to stay in line or else.

"What... what is he doing...?" Leo asks, voice barely a whisper.

"It... it looks like an animalistic intimidation stance," Donnie responds, just as thunderstruck as his twin.

Mikey snarls at the horde, and they cease their offensive stances, slowly sitting or laying down on the ground at Mikey's command.

Mikey sits down as well, his scutes and scales lowering as he calms.

He turns his head, smiling brightly at his brothers. His tail wags with pride at a job well done.

"Mikey do good?"

Prev || Next

[trashytoastboi]

Day of Envy - Leviathan

~NSFW Alphabet~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning: NSFW content ahead (whole bunch of this and that)

A = Aftercare (What are they like after sex?

🎮 Understands the importance of it and is awkward but sincere about it. He’s usually so nervous and shy afterwards. He’ll ask if you want water, snacks? Pillow talk is akin to small talk in an elevator but he’s trying. Levi means well just lacks a little on the execution side of things, he’s never neglected it though and does make sure you’re well taken care of. Once he gets over his awkwardness then he practices a set routine that encompasses what he thinks you could use at that moment. Also Levi does quite enjoy having a bath with you afterwards. 

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partners.) 

🎮 Call him a perv for this… (he’d probably like it) he’d say his favourite body part is your thighs and ass. He loves things he can grab and squish, and maybe if you’d let him, bite a little. It’s like a stress ball and he’s so pervy when he wants to be, you’d be lazing around, just playing a game and he’s using your ass as his own personal pillow. Makes him absolutely feral when he fucks your thighs or when you grind your ass against him, it makes him cum so easily and he gets so embarrassed. 

🎮 On himself- Levi usually spirals and goes into a bit of self-deprecating territory when you asked this question, if he really had to choose something. He’d choose his tail. He thinks it’s really cool. 

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum, basically)

🎮 So you know how thigh highs exist? And Levi may have asked you to let him cum on them. He’d be rubbing his leaking cock between the tight fabric and your thigh, listening to how you call him a messy lil pervert and he’s cumming bucket loads. If you’re not wearing any of the very many thigh highs that Levi bought for you, then he’s honestly a sucker for cumming anywhere. Inside you, on your face, on your chest, thighs, mouth, ass, literally anywhere he’s not picky. He cums a lot, and it’s not like he’s super pent up anymore but he just cums so much, mini flood alert. Especially when in demon form when you’re dealing with twice the amount from his double dick situation. 

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs.)

🎮  Oh, Levi. You probably wondered what was happening to your underwear. Maybe that pair that you really liked has now suddenly gone missing. Little did you know, more than all that ero-manga, the occasional sexy game, or even character based sexy ASMR, Levi developed a new habit, stealing underwear. Specifically your underwear, could you even imagine how desperately he whimpers and whines, stroking his cocks so pathetically while he holds your underwear. His sense of smell gives the greatest weight to his fantasy, he could only imagine it’s you. His fantasy always changes but circled around what he would do, what he could do. Sometimes he leaves his door unlocked, putting his headphones on and blasting whatever he needs to get him off. He secretly hoped you would walk in, finding him in his shameful state. Berate him, look at him with that disappointment, only feeding into his masochism. What a series of desires such a devious act could elicit. The mere stealing of a piece of clothing has him getting so uncontrollably hard. Whenever he feels it's lost its scent, he'll simply procure another pair. 

E = Experienced (How experienced are they? Do they know what they're doing?)

🎮 He’s the king of experience…At least in the game world. Knows just how and where to touch, the massage and tongue techniques, what works on just about every fantasy race- or how to turn the most uptight person into a total slut for his dick- of course all in his ero games. Levi had no IRL experience, I mean that kind of thing takes two to tango and is hard for an otaku who never leaves his room. Thankfully you’re here now and willing to teach him all the ins and out of the real deal.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying.)

🎮  Any position he can fuck your thighs - Cannot stress this point enough at just how obsessed this man is with, specifically your thighs. He’ll bend you, twist you, hold you, pin you all the while he’s fucking his cock between the soft flesh of your thighs while panting like a dog in heat. He’d even apologize while doing it (he doesn’t mean it, not when it feels that good.)   

🎮 Reverse cowgirl - Ass man. He wants to watch as you sink down on his cock taking every single inch and all the way up again. His fingers would be digging into your ass while he’s helping you with your pace. 

🎮 Doggy - This one is his ultimate…All of his favourite things going on at the exact same time- he can bury one dick deep inside you, and have the other one pleasantly sandwiched between your thighs. 

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? Etc)

🎮 He’s so stiff (no pun intended) most of the time, you find it odd how he’s still that shy considering when it’s nearly a daily occurrence that you’re doing something nasty together. On the other end of it sometimes he’s so ridiculously goofy and it’s never intentional. He’d propose a playlist to enhance your sexy time and it’s just the worst collection of meme songs (he thought he was onto something) 

H =  Hair (How well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? Etc) 

🎮 He’s completely natural down under, his hair is on the straighter side and fine. Colourwise it’s a dead ringer for the colour of his hair on top (which is really pretty colour you might add) Levi has offered to shave or trim should you ever find it to be unpleasant but you don’t mind it! So he keeps it natural. (Secretly uses conditioner a lot though so it’s all soft and stuff) 

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment? The romantic aspect) 

🎮 Levi has all his little ecchi tendencies but overall he’s really sweet and loving in the moment. He always holds you close, kisses you a lot and will ramble on about how much he loves you and how amazing you are. You didn’t expect to get hit with the hundreds of “I love you, i love you so much” the first time you and Levi had sex but it’s so cute to hear how he says it even when his voice gets whinier. 

J = Jack Off (Masturbation Headcanon)

🎮 Did it so often that it’s like every second day when he’s needing a little outlet. Has a whole folder dedicated to his masturbation material. He's so messy about it too. Loves slathering his cock in lube, moving his hand while listening to the wet squelch and feeling how slippery it gets, will draw it out and wait for his favourite moment in whatever he’s watching/listening to until he cums and it’s so messy, Levi will even use his own cum to make it messier and go for a second round.  

K = Kink (One or more of the kinks)

🎮  Voice kink - You know this for a fact, you can make Levi cum just with your voice, he hangs on every word. Oh that slightly angered and stern tinge it takes when you’re upset about something just gives him shivers. 

🎮 Praise kink - Yes while Levi does have a massive thing for degradation and wants to hear you berate him, it coexists alongside a praise kink because telling him what a good boy he is and watching him cum in pants just from you praising him tells you everything you need to know. 

🎮 Uniform/Costumes - This gets honorable mention alongside crossdressing, because Levi just loves dressing up in his cosplays (even the female ones) and you can tell him just how pretty he looks while rubbing him under his skirt. 

🎮 Honorable mention for masochism 

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

🎮 Prefers places he’s comfortable with- aka his bedroom. Especially like doing it in his bathtub ^^ It’s pretty cute honestly, the limited amount of space means the two of you are pressed and squished oh so close together with his tail slithering around you and the cold feeling of his scales just add that extra layer of sensation. 

🎮 Technically his room but VR offers A LOT of options. He could be in the middle of a busy city in his game while he’s fucking you in reality and all the NPCs in the city just go about their little lives while Levi is busy fucking you right there in the middle of the overcrowded city. 

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going?)

🎮 You. Just you. You’re a whole beautiful being and you could just brush your fingers across his knuckles accidentally and he’s hard. You didn’t do anything remotely sexual or hinting and he’s getting hard. You talk with even the slightest hint of strictness to your voice and he’s on his knees. Levi is literally the easiest to get going. It's borderline pathetic. 

N = No (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

🎮 Public stuff Levi just wouldn’t be able to handle the anxiety of it and it would completely ruin the experience, he’d be too nervous and worried that it would overall be uncomfortable and unpleasant for him. Another thing Levi isn’t into is threesomes/sharing of any kind. He knows his sin all too well and the consequences would leave him too envious to find the experience enjoyable, he’d get jealous to see someone else's hands on you, making you moan or pleasuring you. The only exception to the rule is Levi would allow a voyeur, someone to watch. He’d like to see their envy, while he touches you knowing that they could never. 

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

🎮 Him and his little snakey tongue oh the possibilities, he’d really show his skills and work his magic. He’s so dexterous with his tongue, easily wrapping it around things, making it constrict a little or moving it in unimaginable ways. He’d practically be writing cursive with his tongue  between your legs. 

🎮 Receiving is the winner - Watching you messily deepthroat one cock, using your hand to stroke the other, before alternating and making those little gag noises on occasion and he’s just dying while watching you and he can practically see the smirk in your eyes as he’s falling apart or when you kiss both heads at the same time. Watching you struggle to swallow all his cum and it ends up just spilling out the corners of your mouth and then run down your face and chest 

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? Etc) 

🎮 Doesn’t have much self control for his desires and ends up ramming into you, hits it so fast every time you’ll have to make him slow down. Pull his hair, tell him to behave and then call him a good boy for listening. Levi will go the extra mile to cater to your desires and if you want slow he’ll do slow, if you want fast then he’ll do fast. (Although he’s always wanting to just go at it like a madman he’ll control himself if you tell him to) 

Q = Quickie (They opinions on quickies, how often etc)

🎮 He’s a walking quickie- he’s a suggestion away from pulling you into his room. Levi can cum so quickly too, so they’re perfect for him just a little something something before having to bear the pressures of normie society and RAD for the day. Morning quickies are his favourite and best to do it before the two of you get dressed because as mentioned before he always makes a mess. 

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? Etc)

🎮 Levi has so many things he wants to try, there’s a whole list of those he wants to try with you. He’s not careless or stupid about it. Levi is meticulous in researching it, and he’ll tell you straight up everything about whatever it is that he wants to try. He gives you an out and places your opinion above his. Levi is ecstatic if you want to try something and thus far there hasn’t been anything crazy enough to make you decline a request. 

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

🎮 Well he’s a premature ejaculator most of the time. (Makes him cry and shit because he’s so embarrassed and you just tease him and it makes it worse) But he’s got the stamina to make up for it because he can go until you call it quits. He’s not a stranger to overstimulating himself and will keep going. 

T = Toys (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or on themselves?)

🎮 Oh Levi’s naughty little toy box~ That you accidentally stumbled upon and discovered his rather large collection of fleshlights and vibrators. You’ve added to it since then but yes Levi absolutely loves using toys! Gets all excited when waiting to try out a new one, especially likes the ones you use on him. Chastity cages, cock rings, hell even prostate vibrators. Lowkey likes it when you spank him a little too.

U = Unfair (How much they like to tease?)

🎮 Prefers being on the receiving end of teasing and loves it when you’re mean to him and just won’t give in. He’ll beg and cry and you’ll keep denying him, even when he’s sobbing and whining he’s still loving every second. As for being the one doing the teasing, he doesn’t have much patience to do it plus he listens a little too easily to you. If you tell him to stop, then being the obedient cutie he is, he will. (Unless you made him jealous then strap in for some rare dom Levi time.) 

V = Volume (How loud they are? What sounds they make? Etc)

🎮 Whiney, sobs, gasps, the most pathetic sounding moans (but also the most adorable), loads of begging. He’s not loud enough to be considered obnoxious but he’s also loud enough to warrant getting his room sound proofed. He would literally die if someone had to hear him sobbing and begging for you to let him fuck you while you’re telling him to be a good boy and he gets all giddy over that. 

W = Wild Card (A random headcanon for the character?)

🎮 He got so sad when you found out he was stealing your underwear :( not because you find out (he was actually hoping for that) but he was upset because you confiscated all the pairs he’d secretly hoarded thus far (you literally needed your underwear and this man was hoarding them??) It’s actually become like a reward system. Everytime Levi does something hard and goes out of his comfort zone he’ll get a little sticker on a cute card you made him. Once he’s done 10 hard tasks he’s allowed one pair of your underwear. (Rewards systems like games, are a great motivator for him.) 

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on under those clothes?)

🎮 Human form - It’s always the introverted nerdy boys packing the biggest dicks - Absolutely pleasant surprise for you though when you saw just how big Levi was, and honestly wondered how he managed to even hide something that big. Good 9 inches and girthy, prominent veins, downward curve (listen gravity just taking it’s just dues with a dick that big) He’s begging you to please stop with all jokes about him being big. 

🎮 Demon form - Surprise, double the fun. No seriously you couldn’t stop yourself from being floored :0 by the fact that his transformation gave him not one, but two big dicks. As for the physical changes you noticed scales on the base with a few stray ones leading up, and a larger more bulbous tip. 

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

🎮 High high drive - can’t help it, can’t even keep his hands to himself. It’s to the point of where he’s asking you on the daily for a little “quality” time. If you ever have an argument the best thing you can do is threaten sex ban for a week and watch him crumble. It only got worse after you introduced him to all the lovely pleasures of the flesh (is he sure he isn’t the real avatar of lust) 

Z = Zzz (How quickly they fall asleep afterwards?)

🎮 He gets really eepy, and quiet. He’ll seek you out in some way, wanting to lay his head on your chest or thighs, or he’ll pull you close and hold you all snug against him giving you little snuggles and nuzzling into you. The warmth of your skin against his cold body just warms him up and makes him feel so cozy that he’ll be falling asleep quite quickly. 

Taglist: @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf

[beespaceprogram]

Sticker Cutter Research

I was looking into getting a sticker cutting machine, and I decided to start by looking into cricut which is a well known brand. I had a look at what models they had than their feature etc, but what I was most concerned about was their software. Printer companies like to lock you into a defacto subscription to support hardware you don't really own, and as I was to discover, cricut are operating in a similar way.

The cricut software is online-only*. To cut your own designs you need to use their software to upload your art to their server. There's no way to cut a new design without a logged-in cricut account and an internet connection. At one point in 2021 they flirted with limiting free accounts to 20 uploads/month but backed down after huge community backlash, as far as I can tell.

The incident spawned several community efforts to write open-source firmware for cricut hardware. Some efforts were successful for specific models/serial numbers, but require cracking open the case and hooking in to the debug contacts to flash the chip; not exactly widely accessible. Another project sought to create a python cricut server you can run locally, and then divert the app's calls to the server to your local one.

I restarted my search, this time beginning with looking for extant open-source software for driving cutters, and found this project, which looks a little awkward to use, but functional. They list a bunch of cutter hardwares and whether they're compatible or not. Of those, I recognised the sihouette brand name from other artists talking about them.

I downloaded the silhouette software to try like I did w the cricut software, and immediately it was notable that it didn't try to connect to the internet at all. It's a bit clunky, in that way printer and scanner software tends to be, but I honestly greatly preferred using it to cricut's sluggish electron app⁺. Their software has a few paid tiers above the free one, adding stuff like sgv import/export/and reading cut settings from a barcode on the input material. They're one-off payments, and seem reasonable to me.

This is not so much a review, as sharing some of the research I've done. I haven't yet used either a cricut or a silhouette, and I haven't researched other brands either. But I wanted to talk about this research because to me, cricut's aggressively online nature is a red flag. Software that must connect to a server to run is software that runs only at the whim of the server owner (and only as long as it's profitable to keep the server up). And if that software is the only thing that will make your several hundred dollars worth of plastic and (cheap, according to a teardown I read) servos run, then you have no guarantee you'll be able to run it in the future.

Do you use a desktop cnc cutter? What has your experience been like with the hardware and software? Do you have any experience from home printers with good print quality and user-refillable ink cartridges?

* Cricut's app tried to connect to more than 14 different addresses, including facebook, youtube, google analytics, datadoghq.com, and launchdarkly.com. Launch Darkly are a service provider that help software companies do a whole bunch of things I'm coming to despise, for example, they offer infrastructure for serving different features to different demographics and comparing results to control groups. You know how at various times you've gotten wildly different numbers of ads than your friends on instagram? They were using techniques like this to work out how many ads they could show without affecting their pickup/engagement rates. Scummy stuff.

⁺ Electron apps are web-pages pretending to be applications. They use heaps of ram, tend to have very poor performance, and encourage frustrating UI design that doesn't follow OS conventions. Discord's app is a notable example of an Electron app

[convexicalcrow]

I was scared of the piglins at first. The nether is such an awful place, but it's where I find myself trapped, at least for now. I didn't make bases. I carried what I needed and nothing more. Existed off mushroom stew and the occasional pork chop from hoglins I managed to kill with lava. Miserable existence.

I guess it was stupidity as to why it took me so long to understand why the piglins kept getting mad at me. It was the gold, of course. Of course it was. It's such a terrible metal to work with, especially in the nether. It's so hot there the metal loses more durability than it does in the overworld. But I crafted a helmet of what gold I could wrangle, and once I put it on, the piglins smiled. I think I even saw them cheer when they saw me pass. Of course there were other hostile mobs around, but at least the piglins weren't trying to kill me.

I had other problems, like trying to find my way back home. I'd wandered too far, of course, and it's so easy to get turned around. How far was I from home, I didn't know. Didn't dare to find out, if I was honest. That would have brought reality into it. I was just lost and wandering and exploring, just to see what I could find.

-

At one point, I found a bastion. Seen a bunch of them before, of course. I'm not new to this place. Most of the piglins didn't bother me, especially once I took out the brutes with lava so they didn't get mad at me. I wasn't there to steal their gold, just looking for food. I wasn't going to steal it, no, but held up a mushroom, just to see if they might understand.

The piglin near me looked confused. I couldn't understand their grunts, of course. Not then, anyway. Perhaps he thought I was a very strange pig to want to eat mushrooms. But then he gestured to my helmet and tapped it, as if testing it. He shook his head, and grabbed my arm, taking me to his friends.

"I made it," I said, hoping they would understand. "Not very well, though."

My helmet proved quite the amusement for them, though, until one piglin took hold of it, gave it a good look, and then walked away with it. I had been given another helmet at this point, possibly because they felt sorry for me wearing such a terrible piece of kit.

They took me further into the bastion then, where some of the other piglins were sitting down to eat around a blazing fire. Hoglin was on the menu, slowly roasting in the flames. I was offered a seat, and I sat down, glad they seemed to understand.

They talked. Laughed. I wasn't really able to follow much of their conversation. I showed them some of the things I'd found, but they were especially interested in my gold. I felt it only fair if they were repairing my helmet for me. I got some nether quartz, blackstone, fire resistance potions, all kinds of things just for the gold I had managed to collect. I must admit I didn't know at the time that they would trade gold, but I am glad they do.

-

I stayed at the bastion. I know, it sounds crazy, but they took care of me. Gave me food. They could see I had better tools for mining even if they weren't of a material they preferred. Slowly, I was picking up words, too. I hadn't expected them to have language, but they did. The piglin who'd taken my helmet had been teaching me how to forge. He hadn't repaired mine, but instead wanted me to fix it. So I could learn. I'd made it so badly they clearly thought I didn't know how to make it at all.

I found it very peaceful, actually. Of course, I could go to the overworld, and once they realised that, sent me on expeditions for them. I had fixed my helmet by then, but they were more interested in overworld gold, as there was more of it there. They just couldn't survive out there so having me around meant they could get access to it. I found a mesa and brought them back armfuls of gold.

The delight on their faces though! It wasn't just the amount, but the quality, too. They were very impressed at my smelting techniques by now. I was able to make gold ingots to piglin quality standards, and that made me very happy.

-

By now, I had a little house in the overworld, right by the portal that lead to my bastion home. I needed a base camp for all the materials I was gathering, and sometimes I just needed to see the sky. I wished they could see this with me the way I could see their home. But they were scared of the portal, and they would zombify if they went through. The overworld was not for them.

I was speaking fluent piglin by now, though. Something about these piglins just made me stay with them. I helped them rebuild their bastion. Get rid of the holes in the floor and the broken walls and such. They could forge the armour, but I could build. And we made the most glorious bastion.

I was still working on my forging, though. I wanted to make them proud. That I hadn't wasted all my time there, and had learned nothing of their immense skill in creating such beautiful pieces of armour. Because you don't really spend enough time admiring their skill, do you? Not normally, anyway. You see gold, and go the other way. Least I used to, of course. Not any more.

The brutes, of course, will never like me, but they explained it was part of their culture. The brutes kept them safe. The most I got was that I was not immediately attacked on sight, and the other piglins perhaps distracting them long enough for me to get past. I didn't want to kill them if I could avoid it.

-

It felt weird to call the nether home, but that's what it was. I had a stable of striders now, in their own lava-filled pen, and I'd taught the piglins to ride them. In return, I joined them on hoglin hunts and danced and sang with them when we succeeded, bringing back good food for the rest of the group.

And yet the forging remained. I was... I could make things, much better this time, but not to their quality. Not yet, anyway. I was still lacking something. I was working on a chestplate this time, and I had the main basic shape in place. I wanted to make some intricate carvings into it, some light decoration, but it wasn't working out somehow. My teacher was trying his best, but somehow it wasn't clicking.

I returned to that chestplate for days. Weeks, even. Time is hard to keep in the nether. It could have been hours. Doing test pieces and trying patterns and shapes and trying to master the tools I'd been given.

It just wasn't working.

I decided to return to the overworld, go on another gold expedition. I needed some time away from the nether to get my head clear. Obsessing over one piece of armour wasn't helping me get better at it.

-

Villages are always happy places to find. I found one in a spruce forest, and there was a blacksmith there, hanging out a chestpiece she'd made. Really nice carvings on it. I complimented him on her work, and asked if she had any advice as I was trying to learn the same techniques. She seemed delighted to be asked, and we spent the afternoon practicing.

The tools worked different on iron. The iron was strengthened, harder, it took more effort to carve into. Gold was so soft to work with, it was easy to make a mistake. The piece could get so scratched up just by forging it. The polishing took forever.

What she did do, though, was make a small adjustment to my tools. She changed the shape of the blades, and the handles, so they would work better. And she was right. I had a better grip, and the blades worked a lot better.

After another week perfecting my techniques, I was ready to return to the nether, and to my chestpiece.

-

The piglins had missed me, but I came bearing gold, and I was glad to offer it to them. They, of course, showered me in gifts, which I always felt was more than I deserved but I wasn't going to turn them down. I had my own room in the bastion now, where I kept all the trades I'd got from my gold. I was no piglin myself, just someone they liked, but that was enough for me.

I went back to my chestplate, and this time, it all came together.

-

Instead of pity, which I got when I first arrived, when I presented my chestplate to them, their eyes just lit up with joy, and they cheered. They all wanted to see it, inspect it, make sure I'd done as good a job as they would have done.

I knew I was on to a winner when one put it on with care, trying it out. And there were so many cheers of approval. In fact, I never got it back. That piglin wore my work with pride, and I think that's when I felt I'd finally earned my place.

They gifted me a gold sword, one with intricate carvings, and an elaborate gold and leather scabbard. I was one of them now. I was a piglin. I think I always had been, but that's when it felt real. We celebrated that night with a hunt and roasted hoglin, with dancing and singing and cheering. Not even a ghast could bother us now.

[pukanavis]

Ryui Shiramitsu SSR Card Story 「Amidst The Pandemonium」 Track 2

Location: Arataka Amulet Store

Momiji: (...I know he told me to do whatever I want but I didn’t think it’d be this hard. I feel like I’ll prick myself if I’m not careful…)

Ryui: …

Momiji: (I’m not sure if I should ask him a question while he’s trying to focus.)

(Speaking of, Ryui-kun has the technique down perfectly. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if I just asked him for some tips…)

[Option 1]: Ask him directly.

Momiji: Um, do you have any tips? Ryui: Huh? Why’re you asking. Momiji: I was just admiring your work…I thought you might be able to give me some pointers? Ryui: Pointers? There’s not much to it. We’re not on a time crunch or anything so all I’d recommend is to take it slow. Oh, and don’t panic and knock everything over.

[Option 2]: Try to copy his technique.

Momiji: (Now that I pay closer attention, I can see that he’s holding the elastic between his middle finger and his ring finger.) (Oh, I get it! When you hold it like that it straightens out the end and makes it easier to slide the beads on…!) Ryui: You’re trying to mimic my technique, huh? Not bad. There’s no better hack than just copying what someone else does.

Momiji: Y-Yeah, I’ll try that!

(I was going to attempt to copy Ryui-kun’s technique but it’s pretty hard to get the hang of…)

Ryui: Listen, I’d be out of business if a beginner like you could do a better job than me. It’s basically a given that you're gonna struggle.

Momiji: Urgh, you’re seeing right through me…

(To be fair, chances are that I’m not going to do well on my first try at something…alright, I’m gonna power forward.)

Ryui: Just leave it there when you're done. 

Momiji: You’ve already finished yours…!?

Ryui: ‘Course I have, I’ve racked up way more experience than you.

Momiji: (He was so quick with his hands. The design is stunning too..!)

(He might be harsh with his words but it’s amazing how skilled he is at this type of thing.)

I only have a little bit left to go on mine…!

Ryui: …

Momiji: I-It’s done…!

(It looks like it’s seen better days though…)

Ryui: I mean, you did pretty alright all things considered.

Momiji: You mean it…!?

Ryui: But– you’ve got some improving to do before anything of yours can go up for sale.

Momiji: Yeah, you’re right…

Ryui: Alright, that’s a wrap. I’m firing you now so go ahead and head home.

Momiji: Gotcha! Thanks!

Ryui: …And take this.

Momiji: Aren’t these those luxury raisin cookie sandwiches from Hotel Akura…!?

Ryui: Toi wanted to try them so I picked some up on my way back.

Momiji: Oh, so you want me to give these to Toi for you?

Ryu: Huh? It’s pretty fuckin’ obvious that I’m gonna give them to him! You think I’m giving you a free ticket to see how happy Toi’s gonna be when he gets these?

Momiji: ? Then why’d you give them to me…?

(...Oh, waitーHe didn’t exactly make it easy to understand but did he…get some for me too!?)

Ryui: …That’s your payment for helping out today.

Momiji: Thanks, I appreciate it.

Ryui: Mhm.

Momiji: (Maybe he really is a kind person at heart–just with some bad social skills, that is.)

Momiji: (Let’s see…the next member of the Night Squad that I’ll need to have a word with should be Ryui-kun.)

(I’m guessing I'll be able to find him at Arataka? I’ll stop by and pop my head in.)

Momiji: (Oh, Toi-kun is here too.)

Toi: Ani-sama, thanks a bunch for those raisin cookies! They tasted amazing!

Ryui: That's great to hear. I’m just glad I got to see you smile.

Toi: I’ve been wanting to try out that store for ages but they were always sold out.

Ryui: If you like them then I’ll go back and get you as many as you want.

Toi: Yay! Thank you! Next time you go, I want to come with you so that we can try them together.

Momiji: (Those two are always so sweet to each other…Hey—isn’t that the bracelet I made?)

Toi: Oh, is this amulet a new product you’re selling? You picked a pretty eye-catching spot to display it…

Ryui: Ahh, that's just a little custom-made thing.

Toi: It’s a little different from what you usually make but it has a nice style to it!

Momiji: (Despite his criticisms of my bracelet, he displayed it in the front of the store…is this another show of Ryui-kun's kindness, I wonder?)

Back

[strangelysamantha]

HIIII!!!! can you write a JJ x routledge reader where he sees the reader struggling with their curly hair so he helps them? and, if possible, them confessing that they like JJ?

thank you already, i love your fluff concepts!!!

hair tech ❀

jj maybank × curly haired!reader.

warnings: none just cute fluff.

words: 2,249

summary: your hair wasn’t looking the way you wanted, so jj offered to try and learn to fix it. with the newly learned hair techniques, came the exposure of feelings. having to avoid telling john b, he conveniently walks in during the worst time.

request: yes!!

a/n: if you’ve sent in a request, i’m working on them! they will get done! :) i hope whoever sent this actually sees it. i’m worried i waited too long to write these requests :(. i also got carried away with this so hopefully you still like it!

masterlist link

——————————————————————————

“jj my hair is so frizzy!” he frowns, seeing how upset you looked. “i’m sorry. at least i can say with confidence it doesn’t look bad!” he tries to lift the spirits but it doesn’t work. “i guess so, but it could look better.” he sighs, “honey… anything and everything could look better in this world, doesn’t mean much.” the words are more reassuring than you’d like to admit. “thank you.” you look up at him. he smiles, “hey, i can try and help you if you’d like?” he hesitates, “i’ll understand if you say no, i know i don’t know much about hair.” you shake your head fast, “no actually, i would love that.” he bites his lip with excitement. “okay! lead the way.”

you stay sat in front of the mirror, a comb, leave in conditioner, a spray bottle with water, and other assortment of tools are sprawled on the counter top. jj intensely examines every item, he claims he’s just getting a feel of what he’s working with, but you believe he’s trying to memorize what supplies you use so he can beat you to it when it comes to buying them in the future. you blush at the thought.

“so, what i like to start with is spray my hair down with water, comb it out, and then lather my hair in leave in conditioner.” you explain your technique. he nods listening, “have you tried that yet?” he asks. you shake your head, “no, i’m worried if i get my hair wet it’ll just look greasy.” he nods. “is that the worst thing that could happen?” you think for a second, “yeah, i think so. i mean my hair could fall out any minute but, overall i think that my biggest concern is the grease.” he nods. “you look pretty, regardless of if your hair is greasy or not.” you can’t help but look away. “you’re very sweet jj.” your compliment gives him butterflies. he reaches for the spray bottle. he separates your hair, giving each section a sprits. you were worried he’d “jokingly” spray you with water, but he refrained from doing so.

after your hair was slightly damp, he starts to comb it out. you can’t help but ask, “are you enjoying this,” he smiles, “i am. it’s fun.” he waits a second before continuing, “i never thought i’d be doing this which is a plus.” you laugh, “what can you say? it’s always something new for us pogues.” silence settles between you two again, but it isn’t awkward, it’s comfortable.

“can i tell you something?” you don’t know how to break the ice really, but you’ve been dying to tell jj how you really feel. “of course, i’m all ears.” you think for a second, “do you like anyone at the moment?” he smiled and looked down at you, “whose asking?” you roll your eyes playfully, “me, i’m just curious.” he nods, “well, i’m not sure. i don’t think i’m really ready for a relationship. you know, my dad and all that?” he begins putting on the leave in conditioner. “your hair is looking nice! i think it’s my magical touch.” you smirk, “oh yea totally… it’s not the 20 dollar conditioner you’re adding or anything.” he gasps, “twenty dollars!? why?” you shrug, “i’m not really sure. a lot of people with curly hair pay a bunch of money to maintain it.” he nods, “well there goes my plan for buying you more when you run out.” you point at him, “i knew you were looking a little too close at the products!” he sighs dramatically, “you caught me!”

“see and that’s why i like you, you were fully prepared to buy it for me.” jj stopped abruptly. “is everything okay? did you put too much?” he looks down at you, “that’s why you what?” he questions. “that’s why i like you?” you repeat, he looks concentrated. “i can’t tell if you mean, more than a friend?” you stare at him like a deer in headlights. it’s the perfect set up. without thinking of the consequences, you let it out. “i do like you more than a friend. that’s kinda why i asked about your crush.” he smiled at you and lightly used his hand to squeeze your cheeks. “why didn’t you tell me sooner!?” you roll your eyes, “rejection? maybe?” he nodded understandingly. “i forgot that’s a thing.”

“of course jj maybank forgot about rejection.” he immediately backtracks, “oh no i get rejected i just don’t mind.” you nod, “i wish i was that way.” he stares at you, and it’s unreadable. “so?” you question. “so what?” you can’t believe him, “what do you say?” he’s adding the final dab of leave in conditioner, “i say your hair is perfect.” you’ve been too focused on your confession you haven’t even checked on your hair. you look up in the mirror and see that the frizz died down, and the curls were in tact. you jumped up excitedly. “thank you so much!” he goes in for a hug and you happily accept. he continues, “i think you could have done it yourself, you were just frustrated which made it difficult.”

you wait to see if he mentions your confession, and after a few minutes of you two sitting on the couch, semi cuddling in silence, he speaks up. “so, about your confession.” your heart speeds up and you listen intently. “i really like you. but your my best friends brother, and he’d kill me if we dated.” you frown, “why?” he looks around, and gets quiet, “he wouldn’t like the idea of us making out and hooking up.” you sigh, but you understand. they are really close and you didn’t want to get between what they have. he places his hand on your thigh however, and the two of you make eye contact. “that doesn’t mean he has to know.” your shocked at his comment.

“he’d find out eventually which would make it worse.” while john b sometimes isn’t the brightest in the bunch, he notices change. he would easily be able to tell if something was happening between us. “let’s see. if we pretend for a bit, we can think of ways to break the news to him? i mean, he can’t be that mad, he never said when he introduced us that we couldn’t date.” you hear john b and pope talking outside, while the distance you were sitting at wasn’t necessary abnormal, you didn’t want to risk anything. you smoothly pulled your phone out and relaxed on the opposite end of the couch.

the door opened and they walked inside, john b announced his arrival and then laughed when he noticed he screamed for no reason since you both were on the couch together. pope immediately left the room to go to the bathroom. “since when do you guys hang out alone?” john b questioned. you look at him confused. “you told me when i met your friends that you wanted me to get close to them, and now you’re confused as to why we are close?” you laugh at his logic and he shrugs, “jj is different.” jj groans, “thanks man, appreciate it.” you look at your brother, “how?” john b blinks a few times before pointing a finger at jj. “he’s a heartbreaker, and i don’t want you to fall for his charm.” oh the urge you had to just exclaim right then and there that you already had fallen for it. “don’t worry john b, he’s not even my type.” he puts his hand on his hip and questions you. “oh really?” you nod, “yes really.” he laughs, “what’s your type then? who are you crushing on?” you blush, and avoid eye contact with jj, despite the fact you feel his eyes drilling on your skull.

“john b! stop!” you try to deflect but he wasn’t having it. “if you can tell me who you actually like that’s your “type”, then i’ll let it go and i’ll believe there’s nothing going on between you too.” you act confused, but decide to just give in. “well, you promise not to tell him?” you ask. john b smirks, “yes sis, i promise i won’t tell this guy you like him.” to make it more believable you glance over at jj too, “you too jj. promise you won’t tell him.” he’s staring at you, you can tell he’s holding back. “i promise. i won’t tell this mystery guy that he has your heart.”

“okay. well i kinda have a crush on rafe…” to make it more believable you add on, “i was at the beach yesterday.” you were there, so it’s accurate. “rafe was there. he looked so hot, his shirt was off and he was playing catch with topper. the ball accidentally flew my way, and he rushed over and immediately apologized. he then asked if i’d like to join, and i was too nervous to agree, but i told him i’d rather watch.” you glance over at jj, his face stern, his fist hidden from john bs view, was balled into a fist. john b cackles, “rafe! really?” you groan acting embarrassed. “hey! i never said i was proud of it.”

“what do you think of this jj? you’ve been awfully quiet.” john b interrogates jj, not fully sure your crush on rafe was real. “i think he’s a worser heartbreaker than me. and you..” he looks at john b, “should be more worried about him then me.” john b nods, the realization that his sister has a crush on a kook settling in. “oh no! no, not rafe. no way.” you frown and immediately get frustrated. “so you don’t want me to date jj, and now rafe?? who can i date?” he thinks for a second, “i’ll come back to you. let me think.” you lean back onto the couch, “okay, sure.” you cross your arms. “on that note i’m going to take a shower.” you nod and return back to your phone. pope still absent, and john b leaving the room left you alone with jj again. you stay quiet, engulfed in your phone.

he sighs. loudly. you glance up. “yes?” he shakes his head, frustrated. “we need to talk.” he stands up and reaches for your hand. you give it to him and follow him right out the front door, past a five minute walk to make sure everyone’s out of earshot. you stay silent.

“rafe cameron… out of every guy in this shitty town, he’s the one you choose? really?” you smirk, “why, are you jealous?” he stares at you. “yeah i’m fucking jealous. the girl i find out i have a mutual crush with decides five minutes later to go in detail about another jerk off guy.” you frown and walk closer to him. “what happened about lying to john b?” he breathes deeply. “i know. i know. it just? i don’t know why hearing that shit about rafe affected me so much.” your heart is racing. you want to make a move, and the last time you randomly initiated something it went well. “i can make you feel better.” he, still frustrated and jealous, didn’t know what you meant. you put your hand on his jawline, and softly pull him into a kiss. it lasts longer than a first kiss should, but it was soft, slow, and passionate. he groans when you pull away. “fuck. promise me that shit with rafe was fake?” you nod. “it’s fake. when i went to the beach he intentionally hit me with the ball, and all the interaction was him coming to get the ball and then asked me to move because i was in the way. total dick.”

this soothes his mind. “i don’t know why i’m already so possessive over you. you’re not even mine.” you bite your lip and look away from him. “i want to be yours. so bad jj.” his heart drops at your comment and he shyly smiles. “can we kiss again?” he questions you, and you’re so glad he asked. “yes please.” he pulls you in for another kiss. this one more passionate and rougher than the last. you pull away and ask him, “how long have you had a crush on me?” he pretends to do the mental math. “i always thought you were gorgeous when we first met, but for the last 8 months i’ve been so infatuated with you and i’ve been longing to be yours.” you bite your lip. “i’ve liked you since the first day i met you. your blue eyes entranced me and i knew there was no one else i could meet that would ever effect me and give me butterflies like you do.” your words shock him and all he can do is pull you into a tight hug. his muscular arms squeeze you and you inhale his scent. your new favorite place was his arms.

“will you be mine? in secret i mean, until we can figure out how to tell john b?” he was so nervous. you wrap your arms around his neck. “i never thought you’d ask.” you and jj sit farther away from the house, talking. you found yourselves moving closer to each other without even realizing it. by the end of the session, you were in jjs lap, facing the water, his arms wrapped around your torso. you felt safe, he felt at peace.

[cainluvr69]

"The Young Wolf's Eyes Stay Fixed on the Dawn" Cain SSR Card Story - The Greatest Blessing

OF NOTE: There is a little popup before this card story saying it contains spoilers for the associated event, so watch out! (I haven't read the event either yet, so there's a non-zero chance this translation is getting updated once I have!)

✦✧☾✧✦

Cain: So this is where the Wandering Lamentation's…where Renard's remains were found?

Arthur: Yes, where those flowers are. It's an offering.

Now that the Wandering Lamentation's curse had subsided, Cain, Arthur, and I ventured into the forest outside the crumbling city walls.

Akira: (We came out here thinking we could find a memento of Rhody's brother for him, but…)

Cain: The grass is so thick it's hard to see anything. Let me try using magic to look for it.

Arthur: Yes, please do.

Cain: <Gladius Procella> …I think I can feel something from over there. Let's move, guys.

Akira: Okay!

Arthur: Yes, let's!

✦✧☾✧✦

Cain: I felt something right around here. I'm pretty sure it wasn't underground, but on the surface…

Arthur: …Oh! Cain, Master Sage, look over there. There's something stuck in the trunk of that tree.

Akira: Oh, there is! It's…what is that? It looks like a rusty metal pole or something…?

Cain: It's a dagger. It looks like it's a matching set with the sword Renard's ghost was weilding.

Akira: A dagger? I wonder why it's stuck in a tree…ah…

Arthur: …I imagine he also drew that dagger while under attack. It must have been thrown from his hand during the battle.

Cain: Yeah… I think I can pull it out with my magic, so lemme give it a shot.

Cain extended his hand in the direction of the dagger. As if that gesture were one of invitation, the dagger plucked itself from the tree trunk and floated through the air before carefully lowering itself into his palm.

Cain: …And done.

Akira: Thank you!

Arthur: My… Now that I've gotten a better look at it, this rust is a touch extreme, isn't it.

Akira: It really is… Maybe we could clean it up a little bit before taking it back to Rhody? It's not like I know much about blade maintenance, but maybe we could wash it or something…?

Cain: Not washing it, but giving it some proper attention. I do know my way around how to take care of a blade for everyday use. Mind letting me try my hand at it once we get back to town?

Akira: Of course! Please do, Cain.

✦✧☾✧✦

Arthur: Here's some water, Cain.

Akira: I brought a bunch of thin rags, too. Is this enough?

Cain: Perfect. Thanks, both of you.

After we explained the situation, the tavern master gladly lent us a table to use to use. There was a couple small bottles and a whetstone sitting lined up on top of a table sized for four people to sit around.

Cain: Alright. Time to take a crack at this.

Cain began his work with a careful and conscientious hand. He used a powder, stone, and oil, none of which I knew the proper names of, spreading the powder and oil on the blade and then scraping it off, sharpening the edge, over and over. At first it didn't seem like he was having any effect on the rust that pitted the blade, but soon enough, I started to see it begin to flake away.

Akira: Oh…! Right here you've totally taken off the rust! I can see the color of the metal again!

Arthur: It's true! Thank goodness…! Wonderful work as always, Cain.

Cain: Thanks. I had the ins and outs of the proper technique drilled into me all the way back when I was still a page in the Knights. Alright, let's do one last round of sharpening and polish it with oil, aaaand… Here, what do you think? I cleaned it up pretty well, yeah?

Arthur: Oh my…! Amazing, it looks brand-new!

Akira: It's sparkling! …And… (…The blade is a lot smaller than I thought it would be…)

Perhaps it was simply the natural result of removing the rust, but it was a lot easier to see how small it was now that I took another close look at it. It was about the size that a little kid could comfortably grasp it--definitely not something that looked like it could stand up to the cruelty of the people who had attacked Renard in the first place.

Arthur: …He was a very brave boy. So brave as to warrant one of his opponents knocking this blade so far out of his hand it got stuck up a tree.

Akira: But he still turned into a monster, lingering for more than a decade…

My chest ached as I stared at the stone floor underfoot. But as my gaze lowered, Cain raised his head, holding the dagger up. I saw him squint his eyes a bit, as if he were looking at something dazzlingly bright.

Cain: …This might sound kinda weird, but… I admire Renard, up to and including the fact that he turned into a monster.

Akira: You…do?

Cain: Yep. He unflinchingly faced up to opponents much stronger than him, putting his life on the line for the person most important to him. And when he died and became a monster, he still wanted nothing more than for that person--his little brother--to be safe. Neither of those are the kind of thing the average guy off the street could do.

Cain smiled at the dagger in his hand. His expression was equal parts admiring and mournful.

Cain: Renard was a wonderful knight, even if he didn't have the title of one.

Arthur: …Yes. You're absolutely right. As wonderful a knight as you are today, Cain--the greatest in all the country.

Cain: …!

✦✧☾✧✦

Cain: …Thank you for the kind words, Prince Arthur.

Arthur: Please don't try to brush it off like that. I'm only speaking the truth.

Cain: But I mean, your words deserve that kind of humility. Because to me…no, to every single knight in the country, they're the greatest blessing you could bestow. I am so grateful that even though I'm no longer part of the order, even though my title has been stripped away, I can still be your knight.

Cain fell to one knee in a proud and reverent bow. I thought that Arthur would tell him to rise, the way he always did, but not this time. Instead, he put a kind hand on Cain's shoulder. This sight, within a tavern that still held the lingering scent of violence and fear and suffering, was that of a sun-dappled painting on a museum wall.

Cain: …

Cain said nothing, but offered the dagger up to Arthur. And Arthur, already knowing what he had to do, accepted it.

Arthur: …O, brave knight. Your efforts have protected the life of a single one of my countrymen. I thank you. Please, rest peacefully.

The dagger's blade caught the light streaming through a window. It was radiant. Cain spread a clean piece of cloth and carefully took the blade back from Arthur.

Cain: …And now we're done. I'll hold onto this until everything finishes settling down and we can take this to Rhody.

Arthur: Of course. I'm sure Renard would be most pleased with you of all people carrying it.

Akira: I agree. Cain's like a brother-in-arms for him, after all.

Cain: Yeah.

Cain nodded, preparing to wrap the dagger in the fabric, abruptly snapped his head back up. He looked at Arthur…and then, at me. And then he looked down at the blade again, carefully wrapping it up. I heard the murmuring of a prayer being folded into the package in his hands.

Cain: Even if your body has turned to ash. Even if you're nothing more than the soul that's left behind. May you always stay at the side of the one you wish to protect…

I could've sworn I saw a flicker of light on the dagger's blade as he spoke. It was, perhaps, a nod of agreement from someone just as strong of heart, as proud and unyielding.

Training Episode - The Journey to Joining

Akira: Are there a lot of people who travel to one of the Knights' forts to become one?

Cain: Yep. There were a couple of my seniors who'd done exactly that, actually. When I was still a brat, I'd go around begging them to tell me what their journeys were like. I sure heard a bunch of wild stories from that.

Akira: Woah! Like what?

Cain: Like how they took down a bear bigger than a house, or how they got attacked while making camp, that kind of thing. The ones about turning the tables on someone who tried to rob them in the night got me every time.

Akira: Huh?! That makes it sound like you'd need more lives than a cat just to become a knight in the first place!

Cain: I mean, I'm pretty sure most of them were bullshit. They were usually drunk when telling them, and when they sobered up, they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about when I asked.

Akira: (Wow, that's all it takes to make my belief crumble…)

Cain: But no matter what kind of journey they took, they were still so dead-set on becoming a knight that they made that journey in the first place. They were all strong enough to make me think, hey, maybe they really did go through all the crazy stuff they told me about. I hated losing to them, though.

Akira: Woah, and that's coming from the Town of Glory's number one shining star. It's unbelievable to think that you ever lost…

Cain: Ahaha! Of course I did. Losing just made me even stronger. Strong enough to beat 'em all the next time I challenged them. If I can beat guys who took down bears the sizes of houses or monsters of bandits in the night, then…doesn't that also sound like a path to strength?

Cain: (He sounds exactly like the protagonist of a sports manga! So cool…!)

[nuctoria]

How would you describe each member of Luigi's harem?

I'm going to note down the members down first so I can follow it along, both good and bad guys will be here instead of just the evil trio and this is based on my opinions. Puppy crushes will be included. We got; Daisy, Peasley, Dreambert, Bowser, King Boo, Antasma, Dimentio (I'm holding back on adding the artefacts that possessed him and give them sentience but you can't tell me they aren't literally sniffing him out through the entire population and hunting him, the Dark Prognosticus did it best) Daisy: we know her, we love her. She is the first love since Luigi got to that world. She learned of Mario through Peach and liked him when he met him but was more attracted to Luigi when they met due to his soft, shy and kind-hearted nature, loving how cute he is but also the amount of surprises he holds. Like how he matches her competitive nature in sports and taught how much more fun it is to plant flowers. And she will never say no to his cooking, she nearly tried to hire him to her kingdom so she could eat and be together with him more but she'd never dare separate him from his brother. If Luigi feels too socially drained she'll either speak for him after he whispers or gives her looks she understands or kidnap him to his place for cuddles and rest.

Peasley: Adores Luigi with all his heart, he feels so lucky to have met him and is always excited when he visits his kingdom to see him. He will boast about him to his people and close connections, letting his name be more known as well as his own heroic deeds. When Luigi does visit, he often asked about any new adventures he's been on or his life in general, smitten by much Luigi appreciates the small things in life and how perceptive he is and it slowly rubs off on him. By now, he knows the most part of Luigi's routine and has things ready for him if he can which Luigi really loves. He loves how he doesn't hide his nervousness and marches on even though he's scared, true bravery in his opinion. Despite how cute he finds it, he still tries to build up Luigi's confidence and be less anxious, trying to slowly help him step out of his comfort zone once in awhile.

Dreambert: he really looks up to both brothers and admires their strength and resilience but he's gotten closer with Luigi due to his calm nature and his basically legendary dream powers that he's only ever read or heard of before. It's stressful and tiring trying to regain and rebuild his kingdom after all these years of being a stone and loosing the Dream Stone to a bunch of coins but Luigi's help and company really calms him down and sets him in a better mood about the whole thing. Exploring the Dream World with Luigi is always so amazing to him and a lovely break from real life problems. When not doing that, they cuddle or nap together in various places and let their dreams merge which helps with Luigi's insomnia. Speaking of which, he is determined to assist Luigi with it so he can sleep normally again after so long, which Eldream and Dr. Snoozemore have joined in as they are interested in how their remedies and techniques would work on the human.

Bowser: ngl, I'm very surprised at how many things I missed between these two but noticed them after the dang movie and this ship skyrocketed. He has proven his power to Bowser plenty of times from saving Mario, battling him in the Dream World, heck Luigi was even about him when he battled O'Chunks for the last time. He has a lot of respect for Luigi and would like to challenge him more to see just what else he's capable of on his own. He also loves how much he cares for his children and tries to spend time with them when he's around, making them treats and keeping them in line when they get too rowdy. Some of his troops also show their own respect to him and try to speak with him when they have free time. He's honestly much happier and more tame when around Luigi but don't feel too safe cause he's still the same Bowser all know and love or fear.

King Boo: I made a whole post of how they are bitter exes and I'm sticking to it. This dude is egotistical, deranged, a ticking time-bomb and he has it all out for Luigi to a more dangerous level each time he's defeated. Not even Bowser got this insane, his schemes are always crazy and over the top but not the way KB does it. After yet another rewatch of LM3 I kinda put myself in Luigi's shoes and was actually terrified for him. Now at the start, KB and Luigi had a good thing going, in all honesty, but the power lust got too much and showed thr signs of insanity more clearly. I think during their relationship, Luigi may still have been afraid of the boos but he warmed up to the kinder ones and brought tons of Boo Candy for them all, those boos now feeling sad that they have to let him be tortured this way from their king but can say nothing about it. Dude needs rehab. But try to catch me not liking this toxic yaoi, cause you won't, the one who does is probably my doppelganger or an identity thief.

Antasma: this is yet another person I've made a post about under your request and have added my own shippy headcanons on. Now, this guy is all about control and careful strategy as we've seen in the game, which got amplified after his betrayal with Bowser. However, now that both stones are gone he starts to gravitate towards Luigi's dream powers who are nearly that of the Dream Stone's and has even impressed the spirit of said stone. This leads to curiosity, wanting to learn more about the plumber himself which made lead to clues on how he even has these crazy powers. Then it turns into fascination and affection. I feel like Antasma is the easiest to rehabilitate, it just needs time and care, which Luigi is capable of. But it can result in a bit of an isolation on his part since Antasma most likely doesn't want most of his enemies surrounding him. While he may turn good, doesn't mean his scary side will change, it will just be used less and in different ways for each person. This can honestly end up being the second less toxic relationship Luigi can have with a villain.

Dimentio: do you guys have any idea what this twink has put me through? Idk what curse he placed on me but ever since I paid attention to him, I've seen far too many evil, murderous, gay jesters from literally every single fandom I know like some portal of hell opened up specifically for evil jesters to come out of. Like, holy shit. Anyways, this guy has a number of crimes under his belt and a special fascination towards Luigi, since unlike the other villains, he actually wants Luigi by his side not for revenge or to drain his power but for the individual himself. At first, he was just another tool to be used, another character to the story, but then he started seeing past that dull perspective of his and realized why both the Dark Prognosticus and the Chaos Heart chose him specifically. He has lived for endless years and his ambitions have made everyone around him dull and the same, but Luigi is an enigma to him, the first interesting person in years and it increased after the defeat. He tried to get close to Mr L who didn't seem interested but he still used his opportunity to at least learn the plumber's hidden side to use it against him. He believes it's not over for the two of them, his perfect world is still waiting to be created by him and dub him its ruler. And what's a king without his queen? I can honestly say that while Luigi may fear him, he's the only villain he actively hates with a passion and won't hesitate to get physical with.

No idea if this is what you wanted but this is what I can provide. This has my own opinions and headcanons on there so take it with a grain of salt. This was honestly fun cause I'm pretty opinionated and I love talking about these freely.

[bomberqueen17]

noodle bowl recipe/technique

When I'm not at the farm it's always a struggle to eat as many vegetables as my body wants me to eat. Like it's just confusing to go out and buy vegetables when you're really used to just kind of going to the walk-in cooler and being like "ok what have we got too much left over of, time to Eat That", and I need to overcome this by having a recipe in mind beforehand but one I can adapt if they don't have the thing I'm thinking of at the store. So I'm trying to collect not recipes so much as techniques, because I have this problem where it's hard for me to follow a recipe because I accidentally skip reading the middle of it. Ha.

(I saw a good post about how "measure that shit with your heart" is misleading and like, mood. I am a very experienced cook but I have attention problems and can't follow a recipe if I'm tired or distracted or in pain. So I'm trying to link to real everything is measured for you recipes where I can, so if you haven't made this before and don't know what it should look like, you've got a tested version with proper amounts to start with. Just like I do! And then once I have the technique down, and the relative amounts, I'm sharing my method, which is less so on the measuring and more on my mother's technique, which is "you put in enough and then cook it until it is done", which when I was new was so frustrating, but now that I am old, I know it is 100% based on practice. And that's all, there's no mystery, it's just "I've made it before and I know how it should look so you just make it look like that." Now that I can't reliably read a whole recipe and not miss a big whack of the middle of it, I rely so much on having practiced and generally knowing what things look like when they're "right". But it's not magic and I'm not measuring with my heart I'm measuring with my practiced eye and hand.)

Anyway. Rice bowls or noodle bowls are a fantastic way to just throw a bunch of vegetables into a nice yummy sauce over a good comforting starch and have that be a meal. I tend to do a noodle bowl, and then any left over ingredients get incorporated into a fried rice scramble thing later, so you can keep that in mind if you want to try this.

I found this recipe for butternut squash mushroom noodle bowls. And I tried it as written, and it wasn't bad, but for me, roasting everything in the oven was very hard to time and didn't turn out fantastically well. YMMV, but I have more experience sauteeing things. (My first attempt I also used bok choy instead of spinach so I roasted it separately on another sheet pan according to a technique I've done before for roasted bok choy; this approach would probably work just fine if you were paying more attention than I was; my main issue was that noodle bowl recipe linked above gives far too little time for the butternut squash to roast so mine was unpleasantly crunchy. It's wrong, give it longer, and so I found it best to just not try to squeeze anything else onto the sheet with it as that recipe directs.)

So I changed it up for a second try.

First thing I did was peel the butternut squash with a vegetable peeler (I find it easiest to do this if I kinda cut it in half crosswise first), then scoop out and set aside the squash guts, then cube the thing up and roast it on a sheet pan, drizzled with peanut oil and salt and set at 400.

That's gonna take like 45 minutes or so, so I set most of my timing around that. Check the directions on your noodles or whatever, figure out what order you've got to do those in. (Soba are best for the protein, but I had rice noodles and they needed a pre-soak and it messed up my timing, which is why I'm making this note here.)

dice an onion. preheat skillet, add oil, begin to sautee onions.

rinse and prepare bok choi or other green of choice.

when the squash is part of the way cooked (like 25 minutes or so, give it a stir and check it to see if it's softening at all), take the seeds you set aside. separate them from the guts (I squeeze them with my fingers out of the assorted gut-fibers, works pretty well), spread in single layer on small baking sheet. turn oven down to 350. drizzle seeds with sesame oil and a tiny bit of salt. put them in the oven for like ten to fifteen minutes. (Turning the heat down is my attempt to have them not pop and fly all over the oven. IDK if it'll work. Be prepared to wipe seeds out of your oven tomorrow morning. They're not messy at least they just fly everywhere.)

Now throw your mushrooms and some diced garlic into your onions and saute. Add the bok choi or spinach or kale or whatever as you're stirring. Cook it all down.

Now make your sauce-- I did not measure anything this go-round, I just grated a bunch of ginger (I keep my ginger root in the fridge and it's easy to microplane off whatever you need) into a wee prep bowl, then added soy sauce, some honey, a couple spoonfuls of water from the boiling noodles to melt the honey and clean the spoon, and then a spoonful or two of chili crisp ("happy lady sauce" [lao gan ma]) because i don't stock sriracha currently.

When your noodles are ready, turn the oven off. Drain the noodles and divide them into your serving bowls, top with squash, add sauteed veg, squash seeds, the sauce. top with sesame seeds.

This was awesome, and I have leftover cooked squash cubes I'm gonna put into another recipe later cuz if you're gonna roast a butternut you might as well roast a pretty big one. I particularly like using the squash seeds because they're so tasty and crunchy and deserve to be eaten rather than thrown out.