#about how their work should be better catered for your tastes?

[pwurrz]

fanfiction, at its core, is an expression of love. when someone writes for a rarepair, or oc x canon, or even a character analysis piece, they’re writing from a place of love. and going out of your way to leave a comment about how you didn’t like how that person expressed their love and how you think their writing is bad, when they did not ask for constructive criticism or advice, is fucked up and hurtful beyond words. don’t do that shit.

[kameonerd566]

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[merakiui]

It’s the centaur Cater anon!!! What’s upppp hope you’re doing well-

Omg… Centaur Riddle’s who’s constantly miffed about you being his rider… with that posture? He thinks not. How dare you think that you’re worthy of riding him?

Maybe he’s a prize centaur… beautiful and strong, but so very headstrong to the point where no one dares to ride him, leaving him to rot alone in the stables. A white elephant, to borrow the praise. Maybe you’re going to match his stubbornness by washing out his stables, constantly trying your best to bond with Riddle. Being ever so nice to him…. Or perhaps you’re one of those trainers who won’t suffer his verbal abuse and you bark right back…

Oh… Riddle slowly gaining feels for you… something something, Riddle’s heat cycle has you face first in his stables, his horse cock slipping into you… the softest non con ever with Riddle whining and grunting and muttering about how you’re so soft, how this feels like heaven, how he never wants to leave you… or maybe the most angry hate sex with Riddle’s hoof pressed into your palm, him laughing about how fucked out you look but once glance at his face shows how truly pussy drunk he is… so many thoughts mera you have no idea-

Centaur Cater who relies on you to take his photos, but he starts to realise that his photos do better whenever you’re in the background, so maybe he makes you do some… rather suggestive poses with him. Just to feed the fan, y’know? You try not to think about how dangerously near you are to Cater’s genitalia… or how they would feel inside you…

Little do you know that Cater’s purposefully edging you closer and closer to him all this while…

AAAAA CENTAUR CATER ANON!!!!! This is so delicious omg,,,, the soft non-con with Riddle, who is too deep into his heat cycle to think rationally, and so he’s apologizing through his moans as he fucks into you like you’re nothing more than an onahole. 🫣 or the hate sex,,,, Riddle flipping you onto your back from off him to teach you a lesson, and somehow this lesson involves spearing you open on his horse cock while he holds you down with one hoof…….. your mind is so amazing omg. One taste of pussy and he mellows out completely. >_< suddenly much more willing to work with you and he’s actually quite sweet and considerate once you overcome your initial differences. :)

Riddle seeing you limping the next time and you complain about being sore, and he feels so bad for doing that when he knew you weren’t adequately prepared to take him. He’ll carry you around on his back so you won’t strain yourself. OTL but also he feels a surge of pride knowing he’s big (by human standards) hehe.

👁️ 👁️ the suggestive picture to outright sex tape pipeline with centaur Cater…… all of the potential for a role-play (centaur handler teaching anatomy to the viewers, but oops!!! the centaur became a touch too invested and wants to do a live demonstration instead of simple show-and-tell). >:D being railed in front of the camera, tummy bulging with centaur cock. Cater rewatches the video over and over and is hesitant to post it only because he wants this view all to himself. >_< you really are too cute; it makes him feel so selfish. It’s no surprise you’ve amassed so many fans~ maybe he should just settle for suggestive pictures instead. These videos are for his eyes only. <3

How do we feel about centaur Rollo…….. :) living in the countryside and tending to your dearest centaur,, riding him into the closest village to do your shopping. Something something it’s much too cold on your travel back, so you and Rollo take shelter in an old stable. But you’re shivering so much and he’s doing all he can to keep you warm: draping the shawl over you, keeping you close to his side, ensuring you’re bundled in the hay. One thing leads to another and maybe cockwarming him in that stable…… fucking to stay warm!!!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

twst 2023 valentine gift COMPLETE message compilation!!

Information about 2021 and 2022 TWST Valentine Gifts here! 2023's Valentine Gift is a macaron-like compact mirror. Character signatures here! 2021 Letters (text only) here! 2022 Letters (text only) here! 2023 Letters (text only) below the cut!! ***SPOILERS AHEAD!!***

Something interesting to note! The 2023 letters all seem to indicate that the sender's gift was something sweet and edible in nature. Previous years thanked the sender for their "gift", but did not typically indicate what the gift was.

Here is a brief example of what the letters look like this year before we get to the actual new contents of each (which are exact English transcriptions):

Heartslabyul

🌹 Riddle Thank you for the lovely sweets. I'll have them on my study breaks. If they're good, perhaps I'll set them out at a tea party. You'll certainly be invited if I do. After all, there's no rule that states you can't join in.

♣️ Trey Hello friend-- Thanks so much for the gift. It was exactly my taste, with just the right amount of sweetness. I can tell you thought a lot about what to get. I'll come up with a recipe based on these sweets sometime. I hope you'll get to taste test it for me.

♦️ Cater Eyyy, friendo! Sweets aren't normally my jam, but the ones you picked out were PERF--and they looked great too! You must've put in some WORK picking them out. So, thanks! I'll make sure to do the same for you!

❤️ Ace Heya, pal-- I kinda freaked when I saw you left a present at my door--in a good way! You actually sent me sweets! You could've just given them to me in person, you know. I haven't had any yet, but I'm sure they'll be great! We should share them at lunch tomorrow.

♠️ Deuce My good friend-- Thanks for the amazing gift! You got me those mega-popular sweets we just talked about, right? They were so good! It's kind of a shame I ate them all. Have you had any? I guess it'd be weird if I gifted you the same thing, but come shopping with me sometime and we can pick out some sweets for you.

Savanaclaw

🦁 Leona Hey-- You gave me SWEETS? I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes through that noggin of yours. I'll be nice and say I appreciate the sentiment... this time. But don't expect any glowing food reviews.

🐆 Ruggie Hey, 'sup. I got the sweets you sent! It's always a good day when someone gifts me food. These are supposed to be real popular right now, yeah? They must've been hard to snag. Shyeheehee, that makes them double good! Thanks a ton!

🐺 Jack Hi-- I was surprised when I smelled something sweet at my door. Consider your present received. I still can't believe you gave me such cutesy looking sweets. Not that I'm unhappy about it, of course. I actually like candy and stuff. Thanks.

Octavinelle

🐙 Azul My boon companion-- Thank you for the heartfelt gift. I suppose I owe it to you to partake of these sweets. Don't worry. Once I've analyzed the flavor, I'll gift you something equally delicious. After all, fair's fair.

🐬 Jade My good friend-- You've outdone yourself. Sweets that pair well with black tea? My deepest thanks. I'm flattered that you thought of me so when selecting them. You've inspired me. I'm going to spend my mountain hikes pondering just the right tea blend to suit your palate. I do hope you'll enjoy it.

🦈 Floyd Dear little shrimpy-- I saw your present. You got me candy? That rules! I was JUST in the mood for something sweet. I might not be tomorrow though, so I think I'll polish them off today. Thanks.

Scarabia

☀️ Kalim To my dear friend-- Thanks for the present! What colorful and sparkly sweets. They look delicious! I just had an idea! How about we eat them together after school? Gifts like this taste better when shared, after all. I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't wait to see you later!

🐍 Jamil Hello-- I was surprised to see you gifted me sweets. At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to make you something similar... But when I pulled the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was a heartfelt gesture. I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you.

Pomefiore

👑 Vil Dearest friend-- Thank you for the gift. The sweets were dazzling and most attractive. Did you try to imagine what I'd like when picking them out? If you, you made an apt choice. I'll have something for you later in return.

🏹 Rook Bonjour, and merci beaucoup! What a lovely batch of confections! They're so darling that I'm tempted to stow them away in a brilliant bejeweled box. Ah, but I jest. I'll enjoy every morsel of this gift you've so thoughtfully bestowed upon me.

🍎 Epel Dear friend-- Thanks for the gift! Sweets from the city have a real fancy vibe, don't they? I'll savor every bite. I know this isn't exactly a gift, but I just scored some coupons for the cafeteria. Wanna join me for lunch tomorrow? Just wait for me, and I'll find you!

💀 Ignihyde

Idia Shroud @YOU huh? What the wha? im low-key scared here why would u give me sweets??? ig that sometimes i run low on sugar when ive been gaming too long and my aim becomes trash... ok sure, if this is ur way of looking out for me, ill take it

🤖 Ortho Shroud Hello, Prefect-- Thanks for the present! The sweets were very charming and cute, not to mention colorful. What neat designs! I'll make sure to save this as a special memory. I've run the data on their base ingredients, and hope to gift you some fitting sweets in return soon.

Diasomnia

🐉 Malleus Draconia To my dear friend-- Thank you. Never did I envision someone presenting me with the gift of sweet treats. It would be a shame for me to eat them all by myself. I think I'll share them with you. Would you be willing to provide the tea to go with them?

🦇 Lilia Vanrouge Greetings! Your present was delightful. The treats had a subtle sweetness that was perfect for a slightly mature fae like myself. I'll be making you a lovely treat in return, using a very special recipe of mine. I hope you'll enjoy it.

💤 Silver Salutations-- Thanks for the gift. I read once that sugar can boost your concentration. Did you give me these to snack on when I'm about to nod off during my studies? That was very considerate of you. I think I'll try them out today.

⚡️ Sebek Zigvolt Human-- I've received your gift. It was agreeably sweet. In fact, it might've been sweet enough to make black coffee bearable... But I digress. Regardless, I was somewhat impressed with your choice. You have my thanks.

NRC Staff + Grim

🎭 Dire Crowley Dear esteemed student-- Thank you for the delicious gift. And don't bother telling me I was supposed to share it--I've already finished the whole package! If you wish for the staff to also partake, I suggest you acquire more treats. But don't worry, I won't say a word if you give the same gift twice. I'm kindhearted like that!

🐶 Divus Crewel Dear pup-- Is this a gift for the staff? Excellent. Now that I have some treats to sweeten my breaks, I'll be able to grade your exams with a much more critical eye. I can see the grimace on your face now. Relax, it was a joke. It's usually frowned upon for dogs to be the ones buying fits, but since you're such a loyal pup, I'll let you off. I'm a generous trainer, after all.

��� Mozus Trein Dear juvenile-- I must wonder why you decided to get me a present. Is this your way of thanking me for my lecture the other day? If so, gifts are hardly necessary. It's a teacher's job to educate students with a thirst for knowledge. I can't accept any offerings from students, but the sentiment is much appreciated. I expect nothing but excellence from you moving forward.

💪 Ashton Vargas Dear student-- Thanks for the present! Excessive sugar is a no-go when building a beautiful bod, but it'd be bad form for let your thoughtful gesture go to waste. Such is the price of popularity. I'll just have to accept that and work off everything I eat. Keep up those reps!

🎩 Sam Yo, little imp! What is UP? Thanks so much for the gift! You've got a real eye for quality. I'll make sure to stock up on goods that'll pique your interest, so swing by the shop soon!

🐱 Grim Dear hench-human-- Mraaah! Is this ALL for me?! I've never seen such sparkly, yummy-lookin' candy before! I feel like a king! But I'd feel bad leavin' you out of this sugar extravaganza, so I GUESS you can have a small piece. I'm lookin' forward to more gifts, partner!

[weenwrites]

Cooking A Meal: Part 1

Summary - You ask one of the bots to cook you a meal, but honestly it goes about as well as you'd expect. Characters - Optimus, Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Cliffjumper, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, Wheeljack Content - Crack Category - Headcanons Trigger Warnings - None

✎ A/N: This is an un-revised shitpost, not something too serious.

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Optimus

He doesn't know anything about human cooking, but he tries for you. He's good at following a recipe, but he'll come to you every now and then to ask what something means or to have you try what he's made thus far and see if it's to your liking.

He tries making healthy meals that would cater to your tastes, and he's good at finding recipes for foods you definitely would like, it's just that when it comes to doing the actual cooking itself, it's executed rather poorly. He's not too bad, but honestly he might just under or overcook something and feed you some runny, rubbery scrambled eggs for example.

When it comes to presentation, he honestly doesn't do much in that area. He just puts the food on a plate or in a bowl and serves it to you with the appropriate eating utensil.

It may be a mediocre meal, but at the end of the day at least he cleans up after himself.

Ratchet

He's very precise with the measurements and he's an expert with a knife. Ratchet's real good at working with his hands, given his occupation as a doctor, and honestly he'd make a pretty good cook! That is, if he understood more about human cuisine...

He doesn't understand why some humans enjoy their eggs with runny yolks or some of their food to be under-cooked, and he doesn't want to give you salmonella or any other disease, so he'll end up overcooking the eggs. The same goes for any slab of meat you give him. Ask him to cook you a steak and he'll serve you what looks like a burnt block of leather that's so dry you can stand it up on it's side.

The presentation of the entire meal is plain and looks boring. He just serves everything to you separately in their own bowls or plates, and never on the same plate. But he says that the important thing is that you're eating something, not the way it's presented.

And at least he cleans up his own messes.

Ultra Magnus

He follows everything to a T. Each measurement he makes is precise, so he doesn't make too much or too little of anything. However, he'll make healthy meals for you to eat. A meal that has a bit of everything from the food triangle unless you're vegan or vegetarian. He'll refuse to make you anything unhealthy,

He even tries to present the food in a fancy-ish way! However, it's somewhat akin to being presented with a whole bunch of paperwork to fill out. The important stuff on the top (or in this case the healthiest stuff to eat) and the least important stuff on the bottom (the rest of the food). It may look a bit weird, and taste off, but... Eh, it's good enough.

Given his handicap and the fact he's still trying to regain full mobility with it, he may be a bit slow with things such as chopping up ingredients, seasoning meat, or any sort of thing that would be more efficient with 2 hands. Still, he's made a lot of progress, so much so that he appears to be doing things at a relatively normal pace.

And of course once he's done in the kitchen, he'll always dutifully clean up whatever dishes he used or messes he made without a single complaint.

Arcee

She sorta does better than everyone else here, but that's only because she insists that you tell her what to do and how to do it. She copies any examples you give her, and always looks to you for advice on how it should look, taste, smell, etc.. And she takes the entire "meal cooking" thing very seriously.

Though the meal may not be too delicious, the meal she makes you is very healthy and nutritious! She tries to include as many foods from the 5 different food groups as she can, and what she can't include she attempts to make up for by adding it as a side to the dish.

She's good at working with her hands, so she'd be quick at dicing vegetables with a knife. So preparing ingredients would be about a cinch. But along with being able to work quickly, she'd be good at handling things carefully. Like she'd be good at working with homemade pasta without ripping or tearing the dough, or pinching the edges of gyoza wrappers shut without puncturing holes in it.

The presentation itself is a bit lacking, but what matters is that most of the food on that plate is edible and very healthy for you! And she's the kind of person that insists that you finish everything on your plate, but not in any sort of forceful way. She'll just remind you to finish all your vegetables or something similar.

Cliffjumper

Similarly to literally everyone else on this list, he'd most likely overcook your food, but he still does a better job than most, but it depends on the meal. He's better at making soups than he would be at cooking meat. But he's a quick learner. He'd manage to closely copy whatever you'd show him about cooking.

He'd make quite a mess in the kitchen though. He'll accidentally knock the spatula off the cluttered counter as he reaches for something else, or he'll jokingly fling some flour at you in a playful manner. He even whole-heartedly thought that you could put the egg—shell and everything—in whatever it is you're making. He didn't think you needed to crack the shell because he once saw that humans could eat things with hard shells like snails or jawbreakers.

But when things start going awry, he'll come up with some unorthodox way to partly salvage the meal. Emphasis on partly salvage, because while it may be fixed, it now tastes off, or looks off, or smells off, but it's still edible. He knows nothing about presentation and honestly he just shovels whatever he's made you onto a plate and hands it over to you as is.

But even though the meal may be sub-par, it's hard to deny that it wasn't fun to make. That is unless you got upset at him for making a mess, in which that case he'll earnestly apologize and start scrubbing away at the mess.

Bulkhead

He lacks Ratchet's dexterity, so he's pretty sloppy with a knife. He might just end up accidentally grinding the ingredients to mush, or cutting them unevenly, but he's trying. The thing he's best at is kneading dough, but he thinks that all you need to do is punch it and move it around, so depending on the dough, he most likely ends up over-working it in seconds.

The food he'd make for you would lean more towards unhealthy and extremely delicious, unless you asked him to cook you a specific healthy food. Nonetheless, it would be a flavorful meal thanks to all the spices and seasonings he'd add to it.

The presentation's relatively nice! It might just make up for the fact the food looks a little mangled (unless you had him make you soup or something that's supposed to be mashed, then he's just about aced it). He'll ask you every now and then about the amount of pepper or salt he should add to the food, or to see if he added too much spice or too little... He might just end up burning a thing or two here or there, but for the most part, the food he makes for you is pretty good!

Bumblebee

He's good at making simple meals like sandwiches or mashed potatoes, but it's always a bit lacking in flavor. It's still good nonetheless, he just adds too little salt, pepper, or seasoning in general. Anything more complex than that and he'll be serving you a mess on a plate.

He's very considerate and tries to make a meal catered towards your personal tastes. If you're vegan or vegetarian, or have an allergic reaction to something, he'll try and find a recipe for something you can eat.

He tries to make the food look "cute". Like if you asked him to make you pancakes, he'd try to stack them up and make a face on them out of whipped cream, m&ms, and syrup. It may taste a bit weird, or sickeningly sweet, but the presentation's nice.

Smokescreen

He sucks at it. He cooks using the microwave instead of the stove. Once he's done with it, your microwave will smell like a dumpster fire, and you'll have to scrub away at all the splattered food that hardened into thick layers of burnt crust which is near impossible to get off. Even if you ignore it, the stench from the microwave might just seep into whatever you cook in there next, and absolutely ruin it's flavor. It's safe to say that your microwave is ruined.

The only knowledge he has of cooking is from watching Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, but then again those shows didn't really teach him anything about cooking, they just served as entertainment. I mean the most he learned is that you should keep track of when you got ingredients, and to keep your pantry, fridge, cabinets, and kitchen clean, but that doesn't help him boil an egg.

Speaking of eggs, he tried cooking an egg in the microwave once—under the impression that the egg would boil—and much to his surprise, it exploded.

He presents the food in an... Interesting way... Honestly he just arranges it in whatever way looks cool and serves it to you with a "bon appetit".

He promises he'll clean up your microwave once he's done, but there's this stench that will always remain in there no matter what you do.

Wheeljack

He's hopeless too. Not only does he burn like 80 percent of what he's supposed to be cooking for you, but he over-seasons it too. There will be so much pepper on your food that you'll be sneezing the moment you catch a whiff.

But with a little supervision in the kitchen, he could make you something remotely edible. It may not look the part or smell the part, but it still is edible to some degree. He's very handy with a knife, and if you knew a thing or two about food science, he'd be open to listening to you talk about the glucose bonds in dough and whatnot.

If he put in a little bit of his time to do some research about food, he'd actually get a solid grasp of the bare bones of cooking. Like how long to cook meat and how to know if it's done, how to work a ball of dough, how not to overcook vegetables... Et cetera. Because it's all science-y in a way.

The presentation of the meal itself is average. He doesn't quite know how to "decorate" your food, so he just slaps it on a plate, or pours it in a bowl, or serves it in whatever fashion it should be served in, and he gives it to you.

[caitchercatlady]

Sleeping over at Ramshackle w/Lilia

Lilia has shared sleeping quarters back in his general prime, but he’s never experienced a gathering of friends to share a room for one night or two all for the purpose of fun. Seeing Silver, Sebek, and even Malleus (finally) getting invited to these parties with the new friends they’ve been able to make, it admittedly makes the old man jealous. He’s gotten his hands on physical trends the kids are into, but he needs to know what they do on these nights. What makes these sleepover parties so special that high school students plan their weekends around them?

This is what he explains (or rather rants) to you about when he visits you at Ramshackle as you are sweeping the dust out of the dorm. Now that you think about it…you haven’t really thought about how Lilia feels when the other members of Diasomnia are out doing typical high school activities. You know that Lilia is in the pop music club, and he loves doing that, but other than that and studying (most likely), what else does Lilia do? You can’t help but feel bad when Lilia relays this information about not being a part of a proper sleepover. Even if he is fae and lives in a different life cycle, you can’t rob him of enjoying high school experiences that he’s never seen or heard before.

Who’s better of a person to test this experiment on than the Prefect? You offer Lilia a chance to stay over if he was interested. He’s more than interested. He’s thankful.

Friday evening arrives, and Lilia delightedly reaches the Ramshackle front door with more bags than you expect him to carry to your front porch. You offer assistance to carry them inside, but Lilia has carried more weight than that before, so it’s nothing. What he means by no weight is snapping his fingers and the bags teleporting up to the second floor. You suppose you can change into your pajamas later. Lilia must be a mind reader because with one more snap, the both of you have switched out of your school uniforms and into your cozy nightwear.

“Wow, Lilia. Your PJs are…quite modern.”

He giggles and conducts a flowery turn, modeling in a way that makes it seem he’s been taking lessons from Vil. “Do you like them? I picked them out myself. Gotta keep up with the boys after all.” You know full heartedly that Lilia has snatched them from the children’s section of some clothing shop in Foothill Town.

You also aren’t the one in a position to speak the contrary. “Like you’re in high school, Lilia,” you say to the old fae.

He widely grins. ���Thank you.” Lilia stretches out his arms one more time, as if preparing for gym class. “So, sleepover buddy, what are we doing first? Video games? Movies? I got every one of those streaming app things thanks to Cater. Oh! I have a better idea. Let’s make cookies!”

Your stomach churns up a cramp. “Actually, Lilia, I had ingredients that were gonna go bad, so I already made snacks.” You guide Lilia to the kitchen and present the buffet of your pre-made collection. His magenta eyes twinkle with glee, and Lilia wastes no time in taste-testing the smorgasbord. It’s so funny; it’s like watching a kid experience a toy store for the first time. You suppose that joy exists at all ages.

“Prefect, this is delectable! You should come bake and cook for Diasomnia some time. The others will be delighted.”

You are very sure of that.

With your stomachs full and the moon high in the sky, you think it’s about time to get some studying? At a sleepover? Where’s the fun in that?” exclaims Lilia.

“Whoa! I wasn’t expecting that response from you, Lilia.”

“It can wait. There’s fun to be had. You go shower and let me do the work.”

It’s your dorm, but you can’t argue with the elder fae. You quickly wash yourself in the bathroom. By the time you're done, you’re praying that Lilia hasn’t touched your kitchen or busted your electricity. You turn into your room only to find it decked out with two mattresses and pillows for walls and sheets for a roof.

“Lilia, what is this?” you shout.

Lilia pokes his head from between the mattresses. “Have you never seen a pillow fortress? Come in, Prefect. The fluffy walls are sound…just as long as you don’t push the pillows.”

Seems reasonable enough. Out of all the childish things for Lilia to do, at least this first is harmless. Getting on your hands and knees to crawl inside is a tad cumbersome, but you manage to join the fae under the bedroom equipment creation just fine. A ball of light sits on the floor, adding the ability to see in the artificial darkness.

“Cozy enough?” he asks.

“Not sure. I haven’t done this in a while,” you respond.

“You’ve been missing out for a while. Thank the Seven for night, allowing me to fix that. What shall we do now? Ghost stories? I have plenty of those under my belt.”

“Why don’t you tell me why you wanted a sleepover in the first place?”

“What do you mean?” Lilia’s cheeks fill with color, and it’s more obvious with him as he has the most pale complexion.

“I don’t know,” you reply. “I didn’t think you’d be into this sort of thing.”

Lilia sighs.

You adjust yourself for his explanation.

For the longest time, it has been only him, Malleus, and Silver. Being involved in the raising of children often means that you give children opportunities that he will miss out on. He’s built Malleus, Silver, and of course, Sebek, up to experience high school the way they deserve, but as Lilia guides them and watches it all go down, instead of living high school through them, he experiences high school by listening to the kids’ stories. All of this brings envy to the poor fae as his youth experience has been far different (considering how long he’s been living). Now that he’s spending the night with you, he can finally see what the others see through his own eyes.

“Lilia, you are the most selfless person I’ve ever met.”

He scoffs. “My speech was nothing but selfish, Prefect. I roped you into it, and I should be the one apologizing to you.”

“There’s no need for that. You’re allowed to want things, Lilia. No one should go on living without getting the things they want in life. That wouldn’t be fair whatsoever. I’m honored to have you at Ramshackle today.”

“Prefect…”

You two go on talking of Lilia’s wants and how you two will go about them. You let time pass you by so much that not only do you two not know which hour it is, you fail to care of it as you lull yourselves to sleep at your own pace whilst under the fort of pillows and blankets.

[violetsaffron5]

In Another Life (3)

Chapter 2 • series masterlist • chapter 4

3 | Heaven & Sin

Pairing: Gojo x f!Reader and Geto x f!Reader

an unexpected guest arrives at your engagement party

Words: 4.2k

cw: cheating, infidelity, fingering, vaginal sex, geto being an ass, slight dacryphilia, breeding, rough sex, cream pie

Taglist • Ao3 • Discord 18+ • Social Media • Series Masterlists

The white silk sheets are strewn across your bed, sunlight filtering in through the curtains you’ve already opened, to your fiancé’s dismay.

The light is warm and bright as a beam reflects onto the sheets making the room appear even brighter.

“Rise and shine!” You chirp cheerfully before poking Satoru in the side causing his brows to knit together as he flinches away from you.

You’re trying to be as annoying as possible. A lovely habit you’ve picked up from the man who’s laying half-naked in bed next to you.

Satoru groans loudly, squeezing his eyes closed as he turns his head in the opposite direction of you, burying his face under his pillow.

“Satoru, please.”

You’re pouting now as you shuffle across the bed to pull the pillow out from under him, “it’s my day off, I want to sleep in,” he whines.

You lean down to place a few soft kisses on his shoulder, except you’re stopped just short, unable to make contact with his skin.

A very dramatic gasp leaves your lips, “Gojo Satoru, you’d better turn your Infinity off right now.”

He takes a deep breath before exhaling with an equally dramatic “hmph,” but he does as you’ve asked so you place several kisses on his sinewy shoulders watching as goosebumps form on the surface of his skin when you trail a few more down the center of his back.

Moving over on the bed, you straddle his hips, rubbing your hands on his solid back giving a gentle massage to his shoulders, down the center of his spine before rocking your hips side to side playfully.

“There’s gonna be cake tasting.”

He grunts in response.

“And… I’ll reward you later.”

One of his eyes flutters open, looking at you through the corner, the rest of his face pressed into the pillow.

“Reward me how?”

You bite your lip as you smirk knowing he’s going to give in, “However you want.”

Satoru stifles a yawn while you lift your hips, letting him roll over so you can feel his hardened cock when he grabs you by the hips, forcing you back down onto his lap.

He narrows his eyes at you, looking over your features with his six eyes, something he’s been doing more and more over the last two weeks, “You okay? You’ve been needier than usual.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you smile and chuckle awkwardly, hoping he hasn’t noticed your increased heart rate at his question. This isn’t the first time he’s brought up a difference in the way you’re acting, since you secretly ran off to visit your ex.

You’ve been trying your best to act as if seeing Suguru hasn’t affected you, but it’s clear it has. What you’ve been trying to do is move past it, not let your thoughts drift back to him, to what could have been if he only stayed.

Or if you had abandoned being a sorcerer along with him.

Pushing those thoughts aside, because you should be living in the now. Gently, you run your nails across Satoru’s abdominals before sensually, slowly palming his cock overtop his briefs.

“You know our party’s in a few days, so you can bully the shopkeepers into getting what we want on such short notice.”

You’ve been hard at work calling catering places, choosing fabric, arguing with Satoru’s clan on how non-traditional you both want your wedding to be, on top of working and going on missions; getting the dessert for your upcoming engagement party has been, unfortunately, last on your list and it slipped your mind.

He rolls his eyes, “You know I’ll just end up bribing them with money.”

“Mhm. But you can be mean about it.”

Satoru adjusts the pillows behind him before folding his arms behind his head watching you through half-lidded eyes, “Fine, but I want a reward now too.”

You click your tongue, “A reward when we haven’t even gone out yet? Greedy.”

“One now, for agreeing to go on my day off, and another later for being your charming, handsome fiancé.”

You giggle while rolling your eyes, mumbling a quiet “fine,” as you lean down to kiss him on his lips. He tastes sweet as always, moving his lips lazily with yours, waiting for you to get to it.

Satoru lets out a faint, content sigh when you move to his neck, sucking a small red mark at the base before licking and kissing your way down his chest and stomach.

“Go ahead baby,” he murmurs when you look up at him through thick lashes as you teasingly play with the waistband of his briefs.

He smirks, moving a hand down to cup your jaw before threading his fingers into your hair, encouraging you to move lower, “you can take it all, yeah?”

The sound of spoons clinking against champagne glasses fills the engagement party venue.

There are gold and white balloons all around the modern building, streamers in the same blue color as Satoru’s eyes strung up around the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Lights and dimly lit candles fill the space giving an intimate feel to the night.

The space is large and open, with plenty of windows to see out into the beautiful gardens. You and Satoru got to the venue early because you wanted to take the time to view the scenery and walk around to see the beautiful plants and flowers before the celebration started.

Your friends helped decorate, Shoko and Utahime being more than amazing in helping ensure every single decoration is in its spot, and nothing is out of place. Satoru was also successful in threatening a few shop owners on your day out, guaranteeing the deserts he picked would arrive on time and just how he wanted them.

Satoru’s in a baby blue dress shirt, with black slacks and a sleek black belt, his arm is around your waist, where it’s been most of the night, holding you close as you talk and laugh with family and close friends. You’ve opted for a dress that fits your frame, accentuating your curves in all the right places, and paired it with matching heels.

The party is larger than you anticipated, the Gojo clan having more of a say in who gets invited than you thought. Satoru of course didn’t complain - loves to be the center of attention and he loves to show you off whenever he gets the chance.

You were just hoping for more of an intimate affair, both your parents and close friends, maybe a few close cousins, and co-workers.

But, rather than getting what you wanted, you’re now walking around greeting older members from the three major clans, who you’ll never remember the name of.

The matrons of the Gojo clan have already asked multiple times when the two of you plan on having children, hoping you’ll have several to carry on the clan’s legacy, while the matrons from the other two make snide remarks about how their bloodlines are superior.

It’s all been wonderful and totally not stressful at all.

Satoru has been amazing, knowing you weren’t totally happy with decisions that have been forced by his clan, but he’s talked you through it, reminding you this is the life that you chose when agreeing to marry him.

He also reminded you that when you’re the matriarch, you will have a lot more say in the inner workings and these types of conversations and decisions than you do today.

They’re pushing for you to get married quickly even though you want to take your time and enjoy the ride. To them, it’s a disgrace their clan head isn’t married at twenty-three which makes you roll your eyes every time they bring it up.

Satoru leans down, placing a kiss on your lips that’s just a little too long to be chaste, but not enough for him to be reprimanded by his clan in front of everyone.

You’ve decided in the last few weeks that the letter that was sent was pointless. Even if it was from you in the future, you’re perfectly happy with where you are today, standing side by side with Satoru, ready to walk through life by his side.

This is where you belong.

Suguru made that decision for you when he chose to abandon you, change the course of his own history and follow misguided notions.

Suguru is your past, and Satoru is your future.

That’s what you keep telling yourself, at least.

Despite your annoyance with the number of attendees, the night has been filled with speeches dedicated to the two of you and the love you’ve shared over the years, fond stories and memories from the two of you as well as plenty of dancing; something the students seem to be taking full advantage of.

As you walk around the open space, greeting someone you’re pretty sure you’ve already spoken to in the Zenin clan, you spot a figure hidden away in the shadows of the gazebo outside through one of the many windows.

You clench your jaw while trying to smile but the conversation being had is going in one ear and out the other as ice runs through your veins at the thought of him turning up when you least expect it.

“Babe?” Satoru turns, staring at you over the rim of his glasses, nudging you slightly.

You startle out of your thoughts, looking up at him expectantly, “Hm?”

“They were asking when we were planning to start a family. You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” you’re trying your hardest not to look out the window so Satoru’s gaze doesn’t follow yours, “I think I just need some air, this has just been kind of a lot.”

Your smile is weak when Satoru takes his arm off your waist, squeezing your hand while placing a tender kiss on your forehead telling you not to leave him alone for too long.

Quickly, you make your way outside, closing the sliding door quietly behind you before stalking over to the gazebo, and your ex.

As you get closer to him, you’re able to see Suguru is in attire you’re more accustomed to seeing him in. Rather than being in the robes you saw him in a few weeks ago, he’s now adorned in a white button-up with black slacks and a belt holding everything in place around his middle.

The sleeves of his shirt are rolled up to his elbow, exposing his vascular, muscular arms.

Your heart jumps at the sight of him, he’s always been a magnetic force you can’t pull yourself away from.

“What are you doing here?” You hiss quietly, not wanting your guests inside the venue to hear.

If anyone saw Suguru here right now, there would be a commotion. Some would be scared for their lives thinking there will be an attack, others confused about why he’s shown up, not knowing your shared history.

Satoru would be absolutely livid. There’s no telling what he would do.

“I had Manami do a little digging,” Suguru starts, calm and collected but you can tell there’s a storm brewing underneath, one you don’t want to be a part of. “And what she found is so interesting. Do you know what it was?”

“I don’t give a shit, Suguru. Leave. Now.” There’s dread and panic in your voice as you lift your dress ever so slightly to give you better movement as you march over to him.

“She told me you and Satoru recently got engaged.” He’s blatantly ignoring you and it’s turning the fear you were feeling moments ago into anger and frustration. “Is that true?”

“That’s none of your business!” You hiss between your teeth while Suguru lights a cigarette, eyes sharp, watching as you step into the gazebo.

He already knows the answer, having been watching you since you came to see him all those weeks ago.

Suguru thinks you’re adorable like this, flustered, cheeks flushed from annoyance. Radiating pure beauty in the dress you chose to wear to a party celebrating your engagement to his best friend.

“How the fuck did you even find out about our engagement?”

“Did you think it would be hard to find out information on the head of the Gojo clan and his betrothed?” Suguru muses, “Plenty of people are willing to give information. Plus, Manami is very efficient.”

“Suguru,” it’s a warning, he knows, but he doesn’t care as he walks over to you threading his hands in your hair and pulling you into him, lips connecting with yours before you can finish your thought.

You should be complaining right now, kicking and screaming for him to get off you but you don’t. 

This is wrong, so very wrong but you can’t bring yourself to pull away, so instead you’re gripping onto his dress shirt, pulling him closer so he doesn’t try to break away.

Suguru pushes you against the column of the gazebo with enough force to knock your breath away, lifting you by the back of your thighs to wrap your legs around his waist.

It’s an automatic response, the way your hips always wanted to move on their own to rut against him, you can’t help it. 

Suguru chuckles into your kiss, “You’re gonna make a mess on my pants if you keep doing that.”

He runs his hands over your thighs, gripping the plush of your ass, squeezing hard enough that bruises begin to blossom around his fingertips.

Suguru is entranced by you and always has been, especially now, watching the way your tits rise and fall so beautifully with every heave of your chest in want, desire, and anticipation. 

“Look at you,” he coos, hips moving in time with yours, dry humping you against the column, “so needy for me. Satoru must not have been taking care of you all these years.”

“Fuck you,” you’re ripping open his shirt, the small buttons flying out in every direction, hands roaming over his sinewy torso and chest.

Your eyes roll to the back of your head when he dips his hand in the space between his stomach and thighs, groaning into you as he runs his fingers through your slick folds, cock straining against his thigh, so hard it hurts.

Suguru chuckles at your feistiness, he always did love it, “you know,” he slips two fingers in watching with an icy stare, “I can’t help but wonder what your fiancé would think if he saw us right now.”

He angles his fingers up, easily finding the spot that makes your legs shiver and shake like he’s never forgotten, and he uses his thumb to encircle your clit causing you to clench around his fingers.

You’re moaning his name, pulling him in closer to you, hand gripping his soft raven tresses. He loves how malleable you are to his touch, the way you melt as soon as his lips are on yours, it’s the way you’ve always been.

You’d let him do anything he wanted.

There’s a knot forming quickly in the center of your core. Suguru knows your body like the back of his hand, knows all of the spots that have you crying out, whimpering, and convulsing around him from having mapped out your body so many times before.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll let you cum soon, we gotta be quick after all.” He says, leaning forward to whisper next to you, his hot breath on the shell of your ear causing a shiver to run down your spine.

He pumps his fingers, brushing your spot every time, he knows you're close, the way you’re mewling into him, bucking your hips wildly as he picks up his pace, the palm of his hand slapping against your clit with every thrust.

“S’guru- I’m-” your words are cut short with a series of broken moans as he continues to pump his fingers, working you through your orgasm, the open space filled with lewd squelching noises as your walls clench and legs tremble around him.

Suguru’s lips are on yours when you absolutely gush onto his hand, helping keep your moans muffled before planting several soft kisses over your flushed face before moving to nip at a tender spot just below your ear.

Closing your eyes, you rest your head back against the pillar before he shoves his fingers in your mouth. You open your eyes and watch him; cheeks pink, lips parted, eyes half-lidded, pupils blown with lust watching the way you swirl your tongue around, tasting your arousal as he works to undo the button and zipper of his pants.

You let out a loud gasp when you feel the blunt end of his thick cock slide through your folds, tip teasing your clit, pulling your hips away from him automatically at the sensitive feeling.

Suguru grabs your hip and pulls you forward again as he continues to tease you, sliding his cock up and down your soaked cunt.

“S-sensitive,” you whine, trying to wiggle your hips out of his grasp.

“You can handle it.” He remarks bluntly, “Besides, you deserve this, don’t you? Trying to make me jealous, running off to marry my best friend.”

“No.” You answer firmly, breathlessly as he leans up, amusement in his dark eyes at your response, “You left me. Just-just hurry up and fuck me already.”

He chuckles, letting his cock circle your clit a few times, twitching when he hears your pretty little gasps, before teasing your entrance. You buck up, impatient, his tip slipping past your folds.

He lets out a loud groan, lips ghosting yours as you slide down the length of his cock before rolling his hips a few times, both moaning at the feeling of having each other just one more time. 

Because that’s all this can be. Just one more time, that’s it. And then he’ll be out of your system for good. You’ll never see him again, Satoru will never have to know and you can live your life in peace.

You’re planning on burning that godforsaken letter when you get home.

“You should be mine, you should have followed me,” Suguru rambles through clenched teeth, pulling out halfway before slamming back into you, “You’re mine, aren’t you, baby?”

“Suguru, I-I…” You’re unable to answer, stuttering trying to find the words as you move your hips back to meet his every thrust, the tip of his cock hitting your cervix in a way you know you’ll be sore later “Yes.”

It’s an automatic response at this point, whether it’s from Suguru’s possessiveness when he’d fuck you like this or because you really, truly want to be with him, you’re not entirely sure.

“Yeah, fucking right you are, baby,” Suguru groans, slamming his hips into yours relentlessly, watching your tits bounce in time with his thrusts as tears prick in the corner of your eyes, making his own light up as they overflow and spill down your cheek.

He knows it's selfish of him to want you to turn your back on what you believe, turn your back on the life you’ve lived and created for yourself after he defected. But fuck if he’s not always been selfish, especially when it comes to you.

Suguru doesn't want to see you happy with someone else, not when you could and should be with him. Even if he knows Satoru would do his best to give you a great life.

“Gonna make sure everyone knows who you belong to.” His lips slam into yours, hot searing kisses on your lips, tongues gliding together sloppily until he moves to nip at your ear lobe, “gonna fill you so full, put a baby inside you - what’s Satoru going to think then?”

He laughs next to your ear, unhinged, high-pitched, and amused with his own thoughts, his hot breath tickling your neck, sending a jolt right to the apex of your thighs.

“You’re fucking insane,” your hands are under his open shirt on his shoulders, nails digging into his skin hard enough to draw blood, he doesn’t bother trying to stop you. They’ll be little reminders of how he was able to have you again.

Suguru rests his head against your shoulder, heavy breaths fanning your ear, his cock twitching each time you grace him with one of your pretty moans.

“I miss you,” He kisses your jaw, licks the trail of tears streaming down your cheek, leaving a kiss below your eye before ripping the rest of the silky fabric of your dress from your waist, letting it fall to the floor, “You still take my cock so fucking well, baby.”

You look down, moaning at the sight of where you’re connected, watching the way his thick cock disappears in your cunt. He runs his hand along your abdomen, where the familiar bulge from his cock sits.

Your eyes roll to the back of your head, “Right there keep going, harder, please.” 

Suguru watches the way the sheen of sweat that’s formed over your body glistens in the dim lights of the building next to you. The one your current lover is excitedly talking to everyone about your upcoming nuptials.

You’re so gorgeous with the blush that’s formed on your cheeks down to your neck, with your sweet, breathy moans that are only for him at this moment.

He snakes his arm around your hips, pulling your ass out from against the pillar, leaving your shoulders connected. His hands are cemented on your hips keeping you in place while he fucks into you with reckless abandon, throwing his head back, using your body however he wants, however he needs.

“Nobody will want you -ah- if you have a kid with me. Satoru will leave you, you -ah- you’ll have no choice but to come back to me, won’t you baby”

Your arousal drips obscenely to the wooden floor below while Suguru grabs your legs from his waist, pushing your legs apart to get deeper. His eyes are rolling to the back of his head from the feeling of your soft, warm walls tightening around his cock.

“Shit, right there,” You gasp as his hips falter, “Don’t stop, don’t stop, please don’t stop. I’m so close.”

Your walls clench and shudder around him, encouraging him to speed up, to cum inside you like he knows you want him to, despite it being a bad fucking idea. You’re clenching around him, hard, and before you know it, your body is shivering like you’re seizing, vision going white as your high takes over all your senses.

Suguru lets out a string of breathy moans, brows knitted together at the feeling of your walls squeezing him for all he’s worth, hammering into you until his hips are stuttering and he’s no longer able to hold back.

“Take my cum, baby,” He hisses, thrusting sloppier than ever as he loses himself in you, “I love you so fucking much.” 

He lets out a deep guttural groan as his release floods your insides.

You’re panting into one another as he continues to slowly rock his hips, fucking his cum deeper inside, hoping it sticks, because he meant everything he said.

Suguru helps adjust your clothes and holds your hand until you’re able to stand on your own, cum leaking out and down your leg. He also helps adjust your dress while you work on fixing your hair to the best of your abilities.

“You need to leave. This was a mistake. We can never see each other again.”

He chuckles, eyes flickering behind you quickly before running his thumb across your jaw and over your lips because he knows you’ll be back to see him. Sooner than you think.

“Y/N.” A cold, icy tone calls from behind you.

There’s panic in your eyes as they widen and turn to face Satoru, a lump in your throat so large it’s hard to swallow, hard to breathe. You’re able to make him out easily, with the lights from the venue shining brightly out onto the courtyard.

His hands are in his pocket, feet planted shoulder-width apart and you swear you could feel his cursed energy spike for only a moment, just enough for you to know he knows.

You turn back to face Suguru but he’s gone, and it’s so hard to even think about the consequences of your actions knowing there’s a gaze burning a hole in the back of your head.

If looks could kill - that’s the only thought that comes to mind when you turn back around to face Satoru, hands shaking, heart feeling as if it’s going to lurch from your body and splatter all over the gazebo floor.

“What are you doing out here, honey?” Satoru’s voice is clipped, rigid, and your stomach is doing cartwheels.

“I just…” There’s no explanation, all you can do is clear your throat and look away.

Satoru nods his head slowly, “think it’s time we go back inside and show everyone how happy we are, yeah?”

You scratch at the back of your neck, taking slow, unsure steps toward Satoru.

He holds his elbow out towards you, tension thick as you look your arm into his, walking into the building to finish your engagement party, “Yeah… yeah. Let’s get back inside.”

@s-witch-bitch @watyousayin @coffee-on-a-rainyautumn @ritsatoru @faewithsnakes @lex-dear @hvziers @babybae-shisui @saiewithakatana @yihona-san06 @shartnart1 @lilith412426 @ambersea7 @ikilledsparky2 @creolequeen11210 @ichigojamjam @simpfully-heartbroken @coffee-on-a-rainyautumn @shan-nein @witchbybirth

[pianostarinwonderland]

TWST Valentines Cards 2023

Hell yeah, it's that time of the year again.

Going to make another post keeping record of this year's set of letters. Some cards haven't been found yet, so this post will be updated as I find more cards. If there is an asterisk beside a character's name, that means I only got the text itself but there may be errors and needs to be verified with the picture of the card itself. If any of you have pictures of letters that are either not there or need verification and don't mind showing to anyone, please send to me through DMs!

Since the cards freshly came out and some are still waiting for their own letters, all letters will be posted under the cut!

Riddle Rosehearts

My dear friend— Thank you for the lovely sweets. I'll have them on my study breaks. If they're good, perhaps I'll set them out at a tea party. You'll certainly be invited if I do. After all, there's no rule that states you can't join.

Trey Clover

Hello, friend— Thanks so much for the gift. It was exactly my taste, with just the right amount of sweetness. I can tell you thought a lot about what to get. I'll come up with a recipe based on these sweets sometime. I hope you'll taste test it for me.

Cater Diamond

Eyyy, friendo! Sweets aren't normally my jam, but the ones you picked out were PERF—and they looked great too! You must've put in some WORK picking them out. So, thanks! I'll make sure to do the same for you!

Ace Trappola

Heya, pal— I kinda freaked when I saw you left a present at my door—in a good way! You actually sent me sweets! You could've just given them to me in person, you know. I haven't had any yet, but I'm sure they'll be great! We should share them at lunch tomorrow.

Deuce Spade

My good friend— Thanks for the amazing gift! You got me those mega-popular sweets we just talked about, right? They were so good! It's kind of a shame I ate them all. Have you had any? I guess it'd be weird if I gifted you the same thing, but come shopping with me sometime and we can pick out some sweets for you.

Leona Kingscholar

Hey— You give me SWEETS? I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes through that noggin of yours. I'll be nice and say I appreciate the sentiment...this time. But don't expect any glowing food reviews.

Ruggie Bucchi

Hey, 'sup. I got the sweets you sent! It's always a good day when someone gifts me food. These are supposed to be real popular right now, yeah? They must've been hard to snag. Shyeheehee, that makes them doubly good! Thanks a ton!

Jack Howl

Hi, I was surprised when I smelled something sweet at my door. Consider your present received. I still can't believe you gave me such cutesy-looking sweets. Not that I'm unhappy about it, of course. I actually like candy and stuff. Thanks.

Azul Ashengrotto

My boon companion— Thank you for the heartfelt gift. I suppose I owe it to you to partake of these sweets. Don't worry. Once I've analyzed the flavor, I'll gift you something equally delicious. After all, fair's fair.

Jade Leech

My good friend— You've outdone yourself. Sweets that pair well with black tea? My deepest thanks. I'm flattered that you thought of me so when selecting them. You've inspired me. I'm going to spend my mountain hikes pondering just the right tea blend to suit your palate. I do hope you'll enjoy it.

Floyd Leech

Dear little shrimpy— I saw your present. You got me candy? That rules! I was JUST in the mood for something sweet. I might not be tomorrow though, so I think I'll polish them off today. Thanks.

Kalim Al-Asim

To my dear friend— Thanks for the present! What colorful and sparkly sweets. They look delicious! I just had an idea! How about we eat them together after school? Gifts like this taste better when shared, after all. I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't wait to see you later!

Jamil Viper

Hello— I was surprised to see you gifted me sweets. At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to make you something similar... But when I pulled the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was a heartfelt gesture. I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you.

Vil Schoenheit

Dearest friend— Thank you for the gift. The sweets were dazzling and most attractive. Did you try to imagine what I'd like when picking them out? If so, you made an apt choice. I'll have something for you later in return.

Rook Hunt

Bonjour, and merci beaucoup! What a lovely batch of confections! They’re so darling that I’m tempted to stow them away in a brilliant bejeweled box. Ah, but I jest. I’ll enjoy every morsel of this gift you’ve so thoughtfully bestowed upon me.

Epel Felmier

Dear friend— Thanks for the gift! Sweets from the city have a real fancy vibe, don't they? I'll savor every bite. I know this isn't exactly a gift, but I just scored some coupons for the cafeteria. Wanna join me for lunch tomorrow? Just wait for me, and I'll find you!

Idia Shroud

@YOU huh? What the wha? im low-key scared here why would u give me sweets??? ig that sometimes i run low on sugar when ive been gaming too long and my aim becomes trash... ok sure, if this is ur way of looking out for me, ill take it

Ortho Shroud

Hello, Prefect― Thanks for the present! The sweets were very charming and cute, not to mention colorful. What neat designs! I'll make sure to save this as a special memory. I've run the data on their base ingredients, and hope to gift you some fitting sweets in return soon.

Malleus Draconia

To my dear friend— Thank you. Never did I envision someone presenting me with the gift of sweet treats. It would be a shame for me to eat them all by myself. I think I'll share them with you. Would you be willing to provide the tea to go with them?

Lilia Vanrouge

Greetings! Your present was delightful. The treats had a subtle sweetness that was perfect for a slightly mature fae like myself. I'll be making you a lovely treat in return, using a very special recipe of mine. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Silver

Salutations— Thanks for the gift. I read once that sugar can boost your concentration. Did you give me these to snack on when I'm about to nod off during my studies? That was very considerate of you. I think I'll try them out today.

Sebek Zigvolt

Human— I've received your gift. It was agreeably sweet. In fact, it might've been sweet enough to make black coffee bearable... But I digress. Regardless, I was somewhat impressed with your choice. You have my thanks.

Grim

Dear hench-human— Mraaah! Is this ALL for me?! I've never seen such sparkly, yummy-lookin' candy before! I feel like a king! But I'd feel bad leavin' you out of this sugar extravaganza, so I GUESS you can have a small piece. I'm lookin' forward to more gifts, partner!

Dire Crowley

Dear esteemed student— Thank you for the delicious gift. And don’t bother telling me I was supposed to share it—I’ve already finished the whole package! If you wish for the staff to also partake, I suggest you acquire more treats. But don’t worry, I won’t say a word if you give the same gift twice. I’m kindhearted like that!

Divus Crewel

Dear pup— Is this a gift for the staff? Excellent. Now that I have some treats to sweeten my breaks, I'll be able to grade your exams with a much more critical eye. I can see the grimace on your face now. Relax, it was a joke. It's usually frowned upon for dogs to be the ones buying gifts, but since you're such a loyal pup, I'll let you off. I'm a generous trainer, after all.

Mozus Trein

Dear juvenile— I must wonder why you decided to get me a present. Is this your way of thanking me for my lecture the other day? If so, gifts are hardly necessary. It's a teacher's job to educate students with a thirst for knowledge. I can't accept any offerings from students, but the sentiment is much appreciated. I expect nothing but excellence from you moving forward.

Ashton Vargas

Dear student— Thanks for the present! Excessive sugar is a no-go when building a beautiful bod, but it'd be bad form to let your thoughtful gesture go to waste. Such is the price of popularity. I'll just have to accept that and work off everything I eat. Keep up those reps!

Sam

Yo, little imp! What is UP? Thanks so much for the gift! You've got a real eye for quality. I'll make sure to stock up on goods that'll pique your interest, so swing by the shop soon!

[freshie-owo]

HEHEHEHEHE kicking and giggling, I loved your response to the A/B/O verse of PBP and I’m extremely excited for what else you have planned for the story (including a rewrite you say?) and whether or not you do make an a/b/o ver, I’ll be happily reading anything Zenitsu & the uzuis centric.

(I may also do my own spin of the a/b/o idea or just Zenitsu Uzui in general, I mainly write for Sanemi & Genya on my ao3 but Zenitsu is so blorbo and I love the idea of him being blood related or somehow adopted by the uzuis. However of course I’ll be giving credit/the inspiration link to your ao3 and works because they quite literally are the main inspiration)

And YES !! Monthly reread, I’m not kidding when I say it’s my favorite Zenitsu fanfic ever. It’s genuinely so hard to find fanfics of him that cater to my taste and your entire work is just the equivalent of hitting diamonds in a mine for me. I remember this year when you updated I had the shittiest day at work and what was getting me thru is that I got the ao3 notif of the last update LOL I went straight into reading when I got home and then took a shower and ate.

Oh also side note — I really liked and am curious about the jealously aspect of alpha/father/pack leader tengen, Tengen’s jealousy has been hinted a few time in PBP, especially when Zenitsu talked about his gramps, and I find that so interesting since we see a Lot of Zenitsu’s jealously in the fanfic. Basically what I’m saying is that if you go the possessive/jealous papa tengen route when they meet gramps/jigoro I’ll go bonkers just because the idea of 31 year old tengen beefing with this literal old man is so funny to me and because he’s so much more like Zenitsu than he actually thinks. And I bet he would be tweaking on the inside seeing Zenitsu be so familiar and affectionate with someone who isn’t in their “clan”

But this is just me theorizing/rambling and I’ll love anything that you put out!!!!!!!! Thanks for answering my questions and I hope you have a great day/night.💚

I'm glad you liked it, it was tons of fun for me to speculate about too, so thanks again for the ask!! And yes, I have a rewrite planned for a different series of events, and eventually I want to write not a full chaptered fic, but a fic with scenes of how I imagine things would go for some parts of Zen's life if he grew up with his fam! Tho don't get too excited considering how slowly I've been working on the main fic lol 😅

And if you're inspired to do your version of Zen and the uzuis ABO style then you should do it!! As I'm sure you saw in my fic, I was totally inspired by @kuwajima's fic to write my own, so welcome to the "inspired to write about Zenitus and the Uzuis they are family ur honour because of another writer" club haha!! But I would say don't let being used to writing one set of characters stop you if you wanna try with a new character! You'll know what feels right to write (lol)!

And I'm so, so flattered you re-read that often and that the fic is so right for you - I know I go absolutely feral when I find a fic like that for myself! I feel like I'm not putting it into words well but I just. Thank you. Thank you for loving the fic so much and for telling me so. It truly means so much to me 🥹

I'm sorry you had a shitty day when that happened, but I am delighted that I could provide something to make your day even a little bit better :)

As for Tengen getting jealous of Jigoro. Well. 👀👀👀👀👀 <- me looking at the next chapter draft and my notes lolololol

(Tengen and Zenitsu please get your shit together for two seconds and see how you are similar instead of different pls and thanks if you did maybe this fic would have been a oneshot)

And thank you, I hope you have a great day/night too!!

[natsury-kazuki]

Valentine Card 2023

Hey, like every year there are Valentine's Day cards, this post will be updated as I find the cards, feel free to send me the missing cards! Enjoy - 06.11.23

HEARTSLABYUL

My dear friend─

Riddle Rosehearts : Not found yet

-

Hello friend ─

Trey Clover : Not found yet

-

Eyyy, friend!

Sweets aren't normally my jam, but the ones you

picked out were PERF─and they looked great

too! You must've put in some WORK picking

them out.

So, thanks! I'll make sure to do the same for you!

Cater Diamond

-

My good friend─

Thanks for the amazing gift! You got me those

mega-popular sweets we just talked about, right?

They were so good! It's kind of a shame I ate them

all.

Have you had any? I guess it'd be weird if I gifted

you the same thing, but come shopping with me

sometime and we can pick out some sweets for you.

Deuce Spade

-

Heya, pal─

I kinda freaked when I saw you left a present at

my door─in a good way! You actually sent me

sweets! You could've just given them to me in

person, you know.

I haven't had any yet, but I'm sure they'll be

great! We should share them at lunch tomorrow.

Ace Trappola

-

SAVANACLAW

Hey─

You gev me SWEETS? I swear, sometimes I

don't know what goes through that noggin of

yours.

I'll be nice and say I appreciate the

sentiment...this time. But don't expect any

glowing food reviews.

Leona Kingscholar

-

Welp─

Ruggie Bucchi : Not found yet

-

Hi.

Jack Howl : Not found yet

-

OCTANIVELLE

My boon, companion─

Thank you for the heartfelt gift. I suppose I owe

it to you to partake of these sweets. Don't worry.

Once I've analyzed the flavor, I'll gift you

something equally delicious.

After all, fair's fair.

Azul Ashengrotto

-

My good friend─

You've outdone yourself. Sweets that pair well

with black tea? My deepest thanks. I'm flattered

that you thought of me so when selecting them.

You've inspired me. I'm going to spend my

mountain hhikes pondering just the right tea

blend to suit your palate.

I do hope you'll enjoy it.

Jade Leech

-

Dear little shrimpy─

I saw your present. You got me candy?

That rules! I saw JUST in the mood for

something sweet. I might not be tomorrow

though, so I think I'll polish them off today.

Thanks.

Floyd Leech

-

SCARABIA

To my dear friend─

Thanks for the present! What colorful and

sparkly sweets. They look delicious!

I just had an idea! How about we eat them

together after school? Gifts like this taste better

when shared, after all.

I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't

wait to see you later!

Kalim Al-Asim

-

Hello─

I was suprised to see you gifted me sweets.

At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to

make you something similiar... But when I pulled

the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put

into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was

a heartfelt gesture.

I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you.

Jamil Viper

-

POMEFIORE

Dearest friend─

Thank you for the gift. The sweets were dazzling

and most attractive.

Did you try to imagine what I'd like when

picking the out?

If so, you made an apt choice.

I'll have something for you later in return.

Vil Schoenheit

-

Bonjour, and merci beaucoup!

What a lovely batch of confections!

They're so darling that I'm tempted to stow

them away in a brilliant bejeweld box.

Ah, but I jest. I'll enjoy every morsel of this gift

you've so thoughtfully bestowed upon me.

Rook Hunt

-

Dear classmate─

Epel Felmier : Not found yet

-

IGHIHYDE

@YOU 

huh? What the wha?

im low-key scared here

why would u give me sweets???

ig that sometimes i run low on sugar when ive been

gaming too long and my aim becomes trash...

ok sure, if this is ur way of looking out for me,

ill take it

Idia Shroud 

-

Hello, Perfect─

Ortho Shroud : Not found yet

-

DIASOMNIA

To my dear friend ─

Thank you. Never did I envision someone

presenting me with the gift of sweet treat.

It would be a shame for me to eat them all by

myself. Ithink I'll share them with you.

Would you be willing to provide the tea to go

with them ?

Malleus Draconia

-

Greetings!

Your present was delightful.

The treats had a sublte sweeteness that was

perfect for a slightly mature fae like myself.

I'll be making you a lovely treat in return,

I hope you'll enjoy it.

Lilia Vanrouge

-

Salutations─

Thanks for the gift. I read once that suger can

boost your concentration.

Did you gave me these to snack on when

I'm about to nod off during my studies?

That was very considerate of you.

I think I'll try them out today.

Silver

-

Human─

Sebeck Zigvolt : Not found yet

-

NRC STAFF

Dear esteemed student─

Dire Crowley : Not found yet

-

Dear juvenile─

Mozus Trein : Not found yet

-

Dear pup-

Is this gift for the staff? Excellent. Now that I

have some treats to sweeten my breaks, I'll be able

to grade your exams with a much more critical eye.

I can see the grimace on your face now.

Relax, it was a joke.

It's usually frowned upon for dogs to be the ones

buying gifts, but since you're suche a loyal pup,

I'll let you off. I'm generous trainer, after all.

Divus Crewel

-

Dear student─

Ashton Vargas : Not found yet

-

Yo, little imp!

What is UP? Thanks so much for the gift!

You've got a real eye for quality.

I'll make sure to stock up on goods that'll pique

your interest, so swing by the shop soon!

Sam

-

OTHER

Dear hench-human─

Mraaah! Is this ALL for me?!

I've never seen such sparkly, yummy-lookin'

candy before! I feel like a king!

But I'd feel bad leavin' you out of this sugar

extravaganza, so I GUESS you can have a small

piece. I'm lookin' forward to more gifts, partner!

Grim

[afreakingdork]

Weak Spot - Chapter 21

RotTMNT Donatello x Reader

Warnings: Aged-up Turtles, Romance, Meet Cute, Villain Donatello, Cussing, Crushes, Xenophobia, Fear, Intimidation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Love, AFAB Reader, Vaginal Sex, Sex Rough, Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Creampie, Teasing, Scent Kink, Sexual Tension, Breeding Kink, Multiple Orgasms, Cunnilingus

Synopsis:  Though it hadn’t come easily, as these things rarely do, you found yourself in a whirlwind romance with a handsome and mysterious mutant. His idiosyncrasies had been easy to ignore as attraction grew into something more. However, will love endure when the unknowns about him end up being far darker than you ever considered?

Also available on Ao3

First 💜 Previous

Week 1

You: Let’s see how this works?

You: Okay… I wasn’t sure if I was going to get an auto message each time one failed. It just notes it with a little red mark on the message itself. Not too bad.

You: You probably don’t care about that or already know.

You: These probably aren’t the first messages you wanted to read when you got back

You: I should have thought of something more poignant like…

You: It’s been one day and I miss you already

You: How was that?

You: I didn’t stand a chance against my roommate. She crashed into the bathroom this morning when I was trying to change my bandages saying she knew something was up. She was furious.

You: Not at you though!

You: The injuries read accident to her, like a car accident or something? Her voice was so loud. Stupid concussion is killing me. Hard to make sense

You: She made her point though. She was pissed I hid it from her which is fair.

You: You know you straight up said you were gonna tell me what happened. It was the classic I tell you, you tell me

You: And yet!   

You: I still don’t know.

You: …

You: I don’t know

You: Work catered today, they want to start up weekly catering. I feel like this is one of those things where they’re going to give us a dumb perk so they can take something really messed up away

You: I saw a video where they were discussing supposed new and revolutionary tech. It doesn’t even come close to the few things I’ve seen of yours. Is it frustrating to know society is so far behind you?

You: So Kaleb has a cat now! He literally came home from work and there was just a cat in his apartment. He got her checked out and she wasn’t chipped. He’s still going to put out notices just in case, but she has already taken to sleeping on his stomach. He’s a goner

You: Her name is Graham Cracker 

You: I found 20 bucks on the sidewalk today!

You: Seems lucky, but I’m sort of afraid of luck these days

You: Oh

You: I guess I never told you about that…

You: I haven’t seen those other stupid turtles

You: It doesn’t feel like I’m being watched

You: I feel like I would know, but I’m also not sure

You: Bored today, how about a play by play

You: Breakfast was these microwave mini quiches. It feels so fancy, but it takes a minute and the party sized box means I got food for more than a week!

You: There’s a lady walking and eating a bowl of chili at 834am. I want to know more about her life

You: One of my cubicle mates is coughing up a storm. I heard one of my co-workers ask why she won’t go home. She says she can rest better at work. No fine, just get the rest of us sick.

You: Lunch break! I tried making onigirazu after we had them from that shop, do you remember? They were so good. Mine taste okay, but look terrible. Eh.

You: I don’t usually succumb to the midafternoon slump, but lately I just don’t feel like I have much to look forward to.

You: Wait that sounds bad…

You: Moving on!

You: Freedom!

You: Ugh the whole apartment smells like beans, why has my roommate done this to me!?

You: She also like made dinner so I guess I can’t complain too much

You: Tastes good

You: I’m supposed to progress like business is usual

You: Go through my normal routine

You: Act like nothing happened

You: But something did happen

You: Sorry, I shouldn’t even write this.

You: Disregard

Week 2

You: Some of these packages are straight up unfair

You: Like it started out with cute little things like that monstera spoon

You: Which I’ve already used to strain veggies by the way!

You: But this sticker pack?

You: Like sure I mentioned this show meant a lot to me as a kid, but how did you know which character was my favorite?

You: There is no way you hacked anything to get that info!

You: Could you tell based on my other interests? Do you know me that well?

You: So… I’m not proud of this and full disclosure I went to your apartment last night

You: I guess it’s not your apartment anymore

You: It’s not like I could get in

You: I was sort of drunk and ended up there

You: I just wanted to see it

You: Everything is happening and it feels real

You: I go to work, I see my co-workers, we eat lunch, we do work, I commute home, I see my friends, I see my roommate, but it all feels so fucking hollow

You: Just

You: Anyway, Sheldon was pissed. He kept buzzing my gauntlet over and over

You: He won’t talk to me.

You: I mean obviously he wouldn’t I knew he wouldn’t he

You: You

You: Said he wouldn’t it jeopardizes the plan. He’s only supposed to be there to keep watch.

You: I never saw him, just that damn vibration

You: I left after that.

You: I have a major fucking headache so I guess I learned my lesson

You: I’m drinking water by the way

You: Like you care

You: Woof that looks bad the next day…

You: I was in a bad mood

You: I’m sorry

You: Will these messages make sense without the time stamps?

Week 3

You: Well?

You: Fuck

You: Stupid ocean of texts and shitty red marks

You: Feels like I failed a test

You: I knew there wasn’t a timeline, but in my mind there was

You: I had to count down to something

You: Three weeks made sense

You: Isn’t that like the meaning of a ‘few’ weeks?

You: I went to the art installation with a friend.

You: It was really cool

You: I took some pictures, but not as many as I said

You: Or I guess that wasn’t really an agreement.

You: We never really discussed how that would go

You: A lot of things left unsaid

You: I wonder what I keep expecting

You: Like are you going to show up when you come back?

You: Will I get a calendar invite?

You: Are you just going to respond?

You: Hi

You: Hey

You: Are you in town and your phone is off?

You: Will I even know when you get back?

You: I know you promised, but I don’t think you ever really got my side

You: Oh shit

You: What are you going to do? Stop me?

You: Fuck you

You: Your self worth sucks shit

You: Ha! You can’t say anything back!

You: Seriously what am I in comparison ?

You: I’m just some stupid human. I’m not special. I’m just living my life.

You: I don’t like think I’m ugly or anything. I’m alright. I’m me at the end of every day

You: But you?

You: Seriously fuck you

You: This sucks because I’m actually pumped I get to say what I’m about to say without your stupid emo interruptions but then

You: It just reminds me that you aren’t here

You: Nope not gonna be sad!

You: Anyway

You: Then there’s you.

You: You’re caring. You’re interesting. You’re mysterious. You put on airs like nothing matters when things matter way too much. Plus you’re gorgeous. You’re strong. You’re cut out of fucking marble. You’re a literal walking sculpture. You’re smart. You’re so smart it's actually stupid AND you’re a great lay which is literally unfair to existence. You shouldn’t be all those things  

You: Like share with the rest of us!

You: Why the fuck would you come back to me?

You: What could I possibly offer in comparison to that?

You: You should be with the prettiest model genius the world has ever seen

You: Why

You: Should you come back

You: It doesn’t make sense.

Week 4

You: I think I was given too much time to think

-

Kicking your door open, you stared into your apartment.

It was empty.

You knew that for a fact.

Your roommate had left that very morning to go see her parents for their anniversary.

You were stuck alone.

What a pathetic Friday night.

What else was new?

Crossing the threshold you simply let your coat fall on the floor along with your bag and other useless requirements that validated your existence. There had also been another package. It rolled uselessly out from your things and over to the two others that you had yet to open from this week. Ignoring them as you had been, you threw a foot back. The door slammed shut from it and, with a flick of the wrist, you locked it.

“Welcome home to the sad life of those left waiting!”

You don’t know why you were being so dramatic today.

Trudging away from the pile, you tread towards the kitchen. You weren’t really hungry, but you’d barely picked at your lunch. Fridays had become a testament to capitalistic arrogance as they were days free of meetings and barely filled with work. Still, refusal to adopt some kind of hippie foreign policy kept the higher ups from making the smarter decision to commit to a four day work week. If they had finally exercised some sense, maybe you could have waited until Monday for your reprimand.

It’s not like you meant to send out the work up to the client with an oxford comma.

By all accounts, it was necessary.

Who has a vendetta against a tiny pen flick anyway?

Wandering away from the counter you had approached for no reason, you changed course for the fridge. Light poured from the empty shelves as your roommate had strategically laid out her groceries so she could stuff the thing with party leftovers when she got back.

You, on the other hand, just hadn’t had the sense to shop.

Why do so when you were out almost every other night?

What was left in the cold storage was sauces and not even the most basic building blocks of a meal. Sighing, you switched to the freezer where there was mostly frost bitten ice cream and a box that was far too large for the amount of pretzels it contained. It would do, but lacked some form of protein you probably needed. Flicking up the edge of some pita that definitely needed to be tossed, you glimpsed a box. Pulling it out, it was some discounted freezer meal you had grabbed in case of emergency. Staring at it, you stepped away enough that the door closed.

You could always order in.

Looking out indifferently, your wallet said otherwise. You were due to get paid Monday and you’d been stretching yourself thin in an incessant need to leave the house.

Avoiding one’s thoughts didn’t need to be so damn expensive.

Giving up, you turned and made the few steps toward the microwave. You only sort of gleaned the instructions before reaching for the device’s handle. Your sleeve lifted and there was a peak of your gauntlet underneath it. You quickly slapped the food in and slammed the microwave closed. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s silence had been deafening. He wasn’t supposed to respond, you knew that, but that didn’t keep you from whispering to him in the middle of the night.

You were such a fucking burden.

Turning away from the ticking dial, you headed towards your abandoned things.

Your phone was in there.

The device had been essentially glued to your hand for three straight weeks. It was only in the last few days that you couldn’t bear to look at it. It was the same case with the unopened packages.

Waiting had made you bitter.

Waiting had driven you out in an endless crawl of the city.

Waiting drained your wallet and mind.

You were still waiting.

The microwave beeped in time. Hobbling over to it, you did some stirring and put it right back in for its final rotations. It already paled in comparison to its poster package counterpart, but it only needed to be palatable.

As did everything else.

Walking away again, you headed towards the couch and avoided sitting to hover in front of the TV with the remote. You flipped over to a movie you had heard your gossipy coworker raving about and set it right at its opening studio notes. A completed beep sounded and you went to retrieve your sad looking dinner. It was far too hot and you let it burn the countertop as you got a drink. You then balanced it on scorched fingertips back to the couch before hitting play. You sank down into the cushions before you realized you’d forgotten a utensil. Groaning at the prospect, you left the movie playing as you got a fork. On the way back, you bumped your drink as you sat and barely saved it from a tumble to the floor. In retribution for preventing its freedom, it sloshed onto your pants and you simply stared at the stain before giving up to grab your food. 

Dialog had started as you scooped a bite into your mouth. You immediately scrunched up and chewed as if you were forced to. The texture was wrong and the flavor seemingly took on the mealy quality in a way you couldn’t describe. Thinking only that this was the reason it had been discounted, you ate more out of sheer necessity. With a few calories down, you abandoned the meal to watch the movie. It seemed to be something about a match of two close friends whose quirks led them to really only understanding one another. You were curious what had gotten your coworker riled up when a diagnosis occurred.

Suddenly trapped, you were too far in to do anything and nursed your drink as the movie took a haunting turn. Slowly the routine the pair had going for years was eroded and your chest ached. Still in a rising action, something about the thought of them not being able to watch their favorite movie together again got you. Tears were soon streaming down your face and, as the climax hit, warbled voices speaking of fear activated memories you had tried to keep at bay. The end of the movie sort of happened and by the credits you were hanging your head.

The love was platonic.

No one died.

By all accounts it wasn’t similar at all, so why has this of all things broken you?

Squeezing your face as if it were a sponge to wring out excess tears, you stormed to get a snack. Predictably, or cosmically, the cupboards were bare minus a strange jar of pickled rounds you couldn’t identify and a single popcorn bag that was leaking out of a torn corner. Grimacing at the thought of what that might mean, you cleaned out the cabinet as a whole and ended up accidentally slipping off the counter in the process. You mostly saved yourself, but still hit your funny bone. It exaggerated the stupid tears that kept easily finding their way out of your ducts.  Wilting down to the ground and nursing your arm, you stared out across your apartment.

This was all so dumb.

You were being dramatic.

You hadn’t broken up.

You weren’t even taking a break.

He was just gone on a trip.

So to speak.  

It was as if you were pulling a reverse of what should be. You’d opened so strong with Donatello. You’d put yourself out there with a confidence that welled from an unknown source. As things got more serious, excitement blinded you. Seeing him was an automatic hit of serotonin so who were you to examine the cracks that seemed to always form every single time something interrupted that. It was alarming that small absences sent you down negative paths so quickly. It was as if the improbability of him accepting a courting had bolstered you. Without that seemingly assured futility paired with his rapidly increasing reciprocation, things were simply too real. Greater weight meant greater loss. The thought of which chained your heart.

You pulled your knees up to your chest and set your chin atop them. Your mind swirled with anxieties and the many questions left unanswered. You’d determined to keep from thinking for just this reason. It only lead down dark paths. You were isolated and had no one but yourself to turn to. Sinking further down, more tears snuck free. This time had been especially illuminating on that front. Your woes were confined to your mind. It seemed like the closer you got to Donatello, the less you could tell others what was happening. It hadn’t been expressly forbidden, but his matters felt either private or, at the very least, illegal in some capacity.

Sure, your friends had seen your mutant boyfriend, but who would believe you just so happened to be jumped by three more who were coincidentally created in the same experiment to eradicate mankind?

Raising up enough to bump your head back against the cabinets, you thought about the physical healing you’d done.

At least you’d made some strides in some department.

It meant undoing them would be all the sweeter.  

You needed something greasy.

Standing, you checked the time. It was just late enough that the family places were closed, but early enough that people were just heading out for wild nights. With delivery fees still looming overhead, you looked down at yourself. You’d garnered another stain; this one on your shirt. Caring very little, you marched toward the door. With a swift kick, you toppled the pile you’d left there and rooted out your phone and wallet. Pocketing the device before you could see it, you checked for cash and found that lost bill peeking out. It felt like a sort of fate that you hadn’t thought to use it as a tip elsewhere.

Hitting the street, you stuffed your hands among your possessions. Friday’s poise showed in the passersby and you felt schlubby in comparison. Scrubbing your face only stung where the tears salted your skin and you heard a group of guys laugh. Reminding yourself it wasn’t for you, you turned a corner heading towards the closest fast food chain. Though you’d been out most of the week, the irritations of the day and lonely aspects of the night commingled miserably. You did your best to keep the irrational abandonment at bay, but it seemed incessant.

When had you become so clingy?

You tried to remember before, but it all seemed so futile. In the span of your life you had several decades of time without him and yet they seemed to pale in comparison. It was a red flag of your own making and not one you were keen on taking with you whenever he did return. You needed to temper expectations. You had to act like you hadn’t had trouble sleeping or eating. You needed to stop convincing yourself that your little benders weren’t a necessary evil. You knew better. You needed to miss him less than he clearly missed you.

There it was again.

Wincing so hard a few more stupid tears leaked out, you stopped walking to press your sleeve to your face.

It was obvious.

You didn’t know that for sure.

Why weren’t the rationales working?

Dragging the sleeve across your face so hard it burned, you marched with purpose. Sure, French fries wouldn’t solve your problems and were nothing more than another ridiculous balm, but at least they would taste damn good. You saw the glowing beacon tucked a few blocks down. You burned its lights into your retinas in an attempt to drown out the negative thoughts. They had never reared their head in this way and you were clearly losing the battle.

You had a sea of comments from him that said otherwise and yet given space all you could do was second guess every moment.

In a mental scream, you loudly berated the derogatory voices until you finally reached the restaurant. With doors flung open with a little too much force, you headed straight towards the counter. A man there seemed stunned by your existence for only a moment before his lackadaisical attitude kicked in. You ordered and passed him the 20 to receive change back. Pocketing the money instead of fiddling with your wallet, you wandered over to the sparse seating area.

You hadn’t checked your phone since this morning.

That incessant well of hope sprung up at just the thought.

Mentally building a dam of twigs and mud, you pulled out the device. A few wrong clicks with oily hands meant you bypassed the code to instead bring up the camera. Its last setting had been front facing for whatever reason and you caught sight of what startled the employee. Your hair was a mess, your face was ruddy, your cheeks were clearly tear stained, and there was yet another stain you hadn’t noticed on your shoulder.

Did you eat like an animal?

Cursing the makers of frozen food, you stared listlessly at yourself. You were just bitter enough that you could self-depreciate. Bringing the phone up high to at least attempt a flattering angle, you took a picture with the counter in the background. You shot it off into the sea of other texts with red warnings before thinking to add a comment.  

You: Having the best Friday night ever

In a move that you imagined to be like an old gunslinger, you pocketed your device and leaned into a wall. Your eyes felt watery again so you closed them to keep anything else from falling. You wondered if maybe fighting back was the problem. Maybe you just needed to accept that you had always been the reacher in the relationship and, while you berated Donnie at the prospect of making his life about you, you had done so subconsciously as it was the pit you had fallen into. Acknowledgement would help you untangle the sticky web of complex emotions.  

You must have finally run the gambit of grief.

Acceptance was the final step, or so they said. 

Plotting a better tomorrow and a throw away of this evening, the employee called out to you. Pushing off the wall and feeling the smallest bit better, you went to grab your food. The bag entered your grasp and you lifted it off the tray to keep the worker from having to deal with picking it up later. He took the plastic back and you turned to leave. Parting a glance to the lobby on sheer coincidence, you saw several bills lying on the ground where you had once been. Souring and remembering your old west maneuver had probably dumped them, you sighed as you hobbled over to grab them. In a quick squat, you swiped the tender and heard a resounding clatter of something being dropped in the kitchen.

Slowly pushing off your knees into a rotation, there was a scream and then glass seemed to be flying everywhere. Stumbling backwards and falling into an affixed seat, you opened your eyes from where they were screwed shut to see the lights were now out and the entire front entrance was gone. What remained of it was sharp jagged edges of glass and several people running away outside through the now clear view of the sidewalk. Tinnitus set in signifying there had been some sort of explosion and you deliriously fought against it for clarity’s sake. In what was an embarrassing struggle, you managed to get back on your feet as the first sounds reached your damaged ear drums.

It sounded like the rhythmic motions of heavy machinery. 

Vague memories percolated, which you kicked aside as you scrambled up to a corner to peek at whatever was happening. At the register, barely visible by some emergency lighting coming from within the kitchen, was a huge spider-like shape. Two thick legs dug wide into the ground and held up what you identified as the pilot of what must have been a suit. Another arm was then buried into the ruins of the counter while a fourth was wrapped around the employee who had helped you. The appendage brought the man up to the figure’s face where purple light seemed to burn him as his face was contorted in agony.

“I asked you a simple question.”

You nearly dropped your bag of food.

You’d only heard that voice once before.

It had haunted you for a long while, but it now elicited a very different reaction.

“I-I-I-I d-don’t k-know, m-man! I-I-I s-swear!” The employee stuttered and you could see the mechanics coil around him tighter until he had to give up on his grimace to gasp at the pressure.

You also knew that feeling well.

“Looking for someone?!” You planted your feet and shouted out.

The figure stopped dead.

Your heart made for a similar maneuver as you waited.

Then in a deathly slow turn, the figure’s head pivoted to your direction.

Two huge round purple orbs bathed you in their light.

“R-r-run!” The employee croaked.

That wasn’t happening.

It was nice of him though.

The arm released the man and he crashed into a heap somewhere behind the counter.

Mechanics shifted as metal extracted itself from plywood and the arms rotated the figure to face you. You stared up in awe as they then walked over to you in a methodical fashion. With a bend, the two lower arms brought the figure down until he was almost touching the ground. Memories of fear shot high, but they were intangible compared to what was now in front of you. That night had held a misty figure of torment. Even in the dark, the definition you now had painted him in a totally new light. 

He was clearly disheveled. You had a feeling it wasn’t meant to be that way and this costume had been thrown on in a hurry. The collar of the black jumpsuit he wore hadn’t been zipped up all the way and flopped at a strange angle. His hood teetered back on his head to the point where a slight shift would probably knock it off. It helped accentuate the clear circuitry in there that wasn’t being used. A belt came off his shoulder and dangled uselessly down. It directed your eye further where you found one of his pants legs hadn’t been properly stuffed into his boots. 

It reminded you of how you looked. 

It served to further crop up a sort of kinship that then completely squashed the last embers of alarm left at the sight of him. 

“You’re… not scared.”

His voice was so deep; it was strange. Still around his footwear, you moved to look into those glowing eyes. They had been white from what you last remembered. The recall of which seemed particularly distant. It felt like looking back on a nightmare many days after the fact. You understood why the employee had winced though. His headlamps were incessantly bright.

“I’m not.” Despite the light, you couldn’t help but soften.

Though you couldn’t see his gaze, you could sense he looked you over. Whatever he found appeased him because, when he brought his attention up, he had an assured aura. “Pretend to be.”

You nodded before an arm wrapped reached out to you carefully. You watched it openly as it slithered along your hip before beginning to encircle you. Memories of a coiling snake lapped at your consciousness, but still felt hollow in comparison to the terror from before. Though it looked similar to how the employee had been held, there was a gentleness as you were lifted off the ground. It was hard not to smile as you remembered his order. Trying to play the part, you freely let out a yelp of surprise. .

“H-hey!” You choked out as if you were being strangled even though in reality that was furthest from the truth. 

In a turn and with a stomping of mechanical limbs, you exited out the hole while scared protests leaked off your lips. The wrap hadn’t coiled around your arms and so you made a show of trying to wrench yourself free. Crumbling brick rained down and signaled you were about to head up the building. He let you dangle in a trail behind him so you sent one last desperate plea to the workers who watched on in horror as you disappeared out the threshold. Back in the night air, you watched as three limbs mechanically worked their way up the building. It wasn’t exact, but the way the pack moved more methodically than what you recalled. You hoped the light of the city would help you get a better look at whatever his costume was, but from the back he basically looked like a black blob. 

If he were going for anonymity then he was nailing it. 

You breached the rooftop and he took pause. From your comfortable perch, you craned your head to see him fiddling with something. Waiting, he eventually turned towards you incrementally through use of his pack. 

“We’re going to clear the area. They’ve called the police.”

“Gotcha!” You chirped before remembering yourself. “Oh, am I supposed to keep…?”

“Hold on.”

The pitch was still wrong, but it was teetering more towards recognizable. You were only given a useless moment to wonder if he meant to wait or grab something before he took off. In a rapid crawl that reminded you of a skittering bug, he ate up real estate at an alarming rate. You ended up bunkering down into the arm that shifted its hold as if to shield you. When he finally stopped, you peeked out to find you had to be miles from your original destination. He was fiddling with something again and continued to do so as you were lowered to the roof. The arm lingered until your feet were properly on the ground before he turned to you in a rapid rush.

You realized he’d also gotten his boots down and a gloved hand shot out only to freeze just before grazing you. His head tipped down as he did a blatant sweeping scan that ended in a slow trek to your face. In that time, you finally got the open view of him you craved. His jumpsuit appeared to be purposefully clunky in a way that encompassed his form and gave nothing away of what lay underneath. There was purple stripe detail that lined the zipper that wasn’t pulled up all the way. If it had, the collar would probably obscure his snout all the more. The dangling strap held a similarly colored blocky ‘D’ on it that you found to be an adorable trademark. The only parts of his costume that were suctioned to his skin were where the battle shell stabilized around his waist, his gloves, and his black combat boots that continued the theming with purple laces. His legs were dotted with various pouches and pockets further plumping out his pants with little color coded accents. It all hid him away just like the jet black mask that encased those purple eyes. 

It was no wonder the media couldn’t settle on a name for him.

What would someone even call this?

“You aren’t injured.”

“No.” You spoke the phrase as you continued to examine his outfit.

“The photograph.”

You blinked wide before finally turning your attention straight at him.

Stupid selfie.

“Oh…” You grimaced. “About that…”

He straightened slightly as he waited.

“I…” Your gaze hit the roof below. “… had a bad day… is all.”

“You-” He made a noise of irritation and it was the closest to sounding like him yet. You watched his hands come away from you and reach up to his mask. The lights in his goggles clicked off first and you caught a glimpse of his gaze through the colored glass. In one swoop, the goggles and accompanying fabric were in one yanked off and his hood flicked back. Donnie stood in front of you in a huff.

“You-” You corrected. “-overreacted.”

“I-!?” He rose slightly with indignation. “I returned to the city to find evidence of you, distraught!”

“So you are going to acknowledge it?” You added an icy edge with the turn of your chin.

He dropped back down. “What do you mean?”

Anger shot through you.

That didn’t seem right.

“That you’re back! No hi, hello, or welcome! You just destroy a fucking fast food joint without noticing me at all!” You jammed a finger at him, but kept it from connecting. “One month and you’ve completely reverted! Not only did you freak out, you didn’t try to check in with me, and tracked me, with-” You reeled your arm in and threw the other out to push up your sleeve to show your tech gauntlet. “-this!”

He sank slightly into his suit.

“And even now you’re-!” Your breath hitched.

When had all those tears formed in your eyes?

He was back.

Weren’t you supposed to be happy?

Didn’t you have a plan to quell your excitement?

Why is it all you wanted to do was sob?

“Even now… you don’t…” You choked on the bitterness.

There was a click and release. You looked up to find the arms still standing, but Donnie stepped freely away from the battle shell. He closed the short gap between you, but hesitated again with a lifted finger.

“Guilt keeping you?” You spat quietly.

Wait.

“Guilt?” He dipped his head to catch your eye with a sudden urgency. 

You dodged him.

This wasn’t right.

“A nice little vacation.”  You turned an eye on him only on your own terms.

No, you needed to stop.

He was clearly confused. “It was no vacation, I can assure you.”

“Assure?” Your chest puffed out and leaned your head back. “Calm down, you mean? Quell the piece back home?”

Irrational.

“Piece?” His snout crinkled around the word.    

“Just stop.” You seethed and turned away.

You needed to stop.

None of this was real.

You knew that.

Why couldn’t you stop it from pouring out like blood from a wound?

“Y/N, I don’t understand.” He reached up and pulled the zipper at his suit.

“Ugh!” You almost gagged visibly, but were able to barely keep the theatric in check. “Enough stripping already! The costume isn’t the issue!” 

He stopped and stared at you with a hardening expression.

“I’ll find my own way down.” You headed towards the access door when his hand closed like a vice around your wrist. You whipped around in a fury completely out of your control. “Don’t touch me-!”

He had his phone out and was swiping through it.

Horror blanketed you and you yanked desperately.

He let you thrash, but refused to let go as his eye scanned the device intently.

Bile burned your esophagus as you changed course. You shot towards him and he dodged easily in spin. “Stop!” You screeched and made another swipe that he easily outmaneuvered while still keeping your cuff on tightly. Furious, you twisted around in a new way and caught a glimpse of his screen.

It was your text chain.

Stomach bottoming out to nearly your feet, you dug your nails into the hand on you. Blood seeped from the pressure and you sent a satisfied smirk in his direction. The pained expression you hoped to find there was instead dire solemnity.

It looked eerily close to pity.

Enflamed, but beaten, you shrank away as far as he’d let you until he seemed to catch up with the messages.. He then allowed his phone to clatter to the ground as he turned on you.

“Don’t.” You warned, already curling into yourself.

He didn’t speak and released you.

You stood numbly and rubbed your wrist.

The damage there was your own.

Hadn’t you wanted to run?

He was coming close and you shirked away from him.

“Donnie stop.”

Like an unrelenting force, he continued to step towards you.

“Listen!” Your voice sounded thin.

He reached out.

“Don’t touch me!”

He halted on contact with the phrase.

You wanted to retract.

You wanted to scream.

You wanted to cry.

This wasn’t how the reunion was supposed to go.

It shouldn’t have happened tonight.

Tonight was already deemed a waste. 

“I’d like permission.”

You refused to look at him. “For what?”

Just go.

“To comfort you.”

Why?

“Why?”

“I should have found another way; one that didn’t involve leaving you.”

Stop prolonging the inevitable!

Move on already!

All you’ve done is lead me on!

Go be with the perfect being that is clearly waiting on you!

Stop wasting my time!

Stop wasting yours!

The screams were so loud, your knees buckled.

Instead of falling, you dropped to a squat and buried your face into your hands. Your breath was so loud within the cupping, but it still wasn’t enough to quell those raging irrational thoughts.

You heard a swish of fabric.

He was still there.

He refused to stop hovering.

Why did he keep waiting?

Why wouldn’t he just leave?

Maybe you needed to tell him?

He needed to hear it.

Even if you wanted to, you knew you were too pathetic to ever do it.

No matter how much you wanted better for him.

You were too selfish.

You had been waiting so long for his return.

He was back.

Raising up as if puppeteered by an entirely different entity, you felt the night air hit your wet cheeks.

Of course, you were crying again.

You turned your devastated expression on him and spoke through glass. “I’m sorry.”

He was close; as close as he could possibly be with his big body and yet he still hadn’t touched you. He held out a hand and a handkerchief was deposited there from one of his arms of the battle shell even though it still sat a length away. Taking great care in adjusting the fabric in his hold, he blotted your cheeks. It was there that you felt how he’d maneuvered it so he wasn’t even touching you through the fabric.

His staunch following of your direction caused more tears to flow.

Stupid perfect asshole. 

He caught the drips easily.

“I’m a mess.”

He shook his head.

“I have photo evidence to prove it.”

He raised a brow that said he disagreed.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

He stared for a moment longer before his gaze sank along with his hand. He stared at the darkened spots where your tears had absorbed into the handkerchief. “My first response needs to be a perfect encapsulation of my thoughts. Though, I am having difficulty formulating one.”

“Silence isn’t better.”

“I see that.”

Shifting off your rapidly numbing legs, you let yourself fall onto your ass.

“I should have realized.” There was a thump of him presumably doing the same. “I could have done something to quell your concerns.”

“Quell, huh?” You responded dryly.

You felt his gaze snap to you. “I ignored your prior insinuation because it was patently erroneous, but I find it alarming that you would bring it up again.”

“Bring up what?” Your legs were still a tangle in front of you and you hiked them up to bury your chin into your knee.

“That there could be anyone else.”

How many times would you force him to say that?

“It makes sense.”

“It doesn’t.” There was a shift as he somehow scooted even closer to you with nary a graze.

“Keep that up and we’ll need a microscope to prove your following orders.” You flicked him a harsh glance.

“I’ll supply one.”

“Donnie.”

“There is no one else. Not here. Not in the Hidden City. There is-” His hand appeared first as an anchor by your hip and then his face as close to yours as could be. “-only you. There has only been you since we met.”

You were glad your lips were pressed to your knee because it kept the questions from sneaking out.

“I will reassure you as many times as is necessary for you to believe me.”

After a lengthy blink, you finally turned a watery eye towards him.

“It does not ‘make sense’ or, however you chose to put it, otherwise. I have never entertained anyone as I have you. I also can’t imagine doing so. Do not depreciate your worth. You have no idea how valuable you are. I will admit, though, that I am unable to be objective in that regard.”

Your head rose from its perch and shook ever so slightly as you stared.

“You had openly shared your concerns regarding abandonment prior. I should have realized that, no matter the circumstance, this was analogous.”

Your mouth turned down threateningly and levered the well of your tear ducts.

“I cannot make up for the time we’ve lost, but you can be damn sure that I will not allow anything to separate us again.” There was a wicked edge to his eye that spoke of things set into motion that were probably best left unknown.

“Why me?” Your knee dropped down, leaving your torso exposed.

He gave his patented look. “I believe you were the one to attempt pivoting that statement through the other’s lens.”  

Your brows knit.

“I could ask you the same, a stalemate.”

You shifted, opening yourself up all the more. “Why don’t you worry about me finding someone else?”

He squinted as if that were impossible. “Why should I?”

You pursed your lips and turned away a little. “Sorry, ‘Mr. Perfect.’”

“Setting aside your sarcasm, I just acknowledged fault, i.e. the enemy of perfection.”

“No.” You gave a sigh as you changed positions to face him. “I was being rude because you apparently think you’re so good that I couldn’t possibly go after anyone else.”

His gaze flicked away as if he were waiting for some joke to be called. When one didn’t, he returned with honest confusion. “For the sake of this… thought exercise, and I want to remind you that it is such and thus hypothetical on all accounts, that I would know the moment I came into contact with you, if you had been unfaithful, but, again for the sake of the exercise, I will ask, why would you cheat on me to begin with?”

“We’d have to be dating.”

His head bobbed as again he searched for the camera crew before returning to you with an affronted look. “We are.”

“Are we?” You lowered yourself under the weight of nerves.

“We continually go on dates, you’ve slept over nearly as much as you did your own apartment… We are by all accounts romantically entwined.”

“Your…” You could only find earnest intent across from you. “That’s something you have to establish!”

Donnie pinched the bridge of his snout. “I did!”

“Uh, no, you didn’t!”

Donnie shook his head like he couldn’t believe what was being said. “You told me I had to clarify when I asked you out and then I did exactly that. I didn’t mince my words and you accepted verbally.”

You stared openly and searched to find no such memory. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“All this time-” Donnie growled and brought a hand up to push between his eyes like he had an oncoming migraine. “I don’t know what’s more concerning; that you somehow didn’t realize or that there was even a possibility you could go to someone else.”

“Donnie!”

Donnie dropped his arm and stared at you with fiery determination. “Would you like to date exclusively?”

“… Yes.”

“Would you like to be monogamous?” A venom leaked in there that said he would fight otherwise even though he offered the choice.

It brought the bud of a smile to your lips that you fended off. “Yes.”

“Then we are officially confirmed, though I refuse to acknowledge this as an anniversary. Voice your agreement.”

The grin blossomed against your will. “I agree and also, you’re keeping track? You don’t seem like the anniversary type.”

He shot you a biting look which he quickly traded for recognition. “Was that the source of your insecurity?”

You opened your mouth and closed it to turn away. “I want to give a flat yes, but… no. It’s clearly more.”

Donnie nodded slowly. “Is there anything I can do?”

You shook your head. “This has all been terrible timing. I… I literally just decided tonight to start working on this…”

“This being…?” 

“You name it: negative thoughts, doomsaying, self blame, fear of abandonment...” 

Carefully, he placed a hand to the ground near you. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to touch you, but resisted by digging a pad into the roof. “Was there a particular revelation?”

You gave a single dry chuckle. “You could say that.” Your head tilted as you stared at his hand. “A bad day led to worse thoughts. I’ve been fighting it, but I’m weak.”

You could feel offense rolling off your partner.

“I’m clingy, needy, and, apparently, super insecure. Logically, I knew it was all… illogical, but the bad thoughts just kept coming. I feel like a huge hypocrite.” You fought the urge to curl up. “It’s barely been a month and I worked myself up into such a tizzy that I convinced myself there had to be someone else. Not because I had evidence or an inkling, but because I just… thought so little of myself? … I guess?”

One of his fingers curled and stroked the uneven surface below in an attempt to soothe himself.

“Even now, I believe you. I hear you. I want to be happy. I can feel it submerged beneath this stupid ocean of doubt that I am; that we’re finally official.” You shot him a look which he caught with a tired expression. “To me.” You clarified before dropping your gaze. “Which is great, but it’s not an instant fix. The doubt is still there even though I know it isn’t real. Us… being close. It’s like an imposter syndrome that doesn’t set in until we’re apart and I can see it. Like no matter how close we get, you’re destined to leave.”

Donnie stopped and spread his digits out flat.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t the reunion either of us wanted…”

“The kind doesn’t matter.”

You looked up at him to find that he was also examining his own hand. “When you say it like that, it sounds like it doesn’t matter that I’m upset.”

He chuffed before looking at you, deadpan. “I despise when you’re upset, but reuniting, no matter the circumstance, was my top priority. It was always meant to be the first action upon my return. I would have preferred to take you in my arms, but I am also to blame for that failed occurrence.”

“What… happened? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t.”  He responded too quickly before relenting by tossing his head. “I emerged from a portal with my phone at the ready. I sent the retrieval code and allowed the messages to filter in. While they were dispersing, I messaged S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to see if you were home. He replied that you weren’t so I switched back to our text chain and that’s where I saw… that photo.”

In a shift of your body weight, you pressed a hand near his and leaned onto it.

“I’ll admit the next actions are a blur outside of the single drive to eradicate whoever had the notion of harming you.”

You have a small smile. “Kinda hard when it was a movie and me.”

“A movie?”

You mocked a wince before rolling your eyes. “Even more dumb; it was nothing like us, but it was just some sad flick where one friend dies… Nevermind, the point is the thought of them not being able to hang out anymore hit me wrong.”

He made a noise of comprehension before his silence tugged your eye. You looked to find him thinking, but there was a hostile air to him.

“You’re not going after the writers, directors, or whoever!”

“Hm?” He looked up and you could see the plastic veneer of how synthetic his surprise was.

“Quit! It’s a story! Some movies are sad!” You blew a puff of air at him and he turned away from it.

“I suppose that leaves you.”

“Yeah…” You looked over at his battle shell. “I’m not gonna win that one.”

“I beg to differ.”

You gave him an audacious look, but he simply returned it with a neutral one that spoke of nothing else. “Huh.”

“A glaring weakness.” He said simply before returning his gaze to his hand.

You tried to imagine what that was before another image sank it and left goose bumps in its wake. “Take me in your arms? Were you daydreaming about me Donatello?”

The sudden use of his full name in a casual manner seemed to jar him though he fended off physically doing so. He let it linger before his expression shifted to a tender one. “May I?”

You weren’t sure what he was asking, but your lips moved. “Yes?”

He rose up and you felt grounded by the intense look he shot you. He then leaned in threateningly close and brought an arm up. Instead of catching you, it simply hovered as a cage around your shoulder as his nose leveled out with yours. “You plagued me to the point where it interfered with my work. It was the inability to contact you that was the true torment. You have no idea the amount of times I considered popping back into the city. It only need be long enough to glimpse you in a futile attempt to quell that inane distraction if only for a moment.”

You shrank away and hoped to fall into his arm. 

Still trapped by your order, he adjusted to keep you from doing so while leaning farther forward to make up for the space. 

“You-?” A shudder interrupted you, but you forced your eyes open through it.

“Missed you.” His gaze flicked to your lips then back to your eyes for clarification. “I missed you.”

A tear ran down your cheek and you watched it try to pull Donnie’s eye. He refused it and you launched yourself at him. With your arms encircling his neck, he allowed you to knock him clear to the ground. There you refused to let go and buried your face into his collar. You felt his arms hovering and you had to turn just enough to speak out. “Please. Hold me-no-whatever you want. Just anything, please.”

His arms came around in a crushing force and you happily accepted by desperately rooting as close to him as possible. It took far too much wiggling for what could have been comfortable, but you eventually settled with your legs slotted between his, curled up on his plastron. He rubbed at your back in both a soothing and hungry motion. You butted your head further against his and he dipped down to bury his against your hair. He paused suddenly there and you felt him take a deep breath. He then made a noise of irritation before doing his own desperate jostling. You giggled as he scrubbed manically at you with his head. The faint scales of his cheeks tickled yours and he got a grip on the back of your head to keep you in place while he did his work. It wasn’t until he stopped, gave another testing sniff, and let his muscles relax that you finally chanced questioning it. “Something off about my smell? I haven’t taken a shower yet.”

“There was no trace of mine.”

You blinked wide before propping yourself up with elbows to his plastron to look down at him. “Yours?”

“Mine.” He repeated firmly though his gaze clearly indicated it was meant differently.

You shrank down to join your hands around his chest. You let the heat in your cheeks smolder before a little counter thought buoyed you. “It goes both ways since… you are my boyfriend after all.”

You felt his whole body give a single second tense at the statement before his arms reaffirmed their encircling. It gave you time to reign in your overwhelmed emotions. 

When you came to, you felt sleepy. “How was the Hidden City?”

“I saw little. I tucked myself away into a lab and only left a handful of times.”

You tried to picture him surrounded by proper lab equipment. “You did say it was no vacation.”

“Indeed.” He quieted and you felt one of his thumbs begin to draw lazy circles around the small of your back. “We can go one day, on our own terms. I’m sure you will be stunned by the beauty there.”

“Not you?” You hummed, shifting your chin against his pectoral plate. 

“Never.”

Against your body’s protest, you hoisted yourself up again. “I don’t want to go then.”

His gaze dipped to you genially, but his head continued to lay flat. “Not interested in making memories anew?”

“Giving better context is fine, but hearing you actively dislike it makes me less curious. We’re making memories just fine. Plus, it’s hard for me to care about a place I didn’t even know existed until a month ago.”

He smiled, satisfied, and closed his eyes.

You sank back against his chest and grew still until you could just feel the faintest rise and fall of his breath. With the terrible voices finally tapering off in the face of Donnie’s dedication, you gave a single snort as you remembered something.

His finger tapped you to communicate his question.

“There was one real downside tonight.”

“And what’s that?”

“I didn’t get to eat the food I bought. I honestly have no idea what happened to it.”

Donnie gave an amused snort of his own.

“What?” You pouted even though he couldn’t see it. “Sure, it’s crap and cheap, but I still wanted it.”

“Look up.”

You had a question on your lips, but, as you shifted to obey, you heard the movement of his battle shell. It walked over until one of its mechanical arms outstretched and held a paper bag overhead.

You rose up in time with your arms to take it with both hands. “What the…?” The arm released and you immediately felt the heat. “It’s still hot!?”

“My battle shell has a warming function. It’s obviously not fresh, but-”

You ignored him to scrambled off and sit cross-legged beside him with the bag between your legs.

He grumbled as he forced himself upright.

You pulled out your sandwich and unfurled the paper slowly, savoring the scent that rushed out. You then sank your teeth into it and took a huge bite. Coming away to chew, you threw your head back and gave a happy hum.

Whatever latent ire Donnie had melted away and you could feel him watching you with affection.

Swallowing your bite, you dunked your hand into the bag to retrieve some fries and held them out to him. “Thank you.”

He exchanged a look between them and you several times before leaning forward to bite down. You released as he took them and watched as he cutely chewed them up into his mouth with rabbit-like imagery. He caught your enamored staring and you shirked away from his smirk to take another bite of your sandwich. He leaned back and planted his arms out behind him on either side to lazily gaze skyward. You scootched over until you were slotted against his side and leaned into him. You then continued to eat while routinely feeding him fries. Savoring your meal, you eventually finished and flopped against him to bear nearly all your weight. He accepted it easily and sank down until he could lay his head against yours.

You nudged him affectionately and lamented how greasy your lips were. You doubted he’d want to kiss you like that and internally sulked. In a gentle shift of metal, the battle shell dropped down and created a backrest for both of you. When you leaned into it, it then shifted for added comfort and to create a protective barrier around you. Pacified in nearly every sense, you stared up at the stars as everything else felt insignificant. It meant when a voice did reach you, it felt particularly far away.

“We are to not decide actions for the other solitarily.”

You hummed your affirmation.

“Are you conscious enough for this conversation?” Donnie craned his head and appeared in the top right of your vision.

“I’m up.” You twisted your body some so you could watch him.

“How do you feel about what I did tonight?”

You tilted your head, about to think it over, when he continued.

“Barring the tracking and overreaction.”

Raising your brows in comprehension, you gave a little nod as you thought it over. “I probably should care more about the property damage, but it’s just some dime a dozen chain. Well… wait. Does it hurt the franchise owner?”

Donnie studied you carefully, but his features gave little away. “And the employee?”

Shifting as he ignored your question, you frowned. “Did you hurt him?”

“Nothing lengthy.”

“And franchise?”

“It’s easy enough to look up ownership in addition to their insurance policy. After the Krang, most businesses in New York are required to carry a level of supernatural coverage.”

Krang?

“Why do you ask?” You really didn’t want to sit up, but the conversation was begging you to.

He was quiet for a long moment. You watched carefully as his eye held a heavy quality before he sent it upwards towards the sky. “With your permission, I’d like to slowly bring you into my world. Given lengthy time to evaluate our options, I’ve determined ignorance is no longer your safest course.” Dropping his withdrawal, he looked down at you with a sudden lighthearted air. “You think I, of all people, would have realized knowledge is one’s greatest defense.”

“You’re the dumbest smart guy I know.” You beamed up at him.

He soured into nearly a glare.

“Don’t worry. You’re still mine and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” You leaned up to peck him and paused as you remembered the grease.

He noticed and reached down to something you didn’t care to look at. You were carving his image back into your fresh memory when the crinkling of paper followed. His hand then appeared with a brown napkin. You shot him a smile before taking it to wipe your face. When you came away he was obviously presenting his cheek. You played up a show as if you were forced before leaning in to give him a kiss. Right before you made contact, he turned and caught your lips with his own. Trying to downplay how he’d caught you off guard, you decided to get him back by deepening the maneuver with a sudden ferocity. Air rescinded as he sharply inhaled in surprise. 

Coming away only enough that when he spoke his lips brushed yours, he asked, “Your response?”

“Yes, all around.”

“Good.” He pulled another kiss from you in a slow way that made the way your lips resisted separation all the more apparent. “Do you like Italian?”

“Food?” You had to pull back to laugh. “I mean sure, we’ve had it before.”

A little content rumble came from his chest as the arm around you pulled you back to him. “There is an event I’d like you to attend as my date. It will send a message. I will not be surprised again. Is that agreeable?”

“S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. was right. You are possessive, hm?”

“Then it is a good time to mention that another factor in all of this is selfishly wanting you by my side. Always”

This time you stole a kiss.

He was growing more hesitant to pull away, but he seemed to want to say something else.

You decided to be the one to interject “It’s another ‘it goes both ways.’”

Against his will, his eyes grew owlish.

You dipped your voice down and ghosted over his lips as he had you. “You’re not the only one who wants the world to know who you belong to.”

In a growl, he flipped you and crushed his mouth to yours as the battle shell reconfigured into a sort of supportive seat. You made out until you heard a fist bang against metal. Donnie then rose up with anger painting his features. “Incessant!” He growled and looked down on you. “As much as I’d like to continue. I have one more obligation that must be fulfilled.”

“Yeah?” Your lips throbbed, kiss bruised.

“A stipulation of our agreement was him being able to see you as soon as you were cleared, safe, and content.” Donnie sat back on his knees and brought his arm up. It was then that you realized his gloves had disappeared long ago. Remembering the way they had once grown, it made sense they could retract similarly. With a shove, his sleeve pushed to his elbow and he tapped his tech gauntlet with excessive force.

“Him?” You wondered aloud, though the word hadn’t actually registered in your mind.

As if to answer your question, there was a sudden droning sound coming in fast.

You shot up, nearly crashing into Donnie as you searched the sky.

You located the faint glow of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.’s rotors soon enough and stood ready as he crashed into you.

“Careful!” Donnie hissed, softening your impact with an arm behind your back.

“I’m sorry, Y/N! I’m so sorry! Having to listen to you every night and not being able to respond broke my metaphorical heart! You have no idea how many times I wanted to say screw it and come see you! No matter how dumb the whole thing was, the safest decision was not to, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree. Just know I heard every word and I’m gonna so make it up to you! I’ve got a whole list! Just like the things you mentioned! It’s gonna be awesome!” S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. outpoured in speech so fast you could barely keep up.

Donnie sparked and looked down at you with wide eyes. “Every night?”

You looked up at him sheepishly. “Uh…”

“More than you were texted. That’s for sure.” S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. remarked proudly.

“S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.!” You barked before turning to Donnie apologetically. “It was different. I knew he was there-”

“It’s alright.” Donnie cut you off and you could see he was already sinking into a self-depreciation you knew all too well.

“No!” Not letting go of S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., you shot to your toes and then had to do a jump to catch Donnie’s lips. The first kiss only made contact with his chin and he jostled awkwardly at the move. His gaze met yours to find you sitting firm with narrowed brows and fiery determination. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. buzzed out a teasing syllable as Donnie dipped down into reach so you could kiss his worries away.

NEXT

Also huge shout-out to my betas @tmntxthings and @thepinkpanther83!

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Dancing ‘til the break of Dawn - Pt9

<Pt 8

(TWST zombie apocalypse au for all your crack-fic needs)

Yuu couldn’t help but find it – funny – watching Cater mulling over his options.

One: he could try to make the three of them stay and fix the radio station, because it was, technically, their fault it was broken. Frankly, it wasn’t like Cater could really stop them if they wanted to leave, but whatever.

Or, two: he could kick them out. The zombies were trickling away, now that they knew Yuu was safe, after all, heading off to do… whatever it was they were doing before. Cater could throw them out into the streets without having to fear his sleep would be interrupted by screaming.

“That took me months to figure out!” Cater said, eventually, somewhere between devastated and angry.

Deuce pressed a hand to his chest, entirely solemn and genuine when he said, “We’ll fix it.”

And, okay, first of all, speak for yourself. Yuu hadn’t yet forgotten the cereal and coconut water monstrosity. How could he? He swore he could still taste it, even now. He was not going to help Cater.

Second of all. This is why you can’t try to become a good person during the apocalypse! It leads you to stupid shit like this! Yuu knew he should have discouraged this! And now it was too late!

But Deuce could not be convinced otherwise, and Ace and Yuu weren’t going to leave him…

They sulked in the corner for several hours.

At least Yuu had Grim, now, for comfort. He buried his face in his baby’s barely-there fur. Why does fate hate him so? He doesn’t deserve this. He’s never done anything wrong before, ever, in his life.

(Ignore the cute little monstrosity in his arms, he was actually very cool and correct for saving it.)

Listening to Deuce curse under his breath and he tried to figure out how to fix a whole radio tower was therapeutic, at least. It almost made up for being forced to sit around waiting for even longer than they’d already expected to.

Cater walked over, holding a couple of reheated cans of corn and water bottles. He passed them out to all of them, and then took a seat.

(Next to Ace, on the side opposite Yuu and Grim. Clearly, he was still wary, even if he was now allowing Grim to stay inside for fear of retaliation.)

“How’re you feeling, Yuu-chan?” Cater asked.

Yuu blinked at him, dumbly.

After all, Cater had no reason to ask anymore. Their leaving was no longer dependent on Yuu’s health — which was… well, definitely better, but it still hurt. But he was ignoring it! As you should do with all injuries, actually, Yuu was totally a doctor and you should listen to this advice next time you are hurt!

Anyways.

Their little group of three (and a half!) would leave as soon as the radio station was fixed. Or, at least, as soon as Deuce gave up on fixing it, as even percussive maintenance wasn’t working right now, somehow.

So…

“Why do you wanna know?” Yuu asked. Not quite accusatory, he was genuinely curious. He couldn’t imagine a reason why Cater would care.

Cater looked confused, though, as if the answer was obvious.

“Sorry. I think someone else has the braincell right now,” Yuu admitted.

He glanced over at Deuce, who was staring at a bunch of loose wires, completely lost. Not him, then. He looked at Ace, who looked just as confused as Yuu. He met Grim’s eyes. Grim looked endlessly annoyed.

“Ah. Grim has it,” Yuu said, not entirely sure why he was so surprised. Grim was, pretty much, the designated Keeper of the Brain Cell.

Cater pinched the space between his brows. “I’m asking because I’m worried about you.”

“… oh,” said Yuu. “Wild.”

“Guilt is for losers,” grumbled Ace.

“Says the guy that would literally kill me if I didn’t feel guilty,” Cater said, smiling wryly.

Ace was entirely unrepentant. Because he believed guilt was for losers, and being anything else would be hypocritical.

Yuu remained silent as he mulled over this new information. Cater hadn’t needed to let them stay while Yuu healed up, and the first aid he provided was even less necessary. He had assumed that he had allowed all of that because he was scared of them all killing him in retaliation — which could still be somewhat true, admittedly — but, no, they could have killed him regardless. In fact, they would have had more opportunities to snap and murder him if he let them stay.

Which meant…

Cater was just… a genuinely okay guy.

Yuu had judged him too harshly. Perhaps because he was used to people, generally, sucking.

Damn. Maybe Yuu had spent too long in the apocalypse.

He took a sip from his water bottle and was absolutely betrayed when he found out that it was coconut water in disguise.

Yuu immediately rescinded his previous thoughts. Cater is evil and Yuu was right to hate him.

~

There was a knock on the window.

Not in the way a zombie would bump against the glass right before trying to break it, their slightly uncoordinated limbs knocking several times before they were able to beat against the glass in earnest.

No, this was… purposeful. It had a tune, of sorts, though Yuu wasn’t sure he knew what it was from.

“Hey!” an unfamiliar voice called. “Can I come in?”

Ace lit up, his hand reaching for his knife.

Yuu had half a mind to just let him. Ace had been pretty good recently, after all! He hadn’t stabbed Cater once (outside of that one time, but he was going to excuse that one)! He deserved a little treat.

“… I have cookies!” the stranger said, when they had been quiet for too long.

“Let him in.”

Now, you may be thinking: Yuu! Wait! What if this is a trick, and a survivor is trying to lure you out and kill you?

He hears you. He understands.

He is risking his life for cookies. It is a fair trade, he thinks.

Besides, he is counting on sheer unadulterated rage to carry him through the ensuing fight. You can try and kill him, as he has proven time and time again, and he won’t care. But lying about cookies? That’s the kind of grudge that will carry through the next several lifetimes.

(No, he has not recovered from the marshmallow gun incident. Do you even have to ask?)

So, all that being said, Yuu hid Grim in a closet so they wouldn’t have a repeat of the shooting incident, and they let the guy in.

He really did have cookies!

Yuu couldn’t really thank him around the three he shoved into his mouth, but he believes, in his heart of hearts, that the guy understood what the wide-eyed look Yuu gave him meant.

Yuu would die for this man.

The man just smiled at him, a little bemused. He tipped a baseball cap at them in greeting. “Nice to meet you guys, I’m Trey Clover.”

“Hope you know we don’t trust you…” Ace said, even as he stole four cookies. He took a bite, only to grimace. “Oatmeal and raisins? We definitely don’t trust you. Are you a psycho?”

He continued to eat, though. Hard to be picky about cookies in the apocalypse.

Deuce only took one, and thanked Trey for the food. Like a fucking nerd.

Trey smiled fondly at the three of them, for some strange reason. Yuu didn’t think that this guy knew them well enough to be fond. But whatever. Maybe he could use this for more cookies…

Or even a recipe! Then, he could make cookies on his own! Self sufficiency!

“Dude, Trey, how are you getting by without…” Yuu glanced left, then right, lowering his voice to a whisper when he said, “eggs?”

A silent wave of devastation rolled over the group of teens. Ah, eggs, the worst of the apocalypse’s casualties.

Deuce looked like he might cry at the reminder of what they had lost.

“Sorry for bringing it up,” Yuu said, sincerely. “But I have to know.”

Trey adjusted his glasses, awkwardly. “It depends on what the egg… does in the specific recipe. Moisture, structure, flavor…” He sighed. “There’s no one, catch-all way to do it. The only reason I know as much as I do is because my parents owned a bakery, and had a few vegan recipes.”

Yuu sank to his knees, heartbroken.

Trey gave a little sigh, resting a hand atop his head. “I can give you a few of the recipes…”

Yuu immediately brightened up. “It’s nice to finally meet a normal person.”

“I agree!” Trey said, brightly.

“… I think it’s weirder to be a ‘normal person’ during the apocalypse,” Ace gave his unwarranted opinion.

“Who asked?” said Yuu.

“Your mom,” said Ace.

“My mom is dead.”

“Okay? Who asked?” Ace retorted, without thinking about it.

And, to be fair, Yuu kind of deserved that one for trying to pull the dead mom card. This didn’t stop him from letting an awkward silence stretch for the next three and a half minutes.

Cater was the one to break it, clearing his throat: “So, Trey, what brings you here?”

Trey nearly pounced on the new topic, eternally grateful. “My friend and I were wondering whether you were okay, because your daily broadcasts suddenly stopped and all...”

Holy shit. Cater’s show actually had listeners! Wild!

Cater seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he lit up. “Oh! We’re having some…” he glanced at his ruined setup. “Technical difficulties! But, if you want, you can bring your friend over and I can do a private broadcast!”

(Ace snickered and mumbled something that might’ve been “That’s what she said.” Deuce stomped on his foot. Yuu didn’t know where the dirty joke was, but he also took the opportunity to step on Ace’s foot — for funsies.)

Trey gave an awkward little shrug. “I don’t think that can happen. He can’t come here.”

They were plunged into yet another awkward silence, but no one seemed particularly eager to break this one. To ask the question on all of their minds.

Yuu, as the only one of them who had been shot before, was the only one capable of biting the bullet:

“Is he, like, real? And… alive?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Trey waved off their concern with a light laugh. “I just don’t let him leave the house. For the sake of his safety, you know.”

Everyone sighed in relief.

Save for one person.

Yuu groaned internally.

Oh no!

Trey was problematic!

~~~~~~

Next>

[twtd11]

Tumblr, it is time. It is time for me to tell you about this year’s lesbian hallmark-esque movie from Tello Films. To wit:

A Holiday “I Do”

Much like Christmas at the Ranch, which I talked about last year, this movie is, well, more charming than good. Also like Christmas at the Ranch, it takes place at a horse ranch. Or farm? Or stables? It’s never quite clear except that they make some money from giving riding lessons.

Somehow, as has been pointed out to me, the marketing for this film completely ignores the whole horse aspect of the movie. Maybe because they didn’t want the audience to think it was Christmas at the Ranch 2.0? Which is fair considering that is, in fact, basically what it is. Maybe Tello Films has a hook up with some horse people?

Anyway, we have our lead, Jane. Here’s the sich with Jane: Jane had big career aspirations but she met a boy, thought she fell in love, had a baby, then divorced the boy because she realized she was gay. She and the daughter moved in with mom when Jane’s dad died. I can’t remember the daughter’s name and IMDb isn’t helping me out here, so I’m just going to call her the kid.

The kid likes to say droll, sophisticated, self-aware things that sound exactly like what you expect a kid to sound like in a movie about lesbians made by queer people, but which have no relation to how kids actually talk. Yes, kids can be droll and sophisticated and self-aware, but this kid’s voice was 100% constructed by an adult who maybe hasn’t spent a lot of time around kids. I mean, I haven’t spent a lot of time around kids that age either, but I’m pretty sure they don’t sound like this kid. But still, the kid is funny most of the time, so it kinda works.

Back to the plot:

So Jane is alone and lonely and there’s an obligatory speed dating scene where we meet a bunch of stereotypical lesbians which wants to be funnier than it actually is. She goes home and laments her singlehood. But she can’t lament for too long because Jane’s ex-husband and his new fiancée are about to arrive in town. They’re in town to get married and Jane is in charge of the bachelor party. You see, the ex husband is also Jane’s best friend.

Here’s a question (which is never answered): if the ex-husband’s only connection to this small town is that his ex-wife lives there, why did he choose to have his wedding there? We never get an answer for that question.

After all of that set up, I finally get to introduce the love interest. Her name is Sue, and she’s the lovely couple’s wedding planner!

To facilitate shenanigans, the lovely couple goes off to the airport to pick up the fiancée’s parents and they get stuck there overnight because of the snow. This means that the bride isn’t there to taste the catering and do other things the bride should do before the big day (personally, I’d think you’d want to taste the cake and the catering more than a day before your wedding, but I’ve never gotten married so what do I know?) Jane, who is instantly enamored of Sue, happily fills in as the bride to taste various foods. They get side tracked with sledding and a mid day yoga break (who stops in the middle of their work project and is like, yes, I’ll go to a random yoga class now?).

There are several quirky side characters that play various parts in the plot. Some of them come off better than others. The evil banker who isn’t really evil because we’re undermining that trope, was particularly a stand out for me. She knew her job and she was totally in.

I’ll leave the conflict/climax/resolution to you, dear reader, should you feel the need to spend $7 to rent it. I feel like it was worth my money.

And in another parallel with Christmas at the Ranch, I spent most of the movie wanting the leads to kiss and then when they actually got to this kiss, damn it was awkward.

[imjustforthefandoms]

TWSTOBER DAY FIVE: TREY CLOVER

With the pastry thief caught, Trey was happy to get back to baking. His treats were practically famous around the dorm, so him getting back in the kitchen is a blessing for everyone involved. Now the only question is what to make. Shortbread cookies are a definitely a good idea, or maybe a batch of tarts. As he rummaged through the kitchen, he soon decided on something simple. A nice fruit bread. There should be a few apples and cranberries in the fridge. Some yeast in the cabinets. It's plain, simple, and it'll taste amazing with a side of apple butter. A smile comes to Trey's face as he pulls out the ingredients, laying them out on the countertop before moving to the sink and washing his hands.

“Oo is the baker back in business?” Trey turned to the sound of the voice, meeting Cater as he peeked in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Yeah, since we caught the thief, it should last in the pantry for more than a night.” Trey replied, moving to dry his hands. Cater walks into the kitchen, looking at the ingredients with a soft hum.

“What are we making? Tarts, scones? Oh maybe some pretzels?”

“Just some fruit bread. It's the best way to get people to eat their fruits, you know?” Trey replied, walking back over to his ingredients as he looked at Cater with a playful smile. “why, are you planning to take some right out the oven?”

Cater let out a chuckle. “Steal from you? That's def rude. I was looking to help a bit. Sous Chef Cay Cay at your service.”

“Oh really? Guess I wouldn't mind a bit of help. But you better wash your hands first.” Trey replied as he moves over to the cabinets, pulling out two aprons before tossing one to Cater. “And you'll want one of these if you want to keep your clothes clean.” As Trey tied his apron behind him, patterned with red and black hearts, he heard a chuckle.

“Wow, you're real subtle ain't ya Trey?” Cater said as he turned off the faucet. Trey let out a curious, hum, turning to face Cater. He was holding out the apron Trey had tossed him. It was a pale orange color, with red writing that said “Hotter than the oven”. Trey let out a nervous chuckle, a smile on his face.

“I forgot about that apron. Ace got it as a gift for me last year.” Cater looked at Trey with a playful smirk.

“So you're the hot one in the kitchen?” Trey let out a sigh, no matter how he tried to turn this, it wasn't gonna work out well. “Well you're the one with the apron. I guess you're the hot one now.” Cater let out a chuckle, tying the apron around his waist.

“Aww, thanks Trey. Def gonna need a pic in this thing”

“Save the pics for after the baking is done alright? and then you'll have a focus for the picture too.” Trey added, Cater giving a prompt nod before moving next to him.“now, Let's get to baking”

After about 30 minutes of measuring flour and kneading dough, the bread was proofing on the counter. Trey was cutting apples, while Cater was mixing the glaze. “No wonder you're so strong Trey. Kneading that dough is a real workout.” Trey let out a laugh as he finished up cutting another apple, grabbing a fresh one.

“I guess. I'm nowhere near a body builder, but you'll certainly get some muscle when your family runs a pastry shop. Carrying bags of flour, kneading dough. It all adds up.”

"I'm gonna need to come to your place. Imagine Cay Cay getting some gains.” Cater replied, taking the cut apples and mixing them into the glaze. “Maybe then this apron will fit me a bit better”

“If you asked me, I'd say it fits you rather well.” Cater's hands went still, turning to face Trey. Trey met his gaze, his eyes wide. He said that out loud didn't he? The two were silent for a moment before Cater broke the silence, a smile on his face.

“Well, you're not too bad yourself Trey.” He said, before turning back to the apples in the bowl. Trey had to take a moment, still in shock before he let out a sigh.

“Thanks Cater.” He moves back to the bread, uncovering it to reveal it had doubled in size. “Come on, once we layer this bread we can get it in the oven.” Cater let out a chuckle, a smile on his lips, the tension fading like a waft in the wind.

“Yes, chef!”

The scent of apples and cinnamon filled the room, the golden brown loaf still steaming fresh out the oven. Cater was taking a hundred pics a minute. “It's so Perf right now! We made that!” He said, the excitement of a child in his tone as Trey looked at the loaf with a smile. The pride of baking was always a pleasant sensation, but it felt even better doing it with someone else.

“It's one of my favorite recipes. Once it cools we'll cut a few slices”

“That's a yay yay from Cay Cay.” He responded before he let out a soft oh. “Let's get that pic while the bread is still steaming!”Trey gave him a nod.

“Alright, lets do it.” Trey stood on one side of the loaf with a smile, Cater on the other side, one hand holding the phone, the other making a peace sign as he took the pic.

“#baking #letsgetthisbread #cookingbythebook. And post” Cater put his phone away before turning to Trey. “It's my turn on the roses,but We def have to do this again! This is real fun honestly.”

“Next time I get something to make, I'll give you an Invitation” Trey replied, a smile on his face. “Get going before Riddle takes your head.” Cater let out a chuckle before making his way out the kitchen. Trey let out a relaxed sigh, leaning on the countertop in front of the bread. He definitely needs to bake with people more often, especially Cater. Maybe he can get him into cooking too. It would be nice to hang out with him more.

One thing for sure, Cater is keeping that apron

[chookily]

Chookily's Guide to complimenting art

Introduction

While it is a kind gesture to extend positive input to an artist I would never want anyone to turn positive input into a job. For the most part it's supposed to be fun!!! We should all learn to try not to take it personally if no one compliments our art every now and then there are various reasons why people may not compliment! They could be occupied, they may not know what to say, or it's simply not their personal taste. Remember for the majority it can be challenging to say something beyond "this looks cool!" and some people may even feel self conscious of what to them seems like a lowsy compliment. What's important is to learn to be confident of our own art. As an independent artist I face this dilemma multiple times and i've learnt how to reassure myself and be confident of my own abilities. Don't rely on others solely for positive reinforcement as you're only setting yourself for failure. This is also just a general reminder that you don't need to go to into full detail about artwork. Sometimes giving your general support through a reaction or just saying "This looks cool!" is enough and you should never be afraid to voice your support

Why is it important to compliment art? Other than the rudimentary and obvious reason there is a genuine skill you can train and apply in your own artwork when you compliment artwork. By complimenting artwork you are training yourself to discern and separate specific aspects of a art piece in order to determine the strengths of an artist. THEREFORE you are using critical thinking skills that help with eye training improved vocabulary and a better general grasp of art. (Plus you make the person feel very happy :>>>>) The Basics Don't focus on the bigger picture!

When it comes to analyzing artwork the least thing you want to do is focus too much on the grand scheme of the photo. Unless you're complimenting the certain atmosphere setting how convincing it is and other technical artistic merits it's best to focus on smaller things. Look at the linework look at the color palette or the brushworks or the effects what do you appreciate most about the art piece what do you find most unique and noteable? Once you point these out it can be very easy to give a compliment! Study technical artwork terms and techniques! The best way to learn to compliment art is to immerse yourself and absorb information. Learn the basic terminologies and techniques for art do your homework! Make the criticism personally catered to the artist! What patterns have you noticed in the artist's work? Try to point out the artist's best abilities and their strengths! Let them know what they are best at!! Focus on the mood/atmosphere of the artpiece what emotion does a certain art piece evoke? what does it make you think or feel? Art is a creative exchange of ideas and stories and in doing so you feed that creative energy!

Ask questions about the art piece

Engage yourself with the art piece to familiarize yourself it makes the artist feel special!

Conclusion This is my basic tutorial on how to compliment art, if you have any other advice feel free to share. Otherwise, thank you for reading!

[punch-love]

do you have any tips for writing action scenes?

hard relate to your post on conflict! I love reading action in spideypool fic but I’ve been struggling to depict it well. my current wip has big gaps where the fast paced scenes are supposed to be lmao

Absolutely!

What do you actually LIKE about action? How can you replicate that in your own writing?

You should, above all, enjoy what you're writing, and to do that you have to figure out what you actually enjoy about action. I personally, enjoy very sensual, very gratuitous, very violent, borderline unrealistic (but still grounded) fight scenes and I replicate that in my writing. Think about the last three action scenes you enjoyed in a movie, show, or book - watch them (or, think about them) and pick out what actually stands out in your head. Is it the dialogue? Is it the engagement with the environment? The tension between the characters? Is there a way that you can replicate that in your own writing? If you're bored, then the audience is bored so you, above all else, have to cater to your own tastes and most importantly, know what those tastes are.

2. Action = intimacy

I personally don't think there's much of a different between writing porn and action, and that's because both involve two people doing something with their bodies that we don't do with the majority of the people we know. It's intimate to fight someone, regardless of whether you have any actual connection to them or not. You're putting your body on their body, and usually, in context, trying to kill or harm them with it. It's important to remember that intimacy when you're writing for a fight scene, not only for character work, but because your reader is going to be a lot more interested in the violence if it actually means something outside "we're punching, we're kicking, we're punching and kicking - " if your character is fighting a villain of the week then it's okay to pivot that intimacy just to the protagonist - how does this fight makes them feel? why are they fighting the way they are? what does this say about them as a character?

3. Will the audience be able to follow what is happening?

One of the best compliments I get about my action scenes is that people tell me that they are easily able to follow what is happening in the scene in their heads. This is very intentional on my part because growing up, 8/10 times I would skip action scenes in books because I either found them boring, irrelevant to my interests, or just borderline impossible to follow. A fight is like a dance: you don't necessarily have to understand how they're doing it, but you want to be able to enjoy the show. It's important to re-read your fight scenes and play them out in your head like a movie, or - even better - get another person to read it and tell you if they were able to follow along.

4. Is it fun? Is there a way to make it MORE fun?

I think action should indulgently fun as often as possible! I think if you're not used to writing action it can feel like kind of a narrative chore that is required to get from point A to the "fun stuff" and if you write it like that, you and your audience will not enjoy reading it. This kind of goes back to point 1, but you should really enjoy writing your action scenes if possible and the best way to do that if, of course, know what you enjoy. If you don't like action at all, then this is a good opportunity to explore what you DON'T like in action, and making a point not to include it in your work.

5. Action as a conversation.

This ties into action = intimacy but non-verbal communication is a great way talk about (and through) your character. There are a lot of things you can say in a fight scene without actually having your characters verbalize it. Body language, reaction, inaction, over action, violence, avoidance of violence, etc. All of these things are communicating something about the character AND communicating something to the character fighting them. When you're writing a fight scene, go in with the idea that this is an opportunity to showcase different aspects of your character that they would never verbally communicate.

6. Fighting Really Hurts

I think that what really grounds a fight is showing a person physically reacting to the effort it takes to continuously take or deliver a beating. I see a lot of people write scenes that hyper focus on the resulting injuries from a fight - but just fighting takes a lot of effort too! Is your character out of breath, are they sore, are they feeling overextended? Did running across five rooftops take a lot of them? Do they even want to fight anymore? This also applies emotionally: are they comfortable with violence? can they live with the aftermath? does this line up with their morals? are they uncomfortable? are they too comfortable? These are all good questions to ask (and answer) during a fight scene.