#cause apple like christmas or whatever

[dailyiiwheelship]

Today's ii wheel ship of the day is...

Apple x Blueberry!

[peachiejeongin]

Mall Madness | Han Jisung

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Staymas!

Synopsis: Christmas shopping with Han is anything but ordinary. What starts as a simple, practical trip to the mall quickly turns into a whirlwind of impulse purchases, holiday hijinks, and way too much Christmas spirit.

Pairing: bf!Han x reader

Genre: Fluff, Crack

Warnings: None!

Notice: Hello, my loves! Here is Day 2's fiction! If you missed Day 1, click the link above to read about making Christmas cookies with Felix :) Without further ado, enjoy the story!

You had no idea what possessed you to invite Han of all people to join you for Christmas shopping. Maybe it was his insistence of being a, "holiday genius," or the way his eyes sparkled when you mentioned the words, "Christmas sales." Whatever the reason, you found yourself at the entrance of the busiest mall in the city, clutching a list of carefully planned gifts.

You loved Han dearly, but you were already beginning to regret the decision.

"Okay, Ji," you said, holding up the meticulously organized checklist. "This is the plan: we hit these stores in this exact order, stick to the list, and avoid anything-"

"Not on sale," he finished for you with a mockingly serious tone. "Got it, boss."

"Sweet. Just no distractions, and absolutely no chaos."

"Chaos? With me? Never," he dragged out his tone sing songedly, causing you to shake your head.

You started your way to the Christmas decor store within the mall, planning on picking up a couple of items for your parents.

Yet, within five minutes, you were sprinting after Jisung in order to prevent him from buying a gigantic inflatable snowman.

"It's not on the list!" you hissed, tugging at his sleeve; he, on the other hand, was hugging the box like it was his long lost soulmate.

"Yeah, but think about how cool it would look in the dorm! I could put it in the living room, and-"

"And it's not even going to fit in the trunk of the car!" you argued.

Han sighed dramatically, setting the box down with a pout.

"Fine, but I'm still thinking about it." You rolled your eyes but grabbed his hand before he could wander off once more. You had now learned that letting Han loose in a mall was like letting a squirrel loose in an acorn emporium.

---

Things began to escalate when you hit the toy store. You needed to pick out gifts for your nieces, and Han took the mission incredibly seriously.

A bit too seriously, as a matter of fact.

"This doll is perfect," you beamed, holding up a sparkly princess doll.

"Yeah, but what if they like this better?" Han countered, holding up a robotic dinosaur.

"For a three-year old?" you questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Han ignored you, instead pressing a button on the dinosaur; it caused the toy to roar to life, letting out a mechanical screech so loud that a nearby toddler burst into tears.

"Oh no," Han whispered, panic flashing in his eyes. "Abort mission. Abort!" He shoved the dinosaur back onto the shelf and pulled you away from the aisle, whispering a frantic, "Go, go, go!" as the child's crying escalated.

You had barely made it into the next aisle before you both burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

---

"Let's take a break," you suggested after Jisung insisted on testing every scented candle in a home goods store; he had nearly set off your allergies with an overly strong apple spice one.

"Pretzels?" he suggested, eyes lighting up as if he had just won the lottery.

"Fine, but just one," you conceded.

Twenty minutes later, you were sitting on a food court booth with Han, who had somehow managed to come back with two pretzels, a tray of nachos, and a milkshake with two straws.

"Where did the nachos come from?" you inquired, stairing at the mountain of cheese and chips.

"They were calling to me," he stated solemnly, taking a huge bite out of his pretzel.

"Calling to you?"

"Yes! The spirit of Christmas spoke to me through this plate of cheesy goodness!" He nodded, completely serious.

"You're ridiculous," you laughed, shaking your head as you stole a chip off of the plate.

"And you love it!" he teased, leaning in closer to you with a cheeky grin.

You rolled your eyes, but you could not fight the urge to peck his cheek, ignoring the blush dusting your cheeks.

"Don't push your luck, Ji."

---

The highlight of the evening came when Han found an abandoned shopping cart in the parking garage.

"Oh no," you grimaced immediately, recognizing the mischevious dazzle in his eyes.

"Oh yes," he replied, already climbing into the cart.

"Ji, this is a horrible idea."

"Only if we don't commit!" he retaliated, giving you his best puppy-eyed expression. "Come on! Push me just for a little bit! For Christmas joy!"

You groaned but gave in, gripping the handle of the cart and giving it a cautious shove.

"Faster!" he yelled as if he were a child on a swing set.

You picked up the speed, laughing along with him as the cart zoomed down an empty stretch of pavement.

Until it hit a speedbump.

The cart tipped, Han tumbled out, and you both somehow ended up on the ground, howling with laughter as you tried to catch your breath.

---

By the time you finally made it back to the car, your shopping bags were filled with a mix of thoughtful gifts and completely unnecessary buys, such as the matching reindeer onesies Jisung had snuck in at the last second.

"You're impossible," you giggled as you buckled your seatbelt.

"Yet, here we are!" he exclaimed, flashing you a dazzling smile.

As the two of you pulled out of the parking lot, Han reached over and took your hand, lacing his fingers with yours.

"Today was awesome," he began softly. "I know was a bit much today, but it was exhilerating, truly."

You glanced at him, your heart melting at the sincerity in his tone.

"You're lucky I love you, Ji," you chuckled kindly, "or else I would have left you at the mall." He laughed, squeezing your hand tightly.

"Lucky for both of us then."

Despite the chaos, and your aching feet, you could not help but think that Christmas shopping with Han was exactly the kind of holiday magic you had not known you needed.

[slytherinshua]

❅ 　WINTER'S JEALOUSY 　( 김정수 )

genre friends to lovers , mutual pining , fluff , hyunsuk (cix) cameo , jungsu x fem!reader   cw jungsu gets jealous , not proofread   wc 1088   request yes from an ancient prompt list that's already inactive   note @loserlvrss could be a late birthday present hehe also happy debut anniversary to xdh !! (literally just realized its their 3 yrs today lmao)   net @kstrucknet

Jungsu had always thought jealousy was a stupid thing. Easily jealous people were insecure and only caused problems. He prided himself with how secure he was, not easily swayed by feelings of envy. And, as such, Jungsu had never suspected to get jealous, much less over his best friend. 

He didn’t know how to combat the feelings he soon felt rising when he saw you across the room, at this stupid Christmas party his friend had hosted. You looked nothing short of stunning in your red satin dress, commanding the attention of the whole room it seemed. Jungsu simply couldn’t look away from you. But while he was busy falling into the hypnosis that you cast on him, he was hyper aware of how close you were to Hyunsuk, how you kept laughing at whatever joke he was telling. 

Yoon Hyunsuk was loveable and fun to be around. Kind, smart, attractive. And a full head above Jungsu in height. He’d only been your friend for a few months. Jungsu had known you for half of his life. Surely, he wasn’t threatened by Hyunsuk’s presence, was he?

Jungsu felt dumb thinking about it like that. Hyunsuk couldn’t steal you from him— you weren’t even his to begin with. But he couldn’t help but feel his chest burn seeing you make eye contact with the taller man, a pretty smile gracing your lips and your eyes scrunching to complete it. He wished he had the confidence to storm up to where you and Hyunsuk stood and make up some excuse to steal you away from him, if even for a few moments. But he was afraid of acknowledging the obvious jealousy he felt, finding it tarnished his ego. 

Seungmin, ever the observant man he was, found his friend sitting in the corner of the room, sipping on spiked apple cider with a stare that could burn a hole through anyone. With a gaze so fixed on your figure, it was easy to connect the dots. He took a seat next to his friend, offering his mug of cider to toast. 

“You look like you want to banish Hyunsuk from the planet,” Seungmin muttered with a smile. He was aware of Jungsu’s crush on you. It was hard to not see the way he looked at you. What Seungmin could see that Jungsu didn’t, however, was how mutual the feelings seemed to be. 

“I don’t,” Jungsu lied. It was a pathetic attempt to hide his churning stomach and aching heart. 

“Y/n looks pretty tonight. I wonder who she dressed up for?” Seungmin nudged Jungsu’s arm.

“Isn’t it obvious? They’ve been attached at the hip for the last 20 minutes,” Jungsu took another sip of cider, letting the warm spices and tartness burn down his throat. He tried to make his words seem unaffected by the fact he was pointing out, but, to Seungmin, who already knew of his frankly crippling crush on you, it was obvious how bothered he was by the sight. 

“Someone’s jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.” 

As he uttered the defense, his eyes flitted towards your figure, once again caught breathless by how good you looked. There was an obvious absence of Hyunsuk by your side for the first time since Jungsu had sat down. He assumed he must have walked off. Your eyes were glancing around the room, and once they landed on Jungsu, they brightened. You started walking over to him, champagne in hand. Seungmin patted his friend on the shoulder and stood up, leaving him alone to talk to you.   

“Hey. So this is where you’ve been hiding all night? I swear, I couldn’t find you anywhere. I almost thought I dressed up for nothing.” 

You smiled, taking the seat Seungmin had been sitting in. Jungsu felt the churning in his stomach come to a halt, replaced by shy butterflies. 

“Wanna trade? I’ve already had too much champagne for one night,” you asked, not giving Jungsu any time to answer before swapping your glasses, humming in content at the taste of the warm cider. Jungsu smiled, taking a sip of the half empty glass of champagne that had found its way into his hand.

“You look nice tonight,” Jungsu said softly, giving you a gentle glance. Your smile widened at his comment. 

“Really?”

“You look gorgeous,” he reiterated, eyes shining as he looked at you. 

“You don’t look so bad yourself. Did you do your hair?” 

He nodded shyly. He hadn’t expected you to notice— nobody else had. Jungsu soon found himself entirely lost in your presence and words. Eyes trained onto your face, smile following your sentences. You made everything feel so easy, vanishing all of his previous doubts and worries. All he could focus on was you. 

The conversation shifted eventually, and the topic of your previous conversation with Hyunsuk came up. Something about rabbits, but Jungsu couldn’t entirely focus on processing your words. He was too hung up on how you seemed to talk about Hyunsuk, retelling the story with such enthusiasm. When there was a pause in the conversation, Jungsu found the words falling past his lips before he even realized what he was saying.

“You seem to like him a lot.”

Your eyebrows furrowed a bit at his observation. You glanced at Jungsu, but his face was unreadable. 

“You two look good together,” he continued, not even sure why he was bringing it up. The jealousy was glaringly obvious. He couldn’t hide it, especially not from you. You could always read him so easily. 

“What do you mean? You don’t actually think I’m interested in him, right?” 

Jungsu blinked, taken aback by your words. It had seemed so obvious thirty minutes ago that you were. But now he felt like he had misread you.

“I… I don’t know. You looked—”

You grasped his hand, his eyes finding yours and his mouth falling silent immediately.

“Jungsu. Are you really that oblivious? It’s you. It’s always going to be you. You’re the only one who I think of in that way.” 

Jungsu held your hand a bit tighter, as if needing more reassurance that you meant what you said. His eyes now glued to the floor, whether in shame or in thought, you weren’t sure. You lifted his chin gently, turning his face back towards you. Planting a small kiss on his cheek, you smiled.

“I like you. Don’t ever doubt it.” 

Jungsu felt his lips lift into a smile that mirrored yours, heart jumping with elation and jealousy put to rest.

xdinary heroes taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @eternalgyu,, @kangtaehyunzzz,, @haecien,, @weird-bookworm,, @blossominghunnie,,

@seunghancore,, @sobun1est,, @talkingsaxy,, @hursheys,, @mjupis,,

@gong-fourz,, @forever-atiny,, @loserlvrss

[bi-focal12]

@probabydeadbynow i saw your user (though im now realizing i misread it, lol) and it sparked this short fic idea so i wanted to share it with you before i post to ao3 (bnha, no quirk AU)

There was a piece of graffiti Izuku always saw around town. Sometimes it’d be done in white, other times blue, but most of the time it was purple- each letter looped and sprawling and bleeding into the next. 

Probably dead by now, it always said. 

Izuku didn’t know why he liked it so much. It felt odd to smile at those words when he saw them spray painted underneath the Musutafu bridge but, then again, he remembered seeing those same exact words when he was being driven home from the hospital after breaking his arm for the first time, a lollipop between his lips and a new All Might plush under his arm. And then again the morning his Dad came home for Christmas, surprising Izuku at the door. And then again the day of Kacchan’s 10th birthday party. The one with the All Might impersonator that had carried them both around on his shoulders for a while, their sweaty hands linked behind his head for no other reason except that they were happy. 

White then blue then white again. Purple today. 

Probably dead by now, it always said. 

Probably not, Izuku thought back, peering out of the passenger window with a growing smile. 

Izuku had never seen the artist. Never even caught a glimpse, but their handwriting was paint-splattered over so many of Izuku’s brightest memories. 

“What’s got you so smiley, huh?” Kacchan asked. 

Izuku turned away from the window, watching the way Kacchan’s sweaty hands gripped the steering wheel like his life depended on it. He’d only had his license for a few weeks now. 

“I think something good’s going to happen today,” Izuku replied.

Privately, he was pretty sure it already had. 

Kacchan hadn’t invited Izuku anywhere since that 10th birthday party at the arcade and now they were on their way to tour a newly built school together. 

Kacchan scoffed lightly. “What’s so good about college?” he shot back. 

“I don’t know,” Izuku replied honestly, idly flicking through the UA pamphlet resting on his lap. “Maybe…” Izuku glanced towards Kacchan. Quieter, he said, “Maybe we’ll end up going there together. You know, like old times?” 

Really old times, anyway. When Izuku would trade his apple slices for Kacchan’s potato chips at lunchtime and they’d walk home together in their baby blue smocks, hands clasped firmly together.

Not like the way they’d make passing eye contact in the halls of their high school, always in opposite motion even if Izuku’s eyes would sometimes trail after Kacchan's back. 

Even if sometimes he caught Kacchan looking, too. 

Kacchan was quiet for a few moments, the careful tick of the turn signal a feeble echo of Izuku’s hammering pulse.  

Izuku was pretty sure he remembered seeing that same graffiti- purple, and nearly washed out by a recent rainstorm- the day Kacchan threw Izuku’s notebook from a third story window in junior high. 

“Just don’t expect me to fucking hold your hand,” Kacchan eventually bit out, eyes averted- his focus too intense on the empty road for it mean anything other than embarrassment. 

His tone too light for it to even feel like a denial. 

Izuku quickly turned his gaze to his knees, smothering a smile. The UA pamphlet creased beneath his fingers. 

Probably dead by now.  

Purple. Scribbled across the window of an empty storefront. 

Kacchan had grabbed Izuku’s hand two blocks later and shoved that same pamphlet at him, holding on for a beat too long. 

“You dropped that,” he’d lied. 

His hand had been warm. 

“My dad and I were gonna tour it this weekend but he’s got a work thing.”

Izuku’s eyes had been wide and curious. He’d held his breath while Kacchan scratched the back of his neck and scuffed the toe of his shoe on the ground, casting around for the right words to say. 

“I guess you could take his spot or whatever,” he’d continued with a shrug. “If you pay for gas. ‘Cause I’m going whether you catch a ride or not.”

Izuku had thought that Kacchan would probably leave him in the dust by the time it came to go to college. Or not go, he supposed, but…

Izuku lifted his head again, listening to the way Kacchan hummed softly along with the radio. His sunglasses were All Might themed- a custom release with a subtle design that Izuku hadn’t been able to afford. 

There was a second pair, just like it, shoved towards Izuku’s chest when he first climbed into Kacchan’s car, along with a muttered comment about how Kacchan didn’t want to hear any crybaby complaints about the sun. 

They rested comfortably on Izuku’s head now. 

Probably dead by now, it always said.  

Izuku pulled them down until everything in his field of vision was tinged a soft yellow. 

Life was funny that way, he thought.

[cupids-chamber]

CELEBRATING NEW YEARS WITH THEM + NEW YEARS EVE!

Pomefiore + Heartslabyul + Ignihyde

GENDER NEUTRAL READER

A/N: Enjoy my contribution to new years. Also all stories, and most characters part is connected somehow.. read all parts to get a few extra info.. you don't have to though! Very long headcanons..

POMEFIORE + HEARTSLABYL + IGNIHYDE / SCARABIA + OCTAVINELLE + SAVANACLAW / RSA + DIASOMNIA /

Vil was someone who woke up and followed his daily schedule without fail, it was quite alarming if you were honest, how even after the wearing of parties, he was still able to wake up and preform his day to day tasks..

Yet today was different, the two of you slept in each others arms peacefully till evening, you both came home quiet late.. from one of Vil's parties.. filled to the brim with celebrities' and other wealthy and powerful figures. You had felt quiet out of place there, and nearing the end the two of you were worn out, Vil was beyond exhausted, from greeting all his guests and keeping them entertained, and you were tired of all the gazes, looks, and side-eyes you received.. if that wasn't enough, some actually took a shot and started conversing with you.. Which was ok if they had left it at pure conversation.. but you could feel a certain ill intent behind them.

Vil and you had returned to your chambers late, you'd have fallen straight to sleep, but with all the sweat accumulated and the light scent of alcohol lurking on your body, you forced yourself to a bath, and Vil followed soon after.

Rook and you had celebrated the start of the new year together, in a cabin together, the same place where you celebrated Christmas with each other to be honest your original plan was to attend the party Vil was holding, yet you two decided to decline it, this time around.. opting to go the NRC reunion later this week, rather then spend new years in a suffocating party..

The last day of December went by in a blur, as Rook treated you like he would any other day, full of love and passion. The two of you spent the day watching movies, playing in the song, doing whatever activities that kept the two of your entertained and comfortable.. Whispering soft I love you's and other words of undying affection.

The next morning Rook would have woken up first, choosing to cook breakfast for the two of you, the two of you would spend the morning in comfortable silence, while the tv would play some sort of music or show the two of you couldn't finish last night..

Epel and the two of you spent New years together, back at Epel's home.. Underneath the campfire, Epel would tell you all these stories which you assumed were fake.. And every now and then his Grandmother would bring up a story from his childhood, causing the boy to grow flustered beyond belief.. He hoped you had payed no mind to his grandmothers words.. but the way you laughed along to all the fluttering and soft moments were so perfect in his eyes..

Epel carved an wooden apple, with the image of you.. the handwork fine and ever so perfect, each part was done with care and effort.. He'd place the gift on the nightstand beside your side of the shared bed. He'd get up earlier, to help out with the farm and get breakfast ready for you..!

Riddle's ideal new years was a stay at home day with you, but the Clover family had invited the two of you over to their new years party!, and the two of you just couldn't refuse.. After all, work kept all of you fairly busy and so your friendly reunions came once a month.. and sometimes even once every few months!

The party went well.. it was a small gathering of friends.. And the two of you quickly got comfortable in the environment. Sharing snacks, and chatting away till 11. When 11:59pm hit the clock everyone started counting down, while Riddle tried his best to count in a low tone, his voice slurring as he obviously had a tad bit too much to drink..

You had to drive home that night, and when the two of you got home, Riddle was definitely at this peak of his drunken state, as throughout the entire drive and even when the two of you got home, he kept muttering compliments and other words, that you just knew he'd be far to embarrassed to say in broad daylight.

The next morning Riddle woke up with a terrible hangover.. And throughout the day, he'd remember another embarrassing memory from the previous night.. You could've sworn his face was tainted red for the entire day.

"I'm never drinking again.." he murmured underneath his breath, as you giggled from behind him. Wrapping your arms around him a bit more.. "Let's go to bed now honey.."

The two of you decided to celebrate the start of the new year with your friends, inviting the others over for a small intimate gathering.. It was quite fun preparing, and baking for the event. Trey seemed much more excited for the event then you.. Over the past few months all of your friends were quite busy, including the two of you.. on top of your work and Trey running the busy bakery full time, it was quite hard for all of you too meet up as often as the two of you would desire.. It was quite disappointing..

Trey and you greeted your friends warmly, all of you gathered sharing stories about how your year went.. Planning events that you all knew, you'd be far to busy to follow through.. yet the thought was quite comforting.. Cater was stuck on camera man duty, which he was more than happy to do.. As he took silly pictures of everyone. Even the two of you..

"We should hang this one up!" Trey said, as he looked at a selfie of everyone, all of you looked like a hot mess. Riddle leaning onto his partner for support, Cater with a goofy party hat as his partner struggled to finish their plate of food. Deuce and Ace fighting about some silly topic, while their partners, looked very tired of their actions, while Che'nya and his partner made it a point to finish the last of the lemon meringue pie... And the two of you were at the center, you on the verge of sleep and Trey questioned every decision he had made, that had led him to this position..

"We should!" you answered back, giggling in bed, the two of you woke up and finished the leftovers, way to tired to cook anything.. As you looked through the photo's and video's from last night.. truly a night to remember.

Cater and you had just returned quite recently from a trip the two of you took, out of town for Christmas. Your schedule's were pretty free, as you received the last minute invitation from Trey and his spouse, and who were you two to deny! Your schedule's were free, and you two of you had gifts you planned to give your friends anyways.. so it would be the perfect time to do so! Get it off your hands so to speak.. The two of you got there pretty late, but not the latest, Ace and his partner came in the latest, something he was teased about the moment he arrived..

You busied yourself with something.. you can't quite remember what you did. All you know is that you ate.. a lot.. And that you drank just as much... Your partner was stuck with camera duty.. The worst decision one could possibly make.. As he spent the name taking photo's of everyone at the worst possible times.. Sure there were some normal photo's.. but Cater took advantage of his role as Cameraman quite a lot..

When the two of you finally decided to leave.. well mainly Cater, you weren't in your right mind at that moment, barely able to walk or process your surroundings.. Cater had to carry you out. Something he teased you about in the morning quite a lot.. And despite the massive hangover you had, you still made it a deal to tell Cater to stop!! All light hearted of course!

Deuce and you, like the others were invited over to Trey's place for a intimate gathering. Which was great, since if Trey hadn't held it you two would have done it yourselves! The two of you got there the earliest, and made sure not to separate, opting to play games with everyone else there.

Throughout the night, all of you played a number of games to keep yourselves busy, 21 questions, truth or dare, etc! All of you also spent your fair share of time, discussing about how your days went and how the two of you were spending your days.. It was fun and relieving to know everyone was doing well.. The entire night passed peacefully, until of course Ace and Deuce picked a fight with one another.. Essentially Ace brought up one of Deuce's NRC embarrassing memories, which stemmed into a playful fight, at some point you gave up trying to stop them.. and you could've sworn that's when Cater took a picture of the two of you.. way to go Cater!

It's bound to say, the two of you were the most sober out of all your friends that night, Deuce and you had only drank as much alcohol as you could hold, preferring not to suffer from a major hangover the next morning. Either way, the next morning Deuce would make your favorite soup.. and you'd spend the morning laughing about the events that occurred the night before.

The two of you woke up with a serious hangover, recollecting the events from the night before.. Ace and you had a drink off, and almost everyone had encouraged it.. Sure Riddle tried stopping the two of you, but he himself got dragged along and that wasn't the best idea for a man who had such low alcohol tolerance. The two of you opted for takeout, way to tired and exhausted to make food that morning.

The two of you talked about last night, and plans for the new year.. When Cater messaged you.. sending all the new pictures from last night.. Looking at the photo's the two of you laughed, at how stupid both of you looked. Ace's face covered in pie, from a bet he lost last night, how some of your friends looked, struggling to finish the food they had on their plate, remembering how Trey and his spouse ever so cruelly guilt tripped you all to finish your food, even after they forced you to take more than you could handle..

The entire day the two of you spent talking about your plans and resolutions, discussing about your hopes and ambitions.. making suggestions and plans for the year with one another... At the very end of the day, the two of you settled down for some Twistflex....

Originally Idia had planned a gaming marathon between the two of you.. he hoped to catch a break from social events, sure he had grown and gotten used to such an environment.. and even learned to maintain his full composure whilst talking to someone.. but sometimes he just wants to settle down and catch a break. But his hopes were all in vain.. When Vil's invitation came around.. Idia's family is fairly well known, it didn't come as a surprise.. Idia tried his best to make a excuse.. but failed..

And so the two of you went.. to celebrate new years in Vil's place. Vil greeted the two of you, and upon full entry to the main party room.. the two of you separated... promising to meet one another later. Idia walked around the area, trying his best not to get noticed.. but he stuck out like a sore thumb due to his very unique hair, many noticed him and even struck up a conversation with the poor Shroud..

Idia skimmed through the large banquet hall in search of you— 'Oh my god is that Neige Leblanche? I though Vil hated him—' Idia thought, looking at the small men accross the hall.. he seemed to be talking with.. you! There you are!! Idia quickly made his way up to you.. he wanted to go home.. it's already midnight.. and he did not enjoy the crowded place in the slightest.. and luckily you agreed with him.. The two of you, unlike many others that day.. woke up exceptionally sober. Idia called the hotel staff and rang up for a meal for the two of you, as you both were way too worn out to go out and eat.

© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.

[bunni-v1]

I just read your Omegaverse lighter!!

And I have to say that Burnice is one of those people that I can totally see you being all three in a way.

But me personally I think Bernice is an Alpha She just doesn't show it She's got That "fuck around and find out" personality

Or she just smells like gasoline that hides her scent (cinnamon, apples, maple and bourbon btw)

First off omg I’m like a huge fan of your Lighter stuff no way you’re in my inbox. I feel like a little kid on christmas rn lmaooo

Secondly, Burnice is such a mixed bag of a character she’s so hard to put in a box 😭 I really think I could see her going either way, but it’s not like it matters cause she’ll just do whatever she wants regardless of her second gender.

It’s not like she’s ever gonna be in danger I mean come on she’s fucking crazy who’s gonna be the one to tell her no? Burnice smells crazy strong too regardless of if she’s an alpha or an omega, and it’s genuinely super overwhelming. She can outscent most alphas in a given area.

She smells sooooo good though. It’s like this apple cider-cinnamon combo that’s just delightful. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and god she’s quite the scenter. She loves scenting her friends, it’s like a mark of acceptance from her it’s super cute. When she’s kinda going nuts though she smells very strongly of burbon — overwhelmingly so. Like gag worthy kind of smell that’s how bad it is.

She definitely stresses the SoC out a lot, but when doesn’t she anyway lol.

This got me thinking about the other girls a little more in detail, though, so thank you for giving me this chance 🙏

Lucy I stand by the fact that she’s an omega, and she’s like textbook omega. Pretty, small, smells sweet, etc.. But she hates it so fucking much. Her old man wanted to sell her off to some fancy alpha and she just wasn’t gonna give up her freedom for that miserable kind of life. So she runs away and joins the SoC and she spends every second there rejecting the fact that she’s an omega.

She smells sweet, almost floral — for some reason I imagine her smelling kind of like sweet peas or lillie’s. She hides it by dousing herself in different types of perfumes. She also probably takes hormone blockers to remove the possibility of heat. It plays into her need for domination a lot — to prove she’s more than her second gender despite no one in the outback really giving a shit.

Caesar is probably an Alpha, and I know it’s true. She’s very strong and commanding, which is why people respect her so much. She really doesn’t want to be an alpha though lmaoooo. She wants to be an omega so she can have an alpha come along and woo her like in those cheesey romances she watches 😭😭 Despite this she takes on her mantle as pack leader really well, and she loves her members.

Second genders mean literally nothing to her, she doesn’t give a shit about them (besides the romance thing lol), which is part of why so many people gravitate to her. I imagine she smells kinda like oil? Oil and something very earthy. It’s not overwhelming unless she wants it to be, she has really good scent control and she’s more than willing to scent anyone who might want or need it.

Piper is probably the only beta, which means she’s the most normal of the group. She kinda sits on the sidelines and does her job, silently judging them all. She’s like the pack elder pretty much despite how young she looks. It’s kinda funny seeing big overpowering personalities get tsked at by such a small looking woman 😭

She doesn’t really have a scent — not a strong one since she’s a beta. But I imagine she vaguely smells of sugar cookies? Like freshly baked cookies at your grandmas house, it’s comforting and calming. Though it’s usually covered up by everyone else’s scent or even the oil from the machines she works on. When you get a whiff of it though it’s really pleasant!

[malarkgirlypop]

Christmas Tag Game!

It's Festivus for the rest of us so grab your Chanukah bush, your mistletoe, your pagan ritual or whatever brings you joy and come gather round the fire and celebrate your pocket friends.

Tagged by @blood-mocha-latte, @panzershrike-pretz I think that was everyone. Whoops

Favourite nickname you’ve ever been given?

I get called Floss cause my hair looks like candy floss. It was also my camp name when I worked at an American camp, it was good times.

Where are you located?

NZ!!!

What season is it where you are now?

Summer and omg it is fucking roasting!

Favourite tradition this time of year?

Putting up the Christmas tree, one year my brother did it and built it upside down somehow, don't ask me how, I was just as confused as you.

Favourite holiday food?

All of the summer fruit coming into season. Let me get my hands on some cherries and strawberries

Mulled wine, eggnog or hot apple cider?

A couple of years ago I made eggnog for my American neighbours. I feel like it tasted pretty good, but it was homemade by me, so who knows if it tasted right. They did say it tasted very good!

Turkey, ham or nut roast (Or Tofurkey?)?

Got to have the classic glazed ham!

Would you rather spend the december holidays in: a cabin in the woods surrounded by snow, or a house on the beach with sun and sand?

Well the latter since that is what I do every Christmas. But I would love to have at least one white Christmas, just to have the experience.

are you pro-snow or anti-snow?

PRO SNOW, LET IT SNOW BABY. (it won't here but one can dream)

have you ever built a snowman?

No, I'm very sad about that fact.

Skiing or snowboarding?

Ah neither, I have some stories about the one time I went on a ski trip with my school. Turns out that in fact that I am not intermediate after one ski lesson.

Do you decorate for the holidays?

I let everyone else do it cause it's so hot, but I love to watch and comment, sure they love that.

Favourite holiday movie?

The Grinch! Dinner with myself, I just can't cancel that again.

Favourite holiday fanfic?

There are? Give me them please!

If you were to star in a hallmark movie, who would be your love interest?

Scott Grimes! I mean look at him! We would have the best movie ever!

No preesure tags: (i have no idea who has been tagged or not sorry!)

@next-autopsy, @venus-haze, @mutantmanifesto, @georgieluz, @footprintsinthesxnd, @sweetxvanixlla, @xxluckystrike, @aud-of-silver-lake, @b00ks1ut, @jump-wings, @lenabob, @liptonsbabe, @liptonwashere, @ronsparky, @ronald-speirs

[pixie-000]

cg!sebastian headcannons

———————————————————————

• doesn’t smoke around you if you are little i think he tried once and little you didn’t take it well

• is okay with you calling him whatever (sebastian,bubba,dada,daddy)

• he will play with toy/color with you he’s most definitely loves legos

• he definitely tells you to use your words often especially if your frustrated

• great with overstimed little/anxious littles i feel like he does better with anxiety little those cause i personally think sebastian has anxiety and can definitely help and anxious little

• loves rocking you to sleep even if your not in little space he’ll rock you to sleep especially if your having a bad day

• he lovesss fall so he’d definitely take his little to the pumpkin patch and apple picking/hay rides

• he lets you take any of his clothes it doesn’t matter

• he definitely loves baking with you during winter or late fall but you will be nowhere near the oven or stove especially if your in little space

• (if you use pacifiers) he’s most definitely helped you decorate your pacifiers or even made you one for christmas/anniversary/birthday

• 90% of your little gear is frog themed because of him

• not completely strict but you do have some rules the biggest one is definitely bedtime

• he doesn’t like leaving you for long periods of time he’s scared something is gonna happen while he’s away and it would be even worse if you were in little space

• abigail and sam love you they are definitely like second and third cgs they think your adorable

• i think he’s really good with handling impure regression he’s nothing but loving and caring in those moments

• loves cuddles he will hold you all day no questions asked

• keeps all your drawings and coloring pages somewhere in the house he never gets rid of them

• most definitely an AMAZING listener even if you can’t clearly state the problem he will help you and make sure your okay at all cost

• i think he’d struggle a little bit if you regressed in public but he’d figure it out quick

———————————————————————

amazing you made it to the end good job i’m proud of you! 🍰have a piece of cake little one

(i might make some twd or cod agere post lmk if you want any of that kinda stuff)

(anyways luv y’all!! 😆)

and as always i don’t consent to nsfw interactions

[somegirlsnerdywords2]

Anime i’m Interested in: Winter 2023

1. Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!: Begins airing January 5th.

Synopsis: Tomo Aizawa and Junichirou "Jun" Kubota are the tightest bros you would ever see. They roughhouse and spar, but through thick and thin, they've got each other's back. Yet, there's just one small problem: Tomo is in love with Jun! Since she was young, tomboyish Tomo has been just another one of the guys; due to his extreme muscle-brained nature, Jun doesn't notice any of her advances—not even when she explicitly confesses. To add insult to injury, for the longest time, he didn't even realize that she was a girl. Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! follows the comedic hijinks of Tomo and her friends as she tries to catch Jun's eye and escape the infamous brozone. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

2. Kyokou Suiri Season 2: Begins airing January 9th.

Synopsis: Second season of Kyokou Suiri.

3. Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi: Begins Airing January 4th.

Synopsis: Himuro is an office worker who belongs to a race of supernatural beings with strange powers. Whenever he is deep in concentration, he subconsciously plunges his poor coworkers into a close rendition of the Arctic. Even so, contrary to his icy powers, Himuro is a warm and kind person. He likes flowers and cats, but alas, he cannot get too close to either. Himuro has a soft spot for his colleague Fuyutsuki, a calm woman who has a knack for providing simple solutions to his unconventional problems. Whenever Fuyutsuki does something for him, a snowstorm of emotions builds inside Himuro's heart, and he fails to notice the raging snowstorm he causes on the office floor. Thanks to his snowy tantrums, Himuro's feelings are apparent to everyone but Fuyutsuki. However, fueled by immense adoration and desire, Himuro is prepared to do whatever it takes to capture her heart. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

4. Buddy Daddies: Begins airing January 7th.

Synopsis: Assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa meet Miri, a girl looking for her father on Christmas Day. Kazuki, Rei, and Miri unexpectedly end up living together. Follows Kazuki Kurusu, a criminal contractor/coordinator who lives with his best friend, Rei Suwa, a professional assassin who has been raised from childhood to be a contract killer. Kazuki is outgoing and loves gambling and women, while Rei is a man of few words who spends his off time playing video games. One day, the two buddies end up caring for Miri Unasaka, a four year old girl whose father is a mafia boss, after Miri accidentally wanders into a firefight in a hotel while looking for her father. (Source: IMDb)

5. Sugar Apple Fairy Tale: Begins airing January 6th

Synopsis: After her mother passes away, Ann decides to become a Silver Sugar Master like her mother—a highly regarded occupation in the country of Highland, where very few masters of the craft exist. Ann leaves for the town of Lewiston, where the royal family holds a sugar sculpture festival. To become a Silver Sugar Master, she has to win the top spot and receive a royal medal. In this world, humans treat fairies as slaves and take one of their wings to control them. Ann reluctantly buys a fairy named Shall to be a bodyguard on her way to Lewiston. Ann is torn between setting Shall free, but needing a bodyguard on the dangerous roads to the festival. (Source: J-Novel Club Forums, edited)

6. Hikari no Ou: Begins airing January 14th.

Synopsis: Hikari no Ou takes place in the aftermath of humanity's last war. The world is enveloped with a black forest and people have become infected with a pathogen that causes them to burst into flame in the presence of natural fire. The only safe source of fire can be obtained by hunting black beasts, Flame Spirits, which reside deep in the forest. Among the fire hunters, rumors of "The King of Fire Hunters" began spreading recently—an individual who would be able to harvest the man-made star, the millennium comet that once wandered the void. The story revolves around Touko, a village-raised girl, and Koushi, a former student in the capital. The encounter between the two, who were not supposed to cross paths, will change the fate of the world. (Source: MAL News)

7. Tsurune: Tsunagari no Issha: Begins Airing January 5th.

Synopsis: Protagonist Minato Narumiya has reignited his passion for kyudo, the Japanese martial art of archery. Along with his friends in the school kyudo club, he returns for an all-new second season and feature-length film of Kyoto Animation's beloved Tsurune. (Source: HIDIVE)

[sunnyhoneyshimmermagic]

(Dee Dee and Teddy are at town square, selling apples and introducing our story):

Dee Dee: Get 'em while they're fresh! Apples! Christmas apples!

Teddy: We got Mclntosh!

Dee Dee: Get your Christmas apples.

Teddy: Red Delicious. Tuppence apiece while they last. Whatever the fuck that means.

Dee Dee: We... They won't last long the way you're eating them.

Teddy: Hey. I'm creatin' scarcity. Drives the prices up. Read all about it in Ladie's Home Journal

Dee Dee (sighs): Teddy... (sees us) Hello! Welcome to The Big Nate Christmas Carol! I am here to tell the story, in my usual dramatic fashion!

Teddy: And I am here for the food and bantz! This Christmas, I wanna be written with an actual character!

Dee Dee: My name is Charles Dickens.

Teddy: And my name is Teddy Ortiz! Hey, wait a second. You're not Charles Dickens!

Dee Dee: I am too!

Teddy: No. Dickens was called that for a reason!

Dee Dee: omg it's 2023

Teddy: your name isn't even Charles!

Dee Dee: good, cringe name

Teddy: Dickens was a 19th-century novelist! A genius! God I hang around Francis too much.

Dee Dee: Oh, you're too kind. :3

Teddy: Why should I believe you?

Dee Dee: Well... Because I know the story of "A Christmas Carol" like the back of my hand.

Teddy: do I smell a wager?

Dee Dee: I hope, otherwise I didn't brush my teeth well.

Teddy: ugh, just prove it! Prove you know it!

Dee Dee: All right. Um, there's a little mole on my thumb, from when I tried to taste the wood on my stage, and, uh, a scar on my wrist, from when I fell off my bicycle performing as Lance Armstrong: licence to juice.

Teddy: No, No, No, No, Don't tell us your hand. Tell us the story!!

Dee Dee: Oh! Oh!

Teddy: Thank you. Yes.

Dee Dee (ahem): The Betancourts were dead to begin with.

Teddy: Wha, Wha... Pardon me?

Dee Dee: That's how the story begins, Teddy. The Betancourts were dead to begin with. As dead as a doornail.

Teddy (getting into it): ooh! It's a good beginning! It's creepy and kind of spooky. Like Mrs. Godfrey in a conga line.

Dee Dee: Thank you, Teddy!

Teddy: You're welcome, Mrs. Dickens!

Dee Dee: now, where was I? Ah, yes. In life, the Betancourts had been business partners... With a shrewd moneylender named Gina Hemphil-Scrooge. You will meet her as she comes around that corner.

Teddy: Where?

Dee Dee: There. See, next to the klassic komix and Mr. Pretzel?

Teddy: Uh huh! When?

Dee Dee: Not yet... Not yet... Let the tension rise...

Teddy: I am, I am!

Dee Dee: ...Now!

(Gina enters, draped in a black coat and top hat, carrying a cane. Every step calculated and cold)

Dee Dee: There she is! Ms. Gina Hemphil-Scrooge.

Teddy: Say, Is it gettin' colder out here?

(Song)

Emmit the custodian: When a cold wind blows it chills you

Chills you to the bone

Czerwicki: But there's nothing in nature that

Freezes your heart

Like years of being alone

Rosa: It paints you with indifference

Like a lady paints with rouge

Clarke: And the worst of the worst

The most hated and cursed

Is the one that we call Scrooge (yeah)

Chester: Unkind as any

And the wrath of many

This is Gina Hemphil-Scrooge

Miranda, Angie, Kelly, Trudy, Kim, Jenny: Oh, there goes Ms. Humbug

There goes Ms. Grim

If they gave a prize for bein' unfair

The winner would be her

Brindle: Oh, Gina loves her money

'Cause she thinks it gives her power

If she became a flavor you can bet she would be sour

Staples, Shipulski, Calhoon, John, Galvin: There goes Ms. Skinflint

There goes Ms. Greed

The undisputed mistress of

The underhanded deed

Marty: She charges folks a fortune

For her dark and drafty houses

Vern and Marge: Poor folk live in misery

Uncle Ted: It's even worse for louses

Miranda, Angie, Kelly, Trudy, Kim, Jenny: She must be so lonely

She must be so sad

She goes to extremes

To convince us she's bad

She's really a victim of fear and of pride

Look close and there must be

A sweet girl inside.

...

Naaaah!

Everyone: There goes Ms. Outrage

There goes Ms. Sneer

Ahe has no time for friends or fun

Her anger makes that clear

Don't ask her for a favor

'Cause her nastiness increases

No crust of bread for those in need

No cheeses for us meeses

There goes Ms. Heartless

There goes Ms. Cruel

She never gives

She only takes

She lets this hunger rule

If bein' mean's a way of life you

Practice and rehearse

Then all that work is paying off

'Cause Gina's getting worse

Every day

In every way

Gina is getting worse!

(Gina sharply turns, giving a cold stare)

Everyone: OH, UM, I HAVE SOMETHING TO DO SUDDENLY

(They escape)

Gina (quiet rage): ...Humbug.

[potroasttheghostdog]

Being on the spectrum, and having weird interests is actually crazy sometimes. Just scratching an itch leads you down an hours long rabbit hole of discovery and wikipedia pages. For me, one of my more mundane interests is fruits, plants, and botany.

I was eating an orange. Just chilling, while feeding my dog. I wondered what my favorite orange (cara cara) was a crossbreed from (it's *gotta* be blood and navel right it's so tasty but distinct from other oranges, can't be a valencia the color's not right!)

So I looked it up. Turns out, there's like 600 of these bastards. Well let's fucking read about all of them.

Oh Ermelo's orange. That sounds weird. What's that.

Oh it's just called that because takes its name from 'Ermelo', a parish in Arcos de Valdevez Municipality, Portugal. It was introduced to the region by Cistercian monks in the 12th century, but it is sweeter than the average orange. Oh, but it's on The Ark of Taste.

What the fuck is that.

Well, turns out it's kinda like the Endagered Wildlife registry, but for sustainably sourced heritage foods and local cuisines. They see local foods as tantamount to cultural landmarks that should be preserved and foods go on the list if they are either impotant orbrelevant to a specific culture or ethnoregion, or are in danger of dying out whether from extinction or a fading cultural relevancy. They urge the perpetuation of their existence by encouraging their continued consumption. This includes foodstuffs like fruit from extremely specific regions, breads, cheeses, and even certain breeds of livestock that meat comes from.

Here's some fun ones: classic mortadella of all things (because it originates in Italy and has been a staple of their cuisine for centuries) cuccalar (a specific type of italian bread) casu marzu (a gross kind of cheese, do not google if you have a weak stomach) carosello (an italian melon), Lake Michigan Whitefish, Gravenstein Apples, Mayhaw jelly, bogong moths, and bunya nuts. They have things on the list from all over the world and it's actually really gratifying knowing that someone somewhere can see whatever random little thing you have and see everywhere, is valued, because it represemts a culture that not everyone has. I've had Lake Michigan whitefish. I consider it just a fish. But it's on a list of important culture for the US that should be conserved for the sake of culture, and that's kind of eye opening.

The Ark of Taste is run by Slow Food.

Ok. What the fuck is that.

Turns out it's an international org dedicated to preserving cultural foodstuffs that also emphasizes sustainability by supporting eating, growing, and traditional cooking local foods. Think Audobon but for cheese.

What was I reading about? Oh right, oranges. Oh the chocolate orange has a 12 Brix.

Ok.

What the fuck is a Brix.

Turns out Degrees Brix (°Bx) is the measure of dissolved solids in liquids and aqueous solutions, but is used to measure sugar content in foods and juices in common. So like Scoville scale but for sugar. Honey, soda, wine, sugar, fruit juice, fruits, and maple syrup use it to measure their sugar content. There's also some other scales that are used for sugar measuring. The Plato Scale (°P) is used in brewing, The Oechsle Scale used on german and swiss wine, and the Balling Scale, which is the oldest and not commonly used anymore.

What was I reading about? Oh yeah oranges.

Oh Smith Red Valencia. Sounds sultry.

It's a pigmented bud sport of the valencia orange tree.

K.

What's a bud sport.

Turns out a bud sport is any kind of sudden morphological difference growing from a plant caused by genetic mutation. Like when a dwarf pine starts growing foliage branches that are morpholigically identical to a regular pine. You ever notice how sometimes your christmas tree, if you get a live one, has irregular branches where they grow out longer than normal, and the needles are a bit different than the rest of the tree? Bud sport. Neat. Oh it's night time.

What was I reading about? Oh yeah. Oranges.

Yeah turns out I was right, cara caras are the hybrid of blood and navels. Knew it. Also, apparently oranges aren't even the original thing. They started out as a hybrid between pomelos and mandarins. Also, also, apparently fruit genomes have "moms and dads", i.e. the chloroplast genome is considered the "maternal line" of a fruit's ancestry. The orange's chloroplast genome comes from pomelos, meaning pomelos are the orange's "mother".

Also---

[doctorguilty]

Nice things!

Just got home a bit ago after doing my lunar new year shopping, I'm glad I didn't bother trying yesterday and then being rushed because of all the other errands because like while I had a general list of food ideas, I was also improving as I went based on what was there. There was tons of fruits front and center!! I got tangerines, a pomello, persimmons, and some little lady apples, some other snacking foods and a dried fruit tray, lotssss of veggies and mushrooms, also some tofu and quail eggs because I decided I'm gonna do a hotpot, since I conveniently had bought that single burner for my own use I was like huh. This is very convenient. AND they had a really great price on a big great quality stainless steel divided pot, like I was just gonna use whatever but I was like OH!!! I put aside some of my Christmas money SPECIFICALLY for this party and decorations were almost cleaned out aside from a couple things I grabbed so it was like well spend the rest on this pot and then I have it forever for my own future kitchen ;0; ♡ so I got a spicy broth and miso for the other, and all that is gonna be vegetarian since my brother is vegetarian and also has a shellfish allergy, decided to avoid any seafood, and I know my friends love veggies and stuff anyway! And then I got some uhh frozen buns, pancakes, spring rolls, and dumplings (one veggies one chicken so that's the one meat item), I'm gonna like kinda cook things as I go? It's a lot of people but idk how much everyone is actually gonna be hungry but everything I bought is also stuff I like to eat so it kinda doubles as a shopping trip for myself anyway like even if I have tons of frozen stuff left that's just food stocked up for me! We have plenty of soda and water in the house, so I just got like solo cups and paper plates from the dollar store (and some red steamers to tie the decor I could get together)

A lot of the typical LNY foods were on sale also! And it was busy ahaha like everyone was in there loading up on all the same kinds of things! I felt bad when I was checking out cause I was confusing the cashier a bit with my like multiple forms of payment I needed to use (food has to go on one card, the rest I wanted to do part cash part debit but was unable to communicate that so I just put it all on debit which is nbd I'll just deposit the cash in the bank later) ;;;; since I don't know Chinese and she didn't know English it took a little bit of gesturing and her typing numbers on her phone for me to read orz I felt like anxious after I was finishing boxing my stuff I was like oh I hope I didn't stress her too much she's obviously so busy today and there's a line behind me (that "everyone in the grocery store hates me" feeling snjfmsnfns) but right before I left she grabbed a pack of pretty red cards from under the register and held them up so I can see and then put them in my box 😭❤

(The struggle is so on me though like usually when I'm there the cashiers are some amount of bilingual but I can't always expect it, and I do usually need to use multiple forms of payment so I should really try learning some words and phrases so make it easier ;;; hopefully she knew I was very thankful to her though! That really made my day 🥺)

Anyway yeah that was my trip so! I'm excited, tomorrow I'll likely start prepping things like cutting veggies and stuff. On the day of, I'll take photos of everything to share! Last year I was solo and my family had some decor up to welcome me back from Oregon but it wasn't a whole party or anything, so I'm excited to host a proper gathering (and have friends with me instead of being alone and sad)

[aud-of-silver-lake]

It's Festivus for the rest of us so grab your Chanukah bush, your mistletoe, your pagan ritual or whatever brings you joy and come gather round the fire and celebrate your pocket friends.

🎄🎅🏼

Thank you for tagging me @malarkgirlypop !!! I hope you’ve been having a lovely holiday!

Favourite nickname you’ve ever been given?

Rook! I work at a police station and a bunch of the guys started calling me that cause I was the rookie. I think it’s adorable

Where are you located?

Michigan!

What season is it where you are now?

Winter! Though it doesn’t feel like it cause we’ve got no snow

Favourite tradition this time of year?

I’ve got a huge family so we have five Christmas parties in a row, it’s so fun seeing everyone.

Favourite holiday food?

Tough one…I love food. Probably these almond jam cookies my aunt makes for Christmas.

Mulled wine, eggnog or hot apple cider?

Eggnog! It’s so good but I can only drink a little of it cause it’s so rich.

Turkey, ham or nut roast (Or Tofurkey?)?

Turkey! My dad brined a turkey this year and it was so good.

Would you rather spend the december holidays in: a cabin in the woods surrounded by snow, or a house on the beach with sun and sand?

Cabin in the woods, I love being in the woods and my family owns a cabin in northern Michigan so I usually get to spend some time there.

are you pro-snow or anti-snow?

Pro during December and January but afterward I’m over it.

have you ever built a snowman?

I have! I used to every year when I was little.

Skiing or snowboarding?

Skiing but only if it’s cross country.

Do you decorate for the holidays?

I do! I decorate my room and I help decorate the rest of the house.

Favourite holiday movie?

Hm…probably Winnie the Pooh Christmas. My family has watched it every year together my entire life.

Favourite holiday fanfic?

I didn’t know this was genre!

If you were to star in a hallmark movie, who would be your love interest?

Andrew Garfield’s Desmond Doss would be a dream 🥰

Tagging @joetoyesbrassknuckles101 @spookyinthesouth @re-enchanting

[hedgewitchgarden]

Until a few years ago when I finally moved northward from Florida, you could have told me that apples grow in February and blackberries in March, and I’d have had little reason to disbelieve you. Moving from the tropics gave me an appreciation for when certain plants are cheaper to purchase and that snow is something to contend with, but I also had to face the reality of SAD, seasonal affective disorder.

The well-documented phenomenon of seasonal affective disorder affects roughly 10 million Americans and can crudely be summed up as a form of clinical depression tied to the changing of the seasons. Most who are affected by it feel it in the winter months, though there are many who feel depressive or even anxious symptoms in summer. The cause for the disorder is unknown, but theories range from people staying indoors due to the cold and dark, thus messing with melatonin production in the body, to an evolutionary leftover encouraging us to be more lethargic and energy-conserving due to the lack of resources our species once dealt with during the winter.

For a very long time, I was a skeptic about SAD. To a certain degree, I think it was just a lack of exposure. Most people who told me they were depressed around the holidays seemed to have the same objections I did to commercial Christmas co-opting and being forced to participate in insincere, even corny rituals. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in Florida, a state noted for having about one percent of its population affected with SAD (compared to ten percent in Alaska).

Even more embarrassingly, I think that I dismissed the disorder out of hand just because of its criteria and name. That psychologists would go so far as to come up with an entire category of depression tied to something as trite as the weather and name it using an acronym that spelled out the word “sad” seemed indulgent at best, ridiculous at worst.

My outlook on SAD changed when I married someone who contends with it.

My wife’s seasonal background is not terribly dissimilar to my own. Before she moved to the same area of Florida in which we met, she had been born and raised in Orange County California. While we both had near-constant sunlight, for whatever reason, she actually did pay attention to whatever seasonal changes were available to her. When she eventually made her own trek to the north, I saw for the first time in the near-decade we’d known one another the true extent of what an early sunset and a sub-freezing thermometer could do to a person.

My wife is not like me: where I am (affectionately, I hope) referred to as a bit of a curmudgeon, she has a reputation for being an absolute delight. She’s pleasant and effervescent, sweet and energetic, loves people, and is always adventurous. She loves the outdoors and the fresh air, and absolutely must leave the house at least once a day or else she feels as though waking up might be a waste of precious time and opportunity.

Autumn is her favorite time of year. She loves crunching leaves underfoot and eating pumpkin-flavored anything and apples. When the mountainsides near our home turn brown and yellow, she feels a peace with the world that I envy every moment I witness it. Then the winter comes and she begins to talk about how she doesn’t want to leave our apartment anymore, how she hates that the sun sets before six and how she’s tired all of the time.

Christmas and New Year’s give her some joy for a while, but she describes February as “Dark. Cold. Depressing.” I hesitate to say that she becomes a different person—it’s more like the person I’ve always known her to be is slowed to the point that I need to work much harder at recognizing her.

More Radical Reads: Depression Is Not a Weakness

Now, anyone who has ever helped a loved one or a partner through depression is aware of how every instinct in your body cries for you to help them get better. All you want in the world is to remind them that their smile is more luminous than any summer day, and you can drive yourself to exhaustion looking for gestures and foods and conversation points that can bring them around. That’s natural and part of caring. It’s also rarely the most productive use of your energy.

There are therapies that have been used to varying level of success when it’s come to SAD: therapy using various lights and lamps is frequently used, and has been shown to have few side effects. In some serious cases, medication can be prescribed—SAD has been linked to suicidal thoughts in many cases–and any such options can and should be discussed with a mental health professional whenever possible. In most cases, explicit attention to self-care is seen as a great response.

More Radical Reads: Undo the Stigma: 10 Things Not to Say to Someone Managing Depression

For me, my job as a partner, and ally, and a witness to SAD is to just be supportive. It isn’t my place to try and step in and attempt to “fix” anything my wife is dealing with. I only need to recognize it for what it is and give it the proper attention that it always deserved and I had so much difficulty giving it for so many years.

I’m absolutely privileged to be an individual who does not suffer from SAD. I easily could have been. I have reason to believe that it may run in my family among a number of other depressive tendencies, but I’m fortunate not to. And I’m fortunate to be able to stand in for someone I care about and be there for her as she handles it in her own way. Sometimes that looks like listening and being in her presence while she contends with a dark bout for a day or so. Most times, it’s shouldering a little more of the load that we carry as a couple trying to make it through and survive and exist.

And sometimes, it’s as simple as warming her up and being a little bit brighter than I might have felt like being, just for her, just for that cold, dark day.

In order to continue producing high quality content and expanding the message of radical, unapologetic self-love, we need to build a sustainable organization. To meet these efforts, we’re thrilled to share the launch of our #NoBodiesInvisible subscription service. This service will provide our community with access to additional content and rewards for your monthly investment in furthering our radical self-love work.

[Feature Image: A photo of a person sitting on a large gate.  The person is wearing blue shorts and blue sneakers.  The gate is in a field of wheat.  Source: Rebecca Thorp]

[chop-zulyzulyyy]

Throne and Sickle Ch. 3

Chapter 3: Potato Sack ⚠️⚠️⚠️

Turtle bros x fem!parkour!reader

Summary: In which the turtles record their training one fateful night, and find the rooftops hold stories with a beginning. And an end.

(Author Note at the end!)

Disclaimer: I don’t own ROTTMNT, sigh.

Genre(s): A bunch of stuff, really. You'll figure it out ;)

WARNINGS: Heavy topics NOT for the lighthearted; like seriously it’ll get dark in some parts. Mentions of s*xual assault, bl**d, sh*rp objects, and more. Indicator will be the caution emoji next to the chapter title.⚠️

Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. -Hunter S. Thompson

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‘It took my father seven minutes to die.

I never thought the only man a daughter could depend on would turn out so iniquitous. When it happened, I was too young to understand it was all premeditated, a set up. I remembered screeching tires of cars that arrived at the yard of my house. Figures in sketchy suits barged in on the night of Christmas Eve right after dinner when my siblings and I were watching Mickey Mouse. Our father came from his bedroom- I believed he was there to save us from the bad men- but imagine the damage to our hearts when he waved a welcoming hand over to us and vile words ‘take your pick’ met my little ears. I never saw them again. Those men. My siblings. For as long as I could remember, questions plagued my life…at what point did my father lose morals of a good human being? Why did this man decide his life had more value than his babies? It sparked a fire forevermore. Blistering. Scorching.

Once I turned old enough, it was time for me to act. Father mentioned having a guest over soon, a familiar phrase that caused a cold, eerie dread to seep into my bones. I knew just who exactly was going to come through that door. Lounging in the living room was the devil himself, holding a cold bottle of beer and never peeling his eyes from the television screen as the roar of people cheering football players on enveloped the house. The irony of watching sports like a true American father with a cookie-cutter home, with an apple-pie life- all as if he didn’t commit those horrible sins years prior? Revolting… repulsive. Silently shuffling to my bedroom after breakfast, I hauled my bags from the closet, setting them by the door, including the Mary Janes I removed- leaving me in underwear, and a thin undershirt. The less clothing worn was better for concealing anything that could… stain. I tiptoed to my rickety bed, grabbing hold of the large military blade that belonged to Father, hidden underneath the pillow. Heavy. Cold. I switched my own television on and blaring familiar sounds of Mickey Mouse came to life- poetic justice if you will- and slowly glided to the living room.

Father’s back was facing me into the hallway. One foot before the other, slow, and steady. Crouching low to the ground once reaching the back of the couch, my arm rose at-level to his neck. I steeled up. My grip on the knife nearly tightened to painful pins and needles as circulation dropped.

A shank caught Father’s attention, a quick pressure jamming into the underside of his ear before swiftly disappearing. His hand touched it to find red blotting his fingers, and the second his eyes snapped wide all peace was thrown out the window. The man thrashed, screeching as liquid heat gushed down his body and sprinkling over the couch, completely drenching his hand as he tried to apply pressure to the wound. Lamps tumbled over, his beer bottle shattered and spilled onto the carpet. Eyes deranged; they land on me. Father sporadically tried to reach my small figure but what he didn’t consider was that as the blood left him, so did his balance. Father’s body leaned one way quickly collapsing. A loud thud resounded. Rising from the ground, I was overcome with something. an intangible sensation. Pain? No. Loss? Maybe. Perhaps it was loss of the lives robbed, loss of the father my family and I deserved, loss of the precious future memories that were supposed to be mine. How funny: we used to think Father was our Superman- red cape, dashing smile. But even that old dream was violated by the pool of blood that surrounded him, the same way the red cape would flow around the comic hero like a veil, and on Father’s face was no smile but a horribly contorted sneer. Like spitting on a puppy, this all was…Sounds of car tires screeched to a halt on our porch and immediately dread fell to the pit of my stomach, hands and feet so uncomfortably clammy-

I had to go. Sprinting back into the bedroom, scrambling limbs tried to pull everything on- shirt, jacket, shoe- no no, socks first- socks then shoes- oh, but I forgot the pants-the pants!

Heavy thumps drew closer near the front door, the aging plywood of our porch creaking and mocking me of the impending hell that was my future. Short, quickened pants left me as I stumbled into pants, this time stuffing my shoes into the backpack when sharp knocks pounded at the door. I stilled (I shouldn’t have) and breath stuttering, my vision blurred while the tremors of my body shook. Suddenly crunches of wood exploding snapped me out of it and slipped on the backpack and duffle bag. I then rushed to the window and pushed the stubborn rusty thing upwards.

One leg went through.

Heavy thuds rushed to a stop, clearly spotting the corpse of Father.

My head ducked, body leaning halfway out.

Voices shouted, and the second set of footsteps momentarily alarmed me as they shouted at each other and scraping sounds of furniture gave me the green light to shuffle my bags over. But one set of footsteps came barreling down to my room.

A gasp met my ears and I turned to face the source just as I brought out the other leg and-‘

“Good morning, sugar. Can I get you something to drink to start off?” Blinking (e/c) eyes found a sweet, middle-aged dark-skinned woman standing by the booth, a notepad in hand and untucking a miniature wooden pencil from behind her ear. Glancing at her name tag, ‘Udora’…you smiled. Glancing at her name tag, ‘Udora’ you smiled.

“A coffee, please. Hazelnut creamer if you have any.”

Scribbling, she nodded. “Of course. Are we ready to order or you need a minute?”

“I need a few minutes, if that’s alright.”

Udora’s bow-shaped lips stretched into a smile, warm and understanding, “You take your time. Seems a little early for a high school student to be out. Studying for an exam?”

“U-uhm, no. I graduated a long time ago.”

She blinked, “Hush your mouth! Baby you look like you’re fresh out of the oven. Now what kind of skincare do you use? Spare me some of those secrets?”

This earned a lighthearted laugh, “I get that a lot, but you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

“Mhmm, I hear ya. I’ll go get that coffee right out for you, sweetheart.” With a wink, Udora left.

Charmed, you let out a deep and quiet sigh. Bringing your wrist up, the miniature numbers on a tiny digital watch read 6 am on the dot. Eating out so much wasn’t ideal when your skills in the kitchen weren’t all that bad, but you barely clocked out of work. Recently your hours tremendously left you aching doing overtime. Not to imply it didn’t pay well- it was your other ‘job’ that left you working for scraps. A blessing it was, for places like Maraschino’s to provide such safe and warm atmospheres, creating a home-y kind of comfort with employees as saccharine as the name. You then thought back to Udora’s accent. Was she from down South- maybe Virginia, or Louisiana? She did have the hospitality of a Southern Belle. Watching rousing venders open up shop from the window, you leaned a hand on your chin.

If only those people knew who, or what, was walking among them in this city. The candy maker on 9th Ave? A young fox youkai peddling earnings for his new kits. The librarian in Brooklyn? A bat demon with a knack for kidnapping benefactors for simply breathing at a frequency higher than she liked. The CEO of one of the greatest hotels around? A mutinous spider youkai. They’ve been around for a whopping 600 years (give or take a century), most emigrating from Feudal Japan. Others came from places like New Zealand, South America, Greece even. It didn’t take long for you to find out the truth, but along the way, as you grew older, mysterious whispers would tickle your ears in the form of a twinkle or two of bright lights disappearing in your peripheral; or flashes of colors dashing from shadow to shadow- you could even recite to the bottom detail of giant aquatic fins you caught flipping around the corner of an alleyway- which it turns out mermaids actually hated musicals and were able to morph limbs, although it was utterly grotesque when they did. Who knew?

But new players entered the game, their existence astounding millions. Mutants, they were called. As amazing as they were, the bitter taste wouldn’t leave your tongue at the underlying truth that nearly all of them were born a human and altered against their will. Figments of information passed around, jumping from one ridiculous tale to another until a common factor surfaced from spies. A respectable scientist became obsessed with mutant migration, forever becoming the black sheep of clandestine creatures concealed all over the world and shifting reality as you knew it.

You followed the slow rise of the sun’s rays glinting over the tips of buildings, and a memory of lights exploding in the night sky and the green skin flashed in your mind.

Right, you heaved another sigh. You made the choice to reach out to this group of meddling mutants and didn’t have a single shred of doubt they knew who you were. Of course, they must’ve been miffed like many others, given the outrageous rumors going around about these ‘Hoods’. It was amusing at first- reporters and news channels loved to stir the pot and the public ate it all up. But with what was happening behind the scenes now, you needed aid. Whatever the turtles may want to know you’d be more than happy to give up all maps, blueprints, hard drives, files, the works. If there was the very possible chance that they would refuse to help, you would not hold it against them. This was your business, you decided to disturb the peace, you caused a ruckus among both humans and nonhumans. You reached out. There was no obligation for others who have nothing to do with you to be brought into this. But one could hope.

Your thoughts came to a halt when a mug was set before you. “Here you go, baby. Anything to go with that coffee?” Udora coaxed. Nodding with a smile, your small hands welcomed the warmth of the steaming coffee mug.

“Yes, I’ll have your pancakes and fruit please.”

You’d forgotten to look over the menu.

Had anyone told Donnie it was time for spring cleaning, he’d have gone straight to the storage chamber and make sure their air filter was functioning, but seeing all the chalky dust enveloping his father’s room Donnie should have done it anyway. He sighed, Leo hacking his lungs out behind him.

“Oh brother what the heck is Dad doing in there? I literally feel mold from 1983 sticking in my lungs.” He grimaced.

Donnie’s tact-shell brought out a clean filter mask; three others hung on the end of the bionic claws- never mind, two others remained once Leo swiped one. Raph peered in from the kitchen with Mikey lazily plopped onto his shoulders as the scuffling and mumbles caught their ears from behind the door. Leo reached over to knock when the door opened, releasing the horror of dust particles that fell over them like an ocean wave. At the door was their dad, eyes squinting in irritation.

“Dad what are you doi-‘

“Nothing illegal! However! What is illegal is the size of my shelves,” Splinter spouted, “why do they make them so tall and fragile? I cannot reach the top without everything tilting over. If everything falls and breaks none of them could be replaced. Relics and precious heirlooms cannot be bought at the chest of hope!”

Mikey snickered, “You mean Hope Chest?”

Donnie deadpanned, “You buy stuff from that thrift store all the time.”

“Treasures comes in all forms my sons, that is lesson number 49.” Splinter stated, wisely pointing a finger up.

“I thought you said lesson 49 was that many people are alive because it’s illegal to shoot them.”

Everyone whirled to Mikey, who blinked in innocence before frowning at the rat. Raph put his hands on his hips, “Dad! What are you doing telling Mikey that stuff?”

Leo groaned, “Okay okay, moving on. What the heck are you doing in there, Pops? Are you looking for something because Donnie is more than happy to help- ya know cuz he’s got no life.”

That earned a smack upside the head. Splinter huffed, surprising the boys when he returned into his room, waving inside. “Come, I require assistance!”

The boys groaned louder, although practically zooming in. Splinter pointed up to the tallest shelf the sewers could fit. Wooden boxes, cardboard boxes, cloth bags mounted each other in heaps. There was no logical reason to own so much stuff and never use whatever was inside, Donnie’s eye twitched continuously.

“The item I seek has to be in one of those storage boxes- Blue! A portal, please.”

With a shrug, the red-eared slider waved a mystic blue circle to life. Reaching in, Leo brought out an old canvas bag. Splinter shook his head, “No, I don’t believe that is the one.”

Leo drew a carboard box. “No.”

A mesh shopping basket. “No.”

A garbage bag overfilled with old cassette tapes. “No.”

“We so have to watch those later.” Mikey whispered over to Raph, both sharing a mischievous grin.

Irritated, Leo then pulled out a-

“Why do you even need a potato sack?!” Donnie snapped. Splinter brightened, “Yes! That is what I was looking for.”

He jumped up and down as Leo set it on the ground carefully. The boys curiously gathered around him, stunned as to what could be so precious to their dad to warrant such childish behavior. Watching in anticipation never tested their patience more as Splinter untied the strings, and gently lifted the first thing piled up inside.

“Who’s that?” Mikey quipped, pointing. In Splinter’s hand was a small black and white picture, old, worn, and nearly tearing at the edges of a girl around their age, sitting in a booth of some kind. Tired eyes glassed over, and a smile stretched his lips as a wrinkled clawed finger caressed the photo.

Raph put a gentle hand on his shoulder, “Pops?”

Splinter cleared his throat, “Ah, yes, there is nothing wrong. I am just preparing for something very important.”

Leo crossed his arms, “Dad.”

With scrutinizing gazes, Splinter sighed. He passed the photo to Raph as he was closest to him, who then flipped it over.

“First corn dog– 1994.” He read before passing the photo over to Mikey, “Does tomorrow got something to do with her?”

Splinter nodded, “Today is the anniversary of a fateful day. When our paths crossed, I saved her life, and when we reunited, she saved my life from dangerous pickpockets. I remember how brave she was, falling from the rooftops to stop the criminals even though she shook like a leaf.” Splinter then chuckled wistfully, “I gave her quite an earful when I then discovered she knew not how to fight and simply ‘took a bash at it’. My, my, a silly one she was.”

Mikey saddened, “Oh, is she…?”

To their surprise, Splinter frowned. His hands tightened into fists.

“That, I’m afraid, I do not know. She disappeared. I could not find her, no matter how far and wide I searched. It has been many years…how I wish I had an answer to what happened all that time ago. But our story goes further back than that.”

By now the boys had taken it upon themselves to sit down in a circle before their father, as he was lost in thought. Raph, Mikey, Leo and Donnie observed between their dad and the photo when collectively they then noticed the state of which she was in. Rotten clothes, mud blotched all over her and it looked like she didn’t even know what a shower was. Except… the small hesitant smile overcame everything else, as she proudly held up a corn dog as though it was a trophy earned and won. Splinter rummaged through the potato sack, pulling out a small bundle of cloth and unwrapping it to reveal a surprisingly dangerous looking military blade. It didn’t look as vicious as how weapons usually are, but this blade was crumbling with rust, bent, and clearly used to its full capacity.

“Let me tell you a story, my sons. A story about a young child escaping a dark fate from her own home many years ago, and how she became my inspiration to fight for justice.”

As a fish would be caught on a hook, the boys eagerly settled themselves near their father as he began.

“The year was about…1988 I believe. Before my years of fighting crime, I peddled my earnings in California, working under various employers. I was young, about seventeen years of age, and foolish. Never desiring to be anything more, never caring for others. Until one day… a fateful encounter changed my life forever. I picked fresh peaches as many as I could afford at a market when I felt a tap on my leg. A tiny little girl asked me if I knew where she could buy some bread, though all she carried was one quarter. She would never get to buy one with just one coin, so I gave her five dollars and two of my peaches, even if it left me with nothing. As I watched her disappear into the crowd, something inside me told me to follow her. And I did. I understand I am not a perfect example, but a father…a father would fight tooth and nail to protect his children, my sons. What I saw holding that girl by her hair was no father… but a monster. I remember how lifeless that child looked, although obedient. Quiet. He squashed the peaches I gave her, assuming she had stolen them. I found out that day through the eyes and ears of the streets that this man was known to be in very horrible trouble with local gangsters, and he paid his dues by… by selling his other children. During this time, I knew nothing more than the innocent bystander, but I would not stand by and watch that man…that thing have custody of the poor child. Many times, I tried calling for help about the situation. I visited many places day after day, hoping to find someone who could help. None believed me, so I then decided to do it myself.

But it was too late. When I arrived to the home, a fatal wound to the neck left him no chance of survival. I searched the home, and I caught a gangster contacting reinforcements. If my instincts were correct at the time, he was a client of that man. I defeated him, and quickly searched further to find the poor girl just as she was exiting the window, covered in splatters of red. Unfortunately, she feared that I was an enemy and tried to flee as fast as possible. I followed her throughout the city, amazed such a little human could go to extreme lengths for escape, but she was still a child. She had no knowledge that a path she had taken would lead to the roof of an old building. Unbeknownst to either of us, a large hole covered in fragile plywood gave way under our feet and nearly dragged us down to our deaths many stories below. When the dust cleared, I could not find her and I had broken my leg. I had thought the worst… until a small cry underneath a pile of debris caught my attention. I crawled to her despite my pain and dug through to find a poor bloody mess of a little girl. She could not see with how much had gotten into her eyes. It frightened me. No matter how long it took, I stayed with her. I stayed from day to night, until help arrived and found us. She never spoke a word except for her little cries, so so afraid as she clutched onto my clothes. I recall those who came to help tried to take her to receive medical attention only for her to call for me. ‘Mister Peach’ she pleaded, ‘please don’t go away.’ I-”

Splinter cleared his throat, caressing a small pink beaded bracelet he brought out from the bag. The boys exchanged a worried look. He then handed it down to the boys, passing along more of the old and golden memories that stayed collecting dust all this time.

“I could not ignore her cries. And so I remained. However, despite that one nightmare had finally come to an end, another began. Her father’s enemies caught word of what happened and were furious. Men were sent out on hunting parties for the final child they were supposed to be gifted. Remember my sons, I was young and foolish. I had left my home to forge my own path. It pained me so to see I could not afford to help the child more than she could all the while fighting to keep myself afloat. I… I could not even get enough money to buy her supper, or a blanket. Not even a crumb of a cracker. Yet each time she gave me a smile. Each time she communicated that I was still more of a man than her father ever was to care this much about her. She even ate garbage alongside me at one point. But with a heavy heart, I had to let her go.

I had to let her go…

I took her to a bus stop in disguise. This pink wig is what she wore, and these hideous polka dot pants. She believed if she could dress similar to a clown, she could make me laugh. And laugh I did. I remember her telling me that she would find me again one day. Fear had dictated all the previous years of her life and yet was stronger than I was, keeping me from falling to my own demise in a dark time of my life. Because of her I found confidence in my circumstances and trained to be skilled in martial arts- to make a name for myself. A legend. Despite living longer than she, I was the one who needed her more than she needed me. However, when she boarded the bus I did not realize she would take my heart with her. I will never forget the little hand that waved goodbye to me through the window.”

Mikey sniffled, clinging to a wobbly lipped Leo as Donnie stared hard onto the little bracelet in his hand. Raph tightened his grip over Splinter’s shoulder, eyes heavy seeing his father slump under the weight of these burdens. The elder rat reached into the sack, shuffling around until he pulled out a crumpled stack of carnival tickets. The corners of his lips lifted.

“Time passed us by when we crossed paths again, just as she promised! At first I did not recognize her when she saved me from those pickpockets but one look…one look was all I needed to know. She had grown into a beautiful young lady, but she was still the little girl who called me Mister Peach, and she was my Little Momo. It was the best day of our lives. We got to enjoy a carnival, we got to eat a full meal together, and it was like no time had gone by. Then when the moon rose I had to return home, and I had enough to properly care for her this time…but she refused to come with me.”

The whole time as Splinter recounted his story, the boys have leaned further into the circle completely entranced by the tale. When their father frowned, they held their breath. When he smiled, tension left their bodies. But right now, pain overcame the elder rat, eyes glassing over without warning and they knew whatever came next from their fathers mouth it would haunt them, just as it did him.

“She wouldn’t answer my questions as to why, not a single peep. The last thing she ever told me was to keep believing in myself, and that my existence was magical. The first blessing she had ever received- and hoped with all her heart our futures would know only love, and family. Before she left, she placed something in my hand but I could not tear my eyes away from her and look down. And that was the last I ever saw her.”

Splinter crushed the stack of tickets in his hands, “If only I had not been so blind with hurt and anger that she did not stay, I would have fought harder to keep her here where she could be safe. I would have helped her…”

The last item he pulled out remained hidden in the palm of his hand. Raph, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey felt their blood turn cold, faces morphing into horror. 

There in his hand, lay a tiny little baby pacifier.

“I should have fought harder to protect her, and her unborn child.”

Kids. Games and tricks and fun and joy. Their laughter could brighten up the whole world without trying. It doesn’t even matter what they’re laughing about because people will end up hearing the laughter the world should have.

Trudging up the stairs to your townhouse, belly full, you smiled at the children playing tag on the street. Some wore their mother’s pillow covers as superhero capes, some swiped their father’s helmet and sticks to play soldiers, and some even used chalk to turn the street into a baseball diamond. A delighted gasp left you once witnessing a petite little girl in a dress whack the ball out of the ‘field’, and all the boys groaned when she put out a thumbs up grinning victoriously, while two kids acting as spectators used soda pop bottles as microphones. Peering back at the sidewalk, you guaranteed the bottom of your shoes would be stained in colorful chalk. But you couldn’t find it in you to mind at all. The large oak door let you into your home. A spacious rustic-style place, courtesy of inspirations from scrolling endlessly on Pinterest (A/N: I have an attachment issue with this app help).

Walking up the spiraling staircase to your bedroom, your bones creaked and popped. You’d be willing to bet your organs that stairs were everyone’s nightmare- they could be the most accomplished athlete in the world, but they’ll take the elevator each time. Setting your messenger bag down to your bed and shifting through your items, the edges of cloth brushed against your fingertips. You took the item out of the bag and ran a thumb over the soft texture- a simple mask wouldn’t be enough to remain anonymous with eyes and ears everywhere as it did before, you knew. If things went well with the turtles, then maybe…maybe you wouldn’t need to wear it again. You turned away when the sun’s reflection bouncing off of something made you squint. Atop your dresser, sat a photo encased in a glass frame. Small, very small it was: taken at a carnival photo booth. One figure smiled back at you, his charismatic persona outshining the bashful female next to him despite her failed attempts at smiling like him. One of his hands enveloped hers to help make a peace sign, while his other had a thumbs up. Even when she looked like garbage, and dirt covered her from head to toe, he wanted a photo with a street beggar who didn’t own even two nickels to make a dime.

You grabbed hold of the miniature frame and settled into bed with it resting over your heart. Now that you finished the night shift, it was time to sleep the day away and replenish what your body desperately needed. When the days and nights knocked you down in the real world, comfort could be taken in the dreams that lulled you so.

Tomorrow... you thought. Today’s burdens were enough, and you’d deal with what came next...tomorrow. As reality faded and your body cooled from the breeze that came through the window, you thought that, for just a moment, you could smell peaches.

Sweet dreams.

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Fun fact: Mikey is an Ornate Box turtle! Its distinct coloring camouflages it among the damp earth, fallen leaves and other debris found on the floor of moderately moist forests. Also, Ornate box turtles eat live beetles, caterpillars, cicadas, and worms. I just hope Mikey never puts them in his recipes. Ew!

A/N: WOOW. I’m sorry I don’t have a schedule set up, guys. School and other responsibilities have been kicking my tush so- kinda recovering from a burnout. Yikes. But I’m still working on this I promise! Stay tuned :)

Translations:

Momo: Japanese term for 'Peach'

[roadtogracelandx45]

Last Christmas|2| Top Gun Maverick

This is going to be a three parter because I am enjoying it too much

masterlist

part one

@ohnoitsbat @prettyinpayne @notroosterbradshaw @luckyladycreator2

“Nat! Bee!” Kendra, one of the girls on their floor, called rushing into the small diner that the group went to. “What’s up?” Nat asked pulling her attention away from the menu, she had taken to study instead of watching Bianca and Jake together. When they weren’t on campus, they were almost a couple and it was uncomfortable to be around them. 

“Someone destroyed your room.” She returned causing Bianca to turn away from Jake quickly who scowled. He liked having Bianca’s full attention and having whispered conversations and secret touches. “What?!” Kendra pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and unlocked it before handing it over to Bianca who enlarged the picture, all the color draining from her face. 

Curious, Jake leaned over and looked at the picture before muttering a curse word and tugging the device out of her hand before studying it and handing it over to Javy who was making the give-me demand, he and Natasha wanted to look at it.

 “Thanks, Kendra,” Bianca said as she pulled her own phone out of her pocket, her fingers going over the screen sending a message to her father. “You getting daddy involved?” Jake asked draping his arm along the booth causing her to scoot closer to him. 

“Yeah, letting him know, whatever I do, it’s deserved and Cougar doesn’t need to get involved.” Shaking his head, he laughed, there was no way that Cougar wouldn’t get involved even if she asked for it not to happen and Cougar was the commandant. His loyalty to Iceman and in turn to Bianca almost overrode it. 

“He will get involved.” He muttered into her ear, so Javy and Natasha couldn’t hear him, “Just like he did when you ‘borrowed” his car.” “Jake! Shh!” She hissed as she nudged him with her elbow. It has been a joke that Javy thought she wouldn’t be able to do.  

“We should get back to the dorms.’ Natasha said after several long heartbeats, she wanted to see the damage for herself and hopefully the walk back to campus would calm her temper and whatever was going on in Bianca’s head.  There was a glint in her eyes and she could see the wheels turning in her head, whatever she was planning could be very bad.  

“I don’t like that look, Bee.” She said as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. “It’s the only one I got.” Bianca returned as Jake helped bundled her back up.  

**

Stacey was pacing in her room when her roommate Kara came in shaking snow off of her coat and hat. “What’s wrong?” “Jake is taking her to the Christmas formal.” 

“Who? Bianca?” Kara returned, she was all too familiar with the hatred the two girls had for each other. And how much Stacey wanted to be the apple of Admrial Kazansky’s eye.

 The older girl nodded her head, “He picked her over me. What does she have that I don’t?”

Her roommate pursed her lips, not wanting to upset Stacey anymore. They had all seen the sparks fly between Jake and Bianca the first minute they meet and the only thing that had really stopped them from being together other than the school rule was that they couldn’t date. Was Bianca’s relationship with Bradley Bradshaw, the son of one of the men that her father went to the academy with, though they never knew the truth of the relationship or why Jake got almost jealous of the relationship. 

“I don’t know Stace, I don’t.’ **

“I am gonna kill her,” Bianca said once they had seen the damage that had been done in their dorm room. They had been gone for an hour and she did this, all because she was angry about Jake choosing Bianca over her. 

“Like how the fuck does someone do something like this?” She asked as she took the lacey undergarments that Jake was holding in his hands, her cheeks coloring.  “Hatred.” Natasha threw in as she and Javy righted the chairs and drawers that had been knocked over and pulled out.

 “What in the world happened?” Jessica, their RA asked from the doorway. “Stacey is what happened.” The blonde returned before she could help it, “They should have told us she was coming back so we could lock our goddamn doors.”

 “Bee.” Natasha started, she had been waiting for the Kazansky temper to hit and it looked like it just had. 

“You do realize ma’am.” There was icy politeness to her words that stung. “That she is a threat to all of us. If she did this because Jake and I are going to the dance as friends.” Javy and Natasha both fought back their normal arguments, the last thing they needed was to have Jessica pick up on the fact that Jake and Bianca could be much more than friends. “What is she gonna do if an instructor gets into her face? Or god forbid another ensign.” “She has a point, Jess.” Jake threw in quickly, “Things could get ugly fast and I am sure you don’t want another fight breaking out.”  The RA looked at then Jake and then at Bianca who was now standing with her hands clenched into fists. “I understand and I will bring it up with the head in the morning. And Bianca, please don’t mention this to your father.” “Not a word.” Bianca smirked, there was already a thread going between her and both of her fathers and her and Cougar but she didn’t need to know that. 

  The RA nodded her head before looking at Jake and Javy, “It’s nearing lights out, head to bed.” with that she turned and exited the room. 

“We will see you in the morning.” Javy said eager to get away from the line of fire, he could feel the anger pouring off of both girls and it was making him uncomfortable, normally he would be all for it but this wasn’t good.  

Both girl nodded their heads, silently having a conversation with each other. Jake nodded his head at Natasha before pressing a kiss to Bianca’s cheek. She broke her eye contact with her room mate and offered him a smile before pressed another kiss to her lips. “Go before she comes back up here.” She muttered, a blush spreading over her cheeks.  He nodded his head and followed his friend out of the room. 

“What’s the plan?”