#industrial cookie ovens

[andrewckeeper]

LIDMF AI "Pastel de Hojaldredd"

[nando161mando]

Spotted at fast food location

[nicoline1998enilocin]

A night to never forget

PAIRING || Boyfriend!Tony Stark x Girlfriend!Fem!Reader

WORDCOUNT || 5.3K

SUMMARY || Tony has been busier than ever with his combined duties as Iron Man and the CEO of Stark Industries, and it’s starting to take it’s toll on him. Because of this, you have decided that he will be the one to be spoiled for an entire weekend, starting with a movie night with the two of you and your little kitten, Moon.

RATING || Explicit (E)

TAGS || Sugar Daddy AU. Everyone lives AU. Semi-canon compliant. Established relationship. CEO!Tony Stark. Sugar Daddy!Tony Stark. Sugar Baby!Reader.

WARNINGS || Large age gap. Talk about loss of a parent. Talk about pregnancy and conceiving. Explicit sexual content.

SMUT || Teasing. Discipline. Begging. Oral (M receiving). Deepthroating. Gagging. Cum swallowing. Praise. Unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it!). Cream pie. Cockwarming.

A/N || This story is written as a little treat to celebrate my 26th birthday today! I couldn't let my birthday go by without writing a story for one of my favorite AU's, so I hope you will all enjoy this. I want to give all my love and thanks to @ccbsrmsf1 because this story wouldn't have existed without your support! I love you, bestie, and thank you for making my life so special! 🩷

EVENTS Masterlist || @kinky-things-happen || Deepthroating Masterlist || @multifandom-flash 1st Birthday Celebration || You Said You Couldn't Dance

GIF: @ccbsrmsf1 || All other graphics are made by @nicoline1998enilocin

Main Masterlist || Tony Stark Masterlist || AU Masterlist

For the last few weeks, Tony has been busier than ever. Between his work as CEO of Stark Industries and his duties as Iron Man, he's been away a lot, and it's taking its toll on him. Because of this, you have discussed with Pepper about having him go home early on Friday, giving the two of you a long, relaxing weekend together.

You have been planning several things for the past few days, starting with a much-deserved movie night. While you usually have movie nights with all the other Avengers, you now opt to have one at home with Tony and your black kitten, Moon, for ultimate relaxation. The excitement in your body is building with every passing second.

Now, it's only a matter of getting the last few things ready, starting with baking Tony's favorite cookies while you're waiting for a package to arrive because you have ordered a matching set of pajamas that still has to get here, and then everything is all set.

As you gather all the ingredients to make the cookies, you're being watched by your now four-month-old black kitten, Moon, as he's seated on the kitchen counter in the little bed you put there. He prefers to be close to you both wherever you are, and this way, you can also keep a close eye on him while you're there.

"Aren't you the cutest little thing today, Moon?" you say as you look at him in his usual rolled-up sleeping position, though his bright blue eyes are looking at you with a curious look as he meows at you. A smile forms on your face as you scratch him behind his ears, and he purrs in enjoyment.

"Alright, let's make some cookies before Daddy's home!" you tell Moon before telling JARVIS to play some of your favorite music, which fills the penthouse as you're practically floating through the kitchen, dancing and singing along to the music as you keep working.

It doesn't take long for you to be ready to put the cookies in the oven. When you straighten back up, you're scared by a sudden presence in the kitchen with you that definitely wasn't there earlier. You're now wondering how long they have been standing there and looking at you while holding Moon, the package you were expecting tucked under his arm.

"Tony? What are you doing home already?" you ask as you walk towards your boyfriend, who's scratching Moon while smiling at you. Tiredness is visible on his face, and you feel a bit of a lump forming in your throat at the sight, your brows knitting together in worry.

"Well, it turns out someone didn't put the right address on the package they ordered, so it was sent straight to my office instead of here," Tony tells you with a mischievous smirk and a raised brow, instantly making you feel a little more relaxed.

"And I figured since my agenda was already empty for most of the day, I'd cancel the last few meetings I had left as well to go and spend some much-needed quality time with my girl," your boyfriend tells you before putting Moon down on the counter together with the package.

Tony gently cups your face without saying another word before capturing your lips in a loving, slow kiss. Your eyes slip shut as you let the feeling of Tony take over your entire being, the scent of him filling your senses as your hands slide into his cropped, dark brown hair. A soft moan escapes your lips as he slips his tongue into your mouth, stepping impossibly closer as he does so.

The taste of coffee still lingers on his tongue as he takes his time to explore your mouth with his before he allows one of his hands to glide down your neck and towards your waist, pulling your soft curves to his firm, muscled body until they move in sync with one another.

Much too soon for your liking, he pulls back and smiles down at you, his chocolate brown eyes looking into yours with a fond look. "I love you, Sugar," Tony whispers when the music changes from the kind you were listening to earlier to Heaven by Bryan Adams, so you take the opportunity to dance with him.

Slowly swaying from left to right, your hands are lying on his neck, his hands gently squeezing your hips as you two move effortlessly throughout the kitchen.

"I thought you said you couldn't dance," you ask with a raised brow, and Tony chuckles at your remark as he shakes his head.

"I meant that I can't dance at parties, Sugar. And I much prefer dancing here with you, in the privacy of our home," your boyfriend says, making your heartbeat rise at the words' our home.' Ever since you moved in, he hasn't been able to stop telling you how happy he is that you two have permanently moved in with him.

You lean in to lay your head against Tony's shoulder, and he happily envelops you in a hug as you two sway back and forth in place. The words flowing out of the speakers ring more true than ever.

And love is all that I need

And I found it there in your heart

It isn't too hard to see

We're in heaven

The moment the song ends, you hear a meow coming from the kitchen counter, and your attention is immediately pulled towards Moon, who's sitting there looking at you both while asking for some attention.

"It looks like our Baby wants some attention too, Angel," you tell Tony as you let go of him and walk towards Moon, allowing him to jump in your arms.

"Do you want to dance with Mommy and Daddy?" you ask. Moon answers with another meow before getting comfortable. You feel Tony pressing against your back and looking over your shoulder at the little black kitten you're raising.

Now it's time for all three of you to dance together, and you're feeling nothing but pure love for the two of them. The man who's holding you, who has saved you from a horrible situation, and the kitten you're carrying, who you, in turn, saved from a potential early death if you hadn't found him that day.

"What do you think of having babies of our own one day, Sugar? Like, human babies?" Tony asks, catching you off-guard as you step away and turn around. You scan his face for signs that he's joking, but when you find none, you immediately get a huge smile.

"Really, Tony? You want to have babies with me?" you ask excitedly, and he can't help but smile at your enthusiasm as he nods.

"Did you hear that, Moon? Daddy wants to give you a little human brother or sister! Would you like that, too?" you ask Moon, who looks up at you, his bright blue eyes beaming as he does. Your heart melts at the sight.

"I- It's been my dream to become a Mom for as long as I can remember, Tony. But especially since I lost my own Mom, it's been on my mind even more. Even though she won't be around to see them grow up, I know she would love seeing me raise my babies, too," you say to him, and the tears are already brimming on your waterline at the thought of your Mom.

"And I know she would have been the proudest Mom there is, Sugar. Seeing you when you graduate and start your career, when you get pregnant and give birth, I'm sure she would have been front and center for all of it," Tony says as he caresses your cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away the tears that have escaped.

"Oh, you bet she would have been," you tell Tony through the tears, a laugh escaping too at the thought of your Mom being in the same room as you when giving birth. No one would've been prouder of you than her, that's for sure.

"Thank you for being by my side through it all, Tony. Now that it's just you and me, I know it isn't easy, but I wouldn't be able to do it without you," you whisper to him while clutching Moon carefully to your chest at the same time.

His thumbs caress your cheeks again before he kisses you lovingly, and he can't help but let a few tears of his escape at your words.

"There's nowhere else I would rather be than right here by your side, my sweet Sugar. Because by your side is the only place I want to be."

However, before you can answer him, the oven timer goes off, and you both laugh at its horrible timing. Despite this, you give him one more peck on his lips before putting Moon on the counter and pulling out the cookies, filling the entire penthouse with a delicious smell.

You've been seated on the couch with Tony as you're getting some schoolwork done, and he's cuddling with Moon while watching TV until the boredom kicks in for him, and he suddenly gets an entirely different idea as he puts Moon down and gets up from the couch.

"I've been thinking of having some fun before dinner, Sugar," Tony tells you with a raised brow and a mischievous smirk, leaving you wondering what he could be planning this close to dinner time. He's never disappointed you with his ideas, so you're eager to learn.

You put your laptop down on the couch when Tony extends his hand for you to take, and you do so, only to find him leading you to the large bathroom attached to the main bedroom.

"We might need to get some dinner before you fuck my brains out, Tony," you say jokingly, but he just chuckles before turning around, halting you in your place. The height difference between you is noticeable when you're barefoot in front of him, and you have to crane your neck to meet his gaze, which only spurs your boyfriend on more.

"Believe me, my sweet Sugar, when I say I will definitely do that later, but that's not the plan I have right now," he says in a low tone, his voice almost dropping an octave near the end. Goosebumps appear on your skin as your breath hitches at his words, your thighs clenching at his words.

"I'm planning on having a shower together, and I was hoping to see you on your knees for me like a good girl. You are a good girl for me, right?" Tony asks, and it's like you're nailed to the floor, your mouth suddenly becoming dry as the words sink in, but you're unable to respond. You want nothing more than to do what he asks, and you try to swallow the lump in your throat as you nod.

"Words, Sugar. Big girls use their words to get what they want," Tony orders as he steps even closer, and you can feel his rapidly hardening cock pressing against the soft flesh of your stomach, your underwear now completely ruined as your arousal is threatening to drip down your thighs.

"Y-yes, Daddy," you manage to say, and he smiles approvingly.

"There she is, there's my good girl," Tony says as he softly kisses your cheek, your eyes slipping shut at the feeling of his lips against the heated skin. Tony's lips curl into a smile as he pulls back, his hands wandering over your body to shed the layers of clothing you're wearing. Before you know it, you're entirely bare in front of your boyfriend, who's still fully clothed.

He doesn't need to tell you what to do, as you already know he wants you to undress him, which is precisely what you do. From swiftly untying his tie to opening up every button on his shirt before slipping it off his shoulders and then sinking on your knees to open his pants, which are already tented from the erection he's gotten from the thought of what's about to happen.

"So big, Daddy, wanna have a taste," you say as you nuzzle his cock through his pants, but he laces his fingers in your hair before pulling back softly.

"Later, Sugar. Your job is to free it so we can shower," he says with a wink, and you whine softly in disapproval. The fact that the treat you've been longing for is right in front of you, yet you can't have a taste, is unfair in your opinion. Despite this, you do as he says, moaning as you clench around nothing when his giant, veiny cock springs free from his pants - not a single scrap of underwear in sight.

Your gaze drags over the large, fleshy member as you look at the adorning veins. They lead to the pink tip you want to wrap your lips around and suckle on, a bead of pre-cum already escaping. Before you can stop yourself, you lick it up as you hum at the salty taste of him, and Tony hisses at the feeling of his sensitive cock being licked like that.

"No." he suddenly says, and you look up at him with a shocked expression despite knowing you did something against his orders.

"And here I thought you were a good girl," Tony tells you, and you nod, but he shakes his head.

"Good girls don't disobey orders from their Daddy, do they? Maybe I should go shower alone and leave you here to think about what you did," he says, but that doesn't sound like a good idea.

"N-No, Daddy! Please, let me come with you! I'm sorry; I promise I will be a good girl! Want to be Daddy's good girl," you beg your boyfriend, and he raises his eyebrow, but he's not entirely convinced yet. He wants you to beg just a bit more.

"Please, Daddy, I want to make you feel good! I swear to make you feel so good and listen to you. Please-" is all you say before he gives in, hauling you up by your arms before capturing your lips in a passionate kiss. There's only so much he can take before giving in to you when you're begging him so sweetly.

"Alright, Babygirl, let's go shower," he says as he pulls away, and you practically run into the large bathroom, earning yourself a chuckle from Tony at your eagerness. While the water heats up, Tony sets you down on the counter so you're at the perfect height to drape your arms around his neck, pulling him close as your lips collide in another kiss.

His thick fingers are digging into your hips as he pulls you to the edge of it, the tip of his cock teasing your dripping pussy as he ruts his hips forward, and you moan into his mouth. However, you know better than to go against what he wants, and you let him tease you as much as he needs; you don't want to be left outside the shower.

"I think the water's warm enough, so let's go in, hmm?" Tony asks, and you nod eagerly before getting off the counter and following him into the large shower, ready for what's to come. Lucky for you, you don't have to wait long because Tony guides you onto your knees as soon as the water cascades down on you both.

"Are you comfortable, Sugar?" he asks softly, and you smile.

"Yes, Daddy. 'M very comfortable," you answer him as you follow the water droplets down his body, over his arc reactor, and down the planes of muscle to your goal: Tony's large, hard and enticing cock.

"Good," he says as he wraps his hand around the bottom of his cock, and you lean in before opening your mouth, earning yourself an approving hum from your boyfriend. He slowly feeds his cock to you, and you happily wrap your lips around every single inch he's feeding you, your mind quieting down immediately as he does.

Your hands are lying on his thighs while his hands are now both laced into your hair, not to set the pace but so he can ground himself as he's looking at you, expertly swallowing down his cock into your throat. A groan escapes as your nose presses against his pelvic bone while you gag around him, and it makes you feel like you're floating.

"That's it, taking Daddy's cock so fucking well," Tony groans through gritted teeth as he throws his head back, trying his hardest not to fuck into your throat, knowing full well he won't last long if he does. Meanwhile, you pull back to suckle on his tip, your hand working the parts of him that are now uncovered while looking up at him.

The mascara you were wearing is running down your face as the shower's water rains down on you, but that doesn't stop you from going in again, tears trickling down your cheeks as you swallow him down again without warning, which is Tony's undoing. Without warning, he cums into your throat and moan, forcing you to swallow every last drop as your eyes are locked on his.

"Fuckin' fuck! Jesus- Oh god, Sugar!" is all he can say as he fucks your mouth while working himself through his orgasm, and you let him go with a pop when he's becoming too sensitive. With Tony's help, you get up again, and he immediately pulls you against him for a kiss, moaning at the taste of himself on your tongue.

"How did I get so lucky, hm? To have such a good girl like you?" Tony asks you, and your cheeks heat up, making him smile as his heart beats faster.

"I'm the lucky one, Daddy," you whisper before tucking your face into his neck, and Tony wraps his arms around you to pull you against his body, needing you close to him as you're both enjoying the warmth of the shower before it's time to get ready for dinner.

You're standing in the bedroom in nothing more than a pair of panties when you suddenly remember the package left on the kitchen counter, so without saying a word, you run out there, and Tony looks at you with wide eyes as he tries his hardest not to drool over the way your body looks as you run.

You quickly grab it before walking back to Tony, who's still speechless at your sudden departure, and you laugh as you show him the package he brought home.

"I got something for us to wear tonight! To make it even more special, I bought a matching pair of pajamas, but if you don't like it, we don't-"

"You did... what? Oh my god, I've never had anyone do that for me before!" Tony says before you can finish your sentence, and his enthusiasm works wonders for you. You put them on when they're out of the package, and Tony can't stop smiling.

"Why did you think I wouldn't like them, Sugar? They're perfect and comfortable, too! And I love that you're now officially wearing your title of the Queen, too," he says before kissing you, leaving you flustered.

"I- Sorry," you whisper before looking away from him, suddenly feeling insecure. However, he doesn't allow you to get too far into your thoughts because he lifts your face with his index finger until his soft gaze meets yours.

"Don't apologize, my sweet girl. There's nothing you need to apologize for. I was just surprised because no one has ever considered getting me a matching pair of pajamas, but I love that you did. Because it seems nothing short of fitting," he tells you before gently grabbing and squeezing your hands.

A smile tugs at the corners of your mouth as you look up at him before nodding. Then, you grab your phone from the bed to look at the time, and you are immediately greeted by a photo of Moon wearing batwings as you unlock your phone.

"Shall I tell Happy to get some dinner for us while you set up our movie night?" Tony asks when he sees the time as well, and you nod.

"I think Moon might enjoy getting a bottle while we're waiting for dinner, too; that way, he doesn't have to wait as long for his last feeding tonight," you tell your boyfriend, who agrees as he follows you into the large living room.

It doesn't take long before the oversized couch is prepared with your favorite blankets and many pillows, so you happily let yourself sink into it as you look at Tony holding Moon as he drinks his bottle. Even though he technically doesn't need it anymore, he still enjoys it, and it has become a part of your routine, so you'll happily do it as long as he accepts his bottles.

"How's he doing today?" you ask Tony as he sits down, and you coo over Moon with your head lying on your boyfriend's shoulder. Tony tells you how he's doing before starting the first Harry Potter movie because you have decided to watch all of them during your weekend together.

Dinner arrives shortly after the first part of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and you find out that Tony has ordered your favorite: Italian. It doesn't take long for every last bit of pasta and tiramisu to be gone, and now, you can relax for the rest of the evening.

During the movie, you grab the cookies you made for Tony before breaking off a piece and feeding it to him, earning yourself an approving moan at the taste.

"How did I ever get so lucky with you, Sugar? You're taking amazing care of me, and you make me feel so loved, too," he tells you as he tucks a piece of your hair behind your ear. A warm feeling spreads through your belly as the butterflies go wild, and he makes you feel just as love as you make him feel.

Without saying anything, you lean in for a few small, soft kisses, which he happily reciprocates, and you pull away with a giant smile adorning your face.

"I love you, Tony," you tell him when you're getting comfortable with Moon in your lap, who's quickly sleeping as you pet him during the rest of the first movie.

By the time the first Harry Potter movie is finished, you are already starting to get a little sleepy from all the food you've had. Still, you're determined to watch one more movie, and when you stretch out for a moment, Moon wakes up before going over to Tony and getting comfortable on his arc reactor - one of his favorite places to sleep.

"Look at that, you two are so cute together!" you say before snapping a few photos of them, and Tony can't stop smiling as you show them to him. Right now, he's feeling more loved than ever, and he cannot thank you enough for that.

All three of you stay like that for almost the entire duration of the second movie, and when that one's finished, you're curled into his side while Moon is sleeping on his cat tree, and Tony's arm is wrapped around your shoulders to pull you closer.

"I love you so much, Sugar, more than I could ever explain to you," he tells you before kissing the crown of your head, and you lay your hand over his arc reactor, which always calms your mind and body down. Before you know it, the second movie is over, too, and it's time to go to bed.

"Do you want to walk to the bedroom, or does my Queen prefer to be carried there?" Tony asks with a smirk, and you tell him you want to be carried there, just as he suspected. Once you're in the bedroom, your boyfriend carefully places you on the bed.

"God, you're so beautiful, Sugar. I doubt I'll ever get enough of you," Tony says as he crawls over you once you're comfortable and your hair splayed out over the pillows like a halo. Once he hovers over you, he leans down to kiss your lips softly, and you drape your arms over his neck to pull him closer.

You will never get enough of the way he feels when he's this close, but you also know it would feel even better when you're both completely bare. As if he can read your mind, Tony slowly undresses before peeling off your layers of clothing, too, not wanting anything to be between you.

"So beautiful," he whispers again as his gaze wanders over your body, and a blush creeps onto your cheeks as he does. However, You don't get to think about it for too long because Tony has never been known for his patience.

"God, I missed this sweet, tight pussy so much, Sugar," he says in a breathy voice as he pushes in, your legs wrapped around his hips as he does. The moment he bottoms out, he makes eye contact with you, which causes him to almost cum on the spot.

"We will have such beautiful babies, Sugar. I just know it," Tony whispers in your ear as he sets a slow, comfortable pace. You moan softly at his words, which only spurred him on more.

"Having little versions of you running around, it would be perfect," he tells you as he makes love to you while telling you all about his fantasies about having your babies. And you carrying them, too.

"Can you imagine it, Sugar? This beautiful belly all round with my babies, these beautiful breasts swelling with milk for me," Tony says as he increases his pace, his cock twitching inside you as you clench at the thought of him drinking from you.

"Yeah? You want to drink my milk?" you ask him, and he nods. There's nothing else he'd rather want than to drink from you when you're producing it, the thought turning him into a moaning mess as his pace starts to falter.

"God, 'm so close, Sugar, cum with me," he pleads, and you nod.

"I'm there, Tony, 'm there with you," you tell him, and with a few more strokes, both you and Tony cum at the same time. The way you milk him has him quickly becoming sensitive, but he doesn't dare pull out, not when you're making him feel this good.

"Wanna stay inside you, fuck! Never want to leave this sweet pussy," he groans, and you caress his face before telling him you don't want him to leave, either. With those words, Tony carefully turns both of you over until you're lying on top of him, his cock still buried deep inside you.

"Sleep well, my beautiful Sugar. I love you," Tony whispers when your face is tucked against his neck, the comforter lying over you both as you drift off to sleep.

"I love you" is all you whisper before sleep officially pulls you under. The warmth of your boyfriend combined with the soft hum of his arc reactor and the way he just tuckered you out has you falling asleep in no time, and you already know you want to fall asleep like this way more often if you get the chance.

The next morning, you're awake as soon as the sun starts to rise, a golden hue cast over Tony's bedroom as you're pulled out of your dreamy state. For a moment, you revel in your boyfriend's closeness as he pulls you against his chest, a soft rumble leaving his chest.

"Hmmm... few more minutes, Sugar," he says in a deep morning voice, and you couldn't resist him even if you wanted to. Your eyes slip shut again as you revel in the soft feeling of Tony's lips placing soft kisses on your neck, and a soft moan slips out his fingers trail over your stomach.

"So responsive for me today, Sugar," he whispers. You can practically hear him smirk as he says it, which gives goosebumps all over your body. Your body's response to him will never fail to make him amazing.

You two stay like this for a few more minutes before you really have to get up. Your full bladder is now starting to make its presence known, so you turn around to face him, immediately greeted by his lips on yours as you do.

"How about this? You can stay in bed this morning while I make you breakfast. This weekend is all about you, my Angel, and you can do nothing but relax," you tell him, and he smiles at the idea of you bringing him breakfast in bed.

"I think that's the perfect way to start my morning," Tony tells you, and you give him a few more kisses before making your way out of the bed, still bare and a little sore from the intimacy you two shared last night. As soon as you spot Tony's shirt he wore to the office yesterday on the floor, you bend down to pick it up, giving Tony a perfect view of your butt and pussy as you do.

"Don't fuckin' tease me like that, Sugar," he growls, and you quickly run out of the bedroom as you laugh, putting on his shirt as you do. After a quick stop in the bathroom, you get ready to make Tony the perfect breakfast, but not without giving some love to Moon first.

"Good morning, sweet baby, how did you sleep?" you ask your kitten as he's headbutting your hand for love, meowing in response to your question.

"Do you want to come with me to the kitchen and help make breakfast for Daddy? I think you do!" you coo to him before scooping him up, and he happily purrs as he gets comfortable in your hand.

Once you're in the kitchen, you're once again dancing around to the music as you prepare scrambled eggs, French toast with extra cinnamon, and Tony's favorite coffee. However, you're quickly halted when you feel a pair of hands on your waist, and you smile as you melt into the touch.

"I thought I told you to stay in bed, my Angel," you say as you sway in place, but he chuckles at your words.

"I had every intention to, but even geniuses like myself have to use the bathroom every now and again. And besides, you know I can't stay away from you for too long, especially when you're dancing around in nothing but my shirt," he says as he squeezes your hips lovingly.

"Well... I think you should still go to bed. Otherwise, I made breakfast in bed for nothing," you say with a pout as you turn to face him, and he swiftly kisses it away, making the butterflies in your stomach go wild.

"Okay, but only because you asked nicely," he says with a wink, and it's when he lets you go and walks towards the bedroom that you see he's also completely bare, making you gasp softly.

"Don't stare for too long, Sugar!" he jokes before turning the corner and leaving you alone with your thoughts. After that, breakfast is quickly finished, and you set Moon down on your shoulder before grabbing the large tray, ready to bring your boyfriend his much-deserved breakfast.

"Hmm, it's looking delicious today, Sugar. And I don't mean the food," Tony says with a wink as you set the food down, and Moon jumps onto the bed from your shoulder, ready to settle on your lap once you're seated on the bed again.

"Thank you for everything, Sugar. I don't know what I would do without you or Moon," Tony tells you as he caresses your cheek with his thumb and leans in for one more kiss before diving into the food you've made.

You can get used to sharing your Saturday mornings like this and having a little one running around one day would ultimately finish the dream for you both, but for now, you will happily cuddle with Moon until that dream becomes a reality.

[sheafrotherdon]

Nicky wakes up early. It’s still dark as he climbs out of bed and picks up yesterday’s discarded t-shirt and jeans from the floor, pulls them on, and pads out into the shadowed hallway. Everyone is sleeping and will stay that way for a while, attuned as they are to the specific silence of the safe house. The scent of coffee will tell them when it’s time to wake.

The kitchen floor is cool beneath Nicky’s bare feet as he pulls flour and sugar from the cupboard, and finds his favored mixing bowl. He selects two oranges from the platter on the kitchen table. They’re a pleasant weight in his hands as he rinses them at the sink, and he smiles as he gently peels long strips of rind from each fruit, orange oil dampening his fingers.  He chops the rind into tiny pieces with a kitchen knife he keeps predictably sharp, and lets his mind wander.

They all came into this long life with midwinter rituals, rituals that pushed aside the darkness and kindled light. Andy’s rituals were, by the time Nicolo met her, casual habits and scraps of poetry from more places than she could name. Quynh would find the means to make lamps from whale oil and tallow, beeswax in later years, but always she would meet winter with the industry of her hands. Yusuf leaned toward fire, kindling and branches, logs or turf, more than once the pungent blaze of cow shit. Always he would smile; always he would sing. Always Nicky fell a little more in love.  And then came Nile, with traditions that ran from Santa to mass, to knitted stockings for each of them when she had the means, and Catholic rituals that Nicky recognized as echoes of his own. Last Christmas she had given Joe coal, and he had thrown back his head and roared with laughter, and called her fond and obscene names.

But it was solstice where Nicky felt most grounded, where the patient observation of darkness in its fullest expression brought quiet joy. Thus the oranges, the creaming of butter and sugar, the addition of flour that he never quite manages to avoid spilling on his shirt. Dropping the orange rind into his bowl, he turns his attention to chopping sweetened cranberries into small, tart bites, and mixing everything into a dough.

By the time the dough is chilled and the cookies cut into small, precise rounds, the oven is ready, and the coffee has been set to brew. Andy shuffles into the kitchen as the first of the solstice sweets are cooling on a rack, and Nicky smacks her hand away from the still-too-hot cookies, a ritual in and of itself.  She accepts coffee in lieu of food, pulls her knees up to her body, heels resting on the seat of the chair, and hunches inside her oversized sweater that has seen better days but is worn and well loved.  Nile follows, and after a time, Joe, and only then does Nicky slip the cookies onto a plate and set them on the table.

The sky outside turns from black to morning grey, and the people Nicky loves eat the best expression of sunlight he knows.  He wipes his hands on a towel and fills a mug with coffee, pulls out a chair and as Joe rests a hand on his knee, covers that hand with his own.

[brittle-doughie]

Star of the Industry (Popping Candy, DJ, Rockstar, Parfait, and Shining Glitter Cookie)

Requested by: 🧁 anon. Sorry for the wait, but here it is at last! Quite a lot of musical cookies!

“Ladies and gentlemen, Star Jelly Records would like you to put your hands together for the one and only, Y/N Cookie!”

The crowd roared and cheered as you came up onto the stage, outfit and mic at the ready. You tipped your head in confidence as you began to sing.

Running out the oven, we are never turning back. We will not be the witch’s crispy, crunchy snacks!

You danced as good as you sang, making finger guns towards the audience, with the cookie at the receiving end fainting in their fanboyism/fangirlism.

Security cookies had to deal with fans trying to leap over the railings to get closer to you, some had to work hard to get hired this job and it showed with how much they pushed back against the crowd, they were determined to keep you safe.

Be the way you want to be, for all of those to see…

The crowd erupted into cheering as you dropped the mic…into your other hand because microphone were delicate things, why drop it on the ground, hehe.

————————————————————————

You were making your way to your vehicle, security covering you as you walked, your personal agent, Dumpling Cookie, walking right beside you as she too cleared your way of the boisterous crowd.

“Clear the way, cookies. Y/N Cookie has a lot of places to be! HEY! You keep your hands off their hair!”

She smacked the offending cookie on the head with her notebook.

Like with your security detail, Dumpling Cookie had to work real hard to get the role as your agent and vowed to be the best there was. Really only soft spoken and considerate to you, she was cold and professional with others.

She will not tolerate anyone taking advantage of you and will put her foot down towards devious contracts these big shot studios were giving you, with Star Jelly Records being one of few that she was willing to settle with.

You two made to your vehicle as security escorted you both in, with them following after as you drove off.

“You were unbelievable today, Y/N Cookie. Ah, I already preordered myself a copy.”

You very much appreciated her support as you smiled warmly at her, Dumpling having to cover a blush with her notebook.

“O-of course, Y/N Cookie. Okay, next on the schedule is a interview with Reporter Cookie, and then a meeting with our manager, he said it was important.”

The manager? Wonder what that will be about. Sales have been doing pretty wonderfully, and you don’t recall particular problems with today’s performance..what was on his mind…?

————————————————————————

“Tell us, Y/N Cookie, how does it feel to be the next big and upcoming pop star? Your tracks never fail to reach around the top of the chart! I struggle to even get a physical copy with how many cookies crowd the stores!”

Cue a video showing a large crowd of cookies entering the store, huddling around your section inside as copies were literally flying off the shelves.

You chuckled at the recorded scene before answering her question that you were rather humbled that cookies actually listened to, god forbid, even like your music! You uploaded your first track for fun, not really expecting the SURGE of popularity it garnered!

You remember just making a small song in your home and posting it online, not really thinking much of it. To go from being a regular cookie to being a popular figure was surreal to say the least!

“Haha! That’s Y/N Cookie for you, viewers! Humble to the end! Your songs are always so sweet and amazing, it’s even garnered the attention of other cookies in the industry! Even the superstar, Shining Glitter Cookie, plays your songs in her car, humming along to it!”

Shining Glitter…actually likes your songs too? That…was a lot to take in actually, hehe.

“In fact, you’re the talk of the town amongst other well known cookies in the music biz! DJ Cookie mentions you a lot on their posts, Popping Candy showed off his collection of your merchandise, even rising star Parfait Cookie says she gets inspiration from you and your singing!”

Parfait Cookie, you remember going to one of her shows, before you became popular. It was a little funny now that she was looking to you for her inspiration to rise as a pop star!

Funny indeed…

————————————————————————

Your manager praised you for another outstanding performance today, tickets sold like crazy and merchandise sales continue to impress! Dumpling Cookie got a little bit of a scowl going on, she didn’t like all this talk about the money the manager was spouting.

“But…I believe you can get an even bigger popularity boost then what you have right now! After all, a cookie of your talent deserved it! Hence why I called you here!”

Oh? You asked him what that would be? You’re pretty comfy where you are right now.

“It’s no secret that other popular figures in this industry are fans of your music, so I reached out and a multitude of them wished to have a collaboration with you! A great opportunity in my opinion!”

“Now just hold on a second.”

Dumpling Cookie objected, surprising both you and the manager.

“I know you’re the boss and all, but is this really a decision only you yourself can make? A collaboration requires agreement from both sides and I’m not hearing any say from Y/N Cookie about this. I will not let Y/N Cookie be forced into anything.”

You accept!

“W-what?!”

“See, this cookie wants to do this as well! Let’s get this project underway!”

The manager starts to type away at his computer as Dumping turned to you in concern.

“You really want to do this, Y/N Cookie? I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable with this whole thing. Watching out for you is not just me doing my job, but because I care about you. Know that.”

You chuckled as you placed a hand on her shoulder, you looked her in the eye and reassured her that you were okay with it. It sounded like a neat idea and hey, you could make some new friends with this collaboration project. You thanked her for caring about you, it what makes her an awesome secretary to you.

Again, she used her notebook to hide her blushing face, a small smile forming on her face.

————————————————————————

You waited in your studio for the first cookie the manager scheduled for you, the door opening to reveal them.

Rock and roll, baby! Rockstar Cookie had made it onto the scene! He was enthusiastic to meet you, playing a guitar riff as he entered the room!

He’s seen your stuff and wanted to collaborate with you as your musician! With your cool singing and his spectacle guitar playing, you two would make a good team!

His admiration didn’t stop at just your jams, he will compliment you personally, though this will get an eyebrow raise from Dumpling Cookie.

You agreed that his guitar playing was pretty great, those were some sick riffs he played. This is enough for Rockstar to start playing his guitar from the hype.

Your audiences will just adore the two of you together, baby. His fans will simply love you after a concert together! He knows he does-

Alright that was enough as Dumpling Cookie nudged him out the door, Rockstar calling out to you that he hopes you pick him! Other cookies have no soul with their music, rock and roll was the way to go!

“Okay, that’s one of them. Not bad with a guitar, but should really learn personal space. Who’s next?”

Parfait Cookie would be the next to walk through the door, at first a little nervous, but after a warm welcome from you, her confidence grew and she was eager to proclaim her inspiration from you!

She heard one of your songs in the cafe and was immediately got stuck in her head. She was, like, a pretty big fan of you afterwards. She watched your shows and would try to replicate your singing and dancing herself!

You were flattered! It was pretty clear Parfait looked up to you a lot, like, a lot a lot.

She’s got a bunch of your albums in her room, she couldn’t pick favorites, they were all amazing! It would be perfect if you could sign them!

You were amazing….~

She would be a incredibly happy cookie if you collaborated with her, not only would she be one step closer to her dream, it would make her year to sing alongside her idol!

“Happy to possibly work with you, Y/N Cookie! I’ll totally cherish the time spent together, paru paru parfait~!”

Parfait happily waved at you as she made her exit, Dumpling closing the door behind her.

“She seemed fine, an inspiring cookie with a dream. Though she seemed too sugary with her admiration, if you want my opinion on it I mean. Let’s see…”

DJ Cookie made through the door with sick beats, nodded their head as they made their way to you. The winner of 8 Jammy Awards and had earned the label of having the best album of the year!

You’ve heard of DJ Cookie’s music career and thanked them for believing you were worth it to collaborate with.

Of course, you were a cookie with a sick talent for singing and dancing, DJ themself have a few videos of your performance in the background while they record!

They saw Rockstar Cookie leaving your office with a smug grin, you weren’t actually considering collaborating with him, were you? His music would put people to sleep, not DJ!

DJ believed that you are worth so much more to let a cookie like Rockstar be your musician for a concert! You deserved only the best and they will do their hardest to be the best for you!

8 JAMMY AWARDS. Did you know they won 8 of them?! Their album was at the top for the year! There was no cookie capable of such feats as them! The choice to collaborate with is obvious!

Just say you’ll pick them please.

And that was Dumpling’s cue to escort DJ out of the studio. DJ tried to say that it was only a heat of the moment thing, but Dumpling wasn’t having it as she closed door.

“For a cookie of their caliber, that went down fast. Please advise caution if you go with DJ Cookie, Y/N Cookie. They don’t seem to be of sound mind when it comes to…rivals. Next one in line!”

Popping Candy, similar to Parfait, was nervous when coming through the door. Along with Shining Glitter, you were an idol to him and his group the more they climbed up the chain.

Shows you his collection of your merch he has on his phone. He even had the head shaped pillow that quickly ran out of stock! To see his collection yourself, you chuckled as you scratched the back of your head in flattery.

When your manager put out the offer of a collaboration in his feed, he jumped at the opportunity. To have a joint concert with you would be a dream come true for a fan of his level.

He and his group, the Cake POPs, would do their best to follow your every step, they wanted to make sure this concert was perfect! Popping Candy already watches your performances on repeat, so he’s got an idea of how you perform!

His other group members would be greatly appreciative if you chose them to collaborate with!

Let him take a breather, wow, it’s just, he was actually talking to you, THE Y/N Cookie, an idol he’s been following for a long while now!

Could you perhaps…sign his forehead?

Dumpling sighed, that was her cue. She politely requested Popping Candy to make his leave, but to avoid making him upset, she tried a roundabout approach.

“Uhh, right. Thank you for your time, Popping Candy Cookie. We’ll keep in touch if you get picked, so give Y/N Cookie some time to think about it.”

Ah! Of course, Popping Candy understood! He got up and headed on out, he needed to practice on his choreography and singing some more! Dumpling wiped her forehead as she shook her head, what was going on today..

The most popular for last, Shining Glitter made her entrance by shaking hands with you, saying how she became a quick fan of you after listening to your songs on the radio. The way you sang just enraptured her!

She was a super star, but in her eyes, you were the star that shined as brightly as ever with how you were on stage! She found herself wanting to dance to your rhythm!

She scooted closer to you as she took your hand into hers, saying how this was probably your first collaboration and so it would be an honor if she was the first cookie you partnered with, it would mean lot. This sent alarm bells for Dumpling Cookie.

Both of you were popular stars, so it only makes sense that you two were paired together. Fans from both sides would just LOVE to see you two perform on the same stage.

They were naming a street after her, she’s considering including your name in it too as a token of your beautiful partnership with her!

Like with Popping Candy, she has a bunch of your merchandise she shows off on her social media, nabbing the higher end ones like Y/N Cookie-branded pillows, plushies, party sets, etc. Even a copy of your very first track release, it was incredibly rare!

Sorry if this seemed out of nowhere, but it would be a funny to see the possible ship names the fans would make for you two. Shining Y/N Cookie? Y/N Glitter Cookie? The possibilities were infinite!

Line was drawn, Dumpling requested that Glitter make her way home. Shining Glitter was genuinely confused with this, was it something she said? Shining Glitter would not budge as she refuted what Dumpling was trying to tell her.

“Ms. Glitter, you need to make way for the next cookie in line-“

“What? What do ya mean “next cookie”? Was my proposal not good enough to get selected right away? Who else was there to choose besides me?”

“Plenty of other cookies, you’re not the only one making it in this line of work. Simply, I don’t care if you’re popular, Y/N Cookie will not be working with any cookie who’s this forceful and arrogant.”

“I want to hear it from Y/N Cookie themselves, Y/N, would you like to have this partnership with me?”

Dumpling was doing her best to push back, but Glitter got uncomfortably close when asking that it made look to the side awkwardly.

Well…

“You’re, like, already popular enough, I should be the cookie they collaborate with!”

Parfait Cookie at the door?! DJ too?! Wait, they’re all here?!

“They’re good in the singing business, they just need the right cookie with the sickest beats, that’s where I come in and whisk them off their feet!”

“Your tunes are soulless, rock and roll is the way to go, baby!

“So many cookies here..will Y/N Cookie still choose me after all this?”

“A cookie of their standing only deserves an equal to that, don’t ya see that it’s me who can fulfill that?”

Dumpling Cookie grew increasingly agitated the more the group of cookies bickered, this was no way to act in front of you.

She had to angrily call for security to escore all the cookies out of the premises.

————————————————————————

The cookies waited in the lobby, sat down and lamenting on the events from earlier.

“We messed up, didn’t we? I hope Y/N Cookie isn’t too mad at us…”

“Parfait: I do admit to losing my cool there, it’s just…I look up to them so much, that sharing the stage would be a dream come true. I should’ve assumed it was the same for everyone else, regardless of fame.”

“Hear hear, the fire in my heart was so passionate that it clouded my mind…”

“Shining Glitter: I do admit that I was actin’ unprofessional back there, a part of me…wanted Y/N Cookie to like me as more then just being a superstar, but as me…”

The door leading into the lobby opened, revealing you and Dumpling Cookie as you made your way to them. Dumpling’s cold state boring into the eyes of the cookies made them want to avert their eyes from the intensity.

“Y/N Cookie has taken it into consideration…and they’re just not interested in any of you. Thank you for your time and actually make your leave from here.”

The cookies gasped in horror before you poked Dumpling in the shoulder with a pout.

Heyyy, you didn’t say that. Come on now, Dumpling.

“What? Am I not allowed to have a little fun?”

Broooo. Anyway, you corrected Dumpling’s little joke by stating that to avoid any discourse and bitterness from the other cookies, you’ve decided…that you accept everyone’s offer to collaborate. Let’s shoot for the moon with so much talent onboard!

Everyone was taken aback! They were so sure that they’ve messed up their chances by the little squabble from earlier, they didn’t expect you to have the opposite reaction in any capacity!

Well, the stage was for anyone, and considering how each and every one of them said they were a fan of you, you figured why not and decide to make this one grand collaboration of all different types of talent! The manager was certainly happy and excited with this idea, so if they’re willing, you were down with it.

They saw the opportunity and JUMPED for it

“Yeah, Y/N! Let’s make some killer music, baby!”

“I won’t let ya down, Y/N Cookie. I promise ya my beats will pump up the crowd!”

“Y-yes, I’d love to! I really need to practice now to match you!”

“Shining Glitter: Let’s be glorious stars together, Y/N Cookie!”

“Parfait: Wow, just wow! I’m, like, totally excited for this! I feel like my toppings wil melt!”

Dumpling Cookie rolled her eyes at the other cookies with a smile, you always did have a kind sway over cookies to have them get along. Sure, you weren’t as hard on them as she would’ve been, but it just showed how much of a giving cookie you were. And that’s what she loved about you.

————————————————————————

“Welcome back, cookies! We have a special performance today! Y/N Cookie is not making an appearance alone tonight! We at Star Jelly Records would like to announce our special guests! Rockstar Cookie!”

“Are you cookies ready to rock?! WHOO!”

“Parfait Cookie!”

“Paru-paru-PARFAIT! Are you cookies ready for sweet melodies!”

“DJ Cookie!”

“DJ Cookie here and I’m gonna drop the beat!”

“The Cake POPS!”

“We’re honored to be singing alongside Y/N Cookie! Here’s to a great concert with you all!”

And gracing the stage alongside them, Shining Glitter Cookie!

“Can you make some noise, cookies?! We can’t hear you!”

The crowd roars as you handled the mic, singing alongside Glitter, Parfait, and the Cake Pops while you played your tunes with Rockstar and DJ, all of them very much liking you giving them attention.

The manager behind the curtain was crying happy tears while Dumpling Cookie was waving a mini-flag of you as support.

Your mailbox will be crammed with fan letters, but hey, that’s the price to pay when you’re a superstar in this industry!

[whataperfectwasteoftime]

Common Grounds / Chapter 1

Pairing: Marcus Pike x f!Reader

Rating: T (for now... you know me, this will go up)

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Food mention, overly charming Marcus, Teresa Lisbon gets her own warning.

Summary: Stop me if you've heard this one: A handsome stranger walks into a coffee shop...

A/N: A coffee shop AU that probably didn't need to be written, but here we are. I'm planning on keeping the chapters rather short, as this is supposed to be the fun, easy thing I do between book edits. How many chapters will this be? You know better than to ask that of me. Shame on you. If you make me a moodboard for this story I will kiss you directly on the mouth.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

You blink blearily at the harsh blue light of your phone in the dark of your room. You don’t see the numbers on the screen, but you know the time by heart–4:05 am. Many people, when you tell them when you have to wake up to get to work, say something along the lines of “Oh, I could never do that,” or “I’m too much of a night owl.” It isn’t that you’re a morning person–or, at least, you weren’t, until you picked up the opening shift at Common Grounds to make some extra money after college.

Little had you known, five years later, you’d still be here, making baked goods from scratch as the first rays of light cross the sky and serving coffee during every morning rush.

It works perfectly–you’re done around 1:00pm, and you have plenty of time to run errands or go home and dedicate time to your little art studio crammed into the corner of your living room. 

With a heavy sigh, you roll ungracefully out of bed and stretch, lurching to the bathroom to shower and dress. Your motions are automatic–fueled by habit and little else in the quiet pre-dawn hours. You robotically lace your boots and shoulder your bag before leaving your apartment, checking the locks twice, just in case.

The streets are always empty at this hour, and you relish in the silence. You don’t put in your earbuds, preferring to listen to the city waking up, a perfect soundtrack to the faint orange glow to the east, heralding the sunrise, even though the first rays of sun won’t hit the buildings for another thirty minutes at least.

You open the doors of Common Grounds and flick on the lights, watching as they sluggishly blink on. Then, you flip on the radio, connecting your own device to play through the speakers for a little while before the cafe opens. Next is the oven and all the coffee machines, refilling the ice, stocking the milk. The 2% is low, so you go to the large walk-in fridge to wrestle one of the five-gallon milk bags that weigh around fifty pounds each into the milk dispenser. Better to restock now than run out during the rush and struggle with the ungainly bags with a long line of customers looking on. 

Next, you get to work baking for the day. The dough should already be made and in the walk-in, and you always make quick work of portioning it out onto trays. This morning, you have blueberry scones, cinnamon coffee cake, sugar cookies, and some decadent seven-layer bars that take a little more time in preparation, but the taste (and how fast they sell out) is well worth it. You’re just pulling the first scones out of the industrial oven when your fellow opener, Sam, arrives and unlocks the front doors at 5:30 on the nose. 

“Evenin’,” they say–their habitual morning joke. 

“Hey, Sam,” you wave back. 

“I had a dream I was trapped in the walk-in,” Sam groans. “Fucking work dreams, right?”

“I had one the other day where I was trying to make cookies out of mud and everyone was mad because I kept running out,” you laugh. 

“I had a dream where I was having sex with that asshat of a Congressman that comes in every once in a while and acts like he’s a fucking celebrity,” Sam says as they toss their bag under the counter and put on some gloves to help with the rest of the scones. 

“Okay, you win.”

“Did you end up going on that date last night?” Sam asks conversationally.

“You mean the mountain climber? Yeah, he didn’t show.”

“Fuck me!” Sam exclaims. “There are no good men in DC, I’m convinced.”

“That’s helpful, Sam, thank you,” you say, rolling your eyes.

“That’s why I stick with the girls, gays, and theys,” Sam quips, grabbing one of the scones and stuffing it into their mouth.

“Hey! Paying customers only,” you scold. 

“Like you didn’t have one before I got here,” Sam retorts. 

“No,” you protest, offended. “...I had a cookie.”

“Breakfast of champions,” Sam says. “You’ll be dead on your feet by the rush.”

“That’s what the coffee is for.”

The two of you work in companiable silence, occasionally broken by chatter or by one or both of you humming along to the music. 

Customers this early are sparse; the main rush doesn’t go into full swing until around seven. Before then, people trickle in and out–a few regulars, an intern juggling two phones and looking to be in a huge rush, and an older couple that likes to play cards in the corner on Tuesdays. 

You like to think you can sniff out the new customers who will become regulars. Some people walk in with the single-minded purpose of acquiring coffee and then leaving again as fast as they came. Potential regulars, on the other hand, tend to cast their eyes around the cozy space as they order, scanning the walls, or sorting through the snacks at the counter. For this reason, you notice him almost immediately.

He lingers; taking in each piece of artwork on the walls before moving to the next, scanning the little bags of gourmet coffee and novelty mugs on the shelf. He touches a few, picking one mug up, examining it with a little smile, and putting it back down again. 

He’s dressed in a plain charcoal suit, with a badge fastened to the lapel, although you can’t read which Agency he’s with from here. He doesn’t look like a typical suit, though–his eyes are soft, his hair slightly messy. His profile is striking, but when he’s turned toward the counter, you can see that the corners of his mouth are pulled up, softening his appearance. 

In short, he’s pretty.

Eventually, the man approaches the counter with a friendly smile. This close, you can see his badge more clearly–he’s FBI. 

"I'll have a latte, with…" he trails off, squinting at the syrup offerings with his head cooked adorably to one side. He scrunches his nose. "...Lavender?"

"Don't knock it until you've tried it," you quip. "That's the favorite with a lot of our regulars."

"And I'm in no place to argue with them," the man replies with an easy grin. "Lavender, please. Medium."

"Can I get your name?" you ask, sharpie poised to write on the side of the cup.

"Marcus," the man answers.

"Anything else for you, Marcus?"

"I better not," Marcus says with a little laugh as he scans the shelves behind the counter. "But those seven-layer bars do look heavenly."

"I made them myself this morning," you say, smiling back, taken by the man's charm.

Marcus makes a mock-pained face. "Damn," he says. "Well, you've forced my hand, Miss–?"

You tell him your name, and he repeats it with a smile. "One seven-layer bar as well, please."

Your smile widens and you grab one of the sweet bars–still just slightly warm from the oven–and place it in a bag.

"Do you happen to know where the nearest grocery store is?" Marcus asks. "It can't be the Harris Teeter that's five miles away, can it? That's all my phone will tell me."

"Depends," you tell him. "That's the nearest major supermarket chain, but there's a little convenience store a few blocks away that has just about everything."

Marcus's eyes go wide. "Really?"

You write down the name on a spare cardboard sleeve and give it to him. "New to the area?" you ask conversationally.

"Yeah!" Marcus answers. "Just moved here for a job. Got here two days ago, and I'm still getting my bearings." 

"I live in this neighborhood too," you tell him. "I love it. I know it's a big city and all, but everyone is very friendly. Where are you coming from?"

"Texas," Marcus answers, letting a little drawl sneak into his voice. He shoots you a little sideways grin. 

"Well, you can always find a little southern hospitality here," you say, handing him his latte. 

"I'll keep that in mind for whenever I get homesick," Marcus says. He winks before taking a sip of his drink. "Mm, this is good," he exclaims emphatically. "Thanks for the recommendation."

"Any time," you tell him. "Hey, on the subject of neighborhood stores, there's this ice cream place that–"

You're interrupted by Marcus's phone ringing, and he shoots you an apologetic look. "Sorry. Listen, I’m sure I'll see you around. Hello?" he says to the phone. "Hey, sweetie! I just found the most amazing little coffee shop. Yeah, way better than Starbucks. You'll love it, it's got all this art on–Uh-huh? Oh, okay. I won't keep you, sounds like an important ca–Love you too. Bye, sweetie."

Figures. He's taken. And with a face like that, how could he not be? 

You watch as Marcus ends the call and gives you a little wave before he disappears through the front door, still smiling.

He’s so happy, you think to yourself. Happy, carefree, and in love. Must be nice. You wonder if there are any other guys out there with such a megawatt smile and easy charm that happen to be single. Maybe with the same mussed brown hair and the aquiline nose and–

“Hello!” your co-worker, Sam, interrupts. “Earth calling. Customer would like a nonfat white mocha with one shot of peppermint!”

You shake yourself and grab the proffered cup that Sam is currently waving in your face. “White mocha, one peppermint, nonfat, coming up!” you chirp, pouring the milk into the carafe to steam. 

“What was that all about?” Sam asks. “You got all moony-eyed for a moment there.”

“Cute guy,” you say truthfully. 

“Oh, is that all?” Sam says with a playful roll of their eyes. “Chai tea latte.” 

You’re handed another cup.

Apparently, the rush is starting early today. 

*

Next Chapter >>

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[irrelevantnostalgia]

Cake Mania: To the Max! (2011): Part 1

ᆞPᆞᆞlᆞᆞoᆞᆞtᆞ

Jill and Jack are looking through Jill's old photo album with their twins and come across Jill's high school days. She starts to reminisce about the days of shoulder pads, neon everywhere, and her awkward phase. These high school days become the final installment of the Cake Mania series, where this time the players time travel back to 1989 to when Jill was navigating prom, applying to college, and figuring out what she wanted to do with her life! A fairly simple plot, a nice way to wind down this series from the evil directors and time travel to 500 BC and cake-baking in an aquarium. Almost like a nod to the normalcy of the first Cake Mania game, where we see the beginnings of Jill's adult life. This game goes back to the classic Cake Mania format with 100 levels of cake-baking only.

Fun fact, this is the first time I was able to finish this game in full! When I used to play this game back in the day, the fuck ass PC wiped my data once I reached around level 60. This happened to me twice. Another time when I actually got past level 60, I would get stuck on a later level where I would be unable to achieve even the bare minimum baking goal. I raged so hard about all these instances that I avoided playing the game for years (almost a decade lol).

ᆞWᆞᆞhᆞᆞaᆞᆞtᆞ'ᆞsᆞ ᆞNᆞᆞeᆞᆞwᆞ

Interior Mode: A big change in this game is that there is an "interior mode" option for the shopping/upgrade center. Now, you can "upgrade" the walls, floor, counter and door just like you can the oven or froster. This may seem similar to the "building upgrade" in Cake Mania Main St + Lights, Camera, Action since upgrading the building also changed the interior design of the building, but unlike in those games, the upgrades are supposed to confer actual advantages in gameplay.

Upgrading the walls is supposed to help with increasing tips, the floor is supposed to help Jill get around faster, the door is supposed to help with customer patience, and the counter upgrades help make room for more customers at a time. There are two one-time upgrades you can also make--buying a flower-pot can help make the sugar-rush last longer and buying a lamp permanently stops the equipment-breaking (yes, they kept this from the last game!).

For the most part, this is an excellent way to sprinkle-up the game and add more stuff to purchase to make the game less monotonous as you progress through the later levels. Compared to the rest of the games where eventually your profits made per level rise exponentially and never get spent past you getting all the key upgrades, I was budgeting out from Day 1 all the way to the very end.

In my personal opinion, I don't think all the interior upgrades really added much to improve gameplay. The counter getting longer does actually help in getting more customers on the screen at a time and more tips from the walls is always welcome. The two one-time upgrades were both good too, especially since it takes a while for you to save up funds for the lamp so it feels like a huge reward once you do get it. However, the door and floor upgrades didn't *feel* all that helpful. Upgrading Jill's shoes had more of an effect on helping her get around than the floor, and a cookie and the right channel do more for customer patience than the door. I would even say nothing makes those fuckers happy.

Speaking of helping reduce monotony, in this game there are some differences in how equipment is upgraded. Rather than buying 3 separate ovens and upgrading them individually, you instead have one massive oven with 4 compartments. You have to buy the compartments as well as additional cake shape options, but the speed upgrades affect the entire oven instead of each individual compartment. Meanwhile, the cake froster + decorator upgrades follow the same upgrade pattern but it doesn't just stop at gold. There are additional upgrade speeds you get until the final one, which looks like some brutalist industrial bullshit.

I'm sorry but it simply did not slay. I was hoping for some tacky neon 80s realness as the final upgrade.

Essentially, the point of all the previous word vomit is that in this game there are so many upgrades that you will be hustling and checking your budget from the beginning to the end, which is not something you do in the previous games (for the most part). I won't lie, I played this game twice and took two different approaches to upgrades and there would still be places that were not fully upgraded or there would be equipment that I would not get to purchasing at all.

Similar to the upgrades keeping you on your toes from beginning to the end in this game, so do the customers in some cases. I feel like a broken record, but in the previous games once you got to a certain point in the cake-baking game you could handle whatever customer pile-up gets thrown your way without thinking too hard about it. Even in the last game where you had the Lola Fierezzas changing everyone's orders. I wouldn't say that every level in this game had me locked in devoting 50% of my brain to ergonomics, but there was a certain type of level that stood out to me that I felt like I didn't experience before in my journey with Cake Mania. Let's introduce two characters.

80s Movie Mean Girl

Favorite TV show: Aerobics

She pairs up with other cheerleaders in the line.

Her name is Cindy and she is Jill's """"love rival""". I put that in heavy quotations because the Big Jock is interested in Jill but she is not into him, and Cindy is salty that Big Jock pays attention to Jill. Cue passive aggressiveness, which even spills into gameplay because she tips like ass. I'll be making 3-tier cakes for her and getting a fraction of what I would get if I made one for another customer, which makes levels where she shows up a significant amount really annoying to play.

Now let's introduce another character

DnD Dweeb

Favorite TV show: Cooking show

Do you see my pain now? Having him make a recurring appearance in a level was an absolute nightmare when it came to me wanting to obtain all superstar baking goals. The moment this twerp would show up in line I would pray that I could drop everything and get his cake out of the way so I could keep my properly compensating customers. Ngl though, if he wanted a 3 layer cake I would just take the L. Not giving myself carpel tunnel over this shit.

To deal with his appearances I invested in an overnight fridge earlier than I usually would purchase one so I could have expensive cakes ready to fly out, and I would constantly purchase a one-time-use power-up available in the upgrade shop that gets a customer out of the way. There were multiple levels with this dynamic and it was the worsttt.

On the flip side, I actually have to appreciate the aforementioned Big Jock for coming in because....

♥ Evil Bully from 80s movie ♥

Favorite TV show: Cooking show

He orders multiple times

Honestly, I think the real bully is gonna be the DnD Dweeb for turning this guy into a no-tipping ass cheerleader and making me hustle harder to meet my goals! Plus he increases the hearts on the other customers which is another point from me. One of the most satisfying feelings was collecting profits from this guy cause you would get like a $100+ boost! Lore wise, he is just an annoying fuck who is into Jill and doesn't pick up on the very obvious hint that she does not want to be his prom date.

There is another new aspect added to this game, which really did nothing for me. Instead of having me describe it with more word vomit, let me just share the screenshots:

Before I introduce the characters used for this example Imma just keep it real: I never used this shit as a part of my strategy to make customers happier. I just feel like gameplay moves way too fast to really give a shit especially when you have tools like the TV and cookies to keep them at bay. Really, what I would use this for is to just move customers up if there was a space between them just to make walking easier for Jill. Perhaps if I played this game in a more relaxed manner I could focus on different characters and how they impacted each other just based on line placement. But frankly, I didn't notice anything super obvious, besides the two characters used for the example. Speaking of...

Megumi Fushiguro

Favorite TV Show: News

He doesn't like "new wave guy"

Yuri Plisetsky if he had a stupid haircut

Favorite TV Show: News

He doesn't like "punk guy". Someone needs to create a new manga over these two STAT! Also, my personal headcanon is that this guy is the high school version of the businessman introduced in the first Cake Mania.

ᆞMᆞᆞoᆞᆞrᆞᆞeᆞ ᆞCᆞᆞhᆞᆞaᆞᆞrᆞᆞaᆞᆞcᆞᆞtᆞᆞeᆞᆞrᆞᆞsᆞ

Businessman Sr.

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

This guy has to be New Wave Guy's dad.

80s Bridezilla

Favorite TV Show: News

Unlike in the first Cake Mania where her younger sister is most likely Bridezilla, she actually has a similar Pirate/Mr Dinosaur effect where her flipping out causes others to flip out and leave.

Cop

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

♥Doctor♥

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

420 Blaze It

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

Seasons may change and the years may go on by....but this guy will always be high

Klepto Kelly (ft her Emo BF)

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

Seasons may change and the years may go on by....but her desire to steal your money is always sky-high

Birth Control Inspo

Favorite TV Show: Rock Concert

Little Kid

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

(Dr.) Miss Lily

Favorite TV Show: Aerobics

She is That Girl cause everyone wants to change their order to hers! I would especially let it happen if these customers came in with some basic fuckass cakes that would make no money. Plus, per Jill, she is also a doctor. Based on her cute and relaxed fit (unlike the scrubs doc) I could see her being a dermatologist or endocrinologist. Maybe psychiatrist cause she knows how to convince others to change their orders

Thanks to Tumblr's 30-picture limit in text posts, I will have to split this review up into two posts. Stay tuned for part 2!

[thesims3help]

Sims 3 - Gameplay enhancing mods: Cooking, Mixology, Eating & Drinking.

A category-based mod post. Mods and links previously featured in our Masterlist. All credits to their rightful owners.

Categories include: cooking, mixology, restaurants, bars, diners, eating and drinking related mods.

Cooking:

Reheat Food in Microwave

Food Synthesizer Pop-Up Menu

Cook With Any Ingredient (Wood Fire Oven/Sauna/Teppanyaki Grill/Baker's Station compatible)

Choose Your Resort Buffet Foods

Ingredient Moodlets From Meals + More Filling Kelp & Fish Meals For Mermaids

No Free Quick Meals

Cooking and Ingredients Overhaul + More Nectar Ingredients

BlackCat007's Cooking & Ingredients Overhaul

Let them eat cake! - Non-Birthday Birthday Cakes

Toddler Food Bowl

Quicker Cooking & Eating OverRide

Breakfast At Twinsimming's (Update 7/8/23) - No Cooking Overhaul Version

Baby Food Default Replacement

Gain Cooking Skill Faster At Work!

Winter Holiday Cookies

[PC] Teppanyaki Grill Mods (No Autonomous/No Burn) by Nona Mena (simlogical.com)

[PC] No or Less Autonomous Ice Cream Maker and Deep Fryer (Tuning) by Nona Mena (simlogical.com)

better ingredient thumbnails

Industrial Oven Overhaul (Role Sim Chef)

More or Less Expensive Chefs for Your Restaurant

Bakery Register Overhaul

Canning Station Overhaul

Faster cooking, slower eating and other tweaks

Eating/dining:

Let them eat cake! - Non-Birthday Birthday Cakes

Pasteurize Milk Mod (Update 7/18/23) - Tunable Hunger Motive Delta

Buy Takeout And Order Food At Restaurants

Eat & Put Away Your Leftovers

Set The Table & Call To Meal

Eat Outside Restaurants + Waiters

Bring Food & Drink To Others - Any Time, Any Place

More Realistic Dining For Sims

Snacks are now LESS filling! 1.67

Mixology/Drinks:

The Professional Juice Bar Mod

Sims Drinks

Have Coffee With Me

Seasons & Barista Bar Beverages on the Coffee Machine

Nectar Combinatorics

No More Acrobatics! - bartending animations tweaks

Better Bartending!

Coffee Ingredients Made Choosable

All Bars Serve All Drinks

[alexissara]

She Loves To Cook And She Loves To Eat Vol 4: Quick Review

She Loves To Cook and She Loves To Eat continues to blow me away with it's utterly captivating and realistic depiction of queer life that while truly rooted in reality including the hardest parts never fails to stop feeling wholesome and wonderful. This series is a master of balance, a captivating masterpiece that shows a true mastery of the craft nearly unrivaled across the industry. The sense of voice for each character, their individual struggles, the ways in which they express them and the ways they relate to one another is utterly enthralling and a testament to the variably diverse ways in which queer women exist even those in community with one another.

The art is stunningly depicted which each character being depicted carefully and with a true attention to detail. The food is mouth watering and hunger inducing allowing it to remain this lovely center piece of the relationship between the women.

We get more of our side characters perspectives in this volume getting a full chapter dedicated to Yako's POV and learning about her internal history with her long term life as an asexual lesbian and how she wants to embrace that. This story handles a lot of heavy topics in a short amount of time without taking any time to feel like misery porn. We get cutting off family, Coming Out, Housing Discrimination, Asexual issues in relationships, eating disorders, and a lil slice of heteronormativity all packaged in less then 200 pages of story but those are all minor elements, just stuff people are dealing with or dealt with. These serious issues aren't jokes, they aren't handled lightly but they are brought into this fluffy and warm story.

Honestly, she loves to cook and she loves to eat is like a perfect cake. You wouldn't eat raw flour but you need it to bake a cake, the hard parts of life make it the fluffy and wonderful pastry it is. It feels honest and that allows me to really relax. Queer people talk about trauma, they deal with a lot day to day but they still have fun and live life and fall in love and get to be happy. This story feels like this lesbian honesty cake and I will always be here for this.

Not to mention the relationship in this story is so compelling, so sweet and is finally moving forward in this nice way. It was kinda a slow burn to get here but it feels like maybe the perfect amount of time for it to have baked in the oven, nothing feels like it was overcooked.

I loved this volume and I love this series so deeply, I often prefer fantasy and action and what not but this true look at life reaches into my soul and feeds it the most yummy cookies. This is truly a series that is not just worth the hype but under hyped despite the hype, it's that good, a one of a kind special story.

If you enjoyed this review and want to see other reviews and support me making my own sapphic art you can support me on Patreon.

[feverinfeveroutfic]

The Confectioner’s Tale | Chapter Six

feliz dia dos mortos e descansa em paz, as we say in portugal 🌹💀

I had written a letter to Ben. Even though I said I had never met him, I had lied about that all to protect myself from the lies that surround me. I actually did meet the man.

In the period just after our first meeting with one another, and at the time, I swore up and down that it was only to reach him and tell him how much I liked him. But the feelings burrowed in even deeper than that, however.

I had a crush on him. I had the weirdest crush on him as it had manifested in a way that needed some kind of explanation.

I had gone to Seattle to shadow a colleague of mine, Anne-Marie Blackwood, prior to then. I had been vying to shadow her for some time, partly because she had the last name of Blackwood, which was my family name on my maternal grandmother’s side, and naturally, I believed that she and I were related.

I was eager to meet her as she and I had spoken over the phone and she seemed all the more elated to have me under her wing for about six months. Next thing I knew, I had been whisked up to the Pacific Northwest, by myself and with only a few bucks to my name. Anne-Marie picked me up and drove me over to her bakery in Burien with the view out to the Puget Sound and the islands, and I was hungry to show her some of my signatures.

The chocolate babka. The coffee and chocolate Swiss roll with the jaguar print on the cake part. The Irish coffee chocolate cake, the very same I had made for Pete and his band. The New York cheesecake, the very same that I had made for Alex and his band. My earl grey and lavender cookies in the shape of bats. The double chocolate muffins, which I had christened the “Souls of Black” muffins given their richness and darkness and the fact I had made them with sensual black cocoa.

I loved her bakery within mere minutes of walking inside the front door, from the soft creamy white shelves lined with bright pink all around us to the fact the place smelled like sugar even when I knew nothing was being made as of yet.

I had to pick and choose which things I could make for her, and thus, I decided on the babka and the muffins. The muffins were going to be simple enough, and thus, I made them when the babka was rising in the loaf tin.

“You are so industrious,” she remarked at the point in which I had tucked the muffins into the oven.

“I try my best,” I assured her as I wiped my hands on my apron.

It took me quite a bit of time to realize this, but the truth of the matter was that I had been boy crazy for my entire life. Everything I did was driven by the fact that I was boy crazy, and it showed up in my baking in particular. I had named my muffins after a song that Alex’s band had done well before I even met him: after I had made them the cheesecake for them, I remembered the muffins and I had a feeling that I should’ve made those for them instead. I made my Swiss roll because I had a crush on three British men who used to live near me and they all drove these gorgeous black Jaguars, and they always looked so villainous driving them.

I couldn’t help the feeling. I especially loved boys who liked to eat and it was obvious that they liked to eat, too. I loved boys but I was always too afraid to really talk to them. I always thought that if I could bake or make something for them, I could insinuate the feeling to them.

My three British boys got the message with the jaguar roll, and I knew I would have to take the muffins to Alex at some point or another.

No sooner had I taken the babka out of the oven when he walked into the bakery. This tall wiry fellow who looked as though he had gained about thirty pounds with a head of thick dark hair and a cute dimple in his chin and even cuter dimples in his cheeks when he smiled. He was wrapped in a faded black leather jacket and when I walked into the front part of the bakery to greet him, I let my eyes wander down to his protruding belly, and then up to the crown of bushy wiry hair upon his head.

Perhaps it was mere limerence but I could not deny my feelings, however.

I had always loved men with long lush hair, but I was going to make an exception for him, however. I was going to make an exception for the big tall man who had walked into the room with the dimpled smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, as if he was about to tempt me and take me under his wing back to the castle.

I won’t have your baby but I’ll make love to your body and tickle the both of us.

“Smells really good in here,” he told me in a low gruff voice. I could smell the cigarettes on the black leather, the way it cut through the lush aroma of the babka and the muffins like a knife. I tried to not make a face: I figured that if I could like a boy, especially one who was as tall, dark, and handsome as him, then I could put up with the smell of the ashtray on his person.

I was very attracted to him, almost by mere chance and by one mere glance in his direction.

Anne-Marie had given him a chocolate croissant but he had his eye on the chocolate babka I brought out from the back to show her. He also had his eye on the little bites that I had sloughed off from the ends of the rolled up dough before I split it in two and braided them.

“This is just something to show off to my new boss here,” I told him, and he eyed the tight coil laced with dark chocolate and topped with a few partially melted chocolate chips on top on the cookie sheet before me.

“You better hire her,” he told Anne-Marie with a quick gesture to me. “Something coiled up like that and smells that spectacular, you better hire this little lady.”

He had left the room before I could offer him a slice or one of the babka bites. Besides, he had that pain du chocolat firmly in hand, but he had tickled my fancy, and I began thinking about baking for him. I had the memory of leaving the bakery for a moment to find him down on the harbor, still with the croissant in hand and still in anticipation of the ferry back over to the islands. I had six months up there in Seattle, six months beginning in the start of a rather hot summer into the first colorful leaves of autumn and the first heavy rain of the Christmas season. Six months and I had all the details in the form of the wooden spoon in hand as well as the flour on my hands.

I wasn’t going to set up my bakery near Bainbridge Island because as flippant as I am, I’m not that girl. Even after I wrote up my letter to him and discovered him, and things played out between us, I wasn’t going to do that to him or to myself.

The ghosts of the past were ghosts for a reason. The ghosts of the past shown up in the form of four guys donned in black and green as well as the souls of black.

And I still had more baked goods to show them, even if their time in the City of Angels was limited to that weekend. But the voices still surrounded me, and I still had two guys to fetch even if the memory of Ben haunted me to that day.

It wasn’t because I had the Halloween decorations up for a great deal of time. It was this accusation started because somewhere along the way, I had been caught with some sort of body count. There was this assumption that because I liked a man, a number of men, I was willing to kill him and stir him into the baked goods. I had that assumption following me around no matter what I did, that I was the whore of the block. It earned me my reputation as well as the bizarre fear that pervaded all around me.

I had made a decadent coil all around the devil, and I had to find ways to shed the skin once again.

There I was in my bakery again, stirring up the beginnings of the batter for cheese and rosemary scones as well as dark and white chocolate scones for the next day, and I found myself thinking of Ben again. It felt so long since I had written my letter to him, such that I could hardly remember everything that I had told him. It didn’t help matters that I wrote it to him rather late at night, and after a long day at Anne-Marie’s bakery.

All I remembered was it had been a hot day following Fourth of July weekend, and we had to make all manner of things for a street fair the week afterwards. She and I had received word that he planned on joining us and taking some things with him back to the island as well as his bar over in Ballard. I had yet to visit all the neighborhoods in Seattle, but I knew Ballard was nearby. I put out the rosemary scones to cool off before I moved onto the chocolate ones, and I thought about finding my way over there to at the very least see this bar and perhaps find out the full scoop of things there.

I thought about the corsage I had been given, and Ben crossed my mind again. The corsage plus the sprigs of rosemary. The smell of rosemary combined with the smoky nature of that bar always reminded me of him, even after everything that had happened between me and him, and even after I had moved back to Los Angeles and found these new guys and earned my reputation. 

The buttoned up baker who sank her claws into men and then baked them into those breads and cakes. The innocuous baker from a small town in rural California when the sheer amount of serial killers and loose women hailing from small towns was shocking but not shocking at all once one emerged from the woodwork.

How do you tell someone whom you love very much, “I don’t want to see you anymore because you upset me.” Tenderly, with a rose and a chocolate babka, laced with a tablespoon of brewed coffee and a kiss of cinnamon to accentuate the flavors and so they can still feel your warmth even when you’re not there anymore, straight out of the oven? In a joking manner, thrown in during the thick of hearty laughter.

Or do you just let it go? Do you just let it all sit and collect in the form of two dozen scones, one batch savory and cheesy and belonging atop a beef stew and the other the near exact color scheme of a Jewish guitarist’s hair?

It really was amazing what came out during the crafting process, and more so when I cut the scones free from the slightly slack dough and placed them on the lightly floured baking sheet. And I hoped that all of those men were still in the southland by the time the timer finished out in time.

[specter-writes]

Pet Names

pets names are cute and fun! You know what else is cute and fun? The owl house! Here you are, my friends!

Warnings: swearing

~°~°~°~°~

Luz:

She'll call you the cheesiest shit you can think of with no remorse. Pumpkin, honey bunch, boo, hermoso/a, bonito/a, carino, and sweetieVpie are her personal favorites. In return, you're even more sappy with names like light of my life, sugar, beloved, love bug. If you speak another language, you call her every compliment you can think of in it.

Amity:

She gets sort of self conscious with pet names, but her favorites are love and darling. She also calls you chip sometimes, in memory of the time Luz was trying to teach you to make chocolate chip cookies and you ended up putting the bag (plastic and all) in the oven. You call her the same names, but with the addition of smartypants, because you want to teasingly remind her how smart and talented you think she is.

Willow:

She loves plants, and she loves you more, so it tracks that her favorite pet name for you is flower. You call her sunshine, because she's been a ray of light in your life.

Hunter:

The concept of a term of endearment is pretty foreign to him. He had read about it, sure, but he'd never actually seen it. He just shortens your name most of the time, and occasionally calls you love. He would do more, but he isn't really sure how. You on the other hand, have a million pet names for him. Your favorites are bug, sunflower, lover boy, casanova, nerd and loser (both affectionately).

Eda:

Oh my god. What don't you two call each other? It goes from insanely sappy to ruthless mocking in a split second. Loser, dickhead, and popsicle sucker to angel, doll, and superstar. You also called her sugar tits once as a joke and it sort of stuck around. She seems like a casual babe enjoyer as well.

Raine:

The both of you feel like your names are generally sufficient, so you use those, or a shortening. You did overhear Eda calling them Rainstorm, though, and you thought it was creative so you use that from time to time. Melody and moonlight are used too.

(PLATONIC/PARENTAL)

King:

You just insult each other.

Gus:

He doesn't tend to do the whole "pet name" thing. You like to call him the illusionist because it sounds cool and he says it makes him feel powerful. Also, tater tot, because it makes him mad and it's funny.

The Collector:

He calls you doll (fitting), and the both of you like to playfully insult each other. They never go too far though, he's grown a lot from his time back with the stars and he's happy to finally have a friend.

Lilith:

She doesn't seem like a pet name kind of person to me. Maybe she'd call you a nerd every once in a while, and you'd called her a smartass.

Camilla:

She likes Spanish pet names and squeezing your face in front of your friends while calling you her "beautiful/handsome son/daughter/child." She thinks it's funny to embarrass you and she wants to let you know how much she loves you. You just call her mom (I've made Camilla, Darius, and Alador parental figures and you can't stop me)

Darius:

You use each other's names earlier on. You started off calling him sir back when you part of the emperors coven, but he told you to stop with one of those "it makes me feel old," speeches boomers do, you know the ones. When the emperor's coven falls apart and you have no where else to turn, he brings you in. You'd start to slip up and call him dad, and he'd start to call you his kid. Eventually you accepted it, and now he loves to call you his child, and you love having someone to call dad.

Alador:

You also call him sir or his name. You were his apprentice at Blight Industries before he quit, and now he teaches abominations at Hexside after the old professor was fired for misconduct. You're his teacher's aid and live with him and his kids. You call him dad sometimes on accident.

[galionne-vibin]

People I have had to deal with at my job in a small coffee shop (a non-exhaustive list)

Middle aged white woman ordering a bagel with charred peppers, throwing a fit because the peppers are, in fact, charred

Slightly older middle aged white woman telling us she feels weak and is about to pass out so we HAVE to give her beer. We don't serve alcohol. It was 9am.

Guy points to & orders a slice of cheesecake and eats it. Throws a fit because actually he meant bubble tea and we gave him "the wrong thing".

Group of teens ordering three frappés. They watch us make the drinks. When all three are finished they realize actually they wanted one frappé and a cookie can we give them their money back?

Small unsupervised child running around the shop for 10 minutes. Runs into the back kitchen and almost throws himself into our industrial oven to get at the unbaked cookies. Mom tells him he "really needs to calm down" when we bring him back to her. We had to barricade the door because he kept coming back.

The slightly concerning amount of people asking if there's mayo in the chicken/mayo sandwich.

That one guy telling us he's allergic to peanuts after ordering almost exclusively M&Ms and Snickers based products

That other guy who came in asking if we sold rotisserie chicken.

Parents ordering bubble tea for their kids because the kids saw it on Tiktok, only for them to later tell us they didn't know it had tea in it and their kids don't like tea so we should give them their money back

Woman in her forties telling me the heat wave that was hitting the country at the time was because of a giant ball of fire in the sky (not the sun!) because the government wants to make the Earth explode and I should look it up on Youtube there's videos explaining everything

[rabbitcruiser]

National State Fair Food Day

This year, Food Service Direct will be celebrating the first-ever National State Fair Food Day on July 11. There is much to love about state fairs — the rides, competitions, stalls, and the best part, food! While nothing beats attending a state fair, sometimes we just want to enjoy all the great food without waiting in lines with crowds of people. Instead, you can order state fair food from Food Service Direct, prepare simple recipes, and enjoy fried and delicious food straight out of the oven.

Check out the State Fair Food section at Food Service Direct and bring the fairgrounds to your backyard this summer with easy-to-follow recipes of classic state fair foods. Whatever your food needs are, wherever you are, Food Service Direct has you covered — build your unique menu today.

History of National State Fair Food Day

State fairs are a summer staple. Taking place once a year, people flock to the fairgrounds to enjoy the stalls, livestock, rides, and gifts. But let’s be honest, it’s all about the fried and delicious food, on sticks, and otherwise. The food is memorable and we look forward to enjoying it again all year long. Some of the best state foods include corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes, deep-fried cookies, cheese on a stick, and chicken wings.

The first U.S. state fair was held in Syracuse, New York in 1841, and has been running successfully every year since. The second state fair was in Detroit, Michigan, which ran annually from 1849 to 2009.

Originally, state fairs were a display and celebration of the country’s agriculture; the produce, crops, and the growers who worked dedicatedly to cultivate a successful harvest. It highlighted the agricultural pride of each state, its local vendors, and regional foodways. As the structure of the country gradually shifted from agrarian to industrial, state fairs evolved to include music, amusement rides, games, and more industrial products.

But why wait for the state fair every year when you can enjoy the mouthwatering state fair food at home? Food Service Direct has you covered with everything you’ll need — from supplies to ingredients, for recreating foods-on-a-stick, cultural dishes, over-the-top desserts, and more. It’s the choice marketplace for local distributors and large manufacturers, offering a vast variety of food and related products for creating tasty meals.

National State Fair Food Day timeline

15,000 B.C.

The Beginning of the Hospitality Industry

The ancient Lascaux caves in France are used to provide accommodation for other tribes.

19th Century

The Beginning of State Fairs

State fairs are organized to display and promote state agriculture, livestock, and farm products.

20th Century

A Shift Occurs

As societies shift from agrarian to industrial, modern state fairs expand with the addition of amusement rides, exhibitions of industrial products, entertainment, and more.

July 11, 2022

The First Celebration

Initiated by Food Service Direct, the first-ever National State Fair Food Day is celebrated.

2022 State Fair Food Index Key Stats

Methodology

Food Service Direct, the first food-focused online marketplace, executed a survey in July 2022 with 2,051 adults from all 50 U.S States. To discover how U.S. consumers love state fair food the most, what are their favorite state fair food items, and how it impacts their enjoyment and quality of life. 

*Fairgoer is somebody who has gone to a state fair at least twice.

State Fair Food Favorites

#1 Fries

75% of the fairgoers in Maine always get fries at the State Fair, followed by 70% of the fairgoers in Pennsylvania.

#2 Corn Dogs

50% of the fairgoers in Arkansas and Texas always get Corn Dogs at the State Fair, followed by 45% of the fairgoers in Idaho.

#3 Roast Corn

43% of the fairgoers in Florida always get Roast Corn at the State Fair, followed by 40% of the fairgoers in New Mexico and Wisconsin.

Desserts

#1 Funnel Cake

83% of the fairgoers in Mississippi and Arkansas always get Funnel Cake at the State Fair, followed by 80% of fairgoers in Oklahoma.

#2 Cotton Candy

43% of the fairgoers in Vermont always get Cotton Candy at the State Fair, followed by 60% of the fairgoers in Mississippi.

#3 Snowcone

45% of the fairgoers in Mississippi always get Snow cones at the State Fair, followed by 40% of the fairgoers in Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina.

National State Fair Food Day FAQs

What is the most popular state fair food?

Some of the most popular state fair foods are deep-fried Oreos, fried chicken in a waffle cone, deep-fried Snickers bars, pizza cones, and cotton candy.

What is a state fair?

A state fair is an annual display of the best of a state’s local produce and products, as well as a recreational gathering for people in the U.S.

What is the most popular state fair?

The State Fair of Texas attracts a staggering 2.25 million visitors every year, making it the largest state fair in the country.

How To Celebrate National State Fair Food Day

Order your favorite state fair foodsHead over to Food Service Direct’s website. Browse and order from their large variety of state fair foods.

Try new recipesRecreate state fair foods by following different recipes. You won’t miss out on anything!

Host a state fair partyInvite your friends and family to a backyard state fair gathering. Include your favorite state fair food on the menu, and include games and other activities.

5 State Fair Foods You Can Easily Make At Home

Corn dogsCorn dogs on a stick can easily be made at home, and our pro-tip is to dunk the dogs in a tall jar full of batter for an even coating.

No-fry fried ice creamEnjoy the great taste with a crispy cinnamon coating, minus the oily mess.

Deep-fried cookiesA true indulgence that is a hit with kids especially.

Turkey legsThe best marinade for turkey legs or any other state fair meat dish is available at Food Service Direct.

State fair lemonadeSip on this thirst-quenching beverage, close your eyes, and imagine you’re at the state fair.

Why We Love National State Fair Food Day

For the love of foodWe at National Today love food holidays best. And if it is a day that celebrates countless well-loved dishes? We just can’t contain our excitement.

Bringing state fair food to your kitchenWhy not enjoy great state fair food in the comfort of your home without having to stand in sweltering temperatures and long queues. We are all for it.

Services making life easierFood Service Direct is dedicated to making the distribution of food easier for home cooks, chefs, food vendors, manufacturers, and event planners. With everything you could possibly need for creating culinary delights under one roof, what’s not to love?

Source

[wendy-sinobake]

SINOBAKE Group Limited is a leading biscuit and cookie making machinery manufacturer based in China. The company designs, develops, and manufactures a wide range of high-quality baking equipment, including biscuit and cookie production lines, chips line,cake line,automatic raw material feeding and dosing system,ovens and mixing machines. Mold size width: 800/1000/1200/1500/1800mm. According to different types of biscuits, the output of production is not the same. Capacity can achieve 100~5000kgs/h,

  We has a strong reputation for producing reliable and efficient machinery that is easy to use and maintain. The company has a team of experienced engineers and technicians who are dedicated to researching and developing innovative new equipment and technologies to meet the evolving needs of the baking industry.

  We has a global customer base, and its equipment is used by many well-known food brands and manufacturers around the world. The company has a strong commitment to customer satisfaction, providing comprehensive support services, including installation, training, and after-sales support.

  Overall, SINOBAKE Group Limited is a trusted and respected player in the biscuit and cookie making machinery industry, and its equipment is renowned for its quality, reliability, and performance.

[requindeterre]

Bakery AU - QiJiu

Thinking about a modern au QiJiu where YQY opened a bakery/cafe out of an unconscious need to make sure SJ never went hungry again. Any time of day, there's always a pastry or a warm drink available because the thought of going back to their childhood hunger if everything falls out under them sometimes leaves YQY waking in a cold sweat. It's fine, they're both safe and well established in their careers but well, maybe a bit of SJ's survival instincts have rubbed off on him over the years

But also, YQY with his sleeves rolled up, up to his elbows in flour as he patiently works the dough for scones. He has an easier time working the dough than some of the younger staff members given his large hands and thickly muscled forearms.

All the while, SJ watches like a hawk from where he's artfully leaned against the service door. There are other places for him to be, like the law firm he's recently made partner at, but since this new flavor of scone was his idea, he should see it through.

The fact that YQY set aside a plate of small sweets like thumbprint jam cookies, bite-sized honey cakes, and a cup of milk pudding is secondary and complemented by the view.

Some habits from growing up the way they did never left. The instability of hopping back and forth between the streets and foster homes where they weren't children but income left its mark as certainly as the silver scar bisecting YQY's eyebrow. It's an old scar, he doesn't think about it anymore. He doesn't think about the jagged glass of a thrown bottle raining down on he and SJ when they'd set up on a street corner for too long. It's there when he looks in the mirror each morning. A reminder of the things that shaped them.

YQY turns his attention back to the scones he's shaping, sneaking a glance under his brows at SJ to see if he's been caught wool gathering. He hasn't been. SJ has been distracted himself picking out his next choice of treat. It's progress, hard-won, and sits warmly in YQY's chest. There's no need anymore to shove whatever can be grabbed into pockets or mouths as quickly as possible. He'd be lying if YQY didn't sometimes miss the way SJ's cheeks would puff like a chipmunk as he crammed as many of YQY's practice cookies into his mouth as possible when they'd meet between classes at university. Those misshapen bits of flour, butter, and sugar were often the only things to fill their bellies between paychecks back then.

Nowadays, there's no worry where the next meal will come from. There's even space to play and experiment, this time in the shape of the yuzu and brown butter scones ready to move from their final chill in the industrial fridge to the oven. YQY thinks he's gotten the proportions right this time in the ninth iteration of the recipe. When the scones are ready, he and SJ will still each pull one off the tray before they're actually cool enough to handle. They'll likely burn their tongues again (they always do, too impatient to wait when the air is warm and thick with vanilla and sugar and citrus) and SJ will bemoan the years of calluses and burns that let YQY hold his scone while SJ has to swap his between hands every few seconds. The trial and error will be worth it. It always is.

[universeofdreams]

Top Pilot Pt. 2

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Avengers x Fem!Reader

Genre: slight angst, fluff

Warnings: mention of side-character death, short mention of alcohol and cigarettes, lightly mature language, explanation of mc's mothers death PLUS a shit ton of technical talk

Wordcount: 1867

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Summary: Y/n finally meets Stark at the Expo and even has to pay his coffee. Then she flys out for a reconnaissance-flight and has a weird feeling in her gut that didn't came from one of her colleagues flirting with her.

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After Peter left, Y/n decided to just go and exercise until it was evening, she didn’t even remember that the time was going round so fast when she looked over to the clock on the oven display, which showed already 6pm. 

„Fuck.“ She muttered and hopped into the shower. 

When she came out he only had one and a half hours to get ready, that was why she hurried a lot, did her hair and slipped into the dark blue dress, tailored for her. The pilot looked sleek but very intimidating, like she always did but the dress was different, made her look a bit older and wiser, cooler and wealthier than she actually was, her hair slicked back slightly and her heels were neatly polished. 

Her cat nestled against her leg and an incredible amount of hair got caught on the fabric of the dress, which made her scowl and slightly pushed Mr. Whiskers away, he meowed offended and went back to laying on the couch, when Y/n stored her mobile in her clutch, took his coat and left, locking the door. 

The driver was already waiting for her to escort her to the Expo. On the way she scrolled through Instagram, smiled when she saw that Wade also texted her. Wade? Oh yes, Wade Wilson, they knew each other, they met one time downtown at midnight, Y/n shared her beer with him just like hier cigarettes. 

Jumanji: Yo dumbtruck, tonight’s Stark Expo? You gonna look like a business w doing business huh?

Y/n: Shut the fuck up jumanji, im working, instead of doing the wade wilson style and just hanging 'round home

Jumanji: Fuck you Y/n you’re a horrible friend.

That was it, the conversation didn‘t last longer. 

She arrived at the back of the Expo and someone opened the door, leading her backstage. Employees here and there, fixing things, carrying machines around until a certain red haired woman came up to Y/n and introduced herself as Pepper Potts, the head of Stark Industries and Y/n did know her. 

„You’re the colonel of the Air Force, right?“ 

It was the ex-boss Tony Stark who appeared behind her, sunglasses still on and his suit was crumbled, just like Y/n imagined him to look alike. 

„Yeah“ 

He nodded and Pepper walked off with saying „Good that you’re here, I just want you to see the new things.“ Which had him shocked. Tony stayed there and he began to shovel the little snacks that were on the table into himself. 

„Not hungry?“ He asked the younger one and ate another cookie, because Y/n just shook her head. 

„What’s your name kiddo?“ 

„Hanson.“ 

„And your first name? You‘re more of a silent one huh?“

„Y/n’s my first name, sir.“ She just said, leaning back and folding her legs. „I’m not a silent one, I’m just bored.“ 

„Bored because of Pepper?“ 

„No, I wear that expensive dress because I have to sit here and watch. I’m a pilot, always on the run, Pepper‘s a nice woman but I‘m just not here to sit around you know.“ She stated to make her ambitions clear. When she looked up into Tony’s eyes she just saw him laughing.

„You’re intelligent, right?“

Y/n just shrugged. Tony sat down next to the young woman and laughed even more. 

„Are you bored, Sir?“ 

The female asked and one of her strands hung into her face as she leaned forward, elbows on her knees. Tony nodded. 

„The food is great though.“ 

Now also Y/n nodded. „Want to go drink a coffee?“ The 24-years-old asked and Tony nodded and got up. „Come on, if you want you’re free to drive this baby here.“ He said while pointing to the orange Audi, which got Y/n excited. 

Since she was a little girl she was also interested in cars, now she had the chance to drive one. „Okay sure, I’m driving, I’m choosing where we go.“ 

The girl smirked and took the drivers seat, started the motor and waited for Tony to sit down, when he did Y/n drove off to a small coffee shop around Manhattan. They both entered the store and Y/n immediately got greeted by a smaller girl with blond hair. 

„Hey Y/n! Long time no seen, what can I get you?“ She asked, her smile wide because he hadn’t seen the colonel in what felt like ages. 

„I‘d take a normal vanilla macchiato and for him-“ „an espresso and a whiskey please.“ Tony finished his sentence and Ciara smiled and started working. 

Both of them took a seat in the back of the shop and started talking about trivial things until Stark noticed the ring on Y/n’s ring finger with which she played the whole time. 

„So young and already married?“ He asked the younger girl who just shook her head.

„Actually, it’s Ciara‘s wedding ring.“ She pointed at the girl that suddenly came up with their drinks. 

After she left, Tony signalized Y/n to go on. „After her husband, my best friend, died, she gave it to me because it caused her too much pain.“ She explained and took a sip of her drink. „So you’re just a scapegoat? How did he die?“ 

„He was in the same formation as I was, just enlisted in the Air Force, his plane got shut down, it was his first flight.“ 

„Oh.“ 

And it was the only thing Tony said.

„I saw videos of you flying a B2, you’re doing that often?“ „I don’t care, my major gives me a mission and I do it, it’s that easy.“ 

„Someone’s unscrupulous, huh?“ And he laughed again, so did Y/n. When they were done with their coffee, which also the pilot payed, Tony drove Y/n back home. He fed his pets and then left to go to sleep, because tomorrow will be the hardest day, an important escorting flight.

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The annoying alarm woke her up at 5am, meeting the cold and hard wall opposite of her bed. Dallas was laid next to her and also woke up, licked across Y/n's face as a good morning and made the young woman literally jump out of bed. 

„Fuck! Isn’t it hard enough to just wake up at 5am? Now I need to shower again Dallas! Bad boy!“ She muffled and shuffled into the bathroom only to shower again. This time she did her hair neatly with gel so that her hat and the bun wouldn’t look horrible on top of it.

In a few seconds she was in his uniform, fed the animals, grabbed a granola bar and left the house just to take the bus to the air force base.  

„Good morning Hanson!“ 

„Mornin‘ Mick!“ 

Small conversations everywhere she went on her way to the hangar, passed a lot of friends which always smiled at him. 

„Looking pretty Y/n!“ Someone yelled, that could only be Mosly Winston, the guy that always tried to hook up with her. „I always do, who do you expect me to be to not look good?.“ She stated confidently when the other one caught up at Y/n’s pace, following her. 

„Are you free for lunch break?“ The blonde asked and smirked at Y/n who just shook her head. 

„No? Why?“ “I thought we could spend our lunchtime together!” The male recommended with a sheepish smile.

„Man Winston I’m working here, besides we’re not even dating.“ She defended herself and kept walking until they arrived at the hangar. Mosly had been quiet for the rest of the walk, not daring to say a word to the woman.

„Listen, Mosly, it’d be wiser to not follow me if you don’t wanna jump into one of those jets.“ She smirked and walked to her own plane. 

„Y/n I know no one who’s that focused on those jets, I wouldn’t never jump into this cockpit.“ Winston admitted and walked away, waving the younger one goodbye. 

She took a last sip of coffee, talked to her comrades and then climbed up the ladder into the cockpit.

When she held the control stick in her hands she felt at home, looking around to make sure everything’s set the way she needed it to be, made some adjustments to the instruments around and then was ready to go. She put on the helmet and fondled the side of the plane where her name and nickname ‚Y/n ‚Flying Ace’ Hanson‘ stood and smiled to herself while thinking about the many times she flew operations with the raptor and always was the best one performing, in general she was very happy how it all was right now. 

The hangar was her second home next to her flat with the two animals but that’s where she worked and her mom would’ve said that she should always feel comfortable at her workplace and indeed, she did. 

Her mom died from cancer and she wasn’t over it yet, especially because she was a really loving woman, supporting her no matter what she did and she always made sure her daughter was well. But just as Y/n expected, she didn’t like the idea of her enlisting the Air Force and she as really mad when she told her because her mother wanted her to have a wealthier life. She told her to leave and never come back as the disgrace she was now in her eyes and it broke the little girl she was back then.

A few days later she died and left nothing but a letter full of disappointment for her own daughter, the one she gave birth to. She cried for days, months, didn’t go to work and felt so responsible for her death as if she influenced it, but obviously. 

Back to the reality, she still smiled to herself and closed the cockpit, waved some of the other pilots and started the engine. The plane rolled down the hangar and left it, in front of it the long runway, behind it the rest of the formation. 

She was always the first one to depart, one of the advantages of being a Colonel Lieutenant. 

Usually the takeoffs were smooth and perfect but today was something wrong, as if the jet didn’t want to leave. There were complications with the lifting and one of the copilots asked through the intercom if her jet was okay but that was right when Y/n adjusted the manual control and got the short plane up into the air. 

„Yep, all done, she just didn’t wanna leave today. We’re good.“ She spoke into the comm and started watching the rest take off. 

„Kay m’lady, we’ll do that today?“ She told the raptor as if it was a fragile human being, as if she needed to care for its emotions. 

„Raptor 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, you on?“ Was her job to ask into the comm and got six times a ‚yes‘ back, which was great. She then started recording the flight. 

„Reconnaissance-flight number 2, Raptor 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 are with me, Colonel Lieutenant Y/n Hanson, they are under my protection, no weapons on boards, we’re on reconnaissance.“ She stated and started streaming the surroundings of the jet with the technology she build inside. 

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