#the bag is green and white striped might i add

[overlordinavoid]

Ik damn well that my internet footprint is gonna kick in my ass because when people find out I draw dsmp fanart for fun and other fandom shit

Idk who is gonna hire me, but they have to deal with my little orphan bag on a stick that is filled with nothing but my fancontent I have made

[midnight-mourning]

Santa's Helper

❄️❄️Midnight's DCA December Day 25❄️❄️

Another silly one for y'all, I'll be honest this was 2 am Midnight who finished this and it's give or take on whether she cooks or not, but I'm gonna say yes for now :D

Prompt: Santa comes to the Daycare to see the kids, and reader dresses up as an elf to help out. A certain attendant thinks they look pretty cute~

Word Count: 1915

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When you initially saw the costume that had been picked out for you, you laughed outright. When you found out that you actually had to wear it, your laughter died in your throat.

"You can't be serious." You gestured to the outfit. "You actually want me to wear that."

Your manager had shrugged. "Santa needs a helper. You already work in the Daycare. Saves me some trouble."

You just look at the outfit with horror, no words for your distress. 

It's an elf costume. Green, with red trim and a hat to match. It came with a belt, ears, and the same shade of green shorts. There were also red and white stripes tights, to your dismay.  It was godawful and you hated it.

But, you didn't have a choice unless you wanted to be fired. And considering you had a job where you got to work with your crush(es) all day every day, you'd rather suck it up and put it on. 

You understand why you had to be the one to do it. It had been your idea for Santa to come to the Daycare in the first place. You'd been pushing for it, honestly. Upper management hadn't seen the point until your argued how good an experience it would be for the kids. 

Therefore, this whole thing was your responsibility, meaning that if you wanted things to go smoothly you had to cooperate so that this went off without a hitch. Besides, it wasn't just the kids you were trying to please. 

When you'd told the attendants your idea, they were over the moon excited about it, while they knew better in terms of Santa being real, having someone come and surprise the kids like that was exciting to them. And to have your crush so thrilled about something you came up with? That feeling was too good to ruin it all over a stupid costume. 

This is the mantra you tell yourself as you stand in the bathroom, having just put the majority of the costume on, save for the hat. 

You look ridiculous, you feel ridiculous. But it's for the boys—the kids, it's for the kids. 

You sigh and shove the hat on, staring at yourself even harder in the mirror. 

There had to be some way you could make this work. You dig in your bag for your makeup, deciding add a bit of Christmas flair with some eyeshadow, and taking a pencil, draw little stars of various styles and sizes under your eyes and across your cheeks. You fix your hair so the hat looks cute, ish. 

You look back to your reflection, it's not the best, but it's better than before. You take a deep breath, and finally leave the bathroom, trudging back to the Daycare. When you arrive, it's empty, save for Sun. 

It's early, the kids weren't going to be here for another hour, and 'Santa' would be here around mid-morning, so your main goal for now was to get set up and prepared essentially. 

Sun hears the door open and shut and turns from setting up the crafts station. 

"Good morning, Sunbeam! How are—" He hesitates when he sees you, your ears start to burn. "—you... today?"

You sigh and drop your bag off in its usual spot. "Good morning, Sunny. I'm fine."

He walks over to you, staring down as his rays spin every so often. 

"You look..." He mumbles something you don't catch. 

You're sure it's probably nothing good. He probably thinks you look silly. "Yeah. I know. Let's just, ignore it, yeah?"

"Oh... Oh! Sorry friend I was um, distracted for a moment. What I meant to say is that you look wonderful! Perfectly in character for today."

You scoff half-hearted. "Thanks, Sun, but you don't have to lie for my sake. It's alright. I'm gonna go get started on Santa prepping, okay?"

You walk off then, completely embarrassed. Had you stuck around you might have heard Sun quietly utter. "But I wasn't lying."

Set up involves creating a holiday scene for where your Santa will sit. You're provided a big chair by management, and using some outdoor holiday decorations, and some spare sheets, create a snowy landscape. The long red carpet you'd found in storage ties up the scene nicely. Now all that's left to do is wait for the kids and 'Santa' to get here. 

You sit down in the chair, flipping through your phone since you have nothing better to do. You can't recall who's playing the big man this year. You think it's that one guy your age from Bonnie Bowl, but you're not too sure. He was nice, you don't know why they picked him for Santa given his age and non-Santa look, but whatever works. You just hope he plays the part like he's supposed to. 

As you're sitting there, you get the acute feeling of being watched. Sure enough, glancing up slightly you see Sun is staring at you, rays fluttering every few moments. You make eye contact and both flinch, going back to what you were doing. Several more times before the kids show up the same thing happens, and you wonder how bad this costume must really be for him to be so fixated on you. 

The kids at least are excited you're dressed up. They say as much as they go about the day, all anxious for when Santa finally shows up. 

And show up he does. You'll admit, the guy underneath that costume does a great job. He bursts into the Daycare, laugh loud and hearty and a sack over his shoulders. He carries with him an air of charisma that few can achieve when playing Santa Claus, and he's great with each of the kids. 

Sun helps to get them organized while you get your coworker situated. While doing so you decide to try for some small talk. 

"Thank you so much for doing this. It's really appreciated." You say, as you stack wrapped boxes that had come from the sack. 

He keeps his voice low so to not blow his cover. "Yeah, of course. This is fun for me compared to fixing bowling lanes all day."

"How do you nail the character so well?" You shake your head. "You're like what, 20 something? No offense."

He laughs. "None taken. This is kind of embarrassing, but I'm part of an improv group. We've been doing a lot of holiday themed practice lately and they always make me be Santa because I can do the voice."

You two continue to chat back and forth for a few more minutes before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts you. Startled, you turn around and see Sun standing there, hands clasped in front of him. He seems, tense? To be fair you are too, wanting this to go well. 

"If you're ready, Mr. Claus. The children are ready to begin."

Your coworker gets into character again, laughing. "Of course! Thank you Sun, let's get started, shall we?"

Sun nods, walking back to manage the kids in line and you frown. But, shake it off as the first kid runs up, starting to rattle of his Christmas list the second he's sat down. 

The event proceeds exactly as planned. No upset kids, no arguing over gifts, no crying either. Everything is perfect. 

Well, near perfect. 

You're slightly distracted by helping out your coworker, but you notice how Sun looks over to the two of you every so often. You're not entirely sure why. Yes, your coworker is being incredibly friendly with you, talking directly to you and throwing compliments your way. But it's all in character of course, it's not like he's not keeping up the act as he does it. 

It does click to you however as he leaves that there was more to it than just that. 

You're by the door, saying goodbye and thanking him again, when he pops a question you weren't expecting. 

"This was a lot of fun today. Besides cheering up the kids, I really liked talking to you." He ducks his head a moment, then looks back to you. "I know this is like, not the optimal time for it but would you um, want to go out sometime? Maybe get a coffee and chat?'

Oh. Oh no. 

You hadn't been expecting that at all, you can't even begin to think up a response. 

Fortunately, you don't have to. As a certain someone interjects. 

"So sorry to interrupt! But I'm afraid you're out of luck, Santa." Sun steps forward, putting a hand on your shoulder. "They're taken. Better luck next time, but thank you for stopping by! Buh-bye now."

Sun all but shuts the door in his face, leaning over you to do so. Then he looks down to you, as you're still gaping like a fish. 

He stands upright and turns back around, you hear him clap his hands behind you. "Alright everyone! It's time to enjoy your presents! Remember to play good and play fair, alright? We're going to go have playtime of our own, but if you need anything we'll be there to help!"

Sun takes your hand, and starts leading you through the Daycare, you stumbling behind him as you register what he said finally. 

"T-taken?" You squeak as he marches you to an abandoned section of the playset. He ducks inside, pulling you in with him and then sitting down. 

He points to the spot on the ground across from him and you get the hint, taking a seat. 

Once you do, he speaks. "Yes. Taken. If you'll allow, that is."

"N-no, no complaints here. I just, um. Really?"

Sun nods. "Mmmhmm."

Something clicks then. 

"Wait a minute. Sun, are you jealous?" You reach a hand out to set on his leg. "I hardly know that guy, I wasn't expecting him to ask me out! I um, I've had a crush on someone else, well, someones else, for a long time."

"Who?"

You laugh, not being able to take it. "You, silly! You and Moon both. Trust me, some guy from Bonnie bowl wouldn't be able to change that—"

You're interrupted by Sun's smile meeting your lips. Followed by him doing it again several times over, hands coming up to hold your face. Once he's satisfied he pulls away, sighing. 

"Sorry, Starlight. I, um, got a little excited hearing you say that. I didn't mean to interrupt you, what were you saying?" There's a dreamy lithe to how he speaks, it makes you giggle. 

Your hands come up to hold his, leaning into his touch a tad more. "Honestly, don't think it really matters at this point. I'd rather be doing more of that than talking right now, to be honest. Just wish I wasn't in this silly costume for all this."

Sun kisses your forehead, then presses his against yours. 

"I think you look very cute. That's... part of why I acted so rudely. I was upset he got to see you up close like this."

You chuckle. "Well, you get to see me now, don't you?"

Sun hums in agreement. 

"Then, let's make the most of it."

As you share another chaste kiss, you have to come to the undeniable understanding that you may very well have to thank your manager for making you wear this costume. 

Another kiss distracts you from thinking further. 

On second thought, maybe you'll keep this one to yourself.

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Thank you for the fun little request @twomanypockets!! I thought that jealous Sun would go perfectly with it, hope you liked it ^-^

Thanks for reading!

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[charles-leclerc-official]

2024 F1 Livery Ranking and Design Analysis

My ranking(from worst to best) and analysis of the liveries of our 2024 grid! All of the cars we will see on the track have been revealed and I have thoughts.

Liveries in 2024 have been a very mixed bag, there are some improvements, some standouts, and some massive misses. Let's get into it!

10. Alpine

Alpine is, to put it simply, a disaster. Not only is the car mostly exposed carbon fiber, the color that is there is chaotic and not cohesive at all. It's trying to do way too much with too little space. The pink stripes they were going for might have worked if that motif extended to more of the car, but since they are just snippets it only adds to the discordant appearance of the car.

The color at is on the car isn't cohesive, there isn't really a flow to it at all. It's like they just threw color on where they could and gave up.

Obviously the biggest downfall of this year's alpine is the lack of color and the excess of carbon fiber. It doesn't stand out, and the color they did have isn't used in a creative or appealing way.

The one positive I have to say is that I do like the shade of pink they chose as the most dominant pink on the car, it's nice, if there had just been more of it we might have been going somewhere with this design.

I am trying my hardest to ignore the fact that they also lied to us in the teasers for this car. I am ranking based on what we were actually given, and what we were given is extremely lacking in color and design quality.

This livery is trying to do way too much with so little space for actual paint and the result is a very messy appearance that is left looking unfinished.

9. Haas

Haas suffers from a lot of the same issues as Alpine, namely the excess of carbon fiber. However they actually managed to work with what they were given and made a car that isn't so bad to look at, even if it is far from fully painted.

The large logo on the side pod is cool looking and creates forward visual movement. The red/white/black color scheme works with the pops of color nicely distributed. One of the saving graces is the color on the halo. The white and red accents are nice, and you could be tricked into thinking they meant for the car to be all black and the bare carbon wasn't just a weight saving tactic.

The top down view is actually really interesting, it looks like a stingray or something from above, unfortunate we don't get to see it from the angle that much. But this does highlight that there is an overall cohesion to the design. The stripes, the distribution of the red, and the angular logo create pleasing visual momentum across the car. The line-work carries the eye across the design, which helps it feel complete as opposed to unfinished chaos.

My favorite part is the white halo, it actually looks really interesting against the black of the car, almost like a skull. Don't think I've seen that before on an F1 car and I have to say, I like it.

This at least distributed the few colors they had across the car in a way that created a cohesive looking car, even if it is quite bare. I look at this and it isn't just visual chaos. Someone put thought into how they were going to use the limited space, and the results are as good as I could ask.

8. Aston Martin

Aston Martin is another victim to carbon fiber. At first glance you get excited to see color, but the way they incorporated the carbon fiber is very noticeable and it detracts a lot.

The colors on this car are great, a nice rich cool green with the lime stripe, no complaints there.

But the issue I have with this car is the way the paint meets the carbon fiber. It is such a jarring transition that it makes the car look like it's slowly drowning in carbon fiber. It's too distracting from the color that is present. It's clunky to the point of being lazy. Just saying "eh we'll paint the top of the car and hope for the best"

The biggest design flaw here is the fact the dark green does not go all the way down to meet the lime line. That lime line should be the division between the paint and the carbon fiber, it's a natural break in the design, but that's not what happened and it looks breaks the flow of the design.

I have very mixed feelings on this one, because I like the color, this livery gets an A+ for actually having some nice color on the car. Unfortunately this is weighed down by the clunky incorporation of the carbon fiber.

There are better ways to get away with bare carbon fiber and still have a nicely flowing design on the car, and Aston Martin stumbled in that department.

7. Stake/Kick/Sauber

I know I didn't think I'd be ranking this above the Aston Martin but here we are. I'll admit I am not the biggest fan of this neon green. However, I have to say that the actual design elements that Stake did are pretty good.

I admit that I have a hard time not thinking this looks like a Minecraft creeper car. The green is different and it is unique, I don't think we've seen a neon green F1 car like this.

This one isn't so much about the exact color but about how it's used. Keeping the green concentrated on the middle and then having the zigzag line swoop under the side-pod carries the color across the car. The only color being this neon green is also a very wise choice, any other color would clash with this bright neon green, so keeping the palette simple green/black/white is essential for this to work at all.

Furthermore this design is actually about as good as it can be with this green. Even if it were possible to be a completely painted car, having the entire thing be bright green would be worse. The line-work highlighting the edges of the car give the illusion of a neon sign, which is exactly what you want to do with a loud color like this, lean into it the natural way, and that's exactly what Stake did.

The green on the front wing is probably my favorite part, it just pops, and looks really cool from the front angle.

A major missed opportunity is the halo really should be neon green, but instead they painted the seat green. That isn't as visible, the halo highlighted in this neon green would be awesome, and I am not sure why they didn't do that.

Now the line work is pretty good, HOWEVER, that zigzag is a bit of a problem. Yes I know i said it creates movement, and it does, but that doesn't mean it's without issues. That line crates harsh 90 degree angles in places on the car where those angles don't exist. It's working against the natural flow of the body of the car not with it. This interrupts the overall look of the car and breaks up and otherwise easy to follow motif of the green lines highlighting the edges of the car.

What set them above Aston for me is the way they had the green spread across the car, with the lines creating flow. Yes there is exposed carbon fiber, but it isn't as glaring because of the color placement and lines. The Aston design almost draws attention to the excess carbon fiber, while this one distracts from it.

All this being said, that doesn't mean this car is the easiest thing to look at. They did the best with what they were given, but this isn't a car that makes me want to look at it for very long.

6. Williams

Williams is fine. It's not amazing, it's not committing any sins either.

There is more paint on this car than I was expecting and that is a welcome surprise.

This is a good simplification of last year's livery. Only two blues, and minimal line work. It's clean and simple. I like the royal blue they used, that is really pretty, especially on the nose. The navy though is way too dark. In a season with a lot of dark/black cars why would you go with a blue that is so dark on the car? Red Bull does navy too, but it's clear that's what it is. I think this might be a tactic to try to hide where the carbon fiber begins, but it kind of backfired.

Of course they kept the clever and iconic Duracell sponsor placement, I love this little detail because it's just such a fun way to include an advertisement on a car. That and the copper color does work beautifully with William's blue.

I like the criss-cross that the color divide creates mid car, that could have been jarring, but it isn't and it actually brings that little bit of added visual interest.

The gradient at the back to nearly black is the biggest problem with the coloring for me. That navy really needed to be different for this car to stand out.

From the front this car does look great, beautiful blue, fully painted. There are some missteps but they aren't awful. This livery is playing it safe, but it's overall pretty good.

5. Racing Bulls(VCARB)

Probably my most controversial placement. But hear me out, while at first glance this livery is good, it made one massive color design error that I cannot overlook.

That would be the color of blue they chose as the main blue for the car. Does it look familiar? Well I disliked this as soon as I saw it and there is a reason why.

This VCARB blue is almost identical to the infamous "blue screen of death" This is a blue that has been shown to be upsetting to people because of the negative association. Artists and designers stay away from it because it is jarring and people will dislike it on sight. Never use blue screen of death blue, at least not as the main color, because it's impossible to ignore.

I color sampled so you can see just how close they are. The VCARB blue is only slightly more muted, and it's not enough to save it. If you were wondering why you didn't like this blue, this is probably the reason.

There is a reason you never see this specific blue used in such large amounts.

I might have put this livery in the top 3, but this is a very basic misstep color wise that brands should know.

The other nitpick I have is that the stripes somehow don't create flow. Because they start and stop they create more of a static checkerboard effect when viewed from the front that I am not in love with. I don't think it's terrible though, more of a preference thing. The stripes on the side profile do work nicely, if only that sleekness carried when the car was seen from other angles.

Some highlights about the car: it is bright and fully painted, and the color additions of the red and white are nicely distributed and feel natural. This car does have a fully cohesive design. The white bull on the engine intake is the best part. It stands out beautifully and compliments the directionality of the VISA logo on the side pod.

I also love the color on the halo, the blue and the red really make it pop and that is another standout feature to me. Might be the best halo coloring on the grid if I'm being fair, I really love the use of the two colors on it.

Overall the layout of the car is great, the fact that it's fully painted is fantastic, if it were a different blue this would be an amazing livery.

4. Mclaren

Mclaren are going for a clear theme this year and it could have been a disaster, but I think it works!

This is the car that incorporates black into the livery color scheme better than any others so far (second only to Mercedes)

Orange is a tricky color to work with. Since they are going with full bright papaya having the black to contrast is the best way to lean heavily into this orange. Of course some of it is carbon fiber, but because the black is worked into the look, and the brightness of the orange is so prominent, it's the least noticeable.

Color on the halo! I do love when the bright colors are on the halo and they went there, which is a nice detail. They also did a similar look to Sauber with the coloring on the front wing, but that ribbing effect looks even better with the orange.

The large black diagonal stripe is actually great. It's angled enough to create that visual momentum we like to see on these cars, and it's not so big that it detracts from the color.

Another reason the black works here is because it helps the sponsors stand out, those would get completely lost if the entire car was that papaya. So this really is the best way to get as much orange, create contrast, while also allowing those sponsors to be clearly visible.

Two details that are great would be the little Mclaren logo on the very tip of the nose, and the orange kiwi on the rear wing. Both nice touches for the brand.

This car does look a little more lacking on color when viewed completely from the side, but that front profile and top and 3/4 profile are bright and they pop.

There are some black spaces that are clunky around the top of the sidepods, part of the halo and a few other small areas where it's clear they couldn't paint more. Just those little areas where it feels like they got 90% of the way done painting it then just stopped are what took this one out of the top 3 for me

3. Red Bull

I really am a little annoyed at having to put Red Bull here because I think if the Mclaren or the Aston had more/better color distribution they would have beat it. However this is a classic and there are some things to discuss.

Yes this livery has been the same for years, but let's get into the details.

It's sleek, painted, the color is clear and nicely distributed. This design hasn't changed much at all but there are some differences from last year.

First the sponsor placements are better, fit more naturally with the changes to the sidepods.

This is also probably the car that does look best with the matte paint, the navy is dark without making it look like it's black, or god forbid carbon fiber.

The reason this livery is so pleasing is the the two rich primaries of the golden yellow and red contrast with the deep navy. It keeps the color palette simple, allows for some very beautiful contrast, and keeps the livery colorful even though the main color is quite dark. The bright yellow nose reflects the yellow on the engine cover, and all of the red details create great pops of color.

The red and the yellow for this year's car are brighter, which is a welcome change, the brightening of the yellow is the most noticeable and the biggest improvement. Really helps bring the car to life.

The only real problem I have with this livery isn't so much the livery as much as the way it fits on the new car. The red bull on the engine cover is a classic part of the design. However since the engine cover and intake was redesigned for this new car, it's lower, so the bull is a little cut off and squished, you can't see all of the bull's legs or part of its face anymore. So in keeping with the same design they have sacrificed a little bit of clarity. This would have been solved by shrinking the size of the bull by a small margin, or moving the bull forward a little. Since it's the main brand I would have expected them to be a little more careful with how it's displayed on the car.

Side by side you can see how the changes to the engine cover drastically altered the way the bull is able to be displayed, and this is a downgrade, especially since that bull is such an important part of the car.

There is carbon fiber on this car. But it is very minimal and discrete. Red Bull does also have the advantage of being able to better hide carbon fiber because they go with such a dark body color to begin with, the places where it goes from paint to bare fiber aren't as noticeable.

If other liveries didn't have so many issues(especially with being fully painted) this would be lower. Unfortunately not this year.

Overall this is a good livery, why change what's working? The colors are brighter, and it's simple.

TOP 2

Okay, from here onward I don't really have any serious issues with the liveries, these are just beautiful and it comes down to small details and some personal preferences.

2. Mercedes

I didn't think I was going to love this year's Mercedes livery as much as I do, but here we are.

This is a gorgeous car, maybe one of my favorites from Mercedes. Silver is a tricky color to work with and sometimes they go too far with it, but this is closer to perfect.

First the nose design is gorgeous, the silver framed by the teal is just stunning. It serves to highlight the body of the car, brings back the "silver arrow"

And then we have the gradient from silver to black on the car. But the black isn't just blank it has the Mercedes logo artistically arranged there, it almost looks like stars. That is so clever and actually makes amazing use of black coloring.

The unbroken teal stripe framing the silver and tapering down the side pod is sleek, it carries the color across the body of the car, that is how you do it. Simple, elegant.

Then we get to that deep cherry red. There is just enough of it in little pops on the rest of the car to work with the main red on the air intake.

These four colors are balanced so nicely against each other, the pops of red, with the teal to frame everything set against the main black and silver of the body.

This car also stands out to me as one that looks different, but amazing from varying angles. The side profile is very different than the front, but in a way that makes you go "ooohhhh that's so cool".

This design probably has my favorite driver number placement and design for the nose of the car. It just fits so perfectly, like I cannot find fault with it.

It's sleek, it's got color, it's brought us back to that Mercedes silver. I think this is a worthy livery for Lewis' last year at Mercedes.

1 . Ferrari

Yes this is a Ferrari blog. Yes I am putting Ferrari at number one. Sue me. But I wouldn't put Ferrari here unless it earned it. This could have been awful, and if it was I would say so. I have my critic's integrity to uphold after all.

To put it simply - she is beautiful.

Ferrari delivered a gorgeous red car that incorporates so many details that celebrate the brand, they added richness to the color, reduced the amount of carbon fiber, and made a car that you WANT to look at.

There is a lot to love here, I want to start with the red. This shade of red is very different than last year, it's warmer, richer, deeper. And it makes the car feel more luxurious. It's a red worthy of the name Ferrari.

The difference is really noticeable. They deepened it to this gorgeous cherry red.

This red on it's own would be amazing, but the deep color allows for incredible contrast with the yellow and white lines. A brighter red would clash and not contrast well, but this red does it perfectly. It's also a warm red, so when placed along side the golden yellow that warmth is magnified and the whole color palette becomes cohesive.

Enough about the red let's talk about the stripes. Yellow and white, two classic Ferrari colors. Especially the yellow, that is Ferrari and it's nice to see it highlighted a little more on a car that is always classically red. The white adds more pop and highlight to it.

The of course the lines themselves are placed to give a beautiful visual flow across the body of the car. The lines create this pleasing movement for the eye, that wouldn't be there if the car was just one solid color.

And this is how you know the lines are placed well, because they create that movement when the car is viewed from the side AND from above.

And this brings me to one of my favorite details. The stripes on the rear-wing! It's just such a nice touch to continue the yellow and white line motif and add color to every part of the car. It frames the rear wing beautifully.

And the Ferrari name over that red with the stripes to cap it off, perfection.

Another detail I LOVE is the Italy tricolor on the front of the nose. The tricolor has been on the car before, but it's usually on the side, this one being a little bigger and front and center brings that Italian pride that is an integral part of Ferrari.

Another great front wing detail is the way the red from the body flows seamlessly into that flap is so satisfying. It really makes this look like one whole car that is all red and that is important for a Ferrari.

The carbon fiber on the design is hidden expertly, in the bathtub dips, which follows the natural curves of the car, and is an angle rarely seen. All of the carbon fiber is exposed at points on the car that cast natural shadow, so it would be darker there anyway. It makes the fact that it isn't painted far less noticeable, and thus it doesn't take away from the design by drawing the eye(unlike Aston Martin's approach)

The main reason I put her above the Mercedes is the bright color. This is a car that stands out on the track(Ferrari always does, and 2024 is no different) Also its line work is a little bit better, more three dimensional and it carries it's motif across more of the car.

It's red, it's sleek, it's rich, it's beautifully painted, it is Ferrari.

So those are all my thoughts and my ranking. Disagree? Feel free to let me know your favorite. I think there are details and colors to love on all of these cars.

I cannot wait to see them on the track in Bahrain!

[labellewolf13]

So, I've been doing some light research on Streaky. Did you know that the original version of him had a lightning pattern on his sides, and that's where his name comes from? Honestly, it just made me think of Bolt lmao (a dog of a Disney movie of the same name).

Most iterations keep the same look for Streaky, an orange and white striped tabby cat with a white tipped tail and green or yellow eyes. As we know, in the Arrowverse version, he's black with yellow eyes. I'm only fussing about colors because I don't know if lipstick is visible in black fur lol. If it is, then I don't mind keeping that version.

He starts a normal cat, but after Kara adopts him, Streaky is exposed to kryptonite (altered, of course, it even included lightning once) and gains temporary superpowers to be later made permanent in another encounter. I really liked the idea of Kara learning to control her strength with Streaky in the show and finding comfort in him while learning, so I think we could work something around that original version so we can maintain the role he played with teenager Kara while still making him a super-cat. We know how Max loves to experiment with Kryptonite, for example.

Yeah, your idea on the lipstick makes more sense. Makes me think of Cat Grant teaching her about fashion, directly or not.

Can I add back entrances of food restaurants on the list of places Streaky stops by? That cat has so many waitresses, waiters, and maybe even cooks that give him scraps of food whenever they can. Unable to resist his charm or puss in boots' eyes. They do say pets resemble their owners.

Ohh Lena seeing Kara's art. That could reveal a lot depending on the piece currently displayed. What if it was one of Krypton? On the next visit, Streaky makes sure to give Lena his most betrayed look and manages to deny pets for 2 minutes.

"Who are you?" "Who are you?"' "This is my cat." "That's not a name." - Love this back and forth.

The thought of Streaky knowing how to handle a computer and a printer reminded me of this reddit post.

Kara's Google search history.

Fast food delivery restaurants

Bird documentaries

Why is my oven murdering my cupcakes

Best potstickers of National City

How do I track my cat

How to know if you're in love with your best friend

Local alien news

How do I support my sister coming out

Catco Magazine

Am I a lightweight if I get drunk with one shot

Supergirl/Lena Luthor - Works (couldn't resist lol, that could've been Lucy messing with easy-to-blush Kara)

Lena reading historical lesbian novels might be the best headcanon I've ever heard. The perfect excuse to have that novel be "Islands of Mercy".

Omg that visual of Streaky resting his head on the edge of the table to sleepily glare at people is just so damn cute. The board members tried to complain once about the cat, but they were met by a united front of glares from Lena and Streaky. They wisely never mention it again. Every time a board member tries to talk over Lena, he lets out this big MEOW that leaves everyone quiet for all of 10 seconds. Lena is secretly thrilled because now she can spin her chair to greet the board while petting a cat in her lap. She's living her best villain era.

Jess must have a bag of treats stored in her desk just for him.

Oh, and Lena.

Lena has him spoiled. Be it her office, her apartment, her more pet friendly lab, her most used boardroom. It has everything a cat may want or need.

The mention of Halloween made me think of Perry the platypus and the hat that marks them as Agents. That could be a fun costume for Kara. The irony lmao.

In response to the corrected top secret government plans, Alex probably tries to send NDAs with Streaky and maybe out of curiosity –because those were some pretty damn good corrections– a not-top-secret lab experiment she's currently working on.

Now, for Lena and Streaky's first meeting. I was thinking it could be on Lena's balcony. I'm not quite sure on the details, maybe after her and Kara/Supergirl have a fight?

Streaky decides after watching them dance around each other that his owner becomes a useless gay mess when near Lena, so he'll take matters into his own paws?

My cat showed up at my house like this today. Apparently, we have a cat lover in our street.

(Source)

[crazyblondelife]

Staying Warm In Spring - 5 Outfit Ideas

I don’t remember a February that was as warm as the one we just had and March is looking very up and down as far as temperatures go. It’s always been a challenge to stay warm in spring and cool in the fall, but this year, it’s anyone’s guess what the quandary may be!

It’s going to be unseasonably warm here next week and then it’s looking like snow on the weekend but if you’re anything like me, you’re ready to pull out those cute spring clothes and add a few new pieces to refresh your clothes from last spring!

Honestly, if you look out my window right now, the daffodils are blooming, the weeping cherry is in full bloom and everything is so green…it looks like spring so I definitely don’t want to keep wearing the same tired old sweaters!

Here are a few ideas that might spark your fashion creativity so you can dress like it’s spring, but stay warm at the same time!

Adding a boot to a neutral sweater dress with a lightweight jacket (also love this one) is a great way to jazz up your wardrobe right now! Neutrals are great, especially these because they can be worn for three seasons. The bag (here is another option) and earrings definitely give this outfit more of a warm weather feel and I always like to update my makeup when the seasons change!

Can you ever have too many grey sweaters? I think not! Grey sweaters make getting dressed so much easier! Style them with white or light wash denim for a spring look and try adding a cute shacket like this light blue plaid one.

I’ve been wanting this Marc Jacobs bag for a while now and it may be time to bite the bullet and get it! Not sure what I’m waiting for because (as designer bags go) the price is right and it goes with everything! Dior Addict lip gloss is my favorite (also love Buxom) because it isn’t sticky and comes in so many colors! The boots (another option here and here) and gold hoops complete this casual look.

Stripes are as synonymous for spring as florals…although truthfully, I love them all year long. Stripes have a beachy nautical feel and are basically neutral. Add another neutral such as this Golden Goose leopard sneaker (these are cute and less expensive) along with an olive green jacket, jeans and a great belt bag and you’re good to go. All of these pieces stand on their own and can be mixed and matched endlessly!

Cardigan sweaters (also love this one) although classic are on trend for this spring and you can’t go wrong with white! Light wash jeans couldn’t be more perfect with white and look great with leather accessories! Loafers are everywhere as well this season and you’re going to see them in every color and heel height from classic to chunky and chunkier so now is the time to invest in a pair you love! Wear them with jeans, skirts and shorts!

Another classic spring piece is the lightweight trench but don’t think you can’t wear it with leggings and a sweatshirt! This look is so cute and practical! The sweatshirt is from H&M (also love this cropped one) and so inexpensive…I always want a sweatshirt to throw on when I go to the gym, but most of the time, I end up wearing it all day long, so it’s nice to have a stack of cute ones to choose from. The sneakers are a bit pricy, but so cute…these are more reasonable if you’re in the market! The Lululemon belt bag is a must have for spring and very reasonably priced…you’ll want to throw the Buxom lip balm in it and carry it everywhere because it feels so good on your lips!

Below, you’ll find a boutique of everything mentioned in this post! Have a great weekend…whatever the weather where you are!

I’m curious…do you try to incorporate a few of the trends you like into your wardrobe each season? Which trends are you loving for spring 2023?

[homoose]

Enter With Abandon: Part I

Summary: Reader accidentally orders three meal kit boxes. Spencer takes one off her hands.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Category: fluff

Warnings/Includes: none

Word count: 1.4k

a/n: I just love a good meet cute, you guys. This is part one of four. ☺️

———

She had come to terms with the fact that she was a terrible cook. She’d grown up just above the poverty line, with parents who worked long hours on odd schedules. That meant that she and her brother had gotten by on a lot of PB&J, hot dogs, and TV dinners. They certainly didn’t learn how to prepare and cook meals. So when she became an adult, with a real job and an actual salary and without a college dining hall at her disposal, she began ordering a lot of takeout.

It didn’t take long for her bank account to remind her that delivery four days a week was above her pay grade. As a compromise, she’d ordered a HelloFresh box. It was still kind of expensive, but it was a far cry from what she’d been spending on Postmates. She tried a Blue Apron box, and those were a little too advanced for her skill set, but she kept the account open just to look. HomeChef quickly became her favorite service— the meals were ridiculously easy and tasted pretty good once they were doctored up with various spices.

She had just started to level up into mediocre cooking territory when she came home to not one, not two, but three meal kit boxes in the mailroom. She frantically pulled up the apps to see that she had somehow missed the day to skip the box for the HelloFresh and BlueApron boxes that week. She now had nine meals to cook in the next seven days (five when accounting for produce freshness).

She hauled the boxes upstairs to her apartment and pulled up the app to check what meals she had even ordered. The BlueApron recipes were thankfully not too difficult, and she opened the box and unpacked the ingredients into the fridge. She did the same with the HelloFresh box, actually excited to try out a mahi mahi recipe that she probably wouldn’t have been adventurous enough to pick on her own. The recipes in the HomeChef box were fine other than a cavatappi recipe she wasn’t too thrilled about, but she ultimately decided that there was no way she’d be able to cook everything from all three boxes without something going bad.

Which is how she ended up in front of apartment 23, huffing out a breath. Apartments 20 and 21 had been… less than friendly. She’d never actually seen anyone enter or exit this apartment, so she wasn’t even sure anyone lived there. Still, she knocked three times and waited, box in hand.

There was some shuffling, footsteps, and the click of the deadbolt. She opened her mouth to start her spiel, but the sound died in her throat at the man in front of her.

Her neighbor stood in his doorway, all fluffy curls and glasses and stubble, and she forgot why she was even standing there. He was wearing a navy cardigan that looked incredibly soft, a white collared shirt underneath, the top two buttons undone, and heather grey slacks on his long legs. On his feet were mismatched socks— one bright green and the other rainbow striped.

“Can I help you?” he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and drawing her out of her ogling.

“Oh— I, um.” She held up the box. “I’m your neighbor, um, unit 22. I—I do these um, meal kit boxes and I— well, I’m signed up for three different plans, and you have to remember to go into each individual app and skip the week if you don’t want a box delivered, and I thought I did that, but apparently I didn’t, and so now I have three meal kits and that’s way more than I need because I’m only one person so—”

She paused to suck in a breath. The very corners of his lips twitched into the start of a smile and she about spontaneously combusted. He waited for her to continue, one very cute eyebrow raised at her rambling. She gave herself a mental thrashing and a get it together before continuing.

“So. I’m trying to give away this box, because I don’t want the food to go to waste. However, as it turns out, people are not keen on taking food from a stranger, even when it’s in a sealed package from a reputable meal kit service.” She shrugged. “That said, um, do you want this box? Of food. For you.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I— I don’t know if I’m the best candidate for the box.” He bared his teeth sheepishly. “I��m not a very good cook.”

“Oh! Well, this is the easiest kit, actually. Like, they even pre-cook the pasta so all you have to do is add it in, which I think is kind of ridiculous because who can’t boil noodles? But you know, it’s good if you like, work long hours or whatever.”

He considered her for a moment. “Okay, I’ll take it.”

She was so shocked that he hadn’t closed the door in her bumbling face that her mouth dropped open. “You will?”

“Yeah, you convinced me. Do you wanna…?” He held his hands out and she nodded.

“Yeah, of course, sorry.” She handed him the box. “Thank you so much for taking it off my hands,” she said, dusting imaginary particles off of them. “My conscience feels a lot lighter knowing I won’t be contributing to our nation's issue with food waste. Like, did you know that the average person throws away 219 pounds of food per year, and that most of that food gets sent to landfills where it decays and produces nitrogen pollution, which causes algae blooms and dead zones?”

He pressed his lips together. “I actually did know that.”

“Oh. Well. Good.” She crossed her arms. “It—It’s good that you know that, because, you know, maybe you’ll be more mindful of your own food waste.” Her eyes went wide and she held out an apologetic hand. “Not that I’m saying that you’re not mindful or anything. I just—it’s—it can be good to know things.” It can be good to know things?!

“It certainly can be good to know things.” His lips were turned up in the sweetest smile, golden eyes crinkling at the corners, and she didn’t even care if he thought she was a complete idiot, because she just wanted him to smile at her like that for the rest of eternity.

“Absolutely. Knowing things is… awesome.” She wished the floor beneath her would open up and drop her straight into hell. “Okay. Well, bye.” She turned and took two steps, then did a 180 just as he was closing the door. “Oh, just— you might wanna add more spices than they write in the recipes. I think they write them with the intention of being kind of bland to appeal to a wider audience, but you know, they can end up being kind of… well, bland.”

He smiled again and she couldn’t stop staring. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“You’re welcome. Okay. Well, really bye this time.” She turned and walked as calmly as she could back to her apartment. When she heard the click of his deadbolt she dropped her head into her hand in complete and utter mortification at the sheer lack of chill she’d just exhibited. “What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?”

…

It quickly became obvious why she hadn’t known if anyone lived there— because he was hardly ever home. She listened a little more purposefully to the footsteps on the stairs and the noises through the wall. She wondered if maybe he worked odd hours or had a significant other whose apartment he stayed at.

She was busy enough with work and cooking the other six meals that she had almost forgotten about the humiliating encounter with the man from apartment 23. By the following Friday, she was so tired from the week that she didn’t even glance at his mailbox like she’d been doing all week, S. Reid scrawled across the label. She dragged herself up the stairs and across the landing, fishing her keys out of her bag.

She stopped in front of her door to see a small glass container sitting on her doormat. She looked up and down the hallway before bending to pick it up. There was a paper note taped to the top, written in the same chicken scratch from the mailbox. She saved the note, opting to pop open the lid on the pyrex to find four perfectly baked scones with some sort of citrus glaze. She balanced the dish in one hand and shuffled the note open with the other.

I’m not a great cook, but I’m a pretty good baker. Thanks for the box.

Spencer, Unit 23

P.S. You were right about the spices.

———

Permanent tags: @andiebeaword @averyhotchner @saspencereid @pinkdiamond1016 @shadyladyperfection

[lulu-zodiac]

Title: Peppermint

Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Tags: Fluff, Pining, First Kiss

Summary: Dean shares a Christmas tradition with Cas.

If you want to be added to my fic tag list, let me know! <3

.

There’s a little red tin in the glove compartment of the impala, and when Cas picks it up, he can feel the way it’s scratched and dented with age.

“What’s this?”

Dean glances over, and something unreadable passes across his face. It reminds Cas of how he looks when Sam talks about their childhood, nostalgic and complicated – not happiness, but something close. “Where’d you find that?”

“It was just in here with your Dad’s old phone, under the map,” Cas replies, turning it over interestedly in his hands. There’s a faded image on the front he can’t quite make out, worn green and silver and gold. The colours of Dean’s eyes, as he looks at Cas in the half-light of the unfolding road. “What is it?”

“It used to have peppermints in it,” Dean says, looking back to the road. There’s a wistful kind of sadness in his gaze, but a slight smile playing across his mouth. “Sammy begged Dad to buy it at some gas station when he was, I don’t know, maybe four. He didn’t even like peppermints, he just liked the Christmas tree on the front of the tin, wouldn’t shut up about it. It was filled with those red and white striped candy canes, you know the ones?”

Cas nods, watches the moving December colours play across Dean’s features.

“Well, that year we were stuck in here all Christmas day while Dad was wrapping up a hunt. Sammy was old enough to know it was Christmas, so it kind of sucked. But I got Sammy singing Christmas songs and we drew stupid snowmen cartoons on the windows, and it was okay, we passed the time. Dad was gone so long we ended up eating most of the candy canes while we were waiting, but Sammy insisted on saving the last one for Dad. He still hero-worshipped Dad at that point, even though Dad was barely a father to him – was barely even there, to see Sammy growing up” Dean breaks off momentarily, shakes his head like he’s trying to surface from deep water. Cas notes the set of Dean’s jaw, the way his knuckles are white around the wheel, resists the urge to reach out, soften them.

“Sam knows how much you did now, Dean,” he says, instead, into the quiet.

Dean makes a dismissive sound, carries on as though Cas hasn’t spoken at all, but the tension in his hands is less strained; “Anyway, when Dad finally came back that night he was only a little beat up, in a good mood for once. He tried to take us for some real food, but everywhere was closed by that time so we just sat in here together and Dad broke the last candy cane into three for us to share,” Dean glances at the box Cas is still holding. It feels warm in Cas’s hands now, the mental heating up in his palms as he listens to the story, as though it’s slowly coming alive. “It was one of the better Christmases, actually. Dad refilled the box with them each December, handed them out to me and Sammy when we’d been driving all night. It was one of the few traditions we ever had,” he shrugs, adjusts his grip self-consciously on the wheel, “Stupid, really,” he adds, in that way he has of diminishing anything personal he says, “It’s probably empty now.”

Obligingly, Cas opens the box. It is empty, save a couple of crumpled silver wrappers, but it smells of ghostly peppermint. Cas sniffs, imagines little Dean and Sam sitting in the impala alone on Christmas day. His chest aches at the thought of Dean trying to distract Sam, keep him happy and amused while Dean was probably afraid. “I’ve never tried peppermint,” he tells Dean, inhaling again and trying to figure out the scent. It’s sharp, clean, a little powdery. Like dusty snow. “What’s it like?” he asks, curiously.

“Hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t tasted it,” Dean says, “Like most things. It’s – sweet. Kind of makes the inside of your mouth feel cold when you inhale.”

Cas looks at him, watches the lights of the road reflect in his green gaze.

“Hey, we can get some, if you want,” Dean says, nodding towards the road, “There’s a gas station just up ahead, I wouldn’t mind stopping to stretch my legs anyway.”

“I would like that,” Cas smiles at the thought of getting to taste a little piece of Dean’s history, watches as the lights get brighter and the car slows, pulling into the empty gas station.

Outside, it’s cold, the dark biting at Cas’s skin as he waits for Dean to return from the kiosk. He leans against the cool, smooth metal of the impala, stares skywards for a while. It’s cloudy, the sky is swollen with snow. Cas likes not being able to see the heavens, sometimes. On days like this, earth is full enough of wonder all by itself. The greasy spill of gas station lights on frozen concrete, a little metal box of memories in his pocket, Dean’s footsteps echoing through the quiet towards him. The lights of heaven could never compare.

“Here,” Dean’s nose is pink from the cold, eyes bright as he leans back against the car beside Cas, hands him a paper packet. “Peppermint candy canes. Go on, knock yourself out.” He sticks his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and stares up at the sky, like Cas had been moments before. Cas wonders whether Dean is comforted by the blankness too, or if he aches for the far-distant twinkling lights and their warmth, so long absent from his own life.

“Will you have one too?” Cas asks, peering into the bag and tentatively drawing out one of the striped candies before handing it back to Dean.

“Why not?” Dean’s fingers are warm against Cas’s for a moment, rough with calluses, and then there’s nothing again. He pulls out a candy and stuffs the paper bag into his pocket, begins unwrapping the little umbrella-shaped stick. “I can’t remember the last time I had one of these, you know. Probably the Christmas before Sam went off to college.” He puts the candy between his lips, sucks. Cas suddenly has to catch his breath, cold and startling in his lungs. “Hey, what are you waiting for?” Dean is looking at Cas, lips red and plump around the candy, eyes bright in the cold air.

“Oh,” Cas looks down at his own untouched candy, brings it up to his mouth and sucks experimentally. “It’s like… toothpaste,” he frowns at Dean, letting the cool, clean taste fill his mouth. He sucks again, slower, trying to get a sense of the flavour. “It’s quite nice.”

Dean’s cheeks are pink with the cold now too. “Uh – yeah, it is, I guess.” He’s looking at Cas intently in the muted lights of the deserted gas station, with an expression that is familiar yet unreadable and makes Cas feel warm even in the cold.

“This is what Christmas tasted like to you?” Cas sucks the candy again, looks at Dean.

“Once, I suppose so,” Dean sounds distracted, but his tone doesn’t match the intent focus in his gaze as he looks at Cas. The cold has made his cheeks flush darker still, and the light is muted enough that only an arc of green is visible around the black of his pupils.

“It does make my mouth feel cold,” Cas observes, with interest. He sucks the candy further into his mouth and pulls it out with a pop, feeling the cool cleanness of the air being pulled between his lips. Dean clears his throat slightly. “I haven’t encountered any other food that has this effect,” Cas licks slowly at the tip of the candy, and is aware of Dean inhaling sharply, “Do you know what causes it?”

“I don’t,” Dean’s voice is slightly hoarser than usual.

“Very interesting,” Cas contemplates, licking the tip of the candy again with a swirl of his tongue. Dean makes a stifled sound, and Cas looks up with a frown. “Don’t you want yours?” he asks, eyeing Dean’s uneaten candy, “Or do you only enjoy them when you can eat them with Sam? I’m sorry, I know I can’t provide that part of the tradition for you.”

“Sam isn’t the only person I can have good memories with, Cas. This can be a new tradition, okay?” Dean says, and he’s glowing, so beautiful here in the cold all lit up. “But,” he pauses, swallowing, “You’re right, I’m not sure I want mine.”

“You don’t?” Cas frowns, worriedly. He pulls his own candy away from his mouth.

The colour is high on Dean’s cheeks as he shakes his head, “No. I think I’d rather have yours, actually.” And before Cas can say anything, Dean’s lips are suddenly on his, soft and warm, so warm in the cold air. Cas feels as though he’s been holding his breath for years and is suddenly able to breathe. It’s wonderful, the heat of Dean’s mouth against his, the slick of his tongue twining with Cas’s, tasting of peppermint and making something hot curl deep in Cas’s stomach. His hands are cupping Cas’s face, rough skin, tender touch. Cas is breathing hard when Dean pulls back, both of their breath clouding the December air between them. “Tastes better on you,” Dean grins, and it’s a beautiful thing, tentative and free here in the cold without heaven watching.

Cas reaches out and grabs the lapels of Dean’s leather jacket, pulls him in again. This time it’s harder, urgent, Dean’s breath coming in stifled gasps into Cas’s mouth as Cas presses him back against the impala, sinks into the heat of Dean’s mouth, the warm, hard line of Dean’s body, pliant under him. He can taste the desperation on Dean’s tongue along with the peppermint, and he chases it, deepening the kiss until Dean is groaning against him, clutching at Cas’s coat. Cas thinks he might be making noises too, but he can’t think about anything except Dean, here at last in all the ways he should be, warm and real. Oblivion.

In his coat pocket, he can feel the outline of the little peppermint tin where their heartbeats edge closer to each other. He smiles against Dean’s mouth, loves that he’ll never be able to taste peppermint without remembering this; the shine of Dean’s eyes in the muted December lights, the heat of their bodies pressed together, the sky frozen and empty overhead, a blank canvas for their own stars.

[allroyaladies]

Platinum Jubilee Tour | Jamaica

Arrival in sunshine yellow: I love every part of this look, the dress is gorgeous and the shoes are a fun touch. Kate pulls off this shade beautifully which is a remarkable skill. I don't think this ponytail is very flattering though, she let her hair down later on and it suited her better. 

Vintage multicolor: I think I'll be killed, but I really don't like this dress that much. It's not bad and it manages to wear elegantly like seven colors, stripes and prints but I liked it better with the thin straps before it was altered. I really don't like those earrings. 

Orange and White Power Suit: Kate might be the only person to make me like orange (just to report I hate orange). She knows her new use of her pantsuits is divisive but it seems appropriate to me and she usually manages to keep it real and interesting. The orange raffia bag is strange, it almost seemed to be knitted wool. I would have liked more natural raffia. 

Princess Green: I didn't think we'd see something as iconic as the bond girl look anytime soon but this might take away the competition. I think Jenny Packham really knows how to make princess dresses and this one is perfect in every way. Even the froo froo of the neckline is fine. I think the queen has better emeralds (these don't seem particularly attractive to me) but the loan is remarkable. I'm torn about the hairstyle because I like it and kate manages to pull it off but there's still something I'm not convinced about. 

Queen-in-Waiting in White Lace: This is just perfect. I love every part of this, the dress, the hat, the jewelry, the hair, everything is magnificent. It has a much more delicate appearance than the blue lace dress she wore upon her arrival in Belize. The only way to make it more perfect would be with a pearl necklace or diamond collier. 

Green Bird: I like this dress a lot better here than when she wear it to wimbledon, I think because the wind adds movement to the skirt and makes it look a lot less heavy and stiff. The color is beautiful and I think this is the perfect way to wear an elaborate brooch like this with a simple dress. . 

I think stylistically this was the best part of the tour overall. The use of vintage pieces is also interesting and I would like to continue seeing it, preferably with more beautiful pieces.

[ootori-sibs]

Birthday cake

Day three of @ohshc-week : kitchen/baking or self-discovery

"He doesn't like sweets! We can't use icing!"

"We're making a cake boss! It's gonna be sweet either way!"

Haruhi sighed, they were supposed to be making a birthday cake for Kyoya… but it was dissolved into messes and fighting. Honey and Mori were working on making little purple roses out of icing, well Honey was, Mori was more focused on stopping Honey from eating any of the ingredients.

The twins were fighting with Tamaki over how to decorate the cake, meanwhile poor Haruhi was the only one actually making the cake. Dark chocolate, with some cherries in, Haruhi couldn't help to notice how it was practically a black forest gateau but with some alterations to make it more enjoyable to the shadow king. She found it rather funny how Kyoya preferred a sharper taste to something sweet, it fit him so well, she was happy to use some tricks her mother had taught her; such as adding a pinch of salt with the sugar to keep the taste less sweet, or melting the butter a little before adding it so it's easier to mix. The hosts would probably be very confused by it, if they were paying attention to the actual cake instead of the decorations of it.

The twins were still arguing with Tamaki, they had been for around twenty minutes now. Haruhi sighed and walked over, arms crossed. "Are you three finished with your arguing yet? I need the cake bases now."

They glanced at her, and Tamaki practically melted into whining, "Haaarruuuuhuiii! Tell them we can't use icing! Kyoya doesn't like sweet things!!" He clung to her, pouting and just doing those horrid puppy eyes.

Haruhi just rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, "not liking sweet things doesn't mean we should leave the cake plain, we can just use a drizzle… how about a caramel sauce?"

The trio watched closely as Haruhi mixed the cream with the sugar and caramel, adding salt in spite of the concern that the hosts had. "Have you boys never cooked before? Of course you put salt in, otherwise it'd be too sweet," she didn't know why she'd even asked that, of course this gaggle of spoiled brats had never cooked before, they all had gourmet chefs working for them. She let the twins put the cake in the oven, barely glancing to make sure they got the settings right, as she was preoccupied with the huge bowl of caramel sauce. Tamaki however, was just sat there doing nothing, so Haruhi sighed, turning to him, "senpai, can't you think of something to do?"

The king pouted, resting his head on the counter, "noo… I'm bored…" he glanced up at Haruhi, big puppy eyes on full blast.

She sighed, rolling her eyes at him, "why don't you just make some little marzipan balls for decoration? That should keep you busy." She slid the tray of marzipan towards him, smiling softly when he instantly got to work, rolling little orbs of white and black.

After the decorations were all ready, sitting on their trays, ready for the cake to finish baking. Tamaki perked up slightly, "do you think Kyoya's back from spending time with his brothers yet? I wanna give him his cards and gifts!"

The twins shrugged, "we don't know, we asked him to text us but he hasn't yet."

Honey giggled, "his brothers probably don't want to stop hanging out with him! I know I wouldn't want to stop spending time with Chika." Oh yeah, Honey definitely had a unique perspective on this situation, having a younger sibling of his own, Mori, having one too, nods in agreement.

Haruhi sighs, finally relaxing, "we've only got an hour to wait until the cake's done, then we wait half an hour before we decorate it, so we wouldn't even be able to spend that much time with him without leaving again."

At these words, the hosts all collectively pouted, it was Kyoya's birthday after all, and all they wanted was to spend time with their beloved shadow king. They sat and waited in silence after that, staring at the oven as the cakes were baking. As much as they joked that Kyoya was heartless and cruel, he was mommy for a reason; he went out of his way to make sure everyone was doing the best they could, he took care of 80% of the duties that were really supposed to be Tamaki's job, he always had a bag or two of sweets in his bag- even though he wasn't that big of a fan of sweet things, really he was the mother of the group, no matter how much he tried to deny it. They all loved him with all their hearts, and wanted The best for him, unfortunately Kyoya isn't very open to love and affection, so the hosts have to be sneaky when showing their care with him.

The more Haruhi thought about it, the more Kyoya was like a particularly feral cat- one that was suddenly been shown affection and warmth; he was entirely self-sufficient, he treated literally everyone as if they were incapable and needed him to keep them going, was disgusted by the idea of affections, but silently craved being seen in a positive light, he was loving and caring but denied ever being such things, hiding it behind a rough and cruel exterior. The thought made her smile fondly, though she did wish they could just tell him how much they cared, instead of having to dance it around and hope he understands.

She knew what almost everyone had bought Kyoya, they'd all shown off happily. She felt a little bad about her measly little scarf she'd made him, but he always seemed too cold, hands shaking almost every time she saw them, he did so much for everyone- Haruhi just wanted to do something considerate back. The boys, as is typical of rich people, used gift being as an unwitting display of wealth; each gift more ornate and expensive then the next.

The twins had gotten him a four piece suit, complete with a male corset and rather impressive shoes. It was black and purple, with silver details, they'd even bought practically a bucketful of accessories, stating that Kyoya's outfits were always so plain. The accessories were quite tasteful, although some may be too feminine for Kyoya's tastes.

Honey of course, had gotten Kyoya many different squishies and stress balls and other fidgety, stimulating toys. Haruhi thought this was a great idea, even if some of them are a tad cutesy, Kyoya's always so angry, he's definitely going to appreciate them! Then she saw him pull out a fidget toy with opals on it, sure it was pretty, but do they have to flaunt wealth at every point? At least Honey had a good reason, stating that black opal was Kyoya's favourite gemstone. Another good thing about these toys, is that honey had them custom made, and claimed that they were made to be practically indestructible, which was rather impressive- and needed too, Haruhi had seen Kyoya dent an armoured car in a fit of rage, any toys he had would have to be able to put up with that level of violence.

Mori had bought a couple of books he thought Kyoya might find interesting, as well as a new usb with pdf copies of each book, Haruhi honestly thought that was one of the best gifts, thoughtful and subtle, then Mori showed them the books and they were all first edition copies. Haruhi had sat there, cursing the frivolous spending of these boys, was this a competition to them?

Tamaki had happily shown off the gift he'd gotten for Kyoya, pens, lots and lots of pens, a whole briefcase of them; fountain pens, gel pens, erasable pens, gold, diamonds, opals- just the most decadent set of pens you've ever seen, the fountain pens had refilled in every known colour, and the briefcase itself had gold embellishments. Haruhi was, in all honesty, blown away even imagining how much that had coated, did he have to spend so much money on pens? Although she knew Kyoya would appreciate pens, he broke one practically every week, and wrote like nobody's business. He was the only person haruhi had even known to actually run out of ink in a pen.

So it was clear the hosts were vying for the most expensive gift, and Haruhi couldn't help but feel slightly inferior for the little purple and green scarf she'd made Kyoya, it was rather nice looking in her opinion, and it has taken her quite a while… she really hoped Kyoya would appreciate it.

By now, the cakes had not only finished baking, but they'd cooled as well, so the twins placed the first layer, about the size of a wheel, on the plate. Honey added the whipped cream before Mori put the second layer on top, there were four layers in total, stacking up nice and high. Haruhi had got a chair to stand on and poured the caramel sauce over the cake, making sure it was entirely coated, with a nice pool at the bottom. She'd then stepped back, letting Tamaki and the twins place the marzipan balls that Tamaki had made whilst Mori and Honey placed the little purple roses made out of icing, life size and miniature too.

When they were finished, the cake looked beautiful, they were all so proud of it. Proud… and covered in the ingredients, they really looked a mess, they should probably clean up before leaving the kitchen. Haruhi was the least covered in eggs and flour, she only had some caramel on her sleeve. So she was the one to add the candles, purple and white striped ones, all 18 of them. God, this was a big birthday huh, he was an adult now. No wonder his family finally wanted to spend time with him.

Kyoya had returned, rolling his eyes at how excited Tamaki was, the blonde hanging off his arm. He glanced around the room, clearly taking in the sigh of all the gifts and cards gotten for him, there was a table full of things from the guests, and each host was holding the gift they'd gotten for him. He just sighed, adjusting his jumper, it was big, grey and oversized, not the kind of thing he'd normally wear. He put his shopping bags down, glancing over at the hosts, "why are we making a fuss about this? It's just getting a little older."

"But Kyoya! Don't think of it like aging! Think of it more like… surviving yet another year? Isn't that something worth celebrating?" Tamaki smiles, hugging Kyoya's arm.

Kyoya visibly pauses, thinking over what Tamaki had said, almost looking sad, just for a moment, then he smiled slightly, nodding, "ok, sure… You know Tamaki, you sound just like Fiyumi sometimes, she says that, every year…" Tamaki stops for a moment, turning and looking at Kyoya in silence, he then rushed over, hugging Kyoya.

"Hey come on! Let's not focus on the idea of the other end of things! Let's celebrate! We all got you something!" He beamed, stepping back and gesturing to the other hosts, "come see what we got you!"

They had Kyoya sit down in Tamaki's big chair, handing him gift after gift after gift. They had opened the ones from the guests first, all sorts of cute and shiny nonsense, too many chocolate boxes to count- for the last requested host, Kyoya sure had a lot of fans. Then they came to the gifts gotten by each host, the gift the twins had gotten Kyoya made him smile, he'd rolled his eyes, "god, Yuuichi tells me that every day, he says I dress strangely, he got me this jumper, he says I look better when I dress cutely." They'd laughed at that, and Honey had handed him the gift he'd gotten.

That gift had made Kyoya pause for a bit, picking some up and looking at them, before fiddling with one of the fidget toys, and getting entirely engrossed in it, until Tamaki shakes him gently. Kyoya sighed then turned to Honey, nodding gently, "thank you." Honey had beamed at that, happily pointing out that it was indestructible, because he'd seen how destructive Kyoya can be without even realising. Kyoya had frozen at that, looking down at the toy in his hands, something seemingly coming to mind, something he very openly didn't like, dropping the toy back into the box. It seemed Mori had noticed that, nudging the box aside with his foot and placing the gift he had gotten, onto Kyoya's lap, a little hum of assurance.

Kyoya opened the gift, looking at it for a moment before picking one up, running a finger along the spine before reading the blurb on the back of the book, then another, then another. Slowly, Kyoya read the blurbs of each of the books, before carefully placing them all back into their box, he turned to Mori, nodding, "these all seem like very interesting books, Thank you." Mori hums again, placing a gentle hand on the top of Kyoya's head, a gesture that did not go unnoticed. Kyoya sighed softly, closing his eyes for a second, the closest any of the hosts had ever seen to him reciprocating affection, and Tamaki's eyes lit up, if just for a moment. But the king stepped aside, and let Haruhi hand Kyoya her gift first.

The shadow king looked down at the brown paper wrapping, nothing he was at all used to, he used his nails, surprisingly sharp as they were, to tear into it, playing around with the texture for a moment or two, before tearing into the paper. He looked almost surprised at the soft wooden scarf that lay across his lap now, the greens and the purple sitting in unison, he picked it up, testing the feel of it in his fingers… he smiled. He slowly wrapped the scarf around his neck, clearly pleased by how soft it was, he glanced at Haruhi, curiosity clear in his eyes, "did you make this?" Haruhi had nodded, telling him how it took her over a month, he glanced back down at the scarf, rubbing the wool between his fingers, "hm, it's very good quality, welldone Haruhi, and thank you." These words sent Tamaki into a frenzy, going on about how Mommy and darling daughter were getting along so well, and Haruhi noticed how Kyoya just smiled softly at that, watching the king flounder about with adoring eyes.

Haruhi had paused, she'd glanced across at the twins, then to Honey, then Mori, then finally to Tamaki, she was beginning to notice how much all of them loved each other, how much she loved all of them. She wondered if they were aware of how much they loved each other, or was that just a Tamaki thing… she wasn't even sure Tamaki was all too aware.

When Kyoya saw the pens Tamaki had bought him, he was near tears- of course that was an exaggeration, an Ootori never cried, they were infamous for such, but Kyoya's eyes were certainly wet as he stared down at all those shimmering beauties, his hand twitched, clearly wanting to hold them, but he glanced up at Tamaki instead, "I can't take these, I break pens so easily, I'd just ruin them…" his voice, it was shaking, if Haruhi didn't know any better, she'd say Kyoya sounded scared of breaking the pens.

Tamaki had smiled softly, putting a gentle hand over Kyoya's shaking one, "don't worry Kyoya! I don't mind if you break them, as long as you enjoy writing with them. Not everything is meant to stay forever, no matter how beautiful!" Kyoya clearly didn't believe him, so Tamaki sighed, continuing, "and even if they do break, they'll still be beautiful, I know beautiful things that break and break and break and they're still as beautiful as the day I saw them first, even if they can't be used for their original purpose, besides, you can always fix them can't you?"

She'd been suspicious of something for a while now, since that night near the beach, with that thunderstorm… and Kyoya, being just as much of a feel as the other boy's… she'd thought about her theory as he'd told her how the club was formed, when Kyoya's father had slapped him, as she watched him watch Tamaki's car leave during the festival, when they stood together under the fireworks and Kyoya had kept a couple of steps distance, and right now… She hoped to god Tamaki didn't mean what she thought he did, standing next to Kyoya, her hand went to his forearm, smiling at him as he looked at her, "those are pretty pens senpai, I'd be a shame if you didn't write with them. If you break them then that's not your fault, pens aren't anything like people, so you shouldn't feel too bad if you break it."

Kyoya had paused for a moment, ruminating on something, before he nodded, "you're right, both of you, I'd love to write with these pens, thank you Tamaki- it's a wonderful gift." There was silence, just a comfortable, soft silence, everyone was smiling, everyone was happy.

Then Honey piped up, jumping up and down, "cake time! Cake time!"

Kyoya had glanced back at him in alarm, "cake? But I-"

The twins shrugged at that, speaking in unison, "well you have to have a cake, it's your birthday." Kyoya didn't seem to want to argue with that, so he just let Haruhi turn the lights off, and take out a camera as Mori brought the cake in, with Honey hopping around behind him.

They sang happy birthday, though Tamaki had decided to make his way to the piano, playing them a melody to sing to, he himself was singing the words in french, that blended into the Japanese to create a strange sound, one that felt comforting to them all, they didn't understand the words Tamaki sang, but they knew their meaning. Mori brought the cake over and placed it on a table in front of Kyoya, who looked at it, in… what had to be awe. Everyone knew Kyoya wasn't one for sweets, but the way he stared at that cake, Haruhi had to wonder if it wasn't so much a dislike, as it was a show, a character he was building.

He stood up to blow the candles out, rolling his eyes as everyone clapped, but when they had finished he did have one question, "did you make this?" Everyone nodded, happily explaining the things they had done, and the steps taken to make sure that Kyoya enjoys it. With every word spoken, it's clear that Kyoya becomes more and more touched by the notion, then when he would argue the need for a cake not five minutes ago.

They each got a slice, though Kyoya got the biggest- Honey had talked his way into getting the second biggest of course, the cake was actually delicious, not as sweet as they'd expected, though they never saw Haruhi add the salt, she was rather proud of her baking personally, though she had to admit the things the others did were indeed vital for the cakes success. She had glanced over to Kyoya, noticing how slowly he was eating his cake, other than Tamaki and the twins rambling on about something or other, it was quiet, and Haruhi just watched Kyoya eat. It was strange, she genuinely couldn't tell if he was happy or not, he'd seemed happy throughout the gift giving, but now his expression was blank. She wondered if his so-called hatred for sweet things outlived his love for his friends, or maybe he just didn't know how to deal with enjoying something. The last time Haruhi had watched him eat like she was right now, they'd been in a mcdonald's, and he had shown terrible table manners, but right now, he was moving as perfectly polite and daintily as a human possibly could, especially for a human that breaks things on a daily basis, Haruhi was forced to come to the conclusion that… maybe Kyoya was monitoring his own behaviour, he must be enjoying the cake the same way he enjoyed everything, with massive amounts of guilt.

[prettywarriors]

what are some of your favorite and least favorite magical girl raising project designs? and your thoughts on magical daisy just because she's my fav

Heck yes opinion time! But first what you asked for:

Magical Daisy Good. The yellows-browns-beige works really well with both the purple accents and the minty green hair. She has pleats distributed evenly through her design, and they work in tandem with both the ribbons and with the daisies through her outfit without it getting too busy. I like her detached sleeves with gloves, and I am a sucker for practical footwear on a MG (both for them and for possible cosplayers) I’m not Crazy about the. Pouch? Asymmetrical bustle? The thing off her waist on her right. But it balances with her off-center headdress and has the same small design on it so it get’s a pass. Her hair is simple, but I like it and I think it works for her A good design for an anime (if the MGRP anime had done really well, do you think we would have gotten an in-universe magical daisy episode?)

Other opinions under the cut

Haha only giving opinions on 3 girls? I’m reading Peaceful Days now so enjoy my speed thoughts on MGRP-Aces outfits.

But first Maruino deserves so much recognition because her use of cream and dark brown in place of white and black whenever possible, combined with her chibi style and general color pallet choices, is so good. I know I’ve talked about the LN look vs the anime looks here before, but some designs would just look not nearly as good if she didn’t know how to use colors as well as she does

MGRP:

Snow White- School uniform with an armband indicating she is someone who can help, but with flowers. It’s cute, it’s fairly simple compared to other mgrp outfits, I like the big flowers on the sides of her outfit over the ones hanging from the ribbons off her back. A solid look, but not a winner in my book

Ripple- This is going to come up with quite a few of these designs but I like basically everything but the body. I like the sleeves, the geta are great, love the one ponytail with big shuriken, scarf brings great contrast to the rest of the color scheme, bikini top with ribbons attaching it to a wrapped skirt? The skirt feels like this could have been a keikogi but the top is almost wholly unadorned and overall I wish this was a better look than it is

La Pucelle- Great idea, meh execution. Knight And Dragon? Love it! The navy blue for military feels with armor and goes well with the gold&cream&brown. Her horns are cute! I like the tail- it fits the character and isn’t too large or distracting. Once again I like the arms-neck-legs but the body is. a bikini with a drapery bit off the top and the tabard. The tabard is good! But why is she in her underwear? Give pants??? 

-And yes I know swimsuits cover just as much as underwear but this isn’t a swimsuit and it’s a lazy way to cover what needs to be cover and not even try to make that area of a design more interesting. This doesn’t apply just to LP or even MGRP I have seen comments on this before and unless the character’s outfit is an actual bathing suit, try harder.

Top Speed- A wife. A halloween wife. God I lover her personality and her outfit is definitely on the simple end of mgrp outfits but very fitting. The colors are great, love the hat and the tall boots, the cape stripes might be my least favorite bit? But I feel if it was solid it would be too bland so. And the end of her braids looks like a broom. I love her. Good design.

Ruler- I hate this. But why..... Is it the navy blue is a singular piece? I liked Ripple’s scarf for contrast but maybe this piece isn’t large enough? Her head things look like two crowns on the sides of her head and their weird and. Not awful? But not great. The cape looks chunky at the end? In a weird way? Or is it the drop waist on the top. I know I don’t like the butt fluff. I do like the shoes&leggings? pants? And her crown and hair stars. bad/10 for reasons I can not place

Swim Swim- Techno demon in the accessories, pure schoolgirl in swim class in the torso. The white suit+black devil wings is good as character contrast , and her....hip...discs? have demony tails which is good, but the big headphones and floating disc things work great with the shoes but not with the rest of the outfit? This is two outfits in one but not in a good way. Pick a lane.

Minael&Yunael- They might not be super-murders but boy that’s their only redeeming trait. I do not like them as fictional people. And outfitwise? Meh. I like the chat balloon halos, and the one wing look for the two of them works, and again the use of Navy rather than pure black is good, but the old fashioned dress with a bib is. boring. and not in a simple way just not interesting? Like I think if the stiped bib thing was removed it might look better? This also might be a secret hatred of mine as I think I have figured out from a later outfit. For now- boo

Tama- Are you spotted or brown&white? Her fluff bits and legs say spotted and her ears and tail and paws say brown and white and I wish we’d pick a lane? Also not crazy about the butt-length cape. I do like the bone clasp and the hood, and you have to have big ol paws for a dog girl. She’s. Fine. Just fine.

Nemurin- Her hair clouds say magical girl, the rest says generic cute sleepy anime girl. I like the socks, and her hair, but she’s not that interesting? Don’t get me wrong she’s cute but the bulk of her design is Big PJs. The candy clasp is nice as a sweet dreams thing? Sorry Endo

Calamity Mary- Titty fur. Boots with spurs and arms with fringe and mini cowboy hat are all good, and her skirt is. A little boring but fine. But the best part of her top is the sheriff badge. If we’re committed to evil=slutty=evil, you can still make a more appealing lewd top than a bikini over some fluff. Let sluts be sexy? Stay dead bitch.

Magicaloid 44- Elementary schoolgirl but robot. Bulky but in that smooth modern look. I’m a sucker for hair horns, even when they’re metal or plastic, and she just has a good silhouette. But her colors could be better? I will say her mn art has her skirt look like a skirt, and the anime said This Is A Solid Hunk Of Plastic/Metal and I think that works better. Swap her dark brown bits for a navy to go with her skirt and i think i’d be out of complaints

Sister Nana- There are multiple MG nuns. What’s up with that. Good use of sexy belts for theme consistency, but I with there was more red up top or her shoes were a different color. 9/10 for dirty nun

Weiss Winterprison- Girl I love you why is your outfit not good as a MG look or even really as an outfit. Your practical looking boots have heels, your colors are boring and messy, you have like. belts but not enough for them to look interesting? Gurl I love you do something with this bland mess.\

Cranberry- ‘I love this’ I say threw clenched teeth. I love green and flower motifs, and I like boleros and big sleeves. But I’m not that into this? I think it’s that her top looks like a nice shirt that’s a little long and then she. Just has leggings on and a big belt. I guess the buckle is like. A big thorn? And i’m into tunics with leggings but this doesn’t? do that in a way I like? The red-blue roses are a nice contrast to the green and creme but i just. I have no idea I want to be in love with this and it’s Middling for me. More elf ear’d MGs pls

Hardgore Alice- I love alice, I am a fan of edgy spins on stuff(sorry), so I’m a bit disappointed? And I think it’s just the colors? I love the checkered pockets and the striped stockings and bows and the headband and apron and bloomers and dress shape and even her eye bags (mood). I guess I just wish there was more of the off white-maybe for the full apron? or even the bloomers? I love you please re-color.

Restart:

Keek- This bitch might win it for worst look. I like her hair color, and giant sleeves, and the cd and rubix cube are nice touches for an outfit, but what outfit. A bikini top and slightly-larger-than-usual underwear style bottom with a big plate of metal? Are those supposed to be shorts??? Points for normal shoes but take off the coat and this is nothing. And the coat isn’t much to begin with. 0/10 might take home the gold

Clantail- I wish the apron part was gone? But the colors are good tho I do have a question about the horns- they’re cute but if she can change her lower body to other animals they won’t always fit very well? And her necklaceuhhh tattoo? is odd. But she’s fine

Pechika- Good colors, like the feathers, I wish the chef’s coat had a different fit but it’s good. Could go without the tail. Also has some almost military feeling elements like the hair cross and the? epaulets? This is a spats stan account

Rionetta- Great use of colors, patterns, ribbons, has a specific look that works great for the doll dress. Hell year ball joints and weird eyes. Wonderful. I hate it. No fucking clue why. Like with the angels maybe? I hate strips? Except I don’t. Maybe just in specific situations? Or I hate multiple patterns? Rio looks good. I just see her and go into a rage. 

Nonako Miyokata- A very good look overall, just not super Magical Girl? Definitely magical miko but. The yin yang accessories feel a tad out of place- replace them with existing themes or add them in elsewhere

Magical Daisy- Still good

Nokko- This is just a maid. A cute maid with a weird choice of hair decor, but I think she got her outfit at the same shop as Milkit. *shrug*

@Meow-Meow- boy I hope I didn’t just at someone for real. I like her colors and tail, poofy detached sleeves are good, her top works with the open dress. I’m a fan of detailed edging on a piece, and it works with the pattern.  I’d’ve liked to see more of the bells that are on her wrists? I guess she had a racist accent originally though which yikes. 

Genopsyko Yumenoshima- A great sentai outfit, love the helmet ears and the tail. Not good as a magical girl outfit unless we fully dissolve the mg/sentai line. But the suit is great, slightly oversized gloves, and retro lasergun that doesn’t even work? Yesssss.

Detec Bell- Fwuffy. Great hat, love the dress, a good use of a cape, simple but very good. I feel a feel some of the ribbons could be changed up but a solid if simple design. 

Lapis Lazuline (2)- Cute starry tiger princess? I guess I’m a fan of navy and brown because i’m into it here too. Good use of the silvery details on the sleeves and dress bottom, and the links both at the cape clasp and on the boots. Really nice.

Melville- Bootleg Cranberry in every way. I like her over-pants and sleeve-cape, but the weird bib-top under the bikini top is a bad shape? Hair roses good and leg thorns do get a thumbs up. 

Cherna Mouse- If the turtle gets it’s own distinct look, why is Cherna just baby+ hamster? The hood is cute, and I dig the boots which work with the shoulder things, but said things don’t go with the toddler one piece+cape. She reminds me of Moetan and that is a bad thing.

Pfle- Ohhh this bitch. I may have been reading these books but I have no damn idea what she is up to and I hate it. Love her eyepatch tho. Super cute throne-wheelchair and it continues the bird motif. Her dress is nice but not that interesting? Seems more generic old timey fancy lady dress than Magical. Honestly I could go for some mixing up of the colors here? The dress and hair and throne all are a bit too similar. Maybe make the dress wine?

Shadow Gale- I like her look but I don’t feel it says nurse as much as it’s supposed to? Her aces profile honestly gives Rue vibes. It’s very monochromatic but I guess that works for her. Big fan of her skirt, kindof with it went all the way around. Solid design

Masked Wonder- Who? I refuse to play person5 because it’s been overhyped but isn’t this one of them? Not awful as a phantom thief outfit, but doesn’t say magical girl phantom thief at all. I do like the roses on the belt and. garters? Kindof wish we’d loose the color on the cape because it clashes more than anything with the rest of the look

Akane- I like her long hair flower. But her samurai-kimono look doesn’t feel blended well enough imo and the colors are too over the place while still being bland.

Lake of Fire Flame Flamey- Hell if I know how she looks I just love typing that name

Limited:

Weddin- Good colors, a bit too busy? The chains+roses+lace doesn’t feel well balanced. But the flame and ankle chain are balanced because Maruino is good at asymmetrical details 

Captain Grace- A pirate magical girl? Is she legit the only one from any main stream series? Well she set the bar high. The captain coat is great, multiple small anchors, the hat, and her skirt(?) is very cute. I guess the sole of the boots stands out a bit? But very solid (wait is that a tail? or a butt hook? :/)

Funny Trick- If Las vegas was a magical girl. Colors and silhouette are good, I’m just not vibing with this. sorry girl

Kuru-kuru Hime- Yiss more ballet themed outfits. Good colors, love the shape of the giant back bow. I could go without the big ribbon coming off the headpiece? It’s nice

Postarie- Buttwings! I love her hair shape, just. Not a fan of the orange and green colors? She’s a delivery girl but feels more marching band. It’s a good design, just doesn’t feel fitting? Great just not for her

Rain Pow- Now this is a sci-fiy look while still saying magical girl. The tail is yet another weird thing, and I could go without the permeant ring behind her, but the shape of her outfit is very good, and love the silly heart hair. Wish the gloves were a different color? But this is up there

Tepsekemei- Genie outfits being problematic isn’t something I can speak to, but this is a solid genie look with additions to feel different, specifically the lotuses. It’s good, and I haven’t seen flying turtles since love hina so. Good for her.

Mana- You’re not a magical girl. Maybe I just hate bibs? The hat is great and snake leg is fun, I wish her collar was actually smaller to stand out more? It’s a fine mage look i guess

Hana Gekokujou- Great use of hair color as contrast to a committed color scheme. A cute traditional bunny look. Not personally my favorite but it is Good.

7753- Big Coat! Giant heart braids! Consistent heart theme! It’s bland compared to a lot of the other outfits, and I don’t think her flat heart uhh hair? pieces? like rain pow? work as well with her. But I think she works well for a member of the resources department. Wait is her hat backwards? Amazing

Archfiend Pam- I’m mostly a fan of this. The top is great, it’s carried through at one hip, she has the weird arm guy to keep her asymmetry going on. I just wish she’d commit to either fur Or pleats as trim? Both is a weird texture choice

Pythie Frederica- This bitch took a while for her proper appearance. I love the horns on the hood, and the stars throughout work well. I really don’t care for her skirtdress though? It’s too long and in ribbons and feels almost jellyfish-y? I feel it’s supposed to feel like she’s standing in fire but that doesn’t work pass a glance for me

Tot Pop- Love hot topic. Her spiky ribbon is my favorite bit, and I’m a fan of oversized sleeves. A great mall goth look, not amazing as a magical girl look tho. The head decor feels most on brand for the genre.

Punkin- What if the three musketeers were murderous and royalty. I love the hair feather and dig the ruff, the cape honestly feels like overkill? The boots are great and I dig the pants. Once again, why tails. I know mahou-furbies has reviewed a lot of these girls with the same comment and she’s right. Pick red or blue for this look though.

Sonia Bean- Kindof busy, in a garbage way. Like her outfit is made of fancy garbage to make an old timey doll. Which is fitting. Love the dress shape. Less into the weird dangly poofs.

Jokers:

Princess Inferno- The whole princess line works well together. Quake has the least Team outfit but I feel all four work well together? Inferno’s bikini is a smidge above other tops with the fire shapes, and I like her hair, but I think she’s my least favorite princess.

Princess Deluge- Swirls and scales throughout? Armor? Gold jewelry? My biggest issue is the chain to the weapon because this is a really nice outfit.

Princess Quake- Why does your tail start in the middle of the back? I like her leotard and eye theme, and her head piece adds nice shape. Good asymmetry. shame she’s into children The hair gem is a fun touch

Princess Tempest- The apples are a weird touch? Good for color but weird as a theme? I love the leaves- honestly I’m a huge fan of the vaguely toga-y look. Are the apples supposed to be an atlanta thing? Her skirt could be a bit better but Nice

Prism Cherry- Princess of our hearts. What a color scheme. Her oversized dangly accents work well here I feel, and I love the skirt and the leaf looking ribbon behind the neck. I could do without the arm fluff, but the top garter for the skirt is a nice touch

Marika Fukuroi- My wife is a bitch and I like her so much. A much more vibrant outfit than most of the mgrp girls, the black is edgy but in a fun loud way. I love her skirt and every damn crazy flower. Her top is my least favorite with the smaller flowers connecting her top to her bottom and the frills that honestly are out of place. Great eyes

Styler Mimi- A fancy outfit that fits her theme, with a nice silhouette and simple color scheme. Ruined by the giant back powder puffs. Yes she would be fairly simple without those but they’re so garish and awkward. Good hair

Stanczyka- I thought her middrif was another hunk of plaster like the mask and now that I see it’s just skin with some stars :/ The whole head thing is good, and the fur is consistent throughout even if I’m not a fan of it. The giant sleeves are. weird. I want to like them but. Her swirly tiddys are a nice touch. The brown hair on the tail doesn’t fit

Lady Proud- For someone who lived for a lot of pages I do not remember her. Her leotard works with the sleeves to feel like an old timey dress and the way the cape is being held up to look like bat wings is nice. The green layer in her hair is an odd choice. I do dig the hair clips with the horns

Umbrain- Froggy slicker. ...Sakura did it better, the yellow and purple&red is a meh color combo sorry. I do love the candy additions for the ame(rain) ame(candy) play, and her umbrella is great. But once again I am confronted by a bib. Also her slicker is actually two pieces? Bad colors, bad body, good theme

Filru- I like the colors and the corset, and in theory the chunky knitting is very cute but I feel it’s at odds with the boots and corset. Make the whole thing chunky knitting- it’d be cute. The head doily also could be more on theme imo

Uttakatta- again, what did you do? giant overalls are good in theory, but the slits and the. bubbles? clear donuts. are just ugly. Honestly her whole look is not good, and a bubble theme has so much potential for cool shit :(

Kafuria- good use of colors, I’m not personally into the shape of her kimono as a mg dress, but the wings and the veil+such are nice

Grim Heart- this bitch. God her dress is a great shape. I think i’m not fully into her spade tail ribbons, but otherwise love? The flamingo is Silly but again as an alice fan, i do not care (ask me about kagihime for 10000 words of rage!)

Shufflin- the tiny bib haunts me but the big double sides apron card piece is a nice way to do the simple and versatile Card look. The hair is cute and i like the suit as a big piece behind the head

Aces:

Armor Arlie- chunky suit of armor. but Cute. as an armor fan in MG designs, even I think this is A Bit Much, but it has enough going for it that i think it’s a fun look

Bluebell Candy- once again Maruino kills it with using navy very nicely. A military vibe with the epilates and double breasted uhh skirt decor. honestly shocked the hat is center, and mm good hair happenings. A very nice design. still not into the weird fluff tail stuff

Dark Cutie- Great hair decorations, love the lunar details, seems to be a leotard over leggings? It’s nice. It’s not crazy grabbing or stands out that much in silhouette, but i do like it

Micchan the Dictionary- tying your coat around your neck is not valid, motarboards are not good magical girl accessesories, i personally have an owl vendetta, the red in her shoes appears no where else, and the shape of her dress is just weird. plus that hair is. not good. Oh wow. I might rank her lower than keek. oh Wow

Glassianne- this is just that alcreamie pokemon. i wish the exposed strawberry went all the way down instead of there being more icing along the bottom. she has a consistent theme and nice colors, i’m not not digging it

Uluru- said dog. 7753 and tama’s child. she looks warm but not super magical. why is she dog themed?

Sorami Nakano- gamer aesth. I could do without the hair paws, but the jumper is super cute, love the eyes and the hair tones, general color scheme, bandaid is a cute touch. A solid look.

Premium Sachiko- good colors, i like the cut of the sleeves/boots/dress, but her art has her legs blend together and that’d just the art but weird. nice use of four leaf clovers and horseshoes throughout for her luck theme. 

CG Angel Hammer- I like the flowers and the bones tail/wings. The halo thing is. odd, and it’s hard to get a great idea of her actual outfit. weird hair choice, tiny bottom but at least it has some frills. Needs more art

Patricia- acab. great colors tho and I like the shapes for the shoulders and wrist, and the light theme. The bright blue ribbons and earrings stand out well. This is actually a really solid design. 

Puk Puck- i hate this baby angel there’s too much to look at. Your bondage leg is weird! cute chest piece. you can’t have cloud swirls and drills for hair damn it. your halo also has a veil? fuck you. 6/10.

Best Outfits: Princess Tempest and Grim Heart Worst Outfits: Keek and Micchan the Dictionary and Uttakatta

[tomiokai]

Between The Pages || Spencer Reid

Masterlist

{not my gif, originally posted by @toyboxboy​}

A/N: Honestly there are so many cafe AU’s and it’s crazy how I’ve read so many of them. But per usual I wanted to write my own version with my own twisty twist. This fic has literally taken me so long to write! I just sometimes couldn’t find the motivation to write it and then I’ll just abandon it for a period of time and I HATE writing two fics at a time because I personally can’t do it because, I’m a control freak and everything needs to be in order so if you’re a writer and you can write two fics at a time, please teach me, you’re so gifted. IMPORTANT! Spencer had to go to prison and got out around February and May but this fic is set around the Christmas season so just roll with it. Fake dates. They aren’t real!! If you are not happy with this AU, the door is that way. ——> Also I write in Canadian English so some of the words might look weird. 

Summary: Y/n works at a very unique cafe, it’s a cafe plus a library, where there are shelves of the most classic books to the new poorly written rom-coms. A perfect, warm, and cozy place, to read, study, or even to hang out. Spencer Reid was one of the usual there and he may or may not have swept Y/n off her feet over the years. A poorly written rom-com following the lives of Y/n and Spencer Reid. Anti prison to post-prison Spencer.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Category: Fluff

Warning: Fluff. Angst if you squint. 

Word Count: 7.3k

_

November 30th:

‘Between The Pages’ was quite the most unusual name for a cafe, I had thought when I first started working here. The cafe was a cozy little building sandwiched between two bigger buildings, bringing all the attention it deserved away from it, but that’s how I had liked it. Only the usual elite that know about this place and a few drop by’s once in a while ever enters the small building, everyone who comes into the shop falls in love with it immediately, giving them a sense of home. The insides of the shop gave you old fashion tiny cute library vibes. The walls were covered in bookshelves full of books ranging from the classics to the very new ones that I would bring in every time I made my way to the book shop eight streets down. Through the door to your left was the display case for all the delicious baked goods and the counter where you place your order and pay. Where the door was, there were two windows and on one side there was a small comfy couch with a small wooden coffee table in front of it and the other had two couches facing each other with a coffee table in the center (the couples hot spot). Smack in the center of the room was a big round table where the college girls like to camp out for their study sessions, and around the room were numerous armchairs and giant fuzzy bean bags. The area was filled with warm colours, dark greens, dark reds, beiges, and browns. Small plants and succulents hung out around the windowsills and tables giving the area a nice nature vibe. 

Memorizing each and everyone’s orders was my very special skill. The usuals were a group college girls (a new set every four years) that come for their study sessions every Friday and Saturday, a group of teen boys that storm the bakery section of the cafe once a week during their lunch break, a nice middle-aged lawyer that stops by every morning for coffee, which might I add had given me his business card, says if we ever needed help we should call him, two young couples that regularly have double dates, a few other individuals, and a very nice looking man around my age. He was my favourite customer, he came to the shop almost everyday ordering a single large cup of coffee with milk and loads of sugar, but when it became fall his coffee would be switched to a pumpkin spice latte. 

Between The Pages have become my home the second I graduated college. The little old lady who owned this shop had taken me in as a daughter of her own, and I had my own room above the shop. I was a writer at heart, I loved writing stories that I would usually share with the bunch of college girls and my colleague Chloe who might also be my best friend. The life I’m living in was humble yet the best, I couldn’t think of another way to live. This shop gave me time to pursue my love of writing and interact with some of the best people I have ever met. I earn enough money that I am comfortable with, and live a life nicely, considering if I wasn’t here I would be nowhere. Let’s just say all my living known relatives are all gone after an explosive fire at a family reunion I had not attended in my Junior year of College.  Call it lucky but unlucky. 

Today was a quiet day, Thursday. The group of teen boys had already passed by causing Chloe and me to rebake today’s special treats again. Chloe was a wedding photographer (she’s here usually 60% of the time) but she also loved hanging out with me so much so that she got a job here with me after the year we graduated from college. We were literally joint to the hip together, ever since grade three when I first threw up on her because she showed me a disturbing picture of a giant spider with wings. We were in each other’s same classes, had millions of sleepovers, and we even went to the same college together. She lived in the room right beside mine, so yeah we are literally joint to the hip. I baked the sweets and made the drinks while Chloe usually took care of the sandwiches, wraps, and organizing everyday menu items. 

“I noticed that your boyfriend didn’t come today,” Chloe said as she grabbed out a freshly baked tray of cookies. 

“For the last time Chloe, Spencer isn’t my boyfriend,” I said rolling my eyes as I snatched a cookie off of her tray. 

“Ugh yeah, you guys literally look in love every time you see each other.” Chloe shot back. 

“Not true” I snapped.

“Not to mention your crippling crush on the guy.” Chloe sang with a smug lip on her lips. 

My eyes flew open and scanned the empty cafe. “You’re lucky no one’s here,” I said flipping her off. 

“Just watch Y/n. I better be your wedding photographer.” Chloe laughed stacking the freshly baked cookies in a perfect tower in the display case. 

“Not happening as much as I want it to happen.” I laughed back biting into the cookie in my hand.

 For the past few years, Spencer was the only person I had a crush on, he was always here and it just felt as if we had known each other for years, which isn’t a lie considering I have worked in this cafe since senior year of college and he started coming not long after. We got along very well and we always talked in the morning when he waited for his coffee. We knew so much about each other yet so little. 

“Is it okay if you run this place a few more hours on your own? I have some unfinished wedding photos to edit, one being editing the mother in laws white dress to another colour,” Chloe said as she removed her apron.

“How does one not know to never wear white to a wedding that’s not theirs, but yeah sure,” I responded pulling out a stool from under the counter. 

I watched as Chloe made her way to the back room where the staircase was and turned back around pulling out my laptop to the horror story I was currently writing. 

As I typed chapter twelve of my story the little bell on our shop door rang and my head turned to the grandfather clock in the corner and saw it was two hours before closing and then to the door. 

There stood Spencer, unusual to say the least he usually comes in the mornings. He was in dress pants with a dress shirt and a purple tie, unusual again, but as always his hair was tousled around wore a huge smile on his pink lips, travel bag hanging from his shoulders, and book in hand. 

“Hey!” I called brightly hopping off the stool I sat on. 

“Hey Y/n,” Spencer said back as he made his way to his favourite seat at the back of the room. 

“The usual?” I asked. 

“You know it,” Spencer answered sitting down and opening his big book. 

I smiled as I got out Spencer’s favourite mug, a simple black mug with a single purple stripe running through the middle of the cup. It always amazed me how fast he was able to read, spending basically seven seconds on each page. 

I poured Spencer’s coffee into the mug and added milk and loads of sugar into it. I picked the mug up and grabbed a slice of strawberry cheesecake and a fork and slowly made my way to where Spencer was seated. 

“Here I said, setting the mug and cheesecake onto the small coffee table in front of him. I then made my way to sit in the armchair right across from him. 

Spencer looked at the cheesecake and then at me quizzically. 

“It’s on me,” I said, realizing.  

“Oh no I can’t do that,” Spencer said, pulling out a few extra bills and holding them across the table for me. 

“No, really it’s on me.” I laughed pushing his hand back to him. 

Spencer closed his book and set it on the table and picked up the slice of cheesecake the fork and took a bite. “This is some good cheesecake.” He pointed out.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. “Hey, you usually come here bright and early in the mornings. What's with the sudden change?” I asked out of curiosity. 

“Oh, I just got off from a long day of work and wanted to come here and relax,” Spencer answered, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Wow, we’ve known each other for literally years now and I still don’t know what you do for a living, mind as I ask,” I questioned watching him. 

He set his coffee down and answered, “Oh I work for the FBI, I’m a profiler. What about you? Any other jobs other than here?” He asked out of curiosity.

“Wow, very impressive..” I laughed. Spencer joined in. “This is actually my only job, aside from another thing,” I responded. 

“Well, since I told you that I’m an FBI agent, will you tell me YOUR very secret job?” Spencer spoke.

“If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret,” I responded arching an eyebrow.

Spencer exaggerated his thinking face, looking up to the ceiling then back to me with a grin, “I will,” he said. 

“Well, I’m an author. But you won’t find my books by searching my name, I have a pen name.” I said as I stood up. I ran to a nearby shelf and took out one of the hard copy books and ran back. I hid it behind my back and spoke again. “Remember, secret,” I said sternly.

“Secret,” Spencer repeated, bringing his fingers to his lips to ‘seal’ his lips. 

I laughed as I pulled the book from behind my back and handed it to Spencer. 

Spencer scanned the book and looked back up at me with a shocked look on his face. “This is one of my favourite modern-day books,” Spencer exclaimed.

My face immediately lit up and I asked, “Really?”

Spencer nodded his head eagerly. 

I leaned back into my chair and whispered. “Wow, for a guy who reads like 100 books a month, he actually thinks mine is really good.” 

 Spencer broke out in a laugh and said, “I actually have the first edition copy of this,” placing the book onto the table. 

I sat back up straighter this time and exclaimed, “I’m actually writing a new horror book right now and my writing has improved a significant amount after I was done reading one of Shakespeare’s books.”

“Mind if I take a peak?” Spencer asked, finishing his cheesecake. 

I mocked him and looked to the ceiling with a finger on my cheek “thinking really hard’. “No.” I laughed.

“Why not, I won’t tell.” Spencer jokingly pleaded.

“Still no,” I laughed, “but once it’s finished I’ll let you have the first copy before I officially launch it.”

“I better be first to read it, I’m like your biggest fan.” He laughed. 

“False,” I answered, “my biggest fan is actually a lady named Penelope Garcia that sent me a huge gift basket, with a letter that proclaimed her love for my books.” 

“Wait did you say, Penelope Garcia?” Spencer asked looking shocked.

“Yeah. Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No, no, nothing wrong,” Spencer laughed, “She’s actually my colleague.”

“What a small world,” I responded amazed. 

“Yeah, now I have to fight her for number one fan,” Spencer said with amusement in his voice.

“Oh we’ll have to see Agent Reid,” I joked. 

“Actually it’s Doctor,” Spencer corrected. 

“Wait but you’re an agent,” I stated.

“Yes, but I’m titled doctor,” Spencer said matter of factly. 

“Alright Doctor Reid,” I laughed. 

We sat together discussing multiple things with each other and we just clicked. Lucky for him, he got me to spill a little on the new book I was writing and even gave me a few ideas from some of the cases he has dealt with. I asked him about his job and he immediately started talking joyfully, he really loved his job. He also talked about his team a lot.  

“Hey lovebirds,” I heard someone call. My head whipped around towards the counter and glared at Chloe so hard.

“We’re just talking,” I called back with annoyance dripping from my voice. I turned back around towards Spencer and saw that he was very flustered, his cheeks were all rosy and red. This made me blush seeing him blush. “I’m sorry for my friend, she’s a little crazy in the head,” I whispered the last part.

“No, no that’s fine,” Spencer laughed. He had found it amusing.  

Ring, Ring. 

Spencer pulled out his phone and held up a finger to his lips. His face was blank throughout the whole conversation, at times his demeanor would stiffen. After his phone call, he started chugging the rest of his coffee, and putting his satchel on, “I’m really sorry, duty calls,” He said.

“Hey wait, here I’ll pack some sweets for your team.” I got up quickly scurrying towards the desert display.

“Oh no you don’t have to do that,” Spencer said, a small smile on his lips. 

“No, no I insist, we’re closing in like 5 minutes anyways, we can’t let these go to waste,” I answered, grabbing out a light purple desert box and placing multiple chocolate chip cookies,  slices of pie and cake into the box. I closed it up and ran back over to Spencer and handed the box to him. His hands brushed against mine when he took the box from my hands and butterflies erupted in my stomach. 

I bit my lip and smiled, “See you, hopefully, tomorrow,” I said.  

“Maybe. Unless the case is going to be overnight, thanks for the sweet, it was really sweet of you.” Spencer responded with a wink pushing the door to the shop open.

“Bye!” I yelled back as he left through the door.

I turned away from the door with a big smile forming on my pink lips. I walked over to the table where we sat and picked up the mug, fork, and plate and carried them over to where Chloe was washing the dishes. 

“Dude you’re whipped.” Chloe laughed, drying the wet dishes. 

“I know,” I responded with a big smile still on my face. 

-

December 1st:

It was early in the morning and I was down extra early to bake pastries and cakes, the sign was switched to open and Chloe was sitting criss-cross applesauce by the special menus board drawing cute little cartoons. After I put in the last tray of danishes into the oven I started up the coffee pot for the early birds. Mornings at Between The Pages were always calm and peaceful, Chloe and I would both wake up, do our parts and not talk till 11:00 am enjoying each other's silence, then the morning guests were always calm and nice too, we would exchange some friendly words, I would give them their coffee and they’ll wave goodbye and leave. Here at the cafe, there's no such thing as a lunch rush so that's a big weight lifted off Chloe and I’s shoulders. 

As I was frosting the danishes the bell that hung on our door rang. I looked up from my frosting to see Spencer in a black suit walk in, my face immediately lit up but then dropped when a blonde female walked in right after him. The female had pretty blonde hair that was in loose curls with small butterfly clips on either side of her head and perfectly cut bangs, she wore a pretty light pink dress with black lace on it, over top of her dress she had a cute white cropped cardigan. Never would I have expected her to be his type, but no one’s judging, I personally loved her style, although I was jealous of her. Maybe they're just friends. Hopefully. 

I put on the best smile that I can manage and walked to the cash register and quietly waited for them to walk to me. Before I could register what was happening the blonde lady rushed up to me with a squeal and excitedly said, “Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia, Spencer’s coworker, you must be Y/n, Spencer was talking about. Oh and thank you so much for the sweets yesterday! The whole team loved them.” 

Spencer was talking about me?? That was what hit first, then reality. “Nice to meet you and yeah I am Y/n, and I’m glad you liked the treats!” I happily said back. I already liked her completely leaving my jealousy behind me. I turned to Spencer next and smiled even bigger, “Hey Spencer. You want usual?” 

“Hey Y/n, yeah the usual,” Spencer responded smiling back at me.

“And you Penelope?” I turned back to her. 

“Oh I’ll take a french vanilla with whipped cream and mini marshmallows please,” Penelope responded. 

“Hey! I’m Chloe!” Chloe cheerfully explained coming up from behind me and wrapping her left arm around my shoulder. “I’m Y/n’s best friend!”

“Hey, Chloe.” Spencer and Garcia said at the same time, causing everyone to laugh. 

“Chloe, could you get their drinks for me?” I asked walking to the back table to pick up a dessert box.

“Yeah sure,” She said to me then turned back to Spencer and Penelope. “Just a moment.”

I picked up the desert box and started placing two dozen danishes in it. They were  strawberry, blueberry, and chocolate cream danishes. I closed off the box and walked over to Penelope and Spencer. “On the house, for the team,” I said handing the box to Spencer with a wink. 

“Y/n! This is too nice of you, here let me pay.” Spencer rumbled reaching for a few more bills from his wallet.

“Spencer no, it's on the house,” I laughed, pushing his hands away. 

“Are you sure Y/n?” He asked.

“YES,” I exclaimed. 

“Oh you're the sweetest Y/n,” Penelope squealed joyfully, as Chloe handed them their drinks.

 “Be safe!” I called to Spencer and Penelope as they walked out the door of the cafe.

“We’ll try.” They responded together before disappearing around the corner. 

My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at the closed door, my mind never leaving the picture of Spencer smiling in my mind. How was I supposed to do anything if all I could think about is Spencer Reid? That stupid adorable smile of his whips me up every time. I snapped myself out of my trance and picked up my piping bag filled with creamy cream cheese icing and resumed icing the uniced danishes. 

The morning came and went in a blur, regular customers and newcomers here and there, the danishes were a hit and sold out fast with the coffee ordered. I was currently mixing some brownie batter when my favourite group of college girls walked in, they took their usual afternoon seats at the center round table and started pulling out their laptops, textbooks, and homework. 

“Usuals?” I asked as I already started their lattes and mochas.

“As always!” Cherry White, one of the blonde girls replied, rapidly typing on her laptop. 

After I poured their drinks into mugs for the girls I brought the mugs to their table. Their heads were all buried inside their textbooks and laptops studying feverishly. I placed all their orders by each girl and watched as they intently worked. Papers and pens were already scattered everywhere in a short time, laptops open and bright as the clicking of the keyboards filled the warm homey air. 

“Studying for midterms, girls?” I asked as I placed the last girl's coffee by her hand. 

A few of them responded with a quick ‘yup’ and went straight back to their studies.

I went back to baking my brownies while daydreaming about Spencer. The thing’s I would let that man do to me, I thought as I placed the brownies into the oven. 

I pulled out my own laptop and continued from where I left off from yesterday night, the chapter I was currently working on was almost done and I had used some of Spencer’s great ideas. Trying my best to focus on the task at hand my mind just kept slipping away to Spencer and the conversations he and I had had yesterday night. 

“Look!” I heard Darcy Shawma, a cute Asian girl with braces say. She was pointing to the windows by the front of the shop. Following her fingers' direction, I find soft snow falling from the afternoon sky. I sighed in awe as it was the first snowfall of the season indicating it was the perfect time to start baking Christmas sweets. 

Ditching chapter 13 of my book, I pulled up a new search tab and began scavenging google for the best Christmas baking recipes. As I searched I could already just taste the delicious gingerbread in my mouth and the sweet smell of sugar cookies. This had reminded me that I needed to get the annual Christmas tree out soon. This year I had already decided that I would get Spencer Reid a Christmas present. We’d known each other for so long now I just thought it would be a good idea. 

For the rest of that night, I surfed the net for yummy Christmas treats to bake and possible presents for Spencer. 

-

December 2nd:

The next day Spencer was a no show. Not thinking much of it I assumed he was away on a case as usual. Chloe and I started putting up the Christmas decorations. 

-

December 6th: 

He hadn’t showed up again for the fifth day in a row now. It could just be a long case, nothing to be too worried about. The book was going great. I was now halfway done. 

-

December 13th: 

Now I was getting worried. He never in his life has done this. He never not came back after a week. I didn’t have any contact with him so I had no way to know whether he was out on a very long case or he got hurt or if he got tired of the place or oven ME. 

-

December 14th:

I had gone full panic mode. When he hadn’t shown up in the morning I had a whole meltdown on Chloe’s shoulder. She tried telling me maybe he was just away on his own holiday but I didn’t believe her because every year he would tell me. 

-

December 16th:

To cope with Spencer being gone for so long I decided to start decorating gingerbread houses. They turned into piles of gingerbread frosting and candy, they looked as if they were going to be a part of Halloween rather than Christmas. They failed big time. That afternoon the group of College girls came by and they had gotten me a present! I was shocked and very flattered that they thought of me. They explained that it was their senior year of College and that next year they would be leaving, they noticed that I was constantly typing on my laptop that they had gotten me a brand new and updated laptop. The rest of the afternoon we hung out and decorated the leftover gingerbread houses together before they left for their holiday vacation with their families and friends. 

-

December 20th: 

Once again I had another meltdown but this time there were no witnesses, we had closed down for the holidays and Chloe was off in New York with her family. She invited me to come with her but I politely declined and stayed behind in case Spencer came. The book was finally done and the first rough copy was printed. After the holiday’s I would bring my book to my publishing company and they could take care of it from there. As for the first copy as promised, I tied the stack of paper that formed a story with a single red ribbon running horizontally and vertically across the book with a pretty bow in the center for Spencer. It was the best gift from my heart. Along with the first copy of my book, I wrote Spencer a letter of confession where I poured my heart out about my feelings for him. 

Dear Dr. Spencer Reid,

Merry Christmas! You’ve been gone for a really long time. I hope you’re doing alright! It’s so unusual not to make your daily coffee loaded with sugar. Chloe started asking about you too. We miss you, you know? 

I miss you.

We’ve known each other for so long now. Ever since I graduated from University you started coming here too. You fell in love with the place just like I did, I could tell by the expressions on your face. Ever since that day you started coming every possible day possible. I baked a strawberry cheesecake today in hopes the smell will attract you back. Sadly it didn't. 

When you walk in through that door everyday my day immediately gets 100x better. Your smile literally radiates serotonin to me. (Please don’t correct me on that, I know that’s impossible.) I really miss your smile, your voice, and your everything really. I wish you would walk through that door right now. 

By now you have probably picked up that I like you, I make it very obvious. I LIKE YOU SPENCER REID. There I said it. Chloe has been egging me on for forever to tell you. The day you walked through that door I fell for you hard, I was young and naive but even now that I have grown into an intelligent woman I still like you, you’re something else, Spencer. 

I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship, Spencer. I really like what we have right now but if it could grow into something more I would love that. 

Bottom line I think I love you, Spencer. God, I don’t think. I do! I love you so much! My heart hurts when I don’t see you, it hurts me when I think about you getting hurt or even seeing you with other girls. I love you, Spencer. I hope you’re safe and you’re having a good Christmas. 

With unhealthy amounts of love, Y/n Y/l/n.

-

December 25th: 

He didn’t come again. I left his gift leaning on the glass of the cafe with Spencer’s name written in loopy holiday cursive indicating it was for him and that he’d know it was for him and pick it up if he decided to walk past. He didn’t. For Christmas that year, I sat at the armchairs by the fireplace drinking hot cocoa and eating gingerbread cookies while watching SpongeBob cartoons on my new laptop. To be honest it was a sad way to spend Christmas. 

-

December 31st:

The cafe was re-opened up again. Spencer’s gift was tucked inside a cabinet where I kept my personal things downstairs. He still didn’t come. The worry was now burning inside me. I thought about just showing up at the FBI and asking for Spencer, but he and I weren’t anything. I had no reason to be there. 

-

January 5th:

My book was now officially launched. I tried holding it back for as long as I could but the due date was fast approaching and I had no choice but to publish it. The copies sold out fast and I already got new fan mail. I may have promised Spencer he would be the first person to read it but he was late and never showed up but he would still have the first-ever copy if he ever came back I suppose. Chloe also got back!

-

January 17th: 

The teenage boy’s stormed the bakery. The college girls finally return. The old lady, Granny Lizzie I would call her that owned the shop passed away sadly.

-

January 20th:

It was a sad day, it was Granny Lizzie’s funeral. I inherited the cafe in her will. 

-

January 29th:

Snowstorm. 

-

February 7th:

Chloe’s birthday! We shut down the cafe for three days and she and I flew out to LA together to celebrate her birthday. Lots of drinking. Maybe even a hookup. 

-

February 14th:

Chloe got asked out. No Spencer. Valentine day dates overflow the cafe. Red velvet cheesecake cookies, big hit. 

-

February 26th:

Started on a new book. More mental breakdowns. I really missed Spencer. Snow is gone now.

-

March 4th:

 Discovered one of the couples got divorced and no longer came to the cafe. Bummer they were really nice. 

-

March 20th: 

Rain. Closed off early to lay in the rain on the top of the roof. Relaxing. Cried for Spencer. 

-

March 26th: 

Spencer! 

-

10 minutes until closing.

The bell to the cafe rang and I boringly glanced at the door, not a single interest in me. I hadn’t seen Spencer in so long I gave up in hope. A tall man appeared in the doorway, he had longish curly hair and wore a tight black suit with a purple tie. It took me a moment to realize who it was.

“SPENCER!” I yelled as he approached the counter; the way he walked and carried himself changed, he no longer had a doubt in his steps, his strides were now confident and long. He carried himself with confidence and security and looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, he was more relaxed now and not uptight and stiff. 

My whole mood changed completely, I was no longer sad or bored and was now full of energy and excitement. Ditching the register I ran around back to get to the other side of the counter. As soon as I was close enough to Spencer I jumped into his arms and squeezed him tight. Immediately he responded and hugged me tight and held my weight. 

“Where were you?” I whispered, not letting Spencer go. 

“I was in prison,” He whispered back, his voice cracking. 

“Wait what?” I asked in disbelief but that wasn’t enough for me to let go of him. It didn’t matter. 

“I was framed for murder,” He responded no hesitation. 

I immediately relaxed again and melted away in the hug. 

“I missed you!” I grumbled, finally pulling away from the hug. 

“I know, I missed you too,” Spencer whispered. 

“Can I just kiss you!” I blurted out suddenly. 

Not needing to be told twice Spencer immediately captured my lips in his. His lips were what I had imagined soft against mine, and moulded perfectly into mine. The kiss was sweet but also hungry yet still gentle, his hands held my waist as mine tangled into his soft curls. It was probably the best kiss I have ever had. Scratch that it was the best kiss I’ve ever had. 

“I have something for you,” I whispered, pressing my forehead against his, our nose tickling each other. 

“Mhm, and what’s that?” He asked, smiling. 

“Go grab a seat,” I responded, already running around the corner to get Spencer’s very late Christmas present. 

Swinging open the cabinet door excitedly, I grabbed my wrapped gift for Spencer. 

Gripping the three-month-old gift tightly, I made my way quickly back to where Spencer was sitting. Our spot, I would like to say. 

“This is for you,” I said, handing him the gift with a wide smile. “You were supposed to receive it on Christmas,” I finished with a shrug. 

“You didn’t have to Y/n,” Spencer said, unwrapping the gift.

“I definitely had too,” I reassured with a warm smile.

“Y/n is this what I think it is?” Spencer asked, picking up the first-ever copy of my semi-new book. 

“Mhm, as promised Spencer you get the first copy, even though you weren’t able to be the first one to read it.” I shrugged. 

“This is great! I don’t mind, it was something both of us couldn’t control,” Spencer responded, picking up the letter I had written for him. 

“Read it!” I exclaimed.

Spencer nodded and unfolded the perfectly folded letter. It barely took him a minute to read the letter, it looked as if he just scanned the letter with his eyes but in reality he definitely memorized it. After his eyes landed at the bottom of the page he slowly looked back up to meet my eyes. 

“I love you too,” He breathed. 

“I’m s-sorry can you say that again, I heard you the first time, I just need to re-hear you again to make sure,” I stuttered happy tears escaping my eyes. 

Whipping the tears away Spencer leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Y/n Y/l/n I love you.”

“This is probably the best thing that has happened to me ever since my Junior year of University.” I happily cried. 

“Me too,” Spencer said.

“Does this mean we’re together?” I asked suddenly. 

“Yes, this does,” He responded.

“Good. I’ve waited for this for so long,” I breathed. 

“All throughout prison you were the only thing I thought about, other than getting out and trying to stay alive,” Spencer said.

“That’s flattering yet scary,” I responded with a light chuckle. 

“I guess it is,” Spencer responded. 

-

April 5th:

“SPENCER, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING! THE DRY INGREDIENTS AND THE WET INGREDIENTS NEED TO BE SEPARATE,” I yelled as I dumped burnt to crisp cinnamon buns down the garbage shoot. They were like pieces of black coal that were steaming a very unpleasant smell. 

“I forgot!” Spencer yelled back, unsuccessfully cracking an egg. 

There were three more hours until opening happened and baking was not being done. Well, it was being done, just very poorly. Spencer asked to come over very early in the morning to help me bake, he had reassured me that he would be helpful but right now he’s not really living up to his promise. 

Two batches. That’s it, two good batches was all we got out of a dozen.  

“I thought baking was easier,” Spencer puffed, ditching the eggs and plopping down onto a stool. 

“It’s just math and science Spencer,” I laughed. 

“Well it’s complicated,” He pouted. 

“Oh, boo-hoo,” I mocked, rubbing my eyes, fake crying. 

-

May 21st:

Chloe got engaged! So her date went well I would assume. I’m so excited, the weddings going to be so amazing!

-

May 30th:

CHLOE ASKED ME TO BE HER MAID OF HONOUR!!!!!!! It’s party time bitchessssss. 

-

June 3rd:

“SURPRISE!” Was the first thing I heard walking in through the doors of the cafe. Looking around the whole cafe was decorated in streamers and balloons for my birthday. 

“You guys! You didn’t have to do this!” I exclaimed. 

“But we did!” Spencer said kissing my cheek. Taking my hand in his he spoke again, “Come meet the team.”

I immediately stiffened at the thought of meeting Spencer’s team. He most likely noticed this and gave my hand a small squeeze. “Don’t worry they’ll love you,” He reassured. 

“I’m counting you on that,” I whispered. 

-

July 25th: 

Chloe’s wedding is today! The day was perfect and sunny for a beach wedding, everyone who was invited to their wedding flew out to California for their beach wedding. The groom’s name was Ricky Polern and he was actually a pretty nice guy, funny, and respectful. 

I brought Spencer with me as a plus one to the wedding and Spencer gladly came with me. Although I had to push some buttons with his team to drag him with me. 

The wedding was spectacular and everyone had lots of fun, the food was great, and fortunately, there was no case to steal Spencer away from me. Spencer and I even had our first slow dance together. He looked so handsome in the dim light and he had told me I was the one he wanted to grow old with. I cried tears of joy. 

I caught the bouquet! 

-

August 7th: 

David Rossi invited me over to dinner to get to know me better, it was VERY scary at first but he ended up loving me. Chloe was also finally moved out, it was very sad but we promised to call everyday.

-

August 22nd: 

Spencer proposed! I think I might die of happiness. I will die of happiness. 

-

“Spencer, what are we doing out here on the roof so late at night?” I asked as Spencer dragged me onto the roof. 

“I have something to show you!” Spencer excitedly responded. 

Spencer had set up a table with red table cloth and vanilla-scented candles with perfectly placed table utensils. All of it seemed so cliche but it was adorable coming from Spencer. 

Spencer pulled out a seat for me to sit at and I chuckled and gave a little curtsy before sitting.  Pushing me in gently making sure he didn’t push me in too much he ran over to his side of the table and sat down too. “So do you like it?” He asked.

“Spencer this is great,” I answered.

Spencer’s smile widened and he looked as if he was a child again and he had just discovered he was going to DisneyLand.

Pulling out a very delicious looking strawberry cheesecake out of a picnic basket, Spencer set it down between us and said, “I have successfully backed a strawberry cheesecake for you Y/n just like how you baked one for me.”

“Spencer you didn’t have too! This is so amazing.” I exclaimed, examining the perfectly baked sweet. 

“It took me a few tries but I did it,” He admitted. 

“What matters is that you did this for me,” I said reassuringly with a warm smile tugging at my lips. 

“Hey could you cut the cake, I need to do something,” Spencer said, handing me a small cake knife before he disappeared out of my sight. 

“Spencer, this has great texture,” I explained cutting into the fluffy cheesecake. 

“Y/n turn around,” I heard Spencer say from behind. 

Not giving it much thought I did. What I saw surprised me completely. Spencer was on one knee and in his hands was a beautiful dark purple velvet box and in it sat a beautiful diamond ring. The ring had a thin silver band and a beautiful perfectly round diamond. 

“I know this is really early in our relationship Y/n, but it feels like I’ve known you for my whole life. You’re the one person that makes me happier than the books I read and you make me feel so special. Your kind, beautiful, smart and you love everyone you meet. That day you met my team they loved you so much Rossi told me to marry you and when you caught the bouquet I knew I had too. Y/n Y/ln will you marry me?” He proposed smiling up at me.

At that moment I fell in love with Spencer all over again, to have him say those things warmed my heart to the fullest. I felt tears in my eyes when I answered, “Yes! Yes! Yes! I would love to marry you!” I cried.

Spencer gently slipped the ring onto my finger and jumped up and brought me into a big hug. Without much thought I crushed my lips onto Spencer and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck. This kiss we shared was beyond special as our bodies pressed together and our lips moved in sync. 

“I love you so much,” I whispered, pulling away.

“I love you more,” Spencer said, reconnecting our lips. 

-

September 1st:

I asked Chloe to be my maid of honour! She said yes! 

-

September 16th: 

I met Spencer’s mother and she was the sweetest person alive, she and I started the planning for the wedding. 

-

September 30th:

Wedding dress shopping!! 

-

October 1st:

Spencer and I had the best time together decorating the cafe with Halloween decorations. It was his favourite holiday and he was definitely living up to the Halloween spirit.

-

October 28th:

It’s Spencer's birthday! The team called me up in secret and we planned a secret birthday party for Spencer. He admitted he figured out we had planned a party for him because he knew we were sneaking around, but he still loved it. Everyone had fun and very very drunk.

-

October 31st:

Spencer unfortunately couldn’t spend Halloween with me this year, he was away on a case. But he promised he would make up for it when he got back.

-

November 15th:

Spencer and I were finally getting married. The wedding was beautiful, nothing grand but it was spectacular. The dress I wore was beautiful but simple, it was sleek and fit me well hugging all my curves and was floor length. Spencer looked very handsome standing at the altar as I was walked by Rossi to him.

The wedding vows were said and both Spencer and I had no hesitation. When we kissed the whole crowd cheered for us. The night was magical the best I’ve ever had, we danced the night away and in the end we took a jet to Sydney Australia for our honeymoon. But not before Chloe took mass amounts of photos of Spencer and me and rubbed the fact that Spencer and I did get married in my face.

It was great. 

-

December 25th: 

Spencer and I had our first Christmas together, it was also the day I told him I was pregnant. He was very excited. We were ready for children.

-

Somewhere in the future:

We had twins, Amelia and Claira Reid! Spencer is the best father ever, he loves his girls so much and would do anything for them. 

We ended up moving in together in a small beautiful house in the same neighborhood as Rossi, who treated them like they were his own grandchildren. I retired from the cafe and became a full-time author writing horror novels. Cherry White and her best friend Rossa Lenney ended up caring on the legacy and I passed on the cafe to her and her best friend. 

As cliche as it sounds, Spencer and I had a happily ever after. 

[aver-no]

Real to Me (Princess and the Frog AU) Chapter 1

First | Next

AO3

Summary: Virgil’s closer than ever to getting his dream, Pat’s prince is finally coming, and the Creativitwins are here, queer, and- shit.

Relationships: Platonic moxiety, familial creativitwins, eventual prinxiety

Characters: Virgil, Patton, Roman, Remus, and Janus (eventually Logan and C!Thomas)

Warnings: Unsympathetic Janus (I promise he gets a redemption arc) and like. one very minor swear word (lmk if I need to add anything else)

Word count:  4343

A/N: Heyyyy... so this chapter. Was NOT meant to be this long lmao, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!! I worked really hard on it, and as always reblogs are very much appreciated :) (Also feel free to drop by my ask box if you have any questions!!)

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Virgil groaned as he fumbled for the off button on his alarm clock. Another day. He rolled out of bed, narrowly avoiding the beat-up nightstand, working the kinks out of his neck. He quickly straightened out his sheets and stepped over to the old (“it’s vintage”) mirror his mama’d given him. Virgil wanted to make sure he was presentable, if only so he’d be stared at as little as possible. He tugged at his tight curls and grimaced. He’d slept in his work clothes to save time in the morning (lord knows he needed all the sleep he could get) but it left him looking a little rumpled. Virgil could see bags under his eyes too, and there was no time to put on makeup. He sighed. The outsides are just gonna have to match the insides today. 

Virgil shuffled over to his closet to grab his coat. He rubbed his eyes and smiled at the sight of his dad’s picture, right next to the illustration he’d given Virgil so many years ago. Working three jobs suddenly didn’t seem as soul-crushing as before. He grabbed the black coat, quickly shrugged it on, and dashed out the door, snatching his hat at the last minute – it might rain later.

Virgil got to the corner just as the tram was pulling up, green paint and white stripes as dull as ever. The door opened and Virgil was eternally grateful someone he knew was at the wheel. He didn’t think he could handle the stress of wondering if they were going to go off the tracks. He gave a small smile to the portly man driving. “Hi, Charlie.”

“Hey Virgil!” Charlie looked him over sympathetically. “You’re lookin’ a bit roughed up today, son. Didn’t get much sleep?”

Virgil internally grimaced, knowing he’d probably be getting comments like that all day. He just forced a laugh as he reached the top of the steps and replied “Gotta pay the bills. You know how it is.” He wasn’t going to mention he could pay the bills just fine with one job. Or that he was probably chasing a pipe dream.

“Ha, yeah,” and a sympathetic look were the only responses Virgil got. That was fine. Uncomfortable people didn’t ask you questions.

Virgil walked down the dirty aisle of the tram. There were some empty seats, the hard plastic kind that public transport always has, but he just grabbed hold of one of the metal poles in the middle of the aisle. 

Every once in a while, Virgil felt his eyes close for a few milliseconds longer than he’d normally let them. He didn’t want to let his guard down, lest he be pickpocketed or trampled or find himself in any other scenario anyone else might call “unlikely,” but it took an astounding amount of effort to pry his lids open every time. Virgil tried to fight it by staring at the people and cars passing by. New Orleans was as lively as ever. Even at 5:30 in the morning, there were jazz musicians playing on street corners and people dancing beside them, looking like there was nowhere else they’d rather be. 

Virgil unfortunately became quite familiar with that fact as he stepped off the tram, almost running into a line of musicians as they paraded down the street. He started to get increasingly impatient as the trumpet, then the trombone, then the drummer danced by. Just as there was a break in the line and Virgil could see the street he needed to take to Duke’s Cafe, a large man with a handkerchief grabbed his hand and swung Virgil around in a circle. Affronted, Virge pushed the man’s hand away and quickly walked in the direction of the restaurant. Some people need to learn personal space.

一

“Wait Remus, I’m going to- ! Oof!”

Cackling could be heard as a fancifully dressed man with loose, dark curls piled on his head slammed into the railing of the ship. 

“But Roman,” Remus said innocently, “I thought you said you were excited to get on land.” He waltzed up to the man pushing himself away from the edge of the boat.

“That doesn’t mean push me off the ship!!” Roman playfully shoved Remus.

“Eh, you didn’t fall or anything,” Remus shrugged.

The other rolled his eyes as the boat slowly pulled up to the docks, allowing the men aboard to see the photographers and reporters waiting to catch a glimpse. As soon as the ship pulled in view, flashes started to go off, capturing its gleaming white hull and a man standing behind the railing. As Roman flashed a practiced grin, Remus stepped away from the railing, as if hoping to prolong the time he had before stepping off the boat. When the ship began to pull to a stop though, the twins walked over to where the stairs led down to the dock, one with excitement in his eyes, the other with distaste. Roman struck a pose, hands on his hips (easy access for elbowing Remus), and flung off his crown to dash down the steps. Remus chased after him, determined not to be left on the boat (again), only pausing when he physically ran into Roman at the bottom of the stairway.

“Ro, what th-?!”

“Prince Roman! Over here!! Did you see you were declared most eligible bachelor by the Times-Picayune?” 

Remus squinted at the reporter that called out to them. To Roman, anyway. Most eligible bachelor? Really?? That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard.

Roman, however, grinned and drifted to the center of the crowd. “Well no, you see, I just arrived, but to say I’m surprised would be-”

“Prince Roman! What do you think of New Orleans? Have you received your invitation to Eli La Bouff’s masquerade?” 

Remus’ expression soured. Masquerades were lame anyway. He tried to push his way toward his brother. “Roman, come on-”

“I’ve found this city quite welcoming so far,” Roman didn’t acknowledge Remus, he just paused to beam around at the crowd, “and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it. In fact-”

“In fact,” Remus cut in, finally reaching that asshole, “we’d enjoy it more if we did some sightseeing.” He shoved Roman away from the crowd without waiting for a response. He hated reporters. He wasn’t even allowed to talk around them because apparently what the press hears is “important to our reputation” and if he doesn’t watch his language, “rumors might spread.” It was one time! And who would actually believe that Roman uses cacti as dildos? The whole thing’s all shit on a stick if you ask him.

“Oh, yes! Sightseeing!!” Roman clapped his hands excitedly and followed Remus off into the city.

一

Roman couldn’t remember when, but at some point he had lost Remus in the busy streets. It was definitely after he’d changed into street clothes, but before he passed the place grilling shrimp… The prince wasn’t too worried about his brother, but having a loose Remus on the town probably wasn’t great for the people of New Orleans. 

Ro’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a trumpet blaring a couple blocks down. His head shot up and he took off down the road, drinking in all the sights around him. Every once in a while, he’d wink at a stranger, or maybe strum his ukulele in tune with the sounds of the city. 

As the prince reached the end of the block, he saw a line of musicians dancing down the street. Roman’s face lit up and he chased after them. When he caught up he strummed along with the group and called, “Mind if I join?”

“Hey, we can always use another!” a dancing man with a handkerchief shouted back.

“Ashidanza!” Roman danced off after the band. These guys’ll probably show me all around the city. 

They walked down several streets, each as exciting as the next. There were so many people milling about, so many smells and sounds, so many lights strung up between balconies, and restaurants on every corner. He flashed his most heart-stopping grins at the people they passed, drawing blushes left and right. His eyes only lingered on a few, before he danced on.

The group of musicians passed by a diner that smelled particularly good, and a tall man with a strong jaw caught Roman’s eye. He spun around, strumming louder to catch the man’s attention all while eyeing him up and down. Tight curls, glowing skin, dark eyes? Looked a little tired, but handsome nonetheless. Yeah, that deserves a wink. But as soon as the man turned away from the table he was cleaning, he just rolled his eyes at Roman’s antics and walked back inside the diner. Roman simply shrugged and lost himself to the music. 

The group continued for a few blocks until they found a fairly empty road and started to really play off each other. Now this is what I signed up for. Roman cheered and whooped along with the others, and slowly a crowd formed.

It’d already been a few hours since he’d seen Remus but… what’s a few minutes longer?

一

“Order up!” Virgil held back a grimace at Buford’s gruff voice and the dinging of the bell. He turned to walk towards the back counter with his tray and pushed imaginary flyaways away from his forehead.

“Another coffee over here, Cher!” The man at a nearby table called.

“Gotcha, Eddie.” Virgil internally sighed and poured the coffee into the cup, eyeing Buford every once in a while to make sure he wasn’t gonna start slamming the bell again.

“Hey Virgil!”

He threw out a quick “Mornin’ Georgia” while placing a woman’s plate down.

“Hey, how you doin’ Virgil?” another voice called.

Virgil finally looked up to find a whole group of people sitting around a table, and hoisted the coffee pitcher off his tray to serve them. “Hey y’all.”

Georgia grabbed the mug he just filled for her. “We’re all goin’ out dancin’ tonight, care to join us?” 

There were some words of assent amongst the group, but Virgil just protested, “You know I don’t dance. Besides, I’m-” he handed a napkin to a dirty four year old he wouldn’t have even come near if it wasn’t his job. “Need a napkin? I’m gonna work a double shift tonight.” Virgil strode over to a well-dressed man putting a napkin around his collar. “Here’s your hotcakes.” He folded his empty tray to his side and turned back to Georgia’s group. “I’m just really busy right now-”

“Again?” Georgia interrupted. “All you ever do is work.” She looked so disappointed Virgil almost felt bad. Almost.

Buford’s bell dinged. “Order up!”

“Maybe next time,” Virgil called over his shoulder, knowing full well it was a lie. He thought he might’ve heard someone say “I told y’all he wouldn’t come.” But that was probably just his imagination.

Buford cut him out of his thoughts, “You daydreaming ‘bout that damn restaurant again?”

Virgil deadpanned. “Buford. Your eggs are burning.”

He scrambled to get them off the griddle, but kept going off on Virgil. “You ain’t never gonna get enough for the down payment.”

“I’m gettin’ close,” the waiter scowled indignantly.

“Yeah? How close?” Buford was just mocking him now.

Virgil pushed down his frustration to demand, “Where are my flapjacks?”

The chef didn’t seem to notice Virgil’s impending anger, just laughing out, “You got about as much chance of getting that restaurant as I do of winning the Kentucky Derby!” Virgil’s lip curled into a snarl, but Buford kept going. “Saddle me up, y’all! It’s post time! Giddyup!” Virgil heard the worst trumpet imitation he’d ever had the displeasure to witness coming from behind him as he stormed off with the food piled on his tray. Just ignore him. Just… just ignore them. You’re getting there. 

The bell dinged and Virgil looked up to welcome the customer, brightening a little when he saw who it was. Thank god. An easy customer. “Morning, Mr. La Bouff.”

“Morning, Virgil,” Eli rumbled as he pulled the chair out from his usual table and opened the morning paper.

Virgil placed the eggs and flapjacks on an old woman’s table. “Congratulations on being voted King of the Mardi Gras parade.”

“Caught me completely by surprise! For the fifth year in a row,” Eli joked. Virgil smiled good-naturedly at Mr. La Bouff’s hearty laugh. “Now, how ‘bout I celebrate with some-”

“Beignets?” the waiter placed a plate in front of the large man. “Got a fresh batch waiting for you.”

“Well keep ‘em comin’ till I pass out,” Mr. La Bouff laughed gleefully. 

Virgil had just given his most indulgent customer service smile and turned toward the kitchen when the door slammed open and left a blond boy with a light blue jacket and a cream waistcoat beaming in the doorway. He stood there for only a split second before jumping up to Virgil, shouting, “Vee!!! Virgil Virgil Virgil, did you hear the news??” He plopped down into the chair across from Mr. La Bouff to say “Tell him Daddy!!”

Mr. La Bouff slowly swallowed and held up his paper to show the front cover displaying a handsome man with loose curls and a dimpled smile. “Oh yes,” Eli started, “Prince Roman-”

“Prince Roman is coming to New Orleans!!” Patton interjected, giggling excitedly. “Isn’t he amazing?” His face got all dreamy before continuing, “Tell Vee what you did, Daddy!”

“Well, I invited-”

“Daddy invited the prince to our masquerade ball tonight!!” Pat jumped up excitedly, then seemed to realize he was making a scene and sat down to continue a little quieter, “Tell him what else you did!” Mr. La Bouff paused to look at Patton for a minute, expecting him to interject again, but Pat stayed silent. He looked to his daddy and beamed, “Go on.”

“And he’s staying-”

“He-” Pat started, but then caught himself, deciding to shove a beignet in his mouth instead.

“...And he’s staying in our house as my personal guest,” Eli finished proudly.

Patton nodded excitedly, and Virgil looked at them both with wide eyes. “Pat, that’s amazing! It’s a lot, but… amazing.” He walked back to the kitchen to grab another batch of beignets, and when he got back he placed the treats in front of them and rested his hand on Pat’s shoulder. “A little word of advice: My mama always said, ‘The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’”

“Don’t I know it,” Pat laughed, taking a big bite of his pastry before gasping, “Wait, that’s it! Virge, you are a genius!!” Virgil gave him a look of confusion from where he was placing dishes in the sink. “I’m gonna need about 500 of your beignets for the ball tonight!” Virgil looked up in alarm. 500?? Patton darted over to where his daddy was sitting and grabbed a large wad of cash from his wallet. “Will this about cover it?”

The waiter stood there speechless for a few moments before forcing himself to reach out to take the money Pat was shoving at him. “I- yeah. Yes, this- this should cover it just fine, Pat.” A rare smile slowly grew on his face and he looked up at the La Bouffs gratefully. “This- this is it... I’m actually getting my restaurant!”

Patton hugged Virgil tight and bounced him around, squealing, “It’s gonna be amazing Virge!” Suddenly, he let go, gasping, “I’d better get ready.” He grabbed his daddy and shoved him towards the door. “Tonight my prince is coming!!”

~

“Everything looks good to me, Mr. Fenner.” Virgil looked away from the building (his building!) as the man in question began to get up to haul the “For Sale” sign away. Another, much shorter man with the same nose and mustache walked by where Virgil stood. “.....And Mr. Fenner.”

“We’ll have all the paperwork ready to sign first thing after Mardi Gras,” the taller of the brothers announced.

“I’ll be at the La Bouff’s masquerade ball, how ‘bout I sign them then?” He wanted his ownership confirmed as soon as possible – there was no way something this good could actually be happening to him.

“You drive a hard bargain boy,” the shorter Fenner called from the car. “We’ll see ya there!”

Virgil finally let himself take a breath once the real estate agents drove off, and stood back to take in the view of what would be his restaurant. He felt truly hopeful for the first time in a long time. He was really gonna get his restaurant. Wow.

He was startled out of his reverie by a woman sneaking behind him to say, “Table for one please.”

Virge turned to see a woman with graying hair and deep smile lines holding out a beaten up pot with a bow tied around it. “Mama!”

“Here’s a little something to help you get started,” she smiled.

Virgil’s face went soft, a little nostalgic. “Dad’s gumbo pot…” He hesitantly reached out to take it from her.

“I know,” Eudora comforted, “I miss him too.” They both stood there for a moment before his mama urged, “Well now, hurry up and open the door!”

Virgil went and unlocked the doors, and as soon as they were wide enough to walk through, said wistfully, “Look at it mama... Doesn’t it just make you wanna cry?”

Eudora took in the cobwebbed rafters and the creaky walls. “Yes…”

Virge seemed to notice her skepticism, turning to look at her after placing the pot on a lone stool. “It’s a little rickety, it’ll definitely need some sprucing up to be safe, but can’t you see it? The maitre’d is gonna be right where you’re standing, and over there’s gonna be the gourmet kitchen.” Virgil gestured to the left end of the room. “And hanging from the ceiling, a crystal chandelier! I’ve been thinking about the weight of it to make sure it doesn’t fall down, and so long as it’s not too big, I can save on the structuring of it. Of course I won’t pinch pennies too much, I want it to be safe, but-” 

“You certainly have this all figured out, don’t you,” his mama laughed. “I’m sure this place is gonna be wonderful baby. It’s just…”

Virgil looked at her nervously. “What?”

“It’s a shame you’re workin’ so hard. It’s all you do,” Eudora smiled gently.

“How can I let up now that I’m so close? I’ve gotta make sure all Dad’s work means something.” I’ve gotta make him proud.

“Virgil, your daddy might not have gotten his restaurant, but he had somethin’ better,” Eudora squeezed his arm gently. “He had love.” Virgil snorted lightly. “Laugh all you want baby, but that’s all I want for you. Pat’s got his own dreams of happily ever after.” Virge’s eyebrows scrunched. “I don’t want you to be lonely. I wanna see you dance off into happily ever after too.”

Virgil stepped away from her. “Mama, I don’t have the time right now. I’m so close. Maybe when I get up and running, but right now… it’s just not an option for me.”

Eudora sighed and patted Virgil’s hand. “Alright sweetheart. I trust you.”

一

Roman stood amongst a crowd of people, all dancing and cheering. The trumpeter blared his horn, and the rest of the band energetically played along, the whole atmosphere charged with the infectious energy. A short news boy danced along with Roman, trading moves back and forth and smiling wide. After a few trades, the prince stepped to the edge of the circle to let the boy have his moment. With the space to himself, the kid dropped into a split and popped right back up.

“Ashidanza!” Roman laughed, tilting his head to some swooning admirers and immediately spinning back into the fray.

“Ro!” a familiar voice called. Roman looked up and smiled brilliantly, having caught the eye of his black-clad brother. “There you are. I should’ve been following the shrieking earlier.”

“Excuse me?” Roman dramatically placed his hand on his chest. “That is the sound of joy.”

“Sure, and you’re a heartthrob.” Roman squawked indignantly as Remus shoved him away from the crowd. “Come on, I found a restaurant that sells frog legs!!”

“What?? Ew, no. I’m staying here,” Roman dug his feet in.

“But Rooooo, they have five different sauces!! Five!!!”

“Yeah, for frog legs!”

“You got to play your jazz,” Remus argued, “so now we’re gonna eat some goddamn frog legs.”

“But I haven’t gotten to show all of my moves yet!” Roman protested. “And I’ve almost gotten enough admirers to form a fan club!”

“We should leave then, so my roguish good looks and entrancing humor don’t steal their hearts.”

“You mean your worm of a mustache and your freakish flirting?” Roman teased.

Remus glared and opened his mouth to argue, when a smooth voice came from the wall behind them. “Gentlemen!” The twins spun around to find a tall, masked man with a hooked cane and a black hat leaning casually against the wall. “Enchanté. A tip of the hat from Dr. Côté.” Roman noted that he didn’t actually tip his hat. The man – Dr. Côté – pulled a business card out of seemingly nowhere and held it out to them. “How y’all doin’?”

Remus swiped the card away before Roman could even lift his hand. “’Tarot readings, charms, potions.’” Re’s eyes shone brighter with each word. “’Dreams made real.’” 

Ok, now Roman’s attention was piqued. 

Remus looked up with a wild grin on his face. “You can really do that stuff?”

“Well… normally I do it for a price but… I suspect I’m in the presence of some very important people,” Dr. Côté grinned charmingly, canines glinting. The twins’ heads whipped around to share a look.

“...What other things can you do?” Roman inquired.

Dr. Côté seemed to really notice Roman for the first time. “Why don’t we take a little trip to my office and I’ll show you.”

The twins gave each other a look. Then Remus jumped up, shouting, “Come on, let’s just go already!”

~

First thing Roman noticed was that the “office” was not an office. Honestly, it was more of an urban cave – a nook in an alleyway off a street that was more dirt than anything else. It was filled with all sorts of things Roman never imagined would make for desirable décor. There were herbs dangling from one corner, and large masks with strange markings hanging on almost every available surface. Roman was pretty sure he saw some bones in the corner. The rugs on the floor didn’t match each other at all, but all were made of what was once probably very expensive fabric. Now it was just musty, matted, and muddled. The furniture was limited to a small, circular table in the center of the room, sitting directly beneath a chandelier that gave off an orange light, which didn’t seem to help much in the way of seeing. Roman silently vowed not to go within three feet of any of these… decorations.

“WOAH, cool bones!” Remus, on the other hand, seemed to have no qualms.

“Don’t touch those!” Dr. Côté hissed. He took a deep breath and grinned, gesturing to the table Roman noticed earlier. “Why don’t you come have a seat?” 

The men settled themselves around the table, Roman carefully examining his chair before sitting, just to make sure he wasn’t about to sit on anything… distasteful. 

Then, Dr. Côté pulled a deck of cards seemingly out of nowhere. They didn’t seem particularly special, simply decorated with a symbol of a hand that had an eye in the center, but the voodoo man held them with reverence. 

“Are you gonna do a card trick?” Remus snickered. Roman buried his smirk and elbowed his brother’s side. He did not want to make a magic man angry.

Dr. Côté simply looked up, though, giving an oily smile. “They’re tarot cards. I can tell you your past, your present… your future.” He gave a knowing look and fanned the cards out to the twins. “Go ahead. Take three.”

The princes reached out to the deck, holding their chosen cards close to their chest as if it were a card game. 

The Shadow Man stared at them for a moment, as if expecting them to do something before prompting, “How ‘bout I take a look at those cards now?”

Roman grinned sheepishly and placed his cards on the table. 

“Ah… now you, young man, are quite a prince,” Dr. Côté began. “A prince of fairy tales, really.” Roman thought he heard Remus huff beside him. “Your world is truly… perfect.” Something retreated inside Roman a little at the words, but he looked up when the Shadow Man asked, “But will it ever be anything else? Nothing is quite so disheartening as playing the same role all your life, huh? But when I look forward… I can see you’ll be more… very soon.”

The prince felt an anticipation swell inside him. Very soon.

Dr. Côté grinned down at Roman, then turned to Remus, peering at his cards. “Ah, yes. You’ve always been ambitious, hm?” Roman was shaken from his reverie and just barely kept from snorting. (Judging from the glare his brother aimed at him, he didn’t do a very good job.) Remus was ambitious if you considered chaotic enthusiasm to be ambition. But Dr. Côté just continued, “You could do more, be more, than they’d ever imagined. I know it. What are you going to do about it?”

Roman looked to Remus, and Remus looked down at his palms. A hand was outstretched for each of them to shake. “Well, boys?” 

The world was still for a moment. And then the black-clad prince’s hand shot out and shook the voodoo man’s, the other prince soon following suit.

“Very nice.” Dr. Côté’s smile grew leering. 

Then an orange smoke crept up Roman’s arm and into his mouth, and the world went dark.

A/N: Sorry, the ending came kinda fast 😅 I hope you enjoyed it anyway!! Please feel free to point out any mistakes you see, and keysmashes are VERY appreciated :D

Taglist: @midnightstorm-underthe-moon @meowthefluffy

[yamithediaperdork]

Edwards new baby life (twilight)

Edward Cullen might of been a immortal vampire, capable of great feats of speed and raw power, but at the moment that meant exactly NOTHING to the 103 old vampire as while he looked like a teenager, he was dressed like a toddler at the moment.

As punishment for picking on Emmett because he was bed wetting again and needing to wear bed time diapers, Carlilse had decided that Edward could walk a mile in Emmett's shoes.

As such, he was currently in a white t-shirt with Barney on the front, and a pair of light purple shorts with green stripes on the side. Add in a pair of barney themed socks and of course sneakers and Edward would of been the envy of any little guy on the playground.

However as bad as the outfit was in of itself, it was what he was packing under the shorts that was getting stares and laughter as he marched down the halls of the school, trying to get to class as fast as possible and keeping his head down.

"NICE HUGGIES CULLEN!!" A jock called, making the hall erupt in laughter as Edward tried to remind himself that just because he COULD kill everyone, he really shouldn't

in any case, the taunt was right on the money as Edwards shorts were puffed out by not one or two, but three diapers and as such they poked up over the top of his shorts.

aside from that, they puffed out his butt making it look like he had that booty AND made him waddle like the toddler he was dressed as.

'Stupid stupid dad..if mom was home she wouldn't of let him do this! I'm SO telling her when she gets back!' Edward sulked as he made his way into home room, where his teacher took in his appearance with a smirk.

"Some new fashion trend I haven't heard of Mr. Cullen?" the teacher asked, his voice filled with amusement.

Edward, just shook his head and took his seat.

With home room done it was more or less a normal day at school aside from his attire and the teasing he got, though Edward had found if he didn't respond the bullies mostly lost interest.

the hardest part had been having the damn mutt and Bella see him in all his baby glory and burst out laughing.

"Oh my god! Wow!" Bella giggled and tried to stifle her laughter with a hand over her mouth.

Jacob meanwhile openly laughed then kissed Bella's cheek before talking in a loud voice.

"Damn Bella, looked like you REALLY dodged a bullet there! If you had gone with Eddy here you'd be stuck changing stinky diapers!" Jacob then paused and took a sniff and in a stage whisper leaned forward. "Er, Eddy buddy, I think your diapie needs needs a change."

As the laughter filled the halls and Edward glared and huffed, he was glad for the roaring laughter..as it covered up the sound of him wetting his diapers.

Sitting in his soggy diapers, Edward could only semi squirm from time to time, it wasn't all that comfortable and only got worse as he wet his diapers two more times and could feel a bowel movement building up.

Not having spare diapers he knew Carlilse would be by around noon hour and all Edward could hope for is that he'd get his 'diapie change' somewhere semi private.

His plan WAS to wait till Carlilse was at the school and 'make the devil's doughnuts' in front of him and again in semi privacy, but as the clock ticked away (Somehow seeming to slow down!) and his need to go uh-oh grew, Edward started to get worried.

So distracted by his need to uh-oh, Edward didn't even realize that his soggy diapers were starting to leak, Carlilse hadn't slit them so they could take a soaking but just layered him up, so he had damp patches on the inner thighs of his shorts.

'ngggh, my poor tummy.. maybe if I just let out a little gas..' Edward thought.

normally he tried his best not to fart in class but decades of experience had helped him train himself to let out silent poots and normally no one was the wiser as his diet didn't make them too smelly.

of course having been made to chow down on a fiber heavy breakfast before school and having had to drink 2 liters of milk , there was no telling what was gonna happen but it was in his mind, Roll the dice and have everyone know he farted for a worst case if he let gas go, or hold it in and risk MUCH worse coming out.

Shifting forward in his seat Edward gave a slight push to let the gas out, but it was all that his packed bowels had needed to unleash hell.

Loud brassy farts and a horrid stench filled the room as waste poured out into the back of Edwards diaper, forcing him to lean forward more and making it look like his rapidly filling diaper was pushing him out of his chair.

"Mr.Cullen what ar-" the math teacher started to ask but his stink and fart's answered for him.

"Ha! the big baby pooping himself! Told you he would. 20 bucks, pay up!" a blond was saying, turning around to a brunette behind him and holding out his hand.

"What the fuckkk!" snorted a red haired jock, who instantly realized he shouldn't of shorted and covering his nose, eyes watering.

"So gross!" a goth girl half chuckled, sticking out her tongue

"I think I'm gonna hurl!" the blond haired cheerleader who sat behind Edward cried, getting a full view and whiff of the big babies back door bomb and running from the classroom, hands over her mouth and gagging.

Edward himself wasn't immune to his own stink though whether his eyes were watering from his own smell or the fact he was shitting his brains out was a little hard to judge.

the diaper itself tried to expand as much as possible but there just wasn't any room so it started to leak, making Edward smell even worse and though his poopie diaper haze he heard the voice of his father, strolling into the room.

"Whew, smells like I'm just in time, somebody made presents huh?" Carlilse asked, smirking and wagging his eyebrows. "I'm gonna need the room to change widdle eddy here, I don't think he'll make it to the men's room. Your all welcomed to stay and watch if you want, but the smells gonna get worse."

the fact he was gonna be changed right here in the classroom semi snapped Edward out of his haze and he went to argue.

sadly for Edward, and very amusing for those watching, as he went to tell his dad off a large log pushed out and pressed on just the right spot and Edward ended up crying out "DADDY!" in a tone that left no doubt what NEW mess he was making in the front of his diapers as he collapsed on top of his desk.

Having taken out a Barney print changing mat, Carlilse got the leaky boy onto it, though while he was grinning on the outside, mentally he was wishing he'd slit the diapers, this was going to be a horrible clean up.

He was pleased to see that at least half of the class had stayed, though the windows had been opened and making sure everyone could get a good view tugged Edwards shorts off and tossed them in the trash.

"Sorry buddy, but those are too ruined. I'll get you new shorts on the way home." Carlilse coo'ed.

tugging the shirt off it became clear Edwards accident had traveled up his back and so he wiped it clean with the shirt and tossed it out too, leave Edward in just his destroyed diapers and socks and shoes.

"Good thing I got those at a discount, Might have to just let you run around in diapers so you don't destroy all your cute outfits!" Carlilse teased and tickled Edwards tummy.

the huffing and pouting vampire couldn't help himself but start to giggle and squirm as he was being tickled, which only squished the mess around worse. This of course was noted By Carlilse who stopped right away, it was gonna take just about the whole pack of wipes he brought with him as it.

"Alright everyone, the diapers being opened..last chance to book it!" Carlilse called out.

Seeing that there were no takers he shrugged and opened up the diaper, and a stunned silence filled the room, followed by gagging and out of the remaining half, only a third stayed behind to watch the diaper change.

Despite nothing behind said, Edward could hear his classmates thoughts and covered his face in shame as he was bombarded with them while Carlilse got to the task at hand.

'So fucking gross! What a fucking loser..can't believe I had a crush on him.' A redhead girl was thinking.

'Oh man, he's so tiny! no wonder Bella left him..well a diaper boy WOULD have a baby dick so makes sense.' A emo boy thought.

'Awww! little at how embarrassed he is! I just wanna hug him and make him feel better!' a heavier brunette girl thought.

'Oh man.. he's so lucky! I wish MY dad would do this to me..' a small blond haired boy thought, blushing and squirming lots.

'ngggh.. trust me, I'd trade places with you in a instant.' Edward mentally groaned.

17 minutes of hard work later and Edward was cleaned up and in clean diapers, again three but this time they were slit so he wouldn't leak.

Helping the mortified big baby to his feet Carlilse Had Edward wave bye bye to everyone and popped a (what else?) Barney themed pacifier in the poor vamp's mouth.

they of course took the trash bag with all the stained clothes and used wipes and stinky diapers with them, and Carlilse was holding onto it when they were confronted by the school's principle who wanted to know just what the hell was going on.

Carlilse gave Edward a BIG smile that had the big baby sucking hard on his paci, then handed him the trash bag.

"Eddy can you be daddies good little helper and go toss that out for him? the adults need to talk."

of course Edward didn't WANT to walk outside in just his diapers and socks and shoes, it was noon hour now and everyone would be outside!

But Carlilse's tone made it clear while it was phased as a request, it was a order.

Nodding his head Edward waddled off, sure he was about to get mocked endlessly while 'the adults talked' though before he was out of earshot range Edward heard something that brought tears to his eyes.

"Clearly he isn't ready for high school, I'm going to be pulling him out and placing him in a special program for little guys like him.who knows, maybe ONE day he'll be ready for big kid school."

The (unhappy) end!

[elsanna-shenanigans]

December Contest Submission #12: Candles and Blankets

words: ca. 4,500 setting: mAU, candle shop AU lemon: not really cw: (SPOILER) fire, depression

Have you ever fallen in love with the gorgeous fiber artist across the street but she’s a really kind person and you aren’t sure if she’s into you or just being courteous, so you invite her to a romantic candlelit dinner for your own birthday in the back of your own candle shop?

Hey there.

My name is Anna, and …my life? Is pretty crazy.

I guess you could say the stars aligned for Elsa and I to meet.

It was a Tuesday.

New moon, new beginnings.

The sky was brightening with the dawn as I twisted my key around in the tricky lock. I really needed to call a locksmith soon, but I wasn’t sure if my business insurance covered new locks. Fires and floods, come at me; but an inconvenient lock… I probably wasn’t so lucky.

After a minute I finally heard the heavy click as my ears also noticed the sound of a car pulling up behind me. The hair on the back of my neck prickled, but instead of turning right around, I cautiously used the glass store windows to take a peek.

My shoulders relaxed. A blonde woman my age was behind the wheel.

I pretended to struggle even more with my key until I heard her get out of her vehicle. Then, I spun around with a smile on my face too bright for the hour.

“Good morning!” I greeted her. As she stepped into view to pay the meter, I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows. You would’ve done the same if the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen just parked in front of your candle shop at 6:30 AM in the middle of October.

“Hi,” she smiled gently. I’d never seen eyes such an icy blue give off so much warmth on a chilly fall morning. She glanced up at my sign, ‘Anna’s Awesome Aromas,’ and her smile brightened. “Oh! Do you sell candles here?”

A little confused how she parked right in front of a shop she didn’t know sold candles, but not one to judge, I answered, “Yes! I make them and sell them. In fact, I’m Anna herself.” I offered my hand out to shake.

She leaned forward to shake with a cold hand and then gestured across the street at the vacant shop building. “I’m here to look at the building for lease. Nice to meet you! My name is Elsa.”

“Elsa! Wow!” This woman was flawless right down to the name. “Wait, you’re looking into Kristoff’s old place? Sweet, what’s your business?”

“Oh,” she nervously reached a hand behind her neck. “I just make blankets.”

“Just? That’s amazing! Do you knit?” I wasn’t about to let this stranger downplay her talents.

“I, um, knit, crochet, quilt, design fleece patterns, and mess with a few other styles every once in a while.”

“Wow, so you can do everything! That is so cool, Elsa. Seriously.”

Her cheeks were turning magenta. “I still have a lot to learn. I’d love to see your candle shop!” She said, deflecting the attention from herself. “Maybe after the realtor and I do our walkthrough I could take a look inside?”

“Absolutely!” I nodded. “In fact, if you’re done around lunch time, come on in and I’ll share my lasagna with you in the back. I brought enough for a small army.”

The way she smiled at me, crinkling her eyes, before she turned and walked across the street had my insides feeling… cozy. Comfortable.

Safe.

——————————

That Christmas was the best I’d had in a long time. Elsa had set up her blanket shop in early November, and we became fast friends. I never ate another lunch alone - we alternated between her office and mine, always able to keep an eye on whichever shop was unattended across the street.

December was a busy sales month for us both, with lots of customers needing candles and blankets to warm themselves and their loved ones in the cold holiday season. For that reason, I cherished our lunches as the only time we had to get to know each other as new friends. We both worked long days keeping our shops running smoothly and churning out new products in our evenings, often late into the night.

Neither of us had any employees, even a business partner, let alone a life partner; so sharing lunch with a like-minded and equally hardworking woman was honestly life changing.

The week leading up to Christmas was so busy with last-minute-gift shoppers, we called off our lunches to keep our shops open every precious minute. In a stroke of luck, Christmas fell on a Sunday, so we both closed up shop for the whole weekend, giving ourselves a true holiday.

Naturally, we spent it together. After convincing her she wouldn’t be intruding, Elsa came over to my apartment on Christmas Eve and we relaxed all day with no talk of businesses. She spent the night on my couch and our Christmas Day was filled with lazy cooking and laughter.

She gifted me a beautiful tree skirt that she knit especially for me with stripes featuring all my favorite blankets she’d made. For Elsa, I made a candle with ten different layers, because she was always saying her favorite scent was my whole shop, with all my aromas melding together.

“I can’t believe we gave each other the same thing!” She had laughed.

“It’s perfect,” I was grinning wider than I had in years. “We’re perfect,” I wanted to add.

—————————————

It’s amazing how something as simple as having a friend can make time fly by. As winter melted into spring, both Elsa and I were entering our “off season,” as people no longer craved the warmth our products provided. Even so, the days didn’t drag on.

I still lunched with Elsa every day and we never ran out of things to talk about, from crazy customer stories, to new products we’ve tried to create, to old childhood memories. There was always more to learn about each other, even after I thought Elsa might know me better than I knew myself.

But then there was the concern: did she know me well enough to figure out I had an enormous, ever-growing crush on her? And did I know her well enough to figure out if she might feel the same?

That was my main source of anguish as the weather turned as warm as my three wick candles.

Every day I sat with Elsa as she ate her chicken caesar salads or Taco Bell (there was no in between), and I ate my peanut butter sandwiches, or Campbell’s soup. And every day I’d stare at her light shining hair and blushed cheeks, as she smiled sweetly and laughed at all my jokes with a sound more gorgeous than fucking wind chimes. And every day I could feel myself falling further.

I used to live and breathe for my candle shop; I woke up with a purpose to create new scents and gorgeous colors, experimenting with different types of wax. It was usually what I dreamed about.

Now… I was dreaming about Elsa. I was waking up excited, not about how many candles I might sell that day, but how many times I might make Elsa laugh during lunch. Will she flash me that look, the one where her eyes sparkle and the corner of her mouth smiles, making it look just for a second that she had glimpsed my soul - and liked what she saw?

I just didn’t know what to make of it, because Elsa was too nice. She seemed to interact with everyone the way she interacted with me. Granted, nobody else got to spend lunch with her everyday, or talk about our small businesses together, or drop by to visit on our rare days off. But how was I supposed to find out if she was romantically into me without risking everything good that had come into both of our lives?

It was June when I had the idea. My birthday was coming up the following month, so why not plan something special? Something …romantic? Then if there was anything to blossom between us, it would have the perfect environment to happen without forcing anything or asking potentially devastating questions.

Perfect!

It wasn’t hard to plan out once I had the idea. I chose the restaurant I’d be ordering out from, and easily convinced Elsa to come over to my shop after we both closed.

I was wearing my favorite green summer dress - the flowy one with pockets - and kept my hair down for a change. At the stroke of 7 I closed up and headed out to pick up the dinner and suddenly it hit me. Was it weird to plan and host my own birthday dinner? A birthday dinner for only me and the girl I was in love with?

Well, it was too fucking late, if so. I came back with the food and spent the next half hour setting up a table with nice place settings and lighting my sexiest scented candles all around my office and store. As the sun set, eight o’clock rolled around and Elsa closed up her shop, too.

As I watched her delicately make her way to my side of the street, I chewed my lip. Here goes… everything.

I came to my shop door to let her in as she approached my dimly lit building, and was stunned by how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a shiny blue sleeveless top and tight white capris, with heels to match her blouse and the kicker - a white bow tie hanging untied around her neck. Her wavy hair was gently bouncing around her shoulders with each step. I opened the door for her and the bell above jingled loudly.

She beamed when she saw me, stepping inside to set down her leather backpack purse and white gift bag to give me a big hug. “Happy birthday, Anna,” she said softly into my shoulder.

“Thanks, Els,” I squeezed back, breathing in her perfume. It was my favorite scent, one I’d never quite been able to replicate at home - something between the ocean breeze and a floral woodland meadow.

As we pulled apart I glanced down her outfit one more time, “You look incredible.”

“So do you! And well, you said to dress nice, so… that’s what I’ve got,” Elsa laughed nervously.

“It’s perfect. So!” I clapped my hands together, “Shall we head to the back?”

“After you, lovely,” Elsa grinned and picked up her two bags again. As we walked she began to notice the candlelit atmosphere. “This is really something, Anna. You went through all this trouble just for the two of us?”

I winced. This was a weird thing to do… Play it cool. “Oh, it wasn’t much trouble at all! I thought we deserved something nice. Something special.”

“We do! Especially you, Anna. You work so hard.”

“Not as hard as you,” I countered, as we stepped into my cozy office. My desk was in the corner by the window-wall facing out to the street, and in the front area by the couch we usually ate our lunches on, I had set up our small dining experience.

The only light was from all the candles I had placed around the room; a few were on the little table itself, which also held our take out dinner that I already plated up.

“Wow!” Elsa was standing wide-eyed behind me, a huge smile creeping onto her face. “This is — it’s incredible. Did you get Romeo’s?” She recognized the food from the local fancy Italian restaurant.

“Bone apple teeth!” I grinned. “Shall we eat, before it gets any colder?” I said, gesturing to a chair.

As we settled in to eat, my racing heart calmed a little. This felt right, it felt like us, sharing a meal like we did every day. Just… fancy.

“I’m thankful you got me Alfredo,” Elsa said a few minutes into our meal. “Or my white pants may never be the same.”

“Oh man!” I said with spaghetti hanging out my mouth, “That was a lucky guess. Imagine if I made you get tomato sauce on your pants!”

Elsa laughed. “I imagine I’ll be taking them off.”

“What?”

“Um, I said I imagine I would be taking them off. If I stained them.” A blush was forming on Elsa’s cheeks.

I felt my face warming too, wondering if Elsa had meant what she had first implied. Then, Elsa set her fork down and took a deep breath.

“No, you know what,” she said, looking me intensely in the eye. “You went out on a limb here with this dinner, and so will I. Anna, I really like you.”

Was I supposed to hear the blood rushing past my eardrums?

“Everything has been better since you came into my life - or since I came into yours, whichever way you want to think of it.” Elsa smiled sincerely, “I didn’t realize what was happening right away, but I’ve known for a while now that I’m just - just helplessly in love with you.” Her gaze shifted down to the table as she kept talking, “It’s hard to pretend that I can keep my cool around you when all I feel is the warmth of friendship, of …love. Of something deeper. Something I’ve never felt before, and I’d never want to feel with anyone who isn’t you.”

She cleared her throat and looked me in the eye once more, “So, if this dinner was your way of saying you might share some of those feelings for me too… first of all, at this point I fuckin hope it was; and secondly… that was it, I can’t remember…”

By the time Elsa had trailed off her words, I was next to her chair, cupping her face with my hands. “Can I kiss you?”

She touched one of my hands, holding it to her cheek as she stood up. Taking a step away from the table, Elsa slid her other hand behind my waist. There was a moment we just looked into each other’s eyes as the pull between us became stronger. “Please,” was all she whispered before our lips came together like the pages of a closing book.

I had never kissed anyone - I had… no idea it could be like this. Her lips were so soft as they moved with mine, and it felt like they were asking permission with each caress. A small tear escaped one of my closed eyes.

I felt so emotional as she ran her fingers through my hair, stroking my scalp. She - Elsa, she wanted me, too. She loved me, too. And I realized I hadn’t actually said that yet — I pulled away suddenly and watched her open her eyes in surprise.

“I love you, Elsa.”

She smiled in relief.

I rested my forehead against hers, standing on my tiptoes to reach. “I just wanted to make that clear.”

***

We did not finish our meal.

The folding chairs sat forgotten as I laid Elsa down on the nearby couch and straddled her hips as we both reached for clothes we no longer wished to wear. I took a second to be grateful for the partial wall that blocked the couch from the view of anyone passing by the shop’s windows.

Elsa tugged on one end of her bow tie and it slipped out from behind her neck in one fluid motion - probably the sexiest move I’ve ever seen.

As I lifted my dress above my head, Elsa was gazing up at me, hypnotized. I let the dress fall to the floor beside us. “You’re falling a bit behind, love.” All she had taken off was her tie, and I already sat in my under garments.

She reached for the bottom of her blouse. “One advantage to dresses I suppose,” Elsa said. “If you’re into that.” She sat up a little to whip the shirt off, exposing a black sports bra.

“God, how are you so hot?” I didn’t let Elsa answer before leaning down to kiss her again. I reverently felt her soft skin as I ran my palms over her sides and found the small of her back. “I’ve, er, never done this before.”

Elsa gave a slight squeeze to my hips. “Me neither. It’s ok. We can figure it out together, but I’m probably gonna need to take my pants off first.”

I laughed, “Alright, I’ll get up.” When I planted a foot on the floor and stood up, I paused. I took another breath through my nose. “What’s that smell…?”

Elsa looked at me. She sniffed the air. “Is something burning?”

I turned to the doorway leading into the hallway to the store. An orange glow far too bright made my heart drop and my stomach fill with dread.

“On second thought, keep your pants on.” I grabbed Elsa’s top, threw it at her, and grabbed my dress, pulling it on haphazardly. I ran to the doorway and stopped when I saw how big the fire was in my shop. It looked like everything was engulfed in flames. Nothing could be saved from there. Oh my god.

Pop!

Pop pop!

Candles on my shelves were exploding. Oh god oh god oh god.

“We gotta get outta here!” I slammed the office door shut to hold off the blazing heat of the main store’s fire, trapping us in my office. I ran to the wall of windows by my desk, grateful there was no second floor.

Elsa met me at the wall with her bags. “Can we send this through the windows?” She pointed at my filing cabinet.

Together we pushed the metal cabinet to the window wall and then heaved our combined body weight into it, sending it crashing through the panes. Shards of glass rained down on us, but only a few pieces were sharp enough to cut. The cabinet toppled over onto the pavement outside.

I pushed out a few extra pieces of glass to make way for us to squeeze through. After I got out I helped Elsa climb in her heels, over the filing cabinet out onto the sidewalk. Together we pulled it farther away from the building.

“You call 911 and stay back from here,” I yelled as I ran back to the broken glass. “I have to get a few more things.”

Elsa looked terrified as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and took more steps backward into the deserted street. Turning toward my shop, my hand shook as I reached forward, crouching through my broken window, back into my smoldering office.

The room was starting to fill with smoke and almost constant candle explosions could be heard through the wall. I decided the most important things to get out first were my computers. I grabbed my laptop and quickly unplugged everything from the desktop computer tower. I didn’t need the keyboard or monitor.

Stifling a cough, I crouched through the glass and carried the computers to the curb. As soon as they were down safely, I turned and ran back in.

I couldn’t help but cough this time. Soon the door holding back the inferno would bust - or maybe the shared wall would be engulfed first. Either way, I was running out of time. The air was so, so hot.

One of the candles across the room burst. A searing hot glass shard lodged itself in my arm, near my elbow. I screamed, brushing it away, and the scream turned quickly to more coughing and sputtering.

Through the attack on my lungs, I grabbed everything I could hold off my desk - my purse included, and made my way out as fast as I could.

As I climbed out onto the sidewalk, I felt the office door behind me blow out. In the split second I had, I hurled everything I was carrying as far out as I could and then threw myself to the side in an attempted barrel roll just as the fireball rolled out and licked at my heels.

I sputtered and coughed on the ground as Elsa sprinted over to me. She grabbed a flat piece of debris and swatted at the edge of my dress that had caught fire. Once it was out, she lifted me over her shoulder and took me over to her building where she had been taking the items I rescued from my office.

Setting me down gently, she kept my hand in hers. “They’re on their way.”

My coughing still wouldn’t let up but I couldn’t actually feel my aching lungs anymore, or even the searing gash in my arm, as I sat on the concrete, numbly watching my store go down in flames.

Watching everything I worked for burn away.

———————————————

I didn’t notice August.

They held me at the hospital for two days for the smoke inhalation, my burn wound, and other minor cuts. Then I was released and I sat in my apartment.

I didn’t have a job to go to. My work was gone.

The insurance claim was going to take 90-120 days to go through but they assured me I would be covered for the total loss. So I wouldn’t go into massive debt, but I still mourned. I had no business, no product, no motivation.

So I sat.

I threw out all the candles in my home.

Maybe it was anger, maybe it was guilt, but it most definitely was fear. I never wanted to see another candle again in my life. The destruction they caused - my own creations did this to me. My own negligence. My own lust.

I had also shut Elsa out.

I knew it wasn’t fair to her but I couldn’t even think about her without reliving the terror of the fire. I just couldn’t handle seeing her… so I said I needed space, I needed time to recover alone.

It’s been over a month though, and while the pain still hasn’t gone away, now loneliness has joined it in my torment.

I missed Elsa so much it hurt. And not even in the we-didn’t-even-get-to-have-sex way; I missed my friend.

A week into September, Elsa begged me to come to her apartment. She said she just needed to see I was ok, just needed to talk.

It wasn’t a hard decision with the way I felt like I was dying without her in my life. But I needed her to initiate it or my guilt never would’ve allowed me the opportunity. So I went.

I couldn’t bring myself to change out of the sweats I’d been wearing for at least a week, but I managed to put on deodorant. My hair was pulled into the cleanest messy bun I could muster. It would probably be the bags under my eyes that she would comment on first. The two main subjects of my dreams were now either nightmare fuel or guilt trips, so I had barely been sleeping.

The biggest surprise to me when I met her outside were the matching bags under Elsa’s eyes.

As I walked to her she met me halfway with a warm hug. I saw the look of mixed relief and concern on her face as she took in my appearance.

“Anna,” she whispered as she held me close.

I drew in a shaky breath. “Els,” my reply was like a reflex and I melted into her embrace. With a little sadness I noticed she wasn’t wearing her perfume, but everything else about the hug was all that I had been craving.

“Come on,” she led me into her apartment.

It wasn’t hard to tell I wasn’t doing ok, and neither was she for that matter, so the question was never brought up. Instead she made me tea and held me on the couch, murmuring soft things like, “I’ll keep you warm.”

When I was calm from the tea, Elsa went to get something from another room. She returned with the white gift bag from my birthday, though it might have been replaced with a new gift bag, given how pristine it still looked.

“I still want you to have this, Anna,” she said softly. “But first let me tell you about an idea I’ve had. I just want you to listen to it, no need to respond right away.”

I nodded.

She sat back down with me. Her voice never raised above a light trickling of a fountain as she spoke, “I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been going through. But I do know what trauma feels like. So I have a clue about what you may be feeling toward what you used to do; what you used to love doing now feels painful. Maybe even terrifying…”

Elsa took my hand in hers. “I got this idea a couple weeks ago when I accidentally dropped my bottle of perfume into your gift bag.” She chuckled grimly. “It all spilled out and your present soaked it up.”

She reached down into the bag and turned her head to me, “Would you mind closing your eyes?”

I closed them.

With a soft whoosh, a thin, but nicely heavy blanket settled onto me. As I breathed through my nose, suddenly a wave of familiar comfort washed over me. Her perfume was scenting the whole blanket. I wanted to cry. “Elsa,” I whispered, my hands shaking.

She rubbed my leg through the fabric. “I know, sweetheart,” Elsa sat back into the couch, cuddled close to me and I kept my eyes closed as she continued to talk. “After that happened, I thought… nobody really does this. Creating scented oils just for the purpose of dripping onto fabric like blankets for an extra comforting experience. Like I know essential oils exist, but that’s just the beginning of the potential you would have if you, say… wanted to become my business partner, to create scent drops for my blankets…”

She trailed off and let that sit there with me to think about. I felt the same revelation she probably experienced coming up with the plan. “Elsa,” I said with my eyes still closed. “That’s brilliant. When I’m ready… I would love that.”

I felt her sigh with relief. “Can I see the blanket now?” I asked.

She sat upright, “Here let me hold it up for you to see. It might bring up some emotion. I swear I had no idea what was going to happen when I was making it…”

The blanket was lifted off of me. I slowly opened my eyes to see… a perfect image of my shop in all her glory, hand stitched and glowing softly yellow through the windows. Around the edges of the blanket were the words, “Anna’s Awesome Aromas,” repeated in a pattern. I sobbed.

“I’m sorry,” Elsa said, gathering up the blanket. “It’s too soon, I shouldn’t hav—“

“Stop,” I said while tears dripped down my face. “It’s perfect,” I stood up and flung myself into her arms, making the blanket fall to the floor at our feet.

“You’re not upset?” she asked.

“I’m only upset that I shut you out for so long. I’m sorry,” I held her tight. “You are everything I need, how could I not see that?”

“It’s ok,” Elsa kissed my forehead. “Some things aren’t meant to be seen; they have to be felt, or smelled, maybe tasted.”

With a gentle kiss, she began my healing.

[avengerscompound]

She Sets the City on Fire - Crackle and Burn

She Sets the City on Fire: A Bruce Banner Fanfic

MASTERLIST PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Square: @brucebannerbingo​ R3 Wax Play

Rating:  E

Warning:  Age Gap, smut (MF, wax play, vaginal sex, come play)

Word Count:  1975

Pairing:  Bruce Banner x OFC (Summer)

Summary:  Bruce is drawn to Summer.  She’s everything he wished he could be.  Carefree, exciting, and she knows exactly who she is.  There are so many reasons a relationship with her wouldn’t work.  So why can’t he stop thinking about her?

A/N: On the first chapter

9. Crackle and Burn

A harsh alarm brought Bruce out of his hyper-focused work state.  That zone he got into when there was nothing else in the world except cracking that one little thing he needed for his next breakthrough.  Not even Hulk screaming at him in the back of his head about how bored he was would break through when he got like that.

The incessant annoying buzz of the alarm he set did it - although slowly.  He looked up and blinked to see Tony on the other side of the lab lost in his own project.  Bruce took off his glasses and put them in his pocket before switching off the alarm.  He approached Tony and patted him on the shoulder.  When Tony didn’t look up Bruce laughed softly.

“FRIDAY, make sure he doesn’t stay too long,” he said.  “And maybe let Pepper know he’s stuck.”

“Of course, Doctor Banner.”  The AI replied.

Bruce headed down to his floor.  When the doors opened he saw the blizzard swirling outside.  It was easy to forget what the weather was like when you were in the tower.  Tony kept it just right, and the thick glass shielded the sounds of wind or rain.  He was thankful that he was inside where he could comfortably walk around without having to add 12 layers of clothing.

It did mean he was unlikely to see Summer today.  Or possibly the rest of the week if the weather kept up like this.  He got out his phone to text her and check to see she was safe inside. As he was typing out his message he opened the door to his apartment. He looked up to see the room lit with candles and Summer, dressed in a matching bra and panty set with little red bows on them.  She was dancing to the music and when she heard the door click open she turn and smiled at him.

“Summer?” Bruce said, surprised more than confused.  He hadn’t expected the see her though the random drop-ins had been more frequent lately.  He’d told FRIDAY just to let Summer in whenever she liked, essentially giving her a key to his place.  “I thought you had classes.”

“They were canceled,” she said as she approached.  “I didn’t want to be trapped in my place with Aidan for two days and I thought who would I like to be trapped with?  And your name was right on top of the list.”

She walked her fingers up his chest and he circled an arm around her and pulled her close.  “This is a nice surprise.”

He brought his lips to hers and kissed her deeply.  She smiled into his lips and ran her hands up into his hair, her fingertips grazing over his scalp.  He made a gentle purring sound and pulled her closer.

“Mmm…” She hummed as she pulled back and ran her hands down to his chest.  “You happy to see me then?”

Bruce leaned his forehead against hers.  “I’m always happy to see you.”

She started to toy with his belt.  “How are you feeling today?”  She asked.  “I want to try something.”

He smiled down at her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.  The way he had been exploring sex with her had been truly something special.  The confidence she gave him he couldn’t even explain completely.  Part of it was the fact she still slept with other people.  He never felt guilty saying no because if she really needed that desire to be fulfilled, she could find that elsewhere.  With the pressure to perform off, he felt more confident to perform because the Hulk stayed quiet.  Best of all, she always checked.  She’d get an idea, and she’d ask if he was okay first.  If he said he was stressed, she’d offer up a bath and cuddles and never appeared to be disappointed in any way.  This was not a relationship he had ever foreseen having, but now he was in it, he could see it being it for him.  She was his person.  “I’m good.  Today has been good.”

“Think you could tie me up?”  She asked as she started to unbutton his shirt.

“Mmm… I definitely could handle that,” he said.  “Was that all?”

She shook her head.  “I was thinking…” she said, looking up into his eyes, her pale blue ones sparkling.  “Maybe as part of the foreplay, you could drip hot wax on me.”

She bit her bottom lip as she looked up at him and tugged on his belt.  He thought about it, and what Hulk might think of the process and gave a small node.  “I think I can handle that, too,” he said.  “You might need to talk me through it though.  I don’t want to give you any serious burns.”

“Of course, Brucie,” Summer agreed, pulling him by the belt towards his bedroom  “You have some medical training though, I’m sure you know more about that kind of thing than I do.”

When they got into the bedroom she began to help him undress.  Unfastening his belt as he took off his shirt.  “You know,” she purred as she pushed his pants down.  “If you ever want to try something, you just have to say.”

He chuckled and tickled her side, making her squirm away from him. “So far, you’re a few steps ahead of where I’m thinking, Summer.  But I promise I will if I think of something.”

She went to her bag, that was sitting beside his bed and pulled out a few things.  First was a set of wrist restraints in pink leather and white lace.  Next came a candle and finally a box of condoms.  “I found rainbow ones,” she said grinning up at him.

“Lovely,” Bruce chuckled, getting up on his knees on the bed.

She lit the candle and took off her bra.  “The candle is a low heat one, so you don’t have to worry too much.  Start high and bring it down low.  And keep it away from my pussy.  I don’t want to have to pick wax out of my pubes.”

Bruce laughed.  “Better try not to get any on me, huh?”

She giggled and ran her fingers through his chest hair.  “Yes, that would be very painful for you.”

She gave him the cuffs and held out her hands.  He carefully locked them around her wrists and pushed her back on the bed.  She arched her back as he guided her hands over her head and attached the cuffs to the headboard.

“Mmm… I love it when you push me back like that,” she hummed.  “I like when you take control.”

“You like when you take control too,” he teased, touching the tip of her nose.

She giggled and squirmed under him.  “That’s true,” she lifted her hips up and put her foot in the middle of Bruce’s chest.  “Brucie, I should be fine.  But I want to use safe words.  If I say red that means stop.  If I say orange that means I don’t want you to stop but whatever you’re doing is hurting too much so just change a little.  If you’re worried about the sounds I’m making or anything else and you ask me if I’m okay and I am.  I’ll say -”

“Green?”  He finished as he ran his hand down her throat and over her breasts.  She always looked so vulnerable and small when he tied her up like this.  If something went wrong, and the Hulk came out, that would be the end of her.  He didn’t worry about things like that anymore.  And really he knew it didn’t matter if Summer was tied up or not, she was the one in charge.

She giggled and ground her hips against him.  “That’s right.”

“I think I can handle that,” he said.  “Are you going to be a good girl?”

“Oh, yes, sir.  I’ll be so good,” she hummed, wriggling against him.

He picked up the candle and held it up high looking down at her.  She ground against him again, making his cock jump a little.  “Look at you,” he said softly as he held the candle up and tilted it.  A few drops of wax landed on her skin.  The dark red of the wax hardening against the pale cream of her skin.

She moaned and arched up, making the wax crack.  “You can go closer with the candle.”

He lowered it and tipped more wax over her stomach.  Her skin turned pinked under the wax as it hardened on her skin and she let out a soft gasp.  “Yes,” she hummed.  “There’s good.  You can go closer sometimes too.”

He reached up and ran his thumb over her lips.  “Anything for my good girl.”

She sucked the end of his thumb and he poured more wax onto her skin this time running the candle up to her breasts.  She bit his thumb gently as she moaned again.

He continued to drip the wax on her skin, making sure to give her small breaks.  She moaned and gasped and squirmed under him, rutting against his now hard cock as he painted her skin red with wax.  She started to curse with each new mark but when he check-in she mewled the word green.

Soon her skin was painted in thick stripes of red.  It stood in dark contrast to the paleness of her skin, even with the way it had turned pink where the wax met her skin.

Her cunt glistened with moisture, he could smell her arousal and it made his cock twitch and leak in anticipation.  He grabbed the condom off the bed and rolled it on, the faint stripes of color unfolding as he rolled it in place.

“Yes, Bruce!” Summer moaned, bucking up under him.  Pieces of wax broke off and rolled down onto the sheets as she moved.  “Fuck me.”

He grabbed her hips and thrust hard into her.  She cried out and her hand balled into fists as she jerked against her bindings.  He leaned down over her, pushing her knees up and kissing her hungrily.

Her cunt clenched and pulsed around his cock.  Despite the snow swirling around the window sweat began to bead on his skin as he thrust deep into her.  She moaned against his lips and jerked under him.  She arched back suddenly and came, crying out, her body shuddering and her cunt clenching around his shaft.

“Oh god, Summer,” Bruce moaned, picking up his pace.  His fingers dug into her hips and he sat back rubbing her clit hard and fast.

She cried out and came again, jerking against him.  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” She babbled as her whole body spasmed.

He pulled out and rolled off the condom, jerking his cock and coming over her stomach.  Hot ropes of white splattering over the red wax.

“Fuck, Bruce.  You dirty boy,” Summer hummed happily.

Bruce smiled and lay down beside her and began to unbuckle her wrists.  “I don’t know, Sum.  It looks like you’re the one covered in mess, not me.”

Summer broke down into giggles.  “We already knew I was a dirty girl.”

When her wrists were free she gently ran her fingers around the wax on her breasts, working it off in one large piece.  “There you go, Brucie.  Now you have a cast of my tits.”

Bruce laughed and leaned in and kissed her tenderly.  “I’ll treasure it forever.”  He said moving it to the bedside table.  “Come on, my love.  Let’s get you in the shower.”

“Mmmm that will be nice.”  She said getting up.

He followed her into the bathroom.  Generally speaking, Bruce didn’t love the snow.  He’d come too naked in it after Hulk had gone on a rampage for him to appreciate it.  But if he was going to get caught in a blizzard, at least with Summer he knew it would be interesting.

// NEXT

[snicketsleuth]

What is “The Great Unknown”?

Who is it? What is it? Does it even matter? There is no greater mystery than the nature of the unknowable.

"We saw that on a radar screen," Violet remembered. "Captain Widdershins refused to tell us what it was." "My brother used to call it 'The Great Unknown,'" Kit said, clasping her belly as the baby kicked violently. "I was terrified, Baudelaires.” [The End, Chapter Thirteen]

The basis of the theory rests on a Doylist perspective as it tries to rationalize the relevance of “All the Wrong Questions” pertaining to “A Series Of Unfortunate Events”. Daniel Handler had to be careful while writing the second series as he was juggling with two conflicting goals:

The nature of the question-mark was a symbolic representation of Death and the Unknowable, and had to remain that way in order for “A Series Of Unfortunate Events” not to be ruined,

Fans were disappointed by the number of unresolved plotholes in “A Series Of Unfortunate Events” and Daniel Handler wanted to throw them a bone by expanding the lore and providing more hints to these mysteries.

So there was only one compromise possible: add more details to the lore of the Great Unknown but in a way which would leave the final fate of the characters in “The End” still very ambiguous. That was the mission “All The Wrong Questions” had to accomplish. Yet it’s still very ambiguous whether the infamous Bombinating Beast really is the question-mark which shows up on the sonar screens of the submarine in “The Grim Grotto” and “The End”. So why write “All The Wrong Questions” at all?

This article posits that there are more connections between the plot of both series than initially believed, if one digs hard enough. We just have to follow the clues to paint a more global picture. Here are all the smaller mysteries we have to investigate before rendering our final verdict:

How many question marks are in “The Grim Grotto” and “The End”?

Why are Ellington’s eyebrows shaped like question marks?

Was the question-mark-shaped entity a submarine or an animal?

To whom did the Carmelita octopus-shaped submarine belong?

What exactly happened to Fernald and Fiona?

More after the cut.

NB : This article is dedicated to @snicketstrange (a.k.a. Jean Lúcio). Please check out his Tumblr page for more amazing theories about the mind of Daniel Handler (and incidentally Lemony Snicket). There’s also a Youtube page (Link) if you speak Portuguese. Jean, thank you for your invaluable help in researching this topic, particularly regarding the nature of sonars.

How many question marks are in “The Grim Grotto” and “The End”?

Surprisingly, I have issues with this line of reasoning. Not because there isn’t a connection, but because there is evidence for two Bombinating Beasts showing up in “All The Wrong Questions”:

The proper Bombinating Beast from the legends of Stain’d-by-the-Sea (which we will name OBB, as in “Original”),

The genetic monstrosity created by Hangfire through experiments (which we will name CBB, as in “Copied” or “Clone”), which he planned to use to impersonate the OBB.

It’s pretty much established at this point. We see in “Shouldn’t You Be In School” that the CBB was still “immature” according to Ellington, and it’s very much implied that the tadpole who bit Lemony’s finger in “When Did You See Her Last” was the CBB at an even earlier stage. A significant amount of time happens between the two books, to the point Handler released a spin-off called “File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents” to account for what the characters did in the meantime. Supposedly the CBB had time to grow. So it wouldn’t make sense for Stain’d-by-the-Sea to have legends about the terrifying Bombinating Beast if that thing was just a tadpole in recent history.

How Hangfire managed to create the CBB is left unexplained by Daniel Handler. It still seems to be somewhat related to the OBB because the whistle inside the statue seems to work on it, so there’s something similar about the way the two creatures function. My guess is that, though the OBB was lost to time, some fossilized eggs remained and Hangfire managed to find and hatch one. Much ado is made about the book “Caviar: Salty Jewel of the Tasty Sea” which used to be in Dewey’s library in Stain’d-by-the-Sea. All we know about the book is that it has a chapter dedicated to the tanks being used when the sturgeons are young. My guess is that the book is where Hangfire found the necessary information.

So the question remains: who showed up in “The Grim Grotto” and “The End”: the OBB or the CBB? Since one is essentially the child of the other, and since the entity shows up no less than three times (twice in “The Grim Grotto”, once in “The End”), there’s a possibility that both the OBB and the CBB showed up in separate instances and that characters mistakenly thought it was the same entity each time.

Why are Ellington’s eyebrows shaped like question marks?

Believe it or not, TBB is only compared to a question mark once in the entire series.

Supposedly sailors still saw the Bombinating Beast, swimming with its body curled up like an underwater question mark, although with the sea drained, I couldn’t imagine that this could be true, at least not anymore. [Who Could That Be At This Hour ?, Chapter Four]

Interestingly it’s rather Ellington who is compared to a question mark, far more often than the Beast. Usually next to a mention of a smile which “could mean anything”.

“Hello,” she said, “I’m Ellington Feint,” and I sat up to get a better look at her. It was not so dark that I couldn’t see her strange, curved eyebrows, each one coiled over like a question mark. Green eyes she had, and hair so black it made the night look pale. She had long fingers, with nails just as black, and they poked out of a black shirt with long, smooth sleeves. And right before she started climbing down the ladder, I saw her smile, shadowy in the moonlight. It was a smile that might have meant anything. She was a little older than me, or maybe just a little taller. I followed her down. [Who Could That Be At This Hour?, Chapter Seven]

But instead I just looked at the person with her back to me. Next to her were a large, striped suitcase and an oddly shaped case perfect for holding an old-fashioned record player. Hanging from her shoulder was a green purse shaped like a long, zippered tube as she stood and looked at the shelves filled with stenciled bags of coffee. Then she turned around, and I paid attention to her dark, dark hair, and her eyebrows, each one coiled over like a question mark, and her green eyes underneath. “Lemony Snicket,” she said. “Ellington Feint,” I said, and it was only then that I saw that smile of hers, the one that could have meant anything. [Who Could That Be At This Hour?, Chapter Eleven]

If you want to know the truth, I was thinking about Ellington Feint, a girl with strange, curved eyebrows like question marks, and green eyes, and a smile that might have meant anything. [When Did You See Her Last?, Chapter One]

And there was a girl standing in front of me. Her green eyes were the same, but her hair wasn’t black, not now. It was blond instead, so blond it looked white. Her fingers were still slender, with long black nails again, and over her eyes were strange eyebrows curved like question marks. She was using the same smile, too. It was a smile I liked. It was a smile that might have meant anything. [When Did You See Her Last?, Chapter Seven]

The something else was a girl, taller than I was or older than I was or both. She had curious eyebrows, curved and coiled like question marks, and she had a smile that might have meant anything. [Shouldn’t You Be In School?, Chapter One]

“Are you awake?” I asked me, but it wasn’t me who was talking. It hadn’t been all along. I turned my head and ached and blinked and found myself staring into a pair of green eyes. They blinked below a pair of eyebrows curled up like question marks, and after she blinked, the girl gave me a smile that might have meant anything. [Shouldn’t You Be In School?, Chapter Eight]

Ellington moved her mug to the center of the table. Her eyebrows, curved like question marks, felt like they belonged to all the questions in my mind, and then she gave me her smile, the one that might have meant anything. [Shouldn’t You Be In School, Chapter Nine]

“It’s all a big question mark,” Jake said, with a grim grin, and I gave him a fraught frown to match. Question marks made me think of Ellington Feint’s curved eyebrows, and the smile she always gave me, that could have meant anything. It made me unsteady to think of all of it, and the train rattling made me feel unsteadier still. [Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?, Chapter Seven]

“This is the only place on the train where you can find coffee,” I said, and showed her the tiny folded cup. She raised her curious eyebrows, shaped like question marks, and finally gave me the smile she always gave me, the smile that could have meant anything. [Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?, Chapter Eight]

I reached out to her, and she moved violently away from me. I had to grab the chain that bound her hands, in order to look into her eyes. Her curled eyebrows had always reminded me of question marks, but now they just looked furious. You’ll never see Ellington Feint smile again, I thought to myself, but it was a moment before I could bring myself to reply. “I hoped it wasn’t true,” I said finally. [Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?, Chapter Thirteen]

So at this point it looks like Lemony/Handler is throwing far more clues towards Ellington having something to do with the mysterious question mark featured in “A Series Of Unfortunate Events” rather than TBB itself. Why is that?

On one hand, there’s some semblance of symbolism going on there. In Lemony’s adolescent mind, he’s the detective and Ellington is the designated “femme fatale” of noir literature, somebody dangerous you can’t trust or understand, and who usually has hidden and nefarious motives. So of course she’d be associated with question marks and an undecipherable mind. She represents the Unknown, and the primal fear which goes with that.

Except readers end up realizing that Lemony has it wrong. Although Ellington lies often, her motives are neither hidden nor difficult to understand: she’s a traumatized child desperate to find her father. That’s what she presents herself as and she acts accordingly. It’s actually Lemony who fits the role of the “homme fatal” to Ellington: his motives are shrouded in mystery because of his association with VFD (other youngsters in the series call him out on it) and he ends up betraying Ellington for his own ends. Lemony is essentially projecting his own duplicity and manipulative nature on Ellington. She’s a mirror to his own sins.

So if Ellington is a clue to understand the true nature of the entity, it’s not just a clue which relates to the plot. It also functions as a key to understanding the symbolism and psychology of the entity. Our educated guess, therefore, would be that characters assume a lot of things about the entity which are just plain wrong, and that they are projecting their own identity on it.

Was the question-mark-shaped entity a submarine or an animal?

The following reasoning was helpfully worked out for me by Jean Lúcio (aka @snicketstrange on Tumblr), a prominent member of the Brazilian Snicket fandom. What he realized is that there are two kinds of sonars: active (emitting a sound and listening to its echo) and passive (listening to sounds in the vicinity). Both have merits: the active one is more efficient as it will detect objects for you even if there are silent, and the passive one is more discreet as it allows you to stay silent.

So in “The Grim Grotto” it seems that both Olaf and Widdershins assume the entity uses a passive sonar. Both of them insist that the people inside the Queequeg/Carmelita do not make any sound in order to remain undetected by the entity.

Why does that matter, anyway?

Well, as it turns out, some animals do have a “bio-sonar”… but there is no instance of a passive bio-sonar. All animals capable of echolocation function according to the principles of an active bio-sonar. They emit a sound and listen to its echo. It doesn’t matter if an item in their vicinity is silent, they will detect it all the same.

So we can infer two things from Juan Lúcio’s reasoning:

Widdershins was not lying, he sincerely believed the entity was or could be a submarine. If he knew for sure that the entity was an animal, he would not bother telling his crewmates to stay silent as it would be pointless. As a submariner, it can be assumed he knew how the bio-sonar of large marine animals functioned. Olaf is a trickier case as he’s been shown to be book-dumb in that he’s ignorant about many things. But his behavior regarding the entity is extremely similar to Widdershins so it’s likely he had the same line of reasoning.

The entity definitely detected both the Queequeg and the Carmelita… and chose not to attack them. Which would at least imply that the entity is far less malevolent or aggressive than initially suspected. Both submarines were spared.

So all of a sudden we have a lot more information about the entity.

This is where the constant comparison of Ellington to a question mark starts making sense. There’s a clear parallel between the way Ellington and the entity are treated:

Lemony is a liar and a manipulator, so he assumes that Ellington is a liar and a manipulator.

Widdershins and Olaf are shady people piloting a submarine, so they assume the entity is a submarine piloted by somebody shady.

So that’s what we can at least assume about the entity: the first guess is usually wrong. Confronted with the Unknown, the brain starts going crazy with theories which reveal our deepest insecurities. This is how bigotry works: when people are confronted with something they neither know nor understand, they assume the worst about it by default, because, deep down, they know on a psychological level that they are themselves capable of horrible, terrible things. It’s a survival instinct to assume the worst about what we don’t know. And one of the main themes of “A Series Of Unfortunate Events” is bigotry.

To whom did the Carmelita octopus-shaped submarine belong?

The origin of Olaf’s submarine is one of “The Grim Grotto”’s most easily forgotten mysteries, but it’s enough of a riddle to warrant suspicion. The nefarious villain seems to acquire a deadly submarine at the moment he needs it the most. More surprisingly, it seems that Olaf acquired it in a very short amount of time: barely a day goes by between the last moment the Baudelaire orphans see him at the top of Mount Fraught and the time they meet him again in “The Grim Grotto”. Of course it’s possible he may have acquired that submarine much earlier and simply put it in storage somewhere, but there’s a catch to that explanation: the submarine requires the hard labor of several child slaves to move. And we see that some of the children moving the oars of the submarine are the Snow Scouts whom Count Olaf kidnapped at the end of “The Slippery Slope”. So it would have been tricky for Count Olaf to move the submarine anywhere without the extra child slaves… which points to Olaf acquiring the submarine only recently.

And what do we know about that submarine? Not much.

"This submarine is one of the greatest things I've ever stolen," he bragged. "It has everything I'll need to defeat V.F.D. once and for all. It has a sonar system, so I can rid the seas of V.F.D. submarines. It has an enormous flyswatter, so I can rid the skies of V.F.D. planes. It has a lifetime supply of matches, so I can rid the world of V.F.D. headquarters. It has several cases of wine that I plan to drink up myself, and a closet full of very stylish outfits for my girlfriend. And best of all, it has plenty of opportunities for children to do hard labor! Ha ha hedonism!" [The Grim Grotto, Chapter Nine]

"We'll see about that," Olaf said, grinning wickedly. "I'm going to lock all of you in the brig, which is the official seafaring term for Jail." "We know what the brig is," Klaus said. "Then you know it's not a very pleasant place," the villain said. "The previous owner used it to hold traitors captive, and I see no reason to break with tradition." [The Grim Grotto, Chapter Nine]

It’s unlikely that Count Olaf stole the submarine from either side of V.F.D. At this point in the series, Olaf is still loyal to his bosses (The Woman With Hair But No Beard and the Man With Beard But No Hair) so if they had a submarine and he needed it for a scheme, he would have just asked for it. Since he was looking for the sugar bowl and the Queequeg, they had no reason to refuse him. It’s also unlikely that the submarine was stolen from the “noble” side of V.F.D. because Captain Widdershins seems to recognize it as a threat immediately when its icon shows up on the Queequeg’s sonar screen, and doesn’t contradict the Baudelaire orphans when they assume it’s a submarine piloted by Count Olaf. If Olaf had stolen the octopus-shaped submarine from the other side of the Schism, Captain Widdershins could have mentioned it in passing. In fact, the Captain mentions a number of “gone” submarines who were built by V.F.D. and doesn’t include the octopus-shaped one in the lot. Which implies its origin is altogether different.

"The amount of treachery in this world is enormous!" he cried. "Aye! Think of the crafts we saw on the sonar screen! Think of Count Olaf's enormous submarine, and the even more enormous one that chased it away! Aye! "There's always something more enormous and more terrifying on our tails! Aye! And so many of the noble submarines are gone! Aye! You think the Herman Melville suits are the only noble uniforms in the world? There used to be volunteers with P G. Wodehouse on their uniforms, and Carl Van Vechten. There was Comyns and Cleary and Archy and Mehitabel. But now volunteers are scarce! So the best we can do is one small noble thing! Aye! Like retrieving the sugar bowl from the Gorgonian Grotto, no matter how grim it sounds! Aye! Remember my personal philosophy! He who hesitates is lost!" [The Grim Grotto, Chapter Five]

To whom did that submarine belong before Count Olaf stole it, then? And why does the Captain seem to have a passing knowledge of its history?

What we know so far is that the previous owner:

Was evil enough to use child slaves,

Was obsessed with traitors within its own organizations to the point he had secured a place to lock up suspicious members,

Was wary of aerial threats,

Had gathered an enormous amount of matches to light a lot of fires,

Had someone in the crew who liked wine,

Had an octopus-shaped costume for some reason.

There happens to be another organization in Lemony Snicket’s world which fits nicely into this description: Inhumane Society. Let’s go down the list:

Hangfire uses child slaves in “Shouldn’t You Be In School”;

Nurse Dander keeps Ellington on watch in “When Did You See Her Last”

V.F.D. has Hector investigate from his balloon as part of its plan in Stain’d-by-the-Sea in “Who Could That Be At This Hour?” and “Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”

Hangfire commits arson in “Shouldn’t You Be In School?”

Ellington mentions that Armstrong Feint used to like wine in “When Did You See Her Last?” and indeed we see Hangfire has poured himself a glass of wine when Lemony meets him at the end of the book,

Stain’d-by-the-Sea’s industry revolves around octopi and Hangfire is obsessed with the town.

So it’s tempting to believe that Hangfire built this octopus-shaped submarine for Inhumane Society back in its heydays. Why didn’t we see this submarine in “All The Wrong Questions”, you ask? Well, there is no sea in Stain’d-by-the-Sea by the time Lemony arrives, and almost the entire series happens there, so naturally Hangfire had no use for the submarine there. However Hangfire does a lot of background scheming and his plan is years into the making, so it’s reasonable to suppose that a submarine could have been useful to him in other places. Hangfire is persuaded that Killdeer Fields was flooded because Stain’d-by-the-Sea was drained. How did he come to that conclusion? Well, maybe he investigated the area of Killdeer Fields with a submarine to track down the origin of the flooding. It’s also possible he spent some years roaming the ocean in a submarine to look for the OBB or its eggs, before getting back to Stain’d-by-the-Sea to create the CBB. There are a lot of possibilities. The submarine was probably put in storage somewhere in Killdeer Fields for later use.

So it’s highly possible that Olaf stole the submarine from whatever remains of Inhumane Society, as Hangfire is dead by the time the events of “The Grim Grotto” occurs. We know that Beatrice and Olaf were investigating a “strange forest” at the end of “All The Wrong Questions”, and we see Lemony immediately stepping into the Clusterous Forest with the Bombinating Beast statue. Coincidence? Probably not. He went in to reunite with Olaf and Beatrice and decide what to do with the statue. Which means Olaf got a lot of intel about Inhumane Society from Lemony. Widdershins is also very much involved in Lemony’s investigation in “When Did You See Her Last?”, so he would also know a lot about Inhumane Society. That would explain why he seems to know so much about the octopus-shaped submarine and who is piloting it.

What exactly happened to Fernald and Fiona?

On a last note, we also have to understand what exactly happened to Fernald and Fiona after “The Grim Grotto”. At the end of the book, it seems that Fiona has truly betrayed the Baudelaire orphans and joined Olaf’s side of the Schism for good. But that’s not congruent with what happens next.

"These people are associates of ours," Dewey said fiercely. "They won't fail us." "Ha!" Count Olaf said. "You can't rely on associates. More comrades have failed me than I can count. Why, Hooky and Fiona double-crossed me just yesterday, and let you brats escape! Then they double-crossed me again and stole my submarine!" "We can rely on our friends," Violet said quietly, "more than you can rely on yours.” [The Penultimate Peril, Chapter Nine]

Fiona’s second betrayal is as sudden as the first. It took less than twenty-four hours for her and Fernald to escape with Olaf’s submarine. Why? Fernald and Fiona change loyalties twice throughout “The Grim Grotto”, but they appeared to have made up their minds. Interestingly, Olaf seems to conflate this act of betrayal with Fiona’s decision to let the Baudelaire orphans escape. Which is interesting because as far as we’re aware it was not Fernald who did that, only his sister. But Count Olaf believes that letting the Baudelaire orphans escape was a concerted plan on their part. Was it?

Well, let’s put it this way: without Fiona’s intervention, the Baudelaire orphans were pretty much screwed. Count Olaf had managed to get the Queequeg in his clutches. The only reason they even managed to escape is because Olaf foolishly left Fiona without supervision after he had ordered her to emprison the Baudelaire orphans in the brig. But that’s only because he trusted her.

Now let’s pause and think: what would have happened if Fiona hadn’t betrayed the Baudelaire orphans? From Fiona’s and Fernald’s perspective, it was extremely unlikely that the Baudelaire orphans had enough time to find an antidote for Sunny, cure her, and escape. Esme had already realized Fiona and Fernald were out of the brig, and it was only a matter a time before she understood they were lying to her. Time was running out and as soon as Olaf realized Fernald had let the Baudelaire orphans escape from the Carmelita to the Queequeg, things would take a turn for the worse. Fiona pretended to defect to the other side of the Schism to stall for time. It’s pretty explicit in the passage where she lies to Esme that this is a spur-of-the-moment decision. Things were not looking great for Fernald’s initial plan to escape with Fiona and her friends. It was dangerous and not really feasible.

So a reasonable person, trapped in such a situation, would naturally change plans. The issue is that by that time Fiona and Fernald were busy diverting Esme and didn’t have time to warn the Baudelaire orphans that they had changed strategies. Here’s what Fiona and Fernald probably decided off-screen while Klaus and Violet were busy curing Sunny:

Fiona would pretend defecting to Olaf’s side for much longer than anticipated,

Fiona would not tell the Baudelaire orphans that it was a ruse, for their shock and horror would make Olaf and Esme believe that the defection was genuine,

Using that newfound trust, Fiona would let the Baudelaire orphans escape with the Queequeg in the nick of time,

As soon as the Baudelaire orphans escaped, Fiona and Fernald would use the chaos and confusion to steal the octopus-shaped submarine for themselves.

All in all, a much greater plan. And it has an added benefit, too: capturing the octopus-shaped submarine would allow Fiona and Fernald to free the slave rowers. Such a noble deed would be enough to convince Fiona to let her friends hate her.

There is some reason to believe that Fiona and Fernald indeed freed the child slaves because Kit Snicket never mentions an octopus-shaped submarine in “The End”. It’s as if it disappeared. Fiona and Fernald apparently found their way back to Captain Widdershins in some other way. Probably aerial.

You're volunteers, ready to face the challenges of a desperate and perplexing world. You must go to the Hotel Denouement, and Quigley must go to the self-sustaining hot air mobile home, and I must go to a coral formation of dubious quality where an inflatable raft should be waiting. But if Quigley manages to construct a net big enough to capture all those eagles, and I manage to contact Captain Widdershins and have him meet me at a certain clump of seaweed, we'll be here on Thursday. Hector should manage to land his self-sustaining hot air mobile home on the roof, even with all of us aboard." [The Penultimate Peril, Chapter Two]

But the Baudelaire orphans, of course, had no living parents, and their closest friends were high in the sky, in a self-sustaining hot air mobile home, battling eagles and a terrible henchman who had hooks instead of hands, so the acquaintance of Dewey Denouement, and the comforting words he had uttered, were a blessing. [The Penultimate Peril, Chapter Eight]

"So do our friends," Violet said. "They're flying across the sea as we speak, and by tomorrow, their self-sustaining hot air mobile home will land on the roof." "Only if they've managed to survive my eagles," Count Olaf said with a growl. [The Penultimate Peril, Chapter Nine]

So it’s interesting that by the time Olaf arrives in “The Penultimate Peril” he knows Fiona and Fernald escaped with the octopus-shaped submarine and still believes his plan to take the hot-air mobile home with trained eagles will succeed. Why is Fernald enacting Olaf’s plan even though he’s already defected?

A possibility is that Fernald and Fiona were on their way to help the Quagmires and Hector fight the eagles, but that Isadora and Duncan, recognizing the face of the hook-handed man, flipped out and attacked him first. It’s unlikely that Fernald ever truly tried to harm the Quagmires directly as this conflicts with how Kit Snicket describes the incident:

"I failed you," Kit said sadly, and coughed. "Quigley managed to reach the self-sustaining hot air mobile home, just as I hoped he would, and helped his siblings and Hector catch the treacherous eagles in an enormous net, while I met Captain Widdershins and his stepchildren." "Fernald and Fiona?" Klaus said, referring to the hook-handed man who had once worked for Count Olaf, and the young woman who had broken his heart. "But they betrayed him–and us." "The captain had forgiven the failures of those he had loved," Kit said, "as I hope you will forgive mine, Baudelaires. We made a desperate attempt to repair the Queequeg and reach the Quagmires as their aerial battle continued, and arrived just in time to see the balloons of the self-sustaining hot air mobile home pop under the cruel beaks of the escaping eagles. They tumbled down to the surface of the sea, and crashed into the Queequeg. In moments we were all castaways, treading water in the midst of all the items that survived the wreck.” [The End, Chapter Thirteen]

It’s obvious we’re missing much of the story there as the Baudelaire orphans are not direct witnesses to it, but it’s obvious Fernald truly put his villainous ways behind him. The absence of the octopus-shaped submarine in this tale supports that. If it had been present, the circumstances of the Queequeg crew would have been much less desperate. Instead of staying on a sinking and damaged submarine, Captain Widdershins and his allies would have just gone to the octopus-shaped one. It’s possible Fernald and Fiona couldn’t use that submarine anymore because they didn’t have enough rowers after they freed the children.

Connecting the dots

We see that just by reading “The Grim Grotto” and “The End” back in 2006, careful readers would have been able to work out that the entity is more likely to be an animal and to be less aggressive than initially believed. That’s pretty much the best way to work out Widdershins’ change of behavior regarding the entity between both books. “All The Wrong Questions” was only meant to provide more clues to a mystery whose solution had already been carefully implied, and to expand on the mythology of the entity.

Here’s an attempt at explaining what actually went down during “The Grim Grotto” and “The End”.

Following the events of “All The Wrong Questions”, Ellington eventually escaped from the prison cell with Kit Snicket thanks to the skeleton key in Ellington’s bag. Kit and Ellington, before going their own ways, exchanged a good deal of information. Kit Snicket could not help noticing Ellington acted extremely angry towards Lemony and VFD in general.

In the following years, Ellington worked tirelessly to recover her father’s remaining assets as well as uncovering the secrets of Inhumane Society. Though the book Caviar: Salty Jewel of the Tasty Sea was destroyed, she had had the opportunity to read some chapters Lemony hadn’t. No one knew about the CBB more than her. With some effort, she managed to find the animal hiding in the Clusterous Forest, as well as the Bombinating Beast statue that Lemony had buried there. With the statue, she was now in control of the CBB. Eventually she managed to track down an octopus-shaped submarine which used to belong to Hangfire, only to lose it to Count Olaf.

As Olaf escaped with the submarine (now rebaptized the Carmelita), Ellington pursued him. She used the statue to control the CBB, ordering it to seize the Carmelita. The CBB first encountered the Queequeg in close vicinity to the Queequeg. Unsure whether these two crafts were allied with each other, Ellington ordered the CBB to stand down. Captain Widdershins mistook the question-mark shape on their radar for an enemy submarine.  Later, Ellington witnessed the Queequeg being attacked by the Carmelita, and decided to approach the CBB to scare Count Olaf and help the crew of the Queequeg. Count Olaf also assumed the mysterious entity was an enemy submarine.

The Queequeg eventually escaped from the clutches of the Carmelita. While making their way to the Hotel Denouement, Olaf, Esme and Carmelita Spats realized the Baudelaire orphans’ absence and were betrayed by Fernald and Fiona who let the imprisoned youngsters start a mutiny. Ellington followed the entire mutiny from afar. The youngsters were released. Esme, Olaf and Carmelita fled. The octopus-shaped submarine was eventually given back to Ellington Feint who promised to help Fernald and Fiona if they were ever in trouble.

Much later, Fernald and Fiona tried to track down Hector’s hot-air mobile home to warn him of an impending eagle attack. Isadora and Duncan attacked Fernald, believing him to have been sent by Olaf and his allies, which complicated Quigley’s plan to catch the eagles in a big net. Fiona and Fernald ended up landing on the Queequeg which had also been looking for the hot-air mobile home. Hector’s balloon fell down on the Queequeg a short time after that.

Fernald reconciled with his stepfather and told Captain Widdershins about the mysterious woman named Ellington Feint who had helped them with her strange, unidentified submarine craft. Captain Widdershins realized this helpful young woman had been behind the appearance of the question mark on the radar and that the entity hadn’t been hostile after all. Kit Snicket, however, thought differently. She was highly suspicious of Ellington’s intentions and thought she had been using Fernald and Fiona as a bait to find the Queequeg and kill more volunteers.

An argument occurred: as the Queequeg began to sink due to serious damage, the entity came back. Captain Widdershins thought Ellington had sent the CBB to save them, while Kit thought she had sent the CBB to eat them. Kit ended up escaping on her own ship, while the others took their chance with the CBB. But, in an ironic twist of fate, what showed up on their sonar screen may not have been Ellington’s CBB. It could just as easily have been the OBB, which leaves the fates of these characters even more uncertain and perilous.