#this pisses me off so much. i love to prepare everything for cooking beforehand

[mychlapci]

cooking is a sacred activity and to rush it and taint it with anger and stress is a grave sin that should be punishable by death. btw. if you didnt know

[blackstonesandtrapnest]

NANA Characters in Quarantine

I was inspired to write this since I had to go under quarantine earlier this month due to coming in close contact with a co-worker who tested positive for COVID. I returned to work this week and I’m doing just fine! If you wish for me to do this with one of the fandoms on my list, then feel free to request it!

~~Nana Osaki~~

Does NOT handle quarantine well at first. Being unable to sing makes her jittery and cranky! Will literally rant and rave to anyone who listens and she’ll do that for hours!

But once she gets all of the frustration out of her system, Nana will come up with ways to make the best of the lockdown. Surprise, surprise, they’re mostly music based!

Will use this opportunity to come up with new material and has video calls every night with the band to discuss it. They’re not gonna sit around and be lazy when they could be getting creative as far as she’s concerned!

If she’s with her S/O or Ren during the quarantine, then it’ll make things much better for Nana since she’ll have someone always around to talk to and just share company with! Cuddles! Lots of cuddles! Just don’t tell anyone though.

If Nana is alone during lockdown, then her anxiety will definitely spike and she’ll have panic attacks more often. When that happens, she’ll usually call or text someone while using the paper bag method to keep herself calm.

~~Nana Komatsu~~

Is pretty bummed about the lockdown but doesn’t want to complain and prefers to make the best of it instead. Will definitely be talking Nana down and off the ledge when she gets too annoyed.

Decides to make BLAST and Trapnest masks to sell online which become extremely popular much to her delight. Yes the bands approve and yes Hachi is making masks for them!

Is the most likely to gain weight during lockdown. Will look up recipes online and try them out which is the cause of said weight gain. Hachi loves food after all!

You can definitely expect to see Hachi on social media a lot and it’ll be her main way of keeping in contact with her friends and family. Livestreaming and making cooking videos will definitely keep Hachi occupied alongside her mask business!

If Hachi is with her S/O, she’ll definitely be doing many things with them and trying to make them a part of her videos which will be very cute and adorable! Awwwww!

~~Nobu Terashima~~

Takes the lockdown quite well. He’s pretty introverted so being alone and isolated for a while doesn’t affect him as much as others.  

Uses the free time to write songs and new material just like Nana and they call every day with new pieces and ideas.

Spends a lot of time on social media and donates to a lot of humanitarian causes, persuading fans of BLAST to do the same which always succeeds.

Will gladly fight anyone who thinks the pandemic is a hoax, is an anti-masker, or just don’t wanna obey guidelines. You’re not gonna get other people sick on Nobu’s watch!

Likes to livestream and play music for his fans whether it be covers or original material. Hachi is one of his mods and his biggest supporter.

~~Shinichi Okazaki~~

The lockdown affects his living as a gigolo (if he still does it by then) so you’re damn right Shin doesn’t like it! He hates being restricted and you can expect long-winded debates between him and Nobu on how the pandemic should be handled.

If Shin has an S/O and is with them during lockdown, they can expect a lot of sex and overall intimacy! No one is surprised if Shin ends up getting said S/O pregnant. If he’s gonna be cooped up in the house for a while, then he could at least get some action out of it!

Is lazy AF during lockdown and isn’t interested in music or social media. In fact, don’t expect to hear from Shin during quarantine at all. Everyone has to initiate contact with him first and yes it pisses them off.

The only way to get Shin to do something productive is if his S/O threatens to cut him off sexually and goes through with it. He’ll do anything to get some WAP! Speaking of which, expect to see Shin dancing to music and expect to hear it playing a lot.

The only social media posts Shin will be making is photos of him and his S/O as well as getting on Nobu’s nerves. Shin gets tons of followers because of his looks but his heart is for his S/O only and he proudly displays that!

~~Yasu Takagi~~

Anticipated the lockdown and went shopping beforehand. He’s always prepared.

With an S/O, Yasu will use this opportunity to get closer to them and have deep conversations that can last for hours. Also lots of cuddles and affection! Yasu’s S/O will definitely be spoiled!

Yasu will be working from home so expect to see him on his laptop a lot. He will be doing video calls frequently with BLAST and upper management at Gaia as well as his law firm if he’s still a lawyer.

Likes to binge-watch YouTube videos and browse on Reddit. He likes to interact with his favorite YouTubers and give advice on Reddit like the kind person he is. Yasu will also donate to humanitarian causes like Nobu does.

Acts as the peacemaker during arguments between Nobu and Shin. Will also calm Nana down if her anxiety flares up. Got any problems? Call Yasu! He’s always available!

~~Ren Honjo~~

Gives no shits about the lockdown and is zen AF. He has to stay inside for a while? Ok!

Is mostly gonna spend the days in bed with his S/O (if they’re with him) and just wants to be close to them. Sleeping is Ren’s best friend!

If Ren is still using drugs, then he’s gonna be unbearable to be around since this means he’ll have to go through withdrawal and will have no way to get the drugs.

Will be unreachable during lockdown if he’s with his S/O. They come first as far as he’s concerned and he wants to make up for lost time with them as much as possible.

Will play music just to brush up on his guitar skills. May join Nobu on one of his livestreams every now and then and play with him as well as chat with fans.

~~Reira Serizawa~~

Has the same reaction as Nana when it comes to the lockdown and has bitching sessions with her about it too. Everyone is annoyed (except Shin) and if anyone tries to interrupt, they get bombarded by Reira and Nana to the point of not being able to get a word in.

Is bored AF and literally doesn’t know what to do with her time. Calls everyone and annoys the hell out of them to the point where they block her number. Reira just wants some company! 🙁

Spends the most time on social media out of everyone and mostly sings songs for her fans. Yes she takes requests and yes she gets a lot of them. Joins Nobu on his livestream whenever Ren is present and provides the vocals for their music. It instantly goes viral as one would expect.

If Reira has an S/O, they can definitely expect her to be clingy and trying to always have their attention. If they’re working from home and have to do video chats, Reira will definitely be in the background and will bring you things if you ask. She may or may not be appropriately dressed.

Loves to listen to other musicians on Spotify and will shout them out and uplift them. If anyone sings a cover of one of Trapnest’s songs, Reira will cry with joy and happiness!

~~Takumi Ichinose~~

Takes the lockdown in stride surprisingly enough. He doesn’t want to risk getting sick nor does he want his bandmates getting sick.

Decides to relax more instead of working which shocks most people. If Takumi has an S/O, he’ll want them to stay with him but if they can’t, he’ll settle for calls and texts.  

Sex, sex, and more sex! His S/O will definitely be worn out unless they have a high sex drive and if they get pregnant, Takumi will be happy and expects it to happen unless you use birth control.

Likes to try new challenges and will have a YouTube channel dedicated to that. Such content includes eating a Carolina Reaper pepper, drinking very strong cocktails, and gaming-related challenges. Yes Takumi is a gamer and his rage is legendary.

Does weekly video calls with the band to make sure they’re taking care of themselves and staying safe. No one’s getting sick on his watch!

~~Naoki Fujieda~~

Hates the restrictions and whines about being stuck in the house all day, everyday. He wants to have fun damn it!

Will do anything and everything to keep himself busy and if he has an S/O with him, they’ll be dragged into it too! Naoki doesn’t want you to be bored!

Will do challenges with Takumi and plays video games a lot whether it’s by himself, with his S/O, or with Takumi. His livestreams are a riot and there’s plenty of laughter to be had, especially if Takumi is present.

Likes to upload skits and rants that become quite popular due to how funny and true they are. Also gives advice to people which actually works and makes their lives better.

Always makes sure his appearance is on point and likes to promotes fashion brands, ideas, and trends. Naoki loves beautiful things so expect to see a lot of pics of just that!

~~Junko and Kyosuke~~

Kyosuke takes the lockdown in stride while Junko panics. Junko ends up furloughed (she’s a salesperson) so she worries about finances.

Kyosuke comes up the idea of doing art commissions for money and it becomes a huge success. Junko decides to join in and also makes and sells masks with Hachi.

Their sex life becomes much more active during lockdown and it’s quite noticeable with how relaxed Junko is. Teasing them about this will just make Junko act like a tsundere and Kyosuke act smug.

They network with other artists worldwide and become quite involved, especially in the black community.

Kyosuke watches various livestreams while Junko sticks to services like Netflix and Hulu. Kyosuke is a mod for Hachi’s livestreams and Junko catches up on her favorite shows while live-tweeting with fellow fans of said shows and having discussions.

[unreachablevoice]

Moving In Is What Started It All

Summary:

With Marinette’s parents being away with work, she is left in the care of one of their supposedly family friend; who just so happened to be someone who she has always been idolizing. And throw in the fact that she is having a hard time with friendships experiencing hardships, bridges being burned, and secrets unraveling and her parents unintentionally (plus being clueless with their daughter’s suffering) throwing their daughter in a pit of misery.

Note:

This fanfic will not contain Miraculous. Though, This does still contain the concept and some of the episodes of the show just cut out the parts of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

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Chapter 1 |The Surprise (to be honest, not quite)|

Narrative POV

It was a typical Monday morning, those mornings where you just don't want to get away from your bed.

Where you don't want to open your eyes.

Where you don't want to get up early and go to school.

But too bad, Marinette had school today because it was Monday, the day of the week where people were the laziest. Her phone rang under her pillow, it was where she puts it so that she'll hear her alarm more clearly. Slowly, Marinette's eyes fluttered open.

She woke up.

Still being a bit sleepy, Marinette rose from her bed and slowly headed towards her bathroom to get ready for school. She took off her nightwear, getting ready to hop into her tub that's filled with hot water to the brim. She dipped her toes in, and then the rest of her body was next. Her white, pinkish porcelain skin covered in warm water stood up after a short soak. She then got out of the tub and walked towards the shower to wet her hair. Marinette put her unscented shampoo in her hair and gently massaged her scalp.

After, another drop of unscented body wash was put on a fluffy baby pink scrub. Marinette began to scrub her body lightly; gently and carefully cleaning every part of her body she could find. Again, she went to the shower and took a fast but thorough rinse, making sure that no soap was left on her body. Her feet then, gracefully walked towards the tub, ready to jump into the warm water once again. As her toes touch the warm water, a slight tingle had risen in Marinette's body, maybe it was because of the cold rinse from earlier.

After a long soak in the tub, Marinette got up, patted herself dry, and drained the water-filled tub. She wrapped herself with her towel and went out, it was a good forty-minute bath.

Opening her closet, she grabbed a nice set of neatly folded clothes. She wore something a bit different, Marinette had an oversized red sweater with long sleeves that has "Princess" written in the middle of it, in a cursive font, and white color. She partnered it off with white shorts that just covers up one-fourth of her legs. And she wore sneakers that have white shoelaces and is the same color as her top. Her hair was put in her signature hairstyle, low pigtails tied using a pair of red ribbons.

Marinette was ready to head off to school, all she needed was to eat her breakfast. She then rushed downstairs to their kitchen and greeted her parents. "Good morning Maman et Papa! What's for breakfast?"

Her father answered with a bit of an apologetic tone for her mother was too busy to even utter a single word to her. "Good morning Marinette, I'm sorry but the bakery is a bit busy right now. Would it be alright if you cook food on your own?" Tom asked.

Marinette just nodded off. Knowing that both her parents are too busy to even catch a glimpse of her, she decided to skip breakfast so that she won't be a bother to her parents in the kitchen. She went back up to her room and brushed her teeth. Then, she grabbed her readily prepared bag, which was fixed beforehand on the previous night. She then ran downstairs again and left for school.

But before she could even touch the doorknob, her parents called over to her and said, "Don't stop by anywhere today, okay? We have something important to tell you when you get home." Marinette let out a small "yes" and now, went out for school.

When she arrived, Marinette was greeted by her best friend Alya. "Morning girl! Well, you're early today. Did something good happen?" she asked, raising her eyebrow and spoke with a singing tone. Marinette giggled at the ridiculous action that Alya did.

"Nothing, really. I just, unexpectedly, woke up from my alarm." she smiled and shrugged nonchalantly.

Alya rolls her eyes at her best friend, "Whatever you say, girl. Come on, let's go. I've been standing here for like a minute or so."

Marinette threw a fit of laughter, a laugh that was not too loud but was audible and pleasant. A little giggle if you might call it. And Alya liked the sound of it. Everything about her voice, from speaking to laughter.

Alya may be a responsible, and a great blogger and reporter, but she sure can be laid back sometimes..., Marinette thought. After a few seconds of laughing, Marinette wipes the tears that were formed because of her giggles and nods to Alya's request to go to their classroom.

When they arrived, there were not that many people yet so they decided to head to their lockers to get some stuff. "Girl, what's our third period for today again?" Alya asks.

The girl shook her head, not knowing what Alya would do if she wasn't around to help her. "It's Science Alya, you kept on asking that exact same question every Monday for like a whole month now. Do you even have a copy of our class schedule?" the blue-eyed girl asks, being a bit disappointed that her best friend was being extra laid back, except for reports and blogging that is.

"Haha... Funny you asked. You see, I kinda threw it away...? I figured since it didn't have any use, I had to get rid of it." the brunette answered in a kind of a questioning and nervous voice. Marinette facepalmed and sighed. I guess it's that time of the year where Alya gets super laid back, huh? Marinette thought.

She just smiled back because she still loves her best friend even though she's like this and because it was too early in the morning for her to scold the stubborn brunette. After they grabbed their stuff, they head back to their classroom and saw Adrien already sitting on his seat. Marinette was feeling nervous, there sat Adrien, the love of her life. She was ready to do anything just to greet the blonde normally in the morning.

Adrien noticed the two best friends and gulped, he prepared himself awhile ago to greet them in case the two girls were early today. He wished Nino was with him right now. "Good morning Alya! Good morning to you too Marinette! Y-You're early today! Hehehe..." Adrien smiled and became flushed right after, he felt embarrassed that he stuttered in front of Marinette and Alya. Plus, he just laughed weirdly in front of her. Both girls greeted back, although Marinette’s was as awkward as the blonde’s.

Alya facepalmed at the actions that her two friends just made. These dorks, why don't they just get together already?! Such oblivious lovebirds... Alya sighed. She knew both of them were in love with each other, they were just too oblivious to see it. Plus, the other one thinks he's got no chance with the other one and vice versa.

A while later, Nino arrived. And now, the whole gang was there.

Alya explained to Nino how she just witnessed an irritating event. And Nino groaned, equally pissed off as Alya. The couple ships the two, they're their major OTP. But too bad, the noirette and the blonde wasn't together, crushing both the couple's dreams. They cried silently and internally, but that didn't stop them. They swore to each other that they will do everything in their will power to make their two best friends a couple too. “Operation: Project Adrienette” as they (or everyone in the classroom — sans Chloé) calls it.

Alya and Nino started dating a while back when Nino finally told Alya his feelings. In which, she returned with much glee so it was obvious that they would ship the two as much as the others would.

After a few chatting, the whole class was now there and Mlle. Bustier arrived, a bit later than usual. The class stood up and greeted her, Mlle. Bustier greeted back while gesturing for them to sit down. Their attendance was checked, surprisingly nobody was absent, and then the discussion started. The class was being taught of different things, there were some instances where someone makes a joke and everyone would laugh that they would get off-topic and forget that they're being lectured about something.

After periods of teaching, it was now lunchtime. Marinette didn't go back to her house since she decided to skip lunch, again. She decided to wait for classes to start again while playing with her phone. She texted Alya, her parents—because they asked her why she hasn't returned and she lied saying that she'll just eat outside, and someone very important.

The bell rang and everyone arrived in their classrooms, including Marinette. The gang—Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Adrien—greeted each other. As usual, they were all very happy to see each other, acting as if they haven't seen each other for years.

And another set of periods that contained thousands of knowledge was bestowed upon Marinette and her friends (*this sentence right here is a bit weird hahaha*). And after that, it was time to head home. Alya was supposed to invite Marinette and the boys to eat somewhere outside, like a café or something but Marinette refused, she told Alya what her parents told her to do and, thankfully, she understood.

"Sure girl, but promise me you'll hang out with us sometime, okay?" Alya gave with a reassuring smile, and Marinette nodded.

Sadly, even Adrien couldn't hang out today. "Sorry Alya, I also can't make it. My Father said he also has something important to tell me," he said feeling melancholy.

Adrien really wanted to hang out with his friends, but then his father had to ruin everything. Though, everything's alright since Marinette also had something important to do. Alya sighed and turned to Nino, "I guess we'll all just hang out some other time then..." Nino nodded sadly in agreement. And they all bid each other goodbye.

Since Adrien's driver was busy picking up his father from somewhere, Adrien had to walk back home. When he reached his house, his father was already in their living room, waiting for him. The older Agreste noticed him arrive and greeted him.

"Welcome back son. We have guests today so after you put your bag down, and come sit down here. I cleared your schedule for today, so let's wait for them together." his father said in a formal look but with a soft voice, smiling like a touched father who just witnessed his son pet a stray little puppy. Adrien smiled back. He ran upstairs to his bedroom, throwing his bag in his bed, too excited to even notice his stuff became scattered on the floor because of his strong throw.

He rushed back downstairs, feeling thrilled. Having a smile plastered on his face, he felt that the people coming over are going to be good news. I might not be able to hang out with Alya, Nino, and Marinette, but I still get to spend time with Father so I guess that's alright with me. Adrien thought.

◎◎◎ ◎◎◎ ◎◎◎

As Marinette arrived back to her home, her parents were waiting for her at the front door. Marinette was confused, why were her parents downstairs? "Dear, we will be gone for as long as it takes, we don't really know when the problem's going to be solved... I guess you could say it's a business about that again." her Maman sighs and shakes her head disappointingly, giving emphasize on the word ‘that’.

So it's about that huh? Wonder what's the problem this time? Marinette thought, irritated by the fact that a problem has stirred up again.

"Oh! And you will be left in the care of our old friend! He has a son your age so we think you'll like it there. So go upstairs and pack your stuff, we'll go there today." her Papa added, looking at her Maman with a small, secretive smirk plastered on his face which was also copied in her Maman’s face. Something that Marinette didn’t quite understood.

"So.... I'll be staying at your old friend's house while you're away? Why not in the usual one instead?" Marinette asks, it was weird how they seemed to have changed their usual setting. 

"Dear. You know it's too far. We said you're going to school by car but we heard that you didn't want to cause a stir so you chose to walk and we don't want you to get too tired from all that walking. So we decided to ask our friend instead."

Marinette just nodded in approval and her parents told her to hurry up and pack since they'll be leaving in an hour.

Marinette did as told and went to her room. She packed her clothes that are enough for a couple of months, her sketchpad that contained some of her latest designs, her diary, and of course her sewing kit and machine. She put them all in a pink, white polka dotted luggage, she grabbed her signature pink purse and skidded downstairs.

"Maman! Papa! I'm ready!" she shouted. As she was about to take the next step on the staircase, she tripped, face planted on the floor. Marinette groaned as she slowly lifted her now crimson red face, clearly being hurt by the bad fall.

Her parents scrunched their face, showing a pitied and hurt expression for their daughter. "Geez Marinette, be careful!" her Maman said while her Papa helped her up. Marinette gave out an embarrassed laugh and accepted the given help.

They headed out to the front door and locked it. There, outside, they saw their silver car waiting for them. Their chauffeur put Marinette's luggage in the trunk and they hopped in and rode to a white mansion.

Wait a minute, this place looks familiar... Marinette thought, squinting her eyes to get a clearer vision of the house. It took a while for her to remember what the mansion reminded her of, but it eventually came. 

"The Agreste Mansion??!!"

[pickalilywrites]

I love your writing so much! Can you write us a Hogwarts AU? I wonder what house everyone would be in! (Wanted ask before I forgot but realized you aren’t looking for anymore prompts so sorry for asking anyways!)

Don’t ask me how I picked. Half of it was just me thinking, “They’d look really good in these house colors, heehee.” 

The Magic of Calzones

104th Trainee Corps. Hogwarts AU. 

3623 words. 

Connie stands excitedly in front of the fourth years. To think that this Hufflepuff prankster has captured the attention of his peers for something other than a practical joke is surprising. To learn that it is because he’s here to give them a lesson is even more surprising. However, one may be less surprised upon learning that in order to give this lesson, he’s snuck into the kitchens after bribing the house dwarves with two baskets of dirty laundry and the promise of allowing them to clean up the kitchens after the students were done.

“Alright! I hope you all have paired up because we’re all about to make one of the most delicious things on the planet: calzones!” he says. His chest is puffed out, proud to be able to introduce this Muggle delicacy to their magical tongues. “Nikolo, you’re with me.”

“Me?” the young wizard splutters. He looks pathetically at Sasha, who is too busy laughing with Jean to notice him, and then back at Connie. “Why should I be working with you? I don’t know anything about these ‘calzones’ or whatever they are!”

“Aw, come on,” Connie says. He puts on the most horrendous face, thinking perhaps that an exaggerated face might be enough to sway Nikolo but it only repulses the other boy. “You know how to cook and stuff so you can give people extra pointers. I only know the rough basics to this. If we work together, I’m sure we could create the best calzone there is!”

“Ah, he’s right,” Sasha says, finally paying attention now. She leans on the counter with her elbows, giving Nikolo a charming smile. “You’re a great chef. I’m sure we’d all have an easier time if you helped Connie teach us.”

Nikolo’s face flushes at the small compliment and he stammers, “Fine, I’ll do it.” He grows even redder when Sasha and Connie cheer, happy that he’s agreed.

“Now,” Connie says, clearing his throat. He mimics the same strict expression of Professor Smith, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and deepens his voice when he speaks. “Who here knows of the great calzone?”

A few of the Muggle-borns and those with a Muggle parent raise their hands, but it is Eren, his hand extended higher than anyone else’s, who is called upon.

“A calzone is an oven-baked dish created by Italian Muggles,” the Gryffindor wizard replies with an equally serious expression. For some reason, he knows more about this than he does any of the subjects he studies for. One must think that he’s clearly planned this out with Connie beforehand or has a hidden passion for food that rivals Sasha’s. “The dish originated in Naples and is made from salted bread dough and stuffed with ingredients such as ricotta, mozzarella, salami, ham, and egg, although these can vary depending on the region. Essentially, it’s a pizza that’s folded over and baked in an oven.”

“Excellent! A bajillion points for Gryffindor!” Connie roars.

In the corner of the room, Annie rolls her eyes. The poor Ravenclaw was brought here against her will and it seems she has no energy to leave. At least she gets food after all this is over.

“First, we shall roll the dough!” Connie says in the same booming voice. He slaps a ball of dough down onto the countertop in front of him and takes the rolling pin at his workstation and begins to roll it out. “You should all have some dough and a rolling pin at your workstations. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough supplies for everyone, so you’ll all have to take turns.”

Jean watches as Sasha rolls out the door. She’s surprisingly careful, he finds, but he still says, “Don’t eat any of that.”

She’s scandalized at his suggestion, stopping for a moment to turn to him and say, “You’d think I’d eat raw dough? What kind of monster do you think I am?”

He rolls his eyes and takes the rolling pin from her. He frowns when he finds the dough to be more elastic than he thought. Even though he presses down and rolls the pin across it, it sees to revert to its original shape. Holding up the pin between his fingers, he says, “I think this is broken.”

Sasha snatches it from him and smirks. “It’s not broken. You’re just bad at cooking. Here, let me show you,” she says, proceeding to roll out the dough more and giving Jean pointers along the way.

Nikolo looks wistfully their way, wishing that he was the one at Sasha’s side, but someone else’s voice breaks him out of his daydream.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m doing this quite right,” Historia frets. For a Gryffindor, she’s always been surprisingly timid. Nikolo has wondered why she wasn’t sorted into Hufflepuff, although he’d never spoken about it with anyone lest word of it got to Ymir, Historia’s close friend (or bodyguard, more like).

Not wanting to have anything to do with this but at the same time not wanting to be glued to Connie’s side the entire time, he walks over to Historia to see what he can do to help. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” Historia says, biting her lip. She tries to roll it more, but it sticks to her pin and she frowns. When she attempts to peel it off with her hands, it only sticks to her fingers. “Why is it like this? Am I doing something wrong?”

“You’re doing absolutely everything right, Historia,” Ymir says affectionately. The Slytherin sits on a stool beside her. From her clean hands, it seems like she hasn’t even bothered picking up the dough. It doesn’t look as though she has any intention of cooking either. The girl reaches over to twirl a lock of hair of Historia’s ponytail around her finger. “You couldn’t do anything wrong in your life if you tried.”

“Well, that’s not really true,” Nikolo says, clearing his throat. He picks up a little bowl of flour and places it closer to Historia. She probably hadn’t noticed it when she first arrived and didn’t have any experience cooking or baking. He coats his fingers in the flour, rubbing some of it on his palms, and holds out his hand for the rolling pin. “You just need to add a little flour to the dough or else it sticks everywhere. Otherwise, I’d say you’re doing a fine job.”

“Oh, I see,” Historia says. She watches as Nikolo rubs a little flour on her rolling pin and marvels at him as he rolls out a little of the dough for her. When she takes the pin and begins to roll herself, the dough flattens easily beneath the weight of the pin. She beams at him, an angelic smile that stuns him for a second because he doesn’t remember seeing anything quite as pretty as her in his life. “Thank you, Nikolo.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” he stammers stupidly. He stands there for a second, still not believing that such a person could wield this much beauty, before Ymir waves her hand in his face and begins snapping.

“Hey, Nikolo,” Ymir snaps. “We don’t need you anymore, so run along. It looks like Connie is moving onto the next step anyway.”

Indeed, Connie is moving onto the next step. He orders the rest of the students to follow his lead as he slathers on a generous amount of tomato sauce on his little circle of dough, spreading it out with the spoon and following it up with a spinach-ricotta filling he had prepared for all them earlier. He’s a goofball, but he plans things out surprisingly well.

“Should we put as much as them?” Mina Carolina asks Marco, looking over at Sasha and Jean.

On Sasha and Jean’s calzones, Sasha had piled on a mountain of the filling. She either didn’t know it needed to be folded over afterward or just didn’t care. Or perhaps she thought herself capable of spreading the thin layer of dough over all that spinach-ricotta without breaking it. They hadn’t even added the pulled chicken that was leftover from lunch that day. Beside her, it seems like Jean has given up on telling her to restrain herself with the filling. He only scoops out the excess filling on his own calzone to ensure that at least one of their calzones is successful.

“No,” Marco laughs. “I think we’re doing fine.”

“Put more of the spinach in yours,” Mikasa tells Eren. She frowns at how much chicken he’s loaded onto his calzone. “You need to balance it out more.”

“It is balanced!” Eren insists even though it’s clear that it’s not. He had the thinnest layer of spinach-ricotta spread over his dough. It looks to be just a healthy layer of chicken all over his calzone. He looks at Armin, hoping that his friend will back him up. “Right, Armin?”

“Er,” Armin hesitates. The Ravenclaw looks away, trying to tend to his own calzone in the hopes of escaping this conversation but Eren fixes his intense stare at him and it seems he cannot ignore him any longer. Assessing the outcome of the answers he can give, he decides that it’s better to side with Mikasa than Eren. “She’s right. You might as well just eat a chicken sandwich if you’re going to stuff it like that.”

“Fine!” Eren grumbles, angrily stuffing more spinach-ricotta filling into the calzone. He’s too lazy to take off the chicken though and ends up just dumping a lump of the filling on top of the meat, not even bothering to spread it out so that it’s all even.

Mikasa and Armin, not wanting to make Eren more pissed than he already is, simply let him and his lopsided calzone be.

“Now fold it up, folks! I hope you didn’t fill up your calzones too much because you still need to press the edges down together too. You can press them down on your own or use a fork if that’s easier,” Connie says. He demonstrates for them, folding his calzone over easily and pressing at the edges with a fork. Carefully, he cuts open three little slits at the top to release steam when the calzone bakes in the oven. He finishes it off by brushing egg white over the outside to ensure a golden crust once it finishes baking in the oven. “If you need any help, Nikolo and I will be walking around to help!”

Some people’s calzones look better than others. While the final product will only be seen once they pull it out of the oven, it’s not difficult to see which calzones will end up a failure even without having to be put in the oven.

Connie nearly doubles over in laughter when he sees Sasha’s calzone. It’s full to bursting and the dough is pulled so thin at the edges that it looks like it might break. In the end, it’s Nikolo who has to come over and fix everything, spooning out excess filling while Sasha cries in the corner while Jean makes fun of her. Eren’s calzone undergoes a similar operation. While Nikolo scoops out the extra meat and filling, Eren mutters about how he was doing well before Armin and Mikasa began to tell him what to do. Others, however, do exceedingly well.

Marco and Mina, who followed Connie’s instructions down to the very letter, come out with two of the best-looking calzones to no one’s surprise. It is, however, Annie’s calzone, with its perfectly pressed crust, pleated to look like a skirt, that astounds Connie the most and he praises her so loudly without restraint that a rare blush flushes across the reclusive Ravenclaw’s face.

“What the hell is that?” Nikolo asks, pointing at the strangely-shaped calzone that sits in Reiner’s workspace. When he looks up, he sees Reiner grinning mischievously while Bertholdt just shakes his head.

“It’s better if you didn’t know,” Bertholdt mutters, but it’s too late.

“It’s an ass!” Reiner bellows. He smacks it and lets out a loud roar of laughter. “Bertholdt told me I could never make a calzone in this shape, but I sure proved him wrong!”

“No, I told you that you shouldn’t make it in that shape,” Bertholdt hisses, completely mortified. He looks at Nikolo, his expression miserable. “If you’d rather we just throw it away, I completely understand.”

“Is that a butt?” Connie cackles. He laughs so hard that Nikolo is afraid that he’ll fall onto the floor in a fit of giggles. When he finally composes himself, Connie claps a hand on Reiner’s shoulder. “You’re my star pupil, Reiner.”

“Well, you’re a great instructor, Professor Springer,” Reiner replies, giving Connie a thumbs up.

Nikolo rolls his eyes and collects all the calzones onto baking trays. He tries not to look too hard at Reiner’s. No matter what he does, it just looks like a butt. Although they’re fourth years now, it seems that Reiner – and Connie – still act like children.

After the calzones are loaded into the ovens, many of the students crowd around the oven to peer inside. The Italian dish looks so pale in the oven light and fifteen minutes seems too long to wait.

“Can’t we just, like, speed up the process?” Sasha says, whipping out her wand. She stares hungrily into the oven, watching the calzones with a close eye. She’s practically drooling as she imagines how they’ll look once they come out – their crisp, golden crust and the melted spinach-ricotta center paired with the tender pulled chicken all together with the thin layer of creamy tomato sauce.

“Put that away,” Jean says, looking at her wand warily. He knows she’s not a bad witch, but he’s seen her blow up too many things during Potions to trust her to use magic around food. “Just be patient.”

“You know,” Eren says, speaking up from the back. He’s leaning with his back against a counter. “There are calzones that are already made for you. You just need to heat them up for a few minutes and – boom – a plate of delicious folded pizzas on a plate already for eating.”

“A few minutes? So you don’t have to wait nearly as long as we’re doing right now?” Mina asks, curious. Like a good number of students in the kitchens, Mina is unfamiliar with Muggle technology after having been brought up primarily in the wizarding world where things like microwaves haven’t quite made their way into the hands of magical users yet.

“Microwaves,” Marco tells her. “Very useful for heating up leftovers.”

“Why can’t you just magic it into being hot again?” Historia asks.

“Because with a microwave you can just press a couple of buttons and be done with it,” Eren replies. “Actually, some meals you can just buy from the store and pop it in the microwave and it’ll be done for you.”

“Yeah, but those usually aren’t any good,” Connie says, wrinkling his nose. “It’s better if you make it yourself.”

“There is a kind of magic in making food yourself, isn’t there?” Sasha says as she stares dreamily at the calzones, the crusts a slight golden color now that they’ve sat in the oven for a while.

“Are all microwave meals the same?” Jean asks. He has a frown on his face like the idea of getting a meal so easily is more ridiculous than using magic to transport it from somewhere else. “How popular are they?”

“Popular enough to have a lot of variety,” Bertholdt says, remembering eating a microwave meal himself before. “I didn’t really enjoy that one I had.”

“Well, if there are a lot, maybe you didn’t eat one of the good ones,” Reiner tells him.

The young wizards and witches strike up a debate on whether or not microwave meals are any good, if they would try them or not, and how much taste they would sacrifice for time efficiency. A few students, like Annie, just hang in the background regretting having been dragged there in the first place.

When the timer dings, Connie pulls the calzones out of the oven. A few of the calzones look absolutely horrendous – Sasha’s has burst open, the filling spilling out, and Eren’s only looks slightly better than hers. Reiner’s calzone won’t even be discussed here because its appearance is far too vulgar. However, most of them come out quite beautifully; the crusts are a perfect gold color, the steam rising from them with the smell of chicken, ricotta, and spinach. It’s like a little Italian kitchen in that room.

“So good,” Sasha moans after she snatched her calzone off the tray, biting into it despite it being piping hot. Between chews, she opens her mouth to suck in more air, cooling off her tongue because of the hot cheese and meat inside her calzone. “I love it!”

“What do you think, Annie?” Eren asks.

“It’s alright,” Annie replies, but the multiple bites she’s taken of her calzone say otherwise.

“We should do this more often,” Historia says. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t mind when Ymir reaches over to take a bite of her food. “This was really fun, Connie!”

“It was pretty fun,” Armin agrees. “And this time you didn’t even have to get in trouble.”

Connie strikes a pose, his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Delicious fun for everyone, right? I’m quite the genius! The professors should definitely appreciate me and my brilliant mind more.”

“Oh, don’t think you’re not in trouble,” a voice drawls from the back of the room.

The students all turn around to find four prefects watching them. They had all been too busy eating and conversing to notice the prefects sneak into the kitchens.

“Students in the kitchen?” Eld Jinn, the sixth year Gryffindor prefect says, clicking his tongue as he shakes his head in disappointment. “You’re all smart students. You should know better than this.”

“But…you guys are students too. And you’re in the kitchen,” Connie points out stupidly.

Ymir jabs him in the ribs with her elbow to shut him up.

“Ten points from Hufflepuff for being mouthy,” Auruo Bossard, one of the Hufflepuff prefects, frowns.

“We really should inform the House Heads and the Headmaster,” Gunter Schultz says. “It’s worrisome that so many of you have snuck into the kitchen.”

Petra Ral, the other Hufflepuff prefect, comes forth with a gracious smile. “However, we’re willing to look over this infraction on one condition.”

The poor fourth years look at each other, wondering what sort of deal the prefects are about to propose. It’s Eren who finally steps up to speak.

“What is it?”

“If you give us the rest of these ‘calzones’ of yours,” Eld says, picking an extra calzone from the tray and inspecting it closely, “we’ll forget this ever happened. All you’d have to do is clean up the kitchens. We won’t even take off any more points.”

“But the house elves…,” Armin begins.

Eld raises an eyebrow, his expression intimidating the young wizard. In the end, Armin doesn’t say anything. He’s hardly ever lost a point for Ravenclaw and he doesn’t want to lose one now.

“Well,” Jean sighs. “Let’s all clean up.”

“These kids are better chefs than they are wizards,” Eld remarks as he takes another bite.

“Oh, don’t say that,” Petra says. She licks a speck of tomato sauce from her thumb. “Some of these turned out to look pretty terrible. If they’re worse than this, Hogwarts really needs to rethink its staff or at least the students that graduate from here.”  

“They do a decent job at cleaning though,” Gunter comments.

“For about twenty students, yeah,” Auruo snorts. He wipes a hand across a counter and frowns at the flour that sticks to his skin. It’s very little, but it’s definitely there. “If Levi were to ever see this, I’m sure he’d be displeased.”

“You’re right. This is hardly clean.”

“He’s right behind us, isn’t he?” Eld mutters.

“He is!” Hanji, the Head Girl of Ravenclaw says cheerfully. Although she should be scolding them, she’s prancing around the kitchen, looking curiously at the calzones. Going over to Petra, she plucks her friend’s food out of her hands and turns it in her hands. “Very strange things indeed. This is a calzone, you said?”

“Don’t eat that,” Levi snaps.

Mike Zacharias, the Head Boy of Hufflepuff, sniffs around the kitchens, eventually opening an oven and taking a good whiff. “Smells good.”

“Want some?” Petra asks. She wipes off her hands with a towel, looking carefully at Levi even though she knows what he’ll say.

“I want you to clean up these kitchens,” he replies. He frowns at the flour on the counters and on Auruo’s hands. “You’ve all been prefects since your fifth year. You should know better than to sneak into the kitchen for a meal.”

“But-“ Auruo begins.

“Right away, sir,” Gunter says, stepping on Auruo’s foot to shut him up. He’s smart enough to know that Levi won’t hear any excuses and Gryffindor’s Head Boy would be even more displeased if he were to find out about the students that had been occupying the kitchens before them.

“You think he’d go easier on us since you’re dating him,” Eld mutters to Petra as they scrub the inside of the oven together. Since Levi believes cleaning is more thorough when done by hand, they can’t use magic to clean things in front of him. Behind them, Auruo is hard at work washing the dishes while Gunter sweeps the floors. Mike and Hanji are busy sampling the few calzones left over and Levi glowers at all of them, making sure that every inch of the kitchen is spotless. 

“That’s what I thought too, but it turns out he’s a sadist,” Petra says glumly. “Or maybe I’m a masochist.”

“Maybe both are true,” Eld says, grinning.

“What was that?” Levi says, appearing behind them.

“Nothing!” the two prefects reply, scrubbing harder.  

[russellthornton]

Moving In with a Guy: The 15 Step Guide to Make It a Success

Moving in with a guy is a huge step, one you usually don’t think will be that hard. You know the old saying, men are from Mars, women are from Venus…

I live with a guy. No, he’s not my boyfriend but still, he’s a guy. When it comes to living together, it’s great. There are definitely some things we both do that drive us nuts. But, when moving in with a guy you date, it’s a little different. This isn’t just someone as a roommate, this is the guy you date and possibly spend the rest of your life with—depending on how this goes.

Yeah, you read right. When you move in with someone, it’s a huge test of your relationship. Why? Because you totally different live under one roof. [Read: 15 things to know before moving in with a guy]

What you need to know when moving in with a guy

Now, I’m not saying that the relationship is doomed if you experience a rough couple of months, it’s going to take time. But there are some things that you probably want to know before you even move in with them. You may think that you are solid together but being under one roof changes things.

Trust me, some of these tips for moving in with a guy are going to be ones that you write down or set as reminders on your phone. It’s not hard, but you need to know some helpful tips.

#1 Remember there are two of you. When you live on your own, things are different. You leave your dirty underwear on the floor, you let the garbage overflow, and you don’t do the dishes for weeks on end. But now there are two of you, be conscious of the other person and the way they keep their home. They may be cleaner or messier than you which is something to be aware of. [Read: 15 traits that sets selfless love apart from selfish love]

#2 Don’t hide anything “unsexy.” Listen, you have a period. You’re going to be using tampons, pads, or diva cups. Sometimes you wear unsexy underwear. There’s no point hiding these things. If he’s not comfortable with the idea of you being a woman, this is a problem. If he can’t handle a couple tampons then is he actually mature enough to live with you? [Read: The 14 steps you take to unfake your life]

#3 Find the balance. One of you will be cleaner or dirtier than the other, this is just how it goes. In my house, I’m the mess while he’s the clean freak. You just set standards for yourself so that the other person isn’t disgusted by the way you live or choked by how much bleach you use to clean your house.

#4 You should feel comfortable. There are going to be small things to iron out along the way, but you should feel comfortable the minute you move in together. You shouldn’t feel that you should sleep with your makeup on or you can’t go to the bathroom because he’ll hear. You want to feel like it’s your home.

#5 Take the small things with a grain of salt. There are going to be things that piss you off. Maybe he leaves his clean clothes on a chair or he leaves the toilet seat up, but don’t freak out. These things aren’t dealbreakers. Trust me, if annoyed by these things, he’s annoyed by the little things you do too, so it goes hand in hand. [Read: 15 tips to not be selfish in a relationship]

#6 Moving in with a guy doesn’t mean your relationship will be perfect. This means you even put in more work to make sure your relationship continues to grow. What happens with many couples is they end up being roommates rather than partners. Make sure to keep passion going and that you work on your sex life with them.

#7 Communication is key. Just because you live together doesn’t mean your communication gets better on its own. Make sure you stay connected and communicative. Now that you live together, learn each other’s schedules, and even stay in contact with little things like who cooks dinner or feeds the dog.

#8 Keep a deadline in mind. Listen, if you want to get married then be realistic with your partner. If you live with them, and after a year it isn’t working out, end it. You have goals and dreams. So, if it’s not working out with your partner by a certain time, be true to yourself and do what you know is right.

#9 Go out with your friends. Here’s the thing, once we move in with our partner, we sometimes get into the zone where we only hang out with them. But this isn’t healthy. You need your own night out with your friends just like they do. It’s easy to get lost in being at home and watching Netflix with your partner but don’t forget your friends, they need lovin’. [Read: 13 fun ideas for a girl’s night out]

#10 Make an agreement with him. Will you split the rent 50/50? How will you pay for food? Who will do the laundry? Who cooks? Who cleans? I know these things seem trivial, but sort them out before even thinking of moving in together. If you don’t talk it out beforehand, you may be in for an unexpected surprise. Like you become the maid.

#11 Move in because it feels right. Not because you feel you should or you think it brings you one step closer to marrying them. Those aren’t good reasons. In fact, it brings you great disappointment if it doesn’t happen. The reason should be that you want to be with them and take the relationship to the next step.

#12 Learn how to fight smart. You live together now. It’s not like before when you had a fight and you just hung up the phone and talked to each other three days later. Now, you sleep in the same bed. Learn how to pick your battles and discuss things that bother you in a mature way. [Read: How to flight fair in a relationship and grow closer]

#13 It’s all about compromising. He may not want to watch Private Practice with you, but he will because on Friday night he gets to pick the movie. See what’s going on here? Compromising. Of course, you won’t like everything they do, but neither do they. So, learn to do things that you don’t want to do because it’s going to happen more often than not.

#14 Know that you’re going to eat more. Most women, when they move in with a guy end up gaining weight. Why? Well, men just eat more in general compared to women. I know, sucks for us while they get to maintain their body weight after eating two bags of chips. Point being, be prepared. [Read: 12 simple, daily self-love habits to keep you confident]

#15 Be prepared that it may not work out. Of course, I want you to work out but moving in together is a huge step, and not everyone is ready for it. Plus, not everyone handles the living habits of someone opposite them. So, hope for the best, but be prepared for it not to work out. So, have a back-up plan even if you don’t want one.

[Read: 8 practical things to do before moving in together]

Now that you know the important tips when moving in with a guy, don’t stress out. Of course, it may be rocky in the beginning, but just keep the communication strong and push through.

The post Moving In with a Guy: The 15 Step Guide to Make It a Success is the original content of LovePanky - Your Guide to Better Love and Relationships.