#mostly like order of events and stuff

[flowerakatsuka]

what does kuroba do nowadays?? Also hello!!!! Wanted to also say that your art is just absolutely stunning!!! Fantastic work as always ^_^

HELLO!! THANK YOU SO MUCH??? 😭✨️ it makes me really happy to know that ppl enjoy my artwork, it means the world to me!!

as for what kuroba is up to : they're a florist in akatsuka and run their family's shop, yotsubana florals! it used to belong to their grandparents, chōji and madoka, but they took over day to day operations after their grandmother's passing and their grandfather having a nasty fall on the job. ( before that, they just helped around the shop as an assistant florist to their grandfather and a delivery driver. )

they adore flowers and making people happy through their arrangements so kuroba's very happy with their job despite how busy it can get. karamatsu is a regular loiter at the shop and does a lot to liven up their usual routine, too. he's goofy and kinda pathetic, but kuro finds him oddly endearing and appreciates that he'll listen to them talk about floriography so they enjoy having him around.

also, since i feel like i should mention it here, kuroba initially doesn't realize that karamatsu is the same guy that they had a crush on in their 2nd year of high school. he does seem familiar to them, but they aren't able to pinpoint exactly why until they attend their reunion and catch a glimpse of kara. they kinda spiral for a bit after finally remembering who he is. meanwhile, karamatsu doesn't make the connection even when kuroba reveals they went to the same high school, which ends up becoming a major point of tension in their relationship — especially when kuro's feelings start to resurface. ( to be fair to both of them, it probably would've been around 11 years since they were in the same class together and both of them have wildly different vibes now so them not remembering each other immediately is kinda understandable. )

[whoslaurapalmer]

well, one can always hope!!!!!!!!!

[gayeddiejuice]

🚨🚨 boots on the ground reporting 🚨🚨

ok just got off the phone with my friend, she is the mvp called me as soon as she clocked out while she walked to the train.

ok. first things first i asked. we’re they nice? and she said YES she said they were probably the easiest table anyone had she felt bad for everyone else cause she kept seeing all the handlers running back and forth and she was just chilling pretty much. she said they dinner was pre ordered but they didn’t eat much of it cause they probably ate at the pre party event. she was also like “did you know oliver is vegan?” LOL anyways. as the main handler the job is to make sure the vips have everything they need, so for example she would take all their food orders and then send it to the kitchen and then there’s a team of waiters who bring the food, the handler never leaves the table you have to be there in case they need anything.

she said since their team preordered most of the food it made her job so much easier, she basically just stood by their table all night just in case they needed anything. she did order lots of drinks tho she said they drank A LOT 😂😂 but it was mostly for all the people that kept coming over to their table, apparently they were super popular people from other shows kept coming over to talk to them. also lots of the other guests which is mostly just the advertisers, that’s the whole point of the party abc/disney has all these celebs there to mingle with advertisers to get them to sell stuff on their network. and she said everyone wanted to come to the 911 table!!

after the dinner portion the actual party starts and that’s when things get hectic cause the vips always scatter and if you’re their handler you gotta know where they all are at all times. i do not miss this job btw it gave me major anxiety.

during the party they pretty much stuck together which made her job so much easier and she said they all remembered her name when she only told it to them once when she introduced herself. listen she doesn’t know anything about this cast she kept calling them the girl and the asian guy or the two hot guys. which. yall. she said they were all extremely beautiful she said she kept blushing cause ryan (she fell in love with him btw) kept calling her by her name and asking her questions and he kept organizing the plates and glasses on the table to make it easier for the wait staff to pick up.

other than that she said later in the night she kept losing track of them cause again they were so popular 😂😂 mostly aisha, she said she seemed to be friends with EVERYONE and she said, i repeat she knows nothing about rpf she didn’t know what her words would mean, she said ryan and oliver (the two hot guys) hung out together the whole night especially once kenny left, she said he left at like 8 right after dinner, and aisha kept going to talk to other people but ryan and oliver stuck together all night. I said oh im so sure. 🤭

that’s pretty much it, i asked if she could hear their convos and she could but she didn’t really pay attention cause she didn’t recognize any names. she did say that they were all cracking jokes all night and they laughed a lot which idk warms my heart 🥹🥹

btw ryan and oliver did leave together and i think they were going to either go somewhere else with other people or they were having like an after party at the hotel? cause they kept telling people yeah we’ll see you “after” she didn’t really catch where “after” was but when they said bye to aisha ryan said “see ya at the hotel” and oliver told her to not take too long 😂😂 so idk I guess they’re still partying.

[xneens]

not his girlfriend

you’re not his girlfriend, but …

You're not his girlfriend, but you're the first person to listen to his ramblings. The first time he realizes, he notices he's been talking for too long without taking a breath, and you're still paying attention to what he's saying. Microbiology. You know nothing about the subject, asking him to clarify stuff while he talks. He's surprised because everyone always stops him.

You're not his girlfriend, but he knows your coffee orders. They're all disgustingly sweet, as the teams point out, but he knows what to get depending on the day. No matter how urgent the briefing is, he goes out of his way to stop at your favorite coffee shop. Every day, you're greeted with a fresh cup of coffee and a smile.

You're not his girlfriend, but he comforts you after emotionally hard cases. You often find yourself in his arms after wrapping up the cases, resting your head against his chest, allowing him to stroke your hair. He'll spend the flight next to you, his pinky resting on your arm as a way to ground you without the rest of the team exchanging glances.

You're not his girlfriend, but you don't leave his side when he gets shot on the field. You hold his hand as the paramedics carry him in the ambulance, and you only let go when they take him into surgery. He wakes with you by his side, his fingers immediately intertwining with yours before he's even fully awake. You smile and tell him he's an idiot for taking that bullet for you. He replies back with a smile and a, "Better for me to be injured than you."

You're not his girlfriend, but he makes sure you're paired up on cases. He goes to shooting practices to prove to Hotch he can be on the field with you, to prove that he can protect you. He does the stuff you don't want to, mostly readings you don't want to spend hours on or bagging up a used condom from the toilet.

You're not his girlfriend, but you go to every nerdy event with him. Whether it's a Spock convention or some nature documentary showing, you're there by his side. No longer does he find the seats next to him empty. Instead, when he looks over, he sees you and smiles, because now he's not alone.

You're not his girlfriend, but his mom thinks you are. When you spend a few days in Las Vegas for a case, you visit his mom with him, meeting her for the first time. She greets you, smiling coyly at her son, asking you if you like dating her son. He spends the next few minutes trying to convince her you're just friends. And the rest of the month trying to convince himself.

You're not his girlfriend, but he kills the man holding you hostage. He's the first to notice you gone, and he's the first to burst through the door, gun out. He doesn't bother talking to the unsub, doesn't bother descaling the situation, doesn't bother to wait for the rest of the team to enter before delivering a bullet through the man's head. He doesn't bother stepping over the body before he unties you and takes you in his arms.

You're not his girlfriend, but he covers you with a blanket when you fall asleep. He turns the TV off, placing a pillow under your head softly, making sure you don't wake up with a sore neck. He strokes your cheek with the back of his hand, longing in his eyes as he watches you breathe.

You're not his girlfriend, but he wishes you were.

[hischiershoe]

─── COLD NIGHTS AND SLOW DANCES | PART ONE

─── NICO HISCHIER X FEM!READER

[ overall summary ] Last minute wedding guests lead to sleeping arrangements being shifted around, forcing you to share a room with your brother's very attractive best friend. Old sparks and suppressed feelings come to light, but you're not entirely convinced that it's not just the wedding getting to everyone's head...

[ word count ] 5.6K

[ content warnings ] some cursing, some awkward moments, maybe some minor angst if you squint and tilt your head a lil, unedited!!!!

You had never liked weddings all that much. You’ve gone to a few over the years, most of them for old high school friends or cousins you only spoke to at major family events, and you were always forced to make small talk about your love life, or lack thereof, due to never showing up with a plus one. You were always able to pick up on the judgment and slight pity woven in their carefully curated responses, and the last thing you wanted was to subject yourself to that again. However, you couldn’t exactly not attend your only brother's wedding. 

Fortunately for you, he and his soon-to-be wife had elected to have a smaller ceremony and reception. One that was mostly composed of family members and close friends of the couple, and that certainly helped dissipate some of the dread that formed in your stomach. Though it was easily replaced with the overwhelming reminder that, for four whole days, everyone was going to be crammed into one cabin together to celebrate all of the wedding festivities. 

On second thought, maybe you could have someone FaceTime you during the ceremony instead…

While that idea was tempting, you still find yourself loading all of your bags into the trunk of your parents' rental car and getting comfortable in the backseat before they jet off into the middle of nowhere. They had thrown a couple of questions about your work and personal life around, but you were able to shift the topic to something less straining fairly quickly. Sometime during your mom's rambling about the wedding, you let yourself drift off and managed to stay asleep until your dad was shaking you awake to tell you that they had arrived.

When you stepped out of the car, you slowly dragged your gaze across the tree line, across the short empty clearing that gave you a brief view of the lake, until you landed on a house so big that you had to twist your neck in order to take all of it in. The sound of your dad aimlessly calling out to you was falling to deaf ears as you gaped in awe at everything around you, and suddenly you weren’t so opposed to the summer camp-esque weekend ahead of you. Not if you got to have this view and so much space that you weren’t going to feel like everyone was on top of one another. 

“Sunshine,” Your mom grasps your elbow and pulls you out of your trance, “Dad pulled your stuff out of the car, but you have to take it inside. He’s got his hands full.”

“What kind of vacation is this,” You playfully groan, throwing your hands up in mock frustration as you toss your dad a mischievous smile, “Can’t believe I have to carry my own stuff.”

“Is that complaining I hear? My sister must be here.”

Zack’s laughter echoes into the trees as he descends the steps, Marni gently slapping his shoulder and rolling her eyes while she follows closely behind him. You narrow your eyes at him and throw up a very unpleasant finger, which your parents immediately scold you for before you’re grasping the handle of your suitcase and slinging the strap of your bag over your shoulder. The two of them greet your parents first and Zack has to talk your mom down from nearly crying when she starts talking about how beautiful the place is.

Marni is the first to break away from them, making her way towards you with a gentle smile on her soft face. She excitedly calls out your name with outstretched arms, and you welcome her embrace without any hesitation. 

“I’m so glad you guys made it safely,” She earnestly says as she pulls away from you, “My parents had a bit of trouble with the directions since the cell service out here is a bit spotty.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t tell you if they had any trouble. I slept almost the whole way,” You admit, making an amused chuckle fall from her lips, “It is really gorgeous out here, though. You guys picked an amazing spot for all of this.”

“Oh my gosh, I know! Zack is the one who found it, honestly. He’s amazing,” She gushes with the kind of look in her eye that makes you slightly jealous. 

Not because she was talking about your brother, obviously, but because she looked so in love. You wanted to feel that way about someone one day. To be so undeniably and unequivocally in love with someone that the simple act of talking about them makes your face light up. You keep that to yourself, though. This weekend isn’t about you. 

“You bring out the best in him,” You matter-of-factly state with a curt nod, “He’s always been a great guy, but you really changed him for the better. You help him thrive and grow in ways I never thought were possible.”

“Quit that, you’re gonna make me cry,” She sniffles, swiping her fingers at her eyes, “Let me show you to your room before everyone else gets here!”

You hastily follow after her, falling into casual conversation as she haphazardly gives you a tour of the house and introduces you to a few of the people who have already arrived. You do your best to keep up, but you can already see yourself convening with your parents to try and make sure you remember all of their names correctly once the rest of the guests make their way there. She guides you up the stairs and as she points out various rooms, you notice that someone has gone through the trouble of making small little nameplates for all the doors. Whoever it was, you appreciate them more than they probably know. 

“This one’s yours,” She pushes open the second to last door on the left, “Your room has its own bathroom, so you won’t have to share with anyone. I think the only people who have to share a bathroom are the kids, but they’re at the front of the hallway next to their parents so it shouldn’t be a bother.”

“I get the room to myself,” You raise your eyebrows as you step around her to scan the area around you.

“You do! We managed to find a house within our budget that had enough rooms so everyone can have their own, but obviously the couples are roomed together,” She brightly explains as you toss your bag on the end of the full-sized bed, “Except Thomas. He’s been assigned to the couch downstairs.”

“Good,” You snort.

“Zack said you’d say that,” She laughs, “I’m gonna head back downstairs and let you unpack. Feel free to explore or do whatever when you’re done!”

Marni closes the door behind you, leaving you to your own devices, which is code for checking out your room top to bottom. You open the bathroom door first, humming in satisfaction when you see the walk-in shower with one of those fancy waterfall shower heads at the top. There’s plenty of space on the counter for your various hygiene and makeup products, and you can’t help but be impressed. You knew they had spent a fortune on this place, but if a random guest bathroom was this nice, you can’t even imagine how nice the rest of the house was. 

You were in the middle of pulling open all of the drawers when you heard the faint sound of someone rushing down the hall, shortly followed by Zack bursting into your room with a slightly panicked look in his eyes. Quickly sliding the drawer back in its place, you turn towards him with raised eyebrows and crossed arms. 

“What happened?”

“There’s been a slight change of plans,” He breathes out a nervous chuckle before he averts his eyes, “So, Marni’s aunt and uncle initially weren’t going to be able to come, which meant that the room situation was going to work out perfectly, but they just showed up and now I need you to share a room with Nico!”

The words flew out of his mouth so fast that you nearly didn’t catch a single thing that he said, and you still weren’t entirely sure that you had heard him correctly. Something about Marni’s aunt and uncle? Something something you have to share a room with Nicole? Who the hell is Nicole?

“Dude,” You groan as you shake your head, “Redo that like you’re speaking to a human this time, please.” 

“Basically,” He sheepishly draws out, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, “We have to move the rooming situation around because of some late additions, and Nico is going to be in your room since the two of you are the only single people with a room.”

Oh.

Not Nicole. Nico. 

Oh. 

Nico, one of your brother’s longest friends and old teammates. Nico, someone your brother talked to and about nearly every time the two of you spoke. Nico, the guy who taught you how to properly skate. Nico, the guy who taught you how to properly kiss. Nico, the guy you’ve had a crush on for the last ten years despite rarely ever seeing him. That Nico. 

“Or,” You shakily let out, a daunting pit of anxiety forming in your stomach, “I can take the couch and then he and Thomas can share the room. I think that’s probably the best idea.”

“Trust me, if that was an option, I would’ve done that,” He sighs, running his hands over his face, “But Thomas and Nico don’t get along at all, and you also don’t really like him, so this was the only choice. I promise I’m not really too fond of you sharing a room with one of my friends, but Sunny please. It’s only for the weekend.” 

Zack’s eyes are frantic as he pulls out the nickname he only uses when he’s truly pleading,  and you can tell that this entire ordeal is stressing him out a lot. The last thing you wanted was to pile more onto his already full plate. You could handle sharing a room with Nico for a few days if it meant making things easier for Zack and Marni. This was their weekend, and you would do what you could to make it as perfect as possible. Besides, it’s not likely that Nico cares that much, so why should you?

Well, because he was wildly attractive and you always forget how to speak around him, that’s why.

“Okay,” You slowly nod, and you can practically see the weight lift from his shoulders, “That’s okay with me.”

Before Zack left your room, he told you that Nico wasn’t going to be arriving until well into the evening, and that made you even more nervous. It gave you time to overthink, to worry about any negative possibilities that could happen, and it was driving you crazy. You tried busying yourself with many of the various tasks Marni and Irene, her maid of honor, were more than happy to give you, but the jittery feeling never left your chest.

By the time dinner had come around, Nico was one of the few people that had yet to arrive. You wanted to ask your brother about it, but you kept your lips sealed because you knew he would twist your curiosity into something else. Would he have been right? Sure, but that doesn’t mean you wanted him to, and you knew that if he did, word would spread around the cabin quicker than gossip in middle school. You’re just going to have to wait it out and do your best to focus on one of the dozens of conversations flying around the living room instead.

“Goodnight, sunshine,” Your dad sleepily mumbles as your mom slips into the room, “We love you. See you in the mornin’”

“Goodnight, love you guys,” You yawn, lazily walking the rest of the way down the hall until you reach your door. 

You briefly glance at your nameplate, but you nearly fall over when your eyes dart to it again once you notice that it’s been changed. Someone had redone the entire thing to add Nico’s name right next to yours, and while it’s not necessarily a big deal, it still made heat rush to your cheeks. You can feel what was previously a mostly dormant crush threaten to claw its way back to the surface, but you were determined not to let it. You only had to see him for four days, and then it was likely the two of you would rarely see each other ever again. 

A long and relaxing shower has been calling your name all day, and you used it as an opportunity to try and wash away everything that had been worrying you all day. When the pads of your fingers start to wrinkle, you finally force yourself to get out and finish up with the rest of your nighttime routine. You brought your pajamas in with you in case Nico had arrived while you were in there, and you were glad that you did because when you stepped out of the bathroom, you came face to face with two boys.

“Thank God you have clothes on,” Zack dramatically gasps, earning an eye roll from you and a light chuckle from Nico, “We’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes. What were you doing in there? Actually– I don’t want to know. I’m just making sure you’re both cool with everything before I go to bed.”

“You’re so annoying,” You groan, trying to avoid the intense gaze of Nico, who hasn’t stopped looking at you, “I’m cool with everything. We can make a little pillow wall or somet–”

“Wrong,” Zack quickly cuts you off as he shakes his head, “I brought all the spare blankets I could find because he,” He jams his thumb in Nico’s direction, “Will be sleeping on the floor. Not in bed with my sister.”

You hope neither of them noticed the way your shoulders deflated in disappointment.

“Zack, that’s so rude! You can’t make him sleep on the floor for four days,” You protest, finally letting your eyes drift towards Nico, but you don’t let yourself linger for too long, “We’re adults, it’s not a big deal.”

“It’s okay,” Nico speaks up, his voice deeper and more accented than you remember. The melody sends a shiver down your spine that you cover up by shifting on the balls of your feet, “I don’t mind.”

“See! It works out,” Zack hastily affirms as he claps Nico on the back, “Now, I’ve got a shower with my future wife calling my name, so I will see you guys tomorrow!”

With that, he practically runs out the door, leaving you with a grimace on your face and Nico with a proud, amused look on his. You hear Zack’s loud footsteps bounding down the hallway and down the stairs, and you feel for whoever got stuck with the room next to or above theirs. Hopefully, they brought earplugs or slept hard enough that no noise would wake them.

Suddenly, you’re hit with the heart-stopping reality that you are now very alone in a room with Nico, and you will soon be sleeping only a few feet away from him. You can feel his eyes on you as he stands to your left, his stare making the hair on the back of your neck stand, and you have to force the air into your lungs before you face him.

This time you really look at him, taking in his messy hair that had likely been tucked under a beanie all day and noticing that his shirt was riddled with wrinkles. Your focus slides to his suitcase at the end of the bed, and you catch sight of a familiar airport tag wrapped around the handle. He’d flown from Switzerland, which makes sense as to why he was arriving so late in the day, but it amazed you how he still managed to look so good after a travel day like that. 

“Nice to see you again,” Nico’s the first to shatter the silence, the corner of his lips turning upwards into a smile, “It’s been a while.”

“Few years,” You gingerly point out with a quiet snicker, “It’s nice to see you, too, Nico.”

There was a subtle shift in the air around you as you held his gaze, the tension slowly crawling up your body until it enveloped you entirely. It oddly felt like you were being embraced in the arms of an old lover you had lost contact with somewhere along the way, but it also felt like you were standing under a blinding spotlight as he scanned every inch of your body.

“Is it okay if I go ahead and take a shower,” He casually asks, “I want to clean the plane air off before I go to bed.”

“Yeah,” You rush out a bit too quickly, your voice cracking, “Yeah, of course. I’m all done in there.”

Nico mutters his appreciation before he grabs his smaller bag and tugs it into the bathroom with him. You let out a long, deep breath when you hear the door click shut, squeezing your eyes shut as you take a moment to gather yourself. You always thought Nico was nice to look at before, but he’d filled out a lot since you had seen him last, and it was making your mind foggy. The beard he had going for him didn’t help you either.

This might be a bit more difficult than you thought it would be.

Shaking your mildly impure thoughts from your head, you quietly pad across the floor and begin to pull the decorative pillows off the bed and pile them in the corner before you flip the overhead light off, leaving only the small lamp on the desk to fill the room. You throw the blanket back so that you’re able to slip under the covers, but your movements come to a halt when your eyes snag on the clump of blankets Zack had haphazardly thrown on the floor for Nico’s makeshift pallet. You contemplate the idea ringing in your ears for a few moments, eventually deciding against it because you felt like it could potentially cross boundaries that had been unknowingly set.

You can hear the faint sound of the water shutting off, and it makes your heart ram into your chest even more than it already has been. You further bury yourself beneath the blankets, tucking your chin under as you roll onto your side and try to steady your breathing. The possibility of seeing Nico fresh out of the shower was making the room spin, and you knew if you didn’t force yourself to lay with your back facing the bathroom,  you wouldn’t survive the night let alone the weekend.

After a few minutes pass by, you hear the door creak open followed by a small stream of light illuminating the dimly lit space around you. You can tell Nico is trying to be careful and quiet based on his small and gentle steps, and you almost roll over to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, that you were still very much awake, but you stayed silent. You didn’t even let out a single breath as you focused on remaining still until you were certain he had found his way into his cocoon of residual comforters. Only then did you allow yourself the opportunity to finally fall asleep.

However, it turns out that was easier said than done because it was your room that was above Zack and Marni’s.

When you woke up the next morning, you had forgotten about your weekend roommate until your tired gaze drifted toward the mound on the floor. You could tell that Nico had attempted to make his corner look neat, but there was only so much he was able to do with what he was given. No sounds were filtering in from the bathroom, and the door was cracked enough for you to see that the light was off, which was enough evidence to prove that he was gone for the morning. You couldn’t help but let a small sense of relief wash over you at the fact because you were going to need the extra alone time to prepare yourself for the day ahead. 

The sun was harshly beating against your skin and voices were echoing throughout the woods around you, but there was only one thing that you could focus on and he was standing a few feet away from you. Nico was leaning against the wooden railing clad in only light blue swim trunks with a beer bottle in hand as he talked with a few of the other guys, and you were deeply appreciative of the dark-tinted sunglasses that sat on your nose. They allowed you to ogle in peace, or so you thought they did.

“Whatcha lookin’ at,” Your mom's light and airy voice forces your attention to her.

“Nothing,” You clear your throat, readjusting your position in the chair, “Just people watching.”

She purses her lips in amusement before she leans her head back and hums, “Does it count as people watching if it’s only one person?”

You nearly choke on your own breath as her words ring in your ears, but you manage to cover it up by faking a hiccup. You can feel the tips of your ears burning as your eyes dart around you, trying to gauge if anyone has noticed the sudden change in your demeanor. If Nico had noticed. Luckily, they were all far too engrossed in their own things that you were able to go unnoticed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” You brush off, doing your best to appear nonchalant and unbothered.

“Okay, sunshine. If you say so.”

You avoid looking in Nico’s direction the rest of the time you spend outside in fear that others might be as perceptive as your mom was. Not that you assumed that anyone cared enough to pay that much attention to you, but you were more than aware enough that all it takes is one person to catch you staring, and before you know it, an entire story was written and published for all to hear.

After wading through the lake water at the demand request of your brother for a while, you were more than eager to get up to your room and take a shower. Nico had gone out with the rest of the guys on the boat, which left you with the room to yourself and free of worry that he would pop up before you were expecting him. It also allowed you to shamelessly play your music while you cleaned up before everyone gathered for dinner later.

Steam filled the bathroom as you stepped out of the shower and quietly sang along to the song playing on your phone, securing the towel around your body. Swiping your phone off the counter, you began to look through the notifications you hadn’t seen while you blindly pulled the door open. With your gaze trained on the screen in your hand, you didn’t see the six foot wall in your way before you were physically running into him.

A startled screech slipped through your lips as your phone clattered to the ground and your hands instinctively moved to brace yourself before you fell backward. However, Nico was quicker than you and he was grasping at your hips to keep your body upright while apologies rapidly tumbled out of his mouth. 

“Shit, I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

You could barely hear him over the blood that was rushing in your ears, but his voice brings you back to reality and you’re hyperaware of the fact that you’re standing in front of him in nothing but a towel. That, even through the material of the towel, his hands lit the skin underneath them on fire in a way that pulled all of the air from your lungs. Stepping out of his grasp, you hastily pull at the hem so that it’s secure against you and there is no chance of any sort of slip up occurring. You’re mortified enough as it is.

“You’re supposed to be out on the boat,” You squeak, trying to steady your breathing and bring your heart rate back to a normal speed, “What are you doing here?”

“Thomas got sick so we all came back,” He explains, his eyes looking everywhere but at you, “Zack wanted to go out on the trail, so I came up to grab different shoes. I didn’t know you were in the shower, I swear. I wouldn’t have come in if I did.”

You believe Nico. Of course you do. He was always on the more chivalrous side than most of the men you knew, and you would never assume he would knowingly try to catch you in a situation as vulnerable as this. Besides, you weren’t technically all that innocent, either. It wasn’t just your room and you should’ve known that Nico could walk in at any moment since he had just as much of a right to the space as you do.

“It’s fine,” You breathe out, casting your gaze to the floor, “I should’ve known better, I’m sorry.”

It was taking all of Nico’s willpower to not look at you, but his resolve was crumbling the longer he stood there. The fifteen year old inside of him was remembering the way your lips felt on his and the twenty-five year old in him was itching to feel them again. He needed to get out of there before he got himself in a position he wouldn’t be able to come back from.

“Well,” He clears his throat, “I’ll let you finish up.” Before you could respond, he was harshly turning on his heels and leaving you frozen in your spot without another word thrown in your direction.

With the door securely closed behind him, you finally let your body relax as you let out a long exhale followed by an exasperated, “Fuck.”

You do your best to avoid Nico for the rest of the day, going as far as offering to corral all of the kids upstairs to shower and get ready for dinner. While you’re not sure if he picked up on your efforts to evade, your mom and Marni certainly did and they didn’t shy away from dropping hints that they had. Your mom was leaving lingering comments about how handsome Nico had gotten over the years, and Marni kept mentioning how she thought the two of you could be a cute couple. Each time the words left their mouths, heat would flood your cheeks and you would brush them off like they were seeing things that weren’t there. 

Though, of course, they didn’t believe you. 

Luckily, dinner was far more chaotic than it was the prior night, which made it easy to stay away from Nico. You were able to fly under the radar as playful arguments and reminiscent stories were being thrown around the room, but there were moments you felt like he was watching you. Like he was purposely seeking you out in the crowded room, but you were still far too embarrassed from the shower ordeal to confirm your suspicions. Not that you needed to, anyways. Your mom was doing a good enough job at keeping you in the loop despite your hushed pleas for her silence. Eventually, the night winds down and everyone begins to retreat to their rooms, and you know that you won’t be able to avoid Nico for much longer. 

When Zack drags Nico and a few of the other guys to the back patio, you take it as an opportunity to get to the room first and get ready for bed. Marni lets you part with a sly wink that you dutifully ignore before ascending the stairs, making what was supposed to be a quick stop at your parents door to tell them goodnight. By the time you managed to find an opening to break away from them, you could hear your brother’s voice echoing from the floor below, and you knew you needed to make quick work of slipping into your pajamas and into your safety net of blankets. 

You managed to finish your nighttime routine in record time, which was simultaneously a good and a bad thing. While it made avoiding Nico easier, it also gave you the opportunity to stew in your own thoughts. What if he got grossed out from seeing you in a towel? What if he told your brother about what happened and now he thinks you’ve got some elaborate plan to get with his best friend? Oh God. You would never be able to live that down.

Your thoughts are interrupted when the door is being pushed open so slowly you feel like Nico was doing it on purpose, like he knew how tortuous it was for you. You stay tucked beneath the blankets, unmoving and resolute as he goes through the same motions that you had done only minutes ago. A few times, you hear him mumble under his breath when he accidentally makes too loud of a noise, and you have to bite your lip to fight off the smile that threatens to break through.

By the time he was finished up and making himself comfortable over in his corner of the room, you were shivering. It felt as if the temperature around you had dropped ten degrees, and no matter how many times you rolled yourself up in the blanket, you could not get warm enough. A part of you wanted to get up and investigate the sudden arctic blast, but a much bigger part of you knew that if you even cracked that door open, everyone in the house would stumble out of their rooms and that was the last thing you wanted. All it takes is one small question to start something that would last for hours on end. You would rather suffer in silence. However, there was still one thing, one person, that lingered just enough to keep your brain from quieting down.

“Nico,” You hesitantly call out into the darkness, grasping at the edge of the comforter as you let out a shaky breath, “You can sleep up here, if you want. If I’m this cold, I know you are, too. I remember enough from grade school science to know that heat rises, and you’re on the floor.”

“It’s okay,” He responds, though the wobble in his voice gives him away, “I’m alright down here.”

“Dude,” Your tone is firm as you sit up and throw the blanket off of you in a way so dramatic that he can hear it, “I can literally hear your teeth chattering. Get your ass up here so I can go to sleep instead of worrying about you.” 

“You’d worry about me?” His question is rhetorical, and you know that. You can hear the smirk he undoubtedly has on his face, and it makes sparks of nerves crawl up your spine. Whatever flash of confidence that had washed over you was gone as quickly as it came, and all it took was four measly words.

“I worry about everyone,” You try to deflect, nervously shifting in the bed as you slowly sink back down and pull the blanket to your chin, “Besides, if you die of hypothermia I have to walk down the aisle with Thomas. The offer is purely for my own benefit.”

“Ouch,” Nico playfully chuckles, though you can hear him shuffling around before the wood beneath his feet groans from the weight of his body, “We can’t have you ruining Thomas’ solo moment, can we?”

“I’m pretty sure he plans on on trying to pay someone to play ‘Super Freak’ when he walks out,” You roll your eyes, trying to distract yourself from the faint outline of Nico nearing you until you can see him standing at the edge of the bed.

When you suggested, or more so demanded, that Nico share the bed with you for the night, you hadn’t thought far enough ahead as to what would happen when he did. You hadn’t given yourself any time to prepare for how close he was going to be. Instead, you threw yourself into uncharted waters without a map or a clue of what to do and now he was slipping under the covers only a few inches away from you.

At first, neither of you say anything to pop the bubble of tension that envelops you. You lay flat on your back, body rigid and unmoving as you will yourself to breathe evenly and to do anything other than think about how you can feel his warmth radiating off of him. Nico is doing his best to stay far enough away from you that he isn’t crowding your space, but it was only a full-sized bed and you were both fully developed adults. It didn’t help that the teenager inside of him was on the verge of passing out from being so close to you. 

“Goodnight, Nico,” You finally speak, rolling over onto your side so that your back is facing him.

You had a feeling that was the only way you were going to get even a wink of sleep. If you turned away and tried to forget that he was there. Forget that all you needed to do was stretch the tiniest bit and your fingers would graze the curve of his bicep. 

“Goodnight,” He whispers your name so delicately it sends a shiver down your spine, “Sweet dreams.”

And sweet dreams they were.

[mrsbarnesblog]

˖˚⊹ my girl

➤ summary: even if you knew that you and Rafe were just hooking up, hearing his friend's comments about you, while you were preparing a venue for the event, hurt more than you expected it to

➤ w/c: 2k.

➤ warnings: fwb (or smth like that) to lovers, mentions of sex but nothing explicit, Rafe's friends lol, swearing

➤ a/n: soft Rafe is my weakness, I'm sorry. he's on my mind 24/7 and I literally don't know what to write

masterlist

You were running around the outdoor venue with boxes full of pastry, where in a few hours there was going to be an annual celebration with lots of rich people. For some reason, Ward Cameron, who was paying for everything here, decided that your father’s small bakery was good enough to feed all of the kooks, so from the afternoon on, you were organizing tables to make everything look perfect. 

The place itself looked truly magical—decorated with a lot of flower arrangements, lights and expensive furniture. It was located at Figure 8, so you obviously never had the opportunity to visit it before. It was Kook’s territory, and even with your family’s bakery, which was pretty popular on the island, you were not welcome here.

Just a few minutes ago, Ward himself came to the venue with Rafe and his son’s best friends in order to check how everything was going. 

As soon as your eyes met Rafe’s, you both stopped for a few seconds, too shocked to see each other in a public place. What happened between you and Kook's prince was something that you had never expected to get into, yet here you were. 

You didn’t know what got into you that one night, but out of nowhere, Rafe was talking to you, smiling, looking all sexy and without his usual cockiness, so you couldn’t resist him. 

It wasn’t that you even regretted your decision; it just became more weird every single time you met because he wasn’t bad. Rafe Cameron wasn’t an asshole, which everyone made him seem to be. He was affectionate and surprisingly soft, always checking on you while you two were together and never pressuring you to leave. You wholeheartedly had to admit that it became more than just sex after a few weeks, no matter how hard you tried to deny it. 

You were definitely not dating, mostly because he had never asked you to, but you two were always texting about random stuff, he would even pick you up to hang out at his secret spot on the beach, or just to simply sit in his truck with lots of food and talk. Part of you hated it, but Rafe made you feel so comfortable and safe around him so you were scared to push it and ask him what was happening between you. 

Rafe’s eyes stayed fixated on you as his father, Kelce and Topper stood near him, looking around the venue and chatting. But he could not care less about it because his entire attention was drawn to you and how adorable you looked in your pink tennis skirt and simple white polo with the bakery's logo on it. 

He may or may not be responsible for Ward’s choice of bakery to work with, because Rafe made sure to accidentally mention it a few times, knowing that it would be a good profit for your family. Yet, seeing you here slightly took him off guard, as the first thought that appeared in his head was to go up to you, flirt and make you blush, or just simply kiss you. But he couldn’t, right? At least not until he properly talked to you. 

“Damn, she’s hot, even for a pogue. No wonder you hit it a few times, bro. I'd do it too.” The moment words left Topper’s mouth, Rafe’s heart dropped into his stomach. Kelce snickered, fistbumping Topper, and Rafe cursed himself for running his mouth. He really considered drowning his friends in the nearest lake. 

“Shut your fucking mouth.” Rafe seethed through gritted teeth, elbowing his friend. 

“I would appreciate you both watching your language.” Ward sighed, wincing and rubbing a hand on his beard. He looked at Rafe, who completely ignored his questioning gaze while trying to figure out how to fix it. 

Even with you standing with your back facing them, Rafe saw that you heard it too. Your hand froze in the air, still holding a cupcake, and your shoulders sagged in disappointment and hurt.

Only a few seconds later, you came back to your senses. Your back straightened, you finished decorating the table and you put empty boxes in the trash can. You turned around, showing the fakest smile Rafe had ever seen on your face. Your nails digged in your palm to control yourself, and you stepped closer to the four of them. 

“Mr. Cameron, thank you for working with our bakery. It really means a lot for my family. I did everything and now the event manager should carry on. I, um, should go. I have a lot of stuff to do. Have a great night.” Your eyes were glossy, with tears clearly visible on your waterline. As you awkwardly and in a rush thanked Ward, you didn’t even look at Rafe or either of his friends, knowing damn well that it would break you. 

You didn’t even wait for Ward’s response before storming off, trying to get as far away from these people as possible. Your chest felt too heavy, and the lump in your throat was so hard that you could barely speak. But you didn’t even walk a few feet away before a familiar hand wrapped around your wrist and made you turn around. 

“What do you want from me?” You snapped at Rafe, trying to yank your hand out of his grip. “Don’t touch me, Rafe.”

“This is not what you think it is.” He said, searching for your eyes. His brows were knit together, and his eyes were big and round, almost in fear. 

“Oh no? Isn’t it what I am to you? Just a hit. Just another one on your long list. Why are you bothering to explain anything to me anyway?” You laughed, barely able to hold back your tears. As if it were not enough that you cried in front of Rafe, neither his friends nor his father seemed to mind their own business, obviously listening to your conversation. 

“No. You know that it was more for me, Y/N. I’m serious about you, okay? Topper just cannot filter his fucking mouth.” 

“Stop doing it, Rafe!” You broke, not bothering to hide anymore. “Stop playing with my feelings when you know damn well that you won’t have anything serious with me. I’m not rich, I’m not a kook and I’m not like the prefect girls you usually hang out with. I get it, okay?” You yanked your hand out of his hold, not missing the way Rafe tried to catch it back. Wiping away hot and angry tears with the back of your hand, you look him right in the eyes. “I just wish you didn't give me hope in the first place, because I feel so fucking stupid.” 

“You’re not stupid, Y/N. I don’t care about your money or your status, for that matter. I want you and I mean it. Just let me explain—”

"This is why you would not even speak to me in front of anyone, right? This is why we were always sneaking around. Because you want me, not because you’re too good to be around me.“ You confronted him, not even caring who could hear or see you. From the position where you were standing, you saw a bunch of young waitresses standing not so far away, pretending to work on the table but eyeing you and Rafe every second.

“I’m an asshole. I know it. I know that I didn’t put the label on us and that I fucked up, not doing the right thing.” He stepped closer to you, not breaking eye contact to show that he was sincere. "When Topper and Kelce saw me with you, I panicked and said the only thing that made sense: we were just hooking up. I didn’t want it to be that way, fuck…” Rafe screched the back of his neck in agitation.

“You should go back and stop embarrassing yourself talking with a pogue. I bet your friends found it entertaining. How much did you tell them, hm? Did you share every single detail of what we were doing?” Your voice broke at the end.

“I didn’t tell them anything!”

“Well, I don’t believe you, Rafe!” You sniffed, looking away to distract yourself from the look in Rafe’s eyes. His blue eyes were round, full of concern and it seemed like he was almost panicking. "I understand how guys like you talk about women, but I guess I was stupid enough to believe you would not do that to me. So yeah, you got what you wanted from me and now you can go back to—”

You were rumbling one moment, and the next, two hands pressed on your cheeks, tilting your head up, and Rafe's lips were on yours. You gasped, hands freezing in the air in shock, before slowly moving to Rafe’s shirt to tug on it. 

He didn’t rush; he just firmly yet gently held you against him while his tongue slipped into your mouth, savoiring every second. It’s been just two days since you last seen each other, but God, you missed kissing him. Even if you wanted to move away, you couldn’t. Rafe's palms were on your face, guiding you, while his kiss made your head feel empty and light. He smelled and tasted so good and you hated how quickly you got used to the feeling of his touch on your skin. 

“Everyone can see us.” You mumbled into his mouth. 

“I don’t fucking care, Y/N.” He furrowed, still feeling the wetness on your cheeks from crying. With his thumbs gently rubbing your soft skin, he gave you a few quick kisses before continuing. "I swear, all I said to them was that we just hooked up, because it is what it was at that moment. I wouldn’t have shared anything intimate about you, baby. Please believe me when I say this.” Rafe sighed, resting his forehead on yours. His nose bumped against your—something that he started doing when you were alone in the bed, laying face to face and just looking at each other. "I am sorry I made you feel like you were just sex for me, because you weren't. Spending time with you was the best fucking time of my day, and whatever that was between us, I don’t want it to end.”

“Me neither…” You whispered, feeling warmth rushing through your body when Rafe wrapped his hands around your waist and pulled you even closer into him. He placed a kiss on the top of your head and then you felt him turning around, seemingly studying people around you.

“Since everyone saw us today, do you think I can take you away with me right now?” 

“Take me away? But you have an event in a few hours, and I have to work.”

“No, now we have an event and we have to find you a dress. I’ll handle your work and find someone who can deliver your orders.” Your head snapped up, only to see a proud grin on Rafe's face.

“You’re joking, right?” You pulled away, laughing. “I don’t have such clothes nor do I have money to buy them, and I definitely wasn’t invited.” 

“That’s why I’m taking you to the store now. And since you are my girl now, you’ll be my plus one.” He just shrugged, probably unaware that he had just filled your stomach with freaking butterflies. 

“I’m your girl?” 

Rafe silently looked you in the eyes for a few seconds, and it seemed like he was trying to reassure himself about something. His eyes then shifted to your lips, as he dragged you back to his body, lowering himself to mumble against your mouth. “Yeah, you are my girl.”

[prokopetz]

2D Legend of Zelda style game where the Princess gets sealed inside a giant crystal and the Hero has to save her, as one does, except the Hero manages to obtain the crystal at the end of the tutorial dungeon.

The bad news: nobody knows how to break the giant crystal without killing the Princess in the process.

The good news: the Princess is fully aware inside the giant crystal and can still use all of her Magic Princess Powers within a limited range.

(The Big Bad knows this, and tried to work around it by keeping her in a large empty room with nothing nearby for her to target. That didn't work out so well!)

The whole rest of the game is basically the Hero lugging this big stupid crystal around in order to bring the Princess within range so she can use her magic to actually solve the problem at hand.

The Hero plays basically like Link from a typical Zelda game, except all of the Hero's upgrades relate to making them a better crystal-carrier: throwing the crystal, teleporting to the crystal, doing an AoE attack that affects a line between them and the crystal, etc.

When you switch to playing as the Princess, you're both invulnerable and physically immobile, and the joystick moves your targeting reticle for your spells instead. Those spells are mostly puzzly environment-manipulation stuff with an elemental theme, plus some basic damaging blasts to discourage monsters who get too close. There are recurring sequences where the Hero is indisposed for some reason and you need to figure out how to use the Princess' spells to move her into position to solve the current puzzle and un-trap the hero by using environmental effects and contraptions to fling the crystal around.

(In the final battle, the Big Bad proves to be completely immune to both the Hero's weapons and the Princess' spells, and winning involves setting up some sort of Rube Goldberg sequence of events which causes the Princess to fall on the Big Bad's head from a great height, killing him instantly.)

[thepigeonhasapen]

I was wondering if you could do the Olympian Gods with a reader whose asexual? Like, what would their reactions be, would they mind, stuff like that d:

Asexual Reader, Olympian Edition

(Doing these asks out of order but shhhhhhh. Also strong warning for acephobia because Zeus in an ass)

🩷Aphrodite🩷

Very chill about it. She's the goddess of love and that includes ALL kinds of love. Self-love is one of her favorites. The fact that you know and accept who you are and that you're willing to let her in on it? Well, Aphrodite might just adore you even more than she already did.

"You’re...? Well of course I don't mind, dearest! In fact, I think that's positively wonderful!"

Regardless of whether or not you're interested, Aphrodite still can't refrain from making comments about your physical appearance. She'll try and curtail some of them if you find them uncomfortable, but she loves lavishing praise upon you and talking you up to her friends.

Partially jealous to be perfectly honest. She can't help but wonder if you have a more pure understanding of beauty because you're not looking at it though the rose-tinted lens of horny. Aphrodite is deeply fascinated by asexuality and even if she doesn't quite understand it, she tries her best.

⚔️Ares⚔️

Doesn't mind. Honestly, it doesn't even really impact him that much. Just neatly writes sex out of the equation and carries on.

"You seem nervous, my dear. You... oh? Is that all? No need to distress yourself so much over such things. I love you as you are and knowing this will not change that."

May ask you a few questions at the beginning but mostly leaves the subject alone after that.

If anyone's giving you shit, all it takes is a dirty look from Ares to shut them up. What can I say the man has a way with not using his words.

🏹Artemis🏹

You too?? Artemis tries to play it off cool but she's low-key thrilled actually. Internally screaming because thank the Fates, she can get as close to you as she wants and she doesn't have to worry about things getting Weird™️

"You’re ace? That's... cool. Sorry, that came off as really insincere. It's just... me too, you know? I got a little surprised is all. And um, we've been hanging out for a while and I just wanted to say, you know, now that we're talking about this and I know you're not gonna take this the wrong way, I think you're really neat. I love hanging out with you. ...Don't go spreading that around though, okay?"

Artemis is sex-repulsed. If you are too, she drags you to family events so she can make faces at you whenever her family starts talking about their sexual conquests. If you're not, she's deeply fascinated and will probably ask you WHY on earth you would want to do that.

Despite the fact that Artemis doesn't want to have sex, I feel like she'd still enjoy certain kinks. Primal play, petplay, and leather are things I feel she'd enjoy partaking in. (Source: I am ace and very kinky lmao)

🦉Athena🦉

What a good match, Athena is asexual too! She probably blanks your confession to be honest because she sometimes forgets that people actually have sex frequently and on purpose.

"Asexual? Yes, alright. And how fared your journey up to Olympus by the way? I hope Hermes treated you well."

Sex-neutral. Will occasionally give sex a go if her partner happens to bring it up but will mostly just forget it's existence as a thing entirely.

Athena is actually quite haughty about her asexuality. She is definitely looking down on anyone who is swayed from the path of wisdom by someone else's sex appeal. Loves that you can understand her point of view on the subject.

❄️Demeter❄️

As Demeter has aged her sex drive has shrunk to like nil so really nothing about your relationship is much different.

"Asexual...? Ah, like young Artemis, yes? Fascinating. I've never been able to pin her down long enough to converse upon the subject. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Demeter tends to be a touch more overprotective than she needs to be. If anyone even so much as gives a hint of giving you shit for it, Demeter is sending them an absolute withering glare that has the potential to kill even the most vibrant flower. She follows it up with some bitterly cold words if necessary but it rarely comes to that.

She's honestly quite relieved about it really. She was never really that horny of a person and is happy to find someone who can relate to that. I personally think Demeter is some kind of acespec but that might also be my asexual ass projecting my aceness onto every character I get my grubby little hands on lol

🍇Dionysus🍇

Chill about it. He's chill about literally everything, what do you expect? Dionysus is commonly associated with trans people and I like to believe that queer people in general just flock to him because he's just so open and accepting.

"Ace, yeah? Congrats, man, thanks for telling me. Just let me know if I ever step on any toes, 'kay?"

Not gonna lie, he secretly corners Artemis and Athena to bother them on the subject just in case he's got it wrong. He didn’t as it turns out, but he's glad he checked in anyway because it was an enlightening conversation. With Athena anyway. Artemis runs off at the first available opportunity.

Happy to go whatever speed you want, if you want to go any speed at all. He may still get a little handsy sometimes but he doesn't mean anything by it, he just really likes holding you like a teddy bear. Honestly, I think he'd get a real kick out of somebody aegosexual and think it was such a super fun party trick that you can say such horny things and not be interested at all. Probably mildly pesters you to engage with smutty things because he finds your unamused expressions absolutely fascinating.

🪽Hermes🪽

Bursts out laughing when you tell him. It's not for the reason you think and he does feel really bad about it when he sees your face.

"Haha, of all the...! Haha– oh, hey, hey, I'm sorry, it's not that. I totally don't mind you being ace or anything, far from it, it's just that I seem to have an accidental habit for attracting your type and I seem to be collecting you."

Besides you, the person Hermes spends the most time with is Charon... who is also asexual. Hermes, the uberhorny hypersexual fuckbunny who would literally die for a quickie every five minutes find this hilarious. Opposites attract I guess? Hermes has a good giggle about it everytime he thinks about it.

Doesn't mind if you don't want to have sex. If you do, great! But if you don't, it's not a big deal.

🔱Poseidon🔱

Poseidon is... confused. It'll work out better if you're sex-repulsed and straight up don't want to have sex ever, otherwise poor Poseidon will absolutely struggle. He doesn't understand the difference between sexual attraction and aesthetic attraction and is just genuinely so out of his depth. You like the way he looks... but you don't want to have sex with him??

"What's that? Asexual? I, uh... okay, just between the two of us, you're gonna have to explain that one to me, babe."

He talks to Dionysus. Even after that he still doesn't get it. Poseidon tries his best to be supportive but has like no idea how. Probably shooes away people who try to even mention sex in your vicinity. It's gonna take awhile before he understands how this works. Confused but he's got the spirit kinda?

May initially try to convince you that you just haven't had good sex yet. Sit him down, explain this all to him, and he'll probably get it. Okay, let's be honest, he still doesn't get it but he respects your choice and generally leaves the subject alone. His libido is quite high though so he will frequently sleep around just to scratch that itch.

⚡️Zeus⚡️

We were doing good until we got to you, huh Zeus? Zeus just quite firmly doesn't believe in asexuality. He definitely thinks you're just confused or that you haven't had sex right yet or that you'll change your mind at some point.

"Asexual? Oh dear, have you been talking to that daughter of mine, Artemis? She's always on about something or other, if she chooses to talk to us at all."

Zeus won't force you to have sex but he will make subtle (he thinks he's being subtle anyway) comments about how you're a tease or a prude. If you're interested in having sex, Zeus doesn't understand the definition and just thinks you don't find him attractive. His feelings are now hurt. He will be throwing a violent totally-not-a-tantrum now.

Will eventually, probably shut up about it. Look, he's never gonna understand it so shutting up about it is the best you're gonna get from him. This idiot thinks with his penis, okay? Athena stole all the intelligence from him at birth. Just doesn't get it, very confused, cannot even comprehend the idea of not wanting to bang everything in sight.

[salemrph]

"A Hunter's Christmas Hustle" Sylus x MC

Summary: With Christmas around the corner, you’re on a mission to find the perfect gift for everyone, that's included Sylus, a famously tricky person to shop for. You asked for help but can the twins really help you? Sometimes the effort is the best part of the holiday magic.

Character: MC x Sylus

Genre: holiday comedy, slice-of-life, fluff | Pet names : Kitten, Sweetie, Miss Hunter.

| Word count: 3.916 | Reading Time: 16 min | AO3

A/N: Since this is the first Christmas of Love and Deepspace, at least for me, I'm looking forward for a special Event and have a cute moment between Sylus and MC.

Second part🌲: A Hunter's Christmas Hustle: X-mas morning

You lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It still feels a bit strange staying at Sylus’ place on your days off. Well, it was mostly his doing— he’d insist or come up with some random excuse or side mission to make you stay. So, at the end you agree to come visit him without needing to drag you in dirty business. It's cozy here, even if you’re not quite used to it yet.

Like always you scroll through your phone, noticing you getting a lot of Christmas ads. You squint at the screen, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the holiday promotions. Suddenly, you glance at the date on your phone. Fuck! Christmas is in 1 week. And you haven’t prepared anything. Weren’t there also a Party coming up with the team? No, no, no! You go trough the calendar. There is it: 24 of December. Christmas Party with Team.

You need to go shopping, ordering stuff now would only arrive too late. 

“Okay, okay,” you mutter, trying to make a mental checklist. “I need a present for Tera, flowers for Grandma’s and Clab’s graves...” You pause, feeling a bit emotional at that thought. You take a deep breath and continue, making a list out loud.

“Then there’s Zayne, Xavier, and Rafayel…” Your head starts spinning as you realize just how much you have to do. 

How could you forget? Have you really been that busy lately? It’s not like the whole city isn’t decked out in lights, giant Christmas ads, and festive music playing in every store. 

You realize with a sigh that maybe you’ve been spending way too much time in the N109 Zone, far from the holiday cheer.

“What can I get for the twins...?” you mumble to yourself. Luke and Kieran can be annoying sometimes, but you do like them. Why not bring them a small gift? Then again, you hesitate. If you get something for the twins, Sylus will definitely bother you about it until the end of your days, asking why he didn’t get anything. You're starting to sweat. Maybe he locks you up again in the basement, just for fun. Or worse, he could show up at the Hunters' Association and declare that you are his lover or something. A shiver runs down your spine. This man can be terrifying. 

You know very well how to please your friends and colleagues but Sylus… What do you bring to the man that has everything? 

“Why is he even so fucking rich?” you mutter under your breath, looking around the guest room. The guest room of course has the style of the rest of the mansion. Black. You roll your eyes, feeling a mix of annoyance and admiration. You flop back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as if it holds the answers. You need something unique, something meaningful... but what could that be? 

You scroll through your phone frantically, searching for bundles, deals, and last-minute gift ideas. In just an hour, you’ve managed to check off most of your list.

Tera: A relaxing spa voucher—she could use a break.

Zayne: A pack of his favorite macarons, winter edition—he’ll love them.

Xavier: A cozy new sweater—you’ve told him a million times not to fall asleep everywhere. You sigh, picturing him dozing off on some random spot.

Rafayel: A unique shell you found on a mission weeks ago. You haven’t had a chance to give it to him yet, but now’s the perfect time.

Flowers: Ordered, check.

You tap your phone, thinking about the twins, Luke and Kieran. What would they like? You decide on some kind of gadget or toy—they’re like two overgrown kids sometimes, and they’ll appreciate anything they can mess around with.

Another hour passes, and you’re still glued to your phone, opening and closing tabs like a mad person. Your brain is starting to fog up from the overload of gift ideas.

“No... no... lame... oh god, definitely not.” You swipe through a blog about gifts for wealthy people and somehow end up on a page titled “Top 10 Gifts for Your Rich Boyfriend.” Your cheeks go bright red as you skim the list: sexy underwear, romantic getaways, candlelit dinners...

“NO!” You throw your phone onto the bed like it’s on fire, covering your face with your hands. What am I even doing?

You take a deep breath, trying to calm down. Maybe you could ask Luke and Kieran for help. They’re close to Sylus and probably know more about his preferences than you do. Plus, he did say you could “use” them whenever you wanted. Why not use them as counselors and pack mules?

Since you don`t want Sylus sniffing around you, you think about a small lie. Or maybe just ask without giving information. The same way he always does 

...

"I need Luke & Kieran for an important mission, can you borrow me them?"

Sylus looks up from his desk, his red eyes studying you with a mix of curiosity and amusement. He leans back in his chair, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he regards you. 

"Mission? What are you planning, kitten?" Sylus raises an eyebrow at your words.

"Nothing… jus- they will come back in one piece."

He studies you for a moment, his expression a mix of curiosity and amusement. He seems to be enjoying your vague and cryptic request, and he's clearly intrigued by what you might be up to. 

"…Alright. You can take them for whatever this 'important mission' is. But they better come back in one piece, or I'm holding you responsible, sweetie. And you don't want to pay the price...“ he snaps his fingers. Both appear immediately. As if they had been hiding in the office. 

"Luke, Kieran, the kitten needs you for a... mission. Do as they say. I expect impeccable work."

"Yes, boss!“ They say in unison.

"Let’s go, guys." I lead them out of the office. "See you, Sylus!"

That was easy. Maybe to easy.

He laughs after the door closes. Wondering how you're going to surprise him this time. He's learned to just go with the flow even though he might have the answer to your little secrets. He just smiled, turning back to focus on his paperwork.

“What are we going to do, miss?” Luke asks with a mischievous grin.

You roll your eyes. “I told you, just call me by my name.”

“Are we blowing something up?” Kieran blurts out, making an exaggerated explosion noise with his mouth.

“Or… cleaning up a messy murder scene?” Luke chimes in, smirking.

“Maybe torture someone!” Kieran’s eyes light up, clearly getting way too excited at the thought.

You sigh, regretting this decision already. They’re like two hyperactive hamsters—deadly, but still hamsters.

“No, no, and no!” you say firmly, waving your hands for emphasis.

“Uuuhhh...” They groan in unison, visibly disappointed.

“We have a better mission,” you declare, crossing your arms. “Change into something decent. We’re heading back to Lincoln City.”

Finally, you’ve arrived in the city. It’s strange seeing them without their usual uniforms and masks. Dressed in casual clothes, they look more like model college boys than the deadly assassins they actually are. Most of the girls passing by can’t help but glance their way, clearly debating whether they should approach the handsome twin brothers.

You snort to yourself. Probably they would’ve attracted less attention in their usual assassin gear.

You’re standing in the middle of the bustling shopping district, the holiday decorations casting a festive glow around you. Luke and Kieran are busy taking in the sights, clearly amused by the sudden change of scenery. You clear your throat to get their attention.

“Alright, listen up,” you say, trying to sound authoritative. “The mission is...” They lean in, eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Shopping” you declare.

“Shopping?” they repeat in unison, voices filled with disbelief.

Luke looks like he’s trying not to laugh, while Kieran’s expression twists into mock horror.

“Wait, wait,” Kieran says, holding up a hand. “You dragged us all the way out here... for shopping?”

“Yes, and you’re going to help me,” you reply.

Luke smirks, giving you a playful nudge. “You sure this isn’t just an excuse to spend time with us, Miss?”

You shoot him a glare. “Call me by my name, Luke.”

“Right, right,” he says, grinning.

“I actually need your help for...” you trail off, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. You look away, rubbing the back of your neck. “Christmas is around the corner, and I wanted to buy Sylus something. I’m not sure what it should be, so...” 

Before you can finish, Luke and Kieran burst into giggle. They exchange a quick, knowing glance, clearly delighted by your admission.

“Oh, so you want to buy our boss a present, huh? That’s pretty cute” Luke teases, smirking.

Kieran nudges him with his elbow, grinning from ear to ear. “And you’re asking us for help? Luke, maybe she does have a soft spot for boss after all.”

You feel your cheeks flush, but you roll your eyes to cover it. “Are you two going to help me or not?”

Luke straightens up, placing a hand on his chest with a mock-serious expression. “If you’re serious about buying a gift for the boss, then you’ve definitely come to the right place. We don’t call ourselves his right-hand men for nothing.”

You exhale, feeling a bit relieved now that they seem genuinely eager to help. “I want something special. Something he wouldn’t expect, but that he’d actually like.”

Kieran tilts his head, pretending to think deeply. “Something unexpected, huh? Well, that’s tricky. Sylus pretty much has everything.”

“Yeah, exactly,” you say, feeling a bit helpless. “I was thinking about getting him some records, but he already has so many...”

Luke and Kieran nod in agreement, their expressions thoughtful. 

“It’s a good start. He does love his music. But you don’t want to give him something he already has, right?” Luke asked. 

“How about something more personal?” Kieran suggests, tapping his chin. “Something that shows you put a lot of thought into it. A gift only you could give him.”

You bite your lip, considering it. “Personal... but how?”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy,” Luke says, shrugging. “The boss isn’t as complicated as he looks. He’d appreciate anything that comes from you.”

Kieran gives a playful smirk. “You could just wrap yourself up with a bow, and he’d be over the moon.”

“Kieran!” you gasp, your cheeks turning red as you lightly smack his arm. He laughs, dodging away with a wink. 

Luke chuckles but gives you a more genuine smile. “He’s joking—mostly. But seriously, boss isn’t the kind of guy who cares about expensive gifts. He’d value something that reminds him of you, or a shared memory.”

You pause, mulling it over.

Kieran nudges Luke, a sudden spark lighting up his eyes. “Hey, what about that old record shop on the Avenue? They’ve got vintage records you can’t find anywhere else. You could look for a rare one, maybe something with a story behind it.”

Luke nods, his eyes brightening as well. “Yeah, and you could pair it with a handwritten note. Tell him why you picked it. He’d love that.”

You smile, feeling a sense of relief wash over you. “That’s... actually a great idea. Thanks, you two.”

Kieran gives you a thumbs-up. “No problem, but you owe us for this.”

Luke grins. “Yeah, and don’t forget to give us the credit when he’s showering you with kisses later.”

You roll your eyes, but you can’t help the smile tugging at your lips. “Fine, fine. Now let’s go before I change my mind.”

The twins laugh, and the three of you set off down the busy shopping street, feeling a new wave of excitement. Maybe this gift hunt wasn’t going to be so impossible after all.

In the end, you managed to buy everything for your friends—even for Captain Jenna, who isn’t exactly easy to shop for. But as you wandered through the record store, flipping through album after album, nothing stood out. Everything felt generic, impersonal. And you know Sylus well enough to realize that giving him something half-hearted would just fuel his endless teasing for weeks. 

By the end of the day, the twins delivered you at home after treating them for dinner. You're tired and leave all your bags in the living room of your apartment. You throw yourself down on the couch and take out your phone. Maybe you were overthinking this. A nice accessory or a bottle of whiskey could work—he has a taste for the finer things, after all. It wouldn’t be anything cheap, either; you can afford something like that with your Hunter salary.

The day passes, only 2 days for Christmas and you still have nothing. 

Desperate for ideas, you even tried bringing it up with Tera over lunch. That turned into a chaotic disaster, though. It was exhausting dodging her barrage of questions:

“Who’s the gift for? Why are you even so worried? Wait, do you have a new boyfriend? I demand to meet him!”

You had to laugh it off, making up half-baked excuses until she finally dropped it—though you could tell she didn’t believe you.

And then there was Sylus himself. Yesterday, he sent you an invitation to a Christmas dinner. You wanted to say yes, but you had already committed to the Hunters’ Association Christmas party that same night. You tried to decline, but after some back-and-forth, you reluctantly agreed to meet him afterward.

Now, sitting alone on the couch, you can’t help but replay that conversation in your mind. The way his voice softened when you said you couldn’t make it, the slight pause before he insisted on seeing you later anyway—it made your chest tighten. He sounded almost... disappointed. And that’s what makes you want to find something truly meaningful, something that will show him how much he means to you without you having to say it out loud.

You look at your reflection in the darkened screen of your phone, feeling a mix of frustration and anticipation. You’re running out of time. If you’re going to surprise him with something from the heart, you need to figure it out now.

With a new sense of determination, you push yourself off the couch and grab your coat. Maybe you won’t find the perfect gift sitting around here. It’s time to get back out there and keep looking, because if there’s one person you want to make smile this Christmas, it’s Sylus. But be honest, you´re not going to admit that. Not yet. 

...

It’s Christmas! The party with your unit is small but cozy. The space is filled with the warm glow of twinkling lights, the scent of spiced wine, and the sound of laughter echoing off the walls. You drink, you eat, and you feel a rare sense of contentment as you watch everyone enjoying the night. It’s moments like these that remind you why you love this chaotic, ragtag team.

The gifts you bought last minute seem to have gone over well. Captain Jenna grinned when she unwrapped the sleek new knife you picked out for her—a practical gift, just like she’d like it. Xavier looked genuinely pleased with the soft, oversized sweater you chose, already pulling it on and joking about how he wouldn’t fall asleep everywhere now. Tera hugged you tight, eyes sparkling as she held up the spa voucher. “You really do know me,” she said with a teasing smile.

Earlier in the morning, you made a quick stop by the hospital to drop off the bag of special winter-edition macarons for Zayne. And you place the flower on the graveyard. Pray for them and wishing that you could spent one more day with them.

You glance at your watch. It’s getting late, and you promised Sylus you’d meet him after this. You take a deep breath, excusing yourself quietly from the party. Tera shoots you a knowing look as you head for the door, but she doesn’t say anything—just gives you a little wave, as if to say, good luck. 

You pull your coat tighter around yourself, clutching the gift in your hand as you start walking. There’s a mixture of excitement and fear bubbling up inside you.

Suddenly your watch vibrates urgently and flashes a warning: MetaFlux Fluctuation Detected. Your heart skips a beat. A Wanderer? Now?! You glance around, scanning the quiet street for any signs of danger. The distant sound of a woman’s scream breaks the silence, and without hesitation, you sprint in the direction of the noise, already reaching for your weapon. 

The first Wanderer lunges out from the shadows, its distorted form shifting and writhing in the dim light. You don’t waste a second. One precise shot, and it disintegrates into a cloud of shimmering dust.

„My child! Where is he?“ the woman cries out, panic in her voice. You look around fast, this is not over. 

„Mom!! Help!“ You hear the voice of the kid nearby and run over. You bolt towards the sound, pushing your legs harder. You reach the boy just in time, shielding him with your body as another Wanderer lunges forward. The creature’s claws slice through the air, narrowly missing you. You fire three quick shots, each one hitting its mark. The Wanderer lets out a guttural screech before it vanishes into thin air, dissolving into the night.

"Are you okay?“ you ask, your voice softer now, concerned. The boy nodded. His mother rushes over, wrapping her arms around him and thanking you over and over, her voice thick with emotion.

The mother and child thank you from the bottom of their hearts before leaving. You tell them to please stop by the hospital, just in case. You wave goodbye to the boy. Sigh. What a night!

"Where's my bag?" you mutter, scanning the area. You spot it lying on the ground, right where you dropped it before sprinting into action. Relief floods through you—until you notice the dark, wet stain spreading across the fabric. 

"No, no, no! Please no," you whisper, crouching down and unzipping the bag with trembling hands. The bottle of whiskey you were hunting down the last two days. Is shattered in thousand pieces.

Your heart sinks. This wasn’t just any whiskey—it was a rare, vintage bottle from a small distillery he’d mentioned once, in passing, when he thought you weren’t listening.

„Fuck!" 

You stand up, clutching the soaked bag, and check the time on your watch.

22:30.

You’re supposed to meet Sylus in half an hour, and you’re still a good fifteen minutes away from his place. Panic bubbles up inside you. Maybe you can find a late-night shop that carries something similar. Maybe there’s still a chance to fix this.

"I can make it," you say aloud, more to convince yourself than anything.

…

You finally arrive at the meeting point—a lookout near the water. It’s the same place where you spent last winter with him, watching the fireworks together.

“Kitten, you told me you were at a party, not a battlefield. What happened?”

“Eh?”

You’ve been running around for the last 30 minutes trying to find that stupid bottle and make it on time to meet Sylus. A little embarrassed, you attempt to fix your clothes and smooth your hair. Your cheeks are flushed from the effort. Sylus stands there in his black coat, looking amazing as always. Your heart beats hard in your chest. He watches you, trying to piece together what happened, and then a smile tugs at his lips.

“Even on days like this, you don’t get a break, Miss Hunter?” He runs his hand gently across your face. You flinch slightly, wincing in pain. “You’ve got a small cut. So... are you going to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing, just a Wanderer. It will heal,” you say with a shrug. He sighs softly.

“Careless as usual.” He pulls a small band-aid from his pocket. “Stay still.”

“Why do you have something like that?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

“It so happens that I have a kitten who never pays attention to their injuries,” he teases.

You make an exaggerated offended grimace, but inside, it feels like a small gesture of affection. He places the band-aid gently over the cut.

“I’ll consider this your Christmas gift,” you joke.

He laughs. “Oh no, sweetie, that wouldn’t be enough. But I’m impressed with your minimalist idea of happiness.” He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out an envelope.

“You didn’t have...”

“Open it up. And thank me later.”

You take the envelope cautiously, slowly peeling it open. Could it explode? You shake your head at the silly thought. When you finally look inside, your eyes widen, and you let out a soft squeal of excitement.

“Are you for real? This tickets has been sold out for months. How did you…?”

“I have my ways, sweetie,” he replies with a smug smile.

“Thank you,” you whisper, genuinely touched.

“It’s always a pleasure making you happy.”

But your excitement fades quickly as the realization sinks in. He’s managed to make you immensely happy again, while you stand here empty-handed. You have been looking for the perfect gift and you have screwed up at the last minute. On top, you haven't found a replacement for the bottle. 

"I wanted to give you something too for Christmas...“ you started. Closing the envelope and putting it in your pocket. "but... it broke while I was protecting a kid from a Wanderer.“ You look down at your feet, feeling small and pathetic, your shoulders slumping under the weight of disappointment.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Sylus gently lifts your chin with a finger, guiding your gaze back to him. He smiles, that soft, understanding smile that always makes you feel seen. Without a word, he wraps his arms around you and pulls you into a warm embrace. The chill of winter seems to disappear in his hold, replaced by the comforting heat of his body.

“The best gift is having you by my side, kitten.” he whispers into your ear, his voice low and sincere.

You feel your heart beating faster.

"Actions speak louder than words"

You agree with Sylus that both would be more honest with each other. Maybe now is the time to show him just how important he is to you. You spent so much time looking for something to buy that you forgot that the simplest gifts are often the most meaningful, especially when they come straight from the heart.

"Sylus… I actually have something else."

"Oh, is that so?“ 

„Can... I borrow your face?" He loosens his grip slightly and steps back, taking your hands in his, warming them up. He looks at you, amused and curious, and leans down.

"Close your eyes..." you whisper. He doesn’t say anything but does as you ask, his smile softening as he relaxes his face. You take a deep breath, feeling your heart race, each beat echoing louder in your chest.

The world falls silent for a moment—it's just the two of you, suspended in time. The anticipation tingles through you as you lean closer, closing the distance between you.

You press your lips gently against his cheek, and the warmth of his skin against your lips is electric. It’s a simple kiss, but it carries all the unspoken words you couldn’t say out loud. A silent confession. You linger there for just a heartbeat longer, feeling him inhale sharply, as if caught off guard by the intimacy of it. As you pull back, the first snowflakes begin to fall, drifting slowly from the sky. The soft touch of snow melts against your skin, but Sylus holds you close, not letting the moment slip away.

„Now... that’s a present only you could have given me." He gives you the most tender smile. "Thank you."

He looks like he wants to say something else but remains silent. Instead, he pulls you into a deeper embrace, burying his face in your hair as the snow continues to fall softly around you. You’re more than fine with that. No, you’re happy—grateful for this sweet moment.

You realize you’re a step closer to falling for him completely, accepting that the connection between you two is stronger than you ever imagined.

“Merry Christmas, Sylus.”

He smiles, his eyes crinkling with genuine joy.

“Merry Christmas, kitten.”

Second part🌲: A Hunter's Christmas Hustle: X-mas morning

[arimiadev]

Steam's 2025 Visual Novel Fest is abysmal.

for the past few years, perhaps as a way to appease the thousands of visual novel developers for the poor search abilities on Steam or perhaps to get more money from the thousands of porn games on the platform, Valve has hosted an annual Visual Novel Fest, a week-long event "promoting" visual novels on Steam. this event has always been questionably helpful to developers, but this year I believe takes the cake.

context: I'm a visual novel developer. I also help other VN studios with steam stuff. so I interface with steam's backend and these sorts of things.

first off, the requirements. if we go to their publicly available steamworks documentation, we can see the eligibility requirements here:

basically:

Reading is the primary gameplay

The player cannot walk around, and can typically only look around from a static position

There is no combat - if there is fighting, the gameplay loop is a small portion of the game. Multiple outcomes leading to different plot events is allowed.

makes sense, right? except some fantastic visual novels like of the Devil, Date Time, and others were rejected from the festival.

okay, so maybe they're being incredibly strict with their definition of a visual novel—

as usual from previous years, some games that are wildly not visual novels are included in the festival. well, there's probably a thousand or so games in the festival, so some will always slip through the cracks, but at least the rest of the festival is alright, right?

the main tabs for the festival up top are:

Featured

Browse Games

Browse Adult Only Games

Free to Play

Free Demos

Upcoming

every tab except for Free to Play and Upcoming only feature games that are for sale AND discounted. if your game is released and in the festival but not discounted, it is shown nowhere unless a steam user scrolls through the giant wall of "All" games (which is mostly filtered by popularity).

Free Demos? no, that only shows discounted games as well. (a lot of the games in this fest are daz 3d "visual novels")

well, at least there's an "Upcoming" tab to share visual novels that haven't been released, right? no. that big, main tab only has 1 widget - Popular Upcoming. for some reason, they didn't populate the tab with any other widgets like the others, which have sections for Horror, Otome, LGBT+, etc.

this also means that only 22 unreleased games are actually getting space in the entire festival.

now, there is one exception to this - if users scroll all the way down on any of the tabs, there's a "Browse Games" widget that lets them filter and see every game in the festival. but this is just the Steam search section, nothing groundbreaking.

but it does allows users to see all of the visual novels in the festival and not just the featured few - mine can only be seen if you do some filtering in this search section.

so this VN Fest has become nothing more than a VN Sale - I don't know why they don't just call it that. nowhere in the documentation did it say you have to discount games in order to be actually featured in it, and as usual indie devs are given the shortest end of the stick from Valve.

...all of this is to say....

go play visual novels on itchio

35k+ visual novels on itchio!! can you imagine playing even half that many? and so many of them are free and made lovingly by sickos. go find some wonderfully weird or creatively romantic visual novels to play today.

[lavenders388]

Heyyy could you maybe write some nam-gyu(player 124) fluff like hes only nice to you and otherwise cold so he doesn’t seem week in front of the other players, there’s barely any nam-gyu fics😭😭

Thank youu💗💗

~Only For You~

★🎸🎧⋆｡ °⋆ Nam-gyu x reader headcannons

requested 💌

a/n i LOVED this idea so much i thought i would do headcannons instead so i can write more little scenarios and get more into it:3

<3 throughout his past promoting clubs he would try and act cool/nonchalant sometimes in a rude way with his customers and/or employees, and he learned acting that way left people wanting to learn more about what he was promoting/respect him more and so it ended up becoming like his work attitude in order to make his club events more successful. he explains all of this to you in the beginning of your relationship, reassuring you its just for the money and he doesn't actually stand by anything he says or does and wouldn't ever. when you join him at his promoting nights he would refuse to act that way to you even if it was in front of someone super important:3

<3 going off of the first one, i think nam-gyu would prefer that you don't come with him to any clubs. first mostly because he doesn't believe that that type of environment is super safe for you and he doesn't want to risk you doing any substances/getting addicted to anything; and because he doesn't want you to see how he acts in front of the people he's trying to get business from. he thinks that you're better than the type of people he hangs around those nights as well as he just doesn't think you to deserve to have to see that side of him!

<3 he is super soft and kind to you in private, ever since he met you he started to prefer that side of him and dislike the feeling of having a fake, boisterous personality in order to gain the respect of people he's trying to sell club tickets to. he's a lot more introverted and kind when the two of you are in private and he really starts to prefer staying in with you over going out all night.

<3 one of his favorite things is coming home to you after working and being able to completely abandon his day and everything that came with it and just be himself and relax with you. he absolutely melts into you and loves the energy you give off. lets you know how much it means to him everyday!

<3 he uses substances a lot to uphold his extroverted, cool guy persona because he eventually gets exhausted of all of the late nights pretending to be someone he isn't and finds that using is really helpful even though he knows its not a good thing. this is also something he begins to want to stop doing when he meets you:)

<3 he really wants to stop his club promoting life for a more simple life with you where he can just be himself and not do so much overextending, but worries that he wont be able to find a job that pays as much as promoting does for him. he wants to be able to spoil you and doesn't think it would be right for him not be able to do that financially. he doesn't want you to have to work at all unless you want to, let alone be anywhere near the breadwinner of the household.

<3 he ends up going to the games after hearing the prize amount because he sees it as like a forced detox in a way; like he'll be away from any substances and he wont have to deal with any promoting stuff, and then hed have the opportunity to make a ton of money for you.

<3 you also get the card and want to join the games in order to pay off both of your debts and have a decent start at a new life together. you agree to do it together and use the winnings to pay everything off and buy a nice house and even start like a little coffee shop together or something:)

<3 during the games his persona becomes a lot more amplified because instead of doing it for his promoting he's doing it for a ton of money as well as for the both of your survivals. he also starts going through withdrawal from the stress of the games as well as if he had been using before he went there. this adds to his motivation to fit in at all costs when he sees what thanos has in his cross necklace. he doesn't like that you have to witness any of this but he likes that it ensures your safety being part of thanos's group. he makes it clear to thanos that you're with him for the games and nothing can change that.

<3 he reassures you that his behavior with thanos is nothing more than his need to win the games for the two of you, as well as ensuring your safety within a group. he lowkey makes fun of him with you in secret to make you feel better!!

<3 he compartmentalizes the other players as just people in his way of providing you the life you deserve; that them losing is just the two of you getting closer to winning and safely going home. the pills help him a lot with this; he knows that humanity and kindness might ruin his chance of winning for you, and showing mercy for the other players would result in thanos loosing respect for him. he knows that sticking with him will be of great assistance in winning, and he'll do anything to preserve that unless its something to you.

<3 if thanos starts to say something gross or mean to you or about you, nam-gyu shuts that shit DOWNNN! but in a very calculated way to not make him question their allyship. he'll say something like "lets respect the ladies." trying to sound joke-y but still meaning it.

<3 during mingle that man does not let go of you for a single second. even if it means not going with thanos he lets his demeanor fall a bit if it ensures you stay with him and make it through the game.

<3 when the fighting breaks out he does whatever it takes to protect you. especially after getting them pillz from thanos he purposely loses all sense of feeling bad for his actions because it just insures your safety even further. before he does it he reassures you its for your safety and because he wants to give you the life you deserve, and he means it when he says he'll do anything to give you that. "please just trust me baby, this all for you. for us." he says to you as he leads you to safety before lights out. "if you need me call for me and ill be here. i love you."

<3 when you get scared during the games and in moments like that he allows his demeanor to soften even if people are watching him. he wouldn't want the last thing you remember him doing to be him not being himself and being sweet to you. se-mi notices but thinks its sweet, especially because shes doing the same thing as him; faking it to thanos to be in his group.

<3 inside and outside of the games all he wants to do is protect and provide for you and he would do whatever it takes<3

[colorlessjay]

Bueno, voy a escribir esto en español solo por capricho, solo para hacerte saber que hay hispanohablantes que te siguen. 💕 ¿Puedes despotricar por favor sobre los headcanons que tienes sobre Dean y Cas? Me encanta tu cuenta por el contenido humorístico y los HERMOSOS dibujos, muerte a la angustia, love you.

Spanish-speaking community, you are precious to me

You wanna know what I wanna rant about when it comes to Destiel Domestic life? House rules

This mostly applies to my BTTF AU, but HEAR ME OUT

Dean and Cas living alone together in a nice cozy home would need RULES. Ground rules these two follow because at the end of the day, they like a certain order to things

The first rule is not to disturb when sleeping. This goes both ways, but for different reasons. For Cas, it's because Dean is still an angry sleeper. The more Cas struggles to get out of his arms, the tighter Dean's hold gets, and it stops being cute and starts getting annoying when he starts to roll over. For Dean, it's because he's a lil hypocrite and secretly watches Cas sleep if he wakes up first. Thinks it's still weird to see Cas sleeping, and likes taking the time to appreciate the slowness of it all.

Rule 3 is housework. Dean is a nester. The second the house becomes his, he starts making everything as comfortable and homey as possible. The man likes his shit a certain way. He likes to cook, likes to fix up stuff, likes to do yard work. Castiel maintains that shit like it's his life's mission. He does the laundry, the dishes, and the vacuuming. He deep cleans the house. He maintains the home through the night the way Dean likes it, because it's the way Cas likes it too. It's reliable, it's stable, it's their home, and Cas wants it to feel that way all the time

Rule 8 is for visitors. There are only specific parts of the house and yard that guests are allowed in, because everything else is Cas and Dean's (And Miracle's). There's the guest rooms, the dining room, the living room, the porch, and the grassiest parts of the backyard. Everything else? Private. Dean's garage is his sanctuary of quiet. Cas's garden is his own little heaven. The Dean Cave is just as sacred as their bedroom. Keep out at all costs or get your ass kicked.

Rule 2. Sex.

Rule 10 is cooking. I firmly believe that Dean would teach Cas how to cook, but Cas would develop a love for baking. They take turns on who cooks that day, who cooks for events, and stuff. They do groceries together, Cas uses what he grows in the garden, Dean stocks up on meats. They make it a rule that Cas has to try something new once a week because he hates most foods, while Dean has to eat healthier.

There's more stuff I'd love to rant about, but really, I just love the idea of their domestic life being so chill and cozy. They go on road trips every month. They're just old and happy to be together. Their kids visit with new stories every other week

Life is good

[sinkableruby]

deltarune is utena: a collection of parallels

since chapter 3 and 4 came out and it's become increasingly clear to me that deltarune is taking some heavy utena inspiration, i wanted to collect the parallels i noticed along with a friend. this is spoilers for deltarune chapters 3+4 and for revolutionary girl utena.

now, the first and biggest parallel i noticed: kris is anthy in deltarune.

- cages for a "greater power" as part of a plot. agency removed due to that role

- working together with (and being manipulated by) a much older figure as a child to orchestrate the negative events and forces of the plot

- being pushed towards a powerful girl closely connected to their manipulator in order to hold more control over that girl

- the truth is, i...... nevermind.

there's more, even.

kris sleeping "like a corpse" through class and other imagery of death for them; anthy sleeping in her coffin.

kris trying to protect people: susie, noelle; anthy trying to protect dios and utena.

both of them trying to return to an ideal of the past, which is why they're doing the things they do (kris's feelings about dess. anthy's feelings about dios).

both of them taking on the painful and harder part in their plot instead of their co-conspirator/abuser.

the egg rooms; the chick needing to break the shell of its egg.

you can even say that the tendency of players to blame kris for things we made them do, or condemn them excessively for their involvement with the knight or carol or for them not telling susie the truth as though they are a demon and not a traumatized child is similar to how anthy is blamed for everything as the rose bride and used as a scapegoat.

prankster's gambit

what does this all mean for kris? mostly bad things! yay!

the next big parallel i noticed: susie/noelle as utena. noelle and susie both being utena seems weird at first, but it actually makes sense when you consider their interchangeability in the text of the prophecy. i imagine that carol wanted noelle to be the one adventuring with kris in the dark world to control both of them better, but susie got in the way. also, we see both of them are strong, and very much revolutionary in how they can bypass the limits of the game, of what we can normally do

the parallels are pretty strong for each, with susie:

- wanting eternity

- being a deeply lonely girl believing in true friendship and empowered by it. also, the protagonist. and someone who is seemingly miraculous, pulling through even when all seems lost and saving herself and others with the power of hopes and dreams

and noelle:

- manipulated by a ring, a symbol of love. we are akio in the weird route. our scenes with her are coded like an abusive relationship

- i can't remember...

there's also noelle's stuff with nostalgia, and her nervous babbling in That Scene in the weird route is reminiscent of utena's in That Scene of episode 33. basically, susie is utena in the main route, and if you choose weird route, noelle is instead

given all this i would be shocked if deltarune was not taking inspiration from utena here (and i wouldnt be surprised if the rose that was originally in That Scene in the weird route was taking a leaf out of utena's book). deltarune is utena yay yippee

[cloudcountry]

Plot twist: Tokyo Debunker is actually an otome game that's why there're wedding cards (developers are trying to keep it a surprise)

How would the wedding or marriage life be with the ghouls

*Your opportunity to dream of your perfect wedding ceremony with a certain someone 👀*

Side note: is it actually a plot twist? Probably not

SUMMARY: the proposal / the wedding / how your married life is afterwards headcanons!

CHARACTERS: Edward, Alan, Jiro, Ritsu, and Leo.

COMMENTS: dgsfhaj ritsu wedding ritsu wedding....EHEHEHE IM GIGGLING RN ANON THANK UUUU this is so funny like . imagine the devs were like SURPRISE!! ITS AN OTOME NOW!! i doubt it because theres so many guys and planning out routes would take a hot second (stares at cybird) but yk if cybird can do it maybe they can too................

leo is an asshole i am not going to hold your hand...i am sorry.

Edward actually proposing to you would more likely than not be a SHOCK to Rui and Lyca. What do you mean he’s taking something seriously for once? Rui even asks if Edward is aware of what he’s doing, to which your now fiance gets all dramatic and whiny about how mean Rui is.

Planning the wedding itself is more of a hassle than you thought. Edward, still as Edward as ever, has absolutely no hand in the planning. He says it's because he trusts his darling human’s judgement with these things, but you know that’s only half the truth. Rui ends up helping you with virtually everything, and if it wasn’t for him, the ceremony itself would have been much more disorganized.

Speaking of the ceremony, you opted to have a nighttime wedding for the sake of your future husband. It would likely be indoors, with plenty of candles for ambiance. His vows are actually very sweet! They aren’t overly sappy, but he does put aside some of his teasing in order to be upfront and honest with you.

I think he’d have a small wedding...only inviting close friends and stuff. It’s important that Rui and Lyca be there, at least! Your other human friends may also attend, so long as they don’t cause a scene. He’s serious. Nothing is going to go wrong on the day you and Rui planned so meticulously.

Having Edward as a husband would definitely be interesting...definitely a househusband LMAO. Rui is exasperated because he’s been trying to get Edward to clean up for SO LONG, and now you two get married and he cleans up for you? What are these spouse privileges! Edward actually attempts to cook now!?

He might claim it’s because of his YouTube videos but please. He loves you. YouTube might motivate him and teach him new tricks but he wouldn’t have looked for them if it wasn’t for you.

Alan almost doesn’t propose. It’s another one of his self sabotaging moments that he’s had while being with you, one that you happen to pull him out of when you bring up getting married first. He genuinely doesn’t understand why you’d want to marry someone like him, even though he’s already brought a ring and wants to—

Wanting the best wedding event possible, he yields to your opinion every single time. He still contributes to the planning and helps wherever he can, but he wants the day to be special and perfect for you, so he doesn’t try to butt in and talk over you.

A small ceremony again! I genuinely do not think he’d invite a lot of people at all...it’d be mostly your friends, from school and your work (if you have any.) If anyone from Darkwick is on your invite list, I think Alan would be a bit embarrassed to see them depending on who it is.

Do NOT invite Leo do NOT INVITE LEO. He’s already foaming at the mouth the second he hears that you and the himbo are getting married. Also, please have bodyguards to prevent him from crashing the wedding. Influencers are crazy, man.

Married life with him is really sweet, as you’d expect! He works, so you’re free to stay at home or work if you wish. You both work out a system at home where each of you have equal responsibilities around the house. For example, if you cook, he’ll do the dishes, and vice versa.

Alan isn’t going to catch onto any passive aggressive or subtly attempts to communicate. If you need a problem solved, or just want to talk to him, please just let him know. He’ll feel worse if he felt you couldn’t tell him, especially now that he’s married to you.

Jiro probably proposed before he even really had a ring. He just turns to you one day and asks if you’ve ever thought about getting married, and if so, would you want to marry him? Obviously you fumble a bit, flustered at his sudden declaration, before Yuri starts screeching at him that that is not the proper way to propose!

Jiro promptly apologizes and immediately leaves to get a ring, leaving you and Yuri sputtering in the lab. Yuri runs after him and tells you to stay there, that the ring should be a surprise for the spouse! before taking off.

It’s chaos. But you know, it’s a loving type of chaos. Yuri will be by you and Jiro’s sides the whole time, gracefully holding back his two cents during the wedding planning (even if he doesn’t agree with some of the choices...)

Zenji will be there, and he will be SOBBING. Please pull him aside into an empty room or something to talk to him about how much you love his brother and he’ll be a MESS. He’s so happy for you two, he just wishes he could be there to help with the wedding. Tell him he’s doing enough just by taking care of the two of you. He’ll try to hug you and fail, but the sentiment is there.

Married life with Jiro will involve visits from Yuri whenever possible for his health, so be prepared for that! (Zenji will also be around, but he knows when to leave.) Other than that, things are pretty calm. He stays home and cleans the house, you go out and work.

If you ask nicely, he’ll read you bedtime stories before bed at night, and you’ll giggle at his monotone voices. Jiro doesn’t understand what’s so funny, but the sound of your laughter makes him so happy...he’ll keep doing what he’s doing forever.

FINALLY THE ONE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG ahem. Ritsu is a very classy young man. He dates to marry to the extreme, and likely had a hypothetical marriage page in his files for you the day you get together. Obviously it’s not something you know about—he’ll tell you after you’ve been dating for a year, though.

Buys a ring during your final year in Darkwick. You definitely have a promise ring already! He’s actually really excited to make you his spouse, but you wouldn’t know it unless you really pay attention to him when you’re alone. Also, it’s very important that you meet his parents.

His mom is really nice and welcomes you with open arms, but his father is harder to please. I can imagine the Shinjo family is very strict with who marries into the family—but honestly, Ritsu refuses to marry anyone else. It’s a rare moment of him deviating from his father’s footsteps...

He justifies this by saying that getting married to anyone else would hinder his productivity in the long run. They wouldn’t know him nearly as well as you do, and they never would have worked with him before, so they would lack understanding. Ritsu basically defends your resume in front of his dad. Yikes.

Anyway, the ceremony! I think this one would be quite big actually. Being the fiance of a big shot lawyer family’s son leads to you inheriting a lot of social connections. There are a lot of rich people at this wedding, with a unsurprising number of them actually being Shinjo clients.

It’s a nightmare, to be frank. You’re not really allowed to be yourself at this wedding, since your every move is being scrutinized. Ritsu will notice your unease and smooth talk his way out of any and every situation you find yourself in, so really all you have to do is smile and nod!

(Pssst, if you want a do over of the wedding where you only invite your friends and make it less formal, Ritsu can totally make it happen! He’s more than ready to see you in your wedding attire and marry you all over again. In fact, he feels he missed out on seeing the full extent of your happiness because of his family’s connections...)

Once everything has settled down, he’s a wonderful husband. Honestly, he’s worth it. Definitely the type to have cameras everywhere in his house though...just in case you get hurt or something goes wrong, he needs the evidence to defend and protect you!

He’s working for sure, so if you want to stay home you can! Whether you’re a working spouse or not will influence how the two of you divide household tasks, but make no mistake, it will be a fair division. He’s nothing if not fair after all :)

It’s not uncommon for you to wake up and see him already awake—or, on the weekends, with a book over his face. Kiss him good morning and make him some coffee, he’ll sleepily hang over your shoulders and try his best to wake up :(( He’s so CUTE.

Leo...He’s a tough one. You’d have to be with him a long time, and even though I don’t think he’d really think about proposing until it’s been a long LONGGG time. Doesn’t take it seriously either. I don’t...He’s just not a good person. Leo cannot be vulnerable. If you proposed first he’d probably make fun of you before accepting. He’s so MEAN.

I don’t understand why you’re doing this but yk what I support you. Someone’s got to marry him and if you think you have what it takes then go for it. He’s definitely posting your engagement online for clout and being super sweet and fake in front of the camera...sigh.

He’d invite SO MANY PEOPLE to the wedding and ENCOURAGE them to have their cameras out to record everything. At least he’s sweet to you during the ceremony, and he doesn’t smash your face into the cake or anything for clout. Maybe he does care a little bit WHAT WHO SAID THAT.

Sho is definitely there in some capacity. Maybe catering? He’d do a good job at it. Probably asks you if you’re sure about this right before the wedding because he sees what a dumpster fire it could be.

After all of that mess is over, Leo switches his social media to a more family vlog type of vibe. This is great for him because he rakes in a bunch of views from posting the two of you doing domestic things!

He’ll help out around the house for sure, but acts grumpy about it if you happen to catch him. He really doesn’t mind cleaning, but if he’s cleaning up after you he’ll be a bitch about it. He can be nice sometimes though! Lets you pitch ideas for his merch and listens when you tell him to put the phone down sometimes...

[somefanchick]

TWST Boy Love Languages

 What are everyone's top three love languages? (Words of Affirmation; Quality Time; Physical Touch; Acts of Service; Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving) Headcanon list, all characters except Ortho. (I may do one for Ortho and non-NRC characters later) I only know information from the English server story (not including book 7) and events so sorry if anything is terribly out of character. This ended up being structured as 1 - [How he likes to show love], 2 - [How he likes to be shown love], and 3 - [Best of both worlds]. This can be seen as platonic or romantic for all characters.

TWST Masterlist

Riddle

Acts of Service: While Riddle does value capable people, he also likes to show he cares by helping those around him. A good example is in book 2 when he fixes the prefect’s tie for them. It’s not that he believes that the prefect is incapable, they have clearly shown him they are, but he is showing his appreciation by helping with the minor task. 

Words of Affirmation: Please tell Riddle you are proud of him. Please tell him he is doing a good job. It’s not like he needs it, but he really wants it. His mother never really praised him for doing well in his studies or extracurriculars, so he appreciates hearing the words. 

Quality Time: Riddle clearly didn’t have much time to spend with people he cared about in his childhood. This leads to him really appreciating time spent with people. If he is spending time with you beyond necessity, then you know he cares about you. 

Ace

Words of Affirmation: I think we all recognize he shows his love through bullying. He is giving you attention and keeping himself ‘safe’ by making himself look less attached. However, when he gets the nerve to really express how he feels he will do so through words. It feels more solid to him if he is able to say it. 

Physical Touch: PLEASE! I mean- what? He doesn’t care about that. It’s not like he really wants to hold the people he cares about in a nice long cuddle or heaven forbid the thought of him being the little spoon. Don’t mind the fact that his hands are almost always on your shoulder or arms. Don’t mind that he has offered to let you sleep on his shoulder or chest multiple times. He’s just kidding! No seriously he wants physical affection please.

Quality Time: He does like hanging out with his friends and the more he cares the more he will want to spend more time with you. He loves playing cards, watching movies, or honestly doing anything together. Especially when he can find an excuse to get closer to you. 

Deuce

Acts of Service: He loves doing things for others and taking care of them. Carrying your bags for you, taking you for a ride on a blastcycle, pulling out your chair for you, putting his hand on the table’s edge in order to keep you from bumping your head, I could go on. This not only makes him feel like a gentleman, but it is almost a habit from taking care of his mother. 

Quality Time: Spend time with him. He doesn’t care if it is studying, reading, playing games, watching movies, or just sitting and talking. He just likes to be there with you. He enjoys being there for you and he genuinely believes that the best way to spend his days is around the people he cares for.

Physical Touch: Part of his protective nature calls him to hold his friends close metaphorically and physically. He is a big fan of holding a partner while dancing, kisses on hands, and other cheesy physical gestures, but he would try his best to never admit it. That stuff is mostly for romantic relationships, but that doesn’t stop him from holding onto his friends whenever it’s appropriate. 

Trey

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for you when you don’t know he’s the one doing them. Putting a blanket over others when they are asleep, leaving a glass of water on the table for you while you study, little things that you almost forget about. However, we have seen he also can be more direct with it, acting as Heartslabyul’s mother hen and making sure that all under his power brush their teeth and take care of themselves. 

Quality Time: Want to show Trey you care? Spend time with him, especially when he is baking. He might ask for your help if he really really needs you for a moment, but for the most part he just likes the company. He can do a lot of the baking while not entirely focusing on it, so he likes to listen to you talk or even engage in conversation with you. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: He’s not as big of a fan of baking as he tends to be seen as; he does it largely because he is good at it and it gives him some kind of status within Heartslabyul. However, I do think he genuinely likes baking for those he cares about. He likes the idea of you enjoying something he made with his own two hands. I also think he likes receiving little things from people, especially if they made the items themselves. Little pieces of origami, snacks, notes, and other little things. It warms his heart to know you like doing those things for him.

Cater

Gift Giving: Cater loves getting the people he loves little gifts. It could be a drink or snack from a cafe or just something he thought would be so cute to see you with. He also is a fan of leaving little notes with affirmations or reminders around where he knows the people he cares about will see them. He does it for himself as well, so it’s a piece of cake to make sure you know you are also wonderful. 

Words of Affirmation: This kinda goes into the note thing, but mostly he likes to hear what you like about him. Fun and positive comments in person and on his posts basically sustain him. Telling him how much you care about him or telling him how much you liked something he did is the best way to show him you care. He will immediately throw a complement back in response, but that doesn’t mean that he means it any less.

Quality Time: He is the king of mutual doom scrolling. While he prefers to doom scroll with someone looking over his shoulder, he also likes being in the same room with others while on phones independently. He finds it all somewhat intimate, like showing others what is on his For You page is pretty close to completely baring his soul. He also just likes being there in person to see your reactions. 

Leona

Physical Touch: He is SUCH a physical touch guy. There might be no way he’d tell you when he likes you, but the signs are there when he suddenly decides your lap looks like a comfy pillow. He is the type to just rest himself on you at random times. He doesn’t really ask, I mean why would he? You should feel honored to be getting so much attention from the second prince. It’s definitely not because he’s clingy with people he cares about (out of a small fear they will leave when they find something better). Definitely not.

Acts of Service: Look, you can’t blame the man for wanting princess treatment. He’s never going to ask for it, but it makes him feel so special when you do things for him. It’s not the same as when Ruggie does it for money. This is genuine care. He values action much more than words, so doing little things for his benefit means much more than any vocal reassurance.

Quality Time: He loves one on one time with people he cares about. You don’t really even need to talk with him. He just likes napping in another’s presence, or simply just sitting in the same room with people he cares about while doing completely independent activities. He just likes the feeling of being there for someone. And someone being there for him. Also if he is there, he can scare off the other herbivores that want to take you away. I mean, who would want to spend time with mutts when you can spend it with a prince, right? RIGHT!?

Ruggie

Acts of Service: Okay so we all know this man is a busy bee. He is always trying to get the most benefit possible, so he’s doing the most work possible. So how does he show he cares? Doing work for little to no compensation. Now I don’t mean anything like servitude, but I mean doing the little things. Plus if someone he really cares about asks him to do something, sevens know he is rushing to do it.

Receiving Gifts: He loves getting things. Give him a snack or some other treat without him having done anything to ‘earn’ it, and he will love it. Call him materialistic, he doesn’t care. I mean, why wouldn’t you give him things if you care about him so much. He deserves it. Besides, it gives him a good excuse to stay if you feed him. 

Words of Affirmation: Okay so call him a wimp (or simp). He likes being told that he’s doing good, or that he’s amazing. Plus, it gives him an excuse to ‘pay you back’ by randomly complimenting you. He knows that some people don’t get enough appreciation, and he wants to show the people he cares about that they are worth it. Even if it might be embarrassing to say.

Jack

Acts of Service: Jack likes feeling useful. He loves feeling like he’s doing the right thing by those he cares the most about. He’ll carry heavy things for others, assist with home and housework, and honestly anything he can to show he cares. 

Quality Time: He loves spending time with people. He also likes it when you give him attention, so spend plenty of that time talking to and doing things with him. He also enjoys company during his morning jogs and other workouts. Even if you are not working out with him, he likes being able to listen to you. If you don’t mind the sweat. He’s also okay with doing independent activities while existing in the same space, though he prefers being able to hear you. 

Words of Affirmation: He has sensitive hearing so hearing the pleasant voice of someone he cares about. Sevens know praise will get his tail wagging, no matter how much he tries to hide it. Even if he is a man of few words, he does like expressing his own care with short and direct compliments on his loved ones character. He rarely compliments looks or other things (even if he thinks you look pretty), preferring to praise personality and achievement.

Azul

Gift Giving: Okay so let's be honest, if he is giving someone something with no strings attached, then he is whipped. He does like feeling useful and giving others what they need. He also likes seeing the people he cares about with items he has given them. Octopi are territorial by nature, so he feels like he has some small claim over people when he sees them wearing or with something he spent his time or money on. It’s a good feeling for him. If not slightly concerning, he can’t help it.

Physical Touch: Okay, hear me out. I feel like he loves getting personal, physical attention from the people he really really cares about. He’d love waking up to a long slow cuddle where no one was in any rush to wake up. He’s very selective with his touch, but he prefers to be the one receiving the affection. He loves getting his hair brushed for him, or having his head pet gently. Do not try touching him casually, it always has to be with his permission or you will be in trouble. 

Quality Time: He is one of the boys that just likes existing in the same space as those he cares about. He will be hard at work for the lounge, studying, or some other independent activity and just be happy that you are in the VIP room with him. He also enjoys playing board games with those he cares about. Especially when they get competitive with him. He likes the challenge.

Jade

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for others in general since it makes him valuable to others and it gives him power over the people in his life as well as helps with manipulation. However, helping out of pure care means that he helps with what you need no matter what. Even if you don’t know you need it. He is hyper vigilant in figuring out exactly what you need or want and doing it before you even get the chance to do it yourself. As long as he doesn’t get preoccupied with work or his mushrooms.

Quality Time:  PLEASE GO HIKING WITH HIM! Go on a nice walk in the mountains and bear with him while he rants about and picks mushrooms and other mountain flora. He will barely process how much that means to him in the moment, but it will 100% make him blush as he tries to go to sleep later. He has a hard time processing affection at the moment, but that care lingers with him everytime he is not busy or at work. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: Okay so it would totally start with him giving you things he found on his hikes that he already had or couldn’t use in any way. Then it evolves into him giving you hiking gear in order to rope you into his club activities, and eventually he is giving you things casually. He very much appreciates when you give him cool things you see on the trails with him or just little things that make you think of him. If the item is only really present on land, it will make him value the item even more. He’s just so curious about things on land (you included).  

Floyd

Physical Touch: Cuteness Aggression! CUTENESS AGGRESSION! He just wants to squeeze you and he can’t help it! It makes it even harder when you are acting cute or innocent/naive. He gets this way with anyone he cares about in any capacity, though he can be trained out of it (though it will make him sad). He doesn’t really care about the time or place, he just wants to lean on you or squeeze you until you pop.

Quality Time: Okay so like, let’s be honest. People don’t really hang around him too long. Some of that is on him, he gets bored or wanders away in order to follow one of his whims. But most of the time it is because he’s a little too much for them. Spend time with him. Don’t try to just use him for his intimidation or size, but genuinely live in the moment and entertain him. He might not say it, but it’ll really affect him. 

Words of Affirmation: Okay so this is kinda like how Ace’s love language is bullying. Floyd just loves to get reactions from you. It can be from making fun of you, flustering you, or simply saying something to get you to say “WTF”. He also loves when you say things to him. When you try to get reactions out of him. And he would be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention or praise that comes with it.

Kalim

Gift Giving: Okay so there is a full fic on my page about this, (Kalim's Love Language) so I’ll try and keep it short. He sees gift-giving as natural. He has the resources someone else wants or needs, so he gives it to them. In smaller doses, it’s almost lost its meaning. However, it is when he gives something homemade or he has to try and figure out a gift for someone, it has much more love and affection in it. He values the time and thought it took for him to come up with the gift more than the gift he is giving. 

Words of Affirmation: Praise this boy. He is used to praise back home from his siblings, the masses, and from servants. However, he doesn’t have much of that at NRC. He takes it like a champ and he’s ever-so accommodating, but he does love when he gets verbal confirmation he’s doing the right thing. He also loves conversations with others about anything. He also likes to listen. He’ll give out more praise than anyone else, but he really appreciates being praised back.

Acts of Service: He likes doing things for others and he really appreciates when people do things for him. Though the latter is what happens more often than not. However, Kailm is someone you can count on for the little things; like grabbing your things for you, being there to support you when you are nervous, or simply doing whatever he can to assist. (Honestly I think this sort of thing is why Kailm is so confused by Jamil’s hatred and hostility, because he is so used to people doing things for others because they care. So he didn’t understand that Jamil wasn’t doing all those things to show love or care.)

Jamil

(Pls don’t judge me for this one, I do not understand this man in the slightest. I’m trying my best.)

Quality Time: He doesn’t waste time on stuff he doesn’t want or have to do. So if he is genuinely spending time with you with no ulterior motive in mind, then he really does care about you. The only issue is that it is hard to really tell why he is spending time with you. He’s very good at masking his intentions, but if he is spending time around you and not putting up a front, then damn he really must care.

Receiving Gifts: He likes getting things. Especially when they are from the heart. He’s used to Kalim’s flippant, expensive gifts; however getting smaller gifts from people he cares about has a completely different effect on him. Especially when those things help him with his duties or simply make his life easier in little ways. 

Acts of Service: To be honest, taking care of others is a habit for him at this point. However, his attitude about it is the main difference. Instead of doing it without thinking or because he feels he has to, he will be actively going out of his way to help out. And if you do the same-! He is obsessed. He doesn't get much capable help with nothing attached to it, so he loves it when you do things to help out.

Vil

Acts of Service: Vil fusses over people and does everything he can in order to help them strive for perfection. However, he also likes to fuss over people in the more literal sense. He loves spa days, dress-up, and hairdressing. If he really cares about you he will want to do these things for you. While he is attracted to competence and independence, he does also appreciate being able to help. He finds joy in doing the simple things for you, (and he does like being able to dress those he cares about like a doll).

Quality Time: He is a busy guy so time spent with him is very important. He will love letting you tag along to whatever events he can. He also loves doing mundane things with those he cares about. His father was often very busy, leaving him alone for much of his childhood, so it really does matter when people spend time with him. Even if it is just sitting with him while you both do your own jobs. Even if it is in comfortable silence. 

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: This man gives things out very often. He’ll give clothing, skincare, perfumes, ect. Most of the time it is in order to make himself look better, sometimes it is to help his ‘projects’, ect. But whatever the case, he loves giving things to people he cares about. He also appreciates gifts from the heart. He can get his hands on expensive things that many others couldn’t dream of owning, but he loves when someone makes something for him (Though he won’t accept less than your best). Bake something for him, make him some custom jewelry; whatever your talent is, he will appreciate seeing it or being on the receiving end of it.

Rook

Words of Affirmation: This man sings praises like it’s his job. He says praises so often they might seem dishonest, but he means every word. He praises all accomplishments, and can even tell you what you need improvement with. Though any criticism is definitely constructive. And rest assured, he will praise any improvement or discovery you make. Because to him, it is beautiful. 

Quality Time: He loves spending time with those he cares for or wants to observe. So the best way to show him you also care, is to bring him along to whatever you plan to do for the day. Going into town? Let Rook tag along. Studying in the library? Let Rook tag along. Hanging out with his friends? Well he wouldn’t want to intrude, but you can let him watch from afar. <3

Acts of Service: He loves doing things for those he cares about. I mean we saw that in book 6 when he went out of his way to bring Vil his products. He loves seeing beauty and will do anything to help those he loves shine. And Sevens know he will be so grateful for anything you do for him. He sees others' generosity, especially towards him, as one of the most beautiful things around. It’s enough to get him obsessed and curious to see if he’s the only one you do these things for. 

Epel

Acts of Service: Epel likes to be useful. He likes to feel manly and strong by opening jars, getting things for others, or simply just defending those he cares for. It’s also somewhat of a habit from living in Harveston. Small, farmer towns where he’s the youngest worker and everyone helps everyone else like their family? Yeah he’s definitely accustomed to helping those he loves. And he’s happy to do it. Why wouldn’t he help those he loves when he’s fully capable and it makes him feel strong. 

Physical Touch: He loves the idea of driving someone around on a blastcycle or a broom while they hold onto his waist. He loves the idea of big spooning when cuddling. He loves all that romantic stuff. But he’s not going to initiate it. He hates that he actually likes when Vil or Rook comb through his hair. He needs those physical touches. It’s not that he’s touch-starved by any means. It’s actually kinda because of the opposite reason. He is so used to being fussed over and hugged by family members or neighbors that he feels somewhat of a deficit in physical affection when he moves to NRC. Show him you care by giving him back some of that affection he’ll never admit he’s missing.

Quality Time: He likes spending time with people. That does connect once again to his close-knit upbringing. He is very used to spending a lot of time with others. He’ll do just about anything with people he cares about. While he definitely has things he doesn't like to do, he is willing to do a lot of them as long as they’re with people he really cares about. He also really appreciates when people make that same effort for him. Come to his spelldrive games. Go riding with him. He loves the effort just as much as the time spent.

Idia

Quality Time: He’s a shut in. That much is obvious. He likes gaming in his room where no one can perceive him. However, when he opens his door for someone it means he really cares. Yeah he’ll love playing games with those he cares about, but even just being in the same room as him is his way of showing he cares. He’s another one of those happy to do independent activities while in the room with someone he cares about. However, he will randomly start talking about his games, show, or manga and he will somewhat expect you to listen. (Like my roommate has told me that I do and I am working on that as an individual lol.)

Acts of Service: He likes letting people do things for him. While he does like doing something himself – if you want it done right you have to do it yourself and all that – but the smaller things or the social things he likes having done for him. Go pick up his latest manga for him. Bring him snacks. Do things that help keep him from leaving his room. Or maybe even do things that get him outside while not making it absolutely miserable. He will complain at first, but some part of him will be happy that you care enough to get him to do responsible things.

Receiving Gifts / Gift Giving: He will take notice of your interests. And he will appreciate it when other people do the same. Make him some custom merch for one of his anime or games. Pick up in-store only merchandise for him. He’ll also reciprocate by ordering you merchandise from your favorite franchises (that he likely introduced you too). The price doesn’t really matter to him, the only thing that really matters is if he thinks you’ll want it. He also will buy most media that he wants to introduce you too that you show any interest in. He’ll buy games for your system, manga, or really anything else that the two of you can bond over. Heaven forbid when a gacha game releases a character you both want. He’ll try his best to make sure you both get it. 

Malleus

Acts of Service: This man can borderline do anything. Like he can make basically anything happen for those he cares about. While he doesn’t attempt to overstep and lets you do what you need to do, if you ask he will do anything for his child of man. He also does try to occasionally do little things for you to make your life better. He finds out Ramshackle is lacking in any way? It will just be fixed next time you check it. Oh look, the shower you mentioned now has hot water? That’s odd. Huh, those sheets are much softer than you remembered from when you got up this morning. Things like that. He never really lets you know he’s doing these things, he’s just delighted when you notice and you go to tell him how lucky you seem to be. 

Quality Time: He loves when you carve out time for him. He loves spending time with you on nighttime walks. He loves stargazing or looking at ruins or mansions adorned with gargoyles. He loves late night walks and being able to do the little things with someone who isn’t bending to his whims or actively peeing their pants. He appreciates being able to spend time being normal. A feeling he can only get from one on one time with his darling child of man.

Words of Affirmation: Let him yap at you. Yap back at him. He loves it. It kinda goes with the blurb about quality time but he just likes listening and talking with you one on one. His favorite thing is nighttime talks while walking or stargazing. He’ll listen to complaints, stories, or really anything about your homelife. But just prepare yourself for him to rant about gargoyles or tell you about him getting some invitation to some sort of event or something. He loves yapping, and he loves the yapper.

Lillia

Physical Touch: He loves teasing, but his favorite method of teasing? Physically. He loves jumping out and scaring those he likes. He loves suddenly appearing and poking people in the small of the back. Or just poking people anywhere. He loves seeing reactions to randomly hugging people. Or suddenly leaning over someone. It’s all in good fun. But you know he really cares when his touch turns soft. When he holds someone gently. Cradling crying faces, brushing hair out with his fingers, or letting someone lay on him. He can be mean with his touches, or he can be sweet. As long as he is showing care through touch.

Quality Time: He feels old. Let’s be honest. He’s gotten to the point of his long life that he values every moment more than ever. While he’s always lived in the moment, he now really treasures every moment like it’ll never happen again. So he wants to spend as many moments with the people he loves. And he has a lot of love to give. Spend time with him. He’ll love every second. 

Words of Affirmation: As mentioned before, he loves teasing. He will tease verbally and Sevens know that he will be insulted if you don’t tease him back. Or at least have a fun reaction to the teasing. He also just loves to listen to you or be listened to. He loves hearing and telling stories. He has so much life that he’s lived and he wants to share it with the people he loves. 

Silver

Quality Time: Since he falls asleep so often, he really values time spent awake. So he wants to give that time to the people he cares about. It also helps that being active with people can somewhat help him stay awake. He also loves doing lots of things with people. He wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and experience life to the fullest he can. And doing those things with people he cares about? That just makes it all the better. 

Physical Touch: Let him sleep on you. Like when he falls asleep, move his head onto your lap. Brush your fingers through his hair. Move him somewhere safe and warm. Hold him close while he rests. Wake him up with gentle touches and soft words. He’ll melt. He loves being cradled almost as much as he loves being strong for others. He’s not weak by any means. However, he loves the opportunity to be weak. He loves the safety of another’s gentle touch. It’s peaceful. Perfect. 

Acts of Service:  He’s such a caregiver. A big protector. He likes being a safespace or home for those he loves. He shows this by doing things for you. Helping with homework, bringing soup or notes when you are sick, etc. However, he loves when the acts are reciprocated. He loves being helped as much as he loves helping. He’s both a prince and princess (at least stereotype-wise lol). Doing things for him will 100% make him melt. It is so sweet to watch him care and be cared for.

Sebek

Words of Affirmation: So his affection will be yelled at you, so if you aren’t ready for that – don’t let him grow attached. We have all seen how vocal his love for Malleus is. He will verbally build you up, talk about you to others, and defend you. He will work hard to make sure to properly communicate his care to you. You are not allowed to be insecure around him. Any complaint from you will be battled verbally against a man who cannot shut up with his praise. It’s honestly sweet. 

Quality Time: He likes spending time around people. People rub off on people. Meaning if he is spending more time around these amazing people, then he will become more like them. Plus, he likes the attention. He likes to know that these people he cares about want him around. Sebek isn’t immune to wanting to be cared about. And spending time with him, wanting him in your life, is how he knows that someone really does care. 

Acts of Service:  Sebek is a knight. He likes to care for people and be at their beck and call. He loves protecting them at their side. And he’s that same way with people he cares for. He feels duty-bound to them, wanting to be a hero to the people he cares for. However, he would (will be) lying if (when) he says he doesn’t love it when you take care of him. When you protect him. When you serve him as he would serve you. Since he believes that this devotion is one of the best ways to show care on his end, it is endlessly flattering to him to have that same kind of devotion shown to him.

[tizeline]

Tizeline - She/Her - Digital Artist

tizeline on Bluesky

Mostly fanart with some original art sprinkled in here and there

Pr*ship & Tc*st go awayyy

Tag navigation, FAQ and AU info under cut 👇

Tags

#tizel art - Art tag

#tizel talk - Me rambling about random stuff

#Tiz Sep AU - My dumb RotTMNT AU

FAQ

Can I repost your art? No! Please don't!

Can I use your art as a profile picture / header? Yes, I am fine with that! Preferably with credit

Can I draw fanart of your AU? YES god yes no need to ask just make sure to tag me so I can see it :D!!

Can I dub your comics? No, I'd rather you not

What do you use to create art? I mostly draw in Procreate on an iPad

What brushes do you use? This is something that changes as I like to switch things up sometimes, but lately I've mostly been using the Shale Brush in Procreate

What canvas sizes do you usually work with? Depends on the drawing, but usually either A4 format (2480 x 3508 pixels) or a square canvas (ca 2000x2000 pixels). As a rule of thumb, I rarely go lower than 1000 pixels on either side. I always use 300 dpi.

What's Tiz Sep AU?

A seperated RotTMNT AU where Raph, Leo and Mikey were raised by Draxum and Donnie were raised by Splinter, check out the tag for more info!

Some highlights of the Tiz Sep AU

(there's more to find under the hashtag, but if you don't wanna scroll through it all, here are some of the more important/interesting posts)

(ALSO! These are not in chronological order, they're in the order that I posted them, so they jump back and forth in the story quite a bit)

First Post (original concept)

Turtle Hands

Powerhouse Mikey

Donnie's complicated relationship to his brothers

Leo Fanboy Moment

Everyone sucks at names (including me)

Shelldon!

Leo-Brooding-In-A-Pizzeria Arc - Run of the Mill encounters - Jealousy - Leo AND Donnie Fanboy moment

Overprotective Big Bro

Unusual Team Up

Raph + Casey Friendship Moment

Leo is a Poor Winner

Raph + Casey Friendship Moment PART 2!

Cell Talk - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Little Bro...?

Separation anxiety and it's consequences - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Gearing Up (Follow up to Cell Talk) - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

The Beginning - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9

Family Secrets - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

Summary of the movie's events (TW: Impalement, blood)

Donnie's Ninpō Explained

Frienemies

TSAU Capril real??

Season 1 FINALE! - Part 1 - Part 2

Keep your enemies close - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3