#also like…yeah I know how to use excel so

[kjiscrawlingbackformore]

No Reservations - Chapter seven

Restaurant Owner Lottie Matthews x Chef!reader

Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Summary: After graduating culinary school you have been building up your portfolio, to become a street level legend in the culinary world. And after years of hard work you get hired by a renowned michelin star restaurant Matthews’ kitchen to help design a new menu that’ll star in their new brick and mortar in New York. And there you behold the new heiress of the Matthews’ Kitchen, your boss, is your old situationship from culinary school…Charlotte Matthews.

Warnings: None

A/N : I feel like we don’t see taivan in enough fanfics what’s up with that??

The steam from Van’s tea kettle curled through the kitchen, settling into the quiet hum of the evening. You sat at the dining table, legs tucked under you, staring blankly at your untouched mug. Van paced behind you like a storm cloud gaining speed.

Tai, forever unbothered, sipped from her chipped porcelain mug like she was watching a live show she’d already predicted the ending of.

“NO. NO, NO—NO!” Van exploded, throwing her hands up. “One thing is texting her. Or running into her. Or, I don’t know, tolerating her at a farmers market. But friends? Friends??? Are you an idiot?”

You opened your mouth to speak, but Tai, calm and worn out, muttered into her tea, “And there she goes.”

Van spun toward Tai. “Don’t defend this. Don’t act like this is normal.”

Tai shrugged. “Didn’t say it was normal. Just not new.”

You groaned. “Van—”

“No, shut up, let me remind you,” Van snapped, pointing at you. “Natalie has been your weakness since we were, like, sixteen. Sixteen. Off and on again. Off again, and then back on when she got a new tattoo or suddenly knew how to make risotto. She knows all your soft spots. She knows exactly what to say. And let’s not forget—SHE CHEATED ON YOU THREE TIMES AND ONE OF THE TIMES WAS AT MY BIRTHDAY.”

Tai winced. “Honestly, that was her worst offense. It was fucked up to mess with Van’s birthday.”

You rubbed your face. “That was years ago.”

“Which means you had time to heal! You don’t go backwards when you’re finally moving forward.”

A beat of silence.

Tai stirred her tea and said casually, “Personally, I’m rooting for Lottie.”

Van groaned so loud it echoed. “Oh yes, let’s just graduate from the toxic relationship to the toxic situationship. Excellent growth.”

You sat up straighter, flustered. “Lottie never liked me like that. It was just—stress. Like, mutual stress relief.”

Tai scoffed, “Maybe the first time. But after the third time? There were feelings. I don’t care what you or she says. That girl liked you. She likes you now. Also, I’d like at least one of us to start dating rich so we can go to restaurants that don’t put sriracha on everything.”

You narrowed your eyes. “So you want me to date Lottie for the perks?”

Tai smiled over her mug. “And because… I don’t know. She feels different. There’s something there.”

Van flopped into the chair across from you and covered her face with both hands. “This is all madness.”

“You called it cinematic like a month ago,” you reminded her, arms folded.

Van peeked at her through her fingers. “It was cinematic when it was all fun and games. ‘Ha-ha, look at you working for your college rival slash fuck buddy, what a plot twist!’ Now it’s—‘let’s befriend your toxic ex and maybe fall for your hot but emotionally repressed boss who was also your toxic situationship.’”

She dropped her hands, deadpan. “We’re gonna need wine for these few weeks.”

Tai raised her mug. “And a prayer circle.”

You just stared at the ceiling, wondering if you could crawl into the crawl space and live there for the rest of the year. Because yeah…things have gotten complicated. Natalie was texting you, and it wasn’t as weird as you thought it’d be. Like maybe you could be friends with her?

And then Lottie, well…you can’t help but feel things when you’re near her. And the more you’re around her, the more…you kinda like her? She’s actually nice and funny-and really well pretty but in a soft way. A way you weren’t expecting to see from her.

Van leaned in and whispered, “Don’t you dare text either of them tonight.”

You didn’t respond, knowing damn well you responded to Natalie’s photo dump she texted you before you got to Van and Tai’s place. And in the absence of your response, Tai and Van both groaned at once.

The clatter of pans, the hiss of butter in the pan — it all faded into the background when it was just the two of them in the kitchen. Lottie moved with sharp precision, elegant even in her control. You stole glances, surprised at how easy it was, how they fell into rhythm like they’d been doing this for years instead of weeks.

You plated the last component of the dish with a flourish, eyebrows raised in mock arrogance. “And voilà, chef Matthews. Your edible masterpiece, courtesy of my unmatchable talent and good looks.”

Lottie leaned against the prep table, watching with a smirk.

“Wow. Arrogant and humble. That’s a rare combo.”

You stepped aside, presenting the dish dramatically, hand sweeping like a magician revealing the final trick. “Humble is boring. This is art. And you should thank your lucky stars you found me before Eleven Madison Park did.”

Lottie laughed, a real one — startled, quiet at first, then full-bodied. She looked up at you, her mouth twitching like she was trying not to smile too hard.

“I don’t remember you being this cocky in school.”

You tilted your head, grinning. “You just didn’t know me that well.”

There was a pause. The silence was heavy, but it buzzed — charged. Because that was a lie. Lottie knew you very well…too well. Too many drunken confessions, memorizing of bodies, moments of vulnerability shared in the weird space they created.

The look Lottie gave you was a knowing one. We both knew that was bullshit. You shrug in response, and Lottie smiles.

Lottie opened her mouth, her tone different almost…flirty. “Well, I’m—uh, I’m definitely getting to know you now.” Her voice cracked slightly at the end. She winced.

You blinked, then laughed — loud and sudden. “Wow, that was awful. Ten out of ten delivery.”

Lottie’s face went pink. “I’m a professional chef, not a poet, okay?”

You just smirked, shaking your head as you leaned over the counter, pointing a spoon at her.

“Stick to the kitchen. You’re cute, but that line was like, sophomore year of high school bad.”

Lottie rolled her eyes, covering her embarrassment with another bite of the dish. She chewed, nodded, then as if a revelation came to her she moved in closer, slowly, deliberately — reaching behind you to grab a jar of finishing salt. Her arm brushed your hip.

You froze.

Lottie glanced at you sidelong, voice lower now, more confident. “Cute, huh?”

Your face flushed instantly. The spoon clattered onto the counter. “I didn’t say—” You cleared your throat, stepping back. “I meant the line. The line was cute. That’s what I meant.”

Lottie just smiled, her voice calm, amused. “Sure.”

There was a beat where neither of them moved. You cleared your throat and clapped your hands

“This dish needs one more thing.”

You reached for the top shelf of the pantry, one foot balancing on the lower rung of the metal step stool, the other trying not to slip. “Who the hell put the truffle oil up here?” you muttered.

Just as your fingers brushed the bottle, the stool gave a tiny lurch. You yelped. Before you could fall, hands caught you. Firm, steady — one at your waist, the other bracing your shoulder.

You blinked, suddenly face-to-face with Charlotte Matthews, who had moved fast and was now way too close. Their breathing synced in the silence, uneven and shallow. Your hands landed lightly on Lottie’s arms for balance, but she didn’t move away.

“Jesus. You move like a ninja,” you murmured, heart hammering.

Lottie’s mouth twitched, almost-smiling, but her grip didn’t loosen. “I’ve had practice catching people who underestimate gravity.”

Your eyes locked. You were suddenly very aware of where Lottie’s hands were, and that neither of you had backed off yet. You hated how kissable she looked. After a beat too long, you both took a step back at the same time. Lottie cleared her throat, dusted imaginary lint off her jacket.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” You tried to laugh, but it came out breathier than you meant it to. “Maybe tell the team to keep the fancy oils at a reachable height? Some of us aren’t six feet tall and rich enough to pay for a hospital bill.”

Lottie chuckled. “I’ll leave a note.” Then, as if she hadn’t just had her hands on your waist a moment ago, she added casually, “There’s a black tie event this weekend. Industry crowd, food press, and some board members. I’m expected to go.���

You raised an eyebrow, still trying to recover your balance, physically and emotionally. “Okay…”

Lottie looked at you, all nonchalance, but her voice was just a little too careful. “Come with me. As my guest.”

You paused, mouth agape slightly, and you blinked. “To a board event?”

Lottie shrugged. “You’re part of the team now. It’s good networking. And… it might be fun.”

You didn’t say anything right away. Lottie shifted, pretending to scan the pantry shelves like she hadn’t just asked you out—professionally, of course.

“Yeah,” You said finally, biting back a smile. “Sure. Could be fun.”

Lottie’s face brightened with something barely held back — a flash of relief, maybe even excitement. “Cool,” she said, too quickly. “I’ll send you the details.”

You climbed off the stool fully, cradling the bottle of truffle oil like it was your last shred of composure. As Lottie turned to leave, “Don’t stay up too late, Y/L/N.”

You smiled, “Wouldn’t dream of it, Matthews.”

You watched her walk out the door, as your eyes flickered at the space where her hands had been. A smile stretching onto your face. You placed your hands on your cheeks, feeling the warmth still on them.

What was that?

Then you flinched at the small ding that rang out from your phone. You look over to see a new text from…Natalie. That made your eyes widened.

“You still a night owl?”

Another ding.

“Just landed in Texas, and can’t sleep.”

And then to your surprise another ding.

“How was your day Gordon Ramsey?”

And you let your hand cover your mouth in dread. Natalie…triple texted you. As your eyes read over the three texts again in disbelief. That was kinda unhinged? Not to mention it was so late?

“Yeah…I’m definitely in trouble,” you said quietly to yourself.

[krispdreemurr]

I have a theory: to open the shelter, we need 3 codes: a pine tree, a police badge, and the deltarune. We found the code 122x (presumably 1225) in the holiday house, presumably the pine tree code. And we found a code (2202) in the church, which is used to open the third sanctuary, but is also deltarune related. We assumed the knight wanted to kidnap toriel and undyne bc theyre the deltarune and the police badge, but what if that's not the cage? Next chapter will be about "The Field of Pink and Gold. The vast garden is charred in an inferno of jealousy." Which sounds a lot like asgore and the flower shop to me (an often theorised dark world location!) And asgore used to be a police officer. So what if he has the police badge code, the church code is the deltarune one, and we could unlock the shelter at the end of ch5?

It would also make sense from a narrative standpoint. Toby fox was planning to release ch3-5 in one go, and I was wondering why he'd do that since ch4 is such an excellent cliffhanger to end on. But if ch3-5 was the full story on how to unlock the shelter, and ended with all of us theorising madly on what would be in there, that would make for a nice chunk of chapters that would make sense to group together

yeah seems quite possible to me! i don't know if the fire extinguisher code is also the bunker code, but it definitely would be handy. although why does everyone in this universe have the worst opsec

[usertoxicyaoi]

China is popping off damn I really hope they don't crack down on the methods they're using now to get around censorship ( co-productions filming abroad etc) and we get a steady number of dramas that get better in quality/length. Maybe they can even make one of the danmeis that aren't already made censored and never coming out. There are so many great ones, to be able to get one that's 40 episodes or so NOT censored with a queer love story at the center? Would be iconic. Especially the costume ones. Like trapped in osaka was beautiful even if so short, moon and dust is unhinged and kind of nonsense but I adore it, sparkle in your eye is angst central but oh so good and revenged love looks like it's going to be such a banger. Also the ABO one which from the trailer looks bad ngl and very low budget and all over the place but the audacity? The gumption to make it? I applaud it and hope it stays under the radar bc the way China operates the moment something explodes in popularity as seen in danmeis and even palace harem dramas that's when it's over. I'm just so glad Korea taiwan Japan and china are all stepping up ngl I find most Thai dramas unwatchable, the quality of writing has such a low bar for most of them and the production as well I'm not talking money wise bc look at these little productions from Japan or China or Korea you can tell they have no money but the way it's shot, blocked directed etc makes it feel real but a lot of Thai dramas look fake ? Idk how to explain it and I very much appreciate all the horny but man how about you focus on the quality of scripts and directors first because how do you make 150 dramas a year and countries that make 10 are outclassing you.

hiii anon!!!

yeah china are really doing The Most right now tryna skirt their way around censorship rules in the most creative ways possible, and i respect that huuuugley. and even in doing that, the content they're putting out feels so fresh yet authentic to classic danmei, or like, in the case of revenged love? it literally just feels like a modern day cdrama, in the way its shot, the pacing, the mix of humour with the romance, the world-building. i keep thinking i'm watching something like the best thing, idk, maybe bc that was the last modern day cdrama i watched. but its Giving. moon and dust just reeeeeeally gives me classic cbl vibes, man, and that makes me so soooo happy. trapped in osaka is MY BABY. it gave me EVERYTHING in 40 minutes. 100000/10 would DIE for hao yu and chen xi. sparkle in your eye is SO character driven, and i understand every single choice that su yi is making bc of it. the story telling is so SO well done. and there's still sooooo much more to come from china! the abo one? is called desire, and whilst i'm not really into that stuff, i'll be keeping an eye on it! and i've not even mentioned all the costume/wuxia ones! i'm just so very excited to see the stuff coming out from china!!!!!!

japan took a loooooong break this year, TOOOOOO long for me, but its back! and hishakai shindo is EVERYTHING japan excels at and dominates like no other: horny teenage angst. its gooooorgeous. its so brooding. its so melancholic with this clearly palpable underlying tension. its so classic jbl. and even tho i'm not watching it, i know my mutuals who are watching season 2 of i became the main role of a bl drama are having the most fun time with it! aaah i've missed my jbls so so so SO much!

same goes for taiwan! who will be back soon too! secret lover and the promise of the soul are ones i'm 👀👀👀, and if i know taiwan, i KNOW i'll be getting some BANGER dialogues and beaaaautiful cinematography.

kbls are hit and miss for me sometimes, but this year? they've had a VERY solid shout. secret relationships was the EXACT kinda toxic madness that i Knew south korea could deliver and did!!! ball boy tactics is EXCELLENT. i hope they keep this same momentum up! sukfilm is always a guilty pleasure watch for me, but never fair was one of their productions i reallly enjoyed this year!

i do also wanna shout out vietnam! they're quietly doing their thing but more people really should get on it!!!!! currently i'm watching my sweet brother in law and i'm having the time of my life with it every tuesday! O2 productions also put out some realllllly good stuff too, that i love watching.

i do also kinda wish that the philippines came back with some stuff. there was a time around covid when they were SMASHING it, one bl after the next after the next.

coming onto thai bls. mmmmmmm. its a Topic. there was a time, for about atleast i'd say, a gooood 3-ish years where i just dropped them. it just was not doing it for me. at all, apart from like, the odd one, like 4 minutes (bc i love bible and fuaiz but haaate be on cloud). and i don't do hatewatching. if i really am not vibing with something, i'll drop it, like i did my stubborn and only friends, for example. gmmtv in particular were just. infuriating for me. but i coud still see what was out there bc of my mutuals, so i knew what was on and what was hot. but yeah, this year, i decided to dip my feet back in, and try out non-gmmtv stuff, and i gotta say, gmmtv reaaaally need to pick up their game. idk what it is about their storywriting/storytelling, but it just ... lacks in the final cut on screen (and yes i am watching boys in love bc chokunaston have sooooo much potential and they're the one instance where i've enjoyed the writing for kimmon and how their issues are handled, like mon's stubborness and short fuse and kim's class clown but deep down wants to be taken seriously issues). yeah idk i just wish gmmtv paid more time and care and attention in working on the delivery of the script onto the screen. it's not even the acting that's the issue bc gmmtv has some stellar actors, but i always feel that there's just .... something lacking, always, where it doesn't quite reach the heart and moves you in a way. whereas studio wabi sabi has a case of dragging out the plot for faaaaar too long to the point where it just feels ... meh. between us ended up being like that and left me hugely disappointed by the end. but anyway. non gmmtv shows? the bangkok boy. OHHHHHMYGOD. its thailand's best bl airing right now. reset. THE LAKORN VIBES. i promise i will comeback. THE BEAUTY AND BUILDUP OF IT. i do love this approach thailand's having rn of integrating non-thai asians into the mix! south korea (the bangkok boy), taiwan (i promise i will come back) and japan (dating game). taiwan did it too in first note of love with orca (thai) and reese. its sooo fun. like. i don't even Mind the horny. i love it. give it all to me. revenged love is doing that rn too. but there needs to be some plot, good pacing, not feeling like 6 episodes in and i'm still at where i was in episode 2, some shift in the character's perspectives of one another/choices/attitudes/behaviours etc. ya know? and i get that thailand is asia's super powerhouse of making bls. i respect the grind. but its so overwhelming, so it was just really nice to step back and ... ya know, be picky and choose-y about what exactly it is that i vibe with, and then going with it, and enjoying my time with it!

so i get what you mean. even now, i'm still the type who is more drawn to bls from japan, china, taiwan, korea etc first, than thailand. idk? i'm the type who gets overwhelmed with popular stuff, and eventually i just lose interest in it bc it just seems like thai bls get that exposure and popularity so easily, that it makes me, as an asian myself, feel like, surely there must be other non-thai, asian bls out there too that deserve to be just as recognised and known for their endeavour. that shouldn't be so underrated or dismissed (i personally feel like jbls and cbls are still SO SO underrated and overlooked, for what reason, idk.). and once you look and find them, there's really no going back. and its why i love sharing them on here and making content for them! it truly makes me so so happy doing so, and even more when people on here end up enjoying those shows too! like i said, idk, maybe its bc i'm asian and i feel fiercely protective and passionate in some kinda way about it, but i want our work to be seen, and the efforts it takes for the not-so-popular and not-so-easily-exposed and it's-taken-so-much-creativity-and-courage-to-release-this-with-all-the-rules-in-place-against-us to be appreciated a little more too.

[bereft-of-frogs]

It’s not that I’m concerned about my job performance, I consistently get good feedback, always finish my tasks, have taken initiative on a couple projects…

But my coworker is always talking about how much of the online training he’s doing once we hit the mid-afternoon quiet period and I’m slightly worried they’re going to be like ‘hey why does [redacted] have so many hours clocked on [redacted training platform] and you have like, none?’

And I’ll have to be like. Well. I was writing star wars fanfiction.

[scificrows]

Okay, my brain refuses to think about anything other than Murderbot, so I looked at every use of the word "friend[s]" in TMBD and... created some pie charts. Normal human activities.

Some Thoughts™ I had while putting this together (under the cut):

In All Systems Red, Murderbot notes that the PresAux crew are all close friends (twice! and goes on to explain their internal relationships which I think is very cute). This is pretty much the only use of 'friends' in ASR, except for when Murderbot says that SecUnits can't be friends with each other.

It seems that this may be one of the first times Murderbot has ever really been around a group of friends before? Murderbot notes that this is not the norm for its contracts and admits that the fact that they are all friends and the way they interact with each other make it actually enjoy that contract (before!!!! the hostile attack, so it already enjoys this contract before they start seeing it as a person etc ghghhhh). [Inference: Friendship seems enjoyable.]

The first character that calls Murderbot its friend is ART in Artificial Condition. Murderbot immediately refutes this (and then goes on to call ART its friend to its clients for the rest of the book). [Inference: Maybe ART is Murderbot's friend. And maybe that is... agreeable]

Rogue Protocol has more than twice as many instances of the word 'friend' as any of the other novellas. Why? Miki. Friendship and its implications for non-humans are a central theme because Miki is friends with everyone. Murderbot initially scoffs at the notion that Miki and Miki's humans are friends. At the end of the book, after witnessing how desperately Don Abene tried to stop Miki from trying to save them, and her grief after its death, Murderbot has to admit that she had in fact been Miki's friend. [Inference: Humans can be friends with bots and can sincerely care about them]

In Exit Strategy, Murderbot tentatively uses the word "friends" for its humans for the first time (several times actually). It questions whether it can actually call them its friends or not and later realizes that it had been afraid what admitting that the humans are its friends would do to it. At the end of the book, Mensah tells Murderbot the PresAux crew are its friends, which is the first time a human has directly said that to it (at least on-page). [Inference: Humans can and want to be Murderbot's friends]

In Network Effect, Murderbot seems to be more habituated to the word 'friend', confidently calling ART and Ratthi its friends, like it is no longer just trying the concept on unsure if it fits. There are many instances in which other characters refer to MB as ART's friend or the other way around and Murderbot's humans refer to Murderbot as their friend several times. Generally, there seems to be less hesitancy, because yes, all of them are Murderbot's friends, why wouldn't they be. [Inference: SecUnits can have friends. This SecUnit has friends. They care about it a lot.]

Conclusion: The Murderbot Diaries tell the story of a construct that does not seem to consider the possibility of friendship for itself and is fine with that - until it accidentally starts caring a little too much and suddenly more and more people annex it as a friend (ew) to the point where it can no longer deny that this is happening and has to begrudgingly admit that yes, it has friends now and maybe that is actually not a bad thing.

[hopecomesbacktolife]

while I expected lots of cute moments with bb-8 and pew-pew adventures in Poe Dameron: Flight Log (which, don’t get me wrong, I definitely did get and was very happy about!!) along with lots of cool ship specs and tech details—

what I wasn’t expecting (a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one) was several instances of incredibly heartfelt, evocative, and sweet introspections from Poe on his family, upbringing, philosophy / ethics, the resistance, and love 🥺 so many sweet characterization tidbits in this book, I really enjoyed reading it ♡

if you’re interested in reading it as well, I borrowed it (for free!) on internet archive which I highly highly recommend, it was such a fun read and it’s very easy & user-friendly to borrow books from them!

[gibbearish]

btw similar to the whole "if you try adderall at a party and it calms you down, get an adhd test" thing, if at some point in your life you try microdosing shrooms with a friend and end up feeling like a functional person for the first time in your life, get tested for depression. like yeah hallucinogens come with elation so youre probably gonna have some "this is the best ive ever felt in my life" vibes regardless, but like. if that in and of itself feels like finally breathing in for the first time in years, thats for sure a sign that something is up with your ability to process serotonin most of the time. feeling better than ever before should be a nice bonus, not a crushing weight off your chest

[firefl1ezz]

i just. hit s+ rank in splatoon and i never honestly thought this would happen?? am i cool now.. do i get to be a part of the s4? do i get to be watered down to my running joke all the time?

[clumsypuppy]

Atla live action 😐

[dravidious]

Typing Tips That I Stumbled Upon Randomly:

The Ctrl key lets you jump between words really quickly. If you hold Ctrl and press the left or right arrow keys, instead of moving your cursor 1 character you'll move it a whole word; if you want to edit that word that's 3 words back, you can just hold Ctrl and left-left-left, and you're there.

Even more useful in my opinion, if you hold Ctrl and press Backspace you'll delete the entire word you're on. That's just really nifty because a lot of the time when you're deleting you want to delete the whole word, so this is much faster.

Also, idk how well-known this is but holding Shift and moving your cursor will make you highlight any characters you move over. That's useful on its own, but combining that with Ctrl lets you quickly highlight whole words or sentences, so you can easily copy+paste them. You can also hold Shift to edit any selections you made with your mouse or something.

Also it took me too long to realize that the Home and End keys are actually really nice sometimes. Home takes you to the start of the line you're on, and End takes you to the end. Hold Shift while doing that and you can highlight the whole line. Very nice for programming. Also holding Ctrl and pressing Home or End takes you to the top or bottom of the page, but I barely use that.

A similarly useful key that I also overlooked is the Delete key. It's like the Backspace key, but it deletes the character in front of your cursor instead of behind it. Just like with Backspace Ctrl+Delete lets you delete a whole word in front of your cursor.

Also Ctrl+A lets you highlight the whole page.

Also even when you're not typing and instead just browsing a web page or something, you still technically have a cursor; if you click a piece of text, then hold Shift and press the arrow keys, you'll start highlighting text.

Practice Exercise: Click on the t in this word, then hold Shift and press left and right on the arrow keys! Now try holding Ctrl+Shift while you press the arrow keys! Hold Shift and press Home or End! Hold Shift and use your mouse to left-click on different spots in the paragraph and see how your selection changes!

[gwydionae]

I get using no specific iteration of the TMNT in a crossover and just making yet another new version. After all, the franchise has had many, many different versions at this point, so it's easy to accept that this is simply one more to add to the pile.

But Naruto has... one. Just the one. So when all of a sudden characters are written/shown to have expertise that they shouldn't have at the age they're being depicted, it just ends up feeling weird.

I get that fitting things into the Naruto timeline can be a chore. Do it too early, and Sakura is kinda useless. Do it too late, and Sasuke's off murdering people. And if you try to set it after the series, the power levels are seriously gonna be out of whack.

But breaking the only canon that has ever existed for these characters makes them feel like... not the same characters. I might be the only one who cares about this, but it really took me out of the story, to the point where I couldn't help but focus on it. I don't want to be distracted from page one of a silly ninja crossover comic.

[giantkillerjack]

What up I'm married to a tall person who is basically Milo Thatch but agender, and uhhh, basically, yeah, everyone should be jealous and I LOVE MY CUTE TWINK NERD WIFE!!!!! 😤😤🥰🥰🥰❤❤❤👌👌

[lixbf]

...... how did all of this start with me just wanting to quickly write down how old a few thg characters were during the last ten games. why did my brain decide i need to figure out for myself how old various other tributes and victors were when they died/won. why am i now here multiple hours later looking at an ugly monster of an excel sheet with 50ish characters sorted by birthday with their ages/ages at death as they correspond to each year's hunger games, another sheet of all 75 hunger games with known victors and their lifespans inserted into it because i wanted to see just the victors but also how much time is between some of the named victors, yet another sheet where i wanted to see how the victors' ages at winning compare to see how common i made each winning age but then i also used that sheet to figure out how many victors made it to different ages (which like btw is kinda depressing bc so many of them didnt even make it past 40), and then fucking finally an excel sheet of what i originally wanted to look at aka the ages of a few characters in the last few games except i included way more characters than i originally wanted to and also started at the 60th games instead of the 65th like i wanted to

[pomefioredove]

need overblot boys with epel, and floyd with a reader that randomly lore drops as if they're an old dad like "yeah lol my old school had a shooting once....anyways *SNOREE*" and when asked they just agree and walk away and never elaborate whatsoever💀 if you feel uncomfortable feel free to delete or ignore‼️love ya pookie💥

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ a reader with a backstory

I got u 🫡🫡

summary: wacky reader lore type of post: headcanons characters: riddle, leona, azul, floyd, jamil, vil, epel, idia, malleus additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

you find new ways to raise Riddle's blood pressure every day

little guy is worried enough as it is

you've already got your school work, taking care of Ramshackle, taking care of Grim, taking care of all the other freshmen, taking care of-

well... you get it

the last thing he needs is to hear another one of your stories

"oh, yeah, that's like the time I got stabbed"

"????? WHAT??"

what's entertaining to you and ADeuce is mortifying to Riddle

if you're not careful you'll end up sleeping on the floor in his room

where he can keep a close eye on you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

you're like Leona's little court jester

and he takes you with him everywhere

it's not easy to get a genuine laugh out of him, after all

besides, what's so bad about a little dark humor? it's not like you died or anything

he knows you're a resilient little thing

and you seem to love telling him about "that time you crawled into a drainage pipe", anyway

you make him laugh; he likes you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Azul indulges you

his white noise machine stopped working last month and you make for excellent background ambience

so, he lets you talk yourself in circles about your school work, your friends, Grim, Grim again

and then you drop the most HEINOUS bombshells in the middle

"blah blah blah Grim, blah blah Crowley, blah blah, that one time I got lost in the woods for a day, blah blah-"

he loses his train of thought every time

now, Floyd is the complete opposite

he will hyperfocus on the most mundane details

and ignore the bombshells

will give you an, "oh, that's cool" to your ghost story but will find you the pair of socks you mentioned liking three months ago

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Jamil is just fascinated by you

you as a person, of course

but also the fact that you're still alive

one night, he's explaining the reason he makes all of Kalim's food and you're like

"oh, yeah, I get it. I got mold poisoning once and hallucinated for a week"

?????

then you go right back to asking him about the recipe

sitting on the counter, as happy as could be

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!!!"

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Vil is used to this

he knows that look on your face

he will shush you with a finger to your lips before you even start

"don't tell me, I'm stressed enough as it is"

he's going to break out if you keep at it

he finds you quite... macabre

which is entertaining until he sees you going down a flight of stairs without holding onto the railing and remembers all those stories you'd told him

he's just... concerned for you, that's all

and he does NOT appreciate Epel for encouraging it

"tell us more about the time you fell down that hill into that pile of rocks, Prefect!"

:D

like a kid in a candy store

learning new Lore is like the highlight of his week

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

"talk about having a high luck stat..."

Idia is more entertained than anything

he thought these kinds of things only happened in anime, but...

...there you are

it sounds like you experience more in a single month than he has in his whole life

and you know what?

GOOD

you can keep your freaky real-world experiences!

he'll just live vicariously through you

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

poor Malleus

he's been putting so much effort into learning and blending with human culture, and now here you are with your terrifying stories

you tell him in such earnest, too

you seem so... unbothered by it

perhaps humans are less fragile than he thought?

of course, he shouldn't have underestimated you in the first place :)!

then you come over for dinner one night

"hahah, yeah, last time I was at someone's house their grandma threw a lamp at my head and I got a concussion"

Silver and Sebek both go >_>

Lilia goes <_<

and then Malleus is there like, "ah, another fascinating tale :)"

[texasdreamer01]

#john is so good at middle management #but he is not great at being In Charge #the man cannot delegate#and his first priority is always his friends #(i don't think the worst of it is in season 1 tho) #he is Learning #he did not sign up for this #(and such a massive plot hole #that sumner didn't have a different second in command) (x)

Lets set the record straight. No nuances.

Season 1

[sugarverse]

Hiii! I was wondering if I could request either long or short fic about Tenya Iida. Likes it can be set in a modern setting where's he's a senior college student who's majoring in business and he has to take one more class to get his degree. It just so happened that the class is in the art building, and it is figure drawing (aka nude drawing) . Since he's just now hearing of the extra class he has to take, he's suddenly shocked when the model is an old friend of his from back home, whom he had a childhood crush on. Not only does his feelings for her come back, but he also has to have 1 on 1 section with the model for educational purposes. I kinda want it to be smut and fluff or however you see it fit. Anyway, I hope it's enough+

hi babe! omg I love this idea I kinda went a lil crazy and made it way too long. I hope u enjoy :)!!

𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙏𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧

word count: 3.5k

mentions of: This is really just the fluff portion of it, kinda suggestive bc he pops a boner and leads to sex in part two. I think I’m going to make a third part simply so the two of you can go on a genuine date andsotheresmoreiidaxblackreaderouthere.

a/n: hells yeah that’s enough, hopefully I did what ya asked and so sorry I went overboard I have serious problems. here’s the smut part bc a 6.7k fic is doing too damn much but i can’t stfu my fault gang

moodboard here!

Tenya Iida.

4th year, Senior in college majoring in International Business and minoring in Spanish at Angelwood College of Arts and Sciences.

The visual arts building had only been a few minutes away from the business side of campus, which he gladly enjoyed the walk. This spring all he needed to finish was two gen ed classes, the rest revolved around his major and minor. His counselor helped set up his ‘missing’ classes before winter break considering he had to fly back to Japan to see his family for the holidays. He was ecstatic to learn all he needed was an art class with lab and a communications class. 

When he asked what the class entailed, all he was met with was “beginner artists learning anatomy.” It didn’t sound difficult, just draw what you see. It would be nice to try something new anyway. He was not much of an artist but like all things Tenya does, he planned to give this class his all. The first week had been pretty easy, learning how to draw what you see with the use of models, shapes, and lines. Nothing too hard to follow. He would practice drawing his friends on the sketchpad he bought specifically for the class as a form of studying in the free time he had.

He neverminded it for the most part, excelling his knowledge in different countries in his free time to get better at his major. Sure they could teach you the technical way to do things, but in the end, everyone is still human. It would be inconsiderate to do business with a country and know little to nothing about their culture! It took almost two weeks for him to finally be able to even start the art project anyway.

As time went on and the January snow grew less and less, it was time to start their first real project of the semester. One on One figure drawing. The class needed to fill out a form explaining their free hours due to the limited art space and everyone's different schedules. Tenya happily filled it out when it was posted, continuing to work on class work from the library so that the lecture room could also be used for said project.

Their professor had explained that in-person class would remain on Mondays and Thursdays. It just worked out better for the models and students to have so much space.

He made the small walk over to the arts building for his last class of the day, a small shine in his glasses as he entered the white light of the room. The walls were anything but bare, artwork and unfinished projects sat in every corner of the room. Paint racks, canvases big and small, even stacks of unused clay. There was a stool sitting on a small platform in the middle of the room, assuming where the model will sit. 

He stood next to the stool for a moment, looking up at the grey February sky through the skylight. The natural lighting was great, almost like a spotlight. He adjusted the lights in the room a moment, dimming them slightly so the white light hadn’t been so harsh on his eyes. He headed over to a more organized table, setting out the art supplies how he liked. He knew he was early, but he wanted to make a good first impression. What’s better than being on time?

He pulled out his laptop, checking that the few assignments for today were done and submitted. A small frown tugged at his lips as he realized he hadn’t finished something completely, typing in the last few answers. He always double checked, technology was reliable.. When it wanted to be. He couldn’t hear the shuffle of slippers against the floor over his typing and frankly, loud thinking. 

He could see someone walk past in a teal robe representing the university's colors. Glancing up from the computer to give the model a proper hello, Tenya opens his mouth to speak but pauses. 

“Y/n?” He asked, almost in a whisper in case he was wrong. A small look of confusion caused him to tilt his head to the side slightly. He hadn’t been able to see you for awhile with such busy schedules, but he knew your silhouette by heart. 

You turn at the sound of your name, mid sliding off the slippers and fumbling with the gold silk of the belt. “Tenya?” You smile, asking as you turn to slide your shoes back on and quickly shuffle your way over to him. He felt his face burn red, frozen in place for a moment with his jaw slack. He stood as if needing to detach from the seat, smiling at your happy demeanor and your quickness to wrap your arms around him. 

“It is you! I know those shoulders from anywhere!” You beamed, feeling his hovering hands slowly place themselves on your back to return the hug. He was very hesitant, simply because you were only in a robe. You pull away, hands resting on your hips and giving him a big smile. “Now what are you doin’ taking a figure drawing class, Mister businessman?”

He let out a sheepish chuckle, “I needed an art credit, W-What are u doing here?” He never had any classes with you at Angelwood, A few honors classes and gym in highschool but other than that, nada. Throughout the course of growing up, your interests drove you to different classes. 

However, classes don't matter when your families are as close as yours and the Iida family. Shared Holidays, playdates, game nights.. It wasn’t like you were some stranger. You both always made time to hang out a few times during the year to catch up without the family just to give a real check on each other. It was his favorite, almost like a mini holiday to talk to you.

He loved spending time with you. You were smart, articulated and incredibly creative. You never took slack from anyone.. Even in middle school he can remember you being the one to stand up and say something when things weren’t right. You were headstrong and determined in anything that you did.. Art majors always get a lot of grief but you never let that deter you. And that was admirable in itself! ..And he had always thought you were so pretty. 

He felt like a kid again, heart feeling as if it’d beat out of his chest at the mere sight of you. It had been around Halloween the last time he saw you, and here it was. Almost Valentine's day.. Still as pretty and bright as he remembered. Your next hangout wasn't for another month or so, so it was nice to see you sooner than that.

“I'm your model, silly!” You head over to the stool, continuing to speak. “The art department asked if I’d help in modeling and I said yes! People were too scared to sign up for the most part. I’m surprised this is the class you picked. Did you want to learn how to draw people?” You slide your slippers off once more, untying the cute bow on your hip that held your robe shut. 

Suddenly the room was very hot and he couldn't breathe. Now his heart really WAS beating out of his chest. He quickly did a 180, shielding his eyes and removing his glasses for extra measure. “WHY– do yoU have.. nothing on underrrrneath?” He croaked, voice cracking as his tone raised slightly.

You tilt your head at such a question, the gears clicking a little later than they should have. “Figure drawing is um.. Nude drawing, Tenya. You didn't know that?” You slide the robe back on, giggling at the flustered man across from you. You could see his shoulders tense, shaking his head slowly.

Now how the fuck could he have missed that.

“I um.. No, I didn't. I thought that it was.. I don't know what I thought. My counselor picked it for me and I.. Most models we've used so far have.. had skin colored undergarments… On.” He let out a nervous laugh, keeping his glasses off. He turns around, cleaning them with the end of his shirt but refusing to look up at you. He needed to mentally prepare his brain to be professional in a situation like this. Not that he minded the glance, he just never thought this would be how..

You prop your feet onto the edge of the stool, interrupting his thought. You held your knees up to your chest so he couldn’t see anything but your bare legs. “Oh Ten, I’m sorry! I can ask someone else to-”

“No! I am perfectly.. capable. It's professional and I can be.. professional..” He put his glasses back on, hand refusing to be steady as he did so. He let out a shaky sigh, smiling at you and finally looking at you once more.

You let out a small laugh at the blush on his cheeks. He was so handsome, but to see him so flustered over little ol’ you? It made your week. “We can start slow, that might help.” you slide the robe down your shoulders, slowly putting your legs back down so he could see your robed torso once more. You stopped at the top of your breasts, letting your collarbone show. “Do you have any specific poses..?” You ask quietly, trying to hold back your amusement.

He sits down, red faced and completely flushed. A nude model.. jeez. From sleepovers to recess, studying together to graduating, and now almost graduating for the final time together. That's something you don’t get to have in every lifetime. But why do these thoughts keep coming back to him now? 

There was no way he could still have romantic feelings for you. He’d never put your friendship at risk like that!

..right?

“I um.. yeah, small.” He cleared his throat, “Could you um.. Could you stand slightly off of the um.. Almost like getting up?” He fumbled over his words, staring at the empty paper as if he could burn the quick image in his brain onto the page to get the embarrassment over with. He sighed once more, trying to focus as he began sketching circles and lines as a starter sketch of the pose he wanted.

“When you need to draw a certain part I'll move it, Sound fair?” You ask, resting one foot onto the stool and one onto the ground. Your hand gripped the seat as your butt sat on the edge, similar to when people do that supposedly hot thing where they throw their head back and pull some weird rope to have water get poured on them. 

It was second nature at this point for people to see you. Of course some of them were flustered and it was pretty awkward at first, but normally not to the point of stuttering and stammering. It wasn’t often that you saw Tenya fall apart, but this was way different. Especially considering you flashed him without warning. He was one of the most endearing people you had ever met, there was no way you would have done that without proper context.

He could only nod in response, not wanting to further make a fool of himself. Lightly tapping the pencil against the table, He looks up at you. “You can um.. re.. remove the top part, y/n..” It was hard to simply draw your arms and collarbone without including the robe, so you might as well rip the band-aid off and start with the top. 

You nod, dropping it happily and letting the robe pull around your hips and between your legs. You close your eyes, facing up toward the skylight in an attempt to make him less nervous. “Sorry for flashing you at first, I would have explained but I assumed you had already known..?” You laugh quietly to yourself at your own mistake. Why would someone like him even take this class if he knew what it actually entailed?

And God, did he feel like a pervert staring at your chest like this. The boner poking his thigh almost immediately didn't help, making it even harder to concentrate. Way to keep composure. He pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking. “I had no idea, I’m sorry for my r..reaction.” He answered, stopping the pencil tapping to actually begin sketching more than just circles and lines. He hadn’t meant to yell, but he felt like he was close to passing out. 

“I think it was a pretty valid one.” You send a reassuring smile his way, seeing him send you one right back. Trying to ease the mood, you look back up at the ceiling and close your eyes to avoid staring at the ugly overcast sky above you. “How was winter break? You get to go home and see your family? How are they?” 

His smile grew wider at your question, scooting under the desk a bit more so that you hopefully wouldn’t notice his body reacting. “They’re great, Tensei is getting married soon,” He sounded excited at the thought alone, incredibly proud of his brother. 

“And my mother has started a hobby making soap, if you can believe it. She sent me some to bring back one that smells like lavender and another that smells like oranges mixed with I believe she said papaya.? She made a coconut smelling one for you– I was going to give it to you the next time we saw each other,” 

The sound of his sketching stopped and started as he spoke, giving your body small glances as he tried to study each part of your upper torso. The way your stomach creased, The way your shoulder was slightly lifted causing your collarbone to be more prominent, the curve of your breasts.. “How was your Holiday, y/n?”

“No way, Tensei is getting married?!” You accidentally stop posing, fully facing him in genuine shock. The robe was still covering your lower half, you had tied the belt to avoid accidentally flashing him again but here we are. You watch his face become even more red, eyes very obviously not meeting yours but still like a deer in headlights. 

You quickly get back to posing how you were, “Sorry Ten, That's amazing!! I hope everything goes smoothly for him and his soon to be wife.. And tell your mommy I said thank you for thinking of me. I can't wait to try it!”

A smile stayed on your lips as you thought about the times you’ve spent in the Iida household. His mother always had the best candles and incense burning, you were positive the soap would be the same. “My family is up to the same old shit, you know them..” You let out a small groan, the holidays weren’t an absolute disaster, but after not being home so long makes you remember why you aren’t going to school anywhere near home. 

“I did get some cool stuff for Christmas though! I got some new clothes and they got me a few art kits. You know, where it teaches you how to crochet? I also have a new diamond painting kit, I haven't opened either yet because it's just been so busy.” You replied, tapping your fingers on the side of the stool where your hand sat. 

You look up once more, this time because the skylight was beginning to be covered in snow. You watched as it fell, thinking back to old times when you and Tenya would spend the last three major holidays with each other. You’d always make sure to trick or treat together, your families have been sharing Thanksgiving for as long as you can remember, and spending the night in your basement on Christmas eve to wait for Santa until you were both too old. Then instead of waiting for Santa, you’d all eat at least one meal together on Christmas day. Sometimes homemade breakfast, other times a small trip to IHOP or Waffle House.

“God damn it.. It’s snowing again..” You let out a small laugh, looking over at him over your shoulder, fingers still tapping away at the base of the stool. “Hey Ten, Do you remember when we used to have those big snowball fights? The one near Red Fern?” 

“Of course I do! You refused to wear any kind of gloves and my mother would make you at least put socks on your hands so you didn’t get frostbite!” The two of you shared a small laugh at the memories of being young and dumb.

“Gloves always made my hands too itchy! They still do– But I kicked your ass in snowball fights with gloves or not.” You retort, a smirk appearing on your face. “Ice queen y/n of everything.” You could remember the insane snowball fights the neighborhood kids would have every. time. It snowed. If there was enough to make a few snowballs, there was enough to start a war. Tenya was always on your team, but it never stopped you from throwing a few his way. The ‘winner’ was King or Queen of the hill and first to sled down, which often enough was you.

“Remember when you almost broke my glasses throwing one right at my face?” He snickered, watching your smirk turn into a small pouty frown. He knew you didn’t mean to, that same day you helped your mom make cookies for him and his family as an apology, even though he wasn’t upset to begin with. But you knew it could have broken his glasses and you would be devastated if you were the reason for it. You were a real sweetheart, even if you had a weird way of showing sometimes.

“Hey! You know that wasn’t on purpose, I felt really bad after! I even let you get me back!” Which was true, but he never aimed for your face. Always a spot on your fluffy coat, never your legs because you hated your pants being wet… and a face shot just felt wrong to him. 

“Yeah, Yeah. I remember that part too,” He smiled to himself. “Those were really good times.. I remember Tensei always bringing us hot chocolate and we’d sit on your porch and draw things in the snow..”

“Oh! And when we’d come back all wet and mom already had spare clothes in her hands because she didn’t want it on the carpet. We’d put on too big clothes just to sit and watch Christmas movies..” You missed those times. But they never really had to stop, you two could have a huge snowball fight after this if you wanted to and the snow stuck. Was he too grown for that? Would it even sound fun to him?

“Do you still watch A Year Without Santa Clause every year?” He asks, breaking your train of thought. You nodded quickly at his question, grinning like a maniac. “Of course I do! And I watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer.. And sometimes Spongebob's Christmas Special. Do you still watch old Christmas cartoons?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Don’t wanna ruin tradition.” He answered, pressing his lips together slightly as he stared down at the paper. You can tell he freezes a bit, the sound of his scribbling coming to a stop. He set the pencil down, rubbing the sweat of his hands onto his thighs.

 “You can um.. remOove-..” He quickly cleared his throat, “The rest.” He let out a disappointed sigh at his inability to keep composure. This wouldn't be half the problem it was if it was someone else modeling. But this is you we're talking about. 

“You sure? If you need a minute we can take a break, honey.” You gave him a sympathetic look, still smiling but this time more.. warm. The kind of smile someone gives to another when they genuinely care for them. Or love them for that matter. He adored it, it was the same smile you'd give him when saying he needs to take a break, the same smile you give him when the two of you out to get coffee and catch up. The same smile he's fallen for many, many times. 

But to tell you the truth? It’s driving him crazy. All of this. Was driving him crazy. No matter how hard he tried to be professional, he could stop his wandering mind. You were a goddess. What else was there to do besides take a break and hopefully release some steam in the bathroom or something. Completely inappropriate, but the pain from being hard for so long was starting to cloud the best judgment. 

He looks down at the sketch so far, then back to you as he rubbed his hand upward against his face. It pushed his glasses up, causing them to be crooked when going back down. “I um.. I think I do.. need a minute.” His voice died out as he watched you slide the robe back on, words failing him because couldn’t think completely straight.

© if you like what you see please reblog! It means a lot and helps me out. Want more? Heres my m.list! I write for x black reader so throw me some requests :P my other account are icons and x black reader moodboards if you’re interested!

thank you @thecutestgrotto for the banners and thank you @fizzintine for coloring the top pic!

have a good day/night/whatever!