#live life on the veg

[ryanscabinlife]

Harvested small amounts of snow peas and cilantro this morning. Enough for Shawn's noodle stir fry lunch and even Leonard had a couple and he couldn't get enough of them. As for me... I don't know what I want for lunch yet. lol

[jhoumous]

“Live and let live”

[vampmcr]

i hate the uk i need to fucking leave tbh

[trunchbullbaby]

BOYCOTT SQUISHMALLOW TO HELP PALESTINE

Jazwares, the toy manufacturing company best known for it's plush toys Squishmallows, have pledged to donate to "Brothers for Life", a charity which aids Israeli soldiers and directly benefits the IDF

Here is the statement that they made on Linkedin details their work with "Brothers for Life".

As well as this, they are also working with Canary Mission, and organisation that aims to expose those who have publicly shown support to Palestine to their employers.

It makes me sick to my stomach that a company that makes the majority of its profits from children, a company that claims to be committed to "the development of children", will gladly give money to those who are committed to bombing and killing them.

I am urging all of you to spread to the and boycott this company. Reblog. Tell your friends. TELL PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN. Do not let this Christmas fund a genocide.

Jazwares also manufactures Roblox toys, Adopt me, Fortnight, Bums Bums, Living on the Veg, and plenty more.

Look out for this logo and do not buy from them.

EDIT: Just wanted to be clear that this isn't an official boycott that the BDS have asked for, i just found the information and wanted others to know. The BDS boycott are the most important right now, and this should be done alongside them.

[im-sorry-what-ii]

tw mild talk about body weight

theres really something about being a girl who goes to the gym and having a 90s skinnier than life obsessed mum who when you tell her youre going to the gym tells you 'ok just make sure you dont lift very heavy, dont want to get too big' as if that isnt the whole goal

[avo-kat]

sometimes u gotta check urself ngl

i do use reddit a bit, i miss forums and i do like to browse some of the advice type reddits, mainly for cats. not because im so knowledgeable about cats, but because i care and like 80% of ppl looking for help online regarding their pets dont do even 5 minutes of research and wouldnt think about going to the vet without 10 different people telling them to.

anyway. as some people may know, constantly seeing the same newbie questions billions of times becomes a bit exasperating. which does lead to people answering those questions becoming impatient, flippant, and even rude.

and honestly. when u notice urself getting *rude* thats your sign to stop. its ok to not provide unlimited free advice for many strangers online. nobody is forcing you to do that. its ok to not help even if you can. especially if start turning into an unpleasant person. (ive seen these exact scenario hundreds of times in 15+ years online, first in forums and then many many different subreddits for all kinds of topics. and this kinda issue of newbie questions that can be answered with 1 google search and old community members being upset has been a thing since online communities exist. and even before the internet. so.)

well, today i stumbled upon a honestly REALLY stupid question. i was just SO amazed that somebody could ask something that fucking stupid. i wrote a snarky reply, but then i stopped myself.

i remembered a post with a saying that went something along the lines of "dont assume malice when ignorance could suffice" or something.

and then i wondered. maybe that person honestly doesnt know. its not like we are born with knowledge. everybody had to find out the answer to even super obvious questions at some point. the poster really could not know. or maybe would want to be reassured in their assumption, or something.

so i rewrote my answer to some thing a bit kinder. and guess what? they honestly didnt know. they freshly moved out and never had to deal with this problem before.

yeah. and now i feel like a bit of a jerk ngl.

i do think of myself as kind person. and i am. and open-minded. but everybody has the capacity for cruelty and being a fucking asshole. so. yeah.

esp since i know i def asked many super fucking stupid questions in my life even way into my adulthood. so. erm. yeah.

sincerly,

a humbled fucking fool

[raggedytiger]

ragatha/agatha and pomni/penny human hcs!

(r)agatha:

is an english teacher!

yes she still loves horses. she used to ride them, & she loves old western movies.

owns cowboy hat and boots.

analytical and loves long & winding conversations.

has a very happy cat named sandwich.

patches her own clothes, doesn't have kids but if she did she would embroider their names into their belongings.

she still plays cello, she loves music in general, probably sings like an angel.

can't do any mathematics.

can drive, but like a lunatic. somehow has never had an accident though, so it's fine.

probably has a cute little baby blue/yellow car now, but definitely had a beat up offroader truck at some point that got put to good use. or maybe she still does, i'm not the boss.

total lesbian, a bit of a heartbreaker but not intentionally (women just keep falling for her)

goes to town/neighbourhood/community meetings. likely is/was in a knitting circle

absurd number of quilts in her home

pomni/penny:

is an accountant as we know, and cannot cook for shit as we know.

no pets she can barely take herself for walks. is more similar to a cat, but had a dog growing up. would love a collie or a dalmatian probably.

would name the dog something stupid like Thermometer Johnson.

she can drive, but nervously.

really quick thinker, like impressively, unless she's under HUGE amounts of stress. is literally always thinking at 100mph.

no sense of interior decor or personal style. all practical, kind of butch. really does kill a suit.

very much lesbian but not fully to terms with it. probably had short-lived relationships with men in which she was 'content' but didn't really care for it. seeing agatha as agatha for the first time was probably a crazy punch to her little gay heart. not to mention the cowboy gear.

autistic

watches 90s anime to wind down

listens to every single genre of music. passes a lot of time with headphones in, slowly making her way thru the entire world's discography

owns no band merch or anything though she just listens

can't sleep without a fan on, thunderstorm 12hr audio, blackout curtains, weighted blanket, water nearby

does not sleep a lot

both of them (going to call them pomni and ragatha for convenience):

didn't immediately recognise one another. i havent got an exact idea of how they reunited after getting out, but there were tears.

bonded in a very rare and unique way - they got to revel in the newfound joys of real life again. they got to eat delicious food, go on long, unobstructed walks in the real sun, be warmed by it, chew on ice cubes and shiver at the pain, listen to each other's heartbeats, listen to real music, read real books, smell soaps and flowers and sauces. they went to the supermarket together and read all the labels, and bought one of each type of fruit to try between them, and smelled all the candles, and touched all the blankets. spent a lot of time holding hands and kissing and i'm sorry to say, probably having sex, because holy shit, i'm real, you're real, we're real

now live together in ragatha's apartment, after pomni moved out of her small and confusingly-furnished flat.

both of them feel inadequate from time to time. this is resolved by a stern-but-loving talking-to.

sandwich likes pomni very much. pomni doesn't really get cats, but loves sandwich a great deal, and enjoys letting her sleep on her lap.

ragatha is very pleased to see her girls getting along.

ragatha cooks, pomni chops the veg. she often doesn't fuck it up

pomni cleans a lot as a 'thank you for letting me live here, i love you'. she's very much acts of service, ragatha is words & physical touch <3

they watch a lot of movies together. depending on how long they've been stuck, they might have culture to catch up on

ragatha wants to have a house with a garden one day. pomni starts germinating seeds from their fruit & veg like a weird science experiment. ragatha is delighted when she is presented with a baby tomato plant.

clothes are shared. ragatha's are bigger, but most of pomni's are ill-fitting anyway so it can go both ways. ragatha likes to dress pomni up in different outfits and have her do a little fashion show. pomni pretends not to savour the confidence boost.

pomni starts sleeping more

[eriklehnsherrific]

in case you need to hear this

workout because its good for your heart, lungs, releases endorphins, and you want to get stronger. not because it’ll make you skinny or make your body look a certain way.

wear sunscreen every day in order to protect yourself from easily preventable and deadly skin cancer, not with the goal of preventing aging (there is nothing wrong with aging or wrinkles; it is a natural part of life and reflection of the life you live).

eat more vegetables because you need the fiber to make you more regular, they help lower your risk of eye and digestive problems, and they help in nutrient re-uptake. not because eating only carbs is “bad” for you. you need a combination of carbs, fruit/veg, protein, fiber, fat, etc for a full balanced diet. 

cut out dairy from your diet if it makes you shit your brains out every single time without fail, not because it will “make you fat”.

drink more water because, despite how annoying it is to be told “just drink water”, it does actually make you feel better if you’re anxious or your head hurts or you don’t have any energy. not because it’ll “flush out your immune system uwu” or it will make your skin clear.

drink green tea because its delicious, not because it’s a “natural detox”. ( “detoxes” aren’t real. your kidneys detoxify your blood for you)

not everything “natural” is automatically healthy for you. not everything “unnatural” is automatically unhealthy/dangerous

cutting out whole food groups and labeling them as “bad for you” in any form is restrictive. if you aren’t allergic to gluten, you don’t need to cut gluten from your diet in order to be healthy. if you were not specifically instructed by a doctor to go keto in order to aid treatment for a disease (such as cancer or epilepsy), you do not and should not go keto. 

do “healthy” things because you deserve to live a long, healthy life. yes, you. your weight doesn’t matter and it has never mattered. you deserve to keep yourself safe. 

[janeyseymour]

hiii!! i love your writing and i hope you’re doing well <3 i was hoping to request a melissa x reader with “causal” work crush between the two of them. reader is a very put together teacher during school hours but a trendy aesthetic person off campus. mel comes across reader at the grocery store and is astonished at the revealing alternative style and sexy tattoos. reader gets super nervous and shy once mel teasingly approaches. no one at work has ever seen her like this but especially not her crush melissa

oh wow, this one... nice. written as i procrastinate cleaning my house!

Personal and Professional

wc: ~2.4k

You grew up hearing from both of your parents that you should never mix the personal with the professional. So you compartmentalize. You’ve always done it. You kept school life away from home life when you could, and now you keep your work life away from your home life. That’s not to say that you aren’t friends with your coworkers at school. It’s just that it’s much easier to keep professional Y/N and personal Y/N separate.

And the personal and professional you are two entirely different people.

You see, at school, you’re ‘Miss Y/N’. You keep it all together. You’re buttoned up, you’re conservative in your clothing style, and you strive to maintain that aura of professionalism that you see coming off of people like Barbara Howard. You’re pretty damn good at it too. You’re kind, you allow your coworkers to see small bits of your home life (“Oh, I’ll probably just do some grocery shopping before laying on my couch for the entirety of the weekend… maybe I’ll go to the gym,” is your usual response when they ask what you’re doing over the weekend), and the teachers have all come to respect you once you settled into your position.

But once the school hours are over and you can let your hair down, both figuratively and metaphorically, you trade out your blouse and sweater or blazer for more form-fitting and revealing shirts, pants that aren’t slacks, and you change your flats to your doc martens that you’ve been rocking since the eleventh grade. You take out the clear stud and put in your nose ring, and exchange earrings different from the delicate hoops you wear to school. Your multiple tattoos show in your street clothes, and you love it. 

You’re not entirely sure how your coworkers would feel if they knew that this was how you presented yourself outside of the school, but it doesn’t matter. They’re so used to seeing you all done up to teach that even if they did see you outside of school, they probably wouldn’t recognize you. You sure as hell wouldn’t go out of your way to say hello if you saw one of them outside of campus.

But then things start to change about six months into working at Abbott.

Shit. You have a thing for one of your coworkers- Melissa Schemmenti to be exact. It’s a very casual and silly thing the two of you have going on, really. She flirts with you, you flirt with her; it’s all in good fun. You know that you’ll never act on it though because you keep your many lives as far away from each other as possible, even going as far as grocery shopping a few streets over from where you know most of your coworkers go in order to not run into them. You’ve never had an issue with running into anyone outside of the school anyway- why would that change?

“What are your plans for the weekend, hot stuff?” Melissa flirts with you while you’re eating lunch. “And don’t give me your usual answer… you gotta have more of a life than what you lead on, miss mysterious.”

You roll your eyes. “You wish I was with you.”

She hums in lieu of an answer before asking you again, “What are your plans for the weekend?”

“Honestly?” you chuckle. “Probably some grocery shopping, I have a friend coming over tomorrow, and then Sunday is a day to grade and veg out on the couch while I catch up on some shitty reality tv.”

“Sounds riveting,” the redhead jokes.

“Well, what do you have going on?”

“Nothin’,” she grins. “I fully plan on staying in my Eagles sweatshirt and catching up on laundry and some chores- probably have some wine while I’m at it. Care to join me on Sunday after I go to church?” She’s never asked you if you wanted to hang out outside of work before, and it throws you for a loop. You nearly choke on your salad.

“Oi,” she huffs playfully. “I was just messin’. I don’t want to have to endure any of that shit reality tv in my house.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle. “I wouldn’t want you to have to sit through that either.” The two of you finish up your lunches and head back to your classrooms to deal with your monsters for the rest of the Friday.

“See you Monday, babe,” Melissa winks at you as she closes the door to her classroom and locks it.

“Oh, counting down already, I see,” you roll your eyes. “See you Monday, babe.”

When you get home, you change out of your stuff work attire and into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. You change out your jewelry for the things you prefer. You fully plan on laying on your couch with a bottle of wine on this lazy Friday night, but when you get home you realize that you finished off your favorite white last weekend. With a sigh, you go into your bedroom to change into some nicer street clothes- you would rather be caught dead than wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt out in public. At the front door, you pull on your docs, and then you’re off to the grocery store.

If you’re there now, you decide it’s best to just get your grocery shopping for the week out of the way. You grab a cart and start perusing the aisles like you usually do.

You have a few things in your cart when you find yourself in the aisle with the wines and beers, and you’re currently pouring over the selections. What would your friend want? Probably just some Yuengling. So you throw a case of that into your cart before turning to look for the wine that you love. Little do you know, Melissa is turning her cart down the aisle that you’re currently in, and she recognizes you almost immediately.

You look so starkly different than she’s used to seeing you. If she’s being honest, she’s a little thrown off with your outfit. She’s so used to seeing you in your work attire, your hair either in a neat, low bun or down. But here? This look is entirely different from what she was expecting you to be done up in outside of work. She of course knew that you wouldn’t always be dressed like a teacher, but wow. She was not expecting this. You’re in a pair of tighter, ripped black jeans, you have a tank top on, and your hair is thrown up into a stylish messy bun with a few pieces strategically pulled out to give off the appearance that it’s an effortless look (it is for you). Is that a tattoo on your shoulder that she sees? And a tattoo on your arm? How has she never noticed that before? You have a cartilage piercing, bold earrings for your first and second, and… is that a nose ring? She didn’t even know you had your nose pierced. If Melissa’s honest with herself, it only makes you that much more attractive.

You turn, satisfied with your decision, and pop the bottle into the top of your shopping cart. You make eye contact with the redhead that is practically drooling over the sight of you. You give her a shy wave, but you don’t dare to interact. Don’t mix the personal from the professional. The woman snaps out of her own trance and waves back with a curious look.

You continue down the aisles, and you think that you’re in the clear from Melissa- you acknowledged her, that’s all you had to do. She goes on her way too, but the two of you run into each other again during checkout.

“Hey there, hot stuff,” she winks at you as she starts putting her groceries up on the conveyor belt. “Never pegged you as a beer girl.”

“Hey,” you say softly, shyly. “It- it’s actually for my friend.” That also throws Melissa for a loop. At school, you’re so confident, quick to make a remark. But now, you sound like you have something caught in your throat, and you nervously tuck one of the loose strands of hair behind your ear, as if that would make you more professional looking. “I’ve never seen you around here before?”

“I usually go to the one that everyone else goes to, but they were out of my wine, so…” she gestures to it before putting it up on the belt. “It was worth the extra ten minute drive though if it means I get to see you.” She winks at you with those emerald green eyes of her, but you don’t reciprocate. You nervously worry your lip between your teeth, as if you have no idea what to say.

Melissa understands your hesitation and shrugs. The two of you stand in line together awkwardly. She’s rung up, and as she leaves, you call a gentle, “Have a good weekend, see you Monday.”

She turns and blows a kiss your way, waving flirtatiously before leaving.

Your weekend is nice. Your friend comes over, you go out to the clubs, and you almost forget about the encounter that you had with the hot redheaded second grade teacher.

The small break from work is over all too soon, and you find yourself somewhat dragging yourself into Abbott on Monday, but duty calls. You’re back to wearing your lightly colored blouse and a sweater over top to cover the tattoo that you didn’t feel like putting makeup over today, you’re back in your dress pants and flats. You didn’t even bother to do your hair, just simply brushing it and letting it cascade over your shoulders instead.

You enter the staff lounge and it’s empty, as it always is. You’re always the first one in. Whoever comes next is always a mystery, but today, it’s Melissa Schemmenti. Of course it is. Without anyone else there to buffer, you know she is absolutely going to bring up your meeting on Friday night.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” the redhead says suavely. “Have a nice weekend?”

“Yeah, babe,” you shoot out. The coffee pot dings. “You want some?”

“You know I always do,” she sighs out as she makes a move for the cabinet with the mugs inside. She grabs hers before sauntering over to you. The second grade teacher hands you the mug before cozying up to you.

“For you,” you roll your eyes as your pour the scalding hot liquid into her cup.

“Thanks, babe,” she smirks and winks. “So… when were you goin’ to tell me about this little number?” she rests a gentle hand on your shoulder- the one with the tattoo.

“What do you mean?” you chuckle.

“That tattoo,” she licks her lips.

“I forget it’s there,” you roll your eyes. “Young Y/N mistakes.” Not true at all. You love that tattoo, and most of your street clothes show it off. 

“It’s sexy,” she tells you lowly. “Kinda like the ear spike and the nose ring I had no idea you had.”

“I’m a different woman outside of school, babes,” you tell her, smirk evident as you start to fix your own coffee. “Didn’t realize I had to tell you about it all.”

“You don’t,” she shrugs. “I’ll find it all out myself… little miss alt girl.”

“In your dreams,” you fire out, and you get pretty close to her.

“Oh, every night,” she challenges you and moves even closer. At this point, the two of you are nose to nose.

And wow, it wouldn’t take much more for you to-

“Good morning!” Janine bursts in through the door, not knowing what she’s walking into.

You and Melissa couldn’t jump away from each other faster. The young, energetic teacher starts to ramble on all about her weekend, and your other colleagues start to make their way in. When it comes time to watch the news, Melissa settles herself in next you. Her hand finds its way to your shoulder, and she starts to trace the outline of you tattoo. Then, you feel the redhead’s hand make its way to your arm, where the other tattoo is that she saw. You didn’t know she saw that one too. She lets her fingers lazily trace around that one as well. All of your coworkers are too enamored with what’s happening on the screen to really notice, and Melissa’s green eyes are trained on the television as well. You could not be further from what’s happening on the screen. All you can think of is Melissa, and the things that she’s doing right now are driving you crazy.

Soon though, the kids will start to trickle in, and you know you have to get to your classroom. So you head out, a flirtatious smile and wink thrown the second grade teacher’s way before you close yourself into your room. You take a deep breath, and get ready for your day.

As you’re about to make your way out of your classroom, you hear heeled boots clinking along the linoleum floor, and you know those boots belong to the redhead that’s been on your mind all day.

“Hey, babe,” you says, back turned to the door, but you know it’s her. “Come to walk me out?”

The clicking gets louder, and before you can even think, Melissa has you pinned up against your desk. You can feel the corner of it digging into your back, and then you don’t because all you can feel are her lips on yours. Instinctively, you kiss her back. It’s better than you had been dreaming of. And then she pulls back, wipes away the lipstick she left smudged, wipes her own mouth to fix her own lip, and then winks at you.

“I’m done pretending that all this flirting we do is harmless,” she says once she’s righted herself. “You, me, dinner tonight at The Capital Grille. 6, sharp.”

You don’t know what else to do other than nod.

“And don’t come dressed in your teacher outfit,” she instructs. “I want the babe that you are… Ear spike, nose ring, tattoos out.”

With that, she turns on her heel and makes her way out of your room. As she’s making her way down the hall, you hear her call over her shoulder, “Don’t miss me too much!”

So much for not mixing the personal with the professional.

Next

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

❄ happy december!! ❄

hi, i'm physically (+ developmentally) disabled and living well under the poverty line!!

my income is less than $1k/mo and accommodating my disabilities gets expensive :(

i do not have any media subscriptions, i don't get restaurant food delivered & i eat fast food like 1-2x a year, i don't go to any events that cost money, my computer is almost 6 years old and was refurbished. i'm not living it up, is my point.

i've been working out my budget for december 2023 and things are pretty tight!

with what i have now, there will be things i need that i will have to put off getting, and i will likely have to reduce my fruit & veg intake.

would any financially secure adults be willing to make a disabled person's life easier?

for instance, would you be willing to help me with anything off my food and necessities wishIist?

a walmart card to help w groceries would also make a huge difference. they can be sent anonymously (or not) and start at $5.

my email address if anyone wants to send a walmart card or anything else (an ikea $ card would be a dream) is thatdiabolicalfeminist at gmail dot com.

if getting a poor person fun things for the holidays would make you feel good, you could also take a peek at my ''dreams'' wishlist that has less urgent items I'd love to have.

i am sorry to beg but i have very limited options for getting my needs met! thank you so much for tolerating this on your dash. I hope you have a wonderful december!! ❄⛄❄

[stargirlsmooch]

my sweet omega

alpha!ari levinson x fem!reader

when ari finds you sad and shaken up, he does everything within his power to defend his girl. that's just before he marks you as his beloved mate. smut + fluff + a little angst (not because of ari). 18+ 2.7k words.

The smooth summer rays brushed gently against your skin as you walked the lines of the cropland, picking out the cucumbers and peppers that looked ripe enough, not being able to help yourself from biting into a particularly juicy one. This harvest was particularly large, with more omegas joining the pack and more pups being born, there were more mouths to feed, and that meant more plants to be grown.

The pack farm had been your family’s responsibility for 6 generations, every vegetable and fruit that the community would ever need was growing here, underneath your feet. Your parents were lovingly training you to be the next one in the line of succession: teaching you how to correctly gather the crops, how to ensure they grew to their full potential and how to keep them safe over the winter months.

You lived a very isolated life on your farm, with it being a mile from the pack village, you didn’t tend to bump into many other people, liking the silence and serenity that the open meadows provided. Of course, sometimes Alpha Joe and his son, Ari, would come to visit-  they liked to ensure that everything was as best it could be for their little society. 

Joe was a very peaceful and merciful leader, always offering you help when he found you in the field or carrying the crops that were too heavy for you back up to your house to be cleaned. Then you and the future Alpha would stand over the basin for hours, scrubbing potatoes and chatting about anything and everything. 

Ari was a sweet Alpha, just like his father- a gentle giant. You remember the times in high school when a comment from one of the betas would pull so violently at your heartstrings that you would leave the cafeteria a crying mess, only for him to find you and hold you tight, soothing you in a way only an Alpha could. 

The pair of you had been close since you could remember. Joe would bring him around the farm every weekend to help your family- whether it was fixing the gutters on your house, adding insulation to the barn, or helping you herd the cows- Ari was always there. 

Now that the two of you were in your 20s, you thought that your friendship might’ve started to dwindle, especially with all the new responsibilities that Ari was taking on: he was gearing up to become the new Alpha in a few years. But that couldn't be further from the truth- the more stressed Ari became, the more times he had to visit the farm to let off some steam. He wasn’t able to explain the calmness that he felt when he was here, you right next to him, just walking the fields together.

You hadn’t noticed him come up behind you as you bent over to pick a perfect cucumber, jumping and dropping your shears and basket of veg as two large hands grabbed your waist.

“Hi, y/n.” 

“Oh my God. Ari don’t do that!” You shouted, throwing the vegetable in your hand at his head, which he caught. Huffing exasperatedly at all the crops strewn across the floor, you sat down in the dirt and began gently placing them back in the basket.

“Sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said, sinking onto his knees to help you clean up. Ari had come over to see you, after a particularly aggressive meeting with a neighbouring alpha, he needed a touch of your sweetness to lighten his mood again. Now, he was kicking  himself for putting a frown on your beautiful face. 

Slowly, your scowl morphed into an expression of pure sadness, as the overwhelming sorrow from the morning overcame you again, triggered by Ari. He tipped your head up towards him, his finger underneath your chin and his eyes filled with confusion.

“Hey, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” He whispered, taking a seat on the ground next to you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders as your head slumped against his chest. 

Your morning had been filled with gloom since the moment it began- you woke up in heat (which for you, being an unmated omega, was just an uncomfortable experience filled with stomach cramps, back ache and an unwarranted need to be close to an alpha), you tripped over on the way to the barn and cut open your knees, and when you walked into the barn, you found your favourite cow mauled to death. 

“It’s not you, Ari.” You started, taking a brief break to try and keep the tears at bay, “just having a bad day.”

“Why, sweetie? Tell me what’s going on.” Ari said as he resorted to picking you up and setting you in his lap, where you immediately snuggled into his warmth, your omega instincts overriding your logical thoughts. You inhaled his heady masculine fragrance, letting it calm every inch of your body until you were melting into his lap. 

“Well, first of all, I’m in heat…” You whispered, not letting the embarrassment seep into your words as you admitted it. 

Ari just chuckled at that, the brief sounds shaking your body as he said, “I can tell, sweet girl.” 

Your sugary scent had been driving him crazy since the moment he saw you, but he wouldn’t tell you that. 

“Anyway… and then I hurt my knees, and…” You couldn’t say it out loud, it hurt too much. People would probably think you were over reacting- it was just a cow. But Daisy had been a friend when you didn’t have any. When you were a little girl, you used to sit next to her in the meadow when she was grazing and tell her all your deepest darkest secrets- and now she wasn’t here anymore, your comfort taken with her.

“What is it?” 

“Daisy…” You sobbed, leaning into Ari further and hiding your face in his neck. He could feel the tears leaking through his shirt and onto his skin. 

“What happened to Daisy, y/n?” He asked quietly, rubbing his hand up and down your spine, dispelling more of his potent alpha scent to try and keep you calm. He could physically hear your heart breaking in your chest as you cried, it shattering into tiny fragmented pieces as he held you as close as possible.

“Someone broke into the barn… and now she’s gone, Ari.” 

Your pain-filled whimpers escalated until that’s all Ari could hear amongst the surrounding greenery, and all he could do was sit there and stew in his fury. Who the fuck had the balls to do this to his sweet girl?

The alpha in him lifted its head, menacingly bearing its teeth as the anger began simmering under the surface. Ari took a deep breath, keeping the rage at arms length as he slipped his hand into your hair, held the back of your head sweetly, and told you what he wanted you to do.

“Listen to me, sweetheart. You’re gonna go upstairs, get into bed, and try and sleep off your heat, whilst I go and found out who did this to Daisy.” He ordered, slowly making his way to his feet and placing you down on yours. Once you were safely stood up, Ari delicately took your face in his hands, giving you a brief kiss on the forehead.

“No, Ari… I need to finish my harvest. Momma won’t be happy if I don’t.”

“I’ll talk to your mom, sweetheart. Now, go up to your room.”

“Ari, seriously, I have to…” You stopped speaking when you felt the shift in the air and saw the expression on Ari’s face.

“Daddy is telling you to do something, sweet girl, that means you do it.” 

Never had you had a reaction so strong, your insticnts immediately dragging you towards your house in submission, wanting nothing more than to obey his commands. You whispered a quiet “Yes, Daddy” as you strolled back up to the house, watching Ari take off walking in the other direction, towards the barn. 

Once you had made it to your bedroom, luckily without crossing paths with your mother, you stripped down to your underwear and climbed between your sheets, your head peeking out of the top as you let a well-needed slumber take over you. 

Ari was deep in a cycle of outrage when he reached the pack house, where the alpha family and its betas lived, slamming the door wide open and making his way into the back yard, where all the male betas were sat gathered around with beers in their hands, enjoying the sun.

As soon as Ari stepped out onto the back deck, all eyes turned on him, they could feel his violent irritation rolling off of him in waves. Ari was only interested in one beta, who he was gonna rip to shreds for making his girl cry. 

“Stand up.” He ordered, his eyes trained on Brock, watching him get to his feet shakily, fear plain on his face. When Ari had opened the door of that barn, Rumlow’s scent had been the first thing to hit his senses, smacking him in the face like a punch.

It made complete sense that Rumlow would’ve been the one to do this to you, having had it out for you ever since you had said no to holding his hand in kindergarten: playing pranks on you in elementary school eventually turned into him spraying evil comments at you every day, having you run back to Ari for protection.

So to continue his reign of terror over you, he took your most beloved thing away from you in the most damaging display of aggression Ari had ever seen. Ari’s own heart broke at the imagination of you opening the barn door and seeing your precious pet like that, all bloodied.

The future Alpha was able to overlook Brock’s treatment of you a few years ago, when his mind was preoccupied with more pressing personal responsibilities and his feelings for you weren’t as powerful, but now, you were his responsibility and his love. When Ari made his way back to you later, he had every intention of making you his, mating and marking you like he was meant to. 

“What is it, Alpha?” Brock asked quietly, setting his beer down in the cupholder of his chair and standing up straight. Ari couldn’t help the wicked smirk that graced his face, the excitement for the fight building up inside him.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you.” 

When you woke up a few hours later, your heat was hammering through your body full force, revitalising every cell in your body until you couldn’t help yourself from squeezing your thighs together, trying to dispel some of the pain. 

Ari… where are you? 

Just as you were about to reach over to your bedside drawer, grab your phone, and call him, your bathroom door opened and the Alpha stepped out, a towel slung around his hips as he brushed his long hair out his face. His tanned muscles were on full display, making you whimper and tip your head back at the sight of them and the water droplets running across them. 

He showered without me?

“Daddy’s right here, sweet girl.” He said as he knelt on the edge of your bed, his towel hardly covering what you needed. The worry on your face made his heart beat patter faster inside his ribcage- you missed your Daddy so much. 

“Where have you been, Daddy?” You asked, sitting up against your headboard, your duvet pulled up to cover your bare chest. Ari shook his head at your question, gently lifting the covers away from you.

“That’s not important right now, honey. Let’s get you through this heat first.” 

Ari dropped his towel, revealing himself to you. His thick, long cock standing proudly in front of you as you got up onto your knees, dropping the covers the rest of the way so you were sat there in nothing put your pink cotton panties. 

“Yes, please.” You said quietly, crawling forwards until you were sat at the edge of the bed, your legs hanging over. Ari stalked forward, grabbing the underside of your knees and opening them until he was standing between them. His hands gripped the soft flesh of your thighs whilst he leant forward to kiss you cheek tenderly, his cock laying against your stomach, mapping out the path it would take inside of you. 

“Let’s get these off first, sweet omega.” He said, ripping your panties from your body and kissing your nipples simultaneously. You whimpered at the presence of pleasure, feeling your heat gradually subside.

“Need your cock, Daddy. Pretty please.” Begging worked wonders with Ari. You had learnt over the years that all you had to do was say please for your Alpha to be at your beck and call. 

“Sweetheart, you know Daddy can’t say no to you.” He whispered against you lips, having sucked on your breasts so intensely that adorable little bruises were forming around them, marring the skin and igniting a fierce want inside him.

He needed to mark you.

You laid back amongst the sheets, Ari’s hands holding your hips, opening them up more and dragging you to the edge of the bed. He stayed standing as he dragged the tip of his cock through your pussy, spitting on your slick folds and watching it mix with your own cream. The pretty white liquid covered almost every inch of your little pussy, giving him a taste of what it could look like when it’s covered and leaking his own cum.

“Look at this, baby. This all for me?” Ari dragged a finger through your wetness, before replacing is with his cock again and slipping the tip inside slowly, causing you to whimper.

“Yes, Daddy.”

He eased himself in, watching your pussy wrap around him, the cream gathering at his base once his cock was fully stuffed inside. “Fuck, you feel so good, my precious girl.”

You couldn’t string your words together, with the feeling of being split open sending bursts of pleasure through you, there was no way you could find the strength to talk. It felt like his cock was steadily fucking every rational thought out of your brain until all you could do was clench around him, extracting more pleasure from the experience.

“That’s it, omega. Fuck, look at you going dumb on Daddy’s cock…” He said as he picked up his pace, slamming his cock into your sloppy hole, “you don’t have to worry about a thing, sweetheart. Daddy’s got you.” 

It creeped up on you, white hot pleasure burning through your tummy as he fucked you, pulling out every once in a while to spit on your pussy some more, hightening the wet sounds of him thrusting in and out.

“Daddy… I’m close.” Whimpering, you held onto his shoulders, your nails piercing his skin with little crescent moons as you said, “Mark me.”

Ari didn’t need any convincing, he had been wanting you to be his for years, dreaming of making you as his mate. The orgasm rushed out of you as his kanines punctured the skin of your neck, covering your Alpha’s cock and balls with your juices. Ari came with you, emptying himself inside you, painting your soaking walls. 

The two of you came down from the high together, Ari pulling out gently and watching his thick cum leak out of your tight hole, whilst you took deep breaths and got used to the heavy weight on your neck- the mark of your mate.

Ari cleaned up your ruined pussy, being careful with the strokes of the flannel he had gotten from the bathroom, before laying you down in bed, your head resting on his chest like earlier this morning. You kissed the skin there, relishing in the knowledge that you owned every inch of it now, as he did yours. 

“You’re all mine now, my sweet omega.”  

[rockethorse]

Stocking Stuffer 1/5: A Bajillion Random Painting Recolours

Happy Holidays to all! While I'm proud that last year I finally managed to achieve a longtime goal of sharing a full TS2 Advent Calendar, I'm simply not gonna be able to pull it off this year. Nonetheless, the holidlay spirit has encouraged me to finish up and share a couple of things before the end of the year! I'll be sharing five little gifts over the next few arbitrary days. First up: A BUNCH of Maxis painting recolours.

One recolour each of A/B/C Stroke (yes, I still enjoy playing with these as three separate paintings) using vintage matchbook covers designed by Saul Bass for The Ohio Match Company.

Two recolours +frames for Abstrutionism; "Poppy Cake" by Adolf Fényes (1910), and then this edit of Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth (1948) to include Bella Goth (the original Tumblr poster has deactivated).

A recolour of Anonymous Masterpiece with these two digital paintings by user chestnutroan featuring their farmer Sim and his two alien daughters.

One recolour of the Arghist Soldier with "Friday Nights" by Deborah DeWit (2006), perfect for your novel-enthusiast Sims' reading nook.

One recolour of City Skyline with a fruit & veg painting by Twitter user snail_soup (you can buy a real print of this too if you like it!)

One recolour of the Fourth Element wall scroll with "From Stardust to Stardust - Raccoon" by user ArtOfMienda.

Four Vegetables recoloured with four deliciously juicy tomato paintings by artist Leah Gardner.

Geometry 101 recoloured with a beautiful palette knife painting by Lynn Boggess.

Two recolours of Grilled Cheese (you all know what Grilled Cheese looks like, c'mon); one vintage ad for Hollywood Diet bread which I cleaned/redrew to remove text/graphics, and then "Cloud Rows" by Ivan Eyre (2004).

In The Beginning (+frame) recoloured with "Little Thief" by Courtney / Trash Kitty Art (also available as an affordable IRL print).

Kitten vs. Yarn (+frame) recoloured with this goache painting by user ieafy.

"Until Tonight" by Mark Grantham (2019) slapped on Lady On Red.

Two recolours of Living Room; "Midwestern Summer Fun" by user ink-the-artist (you may wanna zoom in for a surprise), then "Girl On A Swing" (2000) by Andrew Macara.

One recolour of Marketing Print with the Beatles as drawn by other Beatles. I don't remember who drew who because I'm actually not much of a Beatles fan but I thought these sketches were really darling.

In Memory of Johnny Gnome (+frame) recoloured with a piece by Emma Roulette.

A recolour of My First Holiday with art from Twitter user heikala_art.

On Pointed Toes (+frame) recoloured with this digital painting by Twitter user catwheezie.

I fell in love with this Guinness ad so I tweaked it from the photo to fit on the Route 66 poster, then made an accompanying Simlish option.

A single Scruffles recolour (+frame) with this adorable cow illustration by Twitter user poodlewool.

Four recolours of the Sim Noir pop art print; three pieces by Al Parker I found through this Tweet (with some English removed) and then an edit of the original painting to look passingly familiar...

Two recolours (+frames) of Snoozing Enemies; "The Cat on the Pillow" by Adolf von Becker, and "Sleeping Sasha" by Lena Rivo.

Stiller Life (+frame) recoloured with this oil painting of McDonalds by artist Noah Verrier.

Two recolours (+frames) of Stumped Hound; "Shadow" by Tianyi Zhou and "cat falling off table" by user anasauruss.

The Muse recoloured with this Juxtapoz magazine cover by artist Josh Courlas.

And lastly, three recolours of Untitled (the Bella Goth pop art painting) with works by Hiroshi Nagai.

Download All Paintings @ SFS

[frankiensteinsmonster]

Is it invalid to worry about your environmental impact as a person who lives on this planet (especially when loads of other people seem to live in ignorant bliss or openly just do not care)?

Not at all.

But as disabled people* I really think we should allow ourselves those accommodations we need/that would make our lives easier.

Bottled body wash lathers easier and saves you that tiny bit of energy while you're washing up? Can't seem take care of your bar of soap so it runs out fast because it's always wet and actively makes your bathroom harder to clean? You deserve to preserve your energy and keep yourself clean. Use it.

Bottled water means your executive dysfunction won't get in the way of you getting hydrated? Means you can keep water by your bed so you don't have to endure the physical pain of walking to the kitchen? Means your OCD symptoms won't prevent you from drinking water for hours-days at a time? You deserve to drink water without stressing. Drink it.

Paper plates and plastic utensils mean you get to eat without having to worry about dishes + prevents you from having an overwhelming sink full of every dish you own covered in rotting, smelly food that may even attract bugs and cause them to breed in your sink? You deserve to eat freely and live in a clean and safe environment. Use them.

Can't wash clothes on the regular let alone cleaning rags due to energy/executive function, ability, finances, ect.? Use paper towels. For whatever reason you need them. Spills so you don't take up your only clean towel and risk it sitting + developing mold and mildew. Wiping off your counters. Dusting. Drying your dishes. Drying your hands. I literally do not give a fuck. Use them!

Use frozen vegetables that come in plastic bags and frozen meals that come in single use plastic and floss sticks and plastic cups and precut fruit and veg and whatever little necessary 'convenience' you can think of that makes your life easier. Just because you Technically, Physically can pull it off doesn't mean you should and it's important we think about the consequences of our actions even if we're the only ones really impacted by them. You're important. And for a lot of us, these things are what makes the difference between Getting Things Done At All and sitting in shame because we can't bring ourselves to make our own everything and do everything the long or right way. We put too much pressure on ourselves to make up for what abled people aren't doing themselves. If Anybody deserves a break it's us.

Don't misconstrue this as discouragement from doing what you can or whatever, but I need all of us to be a lot more realistic about what impacts our lives and which trade offs are worth it for our own sake.

It's unfortunate that we don't have options for more sustainable resources when it comes to taking care of ourselves, but it shouldn't fall on us to choose between a significantly more difficult life or feeling guilt free. Advocate where you can for better treatment of the planet, and until that can happen-- non-disabled people can and should pick up the slack for us. They literally have that option and the impact they face is an infinitesimal inconvenience compared to the real health/quality of life consequences that build up in such a severe way over time. We deserve that little bit of leeway.

*disabled includes both physical and mental ailments on this post btw

[chaoscharme]

Self Care Activities that Actually Help

My list of practical, achievable and useful self care tips that will actually improve your mood instead of enabling you to wallow.

Reply to your correspondence

Often if we feel low or our motivation is down, we find it tricky to respond to messages and calls from others. This allows unopened messages to pile up which creates stress and even panic. Instead of trying to ignore this problem, set a timer for 15 minutes. Then give yourself those 15 minutes to respond to as many of those messages as possible, starting with the most urgent messages first. If you cannot complete all the messages, take a minute to reevaluate. Can you give yourself another 15 minutes to finish the task today? If not, that’s fine. Assign the task for tomorrow, and repeat the process when you feel refreshed. If you are not able to give a thorough response to all of your contacts, I recommend drafting a universal message to send, stating that you are currently occupied and you hope to offer them a more appropriate message over the coming days. You can tailor this message to suit your needs and circumstances, and it reduces the amount of pressure on you to offer explanations for your absences.

Wash your clothes

Take the clothes you are wearing off. All of them. Strip your bed. Gather up any towels or tea cloths you can find. Wash them all. I cannot overstate the benefit of living in a clean environment, and wearing clean clothes. Even if you can’t wash everything, wash the essentials, and make sure you are wearing fresh clothes from head to toe. You can swap pyjamas out for more pyjamas, what you wear doesn’t matter. Just make sure they’re clean.

Water

Drink a pint of water with nothing added, no fruit, no cordial, nothing. Just drink a pint of water in one sitting. You are almost definitely dehydrated, just like everyone else. Hydration provides mental clarity, energy, and even relives stress. It reduces pains and aches in the body. It helps quell nausea and heartburn. Water is the quickest and easiest way to reduce physical pain or discomfort throughout the day. By keeping hydrated, you’re improving your quality of life almost instantly.

Stretch in bed or on the sofa

The last thing most of us want to do when we feel low or unmotivated is going for a run, or working out at the gym. Instead of pushing yourself to get a serious or intense workout in, try some stretches you can do from the comfort of your bed or sofa. Stretches will help relieve tension in the body and can increase your energy throughout the day. You don’t have to do anything crazy, just a couple of simple, effective stretches will do the trick.

Eat a “healthy” carb

People so often try to avoid eating carbs as they think carbohydrates are inherently unhealthy. This is simply not the case. While carbohydrates are often used in the production of unhealthy treats such as cakes, cookies and pies, they are not fundamentally bad for you. Carbs are our main source of energy, and if you’re feeling low energy is exactly what you need. Try eating a healthier alternative to those instant sugar rush carbs, such as rice, wholemeal pastas or breads, potatoes or oats. You can add other ingredients to these meals, such as berries to oats or some veg to pasta, to make a more filling meal. Everyone eats differently, but we all need carbohydrates in our diet to provide energy and nutrition, alongside other food groups. Creating a balanced diet is much more important than eating “healthy” all the time. Respect your body by fuelling it appropriately and regularly.

Clean yourself as best you can

Have a shower. Take your makeup off. Brush your hair. Clip your nails. Put deodorant on. Brush your teeth. Wash your hands. You might not have the energy for a full “everything shower” but you can probably do one of the things listed above to make yourself feel better about yourself and your hygiene. Don’t berate yourself if you’ve gone a while without practicing any of these for a while, life can be pretty difficult. Just accept your current situation and try to better it as best you can with the energy you now have.

Please reach out to a trusted person or a qualified professional if you feel you need extra support for any reason. You are not alone and you do not need to suffer in silence. Support is there.

Mwah, Chaoscharme

[loverboy-radio]

twst boys with a S/O that has a veg patch

characters: sebek, leona, malleus.

content warning: fluff, slight angst, established relationship, reader can be any gender, australian slang,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebek

now sebek is someone that needs to be healthy due to his line of work, but that will typically come from meat as it will give him the calories he needs.

bu that doesn't mean he won't adore the food you produce.

like he would even help you in the patch as it can be a good workout depending on how big it would be.

and from experience veg patches can produce a lot of food and since he has a bottomless pit for a stomach he would eat any you don't.

when he first found out about it he thought that it couldn't be that hard to grow one, until he found out how much time you need to put into it.

sometimes he would make a shit ton of sanga's for lunch with the veg you make.

now if he found out someone destroyed it he would not be afraid to beat that mf.

because he loves you more than anything in the world. yes even malleus. so when that happens he would be pissed for you.

and if he sees you crying, whoever did it better start praying to whatever higher power they believe in whether it be a god or law enforcement that they find their body.

or they find a way to get their hearing back after he yells at them.

Malleus

now as he has a flower garden and you a veg garden you both give each other stuff from each other's garden as a way of showing love.

you and him would also spend many dates gardening with each other while talking about whatever comes to mind.

and in my opinion malleus doesn't quite like veg as he is a dragon and they eat meat, but that doesn't mean he won't eat whatever you give him.

now if you ever want to have bigger vegetables you can just ask malleus because he would either use magic if you want but if you don't want to do it that way, he would give you some knowledge on many ways to make them larger.

now if someone were dumb enough to destroy your garden he will have to be held back. and if they made you cry they no longer gonna be living as they have just made the love of his life die.

Leona

now leona hates veggies, it's a well known fact, but for you.

he still won't eat them. plain and simple.

but he will still help in the garden (somewhat)

like buying you equitment if it breaks, getting savannaclaw to help protect it from people, helping with making meals with them.

you know those thing.

now one thing he loves about this is the fact he can get cheka to help you out with it, which in turns keeps him busy and tires cheka out from annoying him.

now if someone were to destroy your garden he will hunt them down himself, and make their life a living hell.

and if that person is from savannaclaw you can bet that that person will no longer be allowed in the dorm as they will be banished.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[inkareds]

Homemade Dumplings Modern Aemond Targaryen

✧.* word count: 2.8k ✧.* genre: Modern domestic fluff ✧.* warnings: the reader is coded to be Chinese/grew up in Chinese culture

Aemond Targaryen grew up filthy rich, which means he didn't have to worry about doing any of the menial day-to-day stuff you seem to like so much. That includes cooking and buying groceries.

Short A/n before you start, the reader is coded to be Chinese by ethnicity (and they can lightly speak it lmao), their nationality isn’t necessary nor is it mentioned in the story. Despite this, it isn’t a big part of the story which means that anyone can read it, just ignore a small amount of the dialogue. 

“Where are you off to this early in the morning?” Aemond poked his head out of the bathroom when he heard you shuffling in the bedroom. 

Your head perked up at his voice before going back to packing your bag for a trip to the market. 

“Just heading out to the farmer’s market downtown, I need to buy some chives, spices, and baby bok choy from the old Chinese ladies there. They have the freshest Chinese vegs and they always run out if I’m not there early.” 

Aemond quirked his brows a little bit at your statement, he was used to being the early riser in your relationship. Sometimes he even woke up before the sun rose to go for a jog or go to the gym. But here you were now, awake and dressed, ready to go while he had just finished his shower after his morning workout. 

“Did you have breakfast already?” He queried.

“Yep, I woke up not long after you left. I wanted to make some dumplings so I need to buy some ingredients.”

“Hm,” he hummed in response. “May I join you?” 

“Of course, you don’t even have to ask, baby.” You stated before going over to him and pecking him lighting on his cheek. 

Aemond’s stomach fluttered at that, weirdly still getting giddy at the prospect of being with you. He quickly dressed himself and off the two of you went to the farmer’s market. 

When the two of you got there, Aemond mostly followed you around. You would’ve laughed at how adorable he looked, with long platinum hair in a bun, looking very casual in just a t-shirt and sweats. But you were too busy trying to look at every bunch of chive and baby bok choys to find which ones are the best. 

Your eyes observed the array of Chinese vegetables in front of you. Aemond watched as you picked one up and rotated it in your hand, your face twisting in your focus, all before putting it back down with a slight shake of your head. He watched you repeat this a few more times before finding the bok choy you like and putting it in your basket. 

“How can you tell which one to take?” He asked chuckling slightly, he thought it was kind of entertaining that it took you this long to find a vegetable you liked. 

You perked up before picking up one bundle of bok choys. 

“You see this one?” He nodded, “There are slightly yellow and brown splotches on the stem, it means it’s past its prime.” You pointed it out. 

“And this one,” you picked another one up, “The green leaves don’t look as fresh, there’s some holes here and there, not to mention it’s slightly floppy. When you’re looking for bok choy you want the stem to be white and the leaves to be stiff and fresh. You’ll get the one with the longest shelf life that way.” 

Aemond surprisingly nodded along, not realising that there was this much thought to be put into vegetables. You lightly laughed at his furrowed brows as he looked at the difference between the bunches of bok choys in front of the two of you. 

You had prompted Aemond to pick a few more bok choys, the first few he picked you pointed out the slight blemishes in the leaves. But by the third one, he picked a good and fresh-looking one, causing a bright smile to appear on your face. 

Aemond had grown up spoiled, well, that might be understating it. He grew up filthy rich and he still is, meaning he didn’t have to worry about picking the freshest produce or cooking his food. But now that he lived with you, he found that he quite enjoyed learning new and domestic things with you. Things that you learnt through your upbringing. 

On the other hand, you quite enjoyed teaching him. Aemond put a lot of work into learning new things and he stubbornly wanted to be good at the things he put his mind to do. So, everything came almost naturally to him. Even the smallest things like finding the best veggies, something you had to learn through the light scolding of your mother when you were a child every time you’d pick a ‘bad’ one. 

Once you’ve paid the kind old man for your bok choys, the two of you moved on to a cart filled with fresh spices. 

The market was slowly getting busier, which made you realise you should move through the area quicker. As you still had baby bok choys, chives, and homemade dumpling skin to buy. And to be quite frank, the crowd was getting annoying. So, you grabbed onto Aemond’s hand and started practically dragging him along the market to get what you needed. 

When you finally got to the cart with the dumpling skin, Aemond’s heart swelled at the sight of your face brightening at the realisation that the old lady running the cart hadn’t sold out on all her homemade dumpling skin yet. He watched as you adorably conversed with the grandma before asking for two packs of dumpling skin. 

“两个,” You told the woman before she nodded with a smile and handed you a bag with two packets of her homemade dumpling skins, “谢谢!” 

When you turned to face Aemond he had quite the unreadable expression. 

“What? You think you’re the only one who can speak another language? Sorry I don’t think Valyrian is very useful here.” You chuckled nudging him slightly. 

Aemond only smiled and leaned to lightly kiss your forehead before the two of you finally escaped the crowd and went back home. Aemond helped set down the ingredients as you made your way to the kitchen and prep your working space. 

Once you’ve placed down your cutting board and bowls, you quickly make your way to wash all the vegetables you bought and start cutting up the bunches of chives. 

Aemond, watching from a slight distance, couldn’t help himself but tease you. He walked over towards you, your back facing him, and embraced you from behind. Letting his fingers dance around your abdomen as he pushed his chest onto your back. He watched as a grin replaced your focused expression while you stopped your cutting and leaned back into his embrace. 

The two of you relished in the morning domesticity for a little bit longer. The sun that spilt into the room like pools of gold warmed the space. The air was light and Aemond didn’t think his life could get any better than this. He didn’t think he’d ever felt this at peace. All of it thanks to you. 

“Wanna help?” You hummed, breaking the comfortable silence. 

He hummed in acknowledgement, giving your body one last squeeze before going to wash his hands. 

When he returned you’d already finished cutting up your chives and placed all of them in a large metal bowl. 

“Okay, so right now I’m just cutting all the stuff for the dumpling filling, if you want you can cut up the baby bok choys, I’ve already washed how much I’ll need in that bowl over there. While I prep the minced meat.” You pointed it out and Aemond nodded. 

The two of you worked in silence together, you had already placed the frozen minced beef in the fridge right after you woke up so that it would defrost. So all you had to do was open the containers up and mix them in with the chives, all the while Aemond worked very quickly on cutting the baby bok choys. 

A couple of months ago you would’ve had to keep looking over your shoulder if Aemond was helping you cook. When the two of you first moved in together, he barely knew the basics of cooking. You took it upon yourself to help teach him as he always loved watching you work and he seemed genuinely interested in cooking. 

Unbeknownst to you, Aemond only had the urge to learn how to cook after an offhanded comment you made after he asked you why you liked cooking so much. With a smile on your face, you said, 

“My family used to say that the kitchen is the heart and soul of a home and food isn’t just for sustenance but for your soul. Good food means a happy soul.” 

He saw the way you laboured to make good food, even when you were exhausted from the day. You’d still make time into your busy schedule to make something, even if it was something extremely easy and simple. The fact that you put that amount of time and effort into something you could just easily buy made the difference for him. 

He wanted to share that love with you. 

At first, he was rather clumsy in the kitchen. There were a lot of things that you learned through experience and watching the people around you cook, so you found it difficult to explain why you were doing certain things. But, as always, Aemond quickly got the hang of it. 

“Something on my face?” Aemond’s voice cut you off from your daydreams, not realising you had been staring at him for a good minute now, you only shook your head and smiled. 

“Just-” You quickly went to wash your hand so you didn’t touch his face after you touched raw meat. “Your hair’s in the way.” You reached to brush a strand of his white hair behind his ear. 

A soft smile crept onto his face when your fingertips brushed against his cheek. Before you pulled your hand away he dropped the knife on the cutting board and reached to grab your hand, placing it on his cheek as he leaned into your touch. Your expression quickly matched his, lovesick smiles blooming on both your faces as your fingers lightly grazed his scar. 

He hummed in appreciation of your gentle touch then turned slightly and kissed the palm of your hand. A moment later he let go of your hand and turned his attention back onto the dumpling filling. 

“What next?” 

You picked up the cutting board and poured the contents into the metal bowl. 

“Well, all we need to do is just mix this up, season it, and then fold it into the dumpling skins. We can do that last part together.” You explained. 

Aemond watched intently as you mixed up the ingredients and poured in your spices and seasonings not even bothering to measure it. That was one thing he knew he couldn’t ‘learn’ from you. How to season without using measurements, was just one of those things you learned through experience and then intuition. 

Once you’ve mixed everything up, you handed him a spoon and brought out the two packets of dumpling skins along with some large plates. 

“First you wet the edges of the skin with some water, then you pick a chunk of the filling with the spoon and place it in the middle of the skin, then,” you showed in front of him, “You kind of fold the edges together. It takes a lot of practice and sometimes I still mess up so don’t worry about it. If it gets too sticky then grab some of the flour or starch to dry the water.”

You instructed and watched Aemond try to copy what you were doing. Much to your dismay, Aemond actually did it perfectly the first time he tried. 

“Takes a lot of practice huh?” He asked almost smugly causing you lightly swat his arm. 

“Oh fuck off!” 

A loud laugh left him at your little tantrum as he picked up another dumpling skin to make more. 

As time slowly ticked away, the two of you quickly fell into a very comfortable focused silence. And funny enough, Aemond suddenly found it difficult to fold the dumplings as perfectly as he did the first time. On one he had put too much filling, making it difficult, on another one he had put too little making it easy to fold but clearly not going to be very tasty. 

From the corner of your eyes, you could see Aemond slowly start to struggle and it took every single drop of kindness in your heart not to rub it in his face after all the annoyance you felt when he made that first one so perfectly. 

Finishing up with the one in your hand, you placed the dumpling on a plate and went over towards him to help. Though he had bigger hands than you, you couldn’t help but do the most cliche thing you could think of at that moment. 

You placed your own hands on top of his own and started motioning his fingers to fold the dumplings the way it was supposed to. 

“The trick is to not overthink it, when you overthink it you put too much pressure on the skin and it breaks or flattens. Making it harder for you to make consistent folds.”

Once you let go of his hands he was able to finish the dumpling he was holding perfectly. 

“See, easy, also I knew you had beginner’s luck on that first one.” You couldn’t help but tease him, causing him to pick up some of the filling on his finger and smear it onto your nose. 

Your eyes widen, “You traitor! After I taught you how to cook?!” You lunged at him with your hands messy with starch, reaching to smear his face with your hand. 

Aemond laughed as he dodged you. Laughter filled the room as the two of you tried to smear each other with flour, that is until you stopped trying to dodge Aemond and simply lunged towards him to embrace him. 

With so much flour on your own hands and clothes, all of it was effectively transferred onto his black clothing. 

“You’re terrible.” Aemond muttered chuckling slightly. 

“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t start it.” You spoke into his chest. “Plus, you love me.” 

Aemond relenting to the fact that the two of you were now dirty with flour and starch hugged you back. 

“I do,” he hummed, one of his starch-laden hands reaching to your chin. Gently angling it so he could kiss them, “I really do love you.” 

You smiled staring into his eye, relishing in the warmth that bloomed between the two of you. That was before he started laughing. 

“What is it?!” You asked perplexed. 

“You have just a little-” he wiped a part of your cheek.

“Urgh,” you rolled your eyes before pulling away from him, now actually realising how messy the both of you were.

Somehow though, the kitchen itself wasn’t as layered with flour as the two of you were. Thankfully so. 

“Let’s just finish this up and we can shower?” Aemond suggested and you agreed. 

The two of you finished the last of the filling and skins whilst laughing and joking around. Annoyingly, Aemond finally got the hang of folding the dumplings and made perfect-looking ones every time. Though he did make it slower than you. Something you’re sure you’re not going to be able to tease him about the next time you make dumplings again. 

“Why are you making so many anyways? It takes up all the freezer space.” Aemond asked as you placed the plates in the freezer, effectively taking up almost every part of it with the copious amounts of dumplings you made. 

“It’s always good to have frozen dumplings in the freezer so that you can eat it whenever you want. If I put them all in a container right now they’re going to stick together, the trick is to put them in the freezer for half and hour before combining them into one container.” You explained as he nodded. 

Once the last of it was placed inside you both sighed in content and began cleaning up the space. Once that was done, the two of you sort of stood in silence, happy at all that you managed to do this early in the morning. That is until you turned to Aemond and had to stifle a peal of laughter and how ridiculous he looked. 

“Come on lover boy, let’s shower. You look like you just killed a ghost.” 

His black clothes were covered in flour and smeared with some filling here and there, he looked ridiculous. But as Aemond followed you to the bathroom to shower together, he didn’t think he minded getting all messy again if it meant he could hear you laugh so easily again as you cooked. 

When he was growing up he didn’t think the peace of domesticity fitted him very well. Especially with how turbulent his childhood was. But now, being here with you, he realised just how much he loved it when he was with you.