#they barely interacted during this whole phase at all

[brian-kinney-apologist]

I'm kind of confused and maybe it's because I'm a little slow or something? But I watched the episode and then I see people talking about how in love and yearning loustat are ( they're my faves) but where? Lestat, absolutely and his pleas to Armand show that yet again but what about Louis this episode screams madly in love and yearning for Lestat?

oh louis is absolutely down bad for lestat, trust me, in this essay I will......

1. louis (and armand lol) can't stop talking about lestat no matter the timeline, no matter what he (they) talks about it circle's back to lestat, louis is obsessed with him no matter what he tells himself

2. louis trashed lestat to young!daniel because he constantly walks through phases with lestat: louis regrets killing/leaving him, he gets depressed about it, remembers the good times, feels desperate to have lestat back, eventually gets mad at himself, lestat and the fact that they're no longer together, acts like lestat meant nothing to him, gets psychotic, does something drastic, cools down at some point, feels nothing, feels regret, the cycle continues

3. during the loumand coffin scene whan louis was in terrible pain, he once again was longing to get some comfort from lestat even if he wasn't sure it was real lestat and not armand fucking with him. he doesn't want armand to interact (even telepathically) with lestat, because he, louis, can't bare the idea that someone else can do that (reach lestat and actually talk to him) but not him, but also louis imo doesn't want them to interact because we just saw armand being vicious towards both louis and daniel and louis doesn't want lestat to go through the same in any shape or form. louis feels armand getting unstable again when lestat begs him to say to louis that he loves him and obviously louis doesn't hear that but he sees armand's face and so he feels the need to distract armand and reduces everything to the fact that lestat was just his maker and that's it. louis imo was trying to protect lestat in that scene

4. louis feels guilty for not saying I love you to lestat when they were together, we saw this theme continuing through the whole season (loumand and lesmand saying ily to each other, lestat constantly saying ily to louis) and thus I'm 100% sure louis will say ily to lestat later in the season while also crying screaming throwing up because of all the guilt he carries

so anon don't you worry, you just wait

#interview with the vampire #in loustat we trust #i hope you get what i mean #bc I'm still spiralling #tenses in this post ⬇️⬆️➡️⬅️↩️⤴️🔁↕️ #iwtv #amc iwtv #louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #loustat #ask

[its-irsaa-fyp]

What if Yui was Carla and Shin's childhood friend. Like she was a part of founders family but in a war with Karlheinz everyone thought she is dead. Then Carla and Shin found her after many years in Sakamaki house.

Omo it's smth I thought about way before I even have imagined yui as founder like her being carla and shin cousin. Can yall belive it I am turning 18 this year and I had this idea when I was about 15-16 thank this person for making me remember @nerdywerewolffart 😭💞

💎Founder Yui headcanons:

🔴The ideas I currently have on this scenrio are :

🌸Yui is carla and shin blood relative basically they are cousin.

🌸Menae/Krone has a brother and yui is his daughter. Yui mother died while giving birth to her (my bbg is always without mom).

🌸Founder yui has big golden eyes that are very bright that's something that turns head of everyone whom sees her as they look like sun and on top of that her blonde hair she is nicknamed as sunshine because of her bright features.

🌸Founder yui has pale shin like carla and shin and she posses same power as them but they are weaker cuz her mother isn't from a strong background like Krone.

🌸Founder yui actually had a loving dad and a good childhood. Since they are relatives yui visited them alot as kids sometimes staying in bandmaden castle.

🌸Yui used to play alot with shin she and shin used to run around castle and play hide and seek.

🌸Yui didn't played much with carla as carla from young age was matured because of the immense pressure from his father and his mother illness.

🌸Carla took care of both shin and yui as he developed soft spot for the blonde girl whom is same age as his younger brother.

🌸He treated them as if they are his child and he wanted to protect their innocence and childish mind.

🌸Carla sometime played hide and seek with them but since he can easily sense them they decided to play in castle as its big and it will make game fun and they are allowed to teleport.

🌸When yui started baking she always made some cookies for them and always visited to deliver it.

🌸They had a very strong bond however when they turned teenagers their bond got strained because of founder situation and war.

🌸They all still had soft spot for each other but yui visits and their interaction got less as time passed.

🌸They barely met each other during their teenager phase because whenever yui visited they both are either training or out for work.

🌸When carla and shin relation got strained when carla plugged shin eye out, yui couldn't help but get angry at carla she immediately visted to comfort shin and yui provided the emotional support shin needed.

🌸When yui met carla she scolded him for being hard on shin, carla didn't tell her why he did that and what will happen if he didn't do it as it will harm founders in future he remained silent throughout her whole scolding.

🌸Yui expressed her worry for him too as she noticed giesbach off behaviour but carla dismissed her saying that it's not something that should concern her as she is a princess and she shouldn't put her finger in men works.

🌸Yui frowned at his cold behaviour and expressed that she is concerned about him she also expresses that she is worried about him about Giesbach but carla again gave her a cold shoulder and said her to leave him as he don't want her to worry.

🌸When yui decided to leave room carla called her and told her to stop visiting Krone, yui ran out in tears thinking he dislikes her when she is just worried about him.

🌸Yui wants carla to open up to her so that she could comfort him but he always rejects her. But carla only stopped her from visiting Krone because he doesn't want her to caught Endzeit.

🌸Shin bitterness towards carla was something yui was aware off as Shin always rant about it infront of yui.

🌸Yui always tries to mend the ties between two of them by telling carla to talk to shin but carla only ignores her saying" it's all for better" and when yui tried to make shin understand carla, shin lashes out on her in return and expresses that he doesn't need explanation as he isn't kid.

🌸He also tells yui to leave with a heavy heart saying that he doest need her lectures yui just silently stood up opened her mouth to say something but seeing the way both brothers told her to leave decided to back away.

🌸They didn't see each other for a long period of time for about years and shin regrets it as hell but he is too proud to go up to yui and apologise as it's always been yui whom came to them not other way around.

🌸Carla did miss yui presence as he haven't seen her for a long time but he had to surpress his feelings for yui as someone might use yui as carla weakness to expoilt him. He is aware of the fact that yui is strong but she is a female so he worries people might target her to black male him.

🌸A talk of marriage of yui starts going around as yui turns 18 and it didn't take long for her to be bethored to carla its something that pissed shin off. Shin immediately lashed out and destroyed things in his room.

🌸That was something that made shin actually go up to yui after some time of avoiding each other he asked her if she really want this marriage.

🌸This marriage was arranged and it was done by Giesbach. Yui expressed the fact that she is neutral she likes carla but not that way and that she isn't sure if she wants to get marry this early considering she just turned 18.

🌸This made shin smile as he realized that there is no love between them. He promised to her that he will free her from all this. But didn't tell her how.

🌸Carla on other hand finished giesbach off and took the throne, officially as King Of Founder while yui and shin were having this talk. Carla did plan on marrying yui as she was always someone he liked and he consider her as a good partner for himself.

-The plot of my scenrio follows original story line -

🌸Menae took yui along with her. Menae was like a mom to her during her child hood so yui didn't hesitate to obey menae and agreed to leave with her.

🌸Menae took yui because she wants to make sure that if she died while making cure yui could be the one whom will volunteer after her and it all was something that Karl suggested.

🌸A fight broke out and yui castle was attacked and yui father during all this got killed a rumor started circulating that yui died too as the castle was lit on fire killing everyone in castle no one survived.

🌸This news broke shin and carla whom went berserk and started killing all vampires whom assassinated yui and during this commotion it gave Karl opening to imprison founder.

🌸Menae was than married to burai she wanted yui to live normally so Karl decided to seal teenage yui whom was 18 and he putted her to sleep.

-The scenrio than follow original story line all events than take place-

🌸Karl woke yui up when his own kids turned adult. Karl than sended yui to his mansion with his children and introduced yui as sakamakis long lost cousin and he removed her memories and sealed her founder power and making her appear as vampire before sakamakis that's when yui life with all sakamakis started all of them were enraptured by her blood scent and her unique looks.....

#Diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers #Dialovers #tsukinami carla #tsukinami shin #komori yui #yui komori #Tsukinami brothers #yui x carla #Shin × Yui #Shinyui #Carlayui

[sexhaver]

experienced the funniest/most evil MMO boss mechanic in a while last night. the dungeon as a whole has a mechanic where some areas are dark, and if you stand in the dark for longer than a second you start moving slower and slower until you're barely crawling and also there are neverending spiders spawning in (just like real life). you can get out of the dark by either lighting static braziers around the level or by killing a specific enemy and using the Synergy button (NOT the Interact button) on its corpse to pick up its torch. so far this is all well and good, if a bit obnoxious.

the final boss, at 66% and 33% hp, will send your entire party to Brazil, dropping you in a dark maze of traps, dead ends, spiders. if nobody in your party noticed the torch enemies wandering around the boss arena and made a point of killing one, you are doing this section at a snail's pace and will probably wipe. if someone did grab a torch, they can still fuck everyone over by running ahead of the group; the slowing nature of the dark means that falling behind the torchbearer for even a second can be impossible to recover from and eventually fatal.

and then after you do this gauntlet twice she has a move in her final phase where she crawls up to the ceiling and says "DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE" as the entire floor of the arena turns into one giant hit indicator. if you do anything during this period other than look around (including continuing to cast channel abilities you started before this attack), you are instantly and unblockably killed. and then she drops onto one survivor of the move with another instakill that you have to roll to avoid. the only time i've seen a randomly made/LFG party not wipe to this attack the first time and have to redo the entire fight (including both spider gauntlets) was when i was the only one to survive and soloed the last 15% of the boss's health (it was my 4th run of that dungeon in a row and i wanted to get my drop and go to bed)

all that bullshit for a lead that i need to use another skill to convert to 1/5th of this item

#ill still be a glass cannon but at least im tempered glass now

[lawbin-archive]

Lawbin Zou Analysis: where the dream starts

Zou is an interesting arc. It's one of the arcs that really blows my mind (egghead is another one) I personally like these kind of informative arcs a lot because Oda can always surprise me with his infinity ideas.

highlighted in purple are my delulu~

Again, don't read if you don't like Lawbin. Includes lots of bias.

~LAWBIN FRIENDS PHASE~

Before start analyzing the arc, I just want to say I feel like Lawbin are friends at this moment. Even though Law will deny it and say they are allies only haha, I feel like they are at least friends. Robin wouldn't worry someone for an entire arc and use her whole body to save him if she doesn't see him as a friend in my opinion. Well - in law's perspective, they might just be alliance all the way. But I think deep down, he see Robin as friends since Dressrosa from how they talk with each other.

Chapter 801 ~ 806: Always beside you

Law and Robin sitting across again! Funny that's how they started and ended Dressrosa. And their physique and vibes are so similar. I guess it's really nice to look at Robin all the time hehe

This scene is so funny. Did Law just called Usopp "God-ya" just to make fun of him Lmaoo Law did pick up Robin's habit to tease Usopp just to see him scared Lol Robin even asked Usopp "Need some gum?" Girlll you know exactly why he's looking pale hahaha I love how Law and Robin basically team up here just to tease Usopp. (Maybe Robin is genuinely asking Usopp but it's still so funny to me)

The seating plan here is just sus to me!! Because Law can definitely sit anywhere else and not sit behind Robin! Like he can sit with Zoro and Luffy, it wouldn't affect the plot that much. But no, he needs to sit between Robin and Franky and separating the straw hats lol To be fair, Franky need to sit in front of Kin'emon for plot purpose. (So the monkey can make them fall, because Franky block most of their sight) But it can also be Law - Robin - Franky (there's one panel is, but I think it's just a mistake) Maybe Oda just draw their sitting order randomly but I still feel kind of sus about it because usually he will draw Luffy and Law together, and Robin Franky (or Usopp) together.

For me, it's really normal if Oda always draw Franky Robin (or any straw hats) together. Because they are in the same crew and of course you will stand or sit with a person that you're close with. It's not normal if he always draw Robin with a non-straw hat a.k.a Law together! People always forget that and said they barely interact (which I don't even bother- oh well), but Law isn't a straw hat, it's normal that he doesn't interact a lot with people who isn't close with. That's why it's significant when Oda purposely make him interact with a certain straw hat a.k.a Robin more than others.

So back to the seating plan, that's why I think it's interesting that Oda is trying to put Law and Robin more together!! Maybe they did get closer during their trip :p

I think zolaw is cute sometimes haha. Zoro and Law are so logical here. I searched up their MBTI (which is voted by people). Law is INTJ and Robin is INTP (Zoro is ISTP if you're curious) The three of them personalities are so similar. They all have "T" in their MBTI which stands for thinking logically before feelings. And of course they are all introverts lol Robin cares here because she thinks the dragon is cute, imagine it's some kind of robot ninja, she will probably say something mean here too haha and Zoro & Law will be those getting emotional (like law reacting to Stealth Black)

Logically, I would say Robin ask Law to get in touch with his crew so that they know how Minks act and if they will hurt the straw hats. But in my delulu, I would say it's sus Robin think about Law's crew first and she always keep his situation in mind. Even Usopp needs to think for a minute to realize there's a mink in Law's crew. But seems like Robin know so well about it! (Ok rationally I know Robin is smart so she think of reaching Law's crew is the best way to learn about mink)

It's these kind of small moments make them so compatible. Law & Robin are analyzing a lot during their way on Zou. Robin is more proactive on investigating but I found Law can always quickly analyze of what Robin found. Just imagine they both go on discovering a ruin after everything, Law is behind protecting Robin and help her analyze the ruins it's just seems so perfect to me. (well it's just like the wano scene hehe)

This shows exactly what I meant - Robin said the town is built for this water level and Law can just quickly figured out the shower always happen. Oda I see what you're trying to do here!!! They are just so similar so intelligent together!! And they seems like always talking with each other because they sync a lot.

When Law shambles the whole group, he shambles Robin the last and also the closet to him. Seems like he's protecting her >< In the anime, Law Zoro and Robin landed perfectly but in the manga is only Law and Robin. I knew Law has bias towards to Robin! But rationally, I think Law will do the same for other girls too but because for girls, he mainly only interact with Robin lol so we didn't know how he treat other girls haha But so far, I can see he did seems treat Robin nicer than others. Law seems like very distance to other girls in general.

Chapter 814 ~ 820: Road Poneglyph

Since Vinsmoke is from north blue, so maybe she heard from Law?! jk it's probably from the revolutionary army but I can delulu right?! :p

Law starting to change tears me up T-T In Dressrosa, he really hides his empathy but I know deep down he cares a lot. And now he's showing the soft side of him. That's why I said he is probably going through the character development of what Robin went through during pre-time skip.

Law didn't say a lot here, but I think this part is probably one of the reasons what makes him want to find the will of D later. Inuarashi revealed that Robin is from Ohara and can decipher ruins. And since Law told Robin his real name later on and ask about the Will of D, he probably knew what Robin and Ohara went through. I think Robin and Law did get a lot closer during Zou -> Wano, but I will save my analysis later!

Law said "show me your shadow clone technique" here and it's literally what Robin had shown him back in Dressrosa haha

Seeing this scene, I personally think if everything goes well, Law will probably go to Laugh Tale with the straw hats. I don't think he will join the straw hats but as like an accompany or alliance. Also he already told Robin he want to learn about the will of D too so if Oda is mercy enough, we can probably see Law & Robin learn history together.

Usually, Law will have an annoyed expression when straw hats compliment each other or saying they will protect each other. But when's it's Robin, he didn't react to it hehe But I also think it's because he respect Robin a lot. And I personally think he will definitely protect her when someone is after her.

Robin and Luffy's dynamic is just so cute! >< And the passion of Robin has on road poneglyph is a lot and she always search it when she has a chance. So I really think Law and Robin did collaborate on finding road poneglyph, otherwise, she would definitely search in Onigashima too (which she didn't and Law did)

That's the end of Zou. They didn't interact a lot but I can feel like Law and Robin is getting closer. I'm also saving some of my thoughts for Wano. Wano is definitely a big change for these two, even though there are not a lot of scenes of them together :( Anyways, thank you for reading again!!! Let me know if you have any thoughts!!

#one piece #lawbin #nico robin #trafalgar law #robin #law

[str0l0gy]

OLD MONEY, NEW HOE!

IN WHICH you, in need of a summer fling, find exactly what you were looking for in an afterparty.

DISCLAIMERS mentions of alcohol & smoking (ouid), typical rich kid behavior, mentions of members of other kpop groups

RICHKID!SUNGHOON X RICHKID!F!READER

summer was near. everyone felt it running through their veins. the warm air, the hot temperature, the lack of clothes, and the large number of parties. everyone loved it. the feeling of partying until sunrise, the sound of the waves on the beach, the sun burning your skin on the boats, the spontaneous trips on private jets, the sleepovers.

it was a tradition to do an after-party after the ceremony on the last day of school. the party started the second the ceremony ended — so everything was ready the morning of the last day of school —. the main guests were the people from the school, each guest gets to bring their plus-ones, — many people invited more than one — students from all over the city came to this party. the location of the party changed annually, this year, it was hosted in choi soobin’s —your ex-summer fling — mansion.

upon arriving at the party, you see people still entering the mansion, music blasting, and lights flashing. you decided to show up an hour later so the party could get good before you wasted your time at the awkward phase of the party. going in the house, the sudden smell of weed hit your nose. the house was foggy with dim, colored lights. you see familiar faces, but one caught your attention from afar. you look down at your phone as you felt it vibrate in your hands. sunghoon had texted you.

sunghoon: u look good today

y/n: don’t look too bad urself… u need something?

sunghoon: oh so i can’t talk to u now w/o needing something from u?

you looked up from your phone, only to have sunghoon’s gaze already on you. his eyes followed your figure to the table where all the drinks were, he himself following you shortly after. you take a sip out of your champagne glass as your eyes focused on the tall figure approaching you, “you’re not supposed to be talking to me, remember?” you leaned against the table with your elbow supporting your weight.

“who said?” he raised an eyebrow at you. during your fling with soobin, he warned you to not interact with anyone in his group of friends, which was pretty large and consisted of nine people. that seemed impossible as you were friends with the majority of them since you met the group while hanging out with soobin. although, he did warn you specifically about sunghoon. he’s bad news, he told you.

“you know who…” you recall telling him what had happened between you and soobin at a party, and from that day, both of you became closer.

he shrugged as he walked closer to you, his cologne masked the strong smell of weed lingering around the space — even though he did smell like it himself — while he reached his arm out to get a shot from behind you. his face was close to yours as he leaned over to reach the shot glass. your eyes stayed on him while he threw his head back to take the shot. his face stayed neutral the whole time, leaving you impressed, but you didn’t show it, of course.

he watched you take another sip from your glass before saying anything, “aren’t you supposed to be with your little group?” you signaled to the group of boys in the corner of the room, not noticing that one of the boys was gone.

“why would i wanna be there when you’re here?”

you cracked a smile because of how cheesy that statement was. you take this moment to really take a look at him. he wore a suit, his hand was decorated with some silver rings, and his neck has a couple of necklaces around it. boy, was he handsome, the fact that his white button-up wasn’t buttoned all the way up, so you could catch a glimpse of his bare chest, was so attractive. the purple hues of the light didn’t help with that. his messy hair, which contrasted his formal attire, was over his eyes. before walking up the stairs, your hand reached up to his hair, ruffling it to get it out of his face. the boy wasted no time following behind you.

you reached the empty hallway, the tension only growing thicker from here. you found yourself on the balcony, leaning over the railing with your elbows. the boy standing next to you, like a shadow mirroring your position, looked at your features — more clearly this time —. you had always attracted him, ever since he laid eyes on you. despite being with one of his closest friends, he still took an interest in you.

“you look beautiful tonight.” his deep voice broke the comfortable silence between you two.

you turn your attention to him. you couldn’t hold your smile back at the compliment. his bold eye contact caused you to look away from him, and your hair fell from your shoulder by doing so. you felt his warm hand push the strand of hair out of your face, making you turn to him once again. this time he made you keep your attention on him by putting his finger under your chin, making you look up at him. you noticed the distance between you and him decreased.

you nervously reciprocated the eye contact, only for him to trail his eyes down to your lips. you saw him lick his lips before asking, “can i kiss you?”

needless to say that the search for a summer fling was unnecessary now.

#enhypen #kpop #fluff #kpop fluff #enhypen oneshot #enhypen x reader #enhypen imagine #enhypen fluff #sunghoon #park sunghoon #sunghoon fluff #sunghoon x reader #enhypen scenarios #kpop scenarios #one shot

[ravenwitch45]

S/o feels weird about sharing Blitzo with Stolas thinking they're getting between them or they would fight over him.

Okay! I'm not sure if your the same Anon who asked for this one

If your not, check this one out as it's pretty simalir to what your asking, If you are then hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure if this ask is the clarification I asked for, or completely unrelated so I guess I'm doing another one to cover all my bases XP Time for for more Polycule stuff!

Blitz's S/O being afraid Stolas will get between them, or just concerned that they'll fight over him.

You kinda uneasily agree to the whole thing, it is still very much a yes, just you've never had a partner, who also has another aside from you, so your unsure how it will go.

You have nothing against Stolas tho, you know he and Blitz have had their up and downs before getting together, but the few times you see them interact it's clear Stolas makes Blitz happy, and you want him to be happy so you don't have a problem with the prince.

While Blitz would love to be able to hang out with the both of you together, your two different people with different schedules and avaliability so the times that's possible are few and far between, and that's on top of Blitz's own schedule.

He's generally the one to handle it all, but the somewhat rigidness of some times you spend with him are a bit awkward at first, you of course make the most of it, in whatever ways you want to at time, dates at places, at home etc.

During this adjustment phase you barely ever interact with Stolas, most times it's just you or him seeing the other as they drop off Blitz or something, but you do chat when it feels appropiate, neither of you want to outright ignore eachother, might as well make decent friends with him, might make fights you expect less common, on top of Stolas just being pleasant to be around.

Eventually a night comes up where your all available, and Blitz of course wants to make the most of it, your still not sure about spending it all together so essentially Blitz plans to split his time, first with Stolas and then finish off the night with you.

But then you hear your door being unlocked, a good hour before Blitz is supposed to come over, but that doesn't stop him from rushing up to you, spinning you around in a hug and then kissing you when you come to see who it is

You barely are able to ask what he's doing here early before he gives you a big kiss, though even after he's not who answers you.

Your attention draws to Stolas leaning against the door frame that's barely tall enough for him, the owl explaining he didn't want Blitz to get too tuckered out with him, and wanted to make sure the Imp boss would be able to properly attend to you.

Blitz notes they could have at least gone another round in the car, making you notice Blitz's shirt is only half buttoned, Stolas just responds that even his stamina isn't endless, blushing as he does so before bidding you two farewell and a goodnight.

Your a little stunned to respond to him before he leaves, and then Blitz picking you up and taking you to the couch for some fun~

You play video games :P On the side~

The next day while Blitz is at work, you can't help but keep thinking about Stolas forfeiting a good hour of his alone time with Blitz for your sake, so you call him and plan to meet at a cafe to talk about it.

When you ask Stolas just raises a brow, pulling on his collar a bit, apoligizing, expecting you to be ok with it. You awkwardly correct him, saying you appreciate it greatly, your just confused as to why he did that.

Stolas just responds, that he felt that it wouldn't be right if he let Blitz get all tired with him, and that he knew Blitz would end up feeling bad if the two of you wouldn't be able to enjoy your time together properly, and he simply wanted to avoid that for all your sakes.

Your silent for a bit, unsure how to respond, making him ask if everything's okay, you then just saying your surprised he's being so kind about the whole thing, admitting to thinking you two might fight over Blitz which Stolas awkwardly chuckles at.

"Well I just want him to be happy, and you clearly make him happy, so why wouldn't I be okay with it?."

Taking a bit to respond, just stating with a chuckle maybe you had nothing to worry about, both of you having a good laugh over it.

After that your a lot more secure in the whole thing, even making sure to tell Blitz to tell Stolas hi for you when he sees him, and you and Stolas become really good friends over it, after all, what better way to scheme how to fluster Blitz so much he can't speak?~:P

There you go, personally I've never seen Stolas as the jealous type, and I just think he wants Blitz to be happy, so I write him as such, a lot more fun to me personally XP

#ask reply #helluva boss #blitzo #blitzo x reader #helluva boss x reader #x reader #stolas goetia #stolitz

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 4/14

Let's see... Pink, brown, white.... We'll go with blue. Yes, blue. (人◕ω◕)

Juvia will be the next here. (人◕ω◕)

When did they meet?

During the Tower of Heaven incident. (人◕ω◕) Admittedly, Juvia's "love at first sight" thing with Gray is... Well, it happened. Even with this series having fanfiction in its veins, I won't pretend the crush never existed. I already acknowledged Chelia's crush on Lyon, and Cana's dabbled around with men... Might as well touch on Juvia's obsession with Gray. I am no coward. I will overcome this hiccup with relative ease~... Not that Gray doesn't deserve a girl. ... I'm just not crazy about Gruvia. Navia is much more interesting. Fite me. (人◕ω◕)

So, Juvia goes and helps Team Natsu infiltrate the Tower of Heaven to save Erza. (人◕ω◕) She's jealous of Lucy's bond with Gray, so she makes her air bubble smaller out of spite. They all manage to make it into the Tower, so no harm no foul~...

To be perfectly honest, however, Juvia and Natsu interactions are fleeting in canon. So I'll skip the long-winded review of canon events and just give a bare-bones look back at it. Even if Juvia's whole shtick is supporting and orbiting around Gray, the fact remains that she does help Team Natsu and Fairy Tail as a whole... Even joins the guild. (人◕ω◕)

When did they grow closer?

This is a million yen question, folks. While there's a ton of flexibility and options, strictly going by canon Juvia would never give Natsu the time of day. Good thing I was never a canon purist. (人◕ω◕)

Juvia's thing is Gray, yeah? So it follows if she wants to be as close to him as possible, she'd hafta join Team Natsu. Cuz for better or for worse, Gray is nice and cozy on a team with his hotheaded rival, Lucy, Erza, Happy, and eventually Wendy and Carla. (人◕ω◕) That said... If Juvia does join up, I can see Erza wanting to attempt some team bonding exercises to get to know one another better~... This means not just bonding as a group, but in two- to three-person units. This means sooner or later, Juvia will have to team up with Natsu and be properly introduced.

... Do not be fooled, however. (❋•‿•❋) Juvia is a stubborn, faithful woman. Bonding with Natsu is her least favorite ways to pass the time... He's loud, has no manners, always picks fights... Oh yeah. And he always beats up her Darling. (❋•‿•❋) You can be sure that in their early interactions, Juvia-chan attempted to order Natsu to stop picking fights with Gray, if only so that her Beloved could better spend his time.

It doesn't work out, of course. Natsu's just as much of a free spirit as Juvia is. And moreover... Natsu and Gray both confirm for Juvia that they get plenty out of butting heads with each other; in their own quirky way, they're making sure the other isn't slacking off, and constantly measuring their strength against one another. (❋•‿•❋) Juvia might not like it... But it is what it is.

So once the initial cold shoulder phase is over and Juvia does some jobs with Natsu, she begins to see his caring spirit. Whether it's her, Happy, a client, or someone else being threatened... Natsu gives it his all to defend them. While Juvia finds it admirable, she does still think Gray is leagues above Natsu. And really, she's besties with Gajeel. She knows Dragon Slayers are strong and have big hearts. She knows that. ... They just don't appeal to her on a romantic level. (❋•‿•❋)

Here's something a little interesting, though. (❋•‿•❋) Lisanna befriended the Edolas Juvia. So when the S-Class trials come up, she volunteers to be Juvia's partner, even though Juvia is severely down in the dumps about being a rival to her Beloved. She doesn't mind Lisanna's companionship, Juvia's just got Gray on her mind. Always. (❋•‿•❋)

But the Lisanna connection really is a possible way in for Natsu. An additional way for him and Juvia to be connected. After the trials and the seven year gap, Juvia does grow closer to Lisanna, and consequentially she and Natsu get more time together little by little. (❋•‿•❋) The Navia ship is often a slowburn, folks. Natsu isn't romantically attracted to Juvia, not for a long while, and you know Juvia is a faithful woman. And you know Lisanna won't be telling Juvia to jump ship, no, no. Lisanna-chan can be a bit... greedy like her neesan. (❋•‿•❋)

Still, the Grand Magic Games goes to show Juvia that Natsu is remaining as tough as ever. Which is good for her Darling, cuz Gray needs a strong rival. (❋•‿•❋) Juvia also enjoys participating in the games...even if for the first while she was technically a rival to her Beloved. Again. But then final day of the games came up, and Juvia replaced Natsu's spot so he could go save Lucy. Then she was a teammate with Gray-sama. (❋•‿•❋)

After the games and the stuff with the dragons... Juvia-chan thinks Natsu has earned a reward for helping give her time with Gray-sama, not to mention the destruction of the Eclipse Gate. (๑╹ω╹๑ ) They're just friends, but Juvia has come to accept time with Natsu is not time wasted anymore. She winds up knitting Natsu a new scarf... Not that Natsu is willing to accept the thing, cuz the scarf he got from Igneel is more precious to him.

... This depresses Juvia a lot, considering she put a lot of thought into her gift to Natsu... On top of being rejected by Gray constantly, it's like being turned down in stereo with Natsu joining in. Natsu picks up on this, and resolves to cheer Juvia up despite not understanding what's wrong. After Mira walks him through the problem - to which he only half-listened, half-understood - Natsu decides to get Wendy's help in enchanting the scarf to have some of his Magic. He'll hafta "recharge" the scarf every now and then, every few months, but he gives the scarf back to Juvia and she's amazed at how toasty it feels. (๑╹ω╹๑ ) At first she thought Natsu was just throwing it back at her, but once he explained what he and Wendy did... Juvia's touched at Natsu's thoughtfulness. ... Even if she still hasn't given him a proper gift yet. Juvia feels bad about that. But. Natsu-kun isn't a complete blockhead of a friend, and Juvia will take this as a win. (๑╹ω╹๑ )

Do we even need to go over Juvia and Meredy? (๑╹ω╹๑ )

... (๑╹ω╹๑ );;;

When does friendship turn to something more?

After Tartaros, Juvia can't think of anything except how she hurt Gray by helping "kill" his dad... She doesn't even know or think about Igneel dying... So whereas Natsu's off cavorting with the Strauss Siblings during the year hiatus, Juvia's with Gray-sama. (๑╹ω╹๑ )

... It's not exactly everything Juvia wanted, despite how she puffs it up as all that. (๑╹ω╹๑ );;; Natsu's Magic ran out months ago in the scarf, and Juvia has felt... empty without it. Plus, even with Gray treating her as a good friend, he still edges away from romance. Naturally this bums Juvia out. And when Natsu sees the scarf and just charges it up for Juvia without being prompted... That sticks in Juvia's mind. (๑╹ω╹๑ )

She's there when Fairy Tail's all reunited. And Juvia goes with Team Natsu to save Makarov from the Alvarez Empire. The subsequent war brought to Ishgar is... overwhelming. A lot happened. There's several points Juvia isn't sure how they'll make it through the day.... But they do.

And in spite of everything that's happened... Gray still turns her down for a relationship. Of course he was overly apologetic about nearly killing her, and Juvia is a precious friend to him... But Gray can't force something that isn't there. He carried his dad's wish to hunt down END and kill him for the past year, and now he's just not sure what he's gonna do from now on. Sticking with Fairy Tail and Team Natsu is obvious, protecting his friends is "no duh", but he just... His head's not in the right place for a relationship. He needs time to unwind and figure out his own personal goals in life.

Not that this more decisive rejection doesn't rattle Juvia to her core... She keeps insisting she'll wait for Gray, but her insistence only makes Gray all the more resolved to keep his answer as "no"; cuz in his mind, Juvia deserves better after the mistakes he's made. And she shouldn't put her whole love life on hold, let alone dedicate herself to someone that just may never reciprocate...

That's when Gray decides to get Natsu, Lisanna, and Meredy's help on this one. They're all friends with Juvia, and if anyone could get Juvia off this tunnel vision thing, it'd be them... It's not easy. Juvia is tenacious, committed, and really, does anyone like admitting it's over when it's over...?

After some prodding from Lisanna and Meldy, Natsu takes Juvia out for dinner. He even gets dressed up with the girls' help, and go to a nice restaurant. Sure, it's not this perfect outing that Juvia envisioned, and she's even more devastated when she perceives Lisanna and Meldy's intentions to get her to try a date with Natsu...

But at the end of the day, Juvia only realized the outing was a "date" after it was nearing its end. Despite the high class restaurant, going to a nighttime festival, doing whatever Juvia was up for... Juvia just took it all as Natsu trying to cheer her up. When she realized it was a date, Juvia was certainly revolted at first, that she enjoyed herself with someone other than Gray-sama...

... But after all this time with Natsu, Juvia knows he never meant any ill will. Natsu knows her feelings for Gray are strong, and he's not trying to erase them out of spite. He's helping out because even the Stripper is concerned for Juvia, that Lisanna and Meldy are worried for her, and they all just want Juvia to be happy.

It's still a bitter pill to swallow, to just give up on Gray after all this time... But Natsu-kun has always been there, as have Lisanna and Meldy. They've been great friends... And Juvia supposes she can learn to love Natsu more "properly". (๑╹ω╹๑ ) For Natsu's part... He never has to complain about Juvia being "fired up" for jobs or much of anything. Their mutual passion for life bounces off each other quite nicely~... Yes. This couple has all the good vibes. \(๑╹ω╹๑ )/

#Fairy Tail #Juvia Lockser #Natsu Dragneel #Natsu x Juvia #Navia

[hijinxensues]

The Cloaking Brooch Dilemma - Part 11

RotTMNT Donatello x OC!AFAB 

Synopsis: Donatello considered himself, nay, deemed himself the greatest mind of his generation. He was known for his skills as a scientist, inventor, engineer and was a technological genius. Dare he throw in that he was a damn good brother and held the title of being ¼th ‘Protector of New York City’.

He could barely fathom that he didn’t piece together that the pretty barista he was falling for was simultaneously his gaming buddy (might I add, for the last eight years) and was working for Big Mama.

At this very moment, Donatello was sure of two things in his life. One of them being his life was a joke and the second being that he was fraternizing with the enemy.

All because he decided to run errands whilst donning his cloaking brooch.

Warnings: Aged-Up turtles, fluff, Half-Yokai OC, AFAB OC (does use she/her/they pronouns in writing), swearing

FIRST

PREV

NEXT

Ch 11 – Iris

“Perf, pick me up at 6pm.” Violet leans against the door frame, one hand on the doorknob.

“That is amenable. It’s a date.” Donatello nods and pulls at his sleeves to adjust them, there were too many seams touching his skin.

“It’s a date! Bye, Donnie!” She waves at him then closes the door behind her leaving him staring at the paint chipped door.  

“Angelo, there was nothing out of ordinary within the interaction, I insist.” Recalling the very last moments with Violet before being very rudely interrupted, all I’s were dotted and all T’s were crossed. Donatello knew Violet like the back of his hand. The way she tugged on a strand of hair near her face when she was nervous, the way she scowled when gave her attitude, there was a certain guffaw she did that was reserved only for Usagi’s memes- Donatello knew there was not a single thing out of place during that interaction. Not an eyebrow raise, a twitch of a finger or tilt of her head to indicate anything out of place when he said the dreaded phase that’s gotten Michelangelo up in arms.

“You can’t seriously believe that Dee! You asked her out! Like on a date.” The orange terrapin sat in a rolling chair across from him using it to spin in circles.

Donatello sighs, “Yes, a date. A hang out, an outing, an activity, to fraternize, to ‘kill time’, to socialize- Mikey, there are many different names that are associated with ‘a date’. I merely asked my friend to go to Albearto’s with me, to spend time together. There isn’t a need to read into this as deeply as you have.”

“Wait, is this the same ‘friend’ you were feeling guilty over? I knew you had a crush on them! Have you told them the truth?”

“I do not have a ‘crush’, I’m not a prepubescent turtle. I was in the middle of the reveal but then I was rudely interrupted!” He glares at his brother who shrugs sheepishly “I’m sorry! We really needed you; it was an emergency!”

“Michael, I say this with the utmost confidence that Raph getting his whole fist stuck in his mouth was something that you and Leo could have dealt with on your own.”

“You say that but you were also the one to get his fist unstuck. And we were trying! Really trying! For like, fifteen minutes.” Michelangelo whined then turned into jelly bones in the chair, “Sorry, Dee.”

Donatello waves his hand and furrows his brow, “It’s okay, Angelo. I’ll get another chance at it.”

Michelangelo nods with a smile, “You could always text them now just to get it over with, but I think it’d probably be best in person. It’s kind of a big reveal, yenno?” Donatello nods in agreeance before reaching for a small remote inside a desk drawer.

Michelangelo’s eyes sparkled as he perked up in his seat, “Hell yeah, baby! Fashion show!”

A bookshelf rotated to reveal a seemingly empty large room. Donatello pushes a button on his remote and the floor opens to reveal a stage which emerges from the floor with a metallic pole in the middle that connected itself into the ceiling. The stage is accompanied by multiple revolving clothes rack controlled by a remote. The lights for the stage and clothing rack automatically turn on to provide optimal lighting for impromptu fashion shows.

“Alright, Dee, let’s see what we’re working with!”

Donatello struts up to his stage and reaches for the stripper pole in the middle before swinging himself around, one foot perched and one hand holding on, “We’re playing it casual and comfortable!”  

“Boo! Boring! What about this?”

“Fashion is cyclical and while the shoulder landing pads are most definitely in at the very moment, I’m not going as new and improved Dynamite Don.”

“Valid, it’s a bit busy for Albeartos, even though the original Dynamite Don outfit was debuted there. Ok, ok, this?”

Golden flare bell bottoms with a purple floral-patterned shirt, tucked in with the first three buttons undone. Donatello struck a pose, akin to a disco dancer and nodded his head downwards so his shades covered his eyes. “Great choice, I do look fabulous in florals- but not what we’re going for. Maybe a roller-skating slash disco themed date?” He rips the outfit off himself and holds a new top and a bottom on his person, “What about this?”

“So, it is a date?” Michelangelo waggles his brows at him completely ignoring his follow up question.

Donatello pinches the bridge of his nose, “Angelo, ‘a date’ can mean many things as I said earlier. This is closer to a social interaction and gathering of two individuals than a romantic endeavor.” Donatello turns to face himself in the mirror holding up the next outfit choice, a collared shirt paired with a purple pullover sweater and slacks. He struck a pose and shook his head, “Too formal.” He put the fit to the side to hang up later.

“Google would say otherwise.”

“I doubt Google would have anything to say about my exemplary wardrobe.”

His younger brother clears his throat and begins to recite off his phone, “‘What is a date?’, the first answer doesn’t count because it’s ‘the day of the month or year as specified by a number’ but the second result on Google is ‘a social or romantic appointment or engagement.’” Michelangelo puts heavy emphasis on the word ‘romantic’ then turns the phone around so Donatello can read the words himself.

Donatello stumbles over his feet in a dash to get to his younger brother and snatches the phone out of his hand. His eyes scan the Google results page rapidly as his thumb scrolls down the page.

Dating is a stage of romantic relationships in which two individuals engage in an activity together, most often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the category of courtship, consisting of social events carried out by the couple either alone or with others. 

go out with (someone in whom one is romantically or sexually interested)

Dating is fun and physical intimacy is definitely achievable during those kinds of casual relationships, however in a certified relationship, it is easier to maintain physical and emotional intimacy. 

A date is where two people get together to get to know each other, to see if they’re compatible, often with the hopes of getting into a romantic-sexual relationship with each other.

Donatello’s brain goes full blue screen.

Donnie.exe no longer functioning.

“Uh….Dee? Are you feeling ok?” Michelangelo approaches his brother slowly, his hand gripping the phone so tight he was surprised it didn’t snap in half. Donatellos form hunched over and staring intently as his eye followed the text on the screen over and over again.

“Perchance is Dr.Feelings available for an appointment?”

Donatello is sitting stiff as a board in front of a projector that materializes suddenly in the lab. His younger brother suddenly in round frame glasses (they reminded him of Violet, but what didn’t remind him of her these days?) and a mustard-colored turtleneck, he stands next to the projector, the screen reading: ‘Dating for Dum-Dum Turtles 101’.

“Can we skip to the chapter about lying about your physical appearance due to a mystic artifact?”

“Nope! But there’s an easy answer to that and you already know it, which is…” the smaller turtles points to him to finish the answer.

‘To….ignore them for as long as I breathe so I never have to admit that I’ve made a mistake in regards to not being forthcoming about who I am physically because I’m deeply insecure about not only what I look like as a mutant, but also about who I am personally because what if she’s disappointed upon finding out who I am.’

“To tell them the truth.” Donatello settled on this for his answer. Michelangelo nods encouragingly, “Exactly! Didn’t you say your friend already knew everything about you except your physical appearance? I get that it’s scary, especially after all this time, but I’m sure she’ll love you the way you are!”

His heart jumps at the choice words Michelangelo uses, love, has he ever loved anyone that wasn’t family or considered family? Did he even know what that felt like? How is an emotion as visceral as that quantified when everyone had a different meaning for it? He tucked those questions very far away under some mind cabinets to maybe unpack with Dr.Feelings at a different time.

Donatello played it cool and shrugs, looking over his cuticles, “Thanks Angelo, can we move on to ‘Dating for Dum-Dums’?”

Nodding, he changes the slide again, “What I originally wanted to ask was, did you want to take her on a date?”

It’s not that he was adverse by the idea of…. potentially exploring romantic advances toward Violet, it just didn’t seem morally just given the circumstances. Ironically, he was the most morally ambiguous amongst his brothers regarding most things, but Donatello was a generally honest person. He was also aware that starting romantic relations with them while not being forthright was very problematic. April always said he was horrible at lying but here he was, head barely over the water line, drowning in his so-called ‘little white lie’.

Did Violet think he was taking her on a romantic escapade? He’d be offended if that is, in fact, what she thought. He had such better taste than a first date at Albearto’s.

Donatello chewed at his bottom lip, “No, I don’t want to take her on a date.” Speaking it out loud felt like a lie.

“Okay, so you don’t have feelings for her?”

“….No…?”

Michelangelo facepalms and sighs, “Okay. I’m not going to meddle with that big brain of yours because I know what you’re like when you’re in denial and there probably isn’t anything I can say to change your mind.”

“Denial!?” his hands grip the side of the armchair he’s in. Donatello Hamato was not in denial.

Dr.Feelings pulls at the bottom of the projector screen and lets go letting the screen roll up and into itself and the set up magically disappears. “I know you don’t like being under prepared and whether you want to recognize this is a romantic-date or not is on you, but what I suggest is that you get her flowers! That way you’re prepared for any circumstance! If anything, she’ll perceive it as a nice gesture from a friend.”

Were ‘friend bouquets’ a real concept? There were instances where friends would send each other flowers, but normally for special occasions.

“You are right, I do like being prepared for any and all circumstances.” He mused thoughtfully, he could take a visit to his greenhouse and pick out a personalized arrangement just for them.

“Perfect, I’ll pick out your outfit for tonight and you go make an arrangement for her. You need to leave,” Michelangelo looks at his empty wrist, “in an hour.”

Donatello bolts out of the lab to leave Michael with his selection of fine clothing for any occasion. The doors to his greenhouse were attached to his lab, the doors making a whoosh sound as they open then closed behind him once he fully entered.

The greenhouse was Donatello’s safe space, his brothers knew not to come in here (unless explicitly invited) and he often lost himself in tilling and pruning when he needed a moment away. He didn’t use the space for fresh produce and mostly focused on flowers, shrubs, and fruit trees.

He took a gander checking the temperatures for the day, adjusted a few and moved around a few grow lights to optimize space and growth for a few of his lemon trees before moving onto rows and rows of flowers organized by annual versus perennials, where they were in growth, hybrids (flowers he’d grafted together) size and temperature needed to thrive.

Picking up shears he gravitated towards the Asters, a perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. He gently thumbed over the thin purple petals and cut a few of the stems at an angle before setting them aside. Dainty blue flowers catch his eye next, Forget-Me-Not’s, genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, he takes extra care into handling and setting them down the flower so much smaller than his hands. Followed up with a larger white petaled flower with a yellow centre, Gardenias, genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. Flower language could vary widely, but he knew the most common iterations of it for most, if not all, of the specimens he carried in the greenhouse.

Asters, love and patience.

Forget-Me-Nots, fidelity and loyalty in a relationship, despite challenges. (He pretends to not know that the classic tiny blue flower also represented ‘growing affection between two people’.)

Gardenias, Trust, respect and clarity. (He also pretends to not know that the alternative meaning is ‘secret crush’. He has his emotionally unavailable bad boy image to uphold.)

He barely had to think about the flowers he wanted in the arrangement. Donatello added in a few leafy steams to fill it out, placed it perfectly in the middle of a brown papered square, bundled it then tied it off with a purple ribbon. He holds the bouquet at an arms length and gingerly inspects his work looking for imperfections- the bouquet had to be perfect. It wasn’t the prettiest arrangement he’s put together given the variance in shapes and colors, but it would have to do. What did April tell him? It’s the thought that counts? He nods as he recounts the memory, he liked being calculated. He brings the flowers to his chest careful to not squish any and makes his way out of the greenhouse.

“Donnie! I thought you’d gotten lost,” his little brother jokes and lays out an outfit on the desk, “Here, you have to dress for the occasion.”

Donatello sets the arrangement down on a chair and rubs the fabric of the button down between his fingers, “Thank you Mikey, I shan’t ruin tonight!”

There’s a hand on his wrist to halt him as he picks up the button down, “You know, I think you owe me, Dee. I’ve been helping you out with this mystery person….and I think I deserve to know my new best friends name that I have yet to meet, but will be meeting soon.”

Donatello rolls his eyes; he supposed his brother did deserve to know. “Violet.”  

“Violet,” Michelangelo softly repeats, “Oooo, I can’t wait to meet her! Dee, you gotta bring them around when you’ve told her the truth!” He claps excitedly and throws himself onto his older brother to engulf him in a hug, “I’m so glad you found someone.”

Donatello chokes on his spit in the most inelegant way, “Mikey, she’s just a friend.” He shrugs him off and puts his focus towards the clothes laid out in front of him as his younger brother giggles around him.

“A ‘just a friend’ that you made a personalized bouquet for?” He wiggled his brows suggestively. The purple terrapins’ cheeks glow, “You’ve been banned from the lab starting now.” Mechanical arms pop out of his battle shell to hoist him up and carry him towards the door.

“Have fun on your date, I’ll keep Raph busy, hurry up and sneak through the garage,” his voice sounds far away before he yells out, “Love you, Dee!” The mechanical doors whoosh shut and Donatello makes quick work of clipping the brooch on, getting dressed in slacks, a button down (the top three buttons undone to be scandalous, a tip he learned from Warren Stone) and a coat. He does a double take at his mask, wraps and tech bo before shrugging, ‘they’ll be safe in the lab’, he didn’t need them tonight.

He checks the clock, ‘perfect timing’, and hustles towards the garage and zips away before anyone can notice.

--

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, the sensation no longer unfamiliar considering how often he was in his brooch form. Given all the video chats and in person time he has with Violet, he’d argue that he actively wore his brooch around fifty percent of the time. He’s never gotten so much use out of the mystic artifact.

The car slows to a step as he parks next to the curb in front of her apartment. Anxiety crept up his spine and made itself home in his throat.

Inhale, exhale.

Inhale, exhale.

He steadied his breathing then squeezed his fists together tightly to help ground him. There was barely a reason to be nervous, even though he had yet to decide if he was going with tonights ‘date’. Donatello’s stares at the flowers gently set down with car in the passenger seat. He could just put them in the trunk and forget about them, pretend they didn’t exist.

He sighs, that didn’t feel right.

He checks the digital clock in the car, T-minus three minutes to pick up. He had three minutes to decide where he was going with this. Frustration threatens to boil over as he smacks the steering wheel, “Okay, if she doesn’t ask, it’s not a date- easy! We will be just two people ‘hanging out’.”

“But if she does ask…..pull over, do the reveal? And then say yes?”

He tapped into his tech gauntlet and ran his Genuis Built, trademark pending, dialogue simulator, typed into it and waited for the results. The gauntlet glows purple and holographic results begin to filter through for every possible way the conversation could go.

Donatello scowls as he reaches the end of the page, it was a 50/50 chance that Violet would get upset about him omitting the truth, the alternate being she wouldn’t be upset at all, albeit surprised. That didn’t help him at all! That gave him even less to work with given the percentage chance of them getting mad, and never forgiving him effectively erasing her from his life. It could swing either way and it was too risky to do the reveal now before Albeartos. Pulling down the visor in the front seat he fluffs his hair out with a hand then gives himself a once over in the small mirror.

He steels himself, cursing under his breath he presses the ‘call’ button to alert Violet of his presence. It goes to voicemail and he pockets the phone. Donatello exits the vehicle with bouquet in hand and leans against the passenger door facing the apartment building.

The tight feeling in his chest returns tenfold but he doesn’t have time to log it on his spreadsheet before Violet flounces downstairs, a bounce to her step as she nears him. She looked as close to perfection as humanly possible. Violet stops in front of him, her hands clasped behind her back as she rocks on the balls of her feet, “Lookit you, wow!” she tucks a few stray hairs behind her ear, the same thing she did when she first met him at the coffee shop, “You look amazing, Don. Maybe a bit over dressed for an amusement park?” She winks then giggles with a doe eyed look. Her pupils dilate as she holds his eye contact, a physical tell of the oxytocin and dopamine, the ‘love hormones’, running through her system. The disguised turtle is stunned into silence at his friends flushed cheeks and pushes the bouquet into her hands. He catalogues the way her face is framed by flowers he picked for her and squirrels it away to look at later.  

‘Say something. Anything!’

“Michael insisted I dress for the occasion.”

‘Oh gods, anything but that!’

Donatello catches a slight quirk to her brow out of curiosity then rapidly bends at the waist hiding a wince, “After you!” He felt like he was going to combust. If he wasn’t careful steam would go flying out of his ears and nose at his own blunder. 

“So, ‘for the occasion’, huh?” Violet has a leading tone to her voice but avoids his gaze. The bouquet resting on its rightful owners’ lap as she fingers the ribbon holding the arrangement together. He almost misses the way she tugs on a lock of hair as he pulls the seatbelt taut over himself.

This was it. He was never so unprepared in his entire life; he would like to think he was better than this but the way his mind went blank as everything around him constricted said otherwise. Donatello set his mouth in a thin line and started to slow the car down to park it, he would tell her now even if he wasn’t ready to lose his best friend.

“Just kidding! I know we’re just going as friends, relax.”

“Right!” he chimes in mechanically, “You and me? A couple?” a forced laugh rips from his throat, “What a laughable notion.” Saving face never hurt so bad before.

Perfect. Having Violet confirm they were only friends took the pressure off him immensely. This is exactly what he wanted, so why was it so hard for him to breath. He even admitted to Mikey that he didn’t want to go on a date with them. He felt his tech gauntlet vibrate against his arm, most likely to tell him he’s lightheaded and to take his blood pressure.

“That’s me, a joker! Super hilarious.” Violet says steadily, keeping herself occupied as she looks out the window.  

Deep breaths, nothing could possibly go wrong after this. Everything was sorted (mostly) and tonight would be like any other time he’d been with Violet. It would be easy smiles and banter the rest of the night.

Donatello reaches for the volume button on the dashboard and turns the volume up slightly, the silence in the car beginning to feel like suffocation.

“Gigachad Theme – Phonk House Version? Exquisite taste, good sir.” Violet remarks playfully. The thrum of the bass washes over them both, it was an instrumental piece he often put on in the background when tinkering and even had it on ambiently while playing Minecraft.

“I’m not a fan of the song title being ‘Gigachad’ but it is a groovy beat. The beat is addictive.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve had a nightcore phase.”

“I’ll keep my mouth shut then.”

She laughs, and Donatello loosens the grip on the steering wheel for the first time since he’s started driving. He turns his head to smile at his companion, relieved at the mood turning around. Violet averts her gaze quickly as the traffic light turns green and he starts driving again. The knot in his stomach was slowly leaving him the closer he got to Albeartos.

“I’m a musical theatre connoisseur.” He pitches to bring back the conversation.

“You? Donatello ‘knows all the words to Hamilton’ Hamato? Who would’ve thought.” Violet jokes as he pulls into a parking spot. Donatello hurriedly steps out of the car to open the door for her and as he reaches for the handle, she lets herself out of the vehicle. “It’s not a date, Don. No need to play the part.” The pat on his shoulder burns like rejection and all he can do is nod as he follows her to the entrance to Albeartos.

“Okay, well where do we start?” Violet twirls, her hair whipping around her face, she adjusts her curly hair, so they don’t get stuck on her glasses frames. This was going to be the best not-date he’d ever taken anyone on. Violet’s friends would be so jealous to hear about it afterwards.

“Based on our previous conversation, you’re the one who seems to love amusement parks. I figured this would be best suited for your discretion!” he folds at the waist and outstretches his arm in grandeur, as if to offer the whole park to her. He banishes the thought of offering the world on a silver platter to her if she’d only ask.

“Letting me take the wheel, huh? Alright! Rides first!” Violets hands nearly brush against his palms before wrapping around his wrist to pull him along.

There was a system to the madness, his Violet was so clever, they started off with the most intense rides, only taking small breaks in between for some sips of water to avoid any ‘TummyTello’ incidents. He begrudgingly had to indulge her in a less exaggerated ‘TummyTello’ story to get her off his back about needing smaller breaks in between rides as his stomach was doing somersaults in between the low gravity and merely glancing at his friend (more data for the spreadsheet). Donatello didn’t have much of a sweet tooth but did indulge in sharing some popcorn in line, their fingers brushing against each other occasionally sending a shock to his senses. Violet catches herself on the bars after one of the more extreme coasters, her cheeks flushed, and the sound of her laugh causes him to break into a grin himself as he watches her adjust her glasses before reaching for him to ground herself as she leaves the steel bars.  

He stares at Violet fondly and adjusts her grip to his bicep to keep moving, “Are the animatronics ruining it for you yet?”

Violet shakes her head before giving his bicep a light squeeze, “Nah, the animatronics I guess give the park a bit of flare. I think it’s time for some churros though! You promised.”

Donatello’s eyes catch something off in the distance on a coaster across the way. He glances at Violet to ensure she isn’t paying attention and turns back around to look harder at the coaster, squinting his eyes. He wished he had his goggles with him to see farther away. Holding in a groan he recognizes the mechanical bug wings and flat top fade. It was the fake Youtuber and wannabe Twitch streamer, Baxter Stockboy, online alias Stockboii. Whatever he’s up to, it isn’t good.

Turning his attention back to Violet, he moves slightly to obscure her vision, “Churros! That’s right, absolutely. I’ll go get them for us!”

“Sure thing, bud. You alright?”

“Yes! I am simply ecstatic to retrieve a churro. The churro I promised to get you.” Hands on her shoulders, he spins her around and gently pushes her in the opposite direction, “You’ll have to wait all the way over here though, okay?” he gives her a pat, pat and then a firm squeeze to her shoulders, “And face this way! There’s a lovely view of the pier!” risking a glance he notices Baxter attach himself to the tracks, “I’ll be right back!”

Violet tries to turn her head to face him and, in an effort, to stop her from catching on, his hands find both sides of her head and rights her to look forward. Donatello’s face is dangerously close to hers, the smell of vanilla clouding his senses as he lowers his voice, “You don’t want to miss the pretty lights at the pier, right?”

She stiffens as her breath catches in her throat and nods.

Spirits, he’d do that to her forever if it meant getting that reaction.

Donatello takes a few walking steps while watching over his shoulder to ensure Violet doesn’t turn around, then moves into a light jog and starts scanning the area for a bathroom or a booth to hide behind.

‘Bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, c’mon….bathroom!’

“Yes!” he exclaims and makes a dive to reach the door before someone else does, “Occupado!” Donatello slams the door in front of the next person in line, “My sincerest apologies! I’d recommend using a different bathroom.” He listens to the disgruntled person slam on the door and take their leave.

All he needed was ten minutes to sort this and get back to Violet.

7:00pm, Grimacing at the tiles of the public bathroom he delicately strips out of his slack being very careful to ensure none of it touches the floor. He hangs them over a stall door and makes quick work out of his button up before hanging it over the door as well leaving him in his compression shorts and socks and shoes. Pulling his feet out he takes his socks off and steps on his shoes before taking the brooch off.

Reprimanding himself for being grossly underprepared for something like this to happen as he was sans mask, goggles, wrappings and tech-bo currently, but not for long as he uses his gauntlet to summon his battle shell. He luckily had back ups stored in something akin to safe houses around New York for emergencies. He shoves the brooch in his pants pocket and steps outside the bathroom, luckily no one is outside. By some miracle he finds a spare ‘closed for maintenance’ sign nearby and he sticks it on the door.

Hearing the telltale whir of his battle shell, he leaps up in the air as it attaches itself to his soft shell. A spare tech-bo sprouts out of a smaller compartment along with a mask with already drawn on brows.

7:03pm, opening his tech gauntlet he goes through his contacts as he makes his way towards the coaster. The first five people that pop up are his brothers and April, he decides against this, he didn’t have time to entertain or create a congruent story, even with Mikeys help, to why he was here ‘by himself’. He scrolls further down quickly to the Joneses’ and rings Junior instead.

“Pick up, pick up.”

“Donatello?”

“Junior!” the relief he feels when he picks up on the first ring is almost enough to forget the stress he’s under.

“What’s up? You don’t normally call me.”

“Baxter Stockboy is interfering with one of the coasters at Albeartos, how fast can you get here?”

“Five minutes, but why did you call me? I’m sure Leo can make a portal and get there immediately to help.” There’s shuffling on Casey’s end of the call signaling Donatello that he’s getting ready anyways to come out.

“Have I ever told you that you’re my favorite nephew slash friend slash family member who is capable of keeping a secret and who travelled back in time to save the world?”

“…No..but thank you? What’s the secret?”

“I’m accompanying a friend here on a casual excursion and I’d rather not let my brothers know.”

“Master Donatello, are you on a date?” The suggestive tone to his voice is hard to miss and he facepalms.

“You have three minutes left to get here, it’s the coaster at the far end of the park, not near the pier, the other direction. I’ll apprehend Stockboy and you take him to the station for me. Don’t tell my brothers.”

“Already on the way!”

“You’re the best, Junior!”

There’s a crowd gathering around the coaster as Baxter seems to be hovering over the tracks dismantling portions of it. The workers try their best to disperse the crowd and evacuate the ride as his battle shell whirs to life lifting him up face Stockboy.

“Stockboy.”

Donatello’s mechanical arms spring forth and grab Stockboys wings and pulls him off the coaster. His other two mechanical arms start to piece together the tracks at rapid speed.

“My rival! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?! I’m going to film the greatest clickbait video you’ve ever seen! I’ll hit a million views on Youtube!” Baxter wriggles to get lose with no avail, “It’ll be called ‘not clickbait: crazy rollercoaster goes off the tracks’!” his hands move farther apart from one another as he says the title.

The last bolt goes in and Donatello quickly descends and looks for Casey in the crowd. “While I most definitely would love to school you on the way algorithm and clickbait works, I do not have the time nor the energy. Insert clever monologue here.” Baxter clutches at his chest and gasps for air in dramatic fanfare as he’s lowered directly into Casey’s grip.

Catching Casey in the crowd he dives directly to him, Baxter swinging in the wind being held by the wings by his mech arm.

“I got it from here, Donatello. Go on and enjoy your date!” Casey dismantles Baxter’s wings and cuffs his wrists behind his back.

“Not a date! And consider your hockey stick upgraded by next week, Junior!” Donatello speeds off to the bathroom and flings himself into the stall.

7:08pm, he had two minutes left.

Exiting the building he ensures the signage remains outside and uses a lockpick to lock the doors just as a precaution and to keep his battle shell safe while in his brooch form.

7:10pm, ‘right on time’, rounding the corner he deftly weaves through the crowds and slows his steps down to maintain the air of ease. Running a hand through his hair to tussle he speaks up, “I’m back, my sincerest apology for the intermission on our evening.” Donatello feels the slight flush up his neck and cheeks.

“Did you eat the churro on the way back, or?”

“The churro!” he exclaims, “I knew I was forgetting something.” How could he forget the one thing he was meant to retrieve!? Even if Stockboy served as a mid evening distraction, he should’ve known better. It was one of two conditions that needed to be met in order for Violet to go to Albeartos’ in the first place. Internally he scolded himself to be more mindful of the requirements set for a successful evening.

He counts himself lucky as Violet waves him off dismissively, “Hey, it’s not problem. Were you having like a, TummyTello moment?”

His face burns with embarrassment, “Yes. I was most definitely having a TummyTello moment, I was using the…. lavatory and just…. forgot.” He wanted the ground to swallow him whole, maybe Stockboy could dismantle the ride with him on it so he’d plummet to his death.

The lightness of Violet’s laugh brings him back, “Gross, I hope you washed your hands after. All good, lets just go get a churro now.”

Violet stops abruptly and reaches into her fanny pack, “Here, it’s an Imodium.” She presses the tiny white pill into his palm, “It’ll help so you don’t have any more TummyTello moments. Happens to the best of us.” Nodding dutifully, he thanks her and takes a swig of water pretending to take the pill before tossing it discreetly over his shoulder as Violet makes her way to the nearest churro booth.

“It’s ok Don, when we need to go, we need to go! I’m not judging you.” A mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she teases him.

“That’s enough.”

“Donnie,” she turns to face him and uses her hands to make a funnel around her mouth as if to whisper something, Donatello leans much farther forward than he needs to meet her face, “everybody poops, it’s okay, buddy.”

“I am begging you to release me from the chains of my mortal body.”

Violet bursts into giggles while leaning her weight into the space unoccupied where his arm and body meets. Was she always this warm? Warmth flows from his chest up to his neck as his hand hesitantly finds purchase by her waist. Had she always fit so nicely into his arms? This is casual, he reminds himself. Friends did indulge in physical affection; he can’t count the number of times he and April cuddled. Even himself and Cassandra had shared an occasional cuddle, their shoulder pressed against each other during a movie marathon or while reading comics. There’s a distinct mood change as Violet sighs and pulls away, his hand now cold and a bitter taste in his mouth he ignored from the rejection.

After a short wait, Donatello says a quick ‘thank you’ and hands his friend the sugary snack. Violet lights up and squeals before taking a first bite, “Thanks, Don!” He returns her thanks with a smile, mentally checking off ‘Acquire Churro’ in his mental list. One out of two done. A bit of a hiccup with Stockboy, but he was back on track and nothing else could possibly ruin this….excursion. Donatello only needed to complete one more task, winning a carnival prize, to ensure victory for the best not-date slash friend-excursion Violet ever had.

“Bite.” She offers the stick to him and he plays into his disinterest to earn a pout and a glare before encasing her hand gently with his own to steady it before taking a smaller bite. Violet’s hands were small compared to his human ones; he could barely imagine how petite they’d be against his mutant ones. The thought alone makes him bite down on his lip to conceal a groan while a flush dances up his neck. He does a double take at his own reaction and stamps that down quickly. Friends didn’t think about other friends like that, he’d have to reference the friendship to romantic interest pipeline later to confirm.

“The sugar granules sticking to everything really makes this a treat.” He busies himself looking anywhere but Violet and willing his mind to clear itself.

“Oh, fuck off, more for me then! Wouldn’t want you to have another TummyTello moment anyways.” His brain is still rebooting and fails to produce a witty remark.

Gathering his wits, he trails after you to a standing table occupied by none other than Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant, sharing…. a candy apple and a soda? Immediately his senses are sharpened as he takes in his surroundings and the nearest exist as well as the restroom he had used for his battle shell if needed.

“C’mere. There’s some room.” A hand pulls his sleeve to place him beside her and he makes an effort to set himself between her and the table instead, his gaze not leaving the two Foot clan members. Violet furrows her brows trying to catch why there was such a distinct shift in his mood but finds nothing. Who does he call if it goes south? Mikey? He already knew where he was and it’d be an easy cover if Raph or Leo found out. Call Casey again? He’d most likely be close by and would most likely have his hands free if he passed Stockboy off to someone else.

In his peripheral he sees the churro and takes a bite wordlessly while glaring, the two didn’t seem to recognize him (why would they?), and he wasn’t the most intimidating either as his human self but he was steadfast. Feeling a jab in his ribs he shifts his attention to his counterpart, “Dude. Knock it off. Sorry about him, he has no manners!” Violet scowls at him before laughing sheepishly to cover up for his ‘poor manners’. Foot Lieutenant quirks an eyebrow at him before taking a bite of his apple slice menacingly.

Donatello puts an arm protectively around Violet’s shoulder without breaking his gaze, “Lets pick another table.”

“Donatello!” Violet scolds him and it feels like his knuckles have been thwacked with a ruler. His grip loosens but doesn’t leave, he tries a different way to prompt an escape by pushing into Violet to get her to walk. Violet angerly shrugs his hand off her shoulder and glares up at him with a fire in her eyes, “It’s fine! You’re worked up over nothing.”

Foot Brute shrugs nonchalantly, “We look a lil funny, we get it.” He wants to scoff, as if they didn’t nearly cause the end of the world a few years back. He bites his tongue so he doesn’t chime in with a ‘yeah, you do!’ to upset Violet further. Foot Lieutenant pipes up, “Yes, we’re an odd sight to see indeed.” He waves his hand in the air dismissively and continues eating.

“There are weirder things in New York.” Violet responds politely with a smile.

Discreetly, Donatello pulls his phone from his pocket and opens a text thread to Michelangelo.

‘Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant @ Albeartos. Churro booth, west side, by pirate ship. ASAP. No shell. Brooch on.’  

‘OTW, hang tight!’

The cold shoulder and blatant dismissal of his concern makes him flustered with anger more than it stings with rejection. Did she not trust him?

He scowls and keeps his eye out for Michael, his body still in front of hers but turned away with his arms over his chest. There’s light conversation at the table he doesn’t pay attention to.

His acts on instinct.

“Don’t touch her.” He latches onto the offending wrist so tight his knuckles turn white. His thoughts spiral, Violet was going to get hurt, if he let his guard down for a moment longer, she would’ve gotten hurt. His chest is tight and he wills his breathing to even out and taking slower breaths lest he gasp for air. How dare this cretin who was almost responsible for the apocalypse reach for his Violet? How dare he, how dare he, how dare he-

“Donnie!”                                                                                                                  

He’s brought back to reality; his grip loosens immediately at her voice. Liquid drips off the table and churro long forgotten on the ground. “Violet, I-“ Frantically he reaches for spare napkins on the table realizing the mess he’s gotten himself into.

“Save it, Don.” The napkins are snatched out of his hands and he curls in on himself, dejected. Your hands touch briefly but it isn’t warm this time. “Apologize to them if you’re going to apologize to anyone.” Violet didn’t understand, they were going to harm her. That’s what the Foot Clan did, they harmed. She didn’t know what they were capable of, what they’d done. If he could just explain himself-

“I’ll be right back.” Violet glares icily in his direction, pools of hazel brimming with tears.

Violet disappears from view and a flash of orange and red make their appearance. He knew his brothers ninpos like the back of his hand. There’s no time to dawdle, reflect on his thoughts or chase after his friend.

The youngest brother swoops down beside him and Donatello makes a b-line to the washroom he’d used last, fingers already working on his buttons. He’d help his brothers to take the Foot down and then run after Violet. There was only two of them, so it’d be quick.

He changes into his gear, pockets his brooch on his person for easy access before storming out of the bathroom and catching up to Raphael and Michelangelo.

“Why’d you bring Raph?” whispering through his teeth to the orange terrapin.

“Sorry, Dee! He caught me sneaking out and came with. I said you were taking a ‘self care day’.”

Foot Brute and Lieutenant raise their hands palms facing up, “We can’t have a single day off without you turtles harassing us?”

“Day off? Crime doesn’t take a day off!” Raphael does a Superman pose.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?” Michelangelo interjects and points at their winter clothes.

“We’re doing a staycation!”

Donatello checks the time on his tech gauntlet, “You don’t expect us to seriously believe that do you?”

Raph scratches his chin uncertainly, “Well, they are bundled up in regular clothes. Maybe they’re telling the truth?”  

Michelangelo lowers his weapon, “Dee…”

Donatello scoffs, he didn’t just “ruin” the entire evening for two criminals on a ‘staycation’. “Even if they were on a ‘staycation’,” he makes air quotes, “they had rudely interrupted my da-“ Michelangelos’ hand slaps over his mouth, the words hanging in the air.

“Interrupted his day!” Michelangelo covers for him. “Remember? I told you Raph, he’s having a self care day. His day has been ruined.” Donatello nods tight lipped. Spirits, he was so stupid. The eldest brother nods slowly and shrugs then turns back around, “We can’t fight them over nothing though, they haven’t technically done anything.”

Foot Lieutenant moves around the table slowly with his hands up, “Are we good to go, folks? You heard the big guy we haven’t done anything.”

Raphael eyes them cautiously but side steps to let them pass, Michelangelo following suit casting a furrowed browed look at Donatello. Donatello clenches his fists as he begrudgingly side-steps, but not fast enough as Lieutenant trips over a table leg and stumbles into him before righting himself and walking off with Foot Brute in tow.

Donatello lets a ‘tsk’ fall from his lips as he glares holes into the pair walking away. All this trouble for what? For nothing? He wanted the ground to swallow him whole. He must look crestfallen since a large hand rests itself on his shoulder, “Don’t worry Donnie! Your self care day isn’t ruined with us around! Let Miguel and Rapharoni take care of ya!”

He needed to find Violet.

Michelangelo is on it before Donatello even needs to spare him a glance, “Raph, a self care day is usually done by yourself! Dr.Feelings prescribed it. I’m sure Donnie-boy can continue on with his day in peace.”

Raphael strokes his chin thoughtfully, “You sure you don’t want us to stick around?”

Donatello’s already making steps away from them, “Ah, yeah I think so Raph.” His hand makes a move for his pants pocket and feels the flat expanse of his thigh instead of a telltale feeling of the brooch underneath fabric. Immediately his eyes are searching for the perpetrators frantically as he pats himself down to ensure he didn’t just place the brooch in a different area. “Mikey, they took my cloaking brooch.” He feels as though his head been dunked under ice water. Raphael’s voice is warbly and he can’t make out quite what he’s saying.

“Mikey, I need the brooch. They must’ve grabbed it when they bumped into me. We have to get it back, I can’t- Violet, she-“  

Donatello feels Raphael’s squeeze around him firmly while dragging his hands along his battle shell, “I don’t know what’s going on, but Raph’s got you, ‘right? We’ll get it back.” Donatello presses his snout against the comforting presence of his brother and inhales deeply, feeling himself relax head to toe.

Michelangelo’s gives an affectionate head bump and nuzzles his snout into his forehead, “We got you, Dee.”

Inhale. Exhale.

His family has him.

Raphael slowly releases his arms around the smaller frame, “Okay, we know they went vaguely that way, so they can’t be far. Mad Dogz, lets roll out and get that brooch!”

If he was in a better frame of mind, he’d let the warm fuzzies wash over him. However, right now, he doesn’t let that distract him. Checking his tech gauntlet, 7:50pm, which meant it had roughly been ten minutes since Violet stormed off. If she was cleaning herself off, it probably gave them another ten, fifteen at most, to get the brooch, change and then meet her back here at this table.

The three of them split up, Donatello taking an aerial approach, scouring the nearby areas. Pulling his goggles down he let them do the work to finding the culprits.

“Gottem!” Michelangelo’s voice rings in his ears, his voice projecting from an internal speaker attached to his goggles. His tech gauntlet glows to life, and he follows the moving dot on the interface to his brother. He zips down and joins the fray with his brothers.

Golden chains whiz by him and encircle Lieutenant of the pair while Raphael battles Foot Brute off to the side, his sais equipped and swinging. Lieutenant manages to origami and summon a few origami foot ninjas that all pounce towards Donatello at alarming speeds. Goggles still equipped he lets his scanners run over Lieutenant to pick out the mystic energy of his brooch and his screen hones in on his front pocket in his coat. Found it.

Deftly he moves from one foot to the other dodging the ninjas dust kicking up from every step as he approaches the struggling Lieutenant in Michelangelo’s chains. His hand reaches forward and grazes the fabric of the jacket, and he goes flying as a large body collides with his side throwing him a few feet from the action as he tumble rolls in the ground.

Donatello coughs as his battle shell takes most of the brunt landing on his back then glares at Raphael who’s already spewing sheepish apologies while he strides over to come help him to his feet. Using his tech-bo he swipes at Foot Brute to launch him farther from him and Raphael helps him up.

“Donnie, catch!”

His hand flies up and he grasps around the tiny artifact with a grin, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Flappy hands ensue for only a moment before he faces his oldest brother, “I’m guessing you guys got this?”

Raphael salutes, “We got it, Donnie.” A comforting hand on his shoulder, “And whenever you’re ready, Raph is ready to listen. We’ll keep this a secret for now.” He winks with his signature snaggle toothed grin and Donatello isn’t sure what he did in his past life to deserve his brothers in this life.

Donatello knocks his head against Raphael’s and tosses an up-nod to Michelangelo and darts off tripping over his feet on his way to the bathroom for what felt like the hundredth time.

8:20pm, he slams the door behind him and curses his luck for tonight. He chants a mantra of ‘don’t panic’ in his head as he pulls his legs through leg holes and arms through sleeves along with everything else then bypassing a mirror and running out.

Violet is oh so conveniently not by the churro stand he curses under his breath as he runs down the path to the exit, weaving through the thinning crowd. He wished he had his goggles and battle shell equipped to fly; it would be so much easier.

He sees curly hair and an oversized coat in a purposeful stride to the exit and the anxiety comes back full force. “Wait! Letty!”

He knows that she hears him as she stops abruptly and turns around to face him with her shoulder back and her chin held high with glossy eyes and a scowl, “What is it now, Donatello? You ditch me and-“ her breathing is ragged as she stops mid-sentence and gestures wildly at him. His hand flies to his chest, no, the brooch is on. That’s not what she’s staring at. “What the fuck is going on!?” She all but shrieks at him.

He looks down and does a double take as the humiliation hits him like a truck. It sinks into his skin and holds him his chest and throat in a vice. Shirt rumpled, inside out and with the buttons were mismatched to the wrong hole which led to the bottom of his shirt being wildly uneven. His pants equipped but backwards. He remembered his socks, but not his shoes. Of course, he remembers the socks. But not the shoes. Mutant turtles did not wear shoes.

“Ha ha, I can totally explain this!”

He can totally explain this.

His hand is still hovering over his chest, all he needs to do is pull the brooch off.

Violet stares holes into him and waits for his explanation.

The Violet of his mind yells at him for lying and he never hears from her again, and so his hand finds his buttons to fumble with instead to buy him time. “Okay, listen. I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while and-“

“And?”

Just like it did the other night, his tech gauntlet glows underneath his sleeve and he knows she can see it to. He catches the slight exhale she does as she tries not to deflate, and he tries to start over but his phone buzzes in his now front pocket.

He opens his mouth to start over but closes it as his phone starts to ring. His brothers needed him. They wouldn’t call him if they didn’t.

Was it too much of an assumption to think Violet needed him too? Wanted him? Even as a mutant turtle? Was it too far-fetched? Was the danger associated with his hero duties ‘too much’ for Violet? Was it safer for her if they just parted ways here instead?

The thought makes him breathless, and he decides he can’t bare with that idea. He needed her too.

He memorizes the way his favorite strand of curly hair fell between her eyes, the way she always needed to brush it out of the way because it was too long and a nuisance to you, but you also never wanted to cut. The soft curve of the apple of her cheeks and the arch of her cupids bow when she smiles for him. The scent of lilacs and vanilla swarmed him, encircled and held him close. Her gaze was hardened and targeted at him, but Spirits, her eyes were his favorite. They reminded him of lightning, even as they shone with unshed tears (that he caused, and it makes him ill to think about too long). He liked to think he could recognize her gaze anywhere.

“I’m really sorry, I have to take this.” He hopes she can hear the regret laced in his tone as he sprints in the other direction.

The Violet of his mind smiles at him and tells him to go, says that she’ll wait for him and that it’s okay with a wave and a lighthearted grin.

Not bothering with undressing his backwards pants (the texture was driving him insane now they he knew the seams were all wrong), he pulls the brooch off and summons his battle shell, equips his goggles and abandons his shirt on the way and quickly reaches his brothers and unleashes the rage.

The Foot had called for reinforcements in the time he’d gone and come back. He assisted with the fight, clearing his mind of everything but using his skills to ensure his and his brothers’ safety. Zipping around the battlefield he shares space with Michelangelo who swings a foot ninja in the sky for Raphael to smack down mid-air.

“Didn’t go too well, huh?”

Donatello hated how easy he was to read.

He dodges and flips a ninja over his shoulder, “I think that’s the understatement of the century.”

“It’ll work itself out, Dee!” Ah. The optimist of the family. “You just gotta hope!”

Donatello rolls his eyes so far back into his head he’s surprised he still has the ability to see once he’s blinked.

Raphael sends Foot Brute into a nearby stand, stuffed toys that were meant for prizes scatter amongst the ground, a stuffed corduroy frog with a tiny crown sewn atop his head hits him in the shoulder.  “Hope hasn’t failed us yet, Donnie!” He clocks that Raphael really doesn’t know what’s going on but is just as supportive.

“Just win me something at one of those rigged carnival games.”

“You’re a genius, Raph!”

He picks up the stuffed frog with a mechanical arm and it’s tucked safely away in a compartment in his battle shell. He didn’t really win it, but it still counted if he shifted the requirements mildly. Winning against the Foot Clan warranted a prize and the stuffed frog that laid in his mechanical shell was prize enough for him.

Hope.

He could still turn this around.

A grandeur apology, from the heart, with the second half of the requirement. Followed up by the truth.

Donatello effortlessly dodges and parries his way through enemies, and on the third call to Violet she finally picks up.

“What?” Her voice feeds clear in his ears from the goggles. She’s mad. Noted and very reasonable.

“There are not enough words to express how deeply apologetic I am for how tonight went. Let me make it up to you.” From the heart, that part is important. Something Dr.Feelings had told him long ago. The silence on the other end is weighted and he’s mildly distracted as he ducks and uses his tech-bo to block with a grunt.

“….Okay, where are you?” He couldn’t believe that she’d be willing to meet with him still, after everything and the thought makes him feel fuzzy. He’d go up to her in his mutant form, just rip the band aid off.

His attention is needed elsewhere for but a moment and he swings down, his ninpo materializing at the end of his tech-bo in the form of a three-digit hand and slams down on the opposing forces coming closer to Raphael, “Phalange sandwich!”

How many of these stupid little origami ninjas were there!? He felt like he’d been fighting for a lifetime.

“I-….is there… like, a finger sandwich place at Albeartos? Do you want me to turn around and meet you there?”

He facepalms hard forgetting Violet could hear him and yells in frustration to himself, “No!”  

“Ok! I won’t turn around then.” She huffs annoyed.

Frustration was building quickly, and he was running out of patience for this, “Er, yes! Turn around! I was…speaking to someone else!” Can’t he do anything right?

“Who’re you talking to? Who else is there?”

There’s a looming presence behind him that takes Donatello by surprise as Foot Lieutenant tries to take a peak at his tech gauntlet over his shoulder while simultaneously throwing a punch he narrowly dodges, “Trouble in paradise?”  

“It’s none of your business!” He yells and promptly slaps a hand over his mouth realizing his mistake.

“Excuse me!?”

Scratch that, he could not turn this around.

The ringing in his ears is sudden and incessant. Chest constricting uncomfortably, time slows down as he watches his brothers continue to dwindle the Foot Clans numbers, the park guests long gone from the area.

“Listen, if this is your weird way of doubling down that you don’t have feelings for me, this is in crazy bad taste.”

Why was he breathing so fast? The rhythmic thumping in his ears was too loud. Everything was too loud, so why did Violet sound so far away? He’s in an out of focus but he manages to fight the breathlessness for a moment, “No! No, of course not.” What was the question again? Feelings? Bad taste? He can’t remember.

In the peripheral, Foot Lieutenant and Foot Brute tied back-to-back on a large pole to hold them there. Good riddance. The rumble of Raphael’s footsteps is what he grounds himself to first, then Michaels concerned expression comes into view. His tech-bo is gently taken from his hand as he gently shoves Michael backwards, he’s too close. He could barely make out the words Michael was saying to him, their eyes wide and pupils dilated. Raphael’s mouth moves but he can’t hear him either over the thumping in his ears.

“Can you just tell me what’s going on!?” Her voice is clear and concise. She’s upset with him, but he’s thankful as it’s the only voice that brings him out of it.

“Galileo, Newton and the stars above, just shut up for two seconds! I can’t even think!”

Raphaels’ and Michelangelos’ hands retract from him as he catches his breath.

“‘Shut up’? ‘Shut up’!? You literally called me! Fuck you Donatello!”

The line goes dead.

He indistinctly hears Raphael ask what was going on. Asks if he’s okay. Is he? He doesn’t think he is. He needed to get to Violet. Raphael urges gently for him to talk to them. He can’t, words still escape his dry mouth.

His hand hangs limply beside him, tech gauntlet still on the screen for Violet’s contact. Michelangelo’s hand finds his elbow, calloused fingers rub on the inside of his elbow in an attempt to soothe him.

There’s more mumbling and he can’t quite remember how he got to his car, but Michael loads him into the back seat. The younger brother buckles himself in and turns to him, “Raph is just going to take care of the Foot clan guys, okay Donnie?” His voice is soft, the way an adult speaks to a child after a nightmare.

He concludes he must’ve nodded since Michael smiles and adds on, “I’m going to take you home, ok?”

Home.

His mind goes to his lab, then to the couch in the living room, well loved from numerous turtle piles and movie nights. There was a purple beanbag for him with a bundle of fleece blankets folded for him- the perfect texture against his shell. It quickly pans over to the kitchen cabinet where all the teas and coffees are stored. Leo would always go for hibiscus, something sweet for a tea. Raphael liked herbal teas and Michael would drink anything given he could put too much sugar in it. He kept the coffee pods in there, he loved the convenience.

Donatello’s startled at how quickly the visage morphs into coasters placed on top of the fridge, fluffy slippers (just for him) and the sound of a Keurig as background noise paired with the soft citrus smell of a Clementine. The TV is running, there’s a gentle breeze from the balcony door accompanied by the soft yellow glow of fairy lights. There are too many trinkets everywhere, too messy for his taste to leave everything out, but showed that the space was well lived in. Everything is cozy.

His hand brushes against paper and he straightens up, startled out of his thoughts, before glancing down.

Asters, Forget-me-nots and Gardenias. Wrapped in paper and fastened together in a bouquet with a purple ribbon.

His vision is blurry, his eyes glassy but he doesn’t let the tears fall.

He’s never felt so homesick.

TBC

A/N okay, good god this took me AGES to write and mainly because i dont think i characterize donnie very well and it puts me in my head alot. SIGH. but anyways this turned out alright, i suppose. LOL i hope yall enjoy it atleast! 

If you read this chapter and the last one back to back, you’ll notice I’ve written the way Letty and Donnie see eachother different. There are portions where in the last chapter it’ll say that Violet chuckles and from Donnies POV, he views it as her giggling. It’s kind of a play on how you see people with rose colored glasses when you have a crush on them lmao. I pepper these in the chapter and I’ve also peppered in the same verbage Letty uses in Donnies POV too to display how they’re vaguely thinking the same things as well. 

I’m not sure if anyone has ever been in such much denial with being in-like or in-love with someone but I have and I’m drawing directly from the experience (dw i got there lmao my person and I are together not for two years and counting haha). But being in denial of your feelings the way Donnie is makes him a horrible narrator (thus all the crossed out dialogue he perceives as intrusive thoughts he should not even entertain) and makes him extremely inconsistent in terms of referring to him hanging out with Letty as romantic or not. So I hope that makes sense on why he’s so all over the place. He literally can’t keep it together LMAO I hope Donnie isn’t becoming to repetitive but HES GOING TO RESOLVE IT SOON. You know our boy needs to think really hard. 

I’d also like to say Violet is also conflicted in terms of coming clean, but I feel like it doesn’t hit her as hard as she’s practically pretty much always had a soft spot for him. Her reveal also isn’t as “large” in terms of the fact that she physically still has the same face etc and her rose colored glasses just aren’t as pink because she can admit that she does /like/ him. Donnie is literally changing into a completely different person and species whenever he uses his cloak and this ilicits a much larger concern for him. He also can’t quite pin down /why/ he continues to lie (obvi bc he likes her but lmfao hes getting there), which adds onto his stress. 

If this “date” had gone well, they would have made the reveal this night but I still want to write these two fucking idiots so I needed to make this horrible for both of them so I can continue to write them. (: LOL 

@maribatshipper @goldenpanda16 @moonlightmarauder​ @samilucas67​

#Donnie #tmnt donnie #donnie x reader #rise donnie #rise donatello #rise donatello x reader #rise donatello x oc #rise donnie x oc #tmnt #rottmnt #the cloaking brooch dilemma tmnt #donnie x oc #donatello x oc

[twinkuraba]

I'm asking YOU to do Neku / Shiki for the ship bingo.

You know, that's fair lmao

Honestly this ship for me is just like. The highlight of Shiki's wasted potential as a character.

Poor girl gets fridged and trophied HARD in the name of het romance at the cost of her character (esp in the sequel jfc) and it makes me sad for her, especially when one of her most memorable traits isn't even hers in the end, it's about her importance to a guy.

I do love Neku and Shiki's importance to each other; if Shiki didn't exist, or hadn't pacted with him that day, Neku wouldn't have changed (maybe wouldn't have even survived), and Joshua would have 'won', she's probably the first real connection Neku's had to other people in a long time, the kick in the ass he needed to reconnect.

But as a romantic ship, I can't see it as anything other than something that's going to crash and burn if it doesn't turn incredibly co-dependent and unhealthy (though that's like, the worst end scenario, more likely the two of them would enter a relationship, have a honeymoon phase then it would become shallow and unsatisfying when they mutually realised that there's only so far and so deep they can take the relationship with their current understanding of each other); they only have scraps in common, if that, and the way the narrative treats her in regards to her feelings makes me feel, gross on her behalf. In the second game, Shiki basically only exists narratively to give Neku something to return to; there's a throwaway line that she has her own brand now, but no mention of Eri, and her friendship with Beat was completely gutted. Otherwise, her entire existence is to basically be the trope of the woman waiting for her beloved to return. And I hate that. Especially since there's nothing in either game that makes me feel like there's anything deep enough between them to warrant such feelings.

There is a phenomenon where someone in a situation that raises their heart-rate and adrenaline will mistakenly think their feelings and attraction are deeper than they actually are, due to mistaking the adrenaline response as being because of their feelings, and I think that's a good summary of how I see NS; shallow teenhood crush that they mistakenly think is deeper affection due to the adrenaline of the game, and a potentially weak relationship when they realise they barely have anything in common, in fact, they barely even know each other, and Neku gets pulled away into another problem before they could theoretically even begin to try and develop a relationship outside of a stress situation.

(That and Neku never actually takes accountability for how he hurt her during that first week, and you'd be an idiot if you think Shiki doesn't still have that floating somewhere in the back of her head, combined with the gulf of life experience between them (you can't tell me that Neku, who has been stuck in the UG of a dead city for X amount of years, would have the same life experience as Shiki, who has been in the RG that whole time and interacting with people and living), Neku's probable trauma, and Shiki's seeming avoidance of anything to do with the UG and it just all around seems like an implosion waiting to happen).

But I adore the idea of them as best friends. As close as two people can platonically get, because at the end of the day, Shiki is one of Neku's important people, just like Beat and Joshua, and if there's one thing I hate it's people discounting a character's platonic relationships in the name of their romantic ones.

#umbral chats #long post #kinda rambly and meandering but eh

[bbiwon]

heyy all ♥ name's lola, here presenting the misunderstood character prompt, moon jaewon; who looks like a badboy, walks like a badboy but is a soft-hearted individual in reality. under the cut i've provided information about him in a bullet point list. if you'd like to interact, i'm available through both IMs and discord, latter which i strongly prefer, but i don't mind either platforms at the end of the day. thank you for your time! ♥

9th february 1999, born and raised in seoul

father teacher at an elementary school, mother working at a supermarket only fair to say that jaewon has lived an average life, sitting on the lower scale of the middle class. has a sister younger than him by few years. always was the type who was drawing; there's so many childhood drawings back at their home done by him alone that one could probably make a whole new house out of it. however, he played football mostly, since kindergarten all throughout the start of high-school, due to his parents' wish. decided to quit at the start of high-school, under the excuse that he wants to focus on studies.

in reality, he's spent his free time returning to his true passion... which quickly spirals into him drawing all the time, filling one too many sketchbooks all too fast; studies of value, anatomy, charcoal, graphite, cheap (dry) pastels. he develops a liking for a flowy touch of charcoal, alike breathy strokes of ink, quickly gaining a personal style. it's all done through naver and whichever book he can dig up from the local library, though, because his parents aren't really supportive of him following the path of an artist. after all, they are all struggling to put bread on the table and they don't want their son to be like that too.

semi-decently liked in high school, hits puberty early and has that boy crush vibes to him; with him being generally nice to everyone there are a few dates here and there but nothing serious ever happens. he had a lot of acquaintances and a few good friends though.

during this time, alongside a somewhat unlimited access to the internet and its wonders while his parents work, he finds a liking to tattoos in a way that's more complex than saying oh that looks pretty on their skin. he starts copying work done on skin of western celebrities at first, then starts coming up with his own design. gets stick and poke material from a friend of a friend of a friend and starts doing stuff on his legs mostly, thankfully most of which is now covered up

in a way, his parents have been right. his hyper-focus on it, mixed with the rebellious "i'll do what i want to do with my life" phase leads jaewon into not really studying when he's meant to be studying, so throughout high-school, his grades tank a lot. unfortunately, it's not enough to be hardworking re: drawing and talented to enter university and in spite of the evident talent, jaewon fails to enroll.

his parents aren't happy with it obviously soo he almost goes for his mandatory service right away instead, but in that same rebellious manner he says no (for now) and spends next two years... working night shifts at one of those 24-hour convenience shops while also doing an apprenticeship, attending conventions, pestering and listening to whoever wants to speak to him of the work. safe to assume he did in fact look like a zombie 18-20 and he's been barely-contact with his parents during that time

dedication, time, skill, tears, suffering have him landing a job in seoul straight out of apprenticeship, at a rather smaller place where he spends a little over a year, still looking up to his seniors; though he doesn't stay there long.

a friend of a friend (plot!?) recommends him barracuda, even if it's a city away. it's better in every way, with it being at a mall rather than some side alleyway on outskirts of seoul's city centre, and apparently the pay is better. he travels to daegu to check it out, carrying his portfolio, and it's like both ends have hit a jackpot at that moment. it's also a change of environment that he thinks would suit him well mentally so...

he becomes a full time artist @ the place. really enjoys his work and the shop, earning himself a respected name in the span of next two years (and ongoing) that he's there. (if my timeline is wrong ignore that)

gone complete no-contact with his parents due to all of this (distance also helps) but his sister thinks he's cool and that's all that matters to him in the end. tends to sleep over inside barracuda often after staying in late, which doesn't bother him much in the end because he lives in a really small studio apt anyway

his work can be seen on ig (@bbiwon) as it stands as a online-portfolio (sketches, flashes, healed tats; persona is anonymous). without going into detail describing his style, i will simply say that his work is similar to work of moku (a forewarning that he tattoos butterflies in case anyone is icked by them); with that flowy, almost freehand looking strokes. i envision his "signature tattoo" being variations on koi fishes, done in that same 'brushy' stroke/airy style. one day when i'm not lazy i'll draw an example of this

personality wise, jaewon is very soft spoken and thoughtful of others, the type that is comforting even if he doesn't say anything. calm, scarcely angry (but really spiteful and grudge holding if you manage to piss him off), the type who starts conversation about anything and everything without being embarrassed about it. carefree to an extent, holding the belief that everything will work out well in the end; though often prone to making spur of the moment decisions in his personal life. compassionate, casual & easy-going, sociable, very much caring even in moments when he should be putting himself first. the type to notice if someone isn't talking in a group of people and try to involve them. tries and isnt opposed to small talk during sessions but also reads people easily and their comfort levels

some other tidbits: — plays league of legends, maintaining a masters rank for past several seasons — the type to have "loves long walks on the beach/by the river/lake and watching sunset" on tinder but still can't make it past the second date (he actually doesn't know what he wants out of a relationship) — likes to drink, friends know how physically affectionate he actually gets when drunk — vapes... strawberry flavour... i'm sorry — dresses baggy, streetwear, comfortable — his first personal instagram kind of blew up which made him uncomfortable, so he deleted that one and made a new one. now, it is actually private and really small selection of people — trying really hard to learn how to play the guitar but also not really successful at it. will play it however to everyone's misfortune — drives a motorcycle, skateboards — lover of alt music, fan of cigarettes after sex and collects their vinyl releases despite not owning a turntable — his hair is crying but he keeps bleaching it — carries his ipad with him 24/7, always sketching something in free time — aquarius sun scorpio moon scorpio rising but you see idk what any of it means — mitski - i bet on losing dogs.mp3

if i ever think of anything more re: him (and i'm always thinking about him i love my #NotEmo boy) 'll be adding it!

i prefer brainstorming for plotting, or taking up other people's wanted plots as my brain is pea sized, but some ideas i have are: a failed tinder date who happens to actually work at the same mall , store right next to barracuda and it's kinda awkward seeing you every day or alternatively lets try again; someone who's a fan of his work; someone who he helped with a hangover after one of those forbidden parties at the mall; somehow every saturday you bump into one another when he's skating next to the geumho river and omg again? third time you're paying for a drink; mysterious person he's in a high-score war with at xpixel; coworkers; someone who thinks he's bad influence bc of his work & appearance... etcetera

#sunsetintro #am i breaking the ice omg... #also realized how much i wrote omg...

[tarenitdown]

Okay, uh, multiple questions...

1. Favorite member of recreyo in general? How about to write?

2. Any stray au ideas?

3. Uuuh shoot those arent multiple- just say anything you want about them, even a hot take.

1- Den is my number one member, hands down. I actually found out about Recreyo through her, so I have a lot of bias considering she was one of my favorites during that whole animation story-time era of Youtube...

That being said, though, my favorite to write is still Christian. He just has the most lore to work with, and I really adore writing his dialogue, especially when he's interacting with Ivan. I doubt that that's surprising. xD

However, Kristine is growing on me a lot more as time goes on. In the past I hadn't exactly gotten her characterization down yet, so I found her a little difficult and messy, but I'm definitely starting to get a feel for it now.

2- Oh boy... too many. Although I'm trying to stay focused on the SPY AU, my mind wanders and I ended up with a slowly-developing Ghost AU.

TW: Animal Death

It'd center around Kristine as a (mostly) well-meaning urban explorer, who accidentally stumbles upon a trail of dead animals in the forest. Strangely enough, all of the animals are drained of their blood with barely any exterior wounds, and this is what gets Kristine's curiosity.

Following the path of death, Kristine finds an abandoned tower with boarded up doors and windows... it's eerie, but she takes out a camera and snaps photos of the tower from the outside. After all, she's not sure if she wants to go in quite yet.

But as she walks around, capturing the scenes of fallen trees and graffiti...

The air gets hot. It's like she can't breathe, tugging on her shirt collar.

She drops the camera when she sees a ghostly body floating in front of her. This is where she meets Christian, a boy who looks just about the same age as her, but his skin looks drippy. As though he was sweating, or almost melting.

He greets her cheerfully, if not a bit apprehensive. The two hit it off immediately, with Kristine listening to Christian's rambles of how he hated the scenery. She asks him about his ghost-situation, and he doesn't answer.

Instead, he calls out "Curt! Ivan!" and two more boys show up. They phase through the tower's walls.

Curt has tears running down his face, even though he doesn't appear necessarily sad. He's actually very polite, and tells Christian off for talking to a real person, with it being "dangerous."

Ivan's eyes are pitch black, but the main feature Kristine notices is actually how he's reflective- almost like glass. He doesn't seem to care at all about Christian and Curt's bickering, but he keeps his distance away from the explorer.

"How are you guys all.. dead? Er- ghosts-?" Again, Kristine asks. Nobody gives a solid answer, and Ivan only stammers stupid excuses.

Then, they all go silent. That's when Kristine turns around to see the last ghost: Den.

Just like the other three, Den has a slightly altered design. Her face is flushed, and she has to wipe her mouth every few minutes due to stray drool.

Kristine finds out that Den is the one who had been killing all the animals and draining them of their blood. She apparently has an endless thirst for blood, and she complains that Christian is only making it worse by being present.

Kristine: ..Oh, is.. is he doing that? That explains the temperature.

...And thats pretty much all I have right now. There's no real plot I have written beyond just characterizations. I had the vague idea of Chilly being an angry spirit and being the antagonist herself.

And for the deaths?

Christian died from burning alive (which is why he makes areas warmer/is melting),

Den died of dehydration after getting lost during a trip (she has a specific thirst for blood due to a small blame on others for her death),

Ivan got stabbed with glass (I don't know the backstory for this, it might change honestly),

..Curt doesn't remember his death at all. I imagine he died in his sleep because of unexplained illnesses or something.

Maybe I'll write a two-parter for this AU. I enjoy that it'd definitely take a more genuine approach to the group dynamic.

3- A hot take? Hmmm.. I imagine that this fandom isn't even big enough for takes to be controversial... but I'll say that Ivan and Den's dynamic often goes unexplored/forgotten about, despite how iconic it is.

And that's a shame, really. Ivan/Christian is my favorite duo dynamic, but it honestly parallels (and even takes after) Ivan/Den.

With the shared blame on Ivan for their own individual grudges (Barney's death, Shadypaws' endangerment/Den's framing in the AA case) it also opens up the door for a Den/Christian duo too.

A lot of people like to portray Den as someone villainous, but Ivan is the exact same. Their misdeeds are just in two different ways. Den is loud about it, while Ivan has more tact. Even ignoring their history, just the personalities are enough to get me so invested.

And don't get me started on how they both had incredible duos with Chilly. Because there it is again- another layer to the group dynamic that shifts relationships ever-so-slightly but still with so much impact.

It's so much more than just "Haha knife girl go brrr @ loser boy." As funny as it is, I really think that the two have a charming rivalry while still maintaining that level of "I might not like you all that much, but if you're all I've got, then I guess we're family."

(This was just a bunch of word vomit, I dunno if this is all readable... thank you for the ask.)

#Ask #Recreyo

[svtyandere]

Um I'm sorry to bother, but I was wondering, how are you? :)))

And like a little abt urself. Your name's Tim, what're you're pronouns, and how's you get into svt. All those kinda things.

- 🎐

No ur not bothering me do not worry 🫶 I’m sorry for getting to this so late but I’ve been very busy 💔 I’m rlly good, life’s been pretty easy so far which is greattt except that my back rlly hurts cuz I had to move a whole ass couch the other day. so yeah what about you ??

Yeah so I’m Tim which isn’t my actual name but I’d prefer using it online so… and I got it from Tim drake (red robin) from DC because he’s a cutie patootie. I use he/she so I don’t mind if I get masculine or feminine terms I’d just not prefer gender neutral ones lmao

Uhm I got into K-pop around 2019 because I was going through a rlly rough patch and during that time I stanned heaps of groups but I grew out of that phase after maybe a year. But earlier this year I actually have no clue how but suddenly I was back into seventeen again, and it’s strange because seventeen wasn’t even my ult in 2019 I barely knew the members even. But idk I’m rlly happy I’m stanning them again carats are so sweet and they’re all so 🤤

ALSO TYYY for being my first anon ahhhh 🫶🫶🫶 so yeah I love interacting with people so feel free to respond or just chat to me I’m so open to having online carat friends (esp since none of my irls are carats 💔) and what are ur pronouns as well??

#🎐 anon

[mary-is-writing]

End of the Year Recap – 2022

This has certainly been a year, hasn't it?

In the spirit of this being the last month of the year, I thought about doing a small recap of what this year has been for me in here and my writing. I have famously bad memory (thanks adhd) so I'm probably gonna miss some things here and there, but I'll try my best to remember as much as I can. So, let's go on a trip down memory lane!!

In the beginning - Starting 2022

I had a good start of the year, followed by the breath of fresh air that 2021 was for me. We we're still in quarantine but around March/April we went back to in-person interactions, so there was a lot of moving during those months. Around that time is where the first very important thing of the year happened: I finished draft 2 of The Monsters Only We See, my standalone wip, as well as starting to look for more beta readers. I have to admit, I haven't followed o the whole beta-ing of the wip as I should, but I want to continue it, specially with me continuing the English translation.

I also started said translation roughly after finishing draft 2, and like I said, I haven't been the best at keeping up with it. But I still have time while I look up how to get the money to register it and where/how to share it, mainly digitally but also maybe physically.

A very special month - June 2022

This year's main highlight for sure: on June 9th I finished the first draft of Book 1 of Where Camellias Blossom, my fantasy trilogy. Man I was so happy. This was my second time experiencing finishing a draft (the first one being TMOWS) and there really is something so special to watch a project's phase be complete. It's a mix of the ecstasy of "holy crap I did it!!", a nostalgia for the journey walked and the comfort of a path in the back for finishing it. I think the experience of writing the first draft is unique, it doesn't compare to doing the 2nd or the 3rd.

I started the first draft for Book 2 and I already have notes for changes to draft 2 of Book 1 in order to keep the continuity 😅 so I'm looking forward to both continuing the draft of Book 2 and coming back to work on Book 1.

Guys I think we're getting burnout - July to October 2022

Y'know, in retrospective think I might have wasted all of my energy on finishing the first draft of WCB Book 1. There isn't a lot to say about this months because I didn't do a lot. Most of what I did here was continuing the work with the wips I had, throw there are two important things that happened on October:

1) I finished the 3rd draft of TMOWS. It was easier and I'm very happy with this as the last version. Maybe I'll do some tweaks here and there if I get to have a few more beta readers, but I like the structure and the plot the way they are now.

2) I started Little Shadows, my horror podcast!! I had the idea for it since months ago and decided to do it just in time for spooky season, with it premiering on Halloween. I've been wanting to do something with YouTube for the longest time, and free realizing video essays would take a lot of work that I wasn't willing to put into them, I decided something like this, short format and focused on writing, would be the best option. I'm very happy that I'm doing it and I wanna keep it up, since I have ideas for where the overarching story will go later.

Hoo boi - November 2022

I was very excited for Nanowrimo this year since I wanted to use it to write the 1st draft of Book 2 of WCB, but in the end I barely wrote +4K words. Guys, I was not feeling it at all. It was like all the stress and work for the semester in college suddenly hit me and wouldn't stop hitting me until the month was over, a few days ago. Sadly, Nano was a miss, but not everything was lost:

I finished the first volume of my comic, The Demon in My House. At 129 pages, this little hobby of mine is now long enough to fill a complete volume if I ever printed it, and that makes me so, so proud. I've tried making comics before, short and long format, and this is the first one I feel I can really commit to. I've never done so much for one, and I'm only getting started. The story I have planned for this is really long, so we'll see how many volumes I end up filling, haha. But it also makes me happy and proud cause it shows I can do what I set my mind into, and I hope I get to finish it one day and reread it from begining to end to see the story completed. For now, it's all baby steps towards the next plot point.

And now, at the end - December 2022

If I'm honest, I don't think I'll write a lot this month either. I'll continue drawing for TDIMH, sure, but as for advancing my writing wips... yeah, not happening. This semester was weird and we're gonna finish it on January next year instead of this month, which means I'm gonna have homework for vacations 😩 Plus, I wanna rest. I just. I really wanna rest. And this being the last month of the year is the perfect excuse for it.

Overall, this has been a good year for my writing. A lot of highs and lows, but very much productive. I also wanna appreciate all of you who remained with me this year or that came here for the first time and have decided to walk alongside me. Thank you!! Your interactions and interest have been helping me a lot in not giving up midway with my writing.

Happy holidays, happy soon-to-be new year and happy writing!!

#writeblr #writing #writers #writers stuff #writing stuff #my writing #recap 2022

[sadculturee]

AINUN'S FILM REVIEW

THE MARVELS

Ratings: 6/10

Rating an MCU film, especially one with some of my favorite characters, a 6 felt personally painful to me. I didn’t have grand expectations coming into the theaters, knowing how poorly Marvel had executed their 4th phase, but 30 minutes in I knew I had to make my peace with the fact that “The Marvels” was simply badly written and poorly executed. An opinion that remains standing until the very end of the story. Iman Vellani aka Ms Marvel was the only good thing about the whole film, she delivered her character with her own unique pizzazz. Ms Marvel was a joy to watch and I truly hope to see her more in future MCU projects. 

Disclaimer: Minor spoiler alert and a sort of brutally honest rant from a Captain Marvel fan.

My first “umm?” moments came really early in the film, just when they were building up the story background. Our heroes were forcefully intertwined with each other, resulting in them having to overcome their differences and work out their powers in synergy. Watching this from an MCU-fan point of view, someone who has watched nearly all of MCU films/shows, I really did not get the tension they were trying to establish. I was still trying to grasp what was going on when the fight scenes and body swaps started.

I understand that they were trying to make it vague and mysterious for a “grand reveal” right before the climax, but it didn’t exactly do what it was supposed to. All it felt was: chaotic, incoherent, rushed in some parts yet too dragged down in others. I felt bamboozled by the constant light blasts and awkward attempts at comedy relief, not able to savor and enjoy any part of it. The music and soundtracks even felt weird, out-of-place and forced. It adds nothing to the story or the characters. 

There’s honestly not much to say about “The Marvels”. Random droppings of fan-favorite characters and a tease of a couple highly anticipated future projects were supposed to be a nice bonus on the side, not the sole highlight of the story (at least for me). Cameos and easter eggs used to be nice little bonuses fans got, but this time it's the only good thing we got.

I wished they raveled more about Carol and Monica’s relationship, instead of having them say a few emotionless lines, non-consensual memory evasion and then hug it out in a Disney fashion. This devoids all emotion and empathy from the audience, shrugging off the issue as meaningless, and the characters as hollow. The same case with Carol's relationship with Prince Yan, I imagine, was written as an attempt to add dimension to her character, to provide a human sense to her all-mighty powers. It felt more like a filler plot that adds nothing of value to the story. This, combined with the messy pacing, made the film even worse. 

I wish Carol showed more compassion for the people around her, actually thinking about what she’s doing and the impacts of her actions. A bare minimum quality ANY heroes should inhibit. Her initial reaction upon meeting Kamala for the first time felt out of character. I understand heroes have to make hard decisions during a crisis, but snapping at a literal child who simply wants to save people gave me the ick. It felt wrong in so many ways. And this is coming from a (self-proclaimed) hard-core Captain Marvel defender. These micro-interactions of her with Kamala felt like a complete butchery of her character for me. SOUNDS EXTREME I KNOW, but I’m actually pissed. This is not the Captain Marvel they introduced to us in 2019. This is not the badass superhero I fell in love with and rooted for. 

Iman Vellani's love and respect for her character and the original source materials (the comics) truly shows. Even with a bad script, a story struggling to build a clear foundation and failing to deliver a coherent climax, she managed to be the only main character who made the movie watchable. 

To sum up, did "The Marvels" deliver an enjoyable experience? To some extent, yes. Would I recommend this film to people who haven't seen it yet? No, even if you're curious, just wait until it's Disney+ release, it's not worth your money. If you're intrigued by the main characters, I implore you to watch "Ms Marvel" instead. It's unlike any other superhero series Marvel has ever done, so do not expect it to be in the same format as the superhero stories you grew up with, but it is really good. It explores Kamala Khan's origin story, her struggle with being a Muslim, brown, 1st generation immigrant teenager with reasonably high expectations from her parents and her new-found superpowers.  She's not depicted as the perfect, mighty hero we're accustomed to, and her flaws were actual flaws and not some weird exaggerations I’ve seen in others (for example: Loki/Sylvie Season 1) which makes her all the more interesting. Despite her weaknesses and teenage clumsiness, she always tried her best to help. Which, in the grand scale of things, is the core essence of being a hero. It felt personal and relatable. Like I’m living through her adventures.

PS: there's one after-credit clip you'd regret to miss, so stay put in your seat.

#film review #movie review #essay #ainun's movie review #the marvels #marvel #mcu #captain marvel #carol danvers #monica rambeau #iman vellani #ms marvel

[ajentmm]

Desert Mercenaries Theorycraft

Here we go again. It's November 2019. We get another Sacred Stones banner. This time we get a fun 3-4 star dancer dagger lady, a 5 star on the extreme edges of boy to man, and the first and only non-seasonal dou unit, of two guys in the middle of the boy to man spectrum. Two dudes who barely interacted in the game, one being the main villain, but are non-the-less good friends. Just two bros. I can imagine this banner didn't do well just because there's more male characters with the only female character being common, a sight we will never see today. Sorry for being syndical but this is Waifu Emblem after all. It could also be because Gerik and Ewan had meh inheritable weapons. But hey, we are here to fix that today.

But first, you know the rules, dancers don't get new perfs or refines. I'm subbing her out for the 3-4 star off focus unit.

Ross: His Father's Son

5 Star Lvl. 40 47/38/31/32/24 / Max Invest 56/47/39/41/30

Brave Axe+: Mt.8 Inflicts Spd-5. If unit initiates combat, unit attacks twice.

Smite - Fire Boost - Threaten Def

He come the boi. There he is. He is here. While other off focus 3-4 stars from this year were 1 BST gen behind, Ross is a trainee, so he has higher BST at the end, but lower at lvl 1, which means nothing when it's so easy to level up. So he and Gerik are tied in BST, thou Gerik is faster with less Def and Res. This dose make Ross better at enemy phasing. With that Brave Axe and his underdog berserker feel, I wanna make him more risky.

Hand-me-down Hackett: Mt.8 Grants Spd+4 Inflicts Def/Res-5 Unit attacks twice. (Even if foe initiates combat.)

"If foe initiates combat or foe’s HP >75%, grant Special Cooldown charge +1 to unit per foe's attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)"

So its a speedy brave weapon, that works both phases, and gives him special charge, akin to his super trainee class having +15 Crit. Now, Ross is still a 3-4 star, I couldn't give him too crazy of a refine like what Ninja Cherche has. I don't however want to give him "Stats". The special refine only gives special charge when foe's hit because giving it when he hits can give insanely high cost Specials constancy, and makes 2 charge trigger on the second hit when insisting. If you want that, get heavy blade. This is just for retaliating on the enemy phase, since he now has lowered defenses. Use this to your advantage and inherit Vantage or Warth, you could be safer and use a Dodge skill, or go Special Spiral for more insane sweeping.

Gerik: Desert Tiger

5 Star Lvl. 40 47/37/36/30/22 / Max Invest 56/46/45/38/28

Firesweep Axe+: Mt.15 Unit and foe cannot counterattack.

Moonbow - Darting Blow 4 - Sudden Panic 3 - Infantry Pulse 3

Gerik is here and he has skills to inherit. He has great HP to use Sudden Panic and Infantry Pulse and great Spd to double. He just needs a perf that give some more stats, and maybe removes the whole "unit can't counterattack".

Desert Tiger Battle-axe: If unit's HP>=25%, inflict Atk/Spd/Def-5 on foe during combat, and also, if unit's Spd > foe's Spd -1, foe cannot counterattack.

There, now he needs to be healthy and out speed the opponent to stop the counterattacks. This could be combined with Smoke skills to make him more useful in applying stats, and then become an enemy phase brawler.

"If unit is within 3 tile radius of an ally, grant Atk/Spd +6 and grants Special cooldown charge +1 and deals damage = 15% of unit's Spd per unit's attack during combat. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)"

And because Gerik is all about companionship, he needs to be near allies to get that Special Charge and bonus damage to slay foes. He unfortunately needs 1 charge to use Galeforce, which he can't get from foe's counterattack, so this would just be for taking out one really dangerous foe.

Ewan: Eager Student

5 Star Lvl. 40 38/37/33/23/35 / Max Invest 47/46/41/31/44

Rauðrserpent+: Mt. 12 If foe initiates combat and uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+6 during combat.

Glacies - Swift Stance 3 - Sabotage Spd 3

Ewan is even worse fodder than Gerik but his trainee bonus makes him more well rounded than the average mage. So, making him a stat ball is what I have in mind.

Tome of Anima: If unit has [Bonuses] active or foe has [Penalties] active, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 during combat, neutralizes penalties to unit's Atk/Res, and neutralizes bonuses on foe's Atk/Res.

This tome's unique condition relies on him fighting foe's affected by Sabotage Spd, or from getting rallied by allies or inflicting penalties on foes. This is suppose to mirror how, in Sacred Stones, he need a lot of help to get him exp in grind maps. He just needs a leg up to beat the baddies. Now the unique refine effect would likley give him more stats like bonus doubler or foe penalty doubler, or maybe give bonuses to himself and allies. But I wanna give him something crazy. This is the Tome of Anima after all.

"If foe uses Magic, Bow, or Daggers, Grants weapon-triangle advantage against and inflicts weapon-triangle disadvantage on red and blue foes, but also, inflicts weapon-triangle disadvantage against and grants weapon-triangle advantage to colorless foes during combat. Neutralizes effects that boost values along with weapon-triangle advantage or reduce values along with weapon-triangle disadvantage (Triangle Adept) on unit and foe."

Remember how the super trainee pupil class gets Light, Dark, and Anima tomes? Remember how Anima got to use Fire, Thunder, and Wind? This tome allows Ewan to get weapon triangle advantage against any colored tome, as if he is swapping tomes inbetween figts. This is a huge offensive and defensive advantage with a key downside, having a weapon triangle disadvantage against colorless ranged units. Now colorless tomes are rare, but they are incredibly powerful anyway. Colored bows and daggers are also rare, you can get the advantage on them too. But colorless bows and daggers are very common and he can die to them with out this refine, a weakness just got weaker, like Triangle Adapt. Speaking of which, I was going to give him just neutral advantage against blue units, until Arvel came around. Now we are just neutralizing Triangle Adept on both units in battle. There, a fun refine, it's nice to get creative sometimes.

Ephraim: Dynamic Duo

5 Star Lvl. 40 41/39/30/37/25 / Max Invest 49/47/37/45/30

Reginleif: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Atk+3. If unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk and/or 1 extra space of movement granted by another skill is active on unit, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.

Draconic Aura - Heavy Blade 4 - Lull Atk/Def 3 - Odd Atk Wave 3

Dou Skill: Infantry and armored allies within 2 spaces of unit (including unit) can move 1 extra space. (That turn only. Does not stack.)

These two dudes have been an enigma of sorts. As I mentioned, they are the only Duo unit that isn’t seasonal, but they were also not put in the 5 star pool. They could only be summoned if they were the focus unit, until he was added to the Special-4 Star pool. Additionally, they are kinda lame compared to the other Duo units because they are un-seasonal. That's just Ephraim in his regular attire, same as Lyon. They have a good niece in a lance that's effective against armored and cavalry foes (that Brave Erika took), and they gets follow-ups by having more Atk than the foe, and can give themself and allies 1 movement for 1 turn. That last ability only works once per battle and it uses an action in Summoner Duals. It's not as good as just inheriting Odd/Even Tempest. Well, I am here to guess what refine he is going to get.

Reginleif: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Atk+3. If unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk or unit has a [Bonus] active (excluding bonuses on stats from Fortify or Rally), grant Atk/Def + 6 to unit during combat, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack, and prevent foe from making a follow-up attack.

So, Ephraim now gets omin-breaker and 6 Atk/Def. A far upgrade. But as for the second condition, I changed it from "+1 movement" to "any bonus status effect". This was because I saw Assult Troops didn't work with Amelia's perf and wanted this skill to work with it. Also, if it was all bonuses, just by getting Atk bonuses from Odd Atk Wave, he could trigger the effect without having higher Atk than the foe. I thought, let's just make the Atk check more likely, while also encouraging players to use extra movement.

"If unit or foe initiates combat after moving to a different space, grants bouns to unit's Atk and inflict penalties on foe's Atk during combat = X + 4 and neutralizes effects that inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat. (X = number of spaces from start position to end position of whoever initiated combat; max 4.) If X ≥ 2 and unit deals damage to foe during combat, restores 10 HP to unit. (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.)"

Hey wait, is this Sol Brace II?

Maybe a little. This skill is the Clash skill, but raises his Atk by 5-8 and lower the foe's Atk by 5-8. This weapon now gives a 16-24 advantage in the Atk check that triggers Omni-breaker and Heavy Blade 4, alongside his Lull and Odd Wave. And yes, the Null-Guard and 10 HP per hit is just the cherry on top. Not only does the clash condition make him great when using this Duo skill, it also makes him a great counter to armour units with unexpected extra movement (Summer Edelgard) and top tier cavalry threats (Legendary Sigurd, Brave Seliph, Rearmed Lif).

With that, Ephraim and Lyon now should be a real dynamic duo, like Batman and Robin, or Peanut Butter and Chocolate. . . . . Why is Lyon even there? Ephraim is doing all the hard work. I was thinking about giving them "Weapon-triangle advantage against colorless foes," or "damage reduction from AOE Specials" like what Lyon has but reducing the foe's Atk and getting heals was good enough. Oh well.

Anywho, what do you think about this batch? Was my hot takes too spicy? Let me know, in the comments below.

#fire emblem heroes #theorycrafting #refines #game design #fire emblem #Banner Refines

[arcaneblaine]

THE GEMINI REPORT (18+)

p: Jake Kiszka x fm!reader, Josh Kiszka x fm!reader [this is not twincest fuck right off]

r: bratty reader and soft dom!Jake

s: Writing your capstone report seemed to be an intimidating feat to conquer. Who better to study than your favorite twins: the lead singer of a punk band and the football star.

cw: smut (minors dni), some ethical issues surely, cheating(?), toxicity, mentions of a slight injury, exhibitionism, semi-public sex, fingering, asphyxiation, bathroom sex, locker room sex, domination, submission, degradation, vulgar language, mentions of pot smoking, subtle alcohol consumption

wc: ~9k (im so sorry)

a/n: I had a st*phenie m*yer dream, ignore me. Let me know if you’re on Team Subject A or Team Subject B while you’re reading 😉

INTRODUCTION

According to the University of Oxford’s Dr. Nathan Oesch in a 2012 report, human courtship can be boiled down to a three-phase model: Attraction, building mutual Comfort and Trust, and Seduction. Despite this simplified approach to the strategic formula for “dating,” it seems that many psychologists denote the dynamics of male courtship rituals. The aim of this experiment is to test the mating ritual against the male sex, focusing on twin subjects A and B to eliminate the factor of differing genetics and upbringing.

“I don’t think dating was what your professor had in mind when he set the perimeters for the assignment,” your friend groaned slightly from her place across from you. She pushed around her salad with a plastic fork as she sighed. “Who do you have in mind anyway?”

Her eyes flashed up to yours as you bit back a grin, chewing on the inside of your cheek. “You know the quarterback, Josh?” You hummed, watching a flicker of recognition light up behind her gaze. “His brother, Jake, is in one of my blow-off GEN-EDs.”

She tilted her head at you. “The band t-shirt kid?” She referenced. Jake was lesser known to the public than his brother, seemingly serving as an untapped spout of scientific discovery waiting for you. His dark irises flashed into your mind, making you blush as you thought of the way he would flirt with you in class. He didn’t need popularity like his brother to fuel his ego.

You nodded in response, and she shook her head. “Come on; scientists study birds all the time-“

She cut you off quickly. “Scientists aren’t dating the birds! These are humans you’re considering. Twins even. How do you know they won’t tell each other?” The furrow in her brow scared you slightly.

“Have you seen the two of them interact? There’s no way.” The brothers in question were barely together in the same place at one time. If they weren’t so different physically, it would seem like they were the same person. It was a big campus, giving them the distance the two seemed to be craving.

Your friend shut her eyes softly. “This is for a whole semester, you know? What happens if you fall for one of them?”

You quipped a smirk at her. “Then the experiment would have worked, wouldn’t it?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re a pig,” she grumbled, taking a sip from her drink.

You scoffed. “I’m testing the male dating methods…” you noted, “… against males. I’m only doing what they would do to us.”

She mirrored your matter-of-fact tone. “This seems like an excuse to date two guys at once.”

You closed your notebook, running your fingers into your hair. “If something happens that could jeopardize my results, then I’ll end it early and do my report on salmon.” She still seemed unconvinced of your antics. “I’m strictly doing this for class.”

“There’s no way this won’t blow up in your face,” she gutted, making your stomach flip. You acknowledged that she was probably right, but the grade at the end of the semester was more blinding than dealing with the clean-up afterward. “I’m on Team Josh. He’s a sweet guy.”

“Subject B,” you corrected, taking a bite of your lunch.

PHASE ONE: ATTRACTION DURING DIRECT AND INDIRECT STIMULUS

The Attraction phase will be implemented differently for both subjects. The experiment will begin by observing the subjects in a neutral simulation where neither subject could have an advantage. Attraction is “primarily concerned with creating opportunities to exploit evolved cues for what women generally find attractive in men” (Oesch, 2012) therefore various “cues” will be constructed based upon the prior dating history of the subjects.

You theorized that Jake would be the easier to pin down out of the two. Josh seemed to be the one you had to convince you were worthy of his time. He attracted female attention left and right, like his twin, yet it seemed that those who made it into his rap sheet were on the opposite end of the spectrum from you.

Subject A seemed to be the easiest to persuade due to the history between the researcher and the subject. For this case, a more direct stimulus will demonstrate social dominance (Sadalla et al. 1987) and courageousness (Farthing, 2005), which is a perceived expression of attractiveness to women, thus will be tested on the male subject.

Butterflies stirred in your stomach as you took the seat beside him, looking over his hand to watch him draw something on the inside of his wrist. His long sleeves were pushed into the crooks of his elbows, his long hair hanging freely to curtain around his face. He looked up at you momentarily, noticing your skirt before your face.

You bit back a smile at the brightness in his eyes at the sight of you. “Hey,” he greeted, sending you a soft grin. You crossed your legs towards him as you settled into your seat, subtly watching his reaction to your mild advances.

“Did you do the reading?” You asked, bending at your waist to shuffle through your bag, giving you the opportunity to look up at him through your eyelashes. He quietly tugged the flesh of his bottom lip between his teeth to bite back what seemed to be a looming vulgar comment.

Research consistently describes flirtation as the degree to which one utilizes suggestive haptic interaction or other nonverbal messages to communicate a desire for increased relational intimacy (Abrahams, 1994). Suggestive haptic interaction is defined as touching an individual to convey a sexually provocative message of interest and attraction (Clayson and Dutcher, 2010).

As you sat back, you met his gaze, allowing your arm to settle against his on the divider between the two of you. He didn’t flinch away from your touch, rather he seemed to be playing a game of chicken with you. His eyes dropped to your lips before returning to your irises. “Mmm nope,” he hummed. “Too dense.”

You nudged his arm with your own. “You chickened out?” You teased, watching as he turned his gaze down to laugh to himself.

“Something like that…”

You shook your hair out of your face as you walked, looking down at your watch to make sure your timing was right. You weren’t sure how you pulled the right strings to figure out where Josh would be at 2:30, but you could see him exiting a building in front of you.

As Josh neared, you gritted your teeth and braced for impact before stepping into his walkway, getting shoulder-checked into the pavement. You bit back a groan at the stinging in your arm, trying your best to seem shocked at the collision as Josh peppered you with flustered apologies. He knelt beside you almost as quickly as the pain sparked through your body.

Although touch is the most powerful form of nonverbal communication, individuals use other nonverbal cues when flirting, such as eye contact, facial expressions, and nodding. For example, Moore (1985) observed that initial courtship was cued by behaviors such as glancing, primping, smiling, nodding, and leaning forward. Another study conducted on a television dating show found that extended gazing can create intimate feelings (Pease, 2004). Subject B will be tested with one of these methods, which are deemed by researchers as an indirect approach (Farthing, 2005).

You moved to your knees to help him shuffle together your books as you brushed off his worry. He looked up at the right moment to catch your eye at the proximity, blushing when you held his gaze before flickering his sights away. This tactic seemed to work until he fell into your trap, spotting your scraped elbow.

Josh loaded your books into his arm and led you towards the health center where he refused to leave your side until the two of you were sitting in one of the doctor’s offices. He stuffed his fists in his pockets, kicking the toe of his tennis shoe against the tile ground. “You don’t have to wait with me,” you reasoned, making his gaze snap to yours.

His brow furrowed at your words. “Are you kidding? You wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t walking backward like an idiot,” he partially joked, guilt still settling in his tone.

You laughed at his bashfulness, making him return your smile. His grin was infectious.

One method of engagement involves mirroring behavior. According to Moore (1985), if a male mirrors a smile or follows the lead of his mate, this indicates that he wants to relate to the other person. Subject B seemed to mirror behaviors earlier in the experiment phase than Subject A.

You spent most of the lecture leaning close to Jake, watching as he reciprocated your obvious advances and laughed at some of your sidebar comments about the professor. You knew your tactics were working when he touched your arm to get your attention or leaned closer to avert the gaze of the people sitting beside you rather than whisper your name as he did with the others.

As you were leaving, he stood outside the lecture hall with you as you wrote your number on his palm. “Text me soon. Maybe we can see a movie Friday?” You stated more than asked, to which his eyebrow quirked. You blew cold air against the drying ink, feeling him tense at the action and the sight of your mouth as you did so.

He flashed you a smirk, playing off of the tension you were so desperate to inflame. “So needy,” he chided, playfully pushing your arm in the direction you were headed as the two of you parted.

Josh reluctantly handed you back your books, gnawing on his lip as if he were waiting to ask you something as you fixed your dress. You had groomed yourself in a way you figured would be appealing to him; even though it made you feel like the whore’s version of Jackie-O. As his expression shifted, he looked more like Jake. That is if Jake was nearly a shy, Norman Rockwell poster boy.

You played upon this factor, giving in to the “girl-next-door” version of yourself as you stumbled into a conversation with him once again. “Would you want to go out sometime?” You offered as the previous topic of your attention had died down.

His smile beamed at you again, more subtly as if he were trying to hide his actual excitement. He nodded, shocked slightly. “Yeah- I mean yes,” he corrected himself, digging around for his phone while the two of you shared a comfortable chuckle.

COMFORT AND TRUST (AND SEDUCTION): NEUTRAL STIMULI

Once Attraction has been established, researchers advocate the importance of taking the time to build rapport, comfort, and trust before proceeding with seduction. Trust and comfort is often established through the use of kinesthetic touch (Markovik, 2007) yet in the case of Subject B, it seems that touch holds a more intensive meaning than Subject A despite the same upbringing. Where it was initially predicted that the twins would have similar moral outlooks, it seems that the information gleaned from the subjects’ parents differs.

Josh sent you a small smile from his seat beside you, leaning in to listen to what you knew about the movie. He seemed to have been following the gentlemanly rituals out of a courtship etiquette book: picking you up, buying your ticket, etc, etc. He seemed more excited to hear your version of the lore than to actually see the movie, which in a way made your mind grow fuzzy with a sense of comfort.

As the lights went down, the two of you stifled your laughter and hunkered closer. You were too busy noting his reactions to pay much attention to the film. He seemed to also be attentive to you; joking with you and stealing glances.

Your friend was right. He was a sweet boy.

At one point in the movie, Josh leaned away from you slightly only to fake a yawn and stretch his arm until it was around you. You bit back a laugh as he seemed to quietly shame himself for the corniness of the action. “Did you really just do that?” You teased in a low whisper, making him chew on a grin.

“I regretted it as soon as it happened,” he muttered back, but before he could pull away, you laced your fingers with his and leaned into his embrace more. You could feel him tense in his seat before relaxing as if he needed consent to enjoy being so close to you on the first date.

You wrapped your arm around Jake’s, absent-mindedly tracing the seam of his hoodie sleeve with your fingertips as he leaned closer to you. You glanced at him subtly, letting your eyes outline the portion of his face being illuminated by the movie screen. While the air between you and Josh was comfortable and innocent at this stage, the tension between you and Jake was thick and looming.

Extroverts perform more of a variety of passionate behaviors than introverts (Shadish, 1986). Sexual desire and activity have often been recognized as an important part of so-called passionate love (Baumeister and Bratslavsky, 1999).

He followed your actions, meeting your eyes with a short smirk and moving his hand to brush against the hem of your skirt, daring to dip beneath the dark fabric. You angled your legs closer to him ever so slightly, pulling your attention back to the screen as heat swarmed in your body.

The role of touch has also been argued to have an adaptive function in bonding in human primates, involving complex psychopharmacological chemicals including oxytocin, endorphins, dopamine, and various other neuropeptides (Dunbar, 2010).

Jake’s lips neared your ear. “Are you one of those quiet movie watchers?” He quizzed with a low whisper; his voice laced with lust as his coarse finger pads caressed your thigh. You bit your tongue to keep yourself from smiling at the deviousness behind his actions.

You inhaled as his hand inched up your thighs. “Depends how many people I’m sitting around,” you joked, making him smile slightly.

“Would the two of you quiet down?” A man hissed, making Josh giggle as you apologized once again for the two of you whispering over the dialogue of the movie. You had long abandoned attempting to understand the plot, instead making up your own backstories for the characters and trying to decide who would win in a fight against which American president.

Josh wet his lips; his arm having moved to be stationed between the two of you so you could hold his hand a bit tighter after claiming you were scared. “Sorry. I usually talk through movies,” he mumbled to you.

You nudged him slightly. “I like it.”

The subtlety of Jake’s movements suggested he was practiced in the art of not drawing attention to himself in times like this. His brother seemed to be a bull in a china shop in any situation, whereas Jake was nearly the complete opposite. “You don’t wanna get caught, do you, pretty girl?” He jeered, making you stifle a laugh as you uncrossed your legs.

The relationship between passion and intimacy is often complicated when sex is involved. The best solution, according to an analysis performed by Baumeister and Bratslavsky (1999), is to treat sexual desire and even sexual behavior as crude measures of passionate love.

The fabric of your skirt ruffled slightly as his hand neared your heat. A flush settled in your cheeks as you counted your blessings that you were sitting in the back of the theater out of the sights of the other spectators. His knuckles grazed against the lace of your underwear, your breath hitching in your throat at the chill racing through your body from the metal of his rings.

Your fingers knitted into his sleeve as he flashed you a grin, your eyes threatening to roll at the slightest touches from him. Your lips were aggravated from your teeth sinking into them, a punishment for accepting a challenge you weren’t positive you could handle.

“It’s too bad we have to be quiet,” he whispered, letting his lips brush against your ear again as he pushed your legs apart with his hand, letting his finger pads tease against your core. “I’d love to hear you whimper,” he chided, making you concentrate on exhaling rather than letting a moan escape your lips.

Jake’s finger looped around your underwear, pushing it to the side so he could toy with your nerves as your nails bit into the fabric of his hoodie. “You’re already soaked,” he groaned silently, tracing a pattern against your clit before pumping one of his fingers into you.

His finger curled inside of you, making your eyes flutter shut at the pleasure of his hands. You could feel his rhythm in your toes as if he knew exactly where to touch you.

Josh’s hand was soft in yours as he absent-mindedly traced the divots of your knuckles while he listened to you talk. The gentleness behind the action seemed to be a subtle nod to the form of intimacy that he craved.

Jake sped up and before you knew it, he pulsed another finger into you. Your head tilted back against the seat before you dug your nose into the crook of his neck. “Jake,” you quietly begged, voice muffled by his hair while you forced yourself to be quiet.

His pace changed, his thumb pressing against your clit as your arousal echoed distantly. Jake reached a sensitive spot deep in your core, making your breath hitch in your throat as you fought not to grind against his palm. You swallowed back a moan, as you felt his lips brush against your shoulder. “Cum for me, pretty girl,” he whispered, barely audible enough for you to even hear.

Josh walked you to your door, finishing up an anecdote from when he was younger seemingly just to make you laugh again. He didn't follow you up to the top of the stairs like you figured he would. "You know, you didn't really touch me much," you joked, making him chuckle. Your mind drifted to Jake.

Josh's tongue darted across his lips. "I was raised to be a gentleman. I didn't want to overstep," he responded, chewing on the inside of his cheek as if he was itching to kiss you.

You fought not to raise your brows at him. Experiencing the stark difference between the twins was not something you had expected. Or at least to this extent.

"I had a good time. Thank you," you hummed, sending him a sweet smile.

Jake ran his fingers into his hair as he turned to head back to his car. "Me too. We should do it again sometime."

You blushed to suppress a snide laugh, giddiness bubbling inside of you. "Of course. I owe you one anyway," you called after him.

He looked over the top of his car with a small smirk. "Uh uh," he answered. "Sweet dreams, pretty girl."

PASSION, INTIMACY, AND “PEACOCKING”

“Peacocking,” in simple terms is something men do in order to highlight their strong points and stand out from their competition (Preece, 2012). After the initial neutral stimuli, the Subjects were left to make and plan the progressing stages. Through the stages of building comfort and trust, it seemed that Subject A was more likely to use sexual activity to create a bond while Subject B usually directed encounters towards gaining information on the stimulus.

After the first date, your relationships with the boys moved at, what you could only deem to be, their own pace. Jake couldn’t seem to keep his hands off you as he brought you to his favorite spots and introduced you to most of his friends. Josh seemed to treat your relationship with more caution as if he wanted to establish an emotional connection with you.

You found yourself at parties with Jake, hooked under his arm and sharing blunts with countless strangers as music blared in the background. He seemed to love being in your presence, almost like you were the first person on his mind whenever he caught the whiff of some kind of outing or weird arts fair that neither of you understood.

Further analysis conducted by the 1999 researchers found that there are several ways to operationalize passionate love. The subjective feeling state is crucial, and evidence of strong arousal in connection with positive feelings toward someone would be one good indication of passionate love (Sternberg, 1986). Longing to be with the other person, degree of happiness felt in response to the other’s positive responses, and degree of despair over rejection by the other may be taken as indicators of passion (Baumeister and Bratslavsky, 1999).

Josh, on the other hand, found sweet ways to incorporate you in the more domestic side of his life; introducing you to his fellow frat brothers, telling you about his parents, going grocery shopping with you. Despite literally being the same age, it seemed like Jake was living more in the moment than his brother.

Clark and Reis (1988) defined intimacy as a process in which one person expresses self-relevant feelings and information to another, as well as the person’s coming to feel known, validated, and cared for by virtue of the other’s response to self-disclosure.

Although you had promised your friend and your professor that your relationships would be purely used for research, it was becoming a guilty pleasure of yours to be shown off by the boys. They inhabited completely different social groups and settings, leaving your job a lot easier than you had figured it would be.

One night, you were strapped into a dark dress, your makeup was done heavily to blend yourself into the club of mosh-pit junkies and beatniks. Despite the aura of the crowd, your eyes were glued to Jake. The ripped sleeves of his t-shirt seemed to tear open further with each of his movements, revealing his toned arms and the tendons flexing through his biceps as he strummed the chords of his guitar. His hair was waving from the heat of the room, teeth gnawing at his lower lip as he stepped away from the microphone during a break in the song.

You could feel the bass in your chest, electricity shooting through you each time Jake would make eye contact with you during a particularly sultry set of lyrics. While he was in front of a packed audience, it seemed as though he was only playing for you. He reveled in the way you looked at him through your eyelashes with a lustful smile forcing its way to your lips.

Whereas intimacy depends on knowledge, passion is a matter of emotion, and so its time course is likely to be quite different (Baumeister and Bratslavsky, 1999).

The club bathroom was dingy and dimly lit, but the cleanliness was the last thing on your mind as your fingers curled around what you could grasp of the sink, his hand wrapped around your throat as he thrust into you roughly. “I can’t believe you acted like that while I was on stage,” he chided, his hand coming down to slap your ass. The mix of pain and pleasure sent your head spinning.

Your makeup was running down your face from his spit and your sweat. The thumping bass of the music was loud enough that it echoed around in the bathroom, setting Jake’s rhythm to his animalistic paces. “God, if you didn’t look so good for me, I’d punish you,” he jeered, spanking you again with enough force to make you moan out his name.

You smiled lazily, bliss covering your fucked out expression as he smirked at you in the reflection of the mirror with pride to see you in such a mess at his antics. His blunt nails dug into your hip, slamming your body against him as he used you like some kind of toy. His hand-controlled your breathing, making you gasp for air as you rolled your hips against him, calling out his name loud enough to ricochet around the space.

The door clicked, making Jake pull you into one of the stalls as the two of you stifled giggles, still caught in a mess of kisses and friction. You dug your fingers into his hair as he reached down to grip your ass, pulling your hips roughly against his. His tongue slipped into your mouth; his performance high still coursing through his veins.

Jake’s hands slipped further beneath the skirt of your dress before wrapping his hand around the back of your knee, hoisting your leg up against his side, and driving himself into you again. His eyes flickered to yours for a second. “Such a pretty girl,” he muttered, a sly smirk on his lips as he surveyed your crumbling façade. He let out a deep moan, his lips finding yours once again as he began to grind against you, snapping his hips against yours to draw out your pleasure.

You tugged his bottom lip between your teeth and curled your hips at his movements. Each of his sounds were the equivalent of a reward for you, you wanted to earn his approval and get him off almost more than you wanted yourself to. He thrusted into you, angling himself so he hit a deeper spot within you at each of his movements.

Jake breathlessly broke your kiss only to rest his forehead against yours, looking for a reaction from you before leaning away and tilting his head back in pleasure. Seeing his blissed-out, slack-jawed expression alongside his now rapid movements made stars flash behind your eyes as the urge to cum built within you. One of his hands returned to the bathroom wall behind you, his lips traveling to the crook of your neck as he moved in an upward motion. His newfound momentum sent you clenching around him as you chased your own high, wrapping your leg around his waist.

Another moan ripped through your body. "You feel so good," he almost growled in your ear, sending you over the edge unintentionally. He continued to ride against you, drawing himself to finish as you drew him back to kiss him again in a tangle of lust and bliss. After his release, he rested his forehead against his shoulder as the two of you fought to catch your breath. You almost didn't want him to pull out, it was like he belonged with you.

Early treatments of intimacy emphasized the link to selfhood. Erickson (1968) understood intimacy as the fusing of identities. Sullivan (1953) defined intimacy as a “type of situation involving two people which permits validation of all components of personal worth.” While Subject A’s mode of “peacocking” mirrored his use of sexual activity as a form of intimacy, it seems that Subject B has an opposite mindset, as stated prior. Sex, in the case of Subject B, was approached more “gently” and suggestively on the researcher’s behalf.

The air was cold as you hugged your sweatshirt closer to your body, wondering how the various people around you in the student block could wear such thin clothing. Josh’s uniform hung over your clothes like a sack, looking less flattering on you than the others.

A boy beside you hollered loudly before noticing your teeth chattering. All he wore was a jersey and jeans, his muscles threatening to strain against the arms of the material. Snickering to himself, he threw his arm around you and tugged you to his side. “If you’re gonna be one of us, you gotta get used to it,” he yelled to you over the crowd and buzzing of the announcer speaker.

You chuckled at the feeling of how warm his skin was despite the lack of clothing. You were thankful Josh was the only one with an outside attraction. You could sit in a smokey bar and listen to Jake pluck at his guitar for hours, but if Josh’s games were always going to be this cold, you’d have to invest some money into your experiment.

Despite the nip in the air, you found yourself enjoying the community of the student block or at least the section you were designated to with the various significant others of the team. They were foil characters to the people you usually hung around, but they didn’t pose you as an outsider.

After the game, you stood in a group outside the tunnel of the stadium in wait of the team. Your partner for the night---who had desperately tried to keep you warm---found the player his jersey belonged to. The built man waved you down the tunnel to find Josh, giving you the go-ahead since it seemed like Josh was still wearing his “quarterback hat.”

The locker room was surprisingly warm and clean. The smell reminded you of a campground bathroom after everyone had showered and left for the night. You followed the sound of Josh’s voice as it mixed with another set of deep, dulcet tones. You heard through the circuit that he was supposed to be winding down the freshman on his team.

Josh leaned his shoulder against the metal of the lockers at his side, looking over the tiny group occupying the long bench in front of him; a man standing adjacent to him with his long hair tied up out of his face. Josh’s speech quieted for an undetectable second as he met your eyes from the other side of the room, tugging a smile back as soon as it threatened to break his concentrated exterior.

Watching him in his natural habitat brought a slight flush of warmth to your cheeks, a feeling that mimicked what you experienced when you saw Jake playing guitar. As Josh brought up what the players had done well and what they needed to work on for the next game, you could tell he was struggling not to look at you.

Finally, as they left, you strolled over to Josh as he packed up, his eyes sparkling at you. You greeted him softly as he pressed a kiss to your cheek, basking in your praise of his game time. “Sorry I dressed so heavily. I wasn’t aware-“

He cut you off rather quickly, kissing your lips this time. “No, are you kidding? You look beautiful. All the guys were talking about you,” he cooed with a small chuckle. You gnawed on the inside of your cheek to bite back a lazy grin.

Josh plopped down on the bench behind you to tighten up his sneaker laces. You sat beside him, trying not to notice how he was practically glowing anytime he got to be near you. “Have you ever hooked up with someone in here?” You asked, your mind flushing with lust. You’d been with Jake enough times to know how to please him, but Josh had barely touched you.

He let out a snort. “Uh, no. I haven’t,” he answered. You hummed at his answer, wondering how to smoothly transition his mood. You had never really been a seductress, which had worked out with Jake.

You stood up, pulling on his leg so he was straddling the bench, giving you a humored look as he awaited your next moves. He watched you intently, brown eyes locking onto your gaze as you pulled his jersey over your head and slipped out of your hoodie and t-shirt. He was silent, leaning his weight on his arm behind him as his sights snapped from the lace of your bra to your lips. “I was wondering if this is what you would prefer while I’m in your section?” You noted, weaving the jersey back over your figure.

His breath seemed to catch in his throat at the thought of you being next to naked beneath the same fabric he wore to crush into two-hundred-pound men. You slid out of your sweatpants and sat in his lap as a flash of pride washed over him. You kissed him briefly, his slightly chapped lips and cheeks heating from your attention.

“You can touch me, Josh,” you noted softly, pulling his large hands to rest on your thighs. He seemed to like when you instructed him. His fingers toyed at the material of your underwear, his eyes struggling to meet yours until you propped his chin up to look at you. His body tensed beneath you, and you could almost feel him through his pants.

Your lips moved to his jawline, inching down his neck as you rolled your hips against him to draw a hissing moan past his lips. His hands skimmed under the thin fabric of his jersey to rake against your soft skin.

Sources on the art of seduction that reflects the interests of Subject B are less antiquated in the world of science. The motives behind the desire and seduction of Subject A seem to be generally accepted and noted as the case of being “a man’s man” (Erickson, 1968). In a less defined modern “Guide to Seduction,” Huffington Post surveyed a group of men and women finding that men hate to feel controlled, and the communication of passion and intimacy is lost under the pressures of instructive seduction (Gross, 2016). This does not seem to be the case for Subject B.

Josh’s fingers tugged your hair free, letting it fall near your shoulders as he threaded his hands into the waves, basking in your soft moans. You nearly chuckled at how easy it was to stir up your sweet boy as his mouth pressed against your neck. His hands hooked around the back of your knees, tugging you closer to him, his neediness unmasked by the slight roll of his hips against yours.

You pushed him back against the wooden bench as you settled his hands on your thighs, leaning down to kiss him again. Your fingers slipped beneath his hoodie to run across his chest and down to his abdomen, grinding your hips against him, making him bite his lip to keep himself quiet. His hands traveled along your body as you leaned over him. Josh’s eyes were a deep hazelnut hue as he looked up at you. “Teach me what you like,” he groaned, making you nearly fall off his body. Goosebump spread across your skin at the tone of his lust-laced words.

You sat back, pulling him up again, to which he obliged. You shook your head. “No,” you responded. “I’m for you,” you mustered, trying to answer him with an evenness to your voice. It seemed like a switch flipped in your head as you knotted your fingers into his curls, pulling him against your lips in a heated mess of teeth and moans. The taste of him sent your mind reeling; you felt as if his body could never be close enough to you.

You pushed him back again, the roughness making a smile crack against his face as you went for the strings of his sweatpants. As you stroked him through his boxers, you tried to banish the intruding thoughts of Jake that threatened to cloud your vision. As you sank down onto Josh’s arousal, you scorned yourself for imagining Jake’s voice in your ear.

The devil seemed to be a worm in your subconscious as you could practically envision Jake’s humiliating words as he degraded you for railing his brother in such a public setting behind his back.

Josh’s head tipped back against the wood, his hips swirling against yours as his mouth opened with a slight whimper. You clenched around him, feeling him throb inside of you. You could nearly feel the weight of Jake’s hand around your throat, egging you on. You looked down at Josh’s features and you seemed to finally understand the rush of adrenaline Jake always felt as he took you.

You bit back a smile, watching how easy it was to get Josh off as his cheeks flushed, a lazy grin on his face as you moved on top of him. “Fuck, look how much you want me,” you mocked, making his hands move to dig into your hips. Your words didn’t feel like your own.

Josh wet his lips, furrowing his brows as he mumbled your name, making you pick up your pace. “Shit, don’t stop,” he nearly begged.

Heat rushed straight through to your fingertips at his tone. You curled your hips, leaning down to press your lips to his neck, driving your teeth into the thin skin as he bucked up into you. “You deserve it, my good boy,” you cooed, tongue flattening against his collarbone as he moaned. You had promised yourself in the beginning that you wouldn’t let either of them mark you, but Josh was nearly irresistible, especially at the reality that his twin would definitely ask where he’d gotten the subtle bruise.

He pushed himself to sit up, giving you a new angle as you drove him deeper into you, thrusting against his body and tugging at his hair as his hands fisted in the jersey. You couldn’t imagine the ego boost you were giving him as you rode him wearing his number and last name. He dug his face into the crook of your neck, quietly pleading out your name as if he were confessing his sins to you.

You fought not to compare the similarities to the way the twins said your name. Josh’s voice was always soft and meek compared to the husky nodes of Jake’s call to you. Jake seemed to already own your name while Josh hinted like he’d rather you own his.

Josh’s coarse hands dug into your back, his teeth sinking into your shoulder as your head fell back, moaning about how good he was making you feel.

DISCUSSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Identical twins are of peculiar scientific interest, for they are the product of the symmetrical division of a single embryo, derived from a single fertilized egg. Such a fertilized egg typically develops into a single individual with a body composed of two nearly symmetrical halves. One half is not strictly the duplicate of the other but the reversed, or mirror-image duplicate of it (Newman, 1932).

Jake was sprawled out on your couch, thumbing through a magazine as you filled the coffee pot. You looked through the threshold at the easiness of him in your apartment, his hair pulled back in a messy bun and his clothes wrinkled from being tangled in the sheets with you.

Josh sat with his hands between his knees as he watched you bustle around to straighten up your apartment, subtly kicking one of Jake’s t-shirts under your bed. He seemed slightly out of place but refused to allow you to feel like he needed to be hosted.

Jake kicked a few pillows off the couch as he pulled you into his arms, tucking you into his side as he showed you something on his phone. It was a football video that you swore looked familiar to you. “That’s my brother,” he grumbled, pressing his cheek to your forehead. “He’s the favorite,” he joked. Your mind clicked into place as the camera panned over the crowd. You took his phone from him, tossing it on the table as you pulled him beneath you.

A flush came to your cheeks as you thought of your rendezvous with Josh. You kissed Jake softly as he smirked against your lips. “You’re my favorite,” you retorted, making him snort. The record began to skip and before you could get up, Jake pulled you closer to him to swap your spots before changing the vinyl.

Josh cradled the beer you gave him as you stood in front of the record player, raising the needle before you realized you hadn’t changed the song since Jake had picked it. “Are you okay?” Josh called into your mind, raising his eyebrows at your frozen state.

“I think we need to talk,” you muttered, chewing on the flesh of your bottom lip as the song began to play.

Jake swayed to the song, lip-syncing to it as you giggled. He moved towards you, pulling you up and into his arms. You snickered as his limbs tightened around you. “I can’t dance,” you teased as he pulled you closer so you were standing on the tops of his feet.

He dug his nose in the crook of your neck as the two of you swayed. His fingers toyed at the hem of your neckline, sliding it down your shoulder slightly and pressing his lips against your skin. He tensed in your hold, letting a short laugh past his lips. “Sweetheart, your other man has some pointy incisors,” he chided, making you pull back from him.

Your eyes flashed wider for a second. “Guess I have some competition,” he continued.

“I can explain,” you began but he covered your mouth.

Jake wet his lips. “Let me know what he does better than me,” he jested, eyes a deeper shade to match his devious grin. Your legs were practically jelly.

Before you could answer him, there was a knock at your door. Jake slapped your ass playfully as you left his arms to investigate. You shot a look over your shoulder at his laughing.

As you opened your door, Josh sent you a sweet smile. “Hey, sorry. I tried to call you, but your friend said you were in today,” he reasoned. You felt like you might faint, knowing full-well you were standing between the boys both figuratively and literally.

Josh looked over the top of your head with a furrow in his brow as recognition painted across his face. Your throat felt dry as you pushed open your door further to let him inside. Jake’s hands slipped into his pants pockets as he grinned widely at Josh’s confusion. His pearly teeth beamed at his twin as if there was nothing that could crack his ego.

Josh peered over his shoulder at you briefly. “Do I have any stance to ask what he’s doing here?” He asked quietly.

As you opened your mouth, Jake butted in to take your place. He grabbed his bag and jacket. “Of course, you do, Spartacus! We have class together. She’s been tutoring me,” he excused. Passing by you, Jake gave you a cocky look as if to promise to tie up any loose ends when he saw you again.

“Talk about what?” Josh asked you, setting down his drink and leaning back against the fabric of your couch. “Are you alright?”

You wet your lips, taking to the armchair across from him. Your heart was hammering against your ribcage hard enough you thought you might die. You had prepared speeches for both boys at the end of your ‘experiment.’

You felt like you were going to throw up as Jake left. It was then that you realized you were wearing one of Jake’s hoodies that still smelled like him. He was almost taunting you without even being in the room.

Josh leaned his elbows on his thighs, letting out a short laugh in disbelief. His demeanor shifted to something unrecognizable and seemingly more comfortable for him. “You mean this was all a lie?” He clarified, taking a swig of his drink. “This was just for a paper?”

You swallowed, trying to find some kind of moisture for your mouth. “Capstone report…” you corrected softly.

He tucked one of his hands behind his head. “Yeah whatever,” he grumbled. The Josh you had known an hour prior was gone, killed by the man sitting before you now. “And you’re staying with Jake? You’re joking right?”

You shook your head meekly, playing with your fingers. “I’m myself with him.”

“You think I’m myself when I’m with you?” He countered and you raised your eyebrows at him. “You like Jake because he’s mean to you. You’re fucked,” he continued.

You scoffed. “How do you want me to respond to that? What do you mean you’re not yourself with me? You must be faking with everyone then,” you shot back, crossing your arms.

He settled into his seat further, his eyes commanding. Heat shot through you. Maybe he was right. You were fucked.

Josh wet his lips, raking his gaze over you. “Where do you think Jake learned it from?” He retorted with a cocky aura nearly mirroring Jake.

You were still, unaware of what form of your own game he was playing against you. “W-what? Like you were faking?” Your mind was running numb at Josh’s tone.

He let out a soft, jesting chuckle. “Call it an experiment, if you will,” he tutted.

Twins have the same or nearly the same eye color, hair color, skin color; nearly the same irregularities in their teeth, nearly the same fingerprints, nearly the same features, body build, etc. In other words, they are almost complete duplicates in all their hereditary characteristics (Newman, 1932). Despite these obvious similarities, why were Subject A and Subject B so distinctly different in their mores and mating rituals? Men and women have evolved opposing sexual strategies, often leading to a conflict of interests, creating significant discord and confusion with respect to mate selection (Buss, 1993).

“I’m glad you’re staying with him,” he gritted, setting his drink down finally this time. You were quiet as he smirked to himself. He motioned to you with two fingers. “Come here,” he noted, voice laced with authority, something you hadn’t even heard when he talked to the freshmen on his team.

You held your breath as you let him pull you into his lap, tugging Jake’s hoodie off of you. “It’s too bad such a pretty girl is going to waste,” he beckoned. Something in the back of your mind knew that the use of Jake’s pet name for you was on purpose.

His hand fisted in the front of your t-shirt bringing you within an inch of his face, his lips ghosting over your own. You could practically taste him he was so close. You tried to lean into him, but he kept you at a distance. “I hope the marks I leave on you drive him crazy,” he nipped.

Josh finally gave you the leeway you needed. You sat forward, pressing your lips against his hungrily as his fingers curled into the loose ends of your hair. Your fingers tugged at his clothes as your teeth dragged against his lips, his hips grinding up against you in a search for friction.

You pushed your tongue into his mouth, moaning as his hands moved to your thighs, his blunt nails raking against your jeans. You rolled your hips against his lap, feeling him harden beneath you. He spread his legs further, coaxing you to grind against him as his hands pushed you down to rut against his leg.

You were breathless as you pulled away from his kiss, stilling; his grip on you remaining strong as his lips and tongue pressed against your neck. “I didn’t tell you to stop riding my thigh,” he commented darkly, bouncing his knee to make you moan. Your hand wrapped around the wrist of his hand holding you in place, tugging your bottom lip between your teeth as heat spread across your body.

He pulled your shirt over your head, your bare chest at his mercy. Your mind blurred at the sensation and the feeling of him sucking his mark into your skin, making it clear who was making you feel this way. You knew Jake’s eyes would burn at the sight.

You moaned, digging your face into his neck as he rolled his hips against you. “Please, Josh. I need you,” you whimpered, seemingly switching places with him since your last hook up. He chuckled darkly as you tugged at his zipper before wrapping your hand around his cock, pumping him into harder arousal. His head tilted back against the couch beneath you, bucking into your hand and swearing as if his life depended on berating you. His teeth nipped at your skin as you continued to grind yourself against his thigh, basking in his noises of pleasure.

His cock pulsed in your hand, making him grab your wrist and pull you beneath him. He gripped one of your legs, resting it in the crook of his elbow as he pushed himself into you, swallowing your moans as he pressed his lips to yours. His voice was low and commanding in your ear as he murmured your name like it was his own personal curse. You moaned as he angled your chin to look at him, his thrusts becoming more rhythmless. “I hope you think of me when you’re with him,” he groaned, ego flaring at the clouded expression on your bliss-out face.

Josh’s breath was warm on your neck as he took advantage of your submissive state, moving his hand from around your leg to wrap his fingers around your neck. Your body shivered against the anticipated pressure of his hand and the pleasure pulsing through you as his hips rocked against yours.

He chuckled darkly, teeth grazing your shoulder before his lips hovered beside your ear. “Beg for it, mama,” he commented, voice deep and in control as if he weren’t buried inside of you.

You swallowed, fingers digging into his back. “Choke me,” you groaned, “please, Josh.” His hand tightened around your neck, breath hitching in your throat as his pace grew rougher. He bit back a smug grin at the way you reacted to his antics, relishing in your body begging for more.

He tsked. “Such a good girl, so obedient. Too bad I can’t make you feel this good more often, huh?” Josh joked, pressing his tongue into your mouth again to taste your whimpers.

CONCLUSION

Through the course of this study, it has become apparent that the use of male mating rituals against males can, in some cases, yield successful returns. In the context of examining the similarities between two twins, it seems that an objective conclusion can not be completely drawn.

Unlike Josh, Jake found the concept of your experiment hilarious; probably due to the fact that you were tucked into his bed watching him search his room for a guitar pick. You had ended up with him, and not Mr. Wonderful, as he referred to him. You knew the fact that you had experienced both of them yet still preferred him was going to his head a bit.

He stopped momentarily, knocking his fist against his footboard before meeting your gaze. “So how was that last time, though?” He quizzed, seemingly challenging the way you would answer.

You snorted slightly. “Do you actually want me to answer?”

A smirk flashed across his lips. “Are you still thinking about him?” You shook your head at his words. His eyes narrowed at your denial. “I think you’re lying…” He paused for a moment before climbing towards you on the bed.

He pulled you beneath him in a second, making you laugh. His hand clamped over your mouth, fire dancing behind his eyes to match his level of lust for you. “I’m not sure why you’re laughing, sweetheart. I’m gonna fuck you until you can’t even remember his name.”

You leaned up to kiss him, letting your lips linger near his. “That’s going to be difficult. I’m still sore from him,” you chided. He ground his hips against you, kissing you a bit harder than before.

“Bold statement from a slut who begged for it in a bathroom stall once,” he nipped, lips pressing against your neck. “I should tie you up and let you suffer for that.”

You rutted against his legs, moaning at his dark tone. Your lips ghosted against his again as your cheeks began to feel warm from the stimulation. “I might like that,” you jested, your sentence breaking with your voice as he tugged your underwear down your legs.

Jake’s brows raised mockingly. “What was that, baby?” He pulled your hips to meet his, grinding against your core. “I think you were in the middle of talking back.”

You inhaled deeply, watching as he stroked his cock before dipping to nip at your neck again. “I should throw you over my knee for that kind of behavior, love.” His hand snaked up to wrap around your throat, threatening to apply pressure as he held you in place, thrusting into you without much time to adjust.

You moaned, knotting your fingers in the pillows by your head while your other hand raked down his back. Jake’s pace was deep and reserved as if he were just trying to draw out some kind of response from you. He wanted you to encourage his antics, but your mind ran quiet at the feeling of him inside of you. “My pretty girl,” he chided. “You want me to punish you, don’t you?”

When all you could do was mutter a small beg, Jake pulled you closer to him, lips meeting yours in a mess of hair, teeth, and tongue. He moaned into your mouth, the taste of his breath becoming a drug to your consciousness. He broke the kiss to flip you over, tugging his shirt off. “Tell me you’re all mine, brat,” he joshed, a hand coming down sharply across your ass; the pain making you moan his name, hands gripping the sheets as he pressed your shoulders into the mattress.

Jake dragged your hips into the air, pushing into your again, rocking his hips against yours with a small grunt. He nipped at your skin as he pounded into you at an animalistic pace, your mind-numbing at the feeling. He pushed your knees further apart to pump himself deeper into you. “Come on, pretty girl. Let me hear you,” he cooed, letting his thumb knead the space between your shoulders as you moaned out his name again.

His hand slapped your ass again, gripping onto the flesh before smoothing his touch to soothe the pain searing against your flesh. You bit your lip to counter the groan ripping through your chest at his attention.

You moaned as his weight settled on the hand pinning you to the mattress, your hair sticking to your sweaty face as he spanked you again. “Good girl, look at how good you are for me,” he nearly growled, making your skin crawl with an added layer of pleasure. While his pace and mannerisms were restricted, you could tell he wanted to make as many marks on your body as he could to counteract the obvious hickey on your shoulder from his brother.

Even though he seemed to revel in your slight sass, he was sure to remind you of your retort as he pulled your arm behind your back, his hips snapping against your own to firmly instill his name in your mind.

You reached towards his headboard, a grounding element for you as his motions drove you over the edge in a tooth gritting orgasm, body flushing with goosebumps under his command. You rocked your hips back against him as he came.

He pressed his lips to your shoulder blade, brushing his nose into your hair as you groaned, grabbing onto your free hand. “I like that you still call me a pretty girl while you’re spanking me,” you joked, leaning so you could kiss him.

He chuckled against your lips before pressing a kiss to your temple. “You’ll like it until you can’t sit down tomorrow, pretty girl.”

In order to form meaningful, long-lasting relationships, women often attempt to manipulate perceived attractiveness through the use of perfume, cosmetics, clothing, and surgery, and thus by the terms of Roberts (2010) and Oesch (2012), disrupt “normal mate choice by men.” If such practices like the three-phase mating ritual consisting of Attraction, Comfort and Trust, and Seduction allow men to approach, attract, and connect with women in a similar fashion, the ethical answer is to endorse such rituals.

Taglists: to be added, follow this link

Jake

@theweightofstardust @celestialfauna @cowboysamkiszka @sarakay-gvf @brokenbellz @lupinevanfleet @screechesincoherently @alwayssotiredbutneverofyou

Josh

@theweightofstardust @celestialfauna @cowboysamkiszka @sarakay-gvf @brokenbellz @screechesincoherently @alwayssotiredbutneverofyou

#greta van fleet fanfiction #josh kiszka smut #jake kiszka smut #jake kiszka fanfiction #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka imagine #josh kiszka fanfic #josh kiszka x reader #josh kiszka imagine #josh kiszka #jake kiszka x reader #gvf imagine #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fleet fan fiction #gvf smut #greta van fleet smut #gvf fanfic