#especially with the oreo face challenge | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

maybege · 4 years ago

Text

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Summary: You make an advent calendar for the office. And someone makes an advent calendar for you.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x fem!Reader

Wordcount: 2.9k | Rating: T

Warnings: none just softness

This is short and sweet (I hope) and part of the December Writing Prompt Challenge hosted by @/aerynwrites with today’s prompt being Unique Traditions. I am so excited that I got to write something and finish it – and for Hotch especially! I hope that you all enjoy it and have some wonderful days ahead of you ❤ Please let me know what you think in a comment or a reblog!

masterlist | crossposted on AO3

Christmas was your favourite time of the year. You loved the lights, the decorations, the way your dashboards were flooded with videos of cats being fascinated by Christmas ornaments, and – most important of all – the traditions.

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s an advent calendar,” you explained to Morgan who looked more than a little hesitant, “One for the entire fifth floor.”

“And what’s in it?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Where is the fun if I just tell you?” you joked, cheerfully straightening the little paper bags into a neat row. This had been your fun project for the entire month of November, drawing the numbers onto the bags as neatly as possible and decorating them with little stickers of trees and snowflakes and Christmas ornaments. You had even found a sticker with a reindeer on it which you had gushed to Penelope about.

“How does it work?” Morgan asked again and at this point, you were sure he was just indulging you now.

“Every day one person’s name gets pulled from the glass and they can open the bag and gets what is inside,” you smiled, “It’s pretty straightforward, really.”

“And what will be inside?” Derek asked again and you laughed, bumping your shoulder into his.

“You’ll just have to see.”

The first week of the Fifth Floor Advent Calendar went well.

On the eighth day, you watched with a smile as Anderson unpacked his bag, revealing a hand warmer and some Oreos which he immediately held up in victory to the cheers of his friends. “It’s awesome,” he grinned, looking at you, “Thank you.”

You smiled, feeling happy that everyone had such a good time with it.

“Who is not getting a bag?” a voice suddenly asked from behind you.

You turned around, coming face to face with your boss and your heart skipped a beat.

Aaron Hotchner, much to your dismay, had become the man of your dreams shortly after you had started your position at the BAU. You couldn’t help yourself. He was tall dark and handsome and wearing suits that only fuelled your dreams about him.

Today he was wearing a striped tie and you tilted your head, taking in how broad his shoulders looked in his black suit …

“What makes you think someone won’t get a gift?” you asked, then, forcing yourself to look into his eyes and not how his hands were buried in pockets.

“Well, there are 26 people working on the floor and only 24 days in the calendar,” he stepped next to you, “So there are two people who will be left out.”

“Well, Strauss did not want to participate to no one’s surprise,” you shrugged, “And, uh, I didn’t put my name in the glass as well.”

“Why not?”

“Making a calendar is about giving,” you said, “Not receiving. And besides, I know what is in every single bag, where would be the surprise in already knowing what I’d get?”

Hotch did not say anything but he looked like he wanted to. There was a furrow between his brows, the kind that let you know he did not agree with something and you opened your mouth again, wanting to assure him for some reason. But you were interrupted by JJ calling you all into the conference room and so you gave up.

It was not like Aaron Hotchner really cared about you anyway.

It was on the twelfth day when your Christmas cheer was brought to a screeching halt. You had just come back from a case in Wisconsin and felt like the cold had seeped into your bones. With the UnSub behind bars, it meant that the reports to be written were piling on your desk and so, even after a turbulent flight, you drove back to the office with Hotch and JJ.

“You sure, you don’t want to go home?” the blonde woman asked you in the parking lot, motioning to her car, “I could give you a ride?”

You smiled, catching in the corner of your eye how Hotch just kept walking to the elevator, clearly stressed from the case you just had. “Thanks, JJ, but I really need to put some work in today.”

JJ tilted her head, a slight furrow between her brows as she mustered you up and down. “Don’t stress yourself out so much,” she said quietly, “No one would fault you for taking a break now and again.”

By the time you waved her passing car goodbye Hotch had already disappeared into the elevator.

When the back letters blurred in front of your eyes, you knew it was time for a break.

You had spent hours typing up page after page and still, it felt like you had not made any significant dent in the list of reports you needed to deliver. How did the others get theirs done so quickly?

The clock said 10 pm and for a moment you debated whether it would be the right decision to make yourself another coffee or not. But when you knew there was only one answer.

Despite the late time of day, the office was not as empty as you would have thought. Maybe it was the holidays coming up or maybe it was just busier than usual, but the bullpen was busy with people on the phone and the clacking of the keyboards. What wouldn’t you do for a spot in Hotch’s or Rossi’s office where you could just close the door and shut the world away.

As you made your way to the little office kitchen, you were surprised to almost run into Hotch right at the doorway. There was a small group of people gathered around the machine and you groaned inwardly at having to wait to get your one cup of heaven.

“What are you doing?” he frowned, his coffee mug in hand as he looked down on you.

“Getting a coffee?” you answered, “What else would I do in the kitchen?”

You made to walk around him, thinking that it was one of those moments where people just did not know which direction to turn. But Hotch did not budge. In fact, he almost seemed angry as his eyebrows pulled together and you wondered for a second if you had done something wrong. You had been writing reports for the last few hours, a small coffee break clearly could not be the problem here.

But that was when the voices become so much clearer.

“Oh c’mon, it’s your turn to pick a name today, Cassandra,” you heard Anderson say, teasing his colleague, and you smiled. You had spotted that even in your absence the advent calendar seemed to have worked and you had made a little note in your calendar to ask who had gotten which day.

“Ugh please don’t make me,” the woman groaned, “It’s annoying and cheesy, how much do you have to put yourself on a pedestal to think people would want your stupid advent calendar? Yeah, n, I say she’s a kiss ass and wants a good grade on her end of year evaluation.”

Hotch shifted in front of you and you flinched, knowing that you had just gotten caught snooping.

What was also clear was that he had heard what Cassandra had said. But you could not bring yourself to admit how humiliated you felt. Certainly not in front of your crush. Or your boss.

Ugh.

“I just wanted to get some coffee,” you stuttered, turning on your heel, “I’m – It’s fine. I should probably go home anyway, uh, I’m tired and – you know, traffic.”

It was on the thirteenth day that the gifts started.

You had decided to simply ignore Cassandra’s comment, no matter how hard that might be, and instead, look forward to the holidays that were just around the corner. You had applied for some much overdue annual leave for the week after Christmas and with the snow setting in you felt like the world was granting you a little reprieve.

All would work out.

But when you arrived at your desk, you spotted a candy bar that most certainly had not been there when you had left the office in a rush.

“Is that yours?” you asked Reid, holding up the candy.

“Huh?” your colleague looked up, looking at the chocolate bar in your hands, “Uh, no sorry, that was there when I got here this morning,”

You hummed, turning it in your hands. It was your favourite one and with how it had been left on your desk, you were sure that it was meant for you.

So why not have a bite?

The next day, there was a small chocolate Santa on your desk and an even smaller post it with the number 14 on it.

That was when it hit you. Was someone making an advent calendar for you?

“Oh, Santa!” Penelope exclaimed, immediately picking it up. When she spotted the number, she looked at you with a mischievous grin, “A … Secret Santa?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, knowing that you could hardly hide your excitement from your friend, “There was something on my desk yesterday but I didn’t think it would in this.”

“You don’t like it?” she asked, holding the Santa to her chest, “because I will gladly take the offerings in your stead. I mean, look at this!” she whispered dramatically, “I think it might even be Lindt chocolate!”

You wanted to tell her that you were very happy about the gifts and that you would never give them up, when Hotch passed you, suspiciously eying the Santa in Garcia’s hand. “Do I want to know what’s going on?” he asked, coming to a stop right beside you and your heart skipped a beat.

He was standing so close that your upper arm brushed his whenever you took a deep breath in and suddenly you found yourself over analysing. Was this on purpose? Did it mean anything?

“Did you see who put this here, Sir?” Garcia asked your boss, pulling you out of your thoughts, “We’re trying to find her mysterious gift giver.”

“We’re not,” you corrected quickly, taking the chocolate figure back so fast that the little yellow post-it sailed to the floor. Hotch looked at you with one eyebrow raised as if to say Really now?

But you just ignored him, instead holding the Santa close to your heart. You did not need to know who it was from. Because who did not like a little secret enjoyment in their life?

With each and every day, you looked forward to the moment you would step into the office, throwing your bag into the chair and smiling when you found another treat right there in front of your keyboard.

On the fifteenth day, it was a little bag filled with an assortment of candy that you liked.

On the sixteenth day, you found a little envelope with a motivational postcard in it. It was so cheesy, you had to laugh out loud and subsequently explain the pun to Reid who took it in with his typical serious face.

That card had a special day on your desk, pinned right behind your computer.

On the seventeenth, it was a chocolate bar again. But this time, next to the number on the yellow post-it, was a little hastily drawn smiley.

You put the post-it in your bag when no one was looking.

Someone was doing this and kept doing it. Just for you. Just to do something nice for you.

The eighteenth day brought with it a chocolate praline and a little note.

Your smile brightens my day.

“What do you think has her smiling like that, Hotch?”

You looked up to find Derek grinning at you, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he winked at you. Hotch was standing next to him, a file open in his hands and when he looked up and met your gaze it felt like his eyes were piercing into your very soul. You saw his fingers shift under the paper as he looked at you expectantly, seeming not even mad that Derek had interrupted him.

You could not help but smile and held up the note.

“To brighten someone’s day, Morgan,” you quipped, “Now mind your own business.”

On the nineteenth, you did not even make it to the office.

New case. Get to the jet asap. was what woke you up instead and it was only in your seat as the pressure on your ears built up that you realized you would

And that was what kept bugging you at the back of your mind as the case dragged on your almost four days. You had not thought that you would miss the little notes so much but every free second that you had you caught yourself mulling over who could possibly be behind all of this.

The thought did not leave you – not once. And so, when you were finally landing on December 23, the snow coming down in thick flakes, you were one of the first people to suggest going back to the office.

“These reports won’t write themselves,” you announced as you carefully walked down the steps, clinging onto the metal railing for dear life as a strong wind blew against your face, “And I want it all done before the holidays.”

“No one is going back into the office in this weather,” Hotch replied loudly, his voice almost getting lost in the howl of the jet powering down, “And especially not you.”

“But –“ you wanted to interject –

“This is an order, Agent,” Hotch turned around when he reached the end of the stairs, holding his hand out to help you take the last few steps. Your breath caught in your throat, feeling his long fingers gently wrap around your wrist, his thumb brushing briefly over your knuckles as the snowflakes settled on the shoulders of his coat and his hair.

“Go home and rest.”

And so, it came that you arrived on December 24 to find six little post-its on your desk. Along with a ton of treats.

But you knew it was not the candy that made your heart pound faster, it was the scribbles on the yellow paper that had you sitting down so quickly in your chair, it rolled back a few inches. Gratefully, the office was almost empty except for Anderson and his desk and Hotch in his office.

You picked up the three notes you found, your hands shaking with excitement.

For December 19 it read: I look forward to seeing you every day.

For December 22 it was: I like your new haircut. (Reid is not the only one that noticed.)

And then, finally, you found the post-it with a little 24 in the corner.

Find me under the nearest mistletoe. (If you want.)

Your heart skipped a beat and you immediately looked around, trying to spot which mistletoe was closer. You knew, of course, that Garcia had taken it upon herself to decorate the office floor for the festive season (much to the dismay of Strauss) and part of her mission had been to hang up mistletoes everywhere.

But which one was the closest?

You walked to the elevator, knowing that Garcia had put one there with the help of Morgan. Surely, that counted as a good spot? At least prominent enough that your Secret Santa would find you.

Because, well, there were only two options now.

And you really hoped it wasn’t Anderson.

Your heart was pounding so hard in your chest it felt like you would throw up from nervousness any moment now. You just hoped you would manage it a moment longer, a mine longer, even, just to meet whoever –

A large hand appeared on your lower back, “This is not the nearest mistletoe.”

The elevator pinged and the doors whirred open. You felt like you could not breathe from nervousness, looking up at Hotch as he led you into the little cabin. The doors closed and he pressed a button.

“How did you –“ you frowned, before realizing, “You did not read the note.”

He smiled, “No, I did not.”

“So … all that was you?” you asked, trying to hide the hope in your voice, “And you … you really mean it?”

“It was,” he confirmed, “And I do.”

Your eyes roamed over his suit, noticing the way his thumb tapped against his fingertips, almost as if he was nervous.

“I really appreciate it, Aaron,” you said quietly, your hand brushing against his, “It … it brightened my day.”

The little inside had his lips quirk up and your breath hitched when he turned to face you. He was so close now, you could feel his breath on your face, the warmth of his chest against yours even through the layers of his suit and your dress.

“What can I say?” his lips tugged up, “I just wanted to see you smile.”

You laughed, your nose nudging against his. His big hands cupped your face and pulled you to him, pressing his lips against yours in a kiss that made your blood sing. His lips were soft and you gasped, feeling his mouth move against yours as fireworks erupted in your chest. Your arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as you pondered that this was the best advent calendar anyone had ever given you.

His teeth tugged at your bottom lip and you found yourself moving against him, wanting him closer and closer still.

And if he accidentally pressed you against the Emergency Stop Button … well who were you to complain?

#maybege writes #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x fem!reader

394 notes · View notes

lily-blue · 3 years ago

Text

It’s always a delight to CU

☆ characters: shop assistant!xukun & customer!you ☆ genre: meet-cute, strangers to lovers au ☆ request: 18. from this prompt list ☆ summary: you have the perfect height for Xukun to help you reach the upper shelf and he is positively smug about it ☆ words: 1,6k ☆ dedicated to: @dat-town ♥ and that lovely anon who asked about the possibility of a future xukun fic a couple of months ago ☆ taglist: @soobin-chois

You had started to get suspicious when even your favorite snacks had been put on the upper shelf in your go-to convenient store that was located barely five minutes from the company where you did your internship for your masters degree. You knew basic marketing; in fact, you had taken numerous classes in the past few years regarding fruitful and failed marketing strategies all around Asia, Europe, and the United States. Thus, no one could have convinced you that putting the season’s most popular candy bars anywhere else but the middle shelves was normal. Especially because they had been pretty much in your eyeline up until you had started to stock up on them for your lunch breaks.

However, you obviously couldn’t have called anyone out on your inconvenience without any evidence; you had to go into full detective-mode to figure out what was really going on. Were you paranoid or your gut feeling was telling the truth and someone was messing with you?

During the next one and a half months, you checked where certain products were placed before and after you started purchasing them regularly, whether any of them changed place depending on what time of the day you visited the store, and kept track of the employees, too, just in case it was a personal vendetta against you. You honestly doubted you had ever met these part-timers outside of the shop - there were four of them in total, all of them close to you in age -, but one could have never known for sure, plus you could be a bit grumpy when you were starving, so it could have easily been about an apology you owed one of them. If that had been the case, you would have done it without hesitation. After all, you were aware you weren’t alway in the right.

The puzzle pieces came together slowly, but on a sunny day, after a long day at the company, one look at your favorite Oreos on the upper self brought you enlightenment. You looked at the shop assistant from above your shoulder, let out a tired sigh, then stood on your tiptoes to grab a package. You were so ready to call him out on his bullshit once you stood in front of the counter.

‘I’ll get it for you. The classic ones, right?’ A deep voice asked, and your shoulders tensed as you took a step away from the self on instinct. You weren’t really afraid, but this was the first time someone stood behind your back to help you out; thus, it took you off guard.

You looked up at the boy who already had a package of classic Oreos in his hands. Although, as soon as you realized that he was the shop assistant you were rightfully suspicious of, you shook your head.

‘Thanks, but I can get them myself,’ you insisted, totally disregarding the snack in his hands to prove a point. It didn’t matter that you could hardly touch the price tags on the edge of the upper shelf with your fingertips in your high heels, or that standing on your tiptoes barely gave you another centimeter. You had to show him that he had picked on the wrong person.

‘It didn’t seem so from there,’ he pointed at the counter with a smug smile, urging you to turn towards him with your entire body and poke his chest a few times with your index finger in order to intimidate him.

But that would have been childish. Therefore, you put your hands on your hips instead and narrowed your eyes.

‘Well, I got them just fine the other day when Jungha was behind the counter,’ you showed him one of your most mocking smiles, not backing down from the challenge when instead of apologizing, he started a staring contest.

You didn’t like the clear amusement on his face. It irked you, and made you more certain that you had done nothing to him that should have triggered his vendetta. He was either doing this to gain your attention or he was a weirdo who liked watching other people suffer. With your luck, you wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been the latter.

‘Doesn’t it go against some kind of store policy or what not when an employee plays tricks on the customers?’ You broke the silence before he could have thought he had won. It might have been stupid of you, especially if he had been a creep like you suspected, but you wanted to show him that you weren’t easy to play with.

You could have always shopped at another store if things had gone south this time, right? Not to mention that you had a can of pepper spray in your tote bag. Worst case scenario, the book you were currently reading weighed almost half a kilo. You could have slapped him with your hard copy of Game of Thrones and run if he had tried anything funny.

‘Dunno,’ he answered with a nonchalant shrug, not making any attempt at decreasing the distance between you two. You wondered whether your thoughts were written on your face. Did you look afraid of him? Because you weren’t afraid! He was just a bit too tall, and he had chosen the worst way to initiate a conversation with you when he had sneaked up on you. ‘But if it did, it should depend on what kind of tricks. Don’t you agree?’

You mimicked his nonchalance and shrugged. He didn’t look too muscular, but you obviously couldn’t have told for sure when he was wearing a shapeless uniform. Plus, you weren’t too strong, either.

‘Maybe,’ you retorted with confidence, earning a genuine-looking smile from him with your answer. You counted to one, two, three, then decided to call him out on his actions now that you were having an actual conversation. ‘Or maybe you should stop misplacing my favorite snacks when you’re bored.’

The boy scoffed, but it didn’t sound annoyed or irritated. If anything, his reaction reminded you of your roommate, Yuqi, and how she clowned you whenever you forgot to buy instant noodles or certain veggies when she had a concrete recipe in mind for the weekend.

‘Please, it’s not like it’s illegal to put products on the upper shelves. It doesn’t hurt you in any way. And the faces you make when you act like you’re tall enough are cute,’ he reasoned, his logic flawed on many levels.

‘I’m tall enough!’ You spat, feeling a little stupid a second later when you realized that he had a point. But still, you weren’t acting anyhow. Because even when it took you some time, you always managed on your own. High shelves couldn’t beat you.

‘Nah, you’re short. Get over it!’ He waved you off like you were a child who still lived in her own fantasy world. His endeared chuckles made you pout, then you pouted a bit more since you had proved him right once again without meaning to. ‘Oh, come on! I’d miss your pouty face. It’s adorable.’

You would have liked to think that you were unaffected when it came to sweet talkers like him - Xukun, as his nametag suggested -, but you could feel your cheeks getting warmer the softer his smile became. You cleared your throat to steal a moment for yourself before you opened your sealed lips for a coherent comeback.

‘Aren’t you too old to flirt like a kindergartener?’ You asked with one of your hands still on your hip, head slightly tilted and slim eyebrow raised high.

‘Maybe I mistook you for one the first time and it stuck with me,’ he teased, rendering you speechless despite the flames his retort ignited in you. You wanted to tell him off so badly, but on the other hand, you couldn’t change the fact that his chin could have grazed the top of your head if he had taken two steps forwards.

You understood exaggeration. You didn’t have a stick up your ass that made you fight over mere semantics. Still, you groaned as lacking a better idea, you took the package of classic Oreos out of his hand.

‘Leave my Oreos on the third shelf and I’ll consider giving you my number next time,’ you claimed with enough confidence to not stutter despite your heart beating in your throat. So what if you had misread the signs and he wasn’t actually flirting? It wasn’t that you needed to shop in this particular store all the time just because it was located at the perfect spot, five minutes from your workplace and one from the subway line that took you home.

You threw the snack into your shopping basket, then walked past the boy to show him you wouldn’t wait for his answer desperately if he was only joking around.

The corner of your lips twitched in amusement when he jogged after you.

‘Deal!’

It would have been a lie to say you weren’t a tad bit doubtful when you left the store, but the next time you visited the shop, the Oreos were on the third shelf; thus, you took your time to introduce yourself at the counter. Although you left that day without giving him your number, Xukun didn’t push you, nor did he break his promise, calling you out on doing so first. Instead, he appreciated your attempts at getting to know him and reciprocated your fun facts about your life with his own.

It took you almost a month to fulfill your part of the bargain, but you eventually did give him your kkt ID. After all, he needed to be able to contact you before your first date in that amusement park you had chosen together.

(Because yes, no matter what he said, you were tall enough to ride roller coasters.)

the end.

#xukun x you #cai xukun #xukun scenarios #xukun x reader #xukun drabble #xukun #ssbyme #strangers to lovers

14 notes · View notes

nanowrimo · 4 years ago

Text

5 Tips for Finishing Your Novel

April’s session of Camp NaNoWriMo is drawing to a close, and you might find yourself nearing the end of your novel. If you need some tips on writing and polishing the ending of your story, author Derek Murphy is here to share a few! Plus, you can check out the rest of our novel-finishing resources on our #NaNoFinMo page.

You won NaNoWriMo and have a 50k collection of scenes and sentences, but how do you clean it up and get it done? How do you make sure it’s finished, satisfying and enjoyable? Here are 5 powerful strategies for finishing your novel and some helpful writing tips that will push you past the finish line.

1. Give it a satisfying resolution.

In order to have a powerful story, your book should probably focus on a main character’s change or transformation. There’s an inner war, a.k.a. the character’s emotional healing, and an outer war: the conflict that forced the reckoning. If it’s a purely symbolic internal realization, you can mirror that with actual conflict in the real scene: the breaking of a dish, a fit of rage, a sudden ray of sunlight (or a storm… this should not be pleasant; It’s a breaking point and spiritual death/rebirth).

You can clarify the moment of change by setting up an illustrative contrast, a before and after, that shows how those internal changes have resulted in real-world consequences or benefits. Each character’s unique challenge will match their personal weakness or fear. The price for victory is the one thing they have so far refused to do, or something they cannot give up or bear to lose.

Make sure your protagonist has gone through a transformative struggle to arrive at deep insights, knowledge or awareness. Find a way to deepen the incidental scenes so that they become instrumental to a deeper purpose, leading towards an identity-shifting event.

The plot is what happens, and it’s important. But you can make it more dramatic and meaningful by making sure you demonstrate how hard it was and what it cost. It matters, it is remarkable, because it forced your protagonist to change.

Your conclusion might include:

Physical tension as allies perform a tug-of-war battle against resistance, that shows how difficult this struggle is, and how much force is required.

The consideration phase, as characters are tempted last minute or the price for victory is revealed: the sweet memories that give them awareness that this fight is worth the cost or risk (you need to show them making the choice, knowing what they will lose).

The final flashback, as the full backstory is revealed so we can see exactly why this conflict is so difficult or meaningful for the main character.

2. Add (unresolved) conflict.

Your story is made up of the events and scenes, where something happens. Each new event will push the characters further into the plot. Slow scenes where nothing is really happening can be red flags, so the first thing to focus on is increasing conflict, drama, suspense and intrigue. This is what creates urgency. The full reveal, demonstrating why THIS challenge is so difficult and powerful, should happen just before the final battle or resolution.

You want to make sure every scene, especially in your conclusion, has enough conflict. I recommend these three:

Outer Conflict (threats): Challenges or obstacles that prevent the character from achieving goals.

Inner Conflict (doubts): Moral struggles, decisions, guilt or shame, anger.

Friendly Fire (betrayal): Strong disagreements between allies or supporting characters.

You want to extend and deepen the potential conflict, without resolving it too easily. The biggest destroyer of conflict is conversation: when your characters just sit around and talk to each other. Most conflict involves a lack of information, and a desire for clarity. A lot of conflict is perceived or imagined.

The most important information needs to come last, and come at a great price. The information that has an emotional impact, and influences their actions and decisions, should be big reveals at dramatic peaks. A surprise or twist should be treated as an event: each scene is leading towards a change or new piece of information that provokes the protagonist to respond.

3. Fill plot holes with character motivation.

After you’ve made sure that “what actually happens” is intriguing (opening questions and raising tensions without resolving them) you can focus on making sure the plot holes are filled, and characters are properly motivated – these two things are usually adjacent.

You can find and fill plot holes by asking:

Why are the characters doing this?

Why does any of it matter?

Basically, readers need to respect the main characters enough to care what happens to them, so their choices and actions need to make sense within the given information. If there’s a simpler, easier solution, readers will get stuck up on “why didn’t they just…”? To fix plot holes and gaps in logic or continuity, or make the story go where you need it to, you can add urgency, fix the mood of the scene (bigger stakes require bigger justifications), show characters in a weakened mental state, or raise concerns but have them dismissed, with an excuse or justification.

You need rational characters to make plausible choices that lead to dire consequences. You need show why they don’t do something easier, or nothing at all, or why they face clear challenges, despite potential obstacles.

They’ll also require a deeper motivation, for why they’re willing to put themselves in identity-destroying conflict, rather than just giving up or running away. Why do they stay in THIS fight, when they’ve run from similar ones? If they weren’t ready at the beginning, why are the ready now – what changed in them, as a result of your story’s journey?

Your protagonist needs to have a strong, consistent internal compass, and it needs to be revealed through incidents that establish their character. This is who they are. Without this reliable core identity, we won’t be able to tell a story that forces them to change.

4. Let readers picture your story with detailed description.

In the final stages of revision, you can begin improving the description with specific details.

It’s smart to start – or end – a chapter with a vivid, immediate scene. You want to leave readers with an image they can see in their minds, hopefully connected to the feeling you aim to evoke. You can close a chapter with a reference back to a motif or image, with a deeper or more reflective context; applying meaning to the metaphor. This will help readers feel engaged, be moved, and leave a lasting impact.

Vivid scenes are mostly a matter of detailed description, so add the specifics about the story environment. Be precise, not vague. Instead of “she put a plate of tea and snacks on the table” you can write “she gently placed an antique porcelain teapot on the table. I could smell it was Earl Grey from the scent of bergamot. The half-sleeve of Oreos and can of onion-flavored Pringles seemed incongruous with the fancy dishes, but I knew she was making an effort to welcome me.”

Focus on the sensations and feelings; but also zero-in on any potential sources of conflict or internal emotions or states of mind. In my example above, the host might be nervous or ashamed of her spread; or perhaps she has a degenerative brain disease and doesn’t notice the incongruity. Tensions are unspoken, potential sources of negative feelings. They hover in the background of your description.

Readers will remember the pictures you put in their heads, not the words on the page.

Description should serve and be bound to the story, not distract from it.

It should be squeezed into and around the scene action, when the protagonist is using or exploring.

Show what’s different, not what’s the same.

Leave space for readers to fill in the gaps, but get them started in the right direction so they aren’t surprised later.

Sidenote: be careful about your metaphors, analogies and similes. Each one will put a picture into readers’ minds, and it can quickly get overcrowded with imagery. You’re asking them to ignore your real scene and think of something else. Use them to confirm and amplify the scene you have, and limit distractions.

5. Prepare to publish.

Typos are bad, but perfectionism will ruin you. This section is about editing and proofreading, but I don’t have time for all that, and you don’t either. The real problem with a story is rarely the number of typos. A very clean book isn’t better if people stop reading.

You can solve a lot of common writing problems, with my big list of 25 common writing mistakes, and self-edit your manuscript to make it as good as possible. After that, a copyeditor or proofreader isn’t always the best investment (and it can also be the biggest publishing cost).

Instead, use an editing software (I like Grammarly) to root out obvious mistakes, but don’t dwell on the small stuff like perfecting every word or rearranging the commas. Spending a very long time wrestling a poorly-written manuscript in shape is less effective than getting something (actually) done to the point where you’re comfortable sharing it.

This may be difficult at first, but you can’t learn and improve without genuine reader feedback (from people who aren’t your mom or best friend; nor the short-sighted opinions of a self-proclaimed literature enthusiast). You need to find readers who enjoy your particular genre, and the sooner you find them, the more valuable feedback you can get.

Shorten the feedback loop: Get over the fear and focus on learning by getting feedback early and often. However, this doesn’t just mean joining a writer’s club: writers are brutal and might focus on trivial things. The safest bet is to make it public, on Wattpad at least. Or get a cheap cover and throw it up on Kindle, Draft2Digital or even your own blog.

Making it public is scary and vulnerable, but it’s better than letting the fear of messing up keep you from the brutal, necessary experience of allowing readers to tell you what they liked and disliked about your writing. Will some people be critical? Yes! But guess what, you’ll get negative reviews even if you’re a brilliant, famous writer. Those are inevitable. And the first negative reviews may teach you more about writing than 10 years attempting to self-edit, afraid of putting your book out into the world.

PS. You can use resources, like my 24-chapter plot outline, as a way to spot story gaps in your manuscript and improve the structure (especially if your book suffers from a “soggy middle.)

Derek Murphy has a PhD in Literature, writes urban fantasy and is the founder of the alliance of young adult authors. More recently, he’s started sharing writing tips on http://www.writethemagic.com

Top photo by Adegbenro Emmanuel Dipo on Unsplash.

#nanowrimo #camp nanowrimo #nanofinmo #writing advice #writing tips #finishing a novel #by nano guest #derek murphy

144 notes · View notes

tomboyneedshercoffee · 5 years ago

Text

Lovedust Pt.3 || Peter Parker x Stark Reader

Summary: Y/N catches the eye of one of her male classmates who invites her to an upcoming party. As she weighs her options, Peter takes her out for a treat but old history comes back up.

Word Count: 4.1k

Author’s Note: I hope everyone is safe during this crazy time. Remember: Wear a mask, wash your hands, and only leave your house for necessities! You can literally stay at home and read fanfiction all day and you would be saving lives! I introduced a new male character and I’ll be real, Joshua Bassett needs to be appreciated so I put him in! However, for the character Josh you can think of any celeb or crush you have if you want!

Warnings: Adult language, mentions of sex

part one || part two || part three || part four || part five || part six ||

part seven || part eight || epilogue

When Monday rolled around, all you wanted to do was stay home. You felt that there was too much going on to just go on autopilot for eight hours at school when all you could think about was how to fix Peter.

While you had decided that you would at least be nice to him, there was still a small part of you that was worried about what would happen if he never got better.

How much of your relationship would change and worst of all, what would happen to his ‘superhero’ duties?

If you were really the only thing running through his mind, how would he even function saving lives?

As much as you wanted to sit and worry about him, you knew you needed to get your own life together before you started fixing other people like going to school.

You went to college-prep academy which really just meant that everyone had to wear uniforms to kill all individualistic forms of expression and pay ridiculous tuition to learn.

You really didn’t mind since most of your classes were ridiculously easy but a lot of your classmates were spoiled monsters who liked to flaunt their rich last name.

Lucky for you, Stark was pretty hard to beat.

Once you slipped your blazer on, you grabbed the straps of your backpack and walked out into the kitchen to pack your lunch where Peter was already awake, making breakfast.

Usually, by this time, Peter would already be on his way to school on the subway but your dad and Banner thought it would be best for him to stay at the complex so they could run more tests on him.

Peter took his attention off of the stove and drew his eyes towards you, his face already flushed red as he tried not to stare below your skirt,” Y/N! You look really pretty in your uh- uniform.”

At this point, you knew that whatever words that came out of Peter’s mouth wasn’t his fault so you decided to roll with it. You were so used to him always giving you snarky replies about your school uniform but now, you didn’t have to waste your energy thinking of a comeback.

You hummed as you leaned over the kitchen island to grab a piece of bacon that was off to the side,” And you look really pretty in your pajamas Parker. How are you holding up? Are they getting any closer into figuring out how to stop your chest pains?”

Ever since Peter first made contact with the lovedust, he had been complaining about how tight his chest was feeling. It seemed like a normal side effect since it would happen whenever you were close to him but as days passed, his chest started to hurt more every time you weren’t around.

You felt guilty knowing that you going to school would literally cause him pain but at the same time, you couldn’t adjust your whole life around Peter.

Peter shook his head as he swallowed hard,” No not yet but I’m sure they’ll figure out something soon... I packed your lunch by the way. It’s over there by the sink.”

You looked over towards the sink and sure enough, your lunch bag that you hadn’t used since freshman year was neatly packed. You didn’t have the heart to tell him that your school had really good chicken pesto on Mondays so you gladly looked through the lunch bag to see what was inside.

As you looked through it, you could see a white piece of lined paper folded and taped against a small packet of Oreos. Peter noticed that you had found the note and this time, his face grew redder.

“ You can throw it away if you want, I thought it would be nice or whatever,” Peter said quietly as he walked over to where you were standing.

He reached for your lunch bag but you tensed up, pulling it towards your chest,” Aw, come on Parker, please? Technically, this note is like mail and you know it’s a federal crime to tamper with it.”

Peter bit the inside of his cheek and nodded as he rubbed his sweaty palms on his thighs. You had never seen Peter ever this flustered before and a part of you felt guilty that you were the reason he was so nervous but a part of you liked the attention.

You had to remind yourself that once Peter was cured, it gave him free rein to possibly be the same dick as before. At least for now, you liked being friends with Peter.

“ I gotta go now but I’ll see you after school,” You finally said as you put your backpack on and walked over to the elevator,” try not to die or anything.”

“ I’ll do my best, have a good day,” Peter smiled as he suddenly remembered something,” oh, make sure you bring an umbrella, it’s supposed to rain today.”

You checked your phone to look at the weather for the afternoon but saw that it was supposed to be bright and sunny all day,” I’m sure it’ll be fine, bye Parker.”

Once you made it all the way downstairs to the main entrance, you looked behind your shoulder to make sure no one was behind you before rummaging through your lunch bag. You took out the note Peter had written to you and even though you didn’t even open it yet, you already felt your stomach twisting and turning.

You had a feeling it would be him saying how pretty you looked or how much he loved you since he was under his lovey trance but when you opened up the note, you felt yourself smile.

Thank you for not being weird about everything that’s going on. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. P.S I love it when you call me Parker

-------

School dragged on and on and by the time the last bell had rung, you felt like you were on the verge of dropping out.

Any of your STEM classes weren’t as interesting or as challenging to you anymore, especially since you had a whole floor in your own house that was just laboratories filled with people who have actually won Nobel Prizes.

Once you left class, you made your way straight to your locker and put your math textbook into your backpack. When you shut your locker, you looked up to see your friend Kim holding up her phone towards your face.

“ Hello to you too, what am I looking at?” You asked as you took her phone to get a better look at the screen,” is this a Snapchat invitation?”

“ Good, you can read,” Kim teased as she adjusted the straps of her backpack,” Amber is throwing a party on Saturday and we have to go!”

You furrowed your eyebrows as you handed the phone back to her. You didn’t hate parties but you much rather preferred smaller functions with all of your friends than a room filled with total strangers your age.

“ I thought we hated Amber and I’m pretty sure she hates us. She literally called you rat face when you were doing your presentation and you pushed her into the trashcan the other day,” You reminded Kim as your mind thought back to how much you disliked Amber.

If your school was the chocolate factory, Amber Kennedy was Veruca Salt. Anytime she pouted and whined about whatever new golden ticket she craved, she got it.

While Amber never anything specific towards you, anyone who disrespected your friend was an enemy in your book.

Kim rolled her eyes as the two of you made your way down the hallway,” Okay that’s true, I hate that bitch with every fiber of my being but I just need a mental break from school. Plus, it’ll be good for you to get yourself out there. I heard a certain lead singer in a band is looking forward to seeing you there.”

You knew right away who Kim was going on about but you only shrugged,” I don’t know who you’re talking about...Is it raining outside?”

Of course, she knew you were lying because there was only one guy you ever mentioned around her when you weren’t complaining about Peter.

Joshua- or Josh- was one of the few guys in your life who managed to not piss you off completely but that wasn’t the only thing you liked about him.

“ Let me refresh your memory; dark brown, curly-haired genius who sits behind you in Anatomy and according to you has ‘perfect brown eyes that make me want to jump off a bridge’?” Kim reminded you as you playfully hit her shoulder.

You were never the type to be boy crazy and you weren’t one of the girls who felt their knees buckle every time they saw him, but whenever he would wave or smile at you in class, you had to physically stop yourself from blushing like a schoolgirl.

In all honesty, you wouldn’t say you and Josh were friends, a better-suited term would be classmates that occasionally talked about things outside of school ever now and then.

“ Look, as much as I would love to go to a party where I know no one and where the host hates me, I’m not going to go to a party just because Josh is going to be there. I don’t care how cute he is, I’m busy dealing with you know who,” You said as you heard someone chuckle behind you.

“ You think I’m cute?”

Your heart dropped to the floor as you turned around to see Josh standing behind you with a wide smirk on his face. You could feel your throat hitch as you quickly looked Josh up and down to make sure he was not a figment of your imagination.

It was nearly impossible for anyone to look good in a school uniform but of course, Josh managed to pull it off every time. His tie was loosely undone around his white collar and his sleeves were rolled up all the way to his elbows and you were 100% on board with it.

For a moment, you felt actual sympathy for Peter because now you understood how he must be feeling.

Without a second thought, you felt your binder slip out of your hands and once it hit the floor, your notes came out of the binder pocket.

You both took a moment to stare at the papers on the floor but Josh was the first one to bend down and pick some of them up.

You snapped out of your daze and kneeled down in front of him awkwardly as you helped him pick up your notes,” I’m sorry, you just startled me.”

Josh let out a small laugh as he shook his head,” Well, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was hoping to do the opposite actually. I was calling your name earlier but I guess you were too busy talking about...me.”

You pressed your lips together as you tried to avoid his gaze, as if that would help the blush fade away,” Yeah, about that, Kim was just telling me that you were planning to go to some party this weekend. Apparently, your band is playing right?”

You looked over your shoulder to look up at Kim but she was nowhere to be seen. Coward.

“ Amber’s party, yeah,” Josh said as you neatly put your stack of papers into your binder,” I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but were you saying that you aren’t going?”

Your heart skipped a beat as you looked up at Josh and you felt stupid for feeling so nervous around him.

By all means, you were not in love with him and saying that he was your crush was pushing it a bit.

All you knew was that apparently, Josh had been asking about you and that alone made something inside of you click.

You cleared your throat as you nodded, tearing your eyes away from his,” I mean, I would love to go but I might have plans.”

“ That’s too bad, I was kinda hoping I would see you there,” Josh said quietly, his face slightly flushed,” but don’t worry about it. I’m sure whatever you have going on is more important than just some party.”

You didn’t even realize you were both reaching for the same page of notes until his hand rested against yours for a moment. Your heart stopped as you waited for him to pull his hand away but he kept it on top of yours.

After a few seconds passed, Josh held your hand tightly as he helped you stand up again. He gave your hand one last squeeze before he let his hand fall to the side.

What the hell is happening?

As much as you wanted to go to the party, all you could think about was Peter. You knew that more than ever, he needed you and if your dad needed your help in the lab, you wanted to be there.

Then, as if your mind was telling you to reconsider, it pushed forward the conversation you had with Peter before he made contact with the lovedust.

“ You wasted your whole high school years on never accomplishing anything. You never went to a single party, you never passed your drivers test, and you’ve never even had a boyfriend before.”

A part of you couldn’t even believe Peter would ever say something like that because of how obsessed he is over you. Yet, that memory of Peter was only a few days ago.

You couldn’t just let it all go, you knew he was capable of saying hurtful things and for once, you didn’t want to worry about someone else.

For the first time ever, you were going to be selfish.

“ Maybe I can stop by to say hi or something to listen to your band,” You said as you watched him smile back,” but I can’t promise anything.”

Josh flipped his blazer over his shoulder and smirked,” Too late, I’m already looking forward to seeing you there.”

Josh gave a small wave before walking back over to his friends who were leaned up against the lockers. As you walked away, you felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of your shoulders.

When you got to the front doors, you looked out the windows and watched the rain quietly. Of course, Peter was right.

You had planned to walk to the subway station after school since you knew your dad would be too busy fixing Peter to pick you up but if you would have known it was going to rain, you would’ve asked Kim to take you home.

You opened up the glass doors and held your textbook over your head, thankful for once that Mr. Carter had assigned homework from this mammoth of a book. As you made your way down the stairs, you spotted a familiar face waiting on the bench in the courtyard with an umbrella.

“ Peter?” You called out as his head snapped up to see you,” what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the lab?”

Peter stood up and held the umbrella closer to you so you wouldn’t get wet and rubbed the back of his neck.

“ Your dad and Banner have been running tests on me all morning so they sent me to my room to rest for a bit. But then I saw that you forgot your umbrella and I didn’t want you to walk to the subway in the rain,” Peter said as the two of you shared the umbrella,” so here I am.”

“ You didn’t have to come all this way...but thank you,” You said as the two of you walked out the gates.

Peter smiled as you interlocked your arms with him to get closer. As the two of you made your way across town, you both exchanged how your day went but when it came to talking about yours, you purposely left out the part about Josh and the party.

You didn’t know why you would even keep it from him but you just kept telling yourself that what Peter didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him. Plus, if Peter found out about your interaction with Josh, there could be a possibility that he would be on a whole other level of jealousy and frankly, you didn’t have the time.

“ So, I read your note,” You said as you felt Peter tense up beside you,” you said you’d make it up to me and now I’m intrigued. What did you have in mind?”

“ A lot of things, if we’re thinking about someplace romantic there’s this-” Peter stopped himself and shook his head before taking a breath,” sorry. I’m just trying to get better at controlling what I say around you. I was just going to say that there’s this place around the corner that makes really good milkshakes and I thought it would be a nice date- as friends! Just friends. Unless you want to- fuck! I’m sorry Y/N, I’m just going to shut up now.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from letting out a small laugh as Peter shook his head,” You’re such a sap, Parker. It really is never a dull moment with you.”

Peter opened up the diner doors and as soon as you stepped in, you felt like you had been transported back in time.

The floor was sketched in the iconic black and white checkered print and the platinum bar had bright red stools along the outside.

Just from your spot in the front, you could smell the peppermint disinfectant that they used to wipe down the tables but you were most focused on the jukebox in the corner as a Ritchie Valens song started to play in the background.

“ How did you find this place?” You asked as Peter led you to one of the booths in the corner of the diner.

“ I always knew about it but I figured it wouldn’t be fun without bringing someone along,” Peter admitted as you looked around at the old, decorative records across the wall,” I know how much you like those old movies so I thought it would be nice to take you back to the fun part of the 50s without the, you know, racism.”

You shook your head laughing as you turned your attention to the menu,” Nothing says the 50s like institutionalized racism and systemic oppression of women.”

Once the waitress arrived at the booth, Peter ordered a milkshake for the two of you to share and while you felt yourself falling deeper into the cliche, you couldn’t oppose since he was paying.

When the waitress left, Peter turned back to you and rested his hands on the table nervously. You couldn’t even imagine what he was thinking about but that in itself made you stand up straighter.

“ Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to but I’m just curious,” You asked as Peter nodded enthusiastically.

“ What does the lovedust feel like?” You asked as Peter raised his eyebrow,” I mean, how does it make you feel... about me?”

Peter felt the inside of his mouth dry up as he croaked,” Do you mean- are you asking me what it feels like to be in love with you? Because honestly Y/N, it feels so weird-”

“ Being in love with me is weird?”

“ Well yeah! Wait no! No, it’s not weird!” Peter stammered as you watched him get more and more nervous,” it’s not weird to love you but my body feels weird around you. My hands are constantly sweaty and clammy and sometimes it’s hard to even focus on small things like breathing. I can’t even shower without thinking of you- not like that- well kinda like that- but every time I have a quiet moment to myself, all my mind wants to think about is you. When your dad was running tests on me this morning, all I could think about was how you two shared the same last name and one day-hopefully-I can change your last name to Parker- okay see I can’t stop what comes out of my mouth when I’m on a roll!”

As your mind started to break down every sentence he said, the waitress gave Peter a strange look before placing the milkshake in front of the two of you.

“ Wow, okay that was... a lot. You could’ve left out about half of that but I’ll give you a pass because I feel sorry for you,” You admitted as you took the paper wrapping off of the straw and dipped it into your milkshake,” but is there anything else? Like is there any part of you that still hates me? Or is it all gone because of the lovedust?”

Peter furrowed his eyebrows as you leaned over to take a sip,” Hate you? I never hated you Y/N.”

You pulled your lips away from the straw and sat back,” What do you mean you never hated me? I’m pretty sure you hated me, we were so mean to each other. Like our relationship was toxic as hell.”

Peter lightly banged his straw against the table and tore off the paper around the straw without looking at you.

“ I never hated you. Was I a huge dick to you? Of course I was. Was it entertaining watching you air out your room after I left smoke bombs in it before your friends came over? Kinda yeah. But I never did it because I hated you. I would never do those things out of pure malice but...it’s hard for me to look back and imagine us hating each other when I’m head over heels for you now,” Peter sighed as he started playing with the wrappings of the straw.

It was hard to believe that after all this time Peter never hated you because there were countless times for you where you really hated him and planned to murder him in his sleep without a second thought.

“ I’m not going to lie, I hated you. Some days, you made me feel so shitty about myself that I would cry underneath my covers so no one could hear,” You revealed to him as Peter felt a wave of sadness wash over him,” After a while, I wasn’t even sad anymore I was just so exhausted. I felt like I always had to be on my toes around you just in case you would pull something on me and to make sure you would never make me cry again, I knew I would always have to have the upper hand.”

You watched Peter almost sulk back into his seat, his mind swarming with memories of how awful he really was to you,” Y/N, I am so sorry I ever treated you like that. I never knew I made you cry. I know I’m sick with the powder but even if I wasn’t, I would still feel as miserable as I do right now...I’m a monster aren’t I?”

You wanted to be as honest as possible with Peter but in the state that he was in at the moment, you weren’t sure if he was in the right mental headspace to hear any harsh criticism.

“ We were both monsters...but now we’re different. This is the first time in years where I’ve actually enjoyed your company and while I’m not ready to start picking out baby names or whatever you’re trying to do with me, I like what we have. I just hope that when you get cured, things don’t have to change, you know?” You said as you reached across the table and opened up your hand.

You never knew how important starting over was until now and you knew that no matter what, Peter would always be in your life. The only question was what he really meant to you but at this moment, you didn’t have an answer and it was okay.

Peter looked down at it and hesitantly held it, his fingers caressing over your knuckles lightly as he inhaled deeply,” As long as you’re in my life, things don’t have to change.”

You squeezed his hand as you leaned in to take another sip. When you pulled away, you leaned back into your seat as you playfully sighed,” You know, I can’t decide if I’m weirded out or flattered by your comments lately but at the same time, I kinda wanna just open the flood gates and see what kind of crazy stuff you say so I can blackmail you later on.”

Peter only shook his head as his face started to grow flushed,” Y/N, please, if I could control my mouth, I would. Once I start talking, every single thought in my mind surges with your face and how I feel like how fucking amazing you look in your uniform-”

“ Nope, nuh-uh, we can stop it right there pervert.”

@eridanuswave @juliet-winterson @akacalumtrash @ilovepeterparker13

@parkerboop @juliebean247 @multi-fan-lover @ffffan-----girlll @lukesbabylon

@danicarosaline @parkeret @marvel4geeks @hollander69 @spideyyeet @spn-assemble-seven @vibraniumdaisies @spaghetittiesbcimgay @vi-bi-bye

@lemonsnips @aduky @faithfullcompanion @stopthemotherfuckingmusic

@satellitespidey @foreverpark @marvelobsessedteenager @deadpoetsbackup

@zalladane @starcourt-s @parkersinfinitywar @stargazingcarol @littlesugarb

@itsteph13 @jennasmmith @liljennyx3 @harryspet @todaynotseen @oh-whatabeautiful-parker @tiny-friggin-human @ popluckbih niiight-dreamerrrr sovereignparker marie-is-in-the-dark buckyboy-soldier maia030 parkershoco wolverinesbeer cherrysruin sunkissdes kiainspace songofcosplay spideylovin write-from-the-heart thatcrazywhovian09 eternallyvenus thollandx msrawog idiosadeoro imawkwardandhereweare foundwolves thequeen-oni silverwolf-sama inspiring-bea multiversegalaxygirl lastupidebitchette idekwho1am

2K notes · View notes

cherrydreamer · 4 years ago

Text

My entry for Day 5 of the HarringroveApril challenge!

Butterflies

Billy never really liked the holidays. The forced jollity and the way it all got shoved down your throat and how, for him, there were always too many bad memories tied up in them.

But it's better with Steve. Like most things are. Especially now they’ve had ten years to build up their own traditions. Now that they hang little porcelain hot dogs and hamburgers on the Christmas tree instead of baubles, because they make Steve laugh, and now that they spend Thanksgiving round at Joyce's because she might not be the best cook, but she's easily the best host and she always makes a pecan pie that no one else but Billy likes, so he gets to eat the whole thing.

And OK, maybe Billy’s starting to enjoy them a little more now.

But they're still not his favourite.

Because there’s one ‘holiday’ that holds a special place in his heart. One day that he considers the absolute highlight of his and Steve's social calendar.

The Ugly Bug Ball

Steve created it during his first year of teaching, and it’s been honed and tweaked over the last six years until it’s become the perfect way to end his kindergarten class's Minibeast topic.

It has everything a good celebration needs.

There's food. Steve spends hours the night before creating Oreo Spiders with liquorice lace legs, and Twinkie Caterpillars covered in chocolate frosting and decorated with candy and then, so that no one can complain that he doesn't offer a healthy option, he gets Billy to help cut a load of melon into flower and leaf shapes, arranging them into a pretty bed on which to rest a large scattering of gummy worms.

There's decorations. Steve getting an extra use out of Halloween webs and spiders, and keeping his class quiet making pink paper chain worms and papier mache bumble bees.

There's music. Steve's well-worn tape of insect themed tunes like Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Ants Go Marching and Ugly Bug Ball of course and then, at Billy's insistence, Antmusic.

And there's costumes. And even Billy can't help but melt at the sight of a parade of five year olds with pillowcases for wings or eight black stockings stuffed with cotton wool as legs, all of them with face paint and deely-bopper antennas.

Steve dresses up too. Something he always seems to decide right at the last minute and then dashes around trying to cobble something together.

It’s the same this year as every other.

Billy suggests a sleeping bag. A green one. Says Steve can pretend to be a caterpillar in a cocoon.

Instead, Steve has a go at squeezing himself into an old pair of black leather pants and a black shirt, then ties a dark green, gauzy scarf over his shoulders and says he'll be a beetle.

Billy barely hears it. Hasn't really heard a word since he caught sight of Steve's long legs and his ass, a rounder and fuller these days, encased in tight black leather. He tries to pretend he’s not turned on by the sight, and fails miserably when Steve adds the finishing touch- a silky black Zorro mask that has Billy playing damsel in no time at all.

And Billy tries, every year, to act like he’s not excited. Pretends that he’s only getting up when Steve’s alarm blares so that he can go for an early morning jog for the first time in years. Waves Steve off with a ‘see you tonight’ that they both know is a lie. Because, every year, Billy turns up a few hours later at Steve’s school with the same excuse and the same bag of hastily made PB&Js even though he knows full well that Steve packed his own ham salad sandwiches that morning, because Billy had even slipped his usual 'love you' note into the bag.

And Steve will always ask if he doesn't mind sticking around. Just to help out. And Billy will huff and roll his eyes and pretend it's some huge chore. But he'll stay, and he'll dance along to the music and he’ll agree when one of the kids insists he needs a costume too, and he'll let a team of over-eager, sugar-high five year olds cover him in construction paper black spots and a handmade spotty mask and he'll twirl around and ask if he makes a good lady bug. And he’ll supervise the games. ‘Pin the Incy on the Web’ and ‘Pass the Hive’ and ‘Musical Millipedes.’

And then it’s the big finale. The part Billy’s really here for.

Because, every year, Steve’s class looks after a batch of caterpillars. They watch them inch their way around their enclosure and nibble at leaves and spin cocoons and they all wait so patiently, for two long weeks, while seemingly nothing happens. And then, one by one, the cocoons split and the butterflies emerge.

And then, when their wings are dried and unfurled, it’s time to release them back into the wild.

And Billy loves to see it.

He gathers, just as eagerly as the five year olds, out in the little patch of grass and wildflowers imaginatively named ‘The Meadow ’ And he watches as Steve chooses one of the kids, little Mandy who’s always so shy and quiet, to step forward and help him to unzip the top of the large netted cylinder, filled with flittering, fluttering butterflies.

And they all wait, Billy and Steve and the kids, with bated breath, as the butterflies creep their way upwards. As they notice that their world is suddenly a whole lot bigger.

There’s always one to start with. Just one. A brave critter who perches right on the rim of the net, tasting the air before fluttering their wings and soaring off to explore.

And then, with a rush, the rest follow. A flurry of colour and of excitement as the butterflies fly upwards and outwards and the children giggle and squeak and hold out expectant hands and arms and fingers, eager for one of the butterflies to land on them.

But it’s Billy who gets chosen this time.

Suddenly, there’s the tiniest, tickliest sensation on his cheeks and his nose and Joshua Thompson is gasping and pointing and saying, “Look at Mr. Billy! LOOK! LOOK!”

And Billy looks, as best he can, crosses his eyes and stares down at the little powder pink and blue blur he can just about make out, perched on the end of his nose. And it stays there, just long enough for him to look up and see Steve, camera already raised and flashing, before the butterfly flaps its wings and soars upwards into the bright blue sky.

#harringrove #harringrove april #fluff #teacher!steve #butterflies #cherrywrites #ficlet

61 notes · View notes

kenmasgameboy · 5 years ago

Photo

【ｓｙｎｏｐｓｉｓ】

oikawa toru has so many girls falling at his feet, but it wasn’t always like this. when y/n met him there was no one yet to inflate his ego, when he was pure to himself, the person he is when it isn’t performative. she fell in love. after forcing a rejection from him, where he says he never saw her as a girl, she’s determined to become the absolute perfect girl for every one except him.

profiles: [ student council ] [ on the block ]

masterlist

listen to the mixtape while you read

↬ entry #1: age 6 ➺ chapter 1 ➺

𝕚. caught one.

"Play outside!" You had heard this demand a million times growing up from your sweet grandparents. Your mother's parents did what they could to provide as normal a childhood as possible for you despite having a hole in your life that rested in not having your societally normal guardians. But thanks to them, it never really felt like that hole bothered you growing up. You still didn’t understand fully what had happened yet, the bliss of being so young. As doting as they tried, midway through the day, the clock would strike the time when their joints would remind them they could not continue playing with their rambunctious grandchild any longer that day.

So opening the door would be an exciting change of pace. You would go outside by yourself playing on your front porch with the new toys you had. But nobody to play with. Always going outside after the other neighborhood kids had already gone inside for dinner that day. The quiet of the neighborhood would overwhelm the excited girl. You had far too much energy to play in silence.

Singing while you played, dancing with your favorite stuffed animal until you were too exhausted to stand. You would become tired only when the orange and peach lights would tint the sky in a flattering manner. You'd lay down in the tall grass, breathing in the fresh air and singing the rest of your favorite song to yourself, squeezing your stuffed bunny to your chest.

Suddenly a net comes down on top of your bunny, which was resting peacefully in your arms.

"Iwa-chan! Look! I caught a gnarly one!" You opened your eyes in a panic to see a young boy with soft brown curly hair. His brown eyes sparkling as he stared down at you. You weren't used to playing with other kids, especially not ones that made your cheeks rosy just by looking at him.

Looking back on it now, the feeling of your blood pumping in your veins and electric shock of looking into his eyes for the first time may never be a feeling you feel again.

"You just caught a girl, Toru! That's gross she could have cooties!" Another boy approached, he had dark spiked hair and a large bandage on his cheekbone. Both boys were considerably dirty from bug hunting.

Toru screamed upon the mention of cooties. He took his net back, "No! That can't be true! My little sister doesn't have cooties!"

"It is true! Makki said even little sisters have them! That means nae-chan too!" Iwa told him, Toru screamed again.

"Hey! Do you have cooties?" Toru asked you, you sat up, "And you better be honest! I can always tell when someone is lying!"

"Cooties? No! Of course I don't!" You said, straightening out your shirt. Toru got close to your face, his tongue sticking out in concentration as he studied it. You didn't lean back, even though your face was scared of his judgmental eyes. You were strong enough to take it.

"I believe you." Toru smiled, backing up and crossing his arms, "She's clear, I know it."

"Are you sure?" Iwa asked, approaching slowly.

"Of course, look—" Toru grabbed one of your hands off your stuffed bunny and held it in his own. "No cooties here."

Even though his hands were dirty, and one of his fingers had an alien band aid on it, it lit up a part of yourself you had no idea existed. This lonely part of your heart you didn't know yearned for peers. For friends. For someone as sweet as him to show you a shred of kindness. You couldn’t help but feel your stomach twist into a knot in the bottom of your gut.

"Whatever. Don't touch me with that hand, though! I'm not taking stupid risks like you do!" Iwa barked back, turning around and walking toward an ant hill.

"Are you alone?" Toru questioned, your sorrowful glaze that went over your eyes as you tighten your grip on your bunny was enough for him.

"Say, what's your name?" Toru brought your attention back to his lively smile. You couldn’t help your sudden nerves that overtook your throat. You were not that shy of a child, pretty average to say the least, but with his attention making you feel so special you wanted to shrivel away into nothing on the floor.

“Sorry for Iwa-chan, he can be a little aggressive..” Toru shrugged, searching through his pockets for something. He pulled out an oreo packet half eaten but offered it to you. “Do you want these?”

You could only gasp and grab at them, but he pulled them out of your grasp before you could grab them.

“I’ll trade you these for your name.” The boy smirked with his height advantage over you, though not by much he still was able to hold the oreos out of your reach and laughed at your struggle. Your grandmother never let you eat such sugary treats, even told the teachers at school you weren’t allowed to partake in the same desserts as the other kids. There was nothing you could do but comply with this person's request. He giggled at your sad attempts, “Shorty!”

"L/N Y/N. At your service." You said confidently, putting your hand up to your forehead in a salute, "Oh and this is Bun-Bun. Is that enough?"

"I'm Oikawa Toru,” He smiled and brought his hand down to give you the treats you desired, “and that's Iwaizumi Hajime. But you can call him Iwa-chan."

"Don't call me that!"

"He likes it, don't worry about that." Toru cupped his mouth with one hand to tell you that at full volume and waved off Iwaizumi with the other hand, “You’re new to the neighborhood, right? I’ve seen you before from my window, I live right there.”

You nodded between shoving oreos into your mouth.

“Why do you only come out when all of us are done playing? We’d love to have another friend playing tag!” Toru said his best attempt to try and get you to join their group when something clicked in his head.

“Iwa-chan, what if y/n is the evening bug we’re supposed to find?!” Toru exclaimed.

“Don’t be stupid, girls aren’t bugs.” Iwa said, his eyes searching the ground and combing through the long grass that hadn’t been cut in a long time.

"Evening bugs?"

"Bugs that are only around in the evening! And I thought that since I only see you out– uh, nevermind." Toru explained, your eyes were wide and burned his face, “Iwa-chan’s big brother said there should be tons over here.”

"That's so cool! What can I do to help?" Your large eyes stared into Toru's heart, ready to do whatever he needed. He felt his face get all hot and his throat get itchy. You were one of the first girls that weren’t one of his sisters to get this close to him.

“N-nothing, why would you want to do that? Aren’t girls scared of bugs?” Toru waved you off.

“No way! If I kill a bug in my house my grandma will give me a dollar, so I’m always picking up bugs.” You said so proudly, pointing at your chest. Even though you looked as dainty as any other girl your age your voice was louder than expected and your words had no restrictions.

“You really are weird, huh?” Toru picked on you, your face fell at the comment. And he panicked, “I didn’t mean that in a mean way! I’m sorry. I– sorry I’m not great around cute girls. I mean! Nevermind.”

“You’re the weird one, saying embarrassing stuff like that.” You said, hugging your bunny closer to your chest in a frustrated manner. That comment was so embarrassing your body felt like it would explode.

“You should meet my little sister, Nae-chan, she’s kinda weird like you are.” Toru meant it as a challenge, but you didn’t take the bait. You didn’t know his sister anyways or how weird she might be.

“Does she like oreos too?” You asked, squinting your eyes in seriousness.

“Duh!” he responds quickly, and he whispered loudly: “Who do you think I stole those from?”

“Dumbass! You need to apologize to her for stealing!” Hajime threw his shoe at Toru, causing him to comically fall to the ground. “She’s probably going to cry and I hate it when she does that.”

“Sorry, sorry! I’ll do it after we go home.” Toru insisted, then reached up to grab your arm and pull himself up. But all it did was cause you to fall over next to him. The thin grass tickling your neck and elbow landing directly above Toru’s shoulder forcing you to land on your side. Your face being insanely close to the boys. You watched his face light up and it turned to the side.

Nose to nose. Tips of noses just barely touching each other.

Too close. You were scared, but you couldn’t move.

His brown eyes looking directly at you. They paralyzed you in place.The world felt silent just for a second. Maybe you just hit your head on something or maybe…

“No, loserkawa do it now! She doesn’t deserve that.” Iwa yelled and both you and Toru looked like you were snapped back to reality. Toru was the first to look away only to stick his tongue out childishly at his best friend.

No, don’t leave!

“Fine! But I’m taking Y/N-chan, so have fun being alone!” Toru replied. Before you could say anything, he grabbed your hand to pull you onto your feet and started running. The image of the back of Toru’s head, running toward the sunset.

The way the orange glow of the sun made his brown curly hair look almost red, the way it bounced. The way his face turned around and laughed at your shocked expression. His hand felt so warm in yours, it sent shock waves up into your chest to force your heart into doing its first flip of your life. Your nose felt red hot at the lingering tingling Toru’s nose left. You wiped at it with your hand that you held Bun-Bun in but you couldn’t get it off. Your hand was so sweaty from his touches, you thought it might slip out of his grasp but he hung on regardless. He was stuck to you like glue. You didn't know it yet, but you weren't going to be lonely anymore from that day on.

ba-dump... ba-dump... ba-dump... ba-dump.....

***

【ｆｕｎ　ｆａｃｔｓ】

➺ although she isn’t a bug, y/n was exactly who Iwaizumi’s older brother wanted them to find. he just simply put it in terms for those boys to understand, he knew they’d never resist finding a rare bug for their collection. he just thought she looked like she could use some friends her own age.

➺ after y/n heard this she thought she had a crush on Iwaizumi’s brother (who was 5 years older than them) for like 3 years. or at least that’s what she told people

➺ y/n only comes out at night because her grandparents are trying to protect her from her biological father who has been trying to win her back in a court case. her father is doomed to lose, but still has tried to come by the house to take her with him. In order to prevent this, her grandparents have been keeping her inside during the day, then at about 4pm they know dad should be going to his night shift and feel easier about letting her play outside.

➺ y/n was completely oblivious to this being the reason her grandparents were cooping her up most days until she was about 11. she felt awful about the amount of tantrums she threw and how many times she tried to sneak out.

➺ Toru was there for her during all of this, he would come by the house every day. Some days it was just him, some days he was dragging his friends there with him, always ringing the doorbell for her to come play volleyball since with y/n they had almost a full enough team for 3 on 3. Or 2 on 2′s with two people being “coaches.”

➺ That became one of the kids only activities, because it was one that y/n’s grandfather could come supervise since he had played himself.

➺ y/n wanted to become a libero just like him.

➺ other days, Toru would just beg for y/n to come over and play ping pong, sing karaoke, paint, ride scooters or bikes, anything he could think of that would convince her grandma to let her come hang out with him. Her grandma caught on, and would just watch them in the street between their houses as they played many things.

➺ because of Toru, y/n slowly stopped hanging out with only Bun-Bun.

taglist: @chibishae34 @bby-bokuto @shittykawaa @1-800-schmacked @artsamber @berriesii @bbyazu @roseestuosity @gaytoasterstrudels @mirdy47707 @trippy-kitty @iwanttogotopluto @hvneymun @a-listaire @princessmidas @glyxiebear @akaashiwife @anejuuuuoy @kiyoojima @deimmortales99 @unstableye @sugawarabby @haikyuufairy @ashaite @bettys-other-shoe @defchamseoul @honeymoneyy @animatedrapture

reply with a comment or send an ask to be aded to the taglist!! if your name is crossed off it’s because i couldn’t tag you, let me know if you’ve changed your username!

a/n: also i hope you guys don’t mind the first fluffy prologue to this story, these memories will be littered through the story. so we start off with age 6, then we’ll read about current day at 18, then flutter back between memories from middle school. the smau stuff will be for when reader is 18! i swear the angst will come! this probs the only fluffy chapter ya’ll will be getting LMAO. so let me know if you guys liked it bc i’m scARED.

also bun-bun was the name of my stuffed bunny i used to take everywhere for everyone who cares hehe

207 notes · View notes

supercodi · 3 years ago

Photo

Tracking your food can be tedious and annoying I will give you that… but if you have time to open your phone to scroll through Instagram, chances are you have enough time to log your food in Myfitnesspal 😅 - Before we go any further, I will say that food tracking may not be healthy for everyone. Especially if you have a past of disordered eating. That being said; just because food tracking is not healthy for some, it doesn’t mean it is unhealthy for everyone and can be a very useful tool. - Is tracking right for you? That is something you will have to determine for yourself 😁 - Tracking food/food journaling is a great tool that boosts self awareness. Maybe more than some folks are ready for 😅 - It’s not always easy being aware and tracking those 8 Oreos that you meant to only be two. 😣 - If you find yourself skipping days of tracking or “forgetting” or maybe you are opposed to tracking all together… I challenge you ask yourself if you find the actual act of tracking hard, or if you find it hard to face the reality of what you are consuming 😬 - It’s not easy keeping yourself accountable but just remember; whether you went over your calories/macros or not, it doesn’t make you any less worthy, it doesn’t mean you failed, it just means you didn’t hit your goal for the day but just make it a point to hit it the next day. What you are most consistent at is the most important. - There is a lot of stigma around both weighing yourself and tracking food because people tend to tie their self worth to the numbers they see. - Calories or weight do NOT determine your worth. These are just data points. - Think of yourself as a scientist collecting data on yourself 😁 - Do you have to track to lose weight? Do you have to track forever? - No actually. - There are other ways of tracking is not right for you, and once you get a better perspective of proper serving sizes by tracking you can start to wean yourself off or track as needed. - Tracking is not the only way, but it is a very useful tool I would recommend starting with! 😁 - #nutrition #foodtracking #selfawareness #fatloss #health #calories #caloriedeficit #nutritioncoach #fit #fitness #food #ftm #bodybuilding https://www.instagram.com/p/CZfQtiivz9W/?utm_medium=tumblr

#nutrition #foodtracking #selfawareness #fatloss #health #calories #caloriedeficit #nutritioncoach #fit #fitness #food #ftm #bodybuilding

5 notes · View notes

purplesurveys · 4 years ago

Text

1197

survey by ohsh1t2wksl8

Layers

Layer 1: The Basics

Name: Since there’ve been several people who’ve followed me recently anyway, HI I’m Robyn.

Age: 23.

Birthday: April 21st.

Gender: Female.

Zodiac Sign: Taurus.

Layer 2: Your Family

Do you have any brothers or sisters? Yes, I have one of each.

Do you have any pets? Yup, two dogs.

Do you still live with your parents? I do. I’m not in a rush.

Do you have any stepparents? Nope.

How many cousins do you have? 11 first cousins. Throwing my second cousins into the mix would dramatically increase the number and I don’t feel like counting rn.

Layer 3: Your Friends

Who is your best friend? Angela and Andi.

Who have you been friends with the longest? Angela and I have been friends for 16 years and it’s stronger as ever these days because of our mutual love for BTS hehe.

What do you like to do with your friends? It really depends! There’s no one thing I like doing most with any of them; as long as I’m with them I’d consider it time well spent.

Do you have more friends online or in real life? Real life. It’s hard to form friendships online once nearly everyone starts becoming younger than you.

What is a good way to make friends with others? One thing I learned is that you have to be okay to initiate, and that’s not really something I like doing all the time.

Layer 4: Your Home

Do you live in a home, apartment, duplex, trailer, etc? I live in a house.

How many rooms are there in your house? There are 4 bedrooms and 5 other kinds of rooms – that’s 2 bathrooms, the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Is your home large or small? I’d say it’s medium-sized. It’s not small that I feel cramped or inadequate, but it’s also nowhere near a mansion. It’s very comfortable for a family of 5.

What is your favorite room in your house, and why? Rooftop. My family barely goes there (and what a shame they don’t), so it’s a nice place to go to when I want to be alone but can’t get out of the house. Not to mention that it’s open-air and windy there, so whenever I feel as if I’m getting cooked inside I can always depend on the rooftop.

Do you prefer having people over to your house, or would you rather go to theirs? I’d rather go to theirs. Our house is really deep into the village and is a challenge to get to, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the general area.

Layer 5: Can You

Can you fold your tongue into the taco shape? Yes, but that’s the furthest it can go. I can’t really bend or twist it into shapes more complex than that.

Can you touch your toes without bending your knees? Nah, I lost that ability years ago. I didn’t make the most out of my flexibility back when I still had it.

Can you tie a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue? I never tried.

Can you hold up your end of a physical fight? I bet I can’t.

Can you do any yo-yo tricks? No, I was always terrible at the yo-yo.

Layer 6: Who

Who inspires you the most, and why? I don’t have any ~inspirations. I do like looking up to whoever my current obsession is – be it Rhett and Link, Paramore, BTS, etc. – to help me be happy and have something to smile at, but I try not to let any of them govern every single aspect of my life.

Who helps you maintain your sanity? My best friends. And these days, surprise surprise! – BTS.

Who do you go to most often for advice? Depends on the topic; I always run to either of my best friends. If I need a collective opinion, I go to my college friend group’s group chat.

Who knows you better than you know yourself? At one point it had been Gabie, but *shrug* Nowadays, the person who knows me best would probably be Andi.

Who is someone that you would die or put your life on the line for, no questions asked? Any of my friends.

Layer 7: Do you

Do you still eat sandwiches without the crusts? Nah - I’ve grown to be a fan of the crusts. I used to make my grandma slice them off as a kid or else I wouldn’t even think of touching the sandwich; then something changed as I got older and now I absolutely have to have the crust. At home, I even call dibs on the first and last pieces of bread (the ones that are all crust) whenever we get a new pack of sliced bread.

Do you typically finish your meal at a restaurant, or need to take a container home? I usually ask for it to be packed up for takeout.

Do you pull an Oreo apart in order to eat it? No, I just bite into it.

Do you read a lot of gossip magazines? As a kid/teenager. I’m over that now.

Do you make friends easily? I’m not the biggest social butterfly, but I’m also not super closed off. I’ll be happy to talk to anyone who approaches me.

Layer 8: How Many?

How many people live in your house with you? Four.

How many pets have you had in your lifetime? In my lifetime...I guess a good rough estimate would be somewhere around 10? I’ll never know exactly how many we’ve had since I never kept track of how many goldfish we kept.

How many tries does it take you to become successful at something? Depends. I never learned how to ride a bike even if I’ve pushed myself to practice ever since I was 5, but there are other things I’m able to pick up easily.

How many meals do you eat a day? One, dinner.

How many people can you honestly tolerate? This isn’t really an issue to me haha, I like being around people and my patience around them is usually long.

Layer 9: How

How do you typically get to school or work? I work from home at the moment and probably would for a little while longer; but if things were different, I would be driving myself.

How do you deal with a breakup? When I was going through mine, I was stupidly stubborn at first and refused any form of help. I deactivated all my social media and shut both my best friends out; it even got to a point where mutual friends were beginning to ask Andi where I’ve been as I’ve “disappeared off the face of the Earth” (an actual quote they relayed to me). I cried day in and day out, cried during my shifts, stayed holed up in my room; and I skipped hundreds of meals, sometimes not eating all day. It wasn’t a good place to be in.

But I knew I was on the right path to recovering the moment I reached out to friends again and acknowledged that I needed help. I started to help myself, too; I cut the person off slowly, and I started to look for new things to get into, new hobbies to invest in. I let my friends give me tough love and show me the reality of my situation, and I listened this time around. I don’t know what drove me to make a sudden change in my life but I’m really glad I came around to the decision, because I’m happier than ever these days.

How do you like to help others? All sorts of ways. I always want to make others’ lives a little easier.

How do you know when you’ve found “the one”? I don’t trust that instinct anymore.

How do you sleep in bed? On my side, clutching a pillow. No pillow to hug, no sleep.

Layer 10: What

What do you think happens when we die? That I just fall asleep for a very long time.

What do you do if there’s no toilet paper left on the roll and you’re already peeing? Turn around and hope there is at least a bidet in the stall.

What do you eat most often? Rice.

What toys did you enjoy most as a child? Anything with a lot of buttons or features to play around with, like detailed dollhouses.

What do you do if you witness someone being awful to someone else? Intervene, for the most part.

Layer 11: Where

Where is your favorite place to eat out? BGC has great ambience and restaurant choices, but it’s been a while since I’ve been there. I also still feel weird about the place since Gabie and I had dates there pretty often, sooooo I really ought to make new memories there with new people once I can.

Where is the place that has the best ice cream in your area? We don’t really have places known for ice cream...most people just buy pints or tubs of them at the grocery lol.

Where did you meet your current or last significant other? School.

Where can you be found at 7 PM. typically? Wrapping up work in my room.

Where can you find the best French fries? Potato Corner.

Layer 12: When

When did you find out the truth about Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy? Never believed in the first two. Tooth Fairy I lost hope in when I placed a tooth under my pillow when I was around 6 or 7 and woke up to nothing.

When do you typically fall asleep? Early hours of the morning tbh. I’d sleep anywhere between 1-4 AM these days.

When was the last time that someone paid you a compliment? Kata and I often make sure to compliment one another for our hard work by the end of particularly grueling shifts.

When do you feel most comfortable? Friday nights when I’m sure I can finally close my work group chats for the next two days.

When did you last go to the bathroom? Around an hour or so ago.

Layer 13: Why

Why do you enjoy taking surveys so much? It’s a stress reliever that has never failed me, and it lets me answers quirky random questions no one would ever have to ask me.

Why do people gossip so much? For one, probably the thrill of knowing something that's meant to be a thing.

Why can’t humans fly? It wouldn’t have been a necessity, I’m guessing.

Why aren’t you doing something else right now? Because I just spent the last 24 hours streaming Butter on Spotify and YouTube to raise views and plays for the boys, and taking this survey is actually the first thing I’ve done all day after taking a quick nap this afternoon to recover from all the streaming I did hahaha.

Why is the sky blue? I don’t know.

Layer 14: If…

If you had a million dollars, what would you spend it on? Buy chocolate chips because I’m craving them rn; get all BTS merch in one go; give a chunk to my parents; keep the rest.

If you found out someone was cheating on you, would you ever take them back? I don’t really have consistency when it comes to this situation. I know I definitely would’ve been stupid enough to stay with Gab if she hypothetically cheated on me while we were still together; I’m not sure if I’d stay when it comes to another person entirely.

If you found a wallet with cash in the street, including identification, would you turn it in? Why or why not? Yeah, I’d look for the owner. I’m not that desperate for money, personally.

If you could have any food right now, what would you like? SUSHI.

If you found out that the world was going to end tomorrow, how would you spend your last day? Go to the mall and get some much-needed air, then probably drop off some japchae and tteokbokki at Angela’s place.

Layer 15: Firsts

When did you lose your first tooth? I was in Prep and it actually fell out while I was in school. We were having storytime and I had to interrupt the session to tell my teacher it was starting to feel loose, so she got me some tissues to help me get it out.

Who was your first teacher that you ever had? Her name was Kathy. I don’t really have any substantial memories of her because I was 4 lmao, but I know she was nice.

When did you first learn how to ride a bike? ...Still learning...

When was the first time you had sex? Like a day or two after turning 18.

Did your first birthday have a theme to it? Not necessarily but my parents threw me a party at Jollibee, so it kinda had to be Jollibee-themed lol.

Layer 16: Lasts

Last person you texted: I don’t feel like checking because it was most definitely a work-related text and I don’t want to be reminded of work on a Sunday, but it was a media person.

Last drink you sipped: The last of my coffee.

Last time you rode a bike: Like, March last year when the pandemic had still been fresh and I thought I could use all the free time to finally learn how to ride a bike. Absolute clownery.

Last time you swam in a pool: August 2019.

Last person you hugged: Not sure. Angela, I think.

Layer 17: Favorites

Favorite Color: I think pastel pink is still taking the lead for me.

Favorite Season: We don’t have the usual four seasons, but I do have a liking for winter. It just seems very cozy for me.

Favorite Shape: I don’t have one.

Favorite Letter: Mmmmm, don’t really have one of these either.

Favorite Number: 4 or 7.

Layer 18: This or That

Pepsi or Coke? I don’t drink softdrinks.

Movies or Television? Movies, but I haven’t really been watching much of either recently.

Phone or Tablet? Phone. Haven’t used a tablet in yearrrrrsssssss.

Fruits or Vegetables? Veggies. Hate fruits.

Animals or Humans? I think I like both an equal amount.

Layer 19: Which

Which Poke’mon is your favorite? Chikorita.

Which day of the week is your favorite? Friday, because of course.

Which birthday celebration was the most memorable for you? My 18th, even though out of all the friends I celebrated my birthday with I only have one of them left in my life. I know I was happy during that time so I wouldn’t invalidate that experience for myself.

Which holiday is your favorite? Christmas, only for the sheer amount of food I get to have.

Which shoe do you put on first? I always switch it up, I’m pretty sure. I don’t have a particular habit.

Layer 20: Love Life/Relationships

What is the name of your first love? Gabie.

How many times can you honestly say you’ve been in love? Once.

Have you ever been in a relationship before that was abusive in any way? After being able to take a step back and analyzing it deeper, yes.

Have you ever been engaged or married before? Nope.

Do you have any children? I don’t.

Layer 21: Jobs, Dreams, & Goals

What did you want to be when you grew up (as a little kid)? I couldn’t decide among being an astronaut, firefighter, or veterinarian.

What do you aspire to be now? What interests you? I realized I wanted to be in the field of media and public relations, and that’s where I am now. I like being able to use my writing skills for something I find fun and fulfilling, instead of rotting away in a newsroom writing news I’m usually too sensitive for.

What is the most recent goal you’ve achieved? I got regularized! :)

What is a goal you are still striving to reach? A salary increase would be nice, and then a promotion down the road would also be awesome.

Have you ever won any sort of awards before? If so, for what? Sure. I was consistently on the honor roll in college and graduated with Latin honors, if those count as awards.

Layer 22: Opinions & Beliefs

Pro-life or pro-choice? Pro-choice.

Were you raised with any sort of religious background? If so, then what? Yesss, I was and am raised in a Catholic household. Weirdly enough my parents have grown more laidback in the last few years and my mom no longer berates us for not doing the sign of the cross when we pray before eating (my siblings have taken after me and refuse to do it as well). No idea what sparked that change but I’m just glad I never have to do gestures like that one anymore.

Democrat, Republican, or Independent? We don’t have the same parties here.

For or against the death penalty? This is a very complicated web and for reasons largely relevant to my country and the issues we have, I am mostly against it.

Thoughts on assisted suicide? I am ok with it as long as there is consent involved.

Layer 23: Currently/Today/Present

What day is it? It’s Sunday again, blegh.

What’s the weather like outside? Sunny.

What have you eaten? Just a Fudgee Bar so far but I’m having breakfast with my family in an hour or so.

Did you run any errands? Well it’s only 8:37 AM so not yet, but one or two might come up throughout the day.

What time is it? 8:38 now.

Layer 24: Yesterday

Did you have a work shift? No, I don’t work Saturdays.

Did you eat out anywhere? No :( I’ve wanted to for a while, though. Maybe I might today, actually – they’ve loosened up quarantine protocols so restaurants have opened up again. Let’s see if I’ll feel like driving today.

Was it snowing? It doesn’t snow here.

Who did you last say goodnight to? Cooper.

Did anything unusual happen? It rained and there was cold breeze during the evening.

Layer 25: Tomorrow

Do you have to go to school/class? No, but I do have to go to work.

Does this day have any sort of significance to you? May 24...I don’t think so. Nothing comes to mind.

What is a chore that needs to get done? My veeeeeeery long list of to-do tasks that I’m trying not to think about rn.

Will you hang out with friends? No chance of that happening.

What time will you be expected to be awake by? 9 AM.

Layer 26: Have You Ever

Performed a magic trick successfully? I don’t think so.

Sat or laid on a rooftop and looked at the stars? I’m at the rooftop all the time but I only occasionally lie down to look at the stars.

Walked around with your underwear on inside out or backwards all day without realizing it? Nope.

Touched a snake? Yep. I’ve had one wrapped around me before, too.

Been bitten by an animal? If so, what animal? Just by ants and mosquitoes.

Layer 27: School Life

Are preschool and kindergarten mandatory where you live? Not sure about mandatory but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of people who went straight to first grade as kids, either because of advanced intelligence or financial limitations.

Were you or anyone you knew homeschooled? I have one set of cousins who are all homeschooled; and I also used to have classmates who eventually transferred out of my school to be homeschooled instead.

Did you attend public or private school? Private.

Were you bullied in school, popular, or somewhere in-between? I was a loner for the most part, but after befriending the popular groups in high school I kind of got dragged into that scene as well.

What is the highest level of education that you completed? Undergraduate degree.

Layer 28: Your Appearance

Eye Color: Dark brown/black.

Hair Color: Black.

Height: 5′1″.

Weight: A little under 100 lbs.

Do you have freckles, moles, beauty marks, or birthmarks - and where? I have moles on my right arm, under my jaw, near my left knee, and under my left boob. I have a birthmark behind my left shoulder.

Layer 29: Electronics, Internet, & Social Media

How much time do you spend on the internet per day? Hahahah yeesh, way to put me on the spot. I wanna say anywhere between 16-18 hours? I’m online the second I wake up until the moment I turn in for bed.

Which social media platforms do you belong to? Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr.

When’s the last time you replaced the batteries in your television remote? 4975493875495743 years ago.

Are you more likely to stream movies and shows on your laptop, or cast them to your television? Laptop.

Do you have an e-reader, or do you prefer actual books? I don’t read regularly anymore, but I’ve never liked reading from a screen. I prefer a physical book as much as possible.

Layer 30: Are You

Are you still in school? No. I’m not opposed to grad school either, but it has to be a REALLY REALLY REALLY fucking great opportunity for me to sink my teeth into it. We’re talking getting accepted to grad school in like Spain or NYU; otherwise I wouldn’t take it.

Are you a member of the LGBTQ+ community? Yes.

Are you looking forward to anything coming soon? Festa month!

Are you dreading anything coming soon? Work tomorrow.

Are you gullible or naive? I can be both.

Layer 31: Does

Does your workplace make you feel like you can never take a day off without feeling guilty about it? Not at all. I’m really grateful they take vacation leaves seriously; we even have a Mental Health Break Day scheduled two Fridays from now. Purely a company thing.

Does someone currently hold the key to your heart? Kim Taehyung... :/

Does anyone out there hate you? Idk and I couldn’t give less of a shit if anyone does.

Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? No.

Does crying make you feel less strong? Nope. It took me a while to realize it, but acknowledging feelings and processing them is actually one of the strongest things you can do for yourself.

Layer 32: Would You

Do the Polar Bear Plunge? Idk what that is.

Ever try to walk across a room blindfolded? I’ve done it before, so sure.

Swim with sharks? As long as I’m surrounded with experts, yes.

Go into outer space, given the chance? In a heartbeat.

Go out in public, looking how you do right now? Nope.

Layer 33: Pets/Animals

Do you have any pets? If so, what type, and their names… Yesss. There’s Kimi who’s an aspin, and Cooper the beagle.

If not, what type of pet have you always wanted?

What is your favorite animal? Dogs and elephants :)

Do you think it is cruel to have circus animals? Yes, or having animals do tricks for show, in general. I always discourage my parents from booking tickets to animal theme parks when we plan vacations.

How often do you walk your dog, if you have one? How often do you scoop the litterbox, if you have a cat? Every week.

Layer 34: Food

What is your favorite breakfast item? Fried rice.

What is your favorite kind of dessert? Macarons and cheescake.

Do you eat all three meals everyday? Nah. I have one meal on weekdays, and two meals on some weekends.

What’s the longest you’ve gone without food? Around 24 hours.

What do you like to eat when you are feeling sick? Greasy things haha. If I’m feeling like death, might as well be having good food.

Layer 35: Past

Does your past ever come back to haunt you at times? Not really.

What is one of your favorite memories of the past? Spending my college years with the right people.

What is something that you used to do in the past, but no longer do? Harm myself.

If you could have a meal with someone from the past, who would it be, and what would you ask them? Audrey Hepburn, but I don’t really have a question for her. It would just be nice to get to spend a few minutes with her.

Which historical time period would you like to go back to and check out? Precolonial Philippines.

Layer 36: Future

Do you think you will ever get married one day? It’s definitely a lovely scenario to have but I’m really unsure about it at the moment just because there’s no one I have in mind and I have no plans to start dating around again soon.

Do you plan on ever getting a different job in the future, or are you happy with the one you’ve got? I’m happy with the one I have and I don’t see it changing any time soon.

What age do you plan to retire at? Or do you plan on working til you’re dead? Probably the latter haha.

What is something on your bucket list worth mentioning? Going to Wrestlemania.

If given the opportunity to see how your future plays out, would you take it, or no? Yes.

Layer 37: Hygiene

How often do you shower? Once daily. Twice if it’s stupidly hot during the day.

How often do you brush your teeth? Once or twice a day.

Do you actually iron any of your clothes? Mm, not really. But if I was planning on wear something that gets easily crumpled, I iron that in advance.

How often do you do laundry? I’m not in charge of laundry.

How long do you use a bath towel before switching it out? Around 1–2 weeks.

Layer 38: Clothing, Makeup, & Style

Do you wear nail polish? If so, how often do you paint your nails? Nah.

How would your describe your sense of style? I like sticking with trends as long as I feel comfortable in them.

Are there any popular trends that you do not find appealing? Just makeup in general.

Where do you typically buy your clothing from? Local small businesses or H&M.

What sorts of accessories do you wear/use? I don’t really invest in them, but I wanna start buying more headbands, bucket hats, and earrings.

Layer 39: Hobbies

Do you still color, even as an adult? Occasionally.

Do you/would you like to crochet, knit, cross-stitch, etc? Yeaaah I do embroidery but I’ve stopped for a while since finding other interests and hobbies to dabble in. I have no plans to ditch it completely though; I’ll come back to it when the time is right.

What’s the last thing you crafted all by yourself? Not sure.

Do you use Pinterest at all? Nope.

What’s the last thing that you cooked or baked? Lol.

Layer 40: Dislikes

List some of your pet peeves here. Driving slowly on lanes intended for overtaking; taking too much of my food; being subtle about asking for favors.

What are some things that annoy you about yourself? Easily punishing myself for mistakes, no matter how small; I also find that putting others first before myself 100% of the time can sometimes end up being an inconvenience for myself.

Is there anyone out there who you actually hate? Who? Nope.

What is a feeling that you dislike? “I should have done/said this.�� Not sure what feeling this falls under (maybe helplessness?), but having these thoughts irritate me to no end especially if I can’t do anything about the situation.

Do you get some ugly road rage while driving? Yep.

Layer 41: Random

Have you ever successfully pogo’ed on a pogo stick? Nah, I’ve never even seen one in real life. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been dying to try getting on one lol.

Have you ever mastered the jump rope? I wouldn’t say I’m a master, but I can do the basic jumps and last a long time doing them.

Do you know what it feels like to be truly happy? I don’t know if I’ve determined this already; I have a lot of years ahead of me and lots of experiences I’ve yet to go through.

Is it winter in your part of the world right now? No.

What’s your favorite type of survey, and why? Random ones or ones with categories, like this one.

Layer 42: Music

What are some of your favorite genres of music? Alternative, folk indie, punk rock, R&B...and BTS.

What are some music genres that you can’t stand? Country, screamo, techno.

If you had a blank pair of concert tickets, who would you hope to be going to see? Any one of my holy trinity: Paramore, Beyoncé, or BTS.

Do you still listen to music on the radio from time to time? Not anymore, come to think of it. I’m completely unaware of the Top 40 space right now, and have been for a while.

iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, or YouTube? Spotify.

Layer 43: Books

What were some of your favorite books as a child? The Septimus Heap series and the Percy Jackson series.

What genre of books do you typically read most often? Memoirs.

What are some of your favorite books as an adult? I don’t read anymore.

What is a book that you were required to read for school that you actually enjoyed? Hands down, Without Seeing the Dawn. I remember fairly enjoying Charlotte’s Web and Number the Stars as well.

Do you read any newspapers or magazines anymore? No.

Layer 43: Around the World

Where’s the best place you’ve taken a vacation and/or day trip to? Jeju, South Korea; Bali, Indonesia; Palawan; Batanes; and Boracay.

Where is somewhere that you’d like to go someday, assuming you have the funds to do so? Seoul, South Korea.

Where do your family members originate from? Just Philippines.

What is your favorite type of ethnic cuisine? All Asian cuisines. Each of them is so unique and always has something new to discover.

What is something that is typically representative of your own culture? Jollibee? Hahaha.

Layer 44: Would you Rather…

Drink apple juice or grape juice? Apple.

Wear pants or shorts? Shorts, as much as possible.

Be taller or shorter? Taller.

Go to a zoo or an aquarium? Neither if possible.

Visit an art gallery or a museum? Museum.

Layer 45: Movies

Do you remember what the first movie was that you saw in theaters? Stuart Little 2 when I was 4.

What are some of your favorite movies you’ve seen? Two for the Road, Gone with the Wind, Roman Holiday, Revolutionary Road, Toy Story, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Room.

What genre of movie do you typically enjoy? Drama.

What is a movie you’ve seen that you weren’t expecting to like, but were pleasantly surprised? Requiem For A Dream, but maybe remove ‘pleasantly.’ Anomalisa is also a good answer for this.

How many movies do you own? Are they all DVD’s, or do you still have some VHS ones left? I just watch them on Netflix, haha.

Layer 46: Personality

Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert? I’m really more of an ambivert than anything else. I can deal with alone time and more social days equally well.

Are you more easygoing and laid back, or anal? Again, I can be both depending on the situation.

Are you kind to everyone who shows that they deserve kindness? Yes.

Describe your sense of humor. I can laugh over anything from dad jokes to crackhead memes.

Do you tend to over-share? Not really. I tend to have a good sense of how much I should share depending on the person/group I’m with.

Layer 47: Celebrities

Which celebrity has given their child the most unique name, in your opinion? I mean, Elon Musk and Grimes have to be up there, right? The Kardashians have also given their kids unique names, but I actually am a fan of them all.

Are there any celebrities that you keep tabs on/read articles about often? Nah, I’m past that part of my life lol. As obsessed as I am with BTS and as unavoidable rumors about their personal life are, I literally don’t care and just want them to have happy private lives. That’s one of the reasons why I know I’m truly in my 20s now hahaha.

Who is/are your celebrity crush(es)? Kim Taehyung, Hayley Williams, Kristen Stewart.

Have you ever personally met someone famous before? If so, then who? A lot of local celebrities and personalities since it came with the nature of my course.

Who is a celebrity that you’re getting tired of hearing about all the time? Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift.

Layer 48: Emotions

When was the last time you cried? Earlier, but they were happy tears.

What are some things that you’re afraid of? Big change, injections, drowning, sharp objects.

What is something small that makes you happy? Cold weather.

Who is the last person that you were angry with, and about what? My mom wrongfully blaming me for something I had very little to do with. Both my siblings are very sensitive and are never scolded, so I usually take the heat even for things I’m barely involved in. Such is the life of the eldest daughter in an Asian household, lmao.

Are you typically a shy or outgoing person? I’m always shy at first, but end up being perky and outgoing once warmed up.

Layer 49: Digging Deeper

What is your favorite alcoholic beverage? Mixed drinks.

How old were you when you got drunk for the first time? 18.

Do you smoke? Very rarely. I don’t want to make it a habit.

Have you ever taken and sent naked pictures of yourself? I have.

Have you ever done any drugs other than marijuana? If so, which ones? No.

Layer 50: Games

What are some of your favorite video games? Mario Kart, Resident Evil, and Legend of Zelda are some of my favorite series.

Do you have any computer games that you play regularly? I don’t play computer games.

What was your favorite board game, growing up? Scrabble.

How about your favorite card game? I also don’t play card games.

How good are you at solving puzzles? (such as a Rubik’s cube, word puzzles, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle) I don’t like puzzles.

#survey #surveys

5 notes · View notes

star-light-imagines · 5 years ago

Text

Midoryia Dating Headcanons

Anime/Manga: My Hero Academia

Warnings: None

Enjoy this one “for all”! 💚

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

Izuku will do some PDA but mostly holding hands, hugging and a kiss on the forehead or cheek here and there. He isn’t the type to brag about you to everyone he knows, but he will talk about you a lot without realizing it and cheer for you during training and challenges.

“So Y/N has been working on this new move that is going to improve her quirk and if she keeps going in this direction then I believe that her next training session against-“

“Deku you’ve been talking about Y/N for the last hour.” Mineta complained with a bored expression.

Izuku will be protective over you because his dream is to be able to save others and obviously you will be one of the people he wants to keep safe. However, he will only get protective over you if someone has hurt you in battle or if someone is talking bad about you behind your back.

“ Y/N wouldn’t need to be cowardly enough to talk behind your backs so I suggest you don’t do it to her.”

“I will keep Y/N safe no matter what.”

He would love to study with you, and honestly you two have probably already studied together in the past. However if not, he will be really eager to ask you and compare all his class notes to yours. He will get you thinking about the topics in different ways and helping you with any subject you are struggling with. He will also be interested in any new that you can teach him or help him with.

“Wow Y/N! You’re right, I never knew you could get to the answer this quickly without all the extra work. Thank you!”

“Y/N what did you make of question 5? I got this but I don’t think it’s right.”

“Oh! Look I found a better way to solve this problem.”

Izuku will want to train with you, he’s already made notes of what he’s been able to see you do during classes and has made a training plan that would work for both of you. He also made a journal just for you on how to make your techniques more effective and strategies to use In battle.

“Y/N your moves are getting so much stronger than the first time I’ve seen you fight! I’m amazed that you’ve come so far so quickly!”

“Let’s work on this move together! I saw All Might do it once and I’ve always wanted to try it.”

“Y/N I made this for you to help you with training, now it’s like we have matching journals.” He says while blushing

He will know a bit of what periods are and be able to help you during yours. He hates to see you in pain from cramps and will get anxious on what would be the best solution for them as well as worry over what kind of snacks you want.. which is definitely cute when you catch him in his crisis mode.

“Okay I know Y/N likes sour patch kids, but I heard chocolate is good for periods. Wait what if she would prefer chips then it would be cheetos. Okay maybe I should just get chocolate, chips and sour patch kids so I cover everything. Hold on... didn’t she eat a whole bag of gold fish and Oreos last time? Maybe I should grab those to.”

“Hi princess, I brought you some medicine for your cramps and I rented your favorite movie for us to watch.”

“Awe but I already made you watch that movie five time already!”

“I know but I like the look of happiness on your face when we watch it.”

He will go out of his way to plan cute and romantic dates for you two. Even though he is busy most of the time with training and homework he wants to make you feel special and loved and like the princess you are. He will plan picnics dinners on the roof with fairy lights and all. Trips to the beach, set off floating lanterns together, painting dates, the whole 9 yards.

You walked into your room to be surprised by fairy lights decorating the walls and candles lit. A pillow/ blanket fort was placed in the middle of the room and izuku was inside with a projector and Netflix pulled up.

“Hi princess, I haven’t been able to see you a lot lately with all my training so I wanted to do something special for you.”

Izuku will try his hardest to never say anything that would hurt your feelings or start a fight. He’s so careful and considerate with your feelings that he would put that before his own. However if you two somehow managed to get in a fight he would apologize first because he would be able to see things from your point of view and not be stubborn.

“Izuku I told you stop risking your life, do you realize how my heart sinks when I find out you are in danger when you didn’t have to be. You put yourself into that situation by being reckless, I get that your friends need you, but I need you to. If you are going to do something crazy at least bring me along.”

“I’m sorry Y/N. I know that you must be worried about me, because I feel the same way about you when you get in a fight. I want to save people and keep them safe, however I understand and I will bring you along next time.”

He doesn’t get jealous, because he trusts you whole heartedly. If someone is flirting with you he will trust you to take care of the situation on your own, however if the person is not leaving after that then he will politely step in and take over.

“Y/N damn every time I see you, you look better and better.”

“Thank you, it’s probably from all the love my boyfriend gives me.”

“Maybe we should chill tonight, I don’t think he would mind.”

“No can do, I have cooking date with my boyfriend.”

“You would rather cook than chill with me?”

“Yes, I really would.”

Izuku over hearing this conversation and seeing how the boy wouldn’t take no as answer stepped in between you and faced you. “Hi princess, do you need help ?”

“Yes I do.”

“I’m sorry sir, but Y/N is my girlfriend and she doesn’t want to talk to you anymore especially since you can’t take no for an answer so I’m going to walk away with her now.”

#anime #anime x reader #anime headcanons #my hero academia headcanons #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha headcanons #izuku x reader #izuku midoriya #izuku midoriya x reader #izuku headcanons #midoriya x reader #midoriya headcanons #izuku midoria x reader #deku #deku x reader #deku headcanons

222 notes · View notes

prettyboongi · 5 years ago

Text

Just Spill It

Reader x Kim Taehyung

2k+ words

Genre: Crack, Fluff

[Note: I’ve been written fic lately because of school and everything. I actually had to work on a huge paper all week and was waiting until I got everything out of the way to write this. And boy, this request was such a doozy lol. The game that everyone plays in the story is that “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” game on James Corden late night show. And I have to be honest: I’m not a huge fan of talk shows or even Corden’s show for that matter. So I had to watch a bunch of videos the shows clips on YouTube just to understand the game. So yeah, this request was super challenging and I hope I got everything right ^-^}

You were putting the finishing touches on the chocolate cupcakes you’ve spent the past couple of hours baking when you heard the doorbell rang. “Must be them,” you thought to yourself. Checking the time, you saw that it was a little bit past seven in the evening. “A little late but, with them, what’s new? ”. You gave your sticky hands a quick rinse and headed towards the door.

Tonight was a very sacred night for you and the boys: the coveted Game Night. Always organized by you and thrown at your place, Game Night for you guys were legendary. Starting off with a harmless game, again of your choosing, the night would always end with someone throwing a temper tantrum, crying dramatically, yelling match between two or more of the boys or someone having to act out a degrading yet hilarious penalty for losing. Sure it was complete chaos but it was also tons of fun. There was never a dull moment with these nerds and you really cherished the time you had with them. With recording sessions, promoting albums and projects in between, it was very hard to find time to hang out. While you understand their obligations to BTS, it still makes you feel lonely most of the time. That’s why Game Night was super important to you and, knowing how important it was for you, the boys always left the planning to you.

You opened the door to an assortment of greetings, one more zany than the last. “Hey guys,” you welcomed, “come on in”. As the boys spilled in, you had to remind them about being a little less rowdy, the last Game Night being interrupted by your neighbors filing a noise complaint. “I’d rather not have the cops being called to my place again.”

“Well we wouldn’t have had the police called on us if Jin hyung didn't have that huge freak out,” Jungkook says teasingly.

“Well,” Jin responds with a fake smile, trying to hide his annoyance, “I wouldn’t have freaked out if Yoongi here wasn’t cheating!” He gestures to a totally unbothered Yoongi already relaxing on the sofa.

Stifling your laughter, you walked over to the kitchen to check on sweets you were finishing up. There you found Taehyung chowing down on the cupcakes. Seeing that he already had eaten three of the dozen you’ve made, you derided him, “Tae! Stop being a pig and save the rest for the others.”

He swallowed a mouth full of cupcake and smiled cheekily. “Come on, Y/N, you know that these are my favorite. You obviously made them for me.” He pointed to the thin strawberry slices you placed on top.

You opened your mouth in protest but stopped immediately. Yes, you knew chocolate cupcakes were his favorite. Especially with strawberries. And yes you made them with him in mind. But no way were you going to give him the satisfaction.

He eyes you impishly, as if he won this conversation. You took the cupcake tray from his reach and said to him sternly, “just wait until everyone had at least one, then you can eat the leftovers. Deal?”

“Deal”

Walking over to the living room area with Taehyung trailing behind you, you placed the tray of cupcakes next to the fried chicken Namjoon had brought over. You saw that everyone was helping themselves to heaping amounts of the crispy, savory chicken. “Please try not to fill up too much food tonight,” you warned them, “you guys will need to leave some room for what we’re playing tonight.”

“Oh, what do you have planned for us tonight?”, asked Namjoon before taking a huge bite of his food.

Before you could answer, Hoseok interjects, “Oooh! Let me guess. Striped poker?”

“No Hoseok,” you flatly answered, shutting him down.

“Strip Monopoly?” Jimin adds.

“No guys, no one is taking their clothes off. Especially not after that one Game Night,” you said rather dimly. The boys shuddered as they remembered that ill-fated night, a story left for another time. “But yeah, I got this idea from a night talk show that I found myself watching one night. The host was playing this game with their guest where they had both get to ask each other some pretty invasive questions. But if either of them chooses not to answer the question they were given, they had to eat or drink something gross that the other person picked out for them. I thought it was pretty funny and we could all try it.” Despite being excited yourself, you couldn’t help but notice an array of mixed emotions.

“I dunno, Y/N, it sounds kinda...sketchy”, Namjoon says.

“I mean yeah, but that’s kinda the point. Come on, you have to admit it's pretty interesting.”

“To be perfect honest, this game sounds fucking awful,” Yoongi opens, “but hey, what the hell. Let's how it goes.”

You ushered the guys to the balcony, where it was decorated with glowing string lights and a new set of furniture bought for this occasion. You presented the boys to a medium size table, topped with what was assumed plates covered with linen napkins.

“Here’s what we’re dealing with tonight, gentlemen,” you announced rather theatrically. One by one, you lifted up each napkin, revealing a collection of foods you knew that would churn some stomachs: fried octopus, super spicy cinnamon candies, 100% cacao chocolate, mint creme Oreos, a spinach milkshake, ambrosia salad and a fluffernutter sandwich. The boys examined each dish, some already nauseated by the sight of certain dishes. “I didn’t want to go too far like the show did,” you explained, “just took some ideas from friends back home and food I know some of you already hate.”

“Are there any winners in this game?,” Jimin asks cautiously

“No, there aren’t. Okay everyone have a seat!” After everyone had taken a seat, you went over how the game works again. “Oh, I forgot to add that you guys don’t have to necessarily finish the food. Under the table, there’s a few little trash bins you can spit into. But come on, I’m going easy on you guys, you shouldn’t need to spit anything out.”

“You call a spinach milkshake ‘going easy’ on us?” Jungkook asks.

��Don’t be a baby,” you gave Jungkook a mocking look while sitting yourself between Jin and Yoongi. “So here’s how we’re gonna take turns. We’ll start with me, then we’ll go clockwise ending with Yoongi. Is that good?” Murmurs of agreement answered your question. “Okay, for my turn I pick… Namjoon!” The sound of hearing his name startles him, causing his body to go rigid. “If you don’t answer my question, you’d have to eat the fried octopus.

“Ha, bring it then” Namjoon says, trying to feign as much confidence that he can.

“Alright,” you paused for a moment, “If you choose a Disney character to make out with, who would it be?”

“Oh that’s easy. Undoubtedly, Miss Potts,” he says matter of factly. The table goes silent, weirded out by such a choice.

“From Beauty and the Beast?”, you asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why?” asks Hoseok.

“Well, she’s a cool character. She has a warm personality and she seems like a great mom to Chip. Who wouldn’t pick her?”

Somehow that leaves even more questions than answers any. “Okay…,” you respond, still a bit perturbed, “Jin’s turn.”

Jin looks around the table to find his perfect target and finds it in none other than Jimin. “Jimin, I pick the mint Oreos for you if you don’t answer my question.” Jimin puts on a brave face but it’s obvious the anticipation is killing him inside. “There was one time during that afterparty a while ago when I saw you and Seulgi running off somewhere. You told me you two were just chatting but what were you two really up to?,” He asked with a mischievous smirk on his face. Ooooohs” echoed around the table as we waited for Jimin’s answer. With a stony smile plastered on his face, Jimin stares at Jin for a moment before reaching out for an Oreo. He takes a huge bite of the minty cookie while keeping his stare at Jin, ultimately gagging on it and having to spit out the whole thing. The whole table erupts in laughter as you said, “We’re off to a good start.”

As the night went by, the game carried on without any issues. Among the highlights was Hoseok revealing his biggest (and not surprising) kink and watching Jungkook down an entire spinach milkshake. Seeing how much fun the gang were having, you couldn’t help but feel proud of yourself for pulling off yet another successful Game Night. The game was nearing its end when the last turn went to Yoongi. And since you were the only one that hasn’t been asked a question, it was obvious this one was going to be directed towards me.

Yoongi turns to you, “The ambrosia salad for this simple question.” You nodded in agreement, not knowing what he meant by “simple”. “Are you in love with Taehyung?”

All around, everyone pauses at Yoongi’s question. Especially you, whose mind goes blank for a moment before speaking up. “What? What’re you talking about? What kind of question is that?” You tried laughing it off.

“A simple one,” he answers. “Are you in love Taehyung?”

“Of course, I love him. He’s like my best friend-”

“I mean, we all know that but are you IN love with him?” Namjoon interjects.

You look around the entire table, leaning in to hear your answer. Your eyes eventually land on Taehyung sitting across from you. He’s clearly embarrassed yet interested in hearing your answer as well. You felt your face burning up as well as your heartbeat quickening from all of this unwanted attention.. You could’ve taken the easy way out and lied, you were sure of the guys were lying when answering their questions. But you couldn’t. One, for the integrity of Game Night and second, you would have to answer yes. For the longest time, you never wanted to admit to yourself but you were in love with Taehyung. Madly in love with him. You loved the banter the two of you developed over the years. You loved how he would annoy you and then make it up by being extremely adorable. You love how he was the only man that ever made you feel special. Without any doubt, you were in love with him. However, you weren’t about to reveal it in front of the boys while playing this dumb game.

After much anticipation, you deeply sighed and ate a huge spoonful of the slightly warm ambrosia salad. You tried your best to swallow it but the conflicting textures of creamy base and the coconut flakes was too much for you. Feeling that you were about to barf, you quickly got up and ran back into the apartment. You reached the bathroom (and thankfully the toilet) and regurgitated everything you tried to keep down. You felt some tears forming at the corner of your eyes, not sure if it was from throwing up or the sheer humiliation you’ve just experienced. “Don’t let this get to you, it’s just part of the game,” you told yourself. You wiped the tears from your eyes, rinsed your mouth with mouthwash and headed out of the bathroom.

As you were walking back to the balcony, you bumped into Taehyung in the hallway. “Oh…,” was all you could muster to say. There was a brief awkward silence between you two, a rarity in your close relationship. Taehyung looks away as he scratches the back of his head while you kept your head down. “I should’ve known I was going to be hit with a question like that,” you finally opened, “ Yoongi never plays around, doesn't he?.”

“Yeah,” Taehyung responds, “except for when he’s cheating.”

You both look at each other for a moment before breaking into a light laughter, easing the tension. Once you were done giggling, you caught Taehyung staring at you with his gorgeous, sharp eyes. The look in his eyes were filled with sincere and the kind of intimacy only two best friends shared. Or maybe there was something more to that look.

"Tae-," you started but stopped when Taehyung put his hand up to your cheek, gently caressing it with his thumb.

"You don't have to say anything, Y/N" he says to you.

Earlier when Jimin asked if there were any winners in the game, it turned out there were two that night.

71 notes · View notes

jbbuckybarnes · 6 years ago

Text

How it Feels

Trope: First Kiss Description: The three times Steve Rogers wanted to kiss you and the one time he did. Pairing: Steve x previously isolated reader Warnings: mention of neglect, themes of anxiety, not beta read

M A S T E R L I S T

“No, you have too much tension in your wrists. You’re gonna break them like that.” he stopped you. “I know that, Steve. I’m just in a bad mood today.” a grumble left you. “A bad mood isn’t an excuse for bad form.” he smirked and before he could even react he was laying on the floor below you. “I kinda deserved that.” he chuckled. “Yes, you did.” you were laughing with your knees on his shoulders and sitting on his chest. Quite a beautiful view for him and he couldn’t contain that little bit of his heart fluttering. “Get off before I kick your pretty ass.” he poked you into the waist like the idiot he was. “Language, Cap.” you giggled, trying to be provocative. “Watch your mouth, darling.” his hands grabbed your waist to push you up but your head went down. “I’ll only get up if you stop criticising my form. Especially if I get off my anger from my past.” you were dangerously close to him. “I stand by what I said.” a challenging smirk formed on his face. “Don’t make me argue with you, Rogers.” you grabbed his wrists to push him away from you. You actually didn’t know if this was relaxing you or making you tense up. Being touched for longer periods of time was something you weren’t used to. Your childhood had been without much caring touches and you were either incredibly touch starved or didn’t want to be touched at all. “Who said this was a discussion?” he said before a little play fight ensued. “Got you!” he was on top of you, holding your hands to the floor. “I can still kick your man parts, sternum and destabilize your back. What about that form you were talking about earlier?” now you were giving the challenging look. “You can’t get over it, huh?” he lowered himself almost uncomfortably close and you would HAVE to kick him if he came closer. “Nope.” you destabilized his lower back, turned onto him and were in your initial position shortly after. You didn’t expect to be manhandled into sitting on his lap while he was sitting up. He noticed the tension in your body and looked into your eyes to see panic. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not hurting you.” his hands left your waist and went to your face, making you flinch. “Shouldn’t have touch you like that. I’m sorry.” he saw how overwhelmed you were and let you run out of the training room. It would need dozens of these experiences to make you trust him enough to touch you and not feel overwhelmed. The team still didn’t fully know if you were abused or just neglected.

_________ You were more used to Steve now after training with him for a while. Little touches were okay now, fighting was like therapy but loving touches were foreign to you and overwhelmed you. He didn’t give up and tried over and over with you and although you hated it sometimes, it felt like it was slowly getting better. “Star Wars: Rogue One!” Sam almost yelled. “No, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Nat yelled back. “I really like Rogue One.” you mumbled towards Steve but somehow you said it loud enough for the entire room to look at you and make you flinch. They weren’t used to you voicing opinions. Most of the sentences you used included “Sorry.” “Thank you.” “Can I have…” and “Where is Steve?” “See? She’s with me. We’re watching Rogue One.” while there were some grumbles you were sending a shy smile towards Sam. He could be so soft and attentive when he wanted to be. Your face lit up even more when you saw Felicity Jones on the title screen, “She’s so pretty.” “Taste.” came from across the room from a Bucky sitting on his arm chair upside down. “And I thought red heads were your thing.” Steve joked next to you and got a Dorito thrown at him across the room with an insane accuracy. The movie started and you watched with a smile on your face and didn’t notice him staring at you from time to time. Seeing you smile so much was rare. Sure, sometimes you had good days and the team was funny enough to bring that expression onto your face a few times but this was new. You were so deep inside of the movie that you didn’t notice the arm that was laid around you and when you did you were looking up from one of the last scenes to see him looking at you with a proud smile. An unsure smile made its way onto your face before his eyes wandered down to your lips. Desire. That was the emotion in his eyes. Your smile dropped. No. Nope. Not today. He frowned at you but your eyes were already on the TV screen again. Great, Captain America wanted to get uncomfortably close to you. First world problems you didn’t need.

_________

“Thank you.” you mumbled sitting on the pier with Steve and looking over the water flowing into New York City. “For what?” he looked over at you. “For not giving up on this hopeless case.” you pointed at yourself with a dumb grin. “Why should I? You gave me no reason to.” he said with a tender look on his face. “Yeah, just shoving you away thousands of times.” you chuckled. “But not out of dislike.” he added. A silence was laid upon the two of you again. The white noise of the city made you relax a little. “Thanks for considering my dislike for body contact for the date.” you played with the edge of your dress. “Of course, nothing to thank me for, darling.” he scooted over a bit to be closer to you. “Sometimes I actually like being touched but it’s just with women. I don’t know why.” you went on with a soft and fragile voice. “Well, that only means that it can be done with men too. Just takes time...right?” he looked down at you. “I hope.” you didn’t stop with the hem of your dress until a big hand gently grabbed one of yours and you looked up with confusion on your face. There. That glint of desire in his eyes. It made you panic. You knew it wasn’t a bad thing but something about it made you uncomfortable to your core. It overwhelmed you. “Should I stop holding it?” he noticed your overwhelm and frowned again with concern. “No. It’s okay. I just…” your words slowly went into nothing. “You just?” he wanted to hear what was on your mind. He always wanted to know more about you. To know how to comfort you and talk to you. “Got overwhelmed for a second. You look at me with this...expression sometimes. And something about it triggers a reaction in me and I don’t know why it feels so uncomfortable. I know it’s a positive thing.” you looked at the water again. “Step by step. It’ll get better. You wouldn’t be sitting here holding hands with me if it wouldn’t get better.” he gave you a caring smile and squeezed your hand.

__________

“Those are MY Oreos. How DARE you!” he chased after you towards your room. With a giggle from you he catched up to you in your room and backed you up against the wall. “Give me those Oreos back.” he looked down at you with a playful smirk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Steve.” you were trying to hold back a grin. “You’re a thief. Give it back and there will be no consequences.” he said in a fake serious tone. His hands loosely on your hips. “I didn’t steal anything. I don’t know what you’re talking about, Captain.” your eyes fluttered at the last word and there was that look of desire mixed with a laugh. “You will not be persecuted if you pay for them...with a kiss.” he said in the most suave way you had ever heard him say anything. You got flustered and there was a bit of that uncomfortable feeling again, “I-I never did this before.” “Let me show you what it feels like, darling.” he had his finger under your chin tilting it up. That look of pure love and desire was in his eyes again and you didn’t want to listen to your feelings anymore. You wanted to know what it feels like to kiss. “Okay.” you whispered and he dipped his head down to move his lips on yours in the most gentle manner imaginable. The uncomfortable feeling finally washed away and was replaced by desire. A content sigh let out all the doubt you had about this. You had a long way to go with your fear and starvation of touch, but right now you just needed this The Oreo package falling to the floor was ignored while your hand was placed on his neck and the kiss was deepened. You should steal food from him more often.

#steve rogers #Steven Grant Rogers #captain america #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #captain america x you #captain america fanfic #captain america fluff #captain america the winter soldier #captain america civil war #marvel #mine #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers fanfic

96 notes · View notes

alaina-achilles · 5 years ago

Text

challenge one

((sorry for the kinda short fic haha, I’m getting crazy busy with assignment deadlines smh. anyways thanks for the nice rp anna @arin-schreave. and love our rps as usual ana!! @itssara-oc @itzelbm-oc ))

The etiquette lesson was… uneventful. And I certainly was not ready to be thrown on so much information so early in the morning. Especially with an empty stomach. Luckily I’ve got that covered and ate a packet of oreos in my room before going out. And I’m also lucky I know most of the basics thanks to the gatherings my sisters and I are often forced to attend. My maids were really nice and they did my hair nicely and I opted for a simple and formal dress for the interview.

The interview.

I sigh as I think about it. To be honest, I’m quite… nervous. I've had many interviews in my life before and my mom has certainly prepared me well for each and every one of them. It’s not the cameras that worry me - I’ve had a few interviews with them before on my book and career… It’s the prince. I’m so used to knowing the interviewee well (by doing my research, of course) that I often know just what to say to please them and make them like me. But I know none of that about the prince.

I sigh and bite my lip and turn around to walk to the food when I see the girl I was hoping to see for the entire morning.

“Hey!” I say as a way of greeting. My friend looks up, sees me and immediately smiles.

“Achi!” I smile at the sound of my new nickname. Sara quickly pulls me into a hug. “that quick etiquette class was something…” she lowers her voice. “I'm sure I wasn't the only one who can feel the tense atmosphere.”

“I know what you mean... I’m glad I already know the basics... how are we supposed to learn all of that in one go” I agree with her, shaking my head as I feel sorry for those who have never learnt any of that before. We talk more about the class and decide to start piling food onto my plate. I hope nobody heard my stomach growl.

“You know I'm so tempted to ask to switch seats but I know it probably won't be the best idea.” Sara says as we groan about how far each other are.

I giggle at the thought of Sara asking another girl to switch seats. “yeah, i guess it’ll be a good chance for us to meet new people…” I frown as I stress about how I haven’t actually met anyone else yet. “Have you met any other girls yet?”

Sara chuckles. “I guess you can say that.” She cocks her head to the side and sighs “I've said a few words to some of them but I'm not sure anyone clicked with me like you. How about you?”

I smile at her words. “yeahh I havent really too…” I say with a shake of my head as I think of how I spent the whole night talking to my sisters instead of socializing. I turn to the drink selection and widen my eyes in awe. “I never knew there are SO many types of milk!”

“Ah milk something I wish I could drink but I'm lactose in tolerant” Sara replies with a giggle. “Anyway look at all the food. I'm just hoping to enjoy my time here!” She smiles, but for some reason, it doesn’t reach her eyes. “I don't feel like I'll last one. First of all the prince isn't in my opinion really aware that this is a selection, he has 35 girls hoping to ask for his hand in marriage. Second of all, as someone who was once thinking of marrying the so called love of my life I know he's not completely over his ex, and third there is going to be a lot of drama.”

I cock my head to the side as I think about her words, not expecting that. “Yeah I know what you mean... The prince doesn't seem happy at all.” I sigh. “I honestly don't know what to do with the interview later... hopefully he’ll find someone he can love and be happy about”

She shrugs in response. “I don't know how I'll introduce myself. I could smile and lie or tell him what I really think.” She bites her lip. “I really do hope he finds someone among these girls to make him happy. Or at least someone who would even remotely fall in love with him despite possibly being a rebound. Anyway, do you know who's gonna be at your table? Anyone you wanna be friends with?”

I nod at her words. “That’s true... I think I’d give him one chance, the interview, to see who he really is…” I say with a smile. Sometimes I forget that this selection goes both ways too. I’m not the only one who has to be liked by the prince. “I’m not sure but I think Itzel’s on my table... I haven't met her yet but she was sitting near me during the etiquette class so yeah. You?”

“I wish I could but I myself am in a similar situation as him. And I feel awful I took a place of someone who would have tried harder. Or at least wanted this. Anyways, I'll be cheering for you!!” She says with a smile. “What kind of vibes does she give? She seems cold and intimidating to me. Jen and Andromeda, and a couple more. They seems nice. I just hope I'll be able to make small talk.”

I thank her with a smile. “And I hope you also find the one you love and loves you back... “ I pause as I think about her question. “Itzel... I don’t know, she seems like a bit cool and we didn't say much just now. Hopefully some good food will cheer her up!”

We continue chatting about Itzel and other stuff as we continue to fill our plate. We finally decide to finish our conversation to go and enjoy our food after a short while. I tell her good luck with finding new friends.

She nods and gives me thumbs up. “I will try my best, Achi.” For some reason, I feel like she’s acting a bit off, but I brush it off as nerves from the interview. But as we walk away, I turn back around and mouth “thanks bun” to which she smiles in response. I sigh and look at my plate of food happily as I walk back to my table.

“Hi, Itzel, right?” I say to the girl near me.

She smiles politely, nodding in acknowledgement. “Hello and you are correct, I am Itzel.” She hums in thought as she looks at me. “I am trying hard to remember names and faces, I am bad at this so I am sorry for not quite knowing. I believe your name starts with an A, right?”

I brighten up at her guess. “Yup!! I’m Alaina!” I look at my plate. “How’s the food?” Food is always a good topic to start off.

She chuckles. “Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Alaina. It is delicious. There's quite a few things that are new to me so I'm very happy right now.. You'll enjoy the food very much. Are you excited to meet the Prince after this?”

I smile at her reply and take a bite of my food and widen my eyes. “this IS good!!” I laugh. “ I am! And also quite nervous”

We continue to talk more and I learn that Itzel is into neuroscience.

“Wow neurology and neuroscience... I did a few psychology courses in uni and I struggled so badly with the neuro stuff.” I tell her truthfully with a laugh. “You are one brave girl for wanting to do that.”

Itzel turns out to be super nice as we get to know each other. She also helped calm my nerves as we finished our lovely breakfast. I make a mental note to tell Sara about it.

“Anyway, let your other friend know I'm not THAT bad. I could see her shake every time she looked at me.” Itzel tells me as we stand up, seeming to have read my mind.

“I definitely will!! And good luck on your interview with the prince!” I tell her with a laugh. She smiles and wishes the same to me and soon we are ushered into a waiting room. I look around to find Sara, but can’t see her as I scan the room a few times. I shake my head, she’s probably touching up in the bathroom. I sigh and before I can even choose a new girl to talk to, I’m called into the room.

I take a deep breath and hold my head high like Mom always tells us to as I step into the room filled with cameras. I smile at the cameras and try to keep my walking natural and elegant.

You can do this.

And if all goes wrong, blame your sister. She caused all of this anyways.

I hide my smile at the silly thought and turn my focus to the gorgeous guy that is the prince. While I may not know the prince well, one thing I know for sure. He is definitely good-looking. Despite the lack of a er genuine smile. He must not have been taught acting in his education. I think with a giggle as I keep my smile intact. I don’t miss him looking at my name tag. And I guess, he also didn’t take the time to learn our names.

“Good morning, Lady Alaina, please have a seat.” He says formally, motioning to the sofa.

“Good morning, your highness.” I say with a smile before pausing in slight anxiety. Do I curtsy or…? I decide to quickly bob into one before sitting down hastily. I can instantly hear my mom’s voice in my head.

Be professional, Alaina. Stop with the fidgeting nonsense. You’re a lady, Alaina. And don’t ever drop that smile. You know that’s one of your best physical traits.

Prince Arin sits down next to me gracefully and angles his body towards me. “How are you doing this morning?”

A simple and straight-forward question.

I place my hand on my lap as my mom has taught me to since I was a little kid. “I’m good. I met some of the other girls and that was quite interesting-” I answer. “And also what you’ve been doing the whole morning.” I add with a laugh. “How’s yours?”

He nods at me. “It’s going well, thank you. Did you sleep well?” I vaguely remember some random guy saying their morning had been bad but now that they’ve met me, theirs is perfect. I almost laugh at the memory.

Focus, Alaina.

“I didn't sleep for very long as I was busy talking to my sisters.” I tell him truthfully as I smile fondly at the thought of my sisters. “But the sleep is good, the bed is really comfy!”

He nods. “I’m glad you were able to speak with them. Big changes can be difficult.” His eyes go to the cameras then back to me. I wonder what is he thinking. Does he wish for them to be gone like I do? I wonder if he is different when away from the cameras. I catch myself almost frowning at the thought but quickly smooths my face back to the perfect smile. “Which province are you from?”

“Atlin.” Then I decide to try to make him smile. My friends laugh a lot at this alliteration. “Alaina Achilles of Atlin.”

He does not smile. “And what do you do in Atlin?” I almost frown again as I realize how factual his questions are. All of them should be written in my profile or something…

Maybe it’s all just for the cameras.

“I just got my degree and was in the process of finding a job. I ended up deciding to give writer another try.”

He nods again. “What kind of writing do you do?”

“Fiction…” I look a bit embarrassed as I think about my published book that I’m not very proud of. It was definitely not my best work. I sigh and lower my voice so that only he can hear. “Okay fine, y’all prolly have had people stalked us thoroughly so no point in hiding this... “ I say then louder “I wrote and published a book a few years ago.”

He does not just nod at this! “Oh.” He pauses as his head bobs. “What kind of book? I didn’t read your files so I’m not up to speed on your accomplishments.”

Guess the questions aren’t just for the cameras then.

I almost scoff at his choice of words. “Accomplishments” make this really sound like a job interview. Perhaps it is, in a way. So instead I act surprised and look down as I realize I have to tell him about my book in front of cameras. Not like the media doesn’t know about this already. “it’s a um teen romance…”

“I haven’t read any books from that genre but I’m sure it must be wonderful. Being published is an accomplishment.”

Accomplishment.

“It’s not... it’s a cheesy book written by a sixteen year old…” I peeks at him through my eyelashes. “I’m sure you’re gonna laugh if u ever came across it.”

And for the first time, he actually shakes his head instead of nodding it. “I tend to stick to non fiction so I think you’re safe.” He finishes with a weird expression that looks suspiciously like a ghost of a smile. I soften as I realize how much this is bugging him as it’s bugging me and decide to laugh it off to ease the tension.

“Well it’s actually called “the bad boy ruined my project” so I’m not really worried. Do you like reading?”

“I do, if I can find the time. Your book sounds like something my sister would enjoy.” He looks a teeny bit more relaxed as we talk about something less er formal.

I nod. “Well, then I’ll recommend it to her when I see her. Any favorite genres?”

“I’ll read mostly anything.” I almost roll my eyes at his answer that tells me nothing about him. He glances over at his watch then looks back to me. “Thank you for speaking with me this morning, Lady Alaina, it’s been a pleasure.” He says as he stands up. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.”

I instantly nod and stand up as well, relieved that this is finally over. “Thank you for your time, your highness. The pleasure’s mine.” I tell him with a smile as I awkwardly bob another curtsy. “You too.” I say as he just looks at me without any expression at all. I hold back a sigh and smile at the cameras again and give them a little wave as I walk back out of the room.

I take a deep breath the moment I step out of my room. I really need to talk to someone. That interview was… nothing that I ever had before. I think about going back into the waiting room, but I really am not in the mood of making small talk with other girls. So I decide to go back into my room. Since I’m one of the first few girls to have finished the interview, the halls should be nice and quiet.

As I walk up the stairs to my room, I hear a bit of hushing and then a closing of a door followed by the sound of the door locking. I ignore the sound as I walk past the first two rooms to my room. As I walk past Sara’s room. I pause. There seems to be someone else in the room with her… But I know for sure, she isn’t due to have her interview until later…

I shake my head and decide she has probably met a new friend. Despite myself, I can’t help but feel a bit sad. Even Sara’s making new friends, probably someone she enjoys the company of over me since I haven’t been to her room before. What am I doing here? I ask myself as I walk into my own room and unzip my dress.

Not bothering to pull my dress off, I reach for my phone and call my sisters.

#challenge #selection oc #alaina #sara #itzel #arin

6 notes · View notes

self-indulgentnonsense · 5 years ago

Text

Oreos and Mario Cart Grif x Reader

So this has been sitting in my drafts since...2017? It was mostly finished, except for the last paragraph or so. I’m still not satisfied with the ending, but whatever. This blog still gets attention and I feel guilty for being on indefinite hiatus so here you go. I’m like 90% sure this was for a prompt or an ask or something but I can’t find it. Enjoy~

Admittedly accepting any kind of challenge from the single laziest member of the Red Army was a pretty bad idea. Grif wasn’t one to make a bet unless he was absolutely sure he was going to win, especially when it involved food. However you were also a force to be reckoned with and after being deprived for six months you were damn well winning those oreos. How he managed to get them way out in this godforsaken canyon was beyond you but that wasn’t important. What was important was that they weren’t going to be his for much longer, not if you had anything to say about it.

Plopping down on the beat up couch – the only one in red base – you watched as your adversary fiddled with the television. You were so ready for this. In fact, you were born ready. Once Grif finished up he joined you on the couch, handing you a controller with a smug look on his face.

“Ready to lose?” He drawled, clearly not taking you or your very intimidating game face into proper consideration.

“Ready to hand over those oreos?” You shot back, getting nothing but a snort in response. The game was finally up and running and the familiar music brought your attention back to the task at hand and away from your lazy friend turned enemy. As mature adults there was really only one way to settle this: Mario Cart. How you got it is just another unsolved mystery – though your personal theory is that HQ just wants to keep you happy enough so that you’ll leave them alone until you all eventually die either at the hands of the blue team or, more likely, in some horrific yet comical accident. While you were contemplating the vast mysteries of Blood Gulch, Grif had made it to the course selection screen.

“So, you wanna do Coconut Mall?” He asked, lazily glancing your way.

“Are you kidding?” You scoffed. “Rainbow Road obviously, we settle this like men.” That of course earned an eye roll, though you could tell he was trying not to smile. The man was surprisingly good at keeping a straight face but you were a pro at seeing through it. For a second your thoughts began to drift but the instant that count down appeared you were all business. Those oreos were yours.

It was a hard race, as expected. Despite your comments and bravado you weren’t particularly good at Mario Cart and Rainbow Road was pretty universally the bane of every racer’s existence. Grif fell off almost immediately while you shockingly managed to stay on the track for a good bit, only to fall off yourself as you laughed at his misfortune. That was how things went until the last lap. Then things got serious. Grif had somehow managed to pull into the lead even though he had spent just as much time getting airlifted back onto the track as you did. It was getting towards the end and you could see his icon creeping closer to the finish line on the mini map. As things stood the only thing that could keep you from losing was some sudden cataclysmic event, like an earthquake, or a power outage or…or a blue shell. As you were considering your options (with controller theft being at the top of your list) you had driven through an item box and had been blessed by fate with the most devious and dreaded of items.

Glancing to your right you quickly checked to see if Grif had noticed your good fortune. There was an intense look of concentration on his face and you almost laughed, it being so unusual and all. The idiot hardly ever put any effort into anything. Still, it looked like he hadn’t noticed what you had just picked up. Grinning, you focused your attention back on the screen while periodically glancing at Grif, waiting for the opportune moment to use your secret weapon. Just as he started looking particularly smug you jumped into action, sending your spikey blue denizen of hell hurtling towards the unsuspecting racer. Your grin got even wider as you saw his eyes widen in horror and his character get sent spinning, recover, and then immediately drive off the edge, allowing you to pass him and cross the finish line. A string of curses left your now very disgruntled compatriot’s mouth as you proceeded to get up and strike the most melodramatic pose you could think of.

“You know,” you choked out, “they used to tell me I wouldn’t amount to anything, but look at me now.” Wiping away imaginary tears you dramatically gestured towards the TV, maintaining your composure for a few more seconds before breaking into hysterical laughter. A disgruntled Grif reluctantly presented you with your prize. You were tempted to keep this pristine package of glorious cookies to yourself, but you knew he’d spend the rest of the day sulking over this if you did. And in the end, you liked him far too much (and found sulky-Grif far too annoying) to deprive him.

“C’mon, we’ll share them” you said, giving him a little peck on the cheek as you walked past him and towards the kitchen area. For a second you worried that he was going to sulk anyway, until you heard him begin to follow you. And order you to get the milk, “or else”. The man took his cookies seriously, and you seriously loved him for it and all his other ridiculous quirks. And not even Mario Cart could come between that.

#grifxreader #grif/reader #reader-insert #rvb x reader #god this has been in my drafts for so long #rvb #grif

40 notes · View notes

sicklysweetbangtan · 6 years ago

Note

1B vkook

here you are anon! sorry it took a while

tw//emeto

taehyung and jeongguk are no strangers to partaking in stupid dares. over the course of the past years, the duo have challenged each other to a plethora of interesting yet possibly stupid tasks. the other members are quite used to the two maknaes’ antics, so they usually don’t pay much attention (unless of course, one, or both of them, gets hurt. luckily none of their dares have gone that far. yet).

currently, the seven boys are in la, two days before their flight back home. they’ve just wrapped up a couple of shows and some interviews, and their manager has given them the rest of their stay in the city off. each member has their own schedule, their own method of unwinding after a busy week. during this time, namjoon visits as many picture worthy places as possible, seokjin films eat jins on vlive, yoongi pretty much sleeps the day off, and hoseok and jimin binge watch mindless hotel television and order chinese takeout.

then there’s taehyung and jeongguk, who, you guessed it, partake in stupid dares.

today, jeongguk’s dare is much different from the usual “ten bucks if you ding dong ditch namjoon and seokjin hyungs’ hotel room” or “call pizza hut and order mcdonalds.”

he and taehyung are standing outside an all-you-can-eat buffet, eyes gleaming at the window advertisements for burgers, fries, chicken wings and milkshakes.

jeongguk looks at taehyung, devilish smirk on his features. “hyung, i challenge you to an eating contest. loser has to do the other’s laundry.”

taehyung shoots the maknae an equally devilish grin. “better buy extra detergent, ggukie.”

“save your advice for yourself, hyungie.”

“you’re fucking on.”

they enter the buffet, grabbing plates and filling them to the top with all sorts of food. taehyung has two whole plates filled with fries, two large hamburgers, a platter of chicken wings and an oreo milkshake.

jeongguk mimics taehyung’s choice, except he has a vanilla milkshake as well as a glass of coke.

now, to the average person, this would look like a disaster waiting to happen. but taehyung and jeongguk are not the average person. at least, not when it comes to challenges. plus it’s not everyday they go to an all you can eat buffet in la. which is why right now, it’s go big or go home for the two youngest.

taehyung’s munching away on the fries, taking bites of the burger and sips of the milkshake in between. his idea is to eat everything all at once, so that each plate reduces its contents at the same time. jeongguk likes to eat one by one. he follows the typical starter to dessert pattern, beginning with the fries, and ending with the milkshake.

the two don’t talk for a while, concentrating on eating as much as they can. taehyung’s about half way through each plate, and jeongguk’s just starting on his first burger.

to their luck, the food is really damn good. usually, they’d probably be done at this point, and whoever had the least left would win by default. but the food is just too tasty to give up halfway. the fries are just perfectly salted, the burger patty isn’t undercooked, the chicken wings are moderately spicy and the milkshakes are pleasantly sweet. it’s like the perfect meal, just double the normal amount.

a few minutes of silenced eating later, taehyung is starting to feel a bit heavy. not too much, but he’s going to be full in a couple more bites. taehyung’s not a quitter though, and if anything, he’s just going to have to push past his limits today. it’s just one day of going overboard, how bad can it get?

(spoiler alert: it can get Pretty Fucking Bad.)

meanwhile, jeongguk is very very much full. he’s just finished his second burger and is currently sipping on the milkshake. each swallow of the drink feels like a weight in his stomach, and he just wants the competition to end already. but, like his youngest hyung, jeongguk isn’t one to accept defeat easily. especially when taehyung’s still going strong. he gulps the milkshake down, and flips open the coke can.

now, taehyung’s stomach is lowkey rumbling. not loud enough for jeongguk to hear, but enough to cause the older boy some discomfort. he shifts in his seat, discreetly so that the maknae won’t notice, but the movement causes more angry grumbles across his midsection. he decides to drink some more milkshake, hoping that the cool drink will soothe his belly a bit, but as soon as he takes a sip, taehyung’s stomach twists, and beads of sweat coat his forehead. shit...that’s not a good sign.

jeongguk seems to be doing fine, taehyung thinks, though the younger boy seems to be squirming slightly.

“giving up yet, jeon?” the older boy asks, trying his best to keep the shakiness out of his voice.

please fucking say yes!

“not a chance, kim.” the maknae says, chugging the coke down. the drink swirls uncomfortably in his stomach, causing jeongguk to bite back a burp. he feels bile hit the back of his throat, but he managed to gulp it down. oh shit.

why didn’t i fucking say yes?

soon after, a waiter comes by with a check, notifying the boys that they’re about to close. jeongguk hurriedly pays the man, wanting nothing more than to end the bet as fast as possible. he thanks his stars that the buffet is going to close soon, and hopes that this bet at least ends in a tie.

“guess they’re about to close, hyung. we should get going now, yeah?”

taehyung nods vigorously, wincing at how the movement causes his stomach to churn even harder. “y-yeah, it’s getting pretty late, the hyungs must be worried about us.”

the older boy stands up shakily, gripping the edge of the table for support. he hobbles out of the restaurant, jeongguk in tow.

okay, now jeongguk’s stomach really hurts. the burgers, fries, and whatever else he ate are swirling around very dangerously, and he doesn’t know whether he’s about to shit or puke or pass out. all he can tell is that it hurts so much, that he went way overboard and that he’s about to pay the price for it.

taehyung feels a bit better after getting out in the fresh air, but his stomach is still grumbling uncomfortably. it’s bearable for the time being, so taehyung tries his best to ignore it. he turns to look at the maknae. jeongguk doesn’t seem too hot either, and taehyung finds the younger boy’s face a few shades too pale.

“gguk, you doing okay?”

jeongguk wants to say yes, he doesn’t want to look weak in front of taehyung, who seems to be doing fine even now. but it hurts so much, and he’s been biting back hiccups, and he doesn’t know what to do to make it go away. taehyung is pretty caring and reassuring whenever the maknae is sick, and jeongguk really wants some comfort right now.

so he gives in to the pain.

“i d-don’t feel too good, taehyungie h-hyung.”

the older boy stops in his tracks, his own pain completely forgotten at this point. hearing jeongguk’s distressed voice breaks taehyung’s heart.

he turns to face the younger boy. “what’s wrong, honey?”

“i-think i overdid it, hyungie. this was a stupid dare.”

in a flash, taehyung is besides the boy, slowly rubbing his back. “your tummy hurts?” he asks, trying his best to hold the maknae upright.

“y-yeah...” suddenly jeongguk stiffens up in taehyung’s arms.

“gguk?”

“hyung...i’m going to...”

taehyung doesn’t think twice before locating the nearest trash can. jeongguk squirms in his grip, crying from the pain, crying because he knows what’s going to happen next and he hates it.

“shh baby. it’s okay. taehyungie’s here, i’ve got you.” the older soothes, knowing how much jeongguk hates being sick, especially in public. he leans the younger boy over the trash can, rubbing his back comfortingly.

jeongguk hiccups, feeling his mouth water. he spits into the trash can, awaiting his fate. taehyung does his best to hold the maknae’s long hair away from his face, but the pain in his own stomach is back, and he knows that it won’t be long before he’s in jeongguk’s position.

a violent burp forces its way out of jeongguk’s throat, bringing up a small bit of sick with it. soon enough, the younger boy is heaving wave after wave of sick into the can.

“that’s it, ggukie. just get it all up, okay? it’s going to be fine, i promise.” taehyung tries his best to soothe the maknae, but his own stomach twists at the sight of puke. he takes deep breaths, steadying himself, but he can feel the bile rising in his throat as well.

soon jeongguk steps away from the trash can, into taehyung’s arms. the older boy caresses jeongguk’s hair as he catches his breath after the whole ordeal. it feels a lot better now, his stomach is still raw but the heaviness is gone.

“you feeling okay now, sweetie?” taehyung asks.

“yeah. m’sorry about that, hyung. it was pretty gross.”

“it’s okay, gguk.” because i’m probably going to be in the same boat as you very soon.

taehyung’s stomach feels like it’s going to jump right out of his throat. he can’t help but let out a soft belch, his lips pursed together in discomfort.

jeongguk notices, since taehyung’s whole body has gone rigid, same as his own did a while back.

“hyungie? are you gonna be sick too?” the maknae’s eyes are wide with worry, scanning taehyung up and down. the older boy doesn’t open his mouth, to answer, but another uncomfortable belch has him slapping a palm to his mouth.

jeongguk mutters a “shit” under his breath, and he’s about to maneuver the older boy towards the trash can but it’s too late. taehyung whips his head away from the maknae, bending down just in time to send a thick stream of vomit down onto the pavement.

“oh hyungie” jeongguk rubs his palm up and down the older’s back. taehyung is crying now, the sheer force of each wave of sick makes him feel even worse. “oh baby, it’s okay.” jeongguk tries his best to soothe his youngest hyung. “i’m here okay? i’m right here.”

after what seems like forever, the older boy straightens up, blinking away the tears as best as possible.

“you okay now, hyungie?” jeongguk asks, gently rubbing his thumb along taehyung’s hand.

“i’m okay, baby.” taehyung confirms.

the two of them stare at each other, then burst out laughing.

“that was probably the most chaotic dare we’ve done in a while.” taehyung says, as they’re walking back to the hotel.

“i guess we both lost?”

“technically i win because you puked first.” taehyung smirks.

“what? that’s not fair, hyung!”

“everything’s fair in love and war.” the older boy hums dramatically.

“you’re just saying that to get out of doing the laundry.” jeongguk whines.

“and what about it? i just threw up. i don’t wanna do the laundry.”

“so did i!”

“but you’re okay now!”

“so are you, hyung!”

“okay okay fine.” taehyung huffs, “how about we both do it together?”

“and skip out on more stupid dares? not likely.”

“gguk, i really think we should take a break from the dares for a bit.” taehyung laughs, “we gotta take some sort of lesson out of this ordeal, yeah?”

“i guess you’re right.” jeongguk sighs, “also wait. let’s not tell the rest of the hyungs about this. they’ll probably have us do their laundry as well.”

“my lips are sealed.” taehyung mocks locking his lips together and throwing away the key.

(spoiler alert: they end up doing everyone’s laundry anyway)

#bts emeto #bts sickfic #sick!taehyung #caring!taehyung #sick!jungkook #caring!jungkook #ruya answers #emeto drabble game

60 notes · View notes