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ahockeywrites · 4 years ago

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4 times you stayed at his + the 1 time he stayed at yours - Matthew Tkachuk

A/N: Hi everyone! I had this idea and within 48 hours I had it fully written. I hope you enjoy this 5k of fluffy Matty! Thanks to @calgarycanuck for proof reading this!!

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, explicit fem!reader

One

It was a typical Saturday night for the Calgary Flames who were celebrating a big win over the Canucks. Your best friend, Matthew Tkachuk, had invited you and your roommate out to come to the bars. Jess had been quite friendly with Noah Hanifin, and you just hoped they wouldn’t be using your apartment as a place to spend the night.

You tugged down the sleeve of your deep green bodysuit and looked across to the bar, hoping to see Matthew ordering you another rum and coke but instead saw him surrounded by 5 beautiful women. Women who you thought were more beautiful than you. As you let out a small sigh, you turned to Lauren and struck up a conversation with her. She had persuaded you to join her for a hot yoga class followed by a brunch in the next few days to catch up properly as you had been working so much. The friends you had made through meeting Matthew were amazing, but it didn’t take a genius to notice that the feelings you had for him were slightly more than friendly.

“I’m gonna go and get myself a drink,” you announced to no one in particular. As you pushed your way to the bar, you felt a strong pair of arms wrap around your waist. “Hey you,” you heard the voice of Noah in your ear. “You want a drink?” he asked. You nodded and asked him for a double dark rum and coke. If Matthew was busy with girls, you thought, you might as well let someone else get you a drink.

Noah passed you the finished drink and you took a large gulp of it. “Please tell me this isn’t a bribe so I can let you and Jess go and fuck in our apartment?” you groaned, figuring out what he was doing. Noah did this often; when he wanted you to take Jess out of the apartment to set up for a dinner date or more often than not when he wanted the apartment to be empty so the two of them could spend time wrapped up in each other.

“I’m sorry, it’s not my fault she’s so hot,” he complained. You rolled your eyes telling him that you’d find somewhere to crash. Usually, it was the Giordano’s spare room, but after you quickly scanned the bar, you noticed they had already left. It turns out, the only people left at the bar were Matthew and his entourage, Jess, Noah and you. You had no choice but to try and pry him away from the girls surrounding him.

You finished your drink and made your way over to where he was sitting at the bar. As you tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around to see you and offered you a huge smile. Matthew got up out of his seat, pushing the girls away and gave you a large hug. “How are you going?” he asked, genuinely as he hadn’t seen you much during the night. A few of the girls gave you a dirty look, but you ignored them knowing that Matthew would rather spend quality time with you.

“I’m good, just not sure where I’m gonna be sleeping tonight,” you mentioned hoping he would get the hint.

“Noah and Jess going at it like rabbits again?” he questioned, knowing what you had to deal with. You nodded and told him that Gio had already gone home so using their spare room was out of the equation. “Just stay at mine, it's no bother,” he said with a smile. “You wanna go now?” he asked.

Matthew had never offered you his spare room to stay at, no matter how close the two of you were. Or was it that Lauren always took you under her wing and he wasn’t able to offer you the room? He thought that it was a simple offer but you were freaking out inside. The not so little crush you were harbouring on him was going to be made more obvious, surely?

“Yeah, I’m working an afternoon shift tomorrow so kinda need the sleep,” you replied.

“Sure, lemme close up my tab and order an Uber,” he smiled back. Matthew reached over to grab the attention of the closest bartender and passed across his credit card. He pulled you into his grasp to make sure you didn’t blend into the crowd. As he pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket, he led the two of you to a slightly less crowded area so he could easily order the car home.

The outside air was cold, and Matthew noticed that you began to shiver as the wind picked up. Quickly, he slid his jacket off and placed it over your shoulders, “the car is only a minute away,” he informed you as you tried to warm up under his jacket. It wasn’t like Matthew was warm in just his jeans and t-shirt, but he knew his mother would kill him if he didn’t even offer you his jacket.

Matthew didn’t know why he just got up and left the girls at the bar as he was sure one of them would have come home with him. The friendship the two of you shared was strong and slightly flirty, but he also knew that the girls who were at the bar all arrived together and if he didn’t take you home safely, he would be worrying about it all night. For his sanity, this was what he kept telling himself, not that, god forbid, his feelings for you exceeded the bounds of friendship.

As if the car he ordered knew he needed to stop thinking, it arrived stopping directly in front of the pair of you. The driver lowered the window and Matthew checked it was for him and going to the right place. Once he was sure this was actually for the two of you, he opened the door for you allowing you to slide into the back seats. You shuffled your way across to let Matthew have some space. The drive back to his place was short, but he never let go of your hand, even letting his thumb brush over your knuckles occasionally. It felt more than friendly to the both of you.

The car abruptly stopped outside of Matthew’s apartment building and he jumped out to open the car door for you. It was strange, his behaviour, you thought, but maybe it was because you had never stayed the night in his guest room. He greeted the concierge in the lobby and directed you towards the elevator.

You had been to Matthew’s apartment before, but not like this. You knew he lived on the 35th floor and he had an amazing view of Calgary out of his bedroom window, but you had probably spent a total of one hour there, aside from the pre-drinks he occasionally held. He led you into his apartment quickly and stood in the kitchen, unsure what he should do. “I don’t know what you usually wear to sleep, but I can grab a shirt for you? And I think Taryn left makeup wipes in the spare bathroom when she was last here?” he seemed to be questioning himself more than asking you. One of his arms reached up to scratch his neck to add to the awkwardness.

“Yeah,” you said quietly, “a shirt would be great thanks.” Matthew pointed you in the direction of the spare bathroom and you started taking your makeup off. You looked at yourself in the mirror and just hoped that Matthew wasn’t gonna see what you looked like barefaced. In your mind, he couldn’t see you without your additional layer of confidence. You walked back through to the spare room to see him sitting on the side of the bed with a shirt in his hands. “Urm, I hope this is comfy enough,” he stuttered, unsure of what he should say.

“Thanks, Matty,” you replied, taking the shirt from him but not wanting to undress in front of him. He stood quiet for a second before realising he should leave and let you sleep.

“Goodnight Y/N, sleep well,” he said, bringing you in for a hug.

“Goodnight Matty,” you replied.

You walked back into the bathroom to change out of your restricting jeans and bodysuit to put on the soft shirt. Initially, you didn’t notice what he had given you, but when you looked in the mirror you saw the logo of the London Knights. And sure enough, on the back was the number 7 and the name Tkachuk. You laughed softly, he knew you weren’t a Flames fan so he would never be able to get you to wear his current jersey, but this was a step closer to him getting his best friend in his jersey.

Two

He didn’t mean to let you stay over again, you were just so tired after being his plus one to a Flames event. It wasn’t like you had found the event boring at all, just after an afternoon shift at the restaurant, followed by getting ready with Lauren and Jess and then having to control Matthew at the charity event, you were tired and ready to sleep.

Matthew had to almost drag you out of the Uber because you had fallen asleep on his shoulder in the car. “Y/N, c’mon, just a little further then you can crash for the night,” he encouraged you. You lifted your arms up, indicating that you wanted him to carry you up to his apartment. He groaned but lifted you up to carry you bridal style through his apartment complex. Somehow, you had fallen back asleep in the elevator on the way up and he had to try and open his apartment door without waking you up. He was successful and gently walked through his apartment to lay you down on his guest bed.

It took a few moments for him to remember where the makeup wipes were but as soon as he figured it out he went to find them and started slowly removing your makeup. He thought he was doing a good job until he figured out you had put on a pair of fake eyelashes. There was no way he would be able to take these off without waking you up or hurting you and he decided that the former would be the safest option.

“Hey,” Matthew whispered softly whilst gently shaking your shoulder. You stirred slightly in your sleep so he shook your shoulder again with a little more force. Slowly, your eyes fluttered open to see a shirtless Matthew with a slightly dirty makeup wipe in one hand and a confused look on his face.

“You didn’t have to take my makeup off for me,” you spoke with a lot of sleep in your voice.

“It’s okay,” he replied, “I was almost there but you’ve got these things stuck to your eyes and I really don’t want to hurt you.” You laughed having forgotten that you had put falsies on and told him to wait there and you’d try and take them off without your usual products. Luckily, Matthew had been able to detach the inner corner of both sets of lashes and you quickly pulled them off. It was slightly painful as you didn’t use your normal cleanser to help them detach, but they were removed and that was the main thing. You quickly disposed of them in the trash can in the bathroom and saw Matthew waiting on the edge of the bed with a shirt for you to wear. He handed it across and let you go back into the bathroom to change into it.

“Matty,” you began, “do you still have the makeup wipes out there?” You wanted to take off the rest of your eye makeup but were pretty certain that he had them somewhere near him.

“Yeah I do, come back out here so I can take the rest of it off for you,” he replied. You were slightly confused but went back through to sit opposite Matthew on the bed. He tugged you so you were straddling his lap and started removing the rest of your makeup. He was so deep in concentration that he didn’t notice you placing your hands on his hips to keep yourself still. If you didn’t do this, you were almost certain his hockey strength would have sent you flying.

You asked him if he was done and he nodded telling you to get comfy in bed. Obliging, you made your way under the comforter and almost instantly you fell asleep. Matthew walked back in to see you completely knocked out and went to brush some hair off of your face. “Goodnight Y/N,” he whispered.

Three

Best friends stay over at each other’s houses, right? You convinced yourself that staying at Matthew’s house whilst he was on a week-long road trip was okay, simply because he had a better kitchen than you and his bathroom had a bath compared to just a shower in your apartment.

Matthew had given you his spare key to use when you needed to go in and check on the houseplants his mother had given him as an apartment warming gift. You did question why Chantal had given him a selection of plants but you didn’t complain as it meant you could take advantage of the amazing kitchen set up he had. As you dragged your bags filled with baking ingredients into the apartment, you noticed that there was a note left on the kitchen counter. It read:

Y/N, thanks for watering the plants on this roadie! I may have taken the extra brownies you made for me on this trip because the boys wanted something to remind them of Calgary. Stay safe, Matt :)

You smiled, knowing that the team always devoured any baked goods you brought along and you had even helped some of the children who were at the events with decorating fairy cakes. The kids adored you to the point some of the parents would get you to babysit them when they wanted a date night and how could you resist? It seemed like each of the children had you wrapped around their little finger as you found it hard to put them to bed at their usual bedtime as all they wanted to do was something creative.

The memories you had made with the children had to be pushed aside as you were here to bake, and you were unsure of how much you were going to make. First, you put the milk and butter in the fridge to make sure it was cold and unpacked everything else onto the kitchen counter. Then, you grabbed your laptop out of your backpack and loaded up the recipes you were planning on making. A batch of chocolate chip cookies, a tray of brownies and an apple pie was the bare minimum you wanted to make. You hoped that there would be enough time to make a set of 24 blueberry muffins too but would be happy to snack on the blueberries throughout the day.

You fiddled with the dials on the oven to allow it to preheat and connected your phone to the fancy speaker system Matthew had in his house. The playlist you chose was one you and Matthew had curated to be perfect for relaxing days and it was exactly what you needed on your day off. The music allowed you to become lost in the baking and you didn’t realise the time was so late until you looked out of the large windows. The sun had set so you took a quick look at your watch to notice that it was nearing 9 in the evening. How you had become so engrossed in the cooking was a mystery to you as this seldom happened.

Notifications lit up your phone and you chose to reply to Matthew first, letting him know that his plants had been watered and you had even bought some fertiliser to help them grow. Then you dropped a quick text to Jess letting her know you were just going to stay at Matthew’s apartment for the night rather than risking an Uber alone at night. Sometimes you hated being a woman and not trusting society but you knew that Matthew wouldn’t mind you staying at his place as long as he knew you were safe.

It seemed as if your tiredness hit you quickly because once you ordered some food for a late dinner and had watched the Flames game, you were half asleep on the couch in the living room. Slowly, you peeled yourself off the couch and removed the blankets you had been hiding under to the other couch. The walk to the spare room seemed too natural and you noticed that there was a small collection of skincare products sitting on the counter next to the sink. You realised that they were minis of the same things you used. Matthew couldn’t have gone out of his way to figure out what you used and get some for you in case you stayed over again, could he? It seemed like something he could do but you thought he would do that for someone he considered to be more than a friend, unless? No, you thought to yourself, he couldn’t like you in the same way you liked him.

Shaking your head to try and rid yourself of these thoughts, you started to cleanse your face and then add the moisturiser on top. Once you had finished your nighttime routine, you walked through to Matthew’s bedroom and his closet to try and find something to wear to bed. The shirt you were looking for was the same one you had worn the first two times you had stayed over at his place. It was slightly hidden behind a few pairs of jeans and the occasional St Louis t-shirt but you found it and it was just as soft as you remembered. You slipped back into his spare room and quickly changed into the shirt.

There was just one more thing you needed to do and that was to box up all the baked goods you had created earlier. You made your way back to the kitchen and found the Tupperware you brought along solely for this purpose, then popped them on the kitchen island with a note for Matthew telling him that you were in his spare room and that he could eat as many of the snacks as his meal plan allowed him to. You also sent him a text warning him that you were staying at his in the spare room for the night as you didn’t want to head back to your place by yourself in the dark and he should be quiet if he arrives back before you were awake. He did reply, but much later so you were already asleep.

Matthew gently opened the front door to his apartment, not wanting to accidentally wake you from your sleep, seeing as it was 5 am. He placed his equipment bag down in the hallway and took in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of many different baked goods. Even if it was 5 am, there was no way in hell he was going to turn down something you had made. He waltzed his way across to the kitchen and was greeted by multiple boxes, each with a label on informing him what was inside each of them. A small giggle left his mouth as he read the note that you had left on top of the boxes and he chose to have a piece of the brownie before he went to check on you in the spare room.

The large comforter engulfed your body and he noticed how at peace you looked. Matthew wondered if you would ever be the one he came home to after a long road trip.

Four

6-0 loss. 10 minutes in the penalty box. Ejected from the game. This was the worst game you had ever seen from Matthew and knew that he would need space, so The text you received from him was unexpected.

Come over

Short and straight to the point. You were unsure what to expect but replied saying you were catching an Uber and were gonna be over in about 15 minutes.

Knocking on the door felt more appropriate rather than using the key he had gifted to you to use as you didn’t want to walk in to see him destroying plates and glasses. As the door swung open, a dishevelled Matthew silently greeted you. He was shirtless, displaying the bruises he had obtained from a night of hockey. You followed him into his place and went to get two glasses of water because you knew that he wouldn’t have drunk anything for himself.

The sounds of muffled crying filled the apartment and it tugged on your heartstrings. The feelings that you had developed for the St Louis native made you almost drop the glasses, but you were able to make your way back to the family room.

Matthew was curled up, in the foetus position, on the largest couch. Tears flowed from his eyes, he was feeling emotions that he rarely felt after a game. He was a player who left all his feelings from a game on the ice, but it was impossible to do this when you’ve been ejected from a game.

He knew you wouldn’t turn down an invitation to see him because he had noticed the extra time you spent at his apartment. But he thought it was for the kitchen, not the feelings you had for him.

It wasn’t like Matthew didn’t have feelings for you, ever since the first night you had spent at his place, he knew he wanted to be more than friends with you. But he was respectful, he knew how he would want someone to treat Taryn, so he treated you the same way. He assumed that you wanted to be no more than friends, and he was happy with that.

The advice you gave him, the jokes you made (often at the expense of his teammates), just the company you offered him when he needed it. He couldn’t lose that, you were too good of a friend for him.

You placed down the drinks on the coffee table and just looked at him. He looked broken on the outside and it just made you think how broken he must be on the inside. It wasn’t a good game for the entire team, but his individual performance wasn’t brilliant either. Matthew was competitive, anyone who had ever seen him knew that.

“Matty,” you said. There it was, he thought, the one nickname that no one else could call him except you.

You ran your hands through his hair, letting his tears continue to flow. It was hard for you, as a friend, to see someone this close to you go through this. But you knew that he needed to let his feelings out, and just be there for him when he needed you, whenever that was.

His right hand reached for one of yours and you offered it to him. It grounded him, knowing that he was safe in his house, safe with you, safe with his emotions. “I played shit, I don’t deserve to play in the NHL, let alone have the ‘A’ on my chest,” he spoke aimlessly.

“Matty,” you consoled him, “one game does not define you as a player, you as a team member.” After this, you pulled him into your body, hoping that he would accept it. You remembered that he liked hugs when he wasn’t feeling amazing, so you knew it wouldn’t be pushing his boundaries.

He continued to cry, wetting your T-shirt in the process, but he needed this. You pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, hoping that wouldn’t be too far.

“Y/N,” Matthew sniffled, “I just wanna be held as I sleep.”

“Of course, anything for you,” you replied softly. You gently unwrapped yourself from around him and offered him your hand to walk to his bedroom. He followed you and sat down on the side of the bed. “Just gotta brush your teeth, Matty,” you encouraged. He sighed but followed you to his en-suite.

“I’ll let you brush your teeth, I’m gonna find something to wear to bed,” you informed him. He pouted slightly but let your past. You were familiar with his closet and the exact shirt you were looking for. A London Knights game-worn jersey, it was soft and perfect for sleeping in.

It wasn’t the first time Matthew had seen you in his jersey, and he hoped that it wouldn’t be the last time. He smiled to himself, the first time he had been genuinely happy all night. He tried to stop you from going to the bathroom to brush your teeth and take your makeup off but you were able to make your way past.

You tried to be quick with your skincare routine, somehow you had a bottle of everything you needed in Matthew’s bathroom, but knew you couldn’t rush any of the steps. As you were applying your final product, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist. “I thought you were gonna be quick,” Matthew complained as he nuzzled his head into your neck.

“I was trying,” you replied as you turned to face him. He was so close that your foreheads were touching and you were able to look directly into his eyes. “We should-,” you started.

“Bed, yes,” he finished for you. All you wanted to do was kiss him, but you couldn’t take advantage of him when he wasn’t feeling good. He unwrapped his arms from you and offered you his hand so you could walk back to his bedroom. Matthew refused to let go of your hand as you both got into bed, and you allowed him to be the little spoon because he needed to be in someone’s embrace tonight.

“Goodnight Matty,” you whispered, but he didn’t hear you as he was already asleep.

plus one

It was a drunk mistake that should never have happened he said, but nothing he said could prepare you to see photos of your now ex-boyfriend making out with some random girl when he had been on a ‘work trip’. Jess tried her best to help you by bringing you ice cream and watching shitty television with you but there was only so much she could do when Noah came over to take her out on a date. You were happy for her, you really were but seeing someone happy in a relationship was not what you needed right now.

You allowed yourself to think over the good times you had with him, but they were so few and far between. He had pulled you away from the friends you had made out of the Flames players and they all became worried about you and suddenly you realised how toxic the short relationship was. Quickly, you scrambled to find your phone and noticed it had been two weeks since you had last texted Lauren when usually you would be texting daily and you hadn’t spoken to Matthew in three weeks. Normally, it was common for the two of you to physically see each other at least every day.

But then it clicked, your ex must have been jealous of the friendship you had with Matthew and his teammates. You understood slightly as you did have a crush on Matthew but that died down when you started dating him. It was a trust issue, he didn’t trust that you would stay just friends with them so he had to pull you away. It was slightly ironic, how he didn’t trust you as he thought you might cheat on him, but then he went and cheated on you.

There was only one person who could make you feel better and he would understand how shitty your ex was and how you needed to rebuild the friendship with him. As soon as you sent him a message, he was quick to reply saying that he was on his way to your apartment with Chinese food and a pint of your favourite ice cream. It was at this you noticed the butterflies forming in your stomach, the crush you had never went away, did it?

You were brought out of your thoughts by a knock on your apartment door and went over to open it. As soon as you saw Matthew’s face you broke down in tears again. Quickly, he brought you into a tight hug, somehow not dropping the food he had brought. “C’mon, Y/N, let’s head to the couch and enjoy the takeout I’ve got?” he asked, unsure if he was asking you or himself. Your head might have been pretty much attached to his chest but he could feel you gently nod in response.

He offered you his hand and walked towards the couch. You sat down first and he started unpacking the food onto the coffee table. “Just sit back and find something to watch,” he instructed. You followed as he said and he quickly left to grab some cutlery from the kitchen. You flicked through Netflix and settled on Brooklyn 99 because it could just stay on in the background. Sighing, you picked up your phone and reread the DM you had received from the girl’s best friend. You didn’t notice Matthew standing behind you until he picked your phone out of your hands and put it in his pocket. “Tonight, we’re gonna watch Jake Peralta attempt to solve some crimes, enjoy the takeout, maybe drink some wine, and forget about that asshole,” Matthew affirmed. You sighed again but knew that he would be getting his way.

Matthew passed you a plate and some cutlery before disappearing back into the kitchen to collect a bottle of your favourite wine and some wine glasses. He sat down next to you on the couch and poured two generous glasses of wine. As soon as the food was opened, it was like the two of you hadn’t spent any time away from each other. The conversation flowed perfectly, as did the wine and after two episodes of B99, the two of you were slightly wine drunk, which you continued to tell Matthew was the best type of drunk.

“I missed you, Matty,” you admitted. He sent you a soft smile but knew that he felt the exact same way. Your ex was toxic for you and he was glad that you had gotten out of that relationship. The smile you had on your face was real and one of the purest he had ever seen in his entire life. Your happiness radiated to him too and he started laughing as you began to make silly faces at him.

You were lucky that Matthew had seen you wine drunk before and knew you were getting close to crashing and needing to be near a bed was almost a necessity. He wasn’t sure how, but he was able to get you to your bathroom, even as you were stumbling the entire way there. There was no makeup on your face so he quickly used a face cloth to clean your skin and was able to find some moisturiser to use on both of your faces. It was the most genuine smile he had seen you ever have in a long time and he was able to adore your beauty.

“‘M sleepy,” you groaned, giving Matthew a small shove to try and encourage him to move out of your way.

“I know babe,” he replied, not noticing the term of endearment he had used for the first time. “You just need to put something on that you can sleep in.” You nodded your head and dramatically walked to your dresser and pulled out a matching set of short black satin pyjamas. It wasn’t a pair you usually chose to wear, but they looked nice. Clearly, your drunk head was trying to impress Matthew. You jumped directly on top of the soft comforter and didn’t care that you should have been underneath the blanket because you fell asleep almost immediately.

Matthew came out to see you sleeping softly on the bed and gently picked you up to place you under the duvet and onto the mattress. A soft kiss from him was pressed to your temple and you subconsciously smiled in your sleep. He moved around to the other side of the bed and wrapped you in his arms, hoping this was the last night you were in his arms but not his girlfriend.

#ahockeywrites #matthew tkachuk #Matthew Tkachuk imagine #matt tkachuk #matt tkachuk imagine #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl writing #calgary flames #Calgary flames imagine #flames19

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kiyokoks · 5 years ago

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50 Questions You’ve Never Been Asked

i was tagged by @baqukou so let’s do this !!

1. What is the color of your hairbrush? my main one is purple but i have a yellow wet brush for after i shower :P

2. Name a food you never eat? olives !! i can’t stand them, every time i get a beef empanada i personally stick my fingers inside and pull the olive out

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold? too warm! i get hot super easily i’m like an overpowered space heater

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? playing animal crossing: new horizons on my switch lite !! i laid down the construction for the river bridge and am trying to build three new houses for arriving villagers :))

5. What is your favorite candy bar? it’s not from canada so i can’t always have it but from peru aka where my mom is from but the white chocolate sublime bar w nuts !!! it’s so good i ration my candy from the motherland

6. Have you ever been to a professional sports event? yea! in jr high aside from playing basketball, i qualified for the edmonton public schools zones sports fest for running, though i can’t remember which dash in particular

7. What is the last thing you said out loud? “voya ir a me cuarto” aka im going to go to my room in spanish to my mom

8. What is your favorite ice cream? mint chocolate chip! i love the sweet but spearmint taste

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? coffee with sugar and almond milk

10. Do you like your wallet? yes !! it’s a white coach wallet my mom bought me when we went to calgary cross iron mills mall it’s super cute

11. What was the last thing you ate? quesadillas for breakfast bc they’re easy to cook (i’m lactose intolerant but some things are worth the abdominal pain!!)

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend? i got two new shirts i ordered online from hot topic !! one of them is a black my hero academia heroes rising movie poster shirt, and one is a yellow bakugou t-shirt

13. The last sporting event you watched? the haikyuu!! season 3 shiratorizawa match

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? caramel omg my mom makes the best caramel popcorn with nuts

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? my best friend ally !! she let me visit her island yesterday to chop trees for that last bit of softwood i needed for timmy and tommy’s shop

16. Ever go camping? yea! my jr high had an annual fall camping trip for 3 days where we’d hang out and play games at night it was awesome i actually miss it a lot

17. Do you take vitamins? yea lmao my mom always worries that i’m not eating well and need vitamins

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? i used to, but now i have a shift in the morning at w*rk every sunday so nope not anymore

19. Do you have a tan? you bet! my mom is from peru but she’s kinda light-skinned (by south american standards) but my dad is from el salvador and is VERY brown skinned so i have a very obvious brown tan all year round bc genetics !! it’s obvs darker in the summer tho

20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza? chinese food all the way babeyyy !! dim sum is so fucking good i could never give it up, i even had my 18th birthday at a chinese hot pot restaurant w all of my homegirls

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? nope lolol i think i did once or twice at like a party

22. What color socks do you usually wear? usually pink or purple

23. Do you ever drive above the speed limit? i don’t drive but if i did i wouldn’t i hate reckless drivers so fucking much

24. What terrifies you? needles and gory medical procedures !! i remember when i watched the 100 and one of the season finales where they extract bone marrow was rough for me to watch i screamed very quietly

25. Look to your left, what do you see? im sitting down at my desk so my switch lite

26. What chore do you hate? laundry bc if u fuck it up there’s real consequences

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent? i have to hold myself back from laughing it’s so funny

28. What’s your favorite soda? another thing from the motherland but inca cola !! it’s kinda hard to find but when i do get it ohhh my goddd

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive-thrus? typically im hanging out w my friends when i get fast food so yea we go inside

30. Who’s the last person you talked to? my mami

31. Favorite cut of beef? tendon!! it’s so fucking good in Vietnamese pho i sometimes pay for extra

32. Last song you listened to? boy with luv (feat. halsey) by bts

33. Last book you read? does fic count ?? bc if so chapter 28 of the devil ships zeku on ao3

34. Favorite day of the week? monday !! bc no w*rk and it’s the start of a new week

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards? god nope nope no i don’t have the brain cells

36. How do you like your coffee? with sugar and almond milk though idk how much sugar i just kinda match it with the amount of instant coffee whoops

37. Favorite pair of shoes? my red timberland boots !! they go with everything i wear and are super comfy for a long day at uni, plus they can take any kind of weather (this sounds like a sales pitch lmfaoofhf)

38. The time you normally go to sleep? pre-quarantine was like 10:30PM since i had to wake up at 5 to get ready in time for my mom to drop me off at the bus stop for my 8AM classes but quarantine bedtime is more like 1AM now

39. The time you normally get up? usually around 7am or 8am, but for w*rk on the weekends around 6am

40. What do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? sunsets!! they’re so pretty to look at

41. How many blankets on your bed? four !! i sleep with four blankets at night so i’m ultra warm

42. Describe your kitchen plates: hmmm well they’re white with a nice flower pattern, but we also have some tiny plain white ones and then some multicoloured plastic ones

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage? well i don’t like alcohol in general but the one time i did try it w my friends at a restaurant it was kinda sweet so that was nice

44. Do you play cards? kind of ?? if someone brings a pack of cards im down but i never carry any myself

45. What color is your car? i don’t have a car but black would be nice

46. Can you change a tire? nope i don’t drive and on top of that i’m a dumbass HOWEVER if i do get a car i will learn how to !!

47. Your favorite province? British Columbia bc they don’t have dumbass, oil loving, neo-con war hawk fuckwits like we do here in alberta

48. Favorite job you’ve ever had? i pretty much hate my job with everything that is inside me but doing online grocery delivery has almost no customer interaction so i like that

49. How did you get your biggest scar? hmmm well i have one on my left ankle from when i sprained it by being a dumbass and trying to ballet spin on my slippery kitchen floor with socks on but other than that i have no scars

50. What did you do today that made someone else happy? i let my little sister play on my switch lite for a bit with a different game and i helped my mom with her virtual farm on her ipad

thanks for tagging me !! feel free to do this if u want but im gonna take @thebakuboy @bakugobinch @detectivejigsawpines and @noticemedeku

#tagged in #THIS WAS RLLY FUN !! i love answering questions this was great #as u can see im a simple creature ... my wants and needs are not complex

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bctims · 7 years ago

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Procrastination

There are so many different methods around online and in books that people claim to be the key to prevent procrastination.

A lot of the time however, we completely disregard them. We brush them off and not think twice about even trying to attempting them ourselves. I myself am also guilty of this where I usually see links pop up every now and then, which talk about ways people have overcome procrastination along with all that motivational crap they involve. However, I’m ironically usually too busy procrastinating to even watch the video or read the article that talk about it all.

Laziness typically revolves around lack of motivation combined with a lot of self doubt, which is far more common among youths (roughly aged 15-24) than older generations. A 2007 meta-analysis from the University of Calgary reported that 80-95% of college students are guilty of procrastination[1].

“ As students, you're always being pushed out of your depths—that's what learning is," Pychyl says. (Referring to Timothy A. Pychyl - a Carleton University psychology professor) Graduate students worry about performing inadequately or fear their success may raise others' expectations of them, he says. Other students may actually think they get a thrill out of delaying their work and believe they work best under pressure, though that's not borne out in the experimental data, says DePaul University psychology professor Joseph Ferrari, PhD. Several studies in Steel's 2007 meta-analysis suggest procrastination is negatively related to overall GPA, final exam scores and assignment grades. “ [1]

After reading this, and thinking properly about it, I can understand this research and it definitely applies to why I think I procrastinate. I personally leave a lot of my work till the last minute, which is exactly what motivates me to be extremely productive in such a short amount of time. However, I do agree it can lead to a lack of professionalism and a decline in quality of work, as you have a lot less time to proof read and go over old ideas with fresh eyes on following day. Proof reading usually takes longer than you think, since going over everything, you’ll usually think of new or alternative ideas to add to your work, which usually ends up in having to rewrite whole paragraphs.

“ Procrastination can also take a toll on a student's mental health and well-being. In one 2007 study, Florida State University psychologists Dianne M. Tice, PhD, and Roy F. Baumeister, PhD, examined procrastination among students in a health psychology class. They found that early in the semester, procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than non-procrastinators, but that late in the term, procrastinators reported higher stress and more illness (Psychological Science, Vol. 8, No. 6). “ [1]

It’s pretty hard to properly diagnose yourself of any mental problems, however I can definitely say that for projects I worked consistantly from start to finish, stress levels remain relatively the same throughout the entirety. Even after it’s finished, it doesn’t seem like a huge accomplishment. On the other hand, with projects I cram everything into the last few days, my stress levels are more of a a huge build up and release. Over the entire duration of the project, stress starts off minimal, but as each day passes, it builds and builds rapidly, which makes focusing on what you’re doing day to day very difficult - whether it be playing games or doing everything except what you’re meant to be. When I finally get off my ass and start working through the last few days (or hours), that’s when the real stress kicks in and I begin to actually do what I’m meant to. This period of time is full stress mode, where I’m rushing around up until the last minute to start and finish my project or essay. I know a lot of people can relate to this. When the few days are over and the project is finished, relaxation mode kicks in and you feel great about yourself from not having to do anything again. It feels like you’ve legitimately finished an entire life’s work in an evening, and the last thing you want to do is more work.

A good an analogy my design teacher back in high school used to to use is the idea of a pressure cooker: It starts off slowly, but gains intensity slowly until it’s completely full of steam and stays at full steam for a short time before shutting off. This is a great representation for the stress levels I experience during a project using this method of work.

When all is done, this method unfortunately has a habit of occurring again in the following project because of how burnt out those few days of work make you feel. When those stress levels completely dissapear for the next few days, you do absolutely nothing and feel great, but by the time your stress levels normalise again, a whole new project is almost due, and then the process repeats itself. This leads to an almost endless cycle of minimal effort work- and therefore an endless cycle of immense bursts of stress, which is proven to not be good for both mental and physical health.

Simon and my project is wanting to help make people realise that they need to break this loop to take back control of their lives to learn as grow as a man or woman, as opposed to a girl or boy.

In reflection, leaving everything to last minute is a horrible method of completing any project, because not only due to health reasons, but also if you’re involved in a group, then it will lead to a huge decline of reputation and sanity. Through most of high school, this was all I did, which actually lead to me having more grey hairs than I could count and a lot of breakouts on my face. (Recently I have been working a lot harder, and have seen a lot less breakouts and less greying of my 20 year old head of hair). Stress also leads into depression as it has huge direct effects on your mood, which anyone can relate to - especially when working a part time job in a stressful environment, the stress can makes a lot of people quit because of how horrible it can make them feel (I also have first hand experience of this from when I used to work at Subway).

I will personally be consciously attempting to do more consistent work, and keep my standards high. I think at the end of the day, procrastination is something that every single person is guilty of, however is not necessarily a bad thing, and can be good at times. Of course with all good* things, only in moderation, however. It is important to take time for yourself to do what you enjoy, to keep your hobbies active, and not lose all sanity of life. At the point where the majority of what you do in your daily life is only procrastinating, that’s when you have to take a step back and look at where your life might be heading.

[1] Novotney, A. (2010) - “Procrastination or ‘intentional delay’?”, from the “American Psychological Association” (http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2010/01/procrastination.aspx_

#ctec607

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believerindaydreams · 8 years ago

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Ecstasy in Cosmogone Glossary

Some borrowed, some stolen, some invented, but I have enough odd words now that I need a list. (A warning: some of these don’t adhere to Failbetter canon.)

Aich’s alloy: copper, zinc and iron, useful for underwater work.

Apotheosis: Something, someday, will happen to London.

associative trails: Neath hypertext.

Beloved blubber: when refined, the source of zee-butter, though zailors generally prefer it straight. Can be eaten either hot or cold, very popular condiment aboard the Clipper.

Blemmigan nectar: gods alone know, but it tastes awful.

blood-letting: the mechanism which lowers your stats for incautious activities in SS. Also applicable for the consumption of Bottled Oblivion.

bolegus-timber: mushroom wood.

Calgary Flames: the Innocent Spy’s favourite hockey team. Not that he has any reason to mention this in 1895.

cavern-tuna: what you feed mogs.

Celestial Welshman: Arthur Machen. Bohemian author.

change war: 1. One of SF’s first really good time wars, as recounted in various Fritz Leiber books. 2. the conflict between cats and snakes.

chiropterochronometry: er, bats and timekeeping?

collop: slice of meat.

comci: one of those artistic movements only defined by academics long after its flowering. Generally agreed to have been kickstarted by the Sickly Scotsman’s “The New Arabian Nights”, the definition brushes up against magical realism on one side, Chestertonian paradox on the other, and some kind of five-dimensional Lovecraftian horror on both.

déjà vu: the subject of much vigorous wrangling at the University, where there’s a department attempting to ascertain whether it’s some sort of psychic occurrence, a temporary displacement with one’s reflection, or something else entirely.

DDD terms: (permanent) death, dismemberment, drownification. Grounds upon which a Neath contract might reasonably be voided.

(this is getting a bit long, more beneath the jump.)

driftweed: the Underzee’s most common variety of edible seaweed, eaten by vegetarians and very, very desperate zailors.

duck tape: a dreadful anachronism. Made from zee-glue and Parabola linen duck.

DXS: Department of External Services, the Innocent Spy's former employers. Seem to take on both internal and international missions without batting an eye.

First City coin stamp: a joke.

flectere: the art of mirrors.

flexion: what reflections call us.

fungal mint cake: highly calorific foodstuff, in much demand for Neath adventurers. Sufficiently hearty to ward off the effects of UP, for a day or so.

freightage: the poor chumps indentured to private companies such as Iron and Misery, who transport the most boring of cargoes. Zee-coal from the Iron Republic, crates of mushrooms to branches of Harbour Provisioners, etc. So pathetic they travel in convoys, and no decent zailor will shame the profession by admitting they even exist.

Grand Sanction: that which has enabled the Innocent Spy to live through a twentieth century with no space bats or immortality in it. The Phoenix Foundation is responsible for it, though the Spy doesn’t actually know that part.

geas: a bit like an oath, but with more punch and narrative interest to it.

INCURSION: an unpleasant but not lethal random encounter in the Iron Republic.

Innocent Spy: current work-name for one MacGyver. Accidental time-traveller, brilliant engineer, and oh yes, also a spy.

jati: borrowed from the Hindi word for caste, appropriated by Londoners to mean something more like untouchable. That which happens in London entirely outside of the Bazaar’s remit, and officially does not exist. Examples of jati would include driftweed sellers, anybody living in a terraced house, the chap who’s next-door neighbours with The Most Boring Man in London.

knitting: something the Innocent Spy does to make a jumper. Something the Herald does to upconvert Whispering Hints and Cryptic Clues.

Kabulstan: a country in central Asia. Location of the Ammukash valley and the Mountain of Youth, better known to Neath inhabitants as Stone.

Last Night’s pudding: the flaming pudding traditionally eaten twelve days after the first lacre-fall. Society folk rather look down at this; Dockers love it.

late-reign: 1. anything that’s happened in the Neath since the Innocent Spy arrived, more or less. 2. for later historians, the fin de siecle period of the Traitor Empress’ reign. What precisely this entails is a matter of hot debate amongst the handful of academics permitted to study the matter.

Lillywhite’s: the bible of cricket.

Literary Postman: Anthony Trollope, Society author and postal worker. His last public act before a graceful retirement to Nuncio was pressing forward the decimalisation of Echoes, making London’s currency minimally less terrifying.

Norton: those who would take a Liberty. The umbrella term for a loose association of anti-Fall ideologies, ranging from those who insist that London never left the Surface, to those who insist it’s fated to return. Originally referred to a number of activists from Spite who tried to bring the Empress to court, on the grounds that she lacked the legal authority to bring their street to the Neath. You can usually find one at the Square of Lofty Words.

obscurity: 1. to posies and potential posies [every single PC], the most horrifying fate imaginable in London society, only undertaken by the maddest of Seekers. 2. to everyone else in London (of whom there’s rather a lot), an exchange in which one trades away a never-gonna-happen future of Making Waves in exchange for the safety of being Closest To a particular faction. This is how random zailors are closest to Dockers and so forth.

The Penniless Archeologist: loosely based on Eduard Glaser, the Archeologist is a late-19th century Surface scholar attempting to find the location of the Garden of Eden. His map, a hundred years later, leads the Unimaginative Assassin to start investigating a mountain in Kubulstan...

posy: a more amusing and period-appropriate bit of slang for Persons of Some Importance than POSI.

Phoenix Foundation: the Innocent Spy’s employers. Partly a do-gooding charity, partly an agency for plausibly deniable intelligence work.

Pinksaw's Guide to Edible Fungi: exactly what it sounds like.

quirks: the measure of a man.

rat extract: Neath Bovril.

red-handled knife: the Innocent Spy’s tool of choice.

reflection: that which you see in a mirror. May occasionally be sentient.

reppeljack: newly Fallen. Mildly offensive.

ritual: the Herald’s all-purpose term for anything quasi-magical, esp. for her ship-keeping prayers to Stone, Salt and Storm. (She usually refrains from telling the Innocent Spy the proper names, both for safety and to head off arguments about how silly the proper names are.)

“The Sapphire”: Fallen London’s equivalent of “The Gem”.

scintillack: that blue stuff that helps you shoot things.

secret sharing: a ritual to improve one’s stats, by offering up a secret to another party. Usually undertaken as a matched set, unless a Captain is involved (it is the duty of Captains to give, not to take).

Sickly Scotsman: Robert Louis Stevenson. Author, affiliation indeterminate (he notoriously cycled through Closest To on a regular basis.)

Slug and Mushroom: a terrible chain of pubs owned by Murgatroyd’s, found across the Underzee.

solacefruit extract: sweet substance akin to stevia, usually used to flavour Darkdrop coffee.

speaking tubes: a piece of historical accuracy! How people at opposite ends of a steamship can talk to each other.

Sporting Times: The name the Pink ‘Un is forced to trade under, in Fallen London.

suchenroman: literature dealing with Seekers. Only became popular in late-reign London, and even then only as penny-dreadful tosh, more illegal than red honey. Ironically, due to their confiscation on sight, one of the few forms of popular Neath literature available for Surface historians after the Grand Sanction.

Surfacer: 1. Someone who lives on the Surface and has never seen the Neath. 2. A Londoner stupid or optimistic enough to keep insisting they’re going to return to the Surface, one of these days...

“Tasted on the wind”: depending who’s talking, either foretold or made a lucky guess.

telesthetic: what the Student calls telepathy, cos it sounds cooler.

Tireless Mechanic: the Innocent Spy’s later work-name, after a number of as-yet undescribed events.

travel slate: the thing the Herald chalks courses on for her shipmates to follow.

trionfi: the Herald’s predictive tarot games, in which she studies the Hours.

tree-effigy: Guy Fawkes Day not being on anyone’s mind these days, there’s now a Neathmas tradition among the lower classes to make a flammable effigy of the Consort. Other popular candidates for the effigy are the Traitor Empress, especially hated zee-captains, and, if you’re feeling especially daring, one of the Masters.

tynged: Welsh version of a geas.

Unimaginative Assassin: Surface name Murdoc, the Innocent Spy’s nemesis.

Venderbight: that Tomb Colony I can never remember how to spell.

zee-code: something the Captain is constantly blathering about, and which may or may not exist.

...huh, that was more than I expected.

#fic #macgyver #fallen london #glossary #failbetter

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