#i sat next to andrew scott in my coffee shop

[elizabethminkel]

Totally delighted to represent the "I have worked in service roles too long to find coffee shop AUs romantic" stance in this fantastic piece about the trope and how it explores ideas about public space by Alexandra Lange.

(I've never worked in a coffee shop or any other food service role, to be clear! But I have been flirted with—sometimes pretty aggressively—by bazillions of men in my two decades as a mutuel clerk, and idk, customer/employee is not a dream fic scenario of mine lol.)

Also delighted to appear here alongside @earlgreytea68, I'm glad coffee shop AUs have a top-notch defender. 🥰

[everybodyscupoftea]

chemistry

isaac lahey x reader

isaac needs help in chemistry and you need help in english - the beginning

this is for isaac anon and the few people that wanted this. i’m just dabbling here, so let me know if you guys want more! (i did quite a bit of Research for this and i have ideas)

also let me know, i left it vague, but if i expand i’m probably going to add in scott, stiles, allison, and lydia. would you guys like to keep it supernatural or do full au where they’re just normal college students?

You noticed the boy in your Intro to Academic Writing course, but you didn’t really focus on him, mostly due to freshman year stress, until he sat down next to you in General Chemistry. Stepping into the classroom you’d felt at ease, science was your jam, but the really cute boy put you back on edge. You felt hyperaware of him, his scent, kind of cinnamon-y, fall-esque.

He tapped his fingers on his notebook, and you couldn’t help but notice he wrote in green pen. You glanced every so often to see him doodling in the corner of the page instead of taking notes on the intro lesson on the scientific method that your professor was doing.

The boy rested his chin on his hand and his fingers went from tapping on the notebook to his jaw and you shook your head, trying to focus back on the professor who was talking about your lab groups.

“The people at your table are in your group. Lab is on Wednesday nights, I won’t be the instructor, you’ll have a TA, but you can email me or come to my office hours if you have any questions about what’s going on. I’ll see you all on Thursday.”

You started to pack your stuff and the boy turned to you with a crooked grin, “I’m Isaac.”

Shaking his hand, you introduced yourself and he stood, waiting for you to finish packing your stuff. You zipped your booksack, “You’re in my English class, right?” you asked, faking as if you didn’t notice him as soon as you stepped into the door.

He nodded, “Yeah, with Dr. Terranova.”

“He seems,” you trailed off, looking for the right word, “interesting.”

Isaac grinned, “You mean overwhelmingly picky for an English 101 professor?”

“That’s a great way to put it,” you told him, laughing.

The two of you walked out the door and down the hall together. Isaac shifted his booksack on his shoulders a little and asked, “Do you have any more classes today?”

“Calculus,” you told him and he grimaced.

“Fuck that.”

“You?”

He nodded, “Spanish.”

Unfortunately for you, the buildings were on opposite ends of campus, so you paused just outside the door to the chemistry building. Isaac paused too and smiled, “See you tomorrow night?”

“See you tomorrow, Isaac.”

-

Your lab group was made up of two boys and two girls. Isaac, Andrew, Abigail, and you. Out of the group, you were the only STEM major, and the only one who actually liked chemistry. Isaac patted your shoulder, “Well, that officially makes you team captain then.”

“Thank god,” Abigail added, “I’m an advertising major, my brain noped out of the sciences years ago.”

The other guy, Andrew, said, “I took Chem 2 in high school and didn’t pass the AP exam, chemistry and I have beef.”

You snorted and said, “Cool, well, I’ll try and lead us to the promised land.” They seemed to like that.

-

Your group was really smart, everyone was picking up the labs really easily and you were thrilled, especially when the teacher stood in front of the class after the first test review. She clapped her hands once, “Okay, the lab group with the highest combined test average gets five bonus points added to their test scores. This is me trying to get you guys familiar with study groups, especially if you’re going to be in STEM, which I know some of you are. Study groups got me through school.”

Unfortunately, everyone in your lab group already had stuff going on, so you couldn’t study with them. Fortunately, the test was on intro stuff like the scientific method, conversions, and balancing equations, and your group hadn’t had any issues in any of the lab work, so you weren’t worried.

But when you got the test back, you realized, maybe you should’ve been. Isaac got his handed back first and actually laughed when he looked at the grade. Before you could ask, the professor set yours down on the desk and you started flipping through it, frowning at the little points you’d had taken off for careless mistakes.

“Fuck,” you muttered, “should’ve gotten at least a 97.”

“Wow, can’t believe you fucked it up for the whole group,” Isaac sarcastically responded, nudging you with his elbow, before sliding his test on top of yours. He nudged you again, “As you can see, I’m carrying the team,” and he motioned toward the D written in bright red at the top of his paper.

Your mouth dropped open and you picked the test up, flipping through to see what he’d missed. Eyebrows furrowed, you looked over at him, “You should tell her you accidentally skipped the back page.”

“Oh, it wasn’t an accident, I just didn’t know how to do it.”

“Well,” you stuttered, “it was the same stuff we did in the last lab activity.”

Isaac nodded, “Yes it is, and I didn’t understand it then either.”

“I thought,” you paused, mind racing, “I thought we all did?”

He grinned at you, “Some of us aren’t science brains, my friend.”

“What are you?” you asked as the class started to pack up.

With a soft smile, he threw his booksack over his shoulder, “I’m a literature major.”

-

You didn’t mean to think about it as much as you did, but when 2 a.m. rolled around and you were at your most impulsive you couldn’t stop yourself from sending out a text.

Hey, do you maybe want to meet up and study sometime?

After hitting send you could’ve slammed your head into a wall. You locked your phone and put your head in your hands, “God damnit.” And then your phone dinged.

I’d love that, love to have a STEM genius in my corner.

Your cheeks heated as you read it and your mind raced with your heart. It was beating harder and part of you couldn’t even believe he’d said yes. Taking a breath to steady yourself, you responded.

Idk about genius but I’m not half bad at chem

He responded, even faster than the first time and you grinned, unable to stop it from overtaking your face.

I may not know much about the scientific method or whatever, but all evidence suggests otherwise, genius

-

The next test wasn’t for a few weeks, but Isaac wanted to start studying earlier. He suggested meeting at a coffee shop called The Beanery. Coffee shops weren’t really your jam, you liked the silence of the fourth floor of the library. Go early, get a table, put in head phones, and go to work. But, you were open to try Isaac’s suggestion.

It was brightly lit when you walked in, and he was already there, at a table in the corner, laptop out. Books were spread across the tabletop, and he already had two empty mugs on the table in front of him, leg bouncing as he aimlessly chewed on a pen.

Shaking yourself out of staring, you walked to the counter to order. Isaac smiled up at you when you made it to the table with your coffee.

“Welcome,” he told you, moving some of his books out of the way. Sitting up straighter, Isaac glanced around, “What do you think about this place?”

“It’s nice, definitely a change of pace from my norm.”

“Where’s that then?”

“Library, fourth floor.”

“Quiet up there, huh?”

“Yeah, but I listen to some music for background.”

“I like coffee shops,” Isaac said, closing his laptop, “the vibes are nice and my clothes always smell like coffee afterward which is a fun bonus.”

At his comment, you looked down at his clothes. You were a little surprised to see that he was dressed just like during the week: jeans, a nicer t-shirt, and a cardigan. You’d wondered, deep down, if he dressed nicer for class, but it didn’t seem the case. Isaac cleared his throat and your eyes snapped to his face, ears burning when you saw him staring at you in amusement.

Coughing quietly, you reached for your booksack, “So, chemistry. Do you understand what we’ve been going over?”

“I know they’re called Bohr models but I don’t know anything else about them.”

“Right, so,” you paused a minute, trying to figure out where to start, “it’s a way to draw an atom and it’s kind of like a planet.”

Isaac leaned forward through your explanation, resting most of his weight on his elbows, and tapped the green pen against his lower lip. Every so often he’d ask a question, shift a little and write something down in his notebook by whatever he’d scribbled in class. His questions were shockingly insightful, and you eagerly answered them all.

By the time you’d gotten through the basics of thermodynamics, he’d added a whole page of notes, and you could tell he was starting to lose interest. Shutting your notebook, you told him, earnestly, “I hope this helped a little.”

“I promise,” he looked you straight in the eye, “it makes sense. This all looked like a foreign language before we met up.”

“Good,” you nodded, “this is my jam.”

“Keep on spreading it,” he joked and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well,” you admitted, “you may not be good at chem but you’d kick my ass into next week in English.”

“How’s your paper going?” Isaac asked, leaning back and crossing his arms, looking genuinely interested.

“It’s…going.”

He snorted, “That doesn’t sound promising.”

“Yeah neither does my thesis.”

“Do you have your laptop?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me have a look,” he suggested.

Pulling up the word doc, you passed your laptop over, staring down at your hands, twiddling your thumbs, a little nervously, as he read through your rough draft.

“What did Dr. Terranova have to say in your conference?” he asked, pushing your laptop away.

You sighed, “He was less than complimentary.”

Isaac laughed, “It’s not that bad, but it could use some polishing. I can help of course.”

Relief washed over you and you felt a weight off your shoulders, “That would be incredible actually.”

“There, now we’re even. You tutor me in chemistry and I’ll make sure you pass English, starting with this rough, and emphasis on rough, draft.”

Reaching across the table, you shoved at his hand, “Be gentle.”

“I’m going to get another chai,” he said, standing to stretch a bit, “and you pick out what sentence exactly you think is your thesis. We’ll start there.”

Biting your lip to conceal a grin, you nodded, waking your laptop back up.

[lightsson-blog]

Inspiration|| ch 1 Shawn Mendes

Woooooo! Hi everybody here’s the first chapter of my fic inspiration, I hope you love it as much as I do! 

(p.s. my requests for shawn imagines are open :))

Warnings: none so far (actually there might be a cuss word)

Word count: 2,360

⇜previous|| ch 1 ||next⇝

She ran back in the coffee shop squealing, ignoring the disapproving looks of students trying to focus at their tables. Eva jumped up and down behind the counter excitingly. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh. my. god.” Aria repeated as she made her way to the counter smiling giddily “Tell me!” Eva smacked at her friend playfully “I have an interview tomorrow!” They both held hands as they jumped up and down squealing together in excitement. “Oh my god!” The gushed together.

She thought about all the things she had to do to prepare herself for this interview, she wasn’t even sure what kind of interview it was, were they going to have her play or sing? Did she need to bring anything. She needed to call her dad, he’d die at this news. She pushed the crumbs of the table she was cleaning onto the floor and sprayed the cleaner on to the table top. She swirled the towel on the table singing along to the Hoizer song that was on the radio, loudly enough that she didn’t hear the bell chime from someone entering. “Wow coffee and a show” she jumped at the sound of a voice, her hand coming up to rest on her rapidly beating heart. “Sorry didn’t mean to scare you!” He replied at her actions with a smile “Oh no! You’re fine sorry for my singing, what can I get you?” She smiled and made her way to the counter. “Don’t apologize it was good,” he smiled and traced his eyes over the menu “and uh a caramel iced coffee and a muffin?” “You got it” she sent him a smile “Can I have a name?” she uncapped the sharpie and waited for his answer. His voice got caught in his throat, she didn’t know him. “Uh- Shawn” she nodded turning towards the brewing coffee and left him stand at the counter. She returned with a cup and straw, sitting it on the counter and grabbing the muffin and stuffing it in one of the to go bags. “Shawn!” She called out looking for him in the cafe, his head peaked out of a booth and he stood making his way to the counter. “Hey thanks…” He smiled at her looking down to read her name tag “Aria” She shot him a smile “just doing my job” she shrugged with a laugh as he made his way out of the cafe. All the tables were clean and the chairs were stacked for the morning workers. Her and Eva made their way clocking out of cafe. Zipping up her coat as Eva double checked the door lock, “Alright we’re good” Eva stood brushing herself off and pulling her coat closer around her. They only lived about a block away from the tiny cafe, walking home usually unless it was snowing. Tonight the sky was clear but it was cold. “What are you gonna wear tomorrow?” Eva pipped up trying to make conversation for the walk. “Oh god I hadn’t even thought of that” Aria shot her a horrified look causing Eva to laugh. “I’m sure you’ll find something, have you told your parents yet?” “No, first thing I’m doing when we get home” Eva nodded at her as they turned the corner towards the apartment.

Shawn sat in the studio room with the boys, picking at the strings on the guitar. “and you smiled at me, didn’t even know my name” he sang out lightly and he came up with a rough riff for the lyrics he was scribbling out on paper. “Dude where the hell did this even come from?” Scott asked from the mixing table “because it’s good” Shawn looked up and pulled the guitar pick out of his mouth, “I don’t know, I just saw this girl when I was getting coffee” The group chuckled “I mean hey whatever works” George replied shrugging and grabbing a pen to help with lyrics.

“Hey dad!” “Hey sweetheart, what’s going on?” Aria rarely called home, unless it was something bad. She really liked to be what she thought was free, being on her own completely and being an adult. “I have amazing news!” She could picture her dads face, his forehead wrinkling as his eyebrows raised and he smiled. “Oh yeah? What’s that?” “I have an interview at Island Records tomorrow!” She gushed squealing a bit in excitement “No shit?” he dad laughed “that’s amazing” “I know right!” “I’m so proud of you Aria” She smiled into her phone “get some rest, tomorrows a big day” “I love you dad” “I love you too, I’ll tell mom for you” “Thank you, good night” She hung up and screamed into her pillow with a smile, this must’ve been a dream.

She awoke the next morning and threw on clothes that she thought had made her look presentable, even straightened her hair. Something she rarely did, eyeliner and everything. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the mirror and letting out a deep breath as she headed out the door and towards the subway station.

✏

“So I don’t get to be apart of the interview process?” Shawn asked annoyed “how am I supposed to know if we’ll work well together?” “There’s going to be a handful of students, I know you well enough to decide for you. If it doesn’t work out we’ll try again” He huffed in return to Andrew’s solution, “whatever, if this blows up in our face it’s on you” “The second studio is open, go try and write something” he paused waiting for Shawn to move from his spot “That means scram, interviews start soon and we’re using the studio” Andrew said shooting Shawn a glare as he pushed his feet off the coffee table in the booth. He stood rolling his eyes, grabbing his phone and making his way towards the secondary studio, it wasn’t used for recording anymore so it was always empty. He was walking fast and scrolling through his instagram as he bumped into someone causing them to let out a soft grunt. “Oh shit I’m sorry” he looked up, surprised with who met his eyes. The coffee girl. “Shawn?” she paused smiling at him “are you interviewing today too? This internship is such a good opportunity” “Uh- No not exactly” he chuckled and scratched his neck, she really had no idea who he was. It was funny  to him that she was clueless. “Good luck though,” he shot her a smile “you better get going.” She nodded smiling “Oh yeah, thanks!” she made her way past him and to the elevator. 

Rocking on the balls of her feet as soft pop hits played through the speakers. The ding of her reaching the fourth floor made her look up as the doors spread open. To say that the place was well decorated was an understatement. Not only were the halls decorated with expensive plants and arm chairs on the walls were records that went platinum and won awards, that could be her one day. She smiled at the thought as she walked out mentally going over the directions the front receptionist had given her. Down the hall, third door on her left. There was a woman standing out front, she smiled at Aria. 
“Your name miss?” “Aria” she shifted on her feet nervously “Alrighty” She smiled looking over her list with interviewees “Andrew will be in shortly” she opened the door. Aria thanked her and stepped inside the studio room, taking in the sight before her. She’d known what most of the controls did on the mixing table, her fingers dusting lightly over the instruments as she nervously stumbled about. She picked up one of the gibson acoustics and plucked at the strings tuning it to her liking. Her fingers danced effortlessly on the strings, plucking out the rhythm that she’d spent her morning humming on the subway to this meeting. Her voice was low with the chorus of a song she was making up as she went. “I don’t know much but I know your name, and that might be enough”   A low cough pulled her out of her thoughts, she chuckled nervously looking up and meeting the eyes of a well dressed man. “Oh sorry” she placed the guitar on the rack carefully. “Usually our interns don’t get to touch the instruments,” He replied in a business monotone voice “but, I want to hear more of that” he nodded towards the guitar. “how long have you been playing?” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously “around eleven years” she smiled “and there isn’t really more” he raised a brow at her, thinking she was trying to be smart “I mean well, i guess there could be” he looked at her again, his arms crossed growing impatient “I was just sorta improving” “You mean to tell me you didn’t have that riffed out before?” He looked at her with an eyebrow cocked in surprise. She shook her head no. “Welcome to your audition” he replied with a smile and stuck out his hand. “Andrew” She took his hand with a smile “Aria” “Alright Aria, take a seat for me lets talk” She nodded sitting on the couch opposite of him. “You said you’ve been playing for around elven years, is that just guitar?” he sat towards the edge of the chair his hands together in a fist. “Actually, piano too and drums for a little less” He nodded with a smile, “what else have you got?” “I can sing,” she looked up at him to see that didn’t interest him too much, he heard plenty of girls sing dumb pop songs all day long, “I also helped co-write my dad’s bands final album” his head perked up. “Can you give me a copy of the record?” “I can email it out to you tonight” she nodded. “Perfect, so I don’t know if you know who I manage and who’d you’d be working with if you got this position but none of that really matters, it’s mainly about the music. I need someone who can live with this lifestyle.” He motioned at the booth behind him “because it’s tiring.”
“I know you’ve probably heard it before but I swear there isn’t anything I’d rather do” she smiled. “What would you describe your writing style as, who inspires you?” “Oh gosh, I write mainly poppy acoustic style, but I’ve written harder rock themed as I mentioned before. And that’s not just lyrics that’s music too. I can produce too” “So you’ve done it all?”
                                                                                      “Oh yeah, I spent a lot of my childhood in a studio with my dads old band”

He nodded “I’m assuming I wouldn’t know this band?”

She shook her head no quickly “Yeah they weren’t very popular, after my mom had me they had a tribute album and then split” 

He nodded “I like that you have direct experience, it’s needed. This isn’t some cover band though, these will be today’s best and biggest songs.” She nodded trying to hide her nerves “I know, who better to help write songs for pop culture than a girl living in new york and experiencing the trends?” He smirked at her wit, “I like the way you think Aria, I do believe you’ll be more than a coffee runner” “Oh I hope so, that’s what I do for a job now” They both shared a laugh. “In seriousness though, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do. Working in a studio even as a janitor is a dream” “Well let’s see how this goes” he stood walking towards the controls, flipping some switches “can you sing me something original?” She stood quickly and nodded “hell yeah I can.” He smiled at her enthusiasm. She had dreamed of playing her music for a famous producer and manager since she learned to sing. “You’ve been in a booth before?” he asked as she made her way to the other side of the glass She nodded with a smile and opened the door. He gave her a thumbs up and spoke into the mic, she grabbed the earphones off of the mic and slipped them onto her head. “Grab a guitar too” his voice flooded through the booth, she nodded and picked up one of the acoustics slipping the strap over her head. “a one two three” her hand beat with the rhythm of her count on the guitar strings. “Tell me about the old me, tell me about the old me” her voice came powerfully through the booth as Andrew recorded her, her fingers playing the chords care free, if she was nervous she did a damn good job at hiding it. “Do you remember me, I’m the one you used to love when we were just teens Do you remember me, I’m the one you used to love when we were just teens Sometimes, I go looking for your picture online The pictures don’t show what I used to see, Do you still believe in me, you used to dream with me” she sang loudly as she beat down on the guitar, plucking at the strings. “Alright, I’ve heard enough” Andrew spoke as he killed her mic, she slipped the headphones off and made her way out of the booth and back to him. 
“Email me that record tonight” he slipped her a piece of paper with his information on it. “I want you here tomorrow at eight in the morning okay?” 
She nodded “did you want me to stop for morning coffee?”
“That’d be lovely, text me when you're on your way and I’ll send you the orders” She smiled, “thank you so much” “You’re welcome” He loved to see people’s dreams happen, she was just in the beginnings of hers, if she played her cards right she could end up with her own deal. She made her way out of the studio room and back towards the elevator, soon finding her way to the front entrance. Squealing and jumping up and down as soon as the doors closed behind her. She did it, she was gonna make it.

[shortqueershakespeare]

Do all the asks! Hope you had a good Christmas!! <3

In ausOkay here goes, all the asks from the end of 2020

1. How many lockdowns did you go through until now? 

I actually can’t remember if I was in one or two in the UK, because I barely changed my habits, I stayed in my house throughout lockdown and non-lockdown. But either 2 or 3.

2. Ever been quarantined? (contact person, waiting for test result or positive test result) 

Yep, right before the start of UK lockdown one because of possible symptoms in my household and once in Austria now. 

3. Ever taken a Corona test? 

Yup, I took one, a gargle test.

4. Have you lived together with someone during lockdown?

Yep, lockdown in the UK with my dad and sister, in Austria with my flatmate.

5. Something you enjoyed about lockdown? 

Spending more time with my sister and also seeing my puppy grow up.

6. What bothered you most about lockdown? 

Not being able to hug my mum when we lost our rabbit and not being able to hug friends.

7. Which change, e.g. home office, would you like to keep once it´s all over? 

Teaching from home wouldn’t be bad to keep, also normalising wearing masks and distancing when ill.

8. Been to any Corona related demonstration? 

No.

9. On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (completely), how well do you stick to government´s rules? Explain. 

In the UK I would say 10, and I did more than stick to them, I rarely left the house except for walking the dog. In Austria 7 or 8, we don’t really have the concept of bubbles here but through lockdown we had our friend in our bubble. I did also accidentally break curfew at one point.

10. Favorite lockdown activity? 

Sleeping, frankly.

11. How did the lockdown affect your work/education? 

The end of my year at uni was done at home, with take home exams and now my work is going to be distance teaching again. And of course masks and distancing at in person teaching.

12. Any new hobbies you tried out during lockdown? 

I taught myself to sew and cross-stitch!

13. Any new subscriptions you made due to lockdown? 

Disney plus!

14. Anything new you tried to learn during lockdown? 

Sewing, a few new recipes.

15. Any old hobbies you took up again during lockdown? 

I started writing a lot more again and did a lot of crafting.

16. How did you keep in touch during lockdown? 

Zoom calls, skyping, postcards.

17. Favorite mask you own? 

My rainbow one!

18. Favorite online conferencing tool? 

Teams for teaching.

19. Any new technologies and technological tools you tried out due to lockdown? 

Zoom, google meet, MS teams and a few online games.

20. Have you been able to go on any holidays this year? 

No.

21. Are Christmas markets allowed in your country? 

Sadly not:( It was part of what I was looking forward to about my year abroad and I’m genuinely gutted about it.

22. How are you going to spend Christmas in this situation? (or whatever you are celebrating!) 

I spent Christmas with my flatmate, we did polish dinner on the 24th, British Christmas on 25th and then called my family on Christmas day. I managed to make all of Christmas dinner all by myself which I was really chuffed with.

23. Any small business you support? 

Yeah, plenty of local shops.

24. Any small artist you support? 

When I find people on instagram or tumblr i try yeah! 

25. Favorite online shop?

I am in a very bath having mood so bomb cosmetics.

26. Dumbest impulse buy? 

My terrible Christmas hat.

27. First thing you bought when the shops reopened? 

Quite literally no idea, but I would assume something food related.

28. Been to the hair dresser this year? 

Nope, but I’ve been cutting my own hair for 2 or 3 years so that’s not unusual.

29. Got a new tattoo or piercing this year? 

Nope!

30. What did you only start to appreciate because lockdown took it from you? 

How easy it was to meet new people.

31. Favorite book that was released this year? 

Contacts by Mark Watson or Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh.

32. Favorite book you read that year? 

The same as above.

33. Favorite movie that was released this year? 

uhhhhh bold of you to assume that I paid attention.

34. Favorite movie you watched this year? 

101 dalmatians, a classic but gave me a lot of comfort. 

35. Favorite series that was released this year? 

Staged or the Goes Wrong Show.

36. Favorite series that you watched this year? 

Same answer.

37. Favorite podcast that you listened to this year? 

Cryptid Cape or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha.

38. Favorite artist this year? 

Taylor Swift.

39. Total minutes on Spotify this year? 

I don’t have spotify!

40. Favorite album that was released this year?

I can’t separate folklore and evermore.

41. Favorite album that you listened to this year? 

Again, folklore and evermore.

42. Favorite song that was released this year? 

I’m gonna go with dorothea.

43. Favorite song you listened to this year?

dorothea or rainbow by dodie or Sad Girl Summer by Maisie Peters.

44. Favorite Corona related song? 

So Will I - Ben Platt.

45. What do you do to prevent yourself from going insane during lockdown? 

Sat outside and watched the stars at night listening to songs, took my dog for a walk, did some writing.

46. Describe a typical lockdown day of yours. 

I mean I’m in a kinda weird position of living with/being a kind of key worker. When I was in the UK, I would wake up at 9 to look after the pup, take her for a walk, do uni work or plan for my year abroad. Cook or help my sister cook dinner, play as a group with the puppy, then chill in the living room with family, play animal crossing. In Austria It’s been waking up half an hour before my first class, teaching, cooking and chilling.

47. Something you did during lockdown that you´ve been putting off for way too long? 

Had some proper heart to hearts with my sister and organised my year abroad.

48. Trying new baking recipes or new cooking recipes? 

Yeah! I made profiteroles and some new curries.

49. Netflix or Amazon Prime? 

Prime because you can buy stuff too, it would be netflix but my dad keeps forgetting to tell me his password.

50. Did you get Disney+? 

Yeah, I share it with a few friends.

51. Any new social media you started using during lockdown? 

Not sure actually!

52. Any trends you fell for? 

Not that I can think of?

53. Did you achieve more or less than in a normal year? Explain. 

Frankly, since November 2019 life has been utter hell so if it was less I wouldn’t be shocked but I think the tail end of the year has been pretty successful, I moved countries, signed my first rent contract and am supporting myself for the first time. But it’s kind of a mixed bag.

54. Did you start therapy this year? 

Nope.

55. Books or audio books? 

Both but I find reading really relaxing but hard to get into. I’ve read a shit ton of fanfic though.

56. Audio books or podcasts? 

Podcasts mostly.

57. Twitch or Youtube? 

Youtube.

58. Attended any online concert? 

Tessa Violet’s “the something to look forward to” tour

59. Favorite stream/streamer this year? 

I really enjoyed Mark Watson’s Watson-A-Thon and also Broadway Jackbox, the Evan Hansen one.

60. Most used social media this year? 

Either twitter or tumblr.

61. Yoga or long lone walks? 

Long lone walks.

62. Did you get a pet this year? 

Yeah! My puppy!

63. Did it snow where you live this year? 

Yeah It snowed in Vienna for one day.

64. What were you doing when you found out about the announcement of the first lockdown? 

I think I was in quarantine, looking after the dog.

65. Did you panic buy anything? 

No, I don’t think so.

66. Ever ran out of toilet paper? 

Yes. 

67. Favorite lockdown comfort food? 

Something with gravy. 

68. Selfcare tips for lockdown? 

Be gentle with yourself. Try to give yourself structure but don’t feel guilty for not being productive.

69. Did you use delivery services this year? For what kind of food? 

God yes, supermarket a few times. And also meals, kebabs a fair bit.

70. Any weird coping techniques you developed during or after lockdown? 

Not especially I don’t think.

71. Favorite game you played this year? 

Animal Crossing!

72. Favorite drink this year? 

Pornstar martinis.

73. Favorite food this year? 

Christmas Dinner.

74. Favorite App this year? 

Puzzle Page! I’ve enjoyed doing crosswords and stuff a lot.

75. Favorite memory of this year? 

Drunk dog walk with my sister in the pouring rain.

76. Any plans you had for this year that you could realize? 

Wait what does this one mean?? Any plans I COULD do? My year abroad I guess. Any plans I couldn’t - interrailing.

77. Do you even plan anything for next year? 

I still have the rest of my year abroad plan.

78. Did you find new (online) friends this year? 

Yeah - one at my uni who I didn’t know so that was nice!

79. Did you go through a break-up this year? 

No. 

80. Did you get into a new relationship this year? 

No.

81. Did you do something creative this year? Tell us about it. 

Yeah, I cross-stitched a bee, a snake and a butterfly and I also did lots of writing and a few doodles on my writing blog (lovenliterature).

82. Favorite blog you found on tumblr this year? 

A bunch of wolfstar or ballum ones - I really like @aeternumregina and @shanastoryteller too.

83. What did you buy way too much of this year? 

Take out and alcohol.

84. Did you win anything this year? 

Nope.

85. Did you drastically change your diet this year? 

Not especially, I tried to have more fruit though and I started drinking coffee.

86. Did you move to a new home this year? 

Yeah! I now live in a flat in Vienna.

87. Did you do something this year that you never did before? 

Signed rent and work contracts in another country. Also got corona.

88. Celebrity crush of the year? 

Ben Platt or Andrew Scott.

89. Most expensive thing you bought this year?

My phone!

90. Been abroad this year? 

Yep, I moved abroad.

91. Favorite tumblr trend of this year? 

Just fucking waiting for more Destiel news.

92. New Years Resolutions you broke this year?

I didn’t make any this year tbh.

93. NYRs you kept? 

Same answer.

94. NYRs you have for next year? 

Just be nicer to myself and remember to renew prescription/make doctor’s appointments sooner.

95. How are you going to spend New Years Eve? 

Drinking with my flatmate in my flat.

96. Will you get your fortune told in any way around NYE? 

No I don’t think so.

97. Any new shops (online or real) you discovered this year? 

Billa, our supermarket lol.

98. Any food you tried out for the first time this year? 

Polish Christmas food!

99. How did you celebrate your birthday this year? 

It was in Feb so had friends round and had drinks.

100. Was this ask game better or worse than 2020? 

Better

[xmenimagine]

Imagine: Roadworks.

Requested by Anon. Includes: Alex Summers x Reader. Request: • Can I please request Alex Summers taking female reader out on their first date after secretly being in love with her for ages? And it’s just super fluffy? If you’re taking requests.. and thank you so much! • Could you please, if you don’t mind do Peter or Alex falls in love with a widowed single mother with a 6 year old daughter with lots of fluff? Thank you so much! (I’m not sure if I’ve already sent this in or not 🙈)

Note: I haven’t been writing for a while bc of uni, but I managed to find time to write this. sorry if it's not exactly what you wanted, but I hope you enjoy it.

    He was thankful that there was a diversion on his way to work that day. His usual commute to work consisted of walking passed the same replicated buildings with a white exterior, black doors, black windowsills, and black steps leading up to the doors, and the same neatly trimmed trees that were plotted every ten steps. Everything looked the same, and quite honestly, Alex was beginning to lose his sanity if he had to walk down the same road there and back with his thermos in his hand, his suit done up, his bag over his shoulder as he counted down the hours before he would eat his repetitive lunch of a sandwich, a piece of fruit, and another cup of coffee before he walked back into the building for another few hours before Cheryl, ultimately, like goddamn clockwork, came around and told him he had to work overtime. Oh, how he loathed Cheryl—the woman at the desk with the low-cut, designer shirts and tight pencil-skirts, with those black high heels, my god those heels that would do your head in, the constant clicking was almost as bad as the man next his desk who talked on his phone to his girlfriend in Mexico from the moment he sat down at his desk to the moment he got up and switched to his personal phone.

    Alex sighed to himself loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he continued walking. The only thing he could stand on his way to work was the colours of the leaves, the ones that were changing to a deep red before they drifted to the ground, only to be picked up by the workers who came around every day to clean the roads. His long, blond hair was tied back, which he was thankful for as the wind wasn't forgiving, neither was Malcolm—the tech support guy who looked like a stereotypical character, with the hair gelled back, the ugly yellow button-up shirt tucked into his even uglier, not exactly brown but you know they are, brown pants that didn't fit the length of his lanky legs. It also didn't help that his glasses were thick-rimmed and the prescription was so strong that Alex had to bite back the comments that consisted of asking Malcolm if he just stuck two magnifying glasses to his face. He always had those two stupid pens in his shirt pocket, and somehow an entire maths set too. He also had a patterned tie designated to a certain day of the week. Alex wasn't a fan, but neither was Malcolm with Alex.

    As he removed his hand away from his face he looked back up to the pavement and saw that, along the two pavements and road, there was a barrier. There were workers in bright orange helmets and vests with worker boots that stood around, Alex felt out of place in his three-piece suit and shiny, black, lace-up dress shoes. He paused, furrowing his eyebrows, in the middle of the pavement. One of the workers patted his colleague's shoulder and the other one turned around before he approached Alex.

    "Sorry, Sir. Roadworks. Might take a few days, a week at most. It's pretty bad, but, uh, there's a road just down there,"—he pointed to Alex's right, towards a small road—"that you can take. Sorry for the inconvenience."

    "No, that's uh," Alex started with a sigh, checking his watch, "I was going to be early anyway. Thanks for letting me know."

    Before the man could say anything else, Alex continued down the smaller road. His go-to stress sign was running his hand through his hair, but he couldn't do that right now. Well, he could, but he'd look like he had a bird trapped in his hair, and he'd rather not give Malcolm something to comment on as he walked into the office. Alex was sure to deck Malcolm in the face the day he quit. Maybe put Cheryl in her place, tell her to get the stick out of her ass too while he was at it. But sadly, that day wasn't today. More stress piled on top of Alex when he turned out of the road and heard children yelling and playing. He was directed straight into a park, granted a well-kept and fairly spacious park.

    On one side, the side that started at the back of the houses, was a flat grass area with a few benches towards the middle by the winding path, just opposite the colourful gated area where the children's playground was. Alex shifted the weight of his bag on his shoulder and walked down the path. He forced a smile at those that passed and offered him one, only really smiling at the dogs that walked passed with their owners, laughing to himself as their tails wagged faster. The grass area had a few dogs running around, their owners throwing frisbees and some teenagers huddled together smoking. He rolled his eyes at them. That shit will kill ya. He turned back, walking with his head up high, just waiting for the day to be over so he could go back home, order a pizza and side, maybe even a drink that wasn't coffee or beer, lounge in his sweats and old college hockey shirt, a game he still enjoys but no longer plays, there's no time, while watching old episodes of Bob's Burgers, maybe Parks and Rec, only occasionally watching something else like the news or some other sports that he'd get bored of in a matter of minutes.

    Then, faintly, he heard something. At first, he thought his mind just wanted to hear it, but he could hear the same voice that kept him up most nights, thinking, over at the playground. He turned his head, slowing down his walk, and he spotted you, standing at the climbing frame with your daughter. You lived in the same apartment complex as him and the same floor, luckily for him, too. Your bedrooms were next to each other, and he would often hear your soft voice on the phone, talking to someone about God knows what. He would often be returning from a jog when you got back from shopping with your little girl, he'd offer to help you, but you were determined to get it done by yourself, but he insisted, so you would have to settle with him looking after your little girl on the landing as you made two or three trips down the stairs—the elevator hasn't been fixed in a few years.

    He didn't know much about the father, only that he wasn't in the picture. He would never admit it to anyone, especially not Scott, but when he sat against the wall, waiting with your daughter next to him for you to return, something just seemed… right? He wasn't sure what he felt when he saw you walking up the stairs with two or four bags in your hands, your messy hair falling in front of your face, smiling shyly at him as you thanked him for waiting, remind him that he didn't have to, but, it was something he began to long for. When you and your daughter would disappear into your apartment he would stay outside for a few extra seconds before slowly backing up to his door. Only once did he walk back too far and almost fell into the fake potted plant in the corner.

    Alex snapped out of it when he heard your daughter call his name loudly. He blinked, cursing himself for stopping to stare, and smiled over at her before his gaze moved onto you. The small wave you sent him had him lifting his arm up shyly to wave back. Your daughter called out to him again as she stood at the edge of the climbing frame in front of the pole the kids slid down, pretending to be firefighters. Alex smiled faintly as you waved him over. He pushed open the small yellow gate and walked in, making sure not to get in the way of any of the other children that ran around.

    "Hey there," Alex spoke to your daughter.

    "Hi," she grinned, holding onto the pole, but not moving any further.

    "She's too scared to get down," you informed him and your daughter stopped smiling and glared at you.

    "Am not," she argued.

    "Then why are you still up there?" You teased.

    Alex laughed to himself and placed his thermos down, then took his bag from his shoulders. "I'll rescue the princess," he said with a chuckle.

    Your daughter grinned, shuffling her feet as she removed her hands from the pole and to Alex's shoulders while he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and off the frame. He kept her in his arms, smiling, as she wrapped her smaller arms around his shoulders, smiling widely at you herself.

    "You're a menace," you teased, poking her stomach before kissing her cheek gently.

    "A what?" She asked, tilting her head.

    Alex chuckled. "Trouble," he told her.

    "Oh." Your daughter tried to hide a smile and tried to bite back a laugh, turning her head away.

    "What's so funny now?" You asked.

    "'Now'?" Alex repeated with a raised eyebrow.

    "She's been doing this the whole morning," you said, shaking your head. "I have no idea why."

    "I've been doing no such thing," your daughter giggled to herself, beginning to squirm in Alex's arms.

    He set her down and she ran off to the seesaw, beginning to chat with two other girls and a little boy while Alex picked up his bag and thermos again, still standing next to you. "I don't usually see you walk this way," you spoke up.

    Alex turned his attention away from your daughter and to you, watching as you crossed your arms and kept a close eye on her. "What? Oh, right!" You side eyed him quickly before looking away again. "Roadworks and I left earlier than usual. I was hoping to get in and maybe start the reports before Andrew gets in."

    "He's the phone guy, right?"

    He chuckled, grinning to himself, feeling… happy? that you knew who Andrew was, especially since he told you about him almost five months ago. "Yeah, the phone guy."

    "How does he still have a job?" You mumbled to yourself.

    "What about you? Do you always come here at this time?"

    With a sigh, you shook your head. "No, I haven't exactly slept yet. I called in sick to work because I knew I wouldn't focus, and she didn't have school today so, here we are. I know, I know, a stupid mum thing to do. Irresponsible and childish. I already got that speech from my mum."

    "You haven't slept yet?" He asked, not saying anything about your parenting skills.

    "No," you replied, shaking your head.

    "Are both of you okay?"

    "Yeah. She's fine."

    "The question was including you, too." Alex heard you sigh quietly. "Coffee?" He held his thermos to you. You nodded your head and took it from him, unscrewing the lid before taking a sip. "Now, are you okay?"

    "Yeah, it's just… Starting to go out on dates again is proving to be difficult and stressful."

    "Dates?"

    "I don't particularly want to be single for the rest of my life, raising a child I had at a young age, who I had with a boy I got married to when I was far too young to understand how stupid I was," you replied.

    He nodded his head. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

    "It's fine." You shrugged. "I was meant to go on a date yesterday, with a guy I met at a coffee shop, I'm not sure if what happened was a sign that I shouldn't date guys from coffee shops or if I should stop going to coffee shops in general, maybe it was about dating, I… I'm getting off topic." Alex smiled lightly, almost wincing. "But, anyway, when he showed up… I'm not sure if he ignored me when I told him I had a daughter, or maybe he just thought I was joking, but whatever it was, when I asked him to just wait a minute for the babysitter to arrive, he began to make an excuse as to why he couldn't go on the date. I asked him what was wrong, and it was at that point when she came up to the door behind me and wrapped her arms around my leg, staring up at him sadly, that he said he didn't want baggage and just left. I had to cancel the babysitter, change out of that stupid dress, that I'm going to burn because I can almost see the words 'I don't want that type of baggage' on it and I just… He said that in front of my child, Alex. He actually had the audacity to say that in front of my baby, like she…"

    "I still have my college hockey stick, how about I beat him to death with it?" Alex suggested when he heard you trail off, wrapping your hands tightly around the thermos.

    A small hum left your lips. "Tempting."

    Alex smiled lightly, and then his heart began to race, his hand began to twitch. He wanted to mess with his hair just to distract himself. "H-How about I take you out for dinner tonight, to make up for his mistake instead? She can come with us." He motioned his head towards your daughter who was now sharing one side of the seesaw with the little boy while the other two girls shared the other.

    Slightly stunned, you turned your head from your daughter and looked up at him. "What?"

    "Oh, would you look at the time." Alex chuckled nervously, lifting his arm up to look at his watch. "It's time for me to get to work."

    "Alex," you called after him as he began to walk. He only got away with two steps before you grabbed onto his arm and moved to stand in front of him. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

    He gulped, tugging at the collar of his shirt, noticing a few strands of his hair had fallen in front of his face. "I've been meaning to for almost two years," he admitted quietly, feeling a knot in his stomach, his hands shaking and sweating at the same time, his heart beating uncomfortably in his chest.

    A smile rose to your face as you looked down, hiding the fact your cheeks turned a shade of pink faintly, your skin warmed up. "I, uh… yes." You nodded. "I would love to… we would love to."

    "Really?" He asked.

    You nodded, turning to look at your daughter who was already making her way back. She wrapped her arms around your leg again, leaning her head against you. Alex crouched down and cleared his throat.

    "I need to ask you something very important."

    "About stocks?"

    "What?" Alex looked at her, then up to you, who was just as confused as he was, then back down to your daughter. "No."

    "Good, because I don't know anything about them."

    "No, I need to ask you for permission."

    "To do what?"

    "Take you and your mum out for dinner tonight, and if that goes well, maybe every other night after that?"

    Your daughter looked up to you, a smiling growing on her face. You shrugged, waiting for her response. She looked back at Alex and grinned, nodding her head before she pushed forward and wrapped her arms around him again. With a chuckle, he stood up, holding her tightly. The nerves were still there eating away at him, but it was no longer a bad feeling, they were the good kind of nerves. Alex glanced at you and grinned, unwrapping one arm from your daughter to bring you into the hug as well. He was no longer pissed off at the diversion, and, slowly, the stress started to melt away.