#its so cute please starbucks start selling these again

[ink-the-artist]

Starbucks Ladybug Cup That Was Recalled in 2007 for Being a Laceration Hazard

#bring her back!!! #lets get hashtag BringHerBack trending on twitter #i take constructive criticism #Illustration #colored pencil #ladybug #nostalgia #they recalled these bc if you dropped them the face could break leaving possibly sharp edges and plastic bits that kids can choke on #and its true i still have this cup and its face broke off long ago lol #STILL #its so cute please starbucks start selling these again #i swear starbucks used to regularly sell stuff for kids at least the ones near where i lived #maybe they still do but I don't pay as much attention now but I dont think they do #now they just sell normal coffee shop stuff like cups or whatever which makes sense but come on. bring back the out-of-place kids stuff

[owaowabetch]

Uh Oh (Sykkuno x F!Reader)

Oneshot (maybe part of a series??? idk we’ll see): The Prequel to “Impasta” in which reader meets the gang for the first time and experiences a betrayal. Mainly Friendship

Warning: non-beta, I wrote this in one go and full sent it. 

You were a small time Twitch streamer that had recently befriend a streamer with a much larger audience, ValkyRae.  You had been talking back and forth for quite some time, since Rae’s dm to you weeks ago. You were mainly an rp channel where you played games like GTA, The Sims, and Animal Crossing. Though you gained a lot of your followers from playing League, though it mostly consisted of hate-followers that would only critique your gaming, even though you were pretty good at it. But it doesn’t bother you too much *que sob*

You were streaming GTA on a RP server playing an amish girl on a Rumspringa and wreaking havoc. You and your ‘gang’ had successfully finished hitting a bank truck ,causing your character to rake in a few thousand dollars, when you got a message from Rae asking you if you had wanted to play a few rounds of the popular game among us. 

“Alright guys, a friend asked if I wanted to join her lobby of among us. I know it’s different from the stuff i usually stream, but is that something you guys would be cool with?” You asked your chat and watch an influx of people messaging ‘yes’ or ‘pog’. You take a sip of your Starbucks and picked up your phone to message Rae that you’ll be joining. “Fair warning, I’ve never played among us. So we’ll see how this goes, guys” 

While you waited to be invited to the discord and into the lobby, you chatted with your viewers for a bit. “I just realized that I’m really awkward around new people. Like when I’m playing on the GTA Rp Server, I’m not myself, I’m a character you know? So it’s easier to talk with other people, cause they’re also role playing. Plus I don’t think I can call anyone in the discord a musty dusty rat bitch lol or sell them drugs, it’s not that kind of game...unless?...” You laugh as you login to your discord and accept the invite to the discord “alright guys! here we go~”

You enter the discord call and hear people talking. 

“Y/N!” Rae exclaims “Guys this is my new friend y/n”

“Hi” Responding to the various voices greeting you

“OK, so the code is in the chat and so are the bubbles, so your chat can see who is talking and what not” Rae explains

You input the code and saw your little character in the space ship. “Oh god guys look at us!” You ran your little character around the ship “How do we change colors? I’m not feeling this blue and I saw Rae with her lil creepy mask”

You read your chat tell you what to do so you went to the little computer to change the blue to white and clicked through all the hats til you decided on the pink flower. “How about this guys? Yellow is my favorite color but its taken”

“Alright, you ready y/n?” Rae asked

“Yup” you respond by running circles around her character

“OK i’m starting. Don’t forget to mute and close chat. You can open it back up if your imposter or dead” Rae sang “Good luck~”

“Alright chat I gotta close you til the game is done? I guess” You hum as the words ‘crewmate’ pop up. “Well at least i’m not imposter, i know the game. I mean who hasn’t at this point. I just never played it, seems to be to nerve wracking”

You open the map icon and run to where the closet yellow exclamation point was, which was admin. You make sure to note all the colors around you in there as you swipe your card “Alright, green, yellow, brown,red, and orange” You repeated the colors over and over again as you make your way into electrical when you notice something “Ok uh green is following me? I don’t know why but its freaking me out.” The lights turn off and you start freaking out “Oh god, this is where I die. Don’t I? You know what do it. Kill me! It’s probably a good idea. I’m kind of an idiot and it’ll help me figure things out on my own without the pressure” You follow the arrow pointing to a panel and you click on it “What am i supposed to do? You know green, this would be the perfect opportunity to murder me in cold blood... is this how you do it?” You flip the switches so that they are all bright green and the lights turn on “YAS BITCH, I did it” 

The green character kind of just circles your body as you do tasks in electrical, you do download, wires, and power diverter. “Ok BUT WHY IS HE FOLLOWING ME!!” 

An orange body had been reported and that two others had died (bright green and pink) and the person who reported the body was black or as his name read ‘Abe’ “Ok, so this body was in admin on card swipe”

“Well this body couldn’t have been me or y/n” Sykkuno says “I was following her this entire time”

“Yea, I’d like to know why lol? You were kinda freaking me out dude” You laugh a bit trying to play off how nervous you were to call him out on it

“Oh No! I was protecting you” Sykkuno explains “I promise”

“Sykkuno? Are you already simping for someone?” Rae feigns exasperation 

“No really guys!” He explains nervously “The new person always dies first, so I was just trying to protect her.”

You hum and smile mischievously “Unless, your just trying to gain my trust only to murder me in coldblood in front of my bestie Rae, to prove your superiority over her!?!”

Rae gasps “Really Sykkuno!?! I’m voting you just for that!”

“Wah? No wait! It’s not like that really” Sykkuno starts laughing as Rae votes “Oh God did you really vote for me?”

“Yes” Rae says and you start laughing 

“So anyways, Leslie’s body is in admin?” Hafu says wanting to talk more about the body and get all the sus’s and clears

Though you gasp when you realized a few things “wait I have some info to share” teasing Sykkuno had loosened you up a bit “it was me,green,yellow,brown,red, and orange in admin. Then me and green, uh Syyykkkuunnoo? Sorry if i didn’t say your name right, left and went into electrical, then lights were called and I fixed them before finishing off my tasks in there. So the body must’ve died during lights unless she left and came back into admin after lights were fixed? which doesn’t make much sense, sooo yea” you smiled “look at me chat! being all smart and shit” 

“yes” Poki agrees “I left admin also with Rae just before lights were called”

“Ok, so I know that puts sus on me, but I went straight to lights when they were called” Hafu says “Someone on the right side must’ve vented when lights were off. Like I was entering the hallway from storage with Tina when lights got fixed and we went to reactor room together. So it couldn’t have been me. Maybe Tina? I dont know which way she come from, but it was not me”

“That is true. I did meet up with Hafu at storage, but I don’t know man” Tina says “ I was doing download in comms”

“Oh god” You tell chat “I don’t know whether to believe Hafu or not. I know she is really good, along with Toast, but he hasn’t said anything”

“Well it is seven and we don’t vote on seven, so we can skip. Just putting a sus on Hafu” Rae says

“Yes please do” Hafu says as she votes to skip

“Do we know where the other bodies are?” Poki asks as the seconds start to dwindle down to zero “Also Toast? Why are you so quiet?”

“I’m trying to figure out a new strat, so don’t you worry. I’ll catch the killers” Toast starts to evil laugh and that was the end of the meeting.

“Ok we’re susing Hafu for this.Though I don’t think it’s her only cause I remember watching one of her imposter plays and it would be a too obvious kill,since so many people were there, it just doesn’t make sense, so someone venting in and killing is plausible or could be a self report? I don’t know lol It’s my first game” You run with Sykkuno and finish up your tasks together. Though lights were called when you both were at shields, you can see the vent pop open and in your little vision bubble you see a flash of red “Whelp this is where I die, I’d like to rate Sykkuno an 8 out of 10 for protecting me, but obviously I am now died” True to your word Rae killed you and you saw Sykkuno running around like a headless chicken when he reports your body 

“Oh God! They got her when I was trying to protect her!” Sykkuno exclaims 

“Sykkuno! You were supposed to be protecting her!?” Rae shouts “What happened? Did you kill her in cold blood? hmm?”

“smh Rae, you murdered me right in front of Sykkuno” You sigh “Well chat looks like I’m dead and we can speak now”

“No!” Sykkuno denies “I said I was going to protect her. I wouldn’t kill her after saying that”

“Well she’s dead now Sykkuno! Where’s the body?” Toast dramatically says

“It’s in shields. It happened when lights were off” Sykkyno says “I’m sorry y/n, I couldn’t protect you”

“Aw that is so cute” You pout at his apology, it wasn’t his fault. It was dark, so obviously he couldn’t see

“Well I don’t think Sykkuno did this, He said he was protecting her to everyone, so I can say that he’s crew” Hafu says “I’m at light panel, I remember seeing Poki and Tina there”

“I can confirm this” Poki says “So Toast let’s hear your big brain play. What’s your strat?”

It was silent for a minute, before Toast admits that he doesn’t have one.

“Ok so we can all agree that Toast is the imposter right?” Rae says “Vote him outta here!”

“Yep” Tina agrees hitting that vote on him and many follow suit

“Wait guys! WAIT! I do! I do have a strat” Toast screams out “Uhhh... wires! The wires guys!”

“Lol they’re gunna vote him off” You watch people voting “Rae is probably gunna win this”

“Yea, you’ve done that pay before” Poki laughs

“Don’t worry I’ll skip Toast” Sykkuno says 

“Why would you skip if we’re on 6?” Rae asks “Is Toast your imposter buddy?”

“Wah? I said I was protecting y/n, why would I kill her?” Trying to make his innocence obvious 

“Unless you killed her by accident or Toast did and you’re trying to protect him like the Simp you are!” Rae accuses him

Tina starts to also question Sykkuno “Wait a second, I dont think I’ve seen you do a single task this entire game! You’ve just been following y/n all around! We should vote him off next!”

“Guys, I swear it’s not me, it just doesn’t make sense” You can hear him plead “Oh no guys, how did this get twisted? It’s Rae! But how did it go to thinking Sykkuno as imposter?”

The meeting ends with Toast screaming into the abyss as he is yeeted out with Sykkuno telling him that he voted to skip.

“Ok then chat, looks like the imposters are gunna win, lets talk for a bit” You sigh and start reading the comments “ I know that I didn’t talk much with them, but I’m just awkward in general and I don’t know what to say to them. This is the first time playing with a group like this where i’m supposed to be myself and not a character.”

The words Defeat appeared on screen and there was Hafu and Rae as imposter. “I honestly didn’t think it was Hafu”

“Hafu was that you that killed Leslie in admin? I didn’t think it was “You asked when you returned to the lobby

“NO! I got framed by my own partner” Hafu explains before taking her bathroom break

“How did Rae get that kill cause I was with her?” Poki asks

“I vented from Caf back into admin when lights were off” Rae laughs “and I vented into shields and killed y/n right in front of Sykkuno!”

“Im sorry for not being able to protect you” Sykkuno runs circles around my character “Next round I’ll do better! I promise”

You laugh and start chasing after him in the ship “What if you end up as imposter?”

“Then I’ll have to look away as my imposter buddy kills you” Sykkuno laughs behind his hand and clears his throat “Im joking, Im joking, I promise”

“Wow Sykkuno” You tsk and run over to the opposite side of the room “I don’t know if I want your protection services now”

“Uh” Sykkuno splutters “I’m joking I promise! I won’t kill you as imposter”

“Wait til Corpse hears you simping over someone else” Poki says before starting the game

“Wait Hafu is still in the bathroom!” Rae exclaimed, but it was to late to stop the game from starting, so she’ll have to jump in when she comes back. Though you swear you feel your heart jump out of your chest when the words Imposter read on you screen. The 1st of the night for you and another in a row for Hafu.

“Oh God guys. Hafu is in the bathroom, but she has to carry us” You start to panic “What we do we do!?! Wait is Sykkuno seriously gunna follow us? Should we kill him or would that be to obvious?” You see the chat tell you that it would be to obvious and that it would be better to maybe frame him, but it seems to mean to you “Should we kill someone in front of him? You know to test his loyalty? It’s a terrible idea”

Though before you go on to fake tasks, you see Sykkuno standing on top of Hafu’s body, so you also go ontop of Sykkuno’s and to the outside perspective you are protecting Hafu, but really for you it’s to ensure that your imposter partner is going to be walking around and killing people,once she comes back from the bathroom. It seems that Hafu is back from the bathroom as her yellow character starts making her way away from you both. You and Sykkuno make your way to admin when lights get called and Sykkuno starts to wiggle his body around into a corner. It seems as though he wants you to stack with him in a corner, but before you do you double back when you see a body pass by and kill them, though you start to laugh when you see your character kill Rae, before ‘stumbling’ into Sykkuno’s view in the corner. You both stay there as lights turn back on and go on card swipe. You think about juking Sykkuno, but realize that it’ll look sus on you for ditching him. So you two just walk around ‘completing’ tasks as every once in a while the lights would go off and you two will stack on each other or wait for doors to open which you had been closing alot of them. 

“Honestly guys I’m at a point were I just wanna murder someone in front of him” You start to evil laugh as you both stack in the corner of medbay as lights start turning on when a body got called

“It’s toast, it’s toast, it’s toast” Hafu chants as it was her who reported the body “I saw him kill Poki”

“oh she self reported” you note and click on Toast’s name but not locking in your vote just in case. You also noticed that four people had died “She killed three people!?! Wow she is beast in this game! Holy Shit guys”

“see, from my perspective it’s hafu. I didn’t see the kill, but I did see blood splatter and Hafu immediately reported the body and blamed me, so it has to be Hafu. I’m voting her” Toast explains and votes her

“no no no no no no no. I saw you kill her when lights got fixed.” Hafu describes her side and what she did in that round “ Ok guys I was afk for like the first 20 seconds and I see Sykkuno and y/n there standing on me in caf., and I’m just doing my tasks, which I finished by the way, so I’m just going back and forth going to cams and just walking around to find any dead bodies. So if you saw cams on in the last 30 or so seconds it was me. I’ve also been fixing lights too! Peter and Leslie should be able to vouch for me on that! But on this round of lights I’m making my way to go help fix them when i see blood flicker in my little bubble and as it starts to get bigger I see Toast walking away from it. Its Toast. It is 100% Toast.” She locks her vote on him “Vote him please. If you don’t vote then you’re either imposter or just throwing”

“I don’t know guys” You start and hover your mouse over the green checkmark next to Toast’s name “I’ve been with Sykkuno the entire round and we did guard Hafu’s body. For Hafu to say that she saw Toast kill, but toast didn’t see Hafu kill? It just doesnt make sense so I’m voting Toast” You lock your vote in when Hafu reminds everyone that crew has to vote together since it is on six. Reminding Peter and Leslie that Hafu has been fixing lights got their votes, but Sykkuno was hesitant “You know I can never vote Toast guys, but I have been with y/n this entire time and I know it’s not her. So, I’m sorry Toast but uh” He locks his vote in for either Hafu or Toast? Who knows if he’s simping over Toast hard.

“Sykkuno?” You can hear Toast tremble his voice “Sy-sykkuno? Who did you vote for? Sykkuno!?!?! Do- Don’t tell me...did you really vote me?”

“I uh “ He clears his throat as the votes get out and all of us had voted Toast 

Toast gasps “Sykkuno!?! How could you!?!?!”

“I’m sorry! I just trust y/n!” Sykkuno explains as Toast’s body once again gets yeeted out into space. 

“Wow guys, looks like we’re gunna win our first imposter game!” You wiggle around happily “and we literally did nothing...wait we killed Rae! We got our revenge from the last round mwua hahahahaha”

Sykkuno and I run circles around each other before walking back into medbay. You can see Hafu kind of trailing behind and the doors get locked with us three in it, but Hafu is just standing there. “Chat what is Hafu doing? Why is she just standing there” You can see Sykkuno step on the med scan “Wait she wants ME to kill SYKKUNO! Oh god that is so evil lol but i’m so useless as imposter, so I might as well get in at least 25% of the kills” 

Once Sykkuno steps off you just murder him and you see that you had won.

“I- I can’t believe you just killed me!?! I trusted you y/n” Sykkuno exclaims

“Sykkuno” Rae sighs “she KILLED ME in caf! Why did no one NOT SEE MY CHOPPED BODY IN CAF!”

You just laugh “I’m sorry Sykkuno, but my chat was telling me that Hafu wanted me to kill you”

“Yea, cause I did like all of the kills and sabotages” Hafu recounts who and how she killed 

“Sykkuno, you giant simp. I can’t believe you vote me” Toast tsk’ed 

“I can’t believe y/n was the imposter! and she killed me!” Sykkuno shakes his head “you know what i’m no longer protecting you anymore”

“Wait Sykkuno I’m sorry. Really” You giggle 

“No no no it’s ok, it’s all part of the game” Sykkuno reassure you that he is not actually mad and that he hoped you had fun “But i wont be protecting you from now on, I have scars now”

So, you play a few more games before calling it quits and end your stream. Later on, you find that Sykkuno started following you on Twitter and Instagram, You totally did not stalk both of his pages and you totally don’t think that he’s cute.....

SideNote: You totally murdered someone in front of Sykkuno and he totally didn’t snitch on you. Instead he protected you as you ran around killing more people in front of him and like the giant Simp he is he totally went ‘I neva snitch on you Daddy, I hold a brick for you Daddy’.

#sykkuno x reader #sykkuno x y/n #sykkuno imagines #sykkuno fanfic #youtubers x reader #corpse husband x reader #corpse x reader #corpse imagines

[warmau]

ateez x coworker!au | sf9 ver    *this post was commissioned (someone asked for some cute ateez) <3

hongjoong

diligent and always on time, he puts way too much effort into any project on his plate 

if there’s any word to describe him its workaholic, but hongjoong insists that he’s just being a good employee - nothing more

but it’s like,,,,,,,,,,,you’re doing the regional managers job and you are literally not,,,,,,,the regional manager

he’s some how the assistant to the regional manager and like. no one understands how because like hongjoong most definitely does the brunt of the work 

but during annual reviews he’s always downplaying it and that evil good for nothing regional manager takes the credit

wooyoung and san on a regular basis: what if the regional managers tires get slashed accidentally or what if we hide all of those ugly ties he wears or what if we hack into the company's assets and make it look like hes laundering money-

hongjoong: dont do that

wooyoung and san winking: yeah, sure, “don’t do that”

hongjoong: no like seriously dont do that 

his little office space is really cutely decorated though and hes the best gift giver at office parties because he always gives something handmade and unique

you have a bracelet that you got last christmas from him when you guys got paired for the exchange, and it’s really so cute and colorful you always wear it

and the office guys tease hongjoong about it like, “hey - are you guys a couple? c’mon tell us the truth - you have a matching bracelet for yourself!”  (hongjoong feverishly refuses this but the tips of his ears always get red)

one time mingi, with all the good naturedness of his heart commented that you must find the deep, dark exhaustion eyebags under hongjoong eyes cute - you know, like a racoons! 

and you were like o-oh well- y-y-es?!?!?! and hongjoong had proceeded to drag the poor intern out of the break room by his ear

it’s like the shy office romance that everyone is cheering for that doesnt really happen

until one evening as hongjoong is getting ready to finally leave for the day he’s astonished to see you

frantically searching on your hands and knees for something in the dim office lights

“did you lose your keys?”

he asks and you’re so startled you hit your head on the desk you’re under as you come up - you put your hands up embarrassingly and mumble that no,,,,,you lost that bracelet he gave you,,,,

he lets out a little “oh!” and waves his hand in the air as if its nothing, he tells you not to worry - it was just a little gift-

“no, it’s important to me,,,,,,,” 

your voice is a slight whisper and hongjoong barely catches

“w-why is it so important to you?”

“because you made it.”

you turn back to start looking again, when you hear hongjoong put his things down on the floor and join you

his hand is warm when it brushes over yours a little 

he’s never had someone cherish something he’s made like this before and so even if you two have to spend the whole night searching - he’s down for that

and when you do find it,,,,and there’s still time to take you to dinner,,,,he thinks he’s very much down for that too

seonghwa

spends half his day running away from potential suitors who come down from all the different departments just to ask him out for lunch or after work drinks

he’s just a low ranking officer, he doesn’t get what the craze is about?!?!

hongjoong, taking one hard look at seonghwa: i know what its about

seonghwa: plEAse tell me so i can live a peaceful life

hongjoong, sighing: dude. its your face

and even on the days when he comes in with glasses perched on the end of his nose and a slightly crumpled shirt from having to rush to iron in the morning

like it does not matter - he looks like and literally is - an angel

has a weird irritation about little spots on documents, like if dirt gets in the printer and its on the page hes like,,,,,eye twitching,,,,,,,,,no

three bottles, at least, of hand sanitizer on his desk 

his headphones match his laptop, which match his wireless keyboard, which match his mouse - the color scheme we are going for is a calming ivory 

once got called in for causing a disturbance, but it was literally not his fault, he went to ask the billing department if they had any extra ink and came downstairs with like five people all chattering at max volume about if he had plans next saturday

wooyung: damn man being beautiful must suck

seonghwa: oh thank you for understanding, it really is-

wooyoung: SIKE it rocks how do i know? look at me!

yeosang to seonghwa: just ignore him, he does this at least twice a day

you know seonghwa, how could you not, and you agree with the majority opinion: he is insanely handsome

but you have your own problems to worry about, that being a very nasty manager who seems to have it out for you

so like seonghwa, you spend half your day hiding from someone, which means 

solace in the supplies closet

one day, as you’re sitting inside there, trying to work on a memo draft on your phone 

the door swings open - and you jump to pretend like you’re looking for staples

but instead, it closes with a harsh noise and the person slides down against the door - heaving and fanning themselves

“a-are you ok?”

you ask, worried that the shortness of breath is from them feeling sick - when in reality its just seonghwa, on the run from lovestruck coworkers 

again

he shakes his head and mumbles that he’s sorry for barging in 

but you shake your head, tell him its fine

you’re both under this impression that one of you is going to bounce soon - like this is a supply closet, not the break room - but after about five minutes of utter silence

seonghwa goes, “are you also running away from work people who are in love with you?”

you giggle, but shake your head “actually running away from a work person who hates me.”

he gives you an apologetic look, but you just wave it off - not like there’s much either of you can do about it anyway

its silent for a while, and you keep trying to do as much editing as you can on your phone, not really paying attention to the way seonghwa’s eyes flick toward you in the dark

not until he clears his throat and is like, “well i think the coast is clear so ill be going back out there-”

you nod, thinking you should probably return too before your manager goes bonkers and says you’ve abandoned your position or something

as you near the door though - suddenly seonghwa shyly extends his arm

you blink in confusion and he just goes, “maybe if we go out together itll be less scary?”

the sentiment is adorable and you take his palm in yours, giving it a gentle squeeze

though the moment you two step out - there are at least ten pairs of eyes on you and suddenly seonghwa makes sure to swing your hands behind your backs

he leans down, “dont want anyone to get the wrong idea and then you end up getting hurt too.”

but you think about it for a moment before tugging your hands out into the open - a wave of gasps passes through the people around you like a wave through the sea

you tiptoe up and explain, “maybe if they think you’re taken they’ll back off?”

the sentence shouldnt make seonghwa’s heart jump in his chest like it does - but hey, maybe your plan will work

(or maybe your manager will hate you even more because what - you bagged SEONGHWA? OF ALL PEOPLE?)

yeosang

really really REALLY good at bullshitting stellar work

and not in a last minute oh shit kind of wooyoung way, but in a i dont actually know anything about the material but damn am i going to make it sound like i do kind of way

and to be fair, if yeosang stared you down in a board room meeting for fifteen to twenty minutes selling you a pitch and blinking like a cat on the hunt then like 

im pretty sure you’re just going to buy into the pitch

interns are scared of him because they think hes like the no nonsense, dont bother me type

which he plays into sometimes because its fun and the interns will do what he says without bothering him about it

but the reality is he can be quite silly,,,,,,,,,jongho has on occasion caught yeosang getting giddy over like kitten youtube videos on break and everytime yeosang is like you didnt see anything

and jongho is like sure, not until it becomes beneficial to me and i use it against you

yeosang: wh

jongho: so the weather, huh?

knows everyone’s business somehow, but only gets invested if its like super super super juicy - i.e. someone in corporate is stealing money or there’s a secret poker game on the weekend for promotions

like no, san, yeosang doesnt care that you lied on your taxes

you are one of the newer hires, not an intern, just new to the job 

and although everyones been pretty inviting - you kind of maybe really think that yeosang,,,,,,,,hates you

he has this routine, an hour before everyone leaves on friday he goes around the department to see if anyone wants to go downstairs and across the street to get some coffee with him

you asume its a kind of “yay the weekends here” thing - which you are very down for, but its been like a month since youve been here 

and yeosang has never asked you 

hell, he even asks intern mingi - who half the time is doing these starbucks runs so he doesnt have the pleasure of ever really saying no

you had chalked it up to - oh im new, and hes maybe shy? but that makes no sense because this is kang yeosang

shyness isnt an adjective you’d use for him - so the only other logical explanation is,,,,,,,you must have had a really horrible first impression

you decide to ask san about it - he seems pretty close to yeosang and hes also been super open with you - but when you go, “did i do something to make yeosang angry?”

san nearly spits out the rice he’s chewing on - he gets fidgety in his seat, something you arent used to seeing, and says he has to go

curious, you decide to ask wooyoung the same question - but get the same panicked response

so you as yunho, who gives you a sad puppy kind of look and then jongho, who just???????? chuckles

it makes no sense and you’re even more confused than before - when suddenly its friday and yeosang - yesong is approchaing your desk

“do you want to go to starbucks with me?”

the way you jump up and beam must seem like a schoolkid getting their first a+ on a project, but you don’t care - and as you follow yeosang out the whole office gives a big sigh of relief

in the elevator down, yeosang keeps himself tucked in the corner and the bliss you had felt starts to wear down

wait,,,,maybe he invited me because hes sick of me asking other people if he hates me? is he about to tell me he hates me over some iced coffee?!?!

but as you step out and make your way toward the cafe, yeosang stops - putting a light hand on your elbow

immediately you start apologizing, you dont know where it comes from - but like an open faucet you just start saying sorry for the most random things and yeosang just gives you a confused look that shuts you up

“wait - why are you apologizing to me?”

he inquires and your shoulders shake a little, “well,,,,,i mean - didnt i piss you off?”

he looks to the side and sighs, “far from it - actually i pissed myself off more than anything else.”

“huh?”

he crosses his hands before returning his gaze to yours, a fine pink dust settles over his skin

“its just, i was avoiding you because im not, im not like - you know im not like good at like asking - asking peopl- people i like -”

he starts to stutter, or better yet almost malfunction, as he tries to explain

you almost feel like apologizing again for making this so hard on him, when he just throws his hands up

“i like you - and not in the we’re just co-workers kind of way - and yes, i find it hard to approach people i find cute. there. im not mad at you and yes im aware i look like a fool, so lets just go get our coffee-”

your smile almost stretches off your face as you hear his words, instead of knowing what else to say you step forward and takes his hands into yours

“you dont look like a fool, and yes we should get coffee but only if you admit that this is kind of our first date-”

he holds back the urge to laugh but stares down into the sparkles of your eyes

“are you sure? starbucks on a first date is kind of,,,,,,,”

“im sure, ive been waiting for you to ask me to come to starbucks with you for a whole month so its very fitting”

you and yeosang have a good giggle about that - when you come back to the office, san asks where his hot chocolate is but you and yeosang are so busy rubbing shoulders and being even cuter together that you just walk past him

san: im so deeply hurt, but also so deeply moved by how sweet they look with one and other

wooyoung

the office has wildly differing opinions on him, but one things for sure: hes brilliant in the weirdest of ways

on a 9-5 basis he gets like one hour of work done on a good day but lets say like the company is going through a major crisis

the person with the lifesaving idea SOMEHOW will be wooyoung (aided by hongjoong who probably just needs to curb some of wooyoungs enthusiasm)

but yes, like people will write him off as giddy and loud - but hes not dumb 

wooyoung: “you can have a bachelors degree and do dumb stuff, like thats not illegal.”

jongho: “vandalizing the ceos car when you were an intern here is illegal though.”

wooyoung, eyes wide: “how do you know about- i never did that,,,,,,,,”

makes memes and shares them in the work gc and the only people who get them are san and jongho, san because he shares a brain with wooyoung and jongho because hes literally young

hongjoong and mingi everytime: i dont get it....

you are a transfer from the companys overseas office and wooyoung takes to you right away 

mostly because you’re different and know all this cool stuff that he doesnt 

and you really like his fun energy, even though yeosang will be like “dont get tricked by it”

so when you and wooyoung get paired for a marketing project - you are both over the moon

until

its the night before its due and you and wooyoung have. nothing

you’re both spread out in the empty confrence room, wooyoung chugging a monster energy - while you nearly fall asleep and drop the tablet you’re working on straight on your face

wooyoung is like “lets just ask for an extension” but you insist you cant, this is your first big project here and you want to make an impression

but the slump you’re both in is BAD 

suddenly wooyoung takes the tablet off your hands and you sit up, hoping he’s thought of something, but instead he blasts some pop song and you cringe as you fall back in your chair

“turn it off, i cant think with that noise.”

“c’mon, dancing will help us think of ideas.”

“wooyoung - seriously, we need to do some work or -”

he doesnt listen to you, he just pulls you up from your seat and twirls you around

you groan and try to tell him that its not going to work - but wooyoung just says it doesnt need to, you guys just need to have some fun before you die over this stupid project

you dont want to admit that hes right - that your body feels like its been reduced to a bag of sludge - so you let him twirl you again until you’re dancing too

the anxiety from the project loosens a little as you watch wooyoung dance unabashedly, tie swinging over his shoulder and dress shirt a mess

you join him, kicking off your shoes and just letting go for these ten blissful minutes

you don’t notice and as you turn toward wooyoung, your ankle catches on one of the chairs and you go tumbling toward him as he catches you and cushions your fall

you both laugh and wooyoung looks up into your smiling face - happy to see it bright after you’d looked so miserable the whole day

actually, he doesnt say it outloud, but this happiness on you is probably the most beautiful happiness hes seen on someone

it glitters and for a moment he doesnt want to let your inviting warm weight off of him

and then - just as his eyes wavier down a little from your eyes to your lips he goes

“AHAH! IVE GOT IT!”

you sit up and he follows suit, grasping your shoulders

“IVE GOT AN IDEA!”

you want to ask him how he got it, what prompted it, but hes already talking a mile a minute

and to be honest, hes pretty happy you didnt get to ask - the answers totally embarrassing - like whats he gonna say

your natural beauty inspired me? how,,,,,,,,how sweet - corny, he means corny!

san

he can most definitely turn on the charm when he needs to, making himself out to be put together and organized 

but troublemaking is just too good to pass up, no wonder he and wooyoung are often referred to as partners-in-crime

100% the host for the monthly office karaoke contest 

somehow the bartender always gets a little pale when san comes tumbling in because,,,,,,,he is clumsy and quite good at breaking things,,,,,,

he outwits seonghwa into helping him clean up his desk when it gets too crazy

and frequently gets bonked on the head by hongjoong who catches him falling asleep over the keyboard

or trying to play on the switch - but then getting his headphones disconnected and now everyone can hear tom nook’s voice

he adheres to the dress code, but likes to have sparkly pins in his hair or a colorful belt from time to time

just because the bleakness of corporate life SUCKS and is not san’s vibe at ALL

but hey, money.

you like san’s karaoke contests and really enjoy just how much he puts into the performances

even if everyone else is giving their half-baked effort on songs from the early 2000s

you yourself dont ever get up to sing, just because of a shyness thing and also you much rather just watch san cause havoc

until one day you show up and you and san are the only ones,,,,,,,,there

somehow - everyone else has things to do this evening - so you tell him you can just comeback next month

when he insists that no, you two can have fun together!

you end up on what someone might call an impromptu date with san,,,,,

where he does his favorite songs and you cheer while the bartender sends over two drinks “on the house” and whispers to you when you collect them that he hopes you can “be the person who will calm san down”

its awfully embarrassing,,,,,but at the same time kind of fun,,,,,,until san invites you up for a duet

you are saying no, but san is waving you over, and someone wolf whistles from somewhere

and before you know it you are up there - and san puts a hand on yours as he passes you the mic

you kind of mumble into the mic, and believe me its nothing like what san belts out when hes up there

and still - san is jumping up and down and looks like he’s legitimately having the time of his life

his energy kind of boosts your confidence and one might say you even sing a bit of the song

when the night is over, san offers to take the train with you to your stop and if you want - he’ll even take the time to walk you home

just as you two are about to emerge from the station, just sort of basking in each others presence you both get your email notifications from work

taking your phones out you read the message

subject: finally hooking those two up body: ‘so, bets on a kiss - do you think they kissed? i think they did, or at least got close to it - you know how san is during karaoke’

the next email appears, this one is from jongho

subject: re: finally hooking those two up body: ‘which idiot cc’d san and them on the email,,,,,,,,,,,,’

you and san sort of stare down at your screens and then back up at each other

the realization dawns on you: nobody was actually too busy for karaoke,,,,,,,the whole office just wanted to set you up on a date,,,,,,

you are truly at a lose for words when suddenly san is typing back and before you can question it you get a ping!

subject: re:re: finally hook those two up body: ‘haven’t kissed yet, but the nights still young.

yunho

everyone's handyman - and by everyone, i mean everyone. the janitor has asked him to screw in lightbulbs before.

fairly good worker all around, he can come in late on certain days because hes helping grandmas cross streets or saving kittens from trees

and there have been instances of tiny mistakes, mostly because his attention was on giving feedback to the interns

but yeah no complaints, hes never even been given like a warning

very tidy work appropriate outfits - like tie tucked into sweater vest baby

feels guilty when he does have enough lunch to share with every single person, you know hes bringing his jumbo salad bowl to work

the worst lie hes ever told on the job is pointing to his cup and being like, yep thats my morning coffee!!!

when in fact it was soothing decaffeinated earl gray tea because coffee makes him jittery

 your assigned to yunho for basic intern training and youre so lucky and thankful because like 

youve heard the horror stories, but he is seriously just an angel

and doesnt get annoyed at your questions and even helps out when you get confused

the only thing is that sometimes he gets so engrossed in showing you how to format this document

or where to get the copy paper 

that personal space sorta siezes to exist and now hes hovering over you with his big hands over your keyboard

or his chest pressed to your back as he helps get the supplies from the top shelf

and you are not complaining its just,,,,,,,,,,,you know,,,,,,,,embarrassing

and sometimes you have to excuse yourself

or just wiggle away and you dont want to hurt his feelings or anything 

its just you hate that with each day you see yunho’s smile in the morning and something in your chest gets a little tighter

and you are not about to date a co-woker, no way no how

even though yunho meets every checklist for the perfect boyfriend

because 1) its probably against the rules and 2) you dont want to just get your heartbroken by the man who is just that kind to everyone

until one day hongjoong makes an offhanded comment about how yunho has never taken this much of a liking to an intern like you

and you think about it all day, up until its the only thing on your mind and it takes yunho five tries of calling your name until you snap out of it and go

“huh?”

“hongjoong suggested this good place to eat, do you want to come have lunch with me since i didnt bring anything in today?”

your mouth works faster than your mind and you go,

“like a date?”

before immediately clamping your palm over and muttering an apology

but yunho’s ears go bright and he sort of loses his composure for a moment till a small, squeaky answer comes out

“yeah,,,,like a date?”

mingi

eager to please intern,,,,,,,but add in a dash of absolute obliviousness

like he wants to help everyone but sometimes the instructions from like five different people just turn to mush in his brain

and hes like delivering coffee to the wrong person or printing out three hundred copies of that poorly photoshopped meme wooyoung made instead of the needed documents

but no one can get mad at him because have you seen him? like it would be straight up illegal to even raise your voice at him

hes so sweet that numerous people offer their homemade lunches to him and hes always like eating a sandwich from hongjoong or freshly baked cookies from yunho 

the older ladies of the office just a d o r e him (a little too much, but like hes so sweet natured he doesnt even read into it)

his pants are always short and someone is always like poor mingi’s ankles are so cold

but at the same time he can lift like ,,,,, one hundred pounds of printer cartridge's so its like,,,,,,,,, ok so maybe those skinny ankles actually put in a lot of work,,,,,,,,

you’re the ceos only child and when they’re off on business, you’re in charge of the department where mingi interns

and like anyone else you have a huge soft spot for him, even though you dont try to show it because favoritism is a no-no

actually in general you try to be as fair and as understanding as possible, because your parent isnt really the type

a lot of the office really likes you, but now and then someone will say something snippy or rude about you 

simply because they think you got your job through just being the ceo’s kid or that you’re only lenient to try and get in with one of the office heartthrobs

you try not to take it personally and you bite your tongue when it comes to putting those rumors and the people who spread them in place

but one afternoon, you can clearly hear a group of people talking about how you lack the leadership skills to ever take over the company

it hurts, you can feel the pain in your chest, but you try to wrestle through it until you hear mingi’s voice

“i dont think you should say that about them.”

you turn and peek your head passed the cubical - mingi’s tall frame is standing in front of the pack

“what do you know, you’re just a lowly intern.”

“thats true, but ive seen them work and theyre really good at leading. theyre also doing two jobs at once - both theirs and the ceos, i dont think anyone here has to deal with so much work.”

youd think his tone was being mocking, just like theirs, but his voice is clean and clear

like hes just stating a truth he believes in 

when one of them starts badmouthing mingi, you step in and tug him away from the conversation as the office workers disperses back to their seats

you tug him toward the stairs and out of earshot and mumble a small thank you

“huh? why are you thanking me?”

“well you stood up for me so-”

he shrugs his shoulders, “i was just saying the truth.”

you nod, embarrassment on your cheeks as you realize that its mingi youre talking to - of course he wouldnt have any other motive but to -

“and theyre wrong you know, one of them was saying youre not pretty and thats a lie too. youre good at your job and -”

“wait, what”

you back up and mingi blinks - “i said youre good at your j-”

“no before that, you think im-”

“pretty?”

you both stare at each other as the realization sinks into mingi’s expression and he sort of opens his mouth like a gaping fish - 

“i-i - i just - i -”

you stiffle a giggle and shake your head, “no no, its nice that you think that. it makes me really happy.” 

“well, im just a lowly intern so i mean i dont know if its such a great compliment-”

you lean up and peck his cheek, making him freeze midstence

“youre not a lowly intern, i believe youre way more than that and sooner or later youll probably be promoted too!”

“pr-promoted? like to a worker or like ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,to,,,,,,,,,,your,,,,,,,,,,,,boyfriend,,,,,,,,,,,”

jongho

kid genius, has a higher position than most people double his age

knows everyone's secrets so no one even tries to start shit with him about it

loves watching the office go into chaos when the printer isnt working and apparently hes the only one who knows how to fix a goddamn paper jam

but hes on a coffee break, let him watch everyone tear each other apart before he actually just presses a button to fix this all

like mingi, he can actually lift way more than him, but why would he - the intern is there for a reason lol

probably has an early college degree from some prestigious school and he doesnt talk about it but he knows people whisper about it 

and hes like so what i still work at this dump but like what - is someone gonna rat on him to the ceo? - no, because he’ll just tell the ceo about that one time that person tried to charge the company card for their vacation plane tickets :) 

gets work done fast and early, spends the rest of the day just playing minecraft

you used to be jongho’s number one rival for youngest, smartest position

but he sorta beat you out over time and even though you were pissed about it for a long while

youve kinda gotten over the rivalry

instead youre comfortable in your other department and dont really see jongho around anymore

which you think is normal - and actually youre under the impression that jongho is happy to be rid of you

but the reality is he makes up way too many excuses to go up to your floor, i.e. “the bathroom is better there” “their breakroom has this k-cup i like” “the view from the windows are nicer”, etc.

no one notices, or if they do - no one dares to make a peep

but you ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, are starting to think its a little suspicious

so you confront him, as he stands awkwardly by the window at the end of the hall

“are you like spying on me?”

jongho turns around, dark eyes widening just a bit

“what? no. i just like the view.”

“jongho, your office is like three floors above mine - you arguably have the better view.”

he shrugs as if its nothing but you press on

“why are you coming down here - wait, oh my gosh - do you like someone in my department?!??”

you suddenly get bright and clap your hands together, “c’mon you have to tell me!”

he looks you over once and makes a hmph sound, “why would i tell you?”

you pout

“i know we were rivals for a while, but c’mon - i promise ill put in a good word for you so who is it?”

you step closer and jongho feels his tie get a little tighter

“the new intern? they’re cute - or is it someone older like in the-”

“you”

you stop and buffer - looking at him and for the first time jongho drops his eyes to the floor first

“m-me? you’re coming down here for me? is it because of our riv-”

“no.”

he sets the cup he was holding on the windowsill and suddenly you’re the nervous one

“you’re right. i come here because the person i like on this floor is you.”

he reaches out to touch your wrist but you step back, the confession is too shocking to handle and you scurry off before you can say anything in return

you slide down against the stall of the bathroom and let out the breath you’re holding

its not that you dont like jongho back, actually your whole rivalry was sort of just a cover up for your one-sided feelings

you just never thought that they’d be reciprocated,,,,,,,

you try to pull yourself together - marching out to the sink and looking into your reflection

we cant let jongho win again, he might have confessed first, but your still rivals no matter how much you like each other so just go out there and - and - 

you cant think of exactly the word, but before you know it your rushing out and to the stairs

jongho doesnt look too surprised to see you bust into his office - but the rest of the office turns to look at you two

“you-”

“yes?”

“yo-you cant say you like me first, why? well - well because ive liked you longer, so im saying it now. i like you. so i win. no arguing. take me to dinner. bye.”

and with that you turn on your heel, jongho nods - secretly smiling to himself as he puts on his headphones

yunho to mingi: isnt it crazy, jongho just got asked out in front of the whole office!

mingi, blinking: wait what? i thought that person was just mad at him

#ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez au #members: ateez #sfw #office!au

[permanentmess]

Painted Purple

GIF IS NOT MINE

A/N: Hello! Other than a couple of (bad) Supernatural oneshots that were made when I was 13, I have not posted any sort of fanfiction on here. So here is one of my first oneshots on here! CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Genre: Fluff! Just pure fluff!

TW: none that I know of! :)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x female!reader (I do try and remain relatively neutral for race)

Word Count: 2,132

summary: reader and spencer have recently moved in together, and their house is a gross color, so they decide to paint it. however, some chaos ensued. overall, its just a cute day.

When you awoke, all you saw was orange. And not a pretty orange, like one you see in a sunset or a fire, but a gross one. This orange was the color of pasta sauce being vomited, and you did not like it one bit.

    Blinking a few times, you glance over at Spencer, who was still resting. It had been a tough few weeks; you had gone through each of your apartments to figure out what furniture and things you would keep, and which ones you would donate or sell once you found the perfect house, and then moved all of your items to one apartment, except for your mattress. 

    You got up, heading out to the Starbucks that was nearby to get breakfast and coffee for the two of you. When you got back, Spencer was awake and sitting on the kitchen counter, staring at the walls. He immediately jumped off and came towards you, closing the door and taking the coffee from your hands with a quick kiss to the forehead. He returned to his spot on the counter and you sat next to him. The house was perfect, and everything you two had wanted, except for…

    “I think we need to paint the walls,” he said, his voice still sleep-rough. You handed him his breakfast sandwich and took a bite out of your own. 

    “I agree. This orange color is hideous,” you replied and leaned your head against his shoulder. 

    “What if we do blue for the living room and hallway, since that’s a relaxing color? The kitchen could be gray, or maybe yellow. Studies have shown that yellow increases the appetite..” He gasps suddenly, turning to you. “Can we please have a purple room? Please?” He looked like a puppy dog, and you just smiled at him. 

    “Maybe, love. It’s a little early to be making decisions just yet. Haven’t had enough of this,” you say, as you referenced your coffee. 

        Too many colors. They all looked beautiful, and you wanted to make sure it was going to be decent, because you did not feel like repainting later. Spencer had gone off to grab supplies for painting, as you stared at the swatches. You had a white swatch and a pale blue, but were struggling for which yellow to get for the kitchen. Staring in concentration, you didn’t realize that your boyfriend had come back with the cart full of drop cloths, paint rollers, and trays and tape. You jumped when you felt a head rest on your shoulder and upon seeing it was him, relaxed. 

    “Have you given a purple room more thought?” You couldn’t help but grin. He kept hinting at it on the car ride over to the home improvement store as well, so you turned to him.

    “Which room?” 

    “Bedroom.”

    You kiss his cheek. “Go choose a color.” He jumped and ran to the purple section, studying them all. You finally decided on a pale yellow for the kitchen just as he came back. He had chosen a beautiful, light lavender color. 

    “That’s really pretty, Spence. I love it,” you tell him. He just grins as you two head to order all the paint. 

~~

    Spencer collapsed and stared at the kitchen wall as he laid on the floor. After 7 hours, you had finished the entire living room, hallways, and kitchen, and you were almost done in the bathroom. Some jazz music played in the background as you worked, and you hummed to the tune of “La Vie En Rose” as you giggled at him from where you were kneeling on the counter in order to fix a few spots on the ceiling. 

    “I’m getting hungry. Do you want Chinese? The neighbors said there’s a good place down the road,” he asked, sitting up. You turned around and sat down on the counter, making grabby hands at him after you set your paintbrush down. He instantly gets up and settles between your legs, placing a gentle kiss on your lips. 

    “Yeah, Chinese sounds good. The usual.” 

You just stare at him for a moment as your hands move to the paintbrush that’s besides you on the counter, putting paint on your hands and fingers. Grinning, you grab his face and pull him in for a kiss, making sure to get paint all along his face and neck. He pulls back, gasping and making a face of shock. You just grin at him again. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for the past 7 hours. You’re welcome.” However, he just grabs the paint brush and streaks some on your nose and cheeks. You giggle and push him away but he traps you as he runs it along your neck and you gasp, feeling the paint coat your skin. 

“If I wasn’t as hungry as I am, I would continue doing this right now. But this isn’t over,” he says, setting the paintbrush down and pecking your lips. He grabs the keys before shouting a quick “I love you!” as he walks out the door. You just grin and begin to peel off the leftover painters tape. 

~~

But he comes back with more than just food. In his hands, there’s a smaller paint can and you give him a questioning look. 

“It’s a surprise. Let’s eat, we’ve done a lot of work today.”

After eating, you started in the bedroom, already having cleaned the walls and taped them off. 

You had left on your jazz music to play in the background, knowing Spencer secretly adored it, as you rolled paint onto the walls, and Spencer did the other side of the room. 

You were humming as you painted the edges and corners, after having finished rolling paint onto the walls as high as you could, when you suddenly felt a bunch of wet droplets hit your skin. You gasped and turned around, seeing Spencer grinning, paintbrush in hand as he applied purple paint to the corner, acting as if nothing had just happened.

“Told you it wasn’t over,” he said innocently and you stood up from your spot on the ground, wadding over the plastic drop cloth so that you were in front of him, crossing your arms with your paintbrush in hand. “What are you gonna do about it?”

At this point his face was in yours and you looked him dead in the eyes as you reached to hold up his old, slightly ripped t-shirt and swiped the brush across his stomach. You continued to look him in the eyes as he lifted the back of your own shirt, pulling you to his chest and smearing paint all across the lower portion of your back. As you had done earlier, you stuck your hand onto the paint and set your hand against his cheek, and he decided to swipe some on your lips. 

“Don’t worry, it’s non-toxic and water-based,” he said, but that was the least of your worries. You decided to reach up and kiss his forehead and cheeks, leaving a glob of purple lips on his face, even kissing his neck to wipe off all the paint on your lips so that you could finally put your lips to his. He kissed back, grabbing your paintbrush out of your hand and set them on the floor as he pulled both of you down, kissing you even deeper as you pulled you into his lap. 

You pulled apart, looking him in the eyes. “I think we could probably work on a second coat and finish it now.”

“Yeah, I just wanted a break. We’ve been working all day,” he told you as he pulled your head to his chest. 

“Let’s just finish this room. We’ve got the ceiling and the top of these walls, and then we can sleep,” you said, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and rubbing his back gently. 

So you continued to work, growing more tired as the time went on. Finally, you looked down from the corner you were working on to find Spencer laying on the floor, staring at you as you worked. With a quick glance around the room, you made sure no more spots were needed and peeled up the tape on your side. He had gotten up at that point, though, and rolled up all of the drop cloths, moving them and the painting supplies to one of the extra rooms that you needed to work on next. He was pushing in the mattress as you moved the ladder into the same room and let it drop. 

“Wait! I almost forgot,” he said as you plopped on the bed. You groaned but he left and came back into the room quickly, holding the paint can from earlier, as well as a screwdriver and a paint tray. “I know we’re already covered in paint, but I really want to do this. I saw it in a movie.” You looked at him in confusion as he opened the paint can, giving way to a mint green paint. 

He stuck his hand in the paint after he poured it into the tray, and moved towards the wall that had your mattress against it, placing his hand just above where your bed frame would probably be, and leaving an imprint. You smiled as you figured out what he was doing, and placed your hand in the tray as well, placing it to the right of where his had been. 

“Been watching Disney movies, have we?” you asked him teasingly. 

“Henry begged me to when I baby-sat him last week. He said it was his favorite, but then he passed out right on me after the first ten minutes, so I had to watch the rest. It’s an interesting concept, and I want to test it,” he told you, closing the paint can lid. You just admired him for a moment, staring at all the paint spots you had left throughout the day. You had quieted the radio you had brought a while ago, so there was a peaceful silence in the house. Our house, you thought, and that made you smile even more. You realized you were staring when he gave you a confused look, coming over to you and wrapping his arms around your waist. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Sorry, I’m just really happy that we finally have this reality. We’ve got a house together, and we’re making a world for ourselves. Also, did you cry?”

“What?”

“During the first 10 minutes of the movie, did you cry?”

He looked down for a moment, avoiding your gaze. “Maybe.”

“That’s really cute, Spence. You know I like when you’re sensitive.” He finally looked you in the eyes with a look of endearment that almost made you melt right then and there. 

“I know. It was just so sad. They were living a nice life, and then she was gone. I couldn’t imagine going through that, there’s no way I could lose you. That’s why I get so scared when we’re on cases and you don’t respond,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead and pulled your body towards him even further. 

    You hesitated for a moment but he caught the action. “What is it?” he asked. 

    “Spence...Would you ever want to have kids? Or get married, or do any of that?” You asked quietly. You knew it didn’t matter to you either way. As long as he was in your life, that really was all you cared about. 

    “I really do,” he said, equally as quiet. “I mean we’ve got an extra room. I just kept thinking last week, when Henry was laying on my lap, how I would love for it to be our own kid. I’d want to have those moments with them, and get to lay down and see you every night. And have you be the first thing I see when I wake up. I want a full life with you, more than I’ve ever wanted anything before.” You were near tears as you kissed him gently. 

    “I want that too. A lot. I kept thinking about it when I thought about what color to paint one of the spare rooms. I think we should keep it as is for right now so that if the time comes we can paint it then. Together.” 

    Spencer looked up for a moment before looking back down at you with a sly look in his eye. “We could try right now.” You just giggled, but yawned soon after. 

    “Let's maybe wait until tomorrow. It’s been a long day.” 

    You laid down while Spencer turned off the light. And as you closed your eyes, you thought of so many moments that were to come, and smiled, pulling his body closer.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction

[confusedhost-archive]

Coffeeshop Au

She-Ra coffeeshop au because I said so:

Everyone works at one of two shops: Hoard or Princess Alliance

At the very beginning, it shows Adora, a normal human, and her friend Catra (everyone looks the same, has the same powers) in the breakroom chatting, and then they switch shifts with Kyle, Rogilio and whatever her name is- I can’t remember- 

Yay! You get to meet Shadow Weaver, who is being very rude to the girls because her coffee was too hot (and also because Catra made it and no one is allowed to make her coffee except Adora)

Adora ends up missing a day and gets fired, which is immediately met with distaste from Shadow Weaver

Adora gets a new job at The Princess Alliance

Quickly becomes friends with Glimmer and Bow, but Glimmer’s mom, the owner of the cute shop, is less happy with her, as she looks like a gangster

Catra has mixed feelings about Adora not being at work, as she is now able to get promoted to manager beside Scorpia, but also she doesn’t see Adora like, ever, anymore

Adora’s aunt, Mara, died recently, and LightHope, Mara’s wife, came over to give Adora a charm with the words She-Ra carved in the side. 

Adora promises to visit the farm and see LightHope soon

With the knowledge that she has a bit of her mother figure still with her, Adora throws herself into baking, creating her newest pastry: She-Ra

Was named after the charm!

It is the best thing anyone has ever tasted. They sell out quick, and become Adora’s special (All the princess’ have specials, they’re at the bottom of the post)

Aight, so Entrapta misses a couple days, didn’t call in sick, and was fired

Immediately picked up by Hoard and now has a new job! Stuck with Catra and Scorpia until Catra got promoted

Afterwards she met Hordak, and they started talking 

and then they started flirting in their cute roundabout way

Hordak had to leave for a few days because Imp needed to go to the hospital, he left Catra in charge (She’s manager anyway, but now she had free reign)

With Double Trouble’s help, Catra made a fake resigning form for Entrapta while firing her

While this is going on, everyone gets word about Prime Restaurant chain wanting to set up in the area. Hordak would like to sell his shop for them, but first he needs to get another place to set up (He only decides this after he comes back, and he needs something to do after learning that someone he thought he had a connection with just left)

Entrapta hasn’t really let it sink in that she’s unemployed. Goes to get a coffee from a starbucks nearby, name and coffee get mixed up with someone named Micah. (Think when she stole his bug)

Start talking, then bow and Adora just speed walk into the shop like, “Hey Entrapta, would you like to be hired for Princess Alliance again?”

(Bow is also kinda like “Hey wtf, is that you, Micah?” And Micah’s like, “Hey, Bow, is that you?”)

And Entrapta’s like, “Hired? Oh, uh sorry, I have to- oh.” and its suddenly sinking in that she doesn’t work at Hoard anymore and (excuse me if this isn’t what would actually happen but it happened not to long ago so I’m just giving it to Entrapta rn) she is kinda just moving around and kinda just trying to get away from anything touching her because it all just feels horrible against her skin and shiz

and she just kinda goes “Yes, I’d like to be hired, but please leave me alone right now, I’d like to not be touched,” and so Bow and Adora kind of hesitantly go away and Micah stays walking her through her (I don’t know what this is. Touch aversion? A mild panic attack? A depressive episode?)

Anyway, cut away, and now we see Adora and Bow sitting on the roof of the cafe. Talking, thinking about life, doing a bit of college homework. Adora is playing with her charm, and then she drops it and it shatters. Obviously, she’s freaking out, that’s the only thing she has of Mara and it means so freaking much to her

Bow is trying to help and is gathering up the shards, and finds a little piece of paper among it all. Adora reads it and completely breaks down crying. No one knows what it says but her (which is to say I don’t know what it says)

Takes a break for a couple days, going to LightHope, her aunt, and 

(In this time, Entrapta has reluctantly gone back to work, Micah has procrastinated around seeing his ex-wife and daughter, Angela has packed up for a plane trip, Hordak is having trouble finding another place to set up shop, and Prime restaurant chain is moving in)

Adora comes back with a new fire and an upgrade to her She-ra pastry, tastes even better now

Micah finally got the courage to go see his family, only to find out that Angela had just left for a trip that morning. (They get the news that the plane had an accident and Angela didn’t survive later in the evening)

Afterwards, Glimmer moves out of the cafe, finding it to be too empty. This leaves the top floor of the cafe completely open. She’s living with Bow and Adora now!

Scorpia, a panicking second manager of Hoard cafe, is juggling running the cafe, keeping Catra in check and finding a new place 

Double Trouble, as is their job for the owner, finally fills out their form on what had happened while Hordak was away. He finally learns that Entrapta didn’t leave him. 

Scorpia goes to the Princess Alliance and tells them that she heard their top floor was open. She’s desperate

It takes a few times to get them to agree, but the Princess Alliance realize that there’s no point in fighting like this. After a few more hours of haggling with the cost, Scorpia turns to leave

She comes back after a couple seconds. “Um, actually, is Entrapta here?”

Scorpia and Entrapta come back into Hoard cafe, chatting. Hordak walks out of the back, holding Imp. Entrapta looks over and sees him. She just jumps him, helping both of them stay up and holding Imp with her hair. 

“Did you hear the news?” She laughs

Scorpia jumps in, telling Hordak how they found a place for the shop to go; right above the Princess Alliance. Entrapta is really helping Scorpia sell it, but Catra is getting upset. 

“No! We’re enemies or whatever, right? We shouldn’t be sharing space with them!” 

Hordak has already given his okay. “I’m sure we’ll be able to become closer, Catra, it should be alright.”

Catra is extremely reluctant about all of this, but while they’re setting up in the top area, she’s beginning to rekindle her friendship with Adora. (And also maybe feeling like at some point her feelings had stopped being just platonic. She has no clue when this happened.)

Scorpia is doing pretty well with taking boxes of stuff up, and after a while they figure out that the dark aesthetic won’t be working well side by side with the pastel fluff that is the Princess Alliance. So Scorpia says they change it up a bit. So she goes downstairs and, “Is anyone free right now?”

It’s Perfuma that looks over. “Oh! Yes, I am!”

Scorpia gives a little smile. “Great! We need some design help and we were wondering..”

With a happy gasp, Perfuma hangs up her apron and walks upstairs. Perfuma is made for this. After being told that they’d like to keep the general dark aesthetic, she says that giving it that certain quiet feel, very unlike the loud chatter that comes from downstairs, students will likely want to come by to study

It’s a hit. A few plants with calming aromas, gifted by Perfuma herself, and some teas that help with stress made by Scorpia, students are running in. It’s generally very quiet here, and it’s really helping the stress that the employees go under too!

Scorpia and Perfuma may or may not have gotten closer in a romantic sense because of this-

Catra and Adora are also getting closer, friends first, then girlfriends. It’s quite the trip for everyone else in the shop. 

Entrapta and Hordak are basically just parents to Imp now, and Imp’s only job at this point is to make fun of Hordak for having a crush. It is a romantic relationship, yes

At some point the the Hoard and Princess Alliance become one place with two names. Menu is the same on both floors and anyone can be a waiter at whichever floor they like. 

Just a few things that exist but aren’t really plot relevant:

Hordak has anger issues and trouble understanding his feelings 

Hordak has weak bones in his arms specifically

Imp is Hordak’s nephew who he ended up adopting after Imp’s parents died

Hordak and Entrapta both like working with robotics

Entrapta is making a project to support Hordak’s weak arms in order to help him do things. Talking with his doctor to figure out what’s safe and such

Frosta is Glimmer’s cousin who has been given the okay to volunteer at the cafe. She comes and goes as she pleases and whether or not you get a Frosta special depends on whether she’s in or not

Time for the specials!

Entrapta’s: Donut holes. Her special is a pack of donut holes that are literally the best you’ve ever tasted. Your pack has one of each flavor and they are made with such care- just- No special drink for her though

Perfuma: Mango hibiscus clementine cold tea. I have had it before. It tastes really freaking good. She always grows a little flower for you to eat and puts it on top. The texture of the flower is nice, and the petals are sweet. The food portion is a fruit salad with flower petals sprinkled on top!

Frosta: Icecream sunday! And slushie! No one knows what exactly goes into the flavoring on top, but it tastes really good and Frosta promises it’s safe for all allergies she knows of. Makes sure to ask about any allergies though, just in case!

Mermista: It’s a small cake. Has this general water/beach vibe! Drink changes from day to day. Always an iced coffee though!

Glimmer: Cupcakes!! The inside of the cupcake has a small portion of sprinkles. Very sweet, too sweet for some. Pastel smoothie too! Family recipe, shared between Angela and Glimmer. Has sprinkles littered on top of a nice helping of whipped cream! Very glittery

Angela: Called the heart of Etheria. Not one single person knows what it’s classified as, and only Glimmer and Angela know how to make it. It’s heavenly

No more specials (Scorpia doesn’t work at Princess Alliance)

Micah and Angela had a divorce when Glimmer was young. It wasn’t because they disliked each other or anything, just, Micah learned that he was aromantic and felt a little bit uncomfortable with the marriage. They broke it off as friends and lived under the same house- like, it was all exactly the same, except they didn’t have the title of husband and wife

Then Micah had to go away because he found a job somewhere else and they ended up loosing contact

Swiftwind lives on the farm with LightHope

Catra and Adora are childhood friends who had the same Preschool teacher: Shadow Weaver

Angela lives on the second floor of the cafe with Glimmer

Entrapta has a roomba and she’s taken to it the way tumblr has

Entrapta has a tiny Emily that she made with Hordak’s help at a robotics workshop

Adora lived with Catra and moved to share an apartment with Bow afterwards

Shadow Weaver may or may not have died shoving Catra and Adora out of the way of a car that was driving on the sidewalk

There are fricking huge windows looking out on the street for both floors and on the other side of the street is a grassy park, so it’s really nice.

#death tw #shera #car accident

[aoibaratraveler]

UK Road Trip Week 4

Ok, so I was actually semi productive with this, this week and finished typing it out on Tuesday morning but then my tumblr app stopped working on my phone and then when I tried to use the browser on my phone it uploaded all weird. So I am finally able to upload this from a Starbucks on the bf’s laptop.

Day 22:

I woke up feeling lucky to have done Snowdon a day before because torrential rain came down all night and seemed to persist well into the morning and afternoon and looking at the forecast for the next month...well, its bleak. I did, however, feel much better after a good night's sleep and even though I am a bit sore, I think that I am more than ready to do another hike or scramble like Snowdon because I just enjoyed it so much. If the rain does let up then I would love to do Scafell Pike in England and Ben Nevis in Scotland, the tallest mountains in each. Soon after we woke up, we decided to head to Llandudno for a walk along the coast and to get some coffee but after charging up for a bit and grabbing some pasties from the local bakery, the bf had the grave misfortune of having half his pasty stolen by an aggressive seagull. In fact, most of the seagulls in this town were rather aggressive, one of them swooped down at my head while I was eating my pasty. After this unfortunate event though, the bf's mood took a dip so we decided to leave and head to Betws y Coed where we would be meeting up with T, the bf's friend later on. It was certainly a cute little village but because of the torrential downpour, we couldn't explore much and so we retreated to a hotel for some Welsh cream tea and to have a safe shelter to watch the rain. After a couple of hours T showed up and we attempted to go on a walk to a nearby lake since it seemed to have stopped raining but not even 10 minutes into our walk and it came down hard again and we were properly soaked. Luckily, it was warm rain so I didn't mind it too much. We retreated to T's car where T and the bf reminisced on their uni days. The rain seemed to let up a bit so we took a chance and explored the other side of Betws y Coed where there were a cute train station and a rhino made of metal that encased bottle caps to promote recycling. Near the station there was a lovely little suspension bridge with a backdrop of a field scattered with sheep and a forest. We played poo sticks there for a couple of minutes and then decided to head to a restaurant called Olif for Welsh Tapas and we were very happy that we did because not even a minute later the torrential rain came back which didn't seem to let up for the rest of the night. It was great timing for us. The Welsh Tapas was delicious, we thoroughly enjoyed the croquetas which was a breaded ball of melted cheddar cheese, potato, and leek, yum. We ate, drank, and were merry for a couple of more hours before heading to a nearby nature reserve to pitch up for the night; the rain still coming down with a fury.

Day 23:

Today was a bit disappointing only because we really just couldn't do anything for there was torrential rain for most of the day. We set off from the spot we were parked and drove through the gorgeous valleys that gave off an almost ominously beautiful atmosphere to it because of the rain. We made a stop near Tryfan, a cool mountain that is mostly a scramble that the bf had wanted to take me on but because of the rain he couldn't. We tried to wait out the rain for a bit but to no avail so we retreated to a Starbucks for a few hours and read. When we got hungry we decided to leave and we grabbed some Chinese takeaway before heading to T's place to stay for the night. I got to play with her gorgeous border collie so not a bad end to the day.

Day 24:

Today we initially had plans to meet up with another friend of T's but he bailed on us so T decided to be our tour guide around Snowdonia. We had a delicious full breakfast in her town and then set off to a town called "BeddGelert". It was a lovely little town that had a beautiful nature walk and river and where the legend of Gelert is said to have taken place.

"According to the oft-told legend, Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd and the most powerful man in the whole of Wales, had a hound called Gelert. In some versions of the tale, the dog had been given to Llywelyn by none other than King John of England. One day Llywelyn went hunting, leaving Gelert behind to look after his infant son. When Llywelyn returned he found his tents in disarray. There was no sign of his son and Gelert, when he jumped up to greet his master, had jaws stained red with blood. Instantly assuming the hound had killed the baby, the Prince drew his sword and ran the dog through. Only then did Llywelyn discover the unharmed baby lying beneath its upturned cot and the body of a wolf that had tried to kill the child, in the corner of the tent. The faithful Gelert had defended his charge and killed the wolf. The hound was buried with great ceremony and, legend says, prince Llywelyn never smiled from that day onwards." (https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/entries/e6f11332-ae6f-3364-96a4-1af14401369b)

We had a long stroll around the river and then had coffee and cake at a cafe. We decided to get three cakes and split them; chocolate fudge, coffee-walnut, and carrot. They were scrumptious but personally I liked coffee-walnut the best. Afterward we drove to a place called Black Rock Sands--in English, the Welsh name is supremely hard to pronounce. It was a vast, sandy beach with an outstanding view of the mountains. There were a few really cool caves that we were able to explore because the tide was low. I imagined how cool it would be to swim in these caves and I hoped that maybe someday I'll get the opportunity. We then climbed on top of a cliff edge to get a better view. It was awesome. I wanted to walk across the cliff but T said that if it was closed off then we may risk being able to get down while the tide is low so we made our way back down and walked some more along the beach. After our walk T remembered one more cool place that she wanted to show us which was an ancient Celtic forest within Snowdonia National Park and was surrounding a lake. This forest had so many traits to it that made it feel like you were walking inside a forest straight out of a fairytale, from the most covered slate walls to the ancient trees to the lush green nature enveloping a fallen over tree to the misplaced plant life like bamboo trees. It was such a whimsical walk that felt almost therapeutic. It was nearing 17:30 so we decided to grab a bite at the pub outside the forest but were quite disappointed with the portion sizes they gave us of the chips we ordered so we set back to T's town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and purchased some more (which ended up being too much) chips and a couple of spring rolls that were the size of paninis from a local Chinese takeaway. We ate our takeaway next to a lake for a bit...before being attacked by midges so then we ran to T's car to finish it off. We felt properly full of grease after this so we went for a short walk around the lake (by now you can guess that Snowdon National Park is just full of picturesque lakes, mountains, and forests and is very much the scenery that I've been craving to see all year). We then headed back to T's place, said our goodbyes to her and her lovely parents and dog and then set off towards Conwy to pitch up for the night.

Day 25:

I'm so pleased that I've been able to see so many castles on this trip. Last time I lived in England, I hardly saw any although I saw a few castles in mainland Europe during my 2 month backpacking trip before starting my university exchange in Preston. This past year as well I don't think we saw any castles. We started the morning by driving back through Conwy and having a look at the medieval castle there. I unfortunately didn't get a photo though. We then began our drive out of Wales. We did, however, stop in a place called Prestatyn before fully leaving to nip into a Tesco's and use their facilities and get some caffeine. Here, I had the most ridiculous experience. I've dealt with some, let's say not so knowledgeable customer service people before in supermarkets in the UK but this took the cake. I decided to buy some Redbull and in the UK red bull is age restricted to people aged 16 and over (any energy drink is). But then there is also the think 25 policy here where customer service employees ask to check ID for anything age-restricted if they think you look under 25. This is completely fine because even though I am 25, I'm well aware that I could pass as 18 or younger so I always have my ID on me when I buy energy drinks. The thing is when I pulled out my Canadian driver's license that has my photo and age and everything that a normal ID has and which has been accepted literally everywhere else I've gone to (which is what I told her), the checkouts girl (who looked to be my age or younger) rejected it and refused to sell me the Redbull. I couldn't believe it! At first she looked at it and then immediately showed it to her associate who then said she would go and ask the manager about it. She gave me the absurd reason that because she had never seen this kind of ID before or don't get them often in the store (what do you mean "them"? Foreign ID?) that she needed to check that it was legit...I couldn't believe what I was hearing...so essentially because my ID was foreign and she'd never seen it before, she questioned whether it was real. Well, I've spent some time working at another supermarket here called Sainsbury's and we were taught that as long as the ID has their photo and age and looks like ID then it's acceptable. I said that to her (although didn't mention that I had worked at Sainsbury's) and she just kept giving me the most condescending look and said "you'd be surprised what people could fake! And I can't sell you this item if you are underage" ...well she showed it to her manager and she said that even the manager said they couldn't accept it! I tried to remain calm and reiterate that, that just can't be right but she stuck to her guns and said she couldn't sell me it. I went to tell the bf what had happened and he was equally shocked and angry on my behalf and said I should try and argue it so I decided to go back in, directly to customer service and ask to speak to the store manager myself. The customer service woman herself agreed that my ID should have been accepted but said I should be flattered that they thought I look younger than my age...that isn't the point though? I know I look younger than my age and I'm always happy to show my ID (I don't look younger than 16 though) but the point is that checkouts people (1 of which was apparently the checkouts manager!?) refused to accept my official, government-issued Canadian driver's license because it was foreign to them which is really just due to them being ignorant and clueless more than anything, but that's unfortunately how a large portion of the UK is now...when the manager came, he agreed that my ID should have been accepted. Vindication. So, feeling a bit petty, I went back to the same checkouts girl, asked her which manager exactly she spoke to because I had just spoken to the store manager and he said that my ID was completely fine. She gave me another stupid excuse but I just thanked her as a way of saying "fuck off" in my own way without actually saying it. She never apologized. I then used the self-scan machine right next to her but the coward that she is stormed off and got her friend to authorize my red bull instead while she grabbed a basket and aggressively threw it right next to me to pretend she was putting it away. I gave her a smile on the way out and felt victorious but still in complete disbelief at how unprofessional that whole interaction was. We then drove to the top of a hill that had a gorgeous viewpoint of the entire city that wiped away the frustration of that whole event. We drove to Preston from there and had German doner for dinner and then to the Forest of Bowland AONB to chill for the rest of the evening (my favourite AONB so far).

Day 26:

Waking up in the Forests of Bowland was spectacular with the mountains on one side and the sun on the other, it was beautiful. We drove through such gorgeous valleys and fields, it didn't feel like the England that I'd been living in for the past 11 months. I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to see it but a bit sad that I was missing out on sights like this all year. Once we'd driven through the forest, we filled up on petrol at ASDA and freshened up in their washrooms. We then headed into the city of Lancaster where we first had dessert for breakfast at a place called Kaspa's (oh my I'm going to be working off a lot when we get back home). From there we ventured off and walked around the city and up to the Lancaster castle which served as a prison for some time but now houses the Crown Court and is open to the public in some parts. I was pretty tired owing to having a restless sleep the night before with the storm being easily audible from inside the car. At about 5 we decided to set off towards the lake district and Scafell Pike. This drive was probably just a bit more amazing then the one we had this morning. It was absolutely stunning, the bf had to pull over so I could take more photos but my camera most likely doesn't do it any justice. Just absolutely breathtaking and just what you want to end the night on before going to bed.

Day 27:

Ahh! Scratch what I said about need 2 1/2 to 3 months for the UK and Ireland (well I suppose you can do if you want to take your sweet time), we have covered so much ground and expect to cover a lot more by the 31st, so this trips need at most 2 months and we reckon if we were to do the whole of Ireland then we could probably do it 10 days but we're still saving that for another time. You know those days when you feel like you did a lot but didn't really accomplish anything? This would have been one of those days. I don't know, I guess it was because of the rain as well but the bf and I were also feeling pretty grumpy all day and were short with each other a lot. We had parked just outside Scafell Pike hoping that maybe there was a chance we could wake up and the weather would be great for a hike but it had rained all night and it didn't look like it was going to let up in the morning so unfortunately, we had to give up on the idea of hiking Scafell Pike at least at this part of the trip. The bf told me it always rains in the Lake District and that it's hardly ever sunny but I was really hoping that I would get to see the lakes in all their glory. There was nothing around (except for the lakes and mountains of course) so we decided to drive 15 mins North West out of the lakes to a small seaside town called Seascale. It was very quiet there and we found a small, family-run cafe that served breakfast, cakes, coffee, and tea. We managed to freshen up there and made a new plan for the day which was to drive to Windermere, Grasmere and then watch the Liverpool game somewhere. Well, when we got to Windermere, it was absolutely packed with tourists and still raining which just made us more grumpy. The bf and I don't do well in big touristy crowds. We walked around for a bit and then the bf got more coffee but we quickly gave up on trying to enjoy ourselves since it was just so noisy and busy and the visibility of the lake was horrendous because of the rain and honestly I was just really bummed out about not being able to see the lake properly. So off we went to Grasmere. It was a tiny village but really cute. The reason we went to Grasmere was because of the gingerbread shop that's been there for hundreds of years with an old recipe that claims to make unique gingerbread that is crumbly and gooey. Well, let me tell you that, that claim is not unfounded. There was a big line outside the shop too so you know they're popular. They weren't mind-blowingly delicious or anything but they were yummy. After that, we were at a loss of what to do. The weather was miserable so we couldn't really do anything outdoorsy which is also sad because half the point of this trip was to explore Britsh nature and wilderness and do a lot of hikes but we're in the second half of this trip and that seems unlikely to happen now. Especially since I'm kind of running out of funds for this trip now. We debated whether or not to go to a hotel for afternoon tea but it was getting too late for that. We settled on just cutting our losses and leaving the lakes early. We decided to drive straight up to Glasgow. On the drive up I could really feel how burned out the bf was getting and I started feeling really guilty. I'm used to roughing it up for long periods of time but I don't think he is. I mean we've both been grumpy today but for different reasons. I'm sad this trip isn't going as I hoped it would because of the weather and not being able to save up enough this year and he's just tired and growing more and more irritable as the days go on. I booked us a night's stay in an Airbnb for the day after because we both need to do laundry anyway and he just needs a good night's sleep. Once we got to Glasgow, we watched the game (Liverpool won, yay!) and then we drove up to a country park to pitch up for the night.

Day 28:

When we woke up it was rainy and windy so we decided to head to a nearby shopping mall from the country park to charge up with some coffee. After a couple of hours there we drove into Glasgow for some sightseeing. This proved to be a bit difficult because we soon found out that Glasgow is an outrageously expensive city with exuberant parking charges. It took us a while to find something, but after around 45 mins of driving around we chanced upon a car park that was behind a pub that looked to have absolutely no parking charges or restrictions and seemed to be somewhat of a mostly unknown free car park. After double-checking that it really was free we set off to explore the city. Glasgow is really cool. It has an interesting mix of old school buildings and historical architecture as well as more modern ones with a TON of incredibly artistic graffiti on the side of buildings everywhere . We walked around for a while and tried the famous deep-fried Mars bar which I thought was yummy but it wasn't to the bf's taste. We were still hungry so we grabbed lunch at a place called Bread Meats Bread because I heard that they do great poutine and boy was I right. The poutine was massive and absolutely delicious with tons of gravy and cheese curds, probably the best poutine I've had in the UK. We also got a pastrami sandwich and a fried chicken grilled cheese melt that were both oh so good and served in some pretty spectacular toast. After exploring more of what the city had to offer which included a Tardis propped up in the city square and a statue of a colourful laughing child. At around 4 we decided it was time to head to the Airbnb that we booked for the night but not before stopping in Morrisons to grab some instant noodles for the road. This Airbnb was lovely, clean and just what we needed to have a proper charge up. We took the rest of the night easy, did our laundry, played with the host's dogs and had a shower. The host, herself, was also really friendly and was into all the same fandom as us from Marvel to Doctor Who to Game of Thrones to Harry Potter. The tv in our room was also massive so we watched an episode of Doctor Who before calling it a night.

#ukroadtrip2019 #ukroadtrip #ukexploring #scotland #wales #england #snowdonia #welshnature #englishnature #lake district #canadianabroad #canadianintheuk #wanderlustuk #Wanderlust #wanderlove #moodyweather #hiking #naturelovers #travellover #travel blog #expattravel #travelblogger #firsttimeblogging #travelblogpost #longpost #summervacation #lifeontheroad #beddgelert #scottish nature

[putschki1969]

Japan ~ Summer 2018 #2 🎌🚅

Quick introduction: Hello my lovlies!! As most of you might already know, I went to Japan this summer. It was a rather spontaneous decision based on the fact that both Hikaru and Wakana had announced their solo lives. At that point I was suffering from a serious case of Kalafina withdrawal so I felt like I had no choice but to go. I just needed to see them. Also, it was my 30th birthday so I thought I would treat myself. You only turn 30 once, right? On a side note, the timing finally gave me the opportunity to do something I had wanted to do for a few years now. Climb Mount Fuji. o(〃＾▽＾〃)o So yeah, that’s the backstory of my trip. I stayed in Japan from July 30 till August 14 and pretty much my entire trip was dedicated to Kalafina Pilgrimage. Let me tell you this, it was by far the best summer vacation of my life, worth each and every penny! And believe me, there were a LOT of pennies involved XD

Notes: Once again this is coming pretty late but not as late as my previous travel report so that’s a good thing. It took some time to gather my thoughts and put them all into words. This report will be a bit different from the last one since I thought it would be nice to include some travel tips here and there. I guess you could see this as some sort of travel guide/Kala-guide. Many of my followers have never been to Japan so I guess some general info would be useful to make things easier for you if you ever decide to travel to Japan.

Please note that this is Part 2 of my report. It is dedicated to my time in Toyama. Part 1 can be found HERE!

Without further ado, let’s get to it 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Aug 4 (Sat) ~ Toyama Trip

I decided I would dedicate that entire day to a Toyama trip. I made the mistake of not reserving a seat in advance for the shinkansen. I usually always do that but for some reason I didn’t think the train to Toyama would be that frequented. Turns out I was wrong (at least when it comes to the fast bullet train - the Kagayaki). When I got to Ueno that morning I was planning to take one of the earlier trains but it was already completely booked out. Later on I found out that Aug 4/5 was the Toyama Matsuri weekend so it's really no surprise that all the shinkansen seats had already been reserved. I ended up getting a ticket for the 10:14 Kagayaki which meant I would arrive in Toyama around noon (a little later than planned but oh well, there was nothing that could be done about it). It was my first time taking the Hokuriku Shinkansen so I splurged a little on a fancy ekiben °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° For those of you who don’t know, ekibens are bento boxes sold at train stations. You can eat them on a long shinkansen ride. There are so many different types to choose from. But I’d personally recommend the one I got. The E7 Bento Box. Like many others, the Hokuriku shinkansen has a very distinctive look so of course, it also has its very own bento box XD And boy, is it a cute box! Perfect to keep as a souvenir. And the good thing about it, there’s mostly stuff in it that I actually eat (I am a VERY picky eater!). The special Ueno Coca Cola bottle is also cute as hell btw!

The ride to Toyama takes a little over two hours I think. I arrived around noon (maybe at 12:30 or something). Shortly before I arrived I realised that I had forgotten my USB cable. I brought my charging battery but it was useless to me without a USB cable At that point I had already used my phone quite extensively and my battery was at around 60%. I was already starting to panic a little because I had all these plans for Toyama but they required me to use google maps, without google maps to rely on, I wouldn’t be able to find ANY of the places I wanted to visit. When I arrived I was greeted by a gorgeous little street festival, right outside of Toyama Station there were lots of people gathering around a handful of dance groups. It was quite pretty and spectacular. But at that point I was already scared to use my phone for anything except google maps so I didn’t take any pictures. *sobs* Such a shame. First I made my way to the Nanakosi shop that sells those pastries Hikaru mentioned in the 10th Anniversary Film. It’s located inside the Sōgawa Ferio Grand Plaza which is about a 20 min walk away from Toyama Station. Usually 20 min is nothing for me and I always try to explore new areas on foot but man, it was hell to go there. It was really hot that day and my battery was dropping faster than expected in the heat. Google maps was constantly crashing on me and it didn’t seem to work properly. I kept going the wrong way (please note that I have no sense of direction whatsoever). So yeah, I was a mess. Frantically I was trying to find a shop that sold USB cables but for some reason I had a really hard time finding one. Usually they sell those in conbinis but I couldn’t even find one of those. Plus, I was scared to venture too far away from my route since I thought I might get lost. Thank God I eventually managed to find a 100 yen shop. They have everything, including USB cables. After that I was able to relax and focus on my Hikaru pilgrimage.

So yeah, like I said, I was walking towards Ferio Grand Plaza. On my way there I passed Toyama Castle. It’s a nice little castle with a small garden but nothing to write home about. When I arrived at Grand Plaza I was greeted by yet another festival. A nice little wind ensemble was playing popular songs such as “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, it was quite epic. They were all wearing uniforms, it was some sort of commemorative event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Toyama police department band or something .

Grand Plaza is a really nice gathering place that’s protected by a glass ceiling but it’s still outdoors. It’s a wide open space and often used as venue for events like the one mentioned above. While enjoying the concert I bought myself one of those infamous Nanakosi pastries.

I got the one with custard because I am not a fan of the standard bean filling. I’ll be real with you, it wasn’t all that great (sorry, Pika-chan T_T). I think it might be more enjoyable in winter but during a hot summer day it was just too much (and that’s coming from someone who can usually eat a lot of sweet stuff). There was just too much filling. It was a struggle to finish it. Afterwards I walked around the Ferio Grand Plaza area a bit to find the Doutor Coffee shop that Hikaru had worked at in her student days. It’s very close to the Nanakosi shop so everyone should be able to find it quickly. It’s the Toyama Sōgawa shop in case any of you want to check it out ( 〒930-0083 Toyama-ken, Toyama-shi, Sōgawa, 3 Chome−5−４ アキオビル 1F).

My next stop was the Yamaha Music Center which was also mentioned in the 10th Anniversary Film. It’s only a 10-minute walk from Grand Plaza (although I took a lot longer because google maps was messing with me again or maybe I was just too stupid to follow the directions, I don’t know). At any rate, the center is a little hidden away in the backstreets of Toyama so it wasn’t exactly easy to find. Of course the heat made everything seem a lot worse XD. Here’s the address for those of you who want to go there one day => 富山音楽センター 〒930-0049 富山県富山市豊川町５-６

Then it was time to head north, to Kansui Park. You simply follow the river for about 30 minutes and then you are there, it felt really nice to walk along the riverside, the trees were providing some shade, there was a nice breeze so close to the water and you could listen to the cicadas singing. Oh boy, I underestimated how loud they could actually get. I had never heard them before because I always travel to Japan in the winter time.

Kansui Park is absolutely gorgeous! This is where Kalafina performed during the Stardust Illusion Festival. I summarised Hikaru’s blog post from that day. She talks about how that was one of the most special lives for her so of course I had to go and see where it took place. Hikaru also mentioned the infamous Kansui Park Starbucks which is known for its lovely terrace views. And really, it DID have some nice views. I took a little break there and tried to cool down with a cold drink. Afterwards I headed to Aubade Hall, the venue of Hikaru’s dreams. She has mentioned in a couple of blog posts that ever since she was little she always wanted to perform there. And Kalafina did end up performing there twice. Once back in 2015 for their fotw tour and then last year for their 9+ONE tour. It’s about 10 minutes away from Kansui park, pretty close to Toyama Station actually. Here’s the address => Aubade Hall (Toyama City Art and Culture Hall), 9-28 Ushijimacho, Toyama, Toyama Prefecture 930-0858, Japan

Then I wanted to have some dinner and I thought about going to the Izakaya that Kalafina always go to when they are in Toyama. It’s called Soratobu Usagi which pretty much means Flying Bunny XD. You can even check out their signatures at the bar. It’s quite cool. BUT I decided against it since they only have seafood and I don’t really eat seafood. So I slowly headed back to the station and ordered some gyoza (because I always crave gyoza XD) at a random restaurant. I finally got to relax after walking around in the heat (I didn’t really walk that much but it felt like I had run a marathon due to the humidity). While watching the sunset I ate my yummy giant gyoza and then I took the train back to Tokyo.

❗ Some tips ❗ 

Always bring your charging battery AND a USB cable

Conbinis and 100 yen stores have everything in case you are ever in need of a random product

Always reserve your shinkansen seat tickets in advance. It’s best to reserve them at least a day ahead if you are planning to travel during communiting hours or during the weekend.

Prepare an itinerary so you don’t waste your time going back and forth between locations. I started with the lower part of Toyama and visited all the places in that area. Then my plan was to head north where another bunch of places were located. Do your research before you travel and life will become so much easier. You can lose track of all the places you wanna visit if you don’t have an itinerary and then you might end up having regrets because you didn’t get to see everything you wanted to see. I mean, you don’t have to strictly stick to your plan but just see it as a sort of guideline.

When you are taking the shinkansen splurge on an ekiben. Yes, I know they are totally overpriced but really, they are pertty delicious most of the time and it’s just part of the shinkansen experience.

Aug 5 (Sun) ~ Lazy Shopping Day

I didn’t actually do much on that day. After all I wanted it to be a relaxing holiday and not just one exhausting trip after the other. Plus, the heat really took a toll on me so I felt like I needed some downtime. So yeah, I just did some shopping (mostly window shopping) and eating. I walked around Tokyo Station and happened across an IENA store. Guess what I found there? Yup, Hikaru’s blouse, right in front of me. In my previous post I mentioned that I originally wasn’t planning to buy it since it was just way too expensive. But after climbing Mount Fuji and after celebrating my 30th birthday I just felt like I deserved a treat. I realise I have said the same thing about my nail salon appointment but oh well, you only live once. So yup, that’s the story of how I ended up buying the blouse even though I was initially not intending to.

This was me during the entire trip.👇

The rest of the day was spent in all kinds of shopping malls in Shibuya/Shinjuku. I am actually quite proud that I didn’t buy anything else. But on this trip I really wanted to focus on Kalafina so I didn’t feel the need to spend money on random clothes or accessories. But I always enjoy just looking at stuff. We don’t have any of these malls here in Vienna (at least not in those huge dimensions) so it’s a cool experience to check everything out. To wrap up the day, I had some yummy dinner and then I headed back to the hotel to pack for my upcoming trip to Fukuoka.

#kalafina #personal #kalafina guide #food guide #toyama #tokyo #japan #travel diary #these posts always turn out longer than expected #this series is gonna have so many parts #it might take me till next year to finish #but I think it's a nice way to forever treasure these memories

[stayextrafrosty]

Clarity

Request: Hey can you do a joe trohman x female reader where it’s like a charmed au and it’s a piper/Leo type of deal. If you don’t watch charmed it’s like a forbidden love between a guardian angel and a witch.

I really hope I did this idea justice. It’s so cute! (Please keep in mind I have never seen this show and only did a little bit of research so it’s mostly my own take on the idea.)

Part 1 (I’ll get to part two as soon as possible)

Masterlist

Warning: some cursing but nothing too bad

Words: 6508

-

I stared at the little candle intently. I couldn’t quite piece together why this was such a problem for me. I just needed it to light. One little flame. It’s not hard.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I tried to imagine the warmth. The soft glow. A little plume of smoke rising from the flame. I could feel it. The burning in my fingertips. I peeked through my eyelid and threw my arms up in frustration.

“Are you fucking serious? Not even a little spark?” I let my head fall onto the table repeatedly. I was so useless. Fire was a specialty of my coven and I couldn’t even light one measly candle. I’m beginning to think I’m adopted.

I picked up the candle and slumped back to my room. Didn’t want my mother to see me failing. She would surely scold me. I set the candle back in its proper spot on my nightstand. I stared at the various pictures of my friends. My mother didn’t like that I hung out with humans but she couldn’t do anything about it.

I just wanted to finish my last year of high school then move out and never have to think about this witch stuff again. I would meet a nice guy who would be perfect for me. And finally, things would go right.

-

I rushed through the school, trying to get out before all the busses left. I agreed to meet up with Maddie after class but of course she was running late. I stood by my car tapping my foot, watching as the busses filled with students. I glanced at my phone, seeing Maddie’s message to me.

Sorry! Had to talk to my teacher about a grade.

I rolled my eyes and sighed as the busses started to pull out. I saw her tiny form running towards me. I couldn’t help but laugh as she struggled to carry a backpack that was almost her size.

“I’ve told you before to take it easy on yourself with classes,” I said as she stopped in front of me, panting.

“Can’t let up on classes if I want scholarships. You’re lucky you get to take over a family business.” The small shop my coven owned was mainly for other witches who were passing through the area. But of course, humans walk through and pick up random charms simply because it’s trendy.

“You act like it’s something I want to do. I would much rather travel and meet people.” Maddie climbed into the passenger side of the car.

“You’re such a romantic, (Y/N).”

“And even that isn’t helping my love life. So, I may as well experience things on my own.”

I turned on the radio in to car to the local rock station. They seemed to be running a throwback marathon of alternative music from the early and mid-2000s. I was unseasonably warm, even for California. So, we rolled the windows down and blasted the classics.

We pulled into the Starbucks parking lot, still managing to get a spot before the rest of the high schoolers appeared. We grabbed our backpacks and shuffled inside behind an older couple who were complaining about “kids these days.”

Maddie and I shared a look. Wonder what they aren’t trying to understand this time. Both of us had our fair share of older people looking down on us just for being young. It was super common in my coven. I was one of the youngest. Once you hit your high school years, you’re expected to devote all your time to magic.

I guess I kind of understood. I thought back to my inability to light a candle. My mother said magic was connected to strong emotions but I’ve been beyond pissed and it still wouldn’t work. Fingers snapped in front of my face and I jumped.

“Welcome back to the land of the living. What were you thinking about this time?”  Maddie raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head and smiled.

“I don’t know to be honest. Just all the expectations that older people have for us I guess. Hope they’re prepared for disappointment.” Maddie chuckled as we moved up to the counter.

We had our drinks in hand and started toward the table we saw earlier only to find a group of kids from our school sitting there. They were some of the so called “popular people.” I noticed Maddie’s bag moved to the middle of the floor nearby. I groaned at her quietly and she rolled her eyes at them. They laughed as we walked up to them.

“Hey, we were sitting there. I can tell you saw the bag.” The head girl scoffed. Ella.

“So? You don’t own this spot.” The table laughed and the guy sitting next to her wrapped his arm around her shoulder. I couldn’t remember his name.

“Maybe, but it’s really rude to move someone’s stuff.” I didn’t want to back down. Ella and her little group walked all over a lot of people. It was weird how accurately she fit the stereotype of the head cheerleader.

“Oh, save it for someone who cares. Why not just go back to your witchy little shop and sell rocks?” I clenched my fists. She came in with her friends a couple weeks ago while I was working. They made fun of everything we had and completely wrecked a display of crystals we had. I told my mom we should repurify them. She scolded me for being rude.

“Let’s just go (Y/N). They ruined the atmosphere anyway.” I nodded and we turned to the door.

“If you need a table you can take this one. I’m leaving.” We turned toward the voice. A tall guy with short, curly brown hair and the most stunning blue eyes I had ever seen smiled gently at us. “Of course, I don’t blame you if you want to leave after interacting with that bitch.”

Maddie snorted and tried to stifle her laugh. I heard Ella say something from behind me but I just smiled at the guy. This couldn’t be real, right?

“Yea. But we appreciate the concern.” He wore a plain black t-shirt with some khaki jeans and black converse. He might as well be an angel. Certainly looked like one.

“Don’t ignore me. It’s incredibly rude to call a girl a bitch. Not to mention sexist.” The guy looked over my shoulder with a bored look on his face.

“It’s not any ruder than you were to her. You moved their bags into the middle of the floor where someone could have tripped on them. Don’t fling the word ‘sexist’ around when someone points out something shitty you did.” I chuckled at the stunned silence.

“Well we’re going to head out. Let’s go (Y/N).” I agreed and we headed out, the guy following us out.

“Thank you…” I trailed off, not knowing his name.

“Joe. And forgive me for eavesdropping but did I hear that you work for a place for witches?” A blush rose to my face.

“It’s a family business. Not very interesting. I never really believed in that stuff, ya know?” I pushed a small rock around with my foot. I hope he wasn’t one of those hipsters just looking to visit all these shops.

“Well I think it’s interesting. Maybe I’ll stop by sometime.”

“Let me guess, you just want to see her again?” Maddie crossed her arms and stepped in front of me slightly. Joe smiled, laughing.

“Yea. Something like that.” I looked away from him, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. Then he waved and headed to his car.

“Don’t you dare tell him anything. That’s how you get stalkers.” I rolled my eyes at Maddie.

“I don’t think he’s that kind of guy. And the likelihood of ever seeing him again is super low. Just let me pretend he’s my guardian angel or something.”

-

One Week later

I was sweeping around the shop because of the lack of customers. Business had been slowing down. We might have been mildly annoyed at regular humans coming in and buying our stuff but the extra sales certainly helped. We still had rent like every other business.

“(Y/N), darling. Have you been practicing your magic at all while we don’t have customers?” My mother stood at the bottom of the stairs to our apartment.

“Uh, no. What if a normal person comes in and sees it?” She sighed and shook her head.

“Just pull out a tea light and work with that. From what I’ve seen, you still haven’t been able to light it. I’m not too worried about a human seeing it.” I gripped the broom and nodded. She made her way back upstairs.

“Ouch. That was harsh. She always like that?” I took a breath and turned toward the voice. Witches tended to be quiet when they entered another witches store. It was a respect thing. I almost jumped at the familiar face that greeted me.

“Joe! Uh, sorry. My mom is always talking nonsense.” I chuckled nervously. He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Didn’t sound like nonsense. Seemed rather clear. So, you need some help with your magic. What witch doesn’t at some point.” I raised an eyebrow at him. He knew? About Witches?

“How do you—”

“I was sent by the Higher Powers to look after you. Though I’m not quite sure why.” I blinked.

“Wait. So, you’re an actual guardian angel?” He nodded. I can’t believe my stupid joke was accurate. My mother appeared at my side. I jumped when she spoke.

“So, Joseph. They never told you why they were sending you? And you didn’t think to ask?” I stared at my mom wide eyed. She was the one who told me you shouldn’t speak to the Higher Powers and their angels rudely.

“I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t question our duties. We keep the peace.” He was polite but the smile directed at my mother was less than friendly. I shivered at the tension.

“And you’re suggesting that my daughter is somehow a threat to that peace.” I saw his jaw clench. He glanced at me.

“If you want to know more information, you’ll have to inquire from the Higher Powers yourself. I told you what I know.” His way of speaking was so different now. I suppose even the angels have to adapt.

“Leave my shop and stay away from my daughter.” It was like he vanished. There one moment and gone the next. I looked to my mother, confused.

“What just happened?” Her clenched jaw and grip on my arm didn’t let up.

“He won’t listen to me. If you see him, just leave. Don’t trust an angel. They always know their assignments. They just refuse to tell you. Your grandmother was sent a ‘Guardian angel.’ Then she disappeared. The Higher Powers thought she was going rogue. Teaching magic to humans. Their claims are baseless.”

Joe didn’t really seem like that kind of person but I trusted my mom. As much as she frustrated me, I trusted her.

-

Another few days without incident. I haven’t seen Joe since then but I was always looking over my shoulder. Maddie even took notice.

“What’s got you so fidgety?” She bit into her carrot as she stared at me.

“It’s nothing. I guess just a sense that someone’s watching me,” I said.

“Maybe you’re not wrong. Psychology does say that we can tell when someone is looking at us. But it’s a school cafeteria. The worst thing here is some gross boys high on their testosterone.” I laughed and my shoulders relaxed. She was right. I was safe inside the school.

It killed me not being able to tell her about the whole guardian angel thing. About how the guy that helped us was trying to abduct me. How I was somehow a danger to the peace and balance of the earth.

“So, are we still going to the library after school today? I need your help with my religion project.” I nodded.

“Yea. Still don’t know why you think I would be any help.”

“I told you! I’m doing my project on Wiccans! You know all about that. Isn’t your mom one?” It’s what I told her. But I wasn’t too familiar with the practices themselves. I sighed. I’ll have to do some research on the subject in my other classes.

-

The library was loud, filled with kids doing their after-school activities. We pushed slowly through the waist high see of children. I tried to keep a smile on my face even though none of them looked where they were going and I almost tripped on a few of them.

“Hurry. Get upstairs before we drown in children.” Maddie laughed and we stumbled our way to the stairs.

We chatted leisurely up the stairs. I had walked up these a thousand times. I didn’t need to pay attention. We were nearly at the top when I noticed a guy standing there, smiling at me. Joe. I felt my heart skip. My toe caught on the step but when I tried to steady myself, I was falling backwards.

I yelped and squeezed my eyes shut. I wasn’t falling for long. A pair of strong arms wrapped around me. I looked up into his blue eyes and found myself entranced. It was like he had the abilities of a demon. Maddie clearing her throat brought me back to reality.

“Um, thanks. I appreciate it.” I turned from him and hurried up the stair, grabbing my friends arm along the way.

There was no way to explain what she just saw. He was behind me almost instantly when he was just ten feet away at the top of the stairs.

“I’m mildly insulted that you’re pretending to not recognize me.” So, he was following me now. “I just need to talk to you for a second.” Maddie yanked me to a stop before turning to face the angel.

“Look. She clearly wants nothing to do with you. Get lost.” For someone so short, she was certainly intimidating.

“I admire your willingness to protect her but I need you to leave us for a bit.” He smiled at her and then her eyes went blank. She nodded and started toward a table. The power of suggestion. I clenched my fists as he made his way toward me.

“Leave her out of this. I’m not afraid to fight you.” He closed the distance between us, a slight frown replacing his gentle smile.

“Look. Whatever your mom told you, it’s wrong. I’m not here to hurt you.” I glanced down at his human attire. White tee, black jeans and the same shoes. But now that I knew what he was, it all looked off.

“But you won’t tell my why you’re here. So, what reason do I have to trust you?” He sighed and scratched his head.

“I told you. They didn’t tell me why I needed to watch you. They just sent me.”

“Ok so tell me about your abilities. Obviously, suggestion is one. Entrancement another.” He rose an eyebrow.

“That’s an ability only held by demons.” Silence. The heat rushed to my face. God, I was so stupid.

“Whatever! Point is, I don’t know anything about you and you won’t tell me.” He chuckled slightly.

“You only just asked me now.”

“What and you’re going to tell me?”

“Sure.” I wasn’t expecting that answer. I placed my hands on my hips.

“Fine. I’ll hear you out. Just not right now. I’m busy.”

“We should probably do these introductions sooner rather than later. So, you can stop avoiding me.” I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. Well now I just wanted to avoid him out of embarrassment. I know demons are the only beings with entrancement. I can’t believe I said that to him. I looked over my shoulder but he was gone. I ignored the sinking feeling in my chest. I found Maddie at one of the tables, shaking her head.

“Ok you need to explain what just happened. One minute I was standing up for you, the next I’m over here. And what did that guy do? It was like he teleported or something to catch you.” I sighed and sat down across from her. I didn’t have the energy to lie to her anymore.

“There’s something you need to know.” She nodded and closed her book.

“Alright.”

“Well it starts with the fact that I’m a witch.”

-

Maddie took the information surprisingly well. Her only real concern was how I was supposed to help her with the project. I told her to do research like she was supposed to. I told her pretty much everything. Including the stuff about Joe.

No one could know that I told her this. I would be stripped of my magic for sure. I told her to never mention it to my mom and she understood.

It’s been a few days since then. Now I sit in the shop alone. Another slow day. We seem to be getting a lot of those. I wonder what was wrong. My paranoia started to kick in again and I sighed. I wondered where he was going to pop up this time.

Joe had this feeling. He always watched me before showing up. Sometimes he didn’t say anything but he always made sure I saw him. The feeling was almost familiar now. Comforting to know he was there.

“You know you don’t have to just watch. Not like there’s anyone here anyway.” I flipped a page in my history book. The counter creaked as he leaned on it.

“So, you can already tell when I’m around. Your senses are incredibly refined.” I raised an eyebrow and looked up at him.

“Thanks, I think?” He shrugged. “You just aren’t exactly subtle. I can feel you watching me. You angels have an extremely noticeable presence.”

“I don’t know how because I block it from witches. You seem to be the only one I can’t sneak up on.”

I scoffed. Pretty words from a pretty person. I had to remind myself regularly that he was an angel who wouldn’t tell me his reason for being here. I had to ignore the fluttering my heart did whenever he was around.

“Aw, so I’m special. How sweet of you to say. Is that why you’re watching me?”

“My answer is still the same. I don’t know why they sent me to watch you.” We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I let my history book fall shut and watched as Joe wandered around the store.

“You know, I think you’re the reason the store has been so empty. You give off this aura. Very scary.” He wandered back to the counter to stand in front of me.

“Again, you seem to be the only person who can tell.” My eyes drifted away from his and down the rest of his features. He was so relaxed all the time. “Can I help you with something?” I shook myself out of my trance.

“No, why,” I huffed?

“Well you like to space out when looking at me.”

“I do not!” He smirked slightly. He had to be a demon. I wouldn’t except any other explanation. He poked the space between my eyebrows.

“If you frown too much, you’ll get lines.” I rolled my eyes and smacked his hand away. He grabbed my arm. “See now look what you’ve done.” I sighed.

“Just let go of me.”

“If I don’t?” I stopped.

“Excuse me?”

“What’ll you do if I don’t? I’ve never seen you use magic before.” His voice was curious. Not intended to be mean or threatening.

“Because I don’t like using it on other people,” I bluffed. I was no good at magic. He knew that much but didn’t need to know I couldn’t do it at all.

“Well then I guess we’re just going to stay like this until you get over that fear.”

“What? You can’t just hold me hostage. What if someone comes in?”

“Better figure it out quickly then.”

Shit. He was testing me. He had his suspicions and needed them confirmed. I had to do something. Make up some lie. Tell him my mom has a charm on the shop so she’ll know if I use magic during business hours.

“I’m just not feeling up to it right now. I’m exhausted. I have you to deal with in addition to school.” He looked up at the ceiling, weighing his options.

“It should be easy. Your family is well known for being strong.” I clenched my teeth. Just give up already damnit!

“I’m pretty sure this qualifies as harassment.” I tried tugging my arm away again. A slight smile graced his face and he released my arm.

“You can’t do magic can you.” I scoffed and turned away from him. Fuck. I sighed. He knew now and all I could do was let him assume. “It’s not like it’s something to be ashamed of. So, you haven’t tapped into your source of power.”

I ran a hand through my hair. He wouldn’t understand the pressure of being in a powerful family. I’m a failure in their eyes. I picked up a small tea light and set it in front of him between us.

“You wouldn’t understand,” I mumbled.

I concentrated on the wick of the candle. My eyes drifted shut as I tried to access my magic. I cupped my hands around the little tea light. We were silent for a couple moments. I could feel the warmth against my palms. I wanted to peak but I knew there wasn’t anything there.

The was a light pressure on the back of my hands and I jumped slightly. I opened my eyes and looked down at Joe’s hands resting on mine. A blush rose to my face as I looked up at him. His eyes so blue I could drown in them.

“You’ll get it eventually. You’ll be stronger than any of them.” My eyebrows drew together. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to cheer me up or if he actually knew something. My eyes drifted down to the gentle smile on his lips.

“You’re doing that thing again.” He voice was gentle. Maybe even a bit curious. I glanced back up at him through my lashes. His head tilted slightly and his thumb ran over my hand. He leaned toward me…

My palms started burning and warmth touched my skin. I pulled away, startled and looked down. The little tea light glowed between my hands.

“Oh, shit!” I yanked my hands away and went to blow out the candle. God, it better not have made a mess. I picked up the candle, moving it to the counter behind me. I let out a sigh of relief when there were no marks.

“Only mildly cliché.” I could hear the laugh in his voice. My face was warm. The heat from the candle no longer disguised it.

“That was nothing. Just caught in the moment.” I turned only to find him directly behind me. He had me trapped. Cliché was right.

“I should let you know that any romantic involvement between a witch and an angel is strictly forbidden. So, I suggest you get over your little infatuation with me.” I scoffed in disbelief.

“You think I don’t know the rules? And I don’t have any sort of ‘infatuation’ as you put it. You infuriate me. Maybe you should remind yourself of that rule, too.” I crossed my arms and he glared at me.

“What are you talking about?” I rolled my eyes.

“As I recall, you were the one about to kiss me.” He laughed and shook his head.

“I could kiss you and it wouldn’t mean anything. I feel nothing but a sense of obligation to complete my task.”

“Yeah, right! You were just as into that as I was. Maybe it’s you who’s infatuated with me.” He grabbed my arms and shoved me against the counter. His lips were aggressive against mine. I could only kiss him back for a couple seconds before he pulled away.

“It’s nothing,” he whispered. But my god that didn’t feel like ‘nothing.’

“What is going on? I told you to stay away from her!” My mother was rushing toward us with a walking stick she sometimes carried with her. He vanished into thin air. My mother’s face was livid. She flipped the sign from open to closed without even glancing behind her.

I shrank back but she came around and grabbed my arm, pulling me upstairs. Her grip was sure to leave bruises. I nearly tripped over the steps.

“What did I tell you. You had one job and you couldn’t even do that! This is exactly what happened to your grandmother. She just couldn’t help herself. They tricked her and now you’re in that same trap!”

“Mom, stop! It was nothing! What you saw was nothing!”

“I know what I saw! And I know I taught you the rules when dealing with the Higher Powers.”

“What happened to my grandmother?”

“Just go to your room. I’m putting a charm on this place and not letting you leave.” She went to slam the door to the stairway. A wave of power washed over me and I flung it back open.

She turned toward me in shock. Her jaw clenched before she started to laugh. She shook her head and for the first time, I was scared of her.

“You’re just like her. Powers at their strongest when there’s someone you love.” I clenched my fists.

“What. Happened. To. Her.” A brief look of pity crossed my mother’s features.

“She was assigned a guardian angel. He made her fall in love with him. Then convinced her to break rules and used that as an excuse to make the higher powers get rid of her.” She made her way over to stand in front of me. “You might care for him, but I promise. He doesn’t give a shit about you.”

-

I just stared at my ceiling. I refused to let my mother trap me in this house but this was still one of the few places I felt safe.

My pale green walls hadn’t changed since I convinced my mom to paint them when I was younger. I even held on to most of my stuffed animals. My eyes had just started to drift shut when I felt it. Felt him.

I couldn’t shake the things my mom said out of my head. I shouldn’t trust him. But it was Joe. I felt like I knew him. A part of me still thought this was different. There was a light tap at my window. I jumped. He shouldn’t be able to get to my window. I sat up but didn’t see anyone. I made my way over and opened my room to the cold evening. Silence.

“Joe,” I called. A few moments later, he hovered in front of me. His wings just visible. They were almost translucent but occasionally caught the light so I could see the white.

“I’m still amazed you can sense me. Let me in?” I glanced over my shoulder. I know my mom didn’t trap me here. But that didn’t mean she didn’t put an alarm spell or something.

“I probably shouldn’t.” he raised an eyebrow.

“Well then come out here so you can tell me what happened after your mother so rudely came at me.” I wrapped my arms around myself. Was he really just playing me? “What’d she tell you?” His eyebrows drew together. He looked almost sad.

I saw his had offered out to me. I looked between him and his hand. This was a terrible idea. I took his hand slowly. He helped me climb so I was sitting on the edge of the window. I yelped as he picked me up bridal style. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and squeezed my eyes shut. I was weightless for a few seconds before I heard the light thud of Joe landing.

“You can open your eyes now.” I cracked them open slowly. We weren’t at my house anymore. Instead, we were in a park a couple miles away.

“What the hell? Why are we here? How did you get here so fast?” I yelled at him as he set me on my feet.

“Chill. Just an angel perk. Quick travel.” He slipped his hands into his pockets. The wind made me shiver and I heard him chuckle. “Sorry, forgot you still get cold. Here.” He unzipped his bomber jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. His warmth lingered.

“Why are you doing this?” I tugged the jacket closed. It was too cold to be worried about pride.

“I just want to know what happened after your mom came home. And what she told you to make you look at me like I’m a monster.”

“She just yelled a lot. Told me to stay away from you and such. Threatened to lock me up in the house.” I laughed awkwardly.

“What else? You’re obviously not telling me everything.”

“That all that happened! Really,” I lied. I turned away from him but he was in front of me again in a second.

“What’d she say about you tapping into your magic?” I crossed my arms over my chest. I couldn’t quite look him in the eye.

“It never came up.” He scoffed and shook his head.

“You’re such a bad liar. What happened?” I sighed. I didn’t have to tell him everything.

“I flung the door open when she tried to shut it. Apparently, she didn’t like the way I tapped into my magic. Said it was too much like my grandmother. That’s it. You’re caught up.”

“What happened to your grandmother?” I glared at him, though it was probably useless.

“None of your business.” He sighed and looked up at the sky.

“I’m sorry for earlier. I should have kept my emotions in check.” What was he sorry for? Other than being nosy.

“What are you referring to exactly,” I questioned? He looked down at me.

“For kissing you. I shouldn’t have let my pride get a hold of me. It didn’t mean anything.” He shrugged as if that was all he could do. I clenched my fists.

“Now you’re the one lying,” I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.

“So, I guess you really are just playing with me then? That’s your big mission? Same as the one given to the angel that took my grandmother.” He raised his hands in surrender.

“What are you talking about?”

“My grandmother fell in love with her guardian angel and then he used it against her. Made her break rules. Then she was gone. Her magic was stronger because she loved him. And now I’m just like her! All because of you!” I was yelling and a few tears made their way down my face.

“But I just can’t accept that. I don’t believe that you feel nothing for me!” He sighed and ran a hand over his face. There was only the sound of the wind for a moment.

“Well this might be a problem.” I shoved him but he hardly moved. Why wasn’t he taking this seriously.

“You’re an ass!” I started to storm away. I wasn’t going to put up with him. My mom was right. I should just stay away from him.

“Hey! (Y/N)!” Just keep walking. No such luck. He grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. “At least let me finish talking.” His arms wrapped tightly around me. I could feel my heart pounding and I’m sure he could too. I struggled in his arms.

“You aren’t helping. Just let me go.” I placed my hands on his chest to try and shove him away again. But he held me tighter. I concentrated on putting up a barrier between us. I heard him say mine name again but I ignored him.

My eyes popped open when I felt his lips on mine. I was stunned and I couldn’t move. What was this? What was he doing? This needed to stop. I regained my mobility but he refused to let me go. Joe held me tighter, bringing his hand up to the back of my head and tangling his fingers in my hair.

I was kissing him back. My eyes fluttered shut again and I felt his grip on me loosen. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He was gentle with me and took my breath away. We parted for a moment.

“Fuck,” he breathed. I giggled at the irony. I prayed to whatever god was out there. This needed to be real.

Joe stepped away from me suddenly. I almost stumbled. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. As if someone was going to jump out any minute. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you doing?” He looked back at me, the longing evident on his face.

“This ends now. This never happened. I’ll take you home.” My jaw hung open slightly. He couldn’t be serious. We were just going to ignore this? He shoved one hand in his pocket and offered the other out to me.

“What? No! You want to pretend like this is nothing?” He groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

“Please try to understand—”

“But I don’t understand! Clearly there’s something here and you want to ignore it? Fuck the rules,” I yelled. He grabbed me by the shoulders again.

“Because they will hurt you! Do you understand? They will hurt you! As much as I want to say, ‘fuck the rules’ with you, it’s just not possible.” The wind picked up around us. His hands cupped my face gently.

“I don’t want to be the reason you’re hurt or worse.” He took a deep breath and released me. “Now let me take you home before your mom kills me.” I nodded slowly and took his hand when he offered it to me again.

He lifted me into his arms as effortlessly as the first time. His wings returned and I finally took in how beautiful they were. We started to float and I forced myself to keep my eyes open. Of all the myths about witches, the one where we fly on broomsticks is the one I wish was real.

“Hey,” I said quietly. Joe glanced down at me. “Do you mind if we don’t use the angel quick travel thing.” A smile made its way onto his face.

“Learning to love flying, huh?” I rolled my eyes at him “Ok, just hold on. Don’t worry though. I promise I won’t drop you.” And off we went.

The wind burned my cheeks. Almost everything was dark except for the street lights and the cars that looked like oversized ants. The ride was over far too quickly and he was hovering outside my window five minutes later. Only problem. My window was now closed and locked.

“Try out that magic you claimed to tap into earlier. I bet you can open it.”

“I was angry then. It might have been a fluke.” He shook his head.

“If I know anything about you, it’s that you’re strong. Trust me.” The sad look had returned to his face. He knew something about me that I didn’t. But I did trust him. As much as I didn’t want to, I did.

I concentrated on the lock inside my window. I just needed to lift it. I closed my eyes. The second I did; Joe’s arms became the only thing I could focus on. Strong and steady. He’d probably never hold me again. For all I knew, he’d disappear after tonight. I jumped when I heard his voice in my ear.

“You can stop concentrating so hard, it’s unlocked. And open for that matter.” He was right. I couldn’t even tell I did it. I laughed a bit.

“It’s all thanks to you,” I half joked. I turned my head toward him but didn’t expect his face to be so close to mine.

Our noses bumped together and I could feel his breath on my lips. I wanted to kiss him again. And I know he wanted it too but he’s right. We can’t say ‘fuck the rules.’ Not right now. He cleared his throat and moved closer to the window to set me on the ledge.

“I hope you don’t get in too much trouble,” he said with a small smile. I grinned back at him.

“I’m always getting in trouble with you.” He hovered in front of me for a moment.

“You probably won’t see me anymore. I’ll try to keep my distance. I’ll make sure the Higher Powers don’t bother you. I’ll let them know you’re not a threat.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why would I be a threat?” This was his mission? To report back to the Higher Powers?

“Late blooming witches tend to be the strongest. And most rebellious.” I nodded, but I didn’t fully understand. “Goodbye, (Y/N).” He turned from me.

“Joe, wait,” I called. He faced me again, wings glittering from the light of the moon. “Well don’t stay over there. Come here. I don’t want to yell too much.” He floated back over to me.

“What is it?” I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward me. I knew he couldn’t get to close to the building, so I jumped. He easily caught me and I wrapped my legs around him. “Are you crazy? Why’d you jump?”

“Kiss me.” He went silent, desperation taking over his features. He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. “Just one more. Before I can never kiss you again.” He held me just below my butt, as respectful as ever. I saw the surrender in his eyes.

I leaned my head toward his, our lips just brushing against each other. I let my fingers tangle in his curls. He pressed his mouth against mine softly. I could feel us start to float down slowly. The cold no longer affected us. He landed on the ground without breaking our kiss. I felt the rough bricks against my back as he pressed against me. This had to be heaven.

I sighed when he pulled away from me. I held on as long as I could but he set me down on my feet. He cradled my face in his hands.

“I’m so sorry. I wish the circumstances were different.” I nodded as a tear slid down my face. He lifted me one last time, back to my window. I climbed into my room.

My guardian angel; the love that awakened me, was gone when I turned around.

#fanfiction #fall out boy fanfiction #joe trohman fanfiction #joe trohman imagine #AU #joe trohman x reader #my writing #feedback always appreciated #fall out boy imagine

[rainbowglittr]

Love and Marriage - Chapter 7 (Mature - Minors DNI)

Description:

After a loss in the family uncovers a family secret, Jaleia and her husband Jesse are forced to balance one family crisis after another along with their budding careers and their plans to expand their family. Will the pressure to keep everyone else together ruin their own relationship? Can ruined relationships be fixed before it’s too late?

tw: pregnancy loss

Chapter 7:

"JESSE! JESSE! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" I yelled from the bathroom. I heard his footsteps get louder.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"He said, looking worried and out of breath.

"Look at these." I showed Jesse the pregnancy test I had hidden behind my back.

"You're????? Preg-What?" He said, his faced was so shocked. He picked me up and spun me around.

"I don't know what made me take the test, I'm only like two days late but I just thought might as well and, well. I'm pregnant!"

"Oh my God!"

"We're gonna have a baby!"

"We are gonna have a baby!"

"But you can't tell anyone. I don't want to tell anyone until I'm past the first trimester. In case, you know. " I told him,

Holding his hands.

"Not even my mom?" He said.

"Definitely not your mom! She would tell everyone, and she'd want to give me advice I didn't ask for, she-" He kissed me, his hands holding my face close to him.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I looked around Starbucks, before my eyes found who I was searching for. Her maroon purse sticking out from her perfectly coordinated black pantsuit. She hadn't seen me yet because she was on her phone so I snuck up behind her.

"Ahhhhhhh!" I screamed as I jumped out at her.

"If you don't stop doing that, you crazy person!" She said as she slapped me on the arm. I laughed and sat down next to Kiara. My very best friend since the second grade.

"Hey sis, what's good?" I said smiling like I hadn't just acted a fool.

"Don't give me that after what you just pulled!" She said while giving me a hug. We hadn't seen each other for way to long. Over a month and I really missed her. We both picked careers that had us extremely busy. While I went to medical school, she went to law school and now works at a law firm that does hundreds of cases a year. She specialized in Family Law. It was great when we both went to med/law school because we both understood how busy we were and although we could barely hang out we were still super close. Now we are both Married- after being maid of honor at each other's weddings. (That caused a huge argument with my sisters cause I didn't choose them.)

"Did you order yet?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but I ordered for you too." She said.

"It's these moments when I realize how much I love you. So what's been going on?"

"I have a crazy divorce case. Sis, they are tiring me out, drugs, cheating, pettiness, kids! I mean this case could drag on for another six months! I'm tired of dealing with them."

"Well, as you know divorces are messy. Are these the ones that keep posting everything on Instagram Live?"

"Yes! No matter how many damn times I tell this woman, 'stop putting everything on Social media, this can and will be used against you, it doesn't matter what he posted on Facebook,' she won't listen and it's making this more difficult than it has to be!"

"Aww, I would say it'll get better but she ain't gonna listen. How's your mom, how's Mike and the kids?" I asked. Mike is her husband.

"Everyone's good. Mike is getting on my nerves as usual. But really he surprised me at work a few days ago with flowers and lunch. It was sweet! The kids are fine."

"Awww, he surprised you?"

"Yeah, but not as much as I surprised him later!"

"Nasty!"

"Its natural! Our drinks are ready." She said. I got up.

"You ordered and paid, I'll get them, sit!" I walked up to the counter to grab our drink and brownies- there is no way I would ever leave Starbucks without a brownie. As I was walking back to our seat I saw the cutest little girl- only about 1 year old. I had to stop and say how cute she was. Her mother had the prettiest dreads with beads and her little girl had the cutest afro-puffs. In nine months that would be me and Jesse. Our little baby was growing inside me and it took everything in me not to tell Kiara. But if I made Jesse promise then I couldn't tell either.

"Your daughter is so cute!" I said to the mom.

"I guess you didn't see me trying to get her out of the car. Thank you, I'm Alicia. "

"Jaleia, she's so adorable!"

"Thank you, Ari say hi!" Her mom said. Ari looked at me and waved her hand. I waved back.

"Aww, I better get out of here before my fraps melt. Bye Ari!" I said waving again.

"Say bye Ari!" Her mom said. I waved again and got back to my seat.

"So what did you stop for?"

"A baby, she was so cute! Don't roll your eyes! Babies are very distracting!" I said handing her a drink and her cookie.

"Anyway, how's Jess doing?"

"He's much better, Diana is staying with us temporarily. His mom is selling the house, and poor Di can't stand to be in it. So she's staying with us until Aiesha finds a new home." I sipped my frappuccino.

"How that been going besides scaring her for life?"

"First of all it's not funny. I have never been more embarrassed. You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"You should come over and have a sleepover!"

"Girl! Who? I have two kids!"

"So? I want this so it should happen." She laughed.

"Maybe some other time."

"Oh come on! Please?"

"Maybe."

"Please."

"You're never giving this up are you?"

"Nope!"

Kiara sighed. I could tell I could wear her down if I was persistent enough.

"I'll think about it."

>>>>>>>

"Babe, I'm home!" I yelled as I walked through the door after meeting with Kiara. Usually I hear Jesse respond back but all i heard was yelling. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I could hear Jesse and Diana yelling at each other. I put my stuff down and started climbing up the stairs.

"Well you're not my dad! You're my brother, why can't you just be chill about this?"

"I'm not dad, but while you live with me, I am responsible for you and you cannot stay overnight in New York! Are you crazy?"

"Are you? Can you get out my room?" Diana asked. I peeked into her room. I could practically see steam radiating off of Jesse at this point. I put my hands on his shoulders and said, "Maybe we should give her a little space."

"How much space does she need? She's in my damn house." Jesse said, but allowing me to steer him out the door. We went downstairs to the living room.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"She's mad at me because her and her little friends want to camp out in Central Park overnight to see the free Trevor J concert and I said no. Can you believe it? Central Park, at night?" He said as he started pacing.

"Wow, yeah that's crazy. I would never. Overnight?" Central park is NOT the place for sixteen year olds to be at night. New York was my favorite city but the people there are crazy as hell. There's no way she thought that through.

"I offered to take her and her friends early in the morning but apparently that's not good enough."

"Calm down babe, you're going to walk a hole in our carpet."

"Who the fuck does she think she is, talking to me like that? Damn right I'm not dad or he would've knocked her teeth out for talking to him like that. She must've lost her damn mind." He said still fuming. I grabbed his hand and pulled him close to me. I kissed his cheek gently.

"Give yourself and Diana a few minutes to cool down. Once you compose yourself maybe you can talk to her and work that out. When's the concert?"

"I don't get it. I have been nothing but nice to her. What the hell was that?"

"Babe, I know that this is frustrating but don't forget she's not herself. She's still struggling and this whole brat thing is just a reflection of that. She's a teenager. They're crazy." I said as I wrapped my arms around him. He sighed, and looked at me.

"Yeah, you're right. How was your day?" He said, rubbing my back.

"It was fine. You know I met with Kiara today."

"Yeah, how is she?"

"She's good, Mike is going to have some sort of kickback, or something I don't remember but you're invited. Text him. We have a doctor's appointment this week."

"Are you excited? What time?"

"I am so excited! We're going to have a girl and she's going to have your face, and your voice, and my brain, and she's going to be so cute and-"

"Wait, You gotta tell me when and where, Love."

"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Um let me get my phone. I think Thursday at 6:30. Does that work?" I said looking around for my phone.

"Anytime works, love. I'll be there no matter what." He said kissing me.

"I'm so excited!" I said bouncing up and down.

"I can tell," he laughed, "You wanna hear my new song?"

"Yes! Carry me!" I said. Jesse bent down and I climbed on his back.

"You know there's going to be a time when we're both too damn old for this, right?"

"But that day is not today, to the studio!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After a long discussion about respect, Jesse and Diana had come to an agreement. The concert was on Thursday at 7am. It was one of those morning show concerts. They would get up really early in the morning, meet up with her friends, go to the concert, Jesse supervising of course, and would spend the rest of the day at Jesse's studio in the city. All Diana had to do was not catch an attitude. I admired how much Jesse was really trying with his sister. Even though she kept pushing the Hell of out his buttons he still tried to be fair and understanding. I could tell he was going to be a really amazing father and that made me even more excited. So far we both were able to keep my pregnancy a secret even though I felt like I was about to explode.

Jesse's mom scheduled Diana with a grief counselor. Jesse was supposed to take her every Saturday. When they told Diana, she blew up on them and her mom almost snapped on her. Jesse had to keep Aiesha from slapping her into another century. Eventually she agreed to go, (as if she had a choice) and everything calmed down. She had been really moody lately and driving Jesse crazy but I guess since he was going to take her to the concert she had been calm for the past few days.

Jesse was in the basement with his friends playing 2K or whatever game they were into this week. Naim, Dre, and Jamal have been his best friends since college, Mike got along with Jesse as soon as they met. We used to do a lot of double dates with Kiara and Mike. I was never a video game person, so I didn't know what the difference was between 2K, COD, or whatever. Jesse didn't play that often but when he did, you could not get him away.

I was doing the laundry, which meant I had to keep going up and down to the basement where our washer and dryer were. Jesse and I took turns with a lot of the chores, and it was my week to do the laundry. Every time I came down I would watch Jesse with his friends for a bit. They were so cute. They would have their snacks and beers on one table, videogames on another. Half the time they would argue about sports. Jesse was a big kid again.

As I took the clothes up, I stopped and yelled, "Do you guys need anything?"

"Nah, they can get their fat asses up!" Jesse replied.

"You just mad cause you lost!" One of his friends said.

"Shut up, man! Can we get some more wings?" Jesse asked, looking up from the TV for just a moment.

"Sure babe, I'll be right back!" I said and started climbing up the stairs.

"You need help?" He asked, eyeing the basket of clothes.

"Relax, I'm fine, it's not heavy." Once I got upstairs I put the clothes down on a chair, when I looked up Jesse's mom was sitting on our couch.

"How did you get in here?" I asked in disbelief.

"My key." She said as if it was obvious. We never gave his mom a key to our house. Did we?

"Who gave you a key?"

"Where's Jesse, I have to square a few things away with him."

"Downstairs. How did you get a key to our house?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said smugly as she walked into our kitchen. What the hell is wrong with her? I stood halfway down the stairs.

"Jess, your mom is here, and did you give her a key to our house?"

"It was supposed to be for emergencies." He said not even looking up from the game.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I didn't think I'd have to, I never thought she'd need to use it." He said, still not looking up.

"Jesse!"

"Jaleia!"

"If you don't get your ass up here in the next thirty seconds!" I yelled. He hit pause, to which all the guys groaned, and started to come up the stairs.

"You know I'm just kidding with you." He said.

"I know, but did you really have to give your mom a key?"

"I didn't think she'd actually use it." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Or what? What you gon' do? Huh?" I said, slightly pushing his shoulder.

"Come here!" He said and I ran behind the couch. He chased me, almost caught me until I jumped over the couch. I ran into the kitchen where I had to make a hard stop, just to avoid running his mom over. Jesse came behind me two seconds later, putting his arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder.

"Sup mom." He said as we both tried not to laugh at her look of confusion.

>>>>>>>>>>>

It was Thursday evening and we were driving to my OB/GYN appointment and Jesse was telling me all about how great the concert went with Diana.

"Yeah, she had a great time! Not a single complaint. She said at the studio that she wanted to spend the summer there interning for me. I was shocked, I didn't think she would be interested but I guess seeing it in person is different."

"That's great! Maybe it will be good for her. She can sing like you, maybe she will grow that talent."

"Yeah, I would love that. But I already told her that she would have to be professional, and listen and do what I told her. So if she can handle that, it'll be lit."

"Lit? Really lit?" I said side eyeing Jesse. I turned into the parking lot of the Doctor's office.

"What? I can't say lit?"

"Not after turning twenty-five, no. Ready?"

"Wait, can you turn around you got something on your-" He said so I moved closer to him and he kissed me.

"Now I'm ready." he said.

"You so silly!" I said smiling.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Jesse sat in a chair next to the exam bed. He held my hand while we waited for the doctor to return. He started to softly sing Lost Without U by Robin Thicke. I smiled as I listened to him sing. The door opened.

"Hey Doc!" Jesse said. I slapped his arm.

"Hey guys, I got the results of your blood work back." Dr. Carter said.

"And?" I said, my heart speeding up because the look on her face wasn't exactly a positive one.

"I'm sorry but you've had what we call a chemical pregnancy." Dr. Carter said.

"Chemical pregnancy? What does that mean?"

"That I'm not pregnant anymore." I said looking down at my lap.

"Unfortunately, the embryo never implanted in your uterus, due to some sort of issue during development. Sometimes genetic or chromosomal but most of the time we'll never know. Your body recognized that it wasn't a viable pregnancy and stopped the pregnancy from continuing. There was nothing that could've prevented this from happening I'm so sorry Jaleia."

I didn't say anything. I felt Jesse kiss the side of my head.

"Um, when could we try again?"

"I would give it about two weeks just allow everything to return to normal but really as soon as your ready to try again you can. As long as there are no abnormal symptoms, you can try again whenever your ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Carter." I said.

"I'll have a nurse prepare for at- home instructions for you. If you have any questions or anything concerning happens call me, I want to call me. I'll see you again in a week for a follow up. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks again, Dr. Carter." Jesse said. She walked out the door. Jesse squeezed my hand.

"I'm sorry baby." He said, kissing my cheek.

"I don't know what to say." I said. I got off the exam chair. Jesse held out hands and I fell into them. I could feel the tears flowing down my cheeks as he rocked us back and forth.

"I just wanted this so bad." I said.

"I'm so sorry baby. I know how excited you were." He said, rubbing circles into my back.

"Let's go, I want some ice cream." I said. Jesse chuckled, and grabbed a few tissues and wiped my face with them.

"Then ice cream is what you'll get, Love. I love you."

"Love you too babe."

#love and marriage #original story #writer on tumblr #black writers #black characters #tw pregnancy loss

[thatsthepan]

Houseplants, Fairy Lights and You

Summary: Dan's a bored Sociology professor. His life gets a lot more interesting when a new Botany professor moves into the classroom next door. Plus, it's Valentine's Day, and the students sense love in the air.

Word Count: 1950

Warnings: None

Notes:  I wrote this for @phangerous in honor of Valentine's Day, and it’s been up on ao3 for weeks but I’m just now getting around to uploading it on here-I hope you liked your teacher AU, Elina, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well:)

Dan

The bell rang, my head pounded, and feet stomped past one another in a rush to escape my last AdSoc class before lunch. I didn’t blame any of them-lately the world had been so bleak that my lessons had all been drifting towards the inevitably of the human race to destroy itself, much as it had attempted to do in the past, time and time again.

I really did enjoy my job. My colleagues were nice enough, and the kids were great. Reading the students’ papers, seeing their insight on the world and its inhabitants, made my weekends a lot less boring. A lot less lonely.

But nevertheless, I was lonely. My parents were in Manchester, and London was a very different city. Bigger, louder, meaner, it seemed. I felt small despite standing nearly 6’4”, and although I had a few friends and had been on a few dates, I never felt a true, deep connection with anyone or anything but my work.

That is, until the day I met him.

The students knew first, of course. They always knew when there was something “going on”, and so when I saw their bright eyes and heard their whispers floating down the halls, I knew something was happening. I didn’t know what, and since it was only eight in the morning, I didn’t frankly care all too much.

“Alright, class. Hello, good morning, so on and so forth. I hope your weekend was good, and I also hope you remembered your response papers over the short stories we’ve been reading these past few weeks?”

The following mumbles, shuffling of papers, and scattered groans spread through the room, and as they passed their papers to the front, I caught a whiff of coffee. Strange, I thought. I didn’t allow drinks in my room.

I was kneeling behind my desk when he spoke, and my first thought was I don’t know him. My second was I’d like to.

“Anyone know where room 207 is? Or if would your teacher be willing to trade me this one, as I rather like the decorations.”

Whispers. A wolf-whistle. Chuckles. A student called, “Ask him yourself!” And I stood up, facing the door, and the angel standing in it’s threshold.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but the man truly was stunning. High cheekbones, gorgeous eyes, a huge grin lighting up his entire face. I had to steady myself before speaking, firstly because I was about to choke on my own tongue and secondly because my students knew me as the intimidating, suave professor who didn’t take late assignments or bullshit.

“Why thank you, decorated it myself. And no, you can’t have it, but I’d be up for selling it to you for a price.”

My students laughed, and the man smirked a bit. “I’ll consider it, if you’ll consider a trade, once I decorate mine. 207?”

Oh, so he was a new professor. Interesting. I hadn’t heard anything about a new course starting up, but then again, I hadn’t been of peak focus lately. “Around the corner, in that weird sort of crevice thing. Sorry about that, there’s lots of windows in there. Students get distracted.”

The man only smiled wider. “I love windows,” he stuck out his hand. “Phillip Lester. I teach Botany.”

“Daniel Howell. Advanced Sociology.”

Phillip-Professor Lester-waved to the students on his way out, and for some reason, they gave him a round of applause. His wave turned into waving them off, and as they watched him leave, I realized with amazement and horror that I was beginning to blush.

I hurried to distract the class before they noticed, although I knew it was too late. We’d had a moment, the new professor and I, and if it wasn’t flirting then I didn’t know what was.

“Alright, let’s turn to chapter three in your-”

“Professor Lester seems cool, right Professor Howell?”

I sighed, smiling patiently. “Yes, Amanda, he does. Now on page-”

“Did you think he was cute?”

I huffed out a laugh, feeling my face go redder and my cool facade dissolve faster and faster. “Sal, that is highly inappropriate! Now can we all focus less on a random professor and more on societal progress throughout the 1900s, please?”

There were still whispers, but the interrogation ceased. For now.

“Thank you. Now if you’ll look in your books…”

Phil

I thought to myself as I left that classroom, “I think I’m going to like this job”. Which was good, considering I had hated my last one. They hadn’t even had a botanical program of any sort, so I was stuck teaching regular biology. And there’s nothing wrong with biology-if you have an interest in it. Which I very much did not.

I found my new classroom, which, as the handsome Professor Howell had warned me, was very airy with windows, and spent the remaining portion of the day moving my many microscopes, various lab tools, and to any other person, too-many plants into the room. By the time I was done, the sun was setting-as it was only February, after all-and my classroom appeared more as a greenhouse now. I grinned.

“Wow.”

I turned around to see the wide eyes of none other than Professor Howell traveling the length of the room, in awe of what he was seeing.

“It doesn’t look like a dingy box with a fuckton of windows anymore. I’m impressed.”

I was beyond proud of that fact, but I tried not to let it show, instead playing cool by leaning on one of the lab tables near me. “So? Down for a trade?”

He held my gaze steadily, a slow smile spreading over his face. He had adorable dimples.

“No. But I think I may be in here quite a lot.”

My demeanor broke, and I giggled. “I think I may be okay with that.”

My first class loved the room. They were all as equally shocked as Professor Howell had been, and told me stories of how they had thought this room had been haunted since they’d never seen anyone use it. They thought I was funny, and that my way of teaching, my anecdotes and stories and many, many colors of markers that I used for writing out the lessons on the board, made me the best teacher in the school. They told me all this, writing it in their introductory papers or whispering it to their friends, and among all the compliments I also caught rumors of a “ship” developing of me and the professor in room 205 around the corner.

Interesting.

Speaking of the professor in 205, he showed up around lunchtime, holding two Starbucks cups in his hands.

“Coffee for you, Professor Lester. How’s the first day going?”

I motioned for him to pull up a stool to my desk, and took a sip of the coffee. I wasn’t sure what he had flavored it with, but it was delicious. “Call me Phil, please. And it’s going great; the students love the room, so I think I may be winning this competition we started.”

Raising an eyebrow, he took a sip of his own drink. “Oh, a competition now? Well fairy lights win that with teens any day. And you can call me Dan then, Phil.”

We chatted for the rest of the lunch period, and I knew students kept poking their heads in, but we ignored them. I don’t really think either one of us minded them “shipping” us together, because honestly, I think we really did like each other.

“Well,” Dan finally announced, standing up and stretching. “I guess I better go ponder the human condition with the kids for the rest of the day. I wouldn’t want to get fired now, of all times.”

I felt a flush go over my face, but only smiled at Dan. “I’ll be here amongst my plant children. Have fun with the fairy lights.”

He smirked before leaving, and I wondered if I’d ever fell in love so easily before.

Whoa, I thought to myself. Slow down there. You’re letting Valentine’s Day get to your head.

That was likely. After all, it was in a week.

Dan

I brought Phil a different flavored coffee every day that week. We exchanged numbers, learned that we had an almost identical taste in music and TV shows, and had the entire senior class of our school rioting to get us to kiss in front of them. We thought it was hilarious, but the students were smart, and kept thinking up way to get each of us to either talk or think about the other. One student bought me a small plant to put on my desk, and frequently I would trail off to stare at it, remembering Phil’s room and our lunch dates. Another student hung fairy lights in Phil’s room, since he didn’t have a lamp yet.

Teenagers are evil. And smart.

When the day before Valentine’s Day rolled around, a student asked me if I had plans.

“I’m chaperoning the dance, Cassidy. Also, that’s frankly none of any of your business.”

The class snickered, but luckily that was the only question that was asked.

Phil, however, informed me that the same question was asked to him, and we began to get suspicious. Although, there wasn’t much we could do, as that had been our last class of the day and the dance was at 6:30.

I arrived early, looking for Phil, of course. The students were probably all occupied with their friends and dates to pay any attention to us tonight, anyway.

I spotted Phil, who looked stunning in a suit, and casually walked over. But he spoke first.

“You look great, especially in this lighting.”

I was taken aback, and I thanked the universe the lights were tinted pink, so Phil wouldn’t notice my blush as much. “I was about to say the same to you.”

Phil looked down, embarrassed, but then met my eyes with a mischievous look in his. “Have you noticed anything odd about the decor of this dance yet?”

I hadn’t, since I only had eyes for Phil at the moment, but when I looked around I began to laugh. “They did not.”

The dance was themed around us. There were flowers, as per any Valentine’s dance, but there were also plants, identical to the ones in Phil’s room, all over the room. And the amount of fairy lights was absurd, with most of them twinkling amongst the leaves of the plants.

“Are we that obvious?” I asked, and Phil held out a hand, asking me to dance. I blinked in surprise.

“If we are, what more can we do?”

He made a great point. We began to dance to the song that was playing, which we didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. We fit together perfectly, as did the decor that was themed around us and our personalities. Maybe it was the fact that it was the “day of love” or maybe it was the lighting that made Phil look particularly beautiful, but I leaned in and kissed him, meaning for it to just be a peck.

But he held it, leaned into it, and after no more than a second a round of applause went up around us. Even some of our colleagues joined in, and we blushed redder than the lights that made everything glow.

“Whoops,” Phil whispered, but I just grinned, waving the students applause off. “They’re sneaky.”

“At least they decorate good, though.”

“True,” I responded. “I love the houseplants. And the fairy lights. And you.”

Phil kissed me again, whispering it back, and I decided Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad after all.

#dan and phil #phanfiction #phanfic #fanfiction #my phanfic #houseplants fairy lights and you #cute #valentines day #teacher au #fluff

[wannawrite]

Don’t Play

who?: Wanna One’s Ong Seongwoo genre: 🌸 type: bullet point the ‘our two lips’ flower boys LDH | PJH | PWJ | KJH | IYM | JH | LGL 

blog navigator. • flower boy AU • Seongwoo loves to play but not on the job and definitely not with your feelings the double-edged sword flower boy AU is back, with added Christmas spirit. I kind of lost touch with this AU, it has been awhile. :”) but TYSM for requesting anon!! The boys are back ;) - Admin L

• so you know that guy who is always over enthusiastic and excited about ANYTHING • that is Seongwoo at his finest • you always hear him before you see him • it’s simply a Seongwoo thing you know? • every time, everywhere • in university lectures • at the campus Starbucks • even on the other side of the football field • Ong’s voice will surround you • everyone is blessed with Seongwoo and the whole student body drools when they see him • along with his 10 friends • everyone calls them Wanna One • for some odd reason • strange • literally, everyone loves them • there are fan accounts on IG and Twitter just for individual members • your college is so extra tbh • side note: this actually happened at my friends’ school • like there were fan accounts of the popular boys • lowkey scary tbh • but anyway, they’re Wanna One • they are just THAT good-looking, well-mannered, smart • if you breathe the same air as them, good for you • honestly, you’ve inhaled too much of Seongwoo’s toxicity • he has been your neighbour since two of you were toddlers • but it isn’t that cute, fluffy, scattered with sugar story that is expected • no • the Ongs and your family aren’t exactly on good terms • it isn’t like World War III is about to lash out any moment but that’s exactly what I’m saying • there’s just some unspoken rivalry that neither of the younger generation understands • ‘you must never associate yourself with them!’ • ‘don’t even think about looking about that Ong boy!’ • your parents shut up whenever you question it and your grandparents brush it off • ‘it’s nothing. just ignore them and don’t give charity.’ • lol trying to trip Mr Ong Senior with your walking stick isn’t ‘nothing’ • but whatever, you and Seongwoo just avoid each other • like you’re meant to • your families would throw a big fuss if the two of you were within a 5-metre radius • ‘why can’t we just sell the house and move?’ You’ve asked that question many times • apparently, this house is passed down to your parents from generations ago and they must ‘continue the family tradition’ • this is weird • side note: I’m sure this happened in real life too • so you continue to avoid Seongwoo • even though many of your lectures are spent a few seats away from each other • sometimes you take that chance to ogle his extremely good features • that jawline • his twinkling eyes • those cool three moles on his face that form a perfect triangle • you wonder if he took his family’s eyeliner to draw it on • there’s no way he can be SO flawless • but he is Ong Seongwoo so there is a way • half of you wants to just say ‘f it’ and talk to him but the other, more rational half is saying that he won’t speak to you because of all that family drama • no one knows what even happened • you go about uni ignoring Ong and trying to suppress your feelings for him • but it’s really hard because of how ‘close’ you are to him • like if you concentrate, you can see that he’s actually drawing flowers on his notepad and not taking down notes • Seongwoo also lets Daniel, his best friend, doodle random sketches on his hands and arms • most of them resemble flora like patterns • it’s also not uncommon to see Seongwoo walking home with a bunch of wildflowers in his grasp • he likes flowers • and he’s intimidating • Seongwoo is that guy who will talk a bunch of crap and expect people to know what he’s referring to • only his friends get the drift • he’s just naturally talented in gag • always cheerful, bubbly, making his friends chortle with laughter • he definitely knows how to put on a show • playfully insults all his friends, won’t hesitate to punch one of them - but gently and for fun • you’ve seen enough of Seongwoo’s quirky personality to fall in love • finally, on the very last day of school, you muster up the courage to talk to him • ‘h-hey Seongwoo, c-could you sign m-my yearbook?’ you stutter out, blushing • internally: please! don’t! ever! tell! my! parents! about! this! • smiling, he turns away from Daniel - who wriggles his eyebrows - and takes your book • ‘sure, of course. I can’t deny my adoring fans, can I?’ • he even adds a heart to your yearbook page • you can’t tell if you should cry or laugh • ‘thank you!’   • ah goodness now you have to make up some crappy excuse as to why your parents can’t see your yearbook • ‘oh! that! I...uh left it at Jaehwan’s place by accident. You know...since we went out to celebrate...’ • Seongwoo was at Jaehwan’s house party too, but you never communicated • I guess it’s a good thing? • a wasted opportunity • other than admiring from your living room window or balcony, that’s the last you see of him and the first yet last interaction you had • you need to be careful, your mother caught you staring at him a few times • ‘staring at that Ong boy again?’ she spits out ‘Ong’ so venomously you nearly shrink back • ‘that Ong son is no good? Don’t mix with him! I’m so glad he will be in a different lecture next year. Good grief!’ • your whole family insists he’s bad influence, turning you into somewhat of his rival • it does irk you a little how much they dislike the Ongs • enough to pit their children against each other • sigh • family drama :( • ahhh, another thing happens • Seongwoo starts to pay more attention to you • ‘hi!’ he chimes when he sees you at the bus stop • ‘you asked me to sign your yearbook...and I saw you at Jaehwan’s party. Y/N? Was it?’ • is he really talking to me? • hold up, there are CCTV cameras around here right? • ‘uh, yeah. see you around!’ • *runs* • another time, you’re going out with your friends and he seems to be on his morning run, Nikes, earpieces and all • ‘GOOD MORNING’ • you blush, shyly waving • Seongwoo greets you every time he sees you around and it really worsens your crush on him • for a good week, you try to avoid him as much as possible • please! don’t! smile! at! me! that! way! • if not my heart will flutter wildly :”) • but our families hate each other • for no reason • and I’m not about to go around pulling some modern day Romeo and Juliet shit • btw, I watched the ballet this year and it was very very VERY enthralling. 12/10 would recommend • suddenly, running from Seongwoo becomes a routinely thing • it works • now, it is the only physical activity you will engage in • to hell with physical education • but do take care of your health guys!!! • you find yourself thinking of other things other than him • until Saturday • you and your best friend are on your way to a cafe for dinner • since it’s Soyeon’s birthday, she chooses to dine at Our Two Lips • please support Cube’s amazing rapper, Jeon Soyeon’s debut single ‘Jelly’ • please please Cube is trash but their artists are never • ‘oh! My relative, Guanlin, works there. I’m here to collect blackmail to send to Seonho.’ • my Cube babies :”) • Lai Guanlin? The opposite of ‘flower boy’?  • oh well • Our Two Lips is early to celebrate Christmas, the place is already decked out with fake snow, Christmas lights and a hella lot of mistletoe • all the flower boys now boast Santa hats • well, some have Poinsettia flower crowns • Guanlin literally goes tomato red when he sees his cousin • he’s all over her Snapchat story • from a mile away in the Yoo house, you can hear Seonho’s evil laughter cackling • ‘I’m done.’ Guanlin says, tossing his mile of menus to someone else and taking a tray of empty plates from their hands • oh look who it is • your jaw falls open, and immediately, you feel redness creep up your neck and guilt root in your stomach • the man you had been desperately trying to evade • Ong Seongwoo • and his perfect constellation moles • to hell with him in his crisp work attire and bright red Poinsettia flower crown • plus, he did his hair up today • the poinsettia’s are the ones holding his up-do in place • in fact, the dark shade of his hair makes the flower crown POP • w o w • but, to your surprise, there isn’t any huge beaming smile, or jokes falling from his lips • just a serious, suave, look • Seongwoo smiles politely and takes the both of you to your seats • throws a huge fuss when he finds out its Soyeon’s birthday • ‘SuNGWOON HYUNG, iT’S SOYEON’S BIRTHDAY’ • if you don’t get the connection, Sungwoon and Jisung spend a lot of time dabbling in dessert and confectionery other than being flower boys • seen in the other flower boy works ^ • wink wonk check them out via the master list • ʕ ·ᴥ·ʔ • this Seongwoo is so different from the one you’re used to seeing • suddenly, you miss his laughter, his smile and his humour • that small glimpse you had of his personality was enough for you to love it   • ‘I’ll be back shortly with your order,’ he says, taking the menus back • cue wink @ you • once he’s out of earshot, Soyeon bursts into a fit of giggles • ‘I knew it! Everyone was betting whether you two liked each other!’ • everyone? • ‘huh? who?’ • ‘oh you know, Daniel, Lin, HyunA, Jisung, Sungwoon, Jihoon, Yeeun, E’Dawn, Hui, Eun-‘ • your hands fly to cover your reddening ears as Soyeon lists pretty much everyone you know • ‘LA LA LA LA LA’ • it doesn’t take you long to realise that you blurted that out a crowded cafe, loud enough for everyone to hear • curious stares bore holes into your back and you can feel the embarrassment choking you • ‘FA-LA-LA-LA, LA-LA-LA-LA TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY’Seongwoo belts out, skipping across the room as if it was normal • out from the speakers blast the Christmas carol • the speakers were connected to Seongwoo’s phone via Bluetooth • you’re lucky he invested in Spotify premium as an early Christmas present • ‘to: Ong Seongwoo. With love, Ong Seongwoo’ • he is that hoe who pulls that kind of shit • but yes self love, self appreciation • pretty much forces everyone to join him in a mini Christmas song karaoke session • Soyeon gets the video she needs • Guanlin wants to kill himself so he dabs at the end of every song • all the diners clap and cheer along like nothing happened • they love Jaehwan’s high notes • it takes you a moment to process that Ong Seongwoo, who you tried to hate and avoid • whose family is in deep shit with yours • just saved your ass • albeit it isn’t like he saved you from drowning • well, drowning in your tears of embarrassment but • it’s nice of him to try and cover your peculiar behaviour • ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!’ Ong shouts, spraying canned fake snow • ‘uh, hyung it’s still November.’ Park Woojin reminds softly • ‘well Halloween is already over and we can’t exactly celebrate Thanksgiving right now so it’s practically Christmas already,’ • happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! • I don’t but I’m thankful for all of you 💓 • Seongwoo wins that mini-debate so it’s declared Christmas starting from 30 November • remember when he said Merry Christmas in the middle of May? yes, mood • ‘JIHOON, I’M GOING TO NEED SOME SNOWMAN LATTE ART’ • ‘JAEHWAN, BRING OUT MORE POINSETTIAS’ • Soyeon simply snickers once more Christmas songs pour out of the speakers • Seongwoo arrives with your drinks and you can’t bear to look him in the eye • ‘Oh gosh Soyeon,’ he whisper-yells. ‘God doesn’t need snow to make an angel.’ • *points at you* • I’m sorry I’m sucking the bad Christmas jokes too much • I can’t believe I came up with that? It’s awful • your face is redder than the Poinsettias or mistletoe decor • when will he give you a break? • never • I love Never so much • ‘hey, Y/N,’ he pauses to set your dinner down • ‘yeah?’ you already know how it’s going to end • you like it • shush, don’t let him know ;) • ‘in my eyes, you’re more radiant than an angel.’ • A S D F G H J K L • that was bad since I made that one up too • you fight a blush and purse your lips, forcing yourself not to smile • ‘I guess you’ll end up on Santa’s naughty list this year,’ you counter-attack • ‘wait...I didn’t know you were into that kin-‘ • ‘because you stole my heart!’   • cutting off Seongwoo for a good reason • he nods in approval, high-fiving you • ‘nice one.’ • all puns intended • with a smile on her face, Soyeon shakes her head and quietly chuckles • ‘you two are the perfect match. I saw it coming.’ • the only rivalry you’ll allow between you and Seongwoo • who can make worst puns? • it’s entertaining to playfully spite him • puns bring people together • Seongwoo looked absolutely dashing • you suddenly love Poinsettias • and mistletoe • but that’s for another day ;) • he’s sweeter than the Christmas stollen you ordered • he’s stollen your heart for sure • puns intended • there’s like 0 way you can hate him now • your family is going to combust if they knew • AHHHHHHH • maybe you’re secretly wishing for Seongwoo to appear under your tree this year • ‘don’t wish for him under the tree, wish for him under the mistletoe!’ Soyeon hisses, winking. • you love her • spending time with your best friend at OTL is 12/10, I’m ready for emotional talks over Christmas scented Yankee candles yes • then • Seongwoo, Sungwoon, Jisung and pretty much all the other staff make their way to your table • you can see the glint of Guanlin’s phone as he records the moment of Soyeon’s face going absolutely red when they start singing ‘happy birthday’ to her • SO CUTE • she’s a girl crush okay, what is my sexuality anymore • the cake that Sungwoon and Jisung made is a mini log cake • those with little reindeer and sleds pinned on the top too • ‘Soyeon, I have locked you in my memory!’ • you don’t need to look to know it’s Park Jihoon and his catchphrases • ‘ahhh, no. That’s now how you do it,’ Seongwoo protests • Jihoon pouts. ‘Okay, show me hyung.’ • ‘Y/N,’ • N O. N O • ‘You have the key to UNLOG unlock my heart!’ He does an ‘unlocking door’ gesture • you can’t contain your giggles and neither can the rest of your friends. • awwwww Seongwoo is really something else • maybe he’s your gift this Christmas • the sweetest, cheekiest, cutest gift ever • you really wouldn’t have it any other way • ‘Seongwoo,’ you call, just before you’re about to leave. • he perks up, a faint pink rushing to his cheeks. ‘yes?’ • ‘maybe...you can give me your number and we can go out more this holiday.’ • his eyes go wide and his mouth falls open a little, shocked • ‘u-uh..sure!’ • he NEVER stutters • ‘I’ll see you around then!’ he yells as you walk out of the shop • outside, there’s a thin layer of snow coating the ground • snow falls • and you’ve fallen for the Ong boy wearing a Poinsettia flower crown • looks like you’ve got a secret to keep this Christmas • and Santa has one wish off your list

#wanna one #wanna one scenarios #produce 101 #produce 101 scenarios #yoon jisung #ha sungwoon #hwang minhyun #ong seongwoo #kim jaehwan #kang daniel #park jihoon #park woojin #bae jinyoung #lee daehwi #lai guanlin

[redgillan]

Rotten Judgement - part 3

AU!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Hercules!AU After selling your soul to save your lover’s life, you become one of the Lord of the Underworld’s slave. Bucky is obsessed with one thing: collecting hearts. But why?

Word Count:1,564

Warnings: Language, Angst, Slaves, Shape-shifting, Mythology, Jealousy...

A/N: Thank you for the lovely comments and replies ♥ I hope you guys like this chapter.

Rotten Judgement - Masterpage

A couple of weeks after the incident in the alley, you stood in line at Starbucks. While you waited, you glanced around the coffee shop. It was a typical busy day and the place was packed. You pulled out your phone and scrolled through your news feed to pass the time. Your eyes widened when you saw the headline.

“Notorious criminal dubbed ‘Crossbones’ found dead in cell.”

When the barista called your name, you snapped back to attention. You took your coffee and found a table near the front door. You set your cup and purse down on the table and read the article. The last sentence sent a chill down your spine.

“...an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.”

You cursed under your breath. Your anxiety spiked so suddenly that your vision got blurry. You tried to calm your pounding heart, focusing on your breathing, when a man in his late fifties plopped down in the seat across from yours. You looked up at him, your eyebrows knitted together in confusion and annoyance.

“Mind if I take a sip?” He reached for your cup of coffee.

“Sir, I think you should leave,” you warned firmly.

He giggled.

You had never heard a man giggle before. Your heartbeat returned to normal and you took a minute to observe the man. He smiled sweetly, flipping his imaginary hair over his shoulder.

“Long time no see,” he said, propping his elbow on the table and resting his cheek on his hand. “It’s dull when you don’t play with us.”

He pouted.

You sighed, recognising the Fury. “Okay, which one are you?”

“The cute one,” he replied, grinning as he took another sip of your coffee.

“Wanda,” you hissed quietly, “what are you doing here?”

“Aw, you think I’m cute.” The man wiggled his brows.

“Nat would never call herself the cute one.” You glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Rumlow’s dead. What the hell did you do?”

“The Lord crushed his heart.” The man shrugged. “Why are you so upset? He was a piece of garbage.”

“Because they’re planning an autopsy!” You tried to keep your voice low. “Wanda, Rumlow doesn’t have a heart, what do you think the coroner will say when they’ll cut him up?”

“Relax,” he sighed. “Why do you think I took the appearance of this white know-it-all dude? I used a scalpel, pretended to be in deep thought and said stuff like ‘Cardiac arrest, he died on the spot.’”

“And that’s it?” you asked and the man shrugged again.

“Yup. Life’s easy when you’re a white dude, and that’s the gospel truth.” He got up from his seat and urged you to follow him. “Come on, we have a new assignment. It’s gonna be fun!”

You reluctantly grabbed your bag and headed for the doors. As you both passed the doors, Wanda shape-shifted back into herself. You scolded her, someone might have seen her using her powers.

You let Wanda lead the way while she explained the basics of your new mission. Your part was simple. All you had to do was find Captain America and beg for help. You didn’t want to do it, but you couldn’t say no. Your soul belonged to the Lord of the Underworld, you had to obey his wishes.

Once you reached an abandoned building, Wanda ran inside while you waited for the signal. People walked past you without paying attention to their surroundings. You crossed your arms and looked up at the façade of the building.

A little girl, most likely Wanda, crawled out of the apartment window and walked along the edge. Nobody seemed to notice that a child was trying to climb onto the roof to rescue a cat. You could have sworn that the cat winked at you.

Urgh, Nat, you thought.

The little girl lost her footing and fell off the roof. It was completely staged and you had to admit Wanda was a good actress. Her cries alarmed passers-by. Some people pulled out their phones and started recording while others stared wide-eyed as the ‘little girl’ tightly gripped a window frame.

You figured this was the signal.

“Help! Please! She’s going to fall,” you screamed at the passers-by, pushing past them to find the superhero.

Captain America ran toward the building when he saw you. You noticed that his suit was different, more elaborate than his booty shorts and leggings. The dark blue suit moulded itself to his body. For a brief moment, you forgot what you were supposed to say.

“What happened?” he urged.

“Thank goodness, Captain America,” you sighed, clutching his arm to steady yourself. “The little girl, she tried to save her cat, but she fell. She’s going to die!”

Without wasting any more time, Captain America took your hand. You practically had to jog to keep up with him as he navigated his way through the crowd. Once you reached the building, he dropped your hand and walked straight into the trap.

“Get outta there, you big lug, while you still can,” you muttered under your breath, eyes locked on the building.

Captain America managed to grab the little girl’s hand, but the child wouldn’t stop wiggling. He told her that he was here to save her, but failed to notice the small nod the child gave to the cat. The cat landed swiftly next to Captain America’s hand and bared its claws. He hissed in pain as the cat scratched his skin with its claws, threatening to throw him and the child off the roof.

Someone chuckled next to you.

The Lord of the Dead was standing next to you in his usual all-black suit. He looked straight ahead but, from the corner of his eye, he saw you stare at him.

“You’re a monster,” you said matter-of-factly.

“I’m no angel, but monster? It hurts my feelings, darlin’.” Bucky clutched at his heart in faux outrage.

“As if you were capable of feeling anything,” you replied, turning your head toward the building. “You’re going to kill him.”

“You think I want to kill him?” he asked more seriously.

“Why else would you do this?”

When he didn’t answer, you racked your brains for an explanation. Your first thought was that he was lying, but it made no sense. He didn’t have to justify his actions to you. To anyone.

He was the Lord of the Underworld, the God of Death. You were no one. You could think of only one explanation- he was afraid.

“You’re trying to scare him.” You took his lack of response as a cue to continue. “I’m right, aren’t I? You think this near-death experience will make him drop the shield. It’s never gonna work. He’s willing to sacrifice his life for a kid. He has no fear.”

The muscles in his jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth. “Stop talking.”

“I mean, have you seen his biceps?” you whistled. “He’s going to conquer the world. You can’t beat him. Nothing will stop him, he’s gonna-”

“STOP TALKING!” he shouted.

A few people turned to look at him in surprise, but he didn’t seem to care. He grabbed your shoulders and turned you to face him.

“You think you’re so clever, but you forget that gushing over men is what got you in this mess in the first place. You sold your soul to me to save your boyfriend's life. And how does this creep thank you? By running off with some babe.” His eyes narrowed. “Learn from your mistakes and stop acting like a stupid, infatuated girl.”

You held his stare, determined to seem unaffected. He noticed how your nostrils flared and your lips tightened and realized he had gone too far. You tried to act like you didn’t care, but his words still cut deep into you.

He considered apologizing, but he was too proud. Why would he, the Lord of the Underworld, apologize to you, his disobedient minion? Your staring contest was cut short by a loud cheer.

You both turned your heads as Captain America walked out of the building, holding the child and the cat in his arms. Blood trickled down his hand from the scratches. The cat jumped out of his arms and ran away.

Your first instinct was to run toward him. Wanda, as the little girl, took advantage of his stunned reaction to escape and vanish into the crowd.

“Steve, you’re hurt.” You took his hand in yours and examined his wound.

“It’s nothing.” He linked his fingers through yours. You looked at your intertwined hands and gave him a sheepish smile. “You called me by my name.”

“I was worried,” you replied honestly.

You worried your bottom lip with your teeth and considered your next move. You could feel Bucky’s icy stare as you leaned closer to Steve so he could hear you over the roar of the crowd.

Bucky focused all his attention on you and watched your lips move as you spoke to Captain America. He couldn't hear your voice, but he could read your lips. It wasn’t difficult, you seemed to be mouthing the words.

“Let’s get away from here.”

Bucky felt his blood boiling in his veins, his hands balling into fists. Smiling, Steve held your hand tightly and led you away from the crowd.

Part 4

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes imagines #marvel fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #marvel imagine #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky fanfiction #redgillan #redgillanwrites #rotten judgement

[stellxuk]

Day 1 - Kensington Gardens/ Buckingham Palace/ Westminister Bridge/ Checking in/ The Fish House

London, 7am. I got on the Heathrow Express for a straight train ride to Paddington station before transiting to High Street Kensington, where I’ll be dropping off my luggage at my Airbnb hosts’ office. It was already quite a navigational process to find the Heathrow Express platform just ‘cause I wasn’t used to needing to take a monorail to another terminal to get to customs and head out of Terminal 5. I remember queueing even with others to get my passport stamped, only to have the customs officer firmly tell me that I could’ve gone through the e-gate. Already embarrassed I walked through the lane and as my mom had always reminded me, check and make sure your passport’s stamped. There was no stamp. So I approached another customs officer and he looked at me, eyebrows furrowed, physically it didn’t make sense, yet I was asking a rather outdated question.

“You don’t need a stamp anymore.” Ah.

High Street Kensington felt familiar, with my first pret-a-manger in sight – a place that would’ve served me very well to buffer time and grab quick bites in the following days. 

At my Airbnb hosts’ office, conveniently just across the road, the receptionist (French 20-something who thinks she’s superior with her bob and straight bangs) rudely brushed me off by saying nobody’s in the office yet so I’d just have to wait. I was too tired to argue and had no reason to be equally sassy so I waited, it was by then 8am in the morning anyway so I was ahead of schedule. However, sitting in the lobby watching other office-workers and executive members walk in an out, eyeballing me and giving subtle looks, I got increasingly uncomfortable and wondered if the lady was going to ignore me perpetually. Thank goodness she approached right on cue then with a nicer tone, asking to follow her to the office. 

It was a quick straight walk down to Kensington Gardens, and with the morning light the barren trees gave off sepia hues in the cool winter. The grass, however, thrived in luscious green and abundance. There were so many dog walkers, but all rather aloof to my smiles at their pups, who also trotted along and paid no heel. I started snapping away – of William and Kate’s abode (the Kensington Palace), of a lone man walking down a narrow path separating two large grass fields, of the pond inhabited by swans that swam so close to the edge you could see them eye to eye. I r e a l l y loved the pond at Kensington Gardens, circular and central to the park, I didn’t care that I looked like some greenhorn who’d never seen anything so typical of a park as others just jogged past with their ears plugged. I live just opposite a reservoir, yet this pond – its serenity in the cold, the swans’ majestically floating, ducks pruning their feathers by the edges – was a sight to behold. It overwritten all the rough encounters I had earlier in the morning.

Walking further down to Hyde Park I was headed to Buckingham Palace for their changeover at 10am. Crossing the road to enter Buckingham Palace Green, I saw that my phone was soon dying. But shit. I had left my portable charger in my carry-on that had been left at the office. My first onset panic mode. I was contemplating whether to take the walk back, albeit far but still manageable, to grab my portable charger and re-walk the whole route to hopefully make it in time for the changeover at the Palace. Or should I just keep going, since after the palace I just wanted to walk around the city for a bit and head back in a couple of hours in time to check in to the Airbnb. While my head battled the options on the outside I was calmly making my way further and further from the office, and so I guessed my feet had made the decision for me. We walk on and hope I won’t be crippled without access to Google Maps.

Buckingham Palace! There was already a crowd lined up, flagging themselves to the gates and looking through the thin steel railings to see the guards marching to and fro intermittently. I found a spot to squeeze in between 2 families and took it all in. At one point the Royal Mail van drove in, and a couple of luxury cars were also taking their exit. People were also seated around (and on) the Victoria Memorial just opposite. 

I checked the time – 9.30am, I didn’t think there’d be much to do for 30 minutes, plus we were on a time crunch cause my battery was at 10%. So I decided to forgo the ceremony and continued walking.

Making a turn down to birdcage walk I chanced upon this area (?) called the Victoria Nova/ The Nova Building. Thinking maybe I can grab a proper bite, the only thing that attracted me was a standalone push cart called the Chai Guys. You guessed it, they were selling coffee but more importantly, chai. I got my first cuppa and their design was so cute I had to take that typical arm-extended-against-cityscape shot:

Looking at the underground sign at the entrance of Victoria station I contemplated yet again to take the train back to High Street Kensington to grab my portable charger before getting back on my itinerary (you can see how ensuring my phone stays alive has killed some fun and ability of being in the moment). But the thought of needing to explain myself to the rude French receptionist and trouble her to escort me up and down again deterred me entirely. Instead, I circled back again to Buckingham Palace to see if the changeover had started.

Thinking I’ll keep walking instead of stopping to watch the whole thing, in order to get back on track and head towards the city, I managed to catch them just walking in to the palace. The crowd grew bigger and there were security personnels warning people to carry their backpacks on their fronts because there’re pickpocketed lurking in this area. That all the more made me want to keep walking.

Another 5-10 minutes and I found the famous red telephone booth. I didn’t trust want someone to help take a picture for me so I wanted just the memory of a lone telephone booth. I eventually had to wait a minute for it because couples, mother-daughter duos and tween groups were all taking turns to enter the booth and take their signature interactive poses. From the aloof locals, to how easily my space could be “invaded” and presence kinda looked over, London was starting to make me feel a little transparent and for a split second it hit me that I was really alone. 

What happened next didn’t help to soothe my soul in any way. After the telephone booths, past Westminister Abbey, was of course the Westminister bridge that would lead me into the city centre of London. It was a very very very busy bridge – everyone was almost passing through shoulder-to-shoulder and I had my eye on a pop up store selling souvenirs when suddenly a lady stopped me and started shoving a clipboard and a pen against my torso.

“For the deaf and blind. Please sign.” She chanted, refusing my refusals and letting me walk ahead. Soon another guy and woman on her team cornered me and continued pressurising me to sign it. I knew what this was – one of those petitions where after you “harmlessly” sign you’d have to make a mandatory donation, something I was already warned about by my colleague. So I kept saying “No”, zig-zagging to pass them but they locked me down and met me even when I pushed through the crowd to get to the other side of the bridge. Finally as I was saying my 100th no, this time also physically pushing away her clipboard, the lady interrupted me with a mumble in a foreign language before dropping everything and walking away. It was instant. Like an off-switch was activated inside of her. I was slightly perturbed as to why she’d suddenly give up, and what exactly she was mumbling about, when an instinct kicked in to look down and check my bag. My heart dropped when I saw my fanny pack zipped open, my camera (which took up the bulk of the space) in plain sight.

I rushed to a quieter corner at the end of the bridge and rummaged through my things. Passport, wallet, oyster card, they were all intact. But I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was there something more valuable I was forgetting that should’ve been inside? I hurried again, almost deliriously, to someplace I could properly sit down, catch my breath, slow my heart rate, and be sure that I wasn’t just pickpocketed. 

Finally I saw there was a Starbucks and I took a sit outside among pigeons nibbling on leftovers and families feeding their children in prams to take out my things and account for each one. Nothing was lost, seriously. I didn’t know how to find relief, a part of me wanted to just retreat and go back to the unwelcoming office lobby. But I’d have to find a way that didn’t involve passing that damn Westminister bridge again. Throughout the entire trip I’d never revisited that bridge.

“Just keep going, Estella. Don’t let this ruin the day.” And so I did. I walked along Southbank, took that quintessential tourist picture of the London Eye, of the National Theatre, and ended up at Gabriel’s Wharf. Thinking I’ll finally (finally) have my first meal at this fish and chips restaurant, I walked away because of the crowd and the price for a simple Dory’s fish and chips. 

I ended up at OXO Tower Wharf, which seemed like a Design Orchard equivalent with cubic spaces across two floors that showcase the works of up and coming designers and artists. Walking into a quirky design store, I thought I’d be able to find a portable charger but alas, there were Frida Kahlo lip balms and kids schoolbags in the shape of a space rocket, but absolutely z e r o portable chargers. I was at 2%, and Blackfriars bridge was where I threw in the white flag. I was supposed to make it all the way to Borough market, but I clearly had underestimated the walk, and it was enough risking (and turn of events) for the day. 

I settled for a chicken salad from LEON and sat by the window, people watching as friends met up at the entrance of High Street Kensington station, grandmas got ready to head out with their daughters and grandchildren, mature couples stepping in to Marks and Spencers for their daily shopping. Even though my phone was dying, I was struggling with time because it was 1pm, an odd time to be heading to the office and waiting to check in until 3pm. But there wasn’t enough time to grab my portable charger and head out again. So I just sat at LEON, in slight disbelief of the sights and sounds I had encountered in a mere 5+ hours. London, baby. 

We were inching to 2pm when I could no longer hog the seat at LEON, so I took a stroll into the famous Boots store just adjacent to the station, and took a look at Zara Home just opposite. Oh yes, I’d also forgotten to bring my glasses on the trip, so I walked into a prescription store along the street as well but soon realised it was a dumb move because frames alone were minimally 50 pounds (and those were ugly). My astigmatism isn’t dreadful enough for me to spend money on a pair of glasses that would be deemed useless once I got back to Singapore.

Finally, finally, after a little more waiting in the lobby (the French receptionist had ended her shift and now a nice 20-something male Londoner helmed the desk) I could finally check in to my Airbnb. I took a quick 2-stop bus ride down to Notting Hill Gate and arrived at the bright pink door. Lugging my suitcase up the 4 flights of stairs was THE WORST, and I soon came face-to-face with the small cubic loft that, in the following days, would’ve risen my anxiety levels with its misleading paper thin walls that made me purvy to when every neighbour was coming home, opening their doors (which often sounded like they were trying to barge through mine), stepping into showers, and when the garbage collector came on Wednesday morning and made such a ruckus I thought a fight broke out along the street. 

After taking a video tour of the place and sending it to Mom, I settled in, changed and freshened up for dinner. It was at a nearby fish and chips place called the Fish House. No more adventurous trails and exploring for me. The restaurant was in a quaint shophouse with a very tiny shopfront where you could order takeaways. To get a seat, you’d then have to take another 2 narrow flights of stairs up to their topmost floor. When I arrived a family had just finished their dinner so by the time I ordered I had the whole place to myself (which I thought was quite iffy cause Google shown great reviews). The fish and chips was alright, along with the cup of hot tea, and after an hour or so I made my leave and called it a night.

[ourdragonflydays-blog]

Things that have been essential with a newborn

So, my little poppet is 6 weeks old now and I thought I would write a list of those essential things that we really used/learned the first few weeks of his life! (Please take into account this is from my perspective, you might have completely different views due to you circumstance. That’s fine, you do you boo.)

Sleepsuits. So before he was born I imagined myself dressing him in cute trousers and jumpers with little booties and hats. Now the hats and bibs are needed however lots of the cute clothes are just not suitable for a newborn. Not just because changing a nappy is harder to do (I mean I don’t have much else to do in the day so I wouldn’t mind a distraction) but because for my little bean the trousers were simply too tight for his little tummy and this caused gas. Which brings me to my next point...

Anti-Colic techniques. I naively thought babies slept, pooed, looked around cutely and then slept some more. Did you now sometimes they cry for seemingly no reason at all? For sometimes hours? That you can’t stop? It sounds like a nightmare doesn’t it? Thankfully our child has not been too colic-y but this is a real thing and no-one really knows what causes it. None of the grannies I spoke to in the street mentioned this when I was pregnant!! But we found a few things that seem to work - the first is try to get rid of all gas. This is usually through burping and making sure the baby is upright when feeding and not sucking in air when taking the boob/bottle. (Our son has moved from breastfeeding to bottlefeeding and both created the same amount of gas so I wouldn’t worry about that.) Again, just wearing sleepsuits has really stopped any pressure on his tummy and make sue they have the right sized nappy (you should be able to comfortably fit two fingers under the waistband). We also have set up a nightly routine of bath, bottle and bed at around 7pm which helps with the so called ‘witching hour’. The ‘witching hour’ is a mythical name for colic, the crying at evening time. Babies are crazy and seem like they are in pain for this time - pulling their legs to their chest, getting red in the face and crying regardless of what you do. Now this was very testing (still is) for my husband and I and in the first few weeks this caused me a lot of anxiety when the end of the day rolled around. Following some anti-colic tips have really reduced the amount this happened but when it does there are some medications you can use to help the baby with this. We tried Infacol (which didn't work for us), there is gripe water which is for 3 months onwards but we found our saviour to be... Dentinox Colic Drops!! They seriously work for us but we like to use them as a last resort. They basically work to combine all the small little bubbles in your babies tummy together to work out as a burp or a fart. We use it sparingly because the baby acts like i’ve poured vinegar down his throat and it hurts my soul when he cries like that. 

Drugs. No, not those kinds. The medication type. The little sausage got his first cold when he was 3 weeks old and he could barely breathe (somewhat due to the button nose inherited from his father...)! This was a new hurdle for us, especially as my husband went back to work on this week and the cold meant sleeping was very tricky for the babe unless he was lying on one of us. This meant one of us not sleeping to keep an eye on him. Not ideal. We therefore scoured any and every shop and pharmacy for ways to relieve him of his snot! Being so young he couldn’t take calpol or any kind of paracetamol/ibuprofen so we were left with saline drops prescribed from the doctor. Have you ever tried to get a drop of liquid down a squirming newborn, and inherently tiny, nose? Its a lot of fun. We did find in an ASDA calpol saline spray suitable from birth which actually sprays the saline up their nose. This worked well. We also bought a nasal aspirator. Technically we bought two ... initially bought one from mother care which you pushed down and then released when it was in his nose. Don’t buy it! it doesn’t work! I also sterilised outs which rendered it useless so also don’t do that. I did then make another dash to Tescos and bought the type that is a long tube that give you images of sucking up and eating the snot...which worked really well for getting out the snot. My husband was better at it than me because he has the lung capacity of something with large lungs. Quite satisfying as well got to be honest seeing the snot in the tube.  We also bought vapour oil to put in a bowl of warm water. Not sure if this did anything. Smelled lovely though. 

Money Being 24, and on fairly low income my husband and I want to spend the least amount of money possible. The chick’s clothes are usually secondhand, he has Tescos own nappies, we buy the average formula, Ikea everything, we look out for deals on wipes etc. That being said there are a few things that we ended up forking out for that I think were really worth it. (side note - something that was not worth the £50 was an automatic breast pump which was painful, time consuming and really noisy and impossible to sell secondhand!) Cot - We started out with a secondhand moses basket which was £5 and I thought would be good enough. Here are the reasons why it wasn't: it was really difficult (and painful!) to lower him into from the bed, didn’t rock anyway, was a pain in the arse to clean and he didn’t like because when he flung his arms out in his sleep (newborns do this did you know?) they would hit the sides. We therefore ended up forking out nearly £200 on a bedside crib to co-sleep in the bedroom safely. Here are the reasons why it is better: It doesn’t pull my stitches to put him down into it, I can check his breathing easily, it can adjust to different levels and be raised at one end when he is poorly, he likes it better, it will be easier for him to adjust to his cot as it is bigger and it looks nicer.  Bottles - I am not trying to start a discussion, everyone is different and has their own reasons for how they feed their baby. At 3 weeks old we moved from breast to bottle feeding. We decided to buy a perfect prep machine from Tommee Tippee which dispenses the perfect temperature water. It is £100 new and we paid £20 for it on Facebook marketplace and then an extra £10 for a new filter. It is amazing. In the day it works well and saves the hassle of the kettle but I don’t know how I would survive at night without it. I am like a bear - you are brave to wake me. So the 3am feeds are hard for me (but mostly my poor husband because of my vile demeanour). The perfect prep means that I can have a bottle ready in 38 seconds (i’ve counted) and I am usually back to bed in 20 minutes. Side note - I also got a £1 Avent microwave steriliser from a nearly new sale which is a godsend. Pram - I have no way of comparison here with this being my first baby so take this with a pinch of salt but my family has the tradition that the parents (my mum and dad) buy the first born’s pram. I therefore asked for the best and got the SilverCross Wayfarer travel system. it was about £800 (Thanks mum!). I use this thing every day and it never fails to make me happy. It is just so intuitive and easy! The buttons are all where you think they will be, the joining parts all work easily, the car seat is safe and sturdy, the isofix is easy to install, the bassinet is very cute, the raincover is easy to put on, the cup holder holds starbucks etc. There is literally nothing I dislike about it except I wish I could be pushed around asleep and be fed on demand.  A Washer/Dryer - What? No not traditional put-on-your-registry baby item but do you know how many times you will be pooed, weed and sicked up on in one day? sometimes all at the same time? this would be fine in the summer but good lord if I didn’t have the capacity to dry the washing we would literally have nothing to wear. Also, fuck the clothes horse. I used that thing for 2 years and it doesn’t dry the clothes and makes the room all damp. The washer dryer was £300 and my dear husbands father got it for us. I love it (and him).  A Baby Swing - Do you ever need to poo? Have to eat? Need to put on a bra to answer the door to the postman? These are the times that the baby swing is important. The baby also loves it and sometimes would rather be in it than on me. He loves the mobile that hangs above his head and is a safe place to put him if you need a breather. My mum again got it secondhand for £80. Worth every penny. 

Cameras This is pretty self-explanatory but already looking back at him when he was first born is so lovely and they change so much. Take all the photos - awake, asleep, naked, clothed, covered in excrement, crying, at the doctors etc. You will forget in your sleep deprived state and they change before your eyes. I love the photos we have of him and will cherish them forever. 

Muslins see - Sick. Poo. Wee. 

Baby Baths  I love having bath myself so its only natural my son loves it too. We have a little baby bath that fits into the main bath and cradles him safely. I then get in the bath with him and my husband pours water over him (and me!) while I use baby soaps to wash his little body. This is such a special time for us, we are all working together, usually smiling and laughing, with lovely smells and skin-to-skin and calming down after the day. This so far is my favourite part of being a mother. 

Patience This is not just patience for the screaming ball of flesh that wakes you up at god-knows when covered in god-knows what. This is patience with the life you have now. You cannot poo when you want to. You aren’t in control of your day anymore girl! All those hours blissfully bored when you were pregnant are a million miles away. You are responsible for this little person and this little person’s needs mean you can’t sleep through the night, or have a whole bottle of wine, or take a relaxing bath, or do the food shop without timing it just right or really have the life you had before. And dealing with that change takes patience. Patience with yourself and the emotions that come with managing the change (fear, regret, longing, exasperation...). Patience with your husband who gets to leave and spend a few hours at work without the baby. Patience with the people in the supermarket who walk in front of you (they don’t know how stressed you are). It is hard. No-one will tell you it’s not hard. Or not to feel those things. But give yourself credit. You’re doing it, you can do it, you have already done it, and with a bit of patience you will learn to get through it. It will get easier. 

Netflix Good lord its boring home on your own. There are only so many times I can hoover and clean before I lose my mind. But it is so stressful leaving the house that sometimes it’s just not worth it. Netflix is amazing because there is so much available and I can choose what I want to watch holding the remote while feeding the baby!

Support I don’t mean a good bra (but always necessary)! The people around you make the hard days that bit easier. Me and my mum are very close anyway and she is self-employed and so it’s great to have someone who is available in the day to go and see. My husband and I also try to go for a walk every night to make sure we spend some time talking to each other and doing something other than baby care! I have also found some mother and baby groups to be good - it might be worth looking around though because some are very toddler heavy / not very baby friendly ! My sister also made us some food for the freezer which has been great (especially on those growth spurts!) and my granddad has been very good in giving us tomatoes from the allotment. Reaching out and talking is so important to keep yourself from becoming isolated and its something that I still need to remember. 

KY Jelly (or water-based lube) Pretty self explanatory. After the bleeding it is dry down there. I mean sahara dry. And I don’t just mean use it for sex. Some days it was just necessary for daily use.  And the last one for now:

Teamwork Myself and my husband are so lucky and thankful for our baby. We know how hard it is for some people and not everyone gets to be parents so we are incredibly grateful. That being said it is without a doubt the hardest thing we’ve done together. The best days have been the ones where we have worked as a team. Unfortunately it is very easy to snap and take your frustration out on the closest person. We have been working hard to make sure we talk explicitly about how we are feeling and work together to make solutions. If it gets hard I try to remember that it’s us against the problem. My husband is my rock and I could not do it without him. I try to tell him this as often as possible and him to me.

Wow, you’re still here? You deserve some kind of award. Thank you for reading, I hope it was helpful. 

#newborn #baby #essentials #birth #mum #mom #new mum #new mom #first time mum #6 weeks old #child #midwife #labor #labour #baby boy #muslin #cot #tommeetippe #perfect prep #silver cross #wayfarer #ky jelly #colic #sleepsuit

[sh-lan]

i’m always late for these now but oh well

i can’t believe i’m making an ebay account happy new year LOL

Third day of the new year!

Went to hangout with ryan and leighton. They wanted to try marugame udon so!!! Also i saw adam but didnt say hi, oops. In any case. We were like hey let’s do something like walk around! But it rained a little so we bought some cuties from trader joe’s and ended up at ryan’s house and basically sat in his kotatsu for 4 hours then i came home. I also finally know how it feels like when the manga says that your legs get tangled inside the kotatsu. And when you literally cannot get out of it. Plus the feeling of losing the ability to walk because ya gurl tried to stand up after crawling out of the kotatsu and just fell back down What a day LOL

my brain in general has forgotten how it feels like to study …oh dear

Mommy helped me dye my hair yesterday! It’s lighter than i thought but it was the gray ochre color from palty! And it smells like grape hichews Facetimed vania & yuri today and they noticed the color! And then facetiming with dad and he also noticed LIKE WOW I DIDNT REALIZE PEOPLE COULD TELL? <3

I want a lot of cute phone case but idk what and where to get EDIT: i am still having this problem

I just saw the golden year of the dog items from starbucks korea AND I WANT EDIT: also want the starbucks x pantone planner fml EDIT EDIT: did not end up buying anything good job deborah lan

i was right muster merch colors ARE BEAUTIFUL

The muster merch fmu EDIT: clearly i was overwhelmed with the colors because there were two separate drafts in a row lol

The company insists on having two references….

And now they said they chillin with a peer reference SO I PHONED A FRIEND (aka vania) bless her soul

jan 10th l i f e u p d a t e got the first job offer of my life!! (well official full time offer lol) and so it looks like i’m going to portland? :O

Wow i joined a GO for muster merch New year new me and goodbye money 탕진잼 탕진잼 탕진잼

Wow im glad i submitted the form to get muster merch because THEY ARE SO CUTE AND PRETTY. Okay but i really want PCs so i sincerely hope bighit has some sense and ship PC sets abroad when you order multiple other items Also didnt realize the lenticular key rings would be a hot item but seriously they are so much more adorable than i thought?? Jk’s key ring is so cute i cri EDIT: just found out about no acrylic stand )))): EDIT EDIT: didn’t get squat because ARMYs jump all over everything any time anything is released...

finding housing is hard and i can’t believe that i actually see an appeal to living in downtown…

fmu because bt21 getting released online BUT I REALLY SHOULDN’T BUY but also i finally got my package from jen! ugh omg the bag charms are so cute i don’t know whether to actually use them or keep them in their boxes ;__; and she included some mediheal masks! finally also sent vania her tata as a thank you gift~

deokrim stickers are too cute ima buy two sets

And ugh wow i cant believe i chanced upon cornpeu shop reopening im ded Vania and i didnt catch the timing for bt21 and now i’m still dumping money on bts things HAHA EDIT: not even 15 min after writing this, i bought the stuff from cornpeu lel (which couldve been used to buy the cushion so idk man) time to go preorder for deokrim maybe?

Wow my left hand hurts like shit did i really break it playing superstar bts like mom said? No way right

Ahhhh got my muster merch in the mail today and it’s so niceeee *^* Ima stick that washi tape like everywhere LOL

I hurt myself four different times today smh

In portland for the weekend! I deadass ate two packets of honey roasted peanuts on the plane ride over because i didnt realize i was so hungry and now i’m just waiting for the pimples to cOME ;__;

I walked into a stationery store in portland and just. FOUND MY PEACE. jk but i bought some stickers i been looking at online blesssss

No. Tax. Anywhere. (So far)

I had coke last night after my flight and i legit didnt feel tired until 3:30am oops

Omfg i cant believe someone was selling the trust issues photobook by snowpeach in the luce in altis project for $15 last night WOW LIKE THE FEW DAYS I DONT CHECK SHIT, THERE’S ALL KINDS OF SHIT I WANT. $15 is so cheap ;___;

went to portland with alice to check out apartments!!! woot. lots of fun going around/looking at the city. landed on thursday night and waited at the airport for alice and ate mcdonalds/watched the office haha friday: alice had work all day ): so i went out to meet up with yuri and leslie who happened to be out in portland too! walked to the alberta arts district to eat with them at pok pok noi. just walked around afterwards exploring in the rain before getting back home to eat dinner with alice at like 8…lol we went to bamboo sushi in sw and alice treated me to omakase as a congrats on getting my new yob!! woot also did some walking around in the neighborhood - will likely spend quite a bit of time in the powell city of books! saturday: the day we actually went out to see properties! grabbed some blue star donuts and headed into nw district - looked at some apartments and then grabbed lunch at this cute italian place that i will most likely frequent. started talking to alice about stuff and being weak, i cried and then we got free hazelnut ice cream…LOL. it was really good sunday: since we toured places that i actually liked yesterday, we basically just decided to walk around different areas. waterfront park, pioneer square…we spent a while in nordstrom rack and sephora looking for stuff for alice! lol. then dinner again at bamboo sushi and dessert at salt & straw :> monday morning: waking up early to get to the airport for alice’s flight. bought more donuts at the airport for mom! then i sat at the airport watching the office and eating until the airplane ride where i got a whole row to myself~

and that was my portland trip shortened LOL. but~ excited about the new city, definitely excited about the donuts!

Furniture shopping is hard Moving is hard Everythinf comes down to money S M H

Got approved for my apartment today!! #excited

legit on phone calls for an hour getting stuff down and ready. now to wait on emails so i can get to the next step to sign my lease!

It’s been hot in sf like ??? In other news, i put coconut oil in ma hair - let’s see how it feels tomorrow! :O EDIT: idk, it didn’t feel different?

Omg feb 5th: suddenly a day where i can play hard mode on ssbts wow what a day

I just saw the new bts game where you get to “live chat” the boys as the user becomes the manager and takes care of the bois I am literally gonna die All armys gonna die Why do they do this to us …BECAUSE THEY KNOW WE’LL NEVER BE THEIR MANAGERS

Today i threw away my first lip tint because it looked funky funks and was like dying Good bye you were good to me - onto more an new lip tints! On another note. The balenciaga cap is $350??!?!

Being fat today and ordered three desserts with han at creations. And then went to the beach because pokemon but ended up star-gazing and it was niceee

Just came across its it ice creams on IG and since it’s been so hot (cause like spring came early or something??) i want it!! Also, it’s like the only time i ever consume oatmeal raisin cookies (unless they just oatmeal - in which case, delicious) But omg i didnt know strawberry is an OG flavor? Althought mint reigns supreme. But. GREEN TEA??

A BUMBLEBEE FLEW INTO MY HOUSE THE OTHER DAY AND I WAS ALONE AND COULDNT HELP also raided mewtwo yesterday!! Woot. Surprisingly got the gym bonus after much hardwork but dayum caught with only one ball LOL

Ever since that one time on the airplane with the weird ass headache/tension above my left eyebrow….i got like two headaches in a week that were like that. Also in between those, my right ear hurts and honestly…am i broken somewhere cause lel Body please get better

Lmao so last time i put on a screen protector, i cracked it in two days cause i dropped it. And i just put on a new one last week and lo and behold, it hath cracked again but this time, in my purse. I’m so ????? Smh

Landed in portland once again with han for move in!! Woke up super early…. Just went to target/tj maxx to buy stuff. Smh should’ve bought a swiffer and gotten it sent here ): Got a shower rug! THE SOFT SQUISHY ONE. But failed in the shower curtain department cause it’s too short… Makeshift bed with blankets and bed sheets lol…we shall await the mattress coming in tomorrow~ Do have quite a bit of stuff to buy in general…): Anyways. Had a burrito for dinner and like ?!! Aluminum foil gave me an aluminum cut so…ow No internets yet - good thing han downloaded some movies!

My cuticles are dying because my hands are dry and wow this is terribad

Went and bought a shitton of strawberry chocolates for 50% off at cvs MUAHAHA

Went to macy’s (or we’ve been going often since it’s going out of business so things are going on sale) and got the seiko watch i was kinda eyeing last time. ONLY TO FIND OUT (forgot to check on amazon) that it was 38 dollahs cheaper ;__; but. EHHH it’s all good. Seems like the one on amazon has strap problems being too smol so…like, it’s totally chill

February 19th

My first day of work!! Went in earlies and had onboarding for about two hours with amother new hire. Then i returned to my room where i met my coworker and my manager! Both of whom are in the same room and we each have a desk. (Ima have to request a standing desk :O) anywayss. Got a company laptop - thank god it’s not bulky. And then i’ve got two monitors on my desk too! #bless

Then jlw went through more ux stuff with me and i also went to a stand up meeting. Like. Those are real man. Then went to company lunch! Where new hires introduce themselves and i realize that i have never used a dishwasher before and everyone was shookt lol.

Afterwards, i went to a sprint meeting AND BOIIIII PLANNING POKER DOE??? Lololol. I have to say i did not understand a single thing that was going on. Took about an hour and a half…

Anyways. went back in where jlw continued where she left off and then finally let me read some onboarding stuff on my own before she headed out at 4 and then me, leaving swiftly at 4 as well LOL

SO that was my first day! Trying to get everything in order - i hope that everything goes great and that i learn lots and lots! :> although…windows computer already killing me, no wonder people use mouses instead of the trackpad. Also…gotta learn Axure + in depth photoshop so…WOOT WOOT

Oh and we also have a huge snack cabinet i might just become a potato

Light snowfall is so pleasant :>

Bucketlist checklist:

Eat alone - check! First lunch break :> (exciting!)

Watch a movie by myself - check! Love, Simon

Second day - drank too much coffee while i’m still weak against caffeine. It’s 1:26am. HNNNGH

i got really bored at work today because even though it’s week 2 now, i was done with my shit at like 2pm so i just started looking at axure tutorials for another however long until 4:30 LOL side note: might actually do my post-its idea thing then i realize that i didn’t bring any post-its over to portland… also i cracked my screen again today because i slammed it on the counter while trying to save it from falling so did i really save it….

bought rice and shin ramen on amazon lel

Gonna try out my post it idea in the office tomorrow. Hope it goes well 🤞

2/28/17 First ever happy hour but also goodbye party for kyle - also like the first time i talked to him since the one and a half week i been there (minus when we introduced ourselves) but sads cause he was kinda a squish and everyone seemed to have a chill time working with him :/ oh well

ALSO THE FIRST DAY THAT YA GURL GOT PAID $$$ (which is just directly going to rent - oh the woe of getting paid bi-monthly LOL)

Wow i did a great job sticking on my phone screen protector! #yes EDIT: no i didnt. It’s blocking the camera slightly on top smh

Ya gurl cut her finger on a tape measure lmfaooo

Alice came two weekends in a row to help me buy and build stuff and daymn. That was some hard work and tbh i only built a shelf and a bed LOOOOL I think ima go for the sofa + table rather than the desk. I think it might work! Also went to ashun market. Good weekend :>

I went bowling today!! It was an engineering celebration so i thought - why not, let’s be social for a little bit. And it turned out to be fun~ we had some fuds and i played two rounds. And I got a strike in one of the rounds! Woot woot. Anyways. It was enjoyable, not as awkward as i had envisioned. Also i was able to successfully catch the bus home so that was great :>

I think i’m reverting back to my eating habits because there are ENDLESS SNACKS IN THE OFFICE. Oh dear

Really actually thinking about that dicon photobook because the pictures are so nice :<

ALSO FINALLY FCKIN DISCOVERED ELECTRICITY CHARGE ON KWH DIFFERS ON A MONTH TO MONTH BASIS in addition to usage. Wow the things you discover and uncover as you adult

Also city of portland why do you have a base charge of $11???????

Ahhh xfinity wifi was too good to be true Apparently only 5 devices could connect to it at one time. So i guess i gotta shop for internets now…LOL EDIT: NAWP. ALL GOOD. THAT WAS FOR HOME HOTSPOT. WOOT

Lmao my manager went to ucsd when marshall was still called third im

In other news. It looks like my one on one anxiety wont dissipate soon. Esp since last week, the vp of engineering just sent me a calendar invite for a one on one and i literally got stressed out for a straight 30 min before i said yes to the invite and could slowly go back to focusing on work lol…. EDIT: it ended up being around 15 minutes and i did not really enjoy it at all

We are bulletproof pt 2 came on today while i was walking and i still cannot believe that the first lines still got me smiling like a fckin idiot

Ok so i finally talked to this girl at work (who i think is really pretty omfg) the other day and she’d been curling her hair recently and as we were walking out of the bathroom i was like I REALLY LIKE YOUR HAIR And then she said my hair is so straight and healthy - “do you straighten it? It’s really pretty” and i’m just over here crying on the inside because it looks like hay and only happened to be really straight that day for god knows what reason. SO BASICALLY THE STARS ALIGNED JUST SO WE COULD HAVE THIS CONVERSATION Also she said she recently bought a curler that just “does it for you” and gurl i need that because idk how to DO ANYTHING TO MY HAIR UGH

I woke up with the blankets already nicely proportioned off the sides of my bed - so i just crawled out without making my bed today lool

Thought i could handle watching burn the stage but i saw the screenshot of jungkook lying down and it already broke my heart Need to be secluded with some tissues ;__;

A two day trip to see The Rose in seattle or a five day trip in san diego… 🤔🤔🤔

last day of march went to lunch with my coworkers for the first time and i actually enjoyed it! it was fun :> glad that my coworker actually dropped by the office to invite us to lunch~

good friday today because:

lunch was good

really honestly did nothing because we were troubleshooting visual studio

also basically did nothing because double sprint planning and retro LOL

HEADING HOME FOR THE WEEKEND UNTIL WEDNESDAY

#gotpaid

but no joke, on the ride to the airport, i got carsick and i honestly didn’t even know that was possible but if you think about it, i basically haven’t been on any kind of transportation for at least a month… also my uber driver is like some viet gangsta or something that gets pulled into the room every time he tries to go to canada O_O LOL

Deadass trying to save money but The rose concert in seattle, want to make an sd trip, want the 2k18 asia trip But also bts comeback sometime during the first half of the year and SUDDENLY WANNA ONE IS GOING TO HAVE A WORLD TOUR??? Dammit dude DAMMIT

My heart dies a little every time my coworker comes by and invites me to lunch with everyone *ugly sobs* Dies a little in a good way - just for clarification LOL

Mom dyed my hair for me! And it was darker than i thought BUT GREAT. Curiously enough, after two washes…it’s already lightening?? NO PLEASE STAY DARK. PLEASE. EDIT: lol i realized there was another “mother dyed my hair” somewhere on top lel. just for clarification - nobody else dyes my hair including myself cause i am incapable lOL

omfg i just saw the we bare bears x spao collab AND THEN FOUND THE ADVENTURE TIME X SPAO CLOTHES, SO CUTE!!! the jake and bmo hoodie )):

didn’t realize that i missed them so much ;__; we thought we would all die with the black hair but actually they just killed us with softness good thing they didn’t come out with foreheads lOL

okay lol basically that’s it because nothing happens in my life although i realze that i video recorded a lot of experiences and they’re all just video files sitting on my phone and that’s why maybe i haven’t been writing any everyday things down :O will i ever edit them? unclear

in any case - planning lots of fun things for the months to come hopefully!

#mumble mumble #does this count as #spring mumbles #debs in portland #adulting debs

[strivesy]

5 Ideas to Change Teaching with Digital Tools

Meg Ormiston on episode 270 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

In today’s show, Meg Ormiston gives us an idea for each of the 5 C’s: creativity, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and computational thinking.

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Enhanced Transcript

5 Ideas to Change Teaching with Digital Tools

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2DcdCzO Date: Friday, March 9, 2018

Vicki: I’m so excited. We have Meg Ormiston @megormi with us today.

She’s been in education or 33 years, but for 21 years she’s been helping so many of us with our professional development, keynoting our conferences, speaking, and encouraging us to really use technology in the classroom.

And she does have a series of books that we’ll mention here in a moment.

But today we’re going to talk about five ideas to change teaching with digital tools.

So, Meg, what is our first idea today?

Meg: Awesome! Vicki, I am so happy to be here. This is so fun.

OK. We’re going to talk about the five C’s today:

Creativity

Collaboration

Communication

Critical Thinking, and

Computational Thinking

Creativity

I just went to a presentation of one of my co-authors last week, and she presented about how she does her green screen. And it was so creative, I couldn’t believe it. She’s in a K-2 building? She sprayed the inside of pizza boxes with green screen paint, and she used the little Starbucks stirrers. The kids made characters, and they do retellings of stories as they move the characters around. (laughs)

Vicki: (laughs)

Wow, So then they can cut out the background and then put them anywhere, huh?

Meg: It is SO CUTE.

And people are like, “How did you do this?”

We had to stop the whole workshop! (laughs) It was so fun!

But what I really love about Melissa is that she ties every single lesson she does — like that green screen lesson — to an ISTE standard and she ties it to an ELA standard. And that’s posted right in the room so everyone knows it’s not just fluff, it’s embedded into the curriculum.

So that’s my #1 for today. Love that one.

Vicki: Ohhhh, that is awesome. How cute!

OK, what’s our second?

Collaboration

Meg: OK. Collaboration. And I’ll have to tell you… this is so funny. I just wrote a series of five books with 26 practicing educators.

Vicki: Wow.

Meg: Crazy. Yeah. Not easy. It was like herding cats. It was nuts. But it was so funny.

They’d come to my house, and they would write, and I would cook them dinner.

Each day, they’d kind of spread out around the house.

And one night the high school teachers were at the island, and the K-2 teachers were at the kitchen table.

And I was doing something, and all of a sudden, I was doing something, and one of the high school teachers goes, “They can do THAT? In kindergarten?”

Vicki: (laughs)

Meg: What are we doing? They just couldn’t believe that the young kids could do this. And so what’s so cool on this collaboration piece of that one, is that that kindergarten teacher is now partnering with the high school.

They’re actually different districts, but they’re across the street. The high school students walked down the street, and they did an afternoon STEM collaboration.

Vicki: Oh, I love it! Multiage collaboration is just so incredible, and the hallmark of what I do in my own classroom. I love that!

What’s next?

Communication

Meg: Communication. I love to tell the story of Bill Ferriter’s http://sugarkills.us/

Do you know that project?

Vicki: No! Tell us!

Meg: Oh my gosh. It’s great!

I think it’s been going on for about four years. His kids… I think it might have slowed down a bit. But they have a http://sugarkills.us/ blog.

About 4-5 years ago, Bill brought in a news article about the ban of soda. The big soda in New York City.

Vicki: (agrees)

Meg: And he was just thinking it was a quick activity. And the kids started really getting into it, and figuring out how much sugar is really in the food that they’re eating. And they started to blog about it. It went on for years! I do believe that it’s on its fifth year.

Vicki: Wow.

Meg: But the cool part was that they were communicating all over the globe. If you look at their cluster map, it’s AMAZING how many people they are reaching.

And this was so funny… one day, I was in Houston, Texas, speaking.

I got a text from Bill, and he said, “My class wants to know if you are in Houston, Texas.”

Vicki: (laughs)

Meg: Because when I speak, and I talk about their awesome story, they watch me on their cluster map, and they guess where I am. I feel like I’m being tracked!

Vicki: (laughs) I love that! Kids are so engaged and understand how modern communication works with a virtual audience. Wow, that’s awesome!

What’s our fourth?

Critical Thinking

Meg: OK, critical thinking. I believe, and I love this quote, and I’m giving all the credit to Chris Lehmann, principal of the Science Leadership Academy.

This is his quote that he let me use, “If you assign a project and get back thirty of the exact same thing, that’s not a project. That’s a recipe.”

Vicki: Mmmmmm.

Meg: And I love that. You know, when you walk down the hall of a school, and you just have thirty of the exact same things in a row, and then you go to the next room?

I’m working with a school, and I’m calling it the “Over Rubricked High School.” That’s not even a real word, I think. But these students are super high performing, but all they’re doing is checking boxes on rubrics, and they’re not critically thinking.

And it’s so important to get some creativity into our classrooms, into our projects.

I presented this at a workshop on Friday, and I start by saying, “I’m going to upset some of you. We have to change the projects we’re asking kids to do.”

(Gasps.)

You should have seen the body language!

Vicki: Hmmmm.

Meg: I had fifty people in this room. Ooooooooh! That is not the ____ to make samples. How many poster boards must die from these elementary years?

Ugh. So I am calling it the “Over Rubricked School.”

I think we are “over-rubricking,” and we’re forgetting about the creativity and the critical thinking.

Vicki: Yeah. And you know, I’ve seen some projects that I just call the “Wikipedia Copy Project.”

Meg: Ohhh!

Vicki: Because they’re supposed to do this research, and they’re like, “If I can Google it?”

I mean authentic research? They can’t use… Do something like, “What if Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela had a conversation about modern politics? What would they say?”

They can’t Google that! They have to actually think!

Meg: Exactly! That’s the point.

The school brought me in because they found their kids were graduating like at 98%. But they weren’t finishing college. They didn’t know how to think, because we…

(laughs)

I’m doing a session at ISTE with my son. I’m really excited about that.

“There’s No Rubric For Your First Job”

How about that?

Vicki: Ohhhhh. Love it.

OK, what’s our fifth?

Computational Thinking

Meg: The fifth one is computational thinking.

There, we wrote about coding, all the way through…

So the books go — they’re great books. There’s a K-2, a 3-5, a 6-8, a 9-12, and a leadership book. And we wrote about coding all the way through — starting in kindergarten.

Again, that was something the high school teachers could not believe — truly, could not believe — that the kindergarteners could code.

And it was funny because they were so hung up on, “Where do we put coding in our curriculum?”

Instead of, you know, embracing that we’ve got to (prepare) these kids for the real world. Get them ready with real thinking about future jobs.

So my fifth one is computational thinking.

Vicki: That is so important. And you know, sometimes, it would be nice if we kind of communicated across the board and people could understand that sometimes kindergarteners and first and second and third graders may transfer schools, and they feel like they’re stepping backwards. We’re selling kids short. Just because it’s new to the teacher, doesn’t mean that it’s new to the kids. You know?

Meg: Exactly! And, we’re not going to be able to find enough computer science teachers in our classrooms. We’ve got to figure out how to be able to use our technology to teach this computational thinking. That’s my opinion.

Vicki: We do.

OK, so we have five ideas to change things teaching with digital tools.

Now, Meg, tell us quickly, where we can find some more information about the books?

Meg: OK. Go to Amazon. And please give us a great review. (No, I’m kidding.) (laughs)

But just do “now classroom” Search “now classroom”

And you will see — our website’s http://ift.tt/2p5J7qr

We’re trying to blog. We’re trying to stay on top of things, but I would LOVE to hear what you have to say. Thank you!

Vicki: Awesome! Thank you, Meg!

And keep inspiring educators all around the world. I just find you so exciting and engaging. I appreciate all that you do, because you know all that traveling is not for everybody.

I travel a little bit, but it’s really dedication to travel.

  Meg: (laughs)

Vicki: A lot of people want to do it until they start, right?

Meg: Ohhhh… Yeah. I’m going to Singapore next week. It’s 27 hours each way. Ugh!

Vicki: Oh my goodness, no. It’s not for me and my knees.

Well, thank you, educators, for having a listen.

I know that you have some ideas that you can use this weekend as you plan your lessons for Monday!

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

Meg was a classroom teacher, school board president, and now she is an international keynote speaker focused on teaching and learning with digital tools. Meg is also an author of twelve books that include the five book NOW Classrooms series she co-authored with 26 practicing educators.

Twitter: @megormi

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ideas to Change Teaching with Digital Tools appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ideas to Change Teaching with Digital Tools published first on https://medium.com/@seminarsacademy