#ask bookwormm03

[alwaysbethisclose]

43, 48, 64

43. Favorite song you listened to this year?

I literally don’t know lol my #1 on Spotify was Cruel Summer (again) but maybe Light On by Maggie Rogers, Comeback by Carly Rae Jepsen, or Gaslighter by The Chicks? Also every song Taylor Swift put out because she is insane

48. Trying new baking recipes or new cooking recipes?

I made soft pretzels three times in February and I made these bomb teriyaki meatballs a couple times but haven’t done a lot of cooking since I moved home

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

I was home for spring break and hoping I could get back to school before both states locked down (one of them never did 🤪🤪)-I ended up staying an extra week to get my teeth fixed

[bookwormm03]

SEND ME YOUR AU HEADCANONS PLEASE!

[c00kie28]

Would you ever write a fic where Ben is not terrible? ....Haahha no seriously, would you ever write a fic where Ben does not stay in Pawnee after Harvest Fest?

I think so. But I also don’t think I could do just Ben leaves, they miss each other, the reunite, the end. I would need there to be a twist of some kind, some fantastical element that I could sink my teeth into so it didn’t feel like it’s been done before. 

[sakurablossomstorm-blog]

Herbology

Do you have a green thumb?

I wish. If I had a garden then I probably would, but right now my green thumb is a vase full of flowers and keeping them alive for more than four days. 

[benwyattforcongress]

halesnoelle replied to your post “Last Night vs Tonight Liz”

Drunk Liz is fantastic

LOL glad my drunk ass amused you last night

bookwormm03 replied to your post “Last Night vs Tonight Liz”

WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THESE BOYS

I WISH I KNEW

[nutriyumaddict]

bookwormm03 replied to your post: “I wrote this awhile ago and then never posted it? I think someone...”

Awww. This is so sweet.           

   Thank you!!!! <3

sakurablossomstorm-blog replied to your post“: I wrote this awhile ago and then never posted it? I think someone...”

Ahhhhhh I love Ben and Sonia interacting so much!      

Thanks! It’s funny, I usually always write Ben and Stephen interacting, but this just happened (well, I think someone asked for it? But it was awhile ago and I forget  ;-)

sandwichbasedworldview replied to your post: “I wrote this awhile ago and then never posted it? I think someone...”

Ohhh 💕💕                

Thank you!!! <3

[alwaysbethisclose]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR 19TH BIRTHDAY!!🎉🎂

hahaha, thank you, dear!!!!

[alwaysbethisclose]

Pratt vs. Pine :D

Pine!

[c00kie28]

growing up together AU

Sorry this is angsty af and it’s probably all over the place. enjoy! 

They meet because Marlene and Julia went to college together and after Julia’s divorce, she wanted to move away from Minnesota and her ex. She buys a house in the same neighborhood. 

At first the Wyatt boys complain about moving to Indiana, leaving their dad and friends, etc. Stephanie is still a baby so she doesn’t care. 

Robert takes the boys under his wing. Henry and Ben join the Pawnee Rangers, which Robert is a leader of. 

Leslie’s appalled that not only is her dad spending time with boys but she’s not even allowed to go. 

She yells in Ben’s face. “He’s not your daddy!” and gets sent to bed without dessert. She blames him completely which is the right thing to do. 

But there’s a conversation between Robert and Leslie and he promises her she’s his heart and nothing will change that. 

So Leslie relaxes a bit, and Robert includes Leslie in everything Non Pawnee Ranger related. More kids (Ann, Andy, Tom, April, etc. join.) Marlene calls them his ducklings. (Queue the montage where they all build a tree house) 

Leslie and Ben end up bonding over Batman comics and chocolate cake. When Henry turns 13 and goes to Middle School, Ben and Leslie always walk home together. 

They hold hands crossing the street. 

And sometimes they don’t let go until they get to her house. Or they see someone who might see them holding hands and then they drop them quickly. 

Still, one day someone does see it and they tease Ben mercilessly. Embarrassed and a total idiot, he insults Leslie. Instantly, he feels bad but the damage is done.

But what’s worse one day Robert is well and grossing Leslie out when he kisses her mom in the kitchen and the next he’s sleeping all the time and Marlene and Julia keep talking in hushed whispers and he can’t take them camping anymore. 

And one day Leslie’s sitting in a hospital waiting room and the Wyatt’s come in. ?Julia and Marlene hug for a long time and Ben sits next to Leslie. Wordlessly, he takes her hand and holds it until she’s asked if she’d like to go in. 

For a year, Leslie sleeps outside in the tree house. When they find out, the other ducklings start sleeping out there with her. April complains about being outdoors and the cold but she never leaves. 

Her and Ben fight more though, because without Robert there to mediate, and both of them missing him so much, it’s just a lot of emotions and no real good way to express them. She expects him to leave her now that her dad is gone, but he doesn’t. Leslie is stuck with him for life. 

Flash forward to three years later, when Marlene comes home from a date to find her daughter asleep on the couch with Ben, the credits to Batman Forever running. She turns the TV off and puts a blanket over them and lets them sleep. She’ll embarrass them in the morning. 

[c00kie28]

He goes back to his room and showers, trying to sober up before he goes to bed so he's not hung over in the morning.While he's putting on his pants, the door knocks. For a second he just stares at it, knowing that it's not housekeeping at ten o'clock at night.He opens the door with his t shirt in his hand. For a minute they just stare at each other, his heart beating uncontrollably. He wants her. (please know I want this whole scene/passage but ran out of characters).

From Strange Beginnings. 

Oh this is a good one. I even sat here reading it like, hey that’s really good. I wonder where it’s from. I almost asked you if you were sure that was one of mine, just because my memory is so fuzzy. 

So the whole fic is just an excuse to write love and married at first sight. and it was one of those that I started and stopped like, so many times until I figured out the right way to tell it. 

Ben’s tried so hard up to this point to be rational. He just met this woman. Not only can he not stay married to her, he cannot possibly love her or want her as much as he does. Him wanting to spend all his time with her? Knowing her so well? It’s a fluke. Not possible. 

But then she shows up and he knows not only are his feelings real, but she shares them. She needs/wants/ him just as much as he needs and wants her. 

So what else is there to do but fuck her against the door? 

[c00kie28]

I can in no way pick just one, but I don't think I tell you how much I love Center of the Universe. I also so love Harry Potter AU and would love more of that but NO PRESSURE.

I knooooow. I miss the HP AU a lot. I really need to get back to it! 

And thank you so much. Center of the Universe is one of my favorites as well. 

[alwaysbethisclose]

Getaway Car, All Too Well and Sparks Fly

Getaway Car - there were sirens in the beat of your heart and he poisoned the well, every man for himself

All Too Well - here we are again in the middle of the night / we’re dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light and time won’t fly, it’s like i’m paralyzed by it

Sparks Fly - my mind forgets to remind me, you’re a bad idea

send me taylor swift songs and i’ll reply with my favorite lyrics!!!

[c00kie28]

16, 21 and 25 please :)

16 are there any characters who haunt you?

God I know this is about writing but all I can think about is that time in my life where I was terrified that Varney the Vampire was going to come into my bedroom and feast on me. It was a strange time. 

Right now I’m haunted by the thought of a Leslie who has to go to rehab/mental health facility for whatever reason, where she meets a boy with giant hair who is also there. Or just really any kind of broken Leslie who has to find herself again. Also the thought of Ben being mentored by Robert. 

Also it’s not a character per say but i’m haunted by a concept I really hope to work on during November. I’m not doing Nano but i’m going to work on original stuff and there’s an idea I’m really excited about. Interestingly, it’s about vampires! 

21 what do you think when you read over your older work?

For the most part I think it’s okay. I cringe over all the grammatical errors and typos and just shit writing, but i usually at least like the story. 

25 copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

From Shakes the Devil When He Misbehaves, from the Cradle of Love series

"I left a note," Leslie says, closing her eyes.

"You mean this one?" Marlene asks, holding up the piece of paper that just says, "Mom," and a drawing of a fat unicorn eating hay.

"Yes," Leslie says. "Did you not get that I was going out to a party from that?"

I don’t know it just makes me laugh. 

[c00kie28]

It's very hard, I am torn between a quiet forest and a thunderstorm.

[c00kie28]

1) Leslie/Ben 2) Ski lodge/ski slopes

Well I mean, obviously these are going to be longer than three sentences. a03

Leslie’s sipping on her cocoa in front of the fire, trying to warm herself up from a a long day on the slopes when he sits down in the chair across from hers, flanked by a small Indian man in a suit who seems to be pleading with him. Leslie’s not entirely sure what the conversation is about, since the man’s friend has now resorted to high pitched wining, but from what Leslie gathers, both of them could stand to make a lot of money. 

There’s something really familiar about the man in the chair, but Leslie can’t quite place where she’s seen him before. 

He puts his face in his hands for a solid minute before looking up again. And for a fraction of a second, their eyes meet and Leslie’s skin finally feels warm again, but then he looks at his well dressed friend and says, “I don’t care, Tom. I just want to ski.”

“But it’s Nike, Ben! Nike!” 

“And yesterday it was Hanes and before that it was Mercedes.” 

“I still can’t believe you turned that down,” Tom says with a sigh. “I can’t believe I agreed to be your agent.” 

“Me neither,” Ben says, “Considering I never actually asked you.” 

“Well someone has to look out for you, Bento box.” Tom’s phone dings and he looks at it and sighs. “I have to go take this. Benny, I’m begging you don’t turn this one down.” 

He walks away and Leslie realizes she’s still staring at Ben. And it’s not because he’s good looking, which he is, but because she’s finally realized where she knows him from. 

“You’re Benji Wyatt.” 

He smiles back at her and her heart does a skip. “You can call me Ben.”

“I watched you win the gold medal. You were incredible.”

“Oh. Well...” He brushes his fingers through his hair. “Thank you.”

“Why don’t you want to do endorsements?” Leslie asks, curiously. 

Ben sighs. “I don’t know. Just nothing sounds right. Although I guess Tom was right I should have taken that Mercedes deal. I do need a new car.” 

“And think of all the free shoes you could get from Nike.”

“I know. And underwear.”

“And underwear,” Leslie agrees, now fully picturing Ben in nothing else. God, she bets they hug the contours of his butt so perfectly. “I’m Leslie by the way. Leslie Knope.”

He smiles. “It’s nice to meet you, Leslie Knope.” 

[c00kie28]

21 please!!

She refused to call it a crush. No, what Leslie Knope felt for Ben Wyatt was way more important than a crush. It was fire. It was passion. It was true love. 

It was also all completely one sided. 

And part of Leslie was okay with that. She knew there was plenty of time for Ben to come to his senses and look at her like a woman and not like his sisters’ best friend. 

The other part wanted it to happen right now. Especially in moments like these, when Ann and Steph were already in bed and it was just the two of them, eating brownies and watching TV. 

Well, she was eating brownies and watching TV. Ben was texting. And judging by the smile on his face, it was most likely with his girlfriend Cindy. But then he put his phone down and reached for the remote, changing the station after an informercial for acne products came on. He scanned the channel guide until he found a documentary about the Roosevelts. 

It was this kind of thing that made Leslie want to shout from the rooftops that Ben Wyatt did love her. Even if he didn’t know it yet. 

But then his phone rang and he answered it quickly, “Hey, Cin’.” The smile now back as he got off the couch to go talk to her in private. 

Some day he would smile like that for her. 

Someday.