#but I saw lexie’s post and this is where my mind naturally went

[nextstopwonderland]

“It was a really special day” - Wheeler Yuta

Fave moment in wrestling 2023

[yootaesowlwrites]

Requested by: Anon

Request: Hello! I was wondering if I could request something with Mick Schumacher? Possibly they are related to Lando in some way and are always around races, because of this they know Mick and have a very public friendship with him. They get asked questions from reporters alot speculating that Mick and her are in a relationship? I'll let you decide how it ends up but I thought about it as I sore a picture of Lando and Mick sharing a podium in possibly f4 or f3. Anyways thank you :))

A/N: Hello, Anon, I had a little trouble coming up with a plot, but I hope you like the idea I went with.

Warnings:

Word Count: 1.7K

【 • Primary Masterlist • Drivers Masterlist • Mick Schumacher Masterlist • Fan Fiction Masterlist • 】

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【 • List Of Characters & Drivers I Write For • Rules & Request • 】

(Y/n) and Mick stood in the paddock laughing when (Y/n) caught sight of a reporter taking a video of them.

“Oh my gosh, I wish they could just leave us alone.” (Y/n) says, Mick glances over his shoulder at the reporter.

“Another story about us.” Mick says, (Y/n) was Lando Norris’ niece, and she went to most of his races during his time in F4 and F3, becoming friends with Mick Schumacher along the way, and ever since reporters have been videotaping them and taking pictures of them, with the headline ’Lando Norris’s niece dating Mick Schumacher?’ “I’ve gotten so many tweets about our relationship,” Mick adds air quotes around the word relationship.

“Lando’s fans have been asking him if you and I are dating as well.” (Y/n) says. “Can boys and girls no longer be friends without them dating?” A mischievous smirk appears on Mick’s lips.

“Well, why don’t we give them something to talk about?” Mick asks, (Y/n) slightly tilts her head in confusion.

“And what do you mean by that?” (Y/n) asks.

“Let’s give them a show.” Mick says, (Y/n)’s eyes slightly widen as she covers her hand with her mouth trying to hide the smile appears on her lips, Mick didn’t have to say the words ‘kiss’ for her to know that’s what he meant.

“Are you serious?” (Y/n) asks, she pulls her hand away from her mouth. “Do you want them to freak out? Do you want them to go mental?”

“Oh come on, it’s innocent fun,” Mick says, (Y/n) looks around her as she thought about the idea.

“Oh my go- I can’t believe that I’m about to agree to this.” (Y/n) says. “But we deserve to have a little fun.”

“So, do you want to do this?” Mick asks as a wide smile tug at the corner of his lips.

“Mhm, okay, let’s have some fun.” (Y/n) says. “At least when they gossip about us this time, it won’t be a lie.” Mick cheerful chuckles.

“Haha, you hope,” Mick says. “All right, are you ready?”

“Am I ready? Probably not.” (Y/n) says. “I mean, we haven’t had any practice, what if it doesn’t look natural enough?”

“Don’t stress, it’s going to be fine,” Mick says. “Remember, it’s just a little innocent fun.” (Y/n) nods her head.

“All right, all right, um, let’s do this then.” (Y/n) says, for some reason she felt nervous about their kiss, he takes a step closer to her

“Just tell me if you’re uncomfortable and I’ll kiss your cheek instead,” Mick says.

“I’m good, I’m okay.” (Y/n) says, As he leans closer she held her breath and glanced down at his lips, they seemed to be soft and warm, she looks back into his eyes as she felt her palms becoming sweaty before she could back out his lips brushed against hers, her eyes fall close as the kiss felt warm, deep laced with a little passion, it felt like they were kissing for a long time but was only a few seconds when Mick pulled away, she slowly opens her eyes took look at him and saw him staring back into her eyes.

“I uh.” Mick begins, he takes a step back and looks over his shoulder seeing the reporter’s mouth hanging open with their eyes wide open in shock. “I think it worked.” Mick looks back at (Y/n), (Y/n) snaps out of her daydream and looks towards the reporter, she would’ve giggled if she wasn’t so starstruck by their kiss.

“It appears so.” (Y/n) says, Mick would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if his mind wasn’t replying the kiss over in his mind. “Um, don’t you have um practice to get to attend?” Mick looks down at his watch.

“Right, yes, I do,” Mick says. “I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” (Y/n) nods her head.

“Yeah, definitely.” (Y/n) says, Mick smiles at her before walking past her towards the Prema garage, (Y/n) glances at the reporter before going towards the McLaren building they had built for the weekend, her mind swirling with thoughts about the kiss, unknowingly she lifts her hand to her lips and runs her finger over her bottom lip as a faint smile grows on her lips before it faded away, they could never… could they?

(Y/n) sat at a table inside the McLaren building sipping on a cappuccino, but her mind was still at the kiss she and Mick had, sure it was only to make the media go mental, but it felt right, Lando rushes towards her holding his phone.

“Explain!” Lando says, (Y/n) looks up at him as he turns the phone around to show her a picture of herself and Mick kissing.

“Oh, that.” (Y/n) says.

“Yeah, that,” Lando says as he sits down across from her.

“We decided to have a little fun.” (Y/n) says, not understanding why Lando was freaking out.

“Fun? What does that even mean?” Lando asks.

“Lando, you know us, Mick and I aren’t dating, and we got annoyed at the media for always posting that we are, so we just decided to give them something to talk about.” (Y/n) says, Lando nods his head seeming like he doesn’t believe her.

“And you expect me to believe you?” Lando asks, (Y/n) rolls her eyes.

“Believe what you want.” (Y/n) says.

“CARLOS!” Lando calls out as Carlos enters the building, Carlos walks towards the table.

“You called,” Carlos says.

“Yes, look at this!” Lando says, he shows the picture to Carlos. “Does this look like it’s fake?” Carlos examines the picture before looking at (Y/n).

“Oh, do you have a boyfriend? And you didn’t tell us?” Carlos says, (Y/n) lets out an annoyed sigh.

“We were just trying to stir the pot a little, all right?” (Y/n) says. “It was just innocent fun, if I had known you two would come and tease me about it, I wouldn’t have agreed to do it.”

“So, you are saying, that this was fake?” Carlos says, he takes Lando’s phone from his hands and shows the picture to (Y/n) again. “That neither of you was enjoying it?” (Y/n) looks at the picture, a moment frozen in time showed her just how much it appeared they were enjoying it, (Y/n) looks back up at Carlos.

“It was planned.” (Y/n) says. “On the spot, yeah, and now they actually have something to gossip about instead of making a story up.”

“Mh hm.” Carlos hums, he didn’t believe her either.

“You guys are children.” (Y/n) mutters.

“You’re younger than us.” Lando points out.

“And apparently more mature.” (Y/n) says as she crosses her arms over her chest feeling defensive, something Carlos quickly picked up.

“If it was supposedly so innocent as you claim, why are you being so defensive?” Carlos asks.

“Because I- ugh, I don’t have to explain myself to the two of you.” (Y/n) says as she stood.

“Where are you going?” Lando asks.

“I’m going to get some fresh air.” (Y/n) says. “I can’t deal with you two right now.”

An entire week had passed since the kiss and five days had passed since they last saw each other, they barely texted each other as the kiss was still fresh in the thoughts, they had to talk about it at some point, so Mick decided to go visit her, she lived on campus at the university she attended and knew she had afternoon classes instead of morning class, it didn’t take him long to find the dorm and knocked on the door, he heard movement coming from the inside before the door opened revealing (Y/n).

“Mick, hey, what are you doing here?” (Y/n) asks, she wasn’t expecting to see him there.

“I uh, came to see you,” Mick says. “I think we need to talk.” (Y/n) begins playing with the hem of her shirt.

“A-about what?” (Y/n) asks, she knew what it was about, but she was hoping to avoid the topic.

“About us, mainly about the kiss,” Mick says, (Y/n) nods her head and steps aside.

“Come on in.” (Y/n) says, Mick enters the dorm and (Y/n) closes the door, she dreaded the conversation thinking he would end their friendship, she turns around to look at him as he looked around the small dorm. “So uh, what do you want o talk about first?” Mick turns around to face her, he thought for a second.

“Screw it,” Mick says, he steps towards her taking her wrist in his hand.

“Wh-?” (Y/n) begins, Mick pulls her closer to him, his hand caresses her cheek as he brushes his lips over hers, kissing her with warmth and passion, everything seemed as if it disappeared until Lexi, (Y/n)’s roommate interrupted them.

“Oh, I knew it!” Lexi cheered, Mick and (Y/n) break away from the kiss to look at her. “I knew it.” Lexi picks up her book bag, excitement is written all over her face. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.” (Y/n) and Mick take a step away from each other, Mick rubbed the back of his neck while (Y/n) fiddled with the ring on her middle finger. “I have to go now, but please don’t do it on the couch or the table.”

“Lexi.” (Y/n) says looking at her friend with wide eyes, Lexi begins walking towards them making her way to the door behind them.

“Oh, and please use protection as well,” Lexi says.

“Lexi!” (Y/n) says louder, hoping her roommate would get the message to shut up and leave.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Lexi says, she leaves the dorm with a mischievous smile on her lips as she closed the door.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry about her.” (Y/n) says as her cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

“No, no, no it’s all right,” Mick says, they look at each other as Mick lowers his arm.

“So uh, maybe you could explain to me why you just grabbed me like that and kissed me?” (Y/n) says.

“Honestly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the first time we kissed,” Mick says. “I know it was to stir the pot a little, but uh, um, do you feel different about it?”

“No, no.” (Y/n) says. “I um, I haven’t gotten it out of my mind either.” (Y/n) brings her hand to the tips of her hair and begins playing with them nervously. “But uh, this was unexpected.”

“I uh, sorry about that,” Mick says.

“So uh, what happens now?” (Y/n) asks. “I mean, we have a lot to talk about, and a lot of things to decided.”

[youreverycolor]

An Unlikely Love: Perfect Again (Rafael Barba x Anna Stein)

AN: Prompt #156 from 200 Prompts from @drink-it-write-it (“He stares at you every time you look away.”)

Also, I’ve decided to start adding songs to go with these stories. For the previous ones, here is a list (these will all take you to Youtube).

Post-Script: “My Shot” from Hamilton Admissions: “Tiny Voice” by Lexi Walker Unspoken: “Tale as Old as Time” from Beauty and the Beast Redemption: “Skin” by Rihanna

Tagging: @thatesqcrush @madpanda75 @misssirenlove @danahart1 @nikkijmorgan @ele-esposito @dianilaws @sunnyfortomorrow @mommakat32 @lucifersadvisor @gibbs274 @oliviamariathegirl @evee87 @tropes-and-tales @garturbo @delia26 @neely1177 @jennisdirtyimagines @lostintech0011001 @letty-o @lucifersadvisor @sunnyfortomorrow @literallyprentissstwin

Song: “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin

~*~*~*~

“So, I’m guessing I won’t be seeing you for a few weeks?” Rafael stirred the salsa that was simmering on the stove as Anna sat on the other side of the breakfast bar, hunched over a book.

She barely looked up. “Maybe.”

He smiled. “Well, your exams are coming up, aren’t they?”

“Mmhmm,” she mumbled absently.

“I guess I’m going to have to hang out with Carisi to fill the time.”

She turned the page. “Fine by me.”

He was entertained by this little game. “And then I’ll do a striptease across the squad room.”

“That’s good.” Then, as if she had snapped out of a trance, her head jerked up. “Wait—what did you say?”

He laughed and checked the beans, which were almost ready to mash. “I see how it is. You ignore me until you hear the word striptease. Then I have your attention.”

She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I’m sorry. I was just—”

He smirked. “More interested in the Rule Against Perpetuities than in me?” He walked around the counter to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It’s okay. It has that mysterious and sexy vibe.” He pulled her sweatshirt—well, actually, his sweatshirt—aside and nuzzled against her neck.

“You keep doing that and it won’t get any less mysterious to me,” she whimpered, reaching her hand up and around her head to caress the back of his head. “Or I’ll just get turned on in the middle of the exam.”

“Nobody understands that rule.” He gave her a quick nip on her earlobe but released her from his grip and went back to the food. “In some states, you can’t actually be sued for using it wrong.”

“I wish that applied to civil procedure, too. I will never understand Pennoyer.”

He cracked two eggs into a skillet that had once held tortillas. “More stuff you will never use. I do, however, expect you to get a perfect score on your criminal law exam.”

“What happens if I disappoint you?”

He glanced up at her and saw that her face had fallen just slightly. Despite her notoriously great poker face, the longer he was with her, the more he was able to read her micro expressions. “Mi corazón, I was kidding.” He tilted the pan to redistribute the oil and then went back to the beans. “You could never disappoint me.”

She sighed. “I’m worried I’m going to disappoint myself.”

“How?”

“I worked really hard to get into school. And I’ve worked really hard all semester to keep up with the work. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

“Si, pero you’ve come this far. Exams are just regurgitation of what you’ve been discussing all semester,” he replied. “I promise, the hard stuff is what you do in class. And if it makes you feel any better, how you do in law school—or even on the bar exam—doesn’t tell you how you’ll be as a lawyer.”

She brightened a bit. “Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, look at Carisi—”

“Raf, you know that’s not nice!” she scolded. “Sonny is a perfectly fine attorney.”

He finished plating their dinner. “Sorry. I’m just saying that some of the best attorneys I know were only average in school. It doesn’t mean anything.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? And how did you do in law school?” It was a rhetorical question. She knew perfectly well how he’d done.

He pushed a plate across the counter from her and sat down next to her with his own. This was where they usually ate together; the dining room table had other uses. “Don’t compare yourself with me, Anna. Don’t compare yourself with anyone. You deserve to be a lawyer more than anyone else I know. And I will be as proud of you the day you take that oath as I am right now just for working as hard as you are.”

“Are you sure you won’t be disappointed if I—”

He set his fork down and took her hands in his. “The only way you could disappoint me, Anna, is if you’re so worried about the lawyer you’ll be that you forget about being the woman you are.”

She dipped her head for a second and then kissed him. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.” She took a bite of the huevos rancheros he had prepared and sighed. “Jesus, this is delicious. Is there anything you’re not good at?”

He thought for a second. “Stripping?”

When she threw her head back and laughed, he knew he had broken through the wall of negligence and consideration, theories and rules. After her shower, he caught her singing along to Disney soundtracks in the bedroom as she blow-dried her hair. When she saw him watching her, she motioned for him to join her one-woman concert, creating the perfect harmony. And for the rest of the night, Anna was his Anna again, and there was no way he could ever be disappointed with that.

***

The day grades were posted on the school’s intranet, Anna had to wait all day to check them because she wanted Rafael to be with her when she did. And of course, that had to be the day he got home late; a trial had run over and then he had to meet with the squad regarding a new case that had just come in. By the time he arrived at her apartment, she was clawing the walls. When they finally sat down to look, she couldn’t do it—she made him open up the website and look for her while she paced between the couch and her kitchen counter.

“Well?” she asked, impatiently.

His face betrayed nothing. He took a deep breath and looked up at her from behind her laptop screen. “Do you want the bad news or the good news first?”

Her heart fell into her stomach. This was torture. She prepared to hear that she had done poorly enough that she wouldn’t be able to return for the next semester. “Just get the bad news over with, I guess.”

“Well,” he continued, “you’re probably going to want to get very drunk.”

“Oh God,” she said, walking to her liquor cabinet. “Do I want wine or scotch?”

His face started to twitch. “Don’t you want the good news?”

She turned back. “Oh. Well, I guess that couldn’t hurt. What’s the good news?”

He stood up. “The good news is that you’re going to want to get very drunk celebrating with a bunch of people, because, mi corazón, your GPA is a 3.0.”

Her ears filled with the sound of her own heartbeat. She wasn’t even sure she had heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, did you say—”

A wide grin stretched across his face. “I did!” He threw his arms around her waist and spun her around. “You did so well, Anna! I’m so proud of you.”

But her face was not what he had expected it would be. She didn’t look as happy as he thought she would have. Although she was smiling, it wasn’t the genuine smile he loved so much. She pulled herself out of his arms and sat on the couch to examine the grades more closely. She had an A in criminal law—no surprise there—and another in torts. But civil procedure and property had been her downfall: she’d only managed to pull C’s in those two classes. Her eyebrows pinched together. What happened? she wondered.

Rafael, however, seemed thrilled with her work, and she didn’t want to dampen his mood with her own. She would have plenty of time to analyze what had gone wrong when she was alone. So she put on the happiest face she could muster and stood up to face him again.

“Thank you, honey,” she said. “I appreciate how supportive you’ve been all this time.”

He smiled at her and tilted his head. “Are you all right? You seem a bit—”

“Oh, no, I’m fine!” she said, a little too emphatically. “It’s just kind of one of those adrenaline things. You know, anticipation and then…”

He squinted at her just a bit and took her hands. “I love you. We should go celebrate.”

She shook her head. “Oh, Raf, I’m not—I mean, it’s late, and I’m kind of tired. Stressful day, you know? Can we just—”

“Chinese?” he offered. “You may even be able to convince me to watch the new version of Beauty and the Beast.”

“Sure.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m fine, Raf. Really.” Then she went into the kitchen to find the menu for their favorite Chinese place down the street, leaving a trail of lies in her wake.

***

A week later, just before Christmas, Rafael had a surprise for Anna. Between his work schedule and a two-day migraine she’d had, they hadn’t had time to celebrate properly. Getting the squad together was like herding cats, but he had managed to do it. He organized a small get-together at Forlini’s with them, plus a couple of Anna’s friends, to celebrate the successful end of Anna’s first semester of law school. The night of the party, he arranged for the two of them to Uber from his apartment to the restaurant, as if it were just another date night. Anna didn’t ask too many questions, although she was surprised that he suggested Forlini’s, as it was where he usually went to drown his sorrows after a tough loss.

“I’d like to start associating this place with good things,” he said to her as they exited the car.

“Gotcha. I’m kind of excited to go here, to be honest. Maybe I’ll start feeling like I might actually become a lawyer someday.”

Over the last week, Anna had made a few offhanded comments like that, and it concerned him slightly. Ever since grades came out, she hadn’t quite been herself. He assumed it was the migraine and also the post-exam comedown, but something seemed a bit off. He tried to put the thought out of his mind; he wanted tonight to be all about her and her success. After all, they had celebrated enough of his victories.

“Surprise!”

To Anna’s utter and complete shock, she entered the main dining room to find Olivia, Fin, Sonny, Amanda, and three of her friends gathered around a long table, cheering and shouting congratulations. She had no idea how to react at first—she hadn’t been expecting this at all.

“Holy sh—what are you all—”

Sonny came around the table to high-five her. “Rafael thought it would be a good idea to celebrate. He said you did really great your first semester!”

“Yeah, a 3.0? That’s better than I ever did, even in high school,” Fin added.

“No shock there,” Amanda said, elbowing him playfully. He gave her a faux glare.

As everyone else around the table offered their congratulations, Anna was aghast. She had no idea how to react to this. She knew that everyone gathered around this table was there to celebrate her, and that they all genuinely believed she’d done well. But all week, she had been turning the semester over in her head, trying to figure out how she had done so poorly in civ pro and property, and how she could have done better in her other classes. As soon as she got back to school, she planned to ask for copies of her essays, after which she would spend a great deal of time reviewing them and making notes on what she had missed. For now, though, she didn’t want to disappoint all these people who had made time out of their busy schedules to come together on her account. So she plastered a smile on her face and thanked each of them individually before they all sat down to dinner.

All through dinner, Rafael barely stopped touching her. He would squeeze her leg under the table or hold her hand while they waited for their next course. They made small talk with her friends, who would later tell Anna that they couldn’t believe he was as old as he was because he was so handsome, and, of course, they asked all about how she was liking law school. She gave the appropriate answers, told them what she knew they wanted to hear. After a while, though, she knew her façade was starting to falter, so she excused herself to the bar to get another glass of wine.

“I’ll go with you,” Amanda said, signaling to her empty glass. “If I’m paying a sitter, I might as well live it up.” While they were waiting for their drinks, Amanda glanced backward at the table. Rafael was sitting at the end of the table facing the bar, and although there was conversation going on all around him, his eyes were focused on Anna. He was clearly trying to be subtle; his eyes occasionally darted back to someone else’s face, and he would take a sip of his scotch. But inevitably, his bright green gaze would land back on his girlfriend, like he was worried that if he looked away too long, she would disappear. “He stares at you every time you look away,” she finally said.

“Excuse me?”

Amanda smiled and leaned toward Anna, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “If you looked over your shoulder right now, you’d see it. He’s so proud of you. And Barba is never proud of anyone. He barely said congratulations to Carisi when he passed the damn bar exam.”

“I don’t know why,” Anna said sadly.

“Because he thinks Carisi is enough of a puppy dog and doesn’t need any more encouragement.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I don’t know why he’s proud of me. I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped.”

Amanda played with her empty glass. “A 3.0 is pretty damn good if you ask me.”

“I’m dating Rafael Magna-Cum-Laude-At-Harvard-Law-School Barba,” Anna said. “The guy who started as a poor kid in the Bronx and moved up to be—well, look at him.” She gestured to Rafael, in his three-piece suit, now debating the latest gun control measure in the state legislature with Sonny. “How the hell do I live up to that?”

Amanda set her glass on the counter. “Does he make you feel like you have to live up to something? Because that’s not what that stare says to me.”

Anna didn’t say anything for a long while, and then she looked at the usually cynical blonde. “So, detective, what does that stare say to you, then?”

“Look, I’m no romantic,” Amanda began, “but I’ve known Barba for years now, and I can tell you right now that I have never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you—especially when he knows you’re not looking. It’s like a compulsion or something.”

Anna felt a flush wash over her skin. Suddenly, she was very aware of the pair of eyes on her from across the room. It wasn’t creepy; on the contrary, he looked at her the way she always hoped someone would look at her. But she still couldn’t shake the idea that she hadn’t earned that look, that she had somehow failed to live up to what Rafael Barba deserved in a partner.

Just then, their drinks appeared on the bar. “Thank you, Amanda,” she said, bracing herself for round two.

“No problem. And for what it’s worth? Carisi only got a 2.9 his first semester.”

***

“Did you have fun?” Rafael asked as he shut her apartment door behind them.

Anna stepped out of her painfully high heels, suddenly becoming shorter than him again. “Yeah. I’m just surprised you were able to get everyone together!”

He loosened his tie. “It wasn’t easy, believe me. Not that they didn’t want to come, but, you know, kids, grandkids, that kind of thing. You should be very aware of how much they care about you.”

“You mean how much they care about you,” she muttered, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water.

“What does that mean?”

“What are you, a bat?”

“Don’t deflect. What’s wrong, Anna? Something’s been off all week, and I can’t figure out what. Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “That’s the problem.”

“Well, now I’m very confused.” He took her by the hand and led her into the living room, pulling her onto the couch with him. “Sit. Breathe. Explain.”

She sighed deeply. “It’s not easy being your girlfriend sometimes, you know.”

He laughed a little. “I could have told you that months ago. In fact, I think I did tell you that.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not—it’s not that you’re doing something wrong. You’re easy to be with, actually—a lot easier than you think you are.”

“That’s an argument for another day. What’s not easy, then?”

She tried to look away, but he turned her head back gently. “Do you remember when we were just barely together, and you asked me why I chose you?”

He nodded. “That was the first time you said you loved me. How could I forget that?”

She gave him a sad smile. “Well, as easy as it seemed for me to say that, it wasn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” she replied, “I had the same question for you.”

It was his turn to be aghast. His eyes widened and he took her hands in his. “Why in the world would you have to question that? If anyone should be insecure, it’s me. But I know you love me. So why do you doubt that I love you?”

“It’s not that I doubt that you love me, Raf. It’s that I don’t know why. And last week just made it worse.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “What happened last week that would make you wonder—” He stopped. “Oh, Amor, you don’t mean your grades.”

A tear fell from her eye and she tore one of her hands away from his to wipe it away. “I told you I was afraid of disappointing you, and myself. My grades were—well—not what I expected.”

“Mi amor, it is so common for your first semester of law school to be imperfect. And you did remarkably well, especially considering you also have a job.”

“You did remarkably well. I’m just…average. And when I look at you, when I see you in court, when you sit there and debate gun control with Sonny, it becomes all the more apparent to me that you could do so much better, and—”

“Anna, listen to me. There is nothing better than you. I could look for it and I wouldn’t find it because it doesn’t exist. You could work at McDonald’s for all I care. You are not your career. I know I make it seem like that’s a lifestyle, but if you haven’t noticed, I’m not the most well-adjusted person.” He gave her a small smile, trying to make her laugh, but she didn’t.

“I just wanted to make you proud of me.”

“I’m proud of you every day. Why do you think I can’t stop touching you when we’re out? It’s not that I’m trying to tell the world that you’re mine.”

She wiped another tear away. “No? Then what is it?”

“It’s that I want everyone to know that I’m yours,” he said. “I want people to know that you chose me. I told you, Anna. The only way you could ever disappoint me is by forgetting who you are in favor of what you’re becoming. And you shouldn’t be disappointed in yourself, either. What you’ve accomplished in the last two years is nothing short of amazing, and if I have to tell you that every day, I will, until you believe me.”

She looked up into his now-watery eyes, and in that moment, she was so grateful for having a partner who was just that—her partner. He never made her feel silly for having feelings or that she had to be something more than what she was. And then she thought about what Amanda had said about him staring at her, and suddenly she realized that her insecurity wasn’t coming from him. It was only coming from inside her head.

To his great relief, she finally broke into a smile. “You know what really would make me feel better?”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Seeing if you really are good at stripping.”

[80steenmovie]

Single: Part Two

Billy Hargrove x OC

Listen to ‘Single’

Read part one here

Part Two Summary: The heartbroken but hopeful girl and the broken but still breathing boy meet for the first time...

Word Count: 3,192

Warnings: none

A/N: Guess who’s back, back again. Single is back, tell a friend. But in all serious, I know it’s been eons since I updated this story. I can blame technology for that one. I feel good about the potential of this story and its characters and I hope at least one person enjoys reading it as much as I love writing it. Being as this is my first story I’ve posted on the interwebs, there’s bound to be a few rough spots and hiccups. I would greatly appreciate feedback of any sort, but please be gentle and kind. And last but not least I have to thank those of you who let me ramble about writer problems and feeling stuck and helping me sort through them, you’re the real mvp’s. Happy reading! 💜

The bell ringing above the entrance broke you out of your trance and the mystery boy was gone without a trace. You knew nothing about this enchanting stranger, not even his name or what a boy like him was doing in Hawkins. But you had already made it your mission to unravel the blonde haired angel.

“What has gotten into you?” Lexi broke in. “It looked like you were under some sort of hypnosis.”

Your gaze was quickly directed towards Lexi and you barely breathed out, “Who was that?”

The only response Lexi gave was a scoff and a readjustment with her back against the wall and her knees against her chest.

You softly sighed, “What?”

“He was just some random guy with a nice face. And now he’s gone, so why is it so important?” Lexi sneered.

“He wasn’t like any other guy. You yourself said that.”

“Okay, he’s uber hot, so what? Why do you care so much?” she asked rhetorically.

You dropped your head slightly and bounced your eyes around to avoid Lexi’s glare and mumbled, “I-I guess, I don’t know. Never mind.”

“I’m sorry that I’m the only one concerned about tonight and that I can’t assist you on your case of the hot mystery boy.” Lexi retorted.

“Lexi, you know I care about tonight, I just-”

She quickly scooted out of the booth and cut you off with a sharp bite, “Just forget it. I guess I’ll see you at the party tonight, or whatever.”

You knew something was deeply bothering Lexi, but could not decipher what it was. And at this point, there was no talking it out with her and making it all better. Lexi was stubborn, and it would be awhile before she admitted the true cause of her outburst. Nonetheless, you had to let her know somehow that you cared and would never purposely try to hurt your best friend.  

“How are you going to get home?” You asked.

“I don’t know, walking is an option. I’ll figure something out.” She muttered with a harsh tone.

“That’s way too far to walk, please at least let me get you home.” You said glumly.

“Oh, now you care about me. Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Lexi snapped.

Without missing a beat, she turned on her heels and walked away from you, shoving the diner door open ringing the bell that was beginning to be a familiar and melancholic sound.

What was just breakfast and coffee with your best friend turned into misunderstandings and heavy hearts with no one but yourself.

But not for very long; the booth you were sitting at was the first next to the door and he saw everything from the parking lot. Your whimsical stare, your perplexing fixation on him, and the harsh words exchanged between you and Lexi that he didn’t need to hear to know. He now saw an innocent girl with a soft frown and a severed heart, her only company being a lukewarm cup of coffee. There were plenty of sad girls he came across that he would only to intend the pleasure the sadness out of. But when he saw you that didn’t even cross his mind and he felt a mar in his egocentric identity.

He opened the door of the blue Camaro to let in the brisk, fall air, hoping it would rid this new train of thought. To his dismay, it remained in tact and sharp in the front of his brain. It deeply frustrated him as to why he couldn’t understand this distant feeling. He could briefly recall that he had felt it only once before, a long time ago. But this detached memory surged through every bone in his body and it was forming a force he couldn’t fight with even the strongest fist.

Annoyed and slightly perturbed, he groaned and stomped his boots on the gravel. He took a  final and drawn-out drag of his newly lit cigarette, hoping the nicotine would erase the thought from his head. The nicotine making no said difference and now wasting a perfectly good cigarette, he would normally be moved pick a fight with someone who breathed the wrong way.   

About to get back into his car, he unintentionally caught a quick glance of you, not having moved at all from where he last left you. He slammed the door shut and put out his barely used cigarette on the ashtray on top of the garbage bin, subsiding from his usual habit of flicking it to the side without a care.

You were still staring down into your coffee cup and absentmindedly swirling a spoon around the perimeter and for once didn’t pay attention to the ringing bell. Lexi was far too stubborn to come back and make amends this quickly, and right now there was no else important enough to walk through that door that would be worth your time and energy.

A rich and smooth voice suddenly entered your wavelength and hummed, “Is this seat taken?”

You were slightly irritated at someone cutting into your self loathe time and only bothered to slowly raise your eyes to show your annoyance, which quickly faded into wonder and your head shot up when you realized who was standing in your presence.

Your body went into shock and had to adjust to realize the only dream you were in was the one standing directly in front of you. This wasn’t a daydream movie montage, this was your reality and you had to act fast.

You looked behind your shoulder wondering if there was someone hiding around the corner and snickering on your behalf. As much as you wanted to believe he was here because he wanted to be, your subconscious was telling you this was a practical joke. You hated the way embarrassment so easily colored your fair skin, and you could feel the temperature of your cheeks start to rise. No one was waiting around the corner to jump out and play the joker, just your fears getting the better of you once again.

You turned back around, for some reason half expecting him to not be there anymore, but he hadn’t moved an inch. Those sparkling baby blues were practically begging you to stare straight into them. But you did everything in your power to avoid making eye contact, afraid of what might happen if you did.

Trying your best to not catch his eye for more than a second, you spoke under your breath and tried not to stutter, “Oh, no. Um, it’s all yours.”

You averted your attention back to your coffee as he situated himself and slid into the booth with a light grunt. He folded his hands and put them on the table, striving to strike something out of you somehow, but to no avail.

He lowered his head and moved forward so that his face was inches away from yours.The smell of smoke billowed around him but he was close enough that you could make out his inviting scent. Fresh dew the morning after a bonfire in a pine and evergreen forest that seemed to radiate naturally from his skin. It took every ounce of your being to remain stagnant and calm. You could have easily played into his ocean eyes, before shifting forward to plant your lips on his, but you knew your patience would be a virtue.

He let out a heavy and exaggerated sigh and leaned back into his seat. Even though on the inside everything in your body was crying out to you to do something, anything, you remained despondent on the outside. You were curious as to what his purpose in sitting here with you and waiting for you to speak was, but tried to not give in too easily.

Here was a godly creature that should still be wrapped in warm bed sheets and catching up on beauty sleep. Yet here he was sitting in a sticky booth at Benny’s on a Saturday morning with a nobody like yourself. If not a practical joke, then what was it? What would motivate him to do such a thing?

He unfolded his hands and put them on the table to guide himself out of the booth and that was it, you thought. You just had your seven minutes in heaven and didn’t realize it till now, instantly regretting trying to play it cool and pretending to be someone you’re not.

That was until he took the spoon out of your hand and the cup of coffee out from under you, and you were forced to move back and look up. He was striding towards the counter, his backside facing you, and your calm demeanor was starting to wear thin. The Levi’s he wore hugged his body so perfectly, it was practically a sin. You were starting to think you were jealous of a pair of jeans, you had to laugh to yourself a little at how utterly ridiculous this thought was. You thought were better than that, but then he bent over the counter to talk to the waitress and you realized that maybe you’re not as innocent and pure as you would have liked to think. At first it seemed as surface level as a pre-pubescent grade school crush, but you were quickly realizing it was much more than that. Sure, there were butterflies in your stomach, a swarm of butterflies. But there were feelings in other parts of your body that you had never experienced before. And with your seventeenth birthday fast approaching, it was evident you were edging past the bloom of youth. These were strange and unfamiliar, scary and exciting feelings, and you were in uncharted territory without a map. The same feeling you had when he first entered the diner was beginning to resurface and your breaths were steadily getting deep and slow again.

The waitress behind the counter was significantly younger than the one that had served you and Lexi. You were too far away to hear what was being said, but in a way you didn’t want to know. The waitress moving out from behind him to look over his shoulder and smile at you was the only thing that alerted you to your habitual gaze. Your cheeks turned a light shade of pink and before you could fully erase it, he slowly turned his head to look back at you and sent you a small smirk. You shyly smiled back and turned your head towards the window to hide the huge grin on your face. The butterflies in your stomach were suddenly wistful and confident and if you opened your mouth they would fly out.

Only a few short moments later, he strides back towards the booth with a fresh, steaming cup of coffee. He carefully situates himself as not to spill and slides the coffee directly in front of you.

“Sugar?” He offered.

“Hmm?” You hummed in reply. “Oh! I mean...yes please.”

The simple offering of a confection for your coffee would be a passing thought, but with him it felt different and meaningful. Wanting to accept it as an affectionate pet name rather than a simple sweetener felt as if it were an automatic response. You let the hopeless romantic in you get the better of you, and could feel your cheeks getting warm. He dropped his head slightly to try and hide a tiny smirk but didn’t try very hard to conceal it for your sake.

He was still smirking and asked, “How many?”

“Just one.” You replied, accidentally catching his eye for a brief moment.

He dug his hand into his pocket, took out a singular sugar cube and reached out to hand it to you. When his rough fingertips brushed against your palm, something surged throughout your entire body and you stopped breathing for a brief span in time. You didn’t know what was happening, and felt momentarily paralyzed.

He noticed your change in body language and asked, “Hey, you alright?”

Your morning had been less than pleasant, and while only a few minutes ago you would have taken being alone over anything, right now his voice felt like a calm breeze and the only thing to get you out of your own head. Now you had the courage to lift up your head to meet his eyes and not avert them away. When your eyes locked with his, everything surrounding you didn’t suddenly stop, but seemed...stagnant. It was a dreamlike state, almost unconscious. Half awake, half asleep. Life was moving on around you, but none of it had any meaning. He was practically a stranger, but suddenly became the most important person in the world.

“Yeah, just...thinking. I guess.” You gave a small smile and forced laugh not wanting to elaborate on your thoughts.

Concealing your true feelings was a fight you never won, everything you felt may as well have been plastered across your forehead. And you knew this boy wasn’t anything less than smart.

He gave himself a moment for his words to gather and process, “What are you thinking about?” he questioned.

You were caught off guard by his question and grasped your coffee cup staring at it, grasping at your brain for the right words.

“Uhh, how to thank a kind stranger for bringing me a hot cup of coffee and sitting with a girl who was alone.” You answered while you rose your head back up to send him a tiny and genuine smile.

Looking down at his lap, he chuckled and ran his tongue against his top set of teeth. You almost could have sworn you saw a tinge of pink splashed across his cheekbones.

It seems your roles had reversed, as you kept your head up and put your elbows on the table and rested your chin on your fisted hands.

But like the flick of a switch, he rested his right arm on top of the booth and gave you a slight look up and down, “Let’s start with something simple. What’s your name sugar?” He practically purred.

“My name is Anna.” You replied softly.

“Just Anna?” He asked.

“For now.” You said confidently. “So who am I thanking?”

He lifted his hand from under the table and held it out to take yours. You returned the gesture and as he gently shakes your hand, he confidently says, “It’s Billy. Billy Hargrove.”

There it is again, that rush. His confidence quickly fades and you’re wondering if he felt the same thing.

You both proceed as if nothing changed inside yourselves, your eyes dart back and forth from the table to his eyes and you mutter, “Uhm, it’s nice to meet you Billy.”

You take a precarious sip of coffee and hum in pleasure at the it entering your bloodstream and warming you from the inside out. It was a simple cup of coffee, that anyone could make, but coming from him it somehow meant more.

“Thank you.” You said with a beaming but subtle smile.

You were only now getting a good look at his face and noticing how calming and inviting his blue eyes were, his subtle 5 o’clock shadow, pink tinted lips, and a fresh cut on his jawline. A face that you wanted to see more often but not get too used to.

He scrunched his face with a shrug and stated, “It’s nothing.”

With another sip of coffee you pondered the fear that he would be here and gone, it all seemed too good to be true.

“It’s not nothing to me. I might still be sitting here by myself with a cold cup of coffee if it weren’t for you.” You said slowly raising your head, and hoping he was still there.

He was. He shifted uncomfortably in the booth and cleared his throat and you were unsure of what he was about to say.

“I, uh saw your friend getting pissed at you then walking out.” He admitted while clearing his throat again.

You buried your face in your hands and let your hair fall in your face worried your cheeks were bright pink.

Billy lightly touched your forearm and said in a low voice, “Hey, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I shouldn’t have brought it up, it was a dick move.”

You took your hands from your face and looked at his hand still on your arm then at his face and his expression was alert and forlorn. You slowly blinked your eyes, bringing attention to your long, dark eyelashes and matched his expression. Before he could get too good of a look at you, he whisked his hand away and returned to his previous stature with his arm resting on the booth.

“I should get going, my parents are probably waiting for me. Thank you again for the coffee. Bye, Billy.” You muttered as you prepared to make your way out of the diner. You felt this was your only option, but part of you was hoping and praying he would try and stop you, it wouldn’t take much.

You stood up from the booth and fumbled through your purse to find cash, and he reached out and grabbed your wrist.

“I took care of it. And you didn’t get to thank me properly. Sit, please.” He said, bobbing his head towards the booth.

You sat back in the booth and sighed, “Only because you said please.” “So what will it be?”

“Well, what does a sweet girl like you do on a Saturday night?” He grinned.

“Mmm, well probably taking a hot bath while reading a book. But I don’t suppose that’s what you had in mind.” You hummed and took a last sip of coffee with raised brows.

“You’re right, I’m more of a shower guy anyways. I guess we’ll have to do something else.” He said, keeping his gaze on you.

That remark sent a chill down your spine and made all the hair on your body stand up straight. There was an entire universe being created inside of you and it took everything to maintain your composure and pretend you were the same person Billy initially sat across from.

You tried to remain upright and calmly asked, “How does a party sound? Is that something we can agree on?”

“I could never say no to a party.” He hummed a few octaves lower than normal.

You took a napkin and a pen out of your purse and wrote down an address, “Pick me up here. Say at eight?” You inquired, your voice lifting.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you at 8...sugar.” He replied with a wink.

He folded the napkin, put it in his back pocket and walked away with a confident stride. You inhaled deeply and your chest rose. The tingling throughout your body caused your breath to hitch slightly before releasing a slow and steady breath out of your mouth. You felt a deep change, as if something had been awoken inside of you. This change had arisen from a sound, restful state and now it was alive and hungry.

Tag list: @hipsmcgee @xicarcalii @dacremontgomerylover @thoughstofaredhead @alexaaab (comment or send me an ask if you would like to be tagged!)

[charomiami]

Day 3: Darkest Moments, Brightest Lights

7 years in the future total headcanon wish list. We find a 4yo drinking in the images of her favorite (and mine) bedtime story book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He laid back on the tiny bed, propped up on pillows. A tiny head of deep brown waves and curls rested in the knook of his shoulder. Matched brown eyes drinking in the last pages of the book held before the two as they reached the last few pages of Puss In Boots. “It rests with you, Marquis, whether you will not become my son-in-law.” “I shall be only too happy,” said the Marquis, and the princess’s cast-down eyes declared the same” He flipped the page where a grand fairy tale wedding spread over the pages. “So they were married the very next day.” “That’s a fancy wedding, Daddy!” the girl beneath the dark curls laughed finding the picture charming no matter how many times he read the story to her. “Yes, it is. very big. Oh, look!” he nodded and pointed to the white castle in the background continuing reading. They took possession of the Ogre’s castle, and of everything that had belonged to him.” ”What about Puss, Daddy?” “Ah, as for our frealess Puss, he became a great and important noble! he never had to chase mice again for supper, unless he wanted to of course.“ “But not hamsters. Just mice, right Daddy?” She cuddled a plush hammy close to her.  “That is right, especially not hamsters.” As he closed the book she rose from her recline and brushed her hair out of her sleepy face. He could feel the pins and needles as blood started flowing to that arm now. How could a little head weigh so much?! He stood and placed the children's book on the bedside table. “You are tired, hija?” He smiled as she flopped back and nodded. She’d stayed up late waiting for a vidcom with mommy. He walked around the other side of her small room and turned on the tiny hanar night light, casting the room in a soft pink and purple light.

“Daddy, can we see,” she fought a yawn and lost causing her to stop mid sentence. “Can we see abuelo Drack tomorrow?” Reyes paused  and inhaled a bit as he started to tuck her in, “Not tomorrow. he is with mommy. They are... ... on a very important mission... “ they said in unison. “But we will see him as soon as we can.” He bent down to to kiss her head goodnight. As soon as his lips touched her forehead the heat was unmistakable. He put the back of his hand to her forehead, then her chubby cheeks, each touch brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He’d thought maybe she was just warm earlier as a result of her insisting of being cuddled. “Hija,” he questioned softly, “Do you feel okay?” He used his other hand. Maybe he was doing it wrong. He’d seen her do this plenty of times. he was doing it right, right? Each touch was unchanged. All he got was a small snore for a reply. “You have your mother’s snore.” He shook his head as he turned off the nightstand lamp. Perhaps it would pass. He’d come back and check on her before he’d turn in. he rubbed the back of his neck in thought as he walked out her bedroom door, “Buenas noches pequeña princesa.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A small bottle of water in hand, he skimmed the invoice data pad in the other as he went to check on Valentina. His concern had dropped but, his daughter was the most precious of cargo. His eyes half on the file, he set the water bottle down almost missing the night stand. He caught it before it fell to the floor. “Ah, pendejo. Stupid. Sorry baby.” he smiled as she stirred thinking he woke her.  He went to brush her hangs from her forehead which were surprisingly damp with sweat, his hand quickly covered her forehead confirming his fears. She’d gotten worse, much much worse. He didn’t even remember turning on the light, but she was a whole new shade he’d never seen her. A sickly color in all the wrong places, her little cherub lips parted and pale. She was just as dark as her mother’s sun kissed skin, but this, this was wrong.  He sat on the bed with her, moving the hair from around her face and neck to dry her as best he could.  “Hija, how you feeling?” Nothing, only her breath filled the room. His mind raced with all the things he should do and who he could trust at this hour.  “Valentina, baby...”  he felt his heart starting to race and quickly keyed up his coms as he thought faster trying to beat the panic. “Mira, baby, say something to daddy?” He could see the halo of sweat building almost as fast as he could swab her dry. The soft glow and an electrical voice came to life... “... I don’t care what time it is, get someone we can trust up here. Someone I trust more importantly.” “Reyes, I can’t. The last good doctor we had was reported missing last week, They went to...” “What the fuck do you mean, missing? Last week?” “It’s ...” “Suka, it’s Valentina...” Reyes’s voice changed to something indescribable. “... I’ll think I know someone. I will call you right back.” Silence was short lived as he rushed to make another connection. His mind ran all over the place, but mostly back to Sara. He wanted to call her, but he of all people knew how important this mission was and a distraction like this... “... Reyes?” “Lexi, I...” he scooped Valentina up in his arms and slid further on the child sized bed. “I know, I just got the message from Suka.” Lexi, for all the shit the crew ever gave her, knew when not to waste words. Reyes was thankful for that because he was having trouble keeping his usual swagger and bravado in his voice. “I was just about to call you when you rang. Tell me her symptoms. We’ll get through this, Reyes...” It was all very knew. Even the medicines and knowledge the brought with them from the Milky Way and the new medicines of the Angaran, they children of the new generation often reacted differently to a number of things. New illnesses and new cures were found frequently. Valentina had always been a healthy child. a fun, lively, loving child. But even though she was only 4, she matched her mother’s curiosity and father’s talent for trouble. Honestly, as much as he hated this helpless feeling he had to wait. Lexi was with Sara, and at this point Lexi was their best chance. Valentina’s best chance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Word had been left with Sara, but only to be given to her after the mission was complete. He knew she would not call him but already be tearing through FTL to return. That’s how she was. She was reckless and blind in her devotion. Just look at him... How many hours had passed her fever never changing. Her eyes never opening. Not even a flutter as he changed her pillows, washed her face, dabbed her lips with cool water. He held her limp and fevered body in his arms singing softly the songs Sara sung when she was a baby pacing back and forth this same window as the sun peeked over the mountain. Her breathing seemed to have calmed, but the fever held strong. Hammy was still clutched in her tiny hand as he laid her back down. Dropping to his knees beside her bed, he brushed a damp curl behind her ear. ”You are my most precious cargo, hija. Hang in there. I can’t lose you...” “... Reyes?”  He hadn’t even heard the ping, but the voice woke him from his trance. He’d only heard this tone, this worry twice before in her voice and it broke his heart. “Princesa, I...” “I’m almost there... te amo. Los amo a ambos” “We’ll be waiting. Be safe mi amor.” he put a smile in his voice that did not match his face. He turned slowly, resting his back against her bed, a hand running down his face he was ready to assume his post.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“... y.” “humm?” “... addy.” “What baby?” he answered groggily. “Daddy?” ”Valentina?” Reyes  jumped to his feet, spinning on his heels to look at the bed. No beautiful brows greeted him. No dimpled smiling face looked back at him. His shoulders sagged as he sighed in the conclusion that he’d been dreaming.  His aching body needed a stretch. How long had he been a sleep like that. Honestly he’d been in worse positions for longer. He stretched and looked down seeing hammy had made a great escape in the night and lay on the floor now. With a slight frown, he picked the hamster up. “Oh no my friend, If I’m on duty, so are you. We Vidal take care of our own.” And with that he placed hammy back next to his daughter before turning to gather the old hand towels for fresh ones. “Thanks Daddy.”  The tiny sleepy voice floated to his ears as if a song sung by angels. “I dropped him.” “Baby!” he turned right back around and sat with a thump on the bed pushing hair from her face. A motion that was almost second nature now. “Mierda, you scared me!” “Daddy, mommy said that’s a bad word.” She barely had her eyes open, but there was a smile  in them. “Oh, well, you better tell on me?” He saw her fever, while still present, had gone down. “She’s on her way home early.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am late?! I almost didn't get this in on time. I feel asleep! but it’s not midnight somewhere?! My first ever FanFic be kind! Thanks for reading my drivel again! Was it too long? Should I have drawn it too? maybe, but too late. Sorry.  Fanfic Props by: @vorchagirl and @joufancyhuh

[gayside-blog]

You have to do them all sorry I don’t make the rules

This about to be so long! But thank you! This kept me busy while at work! I didn’t include questions I answered already so scroll down a couple posts on my blog to see those.

Amaranth: Pronouns/Gender?

Male, he/him

Amaryllis: Birthday?

July 18!

Angelonia: Favorite TV show?

The Office will always be a classic

Aster: What’s one of your favorite quotes?

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” I was always very indecisive until I heard this and it just made a lot of sense to me. Along the same line, “Take it easy, but take it.”

Aubrieta: Favorite drink?

Water! But my favorite special drink is probably hot chocolate in winter and lemonade in the summer

Baby’s Breath: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

I shouldn’t! (I don’t think I could)

Baneberries: Favorite song?

Literally changes every hour but The Good Side by Troye Sivan has been up there for a while. Iscariot is stuck in my head at the moment. Boy Meets Evil gets an honorable mention. This question is too hard

Basket of Gold: Describe your family.

I have my mom who’s a teacher, my brother Scott who’s 20 (21 in a few weeks!) and studying applied math, my sister Amanda who’s 18 and studying animation! I also have a (beautiful) dog Lexie who is 10 and practicing vigilance. I also have a whole extended family that I love and who support me and a bunch of compassionate friends who I want to give the world to

Beebalm: Do you have a best friend? Who is it?

I have many! Amanda, Lio and Alex, and Annie and Gabe :) And Lexie!

Begonia: Favorite color?

Yellow probably! The pale kind!

Bellflower: Favorite animal?

Literally any animal, but especially dogs and cats and squirrels and guinea pigs!

Bergenia: Are you a morning or night person?

I think I’m going to be a morning person but I love staying up late & in college, everyone kind of has to be a night person

Black-Eyed Susan: If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be?

What happens to the animal when I become it?? If I become an animal does that animal then become me? Who’s going to my classes? Do I have work? Do people still know I’m me? Can I talk? What about to other animals? Am I still in Ann Arbor? I have a lot of questions

Bluemink: What are your thoughts on children?

I like kids! I really am excited to be a parent! My number one priority in life is to be a good one

Borage: Give a random fact about your childhood.

Uhh I remember none of it!

Buttercup: Relationship Status?

I’m not dating anyone right now

Camelia: If you could visit anywhere, where would you want to go?

I think it’d be cool to leave the country! But I haven’t really travelled much so I still think going anywhere is exciting !

Canna: Do you have any tattoos?  

Nope!

Canterbury Bells: Do you have any piercings?

Nope!

California Poppy: Height?

5’5

Cardinal Flower: Do you believe in ghosts?

I don’t know! I think it’s a bit silly to say no because I don’t have any evidence that they /don’t/ but I don’t that they do either. The world is weird. I’d like to be a ghost for a bit so I hope they do!

Carnation: What are you currently wearing?  

Boots and jeans and a red t-shirt (I realize I wear this most Thursdays)

Catnip: Have you ever slept with a nightlight?

Yeah!

Chives: Who was the last person you hugged?

My friend Kelsey

Chrysanthemum: Who’s the last person you kissed?

An ex

Cock’s Comb: Favorite font?

Hind

Columbine: Are you tired?

A little, yeah. I haven’t slept much these past few days & I think it’s time for a good night’s sleep

Coneflower: Dream job?

I recently am thinking I’d like to teach some college nursing courses one day but I’m not sure! I’d love to get my MSN or DNP and practice as an NP

Crane’s-Bill: Introvert or extrovert?

A little bit of both. Almost an extrovert

Crown Imperial: What’s the farthest you would go for someone you care about?

This is hard. I would do almost anything for someone I care about. I don’t think I would let someone abuse me mentally, physically, or emotionally, but also I would save someone I really cared about over myself if it came down to it. Does that make sense? I think it matters that they also care about me and that what I do for others is out of mutual respect and love not manipulation or abuse.

Cyclamen: Did you have a favorite stuffed animal as a child? What was it?

I did! Her name is Rabby and she is a rabbit. She was initially my brother’s but he wasn’t interested so I got her when I was born. I also had Baby Blue and he is a very small blue bunny & Rabby’s adopted son.

Daffodil: What’s your zodiac sign?

Cancer

Dahlia: Have you done anything worth remembering?

Depends who you ask, but I think so!

Daisy: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment?

Becoming a kinder person

Dendrobium: Who is the last person that you said “I love you” to?

Amanda, I think!

False Goat’s Beard: What is something you are good at?

I’m generally a good student! I have a good work ethic

Foxgloves: What’s something you’re bad at?

Typing :( I failed fifth grade typing, so I still use the two-finger method. Also I’m not good at dancing but I’d love to be!

Freesia: What are three good things that have happened in the past month?

I had a really great spring break with Alex and Lio!!

I went to the Arb with Alex the other day and saw a bunch of deer right up close!

I’ve learned more about myself!

Garden Cosmos: How was your day today?

Honestly I’ve been feeling pretty anxious today but I did get lunch with Lio and it’s a pretty chill day at work so it hasn’t been too bad!

Gardenia: Are you happy with where you’re at in your life?

Yes. I appreciate where I’m at and how far I’ve come and I’m unbelievably proud of that, but I also have so much more to improve upon and grow with so I’m excited for the future as well.

Gladiolus: What is something you hope to do in the next year or two?

I’m uhh considering coming out to my nursing friends as gay. We’ll see what happens

Heliotropium: What helps you calm down when you feel stressed?  

Music. If my thoughts are very loud then I turn up the music really loud and it drowns them out enough to calm down. If I’m anxious, very quiet music helps. The more anxious I feel, the quieter the music. I don’t know why it works but it does. (Note to include here is that what doesn’t help is touch!)

Hoary Stock: What are you proudest of?

Actively working towards bettering myself and my life (still and always working more, but that doesn’t negate the progress already made)

Hollyhock: Describe your ideal day.

I just love spending time with people I care about. It’d probably involve staying up late up to antics or chatting and cooking (and eating) some good food and not anything extravagant. Ideally there’d be pets involved too.

Hyacinth: What do you like to do in your free time?  

Usually I like to just take time for myself. Self care, working out, meditation, Netflix, reading, or practicing the things I’d like to learn (recently, this has been handstands). I think it’s good to enjoy spending time with myself!

Hydrangea: How long have you known your best friend? How did you meet them?

Like I said, I have many! I’ve known Amanda for my whole life. We got Lexie when I was almost 9. I met Gabe in seventh grade, Annie in sophomore year (but we didn’t become really good friends until senior year!) and I met Lio and Alex September last year when I moved to AA!

Irises: Who can you talk to about (almost) everything?

Amanda

Laceleaf: How many friends do you have?

A lot! I probably have like 15 close friends but I couldn’t really sit down and list everyone

Lantanas: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

I don’t know! It’s nice when people believe I’m kind or cool!

Larkspur: What do you think of yourself?

I think I’m a pretty kind and genuine person. I tend to be optimistic and I like that because it took a lot of CBT to get to this point. I do think I’m smart but I also feel that a lot of that comes from work rather than natural kind of ability. I’m also becoming more assertive which is a big deal for me and makes me feel more confident! I think most of the time I look good but I want to work towards being more physically fit and feeling like I look cool because I’m not a big fan of the clothes and things I wear right now. Other than that, I think I come off as a good person and people tend to trust me and depend on me which I appreciate.

Lavender: What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

I tend to be a pretty open-minded person and I like that I try to empathize with and understand other’s positions and adapt to them

Leather Flower: What’s your least favorite thing about yourself?  

I don’t think I’m very fun, especially around people I don’t know very well

Lilac: What’s something you liked to do as a child?

My siblings and I would spend a lot of time playing the colony game which I loved! It’s a simulation game we made up and as we grew it got more and more complex which was awesome

Lily: Who was your best friend when you were a kid?

I had a few! Mallory, Lindsey, Kirsten, Summer!

Lily of the Incas: What is something you still feel guilty for?

Just every inconsiderate thing I’ve ever said or done

Lily of the Nile: What is something you feel guilty for that you shouldn’t feel guilty about?

Being trans/gay

Lupine: What does your name mean? Why is that your name?

Charles means masculine! My mom just liked I guess and it’s also a little bit of a family name! Fun fact though I really love that my mom picked my name

Marigold: Where did you grow up? Tell us about it.

I grew up in the house I live in now! It was always very cozy. The house is really a communal space 100% so I never felt like I couldn’t be anywhere growing up which is so good and it also has a nice backyard and we had a trampoline which was my favorite thing!! I would spend all day out there just being a kid and it was incredible

Morning Glory: What was your bedroom like growing up?

Sparse! We didn’t have many toys besides a couple stuffed animals each but my (and Amanda’s) room had a bunk bed, two dressers, and a bookshelf

Mugworts: What was it like for you as a teenager? Did you enjoy your teenage years?  

From what I can remember, I was going through it from about age 10-16. When I started junior year, I ended a toxic relationship and started going to therapy a lot more and it’s only gone up since then!

Norwegian Angelica: Tell us about your mom.

She’s a fifth grade teacher and you’d know that as soon as you meet her! She talks a lot and is very excitable but I love that because for a long time she’s been mentally and emotionally not doing great. It wasn’t easy growing up with her the way she was but now we are both in such better places and I feel closer to her than ever. It’s a work in progress. She is big into physical contact in a way that I’m not comfortable with but that really allowed me to practice being assertive and setting boundaries in a healthy but kind way which has been good for me. She really loves me and my siblings and most people with her whole heart. I love her a lot even though we’re very different people.

Onions: Tell us about your dad.  

Oof. I don’t have much to say about him I guess.

Orchid: Tell about your grandparents.

They’re awesome!! Pop can be a lot sometimes but we all know it and he’s working on it. They both have such compassion and my grandma is the most graceful person in the world (she’d never let me say that about her if she could hear it but she really is incredible.) Pop is the person who pushes me the most academically but I know he is looking out for me and sometimes he softens up for a sec and goes on about how proud he is and I could cry every time. Both of them give the best hugs. I love them a lot and I’m so grateful they’re in my life.

Pansy: What was your most memorable birthday? What made it be so memorable?

I’m not sure what year it was—I think 14—but my sister had a softball tournament in Wisconsin that week so we were staying in a Wisconsin Dells hotel and it was very hot and I didn’t really want to be at the game. Then, the other team didn’t show up!! So we went back to the hotel and we spent the day at the waterpark and it was so fun and already a great day and then when we came up to the room, my mom pulled out a gift for us that I had no idea she had snuck along and it was just the nicest surprise of a day I’ve ever had :’-)

Peony: What was your first job?

Babysitting! But I guess the first proper job I had was as a janitor

Petunia: If you’re in a relationship, how did you meet your partner(s)? If you’re not in a relationship, how did you meet your crush/how do you hope to meet your future partner(s), if you want any?

At school!

Pincushion: How do you deal with pain?

I think I have a pretty high physical pain tolerance. Most of it is a mental game for me

Plantain Lilies: If you could go back in time, what is one thing you would stop/change?

I don’t know! I’m a strong believer in the butterfly effect so probably nothing (@alex this is a Jin move) but if everything else would be the same, I’d start focusing on recovering/therapy earlier and transition immediately

Prairie Gentian: Who is someone you look up to? Describe them.

I look up to so many people but I haven’t talked enough about my brother yet so. He’s so cool! I always admired him for being smart and creative (he would make up the most fun games when we were kids!!) but he’s also super charismatic and likable and he’s great in social situations! And still overall, he’s a kind and reliable and caring person. I love talking to him about philosophy and things because he’s super passionate about it and he thinks through things thoroughly and in a way I never thought about before. We’ve grown so much closer in the past few years and I love that.

Primrose: Describe your ideal life.

I just want to be happy and make the people around me happy!

Rhodendron: What is something you used to believe in as a child?

Santa!

Ricinus: Who’s the most important in your life?

Amanda

Rose: What’s your favorite sound?

Rain outside when I’m inside and it’s just a little chilly

Rosemallows: What’s your favorite memory?

I have so many great memories and I can’t pick just one!! I have nice memories of my family spending winter weekends all in pjs and sitting in our family room reading with fire in the fireplace and those are very nice! I also have a lot of great memories at the Culver’s by my house bc that was the high school place to hang out and it was always a fun, chill time :)

Sage: What’s your least favorite memory?

The most loaded question?? I have some bad memories from being a kid but I’m not going to talk about them in a Tumblr response

St. John’s Wort: Is it easy or difficult for you to express how you feel about things?

Usually kind of difficult if it’s got to with emotional things because I’m still working on distinguishing which emotions are which so articulating that can be a challenge when I’m already not feeling good

Sunflower: What is something you don’t want to imagine life without?

Lexie :(

Sweet Pea: How much sleep did you get last night?

5-6 hours

Tickseed: What’s your main reason to get up every morning?

I try to get excited for something happening that day! I also will make time for meditation or something if I’m anticipating a rough day

Touch-Me-Not: How do you feel about your current job?

I like it a lot! I work in the nursing clinical simulation lab and I’m learning a lot and it’s exciting to be getting the chance to practice stuff before doing it for class

Tropical White Morning Glory: Describe your aesthetic.  

I’m into the pastel inspirational quotes and things because they make me feel very calm. I’m also a big fan of things with symbols and stuff

Wisteria: How many books have you read in the past few months? What were they called?

I think the last non-textbook I read was The Stranger over winter break! It was really good!

Wolf’s Bane: Where do you want to be in life this time next year?

I want to be applying for CNA summer jobs and spending time with my best friends and feeling accomplished about being halfway through nursing school!!!

Yarrow: Do you know what vore is?

I think so but I don’t want to

Zinnia: Give a random fact about yourself.

One day I drank like 150 oz of water in 3 hours and got very sick

[fantasysuiteleague]

Week 2 Recap: The Three Ds

Is it just me or does it always seems like The Bachelorette gets a shitty draw of contestants? Each year there are at most 3 guys I would take home to meet my parents, maybe one worth actually marrying, and the rest are all that terrible guy you see on TV and hope you never meet in real life. They only care about themselves and what makes them look good or what will get them the most screen time. This season, with its new colors and Blachelorette, is no different. At most we’ve added an extra amount of swagger, but with that swagger comes an added level of douchebaggery that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. 

D is for Doggo

This episode highlighted 3 of the worst people we’ve met since Chad, and one precious angel who is too pure to be around any of this mess. That’s right, I’m talking about Copper. That precious baby with the broken toe who stole Bachelor Nation’s heart. Not only did he get his own limo entrance, but he also went on the first and best 1-on-1 date of the season, accompanying Rachel and Peter to a DOG PARTY. I can’t say I paid much attention to Rachel and Peter, as I was focused solely on Copper and all the ways I could pet him and be his best friend.

The only thing I took away from the 1-on-1 date was that Peter and Rachel bonded over the gap in their teeth, and that Rachel doesn’t seem to mind that Peter is dead in the eyes. Something’s off about him, but it looks like he’ll stick around for awhile so I’ll come back to him when the meat isn’t as fresh.

D is for Douchebags

The first group date of the season is very on-brand for the Bachelorette: a low key picnic with ... an obstacle course and celebrity sighting. The picnic is set up in what I assume to be a vacant lot three spaces down from the Bachelor mansion, where everyone takes turns grilling and playing touch football. Right off the bat it’s hard not to focus on the douche of the century, Whaboom. Everything he does is for attention. He pushes other guys around so he can be the “first” to say hi to Rachel, he obnoxiously dances around the football, shouts constantly, and even picks Rachel up at one point and spins her around like a Disney Princess. It’s not hard to see that Lucas is, in the words of Blake: garbage. The other guys question his personality traits and whether he’s here for the right reasons simply because he is TERRIBLE.  He’s not even trying to fight with anyone, he’s just being himself, which is absolute garbage. Fun fact: My friend was in the same frat as Whaboom at Berkley and said that he is, hands down, the absolute worst person he has ever met in his life—next to his twin brother.  That’s right, there are two of these assholes. 

He also told me that Lucas was constantly trying to be the center of attention and was always making loud obnoxious jokes or trying to steal the stage but NO ONE thought he was funny. Some quick sleuthing on the interwebs brought me to his IMDB page, which honestly says it all. I mean, a 2012 Spanish dating show? God what a fucking loser. But his “rival” Blake is no better, and we need to unpack both of these shitty bags of garbage to really get down to their trash core. In a voice-over, Blake mentions that he knows Whaboom and is the only person that can “ruin this” for him. Well first of all, Whaboom doesn’t need anyone’s help ruining anything. Second, Blake knows the true garbage nature of Whaboom because they were both on a trashy reality TV dating show hosted by Carmen Electra. Yep, that’s right. Garbage, meet Garbage. Oh, you already met on the Ex-Isle? Perfect. Let’s skip the pleasantries, and the entire obstacle course while we’re at it. That way we can also skip over Blake whining the entire time that Lucas is cheating and not following directions, and Lucas winning then attempting to get Ashton Kutcher to yell “whaboom.” To literally everyone’s relief, Ashton politely passes on the offer, as he should have with My Boss’s Daughter / Just Married / Killers / basically all movies he’s ever done.

No really, name a good Ashton Kutcher movie. You can’t, because there are none. Anyway, since Whaboom won the competition he got the first 1-on-1 time with Rachel. Blake takes this opportunity to let everyone know that, to the extent they hadn’t figured it out yet, Whaboom is a douchebag. Blake, it is the first fucking week. Chill the fuck out man. When Lucas gets back to the perfectly stirred pot, he’s confronted with the question of our generation: how do you identify yourself? The correct answer, of course, was garbage, but we would have also accepted trash. Speaking of trash, Blake continues his crusade against Whaboom by informing Rachel that, to the extent she is both blind and deaf, Lucas is just a clown here for TV exposure. Like any guy NOT trying to get TV exposure, Blake then goes and tells Lucas that he just spent his time with Rachel letting her know that Whaboom is wearing makeup and is here for the wrong reasons. 

At this point it’s pretty clear that Blake is also here for the wrong reasons and obsessed with Lucas, who may or may not be totally wasted. It’s hard to tell, because he’s just that terrible. In the end, Whaboom walks away the winner of this confrontation after he tells Blake he’s going to do “him” and that Blake is “dismissed.” Point, Garbage. I can’t really tell you what else happened on this date due to the overpowering stench of Garbage, but everyone else was so boring that the 20-year-old Ricky Fowler look alike, Dean, got the group date rose. Good for you, Dean.

D is for Drama

The second group date the guys get a considerably better draw with a game of pick up basketball monitored by Kareem Abdul Jabar. DeMario is the focus of this date, which I wanted to attribute to his charisma fuckboi charm and casual ability to dunk a basketball. But something doesn’t feel right about this spotlight and even though deep down I know why, I think and hope that maybe, just maybe, it’s not him. It’s like when you’re watching a Law & Order SVU episode and it’s definitely the dad, but it feels way too obvious to actually be the dad, so instead you convince yourself its the neighbor but like, it was always the dad.  It was always DeMario. Always. You don’t get this kind of attention in a group date when there are previews of a scorned lover confronting her man unless it’s your scorned lover. Enter Lexi, the girl who DeMario was allegedly fucking days before he went on ATFR and met Rachel. Before she even opened her mouth I could tell from her eyebrows that this girl was trash and was ready to shamelessly take down the Big D. The build up to this drama is great. After being summoned by Rachel, DeMario is convinced he’s getting the rose and walks gleefully back into the gym talking about what he learned playing the game until he saw cash me ousside girl waiting for him.

DeMario’s face quickly goes from happy to freaked out to “confused.” He immediately launches into fuckboi defensive mode and makes a series of moves that only digs him deeper into the pit of despair.

Move 1: Pretend like you have no idea who this girl is and that you’ve never seen her before. Obviously this is NOT the right way to go, but you have to give him partial credit if only because I would also deny knowing (let alone fucking) someone that trashy. This obviously doesn’t work as she’s tracked him down, so it’s on to the next move.

Move 2: This girl is fucking crazy, and we met “many many times ago.” Um, what? Thankfully Rachel is smarter than to buy into the “she’s crazy” excuse that’s constantly applied to women by the patriarchy. Instead, she asks for clarification on what “many times ago” means, and at this point the Big D starts to sweat.

Move 3: Claim that this is personal stuff that we should handle off-camera. This was an obvious misstep that sent Lexi into a rage about unanswered text messages and fucking her 2 days before he went on ATFR. Rachel keeps it classy, however, pointing out that this is also her personal life so DeMario really needs to explain himself.

Move 4: Admit he dated her, but claim that he broke up with her because she was “too much” to handle, circling back to the old “she’s crazy” thesis. DeMario tries to suggest that he broke up with Lexi face to face, but then Lexi starts shouting about how he still has her keys... 

Move 5: Keys? What keys? I don’t  have your keys..... Oh, wait. I actually mailed them back to you. As if this mother fucker has ever been to the post office. At this point DeMario has to know that he’s totally fucked and should probably just leave before he says anything else. But he doesn’t. Instead, he continues trying to downplay what Lexi is saying until finally Rachel tells him he’s not making any sense and she just wants to know when was the last time he saw Lexi.

Check: Lexi stops swearing on her kittens’ lives long enough to offer up the receipts to prove not just her side of the story, but the exact date and time when Demario was last in and out of her...apartment. Before Rachel accepts any documents into evidence, she gives DeMario one last chance to say literally anything that isn’t a lie and asks if the dates on Lexi’s phone will match his story or hers....

Move 6: It depends on the dates...

Checkmate: Finally at the end of her rope, Rachel takes Lexi’s phone (which I imagine smells like cigarettes) and reads the standard fuckboi texts we all knew DeMario sent. Rachel calmly informs DeMario that she is not here to be played or to be made a joke of, so he can get the fuck out.

In the aftermath of the DeMario drama everyone starts whispering about how DeMario was obviously not there for the right reasons when, in reality, they are all there for the same reason: fame. DeMario was just sloppier about it. The remaining guys on the date all use this as an opportunity to let Rachel know they’re there “for her” and will “protect her” from this kind of behavior. Josiah flexes his protection muscles the most with his... creepy side eye stare and ends up getting the group date rose. We don’t get too far into the cocktail party before the ghost of DeMario comes knocking at the gates of The Bachelor mansion to prove once and for all that D is for determination dumbass.

Did you notice . . .

Ashton knew when he “first saw” Mila that they would get married ... after he married Demi Moore and played dad for a few years, of course.

“This is not a show. When I want to turn it on, I turn it off. When I want to turn it off, I turn it off.” - ummm that’s a show, Lucas.

Curious that Lucas and Blake hate each other so much yet look like pals in this picture from 2016....(also, the hastags...)

“I check my mailbox every day.” - Lexi, lol.

OF COURSE her name is Lexi with an I.

I could do without Alex’s singing, especially as it’s likely a trigger for the Russian Manchurian Candidate, Jared Kushner.

Minority Report: The most embarrassing part of the whole DeMario saga is that before the Bachelorette he was dating white trash like Lexi.

[thatapostateboy]

can I just send a bunch for that WIP document (of ur choice maybe I have no pref) - couch, green, bed, eyes, kiss, hand, touch, soft, burnt, easy

From this meme

I went into my massive Mass Effect WIP document and had some real fun. They’re also longer than a sentence each because I got very excited

Features some AUs, spoilers, Gil/Scott, F!Shep/F!Ryder, and me gushing about my children

Couch – Sam Rydergoes to see Commander Shepard for a final goodbye

“Your troublesome brother not with you?” Shepard hummed withlaughter.

Sam snorted a little, “No, he’s too busy flirting with some cuteblonde comms specialist out on the front desk.”

“I thought you were in the science department. What bringsyou to my door?” she asked, then nodded to the couch, “You can take a seat ifyou’d like.”

Sam smiled but shook her head, “I shouldn’t stay long, Ishouldn’t even be here, but… I just wanted to say thank you, Commander. Forsaving my life that day, and the life of my team. And not just that, but savingus all from Sovereign, the geth, the Collectors. I don’t care what people aresaying, you’re a god damn hero.”

“Kid, you don’t have to say that,” Shepard leaned againstthe back of the couch, trying not to let on just how touched she was.

“No, I do,” Sam insisted, “Someone has to. You’ve been myhero ever since I saw the news vids of you when I was a kid. Although myresearch lies in geology, all of my combat training was inspired by you. Youshowed me, and so many other recruits, that battle isn’t just about who has thebiggest gun or the strongest biotics. It’s about smarts, knowing thebattlefield, being tactical. It’s saved my neck countless times… I know that Ishouldn’t have just snuck in here, and started gushing at you, but it needed tobe said. I couldn’t leave without reminding you that even though your situationis shit right now, you’re going to pull back from this, because you’reCommander Nora Shepard, hero of the Citadel, saviour of the Council, and oneday everyone is going to admire you just as much as I do.”

Green – Final mission,Sam thinks that Scott died on the Hyperion

“Is this seriously the Archon? What is he doing?” Vetraquestioned.

Without a second’s warning, the corridor they were in wentdark. They all raised their weapons in alarm, but one by one the lights startedto come back on, flicking back off and coming back on again in a pattern, greenand blue lights dancing across the ceiling, the walls and the floor.

Sam was the first to lower her gun, eyes filling with tearsas she looked around.

“What is it?” Vetra glanced at her.

“It’s Scott,” Sam whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks,fingers tracing her wrist where her blue bracelet sat, the matching one toScott’s green one, “The lights, that’s me and him; blue and green. He’s showingus the way. He… He’s alive.” A smile spread across her face as she looked atVetra, “He’s alive!” As soon as it was there, the smile was gone, and shelooked alarmed, “Oh shit, he’s alive. The Archon’s still got him!”

Bed – Pre-game, Samand Scott work at the same digsite

“Sammy…”

She rolled her eyes as the sound of her brother’s voice overthe comms in her lab.

“Saaammy… Sammy Ryder…”

“Go away Scott, I’m working,” she told him.

“Samantha Louise Ryder are you still working at this hour?”he laughed.

“One, don’t call me that, two, yes I am still working. Iwant to document everything about the samples we collected today before bed.”

“Sammy Lou, take the rest of the night off. I am bored, Iwant to hang out with my favourite sister.”

“I’m your only sister.”

“All the more reason for me to cherish your company.”

“Don’t you havework to do?” she asked.

“I’m security for a dig site full of scientists. It’s notexactly a fully packed schedule. Besides, if you come up to my post now I’vesome ice cold beers and nachos.”

She tilted her head away from the microscope, “You gotcheese dip?”

“Would I ever let you down Sammy?”

“Fine. I’m on my way.”

Eyes – AU where theRyder twins don’t go to Andromeda and join the crew of the Normandy, one shotof the morning after Sam and Shepard first sleep together

Shepard groaned softly as she woke up, realising that thewarm presence beside her had moved, her wandering hand only grasping at emptysheets. She opened her eyes to the dim light of her room, lit only by the fewlamps that she hadn’t turned off before sleep. Movement caught her eye and sheturned her gaze to the obscured figure by her desk.

“Admiring my collection?” she asked, laughing softly toherself as she watched Ryder jump.

“I thought you were still asleep,” she said.

“Right back at you,” Shepard shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Kept trying to sneak out, but you’re a persistent cuddler,”Ryder hummed, “Was going to steal a few moments in your amazing shower thatTraynor won’t shut up about then leave, but your models caught my eye. It’s anincredible collection.”

“I’ve always loved model ships,” she admitted, “But neverhad anywhere to store them until they rebuilt the Normandy. Started collectingproperly when I was fighting the Collectors… You didn’t have to sneak out, youknow?”

“I know,” she sighed, “Still felt like I should though.

Kiss, Hand and Touch –After the final mission, Gil and Lexi transport Scott back to the medbay

Lexi and Gil eased him onto a stretcher and loaded him ontoa shuttle. Gil sat right beside him as they took off, frowning when Lexiinjected him with something.

“Anaesthetic,” she told him as they watched Scott visiblyrelax back against his pillows, “He was still in a lot of pain.”

Gil felt his chest tense up as he dreaded to think whatScott had been through, what lasting effects it would have. He glanced downwhen something warm touched his hand and he realised that it was Scott, slowlybrushing their fingers against each other’s.

“Hey Hot Shot,” Gil offered him a smile as he took hold ofhis hand properly.

“Hey yourself,” Scott mumbled, “I… I gotta tell yousomething.”

“You should really be getting some rest, Scott,” Lexi chimedin from across the shuttle.

“Gil,” he insisted, ignoring the asari and trying hishardest to keep his eyes open even though he was heavily sedated, “Really. Haveto… tell you…”

“You can tell me, then you have to get some sleep, promise?”Gil offered.

“Mmm-kay,” Scott gave a single, heavy nod, “Gil… we… weshould… get married…”

“You think so?”

“I know so…”

“And you always know best.” Lexi gave him a look and Gilgave his hand a squeeze, “You have to rest now, Scott.”

Scott closed his eyes for a moment, a smile still on hislips, before he looked at Gil again, “What… what d’you say? About marrying me?”

Gil looked down at him, heart swelling with love, “You restup, you let Lexi look after you and you get yourself better, and I’ll marryyou.”

Scott beamed, and it took all of Gil’s willpower not to kisshim senseless. He let out a mumbled exclamation of joy, and finally passed out.

Soft – Scott wakes upon Meridian and Gil tries to comfort him

Gil slipped out of his grasp again, watching him with sadeyes, “Do you need to talk about what happened to you? Sam’s tried to tell mebut… as much as she thinks she can read your mind, she didn’t go through it;you did.”

The smirk fell from Scott’s expression and he curled in alittle on himself, “Look, it’s… it’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

“Scott Ryder, you have the worst poker face of anyone I haveever met. We promised that we’d always be honest with each other, that we trusteach other. Talk to me, I’m here for you.”

Scott sighed, “Can you just… hold me?”

They cuddled close together, Gil holding Scott in his arms.That was usually Scott’s position; he was taller, they just naturally fit thatway. But right now, this was exactly where Scott needed to be. They lay insilence for a while, content with feeling the warmth and comfort of eachother’s presence, and Gil was almost convinced that Scott had fallen asleep.Until he heard the soft vibration of Scott’s voice against his chest.

“I thought I was going to die.”

Gil lifted his head, looking down at Scott, “What?”

Scott shifted a little to look at him, “I thought I wasgoing to die… I was ready to, when I was the one with the gun in my hands; thatwas on my terms, for my reasons. It would have been quick, no pain. But once wegot to Meridian, once he started to use my implant… I’ve never felt pain likethat, he was tearing at my mind, pulling apart my thoughts to get to myimplant. I fought back, but… I didn’t think it was going to be enough. I wasnever going to see Sammy again. Or you. Or our baby… I was so fucking scared Gil. I knew that if I failed,Andromeda would die because of me. He would kill all of you… I couldn’t letthat happen. That’s the only thing that kept me going. You, our baby, ourfuture… I fought for that, and it got me through.”

“You did it, Scott, you made it through,” Gil assured him,“We’ve got a real shot at that future now, thanks to you.”

The entire galaxy was right outside their door hailing Samas their hero, and she deserved her glory, but he wasn’t going to let Scott’scontribution be forgotten.

“That’s all I want. A home, here on Meridian, some busteddown shuttle in the back yard for us to fix up and tinker with, Sam and Vetraconstantly coming over to pester us, probably with Sid in tow because you knowthat my sister has practically adopted her now, you, me, Jill, little babyBrodie-”

Gil shot him a look, “Brodie?”

“Yeah, Brodie Ryder.”

Gil laughed softly, “You’re serious?”

“Okay, maybe not the first one, Jill should get the mostinput, but somewhere down the line, I think we should have a little Brodie.”

Burnt and Easy -Extension of the pre-game scene from above

She found him sat at the edge of the cliff, legs danglingoff the edge; matching hoody on, beers and snacks laid out on one side of him,gun on the other. She flopped down beside him, picking up a beer.

“Working hard I see,” she mused as she took a sip.

“We can’t all slack off and stare at dirt all day,” hesmirked, taking a mouthful of his own.

“We don’t have it all as easy as you. How’s your latestproject coming along? Blown something up yet?” she glanced back at the littleguard station behind them that she knew was full of his various tech projects.

“I nearly reinvented the toaster earlier,” he told her,earning a snort of laughter.

“What do you mean nearly?”

“There were unforeseen complications.”

She was silent for a moment before she looked at him, “Itblew up, didn’t it?”

He nodded, “It blew up… really burnt the toast.”

[socialmediamarketing2sales-blog]

21-social-media-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses

The social media universe can be an overwhelming place for small businesses. And, as a small business marketer, you’re likely strapped: for funds, time, and/or manpower. That means you need to enter the space with a game plan, because without a game plan, social media marketing can be as much of an exercise in existential crises as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

So where do you start? What do you post? How do you measure?

Luckily, many people have been through this looking glass before, so they can provide some guidance.

I asked the experts for their best social media tips, and here’s what they had to say.

Jump to a section:

Getting Started

Where Should I Post?

What Should I Post?

Scheduling

Boosting Engagement

Measuring Returns

Getting Started:

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well.

-Chapter 1

It can be very easy, when it comes to social media, to think of it as a rabbit hole: it’s a fairly simple concept, but who knows what it’ll require of you once you begin. When making the case for yourself or a team member to get started with social media, here are some things the experts suggest you keep in mind.

1. A lack of social presence makes customers question your legitimacy.

“It’s no longer a question of “if” you should get on social media, but instead “what” social media you should focus on. Any business with a social media presence is automatically viewed as more competent, focused, and thoughtful than competitors that do not. An active social media presence is even better, since it shows customers that your company runs smoothly and takes care of everything, down to the online marketing presence.”

-Amy Dalcanton, Marketing Specialist at Unlimited | Sotheby’s International Realty, @Unlimited_SIR

2. Combat that lack of presence by front-loading new profiles with content..

“When you’re just getting started, I suggest pushing as much as content as possible, as consistently as possible. Don’t worry so much whether “it’s brand appropriate;” you just want to get started and build content.”

-Jas Banwait, Growth Marketing Expert at JasBanwait.co, @JasBanwait

3. That said, you don’t have to be an every-man. In fact, it might be more effective if you’re not.

“Marketing on social media takes finding your niche and building a relationship there. Trying to reach a broad audience will fail.”

-Nick Leffler, Owner of Your Brand By Nick Leffler, @Nick_Leffler

4. Knowing your target customer can help develop a niche voice on social.

“Developing buyer personas is a great way to narrow down your target audience. Your product/service isn’t for everyone, so make sure you’re speaking to the right people.”

-Ashton Haywood, Marketing Specialist at Software Advice, @SoftwareAdvice, @ItsAshtonLynne

5. Don’t over-process your posts.

“Be human! A lot of organizations are afraid of making mistakes on social – they’ll run their posts through 20 different people and approval processes before actually posting, and the result comes across as robotic and bland. People don’t respond to that!”

-Brandon Echter, Engagement Manager at Science Friday, @SciFri, @BEchter

Where Should I Post?

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

-Chapter 6

There’s been a prevailing attitude over the past decade or so that you need to be on platform X, or that you may as well not exist if you’re not on platform Y *cough FACEBOOK cough*. But the winds are changing. And today, no platform is a requirement.

6. Start where your customers are.

“Just because you love reddit doesn’t mean your customers are there. Figure out where your ideal customers are already hanging out and learn how to use that platform to reach them. It’s much easier to go to them than to try to bring them over to your favourite space.”

-Anita Kirkbride, Head Twirp at Twirp Communications, @AnitaKirkbride

7. Take on what you can handle–and nothing more.

“Planning, creating, scheduling social media content and having conversations with potential customers takes time. If you sign up for every social media channel under the sun, you will be spreading yourself too thin and your content will perform poorly”

-Danica Benson, Marketing Communications Manager at RivalIQ, @RivalIQ

8. Don’t sweat it if you’re not on the

latest

craze.

“Some businesses may never make it to Instagram or Snapchat – but that’s okay! Concentrate on your target audience and your goals from social media. In the world of choosing social platforms to concentrate on for small businesses, less is often always more.”

-Jessica Kornfeind, Senior Marketing Manager at PrimePay, @JesKorn

What Should I Post?

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”

-Chapter 2

What sort of content is your audience interested in? It’s going to take a lot of trial and error to figure that out. But these experts provide a good jumping off point:

9. Take your cues from the successes of others.

“You can find ideas anywhere; be sure to analyze and watch what your competitors are doing/posting. It’s also important to monitor what other businesses and companies are doing that catches your attention. Sign up for social media articles and tips from experts so you can daily or weekly receive emails with all sorts of tips, new information and social updates.”

-Erin Siefring, Social Media Coordinator at Totally Promotional, @TPromotional

10. Entertaining and useful content is better than promotional content.

“People go on social media to be entertained, not to be marketed at. Therefore, whatever your company puts on social media should be built to engage first and market second, if at all.”

-Nicholas Berry, Digital Marker at American Image Displays, @Am_Img_Displays

“Being ‘useful’ to your followers is crucial for engaging an audience. A genuine approach actually enables business owners to save time… one well thought out post will bring more engagement than 10 terrible posts.”

-Jayme Pretzloff, Director of Marketing at Wixon Jewelers, @WixonJewelers

11. Images are key.

“Use high quality, crisp visuals. Recent research shows images increase social media engagement: Twitter updates with images in them receive 150% more retweets than those without and Facebook posts with images in them receive 2.3 times more engagement than those without. Canva is a fantastic resource for creating custom images, with free and low-cost options available.”

-Emily Sidley, Senior Director of Publicity at Three Girls Media, @EmilySidleyPR

Related:  Top 7 Free Photoshop Alternatives for Better Social Media

Scheduling

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”

― Through the Looking Glass

Social media can seem like a daunting task; there’s always more to do and little time to accomplish it. With so much to do, how do you accomplish it all?

12. Consider a posting plan, to start.

“Lots of small businesses get so caught up in ROI, strategy,and SEO that they forget the most important part: to post consistently. So many businesses are so wrapped up in the overthinking that they leave their pages out of date by months or years – dinging their credibility when a potential client looks them up online to see what they are all about. My best tip for small businesses just getting started is to come up with simple posting plan to start – and then actually carry out that plan consistently over time. Once you get comfortable posting on a regular basis, you can invest more time and money in a deeper strategy.”

-Stacy Erickson Edwards, Founder of Organized Social Media, @OrganizedSM

13. Invest in a scheduling tool.

“Investing in a scheduling tool, like Buffer for Hootsuite, to schedule your social posts in advance. These tools will save you hours of time each week. Social scheduling tools allow you to schedule posts across multiple social channels for the day, week or month. This way you don’t spend 30-60 minutes every day on social media.”

-Danica Benson, Marketing Communications Manager at RivalIQ, @RivalIQ

Related:  The Top 7 Free Social Media Management Software

Boosting Engagement

“How puzzling all these changes are! I’m never sure what I’m going to be, from one minute to another.”

―Chapter 5

Social media moves quickly, so you need to be a little more reactive than other channels. You need to be engaged with what’s happening; if you plan on just setting something up and walking away, you’re going to have a bad time.

14. Engagement is a two-way street.

“When people mention your company on social media, let them know that you’re listening. If it’s a question or positive comment, respond ASAP. If not, make sure to like or favorite the post so they know you saw it. Little gestures like this go a long way.”

-Kyle Massa, Content Associate at TeamSnap, @TeamSnap

15. Look local for cross-promotion opportunities.

“Engage locally and authentically! Look for local organizations with whom your business has a natural affinity of demographic crossover.

Find them, follow them and engage with them. Retweet and repost their content and look for opportunities to feature them in your content. Soon enough, if the connection is real, you’ll find their audience becomes your audience, too.”

-Will Scott, CEO of Search Influence, @SearchInfluence

16. Set yourself up for success: Optimize your other channels/content for social sharing.

“You can also use email to promote social media. Include your social icons/links within the footer of your emails to build an audience.”

-Lexi Pemberton, Vendor Marketing Associate at Capterra, @Capterra

“Include social share icons with proper functionality on your web pages. Icons with ‘share’ functionality should be placed on article pages, and icons with ‘follow’ functionality should be placed in the footer or header.”

-Leslie Handmaker, Digital Marketer at LeslieHandmaker.com

Measuring Returns

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

― Chapter 6

One of the biggest challenges any social media manager faces is proving the return on investment. It’s easy to say ‘we need to be on social media,’ but–for small businesses where resources are sparse–the executive team often needs to see how you’re moving the needle.

17. Take advantage of the built-in analytics tools.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure, but measuring social media ROI doesn’t have to be expensive. Small businesses can take advantage of the wealth of information provided in built-in, free analytics tools like Facebook Insights. The key is know what to measure – don’t worry too much about gathering a million followers. The important numbers to watch are engagement and impressions.”

-Natalie O’Grady, Social Media Specialist at A.Wordsmith, @MissNatalieJ

18. Define what success looks like to you and build from there.

“In terms of measuring ROI, it depends on your business objectives. If increasing your following is a major goal, create a simple shared doc or spreadsheet with others on your team and record the number of followers per channel at the beginning of the month. Then, once a week or once a month, go back and write in the most current follower counts. This will show you where you’re growing, stalling or losing ground…

If web traffic is a goal (and it probably should be), set yourself up with a Google Analytics account so that you can measure all of the pertinent metrics that show where your visitors are coming from, which channels are the sources of valuable traffic, how long do people stay and read your content before bouncing, and whether they leave your page quickly or visit other pages on your site. This data will help you develop a solid strategy and ensure you’re not simply spinning your wheels with social media or blogging efforts.”

-Jason Myers, Senior Account Executive at The Content Factory, @ContentFac

19. Don’t get swayed by vanity metrics.

“Most businesses only focus on vanity metrics like number of followers, likes, and retweets. Those can be a good measure of your success, but they can also be deceiving. Not every follower is useful to you. Is it better to have 1,000 great followers that could potentially be customers one day or 10,000 followers that are in a different country that will never buy from you. It’s pretty obvious that you’d rather have the 1,000. High numbers don’t always mean great success.

I’d recommend figuring out what action you really want your followers to make. Do you want them to click through to your website? Do you want to start more conversations with them through social? Do you want them to claim an offer that you’re sharing specifically through social media? Define the action that you want them to take and start tracking it. Social media is at least as much about branding as it is marketing so if you make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward and branding yourself as an authority in your industry, you’ll be just fine!”

-Dustin Brackett, CEO of HIVE Digital Strategy, @HIVE_Strategy @DBrackett88

20. Test constantly

“Testing of your social media content needs to be ongoing, and there should always be a monthly, if not weekly discussion as a team on what content is performing either well or poorly, and what can be done to remedy that. This can be fixed by optimizing timing of posts, stronger call to actions, curation of industry content, etc.”

-Melissa Fears, Social Media Specialist at Anvil Media, @MJFears

21. Be patient! It’s a learning experience.

“Be patient! A lot of small business owners don’t know about all of a platform’s capabilities, or get frustrated when they don’t see a high engagement rate or grand following right away. If you’re not getting the results you want, spend a little more time going back to basics. Optimize your Facebook Page, follow relevant accounts on Twitter, post regularly to Instagram, and so on.”

-Kelly Jacobson, Content Creator and Social Media Manager at Illumine8 Marketing and PR, @Illumine8PR

Well, there you have it: advice straight from the experts.

Which one of these tips did you find most actionable? Or do you have a favorite tip I missed? Let me know in the comments!

[soberannie]

13 June 2017 

 Edit this and spillll about everything w fonz

15 June 2017

Just now actually doing this, and honestly I’m not in the mood to do this at all haha. I guess that, unless someone gets me talking about my emotions, I don’t like to actually acknowledge them or deal with them, but I suppose that is the nature of the beast that we call alcoholism. 

I don’t even know where I should begin... Alfonzo and I talked pretty much every day from February until I got on the sub in May. We’d hung out a few times towards the end of the semester and everything was great. I loved talking to him and felt like, for the first time, I was being totally honest. He made me comfortable and made me want to do things the right way; I set boundaries for myself before we started hanging out, and explained to him that I have a really messed up relationship with men and that the way I was before wasn’t working, so I needed to make changes. He seemed super receptive to that and respectful, which I appreciated more than he knows. So I go on the sub and text a little bit afterwards, I go to Philly, he goes to the hookah lounge with Lex and I after a meeting, and we’ve talked once since then. 

I was scrolling through facebook one day and a picture that his ex, Grace, posted of them popped into my newsfeed. I texted Lexie and Katharine, then went on a run because it got my super in my head. Same thing happened the next day and I felt hurt and angry. Since then, he went to a wedding with her in DC (literally my backyard wtf dude) and went to her graduation, and she’s posted pictures and snapchats of it all. He stopped talking to me so out of the blue, and after seeing those pictures, I decided that I wasn’t going to initiate anything and would wait for him to reach out for me, and he hasn’t. That’s okay, I guess, but still feels super shitty. I feel like I deserved for him to at least let me know that he wasn’t interested in me anymore. 

I talked to Katharine on the phone on Monday and expressed that I feel as though I did things right on my end--I feel that my side of the street is clean. I told her about my conversation with Caroline, when we talked about how, even though he and I understand each other a lot and can relate because of our experiences with alcoholism, he isn’t in a place spiritually that I think could be a strong foundation for a relationship with me. Having a Christ-centered relationship is so important to me, and while he’s definitely expressed a lot of interest in finding Christ again, there hasn’t been action, and it certainly isn’t my place to ‘fix’ him.  That is something he needs to do on his own. 

Right now, I feel betrayed and hurt. I confided in him a lot, I was comfortable talking to him, and I thought that things with him would be different--he’s sweet, understanding, mature, and seemed so captivated by me; I thought that this would be a mature, ‘sober’ relationship, and that we both would respect one another, communicate well, and just have a healthy relationship. Whenever he would stop talking to me for a little, I always suspected that something was going on with him and Grace again, and this time, my gut feeling was obviously right. I wish he had talked to me about it, though. I feel betrayed because this ended so quickly and without closure...it feels like I was just a place-holder until she came back into the picture, and once she came back, his need for me was done. I trusted him to be open and honest with me, and it doesn’t feel like he was.

I definitely feel a sense of less-than... the fact that everything changed so quickly hurts and makes me feel like she came along and was prettier, funnier, and just better. That’s always my initial feeling, but I constantly have to remind myself that they just have such a long history and I CANNOT let myself think like that. I think one thing that really fucked me up was when he and I were laying in his bed and I was rubbing his back, we weren’t saying much, and he just looked at me and said, “hey, you’re a really good person.” It felt so genuine and unprompted, and made me feel like he saw something special in me. That moment keeps popping into my head and fucking me up. Was I not good enough? Is it because I’m younger? Did I do something wrong in his mind? I don’t know--and I’ll never know--if things ended because of my faults or simply because they have history and a different connection.

How does this affect me going forward? DAWGGGG can u say trust issues??? As if John didn’t give me enough of those, this situation just absolutely makes me hesitant to trust men. Based on my past experiences, I feel as though I have no reason to think that things between a man and I won’t change if their ex comes around. I have no reason to expect to be made a priority. 

I’m proud of how I handled things though. I’m proud of myself for sticking by the boundaries I set, by staying true to myself, and for staying calm and talking to other people and running instead of blowing up on him. I feel like the worst thing he has to say about me is that I didn’t sleep with him, and if that’s the only dirt he has one me, I think I’m in pretty good shape.  I feel like I did things right on my end, and obviously I know that it takes two to tango, but I think that, in the back of my head, I’ll always feel like I did something wrong. Those thoughts go through my head pretty frequently--if I’d had sex with him, would the outcome be different? If I’d brought up ~exclusivity~, would things be different? At the end of the day, though, I didn’t compromise my values, and I’m glad I didn’t, because I would have felt SO shitty for compromising myself just to make him happy and ~hopefully~ make him like me more--enough to choose me. If I have to compromise my values for someone to like me, they’re not the right person. I guess that’s the only black and white thing in all of this, and that’s okay. I just need time.