#i would spend 30% of my time (not more since I'm always trying to share my time between 7000 hobbies... and would be doing

[avianyuh]

Jeon Jungkook as a Boyfriend

So I think we've moved past JK's 'baby' phase

Like, look at him

Grown👏Ass👏Man👏

So I'm not gonna spew any of that "He's scared of girls" crap

He was very young when he debuted and I know for sure he's grown out of that phase of his life.

In three years Kookie will be 30🤧

But, JK is an introvert

I think that's something he has always been and fame has probably made him become a more defined introvert

So I think if one were to be dating him, you would spend a lot of time together at home

Playing video games

If you play the same things as him, I think he'd get a little competitive

If you don't play the same things as him (or if you don't game at all) He would definitely teach you how to play

Would get so much enjoyment out of teasing you

I could see him trying to cook for you

He shares recipes a lot with army so I think he'd cook for you

And if you like to cook, I think he would look forward to whatever you make for him

He loves to be active

But I don't think it'd be a "dealbreaker" if you don't like to exercise

I see him with his gym time the same way I see him with his video game hobby

He'd love to bring you along with him to the gym

Or his home workouts tbh

And force you to do 50 pushups or something stupid

And he'd fake bully you if you couldn't do it

And if you did, he would do 50 more that you so he could still win

Like I said, very competitive

I think he'd like to draw for you

Probably get a tattoo of you once he was really serious about you...

Though he ain't no baby, he is still the member's baby and I think their approval would mean a lot to him

So he'd get nervous when it came to introductions between you and the rest of BTS

But obviously, it would go well so don't worry

You'd get aquatinted with Bam

And all of his other friends

Would do karaoke night at least once a week

Would try to find the perfect moment to say I Love You

But he'd end up putting to much pressure on himself trying to figure out the perfect time to say it

But he ended up blurting it out after he came home from a studio session and was greeted by the smell of you cooking

You had made dinner for him at 12 on the morning because you knew he'd be working late that night

So he just stood in front of the doorway of the kitchen watching you explain why you made dinner so late

And that's when he said it

Arms crossed, big grin plastered on his face as he shook his head

"I Love You"

And you dropped the wooden spoon you were using to stir your pot and you jumped into his arms, returning those same words

UGHHHHH

And then y'all ate and moved it to the bedroom

Where you then passed out due to being stuffed and exhausted from being up so late...

But speaking of the bedroom!

SHEXY SHTUFF:

Ooooo

You guys know about the whole 1)Dom 2)Sub 3) Switch thing right?

Well, I think he'd be option 3

I see him as the type to take the lead most of the time

But, I think on days where he might be a little shy or who knows, maybe you upset him and got in a fight

I see him as the type who would want you to take the lead

But I think most of the time he would be dominate since he gives me control freak vibe

*Cough* Virgo *Cough*

Omg his arms

Imagine him like, lifting you

Oop

I see him as the type to be heavy with the eye contact

I think he'd put an emphasis on pace

I think if he was really trying, or was mad, he'd go faster

But if he had all the time in the world, he'd go slow and that's where he'd really lay on the eye contact

Would take sex as an opportunity to tell you how much he loves you

And yes, I do see him as the type to crack jokes during sex

And honestly my Tumblr friends, that is what you want in a man

Get freaky but at the same time have fun

Btw, have fun tracing those tattoos!

[dearstvckyx]

‘whats an everything shower?’ - lh43

pairing : Luke Hughes x Fem!Reader

genre : fluff (very clingy luke)

mentions : shaver / razor

Luke Hughes sat inside the dim bathroom, his back against the doorframe, legs stretched out in front of him. It had been months since he and his gf of 6 years had been in the same place for more than a few days. Between his commitments with the NJ Devils and playing for Team USA, their time together had been short. But now, in their shared Michigan lake home, he couldn't bear to be apart from her—even if she was just on the other side of the shower curtain.

"Babe, come on," he groaned, tapping his fingers on the floor. "How long does it take to shower?"

He heard her laugh softly from behind the curtain. "I'm doing my everything shower, Luke. It takes time."

His fingers stopped tapping and as he looked at the cupboard in front of him before slowly looking at her silhouette through the curtain, he asked her, "Your what?"

"It's when I do everything," she explained laughing lightly, her voice echoing slightly in the tiled bathroom. "Shaving, exfoliating, hair mask, face mask, deep conditioning—everything. It's like a spa day, but in the shower."

Luke sighed dramatically, making sure she could hear it. "But I miss you. You've been in there forever."

She chuckled again. "It's only been 30 minutes, Luke. Patience."

"I have no patience when it comes to you," he replied, a hint of a smile in his voice. "I just got you back, and now you're hiding in the shower."

The girl in the shower rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see it. "I'm not hiding. I'm just trying to unwind. I love my everything showers."

Luke leaned his head back against the doorframe, closing his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'll be quiet. But hurry up, okay? I want to spend every second with you."

She smiled to herself, feeling the warmth of his words. "Alright, I'll try to be quick. But no promises. This is sacred time."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Fine. Just know I'll be right here, waiting. Always."

Their laughter filled the small bathroom, a comforting reminder that despite the time apart, their bond remained as strong as ever. And as she continued her everything shower, she took comfort in knowing that Luke, her clingy but loving boyfriend, was just a few feet away, waiting to wrap her in his arms once more.

Finally, Luke heard water stopped running, and his girlfriend emerged stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a fluffy towel with her hair piled on top of her head. Luke's eyes lit up as soon as he saw her.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, standing up and immediately pulling her into a tight hug. "I thought you'd never come out."

She laughed, hugging him back just as tightly. "I told you it takes time."

He nuzzled his face into her damp hair, breathing in her familiar scent. "You're worth the wait," he murmured against her skin. "Every single second."

His girlfriend pulled back slightly to look up at him, her eyes sparkling. "I missed you so much, Luke."

"I missed you too," he said softly, cupping her face in his hands. "But now we're here, together. And I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Well," she whispered, leaning up to kiss him gently. "I still have to change." she said, cause the taller boy to groan.

“Just throw on one of my shirts or jersey. Not like you haven’t worn my clothes before.” Luke said to her, winking in the last sentence, which resulted in a playful smack from the shorter girl.

As they finally settled into bed, Luke pulled her close, his arms wrapped securely around her. "Goodnight, my girl," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight, Luke," she replied, snuggling into his embrace. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said softly, closing his eyes. "Always."

And with that, they drifted off to sleep, content in the knowledge that no matter the distance or time apart, their love would always bring them back to each other.

[thebestsetter]

- I wish you'd dedicate a goal to me

- What? - Rin asked as he stared at the girl

- I said - (Name) said while not taking her eyes off the horror movie her and Rin were watching - I wish you'd dedicate a goal to me. Ya know, like Bachira does to his girlfriend - she sighed dreamly - or Isagi. Hell, even Kaiser dedicates his goals to his girlfriend.

- Hm - Rin said, taking his eyes off her and looking back at the TV - that's kinda stupid. Everyone knows you're dating me, so why would I need to do that? The game should continue as quickly as possible, so it would just be a waste of time.

The girl finally looked at him. If he stopped paying attention to that movie and decided to look at her too, he'd see the sad look in her eyes. The girl sighed again (this time, out of disappointment) and got up from the sofa.

- Hey, where are you going? - Rin said, finally pausing the movie (just as the main character was almost getting caught by the big, bad and scary monster) and looking at her again

- I'm going to bed - she responded. Quick, short and emotionless. Exactly the opposite of what her answers should be

- Then I'm going too - Rin got up from the sofa, kind of grateful that she made him turn off that horrible movie (he liked horror movies, but this one was ridiculous. The monster looked like phlegm and the script looked like it was written on colored paper with crayons by a 5 year old)

- Hm - she hummed, and the teal eyed boy was starting to get uncomfortable with her responses (or the lack of them)

Without another word, the couple went to their shared bedroom. (Name) sat down on the bed and decided to spend the next 30 minutes surfing the internet and liking some cute cat videos, while Itoshi went to the bathroom to shower (the last time he had taken a shower was in the morning, before breakfast. Yucky!).

When he finally locked the door, (Name) suddenly got a call from her best friend. She decided to pick up, since the girl always knew exactly how to cheer her up

- Hey (Name)!

- Hey.

- Okay, You can stop giving me that attitude, young lady. What happened?

Sighing for the third time in a span of 30 minutes, (Name) decided to tell her about the disgreement with her boyfriend.

- So yeah, I got kinda sad. He basically said our relationship was a waste of time, you know?

- I can't believe that bastard really said that. "That's stupid". If anything, he's the stupid one! - she said, mocking Rin by mimicking his voice. A very poor imitation, may I add. But it made you giggle, and that was exactly what she wanted - can't believe you're still going to his game tomorrow!

- Yeah - you said, a lot more happy thanks to the conversation with her - But can you blame me? VIP session, baby! - you both chuckled

- True. Well, I have to get going - she said, sadly cutting your convo short - I have a job interview tomorrow, since not all of us date a football player - she playfull rolled her eyes - but it was amazing talking to you!

- You always know how to make me smile. Thanks.

- Don't mention it! If he ever pulls any shit like that again, just break up with him OR don't hesitate to call me. I'll kick his ass for making my pookie wookie sad - she answered, using that ridiculous nickname you begged her to stop using

- Will do - you smiled - now go to sleep. You need to be in good form tomorrow!

- I'll get that job opportunity, you'll see.

- I don't doubt you one bit

- Bye, good night!

- Night! - (Name) said, turning the call off and finally going to sleep with a calmer mind.

What she didn't expect, however, was that Rin was hearing every. second. of. the. call.

It's not like he wanted to hear it, he just happened to be attently listening to every word (Name) said and trying to understand what her friend said too. It's not his fault his gf uses speaker mode!

The Itoshi got out of the bathroom and stared at the phone with a dumbfolded expression, not believing ehat he had just heard.

"I can't believe (Name) got mad because of that" because of me, is what he really thought, but he decided to lie to himself claiming that "it wasn't his fault"

- ...why are you looking at my phone like that? - the girl said after being woken up by the light coming out of the bathroom.

- Like what?

- Like that!

- I don't know what you're talking about.

- Okay then. If you're acting stupid to make me angry, congratulations! It's very effective

- I'm not acting stupid

- You're right! You're not acting stupid, you are stupid

- Hold on - he put his hands in front of his body - are you seriously mad at me for not wanting to dedicate you a goal?

- Wow! What a genius!

- Not a fan of the attitude

- Not a fan of you being an asshole

Rin decided that arguing was useless. Afterall, you were always very sarcastic when mad, so any efforts to make you less angry were fruitless. There was only one way to solve this argument, and Rin already knew what he was gonna do. So, he finally decided to lay in bed.

- Nuh uh, you're sleeping on the couch tonight.

- What?! You wouldn't do this to me.

- Yep, I would. Couch. Now.

Yeah. He had to solve this shit fast.

"And there he goes again, Rin Itoshi dominating the field once more! "

He was at the top of his game today. It almost made you pity the other team, really. Two goals in the first half of the game is a big deal. And, sadly, none of them were dedicated to you. Not that you were expecting it. You knew how stubborn Rin was, but you were just as (if not even more) petty.

So, you decided you would leave the game early. You wish he could see you leaving, but he would notice your absence sooner or later.

- Wow, this game just keeps getting more interesting! A penalty for the team led by Rin Itoshi, and it looks like he will be the one to shoot it. I'm sure he wants to score a hat trick, so that's his chance! And he isn't someone who loses his chances often.

He sure isn't. Because, the moment he grabbed the ball, he looked at your chair, eyes sparkling and almost pleading for you to watch him. And even though you wanted to leave him alone, something inside of you told you to wait. So, you decided to humor him for a bit.

"The ref blows the wistle. Itoshi looks at the ball, runs and... GOALLLL!!!! A hat trick from the one and only Rin Itoshi, ladies and gentleman!"

You rolled your eyes, cause you knew he wouldn't lose this, and decided to finally leave. Afterall, your gut was wrong. Nothing extraordinary happened. Or at least you thought nothing did.

- Love, wait!

No way. Rin freaking Itoshi was not jumping the fence separating the field from the stands just to get to you.

- This goal was for you, ya know?

This wasn't happening, right? He for sure wasn't hugging your waist so tight it was making you red (yes, of course your red face was only caused by the lack of air filling your lungs because of his grip. Of course you weren't feeling shy or anything)

- I didn't think dedicating you a goal was necessary because I thought you knew all of my goals were and are for you. Everything I do is for you. I love you. And since I love you, you don't deserve only a goal: you deserve a whole ass hat trick. This is for you, love.

You were crying. In front of thousands eyes and in front of the television. The whole world could see your ugly crying red face, but you strangely couldn't care less. Not when Rin was closing the distance between your faces, and specially not when the striker was kissing you with so much passion it made you wanna cry even more. And so, you laugh.

- Yeah, you're not sleeping on the couch again tonight.

~ A/N: not proof read, so sorry for any mistakes!!! Also, the friend got the job after the interview 👍

Masterlist

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

MO'S FANFIC BEAUTYFYING MASTERCLASS!👩‍🏫

So it seems like you guys like how I do my banners and layouts on @xxsycamore ! I wanted to share a few tips about making similar ones, along with some of my observations on their importance! Be warned, some of the screenshots I'll use to illustrate my point will be of my smut fics! This post is intended for the ikemen series community. While the tips could be found useful for other fandoms as well, it's important to note that it's only this fandom that I've taken into account and because of that my observations could be unreliable if you chose to follow my advice outside of the fandom!

The importance

First of all, a good layout is a subjective term. Second, a "good" layout is not guaranteed to boost your fic's popularity. Not all of us are able to put the time and effort into fancy banners and dividers, but the good news is, you don't really need them! You should always strive to do only as much as you can without straining yourself. Here you can see a minimal effort fic layout vs one that took 30~ minutes to put together, both posted around the same time, both having a similar reception when it comes to notes! Keep in mind that a layout is just one of the many factors to take into account for your fic's popularity status, and you shouldn't obsess with it either way.

2. The minimum: Banner + Title

Not everyone checks out every single post on their dash while they scroll! I follow around 1100 people and while not all of them are active, it's easy to miss a post that could as well have been the best thing I'd see that day. Your brain recognizes what a typical fanfiction post looks like - a rectangular picture with a title above/underneath, followed by text. As long as you scroll past a post with a similar construction and you're interested, you might want to scroll back and check it out.

3. Banners

The information that you get from a banner is typically about the character(s) featured in the fic. Using the example above, you'll see that a simple cropped picture of the character gets the job done! (an in-game sprite at that, not a fancy card photo)

If you decide to use a card, you can browse google for a good one of your character(s). I try to select a card that depicts something similar to what's happening in my fic, either the action or the "vibes" (daytime or nighttime, outside or indoors, canon or modern, etc.), but sometimes it's better to choose the one that will look good instead of the one that's more fitting.

Finding cards of good quality is also challenging, and I'd advise you to avoid blurry/low-quality banners even if those would be best fitting.

Stick to the rectangular horizontal format if possible. I like square banners sometimes, but it's better when you can see the whole layout at once!

4. Editing the banners & photo coloring

If you decide you want to go out all, you'll need a photo editing app or a program. I use one called Snow which is mainly for selfies but gets the job done. It has many filters to choose from, but inputting text there could be a hassle sometimes. Another one I use is Pixlr. Yeah, I couldn't let it go ever since the days it was just a website...it's been about 10 years but I still rely on it (now as an app) for some stuff, like cropping down images with very big height to width ratio (like thin strips for dividers). In very rare instances I use my (paid) art program, Clip Studio Paint. I know that many people use Canva for their banners but I can't get used to it, I guess it's not my thing, haha. That's why you should see what works for you. I prefer a certain amount of limitation, like having filters to choose from, simply because I don't want to think too much about it and to be able to spend too much time on it (I'm a perfectionist)...

Maybe you just want to give your picture some nice coloring, nothing too much, just a slight change of tone that it's noticeable but not in a screaming way. There are still some things to avoid, mainly old-looking filters. I'm talking about the ones that were mainstream on Instagram during the last decade, the pinkish sepia one for instance. Ones that have too high exposure value and make the bright parts practically glow are not a good look either, same for the too dark ones. Making the character unrecognizable is also not good, and some filters can do that, especially in the case where they have fair hair and the filter makes it appear as another color. Again, those examples are bad only in my own opinion and could look good in certain circumstances or if it's a desired look!

Here's the collage for the banner used for my fic Nine Nights (MDNI) before the filter (first picture), a variation I did but scrapped (second pic) and the one I went with in the end (third pic). While the bottom pic is in contrast with what I said about making characters unrecognizable, here I rely on the fact that it's enough that it's obvious this will feature all of the Crown members just by looking at the bunch of them. I liked how the colors pop up, almost as if each one gets assigned a theme color (interestingly I didn't pick the cards for that purpose), and it's just a pretty coloring in my opinion as a whole. I achieved this by tweaking the RGB values from the "Curves" tool in Snow.

Another cool thing to do with your banner is adding transparent elements in it, like how I did with this one (see it from the link below, it's not depicted here on the pics). The thing is, this could be very energy-consuming, you'll need an app/program that can do that as not all of them work with transparent images, and in the end, it could be just barely noticeable. But it can be fun from time to time.

5. Titles

A title is the other main element of your fic's layout and it should stand out. If you hate coming up with titles (understandable...) you can just put a "(character) x reader fluff", for instance. If you look at the example in point 1, I simply used the character's name in place of a title! It doesn't have to be a stressful aspect of putting your fic out there. As a side note, you can try centering your title simply by putting some spaces at the front, but leaving it aligned to the right could be a stylistic choice.

6. Colored text

This one is very optional but good if you want to fancy it up. Tumblr already gives you a bunch of colors to pick from and you can make use of them if they fit the style of your fic, but they're very limited. Luckily we can use just any color we want. (This only works on the fonts tumblr supports! The ones you can choose from when you highlight a text) Unfortunately, the way to do this will make you work with the HTML editor which you can access at the top right corner of your post editing screen (from desktop, click the settings, scroll down to Post editor) and things might seem pretty scary if this is your first time looking there. It's not too hard! You need to use a site that takes your desired piece of text, lets you select colors, and then gives you a code that once pasted in the HTML editor will make it colored when switching back to the Rich text editor. Here's the one I use because it also allows me to blend colors. At the bottom right of the page, I put the text in the first box, select the colors, and upon clicking Run it gives me the code in the bottom box. I use colored text for my title, and sometimes for my information tags.

7. Information tags

This is how I refer to the part of your layout dedicated to showing the pairings, genre, content warnings and wordcount of your fic. This is all optional even to add in the first place. I personally don't bother too much with beautifying that part, but a good tip is using some kind of symbol to separate these pieces of information if they're all in the same paragraph (I use big dots), or to place in front of them if they're in different rows (like bullet points). This gives a lot of creative freedom for text art, you should explore it if that's your thing!

8. Fonts & font size

You can experiment with Tumblr's fonts, or you can look for more fonts online - here's a handy site. It's good to find one that is legible enough. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞. Again, be warned, those fonts that are outside of tumblr's post editor cannot be colored (as far as I'm aware of)

You can spell your title in all caps if you deem that's a good look for your fic.

Play around with bolds and italics instead of making everything a different font.

The "Biggest" font option here on the editor is not the best one to use as it's simply too big. Big title fonts should be avoided if your title doesn't fit in a single row.

Having different font sizes for different things in your layout can be eye-catching! Besides the obvious upscaling of the title, you can also upscale your information tags. Using small text is also nice and prevents your post from getting too long, but this should only be done for the part of the fic that is not the fic itself. Small text could be harsh on the eyes if it's in big quantities.

9. Dividers

Dividers are another crucial part of a fancy layout! They divide different parts of your layout, like the information tags and the fic's body. There are tons of styles to choose from. Some people like to use dividers that spell out something, like a "minors DNI" warning, a "support your creatives" reminder, the name of the character featured in the fic... You can make your own set of dividers for repeated use. I like to use very thin lines which I color differently according to the fic's theme colors. I also find dividers online, mostly here on tumblr, as there are tons of them if you look them up. It's important to use dividers which are marked free to use, or to otherwise credit their creators.

10. Additional tips

Use gifs. Everything that moves is eye-catching. But don't go overboard with it - one or two moving objects on your layout is plenty. They shouldn't be put too close to the fic's body too, as people might find it distracting. Avoid flashing and glitching gifs, or if you use those and you deem it necessary, tag the post with an epilepsy warning. You can make your banners into gifs by putting a moving filter on them, making it into a video, and turning the video into a gif (the site I use for this is called ezgif and it has plenty of other options for working with gifs and videos), and you can also make or find gif dividers.

Banner themes are nice, but they don't always look good. I'm talking about making a series of banners (like for a bunch of fics made for the same creative challenge) look the same, with the same coloring and filters. I used to make all my banners purple to follow my blog's tumblr theme but I realized not everyone looks good in purple...

Try adding a synopsis for your fic! I know, this is worse than coming up with a title, but we love flipping the book over to look at the synopsis before jumping into it. Keep it very short and try beautifying it with symbols or fancy quotation marks.

Use the "intended" font from the tumblr post editor to make your information tags or synopsis stand out and shrink the overall length of the post!

Put the body of your fic under a "read more" (the last option when you hit a new row in the post editor). This is very important, especially if you're writing smut - you wouldn't want to make people scroll through all of that if they're not in the mood for it. Putting your whole fic on the dash doesn't make it more likely for people to stop and read it, or at least that's just how I see it.

Use emojis! Emojis stand out!

Take inspiration from other people. Get out of your bubble and look at how other fandoms do it, but obviously don't steal.

11. Final thoughts

Making this post felt weird to me! I was motivated by my mutuals complimenting my layouts but also because some of them said "they can't do that" and I wanted to show them it's easy. I also wanted to show them it's not that important and that they shouldn't stress over it at all! At the end of the day it's your fic that matters, not how pretty you can make it work. But instead of simplifying it, I ended up with this massive post of 11 parts, and now it looks scarily big. It's not, okay! I went too much into detail at times, and I want to stress once again that it's all optional anyway. I, personally, don't follow all of this advice. I don't go through the 10 steps of constructing my layout every time I'm about to post a fic. I typically post my fics just before going to bed, and 99% of the time I need it to happen ASAP because it's that late in the night. It's a way to beat my perfectionism, really, and I find it to work for me. I also already have these steps tested and memorized so it all happens quickly and mechanically for me. Making the layout is extremely fun for me and this is my sole driving force for putting in the effort. At the same time, I remind myself not to go overboard because it's stupid to focus on it more than on the fic itself. I love ao3 because everything looks equal on there, but I also love tumblr because I can unleash my creativity in one additional way.

In the process of making this post, I started to wonder if it seems like I'm making this out to be way more important and difficult than it really is, and I want to assure you that this is not my intention at all!

My only hope is that this proves to be helpful for whoever feels like they can use some of the information above. If it leads to just 1 additional note to those criminally underrated fics I see, then I'd be beyond happy!

Have fun posting your fics :)

[writingquestionsanswered]

PSA // Questions Requiring My Ideas

Just a quick reminder that I'm not going to answer questions that require me to come up with ideas for your story. I know it can be so frustrating when you're in the thick of your story's plot and things aren't making sense... it would be amazing to have someone who can say, "do this, this, and this," but unless you want to pay a writing coach or a developmental editor, you're going to have to roll up your sleeves like the rest of us and do the hard work of figuring it out. And I knowwwwww how much that stinks sometimes. Believe me, I've been there a million times.

Here are some things that have helped me get through it:

1 - Take A Step Back - Sometimes, even a day or two away from your WIP will help you see it with fresh eyes and get ideas flowing again. For me, if I'm away from my WIP for a few days, it starts nagging at me when I'm doing monotonous things like cleaning or driving. That's when I have sudden epiphanies that fill in plot holes or solve my biggest story problems.

2 - Talk It Through with a Friend - Whether it's a writing friend, your bestie, a family member, the toddler you babysit once a week, your dog or cat, or your favorite plushie, sometimes just talking out loud about your story while someone else listens (or "listens") can help you work through story problems and come up with ideas that you're otherwise struggling with. And... to be honest, I have been known to do some really weird sh*t when I'm in this mode, like pretend I'm talking about my process with this WIP to a group of fans at a book signing, or pretending I'm being interviewed on a podcast or radio show... I don't know what it is about talking this stuff out, but it can make a big difference.

3 - Plot Your Story Out Using a Different Structure Template - I'm a big fan of using story structure templates as interpretive guides for plotting. While I don't recommend boxing yourself in, and feeling like you're stuck following a particular template exactly, I do think story structure templates can be a really helpful way to get an overview of your story's working parts. And sometimes, taking your story and plotting it out against a different structure template just for fun (not necessarily to rework it) can help jog things loose that are stuck. And since it's absolutely okay to combine templates or use little bits of ones that work wherever and however they work for your story, you may find that you just borrow whatever worked from that template and graft it onto your existing structure. Again, whatever works best for the story. My post Creating a Detailed Story Outline has some templates to check out.

More than anything else, just keep at it and try not to get frustrated. Plotting is an absolute bear, but it's hard, and it's supposed to be hard. Anyone who says they sit down and have a perfect, flawless plot fall out of their heads fully formed is not being completely honest. Good plots take a lot of work, and sometimes it's like those shape sorters we played with as babies... you can spend weeks or even months trying to put a square peg in a round hole and not understand why it's not fitting. Then, one day it just CLICKS, and you suddenly see the shapes for what they are, and know how to make everything fit together.

Keep at it! ♥

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[skyewritesstuff]

paper rings (mike's version)

my masterlist.

entry 2 in my (taylor’s version) songfic series.

summary: despite the recurring hardships, you and mike make a vow to stay together through it all.

pairing: mike schmidt x reader

fandom: five nights at freddy's

warnings: tooth rotting fluff, yall. :')

notes: based on "paper rings" by taylor swift. has been beta read. yall, i swear i'm going to leave the josh hutcherson tag alone for a bit after this, i promise lmao. i also know i need to update my masterlist. i'm going to do this soon!

word count: 3k

At this point in your life, you did not need an alarm clock. 6:30 in the morning started at 6:20 when you’d hear the tell-tale honk of your boyfriend Mike’s car being locked. You technically didn’t have to be up until 7:00 to get Abby up and ready so that she’d be on the bus right at 7:45, but you always liked to greet him when he walked in since work had never been something he’d regard as an easy part of his life.

You’d known Mike since high school. You’d been chemistry lab partners, occasional study partners, and then prom dates. It was as cliche as a “will they/won’t they” situation could be until you two separated after graduation. You’d gone off to college and Mike had stayed local. You didn’t reconnect until you ended up back home working as a nurse in the local hospital and one of Mike’s various work (fight) related injuries landed him in the ER. After reconnecting there and exchanging numbers, you began casually seeing Mike whenever you could. Sometimes he’d flake due to job and schedule changes, not feeling up to it, or needing to meet Abby's needs. That was until the dates became more frequent and it wasn’t so casual anymore. You then moved into his small home with him and Abby, sticking by him despite his numerous job changes.

You got up, putting your discarded pair of Hello Kitty pajama shorts back on despite the black t-shirt of Mike’s falling to a point where they were almost covered. You then wandered into the living room, still a little sleepy, but glad to see Mike after spending all night sleeping on your own.

“Hey, you…” You said with a yawn, reaching to take his vest and keys from him to hang them up.

“What are you doing up?” he asked, sounding rather groggy himself.

“You ask me that every single day…” You laugh, leaning in to gently kiss his lips, “I just want to be there for you as soon as you get home, because I’ve been on graveyard before and it’s the longest, shittiest night you can have.”

He leaned in and kissed you again, his lips curving up into a slight smile, “Thanks, baby…as always.”

You take his hand and begin to walk with him back towards your shared bedroom, knowing you only have about twenty minutes or so to lay with him before you have to get back up for Abby. Mike strips down to his boxers and then crawls into bed with a heavy sigh and you follow suit, not even bothering to take off your pajama pants knowing what little time you had was going to pass by in what felt like an instant.

“Things still super weird down there?” You ask, referencing the pizzeria where Mike had taken his security position.

“As fuckin’ always…” He mumbled as he scooted into your side, hiding his face in the side of your neck.

“I wouldn’t get too comfy, babe…I’ve gotta get Abby up and situated in like ten minutes.” You warned, only to get a passive ‘Mhm’ in response. “I’m just warning you.” You rolled your eyes affectionately, wrapping one arm around him, lacing it into his hair, and running your fingers through his hair as you picked up one of the random books he had on the bedside table. This was a book with photos of nature and wildlife in the mountains of Wisconsin. As you flipped through the pages, you were trying your best to avoid falling back to sleep. As much as you wanted to lay there with Mike, you knew that if you fell back to sleep it’d mean that Abby would miss the bus. You’d either have to take her to school yourself, causing your morning to be shot or she’d miss school altogether, ruining any chance at having a day at home with just you and Mike on your day off.

Right at 7:00, you carefully slid out of bed, putting a pillow in your place. This didn’t seem to phase Mike, who was sound asleep when you walked out of the bedroom to head across the hall to wake up Abby.

Abby was already awake, sitting up in her bed. She was still in her pajamas with a sketchbook in her lap and a crayon in her hand. She was drawing a very abstract-looking yellow rabbit when she looked up at you.

“Do I have to go?”

“Yes…Please get up and get the outfit we picked out last night, okay?”

“Is that Mike’s shirt?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Gross”

With only short instances of protest over what shoes to wear, brushing her hair, and the lack of orange juice in the house, Abby was ready for school. She collected her backpack and gave you a tight hug before running out the door towards the yellow vehicle. Once you were certain she got on safely, you headed back to the bedroom, yawning as you crawled back into the warm bed. You settled under the covers and then moved over next to Mike, who was now turned with his back towards your side of the bed. You wrapped your arms around him and pressed your lips to the back of his neck gently.

He stirred slightly, moving to rest his hands against yours before lacing them together. “Welcome back…” he murmured, “Abby on the bus?”

You nodded, “Mhm…even ate two bowls of cereal this morning.”

“Good work, baby.” he chuckled before turning towards you, wrapping both arms around your waist to snuggle into you. “I try.” You replied with a soft laugh, kissing his forehead. It wasn’t much longer before Mike was sound asleep again and you were starting to drift yourself. The blankets were just too soft and warm. Factor in Mike’s body heat and you were a goner from the start. Sleep took you over sooner rather than later and you found yourself snuggled up into Mike as you finally got to go back to sleep.

Roughly three hours later, you were woken back up by the sound of the trash truck coming to collect the garbage from the cans placed by the curb. You groaned, wanting nothing more than your peace back as you slept next to your boyfriend, but instead, your eyes didn’t feel as heavy anymore.

You turned to Mike, letting out a sigh of relief when you noticed how soundly he was sleeping. It wasn’t a normal occurrence by any means. Normally, he’d sleep for an hour or two before being jolted awake by nightmares from his past and whenever you could be there, you’d try to hold him and coax him back into what you hoped would be a more relaxing sleep.

Today, he was lying in your arms with his head on your chest, breathing slow and steady and his expression was peaceful. You stayed next to him, attempting to fall back to sleep to no avail for around an hour before deciding to slip out of bed and head to the kitchen. You began to prepare breakfast, despite it being almost noon, turning on the small radio in the kitchen so that music would softly begin to pour out of the speaker without being loud enough to wake Mike.

You were focused on the food, trying to make sure nothing burnt, blissfully unaware of Mike leaning against the wall in the entrance to the kitchen. “You know, I’ve told you before you don’t have to do all of this for me.” He sounded both sleepy and amused, but his sudden presence still caused you to jump, emitting a small gasp as your hand came to rest on his chest.

“Michael, I swear to God…”

He fully laughed this time as he watched your reaction with a smirk, “Cute”

“Not cute, you scared the shit out of me. How many times do I have to tell you to stop sneaking up on me?”

“What can I say? Maybe those creepy ass animatronics at work are rubbing off on me because I swear I’ve seen them move without anyone pushing the button…” He spoke, wrapping his arms around your waist, leaning into you. He knew you were a bit of a scaredy cat. You’d made it known several times how you could handle all the real-life gore of a lifetime at work, but horror movies…let alone being in an abandoned building for five nights a week…were an absolute no-go for you.

A chill ran through you, partially due to what Mike said and partially due to the kisses he kept casually pressing against your neck, “That’s so weird. I hate that. I hate that. Maybe they just kind of settle…like how the house settles and makes weird noises.”

“Or they’re possessed..” You could feel him shrug from behind you and you rolled your eyes.

“Like that happens…who’s going to pull a Chucky and voodoo their souls into a giant animatronic bear?”

“The world’s full of freaky people.” he said, letting go of you to go sit down at the table. You promptly turned on your heel and leaned back against the counter, prepared to drop the sarcastic comeback that immediately popped into the forefront of your brain.

“Oh, I know that for sure. You should meet my boyfriend.”

“I’d love to. He sounds like a winner. He’s probably pretty hot too.”

“You’re a loser.” You laughed.

“Please, at least your first jab was original. Your mother calls me a loser like that’s my actual job title.” He was also laughing despite the awful reality of his statement.

You sighed, “And that’s not true and you know that. She and your aunt are just shitty people and when we get our shit situated to the point that we do not need them…then, no contact and we live stress-free.”

You turned back to the stove and started plating the food as Mike replied, “I genuinely don’t think stress-free is ever something in my future.” Your heart sank as it always did whenever Mike would make a statement like this. He’d made one mistake, as a child nonetheless, and it’d started a chain of events that consumed his entire life. He deserved better and a much brighter future than the present you two were currently situated in.

“You know I love you, right?” you said, turning, and putting some of the plates on the table.

He nodded, looking a bit confused by your question, “Yeah…”

“So, let it be known, that if it’s the last thing I do…We’re going to have the best life. You, me, and Abs and we’re going to be fine..” You sat the rest of the food out and then walked over to his chair, nudging it with your foot so he’d scoot back from the table, allowing room for you to sit on his lap.

“I mean…If this is where I think it’s going, I’ll be more than fine.”

You pursed your lips, taking a deep breath before putting both hands on each side of his face. His hands were on your thighs, trailing upwards very slowly as if you wouldn’t notice. “Mike…focus…what I’m saying is…I’m with you. I’m with you no matter what and even if things are shitty and could be better, you’ve still got me and you’ve still got Abby at the end of the day. I know you’re going to tell me no…but again, if we got married the benefits would be there for you and possibly Abby and…”

He shook his head, “I’m not marrying you for benefits. That’s just…shitty. That's beyond my levels of shitty. I want to marry you, but not like that. You talk about me deserving better all the time, but you deserve better than that. You take care of all of us and haven’t ditched me even after I beat the ever-loving shit out of some guy at the mall. You’re a saint. If I can’t properly propose with like..a ring, candles, Abby not harassing me about when I’m going to do it like she’s been doing for the past…I don’t know…six months…then, I’m going to put it on hold.”

You chuckled at his comment, “You think too highly of me, baby boy.”

He wrapped his arms around your waist and raised an eyebrow, “Do I, though? You do all of this on the regular and I don’t even ask you, and in fact, I’ve told you to stop.”

You shrugged, still laughing softly as you wrapped your arms around his neck, “Just accept the love, Mike.”

You leaned in and kissed him gently. “You could do so much better, you know?” he stated. You kissed him again.

“How can I do that when I’ve already got the best?”

You spent the rest of the day with Mike, relaxing at home, watching TV, and napping off and on until Abby got home from school. Once her homework was done and everyone had dinner, Mike had gone to lay down for a bit to prepare for his nightly shift at Freddy’s and you were sitting at the table with Abby. Abby was drawing, per usual, and you were trying to finally put some of the pictures of Abby, you, Mike, and all three of you that you’d gotten developed placed into the frames you’d thrifted a few days prior.

“Why do we have to look at Mike any more than we have to?” she stated, eyeing a frame you’d just shut and were putting to the side containing a picture of the three of you on Abby’s last birthday.

You looked at her and then eyed the picture that she’d been drawing for the past hour. “That’s pretty bold coming from someone who puts him at the center of all of their artwork.” You laughed, causing her to immediately flip the paper over and act like nothing was there to begin with.

“You say that like you don’t pick on Mike too!” The younger girl rebutted. You shrugged in response. She had you there.

“You both just gang up on me. I’m outnumbered here. Two girls against me.”

You looked up and smiled, seeing Mike standing against the wall in a very similar stance as he’d appeared in the kitchen that morning.

“If you two have a baby and it’s a boy, we’ll all be even.”

“Abby!” You and Mike called her name in unison causing her to look up at the both of you as she flipped her drawing back around and grabbed a black crayon. No matter how long you and Mike spend informing Abby that she can’t just share whatever thought crosses her mind, all efforts seem to be futile. The comments should be expected at this point, but they still never ceased to shock not only you and Mike but her teachers and peers as well.

“What? I’m right.” she said, shaking her head before turning her attention back to the picture.

You let out a long sigh, sinking into your chair a little more as you went back to finishing the frames and Mike made coffee as part of his routine before work. He sat back at the table and took a sip, looking at what you were doing before looking at what Abby was doing. He sat his coffee mug on the table and took a piece of paper from Abby.

“Hey!”

“You’ve got like…twenty more pieces. You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, but I could’ve had twenty-one!”

You rolled your eyes at the banter between the two siblings before putting the photo frames into a box so that you could start putting them out after Abby went to bed. You set the box aside and then turned your attention back to Abby and Mike. Abby was delicately coloring in the sky in her picture and Mike was ripping a small square out of the paper. You watched him carefully as he started folding the small square in a few different directions, his brows knit together in concentration.

You let your head come to rest on your hand as you watched Mike. He remained completely oblivious to your observations of him and kept working until the square of paper had been transformed into a small circular shape. He reached over and grabbed Abby’s red crayon, drawing something on top of it, and then put the crayon back before the girl even noticed its absence.

“What are you…”

Before you could finish your sentence, Mike had gotten out of his chair and dropped to one knee right in front of you, holding up a paper ring with a small misshapen heart drawn on top. Abby abruptly turned her attention to her brother’s action, the dark blue crayon in her hand falling to the floor as her jaw dropped slightly.

“Y/N L/N, I love you more than life itself…which doesn’t sound like it’s saying a lot coming from me, but I promise it is. You talk about giving me a good future, but I just want to do the same for you. You deserve so much more than I’ll ever be able to give you, but I promise I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Will you…one day…let me replace this with an actual engagement ring…and marry me?”

You couldn’t help the way your face heated up at his words, your hands coming to cover your face to try to hide your reaction.

“Are you serious? Is this real? Do you really want to marry her? Is this finally happening?” It all left Abby’s mouth in a string of what felt like run-on sentences.

“It’s not up to me anymore, Abs.” Mike said, nudging your leg with his free hand that wasn’t holding the ring.

You laughed, shaking your head as you removed both hands from your face and held your left hand out, earning a gasp out of Abby. “I’d marry you whether you replaced the ring or not. I just want you.”

Mike grinned and then slid the paper ring onto your finger, “Then, I’m yours.”

You grinned back before leaning in to kiss him, your left hand coming to rest on his cheek as he smiled into the kiss.

“Oh gross…no…let’s skip to the part where I get to pick out a pretty dress.”

“Abby!”

In paper rings, in picture frames, and all my dreams

Oh, you're the one I want

[friendlybowlofsoup]

Another Update

Hello Friends,

I have a rather long (but optimistic!) update to share with you all today. As many of you are probably tired of reading these kind of posts, I have a TL;DR here, but I did want to share what has been on my mind in that past half-year that I haven't been here.

It has been rough, and busy as always, but I think I'm finally facing myself and my project for the first time in a very long time.

TL;DR (it's actually long, I have a lot to say (*_ _)人)

I soul-searched and decided to stop compromising on my own feelings with regards to this project. I gave in to everything I wanted to do.

Plot changes, which means some character changes, which means some of the demo is outdated.

GotRM will be switching over to Twine.

----

OH MAN DID I SUFFER THE LAST FEW MONTHS

After my previous update, I hunkered down and really analyzed how I wanted to proceed with GotRM as a project. Because even prior to that post, I had already been going through long periods of hiatuses (which you are all aware of), and while I didn't lie about school taking up my time, I was also harboring a growing dissatisfaction with my own writing that really killed my progress for a long time.

So after everything had settled, I sat down and forced myself to peel apart my work. I know I said I would answer asks, but I uninstalled all of my social media and put aside this blog to focus. I made a note of all the things I liked and didn't like, and I made a list of things I wanted to change or improve on. The biggest point was that I also looked at my efficiency during actual writing sessions: how much of my time was spent writing vs. fighting with code? How could I change that?

And after a lot of deliberation, I figured there were a few things I had to change from the ground up, summed up in four points:

My working style was super incompatible with grad school. I can't spend 20-30 minutes scrolling up and down CSIDE checking code or looking for narratives while also jumping between chapters to make sure events line up. As this story grows, the more difficult it becomes to keep track of all the branches, so I needed an alternative working method, which I am adhering to now, and it prioritizes efficiency.

I hated the way I was tracking and coding stats in-game. I have griped so much about coding stats, and I have adhered to such a rigid style that I really felt trapped whenever I was confronted with balancing them out. So I'm throwing that to the wind and redoing how I utilize and convey them. Player-side, this decision doesn't change much since I never fully utilized stats in the demo anyway, and the stats page with indicators will still exist, but I'm getting rid of stat bars and how I treat stat checks.

The story I want to write now is different from the one I started out with. I've known for a while that GotRM was becoming far more than the tiny, wishful novella that I wrote as a teenager. I held onto that old story for a long time, but there's just so much I want to change that I realized I'd been clinging to a story I no longer enjoyed writing. So I spent the majority of the last few months rewriting GotRM from scratch. I redid some worldbuilding, I changed a lot of plot points, and I fixed a lot of characters' backstories accordingly. This meant scrapping stuff from even the demo, but that turned out to not be the biggest issue because:

I wanted to branch away from ChoiceScript. Honestly, I never really cared about getting officially published, but the camaraderie in the forums and on Tumblr were why I committed to CS and CoG. However, ultimately, I really want the functionality that other tools can offer GotRM, and so after a long internal debate, I will be switching over to Twine. Fortunately, since I was rewriting everything anyways, this has been relatively painless, and passage mapping has made everything so much neater. I am trying my best to make it up to chapter 2 before I release the new demo, so please look forwards to that!

And so yes, I am still here, chugging along.

I love this game and this story: it's been my creative escape for as long as I could remember, and you can imagine how frustrated I was when I realized I was starting to dread working on it.

I am forever learning more about myself and my writing style, and this is simply more of that journey. Thank you everyone for sticking around, for joining the discord, and for checking up on me--that I have all of you has truly been a dream.

Hopefully more updates to come soon! I understand that there may be questions about these new changes, so please ask away! I will (try) to release some asks that I've been working on in the drafts too, but I will wait until at least tomorrow to release them so that this post doesn't get drowned out immediately.

And as always, with a lot of love,

FriendlyBowlofSoup (Mei)

[things-erin-likes]

I know this is wildly different from my usual art posts BUT I have wanted to make it for a long, long time, because I love sharing any knowledge that might help someone else. SO...

If you (A) don't want to spend more than 1 minute on your face routine, (B) don't want to completely change what your face structure looks like with makeup to have a consistent skin appearance and/or (C) have cystic/nodal/regular acne that just doesn't go away no matter what people tell you to do,

then I give to you:

My One Single Product 1 Minute Makeup Tutorial For People Who Don't Wear Makeup

In which I bravely show you my face to illustrate

Before and after on one of my "best" skin days:

It's very likely this is common knowledge for a lot of people BUT I wish I had known it when I was in my teens and struggling with a severe skin condition I thought would eventually go away and never did.

[TLDR: It's a concealer stick that matches your skin]

No, having a skin condition doesn't mean you need to cover it. However, that doesn't mean it can't still hurt your self image, confidence, and relationships with people who give you unsolicited comments on it (because you want to throw them out the window).

SO HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:

A concealer stick, my preference being Covergirl's CG Smoothers. They're non-comodogenic and somehow seem to help with my acne, maybe just because covering it helps me not pick at it.

Now, I am the pastiest, whitest shade of white, so I use two shades: "Fair" for my face, which has more of a pink hue, and "Neutralizer" (wheeze) for my neck because it gets even less sun than my face, and is both paler and less pink.

You might be able to get along just fine with one tone if you don't get acne on your neck and chest or have a more even skin tone, but the most important thing is to get the shade that matches your skin tone as close as possible.

To do this, either look in a mirror in the most natural light you can find and hold up your hands and arms until you find a spot that matches your face the closest, then compare the makeup in the store to this. OR.... Just bring a little mirror with you to the store.

STEPS:

1. Start with a clean face. (Wipe your face with a wet cloth if you haven't washed your face already that day)

Optional step 2. Put on a little moisturizer if your skin dries out and flakes, like mine does. I'm allergic to my cats so I use a medicated cream in place of moisturizer lmao

3. Swipe the concealer directly onto red spots, scabs, or bumps, and rub it in with your finger making a soft halo that blends in with the rest of your skin.

...and that's it.

You don't have to do your whole face. You're only adjusting the parts that stands out so they blend in and leaving the rest alone. Some days I cover a few spots, other days it feels like my whole face.

It can't always completely everything, but it makes everything much less noticeable. The shape of scabs may still be there:

It won't cover freshly bleeding wounds well, either... But it will cover the red skin around it:

Like with any makeup, always remove it before you go to bed!!! With makeup remover or a cleanser! Cheap, unscented makeup wipes work great for me.

So yeah, I'm 30 and only just now started finally seeing improvement in my own skin because I did my own research and asked a doctor to try treatments for hormonal acne instead of all the antibiotic approaches, meaning I'm on spironolactone and thus also a mandatory birth control. But hey! It's something.

Having control over how my face looks helps my confidence and self image, like controlling how my hair or clothes look. I don't feel like I have to wear it any more than I don't have to wear my hair short, I just like it that way.

I also hope that this might be able to help guys too, or anyone else who feels like they're not "allowed" to wear makeup but still struggle with the look of their own skin, since the lack of any other product means you really don't look like you're "wearing makeup".

Anyway, long post over, time to flee 🏃‍♀️

[maximoffswriter]

Is It Over Now?

warnings: idk

pairing: Carol Aird x fem!reader (no pronouns used)

genre: Angst??

summary: She gets distant from you. (Amazing summary, Ik)

disclaimer: ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE, SO PLEASE BARE WITH ME!!

you do NOT have the right/permission to copy, steal, or repost this and claim my work as your own.

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

As days went by, she started to slip away. She would always come home late, then leave early. You felt like she wasn't your partner anymore, since you rarely see her.

It felt like she doesn't exist in your life anymore, like you weren't lovers anyone.

One day, you decided to wait for her to come home, she comes home at almost 1 am, you could see tiredness in your eyes.

"Hi, love." You greet her, she looks at you in shock. "Why are you still up?" She ask in an almost angry tone. "I wanted to wait for you." You reasoned. She simply scoffed.

You were hurt, you wanted to spend the night cuddling her, but she had other plans. "What's wrong?" You ask, tearing up. "Nothing." It was cold and distant. "That doesn't seem like nothing." You state.

"It's fine, I'm just tired." She says in that same tone. Your heart was breaking more and more with each second that's passing. "Is there someone else?" That question made her furious, she looked at you with a glare. "Why would you ask that?!" She almost yelled.

Your eyes displayed all the hurt you were experiencing in that moment. You couldn't answer, you barely knew her.. I guess, not answering her question only made her mad, when she grabbed your chin, and slapped you. "Sorry." you mutter. "Yeah, whatever." She spat.

She went upstairs to our room. You heard rustling, then silence.

That night, you decided to stay in the guest bedroom, since you didn't want to bother her. You couldn't sleep, you were tossing and turning in bed, trying your hardest not to start crying. you wanted to cry, but you didn't want her to see me crying.

The next morning,you got up at 4:30, you went to your room, Carol was there, fast asleep. She looked peaceful, like an angel. She moved slightly, and you decided to leave her alone. you took some clothes from the closet, before you went back to the guest bathroom to shower.

you went in, and let the cold water hit my back. Tears were now falling freely on my face. you couldn't feel anything, but hurt.

After the bath, you felt less hurt. It felt freeing for some reason.

you go to your shared bedroom to check on Carol, she was still fast asleep. you checked your phone, it was 6:30, and her work starts at 7:00, so you decided to wake her up.

"Wake up, darling, you'll be late." you say, gently. Her nose scrunched, as she started slowly waking up. "What time is it?" She asked. "6:35 a.m." you said. "What the fuck?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" There it is again, that hateful tone.

"I'm sorry." your voice shrunk, and lost volume. "Fuck." She sighed.

She started to get ready. While she was doing that, you ran downstairs to make her a quick breakfast, and lunch as well.

You made her favourite.

When she came downstairs, you greeted her with a smile. "I made you breakfast." You said, sweetly. "I don't have time for this." You sigh. "Take this with you, please." You hand her the lunch bag. "Yeah, whatever, bye." She grumbled, walking out the door.

You sit there, hurt. Longing for the warmth she used to give, which is now cold.

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

a/n: idek what this is, uhm.. I got bored, and yeah. (part two soon)

[satellite-evans]

All I want

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Summary: your daughter Lily is the best gift-giver in the world.

Word count: 1.4k+

Warnings: FLUFFF

A/N: I literally wrote this in 30 minutes, so if it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry lmao

English is not my first language, so I apologize if I made any (grammar) mistakes. Feedback, requests, talks, vents, recommendations or just simple questions are always welcome.

Happy reading xxx

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site.

Christmas was one of Chris’ favorite holidays. Not only was he able to take a break from work, but he also could celebrate it with the people he loved the most. Especially with you and your daughter.

The special moments you shared with Chris got more meaning when Christmas came around, happiness was sprinkled over the both of you like glitter, and the both of you couldn’t let the smile disappear on your faces during the holidays. And of course, Lily, the sun and moon of Chris, was enjoying that her father was home and could spend more time with her.

“Shhh, Daddy, you gotta be quiet.”

With Christmas pajamas and fluffy socks on, Lily tried her utter best to surprise you. Being pregnant and taking take of the house and a 6-year-old was difficult, even your daughter caught that. You got tired more often, easily forgot stuff you usually didn’t, broke a couple of glasses, and it was obvious that Chris wasn’t around and you needed a break. Since he came home from setting to celebrate Christmas with his family, Lily saw this as an opportunity to do something special for her mom.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but these fluffy socks make you slip, huh?”

When Lily came to him to explain her little surprise for her mom, Chris felt psychically his heart grow a few sizes bigger. Here she was, only 6 years old, worrying about her mother and trying to make her feel better. In all honesty, Chris felt like shit. He always left with an uneasy feeling when he needed to fly for work, but now that you were pregnant again and had to take care of a child too, It felt like he was the worst dad on the planet. Of course, as the amazing woman you were, you always calmed him down on phone calls and made him sure that there was nothing to be worried about, that everything was fine. Even If it wasn’t, you would never admit that to him.

“Okay daddy, I am going to open the door and give you the sign when to come in, okay?” The both of them stood in front of the bedroom door you shared with Chris, where you were sleeping quietly, not knowing what was going on. Lily slowly opened the door, trying as hard as she could not to make a sound that could wake her mom up. While Lily tiptoed towards you, Chris was still waiting in front of the door with a plate of breakfast the two of them made.

Lily got on the bed and saw her mom peacefully sleeping. Not able to help herself, she bent down and kissed her mom’s belly. Since the moment she found out she was going to be a big sister, she was nothing but affectionate towards the baby. Showering your belly with kisses, giving you hugs, talking to the baby, and even drawing on your belly. Seeing your daughter being so kind and lovely made you proud as a mother, but also emotional. It felt like yesterday when you held Lily for the first time, and now she was turning into a little lady.

“Mommy, can you wake up for me, please?” Lily’s voice was so soft, that Chris almost didn’t hear it. She was always kind and soft when she was next to you.

“Mommy, please wake up. We have a surprise for you.” After trying to wake you up for a second time, Lily saw that your eyelids slowly opened and welcomed the sunshine that came through the window. After rubbing your eyes and looking left & right, you finally acknowledged the presence that woke you up in the first place, and a smile immediately appeared on your face.

“Good morning, mommy.”

You opened your arms, to embrace Lily in a big hug. She put her face in your neck while you put your face in her neck. The scent of strawberries filled your nose and a feeling of warm, fuzziness washed over you.

“Mhm, good morning, Lily. What is the surprise you’re talking about, sweetie?”

Lily immediately stood up, looked behind her, and give her father a thumbs-up, signaling for him to come in. When you saw that Chris wore the same type of pajamas Lily wore, you sat straight to get a better look and saw the plate he was holding. With a surprised face, you waited for them to explain what was going on.

“Good morning, honey. Look what Lily and I made for you.”

When Chris bent down to put the plate on your lap, he also put a loving kiss on your lips that made Lily grin widely.

The moment you looked down at your lap, you couldn’t believe your eyes. Chocolate pancakes, eggs, waffles, basically everything you loved, were on the same plate. Lily also didn’t forget to put a drawing of hers too, where she drew you with a belly, Chris, herself, and Dodger in a park. She also wrote ‘I love my big family’ in her cute little handwriting. Tears were already building up and with your pregnancy hormones, you knew you were going to cry about this for a while.

“I-I don’t understand you guys. What was the need for all of this? I am honestly lost for words for this nice gesture, and Lily, this drawing is the cutest thing I have ever seen, baby. Thank you.”

Lily gladly welcomed the kisses you placed on her tiny cheeks, and Chris took pictures of this lovely family bonding.

“It was no problem at all, mommy. You made me breakfast every day, so now I am going to make you breakfast every day. You deserve more. Oh! that reminds me, give her the other surprise daddy, come on, do it!”

She jumped up and down the bed, showing clearly how excited she was.

“Okay okay, give me a second monkey.”

He took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to you. You cleaned your cheeks first with your hands and opened the envelope. Chris was nervously waiting for your reaction with his hands on his mouth while Lily was still jumping.

When you saw what was inside, the only thing you could do was gasp. Chris booked you a relaxing trip to your favorite destination with saunas, massages, spas, and pedicures included.

“I-I don’t understand. What is this?” you truly had no words to describe what you were feeling right now.

“It’s a little getaway, honey. You deserve it. These last weeks were hard on you and Lily wanted to surprise you with something special. We hope you like it.”

Like was the last word to even begin to explain the feelings you were going through.

“And this was your idea, Lily.”

She nodded and gave you a side hug.

“I know it was hard to take care of me alone, mommy. And you’re pregnant. That can’t be easy! And I want the best for you, so I hope you’ll like it. I love you, mommy.”

There it was. That was all you needed to completely lose it and break into tears. You took lily close to your chest and hugged her tightly while you looked at Chris. Even though neither of you said anything, both of you knew how much you loved one another. He joined the hug and embraced the both of you, leaving a kiss on both of your heads.

“You guys are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But I didn’t need this breakfast or a trip. All I want is you guys. I feel the most relaxed, the happiest when I’m with you guys.”

Lily felt the baby kick and broke the hug to give her sibling a big kiss.

“Even my little sister likes the gift!”

“Of course she would, baby. Her big sister is the kindest and best gift-giver in the world.”

She only hummed, hugging your belly once again while Chris could do nothing but leave another kiss on your lips.

“Did you really like it?” He whispered on your lips, staying close.

“I did baby, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[deltoidlover]

Looks like some shitty ship discussions have surfaced in hl fandom again, but I don't mean that here actually xd

I'd like to hear a little bit (or a lot) more about your fav kind of freehoun if you don't mind sharing! Maybe some pre & post rescas headcanons, idk any stuff you would like to tell, and if you want. No pressure

i'm actually really glad i got an ask like this, i have seen some shipping discourse bubbling back up and it's just. can we not? enjoy what you enjoy, at the end of the day none of this is canon unless valve says otherwise, no need for the infighting. anyway, prepare for a text wall with barely any grammar.

pre-rescas: -i like to think that gordon and barney met very soon after gordon was hired and they got along like a match to a flame (is that the saying?), like barney came along on gordon's first tour of the facility and maybe even got lunch with him. -since the majority of workers at black mesa are most likely 30+, barney was especially drawn to gordon (not only because he was kinda cute) since there was finally another young and seemingly down to earth guy around. -honestly my favourite trope is having barney pine after gordon and try to suppress his major crush on him. -it's kinda sad to say or really acknowledge, but back in the 2000's and early 90's, obv lgbtq+ matters were not as accepted, i mean being called 'gay' was like the worst insult imaginable at the time. because of this, i do think barney would be a little wary of his own gay thoughts, maybe even dislike himself a little because of it. eventually i'm sure he'd grow to accept that he is, in fact, gay. -when it comes to the two hooking up, i really, really like the idea of their relationship being kept hush hush. it's pretty hot ngl and i think it would be the most plausible for their situation. -personally i don't really think barney nor gordon would call eachother pet names, or really say 'i love you' without hesistance. i feel like they'd show their affection in different ways, for gordon he'd show his love through gift giving i think. like the occassional snack for a tired barney on the night shift, or a box of donuts if he's feeling generous. -gordon always makes up excuses for why barney has to visit his dorm room so often. one day it's a faulty tap in the bathroom, or the next a clogged airvent. people seem to believe him because his voice is so monotone.

post-rescase/hl2: -during the years where gordon is abscent, barney, for the most part, holds out on hope that he will come back. over time, as barney gets older and older and nothing seems to be changing but only getting worse, he grows more cynical. i think that maybe 5 or so years before gordon's return, barney had forced himself to settle on the idea that he was not coming back. -after taking gordon into his office, he doesn't outright hug him or ball his eyes out, but it's so so obvious that he's feeling a bunch of old bottled up emotions when gordon looks into his eyes. gordon probably does give him a hug though. -however on gordon's end, i feel like things at the start would be a little awkward. his feelings are as strong as they were back then, as it hasn't been 2 decades for him. -i like to think that around the time when gordon arrived at kleiner's lab, that's when gordon approaches barney about their past and they maybe rekindle things, just a little. like maybe a longing look or kiss on the cheek. -honestly there's not really much i can say about hl2 as barney's appearances are so brief. basically i just think that they'd use every moment they had whilst the other was around to get a little closer again, even if they're not outright smoochin' it up or anything. -HOWEVER, in my happy little half-life, barney arrives at white forest with a group of rebels and he spends a few days in bed all patched up and gordon frequently visits his room and maybe even sleeps there with him, it had been quite a while since they'd met up again, gordon honestly thought barney had been blown tf up after the citadel's explosion. -they basically just hang out A LOT in white forest and eventually one of them works up the courage to start their relationship up again. -i think the idea of them once again sneaking away from crowded areas of the WF base so they can have a little privacy together is pretty cute, like they did in black mesa. -and if we're gonna enter hl3 territory, i think gordon, eli and barney would all set out into the arctic to do combine project borealis mossman stuff, and then save alyx :) amazing writing.

i probably have a lot more ideas floating around in my head but i think this is more than enough lol thanks for the ask, this was fun to put together!

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

As an aroace I always wondered how it feels to be "in love" and how I realize if I am in love. I never had been or just didn't realized it but it happened that people started to tell me I would be and when I tried dating I realized pretty fast this wasn't the case and I was just feeling uncomfortable.

Since then I've been asking myself how do I know? Everytime I try to google how it feels like I just find how it feels for people who aren't on the a-spec. This is starting to drive me crazy. Especially because I'm almost 30 and everyone starts to tell me how I have to hurry and find a partner otherwise my life will be miserable because I don't have a partner and children. But what if I don't want that?

Right now I'm only putting so much preassure on myself because I'm scared of being alone later on even if I know I don't need or want such a relationship. For me it would be more than enough to live in a platonic houshold like a shared flat. All that is important for me is to have people around with whom I can talk to and spend some time with but also hide in my room alone if needed.

Yeah I don't want to live completely alone but I also don't want such a relationship and most of all I don't want kids. Just give me friends I can move in with and I'm happy.

Thinking about living with someone and have to spend 24/7 with them makes me feel so uncomfortable. I need my own space, my own room where I can go to for some me-time. I don't want to share EVERYTHING with another person and have no place to be able to retreat every now and then. It already makes me so uncomfortable when I see my parents and thinking about that this apparently is supposed to be my future. They have not a single room to themself, they have to share their bedroom, the living room, just everything and always have to make compromises how they want to set up the rooms and do stuff.

Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with doing that but again give me at least one room that's only mine and where I can do whatever and how ever I want to do things without taking another person into account and asking if this is okay with them. And I also want to make my own plans without having to ask another person first if it's okay all the time.

Sorry for the long text I just needed to rant because this bothers me for years now and it just don't seem to get better but worse and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem.

In love can mean different things to different people, and it can feel differently too. I would say anyone or anything you care deeply about you can consider yourself to be in love, but this is also a term you can define for yourself. Being in love is also not something you have to experience or you have to want, some people never feel like they're in love, and that's OK too. I always feel like that ability to choose and define things for ourselves is a big part of the a-spec experience. And it can make things more difficult, but it can also be more fulfilling in the long run.

Not finding a partner by a certain age doesn't mean you're destined to be lonely or miserable. And some of the things you mention like wanting your own room/space or liking the idea of living with friends are definitely things I've heard other aros say they like too. This isn't an impossible situation, though it does involve finding your people, but people who want similar things do exist.

It sounds like you've been under a lot of pressure to fit a certain mold, or live your life a certain way. That can definitely be difficult, but know you're not alone. And that you're allowed to live your life in whatever way you feel works for you.

All the best, Anon! Take care!

[withthekeyisking-writer]

Personal prose because I just had to get it out of my head. If you read it be gentle I literally wrote this just whatever came out of my head, it isn't edited <3

I got told I would be a great mother by the parent of one of my students last week.

I can't say I've been ruminating on it, but it has come back to me a few times since then. At the time, I thanked her. She told me my advice helped her be a good mother, and that I would make a great one someday, too. She said it was obvious I have some innate sense that makes me so good with children, and any child I had would be lucky to have me.

I thanked her. She was being kind. She thought she was being kind.

And she's not wholly wrong—the childcare side of being a teacher has come easily to me. I can't describe why, I've never been in professions before this where I engaged with kids, but I know how to adapt to be what people need and honestly, kids are no different in that regard. They have needs and wants same as adults. Usually they're far more clean cut and obvious, at that. It isn't hard for me to understand what my students need and fit the position.

But I do not think this translates to motherhood—parenthood—the way everyone seems to think it does.

I am good with kids. Now, I can even say I like kids, which wasn't a statement I was sure of a few years ago. I like teaching them. I like being good at understanding them. I like the idea that I would be a fantastic parent.

But by god would being a parent kill me.

My mother was not made for motherhood. And I got lucky—she was a phenomenal mother for me and my siblings anyway. This was not the path she chose but it was the one she ended up in and she wasn't going to leave us strandad. She was going to be for us what her parents weren't for her. And honestly, I'm surprised it didn't kill her.

My mother passed a lot down to me. The shape of my face, my dark humor. We share the same expression when we get angry, and the same grin when we are surprised. And the strongest thing she gave me, something that burned strong in her soul and burns strong in mine, is the need to run.

I attended four universities with four majors in three years before ultimately giving up on college. I worked three jobs in two years before ultimately giving up on that entire career path and moving to start somewhere different. I every relationship before the one I'm currently in, I have been the one to end, or become so distant in that I force them to end it. When I'm stressed I get on a train and go away, always spending the entire ride convincing myself to come back. I stand in the doorway of a bus depo and fight the urge to just…go.

My mother was this person, when she was my age. Dysfunctional in relationships, trying her best, an artist's mind with a wanderer's soul. She was not made to marry my father and have three kids and pick a career path that had nothing to do with any of her interests, and then work that job for the next 30 years. She was not made for this life, and more than that, she did not want it.

My mother is in her sixties now, and she loves me and my siblings more than anything. But she is also a deeply sad woman, one filled with What Ifs, and though she will never say it I know she sometimes regrets saying yes to my father. It's baked into every story she tells me from that period of her life. It's burning in her gut every time she talks about the life she might've lived.

My mother was a wonderful one. And I think maybe that woman was right about me—maybe I'd be a great mother, too. My sister once told me the same thing. So did my co-teacher. So did my boss. So did a bunch of other parents of my students. Maybe I would be great at it.

But I see the exhuastion in my mother's eyes when she thinks no one is watching. I see the way she sighs when people point out the way life has gone.

Maybe I'd hide it better from my kids. Maybe I'd hide it far, far worse, and fuck up their childhood.

Maybe I'd run out on them all together.

(That idea shouldn't already bring me a level of bliss.)

I don't know. But I do know I don't want that. And I don't want to do that to anyone else.

In just over a month, I will no longer be a teacher.

Maybe that will remove the incentive for people telling me these things.

[theoldlesbianwithcats]

do you have advice on how to stop being bitter over not having a gf? I’ve tried dating apps but they’re really bad. Especially with the queer shit lately, it’s all been a mess. I’ve become very frustrated and bitter over being single. I had a “situationship” fail, she didn’t want to do online dating and frankly she ended up being borderline toxic anyway but I still wish things could’ve worked out for us. Especially since finding a gf has been really difficult for me. Ppl my age mid 20s are super immature and nonbinary or yk other stuff. I know I’m going to be single for a while (realistically speaking, none of this “you could meet your soulmate tomorrow” b.s.) I come from a homophobic af family so I had a lot of internalized homophobia I’ve struggled w and honestly staying single w no other gay ppl in general to talk this out with has been making me go back into those dark days.

Hi anon :D

I've been single for a long time as well, so we're in the same boat! I feel like finding a woman to date in your early 20s was also difficult before all the queer/nb nonsense, for most of college my only prospects were bicurious women who wanted to hookup with me to experiment. I was happy to finally enter my 30s so most of these women would be married and stop annoying me, but with the return of political lesbianism they're in all age groups now 🙃 Then in your 40s, 50s and beyond, you have to avoid the "late bloomer lesbians" (= confused bi women with a midlife crisis)! Is there even a time when it's fun for us to date?? I'm not sure.

It's important to remember that being single for a long time doesn't say anything about us, that doesn't mean that we're unlovable or failures. Plenty of good people (even among straight people!) struggle to date and hate dating apps. It's normal to be bitter about all the things you're missing because you're single (hanging out with another lesbian everyday, sharing good moments, support, physical affection, sex) but instead you could try gratitude exercises like listing advantages of being single (more free time, more time for friends and hobbies, you can decorate and organize your place the way you want it...) Beyond internalized lesbophobia, you can use that time to solve any insecurities, emotional baggage or trauma you might have that could cause problems in a future relationship.

Also I've said this already but I really want to insist: when society (and now the lgbtqiabcxyz+++) wants us to be miserable, lonely, and ashamed, we need to go out of our way to be self-indulgent and spend our time doing things that make us happy and fulfilled. You have a lot of free time, so instead of wallowing and doomscrolling, ask yourself: what can I do to make today a great day? Is it working out, calling/meeting with a friend, doing something creative, learning a new skill, finally finishing a video game, cooking a recipe you've always wanted to try? Even relaxing at the park for an hour or two without your phone so you're not sollicited at all can make you feel better! Don't wait until you have a girlfriend to live a happy life! :)

(... Also, if that's not done already, buy yourself a vibrator. You'll feel less miserable about being single if you can give yourself really good orgasms whenever you want haha)

[writingquestionsanswered]

Weak Beginning & Middle Struggles

Anonymous asked: I've been working on a draft of my story for a while now. I wanna move on to getting everything more refined and connected better, but every time I try, I blank out or it just doesn't feel right. I can worldbuild and character build as much as I please but when it comes to the PLOT... it just. Won't go. The beginning feels sluggish and unnatural, the middle feels too wobbly to work with and the end is fairly solid but you know I kind of need everything else to align with the end and the end needs to align with everything else. I have tried outlining techniques and they don't help much (at least the ones I've tried, like snowflake or flashlight) but if I try to pants it I lose the plot and everything changes in a way I'm not satisfied with. I know what I want but its just... impossible to get into a state where I can actually look at it. I'm in limbo and I would like to leave.

Since you're doing a lot of world building and character development, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this is probably a genre fiction novel or novella. Having said that, the first place to start is to make sure you have a good grasp on how to move these kinds of stories forward. Otherwise, if you don't know how plot works, you can't really come up with a plot and you have nothing to outline.

Basic Story Structure How to Move a Story Forward Beginning a New Story

It's also important to make sure you understand conflict, and more specifically, what conflict is driving the story? What is the problem in your character's world that they must resolve? What is the problem within themselves that they'll work on while they tackle the problem in their world? Conflict is essential for the story, and if you don't have strong conflict, your beginning and middle will be weak. Once you know your conflict, you and figure out your character's goals (what they want to do to solve the problem) and motivation (why they want to solve the problem.)

Understanding Goals and Conflict

If the above doesn't get you back on track, there could be something else going on. 5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! looks at some of the common problems and tells you what to do about them.

If all else fails, you may just need to spend more time figuring out what the story is about, what needs to happen, and the best way to make those things happen.

Good luck with your story!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[dearmrsawyer]

floor time!!!!

i'm trying to find things to post about, even if they're not actually that interesting to share LOL, bc i have more time since I'm not hosting someone 24/7 but i still feel very overwhelmed by ~~life~~ so i am trying to use it to idk be present. retain some small level of connection, because my instinct when i feel like this is to disappear and be as invisible as possible, and i always find it hard for myself to walk back from when i give into that. i have so many msgs from the last few months i still haven't answered 😫 i still have birthday messages i never replied to, also a couple of friends that i should be catching up with but i don't want to lol, so i'm uhh just not messaging them back

our current 'theme' for afternoon tea at work is personality quizzes, this week's person chose a love language quiz, i've always thought love languages were about how you /show/ love, apparently it is about how you prefer to receive it!? even tho its not inherently romantic and these activities are supposed to be shared in a super low stakes and fun/silly way a big part of me was like uh i don't really want to do this in a work environment?? also the particular quiz that we did had like 30 questions that i genuinely think were the same 5 questions over and over and over, for some reason about five questions in it started to make me feel extremely uncomfortable, almost upset?? i don't really know why, it could have been bc it felt like i was being asked the same thing over and over, as if i was answering questions and not being heard. also i felt like 25 of the questions were 'do you prefer a gentle touch or an unexpected small gift', 'would you like to be hugged in public or overhear someone compliment you' will this quiz please STOP asking me if i want to be touched after i just said i don't!! i have a reputation amongst my family and friends for preferring not to be touched, its something that people have always commented on especially when i was a teenager. i was just never very tactile! the only time when i feel like i participated in a lot of social/casual touch was at church camps growing up, i think bc its one of those very short but heightened experiences that almost have a sense of fantasy? like you're not in the real world. and i did like being close with those people a lot, we shared important and intimate moments of growth in my life and they were people i loved but only got to see once a year so yeah it felt right to put more into it in the few chances we all got to spend together in this very formative environment, but it never felt as natural for me to be that way in regular life, i always preferred not to be touched once normal life resumed again and i feel like people always thought i was strange for not wanting it. maybe i still have a complex about that lol. anyway my main love language turned out to be quality time, which i didn't even know was an option. also i think. i don't like the term 'love language' it feels yuck maybe. my work friend and i both scored highest for quality time but were confused because we both love to be alone, we decided it was how we showed love to ourselves 😂