#thanksgiving story raffle | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

slothspaghettiwrites · 3 years ago

Text

Bath Me In Your Love

Bath Me In Your Love - Cosmic Giving Fic Raffle

Story Rating: Explicit, 18+ only

Warnings: Cockwarming, Mommy Kink, D/s Relationship, heavy making out, subspace, fluffy adorable Lee, feelings of guilt that are quickly squashed.

Relationships: Sub!Lee Bodecker x Mommy!Reader

Word Count: 1810

Summary: Lee needs a break, and Mommy has just the thing.

A/N: my sweet, sweet @achubbydumpling requested more Suga'bear!Lee and that is what they are getting! All the yummy, cozy vibes we need.

This work has Adult Content. By clicking “Keep Reading” you have agreed that you are over the age of 18 and are willing to view such content. My work is not to be copied or translated onto any other platform. I have discontinued my taglist - follow @slothspaghettilibrary to be notified of when I post.

Lee was quiet on the drive out of town. It had been a long time since the two of you got away to spend any quality time together. Since Thanksgiving, he had been pulling extra shifts, covering for deputies with families and demanding wives as the Christmas season kicks everyone up into a tizzy. He’s been jumping from one stressful case to another hellish meeting at town hall for weeks. You could see how it’s running him down, hell even Lee can see how it’s running him down. But he couldn’t give in to his needs yet. This was good overtime pay, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the prize.

The pretty pearl necklace in the front window of the jewellery store on main street called to him, singing to him like a siren. He knew you’d look gorgeous in it, that it would be something you would wear forever, but would never agree to buying it because of just how expensive it was. But today, he made the last payment on it. The long, slim box was tucked into his jacket pocket all wrapped up pretty and you were none the wiser. With your gift Christmas sorted, he could finally relax a little and spend some time cuddling with his best girl instead of reading reports.

“Sheriff Bodecker.” Your voice rang out in the bullpen, all the deputies looking up from their paperwork.

There you stood, wrapped up as pretty as a present in your wool cape and driving gloves. Lee felt the blush spread across his cheeks at the tone you used. To the other deputies, you just sounded stern, but Lee knew that voice. Mommy was done playing games.

“Hey, Darlin’, what are you doin’ here?” Lee dropped his gaze to his watch, trying to remember if he agreed to have lunch with you today. “It ain’t lunchtime yet?”

“Grab your coat, Lee.”

Your tone left no room for argument. Lee did as he was told and retrieved his things from his office. He dutifully followed you outside to your car, where you slid behind the steering wheel with an effortless grace. Once inside, he took a deep breath. The smell of your perfume clung to the soft fabric seats and the corners of his lips turned up. He missed you.

“Buckle up, buttercup, we have a long drive ahead of us.” You smiled sweetly as the engine roared to life.

“What?”

“Shh, just let Mommy take care of you.”

Lee stared out the window as the white and grey streets of Meade zipped by and soon it was all asphalt and desolate corn fields. Your hand moved from the steering wheel to lie on his thigh, giving him a squeeze without taking your eyes off the road. The weeks of overtime finally caught up with him. His eyes drifted closed as you hummed along to the song on the radio.

“Suga’bear, c’mon, honey, ya gotta wake up for me.” You cooed, pressing your lips to his cheeks as Lee grumbled and tried to pull you closer to him.

“Five more minutes.”

“We are here Suga’, once we are inside, you can cuddle me all you want. I got a surprise for you.”

Lee opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Ahead of him was a decent sized cabin, surrounded by trees and sloping, foggy mountains even further back. He blinked and sat up a little straighter in the car. How long had he been asleep?

“C’mon, I already lit the fire and unpacked the car. Well mostly,” you grinned at him, “Still gotta unpack my sweet boy.”

He huffed at your little joke and got out of the car. A freezing breeze whipped up around his feet and he stomped his boots to try and beat the chill away.

“You know kidnapping an officer of the law is a crime, don’t ya?” He teased, following you up the snow-covered steps towards the cabin. “Where the hell are we?”

“Tennessee,” you smiled at him, a slyness on your lips that made him shiver from more than just the cold.

Inside, the cabin was like something out of one of those fancy home magazines- all warm and cozy with soft furnishings and dark stained wood panels. Lee blew out a heavy breath, wondering when you’d had the chance to put all these together, but then you’d been on your own a lot recently with all the extra shifts he’d been picking up. Guilt swept through him again just thinking about all the things he’d missed. Lee swept his gaze over the place again as he moved further inside the room. The one-room cabin had a big ole bed and worn couch, a small kitchenette, and a set of double doors leading somewhere.

Your hands wrapped around his softly, that sweet and sexy look on your face that had his heart melting more than he’d ever admit. You pulled him along towards those doors, looking back over your shoulder to wink once, before pulling the doors open to reveal a balcony overlooking snow-covered trees.

And a hot tub.

A hot tube littered with candles and two steaming hot mugs of cocoa.

How long had he been asleep in the car?

“I wanted this Christmas to be special.” You murmured. “And I’ve missed my Suga’bear. Mommy needs you, baby.”

Lee’s insides twisted up. His chin trembled at the weight of your words, of the work, of the stress of just being Sheriff Lee Bodecker every day and night nonstop. He didn’t wanna play sheriff anymore.

He just wanted to be your Suga’bear.

“Mommy, I’m sorry,” he whispered.

You pulled him into your arms, holding his face to your neck as cooed sweet things into his ear.

“Mommy knows, sweetie, that’s why we’re here. Wanted to give you a special treat this Christmas. Just the two of us, no neighbors, no deputies, no anybody but the two of us.”

“Yeah?” He asked, voice turning as soft as cotton candy, feelings tingles of sweetness all over his body.

“Uh-huh, and I wanna start by getting you all warm and gooey, Suga. You gonna let Mommy do that?”

Lee nodded, words feeling like too much or that once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. He wanted to not have to think so he could just enjoy being with you like he so desperately needed.

“Then come on, honey,” she slid his jacket off. “Let’s get undressed and get our Christmas started then.”

A blink later, you were sliding up next to him in the hot tub, gripping your hot chocolate close to your chest. Even with all the bubbles, he could see your nipples, the curve of your breasts, thighs squeezed together so tight. You were so beautiful, so good for him. He felt his cock twitch; the arousal bubbling up in him just like the bubbles in the hot tub.

He took a big gulp from his mug, chocolaty goodness coating his tongue and warming him up further and making the stress melt. The water sloshed as you stood up, baring your body to the ice cold wind before you set both mugs aside. Your fingers slipped under his chin, thumb sliding over his bottom lip before you saddled up in his lap.

“Suga’bear, you are the only thing I wished for this year.” You smiled at him, licking the little cocoa mustache he was sporting. “Wanna be all wrapped up in my baby and takin’ care of him.”

Lee whimpered, his hips bucking up and his mouth reaching for yours. He was ready for that. He wanted that, too. He’d let you guide him anywhere you wanted this trip to go. As your other hand slid down his chest and across his tummy, he couldn’t help how his cock fattened up, just that easily teasing him so gently. A flush crept across his cheeks.

A groan came from high in Lee’s throat when your hand wrapped around his cock, giving him a firm squeeze.

“Mommy,” his voice wavered, fingers digging into your hips to keep you from slipping.

“You wanna be inside me, baby?” You stroked his cock slowly, pulling his foreskin back to tease his sensitive tip. “You wanna fill me up?”

Lee looked you right in the eyes, a pout on his lip and neediness sinking into voice.

“Yes, please, Mommy.”

You sank down onto his cock slowly, and Lee savoured every second. The feel of your walls stretching around him had him gasping. His eyes fluttered shut as he tried to hold himself together, to fight that bit of cozy, tingly sensation that’s coursing through him and straight to his cock. Your hands both moved to lie on his shoulder, gently digging and pushing at the tension knots.

His head lulled forward, face pressing in between your breasts. Lee decided he could die happy right there. His arms wrapped full around you, pushing his cock deeper into your warm pussy, both of you letting out weak groans.

“Tell me why you been workin’ so hard lately,” you commanded.

“Cause wanted to get ya somethin’,” he mumbled, hugging you closer to his body, needing you to surround him.

“Yeah, Suga, whaddya get me?”

Your nails dug into his scalp, scratching and massaging around his neck until he couldn’t stop moaning. His cock jerked inside as the muscles around his shoulders relaxed further. You pressed kisses on to his head, pulling him up and up until your lips landed on his. The slow, easy way you controlled him just had him slipping down into that cotton candy place.

“Got you pretty, pearl necklace, Mommy,” Lee’s cheeks warmed and a sweet smile graced his lips. “Wanted to make sure all the other people in town knew I treated you best and that I could give you whatever you wanted.”

“You’re my best boy, Suga’bear, don’t need to get me expensive things.” You cooed and rolled your hips gently, a little moan in your voice now. “You wanna give Mommy what she wants, baby?”

He nodded as your lips descended into his again, your tongue teasing his until you could suck it into your mouth. Lee whimpered, hips bucking up harshly to meet your slow grind. He needed your touch, your sweetness to coat him until he felt like the good boy you deserved.

You released his mouth, a line of drool connecting your lips together still until you licked it away.

“Mommy needs you, honey, let me have my sweet boy.”

Your hands brushed across his cheeks, his shoulders, his chest. Delicate fingers twirled around his nipples before returning to grip the back of his neck, pressure seeping from his skull. Lee would never understand how he got so lucky, but he was going to spend the rest of this holiday showing you how much he loved you.

“Okay, Mommy.”

#a sloth writes #sloths cosmic giving fic raffle #lee bodecker #lee bodecker x reader #sub!lee bodecker x reader #sub!lee bodecker #sub!lee bodecker x mommy!reader #mommy!reader #lee bodecker x fem!reader #suga'bear verse #suga'bearverse

307 notes · View notes

autumnslance · 2 years ago

Text

We're a month from the start of Year 6 of the FFXIV Write!

Time certainly does fly.

The FFXIV Write was started by @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast on Tumblr in 2017, originally in November. A writing event for those not trying NaNoWriMo, but wanting break perfectionism, break slumps, just write and post something, get in that groove again.

In 2017 that was something I desperately needed; I had fallen out of both Roleplay and Writing, was in a creative slump. I was in a stressful life situation that was sapping my energy and confidence. So I needed something to get me writing again, and very short, rough blurbs about Dark Autumn each day opened the floodgates for me, leading to my eventually writing about a certain damn rogue and other NPCs.

The only free day in 2017 was American Thanksgiving. In 2018, Moen added a few more free/make-ups days on weekends as well as the holiday. In 2018 my life situation had changed for the better. I decided to rough out some ideas for the WoL I had created for my own ficverse, Aeryn Striker. I was still sorting her out, but the fills formed a basis for going forward and refining. I was a raffle winner that year, and that was one of the earliest, if not the first, art I got for Aeryn from @diskwrite-ffxiv.

There was a poll, and it was decided 2019 onward would be in September. Free/make-up days were on Sundays again. I think that was also when we started using the Spreadsheet, as there got to be too many entries plus Tumblr changes made it difficult to track through the tags, and this also opened up the event off of Tumblr. That was also the first year I started using the free days to keep writing. I had so many ideas, thanks to Shadowbringers and talking about OCs with friends. I started making tentative inroads on publicly posting an OC/NPC ship, something I had never done before, thanks to the support and encouragement.

Most of 2020's fills were unrelated one-offs. One of the last prompts pulled a surprise backstory idea on me, I rolled with it for the deadline, and that was it--I thought. In 2021, that oddball prompt from the year before snowballed into a good half of the fills being related to that backstory and what that meant for Aeryn (and made Thavnair in Endwalker hilarious to me).

It still kills me when I wrote things in the years before Shadowbringers and Endwalker came out and some older content was reworked, and then I compare certain little details to my writing.

I owe the FFXIV Write a lot; I've found cool stories and the people behind them, made mutuals and even friends, and got back on track with my creativity. Most of my prompt fills have ended up on Ao3; some in dedicated FFXIV Write threads, some scattered around existing themed threads or their own standalone stories. The backstory fills from 2021 I'm wrangling into an edited, cohesive (I hope) longfic. Several have been edited after the month is over, polishing up what I wasn't able to initially. Many have been left in their original rough state. Some things may even be gently retconned/reworked by now. But I've posted something nearly every day for the month for the last 5 years of this event, and hope to again for the 6th.

So to get ready for that, over the month of August 2022, I’ll be reblogging my past FFXIV Write prompt fills each afternoon, from 2017 through 2021. On the hours between 1:00pm and 5:00pm US Central Standard Time, there'll be posts. A block of time may be empty for the 5 or so free days I did take early on. There's about 145 posts (plus a couple extras and whatever I post currently) to read in varying length and quality, to cringe at and enjoy, and maybe even inspire myself as I reread, while we prepare for FFXIV Write 2022.

#FFXIVWrite #FFXIVWrite2022 #FFXIV #Final Fantasy XIV #Lyn Writing #Lyn Meta #Blogging #About Me

54 notes · View notes

ginnyrules27 · 2 years ago

Text

Recap of Paris trip!

(warning, long post a coming! May or may not contain multiple pictures lol! Apologies to my followers who may not care about the Back to the Musical World convention!)

Alright! Well I’m back home in the US feeling more than slightly horrible because as luck would have it, of course I caught a cold. Thank Gods my job still does WFH and I’m off all next week for Thanksgiving but anyway, you all probably don’t want to hear me vent about that lol!

Paris Trip recap time!

Thursday: Thursday was my main travel to Paris day so mainly spent most of my time in the air. Got some nice shots of clouds, the country side and an attempted sunrise photo though lol

Friday: Finally arrived in Paris! Made the mistake of thinking I could walk to the convention center and got very much lost in Paris. Got some nice photos though (and eventually caught a cab to the convention center--Ginny, remember for next year: Uber is your friend). My hotel room was pretty nice too! :D

(That bathtub was evil! My first time climbing out of it, I slipped and landed straight down!)

(Do I know what that is? Nope! But it was pretty at night so I took a pic! :D)

Saturday: Day one of the convention! I can’t tell you how much I wanted that rose that they were offering in the raffle but I had to fly home and something told me it wouldn’t end well. The Descendants fan in me loved the purple and green chairs (Mal’s colors!) and all the guests were super nice! Owen commented on the ring I had on my necklace (it was my HS class ring but it stopped fitting comfortably so I just found a necklace chain that didn’t have anything on it and converted it to a necklace) :D Vanessa was the sweetest person, smiling and just looking happy to be there even though rumor has it she wasn’t feeling well (Vanessa, if you gave me this cold...wait, actually I’d be okay with that lol). I told Sacha I liked his rings and he said he wanted to get another one while he was in Paris! And of course I had to get a photo with Sunset Curve and we did the apology pose from JATP! Jeremy even sang the first part!

And yeah, I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Brenna liked my shirt! It might seem like a small thing but I’ve never really had...’fashion’ sense before. More like I wore what I liked as a kid and drove my mom mad. Most of the fights I had as a teenager were over clothes because she wanted me to wear more fashionable stuff. But now...an actress from one of my favorite franchises liked my shirt! Teenage me would be jumping for joy! When I told Brenna I got it from Amazon, her eyes got wide and she just gasped and said ‘Oh my God, I love them!’ and of course I told Brenna how much I loved her jacket too (and then Mitchell said that he liked it as well lol)

Oh Gods Mitchell...that man is Ben. Full stop! In the meet and greet, he started going on about how much he loved Hamilton and how he’d seen it when it was in Australia and he was singing the lyrics under his breath and getting dirty looks from the people around him lol! Of course we then teased him about having him go teach the cast the choreography for Did I Mention and he said ‘don’t even tempt me, I’d love to do a Descendants/Hamilton crossover’. I jokingly said that the Revolution would have been over quicker if one of our men could turn into a dragon and Mitchell said ‘oh yeah, they’d (the British) be like ‘okay that one turned into a dragon and that one turned into a beast and that one’s casting spells...let’s just go home’. To which then we suggested Kenny could direct that and that’s when Mitchell went into a story of when Kenny got his star on the walk of fame and Lin Manuel Miranda sent Kenny a video message but Mitchell had Kenny’s phone because he was just trying to stay out of the way!

Apparently Mitchell’s a huge LMM fan so he was pretty much just star struck and then Kenny asked who was on the phone so Mitchell showed him. To which Kenny said that LMM was an old friend!

We had a group photo after the fact (taken by the translator in the room so I don’t have it but hopefully they’ll post those photos soon) but I didn’t realize that Mitchell had his hands on my shoulders for the photo until after the fact! The fact that I didn’t melt into a pile of goo is something to be proud of!

After that, I went down to get Vanessa’s autograph (mainly because her queue wasn’t crazy long) and then it was lunch break. Dream It Con, as nice as it is that you provide lunch for the guests, how about at least selling water for the people attending?! Especially when there’re people not from Paris who’d like to not get lost in the city!

After lunch was when things started to get off the rails a little--I still had fun though but disorganization annoys the hell out of me. If you have a schedule, stick to it (though in fairness apparently Mitchell and Charlie were holding everyone up with autographs and photos and knocking everyone off schedule). But I did the board games with the Descendants cast and it was basically just a 30 minute game of Jenga but the cast just...there was no divide you know? Like how some actors seem friendly but you can still tell that they’re famous and they know it? Brenna, Dan (Beast), and Mitchell had none of that! It was like playing Jenga with family members!

I remember when it was my turn to go up and I had seen this piece that was just sticking out and Mitchell was telling me to go for another piece and I was just like ‘nope, I want this one’ and went straight for it! Of course at first the tower wobbled but I inched it out and Dan said that he’d never seen anyone take a Jenga piece out with such care!

After that, I had the aforementioned photoshoot with Mitchell and Brenna and then I had to rush over to my meet and greet with Dan (who remembered I was from the US from the Descendants panel that morning!) He was great and he shared a lot of memories of Cameron that I had to work to not cry right then and there.

And then came the dance class (I’d missed my meet and greet with Vanessa and Jeremy and my Kenny/Vanessa photo because of the disorganization (boo) but you know, can’t have everything). Corbin was the one leading it with Kenny and Lucas helping and Bart just being a goof ball, and I think I spent the entire time hoping I wouldn’t trip over my own feet. Especially after Brenna and Jeremy joined in!

I left to get ready for the party after that but came back to see Mitchell and Charlie still signing autographs before they too got ready for the party. And look I’m tiny so parties with lots of people? Not exactly my comfort zone. But Bart (Coach Bolton) was literally the life of the party and whenever an HSM song came on, he was jumping around and just acted like a kid! It was easy to forget my trepidation of being around so many people (seriously, under 5′0″ and in a room with a lot of people? My first thought is how do I avoid being crushed?)

(Tell me those aren’t Descendants themed chairs! :D)

(The irony of the photo with Mitchell being the one I’m the most at ease in is not lost on me :D)

(Charlie, you know doing that just makes the height difference that much more apparent don’t you Mr. 5′8″? Lol)

(First photo of the day--and of course I didn’t realize we could take off our passes for the photos!)

(Alex finally got his hug! :D)

(We’re sorry, so sorry, we’re crazy stupid sorry! :D)

(...Kenny had his hands on my shoulders? My shoulders have been brushed with greatness twice? Dear lord I’m unobservant lol)

(Again, you do not need to crouch you giants lol--no but seriously Sacha’s like 5′6″ I think.)

(...oi past me! Relax would you? You look like you’re being forced to take that photo! Also, the height difference is not helping the heart they’re trying to make lol)

Sunday: Day Two of the convention and honestly my focus was pretty much autographs...and one on ones and meet and greets...and catching my breath because I’d overslept and almost arrived late. Thankfully I got there just as the opening ceremonies were happening! I did get some pics though!

Oh yeah and Charlie started the convention off with his antics that had me almost dying with laughter. If anyone temporarily lost their hearing or dogs started barking, my bad!

I stayed for the HSM panel--and it became totally worth it when I found out Drew Seeley had been the role for Prince Eric on Broadway after HSM! Yeah I honestly don’t remember much from the rest of the panel, my mind just latched on that.

For my Brenna one on one, as soon as I stepped through the door, she saw me and went ‘Virginia!’ since Dan had asked me where I was from in the Descendants panel the previous day (side note, every one of them seemed shocked by my answer--people, I came mainly for the Descendants stuff, doesn’t matter how long the flight or the cost!). We talked a lot about Descendants and she’d asked me how I got into it to which I told her about working at Disney World and how the DVD player kept playing Descendants and just sucked me in. I told her how much I’d related to Jane in the first movie, both of us being kinda timid at first in HS and then I joked that you know Jane got the glow up with cheerleading and I had stayed the nerd who wrote fanfiction and Brenna told me that Jane’s growth really came from loving herself and finding what she was good at, like planning Cotillion. And after the one on one she told me that she had been shocked when I said I got into Descendants at 21/22 because she thought I was 21/22. When I told her my real age, she just went ‘you take really good care of yourself!’

Brenna, I’m short with a baby face. Trust me, you can say it. At least you were more tactful than the passport guy who thought I was 16 when I was 21 and brought his colleague over to see me as well...wait what was I talking about? Oh right the convention lol!

The one on one with Jeremy was really a one on two because his wife was there too! They are the nicest people ever (and I know I keep repeating myself there but it’s true!) Jeremy asked where I was from (since he obviously wasn’t in the Descendants panel) and after I told him, he asked if I came with anyone to which I said no because I hadn’t. Again cue the shocked reactions but they were really sweet! We all commiserated on the stupidity of Netflix and I wish I’d had a chance to tell Jeremy how much I liked his song Ghosted but stupid brain thought of that today. However his jacket is as soft as it looks!

But on that note, when I had my photo with the JATP group (so Sunset Curve plus Madison), Jeremy immediately went ‘hey [insert my name here]!’ with the biggest smile on his face and Owen started chanting Bill Nye the Science Guy (I was wearing a Bills jersey and I almost burst out laughing at that which was a lot better than my reaction in my Charlie/Owen photo which was just...silence. Sorry Owen! I would have talked to you more about the Bills but there was a long line for the photo and my awkward self really didn’t want to take up people’s time).

I had a meet and greet with Charlie and he kept jumping from topic to topic, it was honestly the funniest thing! Oh, so we were right next to the singing class with Lucas and Drew but Charlie didn’t know that so when we heard someone singing next door, he said ‘we should sing back. What should we sing?’ and I said ‘Edge of Great!’ and Charlie said ‘Great!...how does it go?’ so a room of 30 or so people started singing Edge of Great and then Charlie opened the door to the other room and we saw it was the singing class.

Whoops!

But between talking about his antics that morning and almost getting into a singing war with Lucas and Drew, Charlie talked about this project he was working on in Ecuador to help prevent turtles, dolphins, and sharks from getting stuck in fishermen’s nets while at the same time not ruining the economy of the villages who relied on fishing for food. Apparently LED lights have been helping the turtles/dolphins/sharks see the nets (especially in the dark) and they then swim away. There’s going to be a documentary on it soon (but of course I can’t remember the date that it’s coming out.)

I also had a meet and greet with Madison that, due to the disorganization that struck again, ended up being at the same time as Kenny’s meet and greet. But they gave me extra time for my one on one with Kenny so that was all good.

Can I tell you what we talked about in the Madison meet and greet? Nope cause out of everything, that’s the one thing my mind went poof you don’t need this anymore!

In the Kenny one on one, I didn’t think it was possible to fit everything we talked about in nine minutes but we did! I got an answer about Ben’s suits, Kenny seemed surprised that I knew China McClain was going to reprising her role as Uma for D4 (apparently he didn’t know they’d announced it) and was also surprised that Chad was going to get a sister in D4 to which he theorized that she had been in boarding school during the events of the first three movies. I also learned that Kenny had not been involved in the Royal Wedding special because he seemed unsure if it had even happened. And then he asked me my thoughts on it when I confirmed it had.

Kenny...don’t do that to me. I had to be as tactful as possible and purposefully didn’t mention the part we do not speak of (the bracelet scene where they talk about Carlos) cause I’m not breaking that news to Kenny freaking Ortega if he didn’t know about it!

But speaking of movie sequels of projects Kenny had been involved with...let’s just say Hocus Pocus 2 is not going to be on Kenny Ortega’s recommended list any time soon. He wouldn’t say anything more because I hadn’t seen it and he didn’t want to spoil it for me.

However, on a lighter note, he did share the story of how they cast Mitchell as Ben!

And then came the one on one I was looking forward to the most-Mitchell! First thing the man does is bring me in for a hug (yeah I’m still trying to make sure that wasn’t a dream). And then, after we sat back down, he started talking about the question I’d asked the other day at the Descendants panel; telling me it was one of the best questions he’d ever heard at a Descendants panel before and he’d studied theater so when he heard me mention ‘Chekov’ he had perked up and had leaned over to Kenny to explain before telling him ‘just say yes’ lol. And then he asked me to go into my question and I explained that I was trying to see if Mal’s line had been foreshadowing since plot had established the confrontation with the pirates was twelve noon. And Mitchell said that since music and script were two separate entities, Kenny might not have been able to answer if he wanted to! And he said that apparently he’d said the same thing to some of the lyricists but about something else in the movies and he wanted to know how they came up with that foreshadowing before saying ‘...you actually didn’t mean to do that did you?’ to which the lyricist said ‘yeah we did’ but they didn’t!

Accidental foreshadowing for the win!

The last major thing was the Kenny Trivia with some of the actors (Mitchell and Charlie and Madison couldn’t make it because they were finishing up autographs/photos so it was with Corbin, Drew, Brenna, and Lucas). I was the only one on Lucas’ team but when Lucas pointed out that he only had one person on his team when everyone else had two, Kenny told him he was in good hands with me cause I was smart!

Yeah okay Kenny, that explains why Lucas was the one to get us our first point lol. But I redeemed myself by being able to list 10 Descendants songs and six projects Kenny had directed. My team was tied with Corbin’s team and we would have won too had I not jumped the gun and answered HSM for the question of ‘What was the first Disney movie Kenny directed?’

It’s Newsies, I knew it was Newsies but you know Disney...Disney Channel...and Lucas said the same thing when I apologized for the loss. And then Corbin’s team teased him about being a sore loser and he said that he was trying to make me feel better lol.

The only prize was joy so at least I didn’t miss out on anything...other than joy!

After closing ceremonies, I was able to get Mitchell and Charlie’s autograph! I missed out on Owen and Lucas but you know what? 12 out of 14 autographs isn’t anything to sneeze at! I missed out on Owen’s autograph because of the queue for Mitchell’s was so long that by the time we moved, Owen had left). It was about 10 pm by the time I left the convention center!

(The picture I should have had on Saturday turned into a Sunday one and the date specification turned out to be...pointless lol)

(Another heart--and it was Brenna’s idea! Madison said the idea was ‘so cute’!)

(Pose idea: Mitchell’s. And he looks about as exhausted as I felt lol :D Probably the best pose we could have done with Dan being 6′4″ and Mitchell being 5′9″)

(From being Zac Effron’s singing voice to Ariel’s Prince! Also did you know the man is 40?!)

(How it started...)

(How it’s going lol)

(Have I posted this photo already? Yes. I still love it and will post again! :D)

Monday: Touristy time! Is Touristy a word? No it is not! Do I care? No I do not lol! I went to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and climbed the 209 steps to the top of the Arcdetriomphe (and pretty sure I had a panic attack at seeing how high up we were). Let’s just say I took the elevator back down.

(Hi Athena!)

(Hi Hermes!)

(Hi Zeus...I mean Jupiter!)

(Hi Hera...I mean Juno!)

(Hi Artemis!)

Tuesday: I said Au Revoir to France and hello to the US as I made my way back home! Last two pics from the air as we flew over the Atlantic!

And because I’m extra...here’s the food I was able to eat while I was there!

(Beef stew with steamed potatoes)

(Apple Tart Tatan)

(Lightly seared sea bass with ratatouille and jasmine rice)

(Duck leg with roasted potatoes and salad)

So...how much longer until I get to go back?

#dream it convention #bttmw2 #paris trip #dreamit con #apologies for the long post

7 notes · View notes

anonymoushouseplantfan · 4 years ago

Note

Ps happy thanksgiving to you Americans and every year seeing thanksgiving on tv makes me think what ever happened to British harvest festival events? We used to do stuff at school but also in shops I remember harvest festival collections for charities and raffles etc. I’m still surprised we haven’t actually adopted your thanksgiving though.

I imagine the story resonates more in the colonies. It’s one of my favorite American traditions though.

13 notes · View notes

vernonfielding · 5 years ago

Text

Carnival: Trial by Fire

This story was written for @vic-kovac for the @b99fandomevents Fall 2019 Fic Exchange. Vic-kovac, I was SO EXCITED to get you as my prompter because I love your writing so much and your prompts were all fantastic (in fact, there may be a second story coming along...). I hope you like this!

Thank you to my always amazing beta, @fezzle. I don’t want to think about what I’d do without you, Z.

The prompt I chose: The Santiagos have an annual family tradition and Amy takes Jake along (fluff, early established relationship). To the story! (Or read on A03!)

Part 1: Amy

Jake had splurged on express delivery but the new mattress still wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the weekend, so they were at Amy’s apartment, in Amy’s bed, under Amy’s floral comforter when she dropped the bomb.

“I talked to my mom today,” Amy said, casual-like, her nose in a crossword puzzle. Maybe too casual-like.

“Hm,” Jake said. He was playing a game on his phone. Amy peeped over his shoulder at the screen. It looked like it involved harvesting pumpkins, which was season-appropriate, at least.

“I told her about us.”

Jake gave her a side glance, then set his phone in his lap. “You did?”

“I did.”

Jake waited while Amy pretended to return to her puzzle, tapping the cap of her pen against her lower lip. Finally he chuckled and tore the paper out of her hands.

“Jake-”

“What did she say? Are we in the clear or is this going to be a Romeo and Juliet situation?”

“For the last time, we’re never going to be a Romeo and Juliet situation.” Amy said, scowling at him. “Do you still not remember how that play ends?”

“No, and stop trying to avoid the question.”

“Jake, it’s a double suici-” But she noted the stormy look on Jake’s face and caved. “She’s happy for me – for us. She’s only disappointed that she can’t be here for Thanksgiving so my dad’s going to get to meet you before she does.”

Jake chuckled. “Is everything in your family a competition?”

“Yes.”

Jake gave her a slow nod at that, the look on his face part bemused, part concerned – Amy figured she was going to see a lot more of that when it came to her family – but then he smiled. And it was a smile that made his whole face go soft, his eyes wide and warm, and she couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss his mouth.

“Thank you,” Jake said, gentle and sincere, when she’d pulled away.

“You’re welcome,” Amy said.

They both sat back against the headboard again, phone and puzzle in hands. Amy bit her lip and glanced at his profile. He looked so relaxed, so content, that she almost felt bad.

“Mom also said this means you have to come to the annual carnival.”

Jake hummed his acknowledgment again, then his brows knit in bemusement and he said, “What now?”

“It’s a Santiago tradition,” Amy said. “You’re going to love it.”

In truth, she thought he might hate it. There was a slim but real chance their relationship might not survive it.

“A carnival,” Jake said. He nodded to himself and then grinned at her. “Sounds fun, babe.”

She did not correct him.

Part 2: Nick

The carnival was really more of a neighborhood block party, started by Victor Santiago back when he was a sergeant in the 103rd precinct. The Santiago children had been enlisted as volunteers since the very first carnival, when it was just a barbecue and some folding chairs and kids kicking rotten Halloween pumpkins in the street. Over the years it had become a neighborhood institution, with hundreds of people turning out over the afternoon and into the evening – it was a way for families old and new to reconnect, for residents to take pride in their community, and for the local cops to show their soft underbellies and let kids throw pies in their faces.

Victor and Camila had moved away years ago, but the Santiago siblings by unspoken agreement had kept up their participation. Though the Santiagos no longer organized the event and none of them lived in the neighborhood anymore, they always attended, along with a growing cadre of Amy’s nieces and nephews and associated girlfriends and boyfriends and in-laws. Not one sibling had missed a single carnival – not Amy when she’d been sick with pneumonia, or Ivan when his wife had given birth two days before, or David, who had turned down a commendation from the mayor so he could attend the 2012 fair. (He got the medal anyway, in a private ceremony at the mayor’s own home. Bruce Willis had been there. It was a long story. Amy planned to never tell Jake.)

Some might say it had become a competition among Amy and her brothers to see who would attend the most carnivals. Amy just called it a nice family tradition.

As she walked hand in hand with Jake up the subway stairs, she could hear the screeches of small children and the familiar strains of Cuban salsa coming from above. The exit deposited them half a block from the carnival, which was just getting started, volunteers hustling around with arms full of raffle tickets and platters of meat to be barbecued even as the first families with young children began meandering among the booths. Autumn-colored streamers were strung between tents and someone had dusted the ground with straw to add to the seasonal effect. Amy could already smell the odd but intoxicating aroma of roasting meat and pumpkin spice.

She insisted on paying the $5 entry for each of them, then paused to take a deep breath and smile at the familiarity of it all. She turned to Jake to ask what he thought, and his eyes were warm and bright as he took it in. She took his left arm in both her hands and snuggled in close to him, suddenly so happy to have him here in this place like home.

And then he was tugged right out of her hands and she looked up to find Nick with an arm slung around Jake’s shoulders – or more like his neck – in a fairly aggressive way.

“Nick!”

“Sorry, sis, this is Jake, right? I need to borrow him for a minute. Jake, I’m Nick, Amy’s favorite little brother.”

“Uh-” Jake said.

As he was dragged away, Jake looked back over his shoulder at Amy, all the warmth from just a moment before replaced by wide-eyed fear. Amy waved at him and called after Nick, “You’d better not break him! Nick!”

An hour later, after helping one of the neighborhood abuelitas sell raffle tickets, Amy excused herself and went hunting for her boyfriend. She found him in a booth amid the snack tents. He was grinning madly as he handed an enormous pile of cotton candy, wound precariously atop a cardboard stick, to a girl who couldn’t have been older than 5, and whose mother looked horrified. The spun sugar was bright pink and larger than the child’s head.

Jake saw Amy and his eyes went wide and he frantically looked all around the tent, then mouthed “help me.” He had wisps of pink and blue sugar in his hair and the wild-eyed look of a man who’d been eating samples of pure sugar for an hour. Amy grabbed his sticky hand and hissed, “come with me,” and snuck him out the back, right under Nick’s nose.

Part 3: Omar

She took him to one of the family restrooms to wash up, though there wasn’t much they could do for his hair – the sugar seemed to have embedded itself in his curls. Amy had only the faintest memories of eating cotton candy as a child, of the way it melted on her tongue like something ephemeral and unnatural, not entirely of this world. She was afraid that some kind of chemical reaction had taken place on Jake’s head.

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what Nick was thinking putting you on cotton candy duty right out of the gate,” Amy said, as they left the bathroom, Jake still scrubbing his hair with a paper towel.

He shrugged and smiled at her easily enough. “I love cotton, and I love candy, I just had no idea that when you put them together things got so…sticky.”

“You know that cotton candy isn’t cotton.”

“You’re so cute when you’re wrong,” Jake said, and kissed her on the forehead. “Anyway, Nick was nice.”

“Nice? Nick?”

“Sure,” Jake said, shooting her a bemused look. “Is he not nice?”

“He’s not not-nice,” Amy said, which seemed to confuse Jake even more. “He’s just-”

But then Omar sprung up between them, as if out of thin air, and slid his arms around both of their shoulders.

“Amy! I can’t believe you haven’t introduced me yet!”

Amy rolled her eyes and said to Jake, “Jake, this is my brother Omar. Omar, Jake.”

“Much better. Now off you go, Amy. Mrs. Hernandes was asking for you over at the cake walk,” Omar said, and began to push Amy away, definitely with more force than a cake walk required.

She reached for Jake’s hand, but Omar batted her away. “I’ve got your boy,” he said. “Jake, you look like a man who knows a thing or two about ring tossing…” And they faded into the crowd.

When Mrs. Hernandes released her from the cake walk – “Uptown Funk” was going to be playing in her head for the rest of her life – Amy wandered back over to the game booths, and found Jake easily enough. The ring toss was surrounded by kids five or six deep, and when she squirmed her way to the front she couldn’t even manage surprise at what she saw. Jake and Omar stood side by side, fire in their eyes and plastic rings in hand as a bedraggled looking volunteer straightened the lines of two-liter bottles they would be aiming for.

“Best of ten tosses,” Omar said.

Jake narrowed his eyes and smirked, and Amy instantly recognized his game face. “I win, I get to date your sister.”

“Hey!” Amy said.

“Oh hey, babe,” Jake said cheerfully, grinning at her before returning his stony stare to Omar.

Omar glowered and said, “I win, you still get to date my sister and you have to play Santa Claus at my kids’ Christmas pageant.”

They shook on it, and Amy honestly was so embarrassed for both of them that she couldn’t bear to watch.

“The trophy is going to see if they need any help with the puppet show,” Amy said, and squeezed her way back through the crowd. She rolled her eyes as the kids erupted into cheers when someone scored a point.

Part 4: Ivan

Amy ate lunch with a few of her old neighbors, laughing over plates of carnitas as she got caught up on all the gossip on the kids she’d grown up with. After, she figured it was about time to hunt down Jake again and make sure he hadn’t been handcuffed to a lamppost by one of her brothers as a prank. She shivered at the recollection of the Carnival ‘03 Incident.

She’d gone two circuits of the carnival, and was starting to get concerned that he’d been smuggled off-site, before she found him – and did an immediate double-take. He was in the face-painting booth, eyes narrowed as he carefully traced the delicate, unmistakable lines of a butterfly wing on the cheek of a little boy. Jake was intensely focused, his tongue stuck in one corner of his mouth, hand holding the child’s head in place while he worked. It was sweet to see him so attentive, but that wasn’t what had caught Amy’s eye.

It was the pink unicorn painted on one of Jake’s cheeks, with a rainbow of poop shooting out of its butt and across his forehead.

Amy smacked her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Her only option was a hasty retreat. She backed up a few steps, careful not to draw his attention, then spun on her heel and prepared to make a run for it. Only she ran smack into Ivan, the tallest and widest of her brothers. He caught her around the forearms and steadied her when she bounced right of his chest.

“Whoa, where you off to so fast?” Ivan said.

Amy looked back over her shoulder at Jake, but he was still working on his butterfly. Her eyes watered from the effort of not laughing.

“I have to help with the, uh, thing,” Amy said, waving her hand vaguely. She was glad Ivan was not the brightest of her brothers.

“Okay, just look where you’re going,” he said, and Amy nodded vigorously.

She started to walk away, but turned after a moment and said, “Ivan, what do you think about Jake?”

Ivan looked back into the tent at Jake, and shrugged. “Seems like a good guy. He’s kind of a shitty face painter, though.”

Part 5: Tony

“Amy! Hey, Amy! Santiago!”

Amy looked up from the table where she was making beaded friendship bracelets with a group of 9-year-old girls. Tony was poking his head through the back of the craft tent.

“What’s up?”

“Your boyfriend, does he have any allergies?”

Amy frowned and narrowed her eyes at him. “Bees,” she said.

“Okay, but no, like, food allergies?”

“Not that I know of,” Amy said.

“Does he have a heart condition?” Amy shook her head. “What about phobias? Fear of heights? Enclosed spaces? How is he with spiders?”

“Tony-”

“Oh! There he is. Later, sis!”

Tony disappeared and Amy wondered if she should follow him.

“I think your boyfriend might be in trouble,” one of the 9-year-olds said.

Amy propped her chin in her hand and nodded.

“Do you think he’ll break up with you if he gets bit by a spider?” another 9-year-old said.

“No, he’d probably think that’s really cool,” Amy said.

The girls all nodded sagely.

“Boys,” one said.

“Men,” Amy said, and knotted a new bracelet for Jake.

Part 6: Eddie

She wasn’t dumb or naïve. She’d expected her brothers to run Jake through the gauntlet at the annual carnival. She just hadn’t expected to see him sitting atop a pony that her 3-year-old nephew was pulling along by a rope.

“Isn’t he a little big for the pony?” Amy said to Eddie, who was leaning against the fenced enclosure and chewing on a blade of hay.

“Mason was scared so Jake offered to show him it was no big deal,” Eddie said.

Amy nodded and hoped that Mason didn’t noticed the white-knuckled grip Jake had on the saddle horn. At least it was a large pony – she thought it might actually be a small horse – so Jake probably wasn’t going to break its back. That would really freak out the children. Amy dug her phone out of her jacket pocket and debated briefly over whether to take photos or video, before deciding on both.

“Jake’s all right,” Eddie said, after the pony had trotted a few loops.

Amy slipped her phone back in her pocket and crossed her arms over the top of the fence, and hummed her agreement. Jake was the first boyfriend she’d brought to one of these carnivals, and though she’d been nervous for him because her brothers were all competitive jerks (she loved them, really), she hadn’t doubted for a second that they would like him. Her parents were going to be the real test.

When Mason finally called the pony to a stop with a very firm “whoa,” Jake slid off the animal’s back and walked a bit bow-legged to where they were watching.

“Nice riding, cowboy,” Amy said, grinning up at him. The pooping unicorn paint-job was still in remarkably good shape.

Jake kissed her on the cheek and tilted his head to one side to say in her ear, “If you tell anyone-”

“I already sent the photos to Gina.”

She kissed the corner of his mouth and backed up with a little wave.

“You’re a demon!” Jake called after her. “A harvest demon! That’s a thing!”

Amy blew him a kiss as Eddie threw an arm over his shoulder and pulled him back to the ponies.

Part 7: David

Amy was sipping Mexican hot chocolate, watching the older couples dancing as the sun started to set and everything was turning golden and a little fuzzy around the edges, when Manny sidled up next to her and gave her a one-armed hug. She knew they were both thinking about their parents, and how they’d always closed down the carnival dancing, until they were the only couple left on the floor. When Amy was a child, the carnival wasn’t over until Victor dipped Camila and kissed her in front of everyone, and all the old men and women whistled and cheered and the kids groaned, and finally the last of the colored lights strung up and down the blocks were turned off.

“Where’s Jake?” she said to Manny, after they’d watched in silence for a while.

Manny fumbled in his jeans pocket and pulled out his phone. “According to the group text, he’s in the first aid tent with David.”

“Group text?” Amy said with a frown. “I haven’t had anything on the group text all day.”

“Oh, right.” Manny scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “Uh-”

“Oh my god. I’m not on this group text,” Amy said, a cold realization washing over her. “You guys really are trying to break my boyfriend.”

“Not break!” Manny said, throwing his hands up. “Just, you know, bend. A little.”

Amy groaned and rolled her eyes. “You guys are aware that it’s 2015 and I’m in my 30s and basically half of you are younger than me, right?”

“Yeah, we know-”

“Also, Jake can handle whatever you losers throw at him so bring it,” Amy said, and downed the rest of her hot chocolate. “And yes, I know I’m being a hypocrite but I’ve got the moral high ground here.”

She gave Manny a quick hug and punched him – hard – in the shoulder and took off for the first aid tent. Though David was probably the least likely of her brothers to cause physical damage to Jake, she was still deeply unsettled by the idea of them spending time alone together. Amy knew she was being just a little bit hysterical, but still: What if Jake liked David more than he liked her?

As Amy neared the back of the tent, she heard David before she saw him. “And now you peel off the plastic strip – no, not both sides at once! Wait, here, let me-”

“I know how to put on a Band-Aid,” said Jake.

“But there’s the correct way and there’s the way that lets flesh-eating bacteria fester,” said David.

The sudden loud sob of a child cut off the rest of their conversation. Amy smirked to herself and poked her head into a break between tent flaps. Jake was crouched beside a chair, and a curly-haired little boy was clinging to him like a monkey, face buried in Jake’s shoulder. David stood over them, cleaning his hands with a disinfectant wipe.

“I’ll radio the on-duty officers and see if they’ve had any luck finding his mom,” David said and headed toward the front of the tent.

“Yeah, you do that,” Jake muttered. He stood with the child still hanging off him, then settled himself in the chair and arranged the kid so he was curled on his lap. The boy looked like he was 4 or 5, and he had a fresh bandage on one knee and tears smudging the tiger stripes painted on his face.

“What’s flesh-eating bacteria?” the boy said with a hiccup.

Jake stroked a palm over the boy’s hair and said, “It’s like cooties, but for adults. And don’t tell anyone, okay, but that guy? He’s covered in flesh-eating bacteria.”

“Is that why his face looks so stuck up?” the boy said. Amy had to stuff her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Yep,” Jake said, patting the kid on top of the head. “You’ve got it.”

Jake and the kid made up a long, complicated, very detailed story about the origin of flesh-eating bacteria and how David got it. Amy watched them until the boy’s mom showed up, and he gave Jake a hug and made Jake kiss his knee. Both of her legs were asleep by the time she stood up and limped off to her next volunteer assignment. It was worth it.

Part 8: Manny

“There’s no way I can do this, Ames. I give up!”

“Oh- well, okay. You want to go home then?” Amy tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. He’d been doing so well.

“What? No! I meant how am I supposed to pick a winner when they all look the same?” He gestured desperately at the costumed kids lining up on the parade route. “There are like 20 Jedi knights out there!”

“Oh yeah,” Amy said, peering over his shoulder.

Jake had been “randomly selected” as the sole judge of this year’s costume contest – the main event of the carnival for the neighborhood kids. (It was one of the holdovers from the earliest carnivals, which had always taken place around Halloween. The year they’d moved the carnival into mid-November they’d canceled the contest, and the kids had revolted. Nick, the youngest of the Santiagos and the only one still dressing up for Halloween, had led the riots.) Manny had told Jake that costume judge was a position of high honor as he placed the paper crown on Jake’s head. But Amy could tell Jake wasn’t buying it.

Indeed, it was a vastly unenviable job. There were three dozen eager, doe-eyed 3- to 10-year-olds vying for the prize. And 11 of them were Santiagos.

“You know, back when I was a kid we valued creativity,” Jake said, still staring down the Jedis.

“Oh yeah?” said Manny, who was half-heartedly trying to get the kids to line up by height. “And what’d you dress up for Halloween?”

“Are you sure you weren’t John McClane very year?” Amy said.

“I will give you ages 7 through 14,” Jake said.

“Fourteen?” Amy said, horrified.

“I meant 10,” Jake said. “Anyway. Before that I was a scarecrow-”

“Cute,” Amy said.

“E.T.”

“Adorable,” Manny said.

“Airline pilot.”

“Oh, that’s sad,” Amy said.

“Yeah. Then the next year I was George Michael.”

“Wait-” Amy said. “What?” Manny said.

“I was 6 and my mom was going through some stuff and listening to a lot of ‘Careless Whisper’ and you know what, never mind,” Jake said.

Someone blew a whistle then, loud enough to make a bunch of kids start crying. Amy wasn’t surprised to see David was the source – he was waving his arms wildly at Manny, clearly annoyed by the chaos on the parade line. Amy kissed Jake on the (non-unicorn) cheek and wished him good luck, and took her place with the rest of the volunteers wrangling kids. Jake sat alone on a folding chair that had been draped in fake orange velvet, with crepe-paper autumn leaves stapled all over. The costume judge was also deemed the carnival king (or queen), though Amy didn’t think anyone had told Jake that. They also probably hadn’t told him that when the judging was over he’d be manhandled to the official pie-throwing wall, which was sort of self-explanatory. Amy quickly checked her phone to make sure she had plenty of storage.

“Monster Mash” suddenly blasted out over the speakers mounted around the parade block and the first kids marched off in front of Jake. Amy stepped back and watched with a grin as Jake sat straight in his chair, the same focus in his eyes that she’d seen a hundred times when he was surveying a crime scene, not missing a thing. Manny came up on one side of her and Omar on the other, and she felt more than saw them make eye contact over the top of her head.

“Stop talking about me,” she said, nudging them both with her elbows.

“I’m just saying, if he doesn’t pick Matthew, your boy’s in trouble,” Omar said.

“Oh please,” Amy said, “that little Taylor Swift’s got it in the bag.”

Part 9: Amy

Amy toed off her sneakers and climbed through the flap of the bounce house. It was well past dark, but in the dim, checkered light cast by the streetlamps, she had no problem making out Jake, sprawled spread eagle in the middle of the plastic floor. His eyes were closed, and tufts of whipped cream still clung to his curls, and though most of the painted unicorn was long gone she could still make out a smudge of rainbow poop across his brow.

She smiled to herself and crawled toward him, the inflated structure squeaking and wobbling under her weight. She stretched out beside him, and rested her head against his chest. He smelled like ponies and apple cider and sweet-rotten pumpkin and barbecue – like all of her best childhood memories. When he lifted a hand to stroke back her hair, she saw that he had about a dozen friendship bracelets on his arm, and a gauze bandage wrapped carelessly around his palm.

“Did I pass?” he said, voice still a bit croaky after all the yelling during the pie-throwing.

“With flying colors,” Amy said, and snuggled deeper into his side. She took his hand and kissed the palm, not sure if she wanted to know what had happened there. “Are you okay?”

“Hm,” he hummed, and she glanced up to see that he was smiling.

Amy let them lie there for a while, listening to the faint, familiar strains of bossa nova and imagining the couples dancing under the fairy lights. Maybe one day she and Jake would be one of those old couples, closing down the carnival while their sleepy children watched quietly and drank the last of the hot chocolate. She knew she was getting way ahead of herself – they’d only been dating a couple of months, after all – but she let herself indulge in the fantasy, just for now.

When she finally started to get cold, and she could hear the calls of volunteers tearing down tents, she sat up slowly and kissed Jake on a clean spot on his forehead, and then again on the mouth. She couldn’t resist lingering there, lips parting without a thought. She felt his sigh as he opened his mouth to her, letting her in. She was just starting to get warmed up when she went to run her fingers through his hair and got caught in a sticky tangle of sugar-coated curls. Amy chuckled into his mouth and pulled away.

“Come on,” she said, wiping her hand on her jeans, “let’s go home.”

He groaned sleepily and said, “This bounce house is home, Ames. I live here now.”

Amy laughed and tugged on both of his hands until he reluctantly sat up. “That new mattress isn’t going to break itself in, you know.”

At that Jake ducked his head and laughed, and they both clambered awkwardly out of the house, and crouched to slide their shoes back on. Amy took his hand again and led him away from the lights and the noise of the clean-up crews – she figured they’d earned an early exit.

“Next year I think I’ll just stick with the ring toss. Maybe face-painting if I can get Ivan to teach me how to do a dragon,” Jake said.

“Next year?” Amy said.

“Yeah,” Jake said, looping his arm over her shoulders. “And next year, David is carnival king.”

THE END

#b99 fic #peraltiago #so much fluff #santiagos #fall fic exchange

70 notes · View notes

bunnis-babes · 5 years ago

Text

Update

Hey guys! It’s River here to give you and update on where I’m at with writing at this point. It’s honestly looking kind of dim at this point, not matter what I write it seems like I just can’t find the motivation. I know why this is too, and I’ll give you the reasons right now.

1. Lack of interest. Currently with how just bad season 4 has been, with only the manga existing to quell my hunger, I’ve been loosing interest in bnha. I still love the characters and love writing them, but it’s just hard to do so with little inspiration.

2. The fandom fucking sucks. It’s so toxic. It’s so unhealthy, I used to find it a safe place and now it’s just fucking awful. I’m genuinely scared to interact with a lot of people in bnha’s fandom at this point. The fandom doesn’t effect how much I love Horikoshi and his work, but it discurouges me from being open and happy in the fandom.

3. Life and distractions. I’ve made it pretty clear I’m consumed by school and medical things. I hardly have time to write, and when I don’t write I take that time to decompress. It’s just been rough at home and everything and it sucks.

4. Interest in other things. My art has become my main focus, as well as writing other smaller stories for other fandoms (hq & kny mainly), and a focus on one really well thought out bnha fic. (One I do plan to write and post one day).

Now I will continue to write for this account, and I will eventually find the motivation to finish the raffle winners pieces, as I feel bad for making them wait so long. They won a prize I should’ve had it done by now, and there is no excuse. But I need to find a little bit of a balance week to really figure out what to do. Which is actually next week, as it’s thanksgiving break for me. I hope you all understand.

💙River💙

#river rambles #potassium #mha #bnha

7 notes · View notes

sea-wolf-coast-to-coast · 6 years ago

Text

FFxivWrite2018 – FFxiv 30 Day Writing Challenge!

Last year I ran what I thought was going to be a small writing challenge for the FFxiv community, but with 2,200+ submissions over the course of the 30 days, it didn’t end up being small at all! There was such an incredible outpouring of creativity and positivity in our community throughout the challenge and I was really blown away by the response.

So, let’s do it again! I know that November is high writing time for many of us with NaNoWriMo on the horizon, but for those of us who want to keep it a bit more simple – I propose this 30 day writing challenge.

What’s a 30 day writing challenge? :o

Why, it’s challenge in which you write in response to a daily prompt that I post here, of course! Songs, poems, limericks, short stories, etc. are perfectly acceptable. If it’s a thing you can write, then it counts.

Here’s how it works:

Beginning Thursday November 1st, I, @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast, will post one new single word writing prompt daily at 12:00pm (noon) CST/CDT. Prompts can be interpreted in any way that you’d like. More about single word prompts here. Check back daily for the latest prompt!

Participants have until 12:00pm (noon) CST/CDT the following day (24 hours) to submit a written response, and tag it with #FFxivWrite2018 (don’t forget the tag!).

Each written response submitted within it’s 24 hour deadline will count as one entry toward a raffle for a participation prize at the end of the month.

Written responses submitted outside of the 24 hour deadline for a prompt are still welcome and will be thoroughly enjoyed! They simply won’t count as an entry toward the participation prize.

When you see a “Like” from sea-wolf-coast-to-coast you can rest assured that I’ve seen your response and have entered it into my master participation prize document. Please allow up to 48 hours for me to like your post before reaching out to check (but DO reach out to check if you don’t see one after 48 hours). More info about making sure people can find your posts here.

On Saturday, December 1st, I’ll count up all the participation tallies, each day counting as one entry per writer, and draw a winner!

The winner of the participation prize will receive a black & white drawing of their character from one of our volunteer artists. Please note that the number of prizes available at the end depend on how many artists would like to volunteer to illustrate a prize.

If you’re an artist and you would like to volunteer to do a simple black & white illustration as a participation prize at the end of this contest, please let me know!

Rules:

You cannot submit things that you’ve already written – Even if the topic is the same. All entries must be new and freshly written for this challenge!

No rough drafts and no redos – Relax! Use this as a low pressure opportunity to loosen up and de-rust your writing chops. No one will be judging your work for quality or length. The purpose is to get into the habit of writing daily. Don’t overthink it, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself! It’s all for fun!

Tag all of your entries with #FFxivWrite2018 – Even if you’re late to the writing party. I’ll be using this tag to track daily participants, so if you don’t use it, I won’t find your entry! Please note that entries that include an external link (to a song, piece of art etc.) will not show up in the tag results. Tumblr hides all posts with external links from their tag feeds. :[

Include the prompt number in the title of your post – Example: “Prompt #10: Your Title.” This helps me keep track of participating entries.

You have until prompt #7 to back write for the participation prize – That means that if you discover the writing challenge a few days, or even a week after it’s started, you can still jump in and back write as many of the first 7 prompts as you want, and they’ll count as entries toward the participation prize! After day 8, however, no back writing will be counted towards the prize. That being said, it is totally possible for someone with only 1 participation entry for the duration of the contest to be drawn as the participation prize winner so don’t give up due to lack of participation overall!

Absolutely no griefing, harassing, or trolling other writers – This will earn you an automatic disqualification from the event.

Tag NSFW content with #NSFW and put it below a cut – Similarly, if your entry contains graphic or violent content that may be triggering to others, please include a brief trigger warning at the top of your post. Be considerate of your readers!

Make-up Days

There will be two make-up days scheduled. On make-up days you’re permitted to select one prompt that you missed and submit it for full participation prize credit within the 24 hour deadline for the day. If you’ve already submitted all prompts so far within their 24 hour deadline, then you can make up your own prompt for yourself and submit it within the 24 hour make-up day deadline to count as an extra credit entry toward the participation prize.

Sunday, 11/11

Sunday, 11/25

Free/Extra Credit Days

There will be two Free/Extra Credit days scheduled. Free/Extra Credit days are days in which no prompt will be provided, and therefore no submission will be expected for the day. However, if you’re in the mood to write something anyway, you can create your own prompt for yourself and submit an entry within the 24 hour deadline for the day that will count as an extra credit entry toward the participation prize.

Election Day – Tuesday, 11/6

Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, 11/22

If you complete all prompts and all extra credit days within their 24 hour deadlines and properly tag the entries, it’s possible to achieve 30 entries toward the final participation prize at the end of the month.

What’s the purpose of this writing challenge?

First and foremost, the purpose of this challenge is to break the power of perfectionism over your personal creative process. Some folks frown on my 24-hour submission deadline but I think that it’s a critical part in getting people to just go ahead and submit something, even if it’s not perfect, and in doing so perfectionism begins to lose its power day by day.

If you’re someone who rarely creates because the fear of it not being perfect keeps you from starting, or finishing, then this challenge is designed for YOU!

Of course, connecting FFxiv writers, of all skill and experience levels, and sharing our work is also a perk!

Whether you’re participating or not, consider checking out the #FFxivWrite2018 tag periodically after November 1st and like/reblog your favorite pieces. Show the FFxiv writing community some love!

#FFxivWrite2018 #FFxivWrite2018 PSA #ffxiv writers

464 notes · View notes

jewishmuseummd · 5 years ago

Photo

This Thanksgiving, take a moment to think about how you’re Living With Purpose and check out the great volunteer opportunities through Jewish Volunteer Connection & JMM.

JMM loves volunteers. With stories of amazing and hardworking people informing our mission at the Museum, we know how much of a difference a single individual can make. An upstander is the opposite of a bystander. An upstander sees a problem and works to solve it. We’re connecting the stories of Scrap Yard with Jewish Volunteer Connection’s network of volunteer opportunities.

We also know how transforming volunteerism can be, when people work together towards a common goal. That’s why we’re sharing in JVC’s motto, in Living with Purpose, and partnering with them to create the Upstanders Initiative. When you participate in one of the opportunities below, you are eligible for raffle drawings and even a free trip to the Museum!

Sharp-Dressed Man is a non-profit organization equips men who are ready to work with recycled suits—often the last obstacle to a better life. With your help in sorting and fitting these suits, more men will be able to dress professionally and confidently, helping them to engage with the workforce.

Opportunity: Sorting Clothing (must be 18 or older to participate).

Visit JVCBaltimore.org/job/sorting to sign up.

Opportunity: Fitting or personal shopping (must be 18 or older to participate).

Visit JVCBaltimore.org/job/styling to sign up.

¡Adelante Latina! works with high school Latina girls as they overcome barriers towards their college careers. By providing these ambitious young women with a meal for the evening, you can help them focus on working towards their goals and their future.

Opportunity: Make a meal.

Visit JVCBaltimore.org/job/adelante to sign up.

The 6th Branch utilizes the leadership and organizational skills of military veterans to execute aggressive community service initiatives in Baltimore City.

Opportunity: Help clean and maintain parks and lots (must be 16 or older to participate).

Visit JVCBaltimore.org/job/t6b to sign up.

Leveling the Playing Field gives underprivileged children the opportunity to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of youth sports participation through the donation of used and excess sporting equipment to programs and schools serving low income communities.

Opportunity: Sort donated sports equipment (must be 8 or older to participate)

Visit JVCBaltimore.org/job/LPF to sign up.

CHANA offers a Jewish community response to the needs of persons who experience abuse and other forms of interpersonal trauma. In providing crisis intervention, education and consultation, CHANA advocates for community awareness, safety and healing.

Opportunity: Donate clean clothing, shoes, linens, and stuffed animals in good condition.

To participate, place your items in tied plastic bags and drop them off at one of CHANA’s four clothing sheds. The sheds are located at Beth Tfiloh Congregation, Temple Oheb Shalom, the Rosenbloom Owings Mills JCC, or the Weinberg Park Heights JCC.

#be an upstander #jewish volunteer connection #living with purpose #thanksgiving #museums on tumblr

1 note · View note

purplesurveys · 5 years ago

Text

589

Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? Sure. When we don’t feel like having breakfast at the table together as a family, my mom just brings up food for us when we wake up. What is the most challenging meal you have ever cooked? I don’t cook or bake at all but back when we had to do it in home ec, I remember how hard macarons were to make (if this counts). Baking in general demands precision, it’s just that the skill needed to make macarons is pumped up to the max. Are you one to approach others, or let them approach you first? I let people approach me because I’m shy most of the time. When was the last time you took painkillers? Saturday. My toothaches struck once again and I didn’t want to be burdened while at dinner with Gab, so I had to take a painkiller for the second time that day. Have you ever picked flowers out of someone else's garden without asking? No. That’s kind of a dick move.

Who did you give them to, or did you keep them for yourself? What is your favorite thing to do as a little kid? I loved being allowed to play outside. My grandma was very strict with us and would sometimes not allow us to go outside and play with our neighbors – if we were allowed, we only could from 4 to 6 PM. So whenever we got to go out and play it was always really fun, even though I almost always went home sporting a new gash, cut, or wound. Then when we came back home, Nickelodeon would usually have an awesome program schedule, followed by changing the channel to Cartoon Network at 7 so we could watch Pokemon, then we’d flick the channel to Disney because Mr. Bean airs around 9 PM. Are holidays as fun for you now as they were when you were younger? I looked forward to holidays more when I was a kid because it was before a bunch of my relatives migrated to different countries. It’s never the same without them, which is often the case these days. Do you find non-fiction to be boring? I find fictional works to be boring, but I can spend hours reading non-fiction content. Are you a punctual person? Or are you always late? Yes, I hate being late. Do you own a thesaurus? Do you actually use it? I owned a thesaurus because I had to back in grade school, but I’m not sure if I actually ever threw it out or not. Nowadays Google can easily be a thesaurus if I need it for that purpose. What is the longest essay or research paper you have written? It was our final paper for my communication research class last semester. If I remember correctly, it has about 90 pages. Do you ever write your own short stories? I tried doing it when I was 12 or 13, but I didn’t find it fun. Also I was never creative enough for it and got bored real quick. I envy people who can write very good short stories. Have you ever won money by entering a contest/raffle? Raffles are a Filipino favorite and we have a lot of them, so yeah I’ve won some cash here and there. Have you ever lost something very valuable? Of course. The first valuable thing I ever lost was my first ever cellphone, given to me as a 7th birthday gift by my parents; I lost it while on a school field trip. I’ve always felt bad about that. Have you ever lost something with a lot of sentimental value? In high school, I lost a watch that my mom gave me. It was a super pretty watch and again, I haaaaated myself when I realized I had misplaced it. Have you ever been close to drowning? Yes. When I was nine, my cousins and I went for a swim in our clubhouse’s pool. I was swimming at the deep end – which I normally could handle by myself – but suddenly one of my cousins grabbed at my legs which kept me from being able to lift my head above water because it felt like I was being dragged further down. Have you ever had a panic attack? Yes. I haven’t had one in a couple of years though, so I guess that’s good. What stores do you go into when you go to mall? I’m not a big store person when I go malling, but when I do stop by shops, it’s usually stationery stores, bookstores, or stores that sell cute novelty stuff like weird coasters, flasks, alarm clocks, etc. Do you ever stop to eat in the food court? Only if we want a quick snack to get by, like shawarma or corndogs. As much as possible I like eating in sitdown restaurants. Do you find it easy to relate to other people? These days, yeah. I’ll admit that when I was younger, I used to put a premium on being ‘not like other teenagers’ BAHAHAHAHA YUCK, but tbh there’s no shame in being able to relate to many others in terms of music or TV shows or other similar interests. It helps me gain friends, which is always a plus. Who is your favorite philosopher? I hate philosophy more than anything else in this planet. What is your favorite song to sing? OMG Thinking of You by Katy Perry easily takes the cake for this one. Do you consciously try to be unique, or do you just be you? I’m just me for the most part. Do you worry about being judged by other people? Sometimes, but it’s usually for stuff like having to borrow a pen in class, or having to ask for a piece of yellow pad – basically stuff that would make people think I was irresponsible haha. If someone doesn't like you, do you usually want to know the reason? Yes, just out of curiosity. But I wouldn’t feel like it’s the end of the world if I never got to know why. When was the last time you told someone something really important? A couple of weeks ago; I had to tell Gab I passed out quietly for a few minutes in the restroom in the middle of PE. The workout was too difficult and I didn’t have my water bottle with me that day, so I felt queasy quickly. Have you ever lost a large amount of money? Thankfully, no. The only time I lost my wallet, there was only around ₱600 in it. Have you ever tried to blame something you did on someone else? I mostly did it when I was a kid and blamed my little sister or brother for something. Did that person get in trouble, or did the plan fail? Failed, obviously.

What is the weirdest hairstyle you have ever had? I never went with weird hairstyles but my worst look will always be rebonded hair. I have a square face with a very strong jaw; completely straight hair has never suited me. Describe the ugliest pair of shoes you own? I don’t think I’ve ever allowed myself to wear shoes I thought were ugly, haha. How many times a day do you look in the mirror? For how long? Maybe a few times. Once before I leave the house, then maybe one or two times from my webcam just so I know how I currently look while in school, then again when I get home. Are you ashamed to leave the house when not looking your best? Not ashamed, just uncomfortable. If you are antisocial, WHY are you that way? That’s a legitimate personality disorder and I prefer we didn’t throw that word around like it’s nothing. Are you modest? Well I used to be, back when I was in Catholic school. I still hold some traditional sentiments here and there but I wouldn’t call myself modest. What is your favorite singer? Beyonce or Hayley Williams, for sure. If you could relive one day from last year, what day would it be? Why? April 21, 2018! It was my birthday and my first time driving out of town by myself. Gab and I went to Nasugbu for a day trip to the beach and Tagaytay for dinner. It was soooooo so fun even though we were exhausted afterwards and I was fighting to keep my eyes open while driving by that evening. What is something that you are afraid to fail at? Something I’m supposed to be really good at, like writing. What would happen if you did fail at it? I’d feel insecure for a long time and for that period, no one would be able to encourage me and make me feel better. Do you ever worry about your loved ones dying? Ever since my grandpa and now Nacho passed away, yes. What is the cutest thing a guy could do for a girl? The cutest thing anyone* can do for anyone* is making time for them, I guess. I’m not very picky when it comes to showing love. Stuffed animals--immature, or should everyone have one? Neither. I don’t mind them but I don’t hate them. What do you like in your breakfast burritos? I don’t think I’ve ever had a breakfast burrito. What restaurant would you choose to go to for breakfast? Rustic Mornings, La Creperie, or Eggs For Breakfast! How much money do you think you cost your parents? Millions. Do you have good hand/eye coordination? Only when it comes to table tennis. I generally wouldn’t call myself skilled at catching stuff. Can you do a flip on a trampoline? I haven’t tried, and I think I’d be too scared to anyway. Do you remember the last time you climbed a tree? I don’t think I’ve ever climbed a tree...most trees here are riddled with red ants. Did you ever lie on your back and pick shapes out of clouds as a kid? Sure, but I didn’t do it all the time nor does it feel nostalgic to me. Do you watch any Japanese anime? Other than watching Pokemon when I was a kid, no. Is there a foreign culture you are interested in learning more about? I’m always interested in learning all foreign cultures. Do you let your emotions get the best of you in a fight? Sometimes. Do you know anyone whose reputation has recently been ruined? That’s what happened to Nach. It’s why I was always more gentle in dealing with him than everyone else, because I knew just how damaged his rep was after what happened. I didn’t want to add to that anymore. When did you first get a cellphone? I got my first one on my 7th birthday. Do you have your own laptop computer? Yes. How about your own digital computer? Like...a cellphone or calculator? I guess, yeah lmao. Do you drive your own car, or your parents? I’ve been given my own car for me to drive, but my parents bought it and own it. Say something inappropriate? Cunt. Always been my least favorite bad word. What were you doing before you started taking this survey? I washed the dishes. Describe the best summer you ever had? I don’t like my summers. It’s not a part of the year I look fondly on. Do you eat any meat other than turkey on Thanksgiving? I don’t celebrate that holiday. Did you attend a pre-school? My only other school apart from UP has a preschool, elementary, and high school. I studied there for 14 years. We also have a college, but it’s in our Makati campus. Do you remember what it was like to learn to count to 100? Not really. What is something you lost in the process of growing up? The concept of looking to my mom if I have any problems. Do you wear any wristbands? If so, what's on them? Nope, I do not. What was the last picture you were in? We took a family photo over lunch yesterday. Did you have required reading material in high-school? We had required reading material from Prep all the way to senior year in high school. Do you keep your room organized? I try to. It becomes messy slowly over time but I always end up tidying my room. Do you vacuum daily? I don’t. How many board games do you own? A couple. I have Scrabble, Pictionary, and Trivial Pursuit. Own any books? ...Of course. Recently checked any books out from the library? Nah that was about a month ago. I recently returned a (overdue) book though. Does your cat give you kitty kisses? My dog gives me a single lick to the face whenever I come home from school. What’s in your make-up bag? I don’t have one.

#survey #surveys

1 note · View note