#we can’t mpdg our way out of this one boys

[kiki-strike]

auahauhhb bestest friend has invited me on a BOAT !!!!!!! boats are my favorite thing :)))))) tomorrow we will go to this festival my city loves which i’ve never been to before, and we’ll sneak in in her grandparents rv so we don’t have to pay 40$ because who in their right mind would, and then we will have cookies with them because they are nice, and raised bestest friend, and then we will watch the blue angels and it will be loud and bad but then we will watch the hydroplane races which will be loud and GOOD, because bestest friend is amazing and perfect and she has somehow gotten a friend/probably hookup with a BOAT to let us watch the races on their BOAT. i am so excited. i love boat. :)

[fbfh]

vegas lights - piper x mpdg!bff!reader

2.3k words

wlw, friends to lovers

piper x manic pixie dream girl! best friend! reader

inspired by this concept playlist from this post (i think it’s the fourth one on the post)

You and piper met at one of those fancy boarding schools

You’ve been told you have trouble respecting authority, can’t follow instructions, and have little regard to your attitude

So more specifically, you met in detention

You had shown up to school with blue and orange hair

As you expected, that didn’t go over well

Piper hadn’t done her homework again

The teacher had left to make some copies of papers, and you were sitting one seat back and to the right of piper

“Hey, since people always talk about going back in time and making one small change that affects everything, do you think the most minute decisions we make have the capacity to change everything now?”

She turned her head and saw you leaning across your desk

Your eyebrows matched your hair, your blazer was too big and the sleeves were cuffed, and pen ink was scribbled on your arms and hands

You had a wild energy, like a strong breeze that smelled like summer you find some other time of year

“Uh…” 

She wasn’t really sure what you meant, and was still a little thrown by you

“Or like, is it the kind of thing where nothing we do matters and we’re gonna end up where we end up, so that takes off the pressure of moralizing your decisions and you end up making ‘better’ choices?”

Was this real?

The late afternoon sun cast an unsettling blue green light throughout the building, and made Piper feel even more like she was dreaming

“Maybe neither,” she mused, grabbing the first thing that came to mind

A new smile crept at your eyes, and she could almost see your perspective shift

“Yeah, like… the presence of someone who wasn’t there before was the thing to set everything off. Maybe it’s not your decisions as much as being there…” you trailed off lost in thought, “huh.” 

You pushed yourself up, and sat on the edge of your desk

“So what are you in for?”

Piper hadn’t realized she was staring until your eyes locked with hers

“D- uh, didn’t do my homework,” she sputtered

You sighed, and rolled your eyes

“God, they’re only gonna realize humans aren’t designed for constant work when we’re all dead.” 

You turn back to her

“You seem intelligent. Being smart doesn’t mean anything, intelligence is what actually matters.” 

Wow

How do you respond to that?

“... I’m Piper,” 

“Piper…” you repeated slowly

“I like that.”

Silence 

“What’s your name?”

“What do I seem like?” 

She looked confused

“What do I strike you as?”

She thought for a minute, then blurted out the first thing she thought of

“Vegas.” 

You smiled

“I love that… we’re gonna go to Vegas some time. It’ll be an adventure.”

“If I had to guess for you…” you trailed off, examining every detail of her in a way that didn’t make her self conscious

“I’d say diamond. I really like Piper too, though.” 

Her stomach fell

There it is, nothing more than a pretty face once again

“Oh, cause I’m-”

“Strong.”

Her eyes snapped up to yours

“You don’t seem like anyone can break you.”

She liked that a lot better

You asked her something about lunch tomorrow, she didn’t remember quite what, and that was the beginning of the two of you

You spent every minute you could together, which often resulted in coordinating your stunts with hers to end up in detention together

After a while the bmw story came up

You believed her without hesitation

“God, guys can be the fucking worst sometimes. I bet that piece of wet toast gave you the car to get on your good side then pulled a Nice Guy as soon as he realized it wasn’t happening.” 

Not totally accurate, but she appreciated your enthusiasm so she agreed wholeheartedly

For some reason it felt really nice to hear you say boys suck

As the semester went on, she started to get worried

You had started talking to a guy, and she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach

She found herself having to try harder and harder to fake happy for you

She was almost surprised at how relieved she was a week later when you plop down at your usual lunch spot and denounce cynically

“Y’know that guy I was talking to? Turns out he’s not actually into philosophy, he’s a fake academic with a superiority complex.”

A weight flew off her chest

“You’re way better off without him,” 

“I know! He thinks watching rick and morty is a personality trait,” 

“Oh god…” she laughed

She had to fight a smile for most of lunch

To her despair, the cycle repeated again, less than a week later

Then again and again, you were seeing a new boy every week for a little over a month

As it progressed, she began to notice feeling worse, then better with every guy you picked up and dumped

She started to worry she was being a bad friend, possessive and jealous

You could tell something was off, and had mentioned here and there if she needs to talk to you she can

Every act of closeness from you made her feel worse and better at the same time

You had asked her to help you re dye your hair, this time a bright lime green, and she had no idea how she’d made it through the long night of just the two of you without saying something really stupid

It was almost graduation by now and she felt like she was going to break in half

“That’s it, I’m done with men. Never touching another one. Ever.”

She looked up at you shocked

“You can hold me to that.” you finish, a laugh frosting the seriousness of your statement

A flood gate opened somewhere deep inside her

Before she could stop it, the thought crept up on her from the back of her mind

‘Least now I have a chance with her,’

The organicness shocked her so much she almost choked on her food

“You okay Di?” you asked

Her pulse was racing and she felt panic and adrenaline coursing through her in a way she’d never experienced

“Yeah, I just have go to the bathroom,” she said, standing up quickly and avoiding your eyes

“I’ll come with,” 

“No! It’s fine. I’ll be right back, stay here.” 

You agreed

She rushed into the bathroom to google “does having a crush on a girl mean i’m gay” 

She tried rephrasing the question a hundred times, glad she remembered to turn on private browsing before she started

She tries to calm her breathing as she gets the same answer five times in a row

“If you keep asking if you’re gay, you probably are”

One article on realizing you have a crush on your girl best friend was actually slightly helpful

It was validating, gave advice on how to act normal, and emphasized there’s time to sort out these feelings and what they might mean later

She read it three times before the bell rang

Shit

She had half her classes with you, what was she gonna do now?

She came out of the bathroom and there you were, waiting for her

“Hey, you okay?”

“Ye- uh… yeah, I’m… sick I think. That’s why I left suddenly, and couldn’t… finish lunch,” she was a terrible liar to you, and just hoped that whatever forces had gotten her in trouble so many times could convince you this was all cause of a stomach bug

“Oh, that sucks. I have an extra bag of chips if you get hungry later, and if you wanna sleep after class instead of hang out I totally get it.” 

Her heart was palpitating

At least you seemed to believe it

“Yeah,  I probably should… and I probably shouldn’t get too close to you- like, I should stay away from you. Cause I don’t want you to get sick too.” she knew she was rambling and had no idea how to fix it.

“Okay, text me later. I’m here to talk if you wanna.” you smiled, and squeezed her shoulder, her heart squeezing at the same time

She left in a hurry to get to her next class, for once grateful you weren’t in it

Over the next week or so, the idea of having a huge uncontrollable crush on you started to be less scary

She just didn’t want to lose you

She knew everything about you

Your favorite color, violet

Your favorite singer, someone named king princess

Your favorite food, broccoli

Even your favorite lip balm flavor, cherry

She had to set all these feelings aside and be there for you as a friend, because that’s what you needed her to be

Just for another week, then you’d part ways for the summer and she could get over this before next year

She couldn’t stop the way her heart skipped a beat when you rested your head on her shoulder

Or when you were studying last night

You couldn’t figure out a problem, and put your head in her lap declaring,

“That’s it. We’re moving to a countryside cottage and becoming an old married farming couple.”

She didn’t breathe right for a second

She somehow managed to choke out

“God, please. That can be our plan b if we fail.”

Which, unfortunately, you didn’t 

You both passed, and unhappily went your separate ways for the summer

She tried to keep plans to meet up abstract, savoring that last hug on friday more than she should have

This plan will work, she’ll avoid you all summer, and come back next semester and be totally normal

It will all be fine

Or it would have if you hadn’t pressed a kiss on her cheek before she got pulled into a rented car, speeding off for the airport

Every minute between that second and seeing her dad at the airport was filled with thoughts of you

Five days had passed, and she couldn’t sleep

She had tried to keep texting you to a minimum, which only worked because of how much she was overthinking everything

Friends can kiss sometimes, right?

And yeah, you looked at her with those big sparkly eyes, but you’ve looked at her like that since she first met you

She was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and couldn’t get your stupid amazing smile out of her head

She was… overwhelmed

Her phone buzzed

Of course, it was you

She threw her phone on her bed without reading it

Her whole body was buzzy, her feelings had never been this strong

It was too much

She actually felt like she was going to explode in 10 seconds

She could feel a stupid impulse of some kind or another creeping up

A gentle tapping on her window snapped her out of it

‘It’s her’

No it’s not, she chastised herself, you’re practically on the other side of the country

She looked over at her window

It was you

It was you

Oh god

She scrambled out of bed, and threw the window open

You had already popped the screen off, propping it next to her window

“Hi,” you said,

“H-” she had no words

Time and time again you left her speechless

“Y-... your hair’s pink,” she choked out

You laughed and smiled that crooked little smile of yours, and she could feel her heart clench

“Yeah, d’you like it?”

“Yeah,” she said without a second thought

Something she’d read online came back to her in a rush

‘If you like your crush after they change their hair, you know it’s real’

Shit

You placed your hand on top of hers

“So… do you wanna go on an adventure?”

“Yes.” she answered, never wanting anything more

You laugh and lean forward, closer to her

You brush a strand of hair out of her face and watch as her eyes flutter closed

A surge of nerves pulse through you simultaneously, your hand still on her face

“Piper,” you whisper, sounding closer than before

“Hm?”

“... do you want to kiss?”

Relief floods her like nothing she’s ever experienced before

She nods twice, vigorously

Your lips connect in a moment of pure euphoria

You’re soft

You taste like cherry, and that gum you’re always chewing, grapefruit and pear and a little cayenne

Her lips are warm and soft and so inviting

When you finally pull away, you’re both breathless, already wanting more

Her mind is reeling

What if this is just a fling or something, what if this isn’t like, romantic kissing and it’s the kind of kissing best friends probably do sometimes?

Best friends can kiss sometimes, right???

She has to do it now, there’s no way she could possibly come back from this

She has to tell you how she feels

But how can she say it?

She can’t just blurt it out

It has to be perfect

But she also has to be able to take it back in case you say no

“Piper,” you start again

“Yeah?” she breathes

Once again you take the words right out of her, spinning them into something beautiful and easy to understand

“Do you want to be girlfriends? Like, date each other?”

She’s frozen for a second

This has to be a dream

It feels fake

She’s been dying to hear you say those exact words for months

And how much more in character could it have been than after asking her to go on an adventure

She looks into your eyes, searching for a hint of a lie

She finds nothing

And for a moment, for the first time, she sees your composure begin to crack

You look… scared

She realizes she hasn’t answered yet

“Yes!” she blurts, pulling you in to kiss you again and again

“Yes, yes, yes…” she mutters between kisses

Your giggles hit her ears, sounding different than ever before

After what feels like forever and not nearly long enough, you finally part again

“So…” you play with her hair, braiding a loose strand

“How ‘bout that adventure?”

[everything-original]

it’s me, ya boi, and i’m back ✨again✨ to infodump some more <3

alright, SO, i’ve finally designed my characters and figure out what they’re gonna look like ( i honestly should’ve done this a lot sooner but it’s fiiiinee )

( also, none of the art shown here belongs to me, they’re just avatars i made on picrew.me )

so we got our MC, griffin, right here :

and i couldn’t decide on his eye color 😭😭😭

but that’s what MC looks like.

how he’s described in the book :

“I fluffed my messy red hair, wondering if it was worth it to try and tame it, I wasn’t exactly perfect looking, but this was one of my better days.

Slightly-better-looking-hair-than-the-previous-day, the dark circles under my eyes from staying up late weren’t as bad, I was proud of myself.”

next, we got our MC’s love interest vampire girl, mara:

(( and honestly, i can’t believe i’m falling for my own OC ))

but that’s what she looks like.

how she’s described as in the book :

“Her wine-red irises gazed at me.

I couldn’t deny it, she was truly a vampire.

Paper-white skin, long, straight, ebony hair, she wasn't just any vampire, she was the perfect vampire.”

and i didn’t rlly put too much effort into the side characters by making picrews, but i’ll describe them for you :

the two main side characters that just-so happen to be siblings :

yuki, the aesthetically pleasing MPDG beautiful lesbian necromancer :

“She had curly lavender hair that ended at her shoulders, an oversized space-themed hoodie, muted blue leggings, and a pair of knee-high boots.”

yuri, the also aesthetically pleasing but in a different way also beautiful gay necromancer :

“He wore a backwards baseball cap that hid his light brown hair, a brownish t-shirt under a beige coat and pants.”

and basically that’s it for what the characters look like, but imma talk about the characters‘ personalities now.

griffin

- tsundere

- hates everyone except mara

- the grumpy one

- really protective

- logical

- prolly listens to lemon demon, maretu, and kikuo

- weirdcore aesthetic

mara

- deredere

- is really nice to everyone

- the sunshine one

- really nice in general

- emotional

- prolly listens to my chemical romance, fall out boy, and twenty øne piløts

- goth / vampirecore aesthetic

- acts like ochaco uraraka, kiyotaka ishimaru, or joe tazuna

yuki

- dandere

- doesn’t really talk to anyone

- the quiet one

- really smart

- logical

- prolly listens to penelope scott, mitski, and rex orange country

- spacecore / galaxycore aesthetic

- acts like kyoko kirigiri, alice yabusame, or toko fukawa

yuri

- deredere

- is also really nice

- the big-egoed one

- really friendly

- emotional

- prolly listens to mitski, queen, and possibly penelope scott

- indie aesthetic

- acts like nao egokoro, reko yabusame, or makoto naegi

so, that’s basically it! <3 <3 <3

Ah your character designs look cool! You can get a sense of Griffin's personality from how he looks! And Mara is definitely striking.

I like that you listed your character's most present personality traits. It really gives us insight on who they are not only as characters but as people!

[cassiejade]

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller my rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I thought I would enjoy this a lot more than I actually did, The entire book description sounded like it was right up my alley with everything that I like about fantasy and this one has pirates and sirens! And while those elements were cool and I did enjoy it, everything else about it fell really flat for me. The writing was a little slow since there is a lot of character narration for everything. that. she. does. or. thinks. about. It got real old real quick. Also, it was very troupey and predictable. My very last complaint is that the MC is basically a red-headed version of Aelin Galathynius.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Alright back to the Night Court! I don’t know how I feel about this, I saw someone else describe it as a behind the scenes novel and they are so right. Yet I feel like there are some plot points that will be vital knowledge for the next book and there was nowhere else to squeeze them in so insert novella here. I always enjoy getting a little bit more insight into the characters lives after a big event like winning a war and saving the world. I was pleased to get that in this and it felt like a bit more closure to Feyre and Rhysand’s story then ACOWAR did.

I’m Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I honestly don’t know why I read this and I don’t know why I didn’t DNF it, probably because I’m trying to read 200 books this year…

Anyways the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is one of my least favorite troupes ever and the MC remakes herself into a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. It was so cringey. I haven’t cringed this hard since I read I Believe in a Thing Called Love, that was also super cringey.

The MC, Bea, is a hardcore Math Lover, looking at going to MIT, and is one of the biggest outcasts in the school. Her first BF is stolen from her by the new girl who is 100% your Manic Pixie Dream Girl (I’m just going to type MPDG for future references,) on the second day of school. Bea decides to come up with a formula to make herself and her two best friends popular and Bea is going to become a MPDG.

This was super RomCom in book form and I experienced a lot of secondhand embarrassment for Bea. I will say that this book made a great argument for why I don’t like the MPDG troupe and that’s this quote here “Women are not on this planet exclusively to inspire men and make them happy. We have our own dreams and needs, our own shit to get done. We run companies, countries, international organizations. We’re not props, and we’re certainly not here to cater to men’s egos.”

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I was intrigued with Auri the moment we met her in The Name of the Wind, while shes kind of a MPDG, I really enjoyed her whimsical and tender outlook on the world that she lives in, I do wish I had learned why she acts this way, why does she live in the Underground?

This book is mostly Auri narrating her thoughts and kissing everything. But stars for a fun character that I feel like I don’t see in fantasy that much, whimsical writing, and a really cool setting.

The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I don’t know why this wasn’t a full 5 star read for me, I enjoyed this very much and I think it’s my favorite of the Apollo series so far, there was just something missing and I cant nail down what it is that I would like to see. I mentioned in my March Wrap Up that an issue that I had with The Dark Prophecy is that Apollo had so much character development in book 1 only to have basically hit reset in book 2 and he started off as if he hadn’t learned or grown after book 1 at all. There was a bit more of that in this book as well, he did seem to recall what he’s learned about the demigods a bit faster.

Also, the pacing of this book reminds me a bit of the Heros of Olympus and how those plots were laid out. Once it felt like things were about to really get going, the book ended. I had the same feeling with House of Hades like “Okay cool now the plots really moving, now we’re getting there, oh there’s only 5 pages left…”

Wild Embers by Nikita Gill my rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This was beautifully written. I loved the fairy tale retellings that she wrote out, there was a lot of girl power inspiration. This book really made me want to take on the world, it made me feel like there was someone in the corner with me. I don’t know if that makes sense but its how I feel.

Until Friday Night by Abbie Glines my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I really thought I would like this a lot more than I actually did. I adore small town settings, they are one of my favorite book settings along with boarding schools. I live in a small town so its a bit relatable to me. I loved Maggie’s story, that girl broke my heart so many times and I was just glued to the pages of her story. West broke my heart too, I grieved for what he was going through, but I loathed his douchey alpha fuck boy logic and way of life. He treated so many girls like trash but yet there was this one special girl! Ugh, also why is that every single sweet, innocent, and naive ALWAYS smells like vanilla. Has anyone else picked up on that?

Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I loved this! Omg, the road trip was just amazing and all the character growth was fantastic. I was glued to these pages and influenced to start planning my own road trip.

Under the Lights by Abbie Glines my rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Oh, look more douechy fuck boy bull shit. I mean these books are southern soap opera-esqe style books and I never watched any soap operas but I guess you just can’t have a soap opera setting without a bunch of douchey alpha males. *rolls eyes* these stories are just summed up with the line of “Women can’t win/damned if you do and damned if you don’t” and boom I think that sums up Willa’s entire existence.

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit my rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I’m happy I read this, it could have been better, be more inclusive of Women of Color, at the same time I would it be really relatable. I don’t know another woman who hasn’t gone through all the things that have been discussed.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This book could have easily been a hundred pages shorter and the story would be about the same. So the pace was slow, and most the characters weren’t really all that likable.

The Song Rising By Samantha Shannon my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Oh holy shit, this was insane! I still can’t quite sum up how I feel about this because my brain is still a little blown after finishing this. I can’t wait for the next one, I am dying to know what comes next!

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Honestly, I didn’t love this, I feel like the plot would go from super fast to super slow, there was no consistent pacing. And sometimes I just got bored with the story. Idk I guess I just wasn’t fully into it

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

There was something about this story that was just so addicting and I realized while reading this, it has been so many years since I’ve read Twilight that it had to point out to me how similar these stories are, but this one is just so much better. There are so many similarities though.

That was is for May. My favorite of the month was Amy and Rogers Epic Detour and my least fave was Under the Lights, I’m just so tired of douchey alpha male troupes.

May 2018 Wrap Up Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller my rating: 2 out of 5 stars I thought I would enjoy this a lot more than I actually did, The entire book description sounded like it was right up my alley with everything that I like about fantasy and this one has pirates and sirens!