"Thanks I Guess...you Kinda Remind Me Of England Now That I Think About It...as Long As You Can Cook

aut viam inveniam aut faciam.

i will either find a way, or i will make one;   (via mirayama)

"Yeah but it's soooo good dude!" Alfred whined. Secretly he does agree with Mason and that it isn't healthy but he just can't help himself.

“I’ve been good, bugging iggy a lot to go to McDonald’s with me but he always tells me no and it’s not healthy for me and you get the rest haha!” He laughs. England really hates being called Iggy but Alfred does it just to piss him off and to get his attention.

"Hey!" He watched Anthony zoom right past him. Fuck that, he lift up the tree and went underneath it, beginning to run again. "Damn he's fast, but I can run faster!" Alfred picked up his speed and in no time he eventually caught up with Anthony.

“Last one their has to buy the other lunch!” Alfred laughs thinking he’s gonna be the first one their. What he doesnt expect is that a fallen tree is covering the path, making Alfred stop. “Shit! He’s gonna gain on me!”

"Hmm..." Alfred thinks for a couple of minutes until an idea struck his mind. He grinned mischievously, and that's never a good sign with him. "Let's go and prank on iggy!"

“Haha so what do you wanna do now?” He replied.

Grape Ice

Donnie x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Notes: My friend at work told me about the different vape flavours you could get and grape ice was one of them and I was like well why not make it a story lol. I mean since dabbing and memes exsist in the canon universe, maybe vapes do too? 🤔🤔 Anyways, no song involved this time, sad I know. 😂

Text Recieved at 2:30

April💚💛: You coming? I'm with the guys.

Text Sent at 2:31

Y/N: Yep and I got what you asked for.

Text Recived at 2:32

April💚💛: Awww thanks girl! I'll pay you back!

Y/N chuckles as she reads April's text. "No problem girl, I don't mind helping you out...and send." Y/N says as she finishes typing out her message as it goes through.

She pockets her phone, digging around for her anxiety relief.

"There you are." Y/N says as she fishes out her vape. She brings it to her lips, taking a long drag before exhaling.

Grape flavour.

Reminds her of Donnie, maybe it's because her vape is purple colored, or maybe because grapes are purple.

She flushes as an image of Donnie flashing her a geniune smile appears in her mind.

Gah!

Y/N shakes her head to stop her thoughts from growing any bolder.

She doesn't know when her crush on Donnie started, she does know this, she knows she loves when he rants about his latest invention, watching his eyes grow wide in excitement when he speaks about any of his tech. Y/N also loves his voice, if he could speak for hours she would let hom, his voice is so soothing to her when he speaks about anything. She also loves his bad boy attitude, she thinks its charming and cute, but she knows he does care about his family despite his bad boy image being somewhat tainted when he worries.

Y/N stops in front of the manhole cover, calming herself before lifting the cover as she descends down the old rotten ladder, minding each step she takes down.

Once she's at the bottom, she fishes out her phone before turning on her flashlight to light the way. "Should put some lights up...maybe I can ask Donnie to make something." She mutters under her breath.

Y/N navigates the tunnel flawlessly, thanks to Donnie showing her the way through.

She turns the flashlight off once she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing she made it to the lair correctly.

"Y/N! You have it right?" April shouts as she rushes on over to her, Donnie and Leo trailing behind. "Yes I do." Aprils eyes light up as Y/N fishes through her left pocket, pulling out the other vape before handing it over to April. She turns it over to read what the flavour is, "Mango Ice huh, hope its pretty good Y/N."

"What are you doing?" Donnie asks as he walks over to April's side, most likely investigating what she has.

"It's a vape Donnie, maybe you should get one, it might help you." April teases before she takes a hit off of it, smoke filling the space in front of her. "Woah! I gotta try that! April let me get a hit." Leo asks as he makes a grabbing motion with his hands, April sighing before she hands it over to him. "So what do I do?" Leo asks, making everyone groan at his dumbness.

"Okay okay, so you bring it to your lips, take a small inhale and then you exhale it." April says as Leo nods.

He does exactly like April says, and a small puff of smoke settles in front of him.

"Is that what mango tastes like? Its not bad honestly." Leo says as he twirls the vape in his hand before April snatches it back.

"Want a hit D?" April asks as she turns to him.

Donnie eyes the vape warily before raising a sharpie eyebrow at it. "What are the benefits of the vape?" He asks, making Leo groan at his twin. "Really D? Thats what your worried about?"

Y/N stiffles a giggle at Donnies unamused face. "Well yeah. No sense on inhaling some chemicals that provides no benefits." Donnie says as he eyes Leo, obviously annoyed with his twins response. "It effects people differently Donnie, for me it helps with anxiety." Y/N says as Donnie turns to eye her now. "Is that so?" He asks as she nods.

"Here you can try mine, its grape ice." Y/N says as she fishes for her vape.

Once she pulls out her vape she hands it to Donnie as he takes it, eyeing it before he sighs. "So all you do is inhale then exhale correct?" He asks before Y/N nods.

He eyes it again before bringing it to his lips.

Y/N's eyes widen as she stares at his lips, her mind wandering.

Focus Y/N!

She shifts her focus to his heterochromatic eyes as he takes a drag from the vape. The smoke billowing out in front of him as he smacks his lips together, almost like hes trying to taste it.

"Not...bad I suppose." He says with disinterest as he hands it back to Y/N.

"Well if you guys need me, which I hope not, I'll be in my lab." Donnie says as he walks away from the group to go back to his lab.

Y/N eyes Donnie as he walks away, before feeling a nudge at her side. "Girl you are watching him like a hawk!" April shouts quietly as Leo snickers at Y/N.

Her eyes widen at being caught.

"You liiiiiike him." Leo says teasing Y/N as her face grows red. "I-I don't like him!" She stutters out, her face on fire.

Leo wiggles his nonexistent eyebrows as a shit eating grin appears on his face. "Oh no I know that look...what are you planning in that head of yours." She mutters out.

"April are you totally thinking what I'm thinking? April nods as she smiles too happily at the confused girl.

Before Y/N knew it she was in front of Donnies lab, April and Leo off to the side as they usher her to go talk to Donnie. Y/N eyes them before she sighs, turning to stare at the door in front of her.

"They won't let me go otherwise, unless I confess to Donnie." Y/N utters to herself quietly, sweat pooling on her forehead from anxiety.

She quickly takes a drag to calm her nerves as she braces herself. She knocks on the door as she hears a faint "who is it" from Donnie. "It''s Y/N. May I come in D?" Y/N asks as she hears a faint click from the door.

She walks in, seeing Donnie hunched over his work desk like usual.

She smiles at the sight knowing this is Donnie's passion, he always did love science and inventing stuff.

"It's not nice to stare you know." He teases as her eyes widen, his focus never leaving his work bench. Crud, first it was Leo and April catching her staring.

Now her crush caught her.

Y/N's heart does a somersault at this, her breathing becoming uneven as she feels her chest tightening due to her own anxiety rising.

Maybe this was a bad idea, she thinks to herself.

While she was caught up in her own thoughts, Donnie looks over to see her spacing out and that would explain why she went silent.

Somethings not right with Y/N, Donnie thinks to himself.

With that he backs away from his work as he walks over to Y/N.

He takes notice to her rapid beating from her chest to her uneven breathing, with this he can only think of one thing.

Anxiety.

He knows what thats like, he has constant anxiety himself but has found ways to contain it. He also doesn't let it show, it would ruin his bad boy persona if he did!

He gently places a hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly as she comes back to reality. "Wha...huh. Oh hey Donnie." She says quietly as he eyes her carefully.

"You okay? You were kinda spacing out for a couple seconds Y/N." Donnie says as Y/N only nods.

Donnie wouldn't admit it but, he's had a crush on Y/N for awhile now. Since April first introduced them to Y/N, he stayed the hell away from her as he wasn't sure what she was like. He eventually opened up to Y/N and grew to like her as she had begun to ask him questions about his tech and how it worked, or what materials it was made from.

Boy did his mind do backflips at this, someone was interested in his tech?

Not only that but she was sweet and kind and was a bit shy, but she did have a mischievous side to her which Donnie liked.

"Donnie?" She asks as he blinks his eyes a few times before coming back to reality.

He looks down to stare at her e/c eyes, finding himself getting easily lost in them. Damn, feelings really do get the better of you at the most random of times.

"You shouldn't vape anymore. I researched that they can make you feel depressed and make you feel anxious, so find a replacement." He utters quietly.

Find a replacement?

"What should I replace it with then?" She asks quietly as he eyes her lips.

"With this..." He leans down to capture her lips with his own, her eyes widening as she kisses him back.

Sadly it doesnt last long as he pulls away from her.

Y/N stares up at him with wide eyes as he chuckles at her. "I've wanted to do that for awhile now..." Donnie says as he leans his forhead against hers.

Damn, she should have vaped sooner.

I read a lot of writing in my line of work and while that’s amazing, I see the same flaws again and again. Below is a list of 7 common writing mistakes in fiction and how you can fix them. This list is by no means complete. In fact there’s a great list over at The Editor’s Blog that covers even more mistakes.

1. Bad dialogue

Sometimes writers can forget that they’re writing a conversation and thus not write a conversation. The dialogue can be boring, stilted and unnatural, and I’d rather listen to the territorial call of an Australian Raven than read one more word of it.

There are many things that contribute to bad dialogue, but here are the three that really get on my nerves:

Not using contractions–I’ve seen work that is modern and still doesn’t use contractions. Consider this: “You are going to be late.” Unless the speaker is trying to sound like an irritated mother and is leaving an emphatic silence between each word to sound threatening, use contractions. It sounds really drawn out and like the speaker is pointing their nose in the air. We generally don’t speak like this in real life, so neither should your characters.

Using complete sentences–Not only is it natural for your characters to chop their sentences, this can also contribute to their voice. Does your character say “I don’t know.” or “Dunno.” Would he/she say “I missed the train and had to find a lift home.” or “Missed the train. Had to find a ride.” In casual speech, we often only use the words necessary to convey our message, even if it doesn’t form a complete sentence. You shouldn’t apply this to every line of dialogue, but consider it if your dialogue sounds stale.

Using characters as a conduit for research and plot information–Sometimes writers like to show off their research (looking at you Jurassic Park), backstory, world building and plot by having their characters talk way too much. If your character says “Once this valley was home to an ancient race of elves, who looked after the land and treated it with respect. One day, the secret magic spring dried up and then the goblins came. Without their magic spring, the elves couldn’t fight back, and they were killed by the goblins. The goblins didn’t respect the land and now it’s uninhabitable.” he should probably shut up. It sounds less like a person talking than it does an audio tour. The information he’s shared could be given in a much more interesting way.

How you can fix it:

Listen to and watch the way real people talk to each other. Do they speak in full sentences with full words? Do they speak with grammatical correctness? Do they speak differently in different situations? How do hand gestures, body language and facial expressions help them communicate?

Read your dialogue out loud as if you’re practising lines for a movie. Does it sound natural? Does it flow?

Test every piece of information your characters give out. Does it all need to be said? Would your character say all of it at once? Do they need to say it all in so many words?

2. Passages of uninterrupted speech or thought

Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader about something and have a character tell another character instead. Sometimes you might want to avoid telling the reader how a character feels about something by having them think about it excessively instead. If this goes on for longer than a couple of paragraphs (or less), you risk allowing your reader to drift out of the scene.

The only thing anchoring your reader in the scene is your characters and what they’re doing. If the characters are talking or thinking for a long time without interacting with anyone or anything else, they might as well be floating in space, which can make the reader feel like they’re floating in space. That’s not to say that they’ve forgotten where the scene is taking place or who else is involved, just that it can feel that way if this is how the character acts.

How you can fix it:

If your characters have a lot to say, try to include the other characters as well. Have them ask questions or make comments so it feels like a scene and not a soliloquy.

If your character is around others when he/she is deep in thought, try to include the other characters in some way. If the POV character is thinking about something that the other characters can see, why not give voice to one of the other characters in between thought paragraphs?

If the character is alone when he/she is deep in thought, is there a way they can interact with their environment? Unless they’re standing in front of a wall, they should be able to see, smell, feel or hear something.

If your character is absolutely, completely lost in thought, is there a way you can bring some sort of image into it? For example, on page 216 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss is thinking about how to treat a burn she receives. Almost the entire page is a paragraph describing a memory; however, there is still action in this memory and, therefore, there is something for the reader to imagine.

3. Not knowing when to/not to use said

Some people will tell you to use descriptive speech tags and others will tell you there’s nothing wrong with said. Both are true, but when do you follow the former and when do you follow the latter? And when do you use no speech tags at all?

Using anything but said and using nothing but said both get exhausting and boring very fast.

How you can fix it:

Below is a rough guide to what kind of speech tag to use. Please bear in mind that it is only a guide and will not and should not apply to every situation.

Said is unobtrusive–a way of letting the reader know who’s talking without making a song and dance about it. Specific verbs (e.g. whispered, shouted, mumbled) give the reader information about how the words are being said. Adverbial tags can also give extra information about how something is being said, but more often than not they can be replaced with a stronger verb (e.g. she said loudly can be replaced with she shouted). Writers can also fall into the trap of telling where it’s better to show when using adverbial tags, which can make the writing bland. Sometimes telling is better, but with speech tags, it’s usually better to absorb the reader in the conversation. If you’ve used an adverbial tag, go back and have a look at it. Is there a better way you could get the message across?

What you need to pay attention to when determining what speech tags to use is the context of the speech. If the reader is already aware of the manner in which a character is talking, it won’t be necessary to remind them every time the character speaks. If there are only two characters in the conversation, it won’t be necessary to finish each quote with he said/she said. Going back to #2, you can also do away with speech tags entirely and use action to demonstrate how a character is feeling, while also grounding the reader in the scene.

The key to avoiding repetition and blandness is to find a balance between using the unobtrusive said, using something more specific, and mixing it up with a bit of action, which means you might not even need a tag at all.

4. Too much description/overwriting

Sometimes it’s better to tell and not show. Some details just aren’t important enough to warrant a lengthy description. If you want your reader to know that it’s raining, you can write something better than “It was raining”, but there’s no need to go overboard and write a poem about how the puddles on the asphalt looked like a great abyss.

Think of description like camera focus. The more you describe something, the more focus you put on it. If you put enough focus on something, you eliminate everything else. What’s this? A close-up. What does a close-up in a movie tell you? That object of the close-up is significant.

Be wary: when you write thirty words describing the way the moonlight is reflecting off the inky black lake, you might not be just setting the scene. You might also be giving the lake undue emphasis, and it’s probably going to irritate your reader when they realise there’s nothing significant about the lake at all, you were just showing off your imagery skills.

How you can fix it:

Keep it real. What would the character notice, what would they think about it and is it worth the attention? And try not to focus on sight. Your characters have more than one way to perceive their environment, and incorporating their other senses can help build a 3D setting for your reader rather than just painting them a picture. Give the reader enough to imagine the scene, and no more.

5. Not knowing when to/not to use adverbs

There’s a lot of writing advice out there that will tell you to cut all adverbs. The result is that many writers now think adverbs exist only to eat their children and wouldn’t dare to ever use one.

There is truth to the advice, but to say “The road to hell is paved with adverbs”? Really, Stephen King? And his dandelion analogy assumes there’s no editing process.

Adverbs aren’t evil, but there is such a thing as using them ineffectively. Which of the below are more descriptive?

She ran quickly or She sprinted

“It’s a long way down,” he said nervously or “It’s a long way down,” he said

He was shamefully prone to anxiety or He was prone to anxiety

She sprinted not only gets to the point faster, it also creates a more powerful image for the reader. “It’s a long way down,” he said gives no indication of how the speaker is speaking or feeling; however, “It’s a long way down,” he said nervously is telling, not showing. Rather than using an adverb here, the writer could describe the speaker’s body language. He was shamefully prone to anxiety tells you how the character feels about being prone to anxiety and there is no stronger word to replace “shamefully prone”.

How you can fix it:

Ask yourself:

How would the meaning of the sentence change if the adverb was removed?

Can the adverb and verb be replaced by a single verb?

Does the action really need clarification?

Does the adverb add something to the sentence that can’t be described in another way?

6. No conflict in the beginning

The first few chapters of a lot of stories I’ve read involve the main character plodding along in their daily life. This is a good thing as the reader needs to get a feel for your character before the big plot things happen, but that doesn’t mean the first few chapters should be without conflict. I don’t want to read about a character waking up, looking at themselves in the mirror, getting dressed, getting coffee, going to work, getting home, going on a date etc. for three chapters. It’s boring and I don’t care about any of it.

The confusion might be caused by common story structure theories that say the main conflict enters the story at the first plot point, or 25% into the story. But this doesn’t mean there should be zero conflict at the beginning! At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Harry was told ‘no funny business’ or he’d be grounded. Not long after that, there was some vanishing glass and an escaped boa constrictor. After this happened there was a mysterious letter addressed to Harry, and he spent an entire chapter trying to get hold of it as the weirdness escalated. There’s conflict and a goal right off the bat, and the story hasn’t even really started yet. In The Hunger Games Katniss faces the Reaping. In The Hobbit Bilbo finds himself hosting a dinner party for dwarfs and being asked to go and fight a dragon.

How you can fix it:

Take a look at all the books you’ve read. Most of them (if not all) start with some sort of problem or goal. Study up on this to help you realise what makes a good beginning.

Don’t fill your first few chapters with characterisation and nothing else. Build your character in the context of a problem or goal.

Keep in mind that you find your characters more interesting than your reader does. What you like about your character might not be enough to keep the reader’s interest.

What’s going on in your character’s life? How is this going to influence what happens when the conflict or story goal takes the stage?

What would happen if you cut your beginning out of the story? Would the plot still make sense? Maybe it’s better to start the story at a later point.

7. Lack of story structure

When you write a first draft, whether you’ve planned it or not, there are going to be structural flaws. Maybe halfway through you thought of a way to solidify a character’s motivation. Maybe at the climax you thought of a way to strengthen your conflict. Maybe somewhere in the middle you had no idea where you were going with this and slugged your way through some boring scenes. It’s all good; this is how stories come together.

What should happen next is that you revise your draft with story structure in mind. There’ll be a lot of “I should add a scene here about this” and “what was I thinking when I wrote that?” and after a few goes, you’ll have a story.

Writers don’t always do this though (which, by the way, makes my job take longer and cost more). They’ll go through and fix all of the obvious problems, but what remains is a manuscript that still lacks a solid structure. It’s messy to read, it’s confusing, it’s clearly not thought out, and it feels like the writer is giving me the finger. I’ll regret paying for the book, stop reading it and leave a negative review on Goodreads. Is that worth not giving your book a good edit?

How you can fix it:

Read a lot. Make sure you have a decent grasp on different story structures. Make sure you understand the way stories progress, the way they’re paced and what keeps the reader engaged.

Re-outline. Or if you pantsed your way through the first draft, make an outline. Write a checklist for what each scene should accomplish and what each chapter should accomplish. Make a timeline of how the events progress and how the tension increases. Don’t base this on what you’ve written, base it on what you’ve figured out about your plot.

Edit ruthlessly. If a scene doesn’t measure up to your new plan, cut it. If it’s in the wrong place, move it.

"Its not so bad, although it did get annoying after awhile." Alfred chuckled, remembering the one prank he pulled on England. Alfred and Matthew thought it would be funny to draw on his face and the walls saying stuff like surprise and were sorry, but of course England scolded them afterwards. He did forgive them after seeing the last drawing. It said we love you England and thank you for everything. Alfred smiled and teared up a bit remembering that memory.

Alfred looked at Mason shocked. “Wow dude…so you never did anything like that before huh. Reminds me of when me and Mattie bro were younger, we always played pranks on each. Of course England being England, he would always yell at me and Mattie but in the end he laughed about it afterwards.” Alfred remembers back on his younger years and smiles.

Me and my best friend in History class

Alfred tilts his head confused by what the man said. "What's wrong did you need help finding something?"

Hm.... interesting..... very interesting man.

“Dude what the hell are you?! Are you a villain?!” Alfred asks the man getting into a defensive position, not really sure of what might happen.

Alfred laughs, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "Your awesome dude thanks!"

Alfred laughs loudly, wondering how France would look afterwords. “I feel sorry for France but I’m gonna join you in hurting France. I don’t care if he raised my brother, but if he dare touched him in any wrong way I’ll end him myself!” Alfred grits his teeth, clenching his fists in anger.