They Hate It When You Have Sweet Brown Eyes And Chubby Cheeks

When I have a spicy book, that thing ends up an inch from my face 😂

the girlies reading

I have definitely earned canoe tipping, sympathy band aid, didn’t lose water bottle for a week (followed by me leaving it on the train), random bruise, ran out of socks, and forgot words while teaching a song… yikes

For all the Scout and Guide camp counselors - Badges for Camp Counselors! 

Personal favorites (aka ones I’ve definitely earned): Watch Tan, Laundry at 2 am, Poop Story, Stopped Mid-swear Word, and Severe Weather.

The Pink Rose, part 7

Part Seven- July 11th, 74 ADD

Pairing: Haymitch Abernathy x reader 

Word count: 954

Warnings: reference to danger, anxious/fear/PTSD response, implied history of abuse/assault

Here's a little filler action to move the story along. ✨#Backstory✨

The day had come. The 74th Annual Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta attempted to mentally prepare themselves to go to the arena. After Effie said her goodbyes, [Y/n]- flanked by Haymitch- approached them. [Y/n] smiled in an almost motherly way and Haymitch crossed his arms and looked them over.

“Any final words of advice?” Peeta asked.

[Y/n]’s face turned serious, “When the gong sounds, get away from everyone- don’t stick around and risk getting caught in that mess. The Cornucopia will be a bloodbath and you’ll need to find water and somewhere to situate yourself”.

“And after that?” asked Katniss.

“Stay alive,” Haymitch said. Everyone knew he was serious this time- there wasn’t a hint of sarcasm or humor in his voice.

After leaving their tributes to the airstrip entrance, [Y/n] and Haymitch made their way to public viewing area to watch the start of the Games. As soon as Haymitch was pulled away by a group of potential sponsors, [Y/n] felt a breath in her ear, “Are the odds in your favor?”

Startled, [Y/n] whipped around to see the familiar citrus orange face of Porcius Perfidius. His pompous grin looked down at her, “Hello sweet girl,” he sneered. [Y/n] felt her wall of confidence begin to melt as her palms grew sweaty and her heart began to race. Porcius was more than twice [Y/n]’s age, pear shaped, and weighed somewhere in the realm of two baby elephants. He wouldn’t stand a chance in the arena, but [Y/n] historically shut down whenever she came face to face with him. His pale skin had the slightest tint of orange, but his hair, eyelashes, and goatee were bright coral. Before she could respond, a green, stick-shaped version of Porcius appeared. His partner in crime: Janus Caesonius.

“Come now, Porcius. [Y/n] is a woman, we know that for a fact,” he whispered with crude amusement, “What do you think of your tributes this year? Will we get a woman on fire when this is all done?”

[Y/n] felt her cheeks burn. These men fueled a quiet rage that she didn’t know how to act on. She had to think of something to say to sate or deter these men. They’d been demeaning and harassing her for 13 years and she kept letting them. Her heart skipped a beat when she decided not to please them this time.  

“Don’t you think you’re a little old to keep up with the tributes now? Your stamina can’t possibly be the same,” [Y/n] questioned Porcius with her sweetest smile.

The men looked at her in shock- Porcius glowered at her and hissed through his teeth, “Look here you little bitch, you know exactly how hard I can make life for you and for your tributes. Don’t think the whole Capitol loving you is going to protect 12,”

“Oh I am counting on that, you can’t possibly make things any worse for me,” she shot back.

Janus grabbed her upper arm tightly, “Well if you think-”

“Janus,” a calm voice called from nearby, “It doesn’t look like you asked Ms. Bellwood if you could touch her,”

Plutarch Heavensbee.

“Stay out of this Plutarch!” Porcius sneered

Plutarch looked at him with the demeaning smile he was so good at giving others, “Well, we’re in a very public place right now and it’d be a true shame if a friend of Mrs. Caesonius or Mrs. Perfidius saw you so close and touching another woman. We know how rumors are like wildfire. And it appears District 12 has enough fire to go around right now,”

Janus let go of [Y/n]’s arm; but not before whispering in her ear, “We’ll finish this later,” He directed Porcius to follow, leaving [Y/n] rubbing her arm and standing alone with Plutarch.

With an embarrassed smile, [Y/n] thanked Plutach for intervening. 

“Your boyfriend was gone for mere seconds before the vultures made their descent,” he held out his arm, “Take a turn about the square with me?”

She suspiciously took his arm and followed his lead, “You’re not in my inner circle, you’ve never paid for the pleasure of my company, and I can’t say we’ve had more than a ‘good morning’ or ‘nice to meet you’. So what makes you think I have a boyfriend?”

Plutarch smiled as he looked ahead, “Ms. Bellwood, before you learn the hard way, I’ll let you in on a secret: I know almost everything- I’m in the business of knowing other people’s business. And fortunately for you, I’m quite observant, unlike most of the Capitol.,”

“And you’re quite humble. So who’ve you been talking to?”

“No one,” he could see the confused and frustrated expression on [Y/n]’s face, “It’s about to be confirmed a second time, but you might teach Haymitch to not drool when he looks at you. The Capitol may be full of self-indulgent imbeciles, but I’m not one of them,”

[Y/n] opened her mouth to respond when she heard Haymitch’s voice, “Heavensbee, are you picking a District to sponsor?”

“Not this year. I was simply picking Ms. Bellwood’s brain about the confidence we might hold in your tributes this year. You are noticbly more invested in them,”

“Well, sometimes you get dealt a hand you can work with,” Haymitch gave a half smile. 

Before Plutarch could respond, the countdown started. Ten… nine… eight- the tributes readied themselves- seven… six… five- the camera hopped from panicked to confident tributes- four… three… two… one.

Peeta jumped and ran for the woods.

Katniss hesitated and ran straight into the cornucopia- to the bloodbath.

In a quiet, breathless voice, [Y/n] whispered, “Fuck…”

Masterlist

Transition from Camp to… the Real World?

I am honestly having a rough time transitioning from camp life to daily life. I lived and worked at camp from June through October and I find myself comparing life to camp. I went to wash the dishes: no Hobart, no closed toed shoes, no apron, and no shenanigans to the sound of Green Day or P!ATD. The TV in Shutanka usually had some sort of weird movie, a nature something, or a cartoon of some sort: the news is seriously depressing. Being myself with my coworkers and friends versus being "myself" with my family is strange. I miss campfires, late DnD sessions, and walking down the trail of happy feet just to get to my bed. I miss the crunch of gravel under my feet, the sound of the waves crashing on the bulkhead, and the still, cold mornings followed by breezey afternoons. But, here I am. I stayed with my sister about 30 minutes from camp for a few days, then I flew to California to stay with my Abuela, and in a little over a week I will fly back to Texas for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I love being with my extended family in Cali and I am definitely excited to be seeing my mom and brothers in the near future and I am stoked to hold my dog again. But I also cannot wait to go back to my island home at camp. I am having camp withdrawals and it's pretty rough.

The Pink Rose, part 5

Part Five- July 7th, 74 ADD

Pairing: Haymitch Abernathy x reader 

Word count: 2,119

Warnings: heterosexual relationship, light smut, fluff, reference to violence, arguing

It had been three days since [Y/n] and Haymitch had accompanied their tributes to the Capitol. Three days since Haymitch’s bad first impression had potentially revealed what the tributes were capable of. [Y/n] sat staring at her plate of eggs, toast, and bacon. She had a notebook and pen for notes as she listened to Haymitch explain the importance of the training days and knowing what their skills are. 

As in most things, Katniss was conservative about her skills. Peeta emphasized how good of a shot she was with a bow and arrow. Katniss responds by mentioning Peeta could throw hundred pound bags of flour and that he knows how to wrestle. 

“What use is that? How many times have you seen someone wrestle someone to death?” Peeta said with a grimace.

Katniss shot back with an angry tone, “There’s always hand-to-hand combat. All you need is to come up with a knife, and you’ll at least stand a chance. If I get jumped, I’m dead!” 

“But you won’t! You’ll be living up in some tree eating raw squirrels and picking off people with arrows. You know what my mother said to me when she came to say good-bye, as if to cheer me up, she says maybe District Twelve will finally have a winner. Then I realized, she didn’t mean me, she meant you!” Peeta shouted.

“Oh, she meant you,” Katniss dismissed.

“She said, ‘She’s a survivor, that one.’She is,” Peeta said quietly.

The room stood still. [Y/n] felt her heart drop and an instant dislike of Mrs. Mellark. Who in Panem tells their own child they’re going to die after being selected in a reaping. The farewell opportunity is a time to wish for their safety and build them up. That bitch tore him down- she berated her son for someone else’s daughter.

After Peeta and Katniss calm down, Haymitch hesitantly restarts the conversation and insists that they spend their training days learning a new skill and under no circumstances showing the other tributes what they’re capable of- to save that for the Gamemakers.

“One last thing. In public, I want you by each other’s side every minute,” says Haymitch. The two teens start to object before Haymitch makes everyone jump by slamming his hand on the table, “Every minute! It’s not open for discussion! You agreed to do as I said! You will be together, you will appear amiable to each other. Now get out. Meet Effie at the elevator at ten for training.”

The two of them left the room and the sound of Katniss’ bedroom slamming echoed through their quarters.

“You’re not doing yourself any favors in her eyes,” [Y/n] said.

“I’m not here to be her friend, I don’t even want to be a mentor. But since she threw a knife and you’re more invested in what you see, I’m willing to play along,” Haymitch explained., “What are you doing?”

[Y/n] looked at him out the side of her eye and saw he was referring to her notes, “I’m writing what I know. I’m trying to see what I can confidently say or twist for the sponsors. But I need to be careful,”

“Careful? I think you mean ruthless,”

“No. Careful. The deepest pockets always want something in return. I also need to remember who I have dirt on,”

“You sound like Finnick Odair,”

“Not necessarily a bad thing in this scenario. He’s good at getting sponsors and since we’re good friends, it might be entertaining to see who we can snag this year,” [Y/n] smirked.

Haymitch chuckled in unison. The idea of pulling a fast one on some of the other tributes was an entertaining thought. He didn’t realize how fast time had gone until Peeta and Katniss emerged from their rooms, ready to go find Effie.

Once they were truly alone, Haymitch rose from his chair to stand behind [Y/n]’s chair, “You should really loosen up Sweetheart,” Haymitch whispers as he starts to rub [Y/n]’s neck and shoulders. As excitable as having beloved tributes is, it is almost more stressful than having tributes who fly under the radar. [Y/n] gave a quiet moan of pleasure as Haymitch somehow gave an excellent shoulder massage. His strong, rough fingers ran up and down the stiff muscles in her shoulders, attempting to break up the solid tension that had built there. Suddenly, Haymitch’s hands slowly made their way over her shoulders and over the front of her dress. In the same instant, his lips rest just under her jawbone. He began to kiss her neck with enthusiasm; lightly sucking the skin and running the tip of his tongue over the same spot. [Y/n] felt a shiver run through her body. The heat where he kissed her neck resonated through her torso and went down between her legs. The burn increased as his hands cupped her breasts and found their way under the fabric.

Haymitch whispered against her skin, “It’s been a while since we tried this,”

[Y/n] responded with soft chuckle, “It’s been less than three days,”

“Less than three days too long,” he whispered as hands massaged her breasts.

[Y/n] reached around and ran her fingers into his curls. Her back began to arch as Haymitch circled her nipples with his thumb. His lips left her skin and he trailed his nose up until she felt his warm breath on her ear, “I wanna take you on this table,” he growled. [Y/n] melted at the sound of his lowered voice.

“This better not become a regular occurrence!” a familiar voice trilled prompting [Y/n] and Haymitch to immediately separate. Effie quickly walked across the room muttering quietly, “You’d think they own the place!”

[Y/n] stood up and placed one hand on Haymitch’s chest, “She’s right, we really should be more careful,” 

“We still have an hour to be careful,” Haymitch said as he scooped her up.

“Haymitch!” [Y/n] squealed as he quickly headed towards his bedroom.

“At least be quiet!” Effie yelled from the other room.

*     *     *

After six days in the Capitol, six days of [Y/n] schmoozing sponsors, mediating conversations between Haymitch, Katniss, and Peeta, and having a few short interviews with Caesar Flickerman, came private session day. The day where Katniss and Peeta show what they can do. The sessions started after lunch, but Katniss and Peeta would go last since they were from District 12. [Y/n] remembered how infuriating that was. If you were from 12, it was likely that the Gamemakers had indulged themselves on food and drink by the time it was your turn. They were either drunk, tired, or passed out after watching over 20 other demonstrations. 

Effie and Haymitch were engaged in a conversation about the sponsors they’d already gained when Cinna and Portia got off the elevator. It was almost dinner time and they’d want to be hearing about how the sessions went. After about 20 minutes, Peeta got off the elevator and walked to his room to change clothes. Roughly 15 minutes later, Katniss burst out of the elevator and nearly sprinted to her room. Effie, Haymitch, and Portia call after her from the sitting room, but she doesn’t stop. Peeta was in the hall when she passed him, “Hey, was she crying?” he asked with concern. [Y/n] and Effie tried to get Katniss to open the door, but she just yelled for them to go away.

Effie tried again at dinner time and this time returned with Katniss. Katniss avoided eye contact with everyone, including Cinna and  [Y/n]. After a few minutes of small talk, the Avoxes bring dinner to the table and Haymitch starts:

“Okay, enough small talk, just how bad were you today?” [Y/n] rolled her eyes and gave him a look of utter disbelief. 

Before Katniss could respond, Peeta said, ““I don’t know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go.”

“Figures,” scoffed [Y/n].

Cinna shook his head in disappointment, “If they’re going to send them all into the same arena, they could at least afford the same attention instead of acting like that,”

“And you, sweetheart?” asked Haymitch.

Katniss’ eyes remained on her empty plate, “I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers,” the room silenced immediately.

“You what?” Effie yelled angrily, face draped in uncharacteristic horror. 

“I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It’s like Peeta said, I was shooting and they were ignoring me and I just ... I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig’s mouth!” Katniss said with a matter of fact tone of defiance.

“Are you crazy?” Effie almost yelled and saw Haymitch looking at her with a smirk, “I don’t think we’re going to find this funny if-”

“If what?” Haymitch interjected, “If they decide to punish someone?” he gestured to Katniss and Peeta with one hand and himself and [Y/n] with the other, “I think they already have, loosen your corset, have a drink,”

Cinna turned back to Katniss and carefully asked, “And what did they say?”

“Nothing. Or I don’t know. I walked out after that,” she responded

“Without being dismissed?” [Y/n] probed

“I dismissed myself,”

“Are you crazy?!” Effie trilled.

Haymitch ripped off a hunk of meat from his pork chop and leaned over to take a bite before stopping and chuckling,”What were their faces like?”

[Y/n] could see the twitch of a smile on the edges of Katniss’ mouth, “Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous, some of them. One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch.”

Everyone but Effie burst into a fit laughter. Haymitch even looked as if he were going to cry. [Y/n] had not had a laugh that good in a long while.

Effie looked as if she were trying to avoid smiling, “Well, it serves them right. It’s their job to pay attention to you. And just because you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you, that’s what I think,”

“I’ll get a very bad score,” the smile slowly fell from Katniss’ face.

“Scores only matter if they’re very good, no one pays much attention to the bad or mediocre ones,” Portia chipped in.

“For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose. People use that strategy all the time,” [Y/n] said with a reassuring smile.

[Y/n] turned her attempt at motherly reassurance to Peeta as he followed her with, “I hope that’s how people interpret the four I’ll probably get… if that,”

After dinner, the group settles in the sitting room to watch the scores be announced on television. A photo of the tribute appears on the screen and after they’ve been introduced, their score appears below them. The Career Tributes all score between 8 and 10. Most others score around 5. [Y/n] reminds Peeta and Katniss that this is normal. Then remembers most District 12 tributes generally score 4-6 and hopes that Katniss and Peeta don’t remember that.

Twenty-two tributes go across the screen when they finally see Peeta. The group celebrates while Peeta comes to terms with his score of 8. Katniss remained stoic in her seat, radiating anxiety before her number flashes underneath her picture:

“Eleven!” Effie squeals.

Cinna and Portia cheer and congratulate her. [Y/n] and Haymitch excitedly give each other a hug and then join the congratulations.

Katniss is still in disbelief, “There must be a mistake. How ... how could that happen?”

“I guess they liked your guts,” Haymitch said. 

“They’ve got a show to put on. They need some players with heat.” [Y/n] added.

“Katniss, the girl who was on fire,” says Cinna, “Oh, wait until you see your interview

dress.” 

“More flames?” Katniss asked 

“Of a sort,” he chuckled mischievously.

The group wrapped up the congratulations, discussed their schedules for tomorrow, and headed off to their rooms. 

Back in his room and uncharacteristically brushing his teeth before bed, Haymitch felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He looked down and recognized the carefully manicured hands of [Y/n]. 

“Hey there, sweetheart,”

[Y/n] nuzzled her forehead between his shoulder blades, “Do you think they can do it?”

“Well I know you don’t mean ‘can they both win’. So, do what?”

“Work together. Can one of them overcome this?”

“I guess we’ll see. There’s something there in both of them,”

Masterlist

7:30am: “Texas, I’m hungry!”

8am: Breakfast

8:30am: “Texas, I’m hungry!”

Every 10 minutes until lunch: “Texas, I’m hungry!”

2pm: “Texas, I’m hungry!”

Every 10 minutes until 4pm: “Texas, I’m hungry!”

4pm: Snacktime

4:01pm: “Texas what are we doing now?!”

Me inside:

This Circle of Stars Druid is *chefs kiss* because we know powerful, sparkly, weave strong lovers are Gale’s flavor ❤️✨

Active Listening

Active listening is something I’ve mentioned in posts, usually with the mental health post series, but I think it’s also been in some behavior management posts, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken the time to define it. Active listening is an important skill in life and is applicable at camp in navigating camper conflicts, difficult topics, and staff dynamics.

What is Active Listening?

Active listening is a listening skill and communication tool, which may be especially useful when emotions are running high or when something is of particular importance, but can and should be used often.  The combination of positive body language and repetition helps to show you are listening while helping you listen.

Why use active listening?

Active listening has multiple benefits. Two main benefits are that it helps you absorb what your camper or fellow staff member is saying, and it also helps them feel heard. 

How do I do active listening?

Ignoring the terrible phrasing that is, active listening is fairly straightforward. From the CDC, to practice active listening (x):

give your full attention to your [camper]

make eye contact and stop other things you are doing

get down on your [camper]’s level

and reflect or repeat back what [they are] saying and what [they] may be feeling to make sure you understand

Some more guidelines can be found here, and they are more adult communication related.

Reflecting is an important aspect of active listening, and comes in the form of reflecting words and emotions. You could do this by restating the feelings a child said they had, or repeating their words. There’s some examples at the CDC link.

If you’re neurodivergent or your camper is, you may have to make certain adjustments. For example, making eye contact may not be helpful for all people. You can adjust this by leaving the option open, but not forcing it. You can still employ other parts of active listening, such as stopping the other things you are doing.

Everyone during field games:

Me during field games:

I don't feel like I'm working out when I start slow with a 15 minute walk/jog but then I remember this!